Wot Nott Kakuri and the Hu Ba Hou - Part Two: The Realm of the Black Crystals Page 5

  Chapter Three - A Dark Place Within, And Fighting the Beast

  Nott was gutted; his life-long friend was gone – but to where? Shaking with fright, shouting to Kakuri who was by now phasing back in, he told her what had happened, how Wot had disappeared into the darkness. Returning through the blasted out hole, Kakuri asked what she could do, to help bring him back.

  “What can you do?” Nott bemoaned. “What can anyone do to save him?” Staring into the inky blackness, their eyes searched for their missing friend.

  Somewhere deep within the all-encompassing blackness, Wot was still very much alive, though unaware of his friends’ desperate calls to him. You see, when he passed through the hole, into the blackness, he had entered another realm of existence. The enormity of this alien experience overwhelmed his three dimensional, human senses. Remaining motionless until his eyes became accustomed to the darkness, Nott hoped he might see where he had landed. Unfortunately, this did not happen. The realm, the place that he found himself in was a place of total blackness; no light entered or left – it was impossible to see anything.

  Although he was unable to see, Wot had his remaining senses to aid him, senses that compensating for loss of sight began to work harder, telling him that he was standing somewhere, yet also nowhere – in a non-place. Although he could not see with his eyes, he could see. He could not hear, but could hear. Somehow, his remaining senses were compensating for the missing one. He had new ways of seeing, feeling and understanding. Using these senses, Wot realised there were others, bodies, there along with him. He could not see them in the conventional way, but saw them nevertheless. These bodies, these people – and so many of them – were now approaching him...

  “Who are you?” he cried out, symbolically pushing them away with his hands.

  No reply.

  “I know you are there,” he said. “I can see you.”

  The bodies, the people approaching him stopped dead in their tracks when they heard this.

  “I can see you, all of you,” Wot insisted. “There are so many of you standing here around me. Will you, can one of you please tell me where I am?”

  A voice, a quiet voice, a soft voice, a voice almost without hope broke the silence, saying, “We know you are here, but we cannot see you… How, then, can you see us?”

  “I, I don’t know,” said Wot. “I can’t see you in the normal way, but I can see you.” Trying to explain it better, Wot continued, “It’s almost as if I see you in my brain. In my mind’s eye, I can see a scene – it’s in black and white – of silvery figures. These figures are you.”

  A different voice broke in, saying, “We can tell by your accent that you are not from Onisha… Are you an Outlander?”

  “Yes,” Wot replied. “I am an Outlander, from Earth. My name is Wot.” Happy that he was telling them this, he continued, “Me and my best friend Nott were sent for by the Grand Mystic, Umahia.” There was a sound of excited murmurings amongst those surrounding him. Wot continued, “Umahia asked for our help...he asked us to help him defeat Miafra.” More excite murmurings. “We have so much to do, so little time in which we can do it, and all that I am doing is wasting my time standing here talking to you.” Feeling that he might have insulted them, Wot added, “No insult intended. I have to get out from here – so much depends on it.” The murmurings grew louder and louder, then another voice said, “Umahia asked for your help?”

  “Yes,”

  “To defeat Miafra?”

  “Yes, I have already told you that.”

  “If what you say is true you are a friend to us, to all of us in this dark place,” said the voice.

  Hearing this, Wot breathed a sigh of relief. “I am very pleased to hear that, I can assure you,” he replied. “But who are you, where am I, and what is this place?”

  The first voice that had spoken, said, “We are the ones who spoke up, who questioned Miafra. From the very beginning, we queried his intentions, his aims; we did not believe his false promises. We wanted to see him gone. We foolishly believed he might listen to reason, but he didn’t. We incurred his wrath; we were at nothing against his power, we stood no chance of succeeding. Miafra, however, did not kill us. No. He wanted to make us pay for all eternity for what we had done, so he sent us here, to this dark place. He wanted to make an example of us, so that any others, who might be thinking of questioning his actions, would think again, lest they also endured the same fate.”

