by Lee Magnus
“I don’t understand. None of this makes any sense.”
“You will understand when the time comes for you to understand. Also, as you have most likely become aware, the land in which we live provides our lineage with certain abilities. You must remember, the spirit is what controls magic. Magic is intentional. It cannot occur by accident. To utilize it effectively you have to learn to be one with our spirit. You must learn to release your mind as you did to enter this realm. Only then will you be able to use magic to fulfill your destiny. Quiet your mind. Become one with our spirit. These words must endure.”
“What are you talking about? I don’t understand. Lineage? Magic?”
“There will come a time when you will believe. When that time arrives, you will see.”
“I must first believe before I see? What does that even mean?”
“Yes. It is that way with everything in life. You are very wise for your short years. I fear we have lingered too long.” With urgency he said, “The protector of this relic has arrived! You must take the ring and go! Now! Run, Trey! Run!”
Olerand disappeared with the window. Trey felt himself slipping back into consciousness.
He grabbed the ring and woke with a jolt. He looked to find the ring in his open hand. It adjusted in size when he placed it on his right ring finger.
A colossal brown and grey falcon shrieked from above. It dove, grasping Trey with giant talons. It beat powerful wings just twice before broadsided by an airborne wollybrougher sending them all crashing into the pond. Trey rushed out of the water looking over his shoulder at the massive bird thrashing – slinging water and mud all about.
He darted across the shoreline down the hidden trail. He was startled by a familiar burgundy beast running along-side him. Recognizing its helping look, he grabbed a hand full of shaggy coat, then leaped onto its back. Two wollybroughers, one sliver the other black with a navy shimmer, joined in behind.
The falcon took to the air. It swooped down; talons outstretched toward Trey but was deflected by the black wollybrougher. It swooped back around grabbed the silver one on the left, tossed it into a thicket, then rose just out of reach of the black one leaping from the right. It dove again toward Trey, just missing him when Trey leaned precariously to the side of the racing animal. Dashing through the swamp at a break-neck speed, Trey rose from its side, pulling on a think tuft of hair just in time to avoid a passing tree.
The wollybrougher exited the trail into narrowly spaced trees. Trey raised his feet onto its back to avoid injury from the passing trunks. He looked like a small jockey riding an oversized Newfoundland. Branches and leaves battered him as they set a blistering pace through the dense forest.
The creature slowed to a walk as they approached the edge of the swamp. Trey noticed through the trees the falcon circling high above, waiting for them to emerge. The beast paced a few minutes periodically looking into the air, puffing furiously at the impossibility of Trey making it back to the city safely over land. It trotted back into the forest joining the other three in wait.
They set a brisk pace, darting through thickets, changing course periodically but always staying under cover. The falcon occasionally flew low just over the profuse canopy but never ventured into the forest in fear of confrontation with the pack.
They came upon a cave. The burgundy leader regarded the others who stayed behind. Trey dismounted as he was led into the dark dampness of the cave which was about a foot taller than his head. They descended slowly as the light from the opening of the cave behind them completely faded. After a few minutes of darkness, a dim light appeared in the distance ahead. Upon approach, Trey recognized the light coming from a hole in the ceiling. The tunnel widened near the opening.
The wollybrougher stopped just inside the opening not venturing into the light. Trey moved closer to take a look noticing they were most likely between Hoppston and the swamp but was stopped short of the light by a large paw. The wollybrougher drew Trey’s attention to the ground. With an outstretched claw it carved into the cave floor a straight line with several additional lines branching off on either side. He looked at Trey, then back to the drawing. He scraped a claw down the center line then looked at Trey again.
“I understand. Stay on the straight path.”
The wollybrougher turned and disappeared into obscurity.
Antonin
Turning his head from the darkness, Trey noticed his drenched clothing.
“Oh Crap! The Boggers!”
He tossed off the waders and fumbled in his pack for Karl’s medication. He brought his hand into the light and looked intently at the small vile of brown liquid.
“…black and smelly. If not treated quickly it gets worse and requires amputation – and oftentimes, death,” he remembered Karl say.
He downed the minty medicine which ironically reminded him of a chalky drink his mom makes him take when he has an upset stomach.
Pushing away the vicious side effects Karl warned him of, Trey continued through the tunnel for nearly two hours until he heard voices, small voices just ahead past an opening in the tunnel above. Trey became motionless against the edge of the tunnel. The miniscule voices became louder until three imps appeared in the light. One of them looked closely in Trey’s direction before turning into a divergent tunnel.
He whispered silently to himself, “I’d recognize those yellow eyes and orange lips anywhere. Those are the guys that took the key!”
He held his stomach as it rumbled uneasily.
“Stay on the straight path,” he said to himself as he stared down the dark tunnel. “But I have to get home.”
He waited a few minutes in despair then followed them into the side tunnel. The chatty trio were easy to trail in the dark. Trey kept his distance, only stopping when they were quiet. The tunnel twisted into a steep incline with several flights of steps carved into solid rock.
His skin became clammy as cold sweat formed over his brows.
He climbed for what felt like miles on the rocky staircase.
