A Crack in the Earth

Myth/short story set in ancient times where a feminist ruler takes Adnoius' mother prisoner and Adonius' must travel through an alternate universe to find his mother's savior.

Introduction

“All males committing a crime will be sentenced to fifteen years in prison and in most cases will face death. All females committing a crime will be sentenced to an amount of time between a week to five years given to her by the queen. The only way a female may be bailed out of prison is if another female in her immediate family is able to perform a task given to her by the queen. No male shall face bail.” This is the law that put Adonius’ mother in prison and could lead to her death. Four months ago Queen Sanasha was crowned ruler of the colony of Intalshi, her plans were to create sexist laws and make females the dominant gender as well. So far she has been successful, since she took over, the male population has decreased by two hundred fifty. Although females don’t have it very easy either. They do have a chance to be freed but a female in their family has to perform a task that is not always possible. Queen Sanasha’s harsh laws have made cowards of the people of Intalshi, exactly the way she planned it.

Praxia, Adonius’ mother, has very little chance of being freed. Her daughter, Harmena, crawled into a crack in the Earth when she was just two years old, twenty years ago. This leaves her with no female in her immediate family to free her from prison. Feeding her family of two is very difficult, therefore she has been stealing bread from the bakery where she works for as long as she’s worked there. Praxia underestimated the power of the queen’s police force, and today she was caught. The irony of her arrest is that her husband, Sirdon, fought in the War of Intalshi which led to the independence and happiness of the colony. Now Queen Sanasha got rid of everything Sirdon fought for and led Intalshi into its darkest time. Praxia’s arrest leaves Adonius living by himself, one lonely herdsman all alone, having lost two of the three people he loves the most, he is getting ready to lose the third and final person he loves. He lost his father in the war six years ago, and his little sister twenty years ago. Adonius makes a vow to himself that he will not lose his mother. He heard the news of his mother’s arrest four hours after it happened. This leaves Adonius with sixteen days and twenty hours to save his mother from her death.

The Quest of Adonius

Adonius visited the crack where Harmena lost her life. This is the place he goes when he is upset or needs to think. Sometimes he wishes he had his sister to talk to about his problems but he can only look into this crack and think. The crack is about six feet wide and seems like it has no end, but Adonius believes his sister hit the bottom. At night the crack shines a bright sky blue, the people of Intalshi will explain that it looks this way because of the way the moon hits it. During the day, the hole seems to be a dark blue color, the people of the colony say that this is because of the way the sun hits it. The real reason for these colors is that deep down in the crack, after gravity shifts about three hundred feet down, is the lost colony of Jerinno.

People of Intalshi have only heard stories of the lost colony of Jerinno. Some stories had different reasons such as a meteor hit the middle of it and made it sink down into the ground or it was built on a sinkhole. Many people believed these were just fictional stories about their old neighboring town, but no one believed it was real. Jerinno was previously ruled by King Dantis, leading the colony to happiness and a golden era for the people. Everyone was happy with everything. No one ever complained about their occupation, everyone lived in a safe environment and were happy with the homes they lived in, and the people who inhabited Jerinno always treated each other with respect. The entire population loved living there. King Dantis is expected to step down in seventeen days, and his son Prince Deimis is going to take over. No one knows about Deimis’s plan for once he takes over and no one would want to. His plan is to turn Jerinno into a dictatorship since he believes all his father did was let the people run free and do whatever they want. Another part of his plan is to find the most beautiful girl in Jerinno and make her his queen. The woman he chooses to marry is Harmena, the orphan who grew up in many different homes with many different parents. Some people may say Harmena was raised by the people of Jerinno. Her unmistaken beauty never went unseen, she was always given compliments on her long brown hair and incredible blue eyes. Harmena was brainwashed by the people of Jerinno, she has no memories of her life in Intalshi, no memories of her mother Praxia, and no memories of her brother Adonius. Right now, all Harmena knows is that she will be the new queen of Intalshi in seventeen days.

In Intalshi, many miles away from Jerinno, Harmena’s brother begins to think about ways to free his mother from a few feet away from the crack in which Harmena fell. “I could sneak into the prison and use my father’s sword to break her free at night.” thought Adonius, he knew it was impossible since Queen Sanasha has her officers patrolling the prison every hour of every day. “I could slay Queen Sanasha myself.” Adonius started to believe his ideas were becoming ridiculous, he knew the queen would greatly overpower him. He couldn’t think of any ways to free his mother. Adonius became desperate. Then all of a sudden Adonius hears a voice, The voice echoes his name. “Adonius look up.” He looks up and he sees nothing. “Adonius I have information to share with you.” Adonius looks all around but sees no one, he begins to wonder how this person knows his name and whose voice it resembles. Adonius knows he has heard this voice before but a group of cirrostratus clouds interrupt his thinking. The clouds are white just like the clouds you see in the day but the sun has been down for five hours. “Adonius, I know how you can help your mother survive.” The clouds are what have been speaking to Adonius, so Adonius asks the clouds how he can save his mother.

“Find your sister Harmena and bring her back to Intalshi so she can perform a task and free your mother from prison.” The clouds responded.

“My sister has been dead for twenty years, it is impossible for me to bring her back to Intalshi if she is not alive!” explains Adonius.

“The clouds of spirit know of every living spirit on Earth. If your sister was dead, her spirit would be with us, but her spirit is still alive somewhere. You just need to find her.” said the clouds. Before Adonius had the chance to ask where to find Harmena, the clouds had dispersed. Adonius suddenly has a thought, first he looks to the crack and studies its light blue color. Then he looks up and realizes that there was a new moon. There was no light from the moon to make the color of the crack seem blue. Adonius thought of a logical explanation. His sister is still alive and is living somewhere in the crack where it is daytime during nighttime in Intalshi and it is nighttime during daytime in Intalshi. Adonius runs home and gathers all things necessary for survival, puts his father’s sword under his bed, and packs a rope in his bag. Tomorrow he will start his journey to find Harmena.

