Dwarfs

Avalon Prequel Invasion of Memories Pumpkin Seeds part 9 of 10

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Glen put the knife away having thought through another option.

“Who are you?” the hag asked. She looked a little sickly, but even as she asked, Glen left that time and place and got replaced by a man who could only be described as a cowboy, with the chaps and hat, and a six-shooter at his side; and he had a rope in his hands, tied in a lasso. Sandra and her mother shrieked in surprise. Macreedy and Ellean went to one knee, and after a thought, Ignatius joined them. Pumpkin began to cry in her cage. Mellissa applauded.

“My name is Miguel Enrique Casidy, Federal Marshal; or as my wife used to call me, Michael Henry the Texican.” He turned to Sandra and tipped his hat. “Ma’am.” He began to twirl his rope.

The djinn’s eyes got big, much bigger than ordinary human eyes, and she elicited shrieks from Sandra and her mother as well as the man beside her, when she began to rise-up into the air. Fortunately, since she was under a tree, she could not move very fast at first, and that gave Marshal Casidy enough time to lasso her by the ankles. He tugged sharply on the rope and brought the djin to the ground very roughly, and then he leapt, and like a true rodeo champion, he had the djin dog tied in the blink of an eye. The djin tried to bite him, but he slapped her face, hard. The djin also tried to go invisible along with several other ideas, but between the magic invested in the rope, and the fact that Macreedy and Ellean were holding hands and focusing their magic against the djin, the djin became powerless. Macreedy or Ellean alone would have been no match for the magic of this djin, any more than Pumpkin had been a match, but by holding hands, in some way they were able to combine their strengths, and increase the power of their natural magic, and it was enough.

Casidy stood and fingered his six-shooter. “And now, sir, I believe you are under arrest.”

The man did not buy it all. He knew what he wanted, and he had learned how to get what he wanted. He waved, and a dozen men came out from behind the trees and bushes. “No one is going anywhere until I have got what I want.”

“Is murder really what you want?” Casidy asked. He eyed the dozen men, still fingered his six-shooter, but considered his options. Nine of those men had guns, but there was one man that stepped to the front dressed as a traditional ninja. He stood complete with sword and no doubt a number of hidden weapons. Despite the guns, Casidy knew the ninja was far more dangerous. He decided a change was in order, and with a turn of his head and another tip of his hat to the ladies, he vanished; to be replaced by an honest to goodness geisha.

She came dressed in a traditional long geisha outfit. Her hair looked neatly put up and tied with sticks and pins, but what gave away the fact that she was geisha was the white face paint, the intensely red lips, and the way she held her unopened fan. She spoke in Japanese, and while some of her verbs and phrases sounded ancient, they were understandable, much like it might have been if someone spoke a kind of King James English in the present day.

“Samurai, give account of yourself. Since when does your honor allow you to enter the employ of one who deals in drugs, murder and betrayal?”

“Who are you?” The ninja asked.

“I am Tara No Hideko, the teacher of your teachers and the master of your masters. I made you in the days of the great wars, when the Shogun first came to power. I made you to protect my sister, and you failed.” The man did not look convinced. He let three stars loose from his sleeve. Hideko merely waved her fan without opening it. Everyone heard the click-click-click, and the stars were gone.

“Very sloppy.” Hideko scolded. “If you were mine to discipline, I would have you beaten for sloppiness.” She opened her fan to show the stars, each caught in a different place in the rice paper and bamboo, caught but not seriously damaging the fan, which was a bit of a surprise to think that the rice paper fan had not been torn to shreds. “You must always go for the soft places, the neck and the belly. Bones can stop the stars as easily as this fan. She flicked her wrist, and the stars shot right back at the man and caught him in both thighs, though not too deep, and the third star came very close, but shot between his legs. “You would do well to remember the lesson,” Hideko said, and she turned back to the old man beside her. He seethed in his anger, though he had taken another step back so there were now a couple of yards between them.

“This is not over,” the man said, as he reached behind the tree and pulled out a great sword, Chinese in design, but ancient, looking perhaps two hundred years old. “All of you women will die in the old way as planned, even if I have to cut you all myself.”

 “Ignatius.” Hideko began, but the hobgoblin stood right beside her.

“You will not cut the women.” Ignatius said, and a number of the men with guns gasped at the full effect of that devilish face and the snake-like tongue it bore.

“Stay out of it.” Hideko finished her thought, and her dress and accoutrements all went away to be replaced by the same armor and weapons Glen wore. When Hideko pulled the sword, however, no one doubted that she knew how to use it. The ninja went face down in the dirt, but Hideko had one more thing to say before she faced the old man. Her accent when she spoke in English sounded heavy, but again the words were understandable. “You men had better run as fast as you can lest you end up haunted all of your days in prison. Do not think your guns will protect you. I also have an army to call on, and you will not like the look of it. Prickles!” Hideko shouted, but then she had to defend herself, even as she shouted, “Ameratsu, be my light!”

Prickles raced out of the cave, followed by every dwarf and three of the goblins. Of course, most of the goblins and Cormac knew better than to run into the sunlight. They had to content themselves with what they could see and hear through the fuzzy looking opening between the worlds. Sure enough, the three goblins who came into the sun turned to stone, but the dwarfs moved rapidly and the men who had unwisely chosen not to run off on sight of the hobgoblin were soon on the ground, tied up like the djin.

The fight between the swordsmen did not last long. Hideko mercifully cut the man deeply across his belly, which disarmed him and brought him to his knees, and she paused only long enough to declare that she was showing mercy before she shoved her blade into the man’s heart. As she withdrew her sword, she bowed first to the dead man. “Forgive me.” Then she bowed to the ninja, still on his face. “Forgive me.” Then she bowed to Sandra, her mother, Macreedy, Ellean, Mellissa and Pumpkin. “Forgive me.” Glen returned to hear Prickles complain.

“But I didn’t get to pound anyone.”

“Don’t worry, big guy,” Ignatius said. “I am sure with the Lord around you will have plenty of chances to do some pounding.” It took a second to penetrate, but eventually the ogre grinned at that idea.

Glen kept the armor in place, just to be safe, and he blanched a little at having to clean his sword before putting it away. Mishka was the doctor. Glen could hardly stand the sight of blood, especially the blood of someone he just killed, even if technically, his hands had not done the actual killing. He went to open Pumpkin’s cage but found that Sandra had already opened it and the women, and Mellissa were all hugging and kissing, and Pumpkin had one more surprise for the women as she abandoned her little fairy form and took on her big, full, human-sized form, so she could have real hugs and give real kisses.

By then, Breggus brought-up the trussed-up gunmen, but all Glen really had to do was threaten to have Prickles eat them if they dared to come back or ever tried to harm any of these women. That seemed effective medicine as two threw-up and three fouled themselves just looking at the beast. Glen did not add the part about having the goblins haunt their dreams, because they probably would in any case. He turned, last of all, for a word with the Samurai, now on his knees even if his knees were covered in blood.

“Hideko says you must go up Mount Fuji on your knees where you can and seek the reconciliation of the son. Suicide is not acceptable. You must make up for your wicked choices with this penance, that you make honorable choices and help people for the rest of your life. Go.” He did not have to say it twice. The man touched his head to the ground like a martial arts student might bow to his master, and he rose, walked off, and never looked back.

At last, Glen could get down to the important business. “Pumpkin!” He hollered, and the fairy immediately returned to her natural, small state and flew to face him, a little afraid of his wrath; but Glen thought Pumpkin was so dear, he could hardly keep a straight face. “I thought you were banished to Avalon for a hundred years.”

“I was, Lord. I stayed there the whole time and stayed good; I promise.” The fairy crossed her little heart and looked down as she hovered near eye level.

“Banished?” Sandra did not like the word, but Glen explained.

“That’s sort of like being banished to Disneyland,” he said. “Now.” He coughed to clear his throat and remove his smile. “Now, do you see what I told you about the consequences of your actions?”

“Yes, Lord, I see. Those were bad men.” She looked briefly at the dead man but quickly had to look away, and she shook her head, but Glen knew the fairy probably did not fully understand what all of that was about.

“You told her?” Sandra had another question.

“Casidy told her, but it was me all the same. You see, I lived a number of times in the past.”

“And the geisha?”

“Me,” Glen said.

“I see,” Sandra said, but Glen suspected that she did not really understand any more than the fairy.

“Now the djin,” Glen said, but the djin had gone.

