Akiko in the Castle of Alia Rellapor by Mark Crilley Page A
Authors: Mark Crilley
Tags: Fiction
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snow-encrusted road!”
“I’m tellin’ ya, Beebs,” Spuckler called back as he quickened his pace, “I got a feeling about this!”
“You and your feelings!” Mr. Beeba griped. “If we still had my
maps,
we’d have much more to go on than your feckless, fickle feelings!”
“ VERY IMPRESSIVE ALLITERATION, SIR ,” Gax’s tinny voice announced from the back of the group.
“Why, thank you, Gax,” Mr. Beeba said with a grin, turning his head back to give Gax a wink. “I was rather pleased with it myself!”
I craned my neck, trying to get a peek at what lay beyond the ridge. All I could see was a range of mountains, purple and white in the distance. But as we plodded forward, I saw something tall and pointy, too perfect-looking to be a simple outcropping of stone.
“Spuckler,” I called, pointing with an icy finger. “What
is
that?”
“I dunno, ’Kiko,” he answered. “It’s kinda funny-lookin’, ain’t it?”
We kept moving, gradually speeding up in our eagerness to figure out what we were seeing. As we made our way to the top of the ridge, the tall, pointy thing revealed itself to be a stone tower. It was covered with detailed carvings, like the surface of a Mayan temple. The closer we went, the more we could make out. Eventually we saw a second tower a little farther to the right. Then two more towers over on the left. Every step we took seemed to reveal the top of another tower, until finally it dawned on me: All the towers were part of a single building.
Alia Rellapor’s castle!
Chapter 2
Spuckler was the first to get to the top of the ridge. He rested his hands on his hips and shook his head slowly back and forth.
“Hot dang!” he cried, following it up with a prolonged high-pitched whistle. “That is one heckuva
place
she’s got there!”
I took the last few steps up to stand beside him and stood there gaping at the sight. Rising majestically from the side of an enormous snow-capped mountain, the castle was the size of an entire city. It was a mass of towers and walls, covered with alien decorations and ornate, soaring windows like the ones in a Gothic cathedral. It was scary and inviting and ugly and beautiful all at the same time. I’d never seen anything like it before, and I’m sure I never will again.
I glanced over at Poog, who was gazing at the castle with a strange, distant look in his eyes. It was almost as if he’d been there before and was familiar with every nook and cranny of the place. He wasn’t smiling, but he wasn’t exactly frowning, either. He was just really . . . I don’t know,
serious
.
“Astonishing!” Mr. Beeba wheezed, bent over with his hands on his knees. “I don’t believe I’ve
ever
seen such a hideous mishmash of architectural styles!”
“It’s . . . ,” I began, struggling to come up with a decent adjective. I gave up after a minute, sighed, then just said, “. . . amazing.”
“All right, folks, we didn’t come all this way just to enjoy the view,” Spuckler said. “Let’s march on down there and find a way inside.”
“ YOU MAKE IT SOUND SO EASY, SIR ,” Gax squeaked, rattling a bit in the frigid wind.
“Yes, Spuckler,” Mr. Beeba agreed. “It won’t be a simple matter of strolling up to the front door and ringing the bell. There’s no telling what sort of sentinels Alia has dispatched to guard this fortress. We’ll be putting our lives in peril merely attempting to go anywhere
near
the place.”
“Yeah, well, we’ve managed to get
this
far,” Spuckler retorted with a grin. “No sense gettin’ cold feet now.”
I swallowed hard and followed Spuckler as he strutted down the road leading to the castle. Mr. Beeba, Poog, and Gax joined us, looking no more eager to get inside that castle than I was.
The mountains with their snowy peaks rose menacingly all around us as we moved farther and farther down toward the castle. I stumbled once or twice on the stony path and found myself thinking of
“I’m tellin’ ya, Beebs,” Spuckler called back as he quickened his pace, “I got a feeling about this!”
“You and your feelings!” Mr. Beeba griped. “If we still had my
maps,
we’d have much more to go on than your feckless, fickle feelings!”
“ VERY IMPRESSIVE ALLITERATION, SIR ,” Gax’s tinny voice announced from the back of the group.
“Why, thank you, Gax,” Mr. Beeba said with a grin, turning his head back to give Gax a wink. “I was rather pleased with it myself!”
I craned my neck, trying to get a peek at what lay beyond the ridge. All I could see was a range of mountains, purple and white in the distance. But as we plodded forward, I saw something tall and pointy, too perfect-looking to be a simple outcropping of stone.
“Spuckler,” I called, pointing with an icy finger. “What
is
that?”
“I dunno, ’Kiko,” he answered. “It’s kinda funny-lookin’, ain’t it?”
We kept moving, gradually speeding up in our eagerness to figure out what we were seeing. As we made our way to the top of the ridge, the tall, pointy thing revealed itself to be a stone tower. It was covered with detailed carvings, like the surface of a Mayan temple. The closer we went, the more we could make out. Eventually we saw a second tower a little farther to the right. Then two more towers over on the left. Every step we took seemed to reveal the top of another tower, until finally it dawned on me: All the towers were part of a single building.
Alia Rellapor’s castle!
Chapter 2
Spuckler was the first to get to the top of the ridge. He rested his hands on his hips and shook his head slowly back and forth.
“Hot dang!” he cried, following it up with a prolonged high-pitched whistle. “That is one heckuva
place
she’s got there!”
I took the last few steps up to stand beside him and stood there gaping at the sight. Rising majestically from the side of an enormous snow-capped mountain, the castle was the size of an entire city. It was a mass of towers and walls, covered with alien decorations and ornate, soaring windows like the ones in a Gothic cathedral. It was scary and inviting and ugly and beautiful all at the same time. I’d never seen anything like it before, and I’m sure I never will again.
I glanced over at Poog, who was gazing at the castle with a strange, distant look in his eyes. It was almost as if he’d been there before and was familiar with every nook and cranny of the place. He wasn’t smiling, but he wasn’t exactly frowning, either. He was just really . . . I don’t know,
serious
.
“Astonishing!” Mr. Beeba wheezed, bent over with his hands on his knees. “I don’t believe I’ve
ever
seen such a hideous mishmash of architectural styles!”
“It’s . . . ,” I began, struggling to come up with a decent adjective. I gave up after a minute, sighed, then just said, “. . . amazing.”
“All right, folks, we didn’t come all this way just to enjoy the view,” Spuckler said. “Let’s march on down there and find a way inside.”
“ YOU MAKE IT SOUND SO EASY, SIR ,” Gax squeaked, rattling a bit in the frigid wind.
“Yes, Spuckler,” Mr. Beeba agreed. “It won’t be a simple matter of strolling up to the front door and ringing the bell. There’s no telling what sort of sentinels Alia has dispatched to guard this fortress. We’ll be putting our lives in peril merely attempting to go anywhere
near
the place.”
“Yeah, well, we’ve managed to get
this
far,” Spuckler retorted with a grin. “No sense gettin’ cold feet now.”
I swallowed hard and followed Spuckler as he strutted down the road leading to the castle. Mr. Beeba, Poog, and Gax joined us, looking no more eager to get inside that castle than I was.
The mountains with their snowy peaks rose menacingly all around us as we moved farther and farther down toward the castle. I stumbled once or twice on the stony path and found myself thinking of