Amadons Forest of the Ghosts

By Alexander Galati

There are two types of evil.

The new peace in Forange has been disturbed.

Hidden enemies have revealed themselves and done unspeakable horrors that could throw the new peace back into chaos. Old friends Jessica, Georgia, and Sam reunite to face the awaiting rivals that have caused such mayhem.

The investigation leads the friends to the unknown, beyond Forange.

In the foreign territory of Desrange, the friends enter the dangerous Forest of the Ghosts. In the forest, Jessica and her friends face not just the deadly creatures but their own haunting pasts.

With a new enemy breathing down their necks, they will be challenged to fight once more for the peace they so desperately need.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: May 31, 2016
• ISBN: 9781514496138

Alexander Galati

It was at seven years old when Alexander Galati first discovered his liking to write, with his first stories about chickens going to school. At fifteen, he wrote his first novel, Amadons Outside, exploring a part of a magical world he created when he was young. After showing off one part of the world, Alexander refuses to leave the rest of his world unseen. So in his new sequel, Amadons Forest of the Ghosts, a new setting is explored. New creatures are found, and dangerous enemies reveal themselves for the first time.

Book preview

Chapter One

The Shadow Killer

It’s late in the afternoon and King Sam is preparing to return down to the dining room. He slips into his royal white and golden clothes, lined with small crystals and jewellery, and begins making his way downstairs.

The chef has prepared food that he’s dying to show Sam. Sam has promised the chef that he’ll make it to dinner this time.

Except, around this moment of time Sam’s busy handling letters from Forange’s furthest cities. Sam is solving and dealing with financial problems, food shortages, and issues with beasts surrounding the towns.

Roads now connect all the cities in Forange, so it’s easier for the new fields and farms to share their produce and livestock. But time has passed and fields aren’t harvesting enough for their neighbouring cities.

Letter after letter, Sam wrote back to each one—making sure that he focused on each one seriously. But, in the end, his mother starts getting annoyed.

He has been called down to the dining room for nearly half an hour now and Sam’s mother, Elise, is getting impatient. Even though Sam is only fifteen, he’s a very intelligent young man, and he knows everything he needs to know to rule a kingdom as vast as Forange. But surely he can find some time to stop and have a nice dinner with his family and friends.

Sam has lived in the palace most of his childhood and learned everything he knows from books in the library. But around Sam’s childhood years, King Jack, his father, found that a king’s son should learn and stand by his side always. This soon evolved into Sam being his personal servant. But, of course, no one knew this, except his parents and family.

King Jack wanted his cleverness to rub off on Sam. But after finding and discovering his operation, Sam ran away with his new friends, which are now his best friends—Jessica Windal and Georgia Bankgrove.

His mother didn’t know anything about her husband over all the years the operation had been running. She was oblivious to all of it. Only the chief advisors knew and planned it with the kings and queens of the past. These deceased royals included Sam’s grandmother, Queen Anna, and great-grandfather, King Connor.

Sam manages to leave his room and run down the stairs—two at a time—to the vast dining hall.

The room has now blue and golden carpet, with patterns and images. The chandeliers have enchanted candles covering the ends of diamonds hanging down over a cage of gold. The long, wooden dining table is draped in white tablecloths and centrepieces.

His small family and other royal members are seated around the long dining room table. He sees his mother, Elise, and her sister, Aunt Bella, who has one son, Vincent – who just turned five a few months ago. The royal members are basically the people who know Sam when Jack ruled a year ago. These people included nobles, a priest, John, his good friend, and Michael, the librarian—whom Sam has appointed the job to, after Wise One.

‘We’ve been expecting you, dear,’ Elise says in her calming tone. But Sam can tell that she’s very annoyed of him arriving late.

Sam goes to his chair, to Elise’s right, and sits down hastily. ‘So,’ Sam begins, ‘is everyone here?’

Elise gives a look of disgrace. ‘Yes,’ she says. She changes the topic suddenly. ‘I hear that Michael is polishing up his most recent book.’

