Chapter 17: The Battle in the Tunnels

Google: docs, pub

Alfred looked at Jack.  “Why would we go to the goblins?  Shouldn’t we try to escape instead?

“Oh there’s no escape,” Jack said.  “Believe me, I’ve tried.  The goblins keep all the tunnels guarded.  We couldn’t get to one of the exits before they all swarmed all over us and dragged us back down to the caves.”

“I see,” said Alfred.

“We should get going now,” said Jack.  “We need to hurry back to the others.  The goblin king will be angry if we are late.”

“And what happens if he is angry?” asked Alfred.

“Lots of stomping and yelling,” answered Jack.  “Sometimes he throws things.  And then, they get out the whips.”

Jack brought Alfred down to meet Grinthal, the king of the goblins.  When they got to Grinthal’s throne room, Jack actually bowed.  Although Alfred stayed standing.  “Your majesty,” Jack said.  “I have brought my friend to you, as I have been ordered.”

“Excellent,” said King Grinthal.  “Now, get down to the mines at once.  You’re late.”

“Your majesty, he hasn’t eaten anything yet,” Jack said.

“That is his fault,” Grinthal replied.  “The rest of the children have had time to eat.”

“But he was only just now captured by your soldiers,” Alfred said.  “He couldn’t possibly have had time to eat anything.”

“Oh, very well,” Grinthal said.  “He may stay and eat.  You must go and start digging.”

Before he left, Jack grabbed Alfred quickly by the elbow.  “King Grinthal has a temper,” Jack said quickly.  “You mustn’t say anything that will contradict him.  Just eat your gruel as quickly as you can, and then come down and join us.”

King Grinthal indicated a wooden table where Alfred was directed to sit.  The table was empty now, but it had not yet been cleared, and there were lots of bowls still on the table.  Alfred sat down.  A scurrying goblin came and placed a fresh bowl of gruel on his table.

Alfred looked down at the gruel.  He didn’t feel particularly hungry at the moment.  He was too overwhelmed with trying to figure out what was happening.  Alfred looked up at the Grinthal.  “So, where am I exactly?” he asked.

Grinthal flew into a rage and started hopping up and down.  “Didn’t that boy Jack explain things to you?  He was supposed to tell you everything, so that I wouldn’t be bothered with your stupid questions.”

“Well, yes, he did tell me some things,” Alfred began.  “But I was wondering--”

Grinthal threw his golden scepter at Alfred’s head before he could finish.  Alfred ducked, and the scepter clattered against the wall.  “Then be quiet!” Grinthal roared.  “Speak only when you are spoken to.  Do not disturb the great king.”

Grinthal looked just like any other goblin, which is to say he was short.   Goblins are about 3 feet high.  They have short legs, and long spindly arms, and their whole bodies are covered with short brown hair.  And they have short tempers.  It’s very easy to upset them, and to get them hopping up and down in anger, just like Grinthal was doing now.

“Eat your gruel!” Grinthal commanded.  “You have a long day of digging in the mines, and you must build up your strength.”

“But why must I dig--” Alfred began, but he was cut off when Grinthal threw the orb at him.

*************************************************************************

Catherine, Carlyle, Shawn, Kevin, Molly and Lucinda stood at the entrance to the goblin tunnels. 

“So what do we do now?” asked Molly.  “Do we go in?”

“We do,” said Catherine.   “We go in and see if we can find Alfred.”

“But there are goblins inside,” said Shawn.

“No one is forced to come inside,” Catherine said.  “You may come if you wish.  Otherwise, you may stay behind.”

They all looked at each other.  “I’ll come,” Shawn said in a decisive tone.  

“I’ll come,” Molly said.

“I’ll come,” said Lucinda and Kevin together.

We should probably have someone stay back to communicate with the other members of the group,” Carlyle said.  “Just in case anything goes wrong, we want them to know where we are.”

“I can help,” said Bettina the raven.  “I’ll fly down and let them know where you are.”

“That would be a great help to us,” said Catherine.  

Then, Carlyle, Catherine, Shawn, Lucinda, Molly and Kevin all entered into the cave.  

They were all armed.  Lately, they had started taking their weapons everywhere.  Shawn was carrying his father’s sword, Lucinda had her spear with her, Molly had her giant wooden staff, Kevin had his huge club, and of course, Carlyle carried Finn’s old sword.  

It was dark, at first.  (The moonstones which Alfred had seen were only located in the parts of the tunnels where the goblins allowed their child slaves to go.)  But Catherine produced the light for them by humming.  Her hands glowed with the electricity.

As they walked down the tunnel, it wasn’t long before they encountered their first goblin.  At first, it was just one lone goblin, and he was very surprised to see them.  In fact, when he first saw them, he immediately let out a high pitched little scream, and then ran away.

The goblin was evidently more scared of them than they were of him.  But still, there was something about that little scream which shocked and unnerved them.  They were all silent for a bit after the goblin had cried out.  Shawn let out a nervous little chuckle, and tried to break the tension with a laugh.  “I didn’t know that’s what they sounded like,” he said.

“If they all run away like that, then we shouldn’t have much to worry about,” said Molly.

“Unless he’s going to sound the alarm, and come back with his friends,” said Lucinda.

“I was just thinking the same thing,” said Carlyle.  “Keep your weapons ready just in case.”

Catherine didn’t say anything.  She just kept humming.

They walked through the tunnel a little bit more.  The path sloped steadily downward, and they walked with Catherine’s light leading the way.

But then, there was some light in the tunnel up ahead.  This was the moonstones that Jack and Alfred had seen earlier.  It was the start of a larger open tunnel.

They walked into the larger more open tunnel, and there was a large group of about fifty goblins assembled.  They all carried little knives, and some of them had pitchforks.  And they looked ready for battle.

They didn’t get much of a chance to say anything to each other before the goblins rushed in and attacked.  

Lucinda thrust her spear forward at some of them to try to keep them at bay. 

Molly swung her giant wooden staff back and forth, knocking goblins back with each swing.

Kevin opted to swing his club like a hammer.  He brought his club up high in the air, and then swung it down to the ground as hard as he could, knocking goblins on the head.

Shawn and Carlyle used their swords as weapons, and battled with the goblins that way.

Catherine never stopped humming.  Her hands were always glowing with power, and whenever a goblin tried to touch her, she reached down and grabbed hold of him, and sent a surge of electricity surging through him, sending the goblin yelping away.

In this way, the group was actually able to hold their own against the goblin attack.  Jack had said that the goblins typically overwhelm their opponents with their numbers.  But whereas fifty goblins might overwhelm one man fairly easily, six can stand a fighting chance against the diminutive warriors.

Slowly, the goblins started to give way.  Slowly, the six of them advanced.

Once they realized the goblins were in a slow retreat, they began to press their advantage forward.  Catherine couldn’t speak, since she had to keep humming, but Carlyle began yelling, “Where is Alfred?  Where is our friend?  What have you done with him?”

The goblins only gave excited squeaking sounds, and high pitched chittering in response.  They jumped up and down, and generally made a lot of noise, but they made no sense.  Clearly they were excited beyond the capability for coherent speech.

“Keep advancing,” Shawn called out.  “Keep fighting.  We’re beating the back slowly.”

But just as Shawn had said that, there was a commotion behind them.  They turned around, and saw a second group of goblins coming from the other direction.  Now they were trapped between two groups--fifty goblins in front of them, fifty goblins behind them.

“Don’t panic,” said Carlyle.  “We can still beat them.  Shawn and I and Molly will fight the goblins behind us.  Catherine, Kevin and Lucinda, you fight the goblins ahead of us.  If we stay organized, we can still fend them off.”

“For how long?” asked Kevin.

Carlyle didn’t answer.

“This was a mistake,” Kevin said nervously.  “We shouldn’t have come into the goblin caves.  There’s nothing but goblins down here.  Even if we can fight our way out from these groups of goblins, there will be just more and more groups of goblins further down the cave.”

“Shut up, Kevin,” Shawn said angrily.  “That kind of talking doesn’t do any of us any good.  Just keep hitting them.”

Catherine, who had still not spoken because she was busy humming, started lashing out at the goblins more furiously.  Her hands began swiping left and right, touching as many goblins as she could and sending charges of electricity into them.

