The Humming Bird's Choice

by Samuel J Fox

  The Humming Bird’s Choice

  a novel by Samuel J Fox

  Text copyright © 2017 Samuel J Fox

  All Rights Reserved

  Cover design created through Canva ©

  Dedicated to Barney Fox – my best friend

  1

  ‘I would have hugged her for a much longer time.’

  “Zira Solokite, in regard to your sister’s death during the Hideout, you have been chosen to retrieve the Kunzite stone, where you will be joined alongside five others on your journey to help restore peace upon our land... may the stars guide you.”

  King Helfer slouches back into his throne.

  I feel her grip on my hand loosen, at the age of eight years old I was still very much aware of what was happening. My dad turns to her with tears dripping off his chin, his bloodshot eyes are the first thing I notice. We all knew my mum would be chosen when her sister was killed by the Hunter. Since she only has one sister it would be the obvious choice.

  We stand in the Great Hall, which sits inside a colossal glass dome, ruled by a pompous Centaur known as King Helfer. Who sits in his dazzling rose throne sofa at the front of the room. Guards tightly surround him, he must be worried. He lays resting his elbow on the arm of his throne allowing his chin to sit on his fist, pouting his lips every so often, like a child waiting for candy. He stares blankly into the crowd, like he isn’t fazed by the fact he has sentenced a group of Centaurs to near certain death.

  My family stand in the middle of the crowd, surrounded by the remaining families of the deceased players, and the public who wish to attend the Humming Birds anniversary. Named after the Kings pet bird being given the choice to decide who participates in the Hideout. Mum once told me that King Helfer decided to create the Hideout for a single purpose; for the Hunter to eliminate all six players through any means necessary in an underground arena, and if the Hunter succeeds, he or she chooses a member of the eliminated players family to take part in the quest to retrieve a long-lost stone, the Kunzite Stone.

  “What if mum refuses to go?” I turn to my brother Sparky, his face pale as snow, he stares at me for a few seconds before he answers.

  “If she doesn’t go...she’ll be killed by the King,” Sparky replies, he reaches for a strand of hair and brushes it back behind his ear. His hands uncontrollably shake as he retracts them back down to his side. My brothers only a couple of years older than me, but he acts a lot younger most of the time, but not today. “Then the Hunter will choose another member of our family to become part of a group of six to find this stupid stone.”

  Sparky turns back around. His hair is long enough and thick enough for him to tie it up in a knot. But today he simply tucks it behind his ears.

  Unable to reply to Sparky, I turn back to my mum who holds both my dad’s hands, they stand pressing each other’s foreheads together in complete silence. Leaving their tears to slowly run down their faces and drip off. My dad’s lips shake as he whispers something to my mum.

  “This is wrong...I can’t live without you...Soul Mate”

  My mum has beautiful oak brown hair, which is platted on both sides falling behind her ears. I watch as my dad runs his fingers down her hair back to her hand.

  “Mum,” I feel my voice crack as I speak, unable to hold back the tears. I rarely cry at most things, but this I cannot help myself but let my emotions run. My mum lets go of my dad’s hands and walks towards me and Sparky. She kneels and runs the back of her smooth finger down my cheek. “Please don’t leave us,” I whisper.

  She gazes into my eyes, tear drops buried deep inside her, but I can tell she’s holding them back. The feeling that I may never see her again makes me want to dig a hole and live in it for the rest of my life, I don’t feel like I can survive without her. The woman who taught me to treat others how you want to be treated, and to always believe in yourself and pursue what you believe in most, whether it’s right or wrong in other people’s eyes.

  She wraps her delicate fingers around mine and then to Sparkys arm, and leans closer.

  “I love you, each of you, and never forget that boys.”

