Paraworld Zero

by Matthew Peterson

  “Si-moan bring Momma back?” asked Har with an innocence so sweet, he seemed like a child fully expecting his father to find a lost pet.

  Simon’s heart swelled within him. Oh how he wished he could bring his own mother back. But despite his newfound powers, not even he could bring someone back from the dead.

  “I’m sorry, Har,” Simon choked, “I can’t.”

  Their father entered the room. “Children. Simon needs rest. Go!”

  The big Puds scurried out of the room, but again, Little Har stayed behind. His father didn’t seem to mind, though. “Little Har,” he said, “stay with Simon… I go sleep… Must fish in morning.”

  “Actually, Harr,” Simon said, “I really need to get to Highland City as soon as possible.”

  He looked around for his clothing and was about to stand when Harr stopped him. “Too dangerous at night… Simon must sleep… Tomorrow… Tomorrow we go to city.” At that, he placed some food and a glass of water in the boy’s lap. “Good-night, Morbras,” he said, winking.

  Simon yawned deeply and admitted to himself that he probably should get some rest. From a window above his bed, he saw the stars shining in the black sky. It had been a very long day, and he welcomed all the sleep he could get.

  “Si-moan eat?” Har asked.

  Simon took a long drink of the cool water and noted that it tasted exceptionally good. He looked down at his food: various roots of some sort—not really a fitting meal for a king. After building up the courage, he bit into a yellow root and gagged from the bitter flavor.

  “Si-moan no like?” asked Har.

  “Big surprise, huh?” Simon said with a smile. “I guess I’m just too finicky.”

  The large boy opened a cedar chest and withdrew from it a tiny chocolate cake. He stretched his arm out to Simon and presented the gift.

  “Si-moan like?”

  Simon stared in confusion at the bruised but mostly intact cake and suddenly realized it was the same chocolate treat he had given to Har two days earlier.

  “Oh, no,” he protested. “I couldn’t possibly. That was your birthday present.”

  The large boy beamed from head to toe. “Har save present… Si-moan friend.” He offered the cake to Simon again and urged, “Please, eat.”

  Not wanting to be rude, Simon took the chocolate cake and devoured it in less than a minute. It was the tastiest thing he had ever eaten—not because of the actual cake, but because the present had come full circle.

  “Tell me, Har,” he asked, licking his lips, “what else do you know about this Morbras fellow?”

  “Morbras will save us all.”

  “Save you from what?”

  The large boy thought for a while.

  “Har not know,” he finally confessed.

  “I figured as much,” Simon said, chuckling.

  He lay back down and tried to rest, but the faint pain in his shoulder reminded him of the impending doom that awaited the planet. What could he do? He looked over at the little red book lying on the table. Somehow, he had to get back into the volcano and turn on the machine.

  Tomorrow, his body groaned. Tomorrow.

  Sleep pulled on his eyelids so that he could barely keep them open. “You have a nice family,” he said. “So how many brothers and sisters do you have?”

  “Har has… this many brothers.” The large boy brought up six fingers.

  “Your parents had seven boys?” Simon said. “Wow, that’s amazing.”

  “And one girl,” Har added.

  “You’re very lucky that your family is still together. Back where I’m from, no one seems to care—”

  “No,” Har interrupted. “Not together… brother work in mines… and little sister… still servant.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. I want you to know, Har, that I don’t agree with the way your people are treated. I think it’s awful that your family was split apart.”

  “Si-moan have family?” Har asked.

  “I don’t know, really. My mom is gone, and I’ve never met my dad, so I don’t know if he’s even alive. As for brothers and sisters… I have no idea. I’ve just always been alone.”

  “Not alone,” Har said, pointing to Simon’s chest. “Family always in here.”

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Simon rubbed his mother’s medallion to bring him comfort. He turned towards the wall and looked out the window again. “The stars sure are bright tonight,” he said, yawning.

  “Har travel to stars… someday.”

  “Well, actually, Har,” Simon began, “if you ever got near a star, you’d probably burn up—” He stopped himself immediately. “Oh, great! Now I’m starting to sound like Thornapple.”

