Post by Tekel Brighteyes on Oct 19, 2007 0:32:51 GMT -5
spoke of death. Instead we talked about life. We talked about how much life one small piece of land had brought to everyone here.
And finally you and your beautiful wife came to see me. My heart had never felt such joy and love as you told me everyone in town pulled all their coppers together and bought this and the surrounding land. And had bought it in mine and your mother’s name. For any man to have half the blessings I’ve had he would be the most wealthy man in the world.
Now I must laugh at myself. I see standing in front of me the god Habbakuk himself. Weather a vision or the imaginings of an old man I can’t say. Though I can’t image Habbakuk laughing like he did when I told him he would have to wait for me to write you a letter before he could take me. But either way I know my time is short.
My son, this is more than a letter good bye. It is my final will. I leave everything I have to you and your children. And then to your children’s children. All down the line from now till always. Take this letter and the deed and put them someplace safe. Look around, you will find a place.’”
As Josylon finished reading she looked around and saw that Windy and Tekel’s eyes were wet. They assured her it was from the water though they were both perfectly dry. But what surprised her the most was her eyes were wet as well. She just couldn’t figure out why. It couldn’t be because she was moved by the words of a dying man. A man who’s life was too short to measure anyway.
As Josylon was wiping her eyes she noticed something she hadn’t before. And when she looked to Tekel and Windy she was even more shocked. “Windy!” she almost screamed. “What do you have there?”
“Oh this?” Windy said holding up what appeared to be something made of putty. “I haven’t got a clue. But it’s brown and squishy and giggles when you poke it.” To prove her point she gave it a little poke and it did indeed giggle. “I’ve had it for ages though. Still can’t figure out what it eats which is a good thing since I don’t want to have to clean any droppings out of my pouches.”
“No, not that.” Josylon said shaking with excitement. “Though that is fascinating. I was talking about that ring on your finger. Where? When did you get it?
“Oh this?” Windy said looking truly shocked. “I have no idea. Is it yours? I guess you must have dropped it. Here, you can have it back.”
As Windy handed it to her, Josylon’s mind flashed back to when Tekel shook her hand that had the ring on it. Then he shook hands with Windy. Now the ring was in her hand, not on her finger. Josylon decided to cast a very simple spell on the accursed ring. After saying the words the ring began to flow faintly.
“Damn that Thunder!” she shouted throwing the ring to the ground. “There’s not enough magic in that ring to make a lizard change colors, much less lock me in this form. I bet the only thing magical about it at all is that it appears to be magical.”
Both Tekel and Windy looked outraged. “I can’t believe Theuprite would lie to us like that.” Tekel said.
“Yeah.” Windy agreed as she picked up the ring. “It’s like for some reason he didn’t believe we were friends with a blue dragon, who had flown us here, helped us out several times, and could do some magic like changing into a dire-wolf or a kender.”
“Exactly.” Tekel added. “What’s so hard to believe about that?”
Trying to calm them down Josylon said, “At least now I’ll be able to get out of this ridiculous form, no offence, and back into my natural self, and get us out of here.” Softly she began chanting.
As she was saying the words Tekel stopped her. “I know this cavern looks big to us, but it’s not big enough to hold your dragon form. It you change now you’ll cause the place to collapse in on us.”
Windy’s eyes opened big, not with fear, but with excitement. “We would get to see a cave in up close. And with theses glowing rocks it would look so prettyfull.”
Suddenly Tekel was caught up in the excitement. “Yes. You’ve got to do it.”
Then both Windy and Tekel were chanting, “Change… Change… Change…”
Josylon, trying to figure out a way to calm them down said, “But if I change and cause a cave in, you won’t be able to see the battle.”
“Yeah, I would like to see that,” they both said together.
That’s when it occurred to Josylon. Something she should have thought of before. Something she actually considered kicking herself for not thinking of sooner. She ran to the chest, climbed in, and started tearing through the papers and items in there till she found out. When she came out she was holding the deed to the town, just like it said in the letter.
But her look of triumph quickly turned to one of sorrow. “It doesn’t matter if we have the deed or not, if we don’t get out of here we won’t be able to give it to Mayor Franklin so he can save his town.”