************************

MONDAY

The djinn is gone but she will not escape. Until Monday, Happy Reading

*

Avalon Prequel Invasion of Memories Pumpkin Seeds part 8 of 10

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Macreedy and Ellean kept the dwarfs moving while Sandra walked beside Glen when she could. She pushed the stroller most of the way and carried it when she needed to, but Glen never offered to help or even spoke, so Sandra kept quiet as well. Ignatius came right behind them and the ogre brought up the rear. With the silence, Sandra heard the hobgoblin mumble more than once about being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

A good hour later, Sandra had too many questions to contain herself. “What is a djin?” She asked, only to see both Glen and the hobgoblin shake their heads.

“A djin is a powerful and wicked creature, and not one of our Lord’s. Our Lord cares for us sprites of the earth, and the fire, the air and the water sprites, too, but these djin are of a different order.” Macreedy spoke over his shoulder.

“All the sprites?” Sandra wondered. “That sounds like an awful lot. How can you keep track of them all?” She asked Glen, but he did not answer.

“Plenty, to be sure.” Ignatius spoke up. “But there are far more that are not his than his, and these djin range from little spirits, like us, to lesser spirits and all the way up to greater spirits, and if this one is one of the big, bad greater spirits, you will see some sparks fly, let me tell you.

“But what is a djin?” Sandra asked again, and this time Glen said a word.

“Genie.” But removing his concentration from what he thought about caused him to stumble and it took both Macreedy and the hobgoblin to catch him, to keep him from falling altogether.

“There is the opening.” Breggus came back and spoke, though Glen hardly heard him. “I said Gumblittle could find the place, but it looks kind of fuzzy.” Glen squinted, expecting fuzzy, but it looked clear as day out there, as far as he was concerned, and indeed it looked like late in the day, and the outside scene appeared to be a simple forest scene.

“Glen?” Sandra gently touched him, and seemed a little worried, judging the appearance on Glen’s face.

“I’m just remembering too much, too fast,” he explained, and tried hard to pull himself together as he spoke. “Dwarfs, I thank you. Macreedy and Ellean, you need to come to protect Sandra. Prickles, stay here! Ignatius Patterwig, you need to stick with me.”

“Me?” The hobgoblin looked reluctant to move into the light, but as Glen stumbled forward, Ignatius followed along. “What do you want from me?” he whined.

“You need to keep me safe while I go unconscious,” Glen responded, and he fell face down in the leaves and pine needles.

“Me?” Ignatius said again, but he went invisible and hovered over Glen, like a mother bird might hover over her nest.

“And here she is.” A woman’s voice rang out—a chilling voice that Sandra heard before she saw. “I am a bit surprised she made it, but I see she brought a couple of friends with her.” The woman appeared to be an old woman that might best be described as a hag, if that hag was struck in the face with an extra bucket of ugly. She waved her hand and Macreedy and Ellean lost their glamour of invisibility, but they did not lose the arrows that were strung in their bows and ready. The man beside the djin took a step back on seeing real, live elves in his face.

“Wait a minute.” Sandra looked around. “This is the university woods, not very far from where Mother and Mellissa disappeared.”

“Very good.” The hag said. “And it is only a couple of hours since you left.”

“But we were gone for two days.” Sandra protested.

“And a whole night.” The djin nodded and cackled which solidified Sandra’s impression of the djinn’s hag-like appearance. “Sadly, the tree people came out in force so nothing untoward could happen in the night.” She looked disappointed that nothing came out of the dark to tear Sandra to shreds.

“Old woman. You swore you would gather the whole family. How dare you try and send this one to Hell before I had the opportunity to do it myself.” The man beside the djin, an Asian, Chinese looking man with perhaps a taint of European blood raised his hand as if to slap the hag.

“But I did exactly as you asked.” The hag stayed his hand with the words. “They are all here as promised. All of the living in the family line are here. The fee was the first, and this is the last of them all but for her baby; but if she died on the way.” The hag shrugged. “I did not promise she might not die on the way.” She cackled again. She enjoyed the idea of Sandra’s death too much. Sandra would have stepped back in horror at that attitude, but in truth, she hardly heard the exchange as she spied her mother holding the baby, and she ran to them.

“Melissa, Mother! You’re all right, O thank God.” She caught Melissa up in her arms, squeezed, hugged, kissed the two-year-old with her lips and her tears, while Sandra’s mother hugged her daughter, and cried on her daughter’s shoulder. Macreedy stayed where he was. He kept his arrow aimed at the djin and the man, and never wavered, but Ellean ran with Sandra, and she was the one who found one more person.

“Miss Fairy, are you well?” Ellean asked, and Sandra stopped crying and hugging long enough to gasp. A real live fairy, not much more than seven inches tall, stood captive in a small cage that hung on a tree branch. The fairy shook her head, sadly, and then reached out for Sandra, of all things.

“Pumpkin.” Melissa said, pointed to the fairy, and the two-year-old smiled. She was too young to realize the danger she was in or the danger she had just gone through.

“Sandra.” Sandra’s mother made her daughter pause so the older woman could tell her daughter something first. “Sandra.” She repeated. “This is your great-great grandmother, Mrs. Pumpkin.”

Sandra went up to the cage with the wonder written clearly on her face while Ellean apologized for some mistake. “Pardon, Missus fairy,” the elf maid said. “You look very young and I am not very old.”

Pumpkin merely glanced at the elf as if to say no offense taken, but then Sandra put her finger up to the cage as she might have held her finger out for a parakeet. Pumpkin reached out between the bars, touched that finger and attempted to smile. It looked difficult. It looked like the poor fairy had been tortured, and all at once, Sandra got terribly angry.

Sandra spun around, handed Mellissa back to her mother and tromped to within a yard of the man and the old woman.

“How dare you!” She yelled. “Who do you think you are? You have no right holding us. Kidnapping is a crime. You let my family go, and I mean it. Let us go, now!”

The man laughed and the djin grinned and with a wave of her hand, the bows and arrows that Macreedy and Ellean held were ripped from their hands and came to the old woman’s feet. “You have no power here.” The hag said through her cackle.

Sandra took a step back and her expression turned from one of anger to one of incomprehension. “But why?’ she asked.

“Family honor.” The man stepped up. “To finally cleanse the stain between your family and mine.” Sandra looked at the man with questions dancing in her head, but she kept quiet as the man spoke.

“One hundred and thirty years ago, my poor family came to California in search of prosperity. As a young girl, my many-times mother married a man of European decent over the objections of the family. But this was a new world, full of hope, and they had great hopes, and had a son, my sire. Then men found gold along the rivers and the madness began. One man, a man named Marshal Casidy tried to maintain order in the chaos, but he brought with him the creatures of whispers and legend. One of these was the winged goblin now held prisoner to account for her crimes. She stole the heart of that European man and together, they ran off and had a daughter. The stain of that betrayal has never left my family name.

“Our gold was stolen, and our hope was gone. My great father brought his family back across the sea to the place of his birth in disgrace, and the strange looking son who had no father could find comfort only in the arms of prostitutes. My great-grandfather should have been a rich man, living in a California mansion, but he was born in a brothel. My grandfather was born in a ditch and died of alcohol poisoning before he was fifty. My father learned to steal and I was nourished on stolen bread.

“When the Japanese invaded my country, I became a traitor to my own people, and I became rich betraying my neighbors for a price. I made peace with the invaders, and with the money I obtained, I began to deal in drugs and built my own little army of thieves and murderers; but I always knew the shame of what I had done. The soul of my family has never known peace since that first betrayal that destroyed our hope, and I vowed revenge.” The man was angry, spitting. He could not finish his speech, so another had to prompt him.

“And what did you promise to this hag for capturing the fairy and gathering the survivors of her family?” Glen stepped into the light, and Ignatius, the hobgoblin came with him.

The man gasped on seeing the goblin and took a step back as he had when he first saw the elves, but he managed an answer.

“I promised that I would be hers for as long as we both shall live,” he said.

“And you figure after you avenge your betrayal, she will not live long.” Glen understood. “But you do not know what you have promised, for this is no ordinary old woman.”

“Ah,” the djin interrupted. Her voice carried a curious note. “I see how the mother made it through the maze of traps. She brought a warrior with her.” The hag took a half step forward, which prompted Glen to pull the long knife from behind his back. He did not dare pull the sword again. “But it is strange. I do not understand.” The hag looked as confused as she sounded curious, and it clearly seemed something of an unusual experience for her. “I cannot read this one’s mind. It is like he is invisible to me, and that must be how I did not notice him before. Still, no matter.” The hag snatched her hand and Glen’s knife vacated his hand as the bow and arrows had vacated the hands of Macreedy and Ellean, only this time, Glen smiled and stretched out his hand toward the knife. The knife did an about face in mid-air and sprang back into Glen’s grasp as if it never left.

Avalon Prequel Invasion of Memories Pumpkin Seeds part 7 of 10

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Everyone got surprised when Glen spoke up.

