Avalon 1.0 Neverland part 4 of 5

August 5, 2025July 26, 2025M G Kizzia Leave a comment

The man shook his necklace again. “I have the bear claws, the teeth of the lion, and the paws of the wolf. I am the hunter,” he said.

“And I am just an ordinary woman,” Alexis responded with a sigh.

“I think not.” The Shaman leaned forward and touched her clothes, respectfully. “I am fifty winters and look it. You are older than you appear.”

“I am.” Again, she saw no reason to lie to the man. “Let’s see. I was born in the spring, so next spring I will be two hundred and fifty-four years old.” She smiled. The shaman did not smile. “Really,” Alexis defended herself. “My father is a goblin.” The shaman frowned at that as if to suggest she might be carrying things a bit far. Alexis dropped her eyes. “I suppose I may have counted wrong, but I tell you what; when he gets here, you can ask him.” She smiled again even as Hog, Chodo and Shmee returned.

Chodo handed her the leg bone from a deer, but it was still moist and chipped at one end. The other end looked a little dog chewed, but with a great deal of work it might suffice. Shmee handed her a stick from an elm tree. She said oak, but who was she to quibble. The stick looked newly dead instead of dried but at least it did not look nibbled. The stick looked a little thin at the tip, but about the right length, and it had something that might do for a handle. Alexis waved her hand above the stick and the bark peeled back, then she focused her magic as well as she could with such a crude instrument and waved the stick at the leather that still bound her legs. The leather separated, and no eyes got bigger than the shaman’s. He stood with some quick words.

“This one belongs to the goblins. I have persuaded her so she has promised to make bread one time for us, but we must return her to her father when he arrives.” With that, he rattled off some words about placating the spirits and keeping the gods happy before he returned to his tent, and Alexis imagined, he sealed himself in.

“Now, Shmee, be a dear and hand me my bag.” Alexis reached out.

Shmee shrieked and handed it over with his hand shaking, terribly.

~~~*~~~

When the boys awoke, they huddled around the fire and ate what got offered. Their eyes were wide to take in the strangers in daylight. They said nothing, but Ramina sat there with Boston, Katie Harper and the two fairies, and they were using up all the words in any case. When Duba woke, the first thing he saw was the fairies and he screamed. When he saw Mingus and Roland right behind him, he stepped back and quickly let his fingers draw something like signs or symbols in the air. Mingus surprised his son, terribly, and shocked everyone except Pan. He jumped to his feet.

“Not the Praeger Defense,” Mingus shouted. “My heart!” He clutched his chest and fell to his knees before he fell to his side with his eyes closed.

Everyone got quiet except Duba. “What? I didn’t mean it.” He stepped up close. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it.”

Mingus opened one eye and grinned at the boy. “Well, as long as you didn’t mean it, I suppose no harm done.” He sprang to his feet. “So are we ready to go yet?”

“Time to move out,” Captain Decker agreed, and Lockhart made no objection. Only Lincoln spoke.

“At last.”

Once they arrived and found a place from which they could overlook the Shemashi camp, it did not take long to make an assessment.

“They are all bunched up around a central fire,” Lincoln borrowed the binoculars.

Lieutenant Harper looked through her own binoculars. “I make it about forty people altogether, plus children,” she said.

“About two hours before sundown. Time to go.” Captain Decker spoke as he cocked his rifle.

“No!” Lincoln’s word sounded a bit loud.

“This is covert,” Pan said, much more softly.

“But isn’t this like a computer program? Aren’t we covered by that Heart of Time thing? I figure it will reset after we’ve gone, or after you’ve gone. But you said if she is injured, she stays injured.”

Mingus put his hand on the man’s gun. “And that is why we don’t go with guns blasting. You don’t think I am going to take a chance on her getting struck by a stray bullet.”

Captain Decker yanked his rifle barrel free of the elf’s hand and frowned but said no more.

“I never said anything about a reset in that way,” Pan said. “I mean I don’t think it will work like that kind of reset. The information in the Heart of Time will change to reflect the truth, not the other way around. What we are living is real.”

“What?” Captain Decker and Boston both reacted, and Lockhart made everyone pull back into the forest so Pan could explain.

“My Storyteller, Glen is missing. He isn’t dead or Jennifer would be in the womb, but I can’t reach him. Everything back home on Avalon is confused, poor Alice.”

“So, which is it? The Heart of Time program resets things or it doesn’t?” Lincoln asked.

Lieutenant Harper thought out loud. “I think reset might mean the time gates jump back to the beginning point of that time zone when the Kairos dies so it can replay from the start. I don’t think the things inside the zone reset. I mean, the people that get killed will get killed again in the replay, even if they never got killed in the original.”

Pan shrugged, nodded, and shared his thoughts. “When time began, real time, Alice got drawn back to the beginning of history. Yes, she was in the Second Heavens, but she stood on a rock under a dome of air, and angel stood there along with Cronos. Alice, that is, the Kairos and Cronos made the Heart of Time together. That was when history began.”

“The rock where we first landed.” Boston swallowed.

“I, that is, Glen did not intend to go that far. The source must have had other ideas.”

Lieutenant Harper kept thinking. “So, what you are suggesting is we will be imprinted on the time zones from the beginning and for all time as far as the heart of Time recording is concerned. Whatever time we spend in each zone will become part of the historical reality.”

Pan nodded his head. “This seems utterly real to me, but maybe I am not a fair judge.”

“It seems utterly real to me, too,” Lincoln admitted.

“Mingus?” Doctor Procter questioned his friend and Mingus rubbed his chin.

“I don’t know.”

“So, what difference does that make?” Captain Decker still did not get it.

“It means if we change something here it might change all of history,” Lockhart answered. “Real history,” he added for emphasis.

“Like the butterfly effect?” Lieutenant Harper lifted her foot to look in case she stepped on something.

“No.” Pan smiled for her. “Reality isn’t that simple or that inflexible. You would have to change something serious and maybe several things to really change history. Of course, I can’t let you do that. I would send you all to present day Avalon right now if I could.”

“What? Why can’t you?”

“Well for one, Alice isn’t finished building it yet. But for two, I told you, Glen is missing, and it has repercussions all the way through history. And for three, the only way for you to get back to your own time is by going through the time gates.”

“But what happens if we screw up?” Boston sounded concerned.

Pan shook his head. “I don’t know anymore.”

“Only now we have to be really careful not to change history,” Roland said.

“What do you mean you don’t know anymore?” Boston interrupted.

Pan frowned before he turned red and yelled. “I mean, in reality I am an eleven-year-old kid and I told you; Glen is missing and Alice and everything is confused. Come on, Ramina. We have to start operation scatterbrains.” He grabbed the girl by the hand and headed toward the boys who kept back from the strangers. He huddled them up like a football team, and though Ramina giggled at one point, it otherwise might have been a youth team. They even said, “Break!” when they were done.

The boys scattered and hunkered down to move through the trees like hunters, or maybe sneaky kids. Pan returned to the others. “A bit of temporal borrowing,” he admitted. “Don’t try that at home.”

“What’s the plan?” Lockhart asked, and Captain Decker gave him a curious look, like why was he really asking this kid?

“Wait for the signal, and then come in with Lincoln, Mingus, and Roland out front. Stop about ten yards off. The rest of you keep back and try not to kill anyone.”

“What about us?” Honeysuckle asked.

“A special assignment,” Pan said in English, and watched as several eyes widened at being reminded of their native tongue. Pan started to speak whatever he could think of in English, and only got interrupted once.

“What is the signal?” Boston asked.

“You’ll know.” Pan smiled, and then continued to imprint English on the fairy minds while they went back to the lookout spot.

Avalon 1.0 Neverland part 3 of 5

August 4, 2025June 4, 2025M G Kizzia Leave a comment

“Pan!” A young boy burst from the trees, all out of breath. He could not have been more than ten, and he looked all American, or rather Anglo-American, complete with freckles. Pan had the same European look about him.

“Tomma, what is it?”

“Ramina,” the boy said. “We couldn’t stop her.” With that, Tomma put his hands on his knees; but he let his eyes wander around to see this strange group of people Pan had mentioned. Pan called them friends, but Tomma did not look too sure.

“Pan.” A girl’s voice called out, and as she ran up, she showed no sign of being at all tired. Bluebell fluttered up into the girl’s face and turned her nose up. “Oh, a Fee,” Ramina shouted, and reached up to grab the fairy, but Bluebell made a dash for the safety of Boston’s shoulder.

“Ramina.” An exasperated sounding Pan did not have to say more.

“You don’t think I am going to let you go off adventuring without me, do you?” Ramina responded. The girl had to be Pan’s age or maybe closer to twelve or thirteen. She was beginning to show signs that she was developing little bumps and curves.

“It’s a wonder your father lets you go out so far from home at your age, or are we talking real lost boys?” Captain Decker stood up by the fire and checked his weapons in anticipation of a future fight.

“No,” Pan responded. “Our village is that way.” He pointed. “But in this age, children need to grow up fast. I’m eleven. Ramina is only ten, Tomma’s twin.” Everyone looked again and saw Ramina staring at Pan, wiggling her hips ever so slightly, like she was listening to some music no one else could hear. She also looked like she was thinking thoughts for which she was way too young.

Three boys came in and huddled around Tomma, uncertain of what to make of the strangers. “Where’s the Duba?” Pan asked.

“Where do you think?” One of the boys answered and pointed behind with his thumb. Sure enough, in the growing light they saw a boy significantly fatter than the others. He worked his arms like a true runner, but his legs staggered. When he arrived, he fell to his face, and smiled.

“Okay.” Pan clapped his hands like Alice to get everyone’s attention. “Here’s the story. Captain Hook has kidnapped a great lady. Are you ready to go and get her back?”

“Yeah. Okay.” The boys did not sound too sure. They sounded tired.

Honeysuckle chose that moment to come rushing back. “They are still at sea,” she said to Pan. “They won’t get to the village until the sun is high.” She pointed straight up.

“Well then, do we need to hurry?” Lincoln came out of his funk to ask.

“No,” Pan said flatly. “They are not cannibals, and they don’t practice human sacrifice. I imagine she will be all right until we get there.”

“And how far overland to the village?” Mingus asked.

“Half a day at most.” Pan shrugged. “Quicker than by sea in that canoe.”

“Then we stand down and let the boys get some rest. Four hours if Lincoln and Mingus can hold out,” Lockhart decided. “And Ramina can rest.” He smiled for the girl.

“Fairy.” The girl stared at Honeysuckle. Honeysuckle hid behind Pan, but he had a suggestion.

“Go sit on Lieutenant Harper, er, Katie’s shoulder and Ramina, you can visit but do not touch the fairies. Is that clear?”

Ramina’s face lit up. She rushed forward and kissed Pan on the cheek. “Yes. Thank you, shaman. Yes, oh yes.” She skipped over toward the women while Pan wiped the kiss off his cheek with the back of his sleeve.

“Shaman?” Lockhart asked.

“I get that a lot over the years—centuries.” Pan lay down by the fire and in a moment, he fell fast asleep. The other boys followed his example, though they bunched up for protection and warmth. and did not sleep quite so quickly, apart from Duba who began to snore.

“But my wife.” Lincoln spoke and Mingus spoke at the same time.

“But Alexis.”

“So, strike the camp,” Lockhart said. “Roland, would you mind finding us something for an early bite? Doctor Procter, you’ve been very quiet.”

“Eh?” Doctor Procter looked up at the man. “I was just wondering what the poor woman must be going through,” he said, and went to help take down the tents.

