Secrets of the Fortress 'Survivors'

by John Victor

  He stood up, used a leaf to wipe his bum hole, and wore his trouser. Donald looked everywhere. He needed to find a suitable place to rest. It was a straight path to the final destination. Not curved like the others.

  It was getting dark. “I have to take a nap.’’ He said as he looked for a good spot. He found a large oak tree. He placed his bag on the floor. He lay, using the bag as a pillow. He looked around again, to confirm he was alone. He slept. He drifted off to dream land.

  A little girl sat on the beach. She wept bitterly. Donald went to her. ‘’What’s the problem?’’

  “I want my mummy.’’ She said, head still lowered.

  Donald carried her head up. Her eyes were red. Her nose was absent. Blood dripped from her teeth. They were long and sharp. Donald drew his breath and ran. He heard footsteps behind him. He continued running until his legs gave out. Everything went black.

  Donald stifled a yawn. He stretched, using one hand to wipe the saliva that had formed at the corner of his mouth. His legs bled. It was real?’’ He carried his bag and moved on.

  He had gotten to the spot sooner than expected. He tried to move forward, something hard stopped him. He decided not to pester. He waited for the rest as he tended to his injury.

  * * *

  Emily had rubbed her head furiously as she watched her friends depart. She stepped into the forest. Goose bumps rose all over her skin. She touched the rosary she had on her neck. Nobody talked about it. “Protect me Lord.’’

  It was getting dark. She lay on a large leaf. She slept.

  The sun shone brightly on her forehead. She wiped off the sweat that was forming there. She thought about Donald. How they met. I love Donald. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a loud grunt.

  Emily looked around her. She saw nothing. She touched the rosary again. Her head ached. She shook her head in attempt to chase the pain away. The grunt sounded again.

  She walked in the direction the sound came from. The same place her map told her to go. She separated the leaves that blocked her way. A large fur covered wall, stood in front of her.

  Emily kicked it hard. It moved. She staggered. Astonished. Two yellow eyes stared at her. She screamed. She moved back. She wanted to run. That was where she was meant to pass. She had to fight.

  The creature stamped its feet. Emily flew. She landed on her back. She yelped in pain. Her father had given her something. “Take, use this. Whenever you are in danger.’’ He said.

  Emily had carried it around with her. She never thought about it. Thanking her stars as she brought the pen out of her bag. Then beast looked surprised. She moved close to it. It spun and tried to hit her. She dodged it. As she got very close, she pressed the button.

  A long blade came out. She thrust bit into the skin of the beast. It howled. Eyes filled with sorrow. It fell. Tears filled Emily’s eyes as she crossed over. She saw a familiar figure sitting, few miles from where she was.

  Emily ran over to meet him. She hugged him tight. Donald hugged her back. They waited.

  * * *

  Evalle looked back every five minutes. Checking if anyone was following. She felt her eyes close gently. She forced it open. “It’s not time to sleep. I just woke up. I cannot believe I slept off immediately the guys left. I’m very stupid’’. She sat on the floor. She rested her head on a tree. Snow started to fall.

  “Oh no, not the centaurs again.’’ She said as she looked around. Nobody came. The snow kept falling. She packed some. She filled her mouth with it. She did it when she was a kid. She giggled.

  Someone else was giggling. She stood up. She looked around. The chuckling continued. She turned around. The voice was that of a man. She was certain. Where is he?

  A shape appeared behind her. The man yelped in pain. She looked back. No one was there. She faced front again. “Kevin!’’ The guy in front of her grinned sheepishly.

  “It was easy fooling you. You know?’’ Kevin said as Evalle watched blood drip from his teeth. ‘’You were going to make a very good meal. You look tastier than the last I saw you.’’

  “You are in this too? Evalle asked.

  “Yeah. What do you think?’’

  “You will die like a chicken.’’ Evalle said as she raised her fists.

  “Oh, you are going to hit me now. Right?’’

  Evalle kicked him on the belly. “Wrong.’’ He yelled as he fell to the floor. She stamped his head with her boots. He screamed as she picked up a large stone and dropped it on his head.

  “I knew you were a crab. Kevin Krabsen.”

  The snow cleared. It was sunny again. Far away, a couple cuddled and laughed. Evalle ran to see who they were. She recognized them the moment she got close to them. She ran faster. She threw hugs at them. They returned the hugs.

  She tried to pass. It was still, blocked. “He’s still, alive.’’ She said.

  * * *

  Justin hugged himself as he moved. The mist was increasing. He tried very hard to see. I just want to get there fast. I really want to see Evalle again. I miss her. He put his bag on the floor. The bag he found in the house. Stuffed with the clothes he found in the wardrobe.

  Justin sat down on the floor. He rested his head against the tree and slept off.

  Something was moving close to him. He shrinked his eyes so he would see clearly. His worst enemy was coming closer. “Tim, what are you doing here?’’

  The creature still, came closer. He was also a centaur. Tim went over to Justin and slapped him hard with hoofs. “Why did you do that?’’ Justin asked, holding his cheek.

  “None of your business.’’ Tim said as he rose Justin up by holding his neck. Justin shrieked, he yelled.

  Justin opened his eyes. He found himself holding his neck. The mist had cleared. Justin picked his bag and continued walking. He saw that he was almost there. ‘’Was I teleported?’’

  He saw three figures ahead. He knew who they were. Evalle, Emily and Donald. One of three began running towards him.

  Evalle got to him. She gasped for breath. “I miss you.’’

  “I did too.’’ Justin said as they walked towards the other two.

  “Love birds’’ Emily said. They all chuckled as they crossed the barrier.

