The Churning Lake

By Matilda Raj

Minabell and her friends undertake risky travels in different worlds of the universe. They seek solutions in their quest to defeat demons called asuras who plan to conquer the universe. They visit these worlds through a magical set of Kristym Tarot cards. In each world, there is an adventure, from the World of Answers, World of Shape-shifting, and the World of the Churning Lake. In each world, they meet interesting characters. They must eventually stop the evil asuras from gaining the favour of the lord of the Churning Lake. The lord of the Churning Lake could grant the asuras the nectar of immortality and make them an invincible race. Will Minabell and her friends be able to avert this great catastrophe? . . . Read to find out.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Sep 28, 2015
• ISBN: 9781503507876

Matilda Raj

Matilda Raj is a librarian. In her spare time she enjoys reading books, watching movies, and writing.

Book preview

Chapter One

Dream or Reality?

The Kingdom of Zinetyl was a wealthy kingdom, both materially and culturally. There were many different types of creatures living harmoniously in Zinetyl. Of course, there were little fights here and there, between certain groups. However, creatures were equal by law (except for royalty of course), and most treated each other tolerably.

When one entered Zinetyl, they were at once enchanted by the lovely scenery. This was made up mainly of peaceful brightly coloured cottages, humble huts, salty and fresh lakes, small green forests, and enchanted woods. Zinetyl, put simply, was a dreamy whirr of luxurious greens, reds, pinks, blues, and other pretty-coloured and -shaped flora and fauna. It was also very clean. Hardly any speckles of dirt or rubbish were to be found.

In a snug cosy corner of this kingdom, in the suburb of Yolts, up Grummol Street, in cottage number seven, lived Minabell, Nolya, and Grandma Mylspithy. Before this tale advances any further, it must be told that Minabell had led a vaguely interesting, lazy life with little heartbreak and turmoil.

Today, Minabell was in an especially lazy mood. She lay warmly snuggled under her fluffy blankets. It would take extra effort to step out of bed this morning as it was the first day of a new school year. Minabell groaned out loud.

‘Minabell, don’t forget to get the tarts out of the oven.’ Grandma Mylspithy’s melodious voice pierced the dismal silence of a Monday morning. Oh no! Grandma must have forgotten to hire one of those delivery and underground oven patrol troll officers. This would be an even more dull start to the day than just dressing and packing up for the school.

‘Yeah, okay, I won’t forget,’ Minabell muttered. To say that she didn’t enjoy pulling out cooked underground food was an understatement. Crawling through the dusty tunnel that led to the oven was tiring, not to mention passing by those leggy insects and being smothered in their dirt.

But Grandma’s jam tarts were really very yummy. Jam tarts provided even the averagely intelligent magical creature with enhanced powers for a week. Minabell had used it once last year for an exam that she had hardly prepared for. It had worked most effectively. She had just scraped the pass mark for Basic Kintra Spells. Of course, Grandma had been quite cross at how Minabell had relied solely on magic, barely studying her course notes. Since then, Minabell had made a habit of eating only a few jam tarts whenever baked, instead of hoarding them all at once before an exam.

Grandma had also become strict on such issues. She had said that it was in fact unethical and close to cheating as people who were indeed meant to fail would wrongfully pass. A few jam tarts a week didn’t make you all that much smarter, but it did sharpen your memory a bit, whereas twenty or more jam tarts, all in one go, really boosted your brain cells. But a day after taking them, you could have what Grandma called a tart hangover. You started feeling all dizzy and depressed. This was another reason why Grandma claimed that too many jam tarts were off-limits. She was careful now not to bake jam tarts during exam periods. She knew the temptation for Minabell to overdose on them was far too strong. Jam tarts were expensive to make, but then Grandma had her fair share of hidden gold and jewels.

Grandma’s father had been a boomigobb and her mother a fairy. It was a known fact in the Kingdom of Zinetyl that many fairies possessed highly advanced magical powers and were also among the richest. It must also be added that most were quite snobby. Boomigobbs, on the other hand, were best known for their herbal treatments and for owning beauty parlours. They were a mostly chubby race of creatures with short stature. Fairies were even smaller in comparison, but generally quite slender. The average fairy was quite beautiful. Minabell’s mother and father had both been three quarters boomigobb and a quarter fairy. So Minabell was more of a boomigobb than a fairy.

