Chapter 28: Ill Music By the Jade River Bodes Nobody Any Good

It was not long before Yerdl and Ismi awoke, and Turmeric greeted them, which resulting in exclamations of surprise, which in turn made the foolbears start up their bellowing again. Turmeric snorted irritably at his owners.

“Stupid pots, talk not surprise. All kinds happen” he chastised.

“Well, when you put it that way, we did get stuck in a frisen festival, and then that chill fancier person too” Yerdl mused.

“Wasn’t she called Cold Funky?” Kejo asked.

“Fairly Cool?” Turmeric offered.

“Enough about that fowl, hurry and take out the pointer Dear!” Ismi said.

Yerdl scrabbled about for a bit until he found that the pointer-shard had actually gotten lodged into the caravamel, right next to where he had fallen unconscious no less.

“I hope we haven’t too far to go” Kejo said.

Yerdl began to turn around and around, trying to get the pointer-shard to light up.

“Turm misses comfy shed”

“Don’t worry, we’ll get back!” Kejo said.

“Wait. Am I completely useless now that Turmeric is like this? I mean you don’t really need my guidance now” Ismi worried.

“Ignored you in past too” Turmeric explained.

Ismi was just about to snap back at Turmeric when Yerdl let out a cry of joy!

“I’ve found it look! Look! The pointer is glowing right over… there… where all the scary trees are. Oh.”

“Turm not going there”

“I’m pretty sure I’ve an allergy to those kind of trees” Kejo said.

“It’s hereditary son” Ismi said.

Yerdl sighed.

“Well, I guess we’ll just have to go around. Following the river?”

Turmeric looked sceptically at the jade waters.

“Follow carefully”

With that, they went onwards, burgundy leaves occasionally wafted through the cavern air. There was no sounds but the chatter from the mushroom forest, the thrums of the hardcore metalfish and the occasionally grumpy growl from the foolbears. It was quite a peaceful journey all things considered. Kejo, Yerdl and Ismi tried to talk, but were silenced by Turmeric’s glaring eyes and aggressively bristling nosehairs. He was enjoying the atmosphere, a sensation he had not experienced before. Appreciation, that was what he felt!

He wasn’t about to allow those blabbering pots to ruin the experience!

So, they travelled on in silence, following the winding of the jade river.

“We have to stop” Yerdl announced.

Turmeric nodded.

“Sleepy” he commentated.

“Kejo, you take first watch!” Ismi commanded, promptly vanishing into her pot.

“Keep a sharp eye out son” Yerdl said, before also slipping deeper into his pot.

“I’ll unhitch you Turmeric” Kejo said.

Turmeric had a moment of clarity, breaking from the foggy sleepy feeling.

“No. Safer staying on” Turmeric said.

Then he curled his long rocky tail around himself and went to the business of falling asleep.

Suddenly, Kejo found the foolbears to look more hungry, and the mushroom forest to look more crooked and twisted, even the jade river seemed to have taken on an kind of ominous sheen.

“I’ve done look out before” Kejo comforted himself.

The sound of the residents of the mushroom forest seemed to grow louder to Kejo’s mind.

“Maybe not underground before, but it shouldn’t be any different!”

Then, the sound of a violin wafted through gently oppressing all other sounds, it played a song that boded ill.

Kejo looked around for the source, and his eyes were drawn to the cap of one of the mushrooms.

There, using its bone tail on its stringhairs, playing its worrying song, was someone that most elconic denizens know of Grinnerel the Dark Herald!