by Matt Rogers
Chapter 9: Elfins
The First Journey (Breathtaking Forest)
They were making good progress. Well, as good as creatures with stubby little legs and portly bellies were capable of making. They were on the Queen’s Path winding their way through the Breathtaking Forest.
“Stu?”
“Yes, Wort?”
“I’m getting a little tired.”
“Thank God! So am I! Let’s say we rest for a while?”
Wort agreed resting was the best possible solution for tiredness so the Midglings shook off their backpacks, leaned against a tree and were soon snoring in the afternoon shade of an enormous oak. Stu was slightly startled with the passing of something running and an alarmed voice.
“Look out!”
He opened his eyes a bit but had a difficult time for he was in the area where wakefulness was an unwanted product. So he closed them and was, once again, in a restful slumber.
“Coming through!”
He again tried to ignore the sound but felt the need to verify he wasn’t in trouble so with great difficulty cracked one eye, saw nothing and returned to bliss.
“Watch your feet!”
The third time was the charm for he definitely heard the passing of hoof and the sound of fleeing.
“Wort! Wake up!”
Wort, on the other hand, was not as vigilant as his partner so had no idea why Stu was interrupting his needed nap time.
“Huh? What?”
“Something’s out there.”
Wort, not one known to pass up his recommended amount of rest was not impressed with Stu’s thought process.
“Of course there’s something out there. We’re in a forest, there’s lots of things out there.”
Stu, unable to come up with an answer to Wort’s statement decided his friend was right, closed his eyes again and waited for lazy midday dreams to replace reality. He awoke anew when a different sound interrupted his down time.
“Grrrr!”
He opened his eyes and there, in front of him, stood a wolf.
“Yikes!”
He jumped to his feet with his back to the tree at the same time screaming for his partner to wake.
“Wort!”
His answer came by way of slumber.
Snore!
Stu was looking into the eyes of death. He’d heard of wolves but never seen the creatures before because they were reportedly not a species which the Midglings wished to make acquaintances.
“Wort!”
“Huh? What is it…?” he said wearily while opening his eyes.
“Yaaghh!”
Wort too was off the ground with his back to the tree in an instant. It was something Midglings were good at; startled fright followed by rapid movement if fainting didn’t occur first.
The wolf was on all fours standing in the Queen’s Path while they were trapped with their backs against an enormous tree, they being too small to even attempt climbing. Both were staring in terror at fangs used to tear flesh, eyes employed to sight prey and claws for holding till teeth sunk in for the kill. Stu was further afraid because he thought he heard voices.
“Are they Midglings?”
“I think so.”
He saw no one but a wolf so figured he was going insane right before getting eaten. It was a feat of profound proportion both he and Wort didn’t faint at first sight so it could be understood what happened when the unthinkable occurred.
“Um, do you think you could give us a hand?” the wolf asked.
And the Midglings once again retreated into blackness.
They came around in a clearing with the buzz of activity humming through the air.
“Oh, good, you’re awake!” the impish being in front of them said as both sat up in wonder they were not inside a wolf’s stomach.
They looked around and saw hundreds of other beings the same size as the smallish creature facing them.
“Hi, my name is Tweedlewink. Sorry about the scare back at the tree, we kind of forgot we were in character.”
The creature stood about one foot in height and wore a strange multicolored garb of blue and red. He had on a hat with a feather and was smiling wide as he both introduced himself and apologized for scaring them senseless.
“You were in character?” Stu asked bewilderedly.
“Uh-huh. We were in Wearwolf mode.”
Stu became slightly more confused.
“Wearwolf?”
“Uh-huh. It’s what we wear when we want to scare the Rutters away from our fields” Tweedlewink said with a nod of his tiny head.
As he was talking the others began taking an interest and before either Midgling could move they were surrounded by the entire lot.
“Um, I’m sorry, but…” Stu said and hesitated.
“But what?”
“Um, what kind of creature are you?”
“We’re Elfins” Tweedlewink responded and watched as the two adventurers passed out on the spot.
They again arose with Tweedlewink in front and a concerned look on his face.
“Are you two all right?”
Stu looked around in fright. He was worried what he thought he heard was correct. He was going to ask for a clarification when Wort beat him to the punch.
“Did you say you were Elvin?”
A look of consternation appeared on the imps face as he rapidly shook his head in the negative.
“Oh, goodness no. We’re not those horrible assassins; we’re Elfins. We farm the forest and work for Mother Nature not the Goddess of Death.”
Both Wort and Stu immediately exhaled a sigh of relief.
“Thank God! For a second there I thought you were going to say…” Wort began.
“Say what?”
“Um, you know, something about getting ready to meet our maker or other scary stuff.”
“Nope. We don’t issue threats. Seems kind of an impractical way to get along with your neighbors.”
