One Minute to Midnight

by Steve Lang

  "Yes they are, we can stay here forever!" Doug said. His smile stretched from ear to ear as he and Jimmy danced with the little half-naked men. Around and around they danced, twirling, grinning, chanting, and in peril for their lives if they were not soon brought out of the spell. Doug was hypnotized by the magnificent experience, and had it not been for an approaching dragon, he would have remained in that circle for the rest of his days with Jimmy.

  A clang of heavy armor was all Jimmy heard before he was knocked free of the circle, and sent tumbling to the earth. His grandfather went sprawling to the ground after him as the faeries fled in terror. A knight was standing over them, looking down with disapproval through his raised visor.

  "You two must be mad! Dancing with faeries? They were draining the life force right out of you with every round. Don't you blokes know anything?" The knight scolded with a thick British accent.

  He shook his head at Jimmy and Doug, and then raised a crossbow as the great black dragon dove toward the terrified, running faeries. When the winged horror scooped four faeries in one fatal crunch with massive toothy jaws, the knight fired a bolt into the dragon's neck. Doug grabbed his grandson and carried him out of the way as the knight reloaded his weapon. Fire shot from the dragon’s mouth in a yellow-red stream, scorching a flock of birds passing overhead. Doug could smell the stench of their charred little bodies as the ashy remains fell to earth one by one. It growled and hissed, and then turned on the knight, who was running forward screaming like a maniac. He fired his crossbow one more time, piercing the dragon in her right eye, sending her reeling downward toward the ground. The bolt drove home, sticking out like a black splinter from her right socket, but despite the pain, the dragon whipped her tail, sweeping the gallant knight from his feet.

  Doug hid behind a tree with his terrified grandson shaking in fear as a creature from his nightmares stomped her large feet on the ground and attempted to trample her attacker. The brave knight rolled out of the way just before becoming a grease spot in the dirt, quickly scrambling to his feet. He drew his sword, and as her tail swished his way again he slashed down with gritted teeth and sliced off the spike at the end. Doug could see that the dragon was about to breathe another gale of fire and cook the knight in his armor, so he took action, scared as he was, and ran for the crossbow. The dragon's attention was on the knight as she inhaled slowly and deeply, a flammable chemical mixture forming within secreted glands inside her mouth. Doug grabbed the crossbow, and saw there was only one more bolt left in the stock-mounted carrier. He suddenly felt like a young man again, as the aches and pains of old age evaporated in this place beyond reality. Doug drew back the impossibly tight bow, placing it over a notch near the stock, and nocked the last bolt in a trough fashioned out of solid teak wood. She was ready to blow, and Doug's heart was racing as the knight's attention was captured by the swishing tail, whipping to and fro like a steel cable.

  "One good thump from that thing, and I'm dead." The knight said to himself.

  Doug leveled the crossbow at the dragon's mouth as the first flames began to ignite inside a mouth filled with razor sharp teeth. Doug fired. His aim was true and the black bolt vanished into the flames, sticking the dragon in one of her chemical vents, shutting it down and causing the flames to back up inside her head, igniting the sinus cavity. The knight turned in surprise, driving his sword into the dragon's stomach as her head burst into flames and blew apart into a sticky flaming mess a moment later. The scene reminded Doug of a pumpkin his brother had blown up with a quarter stick of dynamite when they were children as the sticky, smoldering pieces of dragon skull splattered all over him and the ground. Her body relaxed and the dragon's remains toppled over like a felled tree.

  "Well, you might be of some use after all, mate." The knight said. He removed his helmet to reveal a square-jawed handsome face with multiple scars displaying the rigors of war. A long flowing mane of golden hair, drenched in sweat, fell free of his armor, cascading down the steel plating of his back.

  "Grandpa, is the d-d-dragon dead?" Jimmy asked. The little boy had wet himself in the excitement, and there was a large visible stain on the front of his pants.

  "My poor boy! I'm so sorry." Doug said.

  "Yep, dragon's dead. Now it’s time to carve her up and have one helluva feast. There's enough meat there to feed my family all summer. You saved my life, sir." The knight said.

