by P. G. Thomas
The confusion and excitement during their arrival, being so great, had allowed the appearance of the Guardians to go unnoticed. Two pointed to the far side of the compound, suggesting that Lauren should move to safety. Looking at the injured dwarves, seeing the fear in their eyes when they reached for their dropped axes, she refused. Two Guardians dismounted from their blood wolves, taking a stance in front of her, and then the four mounted Guardians with the two lone blood wolves raced to greet the dirt-covered trollmares.
The frontal attack of the wolves caught the devil beasts by surprise, and even though they moved with incredible speed, the wolves were more agile, being able to provide distractions or nimble attacks, while always avoiding the deadly jaws. Several Guardians circled the action, waiting patiently for an opening to deliver their dwarven gifts of death. The Guardian holding Bastard’s Fire moved behind one, staying until the blood wolves had it so confused that it had no idea on which way to attack. Running along the back of it, before the beast could react, he drove his sword completely through the beast, pinning it to the ground. Jumping to the side with his great ax held high, he separated the wide creature into two parts. The Guardian that held Beast Fang ran towards the one holding Rage Storm, who dropped his metal blade, and joined his hands together. Then heaved the second Guardian high into the air, who landed driving Beast Fang into the trollmare, and quickly severed the head from the burrowing nightmare. Then all four Guardians with the six wolves circled the last as it lunged from side to side. Being too slow for the agile wolves or the well-trained dwarves, when they stung it with their special swords, they made it howl in pain. As it started to dig into the ground, the Guardians who held Mithril Sky and Beast Fang rushed forward, and they plunged their blades into the head of the beast. The Guardian who held Rage Storm, stepped forward with his great ax, ending the final attack inside the fort. The four mounted their blood wolves to do a perimeter check, as the two unmounted wolves trotted back to their Guardians.
“Made some new friends I see?” observed Ramy, “Can they stick around for a while?” Putting the horn to his lips, he blew a series of short blasts. “Zack, do a once around for me, making sure we’re safe for another day.”
Shimmering out of focus, a large bald eagle appeared, and with a few powerful strokes of its wings, took flight.
“Ramy, the injuries are minor,” advised Gingaar. “Painful for where they walk as one would expect, but all shall live.”
“Thank you, Earth Mother.” Ramy turned to John, “What or who do I owe your unexpected arrival to. Should I thank the fates or the gods?”
“I’ve no idea, but if you find any that answer you, let them know that I also have a few questions.”
“Let’s go to Pintar’s,” began Ramy. “Damn trollmares.” He turned to a man standing beside him, “You’re in charge,” and handed him the horn from his belt.
Lauren, tending to an injured dwarf, heard Ryan call to her, but then Gingaar walked over, telling her to go, and that they would talk later.
“John, you damn well better have gold in your pockets,” began Ramy. “Pintar had to double his prices because of the beer barons.” He started to say something, but Ramy interrupted him, “It can wait until I start my second.”
When they walked into Pintar’s, Evesnight, his wife, dropped a tray of glasses, ran over to hug Lauren. “Earth Mother, you have returned.”
Lauren finally accepted the reoccurring greeting, “Yes.”
As the group walked to their table, each looked down to the floor, spit on it, and greeted Korg.
Steve, being the last, looked down at the peculiar image, and unsure if it was some sort of ritual, did the same. “Nice to meet you, Korg.” Making the connection from John’s story, he realized it was not red paint, but blood, “You’re that Korg!” He scanned the floor, being unable to believe the size of the red stain, “So this is what justice looks like in the west. I could grow to like this place.”
When they sat down, John removed his belt and Leatherman tool. As they ordered their drinks, he undid the belt buckle, pulling out a gold chain, “I just wish I had a bigger waist.” His four friends, Steve included, looked at him, but John shrugged his shoulders. “I was always afraid that I might wake up here one day, alone, so I took precautions.” He cut the chain in half, handing one section to Evesnight, “Whatever I don’t spend, apply to Ramy’s tab.”
