Frog Read online

  He brought his left heel sharply back into the shin of one of the heralds behind him and then his right heel down on the other’s foot. There were two howls of pain as the grip on his arms was released. Quickly, he leaned forwards and whipped his head back as fast and as hard as he could. As he felt the impact with the herald behind him, he heard the crack of a chest bone and then he was free, running along the alley and back to the courtyard, shouting for help. Turning his head as he went, he saw two figures hopping up and down with the third clutching at its chest and coughing wildly.

  As he reached the end of the alley, a tall, dark and hooded figure appeared from the shadows. It towered over him and blocked his escape. Frog skidded on the wet cobbles, coming to a halt on his back and staring up at the black-cloaked figure. He rolled onto his stomach in an effort to get to his feet and looked back into the alley.

  The three figures had now turned and were facing him.

  The faces that once were human were now those of savage-looking wolves.

  At once all three reared their heads back and emitted piercing howls. Their hairy, clawed hands began tearing at their clothes, ripping them off in shreds until they stood there, balancing on their hind legs, three man-sized animals covered in black, matted and greasy fur. As one they dropped to all fours and leapt forwards, foam and slather running from their mouths. Frog thought of one more desperate act and turned back to the figure.

  ‘If you help me, I’m sure that the king will reward you,’ he pleaded.

  ‘I need no reward from the king,’ the figure replied in a deep, rough voice. ‘Now get behind me.’

  Frog just stared, frozen to the spot.

  ‘Now!’ came the command, which shook Frog to his senses. He scampered between the figure and the wall as the man crouched on one knee before the oncoming wolves. He extended an arm from his cloak, his leather-gloved hand taking the shape of a flat palm with extended fingers, pointing towards the oncoming fury.

  The first wolf leapt from a distance of three metres, its red eyes blazing, and clearly intent on sinking its fangs into the figure, who then stood, sidestepping the wolf with a swirl of his cape, and bringing his fattened palm up and across the creature’s neck. There was a ‘Snap!’ as it dropped, lifeless, to the ground. The other two wolves leapt together at the figure, who now ran forwards to meet them head on, both of his hands reaching out and grabbing them in mid-air by their throats, twisting them in to each other and bringing their heads together with a ‘thwack!’ He let one fall to the ground, dazed, as he grabbed the back legs of the other, bringing it down across his knee. There was a louder snap and the wolf rolled to the ground, lifeless. The other wolf had recovered enough and was readying itself to pounce at Frog, who stared at it helplessly. It leapt with a growl of victory on its lips.

  Frog stared into the oncoming snarling mouth, its stench reaching him and making him feel sick. He brought an arm up in futile protection. There was a movement in the background as the man reached inside his cloak. A black coil appeared in his hand. As he pulled back his arm, there was a loud ‘crack!’ and a length of black shining rope snaked out and wrapped itself around the wolf’s throat, jerking it back and away from Frog. The rope tightened and coiled like a snake into the animal’s fur, cutting through it until, finally, the wolf’s head and body dropped to the ground, separated. With a casual flick, the figure re-coiled the whip and walked towards Frog, who was still trying to take in these events.

  A hand came out of the cloak and helped Frog to his feet.

  ‘Has no one ever told you not to go down dark alleyways with strangers?’ the deep voice enquired.

  ‘Who are you?’ Frog asked.

  ‘Let’s get out of this place before we get into introductions,’ he replied.

  As they left the alleyway, Frog turned to see the steaming bodies slowly melting away and disappearing.

  ‘Who, what, were they?’ he asked.

  ‘Servants of Fangmaster, the Hellhound. How they found out about you will be of concern for all and we must now take counsel with the wizard.’ They came out into the courtyard and Frog turned to face his rescuer.

  ‘Before we go any further, I need to know who you are,’ he said.

  A hand swept back the hood to reveal a man with jet black, raven hair and a scar on his face which ran from his forehead, across his left eye, and down his cheek. A black leather patch covered the eye. In the centre of the patch, stencilled in red, was the image of an unblinking eye.

