King Igthorn
Part One
Gummi Bears and the original concept for 'King Igthorn' is not mine. However, this new version is mine. I claim no ownership except of the changes in plot and any new characters.
Toadwart had since lost count of the days. He simply followed his leader, his Dukie, wherever he went. This did not mean he was immune to pain; his feet still ached and his throat screamed for water. But his loyalty was far stronger than any discomfort and he said nothing.
The miniature ogre was called back to the present by his leader's words.
"At last, after months of trudging through ruthless woods and bogs, we've finally found the forest we've been looking for!"
The small ogre was lifted off the ground and his mouth dropped and his eyes bulged wide at what he saw....or rather didn't see.
There were no trees, none, merely stumps on the ground. The woods had been stripped.
"Uh...looks like something else got here first," he stated, trying to sound non-insulting. In reply, his leader dropped him, saying,
"And that _something_ is exactly what I want!"
He turned to his ogres. They were unintelligent but suitable enough for this task.
"Now. Do you all still have those bottles I gave you?"
"Yup!" The group of a dozen or so ogres lifted the questioned objects as proof. Igthorn let out am inner wail at their intelligence level...or lack thereof.
"Well don't just stand there, start looking!"
Immediately, he wished he had not spoken so swiftly. In less than a minute, he and his right hand ogre, Toadwart, were plowed deep into the ground under more than twenty four thundering feet.
But the ogres did not waste times several pulled up rocks and patches of grass; some attacked the remaining tree stumps. Gad looked up towards the one ogre that could be truly considered his friend.
"Uh...what we looking for?"
His friend looked up and shook his head.
"Uh, don't know but when you find it, tell me!"
Igthorn sighed out loud. He needed some smarter lackeys. Toadwart was intelligent but hardly very useful. Yet Igthorn had to admit, it was refreshing to have an ogre around who had an IQ higher than five.
"Do not worry, Dukie. Fearless Toadie will not rest till job is done."
The small ogre gave him a salute of rank and then screamed as a tree came falling atop him.
Igthorn barely dodged but took no motion to free his lackey, merely said,
"Good work! You've found him!"
He left his right hand ogre, ignoring the creature's weak reply, despite the pain.
"Toady always aim to please."
Igthorn removed his own jar and raced after the direction his prey had gone, calling,
"Get him! Don't let him get away!"
His ogres looked up with blank expressions but followed their leader. Igthorn saw his prize and eagerly removed the lid from his own jar. But before he could act, he was tackled by his own army.
Crawling out painfully and with a jar lodged on his nose, Igthorn growled, with a nasal voice,
"Oh...you blasted-"
But then his opinion altered significantly. He pried the bottle off his nose and swiftly clamped the lid on, tightly so not to loose his prize. The pain in his body, as a result of being crushed, was now minuet, nearly so small it was gone.
"Hmmm....at long last, I did it!" Igthorn's joy was clearly evident. He pulled a magnifying glass from his sack and gazed at his treasure. "I've found the infamous BigTooth."
The small termite smiled back at him, showing his famous large front teeth.
Dunwyn
"Calla! Can we watch the parade?"
Princess Calla gave her gummi friend, her best friend, a warm smile. She pushed her long blond hair back and giggled.
"Sure! In fact, Cavin and Cubbi are setting up one of the floats. Do you wanna help?"
Sunni nodded and trotted behind her friend. Most of Dunwyn was preparing for the Monarch Day Parade so she and Cubbi were pretty safe from discovery this day. Besides which, they had their best human friends, Calla and Cavin around.
As the two walked outside, they saw Cavin and Cubbi filling large balloon, shaped like a bear. Sunni found it strangely appropriate and shielded her eyes against the fire, which was being used to heat and supply the gases to fill it.
"Hey Sunni, Calla!"
The princess and gummi girl smiled and waved at their friends as they walked up. As the balloon filled, Cavin stated,
"This Monarch's Day's gonna be the best ever."
Calla and the others never got a chance to reply. A wind whipped by, at a fierce and ferocious speed. Calla and Sunni closed their eyes as dirt and debris blew into their faces. Unfortunately, the balloon suffered more than they, as the float was not terribly affected by gravity. Cavin and Cubbi each grabbed a rope but their puny strength was not nearly enough.
