The Humming Bird's Choice

by Samuel J Fox

  How does this school guard know so much about Minotaur’s? I open my mouth to ask but I am prevented when Hurk interrupts me.

  “Sunlight?” he stands, wiping the sweat off his forehead. “Did you set this trap?” Hurks eyebrow lifts slightly.

  “No!” The guard laughs hysterically. “You think I would have control of the Didotium spear?”

  Didotium Spear, like the one in my dream.

  I stand and walk towards the guard, he still stands with his hand resting against the wall.

  “What has the Didotium spear got to do with this trap?”

  The guard looks at me with his dim brown eyes, the same colour as the earth we stand on. “Come outside boys, if I stay any longer in this tree I feel like I’ll join those cursed hands.”

  We follow him outside and I suddenly remember the figure I saw up in the trees. I look up to where I last witnessed the dark figure, staring down at me from the branches, but still I see nothing. I scan along the thick arms of the tree in hope it’s only moved position, but the guards voice snaps my attention away.

  “The only valid reasoning to why those hands appeared in that hollow tree can only be from a trap set by the Didotium spear, the only weapon powerful enough to set a spell this unique.” His head snaps to the left as the bushes rumble in the distance. “Traps like this would have been set by the owner of the Didotium spear, and seeing that it was set in a hollow tree, I can only assume it was set in hope to prevent Minotaur’s from hiding during the great battle.”

  “Who was the last owner?” I swiftly ask, probably sound too eager.

  “The only owner, the Kings late grandfather; King Lunar,” he replies, another bush rustle’s in the darkness of the forest, since entering the hollow tree it’s become a lot sinister than before. The trees cause the forest to appear more miserable than it first was since entering. “Anyway boys, you’ve wasted enough of my time rescuing you idiots. It’s getting late, come, I will show you the way back home.”

  The guard takes a long chain with a small ball of wood attached at the end, he clicks his fingers igniting the ball of wood and starts to swing the chain in a circular motion, causing the space around us to light up.

  As we leave the forest the trees become rottener and the smell in the air seems to increase in density. I hold my nostrils shut in hope it’ll block out the old murky smell of the dead flowers that lay in stale ponds.

  After exiting the forest, we approach an old calving farm, only around the corner from my house. I never realised this entire forest lays in the backyard of my garden. As we approach the town centre I still think about the figure in the tree, and how the guard knew so much about the past. So many answers I need, yet so many questions.

  +++

  I wave goodbye to Hurk, knowing I won’t be seeing him tomorrow morning, because we never walk to school together, we simply meet each other in class instead. The wooden door to my house still holds a dent in the side just beneath the door handle, a while ago me and sparky had an argument about him wearing my clothes and me being selfish about it. Obviously, my dad sided with him, “Come on Felix, he’s your brother, you guys should share things.” I remember the words like it was yesterday.

  Sparkys a lot bigger than me and he tends to stretch my clothes, every time I think about it irritates me a little more. That day I stormed out the house slamming the door behind me, almost taking the door handle with me.

  I walk through the front door to surprisingly see my dad cooking, it smells too good to be true, since I haven’t eaten the entire day I’ll eat pretty much anything.

  “Felix!” my dad shouts, followed by a deep chuckle, he wipes his hands clean using a wet cloth and throws it at Pell who is already sitting at the table. Pell groans and throws it back at my Dad as he approaches me. “How was school?” he grabs my shoulder with a firm grip as he speaks.

  “Eventful to say the least,” I reply.

  “Well dinners going to be ready soon so you may as well sit up at the table,” he says. “Stew tonight son, hope you’re hungry!”

  I follow him round the table, “Dad, do you know much about the Didotium spear?”

  I hear him take in a deep breath before he replies, “Not really son,” he turns holding the pot of stew, his eyes squint towards me. “Why do you ask?”

  “Just wondering,” I hesitate. “Well I’ve just been hearing about it a lot about around school. Is it missing or something?” I decide not to speak of my dream I had the other night, it might only worry him.

