The Ghoul Train by Aly Ross (best books to read for knowledge TXT) 📕

I took a minute to take all this in. I suddenly realised that this was it. This was the last time I would ever see my home. This wasn’t just fire and blood. This was the beginning. This was the invasion.

CHAPTER 11

I grabbed mum and left for Warson Odious. Since I only had one ring of invisibility, we had a dilemma. I figured it would be easier if mum had the ring and I hid behind dead bushes and frail trees. Eventually, we found a ruined tent. Aslo’s. I tried to find the pillow with the ring barcoded inside. I didn’t. I looked everywhere for it. It was gone.

The only other option was the train line. I tried to get there, but all I could see was fire, blocking the view. The smoke, hindering to suns heat, but was made up for by the fires. I could only see the destructiveness of the golden guards.

It had come to my unwillingly attention that I had to steal a ring if I and mum wanted to get to the track in one piece. I crept up to a golden guard he wasn’t invisible, but he was putting on the ring. I grabbed his hand and stole the ring. I put it on and ran with mum as fast as I could until, I reached a dormant portal. I warned mum. I knew that this portal to Warson Odious could trick the mind. Tempt you to do the unforgiving.

I jumped into the portal. I could see all the horrors of the other dimension. The destruction of my home turned to luxurious, golden walls and a high ceiling and…mum. She lay restless on the floor, nearly dead. I started to worry. Since there was no-one hear, I was REALLY STARTING TO WORRY. I called for help. Obviously, there was no answer. But there was. A small voice. One that sounded like it was through the OFFICE door, past the other lengthy corridor, in the MANAGERS door and inside a room that red SIR GOTHICA ASLON NIKELSON. My dad was still in the building. He ran as fast as he could and saw me and… MUM. She was bleeding. A pool of purple-blue blood flowed from her head like a babbling brook.

Dad looked at me unforgivingly, then at mum, forgivingly, then back at me. Understandingly. I saw dads sympathetic and empathetic face turn into a petrified and apprehensive face. He only said one word. “Self-Destruct.” His face ran emotionless, his eyes turned blank, his body fell to the ground. Lifeless. I ran over to him. I tried to think of Einstein’s scary help.

“Befriend the lost who doesn’t appeal,” That was obviously talking about mum. “And have the power to steal the deal.” The deal, I thought. What deal. I started to wonder what deal. I looked at mum. Thank god she was still faintly breathing. I Thought of something she would do in this situation. I looked back over at dad and saw a piece of paper. The end corner looked like it had been burnt off. I knew this because of a black charcoal line that ran across the broken piece. I opened it and… didn’t really understand the language, but all in saw was a seal. Lord Bishops Seal.

I wondered why dad would have his seal, but of course. “HAVE THE POWER TO STEAL THE DEAL.” The golden guards are going to invade Lord Bishops monarchy, but make it look like an invitation. I knew what I had to do. I had to seek information from the inside. I had to go into the Forrest of no Forgiveness, pass into the Realm of Lord Bishop, and coax him to stop the guards from penetrating the Castle. I had to do the impossible. I had to steal the deal and get out of there alive. I needed a hoax. One that would get me inside the Kingdom. Then, I would plan from there, hoping my soul is still with me.

CHAPTER 12

The forest Lay dormant. I knew they were there. The Imperial Guards. I could see that the ambush had not yet started. I crawled, and tip toed past the sleeping Guards, until I reached the end of The Industrial. I needed that hoax. That trick, that ruse. I needed the mask that would guide me safely into the forest and out the other side. Then I saw it.

There, the last piece. I had fitted into a Golden Guards suit. I still managed to have the deal paper from dad. I started my long journey by treading softly into the premises. I knew a hundred eyes would be watching my every move. As I came closer to the meadows of Camargo, Lord Bishops Realm, I saw them. The imperial Guards. I don’t think they saw me, but they would have heard me, because I let out the most loud and flamboyant sneeze and all the guards turned to me. I tried to look presentable and… WHY WOULD I BE CALM!! I tried to walk proudly – that’s how guards walked – to the line of guards, and they let me through! I sort of ran out of the forest – it’s called the forest of no forgiveness for a reason – and out to the meadow.

