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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Kids
- Theme: Fairy Tales & Fantasy
- Subject: Adventure
- Published: 03/18/2015
Ezumalid and the Grahopi Desert
Born 2002, M, from Queen creek, United StatesIntroduction
Ezumalid, Rushai, and Methaldane land in a desert called the Grahopi Desert. Just as they are beginning to adjust to their surroundings, they are taken by merchants as slaves! Meanwhile, things aren’t going good for their friends either. There has been a betrayer and that has just made everything worse for Ezumalid and his friends.
Chapter 1: The Letter
It seemed Maila and her husband John were having a good time in King Kolion’s tower until Knight Phillip and Nathaniel came to their room. Sooner or later, King Kolion was mysteriously killed and was found dead in the town hall and after that, Nathaniel went missing. John and Maila were totally shocked. It all started when one day, a servant delivered a letter to the door. “What’s this?” John asked the servant. The servant shrugged, saying, “The letter must be very important.” The servant was one of the lanky type, had spectacles, and blond hair and a neat vest with dress pants. Then the servant left. “Weird. Very odd,” John muttered as he opened the letter, “it must be very important.” But this letter was more important than he expected as he read it out loud.
“Dear fellow citizens of King Kolion’s castle, John and Maila, and father and mother of the wizard Ezumalid …”
“WHAT? HOW DOES HE KNOW WE’RE…?” John jumped in surprise, but Maila advised him to calm down.
“Dear fellow citizens of King Kolion’s castle, John and Maila, and father and mother of the wizard Ezumalid,
I ADVISE you to get out of King Kolion’s castle as FAST as possible. As you know, there has been a previous scandal in the castle, with the kidnapping of Nathaniel and the murder of the king. Well, I did it. Now, now, I don’t want you to tell other advisers, otherwise, I’d kill you both…
“Kill us both?” Maila cried. “No, no, Maila, please, don’t cry. Let’s just go by the letter,” John looked at the neatly folded paper worriedly, “How’d he send this anyway?” Hmm, John thought, what about that servant? He did look suspicious. Well, never mind, just read it.
…and you’ll be of course, dead. So I know why I killed King Kolion. I am holding Knight Nathaniel hostage for a few questions, just a few, so a dreadfully advise you to come, or you won’t see your son Ezumalid, ever, ever, again.
“What’s he done with Ezumalid?” Maila cried. “I don’t know, I just don’t know,” John shook his head sadly.
As you see, since there now is the king’s son, King Huncas, that will mean I will have to kill him too if you don’t come. Now, there is a secret place beside a faraway village in the Burnode Mountains where many Indians are. If you think they are going to be friendly and nice, I advise you not. If you come, then, you might have your son back, and I might tell you some valuable information. Start at midnight and sneak away from the castle as fast as you can. Because if you don’t do this, you KNOW the consequences and you know what the consequences are. The instructions are inside. Proceed.
From,
Someone you might know.
“What if it’s a trap?” Maila asked worriedly. John took this thought thoughtfully and said, “Maybe, but why would he want to interrogate more people? He might give us some really valuable information.” “But you don’t know what this person is! You don’t know if he’ll really have your son, or even he does, will give us our son! Why would he want to give some valuable information?” Maila begged. “Do you want our son back, our own son?” John asked, “If you don’t, I’ll go by myself and put you at risk.” “Ok, okay, I’ll go! Just please, promise me everything will be fine,” Maila said. “It’s just…we’ve already lost enough.” Then she started sobbing. “Don’t worry, Maila, I’m sure we’ll get our son back and our home. Just have hope and faith. Don’t worry,” John embraced her and rubbed her shoulder to sooth her. “Just lie down,” he told her, “We’ll need to start as soon as possible.”
Later at night, when Maila was asleep, John decided to look at the instructions.
1. Rip these instructions as soon as you know them.
2. Pack all your things. Don’t worry. Everyone’s asleep, dreaming.
3. Go to the town hall. One of my friends is there.
4. My friend will guide you to a ship.
5. Be careful, enemies will probably not want you on that ship.
6. As you get off the ship, go to Omereg’s cabin. He’s a well-known wizard. Talk to him. He knows.
7. Go to the Goblin’s Goblet. They’ll give you a ticket to pass through the Wolf Den.
8. The Wolfs will able to ride you to a nearby village, a waterfall village invaded by axe-raiders.
9. Ask the water-fallers about the incident. They’ll give you a coin to pass through the Burnode Mountain Indian Village.
10. Burnodians will not be nice. Trust me. Ask them about the nearest cabin north of the village.
11. After you’ve told them, they’ll probably give you a guide to my cabin.
12. Meet me at sunset in a MONTH.
13. I’m afraid your son and his friends will be there too.
Wow, that’s a lot of steps, John thought, I better memorize it. So he woke up Maila and told her to memorize these steps and leave as fast as possible.
