An End of an Age Draws Nigh
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 24674
|
KAA-BOOOM!! Just like last time! Chucky thought, his mind and senses whirling. At least I remembered my goggles! The awful reverberations from the explosion finally ceased, and remarkably there was little damage done to the amplifying machine. Then Chucky spotted the observation room. His spirits sunk."LUCKY! " he cried, scampering to his feet and running to the pile of smoldering rubble, the only thing to testify the structure had ever existed at all. A hatch opened from the engine room followed by a thick ploom of smoke and the blackened head of Flucky, coughing and wheezing. "WHEW! Thatwasacloseone! Theenginesnearlywentout! Whatwasthat awfulexplosion!?" The gnome's jaw dropped as he beheld the destruction. He quickly ran over to where Chucky was laboring with the wreckage, attempting to find any sign of their cousin. It was soon apparent that everything inside the room had been vaporized. Only the smoking shards of the enchanted metal that had made up it's outer skeleton remained. "There's nothing left. This might be a good sign," Chucky conjectured, taking a moment to rest from his search. "Lucky knew what he was doing, and he had that handy ring of his. Maybe he teleported away just in time..."Flucky shook his head, his outlook was more pessimistic than that of his cousin's. "He...was...vaporized..." he muttered woefully, his head downcast and his eyes watery and red. "Weshouldhavenever talkedhimintothis. Weallknewtherisks ..." "But think for a second, Flucky," Chucky continued, his spirit uplifted. "If Lucky had been vaporized during the explosion, his ring would have remained. There aren't many fires left in the world that could undo it. But I've seen no sign of the ring, have you?"A broad smile crossed the grimy gnome's face. "Goodpoint! Sowhatbecame ofhim,then? I'm surethathorriblevoice weheardwas thegirlmonster's, maybeshefound Luckyandtookhim?" Chucky's brow furrowed. That was a good question. "I have no clue," he admitted, pacing back and forth. "But I have an idea. We need to go to the Dragon's Library!""The what!?" "I've never been there before," Chucky remarked, "but I know it exists. It used to be guarded fiercly by the Dragon - but now that it's out of the picture, I'm sure getting there will be no problem. There is a treasure trove of ancient lore and knowledge stowed away there, and the answer to Lucky's prediciment, amoung other things. Maybe even proof that some of my iconoclastic theories are true."Flucky was skeptical. "Howdoyou knowwe'llfind anythingtohelp usfindLucky?" "I don't know," his cousin stated honestly. "But I have a sudden longing urge to delve into it's scrolls and books. We know Lucky's alive, all we've got to do is find out where he went. I think we might find some answers that will clue us in on the nature of the Little Girl as well. Come, Flucky, let us prepare to venture to the Library."The other gnome was still hesitant. "WhatabouttheDragon'sMinions? Surelytheystilllurk abouttheCaves..." Chucky waved his hand dissmisivly. "Of course they do," he replied. "Creepy-crawlies and rodents, the lot of them! They are of no concern to us! The tunnels I take are too narrow for the bigger, nastier denizens of my beloved underworld. Besides, don't you think I go prepared when I leave my home? Come, follow me..."
"COOL!" Flucky said, his eyes glazed over as his fingers gripped the tool of destruction Chucky had gave him. The device consisted of a large tank, strapped on the gnome's back, and a hose with a trigger connected to it. "Whatdoyou callitagain!?" "Watch where you point that!" Chucky warned, dodging out of the way as Flucky flung the hose around with carefree abandon. "I call it a flame-thrower! Be very careful with it!" "FLAME- THROWER,HUH!? ILIKETHENAMECANI TRYITOUTHOWDOESITWORK!?" he said, babbling like a brook and trembling with mounting exhileration. Anything with fire made Flucky happy. "MELIKEY!!"Then, almost on cue, a column of flame spouted from the hose, nearly igniting Chucky as he narrowly ducked down. Flucky's face turned beet-red. "Hehehehe, fingersslipped.Sorry...""Mmmhmm," said Chucky, crossing his arms and giving his cousn a stern look. "Now that you know how it works, make sure you only use it when we actually need it. I'm not being a niggler, I just want to keep the first few layers of my skin, k?The trip should only take a few hours, I know all the shortcuts. Off we go!" Deep in the nightmarish heart of Fey Wood, on a throne carved of living rock and covered with undying vines and brambles, within a Great Hall formed by bitter, ancient Spirit Willows... King Oberon sat deep in thought, contemplating the situation he was in. This was easier said than done given the fact that..."...Queen Mab won't shut up! How am I supposed to think with your constant nagging!" Oberon barked, covering his ears and humming as loud as he could. This enfuriated the Faerie-Queen looming over him even further. Her surreal, ageless features made her look very eerie when she was mad. Though he was many times her size (indeed, even larger than a normal man, though his was faeriekinde), she still gave him the heebie- jeebies."Don't you scold me! She's your abomination of a love-child, not mine! I wasn't the one went off and had a hot affair with a demoness. You sow what you reap!""It's 'you reap what you sow', you crazy hag! And my relationship with Erinye ended eons ago..." "2,000 years ago," Mab corrected. "NOT EONS! Now your little brat is going to start an all out ShadowWar! I told you to destroy her long ago, didn't I!? What did you do!? You dropped her off a cliff in the Shreken! You idiot! Then when you realized that you hadn't finished her off by simply tossing her into a ravine, did you go back and do it right? NO, you lazy couch potato! You let your unknowing, ignorant pawn King Norman, a mere mortal, do your dirty work! And he didn't do the job right! She still lives, doesn't she!? And don't think I don't know about the collusive arrangement you've made with Erinye. I know you've unleashed a Thoabath to clean up your mess! Like that will do any good! How are you going to control a Destroyer if you can't even control your own daughter?"Oberon slunk deeper down on his thrown, shielding his face with his arms. "La! La! La! La! I can't hear you," he shouted. "Your lips are moving but I don't hear a thing!" "You know what will happen if there's another ShadowWar! It will call down the wrath of Hell below and the gods above! It will go from Shadow to Cosmic War in about the blink of an eye! Our tithe is already late as it is! If we're forced to mobilize our meager forces I'll skin you alive with cold- forged iron! The Rath has ever endured the wars of other, lesser races. We'll see if it weathers this one..."It was about this time in history when Mount Cicatrice (the White Mountain), began to belch up it's fiery innards. Smoke steadily rose up from it's core, darkening the sky in the nearby regions. One of these regions was North Umbria, Allaria. The people wondered greatly at this. Mount Cicatrice had lain dorment for as long as men had inhabited the northlands. It was not the first omen of the age to come, and it was not the last...
|
Ib
3/5/2003 11:21:59 AM
Linking Enabled
Extending Enabled
24922015 episodes viewed since 9/30/2002 1:22:06 PM.