by Bill Albert
“Actually, there are six of you,” Blinks corrected him. “But I have something you don’t.”
“You’re bluffing.”
“No, really, there are six of you.”
“Not about that! You’re bluffing about the other stuff.”
“I’m not.”
“Are too.”
“Not. Look, I may have been trying to bluff before but I’m not now. Just look around. There are six of you, oh! Wait! You meant to me having something you don’t part. Well, okay, I’m not bluffing on that part either.”
Blinks drew his flame sword and waved it boldly to his left side and then held it steadily out on his right.
The six boys all screamed like little girls and turned and ran out of the basement. Not wanting to give them the chance to sneak around on him Blinks follow them waving at the flame sword annealing at the top of his lungs.
“Next time I won’t be so nice about it!”
Before the basement was silent Lincilara became visible and her glow cast a pale green light across the room. She fluttered where Angelia was standing. The fairy glow highlighted her smooth features and glistened from her fangs.
“You going to tell him?” Lincilara asked.
Angelia gave a broad smile and shook her head as they heard Blinks returning still waving his sword back and forth in the darkness.
“Told you,” he said pleasantly to Lincilara not realizing Angelia was just off to one side. “I have a completely under control.”
***
They use a torn but heavy blanket to get Angelia into the covered bed of the wagon once they were sure no light would seep through. She closed and bolted the doors from the inside and assured Blinks she would be able to concentrate and totally protect herself for the ride.
Purchasing the wagon and chasing off the young troublemakers had been quite an accomplishment. He was very proud of the determination and strength he had shown. He likes Outbound a lot and kept leaning out of the wagon to glance back at the city until it was completely out of sight.
CHAPTER NINETEEN: I TOOK HER TEARS
Having Blinks drive the wagon by day and Angelia drive the wagon by night they crossed the southern end of the Land of Starpoint at a steady pace. They would stop for two hours between shifts most days, occasionally longer to let the horses get complete rest and food, then start again with a fresh driver while the other slept. Blinks had suspended a small hammock in the covered bed of the wagon, so he slept well. Angelia’s natural skills let her sleep during the day and her ability to see so well at night made traveling easy.
Other than shift changes they stopped only occasionally to pick up food and supplies. Every few days they would stop at night and Angelia would disappear into the darkness. Blinks slept through those stops. Lincilara would right along with them, usually invisible, and occasionally fly off on her own and meet up with them later.
They encountered fellow travelers every day. Blinks simply smiled and greeted them as they passed, but they were mostly alone when they travel.
The longer it took, to Blinks and Angelia surprise, the quieter and more brooding Lincilara got
“What’s wrong?” Angelia asked Lincilara during the third night.
“She needs me,” the fairy said sadly.
“What you mean?” Angelia asked slowing the horses to a trot and Lincilara stood next to her on the bench.
“Gallif is in trouble. I can feel it, she needs me.”
“How do you know?”
“We bonded,” Lincilara said sadly. “She rescued me, and I took her tears. I can feel what she feels if I think about her and picture her in my mind,” the fairy said with a pouty face. “That man was there again. Zaslow, that was in the swamp.”
“But he was killed,” Angelia protested
“No, only part of him was. There’s a shadow of him out there. A pale, cold shadow, but he still dangerous and deadly. I should go to her.”
“You can’t, Lincilara. You’re the only one who can lead us to the burial ground. Even Blinks will admit he’s not sure wordiness. Once where there is take all of us to get to the library.”
“I can save her!” Lincilara pleaded with her.
“She knows what she’s doing,” Angelia said bringing the wagon to a stop. She patted the top of the back of the bench and invited Lincilara to take a seat there. They could look at each other face-to-face. “Do you trust her?” Angelia asked.
“Completely,” Lincilara answered without a doubt.
“Good, so does Blinks, you both trusted turned off to follow her into the swamps despite your fears of the Others, of us,” Angelia said gently. “Your choice was to follow the faith you had in her let your fears guide you away. You chose to follow her.”
