Sentari: ICE (24 page)

Te’oma hung down off the edge of the ledge. It didn’t seem that far down as he hung there. “Come on Te’oma. We don’t know how long the wall will stay open,” said Julius as he and Ariana walked through the doorway. Te’oma took a deep breath, then let go of the ledge. The fall seemed to take a long time. He braced himself for impact on the ground.

He crashed to the earth with a thud. He looked up at Ariana with relief on his face that nothing had broken. Ariana smiled back at him. Then, without warning, the ground below smashed to pieces, sending Te’oma down into the darkness below, as the diamond wall reappeared.

***

For nearly an hour, Ariana banged at the diamond wall. Her hands were bruised and bloodied. “Te’oma!” she screamed as she banged on the wall. Julius put his hand on her shoulder. “Come on. I’m sure he’s ok. He’s a strong guy. He’ll find another way. We can wait for him outside. Please Ariana!” said Julius.

Ariana reluctantly turned around and walked with Julius towards the sunlight. A wall suddenly slammed down in front of them, blocking their way. The Shadow appeared in front of them. “You didn’t think it was going to be that easy did you?” said the Shadow, before he disappeared.

A stone door to the left of them creaked and moaned as it slowly opened for the first time in a very long time. Inside was a small passageway with lanterns hanging down, lighting the way. They began walking through it. The walls were charred and scratched. They reached the end of the passageway and walked out into a huge room. The floor was made of polished tiles, the walls were lined with enormous stone pillars and the roof was a giant block of silver. There were only two things in the room. There was a small wooden door at the other end of the room and, sleeping in front of the door, was the largest dragon that Ariana and Julius had ever seen.

Ariana and Julius scurried back into the passageway as quietly as they could. “Great. What do we do now?” asked Ariana.

“The only thing we can do,” said Julius. “Sneak around the dragon and hopefully get out the door before he wakes up.”

“Are you kidding me?” said Ariana.

“Can you think of a better plan?” replied Julius.

“What about Te’oma? We can’t just leave him,” said Ariana.

“We need to find the way out first, before we can help him,” said Julius, as he grabbed her by the hand and tiptoed out into the room.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” whispered Ariana.

The two quietly walked across the room, holding hands. They walked past the nose of the sleeping giant. A huge blast of cold wind blew out its nose as it snored away. Ariana had to cover her mouth, nearly gagging on the disgusting smell of the beast’s breath.

The dragon’s tail lay directly in front of the doorway. They carefully climbed over the end of it, trying desperately not to touch it. They breathed a sigh of relief as they safely reached the doorway.

Julius was reaching out to open the door when, to his horror, he saw that there was a padlock hanging off the handle. He wiggled it as quietly yet forcefully as he could, but it would not budge.

“There’s a lock on the door,” whispered Julius.

“A lock?” said Ariana from behind him. “Where’s the key?”

“How should I know?” said Julius.

“It’s your stupid prison,” said Ariana.

Ariana and Julius suddenly felt a cold breeze on the backs of their necks. They turned around to see the dragon standing up tall, looking down at them with his angry red eyes. Hanging on a chain around his neck was the key to the door.

The two looked at each other in terror. “Run!” screamed Ariana. The two ran in opposite directions around the dragon. The dragon let out an enormous roar, then turned around. He whipped his tail, slamming it into the ground, causing the floor to shake. Both Julius and Ariana were knocked off their feet by the vibration.

They quickly got up and started running for the passageway. The dragon looked up at the roof, then opened its mouth and let out a stream of ice. The ice froze the entire roof. The dragon whipped his tail again. – This time into the walls, causing the ice on the roof to shatter and rain down on top of Julius and Ariana.

They held their hands over their heads as the ice smashed into them. Their hands and arms were cut and scratched in the process. They scurried into the passageway and got as far from the entrance as they could. The two stopped and looked back. They leaned over, gasping for air. “At least he can’t get down here,” said Ariana. As she said that, a giant ball of fire came bursting down the passageway. Julius and Ariana quickly ducked out of its way.

