Crystal Chronicles- Frozen Myrah- Chapter 3: The swamps.


Koroki woke up and let out a loud yawn. He looked out the window, it was a beautiful sunny day, the birds were singing and best of all there was no Gurdy. He was the only boy in the caravan and was perfectly happy with it that way. Not only did he think it gave him more respect (When it actually did the opposite) but it also meant that all the girls in the caravan would want him as their boyfriend. (Which was……..also the opposite.) Koroki was one of those boys who like to be the centre of attention. He also didn’t want any threat of another male coming in and hanging around with what he thought were his girls. Especially not a weird badly dressed thief boy. Obviously a complete scoundrel…. A complete scoundrel with weird hair!

He glanced in a mirror on the wall and spent about ten minutes styling his hair into his usual spiky fashion. He got up and poured himself a big bowl of dried fruit and nuts. Hell it tasted like pompomous waste, but it sure did build muscles.

As he was chomping down on his meal he remembered that Gela was driving the caravan. He leaned out the window to have a look around. They were passing through the swamps now. He did some quick calculations. Had she been driving all night? He ambled slowly onto the driving platform and nearly dropped his bowl. “What the! You’re still here!” he yelled.
Gurdy was still driving; Gela was asleep leaning on a snoring Narala. “Good morning,” said Gurdy cheerfully despite the unfriendly greeting of the other Clavat.  

“Why are you driving? Get out of my seat! Hey! Gela wake up! NARALA!!!”

“She fell asleep at the reigns, what was I supposed to do” answered Gurdy casually.

“Come wake me up!” shouted Koroki ready at any moment to pounce and kill. The whole caravan had been woken up by now by Koroki’s yelling. Boblind staggered up onto the platform her teddy in her hand. She quickly woke up fully though when she realised an argument was a-foot and it might be interesting.

“Oh, but you looked so cute and peaceful with your trail of dribble coming from your snoring mouth! How could I possibly wake you from FALLING ASLEEP ON THE JOB,” mocked Gurdy, the whole caravan laughed. Koroki went bright red, this meant war!

“At least I don’t make a living out of cheating people!” he snarled bitterly.

“At least, I don’t where tights.” Replied Gurdy casually an evil smile slightly forming on his face. He’d got him. There was nothing Koroki could do, except blush.

“…….er…..Shit…..” was all Koroki could manage as he realized that he was wearing white tights underneath his stripy green shorts. “There not tights!!!!!!!! THEY’RE ARRIOR LEGGINGS!” protested Koroki in mortification. He stormed off in embarrassment. Gurdy would pay….before this day was out; Koroki would make his life hell.


Gela blinked and woke up. She jumped up when she saw it was morning. “You have been driving all night!” asked Gela apologetically, “I’m so sorry; you should have woken me up!”

“Don’t worry, I’m not bothered,” reassured Gurdy.   

“It wasn’t me! It was the miller’s kid!” shouted Narala, her usual wake up cry as she sat up blurry eyed. “Oh, good morning,”

Koroki sat grumbling and sharpening a knife on the roof of the caravan. Gela leapt up to join him. Koroki carried on muttering and swearing and sharpening his knife as she plonked herself down next to him. “You know Gurdy really isn’t that bad…” she started.

“Kill….” replied Koroki examining his dagger.

“Don’t say that, you wouldn’t kill him would you?” asked Gela looking slightly worried, when Koroki said something like that, he meant it. “Just leave him alone right, I’m sure he’ll try and get along with you if you try and get along with him. Anyway I’ve been thinking. You know were miles away from any other towns.”

“Yes…..”

“And the ones we are near he is exiled from…”

“Yes…”

“And no caravans are going to come this way except us…”

“Yes….”

“Well, that means Gurdy will be stuck with us for a while, so he can share your room since you’re the only other boy, he can’t walk all the way through the marshes.”

“NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!” screamed Koroki jumping to his feet and leaping off the roof into the miasma.

“Well then it is settled!” giggled Gela, “I’ll tell him to move in!”

Koroki came back ten minutes later. He ran into his room and bolted the door shut. No one was sharing his room. He let out a great sigh of relief.

“Good day” came a voice from in the corner of the room. Koroki turned round. Gurdy sat on the caravan’s spare sleeping bag arms folded a smile on his face.

“No!!!! The horror!” yelled Koroki desperately trying to unbolt the door. Gurdy shook his head and took out a book.






A couple of miles off, amongst the dense trees stood Malbarac. He sniffed delicately at the air. Malbarac was a lizard warrior. He stood tall his dark green scales blending in with the thick undergrowth. He turned away from the road and stared down at his companion Radlas. His armour clinked and grinded as the plates of metal moved over each other. He had been in many fights, with caravaners, travellers and his own kind even. His left eye was permanently half closed and had a large scar covering it and the scales next to it.

