Goldest and the Kingdom of Thorns (18 page)

She eventually retired for the night, but could not sleep and spent a restless night, never blowing out the numerous white candles which lit her room and brought warmth. She rose during the night and lit cones of passionflower incense to sooth her and to induce her to sleep. So great was the inner conflict inside her pulsating heart, it kept her from slumber. Whimpering sonances escaped her tongue throughout the night as she lay.

As the princess tossed and turned, her private thoughts focused on unpleasant nightmares as a black-hooded Imbecile and a black-hooded Savagio galloped their horses steadfastly to the sound of rolling thunder and intervals of bright lightning, which flashed fiercely from the ground on up. Their hooded capes blew wildly in the wind as the cold caressed their bodies. They rode with a concentrated passion to their destination, ignoring the chill, fearing nothing in their way. They rode right through the shadows which seemed to
block their way towards their destination. They only had hours to get to where they needed to be; not even a day would be sufficient.

“I am a warrior, and I must think like a warrior – be a warrior. The princess was justified in asking me to wield my honor and sword for another warrior like myself. I would ask the same,” Savagio whispered to himself.

The other rider guessed that Savagio knew he had done the right thing. A contented and courageous Imbecile spurred his horse into the fullest gallop possible, with Savagio doing the same. Onwards they rode through the most roughest of terrain into the icy agony of the night – their skin feeling clammy, even though it was covered by their robes. Soon, it seemed that the shadows gave way to them, and they no longer had to ride through them.

The Sun rose slowly, as the morning sunrise was colorless. No warmth did the Sun bring about this morning, what with the doom written all over its face. An agonized Goldest sat on her windowsill, gazing out over her homeland and the onslaught that was about to take place. Golden tears fell like droplets from her golden eyes. She felt so helpless. She wished that there was something she could do for Ushi and the fighting men. Her golden heart felt heavy with grief, as despair settled in.
I must pull myself together and be strong for Ushi
, thought Goldest to herself,
because he is strong for me
. I must stop drowning my heart in misery with all this weeping. My heart already feels like a damp rock sitting on wet earth. “Soon, dark moss is going to start growing in it,” she laughed to herself, trying to snap out of her woe.

Ushi, the Willow Warriors and male villagers had set themselves up outside the Ladybug Castle walls in lines filled with themselves and their weapons. A huge bonfire burned to warm the men. Hot brew with the Queen’s very own special white chocolate cocoa, and various kinds of fresh warm bread were brought out from the kitchens and distributed among the men to eat and drink.

“Archers, take your place by making the front line!” Ushi shouted to the bowmen. They had talked and
agreed last night what they would do in the morning regarding their attack.

“Now, let the strange creatures make the first move. When they do, we will set our arrows aflame and shoot them at the creatures – fire being our only chance against them,” he reminded the men.

Further away, directly across from Ushi and his men, were the lines of Thorn Warriors, waiting to do battle with the hostility directly in front of them. The thorns felt confident, vigorous and aggressive. They were ready to start the onslaught. The Monks had gathered together in their group, also. They had risen before the pale sunrise and had drunk their hot brew with their own oatmeal and wheat germ.

Theo gazed around the group of Monks and noticed early on that Octagon was not among them. He frowned. Theo had made him a hot herbal brew which he also sprinkled in some of their white powder made from their fields of colorful poppies for remedial and medical purposes, and brought it to him inside his tent late last night. Theo was sure that Octagon was still huddled within his blankets inside his tent. He wondered if Imbecile had come back from his hunt of phantom bogeymen in this kingdom. He smiled when he remembered at another time, Imbecile coming back caked in mud from falling into a painted mud pot when he went looking for the bogey, while he and some of the Monks went searching for certain types of rare, medicinal plants found only on the coldest of mountaintops. So great was the worth of these plants, having been grown in the most harsh of environments – the mountaintops. Theo always wondered what
Imbecile would do if he ever did run into a spook.
He would probably scare the spook to death
, thought Theo with disdain.

Onion broke into Theo’s thoughts and snapped him back into the present by asking, “Where is Octagon? He should be out here amongst us.”

“He is not feeling well. I find something strange with him these past few days,” Theo remarked.

“He has a soft and gentle heart, that is all,” Meek, overhearing them, remarked.

“That could be dangerous,” Theo warned.

Pentangle walked up to Theo and cut in, “The thorns are tired of being inactive. Let them begin their attack.”

“Pentangle is right. Let’s get this over with and seize the kingdom,” Xnug said.

“Very well,” Theo said with a sigh, still concerned over the incident with Octagon.

Pentangle and Xnug walked over to the Thorn Army. Pentangle stood before them and shouted, “There stands your enemy before you. Slash their flesh, tear them apart! Your well-being is in your own branches. Now go! Let the onslaught begin!”

