League Of Extraordinary Robots (5) Wisker was so surprised by the sudden appearance of the face that at first he didn’t know what to say, but after a moment he answered, “I am looking for Jeronomo.” The face in the stream just gazed back and soon it appeared much clearer to Wisker. It was pure white with blue eyes. It looked more lake a mast than a face belonging to someone. Soon the face rose up from the water and the eyes opened and shut as the water rolled off of it. Wisker jumped up. “What is your name?” he asked the strange being. The face never answered but instead made circles around Wisker, circles from head to toe, surrounding Wisker. Then he said, “I am Oslo, the road to Jeronomo runs through me.” “I am a long time friend of Jeronomo,” explained Wisker. And I have been imprisoned for awhile.” Oslo just laughed and jumped back into the water, making a big splash. “Wait, wait,” shouted Wisker, but the entity never waited and Wisker was left all alone. Wisker stared at the stream, waiting for an answer. Soon the stream opened up and a large tree appeared. “Come on down,” said the being. At first Wisker was a little frightened and didn’t know if he’d go down or not. “I guess if I’m going to get anywhere I’ve got to take a chance,” he told himself. He looked down into the hole. It was so spectacular. The tree was so tall that it swayed back and forth. Wisker could not see the bottom because there were clouds floating by and large birds flying with their young. Wisker took hold of the tree and holding on tightly, he began to climb his way down. The tree was soft, but it showed sign that it had been around for centuries. Wisker found a very old coin, dating back hundreds of years. The tree had many nests, from birds of all kinds to squirrels. As Wisker continued to look down, all he could see were the clouds and the blue skies. Suddenly a rush of wind came and blew against Wisker causing him to begin to slide down the old tree. “Oh no,” cried Wisker, trying desperately to hold on but gravity was so strong that he continued to slide. Wisker’s wand shot out of its special pocket and Wisker tried his best to grab onto it, but it stayed one step below him. Wisker cringed at the thought of losing the one and only possession that he thought would help him to save Mayfair. “Well, there’s nothing I can do about it right now,” thought Wisker. “I guess I’ll just have to wait until I’ve landed and then see what I can do.” Wisker just let himself continue to slide down the tree until he had slid all the way to the bottom, landing with just a soft little bump. Wisker’s face lit up with a smile of joy as he recognized the land. From having been there many years ago. He ran to kiss the ground. “This is the land of Bimini,” he cried, twirling around as he tried to see everything at once. “Bimini is so beautiful. It is surrounded by water, has very little grass and is ninety-five percent sand, beautiful wild plants and flowers. The sand rolls under one’s feet. There are never any nights and large volcanoes spout lava into the air and most of the people live in stone huts and live off of the land.” Wisker was so excited and happy that he just shouted all of the wonderful things he could remember about B mini. For Wisker there was more to Bimini than the eye could imagine. Bimini was the land where he had first gotten to test out his powers to save the people from the war king and Wisker had won the battle. “My face is etched into stones; my messages are stamped on walls and taught in the schools. The people here will be so glad to see me. They will welcome me with open arms. They will help me to find my wand and to save the land of Mayfair from the king’s greed.” Wisker is so excited that he runs towards the town, anxious to see his old friends again and to get their help. “The people of Bimini are so beautiful,” thought Wisker. “They are made of a mixture of sand and skin and they have big blue eyes and coarse black hair. I will be so glad to see them and I know they will be glad to see me too.” But things are not as Wisker expected. His face is etched off from the stones, his words are erased off of the walls and the people do not welcome him with open arms. “What’s going on?” asked Wisker as the people surrounded him and started driving him towards the temple, poking him in the back with spears every once in awhile. “Oh, I see what the trouble is,” Wisker thought to himself as he looked up and saw that the war king was back in control. “I have no choice but to run when they least expect it. I am in no way prepared to fight the war king by myself.” Wisker watched for a chance to break away and suddenly he saw it. He spun and broke off running as fast as he could through the forest of trees. The people of Bimini chased after him, some throwing darts while others tried to spear him. Wisker ran for his life, fearing the same people that he had once helped. “I just can’t run any further,” thought Wisker. “I’m just going to have to give up and hope that I can convince them not to kill me.” Wisker collapsed on the ground and put his hands up in the air. Just as Wisker was about to give up, there was a loud boom and ground caved in between him and the people of Bimini, leaving a big hole. Wisker was so startled he gave a loud scream. The whole was dark, so dark that nothing could be seen by looking into it. The people or Bimni were afraid. They backed away and waited to see what would happen next. Soon the ground began to shake and the earth cracked all the way down to the village of Bimni, breaking apart houses and temples. A large colorful snake came out of the hole like a winding wave and caught Wisker up on his large