The Sea of Valour -The Ocracidia Series 1 (4 page)

It wasn't long before he found
himself in between tall reefs and staring at the clear blue sea of
Valour. The scent of the salty seas hit his nostrils and he
welcomed it happy to be rid of the stale dark air he had endured
for three days in the south tunnels.

A small, wooden, boat sat in
between the reefs. Cezar smiled. ‘Thanks Dad,’ he muttered under
his breath.

Cezar inspected the boat,
running his hand over it and looking into it. The boat was made of
the strongest wood and was just the right size for him to steer
without any help. Lying on the floor of the boat was a set of small
oars, just big enough for him to handle; and a large round black
torch light.

Cezar knew the boat could do
the job of crossing the Sea of Valour, it was strong enough but
only if the sea remained calm. If the sea became rough or if the
winds became stormy; the boat would capsize because it was not big
enough to withstand severe turbulence. Silently he prayed that the
sea would remain calm enough for him to travel across her.

Cezar looked around, though the
boat was hidden by the reefs; he did not want to take it out to sea
in daylight and run the risk of being spotted. He decided to wait
until nightfall to begin his journey. He would while away the time
getting the much needed rest he deserved and travel out of
Ocracidia when it was dark and the chances of being seen and caught
much slimmer.

Cezar walked back towards the
tunnels and sat with his back up against one of the reefs; with his
eyes closed. But he couldn't fall asleep because his belly growled
and hunger pinched the inside of his stomach; he brought out what
was left of the bread Annabel had baked him three days ago and
unwrapped it.

Bits of mould sprouted from the
bread. He picked them off and sniffed the stale bread deeply. The
freshly baked scent it had three days was long gone. Carefully he
wrapped it back up and decided to keep this last piece of food
until a time when his hunger pangs were much too serious to
ignore.

But he took a few sips of water
from his flask then closed his eyes; this time he promptly fell
fast asleep.

It was dark when Cezar opened
his eyes again. His body was stiff as a log; he’d been asleep for
longer than he intended. Very carefully, he walked towards the
boat, and once near enough he climbed into the small boat and began
gently paddling out to sea.

Once out to sea, he tied the
black torch to the helm of the boat, turned it towards the sea and
switched it on. He took off his ring and waited for the scrolls to
direct him. The scrolls turned into the three dimensional map and
an arrow pointed Cezar to the east in the direction of the Land of
Shells. Cezar rolled the scroll back up and put the ring back on
his middle finger. He began rowing in the direction the scroll had
pointed.

The Sea was calm and the moon
cast a bright light over the dark sea. Cezar kept on rowing hoping
that the sea remained calm. Hours later, Cezar felt a cold breeze
blow at him from the direction of the Land of Shells.

Out of nowhere, a forceful wind
began to blow and the moon disappeared behind thick black clouds.
The sea grew rough and his boat swung from side to side. Cezar
struggled to keep the boat steady, he paddled faster trying to get
ahead of the storm he thought was approaching. But as he looked
ahead a ferocious looking sea monster stood in the middle of the
sea. Cezar knew this was what had caused the sea to grow
restless.

The sea monster was shaped like
a dinosaur with huge dragon like teeth. Cezar stopped rowing, he
placed his oars inside his boat and waited. The sea monster came
closer and Cezar saw that it possessed a huge long tail and that
its body was covered in short sharp spikes interspaced with black
shinning scales.

The monster lashed its tail
about and waves of water splashed into Cezar's boat causing the
boat to rock to and fro. The black torch which Cezar had previously
tied to the helm of the boat swung about restlessly and upturned.
It cast a bright light on to the Monster's face. The monster became
agitated and let out a skin crawling sound.

Cezar reached for the torch and
turned it off. The monster’s screams died down. With blood shot
eyes it stared at Cezar opening its mouth and revealing very sharp
teeth. Cezar picked up his oars and contemplated rowing away from
the sea monster.

