Davidia and the Prince of Triplock Read online

  This was a life form called an Igloid. He was named Grunt, because that was the only sound he made when moving. He was the official guardian of the valley and lived permanently inside the Rock of Yocklaw. In times past, the ancient Igloodians had bestowed on one of their kind the role of guardian, the unintended consequence of banishment, so that the Valley of Preciousness would remain free for all time. Grunt was forever banned to be a guardian, but never knew what life form he truly was. His current body shape was the price of being a guardian. His ugliness had kept him hidden. However, the power of evil in the valley had been underestimated with the new invader taking up residence. That was not supposed to happen.

  An Igloid had five legs with webbed feet, five sets of ears, special nasal filters growing through its many nasal passages, five eyes individually located at the extremities of its circumference for an all round view and thousands of skin pores, which opened and closed as he rolled along on his five legs. The skin pores acted as waste dispensers, which explained why he was constantly moist.

  The Evil Mist had no effect on him; however, he alone couldn’t remove it from the valley. It was indelibly written in his limited memory somewhere that a lie was the only way to rid the valley forever of this insidious invader. Grunt had no idea where to find such a lie, but he must somehow protect the valley. He couldn’t tell the lie. It had to come from another life form.

  Grunt was awoken by the small, annoying, pest – like mist puffs. How did they get in here? Doesn’t an Igloid deserve his rest, he wondered. Damn annoying pests.

  He peered through the rock wall down into the valley and saw a young life form lying there, motionless.

  What a strange life form! It has a covering on it. What is it doing there?

  He closely observed it for a while, until he realised that it had been put to sleep. The grey sky meant that evil had arrived in the valley. He believed that there was no chance of its revival; such was the devastating power of the Evil Mist. He resigned himself to recovering a lost cause. No one before to his knowledge had ever recovered from the sleep attack of the Evil Mist. It was an adversary of enormous cunning, danger, strength and desolation.

  The life form looked so beautiful, helplessly lying there. Grunt knew that the safest place from the Evil Mist was inside the Rock of Yocklaw. He couldn’t leave the life form there to decay, even though he thought that it was beyond saving. He made an unintelligible noise. Suddenly, a crack in the rock opened. He rolled out, scooped up the cute, young life form and took it into the labyrinth of caves under the rock. It was rather light.

  ‘I’ll have company for a time until I have to dispose of it,’ he said to himself.

  For the next few days, he looked at the young, pretty life form. A sadness grew within. There was no explanation as to why he felt this way. His skin pores began to emit minute water droplets in sympathy. He turned away to roll on his legs when he accidentally tripped over a loose stone. Perhaps it was a relative of the one that had spoken earlier to Davidia.

  Damn those loose stone, he thought to himself. Grunt’s only form of intelligent communication and understanding with human life forms was by touch, but he had the capacity for individual thought. With other living life forms, sound echoes between them were understood. His hearing was phe – nomenally acute.

  The loose tripping stone sent him awkwardly stumbling sideways. The action of falling over released many water droplets from his rotund frame, which flew through the air and landed on the young girl. He watched in amazement as they were absorbed into her body. He sadly walked away wondering what to do.

  ‘I will have to send her down the tunnel of eternity in the next few days.’ The cave was darker than normal, with Grunt’s upset attitude.

  Suddenly, a strange noise echoed throughout the caves. Grunt thought that those pesky bats were squabbling again over the best roof hanging spots. Those annoying fliers were Grunt’s only regular company. The sound grew louder. Grunt had never experienced the shrill sound of a child crying. It was fearful. A larynx in full flight was a deafening and scary sound, especially in an echoing cave system. He followed the sound and turning a corner, saw the twelve year old life form standing there, bellowing like a bull. Unsure of what it was, he cautiously approached.

  Grunt thought that it made the weirdest, strangest noises. Even the high – pitched shriek of squabbling bats was more tolerable. It was every parent’s bad dream – an uncontrollable, screaming child.

  How did it wake up? thought Grunt. He was perplexed at the discovery that something had survived the sleep attack.

