-
If Kahlina hadn’t been so helpful, Edgar might not have joined them. It was an even greater testament to her kindness that she put up with his stuttering stride that almost brought his wooden right foot down on her heels as she pulled him along behind her. Calico might have had a compliment for that if she wasn’t oblivious to the entire situation.
She had just finished her work upon a dozen Catholic Priests, all residing in one of the many indifferentiable worlds where that particular religion had caught on. The particulars of their nightmares were disturbing, to say the least, and even the dream demon seemed to shed her memories of what exactly she had sent them. However, she could be sure of the result. At this very moment, every one of them was throwing themselves bodily into the nearest basins of holy water while screaming something to the extent of, “Impure bunnies! Bunnies are the devil!” Most of them were going to attack anyone who tried to interrupt their cleansing, and word would just grow from there. It would be bigger than an image of the Virgin Mary on a piece of toast!
Calico’s work and subsequent gloating took her to the moment when Kahlina spoke about making camp. She turned to Edgar’s bubble, the view within darkening with dusk, and was about to squeal something approving when Kahlina made a request of the puppet. Water? she asked blankly while her feline features tightened in thought. After a second, her eyes widened, Oh! Drinky drinky water. Searching time, Edgar sweety! She excitedly pumped a fist in the air.
So did Edgar, but his wooden arm made an unpleasant grinding sound with the sudden motion. Apparently unharmed, he turned from Kahlina and continued down their path of travel with his arm frozen over his head in an unending salute.
He had walked for quite a while by the time that Calico noticed the problem and coached him in the proper method of appendage retrieval. The sun was nearly set by then, though the shadow of the mountain made it seem far later. Edgar’s eye was having trouble in the twilight. Everything he looked at was rock, naturally, so it easily blended to become a great vertical surface that seemed to rise on either side of the path he walked.
His creator wasn’t much help with directions or detection as she rambled to herself. We should have asked her how fresh? Ice chilled? Bottled? Carbonated? There’s so many options for water these days, and I don’t see any concession stands. To prove her point, she gave the image in Edgar’s bubble a thorough scan, and finally saw something. It wasn’t a concession stand, but it certainly sparkled like water.
At his master’s directions, the puppet toddled off the path and crawled into the rocky outcroppings that looked like petrified toffee; pre-chewed. The sparkle came from a rather deep impression that was just ahead of him, though still a struggle to reach. When he finally did, he halted at a delayed command, his upper body already submerging in the pool. It was clearly old water, gritty and brown, only held there so long by the lack of natural drainage.
Congratulations! Calico squealed, but her mood quickly dropped when she analyzed the water’s condition. Um… let’s tell her it’s chocolate water, she offered uncertainly. Edgar’s dream half agreed with a low gurgle. That brought the smile back to Calico’s face, and she approached the next problem with renewed gusto. Now, what to carry it in… she mused happily, then chirped excitedly when the answer came to her. Edgar, sweety. Could you please take off your woody arm?
The creak of gears and wood that echoed from the mountainside seemed painfully loud in the dusk silence.
-
“Where was I? Oh yeah, I remember now. While everyone was setting up the game to play, each person made a tiny doll of themselves and a card representing their fear to use in the game. When they were at last done, Lilly took the first roll. As the dice touched the board, darkness filled the room and sent everyone to sleep.
Lilly was the first to awaken. Around her, all of her friends but one lay on the ground. Katie was missing. Once everyone woke up and began searching the room for the lost girl, they found that none of them could open the doors. They were trapped inside the room.
Out of thin air and with no warning another person appeared in the room with them. Recognizing the man as the one that had sold the game to her, Lilly stepped back to the tight group her friends had formed. Questions and threats flew from the group as each one tried to find out what had happened. Where they were and where the missing girl, Katie, was.
Mocking and laughing at them, the man introduced him self as Julian. Only hinting at what he wanted as his prize Julian told them that they were all players in his game. They were to play for their lives. If they could confront and defeat each of their fears and escape the house by the stroke of midnight then they bothered no longer. If not, then they became his to play with forever.” I looked up to see Tzaphiel’s face, to see if my story was gaining his interest or if I should try another. His thoughtful, involved expression was enough for me.
