Mr. Dove and the Pipes of Creation

[davedove]

Scene 20

The man looked directly at me and I recognized him immediately. This man was the spitting image of the man I knew as Ted Crocker. On this man, the grey of cataracts covered both his eyes.

“You know who I am?” I asked him.

“Of course, I saw you coming, even before that interesting woman told me you would be here. Please be careful where you step,” he warned, “the parsley is still very fragile at this stage.”

I looked down to where I had almost stepped on the small plant. “How did you…?” I stated to ask.

He chuckled a bit. “I know my own garden better than most know the calluses on their hands. And, your walk is much too heavy.”

“If you know who I am then I suspect you know why I’m here?”

“Indeed I do; you need to know where to go next in your quest to save the worlds. I can tell you that.”

“Great, I’m all ears.”

“All ears? What an interesting expression, from your own world, I suppose. Very well, you and the Wizard must travel through the Misty Mountains.”

“What of Starbuck and me?” Jockel asked.

“You are not to go with them,” Theodore answered. “Your defeat of Lord Swill’s usurper has not gone unnoticed. Dark forces will soon come and you must help defend the town.”

“Then shouldn’t we stay as well?” I asked.

“No, your quest is too urgent. You must leave by morning.”

“Can you tell me anything more?”

“I can see most of your journey, Mr. Dove, but only the next few steps are clear. You are to journey through the Misty Mountains. But beware; I see a large obstacle for you to pass. You then must travel through the storm, where you will find a mole and its master. More than that I cannot say, as it becomes too unclear.”

“That is much more than I knew before. Thank you for your help.”

“You are most welcome. You are fighting to save my world as well. But one more thing, enemies and friends are not always different people. Remember that.”

“I will, thank you.”

As we walked away, Steven asked a question. “What was that he said about friends and enemies?”

“That they are not always different people. I can only assume that either a friend will betray me, or an enemy will come to our aid, perhaps both.


As Theodore listened to the four leave, he heard the small tinkling voice next to his ear.

“Yes, little one, that is the man. He is the one you must follow.”

[davedove]

Scene 21

Steven and I left the small village at dawn. Lord Swill had done his best to provide us with supplies. At his insistence, I had taken a leather jerkin, which would serve as light armor, but would not be too constricting for me. I had refused his offer of a sword, since I was inexperienced in its use. Instead, I had taken a light mace.

As we traveled we could see the mountains ahead and we soon reached the foothills.

“What sort of obstacle do you think Theodore meant we would be facing?” Steven asked me.

“I have no idea, but I don’t think he meant we would have to climb a mountain,” I answered. “He said we would have to pass through a storm and I suspect he means the storms that arise when reality is changing. I have only seen one of those before and it wasn’t pretty.”

“What about the mole and his master?”

“I have absolutely no idea what he’s talking about. I can’t imagine what a mole has to do with our quest. Maybe we encounter some sort of person who controls animals.”

“With some sort of spell, like our captor back in the village. I never put much stock in that sort of thing, but our captor in the village certainly seemed to have control over me. But not you, how did you resist his charm?”

“I think you could have done it as well. Tell me, does anyone use magic where you’re from?”

“No civilized person does, but there are some natives who put great faith in their shamans and witch doctors.”

“And what do you think of that?”

“I had always felt it was superstitious hogwash. But now I’m not so sure.”

“Don’t doubt yourself,” I warned. “It was only by maintaining my belief that I was able to resist his magic. On my world, magic like that does not exist. It simply will not work. I had to maintain that belief to resist the spell.”

Our entry into the mountains seemed fairly simple and our travel was relatively easy. The trail led through a pass and little climbing was necessary. I was beginning to think that Theodore had been wrong about an obstacle when suddenly a large rock exploded against the mountainside ahead of us.

I noticed that the rock had not fallen, but had hit the wall horizontally, as though a large machine had launched it.

I looked around and saw where the rock had come from. Ahead of us on the trail there stood a large humanoid, holding another rock. This creature had the same basic proportions as a man, but stood nearly thirty feet in height. The rock he held casually was nearly the size of a postal box.

“You stop now!” the creature ordered in a bellowing voice. “You pay toll!”

Steven had drawn his pistol, but I feared the bullets it contained would be like a mosquito bite to the giant we faced. I felt the weight of the mace in my hand, but knew it was woefully light to be of much use against this creature.

“What is the toll?” I demanded of the creature.

