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Legends of Cogopolis (super long); Pt 1. The Second Kingdom
Topic Started: 3 Feb 2008, 12:51 PM (616 Views)
Merceus
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Lieutenant
For as long as people have told tales, the people of Cogopolis have known many tales, but one of the greatest, standing out as an incredible myth after centuries of telling and retelling, is the story of the second kingdom.
The people of Cogopolis have never travelled far from their small kingdom and do not know what lies beyond the Southlands or over the Eastern Sea, but many wonder about it, and all awe at the tales that are told of the second Kingdom.
Beyond the Southlands, and the Wastelands, lie the Darklands. A place of monsters and demons, enraptured in eternal darkness and smothering in smouldering craters and rumbling volcanoes.
In the Darkland, creatures grow huge and untamed, deforming and mutating into abominations of nature, with instincts only to kill all they see, to feed and grow, never to stop hunting, to never sleep or wait, with no fear other than their master.
Master and King of the Darklands, the Crow King’s greedy hands stretch across his Kingdom and beyond their borders, to enslave and destroy the lands beyond, as he did with his own, in a bid for nothing but war and chaos.
The people of Cogopolis have never seen the Darklands or any sign of these horrible monsters or their master, but they take it upon themselves to protect their borders against him, a mere fairy tale, so old that people truly believe it to be true.

Mek was fourteen years old. His mother died giving birth to him and he lived with his father in the Northern realm of Cogopolis, in a small out of the way village where not even the trains ran to.
His father was an inventor, using the customary clockwork technology of their people to try and build something that would earn him honour and a better life then they had living in their hovel in the ditch, at the back of the village.
They had never had much luck, even his father’s experiments would turn on them, blowing up in their faces and failing entirely. Once it was so bad that young Mek lost an eye and his father broke both of his legs and snapped his spine, losing the use of his legs entirely.
But luck was not the only problem, in order to even make the contraptions work, they needed kinetic ore, a kind of crystal that grew like a plant on the edge of the Southlands, near the southern field of the Western realm.
However it was incredibly expensive, and a long distance had to be travelled to collect it, a journey which Mek’s father would never be able to make, and Mek had never even left the village, let alone go to the other end of the kingdom, and at such a young age.
Mek was surprised one morning when he heard a bustling in the village and the sound of knocking came from the door. His father was in the workshop, tinkering with his cogs and gears, so Mek answered the door.
He was shocked to see a lavishly dressed messenger holding a scroll. The scroll was handed to Mek, with a mention of being at the King’s request, before the messenger turned and left.

Mek’s father was in his workshop when Mek found him. Tinkering with some small device of some kind, cursing under his breath in frustration. He reached out with one hand and gently tapped his father on the shoulder.
In a single motion the balding, podgy old man swung round and grabbed whatever had been touching him. He stared blankly through the thick lenses of his glasses at the hand for a moment, then looked up at the boy attached to it.
He grunted in irritation and turned back to what he had been fiddling with, his hands shaking as he unscrewed pieces and replaced cogs and other trinkets. He finally slipped and knocked something out of place. In his anger he threw the thing down onto the worktop where it came apart and several cogs bounced off into the corners of the room.
“Father,” Mek began meekly, “This came, by order of the king,” he held out the scroll to his chair-bound father, “I think its for you.”
His father slowly turned in his chair and looked at the boy, as if for the first time. Saw his smooth, short, black hair, his dirtied clothes, once a pleasant parchment white, now stained by sweat and dirt. He could barely bring himself to look at the socket where his eye used to be, instead he turned to the remaining eye, a dark, sea green in colour.
He then looked at the scroll that his son held out to him. He raised an eyebrow and then took it. He turned so that he was facing the work surface and broke the wax seal that was shaped like a cog with a crown on it, and unrolled the scroll before reading quietly to himself.
After a few minutes he rolled the scroll back up, placed it on the work surface and reached down, taking the stoppers out from under the wheels of his chair. He then turned the chair and rolled over to something large in the corner, covered with a dusty cloth. He reached out and grabbed the cloth, then with a single yank, pulled it off of whatever was underneath.
Mek gasped as he saw what was underneath, he knew his father was an engineering genius, but this was simply unheard of, at least that is, if it could work.
It looked like some sort of copper man, only hunched over and bulkier than any man he’d ever seen before. He could see underneath the copper plates on the surface what looked to be a multitude of cogs and gears and arms, creating uncountable mechanisms attached to every part of the creatures body.
“Father,” Mek was at a loss for words, “What is-”
His father silenced him with a snap of his fingers and pointed at the scroll on the work surface without taking his eyes off of the mechanic man. Mek turned his eyes unwillingly from the machine-man and went to the work surface. He then picked up the scroll and opened it, reading aloud.
“I, King of the Kingdom of Cogopolis, ruler of both realms and all its people declare that the creator of the Clockwork-man may travel to the last Kinetic Ore harvest of this year and collect enough crystal to bring said invention to full life.
“Though before being started, must be brought to the Palace so that I, my royal family, the twelve lords and ladies of the Kingdom, and all its people may see the miracle of clockwork life for the first time.
“I bow before you sir, as a true genius of the art. Take this scroll with you to the harvest and it will be seen to that you get all the Ore you require.
“Signed, King of Cogopolis,” Mek rolled the scroll up and looked at his father with awe, then back to the Clockwork-man, as it had been called, “I will go, father,” His father looked at him with a raised eyebrow, “I can make the journey, it would be difficult for you, a slave to that chair,”
His father closed his eyes and took a long breath in before looking back at his son and nodding his agreement. He then wheeled back over to his work surface and opened one of the draws, taking out an eye-patch which he handed to his son.
Mek obediently put it on and went to prepare for his journey, pocketing the scroll as he went.

When Mek finally left the cottage in the ditch at the back of the village and began following the path leading into the forest, and eventually to the next village where the trains ran to the great lift that could take him across the kingdom.
The village watched from the windows of their cottages, some even came outside to watch, as the small, one-eyed boy with a pack on his back walked out of the village.
When he reached the edge of the forest he turned back to the village, nobody wished him farewell or a safe trip, they merely watched in wonder as Mek stood on the edge of the forest.
For a moment he almost thought he saw his father’s face watching from the window of his workshop, but then it was gone. He let out a heavy, sad sigh before turning to face the forest and walking into the wild unknown of what lay beyond the village he had spent his entire life in.

He had been walking for nearly an hour when he looked up and saw the sun at his almost at its highest, one minute until midday. The peculiar thing about the people of Cogopolis was that no matter where or who they were, they could always tell the time to the nearest minute or so.
He decided it was time for a break, he would be about half way to the next village by now, so he sat down under a nearby tree and took off his backpack. He opened it up and reached in, rummaging around for a few moments, and pulled out a pear in one hand and chunk of bread on the other.
He broke some of the bread off and put the rest back. He ate his way through the tough bread and then began gnawing on the pear, spitting out the seeds, not wanting to waste any of the fruits flesh, even the stringy parts in the middle would be eaten, leaving only the stem and seeds.
He got up and walked over to an open area alongside the path and bent down. He scraped some of the dirt away with his hand and then buried the seeds. He liked to think that one day it would grow into a pair tree as big as those around it.
When he turned back to his pack, he saw it jostle slightly, as if something were moving it. He jumped at the sudden movement and leant against the tree next to him, watching to see what was happening.
After a moment a squirrel jumped out of the pack holding the bread in its small hands. Mek breathed a sigh of relief, then realised that his food was being taken. He lunged towards the squirrel waving his hands, “Shoo! That’s not your food! Its mine! Give it back!”
The squirrel saw him coming and dashed towards a tree that came up from the undergrowth of weeds and other plants. The bread slowed the squirrel down however, though not by much, but enough to give the fox, that had been hiding by the tree and watching the squirrel, time to leap up and snag the creature in its fangs.
There was a small squeaking chirp from the squirrel before it dropped the bread and was carried away by the fox. Mek had no idea whether to feel relieved or scared. Either way he dashed into the undergrowth and grabbed the bread. He then put it back in his pack, placed it on his back and continued walking.

At approximately three minutes after one in the afternoon, Mek walked into the village. Though it was a village, it was not what he had expected. There was a cobbled path leading through the village, rather than a muddy patch where the grass had been worn away by feet.
There were market stools where people traded wines, fish, fruit and other things in exchange for money or goods. There were also second floors to many of the cottages, or houses even. All the buildings in his village had only one floor.
Something else he noticed was that the people of this village wore shoes, he supposed that they had nice floors in their houses that they didn’t want to get dirty, the floor in his cottage may as well have been made of mud.
But most horrible to him of all, was that, for the first time in his life, he truly felt like an outcast. What must these people think? A small, one-eyed, shoeless boy, covered in dirt emerging from the forest. He tried not to make eye-contact with any of the staring people, but could jot help it.
He looked up at the nearest person, only to find that they were not staring at him, nobody was. They were too busy bustling about to take note of anything around them. He didn’t know whether this was good or not, but either way he had something to do, and so he began looking for the train.
After walking up and down the cobbled pathway for several minutes and not finding the train, mostly because he could not see over the constantly moving people who filled the street.
He suddenly noticed a man standing perfectly still against a building. He wore armour plates made from some kind of metal, and plated in copper, the colour of the Royal Court. He also wore a helmet that concealed his face, but had a visor that he looked out from. He must have been one or the King’s royal guard.
Mek approached the man, slowing down as he got closer, realising just how huge the man was. At least six foot high, if not more, and his chest was massive and broad. He could tell that the guard was heavily muscled, even though he was covered in armour.
“Excuse me,” Mek said in his meek voice. The guard’s head turned and looked down at him. Mek gulped and asked his question, “Where can I get the train?”
The guard took up hi previous position, looking dead ahead with both arms at his side. He then raised one of his arms and pointed to the building he was standing against, before becoming statue-like once more. Mek bowed in thanks and walked into the building.
When he was inside, he was surprised at what he saw. The entire building was one large room with the back wall missing. It was also quite empty compared to the crowd in the streets.
There was a hole in the floor near the back. It was squared off and went out into the open where it eventually disappeared into the distance. That must have been where the train goes, he though. But where is it?
There were several benches on either side of the hole where the train went, with several people sitting down. He quietly walked to an empty bench and sat down. The entire place smelt of urine and vomit, but he tried to ignore it.
There was no sound, apart from the bustle in the streets and the occasional cough of one of the people sitting on a bench on the other side of the hole.
After almost twenty minutes, there was a deep rumbling sound from the distance, out in the woods, then a huge metallic object came into view. It was sunk into the hole and Mek could see two cogs at its front, turning with surprising speed, pulling it along and towards the station.
The train rumbled into the station, causing the entire building to shake. It stopped right at the end of the hole, less than a centimetre away from the end. There were five metal cars joined together to form the train. The front one had a single closed door and a window looking out of the front. The back car was the same, but with the window looking in the opposite direction.
The other three cars had open doorways, with no actual doors, on either side as Mek could see right through. Only two people got off and left the building. The people who had been sitting in the station got up and went inside, after a moment Mek did the same.
Inside the car was something very different to what he was used to. The walls were a near pristine white and the seats were neatly packed in rows on either side. Their was one other person in this particular car who was sat next to the door reading a book.
Mek quickly and quietly walked to the corner furthest from the person, preferring not to interact with strangers too much. He sat down in the end seat and looked out the window.
After a few moments he heard a door open and then close, and saw a man pass by the windows, he was wearing a black silk hat that matched the cloak around his shoulder. He went by wordlessly and the sound of the door on the end cart opening and closing could be heard.
He would be lying if he said he was afraid, but he wasn’t calm either, he could feel his heart racing and his stomach churning as he waited for the train to start. With each moment that went by without anything happening his longing for it to start grew worse.
He crossed his arms against his stomach and squeezed tighter and tighter, trying to keep himself calm. The man on the other side of the car looked up at him for a moment, then back at his book. Mek felt sick, he wished he’d never left home.
But then his father wouldn’t have been able to get the kinetic ore for the Clockwork-man. He reminded himself why he was doing this, to help his father, to get a better life for both of them. He wouldn’t let a bit of a queasy stomach stop him.
The train gave a sudden lurch, then stopped, then began to roll forward. At first there was the same deep rumbling, but then, as it speeded up, became nothing more then the dull thud of the cog teeth slotting into place over and over again.
His stomach eventually settled and he was able to watch the passing world outside with content and a smile on his face. He was on his way.

