We ran and ducked behind a large boulder, huddling together. We all sat down, closed our eyes, and concentrated. I felt a shiver run through my body as I left it and entered my hunter form. I followed Emily, Jason, and Seth as we crept silently over to the monsters, splitting up to surround them. I counted two thrashers, which surprised me. I swear we saw more before.
The thrasher turned before we could execute a surprise attack. Seth marched over, swinging his sword. Jason threw knives calmly at the other monster while Emily casted fire by his side. I, however, was jumped on by something entirely new. They were small and stubby, the size of dwarfs or gnomes. Their skin was shriveled and grey, and hung off their bodies like cold clothing. Their eyes were a bright yellow that matching their teeth and their fingers looked like gnarly old trees. And the smell; it was awful. They grabbed my feet, back and tugged at my hair.
“Why does everything always happen to me?” I complained.
No one heard me. The ugly creatures continued tugging at me like annoying two year old, which made me get really annoyed.
“Get off me ugly looking toad dwarfs. Hey, that’s what I’ll call you, toad dwarfs.” I smiled at my quick thinking. I could be clever sometimes. Take that Seth.
“Silly girl, we’re already called toad dwarfs.” The one on my leg croaked.
“Aw darn, never mind then.” So much for being clever.
The one on my back grabbed my hair. He yanked it back. “Ow! It may be green but I still value it!” I grumbled, trying to pull my head free. I also had no desire to be bald at 16.
“He’s rising, he’s rising!” The dwarf said excitedly. His voice cracked at the last word.
“Who the heck is rising and why does it require pulling my hair out!” I snapped.
“He’s rising, he’s rising!” he repeated, full of crazed excitement. I swear I could feel him shaking from exhilaration.
“Whatever, you’re now an official maniac.” I pulled out my hunting knife. “Maniacs get destroyed by me. No maniacs are allowed to exist except for me and Emily.”
He jumped off as I stabbed the one on my arm. I grabbed my bow and shot him with an arrow before he his little legs could he him very far. He fell to the ground, the arrow sticking straight up at the sky. Now the forest was maniac free.
I killed the others and looked up to find the thrashers dead too, probably courtesy of Seth. A few dwarfs were also lying dead in front of Emily. I walked back to my body and closed my eyes. When I reopened them, I stood, stretching my legs. The four of us headed back to the restaurant together, adrenaline still pumping through my veins.
I told Emily and the boys about the freaky dwarves. “Crazy right?” I asked, running a hand through my hair.
No one said anything and Emily produced a pencil out of her bag. “I need a piece of paper, Jazell.”
I ripped one out of my notebook and handed it to her. We sat at the table and Emily titled the page: Warnings. I didn’t know why.
“Okay, Jazell, what exactly did he say?” Emily asked, pencil poised in the air ready to write.
“He said, ‘He’s rising, he’s rising’. I have no idea who he meant or if what he said means anything.”
Emily scribbled down, Toad dwarf said, “He’s rising, he’s rising”. Who’s coming and is he important? I stared at the paper, the question swirling in my mind. Who did he mean?
“Now what did the dwarf tell you, Seth?” she asked.
“He said, ‘You won’t stop him, little warrior.’” He frowned at the last part.
Emily added, Toad Dwarf told Seth, “You won’t stop him, little warrior.” Does this mean he’s powerful?
“Did you have to add the ‘little warrior’ part? It makes me sound weak.” Seth complained.
“I did because we need all the facts. It’s obvious the dwarf was trying to make you sound weak anyway. Now what did he tell you, Jason?”
“He said, ‘He will destroy all half-lings.’ What’s that supposed to mean, anyway?” Jason said.
She added the last bullet; Toad Dwarf said to Jason, “He will destroy all half-ling.” What does “half-ling mean?
“Did the dwarfs tell you anything?” I asked, taking the paper. None of what she wrote on the paper made any sense to me.
She shook her head. “No and if they did, I was too busy trying to burn them to hear them.” She took the paper back.
“Well I think the only thing we’ve established is that toad dwarves are crazy.” Seth said. I noticed a thin, red line on his cheek where a thrasher must have scratched him.
Emily wagged her finger at him. “Never dis facts. They might save you later in life.”
Seth just snorted.
Jason punched him in the side. “Listen to Emily. She’s actually right sometimes.”
“Thank you, Jason.” She said cheerfully, “Huh wait, sometimes?” She raised an eyebrow at him.
Jason scowled at her. “I’m admitting you’re sometimes right so don’t push it.”
“Point taken.” She tucked the paper in her drawstring bag. “You guys want to go to the park?”
They both half nodded, half shrugged, which she took for a yes. So we got up and mounted our bikes. I threw the bike lock in my bag, clipped on my helmet, and followed the others. The three of them raced each other, but I kept my bike behind them. What the dwarf had said was still troubling me and I didn’t know if anyone else was feeling the same way. I saw Seth slow his bike down and glide next to me.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey.” Then a question popped into my head, “What were you doing alone in the woods yesterday?”
He was silent so I yelled to Emily, “Hey, Seth’s lost for words!”
