by H A Tisdale
When the initial excitement of everything died down, our eyes grew heavy. And one by one, the weary prisoners drifted to sleep in the mud. I too succumbed to the lure of fatigue, forgetting all about the monster and the imminent destruction of the Pit, for the Domikos had granted me a peace that surpassed all understanding.
So I lay down without fear and fell into the deepest and sweetest of sleeps where I dreamt of Kokomanor: Jedd was throwing a banquet for his radiant wife, and everyone was eating heartily as we laughed together with youthful jubilance. I was sitting next to my friend Bamboo and a woman named Sue, and the three of us had to ward off Kairou from eating our stew. After the meal, Kokoma announced there would be dancing in the amphitheater. We all rushed there with excitement, and Jedd’s orchestra played a rather festive mix. I too joined in on the joyful dance circle, holding the hands of Kokoma and Jedd as we spun beneath the bright lights of the cavernous ceiling. My dream could only be described as true bliss.
“Benjamin, wake up,” a familiar, gentle voice whispered over me in the night, and my eyes opened to the pair of moonstone eyes I feared I would never see again.
“Jedd? Is that really you or am I still dreaming?” I breathed, squinting to make sure my eyes were not deceiving me in the shadows.
“If you are still dreaming,” Jedd replied as he removed the hood from his head, “I suggest you wake up, for as the wind carries a ship to its destination through the sea, so the Master of Wind has come to carry his son back home through the darkness.”
“Son?” I inquired with an aching heart as I slowly rose from the dank dungeon floor.
“Kokomanor is more than a refuge for the lost, Benjamin,” Jedd expressed in a shaky voice. “Kokomanor is a family, and when you took off on my old windcycle, once more I had to watch my son ride off into darkness. And the thought of losing another son to the hand of Hive was more than I could bear.”
With tears in his eyes, Jedd hugged me as a father would hug his own beloved son. A steady stream of tears then leaked from my own eyes as I clung to the man who had rescued me from my desolation in the Sands of Suffering. And in his loving embrace, I fully experienced what it meant to be at home in the Pit.
“Jiminy Willers,” I blurted out as it suddenly occurred to me, “how did you even get into Hive’s Castle?”
Jedd gave me a playful smile. “Part of being the Master of Wind is learning to move like the wind: lightly, quickly, invisibly. I can be very stealthy when I need to be,” he elaborated as I smiled back in wondrous fascination. “Speaking of which, we should make like the wind if we wish to escape this wretched place.”
“You sound like the Master of Games,” Reina spoke up unexpectedly from behind, “and you look eerily similar.”
By the low light of a torch, I turned to see Reina’s ruby eyes meeting the moonstone eyes of Jedd for the first time.
“Yes,” Jedd responded somberly, “I’m his—”
“Twin,” Reina stated mechanically as her mind seemed engrossed in some deeper thought. “I’m very familiar with twins.”
“And triplets,” I inserted uneasily, wondering why Reina looked so dumbstruck. “Jedd, this is Reina, the woman who found me in Come Play City.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Reina,” Jedd said, shaking her hand with a similar bewildered look on his face.
“Jedd’s going to get us out of here,” I said to Reina, hoping to move things along so we could make like the wind as Jedd had suggested.
“What about the Litter Gators?” Reina snapped as she snapped out of her daze.
“What about them?” Jedd shrugged nonchalantly.
“We’ll never make it past them,” Reina fretted, “and only Wick and Devon have the power to operate the bridge.”
“Never is an awfully strong word to throw around,” Jedd rebuked lightheartedly, “and may confine you more than this dark dungeon ever could.”
“Alright, ‘Master of Wind,’” Reina remarked, sounding much more like herself, “so then how would you suggest dealing with the Litter Gators?”
“Silence, Reina, silence,” Jedd murmured softly.
“Excuse me,” Reina barked, believing Jedd had basically just told her to shut it.
“No,” Jedd laughed as he understood her interpretation of his response, “I’m saying silence is how we get past the Litter Gators. They’re attracted to noise, so as long as we cross the moat in absolute silence, we should be safe.”
“How can you be so sure?” Reina questioned skeptically.