~~~*~~~

At that moment, Alexis was being tossed by the waves and trying hard not to throw up. She had a bag over her head. Throwing up would not have been pretty.

“But Hog, they will come for her,” Chodo whined.

“And they can have her,” Hog responded, with a smug sound in his voice. “By then we will have the secret of the breat.”

“But what if she won’t tell us the secret?” Shmee asked.

“Then we will make her tell,” Hog insisted, and he slapped his fist into his open palm.

“But what if they arrive before we can make her tell?” Chodo asked.

“A few people are not stronger than the whole village,” Hog responded.

“But she is a witch.” The truth of what bothered Shmee came out in the sound of his voice.

“Bah! Our Shaman can disarm a simple witch. You worry too much.”

“But what if Pan and the boys find out?” Chodo asked.

“Hmm.” A moment of silence followed, apart from the paddles and the sounds of the sea. “I will think. You paddle.” Hog sounded like Pan and the boys might be a problem.

When they arrived in the camp, Alexis had her hood removed. After stern warnings, her gag also got removed and her feet untied so she could walk to the central fire. They sat her down, untied her hands, but retied her feet so she would not be able to escape easily.

“Stay and watch her,” Hog told his companions, though to be sure, it did not take long before the whole village watched. “I will fetch the Shaman.”

Hog walked off and the people pressed in. Some thought to touch this strangely dressed woman. Shmee had to defend her. “Back away. She is a witch.”

“You will not hurt our people,” Chodo threatened her, but the people heard, backed up, and left her untouched.

“If you want me to make bread, the first thing I need is a bone. It should be a bone from a deer, as thick as your thumb and as long as your forearm.”

“How did you know we wanted breat?” Shmee asked.

“I know many things,” Alexis said, coyly. “And if you have no such bone, a stick might do, but it must be from an oak, the oldest, biggest tree you can find. It will take longer to make it the way I need it, but it will do.”

“I do not remember you using a bone or stick to make breat.” Chodo shook his head. “What do you need this bone-stick for?”

Alexis just looked at the man until he got uncomfortable. “I must have a new wand,” she said at last, though neither man appeared to know what a wand was. They thought about it as Hog came back.

“I have brought the shaman,” Hog said, and pointed at the man who followed him. “Now you make breat for my village.”

Alexis looked up as the shaman sat beside the fire. He looked ordinary enough apart from the red streak painted down each cheek. “Well?” She turned on Chodo and Shmee and they got up to fetch her a wand. “I need to be alone with your shaman for a few minutes,” she told Hog, and he looked willing, in order to find out what Chodo and Shmee were up to.

The elderly shaman just looked at her at first and tried to see what was inside of her. Alexis did not get ruffled or seemed bothered by the look, and that bothered the shaman. Alexis had seen such looks before, though not from one dressed in a loincloth in such chilly weather. The man only had a bearskin draped over his shoulders like a cape to keep him warm. He wore a necklace of trinkets, and he jangled it before her. She remained unmoved.

“Go.” The shaman finally spoke and waved his arm. All of the villagers that had gathered around the stranger separated, though to be sure, they only backed up a few feet and continued to stare.

“Do not be afraid.” Alexis remembered the words of the angel. “I will make bread for the village.”

“Will I be able to make more?” The shaman shot straight to the point.

Alexis shook her head. “Not unless you have the secret of the elves and can make the crackers.” She saw no reason to lie to the man. The man frowned.

“The goblins?” he asked.

“They would not like the name, but I suppose that is how you know them.”

The man’s face twisted as he thought hard. “There may be some advantage in that, knowing that it is enchanted. Call it a one-time gift of the gods.” he concluded his thoughts.

“Oh, I am always glad to help another person of magic,” Alexis said, to test a thought of her own. She judged by the look on the man’s face that he had no real magic of his own.

Golden Door Chapter 20 Beth Above It All, part 2 of 2

May 13, 2025April 12, 2025M G Kizzia Leave a comment

It did not rain in the castle. Beth could see out the door that it still rained buckets outside, but in the castle, even in the open courtyard where they hid, there was not a drop. The sky still looked dark and dreary overhead, and she thought she saw some lightning up top, but she heard no thunder and felt no rain.

“What happened to the rain?” Beth interrupted the argument.

“There’s a bubble around the castle keeping out the worst of the collapse,” Mrs. Aster said in nearly her normal voice. “Come on.” She took Beth’s hand again and pulled her to a colonnade at the side of the yard where they could walk quietly in the shadows.

“Where are we going?” Beth asked.

“I thought we should first find my father,” Mistletoe whispered in Beth’s ear. “But apparently our first duty is to free the prisoners from the dungeon. Ow.”

Holly had slapped her sister’s nose when Mistletoe got too close to Beth’s ear. “I’m sitting here, if you don’t mind.” Holly grabbed two clumps of Beth’s wet hair and stood.

“Oh!” Mistletoe sounded perturbed. “Why don’t you get big and use your own feet like the rest of us.” Beth felt the back-and-forth wiggle Holly gave in response. She had to imagine the thumbs in Holly’s ears, the fingers waving wildly and the tongue sticking out at her sister.

“Quiet.” Mrs. Aster was not interested in fairy foolishness. She was being as serious as an old fairy can be. She led them through numerous inner gates, from courtyards to gardens of all sorts, one of which looked more like a forest than a garden inside a castle. They only cut through two buildings, and that was only briefly from one door to another, though in one they had to climb some stairs. At last, they came to a wall with another sturdy gate, and Mrs. Aster repeated herself. “Quiet.” Holly had been whispering about the scenery. Daffodil, Zinnia, and Hyacinth all whispered. At least Mistletoe stayed quiet, though Beth wrongly imagined she was still mad at her sister.

