Flash Fiction #679 --Mimic (Drabble)

 

Hetin would never be open to human settlement. The three-foot-tall green-striped and big-eyed natives proved to be master mimics. Once they saw something done, they remembered it forever, and they passed it on to the others.

The first science team inadvertently taught them to speak Common.  The second group taught them science. They thought it would take decades. It didn't.

The third science team lost their scout ship to the natives, and with it went the captain's extensive collection of pirate-related entertainment. 

I hope they get to the part about ransoming prisoners soon. I hope someone still wants us back.

Flash Fiction #678-- Forgotten/12

 

Rock troll paths were easy to spot. Rocks of all sizes were scattered left and right and formed into walls along the side of the trail, which itself was unnaturally flat and easy to traverse.

A shame it was such an obvious trap.

They hiked along the outside of the right-hand wall. Cita thought longingly about the smooth path just a few feet away. She was almost on the verge of a protest when they heard a battle nearby. No matter what fought, the sound of blade against blade, and the startled grunts of the wounded all sounded the same.

Lady Kerinis signaled them away from the wall, but they only went a few yards.  No one could hear them, and Cita saw no sign of anyone watching from the wall.

"We could wait it out," Urdo suggested.  "I am not sure which side we would want to choose.  The rock trolls are fighting gargoyles."

"I suppose they are both fighting to get the dragon eggs," Cita suggested.  "That would make it easier to decide which group to fight."

"The eggs are close," Tenon warned.  "That is why they fight so fiercely. I suggest we go to protect the eggs and fight anyone who tries to get to them."

Cita thought that was as good a plan as they were going to get under the circumstances.  She cast one glance at the sky and hoped to see Farlyn and Atora -- and maybe a few more dragons.

With nothing to take her interest, she followed Urdo over the troll-made wall.

They soon found dead  - gargoyles, rock trolls, and even a couple of ogres. There was no way to tell who might be winning.  Nor did Cita see any way to figure out who was on which side. They would soon learn, though.  The roar of the rock trolls and the screeching of the gargoyles grew louder.

Fortunately, they didn't have a plan to discuss.

The rock troll path came to a sudden end at the top of a hill. The precipitous descent on the other side was scattered with boulders and bodies. In a clearing a few yards ahead of them, Cita could see the mass of the fighting. She could also see the Dragon nests, a series of hollows lined with pretty rocks into which rested a huge, multi-colored egg. She counted at least a dozen of them. One had cracked and fallen apart, but there was no sign of the baby Dragon. She saw a gargoyle fly over a nest and drop a large rock toward it. The rock barely missed, and by that time, Cita was already on the run to protect the egg. She thought her companions had much the same idea. They scattered among the nests and began fighting back the gargoyles and ogres. The rock trolls turned out to be allies. They even seemed grateful for the help.

They would still need help soon. She couldn't see where the gargoyles came from, but they seemed to have a never-ending supply of troops. 

Tennon and his mother did the most work, and Cita would have thought they had worked together forever. They cleared the sky more than once, but Tennon didn't have the strength to go on for long.
Cita and Urdo had their hands full protecting three eggs. They had taken more than a few bruises, and it bothered her that one of the eggs had cracked despite all their work. That made her angry, and anger gave her a little more strength, but none of them would hold up for much longer. She could only hope that their Dragon ally would soon come back with help.

Then the griffins arrived.

 Cita held one moment of hope -- but the new creatures formed up in lines with the gargoyles, circled once --

Cita threw herself over the hatching egg. It wouldn't help, but there was nothing better she could do. A screeching gargoyle landed beside her.

No, actually, it fell.  Twitched once and died.

Others were falling from the sky.

"They lined them up for the slaughter," Urdo said.  "Excellent work. Remind me not to trust griffins."

Something moved within the egg.

"I have a problem here! Dragon hatching!" 

Farlyn and Atora reached her first. Cita scrambled out of the way and chanced to see a swarm of dragons heading in the direction from which the gargoyles came. They didn't see the final battle, but heard later that some creature had been directing them and disappeared in a flash of magic.

Dragons considered anything not a dragon to be a creature and needed no other designation. It could have been a human mage, a fae,  a pixie, or an overly annoying cat.  

