Markus answered, “Nuts, berries, breads, meats, vegetables. That sort of stuff.”
One of the other Gnome noblemen looked positively green. “Nuts, berries, things that are grown on trees. That sounds awful.”
Brek shook his head with a disappointed frown. “Oh, I did not know this. We have had no contact with the outside world for so long that we were unaware. I am afraid that we do not have anything like that. The only food other than rocks that we like is mushrooms.”
Crystal spoke up quickly. “Oh, we can eat mushrooms. At least some kinds.”
“Can you eat the mountain spotted or the red capped?” a Gnome woman asked.
Crystal shook her head. “I am afraid that I do not know what those are. We may not use the same terms for our mushrooms. Can you show us some?”
King Brek waved a hand at one of the young servants. The boy came over quickly and bowed. “Go to the kitchen and bring us one of each of the mushrooms the cook has.”
The boy rushed off and returned with a platter containing several whole mushrooms that were rather large. In fact these mushrooms were each about the size of a full grown Gnome.
“I don’t know how to tell them apart,” Crystal confessed to Markus in a hushed tone. “I don’t know mushrooms all that well. Rakki don’t often eat them.”
Markus gave her a proud smile. “Then it’s a good thing that I grew up in a farming community. This one,” he paused and picked up a fat mushroom with a black cap and brown spots, then continued, “is a seasoning mushroom that is often used in stews and soups. And this one,” he said, picking up the red capped one that was thinner but taller than the first, “this is a rare ruby top. It is harvested in the wild and sold for a lot of gold at the market.”
King Brek leaned over and looked at Markus. “The red caps are our most common. And we enjoy making soups with them as well.”
Markus set the mushroom down and smiled at the King. “Then, if you don’t mind sir, soup would be nice.”
The King snapped his fingers. “Boy, go tell the chef to prepare his best mushroom soups for our guests. And tell him to hold the rocks in the soup.”
The boy asked, “No stones?”
The king nodded. “Yes, our guests do not enjoy them as we do. Be quick now.”
The boy rushed off again. Crystal had an uncontrollable smile on her face as she watched the child shuffle away. “He’s so tiny and cute.”
Markus wasn’t so enamored. He was worried about possibly insulting the Gnomes, uncertain of their end game. His and Crystal’s intentions were sincere, but how could he know theirs for sure.
Suddenly, a group of young Gnomes tugged at Crystal’s tail again. “Why do I feel like a fine chicken stew right about now?”
“Can we help you?” Markus asked.
King Brek seemed equally annoyed and waved his hand at them. “Leave!” The younglings scurried away as if they had just been caught with their hands in a cookie jar. The king nodded at Crystal. “Please excuse my people, your fur is so nice that we cannot help but admire it.”
Markus had noticed how the king had glanced at Crystal’s tail now and then while sitting across from them, and knew he too found interest in it, so he changed the subject. “So, what would you need to know of us? You said that you judge a person by his story.”
The King nodded. “Yes. But, judge isn’t entirely true. We simply believe that a person is made good or bad by what he has done. You and your lovely friend are not on trial here. If you don’t mind, I would be most interested in hearing why you are here in these mountains.”
Markus eyed Crystal momentarily and then looked back to the king. “Well, that is a long story. You know that the King is seeking the Dragonwand…”
“Dragonwand?” Brek interrupted.
“Yes, you know, what the king said he was looking for when he ordered all the wizards to be imprisoned four years ago,” Crystal said.
King Brek shook his head, as did many of the other Gnomes. “I'm afraid that we know nothing of what has transpired in the Kingdom outside of these caves for the past thousand years. Perhaps you could tell us.”
“Oh, well…” Markus cleared his throat and started at the beginning. He decided to not leave out any details, since he felt that telling them about Tolen and the Dragonwand wouldn’t be wrong. Considering they had little knowledge of anything, it’d be unlikely that they would have any objectives. To the Gnomes it was merely a fascinating tale.
