Five Days: an adventure (A Fantasy Adventure) Read online

‘You wouldn’t be saying that if you were …’

  ‘You are probably right, I can’t feel that dread but I would’ve listened to a friend who could heal me,’ she said brightly.

  ‘I am listening,’ he said in an “I don’t care a bit of what you want to say!” tone.

  ‘I have observed people of Sana, as well as humans, and believe me they have many things in common.’

  ‘Like?’

  ‘They have got anger, greed and desires for things … and they have got love, compassion and care as well …’

  ‘A big hand for your philosophies,’ said Derek, smiling himself when Anna laughed hard.

  ‘You cannot leave a horrible life behind unless you abandon anger, greed and desires … and you cannot have a great life unless you accept love, compassion and care … you were going to die even if you hadn’t had this disease, then why dying a little earlier is bothering you?’

  ‘Um—’

  ‘Explore more than what people can imagine in these five days … don’t spend your life, live it.’

  He didn’t know why, but Anna’s smile touched him more than her words; and really, her words were so intense that he felt a gentle invisible hand over his chest.

  ‘Nice words hmm – who’ve you copied, anyway?’

  She burst out laughing. ‘Don’t know, must have been someone great – oh yes! – You’ll have your inquiry in an hour.’

  ‘Inquiry? I thought you’ll ask me and we’ll be done.’

  ‘No, you’ll be registered officially and your presence is essential there.’

  ‘There?’

  ‘In the Police headquarters.’

  ‘I don’t want to go there …’

  ‘And it’s our market that comes in the way, you’re going to enjoy!’

  ‘I do not—’

  And she left the room with two empty cups, ignoring him completely. ‘Get ready.’

  Derek came out – rather panicked – of his memories because of a silent roar; it was Bear, stood aggressively at the door.

  Derek crouched down on the bed and shrieked. ‘Anna, we are getting late!’

  * * *

  So at ten o’clock, they went off, Bear looked eager to come, too but Derek protested and won – Bear was locked up in the house against his wishes. (We’ll be back soon, Bear. Don’t worry,’ said Anna.)

  Derek was staring at his threatening yellow eyes until they were at the garden-fence and when he turned to look away, he felt a jolt of strange bliss that made him jump off his spot – he was looking at an enormous grassland, stretching up to the infinity. Houses (resembling ginger candy houses, he used to make when there was a difference of 4 feet between his feet and head) blazed by strangely cold sunlight and standing in a random fashion. He thought the houses were brilliant and remembered his vacation in Central Oregon with his parents, but something like lack of architecture was peering into his mind until–

  He saw enormous patches of shadows on the grassy land, which to his surprise, wasn’t a herd of sixty feet wide eagles but hills flying thirty feet high in the air. And to his next level of astonishment, he caught glimpses of people living over them.

  ‘Are they really …’ he said, looking up at them.

  ‘Yes, people live there.’

  ‘How do they come down, there is no staircase!’

  ‘Transportation.’

  ‘Oh yes-yes,’ he said in shock. ‘Anna do me a favour, please.’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Slap me and tell, “How can you sleep for so long?!”’

  She giggled. ‘I’ll slap you but won’t say you were asleep … get used to it.’

  ‘Hmm …’ he said admiring every inch of the heaven like place in his front. ‘But where is your market?’

  ‘There,’ Derek looked in the direction she was pointing – there was an isolated group of hovering hills. ‘We’ll go there.’

  ‘Then do what you did, that tornado thing.’

  ‘Um – I can’t do it everywhere – we have to choose not more than two spots to do this thing, so I have your house and my workplace.’

  ‘But you did it in the park, too.’

  ‘That’s exception, you were dying and I faced an hour’s inquiry myself.’

  Derek nodded as a child learning alphabets.

  ‘So how are we going to go up there?’

  ‘Going to walk up to a portal placed beneath the hill and in your way, swoosh!’

  ‘Let’s go then.’

  Derek was violently sick at the top of one of the isolated group of hills, journey through the portals hadn’t suited him a bit.

