by K. M. Shea
“Thanks for saving me.”
Kohath twisted to face me and nodded before heading off.
I stepped into the cave before closing the door. I hummed a little as I made my way to my bedroom. I had just entered the kitchen when the doorbell rang. I groaned before turning around and heading back to the door. It was probably a traveling saleswizard. Those guys were getting more persistent recently.
When I reached the door I yanked it open and barked, “What?”
It was only Aaron, looking scared and bashful. “Um, I was just wondering how you were,” he whimpered.
I smiled, feeling the tension sliding off me. “Sorry Aaron, it’s been a rough day,” I said, walking outside so I could sit on the edges of the cave with him.
“Wanna talk about it?” he sweetly asked.
“No,” I said with a big sigh. “Not really.”
“Oh. Are you homesick?” he gently asked.
I blinked. My day was so busy I didn’t even have time to be homesick. “No, not at all. Although now that I think about it I do miss my brother.”
“What’s his name?”
“Caspian.”
“I take it you two were close?”
“Very much so. I always tried to get him to skip lessons with me, but Caspian was too studious and not nearly devious enough. It’s probably just as well because he’s the future king and all,” I dryly recalled.
“That must have been nice to have a relationship like that,” Aaron wondered.
“It was. We’re an odd match, but we always have fun,” I said with a smile. I felt a fiery zing of magic in the back of my head. “Azmaveth’s coming, you’ll want to scat,” I said standing up.
“How can you tell?” He asked sounding interested.
“I don’t know. It’s like a sixth sense I grew out of necessity,” I said.
Aaron sweetly smiled at me before gallantly reaching out and kissing my hand. He blushed a deep red color and fled to the woods the second he dropped my hand.
I chuckled as I wiped my hand off in the grass. (If Azmaveth smelled Aaron on me I was dead meat.)
I ran as fast as I could back into the cave and quickly filled a bucket with soapy water so I could start cleaning the sitting room floor.
Azmaveth was on me within seconds.
“Are you okay? What did the valkyrie do to you? What possessed you to travel off the path!” Azmaveth raved. “Kohath told me everything,” he added when I stared at him.
“I’m fine,” I said with a bright smile. “Kohath saved me before she could do any harm.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Azmaveth suspiciously asked.
I sincerely nodded. Overwhelmed with a sudden wave of warmth I stood up and embraced the tip of Azmaveth’s muzzle. “Thanks for worrying about me though,” I said. I kissed one of his scales before stepping away.
His scales started to gain a faint pink hue as he stared at me with wide eyes. “N-n-n. No problem,” he stammered.
“Why Azmaveth, are you blushing?” I teased.
“I am doing no such thing!” Azmaveth protested, turning even pinker.
“Why yes, yes you are!” I said with a grin, enjoying one of the few chances I got to taunt him.
“And why would I?” he jeered. “It’s not like I, a mighty dragon, care for you, a lowly, not to mention puny, human being!” he joked, adopting his “Zerah Face”, which he used whenever mocking the haughty dragon.
“We’ll see about that!” I challenged between gusts of laughter. In spite of what Azmaveth claimed about not caring about me, he stuck to my side for the rest of the day. He followed me everywhere, it was very cute and enduring, although that one time he tried poking his eye in my bathroom I nearly killed him.
For the rest of the evening we reclined, enjoying each other’s company. I rested well that night, knowing I was truly cherished.
Chapter 10Keeper Clichés
When I woke up the following morning I frowned. There was something on the tip of my mind that was dying to be told. “Ah!” I shouted as I recalled it before striking myself on the head. “How witless can I be?” I muttered as I rushed out of my room and zoomed to Azmaveth’s room, barefoot and in my nightgown.
I threw open the door and Azmaveth snapped to attention. “I swear I wasn’t sucking on my claws,” he blearily announced as he craned his neck in my direction.
“It’s just me Azmaveth,” I said as I crawled up onto his hay bed and tugged on one of his scales.
“Mm. Ahira. What’s the problem?” he asked as he yawned, his white teeth sparkling in the morning light.
“Yesterday Kohath told me that you dragons couldn’t find the Keeper, right?” I asked.
