Dark Humanity

by Gwynn White

  “Hmmm. Lovely stew. Shall we eat?”

  With that, she picked up the cauldron, looked at Isabelle and winked. Both girls laughed again and went into the next room with the hot cauldron of stew.

  Galleon and the boys stood up when the girls entered the room, and they all took a place at the table. Sarah sat next to Joshua. She took his hand, squeezed it and smiled at him.

  “So, Galleon, wasn’t it?” Isabelle said, passing bowls and spoons around the table. “Sarah tells me you’re from the South?”

  “Um, that’s right,” he replied. He kept his gaze on the steaming cauldron in the middle of the table. “I’m, um, from a village not far from the Southern Tip.”

  “Well,” Isabelle said raising her brow, “you are a very long way from home.”

  She heaped generous portions of stew into everyone’s bowls and they all tucked in.

  “You’re the second Imp we’ve seen here in Jemarrah in recent months.” She filled her own bowl last and took a seat. Galleon had stopped eating and perked up, as did the others, including Sarah. Everyone was now staring at Isabelle.

  “You’ve…you’ve seen another Imp?” Galleon asked with raised eyebrows.

  “What, here in Jemarrah?” he added.

  Isabelle took a spoonful of stew and blew on it. She took a sip of the soup and looked up to see everyone staring at her.

  “Well, yes. Why? What’s wrong?”

  “I’ve been searching for many years throughout Forestium looking for other Imps. I was beginning to think I was the last of my kind.”

  “I don’t ever remember there being an Imp here in Jemarrah,” Sarah said to Isabelle, tilting her head and raising an eyebrow.

  “Lilly arrived not long after you left a few months ago.”

  “Lilly? Her name’s Lilly? Do you know her?” Galleon asked.

  “Well, sure, I know her. She’s, um…all sorts of fun.”

  Galleon sat up straight and looked around the table before his gaze landed back on Isabelle again. A smile began to stretch across his face.

  “Well, where is she? Is she here? Can I meet her?”

  “Well, I don’t see why not. But…um,” Isabelle looked at Galleon and then at the others around the table.

  “Look, it’s just a suggestion but, um, it might be a good idea for you all to…clean up a bit first?”

  She raised her pitch and eyebrow at the end of that suggestion and put on a false grin. “I mean, you kind of look like you’ve crawled backwards through a Wood-boar hole.”

  They all looked at each other. Their hair was matted and untidy and their clothes and faces were muddy. There was a pause and then everyone laughed.

  Galleon talked about the prospect of meeting another Imp all the way through the rest of the meal. Joshua thought he was overloading poor Isabelle with endless questions but she did the best she could to keep up with him and took it all in her stride. Galleon was so excited; he kept saying how keen he was to make a good first impression when they went to meet with Lilly in the morning.

  Isabelle offered them all the opportunity to clean up and stay the night, but Galleon noticed there was only space for about four people to sleep, so he suggested he would freshen up and stay the night at an inn instead.

  Isabelle had been eyeing Andrew all evening. When Galleon announced he was heading over to the inn, Andrew looked decidedly uncomfortable.

  “Um, maybe I should go with you?”

  “That’s OK, Andrew, there’s plenty of space for you here if Galleon isn’t staying.”

  Joshua chuckled to himself at Andrew’s reddening face.

  Galleon bid them all farewell and wandered over to a nearby inn for the night.

  Joshua, Andrew and Sarah took turns having a hot bath and freshening up. Joshua thought Sarah looked even more radiant with her hair neatly brushed and tied up at the back. Her entire face was visible for the first time and it looked just perfect.

  Once they were all settled around the open fire Andrew had lit, Joshua told Isabelle all about his dream and how he was hoping to find his father alive.

  Sarah and Joshua cuddled up to each other and held hands. Isabelle sat on her own but she squeezed hard up to the end of the couch she was sitting on, leaving a suspiciously Andrew-sized spot next to her.

  With Joshua and Sarah occupying the only other couch, this left nowhere else for him to sit, and Isabelle kept glancing at him and patting the seat next to her.

