Day 180: So Close That I Can't Help But Feel Hopeful

Coqoj 11th,4288: 180 Days in the Mortal Realm

Gemmel finally spotted someone who could help me today. It was getting progressively grim looking when the week kept going on and no luck. Part of me wonders if Gemmel was just too busy to notice better. He wasn’t shy of customers. In fact, people seemed to search him out immediately asking for various items to be crafted and wondrous items to be made. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted to ask Gemmel to make me something. Thank goodness I had half the mind to remember all he’s done for me with no expectation, so it would seem, of repayment.

I hoped to repay him someday.

So yes. Gemmel was quite busy, but halfway through day five at the Carnival an elf came up to him and Gemmel seemed overly delighted to see him. They began to converse, Gemmel ever so often pointing toward me. The elf nodded, making his own gestures. Gemmel then turned and came to me with the elf close at hand.

“So, this here is one of the representatives from the Wizard Conclave,” Gemmel introduced, “He’s going to examine you to see if he can figure out what exactly has been done and if there’s a way to reverse what’s happened to you,” he explained.

“Ok.ay,” I simply replied.

Gemmel lifted me onto a counter top that he had set up for customers. The elf then came over and began to prod me a little. He looked into my eyes, felt down my back and abdomen. He lifted me up, seeming to test how heavy I was. He then stood back after many minutes of scrutinizing over me. For a moment I was concerned he hadn’t a clue what to do to fix me. However as I looked at him, it seemed more like he was marveling how I got into such a predicament.

The elf and Gemmel chatted for a few more minutes before the elf nodded and took off. Gemmel came to me and gently patted my head.

“He thinks he knows what he needs. He’s going to go gather the materials and hopefully will make it back before we have to go. 2 days should be enough time. However if it turns out he hasn’t returned by then, you can stay and I have a way of communicating with him to let him know where you are,” Gemmel explained. I nodded my head so he knew I had heard him. I wasn’t looking forward to the possibility of being left there without Gemmel, so here was hoping in the next few days, the elf would return and I’d be restored to me true body.

Chapter 4: A Leap of Faith

Chapter 4

When I woke, it was early morning. It was quiet outside. Unusually quiet. I looked around the igloo and could see Sanji sitting in a corner, doing something. I imagined it was a wizard thing, but I couldn’t say. Magic was never something I was good at. I wrapped my arms around my legs since I hadn’t a clue what to do. Cortanna probably was still in Sanji’s rope trick room and considering the town wasn’t up and about, there wasn’t anything for me to do. I did glance over at my arm and noticed the wound was beginning to heal. The imp currently at it was hard pressed to find anything to consume from it. I knew I had best get more food for them. Perhaps I could do some more work for one of those cattle beasts.

“Good to see you’re back. Where’d you run off to in such a hurry last night?” I asked Sanji as I felt myself begin to get restless.

“Realized Kedra was missing. I was able to find her. She’s doing alright when I checked on her earlier this morning,” Sanji responded without looking up at me. I felt a little bad we had forgotten about her, but she was kind of a pill to me.

Speaking of things missing, I noticed Gunther wasn’t in the room. However despite noticing Gunther’s absence, I figured Sanji would be the one most likely to be freaking out if he truly was gone. Also, I tried calling luggage a few times to see if I could find anything entertaining from him. He never came. Here was hoping he was alright and not lost too.

The morning continued on but still no life from the town could be heard. A bit later some footsteps sounded outside the door. The door opened and Cortanna stepped in with Kedra. She looked in bad shape with her eyes all bloodied. She must have gotten snow blinded, or whatever it was Humphrey had mentioned as a hazard when walking through snowfall. I still couldn’t believe we had left her. Why didn’t she call out for us?

“Hey everyone,” Cortanna greeted us, “Has anyone noticed how unusually quiet this town has been? There’s no one milling about outside.”

“I’ve noticed it being oddly quiet,” I mentioned.

“Ladies, it’s frozen ice outside. If you had to live here, you wouldn’t want to be an early riser either,” Sanji stated, once more not looking up from his. He then cocked an ear and looked out of the corner of his eye toward the open door. “Actually... it is oddly quiet. There should be at least some people, other than ourselves, up and about by now. Here, let me finish up this last thing,” Sanji said going back to the papers in hand. A minute later he then packed up his things and got to his feet.