“Right,” Azmaveth slowly said, clearly still trying to wake up.
“Well a few days ago I went into the forest around our den and there I met a unicorn who claimed to be the Keeper.”
Azmaveth was instantly wide-awake. “Really?” he asked. “Are you sure?”
“Positive,” I answered as Azmaveth got up and started circling his room. “He seemed pretty vain,” I added. Azmaveth didn’t hear me.
“Thank you Ahira. I’m going to go search for him now. I’ll be back for dinner. When Kohath comes tell him to wait for me in my lab,” he said before exiting his room.
I stumbled after him, but by the time I got to the hallway he was gone. I sighed and made breakfast, got changed, and started scrubbing the tunnel floors again. (It was an endless task.) I took a break at noon and went outside to catch a breath of fresh air when I saw Kohath amble down the road.
“Good afternoon,” he said as he raised his hand in greeting.
“Hello,” I smiled. “What are you doing here?” I asked as a couple of dragons flew overhead, combing the woods for the Keeper I presumed.
“I’m supposed to go look something up in the library and wait for Azmaveth in the lab. He won’t be back for some time, however, so I can talk to you for a while,” he said with a charming grin that told me I should thank my lucky stars that he was bestowing his time upon me.
“I feel honored, really. Have they found the Keeper yet?” I asked.
“Nope. Not yet. He’s a difficult unicorn to find,” Kohath admitted.
“Is it possible that the unicorn I met lied when he said he was the Keeper?” I asked.
Kohath frowned. “It could happen. Usually unicorns wouldn’t do that though because it could enrage the Keeper. They may be dim, but they’re not totally without brains.”
“What does the Keeper look like?”
“He’s not very impressive,” Kohath bluntly stated.
“The unicorn who told me he was the Keeper was quite gorgeous,” I said, feeling dumb that I had sent Azmaveth and the other dragons chasing after a liar.
Kohath shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter. They were going to comb this part of the forest anyway because this is the only place that hasn’t gone bad,” he glanced toward the woods with a wry look.
I smiled “I have to go make some tea. You can go in though,” I said as I walked into the cave. To my surprise Kohath decided to follow me to the kitchen and watched me make the tea. We actually ended up having a civil conversation… until the doorbell rang.
I sighed and scowled at the direction of the door as I swatted Kohath’s hand away from the cookies I just made. “Probably a traveling saleswizard,” I grumbled as I left Kohath and stomped down the tunnel. My biting welcome mat had stopped working several days ago when the saleswizards figured out that all they had to do was step around the mat instead of on it to avoid being bitten.
I opened the door only a tiny crack, just large enough for me to fit my eye through. To my surprise Cinder’s large and ugly face filled the tiny space. I swung the door open and stepped into the doorframe.
“Cinders?” I asked.
“Quiet! You must come with me,” she hissed, her eyes darting every which way.
“What are you doing?” I inquired.
“S
HH! I finally managed to escape from the giant blue dragon,” she whispered.
“You mean Behemoth?” I said, still speaking in a normal volume.
“He has a name?” Cinders asked, sounding surprised.
I rolled my eyes and slammed my head against the doorframe in exasperation. “What did you want, Cinders?”
“You’re coming with me! We will escape together!” she declared.
“I don’t feel like leaving,” I said in a bored tone.
“I have it all planned,” she said, ignoring me. “We’ll weave through the forest, being careful for the dragons of course. You see all these dragons? They’re searching for me, but I have cleverly avoided them!” she beamed.
“Yes, I’m sure you have,” I assured her.
“So you see we have to go so we can escape!” she told me.
“What’s going on?” Kohath asked, appearing behind me. I guess he got sick of waiting for me and came to investigate what was holding me up.
“Nothing,” I dryly said as Kohath crowded me from behind. “Cinders is running away and she’s taking me with her,” I said as I kicked backwards, nailing him in the shins.
I cocked my head while observing Cinders with idle curiosity. Her mouth hung open as she stared at Kohath, who was cursing in pain. She blinked her beady eyes, and was speechless for a change of pace. Obviously someone was smitten.
I grinned and nudged Kohath. “You have an admirer,” I announced with a sassy grin when he properly recovered.