“Great! A dragon that can breathe fire and ice,” said Julius.

A second ball of flame came roaring down the passageway, this one even bigger than the last. The dragon roared so loud that the walls shook. Fireballs, one after another, roared towards them, getting closer and closer with each one.

Sweat poured down their faces from the heat. “What do we do?” asked Ariana.

“I don’t know,” said Julius.

“Sometimes in life a problem has no correct answer but there are always infinite incorrect answers.”

Lost

A terrifying sense of nothingness came over Te’oma as he opened his weary eyes. His body was aching from the fall and his skin was scratched and bleeding.

A sea of mist hung low above the dead terrain that Te’oma lay in and a thick, stomach-churning smell lingered in the air. A dark red light glowed high above him, giving off a haunting glow and sparsely lighting up the immediate vicinity.

As Te’oma picked himself up from the swampy ground, thousands of tiny bugs swarmed around him. He stood up and his stomach churned with the sickest feeling he had ever experienced. He had no idea where he was.

Each moment felt like a lifetime. He could describe accurately every minute detail. Every second in the awful forsaken place strangled and suffocated his soul. Every breath ripped apart his insides like thousands of tiny insects. He believed this was indeed the most horrid feeling he could experience – yet he feared it was only going to get worse.

Te’oma stood there for a while, staring at the ground. His memories were slowly starting to fade. He racked his brain, desperately trying to hold on to the images of his loved ones – his father, mother, Ariana – but all he could find was darkness. It was as if the place was blocking all happy thoughts.

As he was trying to fill the blanks in his mind, the red light was growing brighter, until it was strong enough to clear the mist and reveal Te’oma’s surroundings to him.

As far as the eye could see were steep, razor-sharp cliff faces; withered, black-leaved trees were scattered across the landscape as a testimony to the lifeless surrounds.

A little way away Te’oma could see a faint light; it caught his attention immediately, almost seeming to beckon to him. ‘Should I go in?’ wondered Te’oma. The doubting thoughts in his brain said no, but something else inside of him insisted he go forward.

As Te’oma walked he had a terrible feeling that someone was watching him. He looked in every direction, yet he saw nothing. His heart was pounding yet his body felt cold, almost lifeless.

Te’oma reached the edge of a small cliff face. The opening in the mountain was at the bottom of the cliff. There was only one way down to it – he must climb down.

The first few steps were almost too easy; as if there were hand-holds carved into the face of the cliff.

Te’oma found a couple of large foot-holds and stopped to get his bearings. He wasn’t far from the path below when, suddenly, torrential rain began to pour down. Along with it came an incredibly strong wind, which started knocking him around.

Te’oma tried to climb back up, but the ground above had already begun to turn into slippery mud. He was left with no choice but to press on. Slowly, he made his way down towards the path. He got tantalisingly close to it, when the foot-holds ran out. To the left and to the right was nothing but rain-slick stone.

Sticking out two metres below Te’oma was one big, sharp rock. If he could just manage to jump and catch hold of it, he would have a chance of getting down without breaking his legs.

Te’oma tried to suck in a deep breath to calm himself but the air was so thin that it filled him with nothing but fear. Before his terror could get any worse, he let go of his hold on the cliff, angling towards the rock below him.

Down he fell. The wind blew at him like a hurricane. He stuck his left arm out and reached for the rock, but it was incredibly slippery and he wasn’t able to hold onto it. Luckily, his fleeting grasp at least slowed his fall enough that he landed on the path below without breaking any bones.

As if on cue, as soon as he hit the ground, the rain and the wind stopped. The most horrid chill came over Te’oma as he turned towards the entrance of the cave. A small light glowed in the entrance, but it did not fill him with any sort of comfort.

Te’oma stood up and walked cautiously towards it. As he got closer he noticed that the entrance was quite small, barely big enough to squeeze through. He pushed his dirty, battered body into a tiny cave. Insects of every kind rushed all over him. Spiders, cockroaches, worms and leeches crawled in and out of every crevice, as he scraped his way through the narrow space.