Adonius wakes up ready to begin his adventure. He fills his sack with a very large rope that seems to stretch the length of the entire world. Strapped to his back is his father’s sword that was used to fight for Intalshi’s independence. Adonius also packs a few loaves of bread and any other necessities he found in the house. He brought two canteens full of water, just in case he lost one of them or could not find a water source. Before he leaves he checks the calendar, it is the third day of the week. A week and two days before his mother would have to face her death. As Adonius makes his way to the crack he begins to think. He thought of how he didn’t have a father for the past sixteen years of his life. The way his father said goodbye before he died has been imprinted in his mind since the moment it happened. Adonius remembers how he saw his sister one second then she was gone the next. He thought if he was closer to her he would have been able to save her, but she is alive now and he must bring her back to Intalshi. All of the memories of his mother that he’ll never forget fill his mind. He remembered the way his mother cried when she heard the news of her husband’s death. He thought of the way she did everything she could for him, and gave him all her love. The person who has been there his whole life was always there for him could possibly no longer be there. Only Adonius can determine what happens to his mother in fifteen days and eighteen hours.

Adonius approaches the crack in the Earth and takes a deep breath. He ties one end of his rope around his waist and ties the other end to a boulder about ten feet away from the crack. The rope is necessary for him to find his way back and for protection from the fall into the crack.  He takes a bright colored rock and kicks it into the crack. He tries his best to follow the rock’s path for as long as he can and about one hundred feet down he thinks the path changes. Adonius then takes a larger rock which he needs two hands to carry and drops it in the crack. He notices that the rock seemed to have stopped falling down where the other rocks path changed. Adonius could not think of an explanation for this so he dives in the crack with the rope tied around his waist.

On his way down his heart begins to race, so many thoughts went through his head in such little time. “What if my mass is too much and whatever happened to the rocks will not happen to me? What if I fall to my death and I never get to save my mother from Queen Sanasha? What if...” In between Adonius’ thoughts, his feet touch the ground and next to him is the bright colored rock he kicked down the crack and under his foot bent a little too far to the right, was the larger rock he dropped in the crack. The pain wasn’t immediate but when Adonius noticed what had happened he let out a loud shriek. He diagnosed himself with a severely sprained ankle. His mother had taught him everything he knew about health and staying healthy. If Praxia were with him, she would have realized the sprained ankle a lot quicker and treated it better. Praxia would’ve told Adonius to rest and not to walk on it but Adonius needs to find his sister. Once Adonius thinks about finding his sister after wrapping his ankle in cloth and bandages. He realizes in front of him is nothing but a desert, there seems to be sand for miles and he has no clue which way to go. Then a large, monstrous creature rises out of the sand. The creature stood about twelve feet tall with claws the size of Adonius’ body. Two claws in the front and one on its gigantic tail. Adonius notices that his enemy isn’t as swift as him so his first thought is to outrun it. After his first step he remembers the injury he sustained moments ago. Adonius thinks quickly and realizes the giant scorpion can be useful. If he can get rid of the claws that can send venom through his body then he can ride the scorpion to where he needs to go. Although he isn’t sure where he should go yet.

Adonius runs towards his enemy who seems to keep him from advancing in his journey with his father’s sword in his right hand. His ankle doesn’t allow him to run full speed. He runs to the side of the scorpion making him perpendicular to the front claws. With one toss of the sword, he shows his astounding accuracy and chops off both of his claws. Now Adonius needs to fetch his sword from the other side of the scorpion and find a way to get rid of its back claw. Since the giant creature can’t move very fast retrieving his sword isn’t all that difficult. He climbs up onto the scorpion’s clawless arm and is unexpectedly thrown into the air. Now his fall is heading right towards the scorpion’s final claw. If it gets a hold of Adonius he’ll be dead in seconds. He gets his sword ready to strike and his face is inches away from the last claw. With one swing of his sword, Adonius defeated the scorpion. Now the scorpion can be his steer and he won’t have to walk on his injured ankle. Hopefully it’ll be healed by the time he finds his sister. Adonius can tell this journey will be harder than he anticipated. He takes out a rope from his bag and ties it around the head of the scorpion, now he can steer his defeated enemy.

Adonius still has a problem. He isn’t sure if he should travel east, west, or north. He knows he can’t travel south because then he would be led back to Intalshi. Adonius doesn’t know if Harmena is somewhere in this desert or if he has to travel to find her. Then he hears that familiar voice say his name again. He looks up and sees clouds in the sky that was cloudless just seconds ago.

“Adonius, make no turns on your journey. Travel straight and straight only then after you’ve walked for three miles in the desert, you will approach a jungle. Go through the jungle and you will eventually find where your sister is living now.” explained the clouds of spirit. Adonius is hesitant to listen to the clouds talking to him, he still isn’t sure if Harmena is really alive. “Are you sure you know where my sister is?” asks Adonius. Right after Adonius asked his question the clouds disappeared making the sky cloudless once again. Reluctantly, Adonius listens to the advice given to him by the clouds of spirit. He begins to ride forward using his rope as to guide the scorpion to his destination. At the end of the day he travels four miles taking breaks in between to rest. Adonius goes to sleep in the sand four hours after the sun went down. Leaving him with fifteen days and two hours to save his mother.

He judges by the sun’s position and his shadow that he woke up at about eight in the morning the next day. Adonius becomes angry with himself for waking up three hours after he wanted to. Every hour, every minute, and every second is valuable to Adonius. He begins traveling again, trying to go faster than he did the day before to make up for the time he lost. About three hours after he started riding on his scorpion he sees trees in the distance. He jogs his way towards the trees, limping on his right ankle, and leaving the giant scorpion behind. In front of him he finds a jungle that stretches so far that he can’t tell where it ends. He can no longer use his sword as a cane because he needs it to cut down thorns and bushes in the way of his pat. After walking a few miles and putting too much pressure on his ankle, Adonius decides to rest. He sleeps on a log with moss on it and covers himself with large leaves. The jungle is very dark so he isn’t sure of when the sun went down. The time remaining to save Praxia is fourteen days and five hours, almost exactly two weeks.

Adonius makes his way through the jungle halfway through the day and in front of him he sees a city with beautiful houses and an incredibly large castle in the distance that towers over every other building. As he is about to enter the city, a herd of monkeys with razor sharp sharp teeth get in the way of his path. Adonius is exhausted and does not want to exert too much energy but he can’t climb a tree or run away because these monkeys would be able to track him down in a heartbeat. He takes his sword and swings wildly everywhere, feeling the blade strike through a monkey’s flesh every few swings. Adonius is swinging blindly not watching where he swings his sword and not seeing everything around him. A monkey jumps on Adonius’ back and bites his shoulder puncturing his skin with its sharp teeth in the shape of an oval. Adonius yells loudly from the excruciating pain driven through his body by the animal’s razor sharp teeth. In the same moment, Adonius flings his sword against his back and it was stopped by the neck of the monkey. After he feels the monkey’s body drop, he looks around and realizes the monkey that bit him was the last monkey in the herd. Adonius looks at his shoulder and notices he much blood he’s losing from the bite wound, quickly he wraps it with cloth and and bandages just as he did to his ankle. He grimaces at the fact that he sustained two injuries in three days then continues on his journey.

