by P. G. Thomas
Lauren shook her head, “They could have brought scientists, generals, any number of more educated people. People better able to examine, understand, and plan a resolution to an issue. My seventeen years of vast experience really does not qualify me for a role like this.”
“Well, maybe it is a combination of your drive, and lack of knowledge or experience, that establishes the importance of you. Maybe they seek a solution that only you can manifest. Keep in mind, experience or skills, as compared to results, do not always go hand in hand. There are many examples of unqualified people making breakthroughs, and just as many examples of qualified people failing. Right now, we are here, and they have selected you. We really don’t have any choice in what has happened, so we need to figure out what to do next. And maybe when this is done, they will send us home. But right now, stop questioning yourself and everything else. Why is not important, as you need to concentrate on what, who, where and when. You have been involved in similar issues back home, so just repeat what you did back then. Now, are you feeling better?”
Lauren looked at John, “I don’t belong here. I am not part of this world.”
John shrugged his shoulders, “You are here, and a part of this world now. If they were waiting for us, then maybe we are supposed to be here.”
The expression on Lauren’s face had changed from irritation to puzzlement. “I need some time to think. Thank you.”
*******
It was the last meal of the day, and the Earth Mother had Lauren sit beside her. Just before Gor brought in the food, the Earth Mother stood and tapped her wine mug with a knife. She had Lauren stand beside her, “I does be proud to announce, Mother has shown me that friend Lauren does be blessed with her gift. I hereby does proclaim Lauren to be Earth Daughter.” Everybody raised their glasses and gave Lauren a cheer. She felt like she should say something, but before she knew it, everybody was eating. The Earth Mother looked up at her, “Sit down, cold thine food wilt soon be. Oh, I does forget to mention, big on ceremonies we does naught be. Tried them centuries ago, but naught any could agree on anything.”
As Lauren sat down, the Earth Mother placed a small gold and silver stickpin beside her dinner plate. It had a diamond at the top, surrounded by a gold leaf. She did not say anything, and instead, continued to eat. Lauren took a sip of her wine. So now I am an Earth Daughter. What the...
*******
One sentence and everything changed. The next morning, all of the elves and dwarves—including Mirtza—began to call Lauren, Earth Daughter. Her friends did as well, but she could sense their sarcasm. She spent the day with the Earth Mother, trying to get a better understanding of what was happening, what should be done, and especially, all about Mother. The others either offered to help the dwarves in what they were doing, or spent the day outside. For a change, it was an uneventful and quiet day.
*******
John found Ryan, Logan, and Zack sitting on the terrace that evening. They all had new clothes which Fodu and Fen had made for them, using their old clothes as a pattern. Zack was upset, as his were not black, but instead a pale shade of green.
“What’s it mean now that Lauren is an Earth Daughter?” Ryan asked John, “And why do they call them that?”
“I would rather you ask me a math problem. As for Earth Daughter, I think Earth refers to the ground, not our planet. It’s what Mirtza said, Mother is the ground or earth. I think the translation ointment simply found the closest word to soil, and for us that word is earth, which we also call our planet. As for the rest, none of this makes any sense. This has been a crazy two weeks. Magic, elves, dwarves, and now Lauren is an Earth Daughter. It is as if somebody put some stray cards into the wrong deck. We don’t belong here, yet here we are. And they were waiting for us. Maybe we are supposed to be here. I really don’t know.”
Eric joined them, a pitcher of dwarven ale in his hand, “Ryan, you seem to be doing much better. Two weeks ago climbing a set of stairs was impossible for you, now you are in the best shape of your life.”
“There is something about this place that seems to agree with me, though, to be honest, I would rather be home. I miss my family.”
“We all miss our families,” said Eric as he filled the mugs, “Right now, there is nothing we can do about that.”
