The Mirobi Curse
By Daniel Munro
“I’m going to practice, mom. I’ll be back at five,” said Lynoben.
“Bye Ben,” said his mother as he rushed out the door. He was going to his first spike-rolling practice. It was the newest sport in Mossland, an
underground country, and was growing popularity fast.
The people of Mossland, who have spikes all down their back, are the only people
who can play it. Spike-rolling is played by
curling into a ball and racing down a hill on their spikes.
Although this was very fun to Lynoben, he was looking forward to something else. His favorite thing to do is to catch mirobi
lizards, which crawled around in fields and were difficult to catch. But today would be different. He asked his parents over and over again if he
could take one home, and finally they said yes. He
had a jar and some food in his bag, along with his spike-rolling uniform. He had years of lizard-catching experience, and he
was sure he would catch a strong, healthy one that he could train.
When the practice ended, he ran to the field where he always found lizards. He took out the food, and sprinkled it in a pile. He then hid behind a bush and waited until a
mirobi lizard came by and cautiously took the food crumb by crumb. Lynoben got ready, and then sprang at the lizard. He grabbed it, and it tried to squirm away, but he
stroked its back until it became calm. He
checked out its head and legs, making sure it was healthy.
Then he put it in the jar with some food, and screwed on the lid poked with holes. He put it in his bag and walked home.
That night, before he went to bed, Lynoben put some more food in the jar and put it
on his desk. He turned out the light and fell
asleep. For awhile, the lizard just looked
around, but after awhile the jar began glowing. The
light began focusing on Lynoben, who was still asleep. The light turned red, and then went
out. The lizard was gone.
The next morning Lynoben woke up and checked the jar. His heart sank when he saw the empty jar. “Oh
well,” he said to himself, “I’ll just get another one today after
school.”
“Ben? Are
you awake?” He was lying on his bed,
with his father looking down at him. Lynoben
looked around, and saw that it was dark.
“What happened?” he asked.
“Someone saw you lying in the grass, and
brought you here. He was an old man, and he
gave me some advice, although it sounds pretty crazy.
He said you have got some “Mirobi Curse” that makes you lose
consciousness at any time.”
“But how did I get it?”
“He said it was from some lizard. Apparently, if you catch a certain one, it uses
light-power to cast a curse on you,” his father answered. He laughed, thinking it was all nonsense the old
man made up.
“I don’t think it’s that crazy,
Dad. I did catch a lizard, and now it’s
gone.”
“Well, you lie down a bit. I’ll be right in with dinner.”
“I’m pretty sure I can walk into the
kitchen,” said Lynoben sarcastically.
“Ok Ben.
I’ll see you later.” His dad
left him in his room and he went to sleep.
He woke up by dinner time, and ate some moss salad and a hamburger, then told his
parents that he was going out for some fresh air, but when he got out he headed for the
library. He went in and headed for the
history section.
“You’re looking for this, aren’t
you,” said a voice that startled Lynoben. An
old man was standing at behind him, holding a dusty black book with the silver words The
Mirobi Curse written across it.
“Yea, I guess. How did you know, sir?”
“Why else would a kid your age be in the
history section? Actually, I’m the one
that told your dad about the curse.”
“Oh. Were
you reading that book?”
“No, I’ve read it many times. I was just going to bring it to you house so you
could look at it. But I guess since
you’re here you can read it and bring it home to your parents.”
“Ok. Thanks.”
Lynoben began reading the book on his walk home.
He started with the strange introduction at the beginning.
The
worst curse in Mossland history
Depriving
the world of any glee
It
spreads itself from victim to victim
To
every living soul around them
So
many have died up to this day in age
That
the curse has been called “The Deadly Plague”
The
only person that can stop it for good
Is
the first victim who voluntarily would
Lynoben was startled at how powerful and deadly the curse used to be. But why hadn’t anyone else he knew gotten the
curse? He had lots of friends that liked to
catch lizards too, and some of them had already taken one home. He was full of other questions, so he decided to
keep reading. He turned the page, and was
surprised to see that the next page was a poem too. He
flipped through all the pages, and found that every page in the book was a poem. This must be old he thought, no one
writes in poems anymore. He kept reading
the book until he almost ran into the door to his house.
He opened it and walked down the staircase and into the living room where his
parents were watching TV.
“I got a book on the Mirobi curse,” he
said, but then realized his parents would think he wasn’t feeling well because they
thought it was nonsense, so he added, “Someone wanted me to read it.” He went to his room, sat on his bed, and started
reading again. Most of it was stories of
people who had the curse and how many people had it a year, so it didn’t have very
much helpful information. Finally, he got too
tired and fell asleep.