“She’s my friend,” Lincilara said with moist eyes and red cheeks. “I have to protect her. I have two watch your back.”
“Yes, you are Lincilara,” Angelia said to her. “She has faith in you, she trusts you, to make sure we get to the burial grounds and into the library. You, in turn, have to trust her that it is the right thing to do.”
“Do you trust her?” Lincilara asked.
Angelia took a long breath before answering, then removed any doubt Lincilara had by saying, “I put my life in your and Blink’s hands every time the sun comes up. I have faith that she made sure I would be safe.”
Lincilara’s wings slowed and she relaxed more. “I don’t want her to die.”
“Me neither,” Angelia said surprised at just how true it was.
***
Just after sundown on the next day they stopped at the small town of Latten. Blinks had been excited that they were approaching their target and was unable to sleep so he and Angelia had a rare chance to sit together and chat.
“Lincilara says will be within sight of the burial grounds the day after tomorrow. Will stay put until sundown and then work her way in. I’m hoping, with Lincilara and you, it’ll be a lot easier than it was during the First Great Adventure.”
“First great adventure?” She asked with a smile.
Blinks have gotten used to the fact that she was one of the Others and her fangs didn’t bother him anymore. In fact, he started to think that they added to her charm.
“Well,” he said. “It was an adventure and it was really great, and it was the first time I done anything like that. So, I think of it as my First Great Adventure,” he said boldly and accentuated the title.
“What did you do before that?”
“I had lots of little in unspectacular adventures, he said without shame. “Spent a week exploring the library in Benzon once.”
“I’ve heard it’s quite impressive.”
“It is, especially when you can’t find the damn doors to get out.”
“You were lost there, weren’t you?” Angelia laughed loudly and patted him on the shoulder.
“Maybe,” he said and looked away. “I actually did better in the Dragon library we found,” he boasted “it was odd because it seems like there are even more books than at the Benzon library, but everything is so easy to find. As if the library was moving the books around to help you out.”
“I imagine there are casts there that none of us have ever imagined.”
“I think so, too. I warn you about getting trapped in there. Watch out for bears, too.”
“There are bears there?”
“Well, oh,” Blinks stumbled wishing he hadn’t brought it up. “Well, there’s one there.”
“Did it hurt you? Attack you? What kind of bear was it?”
“It was big and brown, with black eyes and glistening white teeth,” he said and growled and imitation. He saw the concern in her eyes and all his bravado dropped. “As it turned out it was also stuffed, but it was on wheels and in the shadows, and look pretty real as it rolled forward.”
Angelia looked at him in shock and amazement then started laughing and gently put an arm around him. “I’ll always think of you as Blinks the Giant Stuffed Bear Killer,” sh
e laughed. “You’ll be legendary.”
“Yes,” Blinks nodded, and his eyes laid over as he thought of being remembered for his encounter. “It’s been quite an adventure. I hope the Second Great Adventure will be as successful. Wait a minute! Let’s see. The swamp could be the Second Great Adventure, and this could be the Third Great Adventure. Wow! I’m getting to be quite an adventurer. Who would’ve guessed?” He paused. “All because I happened to be passing by and saw Gallif getting attacked by orcs.”
“You saved her life?”
“Well,” he said sheepishly. “She’s a better fighter. I think she could’ve taken them herself. I just made it a little bit easier.”
Angelia leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. They stared at each other for a few moments and kiss each other on the lips. They parted but held each other close.
“It’s difficult living in the swamps,” she said. “Our culture can be very oppressive. We live in the dark so much we rarely see anyone that shines.” She kissed him again.
“We’d better get moving,” Blinks said regretfully.
“You want to go outside and sleep a while?”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll just sit with you for a while.” He said as they checked that the horses were ready and climbed onto the bench to the wagon. “Where’s Lincilara?”
“I think she’s sleeping.”
