The Three Thorns

by Michael Gibney

  “They’re coming,” Peter gasped.

  “Who, Jennings?” Benjamin cried.

  “Something much worse,” Peter replied.

  Tommy sniggered. “What could be worse than that old crab?”

  “Jacob, I need the gate key,” Peter insisted as Jacob nodded back.

  “Benjamin, help me,” Jacob called as he led the way into the living room and hurried past the window. With one mighty boot, he kicked open a large oak chest that lay beside the fireplace and took heavy weapons out of it.

  “Keep close, can you do that?” Jacob asked anxiously, handing Benjamin some equipment to carry.

  “Yes,” Benjamin squeaked fearfully.

  Tugging Benjamin by the other arm, they ran back across the living room to the hallway when the window unexpectedly smashed inwardly toward them, accompanied by a huge gust of wind that blew Benjamin’s cake into numerous bits.

  Benjamin closed his eyes and held onto Jacob, digging his small fingernails into the back of the man’s hand in fear for his life.

  “Hurry, here they come,” Peter called.

  “Here, take the gate key and get them home,” Jacob said, handing Peter a small pouch of seed and a crystal ball ornament as the group raced out of the doorway.

  “They’ve tracked us down, already?” Sebastian added, terrified at the thought of his guardians appearing at any moment.

  “What are you talking about, four eyes?” Tommy retorted, poking Sebastian’s shoulder in an attempt to derive answers from him.

  Instead of backing down, Sebastian bravely pushed Tommy back a few steps ignoring the sinister storm brewing above them.

  Benjamin gave Jacob a look of dread once they heard the animal cries reach the stable fences. The neighing sounds of distress sent Benjamin running toward several stable doors.

  “You hear that? It’s Poppy! I have to get her,” Benjamin cried, dodging Peter and Jacob’s grasp for him while he bolted past them.

  “No! Benjamin, wait!” Jacob commanded.

  In anxious precision, Benjamin shot over the fence the moment several horses came charging out from their stable doors. He tried to grab hold of the reigns of his horse, but Poppy was too fast and too frightened to yield. She continued racing behind her herd and galloped into the dark countryside.

  “Poppy!” Benjamin called, cupping his hands in one last attempt to retrieve his friend.

  Thunder roared across the entire farmland. The beautiful summer’s evening sky had turned as black as coal and brought with it a deathly smell. Tommy thought he was about to faint with nausea. Evil approached.

  Sebastian covered his nose while he and Peter fought hard against the forceful winds that blew ruthlessly against them. Luckily, Sebastian was light enough for Peter to help pull into the barnyard. Jacob struggled to carry the heavy equipment on his shoulder while he helped pull Benjamin against the wind and away from the fleeing team of horses.

  When Tommy regained his senses, he gazed over at Jacob and Benjamin struggling against the winds and noticed Jacob observing the skies, toward dark clouds that revealed horrible shapes.

  Tommy watched the clouds appear to change into shapes more horrifying than mere objects. Leaves and dust kicked up from the ground beneath him. His eyes widened in horror the moment he realized what he had set his sight upon.

  15

  Meeting with Assassins

  Faces! Dark, disfigured, distorted, evil-looking faces stared down from the black heavens. Clouds grinned at Tommy and Jacob. Their mouths twisted and their eyes squinted. In the far distance, deep inside the orifices of the cloud storms, two black figures slowly emerged, as if dispatched from the jaws of hell.

  Jacob’s feet started to sink into the thick mud. He was stuck.

  “Peter, get them out of here,” Jacob ordered, directing Peter, Sebastian and Benjamin toward the forests. The howling wind ceased unexpectedly and brought the entire farmland to a silent standstill. It was deathly quiet.

  “What about you?” Peter whispered anxiously, watching the sky as he waited for the figures to reveal themselves. “You cannot fight them alone.”

  “Go!” Jacob shouted.

  Peter reluctantly urged both boys to run to the woods. All three sprinted across the field until Benjamin remembered something, someone they had left behind. “Tommy!” he cried, calling Peter back. “I can’t leave him.”