The stakes were pulled from the ground and the float took to the air, dragging Cavin and Cubbi with it.
Sunni and Calla leapt to their feet, Sunni screaming, as Calla gasped.
"Cubbi! Cavin!"
She got two different replies, one from Cubbi, one from Cavin.
"Sunni!"
"Calla!"
Cubbi clung with all the strength he had but his young hands were slipping, slowly. He screamed and Cavin reached back with one hand, snatching his best friend's smaller hand, holding it tightly.
Cubbi opened his eyes against the gushing wind and said,
"How're we supposed to stop this thing?"
Cavin looked at his best friend, trying not to frighten him anymore as Cavin knew that as brave as Cubbi was, he could still be frightened easier than Cavin. But Cavin also knew he couldn't lie to his best friend.
"I don't know." But at the moment Cavin's thoughts were not on his answer. He had sensed learned to fear that dark castle. "But if we don't think of something fast we're gonna end up in-"
The cub now saw the forbidding image as well and answered with his friend,
"Drekmore!"
Had the two had a way to steer they certainly would have. But the wind guided this balloon. The two tried to turn it but to no avail. The float caught on the tip of a tower steeple. Immediately the air was released and after a small wild ride through Drekmore, the deflated float as well as Cavin and Cubbi were flung in the center of Drekmore's courtyard.
Swiftly as the two were able, they scrambled free of their cloth prison and dove into two barrels, Cubbi calling all the while,
"Come on, we gotta get out of here before Igthorn or his ogres find us!"
The two remained still for a minute before Cavin dared to peer out from his barrel. He was stunned. The appearance of their float should have drawn every ogre in the place. There should have been a gathering of the huge towering adversaries. But there was...nothing.
Cavin stuck his whole upper half out of the barrel.
"Hey, where is everyone?"
Cubbi followed his friend's movements and gasped. He looked at Cavin, as if to confirm what he believed he was seeing. Cavin gave a barely noticeable nod. Cubbi climbed out slowly.
"I don't believe it. Drekmore is empty!"
"Looks like you were right little Cubster. Iggy and his ogres really have flown the coop!"
Cubbi giggled as he made faces into one of the room's mirrors. Gusto tapped his fingers against Igthorn's throne again but then both he and Cubbi turned as Zummi spoke.
"I never thought I'd see the day. Do you realize what this means?"
Gruffi, who had said nothing since their arrival at the seemingly deserted Drekmore, spoke, in his gruff, unchallenged authority.
"Yeah! We better get out of here before Igthorn comes back!"
That said, Gruffi began to storm out, enraged that they believed their major enemy was gone simply after the castle being empty for only a few days. Gruffi didn't believe that. Enemies as stubborn and as old as Igthorn would _not_ simply get up and leave, no matter how much Gruffi wished it.
Zummi ran ahead of Gruffi. He knew Gruffi's thoughts but this time was different, Zummi knew it was!
"But Gruffi....Igthorn might be gone for good! And if he is, we won't have to live in fear anymore!"
Gruffi's reply was a cynical glare and characteristic scowl.
Zummi, not the type to surrender to Gruffi so easily in this case, went on,
"Just think of it, with peace just around the corner, the Great Gummies can finally come home!"
Cubbi could no longer contain himself. Fellow gummies and probably cubs his age!
"Hooray, let's celebrate!"
Gruffi gave Zummi a disapproving glance and then grabbed Cubbi, sitting him down firmly.
"Not so fast there, kiddo. Troubles don't just vanish into midair!"
Gruffi stormed to the window and peered outside.
"And neither do ogres! I say...we _wait_ to celebrate!"
A year passed.
"What are you writing Zummi?"
The magician turned as Sunni and Cubbi ran in. Gusto was working busily on a statue for the very reason Zummi was about to announce.
"I can't believe it's been a whole year since Igthorn left. Now I'm sure it's safe to send a signal asking the Great Gummies to come home."
Cubbi yelped, "Really? They're coming back?"
Sunni tried to peer over Zummi's shoulder.
"What's it say?"
Zummi held the letter out for the two cubs to inspect. Cubbi, still not as advanced at reading as Sunni, read it aloud.
