Below is the first half of the Prologue. Hope you enjoy. :)
Princess Evarose & the Castle of Flowers (excerpt)
by
Daniel Van der Roest
Prologue
“’When I tell you to run, you make for the cave and don’t stop.’
‘What is it?’
‘Dire Ravens.’
Ten-year-old Princess Evarose looked up and saw the branches swaying this way and that, then looked closer. The black birds hopped from branch to branch peering below at their prey. One left its perch and dove towards them.
‘They just look like crows; they can’t be that dangerous.’ The swooping bird was closing in on Evarose when she realized that these ravens were at least twice her size. Her frog-knight Kay-Tom lunged to the air at the bird, bounding over Evarose, and with a graceful sweep of his arm and quarter turn of his body, felled the raven with his mighty garden hoe, he affectionately named Maggie. He landed in fighting stance at the ready for another attack.
‘Run! Now!’ He croaked.
What remained of the light of day was quickly covered in black clouds of fluttering wings and deep caws as the entire plague of Dire Ravens swooped down. Evarose looked upwards as she started her sprint to the cave, which was a mistake; she tripped over an exposed root. Kay-Tom pulled her up and pushed her into a forward sprint. The frog-knight stayed next to her with garden hoe out and as each raven dove with sharpened claw and pointed beak, he jumped to the sky and thwarted the attack.
One by one the beaten ravens trailed in a long stretch behind the two, and one by one they shook their heads from Maggie’s mark, flapped heavy wings, and returned for a second run at the duo. But Dire Ravens are intelligent creatures and quickly adapt their efforts to ensure victory. Evarose watched as the large black swath flew ahead and began to tear large heavy branches from the giant trees.
‘What’re they doing?’ A breathless Evarose screamed.
Kay-Tom took note of the ravens’ activity, ‘Changing strategy!’ He lunged above her defeating another feathered foe.
The ravens now flew towards them with enormous branches in their grasp; a few pairs were even carrying whole trees pulled up from their very roots. The first branch came down just behind them with a crush and crack. The second nearly landed on Kay-Tom’s head and the third narrowly missed Evarose. ‘Not good!’ he called out as a rainstorm of falling branches and trees ensued.
Kay-Tom sheathed Maggie and sprinted forward and grabbed Evarose by the waist. He bounded off of a tree then upward towards the falling branches. He outstretched a hand and leap-frogged a branch, then another, then another, and yet another. Ever upwards and forwards he continued with Evarose in his arms, climbing out from the onslaught of the falling branches.
A raven zeroed in at Kay-Tom's blind spot and shouldered the adventurer square on his back causing the Princess to dislodge from his grasp with a scream. Another raven cross-swooped in and grabbed Kay-Tom by the arms; Evarose was barely able to grab Kay-Tom's left webbed-foot. He immediately started laughing and squirming.
Evarose looked up, ‘Why are you laughing? I’m going to fall!’
‘My feet are ticklish, Princess!’ He called out with a desperate chuckle.
High above the trees now, Kay-Tom managed to unsheathe Maggie (amongst his giggles) and struck the raven, once, twice, and as the third blow landed, Evarose’s grip gave way and she fell. ‘Princess!’ Kay-Tom called out.
The raven released his grip on Kay-Tom and he and Evarose tumbled through the air. Kay-Tom stuck out his garden hoe and slowed his descent using the bark of a tree. As he slid down, he opened his mouth and let his pink tongue dart out, sticking onto Evarose. He stopped himself halfway up a tree and pulled his head up with a grunt as she narrowly missed a very hard landing on the forest floor. She swayed like a pendulum and fell only a short distance when Kay-Tom drew his tongue back into his mouth.
‘Make for the cave!’ He cried as he battled away the black swarm of ravens.
She looked ahead and sprinted to the cave, which held a large clearing at its entrance. She peered back over her shoulder and watched as Kay-Tom jumped from tree to tree battling the Dire Ravens. The closer she was to the clearing, the less and less the ravens attacked. When she was at the clearing’s center, Kay-Tom summersaulted from a tree, chased forward, and made way to Evarose. Ready for another attack, he walked backwards to Evarose, but instead watched the Dire Ravens retreat.
Kay-Tom huffed as he stopped at the Princess, Maggie still at the ready. Evarose knelt over her knees trying to catch her breath. ‘You... you’ve got a tongue! And a long one at that!’
Seeing that the ravens gave them no more cause for concern, he put Maggie away. ‘I only use it as a last resort.’
‘Why?’ She asked with breath returning slowly.
‘Contrary to popular thought, most things taste really awful.’ Kay-Tom wiped himself clean of debris and asked, ‘Are you hurt anywhere?’
Evarose looked herself over, twirled even, ‘I don’t think so.’ This was the first time she had seen the Frog Knight in action. She looked at him with new found regard. ‘Thank you, Kay-Tom. You really are a great warrior.’
‘Ha! Did I give you cause to think otherwise?’
Evarose chuckled, ‘Well, you are a toad!’
‘Frog! I’m a very proud frog! Not one of those big ugly bloating wart-ed things! A toad, indeed.’ He scoffed.
The Princess laughed. ‘Well, regardless. I don’t think I would’ve made it through that without you.’
‘I won’t lie and say it’s not for unselfish reasons. All Land needs you.’
‘Right.’ She said and turned towards the cave entrance.
The mouth of the cave was as tall as a castle and twice as wide. The twilight of the dusk allowed only minimal visibility inside but what was visible were cragged rocks and boulders and darkness.
‘This is the fastest route to the Emperor of the East’s kingdom?’ Asked Evarose.
‘Yes. And the only one, really. It’s a half day’s journey through the mountain, or so I’ve been told.’
‘You’ve never been here?’
‘Well, I’ve heard the stories.’ Kay-Tom blushed at his white lie. ‘Might I suggest we gather some rest at the mouth here, before we venture through?’ The Princess agreed to a relieved Kay-Tom and the two walked ahead.
It wasn’t two steps from the entrance, when the ground suddenly shook below their feet. ‘Did you feel that?’ Evarose asked. Kay-Tom nodded and waited. It shook again accompanied with a deep pounding; it emanated from the cave.
‘Now what?’ An exhausted Kay-Tom exclaimed. He pulled out his garden hoe and stepped back, prompting Evarose to do the same. The shaking and the pounding grew more furious and louder and the two were forced into the center of the clearing. The source of the shaking soon revealed itself: a great green dragon emerged from the cave. It was so large it had to keep its wings close to its body and lower its head to fit through the mouth of the cave. And once it was through, it unfurled its enormous wings and stomped and roared a deafening roar, its thousands of teeth pointed, sharp, and shining.
‘Oh, my!” Evarose said as she stood behind Kay-Tom.
‘Oh, good! I’ve yet to battle a dragon.’ Kay-Tom triumphantly said.”
“Wait, wait, Dad.”
Florence’s father set the book about the princess and frog-knight down in his lap and looked up, “What is it?”
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