“Why not write it on a separate piece of paper?” she asked. “Well, he didn’t say that,” John sighed, “But maybe that’s okay.” So he tore up the old steps and wrote the new ones. Just as they were packed up, they were ready.
Chapter 2: What Desert is this?
Ezumalid woke up to see he was in a dry, vast, desert. Where am I, he thought. He looked at the sky. It was clear with no clouds. His feet were covered in…sand. He looked around. He was alone. Where were Methaldane and Rushai? Was he alone? How’d he get here? Was the hooded man on Burgode, the dragon, “the betrayer!” a Sermin? Perhaps, though… Only-suddenly, a huge figure burst out of the sand. It was Methaldane, his guardian dragon, yellow and golden, with an unconscious Rushai on his back. “Ezumalid!” Methaldane shook his head back and forth to shake the awful sand off. Then Rushai began waking up, coughed, and then fell asleep. “I’m afraid she’s very sick because of the sand,” Methaldane looked at her worriedly. Ezumalid was also worried. How sick was she? “Well, I’m glad you’re here. I was starting to think I was alone, you know. Where are we anyway?” Ezumalid asked. “I don’t know, I surely don’t know, young warlock. Maybe…in the Grahopi Desert,” Methaldane looked worried. “What’s the Grahopi Desert?” Ezumalid asked, panicked. “It’s where…merchants take people and sell them as slaves. That’s why I’m so worried,” said Methaldane. Rushai coughed out some sand and muttered something. “What’d she say?” Ezumalid asked. “I surely don’t know. She doesn’t look well or feel well,” Methaldane looked back at her.
“I’m already thirsty,” Ezumalid said, “Where’s some water?” “You’re a wizard boy, aren’t you?” Methaldane raised his eyebrow. “Well, I never thought about it,” Ezumalid was embarrassed, “I’m just used to being original.” So he tried with all his might to make some water appear in front of him. He opened his eyes. No water. What? “Well…?” Methaldane looked parched too. “The water…it’s…well, I couldn’t make it appear,” Ezumalid stuttered, looking down. “COULDN’T MAKE IT APPEAR? WHAT?” Methaldane looked all around Ezumalid, pacing back and forth. “Maybe you’re weak,” he checked Ezumalid’s muscles. “Hey! I’m not weak!” Ezumalid said, defending his self, “I just feel…I’m different,” Ezumalid said, shaking away Methaldane, “It feels…well, no magic is allowed here,” he looked around the vast desert. “Let’s find a human inhabitation then. Come on,” Methaldane ushered for Ezumalid to get on and they flew through the vast desert.
They didn’t get to any inhabitation at all and Methaldane and Ezumalid were parched. Methaldane crash-landed, leaving Ezumalid’s mouth full of sand and Rushai’s face that was closed to the sky. Suddenly, Ezumalid felt an utter sensation. “Come on Horas, I wonder if they’re useful,” a voice said and then left where Ezumalid was. Ezumalid’s eyes fluttered open. He was tied up in a chair in a tent that consisted of a bed, a sink, and closet. Rushai was tied up onto the bed and wasn’t moving. “Rushai!” Ezumalid whispered. “Rushai!” Then he heard a hoarse coughing and gagging. “Rushai!” Ezumalid called out again, “Rushai!” “Who-at? WH…at…do...you want?” Rushai managed to say something at least. “It’s me! Ezumalid!” Ezumalid whispered, “What happened?” “How do I know?” Rushai looked up at the roof of the tent and fell asleep. Sooner or later, he also was asleep. When he woke up, he kept his eyes closed when he heard quiet voices, “Just make sure they’re tied up and put them in one of those deserted caves. They’ll starve to death if they don’t survive. Hahaha!” “Yes, sir,” replied the other voice, “But what will we do with them, sir? Sell them as slaves?” “Good idea, Hermey!” the first voice laughed. “Melik, should we wake them up?” The second voice asked. “Maybe…not until General Gardig comes. Come on, let’s leave this place.” Ezumalid then heard the voices leaving. They were going to sell them as slaves! Ezumalid needed to escape. How, though? Magic was somehow not allowed here. He opened his eyes and looked around. There was no way out. He was tied head to foot on a bed and couldn’t move. Methaldane was gone. Where was he? Ezumalid wondered what could’ve happened. He was hungry and his mouth was sore.
