The Four Kings (31 page)

A chill set over Amanda. Yet, she had to keep digging for clues. “So if a wizard turns his magic on another wizard, intending to kill the other wizard, it can’t work?”

“No. It has been tried before. The magic acts as both a force and as a deterrent. It recognizes itself at both ends. So, if a wizard unleashes a powerful spell on another wizard, the magic will refuse to kill.”

Amanda’s eyes widened. “What if a wizard doesn’t kill the other – but uses a spell to trap a wizard? How does the other wizard get out?”

A gleam in Demus’ eyes. “Aha. Now you’re getting very warm, Amanda. This all goes back to the concept of ‘key.’ Magic realizes that to trap is to control forever, unless there was be an escape valve.”

“I get it!” Amanda exclaimed. “You say
Show me your key
.”

Demus, a smug expression on his face, slowly pointed to her twice. A look of warm approval accompanied each gesture.
You got it.

She wanted to jump up and down childishly in excitement, but refrained herself. “So a powerful wizard puts a spell on you, trapping you. Then you say, ‘
Show me your key
.’ Then what happens?” She was now puzzled.

Demus held out his hands and tilted his head as if acting magnanimously. “There’ll be a riddle, a game, or a contest. If you solve it, or finish the game, you’ll be released from the spell.”

Amanda was enthralled.
What a concept!
So magic was forgiving, as well as dangerous. It allowed the casualty to have a second chance. It challenged one not to retaliate in anger, but rather to accomplish creativity.

“Let’s begin,” Demus said eagerly. With a wave of his hand, a musical carousel spun around and around in front of them. Amanda was enchanted as she watched. It looked beautiful as well as repulsive. Bobbing up and down on poles were an assortment of weird creatures; a centaur, a griffin, a dragon, a unicorn, a Pegasus, a lion, a hippogriff, a hydra, a manticore, a minotaur, a basilisk, a wolf, and a harpy. All appeared to be composed of shiny hard plastic, with painted color on top. The roof on top was striped (and sloping) outward from the center in alternating red and white colors; much like that of a traditional carousel.

Demus took a deep bow. “Be my guest,” he said, pointing both arms toward the carousel.

Something within Amanda’s heart told her
not
to go on it, but she brushed aside her qualms. She had to find out how the game worked. Besides, she loved carousels as a kid. Even though she was an adult, they still held appeal to her.

All the creatures on the carousel appeared to be ghastly and frightened her. The only one that seemed friendly was the unicorn. She grabbed the pole, boosting herself up by placing a foot into the stirrup just below the saddle. Lifting her other leg and swinging herself over by torqueing around the pole, Amanda agilely sat on the unicorn. Demus didn’t even bother pulling himself up; he instantly appeared on the creature side by side hers: the wolf. Amanda peered closely at the molded wolf’s face: it had an ominous sneer, which startled her.

“Thirteen creatures on this merry-go-round,” said Demus, holding onto his pole with one arm, “Pretty bad luck, don’t you think, Amanda?” Amanda slowly moved her head up and down to keep a watch on Demus’ face as his body – and his seat – gyrated in tandem with the music.

Uneasily, Amanda wondered what was next. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Are you enjoying yourself?”

“Yeah, I loved carousels as a kid.” She looked around, puzzled. All the other creatures, devoid of any riders, were also bobbing up and down rhythmically. “What’s the game, Demus? I don’t see anything?”

He devilishly held up one finger. “Oh, be patient. It’s coming.”

Amanda’s nerves tightened. She still didn’t trust him. “If you say so.”

The two encircled the merry-go-round a few more times, with lovely music blaring away. Demus kept absorbing in all the stimuli; he would gaze at Amanda lovingly with a wide grin a few times, then stare ahead, and then back to Amanda again. She put on a brave smile, secretly enjoying the soothing rhythm of the ride. Eventually, the music ended, and the carousel slowed to a stop.

Amanda dismounted. “That was a very easy game, Demus.”

The wizard materialized right beside her. “Oh, it’s not over yet.” He pointed to an object in the carousel floor that she hadn’t noticed yet. It was a gleaming sword, embedded into the hard plastic floor, its gold ornate handle sticking out. Amanda wondered how it could’ve been speared into the carousel base without disturbing its smooth rotation.

“Take it out, and the game begins.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you.”

She laughed nervously. “Am I King Arthur? Is this Excalibur?”