Beth did not understand how quickly fairies could change from one emotional state to another. It seemed like their small fairy bodies could only hold one emotion at a time, and their little fairy minds could not hold on to conscious memories for long. They flitted from one thought to the next and one feeling to the next at the blink of an eye, especially the young ones.

“Shh!” Holly shushed everyone, though they were already quiet. Mrs. Aster spoke.

“This is the main courtyard in front of the Bailiff’s Tower. Avalon does not have a dungeon, exactly. But the tower has lower rooms without windows and heavy doors that can be locked securely from the outside.”

“Tower of London?” Beth suggested and Mrs. Aster nodded.

“The thing is, those lower rooms are one of the few things that exist in only one castle, in a sense. After we arrive, we will find ourselves in the Land Castle and no longer in the Castle in the Sky. Beth nodded though she did not understand, exactly. Mrs. Aster pulled her wand out again, and this time she tapped twice and paused before she tapped once more on the door. The lock turned.

It proved a big cobblestone court with benches here and there, and a water fountain in the middle which had been turned on. Beth thought that odd. She saw more than enough water pouring down outside the castle bubble. They took a few steps. Everything seemed quiet until they were all in the yard and committed. Two dozen fairies flew in to surround them, changed to their big form, and held out their swords and sharp looking spears. Several held bows with arrows ready.

“You are all under arrest.” The fairy that stood between them and the tower door spoke.

“Lord Oak,” Mrs. Aster named the speaker.

“Father,” Mistletoe said, and smiled. She stepped away from the group and toward her father. She kissed him on the cheek before she spoke again. “The Kairos’ daughter, just like I promised.”

“My good daughter.” The man returned her kiss and turned to his troops while Holly stayed hidden in Beth’s drying hair and whispered in Beth’s ear.

“Mistletoe, betrayers! Mistletraitor!”

“Bring the human girl and old Mrs. Aster.” The man still spoke. “Half of you men stay here with Mistletoe to guard the rebellious fee. I’ll decide their punishment later.” He turned to his daughter. “These two will go to the dungeon with the others. You don’t mind keeping an eye on your friends until I get back. Do you?”

“Father.” Mistletoe smiled for him. “I could never be friends with traitors.”

Mrs. Aster whispered in Beth’s other ear. “Now would be a good time to say what angel told you to say.”

“What was that?” Beth asked.

“Didn’t the angel give you some words to speak?”

“Not that I can remember.”

“Move them,” Lord Oak said, and Beth found the butt end of a spear shove her from behind.

“Beth. You must remember for yourself. I can’t say the words. It won’t work if I say the words.”

Beth and Mrs. Aster stepped inside the tower and got driven to the stairs where they began the long descent to the basement level. Beth thought hard. “I know the angel said a number of things, but I don’t remember him saying anything special.”

“I do,” Mrs. Aster said. “I was hovering over Mister Deathwalker’s shoulder, listening. I distinctly heard the angel say, “Tell them Angel said…” But that is all I heard.”

Before Beth could answer, they came to a large open space, a wide landing where three great halls went in three directions while the stairs continued down. A goblin stood at the top of the stairs, and Beth would have been deathly afraid to look at it if Mrs. Aster had not just reminded her of Mister Deathwalker.

“If you are coming to help free the queens, you must hurry,” the goblin spoke in a voice that sent chills through Beth’s body, wherever the chills felt like going, but Beth ignored them as she shouted her response.

“They are enchanted. Run!”

The goblin was not slow. He saw the spears and the swords come out and ran down the next set of stairs, shouting.

“Traitors ahead of us,” Lord Oak said. “Be on your guard.” Beth and Mrs. Aster were shoved to the rear while Lord Oak and a half-dozen fee started down the stairs their weapons ready.

“Beth. You have to remember and say the words to make the magic work,” Mrs. Aster whispered sharply before a guard pushed her with a word.

“Quiet.”

At the next landing, the goblins were waiting in the hallways surrounding the landing, hidden in doorways and behind the tables and tapestries. The fairies stopped on the stairs when an arrow struck the bottom step.

“Oak!” A voice rang out in the hall. “We should not be fighting each other.”

“Deepdigger, I give no quarter to traitors.” Lord Oak kept his men up the steps where they argued about how to get past the enemy. The fairies could get small and fly faster than the goblins could react but getting Beth down the stairs posed a bit of a problem. Lord Oak wanted to keep them talking while they thought. “What have you to say for yourself?”

Instead of Deepdigger’s voice, Christopher’s voice rang out loud and echoed in the halls. “Angel said do not be afraid.”

“Chris!” Beth responded. “Ow!” She got hit on the head for crying out.

Chris’ words had no effect on the fairies, and he quickly figured the problem. “Beth. You have to say it. Angel said do not be afraid.”

“Do not be afraid,” Beth mumbled. She honestly did not remember being told to say that and was not surprised it meant nothing to the fairies.

“Beth. You have to say the whole thing, the exact words. Angel said do not be afraid.”

Beth opened her mouth and found a fairy hand in her face to keep her quiet. She reached up and found her own hand full of blue, electric sparkles which caused the fairy hand to hesitate, and she shouted. “Angel said do not be afraid.” She was willing, and now that Chris prompted her, she remembered that was what the angel told them to say.

The stairs were a dangerous place to say those words. Several fairies fell to their knees. Several tumbled down the stairs, including Lord Oak who moaned and put a hand to his head. Deepdigger and Deathwalker ran up, and Deepdigger took Oak by the arm.

“Oak. Oak,” he said. “We have to set the women free.”

Medieval 5: Elgar 8 The Struggle, part 3 of 3

April 8, 2024February 11, 2024M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Deerrunner turned from the window. “You best hurry. Wulfhere has ridden out to meet Guthrum. He has his men primed to stop you from leaving the fort, but our people have secured one gate.”

“My wife, Ealhswith, and the children.” Alfred looked worried.

“My son, Pinoak and the ladies that came into the fort to help Wulfhere entertain the king.” Pinewood explained. “They are all our ladies, and they have your wife and children well in hand. They will meet us at the gate. You just need to decide which men you can truly trust so they can escape with us.”

“Only those you are sure of,” Deerrunner said. “And if there is anything you need to fetch from your rooms.”

“My books,” Alfred said.

“Already packed,” Deerrunner assured him.

Two ox drawn wagons with women and children, and two dozen men rode out from the southern gate as the sun set. They followed good paths so the wagons had no trouble, and by sunrise they reached the River Avon. Alfred looked back.

“That’s not possible,” he said. “We can’t have traveled all that distance in one night, especially with ox-drawn wagons.”

“There are ways,” Pinewood told him. “Hidden ways, like the ways you went to escape Reading and the Danes sent after you.”

“Oh, yes,” Alfred remembered, and he helped load his wife and children on the rafts that were conveniently stationed by the riverside. He decided it was best not to question too much, but one thing he wanted to know. “Where are you taking me? Are we going to Bath?” He imagined from Bath he could keep a watch on the events in Wiltshire and find a way to drive out Guthrum and Wulfhere with him.

“No majesty,” Pinewood answered him. “Bath is already overrun with Danes. They gathered at Pucklechurch and waited until they got the signal, then they fell on the city before the city could prepare to defend themselves. There is still some fighting going on around the town, but it is minor. The Danes own that place.”

“What of Chisbury?” Alfred wondered how close to Winchester this conspiracy of his ealdorman went.

“Still Free, but probably not for long. I imagine Wallingford and Oxford will not be far behind and then the better half of Wiltshire and Berkshire will be in Danish hands. Once the line between Bath, Chisbury and Wallingford on the Thames is solid, he can raid as far away as Shaftsey, Eashing, Winchester, Wilton, and Axebridge. He may be able to push into Somerset as far as Glastonbury.”

“Meanwhile, the coast from Exeter to Hastings is continually raided by a whole fleet of ships, mostly out of East Anglia, Essex, and the Thames in Eastern Kent, but some also from York and Northumbria. The coastal watch is fighting back, but they lose the battles as many as they win.” Alfred tried not to mope.

When they reached the point in the river where the water flowed west toward the Severn Estuary, they found their horses mysteriously waiting for them. They rode down into the Selwood forest hoping to escape whatever patrols or foraging parties the Danes might send out from Bath. They almost did not make it.

Deerrunner, Pinewood, Alfred and his Thegans with plenty of men in green had to fight off one group so the women and children could be taken to safety. The dark came on soon enough and the fighting had to break off, but then some of the men got separated in the dark. Too bad for the Danes. The dark elves, that is, the goblins that gave Selwood a bit of a reputation routinely got left out when the fighting happened. They had plenty of pent up aggression that just waited for a Dane to be alone.

