by P. G. Thomas
“JOHN!”
The Unchosen stopped in his tracks
As Jasmine stepped forward, before she could say anything, Lauren’s anger lashed out, the hot anger in her eyes, not her voice, “Did you know?”
The female elf nodded.
Waiting for Eric, Steve, and Logan, John confidently followed behind them, heading to the house where Lauren stood, tapping her foot.
She looked at her husband. “Did you know?”
“Know what?”
“What about you two?” Logan and Steve both nodded. Stepping apart, they exposed John to Lauren’s growing irritation. “Who made you a god to decide what I should and should not know?”
“I’m sorry, I was afraid something like this would happen.”
“If you had told me, instead of me finding out by accident,” then, so that Lauren could stress her point, she took a short pause between the next five words she spoke, “this—would—not—be—happening.”
“Look, I said I’m sorry. I was preoccupied with the root and forests. I meant to tell you, it’s just there was so much happening.”
“Is there anything else?”
“No,” but then John glanced at her white knuckles wrapped around the shortening staff, except that.
“Does Panry know?”
Jasmine nodded.
“Where is he?”
“He went back to the Bright Coast,” advised Steve.
Lauren took a deep breath, “Before we leave, is there anything else that anybody has not told me? Please, make sure you consider your answers or lack of them, as I’m really growing tired of being surprised.” When nobody spoke, she called out to John, “Take us back to the Bright Coast.”
“Umm, Ironhouse?”
“Fine,” then she turned to Oxron, “We’ll talk there.”
While John searched his pockets for the desired rock, Zack walked over to him, “So, does Gayne have a dog house?”
“No, but he has a stable.”
“Slept in worse before. I imagine you’ll be bunking with me in it?”
“Probably.” John dropped the stone through the bracelet, causing a portal to form. Steve, Ryan, Eric, Logan, Zack, John, Lauren, eight Earth Guards, and six mounted guardians all entered.
The Ironhouse stables were buzzing with activity. All of the pens were filled with ponies and the dwarves, who were busy completing their assigned tasks, took a full minute for all to stop, realizing that guests now stared at them. Lauren looked at the dwarf who held Heart of Earth Mother, “Take us to the guest quarters, and send somebody for the Master Weapon Smith.” When in the designated area, she went out to the terrace, followed by all, who hoped the gifts of dwarven beer would arrive soon. After looking at the mountains in the valley, she looked down to the six clean-shaven dwarves. “Is that what you’re named after?” They all nodded. A high altitude wind was blowing through the great mountains, creating a hollow composition, having a strange haunting chorus of mixed sounds from the mighty muted guardians. “This is strange. Do you hear that? While those Granite Guardians sing, mine have no voice? Even though I was told they were silent, I guess somebody else lied to me.”
Without looking up, John felt her glare.
When the terrace door opened, Bor Ironhouse walked out.
With Lauren’s anger about Oxron still present, the silence of the dwarves had finally reached a boiling point. “Bor, your Guardians seem to have a voice, yet mine do not. Yes, while John told me of the tradition, he also told me of how you forged the new weapons and armor. As well, let’s not forget about these blood wolves. How’s it possible that with one hand dwarf still embraces tradition, yet with the other, they push it away?”
“Complicated it is—Lauren.” Bor looked at the six dwarves and nodded.
“What did you just call me?”
“You are no longer our Earth Mother. I broke the bond of protection when I heard you were back.” He nodded to the dwarves, “Your beards go collect, as your honor this day is restored.”
“What’s going on?” asked Eric.
Jaykil Ironhouse stepped forward, and with the elongated double-edged sword, he drew a line in front of the six clean-shaven dwarves, turning to face them. “Earth Mother Ironhouse is correct, as the Guardians this day are no longer silent. However, they do not sing, but howl in pain, as they sense our shame. If you cross this line, forever chin bald you will remain. I invoke penalty of desertion and forbid your release.”
