by Trevor Booth
Moments before the hound reached Te’oma, an ear-piercing screech echoed throughout the land. The death hound reeled back like a frightened puppy.
Te’oma instinctively looked up at the sky. The light of the world exploded into his eyes, momentarily blinding him. He blocked the sun out with his hand.
Flying above was the mightiest of all creatures, a dragon.
Enormous in size, the dragon glided high above the city. Its outstretched wings were covered in a layer of ice. Its body cold and dark, the dragon flapped its wings and small shards of ice fell from the sky. Te’oma looked away from the falling ice and the city of Palaneer came into view.
The city was made up of hundreds of little dirt streets, wound into an intricate maze throughout the valley. Small wooden huts with thatched roofs dominated the landscape. Wooden watchtowers were sprinkled around the city, with a single cobblestone road carving its way through the middle. At the end of the road was a stone palace, large enough to fit a dragon.
The valley was surrounded by huge mountains, making it virtually impenetrable. An enormous crack scarred the face of the mountain. A huge tower of ice spilled out of the crack, running all the way down to the ground. Once a flowing waterfall, it now stood frozen in time.
Larger watchtowers stood at each corner of the city. Once glimmering, silver towers of peace, they stood encrusted with ice and snow. Giant cracks ran down the towers, the last evidence of a mighty war that took place long ago.
In the centre of the city lay a giant, round platform made out of solid gold with a single pole in the middle. Atop the pole sat a giant diamond, scattering light in all directions.
Another piercing screech caused Te’oma to cover his ears. The mighty dragon gracefully descended and landed delicately on top of the diamond.
The dragon pulled its wings together and shook off the ice. It turned its head in Te’oma’s direction. Its eyes were blood red, its massive face covered in the scars of war. The creature looked directly at Te’oma. Its eyes grew darker; Te’oma was captured by its gaze.
The sounds of people screaming echoed through his mind. Te’oma did his best to silence the screams but they continued to rage. Then the screams went silent and not a thing could be heard. A voice began to speak – deep, foreboding and impossible to understand. The voice spoke in language Te’oma had never heard before. Suddenly, Te’oma was pulled into a nearby house. The voice was gone and the trance broken.
Ariana stood in the middle of the room Te’oma found himself in. It was empty but for a large, worn-out rug on the floor, which was surrounded by a few dusty old pots.
Julius slammed the door shut. “I told you to keep your eyes down,” he said.
“I’m sorry,” replied Te’oma.
“You were lucky I grabbed you when I did. Any longer and you would have become just like every other mindless drone out there, blinded by the power of the dragons.”
“I don’t understand,” said Te’oma.
“The dragons are evil. You can’t just stare at them. They’ll corrupt your very soul,” said Julius.
Ariana pulled the large rug back from the floor, revealing a secret hatch. She knelt down and picked up a broken lock. “This doesn’t feel right,” she said.
“Where is Derrick?” asked Julius. “He was right behind us.”
Ariana lifted the hatch, revealing a staircase that led down into the ground.
“I really don’t like this,” said Ariana.
“Let’s just go down and see the council. Maybe they can tell us what’s going on,” said Julius.
“I think we should leave here and get as far away from this city as possible,” said Te’oma.
“You don’t have a say!” Ariana retorted sharply.
“We could’ve all been killed out there,” replied Te’oma.
Ariana grabbed Te’oma by the arms and pulled him onto the stairs. “You’re coming with us. You won’t last five minutes out there alone,” she said.
“If I didn’t know better I’d say you cared about him,” said Julius with a cheeky grin.
Julius followed Te’oma and Ariana onto the stairs and closed the hatch behind him. The tunnel was plunged into darkness.
“Move,” said Ariana.
“Move where? I can’t see a thing,” replied Te’oma.
“Just follow the stairs,” said Ariana.
Te’oma walked down the stairs. They spiralled round and round and deeper into the ground.
With his eyes slowly adjusting to the light, Te’oma was able to make out the edges of steps. He reached a wooden board at the bottom of the staircase.
