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Jewel hears Tarjun's discussion with their mother but keeps quiet. She thinks about where she'd heard about Driders, but things lately had scared her too much to really care. "Ah.... Yeah, I think I read about them. Scary stories about underground creatures and how dangerous they could be. Magical, scary creatures. Some smart, and evil. Some big and hungry, and dangerous. Yeah. Let's just go to our room."
Will sits down with Shelly and tells here the harrowing events they lived through. About how they found that abomination and how it almost ate Tarjun. "We need to get the kids away from this. Maybe we should all get away. Who knows what is going to happen?"
Shelly is horrified by the account. "What did Gertrud say about this?"
"Nothing. She is the worst! She had Clara jump into the hole to look around. Before we encountered the monster. After that she said nothing."
"Besides, that she's going to tell Dwayne about it."
Jewel considers Tarjun's suggestion, but decides against it. "Mom and Dad know Chirp isn't a regular bird. And.... As smart as she is compared to other Thrush, she wouldn't understand the conversation. We can try to listen, but I think that's it. Dad is, well, he's worried cause this is a dangerous situation. And Mom will be worried too, even more so because she didn't see any of it herself!"
"Let's wait what comes from that. I don't want to pack up what little we can carry and run away." Shelly replies.
Just then it knocks at the door and one of the wood cutters comes in. "We have a meeting at the sawmill now. All shall come."
The man turns on his heel and leaves again to invite the others.
"See. Let's go." Shelly comments, and takes her shawl from the wardrobe.
"Yes, you're right." Will replies as a good husband does and follows.
Surprised at the opportunity, Jewel holds Tarjun back until she is pretty sure that their parents have left. "OK. They've left for the town meeting. Let's get over to the Johnson's and check with Clara. Careful though. Mrs. Johnson might be waiting.... I'll send Chirp ahead."
"Chirp. Go ahead of us to Clara's house. Come back right away if you see anyone there except Clara."
Chirp flies over to Johnson's house and finds an open window. Flying from room to room the bird checks every room, but finds no one. The house is empty.
But chirp finds a bowl with sunflower seeds which look very tasty. And as he has found no one, he doesn't have to come back right away and so he enjoys some seeds.
Jewel walks with Tarjun over to the Johnson's house looking for Clara. She is surprised that Chirp doesn't return but through the empathic link feels pleasure from her friend. "Chirp is happy and not returning. I think Clara's parents went to the meeting with everyone else...."
When they arrive and find out that Clara is gone she is concerned. "I hope they didn't take Clara with them! Let's look for small tracks, Clara's tracks!"
The paths are well used and there is no chance to find any fresh tracks belonging to Clara without special skills.
But there is an easier way to find out - going to the meeting. And indeed the Johnson family is there with all members. Gertrud on the sawmill with Dwayne and Randolf with Clara, Tobar and Brina. Jane Wolfson and Sarah Morgan are there, Evelin Porter and Peter Hatwell, James Gordon, Will and Shelly and about ten more men that only work here during the season.
Just as Tarjun and Jewel approach Dwayne starts. "Thank you for coming on such short notice."
"I assume most have seen the dirt cloud over the woods yesterday, or have at least heard of it. Gertrud has taken a look into that and has some important information about it." He nods at Gertrud to take over.
"Hi. As Dwayne said, I took a look into it. A large hole has opened in the woods that opens into a large cave. From what I have seen and whom I met I assume this cave in opened a passage into the dark lands - and yes, that is as bad as it sounds."
"I had an encounter with a dark elf who wasn't very pleased to be disturbed by human presence."
"Therefore I suggest that everyone avoids that part of the woods for the time being. The hole is far enough from the village, so it shouldn't interfere with daily business. But during night, please stay inside. I'm evaluating how to put up some alarms, but the watch for that should be inside the buildings."
"I can't read minds, but I assume the inhabitants of the cave are pissed, that their roof came down. And they don't want some nosy humans to gawk into their home. If that is true, then we should have no issues. But let's be vigilant."
Gertrud pauses for a moment, ponders if she forgot something important and then adds "Any questions?"
There are some questions to be expected. "What are dark elves?"
"Can't we just beat them up?"
