By Cody Hodge
“If Ashe wanted to convince him, she would have to face him alone.”
The Narrator in her head, her “magic,” spoke. The voice narrated events around her periodically, granting her insights she had no right to possess. She hesitated outside the entrance to Canopy’s sole tree-top lodge, The Maplebark Inn. Its owner would complete her party, or so the Narrator said. Trusting it had caused trouble before.
Months ago, she explained her gift to the elves at Gate College. First they called her a charlatan, and after a demonstration, a spy. But Ashe was undaunted by slander; she needed to know more.
To keep peace between the races, their leader exiled her from their home, declaring her power as “mere intuition”, reiterating that, “The impossibility of magic-bearing humans was well proven.”
Ashe shoved those memories away. “It got me this far.” Clutching the stolen book with one hand, she pushed the door open. With its ivy wrapped columns and the warm glow of crystal lanterns, the main room was just as endearing as the rest of Canopy. She nearly tripped over the bright feathered Talani nestled into his own wings in a ball by the entrance. Beyond the bird, a trio of fluffy squirrel-like Xintixa twitched their ears and chittered between nibbles of steamed vegetables.
Ashe wove her way through the foot-high tables, each vine-covered rafter threatening to scrape her head in passing.
She neared the Xintixa on the end with the fuzziest tail and tiny flowers braided into her ear tufts. It jerked its black-striped head towards her, revealing brown eyes and a curious expression.
“Hello,” Ashe said in their language. “I am hunting for a critter.”
The Xintixa twitched her head in reply.
“He’s a Chick… Ckinti…”
“Xintixa?” she interjected in Common language, replacing the clicks and chitters with Z’s and T’s, phonating “Zen-Tea-Za”.
“Like you?” Ashe replied in common.
“Aye.” She spoke in spurts of words rather than sentences.
The Xintixa wrapped her tail around herself and fluffed it even more. “For you? Common. Easier?”
“Yes, uh, thank you. He’s red. With a, um, scar across his face.” Ashe traced a line from above her eyebrow down to her nose.
The critter flicked her tail and nodded, gesturing to the back of the room.
Ashe turned to see another Xintixa behind the countertop, rapidly chopping through a pile of carrots.
“Oh! Thank you so much.” Ashe fought to suppress the swelling urge to reach out and scratch behind her soft little ears before moving to the counter.
Feigning nonchalance, Ashe scanned the undersized room.
Her gaze stopped on a recess carved into the tree branch supporting the building. There, a miniature leather cuirass, curved bow, and metal cap were mounted within. They were sized as if for a child. She covered her mouth and barely held back the high-pitched squee that had been building over this precious community since she arrived.
“Fortunate for her, she remained composed,” the Narrator spoke. “If she had taken time to study Xintixa culture, she would know that alluding to their “cuteness” was among the easiest ways to find a wee deadly knife at your throat.”
Heedless, Ashe could not help picturing one of the little critters hopping around in full armor, and she firmly decided that this display was the cutest thing she had ever seen. She pursed and covered her lips to conceal a girlish grin.
Her lapse in composure caught his attention.
His large eyes were narrowed into slits, knife set to chop. “Can I help you, lass?”
“I think so.” Ashe smiled. “Are you Phezz?”
His ears twitched backwards. “Not anymore, lass.” He went back to chopping. “Folks ‘round here call me Maplebark.”
“I’m going to find Kari,” she blurted, abandoning what little composure remained in her. “You’ve been there before, right?”
He hesitated. “Those birdies been filling your head with tales, lass? Kari’s a legend.”
“But it’s a legend you’ve chased.”
“Aye, and we found only wastelands and rubble.”
Ashe leaned over the counter conspiratorially and whispered, “That’s because the mind-stealers caught you on the way out. They don’t trust us with Source.”
Phezz raised his eyebrows, retaining his unimpressed expression.
“And as for the rubble…” She slid the book in her hand across the counter to him, the engraving glowing brighter the closer to him it drew.
“We’re going to re-build it.”
He tossed a furtive glance at the tome while he continued chopping.
“Oh! Aaand…” Ashe held out a black wax wheel towards him, about the size of her palm. “I was told this might help.”
Phezz finally stopped, his nose twitching upwards. As his front paws lowered, Ashe noticed a strip of leather buried in the fur around his chest, stowing a row of short bone dirks. He quickly plucked the small wheel of cheese from her hand and held it eagerly with both paws.
After taking a long sniff, he rolled his head back and breathed out, his tail quivering. He returned his scowl to her and then to the book.
He placed the cheese gently on the table and opened the book. The first page shimmered silver, mirroring his scarred face. The pages began turning on their own, and Ashe’s mouth gaped in wonder.
“The young woman,” the Narrator intruded, “distracted by her obsession with magic, did not notice the figures entering the room.”
The page-turning came to a halt.
Phezz’s scowl melted into a smile. A sad, longing smile. The paw that once secured the cheese brushed the final page—an image of a female Xintixa standing on her hind legs, overlooking a seaside cliff. His eyes slowly fogged with tears.
“The plan was set,” the Narrator said. “Ashe had hooked her tracker… while her pursuers closed in.”
“What!?” Ashe spun to see three figures in black cloaks weaving through the tables. Each bore the shining red snake-like clasps of the elven hunters. She snapped back to Phez.
But he was already gone, and so was the cheese.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Fun story, Cody. I’d be tempted to scratch behind their ears as well!
Oh, no! Ashe is definitely in a pickle. Hopefully she has a trick up her sleeve to get herself out of the situation, or somebody like Maplebark would come to her rescue.
Either way, this is a fun story, and I love the squirrel people. I can see how Ashe would squeal in delight at the sight of them.
Naturally, being an expert in cheese, Phezz knows when to cheese it
Creepy little story; characters and imagery and setting all finely wrought. Certainly a different look at a different Phezz…. um, Maplebark. Nicely done!
Ooooh I’m so intrigued by this story, from the Narrator, to Ashe’s ultimate quest! I love how the Narrator interjects a little bit of humor, too. 😆 I’m so curious what happens next!
Fun ideas here.