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  “We have guns” she replied, taking out hers.

  “You know, this may send a bad message to anyone who we tell but I feel so much more confident when I have a gun in my hand,” he said.

  “You’re right, it is a bad message, but at this point I think we should take them anyway and leave this part out,” she replied.

  Jo had now forgotten her previous anxiety about entering the tunnel and followed Arthur along with a newly found confidence; not because she was now armed, but after the way he reduced the situation to a joke and did not seem to take it as seriously as she did. However she was noticing some stark similarities between the layout of the forest and the one in her dream.

  They had reached about halfway through the tunnel, and Jo saw through the steaming mist that the walls were made out of old stones, placed on top of each other and not in any particular pattern. Arthur walked a bit further on and felt the floor underneath him change to hard stone. The fog was absolutely stifling and Arthur had to take his jacket off, which was now soggy.

  “Look at that, vintage Eve of Saint Lara and soaked,” he said.

  “I didn’t know you had such a high class taste in fashion” said Jo.

  “What else am I going to spend my money on?” he asked.

  “I don’t know, a home and a wife,” she replied.

  “You give me way too much credit as far as my life is concerned, I’m an orphan so if you don’t mind I’d like to get off the subject,” he said.

  “What does being an orphan have to do with it?” she asked.

  “I didn’t have a stable family life and it didn’t prepare me for adulthood,” he said.

  “It’s a bit late to be complaining about that now, here of all places,” she replied.

  “Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned it, I barely know you,” he said.

  “And I barely know you but we’re not going to get anywhere if you don’t want to be co-operative,” she replied.

  “I thought you didn’t need co-operation?” he asked.

  “What are you talking about?” she asked.

  “Never mind,” he replied, walking further along the path.

  He looked around and saw that they had entered an old courtyard, which had several trees poking out of the floor, and all around the floor was covered with the odd patch of moss. “We’re not that far away from the castle, in fact if I’m not mistaken that little blinking light off in the distance is the main hall” he said.

  “You mean the old and ruined castle that has not been inhabited for centuries?” asked Jo, obviously hinting at the fact that something wasn’t right.

  “Yes, I see what you mean. There’s a way down through those trees and I think that we go to the left then straight to the castle walls,” he replied.

  They climbed down the old stone stairs that had once had beautiful stone carvings, but now vines curled their stalks around in effort to choke the life out of the solid pink granite. After reaching the bottom it became clear to Arthur that he had walked out into the open, and he sensed that something was coming towards him from the left. He and Jo ducked down below the stone banister and for a tense few seconds they peered through the holes in the vines out into the gloomy clearing. Jo watched, shaking slightly, and Arthur held her hand. For a second she felt quite safe and then remembered that she had only just met him, along with their heated discussion last night she decided to take her hand back.

  There was a loud crash and out of the trees to the left came a tall black figure with glowing yellow eyes. It turned to the stone banister, and out of nowhere came a fist swishing down above them, then a spray of dust as chunks of stone flew everywhere. Arthur grabbed Jo and ran past the figure, which had got its arm lodged in the stone. He stopped at the hole where the figure had burst out, and Jo ran in past him. He picked up a stone and threw it at the figure, which seemed to be wreathed in darkness. “Metal, that figures,” he said to himself. He left the figure to struggle while catching Jo up, and saw that she had made it to the castle walls. They loomed up into the fog, pinnacles of slime covered stone, while Jo was standing outside a wooden door.

  “Why aren’t you going in?” he asked. She didn’t reply but stayed rooted to the spot. Arthur grabbed Jo’s hand and pulled her into the now open doorway. He slammed the door shut and ran up the stone spiral staircase with Jo trailing behind. They turned round the stairs three times and it was pleasant to be out of the stifling fog for a moment. They reached the top and entered a vast courtyard that spread out as far as they could see - which was not very far, as the fog was so much thicker here.

