Defenders of Kron - The Black Dragon (21 page)

“I know you!” the Nome said.

“Of course you know me, you stole my cotton candy” Ony said angrily.

“Oh, it must be Cully, he has a weakness for sweets. I’m Bo. I apologize on his behalf” the Nome grinned at Ony.

Dan stepped forward. “How did you end up here Bo?”

“Oh, Sir Dan! It’s so nice to see you” said Bo. “We were all captured Sir. It was horrible, horrible” the Nome started to cry loudly.

“Don’t be so loud, the Lurgs will hear you” said Belster who was watching the little creature from a distance.

The Nome stopped crying and stared to sob silently.

“What happened? Is Alfadon alright?” asked Dan.

“They have taken him, sir. Taken him to Mordok, the Dark Wizard”

“Mordok!” exclaimed Ony.

“Yes sir, this is one of Mordok’s abode” the Nome stared to sob again.

“Get a hold on yourself” said Dan “And tell us everything. How did this happen? Alfadon was at the Fairyland, where you with him?”

“Yes sir, we were at Fairyland. It was so beautiful, golden fruits, silver trees, glowing plants and soft cloud beds to sleep on” The Nome said lost in dreamy thoughts.

“Get to the point” Ony said sternly.

“Oh yes.. yes.. everything was going so well and then on the third day, everything became dark, the Lurgs attacked,  but they were not alone . The Dark wizard was leading them” said the Nome. “It all happened so fast, the Fairies couldn’t do anything. Nobody was prepared for the attack and then they destroyed Fairyland and took the stone away.”

“Took stone?” asked Dan.

“The Sicil stone of Merthyl” The Nome said with his head hung down.

“What? That is not possible. That stone is guarded with many charms and spells” said Dan “It’s impossible to break them”

“What’s this Sicil stone of Merthyl?” asked Belster who was confused now.

“It is the Sicil stone of the great wizard Merthyl. The stone has many powers including the powers of bringing back the dead. It became a thing of dispute when the Dark Wizards wanted it for themselves. So the elder wizards decided to hide it with the Fairies because they are the only ones whose charms were unbreakable” said Dan.

“So, Mordok wanted the powers for himself?” asked Ony.

“It could be. But since Alfadon said that Mordok had joined hands with Zorath; I do not have a good feeling about all this” said Dan.

“We have to stop Mordok and bring the stone back. The possession of the stone will make him more powerful” said Belster after some thinking.

“Yes, it’s unfortunate. We have to do something. Let’s go” Dan started to walk away.

“What about me sir? Please don’t leave the poor Nome all alone here. The Lurgs are so horrible with it” Bo made a sad face.

“Oh sure, Ony take him out” said Dan.

“Stand back” said Ony and with a big thrust he brought the door down. “There you go, you are welcome!”

The Nome came out happily and followed them through the passage looking around for the Lurgs. Soon, they came to a narrow passage and halted.

“Do you know where Mordok lives?” Dan asked Bo.

The Nome shook his head in a ‘no’.  “Never been there” he said.

“Then there is only one way to know it, got any of your explosives left?” Dan asked Bo. The Nome was so happy that he took out a few small red balls out of its pocket and showed it to Dan.

“Throw them into the passage, let them explode” Dan said with a smile.

“Wait! What are you saying? That will bring the Lurgs here” Belster said panicking.

“That is the plan” Dan winked at Bo and Bo did as Dan said. Soon, there were two big explosions and clouds of dust from the ceiling fell on them.

They heard a lot of footsteps coming towards them, Dan looked at Ony and Belster and said “Ready?” Bo hid behind Ony’s legs peeping to see what’s coming for them.

Troops of Lurgs poured down from both directions. Dan pulled out his sword, Ony was ready with his axe and Belster fitted an arrow to his bow.

Dan was quick with his sword, before the Lurgs could understand what was going on, two of them were beheaded by Dan. Ony hit as many as Lurgs as he could with his axe without stopping even for a second. He was swinging his axe in every direction. Belster hit many Lurgs on their foreheads and pierced their hearts with his swift arrows. One by one, many Lurgs fell.  But soon, many more poured in and they encircled them.

“Drop your weapons!” said the leader of the Lurgs as he came out from behind the troop.