  For his part Joshua’s best friend kept busying himself with prodding and poking the fire.

  Sarah and Joshua cast each other a sideways glance when Isabelle looked at Andrew and patted the cushion next to her. They giggled quietly to each other every time this happened, which just seemed to add to Andrew’s embarrassment.

  Joshua didn’t want to say too much about his experiences with the orbs and the visions he had seen. He also avoided talking about the Goat and His intentions. For one thing, he didn’t want to drag Isabelle into his plight for fear of putting her at risk. He also wanted to shield her from the burden of some of the truths he carried.

  Besides this, he was also very relaxed and he hadn’t felt this way for some time. He just wanted to revel in the comfort of not having to think about it all, even if only for a short while.

  “I should get some more logs for the fire,” Andrew suggested, despite there being plenty to choose from already.

  “Oh, let me show you where they are,” Sarah said.

  She stood up and led Andrew out the back to find some more fire logs. Joshua sat upright on his couch and looked into the smouldering fire. Isabelle looked at him with a smile.

  “You really like Sarah, don’t you, Joshua.”

  Joshua looked at her and smiled. It was the sort of involuntary smile that gives away true feelings whether you want to or not.

  “She’s…she’s truly amazing,” he said with a big grin and a chuckle. “I’ve never met anyone like her. I mean, I only have to look at her and, well…”

  Isabelle maintained eye contact with a smile.

  “You really do care for her, don’t you?” she murmured, nodding her head.

  Joshua smiled again and nodded. His smile lingered for a moment before he turned to the fire and thought again of the vision he had of Sarah’s name on the tombstone. His smile slowly faded and he stared into empty space. The thought of Sara’s grave weighed so heavily on his mind, he could barely concentrate on anything else.

  “Why are you so sad, Joshua?”

  “I’m sorry,” he shook his head, snapping himself out of his trance, “I don’t mean to be rude. So tell me. You’re about the same age as Sarah?”

  Isabelle chuckled. “I’m actually a few years older but thanks, anyway. I’m not actually her sister either. I was adopted when I was a baby, but Sarah and I grew up together like sisters. Like many people from Jemarrah, I’m not originally from here.”

  Her smile widened. She took a deep breath and let out a sigh.

  “Sarah’s mother died when we were very young. Neither of us has any other brothers or sisters and so we’re the closest thing we each have to family. Except for the Elder, of course. He’s been just as much a father to me as he has to Sarah. She and I have been getting into mischief with each other since we were old enough to pick Shrooms. I know her better than she knows herself.”

  Joshua’s thoughts turned to his vision of when Sarah’s mother was killed. His eyes began welling up. There was a long pause as he looked into nothingness.

  “She was only a baby when it happened,” he whispered.

  Isabelle studied him. She said nothing but leaned forward and rested her chin on her hands.

  “He never meant for it to happen,” he said, shaking his head, his tone apologetic. “He never meant to kill her.”

  A tear formed in his eye as sadness gripped him. Isabelle got up, went to sit beside him and took hand. She clasped it securely in hers and smiled gently.

  “You know how Sarah’s mother died?”
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  With a tear running down his cheek, he nodded.

  “I saw it in a vision. It was my father. They were fighting: my father and Sarah’s.”

  Joshua relived the moments he had endured seeing in Orb of Time. Grief overwhelmed him again.

  “It was an accident,” he said, weeping without restraint.

  “It’s OK, Joshua,” she said softly. “It wasn’t your fault. It was a long time ago.”

  “I can’t let anything happen to her,” he said shaking his head and thinking about the tombstone again. “I have to protect her now.”

  He looked at the fire and took a deep breath.

  “I have to protect her,” he said, wiping his eyes with both hands.

  Andrew and Sarah came back into the room, each with an armful of logs. They were laughing and joking with each other. Joshua finished wiping his eyes and made himself busy with loading some logs into the fire. Neither Sarah nor Andrew noticed what had just happened, and Isabelle never revealed it to them either.

  25

  Last of the Imps

  The following morning, Joshua was the first to wake. He and Andrew had spent the night on the couches, whilst Sarah and Isabelle took the two beds.

