The Sea of Valour -The Ocracidia Series 1 (3 page)

Diagus then set about
destroying the land of Ocracidia and all that Zedia had built over
the past thousand years, for he wished to ensure that there was not
a trace of Ocracidia left on earth.

With thunder and lightning, he
destroyed the magical fountain of Ocracidia which fed the land of
Ocracidia and sent forth huge snakes and scorpions into every home.
Hugh tall evil demons appeared as shadow spirits casting fear and
destruction into the land and filling the people with sadness and
gloom.

And for the past three years,
the siege has continued, the land has grown dark and unfertile.
Everything that was good and beautiful has perished, food is
scarce, and starvation ravages the Land.’

Oscar turned to Cezar and
placed a hand on his shoulder. ‘This is why, it is so important
that you go on this quest and kill the beast of Goreloth for only
with the power of good can the evil power of wickedness be totally
defeated.’

Chapter 5 -Zedia's Ring

Two days later, Cezar prepared
to leave Ocracidia. He knew Annabel did not want him to leave but
she would not stop him.

His father, Oscar on the other
hand took every opportunity to tell him how proud he was of
him.

‘
You must be
brave and courageous to kill the beast and break the spell,' Oscar
emphasised; ‘because only then can our goddess Zedia be free and
our land be returned to the peaceful place it once was.’

Cezar listened; he sensed how
important this quest was to Oscar and made up his mind to make his
father proud by destroying the evil beast of Goreloth, and freeing
Zedia.

Many villagers came to visit
Cezar that day, they wished him well bringing him little
knickknacks to take on his journey and offering advice that he
promptly forgot the moment they turned their backs.

Cezar was only interested in
what his father could tell him and he listened attentively to the
instructions Oscar gave him.

Finally everyone departed to
their homes and only his best Friend Nosa remained. Nosa was more
like the twin Cezar never had. Having been born just hours apart,
both Cezar and Nosa had grown up doing everything together and
developing a tight bond and friendship. Cezar wanted Nosa to come
on this quest with him but Nosa’s parents refused.

When it was time to leave,
Oscar said 'follow the south tunnel out of Ocracidia, it will lead
you to the sea of Valour.’

Cezar's eyebrows furrowed
because every child in Ocracidia is taught from a young age to
avoid the Sea of valour which surrounds Ocracidia to the West.

‘
But the sea
of Valour is dangerous and treacherous,’ Cezar objected. ‘The route
through the red forest to the east of Ocracidia is the fastest way
to reach Goreloth.’

Oscar raised his right hand to
ask Cezar to listen. ‘I know the route through the sea is a
dangerous one,’ Oscar said; 'but it is the only way out of
Ocracidia, which is not heavily guarded by Diagus’ evil demons. It
will be your safest route my son.’

Cezar knew his father was
right, he knew the route to the red forest was heavily guarded by
Diagus’ army of spirit soldiers; but Cezar felt able to manoeuvre
through the forest without being seen. Something he knew he
couldn't do with the sea of Valour, which was rough and
unpredictable.

But his father was always right
and so Cezar resigned himself to travelling via the sea of
Valour.

‘
The south
tunnels open to the coastland;' Oscar said. 'There is a boat
already waiting for you there; cross the Sea of Valour into the
land of Shells using this boat. From the Land of Shells, you should
journey through to the flame mountain and into the land of Giants
to reach Goreloth. Be extra careful in these foreign lands’ Oscar
warned 'and always let your instincts guide you.’

'I will father,' Cezar
replied.

He wondered if his father had
journeyed to any of these lands but before he could ask, Oscar
stroked his thin short beard and as if hearing Cezar’s thoughts,
said. ‘I myself have not journeyed to any one of these distant
lands so I do not speak from experience. However, I know that you
have to be very cautious because Diagus has eyes everywhere.

Oscar sighed, he looked into
Cezar’s eyes and continued; ‘Goreloth has only one beast. Find it,
kill it and break the spell. But be watchful; there's a powerful
Wizard named Viguli whose soul is tied to the beast. Viguli will
feel, hear and see everything that the beast does. He will try to
kill you before you can harm or kill the beast so you must be
cunning and wise to achieve your goal.