Alfred was also one that got separated and lost but he soon came to a cabin in the woods. That was fortunate because the goblins were not always the best at telling the difference between Saxons and Danes. Alfred hoped it was one of Elgar’s people. If not, then maybe a young woodcutter and his family. He hoped it was not a witch. It turned out to be an old Crone who let him in but warned him not to touch anything.

“My husband is out on escort duty. No telling how long that will last.”

“My name is Alfred,” Alfred admitted, trying to be friendly despite the heavy weight of worry that surrounded his thoughts.

“Oh? Good to meet you I suppose. My name is May, and I have an errand to run.” She looked him over and decided she had no choice. “I have wheat cakes in the oven, there. Try not to let them burn and don’t break anything while I am gone.” She left abruptly.

Alfred went to the door. He went out to his horse but left the door open. He unsaddled his horse and tied the animal by a trough he found that had water in it. He looked out into the dark, not having dared to move beyond the door light. There were too many strange sounds. He swore he saw two bright eyes staring at him from out of the dark.

“You have been a good horse,” he told his horse and patted him before he rushed back indoors to the firelight. He sat down at the table and wondered if there were any lamps or candles around that he could also light, but it was just a passing thought. Once he sat, all the tension from battle poured out of him and his muscles relaxed all at once. It was a wonder that he did not fall instantly asleep. Only his worry remained. He thought all might be lost.

The Channel coast was under constant assault. two hundred to five hundred to as many as eight hundred men in ships showed up almost anywhere, any time. The Bishop of Selsey in Sussex abandoned his post, and now the whole coast there has burned. Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, Dorset, and Devon are all on fire, and Alfred did not have a fleet of ships to stop them. He needed ships, and forts, strong points built around the countryside where people could flee in time of trouble. He also needed a good night’s sleep.

To Alfred’s credit, he woke up when he smelled something burning. He remembered and got the wheat cakes out of the oven when they were still salvageable, for the most part. Naturally, that was when May returned, with Pinewood. Pinewood stood back and let May upbraid the poor man. May eventually ran out of things to say and kissed Pinewood and slipped into the back room.

“My wife,” Pinewood said. “She said she found you wandering in the dark and called to you to save you from the spookies. She thought I might like to get you back in one piece.”

“Spookies?” Alfred asked, remembering the eyes staring at him in the dark.

“The goblins are out tonight but come. We will be safe enough to take you to the others.”

Alfred followed Pinewood outside and found his horse saddled and several men in green mounted and ready to ride. When they arrived in the elf camp, Alfred hugged and kissed his wife and two children before he fell over on the nearest bed. He did not stay awake long, but he did try to decide what was worse, being caught by goblins or Missus May’s scolding. He decided the Danes were worse and he tried not to hope the goblins caught them.

Charmed: Part 10 of 11, A Disney-Like Halloween Story (Without the Singing)

October 30, 2023September 23, 2023M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Chapter 10

All of the creatures and people, with Mary, Jake, Jessica, Elizabeth, Cinnamon, Nuggets the dwarf and Mister Greely Putterwig found themselves back in the pine forest where the adventure first began. “Time to go home,” Mister Putterwig sighed, but before he could do anything, he got interrupted.

“We got you now.” It was Marrow the goblin. Worms and Maggot were with him, as was Big Tooth, the troll. “You need to take us to Earth or we will tell Lady Alice that you stole a human child.”

“We already did that part,” Mary got right into the goblin’s face and did not even blink. “Lady Alice has forgiven him now that he has set Elizabeth free.”

“Hey.” Worms sounded very unhappy. “Does that mean we can’t go and scare the children to death?”

“You are not going to scare any children to death,” Jake spoke up, loud, but it was from fear. The goblins were frightful to look at. “I won’t let you.”

“Me neither,” Jessica stood right beside Jake, and they both protected Elizabeth between them.

“How are we going to feast?” Maggot asked.

“Quiet. I’m thinking.” Marrow frowned and pulled on his chin.

“The portal,” Big Tooth suggested.

“That’s right,” Marrow grinned, a look almost more frightening than his frown. “You got an unauthorized portal to the human Earth. You need to let us go there or we will tell Lady Alice.”

“I am sure she already knows,” Cinnamon said.

“No doubt about that,” Nuggets agreed.

“Puts!” Marrow swore.

All that while, Mister Putterwig worked on opening the way to Earth, but he was not quite finished when they were all interrupted again, this time by the ghost of Thackery James Barrett, Esquire.

“Sir,” Thackery came up beside Jake and Jessica as if to protect them, and he stared at the goblins. “You are brigands to be sure. You should certainly be hanged for highway robbery, but I confess you have the upper hand at present. Thus I implore you, in the name of Christian decency, let the women and children go unharmed.”

“You’re not a woman or a child,” Marrow responded. “I suppose that makes you free game, doesn’t it?”

There was a sudden flash of blinding light as the portal between here and there formed. Thackery let out a chilling shriek before the light settled down and Thackery became able to speak with more calm. “I remember,” he said. “I remember those very words. Suddenly a great light appeared beside me. I was facing certain death, so I ran toward the light. I heard the gun. I stumbled into the light. My God, the man shot me in the back and killed me, and I ended up here.” Thackery began to weep. “Gone. Gonnnne!” He wailed a true ghostly wail and then shouted. “Abigail. Abigail.” And he went into the light. Everyone stayed silent for a moment before Jake spoke loud and clear to the goblins.

“Doesn’t matter. I won’t let you eat any children.” He reached for the cutlass and got a bit unhappy to realize it had vanished along with the Lady Alice.

“What eat children?” Marrow responded with a dumbfounded shrug.

“Do you know the penalty for eating humans, especially children?” Maggot said, and the goblins, troll, and several of the others in that big group from the circle moaned and shivered at the thought.

Marrow spoke. “We just want to scare them so bad they drop their bags. Then we plan to feast on all that Halloween candy.”

“I want to eat so much I throw up,” Worms said, and sounded happy with that prospect.

“Don’t forget,” Maggot said. “I claim the vomit.”

Most of the people moaned again at that thought.

The portal wavered.

“Hey!” The goblins yelled, but Mary, Jake, Jessica, Elizabeth and Mister Putterwig went though first. Everyone else followed and got directed by Mister Putterwig out the back door, toward the big back yard where an old fairy circle was already present. It wouldn’t take long to put up some lights and get the music started.

Jake, Jessica, Elizabeth and Mary went out the front door and got surprised to find Tommy, Blockhead, Mike and Serena still there, sitting around, nibbling on Elizabeth’s candy. It turned out to be a bit after seven, and they had been waiting for more than an hour. At least they were sitting and waiting before the ghost came through the locked door. They backed up to the yard and the fence, and Blockhead looked ready to bolt every time Thackery wailed for Abigail.

“Watch it! There’s another one,” Mike shouted. It did not help being by the street, under the street light, when another ghost came floating up into that light. In fact, Mike and the others moved back into the shadows since the ghosts appeared to be attracted to the light.

“Thackery?” the ghost called. It looked like a woman, dressed in a fine traveling dress and cloak. She looked very young and pretty, even if she did not seem to have any feet.

“Abigail?”

“A very fine and proper lady named Alice said I would find you here,” the woman ghost said.

“Oh Abigail. I searched for you for ever so long.” Thackery flew to her and they embraced.

“At last, at last.” Abigail hugged him before he set his lips to hers in a passionate kiss. The two faded from sight and were not seen again in this world. Everyone sighed, except Blockhead, who looked more relieved. Then Jessica made a decision.

“Serena,” Jessica said. “Call Vanessa and tell her the party is being moved to the old Putterwig house.”

“Really?” Serena looked uncertain.

“Hey, we are talking Halloween party.” The music began to work its enchantment from the back to the front yard.

“There is that,” Serena said, and she got out her phone.

“Tommy,” Jake called. “I got twenty bucks. Take Mike down to the supermarket and buy as much candy as they have left. We got some big kids that are dying for Halloween treats.”

“Keep your money,” Tommy said. “For the ghost show it’s my treat. So how did you do that?”

“Holographic?” Mike suggested.

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” Elizabeth said, and she tugged on Jake’s hand to take her out back. Fortunately, just then Sage and Thyme, with their mother Cinnamon, all in their natural small fairy form, came to fetch the little girl. This time, they sprinkled her all over with fairy dust and Elizabeth giggled when she lifted right off the ground and flew with the fairies down the hall and out the back door.

