Chapter 9
Traveler had never been on a winning side of a fight before, not that he gets into many fights. Nevertheless, he felt good about himself. He tried to wipe off the dirt and sweat on his face as he walked over to Jelly. His new soiled look was good on him, as if he was born for this.
“Okay, Jelly how do we get to that Cody-deck-us place?”
“It is pronounced Code-deck-tree-us.”
“Yeah, Codextrius, that’s what I said.”
“Well, normally you would go from your world. However, in an emergency like this one, I can take you back with me. Where is your Smoke Ryder?”
“I don’t know. What is it?”
“Master, you have to grab it at the beginning of your trip. We need to go back.”
“But that’s an hour away.”
“No need to worry, I can get us there much quicker.”
Jelly looked deep into his black bag of tricks. He pulled out two chariots with white-winged horses pulling them. They looked like little toys as he placed them on the ground.
“I don’t think I can fit in that thing,” Traveler said as he stared at the two chariots the size of a hamster.
Jelly sighed. “Don’t worry, just stand on them.”
“O...kay...” Traveler gave him a weird look, but carefully placed his foot on one of the chariots. To his surprise, it did not crush into little pieces. The second he placed his other foot on the other chariot, he took off. Going the speed of sound did not agree with him; he screamed and wailed his arms in the air the entire time. He felt as if his face wanted to peel off his skin. He looked down at the chariots and was amazed at the tiny white horses galloping along the road. It was a good thing the ride did not last long; another ten seconds and Traveler would have puked all over himself. After a minute, he arrived at the beginning of his journey.
Where’s Jelly? Traveler wondered.
He turned and saw him standing near the Smoke Ryder.
“How did you get here so fast?”
“I blinked,” Jelly said sarcastically.
“How come I can’t do that?”
“Master, there are more important matters at hand. Walk over here.”
Traveler walked over and standing near him was a golden stand with the familiar intricate design, like the mirror, holding up a crystal ball.
How did I miss something as shiny and beautiful as that? He thought.
“Master, this is your only way out of here. You need to grab this ball at the beginning of your trip. If you lose, it you can never go home.”
“Great, now I know. What about this Codextrius place? How do I get there?”
“For now, I can take you with me.”
Jelly walked over to Traveler carrying the Smoke Ryder with a red crystal ball. Jelly grabbed his shoulder and in his other hand, raised the two crystal balls and threw both of them down.
POOF!
As the crystal balls shattered into hundreds of pieces, a puff of smoke engulfed the two of them. When the smoke dissipated, he realized the scenery had changed. They both stood in the middle of a different forest. He knew it was different because the stupid animals were not there. In addition, the trees and grass were not as vibrant as the previous forest. The colors were dark green with hints of gray, as if the land’s color was fading through wear and tear. In the distance, a large castle stood near the horizon. He gazed up into the blue sky and noticed how gloomy it looked. The sky was also embedded with hints of gray, but the thing that stood out the most was there were two suns in the sky. Suddenly, the pine trees in the surrounding area flashed with red lights. The trees flickered from their natural dark green to bright red as if an alarm had went off. Seconds later, men with large bodies, metal spears, and body armor from head to toe, emerged from the woods. Traveler stood still, paralyzed with fear.
“Intruder, disarm yourself,” One of the guards said.
“Gentlemen, there must be a misunderstanding. This is Master Sands. He is no intruder,” Jelly cried.
“Windbottom, you know the protocol. If the trees flash, we must retrieve at any cost,” The guard said.
“I understand. Take him to the king, if you must,” Jelly said.
“Wait, wait. I didn’t want to be here in the first place. Now I am a prisoner. Okay Jelly, I want to go home now,” Traveler said.
“Master, please listen. Once you see the king everything is going to be fine,” Jelly said.
Traveler looked at the guards then back at Jelly. He knew he did not do anything wrong. He wondered if he should be offended. Nevertheless, he raised his arms handing the silver sword to the guards. The guards gave Traveler a present too. The feel of the cold metal shackles near his wrist gave him this guilty feeling. They reached the road and continued along the pebbled path.
Suddenly Traveler asked, “Why did they call you Windbottom?” Jelly answer proudly. “Because that is my name, Zander Windbottom. Jelly is just a nickname.”
“Quiet, no talking.” The guard persuaded Traveler by poking him in the back.
Traveler looked ahead and saw a man carrying a backpack full of twigs. He wanted to ask for help, but what could this person do that Jelly could not? For a brief moment, Traveler looked back down because his shackles started to pinch, but when he looked back up the man was gone.