Logan reached for a mug, “But what I don’t understand, is why we aren’t all freaking out about it more. Back at that weird forest, I thought I was going to see a nuclear explosion the way Eric and Lauren were going at it. I haven’t seen her that mad since…” And Logan saw Ryan lower his head to the ground, “Sorry, you know what I mean. Over the last two weeks, we have all been thinking about our families, and yeah, weird crap is happening. But still, shouldn’t somebody be jumping up and down, screaming something? Shouldn’t we at least be crying ourselves to sleep? Why isn’t somebody angry?”
John shrugged his shoulders, “Maybe it is this Mother character? Maybe she is somehow calming us down? When Mirtza left us alone in the forest, it was the first time we were by ourselves. The shock had worn off, so Lauren and Eric vented their frustrations.”
“She started it.”
John continued, “It doesn’t matter who started it Eric. But that is where Lauren found that strange staff. Maybe someone is looking after us as well? In a world where nothing makes sense, that would be logical. So we miss our families and think about them, but somebody is stopping us from freaking out over them, and all of the other strange stuff that has been happening.”
“Not all of us feel that way,” replied Zack, “I am sure my uncle has already started legal actions to get his hands on my money. By the time I get back, I will be broke and living on the streets.”
Logan looked to Eric, “What do you think? Is John right?”
“I don’t know. I think about my family all of the time. Every night in my dreams, I visit them, hoping somehow that my thoughts will find them. Let them know that I am alive, and I tell them not to worry. That and the beer helps.”
“Beer, it does a body good.” Zack said as he refilled his mug.
“I do not understand how you guys can drink so much of that stuff,” replied John, “Do you know what it does to you?”
Zack smiled, “The golden nectar. It celebrates victories, drowns the sorrows, kills the pain, and exposes the dark truths. Plain liquid? No, a gift from the gods. It will make a shy man brave, turns a brave man into a fool. Each vessel consumed alters the destined course, tests the fates. It is only in alcohol, that one can both find, and hide from themselves at the same time.” All four looked at Zack, “You guys really question everything too much. We are here. Embrace it. Life goes on until it stops. Parents give you up for adoption. Life goes on. Get new parents after years in foster homes. Life goes on. New parents get divorced. Life goes on. Then divorced parents die. Effing life still goes on. School bus gets in an accident. A new effing life, but it still goes on. Accept that which you have no control over. It makes it easier.” Zack reached over to the pitcher to refill his mug, “The path to victory is best achieved through acceptance.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Eric said.
“Neither does life.” Zack took his full mug, and headed back to his room.
The remaining four looked at each other, that was the most they had ever heard from Zack. Eric poured the last of the pitcher, but as John’s mug was still half-full, he put his hand over the top to decline any more.
“To Zack,” Eric said, raising his glass, “May one day he defeat the blackness that both consumes his soul, and fills his closet.” On that note, they all headed to their rooms with the hope that their dreams would somehow find their family and friends, letting them know that they were safe.
Chapter 12
Lauren approached John at the morning meal, “I want you to talk to the Earth Mother, Alron, and Aaro after breakfast.”
“Why me?”
“You said it best. They need to figure out what is going on.”
“Whe
n I said ‘they’, I actually did not include me.”
“Well, if Mother can choose me, and I don’t have a say in it, then I can choose you to help, and you get the same amount of input as I did.”
John felt he would have a better chance of arguing with the night, about the value of light, rather than trying to back out of Lauren’s request for help. So after the meal, he followed them all up to the Earth Mother’s favorite terrace.
The Earth Mother looked to John, “Earth Daughter does say thou hath thoughts we does need to consider?”
John scanned the small group, “The other night, everybody made contributions to the events of the recent history. However, the majority of the evidence provided was hearsay. It was not information known first hand, but heard from somebody who heard it from somebody else, and the facts we have right now are few. The dwarves discovered a town on the northern Bright Coast, which now appears empty, but that is too far away for us to check. The dwarves fled the eastern range and stayed here for a short time. Midlanders, as you call them, began to flee their lands and claimed to be fleeing from some sort of plague. Evidence supported by Mirtza and those posters. Then the elves fled, and finally, whatever midlanders were on the outskirts fled as well. From the sounds of it, you fifteen are the only ones left in this area. Aaro, are there any midlander villages nearby that we can visit and investigate? See if we can find any clues as to what actually happened?”
