The Sea of Valour -The Ocracidia Series 1 (7 page)

The amulet had again come to
Cezar’s rescue.

Nevertheless, Adonijah
struggled like a wild horse that did not want to be broken; pulling
and pushing, trying to throw Cezar off its back.

Cezar did not lose the reins,
instead the ropes made him magically stronger than Adonijah; and
when Cezar tugged on the ropes Adonijah made loud, painful
sounds.

Cezar knew that the bridle was
hurting Adonijah and he did not want this, so he thought to calm
Adonijah down.

He closed his eyes, leaned very
close in to Adonijah and whispered to him.

‘
I'm not here
to hurt you,’ he said ‘I only need to prove I'm not an enemy of
your people. I'm sorry if the bridle is hurting you but I cannot
allow you to defeat me.’

Adonijah struggled fiercely in
answer to Cezar’s words.

‘
I promise to
let you go if you promise not to fight me;’ Cezar said.

Adonijah slowed in his struggle
but still did not stop trying to be free; Cezar was not sure if the
sea horse understood what he had told him so he tried again.

He slowly stroked the back of
Sea horse trying to calm it; then he said ‘I promise not to hurt
you.’

It was a long while before
Adonijah finally stopped fighting to be free. Once Adonijah was
calm, Cezar climb down from the sea horse and the bridle
disappeared.

Cezar rushed to pick up his
sword from where it lay He was not sure if Adonijah would try to
harm him again and he wanted to be ready; but Cezar needn’t have
worried because Adonijah had become very calm.

Then, out of nowhere, something
circled the skies above where they were standing.

Cezar thought this might be the
third defender. He did not want Adonijah to get hurt.

‘
Go.’ Cezar
commanded ‘go now.’

Just like Clawrion, Adonijah
too slid away. Cezar, had been expecting the third defender, and
was very surprised to find Queen Elena floating towards him in an
open chariot drawn by six giant shrimps each with a pair of wings
on their backs.

Chapter 11– Freedom

Queen Elena landed a few steps
away from him and alighted from her chariot. She walked towards
Cezar and signalled for him to approach her.

Cezar walked over to the Queen
not sure at all what to expect. She smiled a most brilliant smile
and said,

‘
Young Cezar,
now I know that you are not a threat to Talori.’

The queen’s voice was changed,
it was the sweetest, kindest, voice Cezar had ever heard and his
surprise showed on his face.

Queen Elena gently laughed at
the expression on Cezar’s face; ‘I know’ she said; ‘this is my real
voice, the one you heard earlier is reserved for enemies of
Talori.’

‘
But, I was
never your enemy,’ Cezar protested.

‘
We could not
be sure until you had passed the test;’ she said.

‘
I passed the
test?’ Cezar asked surprised ‘But I haven't fought the third
warrior.’

The queen smiled at Cezar, she
did not reply his question instead she said; ‘from now on you shall
be called a Warrior of Talori.’

‘
I’m deeply
honoured,’ Cezar replied.

‘
You have
defeated two great defenders of our land and you have shown great
kindness in not killing them;' the queen said smiling at him. 'You
see, the true strength of a warrior is not in the many battles he
wins, but in the way he treats those he defeats.’

The queen turned and began
walking; she called for Cezar to walk with her and he followed to
her chariot,

Within moments, they were flown
away back to the queen’s palace but this time the queen took Cezar
to a different room than the one they had previously been in.

This room was magnificently
decorated in very warm blue green emeralds and precious stones. It
reminded Cezar of watching the sea on a clear and bright day. The
emeralds and precious stones dazzled brilliantly reflecting light
all over the room. Cezar hadn’t seen such a beautiful sight in a
long time.

Two large framed pictures sat
next to each other on the wall. One was of the Queen and the other
was of Princess Moshen and both looked to have been taken during
some kind of ceremony because in both pictures the Queen and the
princess wore a crown and held a sceptre. Cezar thought how
beautiful and alike they both were.

The queen took a seat in an
armchair made of white pearls and signalled for Cezar to do the
same in a chair near her.

