by Ritu Ghosh
Alfadon took them to their rooms.
“Where is Dan?” Aaron asked “Is he alright? He made it here right?” Aaron sounded worried.
“I am right here. I see you have a heart of a true Defender” said Dan. He was standing near the balcony.
Aaron ran and hugged him.
“I am not yet a Defender. I am yet to prove myself.” Aaron said looking at Dan.
“Yes you do. But don’t worry, you will do just fine” Dan smiled.
“What about me? I am no Defender, I am sure to fail the test” said Flynn sadly.
A Defender doesn’t have to be a warrior Flynn. They have to be a fighter at heart and if you have made it so far; I am very sure you too will make a brave Defender” said Dan patting Flynn’s back which brought Flynn’s smile back.
“Take rest and enjoy yourself today. Form tomorrow, your days will be tough” said Alfadon.
They said good bye to Dan and Alfadon and went to their individual rooms.
Aaron‘s room was big and airy. Plenty of sunlight was coming through. The door and windows were huge like he had never seen before. There were a lot of carved wardrobes and cupboards in the room. Aaron opened one of the cupboards; he saw plenty of shirts, trousers, robes, tunics and jackets hanging there, all of his size. He quickly grabbed a few and tried them on. He looked like a true knight in those clothes. In the other cupboard, he found various kinds of belts, shoes and hats. He put a few on. He also found a pair of leather gloves and armor made of silver threads.
After trying a few outfits, he kept it all back into its place and slipped into a soft robe for sleeping in. Keeping his dirty and torn clothes to the side, he pulled out the map from his jacket. The map had no markings on it anymore. He noticed the letter written by his mother fallen on the floor. He had forgotten all about the letter.
He picked up the envelope and looked at it. Slowly, he opened the old seal. Some dust fell out of it as he pulled out a very old paper from inside the envelope and stared to read it.
Dear Aaron,
How are you? I know you have grown so much from the last time I saw you. You must be a Defender now, just like your father. I cannot tell you how much I miss you and Brandon. But I had to do what I did to keep you safe. I and your father loved both of you very much Aaron.
Aaron, as you have now come of age, you must know the truth. The prophecy you have heard is not complete. The Riddle of Orim has another part that is hidden in the walls of Aaskan in the city of Shador. In the Dark Kingdom itself. You must find it to be able to solve the whole Riddle of Orim.
Your father’s sword is just the first thing. You still have to find many more things to be able to make the unique weapon that will destroy Zorath from his core.
Keep the Sicil stone near you at all times, it will protect you. Remember, I am always with you.
With lots of love,
Your Mother
Aaron wondered how his mother knew about his present so many years back. Then he remembered about her gift of far vision. A tear rolled down his cheeks as he folded the letter and kept it back safely under his pillow.
He started to remember the Riddle of Orim.
“The swords of the Giants. This is what Mother means by the first thing. Of course, this is the first object that I would need to make the unique weapon. This sword has special powers as it was made by the Gods themselves” Aaron was very excited at his first discovery. “Very soon, I will find the rest of the things too” He smiled.
The rest of the day was quite pleasant for Aaron. All of them ate to their hearts content, sang and danced in the grand Ball. They sat together with the Giants for a big feast and Ony didn’t seem so strange anymore.
Dan introduced Bo to Aaron, Flynn and Jane. He told them all about how Bo helped them in the escaping from the Dark Prison. Bo was very happy to see Aaron again.
“The boy” Bo said to himself. “It will be an honor to be working with you sir”
“You will be working with us?” asked Aaron.
“Yes of course, he has proven himself very well. Nobody can make explosives like him. We can use a soldier like him” Ony came from behind and patted Bo on his back.
Bo and Ony were now inseparable. Bo would sit on Ony’s shoulders and together they would drink and eat happily.
Aaron learned that the clothes in his room were for him. Jane wore the most beautiful gown and came for dinner. Aaron could hardly take his eyes off her. Brandon sat next to Jane clutching onto her arms not giving Aaron a chance to speak to her.
