Buddi covered his eyes to
shield them from the blazing heat. Grubbi gave him a smile and removed Ursa’s
melted blade from the blacksmith grill. He took a nearby hammer and started to
pound out the sharp blade. Buddi watched with interest, a little too close.
Grubbi took one arm and shoved the
child back.
“Not so close, Buddi. There are
sparks that fly out. I don’t want any burning you. I don’t want it, and
Ursa would have my hide.”
Buddi chuckled but stayed back.
Grubbi laid the blade into the water and steam rose. Buddi waited and then the
Barbic lifted it. It was completely whole again, not a sign remained that it
had been broken. Buddi stared as Grubbi removed his gloves and took the hilt in
his hand. A low whistle caught both Barbics’ attention.
Ursa smiled and came in.
“Great work, Grubbi.”
Grubbi smiled and then handed the
blade to Buddi. Buddi grabbed the hilt.
It felt so light.
Grubbi asked him,
“You got it?”
“Yeah.”
“You sure?”
“I got it.”
“Positive?”
“I got it.”
Grubbi let go. Buddi slumped to the
ground, crushed under its weight.
“I don’t got it.”
Ursa laughed and took her blade from
him. Buddi stared at her.
“How can you lift that
thing?”
Ursa gave him a gentle punch to the
cheek. “Aw, it’s light to me. Your strength’ll come.”
Buddi followed the two Barbics
upstairs. As he did, he felt a slight pain in his arms almost like a burn. But
he shrugged it off as a strain from lifting that metal monster of Ursa’s. But
as he walked out into the main body of Ursalia, it grew. But he tried to shove
it down and ignore it.
The majority of the Barbics were
working on the weapons. Buddi got a break, as most of them were too heavy for
him to even pick up. But he liked to watch Ursa. She had been working on them
all day yesterday and nearly all-night. Gritty finally told her to get some
sleep but she refused. So, Gritty came to him. Buddi giggled as he remembered
that…
* * *
“Buddi?”
Buddi had been getting ready for bed
himself as Ursa had a strict rule that he had to be IN bed by ten thirty. It
was ten twenty now. He got up from where he’d been watching the stars and
opened the door. Gritty walked in. Gritty hardly ever came to him in his room.
He always waited for him to come out.
So the first thing Buddi said was,
“Am I in trouble?”
Gritty laughed. “No. I need your
help.”
Buddi looked at him, curiously.
“With what?”
“Ursa.”
“What about her?”
“She’s been up all day and insists
on working all of tonight. She needs to sleep Buddi.”
“Why are you coming to me, then?”
Gritty smiled at the cub. “Because
you’re the only one of us that can change her mind when she sets it to
something.”
Buddi sighed, it was true, and he
couldn’t deny that. But, he didn’t do that a lot. But Gritty was right. Ursa
did need to sleep. The cub looked at Gritty. He sighed and got up and walked
past the adult asking,
“Where is our fearless leader?”
Gritty smiled. “Weapons’ Room.”
Buddi walked down the hall and into
the weapons room. Gritty waited at the doorway to see what would happen. He
still did not understand how the cub could do it. But at the moment, he was
going to use the child’s talent to an advantage. His friend, his best friend,
if she didn’t sleep soon, she’d never be ready for another battle.
Gritty smirked and waited anxiously.
“Ursa?”
The Leader of the Barbics looked up
as her cub walked in, dressed in his nightshift. He knelt by her on the floor.
She hugged him and said,
“What’s up, Little Buddi?”
“Can I stay up?”
Ursa whirled to face him and her
voice took on that don’t-argue-with-me-tone.
“No.”
“Why?”
Ursa looked at him. “Buddi, I said
no.”
“I know. I wanna know why.”
“Because I said so.”
“Why?”
Ursa growled. She knew that if she
didn’t give him an answer, he’d keep asking, “Because you need to sleep.”
“Why?”
“So you’ll have strength.”
“So that I can have strength to
fight?”
“Yep. Now are you ready to go to
bed?”
“Why don’t you sleep then?”
“I’m an adult. I don’t need as
much.”
“But…then you’ll fall asleep in a
battle. That’d kinda be funny to see.”
Ursa looked at him critically.
“Buddi…”
“What? It would!”
Ursa sighed. He had a point. Falling
asleep in battle was never a good thing. And if she didn’t feel energized then,
she might not even have the strength to fight. That horrified her. To fail her
friends and her kind and her Buddi. She smiled.
