by Hal Malchow
Again, he swung his wand and six more bats appeared. Again and again and again, he waved the wand until the sky was black with bats and Sesha and Scodo could see the monster no more. Lower and lower, the bats descended, not in a straight line but pendulously, like feathers falling downward through a windless sky.
Scodo looked at Sesha, but she needed no words. Her eyes focused, her lips pursed together in a thin line, her eyes scoured the sky.
“I need to find the monster. I need a clear path!” she shouted, not even looking at Scodo but knowing he awaited her words.
Scodo ran from the wagon, hoping to distract the bats and spread them out. Indeed, some of the bats changed direction, descending now toward Scodo. Still, as Sesha gazed upward, she could not see past the great expanse of fluttering black wings.
Now the bats were upon them. Sesha swatted the air, knocking the first one away. The monster gave a great laugh. He turned toward Scodo and hurled a lightning bolt that exploded at his feet. A small, gnarled tree trunk burst into flames.
Scodo grasped the flaming tree and lifted it from the sandy soil. He waved its flames at the descending bats and a few retreated. Scodo gripped the roots and began spinning his body faster and faster until, in one great, powerful stroke, he hurled the burning tree across the sky scattering the bats in every direction. For the briefest moment, the sky opened. Sesha looked up and stared at the fiery figure above.
This time, Sesha’s face showed no fear, struggle, or pain. Her eyes were bright and focused, undaunted by the terrible demon above. She tightened her fists and pulled them down, elbows bent. On her mouth appeared the faintest beginning of a smile. She began a low whistle, this time vibrating and repetitive.
The sound of Sesha’s whistle only amused the monster. And indeed, the creature did not explode, disappear, or fall straight to the earth. No, what happened was at first not noticed by the monster at all. Its great black wings began to diminish in size. At first, these smaller wings carried the monster just as before. But gradually, the wings grew smaller still. And as they did, the monster flapped harder, struggling to remain in the air.
Soon the shrinking wings could no longer hold the monster in the air. The monster fell, slowly at first, but with increasing speed, until it crashed into the ground in an explosion of fire, ash, dust, and sand. The impact was frightful and the bats, one and all, fled for places far, far away.
For what seemed like an eternity, Sesha and Scodo stared at the smoking pile. The smoke disappeared, and from the rubble, Zindown arose. His tall frame seemed to tower above the landscape. His face was twisted in anger, but he was otherwise unscathed. His black robe was shiny and spotless, and his gray hair fell in wavy curls down the back of his robe. The old wizard looked straight at Sesha.
“Asterux had taught you well, Princess. Today, the victory is yours. Savor it if you will. For in the end, fate will never grant your wishes.
“No mule-driven wagon can cross this desert and be back in less than three days. No lame boy, even armed with three thousand swords, can defeat the army of Globenwald.
“And your masquerade, Princess, will continue no more. Because no daughter of Henry X can hide from the goblin king’s army.”
Then Zindown extended both arms in the direction of the wagon and his body shook. The landscape began to move and Sesha felt the world spin around her with increasing speed. In an instant, there was a flash of light.
Sesha looked down at her body. Her skin was pale. Her toes were long and slender. Her hair was somewhere between red and blonde.
Zindown was gone. All that remained was a cloud of smoke that drifted slowly, slowly across the plain.
• 34 •
Kelofel
The afternoon sun shone into their faces and a speck on the horizon blurred as if surrounded by fog.
Darrow raised his hand to shield his eyes. The speck should be Kelofel, the first town his army would encounter.
What waited in Kelofel, Darrow could not know. Goblins were stationed there, a handful who kept the peace. These were no match for Darrow’s growing band, but perhaps reinforcements had arrived. Perhaps a battle lay ahead.
Closer, Darrow could see a steeple that rose above the town, but no other building stood more than one floor from the ground. A few hundred people called Kelofel home. They were traders and shopkeepers who mostly sold to the nearby farmers and bought their crops in return.
Darrow looked ahead, shielding his eyes against the afternoon sun, searching for signs of trouble. He could make out shapes, wagons and walkers descending on the town. What was the meaning? He could not know.
His followers struck up their song and great voices filled the sky, but Darrow turned and ordered silence. An ambush might await. The company quieted. All eyes watched the village. The only sounds were the footsteps of soldiers, more than five hundred of them, and the rustling of their garments.
Horsemen emerged, a band of five galloping furiously in their direction. Darrow halted his army. Those with swords drew them from their belts. As the riders grew closer, Darrow could make out their shapes. These were not goblins. They were men and they were waving frantically.
Down the long line of marching men and women, the volunteers eyed one another. Then, from the village came a sound.
Church bells.
The first ring was solitary and followed by another, but the rings came faster. These were not rings to mark the time of day or a sad event. These rings were furious and exuberant. The men exchanged curious glances, unsure of the meaning of the sounds.
The horsemen pulled to a stop. A short man of perhaps forty-five years old with a hard face and a short beard dropped from his saddle. The man’s eyes searched among the soldiers, looking for a warrior with a polished shield, fine boots, or even clean clothes.
