Hippos Become Mass Murderers

‘We’ll find him again,’ reasoned Walter. ‘Then, of course, we can punch him on the nose!’

‘I already did,’ said Mavis, ‘when you were pretending to be hypnotised. Now, let’s get everyone and go.’

Walter nodded. ‘Sure, but how do we get out of here without anyone noticing?’

‘I know a plan,’ grinned Mavis.

She led him out of the room, down the corridor. They stopped in front of a room marked SERVANT QUARTERS.

‘What good will this do?’ asked Walter.

‘Wait here,’ she told him and slipped inside.

He waited for a moment, and she returned, clutching another uniform similar to hers, only, it had a pair of pants instead of a skirt.

‘Put this on.’

Walter looked at it doubtfully, then put it on.

He looked confused. ‘Why am I dressed as a waiter? Hey–you’re dressed as a waitress!’

‘Yep,’ said Mavis. ‘We need to blend in. Now come on.’

They trotted further down the corridor. They halted again when they came across the HUGE staircase.

A few golden chairs were next to them, just like how they were at the bottom of the staircase.

‘Hop on,’ said Mavis sitting on one of the chairs.

Walter doubtfully sat on the one nearest to him.

‘Now listen,’ said Mavis. ‘You need to say: “Ground Floor”–GAAH!’

At the words ‘Ground Floor,’ the chair went flying down the staircase.

Walter stared in shock.

Then he shook himself. Mavis wanted him to say the words, so he went ahead and said them.

The chair went flying down the staircase. It landed at the bottom. Walter was so shocked that he couldn’t say a word.

Mavis, who was already there, hopped off her chair. ‘Hurry up,’ she told Walter. ‘We don’t have time. Let’s find out where the giants are being hidden.’

‘How?’ asked Walter.

‘Simple,’ said Mavis. ‘Let’s pick up some gossip.’

She led him to the kitchen, where the cooks were preparing food.

‘Hey,’ she said brightly.

‘All the food has been delivered,’ said one of the cooks. ‘So, you’re here for the servants’ food?’

Mavis nodded. ‘Yep, the rest of the servants told us to come and collect it. It’s our turn to do it.’

‘Okay,’ said the cook, ‘the food is still being prepared. Why don’t you wait here?’

Walter and Mavis hopped onto two plastic chairs in the corner.

‘You know,’ said a cook, ‘someone’s blasted the castle door down.’

Mavis nodded. ‘Yeah. It gives me the creeps. There could be an intruder around here, and we’d not even know. They may be trying to free the prisoners.’

The cook nodded gravely. ‘Yes, the human has been kept in a tower. He could easily escape. Can’t say the same about the giants, though. They’re in the dungeons, with a door made of titanium. It has a password lock that no amount of magic can break, so the intruder wouldn’t be able to get through.’

‘That’s a relief,’ said Mavis.

‘Your food’s ready,’ said the cook, nodding to a trolley.

‘Thanks,’ said Mavis. ‘Ooh, you’ve made stew? The servants love that!’

The cook smiled as she and Walter rolled the food trolley out of the room.

‘People gossip so much,’ gasped Walter when they were out of earshot.

‘I know, right!’ said Mavis, shaking her head. ‘

‘The cook said that the place where they’ve kept the giants is password-locked,’ said Walter. ‘How do we get there?’

Mavis chewed her lip. ‘Honestly, I have no clue.’

Walter looked tearful. ‘What will we do?’

Just then, Mavis noticed that the dude who’d asked her about the blasted-down door was walking past them.

Knowing that it was a hit or miss, she pulled a hypnosis berry from her pocket and jammed it into her mouth.

Then, she looked deep into his eyes.

He was startled and had no time to block the attack.

She looked deeper and deeper till she saw the white spark at the edge of his pupil. It assumed the shape of an arctic wolf and started prancing around the pupil. She looked at the wolf, and then there was a flash of light. The commander’s eyes became jet-black like hers.

‘Oh. My. God,’ gasped Walter. ‘Did you just hypnotize him?’

Mavis nodded. ‘Yeah. I didn’t expect it to work, though.’

‘Ask him the password of the giants’ room!’ Walter cried, jumping with excitement.

