by P. G. Thomas
They all quickly stripped the gear from their mounts, and put the animals in their pens with fresh grain and water. When Alron turned around and scanned the group, he saw Mirtza heading to the exit, but the odd eight legged horse was nowhere in sight. Gingaar had gone to the stables with Hakk, and when she was sure that all had returned safely, she retreated to the upper levels to report to the Earth Mother, and to help her down to the dining hall.
Gor had prepared most of the meal in advance of their return, and was setting the table as they opened the door. With the aroma of hot bean juice thick in the air, Logan headed for the smell before Gor could start his welcome home speech. Zack was already sitting in the back of the dining hall, a pitcher of dwarf ale beside him, and one by one, the other dwarves and elves came to the dining room. Both Dawnfalcons were rubbing their arms, and Eric was favoring his legs as well. Gingaar helped the Earth Mother in last, who looked older, more fragile, and Lauren was shocked at her withered condition.
Starved from the field rations and strenuous travel, the nine quickly filled their plates high with food, the report could wait. As Lauren ate, she maintained a watchful eye on Gingaar and the Earth Mother. The fiery little elf, she had left behind not long ago, had been replaced by a shriveled old lady whose ears now drooped. Alron and Panry had also noticed the change, and the glances they shared demonstrated their mutual concern.
After the meal, Panry stood, explained the events at the first settlements, and concluded with, “Friend John does be best to explain the rest.”
John looked at the Earth Mother, explained what they had found at the gravesites and his conclusion was simple, “The plague in your lands walks on two legs, wears black, and kills with swords.”
Then Lauren continued the story, “We then went to the large settlement to see if we could find any more evidence. That night, more darkly clad men attacked us, but Alron, Panry, Aaro, Bor, and Ryan stopped them. I don’t know why they attacked, but they did not approach asking for help, they approach with swords drawn. I think John is right, war has been declared on your lands.”
The Earth Mother looked to Alron, who realized there was only the end of the story to tell. He rubbed his eyes, and then started, “We then does head back to Ironhouse. Black-clad does surprise us in the grasslands, but birds many does take flight and then fight, does attack black-clad. When they does fly away, all black-clad does be dead.”
The Earth Mother looked to Lauren, but her response was quick and prepared, “It wasn’t me! I have no idea on what happened.”
“Birds? Attack?” The Earth Mother looked confused, “How can this be?” She then saw Logan rubbing his forearms, “Alron, in private thou will speak with me.”
Alron took his chair over to the Earth Mother, pulling in close to her. She told him of the meeting she had with Logan the night before they left. Of the cold water, the fire, the markings on his forearms, and that he spoke elfin words, of his eyes, concluded by calling him Sister touched. She continued, “Birds does live in Sister’s realm, answer her call they wilt.”
Alron had a confused look on his face, “Thou does think Logan does this? Sister?”
“Alron, sure I does be, her marks he does bear. Water and fire, thou does hath allies new.” Then she turned to Gingaar, “Please does help me to mine room, tired I does be. Earth Daughter, tomorrow we shalt talk.”
As Gingaar helped the Earth Mother out of the hall, John went over to Eric, who was still rubbing his left leg, “So how does the training go?”
“Damn training. Little bastards are fast. As for padded armor, what a joke. Seven days of having the crap beat out of me, it hasn’t been a lot of fun.”
“Been there, done that. It just warms my heart to see the little guys inflicting that kind of pain on one of your size.”
Eric ignored the comments, “John, you know something about everything. Can you train me? Or train them how to train me? Because right now, I don’t know what you would call it, but it wouldn’t be training.” Eric slowly got up, “I have to go soak in a hot tub like a little girl right now. It helps bring down the swelling, so that I can receive more training tomorrow.”
John smiled, “I might be able to help the elves. Find flaws in their attacks, increase their damage capabilities?” Eric let out a hollow laugh, as he hobbled away.
