Beyond the Cherry Tree (15 page)

Chapter 24

Lisagor

H
eckrin would not fly any further as he believed that the living had no place in Lisagor. He sat still, camouflaged among the branches of the trees, watching Wilzorf and Josh wade through Lisagor’s long grasses. The darkness was still deep, but Wilzorf feared dawn would shortly break the night’s reign and that it would be too late for the princess.

Even with his powers almost fully restored, Wilzorf knew that he would not be able to defeat the shadows. Yet he would not have taken his king into the evil plains of Lisagor if the Great Tree had not shown the shadows to him at the time of his passing between the two worlds.

‘What are we looking for?’ asked Josh as they walked
further
and further across the plains of Lisagor. ‘Where will Serula have taken Zera?’

‘I don’t know, my lord,’ answered Wilzorf. ‘I fear the witch is lying low, waiting for sunrise. There is no great doorway to the underworld. Lisagor has no magnificent monuments standing glorious and proud; it just has fields of dirt that cover the great darkness beneath. The shadows will come up, my lord, and they will change the landscape of Lisagor as they dance among the grasses in the morning light.’

‘Look, Wilzorf!’ cried Josh.

Peering over the far horizon of Habilon, the sun’s first light began to emerge.

‘We must hurry, my lord,’ warned Wilzorf as he broke into a run.

Suddenly, Josh could see a light shadow running alongside him. It was not a black shadow, but a grey.

Then, another ran beside Wilzorf. The shadows reached out their hands to them. Wilzorf nodded to Josh and they grasped the shadows’ hands. They were whizzed into the air and sped across Lisagor’s fields as light began to fill the sky. The darkness receded.

Up ahead, they could see the witch, Serula, dancing around Zera, who was lying across a large rock. Serula was chanting evil poison from her lips. Grasped between her two hands was a long, pointed dagger. She was about to kill the princess.

For the first time since Josh had stepped beyond the cherry tree, great hatred rushed through his veins. He had
no memory of his sister, but she was his sibling – his twin – and Josh could almost feel the witch’s dagger pierce his own heart as she waved it in time with her evil chant, preparing to add one of the final pieces in Krudon’s dark, malign jigsaw.

Black shadows emerged from the ground and rose up high above the ritual. Like the witch, the shadows danced around in circles until they formed into one big, black shadow that enveloped the witch and the princess in darkness. Wilzorf reached out his staff in a desperate attempt to stop the witch. But was he too late?

Krudon’s armies had surrounded Feldorn.

They were attacking from the north, west and east, and even from the south, boldly in front of Habilon’s Arc.
Krudon’s
time had come. The evil sorcerer had waited so long for this moment. His chariot hovered in midair next to the orb’s intended resting place, where the two sides of the arc met.

He took the orb in hand and leaned into the arc, looking down toward Sorkrin.

‘You will bow before me, great warrior, and I will take your army to the other world. We will be unstoppable!’ he cackled.

Then he placed the orb into the arc.

Suddenly, a blinding beam of white light shot out of the arc and headed for Lisagor. Wilzorf and Josh could hear
Krudon’s
agonising screams across the land.

‘The orb has rejected Krudon,’ gasped Wilzorf. He looked over at Josh. ‘It is reaching out for its king …’

‘Wilzorf!’ cried Josh, pointing ahead.

Serula was standing over Zera, her arms raised above her head.

The evil witch lowered the dagger toward the princess’s chest.

Suddenly, the light of the orb entered Lisagor.

‘No!’ cried Wilzorf. He threw his staff into the path of the light as it swiftly moved across Lisagor’s fields.

Just as Serula’s dagger touched the princess’s robe, the orb’s light shot Wilzorf’s staff through her chest. The force of the blow sent the witch and the dagger crashing to the ground.

Light refracted from the staff up into the mass of black shadow, shielding the princess from Lisagor’s evil. Then, they appeared: not one, not two, but dozens of grey shadows danced all around the princess until one of them lifted her from the rock and swept her away toward Wilzorf and Josh.

As Wilzorf’s shadow turned around, the wizard leaned back and reached out for his staff. The staff shot out of Serula’s chest and flew back into the wizard’s hand.
Suddenly
,
the orb’s light disappeared.

The black shadow furiously separated into hundreds of smaller shadows.

The greys scattered as the black shadows chased across the fields after the wizard, the king and the princess. The three grey shadows dipped and swirled, avoiding the evil grasps of the others, but the black shadows were closing in and still the greys had not reached the edges of Lisagor.

Suddenly, Wilzorf could see Heckrin flying toward them. The creature had abandoned his fears and come for them! Some of the black shadows broke away from the others and flew toward Heckrin, but Heckrin was too fast even for the shadows.