“We had a bargain,” he yelled at the hobgoblin, and let his anger have full vent to cover his fear. “You promised to lead us in the way of the baby.”

“Well.” Ignatius smiled at last revealing his teeth, not a pretty sight. “I did not exactly promise, but the mother and baby went this way, to be sure.” As Macreedy let the glow-balls slowly rise and brighten in the hope that his actions would go unnoticed, but with the intent of bringing the whole cavern into the light, the hobgoblin pointed to a previously darkened corner of the room. They saw a baby stroller.

“Melissa!” Sandra screamed and ran for the stroller. “What happened? Where is she?” She started to panic.

“That was your baby?” Cormac started thinking after all.

“Where is she, where is she?” Sandra yelled at the troll and suddenly ignored her fear of the beast.

Glen stepped toward the troll and raised his weapon. For a second, he did look like he knew what he was doing. “Answer her,” he yelled.

The troll looked neither afraid nor impressed. He snapped at the blade with his big hand, expecting that the steel would not be strong enough or sharp enough to cut deep through his thick hide. He snatched his hand back just as quick, nearly having cut his fingers off.

“Answer her,” Glen said, in a more controlled tone of voice. Actually, he froze, in shock, seeing how fast the creature was and thinking how close he came to being troll kill.

“I didn’t eat the baby.” The troll spoke with its fingers in its mouth. “The woman and her baby were too fast. They went through the wall with the Djin. Dirty, nasty creatures.” It felt unclear if he insulted the Djin or the humans, but it hardly mattered because Cormac got angry, and the emotion came on so strong, even the goblins took a step back. Before Cormac could move, however, he got interrupted by a new, booming voice in the distance.

“I’m coming.” Prickles the ogre burst into the great hall and pushed aside the goblins like so many bowling pins. “Don’t you hurt my friend,” he boomed at the troll, and he looked like he meant business. Glen backed up and relaxed. He could not have held up the sword any longer in any case.

It appeared there was going to be a battle. The troll stood two, if not three feet shorter than the ogre, but it looked as broad in the shoulders and as long in the arms, being built more like a gorilla than a man. Meanwhile, the goblins, having recovered from being dashed aside by the ogre, pressed in on Macreedy and Ellean, despite the arrows pointed in their direction. Again, before anyone could begin, they were interrupted by yet another group of voices. Glen imagined he heard the troll mutter, “Now what?”

A dozen dwarfs came out from a place where no one suspected a tunnel existed. It hid behind a big rock, and Glen guessed it was the way the Djin went with Sandra’s mother and Melissa in tow.

“There they are,” one of the dwarfs shouted. “Good work, Gumblittle.”

“Gricklethorn. We got you now. We owe you for taking our vein.” A dwarf stepped forward.

“No chance, Breggus. We won it fair and square.” A big goblin also took a step forward.

“Hey, chief! It’s Cormac.” A dwarf pointed, and the dwarfs paused and began to back up until Breggus put his hand up and pointed at something else.

“There’s tree elves down here, and it looks like human beanings.”

“Beings.”

“Yeah, them folk what lives in the other place. What are they doing here?” The dwarfs all paused and at least one scratched his head.

“Good dwarfs.” Macreedy seized the opening. “We are on a quest as of old. In the name of the treaty of lasting peace I call upon your help against these dark ones.”

“Watch it.” Gricklethorn took the dark ones comment as an insult, and his people began to draw out their weapons while Ignatius tried to fade into the background. On seeing this, the dwarfs drew their weapons as well.

“Time to fight!” Cormac slammed his good hand into the floor of the cavern and busted the rock by his feet.

Prickles shook himself free from all that he saw and partly comprehended and turned to face the troll. “I’m ready.” Ogres were not slow in the fight department.

Sandra did not know what to do or who to trust, but she found her feet backing away from the goblins and sticking close to Ellean, and she took the stroller with her. Glen, alone stood in the middle of it all, pleased that he had managed to put his sword away without cutting himself. It came to him that he really had no talent in that direction, but he did have one thing, and that was the words, thanks to the voices in his head.

“Stop! Everyone stop and wait! That’s an order!” Glen decided to trust the voices and spoke as they suggested. “There will be no fighting today,” he insisted. Cormac and Prickles looked disappointed. The dwarves and goblins and certainly Macreedy, Ellean and Ignatius looked relieved. Sandra looked curious. She wondered how Glen’s just saying so could carry so much weight, though in a way, she felt it too, and that made her even more curious.

“But…”

“Quiet!” Glen got on a roll. “Goblins go home, and Gricklethorn, just maybe I won’t tell your wife where you are.” Several of the dark elves snickered and nudged the goblin chief, but the chief dropped his jaw. Macreedy smiled. Ellean appeared to be in shock. Breggus pulled off his hat and signaled the others to do the same.

“If you don’t mind, we’ll mosey on as well, if you don’t mind.” Breggus spoke in his most mollifying voice.

“I mind. You need to guide us in the way the djin and the baby went, and all of you dwarfs need to help. You especially, Gumblittle. We need your nose.”

“Enough of this,” Cormac yelled. He was a wild one, and he reached for Glen with one big hand, but Glen surprised the troll this time with some speed of his own. He slapped the troll’s hand, hard, and the troll snatched his hand back to his side amazed that he felt it, and he felt the sting of that slap like a small child might feel the sting of a bee, no less. Indeed, it felt much like a terribly disobedient child having his hand slapped by a parent.

“Cormac!” Glen yelled and let out a little of his own anger, which was unusual enough, him being such a laid-back personality, but in this case he got angry enough to make all the little ones in the cavern take several steps back, and Sandra felt it, too. “You will stop eating people. From now on, people are off your list.” Glen turned toward the ogre. “And that goes for you, too.” He turned back to Cormac who felt something he never felt before. It was fear. “You can have your fingers back,” Glen said, as if he gave permission for them to be healed. “But if you don’t keep them off people, I swear you will lose them all. Do I make myself clear?” Cormac cowered a little. “Is that clear!”

“Yes, Lord.” Cormac said, and he looked away, and had trouble deciding which hand hurt more. He ended up putting the bloody fingers back into his mouth to give them another good soak.

“Prickles.” Glen turned.

“Yes, Lord.” Prickles looked ready, anxious for instructions. If he was not so blessedly ugly and horrifying to look at, Glen might have stared the ogre down. As it was, he first said, “God you’re ugly,” and Prickles held up his head, proudly, like he had just received the greatest compliment imaginable. Glen continued. “I suppose you had better come with us. Down here, you will just get into no end of trouble. But keep a few paces behind us, will you? You stink so bad the smell of me throwing up might be refreshing. Down here, that smell is almost unbearable.” Prickles thought he was still being complimented, but the troll made a sound that Glen knew was his version of a giggle. Clearly, the troll agreed with Glen’s assessment. Glen turned to see the goblins still there and had another thought, and this was the thing that caused a few gasps, shrieks and a couple of screams from all parts of that room.

“Ignatius Patterwig.” Glen called and pointed to the space in front of him. “Right here, right now!” Ignatius appeared out of nowhere and the hobgoblin looked confused for a minute.

“Hey! I was halfway to the forest path and I even took a couple of unnecessary turns in case I was being followed.” Ignatius spoke loudly and spun around a couple of times. “How did I end up back here?”

“Ignatius.” Glen spoke without any introduction. “You will go with us. You will stay with us until I tell you otherwise. You will attempt to live up to your father’s legacy, as I remember it.” He turned and headed for Sandra and the others. “Hobgobs are the worst middlemen in the world. Being creatures of both dark and light, even more so than the dwarfs, they delight in playing both sides against the middle for fun and profit. Sometimes I am almost sorry I created them. Shall we go?” He signaled to Breggus.

“Who are you?” Sandra asked all at once. No one answered her, least of all Glen. He just followed Breggus into the new tunnel where Breggus turned with a word of his own.

“You should know. The djin has a fairy prisoner, not just the human woman and the baby.”

“How did I know that, already?” Glen said, rhetorically, and then he fell silent.

Avalon 1.11 Dance the Night Away part 1 of 5

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

After 4086 BC in the Italian Peninsula. Kairos 18: Kartesh of the Shemsu

Recording …

“It says here Kartesh originally came from Egypt.” Lincoln summarized the information from the database as they walked. “It says she genetically altered the Shemsu people for the sake of the Agdaline, whoever they are, and had her people spread around the globe. It doesn’t explain. I could look up Shemsu and Agdaline.”

“No, finish about Kartesh.”

Lincoln nodded. “The gods collectively decided that she needed to be responsible for her work and made her a lesser goddess over the Shemsu. Then they moved her to Rhodes to protect her from the god Set.”