Michael’s book is about Sam, Georgia, and Jessica’s travels last year. ‘It’s true,’ Michael confirms leaning over the table, his glasses nearly falling off. Michael always wears scarlet and sapphire robes over his white clothes. Even though he’s growing old, Sam finds that his vocabulary is very advanced, thus why he became the palace’s librarian. ‘But I have King Sam to thank.’ Michael raises his glass for a toast to Sam. ‘Without him and his friends, this world would have been thrown into chaos.’ Everyone at the table cheers and taps their glasses together, looking at Sam.

Sam feels a shiver down his spine; he feels much older.

Michael takes a few sips and sets his glass down. ‘King Sam, I heard that potions were discovered in your father’s bedroom. Tell me, what were they ever used for? And also, why had your father hidden them away?’ Michael’s eyes were sparkling with curiosity, but Sam’s used to these types of questions.

The palace had been renovated recently after Sam’s coronation, and many secret information and possessions were discovered, including a hidden cupboard in King Jack’s bedroom filled with potions.

Sam lays his arm on the table, answering, ‘Yes, the potions found in my father’s bedroom—according to the interrogations with my father’s chief advisors—were used on people who could expose the outside world to the Besteratra citizens.’ Sam says it like he’s answering another letter.

Michael follows his statement with another question, ‘How many prisoners were given these potions, and what harm could they do?’

‘Most potions were poisons that either killed slowly or immediately. But a small portion was transforming potions. I even heard of a potion that could transform a human into a monster instantly, changing the person’s voice, emotions, and thought.’

‘How interesting…’ Michael turns around the table, observing the faces intrigued with the information. However, the majority of the table had already known this.

The priest butts in, ‘I find it quite odd that for years we were never told of a wall encasing our city, don’t you?’ The man leans into John next to him. ‘Don’t tell me I’ve missed out on an announced explanation!’

John smiles, his dimples showing, and answers softly, ‘Don’t worry. I just found out a few weeks ago. See the wall was invisible from the inside. So even from a distance, the wall was never visible.’

‘Not to mention that it’s at least one and a half kilometres from the city’s borders,’ Aunt Bella adds, wiping her lips with a cloth. ‘But it’s not really surprising. I always knew that Jack was hiding something.’ Elise glances briefly at her sister. The glare Sam got when he’d spoken out of line. ‘Well… Other than that, this family still has some cleaning up to do anyway. We all know who’s left to be taken care of.’ She moves her eyes between Sam and Elise.

‘Those two will be told off if they come back to Forange, Bella,’ Elise replies. ‘They have no right to take the throne anyway. It’s law.’

Sam knows who they’re talking about—Jack’s brother and sister—his aunt and uncle on his father’s side. Elise told him that they were jealous of Jack taking the throne and refused to live under him. So they fled Forange, announcing they’ll never return—unless Jack died.

‘What is to happen when they return?’ Michael gasps. ‘Will Sam give his crown? Or will something else happen?’

Elise looks very annoyed indeed now. ‘They made their choice. And if they somehow come to the intention of my husband’s death, then so be it. They’ll come back. But they’ll find my son has taken their chance.’

Aunt Bella smiles. ‘It’s not like they think they’ll get the crown anyway! They knew Elise was to marry Jack at the time. Did they think they weren’t going to have a child to carry on—?’

‘Dinner is served,’ the white chef has arrived at the table, gesturing to the waiters and waitresses to bring the food to the table.

There’s a double swinging door that leads to the large kitchen in the corner of the dining room. It has several well-dressed black-suited waiters and waitresses bringing out large platters, with one hand.

Where’s the different meal that the chef is dying to show him?

Sam nearly raises his only hand to see if the chef has forgotten, until his mother forces his hand back under the table. The largest platter of colourful food enters the room. A waiter has to use two hands to carry it.

It looks scrumptious. Every taste bud in Sam’s mouth wants to jump into the platter and lick it clean. But as a king, he has to wait for food to come to him, as it was rude to serve yourself.

‘Your Majesty, I’ll serve you the best of the best food in the region. Your buds will tingle to the touch, and your mouth will water to every bite,’ the chef exaggerates, moving his fork into the platter and on Sam’s plate.