Sadly they all sat back down trying to figure a way out. Tekel pulled out his flute and started to play and Windy played with her squishy thing. Now, kender logic isn’t the same as human logic. And it’s certainly different from dragon logic. But even the most stubborn dwarf must admit they have good ides from time to time. And now, for Tekel, this was that time.
“You know,” he said. “When the wall broke fell apart in the well it was just big enough for us to fit through. It’s like my dad always said, the gods made us so we could fit in anywhere. But I doubt Martan and Melissa could have fit there. Besides, they were a little too old to be playing in wells. So I bet they had another way in.
Once again Josylon could have kicked herself. Instead she settled for helping Tekel and Windy search for the way out. As Windy put her little putty thing in her pouch, she didn’t notice the ring she picked up and put on her finger was now missing. Dragons aren’t used to searching for hidden entrances, even if it isn’t really hidden. So it didn’t surprise her much when Windy found it in a place she had already searched.
It wasn’t as much an entrance as an upward sloping path behind some crevasse. As the three made there way up, there were gradually less and less of the glowing rocks. By the time they reached the end it was black as pitch and they were feeling their way along.
Finally reaching the end there was a piece of wood directly above them. As they tried to push it off their hands went right through it. Climbing out they realized they were in what was left of a very small house which must have once belonged to Martan. Other than a couple of floors and partial walls, there was nothing to suggest a house had once been here.
But more importantly, dawn was fast approaching. Already it was light enough outside to see. But were they in time? They could already hear shouts coming from the other side of the village.
The three kender weren’t the only ones who had a busy night. While everyone was in the tavern celebrating the coming day, and their coming deaths, there was one who chose not to drink. Not out of fear or sadness, but because he wanted a clear head when he faced the enemy tomorrow. Even though he had signed the death warrants of his people, he knew it had been the only decision he could make. And now looking back, Franklin was actually happy about it.
With everyone in the inn, or spending their final hours with their loved ones, he was walking around the town. Habbakuk taught that you should always be prepared to fight to protect the land and it’s creatures in your care. His people were farmers. What they had was little. Some chickens, cows, a few horses, and the land, was theirs. He believed the animals knew they would one day die to provide meat and clothing for the ones who raised them. That was their purpose. But until that time came they expected these people to care for and protect them. That was their purpose.
As he was walking around Franklin thought he heard a sound coming from the well. He got there as quickly as he could. But looking down he saw nothing. Finally he decided it was just the quite night air playing tricks on him. So he did something he had not done in a long time. He sat on the well, looked up, and prayed.
He didn’t know how long he sat there talking to Habbakuk, but he was brought back to attention when he heard a sound behind him. Quickly turning he saw Gracie walking towards him.
“I thought I would be the only one foolish enough to be walking about this time of night,” she said.
Laughing he replied, “I thought the same thing. Please, sit and join me and we can be foolish together.”
Quietly she slid beside him. “It is a beautiful night. It will be nice to share it with somebody.” Suddenly she burst into tears. “I’m so sorry.”
“About what?” Franklin asked, putting his arm around her.
“I didn’t mean to make everyone laugh at you this morning.”
“Bah.” he said waving a hand. “What’s the fun of being mayor if you can’t get people to laugh at you from time to time. Besides, I’m glad you said what you did. I didn’t mean to imply that the women here didn’t care about our homes as much as the men did. And if you wanted to stay and help fight, I for one am happy to have you. Sometimes men just need a good kick in the pants to make us understand what’s truly important in our lives.”
On they talked into the night. Most men would have gladly taken advantage of a woman as beautiful as Gracie. In their final hours they would have tried to take her to their beds. And in this time she would have went. Franklin however, was not such a man. While his body yearned for hers, he would not have her like this. So when the dawn came, they were still sitting there talking.
As the ground began to shake with the approaching horses, the people of The Kingdom Of Nowhere, came out to the town square one final time. It was there they met the men and hobgoblins. They didn’t look like the soldiers the people had been expecting. Nothing like fighters from the stories they had heard growing up. They looked more like raiders.
The leader rode up to meet the farmers. “You have been told by messenger of our coming. You people are ordered to leave this place and never come back.”
