Amaranth: A Maerith Kingdom Novel - Chapter 14

Zyrsit sat on the wall of the castle as he watched the Demack Grassland and the edge of the Calegan Forest. Evatius ran out of the forest to the castle entrance. He flew down to greet him. “What are you in a hurry about?”

“I was by the edge of the forest near the Crystal Crypt and there was black smoke encircling it but only right above it. I have to let Odulore know this.”

Ash and Oldirrim flew into the courtyard from the livery. They landed on the chairs by the fireplace. Zyrsit joined them and Evatius stood close by. Soon they were joined by Narella and Valora.

Odulore walked out into the courtyard, “What’s the gathering about?”

“There’s black smoke encircling the Crystal Crypt, but it isn’t going anywhere. It’s just right over top of it,” Evatius informs him.

“Yes, I am not surprised. This means that my spell is working and that we were right that there was still evil in the crypt. No worries.”

Amaranth walked out into the courtyard and heard what Odulore said. She smiled and nodded, “I am glad that I got out there when I did.”

Puggaald and Glurx ran into the courtyard. “Come quick, something is wrong with Zizor,” They yelled. Everyone ran to the kitchen. Zizor was lying on the floor with a spoon still in his hand.

Odulore sprinted to get the book of spells. He grabbed it off the table and ran back to the kitchen. When he opened the book the spell of healing was there. He raised his arms toward Zizor and said, “Augior Intimius, Augior Intimius.”

Zizor woke up and sat up on the floor. He blinked his round green eyes multiple times, focused on Odulore, and said, “What happened?”

“That’s what we want to know.”

“I was stirring the morning oatmeal and the next thing I know is that I was waking up on the floor.”

“No one, go near the oatmeal. Where’s the lid to the pot?”

Puggaald handed it to him. Odulore took the lid, looked away from the pot but side-eyed it to put the lid on the pot. He looked into the book of spells, turned the page and saw the spell to dismiss other spells. He raised his arms towards the pot of oatmeal and said, “Repium Demones, Repium Demones.”

Odulore turned around and instructed the goblins, “Take that pot outside of the castle and bury it.” Puggaald and Glurx each took one handle and scurried out of the kitchen and then out of the castle with the pot. Zezerm followed closely behind them with a shovel. He dug the hole, and they placed the pot down into it. The three of them threw the dirt over the pot and returned to the castle.

Zizor got up off the floor and sat in a chair. “How are you feeling now?” Amaranth asked him.

“Fine, I guess. I am fine.”

The goblins ran in and announced, “It’s buried!”

Odulore looked at them and said, “Good. Thank you. Now the question is, what happened to the oatmeal and who made it happen?”

Zizor raised his hand, pointed toward the side door of the kitchen, and said, “I saw a shadowy figure in the doorway this morning, but it didn’t stay long. I actually thought I had just imagined it, but maybe not.”

“Great, now we have an evil being here in the castle,” Amaranth shook her head in dismay. “I thought we would get some peace with the crypt being sealed.”

They all looked at each other for a moment and a shadowy figure went past the entry to the dining hall. The figure entered the dining hall and just floated in one spot. Odulore asked it, “What is your name?”

“I am Kezrin from the dark underworld,” it answered.

“What do you want?”

“I have come to warn you that entrance to the dark underworld is opening once again and there is great evil coming to the Maerith Kingdom. The day is coming soon when it will be dark. You have been warned,” it informed them.

Then as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared. They looked around for it, but it was gone. Odulore ran out of the dining hall and back to his father’s room. He read through the titles on the shelf and came upon one that was titled, Tales of the Dark Underworld. He grabbed the book and ran back to the dining hall.

“I remembered seeing this book on the shelf. It is titled, Tales of the Dark Underworld. The questions are, what does it tell us and is it accurate or just tales?”

“What will happen next? I thought that there was going to be peace. Now we’ve had this creature and Gairrulit that both gave us a warning about evil coming soon. Anyone want to guess what will happen?” Amaranth pondered out loud.

All she had for a response was a bunch of shoulder shrugs from everyone. They all exited the dining hall and went their separate ways.

Odulore went back to his father’s room and scanned the bookshelves for more books about the dark underworld. He sat a few books down on the table. Within a few moments Amaranth joined him, “I can help you read through those to see what could potentially happen.”

“Great! Pick one and start reading. I will start with the book of tales. It should be interesting to say the least.”

He began to read the intro to himself.

This book will take you into take you into the dark underworld. Be careful that you do not read it out loud. Some things may be conjured up if said out loud.

“Oh this encouraging and scary all at the same time. There’s a disclaimer at the front saying not to read the book out loud because of things that may be conjured up.”

“Yikes, that is scary. This book is titled, The Great Dark Underworld. I wonder what is so great about it. I do see the same disclaimer on the intro page.”

They continued reading to themselves. Periodically they looked up at each other. A few hours went by and they were still reading.

Avras appeared in the doorway. “Hey! What are we reading so intently?”

Amaranth looked up. “Fun stuff. We are reading about the Great Dark Underworld. Want to join in?” She remarked in a snarky voice.

“We were visited by Kezrin this morning. He tried to poison Zizor and not sure if he was the intended target or not. We were able to help Zizor, but Kezrin told us that the evil from the dark underworld was going to escape soon and the kingdom would become dark.”

He nodded his head and replied, “Great! I thought that Kezrin was banished permanently ages ago. This is not a good thing. If he was able to escape it’s hard telling who else will be returning. This could be disastrous. Do you know who all was sent there?”

They both held up their books and pointed to the other books that were on the table. Odulore spoke up, “No, that’s why we are reading these books. They are all on the dark underworld. What do you know?”

“I know that when anyone evil in this world dies, their spirit goes to the dark underworld to continue their life. They do not actually die. So, yes, as you are imagining Qrizor, Zaleria, and Crumazz would be included in this. If the dark underworld spirits and demons are escaping it is going to include the three of them. I don’t know where the escape portal is, but obviously Kezrin was able to escape. I would anticipate visits from those three and who knows who else. There were so many that went there in the early years of when Trodus was cleaning up Maerith Kingdom. You better start reading faster. You not only need to know who was banished to the dark underworld, but you also need to know your spells and potions in order to send them back to where they belong and seal up the portal.”

The owls and Zyrsit flew in and landed on top of the books. The looked around the room at each of them. No words were said at the moment. The room was silent.

Amaranth interrupted the silence, “Wow! This is going to get crazier than crazy. So, what you are saying is that when they die, they don’t really die. This means that Crumazz will come back and most likely for revenge on me because I sent him to the dark underworld. Although, I did not know that was even a thing. It’s never been spoken about.”

“I had heard of it, but I thought it was just an imaginary place that parents told their children about to make them behave. I didn’t think it was real. I remember my dad telling us about a few of them. They were some really scary creatures. He never said their names, but just gave descriptions of them and what they did that got them banished,” Odulore told them.

Avras disappeared, and they went back to reading the books about the dark underworld. The cats came in and sat at their feet. Hours went by and there was silence.

Continue Reading - Chapter 15