  The large boy laughed deeply.

  “Har, I’ll tell you what,” Simon said. “If I ever get off this planet, I’ll take you with me, okay? That way, you won’t be sent to the mines when the little Puds find you.”

  “Si-moan leave?”

  “Someday… maybe.” He looked at the starry sky and yawned again. “But I won’t be traveling through outer space. I guess I’ll be traveling to a different planet parallel with this one. At least, that’s what Tonya says.”

  “Par—Parr—Pa—ra—Par—”

  “Parallel worlds,” Simon said. “And don’t ask me what it means.” He closed his eyes and mumbled, “I’m still not sure myself…”

  “Har travel to par-par-par-world with Si-moan,” the large boy said, beaming. He looked over at Simon and realized the young wizard was already asleep.

  “Good-night… Si-moan.”

  * * *

  “Morbras, wake up,” Har’s father yelled. Simon didn’t even have time to open his eyes before the man dragged his body out of bed. “Danger! We go now!”

  “Wait! Wait!” cried Simon. “Let me get my clothes.”

  “Hurry! They come!”

  “Who comes?” Simon yelled back. He looked out the window and saw that it was barely morning.

  “Dra-goon-nos.”

  The word made his blood run cold. Simon grabbed his shirt and vest from the table and threw them on. Just then, Little Har rushed into the hut with a panicked look on his face.

  “Hurry,” Harr prodded.

  “My pants! Where’s my pants?” Simon yelled.

  “There,” Little Har said, pointing to the far wall.

  Simon dashed over to get them.

  “Strange under-wear,” Little Har commented after seeing Simon’s colorful Batman boxers.

  “Yeah.” Simon chuckled nervously and pulled up his black slacks. “They give me special powers.”

  “Really?” Har asked.

  Simon zipped his pants. “No, I’m just kidding.”

  Suddenly, the wall burst open and knocked Simon to the ground. Surprised, he looked up to see a giant lizard scurrying towards him.

  CRACK! Harr smacked the creature so hard with his club that he knocked it into the roaring fireplace. The flame-covered draguno set fire to the grass hut as it writhed on the ground.

  “Come,” Harr growled, pushing Simon towards the door.

  “Wait! I need my book.”

  “No time!”

  “If I don’t get that book, we’re all dead.”

  Simon ran for the table and dodged the hot embers that fell from the roof. Right there on the table lay his possessions. He grabbed the little red book and the shard of metal and stuffed them in his pocket. But as he reached for his glasses, the dying draguno swiped his legs from underneath him with its strong tail.

  Flat on his back, Simon watched the lizard spring into the air. Jaws open and clawed fingers extended, the reptile descended upon the boy. Simon raised his hands and yelled, “FLY!”

  The draguno glided right over his body and smashed against the wall. Like a rubber ball, the lizard ricocheted around the room until, finally, it launched itself through the window. Outside, the flaming draguno left a trail of fire as it bounced off trees and huts.

  Simon snatched his glas
ses and ran out of the crumbling building. He soon found, to his horror, that the whole village was on fire. Several big Puds were fighting a draguno as it rampaged through a flock of woolly animals. Terrifying shrieks could be heard from somewhere in the distance.

  “Come,” Harr shouted. “We ride!”

  Har and his father climbed onto some hairy beasts that stood lazily nearby. Simon recognized the stubborn creatures immediately: farbearuses. Reluctantly, he climbed onto one of the muscular animals.

  “Don’t you have anything faster?” he complained.

  Harr whistled loudly, and the docile creatures sprang into flight. Little Har inserted his hands into a pair of gauntlets attached to the sides of the hairy beast he rode. Wondering what the strange gloves were for, Simon followed suit and discovered that inside each glove was a bar of metal for him to hold. Just then, the farbearuses stood up on their massive hind legs.

  Simon struggled to keep his feet in the stirrups and his hands in the gauntlets at the same time, but he was too short, despite his animal being smaller than the others.

