The Last Fairy Tale (28 page)

The Fortress

 Olivia’s group continued in silence. The reality of the situation had hit them, and the tension grew as they drew nearer to the fortress. All across the meadow, they could see groups of creatures walking away from the fortress. They were pale and weary, much like Morragin had looked. The creatures walked, staring straight ahead, as if on a very serious mission.

 “Are these…the Taken?” Olivia asked quietly.

“Yes,” Rufus said grimly. “According to what Morragin was saying, they are sent out to gather more Aeldynians. But for
what
?”

 “I don’t know,” Holli said. She sniffed and began to cry. “Poor Ronald…”

 “There, there, Holli,” Rufus said, grabbing her hand. “We’ll find out soon enough…”

 “But what if he’s like that arachon?” Holli sniffled. “What if he’s mindless? Or what if he’s…” She began to sob.

 “Holli, I’m so sorry about your son,” Jin said. “I hope that we’ll be able to find him inside the fortress. We’ll do our best to help you. However, right now, we need to help Olivia get inside safely so that we have a chance.”

 “Aye, he’s right,” Bren said gently. “We’re goin’ to have to be on our toes around this place.”

 Holli wiped her eyes. “I know,” she said, sniffling. “I’m sorry.”

 “Don’t be sorry, Holli,” said Olivia. “We’re all worried right now.”

 They were getting close enough to the fortress that Olivia could see tall walls of black metal jutting out of the ground toward the sky. Watch towers stood at each corner of the fortress, looming ominously over the land. A black cloud of smoke rose from inside the walls, causing the fortress to be surrounded in a hazy, dark fog. The group halted.

 “My…” said Bren, staring up at the fortress walls, his mouth hanging open. “What a giant ugly waste of metal this is…”

 “What is all this?” Locke asked.

 “This is worse than I imagined,” Olivia said, looking up at the fortress walls. “It’s just like the orphanage. I spent my entire life locked behind walls. All of the land in my world was wasted and destroyed, and we were forced to live inside a concrete fortress.”

 “This is scary,” Locke said. “Why would he build something like this?”

“We don’t know too much about your world, Olivia, but I do know that if it’s anythin’ like this, I don’t
want
 to know about it,” Bren said.

 “This is only the beginning, Bren,” Olivia said. “If the Lich King continues what he’s doing, all of Aeldyn will end up like my world. He’ll destroy the land and its people in the name of progress.”

 Everyone looked from the fortress to Olivia, all frightened by her words. Olivia didn’t even know herself what she was saying, but looking at the fortress in front of her angered her. Rage welled up in the pit of her stomach and forced her hand to curl into a tight fist. She stepped forward a few paces.

 “This must end,” she whispered.

 Olivia strode toward the black walls, determined. She knew that whatever lay beyond the walls was exceedingly powerful and likely far too much for them to handle, but she didn’t care. All she wanted was to put an end to whoever threatened the peaceful people of Aeldyn. The company looked around at each other for a moment, confused. Then they hurried to follow Olivia. Soon they were near enough to the fortress to see its massive doors.

 Two gargantuan metal statues stood before the fortress. Orbs of lightning flickered in their chests, pulsating with an odd rhythm. Suddenly, a horn sounded inside the fortress walls, and the black doors began to slowly swing open.

 Groups of Taken, wearing grey uniforms and carrying weapons at their sides, marched out of the fortress in unison and lined up outside the doors, guarding the entrance. Olivia strode up to them, staring at them grimly. These creatures reminded her of the armies of her world, of the groups of men and women who fought other nations in destructive and senseless wars.

 “Let us through!” Olivia demanded, surprised by her own harshness.

 An ungulhak from the front of the line walked toward her. He stared down at her, his pale grey face expressionless.

 “The Grimoire wishes to speak with you,” he said in a deep voice.

 “And who might that be?” asked Olivia. She was still furiously determined, although the army in front of her frightened her.

