The Zero Hour | #Wattys2016

Chapter 5 - A Warm Reunion (Part 1)

"Mr. Drake, sir, it's time to get up." muttered Willie nervously as he gently nudged the snoozing son of Malevolent Drake. Deep inside, Willie already knew that it was a bad move to wake Waldo up, for Waldo Drake was well known for being extremely grouchy when he woke up. As Waldo opened his eyes, the cucumber slices he had placed upon them the night before fell off. The rest of his face was covered in green gunk - essence of frog, which supposedly helps to keep his skin looking youthful. Waldo blinked and stared at Willie. Willie nervously looked back at Waldo, wondering if he was going to be shouted at again.

A high pitched scream filled the air. "How dare you! How dare you gaze upon the Drake when he has just woken up?" Waldo screamed in rage. He hit Willie a few times on the head and pushed him out of his room. The door closed with a slam, leaving Willie standing alone in the corridor wondering why he even bothered to wake Waldo up in the mornings.

Lockheed, Gene and Turney who were watching at a safe distance laughed at Willie's misfortune. The four of them had drawn straws to see who would be the unlucky one that would have to wake Waldo up. Willie, being the unluckiest one drew the shortest straw, and ended up bearing the brunt of Waldo's morning tantrums; much to the amusement of the other three.

The five of them had come to the Lost Valley the night before to set up camp. In a billow of smoke, they appeared in a clearing at the Lost Valley. Casting a few spells, they caused all the rocks and trees in the area to meld together and form an imposing mansion.

Waldo, being a very important Noble, insisted on sleeping in an extremely large and imposing mansion. It was a large ten bedroom mansion with fountains, portraits, long carpets and a large roaring fireplace. Waldo took five rooms - one for himself, one for his clothes, one for his beauty products, one for his shoes and one for his servants. The other four Nobles with him were his lackeys and closest friends; they took a room each. The last room was for holding prisoners. As his father would say – 'No respectable Noble would have a mansion without a room to keep prisoners in.'

When Lockheed, Gene and Turney had recovered from their fits of laughter, all four of them decided to have some breakfast while waiting for Waldo to get ready. Four of them walked to the extensively furnished dining room. With a simple wave of their hands, the most mouthwatering breakfast appeared on the table.

Plates and cups and all types of food flew out from the cupboards and larders. The pots and pans clanged as they started to cook various types of food on the stoves and cutlery bounded towards the dining table. There were bacon and eggs, toasted bread, butter, jam made of fresh strawberries, roasted beef, as well as fruit tarts for dessert. The mixed aroma of all the delicious food enveloped the dining room and made their mouths water. They licked their lips and plopped themselves comfortably in front of the table, preparing to savor the delicious meal before them.

"Should we hurry before Waldo comes down?" Willie asked. He was the newest addition to the group and was still learning about the quirks of being one of Waldo's lackeys.

Lockheed and Gene looked at each other. "Nah," they replied in unison. "He's going to take a couple hours." Both of them knew all too well about Waldo's vanity and attention to detail when it came to his looks. Waldo would most definitely take an unusually long time before he felt that he looked good enough to step out of his room.

"What do you mean by 'he's going to take a couple hours'?" Willie questioned. "We're nobles. The usual morning spell gets us ready in seconds. Morning shower, brushing our teeth, combing our hair and even getting dressed. It does it all."

Turney patted Willie on the back. "You don't know Waldo the way we do. Trust us."

Waldo whistled to himself as he admired his reflection in the mirror. He waved his hands and the spell restyled his hair. He thought about recasting the spell again, but decided against it. While he could do it for hours on any other day, today was different. Today, he was particularly excited to leave camp. To be exact, instead of the usual fifty times, he casted the spell ten times and hurried out of his room eagerly.

He could not believe his incredible luck. Despite his father's warnings of torture and death, someone had been foolish enough to flee the commoner camp of White Harrow. And of all the commoners, which commoner had fled the camp? Yes, the very same commoner who had brought this fate upon the entire camp; the very same one who had humiliated him in front of the entire commoner camp – Amadeus! Now, it would be time for sweet revenge. Waldo thought as he rubbed his hands in glee. He had been thinking of all the horrible ways that he could torture the skinny commoner with the ugly face and silly name. Amadeus; sounds like a name someone would give to his cow.

Gene, Turney, Lockheed and Willie were just about to take their first bites at the array of delicacies that lay on the table before them. Much to their frustration, before a single morsel touched their lips, Waldo burst into the room and announced excitedly, "Stop whatever you're doing, for it is time to hunt for that wretched commoner of a boy!"

"What about the Exile locked in the prisoner room? Aren't you going to torture her or kill her? Are we just going to leave her there until we return?" asked Turney. He was usually left in charge of the prisoner room as he had a knack for it. Perhaps it was his sadistic nature. Turney loved to watch others suffer, and torturing prisoners was a hobby of his. Often he would use magic to inflict unbearable pain onto prisoners just to hear them scream. It was music to his ears.

"Oh no-no-no, the Drake tends to get carried away when torturing prisoners. They usually end up killed. The Drake's father may want the Exile alive to study and do all sorts of nasty experiments on. He will be most displeased indeed if she were to be killed accidentally." He waggled his finger at Turney condescendingly. "Fear not, the Drake will make sure you get a share of the reward once we turn her in at White Harrow. For now, the Drake is eager to capture that peasant of a commoner who had the gall to flee from White Harrow." Waldo rubbed his hands together in glee. "Let us head out immediately before the Drake changes his mind and decides to end the prisoner's miserable life. All this talk about hunting commoners is getting the Drake so excited!"

"Waldo, can we eat breakfast before that? I'm starving! I haven't had a bite to eat all morning," muttered Gene without thinking.

"How many times must I tell you to call me the Drake!" said Waldo as he gave a swift slap to Gene with the back of his hand. Gene rubbed the cheek which was sore and bright red under the impact of Waldo's slap. He could never get used to calling Waldo 'the Drake'. In fact, none of Waldo's friends could get used to it.

Lockheed picked up on Gene's mistake and repeated Gene's request correctly, "Drake, shall we eat before we head out?"

"Lockheed, Lockheed, Lockheed, we'll have plenty of time to eat later. We shall have a feast then! The Drake cannot eat with this anticipation bubbling inside of him. Once we have Amadeus as our prisoner, we will feast and celebrate! Yes, watching him suffer will surely give me a good appetite. Now, enough time has been wasted, let us head out to hunt! My, my, what an exciting day it is turning out to be," said Waldo delightedly as he partly strolled, partly danced out the door, leaving his four friends to sigh and stumble reluctantly after him with their stomachs rumbling loudly.

Waldo and his crew congregated outside the mansion, ready for the hunt. Each of them wore the same rich woolen White Harrow crested robes.

"Hoods on," Waldo instructed. They pulled the hoods of their white robes over their heads. Nobles often pulled up their hoods before a battle to disorientate the enemy. It made it hard for the enemy to differentiate one of them from the other.

"Let's go," Waldo tittered excited with a malicious grin on his face.

Author's Note: I really enjoyed writing the character of Waldo - he's over the top. Fun fact: he is based on someone I know in real life? He's based on a metro sexual guy who grooms himself really well and I kind of exaggerated it. Hope you enjoyed the story so far, don't forget to vote if you did :)