“Sounds complicated,” Captain Decker said.

“Real life usually is,” Alexis countered.

“Anyway, hey! It says in this lifetime, the gods collectively first recognized her as the Kairos and formally invested her with her little ones.”

“Little ones?” Lieutenant Harper asked.

“Us,” Mingus answered. “This is the life when she became our goddess, or god as the case may be.”

“But wait,” Lockhart interrupted. “You just said in this life she got made goddess over the Shemsu people.”

Lincoln nodded. “That, too. Maybe that is why they made her an actual goddess, lesser goddess anyway.”

“Sounds complicated,” Captain Decker repeated himself.

“Real life usually is,” Alexis gave the same response.

“Hold on,” Boston interrupted. “I need to stop for a bit.” She rested several days after her ordeal in Faya’s time, but she was still far from perfectly healed. Now, she felt exhausted, and ached everywhere from having walked all day.

Lockhart looked at the sky and thought they should all stop for the night. “Make camp,” he said. “We have a long way to go tomorrow and the next day as well. No reason to push it.”

Roland stayed near Boston the whole time with plenty of cursory looks toward his father. Lockhart, Alexis, and Katie thought it was cute. Lincoln had no opinion. Captain Decker did not appear to notice. Whether Mingus noticed or not, no one could say.

Roland found the hunting good and came back with a better notion of where they might be. “North of what will one day be Rome,” he said. “We spent the day moving through the seven hills, and the Tiber River is not far.”

After that, they had supper and went early to bed. For the supper, Alexis found a real treat. There were more ripe grapes on the nearby vines than they could possibly eat. Before bed, Lockhart went back to two on watch through the night. Everyone knew the easy days of Faya’s mountain village and sleeping in were over.

Roland and Captain Decker took the wee hours. They would wake Boston and Katie just before dawn, though Roland said he would take Boston’s turn.

“Suit yourself.” The captain did not argue. He went to one side of the camp while Roland went to the other. An hour went by, and the moon finally rose, the tiniest sliver just past new.

No wolf, Roland gladly thought, just before he heard a fascinating sound in the distance. It sounded a bit like the wind whistling in the trees, but it gradually grew louder and more sustained.  He strained his ears and all at once, he realized the whistling changed pitch and tone. Someone was making music.

Roland stood and moved a short way into the woods. He definitely heard music, and like the best music of the little ones, he recognized that it had a magical, hypnotic quality. As he thought about it, his eyes opened wide. He spun and ran to the camp, but too late. Lockhart, Decker and Lincoln had abandoned everything in camp and were running off. Katie Harper paused to change her fairy weave from military style to the sheerest, see-through nightgown that barely came below her hips and otherwise showed her as naked. Alexis rose a bit behind but danced off with Katie into the woods before Roland could stop her.

Boston fought her stiffness and tried to get up and join them. She looked to be in pain. Roland thought the pain might be helping her. He tackled her. She fought back. “Father!” Roland yelled.  Mingus sat up and shook his head, trying hard to clear it.

“Father!” The music started to strengthen and came nearer.

“Son?” Mingus appeared to break free of the spell for the moment. He quickly gauged Roland’s struggle and put his hand to Boston’s forehead. She passed out as he spoke. “Quick. We must get away from here before we get caught up in the dance. Hurry.”

They had to struggle to walk, dragging and carrying Boston between them. Mingus shook his head several times as they went, and Roland agreed with him, but his mind stayed occupied with saving Boston. The music decreased slowly in volume as they added distance. It seemed amazing to Roland how one simple set of pipes could carry for so many miles. But then, it became no longer one simple set of pipes. Other musicians started to join in.

Boston woke and struggled for a moment before she realized she was trapped. She kept her mouth shut and dragged her feet until the pain made her feet move again. By then the creatures that streamed by to join the dance fascinated her. She saw fauns, shy goat legged people with small horns adorning their ruddy faced heads. The fauns tried to move through the trees, but they could not help being seen. She saw dwarfs, or perhaps they were gnomes. They were quite small, and cute. Some of the last were the greatest of all. They were Centaurs, majestic and stately creatures, that galloped toward the music.

The music became faint by then and Boston spoke up. “I’m fine,” she said calmly. Mingus and Roland stopped and eyed each other. They let go, and Boston made a dash for it, but the elves were much too fast for her. They grabbed the arms and lifted her off the ground as they turned her back to the path.

“Let me go,” she struggled, but again she soon gave it up. It hurt too much to struggle. Then they saw the last of the centaurs. He looked old, with gray hair around his hooves and on his head. He kept shaking his head, much like Mingus, and Mingus had a thought. There was no telling what lay ahead, and they could use an ally.

“You can fight it,” he told the Centaur. “You can win against it.” The centaur stopped and looked at them with eyes that said he did not grasp what they were saying.

“Come with us. This way.” Mingus said, and they began to drag Boston further from the music.

“But—” the Centaur pointed in the direction the other had galloped.

“This way. Short cut,” Mingus lied like an elf.

The centaur slowly turned and followed.

Avalon Pilot part II-3: Avalon

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Lockhart spoke as the door closed.  “I feel like I died.  I thought when I died I would get to be young again.”  Lincoln struggled to not throw up.  Boston looked around and grinned with all her might.

“If we died, we went to Heaven.”  Boston pointed at the castle, rubbed her shoe in the green grass and reveled in the fresh air and glorious colors everywhere she looked.  Somehow, the colors all seemed richer and brighter to her than they ever did back on drab old earth.  A field of ripe brown grain grew, not far away on her right, and a small sparkling blue river on her left flowed into the deep green sea not twenty yards to her rear.  It all felt too wonderful, and the castle, the most wonderful of all.  It looked like a veritable tapestry of colors with more spires, towers and keeps than she could count, all with flags fluttering in the cool breeze, and some of those towers shot right up into the clouds.  “I feel like I’m in Oz, you know, from black and white to color.”

“If it’s any consolation, I feel like I died too,” Glen said.  “But the feeling will pass, shortly.  And no, Boston, this isn’t Oz and it isn’t God’s heaven.  This is in the second heavens.”

“I don’t understand,” Lockhart admitted.

“Very simple.”  Glen motioned for Mister Bean to proceed.  The little one strutted up the path and the others fell in behind.  “The second heavens is my name for the place between Heaven and Earth.  It is where Aesgard, Olympus, the Golden City of the gods and all the other places of the gods used to be, including the places where the spirits of the dead were kept until the coming of the Christ, like Hades, you know.”

“This is the place between earth and heaven?”  Lincoln started to feel better.  “It must be small.  Thin like a line?”

Glen shook his head.  “Infinite and eternal as far as I know, and multi-layered, like a fine French pastry.  The isles of Avalon are called innumerable, but actually, they add up to very little compared to the vastness of it all.  Alice keeps the atmosphere and everything functioning well enough for this little part so we have a sanctuary for my little ones, and others across the various islands of the archipelago.”

“What do you mean she keeps the atmosphere?”  Lincoln took a deep breath and wondered.

“I mean the natural state of the second heavens is chaos.  It folds in and back on itself and even time is uncertain and in flux.  In order to have anything here that approximates earth and the natural laws of physics, it has to be carved out of the chaos and sustained.  Otherwise we would all be floating through an airless, ever changing and swirling mass of stuff the color of rainbow sherbet and with the consistency of something like cotton candy.”

“Hurry up.  Come on,” Boston interrupted.  She got excited.  “The Castle gate is opening.”

The others saw the gate opening but were presently huffing and puffing to get up the hill.  They paused to stare at the girl and Glen spoke.  “I’m fifty-seven, Lincoln is sixty-five, and Lockhart is sixty-eight, ready to retire.  We will get there.”

Boston frowned and ran ahead.

“I think it would be best if I let Lady Alice take it from here.”  Glen finished his thought and vanished from that spot.  Lady Alice met Boston as she ran inside the door to the castle courtyard.

“Thank you Mister Kalderoshineamotadecobean.  You did your job perfectly and brought them here safe and sound.”  Alice’s first thought was for her little one.  The little Bean grinned more broadly than a human face could possibly grin and marched off across the castle courtyard with a real swagger.  “Hello Boston dear.  It is good to see you again.”  Alice stepped up and gave Boston a kiss on each cheek, and Boston had a thought.  She spun around and saw Lockhart and Lincoln but no Glen.

“Glen?”  For all her reading and experience with the subject of the Kairos, she still felt uncertain about exactly how all these different lives of the Kairos actually worked, especially when an old man vanished and became a much younger woman, or traded places with her though time, or however he explained it.