 “How can we expect the Unenlightened to know?” the ungulhak asked. “He is our king and will soon be yours. Please proceed through the doors.” He stepped out of the way, revealing a path through the army to the doors.

 “Very well,” said Olivia. She turned and beckoned for the company to follow.

 “They will stay out here,” the ungulhak said. “Only you are to enter.”

 “Oh, we’ll be goin’, my friend,” Bren said.

 “Indeed,” said Jin. “We’re going with Olivia, so I suggest you step aside. We don’t want trouble, but if we have to defend ourselves, we will.”

 “It’s a pity how stupid you Unenlightened are,” the ungulhak quipped. “You don’t understand what it means to live. We have perfect order here in New Aeldyn, and we have secured our new home with fearsome defenses.”

“It’s a pity how stupid
you
are,” Olivia said. “I’ve traveled with these people through Aeldyn and have seen how wonderful life here can be. You’ve been tricked! Tricked into believing that whatever
order
 your king has provided is needed to live!” She crossed her arms. “Do you know what happens when you make life into what your king has made it? You get chaos. People become hungry for power and forsake others to obtain more. They claim that progress will create a better future, when in reality what they’re doing for the sake of progress is destroying the world!”

 “Be silent, foolish girl!” the ungulhak ordered. “We will hear no more of this!” He turned to the soldiers behind him. “Eliminate these Unenlightened. I will take the girl to the Grimoire myself!” He motioned for the troops to move out.

 Olivia immediately held her staff in the air and closed her eyes. She imagined both of her hands forcing the entire army back. Suddenly, a wave of force burst from the staff and spread through the army, causing them to collapse. Olivia stood for a moment, shocked that she was able to do such a thing, but she had no time to waste.

 “Hurry!” Olivia shouted to the others. “Form a circle! Do whatever you can to defend yourselves, but we don’t want to hurt them!”

 The army of Taken slowly came to its feet. The troops began to advance again, holding swords and maces in front of them. Olivia noticed that none of them were performing magic. An imp rushed forward and swung its sword full force at Bren who quickly pulled his hammer from his beard and blocked the blow.

 “They’re very weak!” Bren shouted. “If we can hold ‘em off until we make it to the doors, we can slip through and shut ‘em out!”

 “A good plan,” yelled Jin from behind him. “But even though they are weak, they outnumber us and may overpower us!”

 The army formed a circle around the company.  Rufus, Holli, Kai-Tu, and Haunches stood in the center of the group. They were frightened and unable to fight. Bren circled the group, blowing bursts of flame at the army to keep them back. Meanwhile, Jin swung at the Taken with his massive scythe, trying to intimidate them rather than harm them. On the other side of the circle, Thunc raised his huge fists and brought them down hard on the ground, causing it to ripple under the soldiers’ feet. Many of them fell to the ground. Feeling unsafe on Thunc’s head, Kili flew and perched atop Rufus’s hat.

 Olivia looked to make sure that everyone was safe and noticed that Grimwitch and Gauntlet were missing. She frantically looked in the chaos to locate them and finally spotted them near the gates of the fortress. Grimwitch pounced onto the back of one of the soldiers while Gauntlet wound a thick web around its feet. Grimwitch then jumped from the soldier’s back, causing it to stumble forward and trip. They continued this maneuver until many of the soldiers were lying on the ground, unable to get back to their feet.

 The company members slowly inched their way toward the doors. Olivia was about to try to force the troops back again when a giant metal hand closed around her. She screamed as one of the statues from the doorway picked her up and carried her away from the group.

 “Olivia!” Locke screamed. He dashed toward the automaton that had captured Olivia, ignoring the soldiers around him. A kettu soldier struck him hard with a mace, knocking him to the ground. Bren and Jin called out to him, and he heard Olivia scream again. He shook his head and got back to his feet. He pulled his violin from his back and began playing a soft melody, and the soldiers around him began to fall to their knees. Locke sprinted toward the automaton, playing his song furiously. The automaton was through the doors which were beginning to close behind it. Locke ran faster. With one final lunge forward, Locke dove through the crack of the doors just as they closed.