For the rest of the year, the group remained with the dragons and enjoyed time with a dozen young hatchlings. Atora eventually acceptedd a position as teacher for the clan.  It suited her.

Tennon and his mother went to find the fool who had tole him he was forgotten.  Cita stayed clear of that one.

But what to do? Go back to the other reality and hunt for lost cities? Never meet a dragon again? It turned out even fae and dragons have myths about lost treasures.  Cita and Urdo had lots of work.

The End

Flash Fiction #677 -- Forgotten/11

 

Gargoyles began swirling through the sky, and it was difficult to tell which way they would come at the group. Cita drew her weapon, which was just a reflex to danger. There might be hundreds of the gargoyles above them, and it wouldn't be long before they began picking up the humans and their companions.

Farlyn had a different idea. If he shared it with Tennon, the rest of them didn't know it. All Cita saw was the Dragon scrambling up rocks and then throwing himself over the edge of a cliff. She let out an involuntary cry of surprise and shock just as the Dragon caught the updraft of a breeze and used it to propel himself toward the attackers. He soon spiraled his way into the mass, sending gargoyles tumbling through the air and either far down the cliff or onto the trail near the group.

I finally gave Cita something to fight, and Urdo quickly joined her. She wanted to see what the others were doing, but gargoyles kept tumbling in around her, and some of them were not nearly as stunned as she would hope.

If Cita had been fighting at the side of just humans, they never would have survived, let alone won the battle. She never saw quite what Lady Kerinis did, but there were times when the sky lit in a bright yellow light and dozens of gargoyles tumbled lifelessly to the ground. All that she'd heard in the past said that the Fae were dangerous enemies and fierce warriors. Cita wondered, given her background, if she shouldn't update some of those tales because they were far too mild. Even quiet Tennon had let go of some of his inhibitions and attacked anything that came near them with a fierceness she had not expected.

Cita had also not expected to win. Only a handful of gargoyles survived to circle high in the air and then disappear into the shadows. Most of the creatures had been destroyed by magic, but the three humans had done their part as well. Now, with the immediate danger past, Cita felt as if all energy had abandoned her. She staggered back against the boulders only to find that she had wounded her shoulder, and her arm certainly didn't want to work.
Cita had not expected Tennon to join her, sitting on the ground. The battle was all but won, and no one needed their help. Cita thought the fae lady enjoyed the challenge.

"Why did I think I was forgotten?" Tennon asked as if Cita knew how such things worked.

Maybe she did. Spite with something they all understood.

"You believed it because someone wanted you to believe it. Someone was jealous of your status as the Fae and a Godling."

Two dead gargoyles tumbled past them, but Tennon never noticed.  "How is this so obvious to you, who hardly knows me?"

"I have an outside view. I can guess at the wider picture.  I might not be right.  Be open to other answers."

He nodded, but she suspected he thought he had the answer already. Pieces of the puzzle had begun to fall into place, and they were not pieces of myth, either.  They could all understand jealousy, especially of someone who remained so polite.

Despite the bad timing, Cita decided to press on with her questions.  She was only stopped because Urdo and Atora scrambled down to where they were sitting.

"No, no.  Don't get up. We took care of the problem.  You two just rest," Urdo said as he leaned against the cliffside.

Atora shook her head and went to work on tending wounds. Cita was glad to see nothing more than Farlyn in the air. Nothing would take them by surprise.

Lady Kerinis had scouted ahead on the trail. She came back looking worried.  "There is a new trail up ahead of us.  Rock troll built and leading into the wilderness.  This is Dragonland,lderness.  This is dragonland and I fear to know what they may have found and are trying to guard for themselves."

"Nesting grounds," Tennon said with a worried look at Farlyn.  "Do the dragons know?"

"Farlyn wouldn't be here if they did," Atora answered.

"And now I do know."

Cita looked up. Farlyn made remarkably little noise for something so large. He also floated well.

"My friend," Tennon said as he started to stand.

"No. Atora and I will go to find the other dragons.  You stay with these fine people.  There are Dragons involved, Tennon.  You are the only one with a chance of helping the dragons understand that they are not enemies.  And you dare not go on without them; don't even think it.  This is a dangerous magical problem.  Neither of us could name the enemy."

