Crocodile Queen
Title Page
Chapter 1: The Crocodile Queen.
Chapter 2: Night Scares.
Chapter 3: Back in Business.
Chapter 4: Desperate Times.
Chapter 5: The Stranger.
Chapter 6: A Call to Action.
Chapter 7: A Different Time.
Chapter 8: The Fragrant Harbor.
Chapter 9: Going Home.
Chapter 10: The Monastery of Light.
Crocodile Queen
Book Three
The Dream Cane Series ©
By
Phil Armstrong
Published by
White Wolf Books ©
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Title and Copyright Page
White Wolf Books ©
Crocodile Queen
Book Three of The Dream Cane series
by Phil Armstrong
Thank you for downloading the third eBook in “The Dream Cane” series ©. You are most welcome to share it with your friends. This book may be reproduced, copied, and distributed for non-commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete and original form, with the exception, of quotes used in reviews. Your support and respect for the intellectual property of this author is appreciated.
The cover graphic has been licensed and purchased by the author from Dreamstime.com -
© Medieval young girl surrounded by crocodiles: © Fernando Cortés | Dreamstime.com | Royalty Free.
This book is a work of fiction, the author tries to merge facts with his creative mind, some of the characters, events, places, buildings, and monuments are based in fact. To advance the story, fictional characters and fictional events have been manufactured by the author’s creative mind. For the fictional characters, any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places and events, is purely coincidental or portrayed in a fictional way. For the people or places that are based in fact, the author has tried to represent them as accurately as the historical record allows.
Thank you for downloading this eBook – enjoy!
ISBN 978-0-9877284-6-3 Crocodile Queen
Copyright 2018, Author: Phil Armstrong. Discover other free titles and works by Phil Armstrong at
www.whitewolfbooks.ca
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Crocodile Queen
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The Sixth Realm - Bardonia
Chapter 1: The Crocodile Queen.
Crescent Island, Bardonia.
“I feel like a visitor just about everywhere.”
A year had raced by since the day that Raj had passed away, life had returned to normal in Bardonia with the imminent threat of evil now extinguished, and the three witches finally forgotten. The once rampaging Devlins were all gone, with an occasional rumored sighting that never really seemed to materialize. The forest had returned to its original state, with the animals resuming their life and behaving in their natural order. Eian, the Elfen ranger, along with countless animal leaders, were hailed as enduring heroes, including the brave little mouse who played a role much larger than his diminutive stature. Their contributions would never be forgotten, immortalized within the lyrics of new songs, written into plays, and depicted within gloriously decorative murals commissioned to adorn the great halls of every castle in the realm. Sadly, only a handful of people would know of the pivotal roles played by Raj, Dan, Kaan, Jean, and the Crocodile Queen, on that fateful day.
Their very existence was deemed to be privileged information; it was determined that visitors from another realm, another time and place, and more importantly, another species, would irreversibly unsettle the newfound optimism now spreading across Bardonia.
A large heavy wooden door, elaborately framed with iron hinges and large iron studs, swung open to reveal a vast hall designed for hosting elaborate banquets, "Come in here, please wait," instructed a heavily armed Ricar. Kaan smiled patiently, the Ricar’s large frame reminded him of Dan and Raj, wearing their Brion Fern insignias, while making the prestigious Revercan Ricars proud. Kaan's latest visit to Crescent Island was directly related to this brave pair of warriors, Kaan felt proud to call them his friends.
The large wooden door closed behind him, he waited patiently for an audience with the Crocodile Queen, the Ricar guard took their duties seriously. It was dusty, dark, and dim, inside the great banquet hall, a hall that had stood idle for a long time, it was clearly unused and showing its signs of age. The Crocodile Queen rarely received visitors, this once vibrant meeting place at the center of so many important meetings and functions, now lay sadly abandoned, adorned only with a sparse number of furnishings it’s small high windows were covered in dark cloth to suppress the searing sun from entering.
Kaan raised his hands to his face, he withdrew his monk's hood pushing it backwards towards his shoulders revealing his scarred face and strong square chin, as his hood fell. Kaan squinted, closing the corners of his eyes as he tried to adjust his vision to his new surroundings. Kaan was looking forward to seeing his old friend the Crocodile Queen; he’d brought with him an important letter from Jean, which he knew would certainly elevate her spirits. She'd fallen in love with the French Knight, born in a more chivalrous time, long ago, and in another realm. Both had the enviable ability to travel through time, and when the planes of time and space collided, their souls met, falling hopelessly in love. Circumstances conspired, and it meant they were destined to spend most of their lives apart, only managing to orchestrate the briefest of crossings, a collision of their destinies infrequently. With some extreme planning they could snatch moments of happiness together, and that would have to be enough for these lovers entwined in time. Kaan smiled ironically, he’d never been able to find such happiness within his complicated life; he remembered Jean fondly, an eloquent knight that had told him with such conviction that ‘absence made the heart grow fonder.’