  As I stare back at her I remember the times she had to force me out of bed in the mornings before school, compared to my dad, she’s a lot gentler when she interrupts our dreams. I remember the warm, freshly made breakfast where the smell of coffee and scrambled eggs lingered up into our rooms, which is left on the table ready to be eaten as soon as we drag ourselves out from our cosy beds. I remember all the times her love and affection reassured me that there is nothing to worry about, and I fear I may never know this feeling again. My mum is the concrete that holds our family together.

  She notices a tear fall down my cheek, but she wipes it away before it reaches my chin.

  “Felix, Sparky, my baby boys. I know this will be hard, but just know I will always be proud of you two, no matter what happens. Look after your dad, alright?”

  Me and Sparky nod in unison.

  “You boys make me so proud,” she adds. “I know you’ll both grow up to become big things, I’ll always be watching you and making sure no mischief happens, ok?” Her gentle laugh almost sounds like a cry. She hugs Sparky and gently kisses him on the forehead. She then turns and wraps me in her warm arms, squeezing me so tight I struggle to breath, but I don’t care. The smell of lavender and soap surround her, which is exactly how our entire house smells. Lavender was always thought to keep away bugs and spiders. She releases me and rests her hands on both our shoulders.

  My mum speaks as she will never return, the odds of survival on this journey are weak and since no one has ever returned after being doomed on this quest to retrieve the Kunzite stone, more and more people have lost hope on whether they’ll ever see their loved ones again.

  I notice two guards appear from the crowd, already in tune to prepare her for the unforgettable journey she is about to take. One of them grabs her arm and drags her to her feet, she screams from the fierce grip he inflicts on her and my dad runs over and forcefully pushes the guard away, causing him to fall to the ground. All eyes in the room turn to us, Sparky grabs my hand and walks backwards, taking me with him.

  “My wife is saying goodbye to my kids, can you not see that!” Spit flies out of his mouth, his eyes so raw from crying I don’t think he could cry anymore if he tried. His defined eyebrows stand out on his face, taking the attention away from his unusually small eyes. Veins pop out from his pulsing arms, running all the way up to his neck, I’ve never seen him so angry, but I can’t help but think he’s more afraid.

  The second guard pulls out a long whip from his belt and lashes it across the room at my dad. Looping around his ankles, the guard tugs at the handle causing my dad to drop to the floor. Smacking his head into the stony tiles beneath. Two more guards run over and pin him down. He struggles so much another guard appears from the crowd in support.

  I watch as my mum is then dragged away by the guards, she kicks and screams but they continue to pull her away from the crowd. My dad wriggles and slaps the floor with his hands, demanding Zira to be released. I free myself from Sparkys grip and run towards my mum, just so I can hold her one more time, but a guard stops me in my tracks, preventing me from possibly ever seeing my mum again.

  I scream and cry as much as my heart will give out, but I never saw her again after that.

  If I knew I would never see my mum again, I would have hugged her for a much longer time.

  2

  ‘I feel the pull of the Didotium spear entice me to use it.’

  Ten years later.

  I stand in silence in the depths of the darkest hole I’ve ever seen, surrounded by nothing but darkness. Jagged stones cover the walls, and I feel along them wit
h my bare hands until I reach a hole. I put my arm through but feel nothing. The cool air touches my hand and spreads through my body, gently reaching my neck causing a shiver to run down my spine. I slowly look into the hole and a candle suddenly lights up with its flickering flame.

  The sudden spark of light startles me, causing me to fall backwards, another candle lights up from behind within another hole, and then another to my right, then to my left. Candles appearing out of nowhere cause the entire hole to ignite in bright white light.

  My loose hand falls into one of the holes on the floor, where the hot sticky wax burns my fingers. I sharply pull my hand away, which releases a clunk coming from inside the wall. The ground begins to open up beneath me, revealing a dark tunnel which I cannot help but fall into. The tunnel descends directly downwards and then sharply turns right, allowing me to gain balance. A few meters in front of me I can see the slide drops downwards.

  My body is crammed inside along a two-meter long pipe. My legs and neck begin to ache from forcing my body to contract so much.

