The Seven Chairs
Kalamander was tired. No, that’s an
understatement. Kalamander was exhausted. For three years so far he had been on
the run, trying to track down the seven chairs, attempting to beat the Nopalis
to each one. Kalamander doesn’t know why he got picked as his race’s savior.
However, here he was, outside the Pyramids of Giza, only minutes from the last
chair.
“Pufo
vu,” he speaks in his native tongue. The secret door on the map opens up. Seven doors lead to seven chairs, he
thinks as he walks through the first.
As Kalamander continues his descent
into the pyramids, he recalls all of his quests prior to this final one, each
one getting a little more challenging than the last. This seventh and final
quest promises to be the most difficult of them all.
The first chair was in a warehouse
in the country sides of England. In a small barn, he found the first door. He
continued to discover a horrifying colony of albino snakes. One of the doors
had a riddle to pass through. However, most of them just needed to be found and
past through. That underground maze was by far the easiest of Kalamander’s
trials, partly due to the fact that the Nopalis had not yet discovered
Kalamander began his search.
Once Kalamander obtained the chair
and prepared to transport it back to his home planet, the Nopalis knew the
quest had begun. Luckily, Kalamander was able to activate the transportation
before the Nopalis found him and the chair made it safely back to the council
chamber in the capital city of his home planet.
The searching got progressively more
difficult after that. Chair two was in India, protected by some kind of ancient
spells. Chair three was in the White House. Kalamander found chair four in central
Africa. The fifth one ended up in
France. Chair six was in Antarctica.
And finally chair seven in Egypt.
Most of the chairs were protected by
magic or monsters. The White House had enough protection already. That hunt
caused Kalamander to become a fugitive in America. Although Kalamander did not
like being a fugitive, he would do anything for his people. Only a small number
of them are left, scattered across the galaxy like bread crumbs to be hunted
down by birds.
Large Nopali sized birds. With a
loud crash, the army of Nopalis entered the door behind Kalamander.
Into the maze they all went. A large
Nopali was quickly approaching Kalamander when he took a sharp turn. Due to the
Nopali’s size, they were quite unexceptional at maneuvering through tight
spaces.
Two hours and six doors later,
Kalamander was in the depths of the pyramid. The chair was very near, and, for
the moment, the Nopalis seemed to be nowhere near. Kalamander walked through
the dark corridor and towards the inner room that held the chair.
In front of him was the great gold
door. His very last door. Kalamander would never again open a door using a
password, or anything thing else. Kalamander’s job was finished. The reason he
was created has been completed. He puts his hand on the solid gold knob and
opens up. No password on this beautiful door.
He walks over to the final chair. It
is nothing special. Just another chair he has to teleport back to the council
room. He places his hand on the chair and recites the chant for the seventh and
final time.
“Cebo
ne vu tepuva,” he whispers. The chair begins to dissolve, and this time, so
does Kalamander.
As Kalamander disappears, he sees
the Nopalis hurry into the room. They look horrified when they see they have
failed their mission. The secret weapon has defeated them.
*********
The streets are filled with joy.
Kalamander won! The planet and the council are saved! All seven chairs for all
seven council members are back where they belong. As life returns to normal and
the fight for their extinction is over, everyone forgets about Kalamander, the
hero created for saving them. They begin to take their existence for granted once
more. Even the council who created Kalamander forgets the young hero. When the
final chair dissolved, it reappeared in the council room. When Kalamander dissolved
with it, he reappeared nowhere; it was part of how he was created. The council
was worried they would have created a monster with someone so powerful, so they
programmed him to die once his job was finished.
Sadly, no one knew that Kalamander
was not the one that became a monster. The real monsters still dwell among the
people, ready to “save the world” again when the need arises.
