“No, I need to go alone. I need to do some thinking alone,” he insisted. “You scare me with your long face. Do you really wish to go alone?” she asked.
“I do and I will return shortly,” he said, pulling open the door. “I shall anxiously await your return, my King,” she said as he closed the door.
He walked out into the hall and two guards followed. “I need to be alone. Both of you keep watch over my wife. Let me know if you see any man near our bedchamber,” Ali-Tersen ordered. “As you wish, my King,” Sir Oliver responded and left the King by himself.
The King scurried down the hallway and Ali-Ster appeared again. He went down another hall and ducked into the apartments of the Keep. He looked back to see the ghost chasing him and started to climb the steps of the highest tower in the castle. He kept climbing but Ali-Ster remained close behind.
King Ali-Tersen continued climbing higher and higher, and popped open the small door to the roof. He rushed through and quickly shut the door. Ali-Ster floated through the closed door and hovered in front of Ali-Tersen. The ghost chased the King around the tower roof. Ali-Tersen felt he could touch a star from this height. He looked over the edge and became dizzy. His heart pounded as he stepped away from the edge. The King looked at the dragon sculptures on the four corners of the keep. From far away the dragons looked perfect, but up close the King could see the imperfections. Even in darkness, the chips and cracks accented by the white bird droppings could clearly be seen.
The sight reminded him of the issues of the kingdom. Being King of Donegal had seemed so glamorous from far away until Ali-Tersen actually sat on the throne. All the banks want their money now. Two dangerous men with sizable armies plan to march on the Capitol. The Capitol has little to no protection. My son and Falconer are involved in a perverse relationship. My wife commits adultery behind my back, I know she does. What good is it being king if there is only misery to be had? I remember seeing my father rule the kingdom without a worry on his mind. He and Ali-Stanley caused this fine mess while having a grand time and I have to clean it up. I can only fail. One king cannot possibly fix all these problems at once.
Unknowingly, King Ali-Tersen Wamhoff walked up the edge of the roof. His stomach churned as he looked down. I could take all the pain away. No more ghosts, no more problems. Just up to the heavens.
Ali-Tersen Wamhoff, King of Donegal, bent his knees, prepared to spring off the side of the keep and two hundred feet down to the next stone rooftop. He felt a hand on his back and assumed Ali-Ster wanted to help shove him off the tower.
RICEROS
The past week had consisted of Riceros and Dioneer using their diversionary technique to acquire food. Riceros wished they could switch places because Dioneer could carry much more food, but he couldn’t make a loud enough noise to attract the wildebeests. He still couldn’t figure out how to get a wildebeest’s blue fang, constantly searching and hoping to find a random one lying on the ground. Later that day, Riceros plucked the dragon-fruit from the lower branches of the tree and put them into the sack Dioneer had made. He could hear the giant screaming, but the howls of the wildebeests seemed closer today. He looked ahead to meet the vibrant blue eyes of the biggest beast on the island. The thick black fur hung to the ground and covered the animal’s tiny legs. It growled and stared at Riceros, causing his knees to buckle. The boy turned to flee but two other wildebeests stood behind him. Unsure of what to do, he threw a peace offering of dragon-fruit over to the big wildebeest. The animal hesitantly smelled the fruit and apprehensively took a bite. The unique dragon-fruit had to be picked from the tree at specific, optimal times to maximize the tasty flavors. After only minutes of naturally falling from the tree, the bright orange treat equal to the size of a large apple, went rotten. People had found that the fall to the ground caused the spoilage and if they were picked and stored properly, the fruits lasted for almost a week. The short animal couldn’t reach even the low branches of the huge, oak-looking tree with orange leaves. By the time the low-to-the-ground beasts got to them, the fruits had already spoiled, so all the wildebeests had learned to avoid them. This beast devoured the rest of the fresh fruit, crushing the pit with its strong teeth and smacking its lips for several moments until Riceros threw him two more.
The sweet, luscious fruit stalled the beast but Riceros didn’t know what to do now. The animal unexpectedly let out a raging roar, scaring him even more. The two wildebeests behind him took off on a trot and the biggest animal in front of Riceros turned and went back into the woods. The temptation of passing out left his body and his breathing started to slow down. He rushed down to the beach and back to Dioneer. He couldn’t tell the giant what had happened.