The train ride lasted a full eighteen minutes, about half of which was spent travelling through the forest. Mek could barely make out the trees, as they flew past them in a brown and green blur. He had never gone so fast in all his life, not even close, which made him sad when the train stopped and he had to get off.
But nether the less he stood up and got off the train. He was surprised to find that outside the train was a station far larger than the small building he had been in before. Besides the train he had just gotten off of, there were two others, one of which was just leaving, and also a fourth track where I train would no doubt soon arrive.
But most noticeable of all was the amount of people. There were hundreds, pouring in and out of the building and the other train waiting to leave. He knew there were more people beyond his village, and it greater numbers, but he never dreamed of anything on such an enormous scale.
He watched the massive sea of people for a moment longer, then spotted the exit and began making his way towards it, constantly getting pushed and shoved by the people passing by, not even noticing him.
He even let out a yelp of pain when someone trod on his shoeless foot with their heavy boot, they looked at him for a moment, then kept on going, not a word of apology to be heard.
Mek frowned, longing for home when it had only been a few hours since he left. He tried to ignore the pain in his foot and carried on towards the exit.
Outside were many more people, but not quite as closely packed as in the station, allowing him to move freely and see where he was going. And there were many more building than in the last village, though this wasn’t a village. This must have been the North City, where he could get the Great Lift to the West City.
But where was the lift? He suddenly realised that there was also more than one street, and the three floored, close-packed buildings hid everything beyond them from view.
It can’t be that hard to find, he thought, after all, it is the Great Lift, it must be enormous. It was bigger than enormous actually. The entire thing was designed around one central cog that would lift a god-like steal structure up and over the skies and all the way to the other end.
Some said that the arm of the lift was so vast that it could be described as greater than god-like, being almost fifteen miles long. At the other end of the arm was a carriage that span on an axle to keep it level at all times so that the passengers remained horizontal, or as close to as the mechanism allowed.
Mek eventually found the great lift on the far side of the city, and it was enormous, it almost disappeared across the horizon. He couldn’t even make out the central cog as it was so far away.
But he was concerned to find that the line for the lift may as well have been as long as the arm. The people slowly filed into a six floored building which the arm of the lift stopped at and the carriage disappeared inside.
After about five minutes the line had managed to move him nearly all the way to the door. He then heard a bell ring inside the building and it was followed by a deep rumble that seemed to shake the land, but it was not the lift.
The people still left in the line let out frustrated sighs and yells before dispersing and scattering into the city. Mek didn’t understand why they didn’t just wait for it to come back, it couldn’t be that long, it’s the fastest way across the kingdom.
There was suddenly a shrill squeaking as the arm of the lift began to rise up into the air. It seemed to be going quite fast Mek thought, within moments it had cleared the building and was on its way.
“It’ll be back soon though, won’t it?” Mek asked to no one in particular. Someone who had heard him just shook there head in anger as the rest of the line made their way out of the building.
He watched the people part and leave, going back out into the city before turning his attention back to the building. Everyone seemed to have come out, there was a guard on either side of the door, like the one back at the train station. He walked up to them and asked if he could go in and wait. Without looking at him, and barely moving there heads, they both nodded. Mek frowned and then went inside.

It took Mek almost fifteen minutes to work his way through the empty queuing aisles in all five floors before he came to the boarding platform of the lift. He now had a better view of the entire thing. He looked up and saw the lift, though still moving fast, was only about half way to being fully vertical.
He took his eyes off it and looked at the landscape. Much like the train tracks, there was a long squared off and perfectly straight hole which the lift settled in when it came down.
But around this was something that he didn’t expect, absolute devastation. The lift sat in the middle of an enormous forest that spanned the entire kingdom. But along the path of the lift, everything had been cut down, deforested and completely destroyed.
The people, whoever they were, that had done it, had not only cut down the trees, but had burnt the stumps, leaving blackened and charred lumps of nothing recognisable. It looked like a scar, set into the land, as though someone had cut a massive wound into the surface of the land.
Mek turned his attention back to the lift, it didn’t seem to have gotten much further since he last looked. He then sat down and leant against the wall, letting his eyes close, not in tiredness or boredom, but so that he didn’t have to see the scar.

Mek was used to having nothing to do at home, so it wasn’t hard for him to amuse himself whilst waiting for the lift to come back. Almost an hour after it had left, the lift reached the other side, out of view and over the horizon. Over the next half hour it sat there motionless, probably unloading the passengers from the North City and then loading them from the West City, before the same earth-shaking thud could be felt, though not nearly as strong this time, and then it finally began to move.
At around three in the afternoon it reached its peak and people began coming into the building and working there way up to the top floor to wait for the lift. Mek pulled himself up and leant against the wall, waiting for the lift as people began queuing up next to him.
The lift finally came back in at half past three. It had been a full two and a half hours since it left, and Mek had been sitting there for most of it, he wondered if it would have been faster to walk the thirty miles to the West City, probably not.
The door to the carriage was forged from the same metal as the rest of the lift and the building. It also remained shut. He could hear talking and movement on the other side of the door, the passengers from the West City were probably getting off.
After about fifteen minutes of eager waiting, and the occasional shove from the jostling line of people eagerly awaiting to be let on, the door opened and a royal guard stepped out and gestured to let them in. He forced them to file in one at a time, filling the carriage up from the far end towards the day. As such Mek found himself once again sitting in the corner of a public transport for the first time.
The inside of the Carriage was similar to the Car of the train, pristine white with seats on either side, but it was much larger and there were several rows of seats in the middle as well. Probably space for a couple hundred people.
Fifteen more minutes passed as the carriage was loaded with people before the door was finally closed after the guard came back in. Mek felt the thud for the third time and there was a sudden jerking motion as the arm began to lift. This time, Mek’s churning stomach did not calm down, but instead harassed him for the entire journey.

An hour later the ride was over. A ride made even longer by the constant sound and overbearing heat of all the people packed into the carriage. Not to mention the jerking motion with which the lift moved, on several occasions it had been so bad that Mek had thought he might even throw up.
Mek eventually got off of the lift at about five o’clock. It was taking him far longer than he originally thought, and he still had the journey back as well. He was glad to find that leaving the queuing building didn’t take as long as going in, only a few seconds and he was free, and beginning to feel hungry.
He began to wonder if he could just sit down and eat. He’d never been out and about before, he was in the forest when he had lunch, so it seemed easier to just sit and eat, nobody was watching you.
He eventually decided that he’d wait and have something to eat on the train, but where was the station? It was so much harder to find in a big city like the West City. He found it however, after following the directions of several guards who pointed him towards the station.
He went inside and found that it wasn’t too packed. There were a few guards, one by the door and two walking up and down the platforms and a couple dozen people waiting for their trains.
The guard told him that he just missed the train to the harvest, but the next one would be here in about half an hour. So he waited for it, then got on and left for the Harvest.

It was almost completely dark when he got to Harvest Town, which was more like a crop farm with a train station attached. The ride here had been fairly unexciting, he was the only one on the train, people just seemed to stop doing anything when it got dark, and there weren’t many people in Harvest Town either.
He wandered round, looking for where he might get the Ore he required. He stopped when he saw the fields. A massive field, though he wasn’t sure what massive meant anymore after seeing everything he had in just the last several hours. It was completely filled with metal plants. They were like skinny bushes, with branches like wires. At the end of the branches was a faint red glow, the Kinetic Ore, it was all gone until next year.
“Can I help you?” a croaking voice came from behind him, making him jump. He turned around to see a gaunt, pale old man. He seemed almost like a ghoul in the faint glow of the silver moon.
Mek nodded and took off his pack, he opened it and pulled out the scroll. He then opened it and showed the farmer, who’s eyes widened after reading it.
“Of course, young sir,” he hobbled towards his house quickly and beckoned Mek to follow, “The crops seem to have gone down quickly this year, I think there’s thieves about, taking it all,”
Mek followed him uneasily into the house and stood patiently at the doorway. The farmer had disappeared either upstairs or into one of the rooms. Mere moments later he came back from the far room carrying a bundle in his arms, it was wrapped from top to bottom in thick brown cloth.
The farmer pulled at a bit of the cloth to reveal a massive chunk of red, glowing crystal underneath, “I think this should suffice, don’t you?” laughed the farmer, the laugh however only made Mek more afraid of him, “it’s the last of it, nothing else left, take good care of it,” Mek nodded, trying to smile.
The farmer hastily pulled the cloth back over it and handed it quickly to Mek, causing him to fumble and nearly drop it. He nodded his thanks and turned to leave, “Be careful, young man,” the farmer called after him before closing the door.

Mek sat in the Station alone, waiting for the train to come, the Kinetic Ore was too big to fit in his pack, so he held it in his lap whilst waiting. There was no one else around either, the farmer had been the last person he’d seen, and now the lights in his house had gone out. Maybe the trains stopped running after a certain time.
Though it was only seven in the evening, surely they would run for at least another hour or so. A strong breeze burst through the station causing Mek to shiver and close his arms tightly around his chest, leaving the Ore on his lap.
The gust had also blown out the fire in the wall sconces that had been lighting the room. He could still see by the light of the moon, but only just. For the first time today, in this strange new world beyond his village, he was truly scared.
He slowly pulled the cloth down from over the Crystal, letting the red light pour out and light the station. But something seemed wrong, as he looked at the walls, they began to take on the colour of the crystal, becoming more and more red.
He suddenly felt something land on his hand, he shrieked as he saw a drop of blood. He then looked up and saw the walls and ceiling were dripping with blood and dead corpses were beginning to climb out of the walls as if they were water, or blood.
They fell to the ground in spasmodic fits, then pulled themselves up onto their feet and shuffled in short, fast bursts of movement, making their way towards him. He couldn’t even scream this time, he just shut his eye as tight as possible and squeezed the crystal against him, trying to curl up into a ball.
After a few moments of total silence, no shuffling corpses, no blood falling from the ceiling, he opened an eye, and then the other. The station was completely empty, the walls were just walls, there was no blood, or horrible undead monsters, just the faint red glow of the crystal shining on the walls.
He suddenly realised how tired he was, he hadn’t stopped moving all day, it must‘ve been a nightmare. His father would have sent him to bed by now. He suddenly remembered that he still had to get home, it would be early in the morning by the time he got back, if the train ever came that was.
His attention was suddenly caught by something moving near the entrance, something that was looking at him. He turned his head and saw a crow standing in the doorway, staring at him.
He breathed a sigh of relief, but didn’t take his eye off of it. He shuffled to the end of the bench so that he was closer to it and put the Ore down next to his feet. He reached into his pack and took out what was left of the bread.
“Here you go,” He said quietly, breaking off a bit and tossing it to the bird. It strutted forward with the occasional hop and pecked at the bread, swallowing it whole.
Mek broke off a few more bits and tossed them, each time letting it land slightly closer. The crow ate them all, one by one until it was just a few feet away from him. He dropped what was left at his feet and waited. The crow came forward and was eating the last of it when Mek suddenly realised he’s big it was. He gulped, but didn’t pay too much attention, he reached out a hand to pet it.
The crow cawed loudly and lashed out with its beak, cutting into the side of Mek’s hand with its vice-like jaw. He kicked at the crow and jumped backwards, putting his bleeding hand into his mouth, wincing at the pain.
The crow hopped into the air, began beating its wings and then grabbed the Kinetic Ore by the cloth still wrapped tightly around it and flew out of the entrance. Mek stared wide-eyed after it, unable to move.
He stood up and moved to the entrance, trying to spot the crow. After a moment he spotted it, silhouetted against the red glow of the crystal as it carried it over the field and into the forest.
He then felt something, a deep rumbling. He turned around to see the train pull into the station. He looked at it for a moment and was about to go and get on, when he remembered that he needed that crystal. He turned around and ran off towards the forest.

