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?" 

Flash Fiction #674 -- Forgotten/8

 

A waft of hot, dry air passed over Cita in the dark, and she could hear shouts from others. If this were death, it would pass quickly,

Then the darkness cleared.

She had forgotten the dragon.

No, she thought, her feelings still confused.  It was not possible that she had forgotten the very reason they were here. For a moment, she looked up and doubted the huge green creature she saw soaring above them. She doubted everything they had done to get here.

Tennon suddenly put a hand on her arm, and she felt an odd little sting. It did not clarify her thoughts, at least not at first. However, looking at Tennon brought new thoughts to her mind that helped to clear the way for others.

"Mage," she said, and hoped that made sense.

"It was clear from the start that they had some magic, or else they wouldn't be able to take Faylyn's stone.  I had to clear all thoughts of the Dragon from your minds or else he'd realize that Atora was not just escaping with the pretty babble."

"And she saved the Dragon and came back to us," Urdo said with a shake of his head.  

Cita understood that reaction. Until now, Atora had done little more than what was required of her during their journey. She was steady but unimaginative. Looking upward, Cita could see her companion riding the Dragon as it swept down on panicked rock trolls and sent them running again.

"This is madness," Cita decided. "But I think this means we have won?"

"I have one last matter to settle," Tennon replied. "And here comes Faylyn with just the one I wanted to talk to."

The Dragon circled once and then settled with a ground-shaking thump. It reached out with huge talons and daintily dropped a rock troll that landed face down on the ground before them.

"Mage Strongstone,"  Tennon said with a nudge of his foot.

The rock troll muttered something into the ground. Then he rolled over and slowly sat up.  Unlike the other trolls, he wore jewels and scarves and had a symbol of power etched into his forehead.  It glowed with changing colors, shifting from blue to green to red and back again.

He spoke before Tennon could. "I had no idea it was a dragon stone. Do I look that human? Let me rephrase that one.  Do I look that stupid?"

"And yet here you are, fighting us for it."

"King Orcsmitter sent us," Mage Strongstone said as he struggled to his feet. Cita realized he was not young. "My apprentice sensed something strong in this area.  The king gave me guards and told me to get here.  We had no idea we were dealing with dragons."

"That makes me wonder who set this up as bait and what they intended to catch," Cita added.
That stopped Tennon. He must have been ready to say something but he suddenly turned to the sky and shouted to Farlyn to land.

"I would guess it was set for the Godling," Urdo replied.  "The rest of us  are unimportant."

No one argued.  They were all watching for trouble, though. Cita Thought all the clouds look like strange creatures preparing to attack them. Forcing herself away from that fancy, Cita focused on the land around them instead. It did not help. Shadows appeared to move for no reason and she feared they were gathering at the base of some trees. She had been in dangerous situations before and could not figure out why this one so bothered her that she would imagine it to be worse.

It was the magic, she supposed. She had never dealt with mages very much, let alone dragons and Godlings. What good was Tennon, if all he did was bring them to this trouble? Cita turned to snarl some words at him, but realized in time that it would not help. Then she thought of the one question that might give them some answers.

"Is there something else that we have forgotten?" she asked.

"We have forgotten that this is home," Tennon replied.  He signaled Farlyn to him.  "And even I have allies here. I just have to draw their attention."

Before Cita could ask what that meant, Tennon dropped to his knees and put both hands to the ground.  "Blood calls to clan.  I request help."

He started to stand, but in that moment an army appeared, all of them with swords in hand.  Friend? Foe? Cita couldn't tell, especially since both Tennon and Farlyn both looked startled and worried.

A woman stepped forward. Unlike the others, her sword glowed blue with power. Cita stepped back from such power, even though the woman didn't come near her.

"So," the woman said. Se rested her sword on the ground like a walking stick and a circle of blue spread across the ground.  "At least you and Farlyn are still together."

"Mother," he began, but then faltered and stated to fall. She had to drop the sword to catch him.  