His sword and satchel were gone, which meant Cat was gone too. Cat was a pet he had found in one of the forests by where the hermit Nojay had lived. Nojay hadn’t been very nice - he had tied him up and tried to make Cat part of cat-soup. Luckily, Brianna, one of his friends, who used to be alone in the forest, and was an Indian, saved him. What could he do? Meow, Ezumalid heard a voice in his mind. Meowwww! Ezumalid must have been hearing things because he couldn’t see Cat. Suddenly, he felt a sharp tugging on the ropes bound to his hands. “Who…?” Ezumalid couldn’t see on back of him. “Shh, into the closet!” His “rescuer” ordered. Ezumalid obeyed the person’s orders, but somehow didn’t trust him. Suddenly, he felt a sharp sting. “Keep moving!” It sounded like a man’s voice. It wouldn’t be any of his friends. “There’s a trap door in the closet,” the man said, “Now go.” Ezumalid looked around on back of him. Only a dark shape which he didn’t know what it was. Was it the man? Ezumalid shrugged to himself. He looked around the closet. The only bits and parts he could see was the plaster on the walls and the wood floor. He pushed his foot all over the floor, but he couldn’t fell any “trap door.” “Where is it?” Ezumalid asked the man. No reply. He looked around to see no one was there. He pushed on the closet door and tried the knob. It was locked! The man had locked him in! What a trickster! Ezumalid tried the walls next, but there seemed no sign of any trap door. After so many tries hitting the wall with his hands, back, and shoulders, after so many tries, it just came with bruises. Ezumalid shrank to the floor. What could he do? Where was he? Was this a dream? Maybe he and his friends had fallen past some meaaan slave traders! Everything had happened so fast, he couldn’t tell what had happened. Ezumalid tried to trace his mind back to the…well…where he once had been. See! I can’t remember anything; Ezumalid put his hands to his head in frustration. Where did he come from? Where was he? Don’t let that control you, a thought came in his head.
We are the Xchevings. We can help you, they said. No! Ezumalid knew these thoughts. These awful creatures tried to torment him. He knew from somewhere…he just didn’t remember. Don’t worry; we can help you, an Xcheving tormented. Nooo! Ezumalid battled these thoughts that tried to get in his head. Frustrated, he banged the closet door and screamed, “Help!” He heard voices on the other side, but he couldn’t understand what they were saying. Bang! Bang! Ezumalid threw his fists on the door of the closet. Bang, bang! Suddenly, he heard laughing on the other side and the turn of a key. Suddenly, it seemed the whole closet collapsed and Ezumalid fell onto a cold cave floor. Then there was more laughing. Ezumalid could tell he had been a dream and was unconsciously hitting the closet. He’d been…he was confused. “As you can see, he has no magic in this place,” a voice said. Ezumalid looked up to see a fist land to his head to lose consciousness and then there was a slight ringing in his head.
Ezumalid woke up to be in a dark cold cave. He felt the ground on the cave floor. It was really cold. He was alone. He looked around the cave. There were dark rocky cave walls and there was no way to get out of there. Now he was chained head to foot. He shivered. Where was he? Where were his friends? He must have been drugged and carried here in a crate. That was probably it, he thought. Suddenly, he saw a figure coming toward him. “I guess I’m the guard now. ‘Tough luck.’ Wow. I love this,” the figure said. Ezumalid looked around the cave. There were crevices here and there, but no large enough to land in and the cave was full of rocks on the ceiling that were diamond shaped and could fall right on you. The walls had a rocky feeling too, so with the floor. Then Ezumalid realized a guard was coming toward him. He looked big and bulky to be a guard, but he did look cautious. The guard stood alert. Then he rested. “I won’t fall asleep. I won’t fall asleep,” the guard promised himself and sat there for a long time. “I’m bored,” Ezumalid said, “Anything to eat?” “Nope,” the guard chuckled, chewing on a piece of bread. “Uh, well, anything to drink?” “Nope,” the guard replied, taking a swig of water from his water bottle, “Hah! It’s a cave! So why would there be?” “Oh, so, where’d you get the food? Where’d you get the water?” Ezumalid needled.
The guard burst into a fit of anger, turning red. “Why?” Ezumalid went on. Then the guard got up and stomped away in anger. That was Ezumalid’s whole plan. He tried to find the biggest rock. After carefully searching the cave floor near him while still chained, he found a medium-sized rock. Well, at least it’s a rock! Ezumalid thought and started hacking at his handcuffs. By the end of the day, Ezumalid had made a small dent in his handcuffs. Ezumalid didn’t know whether it was day or night, but he was tired and went to sleep. When he woke up, he felt the shiver of the cave come back again. He was about to start hitting the rock at the handcuffs again when he heard slight footsteps coming toward him in the cave. Tip-tap, tap-tap, tap-tap, tap-tap. He suddenly saw a girl his age coming toward him with a tray of food. “What’s your name?” Ezumalid asked. “None of your business,” the girl looked at him sadly. She looked familiar. “I’ve only come here to give you some food.” She then decided to walk away. “I’ve got a guard posted at the door,” she threw a key at him, “You better be careful.” Ezumalid nodded in thanks. He was going to get out of here!
