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Chapter 12: The Hills are Alive!
Toby slept well. Better than well. He felt more rested than he had for however long he had been in the mountain.
He noticed movement to his left and saw Clygon climbing out of his sleeping bag. He seemed to whisper something to Oliver, nodding to the backpack on Clygon’s sleeping bag.
“If you have something to say,” Lucas said, “then say it so that I can hear it. We’re all friends here. We don’t need any secrets.”
“I was simply telling Oliver that whatever it is you are cooking for breakfast smells absolutely delicious,” Clygon said.
“Uh huh,” Lucas answered, not believing a word of it.
But it did smell good. Like bacon and eggs. Which is exactly what Lucas was cooking. Along with waffles. Where did that stuff come from? Giant magic?
“We have a long trek ahead of us, and of course, you’ll have a long time in prison, so I thought one last good meal would be much appreciated,” Lucas said over his shoulder.
Toby got up. He stretched. Then headed to the latrine. Clygon met him there.
“Um… ah… would it be possible to have a bit of privacy?” Toby asked.
“Of course. I just wanted to say, be ready.”
“For what?”
“Didn’t I say that if you have anything to say you say it out loud?” Lucas shouted.
“Wow. His hearing is amazing!” Toby whispered.
“I have big ears,” Lucas deadpanned.
The food tasted as good as it smelled. Lucas seemed to enjoy playing the part of the host but Toby could feel the anger radiating off of Oliver and Evy every time Lucas tried to talk to them.
After breakfast, they packed up their gear. Clygon quickly and quietly handed Toby a tiny, soft pouch. He mimicked putting it in his pocket so that’s what Toby did.
“Now that everyone has had a good rest and is well fed, no more delays. If you would follow me please.” Lucas pointed down the hallway leading back into the bowels of Tikvah.
Clygon cleared his throat in an obvious attempt to get Lucas’s attention.
“What is it, troll?” Lucas was clearly running out of patience.
“Knowing trolls as I do,” Clygon said, “I suggest you might want to take a peek outside and make sure those not-so-sharp trolls are still there. It sounded like a pretty violent storm last night.”
Toby hadn’t heard anything he’d slept so deeply.
Lucas stared at Clygon for a moment.
“I’m not sure what you’re up to, troll, but I suspect you are right. No funny business. Let’s go.”
Clygon moved as close to Toby as he possibly could and whispered, “When Oliver begins to cough, pull out the pouch, shake it out, jump onto it, and hang on for dear life!”
Lucas turned to look at them before Toby could ask Clygon the six questions that instantly came to mind.
The sky was still overcast but the storm had passed. The three giants immediately put on their sunglasses to protect their eyes from the brightness.
One of the Hythrons emerged out of the enclosure where they had spent the night.
“Didn’t trust us, did you?” Hythron sneered. “I’ll bet that snake Clygon tried to tell you we…”
“He did,” Lucas cut him off, obviously in a hurry. “Here. I’ve brought you some food…” He threw a bag of leftovers to Hythron who quickly hid it so that his brothers wouldn’t see it.
“Now…” Lucas turned to the group. “No more delays…”
At that moment Oliver started to cough. His entire body shook. It looked like he was about to spit out a lung. Evy quickly moved over to him.
“He can’t breathe!” she yelled.
Lucas moved over to see what was happening.
“Now!” Clygon yelled as he pulled the small pouch out of his pocket, shaking it open as he did so. It morphed into what looked to Toby like a blanket or a carpet… but it was moving!
As Clygon jumped onto it he screamed for Toby to act.
By now Lucas was onto them and rushed at Toby. Thankfully Evy tripped him. Were it not for Toby pulling out the pouch, shaking it out, and jumping onto it, Lucas would have fallen on top of him.
Whatever he was sitting on seemingly floated down the hill. It reminded him of riding an inner tube down a big water slide. He grabbed onto the edges as it raced down the mountain.
In moments he was alongside Clygon. It was then that he saw thousands of little legs underneath the carpet, running down the hill.
“What is this thing?” Toby shouted.