“Go to bed, you little imp.”
Buddi got up and walked out. He
whispered to Gritty,
“Count to ten.”
Before Gritty got to eight, Ursa
walked out and said,
“I’ll leave you with the weapons
tonight, Gritty. I need some sleep.’
He nodded. “Good idea.”
As Ursa disappeared, a hand tapped
his shoulder. Gritty turned and Grubbi met his eyes.
“How does the cub do it?”
Gritty shrugged, “Got me Grubbi. Got
me.”
* * *
Buddi sat his room, puzzling over
his bow. He was wondering why they didn’t take his. Did they just miss it? But
his thoughts were interrupted as a mind numbing pain shot through his arms. It
felt like fire was burning his arms up from inside his fur. He ground his
teeth. He bit his lower lip until he felt the sour taste of his own blood.
Finally, the pain was too much.
Buddi walked downstairs and looked
around for Ursa. He found her as she was walking out of the weapons’ room.
“Ursa!”
She turned and met Buddi with a
smile. Then she saw the distress on his face.
“Buddi? What’s wrong?”
He answered her with gritted teeth.
“Myarms.”
“Say what?”
“My arms…they hurt.”
Ursa pulled him up stairs again and
into her room. She grabbed his left arm in her hands.
“Flex your arm for me Buddi.”
Buddi did but it hurt, Ursa could
tell by the way he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. She gave him a gentle
grin.
“A little bit more, Buddi.”
Buddi tried until finally Ursa held his arm up with
her left hand and felt his arm with her right. She could see Buddi was in pain,
immense pain. Tears were gathering under his closed eyelids. She finally
stopped and squeezed him tightly. Buddi looked at her, who smiled at him again,
“Congratulations Buddi. Your muscles are starting to
develop.”
“That first spurt?”
She nodded. Buddi winced.
“But it hurts.”
Ursa smiled. “Believe me Buddi, I
know.” She thought a minute and then sat down on her bed. She pulled Buddi down
so his arms were sprawled across her lap. She grabbed his left arm and started
to massage it, digging her fingers in and moving in a circular pattern as
Grubbi had done when hers developed. Buddi laid his head down as the pain stopped
in that arm and sighed with relief.
Ursa heard a knock at her door.
“Who’s there?”
“Gritty.”
“Come on in, Gritty.”
He opened the door and looked at
Ursa with questioning eyes.
Ursa beamed, “Buddi’s muscles are
developing. Grubbi did this to me to numb the pain.”
“Do want me to grab some of those
herbs to numb pain for him?”
Buddi answered for Ursa. “Yes!”
Gritty laughed as Ursa nodded. “I
thought so Buddi.”
The older Barbic left and Ursa
started to massage his other arm. He was breathing hard, a sign that his pain
was still growing. Gritty’d bring the herbs soon. They would completely numb
his arms. They’d developed the herbs and cream about when Ursa got her second
spurt. But it would only last about an hour or so. There was another they’d give
him tonight that would help him sleep. The first spurt always lasted
twenty-four hours.
“Here Ursa,” a voice called in.
Gritty handed Ursa half a bulb of some herb and then took Buddi’s left arm in
his right hand. Using his left hand, he rubbed the herb in cream form over the
child’s arm until it blended in. Immediately, gritty felt the cub’s growing
muscles relax and withdraw from the sides of his skin. He did the same to the
child’s other arm.
“Here Buddi,” Ursa held the herb to
the child’s lips. “It doesn’t taste that great but it’ll keep the pain at a
minimum after the cream wears off.”
Buddi took a bite. Oh, it was foul.
Like onions and dirt. But he forced himself to swallow. Ursa kept pressing
until only the root of the plant was left in her hands. Buddi sat up. He
couldn’t feel a thing in his arms but that meant no pain so for that he was
grateful.
“Now what was it, Gritty?”
Gritty looked at his leader and
said, “Igthorn’s stalling for a reason. Some scouts have scooped Drekmore out.
They say that he’ll attack tomorrow. He has the troops ready.”
Ursa sighed.
“How many weapons do we have?”
“Not enough. Not nearly enough.”
Ursa got up and Buddi watched the
two.
Gritty looked at her and said,
“We’re working as hard as can now. Ursa, there’s nothing else you can do.”
