The Heart of The Wild Finale: A Tumble Towards Home
Photo by Tadeusz Lakota on Unsplash
A Fantasy Serial by Mackenzie Dysinger
The sounds of Vitus’ voice echoed across the room, “Give it up, two-legger! Maybe if you come willingly we will let you live.” He finished his offer with a sinister laugh. I doubted our willing surrender would give us any chance of survival. I could still feel Felix breathing faintly against my chest. Looking down at my pup, I saw that despite the wound on her shoulder, her determined face was set in a snarl.
Vitus yelled for his renegade spruce to charge and in that moment Mika and I set off at a sprint. We raced towards the broken window, our one hope of freedom. The spruce yelled and flung their weapons, but not one of them found their target.
Just as we passed over the gem, our bodies hurtling towards the last light of day, my hand reached into the shallow crevice, wrapping around the ruby. An explosion of light filled the throne room and I could hear the villainous tree folk scream, but the noise faded in the background as Mika and I, with Felix in my pocket, tumbled down the mountain. We tumbled down the mountain for such a long period of time the constant rotating of my falling and the soft gentle moss that propelled us forward lulled me to sleep.
I woke to a slobbery tongue licking my face. The memories of Blackburn were still fresh in my head. I shot up quickly, enveloping my dog in a hug. She barked happily. Squirming out of my embrace, she paraded about in a circle as if to show off her newly healed wounds. A voice called my name across the tundra. Mika and I froze, looking at each other quizzically. It was my mom calling me back to the car. Looking around I realized we were back in the blueberry patch and my bucket was only half full.
“Was it just a dream?” I asked, looking at my dog who promptly shrugged as if to say, “How should I know?” She began sauntering off towards my mother and the snack that awaited us both in the car. Standing up, I brushed the tundra dust off myself when suddenly something flew out of my shirt pocket. It darted to the sky and I swore I heard it singing, “Heart of the Wild, safe and sound, In a new home is where it’s found, Best be careful and play it safe. Lurking in the shadows, Our worst enemies now wake.”
Reaching into my pocket I pulled out a red gem encased in gold. I squinted my eyes, nearly blinded by the light the jewel gave off. In my hands the weight of the new found treasure almost felt too heavy. The memories of the muskeg hole and the adventure that followed raced through my mind. It certainly wasn’t a dream. I clutched the gem in my hand and a voice spoke softly from a distance.
“Careful Warden,” it said in a pretentious tone, “it would be a shame if that ever went missing.” I looked to see an abnormally bright orange fox watching me from a distance. I held the gem even tighter. Our eyes met for a moment and the sly creature gave me a sinister smile before walking away.
“Warden,” I muttered under my breath, but my mother’s voice rang across the tundra with the threat of doing extra chores for a week if I lingered anymore. So I, the newly claimed Warden of the Wild, the protector of the tundra and the ruler of Blackburn Keep, raced back towards home.
If you missed the first four installments of Heart of the Wild, you can catch up here:
