Author's note: Alrighty, thought I'd get started on this. Keep in mind everyone, I'm going to be doing a mix of the animated series and books with the first half of this arc, then I'll be following book events as a guide.
I was fortunate enough to piece this together enough for the first chapter to move things along. That out of the way, enjoy!
After learning why she's called "the Key", Elisheva Bennet had once dismissed the idea that she could be such a person despite the fact she and her family (which she has yet to find and rescue) had been dragged through the portal she'd discovered.
Her new friends Janner, Tink, and Leeli Igiby thought they were merely average children with regular lives and an ordinary past. But they discovered that they're really the Lost Jewels of Anniera, heirs to a legendary kingdom across the sea. Now suddenly everyone wants to kill or catch them.
Things are about to grow more perilous for both the Jewels and the Key alike...
Just a few weeks ago, the Glipwood Township was struck by a mighty rainstorm that descended on the continent of Skree. Ferinia's Flower Shop had lost its roof, and rain flooded the building. Some structures had been flattened, leaving parts of Glipwood in rubble.
Others, like The Only Inn, Books and Crannies, and the town jail, survived, sad reminders of the town that once lay quiet and peaceful at the edge of the cliffs.
Even then the place could not find respite. Soon after, the remaining garrison of Fangs from Fort Lamendron had been ransacking the remains of the town and interrogating those who remained in search of both the Igiby family and the runaway outlander, Elisheva.
After Oskar N. Reteep was stabbed, he was taken in by the Shoosters, a married couple who owned the inn and among a small portion of the few people left in Glipwood.
As bad as he looked, he had come far in the weeks since Joe found him bleeding on the floor of Books and Crannies. The day the storm came, Joe and Addie had spent the better part of the afternoon maneuvering him into the inn. No Fang reinforcements had come since the night before the storm, when the outsider girl left with Podo and the Igibys to Anklejelly Manor to escape the hundreds of Fangs that had come for them. Joe still wasn't sure what became of the Fangs that night, but it seemed that someone, or something, had killed them all.
When the Shoosters emerged from their hiding place the morning after the battle, it felt as if the world of Aerwiar had ended. Dark clouds roiled in the sky above the deserted town, and the streets were clogged with the dust, bones, and armor of countless Fangs. Soon Shaggy emerged from the tavern, and the Shoosters felt great relief at his appearance. They had been neighbors for decades and were the only members of the Glipwood Township who chose to stay rather than flee to Torrboro or Dugtown the night the Igibys and Elisheva fought their way out of the Black Carriage.
But then the one friend the Shoosters had left was taken from them. One afternoon a company of Fangs tore through Glipwood on their way north from Fort Lamendron. From a second-story window of The Only Inn, the Shoosters watched helplessly as Shaggy pushed a wheelbarrow of firewood across the street. When the Fangs saw him, they pushed him to the ground and one of the lizards sank its fangs into Shaggy's leg.
The Fangs left as quickly as they had come, but by the time Joe and Addie raced to Shaggy's side, he was already dead. The Shoosters wept as they buried their friend in the Glipwood Cemetery at the southern end of Vibbly Way. Joe scavenged the SHAGGY'S TAVERN sign from the building's wreckage. It bore the name of the tavern and an image of a dog smoking a pipe. Joe placed it at the head of Shaggy's grave after carving, in his finest lettering, the inscription "Shaggy Bandibund, an Exemplary Neighbor and Friend."
Now what's left of Glipwood is crawling with Fangs, demanding to know the whereabouts of Reteep, Elisheva Bennet, Podo Helmer, and the Igiby family, and Joe had no idea why. Oskar had mumbled a great deal in his sleep about the Ice Prairies, the Key and the Jewels of Anniera, whatever those were, but Joe Shooster was merely the proprietor of The Only Inn. He didn't know about such things and didn't care to. He just wanted Oskar to recover and things to some- how go back to the way they were before the Fangs set foot in Skree.
If the Fangs wanted Oskar, then Joe Shooster knew the right thing to do was to keep Oskar hidden. When the old man's wounds were healed, Joe would figure out what to do next. In the meantime, he had to be careful. As Joe had seen, it wasn't just Oskar's life in danger but his and sweet Addie's as well. He hated to think of harm ever coming to her.
Oskar N. Reteep had been recovering behind a secret room hidden behind an armoire, although his condition is still critical, he is recovering fairly well. However even then he was to rest lest his wounds reopened.