“Jelly, where did that man go?” Traveler asked Jelly with the slightest amount of volume.
“What man?”
“The man with the bag full of twigs on his back.”
“Master, I don’t see anyone.”
They got closer to the man with the twigs and found he was not breathing well. Traveler felt the ground beneath him rumble. He looked around and saw the small pebbles and rocks vibrate up and down. Suddenly, a white four-legged creature with red eyes came bursting out of the forest and stamping its way towards them. It looked like a rhino, but he did not have a horn on his nose, just a shovel. It galloped by and in one motion, scooped the man on to his back lifting him up with his shovel. The rhino’s back looked perfectly grooved enough to carry many people on his back. Then with the man on his back, it dashed away.
“What just happened?” Traveler asked.
“The man is dying from the dark magic,” Jelly said.
“How...”
“I said no talking!” The guard said slamming the end of his weapon into the side of Traveler’s gut.
Traveler fell down coughing. He could not argue against heavily armed men; he got up and kept his head down the rest of the way. With each step he took, he could feel the energy drain from him. The shackles did more than restrain him from physical actions. They absorbed every ounce of strength he had left. Feeling weak and dragging, they walked through the marketplace. Traveler looked up at the different people trading for food and different items. It reminded him of the time when his father would take him to a bazaar they had at the military airports.
Once Traveler was in the view of
everyone, all actions and transactions stopped. Everyone veered towards
Traveler. With his newfound popularity, they continued to point and glare at
him as he passed by. Traveler felt like a caged animal to amuse the crowd, a
feeling that did not sit well.
As they got closer to the main castle, Traveler could not believe his eyes. He saw people riding around on dragons. They were not the size of buildings like in some books or movies, but the size of large elephants, a manageable size. In the target area, he watched different dragons practicing their shot. They hit their targets by breathing fire, spitting acid, or spraying water. Traveler had many questions running through his mind.
“Jelly, what is this place?”
“This is a place where we train dragons for people like you.”
“And what kind of person am I?”
“Patient Master, you’ll know soon enough.”
“Hey, what did I say before? No talking!” The guard forced his issue again on Traveler’s back.
After a while, Traveler noticed the dirt changed into a white marble. He looked up and noticed they were crossing a bridge, which seemed to be made of white bricks with some glowing cement between them. The pillars were as long as the eyes can see. Traveler only assumed they reached to the bottom of the watery moat.
The long bridge led them to the castle’s main gates, which looked like they were made of pure iron. However, it shined like steel. Traveler imagined it would be heavy, but two guards moved it with ease. The white stones, which lined the castle walls, were also shiny white as if they just created the castle not too long ago. It too had the glowing cement. Traveler looked up; he could not take his eyes off the brownish black roof that appeared to be made of mahogany. Traveler thought these places existed in books or movies. He never thought he would be able to see it with his own eyes.
Once inside the castle walls, straight in front of him was the main castle. It had the cone shape roofs, the zipper-teeth edges, and the arched windows. Traveler was surprised how similar it looked to the castle of Camelot. It was gorgeous from a distance; it was even better up close. Traveler noticed they did not take him through the front door. They led him around to the back, as if he was a celebrity trying to avoid the crowds. Once inside, Traveler noted the bricks were no longer white but turned into a smooth marble gray color. As they walked to the steps of the king’s throne, Jelly gave Traveler some last minutes advice.
“When you meet the king, fall to your knees and bow.”
“What if I don’t?”
“Then these men will cut your head off.”
“Good to know.”
The king’s chamber looked spacious. The room’s decorations were plush as one would think a king would have. A red runner made of deer hind laid from the doorway to the king’s private throne. The wall tapestries of the king and his family wrapped all along the wall, but Traveler spotted a bare spot on the wall.
Traveler knew that wall tapestries served a dual purpose; livening up the room with different colors and keeping the heat in. The windows had long dark purple curtains to keep the sun out in the morning. The king had three steps to climb before reaching his throne. The king’s advisers made sure that his height was the tallest in the room, even when sitting down. Traveler and Jelly stood at the lowest part of the steps, waiting for the king to greet them. The king entered from his side door. Everyone got to their knees and bowed. Traveler could not help but took a quick glance. The king was a strapping young man, dressed in royal fashion. He had curly dark brown hair and walked upright. He marched to his throne with purpose; with each step he took, he had authoritative meaning behind it. The king did not look happy.