Dropping his sword and other weapons, Dax Steelfire pulled off his mithril armor, “Ironhouse has spoken. The bond is broken, and all felt it, so you are no longer a Guardian. You cannot invoke the penalty.” Then he crossed the line.
Lauren glared at John, “What the hell’s happening?”
“I don’t know.”
“Sons of a bitch, somebody—”
“SILENCE.” Everybody looked at Bor, “She has her Earth Guard, so your mission is completed and have returned. Beards like honor will return. Dwarf has problems great, and no time for matters small. To your clans return.”
Jaykil turned to the four remaining dwarves, “Do that and chin bald you will remain. Earth Mother Ironhouse does not hold her daughters.” He stamped his foot, “Our mission and honor is to protect her until she is reunited. In her arms, no child do I see. If you leave now, we have failed, and shame, like cut beards in lost winds, will follow all.”
“OUR EARTH MOTHER, SHE IS NO LONGER.”
Jaykil turned to Bor, “In granite you carved the bond. Your hammer was strong, shattering the engraved words, but you cannot break the intentions,” then he pointed to the mountains, “and they understand that!” He turned back to Bor, “Words shaped in rocks are unimportant. The intention, purpose, honor; a chisel larger than the great peaks you would need to carve the true meaning. Your actions broke the bond, but the intentions spoken first, the purpose of the bond, only when Earth Mother Ironhouse holds her children will Guardians once again in quiet sing.”
“Old legends have gone to your head.” The anger in Bor’s thick voice was growing, echoing off the far mountains, “My words as Clan Master you ignore. I have spoken, and no longer is she our Earth Mother!”
Jaykil pulled out the apology from Lauren, “Words carved in granite still proclaim her.”
Bor signaled him to bring the rock he held.
Looking down at the line he had drawn, Jaykil shook his head.
Siletz Deepmine dropped his sword, pulled off his tunic, and then grabbed the rock. “The madness forged by the Master Weapon Smith never left this mine.” Passing by Bor, he handed it to him, “I will leave now before it infects me.”
Bor looked at the carving with the dwarven symbols, signed by Earth Mother Ironhouse. Grasping it with both hands, he tried to break it but it would not. He opened the door, calling out, “Bring me the great hammer.” Then he turned back to Jaykil, “Challenge me you do, Ironhouse no longer you are.”
Lauren walked over to John, “WTF?”
Jasmine was behind her, whispered, “Wtf? What do you mean?”
“Later. John, please tell me you’ve an idea, a small one at least, of what’s happening here. Is this because I wanted them to talk to me?”
He tried to find an answer but remained silent like the majestic mountains that now observed the events on the terrace.
When the door opened, a dwarf handed Bor a large two-handed hammer. Setting the offending rock on the ground, he raised the hammer over his head with both arms, and with all of his might, brought it down. It sounded like thunder in the valley, the impact echoing off the far peaks, but the rock that contained the apology remained intact. Bor shook his head, “MY WORDS HEAR NOW, you are no longer Granite Guardians.”
Jakel Goldfinder and Kraj Silverbright dropped their swords, pulled off their mithril tunics before heading to the door.
Jaykil called after them, “When you want your beards and honor back, find me to complete the mission.”
Bor called out to Breax Iro
nhouse, “Go collect your beard as other duties wait for you.”
Breax pointed to the rock that still remained intact in front of Bor, “Granite and Ironhouse agree not.” Then he pointed to the mountains, “SHAME TO THEM, I WILL NOT BRING!”
Bor picked up the massive hammer, “Neither are now Ironhouse. All here, your welcome has expired. Leave now.” Turning, he stormed back into the mine.
Jaykil began to erase the line he had drawn with the heel of his boot.
Lauren walked up to the two remaining dwarves. “You didn’t have to do this for me.”
Walking over to the granite apology, he picked it up before returning, “Earth Mother, we do not do this for you.” Jaykil pointed to the mountains, “The Guardians from the past we protect. It is written, in granite also, should one chosen bring shame to history gone, the weight of the insult they will be unable to bear. A pebble small, its grip loosens, knocking more free. Soon many down the mountain fall, freeing larger until a force great breaks it apart.” In the distance, they heard a landslide rumble in anger. “It has started, so we must find your children fast.”