Chapter 19
It was late in the evening, and John had retired to his room, was looking forward to a warm, long overdue restful sleep, when somebody knocked on his door.
Logan stuck his head into the room, “We need to talk.”
“Can’t it wait till morning, I am really, really tired.”
“No, it can’t.” Logan entered, rolled up his shirtsleeves, displaying the red and blue feather tattoos in the light from the open door.
“Does your mother know you got those? She is going to kill you.”
“It gets even better, watch this.” Logan rubbed the red feather against the grain, the small segments of the feather broke apart, and when he rubbed it the opposite way, the segments married back together. “I didn’t get them back home. I got them here in that forest, where Lauren picked up that strange staff of hers.”
John shook his head, “I don’t understand what you are saying?”
“Makes two of us. I found some sort of park benches in that forest and fell asleep on it. After I rolled off, and tried to get up, I touched both of those weird-ass stones, and this is what I got.” He held up his forearms, “It hurt so bad that I blacked out. When I woke up they were gone, and I thought I had dreamt them. The night before we went on that trip, the Earth Mother brought me to her room, and questioned me about the cold water. You remember when Lauren was bathing Eric? Well, it seems it was me that made the water cold. And I forgot to mention, when I went to her room, I started a fire without matches. Before I left, I pulled the fire from her fireplace into my hand, and extinguished it.”
“Slow down Logan. Let me take some of this in.”
“And I don’t remember what I said to the Earth Mother, but I am pretty sure I did a decent impression of Lauren, you know, the new Lauren? Thought my head was going to start spinning around. Those street lights, that was me. Those birds, also me. No idea how I did it, and didn’t know I could. Now these damn feathers won’t go away, and I am remembering everything I did.”
John shook his head, “Get in here.” As Logan closed the door, John reached for the candle from the nightstand, hoping it might shed some light on this riddle. Before he could find the matches, a flame appeared on the wick, and John slowly turned, looked at Logan.
“If you would like more light, maybe this will help.” Logan extended his arm to the fireplace with his fist closed, then quickly extended all of his fingers at the same time, and a fire burst upwards filling the fireplace.
“Wow!”
“John, what is going on?”
“Well, first, how do you feel?”
“Everything seems okay, not hot under the collar, no fever. I just happen to be able to make fire. Simple, right? Nothing to get excited about? Right?”
“Wow! Well, if you want a guess, I’d say that you and Lauren are twins, and both share the same DNA. Maybe Lauren attracts one type, the female magic, and because you have the same DNA, but different chromosomes, you attract the male magic. Nature usually creates forces in two, to keep balance. Maybe what is happening to you, it is similar to what is happening to Lauren, only different?”
“So you don’t think this is odd.”
John’s voice became excited, “Everything in this freaking world is odd. Do I think your anomaly is within the established standards of this strange world? Completely! You could grow horns out of your head, turn into a snake, and I would still think it was normal for this place. You could walk through a wall or show me your insides, and still I would not consider it odd. If we were back home, I would say that you had a real problem, phone the government, and turn you in for a big reward.” John’s voice grew louder, more excited, “H
ere? Here, I don’t know what normal is anymore.”
“Well, what should I do?”
“Well, if like Lauren, you have an external benefactor who is…”
“A what?”
“If somebody is guiding you, like they are Lauren, go with the flow. Just be careful when you pass gas.”
“What?”
John started to laugh, “Be careful of what you are thinking when you fart, that could really hurt.”
“You don’t think I could…”
“Logan, I don’t know what to think. Tomorrow we should go see the Earth Mother. Let’s talk to her, maybe she can provide you with more answers.”
“I really don’t like her, and she is not looking all that good right now.”
“Logan, do you want answers? If so, then we will go talk with her tomorrow.” John walked Logan to the door, pushed him into the hall, and then placed a chair against it, so that no other oddities would walk in on him. As he crawled into bed, he rolled over on his side, blew out the candle, and stared at the fireplace. At least he could have extinguished the fire out before he left.