“How do you think I got past them in the first place?” Jedd answered persuasively enough to earn Reina’s approval. “Now let’s rouse the rest of the snoozers here and inform them of the strategy to escape in silence.
So Jedd, Reina, and I sprang into action quietly and woke the large number of sleeping prisoners. Even though many had rejected the Domikos, not a single person in the dark dungeon declined the chance to escape their torturous confinement and eventual death sentence.
When all had been fully updated on the plan, the great multitude of prisoners marched in silence out of the dungeon and up the long, spiral staircase until we finally reached the exit. Slowly, we reentered the smelly air of the flame-following courtyard where we saw the extent of their misery. Apparently, those entrenched in their own reflection never slept, for as we walked through the confined crowd, I observed the sleepless bunch wandering around the mud with a glazed look in their glassy eyes of darkness.
“What’s wrong with them, Jedd?” I asked faintly, figuring he might have an answer as he did for most things.
“Well, I’ve never seen the mirrors before,” Jedd whispered, “but this looks just like the Stillness.”
“The Stillness?” I inquired in a hush.
“Yes, the Stillness is a terrible condition resulting from the inner workings of the Rotten Ruakia,” Jedd explained softy. “And the more it takes root in them, the more they become dead to the world around them. With less and less consciousness of their surroundings, they essentially become sleepwalkers, roaming aimlessly through the Pit.”
“Is there a cure?” I asked less than hopeful, having been rejected by many of them earlier.
“It depends on the person,” Jedd muttered as a memory churned in his mind. “In fact this one time, all it took were a couple of barks from…” Jedd’s moonstone eyes met mine with a deep melancholy. “Benjamin, where is Kairou?”
My heart ached as I sought for an answer to that question. I wanted her to be alive more than anything, but all I could picture was her lifeless corpse being trampled by the Hippo Critters’ colossal stampede.
“Oh,” Jedd breathed in response to my silence, “I see.”
Greatly saddened by the thought of Kairou’s departure from the Pit, we arrived at the edge of the murky moat where the water sat completely still without a trace of a Litter Gator. Not seeing them felt even worse though, for I much rather would have preferred a visual awareness of our imminent danger.
Nevertheless, we slowly entered the motionless moat and began wading through the water, not making a single splash. We got about halfway through the wide moat, and Jedd’s plan was running smoothly without any interference from the Litter Gators. But then that hot-headed Sylvester ruined Jedd’s careful plan. No longer able to take the agonizing anxiety, Sylvester threw caution to the wind, swimming loudly across the moat with his head underwater.
“No!” Jedd shouted breathlessly.
Suddenly, everyone followed Sylvester’s lead, abandoning the silence to splash boisterously across the moat. As for myself, people began swimming on top of me, and I only had two choices in the midst of the chaos: sink or swim. So I stroked my way through the merciless moat, and with every breath I took, my ear heard the horrifying shrieks of the Litter Gator victims.
But due to the supernatural providence of the Good Gale, I miraculously survived the summoning of the Litter Gators’ motion and made it to the other side of the moat where I crawled out with the rest of th
e survivors. There, the horde of panicked prisoners began running away, but I turned back to the water and witnessed the bloodbath unfolding, a horrible mixture of teeth, limb, and vitalixir. And off to my right, I saw Gretta climbing out of the moat unscathed before a Litter Gator popped up and clamped down on her leg.
“MOTHER SUCKING LEECH!” Gretta screamed in rage.
The Litter Gator subsequently attempted to pull Gretta back into the depths where it could drown her effortlessly. Standing too far away, I feared nothing could be done to save her, but thankfully, someone else stood by close enough to save her. With her good friend in peril, Hanna ran up and kicked the beast in the snout so hard that it released her companion before falling back into the water. At this point, Reina ran up as well and helped Hanna carry Gretta on their shoulders away from the danger.
“Make your way to the ships!” Jedd yelled to the muddied multitude as lights began igniting within Hive’s Castle.