  “It’s too dangerous,” Peter yelled, hauling them onwards, past the open field and into the dark forests that lay ahead. “Jacob will look after him.”

  Two giant creatures suddenly ripped through a hole in the dark sky and landed close by the stables. Jacob had managed to wriggle his legs out of the mud holes in time and made his way toward Tommy, who stood a few feet away, frozen with fear. Jacob shielded the boy from the monsters’ sight as they came into view. The nine-foot figures of muscle and steel towered over Jacob.

  The dreadful smell grew stronger the closer the monstrous assassins got.

  Black steel made their shoulders look three times the size of Jacob’s large frame. An armored mask guard covered the lower face of one of the assassins; only the white scars and burnt skin on the upper half of its face were revealed. Black, square pupils in its red goat-shaped eyes gazed piercingly out at Jacob, sending a shiver shooting up Tommy’s spine.

  The other monstrous assassin looked even more vicious. Its steel mask covered the top part of its face but revealed the lower jaw and mouth. Its skin was pale gray and bore graver scars than its companion. Its long gums and razor-sharp teeth appeared almost as black as the bushy, straw-like hair that puffed over its broad shoulders. Stinging bugs and cockroaches crawled and scattered around its huge black cloak. The cloaked assassin growled and snarled while the heavily armored assassin remained eerily silent. Thuds toward Jacob and Tommy shuddered through the pair. Jacob pulled a large ball and chain weapon from the bag on his left shoulder and held it in his hands.

  “Get back to the house. Hide!”

  Tommy speedily crept back until he was near the front door of the house.

  A few seconds was all it took for the assassins to tower over Jacob, one glaring down at him and the other smiling. Simultaneously, the assassins took out their long, shining metal weapons, which were too thin in shape to resemble that of any sword. These weapons were distinct otherworldly objects, so thin and razor sharp that they resembled gigantic needles made of fine silver. The heavily armored figure reached back with his other arm and lifted an enormous double bladed axe from a massive holder on his back. The axe alone was almost the same height as Jacob.

  Even so, Jacob refused to back down at this terrifying display of dominance and superiority.

  “Right this way,” Jacob spoke calmly, swinging his own weapon round in circles in the air preparing to strike.

  But his attempt to intimidate either assassin didn’t work. The cloaked assassin cackled at Jacob’s threatening demeanour. A gust of wind picked up again and howled once the two beasts prepared to do battle.

  “I will leave you more than a scar this time,” growled the heavily armored assassin as the first clash of metals met. The force of the creature’s blow was far too powerful for Jacob to withstand, throwing the large man onto his back against the ground a few feet away from them. Jacob struggled in the mud but eventually got up. Moving quickly, the brave man avoided contact with weapons that swiped at him from both directions. Two giants against one man was cowardly and unfair, but the monstrosities didn’t seem to intimidate Jacob either, like they had hoped.

  After Jacob dodged several swipes, he leapt toward his heavily armored nemesis to strike, but collided with the side of its gigantic axe. The force of the blow lifted him off his feet and tossed him high into the air. Jacob landed heavily in the mud only a few feet away from Tommy.

  Tommy watched breathlessly, hoping for a glimmer of life in his guardian, but Jacob didn’t get up this time. He didn’t move at all. Tommy stood still outside
the large front door. Vulnerable. Alone. He was abandoned now, facing each horrid monster that stomped toward him. Tommy had never felt such trepidation and alarm for his life. This wasn’t a case of getting into a lot of trouble with the law or some minor orderlies. This was serious danger; a threat to his very safety.

  Another stomping vibration through the earth shook his stance. One more followed after that, until the massive assassins stood in front of him, raising their enormous weapons, ready to strike. But still, Tommy could not move an inch. His mind went blank and his body went stiff through tension and shock. This is it, he thought to himself. And with no hope left in him, he shut his eyes tight to rid himself of the horrific vision.