Mavis turned to him. ‘Uh, okay, listen. I need you to tell me the password of the giants’ room.’

‘I not know,’ His grammar was wrong because Mavis was not a good hypnotiser in the slightest. On the first tries, the victim usually uses improper grammar.

‘He’s lying,’ declared Walter.

‘Walter he’s hypnotised,’ said Mavis exasperated. She looked at the commander. ‘D’you have any idea on how to get in?’

‘All locks of every room are connected. They all are controlled by computers in room.’

‘What d’you mean?’

‘There is room, with many computers that control all locks of rooms in castle. You find it in West tower. The password for each computer is “password”.’

‘Great,’ said Mavis. ‘Now I want you to tell us where to find the time machine.’

‘I not know where exactly time machine is, but hear people talking.’

‘What did they say?’

‘They say that the time machine is in dungeons, but that is all I hear.’

‘Thanks, that’s all we need to know. Now, in ten minutes, you will come out of your hypnotic spell and forget all that just happened. Till then, you will . . .you will dance, singing: I’m a Barbie Girl, waving your pants in the air.

The commander pulled his pants off and started dancing. ‘I’M A BARBIE GIRL IN A BARBIE WORLD!’

Walter wrinkled his nose.

‘Let’s get going,’ said Mavis.

They ran to the staircase and jumped onto a golden chair each. ‘West Tower!’ they shouted and flew up the staircase. They weren’t frightened this time, because they were used to it.

The chair stopped in front of a door, which Mavis blasted down.

Inside, was the circular room with more doors. On one of the doors, a board was pinned, that said ROOM WITH COMPUTERS AND STUFF.

It was a very strong door and took two blasts from Spark, and two strikes from the Bow of Fire to destroy it.

Inside, was a HUGE room (which you’re probably getting bored of) filled with computers on desks.

The two stared in surprise.

‘C’mon,’ said Walter walking into the room. He was followed by Mavis.

He chose a computer and typed ‘password’ as the password.

The computer displayed ‘ACCESS GRANTED' on the screen, and the two were relieved.

‘Wow, this is amazing!’ he cried in delight. ‘I have access to everything!’

‘Open up the giants’ room,’ said Mavis excitedly.

Walter started to type, then smiled broadly. ‘I’ve done it! The dungeons are unlocked!’

Before Mavis could reply, there was a voice: ‘Step away from the computer.’

To their horror, a lot of people were standing at the doorstep.

There were too many. There was no way the two could blast them all down.

‘Run,’ said Mavis.

The two took off at top speed. Mavis blasted a dude down, and in fright, the others backed away, leaving enough space for them to squeeze through the crowd.

They dashed down the corridor, to the staircase. They hopped onto a golden chair. ‘GROUND FLOOR!’ they shrieked, but it didn’t move.

Walter turned pale. ‘Oh no! The humans have done something.’

Mavis pulled out two hover ivy leaves from her pocket. ‘Here,’ she said, slamming one in his hand. ‘Eat it. Don’t ask questions.’

She jammed hers into her mouth.

Walter did as he was told and ate one. A sweet taste rushed through his mouth. All the cells in his body felt a sudden surge of magic. Sparks of magic began to flicker around his fingertips.

Then, his feet were lifted off the ground.

He choked.

Mavis looked amazed. She was flying too.

‘GET BACK HERE!’ shouted someone running towards them. He was followed by a crowd.

‘FLY!’ shouted Mavis in panic.

She frantically flapped her arms and actually started flying down the staircase. Walter did the same.

They reached the bottom of the staircase and flew down the corridor, to the astonishment of all the people. They flew out of the castle door, outside.

They didn’t stop there. They kept flying till they were in the sky, just above the clouds. They didn’t have any place to land, so they stood suspended in the air, which surprisingly didn’t take up any energy.

‘They can’t catch us now,’ panted Walter.

‘We have to go down,’ said Mavis at length. ‘The giants need our help.’

‘No,’ said Walter, ‘we need to wait for the excitement to die down so that we can sneak back in without raising an alarm.

Mavis nodded.

They hovered in the air for half an hour. The only thought they had was that the giants were probably in danger. Time passed slowly, and in dread.

