Rise of the Fallen

by Ivory Autumn

  Andrew blinked, wondering if he was seeing clearly. “Ivory?”

  She stepped into full view, grinning from ear to ear. “Yes. It’s me.”

  “But, where did you come from?”

  “It’s a long story.”

  “Yeah it is,”Freddie agreed, jumping off a nearbyLizick tree, with Talic, landing beside Andrew and Ivory.

  “Yes,” Talic agreed, “It’s an incredibly long story, and I know that you hate listening to me talk, because I can’t really abbreviate anything. Details are what I’m all about. Not to mention there’s the long story about how we met Rhapsody, and well, I’m sure it would take me all day to tell you about it.”

  “Rhapsody?” Andrew wondered. “Who’s he?”

  A burst of wind suddenly came up, swirling a cloud of sand into the air. “Who is Rhapsody?” A voice repeated. “He is your guide, your protector. If you choose not to listen to his council, he can be your worst nightmare.” Rhapsody appeared from a cloud of sand, looking fierce, and stern. The old man held his beautiful staff by his side, and his flowing cape flapped gracefully in the wind.

  Andrew couldn’t help but stare in awe at Rhapsody. Rhapsody was incredibly tall and sturdy looking, like a strong tree that had lived long and seen much. He had a youngish, yet old-looking face, a long white curly beard, and a good many smile lines etched into his face. He projected a feeling of authority that was commanding and austere. Rhapsody bent down so that he could be on eye level with Andrew. “Tell me, Andrew, do you know the great power of the sword that you let slip from your fingers?”

  Andrew’s eyes grew wide. His face drained of all color. “Oh, no! My sword. Where is it?”

  Rhapsody reached within his cloak, brought out Andrew’s sword, wrapped in a purple cloth. “Never…” Rhapsody roared, his voice growing so loud that it caused a great wind gust to blow sand into Andrew's eyes, “ever let it escape your grasp again! For, never in the history of the world has a weapon of such cosmic origin and power been given into the hands of the elves, by the guardian, Orion, nor will something of such make, ever be given again.”

  “How,” Andrew breathed, “do you know so much about...”

  “Everything? I’m a wise man. Or at least I thought I was---until now, for I had supposed that someone older, and much wiser than you, would be gifted with such a weapon.” Rhapsody smiled a sad smile. “Fate is cunning. We think that somehow we will mold fate to our plans, when fate is really molding us for hers. Fate gets the job done, through means that we least expect. She even uses small lads with little in their heads but a few summers.”

  “I’m not that young,” Andrew protested. “I'm sixteen.”

  “So you are,” Rhapsody said, fidgeting with his cane. “And I, Rhapsody Rumble, the old, grand and wise elf, am brought low. Wise things today, are foolish to me, and foolish things are wise. I’ve spend most of my life gaining wisdom, and today of days, I find out that my wisdom has made me foolish.”

  “You don’t look foolish sir.”

  Rhapsody winked. “Now you know that looks can be deceiving.”

  Andrew grinned, immediately liking the old man.

  “Now,” Rhapsody said, “let’s have some breakfast. While we eat, Andrew can tell us how he came to possess the sword.”

  Soon, all were talking pleasantly, telling of their adventures, and eating dried fruit, and soft rolls that Rhapsody had brought. After they had eaten, Rhapsody grew serious. “Children, we must be on our way. I’m sure the Sontar captain will send his men out here soon. When he does, we want to be as far from here as we can.”

  Andrew looked at Rhapsody earnestly. “But where will we go? What if we can’t find Lancedon? How are we ever going to be able to raise such a great army?”

  “We will find Lancedon if we are meant to find him. And if it’s the will of fate that we fail, then we will fail. But, who's to say what is, or what is not to be? Who's to say that trying is not a far nobler aim than winning? Victory without a struggle would be defeat, so let us struggle, and try. Whatever the outcome, we will have stood victorious, if only for a little while, because we tried our best! Let us fear then, to live as worms, in chains as slaves. Fear it worse than the fear of dying. Thus considering ourselves more alive than most, because when we come face to face with death, we know that we have really lived.”