“I know, Gritty. But I wish we could
at least delay him, somehow. We just need a few more days.”
Gritty gave her a sympathetic smile.
“I know but you know for a fact that no wall or diversion could detour that
human.”
Ursa nodded. “I’ll be along to help
in a minute.”
He nodded and walked out. But as he
did, he said to Ursa, “Should Buddi be hearing all this?”
Ursa gave her friend a critical
smile. “Buddi isn’t stupid. He knows that danger’s near.”
Buddi listened, his heart pounding.
He was also thinking, remembering. The way Ursa’s eyes had looked. That was how
they’d looked when they lost Barbic Woods. He’d wished that he would never see
her like that again. Her eyes gave her shining hair a ragged look, she looked
old and worn. But she could not have been more than thirty-five. Less even. But
when her eyes got that way, Buddi swore that she was at least fifty.
Gritty nodded and took off to the
weapons’ room. But when he looked one last time at Buddi, his young eyes were
shining, blazing…like a fireball. In the thirteen years that Gritty had known
the cub, he had never seen his eyes light up so. They were shining and clear,
bright.
Gritty walked out and Ursa followed.
Buddi sat still thinking, remembering, memories of Ursa and him mainly. But
there was one that was so faint that he could barely remember anything specific
but now he put all his will into trying, to remember what he could…
* * *
Ursa was younger, in her early
twenties. Her hair was long but not as long as it currently was. And she had it
in a ponytail, rather than down. But in her arms, she held a cub, no more than
a few weeks old. He was male and had light tannish fur. His mother was gone but
Ursa had taken over the role and so far she loved it. Even with all the wailing
and the feedings and the diapers changing.
She was feeding the cub now. A
warmed bottle, which he sucked feverishly. She laughed at his face. His cheeks
were plump and full, like a chipmunk’s. And his eyes were so young and
innocent. He also seemed to be curious about everything. He would stare at her
eyes and then beyond them as if trying to see her soul.
“Slow down Buddi.”
The cub almost seemed able to
understand her. He did stop drinking so fast but still was a rather fast eater,
downing the bottle in a few minutes. Ursa set it on the side table and put the
cub up to her shoulder where she patted his back, gently.
The young boy gazed up into the sky.
It was ablaze with flaming shapes. A beautiful sight even to a child of his
fragile and young age.
Ursa patted his back a few more
times until a small burp escaped his lips. She pulled him down and saw him
staring past her. She turned and saw that it was the designs from their
celebration. She carried the cub out onto the balcony around the hut. He stared
at the sky and then cooed lightly and stretched his arms out as if to try and
touch them…
* * *
Buddi winced and shook his head.
Thinking back that far made his head hurt. But there were other memories that
seemed to make themselves clearer now…
* * *
A five-year-old Buddi slammed his
fists against the bed.
“Mama Ursa,” he pleaded with her. “I
don’t wanna go to bed now! No one else does!”
Ursa gave him a smile. “Buddeums,
everyone is older. When you get older, you can stay up.”
“But I’m not tired.” He crossed his
arms. Ursa gave him a warning gaze.
“Buddi, your ‘Mama Ursa’ already
told you one story, I’m not telling another.”
Buddi puffed his lip out and looked
up at her by raising his eyes. Ursa winced. Buddi blinked and his eyes grew
softer and his lower lip started to tremble. Ursa was visibly cracking now.
Buddi pulled himself up and leaned his head against her chest.
“Please, Mama Ursa. Please?”
“Buddeums…”
“Mama Ursa. Please?”
Ursa winced and said, “Oh, all
right! You know I can’t turn down that face, don’t you?”
“Yep.”
Ursa sighed and then patted her lap.
Buddi crawled into it and leaned against her, sticking his thumb into his
mouth. Ursa smiled at him,
“What legend this time, Baby?”
“Tell me ‘bout the Night of the
Burning Stars.”
“That’s not a legend.”
“I know. ‘M curious. Tell me, Mama
Ursa. Please?”
Ursa shook her head. She simply
could not turn down that cub’s face. She looked at him and said,
“All right. First there’s the
celebration itself. You know about the Flaming Arrow?”
Buddi nodded and snuggled deeper
into her chest.
“Well, every year Mama Ursa picks
someone to fire it. It’s a great honor.”
“When I’m old enough to shoot, can
I?”
Ursa gave him a smile, “Probably
baby.”
“Promise?”