Not finding such a warrior, he looked at the boy before him and said, “I have an important message. Can you take me to Darrow?”
“I am Darrow.”
For a moment, the man was surprised to see this small figure dressed in rags. But he dropped to his knee and made a great bow.
“My name is Haidus and I come from Kelofel to welcome the mighty Darrow, who has freed our village from goblin rule.”
As they heard these words, the volunteers began whispering to those behind them that the goblins had abandoned Kelofel. Before the news was halfway down the line, a great cheer arose and the soldiers, one and all, knew that Kelofel was theirs.
Haidus offered Darrow his horse. But Darrow refused and asked him to lead his horse and walk with him to the village. The long line began to move again as Darrow peppered Haidus with questions about his enemy and when their army might arrive.
There were only seven goblins in Kelofel. Upon hearing that the fort had fallen, they had fled.
“There are rumors,” Haidus added, his face growing dark and worried. “They say a great goblin army is marching across the plain to meet you.”
But Darrow paid the rumor no mind. The goblin command in Blumenbruch would only now be learning about the fort. Once they knew, they would send soldiers. He had time. Probably two full days.
Soon they were a short distance from the village. The streets were filled with people and Darrow wondered how a village this small might have so active a market. As they drew closer, children sprinted from the village cheering and jumping up and down like a hundred bouncing balls. They were followed by women and girls and a few men, who carried loaves of bread, pieces of cheese, and even slices of dried meat.
As they came into the village, Haidus again urged Darrow to take his horse and Darrow, having never ridden a horse, declined. But Haidus persisted, explaining that the people must know which of the men was the great Darrow and that, if he alone was on horseback, they would know. So, reluctantly, Darrow climbed into the saddle.
When his horse stepped onto the village street, it was not only the few hundred citizens of Kelofel who had turned out to cheer his army but a thousand or more who had gathered fro
m all parts of the plain. They stood on the rooftops. They sat in the windows. Parents lifted small children to their shoulders to get a glimpse of the leader who sent the goblins running across the plain.
A thunderous cheer erupted through the village. They hailed Darrow’s soldiers as great heroes, though barely thirty of them had ever seen battle at all. They reached to touch their garments and hurled flowers in their path.
But most of all, they pressed one another for a chance to touch the great hero or even his borrowed horse. Darrow looked stunned, unbelieving, as if he had entered a strange dream. But it was no dream at all, for with each step, the cheering grew louder still.
When they reached the square before the church, another great cheer sounded from the crowd. There was music with a drum and some instruments with strings, but no one could hear the notes. Darrow’s horse was taken to a platform where leading citizens stood. They dressed shabbily, but these were the best that they had. When the crowd had quieted, a woman climbed to the platform and placed a necklace of flowers around Darrow’s neck.
Haidus raised his hands to silence the crowd. On behalf of Kelofel, he spoke.
“For more than a decade, the goblins have ruled our village. For ten long years, our people have suffered at their hands. But today the goblins are gone, chased to the west by a great leader and the brave soldiers who have joined his cause. All hail the mighty Darrow! All hail a free Kelofel!”
Another great cheer arose from the crowd. They called for Darrow to speak and their hero did not disappoint.
“I thank you, Haidus, for your kind words, and I thank the people of Kelofel and so many who have traveled so far to greet us and offer encouragement for the battle ahead. Our fight for freedom, however, is only beginning.
“Within days, we will face a large goblin army on the plains. These will be veteran soldiers, experienced, trained, and armed. Our challenge is to meet this army and defeat it. Our challenge is as large as a mountain whose snowcaps surge into the sky. But there are no choices. High as it stands, formidable as it may be, we will find a way to the top.
“We need food. We need shoes. We need bows and arrows. Most of all, we need swords. And today I ask all of you to give us whatever you can to help us in the great cause that we share together.
“Finally, I ask something most important of all. For too many years, throughout our kingdom, our spirits have been crushed by tyrants and our hopes have withered from fear. But today it is time to put those fears aside. Today, it is time to imagine a free Sonnencrest. Today, it is time to find our courage, to believe in our strength, and to forge a new future in our land.
“If you are able, join us. If you have food or weapons, supply us. But whoever you are and whatever you can do, most of all, believe in us. Believe in yourselves. And believe in Sonnencrest and the great nation we can build together.”
When Darrow finished, the villagers cheered until their voices were hoarse. That night, every oven baked bread. Every household sharpened knives and made weapons. In the morning, they delivered cakes, daggers, clubs, and ordinary poles they had sharpened themselves.
But in the great stack of goods donated to Darrow, there were only twelve real swords.
• 35 •
Scodo’s Mighty Struggle
Babette, Scodo, and Zauberyungi continued across the plain. For a long time, Scodo walked by the side of the wagon, not looking at the princess at all.
“So you were never Sesha,” Scodo murmured, as though he had lost a friend.
“Oh, Scodo, I am the same person, I really am. Asterux made me Sesha to protect me from the goblins. If they had found the princess, I would have been dead.”
Scodo eyed Babette nervously. The ugly Sesha had made him less uneasy.
Babette pulled the wagon to a stop and climbed to the ground.
“Don’t be afraid, Scodo.” But Scodo stepped back.
