Chapter Three
Ambrosius came running. He had just heard Didymus ring the dinner bell and
didn't want to miss any of that yummy food, so he worked his legs as fast
as they could go. He could just taste it, all that yummy beef, yummy
steak, yummy carrots, yummy au gratin potatoes, yummy salad, yummy cream
puffs, yummy, yummy, yummy!
He rounded the hedges that bordered the Mykus Villa where he and Didymus lived. What he saw gave him an extra bout of speed. Didymus was standing on the veranda, ringing the dinner bell, and he had in his very forepaws, the largest, and most luscious looking chewing bone Ambrosius had ever seen! He could even hear his master calling him.
"Ambrosius." Didymus continued to ring the bell.
Suddenly Ambrosius couldn't run any more!
He legs were moving, but he wasn't going anywhere.
He was hock deep in.molasses!
Oh yummy! Ambrosius thought. He began licking all the wonderfully sticky and sweet liquid that surrounded him. Ambrosius really liked molasses. Moreover, this molasses was especially delightful, because someone had stirred in lots and lots of coconut shavings. Yummy!
But Didymus kept ringing that bell.
"Ambrosius!"
Lick.lick.yummy.lick.
"Ambrosius would you stop licking my foot!"
Ambrosius woke up and pouted. Too bad that he was only dreaming.
Didymus glared at him. "Watchman hath been ringing yon bell for over two minutes! And thou still didst not wake! So wake!"
The noble steed shook himself, then followed the already cleaned and clothed Didymus down to the mess hall.
*********
After a hearty, yet rushed, breakfast, Watchman, Didymus and Ambrosius began their trek to the Greatly Rumoured School of Knightship and Heroism. It was only around nine o'clock, yet the sun was rising swiftly. There was a definite and sudden rise in temperature as the trio stepped out of the tower.
"Looks like it's gonna be a scorcher." Watchman said. "I'm glad Ambrosius can carry all that water." Didymus looked down at his steed and smiled proudly. Ambrosius had about four two-gallon sized waterskins slung over his saddle. He was bearing them easily, strutting proudly over the sand. Didymus too set his jaw straightly and rode gallantly high.
As they began to stride away, Didymus realized something. If Watchman's job was to be a watchman and guard the tower, he, Didymus, was keeping Watchman from completing his task! And everyone knows that hindrance was no quality any hero wants to have. Unless you are hindering a task of evil, of course.
"Sir Watchman," Didymus addressed him. "Who shall be watching thine tower whilst we make trek?" Watchman picked up the worried undertone in the rider's voice and smiled knowingly.
"Aw, you don't have to worry about that!" Watchman shrugged. "You're the first one to come along in seven years. The tower can stand a few days on it's own."
*********
Somewhere deep beneath the desert sand, within a vaulted darkness, a pair of pale orange eyes was suddenly awakened. They blinked twice, and then squinted, as if listening. The eyes just stayed awhile, listening.
They found their disturbance.
A thin voice forced itself upon the dark, a voice that had not been heard for more than three decades.
"Something moves." the voice said. "Something comes!" The voice changed into a low, Machiavellian laugh. The pair of glowing orbs closed.
And the body they belonged to moved.
*********
The journey was long. And as it got longer, it began to get hard. And as it got harder, all three began to tire. They had been traveling for four hours straight, yet the sun remained just on top of them. It seemed to follow them, parallel to their direction, as if it had a will to stop them from going to the school. Though they had plenty of water, it seemed like they could never get enough. Every few paces Watchman would have everyone stop to take more water. His armor had, for the first time in seven years, began to get very heavy. But he knew Ambrosius could carry no more than he already was. Watchman lay back on the sand and let out an exasperated sigh.
So did Didymus and his steed. "As a point of fact," Didymus said to Watchman. "I almost wish this whole desert to be cursed with the Jump Magic!"
