The Corgi Chronicles Page 7

  “Where is the Gem?” Gornak asked.

  There was fear in the goblin’s eyes as he shouted, “I won’t tell you anything!” Then he spat at Gornak. Barrol snarled and leaned close to the goblin, showing off his sharp fangs. “You can’t have it,” the goblin said in a quieter voice.

  “We’ll find it, one way or another,” said Aliiana. “We have the ability to track it.”

  “What’s it worth to you?”

  Gornak frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Money,” the goblin said. “How much will you pay me for it?”

  Barrol snarled again. “I really don’t think you’re in a position to negotiate,” he growled.

  The goblin tried to ignore the cougar’s threat. He turned to Aliiana. “If I tell you where the Gem is, I want one million human dollars.”

  She crossed her arms but didn’t respond.

  “You’re pushing your luck,” Gornak said. “How about, we won’t kill you if you tell us where the Gem is.”

  He sighed in resignation. “It’s not here. He took it.”

  “Who took it?” asked Gornak.

  “Angarath.”

  “Then who are you?”

  “Kiarng,” the goblin replied.

  “Then who’s Angarath?”

  “My boss.” The goblin’s eyes went wide. “He’ll kill me if I tell.”

  “What if we protect you?”

  “You can’t,” Kiarng said, his head hanging. “He’s too powerful.”

  “We’re powerful, too,” said Aliiana.

  Kiarng looked sadly at Aliiana. “Be that as it may, you’re too late. He’ll destroy the Gem before you can reach him.”

  “Why does he want to destroy the Gem?” Gornak asked.

  Kiarng sighed. “Because he’s mad. He wanted to use its power for himself—that’s what all those potions and things in the laboratory were for. But no matter what he did, he couldn’t open it to absorb the power. So he got mad and now he’s going to destroy it instead.”

  Gornak casually spun his axe and leaned close to the goblin. “But that would mean the end of magic. And without the magic of the Gem, all the magical races would wither and die—goblins included.”

  “I don’t want that. I just…” We waited as he gathered his thoughts. “I tried to take the Gem from him. I wanted to go to the elves, to get a ransom for it.” He looked despondent. “I never meant for magic to end.”

  “Why did you stay here?”

  The goblin shook his head. “He left me here with the troll. I couldn’t leave the cave because of the wards on the entrance.”

  Aliiana spoke gently. “Where did he take the Gem?”

  Kiarng shook his head again. “I’m not sure. He said he was going to find a ferment-lab.”

  “A ferment-lab? What’s that?” Aliiana asked.

  “I don’t know,” said the goblin. “Angarath just said it was a party-hat-acceleration machine.”

  “You mean Fermilab?” I asked. “The particle accelerator?” The others all stared at me. “My human family watched a show on Discovery Channel about it. It’s near Chicago. Scientists study subatomic particles there.”

  “Yes, that’s it,” Kiarng said. “He said the party-hats go fast enough to destroy the Gem.”

  My friends looked at me blankly, so I hurriedly explained. “Everything in the universe—rocks, trees, you, me—is made of tiny cells. Cells are made of even tinier things called molecules and atoms. Even smaller, the atoms are made of subatomic particles. Scientists study them by making them zip around superfast.”

  Gornak grunted. “That doesn’t matter right now,” he said. “We need to get to Chicago.” He straightened and replaced his axe in its scabbard.

  “You’ll never get there in time,” said Kiarng. “He took an airplane.”

  “We can take a plane, too,” said Gornak.

  “No, we can’t,” I said. “You could barely pass for human if you got rid of your axe and helmet, but Aliiana and Birgitte certainly wouldn’t. And animals aren’t allowed on planes except in crates in the cargo compartment.”

  Barrol snarled. “I’m not going in a crate.”

  “And first we need to heal Nelathen,” said Aliiana.

  “What should we do with our new friend?” Gornak asked, gesturing to the goblin.

  “Maybe we can find some elves on the way to turn him over to,” said Birgitte.

  Kiarng was still frozen stiff from the stunning spell. Gornak picked him up by his clothing and swung him over his shoulder like he was carrying a log. We picked our way over the broken laboratory equipment, past the troll’s body, and out the tunnel.

