by P. G. Thomas
She was hot under the collar, “Eric, can you see when the doors will open?”
He went over to the guards who stood at the door, “We would like in.”
“They are not scheduled to open for another three hours. Go away!”
Eric tilted his head, repeated himself, “We would like in.”
“Fine citizen, the doors can only be unlocked from the inside.”
“We would like in.”
The guards had anticipated an aggravating evening—but not this early, “Look you, big stupid idiot. The doors are locked! You cannot enter. Get it through your thick skull! Only when the doors are open can you go in!”
Eric booted open the doors, sending chunks of broken wood bursting into the hall, “Can we enter now?”
The guard looked at the thick, broken doors, and then back at Eric, “That is what I said. When the doors are open, you can go in.”
The large group surrounding Lauren entered the hall, filling the second last row. As they were almost all in, Aaro and his brothers came running into the courtyard, followed by almost two dozen dwarves, who all carried large war axes. With the dwarves filling the row in front of Lauren, the Earth Guards filled the back row. Since the doors were now open and the Earth Mothers had entered, the rest of the crowd did the same, and the surprised town guards left to advise their captain of the current situation.
Before the few guards inside could muster any support, Arora stood up on the bench, stomped her foot. It was a meaningless gesture, as everybody was already staring at Lauren and her group. “Friends, citizens, welcome!” She waited for silence, “Today we have an announcement.” She held out her hand for Lauren to stand, “Today, we announce our new friend Lauren to be an Earth Mother. We have talked much with her, and we have found her to have a genuine concern about Mother and her children. Please extend to her the same courtesies that you would extend to my other friends or myself.” Then they both sat down.
It was shortly after this that a large number of town watch entered the hall, positioning themselves at the back. The meeting, not scheduled to start for another two hours, changed this night. When the back door opened, the clerk and all six mayors ambled in, taking their usual seats.
Hoyle stood, “Today we issued an arrest warrant for that child. Guards, arrest her and her friends.”
“You cannot arrest her. Today she was proclaimed Earth Mother, and she is above your laws,” announced Nur.
Hoyle turned to the Guards, “Arrest them all! We have reports they were responsible for the attack on the fort. They bring trouble to us.”
Aaro stood on the bench, “Ironhouse speaks. Earth Mother, our clan she now belongs. Earth Mother Ironhouse, this day she is proclaimed. Privileges and rights many granted she now has. Protection the first, and I will defend her.” He raised his ax into the air, “With words I am not good. With dwarf steel I will make my arguments. Translate, you will have to.”
The guards cautiously surrounded the entire group, being aware that when you pick a fight with one dwarf, you pick a fight with all. Clans that had long skirmishes would forget old insults when their dwarven brothers were threatened. They required no reason because they were dwarf.
The dwarf beside Aaro stood, “Earth Mother Silvermain, proclaimed this day.”
Then dwarf after dwarf stood: Firegem, Steelore, Copperdwell, Ironmelt, Goldfire, Silverlight, and more, each with a proclamation announcing Lauren to be their Earth Mother. The tension in the hall was starting to resemble the inside of a volcano. People in the back rows were squeezing by the town watch to leave. Being too close to the action, they would rather hear about it the next day, instead of being part of the story that night.
“I’m not the enemy. I’m the messenger. I don’t bring danger to you, but your failure to act puts you in danger. This has to end, as fighting amongst ourselves will not accomplish anything. No one will arrest or harm my friends or me. I FORBID IT!” She slammed her staff into the floor. This time, the Earth Bond was so strong, that even she felt it.
The guards began to return to their normal positions, as excited townspeople went silent. The Mayors began to take their seats, and for a brief second, John saw an oddity that seemed strange: Hoyle attempted to speak, but at the last second, decided against it.
Leaning over to Riblo, Bince spoke behind his handkerchief. Riblo brought down his gavel, “This meeting is over.”