Sam waits until all the people around the table have received their plate, filled to the edges of the new dish. He knows that it was rude to begin eating before others.

After all the plates are given, the chef’s at the foot of the table—waiting for the food to be tasted. Before they eat, they’re supposed to give thanks to ‘The Great Being’ for the wonderful meal. So they all have to pray. Sam’s never been a fan of religion, but he does it, since everyone is judging the youngest king of the time—after King Connor, who was crowned at the age of nineteen.

They all close their eyes and clasp their hands together and start muttering the pray. Sam can’t clasp his hands and dozes off and starts thinking of the many letters he is dealing with before he came here. What will I do about the shortage of food in First Finger Village? Oh, and that town up north… What was it called—? That’s when Sam forgets that his eyes are still shut. He opens them to hear a shriek of horror.

Sam raises his head around the table and finds Michael’s fat hands clung around his neck and his eyes burning a deep purple. His choking cries go around the table. Everyone’s gasping with disgust and confusion. But Sam’s more concerned about Michael.

He jumps off his chair and runs around the other end of the table, looking at Michael’s actions. He’s begun throwing up spit and banging his hands around his food. He makes the most horrific noise, making Sam fill with fear. This can’t be just choking.

Sam makes it to Michael’s side when he falls silent. The chef has arrived at Michael’s side too. He checks Michael’s pulse on his neck.

The chef’s mouth drops. ‘Gosh… ! He’s gone…’ he whispers.

Sam stands shocked. ‘What happened?’ he demands. ‘How…’ his voice drifts off into chattering from the guests around the table. Elise has her hands over Sam’s shoulders, keeping him sane, while two waiters carry Michael’s body away from the dining hall.

What happened? Sam thinks in disgust, looking at the body being lifted away. Was it poison? Did he choke? That’s when Sam notices that all the plates on the table are untouched—except Michael’s . . .

‘It was poison!’ Sam exclaims.

Everyone exchanges looks and then at their food.

‘How can someone do this?’ Elise gasps. ‘The tight security?’

All the guests stand up around the same time and start walking away from the dining hall. Sam too feels that he doesn’t want to eat anything that might be poison.

Elise, Sam, John, waiters and waitress, and the chef clean up the food from the table as well as the food in the kitchen and throw it all away in large bins. Is it poison? Why poison?

Nearly two hours later, when the sun has set and all the guests have left, Sam and his friend, John, Elise, and the chef sit at the table to discuss the incident.

‘I say it was the chef,’ Elise says straight up.

While the chef stands shocked on being accused, Sam shakes his head. ‘No, it couldn’t have been Chef,’ he insists. ‘Yes, he works in the kitchen and he’s the one who made the recipe… And he—’ Sam stops. Everything seems to pile up on Chef. ‘But I know Chef, and there’s no way he could’ve done this!’

‘You didn’t know your father,’ John breaks in.

Sam looks at him with a solemn face. Yes, he didn’t know his father, but that just made it more evident that Chef poisoned the plates.

‘Think about it, Sam,’ John continues. ‘Chef wanted you here… especially tonight so he can poison you.’

Sam thinks again and again. ‘But why Chef? Why would he want to kill the whole table?’ Sam asks quietly.

John looks at Sam’s concerned face.

‘Maybe he favoured your father than you—’

‘Okay, that’s enough!’ Elise shouts over John. ‘You didn’t need to take it that far!’ She glares at Chef. ‘Now… Chef, did you not attempt to murder anyone here tonight?’

There’s a short silence before Chef shakes his head. ‘I would never dream of harming Our Majesty,’ he pleads. ‘But I do have a person that I think might have done it.’

Everyone goes silent as Chef stands up from his chair and paces around the table. ‘I wasn’t the only one who made those dishes—there are other chefs that aided me in my cooking for the guests.’

Sam thinks deeply. It’s true that Chef couldn’t have finished all those dishes alone. Some other cooks did have access to the food as well as him. ‘But the question is who?’ he says his fist against his forehead.

‘Think, Sam,’ John advises. ‘Do you have any enemies? Is there anyone who wants you dead?’

