Astrantian Tales – Part 3. Callistephus and the Total Eclipse (youngsters:fantasy, 3194 words) [3/3] show all parts
Author: Ian Hobson	Added: Apr 17 2004	Views/Reads: 3111/2414	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
...‘Be warned,’ she said, sternly. ‘Stay away from Warlock Hill. That old fool, Holcus, is up to no good.’... This is the third children's story, set in the fairytale land of Astrantia.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

that, he ran past Luzula and Callistephus, and off along the track and 
disappeared around a bend. 

‘Oh, poor Echinops,' said Callistephus, as he stooped to pick up wild
flowers that Asperula had dropped.  ‘Will he stay a peacock for a day, 
or will he be enchanted forever, like me?' 

‘Thank you,' said Asperula, as she took the wild flowers from
Callistephus and put them into her apron pocket.  She looked upon 
Callistephus with kindness now; after his help with replacing her 
talisman.  ‘I'm afraid I lost my temper.  I meant to turn him into a 
toad but... Oh, fiddlesticks!  We'll just have to wait and see...  
Anyway, what are you two doing so close to the river?  Can't you see 
how dangerous it is?' 

‘We were looking for blackberries,' replied Luzula. 

‘I see,' said Asperula.  ‘Well then, I'll wish you luck and bid you good
day.  But stay well away from the river.  Especially when it gets 
dark.' 

Luzula frowned, as it was still morning and would not be dark for hours.
 But as Asperula turned to leave, Callistephus spoke.  ‘That reminds 
me,' he said.  ‘Last night I saw bright lights near Warlock Hill.  Do 
you know what they were, Asperula?' 

Asperula turned back towards Callistephus.  ‘Be warned,' she said,
sternly.  ‘Stay away from Warlock Hill.  That old fool, Holcus, is up 
to no good.' 

‘Who is Holcus?' whispered Luzula, as the witch turned away once more
and set off towards the village. 

‘He's a warlock,' replied Callistephus.  ‘A warlock's a sort of witch,
but a man, not a woman...  He lives at the old tower, the one near 
Warlock Hill.' 

‘Is he the one who eats children for breakfast?' asked Luzula. 

‘Yes, that's him,' Callistephus answered.  ‘But I don't think he really
eats children.  It's just something that grownups tell their children 
to stop them from going near him...  Come on, let's go and look for 
blackberries.' 

So the two friends set off again, but before they had gone very far,
they heard a shout from behind them, followed by a squawking sound, and 
then more shouts, and hurrying feet. 

‘Hide,' said Callistephus, sensing danger, and taking Luzula's hand and
pulling her quickly behind a large rhododendron bush.  And just in time 
too, for the biggest monkey that Callistephus had ever seen, followed 
by a smaller monkey carrying a sack, came running along the path.  And 
as they passed the rhododendron bush, Callistephus was sure that he saw 
long blue feathers sticking out of the sack. 

‘I think they've caught the peacock,' said Luzula. 

‘I think you're right,' said Callistephus, ‘but he's really a porcupine,
and his name is Echinops...  Come on, we'll follow and see if we can 
rescue him.' 

‘Do you think we should,' asked Luzula.  ‘Those big hairy men looked
very frightening.' 

‘They're monkeys, not men,' said Callistephus.  ‘But strange ones.  Did
you see how long their tails were?  And I've never heard of a monkey 
carrying a sack before...  Come on, but stay close behind me and be as 
quiet as you can.' 

So the two would-be rescuers followed after the monkeys, soon passing
Luzula's village and entering woodland.  The monkeys moved quickly, so 
Callistephus and Luzula had to run fast to keep up.  And though the 
path still followed the course of the river, the ground became steep 
and rocky as the river entered a gorge. 

‘Wait,' said Luzula, breathlessly, as she stopped and leaned against a
twisted old oak tree.  ‘I can't run as fast as you, Little Sparrow.'  
But as Callistephus stopped and turned back towards Luzula, three more 
of the long-tailed monkeys swung down from the trees and dropped sacks 
over the heads of the two children and picked them up roughly and 
carried them off along the path. 

‘Help!' cried Luzula, as she bounced along on a monkey's shoulder with
her legs sticking out of the sack. 

‘Put me down!' shouted Callistephus from inside his sack.  His legs were
sticking out too, and the monkey who was carrying him pinched him hard 
and shouted ‘Stop wriggling, or I'll throw you into the river!' 

‘This one's a wriggler too,' said the monkey carrying Luzula.  ‘We'll
have to be careful as we cross the bridge or they'll have us all in the 
water.' 

‘Stop your grumbling,' said the third monkey.  ‘They're only skinny
little youngsters.  Hardly any meat on ‘em at all.' 

‘Should be tender though,' said Luzula's monkey.  ‘Shall we roast ‘em or
put ‘em in the pot?' 

‘We'll be roasted if we're late,' said the monkey carrying Callistephus.
 ‘The warlock's been planning this ceremony of his for days.  He seems 
to think his magic powers will be even greater after his namesake's 
eaten the sun.' 

