The Gate

by Jennifer N Hibbert

  Zatol continued to stare at her, his eyeballs rolling from side to side. He cleared his throat and Carrol looked up. ‘Do you remember how I told you I was a great warrior in my realm? You know, the kingdom where I came from?’ he asked quietly.

  She nodded, eager to hear more about who he was and where he came from. ‘Well, I escaped and left the army without telling anyone because I wanted to find my uncle, Tobus. Before my time, he was the greatest warrior in our realm. No other warrior has been able to do what he did. I don’t think anyone would be brave enough,’ he said.

  ‘What did he do?’ Carrol asked.

  ‘One of the greatest battles he ever won was the Battle of the Kingdoms, when a struggle broke out between our kingdom and another. We, the Akaits, longed to be free from the oppression of the Webster Kingdom and its king, Kroyd. Kroyd started a war that extended throughout our entire realm, destroying anyone who wouldn’t comply with his demands. He was completely wicked. He used both dark magic and the power of his mighty army to reign with terror. Countless leaders talked to him and tried to persuade him to stop his ill treatment of other kings and their kingdoms but he wasn’t willing to listen to anyone or agree to any deal. He entered other kingdoms whenever and however he wanted – to kill, take or destroy.

  ‘Before the war, he had demanded that the Akait Kingdom give him our life medal, knowing that once we did our kingdom would cease to exist and we would become powerless. We would become his slaves, which had already happened to six of the other ten kingdoms. He had imprisoned the six kings, and he kept their life medals in oil jars, locked up in the Maze Valley. He built this valley specially for his evil scheme. A life medal is equivalent to your military defence, like a nuclear weapon. Ours is in the form of a god. It’s like a golden medal that sits perfectly in its stand. If it’s removed from that stand, lots of bad things will start to happen, the worst being that the warriors will lose their strength. Even fertility will be affected. Well, you know what happens when fertility is affected in a land, don’t you?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ she answered softly.

  ‘Poor fertility leads to a dwindling population, which leads to weak military protection,’ he said, and looked around before continuing.

  ‘Once you entered the giant labyrinth of the Maze Valley, it was virtually impossible to find your way out. Kroyd had booby-trapped the entire valley. Many perished trying to find the life medals. Even some of the king’s own army died trying to find their way out.

  ‘You can imagine how we felt when he demanded our life medal. Everyone felt so afraid and helpless – we knew that we were defenceless against him and his powerful army. Our king, King Loxen, was considering handing over the life medal but that was before my uncle hatched a plan.

  ‘He requested a secret audience with King Loxen. Uncle Tobus shared his plan and asked for permission to select a group of soldiers and carry out the operation. He also requested that it be kept a secret; he didn’t want Kroyd to hear about their plans and reinforce his security, or arrest him before they could implement their strategy. That way, they could all surrender if they failed. That idea pleased our king and he agreed.

  ‘My uncle Tobus and his men built a magnificent photographic radar compass, which picked up information from a long distance and displayed an accurate picture of its findings. It was the first of its kind. They used it for three purposes: to discover the layout of the Maze Valley; to map out all its secret compartments where the traps were planted, and finally, to understand more about the types of traps and how to defuse them. They were able to deactivate them without actually going into the maze.

  ‘They then used their map to enter the maze and rescue the oil jars that contained the six life medals. Afterwards they burnt down the Maze Valley. Of course, it wasn’t that simple – the fierce battle that ensued after King Kroyd discovered what had happened can never be fully expressed through words. The terror had to be seen to be believed. The kingdoms both fought with every ounce of aggression they had. Losing wasn’t an option for either of them; there was so much at stake.

  ‘The restoration of the life medals meant that the other kingdoms’ powers were restored. All of those who had been enslaved attacked from within the Webster Kingdom, while my uncle led the charge from outside. As a result, King Kroyd and his army were trapped in the middle – and they were destroyed.

