The Lutin Chronicles Chapter 12 An Ponies! By Oren Otter Sytet wasn't entirely sure about the man pinned beneath him right now. His name was Algene, and he claimed to be a seer. He also claimed that it was his destiny to accompany Sytet and Micho on an adventure. Algene was also a cyclops, which meant that the fact that he was lying there beneath Sytet's not-very-considerable weight was probably a good indicator that he meant no harm. "Why were you spying on us?" asked the lutin. "I had to be sure it was you, now didn't I?" said the psychic cyclops. "After all, I've only seen either of you in a vision. A rather blurry one at that." Sytet let the man up. "My apologies, then. But in the future, please don't sneak up on me like that." "No longer a worry. Now that we've met, we'll be traveling companions." "I'm afraid I can't go wherever you're going." said Sytet. "I'm on a mission which will take me to Lavamist." "Good! Because that's where we're going. Hello, Micho!" called the cyclops. Micho waved a hoof and looked at Sytet quizzically. "I'm afraid you'd only slow us down." said Sytet. "And we do want to make good time." "Oh, we won't slow you down." "Wait. Who is we?" "All of us. Just around that bend in the road, there's a clearing where we're camped for the evening. Go ahead. Take a look." Sytet walked a short way ahead, accompanied by Micho and Algene. In a large clearing stood several hundred ponies, grazing. Sitting on a knoll near the road was a large, yellow goblin, playing a tune on a kalimba. "Ahoy!" said the goblin. "I was wondering when you guys would show up. I'm Quargle the bugbear." "You don't look like a bugbear." said Micho. "Are you a shape-shifter?" "Hunh? No. Not 'bugbear' bugbear. Goblin bugbear." He reached for Sytet's hand and pumped it in a powerful manner. His eyes registered a bit of disappointment. "And this" said Algene, indicating an approaching white pony. "Is Hardy." "Pleasure." said Hardy. "No way!" cried Micho. "A talking pony!" "The feeling is mutual. I was a hobgoblin. What's your story?" "Mom was human. Dad's a shape-shifter." "All of these ponies were dwarven hobgoblins." said Algene. "That's Grom, the baker. Over there is Spinner, the storyteller. And that's Thomas, the woodcutter." "What happened?" asked Sytet. "Nasoj." replied the seer. "He transformed them all and made them slaves in their own mine." Sytet studied the ponies. "What did they do to deserve this?" "Refused to hand over what was theirs." Sytet couldn't believe his ears. Nasoj? The great liberator? Surely there must be more to the story. "You're thinking that there must be some other explanation. And there is. Nasoj is evil." "Hold your tongue!" Sytet hissed. "Nasoj is a great man! Everything he does, he does for the betterment of the people of the northlands." Algene was putting a saddle on Hardy. "I'm afraid that's only partially true. And you'll be learning much more before this journey is through. Here, Quargle. You'll be riding on Hardy's back today." "What about you?" asked Hardy. "Oh, I'm much too big for a pony. Not to worry. I'll be getting a horse after the second trial." "Trial?" echoed Sytet. "What trial? And I still haven't said that you can come with us." "Oh, you will. And soon. It's important that you do, because you'll save the world. By the way, would you like some salt water taffy? I picked some up in Chai Enu because I remembered you like it. Or rather, you will like it at some point in the future." "What are you talking about?" "The candy. You wouldn't expect to find it in a mountain city, I know, but they have the most wonderful..." "No, no, I meant about saving the world." "It's easier if we go through it than if I try to explain it. Come. The first trial is waiting." As Quargle jumped onto Hardy's back, the three began walking west. "Are we going to let them come along?" asked Micho. "It's a public highway." said Sytet. "What am I going to do? Forbid them to use it?" * * * The morning was wearing on into afternoon. Bright pools of sunlight danced on the forest floor as Sytet and company rode on. Clouds scudded overhead, and there was the occasinal shadow of a large bird. All in all, the walk was a pleasant one. Algene lagged behind the others, but bade them not wait up, assuring them he'd arrive at the proper time. Sytet turned to Quargle. "What did Algene mean when he said I would change the world?" "You're asking me?" the bugbear responded. "I haven't got a clue." "The question," said Hardy. "Is do you trust him?" "I barely know him." "Well I know him." said Hardy. "If he says you're going to change the world, that's what's going to happen. And I can tell you this much. Before your arrival, he described you as a hero." "Me?" said Sytet, dubious. "I'm no hero." "I'll say." Quargle agreed. "No offense, man, but you're one of the more scrawny lutins I've ever met, and you've got a whithered arm." "None taken. Algene mentioned trials. Did he say anything to you about these?" "Yes, come to think of it. He told me to tell you not to touch his walking stick." said Hardy. "He also said that your clothes are going to get very wet, so expect to spend the night naked." "Where's your weapon?" asked Quargle. "I don't carry one." replied Sytet. "Oh, for crying out... how do you expect to defend yourself against monsters?" "I've never needed one before." Quargle bent down and whispered in Hardy's ear. "Algene thinks this guy is a hero? Seriously?" "I can hear you." said Sytet. Before long, the group came to a large river. It was spanned by a stone bridge. There seemed to be no danger, so they peroceeded without a second thought. They were halfway across when the largest troll they had ever seen climbed up onto the bridge on the far side. He smelled as bad as he looked, like someone who had very recently been very extremely ill. The stench of disease lingered on his breath. "You goblins come!" said the troll. "Zoog eats your heads!" "I've heard stories of trolls living under bridges." said Micho. "But this looks more like an ogre." "Let's go back." suggested Hardy. "We can find another way around." "Don't worry." said Micho. "I know just what to do." Prancing carelessly, he went right up to the troll. "You don't want to eat me." said the pony. "My brother is coming right behind me and he's much bigger and tastier than I am." "Zoog read that story. You am not an billy goat." "Micho!" groaned Sytet. "Hey, how was I to know we'd get a troll who can read?" Zoog grabbed for Sytet. "Zoog are make stew from you head!" Sytet ducked and cracked Micho's reins, sending him into a run. Zoog easily caught up to the pair and jumped in front of them. Hardy and Quargle sprang into action. Quargle raised his staff and swung mightily while Hardy charged by the troll. The staff hit him in the head and seemed to have little effect. It was like hitting a tree. Zoog grabbed the staff and pulled Quargle off of his mount. Hardy took advantage of the fact that Zoog was ignoring him, thinking him an ordinary pony. Whirling around, he kicked Zoog in the waist as hard as he could. Hardy was smart and knew his physics. It doesn't matter how strong or tough your opponent is. If you disrupt his balance, he falls. Zoog hit the side of the bridge. His top half kept going and he plunged upside-down into the river. "Nice work." said Quargle. "Good thing he let go. I would hate to lose this staff." "My pleasure." said Hardy. Sytet and Micho peered down into the water, where the troll was splashing about. Heavy clothes and shoes were dragging Zoog down, and he obviously didn't know how to swim. "Micho..." said the lutin. "Yes? Please tell me you're not thinking what I think you're thinking." "I am. Lower a rope." With that, he dived into the water. "What is that fool thinking?" shouted Quargle. "He's going to get himself killed!" Sytet surfaced next to the panicking troll. "Calm down." he urged. "I'm going to save you. Just relax." Zoog wasn't relaxing or calming down. Nevertheless, Sytet grabbed the nape of his shirt with his small hand and with the big one, grabbed the rope which Micho let down. The pony crossed the bridge and pulled them both to shore. "You IDIOT!" shouted Quargle. "You just rescued the guy who wants to eat us! Why the Everdark would you do such a thing?" "Because he needed saving." Sytet replied simply. Quargle put his hands to his head in a gesture of confusion. "Who taught you to do stuff like that?" "Captain Kayrok did. And it worked out pretty well for him. He built a nation that way." "Let's get out of here." said the bugbear, climbing onto Hardy's back. "Before that thing comes to its senses." Zoog, who was sitting on the shore trying to gather his strength, reached out and grabbed Sytet's leg. Quargle moved to attack, but Sytet bid him hold. "It's okay." said the lutin. "You save Zoog. Why goblin save Zoog?" "It's... just how I work." said Sytet. "Zoog owes life. Zoog does anything goblin says." "Can you help us get to Lavamist?" asked Sytet. "No way are we bringing him with us." Quargle protested. "I don't recall giving you a vote." said Sytet. "Zoog knows way to Lavamist. Zoog shows goblins and ponies way." About that time, Algene walked into view. "Oh, good!" he said. "I see you made it through the first trial. Excellent!" "Excuse me for prying." said Micho to Zoog. "But you live under a bridge, and you can't swim?" "Zoog swims. But not with an clothes on. Clothes got rocks in pockets." "Why?" "Rocks good for bashing." "I see." Allowing the others to move ahead, Quargle and hardy hung back by Algene. "This is your hero?" Quargle muttered. "He jumped into a river to save a troll." "And that doesn't seem heroic to you?" "Not when the troll is trying to eat us! And did you notice that he's got a whithered arm?" "I know. Trust me, Quargle. Before this trip is over, you'll be singing his praises." "Fat chance." * * * Zoog had been able to change his clothes at his "house" under the bridge. Unfortunately, the supposedly clean clothes didn't improve his smell. Sytet found that he'd rather gotten to enjoy the smell of people who bathed every day. Out here in the wild, that was going to be a luxury. Sytet himself, however, did not have a change of clothes, choosing to pack only the bare essentials. As Algene predicted, he laid his clothes out on a rock to dry, leaving him naked to the cold air. "You wanna... cover yourself with leaves or something?" asked Quargle. "Oh, that won't be necessary." said Sytet, who changed into his giant bat form and sat down in front of the campfire to munch on a pear. "Holy Stormhaven!" exclaimed Quargle, tripping over himself in the attempt to put some distance between himself and the monster. Hardy reared and whinnied in alarm. Zoog pointed and said "Goblin turned into an bird!" Algene just laughed. "Gee, guys." said Micho. "It's like you never saw a werebat before." Quargle dusted himself off. "I suppose where you come from, every village has two or three." "Well... yeah." "Oh, the looks on your faces!" hooted Algene. "Priceless!" Quargle turned on Algene. "You knew about this? And you didn't tell us?" "It would have ruined the surprise." "Yeah. Great. I would have liked to know before we set out that I'd be traveling with a troll and a bloodsucking vampire bat!" With that, he stormed off to find a place to sleep. "Actually, Zoog are an ogre." said Zoog. "Was left under bridge. Raised by an trolls. So live like an troll now." "And I'm a fruit bat." said Sytet. Hardy came over and sat next to the bat. "Don't let Quargle get to you." he said. "The guy is always grumpy, and he's scared. He's never been on an adventure like this." "And you have?" "No. But I have reason not to be frightened. I have faith in Algene." "He's a strange one." said Micho, glancing over to where the cyclops was toasting the end of his walking stick in the fire. "Oh, that's definitely true." replied Hardy. "But you learn pretty quickly that everything he does, he does for a reason." "Hardy!" Algene suddenly cried. "When we all change back to normal, remind me to gather up some seagull poop!" "Yessir!" said Hardy. * * * The next day's walk was long and difficult. The path took Sytet and his group over a northward protrusion in the Great Barrier Mountains, and the road was steep. It was also very rough. Micho found himself grateful for his hooves and wondered how Algene, with his tender, skin-covered feet, could possibly keep going without turning into a bloody mess. Nevertheless, the seer trudged on, always several yards behind the main group, humming to himself. At midday, the crew stopped for a lunch break. Micho and Hardy grazed on some wild oats while Sytet shared his fruit with the others. "Eat all you like." said Sytet. "I'll be resupplying at the village tonight." "Make sure to get some meat." said Quargle as he bit into a banana. "We can't live on fruit." "I can." said Sytet. "But your point is taken. I'm sure there will be plenty of meat to buy, since we're going to a goblin village." "Goblin village?" said Algene. "What makes you say that?" "You said we would be spending the night in a trow village." "No, no. I said DROW village. Black elves, my dear fellow." Sytet tensed. "Elves?" "Don't fret. No one will harm us as long as we don't bother them. All the same, keep your clothes on and your ponies saddled tonight." "What about him?" asked Sytet, indicating Zoog. "Zoog will am fine." answered the ogre-troll. "Zoog sleeps under an bridge." * * * The village was called Marai-Uthra. Sytet, knowing a thing or two about elfin languages, noted that the name meant "greater suffering", and wondered if this was a bad omen. The river which they had crossed earlier, the same one which flowed past Camp Dimtorch earlier in its journey, met them again, here in front of the city. It was spanned by a giant bridge, meaning that giants had built the bridge long ago. It looked perfect to Zoog, who made himself at home beneath it. The drow elves of Marai-Uthra were neither friendly nor unfriendly, doing business with the goblins without frown or smile. The preferred currency of the place was silver, which meant the first thing Sytet had to buy was a pair of gloves in order to safely handle the change. One glove fit snugly. The other was loose and floppy. Ultimately, Sytet had to depend upon Quargle to handle his money for him. He bought meat, fruit, bread and cheese. He also bought several jugs of cider after hearing a warning to not drink the water. Then, as he was walking past a shop selling oddities from foreign lands, something reached out and grabbed Sytet's attention. It was a box containing a set for playing goblin chess. Sytet walked over and examined it. "You play goblin chess?" asked the shopkeeper. Sytet regarded the man. He was short and wide for an elf, with a thin beard- a rarity among elves. His white hair was closely cropped in tight curls and his skin was more brown than black. Whoever this was, he was not an average drow. "I do." replied Sytet. "My wife used to have a set just like this." "Was she very good?" "Oh yes. I don't think I ever beat Zosha unless she let me win. I always overplayed my norkers. She would take them out using only snotlings." "It's a common mistake to rely too heavily on one's norkers." said the shopkeeper. "Now as for me, I find that the real unseen powerhouse is the tragso." "Really? I find that the nilbog is the one they never see coming." "You sound like an interesting opponent." said the shopkeeper. "Perhaps you would be interested in playing some time." "I would like that. My friends and I are staying at the Bale and Bull inn tonight, if you'd like to meet me there for a game or two." "It would be an honor. My name is Marcus." "That's not a drow name." Sytet observed. "It's not. I'm not an elf." said Marcus. "Just a human who happens to fit in because of my color. I used to be a world traveler. I was born in Irombi. All of this is stuff I picked up on my journey. That goblin chess game you're holding came from up near the dragon mountains." Sytet's heart skipped a beat. "Where, exactly?" "I don't remember precisely. A fellow with big ears sold that to me. Ankh-set, I think it was." "Anukh-Sut." said Sytet. "Yeah! That was the guy's name. You know him?" The lutin turned the box over. On the bottom was inscribed in his own language, the name "Kofak-Zosha". "This is mine." he said. "I thought you would want it. That's twenty..." "No, I mean it's literally mine. It already belongs to me." "That's very interesting. But it's still twenty slips of silver." Quargle, who had