Freiyon Fables A Tail To Remember

“Ready, everyone?” Micklang announced, swinging his sword around and pointing it forward.

“For Micklang!” His friends all shouted.

Tursorl and Dightorp led their tree friends thundering through the forest, following the tigers’ group close behind. The tiger and his group came tumbling out of the forest, face-to-face with Micklang and his friends.

The tiger and Josepta were the first ones to realize the danger they had led themselves into.

King Karel stared at the tiger with anger and surprise, as did the tiger.

“You!” They both said angrily.

Everyone looked at King Karel wondering how he knew the tiger.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t my old teacher and uncle, KING Karel. How nice to see you.” The tiger laughed cruelly.

“What are YOU doing here, Quasapoor? You’re meant to be a prisoner for all your evil deeds in my land.” King Karel replied, angrily.

“WHO?” Everyone asked in shock.

Quasapoor looked at Micklang and his friends and smirked at King Karel.

“Looks like you’ve got a bit of explaining to do, Karel, why don’t you tell your friends here who I am?”

“He’s … my nephew, in a way. A few years ago, he caused an awful panic in my territory and tried to haunt the land with the Spooks of Lebasi and take over. But, thankfully, a human came into our world and somehow worked out the whole thing was done by Quasapoor. So we imprisoned him and led the human back to his world.”

“Or so you thought. As it turned out, I had a few friends of my own inside that prison that had been involved in other things you didn’t want, and together we worked out how to get out of that prison and come here.”

“The others? They would never help you, even I know that.”

“It’s funny what some animals can do when you persuade them with things beyond their imagination, and none of them knew that I would kill them to continue my legacy here.”

Quasapoor explained, grinning evilly.

“Murderer and a kidnapper, and you didn’t stop there either by the sound of it.” Micklang said.

“Aren’t you the smart fellow? Yes, I didn’t stop there. I soon recruited this band of evil and nasty creatures and we attacked any animal that came across the island. Why? Because I didn’t want word getting out that I had escaped and now was living with a group of other evil creatures trying to take over the world.” Quasapoor replied.

“You’re one evil pussy-cat.” Harriet grumbled.

“SO glad you finally realized that. But now I have you here where I want you, and with a group of evil creatures ready to listen to my commands. And what do YOU have, Mighty Karel? A small band of otters, platypi, mice and squirrels. How do you think THEY can defeat me?”

“It’s not THEM you have to worry about.” Libertas announced, appearing behind the tiger’s group with all the trees that Dightorp and Tursorl had gathered.

Quasapoor turned around and saw the huge bear and the trees behind it.

“What are you going to do now, Quasapoor? We’ve got you totally surrounded where WE want you, with no chance to escape and not enough back-up in your group.” King Karel said, triumph shining in his eyes.

For a few minutes, Quasapoor looked afraid that everything was going wrong, however he always was quick trying to turn a negative into a positive.

Putting on the most innocent face he could, he cried out to King Karel.

“Please have mercy on me; I only did those things because I was too dumb to know better, I don’t like it on this island and I am sorry for everything I’ve done.”

King Karel growled at Quasapoor, knowing his attitude.

“You did those things because you wanted power and to rule over everything, you’re not sorry for anything. Don’t think we’ll fall for that trick, Quasapoor.” Karel replied, not taking his eyes off the evil tiger.

“I thought I was better than you, more than an equal, I see that I have made a terrible mistake.”

No-one thought he was serious, no-one was going to feel sorry for him.

King Karel said only two words.

“Kill him!”

Quasapoor panicked and tugged at King Karel’s tail and fur in desperation.

“Have pity! I really am sorry for what I did. I didn’t know you were coming to this island and I am sorry your friends got into so much trouble with my group. I’ll make sure they never do that again.”

Harriet, for a moment, saw the scared look in Quasapoor’s eyes and found she felt sorry for him.

“Do we have to kill him; couldn’t we just arrest him and put him somewhere where he isn’t in contact with any other animals or humans?” Harriet asked Micklang.

“He kidnapped you and then tried to kill you, and you’re taking his side?” Micklang turned to Harriet.

“He said there was a reason, but he didn’t realize that we knew Karel at the time. Besides, it might be best for us to judge him accordingly.”

Micklang thought about it for a moment and then clicked his fingers in realization.

“I have an idea. King Karel? Could we imprison him again, except keep him somewhere where there is nothing he could bribe to being his ally?” Micklang asked the lion.

“We could, but that wouldn’t stop him from escaping again while we are heading back.” Karel replied.

Micklang beckoned the lion closer and whispered to him.

“Did you have any trouble crossing the ocean to get here?”

“Yes, while we were waiting for certain parts of the bridge to be finished some sharks and other creatures tried to attack us by jumping out at us.”

“Well, I’m thinking we could let the sea do its work if he and his group try to escape. Kill him without trying to, as you can see.”