Markus finished talking about their journey and was glad to bring the tale to an end. He was no storyteller and felt it was probably a jumbled up mess to listen to. Yet, the Gnomes hung on every word. Crystal jumped in many times to help him explain something or to tell parts that he missed. The soup had come and now Markus was finally getting a chance to eat it.
King Brek let out a sigh. “Whew, that is amazing. We always knew that the world of big people was a dangerous place, but what has happened and is happening is terrifying.” The other nobles shuddered and nodded in agreement.
“It is terrible.” Markus continued, “and worst of all, we are still looking for the Dragon Citadel. Although I have some information about where it is located, I'm still worried we won’t get there in time. Perhaps…you know where it is?”
King Brek slowly shook his head. “I do not. My people have traveled in many places around here and we have not come across any location like that. Unfortunately, we see the mountains from the inside out, so we cannot help you locate it by your description.”
Markus huffed, annoyed that once again no one seemed to know how to find this place. He looked over at Crystal and saw the way she was looking down at her soup. “Are you okay?”
Crystal stirred her spoon around in the mushroom soup. “The idea of eating a soup without meat is still hard for me to comprehend. Also, I miss my parents.”
King Brek asked, “Which ones?”
She laughed, now realizing that she had another set of parents to miss. “All four. I'm scared for my parents in the labyrinth, and I'm scared for my adopted parents here in the mountains. I hope Treb and Kiin are alright. They're probably so worried about me right now.”
Markus reached over and brushed his hand down her back. “They'll be fine. I know that Treb and Kiin are fine warriors that can handle anything.”
“My dear, I shall send out a scouting party to see if they can sense your family,” Brek said, with a cheerful attitude. “If we find them we will bring them to you.”
“That would be wonderful,” Crystal said.
Markus interjected, “Could you bring us to them. They might be heading for the citadel and if they are, bringing them back here would be a setback for all of us.”
Brek waved at one of his servants and gave him an order, then returned to the present company. “I guess that would be possible. For now, though, you should remain our guests. We still have not finished working on your shoes and it is highly dangerous in the above world.”
Markus agreed with a nod. “That makes sense. Though, we cannot stay for long. As I said before, there is much at stake and time is of the essence.”
Brek waved at another servant child. “Take these two to the valley and make sure they are comfortable.”
The boy watched the big people with reluctance in his eyes, then he shyly looked at Crystal and a little smile formed on his face. He came over and put his tiny hand on Crystal’s hand, brushing at the fur. “Wow, you are soft lady.”
“Thanks,” Crystal said.
Brek clapped his hands. “At once!”
“Oh, sorry. This way,” the young Gnome said. He hurried between Crystal and Markus and patiently waited for them to rise and follow him.
They followed and came to an opening in the cave and took a seat while they waited.
“Where do you think Treb and Kiin are?” Crystal asked while she sat on the ground in the cave.
“I don’t know. I hope they're looking for the Citadel a
s well,” Markus answered.
Crystal looked over to him, a curious frown on her face, “Why? Don’t you want them to be looking for us?”
He chuckled. “Well, that would be a waste of time, wouldn’t it? If they look for us, they will have to be able to peer through the mountains. But, if they find the Citadel, and so do we, then we will find each other.”
“That makes sense,” she said flatly. Her attitude was somber.
Markus smiled and took her hand. “Everything will be okay. “
She looked down at their hands. Rubbing her fingers over his. “Why are you not upset? I would think you would be right now considering how many setbacks we've faced so far.”
“I grew up with setbacks. My own family discouraged me every day. My friends slowly abandoned me when I discovered my magic and I left the village, alone. If I let all of my setbacks define my attitude, I would be a pretty gloomy person all the time. So, I decided to look ahead and hope for the best.”
Crystal smiled and slid over to rest her head on his upper arm. “You're certainly a wise kid. And so nice. Did you have many girls interested in you back in your home village?”
