by W Kangas
“And there you have our interview. Now, we are going to look at the weather around the country. We seem to have a problem with that story. I can tell you it’s as cold as a well-digger’s shoes everywhere.”
The screen changed views.
“Now, let’s look at the countries down under. Australia is reporting minus twenty degrees Celsius in much of its capital city in the summer. And if I look at other temperatures around the world it’s much the same, downright cold. Department stores are completely out of coats and long underwear. Back to you at the station.”
The screen showed a reporter at a desk.
“And there you have the news tonight. All I can say is keep warm and hydrate yourself. Good night and good luck.”
“It looks downright bleak, Star,” said Mona.
“Hey,” said Giggles, “let’s put that pot of coffee back on the burner and dunk some stone scones in it to loosen them up a bit.”
“Sounds like a plan,” said Fashion.
“Here’s what I want to know, Professor. Could this ice age have been started by what happened to the magical stream?”
“It seems a little farfetched, but it’s a better guess than any of our great thinkers have come up with at this moment.”
“You really didn’t answer, Professor,” said Fashion, giving him an ugly stare while holding another hard scone ready to throw it.
“Yes, I think the earth is cooling, because the magical stream is not flowing.”
“Where is some good old global warming when you need it?” asked Mona Lisa.
“How can you argue against climate change? It’s all-fired hot one day and cold as can be the next, and each day they yell climate change,” said the professor.
Alisia was awake now and asked Bella if she and the lizards could attract the Trident to a spot where she would push rocks on its heads. “I want to try that ambush.”
“We could try it, but we would have to get awfully lucky,” said Bella.
“I kind of like the dead fall better, where you put sharp sticks in a hole and let it fall and get skewered,” said Bella.
“Bella, but how can we dig on a mountain?”
“I didn’t think of that,” said Bella. “I guess it will come to us, maybe.”
“What will come to us, Bella, an idea or the monster?”
“Oh, sorry again, an idea might come to us,” clarified Bella.
They were now ready to leave the safety of the cave but still didn’t have a plan. Leaping went first, and picked his way partly down the jagged path, with Ducker feeling her way, and Bella gliding behind. Alisia squeezed out of the opening with great care and thought to pick up a softball-sized rock in each hand, in case anything happened on the way down.
And something terrible did happen. Alisia, a short distance down the path, heard a swish of air and then heard the monster say, “Got you.” The middle head of the monster clamped down on Leaping by coming around the side of the path just as Leaping came into range. It was a terrible thing to see as he struggled for a few seconds until the poison took effect.
“Um, tasty,” said the green blue head, even though he wasn’t swallowing poor Leaping. Alisia whizzed a stone at the monster, but it fell short of the target. She quickly gave the second rock everything she had before the first rock hit. It looked to be in line to hit the body, but a loud noise from the first rock hitting the path changed everything. The blue green head turned quickly to see what had happened and with a little luck got its head in the path of the rock falling its way. The momentum of its head and gravity pulling the rock combined to equal a great force, and when it hit him, he staggered with his head and neck alone.
“Stop that,” said the red green head to the blue green head not having seen the impact. The blue green head kept bobbling and couldn’t communicate its thoughts. The Trident moved to a remote part of the cave to gain control once again and planned to come back with a vengeance.
Ducker sat crying; she’d lost her true love. She cried in Alisia’s arms and said, “My poor Leaping. I will miss him every second of the day.”
“Let’s get down off this walk so we can hide and come up with another plan of attack,” said Bella in her wee voice. “If we stay here, we will be sitting ducks for the thing. But I will say that was a lucky toss of that rock, Alisia; I think you knocked the blue head cuckoo. If it stays like that for a while, we will have a better chance.”
They hurried down the walk but made sure of their footing and found a place out of the way to hide for enough time to come up with the next plan. It came to Alisia just what to do next, when they were resting.
“We should go and dig out the dam and make the water flow and that part of our task will be done. The problem is we need a defense or we won’t last long. I’ve got it! Let’s dig close to a wall. If we can pile rocks in such a way that they can be released all at once in an avalanche, the rocks will hit the Trident on the head again. Let’s go scout the area by the dam and see what we can find. Are you going to be okay, Ducker?”
“I will never be happy again, but I’m okay. I’m determined to help you kill that thing before it takes over the whole world.”
“Let’s go then, friends,” said Alisia. “I’m sure we have only a certain amount of time before the people of the town parish.”
They walked as quietly as possible toward the end of the little lake that once was a stream.
“Here is where we should dig, right next to this wall. There is where the Mad Hatter blocked the stream. Look, there is a ledge and stones are plentiful. Do you think it’s possible, Bella?”
“I think I have just enough magic left in me to place the rocks in a precarious way so they fall when I nudge them.”
“Please do it, Bella, and maybe Ducker will help me free the stream, and we will have somewhat succeeded. My thought is if we try as hard as we can, we can be proud before the end.”
“I like your thought,” said Ducker. “We will try as hard as we can.”
Bella started setting up the avalanche while Ducker and Alisia were pulling and pushing on the earth with both hands.
