Uncanny Tales of Crush and Pound 9

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  Mouchard was no fool. When Queen Dowager had given him the order to find the pendant, he followed the obvious trail that the tiny men had left for him. He had tracked them down the hallway to the restroom where there was evidence of their dirty footprints left behind. He cringed at the thought of being flushed into the drainage system, but were he to find himself in their place, he may very well flush himself down with the sewage of the castle to make an escape. Exiting from the castle walls, he traveled to the various sewage drains around the castle’s foundation, and when he had narrowed down the most likely location of the prisoners’ escape, he searched for footprints or tracks of any kind in the area surrounding the gated port to the creek. After fruitlessly searching the entire area, Mouchard deduced that they must have stayed within the borders of the creek, and though the stench was overwhelming, he cleverly followed the banks of the stream well into the night. Much to his chagrin, no evidence of the wanderers was found that evening, and as he slept by the base of a tree that night, he dreamed of Queen Dowager’s eyes. Her eyes were filled with malice, and the green glow which they emitted pierced to the heart, inflicting fear, sadness, and hopelessness. In the past, he had tracked many an escaped human, and he had succeeded in finding them on almost every occasion. This time, however, her threat against his life had disarmed him to the point of despair.

  In his dream, the eyes collapsed upon him, and Mouchard found himself engulfed in the flames of anguish as he lay in the loneliness of the forest. Sweat rolled down his forehead onto his cheeks, and he fell over onto his side as he awakened from the nightmare of Queen Dowager’s wrath. From his place on the ground, he stared through the foliage of the grand trees of the forest, and the stars of the dark violet sky twinkled down upon him in a mocking expression.

  “I am trapped,” he thought to himself as he lay on the forest floor and pondered the possibilities. Were he to put Queen Dowager’s charge behind him and let these prisoners flee to safety or a death of their own making, he would never be able to return to his home within the castle. He himself would be a fugitive, and other giants would be commissioned to find him, perhaps to kill him on sight, perhaps to capture him and bring him to justice. If one could call a public hanging justice, then justice would be given to him.

  “I shall take my own justice,” he reasoned, “if I cannot recover the pendant.” He wiped the sweat that dripped into his eyes as he pondered a lonely life in hiding, past Scalus Mountain and into the Desert of Reaping where other giants had fled. He rubbed his forehead as the desperate thoughts began to make his head throb.

  “Or will I share your fate, Princess Beni,” he said as he closed his eyes and recalled the beauty of Queen Dowager’s sister. Though Mouchard knew of no reason for the targeting of the lovely lady of the palace, the greedy monarch had treacherously locked away the only sister she had ever known. Maybe it was her beauty, maybe it was some unfortunate knowledge of Queen Dowager’s wicked ways that brought her wrath down upon Beni. Whatever the reason, Beni had been imprisoned for life within a pendant of jewelry, and Queen Dowager had then locked the cameo away to corrode in the dark, moist environment of a treasure chest. Mouchard’s thoughts mingled with his dreams as he fell off into a deep sleep.