  "Well, uh, I just reacted when I noticed your crossbow on the ground." Doug replied. He was a little embarrassed.

  "Name's Ignacious Waddlebottom, and I'm pleased to meet you." Ignacious stuck out a hand, which Doug shook.

  "Uh, waddle what? Doug asked.

  "Bottom, and you are?" Ignacious asked.

  "I'm Doug, and this is Jimmy. We're from, um, I'm not quite sure anymore. I think somewhere other than here…" Doug grew distant.

  "You're from the beyond, right?" Ignacious asked. "I mean, none of your clothes are right for this place, unless you're starting a new trend, and let me tell you now that this is the wrong township for buying in on new clothing styles. Unless a new way to make burlap sack clothes is your idea of a trend."

  "Yes, the beyond." Doug saw flashes of his wife's smiling face in his mind as he and Ignacious conversed, but the memory was like a fading mirage, and he was forgetting.

  "You need a change of clothes my young friend! Come to the castle and let's get you taken care of. You look to be about my boy's age. But first, help me drag this big stinking thing home."

  "Grandpa, we have to get back home!" Jimmy yelled.

  "Home, yes. Now where do we live?"

  "No time for talking, those faeries will be back in greater numbers, and they can be downright nasty when they're not terrified of being eaten by a dragon." Ignacious's horse was tied to a tree in the bushes, and inside the saddlebag was a long rope. "I'd been tracking that beast all day, and I believe it was my good fortune the two of you came along to help me fight her. Now, we eat tonight!"

  Voices could be heard in the underbrush as the faeries began to return to their circle.

  "Time to go. There are more worthwhile adventures to be had than tangling with these blokes." Ignacious said.

  "But, they seemed so happy in the circle." Jimmy said.

  "Yeah, til' you're dead, and then they move on." Ignacious was mounting his gigantic black warhorse. "Tie one end around the dragon's foot, and then hop on Bear." He threw Doug a loop of rope.

  Doug did as asked, and then he and Jimmy mounted on top of Ignacious's horse, Bear, and they began to move forward, dragging the heap of dead dragon through the woods. As they faded into the brush, a single faerie popped her head out of the leaves, hissing with rows of tiny needle-like teeth at the destroyed fragments of dragon that had landed in their lure circle. Organic matter tainted the magical field over the circle, and it would have to be cleansed before they could dance again and attract humans from the beyond. She clenched her fists in frustration, but the interloping knight and his rescued companions were gone within a moment.

  "Where are we headed?" Doug asked.

  "If I told you, what would it matter? You've never been there, right?" Ignacious replied. His voice had taken on a sharp tone.

  "I guess you're right." Doug said.

  "Oh, I'm just having some fun with ya! If I come off rough, it's in my nature." Ignacious said. Doug felt this was as close as he was going to get to an apology.

  They reached a dirt road, and as the dragon’s corpse was dragged behind, Jimmy could see a serpentine rut forming in their wake. Entrails were beginning to come out of the opening where her head once was, and his stomach lurched more than once at the sight of the guts. He tried not to look back, but each time he did the headless monster sent a new wave of revulsion through him. He could smell the mixture of his drying urine, and the ripe odor of decaying flesh as the warhorse towed the knight's prize home. Jimmy looked around at the beautiful landscape around them. Tall willows appeared to bow as they passed, dipping their g
raceful branches to the ground, and Jimmy saw a unicorn grazing in the pasture to their left.

  "Look Grandpa!" Jimmy tugged his shirt, and pointed at the enchanted beast.

  "Amazing!"

  "You two are more than welcome to come to dinner at my castle, but you'll have to move on after. You don't belong here." Ignacious said.

  "You're not going to help us get back?" Jimmy asked.

  "Back where?" Doug's recollection of home was fading faster than ever.

  "I'm going to help, but you'll need to speak to the ancients. I don't have the power to get you back to your homeland. It's not often that people who are brought here escape the faerie circles, but when they do, the ancients usually help. If you can complete their task."

  "Why can't grandpa remember anything about our home?" Jimmy asked.

