Changing the Prophecy Chapter Six Episode 2

 

Chapter 6 Wolf Circle -- Episode 2

Guhblorin hung his head shamefully, his ears drooping, and he began to sniffle dejectedly. Elena went straight to him and put her arm around him and pulled him close to her side. “He’s our friend. He’s not dangerous at all. Don’t be mean to him.”

Goldenrod’s eyebrows shot up in surprise and he turned to Denzel and Maia and insisted, “Explain this, right now.”

“It’s exactly what Elena said. He’s our friend. He’s a new kind of geebaching who doesn’t want to hurt anyone,” Maia told him. “He’s trying to be good and helpful, and not funny. He’s trying to stay serious. It’s hard work for him so we help him. If he starts to be funny, we remind him that he has vowed to remain serious and he stops himself. I hope you will accept him as an ally.”

Goldenrod frowned. Guhblorin bravely stepped forward and bowed his head in formal greeting to Goldenrod, who reluctantly bowed his head in return. “If I do something funny, just pull my ear to remind me to stop,” Guhblorin said.

“I will do exactly that,” Goldenrod promised, sternly.

Princess Honeydew, who had a reputation for loving animals and keeping many pets of all varieties, took Guhblorin’s hands in hers and asked him with gentle curiosity, “What do geebachings eat? You must be hungry after your travels.”

“I’ll have a bowl of underpants soup, please,” Guhblorin said. But the minute the words fell from his lips, he clapped his hand over his mouth contritely and muttered, “Sorry, sorry, sorry. I’m very nervous. So sorry.” Unfortunately, the damage had already been done and quite a few of the children in earshot started laughing. Their parents pulled them away and quickly disappeared inside their houses.

Honeydew smiled kindly at Guhblorin. “It’s OK. Just try harder to be careful. Let’s go inside and see if we can find something more appropriate for your dinner.” She motioned to the others and all of them followed her and Goldenrod through the center of the circle and into a communal dining room.

“Is High Chief Hyacinth at Big House City?” Maia asked Honeydew.

“Yes, and my mother too. She brought me here but she went back to Big House City right before the siege started. I’m so worried about them,” Honeydew replied. “At the beginning, about six weeks ago, they had plenty of food and water. They have water wells inside the city, but their food supply won’t last forever. I don’t know how soon it will run out. Fortunately Cardamom is with them, and he has the Staff of Shakabaz. Perhaps he will figure out how to use the Staff to lift the siege and if not I hope they can remain securely within the gates and find food and water, at least until the siege ends. Meanwhile, the masters here at the Wolf Circle have begun my education in enchantment.”

“Whoa. Can you do enchantment now?” Denzel asked with a note of envy in his voice.

“A little,” Honeydew answered.

“Show us something,” Denzel requested eagerly.

Honeydew glanced at her uncle and Goldenrod smiled indulgently. “Do the dancing,” he suggested, with a glint in his eye. Honeydew laughed. “Do Denzel,” Goldenrod added.

Denzel looked uncertainly from Goldenrod to Honeydew, wondering what he had gotten himself into. Honeydew raised her hand and pointed three fingers at Denzel. She squinted in concentration and then said a few words of enchantment. Denzel felt his feet quiver uncontrollably and the quiver ran up the back of his legs, grew stronger, then started up his arms from his fingertips. He began to dance and he couldn’t stop. His body did the Electric Slide with no instructions whatsoever from his brain.

Maia and Elena burst into peals of laughter, which stopped abruptly when Honeydew raised three fingers and aimed them at the girls so that they too began to dance the Slide with no control over their arms and legs. Elena continued to giggle delightedly as she danced, but Maia and Denzel appeared none too pleased.

Unable to restrain himself in the presence of such hilarity, Guhblorin snorted through his nose and then dissolved in the kind of geebaching laughter that becomes so dangerously contagious. Honeydew laughed.

“You! Geebaching!” Goldenrod called sternly, “Cease immediately.” And then Goldenrod himself fell out laughing, because who can resist a laughing geebaching?

“It’s not his fault,” Elena pointed out between spasms of laughter. “You did it. If you stop, then he’ll stop.” Guhblorin covered his eyes with his flappy ears so he couldn’t see the silly spectacle. Goldenrod raised three fingers and released the dancers from Honeydew’s enchantment. Everyone breathed deeply, trying to catch their breath, as Guhblorin stuffed his hands in his mouth to stifle his giggles.

“I guess I did not choose the best enchantment to demonstrate while in the presence of a recovering geebaching,” Goldenrod admitted sheepishly. “My bad.”

“That could come in real handy,” Denzel noted as he filed away Honeydew’s power for possible later use if needed.