  ‘My uncle personally defeated and killed King Kroyd in long and arduous hand-to-hand combat. After Kroyd died, my uncle and his army freed all the other kings and their kingdoms were reinstated. Peace was once again established across the whole realm. Now we all live happily alongside each other, including the Webster Kingdom – well, what’s left of it. It is now the smallest of the ten kingdoms. This event is detailed in our Book of Chronicles for everyone to read. Don’t get me wrong, there are still conflicts and wars, but now there’s a rule that stops any king from taking another kingdom’s life medal. If any king tries it, the rest of the kingdoms will join forces and attack that king

  ‘Uncle Tobus was revered by all. Then suddenly, one day, he disappeared; he was never seen again. I later heard that he had come to Mars to serve with the great force that protects the peace of the whole universe. I want to be a part of that force, too, if I can find him. When he sees how good I am, I’m sure he will convince them to let me join,’ he said excitedly, a glint in his eyes.

  ‘I come from a family of warriors – from my great-grandfather to my own father, who died during one of the battles in our kingdom. I loved my father and he loved me, too. He made me promise that I would become one of the greatest warriors our realm has ever produced,’ Zatol said.

  ‘What about your mother?’ Carrol asked softly.

  ‘Oh no, she isn’t a warrior. Females aren’t normally warriors in my realm,’ he explained. ‘They can be but most don’t choose to.’

  ‘Okay, but I mean is she still alive?’

  ‘Oh, yes,’ he said.

  ‘What will you do if they don’t accept you into their organisation?’ Carrol asked.

  ‘I never thought of that. I just believe that they will,’ he answered confidently.

  ‘And what about your mother? Won’t you miss her? Won’t she miss you, too?’

  ‘She understands. Warriors aren’t supposed to show their emotions. She has lived with warriors all her life so she’s used to it by now,’ he said.

  ‘Do you know how to find your uncle? Do you know where he lives?’

  ‘So far no, but once I draw close to him, I will sense him around me,’ Zatol explained.

  ‘How do you know we are in a time wall? And what is a time wall?’ Carrol asked.

  ‘We’d better start making a move,’ Zatol said suddenly, remembering where they were. ‘We have to find a way out.’ He looked around.

  ‘You’re not still trying to return me to the city, are you?’ Carrol looked at him hopefully.

  ‘I don’t know. Let’s try to get out of here first.’

  ‘How do you know we are in a time wall?’ she repeated.

  ‘Well, you have changed form and you can hear my thoughts. A time wall is like a place of transit but in reality, it’s just a space between walls. There are various portals stemming from time walls which lead to various destinations. Once you access a portal, you can travel through its doorway. It’s fast, like the speed of thought. Usually it is very difficult to find the right door and even if you do, certain realms are not easy to enter because of their security. That’s why it’s dangerous out here.’

  ‘How will you know the right portal to enter?’ Carrol asked, looking at him in awe.

  ‘We’ll just have to check them out and see if we can find the right one,’ he explained. Suddenly, he started licking between his thumb and index finger.

  ‘This place doesn’t look like a wall to me. Where are the walls?’ she asked.

  He was so carried away that he didn’t hear Carrol’s question. As she watched him, she had a flashback to the day in her room
when Jerry had been telling her about a movie he’d seen with his parents. She leaned forwards. ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘I forgot to put lotion—’ he began, before registering what was happening.

  Carrol completed his reply: ‘. . . “lotion on my hand today; it felt really dry.”’ She rested her gaze on him. Zatol looked at her and then looked away, as though he was shy. ‘You’re Jerry, aren’t you?’

  He lifted his head and nodded without saying a word. Just then, a flashing flicker from Jerry to Zatol transformed him for a moment, before he was steady again as Zatol. Carrol’s eyes widened in surprise. She gazed into space for a few moments before turning to him. ‘Well, thank you. I know you tried your best to help me. It’s okay, I understand,’ she said quietly.

  Silence ensued.

  ‘Now, tell me, what kind of dance did you dance with me? Is it the friendship dance or the other one? You know, being someone’s woman, according to your realm. When you were Jerry?’ Carrol asked, tilting her head to look at him.