"Are we all going to die?"
"Dark elves are elves as you might know them, with pointy ears, but with purple complexion and white hair."
"Well, if we all join up on that one dark elf I met, half of us might survive, so who volunteers?"
"Jokes aside - you should avoid any confrontation. I have no idea if and how many more of them are there, so it might be suicidal to start a war."
"I expect if we avoid them, they will avoid us."
With everything answered so far she closes. "Once the guarding part is planned, I'll come back to a few of you to take over watches. For all others: stay calm, don't do something stupid."
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Tarjun stays away from the group of adults as soon as the assembly comes into sight. He stays still, as his wooden clutch might make some unwanted noise if he shifts position or takes a few steps forward.
"So... They just wanna watch them and not do anything?" he whispers to Jewel. "I can't see how that would solve the problem!"
Jewel nods at Tarjun's quiet statement. She watches the faces of their neighbors as Mrs. Johnson tries to explain the danger. She also whispers, "That isn't meant to solve anything. It's to keep curious eyes away from the hole and possibly save lives. I think I read once that part of Erastil's teachings said to not do anything stupid and get yourself killed.... You know our neighbors, and if any of them saw that drider they might just think they could fight it and win. Mrs. Johnson is just helping them to not do that stupid thing to get themselves killed."
She helps Tarjun to step back quietly. Once the group broke up they'd need to move as fast as he could to get home before their parents.... "Let's get back home. We can ask Mom and Dad about the meeting. If they mention what Mrs. Johnson said about guarding and watches maybe we can ask to go talk to her. We can volunteer to help out with the guarding! With an adult too of course.... It will show that we understand the dangers and accept the responsibility!"
Clara finds this meeting boring. First it's all deception. Gertrud didn't tell half the cool stuff that happened. And second, Clara isn't allowed to tell the other half, so she looks around where Tarjun and Jewel are.
Once she spots them, she runs there. "Hi."
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Tarjun mulls over what his sister is telling him.
"I don't think Pa and Ma will agree that we help. 'Specially Pa. But Mrs. Johnson doesn't really care..." Weighing over the pros and cons of trying to spy on the driders, he's starting to feel weary of these new and difficult responsibilities. His shoulders sag a little. "Hey, you ever wish Breathnacht was still there? At least he'd know how to take care of this..."
He doesn't have much time to follow this train of thought, however, as Clara's sudden greetings makes him jump in surprise.
"Clara!!! You wanna make us get caught?" he hisses. "We're not supposed to be there!!!"
"Says who? The invitation was for all." Clara objects.
"Or did your parents tell you to stay at home? That would be mean."
"Anyway. You need to come to our house to make plans. Away from the ears of those who know only half of the truth." she tells conspiratorially.
Jewel thinks about the "invitation". "They did say All shall come...."
"Our parents didn't say to stay at home, or come with them. They just left. Dad had sent us to our room, but that was that. Let's go to your home Clara. And if asked we went there 'cause the house was too quiet all alone."
Walking to the Johnson's Jewel thinks about Clara's comment. "You know Clara, We may know more than half of what happened, but we still don't know the whole story. The drider's people may have opened that hole themselves, on accident or deliberately. When you dropped down into the hole, did you see any people? I know it was quick, and dark, but if any of their people were hurt you might have seen them...."
"I've seen nothing beyond the cave being big and some plants glowing in the distance. It also was eerily silent. Which is strange, as even what little noise I made echoed down there."
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"I don't think Ma and Pa wanted us to come," Tarjun explains as he follows along. He seems to be limping a bit more than usual, though it might just be from stress. "So keep quiet 'bout us being here, okay? Did you see some tunnels in the hole, anything to lead the mean spider people to the surface?"
"No. But I didn't check for those." Clara replies with a shrug. "Want a sausage?"
Jewel considers Clara's words. She wishes that she had Clara's hex ability to slow the fall, and levitate. Hearing the offer for sausage her mouth waters. "Maybe a couple of bites. Mom and Dad may decide that a family meal would be a good time to tell us what we missed at the gathering." She takes a bite and chews while thinking. "Clara, Your new hex that lets you fall safely. It isn't by chance like your water breathing one is it? Like, you can't share that ability with anyone? Can you?"
