The Geode King

by H A Tisdale

At this juncture, I was completely hooked but quite perplexed with Reina’s tale. “So if they died, how did everyone else end up here?” I questioned.

  "Well, you know, when a man and a woman love each other, they go into their bedroom and—"

  “Whoaaa, okay got it, I’m pretty sure it works the same way where I'm from too,” I insisted before hearing the rest of Reina’s potentially descriptive answer. “But I don't understand. I thought you said people are born from birthstones."

  "Well yeah, after the man transfers his genelixir to the woman, a birthstone grows in her body. Eventually, the stone is ready and comes out of her—“

  "I got you, I got you,” I interrupted her just in time. “I can see that maybe things aren’t too different here after all. So when the birthstone comes out, then the person is born from it?"

  "Not until it's submerged in water can the person be born. It’s truly a wonder to behold, especially the first time you see it. The color from the birthstone flashes an almost blinding light, and then you see a beautiful little baby floating on the water looking up at you. Oh how I enjoyed watching my ten children emerge!"

  "Ten kids?” I gasped. “Jiminy Willers, you don’t look that old.”

  “Excuse me?” Reina retorted with her eyebrows raised.

  “I mean, uhh, your parents must be thrilled to have so many grandchildren,” I said to quickly change the subject.

  "Oh, well, I never knew my father, but my mother was overjoyed, yes. She lived for my kids before she passed away."

  "I'm sorry to hear that,” I replied solemnly, wishing I hadn’t brought up the sad topic.

  "No, it's okay. It was her time. Plus, funerals are a beautiful occasion in the Pit, maybe more so than a baby being born,” Reina said with deep reflection in her eyes. “Anyhow, I take it that your questions mean you believe what I’m telling you?”

  "Uhh, it's a good story for sure, and I don’t see any reason not to believe you. But I'm still not sure I understand why having seen the sun matters.”

  "Oh, we are just getting started. There’s definitely more to go! Look here and listen up,” she commanded as she led me farther down the hallway. There, she pointed to a mural of people running around a nasty lake trying to catch the wind.

  “Many people were born of our original two ancestors, and having been corrupted by the muddy waters of Lake Shale, their descendants lived in constant conflict and affliction. There seemed to be no hope for the people as they lived and died, forever trapped in the Pit.

  “This cycle lasted for a very long time. People lived, had children, and died, generation after generation. And there did not appear to be any indication that this aimless cycle would cease. That is until one man came along named Edd, good ole Father Edd.

  “Now Father Edd was a normal person like anybody, but then one night he had a dream, a dream filled with a vision of hope and restoration. Specifically, he saw hundreds and thousands of people escaping the Pit, forever living in the Haven with the Alchemist.

  “This greatly shocked Father Edd, and as he wondered in the dream how anyone could ever escape the Pit, a soft, majestic voice spoke to him and said, ‘You must find the Glorious King who shines like the sun. He will help you acquire the Gem of Life and the Alchemist’s Armor. Only then can you escape the Pit and live out the rest of your days in the Haven.’

  “After hearing those distinct words, Father Edd awakened with a jolt. Convinced of the dream’s reality, he shared the dream with everyone he possibly could, expecting that they would share in his enthusiasm. Most people, however, laughed in his face and chose to run after the wind instead as our ancestors had.

  “Despite the scorn he bore from sharing the dream, Father Edd remained determined. Even after searching his whole life without finding the Glorious King, he passed on the beacon of hope to his children and insisted they take up the mission.

  “And long after his death, even when his children shared in his failure, they still passed down the hope to their offspring just the same. So this pattern lasted for centuries until one man finally seemed to break the cycle of failure: Zedd, born of Fredd.

  “Zedd grew up zealous for the story that had been passed down to him from Father Edd. In an attempt to try what no one had done before, Zedd sailed to the center of Lake Shale where the sun from the Haven shines down once a year. And in that exact spot, Zedd stood on his ship, gazing up at the sun so that he would better know how the Glorious King shines.”

  In complete awe, I stared at the mural of Zedd looking up at the beam of sun coming down from the Haven.