The two Midglings finally introduced themselves and soon were walking through the village in rapt amazement at what the Elfins had accomplished. Almost everywhere they looked grains were grown, vegetable fields tended and fruit-trees pruned. The entire community was in on the work and it appeared they had an impressive display of cooperation going on.
“Tweedlewink?”
“Yes, Stu?”
The question hadn’t been asked because the activity taking place all around them consumed their thoughts. When he finally realized they were in a farming hot-bed he remembered.
“Why do you dress up like a wolf?”
“Oh, well, it’s not just me. Obviously it takes quite a few of us to wear wolf if we’re going to make the proper impression. But to answer your question it’s because we were trying to scare off the Piglets.”
“The Piglets?”
“Uh-huh, the Oinkers; those pink-skinned baby Orcs who keep tearing up our gardens whenever we turn our back.”
It turned out the Elfins had a problem of pest control. They’d gone to Mother Nature seeking guidance in dealing with the curly-tailed critters and she suggested they try a different, but similar, approach as the scarecrow. She’d given them a wolf’s coat, they altered the eyes and teeth to make it appear menacing and set up a duty schedule the entire community was to adhere by. Every day between fifteen and twenty Elfins would adorn the fur and after a while it became known as Wearwolf patrol.
“So those sounds we heard before we met you were…?”
“The Rutters. They’re pretty fast despite their appearance and they run back home when we catch them tearing up our fields.”
It seemed like a pretty good plan to Stu except for one problem.
“But they keep coming back?”
“Yep. We thought we had them licked when we exploded their first home but they built another and returned to plague us again. We found that one too and blew it to smithereens but they’ve appeared to solve their dilemma by moving into another place we can’t seem to find a sol
ution for.”
Stu had a difficult time believing his hearing.
“You blew up their houses?”
“Uh-huh. We’re farmers. We’ve got blowing stuff up down to an art form.”
It turned out farming was sometimes a difficult process and the removal of unwanted material necessary for its success. The problem the Elfins ran into was one of size and strength.
“Where did they move?”
The Elfin named Tweedlewink looked them straight in the eye and they knew he’d had a plan all along.
“They went underground. They went into the caves.”
And so a bargain was struck. The Midglings would use their underground cave dwelling experience to help the Elfins and they, in return, would provide safe passage through the Breathtaking Forest. Stu wasn’t exactly sure what the Elfins could provide since they were one-third the height of him and he half the height of a Human but he figured if they’d been able to clear an area and cultivate produce then they’d probably have some useful purpose to their mission. He was dwelling on the mission when Wort interrupted his thoughts.
“Stu?”
“Yes, Wort?”
“Um, do we even have time for this?”
“You know what? I was thinking the exact same thing.”
They were following the path set forth by the combined knowledge of Mother Nature, General Shield and Councilor Clearview. Stay on the Queen’s Path through the Breathtaking Forest, skirt the Land of Lawlessness by taking a raft up the Lazy River, stop in the kingdom of Mother Mayeye, the Queen’s ally, and bypass completely the Mountain of Det by traveling underground with the help of their own people, the Midglings of Middlesome.
“Why don’t we just sneak out of…” Wort began before quieting because right then Tweedlewink appeared with something large in his hands.
“Okay, guys, I’ve got everything you need right here.”
They looked at what he laid on the ground in confusion.
“You want us to give them a candle?” Stu inquired.
“Huh? A candle? Where do you see…? Oh! Ha, no, this isn’t a candle” he said indicating the thing which definitely did resemble the walking nightglow stick.
“It’s not?” Wort queried for he too thought the thing was for daylight making during darkness hours.
“Nope. It’s a stick of Kaboom.”
Both Midglings were naïve in the ways of the world but they’d also done their research before reaching the land above and neither could recall anything called Kaboom.
“What’s Kaboom?”
“It’s what we use to blow tree stumps out of the ground. We put the stick under the stump, light the fuse and wait for it to go kaboom.”
The two stood there with mouths agape as they finally realized what the tiny Elfin with a winning smile wanted them to do.
“Hold on! You want us to blow them up?”
He returned their question with an even winninger smile and bobbed his head up and down to indicate he did indeed want them to exterminate their pink pest problem.
“Uh-huh. Well, not them actually, just the entrance to their underground lair. You see, we figure if we can just keep relocating them further and further away eventually they’ll find some other famer’s land to steal from and leave our crops alone.”
Neither Stu nor Wort knew what to say. They weren’t only pacifists, they were beyond such concepts for their kind had been prey so long they held neither the skills nor the aptitude to even have a choice in the matter.
“But what if they’re inside the cave?” Stu asked incredulously.
“Uh-huh, yeah, I’m not going to lie to you guys; it is a distinct possibility so we decided in conference to allow for it.”
The Midglings weren’t all too sure they heard correctly.
