Dreamer

Dreamer
-Part 2-

By Dan L. Hollifield





Tommy and Joel stood back to back, their spears out-thrust before them, panting for breath as they waited for the monster's next attack. They could see the still-twitching bodies of their last two companions in the hunt where they lay sprawled near the edge of the clearing. The screeching of the monstrous bird that had claimed so many of the hunters rang in their ears like the roar of a runaway train. The boys were covered with scratches from their attempts to evade the eight-foot tall carnivorous bird by running through briars and thorn bushes. From what had started as light-hearted fun, the hunt had degenerated into a slaughter. And the hunters were the ones getting slaughtered. First, one of their guides had been surprised by a wild boar. The slashes in his legs from the boar's tusks had made it necessary for two other guides to carry him back to the castle. The next day, another guide had fallen into a ravine and broken his neck. After his burial, the hunt had continued as tradition insisted it should. Once begun, the hunt could not end until one of the birds was slain- or all of the hunters. Death and injury had stalked the hunters just as they stalked the Ma-tera-kondu, but death and injury looked to have had more success. As the hunt bore on, the toll of slain and wounded grew ever higher. Do-em-nair had told the boys that the hunt for the Ma-tera-kondu was a sacred coming-of-age ceremony for the youth of Ky-eir. No one had told them that the hunt was also the most dangerous activity in the realm.

"Joel, you got any ideas on how to get out of this?"

"Nope, but I'm prayin' we do. I got a few things to say to Merlin when we get back. If we get back. How many days has it been since we got here?"

"I dunno, four, maybe five. I kinda lost track."

"You think they're dead?" Joel asked quietly, his eyes straying from the forest to the bodies at the clearing's edge.

"Well," replied Tommy. "They're still moving a little, but they're cut up pretty bad. You think we can kill that bird when it comes back?"

"We have to, before it can get us too. Shhhhh... Listen, I think it's coming back right now!" Gradually the noise in the underbrush surrounding the clearing had increased. As the boys strained to hear, they gripped their spears tighter. The sweat from their fear made the spear hafts slippery. The wind seemed to pick up, changing from a dead calm to a gentle breeze. The trees swayed noisily, but the thud of the giant Ma-tera-kondu bird's footsteps could still be heard. With a screeching cry, like fingernails on a chalkboard, the bird bulled it's way through the underbrush.

"There it is," cried Tommy. "It's gonna finish off the guides!"

"Come on," Joel said. "We gotta help them!" Yelling as loud as they could, the two boys tried to distract the giant bird. They ran to head off the monster before it could stoop down to sink it's long, sharp beak into the helpless men. As if from instinct, Joel and Tommy separated, one to either side of the bird. They managed to force it's attention from the guides to themselves as they dodged, weaved from side-to-side and screamed. The bird entered the clearing slowly, bypassing the injured guides. It's beady eyes looked evilly down at the two boys as if deciding which to kill first. The Ma-tera- kondu was at least nine feet tall, and looked like an ostrich on steroids. It's beak was over two feet long, thin and pointed, and sharp enough to stab to the bone. When it opened it's mouth to screech, they could see it's serrated edges that cut like the sharpest of knives. The monster kept stabbing at the boys with it's beak as they danced out of reach. Again and again they thrust at it with their spears. The bird was bleeding from several wounds now, but didn't seem to notice, or be hampered by them.

We need a plan, Joel thought. Otherwise, we're gonna die!

"Stay on it's other side," he yelled to Tommy. "When it comes at me, you stab it! When it goes after you, I'll stab it. If we keep it turning we can wear it down!"

During a moment's respite, Tommy stooped to grab a rock and flung it at the bird's head. The solid thunk! of the impact seemed to startle the monstrous bird. Joel picked up another rock and threw it as hard as he could. The rock hit the bird right in the eye as Tommy ran up to sink his spear in it's side. The bird spun toward Tommy, who circled with it's turn so as to stay out of reach of the slashing beak. Tommy's spear seemed to be stuck in the bird's side. Joel saw an opening and thrust his spear between the bird's legs. His shoulders were almost wrenched out of their sockets as the bird tripped and started to fall, but Joel managed to pull his spear back. Tommy gave a last desperate pull on his spear and managed to free it from the bird's side. Blood fountained from the deep wound. He fell backwards and rolled away from the bird as it tried to stab at him yet again. Joel lowered the point of his spear and ran at the bird as fast as he could.

Now! he thought. While it's looking the other way. I've got to reach it before it can get back up!

