A loud howl sounded from right behind the three friends. Marlo, Kristan and Karlos froze in fear.
Marlo quickly remembered the flower that Kora had handed him.
“Don’t move an inch. Let’s find out if this flower really has power,” Marlo said while pulling the black flower out. A shimmering gold light suddenly emerged from the flower and glowed all around the three friends and a powerful force barrier appeared.
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At that very instance a wolf jumped towards the three friends but was thrown back by a strong shield within the invisible force barrier.
Marlo looked at his two loyal friends anxiously.
They had to find the dagger fruit and rush for their lives. He was unsure as to how long the power of the flower would protect them.
“Okay. We need to hurry before whatever power the flower might have fades away,” Marlo insisted towards Kristan and Karlos.
Kristan turned his head to check if there were more wolves awaiting them behind the flower’s invisible force field. To Kristan’s surprise many 244
wolves were running as fast as they could away from the invisible force field.
“This is unbelievable, the wolves are dashing away. Karlos, Marlo, take a look at that,” Kristan cried out excitedly.
There was a sudden thud of heavy movements, coming from a distance not too far ahead from where the three friends were standing. Marlo’s heart begun to beat ecstatically.
“Wait! The dagger fruit is right here! I’m looking at the map right now. They look just like almond pears. Look! The dagger fruits are hanging right up there on that tree. We can use our whips to grab as 245
many as we possibly can. After that we’re going to have to…” Marlo stopped instructing his friends at that very moment. A giant reptile was standing right before them. Marlo took a deep breath in.
“Run! Grab as many fruits and run!” Marlo yelled out.
Kristan, Marlo and Karlos quickly pulled out their whips and rushed towards the tree of dagger fruits.
At that very moment thunder roared within the skies of planet Mycene and heavy drops of rain began to fall from the skies – Marlo, Kristan and Karlos were being chased by a giant reptile.
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Marlo lashed at the tree of dagger fruits with all his might. Only a few fruits fell from the tree. He quickly picked up the few fruits and rushed for his life.
“I’m heading for some hidden caves. I saw it on the map that Kora gave me. Kristan and Karlos, please try to grab as many fruits as possible and follow me!” Marlo yelled out as he run as fast as he could for a set of hidden caves. Karlos used his whip to pull as many fruits as he could from the tree of dagger fruits. He then quickly hauled himself up onto a tree and used his whip to swing from one tree to another tree as fast as he could. The giant reptile was 247
Kristan at that very moment lashed out at that the tree of dagger fruits grabbing as many fruits as he could and dashed off after Marlo.
After a few seconds, all three friends were sitting within a hidden cave with a powerful force barrier drawn from the flower to protect them. It was still raining heavily outside the caves and irrespective of the flower’s power creating a protective barrier, Marlo and his friends could not help but shiver within the caves – it was suddenly dead cold.
“We need to get out of here fast before we all die from hypothermia. Take a look at Kora’s map again 248
and see if you can find some sort of secret passageway to get us all out of here,” Kristan insisted with his teeth chattering rapidly.
All three friends were trembling uncontrollably.
Marlo quickly pulled out Kora’s map with his left hand, while his right hand held on to the powerful flower. Karlos looked at the map intensely, trying to find a secret passageway from the caves. His eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of an object right in the middle of the map that resembled the shape of a flower. This caused him to let out an instinctive cry to alert his two good friends.
“That’s it. It’s the flower! It can zap us all back 249
to the castle we came from…I think. I’m not sure!”
Marlo took a deep breath out. He was also quite unsure but at that very point there was nothing more he wanted than to escape the cold caves and reach a possible safety.
“Okay, you two hold on to me. All we need to do is believe in the hour of truth,” Marlo yelled out hopefully.
Kristan and Karlos pulled out their whips and used them to tie themselves to their friend Marlo. At that very instant a bright white light glowed around the three friends. Marlo held on tightly to the flower and focused on it with his eyes.
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“Just believe in the hour of truth! Hold on!”
Marlo yelled out as a bright white light erupted from the flower and suddenly dragged all three friends from the cave.