Mek couldn’t see the Crow anymore, couldn’t even see the glow of the Ore, but he knew the crow was heading south, into the Southlands beyond the borders of Cogopolis. He just kept telling himself that it wouldn’t fly that far.
After about ten minutes of running he found himself becoming tired again, and his legs started to hurt from the exertion. He slowed down to a fast walk and kept going roughly south, he would eventually end up in the marshes of the Southlands, he should be able to see the crow from there.
And indeed he did, after another half an hour or so of walking he came into an opening on the edge of what looked like a massive expanse of grass, but after one step he knew he was in the Marshland.
He looked intently at the ground and found a patch of ground which didn’t turn to much when he trod on it. He made sure he was stable and then started to look for the crow. After a few moments of scanning the sky and tree tops he saw a red glow quickly disappearing in the distance beyond the horizon.
He moaned wearily, but kept going. The marshes went nearly as far as Cogopolis stretched. Far beyond the horizon lay the other end of the marshes, the crow must be going there. If not it had nowhere else to go, after that was the wastelands, and that was the end, or at least as far as he knew there was nothing beyond there.

After an hour of aimlessly wondering south through the seemingly endless marshes in the black of night he took the time to rest. He sat down on a hard bit of earth sticking up out of the boggy waters. He then leant backwards and lay on his back.
He suddenly felt as though he were moving, as if the ground he was on had given way and was now floating through the water. He opened his eye and looked around. But when he heard a grumbling from below him he looked down and saw that the ground he was on had eyes, and massive teeth.
His eye widened in shock as the alligator’s jaws began to open and it span its entire body in an attempt to snag him in its mouth. It was however greeted by a hard thump from Mek’s foot as he kicked out with all his might before turning to run.
He grumbled as the pain of kicking that alligator surged through his foot, but kept running over the marsh, floundering every once in a while in a boggy hole. He was also aware of more of the beasts coming to life all around and making there way towards him.
He held his breath and stiffened his arms and knees, running faster than he had ever tried to in his life. He managed to bound over many of the deep puddles and over an alligator or two before he spotted a hillock nearby.
He leant forward and ran towards it, hoping he would be able to see somewhere safe to go from there. He ran towards it and away from the snapping and growling that seemed to follow him the entire way.
He made it to the hillock and raced to the top. He turned round and realised that he wouldn’t have time to find somewhere safe. The closest of the beasts leapt at him, jaws wide open.
He was about to die, but didn’t want to give up. He took a step back and heard the sound of a branching breaking under his foot before he fell. But he didn’t fall down the side of the hillock, or into the jaws of the alligator, but into the hillock, and down below ground level.
There was a loud crash and a freezing wave of water as he landed at the bottom. It was about a foot deep, but his he had landed on his hand, and it hurt a lot. He winced with pain, the looked up and saw moonlight shining in through the hole he had made when he fell. He could also hear the sounds of the alligators moving away. He was safe for now, but had no idea where he was.
He hefted himself up on his good hand and stumbled backwards, landing on the floor. He reached behind him and found a large, mossy, fallen tree trunk which he pulled himself up against and then rested on.
He began to calm down and get his breath back when he felt the trunk moving as he rested on it, as if it were breathing. He threw himself away from it in fear that it was another alligator, but then realised it was far too large.
He landed on his back in the water, which he had already been soaked in when he fell, and lifted himself up with his hands, staring at the massive beast, still clueless as to what it was.
A pair of shimmering silver eyes opened near the top of the tree trunk, not that it was any kind of tree. It then lifted itself up onto four long tightly muscled legs. It turned to face Mek, then took a step forward and came into the light.
He had no idea what it was, but it was beautiful. It had the form of a massive lizard with bark-like scales and covered all over in moss. It also had long horns that grew back across its body from behind its ears and a pair of whiskers that hung down from its chin and trailed in the water.
Mek moved to try and get away, then realised he had no idea how to get out. That was when he was its tail, twice the length of the body and with a long sharp blade on the end, apparently grown out of the bone.
As the beast breathed out, smoke billowed from its flaring nostrils and a jet of hot air fell over Mek, he recognised the smell as sulphur, like a burning match.
“What are you?” the beast questioned in an ancient voice, scarred by time. Mek could not reply, so shocked by the fact that this thing could speak.
“M-me?” stuttered Mek, his voice meeker than usual, “I-I’m a… person?” he wasn’t sure what he just said, but he hoped that this thing wouldn’t eat him.
“A human I see,” The beast came in and out of the light as it moved around the cavernous opening under the hillock, “I haven’t seen one of your type for a long time,”
Mek was more interested now, the creature didn’t seem hostile, just scary, “How long?” he asked, trying to keep his voice from shaking.
“Several thousand years I suppose,” The creature looked up at the opening which Mek had made, “When I lived on the surface,”
Mek began to wonder how anything could live so long, and why it no longer was on the surface, not to mention he still didn’t know what it was.
But before he could ask a question the creature broke in on the silence with another question, “What are you doing here?”
“I’m looking for something,” he said, unsure whether to continue.
“Well of course you are,” the creature moved closer, brining itself closer to Mek, “but what are you looking for?” though it was a question, it seemed almost sarcastic, as if it already knew the answer.
“Something that was stolen from me,” Mek swallowed back his fear and continued, “by a bird,”
The beast looked into Mek’s eye and drew itself closer, less than a foot in distance between them, “a bird,” its eyes narrowed as the last three words escaped its mouth, “or a crow?”
“Yes!” a smile broke over Mek’s face, “It was a crow that took it. I followed it, I need what it took very badly,”
“The crow has gone back to its master,” spoke the beast, staring up at the moon through the hole, “travel south west, past the Wastelands and beyond the southlands, to the Darklands. There you will find what you seek.”
“The Darklands?” muttered Mek, “But they aren’t real, are they?”
“Oh yes, they are very real,” the beast seemed to be recalling something from its past, “When I lived above the ground.”
It seemed to be something that kept coming up, so Mek asked, “Why don’t you live above the ground anymore?”
The beast looked at the ground, as if its spirit had been broken, when it spoke again its voice was sad, “I come from the Darklands. I was one of its most magnificent and idolised creatures, but then I defied my master, and I was banished.”
“I’m… I’m sorry,” Mek wasn’t entirely sure how to feel.
“I even had my wings torn off,” Now that it had been mentioned, Mek noticed two small stumps on the beasts back where the wings used to be, “Oh to fly again, what a wonder that would be,”
Mek’s eyes widened now, “You’re a dragon!” he pointed a finger at the beast.
“I am The Dragon,” the beast declared, its voice now powerful and full of pride, “but I will never be the creature I once was, both feared and loved by the mortals,”
“What did you do?” asked Mek, now more interested than ever.
“It is not important,” The dragon moved back to where it had been when Mek first came, “You are tired, rest here if you will, then you may leave by the light of day.”
Mek watched as the dragon closed its eyes and began to slumber. He then found a dryer patch of ground and lay down before doing the same.

When Mek awoke the next day by the light of the rising sun, he found himself alone in the cavern. The dragon was gone. He got up and looked around, there was no sign of it anywhere, as if it had never been there.
“Dragon?” he called, but there was no reply.
He picked up his pack which he had used as a pillow and opened it. His second loaf of bread had been completely soaked. Only a few pairs were left. He dropped the bread in the water and took out a pear.
He put the pack on his back and looked around for a way out. He found a small path leading up out of the cavern. It was covered in mossy roots, but he could see enough light shining through to find it.
He grabbed the roots and began pulling them off when he noticed that the cut on his hand where he had been bitten was gone. He looked at his hand for a moment, then continued pulling the roots away. He cleared a gap wide enough to get through, then began to shimmy up the narrow path and eventually came out into the marsh.
“South west?” Mek looked around and realised he didn’t even know which way it was back to Cogopolis, let alone which way south west was. He suddenly noticed something on top of the hillock he hadn’t seen before.
He walked over to it, making sure there were no alligators or other vicious beasts nearby. He then made his way up the hillock and to the thing standing there. It was made entirely of stone and wasn’t much shorter than him. It also had a spike coming from the top and numbers around the edge.
“A sun-dial,” he smiled as he came back into contact with something from home, primitive as it may have been, “they point north right?”
He checked which way it was pointing, then worked out which way was south-west, he also found that it was nearly ten in the morning, he had been away from home almost a full day.
He breathed in the morning air, which unfortunately had the smell of a fetid mere. He then head off south west, once more in search of the crow that took the last chunk of Kinetic Ore for this year.

After a few hours of making his way across the marshland step by step, and making sure he didn’t cross the path of any unwanted creatures, he found himself at its end and on the border of a pine forest, beyond which lay the Wastelands.
He left the marshes behind with a slight snicker and wandered into the mass of pine trees set out before him.
After a few minutes of walking he found that it was becoming colder. He began to shiver and to wish that he had something warmer on, or at least another layer. He also noticed that the taller trees were topped with snow. Winter must come sooner out here, he thought as his breath appeared in front of him in clouds of condensation.
After this his movement began to slow, it was becoming too cold for him to continue, and he was getting hungry. He sat himself under one of the larger pine trees, the snow now came half way down them and tiny white flakes fell slowly from the grey skies above.
He took off his pack and pulled out another pear, this wouldn’t be enough to keep him full for long, and he only had one left. How was he going to get back? He Didn’t pack intending to be gone so long.
He pulled his legs up to his chest and rubbed one arm while he used his other to eat the pear, alternating hands every now and then. It was cold, but he knew it wasn’t so bad. He also knew it was going to get worse.
When he was finished he didn’t bother to bury the seeds, he just scatted them in the snow and flicked the stem away somewhere. He was feeling a bit warmer now, but the snow was coming in faster now. He got up, still rubbing his arms and continued walking.
He guessed it was probably about half two, which left him a few more hours of daylight to travel by, after that he would need to find some shelter, or risk freezing over the night.
He continued on his way for an hour and a bit before he heard something he hoped he hadn’t. Padding feet. He turned to see a pair of yellow eyes staring at him from the snow, which now covered the ground entirely.
He could just about make out the shape of it. It was a large dog of some kind with thick white fur sharp teeth in its snarling mouth. He knew a wolf when he saw one, even if it was a colour he‘d never seen them in, and he knew when to run from one.
He turned and run, then made the mistake of looking back, three more had joined the chase, and they were catching him up. He knew they could have caught him there and then, but like all dogs, they preferred to play before eating.
He rounded a large pine and found a large clearing, in the middle of which was a mansion, a somewhat run down mansion, the windows were broken and the front door had been broken in, but it was his best bet.
As he ran up to the mansion, the wolves seemed to slow and then stop. He stopped when he got to the door and looked back at them, their eyes almost seemed sad. They suddenly turned around and hurried away with tails between their legs.
Mek breathed out a long breath, thanking his luck that he had now been able to avoid death two days in a row, and that he had found shelter for the night. Though he still didn’t understand why the wolves had left when they got close to the mansion.

