Chapter 8
“He, he, he...”
Traveler laughed when he felt a wet ticklish sensation behind his ear. He tried to push it away, but it came back.
“He, he, he...stop that it tickles.”
He opened his eyes and realized a deer mistook him for a salt lick.
“Shoo. Go away,” He said waving his hands.
Traveler sat up. He looked around, but his recent trip made him a little dazed. He shook his head to gain some composure back. He felt this intense pain in his head. It felt like someone took his head, jammed it in a dryer, and set the machine on high. He tried to get a gauge on the surroundings, but his vision blurred from the dizziness he endured from the vortex travel. After a couple of blinks, he noticed that he was not in the attic anymore. He sensed that he was in the middle of a lush green forest with pine trees and grass all over the place. The road nearby paved with goldbricks, shined with positive energy. The rich vibrant flowers planted up and down the side of the road, gave the place a playful feeling. He could smell the freshness in the air and felt the lively sunshine beating down on him.
“Did I get sucked in the Wizard of Oz book?” Traveler knew his surroundings looked familiar, but it was only familiar in his mind. He got to his feet more confused than ever. He did not know what to do. He looked up the path and saw a never-ending road. He looked down the path and saw the same thing. The only logical action was to pick a side and walk.
Walking along the path, he could hear the birds cheerfully chirping. There were scarlet tanagers, white doves, blue jays, and little brown finches to name a few. They kept chirping a playful tune as they decorated the pine trees with gold and silver banners. He looked on the other side of the road and saw cute little woodland creatures playing in the forest. Everywhere from bunnies, squirrels, and cubs would run around doing absolutely nothing, but being cute.
Unexpectedly, a group of ten deer came bursting out of the forest and romped down the road in unison. With each gallop, they looked like the Blue Angels flying in a precision formation during an air show. They galloped with the beat of the birds’ music. At one point, they all did a 360-degree spin in the air. Surprisingly, the group of deer walked up and one of them licked his hand without hesitation. The place was a bit too happy and feminine for Traveler’s taste.
Traveler walked for what had seemed like hours and had not reached the end of the road or any changes in the scenery. The chirping bird did not stop flying around decorating the tree; the woodland creature kept running around being cute; the group of deer pranced around in unison. Nothing changed. A simple-minded man would have gone crazy by now. Finally, he was startled by some rustling sounds in the bushes. He started to get that weird feeling that someone was watching him.
Suddenly, a loud twig snapped, which made it more evident that someone was watching him. He turned towards the noise and noticed the large bush moving fiercely from left to right. His body was riddled with decisions, his legs wanted to run away, but his mind wanted to see what would happen next. However, whatever was moving before had now become closer. His muscles tensed up and forced him in a crouched position. He figured that if his legs did not want to run, he would be ready for anything that came his way.
Traveler watched and waited. Then, the large bush just stopped...
Unexpectedly, a deer jumped out with his two curled front legs first. Traveler fell backward trying to avoid the flying hooves, but the deer hurdled over him cleanly. He laughed as the deer romped away joining the others. He got up and dusted himself off. Then out of nowhere, he felt someone tackling him from behind. Traveler tried to flip around and as he did, he could barely see his face because of the sun glaring down on him. All he could see was someone with pointy ears wearing a green hat with a feather sticking out. He was as tall as Traveler was, but a little pudgy. He had on brown tunic with green sleeves and legging. Though he did not look the part, he was quick on his feet.
“Ah Master Sands, you finally came back. I was not too sure, but I know it has to be you.” He paused and placed his hand in Traveler’s chin. “However, you look different now. You look a little smaller and younger. Did escaping the dragon’s prison do something to you? And how did you escape from the dragon’s prison?” The pointy-eared person had many questions, but when he bent down he revealed he had characteristics of an elf.
“I don’t know who you are and I don’t think dragons exist.” Traveler held up his hand shielding the sun from his eyes. The bent down elf got in closer to look at Traveler.
“Ah Master Sands, it is me your trusty Calic Jelly. I saw the beacon light and rushed right over.”
“Calic, what’s that? Where am I?”
“Oooohhh Master, we have to leave Kapricia and get back to the Kingdom so we can get you taken care of. I be thinking the years of imprisonment has made your mind go mad.”