“We’ll work like this until we drop,” said Alisia, “and we can be proud we didn’t crumble from fear.”
The rocks were going up on the ledge in such a pile, it looked to be formidable. Bella said she was getting close and all she needed was to make a trigger.
They continued to work, not resting, even though they were exhausted. After several hours, they had a trickle of water flowing out of the lake. Bella had the rockpile ready to fall but the digging had to go on if they wanted to fill the fountain above. They tried scratching like dogs burying bones, then something amazing soon happened.
Some of the soil broke loose from the pressure of the water behind it, and the magical stream started flowing like a little brook. Bella lay on a rock just underwater in the lake and found the water would not rejuvenate her in the least. “I am close to exhausted, Alisia. I’m no longer going to be of any help, and I’m sorry, but everything else will be up to you.”
Just as Bella said those words, they heard something coming their way. It would be on them in a hurry. Alisia and Ducker were caught in the open with no defense. Bella could see the fear in their eyes and mustered up the last of her energy to trigger the avalanche. Alisia could see the little fairy fly to the trigger but the monster was not in the right place so she ran in the dark, hoping the monster would follow.
Bella knew Alisia was setting up the avalanche to work and got ready with the trigger. Just as Alisia passed the rocks above, Bella hit the trigger and down came the rocks on the beast’s heads and feet. The monster squealed in pain as some of the rocks hit tender spots. The blue green head was hit once again in the same place and regained the bobble but a killing blow was not delivered. The monster looked for another secluded place to recuperate with moans and groans escaping its mouths. Alisia’s team dealt it a good blow, but it would be back soon looking for revenge.
Alisia started looking for Bell
a and heard a very faint voice still on the ledge where she’d triggered the avalanche.
“There is nothing much left of me. I can do one thing alone to help you, and I don’t want you to disagree because I know what I am doing and saying. I can turn myself into a knife, and I cannot turn myself back again. The knife will be special though. It will be able to cut though bone and should have some magical properties, because my soul will be inside.
“Listen well, Alisia, for my future is in your hands. If you can defeat this creature, take the knife with you and don’t tell anyone the story of how it came about. The only way you can bring me back is to find Merlin and tell him my story. It can’t be done by an amateur, so wait for Merlin. He is powerful and a source for good. He has a crooked nose that turns to his right just a little, and the third tooth on the upper right is missing. You would have to make him laugh to see it, because he doesn’t usually let it show. In this brief amount of time, I have grown to like you, Alisia, and I’m hoping you can come up with a way to light the magical stream. So, good luck.” And that was the end of her message.
“She must have turned herself into the knife, and it’s on the ledge.”
“Ducker can you get up there?”
“If you bend over and let me jump on your back and then on to the big rock above you, I can jump to the ledge from there.”
“Okay, let’s give it a try,” said Alisia.
“Now I’m going to hit your back pretty hard, so be prepared, said Ducker.”
“I’m ready,” said Alisia, and Ducker was off with the jumps taken place, just as she said.
“I’ve found it,” she whispered back. “It is beautiful, and I can see why Bella said to guard it. Here, I’ll toss it down to you. It’s in a sheath so it won’t cut you.”
She lobbed it and Alisia caught and examined it. It looked to be a gold sheath with a large, imbedded ruby right below the hilt on the sheath and a sapphire in the pommel of the knife.
“It is beautiful, as I would expect having replaced Bella.” She pulled the blade out of the sheath and touched the edge of the shiny blade. Just a mere touch put a small cut on Alisia’s finger. She had never felt a blade as sharp, and she had been around knives all her life in her dad’s bakery where they daily chopped fruits, nuts, and spices. She hid the knife in her clothes and decided it was time for a rest, but first she lay by the stream and took a big drink of water. It wasn’t magic, she could tell, but the village above would be happy to see it flowing out of the fountain and know that Alisia had already accomplished something. Ducker and Alisia had spent half a day unblocking the stream, and they were tired and very hungry.
“Do you know anything we could eat down here, Ducker?”
“Clams, like the monster is eating, and I could get us some mushrooms if you want. We could eat them raw. I saw them in one of the vaults close by; I also saw some wild radishes and onions that were missing the glow of the crystals.”
“Ducker, why don’t you go get us some, and I’ll guard the path to the cave so the thing won’t surprise you.”
“I’ll get whatever I can,” said the plump little lizard, “and meet you at the cave.”
“Be very careful, Ducker; I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“I’ll be careful,” she said and hopped off into the dark.
Alisia walked toward the cave but stayed away from the jagged path and waited to see if she could hear or see movement around it. She wasn’t sure and stayed away just by intuition. She could almost feel that something was amiss. She waited and waited, trying to see if the monster was there. If it was, it was surely quiet. But she could feel a presence there and stayed away from the walk. She picked up a handful of rocks just in case.
Not long after she had good throwing rocks, she could just make out Ducker on a path headed for the cave. She didn’t want anything to happen to the cute little lizard and decided to come up with a plan to save her. When Ducker got close enough for the monster to hear her, Alisia started up the jagged path as quietly as she could. She moved with a purpose, for she had to be fairly safe before she yelled out her warning to her new friend. When she was out of reach of the monster, she yelled to Ducker to run for her life.