Lauren gave her head a shake, “I don’t understand.”
“Shame, Earth Mother, shame. Their legacy of honor built them tall. Shame, one fracture will grow. Gnaw at the solid granite, forcing it apart until the weight of the failure it can no longer support can, and then they will fall.”
“It’s just a legend.” A second landslide in the distance rumbled, pulling her gaze from the Guardian, who was no longer silent. She looked back at him, “Isn’t it?”
He nodded, “Yes, like you, but when dwarf to turn their backs legends, and when the value of history lost they treat like cut beards on winds, their future and my chin both will be absent of honor. We must leave now, as our presence here will anger all.”
“Do they know this? Why would they do it?”
“Dwarf war cloud their thoughts,” advised Jaykil.
“What?” Before Lauren could continue, the terrace door opened.
Fodu checked to make sure no dwarves were around. He then walked up to John, “Your kites fly on the peak high, attached to your cloak in a secure shelter. Will you claim it this day?”
“Brother, what’s happening?”
“No longer can I call you that, but you unlocked mithril, so ou are still a friend.”
“I need them to fly longer. Fodu, can you keep them safe?”
“In granite, to you my bond I carve, and I will protect both. Now you must leave. Bor and Aaro, their misplaced anger grows.”
John turned back to the crowd, “Don’t anybody ask me anything, but we need to leave now.” Repeating the portal procedure, all stepped through into Gayne’s living room.
*******
After Jedimac had walked out to the stables, he looked at Raderic, “I warned you and in the nicest way that I could, but what did you do?”
The young escort tried to shake the confusion from his head, “YOU?”
Jedimac sat down on a bale of hay, “Can you imagine what horror she went through?”
“You’d best be careful. Ya don’t know who my father is!”
“While I know you tell everybody who you think he is, trust me, he is not. Even if he were, he would not give your mother the coins she begs for.”
“You’re wrong, and he’ll gets you back for this bastard.”
“Tiny, you have exceptional skills in delivering blunt messages. Can you imagine what it would be like if the recipients of those messages could neither see their impending arrival or hear the impact of said messages? Of how the simple gifts of sight and vision play such a vital role in altering one’s behavior?”
“Uhh—ya, boss?”
When Raderic tried to turn around, somebody grabbed his head.
“It is okay, Tiny. Understanding my words is not as important as the message you will deliver this night.”
Then several hands forced a gag into Raderic’s mouth, placing metal plates over his ears, securing them with a cloth binding, and then a hood was pulled over his head.
Jedimac looked up at the large thief, “Now, Tiny, this is very important. Each time, after you hit him, ask him if he wants you to stop. If he replies yes, then stop.”
“Boss, we done covered his ears?”
“I know.”
“And gagged ‘em, boss.”
Jedimac smiled, “I know, just do like I said.” He then turned to Corackas, “Get me when Tiny becomes tired, but do not kill him, so make use of his ample frame.”
“What, boss?”
“Use his entire body for your canvas, my talented friend.”
“Boss?”
Corackas sighed, “See how many different places you can hit him.”
Tiny smiled, “Yes, boss.”
*******
Gayne, Mirtza, and the servants were absent from the house when they all stepped through the portal. Lauren turned to Logan and Steve, “Wine, the big bottles and lots of them.” She looked at the group. “Can anybody here explain the last twenty-four hours to me?”
“Seems like the old days to me, Dudette.”
“Shut up, Zack. Seriously, what just happened?” With the room remaining quiet, she let out a sigh, “Let me try. Somebody abducts Sam and Hope in wolf form, as they are searching for the triplets, correction, after they find them. Then Zymse implants trollmare amulets into them, but they also said that Bastards from Alron are being held in a prison here.”
Logan set down the bottles he had brought up from the wine cellar, “When were you going to tell me that?”