As he learned after trying to get ahold of one of his books. Joe Shooster saw him fall over and insisted that Oskar rest.
"We better keep you hidden old friend." Joe shook his head and looked out the window. "Glipwood's crawling with Fangs."
"Oh dear, looking for the Jewels of Anniera and the Key, no doubt." Oskar sighed.
Joe frowned in confusion. "What doe that that have to do with the Igibys?"
"Well, yes. The truth of it Joe is…" Oskar sighed. "The two are one and the same. "
Joe looked at Oskar in eyes with utter surprise. "Whaat…?" He'd ended up murmuring.
"The Igiby children are the Jewels of Anniera."
"Impossible."
"Yes but also true." Oskar confirmed. "They are the Exiled King, Throne Warden and Song maiden of the Shining isle."
"What about that foreign girl? You know the one who kept stopping by your shop after Dragon Day?"
"Elisheva Bennet, she is the Key." Oskar responded. "From what I gather, her family must've been abducted from her homeworld and she'd escaped the Fangs to try and rescue them."
Joe was both stunned and awestruck, "No wonder, and right under our noses this whole time."
And he started helping Oskar back into the hidden room. Then he asked a questioning burning in the back of his mind. "How much did Gnag know?"
"Hard to say. Enough to want to capture those children You mustn't speak of this to anyone Joe." Oskar warned. "Not with that traitorous Zouzab skulking about."
"All the more reason to stay hidden and rest. Addie will be up soon to change your bandage."
Oskar nodded solemnly and Joe move the armoire into place just as Addie opened the door and peeked her head in. Joe turned nervously, then sighed with relief seeing that it was his beloved wife.
"Found a few more bandages." Addie said, showing that she was carrying a basket full of bandages and scissors.
However as she and her husband readied to move the armoire and aid Oskar, a shadow fell upon the room making Addie gasp in alarm.
Joe froze and he risked a glance at the window.
He saw a face staring back at him. A small figure with delicate features and a green vest perched outside the window of room eight. His lime-green eyes were piercing and cold, and they froze Joe in his tracks. Zouzab was looking at the Shoosters, and he began to open the window.
Immediately, Addie dropped the basket and discreetly kicked it under the bed.
The ridgerunner skittered through the window like a spider. "Curious. Scuttling about in empty rooms." Zouzab said. His voice was thin and brittle-not like a child's, but not like a man's either.
"We're innkeepers, Zouzab." Joe replied with a shrug. "It's our job." He detected something sinister in the way the ridgerunner studied him.
"To keep rooms clean and ready for guests." Addie chimed in, adjusting the bedsheets.
Zouzab frowned glancing around.
"Why are you here, ridgerunner?" Joe then demanded.
Zouzab looked at his nails loftily. "The Fangs have requested the pleasure of your company…immediately." He said with a spiteful smile.
The Shoosters froze in place. Joe reassured his wife and they walked out of the room quickly, but calmly. Zouzab followed after, glancing left and right then grinned.
On the other side of the wall, Oskar had been trying to listen in and he was greatly agitated.
"Zouzab!" He' yelped. "Oh, what to do? What to do?"
Just then another sound further send waves of fear through him: the sound of Addie Shooster screaming in fright.
Something was going on. Quickly, Oskar pushed aside some of his books and lifted up a poster of the florid sword to look through a hole. However, this was a periscope disguised as a rain pipe.
Outside, Joe Shooster was held between two Fang scouts and Addie was pinned to the ground on her stomach by one of the burlier Fangs that was taunting them.
"A crow just came, it's the Black Carriage for you two on the suspicion of cavorting with resistance."
Joe Shooster remained quiet letting the Fangs drag and toss him inside.
Oskar watched from his hiding place in horror. "No, no!"
Addie got up and hurried to her husband. "Joe!" She didn't even wait for the Fangs to drag her, she just ran straight inside to Joe. The two held hands and glared defiantly as the carriage door closed.
In the meantime, the Igibys and Elisheva spend the entire summer up in Peet's treehouse home in Glipwood forest, but knew they couldn't stay forever.
Gnag the Nameless and the Fangs of Dang still terrorized the land of Skree, and the shadow they cast covered more of Aerwiar with every passing day. It was only a matter of time before that shadow fell again on the Igibys and on Elisheva. She had not forgotten her goal of rescuing her father and brother wherever they may be.
