The Stone of Mercy

by M. J. Evans

  “I have just returned from my first assignment…to secure the Stone of Mercy.” All eyes in the room, except hers and the Wizard’s, glanced down at the sparking green stone on the breastplate. “I have learned on this quest that what the Wizard says is true. There is a fierce battle going on all around us. It will soon enter our valley and we must be prepared.”

  One of the elders cleared his throat and growled. “Then it is you that will bring this war to our doorstep.”

  Vidente spoke up. “When word gets out that the wearer of the silver breastplate is in your midst, you will, indeed, become a target. That is why we must begin preparations now to protect you.”

  “Perhaps the wiser course would be for young Carling to simply leave,” suggested another.

  Carling felt a stab of pain pierce her heart.

  “That is a short-sighted approach,” answered the Wizard. “Regardless of whether she is here or not, the Duende will become a target of the greed and power struggle that is going on.”

  “We never asked for this,” said Shanta. “We are a peace-loving people. We never hurt anyone. We simply go about our business.”

  The Wizard nodded. “That is true. But that is in the past and of no relevance now. Carling has been chosen to become the future queen of Crystonia. You cannot hide from that. You must prepare yourselves for what is to come.”

  Carling clenched her jaw and boldly stepped forward. “I have a plan.”

  Chapter 33

  Carling’s Plan

  Immediately, Carling had everyone’s rapt attention. “In the meadow at the base of the hogback,” she said, “there are twelve Fauns awaiting my return. They are refugees from the Cyclops. They saved my life and I promised them sanctuary among the Duende.”

  “You what?” one of the elders nearly shouted. He was silenced immediately by Vidente’s raised hand.

  “Yes,” Carling continued. “I promised that we would shelter them. Now I realize that we need them as much as they need us.”

  “H-how could we possibly need the likes of them?” sputtered another of the elders.

  “They are bigger and stronger than we are. They are good workers, and my plan to secure our village will require their assistance.”

  “And just what is your plan?” inquired Shanta, not unkindly.

  “I would like us to build a wall around the entire village.” Carling pulled a rolled-up piece of parchment out of the bag that was looped over her shoulder. “May I approach?” she asked.

  Shanta nodded.

  Carling and Higson walked up to the center table. Vidente remained where he stood as a smile, half-hidden by his beard, played across his face.

  Carling and Higson opened the roll and smoothed it out. As Carling began explaining, the other elders moved around so they could see as well. “I envision a high earthen bank around the entire village,” Carling explained. “On the top of the embankment, we would insert vertical tree trunks whose tops have been sharpened to a point. We will have only one entrance, on the west,” she moved her hand and pointed her delicate finger at a marking on the west side of the village. “You can see that here,” she said, tapping the paper.

  She paused for a moment, trying to decide what else to tell them. “Oh, yes. Here, here, here, and here,” she said, pointing at different places on the diagram, “we will build watch towers. The Fauns can actually help us man these towers as well as help us build the embankment.”

  One of the elders straightened. “You are proposing that we live in a fort?”

  “Of sorts, yes.”

  “Do you really think this is necessary?” asked another.

  The Wizard stepped forward at last. “What Carling proposes is not only necessary, it is essential for your survival. And let me stress one more thing: it is of the utmost urgency that you begin to build this immediately.”

  Chapter 34

  Attack on the Fauns

  When Carling and Higson returned to Higson’s family cottage, they found Tibbals and Tandum waiting for them. Tandum looked freshly groomed and very handsome. But Tibbals was breathtaking. Her golden body sparkled. She wore a beautiful pink tunic with a bejeweled belt around her waist. Her long blond hair and tail were clean and braided with ribbons and flowers. Her hooves and fingernails were freshly painted with pink glitter.

  “Oh, Tibbals, you look so beautiful!” exclaimed Carling.

  Tibbals twirled around, smiling and giggling. Carling realized she had missed those giggles during their journey. “It feels so good to be clean again,” the filly said. “I’m not sure forests and battlefields are the places I was meant to dwell in!”

  Carling laughed. “Nor any of us!” A twinge of guilt spread through her body. Dare she ever ask Tibbals to accompany her on another quest assigned to her by the Wizard? She fingered the empty holes in her breastplate and her body quivered. When would that happen? She had no idea but sensed it would be soon. For the moment, they had a monumental task to perform to protect her village.

  “And look at you, Carling. You are absolutely glowing,” Tibbals said, scooping up her little friend and giving her a hug. Carling smiled as she was pulled out of her reverie.

  “It appears the meeting with the village elders went well,” Tandum stated.

  “Carling was amazing,” said Higson.

  “Not me. It was the Wizard. Without him, I doubt we could have even gotten in the chambers.”

  “The Wizard was there?” asked Tibbals.

  “How did he even know you were going?” responded Tandum.

  Carling shook her head, wonderment filling her eyes. “I don’t know how he knows what he knows or does what he does. But he was there and the elders listened to everything we said.”

  “And the Fauns? What of the Fauns?” asked Tibbals.

  “Let’s go pay them a visit right now,” said Carling, excited by the communal energy her friends provided.

