World of Taroo

by Jimmy Eriksson

  Gon had her head in his hand and as she lay ready, he snapped her neck that killed her instantly. He looked at her, and she smiled even in her death. He covered her face and walked out where Sophia was using her spear to stab some of the wine barrels. He could see she was distressed about what had happened and had never seen such cruelty first hand. He told her this was a reason he never had any sympathy to bad people. He stood behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. He said she would most likely see more of this in her life time. She stood still and was quiet when he spoke. When he was finished, he took the hand off her shoulder but as he was about to turn and walk towards the ladder going up to the middle of the ship, she turned and hugged him hard. She cried a little and said she thought it was unfair it had happened. Gon held her as she turned from a young woman to a little girl again. He hugged her and told her he would never let anyone hurt her.

  They stood for a while and then Gon gave her a kiss on top of her head and told her they would use the ship to get to the island. They walked up and reached the deck where they were met by the two monks that said they were heading directly to the island in great speed. Sophia saw the dead captain and ran to him. She kicked at him several times while screaming and the kicks were so hard, they could be heard breaking bones inside him. The monks and everyone else looked at her and wondered what was happening. Gon said he would fill them in later and to let her be. She finally stopped and gave such a hard kick that it moved the captain a little. Before she walked away, she spit at him and walked to the front of the ship. She stayed there for the rest of the night and looked over the ocean while the others slept and ate from the crew’s food.

  Fon brought her some food but she did not touch it and in the morning, she came back and joined the others for breakfast. Before they asked, she told them she was fine and she only needed some time to think and she had calmed down. They knew the story in the locked room and said they would kick all the pirates off the ship and that’s exactly what they did after breakfast. They all helped to throw the men overboard. Luma walked up to Gon and told him he had found an unopened bottle he might like. Gon looked at the bottle and smiled wide because he had not had a taste of Redoli for some time. He told Luma they would open it when they had successfully left the island with what they came for. The day had reached noon when Tiger spotted the mist in the horizon and let the others know. They all saw the mist spreading further.

  Tiger said, with this speed, they would reach it in two hours. During this time, they prepared themselves and gathered anything they might need. They would slow down as they came closer and when they finally reached the mist. They were sailing slow. The waves started to pick up and the ship became harder to handle in the water. Soon, they could see why no one had any information about this island. The mist got lighter somewhat and they could see several ships sticking up from the depth of the ocean. The sounds of the wood cricking in the waves were heard from all over and they could see the rock formations were plenty.

  They followed the narrow path that was not filled with rocks but sometimes hit other broken ships. Suddenly, the ship hit something and it got stuck on a shallow part in the mist. The waves moved them further into the sand and they knew this was as far as they would be able to go with the ship. The two boats got filled with equipment and they also brought four oars with them that they took from the ship. The oars were used to stay clear of the sharp rocks and sunken ships that were in front of them.

  When they left the ship with the two small boats, they hoped it was not too far and that they would make it safely. Going between the obstacles was hard but they all managed to stay clear of anything that might damage the boats. After going for what felt like several hours, the mist lifted even more. The noise of waves hitting land brought their spirit up. They moved towards the sound and soon, they were able to see a beach. As soon as they got close to it, they saw a forest ahead. They were happy and cheered when the boats hit land and they pulled them up onto land but soon discovered a message of not being welcomed.

  On the beach further away. There were several skeletons boarded up on spikes and a sign that could only be seen as a warning to stay out. Tiger looked at the rags on one of the skeletons and could see it had the mark of the old Redonian kingdom from many hundred years ago. He remembered how it looked like because of a time he was inside of the Redonian castle when he fought one of the soldiers. He had been invited there after he had won his first fight in the arena by one of the royals. He had seen the armoury that displayed all the ancient weapons and artefacts from the Redonian history. After telling the others they could tell that the island must be a very dangerous place. There was no chance they would leave then, however, and they quickly decided to continue on but they intended on keeping themselves in the shadows.

  The Tower

  The sun was still up and they heard noises of birds in the trees. They rested a little on the beach and had some more food before they decided to have a look around. They stayed together and walked through the forest that had plants they had never seen before. Aido climbed the trees to see if he could see anything and a mountain was sighted towards the west. When they reached it, the night had started to come. They decided to stay at the foot of the mountain and sleep. The night came and Tiger was able to catch a wild pig that they cooked. The night was really peaceful and they all got to sleep with them taking turns to stand guard.

  As soon as morning came, they climbed the mountain. It was easy to walk up and some flowers were growing there and bushes on patches were around them. When they had come high enough, they started to walk around the mountain. After a couple of hours, they stopped and hid. In the valley below, they could see a city. The city looked different from the usual towns in the countries. They had a great view of the city and could see a tower in the far corner of the city. They knew they must be careful as there was no information about the people on the island and they might be hostile to outsiders. They agreed to split up and gather information about the people and the surroundings. Tiger went with Aido and Eesa one way while Gon, Sophia and the pupils took another path.