Emily appeared by me and chuckled. “What’s wrong, Seth? Thrasher got your tongue?”
Before he could reply I said, “I asked him what he was doing in the woods yesterday and he didn’t have an answer. We all know what this means.”
“Yup, he’s hiding something. Seth, why were you yelling at Jazell for being out alone in the woods when you were doing the same?”
“I wasn’t hunting down monsters alone. Jazell was doing that,” he grumbled, clearly annoyed.
“But you were still out alone and you yelled at me for doing the same thing. The same thing could have happened to you. Do you think you’re stronger than the rest of us?” My voice rose slightly at the end of my question.
“No.” He went quiet and tried to avoid our eye contact.
“Now who’s keeping secrets? You’re breaking your own rules. Why were you out?” Emily can be very demanding sometimes, I actually felt a little bad about involving her in my interrogation. Just a little.
He mumbled something under his breath.
“I can’t hear you.” Emily snapped.
“I WAS OUT SCOUTING!” he shouted, “Now can you hear me?”
“Yes, and now you’ve made me deaf!” Emily yelled back.
“Why were you out scouting in the first place?” I asked calmly, trying not to shout it out like Emily.
Seth gripped the handlebars and I knew he was losing his temper. “I was being cautious so we didn’t have to worry last night,” He said through gritted teeth.
He was lying and both of us knew that. I glared at him, “Nice story Seth, now what really happened?”
He didn’t say anything and he rode ahead to get beside Jason, who was in the lead. The park slowly came in view. It was a huge grass circle with a small play set in the middle covered in kids. The woods surrounded it except for the side that faced the street. A fountain was near the entrance along with a bike rack. That’s where we parked our bikes.
I clicked the lock together and grabbed my bag. Emily was fumbling with her bike lock, which was old and rusted and usually refused to work without a fight. I walked over and tried to help her.
“Why do you think Seth won’t tell us what he was doing?” I asked, watching her because she had refused to let me help.
“Pride purp
oses? He was yelling at you when he broke his own rules. He just doesn’t want to admit he did” she said through her wild hair.
Her lock finally clicked and she stood up. The boys were walking side by side towards the play set. It wasn’t actually that small but it looked that way from the street. There were six swings and a tower with four slides attached to it. I ran after them with Emily right behind me. I slowed down next to Jason and put my arm on his shoulder.
“Hey Jason, do you know Seth’s a liar?” I asked and Seth shot me a bad look.
Jason frowned at me, “What are you talking about, Jazell?”
“He broke his own rules. He was out scouting without telling us.” I smiled and Jason stiffened.
“What?” he growled.
“Are you two trying to create trouble?” Seth cut in.
Emily put her arm around my shoulders. “No, we just want the truth,” Emily said sweetly.
“Yeah okay, whatever.” Seth shoved his hands in his pockets, and glared at the ground.
I sat on one of the swings next to Emily. I traced the sticky metal rings and sighed. Emily was on her phone. I saw Seth and Jason arguing off to the side. Everything was back to normal. There was even a dwarf climbing the slide.
Wait, hold on. A dwarf?
I elbowed Emily in the arm, “Uh Emily, is a dwarf using a slide a normal thing?”
I nodded in the direction of the dwarf and her eyes widened in surprise. She jumped off the swing and grabbed me by the arm. She ran over to Jason and gripped his arm with her free hand, pulling us both after her. Seth frowned but had no choice but to follow.
“Where’s the dwarf?” she asked quickly.
“Climbing the slide. Weird huh?” I almost tripped but I caught myself.
She pushed us into the woods, “We got to move fast before someone gets hurt. Make sure no one is around.”
In a matter of seconds, I had an arrow in my bow, Seth had his sword in his hand and Jason had his hands full of knives. The dwarf was sitting on the edge of the slide, looking like an ugly version of a toddler, and a few more came out of the woods to join him. We tried to sneak up without being spotted but one of the dwarves turned his head and saw us. He immediately launched himself onto Emily.
She screeched and I thought I saw one of the kids turn around. He crawled up to her ear and whispered something that I couldn’t hear. She froze, but I saw her place her hands on his wrinkled skin. Fire flared from her fingertips, scorching his skin. He let out a screech and vaulted off her, running as fast as his legs could take him. I held an arrow out and Emily set it ablaze. I drew back, launching the arrow, and watching it as it hit the dwarf in the back. The fire charred its dying body and I looked away to face my new attacker.
One jumped on my head and I swung with my knife. It yelled into my ear, “The one will rise, the one will rise! He will destroy you!”
I stabbed at him again, “Who? You’re being too vague!”
He jumped off me and ran into the woods. He disappeared before I could notch an arrow and shoot him.
Soon we were alone again. Emily made us all meet by the fountain. I guess we all heard some weird dwarf talk.
“Okay I’ll start this time. He said, ‘Kill all the dwarfs you like, but Kojas will rise.’ At least we have an idea of who they might be talking about.”
She added to her list; Toad dwarf said, “Kill all you like but Kojas will rise.” Is Kojas the person they’ve been talking about? Who is he?