been watching all of this silently, piped up. "Man, it has his wife's name on the bottom. Why should he pay for it if it's already his?" Sytet raised his small hand. "It's all rght, Quargle. We don't want to cause trouble. I'll pay the price." "I wouldn't." said the bugbear. "And I wouldn't want to apologize to Algene when we're being run out of town by angry elves. Pay the man, please." Quargle did as asked, muttering about how the great "hero" let people walk all over him. * * * Zoog couldn't sleep. It wasn't that the riverbank was uncomfortable. The grass was soft and the sound of the river was soothing, but it just wasn't home. He lay awake for hours, watching the moon rise and trek across the sky until it disappeared over the bridge. Zoog's stomach began to rumble. The hunger only made it harder to sleep, so the ogre-troll got up in search of something to eat. The town was just over the bridge. Towns had food. He would go and buy some. Walking up to the city gates, he found them securely shut. "Hey!" the brute called. "Let Zoog in!" "Who goes there?" someone called. "Zoog just telled you! Zoog am Zoog." "What's your business here?" "Zoog am hungry." He pulled on the gate again. This time, they opened. Unfortunately for the elves, they opened at the hinge end. "Oops. Zoog sorry." said the troll, stepping inside and putting the gates back into place behind him. "Stop at once!" called an an armed guard, who was accompanied by several others. "I arrest you!" "Zoog just hungry." he replied. He strode quickly into the marketplace, ignoring the elves who were chasing him. He peeked into the store windows and examined the traders' booths, but everything had closed for the night, and no one could be seen. "Zoog gets his own food." said Zoog. "Pay money in morning. That fair!" He pulled on the door of a butcher shop, which opened with ease despite being bolted and barred. This really didn't please the guards. * * * "You play an excellent game of goblin chess." said Marcus. "It's almost a shame I have to beat you." "Beat me?" said Sytet. "I still have a norker and a nilbog on the board. All you have is a snotling and a hogboon." "In that case, make your move." Sytet moved his norker into the corner of the board where he removed the opposing snotling. "I was hoping you would do that." said the human. "Now that I have one piece left, I don't need two to take your norker." He moved his piece and took Sytet's off the board. Sytet's Nilbog was now pinned against the edge of the board. Unable to attack the hogboon standing two spaces in front of it, there were only nine possible moves, all of which left the hogboon free to reposition for another attack. "Stalemate." said Sytet. "I can keep running indefinitely." "I guess you're right." Marcus conceded. "So where does that put us?" "Sytet: seven. Marcus: six. Stalemate: eleven." said Algene, who had been watching with mild curiosity as he sat nearby, smoking a pipe and glancing periodically at the clock. "I'm just going to go and saddle the ponies." "Saddle the ponies? But it's late at night, Algene. "Indeed, it is. However, I'm afraid you won't be getting any sleep tonight. I'll only be a minute. Oh, you may want to pay the bill now, and include the price of two horses. Oh, and a little extra for the damages." "Damages?" Algene didn't answer, but went directly to the stable. Marcus and Sytet became aware of a ruckus outside. Both of them went to the door to investigate the commotion. Zoog was backed up against a wall while five armed guards advanced on him. The troll looked terrified, despite the fact that he was well over twice their size. Sytet leapt into action, dashing down the street and transforming in mid-run. He leapt onto Zoog's chest and screamed at the guards, who hesitated with alarm and confusion. "Zoog, run!" Sytet urged. Zoog needed no second prodding. He leapt over the heads of the guards who were paused to gather their wits and dashed out of town. When they passed by the inn, there was Quargle at the door, asking "What the Everdark did you DO?" Unable to stop in time, Zoog smashed through the wall of the inn. There stood Algene, flanked by Hardy and Micho. In his hands were the reins of a clydesdale and an apaloosa. "I suggest we depart quickly." said the cyclops. With great haste, the four humanoids mounted the four equines and were off like a shot, leaving Marcus standing there in the wreckage of the lobby with a bewildered expression. It was morning when the group finally stopped running. The drow wouldn't follow them in the light. At least that's what Algene said. They stopped next to the river to rest before continuing on their journey. Quargle was livid. "I hope you're happy." he growled at Sytet. "You rescued a monster who nearly got us all killed by the elfin police." "Lay off him, Quargle." said Hardy. "He's having as rough a time as you are." Quargle harrumphed and lay down on the grass. "Thank you." said Sytet. "If it's any comfort, I think you did the right thing saving Zoog. Twice." "It is." replied Sytet as he changed into his bat form and climbed up a nearby tree to find a good perch for sleeping. That morning was spent in a fitful sleep, full of unpleasant dreams. Sytet found himself on a giant chessboard, watching as those around him were picked off one by one. First Zosha was taken by a giant, wooden norker. Then Onju by a bugbear. A nilbog took out Point. As the enemy tokens moved in, a tragso eyed Captain Kayrok. As Sytet watched in horror, it transformed into a human warlord in an elaborate robe. Sytet tried to cry out and warn the captain of the impending attack, but his voice was silent. He tried to run to him, but his feet would not move, having transformed into the wooden base of a game token. The warlord raised his arms. Fireballs shot from his hands. The fire spread to consume the board. Sytet watched helplessly as the squares on the board were replaced by cities. He wached Rider burn to the ground, followed by Anhunger and Solace. Spiritfell, Moondark and Mountainshade were engulfed in flames. Into Camp Dimtorch the conflagration spread, consuming the gates of the pass, coming straight for him. "Sytet!" hissed the voice of the warlord. "SYTET!" Sytet awoke with a cry, nearly falling off his branch. As soon as his eyes opened, he found himself staring into a pair of human eyes. Then he did fall off of the branch, transforming as he fell. "Ah, so it is you." said the human. "Your friend said you had turned into 'an hangy bird'." As his vision adjusted to the light, Sytet recognized the ebony-skinned human. "Marcus?" he asked. "What are you doing here?" "You forgot your chess set." said Marcus, handing him the box. "Thank you. How did you find us?" "Educated guess. I figured if two goblins and a cyclops are traveling together, they're probably heading toward Nasoj's kingdom. So I followed the signs for Lavamist and kept my nose open for the scent of troll. Though I dare say he smells more like an ogre, now that I think about it." "Ogre is what Zoog am." said Zoog, sleepily. "Troll is what Zoog am do." "I see." said Marcus, not seeing at all. "Anyway, I've been feeling the urge to travel again, so I thought I'd take a hike. See someplace new." "What about your shop?" "It'll keep. I needed to collect some new merchandise anyway." "Make sure you have a knife." said Algene from his spot beneath a shady sycamore. "You'll need it when we get to the next village." "Thanks, mister cyclops, but I didn't say I was going your way." "I know. But you will." "Seer." said Hardy. "Don't bother arguing." * * * Back in Camp Dimtorch, Kayrok awoke with a shout. "Look out!" he cried. Sopok was instantly on his feet. "Father? What's wrong?" Kayrok took a moment to orient himself. Realizing that he was safe in his own house, the captain permitted himself to relax. "Fire." he said. "Everything was burning. But it was just a dream." "What was burning?" "Everything. The forest, the towns. But like I said, it was just a dream. What time is it, son?" Sopok glanced at the clock. "Nearly eight." "I overslept." said the Captain. "You'd better get out to the train stop. You'll be late for school." "I can fly to school, Father. I won't be late." "Oh? And how are you going to carry your books?" "I..." "Go on." Kayrok saw his adoptive son out the door. He then went into his office to find Sujan working on a budget proposal for additions to the train system. "Look who's back." said the commander, sleepily. "I apologize for my recent absence." said Sujan. "It will not happen again." Kayrok took the papers from Sujan's hands and set them on his desk. "That's what you say when you're late to muster. You were awol, Sujan. That's a capital offense. I could have you shot for what you did." "That is the definition of a capital offense." Sujan noted. "Where were you?" "I do not believe you truly wish to know." Kayrok exploded. He grabbed the collar of Sujan's shirt and thrust the lutin against the wall. "I have cut you a lot of slack." he said in a raised voice. "You abandoned your post. When I ask you where you've been, you don't tell me that I don't want to know. You answer the question. Understand?" "Understood." said Sujan, plainly. Kayrok set his strategist down. "Now where were you?" "I was in the forest performing acts of torture." Kayrok couldn't believe his ears. "You what?" "Yes, Sir. Torturing small animals to death in slow and excruciating ways." "Why in Stormhaven's name?" "You believe me to be devoid of emotion. That is not entirely true. I merely have great difficulty experiencing emotion. When I first served with you at Devil's Strand, I felt shame at your chiding and pride at your praise. At least I assume that was what they were. Ever since then, I have been wanting more. The torment of the animals was intended to produce emotions strong enough for me to feel." "And did it work?" "It did. However, the result was not entirely satisfactory. The feelings vanished after a very short period of time. I am left feeling very... empty." Kayrok ran a hand through his hair as he digested all this. All he could think to say was "You are relieved of duty." "Until what time, Captain?" "Permanently. I should put you in front of a firing squad, Sujan. But in light of your faithful service up until this very serious infraction, your life is spared." "Thank you, Captain." replied Sujan, who began clearing out his desk. * * * The Next day's journey was far from uneventful. Algene had warned Micho that he'd have a run-in with a chimera that day. He didn't mention that the chimera would be a mix of skunk, porcupine and electric eel. Hardy, still not used to grazing, had eaten some poison ivy which took three vials of healing potion to cure. Quargle the bugbear had run afoul of an actual bugbear and gotten a nasty bite which caused his arm to swell up like a balloon. And on top of all of that, Sytet was sure they were being staked by some large flying creature, having seen its shadow several times but never seeing the creature itself. At the end of the day, everyone was glad to get some rest in a nice, safe clearing. "Good night, everyone." said Algene as he placed some charred wood from the fire into a sack, then lay down with a knife in his hand. "Algene?" said Sytet. "Why do you have a knife?" "To cut the ropes, of course." "Of course." Rather than sleep as a bat, Sytet lay down on the grass next to Micho. He didn't know what was going to happen during the night, but he'd rather not be completely exposed as he slept. That night, Sytet dreamed again. He saw creatures of the forest scrabbling and squabbling in a time of leanness. In their midst arose a great bugbear. He promised to lead the others to a land of prosperity. He took them through the giantdowns and into the pass where there stood a giant chimera. The bugbear hurled magic at the monster, but the chimera fought back. The chimera's snake head bit deeply into the bugbear's flesh, poisoning him. The creatures of the forest scattered as the bugbear staggered back to its cave to die. As he rasped his last breath, a great poisonous vine came out of the east, burning every other plant it touched with its deadly toxins. The land burned and died while Sytet, just a little bat with a withered wing, watched helplessly. Then the vine came for him. Sytet tried to fly away, but could not. The vine wrapped its tendrils around him, choking the life out of him. When Sytet awoke, he was bound to the ground with twine. So were Algene, Quargle, Zoog and Marcus. "Algene!" he called. The cyclops woke blearily. "What? Is it that time already?" With the knife that was already in his hand, Algene sliced through the ropes which bound him. Sytet, meanwhile, shrank to his bat form and simply crawled out of his bonds. "What the Everdark?" shouted Quargle as he awoke to find Sytet pulling up the stakes that pinned him down. "Quiet!" warned Algene. "You'll alert them to our escape!" "Alert who?" Dozens of tiny, green men came pouring into the clearing. Each was half the height of a gnome. "Gnurls." answered Algene. "Arguably the smallest variety of goblin. Descended from the unions of snotlings and fairies." "Please don't elaborate on that." said Marcus as he cut through his own cords. "Oh, it's simple, really. When the laughter of... oh. You said don't. All right." "No move!" shouted one of the gnurls. "You prisoners!" "They're so cute!" said Micho. I could just eat them right up!" "I wouldn't say that." Algene warned. The words had no sooner left his lips than several gnurls pointed tiny wands at the pony, who fell over, writhing in pain. "And you see why. I'm afraid we were all tagged in our sleep with magical markings. One zap from a wand and it's instant torture." "Why didn't you TELL us this was going to happen?" shouted Quargle. "I can't forsee everything, now can I? I only peek at the future. I don't write it." "No more talk!" shouted a gnurl. "You prisoners!" Zoog awoke and sat up, oblivious to the cords that were meant to tie him down and asked "Am it morning?" The group of travelers was marched through the woods to the village of the gnurls. Even Sytet, who was by far the smallest, towered over every house like a behemoth. Down the main street they went, where they were presented to the gnurl king. "I am great king slothclaw!" declared the ruler in his small, squeaky voice. "You tresspass in gnurl kingdom. We capture! Make you slaves! You work for gnurls, now!" "Doing what?" asked Sytet. "You gather food for gnurls." "That doesn't seem so bad." remarked Micho. "We eat ponies first!" said the king. "No WAY!" shouted Quargle, who moved to place himself between the gnurls and Hardy. He was rewarded with a blast of pain which caused him to fall to the ground, screaming. "Hey! No hurt goblin!" shouted Zoog. He, too, was dropped to the ground in torment. "Big ones make river food bad!" declared the king. "You bring good food or else!" Sytet moved close to Marcus. "Marcus, do you still have your knife?" "I do." whispered the human. "I think I know what to do. You're going to stab me." "You wanna run that by me again?" "Trust me." Then in a dramatic voice, he asked "Oh, no! What phase is the moon in tonight?" Algene responded. "I uh... think it's a gibous moon tonight." "Oh no! Algene, you should have bound me up! The curse! The curse, it's.... Aaugh!" Sytet began to transform, slowly, drawing out his change into his large bat form to make it as dramatic and frightening as possible. The gnurls all pointed their wands at him, but as he had predicted, the transformation distorted the mark which they'd painted on him, making it ineffective. "Blood!" hissed the bat. "I want to suck your blood!" Slowly, menacingly, the beast approached the king, who was doing his level best not to cower in terror. Gnurls swiped at his feet with swords and knives, but the tiny wounds they inflicted healed instantly. Marcus understood the unspoken plan. "No!" he cried. "Sytet, I'm not going to let you kill king Southpaw." "Slothclaw." Micho corrected. "Whatever. I know you're not yourself right now. I don't want to do this." Sytet roared in feigned rage, spreading his wings and rising into the air. "Oh, no you don't!" said Marcus. He grabbed Sytet's leg and pulled him down. The two of them tumbled as they wrestled. "Blood!" roared Sytet. "There must be blood!" Marcus took a moment to realize that Sytet was talking to him. Wincing at the thought of what his new friend was about to endure, the human thrust his knife into the bat's gut. "AAUGH!" Sytet screamed, clutching