Joel dropped his spearpoint at the last minute and held on to the haft as he reached his target. Like a pole vaulter, he rose in the air as his spear rammed into the bird's back. He was forced to release the spear as he flew over the bird. It was too solidly jammed for him to free it while dodging the snapping beak. Tommy lunged at the open mouth and felt the spear break through into the monster's brain. The Ma-tera-kondu rolled, thrashing across the ground and was finally still.

The boys looked at each other, gasping for breath. They grinned. It was over.

"Well done," came a voice from the edge of the clearing. Do-em-nair stood there with the two guides that had carried the injured man to the castle. Several other men were there as well. One was already tending to the wounds of the hunters that lay at the clearing's edge. "I'm glad to see that we were not really needed. Churgeon... Those two guides, will they live?"

"One will, the other... Perhaps. I will need medicines from the castle. 'Twould be best if they were carried there at once."

"It will be done," replied Do-em-nair solemnly. He nodded at four of the hunters in his party. "Prepare litters for the wounded. Start back as soon as they can be carried. We will follow with the prey as soon as the men have caught their breath." He gestured at Tommy and Joel.

"How long," gasped Joel. "Have you been there?"

"We arrived just as you dispatched the beast. I can say that I have rarely seen a kill done in just that way, but you did seem to have the matter well in hand. When we return to the castle we will feast well. You will be honored. I have little doubt that bards will make of this a tale that will live long in our people's memory."

"How many dead, just for a meal?" Tommy asked bitterly.

"Three, if this one does not survive. Sometimes more are killed, sometimes less. The Ma-tera-kondu is not easily hunted. But more than a simple meal was at stake here," said Do-em-nair. "This has been a test of bravery. A test of your manhood. You are now to be held as adults by our laws. Let no one say otherwise or they shall be held accountable to our Court. I will be most proud to present you to her Highness, Princess Sill-eve-kor."

The Churgeon started off with the litter-bearers and the wounded as the rest of Do-em-nair's party made a sledge to drag the dead bird back to the castle.





Over the next few days, the boys regained their strength at countless feasts. In addition to meeting the eight-year-old Princess Sill-eve-kor, they were presented to many of the peers of the realm. The court made a big show of presenting them gifts, while the bards toiled night and day to preserve the story of their hunt in the epic poetry that passed for history in the world of Ky-eir. Finally, they awoke one morning to discover that the gateway between worlds was once again within the castle's Feast Hall. Joel and Tommy were both glad to be going home, but were wondering about Merlin's promise that no time would have passed in their own world while they were gone. After all, they had spent almost two weeks in the world of Ky-eir... Would they find their home unchanged?

"It's been fun Do-em-nair," said Joel. "But in a way I'm glad to be going home."

"Yeah," echoed Tommy. "Even the hunt was fun, when it wasn't scary, but there's no place like home."

"Please return if ever you are able," Do-em-nair said while smiling. "I have enjoyed your tales of your home world. You both would make fine knights in the service of Ky-eir. I am pleased that you agreed to take the spears that you used on the hunt with you when you go home. Whenever you hold them, I wish you fond memories of Ky-eir."

"Thank you, sir."

"But I have one more parting gift to give," added Do-em-nair as he hung a silver medallion around each boy's neck. "These are engraved with special runes to help protect you on your journeys. The court magicians have prepared them especially for you. I instructed them to spare no efforts in the making of these simple charms. Doubtless that Merlin could provide better, but these are from the hearts of all of the people of Ky-eir. Wear them with pride."

"We will," said Joel.

"You bet," added Tommy. "I hope we can come back someday. I like it here."

"There aren't any more ceremonies we'd have to worry about," Joel muttered. "Are there?"

"No, except for perhaps enough feasts to make you both fat," laughed Do-em-nair. "There is the Portal to your home. No doubt Merlin awaits you on the other side. Goodbye, my friends!"

With more farewells on their lips, the two boys stepped through the shimmering circle, as if stepping out of a dream. They found themselves once more within their special clearing in the woods near their home. Merlin stood in the same spot as he had before they left, but now he was holding a stopwatch!

"Six seconds... You certainly took your time in there! How long did you stay? Months?"

"No Sir," Joel sounded startled.

"Two weeks or so, was all..." Began Tommy.

"We've only been gone for six seconds?" Asked Joel. "But how?"

"Magic," said Merlin. "What did you expect? Well, now that I've proved myself to you, are you ready to help me find the two Princes of Arcadia?"

"Y-Yes Sir," Tommy stuttered. "Right now?"