The following morning, the two went over to the island. Riceros gestured for Dioneer to wait on the beach in silence. He slowly walked up the small path toward the dragon-fruit trees. The wind blew the leaves upside down and he knew it would rain soon despite the lack of a gray cloud in sight. His chest tightened, throat dried up and his walk became unsteady on the narrow dirt path surrounded by trees and green bushes.
Despite nearly crippling fear, he went up to the same tree as yesterday and started to fill the sack again. He kept looking around, expecting to see the king of the blue-toothed wildebeests. He filled the sack to the top and got ready to leave. A howl from straight ahead raised the hair on his neck. Riceros looked into the eyes of the beast. The shade of blue had darkened to almost black today. Riceros didn’t know their eyes could change and the animal looked more dangerous with this color. He threw a fruit over as the beast ate it and demanded another. Today, it took five dragon-fruits to satisfy the animal. Riceros went back down to the beach and met a surprised Dioneer before going back to the smaller island. They ate the delicious fruit and Riceros gave thought to how to capture the long-tooth of the big beast. The boy used a knife he had found on the island to cut around the pit and eat the sweet flesh. The wildebeest and Dioneer ate the entire fruit, hard pit and all, but Riceros couldn’t chew through the wood-like middle.
Riceros spent the rest of the rain-filled day searching for small perfect rocks around the island. They were surviving, but the vegetable and fruit diet kept Riceros and Dioneer hungry most of the time. The giant seemed to be getting antsy, making motions of smashing the beasts with his fists to capture the tooth until Riceros settled the huge man down. Dioneer’s cuts were healing on a daily basis. The lessons Count Sproul had taught him were coming to fruition during these challenges. He had always yearned to be outside with his older brothers and Brehan, but the daily studies inside with the count had already saved his life several times over.
Riceros slept well that night and woke up feeling refreshed. The sun lazily crept over the Sea of Green and Dioneer rose for the day. Riceros grabbed the carrying sack with a few dragon-fruit already in it and the two went to the island of the wildebeests. With more gripping fear than the previous day, he went to face the man-eating beast again. Riceros bravely marched toward the dragon-fruit trees. He removed the fruit from the sack and filled it with freshly harvested orange treats. His fanged friend showed up to taste the morsels again. The beast moved closer than normal and Riceros tossed it two fresh fruits. He threw over a third and the animal bit down on the fruit, causing a loud crunching sound. The blue-toothed wildebeest let out a shriek of pain and the mangled fruit dropped to the ground. The biggest wildebeest, which came up to Riceros’ chest, got close to the boy and released another cry of pain. Thick spittle hit Riceros in the face but the beast turned and ran away, moaning in pain.
The boy looked down at the rejected fruit and smiled. Knowing more beasts would soon show up he ran and grabbed the remains of the fruit. He hastily bolted back to Dioneer and the two rushed into the water and back to their original island. He felt proud of himself and showed Dioneer the fruit. Sticking out of the smashed fruit was a long, blue fang. They made it to the small island and laid out the three keys on the sand. Gold, silver and bright blue shone in the fierce dayligh
t. He kept checking the black board, but it remained blank for two days.
Riceros wondered if this was just a big ruse. He had to keep sneaking onto the wildebeests’ island to get food and the escapes were becoming closer by the day. Around mid-day, he checked the board and it read, “You hath survived test number three. Look to the Sea of Green.”
Riceros looked to see several waving mermaids. He and Dioneer went out to them and started to swim for their next destination. As they moved along the green waves, the board said, “We art taking thou to the Island of the Trees. If the keys fit, almost every query thou hath ever wondered shalt be answered by the all-knowing.” The lump on his back had a building pressure, almost becoming unbearable now. He would surely ask whoever was behind the black board about that. He had always dealt with the discomfort, but these missions had increased the pressure tenfold.
Riceros said his farewell to Dioneer and grabbed the enormous keys. The mermaids took the Cyclops to an unknown island to fully heal his wounds. The red-headed mermaid used her blue tail to glide through the water, pulling Riceros to the next island. He looked at the board again, “Do not fret, thou shalt see Dioneer again.”
