Kinderling 3:

Captain Zon of the Kinderling Militia and my father had been friends for as long as anyone knew.  Sometimes I swear their mother's birthed them out at the same time and somehow they were already old pals before the wetness of birth was washed off.  They do indeed share a birthday, although as far as I know Captain Zon's parents and my grandparents ran in much different circles, so it was highly unlikely that they knew each other.

Uncle Zon, as I call him, to my disappointment didn't seem at all surprised when I jumped down from the tree.

"Ah, Tandy.  Nice of you to join us.  We were looking for you, but you were well hidden, I presume by your no-see-me totem."  Uncle Zon was a big proponent of the militia buying as many no-see-me totems as I could produce.  There was, of course, a counter-movement involved that had all kinds of excuses why they shouldn't.  "She's too young, how can they possibly be reliable", "They are too expensive" (even though a price hadn't even been talked about), and my favorite "We don't need them.  Why should our patrols need to hide?"  Needless to say, the naysayers were all bean counter or administrators who never set foot outside the village.  Many of whom had never once seen a Gorf.

"If you couldn't find me, how is it that you managed to find the tree I was in?"  His men were most definitely surrounding the very tree I had sheltered in for the night.

"Your mother was kind enough to provide us with this compass, and we followed it right to you."  He replied, "Nice piece of kit that.  Your family comes up with the most amazing little devices."

I looked at the compass that Uncle Zon pulled out of his tunic.  It was wooden, and intricately carved in a way that only my mother could carve.  Intricate, beautiful, and graceful.  All while still looking rugged and dependable.  I only wish I could carve like that.  The compass was comprised of a round body with a hinged round lid, and a wooden needle inside that pointed right at me.  I never knew she had such a device.  It sure explained a lot, mama always seemed to know where to find me.  As I was wondering if I would be able to get a close enough look to discern how it was made, Uncle Zon closed the compass and put it back in his pocket.

"None of that young lady, your mother expressly told me not to let you inspect the compass too closely.  Something about not wanting you to get any ideas on how to defeat it.  Besides, now that we've found you, we must go quickly!"

"Uncle Zon," I asked, "Just why are the Militia out here looking for ME?  I've only been gone since yesterday and Mama doesn't usually start to worry till I'm three or four days overdue, one day overdue is normal."  It was true.  I wasn't an adult, and most kids my age, including kids that were a few years older, weren't allowed anywhere near the edge of Kinderling territory, let alone out into the forest beyond, but I often spent a few days at a time out in the forest.  I knew what I was doing, and I was always careful.  Well... except for bringing the kitten along this time, that was a pure bone-headed mistake.  One that once my parents got my report about, I always told them everything, I would probably get a good stern lecture for.

"Something has happened Tandy.  Some of the Gorf tribes have consolidated under a single leader and they have over-run the village.  We are heading to the mushroom gardens, your family is there.  From there, I don't know what will happen.  When I got your parents out of the village, your mother checked the compass and you were far from where she expected you to be.  She was worried that you had been taken by the Gorfs, so I offered to come find you.  I'm happy to see that all that worrying was for nothing."

"I'm sorry to cause such problems Uncle Zon.  I hope you won't get in trouble with the Eldest for wasting time on one stupid little Kinderling girl."  I truly was sorry, with Gorfs attacking the village, the Militia was bound to be needed elsewhere.

"Tandy, the Eldest is gone.  When the Gorfs attacked, they went strait for the central tree.  The Central Guard were overwhelmed.  They did things..."

Uncle Zon was clearly disturbed by what had happened.  I was sure I didn't want to know what he meant by "They did things".

I could tell we were taking a longer route to the Mushroom gardens, keeping well away from the paths we usually used.  I suspect that Uncle Zon was worried that the Gorfs were watching the paths, hoping to capture more Kinderlings. In spite of this, we eventually found our way to the Mushroom gardens.

Calling them the Mushroom gardens doesn't really do a good job of describing them.  Originally, it was nothing but a cave.  Then and enterprising young Kinderling explorer decided to map the entire cave system since nobody knew exactly what was down there.  During his explorations, the Kinderling found a vein of silver in one of the lower chambers.  Soon he had a silver mine established.  Then a smelter.  Artisans in the village used the silver to create such wondrous works of art and magical devices that traders came from far and wide to trade for Kinderling Silver.  That was when the Gorfs came.

It isn't really known if all the extra wealth is what brought the Gorfs, or if it was just a natural migration, but came they did.  Before long the trade route, already difficult because the encroaching forest, became impassable.  With no trade, there was no reason to mine more than the small amounts of silver wanted by the villagers.  That's  where the Mushroom Gardens came in.  The enterprising young explorer, no longer so young, but still enterprising realized that with Gorfs surrounding the village, it would become more and more dangerous to go into the forest to gather food.  So he turned huge parts of the silver mine to mushroom growing.

We arrived in time to witness a heated argument.  My father, a well respected leader and member of the Elder's council, was arguing with the head of the Militia, General Baot.

"I will not send men that are needed here, off on a wild goose chase!  The militia has already lost half of it's men, and you've sent that fool Zon off to his death chasing after that flighty girl of yours!" Yelled the General.

Off to his death?  I quickly checked.  Nope, Uncle Zon was very much alive.

"That girl needs to settle down and marry a nice boy like my nephew Beso, and quit fiddling with all that useless, dangerous magic before she harms herself!"  The General continued.  "She'll never find a good husband this way!"

"All we need is a small number of soldiers, perhaps a squad, to escort an ambassador down the old trade road to the Kingdom of Dorinth.  There the ambassador can re-new ties with the Dorinth, and request help.  We have a Treaty.  In accordance with the Treaty, they will render aid."  My father was angrier than I had ever seen him.

"Well good thing this is a militia matter, ELDER," The General spat "So I'm in charge and you can't waste any more lives.  Nobody is going to Dorinth.  We haven't had contact with Dorinth since before I was born, and I don't think they'll bother to uphold a dusty old Treaty that nobody remembers."

"I am the only surviving member of the Elder's council.  Until a new government is formed, it's my call, and we are sending an ambassador to Dorinth.  The rest can retreat into the Mushroom garden and wait until Dorinth comes, or the Gorf get bored and wander off."

"Sargent!  Take this man into custody for his own protection!"

I was shocked.  The Sargent motioned to a couple of his men and they grabbed my father and tied his hands behind his back.  Sure, father struggled, but as much as I love my father, I have to admit that he's pretty soft and doughy.  He's a thinker, not a fighter, and it didn't take much for those soldiers to subdue him.  Of course he yelled and cussed the whole time until one of the soldiers had enough and socked him up-side the head with his fist.  Father didn't make much of a fuss after that.

"Maybe you should go find your mother." Uncle Zon whispered to me.  "As much as I dread it, duty demands that I report to the General that I've returned."

As much as I heard about people being injured, I was sure that my mother would be in the thick of things.  Mama was one of the village healers, although she tended to work on her own rather than work in the infirmary with the other healers.  At a time like this, they wouldn't turn away the help.  The only logical place for the healers to set up shop would be inside the caves that lead to the mushroom gardens.

As I walked away, I cringed when I heard the General's voice yell "Sargent! Take this deserter into custody!"

I sure hoped Uncle Zon would be okay.  I almost turned around and went back, but what would I be able to do?  I was just a kid.