"Of course," nodded Merlin. "Time is of the essence!"

"What have we gotten into now?" asked Joel wonderingly.





"Now time is of the essence," Merlin said heatedly. "In Arcadia the Enemy's troops are poised to wreak havoc amongst the armies of the two kingdoms. Unless you go now to lead the people until I can locate the lost Princes, they have no hope. Take with you the gifts and weapons you hold. They will serve you well in the struggle."

Tommy and Joel looked at each other and then to the shimmering portal between worlds that hung in the air like a sphere of water in the clearing they had once used as a playground. The look that passed between them was one that was strange to boys of their age nowadays. Their visit to Ky-eir had brought them more maturity than they had dreamed. They had passed the test of manhood there and had emerged wiser than before. Now they were ready to pass another test. Whether for good or ill, life or death, they had gained maturity and were ready for the task that befell them. Merlin had chosen well- the iron of their youth had been forged into the steel of adulthood and they stood ready for the tempering that would add further strength.

"Let's do it," they said as one.

"Pass into the portal, young men. And may the good God watch over you and guide your path. I will commence my search and recall you when it is done."

The boys gripped their spears more tightly and stepped forward into the portal... and into their destiny.

When they had gone, Merlin gazed over the clearing at the signs of their youth. Their scattered toys, hand-made swords of wood, armor of cardboard and tin, and a treehouse-fortress of rough two-by-fours. He saw the culmination of plans made ages ago when the world was young. he saw the glory of the ages yet to come. All was as the Gods had planned. He shivered, from the chill of the air or from the knowledge of things yet to pass, it cannot be said. Then, with a muttered spell in a language old before mankind had appeared, Merlin vanished. The search had begun in earnest, at last.


Joel and Tommy emerged in the darkness of a forest. They scanned the undergrowth all about them carefully, for they remembered the Enemy's monstrous troops that had gathered in the forest glades shown to them by Merlin's spells. To their ears there came the crack of dead branches being stepped upon by something hiding unseen in the shadows. They quickly stood back to back, without a word being spoken, and held their spears at the ready. When the unseen beast charged, it found them ready and unafraid. Well, less afraid than they would have been only days before. Before the hunt, before they had faced the beast that was the sacred prey of the men of Ky-eir. After killing the dread Ma-tera-kondu, what did they have to fear from a few goblins? Nothing... nothing at all. The goblin charged, swinging its poor excuse for a sword, ragged edges rusting. Tommy skewered the pitiful thing as it rushed to the attack. With a growl its brethren rushed in also, only to meet with the cold steel of Ky-eiran spears- and the cold determination of Joel and Tommy's will. Within seconds there were half a dozen dead goblins at the boys' feet. Then silence fell upon the forest.

"Let's get out of here," said Joel. "These things stink."

"I'm with you there," agreed Tommy. "We ought to be safer out of the woods, anyway. I'm grabbing one of these swords. It ain't much, but until we get some decent weapons it'll have to do."

"Right, hand me one too. I hope we can meet up with some Arcadian troopers once we get clear of the forest," added Joel.

"Think we'll have any trouble convincing them that we aren't the bad guys?"

"Well," said Joel while ducking a low-hanging treebranch, "We don't look much like those things that tried to jump us. That ought to count for something. Come on, it gets lighter over this way." In a few minutes the boys has cleared the edge of the forest and had come out onto a field of grass. In the distance they could see the tents and flags of an army encampment. They thought that they should be able to walk to the camp in a couple of hours.

"We'll be there long before dark. Come on Tommy, they might have supper ready by the time we get there."

"Yeah, good thinking. I'm starved, Joel."

"Hah," laughed Joel. "We just ate a less than an hour ago in Ky-eir."

"Yeah, we did. But all this jumping from world to world makes me hungry."

"Tommy, you take the cake!"

"As long as I get to eat some of it, I'll be all right."

The boys laughed and began their walk over the grassy plain of Arcadia.





Absalam was the name of the sentry that spotted the boys first. He passed the word to summon the sergeant of the guard and readied himself to face whatever threat they might present. He'd survived several major battles with the goblins and had learned caution the hard way. Not that he thought the two figures openly walking across the plain were really goblins- very un-goblinish activity indeed, approaching openly through the short grass in full view of the camp- but it paid to be careful. Taking things for granted got you killed quickly, these days.