Steve looked at the long slender gold chain, “That’s a pretty extreme precaution.”
“First, let’s recalibrate your definition of extreme. You do remember the forest, and what just happened? Here, this is like bringing a knife to a gun fight since it’s not good for much.” Then John held up his belt before running it through his pants, “This would be like bringing a plasma rifle to a skeet shooting contest.”
Steve took the bait, “What’s so special about it?”
“At home it’s titanium, but here they call it mithril. The same metal that’s in Ryan, which was also in my second cloak. It took the dwarves a long time to mine enough the last time, so on the off chance I was invited back, I decided to prepare myself. Like going to a frat party. B.Y.O.M.” They all looked at him. “Bring your own mithril.”
“Thanks, John, that should make Pintar and the dwarves happy for a while,” Ramy said, waiting for his first cold beer to arrive. After he had finished it, started a second, he then began. “One day, I wake up, and well, I have more immigrants stacked up at the front gate than pancakes on a plate, so we sent the overflow to the shantytown. I went out back, talked to a good number of them. To be honest, the words they spoke sounded all too familiar. Filled out a report, took it to the mayors, but they were unable to see any problems. Well, I never wanted to find myself sitting in a town hall meeting, having some damn young girl—Sorry, Earth Mother, have somebody stand up proclaiming doom, so I called my own meeting, telling the people what I knew. Figured I would sound less stupid suggesting that we did something, rather than waiting. A lot of the army boys were still around, so I asked them to help, and we dug a moat around the wall, which we filled with spikes. We piled the earth from the ditch into a wall, putting more sharpened spikes into it. None of the new immigrants actually made sense, but they all seemed to be talking about beasts of some kind.” He took a long drink, “I asked the elves for archers, the dwarves for fighters, and both agreed. I just had no idea of what the threat actually was, or if there was one at all. After talking to so many out back, to see them shake, well, they were scared, I mean really scared. Hence, I went to the Earth Mothers, telling them what we did to protect the town, and what I had heard before asking for help.”
As Ramy set down his mug, Evesnight brought over another tray of drinks, and he continued. “Well, Earth Mother brought me samples of their sleeping potion, which I showed to the elves and dwarves. The elves designed a new arrowhead to hold it, and the dwarves forged it. Bless her, she never stopped there, but I will let her tell that part of the story. We had the dwarves carve barracks into the pass, by the Iron Wood Tree wall, manning it day and night. If something was going to come this way, I wanted a fair warning. While we were doing that, Earth Mother with the Earth Scouts went out to the forests, and they started to bring all manner of plants back. We also sent word to the south and north, telling them what we knew, advising them to fortify. The north town, damn, were they ever scared into action, building a wall around their entire town in less than a month. By that time, Earth Mother had planted her garden of suffering—”
“Garden of suffering?” asked Lauren.
“I will let her explain it, as I could not could even if I wanted to. Anyways, she helped plant the same in the north and south. People were beginning to think it was for nothing, but then the first trollmare attacked a few days later, and it went charging into that garden of suffering. I have no idea on what it was, but it was fast and big. It had only gone a couple of dozen feet into it before it started howling in pain. It kept charging, stumbled in the middle, where the swamp is,
and that was the last we saw of it. Two days later, three more attacked; the garden killed one, and the elves with the sleeping potion dispatched the other two. By that time, the Bastards were also helping us man the walls. Then reports of attacks started coming in from farms on the outskirts, so we took the fast wagons out, bringing back as many as we could find, food as well. There are still farms out there with food, but we just have to be selective about when and where we go. We only have the six fast horses from the post office, and they ride them seven days a week on different missions.”
John was amazed, “When did this start?”