Minabell’s parents had been killed in the Frilee war some fifty years ago. She had been retracted from the womb of her dead mother – Mintlaban. Grandma had hired Isomosik, a powerful medical magician for smoothly putting a strong spell over Minabell’s mother’s belly so that although her life could never be saved, her unborn child would still live. The spell had its drawbacks though. The unborn, cocooned boomigobb child had to be preserved in a medical ice cave for thirty-seven years before it could see the light of this world. Quite a few baby boomigobbs had been preserved this way during the Frilee war, as many mothers had died on battlefields.

Minabell had lived with Grandma since she was six months of age. Her first six months (after thirty-seven years in a medical ice cave) had been spent in a magical medical clinic for frozen, preserved baby creatures that were simply adjusting to the light of this world as well as being injected with growth reversal hormones in the very early stages to stop possible ageing effects and defects. This had been perfectly effectual. Minabell looked, talked, and behaved exactly as an eleven-year-old creature should.

Minabell’s eleven-year-old cousin Nolya was also living with them but had been doing so for only two weeks. She had plans to study in the same school as Minabell. The schools in the Kingdom of Hillwishia were generally too boisterous for her parents’ tastes. Minabell did not enjoy her company, and those feelings appeared to be mutual. Nolya was far too snobby and at times abruptly, overtly aggressive for Minabell’s liking. Minabell had an inkling that Nolya saw her as lazy and slow both in studies and in house duties. She had that certain malicious glint in her eyes when Grandma reprimanded Minabell for anything. Oh well, she would only be staying with them till the rest of her high school years. She would be free of her in seven years.

It was a half-hour later when Minabell dragged herself out of bed and walked over to the full-sized oval mirror in her room. Glancing in the mirror, she ran frantic fingers through her dishevelled hair. If she had to be honest with herself, she did look quite freaky. Tangled strains of blueberry black hair were all over her face. She looked like one of those psychotic lab magicians. And her eyes, they were bulbous and red. She did, however, feel as though she’d had a good nap. She must have dozed off after her brief conversation with Grandma.

‘I’ll lock the door on my way out, Grandma,’ Minabell yelled out, moving away from the mirror and heading towards the living room.

Minabell realised it was too late when she saw the empty hat rack in the living room because Grandma had already left. It annoyed Grandma that Minabell was nearly always the last to leave the cottage every morning. Well, it was easy for her, thought Minabell, she only had to work in that beauty parlour of hers. The beauty parlour was indeed lavish. It had soft, plush creamy sofas, round little mugs brimming with chococoffee, and an endless supply of dainty-looking sugary biscuits in one corner. Then, there was the ritzy burgundy carpet and the perfumed smell of herbal mintroses designed to relax one’s senses to a state of bliss. Minabell had once spent an afternoon there. It was interesting. The beauticians created different sorts of yummy-smelling facemasks and painted bright pretty colours on the nails of clients. They did other things such as massaging feet, backs and creating funny honey-layered body rejuvenation masks. And once Minabell had even witnessed someone making a booking for a ‘bottom full works deal’. This included ‘bottom buffing’ and a ‘bottom massage’.

Where Grandma worked, service was mainly for the upper class, creatures who didn’t have the time to carry out tedious, time-consuming spells for beauty purposes. Grandma worked four hours weekdays with three other grandmas, whereas Minabell had school. She didn’t hate school, but she didn’t love it either.

A few minutes later, Minabell trotted towards the bathroom. She had finally decided to have a bath and not a shower. The dumb shower faucet wasn’t working properly. Minabell fell asleep lying soapily in the bathtub.

Suddenly there was an explosive sound! Minabell spluttered. It almost felt as though a firecracker had exploded inside her. But she knew it was not a fart. It had been very loud… like that of an earthquake! Could it in fact be an earthquake or a twister or something equally scary? Naah, it must be an underground oven on overcook or two trolls fighting in Lake Frimpnick. She leapt out of the tub, wiped herself roughly, and hurriedly tugged her bathrobe on.

As she wandered into the kitchen, Minabell suddenly noticed the eerie silence. There was no traffic, no birds singing, no squirrels playing, no baby dragons gurgling from deep within the woods, and no creatures talking. But then, perhaps soundlessness was magnified if you were the only one in a cottage. Minabell managed to shake off the spooky feeling until she discovered something mind-boggling – everything was gold! From the sugar and salt bowls on the meal table to the gold tiles on the floor and wait, Hazzy the cat! In her place stood a gold cat mannequin.

Minabell headed back towards the bathroom. Why hadn’t she noticed the gold bathtub in the bathroom or the gold toothbrushes? Gold right down to the last bristle. This was just uncanny! Had one of Grandma’s spells backfired? Maybe last night’s group seance had caused some strange effects in nature’s elements. Oh well, it would all get back to normal in a couple of days.

