“Mmmouch!”
“Just stick a sock in it, sasquatch. D’ya want him to tie that shoe to you?”
“Mmmo.”
“So keep it down. Lay low.”
Vallon and Layly chimed in too.
“Cuz no way Judge Hurx buys the explanation…”
“That you lost your shoe on a rescue mission…”
“An expedition to save our friend.”
By now Slymie’s toes were good and swollen. And as it turned out, not a moment too soon.
Ho-man reached up. “Nope. Won’t fit.” He took a second shot. “I quit.” Then somehow the hapless shoe flew off and fell to the floor where baby ate it.
The four breathed a brief sigh of relief. Fyryx was red-eyed and fit to be tied. “And here’s where I stop being Mr. Nice Guy. Truth or dare time. Do or die…”
Slymie half-listened and mugged at Treygyn. Goo heeled the big lug’s dogs again.
“Ugh!”
Fyryx was bugged. The judge started barking.
“Speak. Cough up your information. Or I’ll fetch my stick for some friendly persuasion.
“I need motivation. A destination. Where was this lone wolf headed and why? Who better than you curs to know his M.O. A pack of his own. Slumdogs — throw me a bone!”
They muttered amongst themselves a moment then sat down like sleeping dogs and lied.
Well, more or less. At least they tried.
“Not late last night sir…”
“When we weren’t searching…”
“Nowhere in town for our lost friend…”
“We didn’t find him by the roadside…”
“Unheaded down to the common field.”
They nodded and smiled. The judge looked puzzled. The four shook their noggins. He squinted and frowned.
“And then did we mention that he was stick-free?”
“Er, when we didn’t see him, we mean…”
“Uh, right — no pole, pike, or the like…”
“Or snack sack you’d tie to it…”
“For a journey.”
Fyryx couldn’t help but notice Exhibit A not far away. The cane was still stuck in the ground by Treygyn. The magistrate seemed to be catching on.
“When all wasn’t said and not done, your honor, Treygyn Yin didn’t tell us a thing…”
“Truly…”
“Including the following:”
This morning my plan was to land by the Westie Woods, the neck of it in the Keep. To live as a hermit and keep to myself. Give up the treasures and loves of life.
But then the strangers came and I got thinking — what if I just kept walking? West to the coast, to the sea, to infinity and beyond. To kingdom come. Their home. The empire of the sun.
Anyway, there’s nothing here for me anymore. No one, no Xoxo, I’m living to die for. Soon you’ll all forget my name. She won’t even know I’m missing…
“Cease!” fired Fyryx. “This trial is done. I finally have my smoking shogun.”
He paused then unloaded a fusillade.
“I find guilt in every witness. Shame the name you’ve earned your clans. Our race branded with disgrace. A blight upon this hallowed land.
“And then again — it’s something stranger that’s the clear and present danger. The alien germ of this fresh leaver fever…”
Everyone turned to the foreign young man, the handsome soldier of misfortune.
Ho-man couldn’t help but wince. The scarlet leader read his sentence.
“It’s time that the punishment fit the crime. Ready the room for a dual execution!”
The clerk inked his edict. And so it was law.
Treygyn looked seasick.
His folks wailed, “Our son!”
Xo cried them an ocean.
Their friends hit the ground.
De-turtled.
Un-terrapinned.
Dis-tortoised.
Hard.
And speaking of hard, the council Guard took up their weapons and looked for trouble. Syar-ull picked up a butter knife left from breakfast and brandished it like a sword.
A lackey in thick, furry armor stepped forward and raised a ram’s horn to his lips. He blew it. Its low music made the earth quake.
The billowing walls of the tent came down.
The mockatoo squawked in John Cap’s direction. “Awk! It looks like curtains for you!”
“Thanks a lot, Freebird. I got the gist. I have a really bad feeling about this…”
Fyryx surveyed the change of scene. He measured the sun. The horizon.
“Showtime.”
###
To be continued… Look out for the next exciting episode of Lore of the Underlings!
About the Author
John Klobucher is the author of many technical manuals that you’d never want to read. But he is also to blame for Lore of the Underlings, this ill-advised epic adventure that’s available to you in tasty little episodes, with new ones coming — farm-fresh, organic, and cruelty-free — every now and again. (For more behind-the-scenes news and nonsense, hie thee to this bloggery: loreoftheunderlings.com).
John has also been known to paint a little, including the watercolors used in the cover art for Lore of the Underlings.
John lives in Framingham, Massachusetts, USA with his wife Diane, son Sam, and daughter Mia.
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Other ebook titles by John Klobucher:
Lore of the Underlings: Episodes 1 & 2 ~ A Door to the Lore
Lore of the Underlings: Episode 3 ~ Fyryx
Lore of the Underlings: Episode 4 ~ The Letting Pen
Lore of the Underlings: Episode 5 ~ Into the Pit
Lore of the Underlings: Episode 6 ~ Meeting Minyon
Lore of the Underlings: Episode 7 ~ Ho-man Holds Court
Print titles by John Klobucher:
The Lore Anthology
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Visit John Klobucher’s author page at Smashwords.com
Lore of the Underlings: Episode 8 ~ The Trial Page 5
