Chapter 46
Departure from Pizenchaffe
Oggy woke early. It seemed that he had fallen asleep on his throne. He looked around the banquet hall. Everyone was gone except for Red, who was passed out under a table.
The previous night had been good. After the banquet had ended, the burial ceremony for Erimack began. Erimack's ashes still smoldered in the pizenore casket in the middle of the banquet hall. He would have liked to have seen his ceremony, Oggy thought. Oggy stood up from his throne and stretched his worn body. The past few days had been hard. His bones popped and cracked with every bend. After a few moments, he felt limber enough to stir. He walked over to the table and shook Red awake.
“Time to get up, my friend. We have much to do,” Oggy said.
“Arrr! Me needs a drink,” Red replied.
“After last night’s celebration, I fear Pizenchaffe runs dry,” the king said with a smile.
Red made his way to his feet and held his hand to his forehead.
“Me head be’s bustin,” the Pirate said.
“See, Lot,” Urganox said as he pointed toward Red. “You are not the only one.”
“That does nothing to make me feel better,” Lot replied as he held his hand to his head.
Locmire came and tapped his staff to Lot's head and then to Red's.
“Better?” Locmire asked.
Much to their surprise, their headaches were gone.
“Thank ye,” Red said.
Locmire nodded.
“Oggius, I fear it is time for us to depart,” Locmire said.
“I know,” Oggy replied as he stared around the room. “You all go ahead and make your way outside. I will be there shortly.”
“Certainly," said Locmire.
The group left from the palace and made their way toward the exit to the surface. Oggy walked around the banquet hall for several moments. It tortured his soul to leave now. Just as quickly as he regained his throne, it was now time to depart for an unknown period of time. As he walked past the last table in the room, he noticed half of a jug of Pizenchaffe's finest. He picked it up, put it to his lips, hesitated, sat it back down on the table, and left the room.
When Oggy finally made his way outside, he was surprised to see the entire kingdom had come to see him off. Golgar, Zulp, and Olaf were waiting on him beside Locmire and the others. Zulp and Olaf look like different Dainties in their new armor, Oggy thought. Oggy said his goodbyes to everyone and issued some final orders to Golgar before he left. Zulp and Olaf became very emotional as Oggy slowly faded into the dark passage that led to the surface.
The Saviors, led by Lot, made their way through the small passageway that would lead them back to the surface. When they arrived at the shaft everyone began to wonder how they were going to make it to the surface. Lot began digging through his equipment bag.
“How da we plan on gettin out of dis place?” Red asked.
“Found it,” Lot said as he pulled a grappling hook out of his bag.
“Ya mean ta tell me we gotta climb a rope up outta here?” Red asked again.
“Do you have a better idea?” Lot asked.
“Why do ye Dainties not have a ladder here?” asked Red.
“Well, we never had any plans on leaving, and we have not had any visitors for a very long time,” Oggy hesitated for a moment. “Other than a thief a few years back.”
Lot guiltily refocused his attention on readying his grappling hook.
“Arrr! Me bets ye wishes ye had a ladder up right bout now,” Red said.
“Stand back,” Lot said as he unraveled the grappling hook.
He carefully wrapped the rope around his elbow and hand, grasped the hook in his left hand, and threw it up through the tunnel. The hook stuck on a group of rocks on the surface. Lot tugged on the rope and said, “Good enough,” as he began to shimmy his way up to the surface.
Oggy was the last one to climb out of the shaft. The sunlight was not fully visible from within the shaft, but there was more light shining down on him than he had ever seen. He squinted his eyes together to keep out the blinding sun. When Oggy made it to end of the shaft, a large green hand grasped his and pulled him to the surface. Oggy looked up at the sun and immediately became blinded. He stumbled and fell backwards to the ground, shielding his eyes with his hands. I have been blinded, he thought. I had heard stories of people going blind from looking at the sun. How stupid could I be? Urganox stood in front of the sun, blocking it from Oggy's eyes. To his amazement, he could still see.
“It will take some time for your eyes to adjust to the sun. Try not to look directly at it,” Locmire said.
“I never would imagine it could be so bright,” Oggy said as he rubbed his eyes. “You can move out of the way, Urganox. I think I will be fine.”
Urganox moved out from between Oggy and the sun. As soon as he moved, Oggy lost his sight again and the Brazurkin quickly acted as a shade tree once more.
“I just cannot do it. It is too bright,” Oggy said regretfully.
“Try these,” Locmire said as he handed Oggy a spare set of the black lenses that covered his eyes.
Oggy put on the lenses and nodded to Urganox. He moved out of the way once more.
Even with the lenses on, the sun still burnt Oggy's eyes, but it was much more bearable. He stood and looked over the lands. The surface was beautiful. Everything seemed so alive. The sun was sparkling off of Lake Ormavon, the trees were swaying in the wind, and a large flock of birds was flying through the air. Oggy was amazed. The cool breeze rushed against his body and blew his beard around the back of his neck. He stood with his arms outstretched allowing the wind to fully engulf him. He had never in his life felt so alive.
“Ah, ‘tis beautiful,” Oggy said.
“That it is,” Locmire replied.
Locmire's Quest: Book One A Tales from Calencia Novel Page 65