Emma and the Minotaur (21 page)

The Queen of Darkness saw the destruction and she tried to interfere. The humans killed her and celebrated as they burned her body in a great pyre.

As the humans went on with their mad conquest, many of the world’s creatures ran away or went into hiding. The majority of them followed the Lord of Light into his world and they were not remembered on Earth but for the myths and the legends that remained behind.

In his world, the Lord of Light waited. He waited for the day when his heart would be mended, and the day when he would return and retake the Earth, and punish the humans who had raped it.

Emma was sitting on a bench. She was looking out into the night where the light spilled out into a bare field. She was on a porch in front of an old house. The bench and the porch creaked and groaned when she swung her feet.

She looked down at her lap and saw that she was holding a flute. On her shoulder there hung a strap of blue cloth that was attached to the handles of a yellow lunchbox. She was sweaty and dirty and she didn’t know how she had gotten there or what she had been doing.

“Hello, Emma,” said a voice.

She looked to her right and there was a man sitting there on a big rocking chair. He was reading a tattered old book.

“Hello, Mister,” Emma said. “Do you know how I got here?”

“Yes, I do,” he said.

“Can you tell me?”

“You just appeared there,” he said and snapped his fingers. “Just like that. It’s an old trick. Old as the world.”

He stood up and the porch creaked loudly.

“Come on inside, Emma,” he said. “You look a mess.”

The man went inside and Emma could think of nothing else to do but to follow. He led her to a kitchen and sat her down at an old rickety table. He poured her a glass of water and put it down in front of her.

“Drink this,” he said. “It’ll help you remember.”

Emma looked at the glass suspiciously. It was old and chipped, but she picked it up and started to drink. She was thirstier than she remembered. She chugged the whole glass down.

When she was finished she said, “More please, Mr Clarence.”

His eyes twinkled.

“Mr Clarence!” Emma said and her memory returned. She looked all around and stood up, alarmed.

“Settle down, Emma,” he said. “You’re very far away from the forest now.”

She sat back down. “Why am I here?”

“The trees take you where you need to go, remember?”

“Why do I need to be here? I don’t understand.”

“Oh, probably just to talk to me,” he said. “Would you like some pie? I have some leftover apple pie in the fridge.”

“No, thank you, Mr Clarence,” Emma said.

“Alright, mind if I grab a piece?”

“No, Mr Clarence.”

The old man went to the fridge and took a great pie out of it. He pulled a plate out of the cupboard and cut a giant slice and sat down with it.

“Are you sure you don’t want any? It’s delicious.”

Emma’s stomach rumbled at the thought but she refused politely.

“Have you read this book, Emma?” he said, and passed the old, tattered volume across the table.

Emma picked it up and looked at it. Her eyes widened. She knew the book well.

“This is my favourite book!” she said and tapped her lunchbox. “I have my copy right here but it’s not as beat up as yours.”

The old man laughed. “Well,” he said. “My copy is incredibly old so I have a good excuse.”

He stood up and went back to the fridge and poured himself a glass of milk. “Would you like some?”

“No, thank you,” Emma said. “I’m lactose intolerant.”

“Yes, yes,” he said. “I’m trying to give up the stuff myself.”

“What?”

“Never mind,” he said and sat back down. “Now, listen to me, the reason you’re here is because you’ve let all these people get into your head and made you think that there is nothing you can do.”

“Well, it’s true, isn’t it?”

“See,” Mr Clarence said. “There you go believing it. They all say that it’s all hopeless and that he’s too strong, and because they’re adults you believe them. But adults don’t always know what they’re talking about. They just try to sound that way to you so you don’t question them.”

“I’ve been figuring that out,” Emma said.

“So let me tell you,” Mr Clarence said. “They all have different reasons for saying there’s nothing you can do. Some of them may believe it, some might be trying to protect you, and some others might be doing it because they have secrets. But the point is, what I’m trying to get at is— hey, why is that your favourite book?”

“I— well, I’m not sure,” she said. “I just like it, is all. I mean, he’s so little and almost no one believes in him and then he proves them all wrong.”

The old man winked.

“Well,” he said. “That didn’t take nearly as long as I thought it should. You’re much more than even I think you are, it seems. Come now, time for a little push out the door.”

He stood up and left the kitchen. Emma followed after him and soon they were right back outside where they had started. The man sighed a long sigh.

“It’s all coming to an end soon,” he said. “Seems like forever and now the time is finally here.”

“You sure seem to know a lot,” Emma said.

“Well, yes, I do know a lot so it’s proper that it seems that way,” he said.

Emma pursed her lips. She looked closely at the man and turned her head and squinted. “Who are you?” she said finally.

The old man grinned a toothy grin, full of mirth. “A good wizard,” he said, winking again. “You need one in every good story.”

“Did you know I was coming?”

He nodded. “Of course, Emma. All I’ve been doing all these years is waiting for you.” He leaned down on one knee so his face was in line with hers and looked her straight in the eyes.

“Emma,” he said, and he placed a hand on her shoulder. “You are more special than you can imagine. You are going to go on to do great things, if I’m right, but you must start listening.”

“Listening to what?”

“Everything,” he said. “You haven’t been listening, Emma. Not at all. You must do so now. And to begin, you must go and save your friends and your family.”

When he mentioned her friends and family, the reality of the situation crashed back down on her. She held back tears.