As Heckrin swooped under the greys, they let go and the wizard, Josh, and the princess fell onto Heckrin’s back. Wilzorf held on tightly to the sleeping princess as
Heckrin
swept them away from the evil of Lisagor. The creature headed swiftly south on Wilzorf’s command. They flew in the direction of Togilin’s shore. This was the quickest way to the Arc of Habilon.

Josh gazed at his sickly sister. He, too, wrapped his arm around her waist, in an effort to protect her. It was as if he was telling her that he had returned and he would be strong for her, for both of them. His thoughts raced as they flew towards the place where his journey in Habilon, began.

He thought of how Zera and he looked alike. Even though she looked poorly, there were recognisable
similarities
; they had the same nose, and their hair was identical in colour. Josh then thought of his parents, his real father and mother, Borlamon and Trila, trying to force long-lost memories of them to the front of his mind.

Then he thought of Henry and Nell and how he always thought of them as his closest loved ones. His mind was alive with thoughts and this fuelled a fire in his heart – a fire that would never burn out. Bravery once again washed over him.

I am the King of Habilon!
he thought as Heckrin carefully descended from the clouds.

Chapter 25

The Final Battle

F
eldorn was a battlefield! Norlif had opened his
kingdom
to those who had escaped Habilon’s ruin, and now Krudon’s evil was inflicting their wrath on Feldorn. Cyclopses and krags thrashed through Feldorn’s trees and sent Norlif’s tree elves to the floor of the forest, where they were picked off one by one by the blues that hid beneath the thick foliage.

Danthenum and Smolderin were in aerial combat with dragolytes. Smolderin took out two, maybe three dragolytes with each raging breath of fire.

Feldorn’s archers bombarded the southern grasses between the forests and the arc while a small army of Habilon’s men and Norlif’s warrior elves, along with one thousand of Hink’s dungers, struggled against Krudon’s fierce and
merciless
goblin army.

There was no trace of Bortwig.

As Heckrin flew over Togilin’s shore, Josh could see a colony of sea ogres swimming away and leaving the deserted beaches behind. This was not a good sign, according to Wilzorf. The sea ogres feared the worst and were leaving Habilon’s troubled land.

As they neared the arc the cries of battle rattled their ears. The torched skies above Feldorn sent shivering fear through Josh’s body.

As they flew over the arc, they could see the bodies of Krudon’s dragolytes. The red one was still attached to the chariot, but its head dangled from its neck in the spot where the orb must have lanced it. The black dragolyte was further away, lying beside the hand of Sorkrin that rested upon the ground.

On Wilzorf’s command, Heckrin circled the arc twice before landing on the grass beneath it. There was no threat left! It appeared that evil and good had finished their contest in this sacred place and all that was left was death.

As Wilzorf laid the princess beneath the arc he could see Krudon’s mutilated body leaning against the wall to the side of the arc. In addition to his right hand being singed off, the evil sorcerer had deep, smouldering burns all over his body and face. Although the orb had shown him little mercy, he was not dead. His breaths were hampered and distant.

Wilzorf stood in front of Josh, and then knelt before him.

‘My king, is it your wish to return the good of the orb to your wizard?’

Josh placed his hand upon Wilzorf’s shoulder.

‘It is my wish.’

Suddenly, the orb began to glow.

Wilzorf stood up, and then looked up to the orb.

The wizard raised his staff toward the top of the arc.

The light from the orb grew brighter and brighter until it reached out to Wilzorf’s staff.

‘Great Orb,’ began the wizard, ‘symbol of all that is good in Habilon.’ Wilzorf reached out his left arm toward Zera. ‘Banish all darkness and evil from the princess and return her to us.’

The light shot through Wilzorf’s body and out through his arm and into Zera until it returned to the orb, forming a triangular beam.

With a sudden flash in the sky, the light vanished and
Wilzorf
fell to his knees.

Josh ran over to the wizard and helped him to his feet.

‘Look, my lord,’ gasped Wilzorf.

Zera was standing beneath the arc, dazed, rubbing her hand across her forehead. For the first time in twelve years brother and sister, Borlamon’s heirs, were reunited. Josh ran over to join his sister beneath the arc. Zera instantly knew him. She had been told about her brother, the prince who
lived on the far side of the Great Tree, by the knights who had trained her. Brother and sister just stared at each other with disbelief, until Zera broke their silence and cried out to her brother with the faintest of cries.

‘Joshua!’

The twins embraced and felt each others’ hearts beat together for the first time since they were infants.

As Zera joyfully hugged her brother, Bortwig ran up the steps in front of the arc. The elf had sneaked pass the goblin army with Mirlo’s help.

Wilzorf smiled at Bortwig, happy to be standing with him beneath the arc, but victory was not yet with the good of Habilon.

‘We must act quickly, my lord,’ beckoned Wilzorf,
pointing
toward the fields beyond.

Krudon’s goblins were advancing toward the arc. As
Wilzorf
and Josh ran toward Sorkrin, Krudon opened his eyes and bellowed out laughter.

