by Ivory Autumn
Lancedon looked at Rhapsody with searching eyes. “I don’t understand, why are you leaving?”
Rhapsody forced a smile. “I’d tell you, if I thought I knew it would be of some help. But the time is short, and all I can tell you is that you must not stay in one place for very long. The Barnacles are near. They feed off Elf’s gifts, like a vampire feeds on blood. I would tell you more, but I shudder to do so.”
“Please,” Andrew pleaded, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry for the things I said. I didn’t mean them. I won’t use my gifts out in the open again, unless you say. Just please don’t go. Must I always be cursed to destroy the things I care about most?”
Rhapsody shook his head. “I’m sorry, too, Andrew. But it’s the only way. The only curse you bear is that of great reasonability. In desolation, we discover humility. Through much pain, comes great strength, and through great weakness, comes an even greater victory. It is up to you, Andrew, to use what you’ve been given to bring back all that is lost.”
Andrew held on to Rhapsody, trying holding him back. “What is that suppose to mean?”
“You will soon learn in time,” Rhapsody murmured, turning to go.
“Wait!” Andrew cried. “You’re an elf, they might smell you just as well as me.”
“Yes,” Rhapsody agreed. “They might. But it is you they want, Andrew. Your blood is more powerful than any other elf.”
“Then don’t go. Stay with me. What I said, I didn’t mean it.”
“I know,” Rhapsody murmured. “Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself.”
Rhapsody reached out and hugged each of his friends affectionately, then turned and mounted his horse, Zephyr. “Goodbye, my friends. Goodbye.”
“Wait,” Andrew called out. “When will we see you again?”
“Before you reach Danspire, I hope.”
“Promise me then,” Andrew said, “that we will see you again.”
Rhapsody smiled sadly. “I give you my word, Andrew. The word of a Rumble is as good as gold.”
“Take care of them, Lancedon,” Rhapsody commanded. “I trust their lives into your hands.”
“I will.” Lancedon said, bowing low. “On my own life.”
“Goodbye then,” Rhapsody smiled, then galloped off into the chilly night.
~~~~
Chapter Nineteen
Night-light Pass
Andrew watched Rhapsody depart, feeling guilty, and ashamed by his actions. If Rhapsody were harmed, he would never forgive himself. Why hadn’t he listened, why didn’t he do as he was told?
“Don’t feel so bad, Andrew,” Freddie said, placing a hand on Andrew’s shoulder. “He will be back sooner than you think.”
“How can you be so sure?” Andrew sighed, lying back on the grass and staring up at the sky, thinking about how one simple slip of his judgment had caused everything to change. Was everything in life like that?
“I’m not sure,” Freddie murmured. “I just know that Rhapsody will do what he says he will. If he says he’ll be back, then that’s good enough for me.”
Andrew smiled and shook his head. “There’s so much I don’t understand, Freddie. But you see things so clearly. I wish I could be like you. I wish I had your faith.”
Freddie closed his eyes, and yawned, falling asleep. “You do. You just don’t realize it.”
The silver moon shown over their camp, illuminating the forms of his sleeping friends like they were lumpy rocks that rose and fell with their breathing. The chirruping crickets could be heard humming in a never-ending chorus like the steady strum of a guitar.
The breeze that came up when Rhapsody had become aware of the dark beings, had lingered, like an invisible soul of a disturbed ghost.
Andrew stared up into the sky, unable to sleep. He felt a sudden longing well up inside his chest, one he couldn’t quite understand. It made his heart feel sad, and his chest feel tight like he couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t quite pinpoint why he was feeling this way. What was it that he was yearning for? His home? Rhapsody to return? What? It was as if the stars were whispering to him of the importance of what he was suppose to do, telling him the secrets of his celestial origin, reminding him that he was really a stranger on earth. It was almost as if he could hear something calling out to him with an urgent voice, but when he stopped to listen, all he could hear was the thrum of crickets. He sighed and closed his eyes, concentrating on listening to the sounds of the chattering growing plants, growing around him, until he fell asleep.
