The Legend Ch. 2

Chapter Two
The Escape
         A half-sized bunk, attached to the back wall beneath a small window with bars, adorned the dinky room and nothing more.  A coarse, dingy blanket lay across the lumpy mattress.  Alex didn’t expect to find a pillow.  There had never been one on his previous visits to this closet-sized room.  He peered out the tiny window in the thick wooden door, but the hallway was empty and dark.  The only light source came from the pale glow of the moon, shining through the window above his bed.  He stood on the bed and crossed his forearms on the cold window ledge.  He propped his head on his arms and stared outside.  His straw-colored blond hair fell across his forehead and over his blue eyes.  He absent-mindedly wiped it out of his way and continued to stare outside, wishing for freedom.
         The view could have been better, but considering he was locked away in the dungeon, he didn’t really expect it to be.  A pristine layer of snow covered the ground outside, and large flakes still floated to the ground.  A tall wrought iron fence surrounded the premises, and on the other side of that he could see trees dressed for winter in their snowy branches.  Further out, beyond the barrier of trees surrounding the prison, he imagined the glowing lights of the small town, where normal kids slept soundly in their beds dreaming about all the presents Santa would bring them.  He sighed.
         “Damn, another birthday, trapped,” he said.  The breath from his mouth fogged over the window.  He drew a sad face in it before it cleared.
         He’d spent his seventh and tenth birthday trapped down here.  He couldn’t even remember why he had been in trouble those times.  It didn’t matter.  There was always something.  But tonight had been different.  Where did the fire come from?  All he remembered was the funky feeling that overcame him before it happened and the tree.  What was the deal with the tree?  He wondered what Father Thomas would do with him after that incident.  He’d never seen him so mad before.
         He sighed again and saw the sad face he’d drawn reform.  No point worrying about what he couldn’t change, but he felt positive the punishment would be more than enough.
         Heaving one last sigh, he lay down on the lumpy bed and pulled the scratchy blanket up over him.  It felt like an old burlap bag.  He’d never get comfortable on this thing.  He slugged the mattress a couple of times and then used his arm as a pillow.  He didn’t expect sleep to find him as quickly as it did, but exhaustion had taken its toll and within minutes he was fast asleep.
         “Wake up.  Wake up,” a small voice said, and Alex could feel something nudging his shoulder.
         “What?” he moaned through a haze of grogginess.  He had no clue how much time had passed since he dozed off but not nearly enough.  Through his half-open eyes, the room appeared to still be dark.  He rolled over to face the wall and turn his back on whoever insisted on waking him.
         “No. No. No time for sleeping,” the voice said.
         Alex felt something jump up on his bed and walk up toward his head.  He yawned.  Something pried open his eyelid.  Through his wide open left eye he saw the strangest creature he’d ever seen.  Immediately, he awoke and started screaming as loud as he could.  The thing screamed back at him.  He jumped up to his feet and grabbed the blanket holding it up like a shield.  The creature tumbled off the side of the bed, did a back flip, and landed on its feet in front of the door.
         “What are you?  Stay away from me,” Alex yelled.
         “Just relax,” the creature said, taking a step toward Alex.
         Alex tossed the blanket over the creature’s head and started chanting, “Wake up, wake up, wake up.”
         “Oh, fizzknocker,” the creature said, struggling to get out from under the blanket.  Alex saw the gleam of a small knife poke through the top of the blanket and slice through it like air.  The little creature stepped out.  “You aren’t dreaming, Alex.”
         “How, how do you know my name?”
         “I’m the one who brought you here, of course.”
         “Who are you?” Alex asked.  He felt a bit calmer but hadn’t dared get off the bed.
         “Oh, do pardon my rudeness.  I am Cognozzle Fizzlebottom, at your service.  You may call me Cog.”  The creature took off his beanie-like hat and bowed low before Alex.
         “Fizzlebottom?”  The fear drained out of Alex as fast as it had come.  How could anyone have such a ridiculous name except for in a dream?  He burst into laughter and fell onto his bed doubled over.  “Fizzlebottom,” he said, still laughing.
         “What’s so funny about Fizzlebottom?” Cog asked, placing his small hands on his hips.
         “Oh, never mind,” Alex said, still holding his stomach but the laughter had ceased.
         “Hmm,” Cog said, “very well.  We have no time for such foolishness anyway.  Time is wasting, and we must be off.”
         “Be off to where?” Alex said, playing along with the game. 
Now that he knew it all must be a dream, he took more notice of the strange creature’s appearance.  It couldn’t have stood anymore more than two and a half feet tall.  Tufts of wild gray hair pocked out from under its cap above its large, round ears.  Its eyes appeared to be a golden brown and were quite a bit larger than those of a human.  A bulbous nose stuck out over a long gray mustache that grew down beside each side of its mouth and dangled from each side of a prominent, proud chin.