It seemed to take forever to crawl through, but Te’oma finally made it out the other side. He pulled himself out of the tiny hole and looked around. He had to rub his eyes a couple of times before he could believe what he was seeing.

He was in a huge cavern, in which stood a grand stone courtyard, almost engulfed by a rich and beautiful garden. A delicate cobblestone path ran through the middle of the courtyard and led to an immaculately crafted wooden bridge. Imposing itself at the end of the bridge was a golden bird bath, sitting high atop a platform.

Around the moat were dozens of paths leading into the mountain. For a split second, Te’oma thought he saw a pair of eyes gazing out of one of the tunnels, high in the cave. A chill ran through his body, and the hairs stood up on the back of his neck.

Calming himself with an effort, he walked along the path, looking carefully at the cobble stones as he did. Each stone was engraved with some kind of writing, but Te’oma could not make it out. The inscriptions must have taken an eternity to carve; their precision was stunning. Amazing carvings were also etched into the arches on each side of the bridge, though these were clearly discernible as long red dragons.

Something inside Te’oma drew him towards the bird bath. Slowly, yet confidently, he walked up the steps and looked into the water inside the bath. He found that his gaze could not be drawn away from it. At first he just stared, then panic started to set in as he fought to look away from the water but couldn’t.

From the base of the water, blood started to filter in. The bloody water bubbled, then boiled over the edges of the bath. A deafening noise rumbled all around him then, with a violent shove, he was thrown back onto the grass below.

Before his very eyes the grass withered and died. A hurricane-like wind blew into the courtyard from the cave entrance, as the water in the moat dried up.

Suddenly the ground around Te’oma cracked as lava burst its way up through the dried-up moat.

A fluorescent green mist poured out of one of the cave entrances above. Te’oma stood up and, as he did, a dark silhouette of a man walked through the mist.

The ground around him continued to crack and break up. The lava started to flow in front of him. Te’oma stumbled backwards, trying desperately to get away from the lava. The incredible roar of exploding rock and flowing lava was suddenly silenced and all went quiet.

Te’oma looked at the silhouette above. He felt cold, as if death were looking him in the eye and, if he looked away, he would die. A dull, yet terrifying, voice spoke, but he could not understand what it was saying.

The thunderous roar of falling debris came back as the roof of the cave collapsed around him. Falling rocks jolted him until he tripped and fell backwards into a stream of lava.

Te’oma’s skin and bones melted in the searing heat, every layer of flesh being horrendously torn from his body. He let out a harrowing scream before a wave of lava swallowed him whole.

Te’oma suddenly woke up in a cold sweat. He was lying at the bottom of the small hole he had fallen into. His heart was racing; he was angry, very, very angry.

The Shadow appeared at the top of the hole.

“What are you waiting for? The others have already left,” said the Shadow.

Te’oma slowly got to his feet. His eyes had turned to an off-red colour. That dream, so vivid! He couldn’t seem to get it out of his mind. He just wanted to get out of this place, and now.

Te’oma climbed out of the hole. The diamond wall was firmly back in place. “I told you they’d leave without you,” said the Shadow.

“How could they just leave me here?” said Te’oma, with anger coursing through his veins.

“Use the power of the dragons. It’s in you. Smash down that wall. It’s all that stands between you and freedom,” said the Shadow.

“I don’t know how,” said Te’oma.

“Of course you do. Just let go. Smash the wall!” screamed the Shadow. Te’oma closed his eyes and tried his best to calm himself. The Shadow whacked him over the back of the head. “Wake up,” he commanded. “Why are you trying to meditate? Just smash the damn wall in.” The anger swelled in Te’oma. He pushed the wall as hard as he could, but it did not budge. “What are you doing?” asked the Shadow.

Frustrated, Te’oma started to hit the wall. Each time, he grew angrier and fiercer. His eyes turned a flaming red colour. Faster and stronger, he bashed the wall. Blood started to drip from his hands, but he didn’t notice – he just continued to bash. The bashing became so loud that it echoed throughout the cave. All the while, the Shadow watched on with a smile on his face.