his belly. For dramatic effect, he stared at his now blood-covered wing. "You killed me!" Rolling his eyes back in his head, he fell to the ground and slowly transformed into an ordinary fruitbat. "BIRD MAN!" shouted Zoog. He would have rushed to kill Marcus if Algene hadn't stepped in the way. "Zoog, no. It had to be done." "But him killed an bird man!" Algene tried to comfort the troll, wishing he could tell him what was really going on. King Slothclaw was in awe. "You save us." he said. "You save gnurls from monster." "I had to, your majesty." said Marcus. "I couldn't just let him suck your blood. Not after what I saw at Wilderby." Marcus forced a shudder. "No creature deserves to die like that. Not even a wyvern." Slothclaw looked as if he were about to be ill when he declared, "Gnurls owe you lives. You free to go." There was a chorus of disappointment from his subjects. "But you leave bat. We eat." "You, uh, don't want to do that, Sire." said Quargle. "Eating his flesh would pass his curse on to you." "We'll give him a proper burial." said Algene. "Zoog, would you bring Sytet's body, please?" Zoog was in tears as he gingerly picked up his friend's tiny, bloody, motionless body. Somberly, the group mounted up and rode quickly away. Once they had gone about five miles, Algene declared "It's all right, now. They haven't followed us." Sytet sat up and shook himself off with a squeak. Leaping to the ground, he changed back to lutin form. "Ugh. That was way more blood than I anticipated." "Bird man!" cried Zoog. "You am live! Wait. Why you not dead? Zoog saw human kill you." "I'm a werebeast, my friend. "I heal very quickly. I'm sorry to put you through that, Zoog, but the gnurls had to believe you really thought I was dead." Zoog jumped down from his horse and grabbed Sytet in a claustrophobia-inducing embrace. "You not ever are do that again!" "Trust me, I don't plan to. I may heal fast, but that still hurt like Everdark. "How did you know the gnurls would let us go?" asked Hardy. "They're half fairy, right? Fairies are very big on rules. I took an educated guess that they would never leave a life-debt unpaid. "We ought to wash these marks off at the nearest river crossing." said Quargle. "Just in case." "Speaking of which, we'll be following the river underground." said Algene. "When you see a rock shaped like a coyote, there will be an entrance to a cavern. That's where we're headed." "Why?" asked Sytet. "I don't know. I was hoping you could tell me." "We've got no reason to do that." said the lutin. "We have a high, straight road ahead of us. We've got twelve full hours of daylight, and according to the map, there's a trading post where we can sleep comfortably in a hotel tonight with no fear of being ambushed by gnurls or chimeras or three-headed dire hamsters." "All good points. But we're going through the caves. I suppose we do it because I say we do it. Of course, I only say we do because I foresaw that we would. That's one of the strange things about being a seer." "So," said Quargle. "What happens if we decide to go the high road anyway?" "Then we'll end up taking the caves for some other reason." "Don't try to wrap your head around it." said Hardy. "I'd just go with it." Sytet shook his head. "Let's try it my way. Just to see what happens." As Sytet led the way down the road, Micho turned to Quargle to ask a question which had nagging at him for some time. "Say, Quargle, you're a bugbear, right?" "Right." "Bugbears are the biggest species of goblin. At least that's what Algene says." "I see where this is going." "That means bugbears are bigger than trows. Trows are the size of humans. Marcus is a human. But you're a full head shorter than Marcus." "I'm short. That's all there is to it. Some people are just short. That doesn't mean I can't lick guys the size of Zoog." "Cool." "Don't assume I'm weak because I'm small." said Quargle, defensively. "Size doesn't determine one's abilities." "Quargle, I'm a pony." said Micho. Quargle hadn't thought of that before. Micho understood what it was to be small. The goblin smiled. He liked this guy. After an hour, the river disappeared. As the cyclops had predicted, the place was marked by a rock shaped uncannily like a howling coyote. Sytet elected to keep going overland. It was two more hours later when the path came to an abrupt end. A tremendous canyon broke the road in two. There were splintered bits of wood stuck in the ground, the remnant of a former bridge. The rush of a waterfall could be heard down in the canyon. The river emerged from the caves halfway down to continue on at the bottom of the cravasse. Near the waterfall was a stone bridge connecting caves on one side with caves on the other. "Well." said Micho. "That'll put a damper on your day." "Algene is always right." said Hardy. "Bird man can fly across." Zoog suggested. "Actually, Zoog, I can't fly. Not until my wing has fully recovered. Besides, how would the rest of you get across?" "Oh. Zoog not think of that." "We'll have to find a way around." said Sytet. A voice came from the forest. "You're not going to find a way around." Everyone looked to see who had spoken, but there seemed to be no one. The voice continued. "That canyon is over a hundred miles long. Head south and you run into the massive web of the dire spiders. Head north and you'll get gobbled up by the snatcher plants." "Who's there?" called Quargle. "Are you friend or foe?" "If I were your foe, why would I be saving you from being eaten? Up here, sillies." Everyone looked up, but still saw nothing. "I'm sorry," said Sytet. "But up where?" "The raccoon." As soon as the words were spoken, a raccoon scampered down a tree and came to stand in the middle of the road. "I'm Procyon. That bridge collapsed during a severe storm last month. There's only one way across this canyon, and that's through the ice caves." "Not a word." said Sytet to Hardy. "Extrordinary." said Algene, kneeling to get a better look. "A talking raccoon." "You're surprised? You have two talking ponies and apparently a theriomorph." "Oh, it's not that. I'm surprised because I didn't foresee your presence. I'm usually pretty good about these things." "Not surprising. My village is protected against any sort of surveilance. Come with me and I'll take you there. You'll need some heavier clothes if you want to make it through the ice caves." "Hang on now," said Marcus. "If your village went through all the trouble of hiding from prying eyes, why invite strangers you just met?" "Because of the ponies." Procyon replied. "Furbluffs is a refuge for all talking animals. If not for them, I probably wouldn't be talking to you now." "It not Zoog's fault that Zoog not an pony." "I'm not trying to be racist. I meant that if you're good to your ponies, you must be okay. Come on. It's not far." * * * Furbluffs did a good job of being undetectable. The buildings weren't buildings at all, but rather burrows, hollow trees, stumps and other inconspicuous dens. As Procyon led the group into town, curious animals came to see and sniff the newcomers. Sytet, who had already assumed the form of a bat in hopes of appearing more friendly to the locals, was greeted warmly by a large bunch. "This is Lepus the rabbit." said Procyon. "The badger is Hamal. That's Caph the weasel, Achird the opossum, Rasalus the lynx and Marfik the squirrel." Hardy leaned over to Algene. "Do you notice what I notice?" Algene nodded but said nothing. "Puh leh sure." said Sytet with a smile. It was a little difficult for him to speak in his full bat form, but not impossible. "Welcome to Furbluffs." said the badger to everyone. "I'm Hamal, the mayor. Will you be staying overnight?" "Did not puh lan." said Sytet. "We're in need of provisions." said Algene. "We're going into the ice caves." "It's a full day's journey through those caverns." said Hamal. Not a place one would want to pitch camp. Stay with us tonight and be on your way in the morning." All eyes looked to Sytet. "We suh tay." said the bat. The citizens of Furbluffs were nothing if not friendly. So happy were they just to have visitors that a spontaneous celebration broke out. A feast was prepared with fruits and vegetables of all sorts as well as several exotic meats, which the guests were reassured had not been talking animals. There were even cheeses and frozen creams. Punch and wine flowed plentifully. "The water is a little off." Hamal explained, personally seeing that each guest had a full glass. Everyone dined very well that day. Algene talked with Hamal most of the afternoon. "There isn't much that I can't see." said the cyclops. "I couldn't see your town, and that intrigues me. How did this place come about?" "I can't really answer that." replied the badger. "No one knows the true story. But I can tell you the legend." "Please do!" Hamal settled back against a stump and sipped a cup of wine before he began the story. "Many, many years ago, this land was a very different place. There weren't as many goblins or cyclopses or trolls, but there were giants. Oh, yes. Great men and women whose heads reached up to the sky." Hamal noticed some skeptical looks. "Yes, I know they weren't that big. I did say this was a legend. The giants were not only strong, but powerful in mind as well. They performed great feats of magic and science. They built a great civilization with towers that reached into the stars. They learned to harness the powers of volcanoes, lightning and geysers. There was nothing they couldn't do. But although they were great, they were not all good. As nothing was impossible for them, they considered nothing beyond their reach. Whatever they wanted, they took. At first, it was only from other creatures. They stole from humans, elves and dwarves. Before long, they were taking from each other. Fights broke out as one giant tried to take gold or silver from another. Gold and silver became land and power. Fights turned into feuds and fueds into wars. The giants turned their powerful minds to thinking up new and creative ways of harming one another." "The most powerful of the giants were the wizards. And as power corrupts, they also were corrupted the most. The spirits of evil and chaos saw a rare opportunity in the giant wizards. There was one whom the spirits found most appealing. A beautiful female by the name of Shaula. She was a ruthless killer, eliminating her enemies with reckless disregard for anyone but herself. The spirits struck a bargain with her. They would give their magic to her if she would, in return, spread massive pain and suffering. Shaula agreed. Using her new powers, she first raised an army of goblins. Not ordinary goblins, though. She changed them so that any attack would only make them stronger. She named them 'nilbogs', as they had become the opposite of normal goblins." "The spirits could not give Shaula the power to destroy life directly, but they gave her the power to weaken her enemies in horrifying ways. Some, she turned into babies, whom her nilbog soldiers would dash to death. Some, she turned into sex slaves as a reward for her troops, changing male warriors into gorgeous but empty-headed women. Still others, she changed into animals, incapable of weilding sword or shield." "Aren't those the spells Nasoj cast on metamor Keep?" Micho asked Sytet. The bat merely bid him be quiet. "Destruction and killing became the norm in giant society. Law and order were a thing of the past. Many giants even developed a taste for the flesh of people, regularly eating humans, goblins and cyclopses. The evil had become so unbearable that the gods found it necessary to intervene. A curse was placed upon the giants. Since they used their brains for evil, the power of thought was taken from them. The giants became so stupid that not one could ever muster the mindpower to speak the simplest cantrip. But for Shaula, a special punishment was made. The gods decided that because she had used the power of transformation so wickedly, she should be transformed. She was changed into a skunk, cursed to live in a skunk's body until the world comes to an end. Her stench is greater than any other creature in nature, yet her spray is useless as a weapon, causing those she sprays to smell like roses." "Naturally, there were no survivors among those she turned into babies. The descendants of the concubines were considered contaminated by goblin society, so they collected together and formed the cities of the hobgoblins. They say these cities gave rise to new species of goblins who are friendly to other races, such as the hogboon, the tommyknocker and the bhuka. Those who had been turned into animals continued to live as animals. The gods gave them back some of the intelligence which they'd had as people. Over the years, their descendants became more and more intelligent, regaining the power of speech. Some of them attempted to return to civilization, but in most cases, they were heartlessly exploited. In the south, humans made a sport of capturing the animals and forcing them to battle. They only thing that stopped them was that they found it much more interesting to battle using monsters instead. So the talking animals formed their own civilization, right here in the Forest of Darkness. A few animals who had learned magic placed protection spells over the city to keep it hidden from humanoid eyes." "So your names..." Algene started. "Yes. We bear the names of giants because the giants were our ancestors." "Is there no way to turn you back to normal?" asked Marcus. "Normal? This is normal for us." said Hamal. "If you mean become giants, certainly there is. Our mages are experts on transformation. But why would we want that? We're happy as we are, and we have no desire to be under the giants' curse of stupidity." "Remarkable." said Algene. "But then of course it is. You just remarked on it, didn't you." "So what about you, Algene? What's your story?" Algene sucked the end of a pipe which he had never bothered to light as he thought of how to explain. "Long, long ago, when the world was young, there was a giant. There's a lot of argument over who exactly he was. Some say his name was Homer. Some Virgil. Some Hesoid or Euripides. In any case, he was a small fellow. As you can guess, being small is a severe disadvantage in giant society. But this fellow had a lot of friends. Small ones, like himself. They were a courageous lot. I suppose you have to be when you're not very powerful, comparatively. In their travels, these little giants came across a treasure chest. When they opened it up, they discovered that a genie had been sealed inside. The genie agreed to grant the giants one wish if they would grant him his freedom. Well, how could they say no? The giants argued for hours over what the wish should be. Eventually, they settled upon a wish for the power to see the future, for themselves and all their progeny. The genie agreed to the wish. He would give each of them mystical sight in exchange for one of their eyes. This seemed like a very good deal. What they didn't realize is that a genie will betray you at the first opportunity. The genie granted their wish to see the future, but in a very limited way. Each cyclops can foresee only his own death. It's been that way ever since. But every just so often, once in every few generations, a cyclops will be born for whom the power works as it was intended. In this age, I am that one. I can see almost anything. The future, the distant past, far away places. About the only thing I cannot see, other than a magically concealed village, is my own death." "That must be amazing." said Hamal. "I've had the power all my life. I don't really think about it. But it made me unpopular among cyclopses. My brothers and sisters were all terribly jealous, don't you know? That's why I decided to travel the world. See it with my outward eye, as it were." "Have you travelled much?" "I should say so. I was in Fan Shoar before the days of the Qor Horde. I went on a safari in Irombi once. Why, just last year, I returned from a job in Yamato with a most impressive giantess. Not a language in the world she couldn't speak." "You're talking about Mintaka!" Micho observed. "Yes, that was her name! Remarkable lady. I do hope her brothers are all right. I'm afraid I saw a rather unfortunate sickness for them." "Theh ee were fie un." said Sytet. A rabbit who was sitting next to Sytet leaned over and said "If you like, I can give you something to help with that speech impediment." "Rea lee?" "Sure. You're not the first one with