Adonius enters the city and finds people who seem not as wealthy as he thought they would be. “Excuse me, what is this beautiful city called?” asks Adonius. An old man with round glasses and no hair on his head answers Adonius’ question. “You’re in the colony of Jerinno young man, the colony of King Dantis. He sure has done a lot for the people living here. Unfortunately for me, I can barely afford my own house without a job since all the jobs are by Castle Tower which is at the very northern end of the colony. Anyway, welcome to Jerinno!”

Adonius sticks his hand out for the old man to shake, “I’m Adonius,” he says. The old man replies, “I’m Filbrad, nice to meet you.” The two men shake hands and Adonius realizes the sun is going down. “Sir, I know we barely know each other but if I make a deal with you, will you let me stay at your home tonight?”

“What’s the deal?” asks Filbrad.

“If I can bring you a large boar for dinner tonight, it could last you up to a week so if I bring you one, can you let me stay here for one night?”

“It’s a deal” the two men shake hands once again then after Adonius follows Filbrad to his home, he goes to find a wild boar. Before Adonius leaves, Filbrad asks him about the rope. Adonius explains its how he can find his way back home to Intalshi. “I’ve never heard of Intalshi.” says Filbrad

“And I’ve never heard of Jerinno.” Adonius responds, then walks out of the house to find his wild boar.

Adonius had no trouble finding a boar, he had suggested getting a boar cause he saw a field full of them less than half a mile before he ran into Filbrad. He goes back to Filbrad’s house with the large boar and he is thankful that he didn’t have to fight any battles or possibly sustain another injury. Adonius cooks the boar for Filbrad since he hasn’t had a nice place to stay for his whole journey so Filbrad is doing him a big favor. The two sit down together and eat the boar. Adonius finds out that Filbrad is a single man who was divorced by his wife and took custody of his kids which is why he lives alone and doesn’t have much money. Later in their conversation Filbrad asks, “So what brings you to Jerrino?”

“I’m looking for my little sister who I thought had died twenty years ago, her name is Harmena. I cannot save my mother from prison unless she can perform a task for our sexist queen.” Adonius answered. Then Filbrad stares at the table and seems to be thinking. “Harmena?” he asks.

“Yes,” Adonius looks at the expression on Filbrad’s face and asks, “do you happen to know her?”

Filbrad studies Adonius’ face and his jaw drops. He can’t believe it. Adonius has the same dark brown hair as Harmena and his eyes are the brightest shade of blue. Filbrad is astonished by how much Adonius resembles Harmena, the next queen of Jerinno. “Adonius! Your sister is going to be the queen of Jerinno in thirteen days!” Now both men sit in disbelief, Adonius is puzzled about how he can bring Harmena, the future queen of Jerinno, back to Intalshi. Filbrad can’t believe the girl raised by the people of Jerinno actually has a real family in a different colony miles and miles above where they live. The realization of how much tougher it will be to save his mother causes Adonius to go to bed. Tonight Adonius is the most comfortable he has been during his whole journey, but he can’t seem to sleep. By the time Adonius falls asleep he has twelve days and twenty-two hours to save Praxia.

Adonius thanks Filbrad the next morning for allowing him to stay and Filbrad thanks Adonius for getting him dinner. Filbrad wishes Adonius luck on his journey then Adonius continues to the castle, where his sister must be. By now his ankle is much better and he can walk with only a slight limp. He had forgotten about the rope tied around him that leads his way back to Intalshi. As he walks he thinks about the importance of his rope, if he loses it he can’t find his way back home and he will lose his mother. The extremely long rope makes Adonius confident that he will be able to rescue his mother. He becomes so lost in his thoughts that he doesn’t notice the people around him screaming and yelling until he bumps into a crowd of people. He looks up and sees a large house on fire, his first thought is that he must be in the more wealthy part of town now and his second is that there are still people yelling for help on the other side where no one can see them. Adonius can see the figures of their bodies trapped, one man and one little girl. He bursts through the crowd and bolts into the house. He runs through the flames to get to the two people who are trapped on the top floor. In the act, Adonius’ rope catches fire and he unties it, freeing himself from the rope that stretches all the back to Intalshi. Adonius finds the man and little girl upstairs and tells them he will not hurt them. “Trust me, just come with me!” shouts Adonius. Showing his remarkable strength adonius carries the man in one arm and the girl in his other. He kicks down walls to avoid the flames, and finally finds the doorway. Adonius sets the people down on the ground then he collapses from his exhaustion. Everyone came up to him telling him he was a hero and about how brave he was. He had won over the people of Jerinno. People kept asking his name but he couldn’t answer because of how heavy he was breathing. He finally catches his breath enough to say his name in one breath, “Adonius.” he almost whispers it. The people bring him water, pouring it on him and offering it as a drink.

The water hydrates Adonius and brings him back to his feet. Lying on the ground next to him is his rope, he grabs it and holds tightly on to it. So many people asked him so many questions, they all wanted to know why they haven’t seen him before, where he is from, and why he has come to Jerinno. He told them his story about his mother being imprisoned and how his sister is Harmena. He told them about how only his sister can save Praxia because of Queen Sanasha’s harsh rules. A majority of the people laughed at him for saying his sister is the future queen of Jerinno, the other people seemed interested and believed him. Most of the people thought he was crazy because they all believed that Harmena had no parents and was raised by the people of Jerinno. Adonius was tired of being laughed at so he continued to the castle at the north end of Jerinno. He is so exhausted from traveling, fighting battles, and rescuing the two people from the building after only getting four hours of sleep last night that he tries to find a place to sleep right after the sun went down. He finds an alley in between two buildings and sleeps with his head resting against his arm. Luckily the roads are all sand in Jerinno so he isn’t as uncomfortable as he would be in a jungle or a thin layer of dirt. Praxia’s possible death is now thirteen days and four hours away.