  “But where are we?” Wot asked.

  Continuing, the voice said, “We are in a place between worlds, between Onisha and Earth. It is a place, a limbo, between realities; a place where no light can enter or leave. Despite this, Wot, you can see! You must be special, yourself and your Outlander friend.” There was a pause, and then the voice continued, it said, “If Umahia asked for your help, he believes you can do it. You are our best hope – our only hope – to help us escape from this darkness, this state of perpetual despair.”

  “Help us!” the voice implored. “Help all in Onisha,” In his mind’s eye Wot could see the figures, every last one of them, shuffling, drawing closer and closer, crying over and over again, “Help us, help all in Onisha.” “Help us, help all in Onisha.” “Help us, and help all in Onisha.” “Help us, and help all in Onisha.”

  “Okay, okay,” he said, holding his hands to his ears. “That is what we were trying to do, you know, before I ended up here. I cannot do anything to help you, though, while I am stuck in this limbo. Moreover, it grieves me to tell you that I have absolutely no idea how to get out. It seems we are trapped here together...”

  “But you have your powers, your gifts – use them!” The first voice insisted. “That is why Umahia summoned you,” said another voice.

  “Well, yes, Umahia did say something along those lines,” Wot admitted. “But I think he overrated them, I feel so helpless.”

  The voices pressing him further, said, “Think of your gifts, which of them is the most powerful?”

  “The power of the Mystic Rhyme, of course.” Wot replied without any hesitation at all. Hearing this, the murmurs began again.

  “If this is indeed so,” the first voice said, “you have the means to break free. You have a power at your disposal that, with proper use, can not only set us free from this terrible place, but also help to defeat Miafra, never underestimate it.”

  Promising to give it his best shot, Wot said, “I will do my utmost to try and free you.” No sooner had he said this, did a germ of inspiration enter his grey matter. Enswathed in the darkness, whispering, Wot said, “If my power is truly within the Rhymes I create, I will give them the spectacle they want. I will give them the mother of all Rhymes.” Speaking louder, Wot informed them it would take him a while to gather the words necessary, and that he needed complete silence while doing it.

  It was slow… creating, choosing, selecting the right words, the correct words; trying to remember them without the luxury of being able to record them into his book. Nevertheless, he pushed on regardless and little by little the mother of all Rhymes came in to being. He was determined to save Onisha, determined to defeat the evil man, and doubly determined to win. Despite being in total darkness, in his mind’s eye Wot could see the silvery forms watching him intently. Beads of cold sweat trickled down his face, neck and back, sticking his jumper to him.

  The words came, but oh so slowly. The silence that he had asked for, craved for, grew unbearable…

  It could have been minutes or it could have been several hours when he finished the rhyme (time meant nothing within that dark place). Speaking, calmly, Wot said, “I think I have it, but I don’t know how it will work, not exactly. Be prepared for anything!”

  “We are ready, we are ready,” the voices replied. “And know you this, Wot, no matter what happens, you have our deepest thanks.”

  Wot could see the silver forms, the forsaken ones, waiting patiently in the darkness for him to save them. He began…

  “In
the darkness of this limbo,

  In the silence of this site,

  At this point of desperation,

  Bring the light and give them sight.”

  At first nothing happened, nothing at all. However, as the seconds ticked past, a chink of light appeared in the distance. Wot continued…

  “Bridge the gap from dark to light,

  Connect it to the world outside,

  Restore the hope that was in them,

  Remove the fear and reverse the tide.”

  The light grew stronger, brighter…

  “Open up the door that’s hidden,

  The door that trapped us in this spot,

  Send us back to our origins,

  Before we entered, and left to rot.”

  Suddenly, a silent explosion of light of every imaginable colour – and then some – ripped away the barrier, which had trapped them in that dark place. Onisha lay ahead – they were free.

  Despite this success, Wot continued reciting the mother of all rhymes…

  “Destroy this darkest fissure,

  Wipe out all that remains,

  Let no man be tormented,

  Ever again by its hopelessness.”