This time, he got a better look at her. She had brown hair, dark olive skin, rags basically for clothes and some worn out boots. “Thanks,” Ezumalid thanked her. She nodded and walked away. Nice girl, Ezumalid thought as he unlocked his handcuffs, how could these bad guys trust her? Just thinking of her having rags as clothes, he looked at himself. He had the same dirty blue robe and worn out boots. He smelled himself. Ugh. He hadn’t taken a bath in well, weeks, and his hair felt itchy and full of fleas. How could you ever get bathed in the desert? He looked at the food the girl had given him. So Ezumalid started eating with the wooden utensils that were on the tray. Suddenly, he heard footsteps after he was eating. “Done?” the guard who had guarded Ezumalid last night was there, “Now time to talk to Melik.” Ezumalid really wasn’t escaping! Come on! Ezumalid remembered he had been tied up in the tent in the desert and hearing voices talking about this “Melik” and “Sergeant Gardig.” He looked at the guard to see he had a black bushy beard and black eyebrows. He had a tan and had a black and red uniform on. Ezumalid hadn’t seen this yesterday, but one of the guard’s eyes was closed shut. “Who’s Melik?” Ezumalid asked. “Oh, you’ll see,” the man laughed. Then Ezumalid asked, “Why is your eye shut?” “Hey, sometimes, if you don’t know how to keep out of your business, you’ll get a black eye like me,” he pointed at his eye. Ezumalid looked away. The man laughed, “My name’s Yuvu, what’s yours?” “Uh…Dion,” Ezumalid came up with his friend’s name because he didn’t really want to reveal who he really was. “I think you’re lying. We have one of the Sermins here.” “Oh, well, okay.” Ezumalid tried to stay cool, but he was nervous. “Nervous, huh? Just tell the truth!” The guard named Yuvu said. The man locked the handcuffs on Ezumalid’s hands and led him through the cave, pushing him the whole way.
In a jolt, Ezumalid kicked the guard in the stomach and wrestled him to the ground. Before Ezumalid could grab him, unfortunately, the guard called, “HELP!” Ezumalid decided the only choice was to run. As he ran, he encountered many dead ends, his heart beating faster than normal. The guard’s footsteps could be heard along with the other guards. “He ran away!” Yuvu told them, “He tried to tackle me!” Ezumalid ran through many cave tunnels but it seemed impossible. Ezumalid panted and decided to sit down on a near rock, looking for a way out. There were cracks here and there, but no way out. It was a dead end. How could Ezumalid get out of here? Without his magic, he couldn’t do anything. Or so he thought. He could easily get captured by all of them again. Then something caught his eye. There was a tiny cave hole the size of Mantala, Brianna and Wenalt’s brother he could fit in. “He’s probably down here! Come on!” He heard the guard’s shouts from about a tunnel away. Hurry, hurry! Ezumalid thought. If he squeezed in there, that could lead to another entrance, leading him to an escape. Good idea, Ezumalid rewarded him and tried to fit him in leg-first, but that didn’t work. “I think he’s here!” The guards saw him and came in the tunnel. “He’s escaping!” Yuvu shouted in anger. So he quickly tried head-first and it finally worked, after almost a minute of trial and error. “We found him!” Yuvu shouted and tried to pull Ezumalid’s legs back. “NO!” Ezumalid shouted and kicked Yuvu. Finally, he got to the other side and laying down on the cave floor, he felt triumphant. “It’s not over yet, EZUMALID!” Yuvu told him. How did he know his name? Suddenly, there were ten great thumps that followed with a crash as rocks tumbled down on Ezumalid as the cave wall collapsed. In front of Ezumalid was an army of axe-raiders.
Chapter 3: Dragon’s Prisoner
“Get on my back,” Burgode the dragon ordered. Brianna and Mantala now were prisoners of the dragon to find King Merceed. Brianna told Mantala secretly not to mention Dion, in case if he would be strong enough to…save him again. Their friend Holik had been killed by Burgode, and they were now finding some type of tablet that he had given the elven king. What had King Merceed not told them? Mantala and Brianna climbed on Burgode’s back and Burgode flew off. The landscape changed as they flew over the battlefield. They could still see some axe-raiders and elves fighting…but no sign of Ezumalid, Rushai, or Methaldane. The flight was getting more tiresome as dusk arrived in the night sky. Trees swarmed around the panorama as nocturnal animals prowled about. Soon, the hill of forests came to a cessation and the ground increased, leading to a precipice. “We’ll stop to rest on the cliff tonight,” Burgode said. “What?” Brianna and Mantala couldn’t believe it! “There are wolves by the precipice! Are you insane?” Brianna couldn’t believe it. “Don’t worry,” Burgode riled, “I’ll protect you!” “I need no protection,” Brianna reached for her staff, realizing it was gone. She had probably left it back at Burgode’s castle. “Okay then, bye, bye Brianna!” Burgode held onto Mantala with a claw and deliberately slipped Brianna off his back as she trundled down the hill toward the cliff. “Brianna, no!” Mantala cried as Burgode became a spot in the distance. Brianna tripped and landed on a tall ridge of the precipice. She was ensnared within the cliff and if she climbed to the cliff she could slip or die.
