17 January 2013

Chapter 2: Burnt to Ash

Then, in front of Slither's eyes was a blinding light, a Healer appeared out of nowhere. She had white hair, wore a golden robe and a staff with a shiny globe on top to cast spells in her right hand. "Slither, have you found them?" the healer asked. Slither looked puzzled. "Well I was going to tell them but they laughed at me." The healer looked at Slither, "Well, you have to hurry before they come; you know what you saw in the future, that's why we need them." Before Slither could answer back, the healer waved her staff. A golden portal showed up and she walked through vanishing into thin air.

The twins stared at their mum who was hanging laundry out on the line. She had short blond hair that came to her shoulders and sparkly blue eyes. Their mother was wearing a long white dress with red and yellow flowers decorated all over. The twins' home was a hut; it was made out of wood for the walls, door and windows and a straw for the roof. They weren't a rich family but they had just enough money for food. The twins walked on the hot sand that was scorching their feet, making their way over towards their mother to give a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. Arthur looked at the crusty loaf and showed his mum. His mum looked at him and smiled. "Thank you, go and put it on the side, I'll do some tea in a bit." "Okay mum."

Arthur and Jasmine trampled inside the hut. The hut was a cramped place and it was very distressful for the family to get past each other when they needed something. Arthur positioned the bread on the chipboard work surface and then sat at the table with Jasmine. Jasmine looked up; her face was pale like a ghost. "Who's Slither and what's this place called Pandora?" Arthur shook his head. "Well I couldn't see if its a man or woman, all I saw were bright green eyes staring through the robe."

Jasmine gave a signal by waving her hand in the air, pointing behind Arthur. Arthur turned to see his mum coming through the tiny porch. "Hi mum, you look exhausted do you want me to make the tea?" "Okay, thank you for asking, I'll just sit down by the table just in case you need help." "Okay mum." Arthur searched the cupboards to find what they could have with the crusty loaf. The cupboard was bare, hardly anything inside. All that was there was ham, cheese, and butter. So Arthur sliced up the loaf, spread on the butter and placed the cheese and ham onto the soft crusty bread. He cut the sandwiches in half and then took them over to the dinner table. They all looked down at the fresh loaf. They all picked it up at the same time and took a massive bite out of the sandwich. "So, what have you two been up to? Anything interesting?" the mother asked. Jasmine was going to ditch Arthur by telling her mother the truth but then she thought for a minute. Her mother was smiling for the first time since her father passed away. Her mother never told Arthur or Jasmine what happened to him; all they knew is that he was up in heaven looking down on them. "Well... We just went for a walk to look around the market, that's all," mumbled Jasmine. "Was it packed?" replied mum. Arthur joined in the conversation. "Yes mum there were lots of customers and stalls so I thought, while I was down there I would get you some bread." The mother walked over towards her children and have them both a hug. "Your father would be proud of you two." Small years fell down Arthur and Jasmine's cheeks. They quickly wiped them away before their mother saw.

The cold breeze began to blow, making the warm temperature gravitate. The sky became dark with a shade of purple. The mother rushed over towards the door before the blast of wind took it off the hinges. They all walked into the pokey living room. The mother opened the door to the fire and threw in some logs. After a few minutes the weak flames became blazing hot, warming up the living room. They all sat on the sofa next to the blazing fire trying to keep warm. On the shelf above the fire stood a picture of their father with black hair and wearing an air pilot suit from the navy. Jasmine always wanted to know how her father died but she always hesitated to ask just in case her mother got upset.

Then, from outside, an ear piercing scream echoed through the harsh wind that made them jump out of their skin. The mother instantly grabbed the twins' hands and hurried towards the door. She swung the door open and dashed outside. Down the steep hill, they saw thick black smoke and a bright hot flame spreading towards the hut. Arthur forgot to bring the picture of his father, without thinking he rushed back into the hut to fetch it. "Arthur!" shouted Jasmine and mum but Arthur just sprinted towards the house. Suddenly flames were coming up the hill, but too quickly. Then as it reached the top of the hill they noticed that it was lots of weird looking people on horseback with torches in their hands. They also were wearing black armour from head to toe. The army of horsemen rode around the hut and then threw the torches on top of the straw. The flames went up like firecrackers, burning down every single piece of the hut.

