Trix (3) (The Underground Kingdom)

by Steve Elliott

  “Be careful!” she demanded, fiercely. “Remember, you promised!”

  “I will,” I told her, still floating a little. “I'd be mad not to if it meant missing out on another one of those kisses.”

  “Stephen!” Thorn blushed. “Not in front of the others!”

  “Oh, I don't mind,” Nix leered. “This is all part of my long-running, all-time, favourite soap opera: Thorn and Stephen, sitting in a tree …….”

  Irately, Thorn whirled around to face Nix. “Stop that!” she barked. “This has nothing to do with you!”

  “Yes, it does,” Nix smirked. “When two of my best friends are obviously hot for each other but are too stupid to see it, then somebody has to step in. Surely you can see that?”

  “No, I can't!” Thorn fumed, fists clenching. “All I can see is an interfering borgulessa, poking his nose into things that don't concern him.”

  “Shhh!” I commanded, stepping between the combatants. “What are you trying to do, lure the baboon out with all your noise? For heaven’s sake, be quiet! You'll have him on top of us in a moment!”

  “Sorry,” Nix mumbled. “But it's all Arugohumna’s fault.”

  She drew breath to refute Nix’s statement but I put a warning finger across her lips. “Later, sweetie,” I cautioned in a low voice. “Right now we have something more important to do.” I looked around. “Is everybody ready?” I asked. Sombre nods greeted my statement. Giving Thorn a slight smile, I took a deep breath and stepped into the cave.

  Chapter 11

  There wasn't much light inside, but I daren't light a torch because that would force the occupant even further back into the cave and I wanted him outside. I glanced up at the ceiling and noticed that it arched above me and for that I felt somewhat thankful. At least I could fly up out of reach if needs be. The air began to smell musty and rank, and I became even more cautious. Then I rounded a corner and saw him. Gods above, it was a baboon and he was enormous! I'd forgotten how small fairies were in comparison. He looked like a giant! No wonder the nursery rhymes had painted him as an ogre. The very sight of him must have been terrifying. He certainly terrified me.

  Now, how to get his attention? I picked up a small stone and threw it at him. He snorted and looked around. I threw another stone and his bloodshot eyes focused my way. He snarled and displayed an impressive dental collection. Bloody hell, he must have been part crocodile! I hit him again with another rock and he lumbered to his feet and snarled once more.

  “Come on, you fleabag!” I yelled. “Your mother was a mouse and your father was …….. um, a mouse as well!”

  Growling horribly, the baboon charged with amazing speed. I spun around and ran for my life. I skidded around the cave corner and scampered towards the cave entrance as fast as my legs would carry me. I could hear heavy breathing behind me but I wasn't game enough to turn around and look in case I tripped. If I did that, I knew it’d be my final action, so I concentrated on sheer speed, using my adrenaline fear to force my legs to move faster. Time seemed to slow down and elongate distance. It was weird. Surely the cave entrance hadn't been this far away before? I began to wonder if I'd taken a wrong turn somewhere, but the rational part of my brain insisted that there hadn’t been any side tunnels. Was it my imagination, or could I feel his hot breath on my neck? I didn't wait to find out. I performed a desperate jump and became airborne. Just in time, too, because I felt the wind from a swipe of his hands that narrowly missed my feet. I fled before him, pumping my wings as fast as I could. Finally, the entrance! It was about damned time and all.

  “Here he comes!” I yelled to my companions outside.

  I shot out of the cave mouth like a bullet from a gun, with my angry pursuer a mere second behind. However, he scrambled to a halt as he saw the line of flame that greeted him. Steadfastly, the flames advanced and he was forced backward, spitting and growling. Bit by bit, by waving the torches front of his face, the baboon found himself gradually pushed to the exit, much to everybody's relief. Upon reaching the outside entrance, and smelling the wafting scents in the air, our unwelcome friend sprinted for the nearby trees after treating us to one last frustrated howl.

  “Well, that wasn't so bad,” commented an elated Thorn. “But, by heavens, that thing was huge! I'm going to have nightmares for weeks. Did you see its teeth? It could bite you in half without a second thought!”

