Maze of Emotions
Chapter 2
They must have sat in front of the fire for at least an hour. Each was lost in thought wondering how to get out of this prison.
What did the Goblin King want with his deepest secrets thought Gargamel to himself. He was secretly pleased that another wizard thought that he had something of value. Most of his peers avoided him and did not want to hear what he had to say even if it did not involve Smurfs.
It made quite a change for Gargamel to be held prisoner. It only ever happened to the Smurfs and even that was becoming mundane and predictable. Catch them then he and Azrael would get distracted or beaten up and the Smurfs escape once again. He kept kicking himself afterwards and vowed to kill them as soon as they were caught next time but somehow he kept forgetting to do this simple thing and the gold spell still kept its grip on his mind. He just had to keep trying to make it work at whatever cost to his health and sanity. If only he could forget about gold then he would be happy and then he would not have to keep capturing Smurfs. He had destroyed the original spell years ago but it was etched on his mind like a bad memory and he could never forget it.
This prison or maze as the Goblin wizard had called it seemed quite sedate and comfortable. He might like to stay here. He felt like a prisoner in the outside world. Cut off from other people and anyone he did meet always looked at him with either fear or loathing, it was a miserable existence. He then started to wonder what the food was like. He was always hungry and now his stomach started to rumble at the mere thought of eating. He gave his belly a rub.
"Sounds like you're hungry Gargamel," said Papa Smurf to his companion. "I'm getting a bit peckish myself, I wonder if they will feed us in this prison or is that part of the torture?" he directed this last sentence to the Goblin wizard on the off chance that he was listening.
Then just as before a scroll of parchment appeared near the ceiling as before and fell on top of Gargamel' who grabbed it and opened it whilst looking at Papa. The Smurf got up from his chair and went over to read it.
Look behind you and you will see a table filled with food of every kind
But some of this food will be tainted
But with what I cannot tell
It will not kill you or make you very sick
But your mind though will play
some dirty tricks
Eat up my friends
This is the only time that
You'll be fed!
Both the human and the Smurf spun around and as promised a large red table stood just in front of them, it's surface groaning with food of every kind. Roast meats, vegetables, pies and cakes, biscuits and fondant fancies and every fruit from around the world. It even had Smurfberry pies. There were also pitchers of water, ales and wines.
"Wait, we'd better not eat or drink anything you read the scroll it must contain a mind altering drug of some sort. Who knows what it could do to us?" said Papa Smurf, but before he could grab Gargamel the latter was already at the table his eyes wide open with greed.
"But look at it! I've never seen so much food ever! I've got to taste it! It's so irresistible!" gasped the human, his hands grabbing at a roast chicken. He pulled off a hunk of breast meat and took a huge bite out of the glistening meat. He savoured the perfectly cooked moist flesh and felt himself relaxing now that he had all the food he ever wanted. No more hunting for him or digging up wilted carrots in his poor little patch of land. He was eating like a King!
Papa just sighed. It was too late to stop the famished wizard. All he could do was prepare himself for whatever was going to happen next. The Smurf kept looking at the Smurfberry pies and his own stomach kept rumbling, the Goblin wizard had said only some of the food was tainted but all he fancied was the Smurfberry pies and they would surely have the drug in them. Instead he kept his mind focused on other things and he moved back to his chair in front of the fire as the smell of all that food was making him nauseous.
Gargamel was like a pig in clover, he had a bit of everything but of course avoided the Smurfberries at all costs. He had also had a bit too much of the wine and after about an hour of gluttony he just lay on the floor complaining that the room was spinning too fast and that he wanted to be sick.
Instead he just fell asleep and started to snore even louder than before. Papa just tutted and feeling a little tired himself, decided to have a nap just to conserve his energy.
Meanwhile the lighting in the room dimmed by itself and if either of them had been awake they would have seen a shadow moving just outside of the opaque walls. The shadow of a giant hand! Then the shadows shifted again and a leering face pressed itself up against the wall of the prison. The Goblin wizard was just starting to have fun!
