Rose

The flowers gave him hope.

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Sitting in the frost covered park, with snowflakes gently falling from the cold, October sky, Sedrick Kelmar reflected upon the events of the past few days. Despite everything he still had hope for the future. In the last few days he had lost his sister, his town and his home.

 

Part 1: The Spleen of Zagyg

Zagyg was the worst of all the Gods. His never-ending wrath constantly caused death and destruction. He usually took out his spleen on the defenceless villages and towns of England. He crashes into buildings, causing them to topple like dominoes, he rips up trees and throws them around carelessly, he is an unstoppable monster of destruction and chaos.

 

A low grumble shook the small village of Relmsford where Sedrick and his sister Anissa lived. They were both in their late 50s and they lived together in a small house at the end of Beneth Lane. They were both in their house at the time of the attack. Succeeding the miniature earthquake, a tall silhouetted figure loomed over the village. It was Zagyg. His war cry spilled through the village frightening everyone who heard the disastrous sound. Then it began.

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People fled as buildings toppled and tumbled around them. Trees were ripped from the ground like so many weeds.  Menacing bursts of thunder and lightning filled the gloomy, desolate sky. Sedrick and Anissa fled too, leaving their home and everything that they loved. They escaped to a dark dank forest in which they set up camp. It was late at night and they fell into a fitful sleep.  Whilst in his troubled slumber Sedrick had a message dream from the father of the Gods, Alphin,

 

‘Sedrick, you have served me well all of your life. You have worshipped me and I have given you guidance in return. Now I need your help. Zagyg, the evil one, has stolen the rune of the Gods for he intends to use its power for destruction. You have to steal it back from its resting place at Mount Jicho Baya so that the power of the Gods can be restored. As a gift to help you, I will give you a rose. This rose can perform the act of metamorphosis to enable you to be as nimble as a child. But beware, every time you use the power of the rose you will come back one year older. Use it carefully…’

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Sedrick woke with a start. I need to tell Anissa, he thought. He trudged over to where she was sleeping and gently roused her. He could see the tired questioning in her eyes. He felt sympathy for his sister, she had been through a lot in the last night, they both had.

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“We need to leave,” Sedrick told her.

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“But… Why? We can just settle here until they rebuild the village or we could move somewhere else, where he cannot find us,” replied Anissa, not understanding why her brother was being so insistent.

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“I had a message, from Alphin. He has chosen me to help steal back the runestone of the Gods. Zagyg has it; it won’t work for him though. That is why he caused all that carnage in the village. He is angry. Anissa, Alphin also gave me this rose. She looked at the beautiful flower in wonder, as it stood in stark contrast to the woeful forest. He said it could change me into a child. Sedrick felt doubtful. He didn’t know how that could help him against the horrifying power of Zagyg.  “Anissa, we need to go… Now.”

 

Part 2: The Forest of Woe

Anxiously, Sedrick and Anissa packed all of their belongings – not that they had many. The forest of woe was a place of gloom and misery. Everything that travelled through its suffocating boughs stayed miserable until they had reached the glorious exit. That was the loathsome task that Sedrick and Anissa had been given.

 

As they started their long, exhausting journey through the forest the temperature started to rise. As the heat became more unbearable,  the more funereal there slow march became. After every turn, another path seemed to appear. At many points during their travels, they felt so despairing that they started to cry.  Their old bones creaked  and their muscles screamed as they slowly made their way.   As darkness finally spilled into the once clear skies, the pair settled down to sleep in the thick cloying foliage of the forest. Days passed like this, then a week.  During that time they ate only fruits and berries that they scavenged. They became weaker and weaker.  Just when Sedrick thought that he and his sister could not go on another day, they noticed the trees started to become more sparse and patches of light filtered onto the forest floor.  The exit.  There before them, Mount Jicho Baya. Its point was so sharp that it pierced the sky and the clouds. The pair stood dumbstruck.  Grey covered every inch and gloom seeped through the dark caverns. That’s it, thought Sedrick, that’s where my fate ends. As they came closer, a horrid, foul and disgusting smell started to drift to their nostrils. The billowing smoke made their eyes water as they approached the mountain of terror.

 

Part 3: The Battle

As they entered the dark and miserable Mount Jicho Baya, there was a strange sound drifting through the entrance which made the hairs on the back of their neck stand up. Grievously, they stumbled through the unpalatable entrance. They followed a long passageway with cold dripping walls and flaming torches. Their rapid breathing echoed around the poorly lit corridor until they reached a colossal doorway. There were huge spruce doors towering above them, securely locked by numerous padlocks. Out of a crack in the doors, Anissa and Sedrick could see a tiny wisp of smoke, desperate to escape the terror that lied behind the doors. Just as Anissa was about to knock, the padlocks fell away and the doors swung noiselessly open. Anissa gripped Sedricks arm with shaking hands.  Inside there was a broiling pool of bubbling lava. It steamed and churned like a witch’s cauldron. In the centre of the pool, there was a platform hewn out of black volcanic rocks. The sulphurous smell made their eyes water as they gaped at the figure on the platform. It was Zagyg. He was waiting. And he had the runestone.

As they edged closer, Zagyg leapt from his authoritative spot to meet the pair. Sweating from the heat and the fear, Sedrick and Anissa edged backwards into the now locked doors. Frantically, Anissa seized a flaming torch off the wall and thrusted it at Zagyg.

 

“Come ‘ere!” yelled Anissa, trying to cause a distraction, “Come ‘ere you old pile o’ dragon skin!”

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Sedrick kissed the rose and as his lips gently brushed the petals, he started to spin and spin and spin.

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Zagyg loosed his grip of the runestone, ready to fight. Just as he lunged forwards to give Anissa a lethal blow to the head, a vortex of swirling stars appeared next to him. Startled, he lost grip all together of the stone.

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 It took Sedrick a couple of seconds to adjust to his new body.  It was amazing. His young, nimble legs were built for speed. He was tall, lean and muscular. He felt alive. Sedrick recovered his senses and grasped the stone before Zagyg could snatch it back.  Sedrick turned to Anissa, readying himself to run but just then,  Zagyg thrust his hands forwards and shoved Anissa into the vortex. And just like that, she was gone.

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.The rose lay dead on the floor now but out of the vortex flew a long, sharp sword, glistening in the light. Sedrick caught it easily with his new found reactions and he stepped forward with rage and horrifying grief at the loss of his sister.  He thrust his sword into the beast’s chest. Groaning, Zagyg’s heart faltered as he collapsed, lifeless, on the floor. Weeping, Sedrick picked up the dead rose and kissed it.

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Part 4: The Rest

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Sedrick reappeared on a bench, in a park, surrounded by bleak October snow. He was an old man again, one year older, he felt ten years older. As he held the rose in his trembling lined and course hands.  It suddenly started to change colour from a dull lifeless brown to a plump scarlet bloom.  All of a sudden, a great, white light appeared and Alphin descended from the cold, grey skies.

 

“Give me the stone, you make keep the rose, you may need it,” he whispered with a smile of thanks. Sedrick handed him the stone and Alphin disappeared.

 

As he stared at the rose he felt hope blossom in his heart. Hope for his sister…...