The Story

This is what's upset the little pixie!


She seemed to be staring into the distance, but her eyes were dark and unfocused.

“What’s wrong with the pixie?” grunted Stacius, who, until now, had been immersed in a pleasant daydream about walking through a cave in his homeland.

“Well, she’s stopped, hasn’t she?” said Dulin. The two of them watched as Raisa’s body seemed to shake like an earthquake before she launched into a run.

“Primavero, I’m coming!” was all they heard as she scrambled with inconceivable speed up the hill.

“What? Where are you going?” shouted the dwarf to her disappearing form.

“After her!” shouted Dulin. She and Stacius took up their pace to a jog, but it was no match for the speed of the pixie.

“How – can – she – move – so – fast,” gasped Stacius, “up - these – hills?”

“I’m no expert but I would guess it’s agitated delirium brought on by exhaustion. If I’m right, she’s in the hallucinatory stage and she’s in danger. We’d better pick up our pace.” Stacius was about to make a comment about the pixie being more trouble than she was worth but then he remembered; she had saved him from falling off a cliff. He owed her his life. Stacius began to run.

****

When they had begun their ascent into the hills, the pain in Raisa’s shoulder was so excruciating that black spots had started to appear before her eyes. It was hard to see even a few steps in front of her, let alone to negotiate the steep terrain they now moved into. The craggy hills seemed overwhelming to the pixie, especially in her weakened state.

Transformation followed by holding onto a dangling dwarf had taken its toll on her. Besides, she could not forget her dream. The image of Sastre turned to rubble, the beautiful forests razed to the ground was more than she could bear. Had this really happened? She had to find the ‘Book of Goth’. She had no idea whether it was still safely in the hold or one of the lost tomes scattered across Khula for which they were now searching. Knowing that her people might be in danger made it all the more pressing for Raisa to find the missing books and find them quickly. But the pain she felt was so acute, it was all she could do to keep placing one foot in front of the other.

Suddenly, the black spots that clouded her vision joined together to create a blanket of darkness and Raisa stopped. The patchy vision of the hills gave way to a vista far more familiar to her. She was back! She was on Sastre. She could feel the cool breeze scented with the essence of limes and there, just ahead of her in a tree was her lemur.

“Primavero!” she cried, “I’m coming!” But instead of galloping towards her, he turned his furry head and sprang off through the trees. Fear and panic enveloped the pixie and she broke into a run. She had to follow him. She had to find out why he ran from her. What if he were in danger? The thought almost broke her heart. “Primavero! Wait! It’s me, Raisa!”

“In Grod’s name, who is Primavero?” spat Staicus, gasping for breath as he tried to keep the errant pixie in his sights.

“I don’t know, but it is obviously something or someone important by the way she follows so swiftly,” replied Dulin. “Come on! We can’t let her get away!”

Raisa could smell the scent of the lime trees and felt the brush of the ferns as she charged after her dear pet.

“Primavero! Why won’t you stop? Where are you going?”

“She runs like a mad thing!” said Stacius.

“That’s exactly it,” said Dulin. “She has gone mad. Let’s hope, for all of our sakes, that it’s only temporary.”

Shapes began to pitch and merge. Raisa could no longer see the lemur. The scent of limes gave way to an earthy dampness and it was only then that Raisa realised that all around her had become dark. Save for the drip of water, the world was silent and suddenly very cold. She stopped dead in her tracks and her clouded vision began to clear. She had run into a cave and had no idea which way was out.

"Oh, I am going to kill that Pixie!" Dulin thundered. In front of her Staicus was dwarfed by a cave entrance that rose into the sky and melded into the mountains.

"Primavero!" The voice echoed through the caverns and back to the surface.

"We won't find her standing here, and I don't think she's coming to us." Staicus hefted his axe and headed in seemingly un-fased by the mountains of rock on all sides. Dulin looked back as the transport disk that held their gear pulled up besides them, in front of her staicus had disappeared into the darkness. After directing the disk into the first shadows of the cave Dulin adjusted her hood and followed after the dwarf.
With every step the air grew colder and damper, but ahead in the darkness lights glowed on the ceiling flickering in the darkness like curtains of silver. 'beautiful' for the first time since the start of the journey Dulin smiled. Then the smile faded and she stopped as she heard the silence, the pixie had gone quiet, even the heavy footed dwarf was out of hearing range. Looking behind Dulin made sure she could still see the exit before heading deeper into cave.

Dulins swift feet proved true and she once again heard the heavy feet of Staicus, running the last few paces she pulled up besides him a shadow in the dark. "Any sign of her, yet?"

"Do you know how to track?" Staicus asked coming to a halt quite suddenly.

"you kidding?! It's too dark in here to track. Do you have a way of tracking in this place? A sun flower or fire crystal?"

"I have never heard of such items. We have a problem."

Dulin allowed her eyes to travel over the many branches that travelled away from the cave they were stood in. "I'm going to kill that pixie."