And then, they saw more goblins rushing down to join the fray.  They could see them run down from the far end of the tunnels to help their comrades.

Eventually, they began to get tired.  Molly’s arms ached as she swung the huge staff back and forth.  Kevin’s shoulder was tired from swinging the club.  Lucinda could barely hold on to her spear anymore.  

Eventually, some of the goblins were able to grab onto Lucinda’s spear, and pull it away.  And several of them clung onto Molly’s staff, until she gave up swinging it.  And they also grabbed Kevin’s club.

Carlyle tried very hard to hang onto his father’s sword, but the goblins eventually overwhelmed him, and climbed up all over him, biting his arms and hands with their sharp little teeth.  Eventually he dropped the sword.

“Don’t kill them,” came a sharp little voice from the back.  “King Grinthal wants them alive.”

“But they banged my head with their clubs,” one of the goblins complained.

“You idiot!  They are not yet full grown.  We can use them.  We need more slaves in our mines.  Do not kill them.”

Eventually they all were subdued, and goblins with heavy ropes soon came and climbed over them and tied them up.

Catherine was the last one to be subdued.  Although she had electric power surging through her hands, the goblins overwhelmed her with their numbers. Her power surged through her hands, and the goblins attacked her feet.  She swiped down at them with her hands, and scattered them, but more came in their place.  As quickly as she fought back, they came on.  Soon her legs were tied up with rope, and she was knocked over.  Then the goblins swarmed over her, and tied up the rest of her.

And then they were , all of them, bound

Chapter 16: Alfred is Missing

Google: docs, pub

Catherine, she slept soundly all through the night, and she only woke at dawn once the wolves began to stir.  As the wolves stretched and yawned and barked at the rising sun, Catherine also woke up with them.  

“Good morning,” said Branoc.  “You have slept well.”

Catherine rubbed her eyes.  “I did,” she admitted.  

“And it was just as well,” said Branoc.  “For there was no reason for you to be awake.  The night has passed completely without incident.”

“No one attempted to enter the cave?” Catherine asked.

“No one.  None of the robbers tried to attack you.  And none of the other monsters from the mountains approached either.”

“Yes, it sounds like the robbers have been paying them off,” said Catherine.  “That probably explains why they don’t get bothered.  Okay, let me wake Alfred up then, and we’ll see about making some breakfast.”

But when Catherine went to the back of the cave, Alfred was nowhere to be seen.

“Did Alfred already go out?” Catherine asked the ravens.

“Nobody has gone in or out of the caves,” Baldrick replied.  

“Then where did Alfred go?” Catherine asked.

“He should still be back there,” Bettina replied.  “He never left the cave.”

Catherine thought for a moment, while the wolves and ravens watched her.  Then, she said, “Fetch me the king of the robbers.”

Baldrick, Balsamer and Branoc flew off, and a couple of the wolves ran after them.  Bettina was going to join them, but Catherine stopped her.  “Bettina, wait,” Catherine said.  “I have another job for you.  Fly around the mountain quickly. See if you can spot any signs of Alfred anywhere.”  Bettina nodded and flew off.

Catherine went out of the cave into the morning sun.  Then she saw Carlyle coming up the mountain . Shawn, Kevin, Molly and Lucinda were with him. 

Catherine strode down to meet them.  As she approached, Carlyle opened his mouth to voice a greeting, but before he could say anything, Catherine blurted out, “Alfred’s missing.”

Carlyle still had his mouth open.  He paused and stood there awkwardly for a moment, and then he said, “What happened?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Catherine answered.  “We went to sleep in the caves.  Then, when I woke up, he was gone.”

“Did the robbers come in and get him?”

“They couldn’t have.  The ravens were keeping watch at the cave entrance all night.  No robbers came in.”

“Then what happened?” asked Shawn.

“I don’t know,” Catherine said.  “But there’s something that the robbers aren’t telling us.  And I’m going to find out what it is.  We need to talk to the robber king.”

Verus, the robber king, was aroused from his sleep by cawing ravens and growling wolves, and he came out to meet Catherine and Carlyle.  He walked out calmly, grinning wickedly.  “Hello my children,” he said.  “And what can I do for you today?”

“What happened to Alfred?” Catherine asked.

The robber king just grinned more.  “And who is Alfred?” he asked.

“The boy who was sleeping in the cave with me,” said Catherine.  “He disappeared in the middle of the night.”

“And what makes you think I had anything to do with it?” asked the robber king.

“I don’t think you’re directly responsible,” said Catherine.  “But you know something about these caves which we don’t.”

“Indeed, I do,” Verus answered.  “I suspect I know many things about these caves which you do not.  For there are things that you never bothered to ask about.”

“We’re asking now,” said Carlyle.

“And we won’t ask you again,” said Catherine.  “Tell us, what happened to Alfred?” 

Catherine starting humming, and her hands glowed with the electric power.  But Verus merely chuckled. “I don’t know for sure,” he said, “but I suspect the goblins took him.  That cave in which you slept is connected to the goblin tunnels.  They have a secret door.”

“Show us where the door is,” said Carlyle.

“I would,” Verus said, “But I actually don’t know where it is myself.  All I know is that there is a door in that cave somewhere.  That’s why we usually don’t sleep in it ourselves.  We leave some of our treasures there, and the goblins take what they want, and in return, they leave us alone.”

“Why did the goblins take Alfred?” Catherine asked.

“I really can’t say,” Verus answered.  “One hears stories sometimes of the goblins abducting children.  Your friend Alfred isn’t quite a child, but he’s not a full grown man yet either.  Perhaps he was young enough to be of interest to the goblins.”

“But what did they want him for?” Catherine persisted.

“No one knows,” Versus said.  “Goblins abduct children.  This is all we know.  If you want to find out what happens to the children after the goblins abduct them, you’d have to ask the goblins.”

“Why didn’t you warn us?” Carlyle demanded.

Verus shrugged.  “We submitted to you yesterday.  I have not raised my hand in violence against you since then.  Isn’t that enough?   We never agreed that I was obliged to help you in any way.  The goblins are not under my control.  I did not command them to take your friend, nor would it have been in my power to forbid them.”

Carlyle moved to take his sword out of his sheath, but Catherine held out her hand to stop him.  “Leave it be, Carlyle,” she said.  “He’s spoken fair enough.”  She turned back to Verus.  “Very well, Robber King,” Catherine said.  “You have not acted as an enemy.  But neither have you acted toward us as a friend.  We will remember this.  If you wish to become our friend, you must do better.”

Verus did not say anything in response, but the smile was slightly fading from his mouth.  Something in Catherine’s tone made him suddenly feel anxious.

“You may go now,” Catherine said to Verus.  Verus bowed his head slightly and left.  The smile had now faded from his face.

“Do you think Alfred is okay?” Carlyle asked Catherine.

Catherine was looking slightly pale.  “I don’t know,” she said.  “We’ve never heard of anyone coming back from the goblins.  Still, we have to try.”

“If we can find the secret door…” Carlyle began.

“...maybe we can go down into the goblin tunnels, and find Alfred,” Catherine finished

“But that’s crazy,” Shawn exclaimed.  “You can’t go down into the goblin caves like that.  The goblins will kill you.”

“We can’t leave Alfred,” Catherine said.

“Alfred risked his life to fight with us,” said Carlyle.  “Even when his father tried to stop him.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, a new thought struck Carlyle.  “Oh no, his father!  How are we going to tell Alfred’s father about this?  He already wants to kill me.”

“There’s no point in telling him anything now,” Catherine said.  “It would only worry him unnecessarily.  Let’s see if we can get into the goblin caves first.”

“But we don’t know how long that could take us,” said Carlyle.  “And Alfred’s father could come up here at any time demanding to know where Alfred is.”

Bettina the raven flew down from the tree branch, where she had been perched listening to their conversation, and landed on Catherine’s shoulder.  “I was just flying around the mountain, and I can tell you that Alfred’s father won’t be coming here anytime soon,” she said.  “Right now, he’s actually journeying down the mountain.”

This surprised Catherine and Carlyle.  “What is he going down the mountain for?” Carlyle asked.

“I don’t know,” Bettina said.  “I only know what I see..”

“Who is he traveling with?” asked Catherine.