“Yes, Glen is here.”  Alice touched her heart and responded with a very human smile.  “But not at the moment.  For now, he thought I would be best to explain.”

“Trouble?”  Lockhart picked up on something in Alice’s voice.  Once upon a time, he had been a police officer, and he still showed the instincts now and then.

“Eh?”  Lincoln originally worked with the CIA.  He had other virtues, though presently his thoughts were for his missing wife.

“If you will follow.”  Alice waved them forward and they crossed the courtyard.  They tried hard not to stare.

The yard overflowed with bustling little ones, all about on some errand or other.  Dwarfs, elves of light and dark, and others hard to categorize could be seen working and walking across the cobblestones.  Fairies and pixies of many different types and sizes fluttered through the air.  Two hobgoblins struggled with a barrel of something and tried to load it onto a wagon.  One big creature stood off in one corner, like an ogre or troll in the shadows.  The men did not want to look too close.  Boston, of course, delighted in all of it, and even clapped several times at the sights that came to her eyes.

At the back of the courtyard, they stepped through a gate and into a garden-like area.  It looked big and well groomed, but it seemed more nearly the size of a small forest than a garden.  The trees appeared to be placed randomly, like in an old growth forest, but the paths were clean of debris.

“One could get lost in this castle and wander for days without finding a door,” Lincoln remarked, quietly to himself.

“It has been known to happen.”  Alice heard, and threw the response over her shoulder.

They traveled through several buildings, several courtyards, and several gardens—all different—and came at last to the spring from which the small river flowed.  Boston guessed when she saw the naiad sunning herself.  She would have been more taken by the sight, however, if the naiad had not been lounging in a plastic lawn chair.

“Is nothing sacred?” Boston asked with a click of her tongue.

“Very little these days,” Alice sighed, and opened a door to a building which might have been called a cathedral back on Earth.  The building, a tower, contained only one room, all wood.  It looked like a construction as old as time itself.  The wood looked full of delicate carvings, the walls and floor full of intricate mosaics and the ceiling full of magnificent paintings all picturing the one hundred and twenty-one lifetimes of the Kairos, so far.  In the center of the room, there sat only one piece of furniture.  A three-pronged table held in its grasp a crystal that throbbed with a discernibly bright light.  The visitors found it otherwise impossible to tell where the rest of the light in the room came from, since there were no windows and no other visible doors but the one.  It seemed to Boston as if the building had been built around the light to trap the light inside for all eternity. Boston held her breath in that sacred space.

************************

MONDAY

Lockhart, Lincoln, and Boston are introduced to the Heart of Time, Roland, and Doctor Procter, and everything in Boston’s mind is lovely until the middle of the night. They have to hurry. Until Monday, Happy Reading.

*

Avalon Pilot part II-2: Mission Team

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The woman marine arrived in the lunchroom first.  She saluted Colonel Weber and the captain who stood up to greet her.  The colonel went straight to the introductions.  “Lieutenant Harper.  Captain Decker.”

The captain stuck out his hand.  “Welcome to the monkey house.”

She shook the hand and responded with her name.  “Katie.”

“Sit,” the colonel said, and it sounded like an order so both complied, while one of the three men across the table spoke.

“Decker and Harper.  Sounds like a couple of cops from a cheap television show.”

Colonel Weber pointed at the speaker and continued with the introductions.  “Robert Lockhart is the assistant director of the so-called men in black organization.  Ben Lincoln is the one with the missing wife.  Of course, you know Doctor Emile “I am stealing your property” Roberts.”

“Sir.”  The lieutenant acknowledged each man and kept it business-like.  “Mind if I ask a few questions?”  The colonel waved as if to say be my guest, but good luck getting any straight answers.

“I read the briefing but I don’t exactly understand it.  I have heard of people who claimed to be reincarnated, but this sounds a bit more extensive than that.”

“And I hardly expected to find it in a briefing paper,” Captain Decker agreed.

“Not reincarnated,” Lockhart rubbed his unshaven chin as he spoke.  “He sometimes refers to himself as an experiment in time and genetics going back to the beginning of history.  And if the paper was accurate, you will find it says he also remembers the future.”

Lincoln touched Lockhart on the arm to quiet him and spoke to the marines.  “May I ask your security clearance?”

The colonel answered.  “Both Captain Decker and Lieutenant Harper are cleared all the way to the top.”

Lincoln rubbed his own chin.  “That might not be high enough.”

“That’s right.”  Lockhart grinned.  “There are some things it would be best if even we did not know about.  Isn’t that right, Emile?”

Doctor Roberts looked up.  He tried to keep a low profile in front of the colonel who kept threatening to arrest him, but he could not resist a response.  “Like Santa, spry little elf that he is,” he joked.

“Yes.”  Lieutenant Harper thought they were all kidding and tried to get back on topic.  “What does it mean when it refers to elves and dwarfs?  I assume that is code for something.”

Doctor Roberts went back to hiding and Lincoln said nothing, but Lockhart grinned more broadly and shook his head slowly.  The lieutenant reacted.

“You must be joking.  I stopped playing fairy princess when I was five and found out there are no such things.”

Before a more reasonable response could be made, the entrance of the women, who were laughing and having a wonderful time, interrupted them.  Colonel Weber and Captain Decker stood.  Lieutenant Harper also stood, though after what she just heard, she felt like it might have been safer to stay seated.  The colonel at least got to introduce the director, Roberta Brooks.

“Bobbi,” Bobbi said, as she shook their hands and took her seat.

Boston butted in front and took each hand in turn.  “Mary Riley, but everyone calls me Boston.”  She said it twice and went to sit next to Lockhart.

Mirowen nodded shyly at the marines but avoided shaking their hands.  “Mirowen.”  She went to sit beside Doctor Roberts.

“Mirowen?”  The captain asked, like he might be searching for a last name.

“Soon to be Roberts, I think.”  Lincoln sounded morose.  Mirowen’s presence underlined for him like nothing else that Alexis was missing.

“For now, just Mirowen.”  Lockhart kept grinning and raised his hand to point his thumb at the couple.  “She is an elf.”

Mirowen blushed, but she brushed back her hair to reveal her pointed ears.  She turned quickly to Doctor Roberts and he gave her a peck on the lips to reassure her.

At the sight of those ears, Lieutenant Harper sat.  When she sat, the captain sat with her, and barely in time to deal with what happened next.

“Hi, I’m the Princess, but people call me…”  The Princess paused and pretended to think about it before she concluded, “Princess.”  She smiled her dazzling smile.  “Right now I have to go home.  My husband owes me a footmassage, or something.”  She reached to take both the captain’s and the lieutenant’s hands.

“And where is home?” the Captain asked, while he unsuccessfully tried to keep his eyes from wandering up and down her curves.

“204 BC,” the Princess answered with a straight face.  “Now don’t let go,” she added, and vanished from that time and place so Glen could return to his own time and face his own dilemma.  The captain let go, but only for a second.

“Now.”  Glen smiled at the military people.  “Lovely to have you here.  Lovely to meet you both.  You can’t come.”

“Now, wait a minute,” Colonel Weber wanted to protest, but Glen cut him off.

“Despite your soldiers, you have no authority and no real power here.”  Glen walked around the table to the far wall, the only big, blank wall in the room.  “Be gone,” he mumbled.  “Before somebody drops a house on you.”

Once at the wall, Glen turned and looked around the room.  He had instructions.  “Bobbi, I guess you need to play hostess to Mister Smith when he gets back here on the Kargill ship, at least until I get back.  Emile and Mirowen, make a decision already.”  He took a deep breath and then paused to consider what he was about to do before he spoke.   “Letting ordinary mortals other than me and my immediate family into Avalon is not a common occurrence.  But Lincoln, you can come and fetch your wife.  Lockhart, you need to come to be the boss, and keep a tight rein on Lincoln.  Boston, you need to come to keep Lockhart from freaking out, and you need to behave yourself.”  Glen shook his finger at Boston while Lincoln, Lockhart and an excited Boston got up to stand beside him.  “That’s it.  Colonel Weber, Mirowen and Doctor Roberts better be here and untouched when I get back.”  And with that said, he turned again to the wall and spoke softly.

Emile took Mirowen’s hand and she looked at him, smiled broadly, and repeated an ancient rhyme.  “How many miles to Avalon?  Three score miles and ten.  Can I get there by candlelight?  Yes, and back again.”  Part of the wall turned momentarily dark.  A seven-foot-tall and seven-foot-wide space took on a shadowy look before it suddenly became as bright as a window facing into a sunny day.  An archaic archway formed around the space and it became an opening to another place, altogether.  The grass there looked green with life, and the castle in the background, high on a hill, looked positively medieval.  The aroma of life filled the stuffy conference room, and people sighed, softly.