“NO! This meeting isn’t over.” The tone of Lauren’s voice was raw, angry emotion, “An army comes this way, and you’re like cattle in a pen. Action is required,” but her words fell on deaf ears, as the mayors were already exiting to the back door. With the Earth Guards blocking the aisles to let their party out to the courtyard, once there, they herded them into the waiting carriages to take them back to the inn.
When Pintar arrived, they were all inside, and Gingaar was serving drinks from their personal keg. Walking down the stairs, Alron carried two of the spiced cider boxes. When Pintar approached him, before he could say anything, he handed him one of the wooden cases, “Your place is closed this night. Go to bed, Pintar. We need to talk, and you do not want to hear it. Your place shall be safe.”
They were pushing the tables together for their meeting, and Earth Guards were on patrol outside and on the roofs. As Alron went out to check the street one last time, John followed him.
“Tonight’s meeting. Something happened.”
“Much happens this night. We will now discuss what shall happen next.”
“No, Lauren did…whatever it was it affected everybody.”
“Earth Mother issued an Earth Bond, so they would not try to arrest us.”
“Whatever, when she did it, all of the mayors acted differently, except for Hoyle. He started to speak after the others began to sit down.”
“What do you mean?”
“He mimicked the behavior he saw. It was like he didn’t understand what had happened. He only knew that an event altered the actions of the others.”
“Thank you, friend John, I will consider this.” When Alron felt certain it was safe, he joined the group back in the main hall.
Everyone was looking at Lauren, “I guess the first thing I should do is thank our mighty dwarf friends. It’s a great honor to be a member of so many clans.”
Aaro looked at her, “Would it be all right if Earth Mother we call you? So many titles, half the day to address you it will take, and many messages will arrive late.”
“Yes, Earth Mother is fine, but why are there so many clans here?”
The dwarf from the Firegem clan stood, “Earth Mother, Del is my name. From the mines we come, buy and sell. Barter for goods and news we do. So many midlanders, nervous it makes us. Keep an eye on them we do.”
The dwarf from the Silvermain mine stood, “Earth Mother, Cick my name is. Next, what does happens?
“We were talking about that earlier. I was hoping to advise the west about the invasion, disarming the stories of the plague. Find a leader who could raise an army. Instead, I’ve found so many confused and scared people who lack leadership. From what I’ve been told by others, all of the settlements in the west are like this.” Lauren looked out onto the large group, who all wanted to hear her speak, “For so long, I’ve waited for somebody to hear me, and now that you’re all here, I’ve no idea what to say. We’ll have a meeting in a couple of days, and I’ll provide you with more details, as that story is too long to talk about right now. This night, talk we don’t need. Tonight I’m dwarf many times over. Let us do as dwarf would, celebrate,” and the table let out a cheer.
Del leaned over to Bor, “Earth Mother and father seek inspiration from same?”
“This night, jest not brother.”
Lauren went around the table, talking to all of her new clan members, and as the conversation became lighter, the crowd began to mingle.
Alron went over to Zack, “How are your nights lately?”
“Dude, they’re getting boring.”
&nb
sp; “Good.” Walking Zack over to the far end of the dining hall, he pulled out a map of the town, pointing to the far northeast corner of the fort, “These six buildings are where the mayors live. These three against the east wall belong to Bince, Hoyle, and Riblo. Can you please watch them, and report to myself what you see, where they go, whom they talk to, all?”
“Sure. I haven’t spent much time in that section of the town. It’s where all of the rich people live.”
“Thank you, Zack.” The noisy meeting overwhelmed Alron, so in search of quiet, he headed out to the street to talk to the Earth Guards, and to arrange for daytime surveillance of the mayors.
