The Sea of Valour -The Ocracidia Series 1 (6 page)

Cezar wished he had a weapon to
fight the creature with. He looked around desperately, all he saw
was the floating bed. He considered jumping on it but realised that
would do him no good.

Then the creature came at him
again, Cezar zipped back under the creature making it turn around
again.

‘
Think Cezar,
think,’ he urged himself.

'Hey ugly monster, what's your
name?’ Cezar called to the creature.

‘
I’m the
great Clawrion,’ the Creature answered.

‘
My name is
Cezar and this is a most unfair fight ever,' he said to Clawrion;
‘you are ten times my size; why don’t you pick on someone your own
size, eh?’

Clawrion laughed heartily but
watched Cezar with great caution and distrust. And, he was right to
do so because Cezar had a plan, - it was to keep Clawrion turning
and twisting until he could come up with another plan.

It was not a very good plan at
all, but it was all Cezar could think of at that point.

Unfortunately, Clawrion was not
ready to play games and when Cezar tried to zip through the
creature’s legs one more time; Clawrion lifted his foot and brought
it down on the ground with a terrible smash, landing a toe into
Cezar’s ribs.

A cracking sound of Cezar’s rib
cage sounded as Clawrion’s toe collided with the Cezar’s ribs and
Cezar was thrown backwards.

'I am the great Clawrion!’ the
creature yelled at Cezar in a voice that sounded like a thousand
neighing horses; ‘never before defeated in any challenge!'

Clawrion stamped his feet a
second time. This time he used such brute force that the ground
cracked open in ten places and a massive gap formed right at the
point where both Clawrion and Cezar were standing.

Clawrion laughed at Cezar’s
stunned look. He stepped towards Cezar and caused more cracks to
appear in the ground. Then without any warning, a number of cracks
collapsed and a gap formed; within seconds, a gigantic sinkhole
appeared pulling everything down it.

Clawrion let out a scream as he
fell into the sinkhole.

Cezar immediately ran over to
the bed, which was still floating in mid-air and jumped on it.
Relieved, he watched Clawrion tumble down the hole like Alice in
wonderland. He had no clue where the hole led but he hoped it was
far, far, away.

Minutes later, his relief
turned into his worst nightmare as the floating bed was also sucked
into the same sinkhole that Clawrion had only minutes before
disappeared down.

Cezar tumbled down the dark
hole, holding on to the ends of the bed for his dear life. The
journey down the hole seemed to take forever and a damp smell rose
into Cezar’s nostrils as he fell. He could not see where he was
going because it was too dark neither did he hear anything; but he
kept his eyes open as he tumbled down what seemed to be an endless
black tunnel.

At this point, Cezar's main
concern was that he would end up back at the bottom of the Sea of
Valour.

Finally, Cezar and the bed
landed unceremoniously on top of a pile of bricks and sand. The
impact threw him back up into the air and when Cezar landed on the
ground a second time, he was face down in a pile of rubble.

Slowly Cezar lifted himself
half up from the pile of rubble. He looked around and found to his
utter surprise that he was lying right before Clawrion; who having
himself landed only minutes earlier, had the immense pleasure of
not only watching Cezar tumble down the hole like a rabbit; but of
seeing him face down in a pile of rubble.

Clawrion seized the opportunity
and brought his fist down in a strike. Cezar closed his eyes and
thought that surely his end was only seconds away.

But to Cezar’s surprise, the
red amulet around his neck began to glow intensely and a very
bright, luminescent white light appeared; blinding and making
Clawrion stagger backwards.

Out the white luminescent
light, the outline of a golden red sword formed and within seconds
the sword landed by Cezar’s feet and the light disappeared.

Cezar picked up the sword and
scrambled away to safety. Clawrion swung his tail at Cezar trying
to prevent him from escaping and aiming to trip him.

Cezar saw Clawrion’s tail
coming at him and instinctively swung the sword in the direction of
Clawrion’s tail cutting it off.

Clawrion screamed out in pain,
he thrashed about unable to balance without a tail. The expression
on his face made Cezar smile mischievously.