“I’m going to go explore around the town and see if I can find anyone. This town might be even later of a riser than what my town was.” WIth that, Sanji went outside. Cortanna stayed with Kedra, and I followed after Sanji. I needed to stretch after sitting around idle for about 2 hours.

The sun glowed off the whiteness all around. It was a bit harsh on the eyes. I saw Sanji knock on a few homes. He would then enter when no one answered. I looked about the town as he explored. Being as large as I was, I didn’t want to explore the homes. However, I did have to go into one of them with Sanji.

“Penelope!” I heard him call for me. I was a little surprised by his harshness in tone, “You need to come see this!”

I quickly followed him into a building. Sanji lead me into a large room that had some cots placed about. There was a body on one of the cots in the back. Sanji lead me straight to it. It was Humphrey on the cot. His bluish skin and breathless form meant he was dead. I was a bit confused why Sanji needed me to see this.

“How’d he die?” I asked.

“Look at his hand,” Sanji said pointing to it. Humphreys hand was black. It was quite disturbing, but why was this so important for me to see?

“Penelope, that’s the hand your imp bit,” Sanji said with a hint of gentleness, “These imps are not good creatures. They kill things, and Humphrey is only the first of them if you so choose to keep them around,” Sanji explained. I felt bad and conflicted. I still didn’t think they had bit Humphrey on purpose. They were hungry and he probably surprised the imp when he patted my shoulder. But, what if they did decide to attack more people?

I saw one of my imps fly up in front of me. He pointed to Humphrey and had a quizzical look on his face.

“He’s dead,” I said. The imp them slowly pointed to himself with the same questioning look. I nodded my head, “Yes, I’m afraid you did that.” The imp looked distinctly remorseful. It was like he didn’t know he could do that.

“Sanji, look. I don’t think he realized he could do that,” I said. Sanji placed his hand on his forehead.

“Penelope, I told you what I think. You’re playing with fire. They’re your problem, not mine, but if they step out of line one more time that effects our party or the well being of those good folk we interact with, I will be doing something about them,” Sanji said vehemently. He then took off leaving me and the imps with the dead Humphrey.

After a few moments of quiet I looked to see the imps eyeing the dead body of Humphry hungerly.

“Imps! We do not eat people! Even if they’re dead, they are not food! Now, if you don’t behave yourself, I will abandon you to this cold, forsaken place! When I say behave, I mean no biting people or attacking things that I didn’t tell you to bite or attack!” I snapped at them. I could feel the imps cling to me, as though frozen in guilt. I then decided to go back to Cortanna and Kedra.

When I arrived back there, Sanji was one more with the ladies. He was placing a bandana around Kedra’s head.

“Okay, is that better?” Sanji asked her.

“Yeah, wow. You know, I’ve broken bones before and healed from them, but I don’t know if I’ll keep from this,” Kedra said, “Hopefully my eyes will come back, but...” Kedra trailed off.

“Did you find anyone in town,” Cortanna asked. Sanji shook his head.

“No actually. The whole town seems to be deserted,” he said solemnly. We stood in silent for a moment.

“Well, lets get out of here then,” Cortanna said.

“Do we have any food to take with us?” Kedra said, “I’m actually quite hungry.”

“We could kill one of those beasts the town has,” I suggested.

“No, lets not steal from the townsfolk,” Sanji scolded.

“How is it stealing if they’re gone?” I debated. If the town is deserted and if they left their animals behind, then why not use them for our needs?

“We’re not going to take their livestock,” Sanji responded. I shook my head. I was going to need to give the imps something soon. It’s not fair for me to tell them to be good if I can’t meet their needs.

“So where to then? What other food will we find here in this frozen land?” I asked. Sanji shook his head.

“How convenient a teleportation pad would be right now,” Sanji muttered.

“I bet luggage would have something like that,” I said sarcastically, “Luggage!” I half heartedly called out. I was about to announce that he wasn’t around any more when suddenly luggage popped up out of the snow.

“Luggage!” I said out of surprised. I gave him a little hug. Now that he was here, I figured why not ask what Sanji had mentioned, “Do you have anything that could teleport us?” Luggage immediately began to cough and out came a large circular disk.