“As quickly as Julian had appeared he disappeared. With his departure the door leading farther into the house opened of it's own accord. With no other choice, ans much arguing, everyone shuffled through the door." For a moment I paused and wondered if 'shuffled' had been the right the word to use. Perhapswalking would have been better... or a conga line. Unbidden a picture formed in my head. A line of tiny people moving, their hands on the person in front of them. All of them singing 'We are going to die here! We are going to die here!' Rather than smile at the silly image I bit on my lower lip and shook my head slightly, it's not as if Tzaphiel would have known what a conga line was. On with the story...
"On the other side, Lilly found herself in a long hallway decorated in dark gaudy colors, and alone. Behind her, the door swung shut leaving her with no choice but to move forward.
Scared, Lilly headed down the long hall to the first door. She hesitated, not wanting to open the door. The thought that Katie, who was like a little sister to everyone, could be behind that door just as scared and alone as Lilly herself was spurned her to open the it and walk in.
“Lilly found herself in a large clearing in the middle of a nighttime forest. To her right, near the trees Lilly spotted one of her friends, Amber, being lead away by several young men. Calling to her friend, Lilly caught up with her and the men. She allowed herself to be pulled along with Amber. Minutes later they stood before a large opening in the ground. The men called down into the hole in an unknown language. Lilly exchanged an uncertain glance with Amber. From the hole, pale creatures emerged. At first glance, they were lovely, but then Lilly began to notice that all bore some twisted feature; a tail on one, cloven hooves on another. Lilly shrieked along with Amber as both were pushed into the hole by the men, they fell past the creatures and down into the darkness.
Once again, Lilly woke up; she was a little surprised that she was not hurt. Next to her, Amber crouched, her normally perfectly coiffed hair now in disarray. Around them several of the creatures stood, waiting silently. Once Lilly stood up, both her and Amber were herded further into the caves. They were lead to a beautiful crystalline structure and separated. Lilly struggled to break away from the group pulling her along and reach Amber, she was afraid of being separated and being alone.
“After being forced into a room, Lilly found herself waiting what seemed like hours in an empty chamber. Just as she began worrying about the time, one of the walls opened to allow a person into the room. At first Lilly did not recognize the person, but once she saw the distinctive electric blue eyes the man had she knew him to be Julian.
The conversation with Julian was short, vague and bizarre. The only thing Lilly really learned was Julian had set up the whole thing to capture her. Lilly threw the silver rose Julian had given her away once she realized that Julian only touched her where the rose had touched her. After Julian left, Lilly considered stomping the rose to bits but decided against it. Instead, she tested the walls, eventually finding a section that opened for her.
Meeting no resistant in the dimly lit halls, Lilly found amber in no time. Amber was huddled in the corner of one chamber, her face stained with tears. It took several minutes of talking and cajoling for Lilly to get Amber on her feet and angry enough for her to be able to over come her horror of the little creatures. Hand in hand, they walked out of the chamber, and found themselves in the hall once again. At their feet lay a card, on it was the drawing that Amber had done for her fear.
“Together they faced the next door, inside they found another hall, identical to the first one. They found the door behind them firmly shut and locked. Wandering up the hall, came Dillon. Once they spotted one another all three rushed to meet each other. Lilly smiled and looked away, little the two lovebirds have a moment.
At a strangled gasp Lilly turned around to see Amber staring at Dillon in horror as something green and moss like spread across Dillon’s hand and fore arm. Lilly was forced to hold Dillon down when he began to rip and tear at the moss like plant growing on his skin. The moss was so firmly connected the skin around it began to bleed when the moss was pulled upon. Thinking on her feet Lilly left Amber to keep Dillon from hurting himself and grabbed one of the candles that rested in a bracket every so often.
Carefully Lilly moved the flame close to the plant like growth on Dillon. Lilly was surprised to find that the moss died easily. In the end, she covered both arms, his chest, feet and had to singe a bit of hair to remove all of the plant growth from Dillon.
As the last of the plant fell to the carpet the door Lilly and Amber had used to enter opened of its own accord. Outside the door, the trio found Dillon’s card. It bore the drawing of a green leafy creature with human arms and legs sprouting from it.” I stretched, feeling my spine pop in several places and sighed.