"I hate dramatics," she admitted as she gently lifted Tennon into her arms.  "Come along. Trouble will be on the way by now."

Flash Fiction #673 -- Forgotten/7

 

Mounds of dirt grew into small hills covered in rock and the sharp-edged stubble of long-dead plants. Cita could see no clear path, but Tennon pressed onward to higher hills.  Soon, they all had cuts on their legs and hands.

Atora had walked with Tennon for a few miles, but now she slowed until she was at the end of the line with Cita. They continued in silence for a while, but Cita thought her companion looked bothered.

"Is there something wrong?" Cita asked and then gave a slight laugh.  "Other than the obvious."

Atora looked amused.  "Tennon knows what he is doing."

"It is good to know one of us does."

Atora's face grew somber again.  "I don't want to fail.  That's all."

Before Cita could reply, Atora moved off to join Urdo for a while.

Was she making her farewells?  This coming battle would be the worst they had fought so far.  Some of them might not survive.  Cita wondered if she should do the same and apologize for bringing them here.

No. They could have walked away many times, even before Tennon suggested it. Now, with that green light shining brighter, it was not the time to abandon the work.

They walked on.  Closer.  Tennon looked back at them, but he said nothing.  She had expected one more attempt to dissuade them, but maybe it was too late. Cita began to hear a high-pitched buzzing noise, but it did not come from the crystal orb that held the stone. That multi-faceted ball hovered over a black pedestal, and Cita had the impression of invisible chains holding it there.

The area was barren except for the crystal and stand, and piles of dark rocks that might have marked some boundary. Atora and Urdo crossed to the display, but a flicker of lightning played along an invisible wall that held them from getting any closer.

The buzzing got louder, and something the size of her hand swept in front of her face.  Another followed.

Giant bees.

She swept one aside and down and prepared to slice it in half. 

Tennon caught her arm.  "While I appreciate your enthusiasm, maybe you could turn it to our enemies rather than allies."

She pulled back in haste. That's when she noticed the piles of rocks coming to life.  They faced rock trolls, and the giant bees were already in battle with them.

Urdo moved to her side, and they had downed two trolls before she realized that neither Atora nor Tennon was helping.  Tennon put his hands on the magic wall and destroyed it, and then quickly did the same to the crystal covering. Atora grabbed the stone as it tumbled. 

"Go!" Tennon shouted.

Atora started out at a run, the wave of Tennon's hand Center up into the air and flying. She not only moved quickly, but she was also soon out of reach of the rock trolls.

If those rock trolls hadn't then turned on Cita and Urdo, she might have watched with delight. Atora looked as if she might have been born to fly.

Tennon, she saw, was face down on the ground and in danger of being trampled. She still had questions for the Godling, so she went to stand over and protect him. Urdo, as always, kept to her side and fought off two trolls. It was hard to battle rock with metal, but they both slashed at vulnerable spots around the joints.

Eventually, trolls began to fall. Unfortunately, Urdo and Cita had both suffered from serious injuries by then. Their only hope came when Tennon struggled back to his feet with the long shard of crystal in his hand. He drove that makeshift weapon straight into the back of the troll's head, and it fell dead without a sound. Another troll charged him and won the crystal straight through his heart. By then, Tennon had bad cuts on both his hands. That didn't stop him from charging toward the next group of ten trolls.

Cita and Urdo joined him. The bees swarmed in behind them, and the trolls didn't like bees either. That was probably because they headed straight for the creatures' eyes. Tennon took advantage of the blinded trolls and killed two more. Then the mage went back down to his knees, and it was all Cita and Urdo could do to keep them safe. None of them would last much longer. Except for the bees, there was no sign of any other allies. However, Cita could see more trolls coming at a run across the grasslands.

"Urdo, you should --"

"If you say one more thing about leaving -- drop!"

Cita threw herself flat on the ground as Urdo stabbed. The rock troll granted and maybe cursed before he fell and landed on Cita.  It twitched once and then became a dead weight. Dead rock troll weight.

"Urdo --"

"Busy here."