  ‘Those that fear me, or do not know me, call me the Dark Ranger. To you and the Chosen, my name is Logan. I am a freeman of the kingdom.

  ‘What does it mean? Freeman?’ asked Frog.

  ‘It means that I can go anywhere I choose in the kingdom, unchallenged. This I was granted by the king many years ago and it was announced across the realm for all to know,’ he answered. ‘No door bars my way, no entry is denied, no path is blocked. No one can refuse my questions or my enquiries. My allegiance is to the cause of good and should those that are good turn to evil then they become my enemies. My destiny is to trust no one but to be trusted by all. That is the reason why Gizmo asked me to watch over you.’

  ‘How long have you been watching me?’ asked Frog.

  ‘From the day that you arrived in the castle,’ replied Logan.

  ‘Wow!’ exclaimed Frog. ‘You are good, I would never have known.’

  ‘That’s the whole idea,’ said Logan. ‘Now let’s get a move on before anything else happens.’

  7

  The Map

  Unchallenged, Logan and Frog made their way through the castle. Every guard that they encountered stood back and cleared the way for them. Doors that were unguarded opened as they approached and closed behind them.

  ‘You weren’t joking, were you?’ said Frog as another pair of guards scrabbled to open some particularly heavy doors ahead of them.

  ‘I never joke,’ replied Logan, sternly.

  ‘I bet you enjoy a good laugh, though?’ continued Frog.

  ‘Laughter distracts the mind and causes mistakes. Laughter is for fools,’ said Logan as he glanced down at Frog.

  ‘I guess you’re not known for your sense of humour, then?’ replied Frog as they reached the large wooden doors of the royal court.

  Logan raised his fist and hammered the doors with three blows. ‘Open in the name of a Freeman!’ he commanded, and the doors silently swung open.

  ‘Very impressive,’ said Frog. ‘But I’d like to see you try and open my money box!’

  Logan glared down at Frog and they strode forward to a court deserted except for a small group huddled around a large table at the far end of the great room. Frog could see that the group consisted of King Hector, Gizmo, Sir Peacealot, Sir Dragonslayer and Lady Dawnstar, who all turned as he and Logan approached.

  Gizmo looked at them, concerned. ‘This can only mean one thing. That the boy has been discovered. Is that the case, Logan?’

  ‘The bad news is that his presence has been detected, the good news is that they appear to have limited information as to what the boy looks like or what his name is. Furthermore, at the moment it is a lower rank of enemy that has attempted to take him. Fangmaster sent some of his Hellhounds to kidnap him, they were disguised with an image spell that only Lord Maelstrom could have administered. This may be how the other boys were taken, however on this occasion they panicked and paid for it,’ Logan replied with satisfaction.

  ‘Excuse me,’ interrupted Frog. ‘But I wouldn’t say they panicked, one of them tried to bite my head off!’

  ‘Exactly, they were told to capture you and take you to their leader. They panicked and failed,’ said Logan.

  ‘How do you know what they were planning?’ asked Frog. ‘You didn’t turn up until I was nearly free of them.’

  ‘I was watching and listening to them long before they approached you. I heard their plans and I knew what they had been sent to do,’ explained Logan.

  ‘Then why didn’t yo
u deal with them before they grabbed me? It would have saved me from a nasty few moments,’ complained Frog.

  ‘Oh, stop whinging like a child,’ interrupted Gizmo.

  ‘Technically, I am a child!’ pointed out Frog.

  ‘Yes, well,’ glowered the wizard. ‘Stop this bickering, the both of you and come over here.’

  He reached inside a fold of his cloak, withdrew a fine silver chain and deftly placed it over Frog’s head and around his neck.

  ‘Here, take this before you move another step,’ he said.

  ‘But there’s nothing on it,’ said Frog.

  ‘That’s exactly what people are supposed to think,’ said the wizard, giving Frog a secretive wink. ‘Tuck it away for now, all will be revealed sooner or later.’

  He indicated the table on which was set a map of the kingdom and far-reaching lands.

  ‘There have been further reports of troubles throughout the lands,’ said the king. ‘We are trying to see if there is a pattern which might pinpoint a central place of command.’