“Who is this intruder that enters my kingdom?” The king ordered.
“If it pleases the king, I would like to introduce myself.” Traveler did his best old English impression.
“State your name.”
“My name is Traveler Sands.” The guards and advisers surrounding the king’s chamber gasped. The king’s eye shifted to crowd’s reaction.
“Liar, the only Sands that is allowed into my kingdom is Jacob.
Traveler did not know what to say. By this time, he stopped his impression. “Umm, that’s my name. I don’t know what else to tell you.”
“Wait my king,” Jelly said. “My beacon went off when this person entered Kapricia. That could only mean one thing; Master Jacob has returned from the dragon’s mouth.”
There was that word again. Kapricia, what that heck is that? Traveler thought.
“I am sorry Windbottom. Our forest says otherwise. This is not Master Sands. If it was then our forest wouldn’t label him as an intruder.” The king seemed firm with his stance.
“The Visorist can heal his body.” Jelly pleaded because he knew he could not be wrong. “The forest could have detected a different energy, and the years of imprisonment could have distorted it.”
“No Windbottom, there is only one way to know,” The king said.
“Please Sire; the younger form of Master Sand cannot withstand the pressure of the Paths of Trials. He could die,” Jelly said.
“Windbottom, understand that we are at war and if the forest have detected our young visitor as an enemy and by this detection he is marked as an enemy of the territory and must be prepped for an execution. Unless, he can prove who he is.” The king said as he turned to Traveler. “If you are who you say you are, then you can prove it by touching the ‘Prism of Light’,” The king said giving Traveler his only chance to live.
The king gave a nod towards the crowd, one of the bodyguards threw down a crystal ball creating another puff of smoke, and the king’s chamber turned instantly into a gas chamber. When the smoked cleared, they emerged in the middle of the forest again.
“Traveler, you must go down the Path of Trials and prove yourself. Then you may go home.” The king pointed to an opening path into the forest.
Traveler looked at Jelly “Okay what do I need to do?”
“Master, this is the path you need to take to prove who you are. At the end, when you see the Prism of Light, you need to lift it over your head. If you pass the test, then you are Master Sands. Unfortunately, if you are not the person who they think you are, then they will mark you for an execution,” Jelly said.
“Execution- what- wait, I don’t understand?” Traveler said.
“Well, Execution means-”
“I know what it means but- hey...” The king’s guards pushed Traveler to the start of the path before he could get a chance to veto the idea, “...that hurts.”
“If you find the Prism of Light, then we will know your true fight.” The king gave his last command.
There was no way that Traveler could outmuscle the guard, however, that did not stop him from trying. He tried to turn around, but the grip of the guard was too tight. He tried to enlist the aid of Mother Nature by digging his heels into the ground, but that left him with sore knees and dirty shoes. There was no way around it; the guard was determined to finish his task. Traveler made his final attempt of resistance by raising his hand and unbelievably, it worked. The king commanded the guard to stop and Traveler asked,
“Umm, what if I don’t want to go?”
“Then you will be arrested as an intruder and be hung,” The king said with a firm voice. “Our Kingdom is at war and our territory is not open to unfamiliar kinds. Everyone that enters our land is an enemy, we trust no one. We have learned our lesson.”
Now, his last chance to go home remained on his owns terms. “Okay, I guess it’s do or die,” Traveler said.
The guard finally reached the beginning of the path. He shoved Traveler into the opening. Traveler stumbled forward a little while giving a dirty look towards the guard, as if he was saying sarcastically, “Thanks.” He stared down the path. It looked like a long winding dirt path with falling leaves. It gave the impression of being like something you would see on a Hallmark greeting card, with the captions saying, “If I wasn’t so naturally breathtaking, you wouldn’t trust me.”
“Good luck kid.” The guard’s words and shoulder tapping gesture startled Traveler causing him to finch. He turned back staring down the long path again. He mustered up the courage to take a couple of steps forward. Suddenly, his nerve got the best of him; he decided to turn back around. It would have been a great plan, if it were not for the forest trees rooting up from the ground and closing up the entrance. He was on his own again. He slowly took a few small steps forward, and he did not know what to expect or where to go. He had this feeling that he forgot something. In a way, he did not forget anything because he never brought anything with him at first. All he had was the clothes on his back but he still felt naked. He wished he had a map or even a weapon, anything to fill the naked void. However, still feeling the emptiness, he marched on.