After a while, Mavis said, ‘Walter, I told you about the prophecy, didn’t I?’

‘Yes, what about it?’

‘Well . . .’ Mavis took a sharp breath, ‘I haven’t told you the entire thing.’

Walter was watching her nervously. ‘What are you talking about?’

Mavis wasn’t sure how to begin. She opened her mouth to answer, but shut it almost immediately. She wanted to break the news about the prophecy slowly, but it didn’t seem to be possible. ‘We’re gonna have to die,’ she said. The words came tumbling out of her mouth.

Walter blinked. ‘What?’

Mavis felt her cheeks grow hot. She wanted to cry. To stop that, she bit her lip. ‘The prophecy,’ she said, ‘it states that the Human Empire will fall–when we die.’

Walter turned pale. He tried to say something, but no words came out. He stared into space, white as a sheet. ‘It’s a prophecy,’ he mumbled. ‘It’s fate . . .No escaping it.’

Mavis was sad, but she didn’t want to show it. She forced a smile. ‘At least we’ll save Mrindawa. We won’t die like any normal person: of old age. Instead, saving the world. That’s better, isn’t it?’

Walter nodded unconsciously.

Then, they suddenly heard the loud beating of wings.

They spun around, and to their horror, a herd of hippos were flying towards them. They each had a pair of light purple wings, and a row of fangs, sharp as knives. Their bellows were loud and seemed to come from all directions.

‘I’M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!’ wailed Walter.

‘Wait!’ cried Mavis. ‘These hippos can help us defeat the humans. Look in the front!’

Walter looked at the hippos, and in the front were two bigger than the others.

‘They’re the alpha male and the alpha female. If we control them, we control the whole herd.’

Before he could react, she flew towards the herd and leapt onto the alpha male’s back. She grabbed the neck, and after a lot of struggling, the hippo calmed down.

‘Come on, Walter!’ she shouted. ‘We have no time!’

He hesitantly flew and landed on the female’s back. She grunted and tried to shake him off, but eventually, she calmed down too.

‘Direct them towards the castle!’ shouted Mavis.

The two tugged at their hippos’ necks and managed to make them fly down to the castle. The rest of the hippos followed their leaders faithfully.

The war was bitter.

The giants Mavis and Walter had freed, were all fighting for their lives against the humans. They fought bravely, yet, they were losing. This was mainly because the humans had the hypnotised dragons and the other giants on their side, who didn’t calm down long enough to dehypnotize.

‘FOR MRINDAWA!’ screamed Mavis with bravery that seemed to appear from nowhere.

She and Walter flew the hippos down, till they were just above the heads of the humans.

‘Off with your heads!’ shrieked Mavis as the hippos gleefully ripped the humans’ heads off. I’m not sure why they do that. They’re herbivores so they wouldn’t get anything out of killing people. Maybe they’re just evil.

Suddenly, the hippos decided they’d had enough. With a great force, the alpha male and female shook off Mavis and Walter, who in turn, fell on top of a random dude.

‘TRAITORS!’ Mavis said to the fanged hippos angrily. (Yes, they are called fanged hippos. The first one discovered had its wings folded up, so it was the fangs that were noticed first.)

Mavis suddenly heard a thud behind her. A human was lying there with a wound on his chest. He had tried to sneak up behind her, but Walter had shot him down.

‘Thanks,’ she said in surprise.

‘You’re welcome. Now will you please stop yelling insults at innocent animals and save your own life?’

Mavis and Walter were like a great boon to the giants. While Mavis focused on blasting people down, Walter took to shooting ’em down!

Suddenly, Mavis spotted Godge in the middle of the battle. He was surrounded by humans, so she couldn’t see him well, but she was sure it was him.

She turned to Walter. ‘I need to get to him. Cover me.’

Before he could react, she’d blasted someone down and run through the crowd, desperate to get to Godge.

Walter decided that if he flew, he could protect Mavis easily. He flapped his hands but lifted barely a couple of inches off the ground.

‘Oh, darn it,’ he muttered. The hover ivy must have worn out.

He took a deep breath, then charged in the direction Mavis had run. He could see her on his left, holding Spark and running at top speed. She was blasting down anyone who dared to attack, and screamed: ‘DEATH TO YOU!’