  Frog looked at the map; there were pictures of mountains and rivers, villages and towns, grasslands and forests, all with the various names of the locations written over them. It reminded him of the sort of old map he had seen before in museums, all brown and ancient. However, something was missing; he studied the map a while longer and then it came to him.

  ‘The sea,’ he said, looking around at them. ‘Where’s the sea?’

  ‘What do you mean?’ asked Sir Dragonslayer.

  ‘The map must cover hundreds of miles but the land just stops at the edges,’ explained Frog. ‘Where’s your coastline?’ He looked at their faces and they looked back, puzzled.

  Gizmo spoke. ‘He means the Endless Water.’

  ‘But that’s a myth,’ said the king. The others nodded their heads in agreement.

  ‘You mean that you don’t have oceans?’ asked Frog with amazement.

  ‘There is a legend that tells of the Endless Water, but no one has ever found it, or if they have they have never returned to tell of it,’ said Gizmo. ‘Land is all we know and land is all there is.’

  ‘Have you never followed a river to see where it goes?’ asked Frog.

  ‘I have,’ said Logan, and they all turned to him, ‘I have probably travelled more of this land than anyone. There is not much that I haven’t seen.’

  ‘Well then,’ continued Frog. ‘Surely the rivers make their way to the sea or Endless Water as you call it.’

  ‘If there is such a thing then it is far below us,’ said Logan. ‘The rivers pour into great cracks, great holes in the earth. Steaming and thundering down, the white foam is swallowed into darkness.’

  ‘But it’s got to go somewhere,’ persisted Frog.

  ‘I told you, young Frog; there are many things that will not make sense to you in this world, but you must accept them. Now let’s get on with business,’ instructed Gizmo.

  They all turned their attention to the map. There were various little tokens placed on it. Some were small carvings of creatures and some were emblems of elements such as fire, water and ice. Frog noticed that there were several locations where wolf-type figures and flame tokens were placed together. In another area, surrounding what was marked as the Ice Mountains and Frozen Wastes, small white ice figures dominated the landscape.

  To the south of what was marked Castellion Stronghold was a gathering of black creatures, some with wings, others with lizard-like tails, which were surrounded by fire and black, cloud-shaped tokens.

  ‘Here,’ pointed out Gizmo. ‘This is where villages have been attacked by Fangmaster’s Hellhounds. They have destroyed every living thing and torched the earth so that the landscape is charred and barren. Fangmaster himself has not been seen and it would appear that these are separate packs of wolves acting as primary attack forces sent to test the ground and pave the way for his legions.’ He placed a finger on a white figurine. ‘This is another concern. The Frozen Wastes are spreading, moving out in all directions from the Ice Mountains and, as they move, the Hidden People move with them, breathing cold death on every living thing that they encounter. From what my messengers tell me, the strongest movement appears to be on the southern front. They have reached our townships and are creeping slowly towards the great rivers and lakes. They move under cover of night when the warmth of the sun cannot impede their progress and there is little light to make them visible.’

  ‘Moving in our direction?’ asked Lady Dawnstar.

  ‘Yes,’ acknowledged Gizmo. ‘It would appear that the intent is to bring the Frozen Wastes across the kingdom to join with this.’ He moved his hand to indicate the black clouds and dark creatures at the bottom of the map. ‘When the two powers convene, the land will be covered in ice and entombed in darkness, the only living things will be abominations of Lord Maelstrom’s design and making.’

  Then the king spoke, with a whisper, dreading that he already knew the answer as he asked the question.

  ‘Where are the forces destined to meet and form the catalyst of destruction?’

  ‘Here,’ said Gizmo, solemnly opening his arms. ‘Castellion Stronghold. Lord Maelstrom knows that this is the centre of the realm’s governance. All people look to Castellion Stronghold for guidance and strength, we are the heart of the land in many ways. If we were to fall, all others would lose faith. The armies would collapse and the people would run in fear. Despair and chaos would infect the land.’