The children had been curious about Elisheva's home, and as they worked on their T.H.A.G.S. they attempted to incorporate some elements into them. Janner would write about stories Elisheva knew and what New York was like. Tink asked about the statue of liberty and other astonishing sights; he was particularly interested in the trains and the varied methods of transport that ran on steam or electricity. Leeli had asked Elisheva to share songs with for practice on the whistleharp. Some were the occasional show tunes or Disney songs.
What had started as a way to pass the time on a rainy day began a nightly habit. With the family and Peet listening to Elisheva share stories some were anecdotes, some fairytales, others that held deep themes with great meaning to the Bennet family's faith.
Nia and Leeli especially loved hearing the stories of: The Ugly duckling, The Little mermaid, The Princess and the pea, Snow White, Mulan, and parables of the New Testament.
Podo, Janner and Tink quite enjoyed hearing the stories of Aladdin, Peter Pan, Tarzan, the tale of Pesach, and more exciting adventurous tales.
Days ago, a quick shadow passed over the tree house, followed by a high, pleasant sound, like the ring of a massive bell struck by a tiny hammer.
"The lone fendril," said Leeli. 'Tomorrow is the first day of autumn."
In Aerwiar, the official last day of summer is heralded by the passing of the lone fendril, a giant golden bird whose wingspan casts entire towns into a thrilling flicker of shade as it circles the planet in a long, ascending spiral. When it reaches the northern pole of Aerwiar, it hibernates until spring, then reverses its journey.
Elisheva's eyes widened slightly. That meant it would only be a matter of time before the leaves fell.
"Papa," said Nia.
"Eh?" Podo glared out the window in the direction Peet had gone.
"I think it's time we left," Nia said.
Tink and Janner looked at each other and grinned. All homesickness vanished. After weeks of waiting, adventure was upon them.
After Nia's pronouncement, she and Podo proceeded with the day's chores as if a monumental decision had not been reached at all. The next day, the children chopped firewood, washed clothes and blankets, fetched water from the creek, and prepared meat to be salted and dried while the grownups planned, arranged, and discussed.
That evening after dinner, Nia and Podo unrolled an old map to work out their route to the Ice Prairies. They agreed to travel south to the edge of the forest, then west along the border until they reached the road to Torrboro. At Torrboro, they would travel south and west again in order to skirt the city and avoid the Fangs concentrated there.
"Three days west of Torrboro, the Mighty Blapp River ain't so mighty. It's wide but shallow enough to ford," Podo said. "And the Fangs should be scarce there."
"What about the Barrier?" Nia said.
"What's the Barrier?" Elisheva asked.
"I reckon you wouldn't have heard of it. It's here," Podo said, and he ran his finger across the map. "The Barrier is Gnag's best attempt to keep Skreeans from doin' exactly what we're tryin' to do. It's a wall that runs the length of the southern border of the Stony Mountains. It's patrolled by Fangs night and day. A few years after the Fangs took over, some folks realized the Fangs didn't move too fast in the cold, so a lot of Skreeans fled north. 'Course, most of 'em died. Fangs are slower in the cold, but they can still fight, and they can still bite. Especially when those they're after are women and children and men without weapons. Gnag's answer was to construct the barrier."
Leeli and Peet spent hours together either reading stories or with him dancing about with great swoops of his socked hands while she played her whistleharp. Leeli's presence and Elisheva singing gentle songs seemed to have a medicinal effect on Peet. When they were together, his jitters ceased, his eyes stopped shifting, and his voice took on a deeper, less strained quality. The strong and pleasant sound of it helped Janner believe his mother's stories about Artham P. Wingfeather's exploits in Anniera before the Great War.
Elisheva suspected he suffered from a bizarre form of Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), it certainly explained why the Sock man was about what happened to his hands.
The only negative aspect of Leeli and Peet's friendship was that it made Podo jealous. Before Peet the Sock Man entered their lives, Podo and Leeli shared a special bond, partly because each of them had only one working leg and partly because of the ancient affection that exists between grandfathers and granddaughters. Nia once told Janner that it was also partly because Leeli looked a lot like her late grandmother Wendolyn.
"Your grandfather is good man, but he's lived through stories that he's never told." Nia had said to Leeli.
Aside from sword fighting lessons from Podo and practicing archery with the boys, Elisheva had begun diligently working on a making several shepherd slings with Nia's help. Peet did his part by bringing back small stones and pebbles– the smoother, the better.
