The Abandoned Citadel

• Polly Macneil, Grade 5, North Arm State School -
• Short Story
• 2018

Excellence Award in the 'Write Along 2018' competition

Thick layers of dust lay undisturbed on the old cobblestone buildings. As I stepped, clouds of dust rose behind me. Following the winding path, I ended up at the hall. The creaking doors broke the silence. The statue of the town prophet stared at me. I ran my hand over the statue, disturbing the layers of dust. Clunking filled the silent room and the statue crumbled to the ground, revealing a charred trapdoor. Hesitantly, I unlatched the trapdoor, trembling. Climbing into it, I clicked on my torch. As I closed the trapdoor, I heard the statue rebuild itself behind me. An eerie shiver ran down my spine, but I crawled on with hesitation. Every now and then, I flickered my torch on the walls, revealing vein-like cracks.
After a while I raised my head expecting to feel the cool, hard cobblestone but to my surprise, I rose to a standing position. I feel around, spread my arms and hit something. I am blinded by light. I heard a startled noise and the echo of footsteps coming closer. It’s a figure.
“Who are you and why are you here?” A startled woman’s voice asked. “Oh! And did you close the trapdoor?”
“Um yeah … Why?” I answered, “And my name is Mantenia … Yours?
“Oh, thank you for closing it. We are safe in here. My name is Lola,” She replied.
“Safe from what?” I asked.
“Lordite. We are the only survivors. I used to think I was the only one, but I was wrong. You must possess some magical qualities.” Lola answered.
“Follow me!” ordered Lola, breaking the silence. “Now!”
I followed, barely keeping up. Suddenly Lola stopped.
“Crawl,” Lola said assertively.
I followed her orders carefully and crawled. When we arrived, Lola leapt up and flicked on a light. I was blinded but when my eyes adjusted, I saw shelves full of food. “To provide for two people for a decade,” she wondered.
“H-h how did you find this place?” I stuttered.
“The same way you did.” Lola replied sullenly.
The room fell silent.
“We need to act fast,” said Lola suddenly.
Lola scaled a cabinet, flicked a switch and a screen came down. She snatched a remote off the desk and turned it on. Information came onto the screen… all leading back to Lordite.
“I had been collecting information years before Lordite attacked our town.” She stopped. “Everything leads back to him. I think he attacked this town because…because of me. I knew too much. He was afraid I would expose his plans but all he did was turn our city to rubble. But he failed.”
I ran to a window and saw ominous clouds moving hastily towards us. Suddenly I fly into the air and Lordite appeared trapped. The clouds stopped moving. The sky turned red. I floated to the ground. A gasp escaping Lola’s mouth. I came back to consciousness, panting. My hands shining as bright as the sun. I captured Lordite. Finally, he was defeated.