"Dear friends, centuries ago war raged and we were left behind to provide a re...re-"
"Reconnaissance," Sunni finished. Cubbi nodded,
"I knew that. A reconnaissance of the humans until it was assured peace was commonplace. Over the decades, we have many times lost hope. But our struggle was not in vain. Now, we deliver this... missive?"
Zummi nodded.
"We deliver this missive that our ancestors only dreamt of: It is safe to return home."
Cubbi and Sunni beamed but before they could say anything else, the door slammed open and Gruffi stormed in, angry and a set of traps in one hand. He made his reason known swiftly.
"Cubbi, Sunni!"
The two looked up and at seeing the traps remembered. Sunni winced. They were so excited over the prospect of returning gummies that had completely forgotten their promise to Gruffi. Sunni sighed inwardly. Where was Gruffi's sense of hope?
"You promised you'd help me set these traps, remember?"
Gruffi's face was a mask of anger. Ever since Drekmore had been found empty once, everyone but him had been overwhelmed by what he saw as a foolish sense of false hope.
Cubbi stammered a reply but was thankfully saved by Zummi.
"But Gruffi, with Igthorn gone, there's no need for traps. We don't have to be afraid anymore." The magician held up his message, as proof of his theory. "That's why we're asking the Great Gummies to return!"
Gruffi snatched the message. They were what?! He glared at Zummi.
"And what makes you so sure Igthorn's not coming back?"
Zummi scowled in reply as he snatched it back, "What makes you so sure, he is?"
Gruffi glared but made no other reply. Zummi went on,
"After all, he's been gone for a year."
Gruffi had no good reply to that fact and simply stated anger without a reason, not that such a reaction was unusual for Gruffi.
"So what? You just can't do this!"
Gusto, who had stopped working and was listening intently, ran between the two, snatching the message.
"Why sure we can, Gruffers, it's easy."
Gusto folded the message up and handed it to Arte Deco, who gave him a salute as he took the paper into his beck. Gusto spoke as Arte flew off.
"Arte'll fly to Ursalia where Sir Thornberry can use the Gummiscope to send Zummi's message."
Before Gruffi could do much to stop the bird, he had vanished out the door and was flying towards the surface to head to the Ursalian Mountains.
The two cubs ignored Gruffi's distress and turned to Grammi, the soft-hearted one.
"This is great! Can we go tell Cavin and Calla the good news?"
Grammi smiled at the youngest Glen and then gave a nod to both him and Sunni.
"Better yet, since tomorrow is Dunwyn's annual Monarch's day Parade why don't you spend the night there?"
The cubs ran outside, their yelps of excitement all the answer Grammi needed.
But Gruffi did not make any acknowledgement, not even to Zummi, who stated,
"Don't look so glum Gruffi. With Igthorn gone, it's time to give peace a chance."
Ursalia
While the weather at Gummi Glen was terrific and the mood joyous, Ursalia was the opposite. Buddi sat at the window, watching the rain fall down. It had been raining for five straight days and it was driving Buddi crazy.
"Rain, rain, rain," he sang in a monotone voice. "I hate rain."
This was a typical attitude of Buddi. After rain, Buddi generally found things to do for about three days and then he wanted to go outside. However, Buddi had just recently gotten over a pretty serious case of Tycian Fivien or Cold Fever. Normally, Ursa would allow him to play in the rain a bit but since he had just gotten well again, the Barbic Leader didn't want to take chances of him getting sick again.
"Buddi?"
The cub turned as Ursa walked in, slowly. "Buddi, what are you doing?"
"Being bored. I wanna play *outside*!"
Ursa shook her head, "Out of the question."
"But Ursa…so I got sick. That doesn't mean I-"
"Buddi? I said no."
The cub pouted, "But Ursa-"
"Buddi, what part of no don't you understand?" Her voice was cold and stern. "You're to stay indoors while it's raining outside, is that understood?"
Buddi made no reply.
"I said, is that understood, Buddi Barbic?"
Buddi grumbled but said,
"Yes Ma'am."
Ursa nodded sternly and flung a leaflet at him.
"Besides, even if you were well, you've already had your bath. Here, if you're so bored, study that."
