Flash Fiction #667 -- Forgotten/1

 

"There is a problem ahead," the boy said as he looked back, startling his three companions.

It wasn't what he said that startled them. There had been trouble ahead for the entire month-long journey.  It was that their companion spoke at all that unsettled the three. He'd said nothing when he joined them at the edge of the village until now.

Not an auspicious start to their first conversation, Cita thought. She was the leader of the expedition, but she had never gotten used to being in command.

"Priest," she addressed him because that was what they'd decided he must be, despite his young age. She shaped her words carefully. It was best not to anger the servant of some god. Then she looked back at him and threw caution to the wind. "Boy, is there anything helpful you can tell us?"

He met her look, grave as ever.  "Never take in a priest without knowing what they're after."

Silence filled the area, except for the rush of the river they had followed far into the unknown mountains. Urdo and Atora were doing their best imitations of being nothing at all.  There would be no help there.    

Cita glimpsed humor in the priest's eyes.  "You have been waiting to say that for a long time, haven't you?" she asked.

"You have no idea how long." He pushed back his hood, showing his long, braided hair for the first time.  "Sit down.  Now that we are this close, we need to talk."

"Since it is too late to go back?" Urdo demanded, dour as ever.

The priest looked around.  "I see no one stopping you."

Urdo frowned but settled on some grass, resting on his elbow as he stretched out.  He even looked intrigued.  So did Artura as she sat on a log by Cita.

"I am Tennon," the boy said as he sat cross-legged in the grass near Urdo.  "I am a Guide of Orantis -- which means I lead the worthy through the dangers on the last part of the journey."

"Orantis is a very old god," Urdo complained.

"They all are," Atora countered.

"Worthy?" Cita asked, hoping to cut their conversation short.  "We aren't members of your temple or followers of your god, or any of the Old Ones."

"Worthy," he repeated, and seemed to look for the right words.  "That is a state of mind. You have come this far without arguments or talk of glory and a dragon horde to plunder.  Rather, you look for forgotten stories to go with your legends.  None of you is looking for riches: you want to find truths."

"I am hoping for both," Urdo admitted and won a grin from Tennon.  "But say you are right about why we are here.  What is your place in this group?"

"Guide," he repeated as he stood.  "And guardian."

"A Guardian against what?" Cita asked.

"Other legends." He lifted his hand and traced a glowing symbol in the air. Somewhere in the woods nearby, a creature howled and hissed.  The other three were instantly on their feet.  "Yes, time to go.  This way."

The symbol moved, lighting their path with a silvery glow.  Large things moved around them, but nothing came into the light.  Cita wondered if they were now over the line and couldn't go home.  Urdo wasn't the only one who kept looking back.

Tennon led the way. He somehow had taken over the group in those few words he had spoken. Cita thought to complain, but that idea passed quickly.  Tennon at least seemed to know where to go -- and he had magic.

Magic.  No one had seen such powers in this part of the world for a few generations. Then this boy brings it back with a simple wave of his hand, and acts as though this is normal. Cita forced herself to look away from the magic symbol and at Tennon instead.

"Why are you a guide and guardian?" she asked.

He glanced at her and away.  "No one asked that.  It was my assigned duty, and an important one in the days when the pilgrims still came."

A long time ago, she thought.

"The gods fought a long war. They forgot us. I am not the only one."

(continued)

Flash Fiction #666 -- Hel To Pay

 Toby, the farm dog, called the goats to him. They complained about leaving their feed, but Toby didn't care. This would be over quickly. He made certain Helen, the barn cat, handled the sheep nearby. Many farm animals respected the fiery little cat and her many sharp claws.

"I am going to be gone for a few days. You will behave." They made sounds of protest. Nearby, the sheep bleated in distress as the cat yowled. "If not … There will be Hel to pay."

They looked at the cat and went quietly to their food. There would be no trouble.

Flash Fiction #665 -- Chicken!

 

"What are you staring at, Tommy Cat?" Patches pushed her way to the hole in the fence, displacing her large and lazy cousin. "Chickens. Boring."

"Baby chicken," Tommy corrected. "It wouldn't take much to catch a couple paws full."

"The hens would kill you."

Tommy climbed over the fence and found chicks racing toward him.

"New friend play!"

Patches laughed from beyond the fence. By the time the hens arrived, Tommy was covered in chicks. Tommy turned out to be an excellent guard for his new friends, chasing off hawks and rodents. The farmer noticed and gave him better food.

Flash Fiction # 664 -- Autumn's Apples

 

I had been standing in the keep's garden while the master mage showed me how to use the wand to grow apples in a few minutes instead of weeks. This took a lot of power, but it meant safety from starvation during a siege.  There had been raids along the border, and we expected trouble at the keep soon. Gwyna had been with us in the garden earlier, but Master Mage Rox grew tired of her inability to follow directions.