We should have some great cave adventures now! I love glowworms too. Quite a while ago, I actually went to the Waitomo caves to which you referred and did the black water rafting adventure. We abseiled into the caves and then onto the flying fox in complete darkness! I will never forget it. There was an eel who lived down there that the guides had nicknamed 'Gollum' and the glowworms were truly amazing. Well worth a visit if you're ever in that part of the world!

The caves sound amazing, maybe less so the spiders... Right onward (or possibly downward).

Excellent! Great to have Grud back. A great section, James. Let the fun begin!

Grud floated down and placed himself directly in front of Stacius.

“There’s no need to be so cantankerous! Cantankerous! Do you like that word? I do! I learnt it recently, from inside that book. If I stay in there long enough, I might turn into Tegraine. What do you think? Huh?’ Stacius continued to stare at the floating clown.

“Grud. I did not bring you out again to demonstrate your vocabulary. We need your help.” The clown turned a full three hundred and sixty degrees in the air.

“My help? Oh, do you? Say please.”

“What?” said Stacius, already regretting his decision to open the book.

“Say please, and I might consider it.” Stacius’ left cheek started to quiver as his mouth formed into a snarl.

“We don’t have time for…” Before Grud knew what was happening, Dulin strode forward and grabbed the clown by his diamond-patterned coat.

“Listen, Grud! One of our band has run into these caves and we don’t know which one. Can you help us or not?”

“Now, now! Be nice!” said Grud as he smoothed down his clothes again. “As it happens, I might be able to.”

****

Raisa pulled her sacking around her shivering body. She’d only just remembered how dishevelled her appearance must be. Thank goodness there were no mirrors! She would have to get something else to wear soon but now she had a more pressing concern. Where was she? How had she got here? She remembered running. She knew that she had been running for a while because her legs ached and her head kept telling her to sleep. Her shoulder still throbbed where the dwarf had nearly wrenched it out of its socket. Then she remembered. She had been dreaming of Sastre. She was chasing Primavero though the forests and they were…oh! Raisa closed her eyes. It was too horrible to contemplate. It must have been a dream. It wasn’t real, surely it couldn’t be?

Raisa stopped walking and looked about her. It was the first time she had noticed how beautiful the caves were. All around her, little pearls of light. What were they? High above her looked like the night sky – inky black with tiny white stars whilst to the side of her, light beads hung like strings of pearls.

“What are you?” she gasped, as she peered in wonderment. “Is there anyone there? Can you hear me?”


****

“Well?” said Stacius who was beginning to lose patience. The longer they stood here, the deeper into the caves Raisa might be travelling.

“Oooh! Is someone lost? I’m good at finding things!” said Grud.

“She’s not a thing! Well…she’s a pixie! Can you help us?”

“Do you mean that cantankerous little creature with the noisy bracelet? Cantankerous! Twice in one day! Ha ha!”

“Yes!” exploded Dulin. “And right now, she is a very confused and no doubt cold pixie too so can we please just get on!”

“Cold, cold, no not a strong enough adjective for these caves I don’t think. What about 'perished'? Yes! A 'perished pixie'! There! Alliteration! Ha ha! Oh, I’m good!” The clown somersaulted in mid air twice whilst just below him, Dulin and Stacius balled their hands into matching fists.

“Enough!” bellowed Stacius. “If your only skill is showing off your pitiful vocabulary, then you can just climb back into the book from whence you came. I’m off!” Stacius began to stomp away from Dulin and Grud deeper into one of the caves.

“Stop!” shouted Grud, floating with lightning speed into Stacius’ path. “Okay, I get it! I can see you’re not in the mood for fun. Here you go then.”

Grud threw his arms into the air and began turning his wrists in circles. Strand by strand, the little balls of light started to move towards him as if pulled by a giant magnet. The silver light grew stronger until they had formed into two glowing orbs, each suspended in the air above Grud’s palms.

“There!” he said. He fluttered his fingers and the balls of light drifted gently down to rest in the hands of Dulin and Stacius.

“Clever,” said Dulin, “but what are we supposed to do with them?”

“Do? Oh, didn’t I say? Walk up to that wall with the light in front of you,” said Grud. Dulin did as she was asked. As she drew close, the cave wall dissolved in front of her. “Told you I was the joy of jails! Very useful if you’re in a tight spot, I can tell you!”

“But what if we go in the wrong direction? We could still be walking away from her, no matter how many cave walls we might pass through!” said Stacius. Grud tipped his head to one side with a tinkle of bells.

“Hmmm! Not easy to impress, are you? Well, I suppose there is this too.” He dug deep into one of his trouser pockets. Tapered at one end and rising into an enormous shell that opened like the petals of a lily, Grud held in his hands a shiny gadget, the likes of which neither Dulin nor Stacius had ever seen.

“What in the name of…” began Stacius.

“Saw it on a strange planet once. They really like their sounds LOUD there, you know! Put your ear here,” said Grud, gesturing to the smaller end of the device, “and listen.” Stacius placed his ear against the small circle of metal. It was cold against his skin. He listened. Then he heard it, faintly at first but growing more distinct. Is anyone there? Can you hear me? The unmistakable voice of Raisa.