The shouts of the monks faded into the distance behind us. The brown grass around us had recovered from the stampede. It stood at its full height. Jenna and I stumbled blindly through the tall grass. Without Sheesha to ride, I could see nothing but a wall of brown. My legs ached. They were burned by the fire of the monks. Long thin blades of grass made stinging cuts all over my body. Freya marched in front, leading the way. Behind her was Drexel. He held the crate he’d taken from Tang’s under his arm.

“Not good,” he said. He looked down at his hand. It was swollen from the poisoned pinprick. Black lines ran from the spot on his finger and up his forearm. They stopped at a tight bandage he’d tied around his arm, just above his elbow.

“I think we’re headed West,” Jenna said. I had no idea which way was West. Sweat ran down my legs. Patches of burnt skin peeled of my calves. The pain was as constant and monotonous as the sun and the grass.

“Do we have a plan anymore?” Chastity asked. She wiped sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. Beads of sweat stood out on her eyebrows. They seemed thicker than I remembered.

“We’ll make camp soon,” Freya said. We stomped through the grass without looking up. Freya stopped after an hour or so. She tamped down the grass around her in a wide circle.

“Here,” she said. Jenna and Drexel staggered into the small clearing that Freya made. Drexel sat on his crate and put his head in his hands.

“Why did I listen to you?” He asked without looking up. I reached out to put my hand on his shoulder. He moved out of the way.

“Kraken won’t let you die like this,” I said. “You did the right thing.” I looked at the portfolio and book. I hadn't opened either.

“Yeah, right,” Drexel said. His arm below the bandage was puffy and purple. The black lines were past his elbow.

“The poison seems to be slowing,” Jenna said.

Drexel laughed.

“Don’t lie to me munchkin,” he said. “I can feel the burn up to my shoulder.” He patted the crate. “I hope it was worth it,” he said.

Freya looked at the crate and up at Drexel. She looked at the books that Jenna and I carried.

“Just so we’re clear on this,” she said. “Drexel’s life is in danger so you could steal from Tang.” She looked tired and angry.

“You’ll plot against him, but stealing is beneath you?” Jenna said. She arched her eyebrows. They seemed bushy.

"I say we do not help Falstaag. We should continue on Gorgon's mission, and eliminate the bandits" Freya said.

"What?" I cried, "After all we went through in there you're still on that kick?"

"Their tenent of 'right of absolution' was disturbing, as was their focus on power above honor. And the magic. The most disturbing thing was the food. However, my personal feelings aside, these monks keep the peace, and not for a price, like Falstaag. We comitted crimes against them, they tried us how they saw fit. We have no quarrel with them."

“You're livin in a dream world,” I said, "That place was sick with smoogers".

"Ledshek the goblin put himself on the line to save us from the angry mob back there" Freya snapped, "How is he so different from you or I that I should forget that?"

"That’s why I love you Freya,” Drexel said. "You're so non-judgemental" He laughed. His dark eyebrows arched. They were black against his pale skin.

"If I ever find out who originally betrayed Cloda's plan in Buba, you'll see my judgemental side." She thought for a moment. "Or if I find out that some individual informed the half-dragon assasin that he could find us on that river-raft." She said.

"That couldn't be." Drexel said, "Nobody knew we were gonna be on that raft but Cloda and Rivermonger. I think Jehosephat must have been heading downstream for some other reason and saw us. With incredible luck and eyesight. Actually, it does sound pretty fishy, Freya"

“This book is the most valuable thing I’ve ever seen,” Jenna said. She thumbed through the pages. "Its ancient, its powerful..."

“The magic I can tap with this!…” She pawed through the pages. Her ears fluttered. “I might even fashion a cure for Drexel,” she said. The pages shone with a metallic luster.

“No thanks,” Drexel said.

“What was the library focused on? What was the open book pertaining to?” Freya asked.

“Which book?” Jenna asked. She stared distractedly at a cluster of glyphs and symbols.

“The book on the pedestal in front of the cauldron, sitting open as if it was being currently used. You were looking at it.” Freya said.

“The one you dropped,” Drexel said. “Startling me into getting this.” He rubbed his arm.

“Oh, that was nothing. Just a book of recipes,” she said. She ran her finger down a column of figures that almost seemed to move on the page.

Freya balled her fists. Her muscles rippled under her leather wrap. Jenna looked up from her new spell book.

“They weren’t recipes that would interest you,” she said.

“All recipes interest me, especially ones in a Monestary devoid of Chau” Freya said.

“Unless you cook for dragons,” Jenna said.

Freya’s face turned red. Her thick eyebrows knit together. She stood.

“That book had recipes for dragons?” She asked.

“Magical recipes,” Jenna said. “It was really a book of potions. It didn’t seem like your thing,” she said.

Freya sat down, looked around, and stood up again.

“I don't even know where to start on this one,” she said.

She paced back and forth. “First, the cheating monks use magic to fight. Then they pervert Chau by making magic food.” She clenched and unclenched her fist.