The door was too heavy to move, so Mek had to jump over it to get in, not a difficult task, but he was tired from running, and very cold. Whoever used to live there, it was clear they were gone now.
Just the entry room was a mess, the furniture was covered in mould that had grown on it over the years. The grandfather clock had spent up its Kinetic Ore years ago and no longer ticked.
The candles and sconces were burnt down to nothing more then wickless wax stumps, and everything was covered head to toe in cobwebs, even the bugs had died long ago.
He shivered as a cold, snowy gust blew through the doorway. He rubbed his arms again and began to look for a warmer room. He went through the middle of the three doors between the two staircases and closed the door behind him.
He found himself in a dining room, just as badly run down as the entry room, at least it was warmer he thought. There were paintings on the walls, apparently of the people who used to live here, or there ancestors.
One thing he noticed was that everyone in the family was magnificently beautiful, no matter their age or weight, either that or the painter had been forced to portray them in such a way.
In the middle of the room was the long dining table, typical of the mansions he had heard of, and the opposite wall was covered from left to right and top to bottom in windows, all facing south west. Though the curtains were all drawn at the moment.
He moved quietly across the room and moved one of the curtains back enough to see out of the window. The sills were covered thickly with a blanket of white snow, as was everything in sight. He also noticed that it was already growing dark outside.
He let the curtain fall back into place and began to look around. His curiosity then led him to the door in the far wall.
On the other side he found a fairly well intact kitchen, which meant that there would be a pantry. Maybe some of the food lasted. He couldn’t see any other doors, so he began to look through the cupboards.
All he found however were dust bunnies and saucepans, also something that may or may not have been a dead rat. As he closed the last cupboard, the bottom on it gave way and all the saucepans fell onto the work surface, some the bounced onto the floor.
He winced at the sudden loud noise and hoped none of them would hit his foot. He was relieved to find that none of them did. However the sound wasn’t over, because he could now hear something else.
He could now hear what sounded like muffled screaming coming from the corner of the room, but there was no one there. He cautiously made his way around the work surfaces and ovens before he found a trap door in the corner, and it sounded like someone was down there.
He crouched down and put his hand on the ring handle of the door. He grasped it tightly in his hand and pulled. The door was heavy, and felt like it hadn’t been opened in a long time, the hinges looked rusted as well.
Though it eventually gave way and opened up, revealing a cellar, probably the pantry. There was a wooden staircase leading down into the dusty darkness below. He could still hear the screaming, but it was still somewhat muffled, though not as much as before.
He wasn’t sure whether he wanted to go down into the dark room or not, the light was already dwindling from the kitchen, he wouldn’t be able to see a thing if he went down there.
But the sound of the screaming made him decide that someone needed help, he began to make his way down the stairs, both hands on the rails as the old wooden boards creaked under his feet.
“Hello?” he called, “Where are you?”
He heard the scream again and could tell it wasn’t far, somewhere ahead of him. He moved forward, towards the sounds, “I’m going to try and help,”
He held his hands out in front of him and they fell on what felt like a metal cage, but it was freezing. He couldn’t make anything out now, it was total darkness now.
“I can’t see anything,” he said, “I can’t find the door,” he moved around the cage slowly, looking for a door. The screaming had stopped now, “I’ll have you out in a minute.
His hand then fell on a latch. He lifted it and pulled, he then heard the door swing open, it wasn’t old like the rest of the stuff in the mansion, it wasn’t rusted or worn away with time.
“It’s open,” he said, now being quieter, though he wasn’t sure why. He heard the cage swing on a chain, probably attaching it to the ceiling, and the sound of feet hitting the floor, “Are you okay,”
All he heard was a muffled voice, “Oh! You’re gagged!” He apologised several times over whilst he slowly out his hands out to find the person and undo the gag, as he was doing do he could feel that whoever they were they had long, curly hair.
He finally pulled the gag off and asked once more if the person was okay.
“Oh, aye,” the voice was female, and slightly too squeaky, it also had an accent that Mek didn’t recognise, “Thank ye fer getting’ me out o’ tha’ cage there. T’was awfully frightful fer a time,”
“Your welcome,” Mek was taken aback somewhat by her cheerful tone, “I’m Mek by the way,”
“Lovely ta meet ya, Mek. Ye can call me Isobel,” There was a long silence as Mek tried to think of something to say, “Oh, aye. There’s no light is there,” the person, whoever they were let out a jovial giggle.
There was the sound of snapping fingers and the room was suddenly filled with light as the wall sconces set aflame all at the same time. Mek looked around in wonder, then at the person in front of him.
She was about his height, and probably a years or two younger than him. She had long, curly red hair and pale, freckly skin. She wore a white shirt with a grass green coat and tie. She also had black leggings and very shiny black shoes. But what he noticed most of all was a four leaved clover tucked neatly into her hair on the left hand side.
“How… how did you do that?” Asked Mek, still looking at the sconces blazing away.
“Magic,” she let out another giggle and a quick wink.
“Why didn’t you just use that to escape?” asked Mek, looking at the cage, then at the girl.
“Cold iron, lad,” she said, pointing at the metal bars, “My magic is useless against it, an’ if I be touchin’ it I’d drop down dead,”
“Oh,” Mek now felt slightly uncomfortable.
“Is no matter,” she laughed again, “I’m still here aren’t I?”
“Yeah, I guess,” he perked up a bit now, knowing that she was fine, “But why does it do that?” he asked.
“What? Ye sayin’ ye ne’er been hearin’ o’ leprechauns, lad?” She looked shocked that he knew so little.
“No,” he shrugged, uncomfortable again, “I’ve heard of lepers though,”
The girl broke into a fit of giggles, “Oh, you’re a good ’un lad, ta be sure,” This made Mek smile, though he was still a little uncomfortable. Given the way the past two days had gone, he may never be comfortable again.
“So,” he started, trying to come up with a new conversation, “How did you end up in that cage?”
“Oh,” Isobel blew a raspberry and dismissed the notion with a wave of her hand, “Tha’s no matter now, I’m out an leavin’,” She turned and looked at Mek questioningly, “Unless ye don’t want me ta leave jus’ yet. It appears that you’ve done me a good deed, an’ I would like ta be repayin’ ye somehow,”
“Repay me?” asked Mek, and Isobel nodded with a smile. He thought about it for a moment, “I’m fine, thank you for the offer though,”
“Are ye sure, lad? I’s not often a leprechaun will be offerin’ their services,”
“Well, there isn’t really anything I want, so again thanks for the offer,”
Isobel lifted a second finger behind her back, counting something, “If yer sure. Nothing ye dream of? Maybe something, or someone ye want?”
Mek shook his head, “I don’t need anything more than I have, I just need to stay here for the night and then be moving on,” as he finished his sentence, she raised a third finger behind her back and a grin broker over her face.
“Well done ta ye, lad,” she was giggling again, and jumping slightly in excitement, “Yer a good person, an as such ye refused my offer a’ payment three times,”
“Okay then,” Mek raised an eyebrow, “What does that mean,”
“It means I am bound te serve ya, like it or no’,” she stopped bouncing now, but still had a bit of a giggle to her voice, “Looks like yer stuck wit’ me now, Mek,”
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The pair of them sat at the dining table talking about what it means to be bound to someone. Isobel explained that the leprechaun, for better or worse, must stay with the person they are bound to at all times until one of them dies. This can either be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on the personalities of the leprechaun and the person they are bound to.
Isobel explained that the leprechaun was also grant any and all wishes that the person they are bound to makes, though to what extent they grant this wish is up to them, so long as the words of the wish are fulfilled.
“I don’t think I’ll be making any wishes though,” argued Mek, “I let you out so you could be free, not bound to me,”
“That as may be,” explained Isobel, “but it is a magical bindin’ tha holds us together. Besides, I could use the company, what with bein’ trapped in tha beasts cage fer so long.”
“Beast?” asked Mek, realising he forgot something, “I never actually asked, who put you there in the first place? In that cage?”
Before Isobel could answer, Mek’s question was answered by a loud thud and what sounded like a snarl from upstairs.
“Oh, aye,” Isobel seemed as though she were about to giggle again, but didn’t, “I fergot about him, din I? He locked me in tha cage ye found me in cos he couldn’t use me fer whatever it was he wanted,”
“What did he want you for?” Asked Mek, his heart speeding up a bit.
“I dinnae know, he ne’er said what it was ‘e wanted. Mind you, he din’t really say anything’,” She didn’t seem to notice the loud movements upstairs, either that or she didn’t seem to be bothered by them.
“Maybe we should go,” suggested Mek, “Before he gets downstairs,”
“Aye, good idea, though if we be goin’ outside, we wont be seein’ much o‘ anythin‘ o‘er then tha snow that lands on our noses,”
“Well its better then being stuck in here,” Mek stood up and moved towards the door, as he did so however, the floorboards creaked under his weight. The thumping upstairs stopped at the sound, then it started again, moving away at first, then it began to sound as though it was coming down the stairs.
“Oh,” Mek’s eyes widened and his body froze as the sound got closer, “We need to leave. Now!”
He turned to Isobel, “Lets go,”
“Bu’ the door is where he be comin’ from,” she said as she stood up, “How do ye prepose we be leavin here without incurring’ some kinda injury?”
“The window,” he said, walking up to it and ripping down the central curtain, which came off its hinges easier then he imagined. He threw it onto the table so that it was out of the way and began to pull the handle to open the window.
There was a loud bang at the door as whatever was on the other side tried to get in. It clearly didn’t have enough sense to use the door handle. Mek finally managed to get the window open and began climbing out when he turned back to Isobel, “You go first,”
“Bu’ he has no need fer me,” she complained moving toward the window. There was a smashing sound as the wood of the door splintered and began to cave in.
“He can still kill you though, now come on!” he took her hand pulled her up onto the windowsill, if it weren’t so dark he might have seen her blush as their hands touched, but instead he looked at the short drop then told her to go, which she did immediately and obediently.
“Come on, Mek! Ye don’t have much time ‘fore ‘e gets to ya,” she called to him concernedly from below. Mek turned to look at the beaten door, then turned make to Isobel and jumped just as the door caved in.
He landed in the snow, but managed to roll and avoid hurting himself, “Did you get down okay?” he asked Isobel.
“Aye, an’ you?” She nodded, slightly short of breath.
“Fine,” He said, grabbing her wrist and beginning to run, “Now lets go!”
Isobel had to put a hand on the side of her head to stop her clover from falling out as they ran, but otherwise seemed unfazed by the impending danger of their situation.
As they ran, Mek looked back to see a hulking dark figure lunge out of the open window with incredible grace and speed. It bounded towards them like some kind of dog or beast, though it appeared humanoid in form.
“What is that thing?” asked Mek as they ran, he looked ahead of himself, then back again, but the creature was gone. He stopped running now and began searching intently for any sign of the creature.
“Tha’ is, or should I be sayin’ was, the last o’ tha Milosovici family. But now he is something’ else, an’ I ne’er seen anythin’ like it ‘efore.”
“Oh great,” snorted Mek, “Now we’re being chased by a mystery beast that we can’t even see.”
Isobel seemed somewhat concerned for the first time, not by the fact that the creature had gone missing, but it seemed that Mek’s concern was rubbing off on her as well.
“Run!” yelled Mek as the beast dropped out of the trees nearby, trapping them between itself and the mansion.
“Where?” asked Isobel, running alongside him.
“Away!” he yelled as the beast took chase once more. They got back to the mansion in moments and quickly dashed around the side and continued on into the forest, in the direction Mek had originally come from.
Mek didn’t take his eyes off the creature this time and let Isobel lead the way. The beast was faster then them, but not by much. It would however, slowly catch them, “Isn’t there any way we can stop it?” he asked as Isobel practically dragged him through the snow.
“I dinnae think so, I’m afraid,” said Isobel, looking back momentarily, “I’s catchin’ up to us, in’t it?”
“I’m afraid so,” he said.
After a minute of chasing and the creature slowly catching up, it was almost on top of them when it stopped running and began to rummage through the snow.
“What is it doing?” asked Mek as the creature began to dig through the white sheet covering the ground.
Isobel looked back and then slowly stopped running. She stood perfectly still watched it, “What are you doing?” asked Mek, “This is our chance to get away,”
“I’s a vampire,” said Isobel, apparently stunned, “Who’d a guessed it eh, Lad?” she giggled once more, watching the beast rummage through the snow.
“A vampire?” Mek tried to get his breath back, “But those aren’t re-” he stopped himself, recalling what had happened to him recently. How could he say what was and wasn’t real anymore? “Well what’s it doing?”
“There mus’ be seeds inna ground. Thas a peculiar thing boot vampires, they gotta count seeds on tha ground no matter where they be,” The vampire seemed to look at something in its fingers, then grunted and tossed it away.
“My seeds,” laughed Mek, realising what had happened, “I tossed away the seeds from my lunch. That must be what he’s counting.” The vampire picked up another small thing and made another grunt before tossing it away.
“How many seeds did ye have in that there lunch o’ yours, Mek?” Asked Isobel as the vampire picked up and tossed away a third thing.
“Three I think, why?” asked Mek, worried that he already knew the answer.
“Cos ‘e just’ tossed away number three,” Isobel took a step back, “He’ll be aft’r us agin once he works out they’re all gone,”
“Then we’ve got to get going… now!” said Mek, grabbing Isobel’s wrist again.
“No we don’t,” said Isobel with a smug grin, “I know what ‘e is now. I think I can take ‘im,”
“Are you sure?” asked Mek, slightly concerned.
“I like ma odds,” she made a sharp inhale of breath and then yelled across to the vampire, “Oi! You! Come ov’r ‘ere! I bet ye cannae lock me in tha’ cage twice!”
The vampire looked up at them and let out a vicious below before breaking into a fast gallop towards them. Isobel closed her eyes and took a long breath in, then out again.
“um, Isobel,” warned Mek, “its getting closer, maybe you should open your eyes,” despite his small effort, she did not budge. At least not until the vampire was practically on top of her.
With a single hand motion on her part, the snow underneath the vampire lifted up and compacted around him, trapping him in a thick block of ice. Isobel then threw on some more ice just to be on the safe side.
“There we are,” she laughed, “Tha’ should be holdin’ him till the hours o’ tha morning’,”
“What?” asked Mek, “And then he gets back out?”
“Oh no,” laughed Isobel, “He’ll get caught in tha sun’s rays and die, sad as it is,” She walked up to the frozen vampire and knocked on the ice, “Are ye a’right in there? Tell ye what, I’ll grant ye one wish, jus’ be telling’ me what it be,”
She waited a moment, then laughed again, “Well when yer all thawed out, ya come ‘n’ be find me okay?”
For the first time, Mek was able to get a good look at this vampire. He walked up to the ice-bound creature and looked at it. It’s body seemed humanoid, albeit slightly over muscled and covered in hair.
It’s arms ended in what at first he thought were scythe-like appendages, but soon realised that they are actually wings, folded away when it was not in flight. It also had a short, nubby tail. But its face was the most disturbing thing. It seemed somewhat like a man, but its nose was upturned. Its eyes also, were very large and consisted primarily of a pupil.
It had two large ears that it would most likely associate with a cat or a fox. Perhaps a bat. But the mouth was what he found most hideous about the entire thing, it was a montage of long, sharp uneven teeth, but with two prominent fangs at the front on its upper jaw, much larger than any of the others.
“Maybe,” he stumbled for his next words, “We should get back to the mansion and get some sleep?”
“Sounds good ta me,” laughed Isobel, starting to walk towards the mansion. Mek looked at the vampire for a moment, almost felt sorry for it, before turning and following Isobel back to the mansion.

