by Trevor Booth
The two walked down the slippery road back to their cave. Xerxes took a deep breath of the fresh air. “It’s such a lovely day Alto, I think we can have a sleep out here.”
He disappeared into the cave for a moment, then returned with a large animal-skin rug. He put the rug out on a portion of exposed ground then lay down on it. Alto quickly took his place at Xerxes’ side and snuggled in close. At peace, Xerxes closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Xerxes’ mind drifted around aimlessly. The sweet, incoherent thoughts and feelings of the dream state swum in his head. His dreams always led him to the same place. He walked on gorgeous meadows, hand in hand with his darling wife, with Alto always at his side. He ran his hand through the soft, green grass. Tall trees swayed in the gentle, summer breeze and the sun sparkled in the cloudless sky; here he was truly happy.
But something was different with this dream. His wife stopped walking. Xerxes looked back at her. Her skin became cold to the touch. She stood frozen in time. He looked into her eyes and pleaded with her to say something. Cold air began to come out of her mouth. Her hands had become so cold that he could no longer stand to hold them. He let go and rubbed his hands together, trying to warm them up.
The sky above darkened, with menacing-looking clouds rolling in, and he heard an ear-piercing shriek. He covered his ears in pain and thought to himself, only one creature can make a noise that loud – a dragon.
Xerxes turned around and looked straight at the belly of the mightiest dragon he had ever seen. He tilted his head back and gazed up at the beast. It was at least twenty metres tall, its teeth razor-sharp. Steam poured out of its nose, as its mighty wings stretched out wide, blocking the sun.
Xerxes stepped back and bumped into someone. He spun around to see Damon, his son, standing before him.
“What are you doing here?” asked Xerxes in a panic.
“There is no time, Father. He’s coming,” said Damon.
“Whose coming?” replied Xerxes.
“You must help him,” said Damon.
The mighty dragon let out a high-pitched screech. Xerxes turned around as the creature leaned down and looked directly at him with its dark, dead eyes.
The dragon began to suck in a large amount of air through its enormous nostrils. It opened its mouth wide and blasted out a gale of icy wind.
Xerxes’ arms and legs were instantly frozen in place, covered in a thick layer of ice. The ice coming from the dragon’s mouth grew stronger and stronger. Xerxes froze all over. The ice grew up his chest, through his shoulders then up his neck. Then, finally, with his eyes darting around in fear, Xerxes was completely engulfed in ice.
The dragon stopped blowing and leaped into the sky, flapping its wings and letting out a final screech so loud that Xerxes’ icy body shattered into a thousand pieces.
***
Xerxes woke abruptly with cold sweat pouring down his face. He breathed heavily as he tried to convince himself that it was only a dream. Alto slept at his side, blissfully unaware.
Xerxes looked up at the sky. The sun was getting very low. They had slept for far too long. Xerxes got to his feet. “Come on Alto, we’ve rested long enough.” Alto leapt to his feet with the energy of a much younger dog, and began to growl and snarl incessantly.
“What is wrong with you?” said Xerxes.
Alto started to bark louder and louder.
“What is it?”
From out of the trees below, Te’oma and Ariana hurried out carrying Julius. Ariana looked up and saw Xerxes standing next to Alto.
“Please, you must help us,” she cried.
“Who are you?” asked Xerxes.
“We haven’t much time. We intend you no harm, I promise,” continued Ariana.
Xerxes ran down to help them.
Te’oma looked at Xerxes. Xerxes was startled and stared intently at Te’oma.
“Are you alright?” asked Te’oma.
“Yes, yes I’m fine,” replied Xerxes, snapping out of his trance. He helped take Julius up the mountain.
“Quickly,” he said. “My home is just over here.”
Into the glacier they went, and down a painstakingly sculpted stone staircase, etched with inscriptions. The writing was not recognisable, but incredible to look at.
A perfect tunnel led through the ice. It must have taken decades to carve it out; the walls were smooth to the touch.