“About a year ago, I guess. At first, the attacks only happened once a week. Lately, it has been every other day, but the worst are the night attacks. We have trip wires that ring little bells, which the elves listen for, and we have stacks of wood that the Bastards can light up. Occasionally, we have to tend to the garden, but it does not matter how carefully you dress since something always gets you. The Earth Mother is the only one that can walk in it without it affecting her, but I will not let her outside the walls anymore. We were lucky, if you can call it that, because the sky elves were still trading with us, and when they saw some of the attacks, they began bringing in supply shipments. They keep us supplied with meat, but most are getting tired of eating deer. They even go out to some of the distant farms, bringing back what they find in the barns. With the increased attacks, the way they change, I have no idea on how much longer we can hold them off, and we have nowhere to go. I thought we were doing pretty well for ourselves, but then the flying ones started showing up a month ago, and today, burrowing ones. The first flying one was small, landed in town, killing forty dwarves, and the fiercest fight I have ever seen. The next day, the elves presented the dwarves with the crossbow designs you saw out front. We harvested the wood that day, and two days later, had those beautiful creations, and not a day too soon because three flying ones attacked a few days later. Three shots and three down. Poor dwarves, elves got them so drunk that they ended up spending the night sleeping with Korg.”
Lauren had an odd look, “If things are this bad, wouldn’t it be better to stop distilling the grain into beer, and use it to feed the people?”
“It might come to that, Earth Mother, but the beer barons, they managed to build and fill several large storage bins before we were sealed in here. Besides, everybody in town is also rationing themselves, making sure the dwarves never run out of beer. As I said, between the fast horses and the sky elves, well, we are doing our best to meet all of our needs. I have asked to borrow their mithril axes, wanting to send out others, but they will not lend them. As long as dwarves continue to put their asses on the line for this town, they can set their injured asses down here at night, and drink as much as they want. Because, until the blood stops flowing, the beer will continue to.”
Pintar walked in the front door, looked at his old friends, noticed the six heavily armed, bare-chinned dwarves standing around the table, and walked over to them. “Is there room for one more?”
Everybody stood, greeting him with smiles and tears of joy. Pintar pointed to the six strange dwarves, and then he looked at Lauren, “Is this your Earth Guard?”
“No, it’s a long story.”
“I would expect nothing less from you, Earth Mother.”
Cradling her head in her hands, Lauren let out a laugh to herself, “So what’re you doing these days?”
“They have me running the town.”
Ramy set down his drink, “It was about three months into—whatever this is. We had pretty much taken over the town when Camius and Maine came at me one day, complaining, telling me they still owned the town and wanted out. They demanded an outrageous sum, so I flipped them a copper and then flipped them off.”
“What?” asked John.
“No disrespect, Earth Mother,” began Ramy, “it was something that Zack showed us, which became very popular.” Then he brought up his hand, extending his middle finger straight up. “Then we basically ran them out of town. Loaded their wagons the best we could, including them, and we took them out of the gates, but that was as far out of town as anybody wanted to go. Then I asked Pintar to run things for us. While he has the help of the other resident mayors, he makes all of the tough calls.”
Pintar stood, “I have six rooms free, and I told my wife to prepare the best meal she can because this night is on me. Now, since I have more work to do, I will see you later.”
After he left, three familiar faces entered. Zack, Nur, and Gingaar, who was holding a green staff. As Nur and Gingaar hugged Lauren, Zack updated Ramy that he had not seen any new threats.
Lauren smiled at Gingaar, who looked like an Earth Mother now, a little older, a little wiser, and very confident. “Tell me about this garden of yours.”
She accepted a glass of spiced cider, “Ramy explained the new threat, and he asked for help. Even though he made defenses for town, he asked if Mother can make then better. She does not have any gifts for such challenges, but I thought to myself; how would my friend Lauren help. There are many plants that can fend against beast and bug, so I asked the Earth Scouts to search for such. They found Cut Grass, Blood Thorns, Strangle Vines, Sweet Release, and many more. They even found Weeping Wood and Hangman Trees.”
“You’re going too fast,” advised Lauren, “I don’t have my staff with Sage Wood.”