Mayor Franklin stood as tall as he could while he addressed the leader. “Sir, this land has belonged to our people for a long time now. This is more than a plot of land with some buildings. It is our home. I say to you, you can have it. You can have all of it. We will give it to you. When we are dead!”
The mayor had started out speaking calmly. Almost coldly. But now he was shouting so not only his people, but the army could hear him. Even the fighters in the last rank had little choice but to hear his final words because they were backed up by the cheering of the farmers. And more than one solider was afraid.
But the leader, Captain Bridge would not be talked to in such a manner. As he pulled his sword his troops did the same. More than a few laughed as the villagers readied pitch forks, wood axes, and scythes. There would be no fight here. They would simply cut these people down as they walked. They wouldn’t even have to slow down.
“WWWAAAAIIIIITTTT!!!” came the scream from behind a house as two kender raced up. “We…” panted the male, “found the… deed…”
“To the… land…” the female finished. “And we found the will which proves it’s been left to Mayor Franklin.”
A cheer went up from the villagers who now believed they were saved. But Captain Bridge had other ides. Though he couldn’t prove it, he believed there was a deposit of star metal in in these lands. Of course he hadn’t told anyone about this. He would wait till after these people were driven out, or dead, and he had his share before he would tell anyone what treasures waited beneath them.
Looking at the two kender he said, “I simply don’t care. Now, you people have stood in my way long enough.” With their swords drawn they started forward.
What stopped them was a great shadow falling over all of them. Looking up, all they could make out was the form of a dragon. They were afraid the brass Thunder had returned even though he was supposed to be being kept busy elsewhere.
Then they felt relief as it landed and turned out to be a blue dragon. Captain Bridge figured out the knights of Neraka learned of the star metal here and had sent the dragon to find out if it was true. As much as he hated the idea, he would have to share it with them. After he managed to get his own first.
But he and his men were surprised when the dragon looked at them and said, “Leave this place and never come back. There is nothing here you want.”
“Now hold on just a minute,” Captain Bridge said. “We didn’t march all this way…”
He never got to finish what he was going to say. All it took was one quick swipe of the blue dragon’s claw to silence him forever.
“Now,” she said, “does anyone else wish to argue with me?”
A few men were trampled as panic broke out and the men turned their horses and tried to ride off as quickly as they could.
Tekel and Windy looked at the town’s people who were frozen in place. Partly from dragon fear, partly from shock that they hadn’t been eaten.
Windy walked towards the mayor and said, “Um… I believe you know Juna.”
The mayor took a few unsteady steps forward, bowed his head, and sputtered, “T.. T.. T… Thank you.”
A roar of cheers went up from the towns people. They had heard both Wind and Tekel speak of Juna and how she was really a dragon disguised as a kender. And now they were seeing living, breathing proof. They were grateful for what she had done, but they were still afraid of her.
Juna saw how much the people feared her, keeping their distance. And it pleased her. She was a great and powerful dragon. She should be feared.
When the mayor could finally speak again he looked up and said, “Is there any way we can repay you?”
“I doubt it.” she replied, slightly amused. “I did just save your lives and town after all. Just try not to let anything like this happen again.”
The celebration the villagers had when they all thought they were going to die was nothing compared to the one they had when they realized they were going to live. That day, Tekel and Windy were given more to eat and drink than they would be able to in a week.
Juna, who refused to turn back into kender form after being stuck in it for so long, was given a couple of cows and horses for her meal. She relished the fresh meat. The way the gods intended it.
The next morning, when Franklin and Gracie immerged from his house, Juna was sleeping on the ground at the well. Her body almost formed a perfect ring around it. And though several people needed water, none were willing to dare wake her to get it. She told herself she would lay there for just a few more minutes before she pretended to wake up and fly off to get another cow.
Tekel and Windy would have told everyone she was only pretending to sleep, but they didn’t think they would be able to get the words out through their fits of giggles.
Now that everyone had celebrated their victory, riders had been sent out to find their kids, and take the deed to Gaarlus. There since they could now prove they owned the land, they would ask to become part of Gaardlund where they would receive the same rights and protection as others of the land.