Guhblorin repeated several times, “I’m OK, I’m OK, I’m OK,” as he attempted to calm himself down.

Goldenrod patted Guhblorin on the back. “Sorry, little fella, I should have known better. I see you are sincerely making an effort.”

“Yes. An effort. Sincerely,” Guhblorin affirmed.

“Well, let’s get all of you something to eat and find you some comfy beds for the night,” Goldenrod said as he steered the travelers to a long wooden table and motioned for them to take seats.

“I vote we go to Big House City to try to lift the siege,” Denzel told Goldenrod. “I could use some enchanters to help me, and maybe some wolves,” he added hopefully.

“I’m inclined to take a more cautious approach,” Goldenrod replied. “I would prefer to learn more about the situation at Big House City before putting lives at risk.”

Denzel took Goldenrod’s rebuff in stride and revised his plans. “Then how about this, how about if Maia and I go to Big House City to find out more for you?”

“No way you go without me,” Honeydew asserted firmly. “My parents are trapped there.”

“I’m going wherever you go,” Elena said.

“Of course you’ll come with us,” Maia reassured Elena.

“Me too,” Guhblorin screeched as he leapt into Elena’s lap and wrapped his skinny arms around her neck.

“Absolutely,” Elena told Guhblorin as she attempted to disengage his fingers from their interlaced grip. “Guhblorin has to come also. He’s mí amigo.”

“Amigo,” Guhblorin repeated eagerly. He clearly liked the sound of the Spanish word for “friend” and he said it several times without completely comprehending what it meant.

“That’s settled then,” Honeydew informed her uncle. “We have a team assembled and we’ll scout out the situation.”

Denzel felt less than enthusiastic about going into a potentially dangerous situation with three girls and a geebaching, but there didn’t seem to be anything he could do about it. On the positive side, he knew that Honeydew and Maia were resourceful, sensible, and brave. He said to Goldenrod, “We need a way to communicate with you from Big House City, to let you know what we find. Do you have any ideas about that?”

“I have my cell phone and it’s fully charged,” Elena piped up.

Denzel busted out laughing. “Terrific. Now all we need is a cell phone tower.” He couldn’t wait to tell Sonjay about Elena and her cell phone.

Elena threw Denzel a hurt look while Guhblorin patted her empathetically on the shoulder.

“I’ll give you a travel crystal,” Goldenrod offered. “With any luck, it will allow you to communicate with me.” Denzel nodded in agreement with Goldenrod. He had used a travel crystal successfully the previous year and knew how tricky a travel crystal could get. It depended on the nature of available sunlight, but it could work. “Just so you know, the Dome seems to be down,” Goldenrod added.

“What? The Dome? That’s not good.” Denzel absorbed that information and continued, “I figure it will take us three or four days to get to Big House City.” He counted off the travel days on his fingers as he explained his calculation to Goldenrod. “That would include two or three days to hike over the Amber Mountains and one day to ride from the mountains to Big House City. We could make good time if we don’t run into any Special Forces. We need tigers,” Denzel noted.

“I can arrange for tigers,” Goldenrod told him.

Guhblorin raised a hand in the air, as if hoping for a teacher to call on him in class. “Excuse me,” he squeaked in a tiny voice.

“Now what?” Denzel demanded. Guhblorin was getting on his nerves.

“I know a shortcut through the Amber Mountains that will cut the travel time in half,” Guhblorin offered.

Denzel rolled his eyes. “It’s not safe inside the Amber Mountains and you know why.”

“We don’t want to risk capture by your brothers and sisters and cousins and aunts and uncles and the rest of your kind who have not sworn off homicide like you have,” Maia reminded Guhblorin patiently as she threw Denzel a reproachful look.

“I know a quick shortcut passage close to the surface, and I’m sure no geebachings will go in there. It has a weird smell in it. They don’t like it,” Guhblorin offered.

“What’s the smell?” Elena asked suspiciously.

“Kind of like fish,” Guhblorin said. “And seaweed.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Elena suggested hopefully.

“Very old fish. Very slimy seaweed. And also a bit like a wet sheep wearing sweaty gym socks,” Guhblorin added.

Elena giggled. Guhblorin clapped a hand over his mouth.

“Is the passage big enough for tigers to fit through it?” Denzel asked.

Guhblorin saluted and said, “Yes, sir.” Denzel heard a slight tickle of sarcasm in Guhblorin’s use of the word “sir,” but he let it pass.

“That’s settled then,” Denzel concluded with an approving nod in Guhblorin’s direction. “We’ll leave first thing in the morning and we’ll use the smelly passage.”