  The moist water droplets that he had spilled on the young life form contained healing powers he was unaware of. The chemical reaction within the life form’s body awoke her from a dark, heavy sleep. It also affected her brain and gave her the ability to communicate with Grunt, but by touch only. Neither of them had a common language.

  Davidia sensed Grunt and screamed in fright. She shook with fear. Grunt was confused. He put a hand out to stop her shaking and touched her arm. She stopped crying. They both experienced the excitement of being able to communicate. When Grunt withdrew his hand, it was silent. He cautiously touched her arm again and their thought patterns intertwined. They understood each other. Slowly a trust built up between them and any fears soon subsided.

  ‘What are you?’ asked Davidia.

  ‘I’m an Igloid. What are you?’ asked Grunt.

  ‘I’m a girl, a human people. My name is Davidia. Where am I? Where are my parents?’

  ‘I don’t know what a parent is,’ replied Grunt. ‘Perhaps I have them too.’

  ‘Everything has parents, otherwise we wouldn’t be here. Mine are called mum and dad. That’s not their real names, but it’s what we children call them. Do you have a name?’ asked Davidia.

  Grunt thought for a moment, ‘I think it’s Grunt. I have a memory from long ago and I think that it’s my name.’

  Davidia couldn’t see in the dark, so she had no idea what Grunt looked like.

  ‘It’s too dark in here. Can I go outside?’

  ‘No. It’s too dangerous. The Evil Mist is still there. Nothing is safe with it around.’ Grunt explained how the Evil Mist had tried to destroy her. ‘He places everything he covers into a sound sleep. If someone isn’t awoken within a few days, then they sleep forever. You are a lucky one to survive.’

  ‘He doesn’t sound very nice. Who is Mr Mist?’

  ‘The Evil Mist appears when the earth’s surface is disrupted or upset by nature. A demon known as Scatter lives inside the mist. Recently, when a gap in the ground opened, he escaped and wreaks havoc in revenge for being locked away. Over many years various protectors have trapped him underground, but he always manages to escape. He has a husky voice and blows icy cold winds with a deadly outcome. He slowly crawls across the landscape like a resentful life form, blanketing everything in a cold carpet of cool, water droplets. His face forms into a shadowy figure. The Rock of Yocklaw from its vantage point until now had barred his entrance into the Valley of Preciousness and to the Town of Importance. Alas, he has become so strong that it was impossible to bar his entrance this time. His wind content and strength is increasing and his menace towards all life forms is worsening. That’s how he entered the valley and overcame you. I fear the valley and all in it are lost if we don’t do something. You have been awoken by my water droplets and now you possess a power no one else has. It’s the power to say NO. Only we can save the valley, the town and all life forms in it,’ explained Grunt, hoping the young girl understood.

  ‘How do I get out of here? It’s pitch black. I can’t see anything.’

  ‘You cannot leave the rock or the valley until the Evil Mist is destroyed. Bright, sunny days and friendly winds cannot defeat it. It must be swallowed and then buried forever, deep inside the Rock of Yocklaw down a special tunnel called The Tunnel of Appraisal. I only know its name, but not where it ends.’

  ‘But I’m only a young girl,’ wailed Davidia.
<
br />   ‘The Evil Mist is devilishly cunning. It hears through the winds and vibrations in the ground. His permanence on the landscape wilts all the vegetation under a seductive, sleepy spell. No life form eats the wilted vegetation and eventually only the rocks remain. The Rock of Yocklaw years ago, when life was happier, was blessed with a special command of the last prince of the region to protect all life form in the valley. It’s believed he was a wizard of spellbinding proportions. I was once another life form, but I have no idea what type, nor do I know where I came from. I remember a terrible whirlwind from a land far away from here. It hurled me through the air. I woke up inside the rock, with my current physical appearance. Maybe the prince was a parent. That’s how I got this protection gig. No one knows of my existence; however, it is rumoured that strange grunting sounds have emanated from within the rock from time to time. I had to reveal myself to you in order to protect you. I thought it was too late to save you. The town and rock have been protected for such a long time. However, it looks as though the Evil Mist has grown strong enough to defeat me,’ said Grunt with a pained expression.

