Pookah

Golden Door Chapter 3 Separation, part 1 of 2

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Chris felt the presence tromping along beside him, but by a great effort of will, he ignored it. He did speak once. “You divided us and now all four of us are lost and alone in this strange land. David has only just turned twelve and James is only nine. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

The invisible thing, whatever it was, did not respond, though it seemed to back off a little. Even so, with all that concentration on trying to not be frightened, it came as no surprise when Chris made a wrong turn. He did not recognize that portion of the forest. He saw a boulder and a stump which he felt sure he had never seen before, and now, since it was just about dark, he thought to sit and rest with the hope that he might catch his bearings.

“Sorry.” He heard the whisper nearby. “I’m a Pookah.”

A spooka, Chris thought, and he also thought to move on before the hair on the back of his neck, which already stood up, took the better part and started running off without him. Besides, he heard something up ahead and wondered if it might be one of the boys.

“So, what? It’s your job?” Chris mumbled as he started off. He did not hear an answer, but he felt the affirmation come from the Pookah, and he seriously had to struggle to keep his feet to a steady pace.

After a short walk, the sound of snoring assured him that whatever it might be, it was not Beth or one of his brothers. He got extra curious when he got close, and the presence of the Pookah went away. It occurred to him that if this, whatever it was, could frighten an invisible creature, he might not want to get too close. He saw it asleep against a tremendous boulder. It looked as big as the boulder, and snored, just across a small clearing where it looked like someone let a campfire get out of control. Chris saw bits of sheep and sheep bones scattered about. He might have gagged, if the smell of roast lamb did not make him feel so hungry. He took a closer look.

The creature had the body of a giant-sized goat, with a goat’s tail, and it had goat horns on a lion head. The legs and claws appeared lion-like, which suggested the creature might be very fast on the ground; but then it also had great leathery wings and a snake like neck which made Chris think of a dragon. Given what he had already seen in the world, the idea of a dragon did not seem all that strange. He decided to treat this as a sleeping dog—or goat-lion-dragon thing, best left alone, and he started to back out the way he came. But by then it had become quite dark, and he could not help cracking twigs as he walked. After one sharp crack, he considered running, even in the dark. Fortunately, a sudden breath of fire from the creature was more than enough light to show Chris exactly where to place his running feet.

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“Beth.” The voice floated on the wind and moaned as it called her name. “Your days have been numbered, and it is time for you to die.” The voice sounded very certain about that.

Beth crouched down a little lower in the tall grass and shivered. She would have stopped running much earlier if that darn hoot owl had not screeched at her in the dark. She imagined a giant owl to match the rest of the landscape, and she imagined it swooping down on her, like an owl might swoop down on a mere mouse. As she thought about it, she decided that it might have been a regular sized owl. Of course, when it hooted, she had not been thinking at all, just running. Now she found herself completely separated from the others and hiding in an open field in the middle of the forest. She looked up and felt glad for the glow of the half-moon above, and the shine of the stars which seemed countless, as stars can only appear in the wilderness. It seemed as if she had never seen the stars before, and she would have found it a beautiful sight if not for the voices calling her and talking about her death.

“Be-eth.” A second voice called; a distinctly female voice, like the other voice. “Even you cannot escape the banshee call.”

“Beth. We are coming for you,” a third voice called.

Beth hardly knew what to do. She waited to see where these female creatures would emerge from the trees before she ran in the opposite direction, and she used those few precious moments to settle her heart and catch her breath. She saw them soon enough; three women with hair to their ankles and dressed in what looked like floor length nightgowns. They floated a foot or two off the ground and glowed like the moon. Beth stared for a moment, trying to decide if they looked like angels or ghosts. She finally decided neither image described these women. They had something plainly wicked, even demonic in their looks.

“Beth.” One called as she cupped one hand to her mouth.

“Beth.” A second echoed while the third turned her head all the way around without turning her body in the least. Beth got ready to run back the way she had come, when her eyes got distracted by someone who ran on to the field from the other side.

“Chris,” she cried out, but Chris took two more steps before he dove for the ground. A lion head with two great goat-horns got pushed onto the field by a long snake-like neck. The lion roared and a stream of flame shot directly over Chris’ head. “Chris!” Beth yelled again, but Chris got up as soon as the flame stopped and already swerved in Beth’s direction. Beth glanced at the shrieking banshees, a good thing because the lion head also got drawn to the sound. Beth did not have to be told to run. Chris caught her and they ran together as the three banshees began to rise-up into the night sky. The creature brought its great body on to the field, and without even glancing at the two youngsters who disappeared back into the woods, it opened its leathery wings and took to the sky in pursuit of new prey.