Suddenly, Te’oma’s hands burst into flame. The rage completely consumed him and with one final punch he smashed his hand deep into the wall. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. The wall got hotter and the diamonds melted from the intense heat. The wall melted before him into a steaming pile of rock and diamond.

Te’oma walked through the rock like it was water. He walked into the cave and opened his eyes. Julius and Ariana stood in the passage; jaws dropped, they stared at him in disbelief.

Te’oma opened his eyes and saw his friends waiting for him. The anger inside him eased. His hands returned to normal and the redness in his eyes faded away.

Ariana ran up to Te’oma and wrapped her arms around him. Te’oma was shocked. He had been so blinded by rage that he couldn’t feel his love for Ariana. All he felt was anger. The Shadow disappeared into a cloud of dust, but not before Julius saw him standing there.

“What happened to you?” asked Ariana.

“I thought you had left me,” said Te’oma.

“Left you? Don’t be stupid,” said Ariana. She turned her head and rested it on his chest. She closed her eyes, trying desperately to hold on to Te’oma.

“I hate to break up our little reunion, but we still have a big problem over here,” said Julius as a giant ball of fire raged down past them.

“What was that?” asked Te’oma.

“That is the way out,” replied Ariana.

Te’oma crept up to the corner in the passageway. He slowly peered around. He couldn’t see anything. All he could see was a dead end. He looked more closely. A small light appeared at the end of the passageway. It grew brighter, until it was bright enough for Te’oma to see the giant teeth of the dragon, surrounding the light. It was a ball of fire, coming directly out of the mouth of the beast. Te’oma reeled back around the corner, just in time, as the fire came raging past.

“What was that?” asked Te’oma in a panic.

“That would be a dragon standing between us and the exit,” said Ariana.

“It can’t be. I was told that there only seven,” said Te’oma.

“Well, he looks pretty real to me,” replied Ariana.

“I’ve got an idea,” said Ariana. She quickly ran back down the cave and took the blanket from the bed. She took the blanket over to the lake where the waterfall was and submerged it in the water. She ran back to Te’oma and Julius. “Follow me,” she said. Ariana waited for the next ball of fire to come past, then she scurried into the passageway. She ran as fast as she could, until she saw the fire growing in the dragon’s mouth. She dropped to her knees. Te’oma and Julius ducked down behind her. She covered them with the dripping wet blanket.

The flame roared down the passageway. They closed their eyes and hoped for the best as the flame passed by. Steam rose from the blanket as the fire raged above. It only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like minutes as it got excruciatingly hot under the blanket.

The fire stopped. Ariana quickly threw the steaming hot blanket off them and, as quickly as they could, they sneaked around the mouth of the dragon. The dragon was so big that it could not see down the passageway and did not notice them crawling past its mouth.

They ran past the dragon as quietly as they could and headed straight for the door. “Now what? The door’s still locked,” whispered Julius.

“I don’t know,” said Ariana. “I said I had an idea. I didn’t say it was a good one,” continued Ariana.

“Well, let’s find the key,” said Te’oma.

“We know where the key is,” said Ariana reluctantly.

“Great. Where?” asked Te’oma.

“It’s hanging around the dragon’s neck,” said Julius.

“Ok. Leave it to me,” said Te’oma.

“What?” said Ariana.

“I’d say find somewhere to hide, but there is nowhere,” said Te’oma as he walked towards the dragon. Ariana reached out to stop him. The Shadow appeared before her and put his hand in front of her. “He needs to do this,” said the Shadow, she stumbled back in shock.

Te’oma walked up to the tail of the beast. Even the very tip of its tail was nearly as thick as Te’oma’s torso. He sucked in a deep breath, then climbed up onto the tail of the dragon. The dragon quickly reeled around and looked at Te’oma. Te’oma swiftly climbed up the back of the dragon and up to its neck.

The dragon crashed around the room like a bucking bronco. Te’oma clung on for dear life. The dragon’s tail smashed into the pillars, causing rock to come falling down from the roof. Ariana and Julius scurried around the room below, trying desperately to dodge not only the dragon but the falling rocks.