The Three Thorns

by Michael Gibney

  Clutching the faun’s throat, Lemis hoisted the guard up against the oak doors until Jodo gave a slight nod to release the captive. The startled faun hit the floor, struggling to catch his breath.

  Jennings felt slightly sympathetic, but he ignored this feeling when he sensed Jodo detect his human emotion for the faun, as a shark would smell blood from wounded prey.

  The knight coolly knelt down and offered the faun another one of his dark navy silk handkerchiefs, only to be refused by a slight push of the hand.

  “Suit yourself. Well, let’s get down to business,” the knight said, forever showing off his cool mannerism. “We’re here for the meeting,” he said with a smile as the faun sat up to stare the knight out.

  “You missed it, by a day or so now,” the faun lied, grumpily.

  “Oh! Well…that is rather…upsetting,” Jodo sighed dramatically.

  “Heart-breaking for you, I’m sure,” the faun sneered back, showing a half-hearted grin that seemed to crawl under Jodo Kahln’s skin. But to the surprise of many, Jodo didn’t do a thing to harm the gatekeeper. Instead, the young knight smiled back in response.

  “Okay,” he said casually, nodding. “Did you know, my furry friend, that this lot have an unwavering craving for faun?” Jodo badgered the scared faun, causing him to look on in fright at the gnawing teeth of the monstrous creatures around him.

  “I know…I find it quite disgusting myself. I suppose one has to have a goblin’s palate for such a menu. But, next to frog, boiled faun is quite the treat. You see, fauns, I am told, are much like lobsters…they’re always better when they’re cooked alive and screaming!”

  Jodo rose to his feet to address his troops lining the hallway from outside the Stained Castle’s main entrance. “Second helpings, anyone?”

  The chanting of the crowd almost turned into another frenzied brawl when numerous goblins scrambled to reach for the faun.

  “I’m telling the truth, check the doors yourself. There is nobody inside these walls,” the faun pleaded without realizing that he had given his secret illusion away. “H-here’s the key,” the faun stuttered as he lifted an old rusted black key out of his trouser pocket and held it over his head in a gesture of surrender.

  Jodo Kahln raised his hand and motioned his soldiers to halt. “Arrogant little fool, do you think such powers as I yield would find need of a key for those doors?” he laughed as he imploded the two large oak wood doors behind them by a flick of his steel gloved hand. The doors flew heavily off the hinges at great speed, crashing into the room that revealed a large deserted hall.

  “You see, I told you the truth, you’re too late,” mumbled the faun.

  “As I was saying, I do not need a key for those doors,” Jodo insisted as he leisurely opened his right hand, revealing the golden key the faun had kept hidden from him.

  “How did you–?” the faun began to ask. A moment later Jodo took a hold of the faun’s hair and dragged him through the group of goblins.

  “No doubt you would have made a worse goblin than you did a faun. Such an unconvincing little liar you are. And with all that mindless nattering…it just goes on and on. It’s enough to make one ill with headache.”

  Jodo rambled loudly, stopping a few feet from the damaged door space. “I only need your eyes, faun. That’s all. Show me where they are or you will suffer at my hand,” he threatened, revealing his steel gloved hand in front of the creature’s pudgy face.

  “Alright…but I need you to give me the key back,” the faun said.

  Slowly and gently, Jodo handed the faun his golden key. Anticipation grew as each creature watched the baby faun’s every movement.

  The moment he turned the key to the invisible lock, the faun wasted no time and scurried through the visible doorway to the chambers of the Council as quick as a fox. He had only enough time to save himself and not enough time to lock the door behind him, leaving Jodo and his brigade the perfect opportunity to enter the doorway after him.

  Missing a step through the entrance, the faun guard tripped and crashed through the chamber doors.

  The eyes of the Council followed the unorthodox entrance as the faun slid upon the chamber floor. His little hooves slipped on the shiny marble as they scrambled toward the panel. His face was drained of all color and his whitened lips could barely utter a word.

  The chambers fell anxiously quiet when they heard the creaking sounds from both doors at the far end of the courthouse. The creak stopped. Silence was broken by a few dreaded knocks that teased and intimidated the human children.