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MONDAY

So much for not getting separated. Fortunately there is a light in the darkness and they are all drawn to find out what it is. Until Monday, Happy Reading

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Golden Door Chapter 2 The Lay of the Land, part 2 of 2

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

The children did not go very far before arriving at a pool of stagnant water where they paused to breathe and listen. They heard no pursuit, but all the same, they walked around the pool on the side that took them away from the giants.

“It will be dark soon,” Beth remarked. She looked around at the trees and sky and did not appear happy about the idea of spending the night in that forest.

“That’s all right,” Chris said, from a bit further on. “I think we’ve come to the hill.”

“Yeah.” David nodded and spoke as quietly as he could. “The castle is on the hill.”

Sadly, it turned out to be only a small rise whose backside held a meadow full of flowers. The flowers were in full bloom and the aroma of so many varieties smelled overwhelming. They were well down into the meadow before they noticed the bees. One buzzed past Chris’ head, and he asked.

“What was that? A bird?”

“Bee.” David answered through gritted teeth. His eyes closed, his hands made fists he held up to his chin, his body became as tense as possible, and he stood as still as he could while a bee buzzed in front of him and tried to decide if he might be a flower.

Everyone else looked around and discovered they were in the middle of a swarm, and the bees were like none they had ever seen, being the size of Chris’ fist. “Giant bees,” Chris said softly.

“Figures.” James spoke even more softly. He stared at the hive in a tree if it was not the whole tree.

“Back up everyone, slowly. Back the way we came,” Beth said, though her words were unnecessary since James and Chris were already doing that very thing. David also moved, though he went a bit more swiftly once the bee decided that he was not a flower after all.

They came to the little rise and went back over to the other side before anyone dared exhale; but now, aware of the bees, they saw that some had wandered as far as the stagnant pool in search of nectar.

When the family got back to that water, Beth screamed. She could not help it. She saw a snake swim across the surface of the pool, and she hated snakes. Of course, chances are the snake scurried away thinking that Beth’s scream was some predatory bird out for a late day snack; but then the children had to stand still for another minute and listen again. They strained against the sound of the wind and rustling leaves to see if they attracted anything unwanted. They all twitched nervously, but David, one especially inclined to be jumpy, did not imagine he could take much more. He stood a little apart and faced the others, his body as tense as it had been in the bee field, his hands still in fists.

“Boo!” David heard that in his ear as clear as a bell. He felt the presence behind him, and he screamed. He could not help it any more than Beth; and he also could not help what his feet did as he began to run for his life.

“Davey!” Chris and James yelled together.

“We have to stick together,” Beth said more quietly, with a hard glance at the yellers. She began to follow in David’s direction, and she noticed the sun had nearly set at her back. “At least he ran away from the giants.”

Chris followed. James brought up the rear and shook his head.

While pushing through an area of thick underbrush, James’ shirt got caught on a thorn bush. He had to stop to get himself free and remove a few burrs he picked up along the way.

“A little lamb.” James heard the words clearly. He felt startled, but not frightened. He thought it might be a person just out of sight. There might have still been light by the sea where they first came into the world, but in among the trees, the darkness had come up fast and James could not see well in the twilight. The colors had already faded to gray.

“Who are you?” James asked. He tried not to tremble.

“Pookah,” the answer came, but it did not get followed by the person.

“Show yourself,” James demanded.

“But I’m right beside you,” Pookah said.

James felt his hair stand up and a chill run down his spine. He spun around but found nothing to see. “Go away!” he yelled, like he sometimes yelled at his brother David. “Leave me alone. Go away!”

“See if I help you!” Pookah snapped back at him, and James heard the footsteps of something big. He saw the grass crushed and the bushes pushed out of the way, but Pookah stayed invisible.

James added his own scream to the late afternoon air. He sounded and acted very much like David as he ran from the invisible monster. It hardly mattered. Chris and Beth had neither heard James nor saw him stop and had moved on. James might not have found them again in any case.

“I don’t think David went much farther than this,” Chris said at last. He attempted to halt his sister. “After his panic I would guess David doubled back to try and find us, especially now that it is getting dark. We must have missed him.”

Beth stopped walking, but she honestly did not listen. Her eyes focused on the evening shadows of the trees that darkened as the last of the light began to vanish. She did not feel thrilled with the shapes of some of those shadows and decided that she would not enjoy spending the night in the woods. “But we have to find him. We have to stick together,” she said at last.

“This way.” Chris pointed, turned, and started walking. He tried to keep a careful eye on their progress while Beth shouted for David. He believed he could find the way back, at least to the stagnant pool.

Beth paused long enough for one last look around her immediate area. She heard a voice. “Will you join me for supper?” She felt the hot breath on the back of her neck and something that wasn’t there licked her neck and ear. Beth ran. She shrieked. She said “Eew!” and wiped her ear and neck clean of the slimy lick, and while she managed not to scream, she ran all the same.