“He is by himself,” Bettina said.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” said Carlyle.  “He knows how dangerous it is to travel down the mountain by himself.  Why would he do it?”

“Do you want me to fly down and ask him?” offered Bettina.

“No,” Catherine said quickly.  “Don’t bother him right now.  We need to try to rescue Alfred before he finds out his son is missing.”

“The first thing we need to do is try to find the secret entrance the goblins use,” said Carlyle.  “Let’s see if we can get some torches to light up the cave.”

“There’s no need,” said Catherine.  “I can provide the light.”

  Catherine started humming, and her hands glowed again with the bright yellow energy.

Carlyle watched this with concern.  It had been a few days now since Catherine had first demonstrated this power.  But Carlyle still did not understand what was going on, and he had not had the opportunity of asking about it before now.  “How are you doing that?” Carlyle asked.  Catherine didn’t answer,  so Carlyle asked again, “How are you doing that?”

Catherine stopped humming.  The yellow electricity faded.  She turned and looked at Carlyle with an annoyed expression.  “I can’t keep it going if I have to answer your stupid questions.  It only works if I keep humming.”

“But how are you doing that?” Carlyle asked for the third time.

“I don’t know,” said Catherine.  “Something is wrong with me.  I don’t know what it is.  That’s all I know.  Now come on, let’s find that entrance.”

With Catherine leading the way, they all went back to the cave.  Catherine illuminated the cave with her humming and her electric lights, while they searched along the cave floor and the cave walls.  The ravens helped as well, flying around the cave and checking everywhere.

It was Molly who found it.  “Over here guys,” she said excitedly.  There was a small crack in the cave wall.  It looked like it might be an entrance to something.  

Kevin and Shawn tried to get their fingers in the cracks and pry it open.  They couldn’t open it.

“There must be lots of tools here among the thieves’ treasures,” Carlyle suggested.  “Go through all the boxes until we find something we can use.”

They found some hammers, chisels and an awl.  They came back to the cave, and tried to pry the door open with the tools.  It still didn’t work.

“Let me try,” said Catherine.

“It’s no good,” said Kevin.  “We all tried.  We can’t get it open.”

Catherine ignored Kevin.  She put her hands on the cave, and concentrated as hard as she could.  She kept the humming going while she did this, and the energy was flowing through her.  But she tried to concentrate it this time.  She felt like she was getting better at directing it.  As the energy flowed out of her, the stone door began to glow red.

“Catherine, how are you doing that?” asked Kevin.

“Don’t talk to her,” said Carlyle.  “It distracts her.  She needs to keep humming.”

The stone wall kept burning bright red, and then it turned white.  “Stand back,” Shawn advised the others.  “Don’t touch it.”

And then, the stone wall began to crack.  And then, it shattered into many small pieces of rock.  And there, before them, was the entrance to the goblin’s tunnels.

 I posted this over on the main blog.  I should probably post it over here as well just to keep both blogs updated.  This is a fairly good summary of where I've been at with the story the past couple years, and where I'm going from here:

tl;dr I'm going to stop posting my story on this blog, and will only post it on its own blog.

The Long Version

A couple years ago, I made the decision to move my story from its own blog (The Castle in the Magic Forest) over to my main blog here.

I've now decided that this was one of my less inspired decisions, and so I'm going to go back to only posting my story over at its own blog.  At least for now.

When I initially decided to start moving my story over to this blog in 2021, the idea was that I was done fooling around with writing aimlessly, and I was ready to start working seriously on a polished second draft.  

As I said at the time:

I've now decided to go ahead and start writing that second draft.  And because the whole point of this second draft is that it's supposed to be readable by other people, I'm going to start posting those chapters here on this blog. 

But "second draft" was always a misnomer on my part.  It wasn't the second draft.  It was actually the first draft of the backstory. 

In my original story, the characters of Catherine and Carlyle were 65 years old, and the main story was about their children and grandchildren.  But as I was writing that story, I gradually began to realize that there was a lot of backstory to the older characters, and that it might make the story less confusing if I just went back to the beginning and tried to tell it all chronologically.  So when I decided to go back and write about Catherine and Carlyle when they were 15, I was moving the timeline back 50 years from everything I had written previously, and was essentially creating a whole new story.  

[I know I'm on record as saying prequels are awful--see, for example, HERE and HERE--but I think going back to explore the backstory while you're still writing is different.  Since the narrative is still in the process of being formed, you can, in theory, still smooth out the continuity so that everything fits together.  And in fact there are a lot of great novels in which the author realized somewhere along the line that the backstory was more interesting than the story--War and Peace, for example, or To Kill a Mockingbird.  

I'm not comparing my story to those novels, I'm just trying to establish some precedents for a general principle: writing a prequel to an existing story is a bad idea, but developing the backstory of a work in progress can sometimes be a good idea.]

So anyway, I wasn't polishing up an existing story into a second draft, instead I was writing the first draft of a something new.  But despite this, there was supposed to have been a difference in the writing style.  In the original story, I was literally making it up as I went along.  When I sat down to write my 15 minutes each night, I had no idea what I was going to write, and I just formed the story as I typed.

With the new backstory, though, it was supposed to be different.  I was actually going to plan out the whole thing, and have character arcs and a story structure.  And in that sense, it was supposed to be more presentable than the original story.  

I was inspired by one of Steve Donoghue's videos on writing, in which he said that if you're going to spend the time writing something, you might as well make a story that can be presented to other people.  The original story, because I was making it up as I went along, had a number of plot threads that were set up but not followed through.  But this time, I was going to plot it all out carefully.

At least that was the idea.  But it didn't quite work out that way.  I wanted to plan everything out in minute detail before I started writing the backstory (i.e. chapter by chapter, scene by scene), but I couldn't do it.  I sat down at the computer screen, and I just couldn't visualize the story in that much detail before I started writing it.  I needed to actually write the thing before I had a feeling of how it was going to go.  So I made a rough outline of the intended plot, but rough is all I was able to do.

Also it became apparent as I wrote that I didn't have a clear idea of the pacing.  Things that I initially planned to do in three chapters ended up taking me nine chapters.

On December 18, 2021, I realized my mistake, and switched the name from "the second draft" to "the first draft".  (The original story I then re-christened the "zero draft").

As I wrote at the time:

I've decided to do a bit of renaming on my drafts.  I'd been calling the draft I've been posting on this blog a second draft, but I've decided that's not really an accurate description.  It's more of a first draft on the backstory.  All the story in it I'm working through for the first time.

Plus, my so-called "first draft" isn't really a serious draft.  It's more just playing around (what Steve Donoghue refers to in his video as being a Pantsers).  So I've decided to re-name the so-called first draft as the "zero draft".  And the so-called second draft is now the "first draft".

Then, in April of 2023, I went a step further and admitted that this draft wasn't ready for feedback yet, and I probably shouldn't even be posting it.  As I wrote at the time:

The prose and story is all still quite rough at the moment.  When posting the previous - chapters, I  - had - solicited - feedback from the readers of this blog.  But I've now decided that this was premature.  This story is still in its rough draft phase.  It's not ready for feedback yet.  Maybe I might get to the point where I'm ready to ask for feedback, but not yet.  

Arguably I shouldn't even be posting it yet.  (Most writers don't share their work when it's still so rough.)  But having started, I may as well keep going.  But now the purpose of sharing these rough draft chapters is just to let readers of this blog can see what I'm up to rather than to solicit feedback.

But after writing that bit, the quality of my writing has even further deteriorated.   

As I wrote in my notes for Chapter 8:

I wrote a lot of this while sleep deprived.  The basic outline of what I want to happen is there, but the prose is not.  Need to rewrite

And then more recently in my notes for Chapter 15: 

Yet another chapter that was mostly written when I was sleep deprived.  It needs some serious re-writing at some point to get it readable.

Now, to answer the obvious question: what am I doing writing when I'm sleep deprived instead of just going to bed?

And the answer is, I don't dare miss a day.  If I miss a day, I'll miss 6 months.  I know this from experience.  Oh, I’ll tell myself I’m only missing one day.  I’ll say to myself, “I’m tired tonight, and it’s been a long day.  I’ll just give myself one day off and then I’ll get right back into it tomorrow.”  But then the next day, I’ll say to myself, “Well, I already broke my writing streak by missing one day.  I'll just take another day off as well."  It happens every time--see HERE and HERE for past examples.  

