The Rainbow Bottle

THE SWORD CUT through his skin. It started to bleed. He watches as Gary jumped up and kicked a guy. The guy went and hit a tree. Isabel thrust the spear into another guys chest. Jane threw the hammer at another guy’s head, who fell to the ground. They turn towards him.

His vision starts to become a blur. They scream his name. He falls to the ground, into the hands of Gary. He shook him violently. Gary and Isabel knelt down next to him.

They screamed something together-“STEVE!”

And he goes unconscious.

+++

11 years ago....

Steve is 3 years old. He is walking here and there, throwing whatever he gets. He throws a pen. Throws his toy. Then his eyes fall on something. A small bottle. It contained ink. Ink with the colour of the rainbow. Kept on a table. 

He reaches for it but fails. Steve climbs onto the chair and then on the table. He takes it and gets down. Steve curiously looks at the new thing he just found. He turns it around, looks at its sides, top and bottom. 

Then throws it forcefully to the ground. The bottle goes and hits the ground. The glass cracks and breaks into numerous pieces. The pieces spread around. The ink spreads across the ground. A huge blast takes place. Steve gets thrown backward.

+++

11 years later....

Steve, Isabel, Gary, and Jane are playing in the house. Isabel runs when she stumbles upon something. Something rolls across the floor and stops when it touches the wall. An ink bottle. With ink of the colour of rainbow.

“Hey, guys.....come here. I found something.” She says

All of them assemble. Steve takes the ink bottle and examines it. He feels something inside him. Like he’s seen this thing before. But he doesn’t know where. It is trying to come out. But something is not allowing it to.

He takes it to his table and places it there. He takes a book. Takes a pen. He opens the bottle and gently dips the pen in it. Suddenly Jane pushes him, accidentally and the some ink falls on the book. 

“What have you-” he says

A blast. Time is moving very slowly now. The four get thrown backwards. But as they move backward, in air, suddenly, something pulls them forward. They get pulled to the center of the blast. Steve grabs hold of something-the ink bottle.

The four, along with the bottle, gets engulfed by the blast. And Steve remembers where he saw the ink bottle before. That thing was the reason he lived with his grandparents. That thing, took away his parents.

+++

Sky. That’s the first thing he sees when he opens his eyes. As his eyes become completely open, he realised that he’s falling. Falling from the sky. To his left and right, there is Jane, Gary, and Isabel.

They are falling along with him. He turns around to see where he is going to land. An area completely covered with trees. There is a vibrant blue sea very far away.

They are getting closer and the trees seem to get bigger. Then they hit the trees. They hit branch after branch while rolling down and

finally land on the ground, on their backs.

“Ow. That hurts.” Mutters Gary

They all slowly get up. They are enclosed by trees on all four sides. 

“We need to find a way out of here.” Says Isabel

“Wherever ‘here’ is.” Mutters Jane and they began walking. 

They haven’t walked much when they spot a treehouse. It is built in a thick tree. They all start climbing the ladder. Once they reach the top, they take a few breathes, as they had climbed this high before.

The area seemed to be used moments ago. There were cushions. A table. And some books along with a bed. A woman walks into the room.

 “Who are you?” she asks

Steve steps forward, “Mom?”

The woman’s eyes bulge out in surprise.

“Steve? Is that you?”

Steve nods and they hug each other.

  

“Dad went out to collect food,” Mom says. Tears come down her eyes as she says it.

“I missed you a lot.” He says, now crying.

“So did we.” Says a voice

Steve looks to see who it is. A man stands there. Dad. He moves forward and hugs Steve. Both of them are crying. Steve pulls back.

“Where is this place?” he asks

“We don’t know. All we know is that there are some special animals living here. That’s why our house is so high. So that they can’t reach us. And that Ragnrk is trying to enslave all humans and animals here.” Says Dad

“Who Ragnrk?” asks Gary

“A bad person. We haven’t met him. And he’s after you.” Says Mom

“Who? Me? Why?” asks Steve

“Because the Frat, an animal that tells prophecies, one of which is owned by Ragnrk said that the bottle of ink needed for enslaving everyone is with you, Steve. You created this place. That bottle of ink you threw, that created this place. That bottle is the life of this place. There are 2 of those bottles. If the second one is given to somebody by you, then they have all the power. ” Says Dad

“So, he made a place which sucked you into it?” asks Isabel

Mom and Dad nod.

“Then we must hide it. Otherwise, he could take over the whole world. Where is it Steve?” asks Gary

“I don’t know. I lost it when we were falling.” He replied

“Then we must find it, before Ragnrk does. Come on!” Says Dad and he walks to the other side of the treehouse.

“Where are you going?” asks Jane

“Wait and watch.” Says Mom

All of them join him. He presses his palm to the bark of the tree. A green light comes, then goes. Suddenly, the small area they stood in, rose . It moved around the bark as it rose and finally came to a stop.

An animal that’s huge as a dinosaur, with large wings, face of a lion, body of a bear, limbs of horse and monkey and tail of a dinosaur stands there.

“A Metalion!” exclaims Steve

“How do you know what that is?” asks a shocked Dad

“I created this place. And the Metalion was one of the many imaginary animals I had created in my mind. So, I guess, when this place came to be, all my imaginative animals also became real.” Explains Steve

“So that means everything here was created by you.” Says Jane

He nods and says, “Even Ragnrk.” 

“What?” asked a flabbergasted Isabel

“Do you think anyone would be named ‘Ragnrk’? I was small and that was the name I have my bad guy.” Steve replies

All nod. 

