World of Taroo

by Jimmy Eriksson

  When she got poisoned by the shadow stone, she lost her soul as well as her kingdom. The last of that royal family would have died out with her unless there was a way to break the Alumrylite stone’s power. Yama said he knew of a story involving the shadow stone but there was no happy ending for the poor souls tainted by its power. He added that he didn’t know about the light stone’s power and what it could do as it was never used in the Great War seven hundred years ago. He remembered hearing something about what could be the light stone’s power being tested with one more Alumrylite stone, but after that they were never seen again. ‘The light must be opposite to the shadow so perhaps it healed,’ he said.

  Gon asked if Yama believed there was a chance that the island, the books and stories were talking about, would be the island with the mist surrounding it. Yama thought and said the only way to make sure was to go there. Isabel had been listening on the side ever since she brought the book and asked what would happen if Kemi would find the water stone. Yama said that if Kemi was poisoned with the shadow stone then she would want to have more power and with the water stone, she could possibly control the ocean. With only the two magical stones, she could inflict a lot of destruction on the lands. He also said that the king, or as he liked to be called, General Amaya, would not engage until they reached Redonia because they cared nothing for the surrounding countries. He also revealed that he knew one of the ancient kings of Redonia named those infected by the shadow magic to Daku.

  Yama knew only so much and he was actually sworn to secrecy by the old scholars that taught him about these things but he said it didn’t matter much anymore. Yama said they should stay for a while but if the contaminated army find the water stone, it’s possible for them to advance against the other lands and kingdoms. Gon thanked the monks and walked with Tiger while Isabel accompanied them. He told Tiger that the world had turned upside down. He told Tiger about Jay and how he also fought in the arena the same year. He had a hard time thinking his friend had turned bad and there must be a way to turn him back. Tiger said the light stone might be the only way to free him from his nightmare.

  Gon thought silently while Isabel asked Tiger about the first fight with her father in the snowy mountain. The story was very exciting and Tiger added much suspense in the words he used. Sophia and Isabel were sleeping together finally in one bed next to Gon. He couldn’t sleep and looked at the ceiling all night with many things on his mind. He thought about what he had seen and the dream he had where Senji warned him about the oncoming war. How was he going to keep his daughters safe if there was no stopping the army? Perhaps, he could leave towards Redonia but the man in the village said the ocean was patrolled by pirates. There would most likely also be many soldiers that would protect their borders from people wanting to seek refuge. He fell asleep after a while and had an idea on what he then must do.

  The morning came and the new arrivals were given some lessons from Master Tiger with Gon’s permission. Sophia was training with Gon using weapons and they had borrowed the monks’ battleground that had a full set of dummies. The monks had made the dummies strike at them continuously until being hit when they stopped. They worked through the great sea of pretend fighters until they reached the end. None of them got hit and they were great as a team. Some of the monks watched with impressed eyes and clapped their hands when they finished.

  Gon asked Sophia if she wanted to sit with him for a while because he needed to tell her something. She sat down and put her spear next to her. He said to her that he was worried about the oncoming war. She agreed and thought they would not be safe in the mountain if the army found the Alumrylite stone because they would eventually come to them. Gon looked over the mountain and said he had been thinking all night to come to a decision. He told her he would go to the island to have a look if that was the island where the Alumrylite stones came from. Sophia nodded and said it was the only way of finding the light stone. Sophia wondered if the magical stone might be at some other place as someone else must have thought about it and tried to reach the island. Surely, Amaya with his big armada must have tried to sail there before and had a look. Gon said he talked to Yama and there was no way for any ship could go there as they would be broken by the sharp rocks shooting up from the water.

  He talked to Tiger a bit and he thought they might have better luck with a smaller boat rather than a big one. Sophia wondered if this was such a great idea and said that even if it was possible to get there, there was nothing that said the Alumrylite stone had not already been taken from the island. Then she emphasised that it might not be the right island even. Gon nodded and said he couldn’t sit and wait and felt more than ever that he had to do something. He couldn’t stand having Jay being part of the darkness that followed him. Sophia knew how much they had been through and also understood her father wanted to protect his children. She said that if he was going then so would she but he told her no. He said he would go because he wanted to protect the ones he loved, not put them in danger. She put her hand on his knee and said firmly that he had no choice but to bring her because she would find another boat to follow alone or swim if she had no other option.

  ‘Besides,’ she said, ‘who other than me could you trust to have your back in a fight.’ Gon sighed and could not argue with that she would do anything to protect him too. She was also so stubborn that she would probably follow him anyway, he thought. He told her he would be happy to have her but they might need a couple of more people and should ask the others for help. They arrived back as the breakfast was being served. They sat down with the others and Isabel told her father what some of the monks had taught her. She was happy as the monks had a large library of books and scrolls. She said the monks thought she had a great handwriting and want her to help write the scrolls into books as long as they stayed.

