by Gary Foshee
The North Gate guards had just finished opening the gate
and were securing the ropes and locking the pulley wheel. Two
guards patrolling outside the gate heard the temple bel s and
immediately halted in place.
Koman gazed at Malgog and with a squeamish look on his
face said, “It’s not Sun Day, why is Onuka sounding the bell?”
“That’s strange,” replied Malgog. “That was seven bel s. Four
bel s are for Sun Day. Seven bel s are rung only if we’re under
attack.”
They looked up. Their eyes scanned the dark fog creeping
ominously toward them. “I don’t see anything,” said Koman.
They drew their swords from leather scabbards and walked
nervously into the fog. Visibility was dim, only about five feet.
Malgog said, “There isn’t anything out here let’s go back.”
“What was that?” said Koman, his head turning back and
forth.
“What?” cried Malgog, jostling his feet backward.
“I thought I saw something.”
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A dark figure ran by Malgog, catching his eye this time.
Their hearts raced.
They slowly backed up.
A faint thump, thump, thump resounded through the fog
just before three arrows struck Koman in the chest knocking him
off his feet, plunging him backwards.
Stunned, Malgog yelled, “Shut the gate!”
The guard flipped the lever releasing the pin to close the gate.
The ropes smoked, sending tiny rope fibers twirling about into
the air as the gate dropped without restraint.
Malgog’s claws dug deep into the ground. He wheeled
around, throwing dirt high into the air as he ran on all fours trying to reach the gate before it closed, sealing his doom.
“Hurry Malgog, you can make it,” shouted the guards, arrows
landing all around him.
Malgog, with just a crack left, slipped through the gate as it
closed. With a look of horror on his face, he looked up at the
tower guards and said, “They’re here.” He col apsed face-first on the ground revealing the thirteen arrows stuck in his back.
Thunder Juice panicked. Guards scrambled from their homes.
They raced to get weapons, while others took up positions along
the wal s. The Shadow of Death retreated, withdrawing his dark
hideous form from the battle line, revealing Lucky and his forces spread out in front of the wal .
Alarms continued to sound all over town spreading from
gate-to-gate, house-to-house, and business-to-business. Women
and children fled for the temple and the passageways underneath
its foundations. Large boulders rained down upon the town.
Long black arrows flew over the wal s striking the rooftops, igniting homes and businesses.
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Lucky advanced from the shadow riding his black yel-
low-striped scorpion with a blood-red line running down its
back. He jumped down from the scorpion and transformed into
Slithler The Great Serpent. He hissed at the guards melting their spirits, sending fear throughout the ranks. He rose high off the ground and spoke:
“When the sun hits the top tower of the temple, my forces
will destroy this wal , this town, and all that remain. Leave your post now. Essscape with your lives while there is ssstill time,” he warned.
The clanging of swords resounding up and down the wal .
Guards, fearing for their lives, threw down their weapons, hastily abandoning their post.
Hopelessly running down the stairs, they heard the ruffle of
his wings. The Augur flew over the town, the wind from his wings extinguishing all fires. He landed atop the North Gate tower and closed his wings. Slithler burned with rage and hate at his sight.
He opened his mouth and spit venom at him. He slid back and
forth for all to see and hear his lurid proclamation:
“Wel , wel , wel , look who decided to return. Do not
think for one moment, he can sssave you. Look at the
burden he has placed around your necks all these years.
His laws and rules breaking your backs, making you fight
your own battles always having to pray to him for help.
He is the one that cursed you. He is the one that
makes you work and earn your labor by the sssweat of
your brows. He is the one that increased your wives’ pain
in childbirth.
What kind of a god would do that? What kind of
a god would cast his children from his presence and
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forsake them to this dry and barren land? He is no god.
He is a beast just like the rest of us. The sssame fate awaits
him as does this town—Death. Open the gate and wel-
come me in so I can protect you from his judgment.
Oh, I bet he didn’t tell you his plans for this town,
did he? He wants to destroy everything you have worked
ssso hard for. He plans to lay waste this town and every
ssstone of the temple. He does not love you. He hates
you. Turn from him now and I will ssspare your lives.”
Confused eyes cut to The Augur waiting for him to speak,
waiting for him to expose the Father of Lies for who he real y was.
But he didn’t. He just stood there. He did not open his mouth
or utter a word. He did not defend himself against the serpent’s accusations.
“Why does he just stand there?” the crowd asked.
“Why doesn’t he say something?” asked a guard.
“It must be true, that’s why. He has not come to rescue us.
