Post by hakiko on Aug 25, 2004 20:39:56 GMT -5
To my delight I found that my mother had invited Marcus to dinner that evening. Marcus Was always quick with a story for the children of the town. He told of his years as a physician in the King’s army and the many strange adventures he had out in the world beyond Westfarthing. If anyone would know what was stalking Pelnor and I in the woods it would be Marcus Wilcox.
I was so eager to tell my story that I didn’t give my mother any trouble about washing up.
“Good evening young Master Grant. What have you and Master Pelnor been up to today?”<br> “Well sir, Pelnor and me...”<br> “That’s Pelnor and I Master Grant.”
“Oh, yes sir. Pelnor and I have been chopping wood, and tonight we are going to patrol the woods.”<br> “How civic minded of you. You young men have really stepped up during our time of crisis. Perhaps someday you will make the journey to Dar Janix to join the knights,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.
My chest swelled with pride. To see the towering spires of the Circle of Dar Janix. To ride forth on snow white stallions, our armor shining silver in the sun. I could hear the blast of the horns as we left the gate, silk-robed maidens swooning and waving goodbye with their hankerchiefs. I cold feel the rush of adrenaline as we charged the seething masses of evildoers.
Of course I knew nothing of sleeping on the ground. I had never considered the fear of laying wounded in the mud while a battle raged around me. I had never seen a friend die, or arrived hours too late to a village to find the women and children slaughtered. I had never considered that somewhere in another country a boy just like me could be dreaming of joining his own army.
“Do you really think Pelnor and I could be knights? No one from Westfarthing has ever been a knight before”<br> “Oh, but that’s not true Master Grant. Why your very own uncle made the journey to...”<br> My mother shot Marcus a cross look. “I’ll have no more talk of war at my dinner table. It’s bad luck.”<br> “I am sorry ma’am, please accept my apologies.”<br> “But mom..”<br> “Now Master Grant, this is your mother’s house and we must respect her wishes.”<br> “Yes sir.”<br> I got a chance to talk to Marcus alone while my mother was cleaning up after dinner.
“Marcus, Pelnor and I saw something in the woods while we were patrolling. I was wondering if you could help us figure out what it was.”<br> “Well, I’ll certainly do what I can Master Grant.”
***
Throughout my life I have often wondered if the proper amount of force, applied at the right angle, could knock the stars out of someone’s eyes. This is what I was thinking as I walked beside Mattie.
Will was evidently quite handsome. He was smart. He was funny. He had a well turned calf. He was the pinnacle of horseshoe production. The blacksmith’s sixteen year old son was off hunting the wolf, but he was getting on my nerves.
“Will can probably kill the wolf all by himself; he might have done it already.”<br> “Yes, well, he is very brave, I’m sure.”<br> “Oh, he is! He isn’t afraid of anything.”<br> She continued to prattle on this way until we reached a fork in the path. With my superb sense of direction I was able to intuit that left was the proper choice and headed that way.
“Ummm, Grant, you are going the wrong way.”<br> “Trust me Mattie; this will take us exactly where we want to go.”<br> “No, Grant. You have to bear right here to go across the top of that mud hill you boys are always bragging about.”<br> “Silly girl, that is on a totally different path. What do girls know about these things anyway?”<br> “A lot more than you do, obviously.” she put her hands on her hips and stomped her foot.
Now this is the one gesture guaranteed to make a twelve year old boy disagree with a girl. As soon as she did that I was certain my way was correct.
“Well, you go your way and I’ll go mine then.”<br> “Fine, I am not going to climb that disgusting hill,” she threw her nose into the air and stomped down the path.
I continued on, happy to be free of her irritating presence for once, certain that she was still babbling to herself even when I was gone. It wasn’t long before I discovered that this path was a little more difficult than I had expected. It was very wet and muddy; my boots were constantly getting stuck in the slime covered ground.
As I tromped through the tar pit-like muck, I began to get worried that with my slow progress Mattie might meet up with Pelnor before I did. That would never do. Worse, the path had branched off a few times now and I had been forced to double back twice because it had headed back the way I was sure I had come from. But I remained confident in my abilities as a wilderness explorer to get me to the right place.
***
I had made it through the worst of the muck and was now moving along at a good pace. I smiled to myself thinking of Mattie taking the wrong way and having to circle back. I could rub this in forever.
As the path widened, I could hear screaming ahead. It sounded like Mattie. How did she get ahead of me?
Wait; the screams were definitely not in frustration at choosing the wrong path. They sounded scared. As I began to run, I could feel my stomach sinking.
As I came around the corner, I could see the daunting face of Mud Mountain before me, and I was at the bottom of it. At the top I could see Mattie struggling with a short ugly figure. While I watched, she managed to slip out of its grasp and smack it in the head with a branch.
The figure reared back in pain for a second and began to circle her.
“Grant! Don’t just stand there, get up here and help me!”<br> Her attacker chose that moment to pounce and Mattie went down kicking and screaming.
