Zachania (31 page)

“NEO!” he
shouted but there was no reply, Talon felt for a pulse in Neo’s
neck but Neo had died sometime back.

“DAMN IT NEO!”
Talon shouted holding his head in his hands.

“At least his
suffering is over.” Graval said through shivering teeth.

“Is he dead?”
Golia asked.

“We’re all
dead.” replied Graval.

Talons sadness
over Neo suddenly turned to anger at Graval’s comment; he rose
determined to his feet and grabbed Graval’s furs.

“WERE NOT DEAD!
Now walk, walk!” he shouted pulling Graval and Golia to their
feet.

They cut Neo’s
body loose then once again they staggered on, into the
darkness.

“Keep going!”
Talon would keep shouting as they persevered all through the night
walking on will power alone. Then Talon bumped into what seemed
like a large stonewall so they began to feel their way around it
but it went on and on.

“We will have
to climb it.” Talon said.

“Can we
rest?”

Talon then
grabbed Graval and Golia.

“Stand together
it will keep us warm.”

“We must climb
this rock” added Talon.

“Why?”

“I don’t know
it’s just a feeling.”

After a short
rest they began to climb the rock, which soon became obvious that
it was a mountain. Talon’s hand began to bleed as he struggled to
hold on hour after hour then suddenly Talon looked above and to his
amazement and relief, the mist was becoming thinner barely he could
see the sky. A feeling of urgency overcame him as he battled the
mountain.

“This way
Graval.” he shouted with excitement.

Soon Talon
could see the sky clearly, frantically he climbed out of the mist
and into the hot sun, when a feeling of sheer exuberance befell him
as never before, he felt so thankful to see the heavens above and
the warmth of the sun.

Graval and
Golia quickly caught up and the three men collapsed on a ledge just
smiling and enjoying the view and warmth, Talon looked below and
saw the mist stretch for as far as the eye could see and he poked
Graval.

“Did we cross
that!” he said breathing heavily.

“We still have
some to go Talon.” replied Graval as pointed to the mountain above
them, which still stretched over two hundred feet. Talon took a few
deep breaths before rising.

“Come on then
let’s do it.”

When Talon
reached the top he almost burst into laughter from happiness as the
sight before him of a lush green valley came into view, he pulled
himself over the last piece of rock and just sat admiring the
sight.

Below circled
by mountains was the most beautiful lake Talon had ever seen,
Graval and Golia joined him and the three men embraced feeling joy
they had survived and made it.

“Ganasis must
be here.” sighed Talon turning to Graval who seemed to be in some
trance just looking at the valley below.

“Graval what’s
wrong?”

“This view cost
us the life of Neo.” he said sadly.

Talon lowered
his head as he shared his friend’s grief.

“Talon! We have
lost a good man.” added Graval.

“He will be
remembered and honoured.” replied Talon as he rose to his feet.

They then began
to make their way down into the mountain treading carefully as they
walked, where after a couple of hours of slow progress they reached
the bottom of the mountain. Talon walked to the lake and removed
his furs followed by Graval and Golia and then the three of them
just collapsed from exhaustion, Talon woke first where he roused
his friends and after a short wash they began to search the valley
for Ganasis.

The men
searched until nightfall but found nothing, not even a sign that
the great wizard was here, feeling dejected they made a fire at
nightfall where Talon prepared some food, once they had eaten the
men sat around the fire in silence as there search had so far been
fruitless.

“What will we
do now Talon?” Graval asked looking miserable.

“We will search
again tomorrow.”

“But he’s not
here Talon.” Graval answered.

Talon gave a
slight smile before replying with a hint of sarcasm.

“Are you in
such a hurry to go back into that mist Graval?”

Graval smiled
just before moving closer to Talon and speaking to him so Golia
couldn’t hear.

“I want to
thank you for saving my life back their Talon.”

“Sometimes the
strongest of men fall down Graval, falling down isn’t hard, getting
back up is.” replied Talon before grabbing Graval’s arm and
smiling.

