Elf

Avalon 2.6: War is Hello

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            Alexis and her father Mingus are alive and well, all things considered, and Elder Stow, one of those dreaded Gott-Druk, is a prisoner of the elves.  Tsk, tsk.

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            “I am sorry, young Lincoln.  I did not expect treachery.”  Elder Stow shook his head, sadly.

            “Captain.”  Tetamon called the elf to get off the floor.  The elf was shaking once he discovered that this particular Gott-Druk was with the friends of the Kairos.  Tetamon just looked at the elf for a minute before he spoke.  “You did your best in a confusing situation and that is all I can ask.  You brought the elder Gott-Druk here without harm, and you respected the elder of your own people.  Respect is never a bad thing.  Learn and grow.  Dismissed.”

            The elf had a tear in his eye as he left and realized that nothing bad was going to happen to him for messing up and letting the others get away.  He would work twice as hard after that to be sure he did twice as good a job.

            “But what about your people?” Boston asked.

            Elder Stow shrugged.  “Stupid and stubborn.  I may have planted some seeds.  Domnu has promised them the land of what you call Western Europe.  It is our old land, you know.  But as you humans say, you can’t make a deal with the devil and expect it to come out heavenly.”  Elder Stow shrugged again.  “I will say this also.  Her humans are starving.  Children are dying of hunger, and some females.  The men are grumbling and may rebel.  Who can say?”

            “We may turn the Gott-Druk,” Tetamon spoke up.  “The men may rebel, and every day we are seeing Little Ones repent their rebellion and switch sides.  But all of this will mean nothing if we cannot drive back the titans.  I have every hope that mother will be able to persuade the gods of Egypt.  If Amon, Ptah, Bast, Anubis, Wadjt and others come, they have the least claim on this land.  I am certain Aesgard will come in force and probably Olympus as well.  That should be plenty to turn back the titans, but then how we settle the claims between them may be another problem.”

            “What if the gods start fighting each other over the land?” Katie asked.

            “The whole earth might end up in a ball of flame,” Tetamon shrugged like the Gott-Druk.

            “But that didn’t happen in history,” Lincoln protested.  “If it had, we would not have been born.”

            “History is in flux,” Tetamon responded.  “What you say and what I remember about the future gives me hope that a solution will be found, but we still have to find it.  I can’t just sit back and assume it will all work out.  My memories of the future and your lives are uncertain right now.  It can all be changed.”

            “So it is possible we might never exist,” Lockhart summed things up, and Tetamon nodded.  “Sounds like this watching over history business is not so easy.”

            “Figuring out how to keep it from all falling apart can be hard,” Tetamon admitted.

            “How can we help?” Boston was first in line to volunteer.

            “I’m not sure we can,” Roland spoke to her.

            “That’s right,” Tetamon said.  “The best help right now is for you to move on.  That is one less thing for me to worry about.  I am just sorry you couldn’t come at a point in my life when I was alone and bored.”

            “Me too,” Boston said.

            “We do have Alexis and Mingus to follow now.  We should be hot on their trail and might catch them soon.”  Lockhart put a hand on Lincoln’s shoulder to encourage the man.

            Lincoln looked at his boss.  “Thanks.”

            They gathered the horses first thing in the morning and found them well groomed, well fed and rested.  They imagined it might give them an advantage in catching up to Alexis and Mingus and their worn out steeds.  Elder Stow grumbled at the prospect of riding again, but Decker’s horse did not seem to mind.  On the other hand, he was not the only one relieved to know they would be traveling away from the battle front.

            The elf Captain, Arturo and his troop were assigned to protect their flanks and rear.  That meant they could not move too swiftly with the horses, but in any case it was going to take them more than a day to reach the time gate.  Lincoln was mostly good about it.  Sometimes he cursed the pace saying they would never catch Alexis at that rate.  At other times, when he looked around at the devastated landscape. he worried that without help, Alexis and her father might have been captured again and end up lost in that time zone forever, or killed.  But mostly he was quiet, and that was fine with Elder Stow who had no conversation left in him.

            The forest they traveled through was thin, and even as they increased the distance from the actual fighting there were signs of burned trees and fallow fields.  The few huts they saw were all abandoned.  And there was a pall in the sky which probably meant it was going to snow again, but all it did was dampen everyone’s spirits.

            “I bet this place was once beautiful,” Katie whispered.

            “War is Hell,” Lockhart responded.

            Katie and Lockhart whispered from time to time as they brought up the rear, but it was not really about anything in particular.  Roland kept his peace most of the way, but an elf maid was assigned to run at the front of the group beside Boston and those two soon became involved in a real discussion.  Some of it was about Roland which was perhaps why he wisely remained silent.  Some of it was about magic, and the maid, Linnia became animated when she discovered that Boston had some abilities in that direction.  Most of it was about being an elf, about life and culture and work such as elves did in the grand scheme of the earth.  Boston got excited when the conversation turned to talk about Avalon.  Boston was interested, but not surprised to find out that one day on Avalon could be worth three or four days on earth, or a third of a day, depending.  It made sense in a twisted sort of second heavens kind of way.  She was also not surprised to find Linnia had only been there once as a young girl.  Boston imagined Avalon was a nice place to rest for a time, but not meant as a permanent residence to take the Little Ones out of the world altogether.