  He touched the map with his silver cane and the shapes came to life. From the model of Castellion Stronghold poured tiny figures, knights on horseback and ground troops with swords, spears and shields marching out across the map to meet their enemies. Miniature armies formed to face each other as the ice and black clouds descended over the landscape and covered it entirely until there was no movement to be seen. They all stared at the map in silence.

  Gizmo passed his hand over the image and the map returned to normal.

  ‘The future has many paths so let us not be distracted by the darkest one. We must prepare and make plans. This war will not be won by Magik alone, the strength and faith of the people will influence its outcome, as will our leadership and courage. We must rally to the land and call our people together. Lord Maelstrom may think he commands the battlefield but let us take control of our destiny.’ He pulled a small golden talisman in the shape of the blazing sun from his plaited beard. ‘This is where we will decide our fate.’

  He placed the token onto the map directly in the path of the Frozen Wastes and the figurines of the frozen Hidden People. The place was marked with a name – Blackwater Down. The talisman melted into the map and became part of the parchment.

  ‘I don’t know about you,’ said Frog. ‘But I hate the cold, I say you fight ice with fire.’

  ‘Explain yourself,’ said Sir Dragonslayer.

  ‘Well, you and your dragon friends would be a great help. I take it they do breathe fire?’ asked Frog.

  ‘Yes, of course,’ he replied.

  ‘Okay,’ continued Frog. ‘Send them up to melt these ice creatures and the frozen land. That’ll stop them,’ he said, looking pleased with his suggestion.

  ‘It’s a good idea,’ acknowledged Sir Dragonslayer. ‘But we would be totally outnumbered. I think on the last count we only have about two hundred trained dragons and dragon masters in the Kingdom. As the Frozen Wastes move forwards, the army of Hidden People increases, made from those poor souls that are overtaken and frozen to death by the ice. Once people of the land, they become transformed into Hidden People. There are thousands upon thousands of them already. More continue to pour from the Ice Mountains. Goodness knows how long Lord Maelstrom has been creating his vile creatures.’

  ‘If we can warn our people to evacuate and clear the land, the Hidden People will have no poor souls to convert into their kind and strengthen their numbers,’ suggested Gizmo. ‘They will end up spreading themselves too thin in their efforts to cover the ground. I have a feeling that th
e advancement of the dark army to the south is governed by the progress of the Frozen Wastes and the Hidden People in the north. Lord Maelstrom will not be eager to attack Castellion Stronghold without the combined forces of Darkness and Ice. He knows also that the wolf legions are as unruly and as unpredictable as their leader Fangmaster, who I would bargain has his own plans for domination. This may well be the weakness that we need.’

  He turned and walked to the blazing fire in the large stone hearth and stood there in silence, staring into the flames.

  ‘What’s he doing?’ whispered Frog.

  ‘Thinking,’ answered Sir Peacealot.

  ‘What about?’ asked Frog.

  ‘How should I know?’ said Sir Peacealot irritably.

  ‘Sorrreeee,’ muttered Frog.

  Suddenly, Gizmo turned and the fire roared up, flames licking the wall above the hearth. His eyes were ablaze, as if reflecting the fire’s flames.

  ‘Sir Dragonslayer, send out for your dragons and their masters. Lady Dawnstar, gather your Maids of Steel from near and far. Logan, instruct your Rangers to ride out across the realm to bring all those in the paths of Darkness, Fire and Ice to the safety and province of Castellion Stronghold. Sir Peacealot, send word to every king’s knight and squire that they rally here ready for battle. My Lord King, I beg you bless these commands and release Castellion’s war banners across the land to instruct all good living things to our aid. Send out the hornsmen to signal the call to arms. We will deliver a mighty message to Lord Maelstrom that we fear him not. The time has come to awaken the legend.’

  The king stepped back and touched the centre of the band which circled his head. From the image of the flaming sun, a bright golden light shone out and filled the room, reaching up and flowing out of the windows and doors. Frog felt a warmth and strength run through him, hands gently clasped his. On one side stood Logan and on the other Lady Dawnstar. They all joined hands in a circle, the golden glow running through them, bringing their hearts and senses together in one accord. All fear was banished from their minds, pure courage coursed through their veins.