“MMmMmmmm, that is most interesting theory, yes it is,” 27 replied, struggling against his bounds. “However, if that is the case, then we have big problem, yes we do. Without your Yiklar Amulet of Open Ears, how are we supposed to befriend and barter with these elves? Let alone fight them?”
Suddenly, some mee-honk! mee-honk! sounds grabbed Colb and 27’s attention. The chef goblin craned his neck around to see a train of carriages riding up from inland. The vehicle was pulled by a duo of strange, wide-mouthed creatures. They looked a little like chickenhorses, but were tan, featherless, and three times bigger. They both sported a wide hump on their back.
Once the creature-drawn train came to a stop, the elvish guards started lifting members of the party and loading them into the backmost cart one-by-one. “Hurmph! Don’t put me in this camelmule-drawn piece of garbage! Who do you think you are?!” Stibs complained as he struggled against the elves picking him up.
The elves soon shoved Colb into the cart, between 27 and Kashmir. All five members of the crew were packed into this single space, shoulder-to-shoulder. Once they were all in, and elf guard slammed the door shut, locking them inside the carriage-train’s caboose.
Colb’s left arm was touching Kashmir’s skin: it felt warm, like the flesh of a goblin or dwarf. Kashmir continued to sit solemnly, not speaking a word.
“Hmmm, Kashmir?” Colb asked, looking at the child. Colb tapped his arm against hers, prompting the elf to look up at him. Her sky-blue eyes were wet with slush.
“Hmmm, are you okay?” Colb asked. “I hear we were ambushed – you didn’t get hurt, yes?”
Kashmir shook her head, muttering some Elvish phrase. Colb got this impression that this was more of an I-don’t-understand-what-you’re-saying sort of head shake than an answer to his question.
“Hmmm,” Colb muttered. He looked at Kashmir’s neck. For once, her Yiklar Amulet of Open Ears was visible, as the frost constantly surrounding it had thawed – but the magic item looked dull and weakened, just like Colb’s.
Hmmm. This is clearly the Elvish Kingdom, Colb pondered, having seen nothing but elves since waking up. “Hmmm, what’s everything we know about the Elvish Kingdom?” Colb asked, turning to 27.
“MMmMmmmm, that is not long list,” 27 said. “Let’s see… there is queen, yes there is.”
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“Hmmm, a queen that’s specifically angry at Kashmir, yes?” Colb added.
“Do we know why?” 27 questioned.
“Hmmm… I do, it’s one of the first things she told me,” Colb recalled. “Her father wanted to rally an army against the humans on Jaiphione’s Crescent, but the queen wasn’t having it… so she executed him, and banned his family from even thinking about that island ever again, yes? By leaving home and going to Jaiphione’s Crescent, Kashmir became a traitor.”
“MMmMmmmm, that’s quite a problem, yes it is,” 27 replied. “No wonder we’ve been captured.”
“Hurmph, do we know anything else?” Stibs chimed in from the opposite side of 27. “That sounds like elvish rule-breaking squabbles that, frankly, we don’t want to get involved in. We have a mission to finish, and we’re not getting to the Frosted Wastes anytime soon as prisoners.”
“Hmmm, well, perhaps we could guess where we’re going, yes?” Colb proposed. “Maybe to a prison? Maybe to talk with the queen?”
“Rrghegh, maybe to be executed,” Drek grumbled from next to Stibs. “We need to escape.”
“Hurmph! I couldn’t agree more,” Stibs added.
Colb looked back over at Kashmir. She was solemnly staring at the wooden floor of the carriage-train cart. Suddenly, this gave Colb an idea.
“Hmmm, I’m going to ask Kashmir where she thinks we’re going,” he announced. Colb wiggled one of his little green feet closer to where Kashmir was looking. Using his sharp yellow toenails, he meticulously etched a drawing of a cart holding five stick figures into the wooden floor. It looked like a child’s drawing when he was done with it, but it was better than nothing.
Colb then drew three arrows from the cart, pointing at three different possible destinations: a crown, a gravestone, and a prison cell. Once he was done, he looked at Kashmir expectantly.
The elf blinked away her slushy tears, and surveyed the drawings. After a moment, she began to cry some more, shamefully pointing towards the crown with the tip of her shoe.
“Hmmm, I think Kashmir’s expecting this train to bring us to the queen,” Colb revealed to the others.
“MMmMmmmm, so we’re going to see royalty?” 27 repeated. “With this anti-magic nonsense going on, my Yiklar Bag of Traveling Inventory will not work, no it will not. Otherwise, I would suggest we simply impress the queen with my many fantastic deals. Then, she would surely let us go and forgive Kashmir, yes she would.”
“Rrghegh, that is not good plan,” Drek countered. “If queen killed Kashmir’s father, she might do the same to us. This may be death sentences. It’s better to just find a way to escape now.”
As Drek went back to surveying the cart for escape options, Colb sighed and looked back at Kashmir. Her brilliant blue-black hair looked jumpy and youthful – but she acted like a cowmammoth heading to slaughter.
Hmmm, Kashmir has an incredible number of years left to live, Colb thought to himself. It’s too early for her to perish anytime soon. I don’t know what this queen will be like… and I can’t even talk to Kashmir anymore… but right now, in my mind, I make this vow: no matter what, I’m not letting that queen end Kashmir’s life. No today, not ever. Not as long as I have something to say about it, yes?