  “I've never seen anything like it,” Nix admitted, “and I don't want to ever again.”

  “It was hideous!” Trix shuddered. “That face! I can't believe we drove it off so easily.”

  “Yes, we were lucky,” I agreed. “We'll have to get the authorities to seal off this entrance to stop it from happening another time. You don't want any more of them wandering around in the future. I still don't know what kept him here, though. I would have thought that the lure of his troop’s company would have compelled him to find his way outside before this.” I shrugged. “Well, never mind. It's over now.”

  We extinguished the torches and made our way back to the cave in a merry mood. The relief of no one being injured during our escapade sparked high spirits and less than vigilant behaviour. And that's why we were unaware of any danger until a second baboon landed in our midst and clubbed Nix to the ground with a swipe of its paw. Momentarily, sudden shock made the rest of us immobile, and then we scattered in frantic haste. Belatedly, I then realised why the first baboon had stayed in the tunnels. He had a mate and that satisfied his social urges. Damn it! Why hadn’t I thought of that at the time? His reluctance to join his troop had been niggling at me all this time but I hadn't put two and two together. I hoped that none of us was about to pay for my lack of foresight.

  I risked a quick glance behind. Our assailant still stood where it had first landed, its eyes darting after each fleeing figure, uncertain as to which one to pursue first. Nix still lay on the ground, unmoving. I prayed he was simply unconscious. Then I noticed that Trix had circled behind the baboon and was stealthily creeping closer to it. What did think she was doing? Surely she wasn't going to attack our assailant? My heart beat faster as I watched her. If the baboon happened to turn around at this stage ……. It didn't bear thinking about. To distract its attention from what was happening behind its back, I jumped up and down, yelling. It stiffened, and glared at me. I advanced a step or two, and therefore became its sole focus, allowing Trix to complete her foolhardy journey. She stood just behind the hairy back, gathered herself and leapt. The baboon shrieked and sprang into the air when it felt Trix’s presence, but she hung on desperately, using the coarse hairs to climb further towards the head. Thorn heard the commotion and turned around to stare. She immediately took to the air and flew back to the baboon, taunting and distracting it by staying just out of reach. It snapped at her, temporarily forgetting about Trix who used this interval of grace to achieve a position just behind the baboon's head. Securing herself with one hand, she drew a knife with her other and plunged it into the animal’s neck. The baboon screeched and instigated a complete somersault in the air. Somehow, Trix managed to stay onboard her acrobatic mount and she used the dagger again, causing a similar aerobic performance. Thorn, by this time, had closed with the baboon and used her sword to inflict various small wounds. Trix stabbed again and, deciding it had had enough of the pain, the baboon galloped off, unseating Trix who jumped off and hit the ground in an energy-devouring roll.

  Seeing Trix climb to her feet and dust herself off, I rushed towards Nix who began to groan and show signs of movement.

  “What happened?” he groggily asked as I helped him to his feet.

  “There was a second one,” I answered, quickly looking him over for injuries but finding nothing obvious. “It caught us all by surprise.”

  “It certainly caught me,” Nix wryly commented, feeling his jaw and twisting his head backwards and forwards. “I hope that it's the last one.”

  “So do I,” Thorn supplied, coming down beside us.

  “That goes double for me,�
� Trix proclaimed, secreting her knife inside her jacket.

  “The day isn't over yet,” I reminded them all. “We have to make sure that this one joins its mate. Is everybody fit enough for the chase?”

  Everyone assented, so we relit the torches and chased after our quarry in an endeavor to force it into the outside world. We found it further along the tunnel, licking its wounds. It snarled belligerently at us but obeyed its basic instincts and fled before the flames. Gradually, we persuaded it to join its companion in the great outdoors.

  “Well that's that,” I remarked, watching the second baboon gallop across the grassy plain in the direction of the trees. “The very first thing we do when we get back,” I remarked, “is to ask the Council of Elders for a working party to block this place off. That was way too close for comfort.”

  “We’d better make sure there’s no more of them in here,” Nix advised. “We wouldn’t want to seal it off and then find we’d trapped a group of them inside the tunnel.”

