Staysia laughed. “No not at all! Go like this,” she said as she moved her tongue across her teeth. Jasper mimicked her and she gave him a thumb’s up and got back on the horse behind Gabriel. “To the bridge!” she said.
Here Goes Nothing
The bridge got closer and closer, until they could hear the tiny trolls speaking to one another. This is what the trolls said:
“It’s a good thing they kicked us out of that god-forsaken town. We are much better off here under our bridge!”
“Oh yes, much better here than there. Hmm Hmm Hmm,” a female troll hummed. “Hmm, Hmm, Hmm.”
“That’s her! That’s my Emerald!” Jasper blurted loudly.
“Hush Emerald, did you hear something?” the troll asked Emerald.
“No, not me, I didn’t hear a thing. Did you hear something?”
“I most certainly did! Who goes there? I heard that! Are you trying to cross under my bridge without me seeing you? Come out and show your face!”
“Go Jasper! Go speak to your Emerald!” Staysia said.
“N-Now?”
“Absolutely! Now go!” Staysia said.
“Here goes nothing,” Jasper sighed.
“Get closer to the bridge so we can hear him,” Staysia told Gabriel. They rode up close enough to the bridge where they could see the bridge, and most definitely hear them clearly. “There he goes! There goes our Jasper to confront his Emerald!” Staysia squealed. “May the forces of love be with him!”
“May the forces of love be with him?” Gabriel laughed.
“Well yeah, something like that,” Staysia said.
Jasper got out of his buggy. Emerald watched closely as he did.
“Wait a minute! Who are you? Troll or not, you can’t just come over here like you own the place! Who are you?” the troll grumbled.
“No wait—I know him,” Emerald said, as she walked slowly toward Jasper.
“Oh my goodness,” Staysia squeaked as she tightened her fists that held on to Gabriel’s shirt.
“I can’t believe it’s you, J-Jasper. I can’t believe it’s you. I never thought I would see you again!” She gave him a hug. She squeezed his hands and looked at him. “You haven’t changed a bit. What are you doing here?”
“Who is your friend?” Jasper asked.
“Remember I told you I had a brother? This is him. He came back here to stay with me and the others after you left. His name is Mica.”
“Hello Mica, It’s nice to meet ya!” said Jasper. “Well, it certainly has been nice to see you again.” Jasper gave Emerald a hug and turned to leave. He looked back and twisted his beard in his fingers nervously.
“I have some friends with me, if you wouldn’t mind letting them through. We have some things to take care of in Gnome Hills,” Jasper said to Mica.
“Any friend of yours is a friend of mine, Jasper.” Emerald turned to Mica. “Any friend of his is a friend of ours,” she told her brother.
Mica stuck his nose in the air and sniffed. “Humans—are they?”
“Why yes, they are human, but they are also my friends.” Jasper replied.
“And friends of ours—” Emerald said, before Mica could respond. “Bring them on through.” She nodded reassuringly at Jasper.
“Okay, I will go get them.” Jasper said.
“He’s not going to tell her,” Staysia said. “He’s not going to tell her how he feels.”
Jasper soon came around the corner on his buggy. “Staysia, Gabriel, Tristen, let’s go to Gnome Hills.”
“Jasper, tell her!” Staysia said.
“Let’s just go, Staysia. I cannot tell her.”
“Yes you can, Jasper!”
“Jasper, are you sure you are ready to go to Gnome Hills without telling Emerald how you feel?” Gabriel asked him.
“I am sure. Please, let’s just go to Gnome Hills,” Jasper replied.
Gabriel jumped down from his horse and knelt on the side of Jasper’s buggy. “If you tell her, I will tell Staysia how I feel,” he whispered.
“Gabriel, listen to me, I am ready to go to Gnome Hills,” Jasper answered, throwing his hands in the air and shaking his head.
Gabriel inhaled and came to his feet. “He’s ready to go,” he breathed. With that he mounted his horse, and they made their way around to the bridge.
“Emerald, Mica, this is Staysia and Tristen and Gabriel,” Jasper said.