Karel’s eyes lit up as he realized what Micklang was saying.

“But wouldn’t that put us at risk too?”

Micklang smiled cheekily.

“Not if we know what’s in store and where to look.”

Karel turned his face back to anger before looking back at Quasapoor.

“Very well, I have decided to spare you life for now, but you will be imprisoned, along with your group, in the best prison I can build. We will travel back along the bridge that we used to get here and at no point are you to try and escape.” Karel ordered.

Quasapoor sighed with relief and thanked King Karel.

Micklang whispered to Abrigail and his crew as they started to leave.

“We’re going to go through the forest, it takes longer that way, and you and your crew go along the shore and take the ship out of the beach. We don’t want Quasapoor to see that there is any way to escape. When we are done with Quasapoor and his gang, you can come and collect us and we’ll continue our travels.”

“How will we know when you are done with his gang?” Abrigail asked.

“Don’t worry about that, you’ll know. I’ll just say this: the bridge has to come to an end soon.”

Abrigail, confused but knowing he should listen to Micklang, crept away for the group unnoticed and headed along the beach in the direction Abrigail saw Micklang come from.

Josepta hissed angrily at Quasapoor as they walked along, with the trees walking next to them as guards, Micklang and his friends coming behind and Lord Libertas and King Karel leading.

“You fool, why did you ssssay all of that? You’ve got usss caught asss prissonerss now!”

Quasapoor didn’t change his look, but he whispered back to the snake.

“Reverse psychology, Josepta. We’ll get out of this yet. Don’t you worry, Quasapoor always has a plan.”

Two hours later, they arrived at the bridge and Micklang saw that there was no sign of the Sea-shark or Abrigail and his crew, which he was relieved about.

Lord Libertas and King Karel had decided to put strong ropes on Quasapoor and his group, keeping them close together and keeping a constant eye on them, just so they didn’t decide to gnaw at the ropes and escape. But there was no need to; for some odd reason, Quasapoor and his gang seemed rather content with the fact they were prisoners, not realizing that it would be their demise.

“Whoa! Would you look at that huge thing? That’s gotta be the biggest bridge in the world!” Dillon the hyena exclaimed.

Quasapoor had to look twice to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.

“Where did this bridge come from? It wasn’t here before, I would have known and we would have used it to escape this island.” He said.

“No time for questions, everyone has to keep moving if you want to get off this island as quick as possible.” Libertas commanded.

The group didn’t need any second warning, they were off along the bridge so quickly that Libertas and Karel had to let go of the rope to keep them going.

“Um, I know this might sound odd coming from me, but why are WE staying behind on this island?” Dillon asked Lord Libertas.

“Because any minute now, they will soon realize we’re not gonna stop them and they will decide to try and maroon us on this island by cutting off the other end of this bridge.”

“But isn’t that a BAD thing?”

“NOT if they get nowhere near the other side of the bridge. Remember when that huge sea creature tried to attack us? Let’s just say we’re giving that creature a feast that it’ll never forget.” Micklang explained.

At that moment, whether by somehow hearing Micklang or by realizing something was going on, Quasapoor skidded to a stop and turned around, only to see that his captors were just standing there on the island.

Quasapoor stared at King Karel and saw the anger and revenge in his eyes.

“Stop! Everyone stop running. Turn around now, go back, go ba … ”

“AAAAAHH!” A huge, hideous fish had just attacked one of Quasapoor’s favourite gang members. That goanna was never gonna see the light of day again.

“Um, I think our plan might have been a little over-board.” Micklang said, realizing what they had to do now.

“Everyone onto the bridge! We’ve got to keep those evil-doers on that bridge for as long as possible!” King Karel commanded.

Tursorl and Dightorp commanded their trees to go first, and then everyone else followed right behind.

“Harriet, are you ready for this? Because this is going to be hard, and I do not want to lose you again.” Micklang asked Harriet as they ran.

“I won’t leave you. We were meant to be together, and we DO have a secret weapon on our side.”

“What?”

“Me, remember?”

Micklang chuckled and unsheathed his sword.

“Keep an eye on the kids, and I’ll worry about everything else.”

“Don’t get too carried away, Micklang.”

Micklang ran ahead just as a fish jumped in the place where he had been.

“Attack, get back to the island, it’s a trap!” Quasapoor ordered.

Josepta curled around the tiger suddenly and squeezed him, ready to bite the tiger and end his life.

“Your life endsss here, Quasssapoor. Looksss like you weren’t ssssso mighty after all, eh?” Josepta sneered.

Right at that moment, a small shark grabbed Josepta’s tail and he screeched in pain.

Taking his chance, Quasapoor grabbed Josepta’s neck and started to dig into it viciously.

“I might not be strong like I told you I was, but I always have a plan around things. And you’ll be the shark’s dinner!” He snarled at Josepta.