So it doesn't matter how tired I am or how sleep deprived I am--if I haven't written my 10 minutes for the day, I don't let myself go to sleep until I sit down and write it.

But since I'm working 3 jobs and have two young kids, I'm always busy.  And because, like all writers, I procrastinate on my writing and leave it till the last possible minute, I'm always writing it right before bed, when I'm feeling sleepy.  Some days extremely sleepy.  And it's very hard to write anything that makes sense.

[As to the other obvious question--why am I doing this at all given that I obviously find it such hard work--well, I've wrestled with that question before on this blog--HERE, HERE and HERE, so I won't go through all that again now. ]

I still believe that crappy first drafts can have some value in a story's evolution.  (The prose may not be salvageable, but you can still get an idea of the pacing, the plot points, potential problems and plot holes, etc.)  So I'm going to keep pressing ahead.  But still, it's not the kind of thing you should be sharing with a lot of people.

If this is going to be just a crappy first draft that I write while mostly sleep deprived, and that is going to be mostly unreadable, then there's no need to post it here on the main blog.  I'll just keep working on it over at the other blog instead. 

I'm not hiding it completely.  If you want to follow my progress, you can still go to https://thecastleinthemagicforest.blogspot.com/.  But it just doesn't make sense to show this story prominently on my main blog if this is the state it's going to be in.

When I get to the third draft stage (if I ever get to the third draft stage) then I'll start posting the story over here on my main blog again. 

Chapter 15: In the Goblin Caves

Google: docs, pub

The wolves had made themselves quite happy in the biggest cave.  They had been used to sleeping out on the cold snowy ground, but the cave offered sufficient protection from the elements.  The stone floor was hard, but Catherine had taken some of the quilts and blankets from the robbers’ treasures, and spread them out for the wolves to lie down on.  Seldom had the wild beasts had such luxury, and they stretched out happily on the blankets and went to sleep.

The robbers slept in the other four caves.  But Catherine and Alfred opted to sleep in the same cave as the wolves.  “Shouldn’t you be sleeping in the same caves as the robbers?” Balsamer the raven asked.  “I thought the whole point was to keep an eye on them.” 

“We don’t want to push things too fast just yet,” said Catherine.  “For the first couple nights, it will be enough to just be in their camp.  Once they get used to us, then we can start sleeping in their caves.”

“You don’t need to worry about a thing,” Branoc said to Catherine.  “My children and I will keep watch for you all night.  If any danger approaches, we’ll wake you up.”

“You have my gratitude,” said Catherine. 

“My family is forever in your debt,” Branoc said, spreading out his wings and lowering his head, which is a bird’s way of bowing.

“Okay, for the first night then, let’s try it like this,” Catherine said.  “We’ll have the ravens at the entrance of the cave keeping guard.  I’ll sleep near the entrance of the cave with the wolves.  That way, if the robbers do decide to break their promise and attack in the middle of the night, the ravens can wake me up, and I can gather the wolves and organize a defense.  Alfred, you sleep behind the wolves, towards the back of the cave.  It’ll be safer back there.”

“I should be the one sleeping at the front of the cave,” said Alfred.  “I’m the man.”

“You’re a boy,” Catherine said.  “You’re younger than me.”

It was getting dark, so Catherine couldn’t technically see Alfred’s cheeks going red with anger, but she could read his expression clearly enough.  The barb had hit home.  

“Besides,” said Catherine, “you don’t control the wolves.  They won’t listen to you if you tell them to attack.”

“But I can still sleep up at the front with you.  I don’t need to hide at the back.”

“It’s not hiding.  It’s strategy. If, by some chance, the robbers do manage to rush in and grab me before I have a chance to wake up, then we don’t want them grabbing both of us at once.  We want you further back so you have a chance to wake up before they get to you.  That way you can rescue me.”

“I guess when you put it that way, it does make some sense,” Alfred admitted, and he went off towards the back of the cave.

Then they all went to sleep.

****************************************************

And so it happened that in the middle of the night Alfred was sleeping soundly near the back of the cave when they came for him. By the time Alfred realized what was happening, it was already too late.  He tried to scream, but his mouth was already being gagged.  He tried to kick at the creatures and fight back, but he found that his legs had already been bound.  Alfred squirmed and wriggled, but it was no use.  There were too many of them.  There must have been about fifty.  They dragged him down, down into the hidden tunnels, far below the cave.  

***************************************************

As for Catherine, she slept soundly all through the night, and she only woke at dawn once the wolves began to stir.  As the wolves stretched and yawned and barked at the rising sun, Catherine also woke up with them.  

“Good morning,” said Branoc.  “You have slept well.”

Catherine rubbed her eyes.  “I did,” she admitted.  

“And it was just as well,” said Branoc.  “For there was no reason for you to be awake.  The night has passed completely without incident.”

“No one attempted to enter the cave?” Catherine asked.

“No one.  None of the robbers tried to attack you.  And none of the other monsters from the mountains approached either.”

“Yes, it sounds like the robbers have been paying them off,” said Catherine.  “That probably explains why they don’t get bothered.  Okay, let me wake Alfred up then, and we’ll see about making some breakfast.”

But when Catherine went to the back of the cave, Alfred was nowhere to be seen.

***************************************************************

When Alfred next awoke, he was in the tunnels.

He sat up and looked around.  It should have been dark in the tunnels, but surprisingly there was enough light to see.  Several of the rocks in the tunnel walls were glowing.

A voice came from behind him.  “Alfred, is that you?”

Alfred turned around and saw a boy about his age.  His face was dirty, his hair was unkempt and his clothes were ragged and torn.  He was staring at Alfred intently.

“Yes, my name’s Alfred.  But who are you?”

“Don’t you recognize me?”

In fact, Alfred probably should have recognized the boy at this point.  But sometimes it can be hard to recognize even a familiar face when you are not expecting to see them.  And Alfred had not expected to see this particular face ever again.

“It’s me,” the boy said.  “Jack.”

And suddenly, Alfred recognized him.  “Jack!” he exclaimed.  “Jack, but how are you still… I mean, everyone thinks you’re dead.”

“Do they?” said Jack.  

“Well, you wandered off by yourself one day, and you never came back.  We just assumed you’d been killed and eaten by some of the beasts on the mountain.”

Jack thought for a moment, and then nodded his head.  “Yes, I suppose that makes sense.  I’d probably think the same thing if I were them.”

“But you’re not dead,” Alfred said excitedly.  “You’re here.  And…”  Alfred stopped and looked around him.  “Where is here, anyway?  Where are we?”

“We are underground, in the goblin tunnels,” said Jack sadly.  “It looks like the goblins have captured you too?”

“I guess so,” said Alfred.  “It was too dark for me to see them.  But something dragged me off.  Somethings, I mean.”

“There were a lot of them, then?” Jack asked.

“Yes.  They had hands and feet just like a human, but they were small, like a little child.”

“Yes, those were the goblins all right,” Jack said.  

“So how did they catch you?” asked Alfred.

Jack sighed.  “Well, as you know, I decided to take a walk by myself.  I was feeling a little bit sick of the group.  Lucas was being obnoxious, as usual, and Molly was talking a lot of nonsense, as usual, and I thought I’d just take a walk by myself to clear my head.  I knew that I shouldn’t go off by myself, but I told myself that it would only be for a little bit, and besides it was still the middle of the day, so I thought it was safe.  But as I was walking, I saw a little goblin sitting on a tree.  I remember he was sitting there just looking at me.  There was only one of them, so I didn’t think too much of it.  I mean, the goblins are so small, that I didn’t think it was frightening when I just saw one of them.  So I kept walking.  But that was my mistake.  I should have ran back the moment I saw him.  The thing about goblins is that there’s never just one of them.  If you see one goblin looking at you, it means that there are fifty more goblins that you can’t see, hiding behind the trees or under the rocks.  And sure enough, as I kept walking, I saw another goblin standing on the ground in front of me, and then a bit further down I saw two more, and by the time I realized I was surrounded, it was too late.  You see, the goblins fight by swarming.”

“Swarming?”

