“Oh no. We wait.” Magella said, holding both hands up.
“But if there are no trolls there, wouldn’t it make more sense to attack now?” Mercury pressed. “Why are we waiting for more enemies?”
Leo had a sudden idea. “Perhaps we could find another entrance in to the cave and bypass the trolls and goblins all together!”
“Where do you think the trolls are right now?” Magella asked him slowly.
Understanding dawned on the boys. Of course. The trolls were hiding in the cave. They could be anywhere inside, and in a dimly lit cave they would easily be able to sneak up on the trio...the rest is best left unspoken.
“So what do we do now?” Leo asked her.
“That was a good idea; I’m going to look for another way in to the cave. You two stay here and wait for Manuel.” She said as she slunk off, disappearing in the mist. Helplessly the boys stared after her. It was going to be a long wait, but if they made a mess of things by jumping the gun before the fierce vampire arrived...neither one of the boys really wanted to think about that.
“You know, you were right.” Leo whispered to Mercury as he settled himself in.
“About what?”
“It was a blessing. It really was.” Leo whispered back wrinkling his nose in distaste. Mercury grinned and decided that for a Royal, Leo wasn’t all that bad; he reached in to his pocket and found another pot of the cream.
~~*~~
Try as she may, Snow couldn’t think of anything useful Baba Yaga could possibly tell the girls, aside perhaps the best strategy for bingo cheating. That went for any and all of the crones residing in Turin; but Snow was pretty sure she knew who could be of help. She grabbed Cindy and set out for the Gypsy Camp. If there was anyone who could lend a hand in a mission such as this, she reasoned, it was the Great Mother Sardinia; she would help, she was obviously very fond of Manuel.
Gravely the old gypsy and Alessa listened as Snow detailed the events of the last day.
“Much of the camp is away, harvesting across the orchards. Alessa will ride out and collect all that can be spared.” The old gypsy declared with a sharp nod.
“Of course grandmother!” Alessa stood up quickly, eyes shining, long dark hair shimmering.
“Manuel is a close friend of this camp, and we will do all we can to aide him in this daring rescue; he has lent us much aid in the past.” She looked up and smiled at them. “Do not worry so, a werewolf, a prince and a vampire is a very potent mix indeed. Never the less, you were right in coming here and requesting our assistance. My young men will jump at the opportunity to fight alongside the prince.” She chuckled to herself for a moment. “Poor Manuel, I did try to warn him.”
“Warn him about what?” Cindy asked.
“About falling in love. He never listens.” The old gypsy said with a laugh. “Even the proudest of men will fall defenceless before love...the poor boy.”
So Snow and Cindy had left the Gypsy Camp feeling very hopeful, yet still somewhat left out. The feeling had only intensified as Alessa rode past them on her way to gather the gypsy warriors. Leaning forward on her horse as he thundered by, her hair flying on the wind and a look of exhilaration on her beautiful face, she resembled a young goddess embarking on a quest.
When all of your friends embark on a daring rescue mission, it can be really hard to simply sit back and wait. Even when you know you’d be no good in a fight anyway, and Snow wasn’t a fighter. It just felt like there must be something more she could do, and then a thought struck her.
Snow turned and headed in the direction of The Lonesome Forest. Cindy uneasily followed her, glancing up at the sun’s position several times. Finally the girls came to their favourite entrance at the base of The Lonesome Forest.
“Why are we here? I gotta tell you Snowy, there is nothing that likes us hiding deep in that forest.” Cindy definitely wasn’t happy to find herself at the base of the forest this late in the evening, no one would be.
Snow stopped to hug her willow before turning to her friend, one hand still lovingly stroking her favorite tree.
“I just have to try, you know? I think there may be something we are over looking; what do you remember about ogrenots? From creature studies at school?” Snow asked.
“They’re ugly, they stink, they’re obnoxious, and they always have gas-” Cindy started counting out before Snow cut her off.
“Yes, yes, all true.But isn’t there something about them hating to owe anything, like debts; stuff like that? You know, they take them very seriously or something. An honorable streak in the otherwise nasty pests.”
