The Warble (13 page)

The lantern swung from side to side,
making it hard for Queen Sentiz to read the prophecy book.

“Speed it up, you numbskull! Do you
think I want to be out here all day?” she shouted from beneath her dry canopy.
She sat huddled under a thick bear stole, sipping on a steaming-hot cup of
fairy-blossom tea.

Ugan’s arms ached as he
strained to keep the large rowboat on course in the pouring rain.
Oh, how I
wish I could change places with the queen, if even for a brief moment in my
meager life.

The queen took another
sip of her tea, and then, almost spilling it, shrieked excitedly, “They’ve
arrived at the prison!”

Ugan didn’t respond to
her sudden glee.

“Did you not hear me,
stupid dwarf?”

“I’m sorry, my lady,
but the rain is so heavy that I can neither hear you well nor see you well,”
Ugan hollered back to her.

“You are just getting
too old and feeble. I’ll have to get a replacement for you as soon as
possible.” The queen got off her plush pillow and walked toward the front of
the boat. It swayed to and fro, over a large swelling wave, and she suddenly
lost her balance and fell headfirst over the side of the boat and into the
cold, dark sea. Ugan dropped the oars and jumped up. He looked all around at
the waters surrounding the boat, but Queen Sentiz was nowhere to be found.
Could
she have drowned so quickly?
A lump came into his throat, and he actually
felt somewhat scared without her. Then he thought of how she had said that he
was old and feeble, and that she would replace him. He tried to push that
thought out of his mind and instead think of a fond memory of her, but he just
couldn’t recall any. Soon his fear began to fade and it was as if a large load
had been lifted off his shoulders. He looked one more time into the dark waves
surrounding the boat, but there was no sign of her queen-ship, not even a piece
of her clothing floating about.

Convinced that she must
have drowned; Ugan went to the rear of the boat and quickly guzzled the
remainder of the fairy-blossom tea she had left in her cup. Instantly, he felt
a surge of warm energy flow through his veins. He glanced down and noticed the
Book of Prophecy was on the bottom of the boat. It was open, with its pages
blowing in the wind. He picked it up and quickly turned to the last written
page. He ran his finger down the words, until he came to the name Clover. “Clover?
Where have I heard that name before?” He continued reading:
“Clover, the
fairy princess, was captured at the Salas Prison.”
He tapped his cold
fingers on his bearded chin.
Why does that name seem so familiar?

A memory suddenly
popped into his mind of a visit to Rumalock’s house on a beautiful sunny day.
His brother was busy taking his laundry off the clothes line while a spunky
little fairy buzzed around his head, teasing him. Rumalock laughed as she poked
at him and tickled his ears. Rumalock later told Ugan that this was his special
little friend, Clover.
Yes, this must be the fairy that the book indicated
was captured.
He noticed more writing popping onto the page, which read:
“At
Salas Prison, zelbocks wait in hiding, for the child Kristina to fall into
their trap.”

Ugan closed the book
and tucked it under the queen’s pillow. He went back to the oars and began to
row as fast as he could, and even though it was cold and windy and the rain
poured down on him, it was not nearly as bad as having Queen Sentiz ridicule
him and dictate orders to him. No, the weather didn’t bother him one bit now
that he had a chance to change his destiny. Oh, yes, he would be known
throughout history as
Ugan the Brave,
instead of
Ugan the Traitor.
This was the happiest moment in his life.

Now that the queen has
drowned, I must go quickly to Salas Prison and find that imbecile Ramon.
I will tell him that he is needed at the palace, at once—“Mommy’s orders!”
Then I will inform him that I am to relieve him of the burden of escorting the
boy Werrien to Treachery Island. He’s so lazy, he’ll be glad to let me take the
boy, but of course, I will release Werrien, so he and the girl can deliver the
Warble to its resting place. Oh, I hope the legend of the Warble is true. The
next thing I will do is release Clover, so she can tell Rumalock the great deed
I have done. Yes I shall be known throughout history as Ugan the Brave, the
Great Deliverer.
Oh, what joyous thoughts these were to entertain

But if Ugan had looked
behind the boat, his thoughts would have been very different—because he would
have seen that Queen Sentiz hadn’t drowned after all. Tired, cold, and madder
than a nest of angry hornets, she bobbed up and down in the rolling sea,
swimming along behind him.
Wait until I get my hands on that wretched dwarf.
Why, I’ll boil him alive and feed him to the zelbocks!

Ugan finally reached
the rocky shore of Bernovem, and as he hurried to tie the boat to the dock, he
noticed a raven flying above him in the rainy sky. It was Roage.

“Miserable creature,”
Ugan grumbled as he nervously secured the boat to the dock. He tucked the
prophecy book under his coat and then ran up the path that led to the palace.
Like a hawk tracking its prey, Roage glided in the sky above him. Ugan’s heart
began to pound as he noticed that the raven was following him. All had been
going so well, but now, he was afraid that he might be attacked by the vicious
ravens again. He ran faster to try and get away from Roage, but Roage flew
faster and kept right up with him. Then, Roage flew ahead of Ugan and
disappeared into the forest.
Phew! That was a close call.
Ugan stopped
to catch his breath.