  “Initially, the sun blinded Zedd. For days, he walked around in agony. But one day, his vision returned, and his amethyst eyes shined far brighter than anyone could’ve imagined,” Reina elaborated as she displayed the mural of Zedd’s amethyst eyes.

  “His companions saw this as a sign that Zedd himself was the Glorious King, so with the hope of acquiring the Gem of Life and the Alchemist’s Armor, they followed Zedd here to Vera City.”

  “Vera City?” I questioned after being quietly enthralled with the story for so long.

  “Come Play City’s former name,” Reina answered with a longing in her voice. “Whoa, so why did the name change?” I inquired with much curiosity.

  “Zedd and his family mysteriously disappeared, and that’s when the Master of Games took over.”

  “That’s me!” Bill spoke up unannounced.

  Reina and I both turned to see the red-suited man prowling down the colorful corridor in a frightening fashion.

  “Bill…” I uttered quite alarmed and unsure what would happen next based on the intense looks being exchanged between him and Reina.

  “Benjamin the Bold…what a fitting name I've given you! And Reina too! Hey, Reina, how are you doing?" Bill inquired as he eclipsed the mural of Zedd looking at the sun.

  “You’re a monster,” Reina breathed, glaring at him with absolute disdain.

  Bill stopped and laughed deep in his gut. "Oh, Reina, Reina, Reina, you certainly have a way with words,” he remarked with a smug smile.

  “What’s going on?” I asked desperately, hoping that Bill was still the friendly man I had met earlier.

  “Benjamin the Bold strikes again,” Bill quipped with a twisted twinkle in his golden eye. “You certainly have a lot of nerve asking me what’s going on when I should be asking you that precise question.”

  “We were just looking at these murals,” I stated sheepishly.

  “Oh, is that so?” Bill pressed suspiciously.

  “That’s exactly what we were doing,” Reina sassed. “In fact, I was getting ready to expose you for who you really are.”

  “I’d think twice before you say anything you regret, Reina. You don’t want to play that game with me,” Bill threatened, puffing up his chest while holding Reina’s gaze.

  “It’s always a game to you, isn’t it? I’m sure you thought it was just a game too when you killed my husband,” Reina cried out the shocking accusation.

  Bill’s eyelids narrowed as my heart sank in my chest.

  “That loser had it coming, and so do you…both of you,” the Master of Games cursed menacingly as he lunged toward us.

  “Run, Benjamin, run!” Reina yelled, grabbing my arm once again.

  Without the interference of a towel around my waist, I successfully obliged Reina’s request, joining her down the hallway in the sprint for our lives.

  Chapter 4

  Victory Hill

  “He killed your husband?” I piped up in disbelief as we made our way down another windy staircase. “You could have started with that detail.”

  “You were drunk,” Reina countered. “I didn’t think you would believe me.”

  “Fair enough,” I conceded, now hearing multiple footsteps echoing above us. “So what’s our plan?”

  “Escaping Come Play City,” Reina yelled back a few steps ahead of me. “Now less talking and more running.”

  I had hoped for a more nuanced pla
n but understood the limitations of our current situation, so I picked up my pace with an attentive focus as I deduced one misstep could lead to a disastrous fall. When we reached the bottom of the steps, Reina pulled me through a grand foyer and out the giant red door to the portico with the seven pillars. Completely out of breath, I stopped to rest on the central pillar, desperately in need of water to quench the dryness of my throat.

  “Benjamin, what in the Pit are you doing?!” Reina scolded from the bottom of the twenty steps when she realized I had fallen behind.

  “I’m sorry, Reina…but having two margaritas on board…is not conducive to running this much,” I whined between sharp breaths.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me, Benjamin,” Reina complained as her ruby eyes opened wider than ever before. “After raising ten kids, I thought I’d seen it all. Now come on! If we don’t leave this instant, we’re never going to make it!”

  Straining to control my breath, I sought for the inner strength to overcome the frailty of my body. A flaming arrow then whizzed by my face, and suddenly, I had no trouble finding that vigor within. My adrenaline thrusted my body into high gear faster than a cat seeing a cucumber as I raced down the steps to join Reina for the epic escape.