speech problems here. Stop by my potion shop later. It's the third burrow beneath the redwood." "Is nah ow goo ood?" "Ah." said the rabbit. "You'd enjoy the party more if you could speak clearly. Sure. Let's go." "Pick up some sulfur for me, would you?" asked Algene. Quargle raised an eyebrow. "If he wants to talk, why doesn't he just turn back into a lutin?" Hardy thought about this as he chewed a carrot. "My guess? He's always had to be a lutin to relate to others. This is the first time he's ever been able to relate to anyone as a bat. This is the first time since he left home that he's really felt full acceptance. He wants to savor it." "When did you get so smart?" "How long have you known me, Quargle? Did you think I became mayor because of my good looks?" "The thought never crossed my mind." "Hey, now." The two friends laughed together and proceded to trade playful insults. A bear approached Algene just as it occurred to the seer to actually light his pipe. while he searched for a twig with which to transfer a flame from the cooking fire, the bear said in a dulcet tone, "Mister Algene, may I speak to you privately?" "Certainly, Miss..." "Chara." Zoog giggled. "Eye man gots an girlfriend." he teased. Quargle picked up on this immediately. "Ooh, quite the ladies' man. Already taking a girl someplace private!" Algene didn't miss a beat. "I doubt that's the situation, my friend, but I'm flattered you think me worthy of such a lovely lady as this." As the cyclops and the bear walked away, Quargle said, "That guy never ceases to completely baffle me." "Mister Algene," said Chara. "Please, just Algene." "Thank you. It's an honor." "The honor is all mine." "Algene, I am also a seer." "Are you indeed? That is delightful to hear." "Yes. And I was hoping to speak to you about some visions which I have had." "I can think of nothing I'd like better." "You may not find it so pleasant when we're done. Like you, I cannot see anything pertaining directly to the village of Furbluffs. The protection spells prevent that. But I have seen things regarding the forest which I find very disturbing." "I believe I know what you mean." "I have seen men ravaging the forest. Terrible men with dark hearts. They destroyed everything." "Taking the trees they wanted and burning the rest." said Algene. "Yes! You've seen it too?" "Indeed. And while I cannot see the fate of Furbluffs, I would say that it is dangerous to remain here for many more years." "What do we do?" "There is a place near the mountains. It will be a safe haven, at least for a while. We will be going there when Sytet's mission is through." "I don't know if I can convince my people to relocate. They are very fond of their home, and believe it to be unassailable because of the protection spells." "That is their choice. All we can do is present what we know." Chara smiled. "Thank you. I feel much better about this now." "I am pleased to be of help." "Algene?" "Yes, Chara?" "Did you mean it when you said I was lovely?" * * * Sytet's mouth didn't feel any different. He wondered if the potion he'd just drunk had gone inert. Nevertheless, he gave it a try. "From Caralore to Veddakar is very, very very far." The rhyme poured from his lips just as if he had been in full lutin form. "This is amazing!" he declared. "What's in this stuff?" "Just some simple ingredients and a bit of hocus pocus. We use this all the time for children whose mouths aren't built for speech." "I know some children back home in the federation who would be very glad to have this." "I would let you have some if I could." said the rabbit. "But I haven't been able to make any lately, and I need what's left for the young ones here." "Why not?" "Most of the ingredients grow on the other side of the canyon. And I may be a coward for saying this, but I'm not willing to brave the ice caves." "Can the bridge be fixed?" "Perhaps..." The rabbit rubbed her chin and eyed Sytet in an uncomfortable way. * * * "Then the evil king tells him 'I never said 'OR'. I gave the tiger her title last week!" Quargle, Hardy and Marcus all laughed out loud at Quargle's joke. "I don't get it." said Rasalus, the lynx. "Why did he think the lady and the tiger were two different people?" "Zoog gots it!" exclaimed the troll. "An fish changes an candle!" "That was two jokes ago, buddy." said Quargle. "Zoog knows. Zoog just gots it." "That's not really it." said Marcus. "When you ask how any artisans it takes to..." Hardy put a hoof on Marcus' arm. "Just let it go." As Quargle was preparing the next joke, Sytet returned with the rabbit and a spool of thread. "What are you going to do with that?" asked Micho. It was the rabbit who answered the question. "Everyone, Sytet is going to help us rebuild the bridge!" There was much cheering. Everyone moved to the cliffs, taking the party with them. "All they need is to get a line across." said Sytet. "But there are no fliers here in Furbluffs, and the mist from the waterfall makes the walls too slick for the squirrels to scale." "But I thought you said you couldn't fly." said Micho. "It's been a while since my arm was cut off." said the bat. "I think it's grown back enough that I can try." "What happens if you don't make it?" "Then I'll have the thread tied to my leg to stop my fall." Quargle muttered "The bat is an idiot." Sytet waited while the thread was tied to his leg. He flapped his wings, experimentally at first, then more powerfully as he took to the air. Drifting to one side, he found he had to ease up with one wing. Not an easy thing for a bat to do. It seemed that he was doing it when, halfway across, a sudden downdraft knocked him out of the air. Everyone gasped as the werebat dangled helplessly from the thread. Shouts of dismay followed when the thread broke, sending Sytet falling toward the river below. Sytet spun out of control, flapping desparately. Just before hitting the water, he managed to right himself. Slowly, he rose. Cheers rang out when he took the end of the thread in his toes. With his heart racing in his ears, Sytet managed to land with a thud on the other side. Panting with relief and exhaustion, he changed into his lutin form and began to pull on the thread. A strand of string was tied to the thread, crossing the canyon when the thread ran out. To the string was tied a heavy twine. This was followed by a thin rope. Thicker ropes followed until at last, the rope was thick enough for a squirrel to cross safely. Sytet tied off the rope, changed back into a bat and crawled over the rope back to his friends, who received him with cheering, applause and hardy pats on the back. "It will be a while before the bridge is ready for ponies and trolls." said Hamal. "But now, at least, we can begin rebuilding." The people of the town returned about the same time Algene and Chara did. "Hey, Algene." said Quargle. "You missed all the excitement. Sytet just started a new bridge." Algene just smiled. "That's nice." He smiled at Chara, who smiled back and went to get some food. "What have you two been doing? Are you and..." "That's a personal matter." "You didn't..." "Quargle, a gentleman doesn't discuss such things." "You're kidding me! Algene, she's a bear!" "I'm kidding no one. I haven't said anything." "How can you... I mean... how is it even..." "What I can tell you is that her breath smells like honey." "I think I'm going to be sick." The goblin went off to find a private place to puke. Chara returned with a pair of turkey legs and handed one to Algene. "What did you say to him?" "Nothing at all. Just enjoying a little revenge." * * * Morning seemed to come way too early. No one wanted to leave Furbluffs, especially Sytet, but there was a mission to complete. "Be careful, Algene." said Chara as she helped him with his coat. "And watch out for the penguins." "Of course, my dear." "He can't seriously have something going with that bear." said Quargle from a distance. "Can he?" "Why not?" asked Micho. "My dad married a unicorn." With a hearty goodbye from their new friends, Sytet led the party back up the road to the place where the river entered the caves. Torches were lit, though Sytet found he could navigate easily and rather enjoyed the darkness. Down into the ground they went, the seven of them. There was little talking, for the ponies and humanoids all desired to keep their ears open for signs of danger. This was a fearful place for them, though Sytet found himself to be enjoying the place more and more. After a couple of hours, they came to the canyon. The stone bridge lay in front of them, wet with mist. Beside them, the river crashed down into the depths. As they crossed, Sytet looked up and saw that several new ropes had been strung and work on the bridge was proceding quickly. When the bridge was crossed and the travelers entered the western caverns, the temperature began to drop significantly. Sytet found himself feeling very sleepy. Returning to his lutin form, he rode on Micho's back and closed his eyes, drifting into a half sleep. When the time felt like midday, for it was impossible to tell day from night down here, the crew stopped for lunch. The Furbluffs folks had provisioned them well, giving them a variety of dried meats, cheeses and fruits as well as some sweet cakes and juice. There was a also a supply of firewood for which everyone was very glad. The heat of the fire raised everyone's spirits as they ate. "I have a question." said Marcus to Algene. "Yes?" "You're an incredibly powerful clairvoyant. You can see just about anything..." Zoog interrupted. "That mean eye-man see through underpants?" "Yes, but I choose not to. Go on, Marcus. "Sytet and Micho's mission is to find out why they haven't heard anything from their guys in Lavamist. Couldn't you just tell them?" "No." replied the seer. "I could, but what I said would have to be confirmed anyhow. Besides, what happens on this journey must happen. The future of the world depends on it." "Does it really? The whole world?" "Yes. Mostly the south half of Galendor, but yes, ultimately, the entire world." "Why? I mean, what could be so important and yet hinge on the seven of us?" "Nine of us, actually. Not all of us are here, yet. I'm not entirely certain how to explain it. This world is in a perpetual struggle between good and evil. Some places, evil prevails. Some places, good prevails. Always, there are forces beyond our comprehension seeking to upset the balance one way or another. If good prevails, wonderful. But if evil prevails, it will only grow until it consumes everything. Of course, we know that good and evil are marked by vice and virtue respectively. Evil grows where vice is strong. Wrath. Jealousy. Hate. Arrogance. Greed. Where you find these, you will find evil. Shaula. Qor. Xoran. Fasala. And others whose names I cannot yet mention. But the opposite is true of good. Where virtues thrive, good is strong and evil cannot prevail against it. And so those cosmic forces of good have raised up strongholds, cities built upon virtue. If you know where to find them, you'll see a city of joy, a city of purity, a city of courage, a city of wisdom, and so on." "I think I may have been to some of these." "I wouldn't be surprised. Have you been to Utku-Ri?" "Three years." "The city of peace." "Imagine that!" "But the three most powerful virtues. Do you know what they are?" "Hope." said Sytet. "Faith." said Micho. "Love." said Hardy. "Absolutely correct. But of these three, the greatest of these is love." There is a city of hope, and there is a city of faith." "What are they?" asked Marcus. "I cannot tell you at this time, nor can I explain why, save to say that doing so would severely disrupt the future. What I can tell you is that the last and greatest city of virtue is the city of love." "What that one?" asked Zoog. "Some of you already know the answer." Algene looked to Sytet. "The Federation?" "Yes. It is not that yet, but it is the seed of what is to come." Quargle perked his ears. "Did anyone hear that?" Algene stiffened. "Gentlemen, from the moment Quargle spoke thse words, we have exactlty forty-seven seconds until the raiders arrive." "Raiders?" echoed Sytet. "Dangit, Algene!" groused Quargle. "Why don't you tell us these things?" "Just remember," warned Algene. "Don't kill any of them. That is vitally important." "Why not?" "Just trust me!" Into the caverns they rushed, whooping and hollering. They were the strangest creatures most of them had ever seen. Vaguely humanoid with large, webbed feet and long beaks, covered in slick black and white feathers. Their eyes seemed to burn with an inner light. In fingerless hands, they carried spears and javelins. Algene positioned himself in front of the others. As the raiders approached, he took out the first few with his staff. One of them grabbed the end of the staff and tried to yank it away, but the wood at the end, having been made brittle where it had been toasted, splintered and broke away to reveal a metalic core. When it touched the creature's skin, it caused a burn. Zoog was getting frustrated. He was more than a match for a dozen of these birds, but for all his strength, he couldn't catch one. Marcus was a bit faster, but still, could only strike glancing blows. Quargle was having a terrific time. With his small size, he was able to maneuver quickly and easily. Over and over, he smashed the bird people with his club, being very careful only to injure, not kill. After seeing what Algene's staff had done, Quargle got an idea. He wrapped a cloth around his hand, then dug into his money bag. Bits of silver flew all over the cavern, burning every raider it touched. There was a lot of screaming and a great confusion. Soon, the raiders had retreated. "Is everyone all right?" asked Sytet. "Hardy!" called Quargle. "Where is Hardy?" "They got the horses." Marcus observed with dismay. "Oh no. Micho!" groaned Sytet. "We have to follow them." "How?" asked Quargle. "With this." said Sytet, pointing to his nose. "Those raiders were were-penguins. Penguins get hot easily. All that activity would have made them sweat profusely. When penguins sweat, they stink to high Stormhaven. With my fruitbat nose, they'll be a cinch to track." "How do you know about penguins?" asked Marcus. "University of Mountainshade." replied Sytet. "Animals of the world 101." Perched on the safe end of Algene's staff, Sytet was able to smell the animals easily. The five moved quickly through the caverns until they came upon the were-penguin village. It was a pathetic-looking thing, with half-completed tents and shelters made out of trash. A few homes were built out of cave rock with guano used for mortar. The raiding party was being welcomed home and the provisions in the saddlebags doled out to the masses. All three horses were there, along with hardy and Micho, who were both hog-tied and carried. "We go fight?" asked Zoog. "No. There's too many." replied Sytet. "We'd get creamed. We need a plan." He surveyed the cavern. The village was situated next to a large lake which was half covered with chunks of ice. The fact that the lake was not frozen completely told Sytet that the water must be moving. Some branch of the river must come down this way. Where there's a river, there's fish. The penguins must use the lake for hunting. Sytet grinned as a plan formed in his mind. * * * Kapunga was hungry. He longed to fill his belly with the fish he had caught so far, but that would have been selfish. The elders and children would be fed first, just like always. The tribe was more important than the needs of one man, so he waited. There would be plenty to eat later, when they slaughtered the newly captured horses. Ahead of him, Kapunga spotted an eel. It was a large one, and looked particularly tasty. Only... it wasn't moving quite right. Closer inspection showed that it had been injured. "Well," thought Kapunga. "The humane thing to do is to put it out of its misery." Beak wide open, he went in for the kill. He nearly had it when something hard came down on his head. An enormous, green hand then lifted him out of the water. He was thrown down onto the shore, where a cyclops stood over him with a big walking stick. "The core of this staff is pure silver." said the cyclops. "Change into full bird form now and I won't run the exposed end through your stomach." He looked like he meant it, too. Kapunga hastily complied, becoming small and fairly helpless. A dark human then bound him with stips of cloth, tying his feet together, his beak closed and his flippers against his sides. He was then placed with