- Chapter 20 -
Grey and White
©2000 Kilnamar


As the group of companions waited somewhat impatiently for Lawboy to complete his task in the cave, Greyeyes watched Killy surreptitiously from the corner of her eye. He and his small sprite companion had rejoined them a few days previously, with news of an urgent mission that required their assistance. All of them could tell that the young Toad had changed. "What is happening inside that head of yours?" she thought to herself. Gone was his humor, replaced with an almost fanatical sense of duty. If only he would smile now and then, she would know everything was ok.

*****

Lawboy grunted as he squeezed through a particularly narrow part of the crevasse he navigated. All was dark, save for the pallid glow cast by his tiny lantern. Grumbling under his breath, he forced his weary body through, his once fin clothes now ripped and muddy.

"How is it that I got drafted to this vile quest?" he grumbled aloud. "This is the task of a warrior, not a man of words such as I."

After about an hour of squeezing, crawling and cursing, Lawboy finally found himself in an ever widening passageway. Hurrying, he jogged forward. The passage opened into a huge cavern, the walls extending beyond his meager light in all directions. Above him was shadow and echoes of echoes lost through time. Resting for a moment, he considered which direction to go.

With a shrug, he marched straight ahead, toward what he perceived as the center of the vast open space. His instincts were accurate, as usual. There, about 200 yards from where the passage entered the cavern, rose a dias. And on the dias shone a brilliant light. The White Eye.

Lawboy moved forward slowly, in awe of the ancient gem. Strange how the light was so bright, but seemed to not extend beyond a few yards. Climbing the first steps of the dias, he knelt and removed a small box form his travel cloak. A box marked with arcane symbols and warded with strong spells--or so Azchel had assured him--to protect him from the gem's power.

Opening the box, he leaned forward, the Egar Gem bright in his wide eyes. Following the Shadowman's instructions carefully, he closed the box around the stone without touching it. The cavern immediately seemed thrust into complete blackness. After a few moments of waiting, Lawboy's eyes readjusted to the ruddy light of his lantern. And he saw a sight that raised the hair on his neck and had him running, screaming back the way he had come.

*****

Greyeyes watched the cave entrance impatiently. How long had the Ambassador been inside now? Two hours? Five? It seemed like a hundred.

Moving softly, she approached Babytisa, her companion also showing signs of agitation. "How goes it, friend?"

"How long must we wait for that buffoon?" Babytisa exclaimed in a harsh whisper. "I still think we should have gone in for the Gem ourselves."

"As would I," said Greyeyes, "but we have to trust that Killy's visions show him what we can not see ourselves."

Babytisa mumbled something that could have been agreement, and returned to watching the cave.

Greyeyes returned to her post, glancing at her companions as she went. Fly20 waited tensely off a distance from the others. Ever fiber of his being intent on what must soon happen. Killy lay flat against the ground in a shallow depression, having chosen that central location of the group for himself. The sprite was nowhere to be seen, as was usually the case. They were ready. If only that blasted Earthling would get on with it!

Even as she finished her thought, a loud scream split the air. She looked around, bewildered, before deciding it must have come from the cave. Out from its mouth burst a barely recognized form. The Ambassador's clothes were nearly shredded, his body scraped and bleeding in numerous places. Screaming again, he ran for his mud skipper.

Unfortunately, that was right toward them. Killy jumped to his feet and Lawboy, looking back over his shoulder, collided with him. They collapsed in a frantic pile of waving arms and legs. Immediately, the other companions were there, pulling the Ambassador off and helping Killy to his feet.

Fly20 held Lawboy tightly against his kicks and screams.

"Let me go, you fools! It comes. It..." His eyes widened and his words were lost in another wordless scream.

Alarmed, the companions whirled toward the cave. And a monstrosity of black spikes and slime erupted from the dark interior.

"The Nog Wumb!!" Lldy screamed.

Greyeyes jumped as the sprite popped into view right next to her. Recovering quickly, she ran to the side, out of the huge beast's path. She was dimly aware of her other companions doing the same. All except Killy. She watched in horror as her young friend stood calmly, facing the monster's approach. "Killy!" she screamed. "Get out of there!"

"Curses!" spat Fly20, off to her left. Thrusting the Ambassador aside, he made ready to go to Killy's aid.

But it was too late. They were too far away. And then the unimaginable happened. Just when the Nog Wumb was about to trample the Toad into the ground, Killy shifted to the side, dropped to one knee and thrust his sword violently upward into the charging creature. The sword rammed home and the jolt threw Killy away to land in an unmoving heap a few feet away.

The beast let out a sound that Greyeyes could not describe. A scream, but not a scream. Thunder, but not thunder. The sound so intense it seemed to shake the ground. And then it fled, disappearing back into its cave.

Frantic, Greyeyes and her companions rushed to Killy's aid. As they approached, he shuddered slightly and then sat up. Other than a small trickle of blood running from his temple, he seemed unharmed.

"You are crazy! You stupid Toad, you could have been killed!" Greyeyes snarled in fear-caused anger.

Killy stood and brushed himself off, leaning for a moment on Fly20's offered arm. "It was the only choice," he said softly. "Quick, the Ambassador has fled. We must catch him."

With a start, Greyeyes realized that Lawboy HAD disappeared. He must have taken off when the fight ensued.

In a rush, the companions grabbed their belongings and prepared to set out. It would be a long, hard chase to catch the Earthling on a mud skipper.

As Greyeyes, knelt to close her pack, something called to her mind. A soft, gentle cooing. Looking around, she spied an ornate box lying in the mud close by. She approached it slowly and knelt again. Reaching with a shaking hand, she grasped it. Almost without knowing what she was doing, she touched a series of symbols on the box surface, and the lid snicked open.

"Umm...Killy," she said softly.

As Killy and her other companions stopped their rush and turned toward her, she dumped the content of the box into her open palm. A shout of joy, love and release exploded in her mind as tears streamed down her face.

"The White Eye..." Killy whispered. And the companions stood in awe of the greatest of the Egar Gems.

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