In the dark, the outline of the
monster wasn't clear but the gleam of its teeth stood out. Cezar
watched for many moments until the sea monster slowly slid back
into the sea and disappeared. Cezar sighed with relief. He wasn’t
sure the creature was gone or if it was simply hiding in the water,
either way he knew he had to move quickly towards the land of
Shells.

He reached out to the turn on
the torch and felt the boat rock precariously as huge sea waves
pushed it back in the direction he had come.

‘
Oh dear!’
Cezar exclaimed. He picked up his oars and began to paddle
furiously trying to keep the boat in the direction he wanted it to
go which was towards the Land of Shells but his boat continued to
be forced backward.

The waves steadily grew, they
beat on the sides of the boat, rocking the boat violently, and
forcing sea water over Cezar and into the boat.

Cezar’s heartbeat increased at
the sight of the sea in his boat, the thought that his boat might
over turn and he would be thrown into the raging sea scared him;
for though he was a very good swimmer, Cezar had his doubts about
swimming in the sea of Valour.

Moments later the sea calmed
down a teeny bit and Cezar stopped paddling. He checked the scroll
again for directions to the land of Shells. He rolled the scroll
back up and it changed into the emerald green ring. Then without
any warning, a huge wave beat at his boat with such a great
ferocity that Cezar lost his footing and stumbled.

The ring dropped to the floor
of the rocking boat and disappeared into the water at the base of
the boat.

Cezar threw himself after the
ring feeling around for the ring in the water but he couldn’t find
it. More Waves hit the boat rocking it ferociously. Cezar reached
into his satchel for his yellow torch and turned it on. He flashed
it around praying he would find his ring before another huge wave
hit the boat and his worst nightmare became a reality.

Still there was no sign of the
ring. He lay down on the floor of the boat, dug his head into the
water which half-filled the boat and flashed the torch light on
inside the water. A sparkle caught his eye on the far end of the
boat. He dived in the direction pointing the torch at the sparkle
and reached for what he thought he'd seen; but it was simply a
reflection from a white stone.

Cezar looked around under the
water in desperation. Then his left hand felt something hard. He
picked the object up and flashed the torch at it.

It was the green emerald ring.
He quickly slid it on the middle finger of his right hand and stood
up. As he reached for the oars a final huge wave hit the boat and
Cezar was flung backwards. Without warning the boat capsized and
Cezar was plunged into the sea of valour with the boat over him and
slowly sinking.

Cezar was pushed deep down into
the sea by the sinking boat. He held his breath and struggled to
get out and away from the sinking boat, but the sea was cold and
dark and he could hardly see anything.

With his hands and feet, he
thrashed about desperately trying to swim away from the boat and
couldn’t. He realised that his satchel was stuck on a broken edge
of the boat. Cezar pushed and pulled at his satchel he did not want
to leave it behind but when he couldn’t get it away from the boat,
he quickly took it off his neck and left it behind.

Swift as a fish, he swam trying
to get to the surface for some air but the sea was fierce, and much
too strong; it was powerful and in control; it did not give Cezar
the chance to swim to the surface or stay afloat.

Suddenly, Cezar noticed saw a
pair of red blood shot eyes of the sea monster staring at him.

Cezar dived away in the
opposite direction but the monster pursed after him, its razor
sharp teeth snapping at Cezar's heels.

Another huge wave washed in and
the current lifted Cezar carrying him away from the Monster's reach
but further out to sea before plunging him deep down into the
depths of the salty Sea of Valour.

Cezar tried to swim up towards
the surface of the sea but the force of the waves wouldn't let
him.

Cezar's lungs burned for air
and the salty water stung his eyes. He was no mermaid and as the
moments passed with him still holding his breath and struggling to
get to the surface of the water; a deep pain developed in his chest
that felt as if he was about to burst open.

No longer able to hold his
breath and desperately needing air, he gave up trying and let his
lungs fill with water. At that point Cezar knew he was drowning and
slowly began to sink towards the bottom of the sea.