  “Good point,” I said. “But I think we'll leave that to the working party. I believe we’ve done our bit for the day.” Then I focused on Trix. “And just what do you think you were doing back there?” I demanded. “I nearly had a heart attack when you jumped on the baboon's back. You could have been killed!”

  Trix shrugged. “I had to distract it from chasing everybody,” she modestly proclaimed. “It seemed the only thing to do at the time.”

  “Yes, you were very brave,” I praised. “Recklessly brave, in fact, and you probably did save us all, but did you consider the consequences of being hurt? I mean, Tracey would have taken over from the baboon and torn us all limb from limb if you’d been injured.”

  They all chuckled at my statement and Nix playfully slapped Trix on the back, propelling her into Thorn who then tripped and fell over, dragging Trix on top of her.

  “Watch it, you clumsy oaf!” Thorn yelled up at Nix.

  “I can't help it if you're too drunk to stand on your own two feet,” Nix sniffed, disdainfully. “If I had my way, I would have banned all you inebriated types from even coming along.”

  “Why, you …….. ratbag!” Thorn fumed, endeavoring to push Trix aside and gain her feet. “Just wait until I get up!”

  “Face it, Arugohumna,” Nix jeered, “you couldn’t teach anything to anybody. Look at you! You can't even stand up properly!”

  “Get off me, Trix!” Thorn bellowed. “I'm going to pulverise him! I’ll rip him into shreds and feed them to the baboons! Of course, they'll only bring him straight back up again because the taste will be too vile.”

  “That's how much you know,” Nix grandly proclaimed. “We happen to be very tasty. It's fairies who taste like the bottom of a garbage can.”

  “Killing’s too good for you,” Thorn vowed, finally gaining her feet. “I'll have to think of something more appropriate.”

  Chapter 12

  And so, we arrived in triumph back at the settlement. I didn’t understand it, but somehow or other, word of our deeds had spread before us, and we were greeted by throngs of cheering citizens as we made our way to the Council of Elders. It ended up as a tight squeeze, because many of the population wanted to hear our story and they crowded into the back seats of the chamber. Feeling like exhibits in a circus, we outlined to the Elders what had happened, and were applauded as heroes. We explained about the tunnel entrance and the Elders agreed to send a working party as quickly as possible to seal off the entrance to prevent a re-occurrence.

  “Once again,” one of the Elders told me, “you have aided our community. We are in your debt for ridding us of this generations-old nightmare. You may ask for any reward we can give you.”

  I thought for a moment, then stepped to Trix’s side and put a hand on her head. “I ask for this valiant young girl to be accepted into the community,” I proclaimed. “She has proven herself to be the bravest of the brave and I want everyone to know it. Her race has been shunned and despised for far too long. I'd like that to stop, if at all possible. That’s the reward I'd like.”

  Trix looked up at me with moist eyes. “Thank you, Stephen,” she whispered. “Thank you on behalf of all my people.”

  “It's the very least you deserve,” I told her, giving her a hug. The congregated townsfolk erupted into a spontaneous cheer as Nix and Thorn crowded around.

  “Carried by popular demand,” the Elder declared, when the noise had died down somewhat. “We'll send emissaries to any cogdommina we can find, inviting them to meet with us and start the process of reconciliation.”

  “That would be awesome,” I conceded. “But don't forget that Nix and Thorn were part of all this as well.”

  “We hadn't forgotten,” the elder smiled. “Do you wish for anything?” he asked Nix.

  “I'd like to be proclaimed king of the borgulessa and have a hundred wives,” Nix instantly announced. Before the startled protests could begin, he added, “Just kidding!”

  Thorn swatted him on the back of his head. “Stop being stupid!” she chided. “This isn't the place for your sick jokes. Behave yourself!”

  “Sorry,” Nix apologised, rubbing the back of his head to general laughter. “I really don't want anything. It was enough to have been with my friends, and to come out alive from such a dangerous situation. I'm just thankful to be able to stand in front of you right now. That’s reward enough.”