I rushed to the face of the cliff and began to climb. It was not the dignified heroic march up the hill that I had always envisioned. I was scrambling, mud flying everywhere, certain I could never reach the top. It seemed that I slipped back as much as I went forward. I must have climbed twenty times the height in order to get up it once.
Pulling myself over the lip I could see Mattie struggling with the ugly brute on the ground. It had its hand over her mouth to try and stop the screaming. As I pulled myself to my feet I yelled to get its attention.
“Hey! Why don’t you pick on someone your own size!?!”<br> It turned its shaggy head towards me so that I was staring right into is yellow eyes. I dry raspy chuckle escaped its warty lips.
“And you would be my own size I suppose?”<br> He leapt towards me, reaching for my throat. I tried to bat his hands away but they were strong and clever. I fell onto my back, head dangling over the edge. I tried pulling his hands away but his arms had a wiry strength I could not overcome.
Mattie jumped onto his back and tried to pull him off. He swung his gruesome head back and connected with her nose, blood spurted out and she fell backwards. His grip had loosened slightly and I was able to get one of his hands off my neck. I was struggling to keep it away when I heard a shout.
“Hold on Grant I’m coming!”<br> The sickly green hand was snaking back around my neck. I could see Pelnor running towards us with a branch raised above his head. Charging with full force he swung it into the monsters back. His hands slipped and I was free.
Scurrying away from it as fast as I could, I turned my back.
“Grant! Duck!”<br> I threw myself to the ground just in time to feel the wind of the beast passage over me. He dove over my prone form and sailed headfirst over the edge.
As soon as I caught my breath Pelnor and I scrambled to see what had happened. The goblin (Dr. Marcus later told us what it was) had landed head first onto a stump, crushing its skull. A pool of blood and light green ooze was expanding out of the wound.
“That is gross.”<br> I guess Mattie was still with us.
“Are you alright?”<br> “Yes I am just fine. Don’t think you came up here and saved me Grant. I could have handled him just fine on my own. But thank you for your help.”<br> “You’re kidding me. I scrambled all the way up that mountain just to save you and you have the nerve to…”
“It’s hardly a mountain Grant, more like a hill.”<br> Pelnor looked at me with shock on his face.
“You climbed Mud Mountain, Grant. But you did it without me.”<br> I could tell he was hurt a little, it was something we had talked about since we were six.
“We can climb it again later if you want Pelnor.”<br> I looked down at the still twitching goblin below and felt a little sick.
“Honestly though. Compared to what we did at the top, it doesn’t seem like a big deal.”<br> I turned away and headed down the path towards home.
I was so eager to tell my story that I didn’t give my mother any trouble about washing up.
“Good evening young Master Grant. What have you and Master Pelnor been up to today?”<br> “Well sir, Pelnor and me...”<br> “That’s Pelnor and I Master Grant.”
“Oh, yes sir. Pelnor and I have been chopping wood, and tonight we are going to patrol the woods.”<br> “How civic minded of you. You young men have really stepped up during our time of crisis. Perhaps someday you will make the journey to Dar Janix to join the knights,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.
My chest swelled with pride. To see the towering spires of the Circle of Dar Janix. To ride forth on snow white stallions, our armor shining silver in the sun. I could hear the blast of the horns as we left the gate, silk-robed maidens swooning and waving goodbye with their hankerchiefs. I cold feel the rush of adrenaline as we charged the seething masses of evildoers.
Of course I knew nothing of sleeping on the ground. I had never considered the fear of laying wounded in the mud while a battle raged around me. I had never seen a friend die, or arrived hours too late to a village to find the women and children slaughtered. I had never considered that somewhere in another country a boy just like me could be dreaming of joining his own army.
“Do you really think Pelnor and I could be knights? No one from Westfarthing has ever been a knight before”<br> “Oh, but that’s not true Master Grant. Why your very own uncle made the journey to...”<br> My mother shot Marcus a cross look. “I’ll have no more talk of war at my dinner table. It’s bad luck.”<br> “I am sorry ma’am, please accept my apologies.”<br> “But mom..”<br> “Now Master Grant, this is your mother’s house and we must respect her wishes.”<br> “Yes sir.”<br> I got a chance to talk to Marcus alone while my mother was cleaning up after dinner.
“Marcus, Pelnor and I saw something in the woods while we were patrolling. I was wondering if you could help us figure out what it was.”<br> “Well, I’ll certainly do what I can Master Grant.”
***
Throughout my life I have often wondered if the proper amount of force, applied at the right angle, could knock the stars out of someone’s eyes. This is what I was thinking as I walked beside Mattie.
Will was evidently quite handsome. He was smart. He was funny. He had a well turned calf. He was the pinnacle of horseshoe production. The blacksmith’s sixteen year old son was off hunting the wolf, but he was getting on my nerves.