As the boys drew closer he could see that they carried goblin swords as well as spears of an unfamiliar design. He could also see that they wore no armor and walked as if they hadn't a care in the world. Absalam would be very glad to see his sergeant show up and take the responsibility of meeting these two odd travelers. Passing the buck to a superior seemed to be one of the constants in any army of any world. Woe betide the footsoldier who had no officer to defer command decisions onto. One could lose one's head that way.

The sergeant showed up when the boys had gotten within shouting range. He cursed for a few moments, but that is just something that soldiers do when they need time to think. It was automatic, like breathing, and meant nothing more than that the sergeant wished that he had someone to pass the buck to in order to avoid having made a mistake show up on his record. Now he had to make sure that he didn't make any mistakes. at least none that he couldn't blame on someone else. The sergeant's name was Pandraius and he had left a flagon of mead and some fine mutton to come watch two striplings amble into his camp. That sort of thing left him in somewhat less than the best of moods. As a matter of fact, Pandraius had been in a foul mood since he'd been forced to leave his favorite tavern, and the serving wenches therein, at the start of the war against the goblins.

"Ahoy the camp," yelled Joel.

"Blasted farmboys," thought Pandraius. "Always mucking about trying to prove themselves men of action."

"What an odd pair, thought Absalam. "Wonder where they got those strange clothes?"

"What do you want?" yelled Pandraius as the boys got closer. "We have no need of peasant levies. Untrained layabouts is all you look good for!"

"Merlin sent us," called Tommy. He hoped that the old wizard was held in as high esteem here in Arcaida as he was in Ky-eir.

"He thought that you needed some help," added Joel, not liking the sound of Pandraius' insults one bit.

"Merlin?" asked Absalam. "He has not forgotten us after all?"

"What good are two striplings?" grumbled Pandraius. "What we need are two more cohorts of spearmen, or two more armies. Not a pair of untried youths. Likely you'll run off crying for your mothers as soon as the fighting starts."

"Aww, your mother swims after troopships," Tommy jeered.

Pandraius bristled at the insult. Absalam wisely tried to hide his laughter.

"Spirited striplings, in any case," Absalam managed to say with a straight face. His own mother had wanted him to find a career in the local theater group. After the last few battles with the goblins, he sometimes wished that he'd done just that. "Where did you find those swords?" he called out to the boys.

"In the hands of some monsters that attacked us back there in the woods," answered Joel.

"They didn't need them any more once we got through with them," added Tommy.

"You fought off a troop of goblins in the forest?" asked Pandraius skeptically. "You expect us to believe that sorry tale?"

"Well there were only seven or eight of them," said Tommy.

"And they're really stupid critters," added Joel. "Besides, Merlin said you needed our help while he looked for the two princes of your kingdoms. So we're here to help. We didn't really have any trouble with those goblin-things. They couldn't fight their way out of wet paper bag."

"You were not stricken dumb with the fear of the goblins?" gasped Absalam.

"Fear? Like some sort of spell, you mean?" answered Joel. "No, but we've just come back from Ky-eir. Maybe the talismans they gave us there helped to protect us from any spell the goblins use. I dunno, stranger things have happened."

The boys were now standing at the gates of the camp. It felt good not to have to yell back and forth in order to be heard.

"Anyway," Tommy said. "We're here to help until Merlin can find your two princes and bring them here to you. What's the big deal with that? How come two entire kingdoms are at risk because of some missing heirs?"

"Our Enemy, Gaspartin- may his wine turn to urine in his mouth, is of noble blood himself." Absalam explained. "Unless the princes return to claim their thrones he is next in the line of succession. We would rather die than see that despot upon the thrones of our kingdoms. His own Duchy is proof enough of his evil. The people there are little better than slaves, those who have avoided becoming food for Gaspartin's goblin army."

"Sounds like one nasty jerk," mused Joel.

"Kinda like Mister Dorphas, the football Coach back home." joked Tommy.

"Right," said Joel. "We better get busy helping these folks, before they become goblin-chow."

"Let's do it," said Tommy.

"Take us to your leader," grinned Joel.





To be continued...


Copyright 1997 by Dan L. Hollifield

Dan Hollifield (I'm Aphelion's Editor, by the way) was born in 1957 at almost the same minute that Sputnik II was launched. This seems to have warped his point of view in the fact that he has always been rather a nut on the subject of spaceflight. He lives in Athens, Ga. USA. More biographical info can be found at The Mare Inebrium website- if you need that sort of thing.

If you like this story and you wish to tell me so you can e-mail me by clicking here. And thanks for visiting Aphelion!

Aphelion Letter Column A place for your opinions.

Return to the Aphelion main page.