Alfred 2: And The Underworld (Alfred the Boy King)

by Ron Smorynski

  Thus, he began to research mining. He learned how important metal was in medieval times. He had overlooked this important aspect of medieval life. He found that most books he had studied tended to overlook it as well. It was if the metal just appeared and was used in weapons. Since there weren’t books on medieval mining, he researched modern mining and found small excerpts about mining during medieval times.

  One day Alfred was at the library checking out books on mining when he noticed Wooly. He suddenly turned and looked at the him.

  “Are you following me?”

  Wooly turned toward him, looking at a book, only it was upside down. Alfred stared at him for a long while. Wooly's eyes darted to and fro.

  “I'm just joking with you, Wooly!”

  “Oh... hi Alfred,” Wooly stared back with a scary wide-eyed look.

  “Wooly, have you ever heard of mining?” Alfred asked, ignoring the look. After all, Wooly always had a scary scarface look.

  “You're-mah... what?”

  “Mining? Have you ever heard of it or done any mining?” Alfred was peering through his collection of old library books that were as fresh and new as unopened books. Which, they were, unopened that is. Nobody cared to learn about mining.

  “Mining? As in deep below in the Underworld?”

  “Well sure. Underworld? Like the Under Realms game I play?!”

  “Under realms? I have not heard it called that but either way, it is a dangerous affair. In some cases, men dug too deep and fought... well, bad things can happen.”

  “Well sure, mining can be dangerous, but think of all the metals and precious gems one can get! You know, to help build a kingdom... well I mean you know, to get rich.”

  “The Underworld… I mean Under Realms... is not a place for a boy, much less men.”

  “Lots of goblins and ratkins down there!”

  “What goblins? Ratkins? How do you know about them?”

  “Goblins? Oh... ahh... my game! You know, my computer game! It’s called The Under Realms! I play and do a lot of mining. There are goblins and cave trolls and things I gotta fight off. It's way fun! I want to know about it, you know, to learn about real mining!” Alfred swallowed.

  Wooly seemed shaken, thinking hard on something else. He shook out of it and smiled that scarred-face smile at Alfred. “Excuse me.” Wooly bowed slightly and left.

  Alfred wondered about him. But alas, he held precious information in his hands that he wanted to read. He wanted to know all-things-mining, all-things-metal.

  One of the books had a word on the cover he had never read before: metallurgy. Ah yes, the study and techniques of purifying dirty metal ores and melting them down, cleaning them and then cooking them with the right amount of carbon or charcoal to make strong iron or steel. The goblins must know how to do it. It seemed like a lost art to Broggia and Boggin and the others of the Northern Kingdom. Alfred was intent on learning it all and taking it to them. He wanted to renew the art of metallurgy in the Westfold.

  Chapter Three: Woes of a Mother

  Alfred's mother plopped down another stew. She set it down hard enough that some stew slopped out of the bowl and onto his tiny desk. Alfred was busy mining in a dangerous area of lava pools with dreaded lava drakes. He had no time for his mother. Nor did he hear the plop-glob-slop of the bowl of stew.

  She stood there frustrated as he continued playing his game. She stared at him and then noticed the flickering lights. She focused her attention on the computer monitor. What was once just flashing lights became an image of fires spouting from pools of lava. Alfred shimmied and shook his mouse as he typed furiously on the W, A, D, and S keys. On the monitor he was leaping to and fro along a pool of hot magma in the cubit gaming world.

  Dark shadows flickered in Alfred's room. She stared at the flashes of fire on the screen. Alfred was focused on extracting a rare block of pure iron that would give him the best chance at making good steel. Then a cartoony lava drake rose from the magma. Alfred jerked his character about, ready to fight. He did not notice his mother standing behind him, staring at the drake.

  “Alfred! No! Get away from the fire! Bedenwulf!!!”

  Alfred twisted to see her acting weird. She was frantically grasping at the dark shadows in the room. He hastily turned back to his game and in dismay saw the drake attack and kill his character! He gritted his teeth and tapped his mouse mightily. He did not notice the dark shadows grabbing his mother and piercing her very soul.

