Henry kicked a stone and it flew straight into the bush beside him as he walked down the road. He was fuming mad. How dare the new physics teacher give him an F on his project? Who did he think he was?
Henry was a straight -A student, everyone at Graceview High knew that. If they figured he’d somehow gotten an F, they’d laugh at him so hard and he’d have to go back to being a loser. He grumbled again, tugging at his backpack, every-so-often. All he wanted right now, was to find a place to chill out. A place away from people so he could catch his breath and think of how he’d face his family and handle his peers at school the next day.
After walking for a while, he finally found the perfect spot — a creek. The sound of the water, the sight and smell of the beautiful and blooming flowers were enough to calm his nerves and they did. He exhaled as he set himself on the green grass. Took off his backpack and brought out his books. This was not the first time he’d come here. The first time he came here, he was just a kid, five years old.
He’d been running from the chaos at home, the chaos that came with living with too many siblings and being the last child. The chaos that came with doing his best to meet the standards his older siblings had set and not even being given a second glance. As much as Henry hated to admit it; his life sucked.
That was why he behaved the way he did. Stayed away from as many people as he could. Although he was popular at school for being a highly intelligent sceince nerd and receiving many awards, he did not exactly have friends.
He was an actual loser before, before he became popular for being intelligent. He used to be among those regular guys who were mediocre in their studies.
But because he wanted so badly to ace his game and change his social status, he then decided to read hard every time. Study as much as he could. At least it wouldn’t keep him from being unrecognized. He did get recognized.
The school recognized him and it made his parents show up once in a while at his school.
Right there in the creek, he laid back on the grass and stared at the clouds, examining it carefully and wondering who’d have had such talent to craft them the way they were. There was silence except the sound of the running water, but it was short lived. Henry’s ears perked when he heard a creeping sound. It died for a few seconds but became louder and his head jerked up. What was going on?
He got up real fast and scanned his surroundings.
“Who’s there?!” Henry demanded.
No answer.
The creeping sound continued.
Nobody ever showed up in this creek - none that he knew of, not when he was around. To him, it was a secret place, his secret place. His place of abode. Nobody was ever meant to find it. The creeping sound became even louder. It sounded like it was coming from behind him.
“I said, who’s there?” His voice grew louder.
He turned and set himself in a ready-to-kick-butt stance. It was not as if he knew any combat moves but he’d watched a lot of WWE to ready himself. Maybe it would scare whoever it is away, he thought. Henry was about to shout another ‘who’s there?’ when the supposed thing or person jumped out from the bush.
Henry charged with whatever skills he had yelling, “ARGHHHHH!”
“Oh my God! Stop!” A voice yelled but Henry had already made his move and in a second both of them landed on each other.
“Ouch,” Henry said as he winced. What a very stupid way to charge.
“Dude!” The other person said. “What the heck?”
Henry stood up and rubbed his eyes.
Standing before him was a boy; about two inches shorter than Henry with dark hair and amber eyes. He had a scrawny build. His skin was somewhat tanned, making him look like a Latino and he was dressed in a white tee designed with soccer club logos, cargo pants and a camouflage jacket tied around his waist. The boy’s feet were clad in black Jordan’s. He looked around Henry’s age— fourteen.
His face was morphed in a scowl. “Were you tryna’ kill me or what?”
“Well, I wasn’t the one sneaking around in someone else’s privacy,” Henry retorted. “Who are you, anyway? What are you doing in my creek?”
“Your creek?” The boy scoffed. “Yeah, ‘cause your name is clearly written all over it.”
The boy’s sarcasm was getting Henry mad. Granted, he did not own the creek but the boy had no right to trespass.
“I’m gonna have to ask you to leave,” Henry said.
“Yeah…no. Not happening. I’m on a very important… why am I telling you this? Out of my way, loser!” He pushed or tried to push Henry out of the way but Henry stood his ground. No one was stealing his place of abode from him. And nobody called Henry a loser and got away with it.
“I said no way Jose.” He stepped in front of the boy and crossed his arms.
“Jose? Who’s Jose? I’m Mateo, Not Jose!
“It was just an expression…like, no way are you staying here. I wasn’t calling you Jose or whatever.”