Oscar held Cezar by his
shoulders and said 'it will not be easy but you must succeed.’

Cezar knew this was going to be
a very dangerous quest and he made up his mind to succeed at all
costs.

Oscar walked Cezar to a table
where a scroll lay open. A map of Ocracidia and its surrounding
lands showed on the scroll. The map moved about each time Oscar
touched it, as if it was alive and Cezar was astounded; he had
never before seen a moving scroll.

‘
This magical
scroll will guide you with its map', Oscar said.

Cezar listened carefully.

‘
The scroll
transforms into a ring when rolled up; this is so it can be kept
safe from evil eyes and so that the bearer will always have it
close by. It changes back to a scroll when you take the ring off
your finger;’

Oscar handed the open scroll to
Cezar who immediately rolled it up.

The scroll changed into a
stunning and beautiful emerald green ring the moment Cezar rolled
it up and a huge smile spread across Cezar's face.

For many moments, Cezar admired
the stunningly beautiful, emerald-green ring. He put the ring on
the middle finger of his right hand, it was way too big for him; he
twisted the ring around wondering how he was going to get the ring
to say on his finger ; Suddenly the ring shrunk in size and fitted
round Cezar’s thin, slim, finger perfectly.

Cezar grinned lopsidedly at
Oscar; he was already loving being on a quest even without leaving
Ocracidia. Cezar took the ring off, it immediately changed back
into a scroll. Cezar laughed softly and so did Oscar.

‘
Be careful,’
Oscar warned; ‘many would kill to have that ring. You must guard it
at all times and be very careful when you use it.’

The ring has a godly history,'
Oscar said. ‘It was made from a strand of Zedia’s hair and forged
in the secret wells of the heavenly planes where the gods reside.
Its power is such that it reveals and leads the wearer to where he
or she can learn the secrets of creation which only the gods
possess. But,' Oscar raised a finger; 'the power of the ring is
only revealed to who the ring wants and chooses.'

'So though the ring is in my
possession I don't have the power to the secret wells of the
heavenly planes?' Cezar joked.

'No you don't;' Oscar laughed;
' but what you do have, is a map that will show and lead you to
where you can destroy the beast of Goreloth and free Goddess Zedia.
So guard it with your life and it will do the same for you.'

‘
Yes father,’
Cezar replied.

‘
One more
thing! The ring is only visible to the one, who wears it this
protects the ring from falling into the wrong hands.

Oscar hugged Cezar fiercely,
‘May Zedia’s wisdom and knowledge, always direct you.’

Cezar hugged him back. He
looked into his father’s eyes and saw tears. Cezar knew that deep
down his father was scared Oscar would not come back to him alive.
It was the first time since he had volunteered that his father
showed any emotion and Cezar knew his father didn’t want him to
leave.

'Don't worry father, I'll be
back soon,’ he said and turned to leave before his own emotions
could take control of him. But Annabel’s voice stopped him just as
he was about to step out of the house.

‘
Wait!’ she
called, hurriedly running over to Cezar.

Annabel had said nothing since
the elder’s meeting nor had she shown any emotions over Cezar
volunteering but Cezar knew her heart was breaking over his
decision to go on this quest; he had thus decided to leave without
bidding her goodbye.

Annabel held Cezar at hands
length and looked into his eyes before she hugged him. In his
mother's eyes Cezar saw a reflection of himself. People had always
said he inherited his mother’s light green eyes but that he had his
father’s height and build; and though he looked a number of years
older than his thirteen years of age, Cezar was still only a young
boy who loved both his parents dearly.

Annabel took off a bright red
amulet she always wore around her neck and put it round Cezar's
neck.

‘
This will
protect you on your quest,' she said. 'It is a family heirloom
which has been in our family for generations.’ She put a sleeveless
dark brown buckskin tunic around Cezar; it fitted him as if he had
measured for it.

‘
Wow!’ He
whispered silently.

‘
This will
protect you come rain or shine,' Annabel said gazing at him with
tears in her eyes. ‘Do not take it off.’