It wasn’t hard to find the bedrooms, the entire upstairs floor comprised of five of them and two bathrooms. Though he offered what appeared to be the best room to Isobel, she said that she would have to stay in the same room as him because of their bond.
Mek reluctantly agreed and they spent the night in the room with two beds. However, when he awoke, he found that Isobel was gone, he searched the entire mansion, but she was not there.
He felt sad that he was on his own again, but glad he hadn’t been when that vampire showed up. He scoured the pantry and found plenty of salted meats and honeys that were still fresh, most everything else had gone off.
He spent some time wandering the halls of the mansion, wondering what his father must think of him being gone so long. Maybe people were looking for him, what if he had been declared dead? What a come back that would be. Would they care if he had the ore or not? Or would they just be pleased to see him home safely.
He eventually decided that he should at least try and return home with the Kinetic Ore he could. Otherwise his father would have to wait until the summer to go to the Palace and show the world his Clockwork-man.
He found some more suitable winter clothes in one of the bedrooms. A thick wolf fur shirt and warm leather leggings. There was even a fur cloak that he could wear when the snow got too heavy to see.
As he stood at the door in his new clothes he wondered whether he should wait and see if Isobel came back. He decided that it was best to get moving and get as much distance travelled before night fall.
If Isobel returned she would be safe now that the vampire was gone, and besides, she had adequately proved that she could defend herself with ease.
He stepped down from the porch and went round the side of the house before setting off south west, like the dragon had told him. He just hoped he wasn’t too late to get the crystal back.

After about an hour of travelling straight south west he found himself at the end of the pine forest, looking out over a massive chasm that stretched away into the distance. He would have to climb down on the rocky paths and outcrops on the sides of the chasm, something incredibly dangerous as he could easily slip on an icy patch and fall to his death far below.
He was confident in his ability to get down however. After all, how hard could it be? Besides, the paths and outcrops were quite large, he would only fall if he ventured to close to the edge.
He sat on the edge and dangled his feet, he then slid forward and caught himself with his hands and hung on the edge for a moment before making what little was left of the drop and working out his next move.
After another few drops he found himself at one of the paths leading down the side of the chasm. He followed it for a while before finding its end and having to make another drop. After about three hours of this methodical pattern of dropping and walking he found himself at the bottom.
He was finally in the wastelands, nothing but rocks and snow in every direction, apart from behind him of course. He sat down and had a couple of streaks of an unidentified meat before getting back up and moving on.
Compared to the rest of his journey, this should be fairly easy, even if boring. Because it was incredibly boring nothing but white in every direction, he had to keep an eye on the sun just to make sure he was still going south west.
It was nearing nightfall and it felt like he had made no progress, the only thing that gave any idea of distance was the cavern wall that had now disappeared beyond the horizon. He found himself wishing that he could stumble upon some kindly creature’s lair or rescue a person who would then become a friend like he had over the previous nights.
But he was finally realising where he was. The desolate wastelands, where nothing could possibly ever live or grow. He was totally isolated from everything, he almost felt abandoned. Why did Isobel have to go and disappear like she did? It wasn’t fair.
First he loses the Ore, then he gets attacked by alligators, then the Dragon abandons him, after that he is attacked again, and just as he thinks he’s found a friend on this impossible journey he’s attacked a third time and his friend disappears overnight. To top it all off he was now completely alone in the middle of nowhere, hungry, lost and longing for the simplicity of home.
He tried to cheer himself up with the honey he had packed, but the cold had near completely solidified it, all that really happened was him getting into a mess and screaming his lungs out as he hurled the jar over an impressive distance before it shattered against a large rocky outcropping.
He turned away from the rocky crag covered in quickly freezing honey and pulled the cloak out of his pack and threw it around his shoulders before lifting up the hood and laying down under a sharply angled rock.

His sleep was short and unpleasant, full of nightmares of monsters and beasts, in which he was quickly losing everything he had ever had and loved. Thankfully this nightmarish place he was in got ripped away as he was rudely awaken, though he wished it hadn’t been when he saw what had woken him.
Set against the still black sky was an icy grey face with long white hair on top of its head and all over its prominent chin. It also had large bushy eyebrows over its bulging brown eyes.
At first he thought he had been awoken by some kind of white monkey, coloured in much the same way as the wolves that had attacked him a day or so ago.
Though he soon realised it was much bigger then any monkey. He was still mostly asleep and could probably drift off again if he closed his eyes. Which is exactly what he did, the last thing he remembered was the feeling of rope being tied around his ankles and the snow moving under him.

When he awoke he felt refreshed and full of life again, which is why he was surprised to find that it was still dark. He was also surprised to see a fire flickering nearby with figures hunched around it. Though perhaps the strangest development was that he seemed to be hanging upside down by his ankles.
He looked around and noticed that he was in some kind of cave, though it had no top to it, and there was a gap in each corner, though that might have been because he was at an unusual angle.
Against one of the walls he also noticed his back pack, apparently it had been rummaged through as its contents were mostly spilt on the floor, or what was left of them.
He took a moment to look at the figures around the fire, there appeared to be five, though he could not make out what they were as they were silhouetted against the fire, and he was growing slowly dizzier hanging upside down and slowly swaying in the breeze.
He then looked up and saw that he had a rope tied around his ankles that was holding him up. It looked as though it had been lassoed over the top of the wall, which came up at a slope from the ground and ended in a sharp point, the same could be said for all four walls.
He wondered whether the structure was natural or built by these people, whoever they were. Either way it seemed to stop the snow from getting in, mostly anyway, and allowed a full view in every direction.
He wasn’t sure what they were going to do with him, but he knew that it wouldn’t be nice whatever it was. Probably eat me for a light snack, he thought grimly. But he didn‘t want to be eaten, he still had something to do.
He reached up and tried to grab the rope around his ankles. He was almost there, but just as he was about to grab the rope his stomach muscles gave up and fell back down, swinging back and forth violently.
As he swung back round he saw that one of the figures was now standing up, he then span out of view again. When he came back around he saw that it was coming closer to him, he could hear the laughter of the others now, as if they were mocking him.
As he swung round and could no longer see what was happening he felt a large, furry hand grab his side and spin him round so that he was facing forward again. He couldn’t make out its face but he could see the faint glow of light reflected in its eyes, and feel its hot breath on his face.
It eventually let him go and went back to sit by the fire. One of the others had disappeared, he looked around and thought he saw something moving out of the far exit. It probably went that way.
He needed to get out soon. He pulled his head and arms back, then flung his entire weight forward and came up, just enough for him to grab the rope around his ankles. He looked back and found that he had not been seen, either that or they thought he wouldn’t get away.
He bents his knees so that his body was against the rope and began to climb up it. He made the occasional slip, but nothing too serious. He quickly reached the top and managed to haul himself over the top of the wall, scraping his leg against the sharp point. It would have cut into his leg and left him helpless if he hadn’t been wearing the thick leather trousers, which were barely punctured.
He lifted the rope noose off of the top of the jagged point and slid down the side of the rock formation and landed in the snow with a soft crunch as he broke through the surface of the white sheet.
After several moments, he had the knot around his ankles off and was up and running, until he realised he didn’t know which way he was meant to be going. He would have to wait until morning to work out which way was south west again.
But before that he needed to find shelter, and some kind of food before he starved. That was not his only problem however, he heard something behind him, like the sound of a man yelling, followed by fast footsteps in the snow.
He turned around to see one of his captors running straight at him, holding aloft some kind of primitive spear. It was still a distance off, but it hurled the spear anyway, and in a somewhat clumsy manner.
Mek didn’t want to take the chance of it potentially hitting and ducked just in time to hear it fly over his head. He lifted his head up and saw the figure coming toward him again, it would be upon him before he could get up.
The man thing leapt at him, and he managed to roll out of the way and get up before it did. He then fell down onto it and attempted to pin it. It was far too large for him to pin and he was thrown some distance by it.
He knew he wouldn’t be able to get up or roll out of the way this time, it was already upon him. He felt the large hands grab him by the collar of his shirt and lift him up into the air until he was dangling several feet over the ground, and face to face with the creature.
As he looked at it, he almost thought he could see anger in the creatures dark, brown eyes, standing out against the grey of the skin and white fur all around its face. As it opened its mouth and snarled he saw that it didn’t have a gaping maw of sharp fangs like almost everything he had seen, but instead had normal teeth like he would expect on a person.
He suddenly realised it was about to kill him. He only had one chance to save himself. He pulled his head back and then thrust it forward with all the strength in his neck.
The next thing he knew he was on the floor and his forehead was in incredible pain. He looked up to see that the humanoid, whatever it was, was on its knees, grasping its forehead in pain.
Mek began to run, but didn’t get far before he tripped over something laying on the ground. He looked behind him to see it was the creatures spear. He looked at the creature, that was now hollering in anger or pain, and grabbed the spear before running as fast as he could, trying to get away before the others came.