“One large, three small. Days of seven travel, need we do” Aaro replied, his deep, thick voice, echoing softly off the far mountains.
“Friend John, what does thou expect to find,” asked Alron?
“I do not know, but I would like to see something for myself,” replied John.
“Earth Mother, what does thou think,” asked Alron?
“Answers we does want, though I does be weary to send thou into plague.”
“If it truly is a plague, it would most likely require a living host to survive. If the stories are true, everybody is gone, so the plague should be dead,” replied John.
“Earth Daughter, what does thou think,” asked the Earth Mother?
“John is the smartest person I know, and what he said makes sense. We just don’t really know anything, and maybe this investigation will help reveal some of the answers that everybody wants.”
“Mother sent Earth Daughter. If Mother does trust her, then who does I be to question Mother. Alron please does arrange as necessary, and does keep me advised.”
After the Earth Mother left the table, Alron was quick to act, “Three elf, three dwarf, Earth Daughter and friend John. This does leave ponies of four for pack animals. Does any hath questions?” When nobody said anything, Alron looked to Lauren and John, “We does leave tomorrow.”
Lauren was not expecting such quick actions, and she looked to John, who nodded in agreement.
Lauren looked at Alron, “Sure. Can you make the arrangements that quick?”
“We shalt leave after first meal the day next.”
As Aaro and Alron left, John smiled, “That went well, didn’t it?”
Lauren slowly shook her head, “Let’s wait until we get back, before we determine the outcome.”
*******
The following morning, John was standing beside Lauren in the doorway that faced their outside terrace. An unexpected storm had formed quickly, and now raged outside, the trip postponed until the weather improved. John was disappointed with the change in the weather, as a storm this intense would quickly wash away what little evidence may have still lingered at the midlander sites they were supposed to visit. As they watched the lightning explode across the sky, illuminating some mountaintops, silhouetting others, John had a feeling of foreboding in the pit of his stomach. After one horrific explosion of thunder that made them both jump, they realized that Aaro was standing behind them.
“Aaro, I am sorry. I did not know you were there,” said Lauren.
“Weather wicked it be. Once only, storm like this seen I have. Remember prefer not I would. Earth Daughter, in private, with you may I speak?”
“Yes, what troubles you?”
“Here not, follow me please.”
Before they left, John turned to the two of them, “Aaro, do you normally get storms this bad, this time of the year?”
Aaro stopped, turned to face John, “Storms many seen I have. What that be, I know not.”
The answer seemed short, wrong. John was unsure of what to make of the words Aaro spoke, but with such an intense storm stalled over the Ironhouse Mine, in this strange world, John had the feeling that somebody wanted them to stay here a little longer.
Aaro led Lauren to a seldom-used meeting hall on the upper level, feeling certain that no one would interrupt them there. When she had seated herself in the small chair, Aaro spoke, “Long hours argue with my Pappy last night, I did. Tell him I did, wait until we return. Listen he would not. Stubborn and old, easier to mine granite than his mind change. Earth Daughter, a favor my Pappy will ask of you tonight. The Master Weapon Smith, you, he will approach when the meal is done. Decline you can, but the story you should know first.”
“Please tell me more,” Lauren said cautiously.
“Twenty years past, dwarf many Ironhouse called home. Clans of east marched west, Ironhouse welcomed. Then, many was our clan, crowded we were, but good all was. South road construction began, lands new, need to find we did. And when done, dwarf many left, and Pappy did change, odd he became.” As Aaro told the story, the memories of what started so long ago, came flooding back. Their father had them fetch a large keg of mead, a huge platter of the best dwarven foods, and told them to take both to the hidden room on the main floor. While the reason for the celebration was unknown to them, they were dwarf, and a reason was not important. So each lent a hand, and prepared the room for the festivities, wondering what the occasion was. But when their father showed up, he told them to leave, to guard the door so none would interrupt him. They thought it odd, as Master Weapon Smiths had special privileges granted, and not even a drunken dwarf would wish to anger one with such a title, but did as instructed. It was late into the night, Aaro was standing outside the door, when Bor came to relieve him, and they both heard the shouting from the room. As far as both of them knew, nobody else had entered the room, and when they tried to, their father shouted at them, ‘get out.’ By the time Hakk showed up, Bor and Aaro were still listening to the argument in the room.
