“Not yet. In due time, my faithful servant. You will be wearing her hide or her scalp or whatever it is you like to wear of your sufferers soon enough,” the Master replied before disappearing into the blackness from whence he came. As he departed, he barked more orders. “Mutilate the gnome, and bring the remains to me; I have a message to adhere to its goody-goody insides.”
Sadie trembled at the thought and bit her lip. She didn’t want to lose yet another friend in such hideous and horrible ways. Panic began to set in and roll through her in waves of nausea.
I have to do something.
She thought about her options, if any, as her anger built. Little sparkles of crackling red magik appeared in the darkness above her head and fizzled out before hitting the ground. The imp stood up from his squat quickly and backed away from her cell.
“Little deceiver. Nasty little liar. Pretending to be asleep, to be asleep. No doubt you’ve heard our next move, but it matters not, witchling. The Master has spoken, and it shall be done, shall be done. There’s nothing you can do about it either. So give up now. Your friend is going to die, going to die. But you, if you beg forgiveness and hand over the Ataraxia Heart, maybe the Master will show leniency before killing you and forgo the torture.
“You shake your head no? Well, then, I’m off to get my implements of agony to take care of your short friend across the way. Think on your options, tricksy traitor, tricksy traitor and run your fingers through that hair to get the knots out. I want it perfect when I wear it on my sash, on my sash.”
The imp slithered away down the dark hallway. Sadie waited to hear a door shut before she moved. Though none came, she was sure he was gone as his smell no longer disturbed her senses.
“Elgarbam, wake up. WAKE UP! We’ve got to do something and fast,” Sadie called to her friend.
A slight shuffling was heard, and Elgarbam appeared at the bars of his cell door. He looked bleary eyed and tired, worse for the wear, and a bit put off.
“I have to accept my fate, Sadie. I’m but one little gnome held prisoner by iron bars. What little magik I do know is of no use to me now. Maybe you can save yourself….”
“I don’t even have my magik, but I’m willing to try. Sometimes magik isn’t always the answer, Elgarbam.” Sadie was getting angrier. “We’ve got to at least put up a fight, if not to live then to try and save…well, just about the entire magikal world!”
Fizzles of light showered down from above her head. Though she was getting used to it, she was still amazed that she created these showers of radiance.
As Elgarbam and Sadie stood facing each other, holding on to their cell-door bars, a dark figure appeared further down the hall. It was black as night, hooded, and carried a sickle in its left hand. It appeared to be about eight feet tall, and the closer it got the less air they seemed able to breathe. They watched as it floated slowly past them and continued on down the dark corridor until they could see it no more.
A chill ran down Sadie’s back as she realized what they had just seen. It was Death. Sadie was no expert, but she knew enough to know that if Death were that close to them, things weren’t good.
As Sadie ramped up for another inspirational fight speech to deliver to Elgarbam, she was suddenly startled by soft fur rubbing against her bare arm. Shocked, she unconsciously began touching the spot and scanning the dark cell for its source. Looking down, she let out her breath as she recognized the feline in front of her.
“Grimm! Oh, my gosh! How did you get here? We’ve got to do something; they’re going to kill Elgarbam! We’ve got to….”
“Sssshhhhh! It doesn’t matter right now how I got here, just that I am here. Stand back from the cell doors,” he ordered.
Sadie moved to the back wall of her cell and heard Elgarbam do the same. The cat stood in the middle of the dungeon corridor and turned three times widdershins. As he did so, a blinding white light exploded into the area, lighting up and then eventually blinding everything from sight. When Sadie could see again, the cell doors were gone, and Grimm sat perfectly still admiring his work.
“You can come out now,” he said to the girl and the gnome.
Cautiously, Sadie and Elgarbam each came forward to meet in the middle with Grimm. Sadie hugged the gnome tightly with tears in her eyes and reached for Grimm to give some good scratches.
“Oooch, girl, you’re crushin’ me wee bones,” garbled Elgarbam.
“Sorry, sorry, I’m just so glad we’re free and you’re alive. But we’ve got to get out of here and fast. Grimm, what do we do?”