six other penguins who were bound the same way. Sytet peeked around the rocks which concealed them from the village. The penguins were eyeing the horses hungrily. "I think we have enough." said the lutin. "Time to negotiate. Quargle, you're with me." The two goblins approached the penguin village slowly, but confidently, letting no sign of fear betray them. The penguins gathered, watching the approaching goblins with weapons at the ready. "Halt." said one of them. "You have no business here." "In fact I do." said Sytet. "You have something that belongs to us." "These spoils are ours now." said another. "You can keep the supplies." said Sytet. "Those can be replaced. Consider them a gift. I have come only for the horses." "You can't have them!" shouted a third. "Because you stole them fair and square. Well, we did the same. Look to the other side of the lake. You'll see that we have seven of your people held hostage. I wouldn't try to rescue them. Our troll is under orders to crush them if you get close. I am prepared to take back our animals at any cost. We are prepared to fight for them. I would much rather leave here in peace. Will you trade me the horses for the lives of your men?" There was a great deal of murmuring among the penguins. "This is a matter for the elders to decide." said one. "Come with us." "Do we go with them?" asked Quargle. "What choice do we have?" * * * Sytet shivered as he sat at the edge of the lake and waited for the elders to make their decision. By and by, a female came and handed him a hot cup of mushroom broth. "Thank you." said the lutin. "Are you always this hospitable with your enemies?" "I don't believe we should be enemies." said the penguin, sitting down beside him. "Besides which, the water hasn't been too good for drinking lately. My name is Kapik." "Sytet." "I don't believe it's right to raid others, no matter how poor we've become." "What happened?" asked Sytet between sips of broth. "It's obvious that you don't belong here." "You're right. We don't. We come from the village of Tikipok, the furthest point west on the coast of Fan Shoar. It was wonderful there. There was plenty to eat and we had a good relationship with the other villages. The air was clean and the sky bright. Then Vatra came." "Who is Vatra?" "A terrible mage with the power of fire. One of the dreaded warlords of Qor. He destroyed everything. His minions cut down the pine forest. He choked the air and poisoned the sea with soot. Then he came for us. The blood of werebeasts is a component for many of his awful spells." "I'm so sorry. But how did you arrive here?" "We knew we had to get away, but there was no way to go. Qor's warlords hold the entire western coast of fan Shoar, and the lich Aqualo had already taken the islands. So we turned to our wizards. We had them teleport all of the were-penguins to the safest place possible, as far away from the horde as we could get." "And that place was here." "Yes. And it's been horrible. I've been saying that there must be somewhere else can go, but the elders refuse to look. They're so scared to venture beyond these caves." "You left family behind." Sytet said. It wasn't a question. "How did you know that?" "I'm also a werebeast. My people were the Kofak. The gift of transformation is not universal. Only one in ten of us was gifted with the power of transformation. You said the were-penguins were transported. That must mean that most of your tribe is still in Fan Shoar." "Yes. It's true. I long for the day when the warlords are dead and we can return to Tikipok." "Then I pray that day comes soon, princess." Kapik stiffened. "Why did you call me princess." "You speak of your people as if they were your responsibility. When you speak of the decisions your elders made, you say 'we'. Besides, you don't stink. No offense meant to your people." "None taken. You're right. I am a princess." "And a good one, I'd say." "And what about you? What brings you all the way down here?" "The bridge across the canyon is out." "Okay, that's the cause reason. What's the effect reason? What are you trying to do?" Sytet saw no reason to hold back the truth. "I come from the Alpha Omega Federation. It's a small country that was started by a platoon in the goblin army. We were supposed to be getting supplies from our station in Lavamist, but there's been nothing from them in many months, now. I was sent to find out why." "You're a soldier, then." "Yes." "Now let me ask you, why do you want your horses back so badly?" "Because two of them are people. One is under a spell. The other is the son of a fellow werebeast." Kapik stood. "Why didn't you say so in the first place? I'll inform the elders. This changes everything." The princess disappeared into the tent where the elders were discussing Sytet's demands. Minutes later, all of them came out. Sytet stood. Quargle, who had been standing some distance away warming himsef by a fire, joined them. "Princess Kapik has explained the situation to us." said the oldest. "We did not know that your ponies were sapient. We are not canibals. They shall be returned to you." "And the others?" "We will return them to you, but we ask that you recompense us for the loss." "You have already taken everything but the clothes on our backs." said Quargle. "We're giving you back the hostages. That's not enough for you?" "My companion makes a valid point." said Sytet. "But it is my intent to leave here as friends rather than enemies. If you will return all the animals, we will not only release the hostages, but I promise to return here to take you someplace better. Someplace where you can enjoy fresh air and open skies with no fear of the horde." "We accept." said the princess before any of the others could argue. Sytet signaled Algene and the others to release the hostages. The penguins, in return, brought the horses, including Hardy and Micho, to Sytet. "Am I ever glad to see you." said Micho. "Those guys were going to eat us!" Kapik escorted the overlanders out of the caves personally. "Thank you." said Sytet when they reached open air. "I'm going to miss you, princess." "Oh no you won't." replied the princess. "I beg your pardon?" "Someone has to make sure you keep your promise. I'm coming with you." "This journey isn't for a woman." said Quargle. Kapik scowled. "This woman has taken the lives of over a hundred and fifty fire troopers back in Fan Shoar. I can take care of myself." "What about the heat?" asked Sytet. "Also not a problem." said the princess. Her feathers and beak disappeared as she changed into the most beautiful snow white goblin Sytet had ever seen. She stood naked before his for only a second before a short, practical leather dress appeared on her, followed by a pair of sandals and a thong necklace with a small, red crystal. "Ah, that explains it!" exclaimed Algene. "You're wearing a translation stone! That's why you're able to speak our language!" Quargle leaned and whispered to Sytet. "We just saw a princess naked and he notices a rock." "That makes eight of us." said Algene. "One more to go. Shall we?" * * * "There's a human village about a day's journey ahead." said Marcus as he studied the map over Sytet's shoulder. "It's called Prendor. We should be able to resupply there." Quargle and Algene were doing their best to make a tent from the blankets and coats which were among the few things they left the ice caves with. It wasn't a great shelter, but the sky was clear and the air was fairly warm. It would do. Kapik jumped out of the river with a large salmon in her beak. Tossing it in with the other fish she had caught, she estimated it would be enough to feed six people. The ponies, of course, would graze. Zoog returned to the camp with his arms full of fruit. "Zoog gots an watermelons!" he announced, dumping several pumpkins onto the ground. "Zoog, those are pumpkins." said Marcus. "Oh. Zoog do bad?" "No, Zoog. You did fine. These will cook up nicely." The wild pumpkins were indeed tasty. Sytet didn't often eat savory fruit, but he had to admit that these were delicious. The fish were a different matter, though. they tasted a bit off. It wasn't as though they were spoiled, and they were quite edible, but something simply wasn't quite right. That night, Sytet dreamed again. He saw great cities rising out of the ground. Glorious, shining citadels that sparkled and gleamed. Sytet knew, as one simply knows things in dreams, that each one had been built upon a foundation of virtue. This one was the city of loyalty. That one, of generosity. This one, honesty. And in the middle, the city of love. And at the highest balcony of the highest tower stood Kayrok, beaming with love for his subjects and soaking in their love for him. Then, out of the north came shadows. Great, long shadows which threw the shining cities into darkness. The shadows belonged to great, menacing warlords. In the forefront was Shaula, followed by Vatra and Aqualo. Then came the darkest warlord of all. Sytet knew this man. His face was so familiar. But no! It couldn't be him! How could he possibly be on the side of evil? But even as he watched, fire shot from the man's mouth, consuming the cities of virtue. He watched his friends perish in the flames, burning alive. Sytet awoke in a cold sweat. He looked around, taking a moment to remember where he was. The dream was already fading, but he knew it had been the same as the ones before. "It was just a dream." he told himself. "Go back to sleep." But he couldn't. Instead, he decided to go for a fly. He transformed and spread his wings. They seemed to be the same size, now. With a few powerful strokes, Sytet was off the ground and in the air. Oh, it felt good to be up here in the air! Just for the sheer fun of it, Sytet decided to fly as high as he could. The forest of darkness turned into a wide patch of green nestled between the mountains. He could see all the way to the lake at Prendor in one direction and the canyon by Furbluffs in the other. It was gorgeous. Higher and higher he flew, until he could see the Death Mountains and the Lom Shi'Un dynasty. Higher and higher he went, until all of Galendor came into view, followed by Kitchlande, Songefilde and the Central Sea. He saw the isles of the dragonettes on one horizon and on the other, Khumar and Yamato. Higher, higher. The coasts of Fan Shoar and Irombi came into view. The world below him was just a ball, now. Sytet hung in space and stared down at it all. It looked so small, and from this distance, one coudn't see the evil infesting it. "It's beautiful." someone said. "Yes. It is." Sytet agreed. "But it's sick." "I know." "What do you think? Is it worth saving?" "Absolutely." "What price would you pay to save it?" Sytet seriously considered this question before answering. "I would lay down my life." "Dying is easy." said the voice. "What if the price was to discover that everything you thought you knew is a lie? Would you live with that knowledge in order to save the world?" "The truth is always better." Sytet replied. "No matter how much it hurts." "Sytet." said the voice. The werebat looked to see who it was that was speaking. What he saw was the face of one marred with scars, yet bearing an expression of love so vast that Sytet was overwhelmed. Sytet awoke to find himself hanging in a tree next to the tent of blankets. His friends were sleeping peacefully and a cool breeze blew through the camp. It had all been a dream. But of course it had. No bat could fly that high. Nevertheless, it was something to be treasured. Sytet would never forget that face as long as he lived. * * * The walk to Prendor was relatively quiet. That is to say that the party was not attacked by antlions, owlbears or gargantuas. This was the first time since the Colony that Sytet had been given the oportunity to talk with a real adult theriomorph, with the exception of Urik, who really didn't count, and he and the princess had been chatting animatedly the whole way. Algene, for his part, had been very quiet. He'd been riding with his eyes closed for hours, trusting his horse to carry him down the correct path. When Quargle asked him about it, the seer only replied "I've been conducting research." The lake on whose shore Prendor was situated was quite beautiful indeed, dotted with little islands and crystal clear. The afternoon sun sparkled on the rippling water, making it look like a cascade of gold. It looked so inviting that Kapik simply had to go for a swim. There were people nearby, so she deemed it prudent to dive in first and transform afterward. in the manner of goblins, she removed her dress and boots and ran down to the water naked. "Stop her!" yelled one of the humans. Kapik froze. She had left her translation stone with her dress and did not understand what had just been yelled. "The lake is cursed! Don't let her touch the water!" "Kapik, don't go in the water!" Sytet shouted, pointing at the lake. Without her translation stone, the princess completely misunderstood. Believing Sytet was instructing her to flee, she stepped into the water, and promptly vanished. "KAPIK!" shouted Sytet. "What happened to her? Where did she go?" "Don't panic." said an approaching human. "She's still alive. Look, there she is." He indicated a large salmon swimming just under the surface. "Why is she a fish?" asked Sytet, panic rising. "It's like we told you. The lake is cursed. We don't know what did it, but every time someone touches the water, they turn into a fish." "We've got to do something! We've got to get her back!" "Of course." said the human. "We've been trying for days to figure something out. Come to the town with us. Maybe you've thought of something we haven't." "What about Kapik?" "She'll be safe for now. There's no fishing in this lake. Not with all the people in it." "I'll be back." said Sytet in exagerated mouth movements in hopes that Kapik would see and understand. Reluctantly, he followed the humans into town. Prendor was a modestly sized town, but obviously very old. The buildings were well preserved, but showed signs of being hundreds of years in use. "When did all this begin?" asked Hardy. "Oh. A talking pony." said the human who answered. "It began about a week ago. At first, the water began making people sick. Then they began displaying small mutations. Krang over there still has a set of gills." He indicated a man who was leaning against a doorpost looking grumpy. "It was four days ago when Queeg Webber went to take a sample of the water and as soon as his hand touched it, he turned into a speckled koi. Since then, we've lost about a dozen people one way or another. Some of them tried to lift the curse, but of course, none succeeded. We've been drinking anything else available, and our wine and juice stores are running out." "What's your name, Sir?" asked Algene. "Blerg Strathmore." replied the human. "This is my wife Targa and her brother Grug Frindle." "Goblin first names with human surnames. A fascinating combination. I say, would you mind telling me about the history of your town? It may shed some light on our current problem." "Certainly." said Blerg. He led the cyclops and his companions into a tavern where he ordered some ale for everyone. "Prendor was founded a long, long time ago, before humans and goblins were at war. We come from a country called Paol, on the edge of the sea of Pyralis, on the eastern shore of a lovely forested peninsula. Our ancestors were noblemen, the lords of large estates. Then came the war of Yesulam. The call went out across the continent for friendly nations to rally to Yesulam's aid. Our forefathers followed the king to war in the Holy Land. While he was away, the chief advisor was made regent to rule in his stead. But the regent had a taste for power. He declared all of the old nobility dead and gave their titles and holdings away to those who would support him. When the old noblemen arrived home, they found themselves homeless. For a time, the nobles lived in the woods among the goblins as they waitied for their king to return from Yesulam and retake the throne. While they waitied, many of them married goblin women." "Our foremothers." said Grug. "Indeed. If that is a word. But the regent was successful in his plan. The new nobility rejected the old king. They lynched him upon his return, and the old nobles were made outlaws. They made a stand there in the woods, but were sorely outnumbered and outmaneuvered. They were forced to flee the country. That was when they came here, to a fruitful land safe from the swords of the usurper." "And