  Andrew was still unconvinced. “If you have searched for Lancedon all these years, what makes you think we can still find him?”

  “Because,” Rhapsody said, “I’m ready to find him, and I suppose, that makes quite a difference, doesn't it?”

  “Weren't you ready before?”

  Rhapsody nodded. “I thought I was. I wanted to be ready. But, now, I know I was wrong. Wanting something to be, and thinking that you are ready when you are not, is like asking the sun to come out when it’s dark. Timing is everything.”

  ~~~~

  Chapter Twelve

  Lost

  As the travelers made ready to take their journey through the forest of Lizick trees, and out of the land of Drysin, Talic poked his head into one of the gaping Lizick tree mouths, and disappeared down it.

  “Where’d he go?” Rhapsody wondered, from atop his horse. “Time’s wasting. We need to be off.”

  “Don’t leave me. I’m right here,” Talic called out from within one of the Lizick trees. He poked his head out, and waved. “Just a minute more. It’s really interesting down here. “They have wooden innards.”

  “Talic, we have to go,” Andrew said, peering into the opening of the Lizick tree mouth. Behind Talic, Andrew could see sharp wooden teeth and a huge hole that was big enough for him to fit inside. He backed away from the hole. The memories from the night before were all too vivid.

  “Just look at it, would you?” Talic said, his voice echoing from inside the beast. “I can see clear into its belly.”

  “Very nice,” Andrew said. “Just make sure you don't get stuck in there, because I'm not coming in to rescue you.”

  “Some friend,” Talic complained, delving further in, and coming upon the beast's wooden dinner. “Yuck. I'm coming out. This Lizick tree has a lot of halfway digested wooden mice in here. Hey…wait a second. Looky here, I found something!”

  He poked his head out of the Lizick's mouth and held up a small object---the only thing in its belly that hadn't petrified into wood. It was a silver-handled paintbrush, with a soft yellow bristles of foxtail. It was quite pretty and had little jewels embedded into its handle in random patterns.

  “Why would a Lizick have that in his stomach?” Andrew wondered.

  Talic shrugged and handed the item to Andrew. “I don’t think I want to know the answer to that question. Let’s look on the bright side. Soon as we find some paints, you can take up your old hobby again. Who knows what might have happened to this little treasure if I hadn’t found it?”

  “Here, let me see it,” Rhapsody said, taking the brush from Andrew, and inspecting it carefully. “Ah, very interesting. It is a living paintbrush. Very rare.”

  “What does a living paintbrush do?” Andrew wondered. “Does it run about at night and tickle noses?”

  “No. It’s something much more valuable than any of you can imagine. I know of only a few people who are lucky enough to possess such a treasure.” He handed the paintbrush back to Andrew. “Andrew, put the brush in the purse that Orion gave you. It may be exceptionally useful to us in our journey. That is if we can find the paint suited for it.”

  Andrew nodded and put the paintbrush gently into his purse, wishing to have some of the paint Rhapsody had spoken of. To him, painting would somehow bring him closer to his old life, to his home.

  After that, they all got on their horses, and made their way through the Lizick forest, where orange leaves crowded in around them so thickly that it was very slow going. Rhapsody steered his horse through the trees, in a northeasterly direction. The others followed, long into the night, leaving the Lizick forest far behind.

  As the
horses trotted along, Andrew listened to the faint sound of Ivory singing.

  “We wander in a strange land. Far from home, in the deep, vast sand. No stars by night, and clouds by day; our path is shadowed by fear. Yet, we still go, to paths that we do not know. Our guiding star will shine from afar, and it will light our way, by night and by day. We will let it shine on till the future's bright dawn, until darkness is done away.”