  “Bravely said,” another of the Elders announced, “but we'd still like to offer you something for this, and for your previous services. I believe you have three sisters and a mother?” Nix nodded. “Well then,” the Elder continued, “it pleases this Council to award you a financial contribution for their continued welfare. Please report to our Treasurer when this is finished.”

  Nix bowed in gratitude. “Thank you,” he said. “I appreciate your generosity.”

  The combined gazes of the Council then fasten themselves on Thorn. “And what about you, my child?” one of them asked. “Do you have anything in mind for yourself?”

  Thorn blushed under their scrutiny. “Not really,” she declared, fidgeting. “I mean, what else could I need?”

  Nix elbowed her in the ribs and whispered, “How about Stephen?”

  “Shut up!” she hissed, from the corner of her mouth.

  “Well, if there's nothing material that you desire,” the Elder began, “we could grant you a title, perhaps. ‘Protector of the People’ or something similar. We'll have to look up the old records and see what titles were available back then. We'll let you know about that in due time. Once we’ve sorted it out, we’ll hold a ceremony of investiture.”

  “I don't know what to say,” Thorn stammered. “Thank you.”

  “The pleasure is ours,” she was told. “You deserve nothing less.”

  The meeting adjourned, and everybody left the building. The townsfolk who were present hurried off to spread the news to everybody they knew, and we were the recipient of many awed stares as we hurried to Thorn and Tracey's house. We were met at the door by a jubilant Tracey who delightedly hugged us, one at all. Then she sat us down, and forced us to repeat the story we’d told to the Elders. When we came to the part of the second baboon’s attack, Tracey's hand flew to her mouth and she instinctively grabbed Trix in a protective, smothering embrace.

  She glared at us. “How could you let my baby do such a dangerous thing?” she demanded.

  “Hey, it wasn't our fault,” I protested. “We couldn’t stop her. She did it all by herself. She’s a very, very brave little girl.”

  “Yes, she is,” Tracey lovingly admitted, looking down at Trix who was beginning to struggle, being unable to draw a breath.

  “For heaven sake, Traculimna,” Thorn insisted, “let her go! She’s suffocating in there!”Tracey immediately pulled Trix away, holding her at arm’s length.

  “Are you all right, precious?” Tracey anxiously asked.

  “I'm fine, I'm fine,” Trix repeated, gasping. “Your hugs are a little overpowering.”

&n
bsp; “I'm sorry, my darling,” Tracey apologised, unconsciously pulling Trix back into the same oxygen depriving embrace.

  “Traculimna!” Thorn bellowed.

  “Sorry!” Tracey exclaimed, pushing Trix away from her. “It's just the thought of her being in so much danger. It makes me so protective and motherly.”

  “Don't get so carried away,” Thorn grumbled. “Trix isn't really your child.”

  “She is as far as I'm concerned,” Tracey replied with conviction. “She’s my baby, and I’m her mother, so get used to it. If you want to argue about it anymore, I invite you to step outside to discuss it further in more physical terms.”

  Thorn held up her hands in negation. “Far be it from me to interfere with your delusions,” she stated. “I won't say another word about it.”

  “You'd better not,” Tracey advised, frowning.

  Chapter 13

  Nix elected to return to his home.

  “What are you going to do with the reward money the Council gave you?” I asked, curiously.

  “Well, for starters,” he began, “the house is becoming a little dilapidated and a few minor improvements would be in order. I'm sure my sisters would appreciate some new clothes and I'll buy my mother a few things to make her life easier.”

  “Don't forget to get something for yourself,” Thorn reminded him.

  “Yeah, I might do that,” he agreed. “A can of Fairy be Gone spray would probably come in handy.”

  “Oh, you're such a comedian,” Thorn stated, poking out her tongue at him. “A sad, desperate one to be sure, but the basics are there. Keep working at it and maybe, in a few generations or more, you might even be funny!” Nix grinned, hugged her firmly and kissed her on the forehead.

  “Let me go, you horrible borgulessa,” Thorn demanded, wriggling in his embrace. “When I want to be squeezed by a smelly, ugly beast, I'll let you know.”