Buddi looked at her, "Weapons study? Ursa!"
Ursa turned to Buddi, kneeling over from her full height, putting one hand on one of her knees.
"Buddi Barbic, it's high time you took a more serious interest in your training."
"I already did training today!"
"You need to study what you're using more. The more knowledge you have, the better your chances. Now I want you to study that until bedtime. I'll be quizzing you tomorrow."
Buddi pouted and slammed his arms over his chest,
"Fine!"
"Don't sass me."
Buddi glared at her, "I'm not."
Ursa's glare was all it took.
"Sorry."
Ursa nodded, rose to her full height and walked out. Buddi pouted and looked out the window again. He sighed, why did it have to rain now? He could have played earlier. The cub leaned against the window and then jumped at the first clap of thunder.
Buddi growled and peered out into the rain again.
He spied something in the distance. Leaping up, he ran to the wall where they hung some of their telescopes and a few spears. The cub leapt up and managed to knock the scope down. Snatching it, he ran back to the window and gazed through it intently.
It was hard. The rain had become a curtain. But after much trying, Buddi saw it. A bird…no, Arte.
"Is that toucan crazy?"
Buddi had only met Arte once, on a visit to the Glen, but had not met his friend, Gusto, at all. But Buddi couldn't just leave the bird there.
The cub grabbed a long cloak from one of their wall hooks and ran out into the pouring rain, Ursa's warning forgotten.
* * *
Arte had been flying against the blinding rain for what felt like hours. He had the note folded deep in his beak so it was dry but his feathers were torn and tattered, soaked to the bone.
"This…is the last time I play messenger."
"Arte?"
The bird gazed through the rain and saw a Gummi cub, around Sunni's age but male. But he was holding out his arm and offering the protection of his cloak. Exhausted, the bird landed and accepted the warmth.
"I didn't think you were the type to fly through a storm like this." Buddi commented.
Arte now recognized the cub, "Buddi, if only I knew…when I get back, Gusto might as well be wearing a 'Smite Me' sign."
Buddi chuckled and ran back towards Ursalia, Arte safe under his cloak. Once he was back inside, he was relieved to find that the guards inside the towers had not seen him; otherwise he'd be in for a lecture.
"So what's the reason you're flying through a hurricane of rain?"
Arte produced the note.
"Zummi wants you all to send that message to New Gumbrea. With that huge lantern of yours."
Buddi smiled at the reference to the Gummiscope and let the bird leap off his arm and flutter over to rest on the back of one of the chairs. Buddi scanned the note and then tore by the bird and up the stairs, taking them three at a time, all the while, screaming,
"URSA!"
* * *
"Ursa?"
The Barbic leader turned from the rack of spears. Gritty came in, followed by Mardi with a handful of other various weapons that had just recently been repaired.
"Where do you want these?"
"Just set them down for-"
"URSA!"
Mardi jumped aside as Buddi came plowing into the room.
"Gum Above Buddi, slow down!" Mardi scolded with a scowl.
Buddi called, "sorry!" and then hit his breaks in front of Ursa.
"Buddi Barbic! You're soaked! You went out in the rain didn't you?"
"Well yeah but that's not the important part."
Ursa crossed her arms, "I don't care. I gave you a direct order to stay indoors."
Buddi almost started to protest but knew for a fact there was no use in even trying until she was finished. He sighed and waited. He was in trouble and Ursa would not hear a thing he said until she was done yelling at him. So with a sigh, he waited, although he was bursting with excitement. He couldn't believe what he'd read but he stood still and listened, to humor Ursa.
"Do you think I make rules for my own amusement?" her voice was dripping with anger. "Your body weaker now. I want you out of those wet clothes now. Go."
Buddi sighed but ran out of the room.
Ursa rolled her eyes and went back to the weapons. Gritty laughed. Ursa gave him a glare and said,
"That boy is getting more rambunctious by the day."
Gritty laughed, "So he's just like you."
Ursa almost replied when Buddi came running back in, changed in record time, and grabbed her by her hands.
"Ursa! Ursa! But look! The Glens sent Arte to deliver this message. They want us to send it to New Gumbrea! They're inviting the Great Gummies back!"