*******
A fresh breeze blew in the window, sunlight streamed through the open shutters. Lauren struggled with a dilemma: should I have a warm bath, or go down for a hot meal? Or stay warm and safe here in my bed? Eventually the bath called to her, and she crawled out from under the covers. Once dressed, she headed down to the kitchen, looking forward to her morning greeting from Gor.
“Good morning Earth Daughter. Please you what would today?”
Crap, Should have stayed in bed. All of her hungry friends had filled the kitchen, “I will wait for the regular breakfast in the dining hall Gor.”
“A while it could be. Greatly missed on your trip I was.”
“That’s okay Gor, please look after my friends.” Lauren then headed out to the main dining hall, where she found a pot of the hot bean juice, and saw Alron sitting in the far corner, deep in thought. She approached him cautiously, “May I join you?”
“Earth Daughter, thou would be most welcome.”
“Alron, what is wrong with the Earth Mother? She looks, well, she looks old.”
“She does be old Earth Daughter. Elder of the eldest, she does be.”
“So, now that we know there is no plague, and that an army invades these lands, what happens next?”
“Earth Daughter, I shalt meet with mine Earth Mother this morning. Later she does want to meet with thou. Perhaps this day, answers and actions, both shalt be born.”
Lauren could sense that Alron was thinking about other things, just being polite to her, and when she saw Eric enter the dining hall, excused herself to talk to him, “How does the armor fit?”
“Like it was built for me, which scares me.”
“How about the sword training?”
“I would have better luck training them to play basketball. They are so short.” The frustration in Eric’s voice was noticeable, “They show me moves, which I mirror, but when we try to spar, everything is wrong. And they gave me a wooden sword, three feet long, so I wouldn’t hurt them. Are you sure I am supposed to be the champion?”
“Well, if the armor fits?”
“Funny, can’t you just find me a magic potion to drink? I don’t know how much more of this my shins can take, and the elves are starting to get upset with me.”
“I guess I am talking to the Earth Mother today. I will ask her if she knows anything.”
Eric rubbed his neck, “Sounds like you guys had a pretty strange trip. No plague, attacked, and defended by birds. Has John figured out what is happening?”
“Parts of it. I don’t think anybody is sure of what to do next.” As they were talking, Zack walked into the dining room to get a fresh pitcher of ale, then left.
Eric turned back towards Lauren, “You might want to talk to Zack, I think he went on a bender. I don’t think I saw him at all last week, though the training was keeping me pretty busy.”
Lauren spent the remainder of the morning, avoiding people the way the answers avoided her. Wandering through the mine, evading all glances from any, she found herself at the terrace door of their meeting room, where she saw Ryan sitting with his back to her, started twirling what was left of the purple streak in her hair, and went back to her room.
Ryan thought he heard the terrace door open, but when he turned around, there was nobody there.
*******
It was towards noon when Gingaar knocked on Lauren’s door, who opened it while still combing the last few knots out of a freshly dyed streak of purple. Gingaar nodded her head in approval, and then led Lauren to meet with the Earth Mother. As the two proceeded down the hall, they saw Alron exiting her room, his face white, and he did not greet them as they passed. Gingaar opened the door for Lauren, but did not follow her into the room.
The Earth Mother propped up in her bed, somehow managed to look even older. “Earth Daughter please does sit. Much does we hath to talk about.” Lauren wanted to leave, took a deep breath, walked over to the Earth Mother, and sat beside her. The Earth Mother smiled, “Answers we finally does hath. Plague naught, issue does be invasion. Too late does it be, can thou change where winds does now blow? Canst this invasion be pushed back?”
“I don’t think it is too late. They used trickery to get this far, probably because they have a small force. Once we tell the people what is really happening, they should be willing to fight back, and you will probably need to raise an army, because if they have one, you should also.”
“Thou does good Earth Daughter. Mother’s children, we does need to find, truth does show them. Can thou do this?”
“Pardon?”
“Thou did say, children tell. First thou must find them.”