  The group sped on a little ways when, suddenly, an enormous draguno leaped out of a thicket and rammed into Harr’s farbearus. The hairy mammal tumbled to the ground, taking its rider with it.

  Harr staggered to his feet just as the lizard pounced on him. The two giants rolled on the forest floor until Harr finally threw the reptile off. Frantically, he scrambled for his club, but it was nowhere to be found.

  The reptile lunged for him once more, but Harr quickly picked up a rock and shattered it against the draguno’s skull. The giant lizard shook its head angrily and reared back in preparation to jump. Just then, Simon noticed the strange tree right behind Little Har’s father.

  “Harr,” Simon yelled. “Throw it into those green branches!”

  As the lizard jumped, Harr fell on his back and used his legs to catapult the reptile into the branches behind him. Like a Venus flytrap, the malevolent tree closed its fingers around the lizard and pulled it inward. Loud crunching sounds echoed from within the tree trunk. The lizard’s tail flailed about wildly, until, finally, it dropped to the ground. Simon recalled the death of the tree sloth a few days earlier; it too had come to a grisly end. He watched in disgust as the severed tail continued to thrash about. When the crunching sounds ceased, the five bloodstained fingers slowly emerged from the tree to await its next meal.

  Harr limped over to his ride and clambered onto its back. He pointed away from the mountain and yelled, “This way.”

  “Wait a second,” Simon said. “I need to get to Highland City.”

  “No,” Harr countered. “Morbras stay… Fight dragunos… Morbras will save us.”

  “I don’t think so!” Simon shouted. “Listen to me, Harr. Pretty soon now there’s going to be thousands of dragunos flooding the land, and the only way your people will have a chance is if you take me to Highland City. You see, there’s a machine—”

  At that moment, a herd of big Puds—each riding upon a hairy farbearus—rushed past them and quickly disappeared from sight. The forest remained silent for a few seconds, but then an awful hissing sound found its way to their ears. Simon’s skin began to crawl with uneasiness. The thick foliage started to rustle, and soon they witnessed the shocking danger that was upon them. Row after row of hungry dragunos came into view, causing the anxiety level in Simon to grow exponentially.

  “Trust me, Harr,” Simon yelled. “You don’t want to go that way!”

  Without arguing, the giant turned his farbearus around and whistled loudly. Simon didn’t have to do anything at all; his ride turned automatically and sprinted towards the mountain at full speed. The dragunos pursued them, but after a while, the cold-blooded reptiles could no longer keep up with the fast pace. It wasn’t long before Simon and his companions left the forest and entered a large clearing where the rest of the tribe had gathered. Their steeds went down on all fours again and munched heartily on the green grass.

  “Harr!” a large man who appeared to be the tribal leader called out. “Will Morbras save us?”

  “Yes, Grog… Morbras will save us,” Harr reassured him while holding onto the man’s shoulder.

  “Then we go… to ocean… Ocean safe.”

  “NO!” Simon burst out. “No, no, no! Don’t go to the ocean. Whatever you do, don’t go to the ocean! That’s where all the dragunos are coming from.”

  “Si-moan say,” Little Har informed Grog, “we go to High-land City.”

  “We no go to city!” the tribal leader said, aghast at the very thought of disobeying the law. “Not allowed.”

  Simon stood up on his farbearus’s wide back so that everyone could see him clearly.

  “If you truly believe I’m Morbras,” he said, “then that means I’m your king. And as your king, I ask you to go to Highland City. There’s a huge library at the edge of town. You have to take me there. That’s the only way we can stop the dragunos.”

  Worried looks spread over the faces of the giants. They stroked their security collars nervously. Simon was asking them to disobey the laws of the land; big Puds were not allowed in the city until daytime, under penalty of imprisonment in the mines.

  “Listen to me,” Simon said. “Your lives are more important than an immoral law. You can’t always follow every rule with blind obedience. Laws are made for people, not the other way around.”

  The tribal leader raised his hand and yelled ecstatically, “Grog follow Morbras! Morbras will save us!”