“Hello, it’s nice to meet you,” said Emerald. “Say hello, Mica.” Mica did not say hello to them. He waved his hand in the air and went under his bridge.
“Sorry, he’s not being very nice today,” Emerald said.
“It’s because we are human,” Staysia said.
“Oh, I don’t know. Don’t mind him at all.” Emerald shrugged her shoulders and smiled.
“Well, you have been very hospitable.” Gabriel smiled. “It is nice to have met you, Emerald. We have heard a lot about you.”
Jasper quickly got out of his buggy and gave Emerald a hug, in fear Gabriel would say something else to her. “Goodbye, Emerald.” He took a long look at her face and got back inside his buggy.”
“Goodbye, Jasper. Come and see me again if you are passing by,” Emerald replied.
“I will,” Jasper said. “Let’s be on our way.” He shrugged when he said this, obviously disappointed in his self.
“Are you sure you’re ready?” Staysia asked.
“I’m sure, Staysia,” Jasper replied.
Once they were a ways from the bridge, Gabriel said, “What happened, Jasper?”
“I lost my confidence. I can’t believe how nervous I got.”
“So what are you going to do? Are you just going to forget about her?”
“I could never forget about her.”
“Are you going to forget about telling her how you feel?”
“No, I will tell her someday.”
“I hope you do, Jasper.”
“I will. Someday I will.”
“Oh Jasper! She was the only reason you even came along with us! Get back over there and tell her how much you care for her, this instant!” Staysia said.
“Leave him alone, Staysia. He will do it when he’s ready,” Tristen said.
“I just care for him,” Staysia said.
“I know you do, Staysia. I promise you I will tell her in time,” Jasper mumbled.
Staysia shook her head. “If you say so.”
* * *
The air was cool. The sun was close to setting. The surroundings were beautiful and green. Staysia held her arms around Gabriel. Tristen walked beside them, looking up at them every once in a while. Jasper was quiet, as he glided behind them in his buggy. Staysia spotted a glow in one of the trees surrounding them. “What is that?” she asked Gabriel.
“What is what?”
“There is something glowing in that tree.”
“I don’t see anything.”
When they got closer to the tree, the sky grew dark. The sky clambered loudly.
“It’s Nox!” Staysia’s voice shook.
His face appeared quickly in the center of the tree.
“There is my precious! You must be going to see if you can come up with a map for me in Gnome Hills, aren’t you?”
“Yes, that is exactly what we are doing,” Staysia replied.
“What I want to know is why you are traveling with Cove’s son? And why did you go pay Cove a visit underneath the sea at his ever so humble abode? Are you trying to get something by me? Have you come up with your own plans, my dear?”
“I went to see my father. It had nothing to do with her!” Tristen interrupted.
“Is that so? Well, it had better be! She can’t pull anything on me and succeed. You hear me, Staysia?”
“Leave me alone!”
“One more thing, I just wanted to give you another peek at your precious unicorn.”
Staysia watched as she saw a helpless Isis in front of her. The vision appeared in a dark cloud. Isis neighed and ki
cked her hooves. She ran this way and that, but could not escape the place in which she had been bound. Isis looked left and right as if she was looking for Staysia. She made a last attempt to escape before lying on the ground and putting her head down on her legs, that were curled up in front of her chest.
“It’s not fair! It’s not fair!” Staysia cried. “Let her go!”
Nox clicked his tongue. “If you want her, you will bring me the map! Bring me the map!” he bellowed, before disappearing. Just as it had darkened, it became light again. Staysia squeezed her eyes closed and opened them again. “Maybe we should just give him the map,” she told Tristen.
“My father will get her back for you, I promise. Have a little faith.”
“That’s easy for you to say.”
“And it’s easy for you to have just a little faith.”
A sign appeared with the words Gnome Hills on it. The sign was large and gold, and hung by chains that were tied to two large trees, one on each side of the road they traveled down. There were two knights on each side of the sign, guarding the city. When Staysia and her friends got closer, the knights moved to the center of the road and assumed their positions.