“And now it looks as if Tang is cooking for a dragon,” she said.

“Not a dragon, the dragon.” Jenna said.

“Maybe Tang put the dragon up to destroying the town after all, like Falstaag told us,” Chastity said.

“He works with smoogers, we know that much,” I said.

"That is not a mark against him, Telle, but, still, I now wonder if I was premature in my judgement."

I put down the book and leather portfolio I’d taken from under Tang’s bed. “And he was involved in the Pusstown massacre,” I said.

“Pusstown is the least of our worries right now,” Drexel said.

“The least of your worries maybe,” I said. I brought the book to Jenna. “Can you look at these things I found under Tang’s bed? They might tell us what he’s doing.”

“Later,” she said. She mumbled something and stared at the symbols in the book. They were definitely moving across the page.

The portfolio had a leather strap across the front and a golden locking clasp.

“Drexel, can you pick this lock?” I asked.

“I’m not even going dignify that with a response,” he said. Freya picked up the book.

“The History of Lengnil,” she said. The cover was rotted leather. It was very old. She carefully opened the cover. The pages were yellowed and brittle. “Herein lies the various histories of the liberator of Heedon Springs, Lengnil the Conqueror,” she said. She flipped through the pages. A slip of parchment fell out of the back. Drawn on the paper was a crude map of the Heedon Springs area. Circles had been drawn around various areas around the town. Tang’s monastery was in the center of the map.

Freya flipped through the book and read.

“This appears to be a history of Heedon Springs,” Freya said. She ran her finger down a page. "There is a chapter called 'The Black Lizard Scorned" She said. "Sounds interesting." She read aloud. Jenna looked up from her book.

“Having at long last stolen the Pearl from the mighty black lizard Lengnil did finally affix the pearl atop the segmented arcane staff of his great design. When combined with the foci and fixatives woven into his staff's conjoined segments the power of the pearl became total. The prize of the Pearl together with the Arm of Tempus and Rod of Axiom and Teflon's Pole and Hook of ages and the Brown Cone reigned supreme over the laws of gods. The forces of nature bent now at his whim. What Lengnil had promised became truth. The earth boiled and the grass recoiled in fear from Lengnil's fury. In beneficence, Lengnil would wield the power. His victory was now assured. The Black Lizard now cowered in her mountain to hide her face in shame. Soon, the promised scorching of the land would ensue. Even the combined armies of the subhuman animals could not approach his might. Lengnil's promise to his people of the scorching of the land would become one with Lengnil's promise of the scorching of the enemy. The subhumans would be cleared from the path of humanity by righteous scorching by the hand and staff of Lengnil. Heedon Springs would be delivered to mankind. Lengnil told to his men to begin preparing for march. The march was prepared. Now, after the subuman hollow triumph at the battle of Green Field, his batallion consisted of two cavalry brigades, eight light archer brigades.." Freya began reading silently.

"What gobbledygook" Chastity said.

"Old historic tomes can be like that". Her ears rippled. She put down her book. She reached for the book of Lengnil. “May I?” She asked.

“Now you’re interested?” Freya asked. She handed Jenna the book.

"Mighty black lizard sounds like somebody we know" Drexel said.

"She's certainly old enough to be in this book" Jenna replied.

“Look for something about Pusstown,” I said.

“We have a lot to figure out right now, Telle. We’ll get to Pusstown when we can,” she said. “By the way, Telle,” she said. “Your eyebrows have really gotten bushy.” She looked around. “And not just Telle’s,” she said. Her eyebrows twitched.

“Yours aren’t too thin at the moment,” Drexel said.

“Mine too?” She asked. She felt her forehead and frowned.

“They’ve been coming in for a couple of days now,” he said.

“We’re missing two members of our group and we’re reading books,” Chastity said.

“Three members,” I said. She gave me a confused look. “Sheesha is missing too,” I said.

“I just hope if I ever disappear, surrounded by enemies, you people are talking about how to rescue me and not pawing through the junk that you stole,” she said. She kicked the crate Drexel sat on.

“Careful,” he said. "Valuables in there"

"If Jenna's spell worked, they became invisible and hopefully found their way back to town, or Barry's," Freya said to Chastity. "If it didnt work, they're gone. Thats the way it is, there is no possible rescue. We're not going off looking for invisible people in the dark."

“We’re out here in the weeds. We don’t know what we’re doing,” Chastity said."

"You're starting to sound like Reese" Drexel said.

“We have to help Falstaag somehow,” Jenna said. She looked up from the book of Lengnil.

"We most certainly do not" Drexel said. "Keep your train of thought, Jenna, you were trying to cure me. You should be looking at that other book again."

“We need to warn him that we’re not on the inside. If he charges up to the monastery and we aren't there, we’ll have yet another enemy,” she said.

“Who cares?” Drexel asked.

