Arek tried this strategy, but by the time he was halfway through, he was three feet away from the face of Galorat.
“Hello,” taunted Galorat. “Long time, no see.” Then he smacked Arek in the cheek and bit him in his left forearm.
Arek howled. “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! You brother of the RAT! I shall be victorious! Flyr!”
And he accidentally thought of the wrong meaning, for flames erupted on him. He rubbed violently all over his body, but there was nothing he could do about the heat. He was engulfed in flames. He had to give up. How could he win when he was this clumsy?
He could use his clumsiness to his advantage.
He fell to the ground and whispered, “Flyr.” He then thought of fire and rolled onto Galorat’s feet, touching his legs.
Instantly a big wave of fire came over Galorat’s lower body and he fell to the ground, coughing.
But being on the ground didn’t help him in this situation. In fact, the flames spread, for he was not rolling. They went over to the aliens, who were now attacking Thetra and the dragons.
Then Arek raised Stabber above his head and shouted, “I have killed an Ognok!” and thrust his sword down to the body of Galorat.
“Not yet you haven’t,” said Galorat, using his last bit of strength to roll over and stand up. Then he yelled, “Té!” Water shot from his hands and overtook the fire, and they mixed together...
CRACK!
Sounds like firecrackers crackled all the way to Toage, it was so loud. Then the real explosion happened.
The water must not have been water, for the explosion was so great that it sent Arek toppling backward, like he would when he was three years old at the beach, and a wave hit him hard.
“ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!” exclaimed Galorat, and he pushed himself off the ground, only to be tackled once more by the power of the magical explosion.
Arek decided to wait on the ground, for it was no use getting up–he would fall once more.
The explosion lasted ten more minutes.
And he waited throughout that time, thinking about battle strategies to defeat Galorat.
Then the time came when he had to face him once more.
The Ognok looked beaten up. His shirt was tattered and smoking from the fire. His face was sunken and empty, as if there was no life in that body of his.
Arek made the smart choice, asking him, “Can I kill you?”
Arek knew he would say no, but at least Galorat would know he was about to be killed. And at least the Ognok would go down fighting.
“I give you…I give you my permission…” The Ognok sighed. “Kill me.”
Arek was astonished. Why was his enemy letting him kill him?
But he followed the Ognok’s orders. He yelled, “FOR MY DEAD FAMILY!” and stabbed Galorat with Stabber.
Blood poured from the defenseless brother of a rat’s stomach. His entrails started coming out, and Arek looked away just in time to avoid having to have nightmares about that moment for the rest of his life.
“I…I’ll get my revenge someday,” promised Galorat. “But for now, good luck on defeating Morchad. I hope you win.” With a final smile, he lay in peace, unmoving.
Thetra
Since all of the aliens had been wiped out due to the explosion, Thetra, Arek, and their dragons could return to Destville.
Thetra transported them to Destville with his wand, and they immediately appeared in front of the battle Thetra had left behind in the emergency to save his brother.
THE ENEMY’S REINFORCEMENTS
The green-armored soldiers were winning the raging battle, and there weren’t many troops of the Good Army left to stop them.
Thetra and Arek drew their swords, and Thetra drew his wand and put it in his left hand, for his right hand was holding Slayer.
“Thetra!” yelled Hortyun, who was running over to them with Savar and Mordon following him. “You brought Arek back! Good, because these soldiers are overpowering us!”
“Do you know who they work for?” asked Thetra.
“No, but I have a plan. Is there a spell for making someone tell the truth?” Hortyun asked Savar.
“Aye.”
“Could you or Thetra cast it on one of the soldiers and make them tell you who they serve?”
“Aye.”
“I killed an Ognok,” Arek said.
“Then you need to cast it on the nearest soldier!” yelled Hortyun at Savar, not hearing Arek.
“I killed an Ognok,” said Arek, a little louder. He noticed that Thetra heard him and was trying to get Hortyun, Mordon, and Savar’s attention.
Then Valao roared.
Hortyun looked at Thetra’s dragon in shock.