the lake, that wasn't here, was it?" "No. It wasn't." "I thought not. I took a peek on the far side of the lake and saw what seemed to be a dam." "That's right. You can hardly tell these days because it's so overgrown, but our ancestors originally built Prendor in a deep valley. As the town grew, they began to overfish the river. Then they realized that if they dammed the far end of the valley, they could create a lake which would sustain the town indefinitely. So Prendor was moved to higher ground and the valley dammed." "And are there remains of the old Prendor in the lake?" "I imagine so. I mean, why bother to tear down a building that's only going to get sumberged?" "Why indeeed?" "Eye man know something?" asked Zoog. "I do." replied Algene. "While on our way here, I looked back in time at the areas along the river. Zoog, were you ill about a week ago?" "Yup. Zoog puked an lot. That why zoog so hungry when you meet." "I traced the effect back up the river all the way to Camp Dimtorch and further. I saw four wooden poles with magical spells upon them placed into the river. Someone deliberately, magically poisoned the water." "Why would anyone do such a thing?" asked Targa. "That, I don't know." Algene replied. "I can tell you that in each case, the effects went away after a few days, clearing up shortly before our arrival. It may explain why the drows and the gnurls were in such nasty moods. It should have cleared up here by now." "Maybe it's the dam." said Micho. "Maybe the magic settled to the bottom of the lake." Quargle snorted in derision. "That is the dumbest..." "No, no." said Algene. "He may be right. Some types of magic flow just like water and settle in low places. But if that is the case, the water on the surface of the lake should be clean." "There must be something in the lake making it worse." Sytet reasoned. "My thoughts exactly. Something very magical. Blerg, were there wizards among your ancestors?" "Of course. Sarlane the court wizard and Burich the green." "And when Prendor was moved, did they clean their workshops out completely?" "I wouldn't know." "Can't you look down there with your powers?" asked Marcus. Algene shook his head. "A little magic makes the vision clear. Too much, and it's like trying to study the surface of the sun. My special sight is completely blind with all the magic in that lake. It's why I avoid places like the Var temple and Metamor Keep. Oh, but I didn't tell you that until just now, did I? Well, I do." "We're going to have to go down there." said Sytet. "Are you nuts?" asked Quargle. "One touch of that water and you'll turn into a fish." "I know." replied Sytet. "But it's the only way to rescue Princess Kapik." * * * Sytet took a deep breath as he looked out over the lake. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked. "No." Sytet replied. "At least he's honest." said Quargle, who was very carefully filling a wine bladder with lake water for later study. Sytet hung Kapik's translation stone around his neck. "I'll turn into a bat before I dive in. The stone, like my clothes, will become part of me. In theory, we should be able to communicate as long as you stay close to me. Micho and Zoog, you're with me. The rest of you, see if you can find some clue as to what's down there and how to turn it off. Oh, and Algene, don't forget to collect some seagull poop." With that, he turned into a bat. Then with Micho on one side of him and Zoog on the other, he dove in. As the bubbles dissipated and his vision cleared, Sytet tried to look at himself, but found he was unable. His arms, though quite flexible, could not be brought in front of him. The former bat had to take inventory of himself by feeling alone. His arms felt more like wings than anything else. There were no legs, but there was a long, whiplike tail. His gills, instead of being on his neck as expected, were on his chest. On either side of his mouth was a long, fleshy mandible. Sytet had become a manta ray. He tried swimming experimentally. The movement was so much like flying, he got used to it almost immediately. "A seahorse." said Micho in dismay. "I bet no one saw THAT coming." He stared down at his tiny body in disappointment. "Look at it this way." said Sytet. "Now you get to ride on me for a change." "I see the crystal is working. Where is Zoog?" As if in response, a hammerhead shark came straight up from the bottom of the lake. "Zoog likes!" declared the shark. "Zoog am an shark! Woohoo! Zoog is an fearsome predator! But Zoog promise not to eat an friends." "We're relieved." said Sytet, sincerely. "Now let's go down into the deep." It was dark down in old Prendor, but Sytet found that his fish eyes adjusted quickly to the low light. Micho, who was holding firmly to Sytet's tail, tried to blink to adjust his vision, only to find that he no longer had eyelids. "This is totally lame!" complained the seahorse. "How are fish supposed to sleep if they can't close their eyes?" "Huh?" said Zoog. "Zoog did not hear you. Zoog was sleeping. Ha ha. Zoog make fish joke." "Very funny, Zoog." said Sytet, distractedly. The ruins of the old city completely filled his senses. Peering down a dark alleyway, Sytet thought he saw something moving. Was that a plant waving in the current, or something else? Suddenly, something shot from the alley and crashed into him. "Sytet!" cried Micho, who was yanked along for the ride. "I knew you'd come for me!" cried the thing that had crashed into Sytet. It was Kapik, the salmon. "Oh, Sytet, thank the gods you came!" "I couldn't leave you, princess." "And you brought my translation stone, didn't you? You clever boy! Let me guess. That's Micho, and the shark must be Zoog." "Hi, Princess." said Zoog. "But where are the others?" "Back in Prendor, working on a way to reverse this transformation." "You mean you don't have one?" "Not yet. We think something down here is amplifying the magic. We need to find what it is." "I think I may be able to help. Follow me." The salmon led her friends to a tower so tall its peak formed one of the islands. Near the base, an eerie glow shone out. "If you're looking for magic, my money is on the thing producing light underwater." "Good work, Princess." Sytet praised. Cautiously, he swam in through a window. Many fish swam about inside the tower, attracted by the glow. It was difficult to navigate, let alone see through all the fish, but eventually they found the source of the light. It was a small pyramid, square at the base, about a meter tall. "I don't believe it." said Sytet. "What don't you believe?" asked Micho. "Do you know what this is?" "Uh... no?" "Of course not. This is a Sondesharan capstone." "What that?" asked Zoog. "Long, long ago, the sondsharans built pyramids with weird, mystical properties. They put magical capstones on them which enhanced their mystic traits. But no one has seen one of these since ancient times." "I hear voices!" someone exclaimed. Everyone turned to see a coelacanth entering the tower through the fog of smaller fish. "Am I going insane?" "You must be one of the transformed Prendorans." said Sytet. "We're here to help. I'm Sytet, the lutin. This is Micho the pony, Zoog the troll and pricess Kapik, the penguin." "Zoog not eat you." promised the shark. "I'm Xom Pendergast. I came to the lake three days ago to investigate the disappearances. You can see how that turned out. You're right about the capstone. Sarlane was actually a pretty poor wizard. He used the capstone to boost his abilities. That's how he got to be court wizard." "Does everyone know this?" "No. I know because I've been poking around his tower for three days. I never thought I'd be able to tell anyone my findings. Sarlane died before the dam was built. He hid the capstone in this tower just before he died in hopes that no one would ever learn his secret." "How did you find this out?" "Like any wizard, Sarlane valued knowledge. He enchanted all of his books and made them indestructible. Including his diary. I've been down here reading it all this time." "Do you know how to turn the capstone off?" asked Sytet. "All the capstone does is amplify magic. No magic, no amplification." Micho pondered, "So all we have to do is get the little pyramid out of the water." "Zoog gots it!" The shark swam to the capstone and extended his mighty jaws. "No! Don't!" cried Xom. "There are protective..." Zoog looked back at the coelacanth. "Wha?" "...charms. Which apparently ran out of power centuries ago." * * * "And it looks like that's all we have to do." said Sytet. "Get the capstone as far away from the lake as possible and the water will change back to normal in a few days. Then everyone who was turned into a fish will slowly revert back to normal." "Well done, Sytet!" Algene praised. He reached out to take the stone from Zoog's mouth. Hardy, who had been watching with some curiosity, had a sudden realization. "ALGENE! DON'T!" But it was too late. As soon as Algene touched the capstone, he screamed and fell to the ground, writhing and convulsing. Quargle grabbed the cyclops. "Algene! Can you hear me? Algene!" It was many long minutes before the seer finally lay still. His eye stared into the leafy canopy, quivering slightly but otherwise still. "He's alive." said Hardy, ear to Algene's chest. Marcus, go to Prendor. Get a doctor." Marcus ran as fast as his feet could carry him. Sytet prayed to the Scarred One to protect the life of his friend. * * * Quargle remained at Algene's bedside for the entire time he lay unconscious, leaving only to answer nature's call. It was four days before Sytet came walking in, still bearing the fleshy mandibles of a manta ray. It was another three before the cyclops finally stirred. "Mintaka?" he groaned hoarsely. "Mintaka isn't here." said the bugbear. "This is Quargle." "Quargle? What happened to Mintaka?" "She's with the lutins now. Do you know where you are?" Algene thought. "Is this the pony village? The one with the purple princess?" "No. You're in prendor. You touched the capstone. Do you remember?" Algene nodded weakly. "I definitely remember that." "You've been unconscious for seven days." "Seven days? Has it really been so short a time?" Quargle did a double take. "SHORT time?" "It's been aeons for me. You wouldn't believe the things I've seen." "What have you seen?" "Everything! Did you know that atomic theory is true? Only atoms aren't really atoms. Quarks are the atoms. And do you know how much power there is in a single silent E? Oh, and don't ever answer the oldest question. That's a big no-no." "Algene, you aren't making any sense." The seer closed his eye. "I suppose I'm not. And yet it all does make sense. It really does. It's all connected, you know. From the block people to the stupid vampires to the pony princess to the teenage monsters. It all makes such wonderful, perfect sense. The empress was telling the truth about it all." "Oh my. He's gone mad." Quargle whispered to himself. "Oh, no, my dear Quargle. I haven't gone mad. I am, perhaps, at this moment, the sanest man in all possible universes. Though perhaps that is the same thing, eh? So, where is the capstone anyway?" "Didn't you see?" "Yes, but it was so long ago. Did it get taken to Threen? No, wait... Planet Xenon, wasn't it? No, that was the blue thing. I remember! The squid god ate it!" "Hardy took it back to Furbluffs to ask the animals to hide it." "Oh, right. Just as well. The squid god blew up when that wand touched it. So did Xenon, come to think of it. Oh, I'm getting so confused, now." Quargle went to Sytet in his hotel room. "Algene is awake, but he's babbling like a madman." the bugbear reported sadly. "I'm not surprised." replied Sytet. "When he touched the capstone, it must have boosted his powers exponentially. There's no telling what he saw." Quargle wrung his hands. "Hey, Sytet?" "Yes?" "Thank you for sticking around. I know you didn't have to, and you've delayed your mission by a whole week..." "It was my fault." said Sytet. "I'm the one who told him to take the thing." "Listen. I was wrong about you. I saw you as this scrawny guy with a withered arm who turned into a bat that can't fly, always doing stupid things, allergic to money... I thought you were a loser." "As did I." said Sytet. "But you're not. You're constantly putting yourself out there for others. The risks you take are for them. And you come through. In spite of everything, you always come through. Algene was right. You are a hero." "Thank you, Quargle. That means a lot. Especially now." "If you're ready, Algene is fit to travel." "Good. Because we're really going to need him." As Sytet departed, quargle looked back at algene's grinning face. "I wasn't singing." he insisted. * * * The next day's travel was fairly easy, save for an unfortunate happening about noon. Marcus' horse somehow found his way into a tar pit. With great effort, they were able to free the horse from the bubbling mire, but the horse was forced to travel the rest of that day with one shoe missing. The whole time, Algene was spouting complete nonsense. "What the rest of the mice completely fail to grasp is that they could have exactly the same powers if they would only eat the soup!" or "A turtle carries his house with him, so why do they live in the sewers? I ask you?" Nonetheless, the team's leader was determined to try to pick his addled brain. "So Zoog was the first trial." said Sytet as he rode along next to Algene. "The drow were the second." "That's right." "Then the gnurls were the third." "Were they? I didn't think we'd encountered them, yet." "The penguins were the fourth and the lake was the fifth. That means there's two more trials. So tell me, what's next?" "Have you ever noticed that if the fluttermouse suit was yellow, fluttermouse-man would look just like a rubber duckie?" "Algene, focus. What happens in the here and now?" "Marcus makes a pit stop." "No, I mean the trial." "I'm trying to remember. There's just so much in my head right now, it's hard to sort it all." "While you're sorting," said Marcus. "I'm going to take that potty break." He rode up the path a little way and dismounted. His horse disappeared in a blinding flash of green. Marcus stumbled back up the path in a panic, no longer needing to visit the bushes. "Oh yes! Now I remember! The snatcher plants! Horrible buggers. They're going to eat Marcus' horse. Oh. I suppose they just did, didn't they? Well, it was over quickly." All eyes looked up over the trees to see several large, green mouths with nasty, pointed teeth atop enormous, swaying stalks. There must have been twenty of them. "Where the Everdark did those come from?" asked Quargle. "Probably seeds spread by an unknowing traveler." replied Kapik. "In the fall, snatchers go dormant and produce delicious fruit. But you must be careful to burn the seeds, or they sprout and become monsters in only a few months. There are dozens of these around the canyon. We burn them down at every opportunity." A bird flew too close to one of the plants. It was snatched up in a ridiculous blur of speed. "Zoog will kills it!" "No, Zoog." said Kapik. "Those things would eat you faster than you could down a human ear." "Zoog likes ears, too." said the troll. "That fast." "Algene, how do we defeat the snatchers?" asked Sytet. "With the power of friendship!" "What?" "Wait, that's not us. That's the bears. No. You hit it in the pancreas." "They're plants. They don't have a pancreas." "Oh. Yes! The plants! Drive the ice cream wagon off a cliff!" "I think we're going to need to do this without Algene." said Hardy. "I'm doing my best." said the seer. "It's so hard to think!" "Can we burn them down?" asked Quargle. "We're in the middle of a forest." replied Sytet. "There's no way to contain a fire." "Can we go around?" Sytet transformed and took flight, surveying the area. To one side of the road was a steep dropoff. Beyond the snatchers was the river, which was, at that point, churning whitewater. Beyond the river, steep cliffs. "It's the road or nothing." Sytet reported. "So what do we do now?" asked Micho. "We think." replied Sytet. And that's what he did. He sat on a log and proceded to think. "While we think," said Algene. "You might want to change your pants, Marcus." "My extra clothes were in my saddlebag." "Oh, well, I have a robe that may fit you, then." He fished around in his pack. Oh! I had completely forgotten, I packed a pair of pants just for this moment back in Marai-Uthra. I'm so glad the penguins let me have this one back. Let's see, I put them right here next to the