Someone Else's Kingdom, BOOK II - Scene XIX

Eartaria had barely been in the forest half an hour when an arrow zipped by his head. Too fast for the eye, the whoosh and rush of the leaves nevertheless left him under no illusion that he'd made a mistake in entering the forest so cavalierly. Before he had time to contemplate further ..swiisshhh. Another hit him forcefully in the shoulder. His vision blurred as he stumbled. He reached out his hand to a nearby tree to steady himself; the bark's rough texture more vivid to the touch than the swirling sights and sounds around him. It was no use, he slipped and buckled to the ground.

As he fell he felt a weight of water hit him, as if he was plunging into a deep ocean. His eyelids burst open and he looked out through the crystal clear water as he tumbled down. His irises like opals against the misty blue. On the seabed, a green, ghost-like form came into view: Meamya, his brother, lying deathly against the yellow sand. The sky is falling. A mermaid, her hair like links of gold, came wisping by; her pet sealion, with its dog-like face following at her ankles. Bright rays of sunlight cut through the water, and the crust of ocean floor beneath his floating body broke in two. In the canyon far below a river of lava gushed forth, winding as if through eternal valleys. As underwater mountains slipped their sides and crumbled through the foamy sea. Revealing in their wake the clayey under-bed with its rainbow colours: the kaolin white, the soft pinks and reds, the peach and pale greens, the blue clay with its deep petrol hue. Finally, he heard a voice .. "We could've been at Aunt Ellever's house right now."

As he came to he looked up to see the faces of Box, Goola, Princess Liofia and Julen staring down at him. Along with countless half-tail faces, myriad in name. As he reached up to the bloodied wound on his shoulder the pain instantly came back to him. He grimaced at the feeling. "I have a message from King Brijsk," he uttered, almost spitting out the words, "You can either leave the kingdom, settle and pay your dues, or be wiped from the earth."