by Dan Knight
~~~~~~
“Shotgun?”
“I’m over here, boss!”
“Are you all right?”
“We’re alive?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Good, remind me not to fly Jack Air again. As soon as we get out of this I want to take a flyer. I think you owe me some frequent flyer miles.”
“Beggars can’t be choosers.”
“I’m not begging. As I recall you’re the criminal and you got me into this.”
“Thanks, Shotgun,” he relaxed. “Does that mean I don’t get a mint?”
“Boss, at this point I’m thinking you can do your own laundry.”
“That bad, hey?”
Shotgun swam through the balls.
“Let’s just say, I could use some inspiration. We’re trapped in the Black Wharf two miles below Nodlon. We’re so deep; we’re halfway to hell already. Any deeper and we’d be knocking on the gates of hell.”
“I think you’re exaggerating, Shotgun.” He chuckled. “I’m guessing hell is up there somewhere. Maybe it’s in the direction of Capricorn.”
“Boss, we’re so deep, it gives new meaning to the phrase, ‘As lost as the Ninth Ring.’ Oh, wait, that can’t be right!” Shotgun rolled in the bouncy balls. He threw balls at Jack. “No, I forgot. We’re so lost; we are in the Ninth Ring.” The dwarf pummeled the elf with bouncy balls.
“Hey,” Jack shook his head. He let the bouncy balls pummel him. “We know where we are! We just have to get out of here!”
“We’re trapped! If we can get out of here, how are we going to get out of the Ninth Ring? Nimrod will take all the airships and destroy the rest!”
“Oh, ye of little faith, Shotgun! We’ll get to the airport, stop Nimrod, and rescue the dwarves! We’ll find a flyer there.”
“Stop Nimrod? That wacko is already mesmerizing everybody again. By the time we get there, he’s going to be invading Nodlon.”
“Look Shotgun,” he cheered the dwarf. “We’re not finished. We’ve done pretty well so far.”
“Done well, Jack? He nearly killed us! How many times are we going to let him have a go?”
“Don’t get bent out of shape. Let’s tick off our progress so far.” Jack held up an index finger. “We found the Black Dwarf, and discovered his name. We don’t know exactly who Nimrod is, but we can give Gumshoe his name when we can get back to Nodlon, and let Nodlon Yard work on it.”
“Great boss!” Shotgun scoffed, “Why do I have a feeling Nodlon Yard doesn’t have a rap sheet on this guy? Nimrod’s not your garden variety psychopath.”
“All right,” said Jack. “Good point! But that’s not all we’ve done.” Jack held up another finger. “We found the Black Dwarf’s lair and destroyed his headquarters. We’ve fomented a mutiny of the black dwarves. We’ve stopped his army, and I bet he’ll have to call off his invasion of Nodlon. When we get out of here, we can rescue the missing dwarves. We’ve made a good start.”
“Nimrod is a mad-man! He’s headed back to Nodlon! He’s a child killer, and he means to destroy more of us or I’m not a hacker.” The dwarf sighed. “I’m thinking of Goldie, Faith, and Hope. Think of Jazz!”
“I’m thinking of Jazz!”
“We’ve got to stop Nimrod before he destroys any more lives! We have to find a way.”
“Chin up Shotgun, we’ll find a way.”
“Speaking of finding a way, boss, we’ve got to find our way out of this pile of bouncy balls.”
“Yep, you’re right, but I’m not too worried.” Jack picked up a squishy, pink ball. “Pick a direction and start swimming. There’s bound to be an end to the bouncy balls.”
“Fancy falling into a bouncy ball pit; that’s incredibly lucky.”
“Good thing, too! We hit a rail, and it broke my concentration. I lost the shields for a moment. If we hadn’t landed in the bouncy balls, we could’ve been killed!”
“You’re saying these bouncy balls have sat here for a hundred years or so until along we come to fall into them? What are the chances of that?”
“It’s impossible, Shotgun. Maybe the universe is on our side.”
“If the universe is on our side, why not arrange for that Nimrod fellow to blow a gasket and save us the trouble.”
“Oh, I don’t know Shotgun. Maybe it’s up to us to stop him. Maybe that’s why we landed in the bouncy balls.” Maybe that’s why I have magic.
“Starting to have an open mind are we, boss?”
“No Shotgun. I’m just wondering if we’re alone or if we’ve got any help.”
“Are you going soft on me, boss? What’s so special about us? You’re not starting to believe your own advertising? Are you?” Shotgun pelted the mage with bouncy balls.
“Maybe I’m just going soft.” Jack chucked a few balls at Shotgun.
“Let the universe sort it out then.”
“Come on Shotgun, let’s get out of here.”
“Give me a minute.” Shotgun snuggled in the bouncy balls and closed his eyes.
“What do you need a minute for? Our quarry is getting away.”
“I need to let my stomach catch up with the rest of me before we give the Black Dwarf another chance to end our corporeal existence.”
“You don’t need any time for that. If we catch up with him, the chances are good you won’t have to worry about your stomach ever again.”
The dwarf closed his eyes and moaned.
“Contemplating the rings of Saturn, Shotgun?”
“No, just searching for the courage to try again.”
The dwarf closed his eyes, and everything went black.