The creature looked us both over, and then smiled as he answered. “I be nice,” he said. “I only take smaller one.” As he looked us over, I couldn’t help but notice he was licking his lips.

[starbkjrus]

Oh my!

[Livingston]

Good thing I'm not in here.
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yet

[Ancienne Alliance]

oups...

[davedove]

Good thing I'm not in here.
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yet

Don't worry; I haven't forgotten you.

[davedove]

Scene 22

Steven and I started to back away, but the giant threw his rock and it slammed against the wall near us as we ducked to avoid it. I jumped back up from the ground to attempt an escape, but the giant was apparently faster than I had anticipated. He had already obtained another rock and was aiming it at us.

“Good!” he exclaimed with a smile on his face. “I have fun now.”

Steven began to fire his revolver, but I could see that the bullets had no effect on the giant, who continued to move toward us. I could see little chance for escape.

Suddenly a small creature flew directly at the giant’s face and a large flash of light appeared before the giant. The giant waved his hands before his eyes, trying to clear them.

“Run!” I yelled to Steven and we both began running down the trail.

As we ran, I looked behind us and saw that the giant was in pursuit. Unfortunately, his large strides allowed him to rapidly close the distance between us. I frantically looked around for anything to help us, but the rocky slopes and stray trees offered little assistance.

The giant was almost upon us when the small flittering creature again flew at the giant’s face and another flash of light appeared. Whatever the small creature was, it seemed to be helping us.

I looked over to check on Steven and something he was carrying gave me an idea.

“Steven, your rope!” I yelled to him.

He reached over his shoulder as he ran, tugged the coiled rope from his backpack, and tossed it to me. It was a long length of rope with a hook attached to one end. I quickly loosened the rope and stopped by one of the small trees. Tying the loose end to the tree, I uncoiled the rest of the rope and prepared to throw the hook.

“Distract him!” I yelled to Steven, who began to yell insults to the giant.

The giant had again cleared his vision and began to run towards Steven, completely ignoring me. The giant would run right past my position, but I would only have one chance for my plan.

As the giant passed me, I threw the hook past his leg. The rope trailed behind the hook and caught his leg. As the giant’s leg caught on the rope, the momentum of the hook caused it to wrap the rope around the leg. The giant, unaware of the rope, continued running, causing the rope to tighten. This pulled the rope until the hook caught it and the rope quickly tightened around the giant’s leg.

The giant had almost caught Steven when the rope went taught. It snapped against the trunk of the tree where it was tied, but fortunately held. The taught rope then pulled taught against the giant’s leg, tripping him.

The giant fell forward with a surprised look on his face, over the edge of the trail, and down the side of the mountain. This time, the extra momentum was too much for the small tree and it was pulled up by its roots, only to follow the giant down the mountain.

[davedove]

Scene 23

I rushed over to Steven who was looking over the edge of the trail. “Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yes, I’m fine,” he answered. “Do you suppose that was the obstacle we had to face?”

“I imagine it was, but let’s keep alert anyway.”

The small flying creature flew towards me and hovered before me. I was surprised to see that it resembled a thin young woman, about four inches in height, with gossamer wings beating rapidly on her back.

“Are you well?” she asked me in a small, tinkling voice.

“Yes, thank you for your assistance,” I answered. I held out my hand and she settled on it. She weighed no more than a small bird.

I was able to see her features more clearly and was struck by her appearance. “Diane?” I asked.

“Deena Unaspencia,” she answered me. “And you are the Savior of the Worlds.”

I was a bit embarrassed by the title she gave me. “Just call me David, please?”

“Okay, David, and call me Deena,” she said in her musical voice. “Where are we going now?”

“We? I take it you plan to come with us?”

“Of course, the grey goddess said I was to accompany you on your quest.”

I smiled a bit at that. The Pleaters were certainly sending some unusual assistance my way. But, I had to admit the small pixie had helped against the giant.

“Very well, Deena, welcome to the group. I would like to introduce you to Steven Ashton.”

The pixie flittered up from my hand and flew over to Steven, pressing her lips against his cheek in a tiny kiss. “Hello, Steven,” she said.

Steven blushed slightly. “Hello, Miss Deena,” he replied.

“So, where are we going now?” she asked me again.

I looked back to the mountain path. “Through the mountains,” I said with authority. “We have a mission to complete.”

[KiltedKnome]

What! The Ashton blushed? That's a first!

[davedove]

What! The Ashton blushed? That's a first!

Different realities, it's possible that in some remote reality he's actually not a curmudgeon and dislikes coffee.