Kinderling 56

 In case you are interested in starting this story at the beginning, Kinderling 1 can be found here:

The Tricycle of Thought: Kinderling 1

Please don't judge the story or the writing too harshly, this story is written with little to no editing.  It is just meant to get me writing regularly for practice.  

Now back to our story, already in progress.

Smoke was waiting for us when we arrived in our rooms.  She was huge.  She had been large before, but now she was absolutely enormous.  Much taller than me at her shoulder, even taller than Mizzy.

"Smoke, you've grown!"  I exclaimed.

*"Yes dear one.  I have been watching the village for the Beloved, the rotting one and the dark-hearted one have been searching for your people.  I must keep the beloved safe for you."*

"Smoke has been watching for me." Mizzy explained. "Baot and Daggi now have five Gorf platoons, and they have been using them to search night and day.  They managed to rebuild the platoon you destroyed the day you and your Mama rescued me, and Daggi has been perfecting his control devices.  We've even seen a couple Kinderlings being forced to wear them."

I was shocked.  I didn't think that the harnesses worked on Kinderlings.

*"The Beloved is afraid of the harnesses.  I should go in and tear the dark-heart one's throat out."*

"NO!  You can't do that Smoke!"  Mizzy exclaimed.  "If you go there, they will kill you with their spears and swords."  Mizzy was almost in tears, which nearly made me miss the most important part of their exchange.

"Wait!"  I asked, "You and Smoke can talk to each other now?"

Together they said "Of course silly, we are connected through you."

I wasn't sure if I could manage even one more surprise.

Later that day I went to find the Star Sailor, and we went in search of Tilly. 

"Tilly, I would like you to meet the Star Sailor."  I made the introductions.  "He's the one who built the floating ship docked out front.  Star Sailor, this is Tilly.  She is the one I wanted you to meet.  She has taken my arrow-chucker idea and grew it shoot much larger spears.  Not as big as the logs your ballista shoots, but much larger than my arrows."

We gave the Star Sailor a demonstration of Tilly's spear-chucker device, and I could see he was impressed, but I'm a little embarrassed to note that I wasn't.  I could see the runes and how they interacted, and it wasn't optimal.  I didn't want to say anything in front of Tilly.  Tilly is my friend and I really like her and didn't want to embarrass her.  

Later, after we left Tilly's workshop I had to ask.  "I never noticed it before, but Tilly's runes weren't meshing like they should.  Sure, the spear-chucker worked, but those spears should have flown much faster.  Do you know why that would be?"

"You are growing in power and understanding Tandy,"  The Star Sailor said, "So it is natural that you are able to see the runic interactions, and yes they were weaker than they could have been."  Then the Star Sailor pointed at a nearby fortification. "But that tells me it isn't because your friend Tilly lacks power or skill.  She just focuses her skills in other areas.  Just like you wouldn't be able to match the Mystic in the fine skills of healing for which she gained her prestige among the Elves, and she couldn't match your skill with directed force and inertia."

I looked at what the Star Sailor was pointing at, it was a wall that Tilly reinforced  at some point.  Looking at the runes, I could tell it was far beyond what I could manage, even now.  

"So I am right.  The intentions and personality of the crafter influence what and how they create."

"Yes,"  The Star Sailor replied.  "As a child, watching over sheep and goats in the mountains, my whole being was obsessed with escaping my lot in life and soaring in the sky to reach the stars.  I suspect you have a similar dream of escape, only yours includes destroying those who would prevent you from escaping."

"It's not like.."  I started.

"I'm not casting judgement upon you.  I am merely stating what is."  The Star Sailor interrupted.  "Your focus is on things that you can actively use to defend yourself and others.  Tilly's focus is on building an impregnable fortress.  If I had to guess, I would guess that piece of wall right there would withstand forces that few things in this world could withstand.  I intend to study it as much as I'm allowed."

I left the Star Sailor staring at Tilly's wall, sketching into one of his ever present notebooks.  I wondered how much he would really get out of it.  

I was surprised when one of the Kinderling gardeners who tended the terrace gardens built into the cliffside stopped by to tell me that Daisy had been asking about me.  I thought Daisy had gone back to her Gorf tribe when Mama and I headed out to attempt to rescue Mouse.  I still felt bad about how all that went down.  We set off to rescue Mouse, and ended up rescuing an Elven Lady instead.  I also felt guilty for Iowne.  We were so close to her, and didn't even try to rescue her and her people.  I'm not sure how we could possibly have pulled it off, but we didn't even try.

The thought occurred to me as I made my way to the cliff gardens, how did the gardener even know Daisy was asking for me?  

The answer came abruptly when I stepped out onto the terrace.

"TAN DEE!  <grumble> not at Mmmmnn...  MMNnnnemmttnn..."  Did Daisy just talk to me?  It sounded like she said my name, but the rest was an unsuccessful mixture of Gorf and Kinderling.

I felt a bump in the middle of my back as Smoke head butted me.  Not hard, but enough to move me a little.  *"This one has been keeping an eye on things while you were gone"*

At the sight of Smoke, Daisy's eyes got real big.  I'd seen that reaction from some of the Kinderlings, and most of the Elves since we arrived.  Daisy tried to hide in her little lean-to in the corner, but it was quite unsuccessful.  It would have been humerous if it wasn't so upsetting.

"Smoke, please quit scaring the poor Gorf.  She's terrified."  I could feel the chuckle from Smoke across our connection.

*"The groundling is right to be afraid.  I am a ferocious hunter, and the groundling believes I have been stalking her.  I was merely watching over the groundling at the request of the Beloved.  I don't think the Beloved trusts the groundling."*

"Mizzy has been sending you out to watch Daisy when she goes out?"

*"Yes, and what she found was interesting Dear one."*

"Oh?  What did she find?"  I asked.  Smoke was enjoying this game of not telling me far too much.

*"She found the other groundling"*  A feeling and the scent of a mouse came across the link.  I'm not sure I want to know how I knew that the smell was that of a mouse, but I did.

"She found Mouse?"  I asked. "He isn't up in the mountains anymore?"

*"Yes, he is among the mindless ones commanded by the rotting one."*

"Ok, give us some space Smoke"  I said, but Smoke was already gone.  How is it possible for something as big as Smoke to move so quietly?

"Daisy, it's Ok.  You can come out, Smoke is gone."  I cooed at the terrified groundling...  I mean, Daisy.  Now Smoke has ME calling them groundlings.

Daisy poked her head out and looked around all wild-eyed.  When she was finally satisfied that Smoke was gone, she slowly came out.  

"Daisy, Smoke told me that  you found Mouse at the village." 

Daisy nodded.  Apparently she understood more Kinderling that she was able to speak.

"I KNEW IT!"  Came a decidedly snide, Elven voice from behind me.  Daisy tried to hide again, with the same poor, almost comical results.  I slowly turned around, already knowing who I would see.  The Elven Captain.  "You are in league with them!  And you don't have your mongrel magic weapon with you this time." 

