It was as if they heard Jeem’s thoughts. All the people stepped forward to show their eagerness to fight for their homeland. They were not warriors or had any knowledge of weaponry, but their faces were showing that they would take anything to get the land free.
Laam shook his head. He believed that his people wouldn’t let him down and they didn’t. Now if the plan goes smoothly, as it went so far, it’s only a matter of days to regain Ashaland for the Ashalandians. He raised his hand to show appreciation, “I’m grateful to you all. I am thankful that you trust me and ready to sacrifice yourselves for your homeland.” People cheered in support of their new leader. Their confidence became stronger on him, as he kept his promise and took them out from the imprisoned life and now firmly standing on his other promise to fight for them.
Laam told them the next part of the plan. The women, the children, and elders would stay in the tower, as it has bigger rooms beneath it and the able men would stay both sides of the tower to guard it. He also pointed them to the lying poles and canvas clothes, which were brought here from the marketplace, to use to make their temporary shelter.
Damal looked around and stood close to Laam. “I can see that everything is going well so far, but how did you manage to get the gate-tower under control?”
Jeem answered for his friend, “It’s our gypsy friends, sire.” Pointed to his father Nokul standing on the roof of the tower with his people, looking right down to them. He waved his hand as they looked up. “Actually, Aylan told them what to do. They disguised as a big caravan of merchants and got permission to enter the gate. As soon as they came, they acted like they were in need of quick rest. The guards allowed them to stay in and outside the tower, as they were offered a significant sum of money, which was, in fact, a lie. And attacked the guards and imprisoned them at the first chance they got. And you can see the rest.”
“And what about the food? We have five thousand people here. How’d you feed them? You definitely don’t know how long we’d have to stay here?” Damal was still dissatisfied with the situation.
“Here,” Gatik stepped ahead with a medium sized cooking pot in his hand. Nobody realized that he was standing behind them with Daha. Gatik handed over the pot to Jeem, “This is a magical cooking pot. Jenglots gave me this as a gift. Aylan asked me to lend him this pot for a while. Cook whatever you want, it won’t end until the last person is fed. But beware, don’t try to be greedy and steal it. The pot would stop working, and even I wouldn’t be able to make it work. Now, it’s time for my friend and me to leave. Take care yourselves.” Gatik walked with hand on Daha’s shoulder, not wanting to let anyone say good-bye.
Damal and the other councilors shook their heads to show their satisfaction. They were curious to know about this mysterious old man and what he had done with the son of Lord Eko Darsor. They looked at Laam and Jeem, but they were not eager to answer this question, so they walked to the guard tower to supervise the people. There were a lot of things to do.
Laam and Jeem went to look for Bolin. Aylan asked them to set up a big workshop to make weapons. Bolin wasn’t just the best blacksmith in the entire region, but he had some secret knowledge to create the best weaponry. That’s why Master Dorian recommended taking Bolin with them. King Khuli was also aware of Bolin’s secret knowledge. Bolin was abducted to the castle to help the king to make his deadly weapon. Bolin managed to make King Khuli let him go home every day, just to keep it look like normal.
After casting Bolin’s assistants and choosing a place for his workshop, Laam and Jeem gathered the gypsies and the old Ashalandian soldiers, in order to train the fellow villagers. They knew that there wasn’t enough time, but they had to prepare with whatever they had, to face the enemies. Men and women of all ages voluntarily joined the brave new force of the freedom fighters.
***
The guards were motionless for a while. In the light of the remaining torches, they could see the deserted village where thousands of people were gathered just a few moments ago. The head of the guards got his consciousness back before the others. He shouted to his fellow guards to get down to the village and search every corner and sent one guard to call for more guards to join them.
The joint team of the Midney and the Kajlas searched for the villagers until the dawn. They didn’t find a single person, but their search wasn’t entirely a failure. One of the Kajlas soldiers discovered the crack behind Jeem’s bakery and found the trail that went all the way to Master Dorian’s monastery. The guards exhaled their breath of freedom. If the Kajlas soldier didn’t locate the crack, they’d all be dead by noon.