Kohath grimaced. “I see, that is how a female looks when she finds someone attractive? It’s terrifying,” he said as he tried to hide behind me. Thanks to his height it didn’t work so well.
“Who is he?” Cinders loudly whispered to me, as if Kohath couldn’t hear her.
“Don’t tell her!” Kohath begged.
“Who is who?” I asked, trying to play dumb.
“Him!” she said pointing to Kohath’s dark purple hair.
Kohath squeaked and I figured I might as well tell her. Maybe then I could get rid of her easier. “Kohath. He’s the steward for my dragon, Azmaveth,” I supplied as she drooled.
Kohath pinched my back. I winced in pain and retaliated by stepping on his foot.
“He’s so handsome!” Cinder’s dreamily said.
“Um, sure,” I replied.
Cinders started to walk away from my cave, thankfully, muttering to herself. “Perhaps, living here is not so bad, if it means I can see him!” she said, turning around to gaze at Kohath, who was peeking out from behind me.
I waved to her as she disappeared down the road. “That was amusing.”
“No, it wasn’t. It was disgusting,” Kohath scowled.
“No, it was hilarious!” I grinned as I shut the door and fluttered my eyelashes. “Just think of it this way Kohath, you’re finally getting the attention you deserve!”
Kohath objected with a squawk. “I’ve never sought to attention of that, that, that princess,” he complained as he followed me down the hallway.
“I think you deserve it,” I shrugged before we went our separate ways, Kohath to the lab and I to the kitchen. To my surprise Azmaveth lumbered down the hallway minutes later.
“Azmaveth, how is the search going?” I asked, poking my head out of the kitchen as I saw him walk past. He paused and sat back on his haunches.
“Okay. We found a white unicorn who claimed that he was the Keeper, he was probably the one that you met,” Azmaveth shrugged.
I nodded. “Kohath and I thought he lied too.”
“We did conclude that the Keeper has to be in this section of the Endless Forest. We need to keep an eye out for him.”
“Okay. Kohath is waiting for you in the lab,” I shouted as I disappeared back into the kitchen.
“Thank you,” Azmaveth bellowed back before walking away.
He and Kohath stayed up late that night. Actually, I never heard Kohath leave.
It was about a week later before anything interesting happened again. It was the middle of the day and Azmaveth had sent me out to get some herbs for a potion for him.
I was walking around in the forest, thinking it was pretty odd that Tuggles hadn’t appeared by my side yet. Usually the second I entered the forest Tuggles was with me.
I reached the meadow and picked the herbs, setting them in my wicker basket. I rose to leave when I heard a loud, angry voice. Still not learning my lesson from Trila, the miniskirt spy, I decided to investigate.
As I neared the voice I was able to tell that it was a very angry Kohath. I scowled when I found him. He was kneeling on the ground, holding on to Tuggles by the tiny unicorn’s mane while bellowing in his face. “What do you think your doing over here?” Kohath yelled, unaware of my presence. “Do you have any idea about how much trouble you’ve caused?”
“Excuse me,” I said, my eyes narrowed into slits. Kohath’s head snapped up.
“What?” he growled.
“Why are you yelling at Tuggles?” I said, patting the side of my leg to call the small unicorn. Tuggles responded by struggling out of Kohath’s hands and trotting over to me on his short, stubby legs. He huffed and snorted as he rubbed against me. I bent over and cuddled the tiny unicorn.
“Tuggles?” Kohath asked, his eyes raging with irritation as he watched us. “Tuggles,” I firmly replied.
“That unicorn which you have named ‘Tuggles’ is the root of our problem. He is the Keeper who has been irresponsible and absent from his duties, causing mass chaos in the Endless Forest,” he spat as Tuggles snorted at him.
I cupped Tuggles gray velveteen muzzle in one hand. “Is this true?” I asked. Tuggles snorted and avoided my gaze before stomping a glossy hoof. “Why would he do that to begin with? I asked as Tuggles rubbed his small head against my arm.
Kohath stood and stalked over to the spot were I was sitting. “Perhaps it was because of you.”
“Me?”