“Yes, you see, if there was just one goblin, you’d be able to fight it pretty easily.  I mean, you’d have to be a little bit careful.  They do have sharp pointy teeth, so they can do some damage if they bite you.  And they have little sharp swords that they carry, so you don’t want to let them stab you.  But generally speaking, assuming the goblin doesn’t sneak up on you from behind or something, if you have a human with a sword fighting against a goblin, the human has a very good chance.  But the problem is they never attack you one on one.  If there’s only one of them, they’ll just run away.  They only attack when there’s about fifty of them together.  And then at that point, you don’t stand a chance.  They just swarm you, and either stab you to death with their short swords, or, in our case, they drag you down into their mines.”

“Ah,” said Alfred.  “Is that where we are now?  In the goblin mines?”

“That’s right,” said Jack.  “I’ve been here for two years now, I think.”

“And why have they captured us?  What do they want with us?”

“They want to make us dig, of course.”

“Dig for what?”

“For whatever we can find.  Gold, silver, diamonds, jewels.  There’s loads of gold in these mountains.  Did you know that?  I never knew that before.”

“I didn’t know that either,” Alfred replied.

“It’s funny when you think about it,” Jack said.  “All those trips that the robbers make down to the forest to steal stuff, and all the time there’s all this gold right underneath their feet, but they never know it.”  Jack gave a little laugh, but then he became serious again.  “Of course,” Jack added, “someone has to dig for it.  That’s what we’re for.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why do you think the goblins captured us?  It’s because they need children to work in  their mines.  We do the hard work of digging.”

“Who is we?”

“All of us.  All of the children.”

Alfred looked around him.

“They’re not here now,” Jack explained.  “But there are several more children in these caves.  Maybe about twenty of us altogether.”

“Twenty?  But where do they come from? There haven’t been twenty children who have gone missing.  You were the only one who disappeared.”

“Anna is here as well,” Jack said.  “Do you remember  Anna?  I had practically forgotten about her myself until I met her down here.”

“Anna,” Alfred said slowly, trying to remember.

“She disappeared when we were five years old.  At the time, people said the wolves must have gotten her.”

“Ah, that’s right,” said Aflred, the memories flooding back to him from the vague mists of early childhood.  “I think I do remember that now.”

“But I think the rest of the children are from the forest people,” Jack continued.

“What are the forest people doing up here in the mountains?”

“The goblin tunnels go everywhere,” Alfred said.  “They go all the way down to the forest, and they run under the forest lands.  So the goblins can steal a child from the forest and bring them into the mines just like they can take one of us.”

Alfred looked around him again.  “It’s pretty quiet here,” he said.  “And so far, just the two of us.  Where are the other children?  Where are all the goblins?  And why is it light inside these tunnels?”

“The light comes from the moonstones,” said Jack, answering the last question first.

“Moonstones?”

“Yes,” said Jack, pointing to one of the stones that was glowing.  “If you put these stones outside under the sky in the light of a full moon, they’ll absorb the moon’s light, and keep glowing for a full month afterwards.  Goblins can see perfectly in the dark, so they don’t need them.  But we do.  And the goblins know that it’s no good sending us into the mines to search for gold or diamonds if we can’t see what we’re looking for.  So they keep everything lit up with the moonstones.”

“I see.”

“As for the other children, they’re still eating their breakfast.”

“The goblins feed you?” 

“It’s not great food,” Jack admitted.  “It’s tasteless gruel, but it does give us energy to work in the mines.”

“And why aren’t you eating with them?” Alfred asked.

“I was sent by the goblins to fetch you,” Jack said.  “They told me they had left a new boy lying in the tunnel, and they wanted  me to get you and bring you down to the others.”

Chapter 14: Carlyle Comes Home

Google: docs, pub

  The day had been a long one.  They had spent the day creating an inventory of all the goods, treasures and food that the robbers had stashed away in their caves.  But now it was late in the afternoon, and everyone in the mountains knew the one unbreakable rule: It was deadly to be caught out after the sun goes down.  They had to start thinking about shelter for the night.

“I hope Mother is alright,” said Carlyle.  “We’ve been away all day.”  Carlyle was ashamed to admit it, but he’d been so caught up in everything that he had hardly thought about his mother all day.

“She’s fine,” said Catherine, confidently.

“How do you know?” asked Carlyle.

“I’ve been getting regular reports all day,” said Catherine, gently petting one of the ravens on her shoulder.

“Oh, of course,” Carlyle said.  “I forgot about those birds.”

“Your father is perfectly safe as well,” Catherine said, turning to Alfred.  “In fact, he’s with our mother now.  They’ve been eating supper together.”

“Is he still angry at me?” Alfred asked.

“My raven friends can’t tell what he is thinking,” Catherine replied.  “They only report to me what his movements are.”

“I bet he’s still angry with me,” Alfred said.  “He was furious when I joined you in the battle yesterday.  We had a huge argument last night, and then this morning, I snuck out before he woke up.”

“You’re welcome to stay in the caves tonight with us,” said Catherine.

“Yeah, thanks.  I think I will,” Alfred responded.

“I’m not sure it’s a smart idea to stay in the caves,” said Carlyle.  “I don’t trust the robbers.”

“Neither do I,” said Catherine.  “That’s why I’m staying here.  We need to keep a close eye on them.  Now that the robbers have surrendered to us, it would be a mistake to go away and leave them by themselves.”

“Fine, keep a close eye on them in the daytime,” said Carlyle.  “If you go to sleep next to them, they’ll cut your throat while you sleep.”

“My wolves will protect me,” Catherine said.

“Will they?” asked Carlyle.  “Or are your wolves just as likely to turn on you once you’re asleep.”

“The wolves are too afraid of me to try anything,” said Catherine.  “And also, right now they’re very pleased with their new den in the caves, and the soft quilts and blankets that they are sleeping on.  And, I might add, they didn’t say no to all the food that was given to them. They often make a big deal of talking about how they like to hunt and catch all their own food, but when the food was placed in front of them, they didn’t say no.  So the wolves are beginning to realize that I can have great value to them.  And even if it turns out that I can’t rely on my wolves, I can at least count on the ravens to keep watch and to alert me before danger arrives.”

“We are delighted to serve,” said Branoc, bowing his head.  “I and my children will keep guard through the night while you sleep.  Ravens can see in the dark much better than humans can, so you’ll be safe with us.”

“I still don’t like it,” said Carlyle.  “But I can see that your mind is made up.  Very well then.”  Carlyle turned to Alfred.  “Alfred, you don’t have to stay here,” he said.  “You can stay at my place if you’re worried about your father.”

“Didn’t you hear?” Alfred said with a smile.  “My father’s at your place.”

“He’s probably not going to stay the whole night,” Carlye said.

“I’d just avoid seeing him for now,” Alfred said.  “Besides, I’d like to stay and help Catherine and the others.”

“Which others are staying?” asked Carlyle.

“Shawn, Gabrielle, Kevin and Stella have agreed to stay with us in the caves for the night,” Catherine said.   

“That leaves Lucas, Marcus, Paul, Lucinda, Molly and Abby,” Carlyle said.  “I’ll see if they’re ready to go.”

Everyone on the mountain understood that they should never walk anywhere alone.  Bad things happened to children who walked off alone, such as Jack, who had once been their playmate, before he had walked off alone one day, and never came back.

Carlyle walked down with the group until they got near his house, then he said goodbye to them and ranthe short distance to his house.

He knocked on the door.  “It’s me,” he yelled through the wood.

He heard someone removing the barriers, but as the door was moved away, Carlyle saw Brian’s bearded face instead of his mother.

Carlyle nodded at Brian, trying to ascertain if he was still mad at him.  “Hello,” Carlyle said.

Brian scowled.  He had evidently still not forgiven Carlyle.  “Where is my son?” asked Brian.

“Alfred’s safe,” Carlyle said.  “He is staying with Catherine at the robbers’ cave.”

“What?”

“It’s okay,” Carlyle explained.  “The robbers have surrendered.  Catherine and Alfred and a few others are just staying up there to watch over things.”

Brian reached out his right hand and grabbed Carlyle by the throat.  “If anything happens to my son…,” he yelled.

