The Moonstone (Enchantment Book 1) (23 page)

Despite their resemblance to each other, they have distinguishing features. The one who seems to be the oldest of the three is also the most hunched. He has a crown of long, greasy hair and a mouth from which I see protruding a very few sharp teeth. The one who seems to be the youngest, due to his more juvenile features, has long pointy ears that peek out from a purple hole-ridden tuque that is surrounded by brown hair covering his eyes. The last one is chubbier and has a long red beard that has been braided into two long plaits. He seems to be the feistiest of the three as he is stomping on any objects in his way.

I get a little closer to see them more clearly and it is the bald one who notices me first. He then taps his companions on the shoulders and they stare at me, their mouths agape. The bearded one licks his fingers, smooths his hair and then he puffs out his chest like a peacock before approaching me. Incredible! He extends his hand through the fencing and the irony of the situation is not lost on me. As soon as my hand touches his he grabs it and pulls it to his mouth and plants a wet kiss on it.

"Oh my God! What are you doing, little man?"

The two others join him and all three start yelling in unison:

"Colimata! Colimata! Colimata!"

What on earth are they trying to tell me?

"Porthos, leave Lou alone," says Zach, returning.

The three creatures sing my name out in one long note. "Louuuuu"

They run around the cage, still repeating my name. They’re certainly odd little creatures.

"What does Colimata mean?"

"I don't know, I can ask Jézabel tomorrow. But if I know anything about them, it's probably not something for polite company. These little leprechauns love women and apart from Jézabel, they never get to see any."

"Leprechauns?!" I blurt out, thoroughly intrigued.

"Yes, they came from Ireland a couple of years ago. These three rascals were shooting nuts at Jézabel, trying to get her away from their cottage. What little dummies! That's what sealed their fate because they were actually the reason Jézabel had gone there to hunt."

The three little men start yelling what seem like curses and taunts at Zach while making faces and showing him their fists.

"You called the redhead Porthos. Is that a reference to The Three Musketeers?"

Zach gives me a broad smile, shaking his head.

"You don't miss a trick, do you? I sometimes forget that you lived with humans all your life and that human culture is the only one you know. I love that! Finally I get to talk to someone who understands all my references.

When I was little, I loved the Three Musketeers, so when Jézabel finally allowed me to take care of the creatures, I started giving them all names. She finds it a useless detail and can't understand why I would bother because according to her we shouldn't get too attached as they represent living statues for her, just part of her sad collection. I spend so much time here I can't help but get attached to them. The fattest one of the three is Porthos, as you know. He seems to be their leader and is the most charming of the three, but also the most impulsive. The young one is Aramis and he’s the most discreet of the three, as well as being the one most prone to blunders. The last and the oldest is also the wisest of the three. I'm sure you guessed his name is Athos."

"But where is D'Artagnan?" I ask, crossing my arms and giving him a coy look.

"It's me, of course," he answers with a wink.

"I know that they’re speaking some other language, but can they understand us?”

"Bah! I don't know how much they understand, but I can tell they understand a bit because once in a while they answer me with a word or two in English.”

Zach takes a little bag out of his jacket pocket and throws it through the bars. The three musketeers launch themselves onto it, pulling the small bag in three directions until they finally release their tiny treasure onto the stone floor.

"Yuck! They eat that?" The little bag contained chubby white grubs, the kind you find in the dark center of a compost pile. They gobble them up in a flash as if they were jellybeans. Once their feast is done, the youngest, Aramis, comes closer to me and opens his hand, offering me the largest and the juiciest of the grubs, still wriggling in the palm of his hand. The other two leprechauns remain standing a few feet away and are grinning. I look at Zach, who signals to me to take it. Not knowing quite what to do, I take it and without thinking about it, I inhale the grub in one bite. The three little men shout:

"Lou! Colimata!" while clapping their hands.

I turn back to Zach to find him doubled over with hysterical laughter.

"You never fail to amaze me, Lou! Ha, ha! I was putting you on, for goodness sakes! I never thought you would listen to me. Your empathy is going to trip you up someday. Are you really so afraid to hurt their feelings you’re willing to eat one of those disgusting creatures?"

"What? I thought I had to do it...kind of like some sort of initiation. Anyways, they seemed to appreciate the gesture and it didn't taste like anything at all."

The two other leprechauns notice a couple of stray grubs squirming around on the ground and bring them over to pass them to me through the bars.

"No thank you, I'm full, really."

The two sadly walk away and swallow their offering. Aramis tilts his head to the side and seems to be listening intently, then the expression on his face changes and he suddenly looks terrified. He runs over to the others yelling:

"Kastiga! Kastiga!"

The three little people start running in all directions, pacing wildly in their cage and then finally they turn to look at me, saying:

"Human run!"

I turn to Zach, who jumps up and looks down the hallway through which we entered. An intense roaring fills the small space and seems to be coming from the other end of the tunnel and followed by a strident cry. Zach gives me a look that I don't like at all and swallows audibly.

"I hope you remember what we've been studying in our lessons, because you’re about to get a bit of a workout, Lou."

"What are you talking about?"

I think one of the diabolical creatures... you know, the ones I didn't want to show you just yet...well, I have a feeling the chimera has escaped."

"The chimera? You mean the fire-breathing lion with a head that's a goat and a tail that's a snake?"

"Precisely."

"Is there any other way out of this cave?"

"No."

"So, how will we fight it?"

"We can't, Lou. Only Pegasus can fight him and as you know, he’s in Las Vegas."