  ‘What can I do?’ asked Davidia, keen to join in a child’s game.

  ‘You must trap the Evil Mist with your special powers before it destroys the town and valley forever.’

  ‘Do I have special powers? What are they?’

  Before Grunt could answer, a low howl was heard. They ceased touch. Grunt rolled along the cave floor toward the surface. A special peering place from within the rock allowed his vision to penetrate the rock walls and see into the outside world without being seen. Two, huge, mist laden clouds floated through the air. Two large, dark, sullen eyes flitted gently from side to side. Scatter was scanning the landscape. The cold was unbearable. He was itching to wreak further havoc. He slowly drifted around the Rock of Yocklaw and his disinterest showed by a roll of the eyes as he headed further up the valley. His wispy, watery trail blotted out any light. Grunt shivered with the cold.

  I’ll defeat him somehow, thought Grunt. Those ice cubes of suffocation must be removed. Grunt rued the fact that he couldn’t save the town or valley. It needed a special power. He returned to Davidia, who hadn’t moved. They touched hands.

  ‘Davidia, we need a plan.’

  ‘I’m only twelve. What’s a plan?’

  ‘Innocence is the solution. The Evil Mist cannot handle a lie and there are very few life forms who know anything but the truth. You are young enough to know only the truth. Your mind hasn’t yet been distorted or perverted to the ways of lies, which you learn as you grow up,’ said Grunt, formulating an idea to defeat the Evil Mist. He suddenly wondered how he knew this. Maybe he had special powers too that he wasn’t aware of.

  ‘Does anyone else live in the caves besides you, Mr Grunt?’ asked Davidia, unable to understand that the problem of escape and saving the town and valley rested squarely upon her shoulders alone.

  ‘My lot in life is a solitary one. The bats are the only company I keep. There’s a maniacal bat called Batbit who often sits with me each dark (night, in Davidia’s world). He’s in charge of Batforce. That’s the group that all the bats belong to,’ replied Grunt, warming to his young visitor. ‘They live deep in the caves. Remember, the Evil Mist is very selfish and egotistical. This may assist in his undoing.’

  ‘I don’t understand all the words you say, but they must be good, considering you said them.’

  ‘We have to be smarter than he is. The only way to catch him out is with a lie.’

  ‘Is a lie the same as a fib? I don’t know any lies.’

  ‘A lie is when we say something to someone we know isn’t true, or say something that is believable, but we know it not to be correct.’

  ‘I don’t know if I’m capable of not telling the truth. Mum and dad taught me to always tell the truth. They said that little fibs can grow into lies if you plant them early in someone’s mind.’

  ‘You must learn quickly, if you are to save the town and valley. I’ll teach you what a lie is, but only one. Then the lie that you play on the Evil Mist must be one of your own. For example, that wall over there that you can’t see, what colour is it?’

  ‘It looks black to me, in the dark,’ replied Davidia, who squinted to see what colour it actually was, but it still looked black to her.

  ‘That is true. Now if I said it was yellow, then that’s a lie.’ Davidia nodded. ‘The wall is still black, but when someone says it’s yellow, they are lying. Now do you understand?’

  ‘I think so, Mr Grunt,’ said a confident twelve year old. ‘I don’t know if I can do it, but I’ll try.’ Touch ceased. Davidia sat down and thought of what lie she could tell the Evil Mist and how she could get it to him.

  Suddenly, a rush of wind, accompanied by high pitched screeching, passed within centimetres of Davidia’s hair. Was Dracula on the loose chasing a fresh meal? It was Batbit paying a visit. When he sensed any danger, he flew in to investigate it. Davidia didn’t have the danger vibe. Batbit’s two, tiny little feet dug into the underneath of Davidia’s arm, causing her to yell in pain.

  ‘It’s only a pin prick,’ said Batbit, also communicating with Davidia by touch now that he had a good foothold.

  ‘Get off me, it hurts.’

