Strike of Luck

 

By the bank Palit got his flute out. He blew a long, monotone sound. Then they waited.

Nothing happened.

-Maybe we’re in the wrong place? Nista glanced over at Palit staring out on the lake.

-Look!

The water moved. Something came up, emerged through the surface.

A hippo creature, big as a whale. It moved in to the shore and waited.

Palit leaped out on the big beast’s back. -Come on, jump!

Nista hesitated. It didn’t look safe. The animal sunk down, moved away from the shore.

-Jump!

She jumped, landed on its back. Slipped, fell into the water. Palit pulled her up.

The journey was long. The creature walked on the bottom where it could, swam where it had to. The water got deeper, the rocks on the sides taller.

-Where are we going? Nista said.

-I have no idea. The old man only told me I had to blow the flute. The rest would be up to fate.

They moved out into open water. Crossed a sea, bigger than anything they had ever seen before. Night fell. It was getting cold, and Nista’s clothes were still wet. Palit gave her his shirt, and they slept in each other’s arms to keep warm. The creature swam on.

The sun came up in the horizon, colouring the sky purple and red.

-We’re getting closer to land, Nista said between shaking teeth.

Palit got up on his knees. He had never seen mountains that high, that majestic. By the rocky shore he could see a castle, old and worn but big, powerful.

The animal stopped close to it, made a gesture. This was their destination.

The castle was tall, decorated with carvings everywhere. They walked through a big gate, into a hall. The dark silence was consuming.

The halls got darker as they moved on. Someone laughed further in.

-I don’t know if this is a god idea… Nista said, worried.

-We can’t turn back now. We have come so…

His head fell to the ground. His body the moment after.

The laughter was there, in the room, all around her.

She ran. Ran back where they had come from. She tripped in the darkness, fell over.

The laughter could no longer be heard. She got up on her feet. Her knee hurt, but she could walk. She moved on, one careful step at a time. She realised she was lost.

She saw a light. Looked through an open door. There was something there, lying on an altar. A medallion illuminating the room with magic.

-The Medallion of Luck, she whispered in awe.- I’ve found it.

She walked over, stood there for a while. The amulet they had travelled so far to find was there, in front of her. The laughter came back. She grabbed the amulet, put it around her neck. 

Something came running towards her at high speed. She saw a twisted face, an evil grin in the light of the amulet, just an instance. It missed her by an inch, hit a statue. Something metallic fell to the ground.

The laughing horror ran around her in the darkness, charged again. This time it hit her, punched her off her feet. She fell, held her hands out to protect herself from the impact to the ground.  Her hand closed around a handle. A sword was lying on the ground.

She held it up in the air. The laughter had changed. It didn’t seem amused any more, but angry, maybe even scared. Nista swung the sword, threw it into the darkness. The laughter stopped. A thump sound hit the floor.

A monster was lying on the ground. The sword was pierced through its face, out the back of its head. Rita grabbed the sword, and pulled it out.

Luck had turned. It was time to go home.

 

Uncountable Numbers