  "The older you are, the more influence the magic of this place has over you. Small children have their own type of magic and aren't as susceptible, but if you stay here for a long time you'll begin to forget as well." Ignacious explained.

  "Where are these ancients we have to speak to?" Doug asked.

  "See that mountain to the east? There's cave at the base, and…" Ignacious asked.

  "Let me guess. The ancients live in that cave?" Doug interrupted.

  "No, they live in a monastery outside the cave, but what does live in the cave is where they will send you. The trial of madness."

  "The trial of what?" Jimmy asked. He could see the mountain's white-capped peak and the dark clouds that moved around it, like harbingers of doom.

  "Enough talk. Tonight we eat, and in the morning you go on your way with one of my horse drawn wagons."

  "You're not coming with us?" Doug asked. He was sharing his grandson's sense of disappointment.

  "Nope, can't. The old men who live out that way don't welcome me. They claim I stole some of their chicken’s years ago. They placed a curse on my childhood house for it."

  "Did you do it?" Doug asked.

  "Of course I did! I was a kid, and we were hungry, so I took three of them to feed me, my mother and sisters." Ignacious laughed.

  Doug nodded his head.

  "How old are these men?" Jimmy asked.

  "Hah, they're over a thousand years old, and grouchy too!" Ignacious said.

  While the three chatted, the magnificent castle came into view, and it was breathtaking to Doug, who had been a fan of ancient palaces and castles his whole life. Walls over thirty feet tall with a covered parapet walk, and battlements on each corner gave the fortress a foreboding look. Ignacious had a twenty-foot wide mote surrounding his castle, with giant snapping fish that leapt out of the water. Jimmy thought he could see tiny white needle-like teeth when they opened their jaws, much like piranha back on earth. As Ignacious drew closer, two small children, no more than ten years old, ran up to his horse shouting with glee.

  "Father! Father! You got another dragon!" The boy said.

  "I'm so glad to see you've returned! Mother will be so happy. She was worried the entire time you were gone." The girl said.

  "It's going to take a helluva lot more than a dragon to kill your old dad! Hah, ha, ha, now run along and tell your mother we've got guests, and please alert Renaldo that he and the staff have an entire dragon to clean and prepare for dinner." Ignacious said.

  He placed his gloved hand gently on his son's head and smiled down at both children with the warmth of a father who loves his family dearly. This was a different side of the knight, less rough, more sincere. The smiling children turned and ran back toward the castle drawbridge. Once inside the castle keep, a pretty young woman ran down the staircase and grabbed her husband as he was removing his armor. She threw her arms around him.

  "Welcome back. You were gone for two days this time. I thought the dragon had you for sure." The woman said.

  "Not a chance, although my friend here did have a hand in saving my life this time. Doug, Jimmy, meet my wife, Glenda. I brought guests from the beyond for dinner. They're leaving in the morning though. They've gotta' get back home before they forget who they are."

  "You sending them to the ancients by the mountain?" Glenda asked.

  "No choice. They have to go through the cave, just like the others before them."

  "Is this going to be a dangerous experience?" Doug asked.

  "Well, I'm not sure, to be honest. No one I’ve ever sent into the cave has returned this way."

  Ignacious instructed one of his servants to bring Jimmy a new pair of clothes from his son's wardrobe. Dinner was a grand affair, with the two travelers treated as guests of honor at a feast of the dragon, and wine was served for all but the children, although Jimmy snuck a sip when his grandfather was not looking, and while Ignacious noticed the transgression, he smiled, winked at the boy, and said nothing. Ignacious knew what they would face in the morning and a little wine for the youngster was the least of their worries. They retired for the night to a spacious room with two queen-sized beds, and murals on the wall depicting grand battles on horseback across open plains. Jimmy dressed in some extra night clothing and walked over to check out a few of the paintings. Doug was also perusing the art when he was grabbed by the attention of a particular battle painting. The skies were an ominous red and black, like a foretelling of the approaching woe for men. Swords raised high above their heads, the men raced toward an enemy that was not human, but a hybrid of man and bull, a minotaur. The minotaur’s ran toward the men, heads bowed and horns flared, and as Doug stared into the painting he could almost see the soldiers moving as the battle raged. The lead horseman looked familiar...something about the armor. Was that Ignacious?