“Let’s get going. I think I know somebody who will know where the ink bottle is.” Says Dad as gets on the Metalion. The others follow. The Metalion takes off. It flies over the place. The trees, rivers, and animals all pass by.

Then they landed. A cave stood before them. They walked in. There wasn’t much i

n the cave. A man, as big as a boulder, with big muscles, sat on a rock.

“Jack, we need your help.” Says Dad

“We need to find the ‘Rainbow Bottle’.” Said Mom

“Oh, I know where it is.” Says Jack, “With me.” He takes it out.

“Oh no.” Mom and Dad said simultaneously 

“We have to fight him to get it.” Says Dad

“That’s easy.” Gary walks toward Jack. One swing and Gary hits the wall. Isabel goes to Jack’s side and leaps for it. But he pushes her away. Jane punches him in the gut. He lifted her up and threw her away. Mom caught her and set her down.

 Steve lurches forward. A fist comes towards him. Steve ducks and sidesteps to the left. He then kicks on the wall and jumps up and flips, as he takes the bottle for Jack’s hand. 

“Got it!” exclaims Steve

“Okay, you got it. And you can have. Now, leave. It’s time for me to eat.” Says Jack.

They get on the Metalion and leave. They fly for a few kilometers when a small black mist of ball come hurtling towards them. The Metalion turns left to avoid it when an other comes. Metalion dives.

Steve turns to see who the attackers are. Three people wearing a black with purple dress sitting Dranjikenos (another creature found there, looks similar to the dragon) of the same colour.

Steve takes the Rainbow Bottle from Dad and opens it. He takes a bit of ink in his hand, then closes it. He throws the ink at the people chasing them. The ink flew, slowly gaining shape. 

It was close to those people when it was complete. It had turned into a Kartrilocus, an animal similar to a lizard but large and it can fly and is greyish brown.

The Lizard opens its mouth and swallow them whole as they try to avoid their fate, but failed to. The Metalion rises back up. More of those people come. The Dranjikenos fight then back but finally, outnumbered, dies and turns back into ink. But the ink turns to black and dissolves into thin air.

The people chase them. The Metalion twist and turns around trees to shake them off their trail but it was of no use. Finally, tired, it lands in an open area, which is surrounded by trees. The people got down. Dad and Mom tried to fight them off but failed and was held in custody by them. Then the fight began. Steve used the ink to conjure up a spear and a hammer.

And that’s how they reached here.....

+++

Back to present......

Black..... 

The gap between his eyelids began to increase, very slowly. Then everything comes into view. They are in an area completely brown, there are some roots here and there. A huge mountain can be seen from there. 

He begins to walk forward but something held him back. He was tied. By a rope. And so were his friends and parents. He struggled to get free. A man walks and stands in front of him.

“That’s where we’re going. Do you like it? Just you and me. And some guards. Just in case, ya know. And you can give me the Rainbow Bottle there.” Says Ragnrk

He has a scar near his right eyebrow. There are some fresh scratches on the left side of his face too. His hair is shabby, shaking along with the wind. Another man dressed in black with a purple dress comes and detaches him from the wall. His Dad whispers something that he couldn’t understand before they leave. It sounded like ‘Bucket’. He searched the area for a bucket but found none. 

Ragnrk walked in front. The five guards and Steve behind. They begin the climb. The mountain is very rocky that they slip several times during the climb. They reach the top. Ragnrk smiles and takes a deep breath and lets go.

Steve takes advantage of the opportunity and frees himself. He punches the first guy in the nose. Then ducks as another comes at him. He kicks him in the leg and the guy falls to his side.

Another guy throws his arm at him. Steve ducks, catches the arm, goes to the other side and twists the arm. He then kicks the guy on the inside of his leg. The guy’s legs slip and he falls down, making a full split. The next guy didn’t charge at him. Instead, he pulled a gun out and placed it against Steve’s head.

“Well done, Kristen. Nice move.” Says Ragnrk

Steve smiles. He quickly swung his hand upward, thus throwing the gun away from the guard. He then turns around, lifts his leg and turns around. His feet come in contact with the guy’s face.

The guy gets thrown to the side and the gun lands in Steve’s hand.

Steve points the gun at Ragnrk, “One against zero.”

He hears the sound of a gun clicking behind him. Then feels the coolness of metal against his back and head. The guard says, “Two against one.”

Ragnrk claps his hand, “You think you can outsmart me?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.”

Steve falls to the ground and rolls over. Then he shoots the guard in the head. The guard falls down the mountain. With the guns help, Steve gets up. Another sound of a gun clicking. 

“Hand me the Rainbow Bottle.” Ragnrk has two guns pointed at him.

Steve waits for a moment. Then it clicks. He understood what his father had said. It was not ‘Bucket’. It was-

“Give it to me.”

Steve smiles, “You have three hands or what? How am I supposed to give it to you? ”

“Right.” He puts one gun away, when Steve kicks away the other gun. It falls down the mountain. 

“I created this place. And now I’m gonna destroy it.”

Ragnrk charges at him. So does Steve. At the last moment, though, he bends his body back and slides forward. He slides and falls down the mountain.

“NO!” screams Ragnrk 

An ear bursting blast and everything is over. 

+++

The pages of the book begin to flutter. Then people emerge out of it. Gary, Isabel, Jane, Mom and Dad.

“What happened? Where’s Steve?” asked Isabel

“He died. Sacrificed himself,”says Jane

Mom and Dad begin to cry when the pages begin to flutter again and Steve comes out. Another reunion.

“Why did you toss yourself off the mountain?” asked Gary 

“Because of what Dad told me. ‘Break it.’. That was the only way to do it.” He takes a deep breath. “And there ends the magical ink!”