“That would be insanity Prince, he would be massacred.”
Prince Arun nodded in agreement.
“Exactly we need every soldier we can get our hands on, if we fight amongst ourselves, then what better gift could we give to the Empire on the eve of their invasion.”
“It sounds like you have everything planned my liege.”
“Yes it’s time to set a trap for Korvak’s wizards, come now Zalon we leave in the morning!”
When Talon and his men first laid eyes on the mists they brought their horses to a standstill and all of them just sat speechless mesmerised by the sheer size and presence of it.
“By Apollo! I have never seen such a fearful sight” Graval said.
Talon reached over and squeezed his arm.
“Come now our destiny awaits us.” replied Talon digging his heels into the horse making it advance.
Once they reached a couple of hundred feet they tied their horse and gathered their supplies, they never said a word as they helped each other put on their furs.
Soon they stood just a few feet away and already Talon could feel the mists bitter cold
Talon then turned to face his men.
“My brave friends…My brave Zachanian’s. In a moment we will enter this void, what lays ahead is unknown, we might even meet our deaths and if we do, then we will die men of honour, men of courage and desire, desire to avenge our ancestors, it’s in our hands now whether we succeed or not but if we doubt ourselves then this mist will surely beat us. I for one will not be afraid of this, Ganasis we are coming for YOU! Zachania must be free.”
Talon then turned and stepped into the mist followed by Graval and his two men Neo and Golia with a rope tied between them so they would not lose anyone.
As Talon took his first breath he felt a pain as the cold air attacked his lungs, they walked slowly as Talon could only see a foot in front of him, it was very strenuous on the legs as the ground was slippery and full of rocks.
“Talon I am cold!” Graval shouted out.
“We must keep moving, it will keep us warm if we continue.”
“I can’t feel my hands.” Neo shouted.
““Walk faster!” Talon replied trying to quicken the pace.
After a few hours Talon stopped.
“I think we should change direction.” Talon sighed before setting the pace again.
They walked further into the mists till nightfall when everything fell into complete darkness, Graval grabbed Talon’s arm.
“Talon I cannot take much more of this, there is nothing here but death.”
“Don’t dare give in Graval, if you stop you will die, we must continue.”
The next few hours were agony, they were lost and freezing cold as their bodies began to fail, Neo was the first to fall and they only realised this when the rope tied to Neo pulled on them.
“What’s wrong” Talon shouted from the front.
“It’s Neo!” shouted back Golia.
The three men pulled themselves together by the rope and then pulled themselves to Neo who was lying still on the ground, Talon knelt down beside him and grabbed his head
“NEO! NEO!”
Neo was barely conscious but he managed to muster up enough strength to point to his legs
“It’s my legs Talon I can’t feel them.”
“Can you feel this?” answered Talon squeezing one of them.
“No.”
Talon then pulled a bag of supplies and gave it to Graval.
“What are you doing?” Graval said grabbing Talon.
“I will carry him!”
“Talon you’re too weak yourself.”
“I won’t leave him.” added Talon reaching down to pick Neo up.
“Help me Neo, pull yourself onto my back.”
“No Talon save yourselves.” Neo cried out only for Talon to ignore him and pull him onto his back.
The next few hours were agony as sometimes they walked and sometimes they huddled together for warmth during small rests, the cold now was unbearable and it soon got the better of them as Talon collapsed. Talon grabbed hold of Neo.
“NEO!” he shouted but there was no reply, Talon felt for a pulse in Neo’s neck but Neo had died sometime back.
“DAMN IT NEO!” Talon shouted holding his head in his hands.
“At least his suffering is over.” Graval said through shivering teeth.
“Is he dead?” Golia asked.
“We’re all dead.” replied Graval.
Talons sadness over Neo suddenly turned to anger at Graval’s comment; he rose determined to his feet and grabbed Graval’s furs.
“WERE NOT DEAD! Now walk, walk!” he shouted pulling Graval and Golia to their feet.
They cut Neo’s body loose then once again they staggered on, into the darkness.
“Keep going!” Talon would keep shouting as they persevered all through the night walking on will power alone. Then Talon bumped into what seemed like a large stonewall so they began to feel their way around it but it went on and on.
“We will have to climb it.” Talon said.
“Can we rest?”
Talon then grabbed Graval and Golia.
“Stand together it will keep us warm.”
“We must climb this rock” added Talon.
“Why?”
“I don’t know it’s just a feeling.”
After a short rest they began to climb the rock, which soon became obvious that it was a mountain. Talon’s hand began to bleed as he struggled to hold on hour after hour then suddenly Talon looked above and to his amazement and relief, the mist was becoming thinner barely he could see the sky. A feeling of urgency overcame him as he battled the mountain.
“This way Graval.” he shouted with excitement.
Soon Talon could see the sky clearly, frantically he climbed out of the mist and into the hot sun, when a feeling of sheer exuberance befell him as never before, he felt so thankful to see the heavens above and the warmth of the sun.
