by Max Jager
"What's Doradus like?" Asked Matt.
"Certainly a lot more industrialized than here on Denedra," replied Morrone, they got all the dwarves, and according to the reports, a lot of iron ore, kroma, vulnite, and Konia. So as you might guess, they do a lot more metal work up there, as a result, a lot more trade with the Golians."
Gandric had been listening to all this, then asked,
"Why is it Denedra isn't involved in more of this sort of industry?"
Because we simply prefer a more agrarian society," replied Lord Morrone.
"Don't get me wrong, we have deposits of iron ore and kroma as well, and most of our metal work is done here on Denedra."
"Have you ever considered possibly having one or possibly two transport craft to travel between here and Doradus?" Asked Gandric,
"Well as you know, we gave up space travel a very long time ago; still…There are times when I wish we didn't have to wait on the Golians." Sighed Lord Morrone,
"Why, what did you have in mind?"
"MY people on Xandrus are capable of building you basic transport craft, nothing elaborate mind you, just simple transport for passengers and freight. If you had two, and Doradusians had two, your worlds would be joined. For anything more substantial you would still have the Golians to assist."
"Who would pilot these craft?" Asked Morrone,
"There are qualified specialists on Xandrus," replied Gandric, but perhaps you could retain the services of the Golians to fly these craft, until such time as your own people could be trained."
"What you purpose Gandric sounds very intriguing," replied the Lord, "However I would need to discuss this with my queen, along with representatives from Golia, and Doradus."
"I will be happy to answer any and all questions concerning the type of craft we could build for you."
After everyone had gone through the main meal, various desserts were served.
One of them was grimin fruit pie, both Matt and Kaitlyn both felt that two slices just wasn't enough it was a desert to "die" for.
As if that wasn't enough, after dinner drinks were served. When a servant poured a light brown liquid into the goblet in front of him he looked around to see if there was disapproval towards him drinking what he had been told was a brandy made from the famous RipDyne plums. When he saw none, he reached over and helped himself to a generous swig of the sweet and very tasty beverage. Fergus the leprechaun had been standing slightly behind his chair talking to Lord Morrone when he looked up to see Matt drinking the brandy like it was fruit juice.
"Aaa young man!" Matt turned to see the little man staring up at him and grinning.
"Have you ever partaken RipDyne brandy before?"
"Uh no, but this stuff is really good, is it fruit juice?" By now Lord Morrone was in on the conversation as well, and both he and Fergus burst out laughing. Fergus then said to the Lord,
"Five weins says he doesn't make it out of the room under his own power."
"You're on Fergus," replied Morrone.
"Oh shit! What did I just do?" Thought Matt. Already he felt his head starting to float like a balloon. Lord Morrone then leaned over and said,
"Perhaps your metal friend there can assist you back to your quarters because you certainly won't be able to on your own."
Matt had only gotten drunk twice in his life, once at a party he and Patricia had attended and another when he and Liam, and one of Liam's friends tried to see how fast they could drink a fifth of tequila. He knew now that those experiences were nothing compared to this. Although he wasn't feeling sick yet, he knew it was only a matter of time. He could hear people talking to him but he couldn't make out what they were saying, then everything just started to fade to black.
From time to time Matt thought he heard people talking around him but maybe it was just a dream. Finally he opened his eyes and looked around, well it looked like he was in bed, but not his bed…Oh wait, it was his bed, he'd forgotten that he and the others were staying in the guesthouse. He then started to take "readings" of his situation and try and remember why he was here.
"Oh yeah they went to that fancy dinner with the queen, and he drank some pretty bitchin wine or whatever it was,
"Well from the light coming in the windows it must be morning, man! How long was I asleep?" He then tried to sit up but for some reason, couldn't, then checking himself, discovered he was wearing only a tee-shirt and his underwear.
"Did I undress myself, or did someone else?" He wondered. Turning his head, he saw that he was the only one in the bed. Laying there a moment, Matt thought to himself.
"Well that must have been some pretty potent shit I drank last night, Damn! But why can't I get out of this bed?" By this time his vision had cleared, and turning his head the other way he realized someone was sitting in a chair next to his bed.
Then a voice said,
"Welcome back to the land of the living, feeling better?"
"Wait! He thought, "I've heard that voice, who is it?" As he turned a little further, he now realized it was Fergus the Leprechaun, dressed in his trim little red outfit.
"Fergus, what are you doing here?" He squeaked. The leprechaun chuckled,
"Well after last evening, I thought I'd stop by to see how you were, and offer you something to take care of ails ye, and after you drank that brandy as fast as you did, I figure you have plenty."
"Well Fergus," my mouth is as dry as a desert, my head feels stuffed up, but for some reason I can't seem to get out of bed." Fergus laughed.