He ran for what felt like hours across the barren, snowy wasteland, and there was still no sign of the sun. He hadn’t seen or heard anything more from the strange ice men that had captured him, but he still carried the spear with him, to keep himself safe.
He eventually became too worn out to run anymore and found a place to rest, out of the snow’s reach under a large rocky outcropping. It seemed that that was all there was, just snow and rocks sticking out of the ground. He found that hard to believe now, knowing that there were things living out here.
They must get there food from somewhere, he was just a chance encounter to them he supposed. But where does the food come from? He knew that he had to find out before he starved.
For now though, he just needed to sleep. He curled up under the rock and slowly fell into a dreamless sleep.

When he awoke he wasn’t surprised, that slightly worried, to find that it was still dark. He sat up and stretched, and was about to get up when he noticed something lying near him in the snow.
He looked at it with a puzzled expression on his face. He felt as though he had seen that green coat and red hair before, then he remembered.
“Isobel!” he cheered in greeting at the curled up leprechaun. There was no reply at first, and then there was a gently moan and a yawn as she woke up.
“Mek?” she asked sleepily, not looking straight at him for a few moments. Then smiling when her vision focused on him, “There y’are,”
“Here I am? Where did you go?” He asked, “You were gone when I woke up,”
“No I weren’t, ye was gone when I woke up,” she argued, still looking as though she would fall asleep any second.
“But then-” he stopped himself, noticing something he hadn’t before, “it only happens at night,” he whispered to himself.
“Wha’ only happens a’ night?” asked Isobel with moderate interest.
“Everything,” he said, still trying to work it out in his head, “The dragon, the vampire, you. I only see you at night.” he then came to another realisation, “The dragon was from the Darklands. Isobel!” He turned to her, “where are you from?”
She blushed at this, looking ashamed at herself, “I am from the Darklands as well, lad. I was cast out fer somethin’ I did a long time ago,”
“Like the dragon,” Mek had finally worked out what was happening, “Which means I can only come into contact with things from the Darkland when its dark.”
“So ye’ll on’y be travellin’ by day from now on?” asked Isobel with a ring of sadness to her voice, “An’ I suppose this means I can only see ye at night as well,”
Mek realised now what this meant, “I won’t be seeing very much of you then,” he wasn’t sure what else to say.
“Is okay, lad. I’ll be headin’ south west as well. I shall be seein’ ya every night or so,” though she was obviously sad, she seemed not to mind so much, “I guess ye’ll be gettin’ yer sleep now?”
“No,” he said, smiling now, “I just got up, which leaves the rest of the night, which seems to be lasting a long time,”
“Aye,” nodded Isobel, “We be closin’ in on the Darklands now, night be growin’ longer by the day. Not tha’ there’s much day to be seen,”
And so Mek and Isobel passed the next few hours talking, about why Mek was out here and what he was looking for mostly, about his home and his father and all his inventions, about what he had seen since he left his home at what he guessed was about five days past.
When his story was finished he leant back against the rock and looked out over the wastelands, for the first time he saw that they were surprisingly beautiful in their white, snow covered state. Made even more beautiful by the gently purple glow of the sun, just beyond the horizon.
“The sun!” he was shocked to see it, it had been so long, “It’s rising,” He turned to Isobel, who didn’t seem so bothered at first.
“What do ye think will happen?” She asked, looking to the purple trimmed horizon, “I’ve seen day ‘fore, maybe I’s jus’ tha’ we cannae see each other, rather than me actually disappearin’,”
“Maybe they’re the same,” he said, “As the sun rises, you’ll disappear from my eyes, and I’ll disappear from yours,”
“Aye. It does make the most sense,” she bit her lip, thinking of something, “Well I cannae leave ya alone again, who knows what trouble ye’ll be gettin’ yerself in,” She reached out and put a hand on the spear that was propped up next to Mek.
“What are you doing?” he asked, looking from the horizon and back to Isobel. She took her hand off of the spear, which glowed for a moment, then faded to how it had been before.
“Is a lucky charm is all,” she giggled, “Will keep ya safe, or at least safer then ye would be without it,”
”Thank you,” He looked back at the horizon and saw the sun peaking over the tips of distant mountain ranges, which he hadn’t seen in the dark night. He knew which way was east now.
“I dinnae want ta see it,” said Isobel, looking at her hands. She flung her arms around Mek and closed her eyes as tight as she could. Mek hesitated a moment, then put his arms around her and closed his eyes to.
He waited for a moment, then realised he was only holding onto himself. He opened his eyes and found he was alone again, “I’ll see you tonight,” he whispered. He almost thought he heard Isobel’s voice replying, but then it was gone.

He wandered slowly south west for most of the day, never letting go of the spear. He wanted to remember that he would see Isobel tonight, it was one of the last things he had left that could keep him going, he also hoped that some of that luck she’d promised would come to pass.
Just as Isobel promised, luck did come to pass for him, but not in the way he had imagined. By chance he had come back across the cave like formation of the ice men, but they were not there.
He cautiously approached and looked inside. The fire had dwindled to a gently ember in the bottom of the burnt up wood. There were two large fish hanging over it, they had been cooked at some point but otherwise remained untouched.
The ice men were nowhere in sight, but all there weapons were still here. Mek realised that they must have been from the Darklands as well, it was the only explanation that he could think of.
He sat down and took both of the fish and retrieved his pack from where it lay, in exactly the same place as last night. He stuffed one if the fish into the now empty pack and began to eat the other. It was fairly big, and he knew he would have to make it last just in case. He ate a little under half of it and stuffed the rest into the pack along side the other one.
After a short rest in the ice men’s home he moved on, just in case night fell sooner then expected. Night however didn’t come for several more hours, over which time he had put a lot of distance between himself and their camp.
He also found something else he didn’t expect. The snow was becoming thinner, it had stopped falling from the sky and was only in scattered, isolated areas under some of the larger rock formations.
Within a few minutes all the snow and cold had been left behind and it was slowly starting to grow warmer again. Mek removed the cloak and stuffed it into his bag, he also took off the wolf fur shirt, he still had his old one on underneath, and tied it around his waist as it didn’t fit in the bag with all the other stuff.
The mountains in the distance were looming ever closer, and the snowy fields of the wastelands were far behind him now. The rock formations were also becoming less frequent, he would either have to find a large one to hide under soon or get to the mountains before sunset, which was growing ever nearer as the sun fell from the top of the sky, slowly but surely. He didn’t want to think about what would happen if he was stuck in the open in the night, no matter how much luck he had on his side it probably wouldn’t be that relaxed.
As the sun reached the peak of the top most mountain, he found a cosy cave created by two rock formations pushing up against each other. It wasn’t that big, but large enough for him to lye down in.
He ate the rest of the fish he had begun earlier and waited for the sun to set, looking forward to his reunion with Isobel. It was soon dark, but there was no sign of her at first. He just assumed that she probably wasn’t here yet. After about an hour of darkness and still no Isobel he realised that she probably wasn’t coming.
He decided that she must be spending the night under another rock or something. Though he wasn’t entirely sure about what time it was, he was pretty sure that he had been away from home for a whole week by now. He eventually grew bored of sitting alone in the dark and fell asleep.

For the second night in a row, Mek found himself being awoken in the early hours of the morning, some time before the sun would rise. Though this time he was more alert, remembering what happened last time.
He could hear heavy footsteps on the other side of the rock wall of his make shift shelter. He instinctively grabbed the spear for luck, or if it came to it what a spear is truly intended for.
He slowly got up onto his feet and walked to the edge of the wall, ducking to avoid banging his head on the low ceiling. When he got to the end he peered around the edge.
He saw the glow of fire before he saw the monster, but his attention was dawn to it even more by the fact that the fire was coming from the monster itself. It was a massive skeletal figure, at least twelve feet high and more than double his size.
A top its skull head was an old iron torch blazing with a brilliant red fire. He also noted that the monster was wearing a chain shirt and leggings, but no actual armour plates.
It had no eyes in its sockets, but Mek could see a snake weaving in and out of the mouth of the monstrosity. He closed his eyes tightly and went back into the cave, not wanting to see anymore. He decided not to even look outside again until morning came.
It took him a long time to get back to sleep, he couldn’t even relax until the monsters foot steps had disappeared into the distance.

When he woke up it was still dark. He knew Isobel said that the days got darker, but this was getting too much for him to handle, at this rate he would never be able to get the Ore back from that crow.
And what if the dragon was wrong? What if the crow hadn’t come out here? He would have come all this way and have nothing to go back with, if he could even make it back that was. He hadn’t even seen any sign of this crow.
He wasn’t tired either, and knew he wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep. He sat up thinking for the next few hours, trying to decide what he should do. He had seen the crow heading south west, but that was days ago. Where ever it was going, it had probably been there by now and gone again.
He finally decided that he would keep heading the way he was going, it was better then just giving up. At least he would have gotten somewhere, not that what he had done already wasn’t impressive.
It was almost six whole hours before the sun finally rose. He ate his fill of the last fish, leaving some for later, though he knew it wouldn’t last him to where ever he was going, let alone home again.