“You should care. If Falstaag is angry enough, he'll certainly tell the dragon we killed her son. He could even team up with Tang, and the Dragon!,” she said.

“Paranoid little butterfly-head, who’s to say they haven’t already? It's Tang, Falstaag, some mysterious bandit smoogers, one ancient dragon, and the military arm of the entire Bupinder empire versus us! All so some stilt can make dolls in our likeness. Brilliant! But what do I care? I'm dead already!” He yelled. He slipped a thin strip of metal from a pocket in his cloak. “Enough of this. I want to see what I was poisoned over,” he said. He got up from his crate and sat next to it on the ground. He felt with his fingers for a seam under the lid. He slipped the metal into seam and worked it back and forth. Eventually, the lid came loose. There was a long, slow creak as he pulled off the top of the crate. He reached inside the crate. His smile of anticipation flattened. The corners of his mouth turned down into a tense frown. He slowly pulled his empty hands from the box. He carefully tipped the crate toward Freya so that she could see what was inside.

Freya shrieked and jumped backward, nearly tripping over Jenna.

“No,” Freya said. She turned a pale green. Drexel winced in disgust and turned the crate over. The pale carcass of a dead stilt baby flopped onto the ground.

“Falstaag was telling the truth,” Freya gasped.

"Freya do you have any good recipies for my hat?" Drexel said, composed as ever. "It looks like I'll be eating it." He saw that no one even registered his joke. "Nevermind."

“Its a dead baby!,” Chastity said. She backed away from the corpse.

“Of all the crates I could have grabbed,” Drexel said. I sat on the ground and looked at the pathetic corpse.

“Why?” I asked. I clutched the Kraken Idol in my pocket and whispered a prayer.

“Magic Potions,” Jenna said.

“What do you mean?” Freya asked.

“There are certain ingredients that can make extremely powerful potions,” she said.

“This..is not an ingredient…” Freya said.

“Of course it is,” Jenna said.

We all stared silently at the baby's corpse in the fire's light.

“Well this explains our bushy eyebrows,” Jenna said, breaking the silence. Her ears fluttered. My hands flew to my forehead. I felt my bushy brows.

"Its some kind of magical side-effect" she said.

“The gruel,” Freya said. She felt her forehead with her fingers. “That explains the lack of Chau,” she said. “We weren’t eating food” She looked ill. She rubbed her eyebrows.

"Absolutely not" Jenna said. "The distilling process would be extensive. By the time it got to the gruel, what we must have eaten is more properly defined as ectoplasm, or essence of soul."

“We’ve been eating human babies?” Chastity asked in a weak voice. She retched.

"No, Chastity, please pay attention. We've simply been eating baby's souls." Jenna explained.

Freya’s face was pale. Her skin looked even whiter against her thick black unibrow. She ran to me and kneeled.

“Telle! Pluck the evil from my head!,” she said. She closed her eyes. I pinched the tufts of wiry black hair above her eyes and yanked. She clenched her teeth. I pulled out another clump and she yelped. It took time to get them all.

“Your turn,” she said. I leaned toward her and she grabbed my eyebrows.

“It hurts more than you think,” she said. She yanked. Lines of hot pain shot through my head and down my neck. It felt as if the roots of the hairs ran all the way to my heart. A wave of unnatural weakness washed over me. I became hungry.

A trickle of blood ran down my face. I stumbled over to Jenna. She smirked.

“I’ll keep mine thank you very much,” she said. Chastity also refused.

Drexel was looking very ill.

“I am going to die from an amateur lock picking,” he said. He pulled back his cloak. The lines had reached his shoulder.

“There is no question that Tang must be stopped,” Freya said. She got to her feet. “I don't care what it takes.” The white patches above her eyes were speckled with red drops of blood. She moved to the corpse.

“I’m with you,” I said.

“Quiet!” Jenna said. Her ears fanned out. “Someone approaches,” she said.

“Great,” Drexel said. He lay back on the ground.

“If we have another fight, I’m sitting it out,” he said.

“What else is new?” Chastity asked. I heard footsteps around me. I turned and saw only grass on all sides. Freya crouched in a fighting stance. She turned her head to the left and right. It was hard to tell where the threat was coming from.

A hiss and puff of steam burst from our campfire. The sharp smell of urine washed over the camp. I stared at the fire, but only saw the burst of steam. My eyes watered from the acrid stench. Freya turned and faced the fire. She jerked her head around and scanned the area. A hoof print appeared in the ground near the fire. Then another. They pressed down the grass in a line that led toward Jenna. She took a cautious step backwards and stumbled. She flipped backwards and whirled unnaturally in the air. She hovered for an instant before turning upside down. She dropped and landed on her head. Someone snickered.

Freya sprang into the air and punched at the spot where Jenna had stood. Her fist stopped with a smack in mid-air.

“Ouch!” Reese’s voice came from the end of Freya’s fist.

“Ha ha ha.” Grundy’s low voice laughed from behind me. I spun around and saw nothing.