  Instead I force myself to crawl back up the slide to where I came from. My hands and hoofs slip and slide back down the pipe from the lack of grip.

  My only way out is down.

  I lean over the edge of where the tunnel descends. Claustrophobia begins to take its toll and I can feel my heartrate beginning to rise and my breathing starts to become restricted. I force myself to slide down. Allowing my back two legs to hang over first, then my front two, and then my body. I slide down the dark tunnel, taking sharp turns every few seconds. Until I finally reach the end.

  A dim light appears in the distance, a sight I have craved since I first fell. I’ve never been good in tight spaces.

  I crawl to the end of the tunnel to which I am greeted with clouds of dust, which eventually reveal something I was not expecting. An enormous tomb.

  The dusty tomb is cold and dim, with only the moon lighting up the room from a square hole in the roof. It’s still a struggle to see, but I begin to make out Egyptian hieroglyphics which cover the walls from top to bottom. I search for a way out but I find myself trapped. Every breath I exhale I see the warm air rise from my mouth. I gallop from one side of the room to the other in hope to escape, but the sinking feeling of slowly vanishing into darkness creeps up on me. A warm humming presence on the palms of my hands catches my attention, I now hold the Didotium spear.

  The golden rod which is covered in symbols and hieroglyphics which I do not understand, lays within my grip, my eyes follow the solid weapon towards the end where it splits into two, forming a U shape. Hovering between the rods lay the long-lost stone of Kunzite. The stone itself is a crystal clear cubic shape with blushing pink fluid flowing through its veins. I twist the rod in my hands, turning it over to see the other side, it feels lighter than a feather.

  I slam the base of the rod into the floor and suddenly sparks of pink and blue and yellow shoot along the tiles and along the walls. I feel a buzzing sensation run through my body and I can’t help but laugh in disbelief. The vibrant colours slowly begin to fade away leaving me in darkness once again, apart from the pink and white glow of the Didotium Spear which lights up around me.

  The humming suddenly stops and the room feels silent again. I feel a presence standing in front of me, pointing the spear above my head I see a creature towering over me, it stands on all fours looking ready to lunge forward.

  Its disfigured face drools purple slime as it snarls at me, its pinball eyes don’t move from my direction. The giant hairless creature slowly edges forward and suddenly charges directly at me, screaming in a high pitch tone as it runs. I duck and roll out the way feeling the flick of the wind fly past me from its long veiny tail. Suddenly I hear cheering, shouting and even whistling all around me, I look around to see crowds of Centaurs squeezed into any space made available, apart from a large section in the middle of the room where the creature and myself stand. The creature is already on its way back in my direction and I decide to turn and run towards the corner of the room where the walls are weak and broken.

  I swiftly squeeze into one of the open cracks, and collapse to the floor. I feel a sudden urge to vomit but I hold it down as I hear the creature charging towards me. Its hands come flying through the hole in the wall, spitting and screaming as its skinny arms flail around.

  I feel a rush of courage and decide to scream back at the vulgar creature.

  “Come on!” I shout, enraged from the pit of my stomach, I use all my force to scare the creature away. “I’m not scared of you, bring it on!”

  Suddenly the creature stops attacking and retreats, whimpering as it walks away from me. The sound of the crowd grows silent, it must have surprised them as well, it surprised me anyway.

  As I emerge from the rubble, I hold the spear firmly in my hand, feeling like I’m holding a newspaper about to put an end to an annoying fly.

  Without reason, the creature turns and charges in my direction, louder and scarier than before.

  I feel the pull of the Didotium spear entice me to use it. I stand firm and with all my mite I strike the creature with the spear into the heart. Without feeling any impact, a bright flash of pink light explodes, blinding me, and a warm feeling runs through my veins.

  Suddenly, I wake up.