Knight Coventry led his horse (some said side-kick) through the garden, constantly reminding the horse to eat nothing. Cov and Autumn would be out on the trails for a while, and neither looked happy.

That was the last bit of sanity I remembered until I found myself in a village market in a place I did not recognize. A jumbled flash of memory brought disjointed scenes to mind. Cov had started for the garden gate. Autumn wanted some berries and didn't move.

Something bright flashed. Mage Rox shouted for everyone to stop. The wand was missing.

After that? It felt as though I bounced from place to place without knowing how I moved from one spot to the next.

When Cov arrived at the city gate, I knew it was time to leave. I disappeared into the market-day crowd, glancing back every few yards. The knight followed me, but that might only have been a chance since we were both on the main road from the gate to the castle.

I lost track of him in the market, and that did not make me feel better. Was he here for me, or was it a chance? I could almost wish to bounce again.

I turned and ran face-first into a horse.

"There you are," a familiar voice said from somewhere over my head.  "It is a good thing Autumn has forgiven you for abandoning us. He doesn't usually let people just run into him."

Autumn gave what looked like a nod of agreement. I knew he was eying the half-eaten apple in my basket. I let him sneak it out, and his rider pretended not to notice when the horse shoved it into a saddlebag.

I finally took a step backward and looked upward.  How appropriate that sunlight wreathed Cov's head.

"Knight Coventry," I said with a bow. We were drawing attention.  I sighed.  "I did not take the wand."

"Of course you didn't," Cov said with a sigh of tried patience.  "If anyone with magic had touched the wand, we all would have known it."

"Then why have you been chasing me?" I demanded.

"Why did you run?"

"I didn't. I just kept going places.  Where am I?"

Coventry came off Autumn swiftly and unexpectedly grabbed me by the shoulders. I took offense at his attitude and snarled something rude before I realized he was trying to keep me here.

 "Why aren't you back at the keep? You had to realize that this was more than a simple theft."

"Mage Rox is unhappy. Best to at least pretend I could go off on a hunt and come back with the answer and the wand."

Autumn vigorously nodded in agreement. I suspected the horse spent far too much time around people of power.

The horse took another apple.

I felt a buzzing in my body, but Cov held me in place. Then he used a quick spell to sever the magic that had been controlling me. We both felt it snap. I would have liked to trace it, but we had other problems. Local guards were heading our way.  We both wore the symbols of our vocation, so there was no doubt of our power, even if people didn't realize that Cov was the mage's knight.

"Cov?" I said as more soldiers neared.

"You, me, and Rox were the only ones present. Rox is mad --"

"But he has to know we didn't take it!" I waved a hunter spell into the air.

DING.

Cov and I stared at each other in shocked disbelief.  He cast the same spell.

DING.

"We have instructions --"

DING.

"There were only the three of us," Cov said. He signaled the soldiers back. A few of them recognized him and seemed confused.

Although not as much as we were.

I tried the spell a few more times -- right, left, up.

"It moves." I did another round of DINGs

"None of us have moved  Why would --"

We both had the answer.

"Autumn!"

"She couldn't have eaten it," Cov said, grabbing the bridle when she tried to back away. "The wand is indestructible! What have you done?"

"Apples," I said. "She put it with her stolen apples."

Cov pulled it out. He looked frustrated, annoyed, and slightly amused.
Mage Rox had felt him pick up the wand. Cov held it out to him.

"Well?" Rox asked.  

"Autumn," he said.

"I suspect she saw us making apples," I offered.  "That horse will do just about anything for an apple."

"There is nothing more dangerous than a smart horse," Rox mumbled.

Autumn preened.

"Why was I jumping from place to place?" I asked.

"Gwyna," Rox replied.  His eyes flashed with anger. "She tried a new spell she'd been working on to send a person somewhere else.  Only she couldn't decide where.  It wasn't until Cov broke the spell that I found you. And then the wand turned up as well."

"Can we use the spell against enemy troops?" Cav asked. "Or at least their leader?"

"You mean she may actually have a use?" Rox asked. "Let's go home and talk about it over a meal."

They began to fade when Autumn grabbed a basket of apples.  

Flash Fiction #663 -- Master (Drabble)

 

Others called the little lizard a fool and worse. They demanded he stop lecturing them about philosophy and return to good lizard work, like building mud nests and hunting insects.

The little lizard decided on a different path. He built a leaf boat and floated down the Summer Stream. He passed through the forest, fields, and dangerous rapids and finally reached the edge of human land. He abandoned his boat and went to the village.

He met a group of mice who became enthralled with his happy philosophy of life. They soon called him Master.

Master had found his place.