From a slave to a master chapter # 64 - The homeless kingdom, Part II

A Fairy tale

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The Cave of magic tricks

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Karnol woke up many days later thanks to Nasi who had traced his footsteps after extended searches. But Nasi was not merciful or loving towards his bruised and wounded brother; He simply waited for him to awaken.

“What are you doing, Nasi, are you crazy?” shouted Karnol, not understanding why his brother was kicking him and rolling him on the rocky soil as if he was a hot potato that was just pulled out of a bone fire.

“Shut up, you traitor”, hatefully replied Nasi.

He was bending down now towards his brother’s throat, placing both hands on his neck aiming to chock Karnol.

“Where is the whistle, you thief?! Don’t you think that I know your plots? Although I am 20 minutes younger than you I am no dumber”.

Kornel was shocked by his brother’s unexplained behavior. He did not fear for his life though since he knew that Nasi could never defeat him in a one-on-one fight, just as his strangulation was no more threatening than a mosquito’s sting.

“Hey, calm down you fool. I have no idea what you are talking about”, Karnol decided to give his brother a chance to explain himself before he would knock him down.

“Don’t act as if you are innocent, big brother. Don’t you think I know that you are hiding the whistle that mom gave us so at first chance you would use it to go back home to take the entire inheritance for yourself?! But I am surely not going to let you do that”, Nasi’s eyes flared with vicious intentions.

He increased the pressure on Karnol's throat who was surprised by the almost superpowers that Nasi posed.

“If I don’t do something right now this will be the end of me”, thought Karnol to himself and lifted his right foot up to forcefully hit Nasi’s head.

The strong kick accomplished its purpose and Nasi’s body was thrown sideways bumped into a serrated rock. Dark blood streamed from his forehead down over his right cheek, moistening the edges of his lips. Karnol, fully exhausted by the enormous effort that he had exerted looked at his wounded brother and could not believe what he saw. Nasi, his twin brother, his own flesh and blood pulled a gun out of his pants’ folds and pointed it at him.

“You have exactly three seconds to tell me where you had hidden the whistle, Karnol, and if you don’t speak up be certain that I will not hesitate to shot you”.

Karnol, terrified and panicked, took two steps back.

“Nasi, please, you have to believe me”, Karnol exclaimed, hoping that if he tells his brother what had happened to him inside the wall of fire, how he first lost the whistle and then his consciousness, his brother will be pleased and everything will be ok.

But Nasi, who impatiently listened to the story, replied by pointing the gun above Karnol’s head and shooting a single shot in the air.

“Quit fudging me with your heroism fairytales. I don’t believe a word you are saying”, he said coldly to Karnol.

New thoughts arose in Karnol’s mind who by now had realized that his brother completely lost his sanity and now only looks for an excuse to kill him. “Maybe he found a way to return home and doesn’t want to tell me about it; maybe he desires the entire inheritance for himself and so wants to make sure that I die and would never come to claim my share!” Karnol took one step backward and crossed his right arm over his wide pants’ belt where he found the hunting blade that he had hidden before they left home.

In one sharp thrust thanks to his martial art’s skills, he pulled out the blade and hurled it at his brother direction. The knife cut through the air and penetrated Nasi’s hand; He was forced to drop the gun but not before a bullet was discharged and scratched Karnol’s left lobe.

Karnol, who was terrified by the whole event, didn’t wait any longer and fled as fast as he could from Nasi who by then fell to the ground painfully suffering.

“I will get you one day, you miserable coward” he cried towards Karnol’s escaping image.

He had no doubt that his brother, who was trained in hand-to-hand combat had tried to kill him and only his resourcefulness and agility and mostly the gun he was holding saved his life. The anger and disgust towards the manipulative and treacherous Karnol rose within Nasi and only the sharp pain in his arm, which demanded immediate care, prevented him from chasing the escaping sibling.

~~~

That was the first encounter between the two brothers after they had crossed the wall of fire, but it was just the beginning. Nasi, whose hand healed after a few weeks was propelled by his revengeful thoughts to keep chasing his older brother. Karnol, on his part, was plotting tricks and plans to pay Nasi back for his ungratefulness and murderous character.

Both of them passed the next years in loneliness, fear, and longings for their cozy home with their mother’s embrace and their father’s reassuring smile. Still, the greater their yearnings to the kingdom they had left behind became, the more they were convinced that their brother was holding the solution that could surely get them back there.

Karnol believed that Nasi hides from him important information and Nasi was certain that Karnol plans to kill him so he could return to the kingdom alone. They both separately decided that there could be only one way to solve the conflict – a war.

Hence, they began to accumulate weapons and war materials of all kinds to be used against each other in the next encounter. Like two gunmen in the Wild West, they convinced themselves that there would be no place for negotiation or compromise. One of them had to die to clear the way for the winner.

Once in every couple of months, they met, not accidentally and as if guided by divine intervention and soon after the first regular arguments, i.e., curses and accusations, the physical strokes began. Each such fight left them more wounded, bruiser than they had gotten into it. Since the violence’s severity and sophistication escalated in time, radical deterioration in the twin’s well-being took place and caused them to finally consider the fact that further continuation of any act of violence would undoubtedly cause their annihilation.