“It worked,” Jenna said. She sat up and blinked. I heard a bark to my right. I spun around and felt a slimy tongue slap against my neck. I fell backwards. An invisible Sheesha licked my neck. I reached up and hugged the air above me.

“Thank Kraken you’re alive,” I said.

“Thank you for leaving us back there.” Reese’s voice came from my right.

“We did what we could,” Freya said. “I’m glad you’re alive.”

“You might want to tug out your eyebrows,” I said.

“We heard.” Grundy’s voice came from behind me.

“Shouldn’t we do something with that?” Chastity said. She pointed at the baby. It lifted into the air and then back down. It jerked along the ground and moved toward Chastity. She screamed and backed away.

“Drop it Sheesha,” I said. The baby flopped onto the ground.

“Put it back in the crate at least,” Freya said. Jenna walked over and picked up the corpse. She dropped it into the crate and put on the lid. Drexel leaned against the crate and groaned.

“What’s wrong with him?” Reese asked.

“He was poisoned,” Jenna said. “I’m working on a spell to cure him,” she said.

“Just what I need,” Drexel said. His voice was very soft. He lay back on the ground and closed his eyes. His chest rose and fell in short, quick breaths.

“He’s dying!” Chastity said.

“He still has a chance,” Jenna said. “He’s probably got a day,” she said.

“How did you find us?” I asked.

“Sheesha found you,” Reese said.

“We had an easy time getting past them monks.” Grundy said from my left. "But we had a hell of a time gettin hold of Sheesha. Once I finally had her, she led us straight to y'all."

“You guys got them so riled up they were climbing over themselves to get at you. Once we got out of there, I just hung on to Sheesha’s harness and she sniffed her way to you guys,” Grundy said.

The grass swayed and moved around us as Sheesha barked and growled.

“I think she’s still figuring out that she can’t see herself,” Grundy said. Then the panting and barking stopped. The grass parted and flattened in a straight line away from us.

“She’s on to something,” I said.

“Nobody move,” Freya said. Freya assumed another stance.

“Chastity, you stay with Drexel,” she said. Chastity held Drexel’s hand in her lap. There was rustling in the grass where Sheesha had run. A terrified squeal came from the grass. There was growling and a bark. Then a shriek of pain. The grass swayed some more. Sheesha’s footsteps approached. The grass opened in front of our camp.

A smooger baby hung in mid-air. It’s eyes were wild with terror. It shook violently back and forth in the air a few times and then dropped at my feet. I heard a bark. Sheesha’s breath washed over my face. I reached down and picked up a screaming smooger brat.

“Smooger baby,” I said. I walked toward the crate and opened it.

“What are you doing Telle?” Freya asked.

“Putting it with the other one,” I said. I lowered the baby toward the crate. Freya jumped toward me and snatched the squealing smooger baby from my hands.

“It is alive!,” she said. She cradled the toddler. It wore a torn shirt, its ribs showed through the tears in the primitive fabric. It looked to be starving.

“You must be joking,” I said.

“He’s so cute,” Chastity said. “How old is he?” She asked me.

“Probably one,” I said. The boy muttered and squirmed.

“He looks old for a one year old, must be the little warts. Hey he's got a full set of teeth!” Chastity said.

“Whats your name, little green man?,” she said. She waved her fingers in front of the smoogers face until it stopped crying.

“What’s your name, kid?” I asked, speaking in smooger. The smooger looked up at me with pale green eyes.

“Boogle,” he said. His face was drawn.

“His name is Boogle,” I said.

“Boogle!” Freya and Chastity both said together.

"He's smart for a one year old, speaking his name" Jenna said.

"He's not smart" I said, "Smoogers just grow up a lot faster than other animals. They only live about 20 years if they're lucky".

“What’s a goblin child doing out here all alone?” Jenna asked.

“Ask him,” Freya said.

“Where’s your pit?” I asked.

“Ran from piggies,” he said. He looked around wildly. “Where’s momma?” He started to cry.

“He wants his mother, what a wimp” I said. Chastity and Freya looked like they were going to cry.

“We have to find his home.” They said.

“Exactly,” I said. “And when we do find his smooger family, we kill them,” I said.

“Telle!” Freya said.

I sighed. "Freya, this runt proves that theres a camp of smoogers around here somewhere. It must be the bandit's camp".

“We’d better make a decision,” Jenna said.

“I’m dying over here and you’re fiddling with a smooger brat,” Drexel said. He rubbed his arm.

“You’re not dying,” Jenna said.

“Let’s keep him,” Chastity said. She cradled Boogle and tried to amuse the terrified smooger.

“Blurgerg, blurgerg,” he said over and over.

“Blurg?” She asked. Chastity looked at me.

He’s hungry,” I said.

“Telle, give him your doll to play with,” she said.

“Kraken is not a doll! It's a religious idol and the only way Im givin it to a smooger is if im putting it through it's ugly skull!,” I said. The smooger turned his head and looked at me.