Graval and Golia quickly caught up and the three men collapsed on a ledge just smiling and enjoying the view and warmth, Talon looked below and saw the mist stretch for as far as the eye could see and he poked Graval.
“Did we cross that!” he said breathing heavily.
“We still have some to go Talon.” replied Graval as pointed to the mountain above them, which still stretched over two hundred feet. Talon took a few deep breaths before rising.
“Come on then let’s do it.”
When Talon reached the top he almost burst into laughter from happiness as the sight before him of a lush green valley came into view, he pulled himself over the last piece of rock and just sat admiring the sight.
Below circled by mountains was the most beautiful lake Talon had ever seen, Graval and Golia joined him and the three men embraced feeling joy they had survived and made it.
“Ganasis must be here.” sighed Talon turning to Graval who seemed to be in some trance just looking at the valley below.
“Graval what’s wrong?”
“This view cost us the life of Neo.” he said sadly.
Talon lowered his head as he shared his friend’s grief.
“Talon! We have lost a good man.” added Graval.
“He will be remembered and honoured.” replied Talon as he rose to his feet.
They then began to make their way down into the mountain treading carefully as they walked, where after a couple of hours of slow progress they reached the bottom of the mountain. Talon walked to the lake and removed his furs followed by Graval and Golia and then the three of them just collapsed from exhaustion, Talon woke first where he roused his friends and after a short wash they began to search the valley for Ganasis.
The men searched until nightfall but found nothing, not even a sign that the great wizard was here, feeling dejected they made a fire at nightfall where Talon prepared some food, once they had eaten the men sat around the fire in silence as there search had so far been fruitless.<
br />
“What will we do now Talon?” Graval asked looking miserable.
“We will search again tomorrow.”
“But he’s not here Talon.” Graval answered.
Talon gave a slight smile before replying with a hint of sarcasm.
“Are you in such a hurry to go back into that mist Graval?”
Graval smiled just before moving closer to Talon and speaking to him so Golia couldn’t hear.
“I want to thank you for saving my life back their Talon.”
“Sometimes the strongest of men fall down Graval, falling down isn’t hard, getting back up is.” replied Talon before grabbing Graval’s arm and smiling.
“Get some rest my friend; we will search again at first light.”
Chapter 15
Ganasis
Talon wiped away his sleep and yawned as the hot sun woke him at dawn and for a moment everything seemed like he was still in his dream. The sun glistened off the lake which made him shield his eyes and turn to look at Graval and Golia which quickly reminded him of Neo. Talon wondered for a moment if he was mad, the epic journey through the mists and sitting here in this strange and mystical valley searching for a mythical figure that had not been seen for centuries.
Talon snapped out of his thoughts reminding himself to think positively as he got to his feet and woke his two friends and once again they began their search of the valley.
This time they split up where Talon told his men not to leave no stone unturned, Talon headed for some nearby caves where he looked carefully but once again he found nothing, frustratingly he searched and searched but could find no sign of the mythical wizard.
“I have found nothing Talon.” Graval said when the men met up after a few hours searching.
“There is nothing here Talon.” Golia added spitting in frustration.
Talon crouched down putting his head in his hands wiping away the sweat from his brow as he gazed out upon the lake.
“There must be something.” he sighed.
Graval walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Talon there is no one here, we have searched everywhere.”
Talon did not answer, as he was deep in thought.
“We haven’t searched the lake.” he suddenly replied rising to his feet looking and sounding confident.
“The lake!” Golia added puzzled.
Talon jogged towards it and removed his boots.
“Graval, Golia we must search the lake.” he shouted back.
“Search the sides for any cave entrances” Talon said before jumping in.
“Talon, why would Ganasis be in a cave under the lake?”
“He is here! I can feel it.” Talon shouted back before diving under the water.
Graval and Golia hesitantly joined Talon and after a short while Graval called out.
“Talon there seems to be an entrance over here.”
Talon began to swim while Graval dived under the water and began to feel his way along the underwater cave walls; he held his breath and pulled himself through the tunnel where he saw a blurred blackness suddenly coming towards him. Graval hesitated as he felt danger so he turned and quickly tried to go back, then suddenly he felt a surge of water and something strike him with such force it made him lose all sense of direction before knocking him clear out of the water.
Graval landed back into the water and tried to swim to the bank, Talon was still swimming towards the cave when saw his friend attacked.
“GRAVAL!” he shouted out.
Graval pulled himself onto the bank obviously in pain as Talon saw bubbles rising from the spot where Graval was thrown out of the water, Talon suddenly froze as a giant creature burst from the water and began heading towards Graval who was face down on the shore trying to regain his breath.
The creature looked like a large snake with tentacles and Talon soon realised that Graval would not be quick enough to escape; he swam faster as he called out to Golia to fetch him his sword.
The creature quickly caught Graval with one of his tentacles and was trying to pull him back into the water; Graval had reached out and was clinging to a rock screaming in pain. As Talon reached Graval he climbed from the water and tried pulling the tentacle off of Graval’s leg but no matter how hard he tried the creature was too strong.