Lauren’s eyes went wide as she stared at her brother. “I’ve been preoccupied lately.”
“That’s what I said.”
“Don’t start with me, John. You had plenty of opportunities.”
“Still feels like the good old days to me.”
A number of the group all replied at the same time, “Shut up, Zack!”
“Gonna have a hard time missing Nur, surrounded by this kind of love.”
Grabbing a bottle, Lauren pulled out the cork before taking a long drink. “Yes, Sam and Hope said they found Bastards imprisoned here.”
Logan began to pass around the remaining bottles and glasses, “What’re we going to do about that?”
“I don’t know,” replied Lauren.
“John, what did that sound like?”
He grabbed a bottle, “Frustration,” then took a long drink.
Even though Steve accepted a bottle, he declined a glass, “Look, even though the train just jumped the tracks, we didn’t derail, so we just need to stay focused.”
“Okay,” Lauren nodded. “How do we do that?”
Steve took a long drink. “First we—no, we need to—maybe—Damn it all, I haven’t been this screwed up since I did a weekend bender drinking tequila in Mexico, which lasted a month.” Then he blurted out his next thought, “Mother, we need to concentrate on Mother. John, you said Sister understands how to kill the root?” After he had nodded, Steve turned to Lauren, “Good, now you said you had a plan?”
“First, there are the Earth Daughters and the forest we planted. Gayne made me some portal bracelets, allowing them to travel there and back, so distance is no longer a factor. They should be helping more, so everybody will know their presence is because of Mother.”
John reluctantly asked, “How many?”
“About a dozen.”
Grabbing the nearest bottle, he took a long drink. Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap.
“While I imagine the rains will become more regular, which will help, the biggest source of misery is food. With no employment, most are living like dogs in the street. Even though I might not be able to provide them with a roof over their heads or a steady income, I can feed them.” Then she walked over to the patio door, opened it, pointing to the large vine outside that had numerous fruits attached to it. “It also grows roots in the ground, so I’ll tell the Earth Daughters how to find it, and in turn, they’ll tell the c
hildren of Mother’s gift.”
John dropped the empty wine bottle he had been holding, “How?”
“I thought of how my dad had grafted different branches onto a single tree and did the same.”
She manipulated plant DNA. They made her a god. “Can I talk to you in the study?”
“Why?”
Heading in the desired direction, John remained silent, being uncertain of what he was going to say. When he heard the door close, he turned, looking to the short staff. “I don’t think they gave you Mother’s magic. They gave you her abilities.”
“Same thing, isn’t it?”
“Your last staff had one tree which was Core Wood, her power or magic. With it, you grew the wall of Iron Wood trees in the mountain pass. I think, with that staff, you could have just willed them to be, and they would’ve appeared. With this staff, and please don’t try this, you could grow one like your last, but with the first, you couldn’t make one like that,” and he was pointing at the God Wood staff in her hands.
“I don’t quite understand the difference.”
“Do you remember the apology you gave your Guardian? That was creation. Making that plant outside, creation. They contain the magic from Mother, but their origin is creation—something from nothing. Your last staff was able to replenish itself by siphoning off magic from the ground, which already existed. This one can’t because—because—Lauren, I think they gave you a piece of Mother, a piece of a god.”
She held out the short staff, “Mother’s a tree? You’re joking with me?”
“It could be a form she takes, be a micro part of a much larger organism or something else completely.”
Lauren had a confused look on her face, as she held the staff in front of her, “Find a simpler way to explain this to me.”
“When Gor died, you called to the magic in the staff, which found that volcano, basically venting your rage. With this one, if it still has enough power, if a similar event occurred, a lava flow would push its way up from the center of this planet to answer your call. While the last one manipulated objects in the environment, this one has the ability to alter the situation to meet your desires, to create. It would make a volcano for you.” John took a deep breath, “Now please don’t take this the wrong way, but don’t get angry while you’re holding that staff, as I have no idea what it’ll do to appease your rage. Right now, I really need something stronger to drink, so do you have any questions?”