  The stone floor was uneven, and weeds were growing out of the multiple cracks. “I can just about see that light,” said Arthur.

  “Me too, and you can let go of me now,” she replied, and Arthur let go straight away and seemed a little embarrassed but thanks to the fog he was spared Jo noticing.

  “What happened back there,” he asked.

  “I don’t know, I’m sorry,” she replied.

  “Don’t apologise, it can happen to anyone. Listen, I have an idea and I want you to go around the building and climb on the roof. I’ll go straight through the front door and you can watch from above what goes on,” he explained.

  “I don’t think that will be much of a problem, I’ll keep an eye on you,” she replied.

  They split up, and Arthur drew his pistol. He walked across the courtyard half expecting another creature to jump out at him, but this didn’t happen. The main building was mostly intact and a big oak door separated Arthur from what was inside; he opened the door and couldn’t believe the sight that greeted him in this decaying ruin…

  An unlikely answer to a puzzling scenario

  Arthur walked into what was once the great hall of the castle, and he saw rotting green drapes on the broken glass windows. However it was what lay in the centre of the room that drew his attention. It was a beautiful-looking machine that whirred and whizzed with bright lights glaring from various different bulbs around its polished brass frame. It was bulb-shaped with a large tube extending out of the top and into a hole in the ceiling. There were various wires connecting different parts of the machine, and a control box in the centre, with dials of numbers running up and down.

  “You are beautiful,” said Arthur.

  “She is, isn’t she,” said a voice from behind him.

  Arthur spun around and saw that three men were watching him; the one in the centre wore a fancy purple uniform with silver epaulettes, and had shiny slicked black hair and a short smart moustache. The one to his left wore a simple purple uniform, and the one to the right wore a white lab coat and had goggles tangled in his frizzy brown hair.

  “Good evening, and who is that I have the honour of addressing?” asked Arthur.

  “Commander Norso, at your service,” he said smartly.

  “Can I have a cup of tea?” he asked.

  “Excuse me?” asked Norso quizzically.

  “You said you were at my service,” replied Arthur. Jo silently laughed from her hiding place above, and she now saw that Arthur was a little braver than she thought.

  “If that is your idea of a joke…?” asked Norso, not changing his expression.

  “It was, but since I don’t hear any laughter we won’t dwell on it. So tell me, I understand that you have a machine that can generate fog, though I cannot fathom why,” said Arthur.

  “Please, Sir Arthur, have a guess, I would love for you to figure this one out,” said the small brown haired man.

  “Will you please introduce yourself, sir,” said Arthur.

  “I am Professor Claudio, an authority on the weather of the world,” he replied.

  “Of course now I remember, you’re the professor that resigned from Evermore University along with Dr Dayton when you both blew up your laboratory,” he replied.

  “Yes, he went freelance while I joined Queen Lilia since the King wouldn’t allow me to continue our experiments,” he said.

  “Oh, I thin
k I can make an educated guess at why you would want to generate artificial fog, I mean it has so many uses. You can use it to scare superstitious locals, you can rob palaces and escape into the fog and you can move entire armies without anyone seeing. I have to say that that is a brilliant idea,” he said.

  “Not just an idea, but a reality!” he shouted maniacally.

  “So is this a prototype?” asked Arthur.

  “It’s a tester and since it works, we can now depart for Harrha but we won’t need it as I have all of the plans with me, ready to mass produce,” he said.

  “One more question, is that your guard dog outside? As it seemed to be a little stuck when it demolished a granite banister,” he said.

  “That is one of Queen Lilia’s new soldiers which still has a few problems but when we take it back to her, she can make it more powerful than ever before,” he explained.

  “I see, so what are you going to do now?” asked Arthur.

  “I’ll field that question,” said a voice from behind. Arthur was about to turn around but was knocked unconscious by a rifle butt.