            They halted to camp for the night when Captain Arturo, Roland and Lockhart all agreed on a defensible position.  Katie confirmed the choice with a nod that neither Lockhart nor Roland missed.  Lockhart once relied on Decker’s counsel, but he was finding Katie could judge such matters just as well, and in some ways perhaps better, as a woman might see it.  Thus they stopped, gathered wood for a fire and Boston got to practice her little magic to start the fire.

            “The Amazons called me Little Fire,” Boston admitted after she calmed from her excitement at lighting the fire with magic alone.

            “And you are,” Linnia said.  “But it is enough.”  She smiled.  They were friends by then and would remain so no matter how many millennia ended up separating them.

            There was not much to put on the fire, but the travelers had plenty of elf bread.  The dwarfs complained and the ogre would not touch it, but no one starved.  For everyone’s safety, the Little Ones shared their meat with the ogre first.”

            “When the ogre is fed you are safe in your bed,” Boston repeated what the Kairos once told her.

            “That is very good,” Captain Arturo said.  “I will have to remember that.”

            “Isn’t it a well known expression among the elves?”

            “No,” Roland and Lincoln spoke together, and Roland added, “But it is now.”

            “But what is that?”  Katie took everyone’s attention as she pointed off into the dark.  A string of dim lights stretched across the horizon some distance from the camp, undulating up and down like a snake slithering through the air about five feet above the earth. 

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Avalon 2.6:  Traveling Mercies … Next Time

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Avalon 2.6: Lost and Found

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            So, is Elder Stow betraying the travelers?  Back in the days of the Kairos Odelion, the travelers killed his two “children” – crewmates who fell with him into the deep past; and the Gott-Druk are not known as a forgiving people.  On the other hand, the travelers are headed back into the future where he wants to go, and given some of the things he has seen, he understands it is not safe even for him to travel alone.  A truce seems in order.  But then, here he has a whole contingent of his own people to back him up, even if they are caught up in a war.  On the fourth hand …

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            Mingus stood.  He intended to defend his daughter with every last shred of strength he had, and it might take his last shred.  Their jailer was a djin of the lesser spirit variety.  No little spirit could hope to match it, or her as Alexis kept insisting.  Even Mingus and Alexis combining their magic would not be enough.

            “Here is a change,” Alexis looked but stayed seated and let her sarcasm do the talking.  “A Gott-Druk who wants to talk to us.”

            “Must be the tenth.”

            “Oh, father.  An even dozen at least.”

            “In here,” the djin said in her grating voice that gave Alexis the shivers.

            “And where are the other prisoners?”  The Gott-Druk asked.

            The djin laughed, at least the others guessed it was a laugh.  “We don’t take prisoners.  These two with their horses are hostages, for now.”

            “So there are no other jailers around?”

            “What for?”  the djin asked.  “I got eyes and ears.  They can’t get passed me.”

            “Good to know,” Elder Stow said, and as soon as the djin unlocked the cage he fired some kind of weapon at the creature which vaporized her so fast she had no time to cry out.  He stepped into the cage and Mingus reacted.

            “Orange jumper.  You are the one from the future.  Are you here to kill us?”

            “No.”  Elder Stow said as he pulled a big piece of hand-held equipment from his vest pocket.  He scanned the two in the cage and read the readout.  “I came to talk some sense into my people.  They are on the wrong side of history here – not that I am an expert on earth history, but even I know that much.”

            “How did it go?” Alexis asked.

            Elder Stow shrugged.  “My people are naturally stubborn and some are stupid as well.  Stubborn and stupid is a powerful combination to try and overcome.  Here, swallow this.”  He held out something for Alexis, the size of a big pill.

            “Swallow what?”  Mingus asked.

            “Father can be stubborn, too,” Alexis said.

            “Electronic.”  Elder Stow handed it to the elder elf.  “It will pass in a day or two, but in the meanwhile she will appear on their scanners as Gott-Druk.”  Mingus hesitated.  “I already seeded your two horses,” Elder Stow added to suggest it would cause no harm.

            “Misty is alright?” Alexis stood with hope in her voice.

            “So far, kept as curiosities or perhaps because the powers feel they may need you with your horses to make the complete hostage package.”  Elder Stow shrugged.

            “Swallow this,” Mingus handed the thing to Alexis but kept his eyes on the Gott-Druk.  “How did you find us?”

            “Accident,” Elder Stow admitted while Alexis struggled to swallow.  “I found the horses first.  Of course you could only be Mingus and Alexis.  Lincoln, your husband speaks of you often, and your brother, though he speaks mostly to young Boston.