He has come to watch us die. He has come to watch us die. Open
the gate, before the sun hits the temple. We must save ourselves,”
yelled another guard standing atop the adjacent tower.
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The Redmadafa
The River of Life.
The temple burst to life with the outer courts preparing for
battle. Trees broke off their branches and formed them into
wooden spears, bows and arrows. Rocks sharpened against each
other, like iron sharpening iron, formed themselves into arrow-
heads to be used for the tip of the spears. Grasses wound tightly together forming string for the bows and ropes for the catapults.
Mushrooms secreted a toxic poison into the cisterns to lace the
arrowheads.
The Redmadafa surged readying itself for the fires of doom
that lay outside the wal s waiting to burn the town and temple to the ground. Its calm waters swelled to small rapids, tossing quick cross-diagonal water in all directions foaming against the rocks at water’s edge. Toby swam up-stream while Tyku swam down,
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warning all Bugler fish and creatures that teemed in the waters of The Redmadafa about the terror to come.
Inside the temple, the aisles overflowed with activity.
Hundreds of women and children rushed into the sanctuary,
seeking shelter. Beyond the town wal s, in the crags of the mountain, flat lands and gullies, Slithler’s army positioned themselves readying for war. Hordes of deadly beasts erected battering rams, catapults, and towers of doom that reached high into the sky to
breach the outer wal s’ defenses.
Along the wal , soldiers stockpiled shields, spears, swords,
and bows and arrows, reinforcing their positions.
All able-bod-
ied men and boys drew armor from the armory and fastened
tightly-braided mesh underneath. Shields bearing an Almighty
Eagle with protruding talons shined around the wall as steady
eyes peered through helmets with long, steel black-pitted nose
guards. Others prepared large caldrons of burning tar to pour
down upon anyone or anything that tried to scale the gates or
wal s.
Down below, young boys shuffled cattle-drawn carts from
the mines bearing medium- sized rocks and boulders for the
catapults. Moogles drew the ropes down fastening them to rusty
hooks. Others loaded them with rocks and stood by waiting fur-
ther commands.
Down by The Redmadafa, numerous croakers emerged
from the water and removed several boards from pipes lead-
ing to town. The boards where used to shut off the flow of water to different areas of town to control the amount of pressure to
each location. By removing all the boards from certain pipes,
maximum pressure built up behind the giant nozzles atop the
guard towers, which stood ready to blast enemy forces trying to
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penetrate the perimeter wal s and to extinguish fires along the
wal s and in town.
Myott arrived at Caboose’s house just as they were getting ready to leave for the temple. He could see the worry in their eyes and hear it in their voices. Myott was a good man, a faithful and
humble man who worked hard providing a living for his fam-
ily. Although he was a large unidor like his little brother, he was exceedingly gentle and caring.
Myott grew up in Thunder Juice Town and never left. He
worked for his father from a young age and inherited the mill
after his death. He had several employees that worked for him
and he felt personal y responsible for them and their families.
Myott had never told anyone before, but he respected Chesty
for his adventurous heart. He longed to venture out and see the
world like Chesty had when he was young, and he longed to do
something Great. But up until now, he had only seen Thunder Juice Town and served the people of the mil .
“Penoba, is everyone alright?” he asked Mrs. Puller walking
through the door. He embraced each of them in his large gen-
tle arms.
Mrs. Puller took one look into his eyes and lost control of her
emotions. Myott and Chesty had the same slanted bluish-gray
eyes. She fell into his arms sobbing.
“I’m so sorry I couldn’t come earlier but things are chaotic in
town. The streets are crowded with people making their way to
the temple, and others closest to the wal s are deserted and barricaded.” He bent down toward Pepper and grabbed her up in his
arms, “Your Papa would be so proud of you.”
Tears streamed down her face and her chest jumped as she
breathed in. Pepper loved her uncle very much. She spent many
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nights at his house on the weekends playing with her cousins
and having fun. She spent hours in his backyard participating
in games and swinging from the huge rope swing he built which
hung high in a mature oak tree, back by the fence. Myott pushed
her and her cousins for hours way up in the sky, so high that
their feet kicked the branches hanging down from above. He
read them bedtime stories at night making funny noises with his
mouth as he read the adventures he dreamed himself of taking.
Myott sat down and listened to Pepper talk about missing
her Papa. She went on-and-on about what Caboose had told
her and how brave her Papa was. Mrs. Puller made him brum-
pel melon juice and brought it to him to drink. She looked tired, real y tired—he could see it on her face. But, being around Myott brought her renewed strength and hope. With everyone present
in the room, Myott lowered his head and confessed something
that had been on his heart for a long time.