Watchman laughed. "That would make it a bit easier, wouldn't it?" Ambrosius began to whine and crawled over to where Didymus lay. He wedged his snout under Didymus' forepaw, begging him to pet. His master made a weak effort, and his hand drooped as he fell into a nap. Ambrosius tried for Watchman, but he too was snoring. Unable to sleep in such an uncomfortable heat, the noble steed slumped in a heap.
Suddenly a warm breeze blew; Ambrosius' canine instincts made him perk up his ears and raise his head to sniff the wind. He caught a whiff of something, something fresh and cool, something not desert-like. He sniffed again, catching the direction from which it came. He also smelled fruits, and water, and grass!
Energized and quite jovial, Ambrosius jumped up and literally followed his nose. Every step he took the smell got stronger. His tongue fell out of his mouth in anticipation for the plump, ripe, tasty fruit he smelled.
Ambrosius' nose, in perfect conjunction with his feet, led him over two dunes and down a valley. Upon going up the third, something large and very green loomed over Ambrosius. The dog shook with joy. Only a tail length away was the most beautiful desert oasis that Ambrosius had ever seen. This being his first time in a desert however, there wasn't much comparison.
Everything was green!
And purple!
And yellow!
And all types of bright and pretty colors!
But since Ambrosius was colorblind, it all kind of blended together. The thing that really got him going, however, was the smell. He could smell the wetness, the moisture, and the juiciness of all this tasty vegetation! Being a dog, Ambrosius usually preferred meat to anything. But this! This called to him -called to every sense he owned- in a way that no heap of victuals ever had before. With a barely contained puppy-like yelp, and stomach growling to the sky, the noble steed soared into the oasis.
This was so much better than the dream he had had a few hours before. Ambrosius romped through the absolute myriad of fruits he had never tasted before. He barely stopped moving! Every time the dog bit into a fruit, he caught a whiff of an even sweeter one behind him. His tediously groomed and monotonously shampooed fur quickly became gloriously sticky and blissfully stained from all the juice. Ambrosius ate and ate and ate and devoured and demolished every single fruit he could smell! The dog was ecstatic.
After not long at all -though it seemed forever to him- Ambrosius could eat no more. He tried, but was too content with what sat in his stomach to move between any more trees or bushes. The noble steed collapsed in the luscious grass underneath his feet. He let out a pleased doggie sigh, and watched a feathered seed rise and sink on his breath.
FWOMP!
Ambrosius hadn't fell very far. Only a couple feet down, but it still caught him by surprise. All feelings of comfort vanished, and those of fear kicked in. He was in a hole, a hole that opened up right underneath where he was laying only a moment before. He could see the mouth, and the glorious sunlight that didn't seem to pierce the dark of the hole. Ambrosius tried to leap for the hole, but he was so bloated he fell flat on his stomach. Almost as quickly as it had opened, the hole closed over, leaving the noble steed totally surrounded by deep, scary, darkness. Ambrosius then did something that he had not done since he was a puppy.
He wet himself.
*********
Plinkkkkk-kuuuh!
Plinkkkkk-kuuuh!
Plinkkkkk-kuuuh!
Watchman stirred. The small raindrops hit his helmet and echoed, serving as his alarm. He shot up, not bothering to shake himself. The sky was dark purple and no stars could be seen. He whirled around to wake Didymus, but the hero was already up. He was standing squarely a few feet away, hands thrown aside, head darting from left to right.
"Ambrosius!" he said to Watchman. "He's gone!"
Watchman's heart beet quickened. Not only were they in a practically endless desert missing a member of their party, but on top of everything, it was night. The spiders came out at night! And these spiders loved the rain. You couldn't see them in rain. Shadows didn't appear in rain. Until the lightning flashed, but by then it was too late.
The dark dots on the sand began to multiply at an alarming rate.
"Didymus! Grab I'll grab the gear!" He yelled, grabbing both his and Didymus' pack. "Are you any good at tracking?" Despite the dreary circumstances, Didymus laughed.