Sam looks around the table, imagining every person he’s met. Who would want to kill me? Chef couldn’t have done this, Sam thinks slowly. Not Mother, nor John or… Who doesn’t like me? It must be someone I haven’t met and just doesn’t like me as king.

‘Possibly one of the Silver Guards?’ Elise suggests, breaking the silence. ‘Or perhaps one of the townspeople who loved Jack than Sam?’

Everyone’s quiet again as Chef sits back down next to Sam.

‘Maybe…’ Sam says aloud for a moment. ‘But why kill me? Only another member of my family will go to the throne—so why kill me when someone else will continue the line of kings and queens?’

‘Okay,’ John beckons everyone, ‘we’re thinking of someone who would want to be king or just wants revenge… Anyone in mind?’

Sam bursts with an idea. ‘Well, there’s my aunty and uncle . . .’

‘Really?’ Elise stammers. ‘How would they get in?’

‘I don’t know!’ Sam closes his eyes and gives up. ‘I’ll sleep on it.’ Sam gets up slowly and starts to his bedroom. ‘It’s getting late—I should get some sleep. John, prepare a cart and horse for tomorrow. I’m visiting South Head.’

Elise is nearly shocked. ‘Umm… Goodnight, sweetie,’ she calls in her gentle tone.

Sam walks up the stairs and into his bedroom.

It’s still the same bedroom, but different carpet. The blue curtains blow around in the open window’s wind. I’ll close it later, Sam thinks tiredly, looking at the blue curtains.

Sam already ordered the colour red to be removed out of the palace. All the carpets were changed to blue and the wallpaper as well. It made Sam’s distant memories of his father fade away.

Sam drops his ring and crown on his nightstand and goes to the wardrobe to get his sleeping robe. He still has his adjusted robe from last year. His lost left arm is a pain sometimes, but a year of working without it has changed how Sam lives.

Something escapes him when he opens his wardrobe. A dark shadowy figure emerges out from the cupboard and dives on him.

Sam falls to the ground with a loud grunt before shouting for help. ‘Help! Help!’ The figure has his or her hands on his mouth.

Then Sam screams again through the figure’s muffled hand, as the figure brings out a knife from his back pocket. Sam searches the person’s body for any sign of recognition as he struggles to free himself.

‘Help…’ his voice carries into a glove the person wears. The figure is covered in black and is almost unseen in the unlit room. ‘Help…’ The figure tries to push Sam down as his struggles get more successful.

Sam shouts again and again to lure anyone to his room. ‘Help!’

The person raises the knife and Sam starts kicking rapidly. It’s not working! Then Sam finally frees his right arm and throws it at the person’s face—or what Sam hopes is the person’s face. He grabs at the cloth and tries to pull it. It’s too tight.

The knife goes at his face, but Sam moves aside in time.

With the mystery person’s arm not pushing him down, Sam jumps up and kicks the person in the shins.

The figure groans, but Sam can’t decipher if it’s a male or female. Sam again kicks and shouts, ‘Help! Help!’ The figure stands up after tripping Sam to the ground. ‘Help!’

John breaks down the door and lifts Sam off the floor.

As he does so, Sam gets nothing but the glimpse of the dark shadow escape through the open window.

Chapter Two

Reunion

She wakes up to a splash of water at her face.

Water’s everywhere and Jessica can’t prevent herself from sinking. She struggles up to the surface and then sinks lower and lower. Her breath slows down when she sees a shadow in the dark waves.

It’s coming closer and closer to her. She screams and Jessica sees the dark jaws of a Sharkanite. Its jaws swallow her whole . . .

She wakes up once more and she’s in her bed—sweating and she can’t prevent herself from looking around. The curtains show its morning. I need to… she remembers suddenly. I need to help Father.

She has to help her father unpack the supplies that Besteratra has sent them. This happens every month. Besteratra and the main farms around Forange would sell their goods and supplies to other towns.

South Head was once the poorest village in Forange, but now they’re blossoming with fruit trees and built houses, and everyone has a fair share in food and work.

