by Kay L. Ling
“I’d like to visit Morodin on our way home,” Elias said. “We can show him the relics and tell him how we used the gems inside in our attempts to break through the barrier.”
“You know where he lives?”
“Yes. He marked it on my map before he left Shadowglade. Gnomes clans are coming out of hiding now, so we should be able to find him.” Elias looked toward the breghlin camp. “Life in Ahmonell should change radically when gnome gem powers become common knowledge.”
“It may stop physical violence, but they’ll still hate each other. Will they ever get along?”
“I believe so. We made fun of Lana wanting to reform breghlin, but if Ben and Tina Ann are any indication, it’s possible. Aside from being less violent these days, Ben and Tina Ann are becoming more kind and considerate. They’ve proven to be valuable team members.”
“They’re as loyal as any gnome.”
Kaff’s voice came from inside the tent. “Parcune, if you need to get up during the night, make sure I go along to protect you.”
Elias frowned. “And easier to get along with than some.”
When Jules woke the next morning, Ben and Tina Ann were gone. Elias said they were having breakfast with the scouts. They returned later, took down the tent, and carried it to the cart. The rest of the team assembled for breakfast.
The tension between Parcune and Kaff was palpable. They sat at opposite ends of the table and ignored each other. Elias and Jules carried on most of the conversation, occasionally addressing a remark to Parcune who answered with one-or-two-word replies. As soon as Parcune finished eating, he excused himself to tend the maraku.
After that, Kaff became talkative, rattling on about how excited his clan would be when he got home. They would probably hold a special meeting to hear his adventures. Someday he would probably be an elder, which was only right, considering he had superior gem powers and natural leadership abilities. Maybe he’d be the youngest ever appointed.
Elias and Jules let him go on at length, and he didn’t seem to notice they weren’t making any comments.
When they finished eating, Jules and Elias began washing dishes and packing supplies. Kaff remained at the table, nursing long-cold raaka, clearly stalling so he wouldn’t have to help. What a change from the day they’d left Shadowglade, Jules thought, annoyed. Kaff had been eager to make himself useful. Now his true colors were showing.
Though Jules dreaded the tedious trip home, he was anxious to see Lana, and he could hardly wait to sleep in his own bed and eat freshly cooked food instead of dried fruit and jerky. It had been wonderful to see more of Ahmonell, but he was more than ready to go home.
Jules didn’t expect Kaff to ride up front today, but Kaff settled onto the driver’s box beside Parcune, with a defiant look to ward off protests.
The team set out, with three scouts riding ahead and three behind.
After about an hour, Parcune handed the reins to Kaff, since Kaff had been badgering him to drive, and Jules sighed in resignation. If there was a rut or hole in the road, Kaff was sure to drive through it, and he always drove perilously close to embankments. Jules suspected this was all to annoy Parcune, and whenever Parcune complained or reached for the reins, Kaff accused him of being a nervous old fool.
Eventually, Elias grew weary of Kaff’s deplorable driving and whispered irritably to Jules, “Whose idea was it to teach Kaff to drive!”
“Yours, as I recall,” Jules said with a grin. “You said it couldn’t hurt to have an extra driver.”
Elias grimaced and studied the road ahead. Heavy rains had resulted in runoff that left meandering, stone-filled channels in the road. On their right, the land sloped steeply away to a dangerous landscape of rocks and scrub brush.
“You’re too close to the edge,” Parcune warned again impatiently. “How many times do I have to tell you?”
Kaff ignored him.
Jules cast a nervous glance toward the drop off.
“Move over,” Parcune barked.
“I know what I’m—Ow!” A flying stone smacked Kaff in the forehead, nearly knocking him off the driver’s box. He dropped the reins and grabbed his forehead. Parcune scooped up the reins.
“What are the chances of getting hit in the head again in the same spot?” Kaff moaned, holding up a bloodstained hand.
“Better sit in the back and let Jules take a look at that,” Parcune said gruffly.