“Beth?” Chris turned back around at the sound of his sister’s distress. “Beth?” He called a little louder but heard no response. “James?” he called. He thought his little brother had been right on his heels, but James was not there. Three of the four children had run off, and poor Chris now stood there all alone in the dark, in the midst of a forest that did not exist on Earth. “Beth? James? David?” He tried once more.

“Dave’s not here.” Chris heard the words and he decided he had better start walking. He could wait for the others by the pool, and hope that they might show up soon.

Avalon 2.6: Boston in the Dark

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            Elder Stow became unnaturally verbal and asked questions about his people and another people called the Elenar at that point in history.  After being assured that they should be allies and not fighting each other, the Gott-Druk decided to take a short side trip.  Unfortunately, in the snow storm, Boston unwittingly followed and then loses sight of the Elder whereupon she finds herself alone, in the dark, in the snow, in the middle of a war zone.

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            “Hello?”  Boston called out several times, but the smoke from the fires and the falling snow conspired to deaden her every sound.  Boston got down and got out her Beretta, belt and all.  She buckled the belt around her hips and added her hunting knife to the ensemble, just in case.  She checked to be sure the gun came easily to her hand and patted her horse’s neck.

            “Don’t worry, Honey,” she said.  “We will find them again, soon.”  Honey simply blew out a great puff of white air in answer while Boston got out her fairy weave tent.  It took some time and serious adjustments to the fairy weave, but soon she had Honey covered in a late medieval style blanket that had holes for the horse’s head and tail and fit snugly around the saddle.  It fell to six inches from the ground and warmed the horse nicely.  “Of course one virtue of the fairy weave is I can command it to shorten to uncover your legs if we need to ride out of a bad situation.”  Honey simply nodded his head.

            One more reassuring pat on the horse’s neck and Boston stepped to the nose and took the reins.  She checked the amulet to get her direction.  She knew Roland would stay true to the direction even in the worst of the storm, but they might move on as much as a mile before they noticed she was missing.  She checked the ground, but whatever prints Elder Stow may have made with Decker’s horse were long since wiped out by the snow and wind.

            “Better move,” she said and they started to walk.  Boston felt reasonably certain that she could parallel the group and if she could find a rise or hilltop, she might be able to see them in the wilderness.  It was a long shot, but then she had the amulet.  The better chance was for her to find the Kairos, Tetamon and let him help her find the others

            The snow slacked off as she walked, and the wind dropped down to where it only became rough in the occasional gusts that made her turn her head to one side or the other.  It was terribly dark in the woods, but there were more clearings, fields and meadows than before so it gave the illusion that she was getting somewhere.  “It is getting very cold,” Boston admitted, but she kept walking.  She knew Honey was terribly hungry as was she, but she walked to not overtax her poor horse.  There was no telling when she might have to move quickly.

            Boston stopped before they entered a particularly dark and thick copse of trees.  She wondered if she could do what she had seen Roland, Mingus and Alexis do.  This magic business was all so new to her.  She never imagined doing such things before.  She understood what the Sybil said back in Zoe’s world.  By the time she got old enough to begin to show some signs of power she had already convinced herself that such things were impossible.  She wondered briefly how many people back in her own day would never know what they were capable of because the world said it was impossible.

            Honey nudged Boston with his nose and Boston grinned.  “Alright, just give me a minute.”  She focused on her open palm.  A light began to grow over her palm which almost went out when she got excited.  She quickly stuffed down her excitement and stayed focused until the light strengthened.  When it was about as bright as she reasonably felt she could make it, she let it float up into the air.  It was trickier than she thought.  She had to keep part of her mind trained on it now and then to keep it lit and floating, and it took something out of her to do that.

            Finally, she managed to set the light a few feet above her head and a few feet out front, and she began to walk into the dark trees.  Honey snorted and followed.  It was only fifteen minutes through that little section of dark, but that was enough and about all Boston could handle.  Roland said the more she did, the more strength she would build, like exercising a muscle, but Boston could already see that she would never be in the same league with someone like Alexis or the elves.  That was fine.  She was amazed she could do anything at all.

            There was an open field on the other side of the dark woods.  Boston checked her amulet once more and climbed up on Honey’s back.  She was tired before.  Now she was exhausted.  That was something else about magic she never understood before.  It was not free.  It took something out of the magician.

            The open field proved to not be as big as Boston hoped, but by the time she got to the other side the snow had stopped and the clouds had begun to clear off.  The moon was still up and a great help to see since she was finally far enough from the fires to where they were no help at all.  When she entered the woods on the other side she was glad she did not have to make another fairy light.