"Why Atora?" Cita asked.

"The same as before. She has a naturally calm disposition.  Now go.  Find the nesting grounds and save the eggs.  We will join you soon."

Atora calmly grabbed a wing and pulled herself up to the neck.  They flew away.

Tennon stood.  He looked unsteady.

"I guess we have our orders. Let's find the troll trail and hope for the best."

Cita didn't want to consider what might be the worst.

Flash Fiction #676 -- Forgotten/10

 

What they did was walk.  It was a long way to the mountains -- but they had a shortcut.

"Fae anchors,"Tennon explained. "Lady Kerinis -- my mother -- locks onto the next link and pulls us there. That is why the scenery changes and how we can hope to not draw attention. Otherwise, we would be most of the year just to get to the base of the mountains."

"And what will find there?" Sita asked.

Tennon started to say something, and from the frown on his face, she wasn't going to like what he said.

"Sita --"

"If you are about to tell me that the rest of us should stay behind, be aware that if I hear that one more time I am going to start thinking we don't need to take you along on the rest of this adventure."

Tennon looked startled. His mother gave an amused laugh and stepped back beside them. "This is where you learn you cannot do everything alone, my son. I have to admit, it is a lesson a long time coming."

"I work with others!" he protested. "Farlyn --"

"And even  with him, you managed to get him posted far from you."

"That worked best for both of us," he answered.  "At least until now."

"It may be that it was a good choice even now," she answered. "The two of you not being caught together may be our best hope. Let us see what happens."

Then with a slight nod, they moved on again. This time Sita could tell they were much closer to the mountains. 

"Matters will get far more dangerous in the mountains," the lady said. "We must go to the highest spot to find the Dragon nests. What we find there will affect everything we do afterward."

Cita noted that she did not sound as if she expected to find anything good. That attitude was noted by everyone and even Faarlyn glanced her way with growing despair. Tennon just marched onward as though he would take the next leap without them. All of their conflicting emotions seem to be caught by the wind dancing around them. Cita wondered if that might not be literally true. She traveled with fae, godlings, and dragons on this strange journey. Who knew what magic did with their emotions?

That thought turned her to her own emotional outburst. She could feel a surge of anger beneath all the other emotions and expectations. She. All that beneath the feeling of relief that the travel was going so well. Almost immediately, Cita could pick out some of the worst emotions from others.

"Urdo, please calm your temper," she suggested. When he turned her glare in her direction, she shook her head and kept her place."fae, my friend. Our emotions are getting out of hand because of the magic. We need calm. All of us need calm."

Lady Kerines turned to her with a slight look of confusion. "You seem to know a lot about Fae. Is that more common in humans these days? They never seemed much interested in the Fae back when I still spend time among them. They certainly never try to understand us."

Cita could see that everyone wanted a break before they tackled the mountains. She wasn't certain why she was anxious to get going and find out what happened to the dragons. It could not have been anything good, not with this ongoing mess that they dropped into. On the other hand, the lady had a point about humans understanding Fae. Besides, it might help that they understood each other little better.

"My reality is a long ways from this one and even farther from the one where my team and I joined up with Tennon.  When I was in my teens, I accidentally stepped through what I later found out was a male between two realities or realms as they're known here. If I had stepped right back out, I would've still been home. However..."

"Home was boring," Tennon finished for her.

"Exactly. Once I was over the line, I realized I'd never been made for middle-class family the most exciting event was settling down to watch our favorite movie together. Yes, I do miss that sometimes. Just the same, I am living the life of those movies rather than just watching them and I long ago decided I couldn't give that up. I walked away from the veil and I never went back. However, I didn't exactly fit in either. As soon as I got my head in order, I started doing my best to learn about the people around me."  
"And you done well from all I can tell," Lady Kerinis replied. She seemed to take the story well unlike Cita's two startled companions "what about you, my son? What reason did you have to leave home?"

Tennon made a slow turn to face his mother. His face had slightly paled in his eyes grown large as though he looked at something he didn't understand that all. The expression unsettled lady as well she started to stand but he waved her back down.

"I left because I had no choice. I was Forgotten."

"Never!" Lady Kerinis leapt to her feet and lightening flashed out of the clear sky. "How could you think such a thing?"