It was less than a day before the kids were returned to their parents. Even with the older kids leading them, they just couldn’t make it far on foot. Of course, do to politics, everyone knew that becoming part of Gaardlnd was going to take a lot longer.
Juna, Windy, and Tekel stayed around for a little over a week to make sure none of the invaders returned. And even though Juna had told them her real name, they knew they couldn’t use it unless they were alone.
On the day they were preparing to leave, a great roar came from the sky. Looking around Juna saw a dragon flying from the direction of the sun. A great brass dragon flew straight at Juna then hovered over her menacingly. He would have attacked her except she was so close to the village he was afraid someone would get hurt. What happened next shocked him.
“Now cut that out right this instant Thunder!” a small voice shouted. Looking down Thunder saw Tekel and Windy standing there shouting up at him. Soon they were joined by several of the villagers who were shouting at him.
As he landed his mind flashed back to the two little kender telling him vary large tails of a blue dragon who was their friend. And even after the villagers told him the story about what had happened he just couldn’t believe it. Still, non the less, he was thankful the kender were willing to forgive him for giving them a fake magic ring. Windy would have given it back but she just couldn’t find it.
Tekel and Windy decided to make one last round to tell everyone good bye while Juna finished telling Thunder their story. Though Juna had decided to tell no one, not even Thunder about the star metal. If word ever got out, these people’s lives would forever be changed. And not for the better.
As Windy was saying her goodbyes she heard a barking coming from the stables. When she got there, the little dog she had met so long ago was standing in the back corner. Her little putty thing was there and moving closer to the dog. In fact, the poor pouch had one of it’s paws stuck in the putty.
She just couldn’t keep from laughing when she picked the putty up and it gave a small giggle. Quickly putting it in her pouch she picked up the little dog. “Are you ok little fellow?” she asked “I wonder if anyone ever finished painting your nails?” She looked closer but none were painted red.
“Oh well, that’s been so long ago that if they did, it’s probably come off by now. Well, I have to go now little doggy. You behave yourself.” She didn’t notice the dog feel asleep as she walked out the door.
A short time later they were soaring away, wondering what their next big adventure would be. And a very tired stable keeper was waking up. He didn’t know what had happened to him, but he knew he would never try to cheat anyone again.
And finally you and your beautiful wife came to see me. My heart had never felt such joy and love as you told me everyone in town pulled all their coppers together and bought this and the surrounding land. And had bought it in mine and your mother’s name. For any man to have half the blessings I’ve had he would be the most wealthy man in the world.
Now I must laugh at myself. I see standing in front of me the god Habbakuk himself. Weather a vision or the imaginings of an old man I can’t say. Though I can’t image Habbakuk laughing like he did when I told him he would have to wait for me to write you a letter before he could take me. But either way I know my time is short.
My son, this is more than a letter good bye. It is my final will. I leave everything I have to you and your children. And then to your children’s children. All down the line from now till always. Take this letter and the deed and put them someplace safe. Look around, you will find a place.’”
As Josylon finished reading she looked around and saw that Windy and Tekel’s eyes were wet. They assured her it was from the water though they were both perfectly dry. But what surprised her the most was her eyes were wet as well. She just couldn’t figure out why. It couldn’t be because she was moved by the words of a dying man. A man who’s life was too short to measure anyway.
As Josylon was wiping her eyes she noticed something she hadn’t before. And when she looked to Tekel and Windy she was even more shocked. “Windy!” she almost screamed. “What do you have there?”
“Oh this?” Windy said holding up what appeared to be something made of putty. “I haven’t got a clue. But it’s brown and squishy and giggles when you poke it.” To prove her point she gave it a little poke and it did indeed giggle. “I’ve had it for ages though. Still can’t figure out what it eats which is a good thing since I don’t want to have to clean any droppings out of my pouches.”
“No, not that.” Josylon said shaking with excitement. “Though that is fascinating. I was talking about that ring on your finger. Where? When did you get it?
“Oh this?” Windy said looking truly shocked. “I have no idea. Is it yours? I guess you must have dropped it. Here, you can have it back.”
As Windy handed it to her, Josylon’s mind flashed back to when Tekel shook her hand that had the ring on it. Then he shook hands with Windy. Now the ring was in her hand, not on her finger. Josylon decided to cast a very simple spell on the accursed ring. After saying the words the ring began to flow faintly.