After several hours, Riceros assumed they were close. The tops of trees with green leaves stuck out of the emerald waters. As they closed in on the island, the underwater trees got bigger and bigger. Moss-covered trunks expanded into blue branches and green leaves on most of the trees. The entire island was covered in trees. He had to find the largest tree on the island and from a cursory glance they all appeared to touch the sky. The board had said the top branches reached above the clouds and into the heavens.
He looked at the board again, “Thou must findeth the tallest tree. Thou shalt insert the keys and turn. There may be pain or great pleasure after thy attempt.” Riceros lugged the heavy keys around the island for most of the day and didn’t see any slots on any of the trees. Some of the trunks were wider than small houses and Riceros became frustrated and didn’t want to fight the pain anymore. He looked at the board for an answer, but it brought no solution.
He wiped the sweaty frustration away and a skinny-trunked tree appeared straight ahead. There were grooves in the trunk but it seemed way too small to be the tallest tree. He walked closer and looked up. The tree never seemed to end and the sun poked through the golden leaves, temporarily blinding Riceros. Taking a closer look at the trunk, he figured out the order based on the sizes, but the gold and silver keys were very similar.
He inserted all the keys in the slots that were about a foot apart. He turned the gold key and heard a click. He put in the silver key and turned. He heard a click. He moved to the fang of the wildebeest. He put it in and turned with all his remaining might, but the tooth wouldn’t budge. The clear day gave way to a boom of thunder and coupled with the following lightning bolt, startled the boy. He turned the tooth again and this time it moved and he heard the clicking sound. Thunder and lightning crashed again and the tree appeared to bend down from the top. Two branches grabbed Riceros from either side and lifted him up. He felt like throwing up with the tremendous speed at which he was rising. The tree extended back to the original height, suspending Riceros above the clouds.
He was scared beyond belief, but the pain in his back had become so intense, it decimated his will to live. The skin over the lump seemed to boil and bubble with smoke coming from it. His flesh burst open, spewing thick blood down on the clouds. Through the nasty red mess appeared a glowing object, a beacon of hope. The Pearl of Wisdom punched through his skin and from the object, two things started to bloom. They kept growing and growing until you could make out what they were. They weren’t feathery or bird-like. Two wings were rough, scaly and reptilian. They were gold-colored dragon wings. Without notice, the tree released him and he dropped like a boulder, nearly missing some lower branches.
He rippled his shoulders up and down. Riceros felt and heard the flapping sounds. He stopped dropping and glided through the clouds. He flapped the wings more and rose above the gray clouds, scattered in a clear blue sky. He couldn’t believe he was flying and became overloaded with excitement. That quickly changed when he spied a silver dragon. However, the dragon looked friendly and used its wing to motion for Riceros to follow. The boy chased after the dragon and couldn’t stop smiling and giggling. They flew into a series of clouds and Riceros could barely keep up with the speedy silver dragon. He saw the flying reptile slow down near an extremely dark cloud. This cloud was shaped like a huge castle ten times bigger than the Colberts’.
A portcullis lifted and slammed behind the two, but Riceros couldn’t understand it. He walked on solid ground, yet with the appearance of a gray cloud. He touched the sides of a nebulous hallway and they were sturdy as well. The long hall led into an open room. There were several dragons lounging around, but a golden one came to greet Riceros. He didn’t have time to be nervous as he stared at silver, gold and bright blue dragons.
Two of the dragons were small and the others were huge. They had relatively small heads that looked like the war helm Jon Colbert had been given by Duke Tyus Etburn. The heads had two spikes on top and several more extensions around the face. The dragons had fiery eyes, spiked, golden teeth and long necks. The stout body, shingled in scales, produced solid V-shaped wings which folded near the bodies when not in use. He noticed small arms and hands with three fingers emerge from and retract back inside the wings. Short legs with gold claws completed the dragons’ look.
After a long, awkward pause in which the golden dragon with a silver beard stared at Riceros, the dragon spoke in booming, echoing tones, “We knoweth this is a mighty load to handle and you’ve done so with grace.” The dragon spoke in the common tongue mixed with hints of the old language and Riceros casually answered, “Thank you.”
The voice of an eleven-year-old boy came out of Riceros’ mouth. Without being deep or high pitched, he responded with the normal voice for someone his age. “We tried to provide hints in thy dreams, alerting thou about speaking one day. Let’s sit down whilst I tell the story of Riceros Colbert.”