The head guard ran to the castle to inform the Chief Lord Brirar. By the time he arrived at the castle, Chief Lord Brirar was having breakfast with the King and the Queen Mother. He waited for them to finish their food and asked for the permission to enter the room. And as he assumed King Khuli got angry to hear the bad news but forgiven him for discovering the crack on the wall. The head guard just escaped from the castle as soon as the king told him that he may leave now.
There was an awkward silence in the dining room. King Khuli was puzzled, giving a blank look to his mother, who was also confused about the news. Chief Lord Brirar was sat facing down, thinking about the weight of the news.
“I still don’t get it,” the King said. “How did they do it?” Shuffling his glance from his mother to Lord Brirar.
“I have never heard of such kind of magic in my entire life,” the Queen Mother admitted. “I know that there are some wizards, who can transport themselves from place to place, this incident; however, is entirely new to me.”
“Whatever it is, I’m sure Dorian knew about it,” King Khuli said. His blank look was replaced with a scene, where he was punishing Master Dorian for his betrayal. He smiled cruelly as he was waiting for this day to come.
“Aylan Bimbsor must know something about it. As he is Jeem Nokulsor’s friend, behind whose bakery the guards have found the crack.” Lord Brirar said. “I remember now, Aylan had helped Laam Yaadsor at the Big sport, who happened to be the supplier of Jeem. Now the puzzles are fitting perfectly. We have underestimated these lads. But it’s not too late. We have one of them in the dungeon.” He looked at the king with satisfaction.
King Khuli shook his head and left the chair to go into the backyard, where he’d throw Aylan in the crocodile pond. As he and Lord Brirar approached by the door, Chaya stood up and said, “Goran! It doesn’t matter if he opens his mouth or not, you’ll make sure this nasty man is dead by midday.”
King Khuli stopped, and without looking back, he replied, “Yes mother. Don’t worry about that.” Then he left the room.
Aylan was already taken to the backyard where he was tied up with shackles by the pond. He felt sick looking at the thick dark water in the pond. They had given him an advantage by bringing him here early. He had connected his mind with the crocodile. Though the hungry crocodile didn’t want to listen to him in the beginning, when he promised them for freedom to the wild, they agreed to not attack him. The other advantage was, from this place Aylan could see the top of the Queen’s Tower. Now he knew which way to go.
The King walked straight to Aylan and said, “I normally don’t like to touch my captives, but with you, I have an entirely different business,” and all of a sudden punched him in the face. Aylan would drop on the floor if he wasn’t tied up with the pillar. He felt the salty taste of blood in his mouth. The punch had shown the king’s strength. Few more of these punches would kill any ordinary man. Aylan knew that he could heal within a few moments. The new power that he had acquired had given him many advantages. Healing from the wounds was one of them. But it wasn’t the best time to expose it, as his true identity would get revealed to the enemies.
The King continued punching Aylan in the face and abdomen. He kept punching until Aylan’s face wasn’t recognizable anymore. Then he went back to his chair, slightly panting. Two of the servants started fanning from behind the chair.
Tha
t made Aylan chuckle. He spat some blood and laughed, “You better throw me in the pond, instead of wasting your energy.”
“Keep your filthy mouth shut, unless you talk about your friends,” King Khuli growled, he was still panting a bit.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying, you dumb king,” Aylan smiled. “Take my friendly advice and throw me in the pond.”
Before King Khuli said anything, Lord Brirar jumped in front of Aylan and started punching and kicking him. “How dare you speak like this to the king?” he said, angrily. “You’ll learn some manners before you die.” Then he pulled Aylan’s collar and brought his face closer to him, “And what are you rushing about? To join the friends, eh?” dropped a punch on his abdomen. “What if I keep you in the dungeon for the rest of your life?”
Aylan took all the punches quietly. Slowly, he was recovering himself.
“I’m giving you a few more moments. Don’t think, keeping your mouth shut would save your friends and the villagers. It’ll only delay the punishment,” King Khuli said.