Julius grabbed Te’oma. “Don’t move,” he said.
Ariana grabbed a metal lever and pulled it up. With a jolt the board began to lower.
The sound of grinding metal could be heard as cogs turned in the distance, lowering the board deeper into the cave, which opened up before them. To Te’oma’s amazement they were descending into a giant cavern, literally hanging by a rope inside an underground room that must have been hundreds of meters wide.
A small drain had been etched all the way around the cave. A wooden hose dripped oil into the drain and a torch burned directly beneath the hose, igniting the oil and casting light all around them.
Te’oma looked out in wonder as they slowly descended. The air became thicker, damp, almost wet. Directly below their platform was a large lake, almost obscured from view by the light fog floating above it.
Ahead of the lake, sitting proudly in the middle of the cave, was a wondrous glass dome. At least a hundred metres wide, the dome was made up of thousands of different-shaped glass pieces. The glass was frosted so that you couldn’t see inside. Intertwining each shard was a bright green substance that glowed in the dull light.
At the front of the dome was a stone archway covered in inscriptions, which curved over an imposing old, wooden door.
The platform descended into the fog and, with a thud, it set down on a small jetty at the edge of the lake. Julius stepped off the jetty and looked around for a sign of his people.
“Hello,” called Ariana, her voice echoing throughout the cave.
“I’m sure they’re all inside,” said Julius.
Ariana nodded in agreement and walked towards the dome.
A cobblestone path wound its way along the cave to the entrance of the dome. The air got colder the closer they got to the dome. Te’oma, usually not one to feel the cold, shivered in discomfort.
The lock on the door was broken and hung from its hinge. Julius took a step forward.
Ariana reached out and grabbed him by the hand. “Something doesn’t feel right, Julius. It’s cold here, far too cold.”
Julius took a deep breath, trying to conceal his fear. He looked back at Ariana. “Where else do we have to go?”
Julius pushed the door open. Small shards of ice dropped to the ground and a gust of cold air burst out of the dome. Julius steeled his nerves and walked in.
“I’m happy to wait here while you two go check it out,” said Te’oma, smiling at Ariana. She looked at him with the same deadpan expression she had always given him. She grabbed his hand and yanked him forward. “Come on. You’re with us now,” she snapped.
They wandered into the dome. The ceiling was extremely high and impressive. The frosted glass scattered the light in all directions, beaming out all the colours of the rainbow. If not for the bitter cold, the place would have felt inviting.
Wooden benches circled all the way around the dome, like pews in a church. At the centre of the dome was what appeared to be a giant ball of glass, roughly ten metres across with blurred, coloured objects inside.
“I’ve never seen anything like that. What is it?” said Te’oma, as he marvelled at the giant ball.
Julius looked at Ariana with trepidation. “I’ve never seen this before. Have you Ariana?”
“No,” she replied.
Te’oma slowly walked towards the ball and looked curiously at the blurred shap
es inside, still unable to make out what they were. He reached his hand out to touch the ball, then quickly retracted his hand.
“It’s ice,” said Te’oma. “It’s a giant ball of ice.”
Te’oma touched the ball again, then leaned in to look closer, until his face was all but touching the ice. He focused on the blurry object inside, and suddenly the face of a young woman in great pain became clear. Te’oma reeled back and looked around. The blurs that were so indistinguishable only moments ago were now as clear as day. Their people, dozens and dozens of frightened people, were frozen together in a giant spherical prison.
“There are people in there!” screamed Te’oma as he scrambled back.
Ariana and Julius ran straight up to the ball to get a closer look. Ariana recognised a face in the ball. “Serena!” she screamed. One of her dearest friend was trapped in the ball.
Ariana frantically scratched at the ice with her hands, digging and digging away, trying to get to her friend. But her efforts went unrewarded; the ball stayed perfectly intact.
“Help me!” she pleaded with Julius and Te’oma. Julius dug at the ball with Ariana.