The cat rubbed his head on Sadie’s leg, causing that same old feeling of calm in her, and licked his paw before speaking.
“I’ve caused a…distraction, if you will, that has cleared the back entrance. All you have to do is follow this hall to the end (he pointed with his paw), and you’ll be on Main Street. Elgarbam, don’t use a glamour; put a spell on yourself to change into a…a backpack…and let Sadie carry you….”
“I’ll not have a weak girl carry me. I’m a proud and strong gnome who….”
“Do you want to be eviscerated?” The gnome shook his head emphatically.
“Then do as I say. And once you’re in town, head out on the north road to Tara’s. You’ll know where to turn off when you reach Shuddering Seamus,” Grimm stated. “Now go, there’s a war on, and it seems the Guild is losing.”
Sadie and Elgarbam began to move quickly, with catlike stealth, down the corridor to the exit. Sadie quickly spun back for one more question. “Grimm, how did your magik work with all those iron bars, and who is Shuddering Seamus?” But the cat was nowhere to be seen.
“Come on, Sadie, that’s not important right now. We’ve got to get to Tara’s. Don’t worry so much, girl-child,” said Elgarbam. He waddled towards the light with Sadie following close at his heels. When they reached the brick alcove that would put them out on the street, the gnome stopped.
He began to mumble some words; as he did so, his little body began to sparkle and pop. From his feet the crackling bursts of light began and traveled up his body towards his little head. When the light show was over, in his place lay a burlap bag somewhat resembling Sadie’s old backpack the imps had taken.
“Well, don’t just stand there staring, put me on your back,” said the Elgarbam bag.
Sadie giggled, picked him up, and swung him onto her back. “You’re a bit heavy for a backpack,” she said.
“I’m not a backpack, I’m a gnome, remember? And my weight is none of your concern,” he quipped back.
“El, can you tell me how our, well, your magik didn’t work in the dungeons of iron, but Grimm’s did?”
Unbeknownst to Sadie, the gnome smiled at her shortening his name to El. No one had ever called him that before—and he liked it.
“Cats are inexplicable creatures. They have nine lives and can do many mysterious things. They’ve had much time to learn lots of magik. They’ve been witches’ familiars for many moons, far too many for us to count, but at least five thousand human years. And even though they serve the witch or human they live with, they always have their own agenda.
“They always worry about cat politics first and ours second. Who knows for sure, but I’d reckon a guess that it was ‘cause he wasn’t in the cells, behind the bars like we were. Though to tell you the truth, little witchling, I really have no idea, and I wouldn’t admit that to just anyone. Now, c’mon, let’s get to Tara’s house.”
“Makes sense I guess,” Sadie said as she began to walk Main Street. “I don’t know anything about anything—yet, as far as magik goes. I’m just glad he came to help.”
* * *
After following the dirt road north out of Cranberry Grove for about an hour, it soon became an even more choppy and unkempt dirt road. This dirt road wound on for another two hours before they came to a Y. At the head of the Y was a giant, twisty, knotted, and bent old oak.
“Well, now, what do we do?” asked Sadie. “We don’t know which directio
n to take, and I see no signs of someone called Shuddering Seamus.”
“That’s because you’re not really looking,” said a voice from nowhere, but obviously near. “Oh, I shudder at the thought of not being recognized.”
Sadie looked around and saw no one. Elgarbam began to pop and crackle, changing back to his gnome self, and slid off Sadie’s back. He shuffled over to the giant oak and laid his knobby little fingers on its trunk.
“Good to see you again, Seamus. How’s this November weather treating you? Not too cold is it?”
“Oh, it makes me shudder; it’s so chilly. I can’t wait for summer. ‘Course, I shudder to think of all those birds making nests in my branches come spring. The babies’ squawking all the time, the mess; oh, I shudder to think of it,” said the tree.
Sadie walked closer to the oak; as she did, she looked for some sort of face. When she reached Elgarbam, she saw two eyes slowly open that had previously been camouflaged within the folds of the bark. Then she recognized a knot in the tree to be a nose and just under that a mouth opened to speak.
