Immortal (17 page)

“Staysia it won’t take the pain away!” Jasper called. Gabriel now filled with worry that Jasper had blown his cover, he turned, and as he did, Staysia brought the sword down and the blade stuck in Griffon’s arm. “Aagh!” he cried.

“Staysia, please stop this!” Gabriel pleaded. Staysia stood. Gabriel rose to his feet behind her. She put her hands over her mouth. She turned to Gabriel and began to cry on his shoulder. “Take them all away!” Griffon bellowed. The two men that had stood by his side bolted towards Staysia and Gabriel. “Oh no you don’t!” said a voice.  

The crowd had ret
urned, and they stood with their arms across their chests. A woman tucked Jasper in his little stroller and instructed Tristen to take them all and leave Gnome Hills before Jasper is taken and jailed. Tristen nodded and grabbed Staysia and Gabriel by their arms. He took them outside and poured some water onto the ground that made a circle filled with water large enough for them all to jump through. “Go! I will catch up with you,” he said.

“I cannot leave yet. I need to get my parents out of this town! I need to let them know that I am not dead. They have certainly heard by now that I have been killed.” Gabriel said.

“Worry not about your parents. Peace will be in Gnome Hills once again before you ever return. I will be sure that they get the message that you are alive and well. I promise. Go now with Staysia. Go, Mirideous awaits you.”

Gabriel twisted his lips to one side and nodded. He took Staysia’s hand.

Staysia, Gabriel and Jasper, Gabriel’s horse, Humberto and Barthesus, all jumped into the water portal and were out of sight.

Tristen walked up to Griffon and stood over him.

“Is Cove coming for him?” a man asked him. Tristen walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bucket of water. He threw it into the air and smoothed it into a circle. He stepped back and folded his arms. “Take a look for yourselves,” he said.

A clear display of Cove’s face appeared.

“Father,” said Tristen. “This is the man—this is the man who has filled the town with lies and hatred. The good have been portrayed as evil and the naïve have fallen for his deceit. The people will only suffer as long as he is alive!” Tristen proclaimed to his father.

Griffon fidgeted as he lay on his side with his hand in the air. “Please spare my life!” he begged.

“What have you done?” Cove’s voice echoed throughout the house.

“I have done wrong! I am sorry for what I have done. I will do anything,
anything
to keep my life.”

“Yes, and anything to prolong it,” Tristen scoffed.

“First, I want you to announce what you have done to all the people of Gnome Hills.” Cove began. “I want you to be sure every soul that resides here is gathered to hear the truth. I want you to be sure that the town is at peace again, just as it was before you tainted it with your lies. After that, you will be my personal pet until the day you die. And might I remind you, it will be a lot sooner than you had hoped! You were a fool to go after the map in the first place. What could a mere man like you say or do to the Sea Child to take the gift that was meant for Staysia from the beginning of time? Do you even know who she is?”

Griffon ground his teeth together and tried to come to his feet. Before he could, Cove lifted one of his hands and Griffon was forced to stay in his place on the floor.

“How dare you!” Cove bellowed. An invisible force pulled Griffon off of the floor by his ear.

“Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!” he cried. “Put me down! Please put me down!”

Cove then dropped him to the floor. “Aagh!” Griffon wailed as he curled himself in a ball and covered his head with his hands.

“Yes, that is a better place for you!” Cove looked around the room at all the people who stared down at Griffon and whispered to one another. “Isn’t this a better place for Griffon? On his knees, curled in a ball, covering himself in fear?”

“Yes!” they cheered. “He’ll get what he deserves!” Several of them said. Others agreed and nodded their heads.

“I will be on my way now. Griffon,” Cove stared Griffon in his eyes, his miserable eyes that had now witnessed his own defeat. “Griffon, I will be watching you.” In a flash, a water tunnel came and sucked Cove away.

“He’s gone!” the people said in awe. “What are you to do now, Tristen? Will you stay here in Gnome Hills?” the woman who had answered the door asked him.

“No, I must pay a visit to some friends of mine
, and then I must accompany my other friends on another journey.”

“Will you be back?” she asked.

Tristen took a moment to answer. “Yes,” he said finally. “I will be back.”

“Good luck on your journey then,” said the woman. She smiled at him and began to walk out of the hut.

“Wait!” he called.

“What is it?”

“I need you to do something for me. Please find my friend, Gabriel’s parents and tell them he is alive and well and that he will see them soon. Can you do that for me?”

“Yes, I will be sure they get the message.” The woman turned around and smiled. “Thank you for all you have done,” she said.

“Please don’t forget to tell them!”

“Hey, I promise I won’t forget!”

Tristen turned and nodded at the people inside the hut. With that, he was on his way to the hut where his brother had lived until his death. Tristen felt a wave of guilt come over him. He wished he had been there when all of these things had taken place. He wished he had gotten to his brother before things had gotten out of control. He felt he had been overly consumed with his self, and that discovering that he was the son of Cove had thrown him out-of- whack. Tristen wished his brother had been the one who was the son of Cove. Surely, he could have saved his own life if that had been the case.

Tristen and his father, Cove, were certainly close to straightening out the chaos of Gnome Hills, but Tristen was sure he should pay a visit to his friends before continuing. He walked slowly down the streets. He paid close attention to the people who stirred about spreading the word about what had happened. Griffon would soon tell all of the people the truth, if he knew what was best for him. If he did not, he would certainly face the consequences. Tristen was getting very close to his friends’ hut. He thought of his brother as he walked down the walk way and knocked on the door.

A tall and skinny man wearing overalls answered the door. He had a red beard and a bald head. He smiled wide at Tristen and gave him a hug and a pat on the back.

“Tristen, so very nice to see you,” he said.

