Chapter 13
"Once upon a time..." and she began.
It was a tale about a very distant ancestor, Achmed, who foolishly lost his way one day after being separated from his brother, Ornith. He accidentally wandered into some caves where the evil warlock was performing a spell that would call fourth the Vinanchius, an ancient monster that was almost un-killable. Paul's eyes grew wide when Sara proceeded to describe the creature as a beast that moved on all fours and had long claws. I couldn't help but laugh when she told him to think of a meaner, yellower, less hairy, version of the Beast in "Beauty and the Beast."
"Now Achmed, foolish though he was, decided that he couldn't in good conscious stand by and allow the Vinanchius to roam free and hurt the people in the nearby village. So he gathered his courage and looked around for something he could use as a weapon to defend himself with. He found a large rock and slowly crept up behind the evil warlock, who was too distracted by what he was doing to be paying Achmed any attention," her voice rose and fell with every action she described. Paul was completely drawn in. Heck so was I. She shifted his small form so that he was sitting in between us on the couch and her eyes widened as she continued her story.
"But at that moment there was a large explosion inside the cauldron that the evil warlock was working with and from the middle of the smoke sprang the Vinanchius claws out ready to hurt all who stood in its way." I felt a small hand clench tightly around mine and looked down at Paul in surprise. He was chewing on his lip and clutching at Sara's hand. She smiled, leaned closer to him, and whispered "Don't worry, it gets better soon."
I was captivated, she was a wonderful storyteller and I found myself being pulled into the tale against my will. I had to remind myself that this was fictional and it couldn't possibly be true. Paul released her hand and curled up closer to me. I froze.
What was I expected to do. I had no experience with small children and it was defiantly unnerving to suddenly be the one to make sure a kid didn't get scared. I transferred the hand holding mine to my other hand and hesitantly put the arm closest to him around his slender shoulders. Wasn't this what his mother was supposed to do? She gave me a reassuring smile and continued.
"The Vinanchius growled and sniffed the air looking around for the being who called it. It was at that exact moment when Achmed was distracted by the huge beast that the evil warlock noticed he was in the caves. He whirled around with his hands outstretched to throw a fireball at Achmed. But the Vinanchius sensed danger and he couldn't possibly know that it wasn't aimed at him. So he roared as loud as he could, shaking the very foundations of the earth. It scared the evil warlock so badly that he dropped the fireball and it fell on the edge of his robe."
Paul started laughing out loud at the image Sara invoked of the evil warlock losing all dignity as he hopped up and down trying to put the flames out. I couldn't help joining him in his glee over the plight of the warlock.
"Achmed wisely used the distraction of the evil warlock to slip past him unnoticed and run towards the entrance of the caves. But by this time the Vinanchius had seen him."
"Now the Vinanchius had been imprisoned for many years and while he was trapped in the space between realms he had not had a chance to eat anything at all in all those long years. So when he saw Achmed running he did what any hungry mindless beast would have done in that situation, he released an even louder roar and started after Achmed."
"As you can imagine Achmed was scared out of his wits. He heard the Vinanchius getting closer and closer while he was running out of the caves. For one very scary moment Achmed thought he might not make it but in the distance he could see the tunnel exit, and with a final burst of speed he sprinted the rest of the way out of the cave and ran straight into his younger brother who had been looking for him ever since they had been separated."
"When the Vinanchius saw this he grew so angry his rage could not be controlled. He raised himself up on his hind legs and clenched his fists tightly, and with one final feral roar he slammed his fists into the floor with all his strength."
"But what the Vinanchius didn't realize was that his anger and strength was too much for the structure of the caves, and when he crashed his fists into the floor pieces of the ceiling began to fall, first in small amounts but then in larger pieces. Soon the entire roof was falling and the Vinanchius had no choice but to run back into the caves or be crushed by the falling rocks. The last Achmed and his brother saw of the Vinanchius were his glowing red eyes with a new intelligence as they faded into the dark."
"Now, in any other story that would be the end, but something happened that surprised even the evil warlock. He had been in the caves for days gathering all he needed to perform the spell to bring fourth the Vinanchius, and because of all the spells magic was thick in the air. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but because of the cave in the magic needed somewhere to go. So along with the air that was pushed out of the cavern, magic was pushed out as well. The magical essences washed over Achmed and Ornith making them more than human."
"They looked at each other in wonder not exactly realizing what had happened. They were still standing in shock when the evil warlock, slightly singed, shimmered in next to them. To say that they were shocked would be an understatement. Ornith, who thus far had seen nothing magical, only slightly scary, jumped in the air throwing his arms up to shield himself. You can imagine his surprise when an actual physical shield sprang up around the brothers. The warlock who had been standing too close to the shield, went flying through the air and into a tree. Ornith lowered his hands and the shimmering blue shield lowered until it was gone. Both of them stood there staring at his hands until they heard the evil warlock climb to his feet."