The further into the tunnel they went, the higher the ceilings became. The ice of the floor was so ancient and had been compressed so tight that it had an almost glass-like appearance, with a trace of blue running through it.
The tunnel opened up to a giant chamber. Wooden walls and ceilings protected the room from the ice around it. Large, animal-skin rugs lay across the floor. A metal fireplace sat in the corner of the room with a chimney. Two wooden beds lay near the fireplace, one large enough for Xerxes, the other specially designed for Alto.
“Quickly, lay him on the bed,” Xerxes instructed.
Te’oma and Ariana laid Julius down. He winced in pain as they lifted his legs onto the bed, revealing a large gash in the side of his left shin.
“What happened to him?” asked Xerxes.
“We were climbing the rocks and he slipped and sliced his leg open,” replied Ariana.
Xerxes got some nearby clothing and tore it in half. He lifted Julius’s leg and wrapped the cloth around it tight. Julius screamed in pain.
“I know it hurts, but trust me. This is what you need right now,” said Xerxes, as he pulled the cloth even tighter.
Julius screamed again before falling back onto the bed, unconscious.
Ariana ran to his side. “Julius!” she cried.
“He’s fine,” said Xerxes. “He’s just in shock. The wound is not that bad. He’ll be fine in a couple of days. You’re welcome to stay here until then.”
Xerxes walked over to the fireplace and picked up a kettle. “Now I’ll make you a cup of tea and you can tell me why, of all the places in Sentari, you came here.”
***
Ariana walked out of the cave. The sun had almost set in the distance and the bitter cold was setting in. She rubbed the goose bumps on her arm and shuddered in the wind.
Xerxes came out, holding two cups of tea. “Here” he said as he handed her the cup. “This will warm you up.” Xerxes stood next to Ariana, and looked out into the distance. “It’s a stunning sight, isn’t it?” he said.
“Yes,” replied Ariana. “We don’t often get to see the sky through the clouds anymore.”
“Up here the sun is always shining,” said Xerxes.
Te’oma came out of the cave, with Alto following him closely.
“He likes you, and he’s a very good judge of character,” Xerxes said.
Te’oma put his hand on Ariana shoulder to comfort her. She brushed him off and stormed away up the mountain. Xerxes motioned to Alto and Alto ran after her.
Xerxes sat down on a patch of dry ground.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “If I’ve learned anything about women in all my years it’s that if she cares enough to storm off, she must like you. She just needs a little time. Now sit down and tell me your story.”
Te’oma sat down next to Xerxes. The sun setting in the distance flickered light across the glacier. “I can’t recall the last time I saw something that beautiful and wasn’t terrified at the same time,” he said. There was something about the place that brought him peace.
“Come now, young man. What brings you all the way up here?” said Xerxes.
“My father, actually,” said Te’oma.
“Really?” replied Xerxes.
“He told me that I needed to find the mountain without cloud. He said there I would find help.”
“And what help would that be?” said Xerxes.
“I’m not really sure. That was the last thing he said to me before he died,” explained Te’oma, with sadness in his eyes.
“He sounded like a very wise man, your father. But I�
��m afraid this is not the mountain you seek. That mountain is a long way from here, far to the east,” said Xerxes.
“But my father was heading north, where it is still warm,” replied Te’oma.
“Your father misunderstood. If the help you are searching for is what I think it is, then it is far to the north. The warmest place left in this world is the Yen-Gyle jungle, although I’d hardly call it warm. But it’s certainly not as cold as it is here,” said Xerxes.
Ariana burst out from behind the tree; clearly she had been listening to everything they had been saying. She rushed over to Te’oma and started screaming at him. “We came up here for nothing, nothing!”
Te’oma stood up and tried to calm her. “It’s not my fault. I was told to come here,” he pleaded. He reached out to hold her hand.
“Don’t you touch me! Julius is in there, hurt, and we’re stuck on top of this mountain in the middle of nowhere because your daddy told you to come here?” snapped Ariana.
“Please, I didn’t mean for this to happen,” said Te’oma.