Jules gave Elias a suspicious look. “Elias?” he whispered in an accusing tone,
Elias whispered back with a ghost of a smile. “It is an odd coincidence. Very odd indeed.”
Kaff refused to leave the driver’s box and get medical attention, but at least he didn’t ask to drive again. Parcune drove the rest of the way to the scouts’ camp. They stopped to thank the clan for their help, and then drove until suppertime and made camp.
Kaff was silent during dinner and then headed straight to bed. It wasn’t because he was in pain. Before dinner, Jules had healed the cut with Fair Lands gems. Did Kaff suspect Elias had launched the stone? Not likely, Jules decided. Elias had never used telekinesis in front of Kaff or discussed that power. No, Kaff was just pouting because no one had made a fuss over his injury, and he wasn’t the center of attention. Kaff’s momma might fuss over him, but no one here would.
The next two days, the weather was sunny and clear, and Elias held gem lessons while they rode, partly so Kaff wouldn’t ask to drive. When Parcune tired, Jules took over, and they sat on the driver’s box, sharing stories.
Parcune talked about what it had been like to grow up living in hiding, which Jules found fascinating. Then the conversation shifted to Shadowglade and the ongoing changes there. Parcune was pleased with the Ministry of Gnome Affairs and all it had accomplished so far. He even approved of the breghlin ministry despite being concerned about breghlin running it with minimal supervision from Lana. He had nothing but good to say about Lana, and dropped a hint that she and Jules would make a fine couple. Jules didn’t want to discuss the complexities of his relationship with Lana, so he shifted the conversation to the budding romance between Ben and Tina Ann.
Saturday morning, Elias told the team during breakfast that he hoped to reach Morodin’s clan by dinnertime, and he didn’t want to arrive smelling like a herd of maraku. There was a stream on the map, not far out of the way, and they could bathe and wash their clothes there.
Since the map was old, and the stream might be gone or just a dry bed, Jules was relieved when they arrived and found a wide, shallow stream with sparkling clear water. As expected, the breghlin were far less enthused about bathing than the rest of the team, but they didn’t object to a quick dip.
The current wasn’t swift, but the water was colder than Jules expected. He reminded himself that it was nowhere near as cold as the underground stream in Elias’s cave, and he had survived several frigid baths there.
After bathing in their underwear, the team washed their outer clothing, wrung it as dry as they could, and tied the items to the sides of the passenger cart. The breeze and the early afternoon sun soon dried Jules’s hair, and he couldn’t believe how much better he felt.
It was nice to have time to relax. He enjoyed doing nothing for a while, and sat near the stream, idly watching the current.
Ben and Tina Ann let Killer out of the sack to enjoy the grass and the sunlight. The filkin sampled grass and leaves while Tina Ann looked on adoringly, stroking its brown fuzz.
They ate lunch and started out again, their clothes still attached to the cart. Though the cart didn’t move fast enough to speed the drying process, the sun and the breeze did an adequate job, and after a couple hours, their clothing was dry and flapping like flags.
By late afternoon, now wearing clean clothes and looking quite respectable, the team reached the area where they expected to find Morodin’s clan.
Two gnomes on foot, traveling along the edge of the road, waved to them cheerily, not looking at all surprised to see them. Jules was take
n aback until it occurred to him that Morodin had told his clan about the Amulet Team, and what other traveling party included gnomes, humans, and breghlin?
Rather than take the team to Morodin’s Tree Home, the gnomes went to find him. They returned with Morodin and three elders.
Jules supposed gnome clans seldom had guests, and never breghlin guests. Everyone would have to remain outdoors since breghlin couldn’t enter a Tree Home.
Elias, never one to shrink from reading minds, probably knew what the gnomes were thinking. He suggested a communal dinner in the woods with a meeting afterward, and then, since it would be late when they finished, the team would pitch their tent and leave first thing in the morning.
Morodin and the elders quickly agreed to this. Jules was disappointed he wouldn’t get to sleep inside a tree. Parcune and Kaff would probably finagle an invitation to someone’s Tree Home and slip out of the tent during the night while Elias and Jules spent the night with the breghlin.
