The Alchemist's Apprentice: and the Ogre's Curse

  Chapter 9

  Battle on the Platform

  We were taken through the castle, up many stairs and down many corridors; we didn't see a single Ogre on the way. Godwin was very quiet, marching along sandwiched between me and the giant figure of the fallen Ogre king. On the way I had time to think, should I make a run for it? Why did I go along with this harebrained plan? Why should I care what happens in the Ogre's Kingdom? All these things were running through my mind, but deep down I knew why I was here. I could have turned back at anytime and headed home to my mother but I didn't, the reason why was that I wanted to make my mother proud of me. She worked hard all her life and brought me up well and I wanted to show her all the hard work she put in raising me was worth it. I was trying to do well, I wanted to feel that I was important and this was an opportunity to do just that. The only problem was that I was scared, so incredibly scared. I felt I was walking to my execution, and all I was relying on to prevent my oncoming doom was the strange old man plodding along in front of me.

  We went through the large banquet hall that we were discovered in. The place was now empty but the sound of exited Ogres could be heard in here coming from outside, we were nearly at the fighting platform, Godwin's head was down and I could see he was deep in thought.

  The double doors opened in front of us to the screaming voices of hundreds of Ogres waiting for their entertainment to begin.

  The three of us were paraded across the platform to the far side that overhung the chasm below, the sides of the platform had three tiers of seating and not one seat was empty. Above the entrance where we entered was a large balcony on which the warlord sat. "The former king has arrived!" He shouted out.

  The king looked up to him with a sneer on his face. "My demise will not help you! The Ogre Kingdom will not fall to you!" He bellowed back.

  "I believe it will. Then the Wood Rider's realm will fall." As he said this the Ogres erupted in cheers.

  Godwin was standing next to me looking about as if searching for something. "The moss is on this cliff face, we need to get under the platform to get it." He whispered.

  I couldn't see a way, it was impossible to get down the side of the platform because of the stands, the only way under was by the edge we were standing near. The very end of the fighting platform didn't have any sort of barrier; it was just a shear drop off the edge. If we were to go that way we would have to traverse the underside to get to the cliff and then try to get back. I was more concerned about getting out of here alive then trying to get the moss.

  A horn sounded and the crowd went silent. The king was pushed into the centre of the platform; he stood there looking daggers at the warlord. Then the double doors opened again and a huge armoured Ogre walked in to cheers from the crowd. When I say he was huge I mean massive, he stood at least two feet taller than the king and was a lot broader across the shoulders. The challenger stopped ten feet away from the king with a grin that split his ugly face.

  "Lower the weapons!" The warlord shouted, and a brown sack was lowered down on a long rope attached to pulleys high above between the king and the challenger and then stopped and hovered five feet above their heads.

  "This moment will be remembered for eternity," called the warlord. "This is when the king of Kalth fell and I take his crown!" More cheering assaulted my ears.

  Godwin was staring at the sack. "Be prepared Lemon, all hell is going to break out."

  I didn't know what he meant, but knowing him it would involve me risking my life.

  "When the weapons land, only one can live!" The warlord bellowed then sat on his stone throne.

  The king was staring at his opponent with muscles tensed ready to spring in to action; he was looking a lot better after taking Godwin's potion. The challenger was looking up at the sack ready for it to release its load. There was an uncomfortable pause and I held my breath waiting for the action to start.

  The sack opened at the bottom and all manner of weapons fell to the ground, the Ogre champion was already moving before they landed, the king stood his ground never taking his eyes off of his opponent. Swords, axes, maces and daggers clattered on the floor, the Ogre plucked a sword out of the air as he rushed at the king screaming. With a simple sidestep the king avoided a thrust to his stomach and spun around pushing his opponent to the ground, turning back he headed for the weapons.

  "We need that rope." Godwin whispered nodding towards the dangling sack.

  The Ogre guarding us gave Godwin a poke. "No noise." He said looking back to the fighting.

  "How?" I asked.

  "Leave that to me, the grey tubes I gave you, throw them at the side stands on your left then go for the sack. Don't stop boy whatever you do. Give me a five second head start."

  I felt a lump in my throat and sickness welling up in my stomach.

  "On my mark." Godwin said some grey tubes already in his hands.

  I found three in my pocket; my hands were shaking like a leaf.