It was the following day, when their father cracked open the door, ordered a keg of dwarf ale, and another large platter of food. And throughout the day, the conversation inside the room continued. On the third day, he ordered more food, and even stronger beer, and when they took it inside, the hall was a mess, looked like a hundred dwarves had celebrated for a hundred years. But their father, the sole occupant, would not turn to look at them. The fourth day, more food, harder drinks, and the same on the fifth and sixth days. And each day, the conversations got louder, the rock walls no longer able to silence the heated exchange inside the hidden room. Stories started to spread, dwarves that should have been in the lower levels, all found a reason to walk by the room, to hear the conversation inside. And like unseen vapors in a mine, rumors spread from dwarf to dwarf, spreading the infection that the Master Weapon Smith had gone mad. And on the sixth night, all of the brothers stood outside the door, trying to keep the curious ears away, when the loudest argument of all erupted. So loud, they feared that curious ears deep in the mines, would hear it as well. And in the middle of the argument, all heard, ancient dwarf spoken, sounds not heard for centuries, and while none understood the words, they all recognized them. The argument would go loud, then quiet, then even louder, went long into the night, and the corridors at both ends of the hall were jammed with questioning dwarfs, wondering what was happening. And then on the seventh day, he called for ceremonial wine, that which is never drank alone, and a feast fit for a dozen dwarves. Roasted boar, goat, birds, and more. They asked if they should open the
great hall, but he told them to bring it to him.
Lauren looked at Aaro, “I don’t understand where this story is going?”
Aaro let out a sigh, “With Bor, storytelling, compete with I will not. But short, not this story is.” The images of opening the door on the eighth day flooded back in Aaro’s vision. The room had been quiet for too many hours, and with the amount of alcohol they had taken to the room, there was no way one dwarf could drink so much, and live. Five, six days, maybe, but no dwarf had ever drank for seven days straight. They found him on the floor, the hall a mess, and all of the food and alcohol consumed. Aaro remembered carrying their father up to his room that morning, before the rest of the mine had woken, putting him to bed, and then rushing back down to help clean up the room. For three days their father slept, and on the fourth, he rose, and they hoped the spells were over, but they were wrong. How he ordered Bor to assemble a squad, to retrieve a barrel of trollmare blood, and while none understood, Bor did as commanded. Aaro, their father ordered to the distant mountain valleys, to bring back virgin snow melt from an ice shield, untainted, pure. And when Aaro came back, he found his father hand selecting the finest ores and coals. But when Aaro offered to get apprentices to complete the menial task, his father declined.
Lauren was having trouble absorbing the words of Aaro, as his thick voice silently echoed in the small room, but continued to listen as his story grew in length, “Forge heat in dwarf mine, hide it you cannot. Everything hotter, tempers as well. Answers all wanted, none Pappy would give.” Aaro remembered the day his father brought him the drawing of the cast, to receive the molten metal. And it was so odd, that Aaro questioned his father, still remembered the intense look in his father’s eyes, and he began to make the cast. To question a Master Weapon Smith was wrong, and he knew it, but did not understand what was happening. Aaro still remembered lighting the fire under the forge, feeling the blast of air from the bellows, watching the coals selected by his father turn from black to bright orange. Then of watching his father walking in, pushing in a cart of the finest ores. When the forge was hot enough, his father had them lower the hard metals into the heated forge, and all watched as the metal transformed into a liquid. When Aaro thought they should extract the molten metal, his father called him to stop, and carried a heavy wooden box to the forge. What happened next, Aaro still could not believe. His father threw in a bag of diamond chips, an ingredient never added before, and even stranger, he threw in the three named weapons the eastern clans had brought. And the strange sky rock.