I didn't like the evil grin on the Captain's face as he drew an arrow from his quiver and fitted it to his bow.  I moved to stand between the Captain and Daisy.  It isn't lost on me how ridiculous the idea of tiny little me shielding the rather large Daisy, but I didn't know what else to do.  I was just about to panic, when I heard chuckles come across the link with Smoke.

"Elven friend huh?  Let's see what kind of Elven friend you and that whore of a mother EEAARRKKK!!!!"

Smoke cut the Captain's rant short by putting her nose near the base of his spine and roaring.  "ROAR!!!"

It was one of the loudest sounds I had ever heard and I could feel the vibrations all the way over to where I was.  The Captain's arrow shot off high into the air as fell to the ground.  Smoke was on him in an instant, batting away the Captain's bow and sending it sailing off the cliff.  Then she put one giant paw on his chest and held him down as she came nose to nose with him and growled.

I wasn't sure what to do.  There was a very tense few minutes of Daisy seemingly trying to fit herself into the crack between the floor and the wall.  Me trying to figure out how to calm Smoke down because I was terrified of the ramifications of her killing the Captain, and the Captain trying not to soil himself.  

Suddenly the terrace garden was full of people.  Mizzy was there hugging me.  Mama and the King of All were there, Mama demanding answers from me, the King of All demanding answers from the Captain.  Father standing behind Mama, looking around, trying to figure what was going on. Even the Star Sailor was there, only he was standing back and grinning like it was all a bunch of fun.  I Finally had enough.

"Shut it!" I yelled.

Apparently, something about my yell transferred through the link because as I yelled it, Smoke let out a screeching roar.  The terrace garden instantly got quiet except for the sobs from the Captain.

I walked to Daisy and pulled on her arm to get her to quit trying to hide.

"This is Daisy.  She is my friend, and she had nothing to do with the Gorfs who put the iron shackles on the Lady of Eastwood.  The Captain found us talking and was going to kill us, and Smoke intervened.  There are two choices here.  The Captain can leave through the front door and not come back, or Smoke can rip his throat out and toss him over the cliff.  Any Elf who doesn't like it can join him.

Hey, it turns out that not only can they smile genuine smiles - the Star Sailor showed me that, and in fact was displaying that ability at that very moment, something that I will be forever grateful for - they can also display genuine shock.  

"Now hear this young lady!"  The King of All started.  

"I wouldn't go there Junior."  Mama said, cutting the King of All off.  "Tandy, did this Elf really threaten you?"  

"Yes Mama, he accused me and Daisy with being in league with the Gorf Mountain King, and threatened to kill us."

"I see no weapon.  Neither bow nor arrow."  The King of All said.

"The arrow shot off over there."  I pointed the direction the arrow flew, "And Smoke batted the bow off the cliff.  As for you not seeing any arrows, he's got a whole quiver full right there.  Is your Captain in the habit of walking around with a full quiver, but with no bow?"

The King of All walked over and looked over the side.

"Ah yes, why there it is"  The King of All smiled, "It's quite smashed, very careless of you to drop your bow over the side like that Captain.  What have you got to say for yourself."

"I knew this mongrel was up to no good, so I followed her and found her talking to this... this... animal..."

"Ah, I see.  So you were going to execute these two to defend the crown."  The King of All said calmly.  I thought Mama was going to explode, but the King of All held her off with a gesture.

"That's right!  I was defending the crown!"  The Captain started to warm up to the subject.  "These two... animals... deserve to die!"

"Captain,"  The King of All said, now deadly calm, "Choose.  Front door, or off the cliff."

"You can't be serious!"  

"Cliff it is then."  Said the King of All.

Just as I was about to say "Get him Smoke!"  The Captain hopped up and scrambled for the door.

"You'll regret this!"  He said.

Smoke chased him all the way to the door.  I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up, and didn't even try, but I was able to get a sense of it thought the link I shared with Smoke.

"My deepest apologies Tandy."  The King of All said,  "I knew the Captain was a bigot, and he held ill will towards you, particularly after you embarrassed him with that arrow shooting device you have, but I didn't think for one minute that he would attack you physically.  I owe his family a lot for supporting me in my bid to be King of All.  I'll gladly do without that support, it isn't worth the price of having to put up with his attitudes."

Kinderling 55

 In case you are interested in starting this story at the beginning, Kinderling 1 can be found here:

The Tricycle of Thought: Kinderling 1

Please don't judge the story or the writing too harshly, this story is written with little to no editing.  It is just meant to get me writing regularly for practice.  

Now back to our story, already in progress.

The conversation with the Star Sailor gradually devolved into esoteric discussions about runes and geometries and Mama - bored by it all, I'm sure - eventually wondered off to, as she put it, "Go annoy Junior some more."

The Star Sailor took me below decks to show me some of the Elven runes that he used to create the Sky Ship.  He wouldn't show me all of them, as he told me that various Elven factions have been trying for decades to sneak in and steal his life's work.  Any knowledge they might wring from me would only aid them in their efforts.

"They are trying to steal the Sky Ship?"  I asked.

"Well, yes and no."  He answered, "While there are some who would take the ship itself if they could, most of them are trying to learn how it works in order to either build their own, or devise a way to destroy her."

"Why would they do that?"

"While I stay aloof from politics as a rule.  I count among my friends the current King of All."  Star Sailor explained.  "He does not trade upon his friendship with me, or we would no longer be friends.  However, as my friend he does have access to the Sky Ship when he is in need, and that gives him enough of an advantage that the other factions are hesitant to oppose him.  Those factions would like nothing better than to take that advantage away.  Losing access to the Sky Ship wouldn't ruin him, but it might embolden some of the fence sitters."

The tour through the Sky Ship was amazing with the Star Sailor stopping to show me runes that he thought I would enjoy seeing.  Many of the runes he showed me were very similar to the Kinderling runes I already knew.  The Kinderling version was much simpler while the Elven version was more beautiful, each one practically a work of art, and I couldn't see how they were connected.  There wasn't any kind of bridge or lattice connecting the runes like I was used to, the runes just seemed to flow into each other naturally.  With permission, because I didn't want to ruin everything by doing something forbidden, I quickly drew some of the rune forms as I saw them.  The Star Sailor seemed amused.

"Yes, that is pretty good, but there is a lot of nuance that you have missed."  Star Sailor said with a smile, "Do not feel insulted or disappointed.  It took me centuries before I was able to craft in that  much detail.  Indeed, it took nearly thirty years to draw all the runes on the Sky Ship the first time.  Even then it wouldn't so much as leave the ground.  When I looked back at the first runes, they looked like the scribblings that a child might make, so I started from the beginning and redrew them all.  I ended up redrawing the while thing three times and failing each time, but I was gaining experience and skill.   Each time the Sky Ship would move a bit little more and I would go back and see where I failed.  Some said it was folly, that the Sky Ship would never sail the skies.  Then on the fourth try, when I was about half way through the re-drawing of the runes, the ship started to float upward out of control.  Luckily I was the only one aboard at the time.  I kept drawing and eventually I was able to take control of the ship and fly her.  As soon as I returned to Elven lands, the then-King tried to take her from me."