Within a flash, the three friends had been whisked back to the castle they had initially feasted at. Marlo and his friends stood back in awe and amazement as to the power of the flower. Karlos gave Marlo a quick pat on the back – he was just about to congratulate his friend when a harsh clearing of a woman’s throat came from behind him.
Marlo, Karlos and Kristan turned around to see Queen Vera standing before them with a rather 251
daunting expression across her face.
“Congratulations! You three are truly kings. You have managed to grab as many dagger fruits as possible, however your return was no ordinary return.
Kora aided you by handing you the black flower of truth. I’m afraid I have to take that from you. It is an extremely rare flower and after a while the bearer may start to face consequences. Kora shall be punished for handing you such a powerful but deadly flower,” Queen Vera bellowed out and at that very moment snatched the flower from Marlo with great sadness surfacing her eyes.
Marlo and his friends shook their heads in 252
disappointment. They were quickly escorted back to the castle and made to wash and cleanse themselves.
It wasn’t long when the three friends were back in their royal kingly robes. Nightfall had dawned the castle sooner than Marlo and his friends could ever have expected. Another feast with light entertainment had been set out for the three kings. Marlo and his friends sat on their thrones, speechless and in shock as to the sight that met their eyes.
The golden haired, golden eyed warrior women were no longer golden eyed but held an extraordinary variety of different shades of eye colors. Marlo finally found the courage to speak to one of the maid 253
servants that seemed familiar to him. The maid servant quickly reminded Marlo of her name, realizing how stunned he was as to the sudden transformations. Marlo shook his head in disbelief, he couldn’t wait to see Kora.
At that very instant a hand tapped him lightly on his back. Marlo turned his head to see who it was. It was Kora and she looked exactly the same.
“Meet me at the courtyards at midnight,” Kora whispered quietly towards Marlo. Marlo sensed there was something wrong and nodded his head quietly in response to Kora’s shaken appearance.
After feasting with a few of the warrior women 254
and enjoying some light entertainment at the castle, Marlo and his friends decided it was time they got some rest. They had gotten enough appraisal from the warrior women for one night.
It was almost midnight when Marlo awoke and rushed to the courtyards to meet Kora. Kora had a devastated look on her face. Marlo felt disinclined to question Kora but knew he had no other choice but to do so. Before he could even open his mouth, Kora suddenly spoke.
“Marlo, why didn’t you hide the flower I gave you? Why did you use its power to get back to the castle? I have to go in search for the dagger fruit on 255
my own now, if I want my eyes to be restored to their original color. That is my punishment for handing the flower of truth to you. I almost regret giving that flower to you,” Kora said quietly. Marlo moved towards Kora and looked sternly into her eyes.
“I will in return search for the dagger fruit again, especially for you. You don’t have to go out there. It is hell out there,” Marlo firmly replied.
“No Marlo, I don’t have a choice. There is no escape for me. The castle is being heavily guarded.
You have no idea. Tomorrow morning I will be thrown out of the castle, to go in search of the fruit on my own. I will be given no map or any guidance,”
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Kora cried out bitterly. Marlo shook his head sadly.
“You will not be alone. God will be with you. I believe there is a supreme God wherever I go, wherever I am. I know that the same supreme God is with you,” Marlo assured Kora vengefully.
“Over here we don’t believe in a supreme God, we believe in the rising of the sun and the coming of a full moon. Since you believe that a supreme God is with me then I have nothing to fear. I will see you later,” Kora replied fearlessly and hopefully.
Marlo shook his head in agreement but sadly in disbelief as to what Kora had told him. She would soon be thrown out to embark on a deadly search.
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After the brief courtyard meeting with Kora, Marlo decided to quickly waken Kristan and Karlos for their own brief meeting. They had to find their families if they were still out there. They could not remain kings forever knowing that somewhere out there, their loved ones were suffering.
Karlos insisted on them fighting their way out of the castle at night. Marlo had other plans in escaping the clutches of the warrior women.
“ I say we ask the maid servant, Risti, for help.