  He just remembered someone pulling him up by his neck and then something jerked him down, and this appeared to have happened at least fifty times.

  Anna patted him on the back, dully saying, ‘Okay … that’s fine … got you.’

  ‘I am not going to go through that thing again!’ he said, wiping his mouth on a piece of cloth.

  ‘Okay, we’ll take my office’s track then.’

  They turned towards the market – which resembled the village they had seen before; ginger huts, chimneys and wooden doors and garden pathways – with a look of admiration and surprise.

  After all, shopping over a hovering hill wasn’t a thing you do every day.

  They just had walked by shops called –

  The Sweeeeeet Shop

  KID’S CORNER (Adults not allowed besides payment purposes)

  Books

  When a sudden shriek made him jump off his feet, while Anna’s face flushed with excitement and she hugged someone hard, who was standing behind them.

  ‘Hmm,’ Derek whispered curtly.

  But his curt dissolved into a smile when Anna stood aside to reveal a man, hardly reaching his waist, with a dense moustache, white hair and a short pony tail. He wore a black tail coat and round glasses, fixed on Derek. He didn’t know why but that wasn’t a bit comforting.

  ‘You got a boyfriend, Anna!’ he said in an excited voice. ‘I always told you to—’

  ‘He’s not my boyfriend, Uncle Bernard,’ said Anna quickly. ‘He’s my friend, just friend.’

  The little man’s face fell. ‘Oh – I am sorry – the same boy who suffered the curse I believe?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Oh dear, you’re very lucky that you’re still talking … or—’

  ‘You mind if I buy some presents for him?’ cut Anna in, watching the terror on Derek’s face.

  ‘It’s his birthday?!’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Then?’

  ‘Um – he’s going abroad and I want him to remember me.’

  ‘Yeah I understand …’ he said, shaking his round face looking like a four feet tall Mathematics professor, solving problems. ‘But you should have a cup of tea or anything in my café. It’s been ages since you passed those doors.’

  ‘Sorry, uncle, bu – but it won’t be possible, he’s getting late.’

  ‘He’s not going to die, girl!’ he said, laughing himself. Anna peered uncomfortably at Derek. ‘And yes, Alicia is there too.’

  ‘She ran away again!’ she said earnestly and to Derek’s surprise, the girl, he believed was on his side, had suddenly transferred her support. ‘Derek I think we should meet her.’

  ‘But we were—’ he said, trying to remind her how serious they had been.

  ‘Oh please, it won’t take long. Please, please, please, please—’ she urged with twinkling eyes.

  ‘Okay – don’t look at me like that – but only ten minutes.’

  ‘Done.’

  And they set off for her uncle’s shop.

  ‘But why’re you dying to meet her?’ he said, gazing at the enormous grasslands.

  ‘She is the princess of Sana, daughter of king Christin.’

  * * *

  Three Sisters

  C A F E

  Bernard’s shop wasn’t a very luxurious place to have a coffee but it was peaceful and brilliant with the patches of sunlight over the
tables and a strange but soothing warmness all over.

  Just as they’d set feet in his shop, Bernard hurried away to get them coffee and Anna, looked to have been searching for someone in the mildly crowded café, which was filled light murmurs of the customers.

  ‘Hey!’ she suddenly called over a couple’s head and ran toward someone sitting on the table beside the enormous window.

  Derek had no choice but to follow her. Once she had met her who-so-ever princess, they’d set off for inquiry and then he’d be back to his parents.

  But he wished if it was as simple as that – as he had a better look on the princess of Sana, he felt as though his heart had been filled with a very strange feeling, like a balloon was swelling in his chest. Whatever it was, he was liking it – and for a moment he also thought: was that love?

  The girl was nothing less than an angel; her eyes were big and bright blue, fixed on a face that could only have belonged to a super-beautiful fairy; her bright golden hair was fluttering in the breeze, coming through the windows.

  He didn’t care if she was frowning at him and whispering something to Anna, who’d already found her seat opposite to her.

  ‘Hey Derek!’ he heard someone and by looking at Anna’s moving lips, she was probably the speaker.

