"Her growling at the orb won't solve the problem," he thought to himself since he knew better than to say it out loud. "You stupid thing! If you know where my father is - tell me!" she hollered at the glowing green orb. The only response she received was "Your question is incomplete. What knowledge do you seek?" "Queen Ffion, how about if I attempt something," Dulbbe asked. Ffion just waved her hands at the orb as if dismissing it and stepped back. "Okay !! See if you can get this stupid thing to work," she told him.
"Is the Shadows' King safe?" he asked the Dragon face in the orb. "Safe is a perspective concept. What knowledge do you seek?" answered the orb. "At least we are getting partially somewhere," Dulbbe muttered to himself before changing his next question slightly. "Does the Shadows' King have a way to find his way back to this castle?" It took a minute and the orb flashed bright green several times before answering. "Yes," said the orb. Before Ffion could interrupt, Dulbbe asked his next question. "Is there anyone with him that can help him to return and who are they?" Again, but taking a bit longer to respond, the orb answered. "Yes. A Spite and a Dragon." Dulbbe knew that The CAT was Hungry's (oops - Dree's) Spite, but another Dragon was helping the Shadows' King? "That was interesting indeed!" mused Dulbbe. But then he remembered, as he was so focused on wanting to have Ffion appreciate him, that they were here to see what information they could find about the Dragons returning.
"What!!!" cried Ffion as she stepped back up to the orb and peered into its glow. "Your question is incomplete. What knowledge do you seek?" answered the orb.
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While Efem and the Dowager Griselda were working to find out more information about Aralt the Herald, others were following up in another direction. But Dulbbe being the multi-tasker that he was also was thinking of Queen Ffion and how much he adored her. "When I was a bookkeeper, it was a distant dream," he thought, "but as a King, who knows?" Because of this, Dulbbe was taking every opportunity to cement the relationship between the new Shadows' Queen and the Troll Kingdom. This meant that he would find some pretense to visit the Queen's castle every chance he got. One day it would be for something he forgot in his old rooms and the next day it was because he wanted to maybe borrow a book to read. It was the book idea that reminded him about another opportunity he could use to help on the Dragon's return.
It was the 'we' that made Dulbbe smile. "She thinks of us as a 'we'," he happily thought with a dreamy look. "It was in the library," Dulbbe answered as he gazed at Ffion with a sappy smile. "In Room 101."
"Did the orb glow green?" she asked Dulbbe as she passed through a doorway. Surprised for a moment from her question, the Troll King stopped in his tracks and looked at her back as she continued walking to the library. Realizing she was not going to stop, he hurried to catch up with her "How do you know that?" Dulbee asked. "I delivered a meal to my father before everything happened and he was yelling at a green glowing orb with a picture of a Dragon's head in it," she answered. "I forgot all about it until you mentioned the room that he was in. Room 101." As they neared the room, it was Dulbbe who noticed the green glow emanating from under the door. "It must still be there," thought Dulbbe. Ffion quickly opened the door and stepped in with Dulbbe following. "I found the orb on the third shelf in row four..." said Dulbbe but as he entered the room and looked towards the shelf, he realized it was no longer there. It had been placed on a ledge near the doorway by the King when Awena and the Dowager had told him that the Dragon tablet was on it's way to the castle carried by a Borrower apparently forgotten. Ffion picked it up and walked towards a table to set it on. As she placed it down, she turned to Dulbbe. "How does it work?" she asked.
As Ffion waited for it to say more, the orb only continued to glow. Exasperated, she growled, "What to you mean 'yes'?" The only response she got was "Your question is incomplete. What knowledge do you seek?" Dulbbe knew that this was going to take a little time...