Minabell dried herself properly and then quickly jumped into the outfit that was hanging on the bath clothes rack. She dashed back into the kitchen for breakfast. It was only when Minabell opened the fridge that it struck her that something was really very wrong. There was a gold watermelon slice in the fridge, and everything else in tight bottles, jars, and containers was now gold! She had to get out of here… It was all just too bizarre.

Walking on the streets of Zinetyl convinced her that what had happened in their cottage was the same elsewhere. The only things that weren’t gold bright were the streets, trees, and plants. There were even frozen gold creatures standing everywhere. Am I hallucinating or is this real? I have to go to the beauty parlour and get Grandma… She’ll know what to do. Just as she had this frantic thought, Minabell felt a hard shove on her lower back. She was being pushed roughly into some sort of a tunnel! It was so dark. She felt faint… She couldn’t breathe.

‘Shhh,’ said a scratchy voice close to her ear. Minabell felt pitted scaly fingers over her mouth. It wasn’t as if anyone could have heard her here. Was she being taken hostage by a goblin fighter? There was suddenly bright light all around her. Then all became startlingly clear. Oh no, it was a tok-tok! The little stout creature held an amused expression as if sensing Minabell’s confusion and resentment.

Tok-toks were a grubby race of lazy creatures from what Minabell knew. Meena, Minabell’s friendly next-door neighbour, had once said that tok-toks went through life achieving nothing but big tummies.

‘You must not speak too loud. They’ll hear us,’ it scolded her. The tok-tok then turned its anxious lustrous eyes towards an opening above.

Minabell was beginning to feel highly irritated. ‘Who do you mean? I’ve no idea what you’re talking about,’ she said.

‘The asuras are in Zinetyl.’ The tok-tok’s eyes were round in amazement, as though unbelieving that such a fact could escape anyone.

‘What’s an asura anyway?’ This came out louder than Minabell intended.

‘Shhh!’ The tok-tok’s eyes could have popped out of its sockets. This tok-tok was a little drama queen, decided Minabell.

‘You don’t know what an asura is?’ it questioned her in its raspy voice.

Minabell sensed the undercurrents of shock in its words. ‘Look, I honestly don’t know what an asura is,’ she answered.

Minabell didn’t admit that she found the name a bit familiar. It triggered memories of Grandma reading her bedtime stories when she had been much younger.

‘Asuras are demons. They’re really powerful,’ it said in return.

‘I do remember something about some demons called asuras,’ Minabell then responded truthfully. She remembered them being evil in Grandma’s stories.

‘We don’t have much time… They’re probably going to take us to the large abattoir near their kingdom and have us for a snack,’ shrieked the tok-tok.

‘And just how do you know all this?’ said Minabell sarcastically. Could this tok-tok be setting up a trap for me? Minabell wondered, suddenly feeling truly scared for the first time since the mini gold revolution. Or perhaps the tok-tok is even helping the asuras.

The tok-tok suddenly covered its round chubby face with stubby fingers. ‘I was watching everything from down under the waters of Lake Frimpnick. I saw them coming for all the little trolls and tok-toks. Creatures that…’ The tok-tok broke into a sob.

‘Creatures that what… ?’ Minabell asked tentatively, moving closer to the tok-tok. The tok-tok released its hands from its face and cleared its throat. ‘Creatures that were frozen into gold while sunbathing and—’

‘You say they were frozen into gold,’ Minabell tersely cut of the teary creature.

‘Yes… Yes, there was a loud bang, and it was almost painful… It was like the whole world shook up and the sun got too close to earth… but it was really everything turning into gold you see.’ It raised limpid eyes towards Minabell in silent contemplation. ‘I don’t know what we should do… I managed to get away just after those asuras had finished collecting all that gold from the lake.’

‘It’s strange that they never did see you or sense you… because demons have pretty good sixth senses,’ said Minabell. She was very puzzled about this.

The tok-tok nodded in relief and said, ‘They’re all around… It’s lucky for you that I saw you roaming about and brought you over.’

Minabell wasn’t in complete agreement with this as she looked at her surroundings. It was so dark that she could not see much. The rancid tunnel hole from which they had entered cast a gloomy sickly light all around, outlining the damp, marooned, rounded corners of the tunnel. It was not only cold and smelly but also dirty. To top it off, she was with a strange fat creature, a tok-tok, and she felt as though she hadn’t eaten in days. What was she supposed to do?

‘We must go to a safe place where no asuras are likely to search,’ said the tok-tok. The tok-tok had mistakenly attributed Minabell’s uneasiness about her surroundings to fear of the asuras. ‘Can you think of something?’ It added impatiently.