Cezar was momentarily safe from
Clawrion and his lashing tail. With every step Clawrion took he
lost his balance. Cezar realise that the tail was Clawrion’s weapon
and it was what kept Clawrion balanced. He knew he had to keep
Clawrion and his tail separate. So he rushed over to where the tail
had fallen and picked it up.

The tail was heavy, it dripped
with Clawrion’s blue coloured blood. Cezar grinned lopsidedly but
he soon began to feel guilty at seeing Clawrion trip every time he
took a step.

After moments of watching
Clawrion stumble about unceremoniously, Cezar called to him.

'Hey there Clawrion; I can give
you back your tail you know.’ Cezar chuckled grinning lopsidedly;
‘Well, that is, if you really want it.'

‘
Of course I
do,’ replied Clawrion stumbling towards Cezar.

‘
Stay where
you are!’ Cezar commanded pointing his shining, red sword at
Clawrion because he was not entirely convinced that Clawrion was
harmless. After all, Clawrion was still a very huge creature with
an awful amount of sharp, ferociously protruding, teeth.

Clawrion took one look at
Cezar’s magical sword and stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes
trembled with fear at the blade aimed at him.

Cezar did not put the blade
away, but he lowered it.

‘
You don’t
understand,’ Clawrion said; ‘without my tail, I can no longer
protect Talori!’

Cezar understood that Clawrion
was sworn to protect Talori. He did not want to take away
Clawrion’s one and only purpose; and he truly felt sorry for
him.

'I will give you back your
tail,’ Cezar offered trying to compromise with Clawrion; ‘but only
if you will swear never to attack me again.’

Clawrion stared at Cezar, his
fish face did not move but his eyes bulged out more than it had
done before. It was obvious to Cezar that Clawrion was thinking
about Cezar’s offer.

‘
Come on
Clawrion,’ Cezar urged; ‘I don’t have all day you know!’

Clawrion lifted both his arms
up in frustration before answering.

‘
But if you
do that, I will be forever indebted to you because I will be bound
to you for the rest of my life.’

‘
Yes,’
answered Cezar ‘but you will be able to remain a defender of Talori
because you will have your tail.' Cezar raised the tail at
Clawrion, ’which is your only weapon, remember.'

'As long as I can remain a
warrior and defender of Talori, I accept,’ Clawrion said.

‘
I knew you
would come to your senses,’ Cezar replied with his usual lopsided
grin. ‘Where I come from when two people agree on something, they
shake hands.’ Cezar held out his hand to Clawrion who reluctantly
took it. Both shook hands.

Clawrion’s grip was firm and
strong and Cezar felt an immediate connection as a warm sensation
passed from the monstrous beast to him.

‘
Now can I
have my tail back?’ Clawrion asked.

‘
Of-course,’
replied Cezar 'Catch!' Cezar threw the tail at Clawrion who caught
it in mid-air. But moments later the tail still lay in Clawrion's
hand and he asked Cezar

‘
How do I put
my tail back on?'

Cezar himself had no idea, he
shrugged his shoulders and answered; ‘I'm not particularly
sure.'

‘
Oh No!,’
cried Clawrion. ‘If I can’t get my tail back on, I cannot be a
Talori Warrior. My tail is my weapon.’

Cezar had already guessed as
much and he felt guilty that he’d cut Clawrion’s tail off. ‘Don’t
worry he replied; ‘we will find a way to get it back on.’

For many moments, the two sat
side by side racking their brains on how to get Clawrion’s tail
back to his body.

His mother had often jokingly
told him when he was younger that if he thought about things long
and hard enough they could manifest and come true. He had tried
this many times; sometimes it had worked, other times it hadn’t.
Once when Cezar had wished that Diagus would simply disappear; that
had not worked. But another time, when he had wished that the
elders would agree he could go on the quest to save Ocracidia; that
had definitely worked.

Cezar closed his eyes and
wished hard that Clawrion and his tail would become one again.
Suddenly he knew what he had to do.

‘
Hold still,’
he said; ‘I will try to stick it back on.’

‘
Eh?’
Clawrion questioned. He had no idea what Cezar meant but he did as
was asked.

Cezar placed his shining sword
at the point, where the tail had been severed off; hoping and
praying the magic in the sword could help repair the tail. He felt
that if the sword had cut the tail off; the same sword should be
able to join the tail back on to Clawrion’s body. He wasn't sure
what he was doing would work, but he kept his fingers crossed

Cezar closed his eyes, for
moments, he visualised Clawrion’s tail coming back together with
its body and becoming one.

