Hannah’s pout persisted the next morning, and she walked by herself behind Hans, Andy, Alden, and Calum, refusing to talk about the matter vexing her. Andy had tried engaging her in conversation, but since he had implicated himself around the campfire the previous evening by talking to Alden, he too had earned the silent treatment.
Hannah’s mood contrasted sharply from the rest of the company. Between clear skies and no karkadann threats, Sergeant Fulk began whistling. The other officers picked up the tune and added harmony to his melody. Hans, Andy, and Alden smiled, then cracked up when the dove cooed hooh-hrooo in time.
“I didn’t know your bird had rhythm,” Captain Baldric joked.
“And I didn’t know you all were so musical,” Andy kidded back.
“One of our many hidden talents,” Sergeant Hammond jested, bowing.
“We’ll have to have you perform at the next dance my father hosts.”
Everyone but Hannah laughed.
They stopped for rest and a midday meal several hours later.
We need to discuss the next clue.
But when conversation returned to the joking of the gnomes, the thought evaporated.
The land began to gradually change as they set off. The scattered clumps of waist-high grasses gave way to a more densely populated meadow. From each blade of grass hung spikelets that reminded Andy of wheat except the grains were white.
Several paces into the new growth, Andy began feeling… uncomfortable. Several more steps and his stomach began grumbling.
I just ate, how can I be hungry?
Andy took several more steps and a rapidly growing stomachache made its presence known. Andy reached to massage his belly and looked at his companions. Alden held his stomach and wore a pained expression, and Hans, while still stoic, was grimacing. Andy glanced back at Hannah.
“What are you looking at?” she snapped.
Andy raised an eyebrow as Hans looked back, sharing Andy’s surprise.
As Alden turned to see what the problem was, Captain Baldric, who led the company, raised a hand motioning everyone to stop. Hans, Andy, Alden, and Hannah approached while the other officers held their positions, scanning the area. When the four reached the captain, Hannah followed the officer’s downward gaze and gasped. A man lay on his back, frozen, with eyes open, grasping his stomach. Captain Baldric felt for a pulse but shook his head a minute later.
“What do you suppose happened?” Alden queried, still holding his stomach.
“No idea,” the captain replied, looking for signs of a scuffle.
“Well, we can’t just leave him there,” Hannah snipped.
“What’s wrong with you?” Alden questioned indelicately. “Look, I know you’re upset with me about what I did yesterday, but that’s no reason to take it out on everyone.”
The question jolted Hannah, and a puzzled expression coursed across her face. After a minute of consideration, she finally replied, “I’m sorry. I get crabby when I’m hungry. I know we just ate, but I’m starving.”
“Me too!” Andy exclaimed.
“Me three,” quipped Alden, frowning and rubbing his stomach.
The other four soldiers made to join the group, but Sergeants Ranulf and Hammond stopped short and called, “Captain, you’re going to want to see this.”
The captain and the rest of the company approached. Another man lay in a fetal position on his side, eyes wide.
“He’s dead,” Sergeant Ranulf announced.
“I don’t know what happened to these guys, but I’ve got to eat!” Hannah declared. With that, she took two steps and sat. “I could eat a karkadann!” she exclaimed as she opened her pack, grabbed the first edible bits she found, and began gobbling them down.
Hans wrinkled his forehead and rubbed his pepper-stubbled chin.
Andy met Alden’s eyes, chuckled, and nodded toward Hannah, unsure what to make of her unusual behavior.
Ummm. Mmmm. Ummm. Hannah murmured as she stuffed her mouth, barely chewing. She gagged, coughed violently, then continued wolfing down food.
“Don’t forget to breathe,” Andy joked. This is crazy! What’s she doing?
While Andy felt famished, he held himself in check. A glance at Alden and the others told him they felt more than a little hungry as well.
“Should we all eat?” Andy threw out the question.
The inquiry seemed to provide Hans with the missing piece to his quandary, for his curious expression shifted to deadly seriousness as he matter-of-factly declared, “No. We need to move. Now.”
“But what about the dead guys?” Alden questioned.
“Leave them. If we don’t move, we’ll be like them very soon. I’ll explain once we’re clear of the hungry grass.”
“Hungry grass?” Andy asked.
Hans shook his head and waved vigorously. “Get Hannah. Let’s go.”
Alden approached and urged, “Come on Hannah, we need to go.”
Ummm. Mmmm. Ummm, came her oblivious reply.
“We can’t wait!” Hans admonished, his pitch rising.
Sergeant Terric approached, bent and picked Hannah up, tossing her over his beefy shoulder. She did not resist other than to exclaim, “Hey, I need my food!”
“I’ve got it!” Alden replied, sending Andy a worried look.
In no time Andy had a stitch to accompany his hunger pangs, for the pace Hans set proved to be a vigorous run.