Total darkness surrounded him
as he lost consciousness, then something very strange happened,
Cezar felt a very warm hand circle his wrist and pull him up.

 
Chapter 8 The challenge

When Cezar opened his eyes; he
was lying on a soft bed, floating in mid-air in a large room with
Apple green coloured walls.

He thought he was dreaming and
closed his eyes; but when he opened them again, he was still in the
same room.

The room was empty except for
the bed he was lying on but there was a feeling of peace and
tranquillity all around. He tried to remember how he could have got
there but could not.

He remembered leaving home,
travelling through the tunnels, getting into the small wooden boat,
the boat capsizing during a storm and being chased by the sea
monster. He remembered sinking to the bottom of the sea of Valour
but his mind just wouldn't remember anything after that.

He thought perhaps he had died
and was in heaven.

He was still wearing the
clothes he had left home with and they were dry as a desert; but
his satchel was nowhere to be found. He remembered leaving it
behind when it got stuck on a broken edge of his capsized boat.

Instinctively, his hand reached into his right pocket, he
felt the outline of the fairies’ image and smiled to himself. He
reached into his left pocket, Zedia's orchard flower was still
there. Then he remembered the green emerald ring his father had
given him. His heart beat increased.
Had
he lost it?

He felt around his middle right
finger, the ring was still in place. His heartbeat calmed a little.
His hand reached round his neck, his mother’s red amulet was still
around his neck.

He had the fairies’ statue, and
his father’s ring, his mother’s amulet and his buckskin tunic;
almost everything he had left home with, which was good news! But
where was he?

Cezar closed his eyes, placed
both hands over his eyes and willed himself to remember what had
happened after he began to drown; and then, as if his mind had been
switched on - he remembered!

Someone had taken hold of his
wrist and pulled him up as he lay drowning in the sea of
Valour.

That someone
saved my life,
he thought to himself.
Cezar surveyed his surrounding more carefully this time. The walls
of the room wobbled like jelly on a plate. He got off the floating
bed and walked towards the wobbling walls.

The unusual movement of the
walls fascinated him and being an inquisitive little soul; he
reached out and touched it. His whole hand sunk deep into the
wall.

Cezar jerked his hand away but
his palm had left an impression in the wall and he smiled. He liked
this place already. He put both hands forward to touch the wall but
before he could, the walls magically disappeared.

Cezar found himself in the
middle of a long hallway so beautifully decorated in gold and
purple that he stood staring in awe at his surroundings. He looked
to the floor and it was covered in stunning purple stones which
shimmered in the light.

Cezar loved any kind of
adventure; He took a step forward but stopped himself. He was
unsure which way to go. He knew his emerald ring would point him in
the right direction but he had a very strong feeling he was not
alone, so he decided against using the scrolls.

He decided to go left and just
as he took a few steps to his left, a beautiful young girl about
the same age as him appeared. She wore a lavender coloured flowing
gown covered in pearls and sparkling diamonds and was stunningly
beautiful; and she was guarded by eight tall sentries.

‘
You are
awake,’ the girl said in rhythmical voice, which reminded him of
the wind chimes in Ocracidia. Her hair was white as snow, her eyes
were clear as glass and her skin was very pale.

Cezar stared at the girl, who
was so very different from the girls on Ocracidia, who were a
lovely brown colour from the heat of the sun, and who all had
golden brown hair.

‘
Em! Where am
I?’ he asked eyeing the girl’s eight sentries.

‘
We’re in
Talori, deep within the sea of Valour,’ the girl
replied.

‘
Talori!’ He
gasped.

A small shiver of excitement
ran through him.

The City of
Talori!
Millions of questions raced
through his brain cells terribly exciting him.

Had he found
the lost city of Talori? Had he really found the mermaid
city?
And w
ho was
the girl standing before him?

Cezar had heard tales about the
city of Talori - a massive mermaid city with millions of sea
people, all half humans and half fish, which was thought to have
been lost almost a century ago and whose queen was said to be the
evilest of all the rulers who had ever lived.