“No way,” Sanji said.

“Where will it take us?” Cortanna asked,

“I don’t know, but it’s our ticket out of here,” and with that Sanji was on the pad and suddenly gone. Us girls looked at each other kinda shocked.
“Well... I suppose he’ll need our help if he’s in trouble,” I said. Part of me didn't want to step onto the disk and be transported to the unknown. Part of me could barely contain the excitement of this new part of my adventures. With that, I stepped on to the disk. I suppose this would be what my parents would have called a leap of faith, for as soon as I was on, all went black.

Day 175: Let the Carnival Begin!

Coqoj 6th,4288: 175 Days in the Mortal Realm

The rest of our travels were uneventful. Gemmel kept vigil at night and ever so often would leave to go ‘take care’ of something.

The morning we arrived to the Elven Kingdom borders was quite the sight to see. Tents and pavilions were pitched in the valley beneath us. Banners and flags of various colors were speckled about the place. People moving about. We could see other travelers ahead all headed to the Carnival like we were.

“Again, I’m only allowed here to participate in this fair. So a, what we’ll do is keep an eye out for a couple of representatives of the Wizard Conclave. There’s always a few of them milling about. They should be able to help us with your situation,” Gemmel told me as we approached the line of travelers waiting to enter the Carnival.

“Can. You. De.tect. Evil?” I asked. I’m glad Gemmel knows of folk who could help me, but I also suspected that if they were evil that my chances of being with them wouldn’t be favorable.

“In a way,” Gemmel responded, “but don’t worry. We’ll be safe. This is a neutral ground hence why I’m allowed.”

“Just. Wor.ried. Wrong. Peo.ple. Fig.gure. Out. Who. I. Am,” I explained.

“Oh I think it’ll be pretty obvious to most of the sellers here that you’re not a natural lizard.”

“No... I. Worry. They’ll. Know. My. Real. Name.”

“Oh, that. Nah. Very few magics in this world can do that.”

“If. Name. Comes. Up. Call. Me. Ser.rin. Still.”

“Okay.”

We get to the check in and we’re escorted to Gemmel’s spot where he can set up spot. They are very nervous about him and talk somewhat curtly to him. I’m curious as to what it was he did in the Elven Kingdom that they would ban him, but welcome him (somewhat) for Carnival.

The elves seeing to his placement and following of the rules, drew a line around his wagon to define the extent of his spot he was to stay in. Gemmel is ever friendly with them despite their curtness toward him. I wonder when I would be content to accept people judging and treating me so?

“You. Think. You’ll. Ever. Tell. Me. Why. They. Have. Such. Re.straints. On. You?” I pried. Gemmel gives me a funny look.

“You think it’s important?”

I suppose it wasn’t. His character now obviously wasn’t reflective of whatever bad choices he made in his past. But still, I couldn’t help but wonder.

“I. Like. Hear.ing. Stor.ies.”

“Well, this isn’t really a story...” Gemmel trailed off. I figured it’d be best to leave it at that and not push him. He has been more than kind to me, best not change that.

“Okay, Serrin. We’ll be here about 7 days. I’ll keep my eye peeled for someone from the Wizard Conclave seeing that I can’t go any further than this here line,” Gemmel points to the boundary the elves had made moments before.

“Can’t. You. Tell. Me. What. The. Folk. Look. Like. From. Con.clave?”

“I doubt you’ll be able to recognize them with your eyes.” Gemmel said. He was right. I hadn’t noticed, but everything was very bright. It would make sense why I was able to see better at night, but yeah. Everything kind of blurs together if I don’t focus.

“You’re welcome to go where you want,” Gemmel told me.

“I’m. Not. Go.ing. Any. Fur.ther. Than. This. Leash. Will. Let. Me,” I said. There was no way I was going to wander off. Like Gemmel said, someone could very well pick me up and take me home or worse. Gemmel gave a soft chuckle.

“You can go anywhere with this leash. I mean, anywhere.

“Well. I’m. Stay.ing. Here. Then.” Gemmel chuckled some more as he puttered about setting up shop. Here was hoping he’d be able to find someone soon seeing that there were already thousands of folk milling about; taking in the festivities that folks without worries could enjoy.