Ariana looked back at Te’oma with disgust. “When he wakes up we’re leaving, alone!”
Ariana turned her back on Te’oma and walked back to the cave. Xerxes got to his feet and bellowed, “Stop!” Ariana stopped in her tracks in disbelief and turned around. “You must sit down. These squabbles will get you nowhere,” said Xerxes. Ariana stood her ground. “If you sit down, maybe I can help shed some light on things,” Xerxes offered. Ariana plonked down and crossed her arms. Xerxes took a large sip from his cup. “My father would tell me a story that was passed down through the generations from a time when the world was not a cold as it is today. We would sit down most nights and he would tell me this story so that one day I could pass it onto my son.”
“What story?” snapped Ariana, as the crashing sound of thunder echoed in the clouds above. Light rain started falling down on them.
“This looks like one mighty storm. Come inside and I’ll tell you there,” said Xerxes.
Xerxes was very good at making a searing hot cup of tea and the three of them sat around the room, focused fully on Xerxes, who was sitting in the corner chair with Alto on his lap. Xerxes gently sipped his cup of tea.
“Now, the world wasn’t always as you see it. There was a time long ago that was very different. Our world, Sentari, is made up of three great lands. To the south, the rolling hills and endless plains dominate, separated by a huge ocean. The south suffers little trouble from men these days. The east is where we live. It’s the largest of all the land masses, its landscape dominated by the mountains you see all around you. To the west is a small, but not so insignificant land mass. It is small by comparison to the east, but large enough to house some of the greatest wonders of Sentari. In these lands, there used to be creatures of all kinds. Some you know today – dragons, tigers, death hounds, humans, but there were many more. Some were so mighty that they could challenge the dragons’ supremacy. The first was a vicious creature called the Kentaru. The other, believe it or not, was a race of humans known as the Intari,” said Xerxes.
The three looked on at Xerxes, captivated by his story.
“The Intari were the most amazing people that ever graced these lands. Their civilization stretched to all corners of the globe. Some say their capital still lies hidden, waiting to be found, but even they couldn’t stop the tide. Eventually, they just disappeared, never to be seen again.” Xerxes took another sip from his tea. “Of course, this left the Kentaru and the dragons to fight it out for dominance, and fight it out they did. For decades the war raged. Some men sided with the dragons. Others with the Kentaru, but almost all of them suffered the same fate. Eventually the dragons won out. The Kentaru were defeated and the world you see today was born.”
The thunder and lightning outside grew stronger and louder. For three days it rained and snowed; the winds whipped across the mountain so fiercely that the walls in the cave would shake.
The only thing colder than the world outside was Ariana inside. Te’oma did his best to win her over, but his efforts seemed in vain.
Very little was said as the days rolled by. Xerxes watched the three and how they interacted, intently.
As Julius slowly but surely regained his strength, the time for them to leave was fast approaching. When the clouds did finally clear, it was Alto as usual who wanted to take the first steps outside the cave. The snow had gathered quite deeply around the entrance, but it didn’t take him long to dig through. Xerxes wasn’t be far behind him, ever the protective master.
Ariana burst out of the cave’s entrance. She stretched her arms out with joy. “Freedom!” she said. Julius and Te’oma walked out of the cave and squinted as the sunlight burst into their eyes. Since Julius had started to feel better, the two had discovered that they had a bit in common.
Xerxes picked up a sack he’d left by the cave entrance and dropped it in front of the three. “It’s time to leave,” he said abruptly.
“Were sorry if we have lingered too long,” said Julius. Xerxes did not reply. He merely looked at Ariana and Te’oma, waiting for a comment from them but it did not come.
Xerxes sat down on the small wooden log. Alto ran to his side. Julius slowly picked up his sack and looked at Xerxes curiously.
“I’m sorry,” blurted out Ariana. A completely strange thing for her to say. She looked directly at Te’oma. “I’m sorry for blaming you.” continued Ariana.
Xerxes smiled to himself. Te’oma was visibly relieved. “Thank you,” he said.