His stomach twisted as his joints ached with each labored movement.
He slowed when he was assaulted by a pungent odor.
“Oh gosh that smell is putrid! It smells like old dirty socks threw up rotten egg salad! Yuck!” he whispered to himself.
He fell to a knee and vomited violently. His head panged afterward.
After regaining his composure, he continued higher until he reached an opening which led to a large cave. His stomach lurched again causing him to empty the remains of his stomach onto the dry steps. The odor was unbearable. His head pounded with each beating pulse.
He stopped to rest and gasped for breath amid hopeless fatigue. His weakened muscles ached. Out of the corner of an eye, he glimpsed an object rapidly approaching. Clumsily, he ducked as a large stone club smashed the rocks above his head showering him with debris. Trey looked up to find a dumb looking troll standing nearly ten feet tall with bulky muscles lifting a huge club made of solid grey stone. Wide set eyes refocused on their target. Quickly, Trey rolled to his feet to avoid another life-ending blow, then dashed into the dark smelly cave.
Hoping for a way out, he scurried toward a dim light while holding onto an aching head. He was distraught to find a small luminescent crystal sphere rather than an exit.
The sphere was among other items which seemed to be thoughtlessly piled – but no magic sack.
He picked up the sphere, which seemed to vary in intensity according to his thoughts on how bright it should be. Befuddled on the possibility, he barely evaded a large stone hurled by the troll.
He grabbed a large bone bladed knife, then used the sphere to find a temporary hiding place. He thought off, then the light disappeared. Shadows glanced off the walls as the troll approached, sniffing furiously.
He leaned against the cold wall holding the hand with the knife on his head, the other wrapped around the sphere on his stomach. All of his joints ached like he had an intense case of the flu. His stoma
ch continued to sporadically lurch. He again, dry heaved uncontrollably.
When his spasms subsided, he noticed a large boulder just taller than the troll. He pocketed the light sphere then ascended the boulder to remain out of view. The troll entered the cavernous space – sniffing the boy out.
With a great moment of courage, Trey propelled himself off the boulder onto the Troll’s wart riddled back. He grabbed hold of its clammy bald head and drove the knife deep into its right eye. It let out a great howl as Trey fell off its back and slammed to the ground.
Trey looked up aching and violently nauseous watching in terrified astonishment as the troll stumbled backward, regained its balance then pulled the knife out along with the eye. It then continued the assault with a massive club in one hand and bloody dangly-eyeballed knife in the other.
The troll towered over Trey with the raised club. Just as it intended to hammer him into a lifeless pulp, three consecutive arrows pierced the head and chest of the monster sending it sprawling down a deep gully.
Astonished to be alive, woozy and dizzy from the boggers medicine, he turned to find a foxlike creature holding a bow walking briskly toward him. Trey feebly pushed himself into a sitting position and sluggishly slid away from the fox’s approach.
“Relax, Mate. No need to be afraid,” he said in a thick Australian accent that Trey found vaguely familiar. The fox replaced the bow on his back and held out his hands in a gesture of trust. “Antonin’s my name. You can call me Ant.”
Through blurry eyes and weary muscles Trey began, “Ok. Uh. I…”
Trey burped, retched, dry heaved then passed out.
~~
“Hey there,” Ant said as Trey slowly opened an eye.
“Wha…” he spit a wad of acrid leaves onto the ground. “Who are you? Where am I? What did you put in my mouth?”
“Take it easy there, Mate. You’ve had a rough time.”
“What do you mean?”
“What do you mean, what do you mean? You talkin about the troll or where you are now or what you’ve been doin for the past hour? What do you remember?”
Trey sat up and leaned toward the warmth of a small fire.
“I’m freezing,” he said as his teeth chattered. What’s happening to me. Why am I so cold?”
“Let’s work backwards, how about that and you stop me when you remember what’s going on. Ok?”
Trey nodded weakly.
“You vomited, passed out and began convulsing, so I assumed you took something like Aravian extract to keep from getting the boggers. Am I right?”
“Yeah. How’d you know?”
“I didn’t know, I just assumed. Good thing to because the rampus weed would have killed you otherwise.”
“Killed me! What?”
“Don’t worry. You’ll be fine. But you’ll probably have a strong headache till tomorrow…and possibly vivid hallucinogenic dreams.”
“More crazy dreams? Just what I need. And the troll?”
“I think he’s gone for good.”
Trey looked at the fire and said, “Thanks for saving me.”
“No problem, Mate. You really had that troll going! What the heck are you doing here anyway? Don’t you know not to go in the mountain?”
“No. I guess not. I followed three imps through underground tunnels. They stole stuff from me yesterday.”
“Imps you say. Hmm. Whatever it was is gone now if those magical misfits have it.
“Magical? What do you mean?”
“Imps possess formidable magic.”
“What kind of magic?”
“I don’t know. It’s just what I was told. I’ve never actually seen one.”
“So, it’s a rumor that may not be true?”
“I know people who have seen it firsthand. Believe me, it’s real.” Ant looked toward the mouth of the cave and said, “We’ll set off to Roberton in the morning.”