“I had some of those tree rats with the bushy tails, the ones you call squirrels, taking the rest of my acorns. Now I’ll never have one grow near enough to talk to. Oh, I shudder at the thought of being alone for all of my time,” said the giant old oak.
And, indeed, the tree seemed to shudder in the chilly breeze.
“Which way to Tara’s?” asked Elgarbam.
“Oh, you don’t have to go yet. I shudder at the thought of your leaving so soon. Can’t you stay for a couple of years, just enough time to get to know each other again,” begged the tree.
For a tree, a couple of years is the equivalent to a blink of an eye to a human, so his request wasn’t that out of line though Sadie was a bit taken aback by it.
“We must get to Tara immediately. It’s of the utmost Guild importance. This witchling and I are on important business,” Elgarbam replied.
His little chest puffed out, and he held his head high, looking very much like a tiny general in a tiny position of command.
“I haven’t met this one before though I did see her pass in the night with that centaur Zeno. I shudder to think I haven’t been properly introduced. Maybe she could stay for a while?” the tree asked.
“Tell you what, my woody friend, I’ll bring back a birch and plant it for company if you give us the right way to take,” Elgarbam replied.
“Oh, I shudder at spending time with a birch; they shed and peel and I don’t like messes. Bring me a cherry tree; they’re so pretty in the spring time. I shudder to think of the beauty,” the oak said with a tremble.
“It’s as good as done,” responded Elgarbam. He pounded his little fist against his chest in a firm, oath-assuring thump.
“Then take the road leading east, I think. Wait, no, west. No, it’s east. Sorry, I shudder at how many times we’ve had to change directions lately, what with all the fighting and treachery about. And I’ll see you again soon, with my cherry tree friend in tow. Oh, how I shudder to think of the conversations we’ll have. See you soon, gnome; goodbye, witchling with no name,” the tree said.
“My name is Sadie, and we’ll see you again soon Shuddering Seamus.”
The tree became stock still, frozen, and far from his recent stature. Not a branch moved. His face disappeared back into the camouflage of the bark. Elgarbam smacked his hand on his head.
“What’s wrong?” asked Sadie. Elgarbam just shook his head and motioned for them to walk the east road.
“We don’t call him that to his face. That would be rude and hurt his feelings. Now he’s not going to help travelers like us for quite some time,” said Elgarbam. “Maybe that’s why you had so much trouble in your world. They didn’t think you were crazy; they thought you were rude.”
Sadie blushed and yelled back over her shoulder, “I’m sorry, Seamus.” But the tree did not respond.
“Great, now the next time we see him, we’ll have to stay and talk to him for more time than I’d like to, and we’ll have to bring a pretty special cherry tree,” Elgarbam complained. “We can’t worry about that now though; we’ve got at least a good country mile to get to Tara’s.”
“You seem to know the way,” Sadie responded somewhat curtly. She had never, ever been called rude before, and her mistake was just that, a mistake. “Why did we have to ask Shuddering Seamus in the first place?”
“Cause Tara’s is a magikal house. It changes direction, changes its placement all the time for safety reasons. I’m sure it’s moved quite a bit since that little disaster the last time you were there. You heard Seamus; the path has been changing even more because of the war. Now c’mon; let’s make time.”
* * *
The pair walked on in silence except for Elgarbam’s whistling. Whistling reminded her of Whistle, and Sadie wondered how many more good people and creatures would die before all of this was over and done. She pondered what to do next, to take her mind off Whistle. Her mood was still somewhat tainted by the dungeon stay, but she wasn’t that worried. Tara would, should, have all answers.
She rubbed her temples to ward off the oncoming headache while her stomach began gurgling its own discontent as well. Elgarbam stopped along the way to gather the last vestiges of raspberries in the thicket alongside the road. Sadie gobbled down what she could find, at least the ones that had not been frost bitten.
When they reached a curve in the road that hugged the ridge of a valley, Sadie could see the tiny little cottage she remembered to be Tara’s. It looked as though no imps had ever invaded. Alroy was at his usual spot in the pumpkin patch, chowing down on the gourd-like squashes and throwing the stems and attached vines over his shoulder into a heap.