“I’m trying to tell you guys something that’s really important to me!” bellowed Arek.
“I’m sorry,” said Mordon. “What is it?”
“I killed…an Ognok.”
“You did!” yelled Hortyun. “Thetra told me he was looking for you and he said that you were chasing an Ognok, but I didn’t think you’d actually...”
“Actually what?” wondered Arek.
“I didn’t think you’d actually succeed.”
“You didn’t have faith in me!” yelled Arek. “You think I’m just a puny little weakling, don’t you? All of you! Well, maybe not the dragons and Thetra. But the whole army doesn’t think I’m anything more than the rest of them. Not only am I Thetra Wandearner’s brother, but I’m also a Wandearner myself.”
“Arek!” exclaimed Thetra. “Stop getting in arguments with other people! Just accept what they say and move on!”
“Easy for you to say,” replied Arek.
“What do you mean?” wondered Hortyun.
Arek sighed. “I guess it’s just that I want to be the hero. I need to accept that I won’t always be.”
“Watch out!” yelled Thetra, spotting the mortar shell flying towards them at a high speed.
They all ducked, but the projectile did more damage than Thetra expected, exploding on contact and sending sharp little pieces of metal shooting at Thetra, Arek, Hortyun, Valao, and Ejarshöh.
Thetra felt five pieces of debris cut him, one in the stomach, one in each of his legs, one in the bicep, and one more above his right eyebrow.
But Hortyun was hurt the most.
He had taken in ten pieces of metal, all in different spots on his face. Two of them were in his left eye, and one he swallowed while yelling.
He was on the verge of death.
He wasn’t moving just lying still, the sunlight shining brightly on him.
Hortyun!” bellowed Arek, who had two scratches on his face as far as Thetra could see.
Then another loud boom was heard, and Thetra looked behind him to see a cannon being fired, the missile heading straight towards Valao.
“Valao!” shrieked Thetra, running toward his dragon.
The missile was only a few meters away from Valao now.
Thetra dove, his arm stretched out with Slayer as far as it would go.
The missile was a meter away now.
Then Thetra felt an extraordinary amount of pain, and he doubled over in so much pain, it was ten times the amount of pain he had ever felt in his life.
He had saved his dragon, but had sacrificed his own life in order to do so.
Then the red-armored soldiers approached, even though no one else saw them but Thetra.
KNOCKING ON DEATH’S DOOR
“Owwwwwwww!” cried Thetra. He lay in the grass, seeing Arek and Valao looking over him.
“What happened?” asked Arek. “What hit you? Were you stabbed? Sorry, I was over fighting soldiers when you yelled.”
But Thetra was in too much pain to answer Arek. He felt blood trickling down his arm, for when he landed his left arm had been impaled on Slayer.
“Are you alright?” asked Valao. “Can you answer me?”
Thetra shook his head ever so slightly.
Valao had not seen what had
happened, for he had been eating soldiers with his back turned when Thetra saved him.
And Thetra lay there, not talking, and Arek and Valao silent as well, hearing the battle raging behind them but ignoring it, for their leader was dying.
And then all of a sudden Thetra saw an arrow flying towards Arek.
He tried to warn him, but his voice still wouldn’t work.
Then he remembered a spell from the book Arek and he had bought that was full of magical spells.
Thetra thought of the spell name with all of his might, thinking in his mind, GORLO!
The spell was supposed to give him a sudden boost of energy, and at the last moment, it did.
Immediately he pointed upward with Slayer, and Arek turned just in time to dodge it, running out of the way.
But the arrow streaked on, downward, towards Thetra’s chest.
Then the hero of the day saved Thetra’s puny little life, reaching out and catching the arrow in the palm of his hand.
Hortyun rested his hand back down on the ground, and then he lay in peace, dead.
“No!” bellowed Arek, running over to the corpse. “Don’t die!”
“Arek,” said Thetra calmly. “Let him be.”
Arek backed away from the dead body of Hortyun, tears gushing out of his eyes. Then he faced Thetra and Thetra saw that not only sadness was in his face, but also anger.