Outside of the castle, raised high upon a grassy hill on Crescent Island, the river suddenly burst into life, frothing with white bubbles and underwater activity, an undulating mass of broad backed crocodiles writhed around in the water. They organized to form a bridge for the Crocodile Queen providing her safe passage across the river to enter Crescent Island. She walked confidently across their backs; she appeared to float across the water's reflective surface. It was a majestic sight as she casually stepped onto solid ground gratefully nodding her appreciation to her loyal attentive escort. Safely upon the island’s shore, she walked towards the castle where she was greeted by her head guard; a large Ricar whom she recognized as Tan. "My Queen, a visitor waits for you in the great hall - a monk. He carries a sword with a crescent shaped handle, but he's not one of ours," Tan sounded concerned by what seemed like trickery.
"That's where you’re wrong Tan," the Crocodile Queen responded quickly with a wry smile and a twinkle in her eye, "he's definitely one of ours." The Crocodile Queen hastened her step towards the great hall, she knew of only one Monk that could find his way to Crescent Island, and negotiate a safe passage through the woods, crocodiles, and owls. The fact that he openly carried a rare sword, forged from byridium, with a large crescent shaped pommel, meant it had to be Kaan. Kaan always brought news, or better still, a letter from her knight, he tried so hard to keep them connected; she could feel the excitement rising within her body, as she hurried towards the castle and the great hall.
She burst through the large doors like an excited child on Christmas morning, "Kaan, how wonderful it is to see you," she hurried towards the large hulk of a man, hugging his thick torso, "Did you bring anything for me?"
Kaan smiled, "It's good to see you too, and yes, I brought a letter for you," he said, retrieving the letter from Jean.
The Crocodile Queen snatched the letter impatien
tly from Kaan’s hand; she tugged at the wax seal before devouring every word, as she shamelessly ignored the patient monk. A few minutes had passed before she paused and raised her eyes above the thin edge of the parchment, "Thank you for bringing this,” she smiled uncontrollably, “I will read it a hundred times, hanging on to every word before I get the chance to see Jean again."
"It's my pleasure, but I don't think you summoned me to the castle just to play postman, there's another reason, right?" Kaan narrowed his eyes, hoping to hear the right response.
"Sit, please," she said, pointing at an empty chair. Kaan saw her demeanor change instantly, he decided to comply with her request, "Bardonia will always be eternally grateful for the role that Raj and Dan played in our liberation. They managed to free Jean, for he was the only person strong enough to kill the three witches."
Kaan was growing impatient, he didn't want to rehash recent history, "What have you seen? let's get straight to the point shall we."
His directness caught her off guard, "Sure, we can skip the lead in, and I'll get straight to the point. I was acting in a selfish manner when I asked Dan to rescue Jean, I knew that Jean was the only person capable of defeating those witches, but I also knew, it would place Raj and Dan in a great amount of danger."
"They both knew the risks," assured Kaan, "I know them well, they’ll always jump in with both feet to help us, despite the risks, are you now feeling guilty?"
"You know I'm blessed with the ability to see things, I get visions that surge uninvited into my consciousness," Kaan nodded, "well, I’ve definitely seen things, very disturbing things."
She paused abruptly, Kaan decided to wait her out patiently, but she seemed uncertain and unwilling to proceed with the description of her visions. Kaan was curious, but she stared at the ground with a vacant look in her eyes, she was clearly somewhere else. Her hands shook as the parchment letter she held swayed like a small tree facing the cruel gusts of a north wind.
"Well?" said Kaan, his patience really tested.
The Crocodile Queen raised her eyes, "Raj is dead, and unfortunately he’s passed away from ill health."
Kaan lowered his eyes in a mark of respect, "I knew he was not well, but he’ll be sorely missed, and the boy, Dan?" he inquired, sensing there was more.
The Crocodile Queen shifted her weight uncomfortably, she approached Kaan, still sitting upright in his chair, "I'm worried Kaan, when they released Jean the evil spirits knew, at that very moment, that we’d found another spiritual traveler, and they knew, he was located on Earth. Jean killed those three witches, including the pretty one - Wendy. Killing the witches infuriated the dark lord; Wendy was his daughter. I was not aware of this at the time, but my visions, well, my visions are full of hate and revenge. I’m telling you Kaan, Dan is in great danger, and we have to help him."
Kaan nodded, "How bad is it? What else do you know?"
"I know exactly what the dark lord will do. Wendy had an older sister, Elora, he'll demand Elora seek revenge. They can't find Jean, he's illusive, evasive, and keeps moving around, but Dan's a sitting lame duck. It takes two to activate The Dream Cane, and unfortunately Raj has passed away. I don’t know who has the cane, but Elora will surely find Dan. She has special powers and she's far more dangerous and sadistic than Wendy. She'll torture Dan before she gets her hands on The Dream Cane. It's only a matter of time before she uses the cane to come for me, I’m the target, I’m the one she wants." The Crocodile Queen fell silent and turned her back towards Kaan, “They may succeed, my visions are pretty graphic,” her voice trailed off with a tremble.
Kaan rubbed his chin, "Nonsense, your crusading knight will rush here to protect you."