  Joshua didn’t get up straight away. He spent some time lying there and thinking about what he had to do. According to Isabelle, the Elder might not be back for another day, so it didn’t seem like there was much he could do for now.

  He knew time was against him. To make matters worse, he was worried Melachor was still on the loose and probably looking for them. Joshua took comfort in at least knowing he was in a larger town now. He could blend in more easily. That would make it more difficult for Melachor to track him down, he hoped. Joshua hadn’t seen any Blood-bats anywhere in Jemarrah so far, but he knew they could be lurking just about anywhere.

  When Isabelle and Sarah walked in from the bedroom, Joshua got up. He nudged Andrew to wake him. Andrew was lying close to the edge of the couch and the shock of being woken was enough to dislodge him. He fell to the floor with a thump and looked around confused to find himself there, much to Sarah’s and Isabelle’s amusement.

  “Come on, Sarah,” Isabelle said laughing, “let’s see if we can find these boys something to eat.”

  The two girls went out into the woods to find some breakfast. They walked to one of Isabelle’s favourite spots not far from her hut and set about picking some early season Wood-shrooms.

  They found a lovely cluster of ripened Shrooms near the base of an Ashfer and both bent down to slice them away.

  “You’re very lucky, Sarah,” Isabelle proclaimed, as she sliced a big bunch of Shrooms from the base of the tree.

  “What, me? Why’s that?”

  Isabelle stood upright and looked at her.

  “Joshua, I mean.”

  She spoke with a deliberate tone. Sarah stood up and looked at her. Both girls smiled at each other. Sarah nodded and burst into tears. Both girls hugged.

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you, Isabelle. Oh, it means so much to me that you like him.”

  After breakfast, they all went over to the inn to find Galleon so Isabelle could introduce him to Lilly. They found him sitting at one of the tables outside the inn with a half-empty bowl of Twiggling broth in front of him.

  Joshua barely recognised Galleon in his clean clothes and neatly combed hair. He sported a new tunic and had polished his boots to a high sheen.

  “Well, what do you think?”

  Galleon stood up, extended his arms sideways and slowly turned around.

  “Going somewhere special?” Andrew asked with a chuckle.

  “Honestly! Laugh all you want but I haven’t seen another of my kind for over ten years and I want to make the very best first impression. So, what do you think?”

  “I think you look very handsome,” Sarah exclaimed with a smile. “Lilly will be sure to find you very charming. Don’t you think, Isabelle?”

  Isabelle scratched the side of her head. She looked at Sarah with an enigmatic smile but said nothing. Sarah looked puzzled.

  Joshua was starting to suspect there might be something Isabelle had not yet revealed about Lilly. Galleon bounced up and down on his heels, rubbing his palms together, and they set off into the village.

  As they walked down the main path towards the village centre, Joshua kept casting sideways glances. Something didn’t seem right. At first, he just thought it was his unfamiliarity with this new place, but he sensed there was something more to it, and this heightened his sense of unease.

  There was plenty of bustling activity. Children were running about playing, and Traders in different colours walked back and forth. Rays of morning sunshine streamed through the treetop canopy. The shards of light illuminated the morning patches of mist drifting eerily between the buildings. Chirvels scurried about up and down the thatched roofs of the various buildings. Could any of those be a Metamorph?

  A Raetheon was shrieking somewhere high above. He looked up, but couldn’t see the bird through the bright streams of sunlight. Each time he heard a different sound, he looked quickly in that direction.

  He noticed a Trader with a long, black overcoat. His beard was scruffy and untidy and he was straining to carry the weight of a brown sack over his shoulder. Joshua thought the Trader might be following them, but when he caught the man’s eye, he turned away and walked off. Was he being paranoid? He caught Andrew’s eye and the two of them exchanged glances.

  “I feel it too,” Andrew murmured.

  Something was amiss, but Joshua couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was.

  “Here we are,” Isabelle said, as they reached one of the larger log huts in the centre of the village.

  It had a steeply slanted roof covered with thatches of straw. Several small openings were dotted about the roof and a small child was peering through one of them.

