The Word Guardians: and the Twisting Tales

by Lawrence Yarham

The rock was being pulled into the black plinth. For a split second, an image appeared in Janine’s mind of suffering and entrapment. It made her feel sick to her stomach. She realised that Penn was the lesser of the two evils at this particular moment.

  “Come on!” she shouted to Peter and Yas’s dad, as she climbed up Penn’s flank.

  Peter helped Yas’s dad, then climbed up behind to help hold him steady. Penn unfolded his huge wings, and then leapt upwards.

  It was an awkward ascent, being pulled backwards by the magic of the plinth and avoiding the debris coming towards them. Penn ascended as quickly as he dared towards the upper levels of the publishing offices, circling to match the swirling debris. He landed on what remained of the bridge at the entrance to the castle.

  “We should be safe here,” he said. The three of them took the cue to dismount and Penn transformed back into human form.

  Peter looked at the partial castle walls in front of them.

  “You must feel right at home, here?” he quipped. “The tallest tower up there? Where’s the maiden?”

  Penn regarded Peter coolly, while adjusting his cuffs and collar.

  “Do go on,” he mocked.

  There was a scream. They looked up.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” replied Peter. He called up to the tower. “Dai? Kierra?”

  “Peter?” Kierra shouted back. “Help!”

  “Stay here!” Peter said to Yas’s dad. He realised he would be little help in his current state. Yas’s dad nodded weakly.

  They started to run towards the castle gate.

  “Where’s Dai?” shouted Peter, as they passed through the gates.

  “He’s not himself right now,” Kierra replied. Her shout echoed around the courtyard. “He’s gone crazy!”

  “Crazy?” shouted Peter.

  “I’m saying he’s attacking me,” shouted Kierra.

  “Hang on, we’re coming,” replied Janine.

  They turned to their left and headed towards the base of the tower. There was an opening, with circular steps leading upwards.

  “Can you get in the window?” Janine said to Penn, a plan in mind.

  “As a dragon?” he replied, as they reached the base of the tower.

  “Yes,” Janine said, confirming her idea.

  “I can get my snout in the window,” Penn said, stopping and looking up.

  “Do it,” Janine commanded, clearly not taking no for an answer. “Distract Dai for us.”

  Penn nodded. “Teamwork,” he replied, already transforming. “It’s a novel concept,” he continued, finishing with a roar, as he took to the air.

  Janine followed Peter up the steps. They quickly became out of breath but could hear sounds of fighting coming from the room at the top. Peter looked behind him and wondered what they would be heading into.

  “Dai?” he called up. “Kierra?”

  The fighting in the room stopped, and they immediately heard heavy steps and clanking of armour coming down the steps towards them.

  “Oh good,” said Janine sarcastically, thinking that Peter had just ruined Penn’s opportunity for a distraction. “There you go again! Act first, think later!”

  “What?” called back Peter. “This is so not the time!”

  “Never mind,” Janine replied, sensing that whoever was coming towards them was already in earshot. “Create a shield. We’ll need it.”

  Peter created a blue shield in front of him as they continued upwards. It rippled as the words flowed across its surface.

  Above them, they could see armoured legs. Dai had stopped and his weight shifted, swinging a sword and bringing it down on them. Peter lifted the shield to meet it and the sword reverberated off. Sparks shot out sideways, smashing out part of the wall just above them. Peter and Janine ducked, as Dai took another swing.

  “He’s under some form of control,” commented Janine, as she took an opportunity to glance around Peter. Dai had a dazed, absent expression. Something else was at play here.

  “Dai!” Peter shouted, trying to get his attention.

  Then Janine noticed a buzzing sensation arising in her mind.

  “Someone is controlling him,” she confirmed. “I can feel it. Now I understand what Yas was talking about.”

  “Orfeo?” suggested Peter, as he defended another blow. “Dai,” he called out. “It’s me. Peter. Stop!”

  Dai stopped for a moment, regarding Peter. Then there was the sound of talons scraping on the wall outside, quickly followed by a jet of fire blasting through the hole. Janine and Peter took cover under the shield and then looked up to Dai. He was blackened and had started to back his way up the steps.