“Damn that Thunder!” she shouted throwing the ring to the ground. “There’s not enough magic in that ring to make a lizard change colors, much less lock me in this form. I bet the only thing magical about it at all is that it appears to be magical.”
Both Tekel and Windy looked outraged. “I can’t believe Theuprite would lie to us like that.” Tekel said.
“Yeah.” Windy agreed as she picked up the ring. “It’s like for some reason he didn’t believe we were friends with a blue dragon, who had flown us here, helped us out several times, and could do some magic like changing into a dire-wolf or a kender.”
“Exactly.” Tekel added. “What’s so hard to believe about that?”
Trying to calm them down Josylon said, “At least now I’ll be able to get out of this ridiculous form, no offence, and back into my natural self, and get us out of here.” Softly she began chanting.
As she was saying the words Tekel stopped her. “I know this cavern looks big to us, but it’s not big enough to hold your dragon form. It you change now you’ll cause the place to collapse in on us.”
Windy’s eyes opened big, not with fear, but with excitement. “We would get to see a cave in up close. And with theses glowing rocks it would look so prettyfull.”
Suddenly Tekel was caught up in the excitement. “Yes. You’ve got to do it.”
Then both Windy and Tekel were chanting, “Change… Change… Change…”
Josylon, trying to figure out a way to calm them down said, “But if I change and cause a cave in, you won’t be able to see the battle.”
“Yeah, I would like to see that,” they both said together.
That’s when it occurred to Josylon. Something she should have thought of before. Something she actually considered kicking herself for not thinking of sooner. She ran to the chest, climbed in, and started tearing through the papers and items in there till she found out. When she came out she was holding the deed to the town, just like it said in the letter.
But her look of triumph quickly turned to one of sorrow. “It doesn’t matter if we have the deed or not, if we don’t get out of here we won’t be able to give it to Mayor Franklin so he can save his town.”
Sadly they all sat back down trying to figure a way out. Tekel pulled out his flute and started to play and Windy played with her squishy thing. Now, kender logic isn’t the same as human logic. And it’s certainly different from dragon logic. But even the most stubborn dwarf must admit they have good ides from time to time. And now, for Tekel, this was that time.
“You know,” he said. “When the wall broke fell apart in the well it was just big enough for us to fit through. It’s like my dad always said, the gods made us so we could fit in anywhere. But I doubt Martan and Melissa could have fit there. Besides, they were a little too old to be playing in wells. So I bet they had another way in.
Once again Josylon could have kicked herself. Instead she settled for helping Tekel and Windy search for the way out. As Windy put her little putty thing in her pouch, she didn’t notice the ring she picked up and put on her finger was now missing. Dragons aren’t used to searching for hidden entrances, even if it isn’t really hidden. So it didn’t surprise her much when Windy found it in a place she had already searched.
It wasn’t as much an entrance as an upward sloping path behind some crevasse. As the three made there way up, there were gradually less and less of the glowing rocks. By the time they reached the end it was black as pitch and they were feeling their way along.
Finally reaching the end there was a piece of wood directly above them. As they tried to push it off their hands went right through it. Climbing out they realized they were in what was left of a very small house which must have once belonged to Martan. Other than a couple of floors and partial walls, there was nothing to suggest a house had once been here.
But more importantly, dawn was fast approaching. Already it was light enough outside to see. But were they in time? They could already hear shouts coming from the other side of the village.
The three kender weren’t the only ones who had a busy night. While everyone was in the tavern celebrating the coming day, and their coming deaths, there was one who chose not to drink. Not out of fear or sadness, but because he wanted a clear head when he faced the enemy tomorrow. Even though he had signed the death warrants of his people, he knew it had been the only decision he could make. And now looking back, Franklin was actually happy about it.
With everyone in the inn, or spending their final hours with their loved ones, he was walking around the town. Habbakuk taught that you should always be prepared to fight to protect the land and it’s creatures in your care. His people were farmers. What they had was little. Some chickens, cows, a few horses, and the land, was theirs. He believed the animals knew they would one day die to provide meat and clothing for the ones who raised them. That was their purpose. But until that time came they expected these people to care for and protect them. That was their purpose.