“Nah,” she said. “It’s too late. Minotaur had them already when I was transported out.”

Mr Clarence stood up and laughed.

“Emma,” he said and grinned. “Is this your first time being transported by a tree?”

“No,” she said. “It happened once before. Mr Oak saved me and sent me to Toronto.”

“Mr Oak, eh? Good name,” he said. “Well, Toronto was the place where he sent you. But the question is, when did he send you?”

Emma blinked. “It was the next morning.”

He nodded. “What time is it, Emma? Let’s have a look at your funny little watch.”

She frowned and looked at the gray mouse.

“It’s eight thirty,” she said. “That’s funny…”

Mr Clarence laughed a deep hearty laugh that made Emma giggle along despite it all.

“Not a second to lose!” he said.

“But if I’m so far aw— ah!”

Emma jumped down from the porch. “Thank you, Mr Clarence!” she yelled as she ran off into the field. She saw him wave goodbye.

When she was a good way away from the house, she raised her flute over her head and shouted, using the spark that was inside of her. It came to her easily now that she’d passed through the light of creation.

“Titanius!” she said and her voice went out into the world like lightning.

It was lightning that answered her call.

The unicorn came in a flash of light and bowed. “Princess,” he said. He leaned down and she climbed onto his back. “Where shall I take you?”

Emma pictured the clearing in her mind. “Be the lightning, Titanius,” she said and the world became a blur as the unicorn took her into the night.

The unicorn and the girl were like lightning.

They were like lightning that had come down from the sky to run through the streets of Saint Martin.

The residents of the city were, for the most part, locked inside their homes because of the state of emergency, but when Emma and Titanius approached, they felt a charge of electricity that compelled them to look out their windows.

Those who saw them saw lightning, but in their minds there burned the afterimage of an armoured princess on her steed, riding into battle.

The world was a blur.

Emma held on to Titanius, though her arms could not reach around his neck. His galloping was impossibly fast and she didn’t know how it was that she was holding on.

In a blink, the black blur of the night became an autumnal rainbow and Emma knew that they had entered the forest. They snaked through the trees and soon they were back in the clearing.

When they arrived, Emma saw the closing of the portal through which had she left. She was the lightning that she had seen.

The rest of the scene was as she remembered. Domino was next to the tree with his arms outstretched as though he had just thrown her into it. Jingles was beside him. Will and Lucy were lying to either side of the monster.

Minotaur had his arm up and he was about to strike her father.

“Minotaur!” Emma shouted and the monster looked up at her. All eyes turned to the girl who sat astride the unicorn.

“You have returned,” Minotaur said. His voice was a mad growl. The fire in his eyes was more intense than Emma remembered.

Emma jumped off the unicorn and approached the minotaur.

She spoke, and her flute was alight. “You must leave this world, Minotaur,” she said. “Go back to where you came from and return all the prisoners.”

There was a vicious growl from the minotaur and Emma knew that he was laughing at her. He took a step toward her and, despite herself, Emma stepped back.

“Is that so?” Minotaur said. “And how do you suppose you’re going to enforce this decree, Your Serene Highness?”

There was mockery and evil dripping from his voice.

Emma didn’t have an answer to his question.

“You don’t know, do you?” he said. “You don’t know anything, little girl, and the things you know are all lies.”

The monster threw his head back and filled the night with a great roar.

“They all have lied to you and you don’t know it. The faun most of all. He never even told you his real name, did he? Domino, he calls himself, because he’s the one to set the pieces in motion.”

He took another step toward Emma. He was all power. She stood her ground but trembled.

“Even this one,” he said, pointing at her father. “Even this one has been lying to you all along.”

Emma saw her father look away from her. He was in pain but, despite that, she could see that he was ashamed.

“What does he mean, Dad?” Emma said.

The monster roared again and there was thunder.

“You think he’s your father?” Minotaur said.

“You’re just talking,” Emma said. “I don’t believe anything you say.”

“Why would I lie to you, little girl? I could crush you in a moment and be done with it.”

The minotaur turned suddenly and snatched something out of the air. It was Domino. He had tried to sneak up on the monster. Minotaur held him by the head in one giant hand and the faun hung like a doll.

“I had enough of you,” Minotaur said and he squeezed. The horns of the creature crunched under the monster’s grasp and he howled in pain. Minotaur threw him aside.

“What now?” he said. “Who else will come to your aid? Who else is left? The horse? I will crush him as well, but no, he will not interfere in this. Will you, Titanius?”

“I do not have to,” Titanius said and turned to Emma. “Princess, how long will you suffer this fool’s speeches?”

There was a certainty in his voice that reassured her somehow.

“In my favourite book,” she said. “Almost no one believes in the hero, but he proves them wrong.”

Emma looked from Titanius to Mr Oak. The tree was glowing softly and there was a hum, a little song, coming from him, and it was as though he was singing to himself, content. Mr Jingles was nestled in the tree’s roots and he was humming along. She looked from the tree to Will and Lucy. They smiled at her. She looked to her father. There were tears in his eyes but also hope. He smiled as well.

“Almost no one,” Emma said.

There was a roar from the beast as he laughed once again. Minotaur looked down at her. “Enough,” he roared. “Enough of this game.”

He took another step toward her and he was upon her, towering above her head. The girl and the monster faced each other beneath the red sky. Emma was trembling, but she held her ground.

“You’re right,” she said to him, and a light surrounded her. “That’s enough.”