Going up to his room, Zack opened the window. IT possum. IT no like little creature. (“To the mayor’s houses, the northeast end of the fort.”) Boring. (“Go.”) Scampering out the window, they ran across the roofs to the inner wall, which they followed until they reached the rich section of the fort. Descending down from the wall, they crossed the street, climbing up on the roof of the house that faced the mayor’s houses, and finding an exposed nail, the possum wrapped its tail around it so that it could hang out. There was a huge spider web beside him, which had numerous large flying insects trapped in it. When IT saw a fresh one struggle, IT would reach over, grabbing it to devour. Zack tried to encourage his alter ego not to select anything from this specific menu, but the bugs were crunchy and fresh. IT like fresh. All night long, nothing happened.
Chapter 14
Just before sunrise, Zack was thinking of heading back to the inn, but hearing a door open, followed by a second, he saw Riblo and Bince heading to one of the center buildings. Several minutes later, an open-air carriage pulled out with both of them sitting inside. Scurrying over the rooftops, trying to keep the two in sight, he saw the carriage turn to the east, watched it go down the long street, leaving out the east gate. Being uncertain if Alron would have arranged for Earth Guards to watch the mayors during the day, he knew he was better suited to follow them on the open roads than the elves. Finding a dark shadow, he went out of focus.
Better. (“Follow the carriage.”)
Jumping off the building, with a few powerful strokes of its massive wings, IT was airborne. Since it was still early in the morning, nobody was on the streets to see the massive Bald Eagle take to the air. Zack was still unfamiliar with flying. While he liked the sensation, soaring at heights caused him to experience a certain amount of anxiety. They remained about a half mile back, staying high in the sky, watching out for other predatory birds, and any elves that may be tracking the coach—they saw neither. Arriving at the crossroads, the carriage turned south, continuing in that direction for the rest of the day. Zack wondered if it was a wild goose chase, being a diversion to draw attention from the others.
Rabbit. (“No follow the carriage.”) Hungry. Fresh. Feeling the wings fold in, Zack saw the angle change: felt the speed build, saw the ground speeding at them, felt the talons extend, the impact, and heard the rabbit squeal. Even though he had tried to close his eyes, instead, he saw everything. The huge wings flapped, gaining altitude, and soon they were on a tree branch. IT ripped open the still struggling rabbit, pulling off huge chunks of flesh, swallowed them, as Zack gagged at the taste of the blood. Fresh. Good. IT like fresh. (“Finish it quick, and then follow the carriage.”) There were times when the animal instincts were too strong for Zack to control. Before they finally leaped off the tree branch, it took a half an hour to strip the carcass down to the bones, leaving only bloody pieces of fur blowing in the wind. Lining up with the road, they found the carriage still southbound, which continued until the last sun began to set.
*******
Finding Alron on the porch of the inn, Lauren walked up beside him, wrapping her arm around his. “Walk with me, please. I want to visit the Earth Daughter.” He let out a number of whistles, falling into step beside her. “I may be wrong, but I think they may be on to us. Did you know that?” She smiled sarcastically when she said it.
“Long have I known that the quiet will end. Yes, Earth Mother, they all know of you now.”
“I’m afraid things are moving too fast. We have only been in town two weeks.”
“Two weeks ago, you complained that everything moved too slow. The Journey here takes months of six, but now you worry about what happens in weeks of two?”
“Is this the way things are supposed to be? Am I doing it right?”
“Earth Mother, you only do one thing wrong. You question yourself too much. We have found Mother’s children and shown them the truth of the plague hoax.” He looked up at her, “Lauren did as she promised, and Mother is proud of Earth Mother.” Before she could wipe away the tear forming in her eye, he continued their walk to the Earth Mother’s, “Why do you wish to visit Earth Daughter?”
“She issued an Earth Bond. If others can force the title onto me, it seems only fair that I can also invite others into the club. Plus, it’ll make it easier to talk to them or maybe harder.” And as the last sunset, Nur’s Earth Guard started to call her Earth Mother.