Adonius realizes he isn’t so far away from the castle once he walks out of the alley. He was so occupied with finding a place to sleep that he took his eyes off Castle Tower last night. He begins walking still tightly gripping his rope It is a very gloomy day, Adonius notices many people crying in the streets, he wonders what they could be so sad about. Finally, he approaches the castle and notices a crowd bigger than the one he saw by the fire. They were all crying and Adonius was curious about what happened. He found someone he seemed to keep their composure better than the others and asked them what was going on. It was the man he saved from the fire yesterday. “Excuse me,” says Adonius, “What is going on here?”

“Our golden era has come to an end,” replies the man, “King Dantis died in his sleep last night now his son, Prince Deimis, is taking over tomorrow. Everyone is so upset because our colony has never been so successful and now the man who made all of it happen has passed away. If you hadn’t saved my life yesterday I would be crying like everyone else. But it is too hard to cry when your life was almost taken yesterday and you are still here.” Adonius begins to think but before he continues thinking he asks the man his name, “My name is Laydu.” the man answered. Now Adonius continues thinking. If Prince Deimis is taking over then that means his sister will be the queen tomorrow and the newly crowned queen will not want to leave her colony if she believes Adonius’ story. “Castle Tower will not be taking any visitors today, we are sorry.” This is what the sign in front of the castle said, this will delay Adonius’ journey another day. Adonius goes back to his alley to sleep later in the day. He is thankful that he has been able to rest today after performing grueling tasks the first few days of his journey. Although he will not be satisfied until Harmena comes back to Intalshi. Five days have passed and Adonius is where he wants to be. He has plenty of time to save his mother, twelve days and two hours.

The next day, Adonius wastes no time and walks straight towards the castle. King Deimis’ servant answers the door. “I would like to see Queen Harmena” explains Adonius. The servant laughs and tells Adonius to wait a minute. King Deimis appears in the humungous doorway. “Anyone who wishes to see my queen must ask permission from me, tell me your reason for wishing to see Harmena.” declared Deimis.

“I am Adonius of Intalshi. I-” Deimis cuts off Adonius before he could finish.

“Intalshi?! Is this some sort of joke? That is a completely made up name! Continue with your story please .” Deimis said with a smile.“Okay,” said Adonius, “I am Harmena’s brother. I have come to bring her back to Intalshi with me so she can save my mother from facing her death. She has to perform a task for our sexist ruler, Queen Sanasha, which will free my mother from prison.”

King Deimis looks at Adonius and then at his servant. Deimis and his servant began laughing hysterically. “Are you mad?!” Deimis chuckles, “Harmena grew up without a family, this man shouldn’t be wandering the streets. Arrest him!” Deimis went from laughing to being serious and servants surrounded Adonius. They took his rope, his sword, and his bag of supplies. “You don’t understand!” yells Adonius, “I need to talk to Harmena!” The servants carred Adonius to a yard to the right of Castle Tower where wooden beds were set up with cuffs to lock all of the prisoners’ limbs. Adonius’ arms and legs were cuffed and he couldn’t break free.

Deimis ignored Adonius and went back to his room in the highest floor of the castle where he finds Harmena. He tells about the madman who is really her brother. “I am the queen of this colony, I will never leave to an unknown colony and give up on the people who raised me.” explained Harmena.

“That’s what I like to hear.” stated Deimis. The population of Jerinno would come to the conclusion after five days that King Deimis is a cruel ruler and his first cruel act was putting Jerinno’s new hero in prison. The first day Adonius was locked onto the bed he did not have anything to eat or drink and whenever he woke up a servant would hit him in the head and knock him out again. When the servants left, Adonius woke up and noticed he had exactly eleven days to save his mother, which didn’t seem possible anymore. Day after day the beds filled up more and more, King Deimis even ordered the construction of more wooden beds. When the servants left at midnight, all the prisoners would talk about their crimes. The crimes were things such as walking too close to the king, talking within a fifty foot radius of the castle which distracted the king, and there were even people who worked for the king put in prison. Their crimes were showing up to shine the king’s shoes a minute late, not getting him cold enough water, or asking him a question he didn’t know how to answer.

On the second night, Adonius lost his will to break free and save his mother. He apologizes to his mother while looking at the sky and at the end of his apologies, white cirrostratus clouds appear in the sky. “Be patient Adonius.” These are the only words the clouds of spirit said to Adonius then they disappear. Adonius has gained a great amount of trust for the clouds because they brought him to where he needed to be, he believes he has heard the voice of the clouds before but he can’t seem to recognize where he heard it. He listens to the advice given to him by the clouds and no longer panics. On the third night, Adonius becomes anxious to leave, he is extremely dehydrated and hasn’t eaten since his visit with Filbrad. Nothing happens on the third night, leaving Adonius worried but he knows the clouds will not let him down. He needs to break free fast after losing three days of his quest to save his mother, he only has nine days and four hours left.

Adonius begins to feel helpless, each day spent locked against the wooden bed seems to get longer. The weather has not treated his body very well. The blazing hot sun burns his skin in all exposed areas and the pouring rain made it hard for him to sleep. Now it was midnight of Adonius’ fourth day in Deimis’ prison. All the servants have left and no one is guarding the prison and the twenty foot door has been locked. Then a half hour after the servants left a rope appears at the edge of the yard and it is descending from the top of the wall surrounding the prison yard. It is Adonius’ rope. Adonius turns his head to the left to see why the rope was there and he sees an elderly man with a sword strapped to his back climbing down the rope. The man approached Adonius then Adonius realized that it was Filbrad. “Filbrad, how did you find me? Is that my rope and my sword you have?” whispered Adonius.

“Yes, I’ve been following the rope ever since you left just in case you needed me. I watched where the servants took your sword and I realized it remained unguarded for 5 minutes at night. Your rope was so long that they didn’t keep it anywhere so it was easy to get a hold of. So tonight I took your rope and sword then came here.” Filbrad replied. Filbrad uses Adonius’ sword to carefully break him free from his wooden bed. “Thanks Filbrad, I’m so grateful you’re here.” Filbrad nods his head then begins to walk away but Adonius shouts at him. “Wait! this yard is full of innocent people. We must free them too.” One by one the two men freed the innocent prisoners, occasionally waking one up to free them. Everyone quietly walked out of the prison yard and sprinted as soon as they weren’t able to be seen from Castle Tower. Filbrad and Adonius slept in a shack that Filbrad found while he was following Adonius. This is where Filbrad kept food and water for Adonius. Inside the shack were two beds and not much room, but it’s better than sleeping on the ground. Before the men doze off to sleep Adonius says something to Filbrad, “Filbrad I only have eight days to save my mother, what if i don’t make it?”