“That’s it for tonight, kiddo. Lilly can rescue everyone else tomorrow night. I should probably apologize, I’m not much of a story teller.” I glanced out towards the opening, wondering where Edgar was for a moment. Shrugging, I dismissed the twinge of worry. It’s not like he is edible or in anger. I’m sure Calico wouldn’t truly allow Edgar to be ripped into shreds. I suddenly remembered reading about Edgar being catapulted into the middle of a enemy tent, following Chromannon. Frowning, I fought eyes that were getting increasingly heavy and settled in comfortably to watch the cave opening for him.
-
Tzaphiel watched Kahlina’s body for a long time, still and droopy eyed. He couldn’t remember the story very well. Every name except for Lilly’s had flitted away from his mind. He understood, at the least, that she was in danger. Grandfather’s stories hadn’t been so dangerous. They never made him worry. Maybe Kahlina was getting better… a little. But, he couldn’t decide. All he could think about was familiar things that seemed far away. All except one.
With slow, plodding steps, he walked outside. The starry sky greeted him over the swell of bare earth. Urgently, he scanned it. It hadn’t occurred to him earlier what the strange feeling, the reason that he had been feeling weak and slow since afternoon, was because he missed something. But, it wasn’t in tonight’s sky either. His silver hair fluttered about as he searched more frantically, hoping to catch it should it be hiding just behind his head. If it was, he wouldn’t be able to see it. The rock wall that Kahlina lay in was high and steep, almost as steep as his tower’s walls. It blocked almost half of the sky. Under the dark, imposing stone face, Tzaphiel made a low whimper, and his heavy eyelids squeezed shut.
Nothing was familiar anymore.
Suddenly, though almost in a blurry haze, he thought of the story. Lilly had been all alone too, and she went forward to get away from it. Always forward. Tzaphiel’s eyes opened above a stern, though trembling, mouth. He would go forward too.
He made his way back into the cave, skirted Kahlina’s motionless form, and walked into the darkness. His feet felt heavy as if they bore weights, but Lilly had faced trouble too. She would save everyone, Kahlina had said, so that must have meant that she would eventually get out. He would too. If he kept going straight, he would come out the other side of the mountain. The other half of the sky, and the moon’s light, was waiting there.
Without the sun or stars or people, time seemed to stand still. Everything was dark, darker than the tower had ever been. But, Tzaphiel felt his way forward desperately, if not bravely. It was a world of hard, rough shapes. Some of them scrapped him or forced him to fumble about for any small opening. His footsteps sounded again and again, bouncing off the walls until he felt like an army digging through the earth. The sounds seemed so powerful and rapid that he didn’t notice his own feet slowing. Gradually, almost comfortably, his mind sped through the blackness, all noise and speed, while his body staggered and came to a heavy stop amid the severely angled rock faces.
-
I woke to darkness, the fire long burned down to sullen embers. Muttering a curse under my breath I sat up and rubbed at my ribs as they protested the stony floor and thanked me for sitting up. Did anyone get the license plate number of the truck… I chuckled at my own thought. Night blind, my fingers quested for the small pile of wood I knew to be near by. I found the first piece by tearing a cuticle against the knotty wood. Hissing in a breath I carefully grabbed the wood and put in the fire pit, poking the embers near the chunk of wood. Several minutes later the first tentative flames licked at the wood, shedding light.
“There we are. Why did you guys let…” I trailed off, as I realized I was alone. With the stone walls of the cave surrounding me I couldn’t tell how long I has slept. Losing Edgar didn’t worry me too terribly much. I was sure he was safe, just probably lost or in his down mode somewhere near by. The absence of Tzaphiel on the other hand worried me greatly. The little guy had repeatedly shown his innocence of things. Coupled with his lack speech, or any other noise created a huge problem.
“Tzaphiel? Where are you?” I called as I stood at the entrance of the cave, tugging on one of my well-used shoes. I pushed away the idle thought that I needed to replace them soon. After waiting for a moment I decided it would be best to search the cave first, after walking through the forest the cave would have presented a greater chance for exploration to a curious child. As I passed the fire I snatched up a large burning branch and a second smaller piece of wood.
Within meters of the fire, walking became difficult, clear spaces were few and far in between. I found myself often stepping on the sides and tops of large rock, clinging to the walls and other rocks to maintain my balance. I was worried that I made so much noise that I couldn’t hear anything. If something approached me or Tzaphiel made some noise to help me find him I would be able to hear it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I stood in a tiny patch of clear ground, staring down into the cave, resting my aching ankles and feet. Something at the edge of the fires light gleamed back dully in the flickering light. I couldn’t be sure but I thought it moved. Spurned on by the hope that it was Tzaphiel I hopped up to the nearest secure foot hold and carefully picked my way across the rocks.