~~~

An opportunity for some kind of a truce presented itself at the next regular winter battle. The venue this time was on top of a rocky ground hill, free of any greenery and looking over deep valleys scattered with red stones that the forces of nature rolled down from the nearby mountains. Both of them were ready, well skilled and fully trained, and so arranged themselves on both sides of the hill with the best weapons they had collected. But this time something was greatly different than before. This time they were not alone.

From all over rose and came up the high hill more and more people, carrying serrated machines and weapons covered with dry stains of blood. This large wave of warriors increased in size and quantity until the northern and southern hillsides were completely covered. Karnol and Nasi stood stunned in face of the sudden change in their world which they so far had thought to be desolated. They were surrounded by masses of people that looked back at them with fear and amazement. Something very strange was happening, an unexplainable event took place. For you must understand – Nasi and Karnol were in the middle of a crowd that was comprised of millions of people who were, one by one, perfect copies of Karnol and Nasi themselves!

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For a long time, no one made a sound and no voice was heard but the wailing winter wind. The shock and wonder that overcame the twins and their plenty of doubles were stronger than any force and in spite of the cold and the late hour nobody moved. Suddenly, Nasi’s hoarse voice called out amidst the rabble:

“The fairy tales that have been told to us when we were little kids about the world behind the wall of fire are now proved to be true”.

“What fairy-tales are you talking about?” asked one of the infinite Karnols.

And so, Nasi began to tell the story; hesitantly at first, as if he was working his way through muddy memories to conjure up the almost forgotten childhood tale. The enormous crowd silently listened slowly developing the understanding of what happened to them. Nasi told about the one-way passage through the wall of fire, about the burning and corrosive flame that shatters and smashes each human to thousands small fractions, and about the seven days of swoon in the world beyond in which each tiny fraction is being created anew to its original form. Nasi concluded the story with the words about the cruel wars that would completely destroy the reassembled armies, as the legendary story had foretold. By then his eyes were moist and his voice shaky but no one – but his brother Karnol who stood near him - could hear or see that. The darkness prevailed and the blowing wind intensified its whistle.

A horrifying truth dawned upon them all. The road back home is blocked. There is no return.

“Mom and Dad’s kingdom doesn’t exist in this world at all; it belongs to another realm, far away and unapproachable”, expressed Karnol what everybody thought. “The magic whistle could not really penetrate through the wall of fire back home so it could have never been useful to us” he added. They all nodded.

Then it was Nasi’s turn to speak:

“We must find the way back home, I miss them all so much, it’s been so many years, and I want to be with everybody again. I want it so much”.

And with that, young Nasi whose emotions overwhelmed him could not hold it anymore. He hid his face in his hands and bitterly wept.

Karnol saw his agonized brother and for the first time in many years felt deep sorrow and mercy towards the man who had suffered so much. Instantly, the tremendous love that he had known towards Nasi, his twin brother, his playmate for the many games they had played, his partner to the adventures, the fears, and the dangers, had re-awoken. He laid his head on Nasi’s shoulder and lamented their past battles, the harsh words they have hurled at each other and mostly the physical pain and agony they have suffered that by now have slotted their bodies with ugly deep scars.

For only now he knew that the weapons they have used all along against each other could not really destroy them.Although they did gravely bruise their bodies and souls and aged them much quicker than time alone did.

Suddenly, Nasi aroused himself, stood up, shook the dust off his clothes and hushed the crowd.

“There is one little yet significant detail in that story that only now I remember”, he excitedly said. “A mysterious and unclear part that might help us go back home”. Nasi told them using fragmented sentences, about a long and deep cave, with countless burrows which split to thousands of different directions, and which in one of them, one can find a tool that would show the way home, or so the legend says.

“What is that tool?” demanded all to know. But poor Nasi, the more he tried to rummage in his memory the more that piece of information escaped his mind until he had no choice but to desperately give up.