"Be it raining like the forty-day flood?" The small hero immediately set his nose to the ground, sniffing within an inch over every piece of sand. He circled and weaved and then circled some more, just like his pappy had taught him to do in such a situation. He was getting frustrated, however; the rain was washing away all the scent. It was hard to get a bearing. But then.
Didymus shot over the dune. "Follow hither, and quickly!" He yelled back. Watchman bounded for all he was worth. Didymus kept going, bent over double, snout just hovering over the dunes. When Didymus caught a scent, he never lost it. He could practically see Ambrosius, his noble and trusty steed, running over the same dune. Didymus exploded over the peak of the third hill and stopped. Watchman was not far behind.
BOOM-CRRACKKKK!
Lightning flashed for only a moment, illuminating the oasis before which the duo stood. Didymus now had a crude picture in his mind of where he was going. Plus, he could smell all the sweetly rotting fruit. He turned to Watchman. "He is here.or was, at least." Watchman followed Didymus into the oasis. The rain was lessened there, though not completely stopped. They walked, cautiously, closer to the center of the desert sanctuary. Another streak of lightning fell. Didymus stopped Watchman from walking and pointed to something lying on the ground.
"It be my steed's saddle and pack!" he said, bending to pick it up.
"Well, now we know for sure that he was here." Watchman sat down. "But from what I saw, this oasis is too big to search through all of it tonight. And that rain ain't gonna help much."
Didymus whirled on him. "But the spiders! And my Ambrosius!"
"Easy, easy!" Watchman said. "From what I know (and that's pretty much, 'cuz I've lived in the desert for seven years) spiders don't check much in the oasis's. I'm guessin' they prefer to chase a body all through the dunes. So I'm also guessin' Ambrosius is still somewhere in this'n oasis, so he's pretty safe. And so are we." Didymus looked a bit better, so Watchman got up. "Here, help me with this." He said. They both pulled some of the huge leaves down to a peak and lashed them together, forming a lean-to that kept them mostly dry for the rest of the night. Both Watchman and Didymus tried, but neither could sleep. Whether it was the fruit or something else, something stunk horribly. Both man and dog could smell it. And that something didn't seem friendly.
He rounded the hedges that bordered the Mykus Villa where he and Didymus lived. What he saw gave him an extra bout of speed. Didymus was standing on the veranda, ringing the dinner bell, and he had in his very forepaws, the largest, and most luscious looking chewing bone Ambrosius had ever seen! He could even hear his master calling him.
"Ambrosius." Didymus continued to ring the bell.
Suddenly Ambrosius couldn't run any more!
He legs were moving, but he wasn't going anywhere.
He was hock deep in.molasses!
Oh yummy! Ambrosius thought. He began licking all the wonderfully sticky and sweet liquid that surrounded him. Ambrosius really liked molasses. Moreover, this molasses was especially delightful, because someone had stirred in lots and lots of coconut shavings. Yummy!
But Didymus kept ringing that bell.
"Ambrosius!"
Lick.lick.yummy.lick.
"Ambrosius would you stop licking my foot!"
Ambrosius woke up and pouted. Too bad that he was only dreaming.
Didymus glared at him. "Watchman hath been ringing yon bell for over two minutes! And thou still didst not wake! So wake!"
The noble steed shook himself, then followed the already cleaned and clothed Didymus down to the mess hall.
*********
After a hearty, yet rushed, breakfast, Watchman, Didymus and Ambrosius began their trek to the Greatly Rumoured School of Knightship and Heroism. It was only around nine o'clock, yet the sun was rising swiftly. There was a definite and sudden rise in temperature as the trio stepped out of the tower.
"Looks like it's gonna be a scorcher." Watchman said. "I'm glad Ambrosius can carry all that water." Didymus looked down at his steed and smiled proudly. Ambrosius had about four two-gallon sized waterskins slung over his saddle. He was bearing them easily, strutting proudly over the sand. Didymus too set his jaw straightly and rode gallantly high.