The creature then attacked Talon with its other tentacles which Talon tried to avoid by ducking and kicking them away until he was struck around the head and knocked a few feet away from Graval who had now lost his grip and was being pulled back towards the lake.
Talon and Graval’s eyes briefly met where Talon saw his horror.
As Talon got to his feet Golia who had fetched Talon’s sword shouted out, before throwing it to him, Talon caught the sword then jumped into the water towards the creature, the creature tried hitting Talon again with its tentacle but Talon struck the powerful arm with his sword splitting it in two. Graval was now completely submerged so Talon jumped onto the creatures head and stuck his sword downward just above its eye with all his might, the creature stiffened and roared before dropping limply into the water.
Talon reached down and pulled his friend Graval out of the lake and then carried him to the shore where Golia helped him.
“Are you alright?” Golia sighed helping the two of them to the shore.
“Yes, check Graval.” Talon answered still out of breath.
Golia crouched besides Graval who was coughing and spluttering.
“Is it dead?” Talon asked Golia.
“It’s dead.” replied Golia reassuring his friend.
After a few moments Talon regained his breath where he reached over to assist Golia who was helping Graval, who was still in a great deal of pain from the cuts on his leg and face,
“There is a cave Talon…… I saw it.” Graval said grabbing Talon.
Talon interrupted his friend.
“Rest yourself, speak later my friend.” Talon replied before looking at Golia.
“Take care of him.” added Talon getting to his feet and looking into the water at where the tunnel was.
“Talon what are you doing?” asked Golia sounding concerned.
“I’m going into the damn cave.” added Talon in determined tone just he dived back into the water.
The lake was very clear so he had no problem finding the entrance so he pulled himself along a few yards till he surfaced into a huge cavern.
There was an opening above, so the cavern was lit by the sun where Talon saw some stone steps. Slowly and hesitantly he walked up them till he came into another cavern only this cavern was lit by fire. He walked along its walls where he suddenly stopped as he saw a frail old man slumped in a corner, the man noticing he had company rose to face him, Talon looked at him and the rags he wore with disbelief.
“Ganasis.” Talon sighed under his breath.
“Is it you?” added Talon raising his voice.
“Who are you?” asked the man.
“My name is Talon, Zumal and the royal council of Zachania sent me.”
The old man’s face broke into a smile.
“Finally you have come to aid Me.” he sighed full of emotion.
“Aid you” Talon answered surprised.
Ganasis frowned as he neared Talon.
“You do not know do you.”
“Know what, I was told you came here yourself, what do you mean aid you, have you been trapped.”
“I will tell you all, come let’s leave this hell.”
Ganasis said grabbing Talon’s arm then walking out of the first cavern and looking around the corner cautiously as if looking for something.
“Don’t worry old man its dead.” Talon said noticing Ganasis’s fear.
“You killed the beast.”
“Yes!”
Quickly they entered the water and swam out through the tunnel into the valley, Graval and Golia were now sitting on the shore wrapping Graval’s wounds, Golia noticed Talon surface and ran to assist him out of t
he water, Ganasis noticed Golia helping Talon and commented on this.
“You must be a man of great importance.”
“Why do you say this?” asked Talon.
“Your man witnesses an old man struggling but still he rushes to help you, this man has great respect for you.”
“And me him.” replied Talon thanking Golia by patting his shoulder.
Ganasis sighed as he felt the sunshine on his face he reached out his arms and let out a loud laugh.
“I am free!” he shouted out into the sky before slumping himself down onto the shore and thanking Talon.
“Now tell me of the Empire?” asked Ganasis once he composed himself.
“The Empire is on the Zachanian borders, Prince Arun is convinced they will attack.”
Ganasis’s face then changed to a frown
“And what of the wizards of Zanlia?”
“They are with Korvak at Korvak castle.”
“Hmm!” Ganasis remarked looking full of contempt.
“Back in the cave you said we have come to your aid, what did you mean by this?” asked Talon.
Ganasis thought for a moment as he realised it had been centuries since he had had a dialogue with anyone then slowly and sadly he began to answer.
“After Apollo’s death, the armies or what was left of them retreated back into Zachania. The emperor used his magic to protect the Imperial soldiers and they followed into our land but I found a spell to counteract his magic and we pushed the Empire back to our borders. Thousands of our people died defending Zachania, even the women and children took up arms to stop our land being conquered. Then after a month or so the wizards of Zanlia came to me and told me they had found the dead body of Apollo and that it had been smuggled into the west of Zachania, and they needed me to help them bring it back to life, they brought me to this place but there was no Apollo. Only a trap plotted and construed by them, I was imprisoned in that cave and they left that damn serpent to keep me here till the end of time.”
“Why would they betray you?” asked Golia.
“Because they betrayed Apollo in Zanlia, I was too close to Apollo and they knew I would find out…When they imprisoned me, they told me all they had done and what they was going to do, they told me how when I am out of the way the emperors magic would crush Zachania.”
Zachania Page 23