by Dean Adams
Chapter 11
Kazael and the star
It had taken awhile for Jacks eyes to adjust to the darkness. It was amazing how quickly the light from the sun had been locked out of the cave. To Jack it was even more surprising how cold it had felt within minutes of stepping onto the hard damp floor. Another oddity had been the lack of any guards within the cave. Jack had expected to be faced with a hundred men the moment he dropped down to the entrance. Instead as he inched further and further through the darkness, he found himself completely alone. Silence surrounded him as the darkness began to engulf him. Deeper and deeper into the chasms of the cave, Jack continued. Using his hands along the surface of the walls to guide him along Jack continued, his body trembling with fear at what awaited him.
After what seemed a hundred years of isolation, trapped in the suffocating darkness, Jack could finally see hints of light breaking through the walls of the cave. This at first seemed a blessing but it was also a hindrance. For to be able to finally see ahead of him, relaxed Jack greatly. But it was what he saw that caused a sudden sweat to break out in the palm of his hands.
Cobwebs – bigger and uglier than any he had ever seen before. So big, he presumed the spiders that weaved them must be capable of devouring any human that became stuck in them. With his great fear of spiders Jack froze. He knew he had to progress but he had never even been able to catch a mummy spider in his bedroom, how could he possibly walk through such enormous cobwebs.
Looking behind him, into the darkness Jack suddenly realised that the spider could be anywhere. At any moment it could leap towards him, wrapping its eight long hairy legs around his body. The thought of this sent chills through Jacks body. He decided that if he were to stand there any longer he would certainly be spider bait. Pulling the boomerang from his back pocket he threw it towards the cobwebs. It successfully cut through the first few but then became stuck in another. The strings of the web began vibrating like a guitar string. Jack knew this would signal to the spider that there was food trapped in its web. He had to move quickly.
Walking forwards he squeezed his shoulder blades in as much as he could, so as to avoid the broken webs hanging beside him. He flinched as part of the web brushed across his ear and panicking he ran forwards. Pulling on the boomerang, the web stretched with it. Until it burst open sending strands of silk web all over Jack. Keeping his mouth tightly shut so as not to swallow any Jack used the boomerang like a knife. He began to chop through the remaining webs in front of him, as though he was chopping his way through a thick jungle. With one last swipe of the boomerang he had made it through to the other side.
Wiping the web away from his face and body Jack continued forwards. He decided to keep the boomerang ready in his hand, in case he had to fight off any bugs. Ahead of him Jack could see light flickering on the walls. Preparing himself mentally for what was to come, Jack crept towards the light.
Crouching low to the ground Jack leaned around the curve in the cave. His shadow projected onto the wall as the amber light from the flame flickered beside him. Edging slowly around, Jack hid behind a rock as he peeked out at the grand cave he was now in.
The limestone walls of the cave were a dirty brown. Large icicle looking rocks hung precariously from the roof of the cave. Even the walls had sharp pointy rocks hanging off of them. Around the cave, high up in the air sat a walkway which slowly arched around as it declined to the bottom. This is where Jack sat as he surveyed the scene. A large pool of turquoise blue water filled one area of the cave. Water could be heard dripping into this from the large teeth like structures hanging from the ceiling.
The cave was lit with flames burning brightly on torches which were mounted to the walls. Though still a lot of shadow remained. There were large rocks scattered across the cave, some too tall to climb.
Stood by the glowing pool of water, were Kazael and the Order of Five. Members of his army patrolled the ground below Jack. Some were standing still and others were pacing up and down following a set pattern.
Jack scanned the area, desperate to spot his Grandad. He was not with Kazael, nor was he near the pool of water. Looking into the shadows Jack hoped to find him there but still he did not see him. It was then that two men came walking from another area of the cave towards Kazael. Attached to one of the men was a long chain but Jack could not see where it went from his current position.
Deciding to move for want of a better view, Jack crept further around the ledge. Still he could not see what the chain was attached to, for the shadows were too dark. Until now Kazael and his men had not spoken but the man attached to the chain began to speak. From his current location Jack could only hear the sound of the mans voice but could not decipher any speech. Again Jack decided to move for a better vantage point so that he may hopefully hear what the men were saying.
‘He’s not co-operating sir. We can’t find it.’
‘Bring him closer.’ Kazael demanded.
Jack watched as the man appeared out of the shadows.
‘Grandad!’ Jack whispered as his heart skipped a beat.
His hands were bound together with a steel bracelet attached to a long chain which one of the guards held. Walking slowly towards Kazael he looked weak and tired. He had no shirt on, only his trousers. But his shoes and socks were missing. His body appeared covered in black dirt which helped to mask the bruises he had received from the torture he had endured. Jack could hardly fathom how his Grandad was still walking. His head was hung low and his eyes were heavy.