Cita gasped out a curse and tried to pull herself out from under the body. She desperately tried to ignore the pain in her side. She had clawed about a hand's breadth forward when Urdo yelled a curse and fell over her and the dead troll.

And then the world went black.

Flash Fiction #672 -- Forgotten/6

 

They walked for the rest of the day—maybe more than a day, although the sun barely moved in the sky. They rested twice, with Tennon on guard duty while the humans slept. Grasslands gave way to scrub and desert, and Cita did not like the idea of walking across that landscape of mostly glaring rocks and sifting sands.

Even Tennon stopped in his relentless forward movement and gave the desert a scowl of distrust. Urdo scanned the area, and Atora appeared to be listening for something.  Cita saw nothing and only heard grains of sand moving over the rocks.  The slight breeze felt hot and dry enough to suck the sweat from a person.  

"We can't possibly --" Urdo began

"You know the way back.  Thank you for your help."

Tennon headed off into the desert. So, of course, they followed. Tennon glanced their way with a frown of disbelief and kept going, but within a mile, their companion began to falter and would have gone face down onto the rocks if Urdo hadn't caught him.

"You should go back," Tennon whispered.  "This is not your quest. I know this place now.  It is not good."

"You can't expect us to stop now," Cita replied, although she thought the words were madness. "But we had better come up with some way to survive."

"Tent," Tennon mumbled.

Cita thought that would have been wise months ago when they bought supplies for the trip. She almost said so, but stopped when Tennon pulled a small cloth from his pouch and shook it out. And shook it again. Each time, the fabric grew larger. Urdo caught one end and helped create a covering large enough for them all to shelter under it, though Tennon had to do some magic to create poles to hold it up.
Then he fell asleep.
The three of them settled near he opening to the tent and kept watch on the hot, dry land beyond.  They whispered a few words, but then fell silent when it bothered Tennon.

They each took turns guarding and resting.  The magic tent blocked the heat, and Cita had no trouble clearing a spot to rest.  She fell to sleep with remarkable ease.

The sun drifted low over the desert. Cita stood by the opening to the tent and scanned the landscape for the telltale shadows of distant buildings or the sparkling of village lights.  She saw nothing.

Tennon woke, then Urdo, and finally Atora.  They shared food, and Tennon finally stepped to the opening and stared out into a world lit only by a half-moon.

"So desolate. This used to be a lovely land."

"What happened?" Atora asked.

"Another group wanted it. The war destroyed everything, including defenders and attackers. This is what they left behind.  It was my mother's land. I did not realize the paths were taking me home."

Cita put a hand on his shoulder.  "Is this journey about Farlyn or is it about you?"

He stared blank-faced for a half-dozen heartbeats. Then Cita saw a slow change take place. She saw the young priest become far more powerful. His eyes blazed with anger. Cita took a step back in surprise rather than fright.

Then he blinked and became Tennon again.

"I have forgotten something," Tennon admitted. "I don't know if this is about me more about Farlyn. I don't think that really matters since we are both here. Can you see the glow in the distance?"

Cita could see a pinpoint of green straight out from the tent's opening.  She tried to quell the hope that they had nearly finished this quest. It had not been what they had set out to do.

This was far more important than the search for gold and jewels. She felt inadequate to the journey's end -- whatever that might be. Cita worried she would fail in the most important work of her life.

Maybe that feeling came from Tennon. How could she feel that way if she did not know what they were meant to do?  Did Tennon know?  Probably not, and that was enough to worry him.

They gathered up their few supplies.  Tennon folded up the tent and put it away. He stopped to look at the three over, but Atora took his arm and stopped him from speaking.

"It's no use," Atora told him.  "We're going with you.  Let's not waste time."

Cita and Urdo followed them, but at a distance.  Cita had questions, but when she looked at Urdo, the thoughts fled again.

"What do we believe?" she finally asked. "What do we trust?"

"We believe what we see for ourselves, and we trust him until we learn otherwise."

So, they still followed, even when the ground began to move.