“Rooney, good see you.” The house was bedecked with manly ornaments. Things like guns, swords, and dead birds with fluffed wings hung from the walls. There was a huge bear skin rug laid out on the floor. Tristen could smell and hear tea brewing. The hut was warm and cozy. A picture of his brother that hung in the center of the room caught his eye. He glimpsed at it and then turned his attention to Garrot who fidgeted in his chair. He had a warm blanket wrapped around him and was opening his eyes from a nap. Garrot was a broad shouldered man who also had a long beard, a black beard. He wore a snow cap around his ears and a red plaid shirt was buttoned up to the very top button just below his Adam’s apple.

“Tristen,” he said with a casual smile. He rubbed his face with both hands and sat up straighter in his chair. “You come to save us?”

“I came to check on you and everyone else here in this god-forsaken town.”

“Aw, I don’t blame you. After all, we couldn’t save your brother.”

“Don’t ever say that again, Garrot. There was nothing you could have done.”

“No?” Garrot said as he shook his head.

“Well, I didn’t have to do much of anything once my father stepped in. Everything will be back to normal soon.”

Garrot folded his hands behind his head and leaned back against the chair. “We must be doing something right if Cove is willing to step in,” he said.

“Yeah, or someone was doing a lot of wrong,” Tristen answered.

“Beast tamer set out to get the giants, guards let him leave to everyone’s surprise. Someone killed him up north, accused him of murder.”

“Ah yes! The Doreau brothers? Gabriel is alive and well. The guards were probably getting tired of the chaos themselves.”

“Is he now? That’s good news, where’s he at?”

“He’s taking a friend of mine to see someone,” Tristen said as he got a piece of bread that was on the counter. He took a large bite.

“Tea?” Rooney offered.

Tristen sat down at a round wooden table in the kitchen. “Please,” he answered with a cheek full of bread. Garrot joined him, and after pouring three cups of tea, Rooney sat down too.

“Sorry we didn’t save Jed,” Rooney said.

Tristen swallowed and said, “Will you two stop blaming yourselves? I don’t blame you.”

“I just feel like if I would have been there things would have been different,” said Rooney.

“Yes and so do I, so does Garrot. I don’t want either of you to blame yourselves.”

“You don’t understand! You weren’t even here in Gnome Hills. We were just around the corner. We
were supposed to stay together—all of us. That was the only day we left him here by his self. If we hadn’t have taken so long in town then he would still be here,” Garrot said.

“And if I hadn’t had been so caught up in myself he would still be here. I am his brother.” Tristen buried his face in his hands. “I wish I could see him again, just once.”

Garrot and Rooney looked at one another, deciding it was time to change the subject. “So, where are you going after you leave here?” Rooney asked him.

“That’s top secret!” Tristen said, and meant it.

“Ah, I see, for the son of Cove to know and the others to find out, eh?” Rooney said.

“You will know soon enough,” Tristen said. “For now, I must be on my way.” Tristen got up from where he sat and grabbed another piece of bread from the counter top.

“Leaving so soon?” Garrot asked him. “You just got here!”

“Yes, but I need to meet up with my friend—my
friends
.”

“Friend?” Rooney asked. “A woman friend?” He smiled when he asked.

“One of them is a woman. She is a woman friend, nothing more than that.”

Garrot smiled and said, “Uh-huh, we believe you.” He began to laugh.

“Staysia is very special to me, but she is in love with someone else. Her heart belongs to Gabriel. I can see it in the way she looks at him.” Tristen answered finally.

Both of their smiles faded. Tristen put his bread down on the table. “I best be on my way,” he said.

“Sorry Tristen,” Rooney said.

Tristen shook his head briefly. “It’s alright.” He smiled. “See you both soon.” He had only pretended he was okay with Staysia being in love with another, but inside, he ached for her love.

“Bye!” Rooney gave him a hug.

“See you soon,” Garrot called as Tristen left the hut.

* * *

Staysia, Gabriel, Jasper, Barthesus, and the Spanish lizard named Humberto were nearing the sea.

“I really do feel better!” Staysia smiled and wrapped her arms tighter around Gabriel as she rode behind him on his horse. And she really did, she felt a great deal of relief. “I feel like I have fulfilled my parents’ dying wishes.”

“Of course you have, Staysia. May I put in my two cents on the matter?” Gabriel asked.

“Sure!”

“I believe your parents wanted you to discover what was in store for you. They wanted you to find the Sea Child. I think your happiness is more important to them than revenge.”
Staysia smiled and thought of her mother and her father. She thought of all the years of love they had given her. “Perhaps you are,” she said.

She looked over her shoulder to find Jasper asleep in his buggy. “I hope Cove does something for the trolls. They aren’t as bad as people make them out to be. Jasper is a wonderful little troll and
a great friend.”

“Jasper the Great Beast Tamer!” Gabriel said.

“Ah yes! Jasper the Great!”

Gabriel and Staysia thought that Jasper was asleep, but he was not. He had his eyes shut, but he was not asleep. He lay awake in his buggy listening to every word. He smiled to himself and took in a long breath of fresh air. The air did smell nice. It was filled with the aroma of flowers of all sorts. It was one of those mornings where you could almost smell the sun coming up. One of those mornings you could feel refreshing morning mist on your cheeks. Jasper was indulging in every moment of it.

A tiny sparkling ball of light shot across the sky. Staysia happened to have her eyes on the clouds above when it did.

“Did you see that?” she asked Gabriel.

“See what?”

“I don’t know, maybe I was imagining it.”

“You weren’t imagining it, Staysia!” a voice chimed.

“Who said that?” Staysia looked left and right and over her shoulder.

The light began to bounce up and down on the road in front of them. “Hee! Hee! Hee!” the sound of laughter got closer until the light was just in front of Staysia. Lilliana appeared in place of the light.