horn. “Who dared to wake me?” he asked, giving Wisker a slight shake. “Sudo, it is I, Wisker,” said Wisker. The snake looked confused. “The people of Bimni have played a trick on me!” he roared. Wisker began to wiggle himself around and finally got himself loose from the snake’s horn and landed on the ground, right on his nose. He picked himself up quickly and turned to the snake. “What a beautiful beast you are,” Wisker told him. Sudo was indeed beautiful. He was multi colored with a long red line running down his back. He had ivory horns all over his back and face, long pointed ears, scaly skin and big, black eyes. He had large, golden bangles on his hands, feet and neck and long flowing black hair. The most amazing thing about Sudo was his size. When he stood up on his tail, he stood over fifteen feet high. Sudo bent down and looked at Wisker closely. “It is you,” he cried joyfully. “It really is! I am so glad to see you old friend.” He looked at the people of Bimni who were standing on the further side of the hole, too frightened to shoot their spears. He gave off a deep growl and the people took off running as fast as they could to get the war king. Sudo wiggled his body to get the kinks out of it from his long nap. “Well, I am glad to see you my good friend,” he told Wisker. “I must have been sleeping for years. The war king sent a young girl to cast a sleeping spell on me and now that I am awake I must take revenge. Will you help me, old friend?” “I would indeed love to help you and would consider it an honor and a privilege, but I too have serious problems that I have to take care of also. I have to get my magic wand out of the tree in the sky and then I have to find the wizard Jeronomo and get him to fix it for me.” “I have an idea that will be helpful to both of us,” said Sudo. If you will help me to get revenge on the war king, I will help you to get your wand and will get you to Jeronomo.” “Agreed,” said Wisker, reaching up to shake hands with Sudo. “The two old friends put their heads together and soon hatch up a plan; a very good one which both of them feels sure will work. There is only one problem. Wisker and Sudo are not the only ones hatching a plan and the plan being made by others is in direct opposition to the one made by Wisker and Sudo. Chapter 4 Meeting Jeronomo Soon Wisker and Sudo were catching up on old times. “I want my island back and I want the people to be free,” Sudo told Wisker. “That is the way things should be,” Wisker told him. Sudo gently lifted Wisker to his back and Wisker held onto Sudo’s long horns and off the two went, running through the sand and the shrubs of the island on their way to meet the war king. “I am running out of time,” thought Wisker. “We need to get this business here at the island taken care of and then I need to get to Jeronomo.” By this time, the war king was sitting up his soldiers into place, thousands of islanders, with their daggers, bow and arrows and many little children with their poisonous darts. Most of the weapons were prehistoric in nature and did not pose a threat to Wisker and Sudo. Soon the two came down the hill to be greeted by a large group of enemy soldiers. Thousands of arrows and daggers filled the air, heading toward Sudo and Wisker. Sudo spread his magical wings and up in the air they flew, diving and ducking through the crowds of weapons. Sudo took in a deep breathe and blew out fire at the islanders. The people began to run and scream to the war king for help but no one came. Sudo sat the island on fire. Trees began to burn; houses and temples fell to the ground in ashes. “I want my island back!” roared Sudo, as puffs of smoke came out of his mouth. Sudo Stamped his feet on the ground and made the island crack again. This time many of the villages sank through the cracks in the ground, never to be seen again. The only thing that one could hear was the moans and cries of the people as fell into the abyss. “I want my island back!” roared Sudo again, his cry echoing over and over again as he flew over the island. The villagers became frightened and ran toward the temple of the war king. “I’m sorry,” one of the guards told them. “In order to call upon the war king, a young girl has to sing a sweet melody.” While the villagers continued to fight Sudo and Wisker, a few of the elders found a young girl and took her to serenade the king. “Come quickly,” they told a young girl with bushy hair whom they found carrying a wooden harp. “We need your help to awaken the war king.” The elders took the young girl to the rock behind which the war king was known to be sleeping. “Now sing your very sweetest song,” they instructed her. The little girl sang and sang and soon there was movement behind the rock. “Who dared to wake me up? Shouted the war king. Slowly from behind the rock came out a creature. A creature so frightening it is hard to imagine any being who would not have been frightened. The creature was big, bigger than big, with muscles upon muscles that moved when the creature moved. Its large hands and big head came from behind the rock. It had eyes the size of saucers, deep green in color. Its dark skin was adorned with jewelry which the islanders had made. The creature had big teeth and long fingernails that scraped against the rocks when it arose and stood straight. The little girl stopped singing, dropped her musical instrument and ran away as fast as she could, leaving the elders to explain to the war king why he had been awakened. The elders trembled in fear as they approached the creature. “If please your majesty, you are greatly needed,” began the eldest of the elders, his voice trembling in fear. “Wisker is back