“Oh no, no,” Aylan smiled. “You don’t need to waste your energy finding them. They’re somewhere very close, just waiting for you.”
King Khuli and Lord Brirar exchanged a glance and carefully measured Aylan’s eyes. His confidence was irritating them.
“Well, since you’re not doing any favor to yourself and us, you better be thrown in the pond,” The King smiled, leaning back in his chair. “I’d like to see how good swimmer you are.”
The guards quickly untied Aylan from the pillar, but his hands and legs were still tied and pulled him to the pond. Aylan took a look at the water with disgust, “Why this water is so thick and dark?”
“Because of the human flesh,” Lord Brirar answered, smiling cruelly. He was amazed to see Aylan’s jokey mood, even a moment before his death.
“Poor crocodile, they must be blind by now, because of this polluted water!” Aylan continued his jokes.
“Push him!” King Khuli ordered.
SPLASH! Aylan dropped in the pond. A gasp of water went in his mouth, he quickly pushed himself up and spit it out. He felt like going to throw up and then realized it was just a normal reflex. He wasn’t actually feeling anything. Aylan gave a glance to the audience and casually swam to the other side. Assured about the crocodile, with whom he made a deal a few moments ago.
On the ground, King Khuli and the others were being impatient about the crocodile attack. It’s been only a few moments, but the hungry crocodiles supposed to attack by now.
Underneath the water, six hungry crocodiles were keeping themselves in control, as the human promised them to get out from this hell, where most of the time they had to stay starving. But the biggest crocodile has changed his mind at the last moment. The noise on the top drove him crazy, so he forgot about the deal and swam up, targeting Aylan.
Aylan was almost near to the other side of the pond, thinking how to get on the ground with his tied up hands and legs. From the other side, his enemies were annoyed and furious at the crocodiles for not showing up. Lord Brirar ordered the guards to go to the other side and poke Aylan with the spears to make sure he can’t get up. The left and right sides of the pond were very narrow. One person at a time could walk on them, but very carefully. By the time the guards approached the edges, they had seen a massive dark structure was swimming to Aylan from under the water.
Everybody waited to see the attack with a trembling heart. They never had this much suspense before as most of the victims have died by this time. Aylan had realized the situation and turned back to face the hungry crocodile. He had an idea to use the opportunity.
The big hungry crocodile showed up in the water, keeping his eyes glued to Aylan. King Khuli and his men cheered to see it. The crocodile was slowed down seeing the motionless prey. It swam slowly to him as there was enough time to enjoy the meal.
Aylan looked into the crocodile’s eyes and forced to connect to its mind. He reminded it, his promise of freedom where it could eat as much as the food it wanted. The crocodile hesitated for a moment. So Aylan showed him the picture of food that he would have if it let Aylan go. After a few moments of hesitation, the crocodile agreed with Aylan.
The audience has witnessed an unprecedented scene. The crocodile plunged under the water and pushed Aylan up with its jaw. Like in the circus, Aylan stood on its jaw and then back flipped to the ground. Without wasting any moment, he started hopping as soon as he landed on the ground.
It took a few moments for the guards to realize their duties. They rushed to chase Aylan, forgetting of being careful with the narrow sidewalks of the pond. As they tried to run through the edges, first three guards slipped and fell into the pond. The big crocodile was still on the water. He had the deal with Aylan, but no one else. So he attacked the fallen guards and sunk under the water with one of them, not even giving the victim a chance to scream for the last time. The other two guards got frozen, watching the horrific scene. And the other crocodile took the chance. The two guards disappeared under the dark thick water.
Aylan reached the small door that joined the King’s court to the other side of the pond. The door was basically an escape route for the people in the court, in the case of any attack. Once he entered the door, Aylan used his maximum strength to reap the shackles off.
By this time he had started understanding the power within him. As he stretched his hands and legs, the heavy shackle ripped off as if they were made of paper. Aylan took the broken pieces of to cover up his strength from the enemies. It wasn’t the right time yet. Then ran to the northeast corner, assuming the Queen’s bedroom. He wished not to face the Queen Mother at that point.