‘
Thank you
mother,’ Cezar replied.

Annabel kissed Cezar’s forehead
and bid him farewell, but Cezar held on to her tightly seeing his
mother in tears broke his heart and silently he promised himself to
come back to her safely.

This was the first time Cezar
would ever leave his family and his stomach was already doing
trampoline jumps at the prospect of not seeing either his father or
mother for a long time.

With a dark satchel across his
body, Cezar and Nosa, his best friend left his home and walked
towards the Southern tunnels as his father had instructed. The
Satchel contained a water flask and some bread; enough food for a
couple of days at the most. It also contained a medium sized yellow
Torch light for when it was dark and a small fairy statue made of
blue green topaz stone which the fairies had given him before they
left the land of Ocracidia.

Cezar and Nosa reached the
entrance to the south tunnels and stood facing each other.

‘
Don’t you
get lost,’ Nosa chided Cezar.

‘
Don’t grow
old before I get back,’ Cezar replied smiling at Nosa.

They exchanged a hand shake
which was a little code they had developed to mean farewell and
when Cezar walked away to begin his quest, Nosa stood watching him
disappear into the South tunnel and it was a long time before Nosa
turned and returned back to the village.

Chapter 6- Leaving

The southern tunnel was pitch
dark and Cezar got out his yellow torch to light up his path.

Cobwebs and green moss filled
the corners. Cezar had never known the tunnels to be this way, it
had always been bright and sparkling, with magical silver bells
tinkling as they hung in mid-air.

As a child; Cezar, Nosa and
some of the other children had never been able to reach the
tinkling magical bells no matter how hard they tried because the
higher they jumped, the further away the bells rose. Reminiscing
about the good times he had in the past made Cezar determined to
break the spell.

Everything in Ocracidia had
turned black or grey and every place was dark, cold and full of
shadows. Even the trees and flowers had shrivelled and withered
up.

Cezar remembered a time when
the trees, bloomed with magical gold and blue flowers and large,
rainbow coloured fruits. When brilliantly coloured butterflies,
flew across the land and when magical waters ran from the centre of
Ocracidia into all parts of the land, giving Ocracidia everything
it could ever want.

He remembered a time when he
grew so fond of the fairies that he saw them every day. Cezar
absolutely missed the times he had before Diagus placed a spell on
Ocracidia.

He sighed deeply wishing he
could see the fairies one more time before he left on his quest;
but Cezar knew that until Diagus’ spell was broken, the fairies
would not return. He reached into his satchel, brought the blue
green topaz fairy statue out and gazed at it. The wings on the
statue slowly began to flutter and the statue illuminated but after
a few moments the statue grew cold and lifeless. Cezar knew that
Diagus’ Magic was too strong for that of the fairies; and he traced
his finger over the statue before placing it deep into his pocket
so he could have it near him.

Cezar thought about goddess
Zedia and how she was doing in prison. He wondered about his
encounter with the goddess days before; he stuck his hand down his
left trouser pocket and felt the orchid flower; its soft petals
told him his experience was real.

Cezar cleared his head, he
needed to concentrate on his quest. Breaking Diagus’ spell was the
only way to get the fairies back and restore his land. It wasn't
going to be easy; Oscar had drummed that into him but he would do
his best and he would succeed.

Chapter 7 The Sea of Valour

Three days had passed since
Cezar had left his home; he was still trying to find his way out of
the south tunnels. He felt exhausted and tired; and was covered
from head to toe in dust and dirt but he continued with slow and
steady steps. He wondered how much farther the sea was. He had only
stopped once for sleep since leaving Ocracidia because he had been
too excited to sleep but now he was feeling tired.

The scent of the salty sea
water reached his nostrils and he knew the sea was close by; the
tiredness he had been feeling varnished, strength filled his bones
and his steps quickened with renewed vigour.

In the distance he saw faint
rays of sunlight streaming into the tunnel, he quickened his pace
until he saw the tunnel brighten sufficiently to switch off his
torch. He tucked the torch into his satchel and when he saw a
glimpse of the tunnel’s exit, he broke into a run.