  At precisely the same moment the merciless assassins struck at their target, a cold bony hand grabbed Tommy’s collar and yanked him back through the doorway. Each weapon bounced off the concrete slab. Tommy was gone. The thick oak door was now closed, locked and bolted. A beastly roar of rage from the two assassins echoed across the stables and farmland. Inside, the house had grown dim. Tommy found himself desperately reaching out into the blackness to grab ahold of anything that would keep his shaking legs from buckling beneath him. How did he escape? And how did he end up inside the house? There was only one explanation…Luther. The mute boy hadn’t ventured out of the house since Peter’s arrival, and everyone had forgotten him. “Luther?” whispered Tommy, as he nervously tiptoed across the carpet, feeling around the area for a door to cling onto.

  Finally, after a few seconds of searching in the dark, Tommy came to a wall of photo frames. He could sense by the texture and imprint of the wallpaper that he was now in the hallway.

  “Luther!” he whispered, louder this time, worried that Luther wouldn’t be able to hear him and he’d be left alone again. A loud banging at the front door almost made the terrified boy jump out of his skin, but there was still no sign of life within the house. No reply could come from Luther anyway, and Tommy’s eyes still had trouble adjusting to the darkness around him.

  The second bang was followed by the crackling sound of wood breaking. Shattering through a little more wood at a time, the villains slowly but effectively tore the main doors apart. Tommy felt their desire to reach him. Pure hatred filled the air. He could almost taste their hunger for his blood. They would not stop until they had torn their way through the entire house to get to his fearful, pounding heart.

  One small, dim beam of light outside pierced the hallway and made it slightly easier for Tommy to make his way toward several hiding spots. The thought of capture was unbearable. He knew that the hallway had small dipping steps that led straight into the kitchen, but the kitchen itself was already a dead end. There must be some other way out of here, he thought, scrambling his brain for an idea that would save him from the jaws of such lethal menaces. Maybe the rooms upstairs could offer a perfect hiding spot.

  Luck had it that the lanterns on the upstairs landing remained lit alongside the walls. Benjamin had forgotten to blow them out that evening and this gave Tommy a better chance to find a hiding spot swiftly.

  The thud of the intruders’ footsteps downstairs made Tommy quiver. Loud noises of swinging doors squeaked through the rooms below him. Feeling faint, Tommy clutched the curtains at the end of the hall to steady himself. He knew if he fainted or froze in fear again, it would cost him his life.

  “Time to hide.” Tommy ordered himself in a breathy whisper, frantically searching for the perfect spot.

  It’s just like the games of hide and seek you used to play at the orphanage, Tommy kept reminding himself, trying to rid himself of his dread, for if the seekers found his hiding spot in this game, there would be no chance to play again.

  Up the stairs they came; he could hear them breaking a hole through each step with their heavy feet. Tommy knew they drew close for the stench grew stronger.

  Do something, hide somewhere, anywhere, just do it and do it fast, he yelled to himself, forcing his solid frame into a small side closet near the end of the hall. The scent of soap-washed towels inside the closet blocked out some of the rotten smell polluting the top floor. Tommy took a massive deep breath and held it for as long as he could. A sturdy thud followed by another vibrated throughout the landing so strongly that it made the rusted hinges on the closet doors rattle.

  Cautiously, Tommy peered between the strips of wood in the closet. The heavily armored assassin approached the far end of the landing first, shuffling nearer Tommy’s chosen hiding spot. He could hear the creature breathing heavily as it drew back its arm and punched through the bedroom doors opposite his hiding spot.

  The assassin growled in frustration as it tore through the doors like paper, one after the other. It suddenly turned around and slowly headed toward the landing to investigate the rattling noise coming from the closet. Shifting on his knees, Tommy hastily receded from the closet doorway until his back met the wall. The armored assassin stood facing him seconds later, quiet and still. Only thin strips of weak and rotted wood rested between them. The black and steaming steel claw slowly reached for the closet door handle.

  Tommy had nowhere left to run or hide. He couldn’t help but catch the nightmarish figure from the corner of his eye. Up close, it looked like the creature’s armor was piping hot. As the assassin grabbed ahold of the rotted wooden handle, it broke off. In frustration, the assassin smashed a massive fist through the weak set of wooden strips, ripping the entire door off of its hinges. Tommy scurried to the right side of the closet so as to be hidden by the remaining door when the armored creature raised its arm to strike again. Just then, noise broke out from downstairs.