"What happened?"  I asked, surprised.  I couldn't imagine anyone trying to take something like that.  Then I remembered that one of the first things Baot demanded was for my no-see-me charms to be confiscated and given to HIS militia, saying that I was hoarding equipment vital to village defense.

The Star Sailor laughed.  "I flew away.  A century or so later, he ended up losing his position.  Elven society does not tolerate failure.  His disregard for ownership rights was unpopular but he managed to weather that storm.  But to say he would take the Sky Ship, yet fail to do so left him vulnerable to any upstart decided to declare themselves King and had the prestige to defend that claim.  Eventually someone succeeded."

"Is that how you decide who is King?  By popularity?"  I asked, incredulous.

"Not popularity precisely."  The Star Sailor answered.  "There have been Elven Kings who were widely unpopular even.  It's hard to put into words.  Take the King of All for instance.  He gained prestige from his exploits in the wars and other things he has done.  He gained a lot of prestige from his mastery of runic magic.  He is one of the few Elves who have managed to fly the Sky Ship without me being on board, although he can't do it well.  He also gains prestige from being my friend, and from his friendship with the Mystic, your mother, as well as an impressive number of other - themselves high prestige - Elves and those who have been named Elf-friends.  For that matter, I believe he would gain prestige from a friendship with you, I certainly feel that I have, although for me the friendship itself is worth far more than any prestige that I might gain.  Beyond that, yes he also gains prestige from his popularity.  It's all interconnected, much like these runes." 

The trip back to the Garrison seemed to take almost no time at all.  I don't know if it was really that quick, or if the conversation with the Star Sailor was that interesting.

The Star Sailor moored the Sky ship off the end of the Outcropping so that access to the ship would be easily available via a gang plank.  He told me he was happy to be able to do so, since so few of the places he visited had any reasonable place for him to dock.  

Most of the Elves stayed on board the Sky Ship as Mama guided the King of All, the Star Sailor, and the Lady of the Eastwood, whom we rescued, and of course me, to the outer doors of the garrison.  The King of All had a small retinue of Elven soldiers as any King would.  I noticed the Captain that I had so much trouble with was not among them.  Bez, Tilly, and Father were there waiting for us when we arrived.  It seemed to me like they were ready to dash inside at a moment's notice and slam the door closed until they saw that Mama was at the head of the group.  Father ran forward and wrapped his arms around Mama.  

"I believed you Bonnie, you didn't have to go out and find some Elves just to prove they still exist" They chuckled together, it was such a sweet moment that got me thinking about Mizzy.

Mama made the introductions.  "Bez, this is Junior, the Elven King of All, The Star Sailor who flies that little rowboat over there all over the place, and finally the Elven Lady of the Eastwood."  Then she turned to the other side, "Junior, this is Bez, caretaker of the Kinderling Garrison at Outcropping.  Tilly, the Lady of Outcropping and a formidable rune master in her own right, and Tadius, the sole surviving member of the village council, and also my adoring husband."

There was silence for a moment as everyone seemed to be taking everything in, then Father's diplomatic side must have poked him because he snapped out of it.  Good thing too, because Bez, looked like he had swallowed a particularly pungent bite of sharproot and was having trouble breathing.  

"Your Majesty, welcome to our humble home.  Please come in. We have plenty of room.  We can open a wing if you have others with you.  Tilly has made the finest mushroom stew, if you are hungry."  Father said.  

I almost teared up at the mention of Tilly's mushroom stew.  In the time we have been at the Garrison at the Outcropping, Tilly's mushroom stew was the definitive piece that made the garrison feel like a home to a lot of Kinderlings, rather than a cold, dark, miserable, hole to hide in.

Tilly - ever the practical Kinderling - shook Bez's arm to break him out of his shock and started opening the door.

The King of All sighed.  "Yes, mushroom stew would be lovely."  I could tell he was being diplomatic, which seemed a little odd coming from an Elf, this one in particular.  Especially knowing, as I do, his strong dislike for the taste of mushrooms.

"What gives?"  I whispered to The Star Sailor.

"You remember our conversations about Prestige?"  He answered, "Your father is married to the Mystic.  If you heard half of the rumors whispered among the Elves about the Mystic...  Let's just say, your father has a huge amount of Prestige.  If I didn't know better, I would think the King of All is a little intimidated.  See how the Mystic walked over to him and embraced him right in front of everyone?"

"They do that all the time, they love each other."  I said.  The Star Sailor looked shocked.  Elves are so weird.

Getting the King of All and his retinue settled into the garrison went surprisingly quick and easy.  Bez and Tilly had been hard at work organizing a cleanup of the entire garrison, even the parts that weren't in use.  The King of All and his people, of course, had to provide their own beds because Kinderling beds were far too small for even the smallest of Elves, but they had been prepared for camping in the cave, so the warm, dry garrison was practically luxurious by comparison.

I was a little surprised that Mizzy hadn't made an appearance yet, and was getting worried when Tommil and Adiz showed up.

"Mizzy is in the thick of things getting the King of All settled."  Adiz explained. "She sent us to tell you she is looking forward to seeing you as soon as your guests are taken care of.  She said you would understand."

Of course, Mizzy would see the Elves - at least in part - as my guests and tackle the task of making them as comfortable as possible.  I didn't have to wait long to see her.  She soon appeared in the great hall looking for me.  As wonderful as Tilly's mushroom stew was, for me, holding Mizzy in my arms is really what made the garrison home.

"Tandy, you smell bad."  Mizzy said, "Come along, you really need a bath."

Kinderling 54

 In case you are interested in starting this story at the beginning, Kinderling 1 can be found here:

The Tricycle of Thought: Kinderling 1

Please don't judge the story or the writing too harshly, this story is written with little to no editing.  It is just meant to get me writing regularly for practice.  

Now back to our story, already in progress.

It soon became apparent how Mama had returned from the Elves for our Lady of the Eastwood.  The Star Sailor's ship was fast.  Not just fast like the monster-go-stick fast.  It was a whole new meaning of the word fast.  I asked if there were a word for when something was faster than fast, and Mama just chuckled and said "very fast", which wasn't very satisfying.

When the Star Sailor suggested we move to the Garrison to plan our next move, I expected lots of arguments and debate - Elves seem to just love them some debate after all - yet, The Star Sailor just walked to the opening of the cave and announced that we were going.  Even the Elven King of All scrambled to make sure his people got packed an boarded before the ship left.  

"That was easier than I expected."  I commented to the Star Sailor and Mama, whom I noticed had quickly joined us with our things. We didn't have much to pack since we were geared up for travel anyway.