I’m sure she wouldn’t mind being of help. We need to get that flower back if we want to survive the world out there,” Marlo said pleadingly.
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Karlos and Kristan eventually shook their heads in agreement and decided there was no harm in allowing Risti to help them in escaping from the castle.
It wasn’t long when Karlos had managed to drag Risti from her sleep and beg her to help them in escaping from the castle. They first explained to Risti as to how they got to planet Mycene and as to Kora’s new deadly venture.
“The quickest way of escape is by using the flower of deceit. I will take you to the gardens right now. If anything happens, you must think a deceitful thought to return back to this castle. I’ll try and get a 259
few other servants to help in fixing your space jet while you are gone. This way you can get to the planet you were intending to get to before you crash landed here,” Risti said hopefully.
Marlo nodded his head in agreement and then suddenly froze to think pensively.
“Wait! Maybe we should leave with Kora,”
Marlo suddenly let out decisively. Risti shook her head fearfully.
“Impossible. Kora is such a pure person, she cannot escape using a flower of deceit. Not unless she changes her hair and I don’t know how long that will take,” Risti replied sadly.
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“A black shoe polish might work?” Kristan suddenly mentioned questioningly.
“Oh great idea, how long can that seem deceitful? Let’s give that a go but first we must find Kora and tell her of the escape plan,” Marlo finally decided in agreement to Kristan’s suggestion.
It wasn’t long when Risti had found Kora and informed her of the escape plan. Within seconds Kora’s golden hair and golden brows had been covered with a jet black polish. The golden haired beauty had suddenly been transformed into a raven haired lady.
After Kora’s quick transformation, they all made 261
their way to the gardens and stood in silence while Risti plucked the cream rose-like flower of deceit, for them to use to escape the castle.
At the count of nine, Marlo, Karlos, Kristan and Kora had all been whisked away from the castle in a flash of violet light. They were all out in the cold island, but luckily for them Kora had made sure they had all gotten dressed in warm robes before attempting to escape. Heavy sounds of thuds sounded all around them and a flash of gold lightning sparked in the skies ferociously.
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Marlo, Kristan, Karlos and Kora yelled out in disbelief as life size robots suddenly surrounded them.
“Use the flower Marlo, use it to zap us away from here!” Karlos cried out. Kora suddenly shook her head defiantly.
“No Marlo, it is a flower of deceit…we must all stick together and believe this is all a dream,” Kora yelled back hastily.
A shrill whistle sounded from behind them. A 264
familiar looking young woman with a group of men walked towards Kora, Kristan, Karlos and Marlo. She instructed the life size robots to step away.
Marlo shook his head in disbelief as to the sight of the young woman that was standing right before him with a group of cruel blood thirsty looking men.
“Cathy, it couldn’t be… I saw you die back at planet Earth!” Marlo yelled out in disbelief.
The young woman looked bitterly into Marlo’s eyes and then quickly took a glance at Kora who was standing right next to Marlo.
“I see it didn’t take you long to replace me. Who is the raven haired?” Cathy yelled out viciously.
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Marlo looked down on the ground in disbelief.
“This can’t be possible! Who are you really and who are the people you are with?” Marlo questioned in great disbelief. Cathy looked at Marlo in disappointment.
“I’m Cathy alright! You thought I’d died back at planet Earth but it wasn’t me that you saw die – it was a clone! I escaped ages ago, in the hope that one day my clone would direct you back to me. However, it did not. It directed you to this raven haired instead,” Cathy replied in a rather jealous tone. One of the men with Cathy stepped forward and began to direct the life size robots.
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“It is clear that he is not as loyal as you thought he was, Cathy? We are the Tyrants and we own this island! We control everything on this island. I think it’s about time you all joined the other prisoners and face your punishment for roaming about this place in such a carefree and naïve manner,” one of the Tyrants said forcefully.
Marlo spat into Cathy’s face. He was no longer in disbelief but enraged that the girlfriend he thought he had known had deceived him.
It wasn’t long when Marlo, Kora, Kristan and Karlos found themselves in prisons that seemed more like massive dungeons. The flower of deceit had been 267
taken away from them by one of the Tyrants. There was no other form of escape for them.
