Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Dozens of small heads popped out from beneath the bird’s mane. They were close in appearance to Slechtic in that they all had long hair and rough clothing, though there were many women folk among the men, and even the tiny heads of children peeked out from beneath the plumage.

Ware’s lips curled back in disgust and he took a step further back from the bird. “Disgusting. You ferry them as if you were a mere coach?”

The eagle’s sharp eyes glared at him. “They are far more useful than your tongue.”

A blustering scoff came from the dragon lord. “W-what do you mean by that?”

The eagle cast one last dark look at him before he turned his attention to Will. “I hope you summoned us for a higher purpose than to humor your guests.”

Will nodded. “I did. I need both of you to scour the skies and the ground in search of a coach with four horses. It traveled this direction heading-” He paused and cast his eyes to Ware. “Which way were they headed?”

The dragon lord stabbed a finger in the southerly direction. “That way.”

“To the south,” Will finished as his eyes flitted between the eagle and the tiny man still attached to Allard. “And I must warn you to keep a safe distance from this coach. It contains a magical foe that may not be easy for you to defeat.”

“What sort of magical thing?” Sir Slechtic questioned him.

“A worm of sorts, covered in a black slime and very fast,” he answered.

“And with a single gray eye,” I added.

Sir Slechtic climbed to his feet and saluted Will. “Yes, sir! We shall get to it at once!” He spun around to face the eagle and his people. “Everyone off except for the younguns and enough maids to care for them! The rest of you start scouring the roadways!”

I lifted an eyebrow as dozens of the tiny folk hopped down from their feathery perch. They dropped to the ground and waddled their way slowly across the road. “How are they going to cover that much ground?”

“We Tenky have good hearing!” Slechtic spoke up as he grabbed hold of Allard’s coat and slid down like it was a curtain to be pulled up. “And good magic!”

Vargas scoffed. “How can such small creatures have useful magic?”

The leader scurried across the ground to one of the many unbroken walnuts that littered the ground. He rolled up his sleeves and raised his hands. “Like this.”

He wiggled his hands and a gentle brown-colored magic flowed from his fingers. The light enveloped the nut and the ball shook once. Then again. Then it began to violently rattle. I jumped back when the nut split open and a small sapling sprang from inside. The plant didn’t completely leave the shell, however, but clung to both ends via a magical conduit. The rest of the growing plant sprouted leaves and more vines, creating a primitive seat and handles in front of that.

One of the branches wrapped around Sir Slechtic and lifted him onto the leafy seat. He grabbed a hold of the ends of the vines and grinned up at us. “And away we go.”

The Tenky revved up the vines like they were motorcycle handles and the two halves of the spun like wheels. The walnuts spun out for a short while before grabbing dirt and zipping the little guy down the road.

The other Tenky did the same to other nuts and soon a gang of walnut-riding little people darted this way and that, disappearing into the undergrowth, following their leader, or traveling in the opposite direction.

The eagle opened his wings to make his getaway, but Will’s voice stopped him. “A moment.” He strode over to the bird and whispered into its ear. The eagle nodded and Will stepped back to give it room. The bird took flight, carrying away the remainder of the Tenky.

Ware watched the eagle fly away with some reluctance. He cleared his throat and turned to the rest of us. “I will use my nose to scour the lands, as well.”

Vargas frowned at him. “Why? Lord Thorn has plenty of assistants at his disposal.”

Ware smiled and used one finger to tap the side of his nose. “But none of them have this nose, old though it may be. If the track can be discovered again then I will find it. Do not wait up!”

He opened his arms and a great big pair of grayish-blue wings burst out of his back. Scales partially covered his chin and completely covered his neck as his hands transformed into claws. He bowed his head to us before he leaped into the air, flapping hard and fast. The old dragon was above the tree tops in a moment and out of sight the next.

Vargas stomped her foot and shouted after him. “You old fool! Get back here and use those old hands to lift your weight getting the rest of us back to the manor!” His shadow didn’t return and a growl escaped her. She crossed her arms over her chest and gave a harumph. “Stupid old fool leaving us to fend for ourselves in this wilderness.”

Will smiled at her and gestured to the southern part of the road. “The turn to my manor is only a few miles down the road. We should be back home before the hour.”

I was secretly glad to hear it as my clothes, too, were covered in muck and my feet ached from walking over so much uneven, stick-infested ground. We strode down the rough thoroughfare and soon arrived at a crossroads. Another road intersected ours at an angle and traveled east to west.

Allard pointed in the westerly direction. “If I am not mistaken, this leads to a small settlement, does it not?”

Will nodded. “A small village called Ainsley resides in that direction close to the mountains.” My foggy memories conjured up images of the quaint little town with some four dozen buildings and a stench problem that involved harpies.

“Could they not accommodate any guests who may know something about our recent problems?” Allard wondered.

“They could and the Tenky will not leave that untouched,” Will assured him as he jerked his head toward the east. “But home and a good rest is this way.”

Allard cast one last lingering look at the other road before he followed us. I couldn’t help but feel a little trepidation myself. The creature we sought was so small that even one unturned rock could mean it slipped out of our grasp.

We reached the manor within the hour as Will predicted. It was a sight for sore eyes and even more sore feet. I couldn’t wait for a long, hot bath.

I was to be sorely disappointed, both literally and figuratively.