Nur set down her glass, “She did not do what any other Earth Mother would do, so instead of looking to Mother, she thought of you. While there are many plants that are part of Mother, they never received her gifts, so they developed their own natural defenses. Cut Grass is the tall plant at the edge of the garden. Even though it looks plain, the edges of it are razor sharp, and it has a toxin inside that drives animals mad with pain. The first time they find it, after one mouthful, they run away and never touch the stuff again. Blood Thorns are nasty bushes, huge thorns that fester when they break off in you. They have little barbs, and unless you cut it out, you can never remove it completely, but you never get just one in you. Years back, a farmer’s horse threw him into one, and there were hundreds of thorns in him, so he never lived, but that was because he was working alone. She planted them beside the road at the east gate, commanding them to cover the road or to retract when we are sending out others. Strangle Vines are one of the few meat-eating plants, which needs more than sunlight to live. When animals run into them, the vines strangle them, and those vines are strong, unbreakable. As the animal decomposes, they feed off of the newly absorbed nutrients. The Earth Scouts also found a swamp with Green Coffins. They are huge, some over ten feet long. They emit a strange, peaceful scent that makes you tired, but if anything enters into one, it never wakes up when it closes around them, and after they have suffocated, it digests them.”
“Sweet Release?” asked Lauren.
Nur continued, “Beautiful plant, incredible black flowers, fragrant aroma, and every part more dangerous than the first. The fruit from it is poisonous, and the flowers have nectar that burns. Small spikes filled with a deadly toxin cover the stems. Pick one of those sweet smelling flowers, and it releases you from life.”
Lauren reached for the bottle of spiced cider, which Evesnight had placed in front of her, “Mother allows these plants to grow here?”
“They’re natural, and Mother doesn’t take care of them,” advised Zack, “so they look after themselves.”
“Then the Earth Scouts reported finding Weeping Wood and Hangman Trees, other plants that require more than sunlight to live, and are able to encourage anything that wanders too close to stay longer.”
“Nur, how did you ever harvest, replant, and get them to grow?” asked John.
She held up her green staff, “Mother gifted this to me years back, and it is Nurture Wood. With it, I encouraged the plants to sleep, so we could gently remove and bring them here. Then, with Mother’s help, I grew my garden that causes the strange beasts to suffer.”
Nur shook her head, “Within a wee
k she had the entire town surrounded. She sat out there day and night with the mud between her toes and sang to them, but if you really want her to freak you out, watch her walk barefoot through it. Those dwarves go out into that garden to finish off those disgusting trollmares, arriving back here in excruciating pain, but the plants move out of her way. We have been working on a poison using the Sweet Release, and to do that, she goes out and picks the flowers herself, and nobody can get close to them until they are distilled.”
Ramy looked up, “I gave strict orders that Earth Mother was not allowed out of these walls.”
“Try to stop her,” replied Nur. “The dwarves go with her to keep her safe. We should have the new poison ready for tomorrow.”
“Earth Mother, I’m quite impressed,” toasted Lauren.
She blushed, “I tried to help as best as I could.”
Nur picked up her glass, “Then she asked them to dig another moat that the Bastards filled with water, and she took the Earth Scouts and ten wagons to that swamp, bringing back Island Snapping Turtles. Twenty of them.” Before anybody could ask, she replied, “Yes, big as a small island, massive heads on them, and she let them go into that moat. To keep them company, she added buckets of giant leeches. Two feet long, and they can drain a man of blood in under a minute.” Nur finished her drink, “Just when I think she is done, she takes the Earth Scouts back out, returning with Giant Wasp nests, hundreds of them, and deer spiders.” A visible shudder ran down her back. “I had no idea there were such things. Three feet long, legs as thick as tree branches covered in small spiked hairs, and fangs six inches long. The eyes—” Nur quickly filled her glass, taking a long drink, “and when she goes out into her garden—she pets them.”