Aaron finally came back to his room after having many kinds of deserts. He prepared himself mentally for the training. He had a long sweet sleep that night.
Chapter 22
The Training
“Master, Master… the prisoners have escaped” said the ugly Lurg as he ran towards the throne at Mordok’s castle.
Mordok appeared in a flash out of thin air.
“What do you mean the prisoners have escaped? The dungeons are fully guarded” Mordok was outraged.
“The wizard was with them master, he put a magic spells on us. We couldn’t do anything “said the Lurg.
“The wizard? How did they find the wizard? This is impossible!” Mordok grumbled.
“You fool! Do you know what you have done? Do you know how hard it was to capture Alfadon? I have put most of my life into it. And you say that you couldn’t do anything. You are all nothing but a disgrace in the Evil Lord’s name” he said and then murmured something angrily.
“We have to kill them before they reach the Dark Lord, or the stone. Send the searchers immediately.” Mordok commanded.
“That won’t be necessary master. I know where they ran to” said the Lurg smiling.
“Where?”
“To Arktor, Master”
“Hmm… Arktor. I have been waiting for a good chance to attack and conquer that kingdom for days now. Looks like Arktor’s time has come. Go now, and prepare the army, it is time to attack. I will finish Alfadon this time. Without him, the Defenders are nothing.” Mordok said and laughed.
The Lurg ran to gather the army.
The next morning was pleasant at Arktor. The sun was not very harsh and the weather had tuned a little chillier. Aaron wanted very much to take a tour of Arktor if not for the training session they were to begin today. He had found a small note on his door which said. “Come to the training arena and bring your best weapon with you.”
Aaron dressed for the training in a tight fitting vest and pants. He wore a thick leather jacket and a strong leather boot too. He brought his father’s sword along. He felt his confidence soaring as he tucked the sword into his belt. “I have the Sword of the Heavens, what could defeat me now?” He said to himself.
He reached an empty arena with stone seats all around. Jane and Flynn had already arrived; they too looked their best. Jane held her thin short sword in her left hand and Flynn wore a double belt full of small knifes. Flynn looked much more nervous that Jane. Some relief returned to Flynn’s face as he saw Aaron.
“What’s going on? Aren’t the others here yet?” Aaron asked Flynn.
“They asked us to prepare ourselves first” said Jane.
“You think this is going to be hard?” Flynn looked at a few giants who were sitting at a far corner expecting a good show.
“Well, hard or not, it will be a good entertainment for the people here” Aaron said as he saw Alfadon and Dan walking into the arena. Ony, Belster and Thodin came after them and took some good seats. Belster looked mad, he gave Aaron and Flynn sharp looks. Alfadon walked up to the three of them.
“You shall be trained and tested against the opponent you know well. Once this training ends, we shall proceed to the next level. You first opponent and teacher will be Dan the master swordsman. I see you, Aaron also posses the same skills. We shall begin with you then” he then asked Dan to step forward.
Dan was looking stern as ever but today he wore a special brown knee length robe to train. Aa
ron and Dan faced each other. Jane, Flynn and Alfadon sat down to watch.
“Let’s see what you have got” Dan said as their swords clashed for the first time. Dan went off balance for a second as Aaron pulled his sword back and performed the few moved he knew.
“You are not that bad” said Dan gaining his balance and attacking Aaron again.
Aaron fought with all he knew but soon Dan started to use new kinds of moves which left Aaron very confused. He kept losing.
“Imitate me” Dan said and Aaron tried to do the same. In moments, Aaron picked up some nice moves from Dan and was using them against Dan.
“I think I have got them all” said Aaron with a grin.
Dan struck hard on Aaron’s sword and the sword fell far away.
“Don’t count on it” said Dan “Next!”
Aaron slowly walked to retrieve his sword and then sat on one of the stone stools watching the others defend themselves from Dan’s attacks.
Jane did pretty well with her short sword; she had been practicing her part of magic. Her magic sword gave out many small balls of energy to defend her. She also used the sword to save herself in case Dan came too close. But Dan was far quicker than her, he won at last.