“Why did you let him? Why did you let him sacrifice his life for yours?!”
Still on his boost of energy, Thetra replied, “I didn’t tell him to.”
“He just died for your sake!” exclaimed Arek.
“It’s not Thetra’s fault!” rushed Valao, but Arek ignored him.
“He was dying anyway,” offered Thetra, helpless.
Why is he blaming me? thought Thetra.
“Arek!” screamed Ejarshöh. “Thetra didn’t choose for Hortyun to die. In fact, he probably is more sad about it than you. But blaming him makes him even sadder because his brother is accusing him of murder.”
Arek looked struck. “Ejarshöh...Why are you blaming me?”
“You blamed Thetra. It seems only right.”
And then Arek drew Stabber. Everyone backed away, but he threw it straight towards the body of his own dragon.
Ejarshöh caught it in his mouth sideways, spit it out, picked it up again, the point sticking towards Arek and spit it out.
Like a dart, the sword shot through the air, flipped itself around as the pommel nailed Arek in the chest, knocking the breath out of him.
Arek fell to the ground in a heap as Valao and Thetra ran over to him, but Ejarshöh just walked over in no hurry.
“Need...air,” gasped Arek, who was choking on the gem that was on the end of the sword, for it had popped loose and landed right in his mouth.
Valao picked Arek up, flipped him so his shoes faced the sky, and shook him.
The gem fell to the muddy grass, slimy with saliva.
“Thank you,” said Arek to Valao. “You saved me.”
“Anytime. Just ask,” said Valao in a kind and friendly voice.
“Well, well, well,” said Ejarshöh as he saw that Arek was alive. “I didn’t mean to choke you but...Wasn’t it humorous?”
Arek bent down and picked up the red gem. “You caused this, and you will pay by somehow putting this piece back on the sword. Do I make myself clear, dragon?”
Ejarshöh nodded, frightened, for the voice that Arek said those last words in was a deep, full-grown man’s voice.
Then at that moment, Thetra’s boost of providing energy ended, and he collapsed to the grass.
“My head...” groaned Thetra.
He looked up and saw Arek kneeling over him, his eyes closed, muttering, “Please let him be alive. Please let him be alive.”
But when he heard Thetra’s voice he jumped on his brother, hurting Thetra’s chest.
“Ahhhh,” said Thetra in pain. “Arek...please get off of me.
“Right,” said Arek, getting off of Thetra gently. “Sorry. You all right?”
“It feels like it’s broken.”
“Oh no. I don’t have a wand yet, nor do I know any spells, although they’d be useless.”
“Take mine.” Thetra drew his wand and handed it to Arek. “Just say ‘Healius Thetra Eouhjasson.’”
“Healius Thetra Eouhjasson!” yelled Arek at the top of his lungs, but it didn’t work.
“You can’t do it. It’s not your wand. If only you had one...”
“You’re the leader of the army! Award me with one!”
Thetra whispered, “Aye, but I don’t have any.”
Arek sighed. “Then what do we do? I heard the green-armored soldiers are getting deeper into our army’s base.”
Then the second red-armored soldier appeared.
The first one had been blasted away by a cannon, but there were more.
They were obviously the green-armored soldiers’ reinforcements.
The soldier was wielding a whip in his left hand, and armed with a sword in his right.
He cracked his whip, walked over to Thetra and Arek, and struck them both in the chest with the whip.
Immediately, Thetra felt a jolt and was shocked. The whip was obviously magical, sending lightning bolts through its enemies.
“Ow!” complained Arek. “Who are you?”
“The Hidden Creature,” responded the man, surprising Thetra, for his enemies didn’t usually respond saying their name.
“Who do you work for?” demanded Thetra.
“The Army in the Clouds.” Then the red-armored soldier raised his head, looking upward, and shouted, “Attack!” at the top of his voice.
Immediately a thousand orange birds swooped down and started pecking Thetra, Arek and the dragons with their sharp beaks.
