"That is not possible, dear one. You are too large to be ferried by a dragon steed and we could not provide a carriage in time. But be strong of heart, for I see the truth of your destiny unfolding during this dark night. Take The Linking to heart. Draw upon the knowledge and wisdom, which is now your right.
"The Crown of Light sits upon your brow and forevermore joins you to our land. The wand's purity will guard against those who would seek to ensnare you, and your raiment shall provide gentle comfort against the chills of travel. But remember, you alone are the true guardian of your fate.
"Be brave Carole of the Sylphwood, Multitasker, and Friend of the Silvering Oak Faerie. Now we, wrapped in our own embarrassment, must flee our plagued land." The princess dipped her head towards Carole and, taking hold of the reins of her dragonfly, whistled lightly. The creature shot into the sky and sped across the lake.
Carole watched until they were mere specks bobbing above the horizon. Then looking around, she saw that in their rush the attendants had left behind the cauldron of soup still simmering overtop the fire, and beside it a small stack of bowls.
She went over to the fire. The broth smelled delicious. She scooped up a bowlful and sipped, and instantly felt refreshed and alert.
The voices reached her moments later. They came from the forest, harsh and unpleasant.
* * *
- 19 -
Two creatures shambled into the open. The first stood over six feet high and was nearly as wide, with olive colored skin so gnarled and twisted that it resembled tree roots more than flesh. He even walked woodenly, lurching forward with stiff, ungainly steps.
Yet it was the second whose appearance was most disturbing. She was small, not even as tall as Carole, and had a sly look about her. Although obviously related to the faeries in some fashion, she was much stockier of build, had no wings, and wore a scowl on her face that left no doubt as to her mood.
The creatures were squabbling with each other and didn't appear to have noticed Carole. She began to back away.
"Hold off, you brute," the small creature said. We don't want to scare off our new neighbor. And look." She sneered at the cauldron. "A meal has been left for us. Very kind of our cousins to be thinking of their poorer relations in times such as these.
She stared fixedly at Carole. "But not so kind of them to abandon you to the Red One's wildness. I see by your garb that you've recently been with the fair folk, yet you've an appearance less of them and more of us, eh?" The creature slapped the leg of her companion, prompting a vacant smile from him.
Though she hobbled around like an elderly crone, there was an alertness to her eyes that Carole didn't trust. "Not abandoned. I stayed behind to meet some of the other folk of this realm."
"Stranger are you? Stranger to our realm?"
"Stranger to these parts."
"And are we a fit-enough looking couple to meet and perhaps share a meal with?"
Carole continued to inch away. "Certainly, help yourself. There are some bowls over there. Though it might be more pleasant if I knew your names."
"Pleasantries is it that you want? Well, pleasantries we shall have. I am called Spittle. Spittle, the cave sprite." She bowed low while motioning to her companion.
With greater speed than Carole could have believed possible, the root creature rushed forward and clamped down on her wrist with a vice-like fist.
"Hey, Let go!" Carole pulled at her arm and clawed the creature's hand. "What are you doing? Let me go!" For all the effect it was having, she might just as well have been scratching rock.
"What are we doing?" Spittle straightened up and abandoned any hint of feebleness. "Why you have been caught trespassing in our wood and now must pay a tax to us. Isn't that right, Thunk?"
The creature holding Carole's arm, bobbed his head in cheerful agreement.
"But I haven't any money. Besides, this is the faeries' wood. Let go, you're hurting!" Carole punched her captor's arm and managed only to bruise her fist.
"'Tis what they like others to believe, scoundrels that they be. Still a debt is a debt and someone's got to pay." The sprite rubbed her hands together. "If you've nothing to pay you shall have to work it off. Thunk, bring her here!"
Spittle pawed Carole's face. "And just in case you get any ideas of skipping off..."
Spittle began prancing about, mumbling under her breath and waving her hands as if she were pulling at unseen strings. The air thickened and sounds became muffled. Carole's fear jumped to full blown panic.