Papa and Gargamel had a rude awakening a few hours later. The whole room shook as if there was an earthquake and Papa fell off his chair and the human just groaned about his cat making too much noise. Presently the shaking subsided and both occupants of the room were wide awake.
"What on earth is going on? I hate being woken up!" shouted Gargamel. He got up from the floor and stretched out his arms and legs and walked over to Papa whilst holding the small of his back.
Why on earth did I sleep on the floor? he asked the Smurf.
"I think it had something to do with you stuffing yourself fit to bursting and drinking all the ale and wine, that might have not been wise," chided Papa.
"Didn't you want to eat anything at all? You must be thirsty, there's plenty of water or even some Goblin said that he was not going to provide anything else," replied Gargamel.
"I can manage, I don't believe that he will let us die of thirst or hunger but how are you feeling Gargamel? You must have eaten a bit of everything. If there was a drug in that food I would think that you must be feeling its effects by now?"
"Me? I feel fine, but I need to do something and quick!" The failed wizard looked around and went the table and got hold of an empty pitcher. He noticed the Smurf looking at him.
"Erhmm! excuse me, don't your people pee?" growled Gargamel and he turned his back on Papa. It was a long pee and for some reason it was most embarrassing for both of them.
When he had finished he put the pitcher on the floor under the table. Would have been most unwise to put it back on the table.
"Don't know about you, but this is getting tedious I just have to do something, be somewhere!" remarked Gargamel and he seemed more jittery somehow. "I've got to keep moving, I just can't keep still and I have a need.. A need for company!" said the human and he was looking at Papa Smurf in a strange way which unsettled the blue creature.
"Are you OK, Gargamel? You seem a little tense?" replied the Smurf and he started to back away from the human who was approaching him with a strange look on his face. It was most peculiar as it almost looked like Gargamel was deeply in love with Papa!
"I have to be with you Papa, always! I just need to hold you tight and never let go, we'll be lovers forever!" simpered Gargamel holding his arms wide open and making a kissing face.
And Papa Smurf found this terrifying! He ran around the perimeter of the room but the human just kept coming. Not chasing as such but just tracking him from the centre of the room . After about ten minutes of this, Papa had to stop to take a breath and before he knew it Gargamel had pounced on him!
Papa was pushed down face first onto the floor and the weight of the human was keeping him pinned down.
Gargamel kept whispering sweet nothings in his ear and trying to nibble it. It was just too horrifying for words. How was he going to get out of this? As soon as that thought popped into his head he noticed a ladder in the corner of the room and an open trapdoor. It was an escape route!
Papa Smurf found new strength and managed to turn himself round to face the human. For a few seconds they looked at each other, one face was full of love and the other full of horror.
"Sorry Gargamel, but I have to go!" said Papa and he poked the human in the eye and gave him a Smurf chop on the side of the neck. The evil wizard collapsed on the spot and looked a sorry sight holding a hand over left eye and trying to rub the left side of his neck with his right hand. This gave time for Papa to jump up and make a dash for the ladder.
He started to climb out of the red room and once through the trapdoor he attempted to close it but it was locked open. Below him he could see Gargamel coming to the bottom of the ladder. He still had that look of absolute love on his face and Papa felt sure that if he ever got out of this prison alive, that he would never ever complain about Gargamel's evil face again.
No wonder the poor human had no partner, when he was feeling love, somehow his face looked scarier than when he was angry. Or maybe it was just because he had never seen such a look on the evil wizard.
He soon got snapped out of his thoughts as Gargamel was coming through the trapdoor.
But there was not even a proper room here just another ladder in the corner of a small three meters square box. The next ladder seemed to go on forever and to Papa it looked like the rest of this prison was a vertical maze of ladders.
"Oh, my Smurf! I really don't like the look of this!"
"Come to Gargy! I just want to love and cuddle you all day my Papa!" cooed Gargamel as he pulled himself up through the trapdoor.
Papa was already climbing the next ladder when he felt himself being pulled down. The Human had grabbed onto his foot and was pulling with all his might. Papa held on as best as he could, but his shoes and leggings had other ideas. They were going South with Gargamel.
Papa just hoped that he had remembered to put on some clean knickers.
To be continued..