"Exactly, so she gets her full revenge. Dan, Jean and myself, the main protector of this realm, with all of us killed Elora will have unrestricted access to this realm. She’ll take the power of The Dream Cane away from us, and all of our past sacrifices, our fight, and our glorious victories, will all count for nothing."
"Without the Dream Cane, they don't know who or where you are? They don't know how to penetrate the castle, or navigate their way on to Crescent Island or your realm, for now you’re safe," he said, trying to convince himself, "so you need me to help, to protect Dan?"
She crinkled her nose and turned away again, "This time we can't. Unfortunately, Dan's on his own, he's living in a time where you and I can't enter the Fifth Realm safely, and Jean, well, it's way too risky for Jean."
"We can't just abandon the boy, he's unprotected and too young; we both know he's ill equipped to face this type of witch."
"The risk is too great Kaan, even you don't know what she's capable of, she'll get into his mind, then infect his blood, she's really nasty."
"And highly motivated, fueled by revenge. I say we go and fight her."
"And you'll fight bravely, but you'll lose this time," the Crocodile Queen raised her voice in frustration.
Kaan was stunned, he'd never seen her agitated like this before, she seemed rattled and unsure, "That's what your visions tell you, to sacrifice the boy?" Kaan stood quickly, "I can't do that, even if there's no hope."
"My visions show me a girl," the Crocodile Queen was hesitant to mention her, but she'd blurted the words out as they slipped quietly from her mouth, "the girl is the key to this whole thing, if you go to help Dan you will be killed, I need you to warn the monastery and to protect your own realm. I’ll help him, I’ll lead Dan in the right direction and I've already cast a spell."
"How?" Kaan looked confused.
"I gave Dan a book, the spell is contained within; it's a protective spell."
Kaan walked away from her slowly, her turned with a thought racing into his head, "You knew this would happen, didn't you?"
"Well, I..." she stuttered for the correct response.
"You knew the boy would be in grave danger, exposing his exact location, knowing the realm he calls home would be cruelly exposed; you knew they would come for him, that's why you gave him the book, you knew all along!"
The Crocodile Queen was racked with guilt, "I had to save this realm, what choice did I have? What else could I do?"
Kaan was furious, "What was your real motivation, saving this realm or releasing Jean? I’d like to know, what was your true priority?" She didn't respond, she merely turned away from his hurtful words. Kaan regretted his accusing questions the moment they took flight, he knew he'd hurt her deeply. "I'm so sorry, that's totally unfair of me. Look," he said, grabbing her arm and facing her, "tell me what we can do to help that poor boy?"
The Crocodile Queen pulled away still hurting from Kaan’s comments, "Don't you think I've agonized over this? Don't you think I've examined every angle of these events? Its pained my soul to have poured through every option, where every choice I have exposes us more and places us all in greater danger, that's exactly what they want. Elora is the meanest, most powerful witch I’ve ever known, but she won't go to Earth, that's far too risky for her, she’ll only go to the Fifth Realm if she’s certain of a kill, she knows her powers will be substantially reduced leaving her too vulnerable. She'll try to kill Dan in other ways, but he's a resourceful kid, this test will have to be his coming of age."
Kaan shook his head, "And if it isn't?"
"Then we're all in grave danger," she cast her eyes to the ground, feeling the weight of her shame, remorse, and regret.
"I don't like this," mumbled Kaan, "I don't like this at all," his words underlining the hopelessness of the situation.
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The Fifth Realm - Earth
Chapter 2: Night Scares.
Westtown, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
“Many of our daydreams would darken into nightmares, were there a danger of their coming true!”
Dan recognized Ally's panic-stricken voice calling out to him, she sounded desperate as she called his name, it was almost like the bleating sound a lost lamb would make when separated from its mother, devoid of any hope. Her voice sounded distant
and faint, it was followed by an ear-piercing scream that ripped sharply through Dan’s body causing sheer panic to set in, "Where was she? He knew he needed to get to her quickly, but the sound of her voice seemed to change its origin, making the source hard to locate. He felt the growing urgency; anxiety and panic were rising through his entire body, as another spine-chilling scream pierced the air like gunfire. This time it was more intense, Ally’s screams for help seemed to be laced with acute pain, the sound appeared to be reverberating around the confinements of thick stone walls. Dan could see the details contained within the thick stone walls that surrounded him, a smooth slate roof was supported above his head, providing no obvious way of escape, no exit point from this stone cell, and no door. How did he get in here? Where was he? How could he get to Ally? He didn't know what was worse, her painful screams for help, or the fact she'd suddenly gone silent. Dan pushed at one of the heavy stone walls, it fell away collapsing with remarkable ease, he fell through the wall crashing from the comfortable confines of his bed and landing on his carpeted bedroom floor. Dan was soaked in sweat, short of breath, and was breathing erratically. He’d experienced this terrifying dream and thrown himself out of his bed for the last three mornings consecutively. Shaking violently, he pushed himself off the floor and onto his feet facing where he faced the light bleeding into his bedroom from between the small gaps in the slats of his bedroom blinds.
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