As Jelly rummaged through his black bag, Traveler was on his feet and dusting himself off again.
“Stop, I am not going anywhere unless you tell me what is going on?”
“But Master, our Visorist can mend your wounds.”
Traveler was more confused than ever as he did not recognize any of the words Jelly said. Calic and Visorist, what do they mean? Traveler thought. “Look I am not hurt, I just want to know what is going on here,” Traveler said.
Jelly opened his mouth with the explanation waiting on the other side, but the ground shook. The tremors had gotten larger and louder. Traveler turned his head in all different directions, searching for the source. He felt the ground shake, but saw no one around him that could make such a thunderous sound. Out of nowhere, a black spider, with hairy legs, materialized out of the sky and landed within several feet of Traveler and Jelly. The spider was the size of an elephant, but had the quickness of a cat. They happened to be more frightened of his red creepy eyes, all eight of them. As the spider’s eyes stared at their prey, apprehensive as a collective group, they radiated terror. Traveler’s first instinct was to run, but Jelly grabbed him by the arm and made him stand his ground.
“Master, you know the rules; if he sees you, then it is too late. You have to fight him to help our kingdom.” After he said that, a big bubble surrounded all three of them. One of the deer did not escape from the bubble in time. It tried to cross the path of the spider unnoticed, but the results were unsuccessful. With one quick swoop, the fangs clamped down and sucked the blood out. Traveler cringed at the aftermath. The bubble stretched out to the size of two football stadiums and was about ten miles high. It trapped anyone that did not escape in time. Then inside the bubble, the golden road disappeared and the green grass turned into a dusty ground. Traveler knew what Jelly meant by being too late.
“Why don’t you fight him and I’ll watch.” Traveler felt trapped. He tried to run through the bubble force field, but the cruel bubble denied him of the early exit. The ground did not feel as comfortable as before. The bubble rippled as if it mocked him for the escape attempt.
“Master, you know I can’t touch him and he can’t touch me.”
“How am I supposed to fight him? I don’t know how to fight. I am used to getting beaten up, not beating someone else.”
The ground shook again; the spider had taken a couple of steps closer. A seismic wave rippled throughout the ground. The perched birds flew away, but they could not leave. Some of the trees nearby uprooted from the ground because of the rippling effect. Traveler teetered from side to side, but was able to regain his balance. Meanwhile, Jelly rummaged through his black bag and pulled out a long silver sword. He flung it up in the air and it landed blade down. The handle sparkled from the gleaming silver.
“Your sword my master, I believe this may help you in your victory.”
“I never used a sword before.” Traveler did not have a clue about any sword fighting techniques, but when he went to grab the handle of the sword, a sudden surge of sensation ran through his body. He had a sense of empowerment. To his surprise, he lifted the sword and felt he knew how to use it. He wielded the sword with two hands smoothly and raised it up to his ear. His eyes veered to the right staring straight at the sword.
“Whoa. How did I do that?”
Traveler had never held a weapon in his life. He gets nervous holding a chef knife, cutting carrots while helping his mother in the kitchen. Blood did not set well with him. He could not believe his eyes. He had only seen these moves in the movies and thought about it in the books he read.
Traveler was too busy admiring his beginning sword-handling skills that he did not notice two enormous hairy legs coming towards him. At the last second, he managed to roll away. Again, surprised at the reflexes his body had. Nevertheless, he was a little late. He felt an unfamiliar sharp pain in his right arm. He quickly grabbed it. When the pain did not go away, he looked at his hand. It was something he has never seen before, but he did recognize it. The blood dripping from his hand, made him nauseous. He tried to pull it together.
“Come on Traveler. Remember when Jake broke his arm skateboarding? That was gross too. Now focus.”
The self-inspiring pep talk did not help much, but the important thing was that he did not pass out. He realized the hairs on the spider’s legs were not hairs at all; they were razor-sharp black fibers. He got upset and angry, which was something that he was not used to feeling.
“Arrgh, Jelly what do I do now!”
“Charge him!”
“Charge him with what?”
“Master, you need to charge him and attack with the sword.”
“What? I don’t know how to use this thing.”
The spider attacked again.
Traveler managed to get away unscathed. He looked at Jelly desperately seeking his advice, but Jelly scrounged around his bag ignoring Traveler’s plead for help.