‘Still you refuse to tell my men where it is!’ Kazael spoke to Jacks Grandad as he stood staring at the floor. ‘I am growing tired of your attitude old man! If you do not co-operate soon we will have to dispose of you. You are of no use to us if you will not speak.’ Grandad remained silent. ‘Take him away from me. He is running out of time.’ Kazael said without a hint of emotion.
With his stomach churning as it had when he jumped out of the aeroplane, Jack was wrought with worry. He followed the ledge around trying not to lose sight of his Grandad. With only a second to spare he noticed a guard ascending the walkway. He was nearly upon him. As Jack began to search for a place to hide, he slid on the damp floor and began sliding down the ledge towards the oncoming guard.
The guard was almost as scared as Jack was, when he noticed the young boy propelling towards him. Startled with shock the guard did not make a sound as Jack threw the boomerang towards him. With perfect aim the boomerang hit the guard square in the head before dropping to the ground. Within seconds Jack had slid past the guard and picked up the boomerang on route. Managing to stop himself from sliding further, Jack looked back at the guard. It had taken a few moments but he had finally fallen to the floor, unconscious where the boomerang had hit him.
Realising he had lost sight of his Grandad, Jack ran to the side of the ledge and peered over the rocks. It was no good, he could not find him from this low down. He needed to be above them. Looking up at the large rocks standing in the middle of the cave he decided these would be ideal, but how would he get on top of them. They were too tall to climb and the gap between them and the ledge was too great to jump. Moving higher up the ledge Jack searched for ideas. It was then that he came upon his most daring feat yet.
Hanging by his fingertips, Jack could feel water slipping through his grasp. It made it even harder for him to keep his grip. Reaching forward with his right hand he grabbed the next tooth shaped rock. For Jack had decided the best way across was to climb the walls of the cave and to work his way across the roof, simply by hanging to the great rocks that had been formed over thousands of years by water dripping from the ground above. He had managed well so far but now the distance between the rocks grew farther apart and the water running down them did not help matters. As the gaps grew larger, Jack had to use his body to swing himself closer to the following rocks. And with a great deal of faith he had to let go of the previous
rock before he had a firm grasp of the next. Bats clung to the surrounding rocks and would occasionally fly up to him to investigate their new neighbour. This added to Jacks worries as he found it hard enough to hang on as it was. Luckily he did not need to worry about the men below spotting him as he was so high up, the lit torches had not managed to light the roof. Finally he had managed to reach a rock hanging over the large platform below and so he let his hands slide to the bottom before nervously letting go. Again his bare feet thundered with pain as he hit the hard rock below. But he could not make a sound.
Lying flat on his chest Jack crawled towards the edge of the great rock. Gazing over the sides he could see his Grandad sat on a small rock in the dark. The two guards were stood staring at him and appeared to be mocking him.
Jack looked back at Kazael. He was still standing beside the pool of water but this time he had his arms raised in the air and had begun to chant. The Order of Five were standing silently in a line behind him. As Kazael continued his strange chant, the pool of water began to bubble. Firstly they were only small bubbles but they began to grow in size and more of them formed. Steam rose from the water as though it was boiling.
The rest of the guards all walked towards the pool of water and stopped a few metres behind the Order of Five. They looked as nervous as Jack did. Grandad remained sitting on the small rock with the long chain attached to him.
Moments later rocks began to fall from the roof of the cave. In the beginning they were only small pebbles but they had grown to large rocks smashing onto the ground below. Eventually even some of the rocks Jack had used to climb across had begun to fall. The guards on the ground below began to panic and started to run up the ledge out of the cave. Some were crushed by boulders falling on them.
The guard attached to Grandad tried to force him up but he refused to move, even with rocks smashing all around him. Pulling on his chain the guard attempted to pull Grandad to his feet but as light as Grandad was, he could not be moved.
Jack clung desperately to the surface of the large rock he lay atop. It was rumbling and shaking violently, so much so that Jack thought they may be in the middle of an earthquake. He could see Kazael and the Order of Five. They appeared unconcerned with the cave collapsing around them and Kazael continued his chant. A strange yellow glow began to emit from the pool of water, as the rock Jack was on split in two. From the ground to the top it had separated and gradually began to crack and crumble into smaller pieces.
Jack decided it best to cling to one large chunk of rock and hope for the best. He knew it was too high to jump and he had no other choice. Seconds later he was flying through the air as though riding a meteorite. Before coming to a jolting halt as the rock smashed into the floor below but it still did not break.