She again lashed out at Thunk. Her arm floated up at a snail's pace. She kicked at him. Her foot moved even slower. "Let me go!" she screamed. Barely a strangled croak escaped her lips.
She felt a tickle at the base of her throat. She tried to scratch, but her hand wouldn't move. "Arrrgh!" She shook with fear and frustration.
The tickle became an itch. She willed her hand to move. The itch began to sting. Tears sprang to her eyes. The sting began to burn, then to sear. Tears ran freely down her cheeks. Finally her fingers reached a small, hot lump atop her breast bone. The Link of Protection!
Carole grasped at the tiny wand, triggering a shock so intense that her ears popped. Surrounding sounds and sensations returned to normal. Apparently unaware, Spittle continued to chant.
"Let her go, Thunk." Spittle ordered a moment later. "That'll hold her 'til we decide what's to be done." And then she said to Carole, "Not to worry, dearie. Just a little something to keep you from wandering. You'll be fine so long as you don't move too quick.
"Thunk here surprised you a bit too, didn't he?" Spittle cackled. "Root trolls is good for that, ambush being their specialty. Blend in with the trees and nab you quick as a flash."
The sprite spat on the troll's shin. "So, what do you think of that broth our cousins left behind?"
Thunk smiled stupidly.
"Dish out some helpings, girl. Do a good enough job and maybe we won't add you to it."
Carole moved as slowly as possible. She dished out two bowls of soup, setting one on the ground for Thunk and holding the other out for Spittle. The sprite snatched the bowl, and greedily slurped at the broth, letting as much run down her chin as into her mouth.
Carole was fairly certain that if she got a surprise start, she'd be able to gain a little distance before the creatures reacted, but then what? The lake was probably her best choice. She had never tried to glide over water, but she could definitely swim. The question was, could her captors?
And assuming she could get away, she still needed to find her way back to Runt and the others, which meant triggering another transdimensional jump. Carole sighed. She'd wanted to ask Glistlefern about it, but Wrinkletoes had interrupted.
Glistlefern had said she was now joined to faeries, and she'd seen the light cords connecting her to them. So maybe the cords were still there, just invisible. She needed a way to see them again.
Closing her eyes, she tried to imagine a bright thread stretching across the lake. At first she was totally distracted by Spittle's slurping, but then she noticed a slight tingling on her forehead. The tingle quickly became a thrum. Colors appeared and a fuzzy image began to take shape. The image wavered, grew brighter and slowly resolved until she recognized the face of... Runt?
But she needed to find Princess Glistlefern.
She tried again. Calming, focusing, and then the tingle, the thrum. An image, and... Runt!
She looked away from the lake and the image faded. She turned towards the lake and the image became clearer.
She tried a third time, but again that image of a smiling pig got in her way. She was stumped.
"Thunk, throw your bowl into the cauldron. We'll let our guest carry it home for us. Once we're back in the cave, I'll decide what's to be done," Spittle said. "Get on now girly, do as you're told."
Under Spittle's watchful eye, Carole lifted the surprisingly light cauldron off its tripod. Then backing away, she pretended to stumble, swung the pot around as if trying to regain her balanc
e, and without warning let it fly.
Spittle was quick, springing over the cauldron as it hit the ground, but she wasn't quick enough to avoid the soup which followed. "Yeoowl!" She hopped about and rubbed at the burning liquid on her skin.
Thunk stood staring, clearly transfixed by his leader's antics.
Seizing the opportunity, Carole bolted for the beach.
"Get her, you fool!" Spittle shrieked.
But Carole had already gained the sand and, pressing her advantage, she shot across the water. Behind her there was a tremendous splash. She glanced over her shoulder to see Thunk hopelessly mired in water lilies.
What now?
The faerie court was still her most logical choice. She closed her eyes.
Again Runt appeared, only this time he was surrounded by a gray mist. Where had she seen that stuff before?
Of course. That pretty patch of fog out on the lake during the Linking. Her heart began to race.
This time she welcomed Runt. As his image leapt into her mind, she found herself traveling towards a swirling gray tunnel, one laced with brilliant bolts of colored lightning.