Chapter 3: Lots of Tiny, Red Friends

Chapter 3

When I woke, there was a little bit of light streaming through the cracks in the ceiling. It was a safe assumption the tower above no longer was there. The stairway had rubble blocking the way out.

I sat up and looked around. Everyone seemed to be shivering. As I thought about it, it was rather cold, but not unbearably cold as the others were making it seem.

“Where are we?” Cortanna asked through chattering teeth.

“I’m pretty sure we’re in the Northern Waste-” Sanji began to say.

“No, don’t go over there! Just leave the penguins alone,” Cortanna demanded. Well all looked at her wondering what she was doing.

“Well if there’s Penguins, we definitely are in the Northern Waste then,” Sanji said to me and Kedra. Sanji then walks over to one of the walls and opens a door I hadn’t noticed. He walks outside into this white stuff that looked to be everywhere. I peered out after him. He looked at the top of the tower. It is here I realized he had but his shirt and vest back on.

“Yeah, it’s completely collapsed. But the bed’s up there. Gonna go get the bedding so the girls can cover up so they won’t freeze,” Sanji told me. He then disappeared. I wanted to go with him, but the door was much too small. As I sat back, suddenly I’m swarmed by little red creatures. They cling to my exposed skin. I look at one that’s about the size of my thumb. It had little horns, red skin and a pointed tail. They looked vaguely like me. They were very cute to me.

I felt a sharp pain in my arm and looked to see a sore in the spot the creature last night had stabbed me. It was red and oozing pus. The little red creatures were clinging near it which made it hurt.

“Hey little guys, if you’re cold, you need to be gentle around this spot. It hurts a lot,” I explained to them. The creatures looked at me and gave a wide berth. I worried about the sore. I tried lifting the scythe with my wounded arm and it hurt way too much. That made me concerned. What was to happen to my arm if I didn’t get it treated?

Sanji came back in with the bedding. Cortanna and Kedra wrapped themselves in and seemed to be happier with the added warmth.

“So what do we do now?” I asked.

“Well, we’re right outside the Ice Tyrant city... so if we go in there, we’re probably gonna die. If we walk toward the penguins I saw, we could survive, but after that is just barren waste land of snow and ultimate death too. Or we can head in the other direction away from the penguins and Ice Tyrant, but that’s likely to kill us too,” Sanji said. Talk about how delightful those options were.

“Surely there are other towns and villages near by,” Cortanna said.

“There are. The trick is finding them,” Sanji answered.

“Then lets try and find one,” I said. Everyone seemed to reluctantly agree. Sanji turned me into a creature that could dig very well. I got myself out and soon was turned back into my normal self. The red creatures had for a moment left me when I had transformed. Now they clung to my skin with earnest once more.

“Why are those imps clinging to you Penelope?” Cortanna asked.

“I suspect they’re cold,” I responded.

“Oh yeah, they were in the bedding and I told them to go find something else to cling to. You probably shouldn’t keep them Penelope,” Sanji added.

“Why not? They’re kinda cute.” There was an obvious shudder from the group.

“First off, they’re evil. Secondly, they’re licking your wound,” Sanji pointed out. Sure enough I look over and I spot one of the imps licking my wound. Granted, it didn’t hurt any,but it was kind of gross. However, what if them licking it was cleaning it? I decided to test if Sanji was right about them being evil.

I picked up one of the imps and tried placing it on Sanji. A force field about an inch thick prevented the imp from touching Sanji. A felt the hairs on my neck rise. Were they evil!? But what have they done that would make them evil? As much as I wanted to bid them to the cold element of the Northern Waste, I did have a couple dozen of these imp creatures clinging to me... would they harm me or my party if I suddenly casted them out? What if they were like me and just misunderstood by folk because they hadn’t taken the time to get to know them?

“Um... I see what your spell thingy did, but... I’m going to let them stick around. No sense being mean to them since they haven’t done anything to us that would suggest they’re evil,” I defended. The others looked ready to protest, but I suppose my logic helped them understand why we should give them a chance.

Sanji then took off in a direction and we followed. I had fun picking the snow up and holding it in my hands. It was such a curious thing. Never had I heard of it. How was it something so soft and moldable was so cold? It was interesting how it melted on my tongue. All it was was just cold water. I really wanted to lay down in it, but alas, I kept moving on after Sanji.