Traveler stood there with his dirt-covered body staring at the spider. He knew he had to take matters in his own hands.
“Okay, this shouldn’t be too hard. I’ve seen this done on T.V. and it did not look so hard there.” He tried to rotate the sword with one hand as he had seen on television so many times. However, the fancy move did not look so fancy. The sword just flopped out of his hand. He hurried to pick it up. “Okay Traveler, no time for the fancy stuff. It’s time for action; this better work,” He said to himself.
Traveler charged the spider, yelling at the top of his lungs. He pumped his legs as fast as he could. When he reached the spider, he swung the heavy sword. But the spider lifted his legs from harm’s way and thrust them at Traveler, knocking his sword behind him.
Traveler was not too surprised the move did not work. The spider again attacked back, but he ducked from the counterattack avoiding the scary legs. Realizing he was defenseless, he turned around and ran, picking up his sword in the process. It was a good thing that he ran because the spider tilted his head back and spewed out this white foamy mixture from his mouth. Traveler looked back noticing a white substance nearly missing him; he could only assume that it was his webbing. He reached his original spot and looked at Jelly. This time Jelly held up a crystal ball.
“Here Master, this should help you.”
“What do I do with this?”
Jelly sighed. “You throw it at him.”
“What will it do?”
“It is a versatile trinket. It helps you gain the advantage in a battle.”
“How many of these do you have?”
“Just that one, so use it wisely Master.”
Traveler gained some confidence back. He turned around, but the spider was nowhere in sight. He had the foresight to look up. The spider’s aerial attack took him by surprise, making him shift backward avoiding a crushing death. In his retreat, he slipped on a pebble. Several events happen on his way down. He simultaneously dropped the crystal ball and flipped the sword in the air. The crystal ball shattered upon impact and a large amount of liquid came releasing out. The sword struck the ground with the handle landing first, leaving the sword’s blade upright. Then he hits the ground hard with his butt.
From the dusty cloud, emerged the spider walking towards him. The slow creepy walk ran chills down Traveler’s back. Then the spider stopped and tilted back spewing his white substance. This time, Traveler confirmed it was webbing. He tried to free himself, but the more he struggled the worse it got. He could feel the sticky webbing filling every gap of his body. It reminded him of the time when Jake duct taped him to a tree and played William Tell.
The spider, staring down at his prey, prepared for the final kill shot; he lifted his head revealing his sharp pointy fangs dripping with drool. Traveler knew he was a goner. He closed his eyes preparing for the worst. A couple of seconds had passed.
I thought dying would hurt a lot more than this. Traveler thought.
He opened his eyes. He could not believe it. Even with his eight eyes, he did not see the clear liquid beneath him. Traveler concluded the spider must have slipped on the liquid.
But what killed him? Traveler thought.
The spider rolled over in agonizing pain revealing Traveler’s sword. Traveler could not help but smile.
The spider tried to get to his feet, but his legs gave way and came crashing down. Jelly came over to Traveler’s feet, holding a bottle and uncorked it with his teeth. He poured a green syrupy mixture over his body.
“Peww. Jelly, this smells like rotten eggs.”
“Sorry Master, it is mantis urine. I know it smells, but it is the only way,” To Traveler’s surprise, the webbing dissolved.
“Well done master, but you need to go finish him off. Conjured Tecks can heal,” Jelly said.
“Teck? Well done? I didn’t do anything. He killed himself,” Traveler said.
“It is okay. A victory is a victory. Now go and finish him off.”
“So, how do I do that?”
“You need to cut off his head.”
“Cut off his head? I never killed anything before except for my hamster. I still think Jake had a hand in that.”
“Master, hurry.”
The spider tried again to get to his feet and almost succeeded. Traveler hurried over to the spider and grabbed a hold of the sword. He tugged and found it difficult to remove. He was reluctant to place his hand on the spider’s body for leverage, but he displaced his dreadful fears. Yanking out the bloodstain sword slowly made Traveler queasy, and as the blood dripped away, the spider shrieked and grimaced. Traveler walked to the head, lifted his sword up, took one last look, and closed his eyes. When he opened them, the head was detached from the body. A couple of seconds later the spider disintegrated to ashes.
“Jelly, you need to tell me what is going on?”
“Master, you need to come to Codextrius.”