As he was walking around Franklin thought he heard a sound coming from the well. He got there as quickly as he could. But looking down he saw nothing. Finally he decided it was just the quite night air playing tricks on him. So he did something he had not done in a long time. He sat on the well, looked up, and prayed.
He didn’t know how long he sat there talking to Habbakuk, but he was brought back to attention when he heard a sound behind him. Quickly turning he saw Gracie walking towards him.
“I thought I would be the only one foolish enough to be walking about this time of night,” she said.
Laughing he replied, “I thought the same thing. Please, sit and join me and we can be foolish together.”
Quietly she slid beside him. “It is a beautiful night. It will be nice to share it with somebody.” Suddenly she burst into tears. “I’m so sorry.”
“About what?” Franklin asked, putting his arm around her.
“I didn’t mean to make everyone laugh at you this morning.”
“Bah.” he said waving a hand. “What’s the fun of being mayor if you can’t get people to laugh at you from time to time. Besides, I’m glad you said what you did. I didn’t mean to imply that the women here didn’t care about our homes as much as the men did. And if you wanted to stay and help fight, I for one am happy to have you. Sometimes men just need a good kick in the pants to make us understand what’s truly important in our lives.”
On they talked into the night. Most men would have gladly taken advantage of a woman as beautiful as Gracie. In their final hours they would have tried to take her to their beds. And in this time she would have went. Franklin however, was not such a man. While his body yearned for hers, he would not have her like this. So when the dawn came, they were still sitting there talking.
As the ground began to shake with the approaching horses, the people of The Kingdom Of Nowhere, came out to the town square one final time. It was there they met the men and hobgoblins. They didn’t look like the soldiers the people had been expecting. Nothing like fighters from the stories they had heard growing up. They looked more like raiders.
The leader rode up to meet the farmers. “You have been told by messenger of our coming. You people are ordered to leave this place and never come back.”
Mayor Franklin stood as tall as he could while he addressed the leader. “Sir, this land has belonged to our people for a long time now. This is more than a plot of land with some buildings. It is our home. I say to you, you can have it. You can have all of it. We will give it to you. When we are dead!”
The mayor had started out speaking calmly. Almost coldly. But now he was shouting so not only his people, but the army could hear him. Even the fighters in the last rank had little choice but to hear his final words because they were backed up by the cheering of the farmers. And more than one solider was afraid.
But the leader, Captain Bridge would not be talked to in such a manner. As he pulled his sword his troops did the same. More than a few laughed as the villagers readied pitch forks, wood axes, and scythes. There would be no fight here. They would simply cut these people down as they walked. They wouldn’t even have to slow down.
“WWWAAAAIIIIITTTT!!!” came the scream from behind a house as two kender raced up. “We…” panted the male, “found the… deed…”
“To the… land…” the female finished. “And we found the will which proves it’s been left to Mayor Franklin.”
A cheer went up from the villagers who now believed they were saved. But Captain Bridge had other ides. Though he couldn’t prove it, he believed there was a deposit of star metal in in these lands. Of course he hadn’t told anyone about this. He would wait till after these people were driven out, or dead, and he had his share before he would tell anyone what treasures waited beneath them.
Looking at the two kender he said, “I simply don’t care. Now, you people have stood in my way long enough.” With their swords drawn they started forward.
What stopped them was a great shadow falling over all of them. Looking up, all they could make out was the form of a dragon. They were afraid the brass Thunder had returned even though he was supposed to be being kept busy elsewhere.
Then they felt relief as it landed and turned out to be a blue dragon. Captain Bridge figured out the knights of Neraka learned of the star metal here and had sent the dragon to find out if it was true. As much as he hated the idea, he would have to share it with them. After he managed to get his own first.
But he and his men were surprised when the dragon looked at them and said, “Leave this place and never come back. There is nothing here you want.”
“Now hold on just a minute,” Captain Bridge said. “We didn’t march all this way…”
He never got to finish what he was going to say. All it took was one quick swipe of the blue dragon’s claw to silence him forever.
“Now,” she said, “does anyone else wish to argue with me?”