“Will can probably kill the wolf all by himself; he might have done it already.”<br> “Yes, well, he is very brave, I’m sure.”<br> “Oh, he is! He isn’t afraid of anything.”<br> She continued to prattle on this way until we reached a fork in the path. With my superb sense of direction I was able to intuit that left was the proper choice and headed that way.
“Ummm, Grant, you are going the wrong way.”<br> “Trust me Mattie; this will take us exactly where we want to go.”<br> “No, Grant. You have to bear right here to go across the top of that mud hill you boys are always bragging about.”<br> “Silly girl, that is on a totally different path. What do girls know about these things anyway?”<br> “A lot more than you do, obviously.” she put her hands on her hips and stomped her foot.
Now this is the one gesture guaranteed to make a twelve year old boy disagree with a girl. As soon as she did that I was certain my way was correct.
“Well, you go your way and I’ll go mine then.”<br> “Fine, I am not going to climb that disgusting hill,” she threw her nose into the air and stomped down the path.
I continued on, happy to be free of her irritating presence for once, certain that she was still babbling to herself even when I was gone. It wasn’t long before I discovered that this path was a little more difficult than I had expected. It was very wet and muddy; my boots were constantly getting stuck in the slime covered ground.
As I tromped through the tar pit-like muck, I began to get worried that with my slow progress Mattie might meet up with Pelnor before I did. That would never do. Worse, the path had branched off a few times now and I had been forced to double back twice because it had headed back the way I was sure I had come from. But I remained confident in my abilities as a wilderness explorer to get me to the right place.
***
I had made it through the worst of the muck and was now moving along at a good pace. I smiled to myself thinking of Mattie taking the wrong way and having to circle back. I could rub this in forever.
As the path widened, I could hear screaming ahead. It sounded like Mattie. How did she get ahead of me?
Wait; the screams were definitely not in frustration at choosing the wrong path. They sounded scared. As I began to run, I could feel my stomach sinking.
As I came around the corner, I could see the daunting face of Mud Mountain before me, and I was at the bottom of it. At the top I could see Mattie struggling with a short ugly figure. While I watched, she managed to slip out of its grasp and smack it in the head with a branch.
The figure reared back in pain for a second and began to circle her.
“Grant! Don’t just stand there, get up here and help me!”<br> Her attacker chose that moment to pounce and Mattie went down kicking and screaming.
I rushed to the face of the cliff and began to climb. It was not the dignified heroic march up the hill that I had always envisioned. I was scrambling, mud flying everywhere, certain I could never reach the top. It seemed that I slipped back as much as I went forward. I must have climbed twenty times the height in order to get up it once.
Pulling myself over the lip I could see Mattie struggling with the ugly brute on the ground. It had its hand over her mouth to try and stop the screaming. As I pulled myself to my feet I yelled to get its attention.
“Hey! Why don’t you pick on someone your own size!?!”<br> It turned its shaggy head towards me so that I was staring right into is yellow eyes. I dry raspy chuckle escaped its warty lips.
“And you would be my own size I suppose?”<br> He leapt towards me, reaching for my throat. I tried to bat his hands away but they were strong and clever. I fell onto my back, head dangling over the edge. I tried pulling his hands away but his arms had a wiry strength I could not overcome.
Mattie jumped onto his back and tried to pull him off. He swung his gruesome head back and connected with her nose, blood spurted out and she fell backwards. His grip had loosened slightly and I was able to get one of his hands off my neck. I was struggling to keep it away when I heard a shout.
“Hold on Grant I’m coming!”<br> The sickly green hand was snaking back around my neck. I could see Pelnor running towards us with a branch raised above his head. Charging with full force he swung it into the monsters back. His hands slipped and I was free.
Scurrying away from it as fast as I could, I turned my back.
“Grant! Duck!”<br> I threw myself to the ground just in time to feel the wind of the beast passage over me. He dove over my prone form and sailed headfirst over the edge.
As soon as I caught my breath Pelnor and I scrambled to see what had happened. The goblin (Dr. Marcus later told us what it was) had landed head first onto a stump, crushing its skull. A pool of blood and light green ooze was expanding out of the wound.
“That is gross.”<br> I guess Mattie was still with us.
“Are you alright?”<br> “Yes I am just fine. Don’t think you came up here and saved me Grant. I could have handled him just fine on my own. But thank you for your help.”<br> “You’re kidding me. I scrambled all the way up that mountain just to save you and you have the nerve to…”
“It’s hardly a mountain Grant, more like a hill.”<br> Pelnor looked at me with shock on his face.
“You climbed Mud Mountain, Grant. But you did it without me.”<br> I could tell he was hurt a little, it was something we had talked about since we were six.
“We can climb it again later if you want Pelnor.”<br> I looked down at the still twitching goblin below and felt a little sick.
“Honestly though. Compared to what we did at the top, it doesn’t seem like a big deal.”<br> I turned away and headed down the path towards home.