Te’oma looked around the room. With one mighty wrench he broke loose a piece of wood from one of the benches and ran up next to Ariana. “Move over,” he said. Ariana and Julius stepped back as Te’oma smashed away at the ice with the wood. Small pieces of ice slowly broke away from the ball.
Ariana snatched the wood out of Te’oma’s hand and attacked the ball with a fury Te’oma had never seen before. She smashed and smashed unrelentingly as small shards of ice flew around her.
Her eyes firmly fixated on Serena and welling up with tears, she raised the wood high above her head and muttered to herself, “I’m coming.” With a mighty force, she slammed the wood into the ice and the wood broke through and stabbed straight into the ball.
Ariana looked across at Julius. “What are you waiting for? Get some more wood,” she said, but before Julius could comply, the wood that was protruding from the ice was sucked into the ball. The ice that she had furiously dug out reformed and the ball returned to its former pristine state.
Ariana touched the surface. The wood now floated inside the ball, along with her friends. She stepped back, sat down on one of the benches and stared at the ball. “They’re gone. They’re just, gone,” she said.
Julius sat down at her side and Te’oma sat opposite them. Ariana stared at the ice ball’s disturbing beauty as they sat in solemn silence. Ariana’s heart sank deeper as the moments passed by. The spark in her eyes slowly faded and tears rolled down Julius’s face. He rested his head on Ariana’s shoulder. Ariana sat there emotionless.
Te’oma had seen an expression like hers before, many years ago, on the face of his mother. Te’oma’s mind was taken back to that horrible day when his parents were lost to him. He could vividly see the look on his mother’s face as the hounds came for her; cold and lifeless, just like Ariana’s face was becoming now.
A voice echoed in Te’oma’s mind. “Find the mountain,” it said. Startled, Te’oma stood up. He had completely forgotten what his father had asked of him just before he died.
“We have to leave,” he said with a newfound confidence.
Ariana stared at the floor in silence. Julius looked at Te’oma. “And go where?” he asked, disheartened. “There is nowhere else to go.”
Te’oma walked up to Ariana and reached his hand out to her. “I know a place where there is still hope,” he said. Ariana continued to ignore him. “I know where we can get justice for the loved ones we have lost.” Ariana looked up at him.
“But how?” asked Julius.
“We need to get as far from here as possible,” replied Te’oma as he stretched his hand out further towards Ariana. “Follow me,” he said. Ariana took his hand and got to her feet. Te’oma looked deep into her eyes, searching for any signs of hope. Relieved, he smiled at her. The spark was not gone completely, not yet.
“Friendship is forged through adversity and lost in complacency.”
Chapter 4
We All Need Help
Xerxes had long lived in the highlands, in silence and in solitude. Now in his eighty-third year, the old man had defied the odds to live and thrive in a bitter, cold world.
He lived in a small igloo he had carved out of the side of an ancient glacier, which sat between two of the most towering mountains in all the lands.
He lead a relatively sedate life – the death hounds didn’t come this high and although the dragons were aware of his presence, they seemed to leave him be. The only thing he had to stay vigilant about was the ever-present danger of avalanche. For that he relied on the services of his trusty partner, Alto. Alto was one of the few remaining dogs; his breed was an ancient ancestor of the death hound, from long before their hearts were corrupted and twisted.
It was quiet in the mountains. The wind was all that could be heard as it howled across the peaks. Most days were clear, as even the clouds didn’t often visit those heights. Some days the sun would be especially bright and almost had a warmth to it.
One day, Xerxes stepped out of his icy home and into the sunlight, with his trusty old wooden cane. He couldn’t remember the last time that the sun had so much power to it. “Something has changed,” he thought to himself.
Xerxes put his fingers to his mouth and whistled. “Come on, Alto,” he said, as the dog came bounding out of the igloo. Spending so many years on the ice, the two had become quite adept at traversing the slippery terrain.