  “Ah mom, I died! Could you not have a panic attack when I'm playing a...” he looked back at his mother.

  She lay on the floor, pale white, her breathing hoarse. Alfred dropped to his knees, “Mom? Mom?”

  She spluttered awake.

  “Another bad dream of the past? Of her? Of your escape?”

  “Yes... Alfred... but they are living nightmares... because you will go back any day now, won't you?”

  “Yes mom, I'm... preparing I guess, studying. I feel it. I am going to build up Grotham Keep and start mining. We are going to start building up an army, an army of steel. Preparing... and I need you to tell me everything you know about Gorbogal, about your sister.”

  Alfred's mom sat up. Anger began to swirl around her again. Dark shadows on the wall swirled around the room. Unaware, he looked at his mother. Dark claws emanated from the shadows, scraping at his mother. She seemed to feel them and became irritated.

  “Alfred, I forbid you to go!”

  “What? You can't stop me. I'm going to succeed where you failed.” His lips pursed.

  “Failed? I failed? Your father failed! Tirnalth failed! Dunther and the knights failed! The Father of Light failed! I was just a girl! A helpless princess! How can I have failed? All around me was the power of men who couldn't stop my wretched sister?!!”

  “She has powers, mom! Powers, how? How did she become a powerful witch?!”

  “Ask your Tirnalth. Ask them all how she became so dark and evil and so powerful. Ask those who led her to become who she is!” Even though Alfred held her, she still lay in the dark, in the shadows where Alfred could barely see her.

  He was silent for a moment, almost afraid of her dark visage. The room was somewhat dark though not completely. “But mom!”

  “Silence, fool! I will tell you nothing! You will fail in the Westfold, and I will yank you from that devastation. I tried to protect you from it! The inevitable complete fall of the Westfold, its utter destruction, you will see! And then I will yank you from it and forever, you will be mine, here, and safe!”

  Alfred gazed at her darkened face.

  She got up from the darkness. Her face was gray and ashen. Her eyes seemed red, almost with a flickering glow. Perhaps it was merely the reflection off the pause screen of his computer game. The image on the screen was of his dead character in the lava bobbing, waiting for him to 'RESTART'. Was that what reflected off her eyes, just a red glow from the screen? She walked out.

  Alfred shook off the heebie-jeebies. She was just crazy. She probably didn't know much at all. She certainly didn't know how to defeat Gorbogal. That was definitely something Alfred and his great advisers would have to do.

  He missed Verboden the cleric; Lord Gunther, his noble knight; and Tirnalth the great, the somewhat mystifying and severely handicapped wizard; Abedeyan, his old geezer of a castle manager, as it were; Cory, his trusted spearboy and friend; Sir Gorham, the gruff knight, and Sir Murith, the young haughty knight, and all the others. He especially missed Loranna, his archer girlfriend – well... girl …friend... a friend, that is, who happens to be a girl!

  His mother leaned on the door outside Alfred's room, heavily breathing and feeling the anger burn within. She gritted her teeth. Shadows danced around her. She stepped away from his bedroom door and seemed to float along by the dancing shadows. She swirled in the room and raised her arms upward as if posing like a mighty sorceress. She grinned maniacally for a moment, bringing her hands down as if clutching something. From her hands flicked little flames
of fire. Their movements were subtle, like the flicker of light in the evening glow of dim lamps. She saw the lights and then the shadows dancing around her. She saw demonic shapes swirl in and out of the dark mist.

  She immediately shook her head and her hands as if to put out the flames. She sat down at her sewing table and hid her face. The shadows chased to her seat.

  “No, no, no...”

  The shadows swirled about her. They clawed and scraped her with their ethereal essence.

  She sat up, grasped hands and prayed, “Father of Light, forgive me. Forgive me. Where art though, Father? Lost in the world? Empty are we, empty is the land. Save my son, save me, forgive... I still believe you came. I still believe...”

  As her words dissipated the shadows, the room filled with the warm light of a humble abode. She looked about. They were gone.