Lord Brirar saw Aylan disappearing behind the small door. He ordered the guards to split into three groups. One group would follow him from the little door, he advised them to be careful while crossing the sidewalk. One group would stay with the King, and the other group would go and alert the guards in and outside of the castle. Within a few moments, the guards had blocked every exit of the castle and started searching for Aylan, not leaving an inch of it.
The Queen Mother was at the Queen’s tower, telling her sisters how her son was going to kill the last of the Dainee hunter. So, Aylan didn’t have to face her when he entered her bedroom. After a quick search, he found the entrance to the tunnel. But before he stepped into it, Aylan looked at his body, covered with thick, dark red and slimy objects. No doubt they were the rotten human flesh mixed the pond water. He headed to the Queen Mother’s bathroom, where he found the bathtub was filled with warm water, meaning she would back at any moment. Aylan jumped into the tub and smelled the sweet strawberry smell coming out of the water. Aylan just shrugged and started cleaning himself.
He probably would need more time to clean himself, but hearing the noise coming from the Queen mother’s bedroom, Aylan jumped out of the bathtub, grabbed the towel and ran to the tunnel entrance. Once he got into it, Aylan locked the door behind him. There was a massive lock attached to the door for extra security.
After walking a few steps, he felt confused as he saw some uneven ways went to the different directions. None of them actually went to the northeast, where the Queen’s tower was located. Aylan had no time to waste, so he picked a way that he guessed would go to the Queen’s tower. But before he stepped into it, Aylan heard a familiar sarcastic voice came somewhere from the above.
“Cr-u-ck. This way you silly maggot!” It was Cro, sitting on a torch stand. His black feathers were shining under the light.
“Cro!” Aylan shouted. “How did you get here?” He was happy to see his friend after a few days.
“Well, that’s a big story. I just found a small hole under that trapped door,” Cro pointed to the trap door straight above Aylan. “I asked Chara about it, and she said that the informer birds use this hole to get out from the castle secretly. I came down to know more about it and found you. What are you doing here?”
“I am looking for the Cricles. Accordin
g to Ednit, there is something wrong in between the way of the castle and the Queen’s tower. I guess it’s the trap door. But where’s the Cricles?” Aylan took the torch off from the stand and started looking for some unusual looking stones. By this time, he had realized that the ways that he was seeing were actually some illusions, and where the illusions, the Cricles are definitely there. After looking at the both sides, Aylan stood right under the trap door. He raised the torch close to the wall and saw five stones, peeking out from the wall. They were kept in a way that, no one could see them if they had no idea about what to look for. And Aylan would miss them too if he didn‘t know the number of the stones.
He punched on the side of the stones, and they got loose from the wall. As he collected big four stones, the illusion around him just disappeared, and he could see the one long tunnel went to the northeast. When he took the smallest stone, all of a sudden a ladder came down. Aylan put all the stones in his pocket and climbed the ladder. He opened the trap door and found himself in a beautiful garden.
“What is this place?” Aylan asked in a surprised voice. He rose his eyebrows, and they stayed up while he looked around. He was sat behind a big bush and a big stone, from where he could see the garden, the fountain and the outhouse along with a stable looking cottage.
“Shhh,” Cro warned his friend. “Lower your voice. It’s the place where the apprentice Dainees live.”
“Nice,” Aylan said, smiling. “And here, in this beautiful yet dangerous place you’ve been romancing with Chara?
“Yes, kind of,” Cro replied. “Actually, Chara introduced me to the Dainees. I tried to take the opportunity to get some information, playing an ordinary crow, who only speaks to his kind. Chara pretended to be a translator. Such an amazing lady.” Cro’s eyes looked dreamy as if he imagined Chara right at that moment.
“Good job lover boy,” Aylan smiled. This old raven was enjoying his life now. “Do you have any idea how can we escape from here?”
Son of The Prisonland (The Myth Shadow Trilogy Book 1) Page 17