  He was silent for a second. ‘The kind you requested. You remember the day we . . .’ he said, waving his hand.

  ‘We what? Kissed?’ she asked.

  ‘Yes,’ he said in a soft voice. ‘I came to see you that evening and you hugged me. When I asked you why, you said it was because we were friends. That’s why we danced the friendship dance. That’s what we danced in your room and Jerry left.’

  ‘Oh,’ she gasped, nodding her head. ‘When you were Jerry . . .’ She paused. ‘I was almost willing to dance all kinds of dances with you – I mean Jerry – when you were him.’

  ‘I know. That’s why Jerry had to leave, to stop you from doing that.’

  ‘Why? Didn’t Jerry like me?

  ‘No, not at all . . . Jerry likes you a great deal. It all started the first time I saw you at Station X. Seeing you cry, I felt sorry for you and, as time went on, I started to like you. That’s why Jerry had to leave because such a relationship would have been a lie because there is no Jerry. You know what I mean – I am Jerry and Jerry is me. In my kingdom, we are shape shifters. I can change shape,’ he explained with a soft glint in his eyes.

  ‘What about Zatol? Why did he leave so suddenly too?’ Carrol asked.

  ‘To give you a chance to make friends with your fellow migrants.’

  She nodded and quickly swept away a few tears. They remained silent for a few seconds.

  ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cause you pain,’ he said, lowering his gaze.

  ‘It’s not your fault. Thanks, anyway. I actually fell in love with Jerry, he was really nice to me,’ Carrol said. Another cluster of tears fell on her cheeks. She sniffled, wiping them away and looking in another direction.

  Zatol walked towards her, rubbed her shoulder and quickly stepped back. ‘We have to go. We can’t stay here, it could be dangerous,’ he said, trying to defuse the atmosphere.

  ‘Where are we going?’ she asked, barely lifting her head to look at him.

  ‘I don’t know yet but we have to search for a wall,’ he said.

  ‘Where?’

  ‘There’s an invisible wall. You will feel it when you get close,’ Zatol said, trying to answer her question as though nothing had happened.

  He moved to the side of the street. Carrol followed; there was a slight hesitation in her steps but she maintained her composure. Zatol suddenly stopped and started using his hands to feel the air in front of him. Not realising he’d come to a stop, Carrol carried on until she bumped her head on the wall and fell backwards.

  CHAPTER 22

  PASSING THROUGH THE LAND OF THE ROOT MONSTERS

  Carrol stepped back; meanwhile, Zatol had managed to find an opening and poked his head through. He called to her, ‘Now, put your head through here and you’ll see there is no one on the other side.’

  Carrol didn’t respond. Zatol promptly turned around to see her on the ground. ‘What happened here?’ he asked.

  ‘I bashed into something and fell,’ she explained.

  ‘Oh, okay. Next time, try to feel for a gap in the wall. Once you find it, always poke your head through gradually to see if it’s the place you want to be before you push the rest of your body through. If you don’t know what’s on the other side, you could walk straight into a hazard. If you see something you don’t like, come out quickly and look for another way through the wall by the same process of feeling with your hand.’

  Carrol stood up and nodded. Zatol took her hand and showed her how to feel for an opening and it didn’t take her long to find one. They gently pushed their heads through. There was nothing on the other side; the land looked barren, as though it hadn’t tasted rain for centuries.

  They stared at the openness for a few seconds before turning to look at each other. Without saying a word, they stepped out of the wall and into the new environment.

  ‘Where are we now?’ Carrol asked.

  ‘I don’t know but it seems too quiet. I’m pretty sure this is still Mars, though. It smells like it,’ Zatol said as he began walking.

  ‘I didn’t know Mars had a scent,’ Carrol replied, walking alongside him.

  ‘Of course, everywhere has its own distinct aroma. My sense of smell is very strong, you know. I guess dragons’ senses are better than humans.’ He continued looking around, drawing in a deep breath occasionally to get the real scent of the place as much as possible.