The boy, Mateo, was about to respond when a loud bang erupted from the end of the creek.
“Jeepers!” Mateo said. “It’s here. Now I’ve gotta kill another monster.”
Henry heard the loud bang, all right but he didn’t think it was anything serious. All he wanted was for Mateo to get out of the creek.
“I said you should leave!” Henry’s frown deepened.
“Oh, yeah I sure am, but that will be after I destroy this no good, onion-breath, fire breathing monster. Stay behind me.”
Henry gave Mateo a look. “Stay behind you? Why would I stay behind you? And what monster?”
“I don’t know you, but just trust me, man. Stay behind me…except you want to be turned into Chimera dinner,” Mateo replied as a quiver full of arrows and a bow mysteriously appeared at his back.
Henry’s eyes almost removed from his sockets. “What…where? How?”
“Uh…yes, I make people speechless, now get behind me!” Mateo said sternly.
Henry was about to protest when the sound became louder and he reluctantly went behind Mateo.
“RAAARRRRRRR!”
Henry gulped and almost peed his pants when the monster came into view. It was about ten feet tall. It had the head of a lion, the face of a dog and its body was a kangaroo. Its feet were scaled and clawed like that of a T-Rex, its body looked sickly wet or greasy? Like it had been rolled in oil. Looking at it made Henry not want to eat fried chicken again. At its back, were very sharp looking bat-like wings. Henry had a feeling that if those wings mistakenly touched him, he’d be sliced into pieces.
Henry could not believe his eyes. He’d read about monsters before but he never imagined they’d be real. This monster looked especially like one he’d read about in one of those Acacian Myths. Myths were just stories, they were not supposed to be real…right?
“Whoa!” Henry said with a trembling voice. “This…this can’t be real. It’s just a myth.”
“Well, it’s real. Now shut up and stay behind me!” Mateo said with gritted teeth as he brought out about five arrows and placed them in his bow. Henry was still marveled at how the whole thing had appeared on his back. As the monster advanced towards them, huffed breaths, gigantic feet pounding, face sneering with pure evil and monstrosity, Mateo shot the five arrows at it, not missing at all. It hit the monster straight in the face and it roared. It was a wonder that it didn’t roar fire.
“Yeah, take that ugly!” Mateo yelled and shot more arrows at it.
Henry marveled at how well Mateo fired his arrows. They were exact. On point. And they never missed. Henry began to wonder who Mateo was and how come he was brave enough to fight a monster. Suddenly Henry felt useless as he stood there, he wasn’t able to do anything. Mateo kept firing arrows, but the monster kept advancing. After what seemed like forever, Henry heard wheezing breaths coming from Mateo. No kidding, the boy was getting exhausted.
“I don’t know why this monster won’t die,” Mateo said as he gasped. The monster was down now, but in a few minutes, it would come back stronger. “I hit it just right…what is wrong with my arrows?”
“Who are you?” Henry asked. “What are you?”
“Mateo, I already said that, duh,” Mateo replied.
“But…how did you shoot like that?”
“Well, I have a bow and a quiver full of…arrows, so I just take one or more, place them on the bow and fire. Voila! That’s how it works.” Mateo said and rolled his eyes.
Henry scowled at his sarcasm. “Are you always this annoying?”
“Are you always this dense?”
“You’re impossible!”
Mateo rolled his eyes and sighed after shaking his head. “I have a feeling we can’t defeat this monster on our own. I took it down now but it’s gonna be back soon. We need help.”
“We? Who said anything about ‘we’?” Henry asked. “You brought this monster here, you fix it! I’m going home.” Henry marched towards his stuff on the ground. “And fix my creek too, while you’re at it.”
“Don’t be stupid, man. That thing is evil. It saw me, saw you and now it has your scent. Trust me, it’s gonna come after you if you leave right now. So, you’re roped in this whether you like it or not!” Mateo exhaled. “We have to stop it!”
“I’m Henry Jones and I don’t do ‘we’. I am my own man. I walk alone so figure it out yourself.” Henry picked his backpack and made to leave.
“No! We have to work together. This is what the prophecy meant, now I understand…” His voice went low.
