by J. B. Garner
Bunny obviously didn’t share my feelings on the matter. “Right. You will have to excuse me when I don’t immediately believe your change of heart.”
“Would it help if I were to vouch for him?” I offered.
“I might like you, Mary, but I barely know you.” Bunny shrugged her shoulders as she reoriented on Bernie. “I will not stake my position on that word alone.”
The whole procession was starting to slow now and I was well and truly lost. Not that I couldn’t figure out where I was with a little time, concrete and brick surrounded us after all, but for the moment I was baffled.
I glanced up at Aelfie and nodded. “I understand. You’ll see once we actually get a chance to explain – “
I almost ran right into Bunny’s fluffy tail. It would have been a soft if embarrassing impact, but Aelfread’s superior reflexes caught on quick enough to give me a tug, pulling me up short. It was still a smidge embarrassing with my face now staring at the wererabbit’s well-endowed butt.
“You two and Bernie will get your chance to air the soiled linens in a few moments, I think,” Bunny announced as I took a polite step away from Bunny Booty-town.
Sure enough, the big Goblin had brought the tribe to a halt in front of a run-down warehouse. The corrugated metal walls had been cheap even in their glory days and were now rusted and riddled with holes. The few windows were boarded over from the inside, most of the glass gone with only a few jagged pieces hanging onto the frames for dear life. The roof was obviously sagging and the double doors we were gathered in front of looked ready to fall over in the next stiff breeze. It oozed urban decay in all the worst ways except for one strange thing.
The entire building gave off a completely inappropriate aura of warmth and homeliness. Light, bright light, danced through the holes and cracks and I swore I could hear a faint giggle or the scamper of children’s feet from beyond the weathered doors.
The majority of the Gobbos seemed to relax and even smile as they lined up at the front gates as if some burden had been lifted off their shoulders. Bernie, well he didn’t look so happy. His massive shoulders were stooped and a look of trepidation was plastered on his craggy face. His huge sausage fingers started to work at the locks on the doors, the only things that looked new on the whole façade, but it was obvious to me that he was purposely stalling.
Aelfread perked up and was now actively craning his head to look past the taller wererabbit. “Ten Gods, is that the presence of the Light I feel?”
If that was the source of the good vibes, I was liking this Light thing already.
Bunny didn’t look back but I could see the corner of her smirk (at least I was pretty sure it was a smirk, it was hard to tell with a rabbit muzzle). “Polly is in.” She carefully arranged her ears and straightened her jacket. “Be on your best behavior, you two.” Glancing back at Aelfie for a moment, she added, “Especially you.”
Aelfread nodded without a final word or snappy comment. As if things weren’t odd before, that made them double-odd.
“I don’t mean to be rude or ignorant,” I piped up as Bernie finally got the locks open, “but can somebody clue in the hapless orphan Dwarf lady here as to what in the Endless Mines – “
I had meant to curse fluently there and I think I managed it as Aelfie actually clapped his hand over my mouth, muffling the rest of my words. “Now is not the time for such talk, Lady Stone, for we are about to be in the presence of holiness.”
I tried not to roll my eyes so hard that they fell out of their sockets. Yes, I had experienced many new things in the last day or so. Magic, faeries, elves, werecreatures, dragons, all of that was now accepted as reality. ‘Holiness’ though? That meant that God or something somewhat equaling God (or entire pantheons of gods, to be fair to the polytheistic folks out there) had to be real and that was a bit too much to swallow.
Still, I couldn’t ignore the sensation of peace and warmth that redoubled in intensity as Bernie threw open the doors to the warehouse beyond. I was expecting some explosion of light, some grand fireworks of magic, something to justify that omnipresent aura of good feels. I should have known better by that point.
Oh, there was light, of course. A mixture of kerosene lamps and fire barrels lit the warehouse, adding a smoky scent to the miasma of moldering trash and debris that lingered around the building. Ratty tents, some cobbled together from cast-off clothing and junk and others well-worn if store-bought were pitched haphazardly around the building, including some on platforms built across the rusted steel racks that used to hold car parts. For all the grime and soot, a sense of home shone through, an effect that was cemented by the sight of grubby-but-happy children scampering into tents or out of sight. A few adults dressed in the same ragged cast-offs as the other Gobbos watched our congregation from around a central fire pit.