  A loud clang quickly followed, as Kierra hit Dai from behind with a war hammer.

  “Oh crap,” said Peter, realising what would happen next.

  Dai became very still and then toppled towards them. Peter strengthened the shield but with the weight of the armour, he couldn’t hold it.

  “Arggh!” he shouted, throwing up his hands and taking a step downwards.

  “Slide him to Penn,” urged Janine.

  Penn understood and turned himself so that his back was alongside the wall. Then Peter helped guide Dai’s unconscious body onto Penn’s back. Penn lashed Dai using tendrils from his underside and then leapt back off the ramparts and flew down to the courtyard.

  “What the hell was that all about?” asked Peter.

  “And, you’re welcome,” shot back Kierra, sarcastically, pointing out that she had saved the day.

  “Are you okay?” asked Janine, looking up at her. Kierra had been transformed into the classical maiden with long flowing hair.

  “Yeah,” she said dryly, pulling at her dress with both hands, a look of disgust in her face. “This is so not me!”

  “Let’s just get back downstairs,” said Peter. He and Janine turned and started to make their way down.

  “The story had you both,” explained Janine over her shoulder to Kierra.

  “But how?” Kierra protested, lifting her dress with her hands as she stepped. “Why?”

  “Whatever magic Orfeo is channeling in here is more powerful than anything we’ve seen,” replied Janine. “It’s easier to be pulled in as an actor. It’s sucking people into the storylines.”

  They joined Penn and Dai in the courtyard. Yas’s dad had also joined them.

  Penn had transformed back from the dragon and had lain Dai on the cobbled courtyard. Dai’s expression had returned to normal, and he was no longer under any control. His armour dissolved and changed back to the clothes he had on when they entered the realm.

  For Kierra too, her original clothes and hair were restored.

  “Thank god for that,” she exclaimed.

  “What happened?” Dai asked, sitting up. He rubbed his head.

  “You don’t remember?” questioned Janine, coming over to him and checking him for injuries.

  “No.” He looked up, still trying to piece everything together.

  “I remember the realm changing around us, somehow,” Kierra recalled. “It trapped us. Then…” she motioned to Dai,” …you went all knight in shining armour on me. But instead of rescuing me, you started attacking, calling me a foul beast!”

  “A foul beast?” asked Janine incredulously. She stood up and eyed Dai, tongue-in-cheek.

  Dai just shook his head. “I don’t remember any of this. I’m sorry.”

  “Like I said, there’s really powerful magic at play here,” said Janine. “The story pulled you in. You became an actor.”

  Dai looked surprised, then looked up at Kierra. “An actor?”

  Janine nodded at him, to re-enforce her point, then she turned to Penn.

  “What’s Orfeo got in his castle? In the mirrors? I need to know!” she demanded. “It’s time you came clean with us!”

  Penn just turned his head to the side and smiled knowingly.

  The opposite corner of the courtyard suddenly erupted, stone and cobbles flying in all dir
ections.

  “Time to go,” Penn said, trying to hide his delight that the questioning had to end there. There was a huge rumble nearer to them and the tallest tower started to collapse, raining stone masonry down.

  “Let’s go,” urged Janine. “This place is coming down around our ears!”

  Peter offered a hand to Dai and pulled him up. They followed the rest of the group back out of the castle gates and onto the bridge.

  Below them, Index was now a humanoid shaped luminescent figure, separate from the central vortex. He was a tall and imposing figure, but difficult to make out against the light behind. He stretched out his arms and pulled light from the vortex into him. He seemed to enjoy the energy coursing through him.

  Blasts of energy shot out to other structures, hitting them and causing further destruction. More rips started to appear in the fabric of the realm.

  Orfeo laughed. “This is exactly as I had planned,” he shouted to the Word Guardians. “You’re not able to leave because I have made it so. There is nowhere to go to.”

  He surveyed the chaos around him. “The realms are destroying themselves piece by piece to create a new reality. One which I control!” He left a pregnant pause to let the weight of his words sink in. “Without realms to help readers, they will be searching for some other guide,” he continued. “Here is that guide.” He motioned to the figure beside him. “Index!”