“It’s a centipede,” Clygon shouted back. “Some of our ogre friends developed it. We had no idea if they actually worked. Woo hoo!”
Toby’s centipede took a sharp left barely missing a tree only to make a sharp right barely missing a huge boulder jutting out of the side of the mountain.
“Keep alert,” Clygon shouted. “These mountains are alive!”
“What does that mean?”
The answer came a moment later.
Suddenly they were pelted by small stones. The stones flew at Toby and Clygon from all directions.
“Keep your head down, Toby! Trust the centipede!”
“What’s going on? Who’s throwing stones at us?”
“Those are rock badgers. Small badger-like creatures that badger you for entering their space.”
A rock badger hit Toby right above the eye while another hit him on the wrist and yet another on his cheek.
He ducked. More rock badgers flew over his head, barely missing him.
And that’s when he heard whispers. They sounded like… insults?
Clygon must have heard it too.
“When they can’t hit you directly they badger you with insults. Hang on. We’re almost out of their range.”
They continued to glide down the mountain dodging trees, boulders, and rock badgers. Moments later the rock badgers stopped badgering them. Toby carefully lifted his head only to be hit by a horrific smell. Worse than troll odor. More noxious than stalactite goop. Toby was pretty sure he was turning green. The air around him certainly was.
“Musk rats,” Clygon shouted. “Hold your nose!”
Toby tried breathing through his mouth but he could taste the musk smell! He started to gag but soon fresh mountain air filled his lungs.
By now they were halfway down the mountain. Toby was on high alert waiting for the next attack.
But it didn’t come.
He sat up, holding the sides of the centipede, took a deep breath, and relaxed. The ride was actually exhilarating. The view breath-taking.
“Uh oh!”
“Uh oh what?” Toby yelled.
“Hang on, Toby! Hang o…”
The centipedes stopped dead in their tracks, propelling Toby and Clygon over the front of them. They both landed hard on the ground and rolled for several moments down the mountain.
“Toby! Toby! Are you okay?”
Toby was a bit dazed and bruised. But all of his body parts were still intact.
“What was that?”
“We hit a Hava leeva pit at full speed.”
“A javelina pit?”
“A Hava leeva pit. Havas are medium-sized bat-like, bird-like creatures who leave a lot of you-know-what behind.”
“We hit a pile of…”
“Yup. And I don’t know about you but there’s no way I’m going back to retrieve my centipede. We’ll have to walk the rest of the way down. But it’s not far now. See the river?”
Toby was starting to develop some nice bruises from the rock badgers and the fall from the centipede. But he was glad to be walking again. He felt a bit more in control.
Clygon pulled out a packet of jerky, offering some to Toby. They both still had some water left in their backpacks and once refreshed, headed down toward the River Glaedaan.
“Do you have any idea where we’re going or what we should do now?” Toby asked.
“Not…”
They both heard a sound. A pop.
They stood still, holding their breath. Listening.
But nothing.
They started walking again.
And again, a pop.
This time Clygon kept walking, but he picked up the pace.
Then the air filled with the sound of pops. They couldn’t see anything. They didn’t feel anything. But the pops started boring into their ears. The louder the pops, the more agitated Toby and Clygon became.
“Cover your ears, Toby, and move as fast as you can.”
It proved to be difficult running down a mountain holding their hands over their ears while growing increasingly agitated to the point of wanting to punch something.
“What is it?” Toby yelled out in anger.
“Weasels.” Clygon shouted.
“Weasels?”
“Pop weasels. The males make that obnoxious popping sound during mating season.”
“Ewwww…” Toby thought.
Then something popped—metaphorically speaking—into Toby’s mind.
“Don’t tell me! Pop goes the weasel!”
He let out a groan.
Then, once again all was quiet.
And that, it seemed, was the end of the adventure down the mountain. Now they stood at the banks of the River Glaedaan, a bit battered, tired, and still slightly agitated.
They both took off their shoes, rolled up their pant legs and stepped into the water. It was cold. But it felt so…
They heard swords being unsheathed.
“Don’t move!”
(Coming Thursday: Chapter 13—Down by the Riverside)
Copyright 2024 Tim Wright.