Smoke came from the little chimney and all looked well. Sadie sighed and her mood lightened. They plugged on, leaving the road, and walking down into the valley towards what they hoped was a good meal, some good news about the war between the Guild and the Syndicate, and some good answers about what to do next.
Upon reaching the far edge of the pumpkin patch, Alroy looked up and sniffed the air. His eyes finally found Elgarbam and Sadie, and a huge smile spread across his face. The troll lumbered to his feet and ran to the pair with the ground trembling in the process. He reached them and held out his hand. “Any good food, tired of pumpkins and gourds?” he asked.
Sadie giggled, remembering the amount of food Alroy could eat. Elgarbam replied, “Not this time, Alroy; we’ve come unprepared for you, my large gray friend. I apologize for any inconvenience. Is Tara at home?”
The troll looked sad for a moment and nodded his head ‘yes’ before grabbing a huge pumpkin and shoving the whole thing into his mouth. Juice and seeds rained down on Sadie and Elgarbam, since trolls don’t eat with their mouths shut. They moved quickly from under the gorging Alroy and towards the promising safety and comfort of Tara’s home.
Approaching the door Sadie heard beautiful singing coming from inside. It reminded her of her mother.
SAAAADDDDIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
She stopped, still as stone. “Did you hear that? It was my mother,” she asked the gnome.
“Still holding on to thinking your mother be alive, eh? They told me you were a bit crazy, but c’mon now, child, she’s been dead and gone for over three years. You’ve got to accept it and move on,” Elgarbam replied.
“She IS still alive and I KNOW it!” shouted Sadie.
The door to the cottage opened suddenly and the smell of cinnamon wafted out as Tara appeared before them.
“Tara!” shouted Sadie as she ran to hug the woman. “How did you get out of the bubble? And what exactly happened? How did the imps get in? I’m so glad you’re alive; what’s going on? Ms. Cabot thinks I’m a traitor. And what’s the Ataraxia Heart? I don’t have it I swear! Whistle’s dead! How are we going to fix this mess? And I ….”
“Ssshhh now child, so many questions to come rambling from one little lass.” She hugged Sadie tightly. “Oh, I be glad to see
you too after the mess that be goin’ on. Come inside and we’ll begin to try and make things right,” Tara said, releasing Sadie from her tight grasp.
The three passed through the small door and into the large cottage as Tara ushered them towards the warming fire. Sadie hadn’t realized just how cold it was outside and was glad to be indoors. As Tara brought them steaming mugs of cider with cinnamon sticks, she began to speak.
“First, let me offer many apologies at the loss of Whistle; he was a good gnome and a good friend. I’ll miss him terribly,” she said, placing a hand on Elgarbam’s shoulder.
The little gnome bowed his head, but said nothing in return.
“Now, to answer a few questions. Ms. Cabot and some others from the Guild came to do damage control, but they didn't seem to see me in the bubble, nor did they see Alroy tied up and all staked out in the field. ‘Course I couldn’t get that nasty imp Gok to tell me anything about why, and he soon disappeared. And his repetitive speech can be so annoying. Grimm let me out of the bubble.
“I didn’t think that old cat had it in him, but he freed me nonetheless. I hear the imp caught up with you in town, Sadie, and you were still being held by him, them, whoever the pesky devils be. I also hear you’ve lost your talisman in the process. ‘Tis a shame. You’ll need it to have full control of your magik, Sadie, love, especially since you’re but a mere witchling.
“You do know that even though everyone has magik in them, it must draw from somewhere, and your talisman helps to gather the energy for you to harness. Magikal objects and talismans all come from the Source, not that we be knowin’ who, where, or what that is, but that’s not important right now.
“That’s a whole other story. What is important is that we figure out where to go from here.”
Though Sadie had already heard a little bit about talismans and the source from Hannah, Sadie didn’t dare interrupt Tara as she spoke. She didn’t want to be called rude yet again, and she had decided it would be best if she learned all that she could. Her plan was to try and keep her mouth shut and take everything in. With her new resolution in mind, Sadie watched Tara get up to cross the room. Her always-beautiful velvet skirts rustled as she went to get a book from one of her shelves. On her way back, she began to speak again.
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