  ‘What do you smell?’ she asked.

  ‘Shh . . .’ he said, bending his ear close to the ground. ‘I can hear the ground underneath us breathing.’

  ‘What?’ Carrol whispered. ‘Did you say the ground underneath us is breathing?’

  ‘Yes, I can hear them talking.’ Zatol stared downward attentively.

  ‘Who? And what are they saying?’ Carrol asked, stopping and lowering her head in an attempt to hear for herself.

  ‘I can’t quite make it out, but I think they’re talking about us being on their land without permission.’

  Carrol gasped in horror. She moved closer to Zatol. ‘I still can’t hear anything. Who are they?’ She saw the dry ground crack in front of them. ‘Is the ground breathing over there or is something else causing that?’ she whispered.

  ‘I’m not sure. I’m guessing from the way they spoke, though I can’t quite make out what they are saying. This is definitely the Land of the Rooted.’ Before Zatol could say anything else, roots of all sizes, some intertwined, erupted from the cracks in the ground and attacked them. The roots slithered around quickly like snakes filled with aggression.

  Carrol and Zatol ran towards unbroken land to avoid being swept away. More and more roots broke forth from the barren landscape. Over her screams, Carrol heard Zatol’s voice: ‘Carrol, go to the wall and find an opening!’

  ‘What? I can’t hear you! What did you say?’ she shouted back.

  Zatol turned to face her and shouted again. ‘Run towards the wall, find a gap and I will follow you!’ Just then, a large root wrapped around his tail, pulling him back. He gave a high-pitched shriek; the noise was piercing. Suddenly, his stomach started to glow. He reached inside a hidden pocket, like a kangaroo pouch, and withdrew small pieces of glowing coal and threw them onto the roots. They caught fire and burnt away quickly.

  Zatol continued to scream as he launched fireballs. No matter how many roots he destroyed, more appeared. He had managed to free his tail from the root that was pulling him but there were many more, hundreds if not thousands for him to defeat.

  Carrol ran towards the wall and felt for a portal. She darted about frantically, searching everywhere for an opening. She turned suddenly; the roots were approaching fast but she hadn’t noticed. One of them wrapped around her ankle and started dragging her away from the wall. She screamed out to Zatol as other roots wrapped around her neck and started to suffocate her. She tried to fight them off.

  Zatol ran towards her and threw glowing fireballs at the roots that were choking her. He freed her ankle. They were both ablaze. Zat
ol pulled Carrol to her feet and moved her away from the fire; her transformed body had a rubbery look and he didn’t want to risk exposing it to flames. They started running along the wall while still searching for a way through it; meanwhile, the roots were moving faster. Zatol continued throwing fire as they ran.

  Some of the roots climbed the invisible wall, making it impossible for them to feel for an opening. As they leapt over a fracture in the ground, Carrol’s leg slipped and she almost fell in. At that moment, Zatol’s tail whipped the wall and accidentally struck an open portal. When he realised what was happening, he grabbed Carrol’s hand and they were both sucked in.

  A small piece of a root that had just gripped Carrol’s leg crossed over with them. Carrol quickly bent over and untangled it. The root twitched for a few seconds before falling lifeless on the ground.

  Zatol and Carrol started walking along the open street, which was exactly like where they’d been before they fell through the portal. They looked back to make sure they weren’t being followed by the roots – or anything else. They didn’t speak. Still terrified, Carrol’s eyes scanned the road ahead for any sign of danger.

  Zatol’s body looked normal again: there was no sign of the pouch that had produced glowing fireballs. Carrol didn’t want to mention it, nor the strange noise that he had made. She wondered whether the noise had created the fire. Zatol, for his part, didn’t volunteer any explanation.

  Carrol sized him up; she was sure now that he was a dragon. She hoped there was more fire left in his abdomen in case further trouble was lurking around the corner. Silence continued to echo around them as they walked. She remembered that Zatol could hear her thoughts sometimes, so she tried to think about something different.