  Janine watched as Index raised his head upwards and sent further blasts towards the castle where they were gathered. Most likely it was he that had caused the devastation they were witnessing.

  “We’re being pulled towards Orfeo and Index,” Janine observed. “This place isn’t going to last long!”

  The realm was now on a path of self destruction. Scenes that had already been touched by the vortex were now little more than swirling debris. Other scenes that were still mostly intact were being ripped apart and pulled towards Orfeo and Index, who seemed set on bringing down any structure that the Guardians were taking refuge on.

  “Where’s Sam, Yas and the others?” shouted Peter, looking around for them frantically.

  He spotted them. “There,” he pointed. They had managed to make their way away from the plinth and vortex onto another scene, a solitary lamppost on the edge of a wintry forest with a light of some form just visible on the edge. The scene was also being pulled backwards towards the vortex.

  “There’s no escape!” shouted Orfeo, gloating.

  “Time to leave!” shouted Sam, following Yas to the centre of the scene.

  “This way,” she said. She hoped that the light she could see off to the left was a doorway out of this realm.

  She ran towards it, followed by the others. Raelinn lingered by the lamp post, making a play of catching her breath. Unbeknown to the others, something in the scene was affecting her.

  Yas reached the light first. It felt familiar. A structure that suggested a doorway, but the light was on the other side of frosted glass. She pushed at it, Sam helping also, but it wouldn’t budge.

  “I don’t understand,” she said, looking at Sam for inspiration.

  “Of course you don’t!” shot Raelinn from the lamp post.

  “What?” replied James, turning.

  Raelinn had changed somehow, her eyes had glazed over, becoming harder.

  “Raelinn, what’s happened to you?” he asked in alarm.

  Raelinn laughed, holding onto the lamp post, drawing power from somewhere. A sleigh started to form next to her, along with white reindeer, their red eyes making them look malicious.

  “The story has you,” James said, holding his hand up and moving towards her.

  “Humans!” shot Raelinn. “I’ve never liked them.”

  “You’re not who you think you are,” James continued, shouting at her. “Shake it off!”

  “We haven’t got time for this,” added Yas, striding back towards the lamp post. “We need another way out!”

  Raelinn raised her hand to send magic towards Yas. Yas created a shield and deflected the blast. She wasn’t about to wait to see what Raelinn was going to do next. She fired a word net back, which wrapped around Raelinn and the lamp post.

  Raelinn allowed the net to wrap her, then touched it, turning it to ice, which then shattered and fell away. James used that distraction to rugby tackle Raelinn to the ground.

  In the distance, Orfeo laughed and nodded towards Index who sent a blast of energy in their direction. It hit the underside of the scene, starting to crack it apart and pushing the lamp post upwards.

  “Quick!” shouted Sam. “Get in the sleigh!”

  James rolled to the side from Raelinn and got himself to his feet. He looked down at her.

  “Sorry,” he said. “The story had you!”

  He offered Raelinn his hand and pulled her up.

  “Thanks,” she said, a little embarrassed that she had been caught out. She’d hoped that she would have seen it.

  Yas, Sam and Eddie jumped on the sleigh. The reindeer looked behind at them with disdain, their red eyes fading to black as Raelinn recovered.

  “Come on!” shouted Eddie to his dad and Raelinn. They climbed aboard as Sam flicked the reins. The reindeer galloped forwards and off the edge of the scene, just as Index sent another burst of energy in their direction. It ripped the scene apart, pieces flailing as they moved away.

  “Just like old times!” Sam smiled at Yas, remembering the chariot chase from Alexandria.

  “At least no-one’s chasing us this time,” nodded Yas, looking about her.

  “Don’t curse it!” shouted Eddie. They ducked as a shot intended for them narrowly missed and hit the edge of another scene. Debris rained down behind them.

  Yas saw movement above them.