  Batbit let go of her armpit and flew onto her shoulder.

  ‘May I introduce myself? I’m Batbit at your service. Our species aren’t dingbats, but we are a special group called Batforce. We keep Mr Grunt company.’

  ‘Where do you live?’

  ‘Throughout the caves. It’s a tough tussle, trying to find the best roof spots to hang about on. Do you hang from the roof?’

  ‘I walk on two legs, flat on the ground.’ Davidia stood up, still with the little intruder hanging on.

  ‘I see. Are you sure they are in the right place? I haven’t seen anything like them before.’

  ‘You can see them in the dark? How?’

  ‘I’m a bat. We sense them by sonic sound waves bouncing off them. Unusual shape too. There’s that bulge halfway down. How unsightly.’

  ‘It’s a knee.’

  ‘They’re too lumpy for me. What are you and Mr Grunt up to?’

  Davidia briefly explained the Evil Mist’s visit and what had happened.

  ‘That means dark flying will be off. I’ll warn the group.’ A loud shriek pierced the silence of the caves. ‘Gotta go. Mrs Batbit has a hysterical scream if I’m late to hang on the roof with her. You don’t want to hear it in anger mode, its frightening.’ Batbit flew off. Davidia was alone in the dark once again.

  On the Rock of Yocklaw’s summit was a hidden opening covered by a bush, which had turned green. The Evil Mist had tried to ensure it didn’t survive by suffocating it. Life forms were somewhat protected by the rock. However, it still hid the secret opening. Grunt had shown Davidia the way there. The dull light danced on Grunt’s circumference, sufficiently enough for Davidia to see what he was. She held her breath in disbelief. She must be in fantasyland to see such an odd looking creature. Her hand was held in one of Grunt’s many. Somehow she felt safe.

  ‘Remember, the Evil Mist has no peer in cunning,’ reminded Grunt.

  The summit gave the best vantage point in the valley. It was still shrouded by the Evil Mist. The magical powers that Grunt had given Davidia, would last only for a short period of time.

  Timing was important, if they were to succeed in defeating the Evil Mist. Davidia had climbed to the top of the bush and looked out. It was grey and bleak.

  ‘Mr Mist. Are you there?’ yelled Davidia, in her loudest voice.

  Scatter, the Evil Mist’s inner demon, felt a movement in his underbelly. A sound reverberated throughout his mistiness. ‘That’s impossible. Everything is asleep,’ he angrily growled to himself. He decided that the moving irritant required permanent removal. His two, huge, doleful eyes searched for the annoying life form. ‘How dare anything toy with me,’ he continued rumbling. He whisked his eyes back through the mist, probing for the irritant.
His furtive glances portrayed that he’d never been challenged like this before. It was a new experience. His anger mounted.

  ‘I’ll freeze you out of the valley,’ he boomed in a low, growl – ing, threatening manner.

  Davidia had heard the unpleasant sound of an ugly burp full of particles of destruction. The cool, icy winds were felt by Davidia as they crazily rushed around her. Her skin became icy to touch. Her long, golden locks froze into shards of ice. Scatter felt the heat she generated. His eyes hovered over the ground trying to locate her. The mist puffs danced gleefully, having found her.

  ‘There she is, there she is,’ they called out.

  Finally, Scatter honed in on her location.

  ‘There you are,’ he said, pleased with himself that he had snuffed out, or so he thought he had, the young girl. ‘I’m all – powerful. Nothing can stand in my way and that goes for something as small as you.’

  He flew around her, to ensure that there was no life movement. Pleased that he was victorious, he began to float away to pursue further destruction.

  During this time, Grunt had remained concealed. His hand touched Davidia’s foot and she magically burst into life again. Her iced body returned to life as her blood flowed through her veins. She once again became a fully functioning, screaming young girl. Her mouth opened with a huge yawn and out of its inner depths a voice boomed out quite inexplicably, ‘Evil Mist, Evil Mist, I command you to leave this valley.’ It echoed throughout the whole valley, being transmitted by the mist particles.