Ursa snatched the note from the cub's hands and with Gritty reading over her shoulder, went over the detailed message. When she finished, she handed it to Gritty to inspect who stepped to stand beside her, rather than behind. Ursa's voice was pinched, unbelieving.
"Do they really believe that Dunwyn is safe for Gummies again?"
"Maybe Igthorn beat it." Buddi suggested.
Both Ursa and Gritty stared at the cub as if he had sprouted a second head. Ursa rolled her eyes at his childish naïveté. Buddi spoke, a bit ashamed,
"What?"
Ursa rolled her eyes again, a trait when she was disgusted or disappointed, "He's a human. Humans are far too devious to give up. Especially that human!"
Buddi said simply, "Sorry, I can hope can't I?"
Gritty spoke, "well, if I know the Glens they wouldn't let a message be sent if there was immense danger."
Ursa rolled her eyes, "they're probably satisfying for this because as long as there are humans there never will be complete peace."
Buddi was starting to run figure eights around the two adults, saying, with all the excitement of a five year old.
"So? Are we going to send it? Huh? Huh? Are we?"
Ursa laughed and grabbed him by his arm.
"First of all, slow down. Secondly, we can't do anything while it's raining."
Buddi's face fell but then lit up again as Ursa said,
"However, as soon as the sun comes up tomorrow, you can go tell Thornberry to send it."
"Yes!" Buddi snatched the note from Ursa and ran out, screaming,
"They're coming back!"
Ursa laughed and went back to what she was doing,
"To be a cub and be so easily amused."
"You mean to tell me you aren't excited at the prospect?" Gritty teased her. Ursa stood from where she was, one spear in hand.
"I am but I also have a feeling that this is going a little too swiftly. I mean-"
A chime from the clock caught her attention. Ursa sighed deeply,
"Swell…why did Arte have to come now of all times?"
"What's that mean?"
Ursa walked out, saying, "I'll never get Buddi to calm down for bed."
"That's not what I meant."
Ursa turned to Gritty. "I only saw Igthorn once Gritty, when he took Buddi. But his eyes were ruthless. He is not the type to give up. I don't like the smoothness. It's a little too easy to me."
Gritty nodded; he felt the same. He found it odd as well but they could not live on paranoia. The Glens' job was to determine when it was safe though, that wasn't up to the Barbics to decide. Besides, the Glens were their friends. Although their views clashed, they trusted each other.
"Buddi!"
Gritty chuckled as Ursa grabbed the excited cub by his elbow. He could hear her and leaned against the wall to listen.
"But Ursa…"
"Ancients or not, it's your bedtime."
Buddi growled. "But Ursa…there's no way I can sleep now!"
"But you're gonna try."
Buddi pouted and ran down the hall, Ursa trailing. Gritty called,
"Ursa?"
She turned, her hair flew into her eyes. She pushed it aside, "Hmm?"
"You okay?"
Ursa stopped and said, "Give me a minute." Then she ran after Buddi. Gritty nodded and waited.
"But Ursa, I wanna stay up!"
"Hush," she said sternly and took Buddi's hood off, laying it on the side table. "I know you're excited and you've got every right to be. But you still need to sleep."
"Aw…""Now don't talk." She got up and said, "Tomorrow you can be as excited as you want. But it's time to sleep now."
The cub sighed deeply, "I can't sleep Ursa."
Ursa moaned loudly; tucking Buddi in was going to be a chore tonight. "Try. I know you wanna see the Ancients come, I know you want to send the message. But you need to be patient."
The cub sighed again, "I'm trying."
Ursa ruffled his hair and he swatted her hands off. "Don't do that!"
Ursa chuckled to herself and headed to the door,
"Just try to sleep, Buddi."
Ursa walked down the hall, massaging her temples.
"Hard night?"
Ursa growled at her sarcastic second-in-command. "I swear that boy gets harder to handle every day."
Gritty chuckled. Pointing beyond her, he said,
"I can see."
Ursa turned. Buddi gave her a sheepish smile. She growled, "Buddi…"
"I'm going…"
But Ursa wasn't about to trust him. She took off and chased a cub down the hall,
"BUDDI!"