The creature’s attire further proved to Alex this was but a dream.  It wore a dark purple tunic made of some heavy woolen material.  The sleeves at its wrists flapped every time the creature moved its short, stubby arms.  A golden cord cinched the tunic tightly around the little creature’s rather large stomach.  Pine green leggings tapered off to black, leather boots, which reminded Alex of clown’s shoes because the toe area was much wider than the heel.  The boots had seen lots of wear.  Alex imagined such boots were hard to find, even in dreamland.
“Off to Norwind, of course,” Cog said, reinserting his miniature knife into the small compartment on his right boot made specifically for it and pulling his pant’s leg over it to keep it hidden.
“Ah, Norwind,” Alex said, “how silly of me not to know.”
Cog sighed and walked across the room to stand beside where Alex sat on the bed.  He reached out his hand and pinched him hard on the leg.
“Ouch,” Alex said, “why’d you do that?”
“To show you this isn’t a dream.  Now get off your hindquarters and let’s get moving.  Time is wasting.”
Cog walked over to the door and took something out of a small brown bag dangling at his side that Alex hadn’t noticed before.  He placed two silver discs, no bigger than quarters, on the floor at each side of the door.  A whirring sound filled the room and the discs shot up into antennae-shaped things that reminded Alex of miniature Eiffel towers.  The stood as high as the ceiling.
“What are those?” Alex said, getting up from the bed and walking over to take a look.
“They help me focus my magic,” Cog said.
“You know magic?”
“Of course,” Cog said, “but my talents aren’t great.  I’m fairly adept at teleportation magic though.  It’s still a very exhaustive spell.  That’s why I need these to help us make the leap.”
“Us?  Oh, no, I’m not going anywhere with you,” Alex said, stepping back from the miniature towers.
“Suit yourself,” Cog said, taking some kind of purple powder from his bag and sprinkling it on the door.  “I can’t make you go, but ask yourself this.  What do you have here?”
Alex thought for a minute about all the trouble he was in and what Father Thomas would do to him eventually.  His life here certainly lacked something.  But could he really trust this creature?  Cog had a dagger and hadn’t tried to stab him or anything.  Maybe he didn’t mean him any harm.
“Alex,” Cog said, interrupting his thoughts, “you were born in Norwind.  Norwind is your destiny.  I would like it very much if you’d accompany me.  If you don’t, our world is doomed and all is lost.”
“I was born there?  Does that mean my parents are still there?”
“Your mother is,” Cog said, and lowered his head.  “I’m afraid your father was lost during the great battle that occurred when you were being born.  He died to save you and give Norwind a chance.  I’m sorry for placing so much on your shoulders right now, but we need you.  You have reached your twelfth season.”
“Twelfth season?”
“Oh, yes, yes, I believe they call them birthdays here,” Cog said.
“If I go,” Alex said, “will I get to see my mother?”
“Her and so much more,” Cog said.
“I’ll go,” Alex swallowed hard and walked over to Cog.  “What do we do?”
“Stand back for a second,” Cog said. 
Alex took a step back, and Cog pressed a button on each of the towers.  They began to glow with a green aura.  Cog raised his hands and started waving his chubby fingers through the air.  Alex could see Cog’s lips moving, but no words came out.  Within a few minutes, the powder Cog had sprinkled on the door started to glow and grew brighter and brighter.  The granules began to connect to each other, and within seconds, a light purple vortex encompassed the doorway.  The light filled the room, giving it a haunting look.  Cog grabbed Alex’s hand.
“Hold tight,” Cog said.  “You don’t remember the last time you took a trans-dimensional portal.  Let me tell you what to expect.”
Alex didn’t want to hear anymore though.  He had to either go now or lose his nerve.  He stepped into the portal and pulled Cog behind him.
Gravity immediately seized him.  His molecules separated and slammed back together, compressing him into a smaller and smaller shape.  He moved extremely fast, yet it felt as though he stood still.  He expected pain but didn’t feel any.  The vortex shrank him smaller until he was no more than the size of an atom.  Everything was purple.  The air he breathed, if it was air, was purple.  He looked around for Cog but saw him nowhere.  He cried out for him, but sound did not exist in the vortex.  The light around him grew darker and darker until it reached an inky blackness.  Then it started becoming a dark shade of purple again and quickly grew lighter in color until only the faintest tint of purple could be seen.  He felt himself falling and growing.  A soft bed of grass broke his fall, but he rolled several feet before stopping himself.  He raised his head and looked back toward the vortex.  It was framed by an ancient, rock archway covered in vines. 
Cog stumbled out of the vortex.  He turned toward the vanishing light.  Two silver discs shot out of the vortex, and Cog snatched them from the air and dropped them back into his bag.  He wobbled toward where Alex lay on the ground staring at him and collapsed face down.
Alex scrambled to his feet and ran to Cog.  He rolled the tiny gnome over and shook him, but Cog didn’t stir.