She nodded. “Then, the flames light
up in the sky to create the moving pictures you see.”
“Why doesn’t it work all the time?”
“There’s a special chemical we add,
baby.’
“What?” The cub was yawning now.
“Sivilan.”
“What’s ‘at mean?”
“Burning One.”
“Oh,”
Ursa started to play with his hair
as his eyes drooped. The cub said around his thumb,
“It lasts long time.”
“Only for seven days, baby.”
“Uh?”
Ursa smiled. “The sun disappears
seven times, baby.”
The cub nodded and then the feigned
tiredness turned into genuine as he dozed off in her arms. She laid him down
and covered him up. He was so young and innocent looking. She walked out and
closed the door. She could hear his heavy breathing. He was out.
* * *
Buddi was surprised. He’d almost
forgotten Ursa’s nicknames. He’d been little and so she’d called him,
“Buddeums,” and “Baby.” He missed it occasionally. It had been a few years
since she’d used them. He’d last called her “Mama Ursa” when he was about
eight.
But there was one more memory that
came back….
* * *
Buddi was ten now. He was always
into something and always in the trees. He’d earned a reputation lately as
being the fastest and most agile of the Barbics. At least in the trees. They
said that you could throw a stone from any height in the woods, even from just
ten feet off the ground and Buddi’d be able to swing from the top of the forest
and catch it before it hit the ground.
The child lived up to his
reputation. He was always in the trees…always. He knew all their branches, all
their nooks and crannies. He even knew where he could fall in complete safety
because the branches formed a net beneath him. Ursa and Gritty always told him
not to go too far up. But of course, he never listened.
He was a cub.
Even now, Buddi was up in the trees.
It was late, almost seven. He had to be in by seven thirty, a curfew he hated.
But in the meantime, he was full of energy and went higher and higher.
“Buddi! You go any higher and you’re
in trouble!”
It was Grubbi, the eldest of the
Barbics. Buddi stopped a moment and regarded the Barbic before shrugging and
swinging even higher. He didn’t really listen when the adults set standards on
where he could go. He knew his limits. He knew when he went too high and then
he’d come down. He was actually afraid of heights but for some reason, Barbic
Woods never made him afraid. Mountains did but not trees.
Buddi was about a mile or so from
the top. These trees were huge. Tall as mountains, and sometimes taller. He
looked around and then spied Ursa and Gritty looking up at him, critically. He
shrugged and looked up. This was the highest he’d ever gone. But he was
suddenly curious and wondering. Ursa and Gritty headed up to him and stopped
about a hundred meters beneath him. It was Ursa that called to him,
“Buddi! Come down now. You need to get
ready for bed anyway.”
Buddi turned to her, “aw, Ursa! Do I
gotta?”
“Yes.”
Buddi looked at her a minute.
“Five more minutes?”
“No.”
“Four more minutes?”
“No.”
“Three more minutes?”
“No!”
“Two more minutes?”
“No.”
“One more minute?”
Gritty laughed but answered with
Ursa.
“No!”
Buddi pouted. “All right already.
I’m coming…” he paused and looked upward.
“In a minute.”
He swung upward and leapt higher, to
the top of the forest, ignoring Ursa and Gritty’s calls beneath him. He heard
them scrambling to catch him but he was far faster than they were and kept
climbing and swinging. Finally, he was close to the top. He stuck his head up
and through the branches. He was looking out over the forest now.
His mouth dropped.
He’d never seen so many trees. They
stretched for miles and miles, a blanket of green. He turned and saw the same
thing in another direction. But as he looked he saw a clearing where there
looked like a well. He almost went after it but before he could, a strong hand
grabbed his collar, jerked him down into the lower branches and gave his behind
a firm whack. Ursa looked at him angrily.
“Buddi, I thought I told you not to
EVER go this high!”
“You did.”
Ursa gave him a hard glare. “Then
listen to me!”
“Okay, okay.” He rubbed his bottom
and told her, “But ya didn’t have to hit me so hard.”
Ursa cocked an eyebrow at him.
“Hard? Do you want to feel hard?”
Buddi shook his head swiftly. Ursa picked him up and swung down into the lower branches, where Gritty still was. Ursa was more agile in the trees than he was. But Gritty still looked at him with an angry glare. Buddi stuck by Ursa. He wasn’t as close to Gritty as he was to Ursa.