"So, what’ll we do? Do we just sit here and wait until it makes a meal of us?"

Zach thinks for a moment and then looks around.

"We need to melt some lead, but we don't have anything for that. I think the best thing would be to hold it off just long enough to get out of the cave, get to the motorcycle and drive away."

"But then it will get into the city and continue its killing spree!"

"What we need is to somehow find Jézabel, she’s the only person who can control it. Lou, we need to move fast and we don't have a choice. We have to get out of here before it eats us. If we can just somehow keep it in the den, then we won't be cornered in this tunnel."

"But how do we do that?"

"The best would be if you use one of your energy fields to make it back up and I can try to distract it by luring it with food into the den. Are you ready?"

"What does that matter? How could I ever be ready for something like that?"

"I'll take that as a yes. We'll run on three. At the end of the hall, you need to spot the beast and shoot the biggest energy field possible at it. That should give us a couple of seconds. Then I’ll throw a goat from the freezer at it. I know, I know...a goat eating a goat is too bizarre. So, one...two...three."

Zach starts running down the tunnel and I’m at his heels. We get to the den and I spot the creature. It’s gigantic and is so large that its back almost scrapes the stone roof. Zach signals to me while running towards the freezer and I raise my hands toward the beast who’s just spotted me. She leans in like a cat ready to pounce on a mouse. My energy is now focused and hits it in the middle of the forehead. The creature wobbles and falls on its side, but quickly tries to stand up again. The serpent tail rises into the air and glares at me while swaying back and forth. I find myself hypnotized by the movement. In the distance, as if in a dream, Zach's voice is calling my name. I vaguely see him sliding the goat over to the chimera, and then he grabs me, shaking me by the shoulders with all his might. I shake my head and come out of my trance.

"Lou, it's time to go!"

We start to run, but the creature gets up, not even looking at the offering of food. Instead, it starts walking uncertainly towards us and even though we’re running full speed, it soon catches up with us. Zach grabs a rifle from the wall and shoots in the direction of the animal, catching it on the flank. She hardly registers the hit and it seems as negligible as a mosquito bite to her. The chimera roars and the goat's head shoots a long jet of fire I can feel singeing the side of my hand as I run. The beast approaches and with a swipe of her paw she sends Zach flying into the stone wall. Now I’m standing up, facing the monster. I feel it's breath on my skin and I know there’s no way out for me now. I concentrate what's left of my energy and send a final blow in the direction of the beast. Sadly my last attack used up most of my energy and this volley was more like a faint halo that gently pushes up against the mutant lion. Zach stands up with difficulty.

"Lou, you should just run. I'll take care of this. Go on, save yourself and go warn Jézabel."

"I can't leave you here, she'll kill you!"

I can't stand the idea of Zach sacrificing himself. I refuse to abandon him and am determined to stay, whatever may come.

"Lou, I told you to get lost!"

This time, Zach is insistent and aggressive. He approaches and the lion turns towards him, growling, as the snake-headed tail bites him in the calf. Zach fights to get free, trying to use a handhold on him.

"Lou, please. I'm begging you. Go on, I’ll take care of this."

I can read the fear and worry in his eyes. In the time it takes for me to look back at the creature, it flattens me to the ground with its immense paw, knocking the wind out of me. She brings her face into mine and I realize this is the end of my brief adventure...my mother was wrong; I wasn't equal to the challenge.

Suddenly from the entrance to the grotto I hear a melody being whistled and this distracts the beast's attention. She backs up, releasing me in the process and allowing me to breathe freely. Footsteps ring out and a silhouette appears in the dim torch-lit room.

The whistled melody continues and the serpent releases Zach. The creature backs up even more as if the melody were deafening it. What's strange is that the tune seems very comforting to me. The shadowy figure approaches and the creature turns back towards us, this time in a rush, roaring and howling a deathly cry. It reaches us along with the newly arrived figure and I realize it is the creature's master...Black. For once I’m thrilled to see him.

"Tiny human weakling...mediocre creature."

This time, he's speaking to my friend. Zach doesn't respond, still stunned by the viper's bite.

What happens next is altogether incredible. Black whistles the melody, but this time, more intensely and the torches release from the wall, forming a semi-circle around the beast, forcing it back down the hallway of diabolical creatures. I try to follow him, but Black signals for me to stay where I am. He’s furious and I know I must obey.

A few moments later, a limping Zach joins me.

"Are you ok? I'm so sorry, that's never happened before. The bars are secured with codes so the creatures never manage to open them... someone must have unlocked his door. I'll look into it. Oh, Lou, I should never have brought you here."

"That decision, in fact, is the most stupid one you’ve ever made, and believe me, stupidity is your specialty," says Black, coming back out the infamous tunnel.

Zach turns to look at him and answers through gritted teeth:

"I owe you thanks...I don't know who opened the door, but I mean to find out. It is rather strange considering Lou and I were the only ones here. And all of a sudden, there you are, a knight in shining armor. What a coincidence!"

"Are you insinuating I was the cause of all this? I should hope not. It's obvious, you idiot, that this is your entire fault for having brought her here. She could have..."

Black turns his head away before catching his breath as if he were trying very hard to contain an immense rage.

"You’re lucky nothing happened to her. You would’ve had me to deal with."

"Do you think I'm happy about having frightened her? How could I have known the creature would escape? It's never happened before."

"Never!? And what about yesterday with the chupacabra? She could have died then also."

This seems to hurt Zach and he grabs his chest. He kicks a rock as if to release some pent up anger.

Black comes closer to Zach and taps him on the chest.