Roland's Castle

  Chapter 10

  “We have to go where?” Oliver asked, unsure he had heard right.

  “To the sun,” Roland repeated, “That’s what Firebrace told me.”

  “Are you sure he didn’t just mean somewhere sunnier and warmer?”

  “I am sure he meant the sun in the sky,” Roland said.

  “And did he come up with any suggestions as to how to get there?” Oliver asked, still highly sceptical.

  “As a matter of fact he did. We take the tower’s lift up to the First Plain of The Sky, find the Whales of the Sky, and they somehow get us to the moon, and then we ask the Moon-Dwellers how we get to the sun.”

  “Well, it all sounds so simple when you put it like that. Look, are you sure he hasn’t gone perfectly potty?”

  “Apparently my mother will help us. She is not dead.”

  Oliver realised that Roland was serious as he would not joke about his mother. He said, “We do need reinforcements. If Firebrace knows what he is talking about….”

  “I am sure he does,” Roland said.

  “I hope this doesn’t mean we have to solve riddles and all that sort of rubbish, gatekeepers demanding that we ‘Answer me these questions three’…”

  “If anyone starts up with that sort of thing I’ll personally slice their jonglies off,” Savitri said, slicing the air with her sword.

  When they asked Brother Goodwill to go with them he was overjoyed and hugged them all several times over. He was sure they were going to have such a lovely time!

  “It will be an adventure! We will all be adventurers together! Won’t it be wonderful! I simply can’t wait! All we have to do is to get the key off Mister Botherworth and we can go!”

  “Botherworth has the key?” Oliver asked, feeling an ‘uh-oh’ coming on.

  “The only one, unfortunately. He is the janitor after all – the word ‘janitor’ being derived from Janus, the Roman god of gates and doorways. Mr Botherworth is very possessive of the key. He will not give it up for rhyme or reason.”

  “I will make him give it up!” said Savitri, drawing her sword, “And no rhymes,” she added.

  “Oh my goodness no!” Brother Goodwill protested, “No! Botherworth is useful, whatever his peculiarities and nuisances. We must not offend him. No, all we need to do is to ask him to come up to the top with us and let us out – he will do that – I hope. There is no need for bloodshed; just good manners, good will and…. fortitude!”

  “Up the top of the tower?!” Botherworth said, looking up at them in disbelief from his low doorway, “What you wanna go up the top for?”

  “Because it’s there,” Roland said.

  “Huh!” Botherworth grunted, “Young people! Always off on some jaunt. And I suppose you’ll be wanting to come down too, I suppose.”

  “It had occurred,” Roland replied.

  “Look, joyrides is not what the equipment is for. The lift is fragile and if you’re just going up to come down again…”

  “We need to get out and go somewhere up there,” Roland said, impatient.

  “Ah, well, you’ll need the key to unlock the door then, wont you?”

  “I think he’s got it,” Oliver said.

  “And none of your fresh young cheek, either!” Botherworth responded.

  “It’s the only type we have,” Oliver replied, cheekily, with added cheek on top.

  “Well you’re not having the key. It’s my responsibility and it never leaves me. It’s locked onto my belt by a lock and the key to that lock is on a chain that’s also locked onto my belt and the only key that unlocks that lock is also locked onto my belt, so you can’t have it!”

  “Then perhaps you might think of coming up with us and unlocking the door yourself,” Roland said.

  “All the way up there! You must be joking! I’ve better things to do.”

  “We’ll just have to break the door down - or pick the lock,” Roland said, looking straight at the man.

  “Oh no you don’t! You young vandals! I’ll have you if you break tower property!”

  “The tower is mine, the door is mine,” Roland said, “I cannot vandalise my own property. If you don’t open it we will break it down and leave the repairs to someone else…”

  Botherworth thought, “Well, alright… I s’pose. You’ll need someone to come with you up there anyway – there’s things up there you won’t like!”

  “You mean the Sh’Mordra?” Roland asked, “Aren’t you afraid of them?”

  Botherworth reached into a corner behind the door, produced a broom and brandished it defiantly, “That’s what this is for! Dealing with the vermin is part of the job description! What with them and the rats in the cellar, I just don’t get paid enough!