  Gon looked at Sophia who looked back and then he asked Isabel what she would think about staying for a while to help the monks. She was happy but sensed there was something in his voice that was not right. She knew it was something that she should know and became serious. She asked if he would leave for the island and he looked surprised. She said silently that she figured he would want to go to help save Jay and also perhaps have another adventure. He nodded and said he would take Sophia with him and would ask some of the people from the school to come as well. Isabel was not worried and had always thought her father was the strongest in the world. She said plainly that she wanted a souvenir from the island when he came back. He smiled and gave her a hug before saying he would ask some of the students for their help in the morning after breakfast.

  Going to the Island

  After breakfast, Gon assembled every person that came with him from the school and also the monks came. He stood in the middle and everyone was silent. He immediately said he would go to the island in the north east where the mist never lifted. He talked about what he knew and said he would try to help the lands to fight the twisted army with the help of the light stone if it was there. He said he would want two additional companions to come with him and Sophia. Every one of his pupils, in one go, raised their hands and said they wished to come. Gon was overwhelmed by the support and willingness to go with him. He said they would be chosen by random and everyone wanting to go was asked to place a name in a bowl to be drawn. Everyone gave their name in and the two were picked by Gon’s top protégé, Wame.

  When picked, the two men left to pack their things while the others had questions. Gon and Sophia talked to the rest that wished them well and the monks said they had some gear they could bring with them that might help. Some of the monks were talking on the side and Tiger was standing with them. He disappeared and did not say good bye when they were ready to leave at noon to hike back to the small fishing town. The four travellers were walking fast down the mountain and were so quick, they reached the foot of the mountain before midnight. They had some sleep and arrived in the town early in the morning. When they came inside the town, they met the fisherman that they
met the first day and they asked him about a small boat. He said he had just got a sail attached on two of them finally after finding them in one of the other houses he searched through. He wondered why they would try to cross to Redonia on a small boat and risk getting taken or killed by the pirates.

  Gon, who seemed confident, said they would go around to the other side and then go over from there. The fisherman was suspicious but it was not his business anyway, he thought but he said he would only sell one because he couldn’t afford to lose it if it didn’t come back. Sophia said he should have more faith in people and was annoyed by the fisherman but Gon calmed her down. He gave the fisherman some money after they established the price. The fisherman overpriced the boat but Gon understood that the man was only trying to make some money since the times were uncertain. Besides, he thought, the money was not an issue because he was fairly wealthy anyway and brought with him enough money.

  They walked to the harbour and took the boat the fisherman sold them and moved it in position. It had a small sail and would hold up to five people. The harbour was empty except for some small boats and it looked very deserted. He showed them where to get out of the harbour but he told them it was currently low on water and they would have to wait a while. They headed back to the town and found a small shop that had some small hot foods so they sit down to talk. The former pupils at the school that had come had both brought swords with them. They had been at the school for a while and their names were Fon and Luma. Sophia was holding both her father’s staff as well as her favourite spear on her back. Her weapon was something Master Tiger and Yama had constructed together to give to her. It could come apart in two pieces and became smaller to carry or hide. The blade on the top also retracted to hide away and the spear was a little lighter than any other she had. She wondered why Master Tiger didn’t say goodbye and Gon said Tiger always went his own way. He probably was not great with goodbyes and had disappeared before without saying anything.

  Sophia remembered the night of her father being knighted. It was after the war between king Arobe and the Grasoll land that Tiger came. After a couple of hours, the water tide had increased and they headed back. When they entered the boatyard, they saw someone familiar. Master Tiger was standing with two other monks and he was waiting for them there. Gon was seeing the bags they had with them and said to Tiger when he came close that the fisherman was asking a high price for a boat. Tiger responded with that he had already convinced the fisherman to give a discount and pointed to another boat. They shook hands and Gon said it would be a tough journey over the sea but Tiger said they better go soon then. He laughed loudly and placed his bag into the boat that he had just bought. He introduced his two companions as Aido and Eesa.

  Sophia brought out a map that showed the way to the island and where it was located. Isabel gave her the map from one of the scrolls that were already painted in a book. She laid it out and said they would have to avoid the pirates but it should be a pretty straight forward trip. The problem was the Redonian fleet that they must avoid since they most likely would escort them back if they were found close to the island. If they should make it there, they still had some issues that they needed to solve. She said that there was no real information on how it looked like inside the mists and they had to be careful when they reached the outskirts of the island.

  They left in the two boats and they had a lot of supplies with them. To make sure they kept together, a long rope was tied to help the boats not to get too far from each other. They rode close to the mountain that began to form after a while until nightfall. They kept close to the land as they didn’t need to sail up yet and tried to make it as safe as possible. They had docked their boats next to a cliff and tried to sleep in the cool wind. Sophia felt a hand tapping her on the leg and opened her eyes. Fon told her silently that there was a ship coming further away. They watched the ship closely as it went past them and it was close enough to make out the fact that it was a pirate ship.