None of that really captured my attention, though, and none of it would have struck me as ‘holy’. Nice, sure; heart-warming, definitely; a little depressing, well, that too. But not holy.
What did attract my gaze was the figure smiling at us from the edge of the central fire. I guessed that it was a woman and a Goblin but that wasn’t easy to discern through the armor that looked to be made from discarded cookware and air conditioning ducting. Still, the watery blue eyes that looked upon us through cut slits in a large pot were so utterly full of compassion that I couldn’t hold their gaze for very long.
The lady had to be even shorter than I was and factoring out the crude plates, she had to be a fair bit slighter. She could only get the good look at the entire crowd that she did because she was astride a big mutt of a dog, probably as much wolf as anything else. Mismatched eyes and fur the texture and color of an entire carpet sample book mixed together characterized the shapeless but massive body and the mutt’s tongue lolled out of his mouth happily.
All of that was interesting but what made this odd little lady so compelling was the indisputable fact that the sensation that continued to fill every book and cranny of this place came from her. If this was what a saint was supposed to feel like, this had to be a saint and if any feeling could be described as holy, this had to be it. It wasn’t any kind of proof of God or anything, but it sure made me consider things.
The effect the knightly Goblin had wasn’t exclusive to me; most everyone, returning Gobbo or not, was equally speechless. The only one who seemed to take this in stride was Bunny, but even the straight-faced bounty rabbit stiffened just a hair. We all kind of stood there like goobers for a moment before the lady raised her crudely jointed visor with a creaking sound and smiled brightly at the lot of us.
“Well, come in then! You’re letting all the warm air out!”
Chapter 25
IT WAS WHAT I imagined being chided by your grandmother must be like. In short order, we all got inside the warehouse, Bernie shutting the double doors and locking them behind the crowd. The majority of the Gobbos dispersed, spreading out to tents, fires, and families. I knew there was this kind of poverty in the city, everyone did, but it made me tear up a little to have it shoved right into my face.
As for Aelfie, Bunny, Bernie, and I, the mounted knight gestured for us to come to the circle and no one thought it smart to complain about it. The sensation of warmth grew stronger with every step but it stopped at a snuggly kind of heat, never feeling sweaty or uncomfortable. On a closer look, it was obvious that the Gobbos here no matter the species were elders or at least they looked the part. Gathering up in front of the mutt, everyone immediately knelt, even Bunny, leaving me to try to catch up. No need to be disrespectful after all!
I could almost hear the eye roll within the cooking pot helmet as the lady Goblin said, “Oh please, while I appreciate respect for an old lady, there’s no need to stand on such propriety.” The dog snuffled as if in response. “Come, stand up. Let us speak plainly and get to know each other, well, those I don’t already know.”
“Dame Brightsun,” Bernie blurted out as he rose, “there were trespassers in ou
r territory, right near the Smokestack.” He sounded less like a giant monster and more like a whiny kid tattling to his mother. That didn’t set well with me one bit.
One of the few advantages to being short was that I could rise to my full height quick as a flash. Trying to not sound too angry (not as hard as it would normally be in Brightsun’s presence), I countered with, “Pardon my rudeness but how could we be trespassing on public grounds? Do you folks sit in the bushes and ambush everyone walking down by the river at night or what?”
In retrospect, I didn’t need to say a word.
Both Aelfread and Bunny put hands and/or paws on my shoulders, while Brightsun clucked her tongue and glanced between Bernie and I. “Come now, Bernard, we do not hold ourselves as savages. While the Holy Stack is important, we cannot be assaulting everyone who comes near it, not without evidence of wrongdoing.” She settled on me. “Holy Light, to have my old eyes gaze upon a young Dwarf such as yourself, it brings joy to my heart.”