and he has awakened Sudo and both of them are taking over the island.” Before the last words could leave the lips of the elders, the war king let out an angry roar and stomped his way out from behind the rock and out to the island. “The war king is on his way!” shouted one of the villagers, and the others took up the cry. Wisker and Sudo looked at each other and took off to the skies to meet the war king. “He certainly is on his way,” said Sudo. “Listen to the thundering of the clouds and the turbulent ocean waves. The islanders began to hide. Some even buried themselves in the ground where they could not be seen. “Hurry, hurry,” they cried. “Danger is approaching and those who want to survive must get out of the way!” The war king was ranting and raving all through the island. He went to the sea, pushing the waves out of his way. The villagers bowed down and praised the king as he stepped on the shore. “Where are Sudo and his cowardly friend?” shouted the war king. All of the villagers began to point towards the mountain and the king went stomping his way to find Sudo and Wisker. The people of the island followed, cheering and clapping loudly for their war king. “”You fools!” shouted Wisker angrily. “Being loyal to the war king when you should be loyal to Sudo, your true protector.” Soon the war king began to smash trees and temples. He even began to run over his own people, killing them instantly as he stepped on them with his huge feet. Sudo pranced from behind the large mountain with Wisker on his back. “This is my land and I am ordering you to get off,” shouted Sudo. The war king laughed wickedly. His evil laugh bounced off the mountain and echoed all over the island. “You fool!” he bellowed. “You have been asleep for a long time. The island is no longer yours. This land is mine!” Seeing that there would be no talking or negotiating, Sudo quickly jumped at the war king, knocking him to the ground. The earth began to tremble and people quickly moved out of the way. Without his wand and magical abilities, Wisker was of no use as far as giving battle was concerned but he encouraged his friend to fight, which in many ways was just as good. The war king stumbled to the ground, knocking over temples, structures and destroying villages. Sudo quickly pounced on the king, knocking him back down each time he tried to get up. The war king managed to gather together enough energy to shoot balls of fire at Sudo. Soon Sudo and Wisker were running for their lives, flying through the air, trying to avoid the fire balls. Many of the villagers joined in the battle, shooting their poisonous darts at Sudo, but his skin was so tough that the darts just bounced off. The war king mustered up his powers and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Temple tops open!” The tops of the temples that were still standing opened up and when they did, large flying discs came out and began to chase Sudo and Wisker all around the island. The discs were large and oval in diameter and made of nothing more or less than pure gold that glittered in the sun rays. The discs seemed to communicate with each other as they tried to find ways to corner Wisker and Sudo, who swerved this way and that, trying to avoid the golden discs. The discs gave off a loud humming noise that caused the people of the island to drop their weapons and cover their ears. Suddenly Sudo seemed to be hypnotized. He stopped swerving to avoid the flying disks and began to hover in mid air. “Wake up, wake up they’re coming,” cried Wisker, shaking Sudo as hard as he could by his long horns. After a few kicks and shakes, Sudo came back too, but by this time he was faced with more of the flying discs than ever before. “The chase is on,” cried Sudo. “Hold on tight!” He dived from the sky and over the body of ocean water. The discs were right on his tail. Back and forth they flew, with the discs following every move of Sudo. Soon Sudo flew through the temple openings, causing the discs to crash by the solar energy that the temples gave off. One by one the discs eventually destroyed themselves, leaving the island in one big fiery ball. Smoke was everywhere. Villages were destroyed; temples and structures lay in rubbles. The war king was not happy at all and giving off a tremendous roar, he began to run after Sudo. Wisker, who had loosened his grip on Sudo’s horns when the last of the discs had crashed, fell off Sudo’s back and went tumbling to the ground, into the hands of the e angry villagers. Sudo and the war king got into a wrestling match. One minute Sudo was on top and the next minute the war king. Wisker and the islanders watched as if mesmerized, none of them had ever seen such a battle. Finally the war king picked Sudo up and threw him into the air, causing him to land in the turbulent ocean. Sudo went bubbling down; there wasn’t anything that Wisker could do to save his old friend except to watch in horror as his friend got carried away by the ocean. The war king turned to Wisker. “Bow down to me you fool!” he shouted. Even though he did not have his magic powers, Wisker was both stubborn and brave. “I may not have my magic wand with which to defend myself, but at least I do not have to act like a coward,” thought Wisker. He turned his back on the war king and gazed out over the sea. The war king became angrier than ever. “I said bow down to me,” he roared, stomping around so that he and Wisker were face to face and giving Wisker the meanest, ugliest look with which he could come up. Once again Wisker turned his back. “Put him in prison!” the war king ordered his loyal servants. “Take him to the seas of the alligators.”
Copyright © 2010 Yolanda Jackson |