“Kraken,” the smooger said in an infantile drawl. My heart began to pound. I reached for my belt where my dagger had been.

“You're dead kid.” I said in Goblin.

“Kraken.” Boogle said. I jumped. Chastity looked at me.

“What’s wrong?” She asked.

“What did you just say?” I asked Boogle.

“Kraken,” he said. I reached into my pocket and took out my Idol. Boogle’s eyes lit up. He reached for it.

“Kraken,” he said. I stuffed the idol into my vest laces. The green child squirmed in Chastity’s arms. His thin lips were pulled back over his brown teeth in a grin. I wanted to twist his head until his neck popped.

“Never say that again.” I said in goblin. Boogle shrank into Chastity’s arms and started to cry.

“What’s wrong with you?” Chastity asked.

“Did Boogle say Kraken?” Jenna asked.

"He heard me say it" I said.

“It looked like the little fella recognized the doll.” Grundy’s voice said from the air next to me.

“Sheesha!” I called. I whistled through the gap in my teeth. The grass moved around me. The slap of a tongue smacked my cheek. I reached for her nose and pressed it against the smooger. I felt for her harness. I climbed onto her back and kicked her sides.

“We need to find these smoogers and get rid of them,” I said. I climbed onto Sheesha’s back.

“You can join me or not, whatever you want,” I said. I kicked into Sheesha’s invisible sides and she sprang forward.

“Wait, Telle,” Freya said. I floated in the air as Sheesha sniffed the trail of Boogle. She zigged and zagged, but basically headed west. The others ran after us.

“I won’t let him hurt your family,” Chastity said, and stayed behind Sheesha. She cradled Boogle. He babbled in smooger as she bounced him up and down.

“Children imitate speech all the time,” I said to myself.

“The smooger runt was making fun of me by saying what I said! Ha Ha!" I shouted back to the others.

“Praise Kraken,” Boogle said.

Sheesha raced through the grass. The trail straightened out. She ran forward through the grass. The tall thin blades whipped against my skin. Then, Sheesha stopped. She whined and looked around.

The tip of a sharpened stick poked out from the grass, inches from my face. Sheesha growled. I looked back. Spear tips slowly emerged on all sides. Freya took a fighting stance.

“It floats in air,” a voice said in Goblin. It must have been referring to me.

“We have one your children,” I said in smooger. I looked back at Chastity.

“What?” A voice came from the grass.

“Hold up the runt,” I said to Chastity. She did.

“They’ve got Boogle,” said another smooger.

“Make a move and we’ll strangle it!” I said in goblin.

“What’s going on?” Freya asked.

“I told them we’ll kill the kid if they make a move,” I said. Freya frowned.

“Telle, you need to calm down,” Freya said. “Do not make any more threats.” She stared down the tip of a spear that was inches from her belly. It quivered in the shaking hands of a small smooger.

“Nobody move,” Freya said.

There was a scream of surprise. A spear jerked from the hands of the smooger who held it. The spear spun around in mid-air. It floated in the air for an instant and then shot forward. It stuck into the throat of a smooger. Blood sprayed from the wound. It splattered in a pattern in the air. The bloody outline of a pair of goat’s legs appeared. The grass around us moved and swayed. Smoogers with grass strapped to them as clothing appeared all around us. I realized we were completely surrounded. Reese stopped. The spear was poised in the air. It pointed at another smooger, who jumped away and vanished in the grass. Freya looked to her left and right. What had looked like grass was a wall of camouflaged smoogers. Nobody moved except for twitching of the wounded smooger on the ground. A smooger dropped his spear and knelt to help the wounded goblin.

“Tell them we don't want to fight,” Freya said. She looked at me. I nodded.

“Make a move and we’ll kill you all,” I said in smooger. I nodded at Freya.

“Wait, wait, don't kill! We get Gurloin,” said the smooger behind the spear that stuck in my face. "Get Gurloin!" He shouted to another.

Several tense minutes passed. A colored hat appeared in the distance. It bobbed through the grass as approached. The smoogers around all shouted.

“Gurloin! We found Boogle,” the voice behind the spear in my face cried out.

“Attackers,” another said. The hat hovered above the grass. It slowly approached. The smoogers parted, and I stood before the oldest, yellowiest smooger I’d ever seen. He wore his tall, green, blue, and yellow hat with a strange air of dignity. He looked at Boogle.

“You’ve brought us one of our lost,” he said to me.

“Put your weapons down,” he said. The spears lowered.

“Kriggle was stabbed by his own spear!” A smooger said.

“Kraken’s ways are sometimes strange,” he said. “He delivers a life to us by those who wish us harm,” he said. His voice trembled with age.

“Praise Kraken,” he said.

“Praise Kraken.” The other smoogers said.

"Telle they all just said Kraken!" Reese's surprised voice said.

“This is some kind of hallucination." I said. "Im having a nightmare"

Gurloin looked up at my vest. His warts and wrinkles twisted into a look of surprise.