Ezumalid and the Grahopi Desert(ROBERT)
Introduction
Ezumalid, Rushai, and Methaldane land in a desert called the Grahopi Desert. Just as they are beginning to adjust to their surroundings, they are taken by merchants as slaves! Meanwhile, things aren’t going good for their friends either. There has been a betrayer and that has just made everything worse for Ezumalid and his friends.
Chapter 1: The Letter
It seemed Maila and her husband John were having a good time in King Kolion’s tower until Knight Phillip and Nathaniel came to their room. Sooner or later, King Kolion was mysteriously killed and was found dead in the town hall and after that, Nathaniel went missing. John and Maila were totally shocked. It all started when one day, a servant delivered a letter to the door. “What’s this?” John asked the servant. The servant shrugged, saying, “The letter must be very important.” The servant was one of the lanky type, had spectacles, and blond hair and a neat vest with dress pants. Then the servant left. “Weird. Very odd,” John muttered as he opened the letter, “it must be very important.” But this letter was more important than he expected as he read it out loud.
“Dear fellow citizens of King Kolion’s castle, John and Maila, and father and mother of the wizard Ezumalid …”
“WHAT? HOW DOES HE KNOW WE’RE…?” John jumped in surprise, but Maila advised him to calm down.
“Dear fellow citizens of King Kolion’s castle, John and Maila, and father and mother of the wizard Ezumalid,
I ADVISE you to get out of King Kolion’s castle as FAST as possible. As you know, there has been a previous scandal in the castle, with the kidnapping of Nathaniel and the murder of the king. Well, I did it. Now, now, I don’t want you to tell other advisers, otherwise, I’d kill you both…
“Kill us both?” Maila cried. “No, no, Maila, please, don’t cry. Let’s just go by the letter,” John looked at the neatly folded paper worriedly, “How’d he send this anyway?” Hmm, John thought, what about that servant? He did look suspicious. Well, never mind, just read it.
…and you’ll be of course, dead. So I know why I killed King Kolion. I am holding Knight Nathaniel hostage for a few questions, just a few, so a dreadfully advise you to come, or you won’t see your son Ezumalid, ever, ever, again.
“What’s he done with Ezumalid?” Maila cried. “I don’t know, I just don’t know,” John shook his head sadly.
As you see, since there now is the king’s son, King Huncas, that will mean I will have to kill him too if you don’t come. Now, there is a secret place beside a faraway village in the Burnode Mountains where many Indians are. If you think they are going to be friendly and nice, I advise you not. If you come, then, you might have your son back, and I might tell you some valuable information. Start at midnight and sneak away from the castle as fast as you can. Because if you don’t do this, you KNOW the consequences and you know what the consequences are. The instructions are inside. Proceed.
From,
Someone you might know.
“What if it’s a trap?” Maila asked worriedly. John took this thought thoughtfully and said, “Maybe, but why would he want to interrogate more people? He might give us some really valuable information.” “But you don’t know what this person is! You don’t know if he’ll really have your son, or even he does, will give us our son! Why would he want to give some valuable information?” Maila begged. “Do you want our son back, our own son?” John asked, “If you don’t, I’ll go by myself and put you at risk.” “Ok, okay, I’ll go! Just please, promise me everything will be fine,” Maila said. “It’s just…we’ve already lost enough.” Then she started sobbing. “Don’t worry, Maila, I’m sure we’ll get our son back and our home. Just have hope and faith. Don’t worry,” John embraced her and rubbed her shoulder to sooth her. “Just lie down,” he told her, “We’ll need to start as soon as possible.”
Later at night, when Maila was asleep, John decided to look at the instructions.
1. Rip these instructions as soon as you know them.
2. Pack all your things. Don’t worry. Everyone’s asleep, dreaming.
3. Go to the town hall. One of my friends is there.
4. My friend will guide you to a ship.
5. Be careful, enemies will probably not want you on that ship.
6. As you get off the ship, go to Omereg’s cabin. He’s a well-known wizard. Talk to him. He knows.
7. Go to the Goblin’s Goblet. They’ll give you a ticket to pass through the Wolf Den.
8. The Wolfs will able to ride you to a nearby village, a waterfall village invaded by axe-raiders.
9. Ask the water-fallers about the incident. They’ll give you a coin to pass through the Burnode Mountain Indian Village.
10. Burnodians will not be nice. Trust me. Ask them about the nearest cabin north of the village.
11. After you’ve told them, they’ll probably give you a guide to my cabin.
12. Meet me at sunset in a MONTH.
13. I’m afraid your son and his friends will be there too.
Wow, that’s a lot of steps, John thought, I better memorize it. So he woke up Maila and told her to memorize these steps and leave as fast as possible.