“Wake up,” Lancedon called to his sleeping friends, ripping their blankets from them. “The sun’s rising. Today we start for Danspire.”
“I see no sun,” Talic groaned, cracking his eyelids.
“That’s because you can’t see it from where you are on the ground. If you wish to see the sun, you must greet it before it greets you. That way you can show it whose boss.”
“I’d rather not,” Talic complained covering his head in a blanket.
“I don’t care if you’d rather not. Get up. Now!” Lancedon thundered, yanking the covers from the protesting boys. Groaning, they all awoke, ate a quick meal of Spoegrum fruit, and then got on their horses and headed northward. Gogindy perched comfortably on the rump of Lancedon’s horse, behind Ivory, enjoying the ride. He’d never been on a horse before, and he thought it a great novelty.
They traveled a week’s journey through shaded meadows, and over desolate mountains, arriving at the borders of a formidable canyon filled with towering gray rocks, and dotted with scraggly trees. The bent, gnarly branches of the trees snagged their clothes as they brushed past them, like grasping fingers.
“Horrible, horrible, nasty, nasty, nasty, nasty trees!” Gogindy cried, shaking his fists at the gnarly shrubbery. His long whiskers snagged on one of the branches, almost yanking him from the horse, but Ivory reached out and caught him before he fell
“What did I tell you,” Gogindy screeched. “I should really burn those dry woodies!”
“That'll scare them for sure,” Ivory said, not amused. “You don’t believe me do you?” Gogindy wailed. “Don’t you know that trees are alive, just the same as you and me? Not to mention that these trees, in particular, are full of bad wood, full of bad bark.”
“Do you think their bark is worse than their bite?” Freddie wondered, amused with his own joke.
“You joke, now,” Gogindy retorted, “but, I tell you, there's something not right about these wicked trees and mountains. My ears are tingling, and they’ve never lied to me yet.”
“Your ears tingle when there's something wrong?” Ivory wondered.
Gogindy nodded and rubbed his fingers gently along the jagged ridges of his ears. “Yes, indeed they do. My ears are something of a legend. They were handed down from generation to generation, to me. I feel so lucky to have gotten them. The phenomenon, when we can tell something bad is going to happen in our ears, is called ear-tingle-trinobie.”
“Wow,” Talic laughed, trying to sound impressed. “Your ears were handed down to you from generation to generation? They must be very old. I wonder if that's where I got my long mole hair. Perhaps my great, great, aunt, had one in the exact same spot.” He held out his arm for all to see. “See, this mole hair is especially long. I'll bet it has special powers too, maybe even as good as Andrew’s gifts!”
“Perhaps,” Andrew offered, “if it grew a bit more, you could use it for fishing line.”
Talic frowned and covered the long hair with his hand. “It’s not that long, sheesh!”
Andrew got a sly look on his face and nodded. “Okay---if not fishing line, you could always use it to floss with.”
Talic glowered at Andrew, and nearly shoved him off the saddle. “If you don’t shut up, I’ll use it to sew your mouth shut!”
“Hey,” Freddie retorted, “You were the one bragging on it. Andrew was just finding some practical uses for it.”
“That does it!” Talic cried, grabbing Freddie and sho
ving him so hard that it made both Freddie and Andrew fall from the horse. “Off, you, go!”
As they fell, Talic jerked the horse to a stop, and laughed at them. “I think you two will be spending a lot of time down there if you don’t agree to be nice to my mole hair.”
Andrew and Freddie looked at each other and shook their heads. “There’s not a chance,” Andrew told Talic.
“Fine then,” Talic clucked to his horse, and took off at a trot, only to cry out as something hard hit him in the back and knocked him off the horse.
“Hey!” he cried, standing up and pointing an accusing finger at Andrew and Freddie. “Did you just throw a rock at me? Gosh, that hurt!” He glowered and rubbed the sore spot on his back.
Andrew and Freddie looked at Talic, puzzled. “Are you kidding?” Freddie cried. “We didn’t throw a rock at you. Honest.”
“Sure you didn’t,” Talic stomped after the horse and brought it back. “Come on, you guys, get on, before I change my mind. Gosh. Andrew, you sure have an arm on you. Don’t ever chuck a rock at me again. Or else.”