  The battle in the centre was intensifying as the king had picked up two daggers which now glowed blue matching his opponent's sword. They clashed with brutal strokes, the king taking the force of the sword with one blade and stabbing with the other. The giant challenger was very apt at avoiding the Kings attempts at piecing him, the two were equally matched.

  Godwin nudged me. ”Ready," he said.

  I shook my head hoping he would change his mind.

  Godwin grinned back at me. "Now!" He shouted then took off running down the right side of the platform screaming as he went and throwing the tubes into the stands. The Ogre behind us grunted and gave chase.

  I was shocked but counted to five then ran down the left, I threw the tubes as Godwin told me to, as they hit the side they shattered and sent up a massive cloud of black smoke covering the Ogres watching the fighting. I glanced over to the other side, the entire stand was hidden by the smoke and Godwin was still running, he was heading for the ropes anchor. I threw my last tube then changed direction heading for the centre and the dangling sack. I could see up on the balcony the warlord was on his feet pointing and shouting, I couldn't hear what he said as the noise of the angry crowd drowned it out. The king paused watching me and took a slash on his leg, he roared and stabbed back.

  Godwin had reached the anchor and was tipping a white substance onto the rope, I was nearly under the sack when it started to drop, I caught it and continued to run, I turned to head towards Godwin, and he was running away from the guard chasing him heading towards the fighting duo. "Jump Lemon! Jump!" He screamed waving at the edge of the platform.

  ""Not a chance!" I screamed back. A pulse shot kicked up splinters of stone by my feet. Three Ogres were rushing at me firing as they went. I turned and ran heading for the chasm.

  I couldn't believe what I was doing. More shots flew by my head. I am really going to do this, I hope you know what you're doing Godwin I thought gripping tightly to the sack. I was nearly at the edge; I closed my eyes and threw myself off screaming.

  The king saw the rope flying by him as he held off the rampaging Ogre. "The rope! The rope!" Godwin was shouting chasing after the end. The king took a blow to the head which sent him falling backwards to the ground, his opponent took advantage of the opportunity to raise his sword and plunge it down. He missed the king by an inch. Seeing the rope rushing by him he reached out and grabbed hold, it dragged him along the ground just out of reach.

  I was falling; I could see the pitch black below beaconing me. Then I came to a violent halt and I nearly lost my grip on the sack, I was now swinging underneath the platform with the cliff face rushing towards me, I gripped tighter as I slammed into it and the wind was punched out of my lungs but I still held on as I swung back. I could see the moss we were after clinging to the wall as the momentum was swinging me back towards the cliff, this time I was ready, as I hit again I grabbed hold of the moss and ripped some out, I swung back out underneath the platform with my momentum slowing until I was just dangling on the end of the l
ong rope holding on for dear life.

  On the platform the king was holding the other end rope while lying on his belly, an Ogre stood above him with a pulse rifle pointing at his head.

  "Leave him! He’s mine." The Ogre who was fighting the king walked over. "Now I finish you for warlord." He grinned.

  "Excuse me!" A voice came from behind them, the Ogre angrily turned around, his face turned from rage in to fear. Standing not far from them was a little girl in a dirty white dress.

  "What you are doing is very unpleasant; I would like you to stop please and..." She paused then screeched. "Go away!"

  The Ogre dropped his sword and ran for the smoky stands. Godwin ran to the king - who was still holding on to the rope - keeping a curious eye on the girl as he went. "We have to pull him up quickly." He said to the prone king, blood was pooling around the Ogre’s leg.

  "I can't, no strength left."

  I hung there gently swaying from side to side not daring to look down. It was a long way up to the platform and I wasn't sure if I could manage the climb. The rope jerked slightly then I began to move upwards, someone was pulling me up, I hoped it wasn't the warlord’s Ogres.

  I reached the lip and stretched up to grab the edge as a hand reached over and grabbed my wrist helping me up. I lay back on the floor breathing heavy staring up at the sky. Something wasn't right. It was all quiet. I looked over at the king on the ground; Godwin was wrapping a torn piece of clothing around his leg. So who pulled me up?

  "Hello again," said a familiar voice. Next to my prone body stood the little girl, she was smiling at me. "I said I would help you didn't I? And now I have."