  Two Chirvels stood up on their hind legs on the roof’s apex and peered around looking for Raetheons. A waist-height thicket hedge encircled the rickety, wooden building, and there were children’s toys scattered on the ground inside the fence.

  To one side of a hole in the hedge was a post made from a twisted branch of an Ashfer tree. From it hung an uneven, wooden sign held up by a couple of pieces of vine. The board swayed gently in the breeze and the word “School” was carved onto it.

  “Shall we, um, go inside?” Isabelle said to the others.

  Without waiting for an answer, she walked through the gate and the others followed her, with Galleon the last through.

  Isabelle pushed the front door open, and they all went in. Inside, there were no children, but a short, plump woman was sweeping the floor at the back of the room.

  “Um…Lilly?” Isabelle called out across the empty hall. The woman stopped what she was doing and looked over her shoulder. She laid her broom against the wall and waddled over. She looked up at Isabelle and smiled.

  “Hello, Lilly, I want to introduce you to some friends of mine,” Isabelle said in a tentative tone. “This is Sarah, the sister I told you about? You remember? Sarah has been travelling and has just returned to Jemarrah.”

  Lilly smiled at Sarah and nodded.

  “This is Joshua and Andrew. And this,” she said as Joshua and Andrew stood aside to reveal Galleon standing there with a beaming smile and his hands behind his back, his head held high, “this…is Galleon.”

  Lilly looked at the short man and her smile disappeared.

  “Um, h-hello, Lilly,” Galleon stammered.

  Lilly looked at him with a blank stare.

  “And just what in the world do ya’ ‘tink ya’ gawking at?” Lilly scoffed.

  Galleon’s smile faded. Isabelle cringed.

  “Um…what?” he asked.

  His eyes shifted over to Isabelle and he raised his eyebrows at her.

  “Ya’ heard me, ya’ bleedin’ fool. Don’t just stand there wit’ ya’ mouth open looking like ya’ ‘tree berries short of a Bramock bush! Years it’s taken
me to get as far as away from d’ bleedin’ Southern Tip as possible. Just when I ‘tought I’d found myself a quiet little corner all to m’self, ya’ show up and are fixing to ruin it for me.”

  Joshua noticed Andrew pursing his lips together and just managing to hold back a chuckle. Andrew’s eyes widened and he looked up and away.

  “Um, well, it’s just that, um…”

  Joshua had never seen Galleon so lost for words.

  Andrew bent down and whispered into his ear. “Don’t worry, I’m sure she’ll warm up to you eventually.”

  Galleon frowned at him. Andrew straightened up, quickly looking away.

  “Right, Lilly,” Galleon began tentatively, “when was the last time you actually saw another Imp?”

  “Not nearly long enough!” she shouted. She underscored the point with a definitive nod. “Nothing but trouble, if ya’ ask me, the lot of ‘em!”

  “You and I,” Galleon persisted, “are likely the very last Imps in all of Forestium, Lilly.”

  She looked at him and then looked at the others in turn. “Is that so?” she said, rolling her eyes. “Well, just so long as ya’ don’t go getting any ideas, then!”

  Andrew again tried to hold back a chuckle, although this time he didn’t quite manage to hold it in.

  Before Galleon could get another word in, Isabelle said, “Do you know what, Lilly? Why don’t we all go and have a nice cup of tea or something?”

  “Or maybe some’ting wit’ a bit more bite to it.” Lilly insisted. “Come on,” she added, “and keep an eye on ‘im! I don’t want ‘im getting any ideas.”

  By the time they left, Andrew was nearly in tears and barely able to keep his laughter contained.

  26

  The Elder Returns

  Lilly led them over to the inn where Galleon had stayed the night before. As she walked in, she caught the eye of the man behind the counter.

  “Pitcher of ‘dat newfangled Wood-wine please, Feldo.” she shouted.

  For a newcomer, Joshua thought Lilly had no problems giving orders. Feldo nodded back and reached for some mugs hanging above the bar. The six friends found a large, round table, and all sat down around it.