Ursa put him into bed herself,
something she had not done since he was eight. Buddi grabbed her arm as she
started to leave. The woman turned, but there was no longer anger in her eyes.
Buddi looked at her.
“Ursa?”
“Yes?”
“I…what was that clearing? The one
with the well? Outside the forest a bit?”
Ursa sat down and said softly, “The
Sivilan well. Its one of the places where we gather the Sivilan gas. There’s
two others: one by the Ursalian mountains and one near Drekmore.”
Buddi winced. “That creepy castle?
Yuck.”
Ursa smiled. “Yes, that ‘creepy
castle.’ We use hollow spears to fill and pump the gas. Then, we add the herbs
to make it more condensed. Blowing it out does the rest.”
Buddi nodded. “Thanks,”
She nodded. “And Buddi?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t scare me like that again.”
* * *
There was one other memory that
started to replay as well, simply words, Ursa’s words:
“There is one thing that
you can take great pride in Buddi. Your ability to plan.”
Memories of the Night of Burning Stars…his
knowledge of the wells…
Buddi suddenly jumped up.
“That’s it! That’s it!”
“What’s it?” a voice called. Buddi
turned and saw Missy by the doorway, her white hair loose about her shoulders.
Her narrow eyes smiled at him as he ran to her.
“Missy? How late is it?”
“Almost ten, why?”
Buddi cursed in Barbic. Ursa’d be
coming to put him to bed soon. But if…he was willing to risk it. He was a
Barbic. And he would NOT just sit back and watch his friends and family
attacked. Then he met Missy’s eyes. She was staring at him. He ran to her and
grasped her hands.
“Missy, please! If Ursa asks where I
am, just tell her that I’ll be back soon!”
“Where are you going?”
“I have an idea to delay Igthorn but
Ursa’ll never let me go if I tell her. Please say you won’t tell.”
Missy stared at the child. His eyes
were bright and wide, sparkling. He was begging her, his face a mask of
emotion. He needed her help, she knew. But…she couldn’t bear to lie. She
sighed,
“I won’t tell as long as I’m able.”
Buddi paused but nodded. “Thanks.”
He started out the door into the hallway but Missy caught his hand.
“Then for Ursa I’ll say it: Be careful.”
Buddi nodded and headed out into the
hall, down the stairs and into the room where they kept their hollow spears.
* * *
Buddi threw one spear aside.
It was filled to the brim with the
silvian gas. It had taken the child awhile before he figured out how to fill
them. True to her word, there were wells near Drekmore, as Ursa had said. There
was muck around them and thorns but that did not bother or detour a Barbic.
Especially not a stubborn child.
Buddi cursed again and tightened his
cloak. Ursa had given it to him when he turned thirteen as well as his first
dagger, which he had in the sheath by his right foot. It helped keep the cold
out a bit but it was drafty here. And he was tired. He had to force his way
through the bushes to get here and he had quite the load. He carried six of the
spears and had his bow slung over his shoulder. He only had one arrow left.
Buddi bit the top off the spear and
dipped it into the well. Immediately, the smell of silvian reached his nose and
he thought that he’d pass out. The smell made his sleepy and weak. It was that
gas that Ursa and the others added to herbs to create a sleeping pill.
It was the last one he needed. But
the hard part wasn’t getting the gas; it was getting into the castle and
spreading it. He had an idea about how he could get in but as to spreading the
gas; he would have to take his chances. He saw how Ursa and the others did it.
They would blow it out in the center of where they wanted it to spread. There
were special Barbics that knew how to make it twist and turn but he didn’t want
designs.
He needed a wall.
* * *
“Buddi! Buddi!”
Ursa ran around another corner and
straight into Gritty. She tumbled down onto her back. Gritty was surprised but
then laughed and helped her up.
“What’s up, Ursa? You looked
worried. I mean more worried than you were earlier.” The Barbics had decided
that they would stick out the attack. Fight as best they could and if they had
to they would retreat. But Ursa was looking for Buddi. She wanted him to stay
hidden. But she couldn’t find him.
“Have you seen Buddi?”
Gritty shook his head. “No, not
since I came in on you two. Why? Is he missing?”
Ursa nodded. “I can’t find him
anywhere. It’s not his style to take off when he knows I’ll be coming for him
in a few minutes.”
Gritty nodded. “Well, look the
others have a good hand on the weapons. I’ll help you look.”