Traveler walked for a while until he reached a fork that had three different pathways. He just stared at the pathways. He did not know where to go. However, he did feel a little different, all of his senses seemed to be in a higher dimension. He could smell the dirt on the path and the leaves on the trees. The air around him seemed to have a different smell. At the fork, the three pathways had different scents. He could not explain it, but one path smelled better than the other paths. He continued down the path that had the best scent. It was the obvious choice. He realized that this must be some test, but a test for what?
Traveler reached another fork in the path. This time, it had four different pathways. He stood for a moment and sniffed the air, and nothing smelled different.
“Why can’t everything I do be easy?” He said to himself.
He needed to find someway to fill the prolonged quietness. He stood there staring at the four pathways desperately trying to find clues. Then...
Swoooish!
A feathery touch graced across Traveler’s ear. To a common person, it could have felt like a fly buzzing around the ear, but he essentially avoided a deadly blow to the back of his head. He instinctually avoided the fatal shot and hit the ground preparing for any looming ambushes. There was a momentary silence; he spied to the left then the right. Just above his eyesight, the arrow attached itself to the tree’s trunk. He pushed himself up, hopped to his feet, and walked over to the arrow, which happen to have a note wrapped around its shaft.
The arrow had a slick design. The feathers that guided the arrow had a spiral pattern with alternating colors of red and black. He gripped the arrow and gave it a strong tug. It did not move. He tightened his grip and pulled even harder. It still did not budge. Traveler had inadvertently gotten himself involved in a tug-of-war match with the tree’s trunk. Frustrated, he placed his feet on the trunk trying to create more force. Now gripping with two hands, he closed his eyes and pulled with all his might. His bulging undeveloped bicep muscles tensed up and the beads of sweat dripped down his neck. He sounded like a wounded moose trying to pull himself out of the mud. Suddenly, gravity forced him to the ground. After an intense struggle, he managed to uncork the arrow. He raised his hands in victory and gave a few words of unsportsmanlike behavior, which cannot be mentioned in this story.
With the victorious prize in his possession, he separated the note. In one hand, enclosed the brown tattered note, and on the other hand, clenched the shiny black shaft of the arrow with a red tip. For a moment, he could feel the arrow in his hand, but after a second look, the arrow dissolved into ashes and floated away with the wind. He unrolled the note looking forward to his prize.
Ut levissimo tenebrae of nox noctis dies et adveniens, sed adhuc remanere tempore crescit. Si adhuc ignarus stuck in principio sit amet.
“What! You have got to be kidding me! I DON’T KNOW HOW TO READ LATIN!” he yelled pumping his fist at the sky.
Traveler never got this agitated before, but with his recent victory, he now felt cheated with the negative outcome. Nothing was going his way and a person can only take so much. In his angry state of mind, he threw the note on the ground. With his hands on his hips, he stared at the four pathways and went straight into his newly created not caring mode. Unexpectedly, a gust of wind lifted the note up and into the air. It floated above Traveler’s head. He had the foresight to look up and noticed the writing had changed. The note dangled in the air as if it was teasing him. He reached up for the note that was just within his grasp and brought it back down to read it. It still had the Latin writing that haunted him in the beginning. He was just about to reenact his angry melodramatic monologue, but he stopped. He held the note up and found the writing had changed into something he could understand.
As the darkest of nights and the lightest of days comes and goes, still I remain as the time grows. If ye is still stuck without a thought, at the beginning is a good start.
Traveler’s eyes lit up. He stared at the big gray rock in his sights. He walked over and pretended to model for Rodin, which is one of Traveler’s favorite artists.
“Hmmm, the darkest of nights and lightest of days...,” his eyes moved up a little trying to analyze the riddle. “...at the beginning is a good start.”
He tapped his finger on his forehead and suddenly, his eyes lit up again.
“I got it; they must be talking about history.”
He looked at the four pathways and saw that one of them looked much different from the others. He could not explain but one of the paths looked more animated as if it was pulsing like a heartbeat. The choice did not seem obvious, but the pulsing path called to him as if it was sending out a hypnotic message. Traveler trusted his heart and stepped forward. A slight nervous trembling lingered as he continued his test, but his confidence soared when the note disappeared in his hands.
“I guess that is a good thing.”
After a few hours, Traveler found himself on his knee, gasping from thirst. He kept wondering if he went down the right path. He argued with himself thinking if he should backtrack, but powered through. Little by little, he crawled along the path hoping for an answer. He lifted his head occasionally making sure he did not direct his head into a tree. When he looked up for the third time, he saw a babbling brook.
