The Secrets of the Boggy Marsh
Chapter 15: Crossing the Line
Mr. Elf, Paddy and Seamus waited for Mody, off to the side of the main path. A rough pile of broken boulders jutting out of the damp marsh provided a good place for the three friends to hide, while they waited.
For once, Paddy and Seamus were still and quiet, neither one asking a single question, or making comments on the matter at hand. Mr. Elf accepted their silence gratefully, but also worried about their sudden change in behavior.
The normally boisterous and energetic Leprechauns were hunched quietly next to broken boulders. Every now and then, they would look across at each other. When they did, they looked like they were seeing each other for the first time.
Mr. Elf observed them intently from where he leaned against the remains of a particularly large boulder. Something in Paddy and Seamus had changed. They seemed more confident and less child-like. He wondered what effect Grace and Favour were having on his young friends.
“Hello, I’m back,” Mody’s disconnected voice said.
“Thank The She!” Paddy exclaimed.
“What did you see, Mody?” Mr. Elf asked, cutting straight to the heart of the matter.
“I walked for a while, and then I saw the things you call Fugglies. They were all lined up, stretching from mist to mist, like a barrier.”
“How many were there?” Paddy asked.
“Well, I walked up and down the line. It was a long walk,” Mody said.
Mr. Elf understood. Mody was still not long out of the egg, and she lacked the learning and experience to express big or difficult concepts.
“Mody, if the Fugglies were frozen, and if we went in a straight line toward the Fugglies, how many would we have to climb over to get to the other side?” Mr. Elf asked.
“Oh, only three or four,” Mody said. “The line is long, but the line is thin.”
Mr. Elf’s mind was racing. What did he have to work with?
The contents of the pouch, his bow and arrows, Mody, Paddy and Seamus, Grace and Favour. And what else? Mr. Elf’s thoughts cascaded through options. He needed a way to get the contents of the pouch to the waiting Fugglies. And then there was the Dragon. The Dragon had to be around somewhere. Yes! The Dragon! But, how to get the Dragon to do what he needed her to do?
Mr. Elf motioned for Paddy and Seamus to come closer. “Grace and Favour, I need you to do something to help us get away from this place. Do you understand?”
Grace and Favour both gave a pulse of light.
“That means yes,” Seamus offered.
Mr. Elf smiled. “I need you to go out there, close to the Fugglies and make some noise. Here’s the plan,” he said, confidently.
⚔
Paddy and Seamus headed out into the mist towards the waiting Fugglies. Mody slipped silently through the mist with them, her job was to guide Paddy and Seamus to a safe spot. Mr. Elf watched them go and silently made the old plea, only quoted by the Aelfin in time of desperation, ‘She help us, for we are in need’.
For the plan to work, the timing of events was going to be critical. This one aspect of the plan worried him the most. Mody’s information had been simple at best, and the plan would require a large element of luck to succeed.
Mr. Elf prepared himself for his tasks. He checked his bow and bowstring and selected his best arrow. He ran through the spell he was going to use. It was a simple ‘flash and noise’ spell that would attract attention. And, finally, he took the pouch with the finely diced contents out of his pack and secured it to his belt, for ease of access.
It was time.
Mr. Elf took a deep breath and exhaled. He closed his eyes and relaxed his mind, inhaling slowly. As he exhaled again, he reached inside himself and drew on the ancient Aelfin energies that were available to all Aelfin.
He released the energies as a ball of light and sound that exploded high above his head. He inhaled deeply again and opened his eyes. Now it was up to Paddy, Seamus, Grace, Favour and Mody.
⚔
Paddy, Seamus and Mody arrived at a suitable spot, just short of where they could be seen from the Fuggly line. As they turned back to face where they had left Mr. Elf, a bright flash and a loud bang went off high in the mist.
They waited, straining their ears for the sound that would signal it was time for Grace and Favour to do their bit. Suddenly, they heard huge Dragon wings flapping, as the Dragon flew to investigate the magical fireworks display.
Paddy and Seamus faced each other, raising Grace and Favour above their heads. They held the pose, waiting for the right moment to arrive.