  ‘Y-yes?’ he said with a start.

  ‘Meet her …’ she said. ‘Alicia, the princess of Sana.’

  ‘Hey?’

  ‘Hey,’ said Alicia, frowning – honestly, she was expecting more.

  Anna looked awkwardly at Derek and then, she turned to Alicia. ‘How have you escaped, anyway?’

  ‘Um – mum favours me,’ said Alicia, grinning. ‘We do it out of father’s attention. He is a little protective, you know?’

  ‘But I wouldn’t mind that if I had a father who’s so rich.’

  ‘You wait till he finds out about my sneaks, he’d go mad as I have said yes to Aurisca’s son’s proposal.’

  They giggled. But Derek wasn’t getting a word.

  After a little chit-chat in which they drank their coffees (Derek coughed his coffee out on being addressed directly by Alicia.) Anna told her that they had to hurry and he felt great when she said. ‘Good luck.’

  ‘Hey,’ said Alicia, when they were at the café door. ‘You remember what’s today?’

  Anna smiled softly, but this wasn’t the smile she was famous for – it was as though revealing the scars over her memories.

  ‘It’s Tiana’s birthday.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘What was she saying about sneaking?’ said Derek as they walked towards a gigantic ginger building with enormous windows, a central tower and a big garden around it and a big board with a strange symbol reading –

  « P O L I C E »

  ‘She is not allowed to go out of the castle, and she’s sort of rebellious who can’t withstand this. So usually, she sneaks out and meets me, people and some other friends.’

  ‘Why can’t she move out?’

  ‘Don’t know, maybe her father is overprotective.’

  ‘Hmm – anyone could be overprotective if you have so woderf—’

  He coughed to supress the word “wonderful” and was glad she hadn’t noticed it.

  Anna swung the gigantic doors open and next moment what Derek saw, swept Alicia out of his mind.

  A big chandelier over a fountain blazed brighter than anything he ever saw, there were numerous doors branching out off the main hall and people were going in and out of them. It was like watching the combined glory of hundreds of five-star hotels in your front.

  ‘Here,’ he heard her calling from a distance, he was so busy in admiring the architecture that he didn’t notice when she had walked away from him. ‘Keep up.’

  ‘Yeah-yeah,’ he hurried to catch up with her and walked into a corridor, with golden lights overhead. They were passing so swiftly that for a second, Derek felt as though he was driving through a tunnel.

  ‘Morning, Anna,’ said a girl walking by them.

  ‘Morning,’ replied Anna, rigidly.

  They walked for ten more minutes – turned in corners, followed straight corridors – before stopping at a door and to his surprise, Anna turned dead serious. ‘Look there is no need to panic’ – she herself looked panic-stricken – ‘they will pretend to be strict, you know – er – will try to know if you actually saw Aurisca or not.’

  ‘What’ll they do if they think I am lying or something?’

  ‘But you are not lying!’

  ‘Suppose.’

  ‘They will wipe your memory and send you back, anyway.’

  ‘I will remember you, won’t I?’

  ‘I won’t let you forget me so easily,’ she said, swinging the door open for him. ‘Don’t panic, stay calm.’

  Derek had never seen such a gloomy chamber in his life – it was big enough to swallow four of his houses in one go, fire torches on walls were dimly lighting it and for his sickness, showing two hooded figures on a table in the far corner, a candle flame dancing before them.

  Anna pushed him when he stopped in his tracks. ‘He won’t eat you!’

  ‘There’re two men …’

  He felt her hand frozen – ‘He can’t be here! No!’ she shrieked quietly.

  ‘Who?’ said Derek, the change in Anna’s expressions was as though someone had decorated his already smelling old pudding with a sprinkle of cabbage leaves.

  ‘It’s the Emperor himself … I expected sir but … now don’t look at me – go!’

  She stopped walking, perhaps that was the custom, and he, carrying his horribly fast beats, walked to the table.

  The figure on the left offered him the seat and he sat, forcing a smile. He’d not done any crime, no king of anywhere could bother him.