“Good, she’s been up for days. Even something as mystical and magical as a fairy will get tired after a while. You know, I think this town looks familiar from before.”
“Really?” She asked looking around again. “How so?”
“I’m pretty sure I got some sweet bread in the bakery over there,” he pointed. “I got horse a new reign at that stable there. You see that tree? I took, him, forget it, you don’t want to know what I took from there.”
CHAPTER TWENTY: FAMILIAR GRAVES
They stood staring at the mouth of the cave knowing they had no choice but to enter.
The final days of travel had been uneventful and, with the wagon hidden away, they walked to the fortress at night. Lincilara, invisible, had flown over the wall to check out the inside while Blinks and Angelia waited patiently. Blinks had already told her details of his previous trip inside.
“Is there any way we could avoid the wall in the guards altogether?” Angelia asked.
“I don’t know,” Blinks admitted. “We are at the very southern end of the Rainbow Mountains. It’s pretty steep in the area. Maybe if we could climb the walls and go over and around the east or west end. If Lincilara could get us an incredibly long rope, or several ropes, we could get you up there. There are hidden passageways in the wall that we used to get out.”
“That’s helpful. Where were they?”
“I don’t remember,” he said intently watching the wall. Angelia laughed quietly and shook her head.
Their attention was suddenly taken by a streak of light that came over the top of the fortress wall. So fast it looked like a green flaming arrow they jumped out of the way as it arcs downward. It stopped a few feet off the ground and turned out to be Lincilara whose wings were beating faster than Blinks his eyelids.
“There’s nobody in there,” she said bobbing up and down. “I can smell people, but I can’t see anything. There were no guards are patrols. I went inside the barracks and there was no one sleeping either.”
“We have to get inside right away,” Blinks said determinedly. “There was that hidden gate we escape through. Can you work the controls?”
“I found them,” she said sadly. “I can’t figure out how to open them.”
“I’ll go inside and open it up for you,” Angelia said. “Lincilara, can you surely where it’s at?”
“Sure,” the fairy said with enthusiasm and started moving.
Before Blinks could ask Angelia ran to the massive wall. Once there she climbed it quickly and easily and was soon out of sight. Blinks stared upward for a few seconds then walked up to the wall. He felt the warm and slightly sticky areas where her hands had touched the wall on the way up.
“Wow,” he said
you do I were just completely He waited silently until he heard the creaking of a rusty chain from somewhere along the wall. It was so dark he couldn’t see exactly where and pulled his flame sword just as he saw Lincilara’s glow coming from the opening near the ground.
“It’s this way,” she waved, and he quickly joined her and rolled under the partially open wall. Angelia was directly inside holding a torch.
“Something’s wrong,” she informed him. “There’s nothing in here. No guards, no horses anywhere in here either.”
“Could it be Marassa?” He asked not sure if he really wanted an answer. “It would have to be something as powerful as her. These guards were well-trained to just abandon the fortress.”
“But she was trapped inside the library,” Lincilara said.
“She was pretty powerful, also very smart, maybe she even found some way out.”
“I think we should check the barracks first,” Angelia suggested. “Just to make sure there’s nothing hidden there.”
“Yes, let’s go,” Blinks said, and they ran across the bridge to the house. They went through it very quickly and soon emerge from the back door.
“Nothing,” Lincilara said.
“You notice how everything was sitting there? Some place at the table, beds not made, weapons left unattended?” Angelia asked
“I saw that, yes, it’s a pity I don’t know what it meant.”
“They just left. No signs of being attacked or anything. It’s like they just got up and walked away.”
“Now what?” Lincilara asked.
“Were going to have to get in the cave and keep heading to the library.”
“I know, I know the way,” Lincilara sang excitedly.
“My visions better at night than yours is,” Angelia told Blinks.
“I understand. Let’s get moving,” he said and ran off ahead of them.
After catching up with him they walked steadily for some time until, even though he could see nothing had of them, Blinks stopped and warned them to check the area ahead carefully.