“How can a beautiful princess be friends with a monster like me?”
Sesha looked at Scodo for a long time. Then she spoke. “Scodo, for your friendship, I would gladly be the ugliest woman on earth. And I would do this because you are the most beautiful man I know.”
Then she put her arms around the scorpion man and held him for a long, long time.
For hours, Scodo and Babette rode across the desert in silence. Then Scodo asked, “Will he be back?”
“I doubt it. But who can say? For all I know, he might be a tick on Zauberyungi’s behind.”
Scodo laughed. “Don’t be so sure. I doubt he’s so anxious to tangle with you again.”
“I don’t scare Zindown. My magic could never hurt a wizard like him.”
“You certainly hurt his pride.”
Babette smiled. “That couldn’t be hard.”
“I have a question,” Scodo continued. “That was Zindown himself in the sky with the wand, right?”
“That’s right.”
“If he is a wizard, he could disappear and reappear somewhere else. It would seem he could use this power to dodge your spell.”
“Not exactly. A wizard does not really disappear. What Zindown did was move faster than you can see.”
“I don’t understand.”
“In that particular magic, there is a system. The wizard lays out a pattern of points. He uses his power to move from one point to the next. It happens so fast that it seems he is disappearing. But really, he is only moving from one point to the next.”
“Can you do the same thing?”
“I can’t. I can barely get this mule across the desert.”
For a while they continued without words. Then Scodo asked, “Can you teach me magic?”
Babette looked up, a little surprised at the request. “It would take too long.”
“Can I try something simple?”
Babette paused for a moment, looking down at the reins. “It’s not possible to learn magic here in the desert. It requires so much concentration. The wagon is bumping and rattling. Zauberyungi makes noise. There are too many distractions.”
“I can try.”
“Really, it couldn’t work.”
“Please.”
For a long time, Babette simply stared at the desert ahead, lost in thought. Then she spoke.
“For this to work, you have to block out all your senses: your sight, your hearing, everything. You must retreat completely inside your own mind. That would be really difficult here.”
“Let me try.”
“Well, let’s try just the first step. But just the first step. Here it is. Consider those people who have showed you kindness and love. Just think about them. Feel their kindness. Feel their love. These things give each of us power.
“As you do, go through your entire life. Remember everything. Grasp for every kindness, every good deed, every act of love both large and small. And when you bring these events to life, they will grow a goodness and power you can feel inside. Hold onto that power. Feel it. Grow it.”
So Scodo began. With little effort, he blocked out all his senses. Such were his powers of concentration that he was soon separated from all his surroundings. Deep into his memories, he traveled.
His first thoughts were of his parents. He thought of his times as a child alone with his mother and father, in the forest. He remembered carrying stones to build his parents’ house. He remembered walking the woods with his father. He remembered the sweet song of his mother lulling him to sleep and the word vianu, which meant love and understanding. These thoughts stirred him with warmth and made him feel strong.
He thought of Hugga Hugga, who had accepted him as a soldier and a friend. He thought of the soldiers of Sonnencrest, many of whom had treated him with respect. He clung to these memories and they aroused warm feelings.
His mind returned to his mother. He recalled the moment when he asked her why he was different and if he was indeed as ugly as he seemed. And he remembered that his mother told him that it was she who was a monster and how he was the most beautiful creature of
all.
He thought about when Sesha found him in the forest, her friendship, and the kindnesses she had shown him.
He began to weep. Inside, he felt a power stirring in his heart. And that power felt good and right and he knew that that was what he needed to grow.
But as he searched for memories of kind acts, he could go no further. Scodo had known the goodness of others so seldom in his life. So he lifted his head and asked, “Now what?”
“It takes much longer than that, Scodo,” Babette snapped.
“My memories of goodness are few. But the ones I hold are strong. Let me try the next step.”
Babette did not believe that Scodo could be ready for the next step. After all, this step had taken her years. But she was too tired to argue.
“Think of all those people who have dealt you insults, mocked you, or committed small wrongs. Understand them. Love them. As you do, your power will grow.”
Scodo thought of soldiers who had mocked him. He thought of ordinary people who covered their faces before him. He remembered a woman who lifted his cloak to show his tail and called him the devil. These memories were a multitude.
One by one, he looked into the faces of those who had brought him torment and shame. He looked into their eyes and struggled to understand them. What he witnessed made him shudder, for he did not see evil at all. Instead, he saw hurt and injury and pain. He saw disappointments, humiliations, and tragedies that dwelt deep inside his tormenters—each and every one. These experiences made them small and robbed their hearts of kindness, compassion, and love. Almost instantly, Scodo’s great mind understood that the wrongs against him were not of his own making. They arose in his tormentors from their own injuries to their own souls.
When Scodo considered these things, he was overcome by a deep sadness that stirred him deep inside. He trembled and he shook. He felt compassion for those he remembered and understood that perhaps their afflictions were even greater than his own. His understanding grew to affection. His affection grew to love. Warm, positive, wonderful feelings filled him and a mighty spirit arose inside. As it grew, he felt a joy so great and so vibrant that for a moment he was frightened by its force.