Clara fetches a couple of smoke-dried sausages from the pantry and hands a half to Jewel and a whole one to Tarjun. The other half she takes a bite herself. "Nope. That's only for me. But I'm sure there is magic just like that. Maybe Erastil has something for you that helps."
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"He sure ain't got anything for me," Tarjun muses morosely, taking a huge bite from his sausage. At least that seems to revigorate him a bit. "We can plead Pa and Ma to tell us what they know, but I don't see that getting us real far. They know nothing 'bout drider's, and they don't know any magic. Breathnacht would have known. " An idea suddenly crosses his mind. "Hey, Clara your mom told the crowd that drider's were dark elves, right? So there are good elves? Do dark elves have natural enemies we can find?"
"Let's go to Rivendell and ask Elrond..." Clara jokes. "Driders are very special dark elves. And the typical person to oppose the evil elves would be..." Clara does a drumroll with her finger and the sausage on the table "Jewel!"
"Or any other follower of do-gooder gods." Clara pronounces the do-gooder without the derogatory undertone, so it's not clear if she properly understands the real meaning.
Jewel chews the sausage slowly while she is thinking. She nods when Clara explains that her new hex only works for herself. It's not really surprising though when she considers her own hex magic. Her Feral Speech hex only worked for her, and her new protective hex worked on anyone that she could target except herself. It was actually strange that her underwater breathing hex could be shared!
She considers Tarjun's idea of enemies of the dark elves, but so far they'd only seen the one Drider. She giggles when Clara does the drumroll and declares Jewel as a typical person to oppose evil, then adds any follower of do-gooder gods. "Thank you Clara! Although I'm still very young in my devotion to Erastil. And since we've already seen how following the wrong path to power is not the proper route to follow, it's likely to take a good number of years before we will have the kind of magic that we saw that drider using."
"Considering how the people of the town are reacting, I don't think dark elves have anything but enemies around here. Problem is, unless the regular dark elves aren't powerful like that drider, I don't think finding allies will be an option. I mean, if they can all turn invisible how could anyone fight them!"
"Why do you all want to fight spiderwoman?" Clara inquires quite irritated. "Mom said, the hole is their home and they don't want us there."
"How would you like it, if the wall of your sleeping room fell off and then spiderwoman came to check who causes this ruckus and who lives in there?"
"But we need a plan to guard the village!"
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"If I really needed help, I'd be glad someone came to check on me!" Tarjun retorts, though Clara's point leaves him somewhat troubled. Perhaps they've been looking at this problem the wrong way? "And I can't see how we can guard the village 'gainst something that can turn invisible and dig tunnels under it."
For a while, he stays silent and preoccupied, munching on his sausage distractedly. Then, after a few minutes:
"Hey, remember when we first saw the drider, and thought it was some kind of fairy? Do you think fairies exist? 'Cause they can turn invisible too. And they fly."
"You know, Clara's right. When I saw the hole I was worried and just wanted to 'fix' things, like I always do.... But when I saw the Drider I was scared. I was scared and immediately thought we were in danger and needed to fight. But Clara, you're thinking like your mom. She took over at the meeting to stop the town folk from going out there and trying to fight her and getting killed. She said all we should do is protect the town, and I think you're right and she's right! We need to protect the town."
"I don't know how to protect against something that's invisible. But.... If something is digging under us, wouldn't that make the ground shake? Maybe we could make something to detect the ground shaking? It would be simple. Just something like a long strand of tall grass, with just enough weight on it so if it sways a little the flexing were increased...."
"And I think I know how we can get our parents to let us participate! AT least I think Dad will like it.... I can offer to lead some of the people in prayers to Erastil! Erastil is all about community! He wouldn't want this area destroyed by dark elves any more than He would want a natural disaster to wipe us out!"
Realizing that she's on a rant, Jewel stops talking and looks around at her friends. "Well, maybe?
"Are you sure about fairies turning invisible and flying? Cause I only know about fairies in stories, kind of like Dark Elves...." She giggles a little as she glances to Tarjun, then at Clara, "And where's Rivendale and Who's Elrond!?!"
