As the sun stepped out from behind the crest of the Chainsaw Mountains, Robert gathered himself from his spot around the fire

As the sun stepped out from behind the crest of the Chainsaw Mountains, Robert gathered himself from his spot around the fire pit. Tribbon was still fast asleep and Robert could tell that the man was going to slow him down in the end. Robert adjusted his cloak and pulled the hood over his head. There was a chill in the air and his ears were beginning to show their disagreement with it.

He walked to where the man in brown lay and hovered over him for a moment, hoping that the man might have some sense of personal space and wake. No such luck. Robert bent down and tapped the man on his shoulder, but still got no response. Robert opened his hand wide, taking the tap a little further and patted the man's shoulder. The man squirmed and grunted, but still lay asleep. Frustration got the better of him and Robert grabbed Tribbon by the shoulders and yanked him to his feet.

Tribbon was awake by the time his feet reached the ground. "What?" he cried, "What's this all about?"

Robert let go of Tribbon's shoulders, "It's time to head out," he said.

Tribbon looked at Robert as though he had lobsters crawling out his ears. "Do you have any idea what time it is?" he exclaimed.

Robert nodded, "Of course I do," he said with a grin, "Now pack up and get ready to go."

Tribbon had really spread himself out. Somehow, from within his tunic, he had manage to produce a blanket, a pillow, and some other sleeping gizmos that seemed highly unnecessary for the journey at hand. Robert found a piece of bread from within his cloak and ate a part of it while Tribbon went about packing his things into his tunic.

Together they marched through the trees towards the mountains before them. They still couldn't see the base of the Chainsaw Mountains, but they cliffs loomed above the tops of the trees in sharp, jagged rises. They pressed on through the trees for nearly an hour before the trees gave way and the rocky hills lay before them.

They marched on all day, climbing through the rocks along a slightly worn path that wound up towards the heights. The sun was nearing the western horizon, creating a dazzling sunset against the sky and the few clouds that hovered in it. The rounded a boulder and began to walk on a rock surface. They had risen past the land and had found their way into the mountain itself. Darkness was beginning to fall and still they hadn't reached a possible location to sleep the night. Tribbon began to get restless, they hadn't spoken much during the day and Robert didn't mind at all, but now Tribbon was worried. A bead of sweat dripped down his forehead and his breathing became a little unsteady. "Where are we going to camp tonight?" he asked finally.

Robert turned to his companion and said, "On this path if we have to, but I'm continuing on until it's too dark to see the path, just in case there is a suitable location further along."

Tribbon didn't like the idea, but he kept going along anyway since he didn't really have much choice. The sun finally fell below the horizon and the twilight hours began. The path wound further and further along with no sign of a place to camp. Finally, Robert stopped walking and turned to his companion. "Look there," he said.

The path was winding back the way they had come on the other side of a chasm. The path curved a few hundred meters in front of where they stood, and the curve lasted for a few more hundred meters. He was pointing to where the path turned out of sight across the chasm. "By the time we get that far," he continued, "it'll be too dark to see anything. We might as well stop now."

Tribbon's face became grim in the darkness, but he knew that he still had no choice. He sat down on the path, which now seemed rather thin and unsuitable for sleeping on. He pulled the blanket out of his tunic and left the other items in place. He curled up on the cold rock path and eventually drifted off to sleep.

The sun lifted into the sky and light was shed on the path where the two men slept. Robert sat up and tried to stretch the stiffness out of his bones. Finding it much more of a chore than he wanted, he shook Tribbon's shoulder. Tribbon opened his eyes and was startled to find that he had rolled in his sleep and now lay with his head partially over the chasm. Strewn along the bottom were many large and sharp looking rocks that seemed miles below the path. He nearly jumped to his feet and gripped the rock face behind him, trying not to fall. Robert chuckled to himself before handing the man's blanket to him before it could fall into the chasm.

The two men followed the path until noon when they found themselves in a grass covered field surrounded by mountainous cliffs. There were trees all around the field, but not dense whatsoever. A small waterfall fell from the heights near the far side of the field. Robert wondered where the stream was going, but he was more interested in what he could see in the field.

There was a herd of about seven or eight goat creatures gathered in the field, eating the grass. The funny thing wasn't that there were goats in the mountain, but it was the sound that they seemed to be making. To his eyes, he could see goats; to his ears, he could hear chickens. "What are they?" he asked in awe.

"Hobbles," replied Tribbon.

Robert looked quizzically at his companion. Never had Robert heard of something called a Hobble. "I've never heard of it," he said, causing Tribbon to laugh.

"That would be because there are indigenous to the Chainsaw Mountains. You can't find them anywhere else in the land."

Robert was astounded beyond his former awe. "Every five years, people from This Place come here to hunt the Hobbles and take back to town for the Hobble-Gobble Hogwash," continued Tribbon.

"The Hobble-Gobble Hogwash? In all my travels of the land, I have never heard of such a thing," said Robert in surprise, figuring that he had seen it all.

"Six men are selected each year to participate. They each capture a Hobble and take it back to town. Then, it is placed in an arena for a battle with pigs. If their Hobble survives the first round, then it is put up against more until either it dies or there are no more Hobbles left in the competition. The man who's Hobble survives is given more gold than he can handle and is forced to retire to other parts of the land. Whoever wins, though, gets to keep any pigs that his Hobble kills."

"That seems like a rather barbaric ritual," said Robert in disgust, "When is the next competition to be held?"

"In a few days, the hunting party was due to depart yesterday, which means they'll be here soon."

"Oh," said Robert, unable to think of anything more to add just yet.