            Alexis swallowed.  “I have a husband?  You see, Father.  I said I had a husband only I couldn’t remember him.  But he is alive?”

            “Last I saw,” Elder Stow said.  “I hope they got picked up by the right side.”  He looked again at the scanner in his hand and tossed it to the floor, and broke it.  “They will see you from a distance as Gott-Druk, and your horses as well.  The elf does not show up on the scanner at all.  No surprise there.”

            “We must hurry,” Mingus said, and refused to look at his daughter.

            “But father?”  she was remembering some things, but only in bits and pieces. 

            “No, I will not speak of it.”

            “And he can be stubborn,” Alexis told Elder Stow.

            “But at least not stupid,” Elder Stow agreed and took the lead, pausing at the door only long enough to pull out whatever that powerful weapon was that killed the djin.

            They were in luck.  The horses were still saddled and looked untouched, though that was not good luck for the poor horses.  The Gott-Druk and two humans guarding the horses made them pause, but they appeared to be eyeing each other more than the horses or the approaches to the hastily erected pen.

            “Allow me,” Mingus said as he began to fade from sight.

            “Wait,” Elder Stow said.  He had twisted something on his weapon and pointed.  There was a bright flash and the Gott-Druk and two men collapsed.  “Unconscious,” Elder Stow said.  “At least mine are unconscious.  I can’t speak for the two humans.  They may be dead.”

            “Quickly,” Alexis rushed them forward, and the men argued.

            “You take my horse,” Mingus said.

            “No, you take it.”  It looked like they were passing a hot potato back and forth.  Clearly neither liked to ride.  Alexis had to step in.

            “Father, I’ll ride with you.  Gott-Druk, you take Misty.  He will follow us so all you have to do is hang on.”

            Neither man liked the solution, but they had no alternative to suggest.  Elder Stow changed the subject.  “Better go invisible,” he said, and mounted and twisted something on his wrist.  He vanished.  Mingus could still see him, but Alexis had to magically adjust her eyes to see.  Then she practiced her magical art on herself, her father and his horse to make them invisible as well.  She left a window open so Elder Stow could still see them.

            “But which way?” Mingus asked as they walked the horses out of the enclosure.  “They put bags over our heads when they brought us.”

            “And mine,” Elder Stow said as he looked again at his wrist.  “But my scanner kept recording the trail, and would no matter how big the bag.”  He pointed and started out.  Mingus quickly caught up, and they rode, all out when they could, for several hours.

            “We may be invisible to Gott-Druk and men, but not to the spirits.  We are certainly not invisible to the titans,” Mingus reminded his daughter.

            Since she sat behind her father and held on, she could whisper in his ear and did not have to shout to be heard.  “But maybe the others are looking for us.  Maybe my husband, whoever he is.  Maybe Tetamon will find us first.”

            They rode until Alexis called a halt.  Their horses had not been mistreated and had been fed something, but they had to be worn and sore from wearing their saddles for so long.  She made everyone get down and loosened the horse’s belts.  She knew if necessary she could tighten the belts again instantly by magic, but for now they walked the horses and gave them a much needed breather.

            “Good animals, these beasts of yours.  Loyal.  That is important,” Elder Stow remarked.

            “As the little spirits should be loyal to the Kairos.  You have no idea how distressing I find their rebellion.”

            “My people will probably be wiped out if they do not find some sense and switch sides,” Elder Stow agreed with the sentiment.

            “And what of the men?” Alexis said.  “They say Domnu has brought men, women and children to the continent to force their commitment to the cause, but in the process she has depopulated her islands.  If these people are wiped out, there will be no men left alive in all of her lands.”

            They all thought and walked in silence until Mingus finally signaled that they should prepare to ride again.  Alexis tightened the saddle belt on her father’s horse and went to tighten Misty’s.  Elder Stow gave her his attention and stepped back to give her room, and that is no doubt why he was taken unprepared by a number of elves, dwarfs and a rather ugly ogre who grabbed the Gott-Druk by the arms to prevent him from going for a weapon.

            “Wait,” Mingus yelled, and at the sight of the elder elf the troop did stop long enough to look.  Mingus mounted his horse.  “Hurry up, Alexis,” he said as he brought his horse up to where he could sprinkle some dust on the Gott-Druk.  “Just a temporary disabling of your many devices.  It should pass in a day or so.”  He grinned and turned to the elf Captain.  “Good work.  This one needs to go to Lord Tetamon as quickly as possible.  Treat him well, he has vital information for our side.  Now we have just one more job to finish our mission.”

            “Elder,” the Captain did not question his elder, though the dwarfs looked wary.

            “Hurry up, Alexis,” Mingus said again as he rode off at all speed before the dwarfs could speak up.  Alexis followed in his wake.