As they began to stride away, Didymus realized something. If Watchman's job was to be a watchman and guard the tower, he, Didymus, was keeping Watchman from completing his task! And everyone knows that hindrance was no quality any hero wants to have. Unless you are hindering a task of evil, of course.
"Sir Watchman," Didymus addressed him. "Who shall be watching thine tower whilst we make trek?" Watchman picked up the worried undertone in the rider's voice and smiled knowingly.
"Aw, you don't have to worry about that!" Watchman shrugged. "You're the first one to come along in seven years. The tower can stand a few days on it's own."
*********
Somewhere deep beneath the desert sand, within a vaulted darkness, a pair of pale orange eyes was suddenly awakened. They blinked twice, and then squinted, as if listening. The eyes just stayed awhile, listening.
They found their disturbance.
A thin voice forced itself upon the dark, a voice that had not been heard for more than three decades.
"Something moves." the voice said. "Something comes!" The voice changed into a low, Machiavellian laugh. The pair of glowing orbs closed.
And the body they belonged to moved.
*********
The journey was long. And as it got longer, it began to get hard. And as it got harder, all three began to tire. They had been traveling for four hours straight, yet the sun remained just on top of them. It seemed to follow them, parallel to their direction, as if it had a will to stop them from going to the school. Though they had plenty of water, it seemed like they could never get enough. Every few paces Watchman would have everyone stop to take more water. His armor had, for the first time in seven years, began to get very heavy. But he knew Ambrosius could carry no more than he already was. Watchman lay back on the sand and let out an exasperated sigh.
So did Didymus and his steed. "As a point of fact," Didymus said to Watchman. "I almost wish this whole desert to be cursed with the Jump Magic!"
Watchman laughed. "That would make it a bit easier, wouldn't it?" Ambrosius began to whine and crawled over to where Didymus lay. He wedged his snout under Didymus' forepaw, begging him to pet. His master made a weak effort, and his hand drooped as he fell into a nap. Ambrosius tried for Watchman, but he too was snoring. Unable to sleep in such an uncomfortable heat, the noble steed slumped in a heap.
Suddenly a warm breeze blew; Ambrosius' canine instincts made him perk up his ears and raise his head to sniff the wind. He caught a whiff of something, something fresh and cool, something not desert-like. He sniffed again, catching the direction from which it came. He also smelled fruits, and water, and grass!
Energized and quite jovial, Ambrosius jumped up and literally followed his nose. Every step he took the smell got stronger. His tongue fell out of his mouth in anticipation for the plump, ripe, tasty fruit he smelled.
Ambrosius' nose, in perfect conjunction with his feet, led him over two dunes and down a valley. Upon going up the third, something large and very green loomed over Ambrosius. The dog shook with joy. Only a tail length away was the most beautiful desert oasis that Ambrosius had ever seen. This being his first time in a desert however, there wasn't much comparison.
Everything was green!
And purple!
And yellow!
And all types of bright and pretty colors!
But since Ambrosius was colorblind, it all kind of blended together. The thing that really got him going, however, was the smell. He could smell the wetness, the moisture, and the juiciness of all this tasty vegetation! Being a dog, Ambrosius usually preferred meat to anything. But this! This called to him -called to every sense he owned- in a way that no heap of victuals ever had before. With a barely contained puppy-like yelp, and stomach growling to the sky, the noble steed soared into the oasis.
This was so much better than the dream he had had a few hours before. Ambrosius romped through the absolute myriad of fruits he had never tasted before. He barely stopped moving! Every time the dog bit into a fruit, he caught a whiff of an even sweeter one behind him. His tediously groomed and monotonously shampooed fur quickly became gloriously sticky and blissfully stained from all the juice. Ambrosius ate and ate and ate and devoured and demolished every single fruit he could smell! The dog was ecstatic.