“Serena shut your mouth and get the party here,” Jessica yelled, while Jake reached over and took her hand. Jessica stared at their hands for a minute.

“Blockhead, how’s your dancing?” Jake asked.

Blockhead said nothing. He just began to bounce up and down in a way that showed he had no sense of rhythm. Serena interrupted. “Hold it big boy. Save it for when we get to the dance floor.” She grabbed his football jersey and pulled him toward the back.

Jessica suddenly turned Jake to face her. She looked him square in the eyes. She tried to listen to her thumper, and she said, “I am loving you.”

“Well.” Jake hardly knew what to say, so he returned the words. “I am loving you, too.”

“Goody,” Jessica said, sounding like a genuine fairy, and she locked her lips to his. Jake was surprised for all of a second.

Tommy and Mike came back after a while. A bunch of other kids from the high school came. But neither Jake nor Jessica wanted to stop long enough to take a breath.

Greely Putterwig came out of the house, looking once again like an ordinary enough old man. Mary had pulled up a chair and was quietly knitting, have gotten her needles and yarn from some unknown source, presumably by magic. She gave the hobgoblin a look that he thought to explain. He pointed at himself. “You might call this my un-Halloween costume.” He chuckled.

Mary merely smiled and patted the seat on the rocking chair beside her. Greely sat and then stared at the witch for a few minutes before he spoke again. “So,” he said. “Want to go out on a date?”

Mary stopped knitting and her jaw dropped.

“Then again, we could just get some DVDs and stay in and cuddle by the fire.

Mary’s face turned red, but she did not say no.

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

Charmed is either a very, very small book or a long story offered in eleven parts over this October, 2023, leading up to Halloween. The posts have be put up on the blog on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, so, don’t miss tomorrow’s post and a note on November 1st. If you have missed a post, or want to go back to the beginning, Just click on the archives and select October 2023. Charmed is the main posting for the month … So after today, I say to you all, Happy Halloween, you know, aliens, robots, cyborgs and such.

Charmed: Part 4 of 11, A Disney-Like Halloween Story (Without the Singing)

October 16, 2023September 23, 2023M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Chapter 4

Elizabeth and Mister Putterwig walked toward the light. They had been walking for some time through an old growth forest of oak, maple, elm and birch. The forest floor had some bushes,. brambles, thorn and briars, and plenty of fallen lumber, from twigs to whole trees, but mostly it was covered in generations of fallen leaves. It was impossible to walk without crunching every step.

Elizabeth did not mind the crunch. She snapped a few twigs on purpose. She also liked the fact that they were headed toward the light. She was not afraid in the dark when she was with Mister Putterwig. He was a grown-up, and she trusted him to protect her. But light was better. The woods were kind of spooky.

Greely Putterwig was much more cautious. If it was a fairy circle filled with all sorts of people and creatures celebrating Halloween, they might be in trouble. He did not think it was the dance because he did not hear the music, the enchanted kind that made poor humans dance until they dropped. But if it wasn’t a Halloween celebration, well, the alternative was probably worse. “Confounded curiosity,” Mister Putterwig swore, and he hushed Elizabeth as much as he could when they reached a point where he could look out through the branches

A bonfire in a big clearing lit up the night, and there were dancers of a sort. They were goblins, and a couple of trolls. Mister Putterwig found his hand automatically drawn to cover Elizabeth’s mouth. The dancers looked frightening, with horns and tails and snake-like eyes over tusks and very wide mouths with very sharp teeth. There were noses and ears of all shapes and sizes, and they had claws instead of hands and sometimes instead of feet. They wore rags and had skulls and human looking bones of fingers and toes for necklaces and bracelets that sounded click and clack in a kind of rhythm under the moonlight. Worst of all were the grunts, howls and shrieks that filled the air and obscured whatever ghastly music was being made on such odd instruments and drums. Indeed, the music was mostly drums, and someone older than Elizabeth might have wondered where they got the skins for drumheads.

Elizabeth did not think that. When she wriggled her mouth free, she said, “They look like they are having fun.”

Mister Putterwig looked down at the little girl, astounded by her innocence. “All the same, it would be best if we moved on quietly so we don’t disturb them.”

Elizabeth nodded. She trusted. And together they took three whole steps before they found themselves surrounded by three goblins and a troll.

“Greely Putterwig,” the goblin with the red eyes spoke with a haunting voice guaranteed to send chills down the nearest spine.

“Marrow, Worms, and Maggot.” Mister Putterwig named the three goblins like they were old friends. “And Big Tooth.” He named the troll. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”

“What have you got here?” Marrow leaned down in Elizabeth’s face, but she was holding tight to Mister Putterwig’s hand and had her eyes closed. “A little human girl. Bet she’s tasty.”

“She isn’t yours. I got her fair and square. She is my friend, mine alone, and belongs to me, so back off,” Mister Putterwig growled.

Elizabeth ventured a look to see if Mister Putterwig was indeed her friend, but she saw the goblins and the troll and shrieked. She threw her arms around Putterwig’s middle and buried her face in his belly. He put his arms around her and did finally smile, and cooed that she shouldn’t be afraid and everything would be alright.

“What do you mean she is yours?” Worms asked.

“Where can we get one of those?” Maggot complained.

“Fairy food?” Big Tooth suggested, and Marrow’s eyes got big.

“Do you know the penalty for stealing human children?” Marrow shouted.

“I don’t care,” Mister Putterwig responded with a sharp look and a haughty stare. “You touch one hair on her head and Lady Alice will know, and it won’t be from me telling her, either.”

“Boys,” Marrow took a step back. “I think we best leave this one alone.” They all began to step back. Marrow saluted. “See ya around,” he said, and the goblins and troll went back to the dance.

Marrow took them all the way to the back of the bonfire and whispered so Putterwig would not hear with his good hobgoblin ears. What Marrow did not know was Jake, Jessica and Cinnamon were right at the edge of the trees, listening.

“We can blackmail old Putterwig and get him to let us use his portal to the human world. There are lots of children out on Halloween night. We can scare them to death, and then we can feast.

“I want to eat so much I have to throw up to make room for more,” Worms said out loud as he began to drool.

“I claim the throw up,” Maggot yelled, and the other three gave him a disgusted look.

“Quiet.” Marrow slapped Worms in the forehead for talking too loud.

“Hey!”

“As for you,” Marrow grabbed Maggot’s earlobe and pulled so his head had to follow.

“Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!”

Marrow let go and Maggot’s head clunked into Worm’s head. There was a definite hollow sounding Pop! when they hit.

Jake and Jessica, who were terrified by the sight of the goblins, now had to keep themselves from giggling. Cinnamon floated up from Jessica’s shoulder and sprinkled the two with some dust. Jake and Jessica found their feet lifted off the ground.

“Walkies,” Cinnamon whispered, and Jake and Jessica found they could walk perfectly well in mid-air. Of course, they made no crunching sounds in the air.

“Wait a minute,” They heard Big Tooth rumble. “I smell fairy.”

Cinnamon simply said, “Runnies!”

~*~

“Come along,” Mister Putterwig said with his haughty nose still up in the air. He took Elizabeth’s hand this time without her reaching for his, and they walked for a time is silence. They reached the edge of the woods where a path skirted the trees. Across the path was a big stone wall and that seemed a curiosity to Elizabeth. She had to ask when they came to a gate.

“What is on the other side of the wall?”

Mister Putterwig took her to the gate where they could peek in. “It is a place you don’t want to go. It’s the infinite graveyard, and this being Halloween, it is the one night of the year when the dead rise from their graves.”

“Oh,” Elizabeth saw the grave stones and moved to Mister Putterwig’s other side so she had him between her and the wall.

“Now don’t worry. They can’t go beyond the wall. We are perfectly safe on this side.” And he smiled again as he took her down the walk to the fens.

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

Charmed is a story offered in eleven parts over this October, 2023, leading up to Halloween. The posts go up on the blog on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday through the 31st … So on the 31st, I say to you all Happy Halloween, you know, skeletons that go click-clack in the night.

Reflections Flern-12 part 2 of 3

March 7, 2023January 28, 2023M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Flern and her friends looked across the river and into their village. It looked very different, but familiar at the same time. The houses, barns, workplaces, and market square looked much the same, as did the great hall in the village center, but all around stood a great wall that no one imagined would be there. It looked like the greatest fence ever constructed, made of whole trees driven into the ground, with mortar of some kind filling the little cracks between. It had a walkway all around which would put a man on the inside of the wall, able to see over, some twenty feet down on an enemy.