  “Up here!” shouted Peter, waving his arms, from the crumbling edge of the castle. It wasn’t going to be long before Orfeo and Index switched their attention to them. At the moment, Orfeo and Index seemed intent on bringing down the sleigh. Fortunately, Sam was weaving around other scenes and debris to keep themselves out of harm’s way.

  “We need to get to the others,” Yas said to Sam, pointing to Peter and Janine who were continuing to shout to them. “Maybe they have a better idea of a way out?”

  “I hope so,” replied Sam. They veered wildly to the right to avoid other blasts being fired towards them.

  The reindeer continued on, ploughing a path through debris, with the occupants of the sleigh having to shield their faces at times.

  “We’re gonna get torn apart if we keep this up!” observed Eddie, unhelpfully.

  As they headed upwards, the wind was picking up. The power of the vortex was stronger here, causing everything to swirl. It was like riding upwards in a hurricane.

  “Just keep going,” urged James from behind. “We’ll give you cover fire.”

  James and Raelinn turned and started creating word slivers that they fired downwards. The range was limited and their effectiveness also, but it at least helped obscure the back of the sleigh.

  Sam twisted the sleigh up inside the swirling debris.

  “It’s like Kansas!” observed Eddie. “Anyone seen a yellow brick road?”

  “Eddie!” gasped Yas, shocked. She stared at him.

  “Only joking,” he smiled in reply.

  Yas thumped him on his arm.

  “Ow!”

  “Don’t do that,” she chided. “We have enough to worry about.”

  Sam smiled.

  “I thought you’d…” she started to explain.

  “Been taken by the story,” he realised. “Sorry,” he added, rubbing his arm.

  His attention was then caught by an armchair appearing the other side of the sleigh.

  “Down!” he shouted.

  He, Yas and Sam all ducked in unison, as the chair shot across just above them.

  “This is crazy!” shouted Sam, concentrating hard.

  “Just keep going. We’re nearly there,” Yas reassured him. “There!” she point
ed, as they emerged out from the side of the twisting debris.

  “I see them,” confirmed Sam, turning the sleigh out of the swirling mass in the centre. More shots blasted up into the twister next to them. A wave of debris reverberated out towards them, knocking on the underside of the sleigh. James and Raelinn did what they could to provide further cover fire.

  Sam manoeuvred the sleigh up and just over the bridge. Then he slowed intending to come in for a nice gentle, controlled landing. Instead though, a blast from below smashed through the bridge, hitting the front of the sleigh. The bar that joined the reindeer to the sleigh snapped. The reindeer galloped off and upwards, and the reins were snatched out of Sam’s hands.

  The sleigh, having lost its ability to fly, was carried forwards by its own momentum and slammed down the other side of the exploding stonework. Sam held onto the front of the sleigh as tight as he could while they leaned left and right to try to keep the sleigh on top of the bridge.

  Peter and the others were nearer the castle walls. They had started to move towards them and then stopped. It was clear to them that the sleigh was not going to stay on the bridge.

  Seeing what was happening, Peter shouted, “Jump!” He started to sprint towards them.

  The sleigh veered to the right, its runner losing its grip on the edge of the bridge.

  “Jump!” echoed James from behind.

  They moved to the left as quickly as they could, grabbing hands and leaping. Sam jumped first, pulling Yas. She in turn pulled Eddie. Behind them, Raelinn had jumped and reached for James. The sleigh’s right runner fell off the edge of the bridge and dropped down. Mid leap, and in slow motion, the sleigh tumbled over the side of the bridge. The five of them crashed to the ground safely.

  Peter ran over to them. “Are you all okay?” he asked, concerned.

  Sam looked up at his dad and nodded. Then he smiled and started to laugh. Yas and Eddie couldn’t help themselves and joined in. Peter smiled back nervously in return. James and Raelinn also looked puzzled.

  “What did I miss?” Peter asked.

  “Holy crap,” Sam replied, watching the sleigh drop away. He realised that they’d not stopped since heading into the Gardens of Babylon. A lot of things could have caused them serious injury, or worse, and yet they had survived. “We’re good,” he said, getting to his feet. He looked around at the others. They also seemed all in one piece. “We’re good!”