It wasn’t far to the mountains, less than an hours walking time. But he could see no way up, no paths or footholds that he could use to get up. The dragon did say south west, but how could he go south west if he couldn’t get past the obstacles.
He looked up at the mountains one last time, then decided he would have to find a way around. He squeezed the spear in his hand and followed his instincts, and his luck, which was apparently running out.
After an hour or two of walking, he was growing less able to tell the time, let alone how much had passed, though he guessed it was around mid afternoon, he came across a steep path leading up into the mountains.
He smiled and gave a sigh of relief and began to climb the path, which was headed south west. After a while of climbing the path that constantly veered from left to right he found himself at the top, over looking what could only be the Darklands.
The sky was filled with one massive black storm cloud, swirling above the land like a vortex, threatening to suck it up at the moment. It cracked in anger as huge bolts of white lightning torn its surface and streaked across the sky. If anything could be said for this cloud, it was that it was blocking out all light, creating perpetual and potentially endless night.
The ground before him was cracked and scarred, once a beautiful forest must have stood here, now only charred stumps remained. It reminded him of the devastating scar like wound caused by the creation of the Great Lift back in Cogopolis, perhaps the two worlds weren’t so different.
The land was broken up by smaller mountains, most of which billowed clouds of black smoke, feeding the wrathful skies hunger.
The path now lead back down the mountain, into the eternal night of the Darklands. He followed it down, perhaps it was because he could see the drop, or perhaps because it was so dark, that he felt as though he would fall at any second, but he didn’t. He eventually made it to the bottom.
“Ye took yer time,” laughed a voice from the side of the path. He turned around to see Isobel sitting cross legged on a rock, “What took ye so long?”
“I wasn’t in any hurry,” laughed Mek, “I did have luck on my side after all,”
“Aww,” she put a hand to her mouth to hide her massive smile, “Tha’s sweet o’ ya,” She jumped down from the rock and put her arms around Mek, “I’m glad ye made it in one piece,”
Mek smiled and put his free arm around her, “I’m glad you made it too. I missed you last night,”
“Aye, I missed ye too, Mek. I guess ye were under a diff’rent rock ta me,” Isobel said jokingly. She then frowned and looked out across the land, “’Ere’s somewhere I ‘aven’t been in a good many decades,”
“Decades?” Mek was astounded, “How old are you?”
“Ah, ye know I’s not nice ta be askin’ a lady her age,” she giggled, “Bu’ cos yer me master now, I’ll tell ya. I’m one hundred and thirty two,”
Mek gaped, unable to bring words out of his mouth.
“I can see yer surprised ta hear it. I’s okay, ye can think o’ me as bein’ around yer age if ya want. I age slower, bein’ a leprechaun an all. So to ye I’d be more like thirteen.”
“No wonder, I mean-” he wasn’t sure what to say next, “You look, erm… good for your age. Wait! No, that sounds stupid,” Mek looked away and blushed, causing Isobel to break into a fit of giggles.
“I’s okay lad, I’ve had people sayin’ stranger stuff ta me ‘fore,” She walked out into the open and looked around, “I s’pose if yer headin south west, ye’ll be endin’ up at tha palace,” she turned back to him to see he was no longer blushing, “It sh’u’n’t be too far ta walk,”
So they set off south west towards the palace in the middle of the Darklands, they had to turn back several times to try and find ways around the lava filled ravines that cut across the land. After several hours they sat down to rest, they were out in the open, but there weren’t many other places to hide.
“What if we get found by one of the monsters? Those things that wander the lands?” asked Mek, offering Isobel what was left of the fish.
“Then we run, most of ‘em aren’t all tha’ fast,” she shook her head at the fish, “I don’t need ta eat all tha’ often. You finish tha’ one, ya may yet need ya wits about ya. Besides, there aren’t many o’ them, they mos’ly jus’ be fightin’ each other,”
“Why’s that?” asked Mek, swallowing the chunk of fish in his mouth.
“By order o’ tha Crow King,” Mek choked on the fish when she said the name, “Ye okay?”
Mek nodded and swallowed the fish properly, “I didn’t know that the Crow King was real,” he said, not bothering with the fish anymore, “I thought he was just a story made up by someone years ago,”
“Oh, nae,” Isobel shook her head solemnly, “By his command all o’ those livin’ in the Darklands must be fightin’ fer their King. So tha’ he can slowly spread his kingdom across all tha’ world. Bu’ many o’ the creatures living here were too basic ta understand, an’ so they fight an endless war amongst themselves, killin’ anythin’ they see tha’s still can breath,”
“That’s terrible. How could you live here when it was like that?”
“I couldn’t,” admitted Isobel, “I approached tha king an’ told him of tha mistake he’d made in bringin’ this war ta the land. Bu’ he said it was fer tha best. I refused to take part in somethin’ so demeanin’ an’ I was banished. Told tha’ if I stayed here then all that soldiers o’ the king’s army would be huntin’ fer me.”
“Then you should leave, before they come for you,” Mek jumped up onto his feet and offered Isobel his hand.
“Tha’ will be unnecessary, lad. Course I lef’ when I was told, so they were never huntin’ me. Which means I can be here wit’ relatively little danger to myself,” She looked quite pleased with herself at having found a way to return without being hunted.
“Were there others?” asked Mek, “Who stood against the Crow King like you did?”
“Oh, aye.” Isobel nodded and had an expression as if to say that this should have been obvious, “There were many who did so, mos’ refused ta leave an were hunted ta there deaths, but a few o’ us got away mostly unscathed.”
“What do you mean mostly unscathed?”
“Sadly, ‘fore I left the Crow King was want to take me luck away. Thas why the vampire had such easy time catchin’ me. Bu’ I still have my magic as ye can see,” Isobel looked up at the sunless sky and then at Mek, “We should prob’ly be movin’ on now, Mek,”
Mek nodded in agreement and they were both on there way, continuing their journey to the Crow King’s palace.

After another hour or so they arrived at what appeared to be some kind of ancient, crumbling temple. It had no walls or doors, but appeared to be a roof supported by several columns down either side set on top of a pyramid of steps.
“This is it?” whispered Mek, to which Isobel replied with a nod, “So what do we do now?” he asked.
“Can ye see yer crystal?” whispered Isobel. Mek shook his head solemnly, “Maybe ye should go an’ ask the King,” suggested Isobel.
“Are you crazy?” Mek’s whisper was more like a muffled shout, “He’s some kind of evil King of monsters! Why would I go and talk to him?”
“Because ye want ta find yer crystal,” Isobel remained firm that it was a good idea, “An’ besides, ye got luck on yer side,” she gave the spear and soft nudge, “Just go, otherwise ye’ll have come all this way fer nothin‘,”
Mek swallowed back his fear and nodded, “You stay here and hide, I’ll go on my own,” Mek began to move toward the temple.
“Wait!” whispered Isobel sharply. She grabbed him and hugged him again, then kissed him on the cheek, “Good luck, lad,”
Mek was dumb founded for a moment, then nodded, “Thanks,” he turned around and continued toward the palace. When he got there he began to work his way up the steps, one at a time. Until he finally reached the top.
Standing at the other end of the temple, hunched over and wearing some kind of feathered cloak was a figure. Mek assumed that it must have been the Crow King and took a step inside.
“Excuse me,” he called to the figure, “Are you the Crow king?” There was a long pause, and no reply. Mek took another step forward.
“Can you hear me?” There was still no reply. He slowly made his way down to the figure and gingerly put his hand out and onto the figures shoulder. It was even more hunched then he had first thought.
The figure turned to face him, but what he saw was not a king. At least not any king he had ever seen. It was nothing more than a Crow, the size of a man.
“I am the Crow King,” The voice did not come from the Crow’s beak, but Mek could feel it in his mind, “Why are you here? You should leave,”
“I am-” Mek swallowed back his fear, “I am looking for something that was stolen from me,” He paused, then continued, “By a crow,”
“I see,” whispered the voice, “So you come to the Crow King, as if I am to blame. Well I am not! No crow comes from me!” the voice in Mek’s head now filled his entire mind, as if it were shouting, “You dare to come to my kingdom! A land where you have never been! And accuse someone you have never met of stealing?”
The voice stopped, and the Crow King turned his back on Mek, “You are no longer welcome here,” whispered the voice once more, “Leave now, or you will be hunted down like the vermin you are, human,”
Mek was beaten, there was nowhere he could prove if the Crow King had the Kinetic Ore or not, he didn’t even know if he did. He was only following the advice of the dragon. Then it came to him.
“But, the Dragon told me it would be here,” he said, “He had no reason to lie to me, I believe him,”
The Crow King span around and spread his wings to full length before wrapping them around Mek, stopping him from escaping, “That Dragon of yours betrayed me! Even when banished he is still the proverbial thorn in my side. I would so love to kill him, make him pay for his foolish choice.”
“Well you can’t,” argued Mek, trying to find a way out of the Crow King’s encompassing wings, “He’s a long way from here,”
“Yes, he is,” laughter filled Mek’s head, horrible laughter that made him afraid of what was going to happen next, “But there is another traitor nearby, isn’t there?”
Mek’s eyes widened in horror, but he still tried to lie about it, “I don’t know what you mean. I came here alone!”
“No you didn’t,” mocked the Crow King’s voice, “you brought Isobel, didn’t you,” The Crow King’s wings let go of Mek and he took flight, circling the temple then moving in on Isobel’s hiding place.
“Isobel!” yelled Mek at the top of his voice, “Run!” he began running as fast as he could to where Isobel was hiding. The Crow King was almost upon her. As he reached the top of the stairs he jumped and landed at the bottom, then kept running.
The next thing he knew was that where Isobel had been hiding was a flurry of feathers as the Crow King swooped in, “Leave her alone!” he yelled, hefting the spear and hurling it at the Crow King.
It pierced through his wing and he let out a violent shriek like nothing on this world that Mek had ever heard. It turned round and store at Mek, its eyes pure Malice. It attempted to take flight but could not with its damaged wing, instead it began running to Mek on its scaly stalk legs.
Mek closed his eyes as tight as he could and held up his hands, no longer able to protect himself with anything. He felt himself get tossed to the ground, he shoved his arms behind him to catch his fall.
It was too late for anything now, he looked up and saw the Crow King bearing down on him. He opened his beak and bit down, deep into Mek’s shoulder, causing him to let out a scream of pure pain and terror.
The Crow King let go of Mek’s shoulder and let out a shriek of pain as the spear pushed its way out of his chest, ablaze with green fire. He stopped shrieking after a moment and fell to the ground, the spear still in his back.
Mek looked up to see Isobel standing over him with a smirk on her face. She had cuts on her face and arms, but otherwise she seemed fine. She put out her hand and helped Mek up, supporting him on the side of his injured shoulder.
“I guess that’s it then,” grunted Mek, trying to ignore the pain. He looked down at the Crow King’s body, already rotting, skeleton showing through the decayed flesh.
“Not yet,” answered Isobel, “Ye still need ta find ya crystal.” Mek draw in a long breath, then nodded in agreement. Isobel helped him get up the stairs of the pyramid and into the temple.
“There’s nothing here,” said Mek hopelessly before slumping down against a nearby pillar, “Oh no!” tears began to form in his eyes, “It’s all over. There’s nothing left. I’ll never be able to get home now, and I didn’t even find the crystal! I’m useless!”
“Yer not useless, Mek,” Isobel crouched down next to him and put a reassuring hand on his arm, “Ye’ve made it this far, tha’s more then most can I bet. An ye saved me,” she smiled at him, but he didn’t perk up, “Twice,” she corrected herself.
“I could’ve saved all the people in the world,” whispered Mek, “I still didn’t get what I came for,” Isobel’s face dropped, she didn’t know what else to do. She stood up, and then noticed something at the far end of the temple.
“It may not be over yet,” she said, “I think there’s still a chance ye can get what ye came fer,” She moved over to the end of the temple and looked at the floor, “There’s a trap door ov’r ‘ere, maybe there’s somethin’ under the palace,”
Mek grasped the pillar with his good arm and pulled himself up whilst Isobel pulled at the trap door, trying to open it. He made his way over just as Isobel let go.
“I cannae do it. I’s these useless arms, my people aren’t know fer strength, a’ least not o’ the body,” she frowned, then realised what Mek was going to do, “Oh no ye don’t!” she commanded, “You’ve got a hurt arm, there’s no way I’m lettin’ ya try an open that thing,”
But it was no use, Mek already had his hand on the handle and was pulling with his good arm. The trap door lifted slightly, but he was barely able to hold it there, it was so heavy.
Isobel then put her hands on his and helped to pull. The door slowly lifted up and opened. It was pitch black inside, they couldn’t even see any way down, no ladder or stairs or anything.
“Now what?” asked Isobel.
“You stay here,” commanded Mek, “And I jump,”
“What!?” Isobel was beside herself with horror, “Ye cannae be doin’ tha’! Who knows how far it is ta the bottom,” but one look at the determination on Mek’s face was all it took to make Isobel let him go.
“I’ll call you if I hit the bottom,” he said, “I promise, I’ll be fine. Just make sure that door doesn’t close,” and then he was gone.

