The Secrets of the Boggy Marsh

Chapter 14: The Race for Home

  Seamus reacted quickly, by wrapping his arm around Paddy and firmly clamping his hand over Paddy’s mouth. But it was too late. The damage was done.

  All the Fugglies turned toward the muffled sound coming from the group of blackened tree stumps. The lead Fuggly smiled and signaled his group into formation. He was already picturing the reward he would ask from The Gold One.

  As a group, the Fugglies drew their short fighting spears and moved forward toward the group of tree stumps.

  Mr. Elf couldn’t believe what had happened. They were so close to their goal, and Paddy had to go and stuff it up.

  “Remember, The Gold One wants the Aelf alive. Kill the others!” the lead Fuggly shouted in his high-pitched girly voice.

  Paddy totally lost it, bursting into hysterical laughter. He was laughing so hard, Seamus couldn’t keep the noises under control.

  The lead Fuggly heard the laughter in response to his shouted command and frowned. Were they mocking him?

  Mr. Elf had his bow out in a flash, and had an arrow nocked and ready. “Get yourselves under control,” he hissed, to Paddy and Seamus.

  “It wasn’t me,” Seamus said. “I tried to stop him.”

  “Paddy, what’s so funny about them wanting to kill you?” Mr. Elf asked, trying to get Paddy to understand how much trouble they were in.

  “Charge!” the lead Fuggly shouted, his voice even higher and more strained. The Fugglies all started to run towards the blackened tree stumps, chirping loudly.

  Paddy grabbed his sides, as he gave way to fits of loud hysterical laughter.

  The outraged Fugglies charged ahead, determined to make the laughter stop.

  Mr. Elf shook his head disgustedly and snorted. He was sure they were as good as dead, but he wasn’t going down without a fight. Turning away from Paddy, he stepped out into full sight of the oncoming Fugglies, and loosed an arrow.

  The arrow flew straight and true, hitting a Fuggly right in the middle of his stomach. The Fuggly instantly exploded, spraying his group with yellow Fuggly guts, and bits of arm and leg.

  The other Fugglies ignored the mess and continued to run at the Aelf. They were used to this sort of thing happening in battle. The Fuggly’s digestive system produced a lot of gas. This was why they always looked very round in the middle of their bodies. It was also why they were considered a special treat by hungry Dragons.

  Paddy saw the Fuggly explode and flinched, as if he felt a great pain. The giggles were gone and the laughter stopped. A look of sad determination replaced the smile that had been stretching his face.

  Seamus watched the change wash over Paddy, pleased that he had stopped laughing, but worried about what the change would bring. “Mr. Elf needs us. Are you going to be able to fight?” he asked, worriedly, watching Paddy’s face for clues to how he was feeling.

  “We’ve had to fight before,” Paddy answered, firmly.

  “And we must fight again,” Seamus responded, nodding towards the Fugglies.

  Moving determinedly, Paddy hurried around one side of a tree stump, while Seamus jogged around the other side. Together they stopped, facing the approaching Fugglies with Grace and Favour drawn and ready.

  Another arrow sped through the mist and another Fuggly exploded.

  The front four Fugglies saw Paddy and Seamus emerge from the side of the tree stumps to their right, and changed direction slightly to meet them head on. As they ran, they gave off ridiculous, high-pitched battle cries.

  The Fugglies rushing at Paddy and Seamus tripped over something unseen, and crashed face first into the muck right in front of the boys. Paddy and Seamus darted forward, jabbing each of the Fugglies in the thigh, freezing them where they lay. They had seen what had happened when the Fugglies took a hit to the stomach, and they didn’t want to get coated in Fuggly guts.

  A third Fuggly had exploded, due to another one of Mr. Elf’s arrows. This left three angry, gut covered, Fugglies to deal with. Two of the Fugglies attacked Paddy and Seamus, while the third took on Mr. Elf.

  This was the first real sword fight that Paddy and Seamus had ever been in. The truth was, neither of them had any clue about how to fight with swords. As the angry Fugglies advanced at them, spears at the ready, Paddy and Seamus gripped their swords tightly, not sure what to do.

  The Fugglies darted at Paddy and Seamus, lunging at them with their spears. Grace and Favour flicked up at just the right moment to deflect the vicious attack.

  “Relax,” Paddy and Seamus heard a male voice in their heads. “Just let us handle this,” the voice added, reassuringly.

  Mr. Elf was concerned for Paddy and Seamus. He had been in battles before, and knew how easy it was for an inexperienced fighter to get badly hurt, or killed. He also knew Paddy and Seamus were not fighters; they were shoemakers.

  He didn’t have time to do anything about it though, as the lead Fuggly was rushing at him with his spear. Mr. Elf dropped his bow, drawing his sword, just in time to side step and deflect the spear charge.

  Mr. Elf used the momentum of the rushing Fuggly to his advantage, kicking the awkward creature in its bottom as it passed. The Fuggly tripped over some unseen object, and splashed head first into the mucky, rain soaked ground.

  The Fuggly struggled to push himself up out of the mud, but an invisible Mody whacked the Fuggly hard on the back of its head. The Fuggly slumped unconscious to the ground and lay still.