*******
The following day, John and Mirtza were with Gayne. “I believe there’s magic in the air and even the water. The problem is that we cannot see it.” John had thought of what he had seen Logan do. “I was thinking about this last night and had an idea. Now, if I were at home, I would have the use of electron microscopes, mass spectrometers, and more, but long before those inventions, men of science had to use what was available. One of the elements they discovered was that light moves in waves and not in straight lines. The result is that some colors can be seen better through colored glass while others completely disappear. Now, if I’m right, and if radiation or magic is all around us, we’ll need to find some way to make it fluoresce, so we can see it. So today, we’re going to go shopping. We need to go through every store, even the market out back, and see if we can find any colored crystals.”
“You expect me to believe that you are going to look through a piece of crystal and see magic?” asked Gayne.
“If you help me find some crystals, I’ll be able to demonstrate it better.”
*******
When Alron had returned to the inn the previous day, he had received word of the coach leaving the fort with the two mayors in it. Having not considered that event, the Earth Guards had made no such plans to counter that action, and when he checked Zack’s bed that morning, it was still empty. While he felt confident in Zack’s talent to keep him safe, he was concerned that Zack may have bitten off more than he could chew, and he just hoped Zack had enough options to chew through any sticky situations he found himself in, which he would not share. Shortly after breakfast, a coach appeared for Lauren and Gingaar. At the end of Nur’s celebration the night before, the Earth Mothers announced that they would have a meeting at their place, inviting all of the dwarf clan representatives. When they arrived, everyone was already in the backyard, socializing around a long table. As Lauren walked in, everyone took a seat, including one member of each Earth Guard, leaving one chair open at the head of the table. As she sat, a servant came around, offering everyone hot bean juice or tea, and when all were served, they turned to face her.
Oh, crap! “Well, I guess I should thank our hostess for the meal, and our new dwarf guests for showing up. Last week when John told his story, he didn’t tell everything. So Arora, Brook, I’m sorry, but I need to repeat most of it so that our dwarf brothers will know what’s happening.” Starting with searching the midlander settlements, she then repeated the story, ending with the events at the fort. However, she was careful to edit out anything about her friend’s actions or hers. The dwarves pestered her for more details, but she would only say, “If I tell you, when the minstrels and playwrights are done, I’ll only spoil what will surely be the longest saga ever told. You wouldn’t want that now, would you?” When the dwarves quieted down, she looked over the group, “I guess the question is this. What happens next?” She was hoping somebody would provide some input, but nobod
y spoke. “I think we need to get a better idea of our situation. We need information. We know there is the east, the west, and a mountain range in between. We need to find out what resources we have access to, and to figure out what’s happening on the far side of the range. We also need to know what presence the invaders have in the west. Does everybody agree with that?”
Everybody nodded their heads.
“Okay, look, I could use some help here, as they never offered an invasion class at my school. I could use some volunteers to help put all the pieces to this crazy puzzle together.” She looked at Arora. “You said there were many elves in the west already. Could we raise some scouts from them to do…, to do…, I don’t know, to do something.” She then scanned all of the dwarves, “You all have mines on the west face of the mountains. Could you send out some dwarves across the range, seeing if you can spot anything?”
Del Firegem scanned the other dwarves, “It is a simple request, easy to do. Mines close and far, time it will take to spread your word. News, slow to return it will be. Earth Mother, we will do what we can,.” All of the dwarves nodded in agreement.
It was the first good news that Lauren had heard in a long time, “Well, it’ll be a start. Earth Mother, will the elves help?”
“Elf is still upset with what happened in east,” began Arora. “They now see the same happen in the west. Dwarf calls mountain home. Their task mayhap is difficult, but dwarf are close. Elf calls forest home, but they are not close. Dwarf watches midlander, but elf shuns the same. To find elf, it shall be harder.”
“Can’t we create an Earth Scout group or similar to the Earth Guard?” asked Lauren. “Give it some meaning. When we get the invasion problem solved, we can figure out how to bring peace to the west, but if we don’t solve the problem in the east, we won’t have to worry about the problem in the west. Earth Mother, do you think once they have finished off the midlanders, the invasion will stop there. If the elves stand with us, we’ll all be stronger.”