As I got near enough to see the object I felt my throat tighten painfully in fear. Tzaphiel lap sprawled awkwardly across the rocks. One small arm had caught in the crevice of a rock, his legs rested on another rock. I couldn’t see his face through the hair that hung in his face. What frightened me the most was a lizard, the same as the one displayed in Perth’s stone clung to a rock near Tzaphiel’s head and tasted the air around the boy.
“You get away from him!” I shrieked. My screams echoed in the small tunnel as the lizard looked up at me and hissed, far to similar to a snake to be comfortable. I picked up a large rock and threw it at the lizard. I only succeeded in making it mad as I hit the rock near it. It hissed a challenge back at me as I shrieked threats and obscenities at it trying to get it away from the unconscious boy.
I reached out to grab something else as I took several more steps towards the lizard, I was a hand span from grabbing Tzaphiel. My hand closed on something wooden and I yanked on it then struck at the lizard, landing a glancing blow, splashing vile smelling water all over the place. The lizard half fell half slid from it’s perch into a small hollow, there it struggled to right itself. I stared at the object in my hand, at the wooden arm. I turned, behind me the odd figure of Edgar stood awkwardly.
“I believe this is yours.” I started to hand the arm back to Edgar, I stopped as I remembered that the lizard was still present. I spun back around and bashed the lizard on the head with Edgar’s arm several times. I was ashamed of the fact that I waited between each blow to see if it would move.
-
Istraloth chocolate water was rare, especially since it had only been discovered a few hours earlier. However, despite the expected market value, Calico screamed nothing but praise as Kahlina clubbed the lizard while giving it a drink.
Edgar watched with mild interest as the large lizard thrashed about. With each blow, he recognized more of that feeling, that kinship with beings that had so much in common with him; their unthinking, instinctive motion, their dwindling mental capacities. He had seen it before, but it always led to the inevitable still silence of the creature. Tonight, however, the decline stopped short. The woman had beaten the animal into a drooling, senseless state, but it was still alive with twitches and breaths that betrayed its desire and capability to move. Of his own accord, the puppet stepped closer to the battered animal. The exposed gears in his shoulder spun and whined as they tried to move an arm that wasn’t there.
With the grisly work complete, Kahlina finally offered Edgar his missing limb, though he only accepted it because his master saw it at the side of his vision and ordered him to. His gummy hand gripped the appendage and pressed it forcefully against the socket, which produced a scream of metal as the pieces grazed off of each other. Feeling the lack of contact, he pulled his eye from the lizard and looked at the battered end of the arm. Wood had splintered inward from the damaged area and lay among the gears like striking laborers. It didn’t even occur to him to clean out the appendage. He simply tried again, using as much force as his gummy side could muster. With the pop and crunch of wood, he meshed the gears amid a slow shower of splinters.
Calico’s congratulations filled his head, then her question of, Is the mean lizard thingy dead?
Edgar cranked out the word, “Dead?”, as he lifted his wooden arm to point. It moved so shakily and with such a horrible grinding that, when his finger pointed at Tzaphiel instead of the lizard, it could have been misinterpreted as mechanical failure. However, this was one of the rare instances that Edgar’s brain sparkled with a semblance of thought. The lizard was alive. He knew because the pleasurable vision of decline still lay, making a gurgling snore, amid the rocks. The boy, on the other hand, was not showing any signs of life at all. The chest didn’t rise. The limbs didn’t twitch. A hint of disappointment stirred in Edgar’s mind, strangely more than just regret at missing the boy’s fall into his current state.
Oh no! Calico screeched as Tzaphiel came into view in the bubble. She hadn’t noticed his form under the battle of woman versus cave lizard. Edgar! Check his pulse!
The puppet’s pointing hand creaked forward to find out what a ‘pulse’ was, then check it.
-
Panting, I stood there for a long moment. The sounds nerve scraping sounds of Edgar replacing his arm mostly ignored. My actions of the last few minutes were vaguely hazy as if I hadn't had control over my self. Inwardly I cursed at the effects of adrenaline and the whole fight or flight reaction. Damn genetics. Why couldn't the human race evolve more useful mechanisms? I pursued these thoughts sourly.