“Someone as brave as you will never fail to succeed.” Filbrad murmured. Then the two went to sleep.

“Where are you going?” Filbrad asks Adonius early in the morning.

“I need to bring my sister back to Intalshi as soon as possible.” says Adonius. Filbrad does not question Adonius’ actions and lets him go. Adonius can see at least one hundred servants surrounding Castle Tower, some of them even have telescopes. Adonius comes to the conclusion that King Deimis noticed the empty prison yard and but the castle on lockdown. Fearlessly, Adonius walks to the castle in a straight path, not caring if he is spotted by the servants. He is determined to bring his sister back home to save his mother. One the servants runs into the castle and up to the top floor. “Your highness! The madman is approaching!” yells the servant. King Deimis gets out of bed and goes to the window to look for Adonius. He spots Adonius and says, “He got his rope and sword back, I’m sure he was the one who freed all the prisoners. Only a sword like that can cut through the metal cuffs. We must punish him. Unleash the dreagle!” The servants responded quickly to King Deimis undoing locks to a humungous cage. A gigantic creature comes out of the cage, it had claws of a dragon and the tail of a dragon along with the wings and beak like an eagle. The half dragon, half eagle could fly over one hundred miles per hour and could breathe fire that reaches twenty feet away from it.

Adonius sees the dreagle rise above the castle and fly right towards him, once he sees fire come from its mouth he takes cover in an alley. He knows he must kill this creature to get to his sister. He drops his rope and comes out of the alley. The dreagle launches fire from its mouth and Adonius dives away to dodge it. The fire hit Adonius’ rope burning it all the way back to the boulder it was tied to in Intalshi. Adonius realize how unfortunate losing the rope made him then he becomes furious and climbs to the top of a building to be at the same height as the dreagle. As soon as his hand touches the roof, he feels it burn and he releases his grip. He falls into the sand that fills the roads and yells at the top of his lungs. Nothing has ever hurt him so bad in his life and he cannot stand the pain. When he looks at his hand he realizes that the burn is slowly moving up his hand to his wrist. The fire is doing exactly what it did to the rope to Adonius’ arm. He thinks quickly and takes his sword then cuts off his hand at the wrist. Now he has to fight the dreagle with only his left hand. Adonius has been in between buildings in the sand for almost a minute now therefore the dreagle assumes that he is dead from his fall from the roof. The dreagle turns around and heads back toward the castle. Adonius climbs up the building again with one hand and jumps from building to building until he is near the dreagle once again. He leaps from a building and soars in the air until he is directly above the dreagle. He lands on the dreagle’s back and before it could shake him off, Adonius sliced his sword right through the neck of it. Adonius held on tight to the rest of the dreagles body as it fell to the ground. He reached the ground safely and began to breathe heavily. He took his sword and chopped off the smallest claw of the dreagle which was as sharp as the tip of the sword and put it into his bag which Filbrad also saved for him. He wrapped his hand in his bag and walked back to the shack where Filbrad was lying in bed.

Filbrad hears Adonius enter and looks up. He fixes his eyes on Adonius’ handless arm. “Adonius! What happened?!” Filbrad shouted.

“I fought a battle against a half dragon, half eagle.” Adonius explains. “But I think I can fix my hand if there is a good doctor you know of.” he adds

“I do know of one. His name is Dr. Gilzo. He has cured me from sickness in hours a few times.” exclaims Filbrad

“Perfect. I chopped off the creature’s smallest claw which is about the width of my wrist. If the doctor can somehow sew the claw onto my wrist I’ll be able to kill any creature or man who challenges me with a fight.” Adonius implied.

“We must see Dr. Gilzo now before you lose too much blood.” said Filbrad. Adonius follows him out of the shack and to the Jerinno hospital. They arrive there just before sundown. “I’ve heard of you Adonius, you’re the hero of Jerinno. You saved those people from the fire and freed all the innocent people from the evil king’s prison.” Dr. Gilzo stated. “Normally I would not perform this procedure but the people of Jerinno owe you Adonius.” Adonius felt like telling the doctor that Jerinno really doesn’t owe him anything but he didn’t want to be rude. Dr. Gilzo performed the surgically placed the claw on to Adonius’ hand but told Adonius he had to stay in the hospital for the next day just in case his arm or wrist showed signs of infection. Adonius wasn’t happy with this but he knew this had to be done in order for him to save his mother. By the time Adonius left the hospital, he had six days and five hours left to get back to Intalshi and save Praxia. Adonius returned to the shack he and Filbrad were staying in with his new claw which made his arm feel a little heavier. Filbrad was already sleeping so they didn’t have conversations like they normally would. Adonius went to sleep knowing he had to retrieve his sister tomorrow since it will take him about three days to get back to Intalshi.

Before Adonius was about to leave the next morning, Filbrad stops him. “You are not going alone this time.” he stated.

“Filbrad you could get hurt out there, who knows what Deimis will throw at me next?” says Adonius.

“Adonius I am going to be there with you, Deimis might overpower you somehow, two people is better than one.” Filbrad demands. Adonius gives Filbrad a wry smile and allows him to come to the castle with him. This time Deimis was on the lookout after Adonius took down his dreagle, and he spotted him with another man with him. The other man was holding knives in both his hands. The king rounds up twenty servants and sends them to attack Adonius and Filbrad. The servants were no match for the two men. Adonius could not believe all the strength and quickness the old man had. Filbrad knew when people were coming behind him and he would stick one of his knives into their stomachs. With one punch to the neck with Adonius’ right hand, the servants would fall instantly. All the servants laid on the ground around Filbrad and Deimis, some of them were severely injured and others were dead. The two men had defeated all twenty of Deimis’ servants. Then when there was no sign of any other servants coming to attack, Adonius ran into the castle. He sprinted up all the stairs and to King Deimis’ room. “Deimis!” Adonius yelled, “Give me my sister!” Adonius’ face was red with anger and his veins were popping out of his head. “Well if it isn’t the madman from the fake far away land.” said Deimis.

“Let me bring Harmena back home now!” Adonius’ screams were becoming louder.