Chapter Seventeen

The King of New Aeldyn

 Olivia struggled to imagine herself forcing the automaton’s hand open and bursting from its grip, but she couldn’t do it. Her arms were pinned to her side and she barely had a grip on her staff. She continued to struggle and shout at the metal monster.

 “Let me go!” Olivia screamed. “I have to get back to my friends! They–”

 She stopped as she noticed her surroundings. Inside the walls of the fortress was a town. A central paved road led to an enormous black hall built with pointed arches and flying buttresses. The hall cast its shadow over everything around it, giving an ominous feeling to the otherwise quiet-looking town.

 Small streets branched off the main road leading to small boxy houses. Each road was perfectly symmetrical and each house exactly the same. Tired and dull-looking creatures roamed the streets and tended to the immaculately manicured yards. In the distance, Olivia saw a group of ungulhaks slaving away in fields, planting seeds and gathering crops. In the other direction, she saw trols carrying massive loads of tree limbs to a mill where imps shaped them quickly into boards. She wanted to cry. This town reminded her of her world and the history lessons she had with Ms. Canterbry. New Aeldyn was nothing more than a small Earth.

 “Why, you working class scum!” came a nasty voice from Olivia’s right. She turned her head to look for its source. A cat in a gray uniform was standing with a club in its hands, scowling at a gnome. “It’s five lashes for a late payment.”

 “But I paid it yesterday!” the gnome protested. “You’re just trying to cheat me out of my hard-earned money!”

 The cat hit the gnome hard in the stomach with his club, causing the gnome to shout in pain and fall to the ground.

“I’m an upstanding citizen, gnome,” hissed the cat. “How dare you accuse me of such! I have
not
 received your payment, and I suggest you hand it over. Do you know what the punishment for refusal to pay is?”

 “Okay…” the gnome whimpered. “Here.” He took a small pouch from his pocket and handed it to the cat.

Olivia closed her eyes as the cat administered the rest of the lashes to the gnome. A tear ran down her face.
How can this be happening
? she thought.
Why would anyone want this kind of life
? She continued to hold her eyes shut. She didn’t want to see any more of the town or its people. Then, out of nowhere, she heard Locke’s voice.

 “I’m coming, Olivia!” he shouted. Olivia’s eyes flew open. She struggled to look behind the automaton in the direction of his voice.

 “Locke?” she shouted. “Is that you?”

 “Sure is, Olivia,” Locke called. He was running behind the automaton, limping a bit and still carrying his violin and bow. “This is some kind of a nasty place! What’s wrong with all these Aeldynians?”

 “I don’t think they’re doing this voluntarily. He’s done something to them,” Olivia shouted. “The Lich King is obviously–”

 “Ugh, not that name again,” said a deep voice. “Lich is so…insulting.”

 Olivia twisted her head toward the voice. The automaton had stopped in front of the black hall at the end of the main road. Dark marble stairs led to the hall’s entrance. A man dressed in black pants and a black pullover stood on the stairs. He stared at Olivia, a wide smile spreading across his pale, young-looking face.

 “Put her down,” the man said to the automaton.

 The automaton placed Olivia on the stairs in front of the man. He was much taller than she was. She looked up at him, feeling intimidation and disgust simultaneously.

 The man laughed abruptly. “It’s been, what, like, five thousand years since I’ve seen another human in person? It’s kind of an honor, really, but the honor’s all yours, trust me.”

 Olivia continued to stare at him, confused by his calm nature. She had expected him to be a violent human that wanted to crush her out of existence the moment he saw her. Instead, he appeared to be a completely normal young man with dark green eyes and a wide, bright smile. He kept the hood up on his pullover, but in the sunlight, Olivia could see that he had short, messy black hair and a pointed goatee.