  Aido said he heard there was a small port close by called Thado and they most likely came in for filling up on food or weapons. He told them they could easily avoid the port if they went towards the island before they reached it. They didn’t sleep anymore that night and they, instead, left as soon as the sun was peeking over the horizon. Sailing during the night so close to the cliffs was not safe so they used the early light to go forward. They met no one else and as they saw the route to Thado port, they took another way. It didn’t take long before they would have to turn back when there were three ships heading straight towards them. Gon told them to turn back as they would be discovered fast and could face danger.

  Tiger said they now had to enter Thado since they would be discovered if they were to go on the side again. Thado port was a neutral zone and any fight was quelled by the people running it. Sophia said they would get caught as soon as they left but she knew there was no turning back then and instead brought up a flag she found in the boat. The flag was known as a trader flag and perhaps they might make less of notice if the people thought they were traders. They entered the inner canal and they steered towards a small dock. Tiger decided to put on his mask and would keep it on throughout the time they were there in case someone recognised him from the arena.

  The quick thinking by Sophia seemed to pay off as someone with the same flag wondered what they traded. Sophia again was quick and told the person they trade with weapons making and told him they had brought samples with them then showed her spear. The man saw her put her spear together and seemed to buy it so they got to dock. Tiger told them he had been there before and they would find a rest place with food close by. So they should go eat there because it was a better choice of food than other parts of the port. They took the weapons and walked in to the small food shop. It was a dirty bar and Tiger said it looked worse than before. He believed the owner might have stopped caring about it but hopefully, the food tasted the same as last time he was there.

  They sat at a booth to order some food and drink. When the food arrived, it looked like someone puked it up but Sophia was hungry and took a bite of the food. She had a look on her face so Gon asked her if it was bad but she said for a crappy looking establishment like this, they sure did make good food and continued eating. Tiger laughed and said at least the chef put some love into his cooking but maybe he was blind. There were a lot of people in the bar and Sophia had seen something in the side view of her eyes. In the port, there were men from all traders and as a rule, no one was allowed to cause harm to anyone else no matter who they were. The rule was respected most of the time and when broken, it was up to those in charge to deliver justice.

  Most of the time, it would mean death for those that caused the trouble. There were some drunken pirates in the corner and they were looking at her while talking. She wanted to tell her father discreetly but he said he knew already before she opened her mouth. He could see the men and they were being treated like anyone in there. He, of course, didn’t like them looking at his daughter and felt his muscles tense a little. The last thing they needed was to be caught in a fight in the port and be attacked by the people running it. They knew they could beat anyone and could probably tear down much of Thado port with just themselves but the word would get out. They might risk retaliation on the sea or later on the land if they were to engage in a fight. Their chances would decrease to reach the island by a lot. They agreed to leave in the night and the monk named Eesa had manage to find out that a lot of ships would leave during the evening. He said that they should leave right after, to be sure to be by themselves.

  They rose from their seats and headed out but when they walked out, some pirates stood outside. They were all drunk and caused no harm to them. As soon they left further away, the pirates inside the tavern that were looking at Sophia came out to follow them. Gon was very aware and told everyone to act normal. He told the others to give some space and while the others split up, they continued to walk. The pirates were five in number and followed Gon who wen
t next to Sophia. They took a turn and came to a dead end that had a few barrels standing there. When they turned back, the pirates stood in front and demanded that they give money. One of the pirates said Sophia would come with them as well as their guest.

  Gon said he was disappointed that they would go against the unwritten rule of no violence inside the port. One of the pirates said the rule meant nothing to them because they had nothing to live for anyway other than the easy prey that came from the island of Nanta at the moment. He pulled a knife out and said again to hand over the young woman so he could free her from her virginity. Something like this was nothing a father wanted to hear and Sophia could see one of her father’s eyes twitching a little. Gon told them that normally he would give them a chance to leave but as they threatened his daughter, they would have to die. The men pulled out their swords then laughed and said they had more weapons and they would kill him then. Because of his words, they would make Sophia their slave to be shared amongst them as they pleased. A whistle was heard and Tiger came from behind with the others.

  Gon told them not to move and leave the men alone where they were. The pirates looked confused and wondered why they hadn’t been attacked from both sides. Gon whispered something to Sophia, and she smiled then he backed away to stand in a corner. Tiger and the others backed away as well and guarded the exit. Sophia said that if they could beat her, she would become their slave and they could go. The men laughed and thought this would be an easy job that would give them a young woman to share. They walked forward and one man said he would make her have his baby. She made a face of disgust but stood still and when the first man came close to try and grab her, she lifted her hand and grabbed his arm. With a fast movement, she hit the elbow so hard, it broke off and kicked in his teeth as well.