  The rest of the crowd cheered in agreement. “Morbras will save us!” they exclaimed.

  Simon looked at the giants in amazement as they praised and idolized him. For the first time in his life, he didn’t feel quite so small anymore. The excitement came to a halt, however, as a pack of deadly dragunos spewed from the forest. Immediately, Grog led his tribe towards the mountain.

  The reptiles could run very fast for short distances, but when it came to long sprints, the hairy mammals were far superior runners. The group arrived at the base of the tall mountain after a short while. Without even resting, they proceeded to climb the windy pathway that led to the city. The large muscular legs of the farbearuses gave them a particular advantage over the short legs of the dragunos.

  About halfway up the mountain, Grog stopped for a moment to scan for any pursuers. “What is… that?” he asked with a horrified expression.

  Far out in the distance, a sea of strange darkness spread across the surface of the ocean. The morning sun was just beginning to uncover the valley, which in turn revealed a tremendous horde of dragunos racing towards the mountain.

  “Ocean…” Harr said slowly. “Alive!”

  “Oh my gosh.” Simon gasped, seeing the millions of giant lizards swimming towards the beach. The dragunos infested the entire ocean.

  Harr whistled loudly, and the hairy creatures bounded up the mountain once more. At times, the narrow pass became so thin that Simon’s body hung over the steep ledge. He held on tightly to the gauntlets but continued to struggle with the stirrups.

  A few minutes later, they came to the edge of Highland City. Sirens were blaring and little Puds were running in every direction.

  “What are you doing here?” barked a tiny police officer. Two other officers stood beside him. “We don’t have time for this,” he spat.

  The officers pointed their weapons, which looked more like TV remote controls than guns, at the group of big Puds. Suddenly, the large men and women grasped their throats as electricity surged through their security collars.

  “Stop that!” Simon shouted, jumping down from his farbearus.

  Everyone in the tribe fell to the ground in agony… That is, everyone but Little Har. The boy remained unaffected by the remote controls because most of the security features in his collar had been disabled during Dr. Troodle’s car accident.

  Har leapt from his farbearus and rushed towards the three police officers. With surprisingly quick reflexes, he disarmed each officer and crushed the
ir weapons with his bare hands. He snarled at the little Puds—as if taunting them—but instead of fighting back, all three men screamed and ran away.

  Smiling, Little Har turned around just in time to see the hairy beasts darting off. He then realized why the officers had been so terrified: The first wave of dragunos had just reached the top of the mountain.

  “Come on!” Simon yelled, helping Har’s father to his feet.

  Still recovering from the jolt they had just received, the big Puds stood up and brushed themselves off. The library wasn’t too far away, but neither were the dragunos. Desperately, Simon and Har pushed the weary group in the right direction.

  They were almost there now… Just a little farther. Then Simon saw something at the edge of the forest that made his heart sink: a swarm of dragunos shredding the home of Dr. Troodle.

  Tormenting anguish overwhelmed Simon’s entire frame and dropped him to his knees. “No,” he sobbed. “I’m too late!”

  The young man had never felt such strong feelings of both anger and sorrow before. Tonya! Thornapple! Had they escaped, or were the dragunos tearing them to pieces at this very moment?

  Then, in answer to his fears, Simon heard someone call his name from a distance. He turned around to see a young woman with long, green-white hair rushing towards him. It was Tonya. She was alive, and Thornapple was running alongside her.

  “Tonya!” Simon yelled with profound joy.

  He stood up and was about to run to his friends when Har’s father threw him back to the ground—just as a draguno sprang at him. The giant lizard collided with Harr and knocked him down. Before Simon could even register what was happening, the reptile raised its head high into the air and slammed it right onto Harr’s chest.

  Simon watched helplessly as the draguno clenched its jaws around the body of the poor man—the man who had saved Simon’s life twice… the man who, in their brief time together, had shown the young wizard that he had a far greater potential than he had ever realized… the man who was now dying—in essence, sacrificing himself to save Simon’s life a third time.