by W. D. Newman
CHAPTER 12
BRAVING THE BLIZZARD
"AMOS!" Louise screamed.
The cave troll was much larger than Amos and landed squarely on the big man's back, driving him forcefully into the ground. At that moment, Jonah, Gob and Nob materialized out of the darkness on their horses. Jonah leapt from his mount and grabbed Louise. He pulled her back out of harm’s way, and then unsheathed his sword.
"Stay here and guard them," he shouted at the two dwarfs. "These creatures are extremely fast and, should he get past me, it will be up to you to save them."
The two dwarves slid down from their saddles and stepped in front of Louise and the children. When they pulled their axes from their belts, Jonah turned back to the battle taking place just inside the cave entrance. The snow was falling fast and it was almost too dark to see, but the elf could tell that Amos was still down and the cave troll was still on top. He started to advance and then stopped, when a tremendous roar erupted from the cave. The troll was violently flung into the stone walls of the cave entrance and the largest bear that Jonah had ever seen rose up from the cave floor. The troll was momentarily stunned and the bear seized the creature before it could recover.
Even with its neck locked tightly in the jaws of the bear, the troll still managed to fight back. The two beasts rolled out of the cave into the wind driven snow. The dwarves pushed Louise and the children back, while Jonah, with lightning speed, dashed in and slipped his sword between the cave troll's ribs. The troll let out a hideous howl of rage and pain, and then went limp beneath the massive onslaught of the bear. Although wounded, the bear dragged the troll to the river's edge, flung it into the icy black waters, and then staggered back into the cave and collapsed.
Everyone ran past Jonah as the elf wiped his blade clean in the snow. In just a few seconds, Gob and Nob had lit torches to illuminate the cave. They were all shocked by what they saw.
Amos lay on the ground; yet, his transformation back into human form was not complete. The big man was still covered with fur and long black claws protruded from his fingers and toes. His face was elongated into a bear-like snout and his tongue lolled out from his mouth as he lay on the ground, panting.
"What's wrong with him?" Casey cried.
"Casey," said Louise, taking her by the arm, "you and Ben stand back here and give us some room." She took a torch from Gob, handed it to Ben, and then returned to Amos' side.
"Ooooh, this is bad, this is bad, this is baaadddd," Nob wailed.
Jonah knelt down to examine the wounds on Amos. The big man had puffy, red claw marks across his chest, where the troll had grappled with him. These scratches were not deep, but they were inflamed and oozing blood. There were also many bite marks on his shoulders. Jonah shook his head. "It is as I feared. He has been bitten."
Gob wrung his hands and began yanking on his beard. "A fine mess we are in, a fine mess indeed!"
"What's wrong with him?" Louise asked, with a trembling voice. "His wounds are bad, but they don't seem to be life threatening."
"He was bitten by a cave troll," Gob cried. "He's dying!"
The children overheard the dwarf and ran to their Grandma's side. Casey was now crying hysterically. Ben tried to be brave and tried very hard to comfort her, but he was unable to hold back his own tears.
"The cave troll's bite is poison," Nob wept. "He is paralyzed and cannot change back."
Louise felt the ground sway beneath her. Ben noticed that she was shaking and grabbed her elbow to steady her.
"Is there nothing we can do to save him?" he asked.
"There is no cure," Gob answered. "He will live one day, maybe two."
"Actually, there is a cure," said Jonah, rising to his feet. Everyone looked to the elf, with new hope in their eyes.
"Well, what is it?" Louise asked, reaching for the elf. "Quickly, now, out with it!"
"A tea, made from the leaves of a Faerie Oak, will turn this poison. We have used it before."
Louise looked at Jonah and then looked past him, at the storm raging outside. Even if it was a beautiful spring morning, and their horses were fresh, they would be hard pressed to ride all the way to the Twilight, and then back to the Crystal Cave, in time to save Amos. Gob had said he would live one day, maybe two, but Louise could tell that Amos would not live two days. He was dying very quickly. He would be lucky to live through the night. Her heart sank.
"I will return to the Twilight to get the leaves," said Jonah. "I am the best rider and no one else could survive the trip in this weather."
"There's not enough time," said Gob.
"When I get to the Twilight, I will ask Marcus to open a tunnel. We can use the unicorn horns, as we did at Stone Dog, to return to the Twilight. Besides it seems that will be the only way to get you and the children back safely in this storm. Do any of you have a spell catcher?"
"Oh no," Louise gasped, "I threw mine away."
"I have mine," said Casey, reaching behind her neck and unclasping the necklace. She dropped the tiny emerald into Jonah's hand. "Hurry!"
"I will, but first, there are a few things that must be done before I leave. Louise, clean Amos' wounds and make him comfortable as possible. Gob, Nob," he motioned to the dwarves. "Let's get the horses and bring them in. Ben and Casey can tend to them once they are inside."
The scent of the troll still lingered and the strong smell of blood frightened the horses, but after a little coaxing, they finally got them to enter the cave. Ben and Casey led all the horses, except for Jonah's, past Amos and Louise and began to unsaddle them. Jonah spoke to the dwarves as he tightened the cinch on his saddle.
"You two, scavenge for wood and build a fire. You will need it to stay warm and I will need it to brew the tea when I get back. Stay on your guard too. This is, after all, an entrance into Kahzidar."
This time, Jonah's horse did not want to leave the cave. It was not warm here, but it was sheltered from the slicing wind and the cold, wet snow. The elf finally managed to persuade the horse outside and swung up into the saddle. As he disappeared into the darkness, Gob and Nob drew their axes from their belts and tied their fur cloaks tightly about them before leaving the cave.