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Avalon 2.6:  War is Hello … Next Time

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Avalon 2.6: Splinters

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            War is confusing.  Ask anyone who has been there.  It is especially bad when you think you are fighting bows and arrows and suddenly get blasted with what Lockhart called a heat ray.  Then to be saved by fighter aircraft, like from a space ship, makes the head swirl around 3550  BC.  War may be Hell, but only if you can wrap your mind around it.

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            The sun went down but there was plenty of light as the distant patches of fire became more apparent.  There was a general haze in the air and plenty of smoke and ash in the sky, but the moon was nearly full and the stars behind the haze were bright. 

            “Keep going,” Lockhart insisted.  He was not going to be satisfied until  they were completely out of that area or into the next time zone, whichever came first.

            “We should be fine if we can get beyond the fires,” Roland said and pointed off to the side.

            “Boston nodded and put the amulet back beneath her shirt.  She touched the collar of her fairy weave coat and said, “Hood, and a mask over the mouth and nose to filter out the smoke.”  The fairy weave grew and shifted to conform to the picture in her mind.  Shortly they all had such masks except Elder Stow who did not seem as bothered by the smoke in the air.

            “Can you walk a bit?”  Lockhart asked Katie and she nodded.  Her legs had been spared the rock shards.  “Dismount and walk them,” Lockhart called out and they did.  It slowed their progress considerably, but gave the horses something of a break to rest them.  It was as much of a break as Lockhart dared to give them at the moment.

            A half-hour on and they saw a smoldering ruin in their path.  When they got close, they all read the markings on the side of the craft.  It was a fighter craft called the Karrigan’s Claws.  No one asked what a Karrigan was, but they all recognized the writing as Gott-Druk.

            “It seems the magic of translation the Kairos gave us works on written words, too,” Boston remarked.  Elder Stow ran forward and Lincoln caught the reins of Captain Decker’s horse.  After rummaging around inside the craft, Elder Stow came back out and made an announcement.

            “No bodies.”

            Everyone was relieved, and did not seriously mind when the Elder insisted they search the immediate area.  Lockhart and Boston got the horses while the others went out.  Roland seemed better able to navigate the smoke and Elder Stow was motivated.  Lincoln and Katie had the marine night goggles on to complete their outfits, and though Katie walked more slowly than she might have otherwise, she insisted and carried her rifle besides.

            There were no dead or wounded to be found anywhere near the crash.  This was also good, but when they mounted again, Elder Stow asked Lincoln some pointed questions.  Lincoln had to get out the database and read up on the subject to answer.

            “At this point in history, roughly, the Balok are being overcome if they have not yet been defeated, but the Pendratti are making noises about taking over.  The Sevarese work with the Gott-Druk and the Bluebloods work with the Elenar, but they all remain allies in the struggle against the Pendratti menace.”

            “So my people and the Elenar are still allies at this point in history,” Elder Stow was searching for something.

            “Yes that’s right.”

            “So they should not be fighting each other.”

            “That’s right, why?”

            Elder Stow looked back at Lockhart and Katie.  He looked ahead to Boston and Roland, though he supposed there was nothing he could do about the elf’s good ears.  He tried to whisper, but Gott-Druk were not good at whispering in general.  Their natural habitat was small groups and family groups of the size where it was generally not good to keep secrets.

            “I believe those fighters were Elenar,” he said.

            “I see,” Lincoln nodded, and after a moment of thought he looked again at the Gott-Druk.  “So you think the ones who attacked us were your people.”

            “Humans mostly,” Elder Stow said.  “But the energy weapons were likely held in Gott-Druk hands.”

            Lincoln nodded but made no move to tell the others.  “Well,” he continued the private conversation.  “At this point in history that should not be happening.  The Gott-Druk and Elenar should be helping each other, not fighting each other.”

            “That is accurate?”  Elder Stow questioned the database.

            “The information in this database was taken from the Heart of Time itself.  That is the crystal heart that has recorded all of history since the first days of the Kairos.” 

            “But maybe not accurate concerning my people?”

            “No, as far as I know it is totally accurate.  Gott-Druk, Elenar, Agdaline or any of the other species that touch the earth at any point have a detailed description of who they are and where they fit into the overall picture of the larger universe.  I imagine Lady Alice was very thorough in that.

            Elder Stow said nothing as the clouds moved in and the little drips of snow began to pick up steam.  It was not much further before they had to go single file.  The wind picked up and began to blow the snow into their faces and they had to move forward with their eyes on the rump of the horse in front. 

            Boston dropped back to check on Katie.  She knew Lockhart’s healing chits would have him healed in short order, but Katie had no such help.  She also knew an elect had a high tolerance for pain and healed quickly, but she was worried all the same.  Boston might have found a little magic in her veins, but she was no healer like Alexis.  They had already lost Captain Decker.  They could not afford to lose Katie too.

