Lady Banes Castle
She paced, eyeing the magical cage containing the soul of the unlucky gummi shed selected. Unlucky How ironic. The blasted bears name was Lucki yet hed died in battle against her. Hed gone up against her personally so of course she felt very satisfied stealing his body, reanimating it, and rending his soul. However, unlucky for her, shed discovered a snag. A powerful snag, so it seemed. The soul, though she tried very hard, could not be completely severed from its corporeal host. Oh, it was an easy matter to rip a human soul from its body and destroy it, but no matter what she tried, she could not seem to break the tie of the body and soul in this gummi.
As the evil sorceress poured over books and scrolls, seeking an answer, she took, a moment to display her disgust and glanced over at the wretched bear torn in two. The body lay fine on the ground but the soul kept a filament of itself attached to it like the stickiest and most unrelenting of cobwebs!
Her disgust overflowed into frustration. She flung the books and scrolls off her study pedestal. They crashed to the ground with a flutter of paper. She glared at the pulled soul and stormed out of her study. Every great mind needs rest. Perhaps she needed just that remedy to sort out her dilemma. There had to be a way around this problem!
Lady Bane stretched out along the length of her luxurious bed, finding no solace in the rich wisps of fabric which hung in droves from the canopy. She loved rich things nearly as much as power. This eve, however, she tossed and turned on such coveted silks and satins.
Her bed chamber door was thrust open by tiny hands. A small troggle hopped in nervously. It held a violin and bow in its hands. Music? Music?
So the little beast heard her rustling. Yes, yes. Just get to playing!
She often had her troggles play for her but now that she had so few, her nights had less music. The creatures reproduced fast enough but the young still needed time to grow up and learn how to serve her. Such a pain. She refused to have the young ones anywhere near her. Only trained troggles would she have in her castle. This one was the youngest shed seen allowed by her chief troggle. Perhaps she had drained her supply of troggles more than shed thought. Well, whatever else were they for aside from gophers and servants and cannon fodder?
The music the young troggle played was decent, even soothing. Lady Bane recited her sleep protection incantation so that nothing could harm her in her sleep, from afar or from near, and only then did she feel secure enough to turn over an hourglass and shut her eyes. Sleep came for her quickly.
You silly child. You really dont understand gummies at all.
Mother? Lady Bane thought. It was a dream, a memory? Both? She saw her mother clearly. Looming, dark, frightening. It was just after that Emi gummi left. Why was Mother so interested in Emi?
They arent like we humans at all. Strong ties to the earth. Even bound. Thats where you strike them. Thats where they are at their weakest. Their binding ties. Home, family, love. She smeared the last word. Oh, I doubt youll ever understand.
As usual, her mother swept away, ignoring her.
The evil sorceress woke with a start.
Lady Bane did not sleep long, ever. It was wasteful, such time unawares. She refused to sleep more than three hours for every two days. Waking spells and youth spells and harmful spells she had aplenty. She checked her hourglass. One and a half hours. It was enough for now. There was little time remaining.
The young troggle gone, she yelled for one to arrive. An old troggle, she demanded a refreshing drink and kicked him out of her way as she sped to her study. Yes, the soul still clung there, stuck in her magical cage, and stuck to its body.
Vision or dream, it was a wake-up call for Lady Bane. Emi was indeed on the rise. She shuddered. Having no time to work out how to break a gummis bond to its body, or earth or whatever her mother was trying to tell her, she decided on a new and nearly as devious tactic. If she could not separate them, shed merely contain the soul and just control the puppet meat-sack for her own intentions. The soul was powerless in her magical cage. Absolutely powerless.
Gummadoon Halls
Tavi had no luck with the maps and even if she wanted to use her medallions to find Merlinnis room, just asking did nothing so she went back to look for her fellows. She nearly ran Cubbi down at a hall corner.
THERE you are! What took so long? he asked.
Nothing. She didnt want to tell them that she tried using the medallions. Did you find anything?
Yeah. Cubbi grinned up at Corvi. We found an old census that told us where Merlinni stayed here.
This way. Corvi led them to the wizards block of chambers. There used to be another room over here. Merlinnis room was so full of books and scrolls and stuff they just took out his bed and made it a smaller library of rarer books. Then they closed it up after the whole Emi thing.
Corvi led them back to the Library, to a side room, to a large tapestry of gummi knights holding flowers of all things.
Huh. Weird tapestry, thought Cubbi. Hed noticed it sort of before but now he really looked at it. No knights he knew were on the tapestry. Old thing. Hed love to hear that story some day.
Corvi pulled back the tapestry and showed them both a large iron door. He pointed to a key hole. We need a key to get in here. So... Who do you think has a master key to Gummadoon?
Cubbi sighed, knowing at least one likely bear. Sir Plucki.
I think so, too. But how do we get it? Destini said they wont find the answers in time. It really IS up to us. So, cmon! How? Tavi demanded, feeling the pressure of time and evil weighing on her young shoulders.
Corvi shrugged, Cubbi shrugged.
They heard footsteps and quickly backtracked out to the main part of the library. Sir Gumlittle was walking through the library. He looked like he was on a mission. He saw the three cubs and stopped in his tracks.
There you are! Weve been looking all over!
Uh The three cubs exchanged glances. Were they caught?
Sir Plucki and Sir Blastus are waiting with the other pages and squires. Come on, you two! And the big knight took a hand each of Cubbis and Corvis and ushered them to some unknown destination and project.
Tavi could only look on and roll her eyes. Just great. Now its just up to me? She looked at her chest. Cmon, you medallions. Can I get some help here?