“I am so sorry, I cannot remember”, he frustratingly said. “But what I do know is that the cave is made of a special stone, its walls are polished very thinly so much so that they are transparent and whoever observes the cave from the outside can clearly see its inner space”, he then quieted but only for a brief moment. Then added, “The cave is hidden at a mountainside, its entrance is covered by heavy fog and whoever gets in instantly loses his connection with the outside. He simply and totally forgets where he came from, the people he knows, why he entered the cave in the first place, the purpose of it all...everything! Not only that, because of the special walls and the fog he would not be able to communicate with those who would observe him from the outside. They would indeed be able to see him or the things he does but they would never be able to communicate with him either”. All that was said in one breath.

“But at least he would be able to see them, wouldn’t he?”, somebody panicky cried.

“You don’t understand, do you?” Nasi’s despair caused him to lose his patience. “Whoever gets into that cave forgets everything. That person would not even know that there could be people looking at him from outside. He would not expect such a thing so it would not be possible to happen.”

“But…but…but if that is the case then how could we help him?” the asking voice sounded hopeless than ever.

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Nasi had waited for a while before he responded, calculating how his words would affect the listeners. Then he stabilized his voice as much as he could and said:

“whoever gets into the cave would have to face alone whatever he might find there. We would not be able to help him from here, from the outside”.

Nasi’s detailed explanations didn’t herald any good. The millions of individuals lowered their heads. They all wanted to go back home, of course, they desired to play again in the wide open spaces of the kingdom, to stroll in its enchanting gardens, to indulge in the comforts of their homes, to leave this cold world of wars and to return to the warm embrace of their loved ones.

Nevertheless and in spite of their miserable longings, no one dared to embark on such a dangerous journey. The long years of world wars had exhausted them and drained the energies out of their spirits. All they wanted now was peace and quiet even if for a short while.

No one was willing to risk their lives in that weird glass cave which is unknown, unpredictable and become unconscious. For which sane individual would indeed be willing to forget everything and begin anew from scratch, with no purpose, no help and no clue, just like a hopeless infant in a frightening monstrous world?!

Karnol was observing from the side all that took place and especially his brother, Nasi, whose eyes desperately looked for salvation.

“What are we going to do, big brother?” Nasi was now looking deeply and at length at Karnol’s old face. The years certainly left their mark on him; his beard is now white, his face furrowed with deep wrinkles and burnt by a merciless sun that has been beating down on them for eons; the body skin that hardly covered Karnol’s worn out muscles was now taut up to ripping off and dotted with countless ugly dark spots.

“You have aged, dear brother”, Nasi was now slightly smiling as if he had tried to tease Karnol and to make both of them feel better.

But Karnol remained serious. He had known that his brother was right and therefore has already made a firm decision:

“Indeed, it seems that time has been sterner with me than with the others; who knows how many years are left for me to live upon the surface of this land”. He said and immediately added: “That is why I have decided that I would go to find the way back home through the cave. You all will watch my progress from the outside and will come to pull me out after I will have succeeded”.

Everyone knew that there could really not be any other alternative, no other choice. Karnol, despite his old age and obvious fatigue, was the only one they could rely on. He was always the pioneer, the one who bravely has never renounced an opportunity to help others or to be their emissary to faraway lands. Now, in the most important moment of their lives, it was only natural that Karnol would be the one to step forward one more time to save their souls.

~~~

And so, with no further delays and with slight hope and motivation that had injected doses of energy into their veins, the Nasis and the Karnols began looking for the mysterious cave.

That was found very soon, in the next morning, after one of the travelers had reported seeing a very thick mist that was rising up and above one of the eastern mountains where rain has never poured before.

Within just a few hours they all gathered around the mountain, occupying each track and every piece of soil while Karnol was standing at the cave’s entrance preparing himself to begin the journey in the new world.

They looked at him, at their hero, not knowing what more to say or do. Some tried to search for clues through the clear walls but when they realized that nothing could be seen they became even more worried and frightened. Little did they know that Karnol’s steps inside the cave will indeed illuminate the path but only one section at a time. They will be able to follow his traces or to know exactly how he will be doing, but no much more than that.

Karnol and Nasi hugged each other for several long minutes. Their sad eyes expressed what they all had known – the chance they would meet again is smaller than ever. Karnol kissed Nasi's forehead, caressed his thorny short hair and gave a last long look at a world he came to learn so well in the past decades.

He took one big step, shed off his shoulders the warming yet very uncomfortable gown and unwaveringly paced into the fog.