“You are a follower of Kraken?” He asked. I blinked and swallowed. I reached for my Idol. The spears went up. Gurloin waved his hands and the spears lowered again. I pulled up my Kraken.

“I worship this Kraken,” I said. I stuck the idol in his face.

“My his horn miss you,” he said. He pushed his right hand out in front of my face. “His horn is plenty,” he said. They were the same words my mother had taught me. My mouth hung open.

“Is this is some kind of smooger trick?” I choked.

“I do not know this word, smooger,” he said. I coughed uncontrollably.

"Telle, is everything all right?" Freya said, "You look like you've seen a ghost."

“Do you freaks really worship Kraken?” I asked.

“I would ask the same of you. You speak our language even,” he said. He cocked his head.

“My name is Telle Smellme. Kraken kept me alive when your people massacred my town,” I said. Gurloin looked confused.

“My people would never…” He said.

“What are you babbling about in that hideous language?” Chastity asked.

“These smoogers claim to worship Kraken,” I said.

“Ask them for help,” Freya said. She pointed at Drexel. He leaned impossibly to one side. He was propped up by the invisible Grundy.

“We need your help,” I said. I gritted my teeth. “Our friend has been poisoned.” Gurloin scratched his chin and adjusted his hat.

“We will aid him,” he said. He turned and walked into the grass. I followed him. “Take Kriggle to the main pit. Fetch the water of Kraken,” he said. Two smoogers ran off. A couple others lifted the wounded smooger and carried him.

We hadn’t walked far when I noticed collapsed pits around us. Woven grass covered the tops of the pits that had not caved in. Yellow smooger eyes blinked at us from under the grass. The smell of smooger was strong.

“This is a lot more than a camp” I said.

“This is Town,” Gurloin said.

He took us to the center of a ring of pits. A dirt path lead downward. We walked into a large pit with a grass roof. Even from a few feet away it was impossible to see. The pit stank of smooger urine. Light filtered through the grass. Once my eyes adjusted, I saw smoogers huddled near the walls. It was the largest single smooger pit I’d ever seen. It was similar to the grand central pit at Blagton, except for the camouflage. That, and there were no dogs but Sheesha.

I climbed down from Sheesha and entered the pit. The others followed.

“You ride on air?” A smooger asked. I ignored him. I was very angry.

“Bring the water of Kraken,” Gurloin said. A smooger came forward with a gourd. Grundy propped Drexel up against the wall. The smooger poured water from the gourd into Drexel’s slack-jawed mouth. Freya watched anxiously.

“It stinks in here.” Reese’s voice came from my left. He still held the spear. It floated menacingly. The smoogers around him cringed.

A moan came from Drexel.

“More,” Gurloin said. The smooger with the gourd hesitated. He looked at Gurloin.

“More, please,” Gurloin said. The smooger poured more into Drexel’s mouth.

“Get his hand too,” I said. I pointed to the swollen finger. The smooger poured water onto the wound.

“I’ll take care of that,” a female smooger said from a side corner. She waddled out of the darkness. Her hair was a matted ball of grass, sticks and dirt. Her yellow skin sagged under her arms. She had so many warts that her skin was just a bumpy jumble of lumps. She rubbed the water along Drexel’s arm. The black lines began to fade. He groaned and opened his eyes. His eyes focused on the smooger hag who rubbed his arm.

The younger smooger tried to pour more water into Drexel’s mouth. Drexel raised his arm in fear and batted at the gourd. The water sprayed across the pit.

“Don’t worry,” Freya said. “They’re helping us.” Drexel looked around wildly. He saw Freya and seemed to calm down a little. I looked past him. Spots of Reese appeared in the air.

“Look!” a smooger said, pointing at Reese. The other smoogers in the pit muttered excitedly to each other.

“Bring more water.” I said to Gurloin. He nodded at the young greenish smooger. The smooger scampered off into the shadows.

“I was wondering how I was going to make them visible,” Jenna said. The smooger returned with two more gourds. One of them jerked from his hands. It floated into the air. It tipped and then poured out. A stream of water flowed down and pooled in the air several feet above the ground. The area around the water became red. Meat and intestines appeared, hovering. Reese’s liver hung in the air. Sheesha barked. I took the other gourd and splashed it across Sheesha. Her bald, wrinkled skin appeared. Grundy took the gourd and drank. He slowly appeared to us, from the inside out.

“That stuff is great!” Reese said. He danced in the pit. His legs kicked out. The smoogers cringed in the corners.

“Ah, the wondrous power of Kraken,” Gurloin said. He looked ecstatic.

“How can they worship Kraken?” I asked.

“Religion travels its own path, Telle,” Jenna said.

“I don’t get it,” I said. I sat with my back against the side of the pit.

“Could my memories be messed up?” I asked. “Was I with the smoogers that long?” My stomach tightened into a knot. I stared at the muttering yellowskins. They huddled together like animals.

