Sentari: ICE (27 page)

The Ties That Bind

Xerxes hung, chained to a wall of ice high up in the mountains, his hands bloodied and scarred. His beard had grown long and the clothes on his body were ragged and torn. He had been hanging there for a long time.

The sunlight broke through a small gap in the clouds and lit up Xerxes’ face. He opened his eyes and smiled. His lips were cracked and dry. The only water he had been able to drink was the tiny drops that melted from the wall he was chained to. He was resigned to the fact that this would probably be his final resting place. He wanted desperately to help Te’oma, but a big part of him was excited to be reunited with his wife.

The thing that confused Xerxes most was why Antastus did not kill him. In the days that he had been tied up on the mountain, he had pondered many things about his life, but the same question kept coming back to him – why was he still alive?

More days passed and Xerxes was on the brink of death. He began to think to himself that the reason he had been left alive was so that he would die slowly. In that moment, when he was ready to let go, a strange thing happened. Andes, the dragon of the seas, landed directly in front of him. At first, Xerxes could not even muster the strength to open his eyes. Andes looked at him closely, wondering if he was still alive. He stretched his large nose out and blew saliva-filled air into Xerxes’ face. Xerxes opened his eyes, coughing and spluttering at the foul smell of the dragon’s disgusting breath.

“Yours is not a face I am familiar with,” said Xerxes, looking Andes directly in the eye. Xerxes had learned long ago to never cower from a dragon. They will never fear you, but if you look them in the eye, they may respect you – if only a little bit. “Who might you be?” Xerxes continued.

“You would not recognise me, for I rarely suffer the company of humans. I am Andes, Lord of the Seas,” said Andes.

“And what forces you to suffer Xerxes on this day?” Andes looked up at the sky, as if nervous that he would be seen – a fact that did not go unnoticed by Xerxes. “You come here without the permission of Antastus?” asked Xerxes boldly.

“I do not need his permission!” snapped Andes, his ego dented. “I see and hear more from my ocean home than Antastus knows,” said Andes.

“And what have you seen or heard?” asked Xerxes.

“Word has passed my ear that Drake has died, and that he passed his powers onto your grandson,” said Andes. Xerxes did his best to hide his shock, but he didn’t know what he was more shocked about – the fact that Drake was dead or that Te’oma had his power. “It appears this is news to you?” said Andes, who was more observant than Xerxes gave him credit for.

“What is it you want from me?” asked Xerxes.

Andes smiled. “I have certain work that is getting more difficult to conduct without the attention of Antastus. If I were to free you and tell you of the way to the lost Intari city, I’m sure you could find a way to help your grandson and, in the process, keep Antastus’s attentions elsewhere,” said Andes.

Xerxes pondered Andes’ proposal momentarily. He was loath to trust a dragon, but he saw very little alternative. “And what guarantee do I have that you won’t betray us?” asked Xerxes.

“You have no such guarantee, nor do you have any alternative right now. All you have is my word that I have no interest in your petty lives. Now choose,” replied Andes.

“Very well, I will accept your help,” said Xerxes.

In an instant, Andes broke the chains that bound Xerxes and he dropped to the ground. Xerxes winced in pain as the blood rushed back into his arms. “We have little time. I can take you down from the mountains, but no further,” said Andes.

“What about the lost city of the Intari?” asked Xerxes.

Andes gracefully spun his tail around, a leather bag hung from his tail; Xerxes removed an old, worn piece of paper from the bag. “Here is a map. It is old and it is partly torn, but I’m sure a man of your wisdom can work it out,” said Andes. Xerxes carefully put the map under his shirt. Andes knelt down and Xerxes climbed onto his back.

Andes leapt high into the air and flapped his mighty wings as Xerxes held on for dear life. They flew through the air at a fantastic speed, ducking and weaving through ancient mountain tops. The ground below was like a sea of white, only broken up by the mountains that towered above it. In the distance, the sun peeked through the grey clouds, shining its light across the ocean. Xerxes had never seen the ocean ripple so beautifully with light.

Andes was almost enjoying showing Xerxes the views that he took for granted, but, suddenly, his joyful face turned serious. He dove down towards the ground and flew quite low.

“What’s happening?” enquired Xerxes, but Andes did not respond. He continued to fly low, before finally landing amongst some trees.

“We must wait here a moment,” said Andes, and, in that moment, Antastus flew high above, his presence felt across the land. Xerxes looked up in fear. The dragon was so big that his wingspan blocked out the sunlight.

“Does he know we are here?” asked Xerxes.

“Quiet,” whispered Andes. Antastus seemed to hover above, as if he knew that they were there. “Do you have the map?” asked Andes.

“Yes,” replied Xerxes.

“Then this is where we must part. Good luck,” said Andes, as he leaned over, tipped Xerxes off his back and quickly flew away. Xerxes was amazed at how well such a big creature was able to disappear.

Xerxes poked his head out from the trees, just far enough to find out where he was, but not far enough to draw the attention of Antastus. Only a few hundred metres in front of him lay the great expanses of the ice desert, a place not unfamiliar to Xerxes. As if distracted by something, Antastus suddenly flew away at an incredible speed.

The familiar sound of snow being trampled by paws grabbed Xerxes’ attention. He quickly turned around and hid behind a tree. He ducked down low and peered around. Walking toward him were five wandering death hounds. They sniffed the air, knowing that someone was nearby. They looked weary, as if they hadn’t eaten for a while, and snapped at each other. Xerxes knew full well that death hounds were at their most fearsome when they were hungry.

