The Forgotten Land: The Return of the Giants

The Rotting Spell

The sorcerer followed the scared little boy, quickening his pace. “Little rat — little rat, you will regret stepping foot to my territory!” He hissed as he began to cast a spell that would make move and run as fast as the fastest animal on the planet. A Peregrine Falcon. 

“Wings that are light, gifted with the power of flight. Across the sky —” He raised the black staff on his hand as he ran. And with the last command, “ — is where I spread my wings and fly!” 

He turned into a peregrine falcon, spread his wings and began to fly. He glided in the sky and effortlessly caught up with the pesky little boy. “I knew there was some big rat or cat that had been hiding in my house!” He spoke through his small beak, yet his voice was loud. “All my leftovers were missing! You thought I was stupid to not notice them, huh?!” 

Kane yelped and tried to run faster. A few twigs cracked and the scent from the morning dew evaded his senses.

He remembered this part of the forest. 

“I’m almost there..” He whispered to himself with a grin. Yet he did not dare slow down. But that grin disappeared and turned into a frown when he couldn't spot the Yew tree that signified that he was in the middle of the forest. “No way…” He mumbled to himself but was loud enough for the sorcerer to hear.

Noticing that the boy stopped running, the sorcerer went back to his human form. He was dressed in a blue and white robe while a white cowl covered half of his face. An ancient summoning circle was tattooed on the back of his right hand. 

While the little boy was still mumbling to himself, the sorcerer took careful steps towards Kane. 

“You will pay for intruding here…” He whispered softly, raising his staff again, to conjure a wicked spell. 

“An ugly creature cursed to be loathed. Something unclean, something green, something that looks eroded. Green skin yet isn’t as glorious as a rose — has a stem but it is undeniably gross —” He pointed his hand towards Kane. “ —turn into a frog!” 

A ray of light from his staff directed towards the boy. 

The sorcerer snickered, imagining how the little intruder would react once he would croak instead of cry. But when the ray of light from his staff deflected from the boy’s back — the sorcerer dropped the staff on his hand out of shock. 

His eyes widened and his mouth gaped, dropping and was wide open. “What the —” The sorcerer faked a few coughs, trying to collect himself. “---a fluke maybe?” He told himself. “Maybe I should try again.” 

So he begins to cast the spell and enunciates once again. But when his spell was deflected he could only groan and cursed in frustration. “Who are you little boy?!” He asked aloud. “Are you my nephew — a child of my elder sister?! Did she send you to torture me?!”  

The boy did not answer. Instead, Kane remained staring at the sky, wondering where his mother was, and his aunt were, hoping they’re still alive. 

“Hey you!” The sorcerer called, forcefully stealing the attention of the boy. Kane looked at him with such hopelessness in his eyes, but the sorcerer wasn’t fazed. “Who are you?! Tell me your name!”

“I am Kane.” He answered truthfully. “Now can you please tell me how I can get out of this forest?” 

“And why should I tell you?” The sorcerer hissed. He slammed the bottom of his staff against the ground. The earth shook, the small rocks and leaves jumped from the ground.   “You are never going to get out of here!” 

“Why?!” 

“Why?” The sorcerer let out a crooked smile. “Because those who dares to tresspases on the forest under my protection won’t come out alive…” he paused, stifling his laugh. “...or humans. Usually I turn them into frogs, cockroaches and kill them later on. Mercy killing, as I call it.”  

The boy lowered his head then spoke softly. “Please mister, I’m telling you the truth, I am lost. I — I need to go back home! I need to go back to my mom!”

“Who do you think you’re fooling?!” The sorcerer’s eyes darkened. “You think I’d release you and let you tell the world about this place?!” 

“But I’m not —” 

“SILENCE!” The sorcerer said. “You will never leave here — you can never get out of here! You little rat! I will cast a spell upon you that would turn your feet into stone! You will grow old at this place… rot at this place. You will defecate and urinate where you stand.  You will not be able to move, nor will you be able to steal as you have stolen from me —”

“But I never stole from you!” Kane cried. “I only left the leftovers you’ve left to rot in your fridge!”

“ —but they were mine still!” The sorcerer hissed. “And how dare you wear my favorite clothes and say you’re not a thief!” 

“But I’m only borrowing what I need!” 

"No more excuses!" The sorcerer whispered before he placed both of his hands on the black staff. Something that sorcerers do when the spell they would cast was in a higher class. "Alive but slowly decaying, alive but barely breathing. In one place you will dwell, in this place you stay as I cast my spell! I curse your feet to turn into stone! I curse your mind to torture your own!" 

"Please no ---" Kane cried when the sorcerer lifts the staff and unleashed his spell. 

But one thing that the sorcerer did not expect was how such high level spell still bounced off the boy's body as if it was a simple curse, a simply spell. 

“Oh no —” The sorcerer hissed after the magic was deflected to a familiar place. His face went pale and his eyes were filled with terror. It’s as if his world went into slow motion when the spell landed on the place he wished it wouldn’t touch. “ — the cave.” He hissed. “The dragon!” He screamed. 

His anger towards the boy diminished after he heard the dragon let out a shrill cry. And when he heard its great wings flutter — strong winds coming from the direction of the cave, the sorcerer knew he was done for. 

“Damn it!” 

He turned himself into a mighty eagle and soared towards the cave, wishing that whatever he thought of didn’t happen yet… and that it wasn’t too late. 

Kane on the other hand remained crouched down on the ground, begging the god his mother introduced to him — and begged the other beings that he watched with his aunt Cindy on Meetflix to save him. 

“Please help me… please help me… please, please, please!” He mumbled with closed eyes. But minutes had passed, his feet hadn't turned into stone and he still felt himself. Kane looked around and realized the sorcerer was nowhere to be seen.

“He’s gone.” He sighed the words out, and he felt a sense of relief rush inside of him. He felt so afraid that he didn’t hear anything except for the spell the sorcerer casted upon him. Neither did he feel the strong winds caused by the mighty wings of the beast. His heartbeat reached up to his ears that he missed to hear the eerie cry of the monster that the sorcerer kept in a cave. 

It wasn’t until the creature’s shadow loomed above him that he realized something huge — something monstrous was flying in the air, circling round and round, as if it was learning to fly again.

“COME BACK HERE YOU OVERSIZED LIZARD!” The sorcerer screamed as he flew in the air, riding his staff to catch the dragon before it could escape. 

“How in the world…” Kane whispered to himself as he watched the sorcerer try to catch the dragon using a magical golden rope which he pulled from his right front pocket. 

The boy arched his neck up and watched with a smile, stifling his laughter after the sorcerer failed to capture the dragon again and again.  

And just when the sorcerer thought things couldn’t get worse… 

…the Dragon destroyed the barrier made to contain it and escaped. 

“NO!” He screamed in frustration and then casted a spell to get back on the ground. The moment his feet touched the grass, he stumped and thumped and cursed to himself wishing his parents would never find out. “Shit!”

The dragon was unleashed, and the war that signified the peace between the pillars disappeared --- destroyed by his irreversible spell. 

"This is bad..." The sorcerer whispered to himself as he tried to catch his breath. "...this is awful!" He said.

When he looked at the boy, his anger faded for the time being. 

"I don't care who you are ---" He exclaimed as he pointed at the boy. "---but you're going to help me catch that dragon!"