“I can’t go back to Roberton. I have to recover my stuff and get to the lake.”
“The lake! No way, Mate! We’d have to cross the river.”
“What do you mean, we?”
“I can’t rightfully leave you to your own, now can I. You would’ve been smashed by the cave troll had I not followed you. You have no business in this mountain.”
“I’ll be just fine. I appreciate your help.”
“Fine? Really? You couldn’t even keep tiny imps from taking your stuff. How will you be fine out there on your own? Grant it, you somehow got lucky with the wollybroughers. By the way, why didn’t they eat you?”
“I don’t know about those things. One licked me on the way to Hoppston. Maybe that had something to do with it.”
“You’re pulling my chain! You were snuffled by old man Porter’s wollybrougher?”
“I guess.”
“That’s awesome, Mate! You know they think you’re one of them now. They’ll protect you like their own. That’s why they didn’t eat you and saved you from the felixis.”
“You mean the bird?”
“Yeah.”
“How do you know about Porter and the bird?”
“I started following you after you asked me where you were back in Roberton.”
“Why were you following me?”
“You were dressed so strangely and didn’t know where you were. I had to learn more. I followed you back to the library. After you left, Cierden asked me to keep you safe.”
“I don’t remember speaking to you in the city. Am I missing something?”
“Oh yeah, I forgot. Just one second.” He stood and held up a finger which made him look like he was preparing to give a speech.
Ant then became blurry, like looking through a rainy windshield. Trey rubbed his eyes to be sure his vision wasn’t being affected by the rampus weed. When Ant cleared up, a man with a rounded reddish-brown beard and no moustache wearing a brown hat and a casual buttoned coat stood before Trey.
“You’re the guy I bumped into in the city! I knew I recognized your voice. How can that be?”
“I’m a Segralite, a race of shape-shifters. There are very few of us around today. Curiosity and our nomadic nature are our undoing.”
“Really? Like how?”
“How we contribute to our own demise?”
“Yeah,” Trey said wide eyed and ready to be entertained.
“Well, let’s see. There’s my cousin Oxnard. He died by getting too close to a wollybrougher. He kept saying he thought he could train one.”
“Ah. That one’s curiosity?”
“Yeah.”
“I guess he was wrong.”
“I heard of one guy who wandered into the sandgrala desert and was never seen again.”
“Nomad,” Trey said quickly then smiled at Ant.
“My mother, who is still alive, told me about my uncle Lon who never had children because he never found the right shelia.”
“Nomad! This is fun. Let’s keep going,” Trey said happily. “It helps me keep my mind off my headache.”
“I think you get the point.”
“Fine. I think your shapeshifting is amazing! Can you turn into anything?”
“Most everything I’ve seen before. I prefer animals. Humans are hard to mimic and take a lot of energy, but I needed some things in the city that day. What are you doing here?”
“Can you turn into a bird?”
“Yes. But I don’t know how to fly.”
“I would learn. Can you turn into a horse?”
“I can do a horse.”
“How about a bear? No! Can you turn into a wollybraugher?” Trey asked with wide excited eyes and a cheesy smile.
“We’re getting off track. Why are you here?”
“The librarian didn’t tell you?”
“No. We didn’t have much time for chatting. All he said was that you came through the special portal, whatever that is, and that you have to succeed in what you’re doing. You also seem to have a little more than luck on your side.”
“Luck
? Why do you say that?”
“Cedric saw something in you worthy of the snuffle. You made it through the swamp, albeit with help from the pack. And you were doing well against the troll. What were you doing in the swamp anyway?”
“Wild goose chase, maybe,” he said stealthily spinning the ring on his finger. “I don’t know why I’m here. But for now, I just need to get my stuff from the imps and get to the lake.” Ant took his flaky reason and didn’t press the issue any further.
“What’d they get that was so important that you would risk your life to recover?”
Trey hesitated then said, “They got the key I need to activate the portal.”
“Portal? You mean the one at the library?”
“No. I can’t use that one again. I have to get to the waterfall at lake Oshugar.”
“What are these portals?”
“I’m uncertain. I only became familiar with them recently. They seem to be doors to different worlds.”
“Different worlds? You’re not serious are ya, Mate?”
Trey with a straight face and lackadaisical sincerity said, “I’m not from your world. I’m from a place called Earth.”
Ant’s posture relaxed as he looked away then back to Trey. “Earth? You don’t have to make stuff up. Just say you don’t want to tell me.”
Trey smiled and replied with more sincerity, “No, really. It’s true. I came through a portal in the library.”
“Ok. Whatever you say Trey from Earth. Grab some wood over there and let’s keep this fire going.”
After sitting at the fire for a while Trey asked, “Cierden really sent you after me?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you work for him?”
“No. It’s more like a favor. You see, C and I go way back. The guy never leaves the library, you know.”
“Yeah. He told me he stays to protect the books and the portal.”
“Yeah. That’s it, Mate,” he said leeringly. “So, every once in a while, he’ll call me to do some reconnaissance. You know, to find out what’s going on in the real world.”