  As we exited the mesa, we saw Sandra Two Crow sitting cross-legged on the ground, cradling Nelathen’s head in her lap. Her eyes were closed and she held her hands against the sides of his head.

  Barrol bounded over. “What are you doing to my master?” he snarled.

  She opened her eyes. “Healing him,” she said calmly, unaffected by the cougar’s fangs just inches from her face. “I don’t know much about elven physiology, but my people have universal healing herbs which should help him regain consciousness.” She waved at the ground around his body. There were several piles of fragrant plant material, smoking faintly. “Now, shush, I need to concentrate.” She closed her eyes again.

  Bak scurried out from behind Sandra. “Bear root, sage and sweetgrass,” he said. “He’ll be back to normal soon.”

  “How did Sandra get here?” I asked.

  Bak bounced up and down with excitement. “I called to one of my black-footed ferret cousins, and sent him to Sandra. He can’t speak the human language like I can, but he chirped so loudly that she knew there was something wrong. She followed him back here on Rusty, her horse.” He pointed to a reddish-brown horse standing a little way down the chasm, calmly munching grain from a feedbag on its nose.

  Gornak swung the stiff goblin down and leaned him against a rock pinnacle, then sat down and pulled some food from his pack. “We might as well get some rest while we wait.”

  We ate and drank, speaking quietly to avoid disturbing Sandra. The herbs gave off a sweet, strong odor, and their smoke swirled around Nelathen. After an hour or so, Sandra opened her eyes and took her hands away from his head. She smiled as his eyes opened.

  Nelathen slowly sat up and looked around, taking in the presence of the petrified goblin and the Sioux wise woman. “I seem to have missed a bit,” he said. We filled him in on the situation and the urgency of getting to Chicago.

  “Tree portals,” he said.

  “Pardon me?” Gornak asked.

  “That’s the only way we can get to Chicago in time if he’s got such a lead on us. We’ll have to contact the dryads for permission to use the tree portals.”

  Aliiana spoke to Sandra. “You have helped us immensely, and we are in your debt. But I have another favor to ask of you.” She gestured to the goblin. “Can we depend on you and your tribe to serve justice to this goblin?”

  Kiarng hadn’t spoken since we left the cave, but now he yelled. “No! You can’t give me to that human.”

  I glared at him. “You’re on federal land right now. Would you rather we turn you over to the United States government? I’m sure the human scientists would love to run some experiments on you.” That shut him up.

  Sandra smiled. “Yes, I’ll take the goblin. He can help me muck out horse stalls for a few months until he feels adequately repentant for his actions.”

  “Thank you,” said Aliiana. “The stunning spell will wear off in a few more hours.”

  Sandra pulled a length of rope from her saddle bags and lashed the goblin to the back of the saddle. She gracefully mounted the horse. “Bak,” she said. “Do you want to go with the others on their mission or stay with me?”

  The ferret looked back and forth between Sandra and our party. Curiously, he addressed Barrol. “It’s been a great adventure with you guys, but I have to stay with my mistress.” He saluted the cougar again,
jumped to Sandra’s boot in the stirrup, and scrambled up her leg to sit in front of her.

  Sandra waved to us and spurred the horse to a trot. They were quickly out of sight.

  Chapter 11

  “Where are we going to find dryads?” Gornak asked.

  “The Black Hills forest should be large enough for several dryad territories,” said Nelathen. “We’ll have to backtrack a bit and sneak around the human tourists again.”

  For a while, Barrol walked next to me. “You fought bravely, little brother. I never imagined a Corgi could stand up to a troll.” I wagged my stubby tail at the compliment.

  “I suppose you and Nelathen probably have lots of adventures,” I said, “but this is my first adventure.”

  Barrol laughed, a deep purring chuckle. “Fortunately, most of our adventures are pretty tame compared to this.”

  We reached the Black Hills that evening, and it was obvious why the humans called them that. The forest was dark bluish-black against the tans and light greens of the surrounding prairie.

  We continued hiking late into the evening to find a remote area deep in the forest to set up camp. The pines and spruces towered above us, and red squirrels jumped among the branches. Granite outcroppings jutted up through the dried pine needles covering the ground.