Gummi GlenIgthorn walked ahead of Toadwart, musing over what he considered to be a coming and assured victory. Toadwart trotted behind him, constantly by his side. He was staring at the termite, flying around, as if the bug was made of gold. Toadwart listened obediently to his Duke.
"Those dummy bears don't stand a chance, once I unleash this little bug eyed beauty, their home will be nothing but sawdust."
"Only one problem, your buginess, we don't know where gummies live."
Igthorn grabbed his lackey by the ears, "I know that, you miserable little mushroom!"
He dropped the ogre and stopped, listening.
"Now…where's a Gummi when you need one?"
His attention was caught by an array of fireworks up ahead.
"Huh? What's that?"
"What a magnificent sight!"
Zummi moved his palms, causing the fireworks to switch direction and change.
"Zummi!" Gruffi came running up the hill, a set of traps in hand. He couldn't believe this!
"What do you think you're doing?"
Zummi looked at the Glen leader, genuinely baffled.
"I'm practicing my fireworks, to welcome the Great Gummies when they arrive. This way, they'll be able to find the Glen in case they forgot where it is."
Gruffi couldn't believe this. Was this magician really serious?
"Yeah! And the whole world will know where it is too."
"But Gruffi," Zummi's genuine belief was nauseating to Gruffi. "Soon we'll be able to come out of hiding!"
Gruffi couldn't stand this. He stepped up and stuck his finger into Zummi's face, growling,
"Just because Igthorn's gone, doesn't mean it's safe to mix with humans. You can dream all you want! I'm going to set traps!"
He stormed off, leaving Zummi sighed,
"Why are you so pessimistic Gruffi?"
Unknown to Zummi, Igthorn was in fact very near.
The Duke lifted Toadwart onto a tree and handed him the jar which contained his priceless weapon, "Now don't bumble this Toadwart," he said with exaggerated niceness. "Or I'll let BigTooth loose on your wooden head!"
Toadwart didn't doubt it. He pushed aside the fear he felt and declared, with a raised finger,
"Don't worry Oh Dukenmenta. Success is my middle name."
He fell and the branch creaked. Igthorn slapped his face; he needed to get another lackey.
Zummi stood considering. The he began to wave his hands again.
"Hmm, since these fireworks are for the Great Gummies, I'll hafta make them really great!"
Unfortunately, his power was less than perfect, and a spark sent the branch on which Toadwart sat catch a flame and then sever from the tree's trunk.
Igthorn covered his eyes.
Zummi felt himself hit the ground hard, from what he thought was the backlash.
In actuality, Toadwart had knocked the Gummi wizard down when he fell; seizing his good fortune, he undid the jar's lid and stuck it on the Gummi's head, hiding it with the wizard's hat. Swiftly, he scrambled away.
Zummi shook his head, "Whoa, that was a good one."
It did not take him long to find his glasses. Deciding that if his fireworks picked that much of a punch, he'd better lay off for tonight. He straightened his hat and head back home.
Igthorn and Toadwart watched him and grinned. Toadwart looked up,
"What we do now, Dukie?"
His Duke was ecstatic. "_We_ don't do anything. Once our little friend eats those bears out of house and home; they'll come running right into our arms." He picked Toadwart up and squeezed him to his chest, Toadwart gasped for air. "And then we'll get their recipe for Gummiberry juice, even if we hafta squeeze it out of them!"
Toadwart gasped,
"Most ingenious, Ol' Brained One."
Zummi was greeted by a rich smell the moment he stepped into the Glen. He inhaled deeply,
"Mmm, what smells so good?"
Grammi came into the room, a casserole dish in her hands. Setting it down, she said,
"Must be this Hot Plum Pudding. It's part of a special feast I'm planning for the great gummies." She stepped back as if showing a piece of art. "care to sample some?"
As appetizing as it smelt, Zummi had to refuse. His stomach was already doing somersaults.
"Oh sorry Grammi, but I'm too excited to eat."
She nodded; Tummi would eat it, he'd been following her like a puppy. Sure enough, as Zummi turned to leave, Tummi sat down.
"This smells great Grammi."
"Give it a try Tummi. At least someone will give me feedback." She gave Zummi a false glare of anger. The magician smiled back,
"Sorry Grammi but I'm just too excited to eat!"