Radlas’s purple tongue flickered from his snout and moistened his lips. “What you smell?” he hissed.

“Caravaner meat” replied Malbarac with an evil smile, “warriors make better sport than merchants, heh heh.”

“How far?”

“Couple of miles North” said the lizard warrior licking his sword clean of the last travellers blood.

“Me get rest of troupes” said Radlas jumping onto his clawed feet. Radlas was neither strong nor clever but he did have something strange about him that no other lizard men had. He could cast spells. Slung across his back instead of a sword was a magician’s staff he had stolen from a selkie that had travelled through many years ago. Stuck along his belt were tiny bottles of dust and little wrapped packages of assorted items including the claws of mythical beasts. Hung on the end of his tail was a small brass bell which was supposed to have some kind of magical purpose; though it was also there for another reason. He ran round the forest tinkling as he went and the whole army would know just where to go. Lizard men could follow any scent, any sound. The army was quickly collected up and sat silent and patient by the roadside hidden by the undergrowth. There pray would come along any minute now.



Koroki sat silently glaring at Gurdy from the corner of the room. The clavat tried to ignore him but eventually gave in and put his book down, “Can you please stop staring at me. You are making me feel very uneasy!” said Gurdy with a frustrated sigh. Koroki grinned; he’d succeeded in annoying him. Gurdy stood up and glared at Koroki just as evilly. They stayed there for several more minutes. “Alright I’ll leave you to it then, there mustn’t be enough brain in there to register when to stop!” moaned Gurdy as he headed for the door.

“Are you calling me stupid!” yelled Koroki realizing what the newcomer had just said.

“Oh, you worked it out then,” mocked Gurdy.

“No one calls me stupid! You’re going to get it now girly boy!” shouted Koroki rolling up his sleeves.

“Come now, there is no need for that!” said Gurdy backing away with his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

“You’re gonna wish you had never been born!” hissed Koroki charging forward. Gurdy stepped to the side just dodging the furious Clavat.

“Can’t we settle this in a more humane manor?” said Gurdy darting for the door. Suddenly there was a great jolt and the two boys were knocked to the floor. They heard a frightened cry from the pompomous as the caravan was jolted unnaturally to a halt.

“What on earth is going on!” yelled Gurdy over fierce battle cries from outside.

“Were being attacked you moron!” shouted Koroki leaping to his feet and reaching for his sword.


Gela Leapt up from the driving seat, her sword in hand into the massive army of monsters that had suddenly appeared from the bushes. “MEBA!!!!” she screamed as she leapt into the fray with a downward slash. Boblind soon joined her. She cut down three monsters at once with her oversized spear that was about three times as big as her. Lisa came tearing blindly out of the caravan with the chalice. She battered a monster back onto the ground with her staff before thrusting the chalice into Laya’s hands with a mutter of, “hold it, or something” before diving down next to Gela.

“Hey!” yelled Laya after the Selkie, outraged at being given the worst job. Koroki came flying past the startled little girl with his sword drawn.

“Grab a sword you idiot!” he roared back at Gurdy.

“You expect me to fight!?!” exclaimed Gurdy as he too came flying past.

“You think you can just stand here!” yelled Koroki as he leapt from the caravan, “Laya, give him a sword!”

Laya passed Gurdy a silvery grey sword that had seen many battles and before Gurdy could object the chalice was also in his hands. Laya then charged into the battle sword above her head screaming. Gurdy shook his head in disbelief. These caravaners were so weird. How could someone so young be so brave, so fearless even when charging into a battle with impossible odds of victory?  Gurdy hung his head in shame. He was a coward. He was a grown man of twenty five and wasn’t even braver than an immature little girl only in her early teens.

Meanwhile Gela was ploughing her way through the endless hoards of lizard men. She thrust her sword forward silencing a monster clean down the middle. “Grr, I HATE lizard men!” she growled. She then flicked the fire ring out of her pocket and onto her finger sending flames spiralling out from her to clear the way a little. “Alright Lizards, bring it on! I’ll cut your limbs off and feed them to you if you don’t run away or send in your boss!” she roared challengingly.