“I’m hungry!” Reese said. I translated his outburst into smooger. Gurloin smiled and told the woman to fetch us food.

“They’re going to feed us,” I told the others. "Be worried"

“Can we get out of this pit?” Chastity asked. We started to the surface to wait for our meal.

"Telle," Chastity asked,"Are you sure they didn't worship Kraken in the smooger town where you grew up?"

"Blagton? No, they worshiped Coonta, Demon Queen of Cockroaches." I shuddered. "My mother taught me to worship Kraken."

“Saved by smoogers,” Drexel said. He shook his head. When we climbed out of the pit we saw that a group of smoogers had gathered. They stared at us while we sat and waited for food.

"These cant be the bandits" Freya said, "They're so docile.."

"Their spears are pointy enough" Reese said.

"Where did that healing water come from?" Freya asked, "We're somewhere nearby the springs possibly..."

"This must be the same natural healing springwater we heard about" Chastity said.

Freya read more of the Book of Lengnil. She whispered something to Jenna. Jenna nodded.

“Your meal.” The female smooger who had tended to Drexel brought a tray made from hardened dirt. Six piles of food steamed on the tray. She set the tray on the ground and left. The others looked at me.

“You’re just supposed to dip your fingers into the piles and eat,” I said. Freya stuck her fingers into a steaming mound of greenish brown food. She scooped up a bit and stuffed it into her mouth. She grimaced and sat back. She chewed twice and swallowed slowly.

“What is this?” She asked. She shook her head quickly. “It has an unusual Chau,” she said, politely. I asked the smooger what we were eating and she told me with great pride. I frowned and nodded.

“Well?” Jenna asked after forcing down a bite.

“I don’t think I heard him right,” I said.

“Tell me it doesn’t have any babies in it,” Freya said.

“No babies,” I said. We forced down the meal. If I wasn’t starving, I wouldn’t have been able to eat it. When we were done, Reese belched and winced. He rubbed his belly.

“The buzz from that water is gone,” he said.

My stomach growled from the meal. I tightened the strings on my vest. My paunch had disappeared. Tang’s gruel had been worth something after all.

“What are the ingredients of this meal?” Freya asked. “They seem very familiar,” she said. I nodded. I asked Gurloin a second time. He explained again.

“It’s a mixture of their finest grass and a giant gilmic pig dung,” I said.

“No way!” Reese said. He burped. Everyone else groaned.

“I suspected as much,” Freya said.

“We got better than the others,” I said. The other smoogers dug into piles of mush the ground in front of them. A family of smoogers approached us. They bowed and muttered. I spoke with them, against my better intentions.

“They are the family of Boogle and they want to thank us,” I said.

“You’re welcome,” Drexel said. “Now shoo!” He waved them away. They bowed some more.

“Piss off!” I said in smooger. They smiled, showing their black teeth and humbly walking back to the crowd of smoogers that had gathered to watch us.

"This is such a nightmare" I said.

“Don’t they get tired of staring?” Chastity asked. Drexel patted his pockets. A look of panic crossed his face.

“Which one of you was it?” He asked. He looked us over. His face turned bright red.

“What now?” Freya asked.

“My gold! Someone stole my gold!” He said. He started to shout.

“None of us would rob you,” Chastity said. “We’re a family.” She winked at me.

“A family!” Drexel said. “A family of what?” He got to his feet.

“The smoogers show their true colors!,” I said, preparing to fight.

“Gurloin!” I shouted. The tall hat bobbed through the crowd of blinking smoogers.

“Yes, child of Kraken,” he said. He smiled down at me.

“Guess what, smooger, Someone took his money.” I pointed at Drexel.

“I see,” Gurloin said. He looked profoundly disappointed.

“Children of Kraken. Who among you has stolen from our guests?” He asked the crowd. Nobody moved.

Gurloin nodded. The smoogers all looked at each other with big eyes. He raised his hands in the air. “I invoke the power of Kraken. Kraken, show them your wrath!” His eyes rolled back and he muttered in incomprehensible words. Jenna’s ears suddenly flapped out from her head. She sat straight up. There was a crack and a bolt of lightning split through the sky and struck the ground in front of the smoogers. Dirt shot in all directions. Grass smoldered by the edges of a blackened patch of ground. The smoogers sat in stunned silence. Freya leapt to her feet. Sheesha whined. Gurloin looked through the smoke. “Return what was stolen,” he said. I was terrified.

A leather sack flew from the crowd of smoogers and landed at Drexel’s feet. He opened it and smiled. He stuffed the sack into a pocket in his robe.

“That's better,” he said.

“Kraken’s power is to be feared,” Gurloin said.

“Interesting,” Jenna said.

The sun was low in the sky. My stomach rumbled from the meal. I belched and the taste of baked dung and grass flooded into my mouth, causing me to belch up more.

“Now what do we do?” I asked.

“We kill Gurloin while he's not looking?,” Drexel said.