"Morgan Fritz is actually one of the participants," added Tribbon.

"That man is coming here?" asked Robert in sudden fear of more taunting.

Tribbon nodded. "Any time today?" asked Robert.

Tribbon nodded. "I suggest we hurry then. We don't want to get in their way when they arrive, do we?" the question wasn't directed at anyone, and didn't need answering. Robert walked into the field looking for a way to go further into the mountain range. He walked up a small hill and stood at its crest. Before him was the small waterfall, which plummeted into a small pool before running off into a stream that traveled across the field and disappeared into the rocks on the other side. There was something odd about the stream thought that got Robert thinking. It wasn't really anything to do with the stream itself, but with the man who sat in it. The man reached into the water and moved his arm around before pulling it out again while calling, "King me."

Robert recognized the man immediately. "Who's that?" asked Tribbon, who was now standing beside Robert at the top of the hill.

"That would be Angenog," said Robert, and without waiting for a response, walked down the other side of the hill to where Angenog sat in the stream.

Angenog reached into the water once more and moved his arm around again. As Robert approached, Angenog turned and waved at him, "Hello," he called as he stood up, dripping all over the ground.

"Good day to you, Angenog," said Robert as he arrived a few feet from the dripping man who still stood in the stream.

Once there, Robert took a quick glance into the stream at the same board with dark and light squares lying on the stream's bed. There were a number of flat disks, similarly coloured, lying on top of the board in a strange fashion as well and Robert quickly began wondering what the man had been doing in the stream. "Ah, I see you've found your companion," said Angenog as Tribbon stepped up next to Robert, "Now you're all set."

"All set for what?" asked Robert.

"Finding the place I told you about," said Angenog.

"Okay," said Robert, "so where is it?"

"Glad you asked," said Angenog, "and you'll never believe the answer."

He stepped over the board with its disks and walked toward the pool at the bottom of the waterfall. As he passed it, Robert noticed a dark disk bounce from one dark square to another over light disks that were then lifted from the board and strewn about on the streams bed. Odd, thought Robert, but quickly turned his attention to the dripping man in white. "Look," said Angenog and pointed to the pool's surface.

Robert peered into the depths of the pool and saw that it was deeper that it seemed. There was a small hole in the bottom of the pool that carried on into darkness. Robert looked at Angenog and said, "Don't tell me that's where I need to go."

"It is," said Angenog, "Through that hole, you will find a tunnel leading deep into the mountain where it opens up into a large chamber where you will find the building in which you seek."

"Why didn't you go?" asked Robert, "You speak to Mother Earth, so why didn't you go and find the answer for her?"

"Because, my friend, she gave you this quest and only you can carry it out," he replied.

"So regardless as to whether you're better fit to perform this particular act, it is I who must do so simply because Mother Earth wishes it?"

"That's correct," said Angenog.

Robert looked at Angenog curiously; he then looked at Tribbon peculiarly; he then looked at the Hobble standing next to Tribbon, gobbling like a chicken and quite intrigued by the events unfolding near the drinking pond. "What do you think?" he asked the Hobble.

The Hobble, which appeared to have a rather rooster-like head with a goat shaped body and horns curling out from behind its ears. The creature cocked its head sideways and chirped in response to Robert's question. "I take it then that you don't understand me," said Robert, whose words seemed to cause the Hobble to wander off in disgust.

"All right, I'll go," he said finally.

"Excellent," piped Angenog, "I have something for you that I was instructed to deliver in the event of your agreement. Now where did I put that…ah, here it is."

Angenog fished around in his pockets until pulling something out from within a hidden pocket. "This is of great importance and will one day be the deciding factor between life and death," the man seemed quite pleased with himself as he placed the long shaft in Robert's hands.

Robert examined the shaft, which appeared to simply be a long metallic pole. There was really nothing special about the pole aside from the fact that it was unusually light. It was about an inch in diameter and slightly longer than a metre. The dark grey tone of its colour made it look even more like a useless piece of scrap metal. "What is it?" he asked the strange man.

"What does it look like?" returned Angenog.

"A pole. A plain ordinary pole."

"And that, my friend, is what it is," the smile on Angenog's face suggested that he found some humour in the situation, but Robert couldn't find it.

"But it's useless!" argued Robert.

"Is it?" said Angenog, causing the field to go silent for a moment as a dramatic reversal of things took place.

After a moment's thought, Robert replied, "Yes."

Angenog stepped back appalled, "So what, it's still a fine pole and it might come in handy."

Robert gave the man in white a look that seemed to burn through the man, but it didn't have the desired effect. A moment later, the cheerful face had returned to the man, and he continued to find humour in the anything but funny situation. "Carry on then," he said as he began to stroll back along the stream to where he had been sitting with his strange board.

Robert continued to try and burn a hole through Angenog's shoulder with his eyes, but gave up. "Okay Tribbon, I'm not going to lie to you. I don't know for sure, but there is a very good chance that we might die in this pond today. Are you prepared for this?"

Tribbon looked disgruntled and slightly shocked. He thought for a moment before giving a rather hesitant nod. "All right then," said Robert, but suddenly turned to Angenog in curiosity, "Angenog, just what was it you were doing in the stream when we arrived here?"

Angenog turned around to face his questioner, "Playing checkers with the stream," he said, and promptly disappeared.

"What a strange person," said Tribbon.

"Indeed he is," said Robert, turning his attention back to the pond, "Let's get this over with and hope we don't regret it in the morning."

With that having been said, he tucked the pole into his cloak and dropped through the hole in the bottom of the pond.