Arthur flung himself towards the floor as the thick smoke hovered above his head. Arthur looked around for something to put over his face so that he didn't breathe in any smoke. Then in the corner of his eye he saw a pale white rag. He grabbed the rag and tied it around his face covering his mouth and nose from the thick smoke. He reached out to grab the precious photo and placed it inside his pocket. All of a sudden a plank of wood, which was burnt by the flames and was wearing the edges away, fell onto the young child, knocking him unconscious. On his forehead was blood pouring out from his skull.

The mother screamed out loud then started beating up one of the horsemen. The horseman picked her up and lobbed her in the air; she put her hands out to stop her head hitting the ground. The mother's right arm broke in two places. She lay on the floor in agony then a mighty flash struck the sky. There standing in front of Jasmine was Slither. Slither held out her hand and cast a spell. A flash of light came from above, then a lightning bolt dashed down and shocked the horsemen. The horsemen were killed instantly. Slither made another sign with her hands and rain drops came falling one by one, putting out the fire in the village. Jasmine stared in fright, "how can you do that?" " I am from Pandora, a magical place where there are mythical creatures." Slither replied. The mother shouted towards Slither, "Please save my child he went back onto the hut but I couldn't stop him!" The mother's eyes began to stream with wet tears.

Slither and Jasmine removed the timber to reveal the injured child. Jasmine picked him up and placed him down next to his mother. There were stains of blood on Arthur's shorts. The mother pulled out the smashed photo frame from Arthur's pocket. In the wound was a large piece of glass that had damaged the flesh of his skin. Slither took a look at the wound, the blood was rushing out, so Slither tool the rag from his face and wrapped it around the damaged wound. The rag soon went from a pale white, to being smothered in dark red blood. The child soon woke up clutching the mothers hand. "Sorry mumI..." "Please... don't speak, you need to rest," suggested the mother. Arthur looked at his mother's swollen arm. "Mother what's happened to your arm," Arthur said with his eyes wide open. "The flames that you saw' it wasn't fire, they were horsemen riding up with torches and when they set the hut on fire I just panicked and attacked one." "Sorry mum."Arthur gave his mum a big hug and promised that he wouldn't do anything like that again.

Everyone looked around. Everything was burnt into ash and thick black soot vanished slowly into the atmosphere. No more screaming was echoing through the village, just the aggressive wind howling through the middle of the village with an eagle that swiftly flew by. Just then the eagle swooped down like a bullet aiming for its target, as it got closer, the eagle grew in size. The eyes focused on to its prey. The sharp pointy claws opened up, just when the mother looked up and screamed. The sharp claws pierced into the mother's beautiful long dress and took her up above the clouds. Slither tried to do some spells but for some reason it didn't work. The twins watched their mother, while they wept in sorrow. "Mother!" shouted the twins with tears streaming down their face.

Slither picked up Arthur and told Jasmine to follow. "Where are we going?" asked Jasmine. "I'm taking you to a safe place where you can rest. When you're better we can look for your mother." Jasmine followed Slither towards the sparkly waterfall. "I don't remember this being here," said Arthur. It's so beautiful," replied Jasmine.

Slither placed Arthur into the spring. A few seconds later his leg started to sting, like it was burning off all his flesh. Arthur looked down to find that it was the opposite. The spring was replacing all the layers of skin, making it new. He was so amazed about what happened that he dived under, making sure he got every cut and bruise around his body. "Let's get going? Haven't got time to waste, said slither. Arthur climbed out of the spring to follow the other two towards the rushing waterfall. Slither grabbed hold of the twins' hands and slowly walked through the sparkly waterfall. The water crashed onto their heads as if they were rocks clashing one by one. The freezing cold water was sending a cold sensation to the brain and the left overs of water drops trickled down their spines.

The twins' village had been burnt down and their mother had been kidnapped by an eagle. What was this giant eagle? What does it want with their mother and I wonder where the twins are going with Slither.

tomtomxxThe Legend of Pandora. • Opuss № I