On one side of Jack stood the guard, looking perplexed. On the other sat his Grandad with an equally surprised look on his face. Between them lay the chain, only now it had been broken in half by the force of the boulder landing on it.
‘JACK!’ Grandad stood up and cried.
‘GRANDAD!’ Jack jumped off of the rock and headed towards his Grandads out stretched open arms. But before he could reach him, the guard had run up from behind and grabbed Jack.
‘NO! Let him go!’ Grandad shouted with anger as he ran towards them. He barged directly at Jack and the guard who was forced to let Jack go so as to fight off Grandad.
With a great battle of strength, Jacks Grandad fought against the guard. For even the guard was taken by surprise at Grandads attack and his sudden found strength. Only minutes before Grandad appeared tired and old but now he was wrestling the guard. Rolling and tumbling across the floor they were unaware of how close they were to the Order of Five.
Jack ran after them shouting ‘Grandad! Watch out!’
But it was too late. In his struggle Grandad had ended up passing the Order of Five and was now in line with Kazael. But he still had not realised as he battled close to the edge of the boiling water. Now the order of five were aware of the situation they made their move. Not wanting to disturb Kazael during the final stages of his chant, two of the men grabbed Grandad and the guard. Separating them, the Order of Five held onto Grandad but pushed the guard into the boiling water.
‘AAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!!!!’ Shrieked the guard as his skin began to boil. Grandad worried he was next to suffer the horrendous fate but it did not seem to be on the Orders mind.
Horrified, Jack watched on, he was about to witness the beginning of the end. A blinding white light exploded from the water, as steam filled the room. Rising up from the water in the middle of the light, Jack could see it. The fragment of the star. It was more beautiful than the piece his Grandad had shown him before and certainly looked more magical. Why this was, Jack did not know. But he did know that it was not good that Kazael was about to harness its power.
‘Let your power be mine. For I shall honour the spirit of Minos and one day he shall reign again!’ Kazael spoke as he stretched his arms forwards into the light.
‘NO!’
Jack heard someone shouting. Looking up to the ledge, he could see Chris and Bill. Part of him felt happy to see them but he knew it would not matter if they could not stop Kazael, for they would all surely die.
‘We’re too late!’ Chris declared whilst the cave continued to collapse around them.
The Order of Five remained silent as Kazael pulled the star from the light. Holding it out in front of him, he turned to face Grandad. ‘Now old man, you shall witness the birth of a new world. You shall become the first to worship under my rule!’
‘Never!’ Grandad stood strong to the very end.
‘Once I harness the power of these two stars there will be no stopping me. I will find the book of legends and I will recover the remaining fragments of the star. Then Minos shall rise again!’ Kazael declared as he looked skyward.
It was then that Jack spotted the one thing that might save them all. For high up above Kazael, there remained the biggest of all the sharp tooth like rocks. Being the largest it had still not collapsed but Jack could see there was a large crack already forming through one side. If he could only aid it to break, then it would fall directly on Kazael.
Reaching into his back pocket he realised his boomerang was missing. This was his only chance, if he couldn’t find it then his plan wouldn’t work. ‘It must have fallen out when I was climbing across the roof.’ Jack declared. Looking around he spotted it hanging from the edge of the ledge above. Not wanting to signal to the Order of Five his intent, he waved his arms at Chris and Bill without speaking. Once he had their attention he pointed towards the boomerang.
Bill decided it would be his job to retrieve it, but he still did not know why Jack wanted it. As the cave continued to rumble Bill ran quickly towards it, as if it fell he knew it may disappear into the dark cracks forming across the base of the cave. Reaching out with his fingertips he managed to retrieve it and using the great skill he had shown Jack earlier threw it straight into Jacks hand.
Now it was Jacks turn to show Bill what he was capable of. Aiming high at the top of the rock and without using too much strength, Jack swiftly threw the boomerang into the air. Hitting the exact point he had been aiming for the boomerang bounced off of the rock and fell to the ground beside Kazael. But the rock had not broken off as Jack had planned.
Looking down at the boomerang, Kazael then turned his attention to the roof above him. Also looking up Grandad realised what Jacks plan had been. He knew that if Kazael figured it out he would move out of the way and all would be doomed. Although Jack already thought this as the rock had not yet fallen.
‘OK! I’ll tell you where the book of legends is!’ Grandad shouted at Kazael.
Chris and Bill looked down at him. Surprised that he may actually be willing to give up the book of legends.
This quickly roused Kazaels attention as had been Grandads plan. ‘Wh
y the sudden change of heart?’
‘For I do not want to die. I shall worship you if you let me live as one of the order?’ Grandad declared.
