by Maidie Reeve
“The goblins were obviously expecting us,” Jun said. “They’ll have warned their comrades, and they may be waiting for us at the gate. I wonder if there’s any way we can disguise ourselves, and then hope that the black feather passport still works.”
“We could dress you as forest folk, and you could pretend to be traders. That might work,” Stump said.
“Yes, it’s a good idea,” Twig agreed with Stump’s suggestion. “Let’s get away from here before any of the goblins come back. When we get to the village we’ll find some clothes for your disguise. Assuming you get through the gate, you and Sophie just need to work out what you are going to do when you enter Malefic’s world.”
“Aren’t you going to come with us?” Sophie asked Twig.
“No, I’m going to take The Elf Road with the others, and reach Eda’s camp as soon as possible. Many of the clan are already there, and more of us are needed if Eda is to defeat Malefic. I haven’t been much help to you up until now, so I’m sure you will be alright without me.”
As Twig finished speaking, the small band arrived at a stone bridge which spanned a shallow stream. On the other side of the bridge, all Jun and Sophie could see was a misty clearing and a few sparse trees.
“We have to leave the path,” Jun said to Sophie. “We’ll be within a circle of protection so it won’t be too risky, but I don’t know how strong the clan’s force field is against Malefic’s magic.”
“It hasn’t been tested yet,” Twig replied. “So we’ll be as quick as we can.”
When Sophie and Jun crossed the bridge they sensed that there were other unseen forest folk moving around them. They heard soft chattering voices and the pleasant smell of food being baked over an open fire.
“The clan know why you are here, and are going to help us find the things you need for your disguise,” Moss said. “Wait here, and we’ll be back soon.”
All of the clan members who had been on the rescue mission, including Twig, now activated their invisibility, and Sophie and Jun were left standing in what appeared to be an empty clearing.
However, it wasn’t long before Twig, Moss and Needle re-appeared. They each carried an armful of clothes. Willow soon followed carrying two leather flasks with long cords, and next came Fern carrying two knives in leather covers.
“What will we do with our own clothes? We can’t leave them here,” Sophie said.
“These clothes are quite large, so they should fit over what you’ve got on. It will make you look a lot bigger than you are, but that can be part of the disguise. The water in the flasks is from our well, and is safe to drink. We’re also giving each of you a sack to carry your shoes and items for trade,” Twig replied.
“And what’s with the knives?” Jun asked. “Won’t the goblins be suspicious if they see us carrying weapons?”
“No. Knives are not treated as weapons here. We didn’t have to protect ourselves until the goblins came. All travellers and forest folk carry knives. It’s how we prepare and eat our food. It would be more unusual if you didn’t have one,” Twig explained.
Soon Sophie and Jun were transformed.
Sophie’s red jacket was covered by a large green one with a wide leather belt. Her jeans had disappeared under a long brown woollen skirt, and she had changed her sneakers for ankle length boots. Twig used berry juice to stain her face and hands a reddish brown, and her hair now hung loose to her shoulders squashed down by a dark red cap. One of the flasks hung diagonally across her shoulders, and she had tucked one of the knives into her belt.
Like Sophie, Jun was unrecognizable. His blue jacket was also covered up by a large green jacket belted at the waist. A knife was tucked into his belt, and a flask was slung across his shoulders. Baggy brown pants hid his blue jeans, and he had replaced his joggers with long brown leather boots. His face and hands were stained with the berry juice, and his short black hair was hidden under a green felt cap with ear-flaps. The scrap of parchment with the drawing of the black feather was tucked safely into the top of one of his boots.
Stump appeared with two sacks containing a few kitchen utensils and small pieces of clothing. They were all items that looked like they could be useful to trade. Sophie stuffed her satchel and sneakers in one of the sacks, covering them up as much as possible. She then tied the sack up tightly with the cord provided. Jun put his joggers in the other sack, and pulled its cord tight.
They were ready to face the goblins at The Eighth Gateway.
“Stump, Needle and Moss are coming with me,” Twig informed his friends. “But Willow and Fern will follow you, and help you to get through the gate if there’s any trouble. You won’t see them, but they’ll be there.”
“Good luck Twig, and to all of you,” Sophie said to Twig’s companions. “We’ve still got a lot to do before we can reach Eda’s camp. But I’m sure we’ll see you there soon.”
Sophie and Jun swung their sacks up over their shoulders and turned away from their friends. As they walked swiftly across the stone bridge, and back onto the game path, they could hear Willow and Fern’s soft footsteps behind them.
Several minutes after leaving the village the pine forest thinned out, and the undergrowth became a lot thicker. Weeds filled the cracks in the path and the sky overhead was grey. A felled tree lay across the path, but luckily Sophie and Jun were able to climb over it without any trouble. A little further on they were surprised to see a narrow dirt track merging with the path. After about another one hundred meters a second winding track joined the path, and, as they approached the junction, they heard voices and the sound of heavy boots.
Three goblins, carrying bulging sacks over their shoulders, stepped onto the path ahead of the children. They looked ugly and mean, but they weren’t soldiers. Instead, like Sophie and Jun, they looked like traders.