From somewhere within that churning vortex she heard an excited squeal.
* * *
- 20 -
"Reeet!"
"Omph!" Zack opened his eyes to find himself wedged half inside the tent, with Martin pressed against the far wall. Lilly was sandwiched between them.
"Reeet!"
"I heard you the first time. Get off will ya?!"
Runt hopped off his stomach, allowing him to worm out of his bedroll.
Zack pinched his sister's foot. "Wake up!"
"Zaaack! We've been up half the night."
"Come on, Runt's found something. You too Martin. Move your butt." Zack crawled out of the tent and blinked hard against the brilliant morning sunshine.
"Reet, reet, reet!" Runt was looking upstream.
"Okay, okay, I get ya. Let's go."
The pig shot off like a bullet.
"I didn't mean that fast."
"Hey, wait up you two! Oh, hurry up Martin, they've already gone."
A hundred yards from the camp, Runt stopped short, cocked his head to one side and sniffed at the air.
"Over there?" Zack said, as he ran up. "Across the crick?"
Lilly and Martin jogged up, just as Runt let loose a tremendous squeal, jumped off the bank into the shallow water. He waded halfway across the stream to a large flat rock and scrambled on top. After seeming to study something invisible for a moment, he leapt into the air and vanished.
"No way! Not without me, pig. Not this time."
Lilly watched Zack splash across to the rock, and saw him hesitate as if trying to see the hole that Runt had disappeared into. "Don't you dare, Zack. You've no idea what you're doing."
Zack hurtled from the rock. And disappeared.
"Get back here, Zack. Zack! Zaaaack!"
"Oh man, oh man. You guys really were telling the truth." Martin's face had lost all color.
"Come on." Lilly grabbed his shirt and pulled him into the stream.
"No way I'm going anywhere near that... whatever that thing is."
"He's my brother!"
"You can't be serious. You want to disappear, too?"
"Of course not, but we've got to see where they went." Lilly climbed onto the rock. It was wet and slick. "Take my hand. I don't want to slip."
"But--"
"Just do it!"
Martin grabbed hold as Lilly leaned forward, just as Zack had. "I can't see anything, let me lean a little farther."
"There's nothing to see."
"Martin!" Lilly tugged against the boy's resistance but her feet slipped and her free arm automatically shot out for balance. A powerful force gripped her body and yanked her and Martin into the air.
* * *
- 21 -
"Runt, are you in there?" The whirling tunnel stretched off forever.
"Runt?" Carole strained to hear over the churning rumble. As she reached the threshold of the tunnel, she tried to pause and look inside, but a powerful force grabbed her and sucked her in.
The next thing she knew, she was hurtling down a gyrating tube. She screamed once before she shot out the other end and stumbled, ankle deep, into cold running water.
She straightened up and squinted into a blanket of mist. "More fog?" she muttered.
She could still hear the vortex rumbling behind her, though on this side it was pushing her away from the opening. Suddenly the air shuddered and a blinding light lit up the mist. She started forward, but as she did so a dark blob detached itself from the water and flew toward her.
"Reeeet!"
"Ummph... Runt!" Carole caught and held onto her squirming friend. "What a relief. For a minute I thought you were some nasty. I should have known better, especially since you sent me that signal."
"Rit?"
"You know. I heard you calling through the tunnel."
"Ret, reet," Runt said, shaking his head.
"But I could have sworn it was you!"
"Reet wret rreeet."
"Interesting. Just a minute ago, huh? Did you actually hear my voice or was it just a feeling?"
"Reet."
"Hmm. Maybe this is one of the ways we work together. It makes sense. You know I might actually be getting somewhere with all this transdimensional stuff."
Runt sniffed Carole's hair and shoulders. "Reet riit rit."
"In what way?"
"Reet!"
"Flowers? I smell like flowers?! Wow!" Carole sniffed her forearm. There wasn't even a hint of pig barn. "I wonder if that's because of the lake, or the Linking?"