“Now!” a voice sounded in their heads.
Paddy and Seamus lowered Grace and Favour until their tips touched. A brilliant flash of blue light shot from the swords, up into the mist, to explode against the inside of the boundary shield.
Then they ran.
They ran back to where Mr. Elf was waiting to execute the last part of the plan. They ran as fast as they could, because their lives depended on it.
⚔
Waiting nervously by the black trunk of a twisted tree, Mr. Elf looked up hopefully, as he heard the Dragon’s wings flapping high above him in the mist. The first part of the plan had worked. He had successfully lured the Dragon to the spot where he needed it to be. He hoped the others had heard the Dragon, too. If they didn’t do their bit at the right time, he’d be Dragon food. Then he felt the magic made by the swords and saw the intense blue light shoot into the mist and explode against the boundary wall.
The Dragon felt it as well, and she saw the blue flash explode against the invisible boundary wall. What was that? she wondered. Whatever had caused something like that, had to be strong magic.
Hidden way down in the mist below, Mr. Elf tuned his hearing to focus on the flapping of the Dragon’s wings. Blocking out all other sounds, he could recognize the moment, when the flap of them, told him the Dragon’s attention had been captured by the blue flash. He was ready. He had his bow in one hand and the pouch in the other. Stepping away from the tree, to a spot clear of branches, his arm arched back, and he threw the pouch with all his strength. The pouch flew up and out, towards the spot where the blue flash had exploded.
Faster than should be possible, he nocked an arrow and shot, wincing at the stab of pain in his shoulders. The arrow sped through the mist, hitting the pouch with full force, just as it was about to start falling back to the ground. The pouch popped and burst open, spraying its contents into the mist.
Mr. Elf held his breath and listened. The Dragon was still hovering above him, flapping her wings gently, while facing the boundary wall. As he listened, the Dragon flew slowly and cautiously forward. Mr. Elf could have screamed with joy at that point, but he knew he had to stay quiet.
The Dragon was concerned. That blue flash meant something, as powerful as her, was in Boggy Marsh. She wasn’t going to rush into a confrontation here. Something flashed through the mist just in front of her. There was the sound of a soft pop, as something burst. Her curiosity increased and she slowly flew forward to see what it was, unwittingly doing exactly what Mr. Elf needed her to do.
The pouch Mr. Elf had shot, contained the hairs he had shaved from the legs of the dead Spider Wraith. The hairs contained the strong poison the spider used to immobilize its food. In death, the poison congealed and strengthened to the point where a small amount would totally stun any living thing.
Mr. Elf had finely diced the hairs so they would be light enough to float in the misty swirl of the marsh. Anything breathing the hairs would be stunned into unconsciousness, and would be out of action for some time. The only problem with Mr. Elf’s plan, was how to get the diced hairs to spread out over the Fuggly line? The Dragon was unknowingly providing a solution to that problem, by producing a wind from her wings that was pushing the hair-contaminated mist, straight at her Fuggly army.
The Dragon kept moving forward slowly, beating her wings strongly to stay aloft. What was going on here? She wondered.
The finely diced Spider Wraith
hair was now well dispersed into the mist and, thanks to the Dragon, the hair-infected mist was rolling into the front ranks of her Fugglies.
Paddy, Seamus and Mody arrived back at Mr. Elf’s position, and skidded to a stop. They stood panting like dogs, looking at Mr. Elf for some sign of how things were going. They could still hear the Dragon flying above them, and were smart enough not to speak.
Mr. Elf smiled. As the Dragon moved further away towards the boundary and her Fuggly army, Mr. Elf felt it was safe enough to talk quietly. “Quick, now,” he said. “The plan is working. Get a cloth and make sure it’s good and wet, then tie it over your face. It will stop you from breathing in the Spider Wraith hair.”
“Come over here, Mody, and I’ll tie a cloth over your beak,” Paddy offered.
“I hope Hag Head has a way for us to get through the boundary,” Seamus said, “because if she doesn’t, we’re doomed.”