Dinner proved to be a lively social event. Afterward, some of the females left with the children, but at least seventy gnomes remained, and in true gnome fashion the clan brought out a keg of fialazza and settled down for an evening of relaxation, comradery, and news.
Elias suggested that Kaff walk through the assembly, displaying the jewels while Elias addressed the group and showed them the wooden relics. Kaff was all too happy to oblige.
Elias stood before the group and held up two relics, the largest one and the small one whose mark was different from the rest. The clan listened with rapt attention while Elias told about finding the relics in a cave and eventually discovering gems inside. He said there was reason to believe that these gems had been used in the Battle of Last Hope.
At that point, Morodin came up front to inspect the relics, and as he examined the larger of the two, he said, “My clan—the Zihaddan clan—led gem masters in that battle. Did you notice this?” He showed Elias the symbol pressed into the wood. “This is our clan symbol. It’s on the scroll I brought to Shadowglade and on the shield you showed me in the hidden room.” He handed the relic back to Elias and took the smaller one. “You remember Vegmir from the Nafaren clan. This one bears his clan symbol.”
“So, these belonged to your clans,” Elias said.
“I assume so.”
“We used the gems in our attempts to breach the barrier, and we believe the white gem holds the key to our eventual success.” Elias looked out at the crowd. “Kaff, when everyone has seen the gems, bring them here and I’ll explain what we’ve learned about them.”
Morodin returned to his seat, and Kaff brought Elias the gems.
Elias explained what the gems did, spending most of his time on the two rare ones. “We believe a group of gem masters combined their powers through the white gem, and used the rose gem to produce the energy beam that destroyed the portal. These gems belong to you, but I’d like to keep them a while. We hope to find a way to use them against the malfunctioning Amulet.”
Hushed conversations circulated through the clan, and then Morodin and the elders stood.
“Yes, of course,” Morodin said. “Put them to good use.”
“Next time we travel to the barrier I would like several gem users to accompany us. When we have a viable plan, I’ll contact you and see who would like to go. In the meantime, hone your skills. If you like, come to Shadowglade. We have two libraries, an extensive gem and mineral collection, and other resources at your disposal.”
After the meeting, the group sat drinking fialazza while they discussed what they’d learned, and Kaff circulated among them, capitalizing on his status as a member of the Amulet Team. He was easy to spot since he was the only gnome in a robe.
Parcune remained with Elias and Jules, either too shy or too modest to mingle with the clan. Jules was about to tell him to go enjoy the notoriety when Morodin and the elders approached. Everyone in the team rose respectfully, including Ben and Tina Ann.
Morodin said, “We will meet with other clan leaders, share your news, and urge everyone with gem powers to practice.” He laid a hand on Parcune’s arm. “You did well to discover the gems. It makes sense that it’s possible to open a multi-dimensional space in wood, but we’ve never heard of the practice. That insight was brilliant.”
Parcune blushed. “The idea occurred to me by sheer luck, and I’m glad I tried it.”
“You are far too modest,” Morodin said kindly. He looked at Ben and Tina Ann who stood with downcast eyes, clearly feeling out of place as the only breghlin. “And you two,” he said, stepping toward them. They looked up in surprise. “Thank you for finding the relics.”
Ben plunged his hands into his pockets and gave a little shrug. “Found them by accident, sort of.”
Morodin laughed. “Another modest fellow.” He smiled at Tina Ann. “Will you take any well-deserved credit?”
Tina Ann said, “Me and Ben foun’ the spot, but Jules did the rest ‘cause there be a ward protectin’ ‘em.”
Morodin said, “I see why Elias calls you the Amulet Team.”
“We have a fine group,” Elias agreed, stifling a yawn. “Thank you for a wonderful evening, but if you’ll forgive me, I must get some sleep. I’ll say my goodbyes now. We plan to leave early in the morning.”
“Safe travels,” said Morodin, clasping Elias’s hand. The elders also made their farewells and turned to go.