‘
Sit Warrior
she said; ‘I must tell you the history of our people so that you
can understand a little about us.’

Cezar sat down and listened as
the queen spoke.

‘
For
centuries our city was a peaceful and happy place;' she said. ‘We
lived in the third level of the sea of Valour, close to where
humans would venture and where sea creatures lived. '

‘
Then
enemies, who wanted our land, grew on every side. One particular
enemy by the name of Kantang was the most cantankerous. He came
from distant waters and wanted our kingdom for his.’

A sad expression formed on the
queen’s face as she spoke and Cezar felt like comforting her but
she was Queen Elora, head of Talori and he didn’t want to offend
her.

‘
Kantang
attacked and waged war against our land; almost destroying our
city. To throw him off our scent, we circulated tales of an evil
queen and of Talori being completely destroyed. We moved our city
to the seventh and deepest level in the sea of Valour and have
managed to live here safely ever since.’

The queen stopped speaking
giving Cezar time to digest the tale she was telling him, but Cezar
sensed there was more to be told.

The queen got off her seat and
began pacing as if what she was about to say was too difficult for
words. She stopped in front of Cezar and looked directly at him
before continuing.

‘
Recently
Kantang found that Talori was not destroyed and he has resumed his
pursuit of claiming our land.

The queen raised a finger,
‘However, we have been successful in failing all his attempts and
have remained safe; though I fear this may not be for very
long.’

She took her seat once again,
the look on her face was a pensive one and she seemed far away in
thought.

Cezar was saddened at what the
queen had told him.

What makes
anyone think they can invade and take over other people's land and
ruin their birth right?
He thought to
himself.

He knew exactly how the queen
felt; it was the same way, he felt about Diagus.

He wished he could help the
people of Talori but he had Ocracidia his own land to save from the
evil clutches of Diagus and he had to continue on his quest;
everyone in Ocracidia was counting on him. Silently, he promised
himself to come back and help the people of Talori after his
quest.

‘
Do you have
any questions?’ The queen asked after many moments.

‘
Yes, just
one.’

‘
What is this
question, young warrior?’

‘
Who saved my
life?’ Cezar asked.

‘
Sereta one
of our sentries did.’ The queen said. ‘She pulled you from the
bottom of the sea when you were drowning.’

Cezar was surprised; he’d
always been sure that Princess Moshen saved his life.

The queen rang a golden bell
beside her and a young girl with long, white braided hair, whose
eyes were golden and wide and who was exactly the same height as
Cezar walked through the door.

'This is Sereta,' the queen
said 'she saved you from drowning. She is a master spellbinder and
has used her spells to protect the citizens of Talori from Kantang.
'

‘
Thanks for
saving my life,’ Cezar said.

Sereta smiled but did not
reply. A set of dimples appeared in her cheeks as she smiled and
Cezar was drawn to her.

‘
How did you
know I was drowning?’

‘
I didn't
know you were in trouble at all,’ Sereta replied. Her voice was
gentle like the wind blowing on leaves of a tree on a beautiful day
and Cezar smiled to himself. ‘I was on patrol on the outskirts of
our land when I saw a red light beckoning from afar. I knew it was
some kind of magic because it pulled me closer and would not let go
of me until I swam closer. Then I saw it was a human - you that is;
and that you were drowning. I could not leave you in the sea to die
and had to rescue you.’

Cezar wondered if the red light
had come from his red amulet but he said nothing.

Sereta continued, ‘Talori
forbids us to bring in strangers, but I couldn't let you die; I had
to save you. Somehow, the red beckoning light compelled me to save
you. I put a sleeping spell on you and brought you to the Princess
Moshen.’

Cezar knew at that moment that
the light Sereta had seen had come from his mother’s amulet, which
he wore around his neck and he was grateful to Sereta for saving
him.

‘
Thank you,’
he said to her again.

It was at that point that Cezar
realised that the amulet really only worked when he was in the
greatest of need.

The queen told Cezar that he
was free to continue on his quest.

