Battling The Golden Queen

The Curse of the Everlasting Paradiae

“I see it!” The hoarse voice of an elderly man whispered in excitement. He was accompanied by four other men each one holding a kind of weapon for protection. The expressions on the four men faces made it obvious they were in a situation they shouldn’t be. They had come so far. They should be excited right? Nope. It was obvious they weren’t foolish enough to ignore the fact that the gate of Everlasting Paradise was protected by some powerful enchanting beings they had only read in books of the legends. The thought of the beings being real since the place itself had unraveled itself made this more disturbing. The leader being less cowardice than they were collected a bag he had hid in his backpack all along and jumped into the open.

“Stop!” One of the men had stopped him holding him down with all the might he’s got. “You can’t be this insane. Do you want to get killed? Your wife can still be cured some other way…”

“Don’t you dare hold me back!” He forced his arm off the grip in anger. “The water from the flawless stream is powerful. It could cure any disease, you just name it. I aren’t here for the gold or silver, I just need that water. Just a sip could help my Belinda”

“Belinda won’t want her husband dead. Ken, you can change your mind and visit Doctor Ham as advised by Charlie. The guy is a close friend to the king and we do know he doesn’t believe in magic. He uses the modern form of drugs. He had cured Jenny, remember…”

“I don’t trust that man. He charges us with half our pay including a stupid maintenance fee. My wife is very sick and has a four year old child to fend. I definitely can’t let go of all my funds due to one man from abroad” Ken defended. It was obvious he wouldn’t be changing his mind anytime soon.

“Ken, they are powerful” The young man went on trying to convince him.

“They can’t stop me” He faces the golden gate which shone under the everlasting sunlight. “I am doing this for Belinda and my daughter. No magic will stop me” At these words he headed toward the gate without looking back. The others stared on in fear showing concern for him. The environment was quiet. There was no sound of life except the five men who came from 100 miles in search of the impossible. Well, that they thought until they caught sight of the gate with their n***d eyes.

Ken arrived to the gate with so much hope. Taking a deep breath, he recalled the legend. He had to knock three times for a respond. He did that without thinking twice. Nothing happened. The whole place was dead silent. There wasn’t even a muffle among the flowers. That was strange. Was this place destroyed? Was he doing it all wrong? Did this place even exist? Was he to knock again? Legends had it that knocking twice three times would lead to the wrath of the guardian. That couldn’t be an option. But what if there was no such thing as a guardian? What if this was just a random gate built in the middle of nowhere to deceive people. But the gates shone. It didn’t look rusted or worn out. How could one even explain that phenomenon?

“Ken, this isn’t real. Let’s get out of here” The earlier man called out to him from the covers.

“There has to be something I am doing wrong” He said with a confused stare as he inspected the carving on the gate.

“There is…” A voice echoed from a slight wind. His heart began to race slowly. Looking round, he found no one.

“What could I be doing wrong?”He asked staring up at the sky at nothing.

“COMING HERE! HAHAHAHAH!” A loud thrilling laughter rang out of all directions. He could feel the fear creep in but he never let that hold him back. He had held to his ground with confidence.

“Who are you? Why hide in the shadows? Show yourself” He had commanded.

“What the heck is this man doing?” One of the men whispered in the hideout to another who shrugged.

“You really have the nerve don’t you? Alright then” Walking right through the wall came a very beautiful maiden who came along side with two hefty bodyguards. The body guards were dressed in golden armors keeping their slightly showing golden hair buried in their helmet. The lady herself dressed more like a royal. She had a white and golden flawless gown on and her golden crown matching the look. She was endorsed with so many jewelries that one could barely see her neck or some parts of her face. Her skin looked pale and her hair looked really long. It was long and golden and...it was one of the rarest hairs to find.

“What do you seek?” She asked with a stern look staring deep in his eyeballs.

“I seek permission to have some flawless water” He responded immediately kneeling before her feet

“How dare you?! Cage him this instant!” She ordered her guards rather quickly without wasting any time of hers. This made him perplexed. The guards sounded a very loud clap. This made a golden magical ball with in their enormous hands. Their eyes shone white and so did their armor. Ken helpless watched with a tremendously frightened expression as a cage formed out of nowhere around him. The cage was more like a parrot cage but this time big enough to contain him.