Freddie and Andrew shrugged at each other as they mounted the horse, sure that Talic had gone crazy.
“What foolishness,” Gogindy called to them from atop Lancedon’s horse. “You three are always quarrelling. If I didn’t know better I’d say you were all big babies.”
“I’m not. But those two are,” Talic said, shoving Freddie in the ribs. “They hit me in the back with a rock.”
Lancedon turned in his saddle and gave the three boys a stern glare. “You boys are under my command, and if you are ever to be men, you must do as I say. There is to be no more of this foolishness. Understand? Come, let’s keep going.”
“See what he says,” Talic whispered. “If you are to ever be men, you must do as he says.”
“Sure,” Andrew murmured, pressing his lips into tight lines, while Freddie glared daggers at Talic.
Determined to be obey Lancedon’s orders, they passed through the narrow canyon in silence. Crumbly gray rocks rose up on all sides of them, stacked on each other, performing impossible balancing acts, like they’d been placed there from the fingers of a clumsy giant.
In the center of the canyon, their horses became so uneasy that they came to a complete stop.
“Come on you beast!” Talic urged his horse. “There's nothing wrong. Getty up.”
“You call your horse a beast,” Gogindy scoffed, “yet he’s the one doing all the work. How can you be so sure that there is nothing wrong? The horse has more brains than you do.”
“If you were on my horse,” Talic threatened. “I'd chuck you like a disk.”
Gogindy smirked, and stuck out his tongue. “Chuck away. The horses are right. Something is wrong. My ears are buzzing like crazy.”
“Maybe you’ve got a bee stuck in there,” Talic offered.
“Hush!” Lancedon commanded. He got off his horse and led it slowly forward. “If there is something dangerous out there, you are making enough noise to bring it right to us. Why not follow Ivory’s example and stop talking.”
The boys sighed in resignation and all grew quiet. They followed Lancedon's example, leading their horse as they walked. They all paused as a shower of rocks from above shifted and fell in a heap in front of them, sending up a cloud of dust.
Their horses reared up and, whinnied, pulling against their ropes.
“Hold the horses!” Lancedon commanded, reaching for his sword. He looked around anxiously. The crumbly rocks on the mountains were ominous and threatening. In the rocks could be seen bubbly looking holes, skeleton faces frowning down at them like carved faces of the ancients.
“You know,” Freddie murmured, pointing to a rock in front of them. “this probably sounds really strange. But I think I saw that little rock over there…jump.”
Talic laughed. “Freddie, you’re so paranoid. You think that the rocks are even out to get us.” He smiled crookedly, and drew back his foot, and attempted to kick the rock. Just before he could, the little rock moved slowly to the side, like a slow turtle in a shell, then settled back on the ground.
“What the?” Talic exclaimed, making a move to pick up the rock, but the rock bounced up in the air, like a frog, away from Talic's grasping hands, settling down on the ground near Freddie.
“By the goose that hatched seventy-five ostrich eggs,” Freddie said, in wonder. “I've never seen anything like it.”
Gogindy picked up the rock and inspected the it. “How very, very, very, curious.”
“What’s wrong?” Ivory wondered. “Here, let me see it!”
Before Ivory could take the rock, Gogindy let out a yelp, threw the rock down and hid behind Ivory’s skirt. “Oh, St.Twisker help us! The rock’s got froghoppers underneath, long wiggly, wriggly legs. It’s alive---the horrible little bouncy rock. Kill it, before it bounces away on its hideous crawlers.”
Freddie reached to pick the rock up, but it flew up, hit him in the nose, and bounded out of his grasp. “Why you little boulder!” Freddie cussed, running after the fleeing rock. “I’ll catch you yet!”
He ran fast and threw himself on top of the rock before it could bounce away. “Ah, ha! I've got you!”
“Good, good,” Gogindy hollered, jumping up and down excitedly. “Now, pull off its big, long leggies and throw it down a dark hole!”
Freddie looked underneath the rock, and smiled at what he saw. Sure enough, there were strong, legs like frog legs attached to it, only they were gray and hard. He touched the gray legs and they squirmed, and wriggled.