Now Callistephus and Luzula could hear this conversation, despite being
bumped along inside their sacks, and, of course, they were becoming 
very frightened, especially with the talk of roasting and being put 
into a pot.  And Callistephus was beginning to think that the stories 
of Holcus, the warlock, eating children might really be true.  Though 
what was meant by ‘his namesake' and ‘eating the sun' he could make no 
sense of at all. 

‘Watch it, now,' said Luzula's monkey.  ‘This bridge is awful wobbly.' 
The two children felt themselves being rocked from side to side as the 
monkeys crossed a rope-bridge that spanned the river.  This at least 
gave Callistephus some knowledge of were they were being taken, as he 
knew the rope-bridge and he knew where it led; straight to the old 
tower where Holcus the warlock lived. 

Soon the swaying stopped, as the monkeys stepped off the bridge, and
Callistephus and Luzula could hear more voices.  ‘Hurry up with those.  
Get ‘em into the cage.'  And almost immediately the children were 
roughly set down on the ground, and with the sacks pulled quickly off 
their heads, they were pushed forward into a wooden stockade. 

Callistephus and Luzula blinked, as the daylight seemed very bright
after being inside a sack, though luckily some of the rain clouds had 
drifted down from the north and the sun, though visible, was not its 
usual bright self. 

‘Callistephus,' said a familiar voice.  ‘I see they have caught you too.
 I think this is surly the worst day of my entire life...  First a 
peacock and now this.  Whatever is to become of us?' 

‘Echinops!' exclaimed Callistephus, recognising his friend, even though
he was still a peacock.  ‘We were coming to rescue you.' 

‘Strange way to rescue someone,' said another voice.  ‘By getting
captured yourself.' 

Callistephus turned to see who was speaking, and there at his feet was a
large black cat.  ‘Who are you?' he asked the cat, as he looked around 
and saw that there were other animals held prisoner in the stockade. 

‘My name is Thymus,' answered the cat.  ‘I live in the tower with
Holcus, my master.  That's him, over there, in the corner.'  And for 
the first time, Callistephus noticed an old man sitting in the corner 
of the stockade, though he looked not much more than a bundle of rags. 

‘Is he the one who is going to eat us?' asked Luzula.  Her long dark
hair was all tangled and matted from being inside the sack. 

‘No!' replied Thymus.  ‘My master would never do such a thing.  It's his
nephew, Hesperis, you need to watch out for.  He's taken over the tower 
and stolen the spell books and the magic crook, and set himself up as 
the new warlock in these parts.  But he's evil.  Just look what he's 
done to the rats that came up from the river.' 

‘What rats?' asked Callistephus, looking through the bars of the
stockade.  ‘I can't see any rats.'  All he could see were the monkeys.  
They were collecting wood and lighting fires and filling a large pot 
with water.  But then he noticed their tails again.  They were long and 
thin just like a rat's.  ‘You mean he's turned the rats into monkeys?' 

‘That's right,' said Holcus, the old warlock, as he got to his feet. 
His hair was grey and straggly and his face was thin and drawn, and his 
fingernails were long and as dirty as the tattered old clothes that he 
wore.  ‘And if I was half the warlock I used to be, I'd turn Hesperis 
into a rat and feed him to my faithful Thymus, here.'  He reached down 
and stroked Thymus who lifted his tail and arched his back and purred. 

‘I thought Hesperis was up in the sky,' said Luzula.  But then suddenly
she pointed at Echinops.  ‘Look!  He's turning back into a porcupine.' 
And as they all watched, one by one, the peacock's feathers turned into 
sharp spines and Echinops became his old self again. 

‘Just watch were you're pointing those things,' exclaimed a goat who was
standing in a corner behind Echinops. 

‘What?' replied Echinops, checking his armoury of sharp spines.  ‘Oh,
don't worry.  I'm saving them for a friend.  I'll teach him to put me 
into a sack.  Oh, yes.'  This seemed to cheer everyone up a little, but 
soon a commotion outside the stockade took their attention. 

‘Make way for His Eminence, The Grand Warlock, Hesperis!' shouted one of
the monkeys.  And suddenly, in their midst, was a tall but very pale 
looking young man, with odd looking pink eyes.  He was dressed in a 
shiny black robe and a pointed hat, both bearing pink stars and 
crescent shapes to represent Hesperis, Astrantia's pale pink moon; and 
he carried, what looked like, a shepherd's crook in his right hand.  
And as he held it aloft and pointed it towards the sun, which was still 
visible behind the clouds, he said, in a commanding, though somewhat 
squeaky, voice ‘Be silent, and watch as my namesake eats the sun and 
turns day into night!' 

The monkeys all raised their heads to the sky, as did Luzula and
Callistephus and the other prisoners in the stockade. 

‘Look,' whispered Luzula.  ‘The sun is being eaten.'  And sure enough,
the sun looked as though someone had taken a small bite out of its left 
side; and the bite was getting bigger and bigger. 