Gabriel got off of the horse and stood in front of them.
“What brings you to Gnome Hills?” one of them asked.
“Do I have to have a reason?” he asked.
“Gabriel, is that you? You’re alive!”
“Yes, it is I, I have brought a couple of my friends along with me. Please open the gate so we may enter into the city.”
Just then Staysia remembered Jasper. She got off of the horse and ran to the buggy. “Oh Jasper,” she said. “I can’t believe I didn’t even think of this before. “You will not be allowed in Gnome Hills!”
“Permítanme,” Humberto said. He grabbed the top of the buggy with his tail and flipped it around. The buggy instantly became a baby stroller. There was a blanket and a baby’s bonnet inside.
“I don’t know what you just said, Humberto, but this is amazing!” Staysia exclaimed.
“What? Hey, I’m not a baby! I will not go through Gnome Hills as a baby!” Jasper snorted.
“Quiet Jasper, you must! It is the only way, don’t you see? The mother arranged for this as a manner of protection for you. To remain safe, you must pretend to be a baby until we retrieve the map.”
“Fine, but I don’t want anyone pinching my cheeks or ranting on about what a cute baby I am!”
Staysia couldn’t resist, she pinched his cheeks and said, “You certainly are a cute baby!”
“Staysia!” Jasper bellowed.
“Quiet now, Jasper, here comes Gabriel.” Staysia got back on the horse with Gabriel and took a deep breath before entering into Gnome Hills. The city was getting darker with each minute. There were lights on each side of the road. There was wailing and swords clacking up against each other. There were men who stared them down as they entered. Some of them even stopped in the middle of their sword fights to watch them enter.
“They’ve all gone mad!” Staysia whispered.
“Where’s our first stop?” Gabriel asked.
Staysia turned back and asked Tristen, “Where are your friends?”
“Just keep going straight. I will show you,” he answered.
“Nice looking woman you got there with you!” a man called to Gabriel. “Are you going to share?”
“Mind your own!” Gabriel answered.
“Want to fight for her?” asked the man with black teeth and disheveled attire. His hair was long and dingy. His beard was long and unsightly, with frayed hairs poking out here and there. They were not very close to him, but didn’t have to be to smell the pungent odor of whiskey and uncleanliness.
“Really?” Gabriel reached for his sword.
“Go on and get out of my face! I don’t want to bed with someone of the likes of her anyhow.”
“Whoa!” Gabriel said to his horse. The horse stopped and Gabriel turned and told Staysia, “I’ll be right back!”
“Staysia raised her brows. “Gabriel, no! What are you doing?”
“The man is asking for trouble,” he answered. “And he is going to get it.”
He held him at point with his sword. The man clumsily took his knife from the leather case on his belt buckle, and stumbled as he neared Gabriel.
“You’re too drunk to be talking to people that way. What is your name?”
“Wain, if you must know!”
“Wain? Listen, Wain, I don’t think the lady liked your comment to much, and to tell you the truth, I think I could really harm someone for talking to her that way. However, you are obviously a cowardly drunk and I don’t think I will hurt you tonight. Consider yourself lucky. We are looking for a man by the name of Griffon. Tell me where I can find him and I won’t hurt you.”
Wain struck at Gabriel with his knife before falling to the ground face first. He looked up at Gabriel and let his head hit the ground again.
“That was not a very good move.” Gabriel got down on his stomach and put his cheek on the ground. He moved the man’s head to where they were face to face. “Griffon, his name is Griffon.”
“Griffon lives in the small hut up the road on the corner, you won’t miss it!” he said just before passing out for the night.
Gabriel hopped to his feet and wiped his hands on his pants. He got back on the horse.
“Impressive!” Tristen said.
“Well, I wouldn’t expect you to be impressed that I fought off a drunken man.”
“Oh, but I was! He was drunk but, you can never underestimate the strength or nerve of any man, drunk or sober.”
“Yes, well now we know how to find Griffon!”