“What is it?” Angelia asked.
“This is where we ran into something nasty last time, I want to make sure we don’t meet anything even nastier.”
“What was it? What was it?” Lincilara asked excitedly.
“Giant spiders,” he said nervously.
“What would be nastier than giant spiders?” Angelia asked. Despite their differences there were certain fears that the Others shared with anyone else.
“Angry giant spiders who want revenge on the people who killed other giant spiders.”
“In that case Lincilara and I should be fine,” Angelia said with a wink to Lincilara. “We were here last time. If they want revenge, they’ll pass us up over you. Once you go first?” She asked and held back a giggle as Lincilara winked back.
“Right,” Blinks barely managed to say as he stepped forward.
Swinging his broadsword around him in case something might be waiting he stepped through the webbed area. His confidence returned with each step and, but the time he reached the far end, he was walking with ease. Sure, that it was clear he waved at them and thrust his sword triumphantly into the air. The blade cut directly through the spider descending on him and it gave a bloodcurdling scream. Blinks jumped back and swung the sword to catapult the spider away. It hit the stone wall hard and rolled to the ground. Using five of its legs it started to pull itself away.
Angelia jumped to attention and drew her gold tipped wand ready for action. Blinks took two giant steps until he was right next to her and they took positions back to back. Lincilara circled them and could see all the shadows moving around them. She paused briefly and then disappeared.
“Any ideas?” Angelia sked.
“Well, right now I like Lincilara’s plan.”
Angelia spotted something definite, said one word, then fired a needle
cast at a spider. An array of thin, red hot sparks with edges as sharp as needles, exploded from the wand and pierced that spider. Before she could aim on another attacker a third one also dropped from the ceiling. Its pincers cut into her wrist and she wrenched in pain.
Blinks heard her but was too busy holding off attackers of his own to be able to help her immediately. He was using the advantage of having a flame sword’s mixture of light and heat to keep them away. He was rapidly working on other options as he knew they were badly outnumbered and even the sword would not be enough.
Angelia shook the biting spider off and fired another needle cast as it scurried away. She also knew they were outnumbered and needed to get moving.
“Move right, towards the wall,” she called and felt his body weight against her back change. “MY RIGHT!” she yelled.
Luckily their chemistry was good, and they managed to alternate where they were looking and kept each other protected as they worked towards the wall. Between the flame from his sword and the needles from her wand they managed to keep the attackers at bay. One managed to break through their defenses and spit a web trail at Blink’s leg. They were held in place as he carefully used the flame sword to burn the web and free his leg.
Angelia saw movement high up and spotted a spider swinging down on them. She fired the needle cast and struck it directly in the eyes. Losing its vision, it missed its target and Blinks sliced it open with heated tip of his weapon. The scream from the spider agitated the others and they could see that more were joining in.
They were finally positioned with their backs against the wall but were still being continuously attacked.
“We need to get out of here,” Blinks called. “Back towards the entrance. You’re right.”
“We’re facing the same DIRECTION,” she yelled out of frustration but decided not to bother explaining it to him.
They barely made it a step when multiple spiders came at them from different directions. They made a few attempts to strike back but they halted just out of reach of Blinks Flame sword and, despite the effects of the needle casts, Angelia could only target one at a time. A wall of webs was spit at them simultaneously. A needle cast was intercepted and absorbed but a strand. Its momentum continued and Angelia’s wand and hand were bound against her chest. Blinks was hit in the side of hard enough that he lost his breath as he doubled over. He rose but was hit with a second volley of web and dropped his weapon as he was thrown back and bound to the wall. Angelia made a desperate attempt with her other hand to retrieve it, but it was just out of reach. She barely managed to stand when more webs were spit at them and soon, they were both bound motionless to the wall. The spiders knew they could not defend themselves anymore and quickly moved in and surrounded them. Their black eyes glared at their prey. Their pinchers clacked at them in unison as they moved in.