  Tommy thought it was music at first, and he was half right. The musical notes came from Jacob’s old piano that no one, except for Luther, ever used. The constant banging on the piano keys was enough to convince the armored assassin it was wasting its time searching the landing. The simple distraction was all it took for the monsters to leave. Pushing past each other, the creatures stomped downward toward the piano sounds like a crazed herd.

  Tommy knew Luther must have made the sounds to distract the assassins. He didn’t hesitate to scarper out from the closet wreckage. Grabbing one of the lanterns, he swiftly ran to the window at the end of the hallway. The glass window had a wooden frame that separated each square pane of glass into nine separate sections. Someone a bit older would surely have had the strength to break through it and free him from the brutal beasts. But where was Luther? Was Jacob already dead?

  Tommy’s heart sank once the musical sounds stopped. Near the top of the staircase, he could hear the clear hastening of Luther as his mute friend scurried from under the dining table to the dining room door, locking it behind him just in time. The assassins fell over the piano and one another in their desperate pursuit to catch the teenager, but they were too slow.

  Within seconds, Tommy stood at the top of the landing, waiting for the assassins to sprout into view when, to his delight, Luther rushed to climb up the side of the broken staircase. Tommy felt relieved to see a friendly, non-threatening face at last.

  Luther panted and pointed toward the window, motioning Tommy to break through it.

  “It’s too tough for me to break,” Tommy explained, shaking his head.

  Luther grabbed a nearby chair at the top of the staircase and directed Tommy to stand aside as he ran toward the window to ram the chair through it. Luther threw the chair hard and accurately at the glass, fracturing through the wooden frames and creating a large gaping hole. He then hurried to the opening and urged Tommy to look outside or to possibly jump; Tommy didn’t know which.

  Below, Benjamin’s horse Poppy stood, waiting patiently. Tommy smiled with overwhelming joy at the sight of her. She had come back for them, when all the other horses had fled in terror. Throwing a towel over the shards of glass embedded along the outward frame, Luther motioned once more for Tommy to go through the gaping hole while he held tightly to the opposite end. Luther’s nod gave Tommy the
go-ahead to climb out the window and lower himself down the side of the manor.

  BANG!

  It didn’t take long for the intruders to break through the dining room door. Both assassins charged through the mess they had left of the staircase, whilst shoving one another back onto the upstairs landing. Luther turned to look behind him as he held onto the towel for Tommy. The hallway seemed much longer and darker than before. Wind blew in from the broken window frame, blowing out the fire lanterns along the hall. Only one lantern kept alight. Tommy let go of the rest of the towel once it was safe enough to land. The assassins hissed when Luther lifted the lantern Tommy took off the wall and held it in front of him. His free hand took a small bag of gunpowder from his pocket that he kept on him for hunting rabbits and pheasants with Jacob.

  Luther could barely see the assassins in the gloominess of the hallway, but felt their every step creaking closer to him, until their outline was a crystal clear vision of monstrous horror. The brave hero didn’t delay and threw the lamp against the two figures, which smashed at their feet, instantly spreading flames beneath them. Flames increased after Luther threw the entire bag of gunpowder into the thick of the blaze.

  Below, Tommy had only fallen a few feet, but it was enough to hurt his ankle. The sudden sight of fire had scared Benjamin’s young horse away from the house again, leaving him to hobble after her. Keep running, Tommy, he told himself. Do not stop for a single moment.

  The top of the O’Malley manor exploded into a gust of flames, and the roars of the captives inside traveled across the open field. Tommy couldn’t help but turn back to see the awful sight of the burning house. He had run so fast that he failed to notice Jacob lying upon the ground as he passed him.

  Fear and disbelief froze him to the spot when he caught sight of the two foes at the manor’s main doorway, calmly walking into the open, even whilst engulfed in flames. As the assassins casually marched further, the flames evaporated off their armor until they remained as untouched as when they had first arrived. It seemed nothing could harm or destroy them, not even fire. Luther’s courageous sacrifice to destroy them had failed.