  ‘Hi?’ he said awkwardly.

  ‘Don’t worry, Mister Frank we won’t take your time but we’ll be needing some details,’ said the man on his left, Derek nodded but he couldn’t help himself with the cold and hollow eyes of the other man, fixed indisputably on him. ‘As Miss Anna’s told us you’re a nice person and would help us in every possible way, is it?

  ‘Just get relaxed and tell us what happened that evening in your world?’ he rested clumsily on his chair, asking Derek to begin.

  Derek told them everything, glancing over at the wooden faced Emperor in between. He frowned but thought better of it. He already had enough on his plate.

  ‘Hmm,’ mumbled the chief. ‘It’s exactly his style, isn’t it?’

  The Emperor adjusted in his seat and said (his eyes on Derek). ‘It is – but I can’t help ignoring the fact that this boy survived the attack of such a bad but powerful sorcerer.’

  ‘I don’t k—’

  ‘Did he appear before you just like that? A young boy who knows nothing like sorcery and risked getting caught?’

  ‘I don’t—’

  ‘He really wasted his energy on you?’

  ‘Excuse m—’

  Derek’s hesitation with Emperor turned into irritation, he looked back into his bright purple eyes, trying to be dominant in some manner.

  ‘I am afraid he was given right treatment on right time, your highness,’ said Anna from the shadows, she may have shown loyalty to Emperor but that moment she was looking more annoyed than Derek.

  ‘You brought a human into our world?’ said Christin.

  ‘He would have died if I didn’t … and I have already been inquired.’

  Derek could tell the chief himself was very uncomfortable with their conversation. After all, he’d not bring an army to conquer Sana.

  Christin kept quiet for a minute. And then said, ‘Very well, wipe his memories and send him back to his people, we don’t want to risk our safety – thank you, Mr Derek. We had a great meeting.’

  ‘But, my Lord,’ said the chief. ‘We can’t do that until his wound heals. This might affect him and we care for every soul even if it’s a human.’

  Derek could swear Christin was furious just a second be
fore he changed his expressions to frown. ‘Ho – how long will it take?’

  ‘A day, perhaps.’

  He nodded at his chief then looked at Derek. ‘You’re very brave, son but shouldn’t let us catch you wandering around us or I may not be so kind.’

  Derek’s hands twitched and his eyes were staring sharply at Christin’s throat. He had never imagined a man who could be so interfering.

  After all, he didn’t go to a seriously-terrible madman and asked, ‘Kill me!’

  But who in heavens was Aurisca?

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Aurisca

  ‘Why are you so concerned about Aurisca?’ asked Derek.

  He had just followed Anna into the kitchen, and the aroma of the place was really being liked by his nose, she must’ve been making something brilliant.

  ‘Help me with these …’ she said, passing him fresh vegetables. He waited her to speak but when she didn’t, he said. ‘Anna?’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Who is Aurisca and why are you so scared of him and what has his son got to do with Alicia?’

  She stopped stirring and took a deep breath. ‘Aurisca is the king of the Dark City – our rivals. He’s evil, pure monster. He won’t miss any chance of watching a man dying in pain, would sink the knife slowly into one’s heart without mercy. He killed many, including my parents.’

  Derek gulped. He was confused if Aurisca was more scary or Anna’s tone of speech. ‘But Alicia, what’s between his son and her?’

  ‘Aurisca once attacked us and his son found about Alicia, he was, sort of, lusty and wanted her.’

  Derek fumed a little without any intention, jealousy?

  ‘We pushed them back and after a month Aurisca’s son had been found dead at the outskirts of their own city. He loved Aurisca’s enemies and his punishment was obvious according to the cabinet.’

  Derek was so shocked that he almost dropped the knife on his foot.

  ‘Careful!’ shouted Anna, bending low to pick the knife up. ‘You aren’t hurt, are you?’

  ‘No-no,’ he said. ‘Did he really?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Anna, getting up and joining her pan again. ‘He kills those who disagrees with him and feeds those who could lick his feet, even if it’s his family.’