  “Thanks, Mody,” Mr. Elf said, as he spun to help Paddy and Seamus. Mr. Elf couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Paddy and Seamus were fighting like seasoned professionals. Cutting and parrying, blocking and attacking. The young Leprechauns were slowly out-classing their opponents. Every attack by the Fugglies was cleanly blocked.

  The Fuggly attacking Seamus over-reached on his next thrust, leaning in too close. Seamus took advantage of this, and kneed the Fuggly in his stomach. He promptly wished he hadn’t, as the Fuggly let forth an ear-splitting fart. Before he could be overwhelmed by the stench, Seamus jabbed the Fuggly in the arm.

  Paddy lunged, with Favour, at the Fuggly he was facing. The Fuggly used the wooden shaft of the spear to block the attack, and force it to the side. The Fuggly recovered quickly, and took a swing at Paddy’s head, using his spear in a batting type attack. Paddy ducked, just avoiding what would have been a knockout blow, as the spear whistled over his head. Favour flicked up and into the exposed stomach of the overextended Fuggly. Paddy’s eyes widened in horror, as he realized what was going to happen. The Fuggly exploded, spraying yellow guts and stomach gas in all directions. Paddy caught the full blast of the explosion, and was coated in the foul-smelling gunk.

  Boggy Marsh was suddenly still and quiet. Mody shimmered back into view next to the unconscious Fuggly, she had whacked on the back of the head, with her hard beak.

  Seamus stood, panting from the exertion of the fight. Mr. Elf joined the Leprechauns and patted Seamus on the back. “Where did you boys learn to fight like that?” he asked.

  Paddy was busy scooping handfuls of water from a puddle, trying desperately to wash the Fugglies guts off.

  “Grace and Favour did all the work,” Seamus replied. “We just had to relax and go along with their moves.”

  “They spoke to us,” Paddy added. “They told us what to do.”

  Mr. Elf was not ready to hear this, but then he hadn’t been ready for most of what had happened since entering Boggy Marsh. “This is something we should talk about, when we are some place safe,” he said. “Seamus, will Grace continue to lead us to the boundary? We don’t have far to go, if we can believe what we heard from the Fugglies.”

  Grace tugged Seamus gently in response to Mr. Elf’s question. “Yes,” Seamus said, “Grace is ready to go now.”

  “Did you hear what the Fuggly said, about the Dragon wanting me alive?” Mr. Elf asked.

  “Yes,” Paddy and Seamus said, together.

  “Those Fugglies were specifically hunting us,” Mr. Elf said, worriedly.
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  “The Dragon must be really annoyed to go to that much trouble,” Mody said, sidling up to them. “What else might she have in store for us?”

  “What else, indeed?” Mr. Elf mused. “Give me a couple of minutes to prepare a little something, and then we can be off.”

  Mr. Elf hurried around the blackened tree stumps and found a large boulder sticking up out of the mud. He took a pouch out of his adventurer’s pack and checked the contents. Surprisingly, the contents were still dry. At least the ‘stay dry’ spell he had placed on the pouch had stood up to the rain.

  Mr. Elf rummaged through his adventurer’s pack. “Ah here it is,” he said, pulling out a rolled-up object. He laid the dry roll of troll hide on a flattish surface of the boulder. Working quickly and carefully, he poured the contents of the pouch onto the dry troll hide, and proceeded to dice the contents finely.

  When he was satisfied the contents of the pouch had been cut finely enough, he carefully scraped and poured the results back into the pouch. He returned the pouch to his pack, and turned to find the others watching him.

  “What is that?” Mody asked curiously.

  “A little something, in case we run into more trouble,” Mr. Elf replied, with a grin. He rolled up the troll hide and placed it back in his adventurer’s pack.

  “Can we go now?” Seamus asked. “I’ve had enough of this place, and enough of adventures. I want to get home.”

  Mr. Elf gave Seamus a reassuring smile. “The boundary is one hour away. Lead on, Seamus, let’s get out of here.”

  “What about them?” Paddy asked, indicating the frozen Fugglies.

  “Just give them another quick jab. That should keep them out of our hair for long enough,” Mr. Elf said.

  Paddy quickly went around and jabbed each of the Fugglies. He was careful to avoid their stomachs.

  Seamus led the way and the others followed. Again, Seamus, influenced by Grace, led them on a meandering course through the marsh.

  ⚔

  We are close now, thought Mr. Elf. They had been traveling through Boggy Marsh for close to an hour, since the fight with the Fugglies. So far, they had not encountered any other creatures of Boggy Marsh, and for that he was extremely grateful.

  Seamus still led the way, with Mody close behind. Paddy and Mr. Elf brought up the rear.

  Mody started to shimmer and then was gone. Grace and Favour glowed strongly.

  “Stop, everyone,” Mr. Elf whispered, urgently. “I’d hoped we would get out of here without any more trouble.”

  “What do we do?” asked a concerned Paddy.

  “Mody, we can’t see you. Where are you?” Mr. Elf asked.

  “I am right here,” Mody said, from right in front of Mr. Elf.

  “Mody, will you go and see what’s waiting for us?” Mr. Elf asked. “We can’t see you and neither can they. We’ll wait here for you.”

  Mody thought about this. “We are nearly there now, aren’t we?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Mr. Elf replied. “We are almost at the boundary. We should be bumping into it very soon.”

  Mody nodded, though nobody could see her do so. “I’ll be right back,” she said, as she slipped off into the mist.