  “You, there! Yes, you that cowers in the dark. Come forth,” yelled the troll, standing amongst the panel and pointing a finger toward the blackness beyond the doorway. But there was only a mocking laugh in return that made Sebastian’s skin crawl.

  “Jodo Kahln,” whispered the troll politician. An inspecting faun guard was pulled into the darkness at the open doorway.

  Suddenly the ill-fated faun guard’s head came rolling out of the dark all the way up the aisle. The rolling head had been thrown hard enough that it crossed the entire aisle, reaching Tommy and Sebastian’s feet at the far end of the massive room. Tommy and Sebastian weren’t aware of it, but Cecil knew it had been deliberately aimed at them. The entire room gasped in utter disbelief, a prelude to the rumbling that had abruptly emerged. Having seconds to prepare for what was to be unleashed upon them, each white witch, elf, dwarf, warlock, faun, sorcerer and bounty hunter joined together to form a double line facing the breached doorway.

  “They’ve found us!” Cecil gasped, signalling Ban Pan and Ariel to join forces with their fellow fighters just as three huge ogres leapt through the doorway, tearing apart its very frame.

  Some slipped through the chaotic stampede more easily than others, but all had the same intent: to kill and destroy everything inside the room that protected the human children.

  Chains and hooks were thrown into the crowd, rapidly snapping unfortunate victims up into the air. Several more were snatched away from the security of allied fighters as the hooks tossed them into the deadly pit of their opposition.

  Tommy and Sebastian cried out in horror at the unexpected war that had broken out. The remaining panel of politicians swiftly joined the defensive line of protectors to battle the oncoming attack.

  Between hundreds of creatures, including goblins, gremlins, hobgoblins, ogres, and sea guards, a few dozen warlocks and elves stood firmly together, creating a wall between the monsters and the human children, all ready to fight to protect the Brotherhood.

  As magic spells and wonders were released in bright flashes and different forms of light, Tommy and Sebastian witnessed each damaging effect the spells had on their targets. Each spell was individually crafted by its maker, making the battle before them such an entrancing spectacle to witness.

  Some forms of magic targeted Jodo’s army faster than others. Spells of flying creatures and four legged beasts made of flame swallowed groups of goblins and spat out their skeletons. Another spell hit a few sea guards and caused the rapid decay of their bodies. Other spells changed their mutant skin to wood so that they stiffened up and cracked like branches from a tree. Creatures of light were unleashed, leaping upon the backs of ogres and blinding the gigantic beings, while every protector’s fairy distracted their assailants by nipping at their faces and stinging their ears.

  More spells were cast, until each white witch, wizard, and warlock had to reserve their energies and regroup, while the rest of the fauns, elves, and bounty hunters continued fighting by the standard method of hand-to-hand combat. The strength and endurance of the good civilians was put to the test.

  “What are they doing?” Sebastian pointed to the large circle gathering of sorcerers that included the Council of politicians.

  “There’s salt in the air. Listen to the hissing of the bubbles. Alkaline…can you smell it?” Cecil asked.

  Sebastian and Tommy could feel the ocean’s cool breez
e. The smell of the ocean had reached their nostrils amidst the chaotic violence and spellbinding war between light magic and dark magick, calming their senses.

  “Clear your thoughts and keep close,” Cecil cautioned.

  The smell of the ocean grew stronger and changed, for there was electricity in the air now. For some reason he could not explain, Sebastian knew what was about to happen next.

  “They’re making a storm. A storm is brewing, a giant wave will come…wait…how do I know that?” Sebastian asked excitedly.

  “But the ocean is way down there,” argued Tommy, impatiently pacing toward the windows and back again.

  “Your talents will soon be shining through. It’s a glimpse of your own powers, Sebastian. The power of prophecy,” Ariel said reassuringly.

  “You are a sorcerer in the making,” Ban Pan added, whilst he finished beating a goblin to the ground.