  Ivory’s voice continued, filling the night with a music that seemed to still the world. It made the wind hush, and it soothed Andrew's tired soul, like a healing salve. His eyelids gradually drifted shut and he rested his head on his chest. Then, as his horse continued to climb up a steep hill, Talic, and Freddie also fell asleep. Without realizing it, all three boys slipped from the saddle, and rolled down the hill.

  “Ouch!” Talic complained, dusting off his clothes. “That was a nasty awakening. I was dreaming of eating a nice, big piece of pie, and as right as I was about to put it in my mouth, I wake up and I am rolling down a hill eating dirt.”

  “Maybe you'd eat less dirt, if you stopped dreaming of pies,” Freddie joked.

  “Yeah,” Talic groaned. “Maybe.”

  Freddie helped Andrew and Talic to their feet and they trudged back up the tall hill, to their horse, Flags.

  Rhapsody was waiting for them at the top, looking very serious and stern. After cautioning them to be more careful, they started northward once again.

  Night swiftly passed, and the sky steadily became brighter. The sun bathed the world with a hesitant yellow-orange glow. It was as if the sunbeams were reluctant to light up the land, like the atmosphere was absorbing more of the light than necessary. The land too, slowly changed from miles of sand and desert, into a hilly countryside with patches of green here and there. Dead trees, like dry bones of twisted corpses, spotted the hilly terrain. The land was empty of birds and deathly still.

  “Eerie sort of place,” Talic murmured, glancing around him fearfully. “Not even the bugs are chirping. It’s too quiet. ”

  “Not to worry,” Freddie said, retrieving a wooden flute out of his pocket, the only thing he’d been able to bring with him from Hollyhock Hollow. “I’ll, fix that problem.”

  Soon, beautiful melodic sounds were emitted from Freddie's flute. First, he played a happy jig that made his listeners tap their hands in time with the music. Then he switched songs and played a sad melancholy tune. It was a song that made its hearers slump in their saddles and sigh. They became oddly aware of their sad mood, as the music went on. It felt as if the sad music, like their pent up emotions, were now being released into the air for all to see, like caged birds, flying at random, fluttering on the current of the wind---their longing, sadness, fear, and insecurity, soaring about them, in all its lonely nakedness.

  Andrew looked at Freddie's face as he played, noticing tears welling up in Freddie's eyes.

  “Stop already!” Talic shouted. “If you don’t play something a bit happier, you’ll go down as the first person who died choking on a flute.”

  “Hey,” Freddie objected. “I thought you didn’t like the quiet.”

  “I don’t. But it wouldn’t hurt if you played something a little bit more upbeat, would it?”

  Freddie sighed. “All right, you win.” He shook his head and then began to play an old tune they had often danced to as children in Hollyhock Hollow.

  Talic sat back in his saddle and enjoyed the happy music as it brought back pleasant memories of home.

  They passed their time traveling in this way for a long while, until Rhapsody raised his hand and said, “Freddie, stop your music!”

  “What now?” Freddie complained. “Too happy?”

  “No,” Rhapsody retorted. “It’s just that your music is attracting unwanted guests.”

  He pointed behind them, at a huge gathering of wide-eyed creatures, obvious fans of Freddie's music. The creatures were oval shaped, with long tails and two back feet like a kangaroo, and two front legs that very rarely ever touched the ground. They had big eyes and long ears shaped like a hound dogs’.

  “Funny looking creatures,” Freddie mused.

  “They look like eggs with tails and ears,” Talic said. “Maybe we should crack them.”

  “Oh,” Ivory cooed. “They're so small, so cute. I want to touch one.”

  “No. Don’t!” Rhapsody cautioned, grabbing Ivory’s arm and holding her in the saddle behind him.

  “Why not? They’re so cute.”

  “But their teeth aren’t!” Rhapsody snapped, looking at the strange little creatures in disgust. “Look how their bones show. No doubt, they are hungry. If you give them a chance, they will nibble you to bits. My uncle met up with a hungry pack of Chewthumps, once, while he was sleeping and, well, they nearly ate off every single toe he had, chewed off a part of his ear too. Believe me; you don’t want to give them a chance to get near you.”