After not long at all -though it seemed forever to him- Ambrosius could eat no more. He tried, but was too content with what sat in his stomach to move between any more trees or bushes. The noble steed collapsed in the luscious grass underneath his feet. He let out a pleased doggie sigh, and watched a feathered seed rise and sink on his breath.
FWOMP!
Ambrosius hadn't fell very far. Only a couple feet down, but it still caught him by surprise. All feelings of comfort vanished, and those of fear kicked in. He was in a hole, a hole that opened up right underneath where he was laying only a moment before. He could see the mouth, and the glorious sunlight that didn't seem to pierce the dark of the hole. Ambrosius tried to leap for the hole, but he was so bloated he fell flat on his stomach. Almost as quickly as it had opened, the hole closed over, leaving the noble steed totally surrounded by deep, scary, darkness. Ambrosius then did something that he had not done since he was a puppy.
He wet himself.
*********
Plinkkkkk-kuuuh!
Plinkkkkk-kuuuh!
Plinkkkkk-kuuuh!
Watchman stirred. The small raindrops hit his helmet and echoed, serving as his alarm. He shot up, not bothering to shake himself. The sky was dark purple and no stars could be seen. He whirled around to wake Didymus, but the hero was already up. He was standing squarely a few feet away, hands thrown aside, head darting from left to right.
"Ambrosius!" he said to Watchman. "He's gone!"
Watchman's heart beet quickened. Not only were they in a practically endless desert missing a member of their party, but on top of everything, it was night. The spiders came out at night! And these spiders loved the rain. You couldn't see them in rain. Shadows didn't appear in rain. Until the lightning flashed, but by then it was too late.
The dark dots on the sand began to multiply at an alarming rate.
"Didymus! Grab I'll grab the gear!" He yelled, grabbing both his and Didymus' pack. "Are you any good at tracking?" Despite the dreary circumstances, Didymus laughed.
"Be it raining like the forty-day flood?" The small hero immediately set his nose to the ground, sniffing within an inch over every piece of sand. He circled and weaved and then circled some more, just like his pappy had taught him to do in such a situation. He was getting frustrated, however; the rain was washing away all the scent. It was hard to get a bearing. But then.
Didymus shot over the dune. "Follow hither, and quickly!" He yelled back. Watchman bounded for all he was worth. Didymus kept going, bent over double, snout just hovering over the dunes. When Didymus caught a scent, he never lost it. He could practically see Ambrosius, his noble and trusty steed, running over the same dune. Didymus exploded over the peak of the third hill and stopped. Watchman was not far behind.
BOOM-CRRACKKKK!
Lightning flashed for only a moment, illuminating the oasis before which the duo stood. Didymus now had a crude picture in his mind of where he was going. Plus, he could smell all the sweetly rotting fruit. He turned to Watchman. "He is here.or was, at least." Watchman followed Didymus into the oasis. The rain was lessened there, though not completely stopped. They walked, cautiously, closer to the center of the desert sanctuary. Another streak of lightning fell. Didymus stopped Watchman from walking and pointed to something lying on the ground.
"It be my steed's saddle and pack!" he said, bending to pick it up.
"Well, now we know for sure that he was here." Watchman sat down. "But from what I saw, this oasis is too big to search through all of it tonight. And that rain ain't gonna help much."
Didymus whirled on him. "But the spiders! And my Ambrosius!"
"Easy, easy!" Watchman said. "From what I know (and that's pretty much, 'cuz I've lived in the desert for seven years) spiders don't check much in the oasis's. I'm guessin' they prefer to chase a body all through the dunes. So I'm also guessin' Ambrosius is still somewhere in this'n oasis, so he's pretty safe. And so are we." Didymus looked a bit better, so Watchman got up. "Here, help me with this." He said. They both pulled some of the huge leaves down to a peak and lashed them together, forming a lean-to that kept them mostly dry for the rest of the night. Both Watchman and Didymus tried, but neither could sleep. Whether it was the fruit or something else, something stunk horribly. Both man and dog could smell it. And that something didn't seem friendly.