"Yona took me aside an told me," Tennon said. 

"Yona!  that sniveling little coward -- I'll make him wish he was Forgotten."

"Something we can discuss later," Tennon replied.  He looked upward.   "I fear I may have been wrong about the gargoyles."

They were launching themselves off the mountain and heading down toward the group. There were so many that Cita couldn't begin to count them. She wanted answers and this was just another delay along the road. She wasn't the only one who looked more annoyed than worried. 

Flash Fiction #675 -- Forgotten/9

 

Cita had questions.  By this point, she had so many questions that she had begun dividing them up into groups along with secondary lists.  She said nothing as they followed the fae an her army.  At least the trolls had quickly turned away and fled. When Urdo moved to walk with her, she almost suggested they head off into the wilderness with the trolls.

Then she caught site of the dragon as he gave Tennon, who was still unconscious, a worried look. She went back to mentally arranging her questions. Urdo said nothing and Atora walked beside her new friend, the dragon.

She didn't have enough questions to ask.

"I am sorry I couldn't stop to tell you what was going on when I left," Atora admitted and looked nervous. "Tennon said I was the best to go since I was the least upset. I suppose he was right. I was worried but I figured we'd handle it like everything else."

"You did the right thing. The rock trolls were not going to listen to reason until you and the Dragon arrived."

"I thought I should be scared about riding a Dragon, but by the time we got to that point I think I was just too emotionally exhausted to care. Besides, Farlyn was anxious to get back to his friend. I think he was worried enough for both of us."

"They make legends out of things like you did," Urdo added.

That won an appalled look from their companion and a laugh from Cita.

"By the time we're done, we might all be legends. I don't think that will really help with our work."

She doubted the others understood what she meant. Cita had never searched out the greater quests, happy to do searches for lost cities and ancient relics.  Temple leaders loved them, but could rarely pay well.   Her team had a reputation for solid work, though.

Would people expect legendary work now? 

Cita tried not to think about such a future.  She reminded herself that she didn't have a clue about how to get back home.  Cita had to trust Tennon to get them back where they belonged.  At least he was on his feet again.

Urdo was mumbling something.  It didn't sound like curses this time. He looked around with growing distrust.

Cita felt much the same way, and that wasn't helped when things began to change. In one step she went from scrubby grasslands to pine forest. Glancing back showed only forest.  The dragon soared over them, apparently oblivious to the changes. Or maybe he made them. Anything seemed possible.

Real and unreal no longer mattered.

Nothing mattered.

Cita slowed and stopped.  She noted that Tennon had moved to stand beside her as he waved the others to join them. Cita started to protest, but Tennon sat on the ground and signaled her to do the same.  Even the dragon found a place to land and joined them.


Tennon didn't waste time. Cita appreciated that about him, though she wondered what they were about to get into for him to be worried enough to stop them on the trail. The Dragon flopped down behind him, unsettling a layer of dust and bugs.

"Farlyn has told me some bothersome news," he admitted. "My friend can find no other dragons in this realm, although there should be hundreds of them."

"I thought they were just ignoring us," Tennon's mother answered with a look of embarrassment on her face. "Farlyn --"

"Gone," the Dragon whispered with such sorrow that everyone felt it. "They are not here. I must learn what happened to them."

"I am again offering to get three of you home," Tennon said.  "No, listen to me first. This is something far beyond the quest on which we started. I knew what we were looking for when we started. It's one thing to go looking for a fairly tame Dragon, and quite another to go hunting for the entire Dragon clan. There's no telling where they went and if they went at the urging of some enemy. Anything that could force dragons out of their lands has got to be very dangerous."

"Could they have retreated to another place?" Cita asked.

"Those mountains are our homeland," Farlyn said with a nod toward a distant line of darkness. "It is not a place we would journey away from and abandon everything we've become. Something dangerous has happened. I must search out the answer to why I can't find them. If they left on their own, the reason could be dangerous. If something forced them away, it is even worse. "

"Be wise and go your own way," Tennon said, but he looked at his mother this time.

"You need me," she said.  "You need all of us, but especially me."

"All of us," Cita said. She finally had a question to ask. "What do we do?"