Cezar bowed to the queen and
took his leave. Sereta began leading him out of the palace but just
as he turned to exit the palace, Cezar heard shouts of panic
emanating from every corner.

'Talori is under attack!' the
voices screamed.

Sereta turned and raced back
the way they had come; quickly, Cezar followed her. He knew she was
heading back to the room where they had left Queen Elena to ensure
her safety and he too needed to be sure the Queen and princess were
both safe from harm.

Chapter 12 Gills and a Fish
Tail

 
'The
evil Kantang and his men are upon the city’ a voice cried to
them.

Cezar and Sereta ran quickly
back in the direction they had come. The queen met them before they
could reach the room they had left her. She stood flanked on every
side by armed sentries whose numbers had tripled in the few minutes
since Cezar and Sereta left her.

'The north of the city has been
taken my queen,' one of her sentries said 'and reports tell us that
they are heading straight for the palace.'

'We must get you to safety
now!' The sentry said.

'No! We must protect the people
first,' the queen replied; 'get all the citizens into the safety
wells. The army can hold off Kantang’s men until everyone is
safe.'

The queen was unruffled, her
calmness under such an attack surprised Cezar.

The sentry tried again, 'we
will get the people to safety but you must leave now, your
highness;' he said bowing his head.

'I’m not leaving if my people
are in danger;’ the queen replied dismissing him. ‘Is the princess
safe?' She asked.

'Yes my queen,' the sentry
replied. ‘Our duty is to protect you as...'

'Kantang’s men have broken
through,’ a voice interrupted the Sentry and another male Sentry
rushed in. He spoke urgently with a fearful look on his face. 'They
will surround the palace in a little while my Queen,' the young
sentry said; 'look,’ he pointed.

Cezar looked where the sentry
pointed and in the distance, he saw flames high in the sky from
parts of the city. He watched grey smoke curled up in the sky and
saw the wind blow it towards the palace.

Cezar could no longer stay out
of this battle; he had to help Talori and her Queen. 'I will stay
with the army and ensure that everyone is safe;' Cezar said to the
queen.

'And I will stay with Cezar,'
Sereta offered 'I will use my spells against Kantang and his army
and we will delay their attack.'

Reluctantly, the queen agreed
and was ushered away to safety by her men.

'Come quickly' Sereta said
moving ahead of Cezar, 'there's a secret passage that will lead us
directly into the city.'

Cezar followed Sereta through a
passage hidden inside one of the palace walls which led them right
to the middle of the city where the fighting was the fiercest.

Chapter 13 One-eyed
monsters

Cezar drew his red sword and
joined the sentries in preventing Kantang’s army from passing
through.

Sereta formed spells against
Kantang’s army that made the ground difficult to walk on.

Slowly the sentries drove back
Kantang’s army in the direction they had come. The fight was slowly
being won and Cezar felt the battle was soon to be over.

But he was wrong when a huge,
one eyed, monster emerged. The sentries scattered, their
well-rehearsed battle formation disintegrated and they all ran away
from the one eyed monster.

The sound of boulders flying
about shook the point where both Cezar and Sereta were
standing.

Cezar watched as the monster
roared in anger, picked up the citizens of Talori, squeezed the
life out of them before throwing them as far away as possible.

 
A
yellow, diamond shaped, object, glowed intermittently from the
monster’s chest. It reminded Cezar of the red Amulet he wore around
his neck. Cezar immediately suspected that foul magic was at play
here.

 ’
Cezar!’ Sereta shouted out. 'Can you distract it so I can
bind it with a spell that will prevent it finding its
way?’

Cezar nodded. The only way he
could distract the monster was to get its attention. He ran out
towards the monster waving his arms in the air.

'Hey! Put them down,’ he
screamed at the top of his voice.

The one eyed monster initially
ignored Cezar. Cezar screamed louder, he picked up a huge piece of
stone from the ground and threw it at the monster aiming for its
face. The monster turned its full attention on Cezar; roared at him
and begun walking towards him.