“He told me, ‘The one will rise, the one rise! He will destroy you!’ That’s almost the same thing as last time.” I tapped the fountain.
She scribbled, Toad dwarf said, “The one will rise, the one will rise! He will destroy you!” Is Kojas’ rising?
“Seth, do you have anything?” Emily clicked her pencil.
Seth shook his head, but Jason spoke up, “He said, ‘The King will rise.’ Then he left.”
Emily added one last bullet; Toad Dwarf said to Jason, “The King will rise.”
Her list was:
Toad dwarf said to Jazell, “He’s rising, he’s rising”. Who’s coming and is he important?
Toad dwarf told Seth, “You won’t stop him, little warrior.” Does this mean he’s powerful?
Toad dwarf said to Jason, “He will destroy all half-ling.” What does “half-ling” mean?
Toad dwarf said to Emily, “Kill all you like but Kojas will rise. Is Kojas the person they’ve been talking about? Who is he?
Toad dwarf said to Jazell, “The one will rise, the one will rise! He will destroy you!” Is Kojas’ rising?
Toad dwarf said to Jason, “The King will rise.”
She placed her notes in the middle so we could read it. “What does this all mean?” I asked her.
She was silent, “I guess the person they’re talking about is Kojas, but we don’t know who he is, or if he’s important.”
“Well, I’m thinking he’s important because these weird dwarfs keep talking about him. Maybe he’s their idol or something.” I said.
“Well,” Seth stated, “maybe we should ask the dwarfs where he is.”
“That’ll be hard.” Emily pointed out. “They hardly tell us anything as it is. You try squeezing out information from one of these pests.”
“I did.”
“Whatever guys, we’re getting nowhere. Hey Emily you want to sleep over tonight?” I asked.
Emily frowned, “It’s my turn, Jazell, and you’re coming over my house.”
“Honestly, Em, just come over…”
“No,” she said and crossed her arms stubbornly.
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, knowing it was useless to argue with her when her mind was made up. “Fine, I’ll call my parents. But next time you’re coming to my house.”
She nodded, her curls bobbing. “Fair enough.”
“Okay then, see you two later.” Jason turned around with Seth on his heels.
“Wait a minute you two. It’s only,” I popped open my phone, “3pm. We still have the rest of the day.” I shoved the phone back in my pocket.
“Hey, don’t take this personally, but we want to hang out alone. So…bye!” Jason said and jumped on his bike. Seth unchained his bike and rode off with him. I realized then that Seth had barely said anything the whole time, but he was already out of sight. I’d have to question him later.
I sighed, “Well, at least we can hang out early.”
“Well, while you were arguing with the boys I called home and they said you could come over now.” Emily flashed me one of her million-watt smiles.
“Great!” I piped. “I’ll call home quickly to check with my parents.”
I called home and my parents said I could go, which wasn’t much of a surprise. I’ve been to plenty of sleepovers at Emily’s, so my parents didn’t mind. Plus, our parents were close and Emily’s family was practically an extension of our own. We rode over to her house and parked our bikes in the garage. We knocked on the door and a woman answered.
Emily’s mom was short, small and bony. Her light brown hair was almost blonde without any gray in it. The woman definitely did not look her age at all, and she was still as beautiful as I imagined she was in her youth. She smiled warmly at us, her smile a reflection of Emily’s.
“Hello girls, come in. Emily, dear, can you put your laundry away? After you do that, you can hang out in your room.”
Emily nodded and disappeared inside. Her mom moved aside so I could walk in. I unlaced my sneakers and walked up the stairs, looking at the flower paintings hung along the wall that her mom had painted in her spare time. I pushed open Emily’s bedroom door to see her stuffing her clothes in the drawer and flopping onto the bed. She pulled out my bag and threw it to me so I could set up my sleeping bag on her rug. Her mom called us downstairs, hopefully for food.
She held a box of pizza. “You two can eat upstairs or down here.” She already knew our answer and handed us paper plates.
I took three slices
of pizza and ran upstairs. Emily and I sat on the floor, eating pizza and doodling nonsense in her notebook. The time ticked by to one o’clock in the morning. We sat side by side on her bed near the window, and I played with the fridge on the edge of one of her pillows. I looked down at Emily’s pajamas, which were covered in sun-tanning penguins. Typical Emily.
“Nice PJs Emily.” I chuckled.
She stuck her tongue out, “What do you have against sun-tanning penguins?”
“Nothing!” I smiled to myself. I shouldn’t be talking; I was wearing pajamas covered in little pigs.
Emily leaned back to turn off her desk light. It clicked off and I gazed outside one more time before turning around to go to bed.
“Night Emily.” I yawned.
Emily didn’t reply because her face was pushed up against the window. Her body was ridged and she didn’t move. I crawled over to the window.
“What is it, Em?” I whispered, a nervous feeling creeping into my stomach.
She backed away from the window so I could see. I saw nothing at first but then I spotted movement. The recognizable lines of toad dwarfs marched around the trees, and I could tell they were up to no good again. They were really starting to get on my nerves.
Looks like I wasn’t sleeping after all.
Chapter 3
Fall of Igneeria: The Half-ling Page 3