Grammi nodded, "I know Zummi. But it won't do us any good if we aren't up to speed to celebrate!"
Gusto nodded as he chipped away at his statue. "Grammi's right, Zummerino. This Gummi's gonna welcome these gummies with a big welcome mat!"
Zummi nodded, "The Great Gummies will be here before you know it." He passed beneath Gusto's statue and the arm knocked his hat off. He did not even see the jumping dot but merely replaced the hat, saying,
"I'm gonna clean up the library."
Tummi licked his lips and said, "And I'll clean up this plum pudding."
He tilted the bowl back and quickly downed it. But when he looked, he was holding nothing, only a few specks of sawdust were present on his paws,
"Hmm, musta been hungrier than I thought."
Gusto closed one eye and with a gentle tap announced,
"Volia! Finally! My tribute to the Great gummies is finished!'
His statue was truly a marvel. It looked like a Gummi wearing robe, and crown, holding a burning torch. Gusto was not shy about commenting it.
"feast your eyes on a work of beauty, a work of wonder…"
A buzzing sound was heard and when Gusto looked again, his beautiful statue was more like an abstract of Swiss cheese than a marvel. His mouth dropped, those hours of sweat driven work…
"What?"
Grammi cocked her head,
"Hush, Gusto, all you. Shh, listen."
Gusto cocked his ear, hearing a bussing sound.
"I didn't know you raised bees."
"We don't, Gusto."
Tummi noted it was closer to him. He felt a thump and his chair hit ground, now just a slab of wood. He stood and saw that the same condition had attacked the other chairs. Grammi's voice vibrated throughout the whole room,
"Sakes Alive!"
"Hey! What's going on here!"
Every head turned as Gruffi made an entrance, as he always did.
Tummi was stunned and scratched his head, "But I thought the Great Gummies made things to last…"
Gruffi couldn't believe it…no, not termites, the one thing that could destroy this place, no! No!
"They did, Tummi. They aren't-" he dove for the bug but missed. "They aren't falling apart! They're becoming some bug's lunch! The Great Gummies just didn't make them termite-proof!"
Grammi now saw the same thing that Gruffi did, "Hurry, we hafta to stop that past before it destroys the whole Glen!"
Gusto grabbed his chisel, Gruffi a chair, and Tummi and Grammi took pots and pans. Gruffi was already following the sawdust path.
"Don't' worry, I'll clobber him so hard, he won't know what hit him!"
But he forgot, the steps were made of wood. As soon as he hit the second step, he crashed through.
"Gruffi!" Tummi ran forward, "Are you okay?"
Gruffi merely pointed, "he went…thatta way."
Zummi blew the dust off an ancient book, "This library has needed this for a long time. But now, a little more straightening up and it'll look better than ever!"
He climbed higher and pulled a forgotten book off the shelf, wiping it clean.
"Zummi!"
He turned and saw his four friends run in, looking ready to fight a war.
Grammi screamed, "Watch out!"
"What? W-"
He found out quickly. The ladder on which he was standing suddenly grew brittle, snapping easily. Zummi shook his head, and said as Grammi offered him a hand up,
"My stars, what's going on?"
Grammi pointed. Zummi nearly choked on his breath. There was a trail of sawdust, leaving just chips and debris in its wake. Books fell to the ground.
"We've got little, uh, big trouble!"
Zummi needed no prompting. He raced after the sawdust as did the others. But the little bug was so fast!
Tummi lunged for it, only to slam into a fallen bookshelf. He heard a buzzing and saw it attack the center most post.
"Wow, that little guy has a bigger appetite than I do!"
But without the center post, there was a shaking and then…
"Uh oh! The ceiling!" Gruffi barked out orders, "Run! Head for the surface!"
Gusto snatched a stunned Grammi's hand and called,
"Come on! Move it Tummers!"
Tummi tore ahead, taking the closest ladder, Gruffi was already halfway up. Gusto and Grammi dodged falling beams. Zummi hit his breaks,
"Wait! We forgot the Great Book!"
"Zummi!"
"Forget the book Zummers! Save yourself!" Gusto shoved Grammi ahead but then had to race up himself. But before Zummi could even reach the book, a shower of dust and beams shattered the panic and then all was silent.
To be Continued…