Lemonark

Ogres And Attitude

In front of me stood a man- neigh, a giant, and I was quite literally quaking by just looking at him! He was looking at me, and it would be unfit of me to break eye contact with such a creature. His skin was gray, but there had been a chance that it could pass as green rather easily. The eyes he had were gargantuan, really very scary. It seemed that the colour of his eyes did not suit him at all, for you see, they were yellow. Yellow was a happy colour, a colour that made you feel warmth and secureness. But of course, he made you feel the opposite.

His ears were curved, and not to forget that they were very long. He had 2 top teeth from either side of his mouth painted outwards. If anything, they were like fangs. Wow, what an ogre.

"Parisa, this is Alagwar Edavtra. His reputation precedes him, and almost everyone in Blossom County knows his legacy that comes with his name," Ophelia said. By the sound of it, you would expect him to be much older than how he was. Alagwar looked fairly young. "All the best warriors have trained under him," she continued. "That is why we are here! Alagwar has agreed to teach you combat."

"Oh, how she flatters me! It's too much my dearie, I'm not the man you say I am." His voice on the other hand... sounded too mature for someone who had looked like him.

Arthur had seemed to emerge from behind me, and he placed one of his hands on my waist. Arthur then proceeded to push me forward, and I could not do anything to stop him. Ophelia and Alagwar had been talking merrily to each other, and Ophelia was flushing like a schoolgirl. Arthur would not stop pushing me forward until he led me to the middle of the temple. He leaned his head closer to my ear and whispered "don't be scared."

Why would he say that? Now I was scared! He pulled himself away from me and fastly moved to the side. The middle of the temple was a circle that had been engraved with symbols I did not understand. Both Ophelia and Alagwar were at the entrance, talking gaily. Arthur had been eyeing me from the side, making sure I did not move away from the spot he put me in. I wanted to pull one of the vines hanging secretly from the ceiling and swing away because I was certain something distressing was bound to happen. Nothing normal was going to come.

Ah, I was right. The ground started shaking around the circle, and my heart began racing faster than usual. I knew that they would not purposely put me in any sort of danger, but...

I was rising, going upwards. The ceiling was closer to me than the ground, and I looked to see that Arthur was shrinking. The vines had become much easier to pull on, and it would be very quick of me to pull them down if my mind chose to.

Suddenly, Alagwar turned to look at me once he finished his distracting chat with Ophelia. I looked down at the two, who were eyeing me intently.

"Very good job Arthur! I seemed to have been a little distracted and you decided it would be best to take charge," Alagwar ran up to Arthur and gave him a pat on the back.

His running sounded like what I would assume is a tree falling down. Every step he took was one single tree about to meet its brutal demise. Well, I suppose that they have already met their devious ends...

I started itching the back of my head and broke contact from the ground, my eyes began wandering at their level but that did not last long.

While I was caught off of my guard, a pillar emerged from one side of the wall and met me at my level. It reminded me of Arthur's wings because they had also emerged from some sort of slot. I heard the same noise from the other side, and when I turned around there had been yet another pillar identical to the last.

The two pillars had both connected to each side of the middle, making a clear path for me to walk. I looked down at the three of them, waiting on my specific orders. We had just jumped into this that I did not know what should have been done in the situation. Alagwar started walking closer towards the middle and began climbing up the post! It began with one leap, then another, and yet again another. I heard him coming closer to me and it made sheer panic run through my body. This monster would stand next to me and there would be no room for either of us.

I was wrong with that accusation because when he came up there had been plenty of room for the two of us. He let out a great sigh and stretched his hands.

"Ah, Parisa! I know that this seems a little strange but it is all for the better. What you need to do is walk through that space," he had pointed to the tunnel that had come from the left pillar, "and come out through that one." He then pointed to the pillar on my right, and the tunnel that had come with it. "I certainly would not be a good teacher if I just sent you in there alone, so I will be accompanying you on your first round."

I had just been staring at him the whole time, not sure what would be the best thing to do. Luckily, once he had finished he had gone straight through to the left path. I followed him with some hesitation.

"You make sure she's careful, protect her in there!" Ophelia bellowed out at the bottom to Alagwar as he was at the end of the pillar.

Arthur had been sulking around near Ophelia, looking only up at me with furrowed brows. His gaze had made me a little timid, and I tried to avoid eye contact with him as much as I possibly could.

Once Alagwar had finished walking he beckoned for me to follow him a little bit more. We were to finish walking the pillar and enter the cave that must be full of the most nefarious things. Alagwar was ahead of me and had been holding one of my hands through the entrance of the cave.

"Pardon me asking, but how are we supposed to see in all of this darkness?" My voice had been much quieter and softer than his. I always thought my voice had to be my least attractive or pleasing feature. It sounded too strange, but sometimes I think it can choose to sound beautiful. When I decided to sing a hymn my voice did not sound repulsive, but mediocre. Anyways, to answer my question, Alagwar had answered "ogres have mighty good vision. I can see in this lighting just fine, but you definitely can't. Don't worry about that, for I have lined up torches deeper in." He sounded wise but I could not quite explain why it was so.

Soon enough, torches did start to line up the path ahead and it was no longer as spooky. "The first obstacle is coming up, so don't move once I have stopped. I don't want you to accidentally get hurt, so only follow what I do."

We walked down the tunnel a little more, when suddenly Alagwar had taken a sudden halt. I was quick to obey, for I was in fear for my life. What made everything worse was that the torches had all burnt out at the same time. I huddled closer to wherever I assumed Alagwar was standing.

There were footsteps and the breeze of someone passing by me. He must have moved. The next thing that met my ears had been the sound of metal clanking, and something had grazed by me once more. I heard a loud blowing sound, and I was sure the source must have been Alagwar himself. I slowly blinked and my eyes were open once more, there was light.

"I may not need light, but you do, and you need to be as responsible and safe as possible so listen to me." He grabbed my shoulder with one hand while he had been holding the newly lighted torch in the other. "In these walls are spiders, and before you jump to conclusions, they aren't normal ones. Just a single touch from these spiders and you are dead. The second you lay your foot on the wrong tile, you have let them loose. Make sure you follow my pattern very carefully."

I looked down to see a path full of tiles, seven in each row. Alagwar was still holding the torch as he began but still managed to move swiftly. I tried to keep my eyes solely on his feet... 6th square, 3rd square, 4th square...

I don't know what to do! He is already at the end and I only got up to the third square he crossed. "Your turn!" He said from the other end, putting the torch out as far as he possibly could.

"I don't remember!" That was my best response because if there were poisonous spiders I was not risking it.

"Let me guide you," he calmly told me, "6th... 3rd... 4th... 7th... Parisa no!" With that, I had taken the wrong step and a sting met my neck. I just saw blackness.