  It was finished, done. The tormented souls thus set free rushed towards the beckoning light, to Onisha. Wot, however, remained where he was, he stayed put, shocked by the enormous power he unleashed. Suddenly, another series of explosions rocked above and below the dark place. Acrid smoke filled his lungs. The terrific force of these explosions tore apart the darkest of prisons. After watching the last person exit the place, Wot ran for his life.

  Coughing and spluttering, Wot found himself back in Onisha, outside The Seat of the Axis from which Kakuri and Nott were still calling him.

  “Are you all right?” Nott asked, worried for his best friend.

  “I think so...”

  “When you disappeared,” said Kakuri, “we thought we had lost you. Are you sure you are okay?” she asked.

  “I’m okay, I really am,” he insisted, coughing.

  Passing through the blasted out hole, Kakuri and Nott rejoined their large friend, checking him over for injuries. When they were satisfied that he was all right, Nott said, “You know, you were gone for a full five minutes, where were you?”

  “Five minutes!” Wot exclaimed. “Is that all?” They nodded that it was so. Sitting, resting upon the grass, Wot told them where he had been and all that had happened while he was there. “It sure was a long five minutes,” he said, scratching his head, perplexed.

  Intrigued by his story, Kakuri and Nott were happy that he had struck successfully against the madman, Miafra.

  Ever impatient, Nott wanted to get started again, so he said, “Come on; don’t forget that Dragonsaur, it’s time we began. Are you ready, Wot?”

  “Me?” he asked. “Why me?”

  “The Mystic Rhymes, that’s why. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten?”

  “Of course I haven’t forgotten,” Wot lied, trying to remember them. “Can you give me a minute or two, though?” he asked, stalling. “I’m still a bit shaky from my ordeal.”

  Kakuri, looking very concerned, asked, “Are you sure you are okay?”

  “Hmm, yes,” he answered. “It’s just that everything is happening so fast, it’s hard to keep pace with it all.”

  “I know the feeling,” she said.

  Remembering the Rhymes, Wot said, “It’s no use moping around, old boy, pull yourself together and get on with it.” Standing up straight, withdrawing his little book from his pocket (he felt good seeing it again), Wot searched for the correct page.

  “I must remember to write that rhyme,” he mumbled, fingering the pages.

  “Did you say something?” Nott asked.

  “No, I was talking to myself. Let’s get on with it.”

  Because the plan had been for the greater part Kakuri’s idea, she felt responsible for its success. Adamant that it succeed, she insisted they spare no effort carrying it out. “Wot, are you really alright?” she asked him again, still concerned for his fitness to proceed.

  “I am fine, don’t worry about me,” he replied. Finding the page, Wot glanced over the words he had written. Clearing his throat, he said. “This is the first part, are you ready?”

  “Yes, go on,” Kakuri answered. Nott told him that he was ready.

  “In the name of good within this land,

  By the power of the Mystic Rhyme,

  For all that was here, and now is gone,

  We must bring back the moments in time.”

  I ask for help, in honour I’m bound,

  To keep this fair land so alive,

  The Axis in danger must be protected, I know,

  That’s why we are here and we strive.

 

  Across the partition, ‘twixt Onisha and Earth,

  Open the portal to this great divide,

  Send the Axis and its resting abode,

  There and back in a second, to hide.”

  Wot stood there, staring, his eyes glued to the Seat of the Axis, waiting to see what might happen. Then it faded away, gone.

  “You did it, you actually did it!” said Kakuri, jumping excitedly. “But hurry! The next rhyme, read it – quickly.”

  Wot continued…

  “Preserve the vista, where the shelter has gone,

  Make it so and let it remain,

  On return of the Axis let its new cover be seen,

  The perception, so created, remain.”

  Nothing appeared to happen. Everything seemed the same. Neither Nott, nor Wot or even Kakuri felt confident enough to proclaim the Mystical Rhyme had actually worked. The Seat had gone all right, that was for sure. But had it returned? Moreover, if it had, how would they know?