Mek found himself standing in front of what appeared to be a lowered drawbridge. He looked up to see he was standing in front of a massive palace, much more like he would have expected from a king of such mythical status.
Then he noticed the sky, it was moving. In moments he saw stars reel overhead, clouds fly by like birds, the moon and the sun seemed to dance, skipping across the sky one after the other. It was as if the sky had been speeded up, days passing in mere seconds.
Then he realised the they were going from west to east. Days weren’t passing, they were being taken back. Time was going backwards, at least for the sky.
He looked behind him and saw the trap door, sitting there and open. Just like he had left it, before he jumped through. He didn’t know whether to go back or not. He turned his attention back to the palace and saw a bird flit into a window of the central tower and knew that he couldn’t go back yet.
He walked across the drawbridge and into the courtyard that surrounded the palace. There was a large door at the front of the palace. He walked up to it and pushed with his good arm.
It slowly opened without a sound and he found himself standing in a throne room. It was a long empty hall, apparently built entirely of ebony and stained glass windows, the sills of which were lined with crows, all staring at him.
At the other end of the hall was the throne, but behind it was something he wasn’t expecting. A small metal tree, shaped like a very large Kinetic Ore bush. At the ends of its branches were massive chunks of Kinetic Ore, though he could tell they were not growing, because they had been tied into place with rope or wire.
“Hello,” called a voice from the throne, Mek had been so fascinated by the plant that he hadn’t noticed the man in the throne. He sat there, waving at Mek with one hand, and sipping something from a goblet with the other. He was very pale, and garbed almost entirely in black.
“Hello,” replied Mek, “I’m sorry to intrude,”
“Quite alright,” cried the man happily, “It’s not often I get company,” he looked at his goblet and shrugged, “Actually, I’ve never had company. Not so far as I can remember anyway,”
Mek noticed that their was a crow sat on his shoulder, its beak opening and closing near the man’s ear, as if it were whispering to him, “If I may ask,” started Mek, “Who are you?”
The man shrugged, “I’m the Crow King,” he took another sip from his goblet, “Would you care to join me for a drink?”
Mek had so many questions, but couldn’t think of any words that could help him, instead he just opened his mouth and said, “Yes, thank you,”
“Then make yourself comfortable,” This new Crow King gestured to a seat near him that Mek hadn’t noticed before, or it simply may not have been there. Either way Mek thanked the man, the Crow King, and sat down in the seat.
The Crow King produced a second goblet from somewhere and filled it with something that was contained in a large tankard. Not one to complain Mek sipped it before asking but after thanking, and found it was merely water.
“So,” began the man, seeming somewhat business like, “What brings you to my far from humble abode? And apparently through treacherous area?” he asked, pointing at Mek’s wounded shoulder.
“Well, sir,” said Mek, trying to work out where to begin, “I am looking for something that was stolen from me, about a week ago. I’ve been looking for it since,” the man seemed only to listen, and did not reply, “my wound,” continued Mek, “Was caused in a fight with,” he tried to decide what to say, “a large bird,”
“A large bird?” asked the man, “A crow perhaps, about five feet in height, and somewhat bossy,” Mek nodded, sipping from his goblet, “Yes, that is Bartholomew, he was bound to get himself in trouble one day,”
“Oh,” Mek wasn’t sure how to tell the man what happened, or even if he should. But if that bird was not the Crow King, and this man was, what did that mean. He didn’t have very many other options open, do or die he decided, “actually, he’s dead,”
“Oh dear,” The true Crow King seemed shocked, but not overly upset, “He was a beautiful thing to look upon, but so very ugly inside. I guess these things happen when you’re not a nice person.”
Mek thanked his luck and took another sip from the goblet, “But may I ask now,” continued the Crow King, “What was stolen from you? And what made you come here?”
Mek knew that to make sense he would have to explain the entire story. So he began at the beginning with the arrival of the scroll for his father, told of his journey across Cogopolis and that he retrieved the Kinetic Ore only to have it stolen by a large crow. He then went on to describe the rest of his journey in a fair level of detail, up to the point where he opened the door to the throne room that he now sat in telling his story.
“I see,” began the Crow King after patiently listening to Mek’s entire story, “so you need one of these,” he indicated the Crystals tied to the metal tree behind him, “so that you and your father can have a better life?”
“Exactly,” said Mek, trying to be as well mannered and kind as possible, “so if I could please have one,”
“I’m afraid that’s out of the question,” replied the Crow King, setting his goblet down and standing up, “I need them, I need to know,”
“Know what?” asked Mek, putting his goblet down next to the Crow King’s and standing up.
“Why you do it,” he replied, moving around the tree and letting his hand gently glide over the glowing red crystals, “Why you need them to make things work. Why you need to develop. What is the purpose of growth?”
“Oh,” Mek was surprised that this was what the Crow King wanted, that this was apparently all he wanted, “Because it’s the way of things. We do it so that we can support ourselves, help our families and make life better for ourselves,”
“But, if you had never had these, Kinetic Ore as you call them, then you would not miss it and would not mind the lack of the technology. You would be perfectly content without it,” The Crow King turned and looked at Mek, “Why do you feel the need to do this?”
“Well,” said Mek, trying to work out how best to phrase it, “We are curious. We want to know what can be achieved. We want to know things because they interest us. Just like you are curious about what we do. It’s a natural part of life,”
“And what have you found?” asked the Crow King, eagerly awaiting an answer, “A different way of life,”
“Is it better,” he asked whilst moving back to his throne and leaning on it, “Was it worth the effort?”
“I don’t know,” Mek shook his head, “I wasn’t around before we learnt how to harness these things.”
“Just when I thought I would find an answer,” the Crow King slumped into his throne, “I guess my search will continue. And I will be keeping the Ore, it may yet help me,”
“If I may sir,” began Mek, sitting back down in the chair, “I don’t know what my ancestors found when they first used the Ore, but I do know that I have found something over the last week of my life,”
The Crow king perked up and looked over to Mek, “What would that be?” he asked.
“A reason,” answered Mek, finally realising it for himself, “Why I am here, in this world. My father is crippled, and I believe that my reason is to be there for him, help him and support him as he did when I was young, when I was first born, even when I lost my eye,”
“Lost your eye?” whispered the Crow King more to himself, “What did you say your name was?”
“I never said sir, and it was very rude of me,” he apologised with sincerity in his voice, “My name is Mek,”
“Mek?” the Crow King suddenly seemed to realise something, “I know you. Or know of you,” he explained, “I have many spies in the land, I’m sure you can guess what they are, and they tell me things. That is how I found out about your people’s fascination with technology.”
“But what do you know about me?” asked Mek.
“How you lost your eye,” replied the Crow King.
“I know how I lost my eye,” laughed Mek, “It was in a workshop accident, the same one that cost my father his legs.”
“No,” the Crow King shook his head solemnly, “I am afraid that you were so traumatised by the experience that you do not remember what happened. Yes you’re father lost the use of his legs, but you did not lose your eye,”
Mek could not believe what he was hearing, “But that’s not true, he told me what happened,”
“I was kind of enough to listen when you told your story, it would make me happy if you would now listen to my story,”
“But it’s not your story!” argued Mek in a rage, “It’s my story!”
The Crow King sat in silence for a moment, watching his goblet. then he spoke again, “Very well Mek. You have shown me that curiosity is so that we can find a reason to life, and I now wish to find mine. As such I will repay you.”
Mek looked at the man, completely clueless for a moment, “Thank you,” he said finally.
“I will give you the Kinetic Ore you require, and take you back to your home. It is not fair of me to make you walk all the way,” He then stood up and took a chunk of the Kinetic Ore off the tree and gave it to Mek before putting his hand on his shoulder, “I will also heal you,”
Mek cringed at the touch on his wound, but then found that the pain was gone, his wound had healed, “Come, let me take you home,”

The next thing Mek knew was that he was standing next to a tree, looking between two cottage, one of which was his own, right at the back of the village. He looked up at the Crow King, but had no idea what to say.
“I will wait here and make sure you get in safely,” whispered the Crow King to Mek. He nodded in thanks and, Kinetic Ore in hand, moved to the front door of his house. He didn’t seem to notice that it was night time.
He stopped at the door and was about to open it, then stopped. He walked back to the Crow King, “What really happened?” he asked, “How did I lose my eye?”
“You’re father is a frustrated man. His inventions have never worked for him, and when he lost his wife, he wasn’t sure how he could go on. But he did, he continued to invent, and looked after you at the same time.
“But every day that passed, every time an invention failed, he just grew angrier and angrier, until a violent rage built up deep inside him somewhere. When his invention fell apart and crushed his legs nine years ago his anger surfaced.
“He believed that you were the cause of his wife’s death, rather than the miracle that all births are, and took his revenge, cutting out your eye.”
Mek stood for a moment, swaying gently in the night time breeze, churning things over in his mind, “Then, perhaps I shouldn’t return,” he said finally.
“You can come and live with me,” offered the Crow King, “I have plenty of room in the palace,”
“Yes,” he said quietly, “Thank you,” he supposed he had to leave, knowing the truth. But this could have been his father’s big break, this Clockwork man of his, “I need to do something first,”
“Of course,” said the Crow King, “Do as you will,”
Mek walked slowly to the front door of the cottage and lay the Crystal on the door step, he then knocked three times and walked back over to the Crow King.
“Let’s go,”

The next moment they were back in the throne room, exactly as they had left it. But Mek still had so much to think about, if helping his father wasn’t his purpose then what was?
“Sir,” he said, looking up at the Crow King, “may someone else come and stay here too?”
“I don’t see why not,” he replied, “Like I said, there’s plenty of space. Why?”
“I think I may have found my true purpose,” said Mek as he moved to the door, his face a broad grin, “I think I may be in love,”
“Then go young one,” called the Crow King, “Find your love, you are both welcome here,”
“Thank you,” Mek turned to go and get Isobel, the girl he loved, when the Crow King stopped him one last time.
“Why are you still wearing the eye patch?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” asked Mek, already half way through the door.
“I healed you,”
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Merceus
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im not too sure who moved this... but, erm... its not Warhammer related :P
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This is good ... you have an interesting style of writing. :)
 
Merceus
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cheers MM, im just wondering how far you got before giving up :P lol
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I read it all, though the last paragraph or so was more scanned than read ... :P
 
Merceus
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you read... it all? why do i find that somewhat difficult to believe? :P
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Marcus !
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quite cool, i read the lot, in between chucking up all last night ^^
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Merceus
Feb 3 2008, 09:46 PM
you read... it all? why do i find that somewhat difficult to believe? :P

Why not? I was bored, and had nothing better to do. Bersides, I only scanned a reasonable amount of it ... :P
 
Merceus
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ha! thought so!

what did you read though?

Marcus !
Feb 4 2008, 08:58 AM
quite cool, i read the lot, in between chucking up all last night ^^

Cheers :lol: i think... hmm... chucking up :P
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Merceus
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Edit: ignore - didnt know you couldnt delete posts
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Until around the end of post 1 ... ;)

But I still scanned the rest! :lol:

Now read/scan my story ... ;)
 
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Read the last bit again!

Very soppy, yet a nice ending ... ;)
 
Merceus
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lol, soppy indeed... not too soppy i should hope :P
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Not too soppy ... :)

But still soppy. :P
 
Merceus
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what exactly is soppy? his dad? his eye? or the leper? or some other thing?
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The eye, and living in the crow's palace with the girl he loved ... not especially soppy, yet i suppose I prefer storied to havbe grim and bitter ends, so anything will seem soppy ... :lol:

Fopr example, my favourite books include:

The Amber Spyglass (ending with Lyra's parents dying, and she being seperated from Will :( -- though it's not too sad, overall, because of the last chapter)

Lord ofd the Rings (The scouring of the Shire)
 
Merceus
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pfft... the scouring of the shire werent so bad...
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Merceus
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hmm... was checking over some bits last night and noticed the vampire bears a resemblane or so to Varghulf... hmm <_< GW nicking my ideas...
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Merceus
Feb 5 2008, 07:46 PM
pfft... the scouring of the shire werent so bad...

Not really (I've just finished re-reading LotR), but it was still an ending tinged with sadness, the kind I like: the hobbits returning after great victory to find their home in a terrible state.
 
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