He looked down to their feet; both bare now without shoes. The obvious difference in their biology revealed all fur and sharp claws on her feet, and his pale-skin on his. This seemed to amuse him as he wriggled his toes. “No, I didn't have a lot of girls interested in me. Back when I was fighting to convince my parents I should encourage my magical training and go to a magical school, I sort of let the anger towards their attitude color my attitude towards their lifestyle. I was outspoken about how foolish and stupid farmers were. I said a lot of mean things about children growing up on farms. It was made very clear to everyone that I thought that anyone raised on a farm, who never left, was ignorant and would not amount to a pile of mud. It was mean of me. I was just lashing out at my parents, but I'm afraid that any girl that might have been interested in me was logically offended by my attitude.”
Crystal reached over with her foot and brushed down his. “I can’t believe that. You are so nice and wise.”
He snickered at the way she tickled his feet. “Well, I knew how stupid I sounded. But there were days when my anger won over my logic and I would say the stupidest things. Worst of all, if I apologized, I would have to admit they were right and I was wrong. Then I was sure I would never leave. So, it sort of got out of control for a while there.”
“Did you leave them thinking you were that mean jerk?”
He shook his head. “No. When I found out I could make my own choice at sixteen, I tried to make amends between some of the people I had offended and myself. But, I did say some pretty mean stuff and I don’t know how much they accepted my apology. The truth is, I respect farmers. It takes a lot of knowledge and experience to be successful. When I get to go back, I'm going to see to it I set it all straight. Even if that means admitting I was wrong about everything, save perhaps becoming a wizard.”
“That would be nice. I would like to go back with you and see this valley and village of yours. “
Markus hugged her closer to him. “I would be proud to bring you home to meet everyone. You might be able to help me tell everyone that I am not mean jerk anymore.”
She giggled at him. “No, you are just a dragon now.”
Markus didn’t take to her humor. “Yeah. I'm still trying to figure that out. I'm not even sure if that was me.”
“I really don’t know what you were then. I barely saw anything but all that gold light and then that big dragon head. It was kind of scary.”
Markus thought about that, both concerned and worried. “I don't know why that happened or how, and I'm scared that it might happen again.”
Crystal sat up, wearing a confused frown. “Why? You saved us. At least that is what I thought you did. You said you recall men attacking when it happened.”
“Yes. Though I don’t know exactly what happened next, I do know I killed someone, or that dragon did. I could see enough to know that.”
“And why does this scare you? You saved us.”
“What if I'm dangerous? What if somehow I've been cursed? I've read enough about dark magic to know it is like a sickness that kills non-wizards, but can turn a wizard into a terrible thing.”
Crystal smiled at him. “Listen, if you were evil, you wouldn’t have stopped with men who were our enemy. I cannot believe you have any darkness in you.”
Markus chuckled at that. “Now look who is looking on the bright side of things.”
She lay back down against him. “Hey, one of us has to. Besides, a wise kid once told me I need to look ahead and hope for the best.”
Markus couldn’t help but smile at the way she was snuggling up to him. If any of the guys back at the village saw him being this romantic with a girl he would never live it down. Then again, they all abandoned him a year ago when they thought he was too dangerous to play sports with. He let out a sigh and laid his head on hers. “While we are waiting for my shoes and the bag, you wanna smooch?”
Crystal grinned, leaned forward and turned to look him in the eye. “You know, Treb is going to kill you.”
“Huh?”
She batted her eyes at him in a sultry way he’d never seen before. “We slept right next to each other last night, you haven’t let go of my hand or other parts of me for the past few hours, and now you bluntly ask me to make out.”
Markus returned her gaze with an equally eager smile and beckoning eyes of his own. “What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
“True,” She whispered and slowly leaned in.
Just as their lips were about to meet, Markus held his breath at the anticipation of an encounter he hoped they’d both been longing for since the last time their lips met. Crystal made a squeak and looked back over her shoulder at two Gnomes that were petting her tail. “Uh, do you mind?”