Dan lowered his sword and asked the others to do the same. As soon as they put their weapons in their belts the Lurgs captured them and tied their hands behind their backs. Then they walked them through another passage. After discussing among them, most of the Lurgs left and a few stayed to escort the prisoners through a hidden passage to a big castle.

The Lurgs dragged them to a big hall with huge pillars and high walls. Ony looked around in amazement.

“This place is big!” he said moving his head from side to side.

“Move sooner you fatso!” said one of the Lurgs kicking Ony. Ony grew very angry but Dan signaled him to stay calm. They walked along the big halls and were brought before a raised platform. On the platform, there was a jewel studded throne.

The Lurgs made three of them kneel in front of the throne. The room grew very dark like a shadow just came in from the outside. They felt a sudden chill down their spines. The shadow became darker as it approached the throne and from this shadow, slowly appeared a form of a man. A man draped in a black cloak from head to toe, hiding his disfigured face. He held a staff which had a dragon’s head on it with red rubies for the eyes. On top of the dragon’s head, was a blue flame, flickering.

“Well, well” an unpleasant voice came out of the dark wizard’s mouth “Look who is here?”

The Lurgs standing behind the men trembled at the sight of Dark Wizard.

“Well done my dear Lurgs, now leave” said the Dark Wizard. The Lurgs scrambled as soon as the orders were given.

Dan stood up “Mordok!” he said “Where is the Sicil of Merthyl?”

“Ha ha ha… you Defenders, a foolish lot. You stand up to me in my castle and you expect me to answer you?” said Mordok with his scary voice. “But I will answer your question. It gives me immense pleasure to tell you that, after destroying the land of Fairies, the most gracious and heavenly place in the world; I have presented the Sicil stone of Merthyl to my master, Zorath the great. He shall be revived and will be back soon. And you fools, who think that you can stand against him, will be the first ones to die...”

“We will see about that” said Ony pulling his axe. He threw it towards Mordok without warning, but Mordok vanished at once and the axe hit the legs of the iron throne.

Mordok appeared behind them. “You fools!” Mordok was very angry. “You think you can kill me with these mere weapons of yours? I am the greatest wizard in the world”

“The greatest wizard in the world is Alfadon and you are nothing in front of him” said Dan filled with rage.

“Ha ha ha..” Mordok laughed aloud “Alfadon, your greatest wizard is locked up in the darkest cell in my dungeon. If he is so great, why can’t he come here and save you now?”

“You filthy lowlife, what have you done to Alfadon, where is he?” Ony was outraged.

“Why don’t you see him with your own eyes?” Mordok said and disappeared. The darkness left the room and there was light again.

“Where did he go?” asked Belster.

The castle floor started to creak and thump like there was an earthquake. They turned their heads up. Two big monsters were standing right above them. The first one picked up Dan and Belster before they could reach for their weapons. The second one caught Ony by his legs and lifted him up.

‘Let me go, you big stinky mess” Ony was kicking in all directions. The monster began to walk outside the castle. The monsters opened a small door on the ground and dropped all of them into it. They slid through a long and slippery tunnel one after the other. Their screams were heard all the way up by the monsters who seemed to enjoy it. They smirked at each other.

Dan landed on his back on a dirty floor and Belster landed on him.

“Watch out!!” said Ony as he came sliding. Both Dan and Belster rolled over in different directions and Ony landed on his butt “Ouch!” he cried. “That hurts…”

Slowly, all of them stood up.

“What is this place?” Ony asked straitening his back.

“The Dark Prison” said Belster “I have heard about it, they say once you get in here, there is no way out”

Ony fell silent and didn’t look very pleased.

“Do you think Alfadon is here?” Belster asked Dan.

“I think he is here, let us look around” said Dan and walked towards a narrow passage. Ony and Belster followed him.

For hours they wandered in the dark passages, they came to corridors with many chambers, but every one of them was empty. They tried calling Alfadon by his name, but the place didn’t even eco and their voices died in the corridor itself. They started to become tired as they felt the lack of air. They sat down on a dry patch on the floor.

“How are we ever going to find Alfadon in this wretched place?” said Ony with sadness.

“How are we ever going to get out of here” said Belster in the same tone.

Somebody walked in from behind them “I know where to find Alfadon”

Ony was so startled that he almost toppled off right where he was sitting “Goodness gracious. How did you come inside?” he looked at the small creature who was standing next to him. It was Bo.