  CHAPTER 14

  They stepped into an empty cave. They spread. They checked every corner. Emily and Evalle stuck to each other’s side. Donald and Justin walked together. The ladies found a well. Something glowed inside the well.

  Evalle was scared to pick it up. Emily thrust her hand into the well. A voice sounded inside the well.

  “You just got to the source of magic itself.’’ Evalle yelped. “You picked the most powerful magic in the world. You will be needing it for the battle ahead of you. Or you both will die.’’

  Evalle and Emily stared at each other. How are we going to do it?

  “I know how.’’ Evalle said, as if she read Emily’s mind. “The same way we confirmed that we were sisters.’’

  Emily nodded her head as she and Evalle stood up. Emily dropped the shinning ball, in their middle as she and Evalle closed their eyes. Concentrate.

  Light swirled around them. Causing a slight explosion. The ball disappeared. Justin and Donald ran to where Emily and Evalle were. The ladies were laying on their backs. Smiling. They looked at the guys and smiled.

  “What just happened?’’ Donald asked. Confused.

  “I don’t think you guys would be fighting the last battle with us.’’ Emily said. Evalle nodded.

  “Why?’’

  “Well, that’s hard to explain. Let me just say ‘We got more powers now.’ Is that right, Emily?’’

  “Yeah, that’s true.’’ Emily said. ‘’We have to finish this quest now. It’s getting too long.’’

  Emily and Evalle stood up, looking at the guys. “You don’t have to worry. We’ll be back soon.’’

  Donald and Justin nodded. Still confused. They looked for a large rock and sat on it as they watched the ladies go.
>
  * * *

  Kujoo was sitting on a long chair. His servant stood beside him. They had been living together for months since the incident. Kujoo surrounded his territory with a wall of magic. No one could enter.

  His servant rubbed his belly. Chewing a walnut, he found on the floor. He spat on the floor. Spreading it with his huge legs. His round, rough face and brown eyes had given him an ugly appearance. His big tummy that always stood in front of him made him look worse.

  He put his hands on his cheeks. He jumped when he saw something approaching. He startled his master, who was already dozing. Kujoo stood up. Peering out of the house into large expanse of land that lay in front of them.

  “What are they doing here? How did they get into this place? The barrier I put was a death barrier. Anyone that wanted to force himself across was supposed to die.’’ Kujoo said.

  “I don’t know sir. Do they look familiar?’’

  “Don’t you remember? Emily.’’

  “Fuck. I will capture them.’’ The servant ran as he dashed out of the room. Charging at them with full speed. Evalle pointed a finger at him. Sparks showed on her hands and Lightening came of the finger. It struck him.

  The servant fell to the floor. He shook till he was lifeless.

  Evalle and Emily continued walking. They had sighted Kujoo in a corner inside the house.

  Emily ran to him. In seconds, she got to him. Her eyes were white. The wind swirled around her. She held him by the neck. “Where’s my father?’’ Her grip was tight.

  Kujoo managed to talk. “I don’t know. I am telling the truth.’’

  “I have no time for this.’’ Emily said. She raised her arm and slashed his neck. Kujoo’s head fell, to the ground. Evalle watched. Awed.

  CHAPTER 15

  Evalle and Emily got back to the cave. Justin and Donald stood up. Surprised yet glad. Evalle smiled as she and Emily went back to the well. They didn’t know how to return the powers.

  “How do we return your powers?’’ Emily asked the well. A figure appeared in front of them.

  “Mom!’’ Evalle and Emily screamed at the same time. They looked at each other afterwards.

  “I see you are happy. You have completed your quest and gotten your reward. History has been changed.’’

  “What do you mean by that, mum.’’

  “Your predecessors never completed it. They never got to the end.’’

  “We changed history.’’ Emily said to Evalle. They smiled.

  “You have the whole house to yourselves.’’ Their mum said. Evalle smiled. Their mum faded.

  Emily and Donald returned to the boys. They all picked their bags and turned to leave, feeling relieved that the quest was completed.

  “You are forgetting something.’’ A voice said behind them. They all looked back. Their dad sat at another corner of the cave. “Dad.’’ Emily said to Evalle as they both ran to hug him.

  “I’m sorry I left you alone. Evalle. Your mum saved my life. ’’

  “No problem dad. It was for the best.’’ Evalle said as they helped him up. They all went out of the cave. Jumping happily.

  * * *

  As they got to the snowy land, Justin became sad. He dropped his head. Evalle consoled him. She told the others about Justin’s ordeal with the centaurs. They all got ready to kill all the centaurs.

  The centaurs appeared in front of them. Justin walked slowly to meet them. Teary eyed.

  “Stop!’’ The leader’s voice sounded in his ears. He stopped. Emily and then others looked scared. They were a large army. “My son, you are free to go with them. I wanted you to embrace being a centaur.’’

  Justin jumped on hearing. His eyes were wide. He happily ran and hugged his leader’s legs. Thanking him. Evalle and the others hugged each other. Justin went to join his friends. The centaurs watched them leave.

  “We will come visiting.’’ Emily yelled. They all laughed.

  CHAPTER 16

  Emily dropped her pen and stared at Evalle who did the same. She winked. “The next generation will have a lot to read and laugh about.’’ Evalle said as she chuckled.

  They always wanted to have a family. Now, they had more than they could ever wish for. They walked out of the library and went to join the others outside.

  END

  Thanks for reading my book. Hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review at your favorite online retailer.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  John Victor is a Nigerian based writer. Secrets of the Fortress is his first book. He has inspirations for thriller, mystery and horror novels. He has passion for art of all kinds.

  OTHER BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR

  Darkness Arises Series

  - Secrets of the Fortress ’sorcery’.

  Children stories

  -Little Fairy.

  CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR

  Facebook: John Victor.

  Twitter: John victor