“No, and no,” Demus mysteriously rubbed his chin, his eyes slightly down. “Just take it, Amanda.”

“Well, most knights couldn’t remove the sword.” Amanda grasped the handle, and startled herself by just pulling it out of the floor with ease. It was just like drawing it from a sheath. No resistance at all.

“That was too easy, Demus, are you sure?” Amanda turned to look up at him. She gasped. He was gone. She frantically looked around. No sight of him. She heard many metallic clicking sounds. A series of iron fences, gridded across from top to bottom, sprang up from the rim of the carousel, cutting off any escape that she had.

Amanda reacted in horror, her knuckles white as she firmly held on to the sword. “Demus, where are you?” She shuddered and recoiled in terror; many of the creatures were coming alive! The poles had all vanished, freeing these beasts. They all maintained their molded plastic appearance, making them cold and frightening. Stiffly, yet effectively, they headed toward her with a pace that must’ve been glacial, yet Amanda feared for her life. Mist fogged her brain; she had never been so scared in her entire life.

She was dimly aware of Demus’ disembodied voice, then quickly snapped to attention. “Amanda, use your sword. I’ve set up this game to be really easy. All you have to do is touch them with your sword, and they’ll vanish. You don’t have to battle them.”

Amanda’s voice had an edge of panic. “And if I don’t?”

The answer wasn’t reassuring. “Well, if you don’t do anything, it’s possible one of them could kill you.”

Holy shit!

Amanda grimaced to herself. Her eyes fixated on the closest beast to her: the wolf, upon which Demus had sat not too long ago. Its shiny surface – any hair it had was merely painted upon it – horrified her. The wolf snarled, growled, arched its back, and dangerously advanced one of its front paws toward her, showing its threatening claws. Saliva ran from the wolf’s snarling jaw. Slowly, but unwavering, it advanced toward her.

Now!
Amanda thought. Using a backhanded swing, Amanda brought the blade of the sword against the wolf’s jaw. There was a metallic
clang
. The menacing wolf then vanished before it could spring upon her.

Perspiring and breathing heavily, Amanda’s nerves were on fire as she realized there were twelve more creatures to go – and that she hadn’t yet checked behind her! When she rapidly spun around, she was absolutely terrified. A Minotaur’s head, consisting of red glowing eyes, two thick curved horns, and bull-like features on the face, hovered within two feet of her! Its arms extended out aggressively, ready to attack her. Her flight impulse almost took over when she realized she’d only run into more abominable creatures. Mustering all her courage, almost dropping her sword out of fright, she brought the heavy blade slamming onto the Minotaur’s forehead. Another
clang
. The Minotaur then vanished, but not before Amanda stared into its cold, malevolent eyes.

Catching her breath, she rapidly spun around, again and again. She had much more space this time. The other vile creatures were still upon their relentless, robotic march – all toward her. Now that she had but a second to relax, her fear took over. If it’d just been a make-believe session, or these were obviously holograms, like wispy images of projected light, she could probably handle this easily. But she was scared out of her wits. She did
not
want to finish this fight.

And then –

She finally realized what Demus wanted her to do. Closing her eyes for a brief moment, she forced herself to speak out loudly and clearly, “Show me your key.”

Then nothing. These horrid beasts were still closing in on her. She began to panic again.

She heard galloping footsteps from behind. She swung her face into the direction of the palpable sounds, growing louder with each step. It was the unicorn! Appearing like a white deity, as a real horse – it had shed its plastic sheer – it started attacking the other creatures, impaling them with its long horn. One at a time, the threatening beasts vanished as they were stabbed by the unicorn. When Amanda saw the unicorn spear the last monster, the hippogriff, she knew it was over. For the first time since the game began, she felt a massive release of relief.

The sounds ceased.

The carousel vanished.

Amanda was now standing on the floor of the Emerana fortress, where she had been all along. She still felt the heavy object weighing down one arm and looked at it; the metal sword was still in her hand.

Behind her, she heard clapping. Turning around, she saw Demus, an impressed look on his face, cheering. “Well played, Amanda!”

Not knowing what she was doing, Amanda spontaneously burst out in fury. “You dumbass, Demus!”

Demus had a puzzled expression on his face, shrugging his shoulders and backing away from Amanda’s threatening pose. “Hey, what’s the big deal? It was very easy.”