As the sun got high in the sky, a village came into view. It was a pleasant contrast to the whiteness everywhere. I could see folk walking out of the town. I suppose they don’t see many folk traveling between the towns.

“Imps, don’t you give yourself away,” I whispered. I figured if the group was repulsed by them, that maybe this town would be too, and I didn’t want to hinder my friends from a warm place to sleep tonight. I could feel the little creature flatten themselves on me. It almost looked as though I was wearing some kind of leather shrug. I could feel them still shift over to my wound to lick at it.

“Leave that wound alone! You need to be still or I’ll leave you all right here in the snow!” I demanded. The imp at my wound went back to the others and they all became very still.

“Hello there,” a voice called out as we got closer.

“Hi!” I responded, waving my free hand above my head. A look of shock appeared on their faces.

“Wow, what are you?” one of the men asked as they eyed me. I felt sheepish suddenly. I was the only one not wearing warm clothes, though the imps seemed to make it appear I was wearing a red shrug. And I was tall on top of it all.

“She’s a fey creature,” Sanji announced. I looked confused at him as well as the townsfolk.

“What’s a fey creature?” the man asked.

“Nothing to be afraid of. Anyways, we’ve been abandoned in the tundra and were wondering if we could work for a place to stay and some food to eat?”

The folk conversed a little bit. He said they did have a few odd jobs we could help with. I volunteered to break the ice. If only I knew my strength better than I did. It was hard to gauge too with my hurt arm. My good arm to lift the scythe just fine, but without the added strength of my right arm, I kept hitting the spike too hard. I feared I would sink the village if I continued my efforts seeing cracks forming in directions they weren’t meant to go.

The man, Humphrey, mentioned that the roads needed to be cleared. They had a log, which he spoke with greatest envy, that they put a chain on. THey drag it through the streets to clear the recent snowfall.I figured that would suite me better. Humphrey tried to offer help, but the log was nothing to me. With the scythe in my left hand, I braced the chain in my left elbow and held firm with my right hand the excess chain.

It’s suffice to say I managed to clear the roads with minimal damage to the buildings lining the road. If my arm wasn’t weak and the chain was on either end of the log, I know I would have been able to have cleared those roads flawlessly. Alas, I cringed every time I slipped and heard the scraping of log against ice.

Once i was done, Humphrey tried to give me an encouraging tap on the shoulders. I heard him say ‘ow!’ to which I assumed he pricked his finger on the horn of one of my imps. Humphrey didn’t seem to notice the imps, but when he held his finger out and I could clearly see a bite mark.

“I’m sorry, my coat is oddly prickly...” I lied, “I should have mentioned that... I’m sorry,” I repeated. Humphrey brushed it off, though it seemed he was clearly hurting from the bite. He asked for me to just stay put and he’d be sure to get accommodations made for me and my friends.

I did as I was told. I sat down right where he asked me to stay. The irritation toward the imps grew a little. Why was it one of them would bite the guy!? Maybe they were trying to protect me? Just then, Sanji showed up.

“You look upset,” Sanji pointed out. I rolled my eyes.

“Humphrey patted my shoulder and got bit,” I mentioned.

“I told you those things are evil,” Sanji stated. I slumped down. Did one little bite make a creature evil? Was that just a taste of what they will do? What if they decide to turn on me?

As I thought about the possibilities, one of the imps flew in front of my face. It’s face was sad and it gestured at it’s tummy and it’s mouth. A light bulb went off in my head. They didn’t hurt Humphrey maliciously, they’re just hungry! Great... how was I to feed 2 dozen imps?

“I’m sorry little guy,” I whispered, “I don’t have anything to eat either.” The imp flew over to my right arm and pointed to the wound. It wasn’t hurting any more than what I was already experiencing, so I figured them feeding off of it was cleaning the wound and therefore helping it heal.

“I guess they’re just hungry Sanji,” I told him, “I’m going to walk outside of town a distance and wait ‘til dinner is prepared. I won’t travel beyond sight of the town.”

“Suppose I’ll go check on the others while you do that,” Sanji said, “But remember, they may be hungry, but I doubt the bite was by accident,” Sanji persisted. I nodded and made my way out of the village. Once a good distance away I let the imps feed on me.