Jessica walks out of her house, all dressed, ready for the new day. South Head has wider streets now and the Protector is no more. The houses spread between apple and cherry trees that are picked frequently.

The houses themselves are bright white all over and have baby blue colours striping each house’s rooftop tiles. Every house has a fireplace, for the cold winter nights and for light. The rooftops’ colours were inspired by the new national flower of Forange—the ‘Forange Orchid’.

King Sam had decided to give Forange a national icon, to present itself as a new region, to present Forange’s new era of peace. The flower is seen to be a unique white-and-blue flower with large drooping petals.

The Southern Courtyard has stayed where it was left, except it’s rebuilt. There’s now a large clock tower at the northern end of the courtyard and stone stairs creating a pyramid of stairs leading to the circular fountain.

The stone bricks on the village’s floor are mended so that no cart will topple over when treading over it. The town is larger than ever before, and Jessica feels peace flowing through the village.

Jessica and her father’s house is situated on a raised level of land next to the clock tower. They have warm toasty beds with curtains and rugs. They both have a kitchen between them, with white tiles and some flowerpots next to the glass window.

Jessica walks casually down her house’s little hill and down to the main part of the village. The air is slightly cold from the early morning breeze from the sea, but she’s used to it.

She walks peacefully along the wide stone-bricked streets between the houses and makes her way to the Southern Courtyard, where she expects her father to be waiting.

There are happy children going to school and the mothers in their houses cleaning the day away. The fathers are usually farmers or Colleks.

The Colleks still did their job. They would always go back and forth from South Meet and Bayrast to collect goods they pay for every month and return it back to South Head and sell them to the stores.

Jessica passes windowsills that have mini pots blooming with the ‘Forange Orchid’. The flower has a sweet refreshing smell that makes Jessica feel well rested.

When she gets to the courtyard, she doesn’t see the cart. She sits at the stairs of the fountain waiting—as she always does when they’re late. While waiting, she spots Georgia walking into the courtyard through one of the streets. ‘Georgia!’ Jessica calls.

Georgia’s head turns to Jessica’s direction and smiles. Jessica stands up and walks to Georgia. The two haven’t seen each other for a few days, as there’s so much work they’ve been doing. They haven’t found time to just sit and talk.

So what better time to talk while waiting for Josef?

‘Jessica,’ Georgia grins, ‘how you been? I hear that you’re still part of the Passers.’ The two sit on the pyramid of stairs.

‘Yes, I help my father pass the supplies around. I haven’t seen you since your birthday last week.’

Georgia nods happily, ‘Yeah, school’s been busy. I was asked to teach some little kids about my powers.’

‘That’s great.’

‘Well, not really… I haven’t had any practice—at all, you know. So I always got the questions about why can’t I fly or go invisible. But, Jessica,’ Georgia pauses for a moment, squeezing Jessica’s hand. ‘I’ve been thinking, is this what life will be like forever?’

Jessica stops smiling. ‘I haven’t really thought about that much,’ Jessica murmurs. ‘I guess I’m happy that we aren’t afraid from the beasts anymore and that we have a… a proper village now. What else is there that isn’t happy?’

‘I mean like we’ve been going like this for nearly a year now and nothing exciting has happened. Like, remember, when Sam, you, and I travelled Forange? That was exciting, and I want to do that again.’

Jessica is shocked by Georgia’s thoughts. Did Georgia really think that life in South Head is boring? She still gets nightmares about what happened last year.

‘Remember, when the Yeepy accidentally landed wrong into our village two months ago? Wasn’t that excitement?’ Jessica blurts out. ‘Or the time when we had the drought—wasn’t that exciting?’

Georgia shakes her head. ‘Not that type of excitement.’ Georgia then moves her hand away from Jessica’s. ‘I want to travel again!’ She finally gets out. ‘To see the world… That’s exciting!’

Jessica focuses more on Georgia and begins thinking more about what she thinks. ‘Well…’ Jessica stops talking when she finds Josef’s cart turn into the courtyard. ‘Father, you’re back!’ Jessica runs forward and leaps into her father’s arms on the cart.