“I don’t know what is going to happen in the next few days,
but there is something that I feel I need to share with you. There was a time in my younger years when your Papa and I didn’t
get along…but it wasn’t his fault. When he was young, he asked
our father for his inheritance and when father gave it to him, he abruptly left town. He was gone for a number of years scouring
the circle, living out his childhood fantasies of wild adventures into the great unknown. For a long time, we didn’t know where
he was or if he was even alive. But then late one day, in the evening, just as the sun lowered below the horizon, he came strolling along the trail like he didn’t have a care in the world, having lost all of his inheritance.
At first, I was glad to see him. I wanted to hear where he had
been and what he had been up to. But, to my surprise, when our
father saw him, instead of scolding him and bringing the rod of
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correction to his back like I thought he should, he did something I will never forget—he ran and embraced a son he thought was
lost and dead, and wept uncontrol ably. He ordered his servants
to fetch his robe and ring, and he lavished them on him. He then held a large feast and invited all his friends throughout the land.
My heart seized inside me. I was mad and pushed him away. I
thought my father had acted foolishly and showed contempt for
his irresponsible behavior.
For years I held that against them both but it was to my
own demise. Your grandfather knew exactly what he was doing.
Chesty had already learned a tough lesson and deeply regretted
not listening to our father in the first place. The only thing left to complete his journey in becoming a man, with a good new name
ready to face the next chapter of his life, was to be embraced by a loving father and receive his forgiveness.
Years later after our father died, your father came to work
for me at the mil . I assigned him the worst jobs and tried to
get him to quit, but the more I pushed, the harder he worked to
please me. He worked so hard to gain my trust and confidence
that I soon couldn’t imagine work and life without him—it didn’t take him long, either, to know and run the business better than I could. He was so funny. I loved having him by my side and there
was no one I trusted more to help me run the business. I can honestly say that today, without any reserve, that I loved him greatly and I will miss him more than you will ever know.”
Caboose sat quietly with tears running down his face. His
Papa did have some skeletons in his closet but they were good
ones. Ones that had shaped his life in a positive way and made
him appreciate life and the love of others that cared deeply for him. His uncle Myott also had some skeletons that he was final y getting rid of.
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“Uncle Myott,” said Caboose.
Myott lifted his head.
“I was there when he died. You would have been proud. He
charged through the middle of the colosseum tossing all kinds of beasts up in the air, gouging them with his horn. He protected me and countless others from certain death, even with his body was
cut and bleeding. He gave his life so that we could live.”
“Proud,” responded Myott, smiling. “It will forever be an
honor to
be known as the brother of ‘Chesty Puller.’” Mrs. Puller turned her head and wiped her face. She walked into the kitchen
and sat down. Myott had just closed a door to a wound that she
bore with her husband for many years. A calming peace swept
over her as she heard Myott speak again from the front.
“You kids get your things. I’ll make sure you make it to the
temple.”
Onuka and the remaining elders escorted everyone in and tried
to keep them calm. People were everywhere. They lined the aisles and hal ways, and packed into the outer rooms and corridors.
Rinox took several temple servants with him to help move the
ancient scrol s into the secret passageways and hide them, lest
the wall be penetrated and any harm befall the temple. They careful y packed them into baskets and loaded them into the tunnels.
Other servants passed out water and food and helped direct traf-
fic in the outer courts and gardens.
Myott and his family, with Penoba, Pepper and Caboose, hur-
ried down the cowardice streets, empty and quiet. Baskets and
clothes rummaged the alleys, and market tables were bare, picked clean by fleeing oddities; little creeptails high-footed along, scrap-ing every unclaimed morsel into their bulging, rubbery cheeks.
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Small pets wandered the streets, left behind by their owners.
Many doors and windows remained open, unsecured.
Caboose wasn’t afraid. He had survived the valley and knew
the tricks of Lucky. With the temple in view, he felt at peace—a peace that many others could use at the moment. Pepper on the
other hand, was extremely scared. She had never seen the town in such an uproar. She stopped and cast an abandoned peek at him,
and in a kind act of brotherly love, something he had not dis-
played before, Caboose picked her up, kissed her on the forehead and carried her the rest of the way.
Inside the temple, Myott made his way to Onuka, whose tired
figure stood at the front, directing traffic and giving orders. No one was allowed in the underground passageways yet. No army
had ever broken through the wal s. No need to panic. No need to
excite the people any more than necessary.
Myott walked over and listened to Onuka giving instructions
to bring water and help to the elderly and sick. Not wanting to
impede, he motioned to Onuka, “Onuka, can I speak with you