Bryan Perro - The Mask wearer

“I know what you’re going to say, Medusa, and I’ll never force you to look at your reflection,” Amos said as the young gorgon moved away from him. Her hands were shaking and her legs seemed unsteady. “There must be another way to give Beorf his life back. Together, we’ll find it.”

“I know what I’m saying, Amos. And I know also that you’d never force me to do something against my will. You’d never sacrifice me to save your friend. Even though we’ve spent only this short time together, we’ve grown attached to each other. And you, Beorf, and I would make an unbeatable team. But it is not possible. I understand that true friendship can mean sacrificing oneself to save someone else. This is what Beorf taught me when he looked at my eyes. He could easily have killed me with a blow of his paw and his powerful claws. But because he was my friend, he didn’t do it. Even after my disloyalty, he remained true to himself, true to his feelings for me. With you, too, I’ve known friendship. This is a beautiful quality in humans. Now it’s my turn to show some humanity. Tell Beorf that I will always remember him, even in my death.”

Medusa then took Junos’s small pocket mirror out of her bag. She had taken it from him before the battle. Amos leaped forward to stop the young gorgon. It was too late. She had seen her reflection.

“It’s true, Beorf, I really do have beautiful eyes!” Medusa whispered before crumbling to dust.

At that moment, a rattlesnake appeared through the slightly opened door and rushed over to Amos. On impulse Amos grabbed his trident, barely avoiding the reptile’s gigantic fangs. Again the snake attacked. Amos rolled to the ground on his side, freeing himself from the sorcerer.

Amos looked at his trident. “If you really can do extraordinary things, now is the time to prove it!” he said.

Amos threw his weapon with force at the snake. The trident penetrated the body of his enemy, but only slightly. A layer of scales protected Karmakas.

“Do you believe, ssss, that you can fight me with, ssss, that twig? I am going to swallow you in one bite!”

As Karmakas lunged, he suddenly grew faint. The trident, still implanted in his flesh, was now shining with a pale blue light. Karmakas threw up some salt water. Then Amos saw something fantastic happen. The trident was slowly driven into the snake’s body. The floor of the room turned to liquid and the walls began to ooze. Cascades of water poured down from the ceiling. Two mermaids emerged from the sodden floor and grabbed hold of Karmakas. They wrapped him in a net of seaweed, totally oblivious to Amos, who stood by, not understanding what was happening. The mermaids pulled the big snake through the floor and vanished as quickly as they had appeared. The water evaporated. In the blink of an eye, the room took on its usual appearance. Except for a broken mirror on the floor.

When Beorf opened his eyes, he felt as if he had been sleeping for years. He sat on the ground to recover. He was famished. He ate some nuts and tried to remember what had happened before he was turned to stone. At first his only thoughts were of the gorgon. He had dreamed that Medusa was caressing his face. Many times her enchanting voice had soothed him in his dreams. Beorf had totally lost any notion of time. Then an image of Karmakas popped into his mind. Also that of his friend Amos, who had gone off to accomplish his quest. All these memories swirled in his head. He decided to leave the cavern and started to walk aimlessly in the forest.

All the dwellers of Bratel-la-Grande-the Knights of Light, the peasants, and the shopkeepers-left the side of the road where they had been displayed as statues and began to walk toward the city. At the city gates, the men of Berrion gave them a warm welcome. Every gorgon had crumbled to dust; now the curse was only a bad memory.

A large meeting took place in the center of the ruined city.

“Dwellers of Bratel-la-Grande! I, Junos, lord of the Knights of Equilibrium and ruler of the kingdom of Berrion, declare this city free! We fought evil and delivered you from the gorgons. Now I offer to rebuild this city with you, in harmony and respect.”

“Go away!” a man shouted in the crowd. “There is only one ruler here-me.” It was Yaune the Purifier; he approached the dais. “No one will tell the Knights of Light what to do and how to do it,” he said. “Leave immediately and let me rebuild our city the way we want it.”

A murmur rose from the crowd. Junos raised his hand to ask for silence.

“Citizens of Bratel-la-Grande, it is because of your lord that all of you nearly lost your lives,” Junos went on. “Yaune the Purifier knew that a powerful sorcerer was looking for him. He did not tell you the truth, and this lie almost brought your destruction. A true knight never tells falsehoods the way this man did for countless years. Today I must clearly state the facts so that all of you can understand my intentions. I ardently wish to annex Bratel-la-Grande’s territory to that of Berrion’s. Together we can create a vast kingdom-”

“How dare you!” Yaune shouted, drawing his sword. “I will not tolerate further insults.”

Barthelemy jostled his way to the dais. “Yaune, should we not listen to what this man has to offer? We owe him our lives, and were it not for his courage, this city would still be in the hands of our enemies. As proof of respect for the bravery of his men and to show my gratitude, I am ready to take an oath of allegiance to him. There is nothing wrong with serving someone who is stronger than oneself. When a lord who is good and fair requests an alliance, a knight must recognize his value and submit.”

“Traitor!” Yaune cried loudly. “You speak like your father! And since we’re putting all our cards on the table today, I’ll confess that I’m the one who killed him with my own sword. We were together when the pendant fell into my hands. Your father insisted that we destroy it. I refused. That trophy was mine. He challenged me to a duel and I drew his blood. Now I order that you be burned alive for treason. Knights of Light, seize this man immediately!”

Baffled, the knights looked at one another. “We’ve burned enough innocent people!” one of them shouted. “I side with Barthelemy! Let his punishment be mine too, for I am tired of obeying Yaune the Purifier.”

Another knight came to Barthelemy’s side and put his hand on his shoulder. “I’ve known this man since childhood, and I believe he’s got what it takes to become our new lord! I’m also in favor of an alliance with our saviors, our friends from Berrion.”

The crowd applauded loudly and every Knight of Light gathered behind Barthelemy, their new master. Then Junos requested silence once more.

“Bratel-la-Grande has just chosen a new ruler!” he said. “Barthelemy, join me on the dais and listen to the acclamation of your people! Today I pledge to you the friendship and loyalty of Berrion. To facilitate our trade activities, we will build a road between our two kingdoms. We’ll work together for the prosperity and well-being of our people.”

Enraged, Yaune raised his sword to strike Barthelemy. Junos’s guard stopped him.

“Let him be!” Bathelemy intervened. “For having killed my father, Yaune, I condemn you to exile. We will tattoo the word ‘murderer’ on your forehead so that everyone knows what kind of man you are. You will also be stripped of your title of knight. No one will be burned in this kingdom from here on. We will rebuild this city on new principles.”

In the meantime, Amos looked for Beorf in the crowd. He did not find him, so he decided to leave the city and search beyond its walls. Luckily, a full moon helped him see clearly in the night. As he walked through the fields, Amos was relieved to see Beorf appear at the edge of the forest. He called to him and ran to greet him.