"'...Dead?'" Edgar's words pulled me from my silent musings. I looked up and followed the scarred wooden arm to Tzaphiel's unmoving form. I could feel my eyes widen and time slow as I stilled, holding my breath while I stared at the boy and waited for him to move, to breathe.
Edgar's questing hand, reaching for the boy, suddenly seemed like a threat. Bounding forward I slapped at the wooden hand, bruising several fingers for my trouble. Unconsciously nimble I hopped from rock to rock, crossing the foot or two that separated Tzaphiel and I. Carefully, I righted the limbs caught and turned him over. Something in my chest tightened at the sight of the lax, smooth expression on Tzaphiel's face.
I found myself chanting under my breath, saying no over and over again as I scooped up his little body. I felt no movement of his chest, no breathing no heartbeat. Tears gathered in my eyes, blinding me, misty and stinging as I held on to Tzaphiel fiercely.
Just as I began to morn the lost of a life so young. One that I had begun to view as a little brother or perhaps a sort of son the head that dangled over my arm at a awkward angle shifted, pulling itself up and laying on my shoulder. Relief flooded though me despite that fact that, that simple movement was it. Nothing else was shifted or moved. Blinking away the salty droplets that clung willfully to my eyelashes I laid my cheek against Tzaphiel's forehead and cursed myself for being a fool. I had noticed oddities about the child, why had I not realized that he didn't breathe?
"He's okay guys. I think he's just knocked out, but he's okay." Smiling like a fool, I looked up at Edgar and through him, Calico. The soft, buzzsaw snarl of a snore from the beaten lizard finally intruded into my awareness. I glanced at the lizard and was tempted to wack the lizard once more just to ease my mind and have a bit of revenge for the worry it had put me through. Instead I shifted Tzaphiel, supporting him with one arm and a hip as I dug through a pocket for the first of the stones Perth had given us.
Once found it was a simple matter to drop the stone on the lizard. With no theatrics, no flash of light, or boom of displaced air the lizard simply disappeared once the stone struck it's exposed stomach. I shook my head and hoped that Perth wouldn't be too angry with us to sending him a battered creature, after all he had wanted a live one. It will live. Unfortunately.
"Come on Edgar, lets get back to camp. I can try and fix your arm once we get back."
-
Calico sat before the Edgar bubble with her knees hugged to her chest and her head craned forward. It was the same pose that Edgar had adopted as he gently poked one gummy finger at Tzaphiel's cheek. Oooooh, I get it, Calico announced. It had taken her a while, the entire journey back to the cave mouth campsite to be exact. Zafie's a constructy... thing! Just like you, honey. That's what grabby-house guy was talking about when he said Zafie was well made. I thought he was just one of those weirdos who are into little boys.
Edgar continued poking, taking care to avoid the open, glassy, obsidian eyes of the child. He had already been scolded once for poking too close, and it was only because of his current unarmed state that he was even allowed to try waking the boy. His wooden arm of uncontrolable crushing death was safely on the other side of the camp fire, specifically in Kahlina's lap as she tried to clean the wood chips out of it. It was quite a noisy process, not because of the deformed gears, but because of the constant vulgarities that she spit across the fire. You'll have to get her to clean up her language before you guys have kiddies, Edgar's master cheerfully told him.
He just kept staring at Tzaphiel's face, waiting for the slight twitches that had been happening sporadically as if he were trying to look around, though all their was to see was the eerily lit stone ceiling. It was odd how he seemed even more lifeless than the dying creatures Edgar was so curious about, yet he was kept safe while the dead things had always been thrown away. Maybe the boy was going through a reversal of that process, which meant that, if Edgar waited long enough, he would see when Tzaphiel rose to the state of twitchy, struggling near-death. In the depths of his gummy brain, there was his first twinge of hopeful expectation. Not as impressive as first steps, mind you, but still important.
"Clean up kiddies," Edgar finally croaked as his mind left the blazing treadmill of sub-par rationalizations and acknowledged his master's words.