“I need food!” Hannah yelled several times, squirming. Andy saw the sergeant clench his jaw, tighten his grip around Hannah’s waist, and assume a laser focus on what lay ahead.
I hate running! I’ve got to eat! Andy’s thoughts ping-ponged as he clutched his side.
“You can do this,” Dad’s voice sounded in his head. “Hans would not have insisted for no reason.”
Andy sucked in a deep breath, the pain in his side sharper than ever. He stared at the passing ground, unable to look around. Step. Step. Step.
I need to eat! I’m going to pass out! Oh, my side kills!
Step. Step. Step. Step.
“Five hundred yards!” Captain Baldric gasped.
“I need food!” Hannah protested somewhere nearby.
Step. Step. Step. Step.
I’m gonna die! I need to eat!
“You can do it!” Andy’s inneru encouraged above the din.
“Two hundred yards!”
Step. Step. Step. Step.
Another deep breath. My side!
Andy lunged clear of the dense grass, barely missing Alden who sprawled on the ground with Calum standing at attention on his undulating chest. Captain Baldric stood bent over, hands on his knees, panting. Sergeants Ranulf and Hammond paced, hands on hips, sucking air into their hungry lungs. Sergeant Terric crumpled to the ground, setting Hannah down gently, then rolled to his back, eyes closed, chest heaving. Sergeant Fulk stopped, barely winded, and Hans slid off his piggy-back ride.
After Andy’s stitch finally let go, he sat up. Hannah sat where the sergeant had dropped her, wiping remnants of food from around her mouth. Her expression revealed confusion.
“Hans, can you please explain what just happened?” Andy requested.
Hans stood and surveyed his audience, then asked, “Anyone starving?”
The sudden absence of hunger pangs dawned on them all.
“But…” Andy began.
Hans raised his hands. “Hungry grass is also known as fairy grass. It is said fairies plant the grass after cursing it. Anyone walking in it is doomed to perpetual and insatiable hunger. I had heard tales of such grass in Cromlech but had never experienced it until now. We were lucky to escape.”
The congregation on the ground furrowed their brows and Andy voiced his disbelief. “Hans, that sounds kind of, I don’t know…”
“Out there?” Hans finished the sentence.
“Yeah.”
“I have to say, I didn’t believe it either, until now. When we happened upon the first traveler, I didn’t think much of it. But when Hannah started complaining of intense hunger and everyone else echoed her sentiment, it got me thinking. Then, when we came upon the second traveler, I knew we were in trouble. I went with my hunch.”
“Well, I’m glad you did,” Captain Baldric agreed.
“I’m still not sure I’m right, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
“Hear, hear,” Sergeant Terric echoed.
“So why did Hannah react…like that?” Alden questioned, petting Calum.
Hannah squirmed, studying the ground.
“No need to be ashamed, Hannah,” Hans encouraged. “You were actually the key to my figuring it out.”
“Me?” she questioned, turning her gaze.
He nodded, then added, “We all know you have a special gift, the ability to sense things more acutely than the rest of us. When you reacted the way you did, it showed me what was in store for all of us if we did not act. So, in a way, you saved everyone’s life.”
Hannah forced the corners of her mouth to rise.
“Shall we move on now that everyone has recovered?” Captain Baldric interrupted.
As one the company rose and followed the captain, who set a manageable pace. No one uttered a word as they trod four abreast behind him through scattered clumps of waist-high grasses. The other soldiers resumed a protective ring about their charges.
Seeing an opportunity to diffuse some of the tension, Andy shared, “Before I returned, I received a clue about the next ingredient I need to collect.”
“What’d it say?” Alden questioned.
“I’ve read it so many times, I’ve memorized it. It says,
“A song so pure
Trills listeners to tears.
A sacrifice, a giving,
And new life appears.
Yellow, crimson, orange, or red,
Fire-touched or unscorched, shed.
A quill of this warbler
No creature hath bred.”
“I know it’s talking about getting a bird’s feather, at least part of it is, but what kind? And the bit about a song and new life, I’ve no idea.”
Hooh-hrooo, Alden’s passenger contributed.
“Thanks, Calum, but I don’t understand bird,” Andy joked.
“You may not understand bird, but Calum might just be on to something,” Hans interjected.
“What do you mean?” Hannah queried.
“It says the bird in question trills beautifully,” Hans iterated. “What birds fit that description?”
Hooh-hrooo, Calum offered, drawing chuckles.
“Yes, ring doves definitely fit that, but they are the wrong color. It mentions yellow, crimson, orange, and red. What do those colors remind you of?”
“A fire?” chimed Alden.
“Yes.”
“A bird with a beautiful song that’s the color of fire,” Hannah summarized, her brow furrowed.
Hans nodded.
“But it says ‘no creature hath bred,’” objected Andy. “How would that be possible?”
“I know of only one bird fitting this description,” Hans intoned.
“Okay, and…” encouraged Andy.