Jack was beginning to worry that his Grandad, really had given up hope. Kazael and the Order of Five were still too engrossed in their endeavour to notice young Jack sneaking towards them. If only he could get his boomerang and get one more chance at hitting the rock.
‘I pity you old man. Kneel to the ground and beg for your life to be saved. For Minos is merciful to those who submit to his power.’ Kazael said as he held the star in the air.
Grandad did as was asked and lowered his body to the ground, whilst the Order of Five watched on. Even they were in shock at Grandads sudden change of heart. Kneeling on the cold hard floor his old body appeared defeated. But what Jack could not see was that the boomerang lay only a few feet in front of his Grandad.
‘Now declare your love for Minos!’ Kazael smirked as he had control over Grandad.
Grandad began to speak ‘I – I – I Lo..’
‘Grandad! NO!’ Jack ran towards the Order of Five. Having alerted them to his presence Kazael turned his evil gaze upon Jack. As did the soulless Order of Five.
‘What have we here then?’ Kazael said whilst staring directly at Jack. ‘I thought you to be dead but perhaps I underestimated you! Now, I believe you may have the book of legends. Bring it to me!’
Two of the Order of Five marched solemnly towards Jack. Without anywhere to run and the cave still collapsing around them Jack looked over at his Grandad. It was then that he realised what his Grandads plan had been. Lunging forwards in one swift motion, Grandad swept the boomerang off of the ground and threw it directly at Kazael. Jacks eyes lit up, as did Chris and Bills as they watched the boomerang heading for Kazael. But having never thrown a boomerang before and weak from the torture he had endured, Grandad had barely managed to throw it a metre before it came flying back in another direction.
Realising this was his chance, Jack ran past the two zombie like men walking towards him. Narrowly evading their grasp. As the boomerang skimmed through the air, Jack had to jump across a large crack which had opened in the ground, in which if he had fallen he would surely have been lost forever. With rocks smashing to the floor surrounding him Jack stretched his arm out whilst flying through the air and caught the boomerang. Immediately as he landed he threw it at the rock above Kazael one last time.
Landing on the floor, Jack watched as the boomerang travelled up to the rock. Grandad sat up and gazed onwards as did Chris and Bill. Their hearts were in their throats as all of their hopes lay on this last throw. Kazael appeared surprised when Jack had not thrown the boomerang in his direction. For he had expected Jack to try to hit him with it. Deciding that Jack must have had a really bad aim, he began to laugh. Raising the star above his head his laugh echoed through the cave. It was as Kazael looked up at the star in his hands, that he saw what Jack had done.
‘NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!’ Kazael screamed as the large sharp rock fell towards him. Only seconds before Jack had successfully thrown the boomerang at the large crack again, causing the rock to break from the roof of the cave.
‘NOOOOOOO…………………………………………….’ Kazael disappeared under the giant rock as it smashed into him, burying him deep into the ground beneath it. As the rock came down upon him, he released the star, which fell to the floor and began bouncing towards the boiling pool of water. Grandad dived at the star and managed to catch it just before it fell into the water.
‘Jack!’ Grandad was standing beside the large rock now embedded into the floor beside him. He had the star in his hands.
‘Grandad!’ Jack looked over at his Grandad. The Order of Five did not move. For when Kazael had been destroyed, so had the power that had been keeping their soulless bodies alive. Now their lifeless bodies stood amongst the falling debris.
‘Come on Jack! We need to get out of here.’ Chris shouted down as the ledge they were on began to collapse.
It had taken only minutes for Jack, Grandad, Chris and Bill to escape the dangers of the cave. By the time they had reached the outside world the cave was no longer. All that remained was a stack of rocks where the entrance had once been.
‘What’s wrong Grandad?’ Jack said as he looked at it his Grandad sitting on a rock with a saddened face.
‘I feel bad for the guys. I mean the Order of Five.’
‘Why? They wanted to kill us?!’ Jack could not understand his Grandads sympathy.
‘I know. But it wasn’t really them. Kazael made them do it and stole their souls. Now they are locked down there forever with him. They were my friends once.’ Grandad wiped away a few tears.
Chris held his hand out to Grandad. ‘G’day. I’m Chris. And this is Bill. Nice to meet ya!’
Looking up, Grandad took Chris’s hand and shook it. ‘Thanks for helping my grandson.’
‘I thought they had captured you Jack. I heard the guards talking about this person they had caught by the lake and I thought it was you. They said they had killed you.’ Grandads eyes began to well up again.
‘No I’m ok. Chris, Bill and John helped me.’ Jack looked at Chris and Bill. ‘Where’s John?’