  Now, lets get going before I change my mind!”

  Roland laughed. For the first time he was actually beginning to like Botherworth.

  They stepped into the lift. It reminded Roland of a cage.

  The sides were made of vertical brass rods with gaps between them so that you could see straight through to the sides of the lift shaft. The gates were made of a criss-crossed metal slats and folded away to the sides. Botherworth drew them closed and pressed some buttons on a panel beside them. The lift groaned, then moaned, then started moving upwards, slowly at first but then gathering speed with a hum that grew louder as they passed up the shaft. Occasionally very thin slits of light, like vertical columns, passed by and they guessed that these were doors to the various levels. There were certainly a lot of them. Even though the lift was now going at quite a lick they were passing floor after floor with seemingly no end to it.

  “What is on all these levels?” Roland asked.

  Botherworth answered, “Things, stuff, gizmos, a few kingdoms and empires, some folk of various types, kinds and descriptions, other bric-a-brac – and a few monsters. Sort of stuff you put in the attic and forget about until one day it comes out and gets you…,” and with they heard a sound, like a combination of moaning, growling and roaring, followed by an aggressive snort, coming from one of the levels they were passing.

  “Sounds like you’ve got some clearing out to do,” Oliver said to Roland.

  “First things first,” Roland replied.

  “We’ll soon be there! Won’t it be wonderful! Yet another adventure!” Goodwill chirped up. Botherworth looked at him accusingly, “Why are you so cheerful all the time?”

  “Many reasons,” Goodwill replied, “The joy of each new day, the joy of wonderful companions, the joy of each new adventure. The joy of joy itself!”

  “Sounds awful.” Botherworth said, “Can’t you take summink for it?

  As the lift continued to rise they emerged from the visible part of the shaft and were suddenly drenched in blinding sunlight and surrounded by blue sky. Now it was as if the lift were simply flying upwards through the air as nothing was visible around it except for the shining spiral that Roland had seen when the scuttler had fired its lightning bolt.

  “That’s what the tower actually looks like,” Roland said.

  “It’s beautiful!” Oliver said.

  “It is!” Savitri said “Powerful looking to - and deadly, I hope!”

  Outside the spiral, in the distance, they could see black specks circling. They seemed to be winged creatures and at first Roland thought they were birds, maybe crows, but quickly the specks began to gather and get closer, still circling but in an ever tighter circumference.

  “They’ve seen us!” Botherworth said, “Damn vermin!” and he grasped his brush.

  As they watched one of the specks broke off from the rest of the swarm and started flying straight towards them.

  As it got closer they could see that it consisted of smoke – smoke that looked like it was from a fire that had died and gone cold long ago, but whose destruction still lingered as a cloak of dark and rage.

  “It’s a big'un,” Botherworth said, “Nasty bloomin’ thing.”

  It was close enough now for them to see t
hat from it’s front stretched a long neck, at the end of which was a tiny head with a hideous, shrivelled face. Alongside the neck were many tentacles that seemed to change in number as they wriggled and squirmed and grasped at the air in front of it.

  It was a thing that had to fill any watcher with horror, particularly those in its path.

  It was only yards away now, approaching quickly. Within a second it had seized the cage and given it a mighty shake that threw all of its occupants off of their feet. At the same time the creature let out a deep growl of rage and divided into a thousand tentacles that invaded the cage through the bars. It shook the lift again.

  The first back on his feet was Botherworth, who grabbed up his broom and started thrusting it through the bars into the thing, “Shoo! Shoo! I told you lot before! It’ll be traps and poison! Don’t make me get the exterminator in!”

  “You really think these things are just vermin?” Roland yelled at Botherworth.

  Savitri and Roland drew their swords and Oliver loaded his bow.

  They quickly found that the tentacles were vulnerable to weapons. Savitri and Roland went around the lift cutting them off. The ends wriggled and died on the floor as the stumps shrivelled back through the bars. Oliver shot an arrow, then another. Both disappeared into the smoke but obviously found some sort of target inside the creature as it roared and flinched back, then retreated.

  They had fought off one, but looking out again they saw that the whole swarm was now flying towards the cage.

  “Stripe me! They’ve been breeding up here!” Botherworth said.