            “Hello, witch.”  Boston heard a voice by her right shoulder and jumped before she spurred Honey to a run.  She ducked down flat, held Honey around the neck and let the horse avoid the trees and other obstacles, which horses will do for a short way.  Rather quickly, Honey slowed again to a walk and Boston caught her breath.  She strained her ears and heard some huffing and puffing catching up.  She pulled her gun.

            “Who are you?  Who is there?  Show yourself.”

            “That is some speedy horse you’ve got,” the voice said right next to her and Boston barely kept her finger from pulling the trigger.

            “Who are you and what do you want?”  She demanded an answer and added, “And why can’t I see you?”

            “I’m a pookah, I don’t want to eat you or anything like that if you are worried, and I’m invisible.”

            “So what do you want?”  Boston tried to relax.

            “Nothing,” the pookah said and added, “Witch.”

            Boston got Honey walking again as the horse seemed oblivious to it all.  “I am not a witch,” she protested.

            “Well, you are certainly no sorceress,” the pookah said and Boston kept silent.  The pookah, which appeared content to walk beside her, finally spoke again.  “You’re not from around here,” it said and added, “Come here often?”  Boston thought she heard the thing laugh.

            “Ha, ha!”  Boston was not laughing.  “I’m from further away than you can imagine.”

            “Um, twenty-first century AD, whatever that is, near Washington DC, but grew up near Boston which is why most people call you Boston.”

            Boston thought for a second.  “You read minds?”

            “A little,” the pookah said, and Boston realized there was no point in hiding the matter.  She pulled out her amulet and checked the direction, and the pookah made an interesting remark.  “Part of what I do is mislead travelers in the dark, but I see that will be pointless with you.  That amulet is covered by a magic far stronger than mine.”

            “From the castle of the Kairos,” Boston said.  She felt it was pointless to try and hid it from a mind reader.

            “I understand,” the pookah said.  They walked in silence for a minute before the pookah spoke again.  “I am not with Domnu and her brood if you were wondering.  I would rather be neutral, but since the gods themselves have taken sides it is kind of hard to stay out of it.”

            “What is happening here?  I don’t understand this war.  What is this all about?”  The questions that built up in Boston’s mind since entering that world all tumbled out at once.  It seemed to her that the pookah took a moment to project a sense of peace in her direction, and it also seemed that such a thing was very unusual.  Boston was grateful and quieted, and the pookah talked as they walked.

            “Not long ago, Queen Nerthus willingly gave up her life and went over to the other side.  There was peace then between Aesgard and Vanheim, but the Queen knew there could not be two leaders.  She gave her authority to Odin and moved on.  Now Aesgard claims the west, but Olympus and Karnak both claim large sections of the same territory, so things are not exactly settled.

            “Meanwhile, from long ago, the Queen’s sister Domnu ruled over the islands in her own right.  She bowed to her sister as long as Queen Nerthus was alive, but now she wants to claim all of the ancient lands of Vanheim for her own.  She has brought men to the continent along with many rebellious little spirits including goblins, trolls ogres and others.  Now she has exploited the natural animosity between the elder races and taken the Gott-Druk for her allies, leaving the Elenar to fight for the other side.  So it is Gott-Druk against Elenar, Men against men, spirits against spirits and ultimately gods against gods because Domnu has many children.”

            “Wait, goblins, ogres and trolls?  Don’t they belong to the Kairos?”

            “Yes, and that is one of the things that makes all this so complicated.  You see, the Kairos is leading the fight against Domnu.”

            “And some Little Ones are fighting against their own god?”

            “And do you always do what your god tells you?”

            “Point taken,” Boston said. 

            “I would rather stay out of it altogether, but that is not really possible.  And here we are.”  They came to the edge of the woods where another small clearing stretched out in front of them.

            “Where?” Boston asked as she pulled out her amulet to check again.  She calculated.  “Why you pookah.  You did get me off track, but only a little.”

            It seemed like she could feel the pookah smile.  “Where your Kairos is,  Now, only one last thing to do,” the pookah said and Boston heard it walk away toward the back of her horse.  She turned her head to say good-bye and heard a shocking “Boo” next to her.  She screamed.

            “Now, that tasted good,” the pookah said.  “Witch fright always has a little extra kick to it.  Thanks for the snack,” and the pookah vanished for real as several goblins with long spears and a terribly hungry looking troll came up and surrounded her.

            Boston had put her gun away, and she thought to get down slowly from Honey’s back so as not to make any sudden moves.  Then she swallowed her fear, looked at these creatures of the dark and said what she always wanted to say.  “Take me to your leader.” 

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Avalon 2.6:  Out in the Wilderness … Next Time