There was plenty of wood nearby the entrance and, luckily, the dwarves managed to find enough dry material and tinder to start a nice, hot fire. Once the fire was crackling and popping, they stockpiled enough wood to last throughout the night and then huddled closely with the others around the dancing flames for warmth and comfort.
Because Amos' transformation had been halted by the troll's poisonous bite, he was still covered with the course, thick hair of a bear. However, Louise still worried that he would become chilled during the night and retrieved blankets from their packs; to make sure he stayed as warm as possible. She placed one of the blankets under his head for a pillow, and used the other blanket to cover him as best she could. Once she was satisfied that she had done all she could to make him comfortable, she turned to join the others by the fire and that's when she saw it.
She wasn't sure what she had seen, because it darted away from the firelight, back into the shadows. At first, she thought it was another cave troll and a sudden fear gripped her heart and rooted her feet to the ground in terror. Then she reasoned that whatever it was, it was spying on them and that could only mean one of two things; either it was afraid of them or it was planning some kind of surprise attack on them. She exhaled and took a slow deep breath to steady her nerves. Somehow, she managed to remain calm and pretended that she hadn't seen anything.
"Gob and Nob," she called to the dwarves, "will you come look at these wounds and tell me what you think?"
The two dwarves came over and knelt down beside Amos as Louise pulled the blanket back.
"Stay calm and don't panic," Louise whispered, "but there is someone, or something, in the cave with us. I saw it dash into the shadows, just a moment ago, when I turned around."
"Did you get a good look at it
?" Nob whispered. Louise shook her head and cringed at the dwarf's poor attempt at a whisper. However, it did not appear that the children heard what he had said, so she assumed no one else had either. Besides, if anyone saw them engaging in a hushed conversation, they would probably just assume they were whispering to keep the children from overhearing.
"Do you think another cave troll might be in here?" she asked.
"No," Gob answered, "cave trolls are solitary creatures and very fearless. If it was another troll, it would not be lurking in the shadows."
"I'll bet it's a nasty, grimy gnome," said Nob. The dwarf sneered and wrinkled his nose to show his disgust. "I'm very surprised I haven't smelled him."
"That's what I was thinking," Gob agreed, "but the stench of the cave troll is still strong in this place. The gnome was probably stationed here to monitor the cave troll. With a troll living here, the gnomes wouldn't have to worry about any outsiders using this entrance. They just had to keep watch and make certain the troll never ventured deeper into the cave."
"What are we to do?" Louise asked.
"We will need to catch him before he alerts the others."
"How can we catch one? I've heard they are very fast."
"They are bloody fast," Gob answered. "Let's move quickly now, before he gets suspicious and flees. I'll go over to check the horses. Louise, you go over and start emptying the packs. Be sure to make a lot of noise. Nob, when Louise starts emptying the packs, I want you yell at her and make a big scene. Start a loud and nasty argument. The children will jump up to intervene and, while all of this is happening, I will slip along the far wall and try to come up behind him."
"Will you be okay?" Louise asked. "I think I would absolutely fall apart if something else happens."
"I'll be fine. I'm going to give him a good rap on the head to knock him out. If it is a gnome, we may be able to get some information from him that will be helpful in locating Hob and Gabriel."
"You're right," said Louise. "Let's go."
"Those wounds look good," Gob said loudly. "You did a fine job cleaning them. Now, if you don't mind, look in the packs and find us something to eat for supper. I am going to rub the horses down and oil the tack. There should be some oats in one of those packs for the horses to eat too. They have had a hard journey coming through this storm and, if we have to ride them out of here, they are going to need to replenish their energy."
Gob ambled over to the horses and began rubbing them down, while Louise walked over to the packs, which were sitting near the river. She picked up one of the packs and turned it upside down, dumping its contents all over the cave floor. A sack of oats fell out of the pack and spilled its contents into the fire.
"What are you doing?" Nob yelled. The dwarf dashed over to Louise and snatched the pack out of her hands. "Look what you have done, you clumsy old fool! Our horses need that food!"
"Give me that back," Louise screeched, grabbing at the pack. "I'm sick and tired of you sawed-off, bearded half-pints bossing me around!"
"Half-pint? Why, if you weren't a brittle, dried up old woman I'd punch you in the face and dunk you in the river!"
"You'd have to use a ladder to punch me in the face, short-stuff," Louise yelled.
Ben and Casey were on their feet and between their Grandma and the dwarf in a flash. Louise and Nob continued yelling at each other and the children were frantically trying to calm them down. Just when they feared the confrontation was on the verge of escalating into a full-scale, knock-down, drag-out fight, Gob appeared from the shadows of the cave with a gnome draped across his shoulders. He dumped the unconscious creature on the floor between them and smiled.
"That was very convincing! I thought for a second that you were actually getting into a real fight. This little bugger was so wrapped up in your argument; I was able to walk right up behind him."
"This was all an act?" Casey asked, incredulously.
"Yes, dear, we were just trying to distract the gnome so Gob could sneak up behind him."
"How did you know he was there?"
"I caught a glimpse of him when I was tending to Amos."
"Is he dead?" Ben asked.
"No. I just bonked him on top of his head. Gnomes have very hard heads. It's the only place you can hit one without really causing any damage. He should wake up shortly."
"Speaking of shortly," said Nob, planting his hands on his hips and glaring at Louise.
"Oh, come on, Nob," Louise smiled. "You know I love you and I did not mean a single word I said. You are my hero."
"Your hero?" Nob asked, standing up straight and squaring his shoulders.
"Absolutely," Louise answered. "I'm just a brittle, dried up old woman, remember? Now go get me some rope, so we can tie this fellow up."
*****