  I shifted away from her slightly. "I thank you." I said nervously as I glanced around and saw the platform was nearly empty, the smoke had almost cleared and the last few Ogres were disappearing back into the castle. All except the warlord, he stood on the balcony staring down at us; slowly he walked back out of sight.

  Godwin came over to me. "Are you hurt?" He asked.

  I was quite surprised at his tone, it actually sounded caring. "You're a crazy old man!" I said angrily.

  Godwin nodded. "Yes I am and I hope you will be too." I laughed at his reply then pulled the moss out of my tunic. Godwin's eyes lit up. "You got it!" He shouted then grabbed me in a bear hug. "Well done Lemon, you did well."

  The king was now on his feet. "How did that get out?" He pointed at the girl, increasing the distance between them.

  The girl looked at him. "Please don't call me that, it is not nice," she turned back to look at me with her piercing green eyes. "I was in there for a long time," she said moving closer to me. "I helped you here and I will once more, as a thank you for releasing me."

  Godwin frowned at me. "What have you done Lem?" He used my name, he was serious again.

  "How can I help you one more time?" The girl said chirpily.

  "Get us out of the castle please." I said.

  The girl smiled. "Come on then, follow me." She headed for the double doors we entered by, she was now making me very nervous as she skipped on ahead.

  "We are going to have some major words when we get out of here." Godwin said, I had never heard the alchemist so angry, I didn't know why, I helped him get in the castle, get the moss and now I was getting him out. There is no pleasing some people.

  As we moved through the castle any Ogre we saw quickly disappeared. Not a single one bothered the four of us. We reached the main drawbridge that had now been lowered and we could see the rocky path that led us to this place. Looking up at the battlements a shiver ran down my spine, lining them were twenty or thirty Ogres pointing their rifles down at us.

  The girl stopped just before we walked out. "There you are." She said. "I helped you out of the castle like you asked."

  "Yes you have, thank you again. Are you not coming with us?" I replied.

  "No, no, I will make my own way. It is time for me to go, my name is Beth by the way, I will be seeing you soon Lem, bye bye." She skipped back off into the castle. What a strange little girl I thought.

  The king wasn't happy. "With that creature gone, the warlord will never let us get across the bridge alive. As soon as we step on it the Ogres will cut us down."

  There was a bright flash of light and an Ogre fell from the battlements hitting the edge of the drawbridge before spinning down into the unknown. Brock I thought, he must still be hiding in the rocks. Three or four shots fired at the Ogres above us.

  "Go!" Shouted Godwin as he slung yellow packets of goo up towards our attackers, they stuck to the wall and exploded sending out small chunks of stone. I threw a tube of the smoke potion onto the bridge and all three of us ran into the fog.

  I kept my head down as I ran through the smoke and out the other side, I could see the shots hitting the rocks as the Ogres fought back, the king was by my side limping and Godwin was slightly back throwing another smoke tube behind him.

  We finally reached the rocks and ducked down behind them. The king collapsed holding his leg and Godwin was breathing heavily. "I told you we could do it." He smiled, then puzzlement showed on his face as I didn't smile back, I was looking passed him at a green rider pointing a pistol at Godwin's head.

  "As I said to you before alchemist. You will be coming with me." The other green riders appeared from behind the rocks, Brock was with them.

  The king stood up. "The warlord will be coming; we need to leave this place."

  The green rider looked at him through narrow eyes, then to the castle where the Ogres were waiting for the smoke to clear.

  "Alright, let's go." He said.

  As we made our way out of the rocky terrain and down to the grassy plains Godwin suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. "I cannot leave this Kingdom yet, I haven't finished my work!" He was very annoyed. I did notice the riders weren't training their weapons on us any more, though they did seem wary of the king and Brock. The Ogre had the king’s arm over his shoulder and was helping him walk, they were no threat to them.

  "I know what is happening here Godwin and I know what you and your apprentice are doing here, but I have my orders to bring you in." The green rider said.

  "What is your name?" I asked him.

  "I am Drayton, commander of the eastern green riders." He replied.

  "Well, Godwin is willing to go with you," I said and Godwin gave me a look of death. "But maybe you haven't caught up with him yet." I hoped that Drayton was a good man; I could see that he wanted to help us.

  Drayton stood in silence for what seemed an age. "You can have two days, after that I will take you to the council for judgment." He finally said.

  "That will be enough time, thank you." Godwin replied.