Discoucia Read online

  “That is my final word on the subject and I wish for you to respect it daughter of mine,” he said.

  “Yes Daddy,” she grudgingly replied.

  “Secondly, what I’m about to tell you must remain secret. There is a power that seeks to destroy the kingdom by bringing down the cities one by one. We are not dealing with the general massive armies that we have fought in the past, but with new and terrifying technology that is completely unknown to us.” he explained.

  “What kind of technology?” asked Jo.

  “In the far north-west of Discoucia is the Karga peninsula, beyond the lights of Chene where it sits in the dark shrouded by a mysterious fog,” he said.

  “What makes this fog mysterious?” asked Arthur.

  “It’s hot,” replied the King bluntly.

  “That’s impossible; fog is caused by cold temperatures and cannot exist in hot areas, as is my understanding,” he replied.

  “The fog itself is hot, but the outside temperature is cold, which makes the fog even warmer,” he said.

  “Now this I have to see,” said Arthur.

  “What is Karga like?” asked Jo.

  “It was once ruled by a very rich family whose name escapes me, but they lost all of their money and their castle was left to decay in the elements. The forests all around the land are hugely overgrown since there is no one there to tend them and they’re now home to all sorts of dangerous creatures,” he explained.

  “Very well, we can check it out if it is your wish,” said Arthur.

  “Yes Daddy we shall go…together,” said Jo grudgingly.

  The King walked over to his two advisors, and that appeared to be the cue for Arthur and Jo to leave.

  “You know how the family in Karga lost all their money right?” asked Arthur.

  “No, how?” asked Jo.

  “Your father many years ago found out that they were funnelling money to Neo Firmania in a tax avoidance scheme and all the money they had left they had to pay back. Once again you can never escape taxes,” he replied.

  “I doubt my father would have left them destitute,” said Jo.

  “No idea about that, maybe they went back to Neo Firmania to get their money,” said Arthur.

  They returned to the Nostradamus as quickly as they could, and Jo was given a guided tour of Arthur’s ship.

  A short stop

  The ship lifted off then sailed into the north east, and Arthur sat at his desk while Jo looked at the various books that filled the bookshelves. “So where did you get this ship?” asked Jo.

  “I stole it from my father just before our house was demolished and he went on an insane rampage,” replied Arthur.

  “Of course, it was your father that caused the Great Uprising, but then that means…”

  “Queen Lilia the Young, most dangerous threat to the nation and warlady of Harrha Island, is my twin sister. The person we have been sent to arrest is my dear sibling who took a much different path in life than I did. Please don’t probe too far into it as it’s a topic I don’t really like to discuss,” he replied.

  “Ok but can we take a look inside your wardrobe? I have rather a lot of clothes and it would be a lot easier for me to put them in there rather than leaving them all over your bedroom floor,” she asked.

  “Very well if you insist, then I will show you,” he said.

  They both climbed the stairs and entered Arthur’s bedroom which had several white suitcases in a pile next to the bed.

  “Do you really need that many clothes?” he asked.

  “Yes, next question?” she asked sarcastically.

  Arthur didn’t answer but unlocked the door to the wardrobe and turned on the long light that hung above. Jo was amazed to see rows of clothes all neatly in hangers, and others hanging out of boxes that were placed in irregular areas all across the floor.

  “This place is a mess,” said Jo.

  I haven’t had a chance to clean up or sort everything out, maybe you should stay out of here if you find the place messy,” he replied.

  “You know, I heard that my father once assigned you to discover who was smuggling in the old Chene Harem, and since the only men allowed in there were King Jassuer and his advisor, how did you get in?” she asked.

  “I guess I can’t avoid this any longer so take a wild guess,” he replied sarcastically.

  “I’m going to go with blue ballroom dress and bright blonde wig, since Jassuer really liked blondes,” she replied.

  “He was politely asked to stop smuggling in illegal poisonous Blue Whisky in return for the public not finding out that his new favourite girl wasn’t actually a girl” replied Arthur.

  “That’s a story to tell the children I suppose, but you have rather a lot of dresses and this one wouldn’t even fit you” she said, lifting an old purple dress.

  “No that was my sister’s; when I left, all this was in the ship, which I believe meant that my mother intended to leave with her” he replied.

  “What happened to your mother?” asked Jo.

  “She was killed by a falling piece of masonry when an Evermore gunboat destroyed our house, they never found her body. I was told that by one of the servant’s years later since I wanted to leave all that behind” he said sadly.

  “I’m sorry, that was an unfair question to ask” she replied.

  “Oh well it’s in the past now, but if you don’t mind we’re flying over Fina and I would like to visit my house like I do every year” he asked.

  “May I come with you?” she asked.

  “I was rather hoping you would,” replied Arthur.

  The ship sped past the vast gleaming walls of Evermore and flew across the great valley that lay between it and the ruins of Fina. They were similar to the ruins of the Sandy Fortress, and they were built upon one of the few mountains in the centre of the Discoucian continent. This surprisingly flat mountain was a strange place because in a valley surrounded by a wall of rock were iron sculptures of people, left over statues of lords, ladies, kings and queens that had been overthrown and their likenesses discarded here. Fina lay much closer to Evermore than it did to the sea city of Cesta.