The dragons ate most of them, but still they each got a few scales ripped off by the time the birds flew back up, retreating to the clouds.
Then the Hidden Creature pointed its sword at Thetra, then thrust it to the grass.
A crack appeared in the ground, going right between Thetra’s legs, making him jump to one side.
The crack kept on going in a jagged line, until it reached a tree and the trunk split in half, but it stopped the crack.
“Who is the Army in the Clouds?” asked Arek.
“Would you like to meet them again?” said the Hidden Creature, and yelled once more, “Attack!”
The orange birds flew down again, this time all of them going towards Arek.
Arek drew his sword without the gem, and started driving Stabber right through the birds, slicing them in half.
“Yah!” Arek exclaimed when he hit one.
Thetra started to help him, drawing Slayer and running over to Arek. Then he started to do what Arek was doingcutting the birds.
“Let’s cut their wings off!” yelled Arek. “That way they won’t be able to fly and attack us!”
Thetra aimed for the birds’ wings, but was mainly just trying to slash at them, no matter where in their body it cut.
Suddenly Arek yelled, “Thetra! I need you!”
Thetra looked over as he started running in his brother’s direction.
Arek was lying on the ground, thousands of feathers all over his face.
But there were also bruises.
Tons of millions of bruises were on his face, and what caught Thetra’s eye was that they weren’t just on his face, for they were all over his arms and legs.
“Arek...” Thetra said. “What happened?”
Then Arek looked over Thetra’s shoulder, his eyes wide.
“What is it?” asked Thetra, seeing the fear on his face.
Lips trembling, he pointed. “They’re striking for vengeance.”
And as Thetra turned around slowly, the birds attacked.
INSIDE DEATH’S KINGDOM
Thetra was shoved to the ground by the angry cloud of birds. They bit him all over his body, and when he slashed at them with his sword it just
made them angrier.
Finally he gave up, and he lost the epic battle.
He was defeated, and that meant that he had to leave the world forever.
“Thetra!” yelled Arek, forcing himself off the ground to run over to the aid of his brother.
“Arek...tell everyone in the army about my tragedy. Tell them how I couldn’t win, how the flock destroyed me. Tell them about how hard it was to fend them off for even a minute. Just please”
“I will,” said Arek, interrupting Thetra. “I will tell them everything you wish to tell me.”
And then Arek started to cry.
But they weren’t regular tears. It was water gushing out of his eyes.
It was only the second time Thetra had seen his brother cry.
“Thetra, don’t die!” begged Arek. “Please! Live with me. I don’t want to go through the rest of my life alone. I don’t want my children to have no uncle on my side of the family. I want you to live.”
“I didn’t choose to die,” responded Thetra, his voice quiet. “I wanted to live on, but...I can’t.”
“But you can, Brother! You can!”
But Thetra was ignoring Arek, for his eyes were set on something else in the sky.
Arek turned around as well, for he could hear the creature bolting for them at a very fast speed.
And as Thetra squinted at the magnificent shape, he gasped as he realized what it was.
It was a dragon.
Arek let out a yelp of surprise, for it was not a dragon, but was in the shape of a dragon.
All of the orange birds that had been attacking them had joined together and formed a dragon, then went down to the ground without Thetra nor Arek noticing. They had let The Hidden Creature climb on top of them, then they swooped back in the air, then dove back down to attack the boys.
The Hidden Creature was riding the Army in the Clouds, and he shouted, “You shall kneel before me, you humble little dirty blobs of mud!”
Thetra and Arek promptly kneeled and looked at the ground.
Then one of the birds asked the Hidden Creature, “Shall we take them captive?”
“That’s a good idea,” said another.
“No, I think we should kill them now,” said a third.
Then the first argued, “But wouldn’t it be more fun to watch them suffer before we actually kill them? It’s adding an extra step.”
“SILENCE!” bellowed the Hidden Creature. “It is my decision on what we do, and it shall not be influenced by you pathetic things.” He gave a disgusted look at the birds. “Now, I believe that I will battle them now without your help, birds. Fly away!”