 There I saw crops of wheat and grain. I saw cows grazing at the speed of snails. I even saw… wait… could it be… they said it wouldn’t happen until tomorrow… IT WAS. About 300 metres to the left of me, at the far end of the forest, I saw an army, led by… MR GOTHICA?? But he was dead. I got out my binoculars – I can’t believe the armour has pockets – and looked closer. It was unquestionably him. Same black leather jacket. Same boots. Even the same pale face. The army was walking closer by the second. I looked in front of me and saw the castle of Camargo. I calculated that I could get there first and have enough time to convince the king to not sign the deal AND escape. I started running. Wait. I could run a thousand times faster without the suit… I started to take of the suit – now I looked like a farmer – and started my long trip to the Castle.

The gate lay in front of me. And a large barbed wired fence. I wondered how on Earth I would climb over there. I had faced so many challenges, but this seemed to be the tallest. By far. I looked around me, wondering if I could somehow build by way across. I saw a cart filled with fresh apples and wheat from the crop nearby. I wondered; the crops would get sent to the castle through a vent. I decided to go to the fields and make my way through a vent.

The night was cold. I was cold. My thoughts… were cold. I wondered how I could get in through a vent. Could I crawl through, would I have to go under water?? But the thought that intimidated me the most was my mother. She and a couple other from our area had fled to a nearby community, no more than 100 residents. She would be scared to death. She had no idea what was going on, or where I was for that matter. I tried to get some sleep before going on yet another journey.

I was woken by the sound of bushes rumbling. The Golden Guards were coming. I ran through the darkness. I found my way to the cherry field, then wheat, then apple and finally, the factory. No bigger than a lumbermill, but still presented challenges far beyond my comprehension. I tried to work out a way to get in there and go through the vent. I decided it was now or never. But as I hammered the lock of, a cold frail hand touched my shoulders. It was the King. King Bishop.

Chapter 13

I was shocked. Not only was I cold, freezing to death, I had the most powerful ruler of Parax behind me. I was too afraid to turn around. He began to talk, but it wasn’t the voice of a king. It was the voice of a weak man, one who was afraid to death of an army of 10 000 000 men marching into his territory.

I decided to turn around. I saw a pale man, in farmers clothes. It was not a King. It was not a man of power, for it was the opposite. He was very scared, almost… dead. His arms and legs were thinner that the bales of wheat blowing in the cold wind behind us. His eyes were full of pain and sorrow… and regret.

He told me it was done. It had been complete. I asked him what he meant, and he pulled out a stamp. It was the royal seal. I finally remembered Albert Einstein’s riddle. But I failed. The deal was sealed with the royal stamp. He suddenly started to cough. Very hard. He feels to the floor. He was breathing in heavily, trying to take in every breath before he passed on.

He rolled over in his final movements. I saw a dagger stabbed into his back. Multiple times by the wounds I could see. Blood was pouring out of them like a volcano about to erupt. He muttered words that turned out to be… kill him, avenge me, save us.

I stood there in shock. The king of Parax was dead. I my sight!! I tried to remain calm, but that didn’t seem possible as the sun was still rising, and the day was still coming. I decided it was now, and I broke the buckle latching on to the door, and it finally opened.

I ran inside and opened the latch to the chute. I squirmed in, and… a block. The tunnel was cut off, witch a candlelight symbol on the roadblock. I climbed back out… to find the golden guards at my face. I started running. Not sure where, but I ran. I ran away.

It was sunset by the time I reached the bay. The ocean was like a vast sea of monsters. Waiting for its prey to stumble upon its trap. It was beautiful, but I knew the stories. When I was young, my mother would tell me never to venture near the sea. She told me I should never go near its waters. Yet here I am. Feet in the water, eyes true… and fear alive.

I stepped back onto the shore. All there was, a wall of trees, sand and my thoughts. I heard the waves and nothing else. I smelt the see, and nothing else. I felt the sand, and nothing else. While I was walking in no certain direction, I stumbled across something. Metal maybe. Maybe even rubber. It was iron. Cold smooth iron. I picked it up from the sand and… it was a key. I washed the sand of with water, and an inscription was found. It red, FOR THE ONE WHO USES THIS KEY, YOU OPEN A LAND OF MYSTERY. VENTURE INSIDE TO REVEAL WHAT IS LOST AND RESEND WHAT YOU NEED AT A UNPLEASENT COST.

Chapter 14

I had to understand it before moving forward. I decided to move towards a pile of smoke coming to the right of me. I moved forward, just like my adventure. I stumbled across some interesting items, like a cloth bag, some glass jars, a rotten apple and banana; it tasted fine; some coconuts and a poster of Lord Alderbrian, he was the king when my parents were young. It must have been an old poster because he