Since Janner had learned he was a Throne Warden, he had tried to take his responsibility to protect the king seriously. His mother's stories about Peet's dashing reputation as a Throne Warden in Anniera made Janner proud of the ancient tradition of which he was a part.' The trouble was that he was supposed to protect his younger brother, Tink, who happened to be the High King. It wasn't that Janner was jealous; he had no wish to rule anything. But sometimes it felt odd that his skinny, reckless brother was, of all things, a king, much less the king of the fabled Shining Isle of Anniera.
"Quill diggle! Quill diggle!" Podo was banging two branches together.
Leeli was atop of her dog Nugget, she played an encouraging melody on her new silvery whistleharp.
Janner, Tink and Elisheva then got into position. With the next call, they pulled out their blades as Podo tugged on a rope. Once he did, wooden targets made from wood came up. The three threw their blades at the targets.
What was happening was a training session. The training drills became a daily occurrence since their arrival at Peet's tree house, and the children had gradually stopped shrieking with panic whenever Podo's hollers disturbed the otherwise quiet wood.
"Horned hounds! Pack of hounds!"
Nugget bounded over with Leeli still on his back.
"I fled to safety Grandpa." Leeli said with a wry grin.
"Atta girl!"
"Can't I at least throw rocks?" Leeli asked in exasperation.
"Not in the plan, just stay tucked away." Podo replied, intending to keep her safe.
Leeli pouted. Her grandfather had kept insisting she hide away with Nugget even after Elisheva had given Leeli a sling of her own to use.
At least Elisheva got to get in on the training despite the fact that the older girl needed work on her aim in regards to archery. Nia joined Leeli and watched as the boys and Elisheva trained under Podo's watchful eye.
The young woman from another world was thriving by learning how to fight back and coming out of her shell. And there were times that she would practice on her own to the point of exhaustion. For she had a fierce drive and loyalty to those close to her be they family or friend.
Back in Glipwood, another carriage has arrived and out stepped General Khrak the most feared Fang in Skree.
One of the fangs approached. "General Khrak, we searched the town, no sign of the nasty piggibys, the runaway nor the fat bookman."
"Have you looked in the forest yet?" Khrak hissed.
"It's a big forest, sir!"
Khrak towered over his subordinate. "Then why are you standing here?! Go find them!"
"They can't find them." Someone else spoke.
Khrak turned to his right to see Zouzab crouched three feet away.
General Khrak cast a cold eye on him. "Say what you have to say, ridgerunner."
Zouzab leapt into the air and landed a meter away from Khrak. "Most generous General Khrak, and… bestower of delicious fruits…?"
Khrak rolled his eyes. "That can be arranged. Tell me what you know."
"Igibys and pretty wandering maid are sneaky hiders deep in Glipwood forest. I told your troops but…" Zouzab shrugged sheepishly. "Fangs refused."
Khrak glowered. "Refused?"
"They said I was lying! Insisted the ridgerunner. But they were afraid. Afraid of toothy cows, and other vicious creatures." Zouzab then chuckled deviously.
"I have a few vicious creatures of my own." Khrak replied. "We'll clear those woods just fine."
"Plumyums now?" Zouzab grinned up at the Fang general.
"Lead me to both the Igibys and the outsider girl first, and then I'll feed you plumyums til you pop!"
Zouzab smirked. It would also be a nice time for him to pay his favorite wandering songbird a visit. After all if this raid was successful he'll be glad to spent some quality time in close proximity.
"Fangs, assemble!" General Khrak roared. "Prepare to march!"
Oskar had listened to the entire thing in shock and what else he saw with the General was enough to motivate him. He had to warn the Igibys and Elisheva of what was fast approaching.
Now Leeli played a spritely tune on the whistleharp, watching Peet swing through the trees pulling a rope or two in the branches.
"What're you doing with that rope Uncle Arthram? " Leeli asked.
Peet hopped down. "Laying traps for nasty Fangs and wiggly thwaps."
"Can Nugget and I help you? " Leeli asked. "In the drills, all I do is play my whistleharp and runaway. I can't even use my new sling. I wish I had a bow like Kal and Janner."
"In your hands, that whistleharp is more powerful than ten bows Little Song Maiden."