  Arthur awoke to find himself strapped to a chair, facing the Fog Machine, which now had another component attached to it. It was a red box with four slowly rotating dials that read 0369, but then clicked over to 0368, and Arthur instantly recognised it as a bomb. The men were all gone and he was left alone in the hall, watching the dials inexorably click down to zero. “Whenever you’re ready my dear, I’m waiting right here,” shouted Arthur.

  Jo swung down from the roof and landed right in front of Arthur. “In case you didn’t notice that bomb will be going off soon, and I would appreciate it if you untied me,” said Arthur calmly.

  “I don’t know, I kinda like the idea of you subdued and tied up,” said Jo in a cocky tone.

  “This really isn’t the time or place for wherever you’re going with this Jo. Can we get out of here now? I have to report this to your father,” said Arthur.

  “All righty then,” she said, cutting the ropes binding Arthur’s arms and he stood up, still staring at the machine. “Are you coming, or are you just going to stand next to a ticking time bomb?” she asked, exasperated. Arthur didn’t answer, but he walked behind the machine and was heard unscrewing something.

  Arthur shouted “Eureka!” and ran with Jo out of the hall, clutching an object that Jo didn’t see. They ran down the stairs and out of the old oak door, and into the courtyard where they had last seen the creature.

  “Where has it gone?” asked Jo. “No idea, they probably took it with them,” said Arthur.

  There was an explosive bang that lit up the night sky, and in seconds the fog dissipated, and they both saw the land for what it really looked like. The overgrown arches and columns all looked so beautiful; for the first time since they arrived in Evermore they saw the huge pink moon that was now above them, making it as light as day in the moonlight.

  “Let’s get back to the ship, I’ll message your father and I owe Corky one fully paid trip to Proceur,” said Arthur.

  “Hopefully this time I can have a good night’s sleep,” she replied. Arthur then took out a piece of paper from his pocket and Jo walked over to Arthur to read it too.

  “’Order of 1,000 prisoners from I to H within the next month’,” read Arthur.

  They both walked back through the forest which now seemed cool and calm after the fog and the lingering threat of a monster had gone. They climbed aboard the ship and it lifted off then sped across the land to the east, where they would not find a calm holiday but another extension to their already strange adventure.

  An Icy Reception

  “So what do the letters mean?” asked Jo.

  “I guess when you mention prisoners and the letter ‘I’ it probably means Icester,” he said.

  “Oh no I’m not going there, it’s freezing like all the time,” she said.

  “I think that’s why they called it Icester dear,” he replied.

  “Have you got anything warm to wear?” she asked.

  “Since I can tell you’ve been dying to go in there again, check my wardrobe. There’s a ton of stuff in there,” he replied. Jo went upstairs followed by Arthur to look for something that would keep them warm in the frozen wastes and mountains of Icester.

  “You have so much stuff and it’s everywhere, one day we’ll sort it out,” said Jo.

  “I know, I just haven’t had the chance lately,” he replied. Jo pushed past various jackets, and then dresses, and then she finally got to a strange looking fur coat. It was green velvet with tufts of fur coming out of the collar, wrists and bottom. The inside was fur as well and it looked perfect for the purpose they had in mind. Jo put it on and she instantly warmed up.

  “I’ll take this one,” she called to Arthur who had found a blue one that was just the same.

  “I’ll take this one then, if I remember rightly I got these from Icester a long time ago when Lady Argrecius ruled, and she insisted that all the guards wore colour coded uniforms,” he explained.

  They left the wardrobe, and when they looked out of the windows they saw that they were passing Chene. It was still night so the city was lit up beautifully. “It looks lovely, doesn’t it?” asked Arthur.

  “Yes, a real miracle,” replied Jo. They then flew over another tributary of the Sky River and they saw ahead; looming out of the darkness, were the peaks of the Icicle Mountains.

  Tiny snowflakes began to fill the air and settle on the deck, but it was too warm for them to settle so they melted straight away. The ship began to fly higher and higher, since the only safe place to land in the mountains was a sheltered valley that looked down onto Icester Prison from high above the clouds. “Have you ever been to Icester before?” asked Arthur.