They stopped for a moment and stared at the strangers, but then continued on their way, talking loudly.
“No-good forest folk,” one of the goblins grunted to his companions. “You see a lot of them now the gate is open. Wanting to come and sell us their rubbish.”
“I’d teach them a lesson if we weren’t in a hurry to reach the gateway before nightfall,” another goblin growled in response.
“Well, we’ve done alright out of that last forest village we were in. They were too scared not to give us all their good stuff,” the third goblin sniggered.
“Vile creatures,” Sophie muttered under her breath.
“Don’t let them bother you. Just keep walking slowly, and let them get ahead,” Jun said quietly.
The goblins didn’t pay them any more attention. They were very pleased with their haul, and were anxious to reach The Eighth Gateway.
However, the goblins and the children hadn’t gone very far when they ran into a small crowd of goblin soldiers and traders, all walking towards the gateway.
There were ten soldiers, armed with spears and short swords, walking two abreast along the path. At the head was a troop commander, able to be distinguished by his spiked helmet. They did not seem to be in any hurry.
Following behind, being careful not to annoy the soldiers by trying to overtake them, were six forest folk traders. Dressed like Sophie and June, each one carried a sack of farm goods for trade, a flask of drinking water and a small knife. They remained silent, and kept their eyes lowered.
“Oh no, that’s Captain Erluc up ahead. Best to stay clear of him,” one of the three thieving goblins, who was just a few steps ahead of Sophie and Jun, muttered to his two companions. “He doesn’t like us traders. Calls us all robbers, but he’s quick enough to take our food, and underpay us if he can.”
“Let’s get past this forest riff raff. I’m not waiting for them to get through the gate. We’re nearly there, and it’s almost nightfall,” one of his comrades grunted.
The three thieves pushed their way rudely through the group of six forest folk, elbowing them roughly aside, and knocking one of the smaller ones to the ground. The folk knew it was useless
to complain, so they paused to help their fellow traveller get back onto his feet, and then they all continued on their way. One of the forest traders glanced briefly at Sophie and Jun, gave them a quick nod, but said nothing.
“Don’t worry, they belong to a friendly clan. They can see us,’ an invisible Willow said quietly.”And they know you’re not one of us, but they won’t give you away."
“Thanks Willow. It’s good to know you and Fern are still there. Not far now. I can see the gateway,” Jun said.
“Me too,” Sophie replied, as she craned her neck to see around the crowd of travellers ahead of them. “It’s made of iron bars, and is in two sections. Only one of the sections is open, and I can also see a boom gate.”
Jun stood on tip-toes to get a better look.
“There’s a short queue of goblins and two sentries. One seems to be checking everyone, and the other’s opening the boom gate to let them through. No one’s being let in from the other side of the gate.”
As he spoke, the goblin troop lead by Captain Erluc arrived at the boom gate. A few words passed between the captain and the sentries, and the gate was raised. It was lowered again whilst the guards checked the passes of the goblin traders. All was in order, and they hurried through the gateway.
The forest folk came next. They were halted by the sentries and ordered to stand in single file. Sophie and Jun joined the queue as if they were part of the group. The sentries checked the forest folk traders one by one. They peered at their faces and then grabbed their passes. They looked at each pass intently, and thumped the sacks with the back of their swords, but none of the traders were turned away.
Sophie and Jun were last in the queue. They tried to look as calm as possible to hide their nervousness. Jun went first, and showed the parchment with the black feather.
“It’s for the two of us,” Jun said as confidently as possible as he handed it over to one of the sentries for inspection.
“Mmph, I can see it’s a priority pass,” the sentry snarled, as he stared at first Jun and then Sophie’s face with narrowed eyes. They hoped their disguise was good enough.
He handed the pass back.
“Let them through,” he called out to sentry operating the boom gate.
The gate was raised, and Jun and Sophie, resisting the temptation to run, walked as normally as possible towards the iron gateway. They went through the opening and into the world of the evil magician.
Chapter Eleven
A Strange Situation
“Do you recognise this place?” Jun asked Sophie, as they arrived at the opening of a tunnel cut into the rock face.
“It looks a bit like the tunnel I went through to the world of gateway eight, but the path seems smoother, and it’s now in the middle of a cart track. Shhh! Listen! Someone’s coming and there’s no place to hide.”
The sound of boots on the brick path grew louder, and a small group of forest folk traders holding a candle lantern appeared out of the gloom. They looked at the two newcomers standing at the entrance to the tunnel, curious to know who they were.
“We don’t know you, do we? Which village are you from?” A tiny round trader asked.
Sophie and Jun looked at each other, and shook their heads slightly in silent agreement. They did not want to reveal who they really were in case the traders were controlled by Malefic.
“We’re traders from a world several gateways away,” Jun said, trying to make his voice sound gruff. “Are there any goblins likely to delay us at the end of the tunnel? We plan to stay at The Black Feather Inn tonight, and would like to reach it before it gets too dark.”