Finally in front of her stood their leader, Malbarac. “If their leader falls the rest will flee,” she reassured herself. Malbarac stood a foul grin on his face. His rusty armour grinding as he moved. His glistening yellow teeth protruded from his upper jaw. Gela ran forward with a vicious battle cry ramming her shield in front of her. To her surprise she missed and he was standing behind her. She tried again but with a slash with her blade. Yet again a miss and he was behind her. Malbarac let out a load howling laugh. “Having trouble Caravaner?” he hissed as yet again she attacked and he was warped out of the way. Gela screamed and panted as she missed again. The Lizard man slashed across her cheek, he was teasing the caravaner. Playing with her like a cat playing with a mouse.

“Why can’t I hit you!” she roared, but then she realised. She saw a slight flickering in the air around her as the lizard man moved. He was moving too fast for her to see. “Nothing can move this fast without a haste spell cast on them,” she calculated. Her eyes darted around quickly while she used her shield to protect herself from the amazingly fast blows. Suddenly her eyes rested on Radlas in the undergrowth his staff in hand. The head of the staff glowed with a pale blue life. Gela’s eyes widened. A magician lizard, impossible! He was casting haste to increase his leader’s speed. She only paused for a second though before changing her target to the newcomer.

“Me not think so!” hissed the lizard conjuror. His staff glowed and before Gela could dodge she was frozen rock solid. The lizards laughed.

“Gela!” screeched Narala running at full speed towards her frozen comrade. But it wasn’t long before she too stood frozen in mid leap. Radlas howled with delight, the caravaners were falling at his feet. But he was too distracted to notice as Koroki came hurtling into his leader who fell to the floor dead. Radlas turned round in fear. Koroki stood sword raised ready to kill. But the lizard was just quick enough. Koroki fell to the floor stunned. A current of electricity ran along his body paralyzing him.

Gurdy delicately tried to work out how to fight. It wasn’t working. The lizards kept trying to climb onto the caravan. He just stamped on their hands and hoped for the best. Boblind had stayed behind to help him though and was quickly destroying the Monsters on the ground. Laya Screeched with delight as she took down one of the fully grown lizard men armed with a threatening spiked club. “I got a big one!” she screamed before being frozen solid with Lisa at her side in the same ice cube. Tears ran down Boblind’s face as she desperately tried to break her frozen friend free. She was stunned before she even made a scratch. Gurdy bit his lip as he realized he was the only one left, well, apart from the Yuke, who hadn’t even realized anything was happening. The whole army turned towards him. “Time to go!” he said as he leapt down into the battle. He didn’t try fighting he just ran for it, dropping his sword as he made his escape. He wasn’t going to get stunned while fighting because he knew he would be beaten. He was out of there. “He who screams and runs away, lives to fight another day!” he thought to himself as he hurtled into the bushes. It wasn’t his problem if the caravaners took to fall as long as his life remained intact. It wasn’t his problem…….But then he saw the caravan’s frozen faces staring out in absolute fear. He saw how bravely they had fought and how now a whole village would die. Then he remembered how Gela had saved his life several times by getting him out of trouble with other caravans, and something went click inside. Was ten years worth of friendship worth throwing away to make his escape easier?

The lizard warriors leapt up onto the caravan. “Let’s go after the one that ran!” hissed one. “No, it don’t matter, loot the caravan!” laughed another. Radlas gazed at the madness in front of him. He’d defeated a whole caravan and better still, since his leader had fallen he was now in charge. But his glory didn’t last for long. Suddenly a pot of chemicals flew into his chest. It exploded, the acid seeped onto his scales, there was a horrific screech as the lizard man’s scales dissolved in the chemical. He held his chest and staggered forward ready to toast Yala who was ready to throw her shoe at him as well. But just as he raised his staff something came down hard on top of his head. Gurdy had come up behind him and dropped a rock on his head. It was too much for the lizard man. Dissolved alive by corrosive acids and then hit over the head with a rock. He died of pain. The Lizard man army turned to see their leader dead, dropped what they were doing and ran round in circles, absolute chaos. The caravaners were now free from the spells thanks to the death of Radlas and put the remainder of the army out of its misery.

Gela slowly got to her feet and pulled her little sister to her feet to recover. Koroki got up and scowled at the clavat new comer. Gurdy returned the scowl and started to stagger back to the caravan, what had he just done? The last couple of minutes of the battle was a blur. To his surprise Boblind and Laya came and hugged him with an excited cry of “You saved us!” and Boblind added, “You’re my hero!”

Gela laughed and said happily, “Hey! You’re not so bad! That was some clever thinking just then!”

“That’ll be ten gil for doing something not in my nature,” replied Gurdy playfully.

“Get a hair cut,” replied Gela with a wink before joining in the acorn fight which had started between Narala and Lisa.



“Gurdy one, farm boy from Meba nil” said Gurdy mockingly to Koroki. The blonde headed Caravaner glared at him and walked off.