"You will find, my friend, that there is a certain amount of freedom that comes from being beyond your peers."  The Star Sailor replied.  "I have the Sky Ship.  Not even the King of All can command me upon her decks.  If he tried, I could just sail away.  If he took her from me, who but me could make her fly?  You have your small flying devices.  Can others make them?"

"Make them?  No, but with some training and practice, others can use them after I made them."  I replied.

"No, I don't think that's the case Tandy."  Mama said.  "Sure, I can manage to make one go, but at my best you still fly circles around me.  And I'm not convinced that very many others could.  I can only do it because I am too stubborn to quit, and I have watched you grow, and your magic progress, from the day you were born.  I can, because I know you so well.  The only one who knows you as well as I is probably Mizzy, and I can't imagine her ever having the desire to use one."

I had to laugh.  Mama was right that I hadn't gotten Mizzy interested in flying on a go-stick other than to ride along when I flew somewhere.  But Mama was also wrong.  All I had to do to get Mizzy up and flying was to, somehow, convince her that it was what the perfect Kinderling wife would do.  Convince her of that, I suspect Mizzy could do just about anything.  I found myself missing her more than ever.

Mama continued,  "They didn't want me to say anything, but both your father and Tommil tried, neither of them got the go-stick to even move.  Adiz did a little better, getting it to wiggle a little, but not fly.  She seemed to think her success was as much to do with the fact that her and Tommil worked together to shape the wood than her being able to connect to it."

"In the many years since I built the Sky Ship, there have only been a few who have been able to move her."  The Sky Sailor added,  "None as well as I."

That got me thinking about my other devices.  Tilly was able to use my arrow-chuckers, but she and I shared some similar magical abilities.  Even then, she wasn't able to match my abilities to use them.   On the other hand, my no-see-me devices worked for anyone, or even without a person actively using it like when we hung them up in the entry of the under-tree fort when Mama and I went to rescue Mizzy.  Another thing like that was the lights.  I created quite a few mostly-working prototypes before I was happy with the lights.  I gave them out to anyone who wanted them.  Don't get me wrong, the Garrison keeps us safe and is as comfortable as it can be, but living underground like that, the darkness does tend to get oppressive.

"Could it have something to do with the intention of the creator?"  I asked.

Mama and the Sky Sailor just looked at me like I had lost my mind.

"What do you mean?"  Mama asked.

"I have often thought that the intention of the creator was part of how the device worked."  I said.  "It's why I can create a device using the same runes as Tilly, but when completed, my device does something completely different than Tilly's device.  When I was creating the go-sticks we used when we went to save Mizzy, my intention was to create a pair of go-sticks that either of us could use."

"I don't know, Tandy."  Mama said.   I never liked hearing the words "I don't know" from Mama.  It just never seemed right.

"May I examine these go-sticks?"  Asked the Star Sailor.  

"Sure."  I went and retrieved the monster-go-stick from where I had stashed it for safe keeping.  Mama got her go-stick also and we handed them over.  

"This is interesting."  Said the Star Sailor.  With that, he placed the monster-go-stick down and stepped onto it.  After a few seconds of concentration, the monster-go-stick shakily started to rise.  Elves gathered around amazed as the Star Sailor wobbled this way and that trying not to fall off.  As far as I've seen, Elves tend to be incredibly graceful.  That grace was not in evidence as the Star Sailor caught, then lost, then re-captured his balance, only to finally end up on his rump sitting on the deck.

"That was exciting."  Was all he said.

As our Elven audience started breaking up and going back to their assigned tasks, the Star Sailor stood up and brushed himself off.

"I see what you were trying to do there.  Those runes are very similar to some of the ten thousand Elven runes I carved into the Sky Ship.  It's almost as if Elves and Kinderlings are related in some way.

"We are." I said.  "When she saw the first peoples, the Elves, the muse of Kindness wanted a people for her own and created us Kinderlings.  She used the Elves as a guide, but built us small so we wouldn't attract unwanted attention and wouldn't anger whoever created the Elves."

Once again, Mama and the Star Sailor stared at me like I had said soil was water and air was stone.

"Or at least that's what an old Gorf once told me."  I added.  I don't think telling them where I heard that tidbit of knowledge helped my case much.

Kinderling 53

 In case you are interested in starting this story at the beginning, Kinderling 1 can be found here:

The Tricycle of Thought: Kinderling 1

Please don't judge the story or the writing too harshly, this story is written with little to no editing.  It is just meant to get me writing regularly for practice.  

Now back to our story, already in progress.

In the morning, I was surprised to be awoken by a wonderful smell coming from the vicinity of our little cookfire.  I was still burrowed under my blankets keeping warm, but I knew it sure wasn't Mama cooking.  Nothing Mama cooked smelled that heavenly.  Eventually I couldn't stand it and took a peek.  

Sitting on the floor of the cavern near the fire was none other than the Star Sailor himself.  He was so tall that even sitting on the floor, his head nearly brushed the stone ceiling.  Mama and I had picked this place to move to when the Elves arrived because it was comfortable for us, but would be out of the way of the Elves.  They wouldn't want this area because most of them wouldn't be able to stand up straight.  Of course, we Kinderlings didn't have that problem.

"You are awake, I come bringing gifts."  He said, using a metal hook to remove the top off a pot.  The sweet, slightly spicy scent coming from the pot was amazing.  I stood to get a look inside, expecting some sort of gruel or stew, but instead found some form of bread.  "These are cinnamon rolls.  I came across them in my travels and since the tree that gives us cinnamon does not grow anywhere near here, I thought it would be a sufficient bribe to get you to talk to me."

"Why ever would you need to bribe me to talk to you..."  I paused, not knowing what to call him.

"If you are looking for a title or honorific, I have none."  The Star Sailor said, "I am not royalty, nor am I any sort of Lord... nor Lady for that matter."  He smiled at his joke.  I almost fainted, it was the first sign of genuine merriment that I had ever seen from an Elf.  "I was born a simple Shepard if you can believe that, many many long centuries ago.  I would gladly gift you with my name, but it's quite possible I never had one or the knowledge of it died with my parents.  The poorest of Elves couldn't always afford such luxuries as names.  If you would, you may call me Sailor, or Star Sailor.  Whichever you prefer."

I was confused, "How does one live without a name?"

"Quite easily, I assure you."  The Star Sailor smiled.  "It turns out, a name has less in common with air or bread than one might think."

Now I wondered if he was just messing with me, but before I could decide, the odd Elf continued.

"On our journey here from the Elven lands, your mother made comment on my ballista, and said I should talk to you about them."  

I wasn't sure what a ballista was, or why Mama would think I would have anything to say about one, but the scent coming from the pot sure was intriguing enough that I felt sufficiently bribed to talk about all manor of things I knew nothing about.  

With his knife, the Star Sailor fished something out of his pot and handed it to me on carved wooden plate.  It was round, and had a swirl pattern starting in the center and working it's way around a few times till it reached the edge.  It seemed to be made of bread, with the swirl being a dark reddish brown sticky substance.  Not unpleasantly sticky, but sticky just the same.  The scent was incredible.