            When they started to move single file, she found herself between Katie and Elder Stow.  Her eyes became glued to the back end of Captain Decker’s horse and did not waver.  She was not worried about their direction.  Roland had an unerring sense of direction and would keep them headed in the right direction no matter how many side steps he had to make to get around obstacles in their path.

            When they came to a corner, Elder Stow kicked his horse to a trot.  Boston stayed right with him  Katie had to hustle to keep up and turned to warn Lockhart.  Soon enough Katie saw the rear end of the horse again, walking in front, and she slowed down.  Because of the snow and ice, she did not recognize the back side of Lincoln’s horse.  Elder Stow had left the procession and unwittingly taken Boston with him.  When he touched the device on his wrist and he and his horse became invisible, Boston suddenly found herself alone in the woods.

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Avalon 2.6:  Boston in the Dark … Next Time

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Avalon 2.5: Things of Power

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            Only a guess, mind you, but I believe the bokarus is not finished finding new and inventive ways to try and kill the travelers; and if the natives and native village gets crushed in the process I imagine the green man would think all the better.

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            The hillside just outside the camp was clear of trees and covered only in the tall grasses of late summer.  The camp itself was nestled among the trees and the edge of the forest proper.  At the moment, more than a hundred buffalo were careening down that grassy hill in utter panic, a true stampede, and the only thing that stood between the buffalo and the camp was nothing.         

            “Lincoln!”  Lockhart shouted and pulled his thirty-eight.  The pistol might prove of little value, but it was better long range than the shotgun.  Lincoln stepped up beside Katie.  They had the high powered rifles, and Katie started the action. 

            “Go for between the eyes,” Katie said.  “Hit the ones out front.  The ones behind might stumble or turn aside.”  Three of the beasts fell in short order.

            “Easy for you,” Lincoln said as he began to fire.  Five more fell before the buffalo reached the bottom of the hill and the far edge of the camp.  Several were also standing or stumbling around like they were injured from tripping over the fallen ones, but the majority were not slowing significantly.

            “Rapid fire,” Katie said, and she and Lincoln turned a switch on their rifles.  They sprayed the front of the herd with bullets even as Lockhart chimed in with his police pistol.  Boston added her Beretta, though it was pretty useless against such big animals.  Roland retrieved Decker’s pistol from Decker’s old saddle bag and fired as well.

            Another half-dozen went down along with several tents before Elder Stow stepped up and let his sonic device whine.  “Within range,” he said.  The buffalo turned.  They did not exactly race back up the hill, but the high-pitched squeal finally turned them so they roared off at an angle to miss the rest of the camp.  Everyone breathed deeply.

            `While the travelers talked softly and patted each other for reassurance, Huyana reached up and closed Ogalalo’s mouth.  “You see?” she said.  “They could have wiped out your whole tribe before supper if they wanted to.”  She paused and kissed that mouth, and it was a poor-Ogalalo-will-never-recover kind of kiss.  When she was finished, Huyana kept talking like she was uninterrupted.  “Fortunately for you these are good people, like I said.  You should learn to ask.  Asking is good.  Demanding sometimes just makes people mad.”

            “Hey!”  Lockhart interrupted.  “You have fifteen or so animals ready to supply meat and warm skins for the winter.  You better get your people on them before they start to rot.”

            Ogalalo broke free of the trance he was under.  He might have been excused.  He was holding his beloved, and with that in mind, he quickly kissed Huyana again on the lips and then stepped away to begin shouting at all of the men in the camp and most of the women and children as well.

            Huyana raised her eyebrows and touched her lips like this was the first time Ogalalo kissed her.  She looked at Aster who came up and also kissed her, but on the cheek.  “Are you going to introduce us to your friends?”

            “Oh, yeah.”  Huyana was being neglectful in her duties.  She clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention and then she said everyone’s names, beginning with herself and pointing to each one along the way.  “Huyana, Aster, Roland, Boston, Katie, Lockhart, Lincoln, Elder Stow, Tooter, Dingle, Blocker, Digger, Piebald, Picky and Gome, and I’m Huyana.”  Gome was the smallest of the lot, but he had a hard look on his face like he was not going to take any guff from anyone, least of all a bunch of human beings, big as they might be.  Boston imagined with that look he might stare down an ogre.

            “Mostly she calls him Gomer,” Tooter said, “Like Gomer Pyle,” and he snickered.

            “Yeah?” Gome spoke up.  “Well at least it is safe to be in the same room with me.”

            “And what is it you do?” Katie changed the subject.  There had already been a couple of fistfights since the arrival of the dwarfs and she thought a change in the conversation was in order.  Anyway, she was enchanted by the little ones as always.  Lockhart was more the opposite.  He kept one step behind Katie and stared over her shoulder.

            “We’re prospectors,” Digger said.

            “We were prospectors,” Picky corrected the dwarf.

            “What?”  Lincoln stepped up.  “Like there’s gold in them thar hills?”

            “What? Where?  Which hills?”  the Dwarfs got excited.