Marlo lay on his prison bed contemplating as to the events that had occurred. He wondered if his family had been captured by Cathy or not? He was just about to doze off into a deep sleep when he felt a nudge from his prison room mate. Marlo felt a bit reluctant to respond but made an effort to smile at the bearded prisoner that had eyes that could pierce right through the depths of anyone’s soul.
“I’m Dario. I need to speak to you and warn you of the terrors of these prisons,” Dario cautioned as he moved closer to Marlo.
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Marlo quickly got up from his bed and reluctantly smiled at his fellow prison mate again.
Dario moved even closer this time towards Marlo’s ear.
“Fight to escape the prison contests. Get yourself and your friends out of here before a new moon,”
Dario whispered out fearfully.
“A contest?” Marlo questioned in disbelief.
“Shush! Every new moon, six prisoners are chosen at random by Cathy to face a death challenge.
From what I have heard, a bottle is spun on a table and whichever two people the bottle faces must face a prison contest. The prison contest is held to decide 269
if a prisoner should be set free or not. If the prisoner is able to survive the challenges within the contest, they are apparently set free and allowed to leave the prisons. A few prisoners have survived and joined the Tyrants, but many have died within the contests. It is practically impossible to win the prison contests.
There are clearly too many terrifying challenges to be faced. Find a way out of here quickly before it's too late,” Dario told Marlo fearfully once again. Marlo shook his head quietly in response. He was trying to understand what Dario had just told him. Then it suddenly clicked to him that Kora had once told him of a man called Dario that she had cared for, who had 270
disappeared from the kingdom she came from.
“You don’t happen to know of one young lady by the name of Kora by any chance, do you?” Marlo questioned Dario, hopefully but fearful that Dario might be in great danger.
“Kora! I know that name but I’m not sure if I might know anyone by the name of Kora that you may have encountered,” Dario replied, suddenly sounding a bit cheerful.
Marlo quickly described the Kora that he had met. He informed Dario as to how she had told him of a man by the name of Dario that almost matched his description.
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“What if I told you that Kora was in the prisons right now, would you believe me?” Marlo questioned Dario with a slight shakiness in his manner of speaking.
Dario was about to pounce on Marlo, when a prison guard walked into the prisons at that very instance and looked at them both and smiled.
“No fighting! It is time for you both to face a death challenge. Look outside…it’s a new moon!”
The prison guard yelled out with blood thirsty eyes.
Before Marlo could object, he was forced out of the prison room along with Dario. They were escorted to a massive hall room within the prison building.
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Inside the prison hall was a massive brown wooden table with an empty ceramic blue bottle placed right in the middle of the table.
Marlo and Dario stood back with their hearts pounding uncontrollably. Four other prisoners were escorted into the massive hall. Marlo caught a glimpse of one of the four prisoners that had been brought to face the death challenge. It was Kora.
Marlo yelled out in dismay at the sight of Kora who had been brought to stand before the table.
“How dare you. No other woman stands before this table to face a death challenge.” Marlo cried out defiantly. A prison guard moved towards Marlo to 273
“It was Cathy’s orders,” the prison guard replied arrogantly.
Another prison guard moved towards the table and smiled at the six prisoners standing fearfully and trembling within the massive prison hall.
“I’m going to spin this bottle and whichever two this bottle faces will face the contest. At the count of three, I will spin this bottle. One, two, three.” The prison guard yelled out. At that very point one of the prisoners in the room fainted and dropped to the ground.
Marlo’s heart begun to pound even faster than 274
ever as the bottle began to spin on its own. Any second from then, the bottle would stop spinning.
Marlo closed his eyes and hoped Kora and himself would be free from facing the contests. He couldn’t really care if Dario was the next prisoner to face the prison contests.
There was a sudden outcry that came from a prisoner standing by his side. Marlo quickly opened his eyes to find out which prisoners the bottle was facing. He turned to look at the prisoner standing by his side. It was Dario, and the blue bottle was pointing directly at him. Marlo looked up to see which direction the other side of the bottle was 275
facing. To his shock and dismay, it was facing Kora.