His mind was already spinning from hearing himself talk as he prepared for more. Everything had a heavenly, cloudy outline with a mysterious solid core. He sat on a comfortable couch and the golden dragon rested his body on the floor.
The dragon said, “The mystery on thy mind has been the truth about thy real father. However, there art many factors of thy life thou art wondering about, no?” Riceros nodded and the dragon continued, “Thou hath been told thou art special and this is very true. Thy real father’s name is Ikeros.” “Who is Ikeros?” he asked. “I am Ikeros,” the dragon responded.
Riceros looked stunned. “I knoweth this is hard to fully comprehend but all the events thou hath seen up to this point should allow thou to believe that anything is possible. Eleven years ago, we the dragons, decided to send the Pearl of Wisdom to the bottom of the sea but we needed to conceal our actions. The demons only hath air and land dragons whilst we hath a loyal partnership with the water dragons. We wanted to hide the Pearl from the demons until the war became imminent but we didn’t know exactly how. The Gods got involved and sent us a divine plan. We followed their plan and found a barren woman around the age of fifty on the Seventh Island. Her family practiced the ritual of burial at deep sea. We sworeth to protect the good woman until her natural death and she agreed to let us hide the Pearl inside her. She was to taketh the secret to her grave and the demons would never think to follow her life and death. She was to take that dangerous object to the bottom of the sea. After she fell to the bottom, our water dragons could have protected the Pearl until we needed it. Then, a miracle happened. The Pearl immaculately impregnated her and she gave birth. A blond baby boy came out of the woman but so did the Pearl. The Pearl was imbedded inside the baby, next to his heart. I was dumbfounded and went to talk with the Gods in an attempt to figure everything out. They told me that when I inserted the Pearl inside your mother, I had blood on my hands. My blood
and the Pearl merged inside thy mother to create you. Part dragon, part man and eternal carrier of the Pearl of Wisdom. The golden wings match mine as I am thy father, it would seem. I almost didn’t believe the Gods at first but I kneweth the dragons had to protect thou without arousing suspicion. They told me thou were the Pearl of Wisdom and would lead the dragons when Damian Doome attacked again.”
Riceros tried to take in all this unknown information with his eyes popped wide open. The golden dragon continued with the story, “A small child with a poor dock worker spelled trouble with the demons always preying on the weak. We intervened to arrange a solution. We foundeth one of the few men in the world who could properly protect the most important person. The dragons set thou up to be raised by Jon Colbert. Thou art not only the son of the golden dragon but thou art the son of the golden bull. Thou shalt lead us, the dragons, against an attack from Damian Doome. That great brain thou bear was aided by the Pearl but the pain hinted at the burden of which it presents. This is a great gift but it also carries the ultimate tax. The days of practicing archery in the woods and leisurely reading in the library of Riverfront are over. Take some time to let all this sink in.”
Riceros’ scrambled mind kept thinking about the hints. Now he understood why fire never burned him. He had heard other stories of miracle births but his story was the most improbable and yet he obviously believed it. If I am the son of dragons, why am I so scrawny?
“Because everyone would expect an imposing man to wield the Pearl and lead an army of dragons,” the golden dragon answered his thoughts. “How did you???”
The golden dragon cut Riceros off, “Come now, my boy. I knoweth thou art bewildered, but who dost thou believe communicated with thou on that black board?” The golden dragon scolded him like a father before continuing, “Thy other father, Duke Jon Colbert, taught thou how to useth thy mind and raised thou as I would hath. All three of thy challenges involved solving problems and overcoming obstacles with mind before force. Thou led Dioneer without being able to speak a word. Thou shalt be required to lead thousands of men in the fight against Damian Doome. We all serve the Seven Gods and we are committed to keeping the demons from taking the world. The humans once shared the earth with the demons until they became greedy. The initial battle for earth’s supremacy hath been won by the humans, thanks in most part to the Children of the Gods. The second war for the earth and its shores involved Rockarius leading the human victory again. The third and hopefully final war is a bubbling cauldron, about to boil over. When we found out thou carried the Pearl of Wisdom, we wished the attack would come in a decade or two from now. However, from thy tests, a boy named Riceros appears ready at a very young age to lead grown men and eight-hundred-year-old dragons. We hope to gain the result of our first two battles for humanity.”
Fractured Families (The Pearl of Wisdom Saga Book 2) Page 43