  “Go back to her,” she whispered softly.

  The next morning she walked Alfred to school.

  “Mom, I can walk myself.” He tried not to catch the gazes of other kids jumping out of their moms’ cars at the drop-off point. There was a whole line of cars with kids getting out. Alfred thought they were staring at him, but the kids were preoccupied with their smart phones and nodding along as their moms said something to them about homework or lunch tickets or backpacks.

  “Oh Alfred, look! All the other moms are taking their children to school,” she sang with a cheery step.

  “Yeah, in their cars!” Alfred yelped. Some of the kids didn't live that far away either. It was a busy hustle-bustle city, so maybe their moms thought it safer to drive them here than walk.

  At the school entrance, many parents, kids and school officials stood about talking. It was always a maze there for some reason. Alfred would weave his way through, hoping no one would talk to him. He liked to get to the school library and read up on his next medieval history lesson or mining report. Usually, he would leave his mom in a hurry so she wouldn't kiss him right there. She always tried to.

  However, this time, after all the darkness the night before, he let her kiss him.

  She was surprised he stood waiting. She expected a slight chase since she hadn't kissed him in a few days because of her anger.

  “Thank you, Alfred,” she said after kissing him easily. He seemed surprised she did. He had forgotten that he hadn't had one in awhile.

  “I'm sorry,” she added.

  He was a half step away, then stopped and looked back at her. “What do you mean?”

  “I'm sorry I was so angry, filled with darkness.” There were many people around them. All were chatting about remembering everything they needed for the day or when to get picked up or which parent was picking them up. It was a normal busy school morning.

  “It's okay, mom. I guess it’s a lot, what is happening. I get so caught up in it, learning so I can help them. You know, Lord Dunther is nice now. He said he was mean back then, but he's nice now. I want to help men like him.” He shrugged. She patted him on the back to go. He nodded and hurried along.

  She thought a moment about what he said. She noticed several young men, probably single dads, against the wall talking. They were dressed in the latest cool fashions. They looked at the moms a certain way. They didn't seem like fathers who were married and on their way to work to support their families. They seemed to have time on their hands, especially to dress smartly and wear jewelry and have nice haircuts.

  Something odd drove her to step closer. At first, they didn't notice her. Two were caught up in sharing something on their fancy phones. The other nodded to a young mother, who showed annoyance as she dropped her child off for school. As the young mother passed, he watched her for a bit too long and then he saw Alfred’s mom approaching. He straightened up while slightly elbowing one of the others, who looked up and elbowed the third. All three looked at her but were not sure how to judge her. They couldn’t decide if she was a young beautiful woman or not.

  She certainly had a look to her, but they could not quite grasp what it was. She didn't wear makeup and had her hair bundled up for work. Her clothes were simple with embroidery along the edges. They were confused by her natural beauty. She didn't have the sheen of amplified makeup or hair highlights or wear the latest in fashions. Her natural unaffected beauty confused them, and young men who think highly of themselves do not like confusion.

  “Hello,” she said.

  They were stunned. The first one, a bit taller and perhaps more handsome, took the bait.

  “Well, hello there.” He shared a quick glance with the other two. It was a secret signal that he would play along with her.

  “I need a man,” she said.

  “Uh what?”

  “I need a husband. Are you married or taken?”

  His eyes bulged. The others’ eyes bulged. One had a phone he juggled to catch, nearly dropping it.

  “I need a good strong honorable husband. Would you court me?”

  “Uh...courrr...? Whoa... lady... uh...” he put his hands up.

  “What about you?” she said to the juggler of the phone.

  “Uh me? No, shhhuuuirreeee... I'm married... “

  “Really? You seem to look at a lot of women here as they walk by you. Are you sure you are married?”

  He thought for a moment, feeling a modest amount of shame.

  “You don't act married,” she said.

  He tried to nod it off, but something inside him bothered him. And young men do not like to be bothered by strange feelings within.

  “What about you, young man? Are you married?” she asked the third. All of them were visibly shaken by her approach.

  “Ah nah... pzztt... not me.” He was trying to act cool about it.