“Okay, let’s make a deal,” Deimis declared, “If you beat me in a battle, I will surrender Harmena into your hands only if she is convinced that she is your sister. Although you will not be able to beat me nor convince Harmena.”

“It’s a deal Deimis, let’s go.” said Adonius. King Deimis led Adonius to the backyard of Castle Tower. At the edge of a cliff Adonius sees a field of flames. “What is that?” Adonius asks. “That is the center of the Earth,” explains Deimis, “It is four thousand degrees Celsius and if you fall off the edge, your body will burn completely in less than a second.”

King Deimis picks his sword at one end of the dark rocky area and Adonius goes to the other end. They both give each other a nod meaning they are ready to fight then charge at each other. Their swords are flying everywhere and every swing is being blocked by the other sword. This battle has no aggressor, both fighters are evenly matched. It has been minutes and still no one has prevailed. Adonius has his swing blocked by Deimis then tries punching Deimis in the side of the face with his claw. Deimis’ sword quickly chops of the tip of his claw when it was inches away from his face. Now Adonius’ claw is useless. The two men have their swords pressed against each other, each applying the same amount of force. All of a sudden, Adonius kicks his leg up and his foot hits the handle of Deimis’ sword sending it flying through the are. It lands in the ground by the center of the Earth. Now the weaponless king is defenseless and Adonius has his sword against Deimis’ neck. “Let me talk to Harmena.” Adonius whispers. Deimis listens to Adonius’ demand and brings him to Harmena’s own room. “Harmena, you have a visitor.” says King Deimis. Adonius walks in behind the king and Harmena looks really hard at Adonius. She notices his dark brown hair which is the same color as hers. Then she notices his eyes are the brightest shade of blue. No other person she knows has eyes as blue as her. She sits there astonished. “Harmena, you haven’t seen me in twenty years, and I doubt you will remember me but I am your brother Adonius and your mother is in trouble. If you don’t come home today she will lose her life. We only have five days to get to Intalshi and save her. I need you to help me Harmena, only females in the immediate family of a prisoner can free a woman. Please Harmena, you have to come with me.” Adonius tells her desperately.

“No one has ever heard of Intalshi! You must really be mad. How am I supposed to believe that you are really my brother? I am not going anywhere, as the queen of Jerinno I will not leave all of these people who are loyal to me.” Harmena explains. Adonius is at a loss for words, then he rummages through his bag. While he is doing this Deimis leaves the room because of the boredom the conversation between Adonius and Harmena caused. He believes that there is no chance Harmena will leave with Adonius. After about twenty seconds Adonius pulls out a piece of paper and holds it out in front of Harmena. It is a painted picture of their mother, Praxia. She looks even more like Harmena than Adonius does. “I brought this picture from Intalshi,” Adonius announced. “You have to be able to see the resemblence between the two of you.” Harmena is now very confused. She cannot find the words she wants to say. Eventually she asks, “How are you sure that isn’t just a painting of myself?”

“It isn’t you because I brought it from Intalshi! Where your mother and I live!” Adonius is becoming frustrated. “Everyone in Intalshi believes you have been dead for twenty years so they wouldn’t know what you look like now!” The two stare at each other for a moment then they both hear a deep voice come from outside, Adonius knows who it is but Harmena becomes  have alarmed. “Harmena you have to listen to Adonius.” the voice says.

“Who is that?” Harmena asks.

“Look out the window.” Adonius tells her. Harmena walks to the window and opens it. First she looks down and sees no one, then she looks up and sees a group of cirrostratus clouds not moving like the other clouds. “Harmena, Adonius is your brother. Follow him and save your mother. Her life rests in your hands. The people of Jerinno will wait for you if you wish to return.” stated the clouds of spirit. Harmena looks back at Adonius with a surprised and confused look. “Listen to the clouds of spirit. They are what led me to you. Without them I never would have found you.” said Adonius. “We only have five days to get back to Intalshi and it takes three days to travel to the edge of Jerinno. Once we get there we will only have two days to save our mother. You need to come with me.”

Harmena nods her head because she did not have any words to say. Carefully, the brother and sister walked out of the castle not wanting to be seen. Harmena knew of a secret door that leads to an exit where there were never any of Deimis’ servants. After the exit, they make a left and at first Adonius feels lost without his rope. But then he remembers the advice given to him by the clouds of spirit. All he needed to do was walk straight. Before Harmena and Adonius continued to the edge of Jerinno, they stopped at the shack where Adonius and Filbrad stayed for the past few days. “Filbrad,” Adonius says, “I’d like to thank you for everything you have done for me. Giving me a place to stay and coming with me to fight off Deimis’ servants. But most of all being a friend in a place I have never known and where I was unknown. Thank you, Filbrad. As you can see I’ve found my sister. You can go home now and we’ll come with you if it is okay that we stay at your house tonight.”

“Adonius I haven’t had anyone to talk to since my wife left, you are always welcome at my house. Come on, let’s go.” announces Filbrad with a smile on his face. Harmena is still incredibly confused but after the clouds told her it was the right thing to do she believes she should trust Adonius. The three of them walked to Filbrad’s house where the jungle in which Adonius fought the monkeys is visible. Filbrad shows Harmena where she may sleep and she stays there for the rest of the night. Adonius and Filbrad stay up and talk the way they have on most nights of Adonius’ journey. Adonius knew he never would’ve been able to retrieve his sister from Castle Tower without Filbrad’s help and once again he thanks him. They stop talking at midnight and each of them go to bed. Harmena and Adonius now have exactly four days to save Praxia.

Adonius and Filbrad exchange their bittersweet goodbyes before Adonius and Harmena continue their journey to Intalshi. Adonius is surprised that there are no obstacles in the jungle. Once it gets late, Adonius and Harmena decide to go to sleep. Before they get comfortable, Adonius asks Harmena a question. “Harmena, how do you feel that you are the queen of what was such a wonderful colony only a week ago?” Harmena is shocked that Adonius actually talked to her because they haven’t spoken to each other since he took her from the castle. “I thought I would like it much better than I do but Deimis dictates Jerinno. I had no idea he had that in mind. I wanted Jerinno to stay peaceful but I don’t have a say in how our colony is run. Deimis wants complete control and is slowly turning Jerinno into a dictatorship. I only want to stay here because there is some hope he may be overthrown and I can make Jerinno peaceful the way King Dantis did.” Harmena explained

“Then why don’t you take down Deimis yourself?” Adonius asks.