“Well, I don’t know. That’d be the only thing they take seriously, but when does anyone ever get close enough to do anything for them anyway? I mean, who associates with them to that degree? Why? They’re gross.” Cindy made a retching face at the idea.
“Manuel did, inadvertently perhaps, but just the same. He saved them, I guess in a way I did too, remember the night we met Merc and he blew their houses down? I need to find those ogrenots, I don’t know how, but I have this strong feeling like they could help. You know, like repaying the debt they owe Manuel.” She shrugged helplessly. “I need to try.” She bit her lip as she eyed the evening sun.
“How could three little stinky ogrenots help save Rapunzel?”
“I don’t know, but they were pretty quick, stinky and distracting. Look, I know how crazy this sounds, and if they can’t help then fine. But...I have to try.” Snow nodded slowly, convinced that this was the only thing left that she could do.
“Snowy, we wouldn’t even know where to look for them, it’s a really big forest, and the sun is going down pretty damn soon. And how could anyone tell those ugly things apart anyhow? It’s not safe, not without one of the boys. We’ve already learned that lesson.” Cindy gently reminded her as they both gazed at the darkening forest, the encounter with Drina far from forgotten.
Snow sighed. “I know, I know. I can’t ask you to come, I won’t. But I am going in.” She took a small step forward before turning back to her friend. “If I’m not back before nightfall...”
“Oh no, forget it sister! You’re not getting all the cadoodles for being all brave and courageous! You might be a princess, but I’m brave too you know!” Cindy indicated her own small self with her thumb.
“What’s a ‘cadoodle’?” Snow cocked one dark eyebrow at the little blonde who simply stamped her sparkly sandaled foot.
“You know what I mean! Quit stalling, let’s go!” Cindy pointed toward the mouth of the forest. “Before I start thinking about it...and freak out.”
Although Snow appreciated her friend’s display of loyalty, she decided she couldn’t endanger Cindy as well.
She shook her dark head. “No, even I know this isn’t really a good idea. I go, you stay so you can tell them where I went. I don’t want to be responsible for anything happening to you too.”
“Nobody ever accused me of having good sense. Now move it sister.” Cindy nodded once and grabbed Snow’s arm, pulling her down the path. Snow fell in step beside her; secretly relieved that she didn’t have to enter the dark and dangerous forest without her Cindy.
“Now if only we can find these nuts...” Snow trailed off as something silky stroked her arm.
Slowly she turned to face a tall, willowy woman, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Snow’s mouth dropped open as she took her in. The woman’s long black hair trailed out behind her fluttering in the non-existent breeze, as did her filmy white robes. Her eyes were a beautiful wild brown, earth-like yet exotic, and her lips formed a perfect bow. Great strength emanated from her tall willowy form. Snow instinctively knew that this was her willow; for whatever reason, the dryad that Snow had always believed slept in that tree had awoken. She didn’t know whether to be ecstatic or frightened.
The dryad had been listening to Snow’s monologue for weeks now, accustoming herself to the softly whispered confessions, the wistful dreams and the loving stro
king against her bark. Rarely, if ever had a human paid her this much attention without the desire for personal gain, and Snow had never asked for anything in return; it intrigued her. Perhaps she felt a fondness for the young human girl, perhaps she was simply bored; but she she had awoken.
The girls stood frozen as she floated around them. Snow smiled up at the ancient dryad in awe, deciding to go with ecstatic; she was just so untameable beautiful. The dryad smiled back slowly and began to float in to the forest and though she never said a word, Snow knew they were to follow her. She grabbed Cindy’s hand and followed the tall and beautiful dryad in to the forest, as safe if not safer than they had ever been.
~~*~~
The sun kissed the sky goodnight in a dazzling display of red and purple, offering her the sweetest fair well with a promise to return. Just as she dipped below the horizon, the front door of the Rutherford cottage burst open as something shot out that door with what Uncle Grumpy and Uncle Dopey would later call “The speed of light!” Which of course it wasn’t, but it was as good an analogy as any.