The Root Connection ran deep and far. The only problem was that it was slow. Most messages sent via the Root Connection were answered by some other service like the Flutterbys or the Bee-Gs since this connection was even slower than Snailmail. The only reason anyone used this approach was that the Root Connection's knowledge ran very very deep. The ancient Yew was thousands of years old and had heard lots of gossip (news) in it's many years. This is what Efem needed. "Knowledge from the past," she mumbled to herself as she walked to the stone platform in the center of the grove and stood, waiting for the trees to acknowledge her. Sometimes she had to wait days for the trees to notice her as their world ran a little slower than hers. "At least I am not trying to talk to rocks," thought Efem. "I am sure I would be waiting longer," she figured, "but then again, I wonder what we would talk about? Would I take what they say for 'granite'?" snickered Efem as she thought about how many other puns that would fit in the conversation. "I wonder if the rocks would even notice the puns?" It was as she was thinking about rock puns, that the Willow spoke to her. Surprised because they have never noticed her this quickly before, she bowed her head and waited. "Efem, we knew you would not be late... Your coming here, was it just desperation or fate?" The question caught her by surprise making her forget the questions she had made up on her way to the Grove. "Desperation or Fate? What did the Willow mean and how should she answer?" Efem wondered. It seemed like a long time that she thought about the question, and maybe it was, but the Willow did not seem to notice. Finally, Efem knew what she had to answer. "Great Elder..." she started but stopped when the leaves of the Willow started shaking and a giggle could be heard on the wind.
"Great Willow maybe it is both fate or desperation... but with the Grove's help and ancient knowledge, maybe you will be able to give me the much needed information," answered Efem. With this answer the ancient Yew spoke, surprising Efem as she had never heard it talk before. Usually it would sit and listen and in the many years she had been a Tree Mother visiting the Grove, this was the first time it ever spoke. "The time is coming that a great change may occur. We do not know if the return of the Dragons is what starts the change, but they are players in the game." It took Efem a minute to realize that the Yew had spoken plainly and not in rhyme or verse. "You spoke plainly. Why have none of you done this before?" she asked. "We did it because we thought that is what you wanted. It's a nuisance to have to make everything rhyme like the Wishing Well," answered the ancient Yew. "Do you want us to go back to rhyming?" "No... uhm... no thank you. I would prefer this way. Now, can you tell me more about this game that is being started and how the Dragons may be part of it?" as Efem sat down on the stone platform figuring this was going to be a long visit and happy that she remembered to pack a few things in her satchel.
Now she could focus on the real problem. She realized what she needed to do. "I should have thought of this earlier," she mumbled to herself. "Maybe it's time to talk to the trees. After all they were here when the Dragons were plentiful. As a Tree Mother, I should have thought of this before now," Efem continued to herself. " I will make time now to go to the Sacred Grove." Earlier, before Nemmer delivered his good news, Efem had received a Flutterby from the Dowager. Griselda told her about the scroll and how she had seen the Herald named Aralt in her vision. "I'm old, but even I don't remember anyone named Aralt," Efem thought. "Maybe this Herald can help us when the Dragons arrive." Now that she had a plan, Efem started her preparations. "One doesn't just walk into the Sacred Grove and ask questions." she mumbled to herself as she started looking for some necessary items. "First I need a small satchel bag to carry everything."
Nemmer would not admit it to anyone, being a little stubborn, but sometimes he liked fighting with The CAT. "Now that stupid CAT has me thinking about him just because he had to go and do something noble," Nemmer grumbled to himself with a slight pang of annoyance and a touch of nostalgia rumbling around in his chest. "Durn fool CAT. Why did you let that stupid troll pull you into that portal? You could have blinked out of there and gotten away," growled Nemmer as he was thinking about what the others told him had happened. "If I had found Hungry, then I would have been there to save you," Nemmer whispered to himself as he leaned his back against an old oak tree. So, that was it! Nemmer was feeling guilty about not being there and possibly saving The CAT. "If I was a better hunter, I would have found that Dragon first," moaned the archer. "Maybe I am not as good as I thought I was," he said as he slumped down the side of the tree to sit on the grass by the trunk.
While he was standing under it and trying to see through it, another apple fell out and almost hit him again. "Ha! Missed!" crowed Nemmer prematurely as another one fell out of the portal and smacked him again before it closed and disappeared. It was as he was rubbing his sore head and looking at the last apple that had hit him he now was holding in his hand when the realization struck him. "He's alive! That blasted CAT is okay! I've got to tell Cornelia and Efem. They will both be happy to hear that their CAT is still out there causing mischief and mayhem." It was with that thought Nemmer picked up the rest of his arrows (for an Archer of the Elfshot Guild would do no less) and started out to the cottage he shared with his wife Cornelia. And where was The CAT and what mischief was he getting into... well, that is another story.
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GreetingsWelcome to my blog. This is where I will reveal the magic of my Fae and their stories and share with you some of the success and pitfalls through the journey of doll making, sculpting, and other crafts that all come back to my dolls in many ways. Archives
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