I watched the Star Sailor for cues on how to go about eating such a thing, but was stymied by the size difference between a Kinderling and an Elf.  He took his in one hand and easily bit off nearly half of it.  I, on the other hand, was doing good to hold mine in both hands.  The thing was almost as big as my head. 

My first bite was all bread, mostly crust.  It was a little hard but it was nice, sweet, and not unlike a lot of the Kinderling sweet breads that we have during festivals or holidays.  I decided I needed a taste of the dark swirl and made sure I got some of that in my next bite.

It was incredible.  Sweet, vaguely spicy, but packed with flavors that the scent only hinted at.  Before I knew it, I had eaten so much that I was uncomfortably full.  I had managed to eat my way through a surprising amount, but more than half was left.  That, I wrapped up for later.

The whole thing made me think of Mizzy, which made me feel guilty that I was out here having fun, consorting with Elves, meeting new people, learning new things, eating new foods, and Mizzy was back at the Garrison probably worried about me, thinking I might be dead or worse.

"Well, that was definitely a sufficient bribe." I smiled patting my poor swollen belly, "Now, about those ballista things, let's have a look shall we?" 

"We would have to go to my ship, of course."  He replied.  Then after a few seconds seemed to realize I didn't know what it was that we were going to look at.  "A ballista is a large weapon. I have four mounted on my ship to help ward of Dragons and other dangerous creatures that live among the stars."

Oh, it's a weapon.  Everything started to make more sense.  I might not know what a ballista is, but I do know a thing or two about weapons.

The Star Sailor guided me to his ship.  Just to keep up, I used my monster-go-stick and lazily floated along beside him as we walked.  I have to admit, I had been really wanting to get a closer look at the ship.  Sailor didn't really need to bribe me with food, he could have just offered to let me on board.  From the moment I saw it, I couldn't help but dream of building one of my own.  Only smaller of course.  Much smaller.  The monster-go-stick was the largest flying device I had managed so far, and when I crafted it, I felt like I was reaching the limits of my capabilities, so I wasn't sure if it were even possible.

"Your mother's flying device, a go-stick I think she called it, she says that you are the one who crafted it."  

"Yes, it's one of my better inventions."  I replied.

"I see you have a larger one, and it appears to be much more powerful."  The Star Sailor said. "The small one your mother had surprised and intrigued me.  This one...  I'm at a loss for words.  The magic involved is different than what I use for the Sky Ship, but it is similar.  It seems familiar.  I wasn't aware that non-Elves were capable of so much."

"I believe I was pushing my limit with the monster-go-stick.  Although I don't know for sure.  I've made heavier objects fly faster than I can with this."

"Fascinating."  was the reply.

The Star Sailor's ballista were enormous.  Mind bogglingly so.  When he showed one to me, I got a little light headed and sat down on a nearby log, not thinking to wonder what a log was doing sitting on the deck of a sky ship.  

"What kind of thing does this thing throw?"  I asked, boggled.

"You are sitting on it."  The Star Sailor smiled.  "We use the ballista to defend the ship from dragons and other large creatures that live in the sky.  We go beyond the clouds, to the tips of the mountains and beyond."

I looked down befuddled.  The log I sat upon was one of this thing's projectile!

"The problem we have is, as powerful as the ballista is, it is difficult to score a hit because the projectiles move so slowly."  The Star Sailor explained.  "Would you like to see it fire?"

"Yes."

The Star Sailor whistled out to his crew to load the instrument of doom.  The process included a huge wench attached to what I imagined was the back end of the weapon.  It was used to pull back the string, in this case a thick metal cable, on an enormous metal bow attached horizontally to the other end of the weapon.  It was all perfectly understandable once I climbed high enough that I could get a proper look at the thing. 

"It's just bow like Mama carries.  Only it's huge and instead of arrows it uses whole trees."  I said.  

"Not quite whole trees, but yes, the bolts are carved from small trees, especially grown to be straight and strong specifically for this purpose."  

It took a while, but the weapon was finally loaded. 

"You know, if it takes that long to load, you're likely to get eaten by the dragon before you can even get ready to fire a shot."  I quipped.

"When we are in the sky near a place where we might encounter a dragon, we keep all four ballista loaded.  When there is no threat, we unload them because keeping them loaded is hard on them.  If one were to break, it would leave a quadrant of the ship unprotected till we could replace it."  Star Sailor said.  "With the things we come across in our travels, being unprotected is out of the question."

When they finally fired the infernal contraption, the crash of sound was startling.  I didn't know what to expect, but the loud clink-clank-bang-crunch wasn't it.  The enormous bolt flew in a massive arch across the water and hit the beach the crew was aiming at.  It was all pretty impressive, but I could see why the Star Sailor said they had trouble scoring a hit.  The bolt it threw was indeed slower than I would have expected, and that arch was bound to cause problems.

"It's too bad we aren't at the garrison.  I think you would love some of the devices that me and my friend Tilly have come up with."

"We have a Sky Ship.  There is no place that we should miss, we have the means to travel!"  With that, the Star Sailor whistled to his crew and commanded them to make ready to depart.

Kinderling 52

 In case you are interested in starting this story at the beginning, Kinderling 1 can be found here:

The Tricycle of Thought: Kinderling 1

Please don't judge the story or the writing too harshly, this story is written with little to no editing.  It is just meant to get me writing regularly for practice.  

Now back to our story, already in progress..

I was brewing more willow bark tea, adding in mint and Three leaf that I had found on my last outing,  practically in my sleep, when a warm blanket was draped around my shoulders.  I opened my eyes just enough to see that Mama had returned and there was a very tall, thin, Elf with her.  He was sniffing at the teapot disapprovingly.  I might have told him what I thought about his sniffing, but I was so tired, even meeting another Elf wasn't enough to keep me awake, I curled up in the corner with the warm blanked and went to sleep.

I woke up, I don't know how many hours later, to a cave full of Elves, and Mama right in there mixing it up with them.

"No NO!  If you just go in killing indiscriminately, you'll end up killing a bunch of innocents.  Some of those innocents are my daughter's friends, and while yes, I wonder about her sanity sometimes, you do NOT want to get on her bad side.  You think I've got a temper, you ain't seen nothin!"

"Peace Mystic," Came a calming voice, "The Mountain Gorfs have taken one of our own captive and dared to touch her skin with the cold iron.  We can not allow it to go unanswered."

"Tandy!  Get up and get over here and explain it to these dunderheads!"  Mama must have heard me stirring.  I peeked out from under the blankets to find myself being stared at by some of the tallest, scariest Elven warriors that I had ever seen.  Of course, that wasn't saying much because the totality of my experience with Elves has been the one weak, dying, Elven Lady that Mama and I rescued from the Gorf dungeon. Mama stood in their midst, barely taller than knee high on the shortest of them, yet she seemed to tower over them somehow.

"How is the Elf?  Did she live?"  I asked.