Chris and Bill looked sad. ‘I’m afraid he’s dead Jack.’ Chris said with a lump in his throat.
‘You see. He came back to rescue us. Which is exactly what he did. But then all of the guards took flight chasing him through the woods. He gave his life to save ours.’ Bill began to cry.
Chris put his arm around Bill.
‘I – I – I’m sorry.’ Jack wiped the tears away from his face with his arm.
‘Yes, sorry for your loss.’ Grandad offered his condolences.
‘What have you lost?!’
The group turned to see who had spoken.
‘Strewth! What’s wrong with you guys?’ John asked as he appeared out of the bushes.
‘Who are you?’ Grandad asked.
‘JOHN!’ The rest of the group shouted as they ran towards him.
‘What happened?’ Bill asked.
‘How did you get away?’ Chris questioned.
‘We thought you were dead!’ Jack declared.
‘Nah. I lost them out in the bush. Those strange fellas don’t know the bush like we do!’ John laughed.
‘But where have you been?’ Jack asked as he wiped away any sign of tears.
‘Well – I – uh – well – I – I got lost ok!’ John said as he folded his arms.
The group all began laughing loudly.
‘We’re just glad to have you back brother.’ Chris remarked.
‘Thank you all for helping Jack and me.’ Grandad said.
‘No worries. Your grandson is a great warrior and you should be very proud.’ Chris said.
‘I am.’ Grandad said as he hugged Jack.
‘But you said you wouldn’t come into the cave?’ Jack reminded Chris of his words earlier.
‘Well, we couldn’t let you have all the fun now, could we?!’ Chris said with jest as he patted Jack on the back.
‘I’m afraid we must be going Jack.’ Bill said smiling. ‘I’ll have to get you a new boomerang. You’re better than me now!’
Jack smiled but felt too upset to talk.
‘We should get you home as well Jack.’ Grandad said.
‘What adventures are we going to go on now?!’ Jack said as the group began laughing.
‘Hopefully none for a while. I think we will catch a plane home.’
‘And sneak onto it like last time?!’ Jack was full of excitement to be back with his Grandad.
‘No I think we’ll just get a ticket this time!’ Grandad laughed as did Chris, Bill, John and Jack.
‘Oh Grandad!’ Laughed Jack.
Chapter 12
Back to reality
It was the first day of the new school term. Jack
had been sat at his desk day dreaming as usual whilst Mrs Wedge stood at the front of the classroom discussing the new itinerary. Before the bell rang for class, all of the children had been talking about what they had been up to over the summer holiday. Some told stories of family vacations to tropical countries, others told of their trip to the nearest sea side town where it rained consistently every day. Jack feigned interest and instead allowed his thoughts to carry his mind back to Australia. He could almost feel the prickly heat on his skin.
‘Jack – Jack Chambers.’ Mrs Wedge called out.
Awaking from his trance Jack replied ‘Yes miss. Here miss.’
‘I know you are present Jack, as I called the register over an hour ago.’ Mrs Wedge was a light hearted kind woman and laughed slightly as she spoke to Jack. ‘Now you obviously have some deeply interesting stories to tell, for you have been lost in thought since class began.’
Mrs Wedge had been working her way through the class. Asking each pupil to stand next to the teachers desk and recount a story from their summer holiday. Jack was next. ‘Come to the front of the class Jack. Don’t be shy.’
Standing from his desk, Jack walked slowly towards the front of the class. It wasn’t that he was shy, that was playing on his mind. Nor was it that he didn’t have any stories, for he had plenty.
Standing there alone, he thought back to his dangerous adventure. It had only been the previous week that he had arrived back in London but it seemed like an eternity away now.
A smile crossed his face as he pictured Chris, Bill and John sitting around the camp fire. He grimaced as he thought of the rock crushing Kazael. And a warm feeling flooded his body, whilst he thought of returning home with his Grandad. Mr and Mrs Chambers had tried to act angry when they arrived home but he knew they were over the moon to see him, as was his grandmother and little Ruby. He never knew how but, Grandad had managed to convince them not to punish Jack. Somehow Grandad had even gotten away with the mischief himself and Mr and Mrs Chambers had not spoken of the night Grandad whisked Jack away since.
But Jack knew the class would not believe such a grand story. For they thought Jack a dreamer already, so to them this was sure to be just another make believe tale.
With this thought in mind Jack finally proceeded to talk.
Some in the class listened intently, others closed their eyes and had dreams of their own.
But Jack was happy, he had not lied. He had just told a different version of his story, which he knew the class would find believable. Returning to his desk, he felt the book of legends in his back pocket and began to think of what new adventures lay ahead. With this in mind Jack began to smile.
THE END
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