“No, they’re only there during daylight,” a second trader responded. “The gate is locked at nightfall, and no one can pass until the gate is unlocked again at dawn. We got through the tunnel guards coming this way, but we’ve just missed the gate at this end, so we will have to stay here for the night until it reopens in the morning.”
“You may not get a room at The Black Feather tonight,” a third trader said. “We heard there’s going to be an important gathering there this evening. There’s even been rumours that Malefic himself might attend.”
“Best to steer clear of it,” the fourth and final member of the small group advised.
“Thank you for letting us know, but we’re hoping to meet some friends, so we’ll take a chance,” Jun replied.
“Well, safe journey, and good trading,” the tiny trader said.
Watched by the forest folk, Sophie and Jun entered the tunnel. They saw a faint flicker of light coming from a lantern attached to the tunnel wall. Walking past it, they saw a second lantern further along the tunnel, its candle almost burnt out.
There were no other lanterns, and the tunnel became darker, making it very difficult to see the path. After about fifty meters they turned a corner, and saw a flicker of light up ahead.
“Thank goodness, it’s the end of the tunnel. I hate all these dark places,” Sophie said.
“If the traders are right, there won’t be any guards, and it will give us a chance to plan our next move,” Jun replied. “Let’s stop here for a bit, and get out of these clothes while we’ve got the chance.”
Sophie and Jun quickly removed their top layer of clothes, and retrieved their things from the two sacks. They used the water in the flasks to wash their faces and hands, and before long they looked like their normal selves. They stuffed the forest clothes, knives and empty flasks into their sacks, which they planned to leave behind. They hoped that if anyone found them, they would think that they had fallen off a trader’s cart. Jun was careful to keep the parchment with the drawing of the black feather in his jacket pocket.
Sophie and Jun approached the tunnel entrance with caution. However, when they reached the opening it was clear that the guards had left for the night. There were two empty stools near the path, and a dying campfire. There was also no sign of any of the soldiers or travellers who had gone through the tunnel before them.
Night had fallen in the world of gateway eight. The barren landscape was gloomy and forbidding during the day, but at night, it looked even scarier. A half-moon bathed the world in an eerie weak light, and the many boulders and rocky outcrops loomed like large misshapen monsters out of the shadows.
In the distance, the dark tower of Malefic’s fortress stood stark and menacing, its outline etched against the night sky.
“I’m not sure what to do first. Go to The Black Feather Inn and try to find out what Malefic’s plotting, or go to the fortress and rescue Aisha and Basil. What do you think?” Sophie asked Jun.
“I think we should check The Book. It seems to be working okay now, and we need some advice. If Malefic and his goblin captains are at the inn, it could be a good time to get into the fortress, and be less risky for us when we leave the path. Let’s have a look at what it says, and then we can decide what to do.”
Jun quickly moved the two stools onto the path whilst Sophie got out The Book and opened it at the page for the world of The Eighth Gateway. They sat down and peered at the page which was illuminated by the pale moonlight.
For the game to continue you must all come together
There is much plotting afoot at The Black Feather
A dangerous foe awaits you at the inn tonight
He has watched you come, and to his delight
Your presence will give him the magic he needs
The final touch for his evil deeds
The time draws near for you to give up the power
To one who Malefic thinks is in the dark tower
Go to the inn and do not despair
Help will come from those who dare
“I wish it could be straight forward for once, and not always give us a riddle,” Sophie sighed. “Especially when we really need help.”
“I think it’s clear enough. It’s telling us to go the inn. Malefic’s going to be there, and probably the spy as well. He’s the only other enemy I know of who’s been watching us,” Jun said.
“I’ve no idea what giving up the power means, but it sounds like we’re going to get help, and everything will be alright,” Sophie looked hopeful.
“We’ll have a short rest while we decide what to do,” Jun replied.
At the same time that Sophie and Jun were sitting at the gate, and planning their next step, there was a surprising turn of events at the fortress.
Malefic was confident that all prisoners were securely locked away, and unable to escape. Accompanied by his key goblins – Weezle, Slithe and Grot – he left the fortress to meet with his senior goblin captains at The Black Feather Inn. They were waiting for him in the main room that was used for dining, and for receiving travellers. Their soldiers had been assembled, and were camped outside in the courtyard.
Malefic was totally unaware that in the deep dungeons of the tower, a daring escape was taking place.
Basil was furious that he had lost a move right at the start of the game, and had been captured and then imprisoned in The Snout’s Hole. He was determined to escape, and not wait to be rescued. Meeting the other imprisoned children from past games was proof that rescue might not come.
As Edward had suggested, Basil waited impatiently for The Snout to fall asleep. Several hours passed before he heard the loud snores of the ugly jailer. It was time to discuss his plans with Aisha and their fellow prisoners, so that they all knew what they had to do.
More time passed, and the captive children waited for the food bucket to be lowered into the hole.
“At last,” Basil exclaimed.
“Not too loud,” Aisha whispered. “The Snout will realize what we’re up to.”
The children quickly emptied the bucket of their daily food rations, and stood ready for action.
“You know what to do,” Basil said to his Viking charm as he placed it in the bucket.
“We’re finished,” Edward yelled at the jailer who was waiting above at the open grate.