Ursa nodded and thanked him, in
Barbic.
The two adults wandered around a
time, calling the cub’s name. He never answered. Ursa was not normally the type
to panic but she found herself starting to do so. If Buddi was still gone when
Igthorn attacked…she’d never know where he was. If she didn’t find him soon,
chances were she wasn’t going to.
“Buddi!”
No answer. Then another voice spoke,
feminine,
“I know where he is.”
The two adults whirled around. Missy
came out of her room, her face obviously guilty. Ursa ran to her.
“Where?”
Missy sighed. “He said that he had a
plan to help delay Igthorn. So he-“
“He what?” Ursa’s heart froze. The
cub wasn’t that stupid. He wasn’t…he wouldn’t have-
“Missy,” Gritty spoke, his voice
uncannily calm. “Did he go to Drekmore?”
Missy said nothing. Just nodded her
head slightly. Ursa grabbed the hybrid’s shoulders and shook her,
“Alone?!”
Again, a nod.
The two adults looked at each other.
Gritty said calmly,
“Take me with you.”
Ursa nodded and the two adults tore
past Missy and outside. Missy sat down.
“I’m sorry, Buddi.” She muttered, “I
couldn’t let her worry anymore.”
* * *
Buddi darted into the shadows as two
Ogres walked by, carrying some very nasty looking spears. Buddi had managed to
get in, through the shafts in the ceilings. Built there for air circulation, it
also was just big enough for him. Sometimes, being the smallest of the Barbics
had its advantages.
He was also to advantage now as
because of his small size, the ogres dismissed him as a barrel or something. As
soon as the ogres had gone, Buddi scampered to the window. He’d spread the gas
along this wall and hopefully he had enough. Trying to draw on his old and
blurry memories, Buddi took the end of the staff and blew with all his might.
White foam came from the end and as
the cub watched, it spread like mist. When it finally looked finished, there
was a layer of white, covering the whole side of the castle from top to bottom.
That was good. That was exactly the amount he needed. As the child kept his
gaze on it, it faded in color to be invisible.
“A Gummi bear!”
Buddi jerked around and spied
Toadwart, the runt ogre rushing to him. Buddi leapt up and over him and ran.
He’d forgotten to keep his ears open and his guard up. What it Ursa always told
him? Oh yeah…when your guard goes down, you’ll soon follow. He cursed
himself, “Buddi, you idiot.”
The child ran around a corner and
ducked into the shadows. The small ogre ran around the corner. Buddi stuck his
foot out, sending the runt flying into the wall. Buddi leapt over him and ran
up the stairs. Half way up, he saw Zad and Zook coming down. They saw him too.
“Look, it’s the Barbic boy!”
Buddi stared. Something wasn’t
right. Ogres were not that smart. Then he realized…. Celina. Of course. They
had noted Drekmore reformed shortly after the visions began to come. Now he
knew that had to be Celina too. So, did she have…could she increase the Ogres’ intelligence?
Buddi ducked beneath the two ogres
legs and ran up to the other window. He threw his hollow spear at them, the
empty one. They tripped and tumbled down the stairs. Wasting no time, Buddi
blew the second full spear into the air on this side. It spread quickly and
covered the same area as the other had. He slammed the door and jammed the
empty spear in place, to try and hold it.
Buddi ran to the other two sides and
repeated the procedure. He sometimes had trouble with ogres but not too often.
But now came the hard part. Getting to the top. He knew that an elevator shaft
led up to the top but he honesty did not know if he could climb that far. But
he was determined to try.
The child found the shaft easily
enough. But there were ogres standing by it. He had to get them away. The child
hid in the shadows. He knew of a sure fire way to make them leave but it was
risky. Ursa sure as the sun rose would tar off his head if she found out. But
then again…if she found out he’d been here all this time, he was in for
a lecture and maybe even a whipping anyway. Taking a deep breath, he leapt from
the shadows and into full view.
“Gummi Bear! Get him!”
The ogres tore after him. Buddi ran
straight at them and darted around their legs. He stood perfectly still outside
the shaft. They leapt to him but at the last second Buddi flexed his legs and
grabbed a hold of the rope that lifted the car up and own. The two ogres yelped
in fear and went spiraling down the empty tube. Buddi started to climb up, his
spear in between his teeth.