The next day
during school all Lynoben could think about was what how he could stop the curse. He remembered the old man that said he had read the
book many times. He must know a lot about
the curse, Lynoben thought. So after
school he went back to the library expecting the old man to be there again. And sure enough, there he was sitting at a table.
“Hello, sir,” Lynoben said. The man looked up and replied, “Is there
anything I can help you with?”
“Yea. This
book was interesting, but it didn’t really have any information on how to stop the
curse.”
“Oh,” he said as he thought, “You
probably want the book on how to stop common curses.
I happen to have it right here.” Lynoben
knew the old man was expecting him to come, but he took the book and read the title. Unlike the other curse book, this one was brand
new.
“I didn’t know books like these were
still being printed,” he said to the man.
“In most other countries,” the man
replied, “magical beliefs disappeared. But
here, unfortunately, many magical and bad things still happen, so they make a new edition
every year. Here. You can take this home as well.” He handed Lynoben the book, and went back to
reading something. Lynoben walked out of the
library and went home to read. This book was
even more interesting than the other one, but he decided to go right to the Mirobi Curse
section. He read and read, until his mother
called him into the living room before dinner.
“What is it?” he asked when she turned
on the news.
“Just watch.”
“This is the worst epidemic we’ve had
in a long time,” the reporter said, “thousands of Mosslanders have become sick
from this disease, or curse to some people, but the reason for it is unknown. Scientists are investigating everything to try to
find the problem. Back to the weather.”
“But why hasn’t anyone got it that
I’ve heard of?” Lynoben asked his mother.
“We don’t really know,” she
replied, so he went back into his room to read some more about it.
He continued reading where he left off. After
a while, he started to see something interesting.
You can only get it if you capture the leader Mirobi lizard. It will escape, but the trouble won’t. The curse will spread all over the country, except
for one place: where it started. The person
that gets it will only have one blackout, and then recover perfectly. But the curse jumps over everyone around that
place and goes everywhere else. This disease
has a unique pattern to spreading. After it
jumps and spreads to the outside, the real problem occurs.
It will then come back to where it started, and spread out a second time, but this
time the result is death.
That’s why it is so important to stop it as soon as it occurs, before much
damage is done. The only person who can stop
it is the original victim. You first have to
find the leader of the Mirobi lizards. You
have to use breadcrumbs to lure it out into the open.
Once you have it, put it in a bag and close the opening tightly. Along with a trusted companion, take it to Boimir
Peak in the Tera Mountains. You have to reach
the top, and release the lizard on the pedestal located outside the entrance to a cave. But watch out for the giant eagle that watches
over the mountain and attacks anyone who comes near the cave. When the lizard is on the pedestal, hold it firmly
and recite the anti-curse spell on page 723. The
curse should leave forever. But there is one
downside. No one has done this before it was
too late, but when the curse comes again, maybe they can finally put an end to this
dreadful thing.
As Lynoben ate dinner, he thought about how he could follow the instructions. I can’t tell my parents, he thought. In fact, I can’t tell anyone about it, or
they won’t let me go. They won’t
believe the book, and Mossland will perish. The
only person I’ll tell is Rembit. He’s
my best friend, so he’ll help me hike up the mountain.
Lynoben decided to
start as soon as possible, so after school the next day he decided to tell Rembit about
what he had to do.
“You have to go up that
mountain?” Rembit asked in disbelief when Lynoben finished telling the story. They were in Lynoben’s kitchen, packing up
some backpacks with food and supplies for climbing the mountain.
“But I guess we have to do it,” he
continued, “or else all of Mossland will suffer.
So you say we should leave now?”
“Yes,” Lynoben answered, “the
second wave of the curse may come soon. Do
you have everything ready?”
“I think so.
How long is it going to take?”
“I don’t know. But it is the tallest mountain in Mossland,
isn’t it?”
“It looks like it. It must go up for miles. Well, we should probably go.”
“So, what did you tell your parents to get
them to let you leave?” Lynoben asked Rembit.
“I just said I was going to your
house.”
“Oh no.
Soon she’ll call my mom! She
thinks I’m out catching lizards or something! She
won’t find us, and she’ll have everyone looking for us!”
“Don’t worry. Let’s just undo the curse and we’ll come
back and tell them where we were.” They
reached a sign that read “Boimir Peak Tallest Peak in the
Tera Mountains”. They looked up in dread
at the towering mountain. It was taller than
anything they had ever seen, although they both had been in the mountains before. They couldn’t even see the top; it went up
into the blackness above all the lights of the city.