“Wait! I think I know what it’s talking about,” Hannah exclaimed, flapping her hands.
Andy and Alden exchanged glances to raised eyebrows.
“A sacrifice, a giving, and new life appears,” Hannah reiterated. “It’s talking about a phoenix.”
Hans nodded. “I think so.”
“My Grandpa Smithson lives in a place called Phoenix—Arizona, that is.”
The three stared at Andy blankly.
He waved a dismissive hand and added, “Never mind. What’s a phoenix?”
“A bird that, when it grows old, burns itself up and is reborn from its ashes. It’s said to have a beautiful song, and it’s tears are similar to dragons’ in their ability to heal,” Hannah replied.
“Really?” Andy questioned. “How do you know so much about phoenixes?”
“My parents tell us stories before bed. There’s one called ‘Flaming Flumage Flaunts Her Fluff.’”
It was Andy, Alden, and Hans’s turn to stare.
“It’s about this silly bird that’s all proud of her plumage, which is unlike any of her friends’—it’s red, orange, and yellow. She goes flaunting herself around town making everyone jealous. Then one day, she goes up in flames but miraculously rises from her ashes. Having learned her lesson, she ends up apologizing to the top flum for her behavior.”
Andy and Alden cracked up. Hans struggled to keep a respectful expression.
“There’s more to the story than that, but those are the highlights. It’s supposed to teach kids not to behave that way,” Hannah added. “Hey, don’t laugh, I didn’t make it up.”
As Hannah had recounted her tale, Andy’s brain raced. Something about the bird tickled his thoughts, but he could not place it.
“Wait a minute!” Andy exclaimed after calm returned. “Wasn’t it a phoenix in the legend Jada and Naria told us?”
“I hadn’t thought about it being the same bird, but yes,” Hannah confirmed.
“Would someone mind filling me in?” Hans requested.
Andy nodded. “I’ll do my best. Hopefully I remember most of it. It started a long time ago here in the kingdom of Cromlech. There was this king and his daughter, who he loved a lot. They were the last of their royal line. Something bad happened and his subjects ended up leaving him for a different king. I don’t remember all the details.”
“Ah, that legend,” Hans smiled. “Yes, I know it well. Shall I recount it for you?”
The trio nodded.
“With no one left in his kingdom, the bereft king despaired, and the castle and the kingdom fell into disrepair. The king and his daughter wandered about barefoot, their silk and velvet clothes now patched and faded. One day they came upon the ruins of a grand hall, its beams charred and its stones crumbling. Stopping to investigate, the king spotted something gold glimmering under the debris. With some digging, he unearthed Methuselah.”
Andy moved his hand to his blade’s holster.
Hans paused. “Yes, the very sword, Andy.”
Andy smiled.
“As the king stood marveling at the sword’s beauty, a heavy roof beam fell on his daughter, killing her. Beside himself with grief, the king cried out for justice, for no magistrate should suffer the loss of everything—his subjects, his daughter, his kingdom. A unicorn appeared, assuring him he had been granted favor. The unicorn watched as the king prepared a funeral pyre for the princess. When her body had been laid on top, the unicorn offered its horn as a gesture of comfort, which the king accepted. He placed the horn with his daughter’s body and lit the fire using Methuselah.”
“Jada and Naria said the king also used Methuselah to cut the horn off,” Hannah interrupted.
Hans hesitated. “I guess they would know, wouldn’t they?”
He continued. “As the flames spread, the king marveled to see a large bird rise up from where his daughter’s body had lain. Its feathers were yellow, orange, red, and crimson. The king cried out, “Aray! You have become as your name, a ray of hope, like the sun.” It soared up and circled the king, singing a song sweeter than any he’d heard. His heart rejoiced, for he knew his daughter had overcome death itself. The unicorn called her a phoenix, for she had been a maiden of unsurpassed beauty and the bird equaled her former grace.”
Hans paused for a moment, “There’s only one problem.”
“What’s that?” Andy queried.
“I’ve never seen a phoenix in these parts. I’ve certainly never spotted one.”
“Great, so what do we do?” Andy queried.
“Did you know the Giant’s Ring was constructed on the spot where legend says that old building and the funeral pyre stood?”
“What’s the Giant’s Ring?” Alden questioned.
“Only the center of power for Cromlech’s healers. We’ll be passing near there on our way to the castle. Once we find Princess Yara, we can go see the ring. Perhaps we’ll find something of use to your quest.”
Andy nodded. I sure hope so.
Terwit terwoo, oop-oop-oop. Terwit terwoo, oop-oop-oop.
Everyone’s eyes jetted toward the bird, now standing on Alden’s shoulder.
Terwit terwoo, oop-oop-oop. Terwit terwoo, oop-oop-oop.
“Zolt!” yelled Andy, spotting several heavily armed vulture-men materializing from behind a large rock outcropping off to their right.