A few men were trampled as panic broke out and the men turned their horses and tried to ride off as quickly as they could.
Tekel and Windy looked at the town’s people who were frozen in place. Partly from dragon fear, partly from shock that they hadn’t been eaten.
Windy walked towards the mayor and said, “Um… I believe you know Juna.”
The mayor took a few unsteady steps forward, bowed his head, and sputtered, “T.. T.. T… Thank you.”
A roar of cheers went up from the towns people. They had heard both Wind and Tekel speak of Juna and how she was really a dragon disguised as a kender. And now they were seeing living, breathing proof. They were grateful for what she had done, but they were still afraid of her.
Juna saw how much the people feared her, keeping their distance. And it pleased her. She was a great and powerful dragon. She should be feared.
When the mayor could finally speak again he looked up and said, “Is there any way we can repay you?”
“I doubt it.” she replied, slightly amused. “I did just save your lives and town after all. Just try not to let anything like this happen again.”
The celebration the villagers had when they all thought they were going to die was nothing compared to the one they had when they realized they were going to live. That day, Tekel and Windy were given more to eat and drink than they would be able to in a week.
Juna, who refused to turn back into kender form after being stuck in it for so long, was given a couple of cows and horses for her meal. She relished the fresh meat. The way the gods intended it.
The next morning, when Franklin and Gracie immerged from his house, Juna was sleeping on the ground at the well. Her body almost formed a perfect ring around it. And though several people needed water, none were willing to dare wake her to get it. She told herself she would lay there for just a few more minutes before she pretended to wake up and fly off to get another cow.
Tekel and Windy would have told everyone she was only pretending to sleep, but they didn’t think they would be able to get the words out through their fits of giggles.
Now that everyone had celebrated their victory, riders had been sent out to find their kids, and take the deed to Gaarlus. There since they could now prove they owned the land, they would ask to become part of Gaardlund where they would receive the same rights and protection as others of the land.
It was less than a day before the kids were returned to their parents. Even with the older kids leading them, they just couldn’t make it far on foot. Of course, do to politics, everyone knew that becoming part of Gaardlnd was going to take a lot longer.
Juna, Windy, and Tekel stayed around for a little over a week to make sure none of the invaders returned. And even though Juna had told them her real name, they knew they couldn’t use it unless they were alone.
On the day they were preparing to leave, a great roar came from the sky. Looking around Juna saw a dragon flying from the direction of the sun. A great brass dragon flew straight at Juna then hovered over her menacingly. He would have attacked her except she was so close to the village he was afraid someone would get hurt. What happened next shocked him.
“Now cut that out right this instant Thunder!” a small voice shouted. Looking down Thunder saw Tekel and Windy standing there shouting up at him. Soon they were joined by several of the villagers who were shouting at him.
As he landed his mind flashed back to the two little kender telling him vary large tails of a blue dragon who was their friend. And even after the villagers told him the story about what had happened he just couldn’t believe it. Still, non the less, he was thankful the kender were willing to forgive him for giving them a fake magic ring. Windy would have given it back but she just couldn’t find it.
Tekel and Windy decided to make one last round to tell everyone good bye while Juna finished telling Thunder their story. Though Juna had decided to tell no one, not even Thunder about the star metal. If word ever got out, these people’s lives would forever be changed. And not for the better.
As Windy was saying her goodbyes she heard a barking coming from the stables. When she got there, the little dog she had met so long ago was standing in the back corner. Her little putty thing was there and moving closer to the dog. In fact, the poor pouch had one of it’s paws stuck in the putty.
She just couldn’t keep from laughing when she picked the putty up and it gave a small giggle. Quickly putting it in her pouch she picked up the little dog. “Are you ok little fellow?” she asked “I wonder if anyone ever finished painting your nails?” She looked closer but none were painted red.
“Oh well, that’s been so long ago that if they did, it’s probably come off by now. Well, I have to go now little doggy. You behave yourself.” She didn’t notice the dog feel asleep as she walked out the door.
A short time later they were soaring away, wondering what their next big adventure would be. And a very tired stable keeper was waking up. He didn’t know what had happened to him, but he knew he would never try to cheat anyone again.