"The reason you can't get out of bed is because I put a retaining spell on you. It's harmless, and for your own protection. For some reason, getting drunk on RipDyne brandy causes folk to walk in their sleep, but I think it's time we got that off ye."
Matt saw the leprechaun do something with his hands and then suddenly he felt unrestrained. Then Fergus handed him a small cup,
"Drink this; you'll feel a whole lot better in a little while." Matt took the cup and sniffed the contents. It had a familiar smell, but he couldn't place it at the moment. Drinking it down, he noticed it had a sour fruit taste, but at least he didn't gag.
"Man, that was some nasty ass stuff I drank last night," he husked.
"RipDyne brandy is some of the finest liquor in the land my friend," said Fergus.
"The Golians make it using a secret process. The trick is to sip it, however we lepreehun along with dwarves, or so I'm told can drink it much as you did last night with no ill effects, next time just take tiny sips and you'll be fine."
Matt noticed his head starting to clear, he didn't have a headache which generally defined a hangover, but he still felt pretty crappy.
"Where is everyone Fergus?" He slowly asked.
"Well your metal friends are up at the palace speaking to the queen and Lord
Giselbert. Your lady friend is off somewhere with Mullein Shade, so I guess it's just the two of us me friend." Matt studied the little man who was now sitting on the nightstand.
"Shouldn't you be wearing green?" Asked Matt. Fergus looked himself over, and shrugged,
"This is what I wear most times, green ya say, now why would that be?"
"Well back on earth Leprechaun's supposedly wear green because they're all from Ireland, that's their national color." Fergus chuckled,
"Ya don't say, green eh, so what? Dark green, light green, a mix?"
"A medium green I guess," replied Matt, but I see you're wearing trousers, all the pictures of Leprechaun's I've seen they're wearing knee pants with long white stockings."
Fergus shook his head,
"Nobody's worn clothing like that in many a bliain," said the little man.
"Well it doesn't really matter I guess," sighed Matt, "If there were ever leprechaun's in Ireland, they're all gone now."
"I heard the young lass talking about them," sighed Fergus, "Can you tell me any more about the "wee folk" on your world?"
"Do you people have rainbows here?"
"Yes," replied Fergus.
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"Well supposedly one of the legends stated that leprechaun's were always stashing pots of gold at the end of rainbows, and that if you were lucky enough to catch one, they would offer you three wishes. But it seems to me I read something about that a long time ago. Something about the way you had to phrase your wishes. If you didn't make the wish just right, they could turn it around on you."
Fergus laughed,
"Listen boyo, if I had a pot of gold I certainly wouldn't be wasting my time hiding it for some hapless fool to stumble on. But as for wishes, actually I can do that, but here again, it would be no different than if I were very wealthy, and you came up to me asking for weins."
"Not that I would ask, and strictly out of curiosity," inquired Matt, "But what sort of wishes could you grant? Obviously if someone wished for world peace you couldn't grant that, or wishing for all the gold in the world. But what if someone asked to be young again, or wanted to be the opposite sex, you know, stuff like that?" Fergus gave him a curious look, and then asked.
"Is there magic on your world Matt?" He shook his head,
"No sir, certainly not like here. Oh there are people called magicians, who try and claim the tricks they do are really magic, but when you realize what they're actually doing, it turns out to be fake." Fergus nodded,
"I thought as much, perhaps that's why the Aos sí all died out. But true magic taps into certain planetary forces. It's very structured, and very complicated to learn, and once you do learn it, you have to keep practicing it all the time, say one word, or forget a hand gesture, and your spell won't work. Take Mullein Shade for example, and by the way, I caught you staring at her charms, but she was simply teasing you, you're the first person in a long time that she's been able to do that with."
As I was saying, Mullein is head of the witch's league simply because she is a genius. She has the rare ability to remember a wide variety of spells without having to go to a spell book, no one else has that ability. As for meself, I only know six, maybe seven spells by heart. As for wishes, well they would have to be simple ones you understand. Don't ask me to make it rain, or the wind to blow; we have storm wardens for that sort of thing." Fergus looked like he was getting bored, so he added,
"Say, why don't you get dressed, and I'll show you around Gwyn Wood, and introduce you to some of my friends." Matt liked the idea, especially since he was now feeling a whole lot better.
Chapter 15
The project Chapter 15
Matt found a note written by Kaitlyn stating;
"Matt, don't leave this place without me. I've got something very personal to take care of, and queen Breca and Mullein say they can help. Don't worry, I'm not sick or anything like that, I've just got to get some things right in my head.
Later….Kaitlyn"
He shrugged,
"Well…Whatever." So together, he and Fergus set out to see what Gwyn Wood had to offer. The palace and governmental area was surrounded by a low stone wall roughly chest high, the main gate (which wasn't the one they had originally come through) had two Elvin guards keeping an eye on things. As they approached, one of the guards greeted Fergus, while the other gave Matt the once over.