bag of taffy. Would you like some taffy?" he popped a piece into his mouth and chewed. "You said I would like it." Sytet remembered. "Might as well try it." The candy was as sweet as any fruit he'd ever tasted, and had the flavor of oranges and cherries. The more he chewed, the stickier the candy became, until he was almost sure he'd pull a tooth out. "I gob ib!" he cried, suddenly. "You gob ib?" Quargle repeated. Sytet pried his jaws apart. "I got it. The tar pit!" * * * It was late in the day when Sytet and company returned to the snatcher grove. On a sledge bewteen them, Micho and Hardy carried a ball of sharpened sticks held together with tar. When they were as close as they dared go, Zoog, being careful not to touch the tar himself, gave the ball a mighty heave. As anticipated, the snatcher plants went for the bait. The first head came down in a blur of motion. The stick ball shattered, the sharpened ends sticking through the plant's skin. The tar glued it down to the road. The monster struggled to free itself. As it did, a second snatcher sensed the motion and attacked. The first snatcher was decapitated and the second one now stuck and struggling. Two more plants attacked, tearing the second one apart. It's sticky sap only served to add to the tar's gluiness. Soon, it was a free-for-all, with snatcher after snatcher attacking each other. Finally, when the last snatcher's mouth was a sticky mess, the travellers gave it a sarcastic tut tut and went on their way. It was almost midnight when the group reached the city of Taikroisa. Unlike the isolated cities and towns such as Prendor and Marai-Uthra, Taikroisa was a true bastion of civilization, connected to the Lom Shi'Un Dynasty by well-established supply lines. For the last half of the night, at least, they would be sleeping in a real inn meant to accomodate really tired travelers. "We have some good, safe, well maintained roads between here and Lavamist." said Sytet. "We should be out of the forest before noon if we get a decent start. Once we reach Hinam, it's downhill all the way. We can be in Lavamist by nightfall." "That fellow with the nose, did you know he makes his minions from eggs?" said Algene. "Technically, they're chickens." "Is he going to be okay?" asked Kapik. "I'm fine." said Algene. "In base thirty-six. Oh, my, what a clever joke! Did you know that in Cainos, it's considered a sin to eat woodpeckers?" "Let's just get some sleep." said Sytet. "We'll see how he is in the morning." * * * "Nothing like a hot, steaming bowl of fruit and porridge." said Micho as he looked in the window at his friends enjoying their breakfast. "Very true." replied Hardy through a mouthful of dry oats. "And this is nothing like a hot, steaming bowl of fruit and porridge." "Sorry fellows." said Sytet. "But you know ponies aren't allowed inside." "We know. We know." said the ponies in unison. Sytet looked at a map as he ate. "Here's Taikroisa. We've already got a replacement horse for you, Marcus. If we travel at a good clip, we can be down here at the crossroads by lunchtime. We hit Hinam for supper and we can be in Lavamist by nightfall." "Excuse me." said a nearby well-dressed gentleman. "Did you say you're on your way to Lavamist?" "We say a lot of things." said Quargle around a mouthfull of toast. "It just so happens that I have business in Lavamist myself. Allow me to introduce myself. I am..." "Brumburg!" said Algene. "So glad to finally meet you." "I'm sorry." said the human. "Do I know you?" "No. But you will. Algene's my name. Did you know that starfish have no brain?" "He's getting better." Marcus noted. "Quite an interesting factoid, Sir. And you are correct. My name is Brumburg Stonegulley. I happen to know a shortcut to Lavamist, if you're interested." "Do tell." said Sytet. "A dry riverbed." said Brumburg, pointing to the map. "One branch comes straight down through the mountains toward Taikroisa. Another continues in the opposite direction in a nearly straight line in the direction if Hinam. The riverbed makes a natural road. But there are wild beasts along the route and it is best not travelled alone. Perhaps you would consent to join me on the journey. It would save us hours, and we could all be in Hinam by two." "Sounds good to me." said Quargle. "Your call, Sytet." The lutin looked to Algene for any input. The cyclops nodded. "Very well. If you're ready to go, we leave as soon as breakfast is done." "Very good." "I'm done." said Quargle. Reaching into the moneybag, he slapped the price of the meal onto the table. Brumburg flinched visibly and walked quickly away. "What was that about?" asked Marcus. "That guy smelled strange." Micho noted. "Like lizards." Hardy asked, "Algene, is Brumburg our ninth party member?" "Yes! Now our number is complete." "Well, if he's okay with Algene, he's okay with me." * * * All that Brumburg had said was true. The riverbed was there. A river had once flown down from the area of Kro'Ish and split into two rivers flowing in perfectly opposite directions near the end of the mountain range. The riverbed was straight and flat, meandering very little. It was a perfect road, save for the many wild creatures who also traversed the riverbed. Three times the party encountered mountain lions. Three times Zoog fought them off with a single backhand. Most of the intervening time was fairly boring, with little to see but dry riverbanks. Micho whiled away the hours by telling his new friend all about life in the Alpha Omega Federation and how wonderful it was. It was scarcely quarter after two when Hinam came into view. "Well, we're a little later than I anticipated, but there it is." said Brumburg. "You did good, my friend." said Sytet. "Lunch is on me." "On the contrary, I insist on paying for our next meal. I know a wonderful place in Hinam which serves the choicest lamb." And indeed, he did. The meal was absolutely delicious, and everyone but Hardy and Micho was very satisfied that afternoon. Brumburg carefully counted out the cost of the meal in copper coins. "At least let us get the tip." Marcus insisted. He fished a silver coin from his pocket. "Here, give this to the waitress." He tried to place the coin in Brumburg's hand, but the man recoiled. "And deprive you of the pleasure of conversing with a beautiful lady? I wouldn't think of it." Marcus looked over at the waitress, who was sixty years old and had a mustache. "Shall we meet outside in twenty minutes? I have a small matter here in Hinam to which I must attend." "Werebeast?" said Quargle as soon as Brumburg had left the building. "Without a doubt." said Marcus. "The guy is terrified of silver." "Elliot." said Algene. "Who is Elliot?" asked Sytet. "No, not Elliot. Ghidron. No... Taxis. Mitok. Quazzin. Oh, there was something important I was supposed to tell you, but I can't think straight." "Do we trust Brumburg?" "Oh, yes. We do." "Just the same," said Quargle. "Sytet, do you mind if I buy some silver weapons?" "Just keep them clear of me and the princess." Sytet replied. * * * Zin placed a large bag of money on Kayrok's desk. "What's this?" asked the commander. "This year's tax income." "Quite a nice amount. Thank you, Zin and Zan." "From the trading post." Zan added. Kayrok did a double take. "All of that is just from the trading post?" "That's right." said Zan. "People are coming from as far away as Marai-Uthra and Wadogo just to trade. Jun says they're even coming from Chai Enu." "Chai Enu? That's a Lom Shi'Un city, isn't it?" "That's right." "Thank you, soldiers. Good work. Dismissed." Kayrok scratched an ear thoughtfully. This was good news. Revenue was up. Everyone was prospering. Yet somehow, attracting the attention of the Lom shi'Un Dynasty made him nervous. It shouldn't have, he knew. The Death Mountains region was at peace with the Lom Shi'Un. So why did this feel dangerous? * * * The griffin sniffed at the hoofprints in the dirt of the riverbed. Nine horses had passed this way. There were also three goblins and two humans. At least they smelled kind of like humans. One was a little elfy and the other had a tinge she couldn't identify. There was an ogre, or perhaps a troll. That one might pose some problems. It was the last creature that she had the most trouble identifying. Whatever it was, though, it smelled delicious. The griffin was interrupted in her sniffing by the arrival of something large and shaggy. She cawed angrily, making it clear that the creatures who had passed though here were her prey. She'd smelled them first. The response was an angry roar and five clawmarks on the side of her face. Alarmed that any ground creature would be so bold, the griffin backed off. Surely, this beast must be mad. The newcomer roared once again, sending the griffin flying away. There was no doubt left that these horses and humanoids were hers, and there would be no sharing. The beast ran on, pursuing Sytet and his allies with all her strength. * * * "We've made it!" Micho cried. "Lavamist!" Partially hidden behind a veil of steam from hot springs dotting the landscape was the town of lavamist. Nestled among the small houses and handful of shops was the fort. A square of stone with a tower at each corner, it wasn't much to look at. "I thought it would be more impressive." said Quargle. "It's really just an outpost." said Sytet. "Not even within the borders of Nasoj's kingdom, technically. But it was what kept us from starving for our first year." The lutin dismounted. "I'm going to do a flyaround and see if I can spot anything unusual. The rest of you, why don't you see if you can find us an inn. Micho and I can stay in the fort, but the rest of you are civilians. You'll need to make your own accomodations tonight. Micho, meet me at the fort's front gate." "Sytet, wait." said Algene. "Mice actually prefer rice over cheese. Take this." He handed the lutin a small cloth bag full of some kind of powder. "You'll need this." "Thank you." Sytet replied, not sure what it was. He placed it in his pocket, then transformed and took off. The fort showed signs of more than a little neglect. The walls were becoming overgrown with ivy and trees were already growing in the courtyard. Doors were left hanging open. Garbage littered the place. Sytet went to the main gate and found it already wide open. He motioned for Micho to come inside. "Any clue what happened here?" asked the Pony. "There's no signs of a battle. It looks like everyone just up and left." There was a noise at the far end of the courtyard. A disheveled lutin appeared from inside the supply warehouse. "Who's that?" he yelled. "Who's there?" "Kofak-Sytet of Omaga company." replied the werebat. "I'm here to find out what happened to our supply line." "What happened? What? Have you been living under a rock these past years?" "Omega company has been asigned to a long-term tunneling detail. So yes, I have." "Ha ha! And you've been working on that tunnel all this time. Joke's on you, boy. Nasoj is dead." Sytet reeled as if he'd been struck. Nasoj? Dead? "How? When? And who are you, anyhow?" "No one knows exactly how. Some say the keepers got him. Some say his own curses backfired. Some think he's still alive and ruling from a hidey-hole in Nasojara. My money's on the curse. If he is still alive, he might as well be dead. It happened not long after the Winter Assault of '06. I suppose you guys missed that. Many fine lutins died in that battle. That was when we started to realize just what kind of ruler he was. Just another overbearing dictator with delusions of grandeur who couldn't give two coppers for the lives of his people. Everybody left. The army disbanded. Without soldiers, all of the generals got picked off one by one. Vradik, Vladimir, Gradush. Heh. Gradush the beheader met his end in Vedakkar during a revolt. You know how they killed him? They cut off his butt just for the irony of it. Everdark of a way to go. Oh, and as to who I am, my name is Turag." It took a moment, but Sytet finally realized who he was talking to. "Turag? Surely not GENERAL Turag? Turag the slaughterer?" "That was me. A long time ago. You can't be a general with no soldiers. Now I only slaughter the occasional cow." Sytet sat on the ground, dumbfounded. "It can't be true." he said, half-heartedly. "Believe it." "The great Nasoj? Gone?" "Boy, I knew Nasoj. I was taken in just like you at first. There was nothing great about that man. He was barely even a wizard in his own right. Do you know where he got his powers from? They came straight from Everdark. The promises he made were empty. The man was pure evil." "All this time..." Sytet muttered, head swimming as the truth brought all the pieces of the puzzle into place. "Then Metamor Keep... they were the good guys all along?" "Yup. Think about it. We were allied with a city called Devil's Strand. You're in Omega Company. That means you were probably there. What good man would get the most wicked city in Galendor to summon up beings of pure darkness for him?" "Jeepers." said Micho. "Face it, Sytet. It's over." "I couldn't agree more." said a voice from atop the wall. Everyone looked to see Brumburg standing there. He jumped to the ground, traversing the distance with ease. "And now, what say we make it official?" "Who the Everdark are you?" "I the Everdark am Brumburg, a mercenary in the employ of the Lom Shi'Un dynasty." "What do you want with me?" "Perhaps a garden salad and a nice white wine." As Brumburg spoke, he began to grow. "You see, while Nasoj's kingdom has declined, the Lom Shi'Un Dynasty has been growing. Lavamist is now well within their borders." An enormous pair of leathery wings exploded from his back as his skin changed to a dark purple. "I've been sent to claim this place for the dynasty." His neck stretched and a long tail snaked out behind him. "And while I don't actually have to kill you, goblin heads are such a delicacy." "Do your worst." said Turag. "My life is already over. All you can do is end my suffering." "As you wish." A massive set of jaws closed on Turag's head. Sytet shouted in horror as he and Micho were splashed with the general's blood. "That's what I was supposed to tell you!" said the voice of Algene. "Brumburg is a dragon!" Sytet looked back to see Algene standing in the main gate, smiling like an idiot, despite the carnage he'd just seen. Next to him stood Chara, the bear. In her paws, partially wrapped in blankets, was the Sondshara capstone. "What are you doing here?" sytet demanded in a whisper, trying not to attract the attention of the dragon now feasting on the general's remains. "I had a vision." said Chara, as if that explained everything. "Touch the capstone!" "No way. Not after what it did to Algene. Everybody, run! Let's get out of here." "Not so fast." said the dragon. "I was saving you for the fish course." "How do you..." "Oh, I know all about you, werebat. I've been following you since you met up with the cyclops. I was there for everything, including your transformation into a fish. Thanks to you, not only have I learned about secret places which may be of great interest to the Lom Shi'Un, but I have also located Sarlane's capstone. And best of all, you've saved me the trouble of trying to find General Turag. He could have hidden for years, but you, a humble soldier, brought him out of hiding for me. Oh, your failure has been epic, my friend. And incidently, Micho, thank you for telling me all about your homeland. As a reward, I won't eat your father right away. I'll save him for when he's turned into something especially succulent." "Sytet, the bag!" said Algene. "Bison Apples!" Micho swore. Brumburg's jaws came down, but Micho tore out. Sytet suddenly realized what was in the bag. Charcoal, sulfur, and seagull poop for potassium nitrate. Algene had made blasting powder. Sytet let the bag fly into the dragon's open jaws. It burst upon impact. Nothing happened. "What was that?" asked Brumburg, spitting powder. "Blasting powder." said Algene. "It was supposed to blow up when you breathed fire at it." Brumburg spit acid at Algene, who jumped back just in time. "Oh. No fire. That explains it." The dragon snorted in disdain and took off after the pony. "Micho!" cried Sytet. "He'll be killed!" The soldier transformed and took to the air. His talons raked the dragon's back, but his tiny fruitbat claws could do no damage against the thick dragon scales. At last, it seemed Micho was cornered, but when Brumburg went for the kill, Micho bucked and kicked him in the nose. Brumburg recoiled, now having two U-shaped burns on his face. "That's