            “Just an expression.  Not real.  I was kidding.” Lincoln said quickly.

            “No surprise.”  Piebald moped.  “All we find around here is black gooey stuff in the ground.”

            “Oil?”  Lincoln wondered.

            “That’s the stuff,” Piebald said.

            “And granite.  Lots of granite,” Picky added.

            “Hey lady.”  Dingle came up to Boston.  “Want to buy a diamond.”  He pulled a crystal the size of Boston’s fist out of an unseen pocket and held it up to her so she could see the dazzle in the late afternoon sun.

            “No money,” Boston admitted with a shrug.

            “What’s money?”  Tooter asked.

            “Never heard of money,” Picky admitted. 

            “You got trade.”  Dingle was not going to stray from his mark.

            “I don’t think so,” Roland interrupted the bargain as he stepped up and slipped his arm over Boston’s shoulder.

            “Ooo, uppity elfity –“

            “Ahem!” Aster cleared her throat and the dwarf swallowed his words and moved on to Katie.

            “How about you, Lady?”

            “That is not a diamond.  That is quartz,” Katie said and turned her head to Lockhart.  “I took basic geology in college.”

            “Quartz?  I got snookered?”  Dingle put on a good show.  “Still, very sparkly, mind you, and mighty fine to look at.  Make a fine necklace.”

            “She’s one of the elect.”  Blocker tapped Dingle on the shoulder.  “Dangerous trade if you ask me, especially if she feels taken.”

            “Sorry mam,” Dingle tipped his hat wanting no part of crossing Katie.  He went right back to Boston like he had never talked to her before.

            “Mind you, very sparkly.  Make a fine bracelet.  Maybe a wedding crown?”  He smiled way too much.

            “She’s a witch,” Blocker said.

            “Oh, never mind.” Dingle slipped the quartz back in his pocket and quickly faded into the group as Ogalalo ran up.

            “You must stay the night,” he told the travelers who looked around at the camp outside of what was happening in their little circle.  It would be dark soon enough.  Staying was not a bad idea.  “All of you.  Stay.  We will have a real feast.”  Ogalalo looked very happy, and Lockhart and Katie both imagined it was as close as they were going to get to an apology.  “If those Onakatta thought that stampede would hurt us, how wrong they were.”  Ogalalo thought the turn of those tables was delicious.  Lockhart hated to pour vinegar on the man’s treat.

            “I doubt it was the Onakatta.  Probably the bokarus started the stampede.”

            Ogalalo lost his smile and looked again to the sky and all around.  He had forgotten.  He spoke again, but this time with far less conviction.  “You stay anyway.  We feast.”  He ran back to the kill.

            People looked at Lockhart.  “Unpack.”  That was all he had to say and they went for their tents.

            “Aster,” Huyana said and Aster stepped up to walk beside her.  Huyana was going down to the kill site herself.  She wanted another taste of those lips.

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Avalon 2.5:  Getting Out Alive … Next Time

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Avalon 2.5: Unbroken

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            After the attack of the bokarus, the shaman wants to sacrifice the travelers, and he has a dozen armed men to back him up.  The travelers still have their handguns and steel knives but then a woman’s voice interrupts the Mexican standoff.  A referee, or more fuel to the fire?

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            “Huyana.” Ogalalo recognized the woman that bounced up and down on the back of the great beast.  Huyana was far from a horsewoman, but rode up and got down carefully.  Roland brought up the rest of the horses with strange looking riders in his trail.  There was a beautiful elf maiden on one horse, and the other three horses carried dwarfs.  Two bounced on Lincoln’s horse, two on Lockhart’s and three on poor Decker’s horse, and they complained the whole way.

            “You let my friends go!”  Huyana yelled at the Shaman as soon as she felt the earth under her feet again.

            “I have no quarrel with you,” Ogalalo said and took a step back.

            “You have a quarrel if you mean to harm my friends,” Huyana responded.

            “But the Elder Elf and his daughter said they were people of great power.  You know the Onakatta tribe we struggle with.  I only hoped to help my people.”

            “By stealing?  By holding innocent people hostage?  By making more enemies?  Did you ask first if they might help you?  These are good people.  If you have a genuine need, they would help.  No.  You never thought to ask.  All you think is to take, you brute.”

            “I’m sorry,” Ogalalo borrowed Boston’s word.  “I didn’t think.  I am sorry.”  He waved his hand, angrily and the men with their spears went back about their business.

            “We had a visit from the bokarus,” Boston told Roland.  Roland relieved Lockhart of holding duty, but Boston was about able to stand on her own by then.

            “Ahem,” the young elf maid coughed.  It was a time honored nudge.

            “Boston, this is Aster.  Aster, Boston.”

            “Hi,” Boston said and gulped.  This maid was lovely beyond words, or anyway beyond her words.

            “Good to meet you.  I have heard so much about you,” Aster said, and Boston fought to keep her nose from turning up.  Aster even sounded beautiful.