Josef’s hair is cut short, and he wears his usual singlet and shorts. He’s gone so much more often that Jessica’s always glad to see him. Sometimes he makes huge trips across to places like Westwood City, which is the furthest northern city, or even First Finger Village, which is all the way across to the farthest western point of Forange.

‘Great news, darling,’ Josef begins. ‘I’ve been given a whole week off work. And that means that I’ll have more time for you now!’ Josef’s words go through the crowd of people, and Jessica beams gladly while giving her father another hug.

That’s when a loud patter of horses rises through the trees.

‘I thought all of you returned?’ Jessica asks, confused.

Josef steps off the cart and turns to the road.

The roads that go around Forange are all dirt roads, boarded by small grey stones, so that no grass would grow on the dirt. The road that Josef’s men just trampled on starts rumbling, as if something else is heading for South Head.

‘No,’ Josef answers, ‘we’re all here, and no one’s lettered us saying that they’re coming today.’

Jessica and Josef, as well as Georgia, go around the Colleks’ carts and to the entrance of the road. The noise of horses grow louder until Jessica sees what’s coming.

It isn’t any creature of any kind, but Besteratra Soldiers. Their carts are dark wooden and larger than the Colleks—of course. They also have gold jewels running along the edges of the cart.

The cart stops, while a sharp-dressed soldier hops off the driver’s seat and to the back doors. The soldiers at the front stay and groom the black stallions.

A familiar person exits the cart.

With the missing left arm, Jessica sees Sam. He’s wearing something different, not the white and golden clothes the king usually wears but a light blue and black uniform. He also has his sword at his hip and a black leather bag over his shoulder. He also isn’t wearing his black-and-white leather shoes, but his old boots he wore when Jessica, Georgia, and he travelled together last year.

‘King Sam!’ Georgia gasps.

A large crowd of people have circled the entrance of the road as Sam walks to the front of the horses, running his only hand along their necks.

Jessica is shocked to see Sam, especially after not visiting for seven months. Why is he here? she thinks. He must’ve left at the crack of dawn to get here at this hour.

Sam speaks, ‘I want to talk to Jessica Windal and Georgia Bankgrove.’ All the townspeople stand up looking at Jessica and Georgia—who are highly recognisable now. ‘Don’t worry. You’re not in trouble,’ Sam assures.

Jessica and Georgia approach Sam as Josef walks back to his cart and starts unloading the goods. ‘Hey,’ he yells, so that everyone can hear, ‘anyone want a bag of rice for only one silver piece?’ This gets everyone’s attention. All the people rush to Josef’s cart, handing their money for their bag of rice. Jessica knows that her father did this to make the crowd go away.

‘Quickly, to my house,’ Jessica demands. ‘Come on, hurry!’

It’s very rare for a huge bag of rice to be only one silver coin. Usually they’re three silver coins—and that’s cheap for a large bag of rice.

The three are shortly in Jessica’s small living room. Sam sits on a comfy small, crimson couch. Jessica shuts the door and then the windows as well as the curtains and lights a number of candles. She doesn’t want anyone spying, especially if it’s Sam who’s visiting.

The three are best friends, even if they’ve only been communicating through letters sent by ravens. But Jessica and Georgia still feel distance between them.

When Jessica has made some hot steaming tea and made sure that Sam’s comfortable, she sits down on a wooden chair that the dining table had, waiting for Sam to speak first. Georgia sits on one of the dining table chairs too, holding her warm mug of tea.

‘So what’s this all about, Sam?’ Georgia begins the conversation. ‘Why have you come over here after all these months? Is this a holiday?’

‘Hush, Georgia,’ Jessica snaps. ‘Sam is busier than you think. But I’m as well wondering why he has arrived with no notice or any reason that I can think of.’

Georgia leans forward to Sam, drinking a sip of her tea. ‘Hello?’ she waves her hand in front of him. ‘Are you there?’

Sam gives a sigh. ‘I come to ask you a favour…’ Sam’s voice seems to tremble at the sentence. ‘An issue has come up and I need you to come with me.’

Jessica and Georgia’s eyes fly open.