  Even Botherworth’s bravado couldn’t dispel the dread that they felt watching the mass of creatures approach them. The sky itself turned black as they blocked out the sun.

  “Stand by!” Roland said, realising that they were all going to hit the cage at once and with great force.

  When the creatures hit it was as if they hit all at once. There was tremendous bang and a jolt that went through all of them like a body blow. The impact sent the occupants of the lift flying against the bars. For a few moments Roland was dazed. As he came to he could hear the swish of smoky tentacles above his head. He looked up but there was nothing to see. All was blackness. Nevertheless, he had the eerie sense that a thousand eyes were watching, looking inwards through the bars. There was now a stench in the lift, like that of old stale, dead smoke combined with the smell of rotting flesh.

  Savitri found her tinder box and managed to strike a light. The moment she did so a smoky tentacle struck it from her hand, the flame dying as the box hit the floor. For a second they had all caught a glimpse of what was around them – a million tentacles, feeling, grasping, seeking. It had been less scary with the lights off.

  “Oh my goodness! Things aren’t going very well, are they?” Goodwill said

  “Aren’t they?” Botherworth said sarcastically.

  As they spoke there was a deep groaning sound and they were thrown on their feet once more as the lift was tipped sideways. They rolled down against the bars before being flung back the other way.

  “They’re trying to break the lift shaft,” Botherworth explained.

  The metallic creaking and groaning went on as they continued to be thrown around.

  Several times they were flung as high as the roof, only to be pulled down again to the floor. Roland felt his arm break and the sound of shattering bones was coming from the others. They were all crying out in pain. It was obvious that none of them were going to be in any fit state to continue with the quest, even if they got out of this alive, which itself seemed impossible.

  Just as those bleak thoughts invaded his mind Roland noticed that the smoke was stirring, as if it were wavering and having some disagreement with itself, as if parts of it wanted to flee and other parts wished to stay. It was as if it sensed some enemy was about to descend upon it. Then, like a shawl being pulled off, the Sh’Mordra were simply gone, as if they had been brushed away by a great hand. Once more Roland and his companions felt pure, sweet sunlight. It was miraculous and Roland felt the full force of joy.

  As he bathed in the fresh light Roland heard a voice, coming not from outside but from inside him. He recognised it as his mother’s. It said but one word, hushed as if from a cloudlike dream, and full of love. “Roland.”

  He fell unconscious.

  He awoke to find himself amidst the others on the floor of the lift, which had now come to a halt. They were all waking up as if from a deep sleep. For a few moments Roland couldn’t recall where he was but then remembered the attack by the Sh’Mordra. He remembered that his arm had been broken and felt a sense of panic. He felt his arm. Now it was perfectly alright. He looked around at the others. As they stood up it was clear that their injuries had also been healed.

  “What happened?” Savitri asked.

  “We had some help,” Roland said, “Is everyone alright?”

  “I think so,” Oliver said, “As alright as we can be…”

  “It was quite a trip one way and another, wasn’t it?” Brother Goodwill commented.

  “You noticed that, did you?” Botherworth said.

  “It isn’t over yet,” Roland said.

  The lift had stopped in a shaft, like the one they had passed through before emerging into the sky. Blocking the lift was a solid wooden door.

  “We’re here, I suppose,” Roland said.

  The First Plain of the sky? Oliver asked.

  Roland shrugged.

  “So what exactly is it?” Oliver pressed, “We are not just going to step out onto clouds are we? Presumably this plain is between the earth and the sky, or above the sky, with another sky and more clouds above it?”

  “Wherever you go is clouds,” Botherworth said dismally, “Clouds above, clouds below.”

  “Ah! But some of them are nice bright shiny clouds!” Brother Goodwill said perkily.

  “’Ere we go,” Botherworth said, shaking his head and rolling his eyes.

  “if we can walk on it, how does the sun shine through it?” Oliver asked, still concerned and puzzled.

  “I don’t think my mother helped us just to let us set foot onto thin mist,” Roland said,

  “Anyway, we will have to see — let’s go be adventurers!” And he turned to Botherworth, “If you would be so kind as to unlock the door, Mister Botherworth”