“Why not write it on a separate piece of paper?” she asked. “Well, he didn’t say that,” John sighed, “But maybe that’s okay.” So he tore up the old steps and wrote the new ones. Just as they were packed up, they were ready.
Chapter 2: What Desert is this?
Ezumalid woke up to see he was in a dry, vast, desert. Where am I, he thought. He looked at the sky. It was clear with no clouds. His feet were covered in…sand. He looked around. He was alone. Where were Methaldane and Rushai? Was he alone? How’d he get here? Was the hooded man on Burgode, the dragon, “the betrayer!” a Sermin? Perhaps, though… Only-suddenly, a huge figure burst out of the sand. It was Methaldane, his guardian dragon, yellow and golden, with an unconscious Rushai on his back. “Ezumalid!” Methaldane shook his head back and forth to shake the awful sand off. Then Rushai began waking up, coughed, and then fell asleep. “I’m afraid she’s very sick because of the sand,” Methaldane looked at her worriedly. Ezumalid was also worried. How sick was she? “Well, I’m glad you’re here. I was starting to think I was alone, you know. Where are we anyway?” Ezumalid asked. “I don’t know, I surely don’t know, young warlock. Maybe…in the Grahopi Desert,” Methaldane looked worried. “What’s the Grahopi Desert?” Ezumalid asked, panicked. “It’s where…merchants take people and sell them as slaves. That’s why I’m so worried,” said Methaldane. Rushai coughed out some sand and muttered something. “What’d she say?” Ezumalid asked. “I surely don’t know. She doesn’t look well or feel well,” Methaldane looked back at her.
“I’m already thirsty,” Ezumalid said, “Where’s some water?” “You’re a wizard boy, aren’t you?” Methaldane raised his eyebrow. “Well, I never thought about it,” Ezumalid was embarrassed, “I’m just used to being original.” So he tried with all his might to make some water appear in front of him. He opened his eyes. No water. What? “Well…?” Methaldane looked parched too. “The water…it’s…well, I couldn’t make it appear,” Ezumalid stuttered, looking down. “COULDN’T MAKE IT APPEAR? WHAT?” Methaldane looked all around Ezumalid, pacing back and forth. “Maybe you’re weak,” he checked Ezumalid’s muscles. “Hey! I’m not weak!” Ezumalid said, defending his self, “I just feel…I’m different,” Ezumalid said, shaking away Methaldane, “It feels…well, no magic is allowed here,” he looked around the vast desert. “Let’s find a human inhabitation then. Come on,” Methaldane ushered for Ezumalid to get on and they flew through the vast desert.
They didn’t get to any inhabitation at all and Methaldane and Ezumalid were parched. Methaldane crash-landed, leaving Ezumalid’s mouth full of sand and Rushai’s face that was closed to the sky. Suddenly, Ezumalid felt an utter sensation. “Come on Horas, I wonder if they’re useful,” a voice said and then left where Ezumalid was. Ezumalid’s eyes fluttered open. He was tied up in a chair in a tent that consisted of a bed, a sink, and closet. Rushai was tied up onto the bed and wasn’t moving. “Rushai!” Ezumalid whispered. “Rushai!” Then he heard a hoarse coughing and gagging. “Rushai!” Ezumalid called out again, “Rushai!” “Who-at? WH…at…do...you want?” Rushai managed to say something at least. “It’s me! Ezumalid!” Ezumalid whispered, “What happened?” “How do I know?” Rushai looked up at the roof of the tent and fell asleep. Sooner or later, he also was asleep. When he woke up, he kept his eyes closed when he heard quiet voices, “Just make sure they’re tied up and put them in one of those deserted caves. They’ll starve to death if they don’t survive. Hahaha!” “Yes, sir,” replied the other voice, “But what will we do with them, sir? Sell them as slaves?” “Good idea, Hermey!” the first voice laughed. “Melik, should we wake them up?” The second voice asked. “Maybe…not until General Gardig comes. Come on, let’s leave this place.” Ezumalid then heard the voices leaving. They were going to sell them as slaves! Ezumalid needed to escape. How, though? Magic was somehow not allowed here. He opened his eyes and looked around. There was no way out. He was tied head to foot on a bed and couldn’t move. Methaldane was gone. Where was he? Ezumalid wondered what could’ve happened. He was hungry and his mouth was sore.