The little lizard was quick to respond and hopped deep into the darkness. The Trident was furious and lifted itself onto the jagged walk, which surprised Alisia. It was coming at her fast with a furious expression on the features of the middle head with the blue green head still looking unfocused.
She fired a couple of her rocks, which had more zip to them because she was throwing downhill. She was making hits on the body, which put the beast into an evil frenzy. It stopped being careful as it lunged toward her.
She fired more rocks, hitting the thinker flush in the head twice. It picked its body off the ground and started running up the path with rage in its eyes. Alisia became fearful as it would probably get her before she could make it into the cave. She pushed some of the loose rocks that were gathered by the cave opening. They started tumbling at its feet, and it stepped squarely on top of one rolling and lost its balance. It soon looked to be close to recovering on the path when she knocked more rocks and threw them at its head. It staggered and dropped off the path and fell some fifty feet below.
Alisia turned and started through the hole and was close to being inside when the monster screamed at her, saying, “I’m going to enjoy eating you, little witch.”
She saw it move through the shadows and realized it would be a good time to get off the jagged path. She had to find Ducker, so they could help each other and hopefully the little lizard had some food for her.
But there was trouble brewing for the two explorers, because the Trident was sniffing the air with it tongues following Ducker’s trail through the different vaults hoping for a meal itself. It came to Alisia right then and there what she had to do, but she knew she could never start something so drastic that would probably take her life.
“We’s smells the lizard close and we’s wants a meal,” said the Trident, moving to the scent with speed. It suddenly dawned on Alisia that the Trident was following the potbellied lizard, and she started moving faster, hoping she could do something to save her friend.
Soon she could hear screams from Ducker and knew she was in mortal danger.
She thought, I’ve got to get there because she’s my friend, and I can’t do this on my own. She hurried in the dim light, keeping her arms in front of her to keep from running into something. She soon heard a squeal of a captured animal and hoped she was not too late. Alisia entered a vault just as the Trident was moving to eat Ducker.
“We’s waits,” said the middle head, “The high-walking pig is close, and we’s rather have pork for dinner.”
Alisia had a plan in her head but couldn’t see it through but now, with Ducker trapped, she might get the courage as she could now see the shadowy figure of the Trident standing over the potbellied lizard.
“We’s eat them both,” said the middle head. “We’s hungry.” Its head started moving down to swallow the lizard, and Alisia knew something had to be done right away.
She yelled, “Stop! I have something you want.”
The monster reeled in her direction and said, “The only thing we’s want from you is your flesh. If that is the trade, we’s have a deal.”
“If you can swallow me whole without the poison, but let my friend go first and I will submit.”
“Just let it eat me, Alisia,” said her friend, “I can be with Leaping.”
“We’s likes this you both wanting to be our meal.”
“No, the deal is for Ducker to leave, and you swallow me without the poison, and let me just lose my air. I heard we are much fresher that way anyhow.”
“We’s likes eating it fresh. Go, lizard, back to your friends, if you want to live.”
“I command you to go, Ducker,” said Alisia.
“I don’t like this trade,” said the potbellied lizard. “Just let it eat me.”
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br /> “Go, Ducker. I command you.”
“Okay!” she said with regret. Ducker hopped off but stayed to see her friend’s last minutes.
“No poison” said Alisia. “And I will be all the fresher as the poison makes me stale.”
“We’s likes it fresh,” said the Trident. “Stand up and stay still.”
Alisia stood and closed her eyes.
The monster came down on her head and pushed her with force into its unhinged jaw. The pressure inside was suffocating her while the rhythmic muscle action pushed her deeper down the canal lined with slippery mucus.
She found herself in a dream state, getting close to passing out from the lack of oxygen and knew she had to stay conscious. She thought of her dad at the bakery as the snake’s muscle worked her deeper and deeper. She was looking for something and almost forgot what it was, with very little oxygen available. If she would soon die, it wasn’t going to be that painful, she thought.
Ducker looked back with lizard tears flowing down her cheeks.
“We’s loves the taste of pork,” said the Trident, happy with the trade.
Alisia was totally covered with mucus and having a hard time seeing, which had her worried. Right then she passed the place where the heads connected to the snake’s abdomen. Could she hold on any longer, she wondered. She gasped and sucked some mucus into her lungs.
Please, hold on, she kept thinking and just as she was almost finished, she heard a thumping. It began to thump louder as the muscle action in waves pushed her quicker. The thumping was loud now and in her ears, but she was worried she had passed it, as the sound seemed to come from all directions. Then, as she was about to give up, she saw it behind some ribs. It was thumping so loudly it kept her concentrating.
She struggled to get something out of her clothes and almost dropped it. She was quickly being pushed past it but she pulled hard and got it out of its sheath. She had her elbow protecting her from being suffocated by keeping pressure off her chest and now she had to move her hands well above her head to reach it. The squeeze on her chest doubled, and she was blacking out. But she got her hands above her head and slid it between the ribs.