The anxious Thorn Warriors were ready to go and did not hesitate. They strutted towards Ushi and his men, looking like harsh, brutal beasts. No single emotion did these ugly creatures feel. They were grown and raised to fight and defend. That is all that they were trained to do.

The archers saw the thorns advancing towards them and lit their arrows without a command – all knew what must be done. They drew back the bowstrings.
Ushi waited a few seconds and gave the command, “Release the arrows!”

The fiery darts hit some of the band of thorns and made them burst into flames. But that did not stop them from marching. Onwards they marched towards their hated opponents, some still aflame.

The archers quickly did another repeat performance, some with their flaming arrows hitting their mark on the thorns. Still, they strutted forward and matched up with their opponents – Ushi, the Willow Warriors and the village men. Ushi and his men did their best to hack the thorns into pieces with their swords and hatchets, while the Thorn Warriors continued to cut, slash, gore and tear the men apart. Blood filled the battlefield as the smiling Monks watched from the safety of their camp. Not all were smiling, though. A few turned their backs on the onslaught and gazed into the flames of their own bonfire, as their shame deepened.

Aparicio had watched the fight from the cover of the woods. He knew within his own heart that he had to help Ushi and Goldest, or whatever honor he had left would be gone. He rode out fearlessly on horseback, sword in hand, and joined in with the fighting against the ugly creatures. His great shame had left him. He felt like a man of royal blood for the first time in years. He boldly rode up next to Ushi and dismounted. He fought beside him. Ushi had to do a double take when he saw Aparicio, not sure if his eyes were betraying him.

“Aparicio! Where did you come from?” Ushi shouted to him, as he continued to hack at the thorns,
while jumping away from their sharp spines.

“I live in the forest of this kingdom with my wife and son. I thought you might need some help.”

“A son?” a surprised Ushi asked.

“Yes, Ushi. A son.”

“So, the little Princess Augean has a brother. She would like that,” Ushi remarked.

“I have heard you have watched over her. How is she in your eyes?” Aparicio asked with apprehension.

“Very lonely.”

“Yes, Goldest said the same thing,” Aparicio told him while he continued to also hack at the thorns, as he darted from their slashing blades.

Ushi was surprised, again. “Goldest? You mean you met your Queen of this kingdom?”

Then he added angrily before Aparicio could respond, “Why did she not tell me you were here?”

“Because we both know Goldest is Goldest, and there is none other like her,” Aparicio stated, feeling relaxed and useful for a change. His anxiety had suddenly left him.

“She tries to do what is truly right for everyone involved, and she does harbor many secrets inside her golden heart,” Ushi said.

“She does have a heart of tender gold.” Aparicio fought by Ushi’s side. He felt uneasy about what he wanted to say next and took a deep breath before announcing, “I want to go home, Ushi. I want my family together, again.”

“The King still holds steadfast to his vow, whilst the Queen wonders about your whereabouts on a daily basis. She deeply misses you, Aparicio.”

“That’s because she is my mother and carried me within her womb.”

Not far off, Savagio heard the fight taking place long before he reached the battleground. The echoing sounds of the battlefield brought the warrior out from within him and he eagerly galloped forward to be the skilled fighter that he was. He soon joined in with the fighting, as his heart beat in momentum with the swing and strike of his platinum sword.

He shouted to Ushi and his men from his mount, Xzen, “Don’t hack at them! Beat these sticks and thorns backwards! They will snap in two at the waist!”

Savagio dismounted by Ushi. He fought ferociously, beating the enemy backwards to show Ushi and his men. The Thorn Warriors quickly snapped at the waist and fell apart.

“Savagio! Good to see you, again! I knew you would know the secret to destroying this army.” Ushi turned and shouted to his men as Savagio had done, “Beat them backwards! That is the secret!”

Ushi hesitated and smiled to see the Gypsy Warrior Army riding from afar from behind the Thorn Warrior Army. They too, joined in the battle.

“The Gypsy Warriors will know what to do,” Savagio stated. “They too, know about fleshless creatures without souls that lurk in the night. They are nothing but hellish demons to them, and need to be put to the flame.”

The Queen, Augean, with Shadow on the tips of his back paws, with Goldest, watched the battle taking place from Goldest’s tower window. Goldest whimpered
at the sight in front of her eyes. Shadow growled, wanting to join in the fighting. Augean kept him close to her side for this reason. She knew he would be all slashed and cut up if he went out there.

“Hush, Shadow. You stay here with us. We need to be protected, too,” Augean informed him, making him feel that he was doing his own job.

“My kingdom has just been newly awakened, and already it is stained with blood,” Goldest wailed and croaked.