            “Oh?” Boston stood up instead and looked at Roland who gave Aster a mean stare.

            “So then the bokarus flew off,” Lincoln finished explaining as Lockhart moved Katie off to the side.

            “What did you think you were doing?” he asked her.

            “I was trying to get us out of here.  I was trying to get him to let us go.”

            “You were busy showing off.  elect or not, you don’t willingly step into a circle of spears.  That is a good way to get yourself killed.”

            “I don’t work for you,” Katie said.

            “No?  You going to go back to some Marine Corps, Pentagon desk?”

            Katie paused.  “Okay, I work for you, but that doesn’t mean I can’t show initiative.”

            “It doesn’t give you the right to behave stupidly either.”

            “What I did was not stupid.”

            “It was stupid showing off and you are not allowed to get hurt.”

            “Well, you are not allowed to get hurt either.”

            “Yes, but I still have those Gaian healing chits running through me.” 

            “But the Kairos said not to depend on them.” 

            Well, the same goes for you.”

            “Well, I didn’t get hurt.”

            “Well I’m glad.”

            “So am I.”

            “People!” Huyana yelled as one of the dwarfs put his fingers to his lips and let out a shrill whistle.  Roland, Boston and Aster looked up from one direction.  Katie and Lockhart looked up from the other.  Lincoln stopped babbling with Ogalalo and Elder Stow.  “You need to get your things back for the journey.  Am I the only one here with any sense?  There’s a switch.”

            “Nice crew,” Lincoln said, referring to the dwarfs that crowded around and made the people in the village keep their distance, the ones that were not already keeping back.

            “Thanks,” Huyana said before she realized Lincoln was not being serious.  She explained anyway.  “Aster keeps me sane.  She is my nurse in the Dryad’s house in the forest.  I left the ogre at the house because Ogalalo is scared of him.”

            “I am not.”

            “Yes you are, and good thing it wasn’t the right time of day for the goblins.”  She winked at the Shaman.  “Then there are my dwarf buddies.  There are seven of them and I don’t want to hear one wisecrack.  I can’t get rid of them.  I think if I went to the moon they would track me down.  They followed me all the way from the desert, where I used to live.”

            “The Mojave?”  Boston asked innocently and Aster touched Boston’s arm and shook her head but it was too late.

            “Yes,” Huyana said, and she began to cry.  “And I am so sorry I made them come.  Please.  I didn’t mean to make them come.”

            Aster moved as did Katie, but Boston got there first to hug Huyana. 

            “Why am I alive?” Huyana said quietly in Boston’s shoulder.  “Why can’t I just die and be done with it all like any normal person.  I’m so tired and I screw up everything I touch.”

            “Hush,” Boston said softly in return before she did something that surprised everyone, most of all Ogalalo.  She placed Huyana in the man’s arms.  He held her at first like she was a soft flower, easily crushed.  But after a moment he bent to kiss the top of her head and pulled her in to comfort her.

            “We have to find our own things,” Elder Stow said.  Lincoln shrugged and they went in search.  Katie and Lockhart stared at Huyana and Ogalalo and at each other. 

            “I’ll make sure the horses are ready,” Roland said and went down the line.

            Aster stepped up to Boston’s side and spoke to her alone.  “I have only just met him, but I would say you are a very lucky woman.”

            “I know,” Boston said as she watched Ogalalo’s face turn to one of pure joy.

            “As long as you know you are lucky, I am content.” Aster said.  

            When the men came back with their equipment and supplies, Katie checked her rifle first while Lockhart checked his shotgun.  There was the sound of distant thunder and one of the dwarfs stepped up.

            “Weather’s coming.”

            “Powerful weather,” A second said.

            “But I am smelling something more,” a third spoke up.

            “Something is on the hoof and sounds like thunder,” said the fourth, and they saw it as a woman screamed and came running into the village.  A herd of Buffalo was headed straight toward them.

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Avalon 2.5:  Things of Power … Next Time

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Avalon 2.4: Unexpected Magic

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            Ah, Mary Riley but everybody calls her Boston, there are more secrets to be revealed.  It isn’t the fact that she is in love with Roland, the Elf,  That is a secret even a child could see.  The Sybil called her Little Fire, but not just because she had short, red hair.

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            The Sybil got back up on her pony and had Roland help Amira up so the girl could ride with her.  Roland and Boston remounted to follow as instructed, but the Sybil paid them no attention at first.  She turned her pony back the way they had come, right out of the village, through the farmland, and right back up the hill to the cliff face border, all the while whispering to Amira like she was already beginning her time of instruction.

            One of the defenders rode off as they arrived.  Several men were walking back down the far side of the hill to the open field.  They could see the army of men still arrayed there, a hundred or more, and Boston and Roland wondered what had transpired.  They did not have time to ask.  The women defenders were too busy bowing their heads to the Sybil and to the elf, and checking their defenses, and the Sybil spoke.