One of the death hounds looked towards the tree that Xerxes was hiding behind. It sniffed the air again, then growled. Saliva dripped from its mouth as it slowly walked forward. The foul smell of the death hound caused Xerxes to cough in disgust. The rest of the death hounds quickly turned to face the tree. They’d found him. He had no other choice, he had to run – and run he did. For an old man, he could move quickly. He bounded through the snow, zigzagging between trees, but the death hounds were much faster.

They quickly ran up behind him and started snapping at his heels. He did his best to dodge them, but one of the hounds took a large chunk out of Xerxes’ leg. He screamed out in pain, but knew he had to press on. He stumbled out of the snow and onto the ice desert. He fell to the ground and looked back in fear. The death hounds walked to the very edge of the snow, their eyes fixated on him. They barked and snapped at him, but they did not walk out onto the ice – something was stopping them.

Xerxes watched the hounds for as long as he could, but the pain became so immense that his vision started to blur. He had no idea what was going on. The poison from the death hound was making him delirious. He fell to the ground and passed out.

Hours went by and he did not wake. The dreams that filled his mind were terrifying. Visions of fire, falling from the sky, burning everything in sight, consumed him until, finally, he burst into full consciousness. His face and body were covered in sweat and his sight was still blurred. He had trouble making out where he was.

“Your eyesight will return shortly. Please lie back down,” said a mysterious woman’s voice. The woman placed her hand on Xerxes’ head and pushed it back onto a pillow. Xerxes quickly fell asleep again.

Many more hours passed, and Xerxes slept like a baby. The poison had passed through his system and his body was recovering. Sweeter dreams filled his mind - a welcome relief after the horror of his delirium.

“You must drink,” said the woman’s voice, softly waking Xerxes from his slumber. “You are past the worst, but you must drink,” she repeated. Xerxes opened his eyes and sat up, looking around the small room. The walls were made of light sandstone and drapes of all different colours hung over them. The roof was made of clear glass. Small satin pillows made up the bed he lay on and standing in front of him, holding a glass of water, was the Desert Queen.

The Queen was covered from head to toe in dark black silk, so that Xerxes could not see her body. Her face was wrapped up in a blue scarf. All that he could see were her glimmering green eyes.

“Who are you?” asked Xerxes nervously.

“A friend,” said the Queen, as she handed Xerxes the drink. “Drink that. Then you must leave,” said the Queen, as she floated to the other side of the room.

Xerxes drank the water from the cup, then struggled to his feet and walked towards the door. He put his hand on the door handle but, before he turned it, he was compelled to ask her a question. “My grandson was passing through here recently on his way to see Drake. Did you see him?” asked Xerxes.

“I did,” replied the Queen.

“Thank you,” said Xerxes, as he opened the door.

Just as he was walking out, the Queen called out to him. “Drake is dead. They will need your help. They are not far from here. Head to the coast and they will find you there. Take care of them,” she said.

“I will,” said Xerxes as he closed the door behind him.

The bitter cold wind greeted Xerxes as he stepped out onto the icy plains. He covered his face with a thick scarf then walked on. He squinted his eyes as the snow came in sideways. He thought about turning back, maybe heading out on a better day, but when he turned around, the house was gone. All that he could see were the rolling, icy hills of the desert.

Xerxes trudged through the great expanse of ice for many hours, his wounded leg feeling like new. He felt almost like a young man again, but the snow and wind gradually became so strong that Xerxes simply could not see where he was going, and was forced to stop. The Desert Queen had been kind enough to gift Xerxes with a small tent, so he decided it would be a good time to set up camp, not realising that he was only a few hundred metres from the edge of the desert.

It didn’t take long for Xerxes to fall asleep. The youthful energy he had felt in the morning was quickly replaced with an aching fatigue more suited to a man of his years.

After what felt like only five minutes’ sleep, Xerxes was awoken by the strangest of sights. The sunlight was beaming in through a small crack in the tent and it was hitting him straight in the eye. He opened the tent and stepped outside. To his amazement, there was not a cloud in the sky. He couldn’t remember seeing such a sight. The sunlight was almost warm enough to bask in. Suddenly, he heard a noise, almost like a whimper. He turned around to see Alto sitting next to the tent, panting away.

Xerxes rushed over to his faithful companion and wrapped his arms around him. He had never been so glad to see that little dog in his life.

“We found him wondering around all alone,” said a voice behind him. Xerxes turned around to see Te’oma, Julius and Ariana smiling back at him.

“What are you doing here?” asked Xerxes with utter delight.

“It’s a long story,” said Te’oma, as Xerxes rushed up and wrapped his arms around him.

“I am very glad to see you all well,” said Xerxes.

Julius walked over to the tent. “That was a very clever idea, putting the Intari symbol for help on top of your tent and having it reflect the sunlight. We could see it all the way up in the mountains,” said Julius. “But how did you know that anyone would respond to it?”

Xerxes looked dumbfounded, before he realised that it was one last gift from the Desert Queen. “I had a little help from a very kind person,” said Xerxes.

In no time at all, Xerxes packed up his tent. He was very excited to be heading out on one last adventure. “So where are you three headed?” asked Xerxes with anticipation.

“We have to head back to my home,” said Te’oma.

“Your home?” asked Xerxes, not realising where they were talking about.

“It’s also a very, very long story,” said Julius.

“We’re going to free the last Intari,” said Ariana.

“And then maybe find the lost city of the Intari,” said Julius.

“Well,” said Xerxes, pulling the map that Andes had given him out of his bag, “I may be able to help with that.”

“No one is either good or evil. They are simply the sum of the choices they make.”