Girdliz

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Photo credit: Chris89

Randall returned to the rock chamber where he’d first met General Hai and agreed to free Duggla the Crone from King Arnie’s jail in Bog, so the General would give his son back. An old Stinger blocked the opening and snapped his pinchers at Randall. “Whatchoo want?” he grumped.

“I’m looking for General Hai,” Randall twittered from a distance.

The Stinger arched his tail. “That lot’s gone back to The Arids.”

So to the Arids Randall trekked.

Leaving his dappled green homeland, he crossed into the dusty sunshine’s unrelenting, barren brown burn. His head ached from the glare. Each step sizzled his tender soles. Only his resolve to save his son kept him moving.

As he passed a jagged boulder, it opened its eyes.

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Sheela

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Photo credit: Brinda Suresh

Sunrise tinted The Arids with gold. Night’s deep purple shadows slunk back under the rocks and mounds and snarly growths from which they’d spread.

Only Lady Lucy’s shadow crept across the sparkling sand as she sailed overhead looking for shelter from the rising heat. The General expected her to return to his main base, but sleeping there, vulnerable and undercover, would be worse than foolish.

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Julius and Miranda

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Photo credit: Tom Vezo

Late for her rendezvous in The Arids, Lady Lucy left the Freelands immediately after turning the Stinger prisoner over to Prince Elliot.

Julius and his family waited in the moonlight at the base of the tallest agave, just as they’d planned. “I was afraid you weren’t coming,” he whispered as she extended her left wing for them to climb onto her back.

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Decisions

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Photo credit: Allison Frost

“Oh no no no no!” Arturo moaned, sinking to his knees beside the young vole’s body.

Barry staggered between the Knights with his hands covering his mouth while Clifton stood, head bowed, tears dripping to the ground.

His gut turned to lead and his brain an electrical storm, Elliot faced terrifying madness. He shut his eyes, but the carnage wouldn’t vanish. This was your doing, his disconnected mind insisted. You’re the one he wanted to talk to. You said to lock him up. If you’d just done as he asked, maybe you’d be the only one dead.

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Gate Crasher

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Photo credit: Rasheed Bydousi

Having no weapon, Barry pulled a torch from the ground, and joined Clifton to take up positions slightly ahead of Ambassador Arturo and Prince Elliot. The dark shapes became three Knights surrounding a massive Stinger whose tail dragged behind him on the ground.

The crowd backed away leaving a moat of safety around the new arrivals. The Knights stopped a defensible distance from the Prince, pinning the prisoner down with the butt ends of their slicers.

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Not So Private Audience

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Photo credit: Arnoud Quanjer

“Lady Lucy,” the Prince corrected the young Knight, “is not our immediate concern. Right now, we wait quietly for Clifton to return.”

“Or end up as somebody’s midnight snack,” Barry muttered.

Ahead, a hushed Knight announced, “Someone’s coming, Sir.”

Clifton touched down in front of Elliot. “It’s one of the Stingers. Says his name is Julius and he knew we were coming. He wants to talk with you, but he wants you to leave the Knights behind.”

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Randall

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King Arnie sent one third of the Knights he’d brought to Fen to go with Prince Elliot to the Freelands. He ordered another third to keep Princess Cassandra safe in Fen. With his small remaining contingent, his Greatness swept unnoticed through Bog. He didn’t stop till they reached the jail.

“Do you know who I am?” he asked the prisoner who’d freed the Crone.

“Of course I do, your Greatness,” the jittery fellow twittered, bowing his head. “I was born and raised in the Cranberry Bog, same as you.”

“Really? No one here knows you.”

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Chief Strategist

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As eager as she was to cause the King of Bog more trouble than he could handle, Duggla the Crone didn’t like being threatened, and veiled threats were still threats.

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The General Threat

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Photo credit: Michael Tweddle

Vernon became more agitated as his friends tried to ease his distress.

“You don’t have to worry about Spike,” Elliot assured him, “he’s dead.”

“Do you mean D’Arc, Vernon?” Cassandra asked. “We thought you must have defeated him. Did he get away?”

“No, but I would have been done for if he hadn’t insisted on chasing me down,” Vernon admitted. “I was lucky enough to lead him into a web. He won’t be back.”

“Then I don’t understand,” Elliot said. “Why do you think rebels are coming?”

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General Hai

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Photo credit: Sam Droege

Sounding like rocks grinding together, the hovering embers spoke. “Madam Duggla.”

The messenger lit a lantern.

A wasp. Duggla let out a grunt. Why should I worry about a wasp? But his boldness made her cautious. “I know who I am. Who are you?”

“A friend who is sorely disappointed by the Marauders’ failure to take the Kingdom of Bog for their General.”

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