Paddy retrieved a pair of cloth squares from his pack and dipped them in a puddle on the ground. Mody nudged him gently with her invisible head to let him know where she was. Folding one of the cloth squares in half, Paddy put his arms around Mody’s neck, tied the corners into a knot, and settled the larger part over her beak.
“We’ll just have to have faith in Hag Head, boys,” Mr. Elf stated, as he tied a wet cloth over his face. He was confident she wouldn’t let them down.
“How much longer should we wait?” Mody asked. Mody was still invisible, but now they could all tell where she was, because of the wet cloth that appeared to floating in the air.
“We should be good to go now,” Mr. Elf said. “The Spider Wraith hair will work very quickly. Paddy and Seamus, make sure you have Grace and Favour ready to freeze anything that gets in our way.”
Paddy and Seamus checked each other’s cloths, and nodded that they were ready to go.
“Follow me,” said the floating cloth, that was really Mody.
⚔
The great Gold Dragon continued to fly slowly towards the point where the blue flash had come from, driving the infected mist in front of her with every beat of her massive wings. The Fugglies in the direct path of the infected mist started dropping like flies, stunned by the Spider Wraith poison.
Those Fugglies who were not directly affected, saw their companions drop lifelessly to the ground, for no visible reason. Fearing some invisible enemy, they panicked and started yelling and pushing against Fugglies further up the line, as they tried to avoid the mysterious fate of their fallen friends.
The poisoned mist plan had worked much better than Mr. Elf could have hoped.
⚔
The Dragon heard the commotion from her Fugglies below, and dropped slowly through the mist to a point where she could see what was happening. What she saw upset and frightened her greatly.
She landed in the heart of the melee. In front of her lay the inert bodies of many Fugglies. To her left, other Fugglies were running around wildly, pushing up against Fugglies further up the line. As she watched, the Fugglies continued to drop one by one, to lay still on the damp ground.
The infected mist had hit the boundary and started rolling back and up the length of the barrier in both directions. A cloud of the infected mist rolled straight back over the great Dragon, who felt the change in the mist, and tasted the dampness to see what she could learn from it.
The great Gold Dragon’s cat like eyes opened wide in horror, understanding of what she had tasted, coming too late. And then she too slumped to the ground, her great head crashing into the swampy earth, causing a fountain of mud and dirty water.
⚔
Mody led the companions confidently through the mist. Up ahead they could hear panic and mayhem. Something was happening to the Fugglies. Whatever it was, it was moving away in both directions along the boundary.
Mr. Elf hoped the Spider Wraith hair would put enough Fugglies out of action, to give them time to get to the boundary. Once there, he was certain Hag Head would have a way out arranged. He had no way of knowing, just how successful his plan had been.
Mody stopped so suddenly that Paddy and Seamus walked into her. Mr. Elf crept up to stand next to the floating cloth. The great Gold Dragon’s huge head rested on the ground, her eyes wide, staring right at them.
The Dragon opened her mouth, but only a weak steam of fire dribbled out. Then the Dragon’s eyes closed, and her body sank further into the bog.
Mr. Elf gave a satisfied nod at the Dragon’s still form, lying in a large pool of dirty water, then said, “Let’s go.”
The companions sloshed their way around the house-sized Dragon, and then stopped again. In front of them, and stretching out in both directions, lay the unconscious bodies of hundreds of Fugglies. The mist swirled and eddied weirdly around the still forms.
Mr. Elf again nodded in satisfaction.
“Are they dead?” Paddy asked, in a quiet, respectful voice.
“No,” Mr. Elf said, with a hint of disgust in his voice. “They’ve simply been stunned by the Spider Wraith venom. The venom works to keep the victim alive, so the spider can have its food fresh. They’ll wake up with very bad headaches, though.”
“And the Dragon?” Seamus asked.
“The Dragon will be fine, too,” Mr. Elf said, reassuringly. “But we need to get going. The poison is stronger when taken from a dead Spider Wraith, but I don’t know how long it will last, after being mixed in this mist.”
The companions surged forward as one, carefully picking their way through the mass of lifeless Fugglies, until they were clear.
Then they hit the boundary.