  The ship landed outside the walls of a once magnificent building. The wall they had landed by had flowers growing out of its many cracks, which made for an oddly pleasant sight. The gates had gone, ripped out many years ago which made it easier for the two to gain access to the old Pageon estate.

  “Do you still own the land?” asked Jo.

  “On a legal level since I am a second older than my sister, I own Fina but what do I want with a gloomy desolate mountain range,” he said.

  “I see. Shall we go to the house?” she asked.

  They continued up the desolate drive to the manor, which stood as a decayed tree stump sticking out of the ground. “Do you have pleasant memories of here before, you know..?” she asked, but Arthur was deep in thought. He pictured the house as it was before, white plaster walls and ornate red ceilings, the curtains billowing in with the summer breeze, and him running from his sister who wielded a wooden sword. In Arthur’s mind the walls fell down and the ceilings collapsed. This bought him back to reality as Jo tapped him on the back.

  “Sorry, an attack of nostalgia,” he said.

  “Are you ready to go? I mean all this memory stuff is delightful but we should be heading for Karga,” she said.

  “Of course, race you back” he said, and ran. Jo for a second didn’t take him seriously, and when she saw that he was in fact running, she ran too. Arthur was winning, until Jo streaked past him, her hair flowing behind her. They jumped over the high wall and landed on the deck simultaneously, and both breathed hard.

  “I thought you were joking!” she angrily panted.

  “I know, but you nearly beat me,” he replied, also out of breath.

  They re-entered the ship and it began to fly across the sky, leaving behind the mountain which was swallowed up by the night. “I have a question for you, Jo” he said while sitti
ng at his desk.

  “Go for it,” she replied, lying on the settee with her feet up.

  “What’s your sister like?” he asked.

  “Alex? She is very devoted to the Order of the Tangerine, and I only see her on Daddy’s birthday, because that’s the only time she deems important enough to leave the Order’s Monastery in Thorisea, why?”

  “I was just wondering, I’ve never really met her, so I have no idea what she looks like,” he replied.

  “Like me, only slightly older,” she said.

  They were interrupted by Corky, who knocked and entered. “What is it?” asked Arthur. “And a good evening to you too boyo, I just came to tell you that were about an hour from Karga, and with your permission I’ll park her on the beach outside the forest and turn in for the night,” he said.

  “No problem, I’ll see you in the morning,” replied Arthur.

  “And if you don’t mind I’ll park as far away from the forest as is possible, after what I’ve heard,” he said cryptically.

  “What are you talking about?” asked Jo.

  “That creature miss, with the iron teeth and glowing yellow eyes,” said Corky.

  “I don’t believe you, but if there is a monster then after this we’ll go to Proceur and you can have a weekend holiday,” said Pageon.

  “An esteemed thank you for the vote of confidence sir, and on that note I’ll say goodnight,” he said, and left.

  Out of the window Jo could see the bright lights of Chene quickly pass by. “Why do you call him Corky?” she asked.

  “Two reasons mainly, his full name is Cornelius Undergast, and he’s also a fan of the drink,” he replied.

  “Has he been with you long?” asked Jo.

  “He was my father’s driver, how old do you think he is?” he said.

  “I’d say he was over 600,” replied Jo.

  “He’s 348,” he said.

  “I don’t believe you” she replied.

  Arthur and Jo sat at the desk, Jo in a chair opposite Arthur’s that she had pulled up from the corner of the sitting room, and they began to have dinner together. Corky had stopped off in a small town and Arthur got some Fire Island takeaway, which he eyed suspiciously but Jo ate quite happily.

  “So tell me, Arthur, about this whole travelling lifestyle, it tells me that you have an inability to settle down,” said Jo quite savagely.

  “It’s true, and from the way you believed you could handle this alone and going as far as questioning your king’s judgement, I have to guess that you are jealous of your sister,” he said.

  “I have no idea what you mean,” she said.

  “Your sister is never at home and despite the fact that she could be doing terribly you know your father wouldn’t know. So that means you have to compete with someone that is constantly showing you up despite never being there. This is your second mission as a member of the Discoucian Secret Service and after rescuing you from what could have been an early end to your promising career I have to ask why you thought you could take care of this on your own,” he asked.

  “You may think you’re this great adventurer who travels the world for the glory of the empire, but I fail to see what right you have to criticise me,” she said.

  “Are you sure this is the right vocation for you Princess?” he asked.

  “There are things I can do that you surely cannot, and as much as I believe that I can complete this mission on my own it doesn’t mean that I am over-confident,” she replied.

  “Still wouldn’t you be better suited to another job, maybe doing royal visits and opening new buildings?” he asked.

  “You know you complain about me sounding arrogant, but as much as you would hate to admit it, you’re not comfortable at all with me being your partner either,” she said.

  “I never said anything of the sort,” he said.

  “What do you think it would do to your reputation, having to rely on a princess?” she asked sarcastically.

  “I see that you and I are going to have a very fun time, though if I promise to not question your lifestyle choice, then I suppose you will extend me the same courtesy?” he asked.