Some steel hardened her eyes then. “Still, my wards have leveled accusations of wrongdoing here and there have been past difficulties with outsiders. We must know the truth of these matters but let us have proper introductions at least.” With a nudge of her knees around the shaggy dog’s side, it knelt into a canine curtsey. “I am Dame Polly Brightsun, Flamebearer of the fourth degree, Lightbringer of the Michigan flock and this is my valiant steed, Didymus. I tend to the spiritual needs of the forgotten souls you call Gobbos.”
Gesturing to Bernie, she continued, “This is Bernard. He was chief of this tribe before I arrived. Forgive his rougher edges; I consider him a considerable work-in-progress.”
The giant Goblin bristled slightly at that but held his tongue. Polly favored him with a grandmotherly smile that seemed to calm him right down.
I was soaking this all in as Aelfread stepped past me with his flourishing bow. “Prince Aelfread Aelfson, heir to the Spaces Under The Lakes, scion of the Sylvarian Elves, your Knightship. I am humbled to be in your radiant presence.”
Bunny scoffed. “That would be a first.” She nodded to the knight. “You know who I am, Polly. You did send for me, after all.”
Polly’s smile didn’t falter. “Of course, Huntress, and I am glad you arrived when you did. You will be of great help in sorting this matter.” That smile moved onto to Aelfread and then settled on me. The utter sincerity was taking a bit to adjust to.
“I’m Mary Stone, ma’am.” Bowing felt funny so I bobbed my head in a nod. “It’s a pleasure to meet you and yours and I don’t mean to sound like I’m being pushy but – “
“You’re in a great rush and there’s something utterly critical sitting undone while you linger here?” Granted Polly wasn’t far off on that but it was still a hint annoying. “I mean no insult, Ms. Stone, but you understand that these people have suffered many injustices, so much so that they have begun to lash out at the world around them. Would you deny them this due course? Figment or not, we are all Americans.”
Oof, right in the morals with a follow-up to the patriotism. I tugged on my beard and blew out a sigh. “You’re right.”
Aelfie tried to look apologetic as he added, “Still, that whole critical great rush is quite valid, your Knightship.”
I nodded to back the Elf up as the other elder Gobbos began murmuring among themselves. I wondered the whole time exactly how this political system worked. I really needed the Figment Constitution or whatever it was. Sinclair was a high-ranking governor or what not under the Dragons, Aelfie’s father was a monarch of an adjacent kingdom, but Bunny acted as much like the local sheriff as an actual bounty hunter. Complicate the whole mess with religious knighthoods and tribal territories and it was enough to give me a migraine.
Polly nodded as solemnly as her piece-meal scrap armor would allow, the helmet swiveling around like a bobble-head. “Then let us conclude this as swiftly as possible.” She drew a piece of sharpened rebar with a wrapped handle, pointing at Bernie. “Please, Bernard, state what you observed and know you do so under the stern eyes of the Light, our Huntress, and myself.”
The tip of the scrap sword glowed, now a red-hot dot of harsh sunlight, and Bernie’s gnarled brow twisted in anxiety, sweat beading at his brow. “Yes, ma’am.”
He tried to stand as straight as he could, towering over almost everyone assembled. The lug would have topped Bunny’s ears if not for a twist in his spine. “The islanders felt them come in from the south in a black car. They passed along the information, all down the way. When they stopped on Water Street by the Smokestack, one of our scouts caught sight of two of Dragonsong’s minions with these two strangers.” His blocky teeth showed as he made a horrible frown. “Human minions. The ball and the imp.”
Polly nodded gravely, her visor falling back down with a clank. I glanced up at Aelfie to find him looking at me. Yeah, this was going to be a hard one to explain in any way that these people would believe. By the time we had both looked back, the knight had managed to stick her visor back up into position.
“Lady Stone, Prince Aelfson, do you have any dispute with these statements before Bernard continues?”
The glinting ember of light was pointing at us now but for all its harshness, I didn’t feel afraid at all as I answered, “No, ma’am. The facts are all correct but there are some circumstances that the Gobbos couldn’t have known”
Aelfie seemed infinitely relieved that I was taking the lead here. I think he trusted in my innate honesty over his own tendency to, uh, exaggerate the facts. Polly smiled and pointed her pig iron weapon back toward Bernie, twirling it in a circle.