“If I murder the king I will be killed as well, his servants are like his army and they would kill me in seconds. Then after that there would be a re-election to see who the new king or queen would be. This is only the second time in the history of Jerinno that they had both a king and queen. I would sacrifice my life to make Jerinno a better place but I wouldn’t want Jerinno to fall into the wrong hands, which it already has.” Harmena answered. Adonius nodded his head to show he understood what she meant and before she falls asleep Adonius adds, “You have a big heart, just like your mother.” Harmena smiled at this comment, it was the first time Adonius saw her smile in twenty years. Adonius realizes that he does not have much time to save his mother, he plans to walk through the jungle and the desert without stopping which would take a full day. Right now, the time remaining for Praxia is three days and three hours.

Harmena and Adonius begin their journey early in the morning. Harmena wasn’t able to keep up with Adonius which made him carry her once they got to the desert. Adonius was hoping to find the giant scorpion somewhere to make traveling easier but it was nowhere to be found which forced him to walk the rest of the way. Harmena fell asleep after the sun went down while Adonius was carrying her but Adonius did not want to stop. He kept walking straight even though he could not see in front of him. The sun came up again and Harmena woke up and began walking again. At the same time they started their journey the day before, Adonius spotted two rocks, one big one and one small bright colored one. He throws the rocks out of the way. “Why did you do that?” Harmena asked.

“Just in case.” Adonius replied.

“What do you mean?” Harmena questioned. Adonius didn’t answer and told Harmena to be ready to climb. First he reaches up with his claw which he sharpened with his sword in the jungle and gives Harmena his sword. “Gravity is going to shift once we walk past this edge, use the sword to climb up out of a crack.” Adonius says to Harmena. Adonius goes first leaping from the edge and digging his claw into the inside of the crack and holding on with his hand. Then below him he sees Harmena drive her sword in the the rock and notices how she barely struggles when she is climbing up. Adonius reaches the top and not far behind him was his sister. He grabs her hand and pulls her into the colony where she came from. Finally, Harmena is back in Intalshi with only one day and sixteen hours to save Praxia. “Follow me.” says Adonius. They both run to the prison where their mother is being kept and one of the guards stops them. He tells them to state their names. “I am Adonius, I have come to visit my mother Praxia.” Adonius revealed.

“And I am Harmena, I have come to visit my mother Praxia as well.” Harmena added. This was the first time in twenty years they both felt like they were related. The guard lets them in the prison and first the two visit Praxia. “Who is this you have brought with you Adonius?” Praxia asks. “This is Harmena, your daughter. The crack she fell in led to a different colony where she was the queen and I brought her back here to save you.” says Adonius. Harmena and Praxia look at each other and after a moment, an image enters Harmena’s mind. A bright sunny day and she sees the same woman who is behind the bars in front of her. Along with the woman is a younger version of her brother. She was playing with Adonius and they were running after each other while laughing. Then she came across a crack and Adonius was standing ten feet behind her. Praxia came running and yelling trying to get Harmena to get away from the crack in the earth. Adonius yelled too, “Harmena! Get away from that crack!” Harmena was too amazed by the dark blue color inside the crack to listen to Praxia or Adonius. She began to turn around but slipped and she saw the world above her moving away from her. Then the image leaves her mind. “Don’t worry mom, I will did whatever I can to save you.” said Harmena. Now she knows that this is where she came from and that right now she is with her real mother and brother. Praxia could not believe her daughter was still alive and she began to sob.

Adonius brought Harmena to Queen Sanasha where she sits on her throne looking down at everyone. “Excuse me your highness, this is Harmena, the daughter of Praxia. She has come to perform a task in order to free our mother.” Adonius announced. The queen checked her prisoner chart and saw that Praxia had only had one day and fourteen hours left until she faced her death. “Well I can have some fun with this.” Queen Sanasha said. “Since your mother has so little time to live I am going to give you a difficult task. I love doing this.” expressed the queen. She takes out a paper and writes something down. She reads off the paper and says, “In order for Praxia’s daughter, Harmena, to free her mother she must perform the murder of her brother Adonius.” Harmena begins to yell at the queen but Adonius stopped her before the task became even more difficult. Adonius told his mother the task Harmena had to perform and Praxia did not take it well. “Do not worry mother, I have an idea that will keep all of us alive.” Adonius told her. Harmena and Adonius walked back home and discussed a plan.

“Harmena tricking the queen into thinking you have killed me will be easy. We will bring her to the crack and you will just push me down into Jerinno. I need to go there anyway. The people think of me as a hero and I have to save them from Deimis.” Adonius explained.

“I have to come with you then. I want to help you.” Harmena demanded.

“You have to stay here with our mother once she is freed, Queen Sanasha would try to come after us if both of us fearlessly went into the crack in the Earth. After I am gone for a day bring our mother with you into the crack and travel to Jerinno. You are the rightful leader of that colony and the people will need you.” said Adonius. They agreed to the plan and kept discussing it so they could execute it perfectly. They will perform the task tomorrow. Harmena and Adonius go to sleep knowing they will be able to save their mother in one day and two hours.

The next day, the brother and sister tell Queen Sanasha the way Adonius will be killed. She sends her guards to watch Harmena perform the task because she didn’t want to leave her throne. Adonius and Harmena led the guards to the crack and stood in front of it once they were there. Adonius stood with his back facing Harmena, looking straight down at the crack in the Earth. Harmena walks behind him and apologizes to him even though she knows he will remain alive. “I forgive you Harmena, just keep our mother safe.” Adonius whispers loud enough for the guards to hear him. He is thankful that the guards didn’t take his sword from under his shirt, he doesn’t think they noticed it. Then Harmena pushes Adonius down the crack and makes herself cry right after. The guards fell for the act and bring Harmena back to Queen Sanasha. The guards tell her of the news and she sets Praxia free. She only had twelve hours remaining. Praxia begins crying then Harmena tells her, “Adonius isn’t dead, he is where I have been for the past twenty years, in the crack in the Earth.” Then Praxia wipes away her tears and suggests they go with him but Harmena tells her to wait until early tomorrow morning before the sun rises.

Meanwhile Adonius runs his way through the desert and makes it to the jungle in half the time he did in his first trip to Jerinno. He doesn’t stop to rest and he keeps running until he reaches the outskirts of Jerinno. He bangs on a door and it opens immediately. Filbrad stands in the doorway. “Hurry Adonius! Come inside!” Filbrad shouts. Adonius does not understand the urgency in Filbrad’s voice. “Adonius you shouldn’t have come back to Jerinno! The king has his army searching all over for you. He wants you dead for taking Harmena!”