  As per usual, Nott was the first to grow impatient, he said, “Why are we standing here? If the Seat has returned, surely we can touch it. In addition, if we can touch it, that is proof enough for me. Come on, let’s go over and find out.”

  As they approached the Seat (if it really was there), it was perfectly disguised, because they saw nothing of it not even a brick. Grass now covered the land upon which it had stood. The landscape gave no inkling whatsoever that anything unusual was going on. It was as if the Seat of the Axis had never been.

  Kakuri wanted to go first, to inspect it before the others. Nott, however, would have none of it. He wanted to see for himself, firsthand, if the Seat of the Axis was truly back. Running ahead of them, he laughed, saying, “I will find out, first, so I will.” That he most certainly did, because in his excitement, misjudging the distance, he ran slap bang into the Seat of the Axis.

  “Ouch, I bet that hurt,” Wot whispered to Kakuri.

  “I hope he is alright,” said Kakuri. “Why is he always so impatient?”

  “Always has been,” Wot replied. “Come on; let’s see if the blighter is still in one piece.”

  On reaching Nott, Kakuri and Wot found him lying on the ground, unconscious, with a huge lump welling up on his forehead.

  “That will be sore when he wakes up,” said Kakuri.

  “It’s his own fault,” Wot answered. “It’s a good job he’s a tough little nut.” After Kakuri had made Nott as comfortable as possible, considering the circumstances, she strolled over to Wot who was sitting on a nearby fallen tree trunk. Waiting for Nott to regain consciousness, they chatted.

  It was a good fifteen minutes before the little Outlander regained consciousness, and when he did, holding his head, he groaned, “Oh my god, my head is killing me. I feel like I’ve been run over by a bus!”

  Although Kakuri and Wot laughed at him, they did so discreetly, out of earshot.

  “At least you are okay, little mate,” said Wot. “You could have killed yourself, you know!”

  “If you call this okay,” Nott quipped, rubbing his head, “you have a strange sense of humour.”

  As the minutes passed and the pain in his head began to fa
de, Nott gathered his thoughts. “Well,” he said, finally seeing the funny side of his accident, “I did say I would be the first to find out if the Seat had returned, and I did. Oh, my aching head!” When the pain had reduced to only a dull throb, Nott gazed across to Kakuri and Wot who were by now eating a fine meal. Standing up, he wandered across and joined them. “Mmm, that sure smells good,” he said. “Mind if I join you?”

  “Of course you can,” said Kakuri. Sit down.”

  Accepting her invitation, Nott sat on the ground. “You wouldn’t happen to have some ice, would you?” he asked, pointing to the lump on his forehead.

  Having presupposed that he might have need of some, Kakuri handed Nott ice wrapped in a cloth.

  “Thanks,” he said. “Thanks also to The Orlu, our little friends that I presume provided this splendid repast.”

  “You’re welcome,” a voice replied from somewhere deep within the shrubbery.

  Having finished her meal, Kakuri, gazing across the beautiful vista, relaxed, thinking how wonderful Gandu Point must have once been. Suddenly, from out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw something moving in the distance. Looking again, Kakuri’s heart jumped with fright, for she saw – the Dragonsaur!

  “Look, look up there, in the sky!” she shrieked. “It’s the Dragonsaur! And it’s coming back!” Abandoning their meal, Wot and Nott, their eyes scanning the horizon, saw the unmistakable form of the Dragonsaur returning.

  The terrible creature was still a good way off. They wondered had it also seen them. To make matters worse, the Seat of the Axis was beginning to reappear. The second rhyme had not been powerful enough to keep it hidden. Things had taken a turn for the worse and a very bad turn at that.

  Nott almost choked with fright when he saw the Dragonsaur. Kakuri just sat there, unable to believe it was actually happening. After his spell in Limbo, Wot, having a better idea of the power of Rhyme, was determined to overcome the Dragonsaur. However, Kakuri and Nott had to play their part in this action by buying him some valuable time...