~~*~~
The boys waited and waited, and waited under cover just outside the basin, in front of the sinister looking cave. Moments turned to hours. They watched the beautiful goodbye the sun painted across the sky, and moments after she fled that same sky, four massive, greyish skinned, heavy limbed trolls emerged from the cave. Completely bald, with squat, squished faces and wide noses, they wore nothing except rags tied around their waist resembling a rather ill-fitting diaper to signify that they were in employ. Trolls as a rule shunned clothing, and only donned the rag garments when they were working, an unemployed troll was typically a naked troll; a sight you did not want to see. The trolls, each wielding a huge wooden club took their places beside the goblins.
That had been two hours ago. And there had been no sign yet of Magella. The boys were beginning to get impatient; it appeared that she had fled. Neither of the boys really blamed her; the odds didn’t look good.
Leo nodded towards the goblins and trolls. “So, what do you think?”
“Suicide mission.” The wolf said with a nod.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought too.” Leo said as he unsheathed his sword again. “Ready?”
“Yup.” Mercury agreed. “How do you want to do this?”
The prince considered for a minute. “A direct attack will end with us dead in less than five minutes. It’s not that I am afraid of a fight, but I think our only real chance is to sneak in. If only we could use something as a distraction...” He trailed off, looking around for inspiration.
“Where is the elf?” Manuel’s voice drifted towards them. “Have they eaten her?”
Leo looked aghast, and Mercury couldn’t keep the chuckle from his voice. “Gone buddy. I think she jumped ship hours ago; can’t say I blame her. All she agreed to do was get us here.”
Manuel emerged from the darkness. “Perhaps. Don’t call me buddy. Ever.” He focused his attention on the goblins and trolls guarding the cave.
“So what do you think?” Mercury asked the intense vampire.
“I think the human is right. We need a distraction.”
Leo picked at some pebbles on the ground. “Sling shot?” He asked looking up.
Manuel gave the prince an inquiring look. “Are you any good?”
Leo picked up a pebble; removed a small sling shot from his pocket and aimed. “You be the judge.”
The pebble found its mark with remarkable speed, right dab centre of a goblin’s forehead. The goblin sat down hard, causing the other five to look around wildly. Leo grabbed another pebble and sent it on its way.
“Impressive.” Manuel said with a rare genuine smile.
“I’ll keep running and shooting; you two get in to the cave as soon as you see an opening.” He whispered as the goblins began to look for their unseen assailant.
Mercury looked to Manuel; it seemed like a workable plan except for one small detail. “What happens when we’re in the cave and they catch up with you?”
“They won’t. I’ll be too far ahead of them; I’m not all just good looks you know. I’m also very fast.” He whispered back as he landed his third shot.
Just as the vampire and werewolf reluctantly agreed to the plan, a ruckus began outside the cave. Manuel blinked rapidly, three fat little green ogrenots ran back and forth in front of the cave, basically doing figure eights around the goblins and trolls, causing a horrendous disturbance in the process.
“Hey Trolly! Change your diaper! Yah!” One of them laughed as it tugged the rag completely off of one of the trolls.
“Yay! Ugly, where’re your pantsies!”
They all laughed obnoxiously as the troll quickly glanced around before grabbing his rag and covering himself. Two of the goblins laughed at the bewildered troll who brought his club down hard beside the giggling ogrenot, causing the rest of the goblins to laugh even harder. Goblins loved mocking trolls, so this was seen as immensely entertaining, until the next rag was pulled down of course.
‘Yah! Yah! You smell worse than Hazzo’s gas!” Came an obnoxious voice, followed by a snorting giggle.
“No!” Shouted another, presumably Hazzo. “It’s the gobly goblies!” He laughed as he jumped up, catching a snack necklace in his pudgy green hand and pulling it off the shocked goblin. The ogrenot waved the stinky prize in the air as the goblin pulled out a sword.
“Yah stinky stinky!” He baited, as the pudgy green vermin expertly jumped and evaded the sword strokes, laughing raucously all the while, which only served to completely enrage the short fused goblin.