  +++

  Voices slowly drain in from outside my house, which is probably what woke me up in the first place. I rub my eyes with both bawled-up fists and take in a heavy breath and exhale with a loud huff. I lay still staring at the ceiling where a patch of blue goo sticks from when I was playing with my science experiment. I bend my neck to my right and see the sun shining brightly through the window, dust flutters through the rays shining onto the wooden floor. The smell of scrambled eggs creeps into my room, which makes me feel queasy first thing in the morning. I lay there a few seconds before I push myself out of my snug bed, ready for what the day has planned for me.

  I finally force myself to stand, stretching both arms outwards rotating my wrists in unison. I stretch out my front leg onto the wall, relieving it from the tightness that grew overnight. Reaching down towards my ankle. I gently rub my hoofs, brushing off a few strands of brisk hay that must have gotten loose from beneath me. The bed of hay neatly tucks away in the corner of my room, I stare wearily, wishing I could lay back down and get a couple more winks. But my dad would kill me if I got back into bed, as tempting as it is.

  Artwork covers the room, some hang from the wall and some are scattered across my desk table. Pictures of someone I know, or anything from my imagination. But one painting which is still in progress sticks on my artwork table in the corner of the room, this one I’ve been painting for a while. The vibrant colours merge into each other forming a universe with stars scattered across in space. In one corner of the poster is a bright white light, sort of a giant star. The star light shines through the pink and red and purple galaxy into a template of my mum’s face. Which is the part which I’m still currently drawing. The feeling of coming home after school today to continue my painting excites me.

  A small smile creeps up on my face.

  I chuckle to myself at a photo of me and my best friend Hurk that balances on the edge of the desk, looking goofy as we pose for our high school prom photos.

  I reach the windowsill and watch as everyone walks in their friendship groups to school, I see someone buckle over the sidewalk and I silently chuckle to myself.

  “Dammit!” I shout, as I suddenly realise that I should also be outside walking to school. “I’m late again!”

  I gallop down the wide staircase holding onto the banister for balance as I simultaneously struggle to get my left arm through my plain white t-shirt.

  “Woah, calm it Felix what’s the big ol’ rush going on here?” Monni says from the other side of the room putting another one of his finished novels away on the bookshelf.

  Monni moved in with his young daughter Pell about a year ago, he recently proposed to my dad on his birthday and obv
iously, my dad said yes. He stands with both arms crossed looking puzzled, the lower half of his body is covered in chestnut brown hair with one white patch just above his tail. The hair on his head is the same color as his bottom half, even though there’s not much of it.

  “I’m late, again! I’m starving too I can’t even grab a quick snack before school,” I say with no eye contact as I kneel down brushing my hoofs with an old brush Sparky uses to comb his tail. “Has Sparky left for school yet?” I ask.

  “Just left,” Monni replies whilst, from what it looks like, deciding the next book to read. “He left two minutes ago, why?”

  He took off wearing my bag and I know it, but I don’t say anything.

  “Nothing,” I mumble. “It’s fine,” I say staring at the front door.

  “Everything alright Felix?” asks Monni, he pinches the temple of his spectacles and lowers them just below his eyes.

  “Yeah,” I reply, “Why?”

  Monni rests his newly chosen book on the kitchen counter and takes in a deep breath, “The Hideout starts next week,” Monni says in a concerned tone, he lets out a sigh and looks at me, his right ear is covered in piercings which glimmer in the morning sun. “I can imagine this must be a troublesome time for you, but we’re all here for you, here for each other. If you ever want to talk about it, I promise to put the book down and listen. You should go and catch up with your brother, he’s probably worried about you.”

  Every ten years the high court of Steed-Land announce the beginning of what they call, The Hideout. Six participants are chosen to hide from one Hunter with an armory of their choice. If all six hiders are killed, a member of their family must be chosen by the Hunter to attempt to retrieve the Kunzite stone, which annoyingly the location is still unknown. If the Hunter fails, the King will be forced to wait another ten years in hope the next Hunter will succeed. So far, no Hunter has yet to fail.