Chapter 37: Among Family Traditions Bringing Lots of Rope is a Good One

In the end Yerdl only managed to haggle Loro down to a joke every fifty trees that they would pass by.

While they had lost a lot of their goods back in the frisen village they had come across, it was always a tradition of the Caralid family to travel with excessive amounts of rope. So, even though there was a writhing orange mass of chompers bound up in the caravamel, there was still enough to tie the caravamel to Loro’s back.

What Yerdl hadn’t counted on was how fast Loro was able to move in order to hit the number of having passed by fifty trees. Thankfully for everyone who was not Loro, she had to slow down when the ropes threatened to snap.

Turmeric however, while everyone else was panicking was completely serene. He had makeshift plugs in his earholes. He could not hear a thing anyone was saying. It was bliss, he could almost pretend he was on his own, being carried through the waves of the jade river.

To his side he could see the mouths of Ismi and Kejo moving, but he could hear not a sound.

Ahhh…

Bliss!

While Turmeric was basking in a euphoric feeling from silence, someone else was not quite as happy.

Above on the surface, Fancy Chill was struck with indecision.

“The dark herald. The dark herald… preserve from preserving… what does it mean?”

Fancy Chill twisted about on top of her pet blizzard. She looked at her ice-mirror.

The slush minion wasn’t that far behind the caravamel. Everything would end soon. While the twipstrider had devoured one of her enchanted feathers, it was far from being powerful enough to defeat her surprisingly powerful minion.

The only problem was…

Fancy Chill ruffled her feathers in irritation.

“JUST WHAT DID THE HERALD MEAN?” She screeched.

Previously, Fancy Chill had really wanted to end the Caralid’s story (their lives), but now there was this unknown quantity. She wanted to know what was going to happen! What misfortune were they going to encounter?

Resigning herself, she ordered the slush-minion to keep its distance. She resolved to end the story after whatever the Dark Herald cryptically warned about happened.

Back with the caravamel, Ismi, Yerdl and Kejo had finished telling Loro the story of how they ended up underground. It had been Yerdl’s cunning plan to cut down on the number of jokes that needed to be told.

“That seems like a total pain” Loro said.

“Oh, you have no idea darling!” Ismi replied.

To Yerdl’s horror, Ismi and Loro had begun to get along like a house on fire, in spite of the fact that had Loro not been a perverse individual who enjoyed bad jokes, Ismi would roughly be the cause of her death.

“See, this is why us qurtilles have it good, living on our own, we don’t have to worry about starving villages or stuff like that. Just gotta look out for yourself! Maybe some kids if the notion takes some hunky qurtille to wander about” Loro explained.

“Its a simple life” Kejo said.

“I’d be pretty sunk if it wasn’t for the river though. Respect the river, that’s what my mama always taught me”

“Oh, well, where ever you live, you should take care of it, shouldn’t you?” Ismi replied.

“Only common sense” Yerdl added.

Loro looked about at the upside-down forest on the cavern ceiling.

“I’m fine living out here… but I guess things aren’t always that simple. I hear things from the fish, and the odd traveller that floats down my river. Some folks don’t leave well enough alone”

“The Firelord you’ve heard about him down here?” Kejo asked, agast.

Loro bobbed her single eyed head.

“That’s a mean one to be sure, even sent some of his goons underground, whatta they call themselves? The cinders? I can take care of my river, but what happens when nobody takes care of where they live and I get folks like those cropping up?”

“Oh dear, have you had problems?” Ismi asked.

“Nah, but now and then, some of them come down though the exit I’m taking ya to. You’d best be careful”

Kejo frowned, the Firelord and his tyrannical edict that there should be no flames but him had been part of the reason for them getting two crates of Honey-drink. Not being able to light fires for fear of being attacked by the Cinders, drinking honey-drink was one of the few ways to beat back the cold.

There was some denizens that didn’t mind the cold much, but not everyone was so blessed.

One crate left. Kejo’s heart filled with resolve.

Yerdl twitched.

“Speaking of problems, something is watching us up above there” he said.

Loro pulled over to the riverbank by the foolbear forest.

“You sure?” she asked, looking about, but not even her seeing fish saw anything.

“Husband dear can sense presences!” Ismi proudly said.

“Handy, but can he tell us what presence is?”

No sooner had the words left Loro’s mouth when a great form detached from the upside-down forest and descended upon them!