  “I don’t know how long this partnership is going to last, but until then I think we should work together and afterwards continue with whatever that just was,” she replied.

  The Fog

  “Am I sleeping upstairs?” asked Jo.

  “Of course, I rarely sleep since it’s a condition I inherited from my ancestors,” he replied.

  “I’ll see you in the morning then,” she said.

  “Goodnight Josephine,” he replied.

  “Please call me Jo,” she said.

  “Then call me Artie, it sounds less formal. Goodnight Jo,” he replied.

  “Goodnight Artie,” she said, and disappeared upstairs. Arthur settled down at his desk with the letter he found, and began to read it properly.

  ‘“To my brother, Arthur

  I would like to inform you that I am planning to do something that you would consider stupid and unethical but it has to be done. As much as I would like to spare you from it, only you can accomplish that. Stay out of my way and you won’t meet an untimely death at the hands of my army. As much as I would like to see you again after a new world has been established I would hate for it to be as a corpse. Your dear sister, Queen Lilia the Young.’

  “I’ll get you one day Lilia, one day I’ll get you,” he said to himself, and then took a book from the shelf that read ‘Karga, A History’. “’“So Karga is home to all kinds of strange flora and fauna, but the notion of it being haunted or that it has any ties with the supernatural can be dismissed instantly since after being banned in the 170th century, witchcraft has never been witnessed there’,”” he read. “Well, I don’t much like the way that’s worded but it seems that the monster isn’t an old thing,” he said, relaxing in his chair.

  The ship now sped over the sea, and past hundreds of little fishing boats and tiny lamp-lit villages that lay around the coves and beaches of Discoucia. They flew closer and closer to the fogbound shores of Karga, and all the adventures that waited for them…

  Voices in the Fog

  Jo was dreaming. She was wandering through a dark forest and the fog was up to her ankles. She was completely alone, the forest was silent and every footstep she made echoed all around the trees. Walking in one direction, she felt that she was heading for something but had no idea what. Then, from far behind her she heard the sound of something crunching its way through the trees. She tried to run but her feet stayed walking and didn’t change pace. She could not see what was behind her but knew that she had to hide. She looked ahead and saw what remained of a castle, but she couldn’t tell its height because of the dark canopy of trees. Her path led her up to a rotting oak door which she pushed open with a creak. She stared into the gloom and two luminous yellow eyes stared back at her. With the prospect of being attacked from both sides, Jo fainted and landed on the floor of Arthur’s bedroom.

  She looked around and for a second she forgot why she was there, and then remembered everything as the memories came flooding back. She got dressed and hurried down to the sitting room, expecting to see Arthur passed out on the settee. When she looked out of the windows she couldn’t see anything, as the fog her father had told her about had completely enveloped the ship.

  “Artie! Artie!” she shouted when she walked onto the deck.

  “What!” echoed a voice from out in the murky distance.

  “Where are you?” she shouted.

  “Down here, on the beach,” he shouted back.

  Jo walked down onto a bewildering sight. Arthur and Corky were playing golf in the sand. “Good morning. Pleasant sleep?” he asked, taking a shot at the hole they had dug into the sand. He missed and Corky sniggered so quietly that Jo could not hear but Arthur heard, and nearly threw his club at him. But then he breathed heavily, calmed down and composed himself.

  “Yes, your bed is extremely comfy,” she
replied.

  “Thanks, anyway are you ready to go monster hunting?” he asked.

  “Ready when you are,” she said.

  They walked over to the borders of the forest which was thick with brambles and nettles. Visibility ahead was practically zero but Arthur seemed to know which way he was going.

  “Have you ever been here before?” asked Jo.

  “No, I walked around this morning to see if there was a way in,” he replied.

  Arthur led Jo to an opening in the tree line, where all the weeds and plants had been crushed and the branches were broken and torn from the trees.

  “I suppose this is the best place to start, mysterious looking place wouldn’t you say?” asked Arthur, with a hint of excitement in his voice.

  “You first,” she said.

  “I thought you were the strong independent woman and what kind of gentleman would I be if I didn’t let you go first?” he replied.

  “Just go” she said, smiling as Arthur passed her and led them through.

  The forest was so dark that it could have been the middle of the night and there would be no difference to the light levels. The fog wound its way all around the trees and across the path. The duo’s hair hung lank on their shoulders as they pushed on along the path that passed through random outcrops of rocks and large untended hedgerows. Patches of grass grew beneath the massive birch trees whose silver bark glistened in the damp but warm atmosphere.

  “How far is the castle from here?” whispered Jo.

  “I believe that it’s about half a mile in this direction,” he whispered back.

  They walked past a sundial which was covered in ivy, and the remains of a stone path. They reached a small field of rapidly wilting honeysuckle and pushed on through. Ahead Arthur saw that a dark path cut through a hill, and had two large hedges that grew over it. A dull crunching sound echoed deep from within and seemed to flood out like a voice.

  “Are we going in there?” asked Jo.

  “No, we’re not going into the incredibly scary looking tunnel that obviously has something nasty at the end,” he replied sarcastically.