Dragonspell - Donita K. Paul [99]
“Exactly what I was thinking, little Metta. Good job! Well done! Thank you, my dear.” He turned to survey the rest of the questing party.
“Well now, a new start to the quest. Part two, you might say. Onward. Except that we are going into a mountain. Downward, then. No, that doesn’t sound quite right.” He stopped and pointed to the ground. “Aha! My walking stick.”
He picked up a long, gnarled branch. Kale thought it might have been part of the natural debris of the countryside.
“Glad I didn’t forget this.”
Leetu started to laugh. Dar at first cast her a disgruntled look, but then a grin broke across his face, and he began to chuckle. The kimens tumbled about, doing acrobatics that matched their lighthearted laughter. Even Librettowit succumbed and chortled, his body shaking in merriment. Lee Ark and Brunstetter laughed so hard, they leaned against each other and wiped tears from their eyes.
“Tut-tut. Oh dear. It seems Paladin has assigned me a bunch of flibbertigibbets for a very serious task. I shall make the most of it. Adds to the challenge, no doubt.”
37
BLIMMETS
They rode in comfort high above the countryside. Kale sat in the riding master seat on Celisse with Librettowit, Shimeran, and Seezle as her passengers. The two minor dragons rode for long periods of time on Kale’s shoulders, but they would get cold and dart inside the moonbeam cape to warm themselves in their pocket-dens. Dar carried Leetu with him on Merlander. Brunstetter took the Trio family kimens with him. Lee Ark, the appointed leader of this portion of the quest, escorted Wizard Fenworth.
The old man muttered about his age and his position as leader due to wisdom gained “through the ages, bleak ages, blessed ages, boring ages, and blasphemous ages.” Last Kale had heard of his mutterings, he was trying out other b words that might describe ages he had experienced. “Bothersome. Yes, indeed there were plenty of those. Tut-tut. Bilious. No, not quite the right word. Boisterous? Hmm? Battered. Yes, I like battered. Very descriptive. Must have been some battered ages along the way.”
Librettowit graciously accepted his part in the quest after a period of scowling and stamping about the meadow, picking up his belongings, mostly books and pens and paper, three pairs of reading glasses, and a pot of razterberry jam. After he had said his piece about being dragged along, he turned out to be a delightful companion.
On the back of Celisse, as her strong wings carried them farther and farther from The Bogs, the librarian told stories one after another. The kimens and Kale listened intently as he pointed out landmarks below and related historical facts, tidbits of local tradition, and fables reflecting the citizens’ heritage. His entertaining lecture lasted all day, even when Seezle handed around packets of food prepared by Lee Ark’s wife for their noontime meal. Occasionally, Metta would sing a folk tune.
“Librettowit, how does she do that?” asked Kale. “She’s only a few hours old. How can she know these songs?”
“She plucks them out of your mind. Well, my mind in this case. She’s a mindspeaker, of course. If you have the memory of a song, even one you have only heard once, she will appropriate it. She will also give back to you words you’ve forgotten so you might sing along.”
“And she can give me the words to a song that you remember, and I’ve never heard?”
“That’s right.”
The idea intrigued Kale and her kimen passengers. They spent several hours in the afternoon singing songs from myriad heritages: kimen songs of praise; marione songs of planting and harvesting; tumanhofer songs of earth, sky, and sea; and dragon songs of clan and ancestry. Kale discovered that Celisse and the young minor dragons had a fierce pride in their genealogy. Librettowit provided Gymn and Metta with heroic tales of minor dragons.
An hour before the early autumn dusk, Lee Ark signaled