Then, Roage flew back
out of the forest and landed on the ground right in front of Ugan. Clutching
the prophecy book to his chest, Ugan began to take steps backwards. He
recognized Roage from the time the raven had stolen his lunch bag.

“It’s you, the horrible
raven who viciously attacked me.” Ugan tripped on a rock and fell flat on his
bottom. Roage hopped toward him and Ugan shuffled backwards on his bottom. “No,
no, please don’t hurt me again.”

“How could I possibly
hurt you? You’re much bigger and stronger than one raven,” Roage said.

Ugan looked up at the
sky to see if there were more ravens flying above him, but there were none. He
rose to his feet and felt around his belt for his slingshot.

“I don’t think you’ll
want to do that,” Roage said, “for I have important information for you.”

“Oh, really?” Ugan
grimaced at the raven. “Do you think I’m going to believe you, after what you
did to me?” He assembled a stone in his slingshot.      Then he aimed it right
between Roage’s eyes, but then just as he was about to shoot, Roage interrupted
his concentration, saying, “Queen Sentiz is alive.”

Ugan chuckled
nervously. “Good try, but there’s no way she could survive in that rough
water.”

“Oh, but how you
misjudge her, and I would have thought that out of anyone, you would know her
the best.”

Suddenly an image came
into Ugan’s mind. It was of Queen Sentiz frolicking in her swimming pool back
at the palace. “I guess she is a pretty good swimmer.” Ugan let the stone fall
out of the slingshot. Then he fell to his knees and began to weep. “My life is
ruined!” he cried.

“What do you mean? You
never had a life to begin with.”

“Why don’t you just get
out of here and let me await my horrible fate on my own.”

“I have seen how you
are treated by the queen, so I have decided to help you.”

Ugan looked at the
raven with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. “You have?” he said. But then his look
turned suspicious. “Why should I believe you, when you practically tried to
kill me?”

“At this point, I don’t
see that you have any other choice.”

Ugan’s look of
suspicion faded away. “You’re right. You may be my only hope.”

“Then we’d better get
moving.”

“Oh, it’s no use. As
soon as the queen knows I’m gone, she’ll summon her army of zelbocks to hunt me
down. We don’t stand a chance.”

“Well, then, that’s the
risk that you’ll have to take. Now follow me, for I wouldn’t doubt that the
queen is on dry land as we speak.”

Roage’s hunch was
right, because as they headed for the forest, the soaking-wet queen had been
listening from behind a nearby tree and had heard all of their conversation.

A zelbock was driving a horse-drawn
cart—Werrien was in a crate, on the back of it. The zelbock snapped its whip to
set the horses into motion.

“Look,” Kristina said,
pointing to a figure coming into view.

“It’s Retzel!” Taysha
said.

A zelbock handed Retzel
a small sack and then patted him on his back.

“Why that dirty liar,
and to think I fell for his kind words,” Raymond said.

Retzel ran toward the
fence and when he reached it, he crawled through a hole in the bottom of it.

“Where do you think
he’s going?” Kristina asked Taysha.

“I don’t know, but we’d
better catch up with him and find out.”

As they headed to where
Retzel crawled through the hole in the fence, they could see more zelbocks
coming out of the prison. It was daylight, and they had to take extra
precautions so as not to be seen. They walked through the thickest parts of the
forest, keeping the fence always in view, and even though they tried their best
to avoid possible hidden traps, Taysha almost stepped in one. They suddenly
heard a loud snap, and a leg-hold trap, big enough to sever an elephant’s foot,
slammed shut. Its large, sharp, spike-like teeth skimmed the back of Taysha’s
hoof and ripped off some of the hairs from the back of it. She reared up, and
Kristina had to hold on tight with her legs. She managed to stay on just fine,
but Raymond, who had crawled out of her vest, went flying through the air. He
turned circles with his eyes squeezed tightly shut. “Oh, please, don’t let this
be the place that I breathe my last breath, dear God! But if it is, please
don’t let me splatter,” he prayed. Then, scrunching up his little nose, he
prepared to hit the cold, hard ground. But to his surprise, where he landed was
not cold or hard at all; it was rather warm and soft. He opened his eyes and
stared right into Retzel’s large eyes. Raymond let out a frightful squeal.

Kristina quickly
dismounted Taysha, and then both she and Taysha pressed Retzel against the tree
where he had been sitting, waiting for them to pass by. Without hesitation,
Kristina went down on one knee and drew out the knife that Werrien had given
her. Surprising even herself by what she was about to do, she pushed Raymond
out of the way and held the knife very close to Retzel’s throat. “Why did you
betray Werrien and lie to us?” she said through clenched teeth.

Retzel’s eyes grew so
large that they looked like they might pop out of his head. “I…I had no…no
choice,” he stammered.