She was shrieking now. “Don’t you ever, ever do that again!” Full of rage, she brought the sword smashing over Demus’ right arm; the edge of the blade perfectly aimed straight at him. The sword just soundlessly bounced off his arm as if he was made of tough rubber.

“Hey,” exclaimed a startled Demus, clearly not understanding why Amanda was upset. “What’s wrong?”

“Take that!” Amanda hollered. “And that!” She rained a series of blows upon Demus, with each thrust not hurting him at all.

“Amanda, stop it!” Demus was losing his patience. “I told you magic cannot hurt a wizard. And I can easily defend myself anyway.”

“Bastard! Bastard!” Amanda cried out, striking him again and again with the weapon. She was losing control of herself. It was like a fiery beast had been released within her, pure hatred.

After more blows from Amanda, Demus started vanishing and materializing again and again, as a thoroughly exhausted Amanda could no longer muster the strength to even carry the heavy sword. Severely weakened, she dropped the sword. It clanged upon the floor. Then she fell to her knees, sobbing with such force that her shoulders were heaving.

“Amanda, Amanda,” Demus closed in on her, alarmed, showing compassion for the first time that day. “I’m really sorry, I didn’t think –”

“No! You didn’t think,” she said between racking sobs.

He just sat there in silence.

After her tears subsided, Amanda lifted her chest off her knees as she sat on the cold, hard floor of Emerana. She glared up at him and calmly demanded, “Demus, please. Just take me home.”

Chapter Forty-Three

Amanda peered out at the stunning beauty of the Canadian boreal forest – maple, oak, pine, and spruce trees, towering over whatever soil they could find among the gleaming outcrops of bedrock – the Canadian Shield. She and Regi had just appeared out of nowhere, in this untouched, virgin forest near Smoothrock Lake, Ontario, which was over one hundred and fifty miles north of Thunder Bay on Lake Superior.

“It’s lovely, Regi,” Amanda said as she caressed his arm with both her hands.

Regi seemed to enjoy her affection. “The great Canadian boreal forest… one of the last vast expanses of forest on this planet.”

Amanda rested her head against his shoulder. She trusted Regi. In fact, she adored him. Even though he was a wizard – which Amanda was lately feeling was a horrid species – he was different. He was generous and kind, although he could be as arrogant and cruel as the others sometimes. But never to the extent of Demus or Indie.

Dammit
, today she would find out why he could be her boyfriend. There must be a reason. And Amanda would have to deal with it, no matter what. She wanted his company, she wanted him. Badly.

“Ready for the wizard’s walk?” Regi asked, smiling at Amanda.

“What’s that?” Amanda queried, still not fully confident in his good heart. She hoped it wouldn’t be another
in-your-face
game. She had enough of those.

“Well,” Regi said, dreamlike, “it’s very relaxing. You walk, like you do usually, but you’re a few feet off the ground. It’s like an aerial path, only you don’t have to focus. You’re not too high up at all, so you have no fear of falling. Moreover, the magic automatically lays out the best path for you. It takes you over marshes. It takes you around trees. It even makes sure that you don’t trip over logs.”

Perfect.
“So it’s like an invisible conveyor belt through the forest?”

“Yes. But it won’t move when you stop walking. So you can pause anytime you want to see something special.”

Amanda’s eyes gleamed with gratitude. “It sounds so romantic.”

Regi sighed. “I’m ready to talk about it. Let’s just start walking.”

He’s ready to talk?
Amanda opened her eyes wide. Her heart skipped a beat.

Extending his arm up slowly, Regi ensured that both he and Amanda were hovering a few feet above the soil. Then, her feet felt rested again a slightly soft, but firm surface. She looked at her feet; there was nothing she should see right beneath her toes. But she felt as if she were standing, as secure as could be, atop a well-worn dirt path.

Regi started walking, prompting Amanda to start, too. Magically, she felt like she was just out for a stroll. Yet, she was bypassing bushes, shrubs, logs, creeks, and large rocks without even trying. It was magical. They weaved in and out through trees with barely an effort. They progressed much faster than merely walking; the conveyor belt effect sped them up, as if they were ambling about on rubber conveyor belts in an airport. Amanda was amazed. It was like covering twice the ground in a forest with only one-half the effort. The sun beamed down upon them, save for the intermittent shadows of the trees. The air was crisp and cool, and had a hint of moisture from the lake.