  “No I haven’t to be honest with you, members of the royal family wouldn’t be welcomed much since when your appointed to Icester as a Lord or Lady, then 300 days of the year it’s pretty much a death sentence,” said Jo.

  “We may have to change your name then, you can be my assistant,” he said. “I’ll get you for this Arthur,” she said.

  “OK then, Miss Daisy,” he replied.

  “OK I have to agree with you that name is inspired, not a touch of royalty about it,” she said.

  “Nope it’s just a lovely normal name,” said Arthur.

  “Actually that was mean, to all Daisies in the world, you have a lovely name,” she said.

  “Who are you talking to?” asked Arthur.

  “No one,” said Jo who followed Arthur out onto the deck.

  The second they left the ship the cold hit them instantly, all their exposed skin was jabbed by tiny invisible icicles but with the fur coats it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. They flew through ghastly looking mountain passes and past jutting cliffs that were slightly obscured by the snow.

  There suddenly came a colossal moaning sound from deep in the mountains, and Jo clutched Arthur, and Arthur clutched back. After the sound subsided, the two got back to their senses and continued their conversation. “Probably the wind,” said Arthur.

  “Echoing through a cave,” said Jo.

  “Yes, couldn’t possibly be anything else,” said Arthur.

  “Can we go back inside now?” asked Jo.

  “Yes, yes we can,” said Arthur in a hurried voice.

  The ship sped through the snowstorm, and finally came to a small sheltered valley that was only big enough for the ship to land and then a little walking space between the ship and a 1000ft drop. The Nostradamus landed with a crunch on the snow covered ground, and out of the sides came four hydraulic metal spikes, two on each side. They dug into the ground and the ship was now stable against the howling wind.

  Arthur was packing everything he needed to survive a downhill climb and an uphill climb on the way back. “So Corky, all you have to do is activate the snow defences when we leave the ship,” said Arthur.

  “Then I can get back to inventing a new engine for the ship,” he replied. />
  “Yes, and do anything you want, just don’t get cabin fever while you’re up here all alone,” said Arthur.

  “I don’t know about that, I’ve got enough things to do,” said Corky.

  “In that case, carry on,” said Arthur, who walked outside with Jo.

  “Carry on? I got a leaky oil spewing pile of carry on for you right here,” he muttered under his breath. When they left the sitting room the whole ship changed. Steel shutters came down over the windows and the valley which had been previously lit by the ship now went dark, and Jo wanted to leave as soon as possible.

  “Why do we have to park all the way up here, when it would make so much more sense if we parked in Icester’s Sky Port like everyone else?” asked Jo.

  “For three reasons really. This way we’re high up and away from anything bad that could happen. Secondly, I don’t have to pay for parking this way and don’t look so judgemental, everyone does it,” he explained.

  “And the third?” she asked. Arthur jumped over the banister of the ship and shuffled through the snow over to a rock wall. Jo looked at him quizzically until he pushed on the wall, and it opened like a door.

  “Oh I see and that makes perfect sense now,” she said. Jo followed Arthur through the door, which closed behind her. The ship was left like a scene in a snow globe, lonely and covered in a blanket of powdery snow.

  Arthur and Jo made their way along a pitch black tunnel; it was surprisingly warm after the bitter cold of outside.

  “Arthur, where are you?” asked Jo, who couldn’t see a thing and was strangely amazed at the crystal echoes of her voice.

  “In front of you, just keep walking,” he replied. There was a light ahead, a pale blue light that they quickened their pace to get to. At the end of the dark tunnel was a large chamber, which was lit by blue glowing crystals poking out of the walls.

  “You know, I never actually mentioned before but you have a beautiful voice,” said Arthur.

  “Are you paying me a compliment?” she asked.

  “Yes your majesty, I was. You don’t have to make such a big deal about it,” he replied.