imogen {part 1}

Imogen

A fantasy adventure {part one}

Far beyond the sea, and deep in the forest of Naretith. That's my home and always has been. Naretith is not a very big village, in fact it is rather small with only 11 families living there including my own. All the huts were fashioned from mud, logs and leaves, and we were thankful for what little we had. My mother, Yustis, and my father, Asro, were out working in our small herb garden behind our hut.

My brother, Ezika, and I were told to stay close by, but as soon as my parents let their Guard down, Ezika and I took off into the woods. I was fourteen years old at the time, and perfectly capable of taking care of my eleven-year-old brother. It’s not as though it was the first time that we had gone off on our own without our parents noticing, usually we would go as far as the stream and skip smooth rocks across the surface of the water. On this particular day though, Ezika wanted to play catch the bandit. It's a game where we choose a rock from the stream and pretend it was a valuable gem. It was his turn to be the bandit, and my turn to give chase.

Ezika bent down and picked up a rock, clutching it tightly in his hand, he immediately began running. I had always been a much faster runner than my brother, so I decided to give him a head start. I should have stayed closer to him, I never thought he would run so far in such a short amount of time. I lost sight of him, cupping my hands over my mouth, I called for him.

“Ezika, Ezika,” I yelled, the sound of my voice bouncing off of the trees. “Where have you gone off too?”

“Imogen, Imogen,” I heard my brother yelling frantically. “Come quickly.”

I ran as quickly as I could, following the sound of his voice until I stood just outside a massive cave before me.

“Ezika, Ezika,” I called my brother's name again.

“In here.” Again I heard my brother’s voice. “I’m in the cave, come see what I’ve just discovered.”

A feeling in the pit of my stomach told me something wasn't right, but I couldn't leave my brother. I had to go in, stepping forward I entered the cave. I didn’t go very far before the dark of the cave chased away the sunlight from outside. In the distance ahead of me, a small blue glow was guiding my way. The glow grew brighter and brighter as I kept to my path. I had been walking for what seemed like an eternity until, finally the blue light illuminated the cave walls around me.

“Hello my dear.” I hear a voice say as a frail old woman stepped out from the shadows, and stood before me.

“Who are you? Have you seen a young boy come through here?” I asked the old woman. “I’m looking for my little brother, Ezika."

"Yes of course. Your darling little brother Ezika is just over there.” she said, raising her arm.

The old woman gestured towards a crystal chamber, I could see Ezika was trapped on the inside. His mouth was moving, I couldn't hear what he was saying, but he was calling my name. Turning my attention back to the frail woman.

“What did you do to him, let him go this instant!” I screamed, with a mixture of fear and anger in my tone.

“I’m afraid I cannot do that my dear.” The old woman replied. “At least not just yet, I need you to do something for me first.

“Why would I do anything for such a cruel ugly old woman?” I asked, gritting my teeth.

“Because if you don’t, your dearest little brother, Ezika, will never leave this cave. You do one tiny favor for me, just a simple quest, then you and Ezika will be free to go.”

“What kind of quest?” I inquired, my curiosity peaked.

“Stroll a little further, deeper into the cave. Once you reach the end you’ll come to a gateway. You won’t see the gateway but if you reach out and touch the wall you’ll go right through.”

“And once I’m through, what am I to do?” I asked the woman.

“Your quest is to retrieve seven items,” she replied. “The acquisition of the items will not be easy, but I believe you have what it takes.”

“Why me? Why can’t you retrieve these items yourself?”

“Because I'm much too old and frail my dear, I’d never make it back; whereas you are still young and strong, Besides if you don’t do as I ask, Ezika will be eternally stuck in his crystal cage.”

“What items am I looking for?” I inquired.

“First,” the old woman said, "you must acquire the bracers of Bellik. Then once you have that, you will know what to do next. Now go, the longer your brother is in that crystal chamber, the weaker he will become. Take too long, and he’ll wither away to nothing.”

Having heard that, I was not about to wait any longer. I immediately started deeper into the dark of the seemingly endless cave. After walking for several minutes, I nearly bumped into the wall in front of me. Remembering the instructions given to me by the old woman, I reached my hand out in front of me. I didn’t feel the cave wall, but instead felt my hand going further than it should have. That’s when I fell through and came out the otherside. I was now in a new unfamiliar place.

A new world like I had never before imagined, at first it seemed like the forest where Ezika and I would play. Looking around I noticed the trees were much bigger and the flowers on the ground produced a bright beautiful glow. While I should've been frightened by being in this strange new world, the array of bright colors provided me with a feeling of comfort. I stepped slowly and began exploring the world which I now call the rainbow forest, a cluster of tiny lights hovered around me. I could swear I heard whispers repeating over and over again.

“Go back, go back,” the voices said. “You shouldn't be here.”

I thought the voices were just my imagination. I ignored their whispers and continued on. The voices grew quiet as the forest got darker and darker. In the distance I saw a tree swaying back and forth but felt no wind. My curiosity getting the best of me, I approach the swaying tree. I stepped closer to the base; startled I fell backwards to the ground. A large man with looks resembling that of an ogre jumped down out of the large tree. Wielding a large club, he let out a loud snarl and grits his teeth.

Without speaking a word he swung his club with a thunderous force. It was coming right for my head, but I swiftly rolled out of the way. I felt a large rock under my hand. Still on my back, I picked it up and threw it toward the ogre. The large rock hit him in his oversized forehead and bounced off. I watched as his eyes close and he fell to the ground. I didn’t mean to hurt him. Quickly, I rushed to his side.

“Please wake up,'' I said out loud. “Only a few seconds pass before I hear the ogre groan in pain.

“Get away from me,” he grumbles as he opens his eyes. “You nearly killed me, just leave me be."

“I’m sorry,” I said. “You frightened me, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“Yes, you did,” he replied. “I was going to kill you, and you were defending yourself, as you had every right to do so.”

“But why would you want to kill me? I’ve never wronged you, nor have we ever met one another.”

“You came onto my land, I was simply protecting what is mine. You’re an intruder and I do not like intruders.”

“I’m sorry if I disturbed you. I'm on a quest,” I explain. “If I fail to acquire seven particular items, my little brother, Ezika, will die.”

The ogre sits up, and looks me in the eye. He stands on his feet slowly, and I do the same.

“Who has sent you on such a quest?” the ogre inquires.

“An old woman.” I replied. “She has Ezika and has assured me that his time is limited.”

“Then there’s no time to waste,” he said. “We must get you on your way.”

The ogre removed the bracers from his forearms, I hadn’t even noticed he was wearing them.

“Here,” he says, handing the bracers over to me. “Take these, they will help you on your journey."

“Why would you be helping me? You owe me no favors,” I said

“You could’ve finished me off, but instead you rushed to make sure I was okay. As far as I’m concerned, we’re even. I must tell you the old woman is not just an old woman.”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked.

“She is a witch, and is in search of power. You must not let her get her hands on it. Collect the items you need and destroy them, now go.” he said, pointing toward the direction I needed to go.

A bright glowing portal opened up just a few hundred yards, I wasn't sure how it opened. Maybe it had been there the entire time, and I just hadn’t noticed it before.

I ran as fast as my legs would carry me, and jumped through the glowing red gateway.

To be continued...