  “The Didotium spear is a very powerful weapon,” he says as he pours the stew into separate bowls. “Too powerful in fact, the late King Luna decided to banish a piece of the magical artefact when he still had time. The Kunzite stone, and the spear without the stone is useless, like a fire without wood. The stone provides the necessity to summon the powers. It hovers in between two rods at the end of the spear itself.”

  “Still had time?” I ask. “So, he wanted to get rid of it as soon as he could?” My dad passes me a bowl of stew, a little bit of the stew drips on my hand but I wipe it off using my shirt.

  “Why does Felix always get his dinner first?” Pell interrupts. For only a small girl she can be pretty scary, as the only girl in the house my dad and Monni tend to be more lenient with her.

  “Sorry Pell, yours is here anyway,” my dad replies, handing the bowl of stew to her, he grabs a slice of bread and puts it in her bowl. Pells the only girl in the neighbourhood with bright ginger hair, which fits well with her red eyes and freckles.

  My dad turns back to me, his voice lowered this time, “He wanted to hide it, because it’s impossible to destroy, so they say. He decided to hide it somewhere where no one will know the whereabouts off.” He stands next to the fireplace; the glowing embers reflect of his golden skin tone. “Until his son, King Halper, decided that it would be in his best interest to retrieve the Kunzite stone because he believes it will bring peace and prosperity to our land. Which he then passed this belief onto his son King Helfer, our present King today.”

  My dad’s last sentence sounded sarcastic and laughable.

  “That’s good, right?” I reply, “Unless- “

  “Unless the Minotaur’s manage to get their hands on it, especially Zarkoff, who rules those of the Minotaur species,” he cuts in.

  Zarkoff.

  “Who’s Zarkoff, why I have never heard of him before?” I ask.

  Monni appears around the corner, holding yet another book in his hand, he sets the book down on the table and rests his hands on my dad’s shoulder.

  “Zarkoff,” Monni replies. “Is a horrible creature, some say he was born through no such family, he just appeared from the depths of the earth in the darkest corners,” I watch Monni’s grip tighten on my dad’s shoulders, causing him to wriggle slightly in discomfort. “He believes Minotaur’s should be the dominant species, after the division of Centaurs and Minotaur’s, he rose above in the ranks and became leader of those wretches’ creatures. If Zarkoff ever got his filthy hairy hands on the Kunzite stone, we would all be doomed, which is why the whereabouts of the Kunzite stone remains unknown.”

  Hearing so much about the Minotaur’s reminds me of what the school guard was warning me about earlier, I shiver at the thought of Minotaur’s being in control.

  “Which is why me and Hyde are against the Hideout, the quicker someone retrieves the Kunzite stone, the more danger we’ll be in,” Monni releases his grip off my dad’s shoulders and leans down to kiss him on the cheek. Hyde is short for Hydethesis, but everyone calls him Hyde because it’s easier to pronounce.

  +++

  Once we all finish dinner I head out to the garden to visit my mums shrine. As I walk towards the back door, I flick Pells ear and lunge forward avoiding her reaction to try and get any sort of contact on me. I laugh to myself as I hear her irritably call for my dad.

  Peach hangs upside down from the ceiling, her tail wrapped round a wooden plank attached to either sides of the room
. She is one of the rarest monkeys of her species, which makes her even more special to us. She is a black monkey with patches of white spread over her fur. We found her in a bog miles from home during a detour back from a long walk we took a couple years ago, sheltered from the rainstorm in a hollow log all alone. She looked gaunt and scared so we decided to take her back home to feed and wash her. Since then we decided to keep her as one of our own, making sure she lives a happy life.

  I gently stroke the back of her neck waking her up, she yawns, showing her tiny white teeth, where bits of peanuts and banana are still lodged in from this morning. The sight of me causes her to leap onto my shoulder, knocking me off balance for a second. She squeaks and climbs on top of my head picking away at my hair.