“Yes, I’ve never seen the Keeper so… affectionate before,” he said as he knelt beside me. “Usually he deviously plots and makes a great pest of himself. How he can handle that in his tiny form even I can only guess.”
Tuggles scowled at him and pushed against my side. “Exactly what does he do?” I asked as I pet one of his smooth ears.
“He’s the most powerful animal in all of the Endless Forest. He knows everything that happens in the forest and protects it from any enemy, like the valkyrie,” Kohath said. “That’s probably why no animal has hurt you. Since he obviously favors you, you are safe wherever you go. In the forest at least,” Kohath amended, cooling down as he watched Tuggles sniff the air.
“So that’s why the griffon didn’t mind me taking his feathers,” I said, thinking back to the giant night griffon.
“You already knew him then?”
“Yes, I met him that day. What will happen to him?”
“He won’t get in trouble if that’s what you’re worried about. It’s impossible for him to get into trouble. He rivals the most powerful dragons in strength and magic,” Kohath said as he plucked a piece of grass out of the ground.
I stared at Tuggles who snorted, sending his fluffy forelock flying so you could actually see his bulging eyes. “You’re joking.”
Kohath shrugged. “No. He may not look like much, but remember Azmaveth’s rule of beauty. It’s often a companion to stupidity,” he quoted, he sounded very much like Azmaveth himself. “But right now he is cursed.”
“But what will they do with him?” I repeated.
Kohath sighed. “They’ll probably just make him do his job. With any luck they’ll allow him to come visit you,” he added as he eyed up the unicorn who was practically crawling on my lap. “I don’t think they’ll have much of a choice, unless they want this to happen again.”
“As long as I’m able to see him again I don’t mind,” I said as the small unicorn fell asleep, his head on my lap.
“Rest assured, you will. You’d never be able to get rid of him that easil
y!” Kohath snorted as he watched the small unicorn.
I ruefully sighed. “You should probably take him to the council then. I don’t want the forest to get any worse, and to tell you the truth this part of the forest has become so sugar coated its almost stuffy,” I said as I gently pushed Tuggles off my lap. The three of us stood up and started walking down a new path.
As we walked something glimmered through the forest. “What’s that?” I asked, pointing in the glimmer’s direction. Tuggles rolled his eyes, and Kohath joined him.
“That’s the Hanzel and Gretel’s house. Actually, when I think about it, it’s not really theirs.” He corrected.
“Can we go look?” I asked.
“Sure,” he said. I jogged ahead to find a small cottage that was made entirely out of sugar. The walls were made of golden baked ginger bread, and the roof shingles were plate sized gumdrops. The shutters for the windows were made of solid chocolate, and the chimney was constructed with sugar blocks and syrup. Lemon drops formed a sidewalk, and delicious peppermint flowers sprouted out of green, frosting grass. Every candy you can imagine was used to decorate the house and the yard. My teeth throbbed as I stared at this sugar overload waiting to happen.
Two angelic, golden haired children peered through a window. One was a boy, Hanzel I assumed, and the other was a girl, Gretel. They were watching an old woman/hag who was sitting on the front porch, scowling at the yard. She was wearing gray clothes, had a large crocked nose, and her back was frightfully curved.
“What happened?” I asked.
Kohath pointed to the children.
The two kids, who had appeared to be angels mere moments before, grinned like evil spirits as they watched the old woman.
“Let me in you brats!” she yelled, pounding her fist on the cookie door. “I feed you and clothe you, and then you lock me out of my own house!” she bellowed.
“Excuse me, what’s going on?” I asked the old woman, who frowned.
“What’s going on?” she repeated. “Look here missy. I own this here candy cottage. Me! And when I find two poor, little children who ran away from home I take them in out of the kindness of my heart. Hanzel and Gretel they say their names are,” she said as more gold haired children joined the original two at the window. “But one pair isn’t enough! NOOOO. Instead they keep coming, and coming, and they all say that their names are Hanzel and Gretel. It’s a popular name for these times I’ve heard, but this is ridiculous! I’ve got ten kids in there! Count em, TEN! The oldest two are 13 and the youngest are four. Between all of the little monsters there’s only TWO names!” she growled as she shook her cane at the bratty children.