In the foreground, a little creature stood and bowed most regally in Glen’s direction.  Several eyes shot toward Mirowen.  Mirowen kept up a glamour that made her look nearly human with only the pointed ears to give her away.  This creature in the archway was clearly not human, and Glen did not help when he named the thing.

“Kalderoshineamotadecobean.  Lovely to see you.”

“My Lord is always gracious.”

“Speaks sort of human,” Decker whispered to Harper, who did not hear him because, for some reason, she was crying.  “Bit of a shock though.  I can’t imagine an ogre.”

Glen invited his fellow travelers to cross the threshold, and he watched them closely as they went, before he turned once more to the room and spoke.  “Oh, and Mirowen, don’t worry.  I hope to be back long before the baby is born.”

Mirowen flushed as red as Boston’s red hair before Glen stepped through the wall and the entrance to Avalon snapped shut with a bright flash of light.

Golden Door Chapter 26 The Broken Heart, part 1 of 2

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Beth, Chris, David, and James all entered the annex room at roughly the same time. It looked much bigger than they expected for a small room off the main banquet hall in the Castle of Avalon. Then again, the banquet hall itself was a huge room, built to accommodate all the residents of a castle that was big enough to almost be a small city, with more rooms and buildings than could reasonably be counted.

The annex proved a long room, almost like a hall, with a big fireplace on one end and bookcases on the other. Along the long wall where the door was located, tapestries alternated with instruments of war, like swords and shields, long spears, and suits of armor. The other long wall appeared to be all windows, with two glass doors that let out to a stone-built balcony. Beyond the balcony, a sculpted garden stretched out to the horizon and the setting sun.

Mama hugged each of her children as they came in, while the lords and ladies of the dais went to sit at the semi-circular table on the fireplace end, though near the center of the room. When Mama went to join the dais, she sat in one of the two empty seats in the very center of the semi-circle. Everyone imagined the other empty seat would remain empty. It had to be for father, though the Kairos, Lady Alice might sit there.

Lady Goldenvein, the goblin queen sat to Mama’s left hand and took Mama’s hand to comfort her. Beside Goldenvein, her husband, Lord Deepdigger seemed deep in thought. Next came Lady Biggles and Lord Noen of the dwarfs, who spoke quietly with each other. To Mama’s right hand, after the empty chair, Lord Oak and Lady Ivy, king and queen of the fairies were followed by the elves, Lord Galadren, which is “Strongheart”, and his wife, Queen Lisel.

“Children.” Lady Lisel was the first to speak. “It seems it is time to talk with you.” She waved for them to come forward, and Beth, with a look to her brothers, came to the center of the room where seven chairs had been set up, facing the dais. Chris came with her and Davey and James, with a little push from behind, sat in the four chairs facing their mother and the table. The elders of the little ones sat behind the young people. Mrs. Aster of the Fairies sat behind Beth. Mrs. Copperpot of the dwarfs sat behind James. Professor Deathwalker of the “dark elves”, which is to say, “goblins”, sat behind the Chris. Inaros of Constantinople, the oldest elf on record, and one presently confined to a wheelchair, rolled up to sit behind David.

“Did you enjoy the day in Avalon?” Lady Ivy asked abruptly, and the children all nodded and smiled, but voiced nothing.

“I imagine you are wondering why you are here,” Lord Oak glanced at his wife and began, haltingly. He looked down to the table where he worried his hands. “Your father is fine, though fading, as you know… Lady Alice, one of your father’s future lifetimes may herself be too sick to attend…well…” He looked up to see the children nod, sadly. They understood, but said nothing, and Lord Oak looked away. He seemed at a loss for words. Strongheart, the elf king took up the telling.

“The plain truth is we need your help,” he said, bluntly, before he explained. “You see, at the beginning, when the steady progression of days turned to history, old Cronos and the Kairos got together to instill some small part of themselves in a common thread, like the threads of fate, only more so, not less. It was not yet woven, of course, because history was not yet written.” He stopped. It felt like he was giving a speech and he needed something to wet his lips.

“We call that thread the Heart of Time,” Lord Noen said, from the far end of the table.

“Think of it more like a crystal,” Lady Biggles added for her husband. “Think of it like a heart shaped crystal, red in the center inside, and glowing, like the beating of a real heart.”

“We all saw the Heart of Time,” Chris said, softly, and the others nodded. They saw it broken and knew it had missing pieces.

“Of course,” Lord Noen breathed, and Lady Biggles kindly patted his hand.

“As long as it was kept safe and beating, time continued in an orderly way,” Stongheart added.

“History is built on that,” Lord Oak said, trying to regain his place.

“Only now it is broken,” Goldenvein spoke in her chilling goblin voice.

“There are missing pieces,” Lord Oak continued.

“We must put the heart back together or things in life, in the world…” Lady Ivy interrupted her husband.

“In your world,” Goldenvein interrupted the interruption.

“…Will begin to fall apart,” Ivy finished.

“Alice by herself cannot hold life together, forever,” Lady Biggles added her two cents.

“History is in danger of being swallowed up in a confusion of time.” Lord Oak came to a stopping point, and everyone looked at the children to see if they were following along.

“I am very confused,” Beth admitted.

Davey took that as his chance. “I don’t understand,” he said, turning to the others.

“What are you suggesting?” Chris asked. He didn’t get it either, exactly, though he suspected something might fall on them.

James yawned while the people at the table looked at each other. He stepped into that moment of silence. “Where did the pieces of the heart go?”

Strongheart nodded, thinking the children were at least understanding something. He pointed at Professor Deathwalker. The others waited for the professor to speak.

Deathwalker stood behind Chris and pulled out a piece of paper. “Skipping over all the math and scientific rationale, blah, blah, blah,” he said, a comment which the members of the dais found funny for some reason. “The consensus is the pieces have moved into the future, a piece to each future life of the Kairos, whoever he or she might be.”

Golden Door Chapter 22 A Taste of Freedom, part 2 of 2

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Beth spied Mistletoe, crying, and she guessed the enchantment on her broke when she finally remembered to say the words, even though Mistletoe had not been there to hear the words spoken. Beth felt glad. She really wanted Mistletoe to be her friend, with Holly, of course, and the others who were all there comforting Mistletoe in her distress at having betrayed them.

Chris saw Heathfire and Broomwick sitting with an elf girl and thought about Silverstain. He hoped she was all right. David saw Floren sitting on a bench with a couple of older kids, and Owen and Alden sitting on the ground in a circle with some youngsters. James saw the youngsters, Picker, Poker and Grubby, and remembered they left Warthead outside to guard the gate to the courtyard. He hoped Warthead was all right, but then something definitely felt wrong. Picker, Poker and especially Grubby were quiet and behaving. Before he could voice his concern, they were all out the door and the door slammed shut behind them.

Several marines stood and pointed their rifles at the group. “You are under arrest,” the captain said. “You are surrounded, and my men have orders to shoot if you give any trouble.” He pointed out two machine guns set up on the perimeter where they pointed down on the courtyard. “Sit and keep quiet while we wait for the rest of your people.”

“Aren’t you supposed to read us our rights?” Chris couldn’t help himself. One soldier slapped his mouth.

“No telling what these men are seeing, or who they think we are,” Inaros said by way of caution, but he directed his voice, as elves can, so only the young people heard him.

Chris touched his bloody lip, but thought fast and grabbed Deathwalker, and dragged him to sit on a bench beside the wall. Mrs. Copperpot and Inaros followed the motion, so David and James went with them. Beth ran to give Mistletoe a hug, but that just made her cry harder.

“Captain,” one marine came up with his hand out. “I think it is starting to rain.”

The captain looked up at the dark sky. “I’m not surprised,” he said. “It’s been threatening since we got here.”

“Letting ordinary humans into the castle of Avalon is the last straw,” Deathwalker griped and shook his head.

“But how do we get away from them?” Mrs. Copperpot asked, and kindly did not add, “without the young people getting hurt.”

“I was thinking,” Chris spoke up. “Deathwalker and I could transition through the wall.”

“Not without a distraction,” Deathwalker said. “And that won’t help the others any.”

“You can do that?” David asked his brother, but Inaros spoke right away.

“David and I could run out before they could react, but not with the door closed.”

“We may be able to help with that,” Mrs. Copperpot said, and she turned to James. “Dear, how do you feel about deer?” James did not understand until she added, “I think a yearling with nice white spots.” James nodded, and one second, he was James, and the next a young deer stood in his place, and it tapped one front paw like it was anxious. Mrs. Copperpot quickly became a mother deer, and they seemed to come out from the bushes and stand by the door. Mrs. Copperpot even took her front hoof and scratched at the door, while James kept an eye on the marines.