His sword and satchel were gone, which meant Cat was gone too. Cat was a pet he had found in one of the forests by where the hermit Nojay had lived. Nojay hadn’t been very nice - he had tied him up and tried to make Cat part of cat-soup. Luckily, Brianna, one of his friends, who used to be alone in the forest, and was an Indian, saved him. What could he do? Meow, Ezumalid heard a voice in his mind. Meowwww! Ezumalid must have been hearing things because he couldn’t see Cat. Suddenly, he felt a sharp tugging on the ropes bound to his hands. “Who…?” Ezumalid couldn’t see on back of him. “Shh, into the closet!” His “rescuer” ordered. Ezumalid obeyed the person’s orders, but somehow didn’t trust him. Suddenly, he felt a sharp sting. “Keep moving!” It sounded like a man’s voice. It wouldn’t be any of his friends. “There’s a trap door in the closet,” the man said, “Now go.” Ezumalid looked around on back of him. Only a dark shape which he didn’t know what it was. Was it the man? Ezumalid shrugged to himself. He looked around the closet. The only bits and parts he could see was the plaster on the walls and the wood floor. He pushed his foot all over the floor, but he couldn’t fell any “trap door.” “Where is it?” Ezumalid asked the man. No reply. He looked around to see no one was there. He pushed on the closet door and tried the knob. It was locked! The man had locked him in! What a trickster! Ezumalid tried the walls next, but there seemed no sign of any trap door. After so many tries hitting the wall with his hands, back, and shoulders, after so many tries, it just came with bruises. Ezumalid shrank to the floor. What could he do? Where was he? Was this a dream? Maybe he and his friends had fallen past some meaaan slave traders! Everything had happened so fast, he couldn’t tell what had happened. Ezumalid tried to trace his mind back to the…well…where he once had been. See! I can’t remember anything; Ezumalid put his hands to his head in frustration. Where did he come from? Where was he? Don’t let that control you, a thought came in his head.
We are the Xchevings. We can help you, they said. No! Ezumalid knew these thoughts. These awful creatures tried to torment him. He knew from somewhere…he just didn’t remember. Don’t worry; we can help you, an Xcheving tormented. Nooo! Ezumalid battled these thoughts that tried to get in his head. Frustrated, he banged the closet door and screamed, “Help!” He heard voices on the other side, but he couldn’t understand what they were saying. Bang! Bang! Ezumalid threw his fists on the door of the closet. Bang, bang! Suddenly, he heard laughing on the other side and the turn of a key. Suddenly, it seemed the whole closet collapsed and Ezumalid fell onto a cold cave floor. Then there was more laughing. Ezumalid could tell he had been a dream and was unconsciously hitting the closet. He’d been…he was confused. “As you can see, he has no magic in this place,” a voice said. Ezumalid looked up to see a fist land to his head to lose consciousness and then there was a slight ringing in his head.
Ezumalid woke up to be in a dark cold cave. He felt the ground on the cave floor. It was really cold. He was alone. He looked around the cave. There were dark rocky cave walls and there was no way to get out of there. Now he was chained head to foot. He shivered. Where was he? Where were his friends? He must have been drugged and carried here in a crate. That was probably it, he thought. Suddenly, he saw a figure coming toward him. “I guess I’m the guard now. ‘Tough luck.’ Wow. I love this,” the figure said. Ezumalid looked around the cave. There were crevices here and there, but no large enough to land in and the cave was full of rocks on the ceiling that were diamond shaped and could fall right on you. The walls had a rocky feeling too, so with the floor. Then Ezumalid realized a guard was coming toward him. He looked big and bulky to be a guard, but he did look cautious. The guard stood alert. Then he rested. “I won’t fall asleep. I won’t fall asleep,” the guard promised himself and sat there for a long time. “I’m bored,” Ezumalid said, “Anything to eat?” “Nope,” the guard chuckled, chewing on a piece of bread. “Uh, well, anything to drink?” “Nope,” the guard replied, taking a swig of water from his water bottle, “Hah! It’s a cave! So why would there be?” “Oh, so, where’d you get the food? Where’d you get the water?” Ezumalid needled.
The guard burst into a fit of anger, turning red. “Why?” Ezumalid went on. Then the guard got up and stomped away in anger. That was Ezumalid’s whole plan. He tried to find the biggest rock. After carefully searching the cave floor near him while still chained, he found a medium-sized rock. Well, at least it’s a rock! Ezumalid thought and started hacking at his handcuffs. By the end of the day, Ezumalid had made a small dent in his handcuffs. Ezumalid didn’t know whether it was day or night, but he was tired and went to sleep. When he woke up, he felt the shiver of the cave come back again. He was about to start hitting the rock at the handcuffs again when he heard slight footsteps coming toward him in the cave. Tip-tap, tap-tap, tap-tap, tap-tap. He suddenly saw a girl his age coming toward him with a tray of food. “What’s your name?” Ezumalid asked. “None of your business,” the girl looked at him sadly. She looked familiar. “I’ve only come here to give you some food.” She then decided to walk away. “I’ve got a guard posted at the door,” she threw a key at him, “You better be careful.” Ezumalid nodded in thanks. He was going to get out of here!