  Well below, Luma spotted the first person coming. The clothes looked very different and he was fairly short. They snuck closer to the city and climbed a wall that was behind some trees. From the top of the wall that they could stand on and still hide behind the top of the trees, they could see several people that walked around. They had a shop nearby that they smelled bread from. They sat for a while and then moved on down behind the wall again.

  Gon noticed some were wearing white clothes with high hats and he figured they must be of importance. They followed the wall and were heading towards a bridge they saw from the wall and hid under it when they arrived at it. From below, they could hear voices and the language was similar to what they spoke but some words they couldn’t understand. After an hour, they left the bridge and headed back up on the mountain where Tiger soon caught up to them. He said he managed to get into the city through a sewer hole and they walked underneath the city a fair bit. He also said he heard about a ceremony regarding the shiny protectors and he believed they might get more information if they might find where that was.

  They waited until the night to walk down the mountain again. They snuck in the same way Tiger did before with the two monks and listened to the voices on top. There was an opening in some bushes and the sewer led up to the ground. They were able to break the fence enough to get out and they knew they had a great view of what looked like a market. It was empty and some fires were lit to light it up. Aido wondered why the city seemed so empty but soon got the answer as he could see thousands of people gathered in front of the enormous tower. They were all humming and the men in the white clothes and high hats were standing in front and were talking. It was too far to hear what he said but he pointed to the top of the tower. The height of it must be 300 meters and they wondered how it was possible to build something so tall.

  They moved on and entered something that looked like a sta
ble. There were horses inside together with some pigs. From there, they could find an old house that looked abandoned. Well inside, they saw the house was burned by fire. They talked about the next step, and if they should continue to search for more clues or maybe introduce themselves. The option turned out to show itself as a person closed in on them. He walked around the house and opened the door to the house. He said he saw someone enter the house from his window so he came to saw what was going on. They said nothing but the man turned his light more in and he spotted movement. He said he would call for the guards if they didn’t show themselves and kept turning his light around. He walked further in and then he saw Eesa standing there as the light shone at him. He was, of course, taken by the clothes and realised that Eesa was an outsider. He ran towards the door and shouted for the guards. Tiger threw a wooden stick that hit him in the head so he passed out.

  They then had a situation where they might get caught and they needed to be careful. With the man out cold, they had not much time to prepare and they then had several ways they could go. They all believed killing the man would be foolish as he most likely would be missed and create a suspicion about the death of the man. They could bring him with them and keep him as long as they were there and release him later but since they didn’t know who he was, they could try to talk to him and make him say they didn’t want any harm but he might sound an alarm the first chance he got.

  They eventually decided to bring him with them and question him. The evening was now turning to midnight and in the cover of the darkness, they brought the man with them through the cover of night and avoided any people by taking the way through the sewer. They came out and hurried up towards the mountain except for Tiger who said he would keep an eye on the city. They came up to the point where they had set up camp between some bushes that covered a cave in the mountain. They sat the man down that had started to wake up. They didn’t tie him up as they didn’t want to seem as aggressive but they were ready to rope him if necessary.

  The man lay on the ground and slowly rose up to a sitting position. He realised he was not in the house anymore and remembered what happened. When he looked up and saw the faces of the new people, he was surprisingly calm. He asked what they wanted with him and Gon walked closer. He introduced himself and the others. He told the man they had come as explorers and apologised about bringing him there against him agreeing to it but since they didn’t know if they were hostile to outsiders, they could not take any chance.

  Gon never said anything about the magic stones or the fact that he had seen the remains of the other people coming to the island. The man had a different accent and even if they could mostly understand, sometimes they had trouble with his speech. The man asked if he could leave and Gon said he could but they would need some information first. The man wondered what he could do to help and they asked several questions. It was mostly innocent questions that they hoped would make the man calm. Tiger kept a look out for if there was any alarm raised about the man by standing at the wall in the trees but no one seemed to miss him yet. He, with the two monks, was trying to figure out how many people there were living in the city so they could report any details to the high monks in the monastery later and despite the darkness, they could see well as the fires on some urns on poles were burning all over and lit up the night.

  They saw some people walking around and even at night, the city seemed busy. Sophia asked the island man about the big tower and the man said it was a place of worship and no one was ever allowed in there except the priests. When they asked what gods they prayed to, he said the sky god that gave them his children to build their island. He said he would like to return home and Gon said they would escort him back when Tiger returned back. Two hours later when the sun graced the mountain side where the cave was, he said the people were beginning to fill the streets to Sophia who stood outside while Gon talked to the man about where they were from.