“I see why they only made those few little stabs at the men,” Flern mused out loud.

“Little stabs?” Karenski, Venislav and Vilder, speaking for the young people, were all amazed at her description. Good men fought, and good men died. But Diogenes knew, and both Mishka and the Princess confirmed, and so Flern knew that the attacks of the Jaccar were no more than sorties, meant to test the strength and determination of the opposing force, and to probe for weaknesses. If the enemy got driven off, all good and well; but it had not been expected. The Jaccar had the village fortified and showed that any confrontation would cost many lives. Now, the Jaccar counted on the attackers being unwilling to lose the lives it would take to break the wall. Only the riverside of the village had no wall. No doubt, the Jaccar assumed the river would act as a wall of its own.

Flern thought for some time. She had goblins, trolls, dwarfs and ogres who could tunnel under the wall before a single night was over. She could call up fire sprites from the deepest depths in the earth and burn the wall, and probably the village, so that would not be a good idea. If she wanted to destroy everyone, her sprites in the sky could bring torrents of rain, and her water sprites could overflow the river. She could flood the village, and the wall would act as a retaining wall to keep the flood waters rising. But she would not do these things. She would never put her little ones in danger if she had another way. And besides, they had every hope that their parents and families were still alive. They planned to save them, not get them killed.

Flern waved to the old woman in the chair that faced them across the river. Then she dismounted and everyone dismounted with her. She went first to Pinn and gave her a hug without a word. She hugged Vilder and then spoke. “Whatever you do, keep the people together.”

“Why? What do you have in mind?” That came from Kined, the smart one. Flern smiled and added a great kiss to her hug.

“I have in mind to face the Wicca first and keep both armies out of it,” Flern said, and stepped back. “All of this fighting is giving me a headache.”

“No. But wait. No.” Several people spoke at once, but Flern turned quickly toward the river.

“It is my job,” she shouted. “I just have to be who I am.” A water bridge formed instantly over the river and Dinester, the naiad stood an imposing twenty feet beside it. That vision made everyone pause just long enough. Flern started over, and as she did, the bridge collapsed behind her so no one could follow her. She had on her armor and weapons, but hoped she would not need any of it, though she might. The Wicca was a power to be reckoned with. She had a thousand Jaccar warriors enchanted to do her will. She had the power to enchant people hundreds of miles away. She had power over certain monsters, even night creatures. When Flern thought about it, she imagined she had little chance against this woman, but she had to try. It might be better not to think about it.

The Jaccar kept a respectful distance as Flern stepped on land. She marched toward the woman in the chair and stopped some twenty feet away. This woman looked old. She looked fragile, with the brittle bones of age and that gaunt look that nevertheless got bloated with fat in certain places. She did not look long for this world. But with all that, Flern reminded herself that this woman remained a power to be reckoned with. She was half human and half god, and Flern thought she knew who that god might be, but thus far, she had only circumstantial evidence. Flern waited for the woman to speak.

“Do you dance?” the Wicca asked. Flern said nothing as the woman continued. “Circle, circle. We need a circle for the dance.” The Wicca raised a boney finger and slowly drew a circle in the air. The ground trembled and a circle, cleared of grass, slowly formed on the ground some forty feet in diameter with the chair just outside, but with Flern in the middle. “Let us see how my servants dance.” She clapped her hands, and a half-dozen imps appeared around Flern.

The imps immediately began to dance and chant. They reached down and pulled up grass and dirt to sprinkle at her as they danced. Flern put her hands to her hips and frowned. The imps were brought from the east, and like all the Wicca’s slaves, they were uprooted from their families. After a minute, the imps stopped, and one spoke to the Wicca.

“I doesn’t seem to be affecting her.” The Wicca did not look happy.

“Let’s see how you deal with their bigger companion.” She clapped again and an ogre appeared. The ogre needed a minute to get his bearings, and Flern covered her grinning mouth.

“Stonecrusher,” Flern named the beast. “Gods you are an ugly brute.”

“I am,” Stonecrusher said with a touch of pride. He reached for Flern, and he did not move slow, but Flern had some superspeed from one of the gifts given to Wlvn. She slapped that hand on the knuckle and the ogre yelped. “Ouch!” He pulled his hand back just as fast as he put it out and he stuck the whole finger in its mouth. He looked at Flern, dumbfounded.

Flern got tired of this game. “Stonecrusher, and all of you imps. You are free of the control of the Wicca. Now go home.” She did not clap her hands. She merely waved and they all vanished.

“No!” The Wicca stood in protest, but then sat again as she decided on another avenue. “Let us see how you dance with my pet,” she said, and with another clap, a great black bear appeared in the ring.

Flern immediately shot up some twenty feet in the air. Another gift to Wlvn, she remembered. The bear stood but it could not get at her. Flern pulled her sword and used the flat on the bear’s head, like she did once before in the wilderness. Even standing, the bear’s paws were too short to reach up at her. After a couple of good clonks on the head, the bear had enough. It whined, fell to all fours, and waddled off to the river where it swam around the village wall and headed for the wilderness.

Flern had her sword put itself away because she had not practiced doing that, and she figured it would be a good show for the watching Jaccar. The Wicca had something to say. “You cheat.” She clapped her hands again and ten ghouls surrounded her. “Try to cheat with these.” She laughed.

Flern only hesitated a moment before she began to run at super speed. But Flern did not run away. She ran in the circle, which made everyone watching her get dizzy, including the Wicca and the ghouls.

The ghouls tried to grab her, but they were too slow and awkward, a weakness. They began to bunch up, but eventually one thought to stick out his arm and let her run into it. Unfortunately for the ghoul, Flern saw, and she arrived filled with the strength of Thor. She grabbed the ghoul and dragged him around after her, before she ripped the arm right out of its socket. Flern had no sympathy for ghouls. They ate human souls.

Flern ran once around, slapping each ghoul in the face with the arm. The ghouls got knocked back, and she felt that gave her the room she needed. By the time the ghouls remembered their weapons, Flern already had her sword out. She did not use the flat side this time but cut a deep gash in the middle of every ghoul she passed until she came to a halt, once again in the center of the circle, now surrounded by ten puddles of purple and green puss. Flern, however, did not have time to amaze herself at the ease of overcoming ten ghouls since another creature already arrived on the field.

Flern took a step back. The night creature was the only thing she truly feared.

Reflections Flern-12 part 1 of 3

March 6, 2023January 22, 2023M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Three four wheeled, double-axle wagons, each drawn by a double team of horses—a terrible breach of the temporal order—stopped just outside the village beneath the mountain pass. Scores of gnomes of various sorts, some like imps and some like dwarfs, swarmed all over the wagons, greased every joint, checked all the stress points, tracked the cargo, and set the horses free to be groomed and fed.

Some hundred and twenty light elves: elves, brownies, kobold and various fairies came behind the wagons and camped at a distance beneath the village, along the Dnepr River. They would be joined by thirty elves from Miroven, the ones led by Laurel that Flern thought of as her own personal guardians. Fifty sturdy dwarfs with three ogres under Balken’s command would march beside them, down from Movan Mountain. In the night, more than a hundred dark elves, goblins mostly with a couple of trolls, would move down the mountain to guard the precious cargo in the hours of darkness.

That precious cargo in the wagons was the promised bronze, weapons in the first wagon – swords, spears and plenty of arrows. The second wagon carried mostly weapons as well, but on Flern’s insistence it also carried some plows, hoes and such tools that would benefit the people. The third wagon held the tools and pieces to put together their own forge along with enough raw material to get them started. Pinn and the boys had high hopes once they set their families free. Thrud and Vinnu were pregnant and just wanted to get home.

Eight young people and Riah the elf, wearing a glamour to make her appear human, with Goldenwing at rest and hidden in her horse’s mane, rode ahead to meet the village elders and the waiting travelers. The travelers spent six months moving down the Dinester and back up the Dnepr drumming up support in every town and village along the way. There were presently some four hundred people, mostly men and mostly hunters camped on the grasslands across the river to the east.

“Good to see you.” Venislav was the one who spoke for the village. “Our food stores are exhausted.”

Flern figured that. “I have people bringing game and bread from the Brugh and others bringing in a whole herd from the wilderness between the rivers.”

“Good to hear,” Tird said. He rode on horseback beside Venislav. Trell, hair greased down which made him almost unrecognizable, rode beside Karenski of the travelers.

“Where are the girls?” Pinn asked.

“Vincas and Arania?” Flern remembered.

“Measuring their tummies,” Trell said with a straight face before he grinned and gave a sideways glance at Tird who returned the grin.