Next came Flynn’s turn. He was now so sweaty that the first knife he threw almost fell on his own feet.
“Concentrate here boy” said Dan coming towards him with his sword. Flynn pulled out another knife and threw it at Dan quickly; Dan dodged the knife with his sword. Within minutes, Flynn was running in circles and Dan was running after him. Seeing this, Alfadon raised a hand to his forehead and then finally stood up.
“Ok, that will be all for now. We shall continue with the practice tomorrow” Alfadon said.
Flynn was relived. They all left to the palace for breakfast. Flynn sat next to Aaron at the table.
“What were you doing running around in circles?” Aaron asked Flynn “How will you make it if you do such things?”
“How am I suppose to fight a sword with knifes?” he stared at Aaron.
Aaron didn’t say anything; he was lost in the delicious array of food at the table. He lost track of Jane after breakfast. Sitting in his room, Aaron heard a voice of giggling coming from outside. He looked through his window, a few girls were playing in the garden and Jane was among them. Her long gown fluttered in the wind and her golden hair gleamed. Aaron supported himself against the window frame and watched her as she played with water lilies.
The next day was also not so great for the three of them. This time, their contender was Ony. It was harder to fight a Giant who was coming towards you with his big axe.
Aaron finally pulled all his courage together and struck Ony’s axe. Aaron felt the hit of the axe for the first time in his life. He tried to defend himself with his sword but he needed much more strength to do so. Finally, he learned to escape the axe and was successful in one or two attempts of attacking Ony with his sword.
Jane didn’t have much luck either. All her energy balls were destroyed by Ony with his axe. But when Ony lifted the axe over his head to attack Jane, she disarmed him by lifting his axe away from him and high into the air with her magic. Alfadon cheered for her, but Ony didn’t look very happy.
When Flynn’s turn came, he tried to throw his knifes at Ony but the knives fell or bounced back off Ony. Flynn fell on the ground and Ony stood over him with his axe. Flynn closed his eyes and muttered names of his Gods. Ony walked away and so did everyone else.
As the third day came, Aaron knew that the training was going to be much harder than he thought. Flynn wanted to run away, Jane was the only one who stood there with confidence.
Belster was their teacher for the day. This did not made Aaron feel any better. He was not sure if Belster would treat them well in the arena. For some reason Belster felt that Aaron and Flynn were responsible for his daughter’s death. Belster was smiling in a strange way, his lips twitched. He was waiting for this moment.
Belster and Aaron were the first to fight. Belster was ready with his bow that was pointed towards Aaron. He shot an arrow at Aaron, the arrow came so fast that Aaron lost his balance and fell onto his knees. Belster laughed and shot another arrow at him, but this time Aaron struck the arrow with his sword. After that, Belster shot many arrows at Aaron nonstop as if he wanted to hurt him. Alfadon, Dan and Ony looked tensed. Aaron was continuously dodging the arrows. He suddenly realized that he had learnt and was using a new move which was about speed and absolute presence of mind.
Dan was happy to see Aaron learn so fast.
“Stop” said Alfadon.
“It’s enough. Time for the next contender. Belster, I have to remind you, you are helping them train.” Alfadon sharpened his eyes as if he was warning Belster.
Jane got up but Belster interrupted “Let the boy come next” pointing to Flynn.
Everyone was looking at Flynn now. As he got up trembling, he knew that he might end up getting badly hurt today. There was no way that he could fight the lightening fast arrows with his small knives. He walked into the arena. All eyes were fixed on him.
Belster and Flynn stood facing each other for some time.
“How are you going to protect yourself now boy?” Belster asked as he shot an arrow towards Flynn that barely missed his left ear. Flynn moved to the side and looked at Alfadon. But Alfadon just sat in his chair and didn’t say anything.
“Defend yourself!” said Belster as he took another aim at Flynn.