Walter could see people creeping towards her. She seemed to be unaware of them. He shot one with his bow of fire. In a quarter of a second, the arrow returned to his hand again, and he shot the others down.

He suddenly stopped. Mavis had reached the centre of the battlefield, where Godge was standing, his purple eyes boiling with rage.

He’d, of course, seen Godge before, but now, after seeing him, he felt a chill run down his spine. His gaze was murderous, and Walter wished Mavis would back off.

Unfortunately, she had no such plans. She cried with anger, then leapt up into the air, pointing Spark towards Godge.

As she brought down her weapon, Godge pulled out his sword and blocked the attack with such an impact that Spark should have been broken, but being the Flan, it didn’t

Walter looked around and realised that the whole battlefield had grown so silent that you could hear the drop of a pin. Everyone was watching Mavis and Godge’s duel keenly.

Mavis avoided each blow given by Godge’s sword. Then, she sidestepped him and blasted him with Spark, not even having to get dangerously close.

Godge couldn’t attack from far, though. The magic was not on his side, so he couldn’t produce it with his hands, as the other Mrindawians could. But even though the odds were all against Godge, he wasn’t losing. Each time, he stepped close to Mavis, attacked and then jumped away just in time. And he could dodge her attacks with ease, being light and speedy.

They fought and fought, both being equals. The duel seemed to never end, both of them not being tired out.

Suddenly, Godge dived at Mavis. She normally would have sidestepped him, but now she was too slow. She jumped to the right, but the sword pierced her. It should have pierced her stomach, but since she’d moved, it pierced her shoulder.

She gave a gasp of pain and collapsed, clutching her wound.

Godge smiled nastily, then raised his sword to attack.

Walter knew it was against Mrindawian customs to interfere in a duel, but his friend was in danger and he needed to help her.

He grabbed his bow and aimed it at Godge, then fired.

Walter was so panicked that the arrow missed badly. He wanted to hit Godge’s chest, but instead, the arrow hit his left arm. With a cry of agony, the Olf fell onto his knees.

Godge was clearly in a lot of pain. He could hardly open his mouth. ‘Attack,’ he gasped.

Suddenly, the whole battlefield roared into life. Each human, carrying a sword in their hand, charged at the giants. The dragons began to breathe out magic and fire, and the hypnotised giants roared and stomped their feet.

The Resistance were unprepared and all they could do was grab their swords and fight for their lives.

Walter rushed forwards and grabbed Mavis’ hand and lifted her to her feet. ‘Are you all right?’ he asked.

‘No, do I look all right?

They turned, but Godge was gone.

‘He’s always getting away!’ gasped Mavis.

‘We’ll make sure he’s put behind bars before we leave Mrindawa,’ promised Walter. He suddenly realised that they would never be leaving Mrindawa. They would die there! He didn’t say this to Mavis, but she must have understood because she was silent.

Someone lunged at Mavis, but she blasted him down. ‘Let’s get on with killing people,’ she told Walter. ‘Talk to you later!’ And she was off the spot, blasting people down.

As Walter was fighting with someone, he heard the flutter of wings above them. When he looked up, he was amazed to see Ruby. ‘Ruby?’ he gasped in amazement. There was a woof below him, and he found Alpha standing there. He saw Star, Peanut Butter and Snowdrop flying towards them. As they neared him, Snowdrop blasted down the unfortunate dude battling Walter.

Walter felt tears fill up his eyes. His animals had come to help him, amidst even battle! All those people who thought animals had no emotions were wrong.

Just then, he realised that the humans were winning the battle. The giants were fighting with all their might, yet the humans had more people on their side.

‘FALL BACK!’ he heard Thina scream.

He was not being cowardly, Walter realised. He just wanted to protect his people.

The Resistance began to retreat. Walter was scooped up by Waina’s hand, along with Mavis and their animals.

The battlefield which had previously been filled with shouts and the clang of swords was now filled with the sound of shuffling of feet as the humans returned to their palace triumphantly, and the giants retreated in the opposite direction.

Walter watched the humans enter the palace. It belonged to them now. The giants had failed to win back their kingdom.