“Stop it, Brian,” Margaret’s voice said from inside the house.  “Threatening Carlyle won’t help Alfred.”

Brian’s hand let go of Carlyle’s throat.  He turned and yelled back inside the house at Margaret.  “You tell him, then,” he demanded.  “Control your children so that they don’t cause trouble for the rest of us.”

“I can’t control them anymore,” said Margaret, and her voice was tired.  “They’ve stopped listening to me since Finn died.”

“Alfred is safe,” Carlyle said to Brian.  “He’s with Catherine.”  Carlyle actually wasn’t so sure that Catherine and Alfred were in the safest place right now, but he didn’t want to further upset Brian.  “He’s decided to stay up in the caves because he was afraid you would still be angry at him.”

“So is that what he’s thinking,” Brian said angrily.  “He thinks if he just stays up there in the caves then he won’t have to worry about his father? I’ll go up there myself and drag him down.”

“Brian, no,” said Margaret, and again Margaret’s voice sounded tired.  “The sun is almost down now.  You can’t make it up there and back before dark.”

“He’s safe for the night,” Carlyle repeated.  “Catherine’s with him.  She can protect him.”

“Catherine!” Brian exclaimed.  “I’m more scared of her than I am of the robbers.  Is she going to burn him to death too?”

“She won’t harm him,” said Margaret.  “She’s not like that.”

Brian shook his head in bewilderment.  “I don’t understand any of this,” he said.  “I’m going back home.”  He turned his head and addressed Margaret.  “I’ll be back in the morning,” he said, and he left.

Carlyle came into the house, and helped his mother replace the door, and put the bolts back in place.  

Then, Carlyle turned at last to Margaret.

“Are you alright, Mother?” Carlyle asked.

“No, of course not,” Margaret said walking to the back of the house.  “I’ve been sick to death with worry all day.  For fifteen years, your father and I have endured all kinds of hardship to keep you two safe on this mountain.  And now you are deliberately putting your lives at risk.”

“But our lives were always at risk,” Carlyle said.  “Father’s death proved that.  Father thought we could just keep to ourselves and the robbers would leave us alone.  But he was wrong.  The robbers attacked us anyway.  So, if the robbers are going to attack us anyway, it doesn’t make us safer if we sit still and do nothing.  It makes us safer if we attack first.”

Margaret sighed heavily.  “I see that I cannot stop you,” she said.  She walked over and took Carlyle’s hand in hers.  Carlyle looked down at her old wrinkled hands.  “I only ask one thing,” she said.

“What?”

“You and Catherine shouldn’t make yourselves the leaders.  Let the others lead.”

“The others wouldn’t have done anything unless I convinced them.”

“But now they’re doing something.”

“They still need prompting,” Carlyle said.

“Let Shawn be the leader,” Margaret said.  “He’s the natural leader anyway.  He’s the most popular one in that group.”

“He is,” Carlyle agreed.

“Let him be the leader.  You and Catherine can still tell him what to do in secret, but in front of all the others, you can let him give the orders.”

“But why?” Carlyle asked.

“Because,” Margaret threw up her hands in exasperation, “Because it’s what I want.  Why do you two always have to argue about everything?”

“But I don’t understand,” Carlyle said.

“It’s dangerous to be seen as the leader of anything,” Margaret said.  “You make yourself a target.”

“I don’t mind,” said Carlyle.

“Have you no care for me?” Margaret wailed.

“But it’s not fair to Shawn then,” Carlyle said.  “If being the leader is dangerous, then why put Shawn in danger.”

“Listen to me,” said Margaret.  “Your time has not yet come.  When the time comes, you will become a leader.  But you’re still too young.”

“I’m as old as Shawn is.”

Margaret burst into tears.  Carlyle had never seen his mother cry like this before.  Margaret and Finn had always been so strong.  He didn’t know what to say.  He simply waited until she had stopped crying, and when she had dried her tears, he helped her into bed.

Chapter 13: The Robbers are Subdued

Google: docs, pub

Dawn had just barely broken, but it was still cold.  The weather near the top of the mountain was particularly chilly.

Fraisale and Blocare sat on some tree stumps warming themselves by the fire.  They were on lookout duty.  It was their job to make sure that no one disturbed the entrance to the caves while the other robbers slept.  But at the moment, they were more concerned with their conversation than with their lookout.

“It just doesn’t make any sense,” Fraisale was saying.  “Who ever heard of a girl who can control wolves?”

“She’s not a girl,” Blocare answered.  “She’s a witch.”

“Is she though?” Fraisale asked.  “We know all the witches on this mountain.  We’ve seen them.  We’ve made agreements with them.  We don’t steal from them, and they leave us alone.  And we’ve never seen her with the witches.”

“Maybe she’s new.”

“But you heard what Cap said.  He said she wasn’t living with the witches.  He said she was part of the family that they robbed.” 

“Well then maybe--.”  Blocare stopped talking abruptly, and cocked his head sideways.  “Listen!” he said.

Fraisale listened.

“Did you hear something?” asked Blocare.

“I don’t think so,” said Fraisale.

“I thought I heard something,” Blocare said.

Fraisale looked around.  “I don’t see anything,” he said.

“There’s something out there in those trees,” said Blocare.

“Well, have a look then if you want,” said Fraisale.  “We are supposed to be keeping watch, after all.”

Blocare stood up and walked into the trees.  

Up, near the top of one of the mountain peaks, the robbers kept their main hideaway.  

The mountain was filled with caves and crevices.  Mountains are a perfect place for a gang of robbers to make their home.  But in this particular place, this particular spot on the mountain, there were five different caves with entrances all right next to each other.  It was the perfect place for the robbers to make their main base.

The biggest cave was located the furthest up the mountainside.  It had a large entrance that was covered in vines, which helped to keep hidden all the treasures that the robbers stored inside it.

To the left, and slightly further down the mountainside, were two smaller cave entrances.  And a fourth cave was located to the right.  And a fifth cave was slightly further down the mountain, and faced opposite the big cave. 

All five of these caves formed a little ring, and in that ring was a rather large clearing area, free from trees and bushes, where the robbers gathered and held meetings.

And in the very center of the ring was the fire pit, which is where Fraisale sat now.

Fraisale kept sitting on the tree trump, and waited for Blocare to re-emerge from the trees.  But Blocare did not come back.

“Now what do you suppose is keeping him?” Fraisale muttered to himself.

“Could be any number of things, I suppose,” a voice replied.

Fraisale nearly jumped up in surprise.  He turned in the direction of the voice, and saw a raven was now perched on the log next to him.  “What are you doing here?” Fraisale demanded. 

“I beg your pardon,” the raven replied in an offended tone.  “We ravens live on this mountain as well, you know.  And you ought to know that birds come and go as they please.”

“Yes, well usually birds keep to themselves, and don’t bother people by talking to them,” Fraisale said.

“Well, if you didn’t want me to talk to you, then you shouldn’t have asked me a question,” the bird replied.

“I wasn’t talking to you!” Fraisale snapped.  Fraisale looked up and noticed two other ravens flying in the sky.  “Who are they?” he asked. 

“They are my brothers, Baldrick and Balsamer.  Oh, and my name is Bettina, by the way.”

“And what are they doing?”

“Keeping watch.”

“Keeping watch for what?” said Fraisale, getting more agitated.  “This is our camp.”

“Keeping watch for the wolves,” Bettina replied.

And then, from the trees, three large wolves emerged, growling menacingly.

Fraisale jumped to his feet and grabbed his sword.  “I doubt that sword will do you much good,” Bettina said.  “Your best bet is just to run for it.”

Fraisale looked at the raven in bewilderment.  Who was this bird, and why was she giving him advice?  But then the snarling from the wolves quickly refocused Fraisale on the threat at hand.  Fraisale was momentarily paralyzed as he waited to see what the wolves would do.  But then when they started running towards him, he dropped his sword and ran into the trees as fast as he could. 

Once he entered into the trees, Fraisale kept running.  He didn’t dare turn around to see if the wolves were still behind him.  He just ran as fast as he could down the mountain slope.  Until he tripped over a rope, which had been tied between two trees.  He hit the ground hard, and before he even realized what was happening, six teenagers were on top of him, pinning him to the ground.  He tried to yell out, but one of them stuffed his mouth with cloth to muffle his screams.  They wrapped him with rope and tied him up so that he couldn’t move.  And then, once they had completely immobilized him, they dragged him over and plopped him down beside another tied up figure.