“Thank you, Gabriel,” Staysia said.
“I don’t want you to worry about anything, Staysia.”
“Tristen’s father says he will make sure of it that Griffon does not go unpunished.” Staysia replied.
“Does he now? And you are okay with that?”
“Yes, I-I think I am.”
“That is great, Staysia. I felt you were in a little over your head. I didn’t want you to do something that you would regret. So, we will get the map and visit Tristen’s friends, and then we will be on our way.”
There were women on the side of the road with their children who reached out to them as they passed by.
“I can’t bear the sight of them,” Staysia said, as she buried her face into Gabriel’s shirt.
“Then, don’t look! Do not look!” Gabriel said.
They passed a saloon. They could see inside the windows. They could see men fighting and whiskey being guzzled. Glass was being broken, and the whiskey was being given out for free by the demands of the men who were being served. Tristen and Gabriel held on to their swords as they passed.
“I believe we’ve found our hut on the corner,” he said to the others as he pointed at a small hut.
Staysia peeked over his shoulder. She kept her head up after this. She remembered Griffon and became fearless again.
“I will get the map! I will demand he hand it over!” she said dauntlessly.
“Staysia, I want you to come in there with me. We will play it by ear, but I will not allow you to just go in on your own. We need someone to stay with the—” Tristen paused and leaned in close to Jasper. “The baby!”
“BAH!” Jasper grumbled.
“I am going in with her, Tristen.” Gabriel insisted.
“I agree, I would like Gabriel to be there with me,” Staysia said.
“If you would like him to go with you, that is fine by me. Promise me one thing, if things get out of hand you must come and get me. Listen, I am sure they will get out of hand, when they do, come and get me. I can be there in an instant to help you,” Tristen said proudly.
Jasper sat up in his buggy and glared at them. “I don’t need any of you to look after me,” he whispered as he looked left and right.
“Get down!” Gabriel, Staysia, and Tristen all said togeth
er.
Tristen moved away from the door and waved Jasper over to him. Jasper kicked the buggy, and Humberto glided into the darkness and stopped beside Tristen. Tristen peeked inside the window of the hut. “There are a lot of people in there,” he whispered.
“Ready?” Gabriel asked Staysia. She nodded her head and Gabriel knocked on the door.
A woman answered the door. She was a beautiful woman with thick black hair.
She looked at Gabriel for a moment and then moved her eyes to Staysia.
“Hi, uh, we’re here!” Gabriel spread his arms out when he said this, and then he looked over at Staysia, who smiled and turned to the woman. “Here we are,” she smiled and said.
“Are you two friends of Griffon’s?” the woman asked.
“Yes we are! Where’s he at?” Staysia asked as she stood on her tiptoes and surveyed the room.
“He’s here somewhere! Come on in.” The woman opened the door and let them in the house. “Griffon!” she called.
“Oh, don’t bother him. I am sure he is busy,” Gabriel said.
“Alright, if you are sure,” the woman said.
“Oh yes, quite sure, we will speak to him in time.”
The house was loud. There were people in each room. The house was filled with smoke from cigars. Gabriel grabbed Staysia’s hand and found two chairs for them. He pulled Staysia’s chair out for her, and they sat down in front of a table. There wasn’t anyone else sitting at the table, but people were so close around them they were brushing up against both of them. They were stumbling around, laughing loudly and drinking whiskey.
Staysia smiled tightly at Gabriel. He leaned in and said, “I’ll be right back, stay put.”
Staysia nodded briskly and watched him walk away. She hit her fingers against the table in a rhythmic fashion, and looked around the room without moving her head to do so. She squint her eyes and moved her head forward when she saw a flash of light in the corner of the room. It moved from one corner to the next. She kept her eyes on it. It became clearer, but still drifted from one place to the next. It was the face of Nox. She began to feel sick at her stomach. She became dizzy.
Nox’s face was the last thing Staysia wanted to see at this point in time. She bit her lip and thought of Cove. She thought about Tristen’s words about faith. He was right. She hoped he was right.
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