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Hitting the Brakes
“Woooo hoooo…”
Sid’s voice was up ahead of him.
The cool mist of the fog/cloud hit his face, jarring him into the moment.
How did I get back here?
“I can’t see Toby,” Toby’s mom cried out. “Toby, are you in front of us or behind us, dear?”
Her voice came from up ahead.
Wasn’t she behind me a moment ago?
“I think I’m… behind you… mom…” Toby yelled out into the cloud. “And don’t call me dear in public,” he muttered.
The crabby Toby was back.
No. That wasn’t it. A sense of foreboding filled him. Something very bad had just happened.
Oliver! Evy! The mountain!
He hit the brakes. Too hard. The bike slid… he hit the ground… hard…
Toby…
The voice came from somewhere far away…
Toby, old boy. Are you okay?
Toby opened his eyes to see the big smiling face of Author. He was wearing a fluorescent green cycling helmet, sports sun glasses, and a bicycle jersey with a brightly colored beach pattern with Author’s Write imprinted on it. Does that count as a homonym?
There he is, Author said, helping Toby sit up.
“What happened?”
You hit the brakes a bit too hard, the bike skidded, and you hit the ground too hard, I’m afraid. Nothing seems to be broken, but your shoulder is going to feel it for a while. Good thing you had your helmet on.
Author noticed Toby looking above his head.
Guess you knocked yourself right out of the story, Author laughed.
“Toby? Toby?”
“Mom?”
Author looked over his shoulder toward the voice.
Toby felt his eyes closing…
Toby…
Again the voice came from far away…
Toby…
“Toby! Toby! Wake up! There you go. You’re okay. Here. Let me help you.”
Toby struggled to sit up. His shoulder hurt. His elbow hurt. His ribs hurt. His whole body hurt.
“Drink this.”
A cup was brought to his lips.
The river elf drink.
How did I get back here?
The drink immediately energized him and seemed to numb the pain.
“What happened?”
He looked around. It was dark. A small fire burned off to his right. The river flowed next to him on his left. The sky was bright, filled with stars. Four faces stood inches… do faces stand?... from his face, worry etched in all of them. Etched? Phoenix. Judah. Deckor. Clygon.
“Oliver! Evy!” Toby suddenly remembered what had just happened.
“Have another sip of this,” Clygon said, pouring more of the river elf elixir into Toby’s mouth.
“How long have I been out?”
“You’ve been missing for over twenty-four hours,” Judah said, not able to hide his concern and relief.
Either it was too dark to see the words above their heads or Toby was back into the story. Probably the second option.
“Missing? Twenty-four hours? But I was only gone for a minute…”
“Were you back home?” Deckor asked.
“Back on the bike in Hawaii. Last thing I remember was a huge explosion. Did something happen on the mountain? To the giants?”
“We have no idea,” Phoenix said. “As we were running from the mountain you let out a huge scream. And just like the time you screamed when you planted the Sword at Clygon’s stronghold, something exploded and you disappeared. You knocked all of us out for several minutes and when we came to, you were gone. We’ve spent hours looking for you and fortunately we finally found you here. About three miles south of where we were.”
“Three miles? In a minute? Wow… Take that Flash!” Toby tried to laugh but it hurt his ribs. “I guess I need to time my screams better.”
A loud boom sounded from the mountain, now several miles away.
“We’ve been hearing those off and on,” Judah said.
Toby ached to know what had happened to Oliver and Evy. He also felt a new surge of energy.
“Is it night or early morning?” he asked. “We need to get going.”
“It’s near midnight. If you’re up for it, we’re ready to go. From now on it will be best for us to travel under the cover of darkness. We’re about two days away from the stronghold. Perhaps three depending on what we encounter along the way,” Clygon said ominously.
Toby stood up hesitantly. His right shoulder hurt. A lot. Deckor handed him some jerky. Toby wolfed it down in three bites and washed it down with more elven drink. He felt about as good as he was going to feel.
“Okay. Let’s go.”
For the next several hours they followed Clygon, staying close to the riverbank. Feeling discombobulated—still a great word!—Toby concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other to keep from stumbling or tripping. The night air was cool, which helped keep him awake. But the numbing effect of the river elf elixir was wearing off and he was starting to feel sore all over his body. At least he wasn’t concussed. No headache. No fuzziness. He obviously landed on his right shoulder and elbow. That’s where the pain was most intense.
Deckor sensed Toby slowing so he called for a break.
Being near the river, they all removed their shoes and put their feet in the water. It felt like icicles. Toby immediately pulled his feet out and then re-immersed them a few times to get them used to the cold. It helped revive him.
They ate some jerky and drank some elixir in the quietness of the pre-dawn morning. The sounds of nature—crickets, bird calls, animals scurrying through the grass—helped ease some of the dis-ease Toby was starting to feel once again. The Quest before them was impossible. He knew it. His friends knew it.
Before he talked himself into total despair he stood up, put on his shoes, and said, “We have a world to save. Let’s get moving.”
Clygon, Judah, Deckor, and Phoenix looked at him.
And then broke out laughing.
Toby was flummoxed. Flummoxed? I really need a notebook to jot down all of these words.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“It’s… not you… it’s just… that…” Deckor said trying to contain himself. “Well… actually… it is you. You looked so serious. And really, this whole Quest is ridiculous. What else is there to do but laugh about it and do as you say—get moving.”
They packed up their gear and headed back down stream.
“I still don’t know what was so funny,” Toby muttered.
“No offense, Toby,” Judah said. “We were releasing nervous energy. The task ahead of us is… well… not an easy one to say the least. We’re all a bit scared…”
“You? You’re scared?”
“Of course we are, Toby,” Phoenix said. “But what’s important right now…”
“Shhh!” Clygon turned to them with his finger to his lips.
They all stopped.
“I hate to interrupt your big Quest motivational talk, Phoenix,” Clygon whispered. “But…”
He pointed up ahead and to his right.
The glow of a fire bounced off of the trees.
“Trolls?” Deckor whispered.
“Probably,” Clygon answered. “I’m guessing they’re an outpost as a first line of defense to protect the mountain.”
“So… Plythar’s trolls,” Phoenix said, stating the obvious.
Clygon hunched down, motioning for the others to do the same.
“We’re going to head east, away from the river. We’ll have to take a slight detour to make sure we’re well clear of the trolls. But we need to get some rest. It’s just about sunup. About two miles from here is an old cave I found when I was a kid…”
Clygon paused. He seemed to choke back a sob.
“I had just lost my parents…”
Another pause.
“Anyway, I did a lot of wandering on my own. It’s a place no one else knows about. It’s also why I know some ways into the stronghold no one else is aware of. It will take us about forty-five minutes. Go quietly.”
Toby felt like he was holding his breath for those forty-five minutes. Every crack of a twig under his feet sounded like a loud bang of thunder. But Clygon was right. They didn’t see any signs of trolls and made it safely to the cave.
Without saying anything they laid out their sleeping bags and within moments all of them were asleep.
Except for the big, yellow eyes watching them from the corner.
(Coming Thursday—Chapter 15: Para-dies)
Copyright 2024 Tim Wright.