  When Tommy and Sebastian glanced up at their furry ally, they witnessed an abrupt and mighty lightning spell toss the heavy troll back into the thick of the fighting crowd. Jodo Kahln took responsibility for the foul attack with pleasure, applauding himself as the troll fell. The crashing of the troll’s heavy body shook the ground beneath everyone, crushing a few gremlins in his way. Thankfully, the troll’s body armor had taken most of the lightning’s impact. Without much effort, Ban Pan pulled himself back onto his feet, ready to aid his allies against the oncoming horde.

  Standing disrespectfully on top of the Council’s table, Jodo eagerly antagonized Ariel to fight him.

  Ariel took no chances and hastily charged at the knight, pointing a spare dagger ready to strike him. The experienced knight moved effortlessly to avoid her blows, launching into his own planned retaliation seconds later. Making sure her arm was joined with the strap of the dagger by magick, Jodo willed the well-crafted instrument high off the ground and embedded it deep into the marble wall behind the panel.

  Ariel struggled fiercely after being catapulted into the air, but nothing seemed to work; she was trapped, dangling and vulnerable. Jodo appointed two gremlins to stand below her, blocking her only avenue of escape if she broke free.

  “Watch that one,” Jodo ordered his gremlin guards as he stared up at her. “I’m coming back for you, my sweet. So, just hang on.”

  Jodo strode across the Council’s bench with his arms behind his back, shaking his head at Cecil Baskin and tutting at the two boys.

  “Run to the end of the room, stick to the windows and keep low, go now,” Cecil ordered under his breath. Before the knight had gotten too close to Cecil, Tommy and Sebastian scurried off, picking up speed as they rose from a creeping position into a full sprint.

  The knight stepped off the table to stand in front of the protective pixie, towering above him in height. Uncomfortable with the arrogant knight glaring down at him, Cecil fluttered his wings in defiance and raised himself up off the ground to meet his opponent face to face.

  With a flick of his steel gloved hand, Jodo shoved the brave protector against the enormous glass windowpane. The impact caused a large crack in the window’s bottom half. Cracks in the window started to increase as the evil knight held the honorable knight in position.

  “I want you to watch this, I want to see the look on your face, pixie. When the Brotherhood dies before your eyes, and you hear their screams for your help, then you’ll know your King wasn’t a real prophet but a stupid farce,” Jodo threatened, nodding at the two gremlin guards standing below Ariel to leave their posts and pursue the two humans. “You should have joined us, Cecil Baskin,” Jodo hissed.

  The pair of gremlins rushed toward the end of the room. Each kept close to the windows and quietly followed Tommy and Sebastian.

  From Ariel’s high point of view, the villainous army looked like an infestation of cockroaches scuttling through every nook and cranny, outnumbering and overpowering the rebel sorcerers.

  “Help the humans!” Ariel called out when the gremlin guards crept inches away from Sebastian and Tommy. Tommy’s sky blue-colored eye caught a glimpse of the gremlin’s advances. He swiftly pulled Sebastian aside, saving his brother from the fatal swipe of a rusty blade.

  “Thanks!” Sebastian said.

  Eyeing around them for some escape route, Tommy jumped onto one of the huge window ledges in order to get a better viewpoint. But there was nothing he could find. No escape route. Nothing. It seemed nobody could save them now.

  Ready to do their rightful duty for their King, each grotesque gremlin climbed up on the window ledge, gripping the stone with their sharp instruments.

  “What now?” Sebastian asked, when something caught Tommy’s eye once more. It was the spirits he was told about, the ones that he had seen earlier that lay in the darkest corners of the Stained Castle.

  Tommy watched their erratic movements diving into the fighting crowd. Every time a goblin or soldier of Saul was killed, a black spirit from the stained walls would sharply descend toward their bodies and pull their darkened spirits out. Sometimes the spirits of the Stained Castle would take a dead creature’s soul so fast, the new soul would instantly become a part of it. It was an accumulation of dark spirits that waited for their own opportunity to strike at the dead.

  Tommy’s concentration on the accumulating spirits was broken when Sebastian lifted a dagger that had landed on the window ledge after being thrown to him from the middle of the room by Ban Pan. Tommy suddenly took the dangerous instrument off his brother just as the gremlins stood in front of them.