  We walk outside into the garden and Peach dives from my shoulder to the giant sculptured tree in our back yard that my dad built a week after Peach arrived. We thought it would make her feel at home, ropes and tiny obstacle courses hang from the tree, with small cocoons filled with feathers in case she wants to sleep outside.

  I leave Peach to play as I head towards my mum’s shrine. As much as it hurts inside, my mum’s body wasn’t recovered, my one and only wish would be to have her body buried at home. Where she can lay with those who loved her, letting her truly rest in peace. With the help from my Dad and Sparky we carved an angel into a large grey boulder, carved out so the angel holds a star in her right hand. We felt the star represented our mum, as she was the star of the family.

  It reads;

  DEDICATED TO ZIRA SOLOKITE

  BELOVED MUM

  BRIGHTER THAN ANY OTHER STAR IN THE SKY

  A tear runs down my cheek as I kneel to the rough ground that surrounds her shrine underneath an apple tree, shading it from the sunlight in the daytime. I let my hand rest on the smooth surface of the angels’ wings.

  “Love you mum,” I gently whisper to myself.

  Tears continue to run down my face, but I don’t bother to wipe them off. A glow fly lands on top of the angel, gently lowering its bright turquoise body onto the stone, it seems to turn and stare at me for a moment.

  Unexpectedly, a hand touches my shoulder, “You alright bro?” I turn to see Sparky standing with Peach on his shoulders eating another banana. I quickly stand wiping the tears from my face and I cough to clear my throat.

  “Yeah man,” I reply, rubbing my fingers against my eyes. “Sorry I just took Peach outside for a moment and came to visit mum.”

  I see the sympathy in Sparkys face, he squeezes my shoulder. “Don’t be sorry, we all miss her.” We both turn, looking back at her shrine, the glow fly gone. “I know it’s been a long, painful year, but I’m always here for you, and so is mum. Even if you can’t see her.”

  We stand in silence for a few seconds. Taking in the peaceful evening.

  Sparky takes in a huge breath, “Listen, remember what I said to you earlier today?” I stare at Sparky in confusion. “Drinking at the lake, you still coming?”

  I remember now, he invited me to come along with his friends.

  “Ah I don’t know Sparky,” I itch the back of my neck, the world seems to be crashing down around me after thinking about mum again. Drinking is the last thing on my mind right now.

  Sparky grabs my cheek with his index finger and thumb and jiggles my stale face.

  “Look Felix, you just need to take your mind off a few things,” Sparky replies. “After a couple drinks you’ll feel on top form again, you’ll be eager to start painting again in no time. If you don’t I promise I’ll take you back home?”

  I stare at him, the thought of drinking alcohol makes me dizzy, but I feel Sparky is trying to be a good brother so I accept. I hear Pell call from inside the house.

  “Felix, Sparky!” she shouts. “It’s your turn to wash Peach!”

  I turn to Sparky, “Fine, only if we leave immediately.”

  “I’m one step ahead of you brother,” he laughs and then continues to pull out a dark glass bottle with a cork squeezed in the top, which I can only assume is the famous rum.

  “Follow me,” says Sparky. “Everyone’s waiting for us already.”

  7

  ‘You have simply crossed our paths at the wrong time, which is unlucky for you.’

  We arrive at a long wooden bridge which seems to stretch for miles. Candle lights hang all the way along the bridge, lighting up small patches of the wooden planks beneath it. The moonlight reflects off the gentle water showing the ripple effect coming from the wind, every other step I take another board creeks beneath my hoof, causing a shiver to run up my spine.

  I turn to look at Sparky, the yellow light bounces off his face giving his cheeks a dark contour. He doesn’t seem affected by the eerie wind that howls as it passes through the air. I look over the edge of bridge and see that it’s a lot closer to the swampy lake beneath than I thought. If Sparky held me in place I could probably touch a lotus floating on the water. However, I quickly move my head away from the edge as the rancid smell nearly causes me to gag. We emerge back into the darkness as we leave the area that was previously lit up by the hanging candle. A creak causes me to turn my head in a flash, I see nothing apart from what my imagination makes up in the darkness.