“I don’t know where they are Earth Mother. I don’t know this land. I don’t know...”
“Mother does bring thou here to help. Answers thou does provide, but thine task does naught be complete. Mother’s children, suffer they still does. Chosen thou were, chosen to save her children thou does be.”
“I need time to think about it. I really wasn’t… I don’t know… What am I…”
“Earth Daughter, mine time does be short, as Mother does call me to join her. Thou does be chosen for this task…”
“What do you mean your time is short? Mother calls you to join her?”
“When mine duties does be done, she does call me home,”
“You are going to die?”
“I does go to be with Mother, naught die.”
“Once you are with her, can we still talk?”
“When I does go to Mother, talk we canst naught more. Only to Mother canst I talk, and she does tell me what thou does say.”
She’s dying. They are going to stuff me in her shoes. Then expect me to lead them down some path, and at the end, everybody will gather in a circle and start singing happy songs, “I wasn’t expecting this, I need some time to think.” Lauren did not ask to be excused, she simply stood, and left the room.
*******
John was upset, “Look, I really need to see the Earth Mother.”
Alron shook his head, “Does tell me what does trouble thou. If it does concern mine Earth Mother, consult her I shalt. But she does be weak, rest she does need.”
“Do you promise not to tell anybody else?” Alron nodded his head in agreement, “Well, if it is the only way.” John collected his thoughts, “Do you remember when we were attacked in that deserted village? Logan thinks he turned on the street lamps. And when we were attacked in the field, he thinks he made the birds swarm. He has two strange tattoos on his arms, shaped like feathers. He said he talked with…..”
Alron held up his hand and stopped John, “Mine Earth Mother hath advised already. Friend Logan does be Sister touched, and does now receive guidance from Sister.”
“What do you mean? Who is Sister?”
“Ground Mother does be, what does grow and live there. Sister does wrap herself around M
other, does be air, rain that does fall. And birds does dwell in Sister realm.”
It took a few seconds for John to re-organize his thoughts, “Well then, what does it mean?”
“Mother, with thine daughters her bond does be strong. Male born naught would Mother consider. Mayhap Sister does take interest in brother. Now plans I does need to make.” With that, Alron stood up, and headed towards the kitchen.
Lauren entered the dining hall and walked up to John, “The Earth Mother is dying, and they want me to guide them. No, I don’t know who they are, or where they are. What the hell is happening? Waiting for us? Swords and armor? Plague, no wait, not a plague, an invasion. And now guide? What the …”
Zack was sitting a few tables over, and saw the expression on John’s face, he tried to hold it in, but he could not contain his own laughter.
Lauren glared at Zack, who then reached for his pitcher of ale, wondering if Lauren’s cold gaze had chilled it, then joined the two, “So Earth Daughter, you seem to be upset. What’s up?”
“Leave us alone Zack.”
Zack smiled, “Not gonna happen. Everybody always goes to John when they have a problem, the one who lives the picture perfect life. If you have problems, you should talk to somebody with experience in that department. I’ve had a full time job with problems for seventeen years. What’s wrong?”
“You’re drunk, leave us alone.”
“No, just buzzed. What has the Purple Princess so pissed?”
Lauren glared at Zack.
“Dudette, you got nothing. If you want to see an evil eye, my uncle can give you lessons. Scowl at me as much as you want, it thaws my frozen heart, reminds me of the warmth I received in all those foster homes. It was usually from beatings, but beggars can’t be choosy. I think that is what my third set of foster parents told me.” Zack smiled as he refilled his mug, “So what does hath wine Earth Daughter so off pissed about?” Zack’s imitation of an elf speaking, secretly amused John, or so he thought. Lauren saw his smile, but ignored it. Zack continued, “The way those elves speak really screws me up. If I have a long talk with one of them, I have to sit in front of a mirror for an hour, just talking to myself. You know, just trying to get my ears to work right. And don’t start me on their ears, man they freak me out. Seriously Lauren, why so pissed?”