  “We have no choice,” Tommy yelled to his brother.

  Sebastian nodded eagerly when they both ran against the assailants that charged back at them. But the nearer they got to their attackers, the more Tommy could see the gremlins for what they really were. In a frantic skid and desperate tug at Sebastian, Tommy managed to stop both of them from making a grave mistake.

  “It’s a trick, get back,” Tommy explained.

  “But they’re smaller than us,” Sebastian started, his heart beating with newfound bravery. “We can take them.”

  Tommy quietly shook his head and moved against the window as he studied the clever illusion. “No they’re not. I see them,” he whispered to Sebastian.

  “See what?” his brother asked, confused.

  “Watch!” gasped Tommy while pointing back at the gremlin guards in front of them.

  The two guards had already begun to shed their brilliant disguise the moment Tommy’s piercing eyes saw through it. Real armory reappeared, ripping through the skin of the gremlin costume. Both villains started growing in stature and changing in size, until everyone saw what Tommy’s eyes could see through their dark magick. It was the Nockwire.

  The assassins Tommy had been dreading since the moment he’d first laid eyes on them had finally returned for them in the new world, like they had promised. Baring their needle-like weaponry tight in their grips, both assassins took thudding steps in front of them, pinning each boy to the window.

  Sebastian faced the bushy haired and cloaked assassin Scythas, whilst Tommy faced the heavily-armored beast Thestor for his third time. It was in that hellish moment, without warning, that Tommy finally unleashed his first new worldly power.

  28

  Weapons of the Elements

  Cecil struggled to turn his head when Jodo pinned his face hard against the cracked window. The evil knight stared obsessively at his assassins, waiting for them to strike a fatal blow.

  Spotting a trickle of sweat roll from Jodo’s brow down his cheek, Cecil was sure the evil knight had his focus elsewhere. He released his own light spell from his glowing staff. The sudden surge of electricity caused an instant separation between the pair. Jodo was flung a few yards from Cecil and landed on the ground in a firm combat pose, watching his faithful and trusty Nockwire assassins bully the children into a helpless position.

  Amidst the bedlam, all Sebastian could do was cover his eyes like a scared animal preparing for the worst, when t
he heavily armored villain lifted his brother up by one strong hand.

  As Thestor prepared to kill his human captive with a fatal stab, Tommy found himself staring directly into the assassin’s face. His fire-lit eyes saw past the monster’s cursed form to who the Nockwire assassin was before: a man.

  Suddenly, Tommy’s shining eyes caught the attention of the dark spirits and attracted them. The blackened spirits that were invisible to most civilians, the souls Cecil Baskin had warned him not to indulge, Tommy now openly embraced. They noticed his stare immediately and swarmed to him, only too happy to claim another pitiful life.

  The Nockwire didn’t know what had hit them when blackness of each dark spirit engulfed their senses, shrouding their faces from everything around them. The attack caused each assassin to stagger to his knees, making the marble floor shake.

  “The child, get that human child!” Jodo called to Lemis, who was still fighting off the defensive barrier that the bounty hunters and elves had successfully sustained.

  One whistle from Lemis signalled his trusty omnicorn to breach through the ceiling of the enormous room. Amongst the endless fighting of the two armies, Lemis led the omnicorn and several of his last remaining sea guards to Tommy and Sebastian.

  “Now is our chance. Let’s wipe these parasites out,” Lemis called back as he rode the horribly diseased and greasy creature in the direction of the two children. Once again, Tommy and Sebastian found themselves cornered, this time by different and equally dangerous assailants. The pursuit for their lives was unrelenting.

  At first, Cecil thought it had been the combined weight of both the Nockwire falling to their knees that sent the minor shockwaves through the ground. Ariel had hoped it was the storm spell the warlocks had yet to complete.

  The intense display of Tommy’s inner powers had left him drained. His blazing eyes turned their focus onto what approached beyond the Stained Castle’s walls. He could see what had caused the sudden shockwaves.