Bryan Perro - The Mask wearer

The battle lasted hardly ten minutes. About twenty mongooses lost their lives. Around the surviving ones, thousands of snakes lay lifeless in the grass. The mongooses began to feast under Karmakas’s eyes.

The sorcerer seethed with rage. He stamped his feet, howling insults in his naga language and shaking his head in disbelief. How had the Berrion army known that he was going to send a cloud of snakes to rain over them? He had used this magic trick often, and few had ever managed to survive! As he looked at the unscathed men of Berrion, who were returning to their position in the fields, he smiled a tight smile.

“You’ve now, ssss, met your end!” he shouted.

Karmakas opened the cage of the basilisk and took the horrible creature in his hands.

“Go and shred, ssss, this band of buffoons!” Karmakas ordered it.

Amos and Medusa were hiding in the tall grass, not far from the walls of Bratel-la-Grande. From this strategic spot, the mask wearer could easily see the city gates through a telescope. He was happy with what the mongooses had accomplished and waited confidently for the rest to unfold. He knew that Karmakas would be enraged and would unleash his basilisk. Amos had his rooster on his knees and was ready for the next round.

He had evaluated the situation and sent his orders to Junos in a sphere of wind. Suddenly the gates of the city opened. The basilisk-the size of a large hen-came out. He was exactly as described in the book that Amos had read: His body was snakelike, but he had the head of a rooster and the beak of a vulture. He walked on two thin, featherless legs much like those of a chicken.

Amos and Medusa blocked their ears with a thick paste made of ferns. Then Amos uttered a few words that the wind carried away to Junos.

“Stop your ears!” Junos shouted to his men.

Wasting no time, all the knights blocked their ears with the fern paste. So far everything was going according to plan. Nothing had been left to chance. But when the basilisk took flight, Amos was stunned to see the creature’s body grow tenfold. He then saw the basilisk open its beak. Right away Amos understood that the beast was shrieking out its paralyzing cry. Medusa grabbed the telescope from Amos and confirmed that the soldiers did not seem to have suffered. Only the horses were motionless.

Amos concentrated on creating a sphere of communication in his right hand. Then he raised his other hand and made the wind blow in the direction of the basilisk. The hideous bird-creature flapped its wings furiously to reach the knights. But the wind was too strong and the basilisk was hardly advancing. Amos had to maintain his focus to command the wind. He had trained a good deal before leaving Berrion, but this exercise always quickly drained him of energy. The intense attention it required gave him horrible headaches.

The basilisk kept making huge efforts to move forward, but Amos was putting a difficult obstacle in front of it. The mask wearer was sweating heavily. He had to wait for the right moment-for his rooster to crow-his right hand firmly holding the sphere of communication, his left hand still raised. He felt his legs weakening. The rooster was at his side, unconcerned. Amos was gradually losing his grip on the wind, and the basilisk was gaining ground. To delay the flying creature, Junos signaled for a volley of arrows to be unleashed. They rained down on the basilisk, causing the beast to falter slightly.

Karmakas gnashed his teeth, his lips foaming, as he looked upon the scene. He couldn’t understand why the wind had picked up and how the knights were still able to move. A second volley of arrows took off. The basilisk was wounded in the thigh. Strangely enough, this seemed to increase its strength tenfold. It used all its energy to fight the wind and was getting closer to the Berrion army.

At last, Amos’s rooster let out a loud cock-a-doodle-doo. Warned by Medusa, who had unblocked her ears, Amos turned around and imprisoned the animal’s song in a sphere of wind. At that precise moment, he lost his focus and the wind stopped blowing. The basilisk surged headfirst toward the knights. His stare burned their hair and beards, as well as the manes and tails of the horses. Exhausted, Amos managed to launch his sphere in the basilisk’s direction.

“Catch this, I have a message for you!” he shouted.

What followed brought two large tears of rage to Karmakas’s eyes. The rooster’s song, locked in the ball of air, reached the basilisk and filtered into its ears. It was the only one to hear the rooster’s song-and it exploded in midflight, a few yards from Junos. Shouts of victory rose from the army of knights. They unblocked their ears and congratulated each other. There were a lot of handshakes and embraces. Amos had time to smile slightly before he passed out, drained by his efforts.

When Amos regained consciousness, Medusa was by his side. He had been taken to a temporary shelter and the young gorgon was watching over him.

“What happened? Where am I?” he asked.

“You’re awake at last! You’ve been asleep for two days!” Medusa answered.

Amos sat up, totally horrified. “Two days! I’ve been asleep for two days?”

“Yes,” the gorgon said. “But don’t worry, the knights have everything under control-for now.”

“Tell me what happened. Tell me everything.”

“We took control of the situation,” Medusa began. “After the basilisk died, Karmakas sent dozens of pythons and boas down the walls of Bratel-la-Grande. They were huge and strong, with bodies as thick as tree trunks. But the knights felt confident and were motivated by their two previous victories, so they attacked the snakes. It was a tough fight and several knights were wounded. But Junos shouted orders and himself killed at least a dozen of the beasts with his sword. Thanks to him, we won the battle. A while later, a slight earthquake shook the castle of Bratel-la-Grande. Nobody knows why or how this happened.”

“But what’s going on now?” Amos asked, alarmed.

“The knights worked tirelessly. They dug trenches, put up wood fences, lit fires that burn night and day, and patrol outside the city relentlessly. Their shield-mirrors are directed toward the city constantly, and the gorgons don’t dare to look outside the walls. Karmakas is no doubt planning another attack against Junos and his men. The knights are very tired, and some fell asleep during their watch. It’s impossible to take the city: its walls are too high. The gorgons send arrows on everything that moves. It would be suicidal to try to approach the city, and it isn’t feasible to smash down the huge gates. Junos does not know what to do anymore. He’s waiting impatiently for you to wake up and devise a new attack strategy.”

“Very well,” Amos said. “Unlike the knights, I am well rested. And I have a plan. Tell me where Junos is and let’s finish this battle.”

Karmakas had gone back to his laboratory totally bewildered. For the first time in his life, he had lost three consecutive battles. It was unheard of for a sorcerer as powerful as he was. He felt ashamed and dishonored. In his rage, he hit the table in front of him with his fist. It took him a while to notice that the walls of the room had changed. Skulls, femurs, and tibias decorated his laboratory now. In an instant, he knew that Seth had left his world to come and talk to him. Slowly he turned around and saw his master’s golden throne behind him. The snake-god, comfortably seated, was looking at him with scorn.

“How dare you treat me this way!” Seth bellowed as he crossed his legs. “I offer you a rooster’s egg, and first you allow the egg to be stolen by the Knights of Light. Then, after years of searching for it, you recover my precious gift and you lose the hatched basilisk in the most miserable way. How can I continue to trust you and show you my goodwill?”