"It's a very long fairy tale about heroes who save the world from great evil. Elrond is an Elf that is as old as the stones. Mom read it to me."
"About the guarding. Mom thought of a tripwire alarm. Works for invisible creatures too. But it seems to be complicated if you need to guard not a small passage, but a whole village."
"And it would be best if the alarm was only for us and not the one triggering the alarm. But that is even more complicated."
Looking closely at Tarjun she has an idea. "Maybe we find enough webs on you to make that from a very thin thread?"
Jewel grins as she moves up by Tarjun to search for any remaining webs. "Those magical webs seemed really strong. I wonder if they are just magic or if there are spiders that spin real webs like them...."
There are some more sticky dust bunnies on Tarjun, but nothing that would help with the need for hundreds of yards of twine.
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"Magical or not, they're just webs," Tarjun retorts, though he seems relieved that the drider's silk is are no more resistant than regular spider web. "How 'bout we just go home, and see what we can do tomorrow? We can talk Mom and Dad into listening to us, and check on the hole to see if it's getting bigger."
Satisfied that Tarjun isn't in any danger from webs stuck to him in weird places, Jewel agrees to get home.
"True. And Clara can talk with her mother about how the guarding of the town can be done. Mrs. Johnson is more receptive to us helping than the other adults might be."
"Mom isn't back home. I don't think your parents made it home and into the bed. I guess no one is going to sleep at all. They are all afraid of spiderwoman!"
"Wait - they don't know about spiderwoman. Harumpf." Clara crosses her arms.
"Ok, then they are afraid of dark elves and won't sleep. Bunch of sissies."
Jewel glances over in the direction of the town meeting. "They're probably discussing watch schedules and stuff. And they won't include kids in anything like that!"
Turning to go she helps Tarjun with his walking. "Let's head back to our bedroom. If Mom and Dad are back, we can just tell them that we were concerned about how quiet everything was and went over to chat with Clara, and she was back from the meeting.... that they wouldn't take us to!"
With Jewel and Tarjun gone, Clara gets bored quickly. She waits impatiently until her mom comes back and then helps her setting up the alarms.
After that is done, she makes a bed on the attic with a view over to the woods, to keep watch.
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Tarjun stops at the threshold of his home to carefully remove the dirt and earth from his shoes, so his parents can't guess he has disobeyed and gone outside during the night. He invites Jewel to do the same, then tiptoes into his room as quietly as he can, just in case the Branstons have come back home sooner than expected.
He doesn't sleep very well that night, scared that the drider will suddenly appear in his bedroom to hurt him, just like Breathnacht once did many moons ago.
Jewel starts to disagree with Tarjun about cleaning their shoes and such, but decides to go along with it, quietly moving in to their bedrooms.
Once she gets in her bed she has trouble going to sleep. Would their parents let them help with the alarms, or watch, or.... anything? She composes herself and whispers a prayer to Erastil, "Erastil, Please help us to watch over our families and this community. We know that we're still kids, but we want to do whatever we can to help. Amen, or.... Thank you?"
The Branston parents are indeed not at home yet and the excursion of Tarjun and Jewel stays unnoticed.
The preparation for the night are some tripwires that make noise between the houses and a row of lanterns 50 yards towards the wood to have at least a chance to spot intruders. All houses in the village are supposed to be dark, only if there are intruders in a house, a light should be lit.
Light is expensive anyway, and all that would have used light for a nightly activity, like playing cards, are ordered for the watch. In every household, at least one person shall keep a look out over the plain.
Gertrud is on patrol all night together with Paddington, Wookie and Clara.
Well beyond midnight something happens. At first it is only some noise of clattering metal. Then a scream of a deep voice is heard, followed by lightning running over the ground. Two short sturdy figures then run into the light and towards the Branston house.
Gertrud ponders if she shall investigate what the noise is, and whom to take along for that. But as the two figures run towards the house, the decision is made. "F&$*, f@#*, f*$#! On to the Branston's" she calls out and starts running.
The two humanoids trample through the wheat field and to the door of the house. Jumping up the stairs to the porch they run right into the door.
Together they manage to break in the door. Looking around they decide to take the stairs leading up. Unknown to them that's where Jewel and Tarjun are.