“Vinnu and Thrud are pregnant, too,” Flern said

“Flern and I are still working on it,” Pinn added.

“Children.” That was all Karenski said before they turned to ride into the village. They were going to feast that night, pass out weapons in the morning, and from the way some of the elders acted, hopefully leave in the afternoon. Flern knew it would not be quite so easy.

It was Vilder who nudged Pinn and that got Flern’s attention. Venislav and Karenski also paid attention as it seemed they agreed to stick close to Flern. “There are campfires there at the foot of the pass.” Vilder pointed. Flern shook her head. It was not Movan or Miroven. She did not know who they might be. But it appeared as if three people headed their way.

“Ah,” Venislav made the sound before he spoke. “They came down the pass two days ago and claim to be from the other side of the mountain and the plateau, though I cannot imagine it. They say the plateau is full of monsters.”

“Hello!” One of the oncoming three waved and yelled. Vilder at least returned the wave. The other waited until they were close enough for Pinn to shout.

“Fritt!” When they got closer, Pinn’s word became a question. “Fritt?” Fat Fritt no longer looked fat.

“Nadia.” Flern recognized the girl and gave her a sisterly kiss in greeting before she remembered she never met the girl. Wlvn did. Nadia looked embarrassed, even if it had been explained to her. Fortunately, the third member of their party took everyone’s attention when he dropped to one knee.

“Mother of old,” he said.

Flern remembered the young man from her brief time on the plateau, or rather Faya’s time. “Horan. My name is Flern if you don’t mind. I’m not sure I like the old part.”

“From the plateau?” Pinn asked. She wanted to be sure.

Flern knew what she was asking. She nodded. He was Were, a shape shifter who had the good sense to appear human. “Come on,” she said. “We are going to eat food.”

At the door to the main building, which would not be nearly big enough for all the chiefs, Flern ran into Elluin. She also looked pregnant and very glad to see them. She made a point of saying that Drud had been good that whole time. Flern did not exactly believe her when she noticed that Drud stayed conspicuously absent from the festivities.

“I’m feeling left out,” Pinn complained. She did not have to spell it out that she wanted a baby. Flern took her arm as they went inside.

“We will just have to work at it harder,” she said, and got lost for a minute in her own thoughts.

In the morning took all day. They had a limited number of swords and spears to hand out and tried to get them into the right hands. They had the ungodly number of a thousand arrows with bronze tips. Everyone got two.

Miroven and Movan arrived in time for breakfast, which did wonders for the food supply. It also scared some of the locals and the travelers when they heard the food came from the Brugh. That great forest was seen as the land of ghosts and spirits and unnatural things. Flern wisely had the troops camp beside the Were, well away from the village and the sight of men.

It did not get much better when her gnomes brought in the herd from the land between the rivers that evening. Flern had a makeshift pen constructed that used a natural bend in the river. It gave all those men something to do other than sit around and gripe. But then, she insisted her gnomes stay invisible when they brought in the beasts, and it got hard for some of the men to watch the beasts they normally hunted willingly move into captivity unguided by any hands. Of course, some by then had settled on the idea that Flern was the witch. Curiously, that comforted many of the men, like they had a secret weapon.

As the sun set, Karenski took up speaking where Venislav left off. “I see you have men camped some distance below the wagons and have not brought them up to join the other men.” From a distance, they mostly looked like men.

Flern stood with Kined to watch the sunset and she took Kined’s hand while he spoke. “Not a good idea.”

“They don’t mix well,” Flern added.

Karenski looked thoughtful. “And also, I know the ones camped at the foot of the pass are more than we can see. We know them only by the fires they light in the night.”

“Best to leave them alone,” Kined said.

Karenski nodded. “But to be curious, may I ask how many fighters you have brought?”

“Enough to double the number of men camped on the grasses.”

“So many?” Karenski acted surprised, but it appeared to be an act. Venislav spoke then what was on his mind.

“So, what do we do next?”

“We leave in the morning,” Flern said, and squeezed Kined’s hand. “It will take the men close to a week to cross the land between here and our village. The ones by the pass will stay above them the whole way and the ones below the wagons will stay below them. That way the Jaccar will not be able to sneak around and surprise the men from the side or from the rear.”

“Such wisdom, and from children,” Karenski smiled.

“I almost wish the Jaccar would get around behind the men in the night,” Kined said, and he grinned as he thought about it.

Flern quickly explained. “There is a third group who will follow behind the men. It would be best if you did not ask about them at all.”

“I see,” Karenski sounded thoughtful again. “I think I better go tell my people to stay close to their homes in the night.”

“Yes, me too,” said Venislav

“Good idea,” Flern said. Vilder, Gunder and Tiren were presently telling the men in the camp that very thing.

Reflections Flern-10 part 1 of 3

February 20, 2023January 22, 2023M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Less than an hour after sunset, they came to a mountain town. It stood perched on the side of the mountain itself, so it did not encroach on the plateau above. Indeed, a stockade wall had been built between the village and the plateau, and Wlvn understood it kept the villagers from violating the land of the Were even as it protected the village during the times of the wolf moon.

Wlvn felt the hair on the back of his head rise again and again as he walked the town. It got worse when he heard the people speak. The language remained unknown to Kined and the couples. Riah and Bricklebrains could understand and respond in any language known to humanity, so Wlvn knew they would have to depend on translations at that point. It got worse still when a lovely young woman came to stand in their way and spoke.

“She wants to know how it is that elves and dwarfs travel with mere mortals,” Riah said.

Wlvn said nothing at first but stepped up for a closer look at the girl. When he spoke, it was only one word. “Raini?” The look on the girl’s face said she knew that name, and she responded with a string of words that Wlvn mostly grasped.

“My ancestral mother. How do you know this? She was in the days of Faya, the beautiful, when we first came to live beside the plateau of the Were. Faya made peace with the Were when all the world was at war, and Raini made peace across the plains for she was a great warrior, daughter of Vrya herself, goddess of love and war,” Riah translated.

Wlvn nodded as he grasped for understanding. After a moment, he left that place so Faya herself could fill his place. The girl screamed, but quickly stopped screaming as a crowd gathered in the twilight.

“I was born and raised here,” Faya told the others. “Youngest of nieces, do you have a name?”

“Who are you?” the young girl stammered.

“I am Faya, come home for the night.” Faya’s words and syntax were a bit old, like someone in the twenty-first century speaking Shakespearean English, but she was understandable. The young girl and several of those gathered genuflected as if confronted by a goddess while others ran off as if they had seen a ghost.

“I am Nadia. They say I am named after one of your aspects.” The girl lowered her eyes. “But to be sure, I never believed the old legends. Not exactly.” It came out as a real confession, and Faya lifted the girl’s chin and shared a radiant smile that glowed with life, health, and the brightness of the sun.

“My grandniece, Nadia. We seek only shelter for the night. Is there a place where we can be safe?”

“Yes. I mean, yes. I know just the place. It is outside the town on the road down to the plains below. It is where many traders stay and where the metal merchants come. I will take you there.”

Faya explained and they followed after the girl while Faya spoke. “You are very like Raini, you know.”

“How could I be?” Nadia sounded uncertain about this whole thing. “They say she was filled with love and the most beautiful woman who ever lived but only for yourself.” Nadia paused to glance up at Faya. “And I never saw such beauty as yours.”

“But I pale compared to your greatest grandmother. You should see her, the goddess of love herself, and of war.”

“Yes.” Nadia jumped a little. “I always thought I would be good with a bow and even a sword, like yours. But the men won’t let me.”

“Their loss.”

“They say my ancestor Raini could fight better then the best and that she even beat the son of Thor in battle. That must have been glorious.”

“It was scary, and complicated,” Faya responded as honestly as she could without getting into an all-night story. “The gods themselves were at war in those days and Raini and Vrya were right in the middle of it all. They loved it, but to be honest, I was more reluctant.”

Nadia fell silent for a moment before she came out with another, deeper thought. “I pray to the goddess every night. Well, every night that I remember to pray, and I ask to find love, a true love.”

“Why don’t you ask to see her? Maybe she can explain what she has in mind. I am sure with Vrya’s blood in your veins, she might be willing to pay a brief visit. I don’t know, but it never hurts to ask.”

“I never thought—” Nadia took a deep breath. “I would be so afraid. I could never ask for such a special thing. Why, the wise men and women themselves have never seen one of the gods in all their days.”

Kined spoke up from behind where Riah dutifully translated the conversation for them all. “That’s because they never got to hang around with Flern, or Wolven or Faya or Doktor Mishka or the Princess or Diogenes or, did I forget anyone?”

“Nameless,” Pinn said.