“Huh?”
“You’ve got the Elfin Council’s go ahead on the elimination of our produce problem and if Mother Nature brings it up we’ll have your back.”
Tweedlewink said it with such conviction the two were left dumbfounded by the suggestion.
“Are you insane?” Stu finally screamed.
It appeared to surprise the Elfin who took a step back in confusion.
“Huh? What? What did I say?”
Stu looked at Wort who was staring back at him with complete shock at what Tweedlewink dared suggest they do.
“You want us to murder people for stealing your crops?”
The Elfin’s eyes widened at the accusation.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Who said anything about murdering people? I’m talking about eliminating a troublesome source to our food production not the killing of some higher life-form.”
Stu became confused.
“Hold on. What are we talking about here?”
“We’re talking about blowing up the entrance to the Piglets lair so we can get back to the business of producing Mother Nature’s bounty.”
Stu was more mystified.
“Piglets can talk?”
Which cause Tweedlewink some perplexion.
“Huh? No, of course not.”
And so Wort became bamboozled.
“What are you two taking about?”
And Stu finally realized a way out of their dilemma.
“Look, I think we’ve had some sort of mix-up. The sounds I heard were definitely voices so I believe we’ve gotten our signals crossed. I don’t think the ones who ran by us are the ones you think they are. Are you positive you were following Piglets?”
The look Tweedlewink gave him was filled with outrage and insult.
“Of course!”
Stu was taken back because he wasn’t sure why the Elfin took such indignation at the remark.
“You couldn’t be wrong?”
Tweedlewink looked at him as if he were asking if grass were green or the sky blue.
“No, impossible.”
“How is it impossible?”
The Elfin puffed out his chest, cleared his throat and squared his shoulders.
“Because we are the eyes and ears of the forest. Everything which occurs in our realm are known to us. We have Elfins stationed in every tree, under every rock and were watching the whole time as the Piglets ran by your location.”
Stu was again speechless. He knew he heard voices but was beginning to second guess his own version of events. Things might have ended differently right then because the Elfin, despite his height, was starting to become slightly menacing in his appearance. Wort, ever the peacemaker, tried to ease ruffled egos.
“Tweedlewink, I’m sure you’ve got your reasons for wanting to blow up the Piglets lair but unfortunately we really don’t have the time. You see, we’re on a mission for Mother Nature and she told us to go find Father Time and deliver a message.”
At the mention of the Queen’s title the Elfin became more interested.
“What’s the message?”
“Sorry, we’re not allowed to tell anyone but Father Time.”
The Elfin nodded his head slightly but Stu got the impression they were walking a fine line. He didn’t know what one-foot creatures could do but also wasn’t such a fool he didn’t notice they’d managed to live, even thrive, in the upper lands whereby his people had fled.
“How are you supposed to get there?” Tweedlewink asked.
The question was actually a solid one for the Midglings were perhaps the last creatures on the planet anyone would choose to deliver something of importance. They held no physical gifts, had no magic up their sleeves and were anything but resourceful.
“Well, she gave us these amulets for safe passage…” Wort started.
And the Elfin almost fell to his knees as the Midgling held the necklace out for him to see.
“Holy Mother! You have the power of Nature in your hands!”
The reaction was not what Stu expected for everything changed in rather rapid fashion. They were brought before the Elfin Council where they produced, to the astonishment of everyone, the proof of Mother Nature’s bl
essing and a new round of discussions began.
“Are you sure you heard them speak?”
“Um, yep, I’m pretty sure.”
The Elfins, while not in the same realm as the Midglings, were by no means a war-mongering peoples and it was soon decided if the Midglings had the time then it would be greatly appreciated if they would speak to the Piglets about their rooting problem.
“Um, well, we’re kind of in a hurry and…”
“Please?”
“Well, you see…”
“Pretty please?”
“Well, I don’t know if…?”
“We’ll escort you through the forest by the treetops.”
Now, Midglings were never the hardiest of beings and were known not for their endurance but for their tenacity. Unfortunately, for Wort and Stu, tenacity was useless in the Breathtaking Forest but endurance a valued commodity. So they agreed to the Elfins’ wishes and were soon standing in front of the cave where the Piglets were known to reside.
“In there?” Wort asked for the third time because what he viewed was one of the more sinister-looking openings he’d ever seen.
“Uh-huh, they scamper inside where we cannot follow.”
It turned out Elfins were creatures of the light. They lived above ground during daytime and rested among the leaves at night. Tweedlewink said it was because the trees gave off an aura of power from sunlight they’d acquired throughout the day.
“Stu?”
“Yes, Wort?”
“Are you scared?”
“I think I’m petrified!”
And so the two Midglings began making their way to the small entrance of the lair where Piglets held sway hoarding grub from hard-working Elfins with explosive personalities.