Janner and Tink (who was asking to be called Kalmar now) had gotten into a playful scuffle. Elisheva had taken advantage to take an arrow and aim at the
"Do over! Do over!" Elisheva is heard saying. She held up the bow, "Now I'm all warmed up!"
Leeli had knocked down some of the toothy cow targets although Podo lightly insisted the little girl remain hidden. This dismayed Leeli greatly, she wanted to do more.
Elisheva looked at her and patted Nugget's head. "Hey, don't let it get you down. You still remember how I told you the sling worked?" the older girl then paused, "At least in practice at least."
"Yeah, you told me to swing it three times above my head, and let go of one part." Leeli nodded.
"Above all, you keep both eyes on the target." Elisheva chimed in. "And practice sure goes a long way."
Just then a sound had them all alert.
After weeks in Glipwood Forest, Elisheva could recognize the shriek of the cave blat, the gribbit of the bumpy digtoad, the horrible moo of the toothy cow, and the wail of the horned hound. Peet had even taught Janner and his siblings about the various birds that sang in the boughs and how to tell which ones were hostile, which were mischievous, and which were singing dirges for fellow birds that had been gobbled by a gulps-wallow.
But this sound was different.
Janner took quick stock of his family to be sure everyone was present, and to his increasing alarm, all were.
Finally, the voice echoing through the timbers grew near enough that the words became clear.
"TROLLS! TROLLS!"
That sounded familiar.
"…IN THE WORDS OF UBINIOUS THE WHOONED, 'RUN, IGIBYS! IF YOU'RE OUT THERE, RUN! THEY'RE COMING!'"
Janner gazed out, a hand over his eyes and nearly came out of his skin when he recognized his old employer. "Mr. Reteep!"
Oskar Reteep bounced and jiggled atop the bewildered donkey like jelly in an earthquake. He held the reins high in the air and had long since lost any hope of his feet finding the stirrups. His spectacles dangled from one ear, and a magnificent swath of white hair, attached just above his ear, lifted from where he had pressed it to his head and flew behind him like a flag of surrender.
Elisheva's mouth gaped, feeling relieved in more ways than one. The last time they'd had seen Oskar, the old bookstore owner had lay dying on the floor of Books and Crannies, urging them to flee.
On that last, awful night in the Glipwood Township, amidst the horror of the Fang battle, Zouzab's betrayal, and the family's escape to Anklejelly Manor, Elisheva feared Oskar was dead or in a coma. To see him alive came as a shock, but it turned quickly to joy.
"RUN, IGIBYS! YOU TOO YOUNG BENNET! IN THE WORDS OF -" Before he could finish, the poor donkey—whether from fatigue or because he could no longer bear the indignity of such a jiggly rider—went down. Oskar's eyes bulged as he soared through the air toward the clearing where Janner and Elisheva stood. He flew with a surprising grace, hair trailing behind, spectacles dangling, his mouth forming a perfect O as the reins, still firmly in his grip, snapped taut and flipped the round man over to land on his stomach.
"You're alive?!" Janner said in shocked relief.
"Am I?" Oskar winced and placed a hand on his side as Janner helped him to his feet. The old man's middle was wrapped with bloodstained bandages. And those stains were becoming a little more intense.
Podo descended the ladder from Peet's castle with a bundle on his back, while Nia and Leeli gathered food supplies and shoved them into various packs. Tink dropped Peet's leather-bound journals one at a time from a tree house window; Peet caught them and piled them atop a rectangle of coarse fabric spread out on the ground.
"That's all of them, Uncle Peet!" Tink called.
Peet nodded, folded the canvas over the books, and heaved the pile into the hole he had dug.
"I was afraid we'd seen the last of you," Elisheva said to Oskar in concern.
"Can you stand?" Nia hurried over with water from the first well.
"I severely doubt it." Oskar replied with a pained grunt. When he placed his hand on his bandaged abdomen, his hand was bright with blood. His injury must've have reopened in his haste.
"How much time do we have?" Podo barked.
"Minutes. I tried to sneak away, but they saw me, and there are hundreds of them. Hundreds!"
Peet at once bounded up the tree branches until he reached the roof of his treehouse. In the distance, he saw a flock of birds flying away from something that rattled the top of the tree branches. Something big.
A new sound drifted through the woods. A horrible sound. Part moan, part growl, it was clear it came from something large. Even Nugget whined. He bounded to Leeli and pressed his great furry body against her, whether to protect her or to be protected.