"I have not returned to the earth, the Mother will have to wait a while longer."  Came a raspy reply.  "Thank you."  The thanks seemed to be a little strained, as if it were hard for her to say.  I wondered if it were because of her raw throat or if it was because of a begrudging attitude.  I gave her the benefit of the doubt even though I was sure she didn't deserve it, it didn't cost me anything.

Now that that was out of the way.  "Explain what Mama?"

"About the mission!  I can't seem to get it though their thick Elven skulls, and I'm about to try a stick!"

"Sorry, Mama gets worked up sometimes."  I politely explained to the surrounding Elves.  "Mouse, and a lot of other Gorfs are being controlled by magical devices built into their harnesses, and forced to act as soldiers for the Mountain King, and Baot.  Frankly, I don't really care so much about the other Gorf slave soldiers, but nobody better lay a finger on Mouse!"

"Mouse?  She wants to save a rodent?"  The calm voice asked.

"Mouse is the name of one of the Gorf slaves that are being forced to be a soldier!  Haven't you been listening Junior?"  Mama said, rather loudly.

A collective gasp came from the group of big scary Elven warriors.  Mama, tactful as ever.

"This is the King of All, and you will show respect!  I don't care if you are the Mystic!  And I'm not buying these stories about innocent Gorfs or magic controlling devices.  Gorfs do not use magic, and the magic you tree rats use is low and mongrel"  Growled an Elven warrior.  I would tell you it was "the big one", but that wouldn't be helpful because they are all big ones.  Big, of course, being a relative term.  They were nearly the same height as Mouse, but nowhere near as wide.  Yet there was a strength and hardness there that Mouse couldn't match if he wanted to.  Yes, Mouse can be scary, but it's more natural squishy scary.  These Elven warriors were more stone-hard scary.  If that makes any sense.

"Peace Capitan," Interjected the King of All, "The Mystic is sacred.  She may call me anything she wishes, and to call her honesty into question"  The King paused as if casting around looking for the right analogy.  "It would be like questioning the ocean tide.  The ocean tide just is.  It  does not care about your opinion, or even that you have one.  And it would be well for you to remember that I would not be here today if it weren't for what you have named the low and mongrel magic of the Mystic."

A raspy, weak voice came from behind the Elven warriors.  "I have seen these harnesses in use, it is as they say.  There were others interred with me in the dungeon.  One, a human woman, went to great lengths to attempt to come to my aid.  Her efforts did not prevail, but they cost her much at the hands of our jailors."

"We do not seek the Human's pity."  Seethed the Capitan, cutting her off.  I butted in before he could continue.

"That was probably Iowne."  I said,  "She would have acted out of compassion, not pity.  I haven't known her for long, but you get a sense of people sometimes."

I heard approval sounds coming from a few of the gathered Elves, you would think I said something profound.

"Yes,"  came the raspy answer, "I too believe it was compassion.  Pity and compassion smell different.  It would diminish me to see her harmed.  I owe her a measure of gratitude, she and her people must be rescued."

Smell different?  I can't imagine being able to smell anything in the Gorf's dungeon, but what do I know?  I did have to give the Elf Lady points for standing up for Iowne though.  I know there is no love lost between Elves and the Race of Man. or as the Elves call them, Humans - not sure where the Hu part of that came from, I'll have to ask if it means something in Elvish -  so it can't be easy for her to stand up for Iowne that way.  On the other hand, she still hasn't told me her name, so maybe I'll reserve judgement on that one for now.  According to Mama, Elves don't tell people their names and it would be rude to ask.  Seems odd to me, but I suspect that has something to do with why she calls the Elven King of All "Junior".  

As the arguing finally died down, I went to get a look at our Elf to satisfy myself that she was indeed on the mend.  She looked almost transformed.  The black was still there, but had mostly faded to yellow, green, and purple bruising.  Her teeth - the ones she had left anyway - were no longer black having softened to a medium gray.  It was a little disconcerting when she smiled, but I covered my surprise as well as I could.  At least she was smiling even if it was the I'm-so-superior-to-you-that-I-can-smile-at-your-foolishness kind of smile that seems endemic to the Elven peoples.  She was being tended to by a couple of Elves who were more her own size rather than huge Elven warriors.  Instead of armor, they wore loose tunics made of light, airy fabric in light green and blue hues.  I suppose it made sense, not all Elves can be warriors, right?

Satisfied, I went out to take a dunk in the lake to wash up and get refreshed.  I was so surprised by what I found outside the cave that I fell back on my backside in surprise, trying to scramble away.  It was a vast, wooden sailing ship, not in the lake, but floating above the lake.  With a plank providing a bridge between the outcropping in front of the cave and the deck of the ship.  On deck stood the tall, thin Elf that I remembered from the night before.  I guessed this must be the Star Sailor that Mama and the Elf Lady talked so much about.  Not knowing what to do, I waved.  He waved back, and then turned and went below decks.

Undeterred, I got my quick dunk in the lake.  When I got back, there was an Elf over by the fire arguing with Mama.  As I got closer, I realized that the argument was apparently about how to make soup.  Mama is awesome at a lot of things, cooking just doesn't happen to be one of those things.  As kids, Tommil and I would look forward to when it wasn't Mama's night to cook.  Mama wasn't insulted by this.  She knew that her talents for cooking up medicine, which almost always tasted awful but were always effective, didn't apply to cooking a meal, and was one of the first to agree with us on that sentiment.  I had to go over to see what the noise was about.

"Tandy, tell this... Elf... that it's perfectly reasonable to put mushrooms in a soup."  Mama said when she saw me walk up.  Sure enough, they were making a soup of some kind, and apparently Mama had been out gathering mushrooms.  She had quite the variety, some of which I didn't know even grew this high up in the mountains.  I took the chance to snag out a couple medicinal mushrooms she had among the group.  Including one that would have made the soup very bitter.  That was a variety that I knew Mama particularly liked, but was clueless as to why everyone else didn't like them.  When she saw, I saw  the disappointment in Mama's eyes.

"Don't worry Mama, I'll cook these up as a side dish, and since there aren't very many, I bet the Elves would be happy to let The Mystic have them as a special treat."  That seemed to make Mama happy.  I  then turned to the Elf  "The rest of these are relatively mild, and should go in the soup fine."

"Young Lady, Elves do not eat mushrooms, and the King of All has a particular dislike for them."  Said the Elf Chef.

"I bet.  If he traveled with Mama for very long, he's probably tasted some interesting ones."  I indicated the bitter ones that I had just take from Mama.  "But the rest of these are good."  I quickly dumped them in the pot before the Elf could argue any further.  He stared at me, I stared back not giving in even a knuckle.  To my surprise, the Elf Chef blinked first.

A very un-Elflike guffaw rose from near by.  "I saw it, she bested you without breaking a sweat!"  Said the King of All.  I recognized him from his voice.  "I have been waiting to finally meet you.  The Lady of Eastwood tells me that she would have returned to the earth if it weren't for your efforts."