“Yeah right! You’re a
liar!” Kristina took hold of Retzel’s shirt and twisted in her hand.

“Please, you must
believe me! I have a sick child who is in desperate need of fairy blossom and
must have a large amount every day, just to stay alive. I could never find
enough myself, so I must work for Queen Sentiz as her spy in order for her to
supply me with enough.”

“Why should I believe
you, when you lied so well the first time we met?”

Before Retzel could
answer, Kristina felt a little tug on her pant leg. She looked down to see that
it was Raymond. “Not now, Raymond! Can’t you see that I’m busy?” Raymond tugged
again on her. “Raymond, if you don’t—” It was then she saw that her rat was
pointing to something between the trees. With the knife still close to Retzel’s
throat, Kristina looked up to see a young gnome woman, holding a bundled-up
blanket close to her bosom. A faint cry came from the bundle, followed by a
gurgling cough. Kristina looked at the gnome woman’s sad face. Then she looked
up at Taysha.

“You’d best put the
knife down,” Taysha said quietly.

Kristina faced Retzel
again. “First, I must know if the Warble is safe.”

“I had to tell them
that Prince Werrien had it,” Retzel confessed. “That was part the information I
was sent to get when I met you outside the city.”

Kristina pushed the
cold knife against his throat. “So now they have the Warble as well? You’ve
ruined any chance for Bernovem to become free of Queen Sentiz, and you’ve made
it so that I will never be able to go home to my family!”

“Please, have mercy on
me! Queen Sentiz has said that she would have my family tortured and killed,
and then banish me to Treachery Island for the rest of my life, if I didn’t
follow her orders. I am willing to give up my life, but I can’t bear to have my
wife and child tortured and killed.” Tears welled like puddles in Retzel’s
tired eyes.

Even though Retzel had
caused so much trouble, Kristina couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. She put
the knife away and stood up. “Okay, I will spare your life, but only if you
take me to Werrien.”

“I will do anything you
want, but please promise me that my family will be safe.”

Kristina looked at
Retzel’s wife and helpless child. Unfortunately, she knew that this was
something she couldn’t promise. Before she could answer Retzel, Roage flew up
to them and landed on the ground. He tilted his head from side to side as he
studied each one of them. When he looked at Kristina, he said, “Greetings,
chosen one. It is an honor to finally meet you.”

“Who are you, and what
do you want?” Kristina retorted. She learned to be leery of trusting anyone
new.

“My name is Roage, and
I have important information regarding Prince Werrien.”

“I see, and I suppose
you would like to give me directions to where I may find him.” She assumed she
was being tricked again.

“Yes, that is exactly
right.”

“And then I suppose
when I arrive at this destination, there will be zelbocks in hiding, ready to jump
out and warmly greet me,” she scoffed.

“This is partially
true.”

“The part that I must
have gotten wrong—would that happen to be the greeting from the zelbocks? Maybe
it won’t be so warm after all.”

“The reason I have
come, is to tell you that Werrien and the Warble are presently on their way to
the top of Mount Bernovem. When they reach the top, Queen Sentiz will have her
son, Ramon, destroy the Warble and then kill Werrien.”

“Is this true?”
Kristina asked Retzel.

Retzel lowered his head
in shame. “Yes, I’m afraid so.”

“Then, we must leave at
once to rescue Werrien.” Kristina looked at Roage. “Tell us the quickest way to
him.”

Once again Roage tilted
his head from side to side as he looked at everyone. “I’m sad to say that you
don’t stand a chance against the zelbocks. The queen has called up most of her
army to follow the party that is taking Werrien and the Warble to the top of
the rugged mountain.”

“We have to rescue
Werrien and the Warble,” Kristina cried out in distress. She began to walk away,
expecting that at least Taysha and Raymond would follow her, but when she
turned around, she saw that everyone was standing still and staring at her.
“Well? Are you coming?”

“You might as well ask
us to commit suicide right now,” Raymond said softly. “At least then we would
avoid such a horrid death as being captured and tortured by the zelbocks.”

Kristina felt her
stomach turn as fear tried to overcome her as well.
Look at you!
the
spirit of fear seemed to tell her.
Do you think that you—a little girl, a
horse, and rat—can defeat an army of zelbocks? You might as well hand
yourselves over and save everyone the humiliation.

“I will not give up and
let Werrien die!” Kristina shouted toward the sky. Then she looked at the
others. “If you won’t come with me, then I’ll go alone.” She turned and began
to walk away, but before she got very far, Roage flew over her head and landed
on the ground in front of her. “Don’t try and stop me! I won’t change my mind,”
she said to him.

“Because you have shown
such great courage, I have decided to help you. I will notify all the believing
gnomes and dwarfs in our land, and we will rise up our own army. We will fight
against Queen Sentiz and her zelbocks,” Roage said.

“And you can count on
us to be the first to enlist,” Retzel said. Taysha and Raymond nodded their
heads.