“Bo, at your service sir” the Nome said and bowed to them.

“Bo! Where have you been? We didn’t see you after the Lurgs caught us. How did you come in here?” Dan asked.

“When those Lurgs took you, I was really scared, so I hid. Then I heard them speaking about you in the dark prison. I knew that is where they have taken Alfadon. So I followed one of the Sluc Lurgs.” said Bo.

“What are sluc Lurgs?” Belster asked.

“They are the Lurgs who are inferior to the fighter Lurgs. They are smaller and do all the dirty chores here. They are the ones who clean up the bodies after the prisoners die. One sluc came here and I followed it and knocked him down.” said Bo with a grin.

“That means there is a way out of this place?” asked Ony.

“Yes sir” replied Bo.

“But we cannot go without Alfadon” said Dan with concern.

“Don’t worry sir I know how to find him” said Bo and walked down to one of the passages with a red floor. The others followed the Nome curiously.

“Look here sirs, the floor is red. The other floors are blue that means he is here” Bo walked into a corridor and checked all the rooms one by one. Then he stood in front of the room “Look sirs, the rooms are all alike but this one has no furniture” then he pulled out a small box out of his pocket. It had white powder inside it.  Something like what Jane used, to reveal the Witch Valley. He blew some powder inside the room through the bars and suddenly they saw an old man tied to a chair with both hands held by chains.

“Alfadon!” cried Ony and stared to bend the iron bars with his hands.

“I knew Mordok had put a vanishing charm on Alfadon, so that nobody even finds him. But Alfadon left clues” Bo said

“Which you picked up, I am very proud of you Bo” said Dan. This made the Nome swell with pride.

Ony uprooted a few more iron bars and broke and bent a few more to get inside. They all rushed inside to save Alfadon.

“Alfadon, Alfadon are you alright?” cried Ony, but Alfadon didn’t budge.

Dan cut of all the chains and ropes with his sword to free Alfadon. But Alfadon collapsed in the chair. Ony supported him.

“What happened to him?” Ony panicked “Why won’t he wake up?”

“I think he has been poisoned sir” said Bo.

“Do you mean he is dead?” asked Ony.

“No, a great wizard like him cannot die by any poison sir” said Bo.

“How do we bring him back?” asked Dan.

Bo scratched his head for a while and said “His staff… his staff has many powers. If we can find his staff we can bring him back”

“Where can we find his staff?” asked Belster.

“We have to look for it; he must have hidden it somewhere before he was poisoned. He would never let Mordok take his staff” said Dan.

“Ony, look after Alfadon, we will be back soon” said Dan. Dan and Belster rushed outside into the passage with Bo.

“Where should we look for it?” Belster asked.

“Look for a clue, it will be something unusual” Bo said and walked towards the open corridor. Dan and Belster went through the other passage, but none of them could find anything unusual.

“Everything looks normal here, except that we are in a prison of the Dark Wizard” said Belster looking pale.

“Wait, what is that?” Dan pointed to a small red spot on the floor.

Chapter 19

Escape from the Dark Prison

“It’s a clue” cheered Bo and ran towards it. He pulled out his box of magic powder again and blew it right on top of the red spot. Out of nowhere, a staff made of wood was visible in front of them, hanging in the mid air. Dan grabbed it and pulled it down. They rushed back to the chamber where Alfadon was imprisoned.

Ony was trying everything to wake Alfadon up.

“We found the staff” said Belster. This brought Ony a great relief.

“What should we do now?” asked Ony.

Everyone watched Bo as he placed the staff in Alfadon’s hands. White flames began to form on top of the staff. The whole staff was soon glowing white and so was Alfadon. They moved away and watched Alfadon in amazement, as he stood up with the staff in his hands. Alfadon opened his eyes and took a deep breath like he was back from the dead. After a few moments, everything came back to normal.

“Alfadon, are you ok?” Ony came forward and hugged Alfadon tight. The old man flinched but tried to smile.

“Yes I am fine Ony and very thankful to all of you. You have saved my life.” Alfadon said.

All of them shook hands with Alfadon and told him all about their journey so far. Dan specially elaborated on how Bo had helped them find Alfadon. Alfadon appreciated Bo and patted him on his head gently.