Nia applied a few drops to an astonished Oskar's middle, the injury healed and the elderly bookshop owner sat up, flexing his arms without trouble.
"Stupendous! M-might I have a few drops more?"
"You wouldn't want that my friend." Podo chuckled.
"Why not?"
"Take a look at Nugget." Elisheva grinned, jerking a thumb at the dog.
"You might get big." Leeli added from her spot on Nugget's back.
"Is that Nugget…?" Oskar's eyes widened in shock. "Gracious Groblins! The well water did that?!"
"Oh believe it." Elisheva said then became serious. "And I distinctly heard you shout the word trolls."
"Trolls." Oskar fervently nodded with a shudder and wrinkled his nose.
Elisheva exchanged a nervous glance with Janner. Pembrick's Creaturepedia depicted several troll races, all of which were formidable and ghastly to behold.
Podo looked hard at Oskar, then nodded. "Well, whether it's trolls or Fangs or me Great-Granny Olaraye comin, we're getting out of here fast. Lass, keep your weapons at the ready. Janner, tie what ye can to the saddle. Tink!"
"Yes sir," Tink said from behind Podo.
"Help yer sister with her things, then have yer bow and arrow ready. You ride on Nugget with her and shoot at anything you're sure you can hit. Be sure, understand? Arrows are precious."
"Yes," said a papery voice just above them. "Arrows are precious. But they'll do the Igibys nor the pretty wanderer no good, no good, I'm afraid." Zouzab Koit perched high in the overstory and looked down on them, like a cat about to spring.
Oskar sputtered, so enraged that he could think of no one to quote.
"You!" shouted Podo, his face already reddening for the torrent of curses about to burst from his mouth.
Elisheva snarled, "You want me to pound you personally, you two-faced creep?!"
But before she could even climb the tree after the treacherous ridgerunner, Peet the Sock Man screeched and leapt impossibly high, swinging himself into the boughs where Zouzab crouched. Zouzab skittered away, blowing his high-pitched whistle as Peet pursued. In a flurry of whirling branches and falling leaves, the Sock Man and the ridgerunner were out of sight, leaving Elisheva, Podo and Oskar trembling and speechless. Their anger was interrupted by another troll call, then another whistle blow, not far away.
"No time! Move!" Podo said. Nia pushed the din into the hole where Peet had stashed his precious journals. She threw a pile of leaves atop the fresh dirt and spread them around to conceal it. Then she grabbed a sack and stashed it into her pack.
"Papa, where will we go?" Nia cried as Podo rushed up the ladder to the tree house.
"Don't know, lass! North, I reckon," he called over his shoulder.
"But—but there's nothing north but the river. We'll be trapped!"
"Ah!" Oskar said. "There's a bridge. A way across..." He doubled over and coughed. Janner rushed to his side to steady him.
Podo climbed down the ladder in a blur, carrying an armful of dried meat, which he shoved into his pack. "Time to get out of here, fast!"
Janner's sword, lashed to the side of his pack, chunked against his hip when he threw the pack over his shoulders and reminded him how heavy and real and dangerous swords—and the situations that called for them—were.
The growl-moans of the trolls grew louder, and with it the faint thud-thud-thud of marching feet. Leeli sat astride Nugget, her hands on the tufts of black fur that gathered at the sides of her dog's great head, her newest crutch slung with twine over her shoulder. Tink sat just behind his sister with his bow ready.
Elisheva stood nearby, side bag to her hip with her own blade strapped to her back over her cloak.
"Let's go!" Podo shouted.
"After them!" snarled the faint, unmistakable voice of a Fang of Dang.
Elisheva saw a green, scaly face appear in the tree-choked distance, then another, and another. Podo took hold of Nugget's collar and led him at a run, deeper into Glipwood Forest.
Through the forest they ran. Behind them, like an invisible storm blowing through the trees, came the howls and moans and stomping feet of the Fang army. Peet the Sock Man was nowhere to be seen, but his screech occasionally cut through the darker sounds behind them. Podo drove them onward, and even with his peglegged limp, he had to check his speed to allow the rest to keep up.
Janner and his mother ran with Oskar, who was picking up the pace thanks to the well water.
As they ran, Elisheva looked over her shoulder to see a line of Fangs weaving in and out of the trees, and among them, three lumbering trolls, which broke fat limbs like twigs.
"YIIE!" She yelped. Now she knew why characters are warned not to look back.
To be continued…