Minabell suddenly felt pain building up at the back of her head. It was a strange sort of static fuzz that seemed to be telling her something. No, it couldn’t be. It passed seconds later. Was this what you’d call a near-death experience? Minabell felt so disoriented. Wild fingers seemed to be snaring her.

‘Minabell, get out,’ something screeched at her. It seemed so close, right next to her, pulling at her . . .

Chapter Two

Jizalith and Hodral

Minabell’s eyes shot open. She was rewarded with the angry, almost trollish face of her cousin. She must have dozed off in the bathtub. Uh-oh.

‘Just give me a sec to put clothes on,’ she barely managed to stifle out. Nolya fled out of the bathroom with a scowl. But Minabell was not at all bothered about Nolya’s ‘if looks could kill’ looks.

That dream, that dream or nightmare being more close to it, had been very real. Was it in fact a dream? Or had she travelled into some alternate reality during that brief space in time? But of course, it hadn’t been real… Her imagination was obviously working overtime. It had been scary but also quite exciting… much like one of those action-packed movies on television. It seemed as though she had really conversed with a tok-tok and beheld piles of gold. Strange though that I snoozed off right here in the bathtub… That’s never happened before.

‘When do you plan on moving your fat bottom from the bathroom?’ Nolya’s loud voice rung through the door. Minabell jerked out of her dreamy trance. She jumped out of the tub and rushed about putting her clothes on.

‘You are just too lazy for words,’ Nolya said coldly on Minabell’s way out. Her feathered, thick blue lips had mutated into a crooked line. Minabell didn’t respond with her usual line of comebacks, feeling as dizzy as she did.

*     *     *

Minabell trudged out of the cottage and took the curving, short path to school. She felt so low, abnormally so, even for the first day back. Her unhappy hormones must be overproducing for some peculiar reason. The sweet heavenly smell of Hubbleberry roses, the fresh air, nor the fat good-natured hedgehog Miss Bigg-Wigg, who trotted half the way around a portion of Sleepy Forest to school with her, did much to lift her spirits.

Once at the bright copper school gates, Minabell stopped to gaze at the school for no particular reason. It was something she did mechanically at the start of each semester. It wasn’t special-looking. In fact, most of the schools in Zinetyl looked very similar. It rose, regally towering over several commonly pretty gardens and several murky, wild grassy ponds that needed some tending. Weather-beaten, greenish-black barked child trees were rooted unsteadily around the school, as though forming a protective band of some sort.

Are the trees really as feeble as they appear? Minabell wondered. Perhaps it was only the sudden twist of icy wind that made them appear unstable. The school’s creamy curving walls had vestiges of sooty grey stain. The dusty gargoyles centred here and there, on the rooftops of several buildings, cast huge shadows across the front lawn grounds. And to Minabell, they suddenly seemed more threatening than ever before.

After a minute or so, Minabell walked up the steps, through the front doors of the school, and slowly headed towards the library. She quietly slipped inside the massive warm library, pleased to get away from the usual crowd of noisy students. She walked towards a corner of the library that was more secluded than the others and sat down on a sturdy, cushioned chair.

Rumour had it that a lot of new students were arriving in Sindle Hum as well as a couple of new teachers. It was a new year, a fresh start for everyone, and this year Minabell aimed to do better in studies. Minabell really did want to become a powerful witch boomigobb. She would need to muster much greater motivation to learn all those spells, enchantments, theories needed for high-level witchcraft magic. Luckily, there was a large library back home, filled with all sorts of books. Most were related to the worlds of magic and a few about boring topics such as other world human history, where evolution seemed to be taking place really slowly.

Minabell had spent most of the summer reading books and learning new magical techniques. This would be news to Grandma, who had no idea of Minabell’s reading habits. As Minabell got up from her seat and approached the bookshelves, the bell rang – high-pitched, shattering the pleasant silence of the library. It was time to get going for roll-call. Minabell felt a dull flutter of uneasiness travel through her. She did not know why and could not place a reason for such a reaction. But it was there, something in her gut made her wary of what was to come.

One of Minabell’s best friends, a boomigobb called Findi, had moved away to Mokkigoggle – a kingdom east to Zinetyl. Minabell didn’t have any close friends at the school anymore. Oh well, she was not really worried about that as she’d always been more of a loner.

After roll-call, Minabell left for her first class. It was in the B-Block, where the rooms were somehow slightly decrepit in appearance. There was paint fading timidly off its creamy walls and a few shiny, well-spun, and promisingly dangerous spiderwebs in its corners. Upon entering B3, she made way across the washed out but clean green carpet towards an isolated corner near the back.