“Get some rest
my friend; we will search again at first light.”

Ganasis

Talon wiped
away his sleep and yawned as the hot sun woke him at dawn and for a
moment everything seemed like he was still in his dream. The sun
glistened off the lake which made him shield his eyes and turn to
look at Graval and Golia which quickly reminded him of Neo. Talon
wondered for a moment if he was mad, the epic journey through the
mists and sitting here in this strange and mystical valley
searching for a mythical figure that had not been seen for
centuries.

Talon snapped
out of his thoughts reminding himself to think positively as he got
to his feet and woke his two friends and once again they began
their search of the valley.

This time they
split up where Talon told his men not to leave no stone unturned,
Talon headed for some nearby caves where he looked carefully but
once again he found nothing, frustratingly he searched and searched
but could find no sign of the mythical wizard.

“I have found
nothing Talon.” Graval said when the men met up after a few hours
searching.

“There is
nothing here Talon.” Golia added spitting in frustration.

Talon crouched
down putting his head in his hands wiping away the sweat from his
brow as he gazed out upon the lake.

“There must be
something.” he sighed.

Graval walked
over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Talon there is
no one here, we have searched everywhere.”

Talon did not
answer, as he was deep in thought.

“We haven’t
searched the lake.” he suddenly replied rising to his feet looking
and sounding confident.

“The lake!”
Golia added puzzled.

Talon jogged
towards it and removed his boots.

“Graval, Golia
we must search the lake.” he shouted back.

“Search the
sides for any cave entrances” Talon said before jumping in.

“Talon, why
would Ganasis be in a cave under the lake?”

“He is here! I
can feel it.” Talon shouted back before diving under the water.

Graval and
Golia hesitantly joined Talon and after a short while Graval called
out.

“Talon there
seems to be an entrance over here.”

Talon began to
swim while Graval dived under the water and began to feel his way
along the underwater cave walls; he held his breath and pulled
himself through the tunnel where he saw a blurred blackness
suddenly coming towards him. Graval hesitated as he felt danger so
he turned and quickly tried to go back, then suddenly he felt a
surge of water and something strike him with such force it made him
lose all sense of direction before knocking him clear out of the
water.

Graval landed
back into the water and tried to swim to the bank, Talon was still
swimming towards the cave when saw his friend attacked.

“GRAVAL!” he
shouted out.

Graval pulled
himself onto the bank obviously in pain as Talon saw bubbles rising
from the spot where Graval was thrown out of the water, Talon
suddenly froze as a giant creature burst from the water and began
heading towards Graval who was face down on the shore trying to
regain his breath.

The creature
looked like a large snake with tentacles and Talon soon realised
that Graval would not be quick enough to escape; he swam faster as
he called out to Golia to fetch him his sword.

The creature
quickly caught Graval with one of his tentacles and was trying to
pull him back into the water; Graval had reached out and was
clinging to a rock screaming in pain. As Talon reached Graval he
climbed from the water and tried pulling the tentacle off of
Graval’s leg but no matter how hard he tried the creature was too
strong.

The creature
then attacked Talon with its other tentacles which Talon tried to
avoid by ducking and kicking them away until he was struck around
the head and knocked a few feet away from Graval who had now lost
his grip and was being pulled back towards the lake.

Talon and
Graval’s eyes briefly met where Talon saw his horror.

As Talon got to
his feet Golia who had fetched Talon’s sword shouted out, before
throwing it to him, Talon caught the sword then jumped into the
water towards the creature, the creature tried hitting Talon again
with its tentacle but Talon struck the powerful arm with his sword
splitting it in two. Graval was now completely submerged so Talon
jumped onto the creatures head and stuck his sword downward just
above its eye with all his might, the creature stiffened and roared
before dropping limply into the water.

Talon reached
down and pulled his friend Graval out of the lake and then carried
him to the shore where Golia helped him.

“Are you
alright?” Golia sighed helping the two of them to the shore.

“Yes, check
Graval.” Talon answered still out of breath.