  “I’ll talk to the trees to try to locate a dryad,” said Nelathen. He grabbed his longbow and left the camp soundlessly. Barrol bounded off as usual to hunt rabbits, and Gornak honed the edge on his axe. I fell asleep soon after eating.

  The next morning when I woke, Nelathen and the others were talking over a breakfast of dried fruit and nuts.

  “What did you find out about the dryads?” Aliiana asked.

  “From the trees,” Nelathen said, “I got the impression that there are three dryad territories in the Black Hills forest. The nearest one is about two miles away.”

  “What do you mean by territories?” Gornak asked.

  “Dryads are territorial creatures,” Nelathen said. “A territory is usually several square miles, and they will fight viciously if their territory is threatened.”

  “Do you think they’ll help us?”

  “I hope so,” he said. “They’re a magical race, after all.”

  “And what exactly are the tree portals?” I asked.

  “It’s a magical link between two trees in different places. Usually they’re very old trees with enormous trunks.”

  We finished up breakfast, broke camp, and set out following Nelathen. Every so often, he would stop, lay his hands on a towering pine and close his eyes. After a few moments he would start walking again, sometimes in a different direction. After about an hour, we reached a dense stand of ponderosa pines. In the center of the grove was an exceptionally tall pine with a trunk eight feet across.

  Nelathen laid his hands on the giant tree. Nodding, he said, “This is it. Now to get the dryad’s attention…” He looked at us. “Barrol, Gornak, Pippin, it might be best if you wait over there.” He pointed to the edge of the grove. “Aliiana, Birgitte, you can help me try to convince the dryad to help.”

  The dwarf, the cougar and I retreated to the edge of the grove and sat down. Gornak grumbled under his breath about “ungrateful fey.” I swiveled my big ears around so I could hear the others as they tried to contact the dryad.

  Nelathen put one hand on the huge tree trunk and worked a spell with his other hand. A pale green ribbon of light swirled upward, twisting gracefully. He released the spell, and stepped back to watch the green mist wrap higher and higher. The trunk was perfectly straight and branchless for the bottom forty feet. When the green ribbon of light reached the first branches, it sent tiny ribbons to wreathe around each branch.

  From my vantage point, I watched the green light twist all the way to the top of the tree, some two hundred feet up. Then I heard an unearthly wail, and saw a small brown figure scurry down the trunk.

  As the figure approached the ground, I realized that it was a small female being, about the same size as Aliiana, with bark-like skin the same orange-brown as the pine’s bark and hair the dark green of its needles. And she seemed to be quite angry.

  She yelled at Nelathen in a high-pitched voice, gesturing wildly with her hands. I couldn’t understand her speech, or even identify it. It sounded like the chatter of little woodland rodents.

  Nelathen held his hand out in a calming gesture. “I apologize for disturbing you. Please understand our task is most urgent.”

  She chittered again, and suddenly red squirrels high in the branches of the surrounding trees threw pine cones down at us. The pine cones weren’t particularly dangerous, but they left nasty bruises when thrown from fifty feet up in the air.

  Nelathen continued calmly. “You have every right to be angry at us for coming uninvited into your grove. I am Nelathen, son of Jillaen, who is daughter of Marolle. This is Aliiana of the earth fairies, daughter of Belian, who is daughter of Ronilean. And this is Birgitte of the sprites, daughter of Faera, who is daughter of Dantree.”

  The dryad calmed down a little with the formal introductions. She bowed her head, and said, “I am Pen, daughter of Ponl, who is daughter of Pefr.” The others bowed their heads to her.

  Aliiana spoke next. “I also apologize for disturbing your sacred grove. We are on a mission of great importance. The fate of all magical races, including yours, depends on us.”

  The dryad chittered again to the squirrels. I was afraid we were going to be battered by pine cones again, but instead the squirrels came down and gathered around the base of the dryad’s tree. She still clung to the tree, her little hands and feet grasping the bark, but she came down to within a couple feet of the ground. “Explain,” she said tersely.

  With the squirrel audience behind her, Aliiana bowed again to the dryad and explained our mission.