Flash Fiction #671 -- Forgotten/5

 

Cita wasn't sure where she got the energy to leap at Tennon and grab him by his shoulders. She shook him several times.  

"What do you mean, first?" Cita demanded.

Tennon extricated himself from her hold and took a cautious step backward. "Magic -- rule of three. We have two more."

"Those flying monstrosities don't count?" Atora asked.

"Gargoyles. They were just defending their territory."

"What next?" Urdo asked with a nervous twitch of his head.

"They still have Farlyn's stone, so we follow it.  Yes, that might lead to a trap, but that is still better than wandering aimlessly. Unless you wish to go back? I can get you to the staircase.  It is a long climb, but I doubt the gargoyles will bother you if I am not there."

No one said anything.

So they followed Tennon. Cita tried to believe that their mage had a clue to where they must go.  Sometimes she thought she could see a hint of green in the distance and assumed that must be the stone.

Following Tennon started to seem like traveling in a constant circle. The landscape rarely changed, and when it did, it was not for the better. Nor was the journey helped by Tennon repeating tales of past adventures that seemed far too much like this one. That only made her think, even though that was part of the circle.

Then, in the blink of an eye, everything around them changed to a landscape of low hills covered in small fires that seemed to move on their own.

"Well," Tennon said as he looked around. "This is different."

Cita thought he sounded too assured, as if he believed his magic could take on anything. He had already used considerable power to get them this far. He acted as though he had infinite powers to draw upon, but Cita knew mages didn't work that way. Was a mage-priest any different?

Another thought intruded. Was it possible that Tennon was not anything like what they thought he might be?

She glanced his way and was shocked to find him nodding in her direction. "It took you long enough to figure that one out," he said. "I didn't mean to hide anything from you.  It just seemed as if there was no right time to explain. Watch out!"

Cita spun to find one of the fire creatures waving spindly arms at her. They shot out fireballs and sparks. She swept her blade at it out of habit before considering how the fire would react to metal.

Cita almost tossed the weapon aside before she realized it was not reduced to a molten mass of iron. In fact, the creature shriveled and died as it spat a few useless sparks at her, then shriveled into a pile of ash. Tennon knelt long enough to scoop up a couple of handfuls of ash and shove it into a pouch.

"Use your blades!" Cita shouted to the others and hoped her encounter had not been a fluke. In moments, dozens of the fire creatures were turning to ash.

But there were too many. They fought in pairs, the other two resting while the other two swept their weapons into the massing creatures.

"Storm," Tennon gasped.  "I need a moment --"

Atora and Urdo rose to fight while their mage -- or whatever he was -- took a step back and began to chant. The fire creatures paused for one heartbeat and then surged forward.

Cita hoped the rain would come in time.

Deluge.  It felt as though a river suddenly dropped on them. Creatures of fire turned to shapes of ash and then disappeared into the mud. The rain only lasted a few dozen heartbeats, but as it eased back, she could see that Tennon had defeated the enemy.  He had also fallen on his back in the mud.

Cita stared down at him,  "What are you?"

"An embarrassed godling." He sat up on his own but accepted her hand to stand. Cita released his too-warm hand in haste.  "My father is a god and my mother a fae. That gives me unusual powers, but I am limited by being one of the Forgotten."

"Forgotten," Cita echoed. They were already heading away from the battlefield.

"The gods scatter offspring wherever they pass and think nothing of it. They forget as part of their nature.  The fae are different. They only send a child out if there is a reason it cannot survive in the fae world. In that case, they are forgotten for a reason.  I suffer from both types, which makes it difficult for me to call upon any help."

"And then, here we are," Urdo added.

"I did not ask for you," Tennon said.  "You did not ask for my help, either.  As one of the Forgotten, the best I can do is join with others if I think I can help.  I did not expect to find the problem with Farlyn. I could have sent you away --"

"We are here," Urdo said. "You better get moving, or we'll leave you behind."

Cita planned on a long discussion later, but right now, Urdo was right to get them moving.  They had one more battle to fight.