“The people of Jerinno helped me find my sister and I will not let them remain under the rule of Deimis. I will not let him dictate the colony of Jerinno!” Adonius yelled.

“Then let’s get ourselves our own army and fight!” Filbrad yells back. He never questioned any of Adonius’ plans. He knew Adonius always had a good reason for what he was doing. That night Filbrad rounded up people of Jerinno and told them to tell other people Adonius’ plan. They all felt like they owed Adonius for disobeying the king who dictated them. Filbrad came back to his house and told Adonius that more than half of Jerinno will be a part of their own army. Filbrad told all of them to leave right after the sun rises in the morning. Adonius is more prepared than he was last time to face Deimis, he wants Deimis dead just like Deimis wants Adonius dead. Filbrad and Adonius wake up in the morning to prepare for what will be the biggest battle in the history of Jerinno. “Here, wear this. They would attack you first if they recognized you.” Filbrad handed Adonius a long brown robe with a hood. Adonius sharpened his dragon claw then tucked it inside his robe. Then he strapped his sword to his back and walked out the door with Filbrad just as the sun was rising. The two men marched down the street that led to Castle Tower. After each intersection, the number of men multiplied. Filbrad wasn’t lying when he said more than half of Jerinno would be in the army. Adonius walked in the middle of everyone to camouflage himself even more than he already was. Deimis could hear more than half of the colony marching towards the castle and prepares his army of servants who are outnumbered by the army Filbrad gathered. Deimis sends out his servants and they charge at Jerinno’s army of people who think of Adonius as a hero. The battle begins fifty feet in front of the castle. Servants are dropping rapidly, no one in the army of Jerinno dropped in the first ten minutes of the battle. Adonius and Filbrad fight side by side. Adonius does not reveal his face but he reveals his claw using it as a deadly weapon. The servants tried to retreat to the castle but the army was too strong. They kept pushing through the castle and the battle eventually was fought in the backyard of the castle right by the center of the Earth.

This is where the army of Jerinno decreased in size. Many people fell off the cliff burning their bodies in less than a second. Deimis’ army was still outnumbered and the king knew he had to fight to give his army a chance to win. He runs with two swords in his hands, slicing through the army Filbrad gathered. Adonius and Filbrad are still fighting side by side, killing off any servants who came near them which makes them oblivious to Deimis’ presence. The king keeps running through the army and is untouched. Then he is challenged by an elderly man with two knives. It’s Filbrad. Adonius is too occupied with servants attacking him the he doesn’t see Filbrad battling Deimis. The king kicks Filbrad’s hand knocking one of his knives to the ground then Filbrad tried stabbing Deimis with his other knife but Deimis cuts of Filbrad’s hand before the knife could reach him. Then Deimis takes his sword and drives it through Filbrad’s chest. Filbrad’s last breath is a shriek of pain. This causes Adonius to quickly turn around causing the hood to fall off his head and reveal his face. He sees Deimis then looks down at Filbrad and realizes that his enemy has killed his best friend. Adonius’ eyes fill with rage and he charges Deimis, engaging in their second battle. It’s two swords against one but it doesn’t make the battle any less equal. Adonius would block every slash of both swords Deimis had in his hands. Neither one of the men could get a clear shot at the other. This battle has lasted even longer than their first one. None of the servants tried helping the king because they feared they would somehow miss Adonius and kill Deimis. The servants kept fighting their own battle. Both sides had the same amount of people fighting.

Adonius and Deimis are still fighting strong and neither of them has shown any sign of giving up. Then Adonius jumps back to dodge Deimis’ sword and slashes Deimis’ arm in the same motion. Deimis’ yells from the pain then kicks Adonius sending him flying backwards near the edge of the cliff. “Deimis! Promise you will no longer dictate this innocent people and I will make my army retreat!”

“I will make no promises to anyone who stole my queen and defeated me in a battle! I want my revenge!” Deimis yells back and charges Adonius. Now Adonius knows there is no compromising. The battle will not be over until one of them is dead. Adonius and Deimis continue fighting while Adonius has his back turned to the center of the Earth. Adonius was smarter this battle and didn’t try using his claw to block Deimis’ sword. But he takes a swing at the side of Deimis’ face the same way he did during their first battle and punctures Deimis’ cheek. His claw now has blood dripping off it. This injury did not slow down Deimis and he took a swing at Adonius’ neck with his one sword but Adonius blocked it. Then Deimis puts all of his strength into the drive of his other sword and Adonius brings his sword down and feels Deimis’ sword. Deimis stops swing his swords and Adonius looks down. Adonius was too late. Deimis’ sword had gone right through Adonius’ torso. Adonius drops to his knees and Deimis looks down at him. “Bye bye.” Deimis says. Then he pulls his sword out of Adonius and walks away. All of a sudden the clouds of spirit appear in the sky and they seemed to have given Adonius a few more seconds of life. Adonius reaches back with his sword and throws it with all the might he has left. His sword soared through the air without slowing down. The tip of his sword hit Deimis in the back of the neck, sending Deimis to his instant death.

Adonius laid on the ground looking at clouds of spirit. The clouds of spirit always gave him advice but never answered all his questions. They made Adonius figure things out himself. The clouds were always there when Adonius needed guidance. Finally, Adonius realized why the voice seemed so familiar. He looked up at the clouds and they seemed to be looking back down at him. Adonius’ last words were said to the clouds of spirit. “I’ll be there soon, Dad.” Adonius whispered. Then he rolled over and fell into the center of the Earth. His body burned but his spirit joined his father, Sirdon, in the clouds of spirit.

Post Adonius Era

The people of Jerinno prevailed in the battle which came to be known as the Battle of Castle Tower. The army lost its two leaders but they never would have overthrown Deimis if it weren’t for them. Harmena came back to Jerinno a day after the battle and heard Adonius’ voice from the clouds of spirit. He told her that the colony of Jerinno belonged to her now. The people now knew her as The Golden Queen. She made Jerinno peaceful again and restored the colony back to what King Dantis made it. The only clouds ever seen again in Jerinno were cirrostratus clouds. Jerinno’s hero was always looking down on the people who admired him.

The End