This time, he got a better look at her. She had brown hair, dark olive skin, rags basically for clothes and some worn out boots. “Thanks,” Ezumalid thanked her. She nodded and walked away. Nice girl, Ezumalid thought as he unlocked his handcuffs, how could these bad guys trust her? Just thinking of her having rags as clothes, he looked at himself. He had the same dirty blue robe and worn out boots. He smelled himself. Ugh. He hadn’t taken a bath in well, weeks, and his hair felt itchy and full of fleas. How could you ever get bathed in the desert? He looked at the food the girl had given him. So Ezumalid started eating with the wooden utensils that were on the tray. Suddenly, he heard footsteps after he was eating. “Done?” the guard who had guarded Ezumalid last night was there, “Now time to talk to Melik.” Ezumalid really wasn’t escaping! Come on! Ezumalid remembered he had been tied up in the tent in the desert and hearing voices talking about this “Melik” and “Sergeant Gardig.” He looked at the guard to see he had a black bushy beard and black eyebrows. He had a tan and had a black and red uniform on. Ezumalid hadn’t seen this yesterday, but one of the guard’s eyes was closed shut. “Who’s Melik?” Ezumalid asked. “Oh, you’ll see,” the man laughed. Then Ezumalid asked, “Why is your eye shut?” “Hey, sometimes, if you don’t know how to keep out of your business, you’ll get a black eye like me,” he pointed at his eye. Ezumalid looked away. The man laughed, “My name’s Yuvu, what’s yours?” “Uh…Dion,” Ezumalid came up with his friend’s name because he didn’t really want to reveal who he really was. “I think you’re lying. We have one of the Sermins here.” “Oh, well, okay.” Ezumalid tried to stay cool, but he was nervous. “Nervous, huh? Just tell the truth!” The guard named Yuvu said. The man locked the handcuffs on Ezumalid’s hands and led him through the cave, pushing him the whole way.
In a jolt, Ezumalid kicked the guard in the stomach and wrestled him to the ground. Before Ezumalid could grab him, unfortunately, the guard called, “HELP!” Ezumalid decided the only choice was to run. As he ran, he encountered many dead ends, his heart beating faster than normal. The guard’s footsteps could be heard along with the other guards. “He ran away!” Yuvu told them, “He tried to tackle me!” Ezumalid ran through many cave tunnels but it seemed impossible. Ezumalid panted and decided to sit down on a near rock, looking for a way out. There were cracks here and there, but no way out. It was a dead end. How could Ezumalid get out of here? Without his magic, he couldn’t do anything. Or so he thought. He could easily get captured by all of them again. Then something caught his eye. There was a tiny cave hole the size of Mantala, Brianna and Wenalt’s brother he could fit in. “He’s probably down here! Come on!” He heard the guard’s shouts from about a tunnel away. Hurry, hurry! Ezumalid thought. If he squeezed in there, that could lead to another entrance, leading him to an escape. Good idea, Ezumalid rewarded him and tried to fit him in leg-first, but that didn’t work. “I think he’s here!” The guards saw him and came in the tunnel. “He’s escaping!” Yuvu shouted in anger. So he quickly tried head-first and it finally worked, after almost a minute of trial and error. “We found him!” Yuvu shouted and tried to pull Ezumalid’s legs back. “NO!” Ezumalid shouted and kicked Yuvu. Finally, he got to the other side and laying down on the cave floor, he felt triumphant. “It’s not over yet, EZUMALID!” Yuvu told him. How did he know his name? Suddenly, there were ten great thumps that followed with a crash as rocks tumbled down on Ezumalid as the cave wall collapsed. In front of Ezumalid was an army of axe-raiders.
Chapter 3: Dragon’s Prisoner
“Get on my back,” Burgode the dragon ordered. Brianna and Mantala now were prisoners of the dragon to find King Merceed. Brianna told Mantala secretly not to mention Dion, in case if he would be strong enough to…save him again. Their friend Holik had been killed by Burgode, and they were now finding some type of tablet that he had given the elven king. What had King Merceed not told them? Mantala and Brianna climbed on Burgode’s back and Burgode flew off. The landscape changed as they flew over the battlefield. They could still see some axe-raiders and elves fighting…but no sign of Ezumalid, Rushai, or Methaldane. The flight was getting more tiresome as dusk arrived in the night sky. Trees swarmed around the panorama as nocturnal animals prowled about. Soon, the hill of forests came to a cessation and the ground increased, leading to a precipice. “We’ll stop to rest on the cliff tonight,” Burgode said. “What?” Brianna and Mantala couldn’t believe it! “There are wolves by the precipice! Are you insane?” Brianna couldn’t believe it. “Don’t worry,” Burgode riled, “I’ll protect you!” “I need no protection,” Brianna reached for her staff, realizing it was gone. She had probably left it back at Burgode’s castle. “Okay then, bye, bye Brianna!” Burgode held onto Mantala with a claw and deliberately slipped Brianna off his back as she trundled down the hill toward the cliff. “Brianna, no!” Mantala cried as Burgode became a spot in the distance. Brianna tripped and landed on a tall ridge of the precipice. She was ensnared within the cliff and if she climbed to the cliff she could slip or die.
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