‘It's just an eclipse,' said Holcus, quietly.  ‘Our moon, Hesperis, has
got between us and the sun, that's all.' 

‘Bring the first sacrifice!' ordered Hesperis, still pointing towards
the disappearing sun.  And a monkey standing guard at the gate of the 
stockade, untied the rope that secured it, and held it open whilst 
another monkey reached inside and grabbed Luzula by the arm. 

‘You'll do,' said the monkey, as he pulled Luzula out through the door
and led her off towards the young warlock.  Callistephus tried to 
follow but he was pushed back inside and the gate was tied once more. 

‘Ah, welcome, my dear,' said Hesperis, as Luzula was brought to him and
made to lie, trembling, on a low stone table.  ‘My namesake will be 
glad to receive you.' 

‘Yes,' said Luzula, drowsily, as she fell instantly under the influence
of the pink-eyed warlock. 

Back in the stockade Callistephus turned to Holcus and said ‘What is
going to happen?  What is a sacrifice?' But the old warlock turned 
away, unable to speak or look Callistephus in the eye. 

‘It's someone who...' began Thymus, the cat.  But he too was unable to
speak of the fate that awaited Luzula. 

Realising that something terrible was going to happen, Callistephus
looked out through the bars and said ‘We must do something.' 

‘There's nothing we can do!' exclaimed a rabbit, with a look of terror
in his eyes.  ‘We're all going to be sacrificed or eaten!' 

‘Nothing we can do,' repeated Echinops.  ‘Nothing?  I can do something!'
 And he approached the gate and began to shoot spines through it.  Some 
of the spines hit the monkey guard and he howled and leapt into the 
air.  By now the day was turning to night as Hesperis covered more of 
the sun.  And the darkness and the howling panicked some of the other 
monkeys who began to screech loudly. 

‘Silence!' ordered Hesperis, the warlock.  ‘See how the sun is eaten!' 
And there was silence.  Not a sound could be heard, not even the 
singing of a bird, as the sun was covered by Hesperis, the moon, and 
day became night. 

In the stockade some of the animals were crying with fear.  But not
Callistephus.  As I'm sure you have guessed, the sudden darkness had 
turned Callistephus into a wolf.  And he snarled as he ran at the gate 
and bit through the rope that held it closed, thrusting it open so hard 
that it flew off its hinges and knocked over three monkeys who were 
standing looking skywards.  Then he charged through the monkeys that 
surrounded the table where Luzula lay, knocking them this way and that, 
and by the light of the fires that the monkeys had lit, he leapt at the 
young warlock and knocked him flying. 

The crook that the warlock held was knocked from his hand and quickly
snatched up by Thymus, who had bravely followed the snarling wolf, 
having realised that he was friend, not foe.  And before long others 
from the stockade came to help too; and though the monkeys tried to 
make them return, soon some of them were howling in pain as Echinops 
fired more sharp spines at them.  Even the goat found his courage as he 
lowered his horns and charged at several monkeys, butting them hard and 
knocking them over. 

But then the strangest thing happened.  Holcus, the old warlock, came
striding out of the stockade.  He stood tall and proud and in his right 
hand was the crook that had been returned to him by his faithful cat, 
Thymus; and as Hesperis began to move away from the sun and daylight 
began to return, he shouted: 

‘Incarvillea Kniphofia Liatris Sempervivium Thalictrum Vinca' 

And suddenly all the monkeys were turned back into rats and they ran
about screeching as Thymus chased after them, biting their tails. 

Hesperis, the young warlock was running as well, because, as the
daylight returned, he had witnessed Callistephus change from wolf to 
boy and believed him to be a demon of some kind, sent to punish him for 
his evil deeds.  He ran onto the rope bridge, accompanied by many of 
the rats, and when he reached the middle of the bridge he stepped on 
one of the rats, who squealed and turned and bit his ankle.  Now it was 
Hesperis who squealed, and as he hopped on one foot, clutching his 
bitten ankle, he lost his balance and fell over the side of the swaying 
bridge and into the river.  And as the prisoners from the stockade 
watched and cheered, he was quickly washed downstream, with his pointed 
hat still on his head and his black cloak floating along after him. 

Meanwhile, Callistephus was kneeling beside Luzula, who still lay on the
stone table.  ‘Please wake up,' he pleaded.  For Luzula seemed to be 
asleep, yet her skin was so pale that Callistephus feared she was dead. 
 He took hold of her limp hand and held it to his forehead and began to 
weep.  But as the clouds parted and a shaft of sunlight fell on the two 
friends, Callistephus heard a familiar voice. 

‘Why are you crying, Little Sparrow?' 

Callistephus looked up and saw his friend, Luzula, smiling down at him.
‘She'll be alright now,' said Thymus, the cat, as he leapt up onto the 
table beside Luzula.  ‘We all will, thanks to that wolf.  I wonder 
where he came from and where he disappeared to.' 

We know... don't we? 


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