  —

  Tibbals and Tandum carried Carling and Higson back through the forest on the same path they had traveled just a day before. When they reached the meadow, they found the Fauns still sleeping, scattered across the ground like rubble after a windstorm. Carling almost felt guilty disturbing them, but the sense of urgency that had filled her in the council chambers was still strong within her.

  She leaped off Tibbals and ran up to the first crumpled body of a Faun. She reached down and shook him. As she did so, he groaned and rolled onto his back. Carling gasped and jumped back. The face staring up at her belonged to Pik, but it looked more dead than alive. His eyes were sunken and glassy. His cheeks were splotchy. His lips were cracked and blackened.

  Carling quickly got a hold of herself and bent over her friend. “Pik, what happened? What went on here?”

  “Poison,” he whispered.

  Carling bent closer to his mouth. “What? Tell me again.”

  Pik took a breath and shuddered as he let it out. “Our water. Poison.”

  Higson hurried over to Carling’s side and knelt beside her. “What happened?” he said, panic evident in his voice.

  “He said something about poison.”

  “Chancy went to fetch water yesterday,” Pik forced out. “A stranger,” he paused to cough violently. “A stranger,” he began again, “gave him water. It must have been poisoned.”

  Carling sat back on her heels, her eyes wide with horror. She looked at Higson.

  Higson clenched his jaw. “Who could have done this? Who was that stranger?”

  “I don’t know,” Carling said, “but we must help them, and fast.”

  She and Higson helped Pik onto Tibbals’s back. Higson climbed on Tandum, and the two centaurs hurried, as quickly as they dared, back to the village. While Higson informed the villagers that a dozen very sick Fauns were coming and recruited everyone to help, Tandum and Tibbals galloped back to retrieve two more Fauns.

  While they were gone, Carling went from Faun to Faun to determine which ones needed the most help. Her heart sank as she realized t
hey all looked bad. All seemed on the verge of death.

  She looked around her. “Wizard! Wizard, where are you? Can you come help me?” she pleaded at the top of her voice.

  Silence.

  She called out again. “Vidente, please hear my petition. I need your help.”

  Silence again. The Wizard did not appear. Carling remained alone in the meadow with the dying Fauns.

  As soon as Tibbals and Tandum returned, Carling helped two Fauns onto the backs of the Centaurs. “Can you hold on?” she asked, clearly concerned. They both nodded weakly as they slumped against the Centaurs’ backs. Two by two, Tibbals and Tandum carried all the Fauns to the village.

  —

  The Duende in the village scurried around, trying to help. The village healer, a very old woman named Cantessa, rushed to her home and began mixing a potion. However, not knowing what the poison was that the Fauns had consumed, she was just making her best guess. Her most significant clue was the black lips. That hinted at the plant found on the slopes of the hogback that the villagers called Nightspell. It was a lovely purple flower but, when crushed, it secreted a tasteless, odorless substance that dissolves in water. It is very poisonous to some creatures, though, strangely, not to all. Those affected by it displayed the telltale sign of the black lips and tongue. If Nightspell had been in their water, and the Fauns were affected by it, she knew she needed to act quickly. Once the blackness appeared on the lips and tongue, it would soon spread to the heart. A blackened heart would stop beating.

  Cantessa dashed to her cupboards and threw open the doors. Brushing aside cobwebs, she searched through a series of dusty bottles, pulling out one after another. When her counter was covered with bottles of different shapes and sizes, she began mixing and stirring with such vigor that the orange liquid she was creating splashed on her yellow blouse. Paying no attention, she rushed out of her cottage, spoon and bowl in hand.

  As each Faun arrived, he was bedded down in the foyer of the very government building where Carling had, only hours before, arrived feeling such trepidation. Cantessa dashed up the steps, splashing still more of her potion on her clothing. The Duende at the entrance opened the tall doors and let her enter. The village healer went from one Faun to the next, forcing them to drink a large spoonful of the foul-smelling and bitter-tasting concoction. Then she stepped back, watched, and waited.

  Carling entered the antechamber, perspiration beading on her forehead. She had ridden Tibbals as Tandum carried the last Faun to the village. Now she walked beside the weak creature, holding his limp hand, as several Duende helped get him down from Tandum’s back. They carried him into the room and found a blanket for him to lie upon.

  Cantessa dashed up, spoon in hand, and forced the disgusting liquid down his throat.

  “Can you heal them?” Carling asked in a whisper, her voice shaking.

  “Only time will tell, my dear. Only time will tell.”

  Chapter 35

  Work Begins

  Carling spent a sleepless night moving from one Faun to the next. She didn’t see any improvement in their condition but none of them had died so, for the moment, she was content with that. As she worked, she wondered about the mysterious stranger who had given them the poison. Who or what had done this? And why?

  Once the sun cast its golden light across the hogback, Shanta came into the chamber that had been converted into a hospital. Her distaste for the Fauns was evident by the wrinkle of her nose and the curling of her lips. She walked stiffly up to Carling. “Are they getting any better?”

  “I can’t say for sure. I can only hope.”

