Edge of the Real World
CHAPTER TWO
I wake up with the wind in my hair as I soar through the sky. What? I think. How did I get here? I stare at the creature beneath me. It has the body of a horse, but the head of an eagle and huge wings that must have spanned a quarter of a league. I look behind me and see Wirimu, Piripi and Hirini beginning to stir.
Where’s Kaihautu? I wonder. I think back to the boat and the huge sea monster that had captised the canoe. Surely not? I didn’t want to think about what might’ve happened.
The flying creature descended and I could just make out a small island with a volcano. As we came closer I could see horses galloping.
The creature landed on the island and the horses trotted up to us. Only they weren’t horses, not quite. They were human, but from the torso down they were horse. They each had a bow and a quiver of arrows across their shoulders. One of them walked over to greet us.
“Welcome, travellers! You have come far, have you not?”
No one said anything, we all just stared. I guess I wasn’t the only one who didn’t have a clue what was happening.
“I can tell you’re very confused.” The creature continued. “I am Pholus, leader of the centaurs. The creature that brought you here is called a griffin.” There were nine ‘centaurs’, all pretty much the same. A few bays, a few palominos, two pintos and an appaloosa. “Well? Are you going to tell us what you’re doing here?” Pholus asked. I open my mouth to respond but was stopped by a loud rumbling coming from the volcano.
“Drat!” Pholus turned to the other centaurs. “Ready your bows, the dragon is waking!” He turned to us. “Stay out of the way.” He galloped off with the herd towards the volcano. The griffin screeched and flew in pursuit of them.
I looked at the others. They looked as stunned as I was. “Centaurs? Griffins? Dragons? Anyone have a clue what’s going on?”
“They sound like creatures from myth, not reality.” Piripi answers.
“So is that what this is? A dream?” Wirimu counters. “Maybe if we close our eyes, everything will go back to normal.”
We all close our eyes and think really hard about home. We were interrupted by the ground shaking again. I open my eyes and the world is dark. I realise that there was something blocking the sun.
Before I knew it, we were surrounded by flames. The griffin was in the air, trying to fend of a huge red and black dragon. The dragon blasted the griffin with a short burst of fire and it turned to ash mid-flight. The centaurs were shooting at its wings, tearing holes in the thin leather which were gradually growing larger as the dragon flew around.
Suddenly, the dragon roared in rage and I saw that an arrow had dislodged a scale on its shoulder. All the centaurs switched aim to the vulnerable spot. In no time, an arrow found its mark and the dragon came crashing down, splashing into the ocean and causing a wave that put out all the fire. The centaurs looked weary as they walked towards us.
They were all injured with burns, and one had a broken rib. Pholus told us that the dragon was surprisingly easy to defeat.
“Err, I don’t mean to sound rude, but when can we leave? I asked. “How can we leave?”
They looked at eachother, as if wondering how to tell us something. “Um, I’m afraid that won’t be possible.” Pholus said. I looked at the others nervously. “You see, if anyone found out about this place, they would destroy it. We can’t allow that.”
“We won’t tell anyone! Promise!” Wirimu cried desperately.
“We don’t know whether or not you will keep that promise. If you were to go back, people would ask questions.” He looked at us sadly. “I don’t want to do this, but it’s necessary.” The centaurs aimed their bows at us. “Sorry.”