“Okay you little imps,” I began, “Don’t you go biting anyone else. That’s not a nice thing to do. Humphrey was giving me a little pat on the shoulders. I know you’re hungry, but that’s no excuse for hurting people who haven’t harmed you.” I don’t know if any of it was getting to them. They seemed sorry with their big eyes looking at me, at least the ones I could see.

Eventually it was time to go eat with the town. I told the imps to be still and reminded them to not bite anyone. The townsfolk had some kind of hairy cow that they killed. For whatever reason, they don’t cook their meat. I must say though, raw meat tasted great! I don’t know why my parents didn’t feed me raw meat before! I even saved some for the imps to help with their hunger.

Humphrey never showed up for dinner. Sanji said he had gone to get it checked out after he saw it. I sure hope Humphrey will be alright.

The townsfolk put us into an igloo, a house made of ice. Cortanna had received a nice set of winter clothes. I still didn’t understand why they needed extra clothes. It wasn’t that bad. After giving the imps some of the meat I saved, I hunkered down for the night. The imps made space so I didn’t squish them. Sanji used this rope trick of his to make a room so Cortanna wouldn’t have to sleep on the cold floor. It is here that Sanji leaves the igloo suddenly after getting Cortanna secured. I wonder what he was in such a hurry to get to?

Day 172: Wasn't I Suppose to Not Care?

Previous Entry

Coqoj 3rd,4288: 172 Days in the Mortal Realm

The ride had been rather uneventful until today. From the sound of things, we were roughly 3 days away from Plumage. As the days droned on, I couldn’t help but reflect on how old Gemmel was. If he was older than me, then surely he had heard of Araja... It would be interesting to get his opinion of her.

“Gemmel. Have. You. Heard. Of. Araja?” I asked. Gemmel pondered for a moment.

“Who’s he?”

“She’s-,” I began.

“Oh, she’s a girl,” Gemmel corrected himself.

“Some.one. Of. The. Past,” I finished.

“Well, Serrin, I know a lot of people from the past. Can you narrow it down for me?”

“Gen.eral. Hu.man.”

“Like I’ve said, I haven’t had much dealing with the Kingdoms of Man in a long time,” Gemmel began.

“She. Was. A. Gen.eral,” I began. Seeing Gemmel eye me out of the corner of his eye made me feeling squeamish, so I added, “So. I’ve. Heard.”

“Oh they’re giving women swords now?” Gemmel said, sounding somewhat surprised. I looked at him quizzically. Where had he been for the past couple centuries? “It always made sense to me for women to fight by the sword since one can die by it. Well good for her. Did she win?”

My stomach dropped.

“No,” I said, feeling forlorn to admit my failure.

“That’s too bad.”

“She. Was.n’t. Killed,” I explained thinking Gemmel must have thought Araja’s loss being her death

“Oh, they took her and tortured her,” Gemmel added. I looked up at him. Why did he assume that? Someone losing a battle didn’t mean they were dead or tortured necessarily... but I wasn’t going to call him out on that. I wasn’t suppose to be Araja to him. I was just trying to find out what he knew of her.

“Per.haps.”

“I’ve never cared much for torture myself. I figured if you’re going to be mean to someone you might as well just kill them. Get done with it. Not that I would kill someone just because. I’m not like that. I’m just out here to do my business. Live and let live,” Gemmel explained, clearly emphasising his character wasn’t a murderous type.

We traveled further on. Another thought came to mind as I considered his old age. Surely he must know of others. Others from his distant past. I’m one those unusually old folk, he’s been around for centuries like me, there must be others like us and perhaps he knew of them.

“Gemmel. Do. You. Know. Of. Other’s. From. Your. Past?”

“The Gnomes I talked to yesterday,” Gemmel responded quickly. My head realed a moment as I thought about the Gnomes being unusually old. For a moment I wondered if they were cursed like the folk of France? Before I could respond, I saw a twinkle in Gemmel’s eye and knew he was being facetious. “I’m sorry. I’m just teasing you. Now what part of my past are you referring to?”

“14. Hund.red. Years. A.go.”

“I haven’t counted years or days for a long time. They all kind of run together.”