  When Tiger walked in the cave, the man looked at him and smiled. He seemed content and happy. They decided to bring him out and serve breakfast. They all sat and ate the food. Tiger was keeping a hard look at the man and so was Gon. They were well-aware that the man might be playing them for fools and were ready for him to do something stupid. He never did and soon, they would have to decide if they should release or keep holding him. The man said they had nothing to worry about from them as long as they didn’t have come to steal from the island. They all sat quietly and continued eating. While the man was sitting with the pupils and monks, Tiger, Gon and Sophia talked about what to do. They all agreed the people, indeed, did not like outsiders and they had seen the dead people strapped up.

  Sophia said they should test the man to see if he could be trusted. They agreed for the man to be released and them walking behind. Tiger and the monks left briefly and returned after another three hours. He went to Gon and then the man was told they would walk him back. They left right away and descended the mountain. They followed Tiger down a path leading a different way for them. Tiger stopped and joined the others. He let the man go first and talked to Gon. The man was quiet and looked around. He sometimes looked back to check on the others and then picked up some speed. When he walked past one big boulder, the others walked the other way around it.

  The man suddenly heard a big crack behind the rock and the others started to call for help after a few seconds. He looked only on the side and saw a hole and voices inside. Without any hesitation, he took off towards the city. He ran fast and looked behind. He saw nothing and when he came closer, he started to scream for help. He was still too far for anyone to hear but he still screamed that outsiders were there and said to sound alarm. He was about to just come to a last steep hill before coming to some trees that blocked the road.

  As he was just about to reach it, Master Tiger came up from the hill. The man stopped and could not believe he was looking upon Tiger that fell in the hole with the others. He looked back but could not see anyone still. He picked a sharp rock he noticed was lying next to him. He pointed it to Tiger and said he would kill him if he didn’t move. Tiger waved his hand to tell the man to attack him. He struck at Tiger but it was avoided easily so the man tried again but missed yet again. He threw the rock towards Tiger and continued to run down the hill. Tiger took aim and jumped down the hill. He jumped so high and fast that when the man looked behind himself, he didn’t see him coming and passing him.

  When the man turned his head, he got taken down by running into Tiger’s arm. He was almost knocked out and lay down and held his head. He tried to scream for help but Tiger grabbed the man’s throat and squeezed. He held his finger in front of his mouth and told the man to be quiet. The man did everything to get loose and Tiger got fed up. He punched him in the stomach, hard, to make the man lose his breath. Tiger grabbed the man and dragged him up the hill again. When he came up, the others had sat down and were waiting. The man was placed in the middle and soon got enough breath to say they would all die. They realised what kind of person the man was and that he would never help them. He said it didn’t matter if they killed him or not because the Bhelu would never let them leave alive.

  None of them knew what he talked about but they soon got other things to think about. The question about what to do about the man was answered fast as he tried to throw some dirt on Fon and then went for his sword that was close by. Fon realised what was about to happen and moved fast. The man did not realise Fon would be able to move so quickly and found out the hard way. He ran in to the sword by himself when Fon quickly raised it up. Sophia called the man stupid to attack and Fon kicked him off the sword. He lay before them and breathed short breaths. He said he would reach the gods but they would die by his protector. He closed his eyes and a long breath was the last noise he made.

  Gon sighed and grabbed the man and with the help of Aido, they took him up the mountain again and when they reached the place where he ran from them, Gon looked at the hole and told Tiger that they did a great job covering the hole and f
illing it with soft bushes and left over some branches. They dug out some of the material and lay the man in the hole. They covered him up and decided to again try in the night to sneak into the city. While they waited for the darkness, they spoke about what the man said. Sophia wondered who this protector was and could it be the same Bhelu the man spoke of. They would have to hope it was just another soldier but something told them they might find out soon enough.

  The night had come and they had entered the stable again. They looked at the house they believed the man came from and Luma snuck up to it. He looked in and the man’s portrait was on the wall. They got in the house through the window that Luma broke open with a knife. The house was still lit from the day before so they made it dark to cover from shadows of the light. They looked out the window on the other side and could see some people walking around. The man’s house was a little on the side so no one would come close unless they wanted to see the man. They searched the house for clues about the people and city and came across several things that showed the man being a painter and had his name on some of the paintings around the house.

  They soon found out what they had been looking for was there on the island when Sophia opened a large cabinet, a small light came from a gem placed on the top of the inside cabinet. The gems were found in the caves around the lands that shone in the dark. They all looked upon a painting of all the Magical stones. They cheered silently and hugged each other. Eesa looked at the painting and he was the one with most knowledge about the Alumrylite stones as he had studied the book Gon brought a lot on the way there. He told them there was something different about the painting. They looked at him and he pointed to the magic stones. He said the magic stones in the order they were put on the painting in a ring. There was Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Darkness and Light. Then they all saw there was another Alumrylite stone with an hourglass behind it.