“How dare you step your feet into the land of everlasting paradise? Weren’t you warned that any human who steps in here will be held captive for eternity till he dies a horrible death. No food, No water, Just agony and pain. Unfortunately of he isn't lucky, he will end up being killed" The queen screamed in anger.

“No! You don’t understand. My wife is sick. I have a four year old daughter who needs to be catered for, I…I care for them deeply. Please do not do any harm to me” He pleaded in tears. She scoffs.

“I am not that merciful with humans weakling. Who do you think you are to come here for solace?”

“My queen. Please, help my family” He pleaded bowing low before her. She was quiet for sometime before speaking up.

“This daughter of yours...what’s her name?” She asked curiously.

“Helia” He answered with a shaky voice.

“Helia you say. Fine, that’s all the information I need” She responded with a less bothered look. She turns to the guards. “Lock this human up in the everlasting pit of doom. No human will ever set foot in the Everlasting Paradise” She ordered before letting out a maniac laugh. Ken begged as hard as he could  In tears and tried repeating his request from the golden queen but she paid no heed to him. Instead she admired at her reflection in a mirror she formed with her palm fondling her long hair with another. The guards disappeared into thin air alongside with the cage which held the poor captive. As soon as they were gone, a young man appeared before her with a smirk. She caught sight of him and seemed unimpressed.

“You did it mum. You held one of them after 100 years” He had told her while he hovered round her with his flying abilities.

“Will you knock off flying Tom and just walk around like the other regular beings?” She asked with frustration.

“Mum, I only step my legs on the floor when there will be a very big disaster. You know me mum, stepping my legs on the floor means I wish to rip someone’s head off. At that time, I am really, really, really mad”

“You get your anger issues from your father. If only the humans hadn’t killed him. I wouldn’t have held that man captive. I feel so bad for his sob story though. His wife and daughter…You know how much I love children right?” She said with pity.

“Mum, do not let his sob story fool you. They are all the same, remember that? We have to murder anyone of them who comes here including this man. We can’t spare them after what they did to dad" Tom insisted with a smirk. “How much I will love to stare a human in the eye and burn him in rage”

“Tom Stop! I never raised you like this. We are not killing that human. We will only hold him hostage. That is the law. You won’t dare kill any human unless ordered” Tom seemed bored at this statement. He yawned and rolled his eyes unimpressed.

“blah…blah…mum, you know I don’t follow orders. My anger does everything for me”

“I knew your flame powers would engulf you at some point. Tom, you have the flames but that doesn’t mean you should not control them. Do not let the hot flame in you take over you”

“Sure mum. Sure… whatever. I am going in…” He flies toward the gate walls but stops as he senses something. He get confused at this and begins to sniff around. His eyes had turned red and his hands began to emit flame balls.

“Humans are here mother” He roared in anger as he stared toward the cover where the other men hid.

“Tom, you are insane. Get back inside. You’ve gotten so possessive over them”

“Mum I aren’t joking. There are humans here. I can feel them. “ He began hovering closer toward the cover lowering himself to the ground. The four men began panicking in fear as they held unto their weapons like cowards though knowing it was of no match to his golden suit and lava hot flames.

“A enough of this nonsense!” His mum screamed pulling him back towards her with her powers. “You are getting out of control. You will be on probation till the end of this sunrise” She punished in anger.

“No! Mum, please…. There really are humans out there”

“Keep shut! You’re just as stupid as your father. A disgrace of a son"  She roared at him and snapped her fingers causing him to vanish into thin air. The four men watched marveled. She stared toward their cover in doubt. Perhaps she’d knew they were there.

“Only one of you will arrive home to tell this story!” She cursed before letting out a maniac laugh. She raised her hands ensuring the Everlasting Paradise environment disappears out of the sight of the humans. “They will never find us!” They heard her say one last time before a deafening silence. 

The whole flowers, the fence, the gate… everything was gone. The men rushed out of the cover towards the now open space panting but they felt nothing. It wasn’t invincible, it was gone. It had completely disappeared.

“I knew coming here was a bad idea. We will never see Ken anymore Drax” One of them had said with a sad tone.

“I warned that man. I had warned him. Well let’s go. We have to get rid of those legend books and ensure the children never come back here again. This is a suicide mission. This place is a curse!" Drax said with a stern look. He took a deep breath and stared at the empty land one last time before leading the men toward the direction they had come. It was time for the town to know the evil of the Everlasting Paradise!