“You. Sound. Like. A. Deity.”

“I’ve never assumed to be such a thing. Never been a worshipper myself.”

“I. Was. Once.”

“That’s fine you know. I just never thought fit for it.”

It became quiet once more between us, my question being forgotten. Many hours passed, late evening began to set in. Gemmel then began to cluck to his horse. He seemed intent on something. I looked around, seeing nothing.

“It’s unusually quiet,” Gemmel whispered. He was right, the natural sounds of the forest weren’t happening. Chills ran through me as I recalled the moments before waking up in the cave. It was silent like this.

“It. Was. Qui.et. Like. This. Be.fore. I. Was. Poi.soned,” I told Gemmel.

“No,” Gemmel responded, “This is different...” he flicked the reins and commanded his horse to go. We galloped a short distance when folk on horses appeared in front of us.

“Stop!” we were commanded. Gemmel reined his horse to a stop. It was clear this was a robbery of some type with the folk having their face partly covered. They were a mix of Gnomes and Elves.

Gemmel leaned a little toward me and said, “Don’t you worry, I’ll take care of this.” He then hopped off the wagon and went to stand in front of his horse.

“What do you all want?” Gemmel asked.

“You’re headed to the ‘big to do’ in the Elven Kingdom aren’t you?” an Elf asked.

“I am.”

“Give us your wears,” the Elf demanded. There was roughly 10 of those folk blocking our path, polearms and bows in hand. I was curious what Gemmel would do.

“Nope,” Gemmel said without hesitation. The gang of robbers all seemed surprised to have been told ‘No’.

“Fine, we’ll make you,” the Elf spat like some adolescent child. Gemmel snorted.

“Now, think about it like this boys,” Gemmel stated, “I am banned from that country. Granted they let me come in for Carnival as long as I have my papers,” he said pointing to a paper on the wagon I hadn’t noticed before. It states his special permission to enter the country, DO NOT KILL clearly visible, “but they know better to keep a close eye on me.” A chill ran through me.

“Why are you banned?” another Elf called out.

“That’s between me and the country. Now, do you really think it wise to bother me and more?”

The bandits clearly seemed nervous now about Gemmel. They began to back away slowly.

“That’s right. Let us on through and get whoever’s behind me.” Gemmel then hopped back up next to me and snapped the reins to get his horse going. The bandits moved out of the way quickly, all looking confused about what just happened. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the unfortunate folk coming behind us... was Gemmel bluffing about his strength and power to them? If he wasn’t, why not have dealt with the bandits to prevent them from continuing their evil schemes?

“Sorry about that,” Gemmel said to me after a few minutes. I figured it wasn’t that easy of a choice for him either and with that I felt somewhat better. Can’t save everyone...

“May. The. Next. Group. Fare. Them. Well,” I responded. I then noticed Gemmel had tied the reins around the side bored.

“I’ll be right back,” he said before carefully maneuvering into his wagon. I could hear him rummaging for something. He must have found what he was looking for, for I then heard him say something. Then there was a flash of light. A moment later another flash of light appeared and a popping sound. After that Gemmel returned to the wagon seat, taking the reins back.

“Sorry about that.”

“Pro.blem. Solved?”

“Hmm? What?” Gemmel said nonchalant like giving me a quick glance out of the corner of his eye.

“Right...” I responded snickering at him. Actually I had to wonder if any facial cues could be seen from me in this lizard shape. It was hard enough talking, was I smiling when I thought I was? Hard to say without a mirror.

Another time of quiet passed when Gemmel asked me a question.

“So, what were you doing before you got turned into a lizard?”

Thoughts of Raæin filled my mind. I missed him... I hated that.

“Heal.ling. Folk.”

“Were they sick?”

“So. Sick. They. Were. Blind. And. Dy.ing.”

“Hmm, sounds like they were sick with Blindness.”