  “Are you sure were talking about the same thing?” Ivory asked.

  “YES!”

  Freddie blew a gust of air through his flute, and watched the Chewthumps move forward while he played, then stopped when he stopped playing. “Musical little fellows,” Freddie laughed.

  “I’d advise you not to blow on that again,” Rhapsody cautioned.

  “Oh, all right,” Freddie sighed, putting his flute into his pocket. “I was just curious to see what they’d do. Seems to me that music lovers couldn’t be all that bad.”

  Rhapsody chuckled to himself. “Continue playing, and you’ll see just how good these musical lovers are. Even the most savage of creatures have their own form of tinkery and clashing and banging on pots.”

  “Yeah!” Freddie agreed. “That’s true. Talic here is the perfect example of that. His music is really…interesting.”

  Talic gave Freddie a hurt look. “Hey, just wait until I get my hands on a harmonica and then I’ll show you!”

  “Come on,” Rhapsody said, clucking to his horse. “Let’s keep moving.”

  The others reluctantly followed him. Every once in a while Freddie would peer back at the Chewthumps and shake his head in amazement. Odd enough, the funny Chewthumps stayed put, watching remorsefully, as their musical dinner faded out of sight.

  “Funny creatures,” Freddie kept saying. “Music lovers and such.”

  “If I didn’t know better,” Talic said. “I’d say you’d make a good Chewthump yourself, Freddie. You like music and you certainly like food. Correction---you, LOVE, food. I remember the time I put a piece of Perry cake in your mouth when you were sound asleep. Do you know what you did?”

  “No. What did I do?”

  “You started chewing.”

  “Seems logical.”

  “Not while you’re sleeping. Plus, after you ate the Perry cake, I gave you a cricket and you ate that too.”

  “You what?”

  Talic let out a loud laugh. “Sorry, it was just an experiment.”

  “Sorry?” Freddie retorted. “Yeah, you will be, after I try some of my own experiments on you when you're dead asleep. I’m not the only one here who loves to eat!”

  Ivory had silently been watching Andrew, while Freddie and Talic quarreled. Andrew had been unusually quiet. He looked upset and his hands were clenched. His normally blue eyes shown a glowing green color.

  “Look at Andrew’s eyes,” Ivory said.

  Rhapsody stared at Andrew with great interest. There was a bright green sheen to Andrew’s eyes that was slowly dimming, like dying embers in a fire pit. His lips were curled into a half smile and his face had the strangest expression on it.

  “Hmmm,” Rhapsody murmured. “Andrew, tell us, what did you just see?”

  “Huh?” Andrew asked, blinking almost as if waking from some distant dream.

  “What did you see?” Rhapsody asked.

  “See?”

  “Your eyes…they burned green a moment ago. No elf has had that kind of vision since…well…I don’t know when.”

  Andrew looked around him an
d smiled sheepishly. “Vision?”

  “Yes, vision. Now tell us what you saw!”

  Andrew closed his eyes, trying to picture what he’d just seen. “It’s complicated. I thought, that maybe, I was dying…or flying, or both. It felt so strange. It was as if I could see through the mountain, through the rocks, trees, the earth. I could see down every mole hole and far beneath the tree roots. I could see past this mountain. I could see a hill covered in black. I could see…”

  “Yes!” Rhapsody cried, excitedly. “And?”

  “Lots of keys, and locks. And there was something else, but it wasn’t like I could see it clearly. It was more like I could feel something that was in great anguish.”

  “Um…” Talic wondered, butting into the conversation. “Moles, rocks, keys, locks? Is this significant, or am I too dense to see through what he just saw through?”

  “Do you really want us to answer that?” Ivory asked, grinning.

  Talic gave her a hurt look. “Fine. Since nobody loves me, I guess I'll just go live in a hole.”

  “If you lived in a hole,” Freddie mused, “Andrew could still see you.”

  “Oh drat!” Talic cursed, trying to sound extremely disappointed. “Scratch that. I’ll have to think of something else.”

  “I think Talic’s right,” Andrew said.

  Talic gave Andrew a confused look. “You think I should live in a hole?”

  “No…I think you’re right. I don’t see why what I saw was important.”