  “Yes. We can all only hope,” Shanta said, violently rolling her shoulders and pulling at the collar of her cloak. “May I speak with you for a moment, Miss Carling?”

  “Of course,” said Carling, setting down the damp cloth she had been using to wipe the forehead of a Faun.

  The two of them moved toward the council chamber doors. In whispered tones, Shanta addressed her. “The Wizard made it clear that we must begin our preparations immediately. Now that the Fauns cannot help us, how do you propose that we proceed?”

  If truth be told, Carling had not even thought about the enormous project that awaited them all, consumed as she was with her nursing duties and trying to figure out who had done this dastardly deed. An idea suddenly entered her mind. “We will ask the Centaurs to help us!”

  —

  By mid-day a large contingent of Centaurs from the Minsheen herd were gathered in the village square, shovels in hand, sweat cloths tied around their foreheads. They were ready to work.

  Word spread throughout the village and the surrounding forest where several cottages, including Higson’s, housed still more Duende. All the villagers gathered in the town square to hear what the news might be. Several conversations took place among the little race.

  “I haven’t seen this much excitement since the great forest fire back in the day,” said one old-timer.

  “I’m not sure I like it,” responded another.

  “Ever since that Carling girl saved those Centaur fillies, we haven’t had a moment’s peace.”

  “And did you see the condition of those Fauns? Positively ghastly, if you ask me.”

  “That’s the stuff nightmares are made of,” said one worried mother as she hugged her child.

  Stepping up to a makeshift podium set in front of the government building, Shanta raised her hands in a call for quiet. A hush fell over the crowd. “My dear fellow Duende,” she began, “it has come to the council’s attention that our village is in grave danger. We have actually become the target of the ire of the warring factions in Crystonia. No longer can we enjoy the peace and quiet and safety of being too small to matter. We are now the focus of attention due to the presence of…well, enough said on that. I will now turn the podium over to Carling, who has come up with a plan to secure our village.” Shanta stepped back.

  Carling felt her heart start to pound in her chest and her hands get clammy. She pressed her lips together, raised her chin, and stepped forward. “Villagers, I have just returned from a difficult journey during which I witnessed, first-hand, the terrible battles going on just over that hogback.” She pointed to the west and all eyes followed her motion. “We have been sheltered from the violence…until now.”

  “You are the one bringing this to our village!” shouted one man.

  “Everything was fine before you got involved with the Centaurs!” yelled another.

  The order in the crowd disappeared as several of the villagers voiced their opinions at the top of their little lungs. Carling’s breath caught in her chest and she stared out at the crowd that seemed to be getting angrier and angrier by the second. She looked over at Higson and raised her eyebrows, not sure what to do. Higson grimaced and shook his head. Big help you are, she wanted to say, but didn’t.

  Suddenly the crowd became silent.

  Carling turned back toward them, wondering what had brought about the abrupt change. She felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning, she looked into the gray cloak of the Wizard. She lifted her eyes and looked up at him, relief flooding over her like warm sunshine.

  “What do I do?” she whispered.

  “Carry on, child. Carry on.”

  With newly found confidence born of the presence of the Wizard, Carling continued. “We, with the help of the Minsheen herd, will be building an earthen mound around the entire city….” Carling described in detail the wall that would be constructed. While all eyes remained on the Wizard, all ears listened carefully to what she was saying. As jobs were divided up, Duende left to gather needed equipment and begin their tasks. Eventually, the village square was emptied of everyone but Carling, Higson, Tibbals, and Tandum…and the Wizard.

  Carling turned to face Higson. “Higson, I am concerned about your family and the other Duende living outside the village who will not be protected by the wall. We need to go visit each of them and encourage them to move into the protected area once we fin
ish it.”

  “Good luck with that. I don’t see my parents moving an inch. To them, it was their isolation that kept them safe during the last attack.”

  “But they need to realize it will be different next time,” responded Tibbals. “Whichever army comes to the village will destroy anything in its path.”

  “And we’ll have no way to protect them,” added Tandum.

  “I know that. And you know that. But my parents don’t know that,” said Higson, scratching his head.

  The Wizard settled the discussion. “All you can do is counsel and invite. The decision must be theirs.” With a swish of his gray cloak, Vidente disappeared.

  “Wow!” said Tibbals. “I wish I could do that!”

  Carling smiled and grasped the filly’s hand. “Don’t we all! Let’s go visit those outlying families.”

  Chapter 36

  Building the Fortress

  Carling’s concern over who had poisoned the Fauns was pushed aside as work began on the wall. Crews divided up tasks with the largest, the Centaurs mostly, doing the heavy work of digging the mound by moving the dirt into a tall, wide pile in the shape of an earthen dam. Once the Fauns were well, they joined the Centaurs in the digging.

  The Duende hacked down trees and chiseled sharp points on the ends. With ropes and winches, they stood the logs upright on top of the dirt mound, the sharp tops pointing skyward. At each corner, a watch tower was constructed from additional logs. These were just large enough for a Faun to occupy as it had already been decided this would become their responsibility.