“Bet.ter. Than. It. Be.ing. The. Boq.or,” I responded. Blindness still wasn’t good, but it wasn’t as deadly a the Boqor. “My.... Friend. Was. Do.ing. A. Lot. Of. The. Heal.ling. The. Day. I. Got. Poi.soned... I. Was. Sent. To. Find. A. Crea.ture-”

“That’s right, I remember you telling me about that. My memory can be kind of fuzzy. Comes with age you know,” Gemmel said, “Goodness, to be young again. Full of energy once more. I think they call it spry. Go out and be adventurous again. But time slows you down. Makes you old, makes you tired,” Gemmel rambled on. As I listened to him list the things age could do to a person, I felt age has left me weak. How was it I lost most of my powers from so long ago? So I added, “Makes. You. Weak.”

Gemmel glanced down at me. “I suppose, but it makes you strong in other ways. Strong in patience. At least it makes the wise man patient. I find that it’s impatiences that gets you killed. Take myself, I’m about as patient as they come. That’s why I’ve lived so long.”

“That’s. What. I’m. Try.ing. To. Learn... Pa.tience,” I droned, “I. Think. I. Learned. Some. ‘Spe.cial.ly. In. The. Past. Few. Months.” I rested my head on my arms.

“You know, I think it’s time we pull over and rest for the night. Horse needs to rest,” Gemmel announced. He pulled the horse over to the side of the road. He then hopped off and began to tend to the horse.

“Hungry?” Gemmel called to me. He had been so good about that. Making sure I was fed. I remember trying to eat normal people food, but the transformation has made it undesirable to me. Meal worms and raw fish were much more preferable.

I nodded to him. After getting his horse taken care of he gave me some meal worms to enjoy.

“Knock yourself out,” Gemmel said.

“I’ll. Try. Not. To.” I responded. As I ate, Gemmel made a fire. As he sat in the fire light, he looked much older in it’s glow. I couldn’t help but feel a wave of gratitude sweep through me. Charity was difficult for me to accept. I had always been capable of caring for myself or working for what I needed. Somehow I would repay Gemmel.

“Gem.mel?”

“Yes?”

“Once- Er. If. I’m. Re.stored... Your. Kind.ness... How. Might. I. Re.pay. You?”

Gemmel looked at me appraisingly.

“Oh, don’t you be worrying about that,” he said.

“Why?”

“Well, I figure,” Gemmel began, picking at his teeth as though he had eaten. I don’t recall seeing him eat. Don’t know why that stood out to me... “As I look at it, you’re a pretty fine, upstanding person out there helping people who couldn’t help themselves,” that stung. Fine and upstanding? I could feel my skin crawl knowing I was untrusting of him at first to disclose my true name. I dropped my head to which Gemmel continued.

“No fault of your own getting into this situation with the poison and turning into a lizard,” Gemmel said, misinterpreting my posture, “Granted it’s not fair, but why is it everybody has to put a price on this stuff? Why can’t people do a nice thing. Sure I have a business to make money to provide for myself, but what is the cost to me for helping you? A potion a day is nothing to me.”

“Gem.mel,” I blurted as best I could. I don’t know why I felt so awful about not having disclosed my name with Gemmel, but I did. I needed to come clean. It wasn’t the most awful thing I had done, granted, but still. Why should Gemmel treat me so well when I couldn’t trust him with my name?

“Yes?”

“I. Want. To. A.pol.o.gize. For. Ly.ing. To. You.” Gemmel gave me a stern look. I looked away before continuing, “My. Real. Name-”

“Is Araja. I know,” Gemmel’s warm voice answered. I looked back at him.  He had a smile on his face.

“How’d. You. Know?” I half asked. I figured I was being a bit obvious when asking about Araja, but there was a part of me mildly curious.

“When you’re as old as I am, one of the things you get mighty good at is seeing the truth. Like how I knew you weren’t some ordinary lizard, Araja.”

“So. Why. Did.n’t. You. Call. Me. Out. On. It?”

“Everyone has their reasons to keep secrets. You don’t know everything about me, who I am, what I am, my dealings with Man and the Elves. Why should I pry into your personal business if I wasn’t going to be forthcoming with mine?” Gemmel explained. It was comforting to know he held no malice toward me considering how distrusting i was at first. It was especially comforting to know he wasn’t out to get me.

“Well, it’s late. There’s an owlbear stalking us over there. I’m gonna go take care of it. You best get your rest,” Gemmel told me. I nodded and Gemmel disappeared into the night. The warmth of the fire was very pleasant as I waited.

Soon Gemmel returned unscathed. Next Entry