'Do it again,' cried Achmed, his eyes flashing between his brother and the evil warlock.
"Ornith frantically waived his arms in the air without result, but his actions had angered the evil warlock who was at that point stalking towards them, fireball in hand. Achmed took one look at the oncoming warlock and felt power welling up inside him. At his bidding the long grass moved and wrapped around the legs of the evil warlock trapping him where he stood. When the evil warlock saw this his fury grew and he began screaming at the brothers as they ran from him."
'This is not the end,' shouted the evil warlock. 'I will avenge myself and you will all die. The day of Dannok is at hand.'
"As you can imagine, Achmed and Ornith were rightly terrified at the words of the evil warlock and ran even faster to escape. They finally reached their village and the safety of their homes where they lived with their families. They agreed that it would be foolish of them to tell anyone in their family what had happened so they didn't. And their decision turned out to be a smart one. You see, in those days people were so superstitious and scared of what they didn't understand that all talk of magic was forbidden. So the brothers quietly practiced their newfound powers, because they didn't want to accidentally use them in front of people, and slowly gained control over them. And things were quiet...for the time being."
"Mom! You can't stop there, what about the part where-"
Sara laughed and said, "I'll tell that part some other time." Slowly she stood up and stretched. I looked down at Paul, feeling the need to protest as loudly as he had. It was a good story, and it I was the guide she was talking about earlier I needed to know what I had to do.
Paul and I got up to follow her into the kitchen where she asked us if we were hungry. I was surprised at how much time had passed, it was lunch time. While she made us sandwiches I thought about what she told me. I still didn't see the connection between what she had told me and the story. There had been no mention of a guide.
When Sara noticed my musings she smiled. "Don't worry Chris, everything will work out. I'll tell you the rest of the story tomorrow and then you can decide what you want to do." I began to protest but she stalled me.
"You're welcome here for as long as you need a place to stay."
So I finally accepted the inevitable and gave in. The rest of the day was spent entertaining Paul and thinking over the things I had been told during the past few days. I couldn't help but wonder if there was anything else I could be doing with my time that would help my family. They were always first in my mind but I knew that at the moment there was nothing else I could do. They needed to be prepared to defeat the Titans but there was still time for that and apparently I was needed here.
I also felt rested here. It had been a long time since I was able to rest. It was nice.
The day passed quickly and soon it was time for bed.
No nightmares haunted me that night.
"Once upon a time..." and she began.
It was a tale about a very distant ancestor, Achmed, who foolishly lost his way one day after being separated from his brother, Ornith. He accidentally wandered into some caves where the evil warlock was performing a spell that would call fourth the Vinanchius, an ancient monster that was almost un-killable. Paul's eyes grew wide when Sara proceeded to describe the creature as a beast that moved on all fours and had long claws. I couldn't help but laugh when she told him to think of a meaner, yellower, less hairy, version of the Beast in "Beauty and the Beast."
"Now Achmed, foolish though he was, decided that he couldn't in good conscious stand by and allow the Vinanchius to roam free and hurt the people in the nearby village. So he gathered his courage and looked around for something he could use as a weapon to defend himself with. He found a large rock and slowly crept up behind the evil warlock, who was too distracted by what he was doing to be paying Achmed any attention," her voice rose and fell with every action she described. Paul was completely drawn in. Heck so was I. She shifted his small form so that he was sitting in between us on the couch and her eyes widened as she continued her story.
"But at that moment there was a large explosion inside the cauldron that the evil warlock was working with and from the middle of the smoke sprang the Vinanchius claws out ready to hurt all who stood in its way." I felt a small hand clench tightly around mine and looked down at Paul in surprise. He was chewing on his lip and clutching at Sara's hand. She smiled, leaned closer to him, and whispered "Don't worry, it gets better soon."
I was captivated, she was a wonderful storyteller and I found myself being pulled into the tale against my will. I had to remind myself that this was fictional and it couldn't possibly be true. Paul released her hand and curled up closer to me. I froze.
What was I expected to do. I had no experience with small children and it was defiantly unnerving to suddenly be the one to make sure a kid didn't get scared. I transferred the hand holding mine to my other hand and hesitantly put the arm closest to him around his slender shoulders. Wasn't this what his mother was supposed to do? She gave me a reassuring smile and continued.
"The Vinanchius growled and sniffed the air looking around for the being who called it. It was at that exact moment when Achmed was distracted by the huge beast that the evil warlock noticed he was in the caves. He whirled around with his hands outstretched to throw a fireball at Achmed. But the Vinanchius sensed danger and he couldn't possibly know that it wasn't aimed at him. So he roared as loud as he could, shaking the very foundations of the earth. It scared the evil warlock so badly that he dropped the fireball and it fell on the edge of his robe."