  And as the wind blew fiercely on our backs, the two of us rounded the Master’s Mansion with the unwavering determination to reach the peak of Victory Hill, hastening forward under the moonlike glow of the cavernous ceiling. In the meantime, several flaming arrows flew by our heads, and I turned to see Comedy loading another fiery projectile with the set aim to burn us alive. Wielding the sword, Tragedy ran ahead of Comedy, and at his current pace, it appeared it would not be long before he overtook us.

  “Hurry, Reina,” I managed to cough out of my blazing lungs. “He’s gaining on us.”

  When we finally reached the bottom of Victory Hill, I fully appreciated the enormity of the landmark before us. Our ascension would be no simple trek, and we dared not hesitate for a moment to commence the treacherous climb up the steep staircase of the mountain.

  With significant chunks of stone missing from the ancient ruins, maneuvering the narrow stairs proved almost impossible, so we both took extra care on each step to avoid falling off the treacherous staircase that lacked a hand railing. Still feeling the effects of the margaritas, I found it easiest to just mirror Reina’s every step taken in front of me. Even with this technique though, I just barely made it to the first plateau without slipping. Anxious to see Tragedy’s progress up the slope, I turned around to find him only five steps away with his sword lifted to strike.

  “Reina, look out!” I yelled as I instinctively pushed her out of harm’s way. As a result, the two of us slammed into the grassy ground where we lay defenseless against his imminent attack.

  “You’re mine,” Tragedy bellowed behind his terrifying mask of despair while pointing his sword directly at me. He lifted his weapon once again, and my heart reeled inside of my chest as I saw the blade glisten under the dim light of the cavernous ceiling.

  Just before the foe unleashed his rapier upon my skull, a colony of bats swooped in from above, swarming Tragedy and his sharp sword away from us. Having been convinced I would surely perish in that moment, I watched in horrified gratitude as the black mass of bats pushed our enemy over the edge of the hill.

  As soon as he fell, I popped up from the ground and turned to Reina with a shout of disbelief. “Jiminy Willers, did you see that?! What are the chances??” Another flaming arrow rushed right past my face, and both of our eyes shot wide open this time.

  “We aren’t out of the woods yet,” Reina commented as she sprung up. “Come on!”

  So we made our way to the second flight of stairs, fortunately appearing in much better condition. But as we ascended the smoother steps, Comedy’s flaming arrows zoomed by us without respite, and I genuinely thought my heart might explode from the adrenaline.

  “Ahhhhhh,” I screamed as a searing pain erupted in my ankle only ten steps away from the second plateau. The sudden agony caused me to lose my footing, and I fell down a few feet before Reina caught me by the pajama shirt. Looking down at my fresh wound, I saw a wide gash with severe inflammation, for one of Comedy’s burning missiles had nicked my ankle.

  “This time, I won’t miss,” Comedy cackled, standing about twenty steps below with another arrow lit and strung in his bow. He then aimed the ignited point directly at me, but just before he released it, the wind shifted downwards and blew his own weapon’s fire into his face. The mighty flame spread speedily, fully engulfing the villain’s body in a violent blaze.

  Completely overtaken by the conflagration, Comedy fell backwards, and we watched in awe as our enemy tumbled down the staircase. But we could not dwell on our good fortune, for at the bottom of the second flight where Comedy’s scorched body ultimately landed, the Master of Games stood with a battle hammer, his golden eyes shining up at us with a great darkness.

  “Here, give me your arm,” Reina urged in light of my injury.

  Unable to stand on my own, Reina wrapped her arm around me so that I could lean on her shoulders and limp up the remainder of the steps. From there, we crossed the second plateau as fast as my injury would allow. Then as we arrived at the start of the final flight, a savage, downward gust blew down on us, and far too slowly for comfort, we began the grueling ascension up the prolonged portion of the mountain.

  For the sake of speed, neither Reina nor I looked back. Though this lack of sight terrified me, the feeling that the Master of Games was running right behind us pushed me to hobble even faster, and with much misery, I fought through the terrible pain of the arrow’s abrasion, well aware that any hesitation could bring about our demise. So by the time we reached the end of that disheartening staircase, I suddenly collapsed, a combination of thirst, pain, and exhaustion holding me to the ground.