  “Chill out Felix,” Sparky starts to laugh to himself, he takes a swig of rum and points it in my direction. “Have a bit, I won’t tell dad. It’s kinda strong but you’ll get used to it.”

  “Ah I’m okay thanks,” I hesitate, alcohol doesn’t excite me as much as it does to everyone else. Relying on drunkenness to have a fun time. “Sparky, can I ask you something?”

  He puts the bottle back into his pocket.

  “Sure you can bro, why what’s up?”

  “Are you scared about the Humming Birds anniversary?” I look behind one more time. “What if they call your name, or my name?”

  I stop in my tracks, “Pells, dad or even Monni?” my voice starts to increase in volume.

  Sparky stops and turns to me just a few meters ahead, “Felix I know you’re worried about all of us, but the odds of any of us getting plucked out of the stone is one in a million.”

  I run both hands through my hair and rest them on the back of my neck.

  “But it happened to mum, Sparky, who says it won’t happen to us?”

  “Me, Felix,” Sparky says. “I won’t let anything bad happen to this family, we are tighter than a rock. If anything was to happen to us, we would be there for each other and get through it, mum didn’t raise us any other way.”

  I smile at him and we carry on walking along the old gloomy bridge. As we continue we suddenly notice the remaining candle lights suddenly disappear, like the wind blew them out.

  “Come on Felix,” I hear Sparky say to the left of me, he’s holding my arm slowly pulling me ahead. “Let’s get off this bridge, something’s not right.”

  I can feel it too, it’s silent now, more silent than before. No wind passes through the air, the bridge floor creaks louder as every step we pass, and the temperature seemed to plummet as soon as the candles blew out.

  We begin to swiftly jog ahead now, I know were close to the end of the bridge because I can see where it cuts off back into the Mushwood, a woodland infested purely from giant multicolored mushrooms. The presence behind me seems more intense than before, but every time I turn I see nothing but darkness. The thought of us being followed scares me to death and I want to scream into my hands. Then suddenly something crashes through the bridge beneath us, a figure leaps from under the wooden planks, jumping so high its feet reaches our heads in the air. It lands a few meters ahead of us.

  A Minotaur.

  I’ve never seen a Minotaur in real life before, only in drawings and brief descriptions from those who have.

  The giant figure stands in the darkness, towering over us so tall I have to crank my neck up to see its face. It approaches me and Sparky as steam blares out of its nostrils, it sounds like a gush of powerful wind leaving a tunnel. As we retreat backwards I fe
el a hand grab my shoulder. I look down to see a beefy six fingered hand, covering my entire shoulder, spreading from my neck towards my chest, the tight grip feels rugged.

  I can feel my face tighten as I turn to look behind me, another Minotaur, he slouches with a smirk on his face, just like he’s finally caught his kill for the night. He has grey skin and long fuzzy black hair, with two horns sticking out, however one is slightly broken, missing the top half. I see a few more Minotaur’s appear from underneath us, climbing onto the wooden bridge behind. I can’t help but shiver at the sight of them, my hands turn into fists ready to defend myself.

  The Minotaur in front of us starts to laugh, his deep tone vibrates through me. He appears out from the shadow, showing a scar running from the top corner of his mouth to his chin. His hair runs in a thin line from his head to his pelvis, arms bulging with muscle, covered in thick black hair and the lower half of the body is exact as you would see of the legs of a large bull.

  He approaches us, hoofs stomping along the bridge, just about missing the hole he created.

  “Well,” he says in a polite tone. “Out for a nice evening walk I see?” He peers over my shoulders looking at his fellow friends, and starts to walk around me and Sparky, sizing us up as he does. “So sorry we interrupted you, I didn’t mean to startle you with my abrupt entrance, we just don’t speak to many centaurs anymore. Since the last time we did, you cut our friends and families throats.”

  His voice dramatically changes to sinister. He grabs my arm and pulls me towards his chest.