Bernie took that as a signal to continue. “We stayed under a shroud of grass and kept watching. The Elf here led them to the Holy Stack and slunk like a thief to the base of it. Kneeling there, he made to touch the base, no doubt to work some treacherous high magic on it.”
The rod’s tip flared in intensity and Bernie flinched, the sweat pouring down his face. “Now, now, Bernard, remember what I have taught you about truth versus judgment,” Polly scolded. “Now, did Prince Aelfson touch the Stack before you ambushed this party?”
Both Aelfie and Bernie were both twitching, both nervous as heck now. Monstro wiped his brow and murmured, “I, uh, believe so, Dame Brightsun.”
Polly nodded slowly. “I see.” Those kindly eyes flicked to Bunny. “Are you so far satisfied, Huntress Kincaid?”
Bunny had been half-lounging against a support pillar but I could tell her red gaze had never left Polly’s ‘sword’. “I am. I believe we would both like to hear from the accused now?”
Bernie tried to butt in but Didymus let out a mighty bark that silenced him.
“Thank you, my friend,” Polly said as she rubbed her mount’s back. Even as she continued to love on the big shaggy thing, her rod snapped to point at Aelfie and I. “So, you do not dispute Bernard’s facts. What do you have to say for yourselves?”
Aelfread cleared his throat, trying not to squirm too much under the unrelenting light. “I would think it best if you would explain the situation, dear Mary.” That caught Polly’s attention and the elder Goblin gave him a hard look. “Dame Brightsun, you must understand that in my father’s court, there is a natural proclivity towards excess embellishment of facts and other expansions of the bounds of truth. I would not wish to let those proclivities bring dishonor and punishment to Lady Stone here.”
Bunny laughed and shook her head but Polly only smiled softly, focusing the rod solely on me. “I have known the Spaces Under The Mountain in my rambunctious and misspent youth. You are excused, Prince Aelfson. Lady Stone, I am certain you will uphold the standards of Dwarven propriety I have heard so much about.”
No pressure. I took a deep breath and began.
“As I said before, the facts are right but there were other circumstances. We didn’t come here to damage or take anything.” I paused for a moment, wondering if it would be wise to lay everything on the table with Bunny here. After all, she seemed to be in go
od with Sinclair and scrupulously honest about her position, whatever it exactly was. Between my own conscience and the glow of warmth from Polly, I knew the answer.
“The truth is that Master Sinclair wanted us to retrieve a fragment of an ancient Dwarven artifact, something that Aelfread had stolen from Sinclair when he realized how dangerous it was. Trying to throw Sinclair off the trail and give us a chance to get away from his blackguards,” – How hard was it to say ‘goons’ in Truespeech? – “the Prince led them into Gobbo territory, lying about the actual location of the runestone.”
While the glowing sun ember never wavered, that last word caught the attention of not only Dame Brightsun but Bunny and several of the other elder Gobbos. Polly’s perpetual smile curved into a tight, thin, and rail straight line. “A runestone in truth?”
I blinked, taken aback by the sudden shift in attitude. Fortunately, a life spent being stared at by crowds from coast to coast meant I adjusted quickly to the newfound attention. “Yes, in truth. Though I suspect that Master Sinclair wishes it to be restored for partly noble reasons, I also fear what he might be able to do with it intact. I think Aelfie knows even more.”
Bunny pushed off the support and cast her shadow over me. “Mary, do you know what sort of stone it is?”
Ghostly memories of gray-bearded ancients wafted through my brain, hoarsely whispering the need for secrecy, warning what the other Figments could do with our cherished heritage. Don’t utter the name, young Dwarf, they moaned. Not even a hint of its power must be mentioned, not beyond those that already know.
I shook my head, trying to clear the voices away. Was that secrecy one of the reasons why there were so few of, well, me left? I would have to mull that over later but for the moment, I did what I usually did: what I thought was right by my friends, what few of them I had.