‘Kill him!’

Suddenly, the black dragolyte lifted its head and screeched out. It had been playing dead. The evil creature rolled its head around to them, spitting a barrage of molten rocks.

Wilzorf shielded Josh from the onslaught with his staff. He cast bolts of fire back at the dragolyte as it leapt up into the air and sent it tumbling to the ground. He pointed his
staff toward the orb. As the orb cast a ray of light toward the wizard, the dragolyte spat one last rock ash at Josh. Wilzorf caught the orb’s light and thrusted it straight through the dragolyte, killing the evil creature instantly. But he had no time to save Josh. As the molten bullet sped toward Josh’s chest, the boy felt himself being pushed aside to the ground. The dragolyte’s evil hit Bortwig in the chest as he leapt through the air to save his king.

Josh crawled over to Bortwig and held the elf as he
whimpered
and shivered. He was so cold! Zera knelt beside him and placed her warm hand under his head.

Wilzorf glared over at Krudon. The sorcerer was laughing.

‘Cry not for the elf,’ said Krudon. ‘He is but a pointless creature. Save your tears, boy, for when you stand before your parents’ tombs and know that you will never know them.
I
took that from you!’

Josh turned his head with hatred in his eyes. He lifted his sword and pointed it at the sorcerer.

Krudon spluttered blood from his mouth. Death was near.

He looked toward Wilzorf. ‘I am dying, brother, but I will not die alone. Do you remember when Sygrim taught us of a magic known as
abreptus anima
?’

Wilzorf stared at Krudon in horror.

‘I remember well!
Abreptus anima
, an ancient magic of Habilonian wizards that was used to capture – entrap – the
body and soul of a person, hiding it within the wizard’s body so it could be used to see things and places and people
connected
with the entrapped!’

Krudon once again coughed blood.

The evil sorcerer looked toward Josh, ‘Don’t be afraid to grasp your destiny boy!’ he laughed.

At first Josh thought that the dying sorcerer was going mad in his last breaths, but then he remembered those words – the general’s words – in the library. The painting on the wall in the library spoke those words to him and when he told Bortwig, the elf had thought it was strange and part of the dark changes in the manor …

‘The general!’ cried Josh.

Realising that his evil brother was drawing his last breath, Wilzorf knew that there was only one way to break the sorcerer’s spell; he ran over to Krudon and drove his staff through his chest.

Suddenly, the roars of goblins could be heard approaching the steps of the arc. Josh looked to Wilzorf and the wizard nodded toward Sorkrin. Josh ran to Sorkrin and dove across the grass, reaching out his hand.

As goblins ran up the arc’s steps, Wilzorf met them with fury from his staff, while Zera stood bravely shielding Bortwig with a dagger she had taken from the fallen elf.

Josh rested his sword upon Sorkrin’s right hand.

‘Your king needs you,’ he announced. Light from the arc beamed down on Sorkrin and his army – the Zionn Army awoke.

Sorkrin looked upon his king and then commanded his army forth. A long trail of giant stone warriors followed Sorkrin as he thrashed his way through the goblin army, clearing the arc and the fields it looked upon of all evil. Zera called out to Josh and Wilzorf as they watched victory near.

The wizard and his king could not believe what they saw before them. Krudon had spoken the truth: General Edgar Pennington stood up from Krudon’s dead body and walked a few steps away from it, stopping then turning around and looking back.

Josh watched as Wilzorf walked over to the general and stretched out his arms to embrace him.

‘My good friend,’ smiled the wizard. ‘You have returned to us.’

The general smiled back at Wilzorf. ‘Tell me, wizard,’ he said in a weakened voice. ‘Has victory crossed to our side? I would like to go home if it has.’

Wilzorf nodded. ‘Habilon has a king once more.’ He looked toward Josh.

The general reached out his hand to King Joshua. ‘You have grown, boy. I shall praise Henry on my return.’ Pain rushed through his body. The spell had put great strain on
the general’s old body.

Wilzorf looked around to the Great Tree.

‘The flowers are almost gone,’ said the wizard. ‘General, you must go now.’

Darkness followed the fourth sunset since Josh set out on his journey. Just as Bortwig had foretold, Thericus knelt before his king and Sirg placed the crown upon Josh’s head, while Princess Zera smiled over at the statues of her father and mother, knowing that the king and queen of past – their parents – would be proud of their children on this great day.

Krudon and all his evil had been defeated. Bortwig the tree elf was returned to health by the magic of the orb. The wizard Wilzorf had returned to the side of the king, where he rightly belonged, and good reigned over Habilon once again.

As the celebrations roared across the magical land that Josh had made his new home, on the far side, beyond the cherry tree, Claudia Pennington excused herself from her dinner guests to answer a knock on the door of Cherry Tree Manor.

The general was no longer missing!