"Reet?"
"The faeries performed a Linking ceremony with me."
"Reeet?!"
"Yes Runt, real faeries! I met a princess and some of her court. Their realm was beautiful, well mostly beautiful. It was still pretty dangerous because of The Conundrum, but they gave me some pretty neat stuff too, like this dress and a magic wand!"
"Reeet, rit?"
"No, not yet. I need to take classes next time I'm there, but you know what else? I think this tunnel must be some sort of natural bridge between here and there. It's not connected to The Hub and doesn't look anything like the one Philamount was in." Carole glanced back at the swirling entrance. "I wonder how long these things have been around? Maybe forever. Anyway we can talk about it later. Right now I'm bushed. How do we get out of here?"
Runt shrugged his shoulders.
"What about the others? Where are they?" In answer, Carole heard splashing and then Zack's voice. "Runt? Where'd you go, you pig?"
"Over here, Zack!"
"Carole, is that you? I can't see a thing."
"You're heading in the right direction, just follow the stream. Are Lil and Martin with you?"
"Sort of, only they're not doing so well."
"What do you mean? What's wrong?" Carole got to her feet as Zack materialized out of the mist. "You don't look so well, either."
"It's this fog. Soon as we landed in it, we started barfing our guts out; Lil and Martin worse than me. They've stopped now, but I told them to take it easy while I went looking for Runt."
"What do you mean landed? Landed from where?"
"We were following Runt and..."
Carole felt another shudder of air and turned to see the vortex explode in a pinwheel of color. The surrounding mist dissolved and she found herself standing in the middle of the stream, under a dazzling sun. A hundred feet away, Martin and Lilly were hanging over a large boulder as if exhausted. A hundred yards beyond them was the campsite.
* * *
- 22 -
With the disappearance of the fog, Carole's friends quickly recovered. Even so, only Runt seemed interested in breakfast. Lilly and Zack wanted to know all about the Faerie Realm. Martin, on the other hand, remained silent.
Carole was much too tired to talk about her latest adventure in great detail. She told the twins to hold onto thei
r questions while she caught up on some much needed sleep. Despite her fatigue, she couldn't manage more than a catnap.
Upon waking, she stumbled over to where they sat around a small campfire and ate a little of the food they'd saved for her. She related her adventures, and then asked how they'd found her.
"But how come I couldn't see the tunnel?" Zack grumbled. He picked up a smoking stick from the fire, and hurled it into the stream. "It's not fair."
"Who's the multitasker?" Lilly reminded him.
"Runt probably is, too," Carole said, scratching her pig. "He's definitely a homing beacon for me, and obviously he has a knack for finding the tunnels."
"He couldn't find you last night," Martin muttered.
"Probably because Carole didn't use a tunnel last night," Lilly said, as if the notion had just occurred to her. "This morning's trip sounds totally different from your other ones."
"Yeah, it was."
"It seems like you've been traveling by two entirely different methods," Lilly said. "At least two, maybe even three."
"What three?" Zack said.
Lilly scratched her nose. "Let's see, there's the fog tunnel. There's falling from one dimension into another. And there's also the time you escaped from the werewolf. You did that one completely on your own."
"Not completely. I got a kick start from Philamount that time."
"More like a kicked-out start," Martin grumped. He crossed his arms and slumped into himself.
Zack threw him an irritated look. "What's important isn't how many ways Carole can multitask, but whether we can go with her the next time and pick up some cool stuff, too."
"What's this 'we' stuff?" Lilly said, "We're not multitaskers. We don't go anywhere."
"And we don't want to!" Martin said.
"Think about it, Lil. When we followed Runt, we landed in a different dimension. We multitasked!"
"Did not. We were in the middle of the stream the whole time."
"We vanished from sight." Zack jumped up and began to walk around. "At least Runt and I did. But I bet if anybody else had been watching, they'd have seen you and Martin disappear, too. And it was foggy, and the world was whipping way out of control. We puked our guts out. If that wasn't being in another dimension then what was it?"
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