There was no path: just jagged rocks sticking out everywhere, along with a few
cacti. They were hesitant to start, but
eventually began walking. It started out a
gentle slope, but slowly became steeper and steeper.
After an hour, their legs felt heavy and they slowed down.
“Lets take a rest at this boulder,”
Lynoben said breathing sharply, “this lizard in the jar is heavy. Why does the leader lizard have to be so
big?”
“Here.
We’ll trade off carrying the jar,” Rembit said as he took the jar. He took out his water bottle and had a long
drink. Lynoben did the same, and soon they
decided to continue their hike. Sometimes
they had to hold on to vines and plants to pull themselves up a small cliff, but they made
their way up. When it became dark, they found
a small cave and started a fire, because it was close to 0 degrees Celsius. They got out the sandwiches they packed and some
more water. They discussed what they would do
the next day.
“It looks like we’ll be at the top
tomorrow morning.”
“I hope.
But Ben, I still don’t get what we have to do when we get to the top. What if there isn’t any pedestal there at
all? What if that book just said all that,
expecting that no one would actually climb the mountain, and it’s all lies?”
“Rembit, now you’re the one worrying
all the time. I’m sure the book’s
right. Besides; the publishers always check
their sources.”
“Yea, I’m sure they’d do it this
time,” Rembit mumbled.
They woke up early the next morning. They
were excited to reach the top. They walked at
a fast pace.
“Look at that rock!” Lynoben exclaimed,
“It must be the pedestal! The cave
should be on the other side!” They ran
over to the rock and looked down, searching for the cave.
But their eyes just saw boulders. They looked up: more rocks. They had to look almost straight up to see the top
of the rock. They looked back down to see how
far they had come. There was at least twice
as much mountain ahead of them!
“Let’s just go,” Rembit said
glumly. They walked toward the top, but they
couldn’t for long. They had to wind
around all the time, dodging huge boulders and deep ravines. Soon they came to a wall with no other passage up. So they had to climb up it with their backpacks
that weighed them down like stones. The wall
seemed to go up forever. Finally they
realized that it wasn’t just a wall. It was the rest of the mountain. They had to climb for a whole day, stopping at
ledges and large crevices. By evening of the
second day, they were tired, scratched, and extremely sore.
“We should have brought some rope. Can you see the top?” Lynoben asked.
“Maybe.
Or that might just be a cave or something on a flat area.” They ascended for a few more minutes and sure
enough, there was a cave with some trees around it. There
was also a small stream running out of it. But
the best thing was that there was nothing above it.
“It’s the top! We’ve reached it, Ben! And there’s the
pedestal! Get out the book and read the
spell!” Lynoben dropped his backpack and
dug around until he grabbed the book. He also
got out the lizard from the jar and set it on the pedestal.
He flipped through the pages of the spell book and got to the page with the spell
on it. But an unexpected gust of wind turned
the pages again. He felt a jolt, dropped the
book, and was literally swept off his feet. Something
with huge talons had grabbed him. The giant
claw gripped his stomach painfully. He looked
down, and saw the ground hundreds of feet down; he was being led away from the mountain at
a fast pace. He looked to the right and saw
Rembit in another claw, looking at him. They
both looked up and saw the scariest thing they had seen in their lives.
At first it looked like a giant eagle, and that was probably what it was. But it was fiercer than normal ones. Its beak was curved and sharp. Two jet-black eyes glared down at him, and he
looked away in fear for a second. He looked
up again and saw a scar along his left eye. Its
slick dark-blue feathers streaked down its head and formed “horns” where ears
would be. It caught Lynoben looking at him
again and tightened his grip even harder so that the talons cut into his stomach. He had to fight for breath, and Rembit looked like
he was struggling too. They didn’t want
to talk or shout, but they looked at each other to make sure they were ok. Finally the eagle spread its gigantic wings and
landed on the same mountain peak from which it grabbed them. So it was just making a big circle, Lynoben
thought, probably to weaken its prey. It
released them, but used its wings to push them into the cave. Inside there was a huge pit full of grass and
leaves. It’s a nest, Rembit
thought. The eagle pushed them in and they
rolled to the center. Then it gave out a
shrill shriek so loud the two had to cover their ears.
Then they heard wings flapping down a hallway and three smaller eagles flew out and
when they spotted the two sitting in the nest, they gave screeches of delight and flew in
with savage eyes.
“They’re going to eat us! Let’s
get out of here!” They got to their feet
and ran for the door, but the large eagle blocked it with its wings.