  "Whatca' lookin' at grandpa?" Jimmy asked from his bed.

  "Interesting painting, that's all. We should turn in."

  Jimmy thought his grandfather sounded distant, dreamy, and disconnected. He was worried that he would be six and alone in a strange world if grandpa continued to drift away. They had to get home. Jimmy wanted to cry for his mother, but he knew he would have to restrain his fear until they could get out of this place.

  "Grandpa, we should go to bed. I want to go home." Jimmy lay down and closed his eyes.

  "Goodnight Jimmy." Doug stared at the painting a moment longer, and then he climbed into his own bed, turning off the light.

  "These people have electricity?" Doug mumbled, and fell fast asleep. In his dreams there were faeries, ogres, and giant spiders, spinning webs of insanity as he floated through a world of strange darkness.

  In the morning, Doug had forgotten about his odd nightmares, and before leaving they were fed a breakfast of eggs and bacon. Doug held an engaging conversation with Ignacious and his family before a horse drawn cart complete with a driver was brought around to the front of the keep. Doug, Ignacious, and Jimmy stood out front and said their goodbyes, after getting a peck on the cheek from Glenda and bidding farewell to the children.

  "I'd go with you mate, but as I said, I'm not welcome down there and it would just create more problems for you." Ignacious smiled and gave them each a forearm clasp.

  "Goodbye, Ignacious." Doug said, smiling.

  "Thank you for your help, sir." Jimmy said.

  Before they left, Ignacious handed Jimmy a small vial of red liquid.

  "Here, take this when you’re up against the wall. It will provide the strength of a thousand wolves."

  Jimmy looked down at the vial, and then toward his grandfather, who was climbing into the cart with the help of their driver.

  "What is it?" Jimmy asked.

  "Courage in times of trouble. Drink it when the time is right."

  "How will I know when the time is right?" Jimmy asked. He had a perplexed, fearful expression as he looked up at their gracious host.

  "Jimmy, we are well met. Go now, and confront your destiny." Ignacious placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Jimmy boarded the wagon with his grandfather a moment later.

  The cart carried Doug and Jimmy through a plain of gently blowing red and purple
grasses that danced in the wind like fields of wheat, and after traveling for around half a day, they came upon the end of their trail. The monastery where the ancients lived was a large rundown shack sitting beside the mountain, and for a moment Doug thought it must be abandoned, until the bigger than normal front door creaked open on rusty hinges. In the darkness Doug and Jimmy could hear mumbling from within the spooky old haunt.

  "Hello? Is there anyone in there?" Doug asked. His heart was racing.

  "Who's out there?" Said one gruff, annoyed male voice.

  "Yes, what do you want? Said another.

  "We're busy, go away!" Came another.

  "You need to leave here, now!" Said a fourth.

  "Sorry sirs, but we have to get home and we were sent to the ancients, because you can get us there. Can you please help me and my grandson?"

  A tense moment of silence passed, and then they could hear shuffling and other movements coming from within the structure. One figure began to come through the door. The man stood ten feet tall, and when he came closer Doug realized he had at least three visible faces. The giant’s front face was bearded, and it wore a tired expression, but they could only see the protruding noses of two others as the giant faced them. The giant wore on an old brown robe that was patched in places to cover large holes, and the stench of rotten milk drifted from the man, so pungent that it caused Doug to take a step back.

  "That man has more than one face." Jimmy whispered.

  "I heard that!" Said a face on the right side of the man's head.

  "We are the ancients you seek, although we don't see many of you outlanders very often." Said the front face.

  "I say we eat them now!" An unseen face from behind squawked.

  "No, no, no, we ate the last one who came by here and he gave us indigestion for three days. Don’t eat those little creatures." The left face said.

  "Wise ancients, we only seek a way home. Please, help us." Doug pleaded.

  The front face solemnly looked down as the other faces continued to mumble to one another, and Doug began to feel as if his mind were folding in on itself as they stood before the giant man with four faces.