            “Come.”  She led them to a place aside where they could sit among the rocks, face each other and still keep an eye on the men in the plains.

            “You are betrothed?” Amira spoke up as soon as they sat and the Sybil hushed the girl and in a kind way scolded Amira for speaking out of turn while Boston and Roland looked at each other for a long second.

            “I haven’t asked her,” Roland said.

            “I haven’t asked him either,” Boston agreed.

            The Sybil instructed Amira.  “It is not always wise to say everything you see.  You cannot see their faces or the language of their bodies so it will be especially hard for you.  You are young.  You see the love in their hearts, and know it is true and it is exciting and, um, romantic at your age.  I understand.  I was young once myself, believe it or not.  But you must understand that it is not your place to make decisions or to use what you see to manipulate others.  You must never be the decider.  The goddesses will be very cross with you if you try to decide or control things or make them come out the way you want.  We have a Queen who decides.  That is her place.  And people must make their own decisions for their own lives.  You keep your thoughts to yourself.”  The words were sharp, but not cruel.

            “I’m sorry,” Amira responded, and she sounded like she meant it.

            “Besides, that is not what we are here for.”

            “Why are we here?” Roland wanted to change the subject.  He glanced at Boston and saw that she agreed with him.

            “We are here for the magic,” the Sybil said.  “Amira.”  The old woman waited for the young girl to speak.  Amira paused first, like she wanted to get it right and not say too much or too little.

            Amira covered her eyes with her hand as she spoke which said to Boston that the girl could perceive light and dark, and the light might be interfering with her vision.  “There is a man of magic among the men down below.  You are the only two people of magic among us right now.  We ask if you might be willing to, inter…”

            “Interfere.”

            “If you might be willing to interfere with the man’s magic so the events that take place below may happen without interference.”  Amira uncovered her eyes and smiled.

            “It is not the way of the elves to intrude in human events,” Roland answered.  Boston had another thought.

            “I don’t have any magic.”

            “But you do,” Amira blurted out.  “It is more than enough, and I feel it.”

            “Amira!”  The Sybil scolded again and the girl fell silent.  The Sybil turned to Boston.  “I understand in your world magic is considered foolishness.  In you it has been blocked by many things, but mostly by your own thoughts and words.  Your, um, preconceptions.”

            “No, you don’t understand.  I tried to do magic when I was a little girl.  I couldn’t do anything.  Even after I saw what Alexis could do, I still couldn’t do anything at all.”  There was the sound of desperation in Boston’s voice, like she would give anything to be able to do magic.

            “The truth is magic comes with maturity, like the strength of the elect.  I understand in your world by the time people are mature magic is considered a childhood fantasy.  The pressure to be adult is overwhelming and even seeing magic with the evidence of your own eyes, the mind’s way is to invent some reason to explain why she can and you can’t.” 

            “Like reminding yourself that Alexis was once an elf and that must be the source of her magic,” Roland interjected.

            “By the time you were old enough, you were convinced that magic for you was not possible.”

            “You mean?”  Boston did not finish the sentence.  She thought quietly for a second before another thought crossed her mind  “But what about you, don’t you have any magic?  Can’t you take care of whatever it is you need magic for – that man?”

            The Sybil shook her head.  “It is forbidden for a seer to practice magic.  It is also forbidden for an elected one.  The gods are very careful about not concentrating such power in one person’s hands, and would be swift to punish any who try to defy those boundaries.”

            “But.”  Again Boston did not finish her thought before she had another thought.  “What can I do?”  She had no confidence in the matter.

            “By yourself, right now, nothing.  It is up to the elf.  He alone has the power to unblock you and he can teach you all that you need know about the ways of magic to exercise your power.”  The Sybil smiled at the elf.

            Roland felt trapped.  He responded with a frown which he turned first on Amira, though she could not see his face.  He turned the frown to the Sybil and spoke.  “It is also forbidden for elf kind to be involved in the events of women.  But you knew I would do this thing for Boston.  I don’t think I like you.”  He did like the Sybil and thought Amira was precious, but the Sybil had the good sense not to correct him.

            Roland put out his hand, and for the first time Boston hesitated.  She looked the elf in the eyes and found some reassurance there so at last she settled her hand comfortably in his and closed her own eyes.  After a moment she began to glow very softly in a fire yellow, slightly orange color.  She could not see the man or the field or anything like a seer, but she sensed the dark power not far away and with Roland directing, she set her firelight up against that power like a wall.  Roland cheated and added a bit of himself to the wall just to be sure.  That power seemed very dark.

            The wall wavered and nearly fell completely as horses came by.  Boston looked and saw it was Zoe and Katie.  Chloe was riding with Iris.  They were going down the hill and out to the field.  But then Boston closed her eyes again and concentrated and the wall became firm.  She still had her doubts, but could not help thinking about pulling rabbits out of hats for real.

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Avalon 2.4:  Fight to the End … Next Time

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