“That’s gross,” Ivory said, cringing. “What sort of thing is it, Lancedon?”
Lancedon shook his head, smiling. “I don’t know. It certainly wasn’t the kind of enemy I was expecting. It looks as if Talic did, in fact, have a rock hit him in the back. Good thing there’s only a couple of these rock-pop things.”
Talic scowled at Andrew. “And all this time I was thinking how strong your arm was.”
Andrew grinned gave Talic a shove. “Hey, I still have a good arm.”
Gogindy twitched his whiskers, held his hands over his nose, and let out a loud sneeze that nearly knocked him on his back. “Excuse me. I must be allergic to something.”
“You’ve got so much hair, you must be allergic to yourself,” Andrew told Gogindy.
“N-n-n-o-t p-p-o-s-s-s-i-i-i-ble!” Gogindy sneezed again. The sneeze echoed through the mountain like the great clap of thunder. The earth rumbled, and in that same moment, the ground became alive with jumping hopping pebbles.
“Wow,” Ivory said, ducking an oncoming jumping rock. “That was some sneeze, Gogindy!”
The ground pulsed up and down, as if a hailstorm, raining down fist-sized ice, had hit the canyon. The sea of pebbles rolled, bounced, crawled, and hopped. Nowhere was safe.
Ouch!” Gogindy screeched as a rock hit him in the stomach. “The world’s coming to an end, an end. Oh, oh, ouch, OUCH!”
The horses began to cry out and rear up as the rocks pelted them from every side. Shield yourselves!” Lancedon cried, holding tightly to the reins of both horses.
Talic ran to his horse’s saddlebag, bringing out an old cooking pot. He whacked an oncoming rock with it, and then placed the pot over his head for protection. “I’m no heretic, I shouldn’t be stoned!”
“They’re everywhere!” Ivory screeched, kicking the nasty rocks away from her. “Ooow!” Gogindy howled as a rock hit him squarely in the chest. “Get out of my way, you evil rock crawlies, crawly rock-hopper, pop rockers!” They continued through the miserable canyon, at a slow pace, each finding their own way in which to deal with the bouncing rocks. Freddie and Andrew, in particular, made great sport by knocking the rocks into orbit with a thick tree limb whenever one came at them. “Gosh!” Freddie exclaimed. “The ground looks like popcorn in a hot pan!”
“Except…” Gogindy added. “I’m sure that the rocks don't taste like popcorn. More likely, they'd knock your teefs out if you tried to eat the
m.”
“Yeah,” Andrew agreed, knocking a rock away with his stick, saving Freddie from being hit in the head. “And if you’re not careful, they'll knock your brains out.”
At nightfall, they stopped to rest in the Pop Rock canyon, for that is what Gogindy officially dubbed it.
“Blast these stupid rocks!” Andrew complained as he cleared his sleeping area of the hopping rocks. Just as he lay down, the rocks started jumping and moving again, some hitting him in the head, some landing on his belly, knocking the breath out of him. Others landed on his feet and hit him in the side, some crawling next to his body, and wriggling up his pants. “Don’t they ever sleep?”
“Worse then bedbugs,” Freddie concluded, lifting one off his stomach and setting it gently back down on the ground.
“Yeah,” Andrew moaned, rubbing his eye. “At least bedbugs can't give you a black eye.”
“Once,” Gogindy said, holding up a finger, “a bedbug did in fact give me a black eye.”
“It must have been some bedbug then,” Talic groaned, picking up a rock that had landed on his chest, chucking it as far away from him as he could.
“Oh it was,” Gogindy said, nodding. “It was an extremely big one, indeed.”
“Probably gave yourself a black eye,” Andrew concluded, “swatting it away.”
Gogindy twitched his whiskers, and glared at Andrew. “I’m not that clumsy. It seems that you boys think me very incapable.”
“Ivory is the only nice one out of all you ruffians.” Gogindy scooted up to Ivory, and stood by her feet, dutifully shooing the rocks away, only to have more return to haunt their peace.