"Aw, that was mostly Mama's doing."  I replied, "um...  Your King-ness or something."  I had no idea what to call the Elven King of All, but I was pretty sure Junior wasn't it.  Apparently, he didn't take offence because he laughed again.

"Your King-ness works in a pinch I suppose.  Your people haven't had a King for quite some time I believe."  The King of All replied,  "There are other settlements of Kinderlings that still do have a King, but it seems that your village decided they were better off without one."  Then the King of All stooped down to the floor to get more to my own level and whispered, "Do me a favor, don't convince my people to follow suit.  I have enough detractors and grumblers.  I don't need them getting ideas of self-rule into their heads."  Then the King of All winked at me.

Of all the Elves I've met.  All couple of them anyway.  The Elven King of All seemed the least Elf-like.  I liked that about him.

A formal dinner was served that evening on tables brought into the cave from the ship.  In addition to the soup, there was all kinds of wild game, herbs, and root vegetables that had been gathered from the mountainside.  There was a roast nearly as big as me.  I had to ask Mama what it was.

"It's a deer roast, Tandy."  She said, "It's been a long time since I have eaten deer."

That confused me.  As far as I know, Kinderlings left deer alone.  With how large they are, they are far too dangerous for us to hunt them.  Even if we were successful hunting one, how would we get it home?  

"Ah yes," cut in a smarmy Elf voice, "The deer around here are probably quite beyond your hunter's capabilities aren't they?"

I didn't like the way he said it.

"Naw, I bet Tandy here could take one down easily."  Mama said, "We just don't need to, we Kinderlings have plenty."

"Hmmm... Plenty, that's right, you have your filthy mushroom farms.  You root around in the dirt for fungus, just like the pigs."

This Elf was getting on my last nerve.

"I suppose if I didn't have any skill with a bow, I would be forced to eat filthy fungus too."

That did it.  This Elf was going to get a piece of my mind!  But Mama got to him first.

"Oh mighty hunter, are your arrows really so swift and sure?!"  Mama said loudly, almost as if she really were impressed by him.  I started wonder if someone had zoinked some kind of magic on her.  Then she winked at me.

"Yes, yes.  My arrows are the swiftest and the surest."  The Elf said, smiling, so sure of himself that he seemed to believe Mama's praises were his due...  and, you know...  actually meant.

Mama sprung the trap.  "Then you wouldn't mind shooting against Tandy here in a little arrow-flying competition, would you?"  Mama paused dramatically as all eyes were on her, standing on the board some one had kindly set across the arms of her chair so that when she sat, her head would be above the surface of the table.  Some thoughtful Elf had done the same for me in my chair also.  "That's a challenge short-fletch."  by the reaction from around the table I'm guessing short-fletch was some kind of insult among Elves.  I sure hoped Mama knew what she was doing.

"She is not an Elf, I turn my chin away from such an obscene challenge."  He said.

"She is not the one making the challenge, short-fletch."  Mama drew out the short-fletch like a Kinderling pouchling would do on the play ground at school.  It brought up lots of bad memories for me having been the recipient of that kind of behavior many times myself, but to see my Mama acting that way was mind bending... and more than a little hilarious.  Who knew Mama had it in her?

"You are not an E...."  The Elf started but was cut off.

"If you value your ears, you will not finish that sentence!"  Boomed the Elven King of All.  That was the voice of a King if I had ever heard one.  The cave went absolutely silent.  "The Mystic was named Elf-friend by ME!  That extends to her all the rights and obligations of being an Elf.  I will not have my commands diminished by your behavior!"

"Does the tiny one have an Elven bow?  Could she even draw one if had one?"

"The challenge wasn't for archery.  I didn't say the word archery even once.  My exact words were arrow-flying competition.  Tandy doesn't have a bow, let alone an Elven bow, because that is not her way.  You may use your bow if that is your way.  Tandy has her own."  Mama clarified.

The King of All laughed again.  "Woo!  This is getting exciting!  Star Sailor, can your people provide some suitable targets?  I saw some hay bales in your hold on the way here."

"Yes Your Magesty,"  The tall thin Elf said.  I hadn't even seen him all the way down on the other end of the table.  When he saw me looking, he waved, much like I had waved to him that morning.  It made me smile, and I hoped he would smile too, but his face remained so dour.  I would have to get Mama to tell me why that Elf was so sad.  With a wave of his hand, the Star Sailor sent a few of his crewmembers out to get targets set up.  I learned that the Elves wearing light green and blue were the Star Sailor's crew.  I only saw a few of them, and wondered if there were more hiding within the ship.

I was a little taken aback by how far they took the targets, and how tiny they looked.  It dawned on me that Mama wanted me to use one of my arrow-chuckers.  Sure, I could make that shot.  I hadn't had any chance to practice since Mama and I left on this mission, so I was a little worried, but I had worked my way up to making shots from this distance before we left, so it wasn't completely unfamiliar.

"Very well," Said my opponent. "The child can go first, so when she misses horribly this whole affair can be over."

"Wrong short-fletch." Mama said, "I am the challenger, and by extension, so is Tandy.  That means you shoot first."

"The Mystic is right once again."  Said the King of All stoically, then ruined it because he couldn't stifle a giggle.

By the look of derision on his face, my opponent wasn't amused.

"Fine, I will shoot first to show I am better."  he said.

He walked back to where the Elves had everything staged, gathered up his bow and some arrows.  The bow was wonderous.  It was stark white, so much so it nearly sparkled.  He made a show of selecting just the right arrow, gazing down each shaft as he turned it between his fingers looking for... well, I have no idea what he was looking for.  A straight one I guess, but every single one of those arrows looked perfect to me.

Having finally chosen his arrow, my opponent strung his bow.  Once strung, he plucked the string and the sound was practically musical.  He fit his chosen arrow to the string and let it fly.  The distance was far enough that it was hard to tell just where on the target his arrow hit.

Then he turned to me and said, "Perfect shot, give up little pest."

Well I wasn't going to take that from any old fancy pants Elf!  I made a show of getting my arrow-chucker from my pack, then made a show of just grabbing an arrow at random and loading it in without even looking at it.  Just as I brought the arrow-chucker to my shoulder, my opponent spoke up.

"And what is that thing?  It is hideous.  You can't possibly be serious!"  he protested.

"She is,"  Said the Star Sailor,  "I can feel the warmth coming off of that device.  Young Kinderling, are you quite sure that device is safe?"

"I sure hope not."  I said,  "It's a weapon.  It would be rather useless if it were safe."

My little gest garnered quite a bit of sedate laughter from the crowd that had gathered to see the contest.   I wish I knew if they were laughing with me, or if it was directed at me.  With nothing else left to do, I raised my arrow-chucker sighted along the tube that the arrow was in, gave it what I guessed would be the right amount of angle - just a smidge, arrows flew pretty straight from this one - and let the arrow fly.