Throwing the snake into the water, Quasapoor laughed cruelly when he saw Josepta’s body being ripped to pieces.

Micklang was sword-fighting with an evil hyena when Dillon jumped up from behind Micklang and pushed the hyena off the bridge.

“Thanks for that, Dillon!” Micklang said.

“Not a problem, always glad to help.” Dillon replied, jumping away and pushing another evil creature into the sea.

Harriet was trying extremely hard to keep track of her children, but then she heard one of them cry.

She looked up and saw her dear Melody still at the entrance to the bridge, crying as she tried to bash a fish away from her foot.

Harriet ran back, ducking and weaving through the attack. When she came to Melody, she kicked the fish off and picked Melody up, taking her back as quickly as she could.

Just in time.

The same creature that had attacked Abrigail’s ship before lunged up out of the water, smashing the bridge as it did.

Harriet turned around in surprise, seeing the full height of the creature.

“Oh, no!” She screamed. “Everybody get back to the island! Run! The bridge is falling!”

The whole fight stopped as everyone looked to see that the bridge was beginning to fall.

“Go! Go, go!” Quasapoor shouted, trying to kill any creatures that weren’t on his side as he ran, with absolutely no luck.

Another villain on Quasapoor’s side was knocked unconscious off the bridge, but there looked like no attacks got to him.

The huge monster of the sea raced after them all as the bridge kept falling down bit by bit.

Quasapoor found that he was the only surviving animal in his group now, and he knew he was defeated. There was no use running anymore.

He had to admit defeat, the lowest part of war anyone could choose.

He slowed down his pace, narrowly avoiding several fish jumping out until he bumped into the large lion King Karel. King Karel roared at him angrily.

“No-where to go now, Quasapoor, it’s over. Admit it, you’ve failed.” Karel said.

Quasapoor stared at the lion and knew; deep down, that Karel was right.

“I NEVER fail; I’ve just made a mistake. But hear me now; it’s FAR from over between us.”

And with that, Quasapoor made one final attempt at attacking Karel, failed, and jumped into the sea.

King Karel looked over the edge of the bridge, noticing that there was barely any blood and no sign of a body.

“Come on, King Karel, move along! We’ve got to get off this bridge!” Dillon exclaimed, running past the lion quickly.

Micklang suddenly made a high-pitched whistle that made everyone stop for a few minutes.

“Libertas, Karel, you take Tursorl and his gang ashore and wait there, we’ll meet you there.” Micklang said.

“You can’t stay here! You’ll be chewed up or drowned in the sea!” Dightorp replied.

“I have some friends that will come and help us; you don’t need to worry about us. Just get to shore, and we’ll see you there, ok?”

“Watch out, the bridge is catching up!” Tursorl announced.

Micklang turned around and saw the sea-monsters starting to get upset and angry, the bridge started to collapse faster than before. The group was now right in the centre of the bridge, and Dillon noticed something… unsettling.

“Have you noticed that nothing is holding this bridge up now?!” Dillon exclaimed.

Micklang’s eyes shot open in realization.

“Then what’s keeping us up?” King Karel asked.

“Run! Go, go, go!” Micklang ordered.

The group started running again, noticing that the bridge seemed to be coming to life.

“I don’t like the look of this!” Dillon exclaimed.

“GO! RUN, NOW!” Micklang screeched.

The slimy, slinky creature was back, and it had brought some friends along.

They smashed through the bridge as they steamed after Micklang and his friends.

Now they knew they couldn’t stop running at all, it was just a matter of time before something else happened.

Abrigail heard the whistle and knew it was Micklang’s signal to come and get him, so he made his crew work double-speed to get to Micklang before anything happened to him. He noticed that Harriet was watching the action on the part of the new island where the bridge HAD been and decided to pick her back up. Once he had achieved that, he began heading to save Micklang.

“More speed, crew! We’ve got to save Micklang and his friends.” Abrigail commanded.

“Prepare the long boat, man the cannons, but don’t fire unless the captain says so.” Frebil shouted, running along to each crew member and helping them out as much as he could.

Micklang and Libertas tried to wave to get Abrigails’ attention when, without warning, a large fish jumped up right in front of them, shattering the bridge pieces in front of them.

“Go back!” Micklang shouted.

But they couldn’t go back far, they were trapped on a small, shattering part of a once, long bridge.

The children were screaming and crying as the planks of the bridge fell down and the monsters got closer. All alone without their mother, only their father and these other strange creatures around them. It was quite a fright for them all.

Micklang prepared himself with his sword when Abrigail, with his ship, finally arrived at the bridge just in time.

“Ahoy there, grab the rope, friends, quickly now!” Abrigail shouted from his ship.

“Harriet, get the kids up that rope first, then you go. We can’t all fit on there at once.” Micklang ordered.

Harriet picked up her kids one by one, getting them onto the ropes as quickly as she could, glad to have them in her care once more.