  The Dragonsaur flew ever closer, its large, leathery wings supporting it effortlessly in the morning sky. On its final approach, the ferocious creature glided silently down, aiming for a specific spot in front of the Seat of the Axis, the very same spot from which the band of three had forced it from, earlier. Having landed the Dragonsaur strut back and forth, thrashing its tail and roaring threateningly, re-imposing its authority over the immediate area.

  By now Wot, Nott and Kakuri had concealed themselves, once again inside the Seat of the Axis. Seeing no sign of them, despite tasting the air with its forked tongue, the Dragonsaur settled down in front of the reappearing building.

  If it had known how close the three comrades actually were, the Dragonsaur might not have been so relaxed. Having re-entered the Seat, the band of three hoped the cover it offered might gain them some time, time Wot desperately needed to reformulate the Mystical Rhyme.

  Trying to reformulate the second Rhyme, while Kakuri and Nott stood guard at the entrance, Wot sat on the floor, his face stuck firmly into his little book. Writing frantically, desperately, his hand was all over the place. His writing was a mess, a real mess. When the ever-impatient Nott looked over Wot’s shoulder, and saw what he had written, he could hardly believe his eyes. “What do you think that is?” he barked. “Come on, you can do better than that!” Realising how worked up his friend had become, he added, “Relax, you are far too tense. We are safe here. Settle down and concentrate properly. Don’t worry about anything else, that’s for us to deal with, not you!”

  Leaving Wot to his Rhyme, Nott approached Kakuri. She was peering through the blasted out hole. Pointing to Wot, he said, “He is all fired up, but shooting off in every direction. His writing is a mess, a real mess, Kakuri; it looked like a mad-man had put pencil to paper!”

  “He’s feeling the pressure,” she replied. “Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked.

  “Now that you have mentioned it,” he replied, “have you any idea how to evade that Dragonsaur, once we are outside again?”

  “I’ve been thinking about that,” she said. “I am afraid that is has learned from its previous encounter with us. This time fire will not be an option. We need something else, something new to gain the initiative.”

  “Hmm, I agree – but what?”

  “I don’t know,” she replied gloomily. “Don’t you have any ideas?”

  “No, no I don’t.”

  After he had sent the Dragonfly on its way, Miafra began planning other ways of dealing with the troublesome interlopers, ways that he was more certain of…

  After Nott’s lecture, Wot had swiftly settled down to reformulate the Mystic Rhyme. This time the words flowed freely and in little more than fifteen minutes, he felt he had the Mystical words necessary for the job. Rejoining Kakuri and Nott at the blasted out entrance, waving his book high in the air, he said, “I have the words, I have the Rhyme! I am certain of it!” However, they hardly noticed him. Tapping Kakuri on the shoulder, trying to get her attention, Wot asked, “Have I missed something?”

  “What? Oh, sorry Wot,” she replied apologetically. “We were miles away, watching the guard.”

  “The guard? Oh, you mean the Dragonsaur. Why has that got you so engrossed?” he asked, looking out through the hole.

  “We were just admiring it,” she explained. “We were saying what a magnificent creature it is. If it was not out to destroy us, that is. Look at it,” she said, offering him no opportunity to challenge her. “It’s so red, so strong, and so noble!”

  “Noble?”

  “Yes, noble!” she insisted. “It’s such a pity the gifts that Miafra possess are not used for good... They are wasted on him.”

  Scrutinising the Dragonsaur, Wot came around to her point of view. “Okay,” he said. “I admit it’s a fine creature.” Turning away from it, he added, “A creature whose time is up.” Allowing her no time to interject, waving his little book, he said, “As I was saying…I am ready. I have the words we need!”

  “You have? That’s marvellous!” she said, giving him a hug.

  Embarrassed by her sudden show of affection, Wot continued, he said, “Are you ready, Kakuri?” She nodded a yes. “What about you, Nott?” he asked.