He opened his eyes and touched
Clawrion’s skin with his magical sword. A spray of magical sparks
flew around turning Clawrion's end into a bright, orange, coloured
gluey point.

Cezar quickly stuck the tail
on, joining both ends together. ‘Does it hurt?’ he asked
Clawrion.

’
No, but it
tickles a lot,’ Clawrion giggled moving his body.

‘
Hold still,’
Cezar commanded ‘or you are going to end up with a very crooked
tail, which I'm afraid will be of no use to you.’

When Cezar was sure that the
tail had stuck, he asked Clawrion to move his tail.

It took a little while and then
Clawrion’s tail slowly began to move again. Without warning the
tail flicked up and Cezar jumped quickly out of the way as the tail
came lashing past.

‘
I’m sorry,’
Clawrion said Cezar; ‘I didn't mean to strike out at you
again.’

‘
That's quite
alright,’ Cezar replied.

‘
Thank you
great Warrior,’ Clawrion bowed. ‘Now climb aboard; it is my honour
to carry you wherever you wish.’

Before Cezar could climb onto
Clawrion, a massive sea horse balanced on a long snake like tail,
with a very, long neck appeared before them and charged at
Cezar.

Chapter 10 Adonijah

Clawrion stepped protectively
in front of Cezar.

‘
You will
have to go through me first, Adonijah;’ he called to the sea
horse.

‘
I'm glad you
remember my name,’ the sea horse replied; ‘because your allegiance
to your people seems to be forgotten. You were to destroy the boy
not make him your master!’

‘
Adonijah is
Talori’s second defender;’ Clawrion whispered to Cezar.

Cezar had almost forgotten that
he must battle three of Talori’s defenders and that Clawrion was
only one of the three.

‘
As I am
sworn to serve you human warrior, it would be my honour to fight
beside you,’ Clawrion said to Cezar.

Cezar shook his head. ‘No my
friend this is something I must do alone. I therefore release you
from my service.’

‘
What does
that mean?’ Clawrion asked.

‘
It means you
are free and do not have to fight with me;’ replied
Cezar

‘
Are you
sure?’ Clawrion asked. The look on his face told Cezar he did not
really want to leave.

‘
You will
always be my friend,’ Cezar replied; ‘now, go quickly, I don't want
you to get hurt.’

‘
Thank you,’
Clawrion replied and slowly left.

Adonijah towered massively over
Cezar. Cezar wondered how he would defeat Adonijah who seemed all
bent on killing him.

Cezar knew that Adonijah was
going to try and surprise him with an attack and he was right. Just
like Clawrion had done, Adonijah rushed at Cezar and when Cezar
tried to avoid him Adonijah grabbed Cezar by the legs, yanking him
up into the air.

Cezar’s red shiny sword tumbled
out of his scabbard and clanged to the ground.

Adonijah tossed Cezar around
like a beach ball and Cezar felt quizzy and faint.

Cezar was thrown into the air
and then caught on Adonijah nose over and over again, as if Cezar
was a trapeze artist at a circus.

Desperate to get out of
Adonijah's hold, Cezar rubbed the red amulet thinking it might
present him with another sword or weapon but the red amulet did not
change. 

Then, as Cezar was thrown up
into the air again; instead of landing on Adonijah's nose, Cezar
jumped onto Adonijah’s back, slid down huge round rings on the
seahorse’s trunk and landed on its dorsal fin.

Cezar grasped firmly unto
Adonijah’s skin, which was thick, slimy and very difficult to
hold.

Adonijah wriggled about trying
to shake Cezar off its dorsal fin but Cezar held on firmly.

From where he was precariously
balanced, Cezar saw his shining, red, sword staring at him from the
ground. He thought of jumping off Adonijah to get his sword, but he
knew Adonijah would get to the sword before he could.

I wish I had
a rope to hold on to this creature
he said
to himself.

Suddenly his amulet began
flashing and within moments long, red, ropes bridled the face and
mouth of Adonijah. Cezar grabbed the ropes taking control of the
sea horse.