-
The gears within the wooden arm I held were deceptively simple. I wondered how the arm was used so well. I snorted to myself, holding back a chuckled. Used so well? I’m surprised it works at all now that I think about it. It must have something to do with Calico’s influence. With the point of the small blade on the swiss army knife I poked and prodded until the pieces of wood were removed from all of the gears in the arm and shoulder, and from my fingers.
The garbled, clicking words that Edgar suddenly said earned him a suspicious look after I looked from Tzaphiel to the opening of the cave and around us. Clean up? Kiddies? Clean up what kiddies? Tzaphiel was clean. Well he might have a smudge or two from his fall earlier but other than that and his grubby little feet he was fine. Shaking my head I laid the wooden arm within Edgar’s reach and headed for Tzaphiel. I drew the small boy close to me, as if I was sharing my body heat with him when I was actually protecting him from everything. Especially curious gummy and wooden fingers that liked to poked eyes.
“Edgar, I’m going to get some sleep. Please stay here in the camp and keep an eye out for anything dangerous. We’ll be heading out for the squirrel thingy that’s in the next rock in the morning.” At least I think it’s a squirrel. Well, it kind of looks like one. Man, Althanas has some weird things in it. I fussed and grumbled under my breath for a moment longer before making sure that Tzaphiel was as comfortable as he could be with a bunch of metal in his back.
“Oh, Calico. We should hook up sometime, come visit me.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Morning came too early in the cave. Huffing under my breath I rolled over to escape the sunlight and rolled into something that gave slightly. Propping one eye open I studied the thing that was pressed up against my nose. Cloth. Wait, cloth? Tzaphiel! I sat up and checked on the little guy. I felt a pang of worry and disappoint as he seemed the same. Hopefully I prodded his should then shook him gently.
“Tzaphiel? Hey kiddo, when are you going to wake up?” Discouraged, I dug into my pack and quickly ate the first edible thing I grabbed without really tasting it. Carefully I scooped up Tzaphiel, the metal making him an awkward, but light bundle to carry.
“Edgar, if you could carry my pack I’d be grateful.” I smiled at Edgar. For some reason I feel like singing that stupid song that the dwarves in Snow White sang while they were digging. I glanced back at Edgar, wondering if Calico had taken me up on my offering and had visited me while I was sleeping. It was easier to blame a weird and childish urge on a forgotten dream and dream visitor than admit to my own quirks of insanity.
“Okay, in the pic of the squirrel I saw trees and I think a mountain. So we are heading up into the trees on the mountains. I hope I’m right about this.”
-
As they left the craggy, lower passes of the mountain and entered the sun-bathed, forested heights, Edgar walked behind Kahlina with unusually stable strides. It could have been that he had accrued enough walking experience to reach the next level, as his master had said upon congratulating him. But, it was actually Tzaphiel that drove him. He could see the sleek plume of silver hair over Kahlina's elbow, barely visible, and that was it. If Tzaphiel returned to life now, he might miss seeing it.
Unbeknownst to her, Calico was doing a decent job of keeping the curiosity from getting dangerous and pokey. Edgar, as instructed, was raising and lowering his wooden arm to her count that would make an aerobics instructor on crack seem unenthusiastic. Hopefully, Kahlina didn't have anything too breakable in her pack, because it jostled up and down the flailing wooden bicep as if a wild animal were trying to escape from within. The entire act looked like a seizure and sounded like a sawmill, and it thankfully only lasted an hour before Calico grew bored.
Afternoon came, and so did the trees, but it was all washed out by the glare of the naked sunlight. At least, that was the view from Calico's side. Careful, sweety, she warned as she squinted into the bubble, You're getting very close to the sun, now. Make sure you don't melt. Dream Edgar grunted and jiggled suddenly, to which she put a hand on his squishy cranium and cooed, There there. It'll be ok. Just stay hydrated!
The view in Edgar's bubble had suddenly shifted from Kahlina's back to the treetops, and he grunted again, this time with more spittle. Finally, Calico understood. Despite the glare that she had been picking up from the angle of the sun and the refraction index of his eye, he had seen something up there. Good job! she cheered, You've got the eye of an eagle. A bald one. She rubbed his head again. Stay on target!
Edgar did, though his head was already cranked back as far as the wooden ball joint would allow. The branches above him shook again, and a dark, rectangular shape shot through the air between them. With his gummy hand, he pointed straight up, offsetting the balance only barely achieved by his heels. As he fell back, he barked loudly and in a raspy, grating tone, "Eagle one, on target!" Then, he crashed heavily upon the leafy path with Kahlina's pack miraculously unharmed below his arm instead of crushed under his shoulder. "Edgar down," he clicked at a condolence given from above.