I couldn't help but notice two things as I watched my arrow go.  First, it was flying quite a bit faster than my opponent's arrow.  Second was that the whole thing was wobbling in flight.  I was pretty sure that was a bad sign, but it sure seemed to be on target anyway.  I also noticed that the flight of my opponent's arrow had much more of an arch on it than mine did.  I hoped that didn't mean I did it wrong.

THWACK!

There was a bit of a gasp at how solidly my arrow hit.  Not from me, of course, I was used to it.  Not having seen a whole lot of arrows being shot from bows, it never occurred to me that my arrow-chucker was all that different.

"Fetch the target!"  ordered the King of All excitedly.  "Wait!  Quickly, each of you select a proxy that you can trust.  Star Sailor, if you will send a couple of your sailors to retrieve the target, but they will be accompanied by a representative from each side so nobody can claim anyone cheated."

And so, Mama - riding on her go-stick which caused some whispered comment, apparently most of the Elves hadn't seen either of us ride before - a fellow soldier picked by my opponent, and two of the Star Sailor's people made their way out to where the target sat.  

When they returned with the target, they faced it away from us, so none could see before the rest who the winner was.  Mama was acting more inscrutable than usual which meant...  I didn't know what that meant.  Did I win?  Did I lose?  Then I looked at my opponent's representative and knew I had lost.  He was grinning big as day.  I couldn't watch.  Since the dinner seemed to be over, I made my way back to the little corner that Mama and I still held as "our space" in the cave.  Everywhere else the Elves were ever-present.  I wasn't moping, I just didn't want to listen to the snide remarks from my opponent.  I knew I should be the better person and congratulate him, I told myself, but I was sure even now he was over there congratulating himself.

Gradually, by ones and twos, Elves started to come over and touch me.  On the arm, on the shoulder.  At first I thought it was some kind of Elven conciliatory thing, like "sorry for your loss", but then a few of them leaned in and whispered their names to me, and said how honored they were to see someone pull "Stinky Foot" from his pedestal.  

It wasn't every single Elf mind you, but I was visited by a good portion of them.  

Mama finally arrived looking rather un-Mama like, with a huge smile on her face.  I pulled her aside and asked her what was going on.

"You won Tandy!"  She whispered, "And the way you walked off like that without even verifying your win, like you already knew.  It was epic.  I've already heard a couple musicians and a poet writing songs and poetry about it.  You are going to be more famous than I am.  Hope you don't mind, as the winning challenger, It's Elven tradition that I get to declare something about the loser, and for one year he would have to live with it.  so I declared his name to be Stinky Foot."

I palmed my forehead.  Ever since we escaped from the village and Baot's plans, Mama has been like a different person.  A lot like the old Mama, but more alive, more sarcastic, and less filtered.  The old Mama did give her patients nick-names, sometimes embarrassing ones, and used those nick names when talking to them.  I once heard her call an old Kinderling Grandmother "Slimy" because the oldster stopped bathing, and a long-time patient was called "Gasbags" because he wouldn't stop eating a particular root vegetable that gave him severe flatulence, and a gut condition that would eventually kill him.  In both cases, it worked.  The Grandmother started bathing and Gasbags, eventually, cut back on the garric root only to realize he felt so much better that he never went back.

"If I'm the one who beat him, shouldn't I be the one who gets to declare something?"  I asked.

"No.  You don't understand how Elven challenges go.  I was the challenger, you were merely the contestant."  Mama explained.  "If you lost, you would have just lost a little prestige, not that you really had any anyway.  Me on the other hand, Stinky Foot would have been able to declare something about me that lasted a year.  My guess is he would have declared me to no longer be The Mystic, or an Elf friend."

Mama appeared to really think about the consequences for a moment.  "Huh, that really could have been bad.  I bet ol' Stinky Foot would have used that as a means to kill me.  Both of us.  And the King of All wouldn't have been able to do anything about it without being seen as breaking tradition which could have risked his claim on the throne.  I really need to stop hanging around with the Star Sailor, he is such a bad influence"

I hadn't noticed Mama hanging around anyone, much less the Star Sailor, but if losing was so fraught with peril for us, I'm glad everything worked out and Mama was coming to her senses.

"I could have lost the right to make challenges!  That would have been horrible!  I have so many more Elves I want to take down a peg or two!"

I looked at Mama.  She appeared to be serious.  "Just let me know if you're about to make a challenge that might get us killed so I can get ready to get out of here."

"Oh, all right."  Said Mama distractedly.  I sure hoped she wasn't thinking about who to challenge next.

Happily, Mama didn't get around to making any more challenges before we were called to a meeting hosted by the King of All.  

"We have come to this place to rescue one of our own.  One who was taken prisoner and put in cold iron chains by her captors.  Thanks to the Star Sailor and his incredible sky ship, and to the miraculous ministrations by our friend the Mystic and her incredibly talented daughter, we arrived in time."  The King of All stated.  "Now, we must consider punitive actions against the Mountain Gorfs  so-called King.  None can be seen to harm an Elf and walk away."

That opened the floor to all sorts of wild schemes and proposals.  Everything from quietly assassinating the Gorf Mountain King in his bed-chamber to the outright destruction of the Mountain Kingdom's fortress village.  Think "Rend it to the ground and leave no stone on top of another" was the phrase used, which I thought was a little over-done.

It quickly became apparent that a majority of the Elves were more concerned with revenge than rescuing Mouse, or Iowne and her people for that matter.  That worried me.  What also worried me   Mama was being uncharacteristically quiet.  During a meeting of this type, normally Mama would be right in there mixing it up.  I opened my mouth to yell out my opinion of one of the suggestions, but Mama stopped me flat, putting her hand on my arm and shaking her head "no".   Knowing Mama deplored doing anything that didn't have a good reason as a waste of time and effort, I held back my comment.

"They'll argue until they grow tired, hungry, or the King of All makes a decision."  Mama whispered to me.  "Junior already has our opinions, he's just giving everyone time to also get their opinions heard.  No point in prolonging this mess."

Just then, the King of All yelled out "Lieutenant of the First Watch, your opinion has been heard."  With that, the Elven Warrior who had been speaking, arguing his case, stopped mid-sentence and stepped aside allowing another to speak up.

"Well, that was interesting."  I noted to Mama.

"I just wish your father was here to see this.  I'm sure he would enjoy seeing the Elven debate process."

"Is this anything like the village council meetings that Father goes to?...  Went to?"  There was a moment of sadness at the reminder that my home was all but gone.

"Surprisingly similar."  Mama said with a smile, "Only there isn't a King of All to shut it down by making a decision, so the debate usually goes until everyone either passes out from exhaustion, or  gets too hungry to continue and wanders off in search of food."

The Elven debate lasted far into the evening.  Mama and I didn't stick around for much more of it.  It seemed like the ideas and opinions started to repeat after a while, and some of those opinions made me angry enough that I found myself noting who said what and fantasizing about how I'd like to murder me some Elves.  I didn't think staying any longer would be a good idea.