"You're that fellow that's come here from that planet the Aos sí ended up on?"
Matt shrugged,
"Yeah I guess so, but they're all gone now." The guard grinned,
"Why do you say that?"
"Well," replied Matt, "You only see elves, fairies, and the like in pictures, or the movies, no one's ever seen them in real life."
"Ahh you think so," replied the guard, "Just because nobody's ever seen them doesn't mean they are not there."
"Well that's true," replied Matt, "But there can't be many if they're still around."
He then had a thought,
"Hey Fergus, if we're going to go walking around, I don't have any money, or what you people use for money." The guard overheard him, and said,
"We tend to frown on people going around here with no money; sometimes the temptation to steal just gets the better of them."
"Hey look!" Exclaimed Matt, "I'm no thief, I'm more than willing to work for gold or whatever it is you guys use for cash around here." Both guards gave him the once over,
"Well there might be a couple things we know about that might put a few weins in your pocket."
"What are they?"
"How good are you with a bow and arrow?" Asked one of the guards.
"Not very good," replied Matt, I've shot them before, but I'm not real accurate."
"Too bad," replied the guard, then speaking to Fergus, he added.
"They've got a Shadox problem out by the crossing; all the farmers are up in arms about it. They've shot a couple, but word is that the pack is pretty sizeable."
Fergus nodded, then asked,
"I take it there's a bounty out?"
"I've heard that the miller's guild is offering five weins for every Shadox head that's brought in," replied the guard.
"A rather tidy sum," responded Fergus.
"What's all this?" Asked Matt,
"Shadox, are animals we have a problem with here on Denedra," replied Fergus.
"That's right," added the guard, "They are nasty buggars, long snouts, tusks they can kill you if you surprise them. They tear up the farmers fields, but they're pretty wary, incredible hearing." Matt thought a moment, so far, he hadn't seen anybody carrying guns just swords and Bowie type knives.
"Care if I give it a try," he asked, "I've got something that might do the trick."
"Doesn't matter to me," replied the guard, go see Deegom Betalok if your serious, but don't say I didn't warn you."
Fergus shook his head,
"Now listen Matt, these Shadox aren't anything to fool with I can't…"
"Don't worry," said Matt, I need to get back to the ship and get something, I guarantee it will do the job."
Matt noticed that Fergus seemed to have some "pull" around here getting them fixed up with a small wagon pulled by a Centaur named Drott. Returning to the Nora-Lee, Matt retrieved his AR, and shotgun, along with his knife, and extra ammunition. Both Fergus and Drott had never seen anything like the rifle, and were unsure of its function
"Let's just say this weapon made bows and arrows obsolete on my world," explained Matt. Then Drott took them to a large mill, next to the river. Upon entering, Matt was astonished to see that the mill was powered not by water power, but steam. They then sought out Deegom Betalox, who ran the place.
Deegom was only slightly taller than Matt, and another elf. Although he wasn't overly muscular, Matt had no doubt Deegom could beat the crap out of him. After Fergus introduced Matt, Deegom looked him over carefully.
"I heard there were visitors other than the Golians up at the palace, so what can I do for you?"
"Matt want's to make a few Weins by taking care of the Shadox problem," explained Fergus. Deegom studied Matt a little more, then said,
"Go see Yufic Mooncalled, they've been bothering his place lately, he can better direct you, tell him you've talked to me." So now it was off to Yific's place. As they rode in the bumpy wagon, Matt observed the countryside.
"The roads were all paved with flat stones interlocked with each other, and instead of just following the terrain, the road cut through small hills, and ran flat over "fills" that leveled out the low spots. In asking Fergus about it, the Leprechaun hinted that magic had been involved with the road building.
Matt also noticed large mushrooms that were as high as trees,
"Those are Sensal," remarked Fergus, we get a lot of products from them, but only those with licenses from the witches league are authorized to do so."
Matt chuckled,
"Sounds like they have scam going there, probably take a big cut out of everything someone gets for "harvesting" whatever it is they take from them."
"Not really," replied Fergus, they're more concerned that people know what they are doing, improper harvesting techniques can easily kill a plant, and ever
yone you see has been here since every one of us."
The countryside looked very neat and orderly, very green, but he also spotted vegetation consisting of yellows and oranges as well. They finally arrived at Yufic's place where they found him working a small forge. After the introductions, Matt asked,
"I didn't think you elves went out much for smithing, and metal work." Yufic snorted,
"I don't know where you heard that friend, but those damn dwarves have nothing on us, here take a look at this," with that, he pulled a wicked knife from a sheath at his side. Matt studied it for a moment. Normally he would have tested the blade with his thumb, but just looking at the thing said,