“Here’s what we do,” whispered
Rembit, “I’ll run through to the right of his legs. When he tries to get me, you run to the left. Hopefully, we’ll both get out. One, two, three!” He darted under the right wing, and Lynoben ran
for the left. The eagle focused on Rembit, so
Lynoben made it through. But when he got out,
he saw that Rembit was caught in the eagle’s claws.
He ran and grabbed his arms. He tried
with all his might to pull him out, but the eagle pulled him away.
“Run!!” Rembit screamed, “Stop the
curse! You can get me later. I’ll be ok.
Hurry!” Lynoben knew he was
right; once the curse was stopped, he would be stronger and could rescue Rembit easier. He ran to the pedestal and opened the book. He set the lizard, which had found its way back
into the jar, back on the pedestal. He
didn’t read the entire page; he skipped right to the spell and began reading it
loudly. It was just lines of random
syllables, so it made no sense. But he
continued reading. The wind howled and he had
to shout it, and leaves were blowing so he had to put the book close to his face to read
it. The wind knocked him to his knees, and he
could barely see. Suddenly he lost most of
his consciousness, and the spell just flowed out of his mouth. After that he could remember no more.
“You stupid birds!” Rembit shouted as
he tried to get out of the tangle of beaks and claws, “You aren’t going to eat
me! Let me go!” finally he got free and
ran to the hallway where the little eagles came from.
He came to a small room with no windows. He
looked around frantically and noticed a wooden board on the ceiling. A fury of squawks and shrieks followed him into
the room. He knocked at it and it fell down
and hit the ground with a thud. The eagles
stepped back to avoid the board. Sunlight
poured in through a large hole. He jumped up,
grabbed it, and climbed through with sharp beaks and talons scraping his legs and grabbing
onto him. He looked around and saw that he
was on top of the cave. Suddenly a gust of
wind blew him over. He rolled a few times,
then saw himself fall off the front of the cave.
He had been lying on the ground for a few minutes when he woke up. His side ached from the fall, but he noticed that
the wind stopped. He saw the pedestal, with
the book underneath it on the ground. The jar
was there, but no lizard, and even stranger, no Lynoben.
“Ben!” he shouted, “Are you there?
Did you say the spell?” He ran to
the book and looked at the page that it was opened to.
This must be the spell, he thought. He
saw writing before the spell, and read it.
Make sure you have already found the leader lizard, luring it out with breadcrumbs
and catching it in a jar. Say this curse with
the lizard on the pedestal atop Boimir peak. Warning: The speaker of this curse, if done correctly, will
no longer have human form. He then becomes
the leader of the Mirobi lizards. This is a
risk he should be willing to take in order to save all of Mossland from the curse.
I wonder if Ben knew about this before, Rembit thought. If he did, he didn’t tell me so that I
wouldn’t be worried. I bet he
wasn’t very worried. He would do
anything for the good of Mossland, no matter what. He
was very depressed, but he was glad his friend was ok.
I can still meet him, I think. He
can’t talk, but maybe he’d know who I am. Maybe
I can teach him to write in the dirt. But
how would he tell everyone, including Ben’s family?
He had to; he was the only one that knew what had happened. He was full of questions as he headed down the
mountain. It took a long time to get down at
the steep part, but once he got to the gentler slope he could go at a quick pace. He had plenty of food left, since they packed
enough for both of them to go down the mountain. He
was depressed the whole way down, knowing that his best friend was now a lizard. It rained a lot to make the trip even more
miserable.
Finally he came to the sign at the base of the mountain. He had a long walk back to his house.
“Rembit!
Where were you? You said you were at
Lynoben’s!” said his mother as she met him at the door.
“Oh, sorry.
It’s a long story. I’ll tell
you inside.”
The news was on inside, and the reporter sounded joyful.
“Great news, citizens of Mossland! The disease is gone! No deaths have been reported
yet. No one knows how everyone was cured, but
we are definitely glad.” His mom turned
it off as it switched off the television set.
“Now tell me everything,” she told
Rembit as she sat down. So he told her
everything, from what Lynoben told him at the beginning to where he came down the
mountain. She was very worried about Lynoben
also.
“Well, We’ll have to tell his parents,” she said glumly.
It was a few weeks after Rembit came back from the mountain, when he was heading to
spike-rolling practice, taking the place of Lynoben.
He had some breadcrumbs in a bag. This
would be one of those days Lynoben would have said was perfect for finding lizards. The wind is blowing and the sun is behind the
clouds.
“What do you need those for?” his
mother had asked him, looking at the breadcrumbs, when he left.
“Oh,” he replied, “I’m going
to meet a good friend.”