“YES,” He said hoarsely to himself.
He did not have the energy to get up, so his other alternative was to crawl his way to the water source. He moved his arms and knees as fast as he could until...SLAM.
“Not again.” He said rubbing his head.
The dehydration decided to play tricks with his mind. There was nothing else to do, but keep moving and hoping to bring life back into his body.
Down that path, his eyes ventured upon another obstacle. The grassy opening was much like the previous ones; the two suns still beamed down on the fresh green grass with various sized grayish, white rocks in scattered random places. He was relieved to see the little grassy knoll. The only difference is that this opening had five different paths that forked out to several directions and a watery oasis off to the side. His eyes dilated while taking in the view of the wet salvation. He crawled as fast as he could toward the pond and submerged his head into the water. He drank the cool soothing liquid so fast that it went through his mouth and nose at the same time. For when that happened, he popped his head out and coughed out the rest of the water. He was not at all bothered by the moment.
The coughing was drowned out by a delightful melody coming from the tops of the trees. There was a large area of vibrant green leaves and bits of brown branches that stood with white doves perched singing their hearts out. They looked like white polka dots in a natural fabric pattern.
Traveler walked to the middle of the low grassy terrain. It looked just as nice as a putting green on a golf course. He noticed a sad looking tree. It was the weirdest tree he has ever seen, it had no leaves; it was just bare down to its dark brown bark. It looked malnourish and underdeveloped, however, this tree had a purpose. This particular tree was not used for any other purpose other than to be a perching station for the other doves. Yes, there stood five doves with different feather patterns than the ones on the treetops. Their tiny feet clenched on to the branch not moving an inch. The doves turned their heads looking in every direction. They each had their own patterns that resembled letters of the alphabet. It spelled the word “CAGED.”
“Maybe this has to do with the book, ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’.”
There was a metal bucket on each side of the tree hanging on a small nub. Inside, there was a sea of red berries filled halfway up.
“I guess I have to feed these birds.”
He carefully reached in and picked a berry. He had to be cautious because he did not know what to expect. He stared at the birds and noticed them looking at the berry. Traveler shifted his hand to the far right and the birds followed with their heads. Then, he reversed left and the birds’ heads did the same. He found it amusing, but that lasted for seconds. He flung the berry up with his thumb giving it the right amount of trajectory towards the group of birds. The nearest one, which happened to be the dove with the letter “D,” ate it with one big gulp.
After eating the berry, the bird did something majestic. They must have been specially trained birds because he fluttered his wings and opened his beak sprouting out sparks of light. Slowly, a series of musical notes pealed through the forest. The dove sang a perfectly pitched musical scale.
Traveler could not help but smile after hearing the elegant notes. However, his happy moment struck with an unforeseen interruption. Unexpectedly, two arrows shot out of the trees. Both arrows were aimed right at Traveler’s head. However, just before the attack, Traveler’s body vibrated causing his body to duck involuntarily for cover; the spastic reaction had a positive outcome. The two arrows narrowly missed his head but managed to give a small trim off his hair near his ears, a look that his barber could be proud of. From the dirt ground, he pushed himself up and brushed his hair back checking for a sign of blood. Glad that he was okay, he dusted himself off and pointed to the recently fed dove.
“Well, I shouldn’t feed that one again.”
He took a moment to reflect. He had heard that music before but he could not remember where or when. He decided to feed another bird. He grabbed another berry and threw it at the bird with an “A” on it. The bird sang a series of notes again and this time, three arrows came at him in different directions. He barely saw them coming and tried to jump out of the way. The arrows managed to graze him on his arm and leg. He grabbed his wounds and grimaced in pain.
“Okay. I definitely shouldn’t feed that bird.”
He knew the puzzle had to deal with music and it reminded him of the time his mother made him take music lessons. He wished he paid more attention.
Traveler’s mother went through a phase where she wanted one of her kids to learn music. Since Jake was involved with sports, that left Traveler to carry the load. His mother insisted that he learn to play the piano. Even with long hours of practice, he never enjoyed the piano. He could always find the right note to play, but his timing and coordination did not mix well. After a month of playing the piano, Traveler and his mother decided it was not for them.
“Hmmm, I fed the “D” and “A” bird. What do these two letters have in common with music?” Traveler said. “Since I heard musical scales, I think this has something to do with key signatures ...Hmmm the key of “D” has two sharps and the k