-
My arms and back ached while my shoulders screamed in protest of the little bundle I carried in my arms. It was hard carrying him over a rocky terrain, let alone trying to climb up the said terrain. Tzaphiel didn’t weigh much but given enough time, and marching. Yes I couldn’t forget marching. He became something that felt like lead and weighed a ton. The odd metal bar I had discovered to be embedded in his back had long ago caused a lack of feeling in my left arm. The fingers that clinched his shoulder were mottled white, red and purple. I wasn’t entirely sure if I should be alarmed or not, but I wasn’t willing to set the little guy down. Not for his sake but for mine. I just knew my arm was going to hurt like hell once the blood got properly circulating once more.
The only alternate means I had of distracting myself from worrying over the state of my hand was the unending noise from Edgar. I was certain that the racket he caused was going to chase away the odd little critter we were currently looking for. The feel of feathers and scales against my skin startled me, I looked down at the small bundle I carried and spotted the hideous thing Tzaphiel had acquired at Perth’s. Taking in the serpentine body distorted with a dove’s wing, a raven’s wing, a single cat’s claw on the end and a chipmunk’s head I cringed and wondered just how it had gotten there. I could have sworn that it was not around Tzaphiel’s waist before I slept yet now it was draped over him, the claw held firmly in the mouth.
To distract myself from the growing urge to turn around and yell at the puppet and the disturbing thoughts of Tzaphiel’s ‘toy’ I started counting in my head, ticking away the seconds. I reached four thousand, six hundred and ninety two when Edgar suddenly ceased his racket and spoke. Eagle one on target? Someone has crept into way to many young boys’ heads and watched the dreams of being a fighter pilot.
“Calico, lay off the Top Gun movie quotes.” I said then instantly regretted my short tone. Don’t piss off the dream demon. Don’t piss off the dream demon with delusions of godhood. I could feel my shoulders tense up on their own as I followed the path that Edgar’s arm point out. If the next words that came out of Edgar’s mouth sounded even remotely huffy I was so not sleeping tonight.
A scrabbling sound from the trees above me, only a little off from where Edgar pointed, drew my attention. Staring up into the foliage, I had to circle around a few steps before I finally spotted the squirrel like animal. I stared at the bright orange fur of the animal and wondered how it survived with fur that color. It screamed target. Eyeing the tree it was in, I carefully laid Tzaphiel near Edgar.
“Keep him safe and don’t poke him Edgar.” I whispered through clenched teeth as I rubbed my suddenly tingling arm.
Once the pins and needles sensation had mostly faded and I could once again feel my fingers moving, I slowly crept up tot the tree and reached for the lowest branch. Yeah, this is going to work about as well as a snowball’s chance in hell. Several branches up, I refused to look back down at the ground, my old fear of heights had returned with a vengeance.
Wriggling my nose to relieve an itch as I was not about to let go of the branch I clung too, I stared at the brightly colored animal and met shiny brown eyes that looked distinctly amused. Laugh it up furball, you’re going on a trip. Throwing caution aside as well as common sense, I lunged at the creature in a foolish attempt to grab it. I felt the coarse fur brush my fingertips as it launched itself into the air in a daredevil jump that made my lunge look like nothing.
Branches scored a few hits as I fell out of the tree. Winded and gasping, I watched the critter drift to a near by tree and disappear into the foliage.
“It frickin flies! Why are we chasing a flying squirrel? ” I shouted as soon as I had enough air in my lungs to vocalize the phrase that had been racing circles in my mind for the last ten or fifteen seconds.
“She doesn’t fly.” Despite my prone position, I whipped my head around and glared at the source of the clicking, gravelly voice.
“I’m well aware that I can’t fly, nor did I try. I fell.” My voice was too airy and wheezing to sound as annoyed as I felt. Grumbling under my breath, I carefully rolled over and pulled myself up to my feet. Looking up at the branch I had fallen from I was a little surprised I hadn’t broken something, but I wasn’t surprised that I now felt like I was seventy.
“How are we supposed to catch something that flies?” I said, more to myself that to my companions.