The Quest For The King's Magic
Copyright© 2007 by GLSGareth
Chapter 8
Try getting to sleep with a Zibong floating around near you. It can be a trial. Eventually I just gave up and decided to relieve Gaku's watch early.
The boy nearly threw a fire spell at me when I came up the slope next to him. I guess I wasn't the only nervous one.
"Any change?" I asked.
"None," he replied, "It just keeps moving back and forth. Shouldn't we try to kill it?"
"Yes, definitely," I said. "If it threatens us. As it is, I just don't know. We are on a Quest and shouldn't get sidetracked. Also, I can't get over the feeling that this is tied somehow to our Quest. If we kill that thing, will someone somewhere know we are coming?"
I tried to get Gaku to go back to his bedroll, but he would have none of that. He wasn't about to shut his eyes as long as that thing was there. So, I let him stay. Maybe the two of us will keep each other awake.
"Gareth?" Gaku asked, after an hour or so. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure, what?"
"Would you repeat your poem to me again? I want to memorize it. Maybe someday I will understand how you wrote it and write some of my own."
I chuckled, but this was exactly what I needed to stay awake. I recited it to the boy again, watching him, eyes closed trying to remember every line. I suddenly stopped.
"Did you forget the rest?" Gaku asked.
"No..." I could hardly believe my eyes, "Watch this"
I began again, pointing down the vale for the youngster. As I recited, the Zibong seemed to stop its endless back and forth motion, as if it was listening. Very strange. I got to the end of the poem and watched in wonder as the Zibong drifted off into the night. Soon it was gone.
"Why did it do that?" Gaku asked.
"I really don't know," I replied, "Maybe it is a poetry critic."
Gaku chuckled, visibly relieved at seeing the Zibong gone. "Should I stay here?"
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