Unable to do anything to rescue those who were perishing in the water, I turned in the foggy direction of Lake Shale where I assumed “the ships” must be. So with the wind blowing behind me, I sprinted into the mist with my eyes set on Jedd. Unbeknownst to me, however, Hive had just jumped out of his clay castle’s middle tower and was currently hang-gliding through the air with his sights set on me.
And before the shores of Lake Shale emerged in my vision, the immense force of Hive’s soaring mass struck me from behind, taking me down in the mud where we rolled speedily over each other in a violent frenzy. When our momentum finally slowed to a stop, Hive ended the roll on top where he began pounding my face into the ground.
“You’re not escaping me this time,” Hive bellowed between strikes.
Blow after blow, I thought my life would surely end in the mist, but prior to the point of blacking out, a powerful force came to my rescue just in time to knock my enemy away from me. And after wiping the mud from my face, I opened my eyes to discover what happenstance of deliverance the Good Gale had blown in my direction.
To my extreme delight, Kairou had come, very much alive and fiercer than ever as she unleashed her Kairou Kung Fu on my arch nemesis. Her ferocious spirit poured out a ruthless ambush on the villain, but unfortunately, Hive’s beastly mettle proved even fiercer. With a mighty maneuver, he threw Kairou to the wet dirt where she released the most heart-wrenching squeal. She quickly leapt back up though and persevered in her efforts to take Hive down all by herself, but Hive reacted too fast for Kairou and knocked her back to the ground where her body no longer budged.
Out of fury and love for my loyal friend, I took my only chance to swing my fist into Hive’s unsuspecting cheek, but my blow had little effect on the brute of a man. Wiping the vitalixir from his lip, he scowled at me with a tempestuous irritation, and his onyx eyes somehow glowed supernaturally with mini flames arising within his irises.
“That one’s going to cost you,” Hive grumbled, reaching out and grabbing me by the neck with his left hand.
Realizing I had provoked the beast within, I squirmed to escape Hive’s clutches, but he easily restrained me. The veins in his neck pulsated with rage as I looked at him in horror, awaiting the vengeful wrath about to be unleashed. In accordance, Hive lifted his right hand, and I saw it glow brighter than heated metal in a fiery furnace. His white-hot hand then made contact with my face, pressing into my forehead, my eyelids, and my nose like a hot iron on a wrinkly sheet.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH,” I screamed in utter agony, feeling my nerves light up like a series of bomb detonations. His torch of a hand lingered, and I thought I might die then and there by the shores of Lake Shale.
“I won’t let you take another son from me,” Jedd roared as he tackled Hive to the ground.
Breaking out of the scuffle, I attempted to open my scorched eyes in order to view the deadly duel currently commencing. To my amazement, I could still see, though my eyelids burned insufferably. Fortunately, my adrenaline kicked in and allowed me to ignore the pain so that I could watch the epic brawl before me.
Going back and forth, Jedd and Hive rolled over each other in the mud, each striving to dominate the other. Soon enough though, Hive pinned Jedd beneath him, and his hand reignited to the unbearable temperature. In an attempt to brand him in the same way as me, Hive dropped his hand toward Jedd’s face. But Jedd grabbed Hive’s forearm at the last second, holding it back with nothing but sheer strength.
“Ahh yes,” Hive growled with a sadistic smile on his face, “I recognize you. You’re the father of that chump who thought he could run off with my wife.” Hive was grunting like a warthog as he pushed his hand forward within an inch of Jedd’s face. “It’s over, old man…it’s time you joined your son in the depths of Lake Shale.”
At the mention of his son, Jedd’s face scrunched in a rage, and he suddenly thrusted Hive’s blazing hand back at his bare chest. Hive thus roared from the excruciating pain that stemmed from his own hand. Seizing this opportune moment, Jedd flipped Hive to the ground where he continued to hold the fiery limb against the villain’s skin. Hive’s hand eventually lost its searing glow, and Jedd finished him off with a right hook to the face. With Hive conquered, Jedd stood up wearily, and I looked on in awe as he towered victoriously over his enemy.
More immediately concerned for Kairou, I hurried over to the still animal and put my hands on her warm body, feeling the slow rise and fall of the breath still within. Kairou then opened her galaxy eyes, looked up at me, and gave me a friendly lick on the lips before lying her head back down in the dirt. Convinced she would be okay, I then approached Jedd who was glaring down at his defeated foe.