It was putting a strain on the child
but suddenly, he felt the rope move. The ogres were lifting the car, to try and
get him down. But Buddi merely leapt to the other rope and let them lift him
up. His arms still hurt and beyond that, he was scared. The fear had been
pushed down inside of him but now it decided to surface. Buddi tried to steady
his shaking hands and keep his calm as Barbics were supposed to. Finally, he
drew on memories of fun and carefreeness as Ursa had taught him to. His fear
cooled.
The cub was lucky. No one was up
here and the Ogres had kept going until they got to the end of the rope. He
swung off and looked around. He was at the highest peek. Tucking his spear in
his mouth again, he slowly and reluctantly reached out and grabbed a hold of
the bricks that made up the tower. He had to get directly on the roof.
He swallowed hard and tried to
imagine he was in Barbic Woods. It didn’t work. He was shaking so badly he
thought that he’d collapse at any minute…and go tumbling to the ground to
become a flat plankin. He swallowed and cursed himself again. “Stop it, Buddi.
Stop it. Focus. Focus.”
He forced his hands to steady and
focused on his task. He managed to get a firm grip and pulled himself up onto
the roof, panting and trembling. Taking the spear from his mouth, he aimed it
upward and blew again. The mist spread and he saw the other four sides become
visible as it touched their corners. He’d made a box of silvian gas. That was
good.
Buddi reluctantly looked down.
He felt like he’d fall that very
minute. He was scared…terrified. He hated heights, if they weren’t in trees.
There was nothing for him to grab hold of if he were to fall. And the way he
was shaking, it’d be a miracle if he didn’t.
The cub would never know how but he
managed to get back inside and to the circulation vents. He felt safer there.
He had difficult crawling with his bow but at least he didn’t have spears to
trouble with anymore. He was still relieved when he reached the end and stepped
through the gas. It immediately reformed. As he ran out, he saw that the gas
had even sank under the water of the moat. It burned underwater? Was that
possible?
Buddi shrugged it off and ran into
the woods…to have someone grab him and clap a hand over his mouth. His muscles
tightened; bringing the pain of them growing back and his heart became a
hammer. But he cooled when he heard that voice,
“Buddi Barbic, of all the stupid
irresponsible things you could have done, this takes the cake!”
The hand released him and he turned
to find Ursa and Gritty behind him. Before he could say a thing, Ursa gave him
a firm slap across the face. Buddi rubbed his cheek as she pointed at him and
positively hissed,
“That is for scaring me to
death!”
Gritty was looking at him with look
that could have killed. Buddi swallowed and said. “I…I…I”
“We got that,” Gritty growled. Ursa
gave Gritty a glare but turned to the child with a cold stare as well. She
waited as he swallowed and said,
“I…I had an idea. Something that
would buy us time. Time to get ready.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?!”
Buddi looked directly at them and
said, “Honestly for two reasons,” He cut some material from his tunic and tied
it tightly around the arrow point. “One: I knew you’d never let me come. And
two,” he took his bow from his shoulder and leaned it against the ground, “I
didn’t think you’d listen.”
The two adults looked at each other
as Buddi cracked two stones together, near the arrow point. It caught flame and
Buddi lifted his bow. He gave Gritty a smile.
“It was you that gave me the idea.”
“What was that?” Their anger had
cooled and now was replaced with genuine curiosity. Buddi smiled again as he
drew the arrow back and took aim.
“No wall could confine that human.
No made wall anyway.”
Ursa knelt by him, “Buddi, what’re
you saying? What’s going on in that head of yours?”
Buddi gave her a gentle grin and
said, “A wall of nature.”
The two adults exchanged glances as
gritty fell to his knees as well. Buddi said softly,
“A FireWall.”
He released.
The arrow flew as the trio watched
it.
The moment it hit the gas, it took
flame and rose up at a speed that shocked even Buddi. It reached the sides and
the corners formed, perfectly. Then, the top layer took flame. They could hear
Igthorn’s cries of disbelief and anger. The man was ruthless but even he knew
that he could not pass through a barrier of fire without causing damage. The
damage would not be worth the journey. He was sealed in. Buddi felt someone
pick him up. It was Ursa. She lifted him over her head and said,
“Buddi? You little genius you!”
She spun him around and then finally
held him on her hip. The three stood there a minute more, the smoke invading
their noses and the flames dancing about, lighting up their faces. The three
said together in unison what they saw but could not believe. The one thing that
could confine Igthorn….
“A FireWall.”