Suddenly, there was an overwhelming buzzing in the air. A flock of brightly colored beings could be seen flying towards them by the group gazing out of the open tower window.

“My goodness, what is that?” the bewildered Queen asked.

Augean looked puzzled at the colored shadow coming at them all.

Goldest squinted her eyes and looked deeply. Her instincts informed her what that buzzing mass was. “
The ladybugs
! They have come back!” she exclaimed with excitement.

The lusterless Sun began to take on a bright yellow color as it smiled at the turn of events, and started to shine brightly on the battleground, drying up the men’s blood that covered it so widely.

Ushi, Savagio, and Aparicio stopped fighting for a few seconds to take a closer look at the buzzing, colored mass coming towards them. Captain Frangelico knew that the colorful swarm was the ladybugs. After his encounter with the pretty ladybug, he knew by his gypsy instinct that they would not
abandon Goldest and their ancestral homeland.

The ladybugs fell upon the Thorn Warriors. The Thorn Warriors were so agitated at having the creatures all over them that they keep swinging around violently, trying to dislodge the ladybugs from themselves. They swung madly, snapping themselves into two-branch thorns. The Willow Warriors and Gypsy Warriors watched, some not wanting to smash the colorful ladybugs with their weapons. The Thorn Warriors that did not have ladybugs land on them were beaten into two by the Willow Warriors and the Gypsy Warriors.

“Do not harm any of the ladybugs!” Captain Frangelico cried out. The gypsies knew it was bad luck to kill or damage a ladybug. They feared misfortune would befall them if any harm came to a ladybug, so they backed off.

Captain Frangelico rode up to Ushi and Savagio. “So, I see we meet again! And you, Ushi, look much better as a warrior fighting than a horse on the side watching!” Captain Frangelico jested.

“And how did you know of our predicament?” Ushi asked Frangelico.

“Why, I had a visit from one of the prettiest red ladybugs, with big golden eyes,” Frangelico informed him.

The Monks were more than annoyed to see the approaching Gypsy Warriors and see them take part in the assault, but were totally flabbergasted when they saw the colorful mass of exotic ladybugs coming to rescue their Kingdom of the Ladybugs. This was an unforeseen turn of events that Theo did not, and could
not, comprehend. His anger was all the greater by reason of his insanity. “What right have they, having left this kingdom many, many years ago?” Theo murmured, with rising fury.

Ushi, Savagio, Aparicio and Frangelico looked up and saw the King of the Willows with his own Willow Warriors ride into the camp of the Monks and surround them. The King and his Willow Warriors gathered the discomposed Monks together. Only Theo remained unbending against the capture, but stood firm and strong, with his head held high above the others. The Monks were captured by a very angry, perturbed King, who was livid that they would do this to his Queen and granddaughter. The frog did not matter to him.

“Seize them! Tear their inviolable medallions from their necks! They have perverted the traditions of their ancestors!” the King cried out. “They will have to atone for themselves before they ever wear their medallions again!”

A few of the Willow Warriors dismounted and tore the valuable sacred medallions, which were the imprint of their ancestry, from around their necks. Theo, his face full of steadfast hatred, knew that he was defeated with the onset of the other warriors coming to the Ladybug Castle’s aid. He stood undaunted and unflinching as his medallion was torn from him. He would not look into any eyes of any warrior. His distaste and ignorance for these warriors was displayed arrogantly on his face. Many of the other Monks were distressed at losing their medallions. It was a part of the essence of their souls. They looked
upon Theo to guide them as to what to do. He stood there defiantly, ignoring all. “I will not disgrace myself as a Monk by cowering before these imbeciles,” he quietly told the other Monks close to him.

The Monks were by now disappointed in Theo and the outcome. Most were losing their respect for him. Onion, Alme, Meek, Ebrix and some of the others gathered together by their campfire and sat down, defeated. Heads were bowed in disgrace. Others, like Xnug and Pentangle, stood firm and strong by Theo. No shame would show on their faces. The warriors could read disquiet on their faces, as well as those Monks who showed a mixture of how disturbed they were, or agitated, and with some being extremely upset and others flustered.

The King gazed out at the Thorn Warrior Army and burst into laughter. He was highly amused by the unsightly creatures.

“Theo! I thought nothing could ever match the strangeness of the Tooth Warriors that you cultivated for the Tooth Fairy Princess. But this – this is a gardener’s nightmare!”

Aparicio had taken notice that his father, the King of the Willows, had captured the Monks. He knew it was time to take his leave discreetly. He jumped on his horse and rode across the battlefield, back to his homestead and his wife and son. While out in the open, the Queen of the Willows, from the open tower window, screwed up her eyes as she saw this familiar man leave the battlefield on horseback. She gasped and clutched her hands to her heart. She almost fainted.