“Well, goodbye, I guess,” said Te’oma. The three began to walk away from the cave, unsure of where their path was going to lead them.
“I never did finish that story,” said Xerxes. The three turned around with smiles on their faces.
“Please sit,” said Xerxes.
The three of them sat together at Xerxes’ feet like school kids in front of a teacher. “The dragons did win the war with the Kentaru, and for a while they were good to the Sentari, but over the long years their hearts became corrupted. Their souls grew as cold as the ice that surrounded them.”
“Great story. They’re all evil now. How does this help us?” said Ariana.
“Patience, young lady. You must learn patience,” continued Xerxes. “Your father was right, Te’oma, your only hope lies at the top of that mountain. There you will find the last free dragon, a dragon so mighty that its heart cannot be corrupted, not even by Antastus, king of the dragons.” said Xerxes.
“So how do we get there?” asked Ariana.
Xerxes looked at Ariana with a smile. “Well, young lady, seems you’re in luck. I used to know the way to Yen-Gyle,”
“Yen-Gyle,” said Ariana.
“Yes, and I’m sure I can draw you a map. But I can’t draw quite as fast as I used to, so I’m afraid I must insist you stay another night,” he said, much to the relief of everyone else.
“Happiness comes from caring for others more than yourself.”
Chapter 5
Why Me?
Water dripped down from the top of the mighty rainforest. The clouds above cleared from yet another thunderstorm. The sun peeked its way through, bringing the forest to life. The leaves sparkled in the light, and the small rabbits that still hopped through the ancient forest stood on their hind legs and soaked up the warm rays.
A small creek wound its way between the tall trees. A lone deer hunched over at the edge of the creek, drinking water, an ear upright, alert for danger. The deer heard a stick breaking. It lifted its head from the water, then bounded off down the edge of the creek at breakneck speed.
Jumping out of the bushes were a young girl and boy, twins, not more than six years old. The boy had a bow and arrow over his shoulder and the girl had a slingshot. They ran after the deer as fast as they could.
They splashed their way down the creek, gliding across the rocks at an incredible pace. They had done this before, yet as fast as they went, the deer went quicker. Farther and farther they
ran down the creek, the deer eluding them. The deer suddenly stopped. The creek had wound its way to the top of a huge waterfall at the very edge of the forest. The waterfall was hundreds of metres high. It was so far down that the water could not be heard splashing into the rocks below. At the base of the cliff lay miles and miles of snow-covered plains. In the distance, the mountains could be seen intertwined with the clouds. The deer was trapped.
“Nice work,” a voice said from the trees. It was Mastus, a tall man, tanned and strong, with long, flowing blond hair and a slightly leathery face. He stepped out of the forest holding a large spear in his hand. From the other side of the creek stepped Kari, a short but very powerful lady with brown hair and pale white skin, who was carrying another spear. “Jaden,” said Mastus, “you come around this side with your bow and arrow and try to wound the creature.” Jaden did as his father instructed and slowly walked around the creek. The deer looked on anxiously. “Ariana, I need you to be a very brave girl and walk directly at the creature,” said Mastus.
Ariana looked at her mother. Kari looked back at her, with an encouraging smile. Ariana stepped tentatively forward. The deer stepped backwards, right onto the edge of the waterfall. She took another step forward, when suddenly the deer made a run for it and charged directly at Ariana.
Jaden shot his arrow at the deer, but it just bounced off the skin. Ariana reeled back in fear. She fell over into the water and looked up at the deer as it was about to trample her. The deer jumped high into the air, bounding straight over the top of Ariana. Out of nowhere, Mastus’s spear slammed into the neck of the deer, knocking it down and killing it instantly.
Mastus and Jaden ran over to the deer. Kari walked over and helped Ariana to her feet. This was how it had always been. Her father only ever showed interest in Jaden, and it was up to Kari to take care of Ariana. Ariana hated this. She loved to do what the boys did and was always treated differently, just because she was a girl.