“No, please spin the bottle again. You don’t have a right to do this!” Marlo cried out bitterly.
A tear rolled down Kora’s left eye. She looked deeply into Dario’s eyes and then stared blankly at Marlo. Without any hesitation, Kora spat into the face of the prison guard that had spun the bottle.
“My God is a vengeful God. My God is a God of freedom!” Kora cried out in tears. A prison guard grabbed hold of Kora to escort her to face the prison contests. Marlo quickly dashed towards Kora and connected a device to the back of her ear. It was his special whip device.
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“Take my whip and fight for your freedom.
Remember to tap on it twice,” Marlo whispered confidently into Kora’s right ear. Another prison guard rushed towards Marlo and pushed him away from Kora.
Within seconds, Kora and Dario had been escorted from the massive prison hall leaving Marlo with three other prisoners behind. Marlo shook his head sadly and hoped that Dario would after all survive with Kora.
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A huge arena filled with caged wild animals and two caged prisoners made it a terrifying sight to behold.
At the grand arena sat Cathy on a high stool with her group of Tyrants. Instead of prison guards as security, she had robots standing not too far from her. The robots were clearly being controlled by her group of Tyrants and herself.
There were many other blood thirsty individuals seated at the massive arena, screaming out for blood.
At the centre of the massive arena was a rather large 279
boxing ring. Cathy stood up to wave at her many supporters seated at the arena.
“I am so glad you are all here to witness the contests. These prisoners are not even humans. They are murderers, thieves and liars. That woman sitting in that cage, stole my boyfriend! She will surely die for stealing and for trespassing this island. Release the prisoners into the ring!” Cathy yelled out with rage.
At that very moment, a few robots moved towards the caged prisoners and pulled them both out. Kora and Dario were placed into the large boxing ring. A pair of boxing gloves were thrown at each 280
Cathy looked on gravely at Kora and Dario. She motioned towards one of her Tyrants to speak, by nodding her head. One of Cathy’s Tyrants rose to his feet.
“Fight or die!” One of the Tyrants yelled out viciously. At that very moment many supporters yelled out ferociously the words, fight or die.
Dario put on his boxing gloves and punched Kora in the jaw. Kora fell to the ground just as a tooth fell out from her mouth.
“Dario, what are you doing?” Kora bellowed out.
Dario shook his head in grief.
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“Fighting for my life. You should do the same,”
Dario yelled out bitterly. Kora rose to her feet and threw a few jabs at Dario.
Dario took a deep breath in and leashed out a massive punch at Kora’s jaw line. Kora fell back to the ground again. The audience at the arena went wild. They yelled out for Dario to kill Kora. Cathy rose to her feet from the high stool she had been sitting on.
“Don’t be a fool. Kill her, kill her and you will be set free forever. Kill her!” Cathy yelled out.
Kora struggled to rise to her feet. A tear rolled down her right eye.
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“Don’t listen to her, Dario. Killing me will not set you free,” Kora cried out bitterly.
Dario let out a loud sigh. He grabbed Kora and helped her to stand back on her feet.
“We both accept the next challenge,” Dario cried out bitterly.
“So be it, send them straight into the field of fire.
They can both burn to death there!” Cathy yelled out resentfully.
Before Dario could object the robots had grabbed the pair. They were both going to face a field of fire.
Dario yelled out in agony as a robot clung hold of him. It wasn’t long when the robots had reached a 283
“We’re not going to die. I have Marlo’s whip. We just need to find something for the whip to catch hold of,” Kora yelled out towards Dario.
“Throw the whip towards me before it’s too late.
I will catch you before you fall!” Dario yelled out towards Kora.
Kora threw the whip device towards Dario who caught it in an instance.
“Tap on it twice!” Kora yelled out anxiously.
Dario quickly tapped on the whip device twice just as the robots threw Dario and Kora towards the blazing fires.
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Luckily, Dario had managed to catch a tree trunk not too far from where they were with the whip. He grabbed Kora by her hair before her body could even go tumbling down into the field of flames.