She patiently waited for the new teacher taking Yemesis Chants I to arrive. This was her first class, and the teacher was late. They had all received their timetables in roll-call. Minabell unfolded her crisp timetable sheet and glanced at what other classes she would have to attend today. It looked as though there were more than a couple of tough subjects this term.

Minabell took a long, steady look around. Hmm… there were more than a couple of new students. There were three fairies, three pixies, two tok-toks, a goblin, and of course her cousin – the slim boomigobb. Forget the fairies, pixies, and goblin; she’d never seen a tok-tok in her classes before. There were others in the school, but Minabell did not know them personally. That’s weird – to think that I dreamt about seeing a tok-tok and it really happens.

Her thoughts were suddenly blocked out by Goldie’s shrill nasal monotone. Goldie was a narcissistic, spoilt, and very wealthy fairy. ‘You won’t believe what that saleslady in Prudence Creations said to me.’ Goldie’s clones, Ella and Bella, stared adoringly up at Goldie. ‘She actually admitted that I should be a model,’ Goldie simpered.

Goldie is very pretty, but wears a perpetually sneering expression, thought Minabell. One of the new fairies happened to bump into Goldie. The fairy had unwittingly spilt a significant portion of her hot chocolate drink onto Goldie’s frilly pink sweater.

‘I’m really sorry. Here let me get rid of it with my special powder,’ she said softly to Goldie. The well-groomed fairy smiled apologetically but was met with a withering glare.

‘I can’t believe you actually managed to do that. You’re a complete moronic klutz,’ Goldie hissed as she sat back down ungraciously on her seat.

‘I said I was sorry, and I know how to remove it straight away with the powder I’ve got,’ said the fairy in a slightly shaken voice. She raised a clear glass bottle in the air. It was filled to the tip with glittery green powder.

Goldie let out a nasty laugh and crossed her legs in a superior manner. ‘Powder,’ said Goldie in a nasty high voice. She rolled engorged eyes at the fairy. ‘Like you have anything that would wipe out the mess you’ve made on my furrmere sweater. You’re just a dumb klutz.’

The fairy looked mad for a split second, and Minabell was not quite sure what she would do. She looked as though she was just about to dislocate all of Goldie’s dainty bones. But then she seemed to think the better of it and walked away, shaking her head.

Just then, their new teacher, dressed in the longest and dreariest of black coats, paced briskly into the room. He was definitely threatening to look at. He stood in front of the enormous, solid wood desk that had been placed in the room’s centre. As he uttered his first few words, Minabell decided that he was probably the scariest person to walk the school grounds.

‘As you all know, I’m the new Yemesis Chants I teacher.’ He looked around the room briefly, his gaze finally settling on Minabell. His piercing black eyes held Minabell’s a few seconds longer than necessary.

Minabell wondered at first whether she was just being paranoid… but no it was real. She felt as though he was examining her… He had the strangest eyes. It seemed to Minabell that he could read her mind.

The teacher suddenly smiled, but it did not make Minabell feel any more at ease. It was a smile that did not reach his eyes… a frosty evil smile. He abruptly clapped his hands.

‘I believe it would be most appropriate for you all to address me as Mr Hodral.’

The class, more stunned than anything, could only stammer weakly, ‘Yes, sir.’ Some looked down as they said this, and others looked away. There is something about him, Minabell thought… She couldn’t put her finger on it exactly.

‘Now I’m not going to get into one of those silly round-the-class introductions because I never remember names that way. Besides, I don’t need to do that with you lot anyway.’ His deep voice echoed across the room’s walls. The voice was cold and supercilious.

‘You will all be pleased to know that I’m actually quite familiar with you.’ He paused dramatically, appearing almost gleeful at the sight of amazed faces in front of him. ‘Don’t act like a bunch of stunned blobs of flesh. It’s quite possible to do that through our highly advanced systems.’ Mr Hodral raised wickedly arched brows contemptuously at them. ‘I’m sure you all know that the school database has all your recent photographs, names, and mini biographies.’

Although Minabell’s eyes were on her desk, she could still feel the shadow of his scornful gaze.

‘I hope that by tomorrow you all recover from muteness,’ his voice boomed across the room. Mr Hodral then cackled loudly at his own joke. ‘Oh, well, I may as well carry out my major responsibilities as a teacher.’ He cast his gaze around the room yet once again. Minabell met his prickly wintry eyes directly. She was determined not to be intimidated. He was merely a teacher after all.

How would she get through the year or even the