Henry turned. “What prophecy? There’s no such thing as…”
“There is. The Acacian myths are true. They are real.”
Henry remembered every single story he’d read from the Acacian Myths. He only picked the enormous books to read because they looked exciting. He’d read them for fun and somehow the details of every story got stuck in his brain. He remembered a certain monster Taurus, the immortal, had tried to defeat. The way this chimera looked fit the description in the books perfectly. He remembered clearly how Taurus couldn’t defeat the monster but sent it to eternal damnation. The monster didn’t die. It never died but it was locked up for a long time.
But Henry still wasn’t convinced. “I’m not helping you, Mateo.” He began to walk away.
“You have to help.” Another voice spoke but it wasn’t Mateo’s, it was in fact, a female voice. “It’s what is meant to be. You are the third person in the prophecy.”
Henry turned and looked at the person who just spoke. It was a girl no older than thirteen. She had brown hair that had a pink streak. Her eyes were as blue as the sea and her complexion was really white. Henry felt tanned were she stood. She was dressed in a black cloak way too big for her size which stopped inches below her knee and wore a black leggings underneath it. She had combat boots on her feet. Wherever did she come from?
“Sage!” Mateo yelled.
“What?” asked Henry.
“Good to see you too, Teo,” Sage said as she gave Mateo a quick hug.
“You guys know each other?” Henry asked gesturing his fingers between both of them.
“Duh,” Mateo said.
“Yes, we do. We’ve been on lots of adventures together.” Sage smiled.
“So…your name is Sage? Are you like, so wise or something?” Henry tried to be sarcastic but it didn’t work out so well.
“Hah! Your sarcasm sucks,” Mateo pointed out.
Henry scowled. “I noticed.”
“People say I am wise. My mother named me that. I come from a long line of Acacian Sages. None of them were named that anyway, except me. Our words, mostly spoken in proverbs, are known to have become very significant in every battle this world has ever faced. Until now, words spoken by my ancestors’ eons ago still apply today.”
“Hmmm, I suddenly feel wise,” Mateo joked and Sage punched him. “Ouch. Violent, much?”
“Shhh,” Sage shushed him. “We have to move fast, the chimera shall rise soon. We need a plan.”
Sage and Mateo turned to look at Henry.
“What?” He asked. “You don’t expect me to help you. You don’t expect me to believe your pathetic story.” He scoffed. “Long line of Acacian sages, yeah right.”
Sage walked closer to Henry and studied him, staring directly into his eyes which made him feel very uncomfortable. “You have to help us or you won’t free yourself from the bondage of well, yourself. You are locked up and behave the way you do because you are scared you won’t be accepted for who you truly are. You are scared of what people would say about you if you were nice to them or if you were open to and with them. You are sad because your family rejected you and you feel no one would ever understand that fact.”
“How do you know all these?” Henry asked because she was clearly saying the truth. He was all she just said. He knew it. He knew it deep down.
“I am Sage and I have a gift to tell people’s emotions.”
Henry sighed. He knew he was defeated. He had to help. “Fine. As much as I hate people, I hate this monster more, so how do we kill it?”
“You know the answer,” Sage said.
Mateo looked very confused. “He does?”
Sage nodded. “He is the answer.”
“Sometimes, I wish you’d speak straight, Wise Girl,” Mateo said.
“The way of the wise is different from you. . . less-privileged.”
“Geez, girl. Say one more sentence and my brain will burst open. I’m all for the action. What’s the plan, dude?” He looked at Henry.
“Um…” Henry racked his brain. He’d never done anything like this before. He thought hard and tried to remember how Taurus, the immortal defeated this Chimera the first time. He’d used a certain spell? Yeah, it was a spell— a potion and then certain words. He had the help of a wise person, what was his name? His name was Rohan and a powerful archer, Minata. Sage was wise and Mateo was an archer…
Henry understood it now. He understood the prophecy. Him, Sage and Mateo had to work together to defeat the monster and this time, permanently.
“I’ve got it.” Henry said. “Both your ancestors helped Taurus send the monster to eternal damnation the first time but it was only temporary. He used magic too but this time, we use science and science is what I’m good at.” Henry smirked.