“Of course, the god himself.”

“Wolven mentioned Amphitrite. He said she was a goddess married to a god of the sea, though I can’t remember his name,” Vilder said.

“Poseidon,” Kined offered.

“But Faya isn’t Poseidon,” Thrud said.

“No, Amphitrite, his wife” Vilder repeated.

“What about the Storyteller?” Gunder asked.

“Haven’t met her yet,” Vinnu assured her husband.

“Him, I think,” Pinn said.

By the time they reached the inn that actually had six empty beds much to everyone’s joy, Bricklebrains had to push up front and translated in turn for Nadia. They were all engaged in a serious discussion as they went in and Faya had to clap her hands and show off a bit of light like a flash picture to get their attention.

“I am going to see if I can get some word on Fritt as soon as I settle up here.” She turned in time to see an older gentleman come out from a back room.

“Welcome to my humble home,” he said as he looked twice and then a third time at Faya.

“Father,” Nadia said to no one’s surprise. “This is Faya, returned to us.”

Father smiled. “The red hair, and certainly beautiful if I may say. Named after the legend?”

“No, Father. You don’t understand. This is the legend.”

Nadia’s father had to wrench his eyes away from swallowing Faya to look at his daughter. “Don’t be silly.” He returned to Faya and became as much business as he could. “We take all kinds of trade for the rooms and food. What do you have to offer?” It was clear what he wanted her to offer.

Faya frowned and shooed Nadia back to the others. She clapped her hands again and shouted in a particular way. “Batwings and Dross. Here, now.” She pointed at the floor in front of her and the two goblins were obliged to appear. Nadia’s mother, who followed her husband, came out just then, took one look at the goblins, and fainted. The man gasped and stepped back. Nadia let out a little shriek, though it was quieter than the earlier scream. The others all laughed, to Nadia’s surprise.

Batwings had a black eye and Dross had a bloody lip. Faya grabbed a shallow bowl and ordered the two to empty their pockets. She let Dross keep the rat and let Batwings keep his mold collection. She confiscated the brass knuckles and bronze knife and that left several gold nuggets, a couple of rubies and a diamond. “Here.” She handed it to Nadia’s father. “This should be good for two nights plus as much food as they want.” She turned back to the goblins and shook her finger at them. “Stop fighting, now back to where you came from.” Faya clapped again and the two goblins disappeared. “Not that they will listen,” Faya sighed for the group. “Now I go.”

Faya stepped out the door and all eyes followed her. She immediately turned into a great owl, one with scarlet feathers that reflected her flaming red hair, and she took off for the plateau.

Reflections Flern-9 part 3 of 3

February 15, 2023January 22, 2023M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Once the enchantment had been removed, the dark elves turned out to be an affable people, quick to talk about the weather, life under the earth, and working the rich veins of metal and precious stone that mother earth provided. Thrud hated being underground and cried a lot, so Tiren often had to focus on her. Vinnu never got over being frightened, just to look at the goblins, so Gunder had his hands full as well. Kined, Vilder and Pinn, by contrast, were all ears, especially when the goblins talked about the bronze. By the time they reached the other side of the mountains, they had a good idea of how to work and blend the metals to produce the high-grade composite.

They came to a big cave that first night, one that had been worked and expanded over the years. Bricklebrains felt right at home in the cave, but he felt wary about the company. Riah did not mind the company so much, since her people had not had a run-in with goblins in a long time, but she said she felt likely to suffocate in the caves if she did not soon get out into the fresh air. Wlvn stayed non-committal about the whole thing and would have been content to sit back through the whole journey if there had not been that argument in the night.

“What are they on about?” Bricklebrains asked. The goblins camped a bit apart from the travelers so as not to interfere with their night sleep. Goblins were creatures of the night and apt to be up at all hours.

“Seeing who gets what part to eat once we fall asleep.” Vinnu could not help it. The words just popped out of her mouth. Everyone ignored her except Gunder who held her.

“Wondering which way to go?” Pinn suggested.

“How they find their way in this underground maze is beyond me,” Vilder agreed.

“The nose.” Bricklebrains tapped his nose like a person might tap the side of their head. “Can’t you just smell them? I smell trolls, come to think of it.”

“I can’t smell anything,” Riah admitted. “I can’t hardly breathe down here. It is so stuffy.”

“Stuffy is not the word I would use,” Thrud said. “It smells like a grave if you ask me.”

“Hush,” Tiren said softly, and turned Thrud’s head back into his shoulder.

Kined got ready to add his thoughts when a goblin stood and said, “Lord,” loud and clear. Wlvn sighed. He hoped he could stay out of it.

Two goblins came over with Goldenstone. Wlvn named them as Batwings and Dross. Goldenstone did the talking. “We got an argument brewing and wonder if you could help us settle things.”

“I heard,” Wlvn said.

“Well, you see Lord. It’s about all the hardware you are carrying. Dross here says it was made by the gods what with you being counted among them and all, but Batwings insists it is elf made. He says his family proudly made some of it back in the ancient years.”

“Let’s see.” Wlvn pulled out his sword. It gleamed in the firelight, though how the goblins managed a fire underground that did not smoke them all to death was a magic beyond any the humans could imagine. He handed the sword to Goldenstone to examine, and Vinnu shrieked softly.

“Are you mad?”

Wlvn just smiled as Goldenstone turned the blade to the ground in order to examine the area around the handle. “The runes here are kinda small,” he said.

“Unauthorized,” Wlvn told him. “No permission from Aesgard to use runes.”

Goldenstone did not look up but nodded. “More than likely. It says property of the Kairos, but we know that.” Goldenstone turned it over and then turned it over again. “Sorry Batwings, I don’t see your family mark. But then I don’t see any mark.”

“Check the handle,” Wlvn suggested.

“Naw, they always mark the metal,” Dross insisted.

“Not when they are using unauthorized runes,” Wlvn countered.

“Good point,” Dross conceded, and they checked the handle and Batwings fairly shouted.

“Aha! There it is. My family mark, just like on Thor’s hammer. This sword was strictly elf made. No god ever touched it.” Batwings puffed out his chest. “My family is the best in the business. The gods themselves come to us for what they need.”

“Let me see that.” Dross made a grab for the sword.

“Hey!” Batwings had one hand already on the handle while Goldenstone still held it. They began to tussle for it, and someone yelled.

“Fight!”

Vinnu buried her face in Gunder’s chest. She did not want to watch. Kined, quite to the contrary, had to keep himself from laughing. He started adjusting to the idea of having at least some second-hand responsibility for all of these spirits of the earth. Riah caught Kined’s feelings and stifled her own laugh.

Wlvn just sighed again and snapped his finger, and with a word the sword vanished from the hands of the goblins and reappeared properly sheathed across his back.

“Hey!” All three goblins shouted and swatted at the air with empty hands for a moment before they stopped.

“I told you it was elf made,” Batwings smirked.

Dross turned red in the face. “Your family got no finesse. We make everything worth having, like the amulet of peace and prosperity. That was one of ours.” Dross raised a fist. Batwings responded by raising both of his fists. Goldenstone backed up to get out of the way. Wlvn spoke up.

“Gentlemen, we have guests. Please behave yourselves. I have heard this argument before and it is pointless, but at least you could wait until we are finished with this little journey.”

Batwings and Dross both lowered their fists slowly, but they snarled at each other before they smiled for Wlvn. “Of course, Lord. As you say. We can always settle matters later. Journey first.” And they backed away with a few bows before they rejoined the group of goblins on the other side of the cave where, truth be told, some looked disappointed that there would not be a brawl.

“So, your weapons are elf made?” Vilder had to ask, and Wlvn responded by pulling out his long knife. He handed it over with a word.

“Bronze. The dark elves discerned the secret ages ago, but we humans are just discovering it.” They all examined the weapon before they opted for sleep, not to say that Vinnu, Thrud or Riah got much sleep. Bricklebrains also felt inclined to stay up most of the night, since he had little trust of goblins.

After two days, they saw sight of the setting sun through a cave entrance and Thrud dropped the reins of her horse and made a run for it. She collapsed just outside the entrance and breathed like she had been holding her breath the whole time she was underground. Riah also took deep breaths, but it was because the stink underground finally got to her, or so she said.

Wlvn made Kined stand beside him when he said good-bye to Goldenstone and the other goblins, and then they all started out together, still walking their horses over the rough, rock-strewn upper mountain path.

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

MONDAY

They arrive in the village where Faya grew up and find great-grandchildren there. Faya is prompted to search for Fritt, but the Jaccar and a powerful witch arrive. Until Monday, Happy Reading