  “Ready and able,” he replied.

  “Good, because the very instant I leave this building I must recite the amended Rhyme. That means you and Kakuri will have to distract the Dragonsaur long enough to allow me to finish the verse. Are you really okay with that?”

  “Yes, old friend, we are,” Nott answered for them both. “However, there is one small item that you failed to consider.”

  Shocked to hear this, because he thought he had covered everything, Wot asked, “What have I forgotten?”

  “That you will need a push through the hole, bigger than the one you needed to get inside here again, because this building is still getting smaller by the minute.”

  “Hmm, yes, I had forgotten about that,” Wot replied, inspecting the hole.

  Standing in front of the hole, Wot made himself ready for the off. “Don’t forget,” he said, “to follow hot on my heels!”

  “We know, we know,” Nott answered. “C’mon, in the hole with you.”

  Once he was outside, back in Onisha, Wot required only a minute to read out the amended Rhyme, a small yet potentially dangerous minute...

  With the Limbo between worlds destroyed, there was no possibility of any of them falling into the darkness if their timing was wrong. In order to keep the element of surprise it was imperative they left the seat of the Axis and carried out their plan as quickly as possible. Pushing like never before, Kakuri and Nott squeezed their rotund friend through the blasted out hole. Once outside, the three friends swung into action. Circling in front of Wot, Kakuri and Nott made ready action, and all of this before the creature had time to react.

  When the beast finally did react, when it realised that s
omething was indeed happening, it raised its huge head, roaring and snarling its displeasure. With Nott rushing over to the left and Kakuri to the right, and with both of them waving, shouting and generally making a nuisance of themselves, the startled animal was bewildered. Picking up a branch, Nott hit it on anything and everything he came across. He was a veritable noisemaker. Kakuri, however, took a different, more dangerous approach. She also picked up a large branch, but hit-and-run. She struck the beast hard, and then ran away from it. Every time Nott distracted the Dragonsaur’s attention with his noisemaking, Kakuri snuck in and struck it hard. They fully realised this strategy would have a limited lifespan. No matter how dumb the creature happened to be, it would eventually ignore their taunts and make one of them it sole target. That would be a very dangerous situation indeed. Wot must make the best use of his minute.

  As Wot opened his little book (it was becoming decidedly tatty), he began reading from it. Speaking in an authoritarian air, he said…

  “I call on the powers of good in this land,

  In the Brotherhood of Mystics birthplace,

  Though they are now departed this world,

  We call on their power and grace.

  Assign it to us, restore the vista that was,

  The shelter of deception around,

  The Seat of the Axis must never be seen,

  From top to its base in the ground.

  Our mission is sincere and in honour we’re bound,

  To fight for the good of this land,

  For truth and integrity, candour and fidelity,

  In Umahia’s name, please help with our plans.

 

  Remove the insect that’s altered and changed,

  The beast that now strikes at us hard,

  Send it backwards so fast, to where it came from,

  And take its creator right off of his guard.”

  Kakuri and Nott did not hear Wot speaking, they were far too busy running, shouting and banging while at the same time trying to avoid becoming the Dragonsaur’s next meal.

  As the last word departed Wot’s lips, he was so relieved to see that something was happening. Slowly, ever so slowly, the Seat of the Axis began to fade until it had all but disappeared. Hearing something, he turned round and was desperately shocked to see the Dragonsaur having grown tired of the game his friends had been playing upon it, roaring, spitting its hate, was making a beeline for Nott. Crouching, trying to hide behind a pitifully small tree, Nott tried to evade its searching eyes. Licking the air for signs of Nott’s whereabouts, the Dragonsaur grew closer and closer. Then, with a swish of its powerful tail, it knocked the top off the tree, exposing him.

  “The second part, why doesn’t it work?” Wot cried out. “Did I make another mistake?” he asked, afraid that he had. The beast, its jaws dripping hot sticky saliva, came in for the kill. There were only seconds remaining until Wot’s lifelong best friend was just a memory.