“Hey, captain,” a marine noticed even as David practiced directing his voice to Beth.

“Beth. Come here right now. We need you to escape with us.” Beth looked across the courtyard and frowned at her brother, like she was not about to do what her twelve-year-old brother told her, and David should know better than to shout across the whole yard.

Inaros put some command in his directed voice. “Now!” and he made sure Mrs. Aster heard as well.

“Now,” Mrs. Aster insisted, and Beth reluctantly got up, still thinking it was her twelve-year-old brother being stupid. It had begun to drizzle, so Beth put her hands over her head against the rain and walked, slowly. Mrs. Aster chided her.

“Beth, your brothers are bright and have some good ideas. You have a terrible attitude. You should listen and pay attention to what is going on outside of your own mind. Like you should have listened to what the glorious one told you to say.” Beth felt properly scolded, but then the sky opened a little more and it began to rain.

“Marine,” the captain yelled just in time. The marine lowered his rifle. “We don’t shoot women and children,” the captain did some scolding of his own. “You two, get that gate open and let the deer out.”

As the marines opened the gate, the rain came harder. Shortly, there was a flash of lightning that lit up the courtyard and struck close. The thunder rolled across the courtyard.  People screamed and gave the appearance of panic as they stood up and ran around. Picker, Poker, Grubby, Owen and Alden were masters of wreaking havoc, but in this case, the fairies, especially Zinnia and Holly, gave them a contest. The marines were not concerned about their prisoners but determined to get them to settle down and be quiet. The captain began to look at the rooms at the back of the courtyard, under the colonnade walkway to see if they were suitable to hold the prisoners.

“Now,” someone said, though no one was sure exactly who.

Chris and Mister Walker leaned back and transitioned right through the courtyard wall. The two deer created a bit of a distraction of their own, hesitating on going out until a very small Inaros and David raced by and out the door. The deer followed. Mrs. Aster shot up to the top of the wall and became miffed that she had to shoot back down.

“Beth fly! Now, hurry!” Beth stared at the fairies in their distress. Even as her feet left the ground, it took another second for the words to penetrate. Then she glanced quickly at the marines and flew as fast as she could. One marine saw and took a shot, and fortunately missed as Beth topped the wall and raced out into the garden beyond, which proved more like a little forest. She did not get far, however, before Mrs. Aster really yelled at her.

“That is three times you have not been paying attention. You need to start paying attention to what is going on before you get everyone killed.” They reached the others, and the others heard. “Being a teenage girl is absolutely no excuse. You need to listen to your brothers and listen to your elders and keep up before you have everyone’s blood on your hands.” Mrs. Aster really steamed.

“I’m sorry,” Beth said to the fairy. “I’m sorry,” she told everyone else. “It’s just everything is so new and strange and different. It is not what I expected. I can’t keep up.” She began to cry, and Mrs. Aster looked to bite her tongue, like she wanted to say tears were no excuse and did not make anything better. But Chris stepped up to hug his sister.

“Okay. I’m stubborn and stupid,” he admitted the part he had not told his mother.

Then David was not about to miss out on a hug. And finally, James came up and tugged on Beth’s sleeve.

“We need to go,” James said.

“Young James is right,” Mrs. Copperpot agreed.

“Yes,” Inaros said, with a look to the sky, though all he could see was tree branches. “It is raining harder. We have temporary shelter under the trees, but it is beginning to come in torrents.”

“Well,” Deathwalker clapped his hands while Beth wiped her eyes. “We appear to have no choice. We must go to the tower.”

“We must do what we can,” Mrs. Aster agreed, reluctantly.

“Before the whole island reverts to the natural chaos of the second heavens,” Inaros said, and Mrs. Aster looked at him like she was not going to say that part.

They started to walk, and James spoke. “You mean we have to face—”

“Don’t say her name,” Mrs. Copperpot interrupted. “You say her name and she will hear us and know where we are and where we are going.”

James held his tongue, but David heard enough to worry.

************************

MONDAY

Beth, Chris, David, and James, together again, enter the tower where the Heart of Time is kept. They must confront Ashtoreth. Monday. Until then, Happy Reading.

*

Golden Door Chapter 22 A Taste of Freedom, part 1 of 2

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Noen and Strongheart got their men ready to form a wall with a fist of men at the front to punch their way up the stairs. The elves brought all their globes to eye level and prepared to flash the lights in the faces of the ghouls as they ran with the hope that it would keep the enemy off balance or at least interfere with their aim. Between ducking and returning fire from behind a dozen obstacles, it took considerable time to organize the effort.

David came out of his sad state with the words, “I want to go home.”

“Me too,” James admitted.

“And you will,” Inaros assured them both. “As soon as we can get you and the women out of range of the ghouls. “David, are you ready to run fast?” David nodded, and as he thought about it, he almost grinned.

“Are we ready?” Strongheart shouted up and down the line.

“Ready as ever,” Noen mumbled at Strongheart’s shoulder, but he paused when he heard sudden moans, groans, and shouts in the ghoul line. The ghouls blocking the stairs suddenly began to fall, and they all heard Beth and Chris shout from the staircase. “Angel said, do not be afraid!” A great light, the combined lights from all the fairies shot across the underground room. The elf lights flared in response and added to the brightness, thought the elf lights seemed small by comparison. No one waited. Strongheart did not even have to yell, “Go!”

“Come along James.” Mrs. Copperpot took James’ hand like they were still strolling in the woods, but they put up glamours to make themselves appear like piles of lost and forgotten things and walked a spritely pace, slightly bent over to make themselves even smaller than they were. Inaros and David simply ran like the wind, and it seemed to James that two rockets flew by him on route to the stairs.

All the Lords of the Dias hugged their wives, but briefly. “We have to rout out the ghouls,” Lord Noen explained.

“Go to the antechamber on 2B,” Strongheart suggested to his wife. “You should be safe there for the time being.”

“Ashtoreth must be mad letting ghouls inside the castle wall,” Deepdigger growled.

“Her madness was never in doubt,” Lord Oak said. “Are we ready?”

Inaros spoke before the others could answer. “One for all, and all for one.” The elf, goblin, fairy, and dwarf looked at one another, nodded and yelled the charge as they raced back down the stairs and around the corner.

“This way,” Mother was at the top of the stairs on the third-floor landing. She had hugged Chris and Beth but was anxious to get away from the fighting. The children all wondered how their mother had the least idea where she was going since she had such poor eyesight, especially in the dark. The widely spaced torches could not be helping her much. Yet she led the crew to the second floor and turned right at the top of the stair, like the antechamber on 2B was as familiar as the living room.

“Everybody in,” Lady Lisel encouraged the group. The room proved a long hall, with tables along the walls with vases of flowers and bowls of fruit ripe and ready for eating. There were oriental rugs here and there across the wood floor, and sections of chairs with plenty of coffee tables, end tables and reading lamps, looking haphazard, but clearly organized. One long wall looked full of books, with a door at each end and a grandfather clock in the middle of the wall to break the uniform bookshelves. The short walls on each end had tapestries, beautiful and intricate in detail. One detailed the untarnished forest and fields and the other showed the shore and the sea, with water that looked wet enough to flood the room. The other long wall had tall windows, and several glass doors that led out onto a brick balcony, though no one could say exactly where they let out in the castle since from another perspective, the room was still two stories underground.

“I don’t like the look of that sky,” Mrs. Copperpot mused, as she looked out those windows, and the elders agreed with her. The young people, meanwhile, thought to inform the various women on the disposition of their children and friends. Chris had a hard time talking about Silverstain. Mother stood right there to hold Lady Goldenvein’s hands and comfort her.

“I’m sure she will be all right,” Mother said.

“I don’t know,” Chris admitted his own serious concern, and Beth balked.

“We left them all in the courtyard,” she said. “We can’t just abandon them.”

“Who knows what might be attacking them even now,” Chris agreed.

“Worried about Silverstain?” Deathwalker asked Chris, gently.

Chris kept a straight face as he turned his eyes toward the others, and in particular Beth, in case she should get the notion he had a girlfriend. “And Redeyes and the others.”

“And Grubby,” James said.

“Oren, Alden, Floren and Mickey O’Mac,” David named them all.

“And Warthead,” James added.

“I am sure the ogre is just fine,” Mrs. Copperpot smiled for James.

“Still, the young people have a point. We might fetch them,” Mrs. Aster agreed.

“And we will be moving away from the fighting,” Deathwalker pointed out.

“But the children don’t have to go,” Mother said.

“Actually, the children are the ones who must go,” Mrs. Aster countered.

“The young people know the children and will follow them,” Deathwalker explained. “Where we might have fallen under the enchantment.”

