The Wooden Prisoner

A tale of a fractured friendship and twisted revenge, here Coro’s story is told where Coro himself can no longer tell it… 

By Grace Warrior, age 13

I pushed the branches out of my face and picked up my pace, blindly running in whatever direction the branches would let me. My lungs were on fire and my skin punctured with numerous cuts and bruises. I couldn’t let him get to me; it would all be over. Just as I had started to get a bit of headway from him my foot hooked under a root and I went flying straight into a tree. Then everything went black….

Coro lay limp as he was thrown over the soldier’s shoulder.As soon as he secured Coro the soldier, Tazman, started sprinting as if he were standing on hot coals. He zigged left and zagged right, making sure that nobody was tailing him, and as soon as he caught sight of a hill, he breathed a sigh of relief. He slung Coro down and repositioned him as if he were a sack of potatoes. Tazman slowly made his ascent up the hill, letting the shadows cloak him and his quarry in their darkness. As soon as they reached the crest, Tazman’s amber eyes swept the surroundings and he stealthily walked towards a tree. Calmly, he stuck out his hand and pressed it against the bark of the oak. A warm yellow glow emanated from around his hand and bathed the two of them in its buttery coloured rays; soon after the tree creaked open and with a quick glance over his shoulder Tazman stepped in. 

The two spiralled down the tree trunk, the light from above shrinking with every rotation they took. The lift shuddered to a halt as it hit the bottom of the shaft and shook its occupants. With a slight shake Tazman stepped out of the lift and heaved Coro out too. 

“Wake up, wake up!” Tazman hissed in Coro’s face, his spittle flying everywhere.

Coro blinked groggily and his eyes opened a fraction. Theyshot wide open when he had assessed his location and he started shaking. He jumped to his feet, and him and Tazman started squaring each other off. Just as they were about to start sparring the looming oakwood doors swung open and both of them fell deathly silent as a sea of soldiers parted before a towering man of an imposing manner. The man prowled forward, moving with an air of arrogance and carrying himself with importance- giving onlookers the impression of a hunting leopard. He emanated smugness and held his head high as he walked, looking down on everyone as he passed by. As soon as he set his eyes on Coro an evil glint sparkled in Tyrin’s eyes. He had been waiting for this moment for the last 2 yearsand he had carefully plotted everything down to the second.

 

“You know, the thing that upsets me the most was that we used to be good friends Coro, that was until you went and botched everything,” sneered Tyrin.

“I’m telling you Tyrin, I didn’t do anything, it was an accident! The spell rebounded of the wall- if anything it’s your fault for shining the gold that much!” shot back Coro “And yo…”

“Silence!” Tyrin bellowed, his voice rebounding of the high vaulted ceilings “I don’t care what happened, all I know is that you were the one that fired that spell, and now you’re going to be the one that is going to pay. Guards, get him.” 

Coro spun round on his feet and started sprinting but his efforts were fruitless, for the soldiers were agile, speedy and had numbers on their side- even the most skilled wizard couldn’t have escaped. 

Tyrin glided over and flashed Coro a malicious smile, his crystal blue eyes filled with hatred and anger. Frantically squirming in the firm grasp of the soldiers, Coro had no hope, and after putting up a good fight, he reluctantly gave in. As Tyrin loomed over him Coro defiantly stared up into his eyes, and for the first time since the accident he took in the full extent of what happened. Tyrin had been the most handsomeboy from the academy, but everything changed upon a fateful evening. As was their usual routine, the two friends would meet up in the empty classroom after their respective lessons and then practice their dueling; but little did they know that one night everything was going to change. Coro was getting warmed up whilst Tyrin was polishing his golden prefect badge which he then proceeded to pin up on the wall. Afterwards, Coro beckoned Tyrin over and they began their dueling- Tyrin fired an offensive, Coro shot back with a defensive and then a quick little hex to the side. As they were getting ready for the school’s annual wilderness competition, they were both trying out some more advanced skills; and that’s when everything went downhill. As Coro fired a spell he stumbled, and shot it nowhere near where it was meant to go. As the spell shot out of his wand the air rippled as it cut through the sky like a plane through the clouds. Before either boy could run or take cover the spell shot into the prefect badge (much to the dismay of Tyrin) and rebounded off it, also throwing off a blinding light as it did so. Seconds later a chilling scream rang out, one that would haunt Coro for the rest of his life. Everything seemed to slow down as Coro saw his best friend fall to the ground- he rushed over but thendoubled back when he saw what had befallen him. There was a deep gash running alongside the left of Tyrin’s face and his sandy blond hair was speckled with blood. Coro burst out of the classroom and ran as fast as he could knowing that the very life of his friend was in the balance. He raced down the deserted hallway shouting at the top of his lungs and just by luck ran into a professor. The rest of the evening passed in a blur- Tyrin was whisked off to the hospital wing, Coro paced nervously outside, and Tyrin’s stuff was placed in his trunk and taken away. He never came back to the Academy. 

Coro’s eyes had glazed over as he took a trip down memory lane and as he snapped back to reality, he felt a twinge of guilt. Coro’s guilt was short-lived since as soon as he had realised what Tyrin had in mind for him. 

“And now, you’ll get what you deserved,” Tyrin whispered in Coro’s ear. 

Seconds later he removed a knife out of the sheath at his side and brought it up to Coro’s cheekbone. He hesitated one moment but then, without giving a second thought, he slashed Coro’s face. 

“Guards, perform the imprisoning.”

The guards lifted up their wands and on the count of three they fired a spell at Coro and a thud rang out in the air. Instead of Coro lay a piece of wood with a person carved into it.

When Tyrin had placed the curse on Coro, he also placed a condition- that the wooden Coro would have to spend a year in someone’s house before he would get back to himself. After this a soldier was promptly sent out to the nearest vintage shop where he left Coro. 

It was horrible- they shot me with 20 spells at the same time and when I opened my eyes, I wasn’t a person anymore, I was on the floor, and tiny too! I looked down and felt like screaming- they had turned me into a wooden figure! Then, if that wasn’t bad enough, he said that I would have to be put in someone’s house for a WHOLE year before I could get back to normal. After that they took me to the ‘Vintiques of Surrey’ shop and luckily the ladies were really nice- I think one said she might take me home! Although the people at the shop were nice it was torture just not being able to move anything- by mind was working but I wasn’t in my body, I was a piece of wood, and only my eyes moved! It was 8 when the ladies closed up the shop and soon after I drifted off to sleep. 

 

Day-in, day-out I watched as customers flooded in and walked around, looking for something special. With this in my mind I was hopeful that one day, not to far away, someone would find me…..