Golia crouched
besides Graval who was coughing and spluttering.

“Is it dead?”
Talon asked Golia.

“It’s dead.”
replied Golia reassuring his friend.

After a few
moments Talon regained his breath where he reached over to assist
Golia who was helping Graval, who was still in a great deal of pain
from the cuts on his leg and face,

“There is a
cave Talon…… I saw it.” Graval said grabbing Talon.

Talon
interrupted his friend.

“Rest yourself,
speak later my friend.” Talon replied before looking at Golia.

“Take care of
him.” added Talon getting to his feet and looking into the water at
where the tunnel was.

“Talon what are
you doing?” asked Golia sounding concerned.

“I’m going into
the damn cave.” added Talon in determined tone just he dived back
into the water.

The lake was
very clear so he had no problem finding the entrance so he pulled
himself along a few yards till he surfaced into a huge cavern.

There was an
opening above, so the cavern was lit by the sun where Talon saw
some stone steps. Slowly and hesitantly he walked up them till he
came into another cavern only this cavern was lit by fire. He
walked along its walls where he suddenly stopped as he saw a frail
old man slumped in a corner, the man noticing he had company rose
to face him, Talon looked at him and the rags he wore with
disbelief.

“Ganasis.”
Talon sighed under his breath.

“Is it you?”
added Talon raising his voice.

“Who are you?”
asked the man.

“My name is
Talon, Zumal and the royal council of Zachania sent me.”

The old man’s
face broke into a smile.

“Finally you
have come to aid Me.” he sighed full of emotion.

“Aid you” Talon
answered surprised.

Ganasis frowned
as he neared Talon.

“You do not
know do you.”

“Know what, I
was told you came here yourself, what do you mean aid you, have you
been trapped.”

“I will tell
you all, come let’s leave this hell.”

Ganasis said
grabbing Talon’s arm then walking out of the first cavern and
looking around the corner cautiously as if looking for
something.

“Don’t worry
old man its dead.” Talon said noticing Ganasis’s fear.

“You killed the
beast.”

“Yes!”

Quickly they
entered the water and swam out through the tunnel into the valley,
Graval and Golia were now sitting on the shore wrapping Graval’s
wounds, Golia noticed Talon surface and ran to assist him out of
the water, Ganasis noticed Golia helping Talon and commented on
this.

“You must be a
man of great importance.”

“Why do you say
this?” asked Talon.

“Your man
witnesses an old man struggling but still he rushes to help you,
this man has great respect for you.”

“And me him.”
replied Talon thanking Golia by patting his shoulder.

Ganasis sighed
as he felt the sunshine on his face he reached out his arms and let
out a loud laugh.

“I am free!” he
shouted out into the sky before slumping himself down onto the
shore and thanking Talon.

“Now tell me of
the Empire?” asked Ganasis once he composed himself.

“The Empire is
on the Zachanian borders, Prince Arun is convinced they will
attack.”

Ganasis’s face
then changed to a frown

“And what of
the wizards of Zanlia?”

“They are with
Korvak at Korvak castle.”

“Hmm!” Ganasis
remarked looking full of contempt.

“Back in the
cave you said we have come to your aid, what did you mean by this?”
asked Talon.

Ganasis thought
for a moment as he realised it had been centuries since he had had
a dialogue with anyone then slowly and sadly he began to
answer.

“After Apollo’s
death, the armies or what was left of them retreated back into
Zachania. The emperor used his magic to protect the Imperial
soldiers and they followed into our land but I found a spell to
counteract his magic and we pushed the Empire back to our borders.
Thousands of our people died defending Zachania, even the women and
children took up arms to stop our land being conquered. Then after
a month or so the wizards of Zanlia came to me and told me they had
found the dead body of Apollo and that it had been smuggled into
the west of Zachania, and they needed me to help them bring it back
to life, they brought me to this place but there was no Apollo.
Only a trap plotted and construed by them, I was imprisoned in that
cave and they left that damn serpent to keep me here till the end
of time.”