Paul started laughing out loud at the image Sara invoked of the evil warlock losing all dignity as he hopped up and down trying to put the flames out. I couldn't help joining him in his glee over the plight of the warlock.
"Achmed wisely used the distraction of the evil warlock to slip past him unnoticed and run towards the entrance of the caves. But by this time the Vinanchius had seen him."
"Now the Vinanchius had been imprisoned for many years and while he was trapped in the space between realms he had not had a chance to eat anything at all in all those long years. So when he saw Achmed running he did what any hungry mindless beast would have done in that situation, he released an even louder roar and started after Achmed."
"As you can imagine Achmed was scared out of his wits. He heard the Vinanchius getting closer and closer while he was running out of the caves. For one very scary moment Achmed thought he might not make it but in the distance he could see the tunnel exit, and with a final burst of speed he sprinted the rest of the way out of the cave and ran straight into his younger brother who had been looking for him ever since they had been separated."
"When the Vinanchius saw this he grew so angry his rage could not be controlled. He raised himself up on his hind legs and clenched his fists tightly, and with one final feral roar he slammed his fists into the floor with all his strength."
"But what the Vinanchius didn't realize was that his anger and strength was too much for the structure of the caves, and when he crashed his fists into the floor pieces of the ceiling began to fall, first in small amounts but then in larger pieces. Soon the entire roof was falling and the Vinanchius had no choice but to run back into the caves or be crushed by the falling rocks. The last Achmed and his brother saw of the Vinanchius were his glowing red eyes with a new intelligence as they faded into the dark."
"Now, in any other story that would be the end, but something happened that surprised even the evil warlock. He had been in the caves for days gathering all he needed to perform the spell to bring fourth the Vinanchius, and because of all the spells magic was thick in the air. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but because of the cave in the magic needed somewhere to go. So along with the air that was pushed out of the cavern, magic was pushed out as well. The magical essences washed over Achmed and Ornith making them more than human."
"They looked at each other in wonder not exactly realizing what had happened. They were still standing in shock when the evil warlock, slightly singed, shimmered in next to them. To say that they were shocked would be an understatement. Ornith, who thus far had seen nothing magical, only slightly scary, jumped in the air throwing his arms up to shield himself. You can imagine his surprise when an actual physical shield sprang up around the brothers. The warlock who had been standing too close to the shield, went flying through the air and into a tree. Ornith lowered his hands and the shimmering blue shield lowered until it was gone. Both of them stood there staring at his hands until they heard the evil warlock climb to his feet."
'Do it again,' cried Achmed, his eyes flashing between his brother and the evil warlock.
"Ornith frantically waived his arms in the air without result, but his actions had angered the evil warlock who was at that point stalking towards them, fireball in hand. Achmed took one look at the oncoming warlock and felt power welling up inside him. At his bidding the long grass moved and wrapped around the legs of the evil warlock trapping him where he stood. When the evil warlock saw this his fury grew and he began screaming at the brothers as they ran from him."
'This is not the end,' shouted the evil warlock. 'I will avenge myself and you will all die. The day of Dannok is at hand.'
"As you can imagine, Achmed and Ornith were rightly terrified at the words of the evil warlock and ran even faster to escape. They finally reached their village and the safety of their homes where they lived with their families. They agreed that it would be foolish of them to tell anyone in their family what had happened so they didn't. And their decision turned out to be a smart one. You see, in those days people were so superstitious and scared of what they didn't understand that all talk of magic was forbidden. So the brothers quietly practiced their newfound powers, because they didn't want to accidentally use them in front of people, and slowly gained control over them. And things were quiet...for the time being."
"Mom! You can't stop there, what about the part where-"
Sara laughed and said, "I'll tell that part some other time." Slowly she stood up and stretched. I looked down at Paul, feeling the need to protest as loudly as he had. It was a good story, and it I was the guide she was talking about earlier I needed to know what I had to do.
Paul and I got up to follow her into the kitchen where she asked us if we were hungry. I was surprised at how much time had passed, it was lunch time. While she made us sandwiches I thought about what she told me. I still didn't see the connection between what she had told me and the story. There had been no mention of a guide.
When Sara noticed my musings she smiled. "Don't worry Chris, everything will work out. I'll tell you the rest of the story tomorrow and then you can decide what you want to do." I began to protest but she stalled me.
"You're welcome here for as long as you need a place to stay."
So I finally accepted the inevitable and gave in. The rest of the day was spent entertaining Paul and thinking over the things I had been told during the past few days. I couldn't help but wonder if there was anything else I could be doing with my time that would help my family. They were always first in my mind but I knew that at the moment there was nothing else I could do. They needed to be prepared to defeat the Titans but there was still time for that and apparently I was needed here.
I also felt rested here. It had been a long time since I was able to rest. It was nice.
The day passed quickly and soon it was time for bed.
No nightmares haunted me that night.