right, punk! Silver horseshoes!" Marcus and Quargle appeared behind the dragon, each bearing a silver sword. The blades cut into Brumburg's hips and left smoking tears in his flesh. "Micho, this way!" shouted Hardy, who led the youngster to the relative safety of some abandoned stone houses. When Brumburg had overcome the shock of the initial blows, he snapped at the human and the goblin. They kept his attention long enough for Zoog to come in from the other side and drive a silver-tipped spear through the dragon's wing. With a roar, the monster turned and caught Zoog's arm in it's mouth. Kapik rescued him with a blow to the dragon's neck. "They can't keep this up for long." said Sytet. "They'll all be killed." Algene took hold of Sytet's shoulders. "Friend, listen to me. If you hear nothing else, hear this. The people of Gilshon discovered guacamole nearly a hundred years before the Pyralians did." "What?" "I mean... you can save them. You're the hero, Sytet. Let the capstone unleash your power." Seeing no other option, Sytet placed his hands on the capstone. A rush of adrenaline filled him. He began to change. Not into a fruitbat, but into something better. Standing on four feet with wings powerful enough to lift boulders and a tail that could smash oak trees, Sytet stood as tall as Brumburg. The bat-creature roared, displaying a mouth of razor-sharp teeth. Brumburg was not one to be cowed. Showing his own mouthful of teeth, he bit into Sytet's wing. Sytet roared in pain, then bit into Brumburg's flank. The dragon let go and pushed his opponent away. Sytet moved in for another attack, but Brumburg spat acid at him. The acid burned, but only for a moment, as Sytet's skin healed almost immediately. Brumburg smashed Sytet's side with his tail. Sytet raked him with his claws. Each werebeast dealt blow after blow to the other, but neither was winning. Brumburg was too tough and Sytet was healing too fast. It seemed they might be deadlocked. Then Brumburg did something unexpected. He picked up a piece of wall from one of the decaying buildings and hurled it at Sytet. The werebat staggered and fell, his head reeling in pain. Roaring savagely, the dragon took to the air. He picked up Zoog's silver-tipped spear and prepared for a high-speed dive that would ram it into Sytet's heart. "Quargle!" called Sytet, trying not to vomit from the pain in his head. "Here!" "The wineskin!" Brumburg came in for the kill. Sytet prayed to Vertarbna and threw the wineskin. It burst upon impact with the dragon, releasing its payload of cursed lakewater. Before he had time to realize what had happened, Brumburg was transformed into a trout, who fell harmlessly to the ground. "Fish no eat an ponies!" cried Zoog, who reclaimed his spear and thrust it through the flopping fish. Sytet transformed back into a lutin and lay on the ground, completely exhausted. "The people of Khumar have eighteen words for orange." said Algene, somberly. * * * "Is this thing on?" asked Micho as he tapped the crystal ball with his hoof. "Testing, one two." Kayrok's face filled the Palantir. "Good evening, Micho, Sytet. It's good to see you're all right. We were starting to get worried." "So were we." said Sytet. "Have you found the cause for our missing supply wagons?" "Nasoj is dead!" Micho blurted. Kayrok's face turned grave. "What did you say?" "That hasn't been confirmed." Sytet corrected. "Possibly dead. Definitely defeated. I've been looking over General Turag's notes. Sir, there was an enormous push against Metamor Keep after our... reassignment. Our side lost. After that, the kingdom just started to fall apart." "So Lavamist was abandoned?" "Yes, Sir. By everyone except the general himself." "And what of him?" "Turag is dead." Micho blurted. Sytet scowled. "Do you enjoy being the messenger of death?" Micho shrugged. "I dunno. A little." Sytet continued. "We have learned that the Lom Shi'Un Dynasty has taken advantage of our kingdom's decline and is making a westward push. Turag was killed by a mercenary. There was nothing we could have done to stop it." Kayrok nodded. "Come home as quickly as you can." "Sir, there is more." "Yes?" "I've learned much about Nasoj's plans in Turag's journals. Sir, he wasn't planning to liberate us. We were to be an invasion force. The attacks on Metamor Keep were unprovoked. Our pass, if it were ever finished, was to be a means of invading the eastern and outer midlands via Aelfwood." Kayrok looked as if he were trying to swallow something very bitter. "You're certain of this?" he asked. "We've all seen the signs, Sir. And I have had this independently verified." "How?" "I'd rather not say, Sir." Kayrok stiffened. "Report, soldier." "Yes, Sir. By Vertarbna. In a dream." Kayrok sighed and nodded. "You're not the type to lightly add significance to a dream. Good work, both of you." "Thank you, Sir. We'll be seeing you soon. And Sir, we'll be bringing some friends. Sytet out." * * * The trip back to Camp Dimtorch was much easier than the trip out. The battle with Brumburg had given Sytet a newfound confidence. Even after the power boost from the capstone faded, Sytet thought of himself as a force to be reckoned with. The confident aura which he radiated was visible to the wild animals, and they left him and his friends alone as they journeyed southeast. Prendor was once again a bustling place. The smell of fresh fish permeated the air, much to everyone's delight, especially Kapik. Sytet was welcomed back as a hero and sent off with as much fish as he could carry. While a stop at the ice caves wasn't strictly necessary, Kapik was glad to report that the search for a new home was going well. News of the abundance of fish in Prendor was received with much delight, and while the lake might not be as cold as were-penguins like it, it was certainly wet enough. At Marcus' request, Sytet traded most of the fish he'd received in Prendor for blankets, weaponry and other handcrafted items from the ice caves. "They would have spoiled anyway." said the lutin. The animals of Furbluffs were dismayed to learn that Brumburg had discovered the existence of their village. Sytet apologized profusely, but Hamal wouldn't hear it. "It would have happened sooner or later." said the badger. "If the Lom Shi'Un are expanding their borders, it was just a matter of time." "Come with us." Sytet invited. "There's plenty of room and food in the federation, and it's far from the prying eyes of were-dragons." Hamal passed the invitation on, and though many animals decided to remain in Furbluffs, many more took Sytet up on his invitation. The gnurls were confused when they saw Marcus returning with Sytet beside him, very much alive. "We see you kill bat!" cried Slothclaw. "You pull fast one?" "Not at all. It's hard to kill a werebeast, you know." Marcus explained. "They heal so fast! So instead of trying to kill him again, I tamed him. He's as docile as a pussycat, now." "It's true." Sytet confrmed. To ease any hostility or suspicion the gnurls might have still felt, Marcus gave them gifts, including a knife he'd picked up while raiding an abandoned shop in Lavamist. It was a small knife for a lutin. For a gnurl king, it was a two-handed broadsword. Marcus went alone into Marai-Uthra. He gathered the wares from his curiosity shop quietly, leaving enough goods that his employees could start their own shop if they desired. He paid them generously and made his goodbyes. At his old home under the bridge, Zoog gathered his belongings, including a change of clothes, some light reading material and a huge cauldron. "Good for making goblin head stew." he explained. "Only now, Zoog not use real goblin heads." No one was more delighted than Zoog when Algene, Quargle and Hardy rejoined the group from the half-dwarf village. "AN PONIES!" he squealed, inasmuch as it is possible for an ogrish troll to squeal, and ran to pet and play with them. Fortunately for him, the ponies were very patient. The lutins, dwarves, gnomes, giants and other assorted beings of the Alpha Omega Federation cheered the return of Sytet and Micho. Many followed him all the way from Singing Pony to Dimtorch, causing the crowd to swell to massive proportions. Into the camp rode Sytet and company, with wagons loaded with goods from the storehouse at Lavamist. A massive celebration ensued. The formerly hobgoblin ponies took up residence in the fields owned by Urik. The place was dubbed "ponytown" and Urik found himself suddenly bearing the title of mayor-general, much to his mixed delight and dismay. The animals of Furbluffs settled here and there, though some thought they should build a new town of their own. When Hamal learned of the great overabundance of food in the federation, he and Kayrok made plans to build a storage facility between North Hunger and the trading post. The new Furbluffs would be built around it. Marcus began selling his goods at the trading post. It quickly became apparent that competition would pose absolutely no threat to the old store, so Marcus soon opened his own shop right across the road. It wasn't long before other traders were coming to him to sell his goods as far away as Kendalas and Khum Fie. He'd even heard a story that a dwarf-made game set which he'd sold to a passing Amitok had led to the creation of a goblin chess club in the remote city of Da. Once the celebrations were all over, Sytet came to Kayrok with a small box. "What's this?" asked the commander. "Sir, these are the ashes of General Turag. I thought it proper that he be buried among lutins. After all, he's the one who gave us the truth. He deserves to be buried with honor for that, at least." "I agree." Kayrok took the box and set it carefully on his desk. "Sytet, there's another matter I want to discuss with you." "Yes, Sir?" "Sujan has been relieved of duty. He went awol at a critical time, and... well, perhaps the rest is best left unsaid. But I find myself in need of a new second-in-command. You've been with me almost as long as he has, and you have recently proven your courage, resourcefulness and fortitude. I would like you, Sytet, to take Sujan's place." Sytet saluted. "I won't let you down, Sir." "Now, as your first official duty, I would like you to call an assembly. I want everyone in my employ, both military and civilian, here for some important announcements at six tonight." "As you wish, Sir." Sytet transformed faster than the eye could follow and flew off to perform his duty. * * * Kayrok looked out at the faces of the assembled crowd. There were thousands, now. What started as a few handfulls of misfit soldiers had burgeoned into a mighty throng during Kayrok's time here. For the first time, Kayrok found himself frightened to face anyone. "You'll do fine." Point assured him with a shoulder rub. "These people love you." "I hope that's true after today." said Kayrok. Putting on a confident expression, he strode out onto the top of the wall of the pass entrance. Raising his hands for silence, he waited for the murmur of the crowd to die down and spoke. "My fellow lutins, dwarves, gnomes, humans, elves, giants, tragso, nilbogs, ponies, hogboons, cyclopses, trows, bugbears, amitoks, norkers, knockers, koalinths, trolls, ogres and whatever other species of people are among us today, it should be immediately obvious that something great has been created here. For never before in the history of goblin kind have so many different types of people coexisted in harmony and prosperity as we do here today. For that, I have each and every one of you to thank. I'd like to acknowledge each of your efforts individually, but I imagine you'd rather go home and sleep tonight." The crowd chuckled politely. "My friends, some of you have heard the rumors already. It's been reported that Nasoj is dead." There was much murmuring. "I can neither confirm nor deny this rumor. What I can confirm is that Nasoj has been defeated. The kingdom is now in a sharp decline, and the lutin army has been dissolved." The crowd became louder. Kayrok motioned for silence, which was a while in coming. "I know that many of you have also heard that Nasoj's promises to liberate us from our confinement to the north was a pack of lies, and that he only sought to use us for conquest. And although we were never expected to complete our pass, it would have been used to move an invasion force into Aelfwood. Many innocent lives would have been taken, and their blood would be on our hands." The crowd was now roaring. Kayrok held up his hands, but no one responded. Seeing that some help was required, Zoog went to the front of the crowd and yelled "SHUT AN EVERDARK UP!" Everyone fell silent. "Please continue." he said. "Thank you, Zoog. Friends, our mission remains unchanged." "But there is no army!" called Sergeant Oof. "If there's no army, there's no mission!" "Nasoj's army was disbanded." said Kayrok. "But there is still us. We were given a task and it is my intention to see that task completed. But while Nasoj intended to use the pass for evil, it has always been our desire that the pass be used for good. Not for the sake of conquest, but for the sake of freedom. From this moment on, we no longer serve Nasoj. We serve the people of the Alpha Omega Federation! A mighty cheer rose from all assembled. Kayrok felt as though a huge weight had been lifted. * * * Kayrok knocked on the door of Algene's new house. He was greeted by the smiling ursine face of Chara. "Please, come in." said the bear. "We've been expecting you." "Of course you have." said Kayrok. "How is he doing?" "Still spouting occasional trivia facts, but on the whole, much better." "Commander, please come in." said Algene, who was seated at the kitchen table. "I'd like to commend you on your decision concerning interspecies marriage." "I, uh... haven't made a decision like that." said Kayrok. "Oh. Well you will. You rule that the descendants of transformed giants are people too and free to marry other species of people. Chara and I will be very grateful." "You two are engaged?" "Not yet." said Chara. "We can't really see our own futrures, but we think it happens some time around winter solstice." "The ancient Sondsharans thought tomatoes were poisonous." said Algene. "There I go again. All because of that silly capstone." "That's what I came to tell you." said Kayrok. The capstone has been put in a safe place. It's been placed at the very top of the highest tower in Sky Valley, so that it can be used as it was intended, and so that there will be little temptation to abuse its power, since all but one of the people of Sky Valley are completely non-magical." Chara opened the door. Sytet stood there, fist raised in the knocking position. "Sytet, please come in." "You seers." Sytet chuckled. "Hello, Captain. Algene, how are you doing?" "Much better, thank you. Flamingoes are pink because they eat pink shrimp. But as you can see, my head is still a bit overstuffed." "Glad to hear it. I brought you some cookies from Splim's. I thought they might help." "Vanilla is the most popular flavor. Thank you, Sytet. That's very kind. Since you're both here, there's something I'd like to discuss with you." "My dreams." said Sytet. "An astute prediction. Yes. I know that both of you have been having apocalyptic dreams. I also know that both of you have accurately determined that these dreams portend great disaster." Kayrok sat down and looked Algene in the eye. "What happens?" he asked. "And when?" "I can't tell you that." said the cyclops. "It may be that the events include my death, or it may be that too much magic is involved. However, I have seen an enemy advancing on Camp Dimtorch. One intent on destruction and death. The enemy is strong, and victory is impossible for you." "What do we do?" Algene had a goblin chess set sitting on the table. "Do you play goblin chess?" he asked. "I'm afraid I never learned." Algene took a piece out of the box. "This is a Nilbog. It can move one or two spaces in any direction but straight forward. This one is a Hogboon." He took out another piece. "It can move in any distance in any direction, but can only attack forward. When these two pieces are left on the board, the result is almost always a stalemate, because one can run from the other indefinitely. Alicorns are the rarest type of equine. Excuse me. My brain is still burping. In the world of board games, a stalemate is a bad thing. But in life, it means survival. That is what you must do, captain. Bananas have three sets of genes. You must survive." "Thank you." said Kayrok. "We will do our best."