Fraisale looked over and saw Blocare was also tied up next to him.

***********

Alfred ran over to Catherine.  “We’ve caught the other one now,” he said.

Just as Alfred was reporting this, Bettina the raven flew down and landed on Catherine’s shoulder.  “That’s both of them,” said Bettina.  “There’s no one else keeping watch.”

“And their weapons?” asked Catherine.

“They keep their weapons by the cave entrance for the most part,” said Bettina.  “A few of them sleep with knives or daggers by their side, but all the big weapons are at the entrance to the cave.”

“Excellent,” Catherine said.

“Right, you know what to do,” Shawn whispered to everyone in the group.  “Go out and collect all the weapons.  And quietly.  Don’t wake up any of the robbers.”

The group left, and went to the cave entrances, where they silently removed all the weapons, and then brought the weapons back into the trees.

“Now it’s time to wake them up,” Catherine said to Carlyle. 

Carlyle nodded his agreement.

Catherine turned to Bettina.  “You may begin,” she said.

Bettina flew up into the sky, and started circling the caves, cawing.  Her brothers, Baldrick and Balsamer, joined her, and there was a chorus of birds cawing in the sky.

Soon enough, voices started coming from the caves.

“What’s that racket!” 

“Someone should shut those birds up.”

“Where are my arrows!”

“Hey, where are Fraisale and Blocare?  They’re supposed to be on watch.”

The robbers began stumbling out of their caves, still stupid with sleep.  Some of them were beginning to realize their weapons were gone.

Catherine then turned to the wolves.  “Remember,” she said, “today you are not to kill any of them unless absolutely necessary.  You may frighten them, but do not kill them.”

The wolves growled their acknowledgement.  Then they bounded up into the clearing and started barking furiously.  The robbers started yelling in fear.

Some of the robbers wanted to run away, but the wolves had the clearing surrounded, and would not let any of the robbers out.  A few of the robbers, who still had daggers or knives on their bodies, took out their weapons, but it was obvious that a single knife would do little good against a full grown wolf.

Catherine emerged from the trees.  “Put down your knives, and you will live,” she said.  Most of the robbers immediately obeyed her, and the knives were thrown quickly to the ground.

Carlyle and the rest of the group followed Catherine.  The group all carried their weapons.  Lucinda held her spear poised.  Gabriel had her bow and arrow drawn.  The rest had their various swords and clubs.

“Do you surrender?” Catherine asked the robbers.

“What do you want from us?” asked one of them.

“I want your surrender,” said Catherine.  “I want you to acknowledge that we have beaten you, and that you have lost.  You agree not to fight us anymore, and in return we will show you mercy.  Do you surrender?”

The wolves barked threateningly, and there was then a clamor as the robbers quickly agreed to surrender.

“Put your hands on your head,” Carlyle ordered.  “Come out of the caves.  Sit down here on the ground.”

The robbers complied.  At first they moved a bit slowly, but then the wolves growled, and they moved faster.

There were about two-hundred robbers in the caves altogether, and once they were all collected and sitting down, they filled up the whole area.  Alfred, Paul and Marcus went through the caves to make sure there were no robbers left lingering.  The rest of the group kept their weapons pointed at the robbers the whole time to make sure they didn’t try anything.  And the wolves growled. at any robber who made any sudden movement.

“That’s all of them,” Marcus said finally, after emerging from the fifth cave.  

“And that’s not all,” Alfred said.  “They’ve got a lot of stuff hidden in these caves.  Gold, jewelry, food, clothes, wine, and more.”

“It must be nice to live so richly,” said Carlyle bitterly.

“The mountain folk could really use this stuff,” Paul said. 

“They shall have it,” Carlyle answered.

“Who is the leader here?” Catherine asked.  “Who is the robber king?” A middle-aged man was indicated by the other robbers.  “Bring him before us,” Catherine said.

Lucas and Kevin went into the middle of the robbers, and pulled out the man who had been indicated.  They brought him before Catherine and Carlyle.

He was about forty.  He had brown hair.  His face was weather-beaten, and had lots of wrinkles on it, but his body was still big and strong.  

“Kneel,” Catherine commanded.

The man looked at Catherine sullenly, and then looked around to remind himself of all the weapons pointed at him, and all the wolves.  And then he slowly lowered himself down to his knees.

“Are you the one that they call the robber king?” asked Catherine.

“I am,” he said.

“You are king no more,” Carlyle said.  “We are now the leaders of the robbers.”

The robber king sneered.  “If they will follow you,” he said.

“They will follow us,” Catherine said.

“What is your name?” asked Carlyle.

“My name is Verus.”

“Why did you rob and kill our father, Verus?” Carlyle asked. 

“I did not,” said the robber king.  “That was my men.  I was not there.  The king of the robbers never goes out on the expeditions.”

“Why did your men do it, then?” Catherine asked.  “He had almost nothing worth stealing.  Just the supplies for the winter that he got from the forest.  Usually you robbers leave the mountain folk alone.”

“We used to,” said Verus.  “But it’s gotten more difficult lately.  We’ve had to pay a lot more out.”

“What do you mean pay a lot more out?” asked Carlyle.

“Do you think the monsters who live on this mountain would leave us in peace?” asked Verus.  “The ogres demand gold from us in exchange for agreeing not to attack.  The vampires demand diamonds and jewelry.  The Minotaur wants food.  We have to constantly pay to keep our camp from being attacked.  But we have no choice, because we are all wanted men in the forest.  We’d be hung if the forest people caught us down there.  Recently, all the monsters have been demanding more.  So we’ve had to keep paying more.  But too many trips down to the forest are dangerous.  So my men have started robbing the mountain folk.”

“But why did they have to kill our father,” said Catherine.  “Wasn’t it enough to rob him?”

“The forest folk we can rob and then run away from,” said Verus.  “But we live on the same mountain with the mountain folk.  And most of the mountain folk are crazy.  It’s not usually a good idea to leave them alive after you’ve robbed them.  They might try to get their revenge, or get their stuff back.”

“What foolish thinking,” said Carlyle.  “You’ve found out now that killing the mountain folk only makes their families angrier.”

Carlyle started to draw his sword out, but Catherine held out her hand and stopped him.  Then Catherine turned to Verus.  “We should punish you,” she said.  “But instead, we will reward you.  You will find yourself better off under us than you were before.  We will protect you from the ogres and the vampires and the minotaur.  You will finally have peace and security in these mountains.”

Verus scoffed.  “How can you possibly protect us against the monsters?”

“We won’t do it alone,” said Catherine.  “You will help us of course.”

“You expect us to fight the ogres?  You’re crazy!” Verus exclaimed.

“You can join us, or you can die,” Carlyle said, and he fingered his sword again.

“It strikes me, Verus,” said Catherine, “that you are the crazy one.  What does it profit you to spend all your time robbing, if you have to give everything you steal to the ogres and the vampires?  The whole point of robbing is that it’s supposed to be profitable.  If you’re not going to be any better off than the other mountain folk, then you may as well just join the woodcutters, and make an honest living.  But think how rich you will become if you don’t have to share your treasures with the monsters.”

“Of course, you’ll have to share some of your plunder with the mountain folk,” said Carlyle.

“Of course,” said Catherine.  “But don’t worry about that.  The mountain folk are simple people.  They won’t demand your gold or diamonds, like the monsters do.  If you simply give them a bit of your food, and maybe some of your warm clothes, they’ll be satisfied.  You’ll be able to keep all the really good stuff for yourself.  Oh, and I almost forgot. We must make sure that my wolves are well taken care of as well.  But that’s even easier.  The wolves don’t need clothes, and they generally hunt their own food.  But they could use somewhere warm to sleep.  These mountains can get so cold and windy at night.  I’m sure you could make room for them in your caves.”

“We can,” said Verus.  And here, Carlyle thought he could see the robber king smiling slightly.  “The caves are very deep.  We have room for many more.”

“Excellent,” said Catherine.  “Because we also will be staying in the caves with you from now on.”