Flynn fumbled on the knives. He picked four knifes and threw them at Belster. But before it could reach Belster, he shot the arrow towards Flynn. The arrow pieced Flynn’s arms and he fell down with a scream.
“Hold your arrows Belster” Alfadon said loudly which stopped Belster from shooting another arrow at Flynn.
Aaron and Jane immediately came to Help Flynn. Dan and Ony came forward too.
“If such weaklings are among us, it is better if they die during the training than while facing the real Evil” Belster said as he walked away.
Ony ran into the palace and came back with some herbs and dressing to tie Flynn’s wound. Dan broke the arrow and pulled it out of Flynn’s arm. Flynn gave out another loud cry. The arrow had left a deep wound in his arm. Ony covered the wound soon with the bandages and Aaron helped Flynn stand up.
As they were walking into the palace, the sky suddenly became dark and kept becoming darker as the night. The pleasant wind turned into a heavy storm. There were lightening in the sky, everywhere.
“What’s going on?” Jane asked looking around.
Alfadon looked up at the sky. “Mordok” he said “Thodin, prepare your army. The enemy has attacked” he shouted.
Thodin hurried back in. It was very hard to stand in one place, everything was flying around. Even plants were getting uprooted.
“Everyone, inside now” screamed Ony.
They ran till they were safe inside the palace walls. They closed the doors and windows behind them.
Alfadon, Dan and Ony left with king Thodin, leaving Aaron, Flynn and Jane in one of the safe chambers.
“Can you see what’s going on outside?” asked Flynn holding onto his arm. Jane looked outside the window and backed off immediately.
“There are thousands of them, outside the gates” she said.
“Thousands of whom?” Flynn asked looking at Jane.
Chapter 23
The Black Dragon
“Lurgs!” Jane looked at Aaron who had the same horror on his face as she did.
“We have to keep Brandon safe. Jane can you bring him here now?” Aaron asked.
Jane nodded and ran out to fetch Brandon. There was a big rush in the halls and almost every room in the palace. The maids and servants were scared out of their wits; they were trying to find places to hide. The soldiers were armored and were getting last minute instructions in the common room. Jane slipped into Brandon’s room. Brandon was awake and was playing with a bunny.
“Brandon, we have to leave
now” said Jane.
Brandon got up and asked “Why? It’s still play time”
“Brandon, it’s not safe here. I will take you to Aaron. Come quick” Jane pulled a small jacket from the wardrobe and put it on Brandon. Then she carefully took him out of the room holding his hands tight. As they were back in the halls, Jane spotted Ony.
“Ony, over here” she shouted holding Brandon tightly amongst all the rush.
“We can help you. Let us fight too” said Jane.
“No, none of you are trained for this yet” said Ony keeping one hand on Jane’s head for a second.
“Besides, they are dangerous and ruthless”
“But there are thousands of them. How will you defeat them?” Jane asked.
“We will see about that. Just stay inside at any cost and take care of the boys” Ony said and rushed away.
Jane sighed and walked to the chamber upstairs where Aaron and Flynn were waiting. Brandon was delighted to see Aaron.
“Aaron, what’s going on? Why is everybody running?” Brandon asked.
For a moment Aaron didn’t know how to explain all this to a little boy. He took a deep breath, he knew Brandon has to know everything if he is going to be involved.
“Brandon, look” Aaron picked him in his arms and stood near the window. Bandon saw the army of Lurgs outside, waiting to attack them.
“Those are bad men, they threw me into that nasty place with the big spiders” saying this, Brandon jumped off Aaron’s arms and hid behind Jane.
“Yes Brandon, they have come to fight with this kingdom. I want you to be safe. You should be here in this chamber and should not go out.” Aaron told Brandon pulling him from behind Jane.
“Will you be here with me too?” asked Brandon.
“No, I have to go and help the others” said Aaron.
“You can’t go out, none of us can. Ony asked us to stay out of the fight. We are not yet train for this” Jane said.
“I cannot just sit here while they fight, they need all the help they can get. And I think I can take down a few Lurgs” Aaron said as he checked his sword.