“The young ones might not trust us, in case we are enchanted,” Mrs. Copperpot agreed.

They all looked at Inaros, and he spouted, “2B or not 2B …” Deathwalker and Mrs. Aster took him by the arm and dragged him out the door. The children and Mrs. Copperpot followed.

“We’ll be right back,” Beth assured her mother.

“Hey David.” Chris put on his frightening aspect complete with cat eyes, little horns, sharp teeth, claw-like hands, and serpent tongue. He tapped his brother on the shoulder. David turned and screamed, and then he hit his brother while Chris ducked and laughed.

James immediately put on a glamour of his lion and roared at Chris, but he just made David scream louder.

“Chris!” Beth interrupted them. She started glowing slightly against the darkness of the stairwell and floated over to get between them and shake her finger at them all. “Cut it out.”

“So much for the element of surprise,” Deathwalker said from the top of the stairs.

“If you are finished playing around, we have to try to be quiet,” Mrs. Aster added.

The boys all got quiet by then, staring at their sister. Beth nodded and floated to the top of the stairs. David turned and raced to the top in a second, so he could grin and say to his brothers, “What took you so long.”

“Hush now,” Mrs. Copperpot hushed them when they all arrived on the first floor and walked down the hall to the courtyard door. “Quietly,” Mrs. Copperpot added when they arrived. Deathwalker gave her a look that said he knew that much. He cracked the unlocked door and stuck his head out, Mrs. Aster floating over his shoulder where she could see for herself. Everyone sat there, quietly, on park benches or on the ground, now and then looking up at the overcast sky. The dome over the castle kept out the weather, but it looked to be pouring up there. In fact, it looked like the whole island might be tearing apart.

Golden Door Chapter 21 Guards in the Deep, part 2 of 2

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

“She wouldn’t,” Mrs. Copperpot looked dumbfounded. “She let ghouls into the castle? That is the most awful, ridiculous, never should happen thing I can imagine.”

“To me!” Strongheart stepped out the door, and the elves and dwarfs came running.

“Maybe a full hundred,” one of the elves reported.

“We have to stick together,” Noen said as he and Strongheart began to yell orders and set their warriors in battle formation.

The women paused at the door, except for Queen Ivy. She went to James with a word. “Let me have Seabass a minute.” James hardly knew what to say in the face of all that beauty. He held out the cat and was surprised Seabass went willingly to this stranger, though he supposed after a time in close quarters she was no longer a stranger. Ivy assured James when he saw Seabass go invisible. “Your kitty is fine and should be safe.”

“Can you make me invisible?” James asked, and Ivy let out a smile as Mrs. Copperpot grabbed James’ hand and pulled him to the door.

“What’s Wrong?” David asked his mama. She said nothing but turned first to lady Goldenvein.

“I am sure Deepdigger is fine.” She patted the goblin’s hand as she took the Lady’s arm.

Goldenvein nodded, stood, and looked like she might be holding back tears. “And your children,” she said. “I know you are worried about them.” Mama said nothing as the two women came out from behind the table, arm in arm, but David thought the look on his mother’s face was far more frightening than the goblin face.

“David,” Inaros called, and David went to him.

“We will have to fight our way back to the stairs as a unit,” Strongheart said, and he dressed his troops once more while he waited on the scouts he sent out.

Inaros willingly sacrificed his knees as he knelt to talk to David and more face to face with James. “Ghouls can make you see things that aren’t there. They say where there is one, there are ten, and where there are ten, there are a hundred.”

“A hundred ghouls?” David spouted, but he did try to keep his voice down.

“Maybe not. We don’t know. But you have to be careful about what you sense. They can fool your ears as easily as your eyes.” James looked up and Inaros caught the unasked question in the young man’s face. “I don’t know about touch and smell. I tried not to ever get that close to one, and I certainly never tasted one.” Inaros leaned on his cane to get back up. David helped him.

Two elves and two dwarfs showed up at the front and one of the elves spoke. “They are coming down the stairs and out from behind the piles of forgotten things. It looks like a whole compliment.”

“There aren’t that many,” one of the dwarfs objected. “We should make for the stairs.”

Noen smelled something. He scooped some dirt off the floor and tossed it at the dwarfs with a few words. One of the dwarf scouts revealed himself to be a seven foot, green creature with big, sharp teeth and claws. It did not live long. David and James watched, fascinated, while the ghoul deflated and shrank and seemed to melt until there was only a green and purple smudge left on the floor. Mama did not watch. She covered her eyes.

“Now, with care” Strongheart said, and they started to move. “Women and children keep to the middle.” That was not always possible as they had to navigate now and then around the support poles and the occasional pile of forgotten stuff. A few ghouls braved the elves and dwarfs that formed a circle around the women and children, but those ghouls were quickly shot down. The dwarfs had crossbows. The elves had regular bows, but they were uncanny marksmen.

Shy of the stairs, all of the torches in the room went out.

“Get down. Hit the dirt.” Noen and Strongheart yelled at the same time. A number of elves and dwarfs leaned over the women and children, and just in time. Some hundred arrows came in their direction. The elf armor and dwarf chain rejected most of them, but some took a hit and were wounded, a few badly.

“To cover!” Strongheart yelled. Noen did not yell. He already scurried behind a support beam. James David, Inaros and Mrs. Copperpot got behind a pile of forgotten stuff even as elf lights, little globes of pure light, began to rise toward the ceiling and the second volley of arrows came from the ghouls.

James saw the grin on David’s face, a poor imitation of Chris’ grin, but he also saw the wide, unblinking eyes so he knew it was a grin of fear, not happiness. James felt it, but distracted himself by examining the pile, curious as to what stuff might be forgotten. There were lots of clothes in that pile. James pulled out some broken guitar strings and one pick. He also pulled out a number of disposable butane lighters, a few of which still had some life in them. He stuck two working ones in his pocket and dug deeper beneath the clothes. He found a cheap plastic ring with a spider on top and slipped it on his finger.

 “I remember these. Halloween rings.” He held it up to his brother. “Hey, Davey. Look what I found.” David looked briefly, but his expression did not change much before he went right back to grinning and staring off into space. “Earth to Davey,” James mumbled.

“Mexican standoff,” Noen shouted from behind his pole.

“They stick their heads up and we can pick them off,” Strongheart shouted back, and James looked to the side because Strongheart crouched just on the other side of Mrs. Copperpot.

“They outnumber us,” Inaros leaned over and said to the elf Lord. “They can wait us out.”

“And how long can you keep those fairy globes aloft?” Noen shouted back.

Strongheart paused to stroke his chin. He felt surprised the ghouls were not already trying to attack the globes, magically. Maybe the ghouls knew the globes took energy which would become exhausted in time and they were content to conserve their own energy and wait things out. “You need to come here. Be prepared when the lights flash.” Strongheart yelled and lowered the globe he controlled to eye level. Several nearby elves saw what he did and lowered their globes as well. He waved to his men and gave some kind of signal. “One, two, three, go.” Strongheart yelled and all the globes at eye level flashed like photographer’s bulbs, guaranteed to give any watching ghouls a vision of spots and hopefully a headache.

Noen moved fast and arrived before the arrows started again. “We have to find a way to get to those stairs,” he said.

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Strongheart quipped.

“I mentioned we needed an elevator in this tower,” Mrs. Copperpot said, grumpily. “Too bad no one listens to old ladies, no matter how well she cooks.”

“We listen good grandmother,” Noen said. “But right now, that is not helping.”

“James. David.”

James heard the voice and turned to look. It looked like his dad, standing off to the side, waving to him like he wanted him to go quietly in that direction.

David looked and shouted, “Dad!” He tried to get up, but James grabbed him and yelled at him.

“It isn’t Dad. It’s a ghoul.”

Normally, David would have broken James’ grip in no time, but this time, for some reason, James found more than enough strength to hold his brother back. Inaros noticed when David shouted. He squinted, and it did not seem to James that he was seeing James’ and David’s father. Mrs. Copperpot looked and said, “James, don’t be fooled.”

Strongheart looked and shot an arrow with the words, “God forgive me.”

Noen let lose a crossbow bolt and said, “Aye.”

David saw his father struck with both deadly projectiles and Dad reached a hand to his chest. He saw his father transform into a ghoul and begin to melt. David stopped struggling and put his head in his hands. James marveled at his own strength and looked again at the cheap plastic spider ring on his finger. He let his imagination run for a bit.

“They have compromised our flank,” Noen noted the obvious.

“What can we do?” Mrs. Copperpot asked, a bit of worry in her voice.

“Pray for a miracle,” Inaros responded. “That was what Captain Van Dyke always said.”