The couple of old Gnome women continued to run their hands through her tail fur. “Oh, this is quite lovely. I could make the most beautiful scarf out of fur like this,” one of them observed.
The other agreed with a nod. “A scarf would be nice, but think about a shawl.”
Markus was incensed. “Now wait a minute, you can’t have her fur.”
Crystal grabbed his arm. “They said with fur like mine.”
“Oh…sorry.” He cleared his throat and sat back, asking, “What did you need?”
They stopped petting her tail and smiled at him. The first one spoke up. “Your shoes are ready. If you would come with us, we could show you where they are.”
“Uh…okay.” He stood and helped Crystal too. “Lead the way, please.”
The old Gnomes led them back into the heart of the underground village and Markus sighed, dejected at missing another kiss, but grateful for the moment they’d gotten closer.
CHAPTER 8: The Darkness Within
Markus and Crystal sat in the middle of the town near a stone bridge overlooking the little crystal clear river. They felt like they were in a toy city – with everything being so small – but it was the perfect size for the inhabitants. Several Gnomes had arrived with a pair of the most exquisite shoes Markus had ever seen.
“Wow, these feel great,” Markus said, overlooking the shoes they had made for him with great interest. True, they were his old shoes – refurbished to the T – but he could not recognize them at all. Five old Gnome men fussed around his feet still shinning and dusting them off.
One old man smiled at his own reflection in the polished leather. “Yes, it was fun to work on. I can’t wait to make more.”
“Oh, I’m sure we'll be leaving soon. But, if I can come back I'll certainly make the trip for shoes of this quality,” Markus said with an appreciative grin. He turned his foot from side to side looking at the craftsmanship.
Crystal put on the shoes they brought her out of courtesy, then realized how great they were. “Markus, I’ve never worn shoes before.”
&
nbsp; “Well, what do you think?” Markus asked, curious.
“Um, I find it very clever that they made allowances for my extra-long toe claws,” she replied.
“Interesting,” Markus said.
Crystal smiled at the old Gnome checking her shoes. “These are perfect. I do not know how we can thank you.”
Markus added, “I wish I could repay you, but all the money we had was left in the bags of our friends.”
The old Gnome craftsman gave Markus a rather sly grin. “We Gnomes do not use big people money, it would matter little to us. But, we do barter. Perhaps a trade.”
Markus wanted to say something about the fact that the King inferred that this was to be a gift, but since he did not wish to upset them – especially considering the quality of their work – he felt fine with the idea of paying. “Sure. What do you want?”
The old Gnome turned around and looked up at Crystal. “You.”
Crystal stopped admiring her shoes with a shocked expression. “Me?”
The Gnome walked over to her, as did several others including a few that had not been part of the shoe makers. Three woman formed a half circle behind Crystal, petting her tail. The old Gnome nodded. “It has been a long time since any gnome has worked with actual fur. To spin and weave it would be a gift like nothing we have had in generations.”
Crystal swallowed hard. “Uh, do you want to cut some off?”
Markus got up and closed the distance between him and Crystal, noticing that the women were combing through her tail with large toothed combs that he recognized from the spinners back in his village. “Wait, are you preparing her fur already!?”
The gnome smiled wickedly. “We want to cut the fur off and use it.”
Markus called his wand to his hand and raised it waist high. Crystal grabbed his wrist. “Don’t make a mess yet. I'm sure we can talk about this. After all, it is just fur and it will grow back. I have needed to get my tail trimmed for some time and this is a perfect opportunity.”
The Gnomes all got as excited as dogs getting to eat for the first time in days. Two women came out from another shop with large razors and eager eyes. The old Gnome continued to stare at Crystal. “The deal was we make shoes, we get fur. But, that isn’t enough.”
Legacy of Dragonwand: Book 2 (Legacy of Dragonwand Trilogy) Page 6