“Did you kill him?” I breathed in a whisper as I stared down at the unconscious wretch.
“No,” Jedd answered assuredly, still fuming with intense anger.
“Are you going to?” I questioned, unsure how Jedd would proceed based on his former vow to seek revenge.
With a focused silence, Jedd intently observed the man who had killed his only son. “No,” he declared, releasing a deep breath. “This torturous rock cycle has gone on long enough. The end is in sight. We can finally go home.”
I widened my eyes at the implication in Jedd’s tone and turned toward him as I fumbled to ask, “Wait, you mean—“
“Yes, Benjamin,” Jedd smiled warmly, turning to me with a deep gaze. “I mean home home. It’s time we fulfilled Father Edd’s mission and returned to the Haven where we belong.”
My heart lifted in my chest as hope permeated every fiber of my being. “And the Glorious King?” I chimed, not quite sure what I was asking.
“We will find him,” Jedd answered with confidence, “and then we will acquire the Gem of Life and the Alchemist’s Armor.” A light glimmered in his moonstone eyes as he placed his hand on my shoulder. “And we shall see the Alchemist before facing death, my friend.”
“I don’t understand,” I said, struggling to gather my thoughts. “What changed?”
Jedd laughed. “Let’s just say it took someone very bold to wake me up from my haze. Now, I don’t know about you, but I could really go for some of Kokoma’s chowder right about now.”
I smiled joyfully as Jedd wrapped his arm around my shoulder. Meanwhile, Kairou perked her head up and gave us a quizzical look before she stood up and pranced over to Hive. Our mouths subsequently dropped in hysterical laughter as Kairou arched her back and took a dump on his burned chest. The putrid dung then sizzled on the red-hot handprint while Kairou’s hind legs kicked some mud on it to cover her simmering stool. Very pleased with herself, the adorable canine skipped away into the mist. And Jedd and I followed her through the fog, away from the vile villain, away from the clay castle, away from the forsaken kingdom.
Chapter 18
Lake Shale Burns
We soon arrived at the shores of Lake Shale where I saw a massive ship appear out of the thick cloud of fog. Beautifully crafted and made of the finest wood, the tall ship moored by the shore looked ready to set sail.
As Kairou, Jedd, and I drew closer, my eyes made out the word Eschaton carved on the back of the ship, and as we boarded the Eschaton with many prisoners already on deck, a little enigma emerged in my mind.
“I thought you said ‘ships,’” I mentioned to Jedd with an emphasis on the “s.”
“I did,” Jedd puffed in a huff. “Where is the other ship?”
Leaving Hanna to attend to Gretta’s leg, Reina came forward in response to Jedd’s question. “The other prisoners took the Protos and left without us. We tried to stop them, but they wouldn’t listen.”
“Let me guess,” Jedd replied rather fed up at his plan gone awry. “Was their crew led by that stone head, the one who got all those people killed back there in the moat?”
“I’m afraid so,” Reina answered. “Sylvester seems to think only of himself.”
“He’s thrown our whole course amiss,” Jedd complained, “and he’s going to get more people killed if he’s not careful out there.”
Now a very heated captain, Jedd unanchored the vessel for departure, and the Eschaton soon set sail on the misty waters of Lake Shale. Exhausted from the escape, most of the passengers lay down on the deck to rest their eyes. I, on the other hand, felt an intense pain return to my face from the burn of Hive’s hand. But once again, Jedd came to the rescue and rubbed a white salve on my skin that soothed the pain to a chilled numbness.
“What is that stuff?” I inquired with a wave of relief as my scorched skin absorbed the cool cream.
“This is a sedimentary salve made from the Ancient Boulder in Vera City,” Jedd explained. “I made sure to grab some before I left. And miraculously, I never seem to run out of it, which is fantastic because this salve will heal just about anything, though scars do often linger.”
I marveled at the sedimentary salve’s healing power but also wondered how big of a scar would be left on my face. Kairou then ran up to me and added her own healing touch as her tongue licked at the cool cream on my wound.