“I don’t want to do that. One of em will see,” I said, still on edge from the thunderstrike.

“Telle Smellme, not kill smoogers?” Drexel asked.

“I think it is obvious that these are not the goblins who rob tourists,” Freya said.

"Lets try to find out" Jenna said. "Telle, can you ask, is his name Gurloin? Ask him some questions for me."

"He'll probably just feed you some smooger line, but I will if you want."

Gurloin was lecturing his horde. I beckoned him over.

"Ask him what interaction his tribe has with the outside world." Jenna said

"Hey ugly, how many tourists have you looted this week?" I asked in his language. He tilted his head in confusion.

"What manner of beast is a tourist?" he said.

"He denies it." I said to Jenna.

"Denies what?" Jenna said, "Telle please ask him the proper question."

I was impatient "What was it again?"

She sniffed and tried to ask Gurloin herself,"Do you stay in this area or wander? Do you trade with other tribes? Do you travel to Heedon Springs?" She spoke loudly and gesticulated wildly. He had no idea what she was talking about.

"I'll ask him, dont get your ears all in a bind." I turned back to Gurloin and asked Jenna's questions. He seemed pleased that she was interested, and addressed his answers to her. I translated.

"No one is allowed to leave Town. It is a rule as old as existance. We all hide in the grass if anybody comes, but nobody usually does. We keep our spears sharp in case we get lucky and a rat wanders close, but they usually don't. My people didn't know what to do when you came up with little Boogle. I am glad that they called me. I am glad you have come.

No goblin must ever leave Town, so say the scriptures. Generations ago, the scriptures tell of the sisters Kaelin who left to find some food. But other than those sisters, no one has ever left."

I couldn't stand it any more, i waved him away.

“Who in Kraken's name are all these smoogers?" I asked, Theres not supposed to be ANY smoogers out here! I thought Lengnil wiped them all out. Why are they worshipping MY God?” I asked.

“It wouldn’t be the first time a religion crossed races,” Jenna said.

“I never saw anything like that lightning bolt in my life,” I said.

“That lightning bolt made me call a theory of mine into question,” Jenna said.

“We’d better go back to Barry’s,” Reese said. “He’ll tell us what to do.”

"I'm with Reese," Chastity said. "We'll never find the goblin bandits anyway, and this place is horrid"

"Yeah!" Reese said, starry eyed, "We've got bigger fish to fry! Now that we know Tang kills babies to make magic gruel and dragon food, we can totally become heroes by slaughtering him! I can't wait to tell Barry, he's gonna love it!"

"That stuff can wait, the plan has changed." I said.

“Changed to what?” Chastity asked.

“Changed to finding out what is going on with these smoogers,” I said. Jenna’s ears slid back along her head.

“Telle, what about Pusstown? We won't find your answers with these goblins. We need to take out Tang,” she said. “so we can make him tell you what he knows.” she added.

“You're right. Pusstown first, straighten out these mixed up smoogers later, we'll hook up with Falstaag and take down Tang for some answers.,” I said.

"I still cant believe Falstaag wasn't lying about the babies. "Freya said, "I was sure he just wanted to make a play for power by attacking Tang."

“Falstaag's a rotten bastard. But he’s movin to take Tang out, and I’m ready to help him,” Gurdy said.

“Tang must be stopped,” Freya agreed. “and if Telle gets his answers in the meantime, more the better.”

“I would like to spend a lot more time in his library,” Jenna said.

Freya and Drexel shook their heads.

“Shouldn't we at least check with Barry?” Chastity asked.

“We don’t have time for that,” Jenna said. Chastity pouted.

“Let’s get some sleep. We’ll head out for Heedon springs first thing in the morning,” Jenna said "We only have a few days before Falstaag attacks Tang's, and it will take us a day to walk back to the city, easilly."

“I’m tired,” Reese said. He scratched his right leg with both hands.

“Fleas,” he said. “I caught fleas from these damn smoogers.” He scratched his other leg. Grundy snored loudly. As the sun went down, I watched the unblinking yellow eyes of the smoogers watch us. I searched my mind for the memories that Jenna had uncovered when we met. I was sure it was my mother who taught me about Kraken. Reese snored. Sheesha lay beside me. Just as I drifted off to sleep, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I started awake. Gurloin’s hideous face hovered over me. He wore a beatific grin. He leaned in close.

“Come, child of Kraken. I will show you where our god dwells.”

“What?” I asked. He gestured for me to follow him. I got up quietly and followed him into the fields.

“There can be only one explanation for your presence here,” he said. He leaned close to my ear. His sour breath washed over my face. “Kraken has called you home young Telle. I will take you to his temple.” I got up and followed him. He led me past pits filled with snoring smoogers. My hand moved to my dagger. He pulled back a woven grass blanket to reveal a small hole in the ground. I looked around for witnesses. He took off his hat and set it by the hole.

“Follow me, Telle. We enter Kraken’s home,” he said. He crawled into the hole.