Xerxes took a long, deep breath of the thin mountain air and looked at one of the most magnificent sights in all of Sentari. The thick, white clouds that floated below stretched out far into the distance, covering the world like a soft, fluffy blanket. Towering mountain tops poked out of the clouds and vast oceans could be seen through cracks in the cloud, with the sun on the horizon trying to assert its influence on the world.
“Come on, Alto. Time for breakfast,” said Xerxes. Xerxes stepped off the glacier and onto the dirt. A well-worn path lay in front of him. He tapped his cane on the ground three times for good luck, then headed off after Alto, who was bounding up the mountain toward the promise of food.
Xerxes picked up a rope that was tied to a small, wooden box full of snow and pulled it behind him.
The two went higher up the mountain to the dizzying heights of the summit. Xerxes leaned more and more on his cane as the air became thinner, until he reached the summit, which had been worn flat by the years of erosion.
Sitting on the summit was a round, silver platform with a smooth golden pole coming out of the centre. Xerxes had no idea what this platform was or how it worked. All he knew was that it provided warmth.
Sitting on top of the platform were two large wooden boxes, one a metre high and three to four metres long. Xerxes took the lid off one of the boxes to reveal a well-tended garden bed. Lots of different vegetables grew in the garden bed, including carrots, potatoes and cauliflower.
Xerxes pulled a carrot out of the ground and tossed it to Alto; although he wouldn’t normally eat vegetables, the combination of hunger and desperation had caused Alto to develop a taste for them.
Xerxes took the wooden lid completely off the garden bed. By day, the sunlight nurtured the vegetables but, by night, if he didn’t have the lid firmly in place, the frost would kill all the food.
At the end of the garden bed grew a beautiful, red rose bush. The flowers were radiant in colour like a neon light. Xerxes very carefully plucked one of the flowers. There were not many rose bushes left in the world; he treated this one like it was a living person.
Alto suddenly began to whimper. Xerxes knew exactly what that meant. He grabbed Alto and pulled him close, then grabbed the wooden lid and laid it over the top of them. Just as he did, three enormous dragons flew overhead, their flapping wings making a roaring noise above. The lead dragon opened its mouth wide, then screeched out with an ear-bleeding noise, causing the ground to shake.
Alto buried his head into Xerxes. He peered out from under the wooden lid. The dragons were oblivious to their presence. Although they would most likely leave them be, experience had taught him that they were without mercy and would strike you down if they were in the wrong mood.
Xerxes lowered the wooden lid as the dragons disappeared into the clouds below. He dusted off the flower he had picked, then walked over to a small, wooden cross that sat next to the platform. He leaned down and placed the rose at the base of the cross, “Happy anniversary, my love,” he said.
Xerxes took the lid off the second box, which was half-full of water. He pulled out an old metal cup and, ever thoughtful, gave Alto a drink before slaking his own thirst.
Xerxes grabbed the small, wooden box that he had dragged up the mountain and emptied the snow into the water. By the next morning that snow would melt and refill his reserve.
Suddenly, a bright light began to glow from the gold spire in the middle of the platform. Xerxes was startled. In all his years on the mountain he had never seen this before. The light pulsated and spun around like a fast-paced lighthouse beacon. The light became so strong that he could barely look at it. He put his hands in front of his eyes. Alto ducked for cover behind Xerxes.
Something in the light caught Xerxes’ attention. He did his best to peer through the cracks in his fingers and look directly at the spire. Inside the light, he briefly saw the face of a man he once knew, a man he had not seen in a very long time, his son. Then, just as suddenly as it flared up, the light went out.
Xerxes stood dumbfounded, unsure of what had happened. He shrugged his shoulders and walked back down the mountain. He had seen many strange things in this world, but he had learnt long ago that he was not meant to know everything.
He tried to shake the image of the man he saw. He told himself that it was nothing, just his mind playing tricks on him – old age finally setting in.
Alto walked unusually close to Xerxes as they made their way back down the mountain. This reminded Xerxes how grateful he was to have Alto. If it wasn’t for that dog he surely would not have lasted so long.