The three of them set to work. And just before the monster woke, they were ready. Henry had poured the last mixture of the chemical, they would use to defeat the Chimera. Sage sat down meditating, so she could prepare herself to walk into the mind of the monster. Mateo drank some coloured water and weird leaves to probably regain his strength because his eyes and face that had gone pale due to the first fight became normal, more than normal. He seemed stronger.
The monster rose and this time, its mouth breathed fire. They were not very close to it but Henry felt the heat from where he was. Every single strand of hair on his body, stood.
“First,” Henry said. “We have to stop that thing from breathing fire, else we won’t be able to hit its weak point.”
“I’m on it,” Sage said. She stood up and marched forward, gaining eye contact with the monster. Her eyes glowed. It shocked Henry but he contained it.
“Don’t worry, man. She’s cool.” Mateo assured. “Now where’s that chemical ice cream?”
Henry stared at the mixture he made. If his chemistry teacher ever found out how he’d mixed this, he’d probably get an F for the rest of his life. He was not so sure the mixture would work but he’d have to try, right? He exhaled and said, “Here it is…Deep your arrows into it and wait for my signal.”
“Yes boss,” Mateo chided.
Henry decided not to get annoyed at the scrawny Latino. He focused on the monster and saw what Sage was doing. The monster was no more advancing. Sure, it was breathing fire but the flames were not directed towards them. They were now being blown into the air, upwards to the sky. Henry only imagined what his environmental Science teacher would say about it— the smoke from the flames causes the ozone layer to deplete exposing humans to the danger of direct ultraviolet rays from the sun. Sage had entered its mind and was somehow controlling it.
Henry signaled for Mateo to get his arrows ready. Mateo did. He stood upright and focused on the monster. The three arrows which were dipped in the ‘chemical ice cream’ glistened as the liquid solidified as if it were a part of the arrows. Henry watched as Sage made the monster sit. He looked at her and saw how madly she perspired. This was definitely draining her. They had to act fast. The only thing Henry had to do now, was figure out the chimera’s weak point. In the stories, its weak point was its forehead. He had to figure out the exact point. He studied the sun’s rays as it made a forty five degree angle with the monster’s forehead.
The ray settled on a specific part, a little above the dog face and far away from the lion’s willows peak.
“You see that point?” Henry said to Mateo. “The forty-five degree marker, it’s half of a right angle, bisected__”
“Shut up and just tell me where to shoot, Jones!” Mateo yelled impatiently.
“It’s his forehead. That point just above__”
“I got it. Now stop talking!” Mateo said and fired directly at the point Henry had described. “Bulls eye!”
For a scary second, nothing happened. Sage dropped to the ground gasping. Mateo and Henry helped her up. The monster’s eyes glowed with fire as if what they did just refueled him.
Henry mumbled incoherent words and was about to announce their failure when the monster’s eye twitched then its head turned; a three hundred and sixty degree turn followed by a loud roar. Three of them hid behind a bush as they watched the biggest explosion in the universe occur right there. The monster went up in flames and its ashes went with it. He’d also read from the myths that once ashes went up with flames, it meant permanent death.
“We did it!” Mateo yelled and squeezed them in a hug.
Henry felt uneasy. He had not been hugged in a long time. He pulled away quickly and said; “uh…”
“You did well, Henry. You’ve proven yourself to yourself. Now you shall be free,” Sage said, her voice was weak because she was drained.
“Yeah. Although, you are very annoying. I think I don’t dislike you,” Mateo said.
“Feeling’s mutual,” Henry replied.
“I would take my leave now.” Sage said. “It was nice to meet you, Henry Jones. Don’t forget you now have the power to redeem yourself. See you around, boys.” She gave them one last nod, walked off into a bush path, and then, she was gone. Just like that.
“I’m leaving your creek now,” Mateo said. “We might meet again, Henry.” He held out his hand for a shake.
Henry smiled and took it. “Be less annoying, please.”
“Not in a million years,” Mateo replied with a smirk. The quiver of arrows and bow on his back had disappeared. Henry still wondered how that happened.
Mateo left and Henry was alone. Alone with his thoughts. He remembered what Sage had said. And right there, he knew what he had to do. Funny how an experience with two kids and an Acacian monster made him realize that.
—
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