  “You drop off a son, right?”

  “Ah yeah, that's my boy,” he shrugged with a cool smile.

  “I have a son too. I am a widow, and I need a man, a father for my son, someone we can rely on to be there.”

  All three tried to push the wall behind them back a little further.

  She could see the fear and confusion in their eyes. She felt it rise within her own. She looked to one side and noticed several moms standing in a circle, the young makeup kind, all looking her way. She looked at them and then at the men, who were trying not to catch her eye. She turned and walked away.

  Chapter Four: A Conversation

  After school, Alfred carried his mining books home. He had some of them stuffed in his backpack, and others he carried in his arms. Occasionally, he would curl them for exercise. Fighting goblins requires strength and fortitude!

  He walked by Wooly's workshop, which was near his apartment. It was an old garage or fire station stuffed between apartment buildings. Several old ladies came out of it with flashy computers. It was funny to see old ladies pushing shopping carts with small computers in them. Wooly must have just fixed them.

  “Did they play The Under Realms?” Alfred thought with amusement.

  Alfred waved to Wooly, who was at the garage door. Alfred did a few funny curls with his books to show off. He was in a chipper mood. Wooly looked at him quizzically.

  “I'm working out,” Alfred said. “I have to maintain my strength.”

  “Oh, that's good, methinks,” Wooly replied.

  “Youthinks? I gotta be strong to fight off goblins and trolls!” Alfred joked.

  Wooly stiffened a bit and then remembered, “Oh, the game you play on the computer, right?”

  “Oh yeah, yeah that... gotta stay strong, oh yeah.” Alfred was showing off with his curls a bit too much, causing his books to topple to the sidewalk – all but one, a small paper book, which he held in his curling arm.

  “Ooops! Heh heh.” Alfred dropped to pick them up. Wooly swooped down to pick a couple up as well. Alfred noticed Wooly's stance. It was wrestler-like and strong.

  “What is this, mining? Metallurgy?” Wooly looked at the books. “Planning on delving into the Underworld, are we?” Wooly said.

  “Underworld? You mean The Under Realm
s?!” Alfred emphasized.

  “Oh yes, that... isn't it just a game? You seem so studious in such arts for just a computer game.”

  “Ah... well… I just like learning a whole lot about the games I play. I mean the influence of it all. You know. In case I want to go there.”

  “Go there? What do you mean?”

  “Oh, I mean ah, not go there... get into it, yah know?” Alfred explained.

  “Get into it? Making computer games?”

  “Yeah... making them?? That's a good idea! I want to make a game about a boy that saves a land from an evil witch! The game will have a lost keep. That's a castle. And a lost princess and knights and farmers who help to fight off goblins and ratkins. You know what ratkins are, right?”

  Wooly stood frozen, staring through Alfred as he talked. His scarred face seemed more sunken today, and his eyes moistened, as if he was distracted by some long lost memory.

  “You shouldn't speak of such things, Alfred,” Wooly warned.

  “Whah? My computer game design?” Alfred peered at Wooly's eyes. They seemed emotional. “Hey Wooly, you kind of act like my mom whenever I bring up this stuff.”

  Wooly shook out of it. “Me? Your mother? No, no, I don't even know her. Here, your books!” Wooly quickly stacked them and placed them in Alfred's arms, shaking off his stiff demeanor.

  “Ooof!” Alfred could barely hold them up this time. They seemed heavier. Physics – in particular the effect of a stack of books plopped down on weak, loosy-goosy arms – is not something Alfred had studied much.

  “Well, a little weak-kneed, are we?” Wooly huffed. “Perhaps a real workout is in order?”

  “What?” Alfred regained his balance. “You would workout with me?”

  Wooly blinked.

  “Do you workout? You look strong.” Alfred stepped closer.

  Wooly tried to think of a way out of this.

  “Can you show me some stuff? Any workout stuff? I'd like to learn, you know, to get stronger!”

  “Mmm, uhmmm...” Wooly wasn't that brilliant when it came to offering something then trying to weasel out of it.