Chapter 12: The Meetings

 Google: docs, pub

Catherine sat cross legged on the ground.  Baldrick the raven, son of Branoc, sat on her left shoulder.  Balsamer, another son of Branoc, sat on Catherine’s right shoulder.  Branoc had a large family.

The wolves had come, but they were not happy.

“The ravens told us that you wanted to see us again,” said the lead wolf, his fur bristling.

“Why so angry?” Catherine asked.  “Did you not eat well today?”

“We are capable of finding our own food,” said the wolf.  The other wolves growled their agreement.  “We have helped you once, but we are not your servants.  How many more times will you summon us?”

“There is much work to be done in these mountains,” said Catherine.  “And I will have need of faithful helpers.”

“We are not your helpers,” the wolf growled.  Once again, all the other wolves growled their agreement.  

“Do not try my patience,” said Catherine.  “I will have need of you in the coming days.  You will get my summons from the ravens.  We have many more battles to fight.  I need you to be ready.”

“We fear your power,” said the lead wolf, “but we will not be turned into slaves without a fight.  If you wish to rule us, then you will have to fight for that privilege.”  Without another word, the wolf lunged at her.

Before Catherine had even registered what was happening, before the wolf’s teeth had time to chomp down on her face, Catherine’s hand shot out and grabbed the wolf by the throat.  It wasn’t until a few seconds later that Catherine’s brain realized that her arm was keeping the wolf away by holding his throat. Something had taken control of her body.  It was the familiar energy again.  It lived inside her, and yet it was not her.  It was some foreign intruder that had come to live with her.  And then, that energy flowed through her arm, into her hand, and into the wolf’s body.  The wolf yelped, and the whimpered, and then howled in agony.  It sounded pitiful.

Catherine knew that she was burning the wolf alive just as she had burned Zed.  She had not intended to kill the wolf, but the energy was flowing through her now of its own accord.  And it did feel good.  There was a euphoric feeling connected to the release of the energy.  She didn’t want to stop.

But no, her brain came back to her, it wouldn’t do to kill the wolf.  First of all, she had no real quarrel with the wolves like she had with Zed.  It hadn’t been the wolves who had killed her father.  Secondly, although she wanted to scare the wolves a little bit, she did not want to push them too far and make them implacable enemies.  She was going to rely on them for a lot of help in the coming days.

Reluctantly, Catherine fought to regain control over herself.  The energy could be controlled if she just tried hard enough.  She forced herself to stop the energy, and let go fo the wolf.

As soon as Catherine released her grip, the wolf fled down the mountainside, yelping pitifully, with its tail between its legs.

The other wolves were now growling and barking.  Catherine stood up. “Who’s next?” she demanded.  “Fight me if you dare!”

The other wolves kept growling, but not one of them dared to attack her.

Catherine sat back down.  The ravens Baldrick and Balsamer, who had flown up into the trees during the attack, returned to her shoulders.  “Do not be upset,” said Catherine.  “As I told you before, I will demand of you no unpleasant duties.  You like to attack. You will have plenty more opportunities to attack under my direction.  But you will only attack those that I direct you to.”

**********************************************************

It was late in the afternoon now.  The sun was low in the sky, but it was not quite dark yet.  The group sat in a circle on the mountain side.  Some of them sat on larger rocks, some of them were seated on the ground.

Carlyle was the only one standing.  He was at the head of the circle, and he was trying to convince everyone else..

Catherine sat just outside the circle, listening to the discussion with an expression of contempt on her face.  The ravens Baldrick and Balsamer were sitting on her shoulders again.

Paul was talking.  “I just, I just don’t understand what you want,” he said.  “We defeated the robbers.  We saved your home.  And we lived to talk about it.  Isn’t that enough?  Shouldn’t we quit while we’re ahead?”

“But we’re not ahead,” said Carlyle.  “We’re right back where we started from.  What have we gained from that fight?  The robbers are still alive to terrorize the mountain.”

“That’s the life of the mountain folk,” said Marcus.  “It always has been.  Life up here is dangerous.”

“It doesn’t have to be,” said Carlyle.  “We are terrorized because we let ourselves be terrorized.  But we could fight back.  What if we were to eliminate the robbers completely?”

“You mean kill every last one of them?” asked Molly.

“Why not?” asked Carlyle.  “Kill them or force them off this mountain.  We beat them once already. We can do it again.  Why shouldn’t we?  Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to walk around the mountain without being attacked?”

“But you can’t make these mountains safe by just getting rid of the robbers,” said Gabriel.  “The robbers are the least of our problems.  What about the goblins, and the werewolves, and the vampires and the ogres, and everything else?”

“Yes, but listen,” said Carlyle, and he paused to make sure everyone in the group was focusing on him, “What if we were to get rid of all of them?  We don’t have to stop at just the robbers.  We could fight against all the creatures on this mountain, and finally make it safe.  Imagine, no more cowering in our homes every night! No more goblins.  No more werewolves, vampires or ogres.”

“You’re crazy,” said Lucas.  “You’d never be able to kill all the monsters on these mountains.”

“Why not?” asked Carlyle.  “We’ve all fought the monsters before, haven’t we?  We’ve all had nights when the werewolves or goblins have attacked our homes, right?  And we’ve all beaten them back before.  I saw my father kill ogres and werewolves with this very sword.”  Carlyle held up Finn’s old sword to show them.

“Standing in your doorway and keeping the monsters out is one thing,” said Marcus.  “Fighting them in the open is different.”

“Your father was lucky,” said Molly.  “But we all know plenty of people who fought the monsters and died.  And remember Jack?”

“Of course I do,” said Carlyle.  “But Jack died because he wandered off by himself.  If we all stick together, if we fight together and protect each other’s backs, we can win.”

“My father says that you’d be crazy to trust the mountain folk to protect you in a fight,” said Lucas.  “He says that you can never trust the mountain folk.”

“My father always said the same thing,” said Carlyle.  “But I’m not talking about our parents.  I’m talking about us.  Maybe the older generation on the mountain is untrustworthy.  Maybe it’s true what they say--maybe the mountain folk are mostly criminals who came up here from the forest.  But that’s not us.  We didn’t flee to the mountains, we were born on the mountains.  We all grew up here together.  We trust each other.  We’ve already proved we can fight together, haven't we?”

“Yes, we did,” Paul answered.  “But then we had a reason to fight.”

“We still do,” said Carlyle.

“What exactly is the plan, Carlyle?” asked Shawn.  “Do you want us to march up into the caves and fight the robbers where they live?”

“Yes,” said Carlyle.

“And then?” Shawn asked.

“And then,” said Carlyle, “once we’ve killed all the robbers, then we get rid of the bears.  And then the wolves.  And then the goblins.  And then--.”

“You fool!” Catherine blurted out, stopping Carlyle in mid-sentence.  “You complete and utter fool!”

Carlyle was momentarily taken aback by Catherine’s anger.  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“We don’t need to get rid of the wolves,” Catherine said.  “We can control the wolves.”

“Yes,” Carlyle said.  “I know, we all saw what you did this afternoon.  But--.”

“And we don’t need to kill the robbers either,” said Catherine.  “Why kill them when we can control them?”

“Because they killed father,” Carlyle responded immediately.

“I know,” said Catherine.  “But we’ve already avenged him.  We’ve avenged him ten-fold now.”

“It’s not enough,” said Carlyle.

“It’s enough,” Catherine said firmly.  “You need to decide what you want.  Do you want to continue to avenge father?  Or do you want to make these mountains safe?”

“We can have both,” Carlyle insisted.

“We cannot,” Catherine said.  “Not by ourselves.  If you want to make these mountains safe, you’re going to need to realize who your potential allies are.  The ogres cannot be reasoned with.  They must be destroyed.  The goblins cannot be reasoned with.  They must be dealt with.  But the robbers are human.  They can be reasoned with.  They can be dealt with.  They can be controlled.  And if you can control them, then you can use them to help us fight the real monsters on this mountain.”

“How will you control them?” asked Carlyle.

“We need to subdue them without killing them,” Catherine responded.

“And how are you going to do that?” asked Shawn.

“Surprise will be key,” said Catherine.  “We have to find out where their main hideouts are, and attack when they least expect it.  Fortunately,” Catherine stroked the feathers of Baldrick, “I have a way to get information.”