After that the entire scene descended in to complete chaos, ogrenots running, jumping, kicking , biting and giggling, while the trolls and goblins ran back and forth trying to catch the wily little nuisances. It was really hard to understand exactly what was happening; but it appeared to be exactly the distraction Manuel and the boys needed to get in to the cave. And they took it.
~~*~~
Once inside, the dark cave descended downward rather sharply, causing the boys to stumble all the way to the bottom, bits of broken stone and fine gravel poured down with them. The sound of the scrambling alerted a goblin who just happened to be stationed right outside the cave.
“Do you hearrrrrr thaaat?” He hissed. But, fortunately enough, the rest of the goblins were busy chasing after the giggling green ogrenots that appeared to be having a terrible case of gas as they hopped and skipped evading grabbing goblin hands and heavy troll clubs, apparently very pleased with themselves.
“I’ll ssseeeee.” He hissed again as he entered the cave cautiously, obviously well prepared for the sharp descent.
Hiding behind a tall and wide stalagmite, they waited patiently for the goblin to reach the cavern floor.
The prince silently unsheathed his sword as he waited, almost afraid to breathe at all as the goblin stood less than a foot in front of him.
Just as he was about to strike, Manuel reached out and took the sword out of his hand, hitting the goblin three times on the head instead; goblins have notoriously hard heads. The goblin fell unconscious to the ground with a soft thud. He never even saw it coming.
Delicately the vampire handed the sword back to the puzzled prince, and began rummaging around in the goblins clothing. Mercury bounded over to them.
“What are you looking for?”
“These.” Manuel replied as he held up a small bundle of glow sticks. Small and enormously handy, glow sticks were a staple for most miners. Once broken, they emitted a small, warm glow without the risk of fire or smoke, effectively illuminating a space without the hassles of a torch.
“Bind him.” He instructed the wolf.
Breaking one of the sticks open, the boys were able to take their first clear look at the cave. It must have been monstrous in size, multicoloured stalactites fanned out from the amazingly high ceiling in a variety of beautiful colors and shapes, while sturdy stalagmites rose up majestically from the floor,
looking more like pieces in a giant game of chess. In the soft glow from the stick, the cavern was magically spectacular. Silently the boys took in the natural and awe inspiring beauty of the cave.
Two tunnels led out from the main cavern room, each tunnel started at the very back of the “chess pieces”, one leading to the right, and the other left. Manuel handed Mercury and Leo some glow sticks and nodded towards the left tunnel. He took the right.
~~*~~
Rapunzel sat motionless alone in the dark, her pale slender arms chained behind her; she had stopped trying to tug free hours ago. The chain had just enough slack not to cause pain, but it was definitely not comfortable. Having grown accustom to the dark she could now make out a bit of her surroundings, but not enough to recognise anything or anyone. Not that anyone had been to check on her. She was completely alone in the dark.
She had no recollection of how she came to be imprisoned, her last memory was of The Mother bursting in to her room, screaming and screaming at her. Their ruse hadn’t worked and The Mother knew she had escaped, terrified she had done her best sputtering apologies and promises as The Mother railed and railed against her. Trapped against the wall as the Mother, her face twisted with rage advanced upon her, Rapunzel suddenly felt very afraid. She held up her hands to protect herself but The Mother was chanting strange words in an unfamiliar language and thick spicy smoke rose up all around her threatening her very breath. Just before she was overcome by the enchantment, Rapunzel had brought up a picture in her mind of Manuel as she had last seen him, beautiful and powerful. She pictured his bottomless black eyes gazing down at her from beneath perfectly arched brows, his sculpted face and full beautifully defined lips, framed by soft, luxurious black hair. She held the picture in her head like a shield.
And then she had awakened here, chained to a large stalagmite in the dark. She had called out for help for hours. Finally she had begun singing, more to calm herself than for any other reason and eventually it had worked. Now she silently sat on the cold stone floor, too exhausted to be afraid anymore.
Pebbles and small stones loosened from somewhere in her prison and hit the floor, sounding more like a crash interrupting the thick silence. Instantly she was alert, peering in to the dark yet still unable to make out anything familiar.