Chapter 24: Jordy
So, talk about a weird day. I mean, after languishing in a castle for a couple of weeks, suddenly I get rescued by a bunch of Cooportinoans and the entire castle collapses? What’s up with that?
Normally I wouldn’t blog about something like this, but it’s an interesting event and I want to have a record of it somewhere, even if no one else does. (Want to have one, not have one.)
Anyway, so I’m not going to get into too much detail about the beginning. I guess I’ll start with the whole group running down the outside of the castle. I heard this giant crash and looked back, and saw two of our group were trapped behind a giant hole in the ramp. A gap that was slowly widening…!
It was all very Lord of the Rings. The rest of us had to run down this big collapsing ramp, dodging falling rocks and such on the way. I’d like to say there were arrows coming down around us that miraculously missed us all, but there were nothing more than some barbed words from the last remaining Hahr Kerr enemies.
We made it to the bottom with plenty of time to spare, but it was only then that the others noticed…Kushal’s…absence. (I think that was his name? Eh.) I had the feeling that he’d be all right; he struck me as a guy too stubborn to be incapacitated when something like this was up.
Andrew, on the other hand, was not feeling at all well. I think he had indeed gotten beaned by a piece of stone and was looking rather pale. Not sure what part he’d have to play in the upcoming events.
Gordon and Richard, I think, were the most worried about Kushal. Apparently, the sardonic one explained, the three of them had been inseparable ever since they lost at that championship for a children’s card game. (I didn’t catch her name but I think she stole my pencil. I liked that pencil…it had served me well during my travels in Fi Zix.)
Finally, though, the other woman (the one who hadn’t been with Kushal) saw a wagon—a wagon, of all things!—come around the side of the castle. And guess who was driving the wagon?
Eric. Yeah, the Eric I haven’t seen since high school!
Kushal and Vani had been very lucky; they had landed in Eric’s hay wagon, startling the heck out of him in the process. Both of them had blacked out on impact. Eric had stood there wondering what to do when…Kellie, that’s her name…spotted him and waved him over.
It was good to see Eric again; he was on a much-needed break from university studies and was on the way to visit his girlfriend. I kinda would have liked to meet her, but Kellie interrupted me.
“Um, glad you guys are happy to see each other and all, but we’ve kinda got a war-type thing going on with the Hahr Kerr, and we’ve got to get back to the Tournament as soon as possible, so is there any chance we could, you know, get going?”
Eric and I looked at each other and laughed, shrugging. Neither of us had done Speech in over a year, but hey, I could use a little refresher in Impromptu. Eric wasn’t so sure, but his girlfriend called and said she had a paper to finish anyway or something, so he decided to come along with us.
Which was probably a good thing, since we just left Kushal, Vani, and Andrew in the back of his wagon. Eric unfolded the solar panels and we were off.
That gives us Gordon, Richard, Kellie, and the kleptomaniac, plus Kushal, Vani, and Andrew, plus me and Eric. Oh! Plus this really strange woman who was nice to me one minute and snippy the next. I didn’t want to say anything in case she was bipolar or whatever, but she anticipated me. In one of the snippy modes, unfortunately.
“Bipolar? Try tripolar, maybe de-decapolar or something. …Look, I’m under a lot of stress, so you’re just going to have to deal with me changing like this, OK?”
And a minute later, of course, she apologized for her prior rudeness. (I believe she even used those words once.) It was almost like a Monty Python sketch.
And finally, of course, everyone was playing with my talent. Sometimes I think it’s a good thing that I can’t hear some of the answers I must be giving. But it’s annoying to hear stupid questions like “What’s yo numba?”, “Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?”, and “How old is your mom?” for the googolth time. Seriously, people. (Although I’d still like to perform Carmen Sandiego someday…but that’s another story.)
Hmm…the battery’s getting low on Eric’s laptop, but I can see the Tournament City up ahead. And there’s a big cloud of smoke over it! Hmm…I’ll have to post again after this is all over.