  “Benjamin, we have to keep going,” Reina breathed heavily. “We can’t stop now.”

  My heavily taxed body did not wish to cooperate with Reina’s demands as I attempted to push myself up on the grassy summit. In a haze of vision, I looked to my left and saw the stream of water gushing out of the Ancient Boulder.

  “Water,” I croaked.

  “No, Benjamin, we can’t. We—wait—actually yes! Let’s get you some water,” Reina breathlessly shouted as she hoisted me back up and dragged me towards the Ancient Boulder.

  With my head spinning wildly, I thought I might pass out before we reached the stream, but Reina kept me upright and delivered me to my desired destination. Running on pure instinct at this point, I dropped to the ground and stuck my head in the stream to gulp down the drink.

  Even though I had never been so thirsty in my life, I could not imagine water any more refreshing than that which poured out of the Ancient Boulder. My head immediately stopped spinning, and every fiber in my being felt rejuvenated. I lifted my face out of the stream and took a deep breath, instantly feeling like a new person.

  “Now put your foot in the water,” Reina commanded hastily, not wanting to linger for too long. “The Ancient Boulder has healing properties.”

  As instructed, I stuck my foot in the water with an initial cringe as the wound burned from the contact. The pain quickly subsided though, and to my astonishment, my ankle felt ready to go.

  “Better?” Reina questioned, anxious to get out of there as quickly as possible.

  “Loads,” I responded, putting the full weight on my ankle. “I think I can run on my own now.”

  “HAHAHAHAHAHAHA,” came a maniacal laugh on a reversed wind.

  Reina and I both spun around to face the Master of Games stepping off the final flight onto the summit of Victory Hill. The wind immediately blew off his red top hat, and his blonde hair whipped about in a disheveled frenzy, his evil eyes fixating on his prey.

  “Reina the Rat and Benjamin the Bold, what a bold escape you rats have attempted tonight! You murdered my guards for Pit’s sake, though at least one of them drew some vitalixi
r from your ankle,” he mocked, smiling sadistically with his battle hammer rested across his chest.

  I looked down at my ankle and guessed that vitalixir meant blood.

  “But now it’s just me, and I don’t think I have to spell out what that means for the two of you. It means game over. You both lose, and I win. I win because I always win, and to celebrate my newest victory on Victory Hill, I am going to play a little game of Crack-A-Skull, crushing your heads with my hammer until there’s nothing left of you,” he menaced, finishing his triumphant speech with a deranged look in his golden gaze.

  I stood there horrified by the words of this twisted man. Somehow in the course of his life, Bill’s extreme pleasure in winning had morphed into an extreme pleasure in witnessing others lose, which included crushing their heads with a giant hammer. I could not comprehend how the formerly jolly man possessed such a bloodthirsty desire, but I had no desire to stick out around and figure it out.

  “The woods!” Reina shouted, pointing to the thick forest of trees firmly rooted on Victory Hill. Not wishing to partake in the fatal game, Reina and I made for the forest, hoping to experience another happenstance of deliverance, but we first had to duck to avoid the mighty swing of Bill’s battle hammer. Just barely missing our heads, the Master of Games slammed his hefty weapon into the Ancient Boulder where the head of it briefly got stuck.

  “Oh yes, what an extraordinary idea! Let’s play Hide-and-Seek in the Winner Woods. I love playing Hide-and-Seek because just like every other game, I always win it. So hide yourselves as best as you can, you little vermin, because when I find you, I will end you!” he roared before trotting into the woods after us with cruel exuberance.

  After sprinting through the forest for a few minutes, Reina realized the chase may never end, so figuring we would need to lose him, Reina yanked me into a large bush in order to evade the Master of Games without detection.

  “Shhh,” she directed me as if I needed to be reminded that our lives were at stake. I did not like this idea of hiding in one place while a madman lurked around seeking to crush our heads, but I trusted Reina enough at this point to take the risk. We both lay completely still, holding our breath so as not to make the faintest sound.