From the corner of his eye, Jules saw a flash of green. Kaff was hurrying toward them, realizing he was missing an important conversation, but Morodin and the elders were already walking away, and Kaff’s face fell when he realized he was too late.
Parcune said dryly. “Morodin was looking for someone who wasn’t too modest to take credit, and here he comes.”
The team left for their tent, and Jules couldn’t help but think that if Kaff worried less about being important and more about being useful, folks might come to respect him.
Chapter 16
The team left the next morning shortly after sunrise. The wind had picked up, and the air was oppressively humid, signaling a coming storm. Elias wanted to get as far as possible before the weather worsened. If they didn’t have any major delays, they’d reach Shadowglade in two or three days.
As Jules thought over the events of the last two weeks, he found himself feeling nostalgic. They’d had their share of adventures: finding the relics, experimenting with the artifact gems, rescuing Parcune, making an alliance with a breghlin clan, exploring the Amulet barrier, and last night’s meeting with Morodin’s clan. The trip’s quiet pleasures were just as meaningful—traveling the gnomes’ ancient roads and seeing formerly desolate land turning green at last.
The team members had become a family, even if they didn’t always get along. At first, he’d worried about friction between Ben and Parcune, but they were getting along now, and Kaff, who had seemed like such a nice young fellow had turned out to be the real problem. Jules didn’t hate him. They’d had good times together sharing stories and studying gem powers, but Kaff had a lot of growing up to do.
By early afternoon, the rain had ended, and the team stopped for lunch. They let the maraku rest and graze a little longer than normal, and then resumed their journey, driving until nearly sunset. Elias hoped the extra hours on the road would allow them to reach Shadowglade in two days instead of three.
Late afternoon the following day, Jules recognized the scenery as they passed through a section of rocky hills dotted with wildflowers. He consulted Elias’s map, and was disappointed to see they were too far from home to reach Shadowglade before dark. Reluctantly, they looked for a place to make camp for the night.
Everyone was tired but in good spirits, and to Jules’s amazement, Kaff helped with meal preparations, and made small talk with Ben and Tina Ann at dinner, which was completely unheard of. Was Kaff in a good mood because they were almost home, or did he have a self-serving motive? Perhaps it had occurred to him that if he hoped to go on the next Amulet mission, he should end this
one on a positive note.
Long after everyone else had turned in for the night, Elias and Jules sat on the back of the passenger cart in reflective silence, enjoying the night air. Insect noise provided a soothing symphony.
“It’s been an interesting trip,” Jules said at last, “but I’ll be glad to get home.”
“I hope Franklin got along all right without us. And Lana, too. I haven’t forgotten that she was in danger.”
Jules frowned. “I’ve tried not to worry since you felt the danger had passed.”
“Yes, I believe she’s safe, but I’d like to know what it was all about.”
“Franklin probably knows. If not, I’ll be tempted to walk to her apartment and find out.”
Elias said, “I wish she could come with us next time, but I don’t suppose it’s possible.”
“She’d make an excellent team member. She might even be able to keep Kaff in line. Assuming he’s invited.”
Elias harrumphed at that.
“You had no idea, did you, what Kaff was like? You wouldn’t have asked him to go.”
“We needed a gnome with gem powers, and after all Raenihel has done for us, I thought it would be a nice gesture to invite his nephew.”
“Taking a young person was a good idea, and Kaff is smart and ambitious.”
“Too ambitious,” Elias said sharply. “Ambition can be a dangerous thing. No one knows that better than I.” He was silent a moment. “He asked me several questions today about dark powers, and while he feigned a casual interest, there was something in his eyes that alarmed me. I tried to read his mind, but by then the moment had passed and he changed the subject.”
“Perhaps he’s still thinking about Tina Ann’s ability to sense dark powers.”
“It’s possible. I find that quite intriguing myself, and I should look into it when I have more time.” He smiled. “Tina Ann and Ben are examples of healthy ambition. Those two are leadership material.”