  “You believe this Angarath will destroy the Gem?” the dryad asked.

  “Yes,” said Aliiana, “and in so doing will end all good magic.”

  The dryad rocked back on her feet as she considered this. “The dryads must have magic to maintain the forests. I will help you.”

  Nelathen explained that we sought transport through the tree portals, and then waved the rest of us over and introduced us to the dryad. She peered at us suspiciously. “Never before have any beings traveled the tree portals but dryads and elves. But I will allow it.”

  We all bowed to her and murmured our thanks.

  “Which destination portal do you wish?” she asked.

  “Near Chicago, or anyplace in northern Illinois,” I said. She looked at me blankly. We realized that she was completely unfamiliar with human cities and states. And since Corgwyn have difficulty with maps, I was at a loss of how to describe the terrain.

  Fortunately, Aliiana was able to describe our destination. “East of here, the land becomes flat. There is a large river that twists and turns on itself, where many birds gather in the spring. Further east is another great river, this one fast and muddy. Then there are five lakes as big as seas. We want to be between the muddy river and the tip of the southwest lake.”

  That didn’t make much sense to me, but apparently the dryad understood. She nodded. “Yes, there is a portal tree in that area. A white pine, very beautiful.”

  The dryad finally stepped from the tree trunk onto the forest floor. The squirrels ran up to her, chirping and swishing their fluffy tails. She shooed them away, and turned to us. “Come.”

  There was a depression in the ground next to the tree, encircled by two great roots. She stepped into the depression and disappeared. We followed one at a time. The depression was larger and deeper than it appeared from above, as all of us fit comfortably inside. Only Nelathen’s head stuck out above ground level.

  “You must each grasp one of the roots,” the dryad instructed. Everyone who had hands grabbed a root. Barrol and I looked at each other, and then at the dryad. “You may use your mouths,” she said. So I gently took a root into my mouth, tasting dirt and pine ba
rk.

  The dryad chittered in her own language, and my vision dimmed. I felt a peculiar twisting and squashing sensation. Then I realized that the root in my mouth had changed contour and flavor, and the air was suddenly twenty degrees warmer.

  Nelathen said, “We’re here. You can let go of the roots.”

  I spat dirt out of my mouth and looked around. We were in a similar depression, but this tree was smaller—only four feet across, and its bark was grey.

  We heard chittering from high in the tree, and another dryad scurried down. This one was also female, but with grey skin and bluish-green hair. We all bowed to her, and Nelathen went through introductions again. This dryad was even less communicative than the other, and she scurried back up the tree, leaving us alone.

  “Stay here,” Nelathen said. “I’ll try to figure out where we are.” He adopted his human disguise and dashed off, leaving his sword and bow behind. He returned twenty minutes later and announced, “We’re in White Pines State Park. It’s about sixty miles to Fermilab. And we need to be very cautious—there are a lot more humans in this part of the country than we’re used to.” He looked at Barrol. “And no cougars, so they would probably shoot you on sight.”

  Chapter 12

  As soon as we emerged from the forest, I realized how hard it was going to be to keep hidden from the humans. This was flat farmland, with scattered homes and barns. Many of the farm fields had been planted but the crops were mere seedlings, only poking up a few inches from the rich brown soil.

  Roads crisscrossed the landscape, and we had to duck behind barns frequently to avoid being seen by humans. Within ten minutes, it was evident that we needed a new plan.

  I remembered from Montana that an invisibility spell wasn’t feasible. “I have an idea,” I said. “The fey can become invisible at will, so it’s the other three of us who are conspicuous. Could we do an illusion spell to make Gornak look more human? And maybe make Barrol look like, I don’t know, a big dog? And I can be a regular dog.”

  Birgitte nodded. “Good idea, Pippin.” She dipped her little hand into her pouch and drew out more sparkling dust. “I need to put this on your heads.” Nelathen gently lifted her and held her over Gornak and Barrol. The powder glowed and poured down in liquidy sheets over their heads and bodies. The glow faded and the illusions were complete—Gornak looked like a short, stocky human in faded jeans and a sweatshirt, and Barrol looked like a huge St. Bernard.