Oh, My! Are We About to Get in a Fight?

No one would argue that watching is essential when on night watch. That's why it's called night watch instead of night play-around. However, a couple of magical tree stumps guarding the eastern edge of Trungen Forest weren't watching while on night watch.

"Alright, do that again, but this time with your eyes closed," Splinter said. He was four feet, taller than most stumpers, with a carved beard and a small crack in the middle of his forehead.

"Are you going to?" Tat asked. Carved from a tree used by lovers to display their undying love, he had a heart with "L" in one corner and "J" in the other.

"Of course, we'll both do it – eyes closed," he laughed. "It'll be fun."

The stumpers lined up, laughing. The forest was in complete darkness, and the moon and stars were powerless to break through the thick cloud coverage. However, this was no obstacle for the stumpers; they could see at night like it was day.

"Ready. Set. Go!"

They yelled like football players about to make a tackle, running as fast as they could, eyes closed. The game is like chicken: run until you hit a tree. If you get knocked off your roots, you're out. On your roots, you're still in. The anticipation was intense, like a kid hiding behind a bush, watching the seeker getting closer. The butterflies in their stomach (well, middle trunk) were off the charts.

Tat ran over a surprisingly soft object, tripping headlong into the ground. Shouts of "Ouch!" and "Who goes there!" filled the air. The fallen stumper rolled over to see three men in armor wrestling with Splinter. The man he knocked over was out cold. He then glimpsed to his left, two additional soldiers cautiously approaching.

"Careful! The wooden freaks are surprisingly strong!" One of the three soldiers wrestling Splinter shouted to the two soldiers cornering Tat.

Tat noticed the soldier's red capes with the Selwyn crest and realized these men belonged to King Moreland!

"Wait! We are friends of King Moreland," Tat said.

"Friends? Aren't you the monsters we heard of from the Netterback?"

"We are stumpers. Created by Lady Nimmo."

The men immediately stopped wrestling with Splinter and backed away from Tat. "Sorry. Our bad. It's just that you attacked us and so we thought you were the evil magic trunks, I mean, stumps. You have to forgive us. You two look a lot alike."

"Alike! We are as different as you are from a dragon. I mean, they're ten feet tall, and we barely hit three," Splinter said.

"But you're both tree trunks."

Splinter shook his stump body, "Well, anyway, I suppose you dwarfs are here to see Lady Nimmo?"

"What did you call us?" A soldier asked.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"We're men, not dwarfs."

"But you're both so much alike. Hard to tell the difference."

The knocked-out man came to and sat up, still shaken from his collision. "Well said, Master Stumper." He got to his feet, wobbled, and began to fall again. Two soldiers hurried to his side and held him upright. "My! There are tons of fireflies in this forest!" He swatted the air. Everyone was perplexed. There were no fireflies, but he did pass out again.

A corporal helping hold the unconscious gentleman piped up, "To answer your question: It is imperative we see Lady Nimmo as soon as possible. Selwyn's security depends on it."

"Sounds serious," Splinter waved, "We better get going."

The small troop followed: two carrying the knocked-out gentleman, the rest carrying torches.

"How far?" The Corporal asked.

"Five or six hours," Splinter answered.

"I was hoping to be there before daylight."

"Not going to happen. The sun will be up in three hours."

"Yeah. That's why I said, 'I was hoping.'"

Splinter was oblivious to the sarcasm but not to the movement on their left over a hundred feet away. He acted like he hadn't seen anything but spoke to Tat in wind-through-leaves-sounding language. Tat tried not to appear to be searching but failed miserably.

"What are you looking at?" The Corporal asked.

"Um, me? Oh, nothing," Tat looked into the trees while answering.

"Then why are you looking into the trees?"

"Well, it's not because we saw movement out there. That's for sure."

The Corporal smiled, "My apologies for asking." He began walking towards the trees the stumpers were looking at.

"What are you doing? Splinter asked.

"I have to pee. I'll be right back."

"No, don't go that way."

"Hah! I knew it. Now tell me why?"

Their wind-through-leaves words came quick and sharp.

"Ok. We saw men dressed in black. They've been tracking us."

"And why didn't you say something?"

"We didn't want to upset you all. They could just be out for a stroll through a stumper-infested forest in complete and utter darkness."

"Men, swords." The Corporal and all his men grabbed their swords. The sound of metal exiting sheaths filled the night. They faced the trees where the men in black were last seen. Splinter and Tat grabbed their swords as well. The knocked-out man began to stir, and seeing everyone holding swords, he exclaimed, "Oh, my! Are we about to get in a fight?"

At that moment, the forest echoed with whips cracking from behind the troop. Two of the soldiers had their swords yanked out of their hands. The troop turned to face the attackers. As soon as they turned their backs, the men in black they were facing ran to overtake the troop, but Tat turned and alerted the soldiers. All Hades broke loose.

The men in black ran through, around, and over the dizzy soldiers. The Selwyn men swung and slashed but made no contact with the enemy. Two more soldiers lost their swords to the whips. It appeared bleak. The black-cladded men surrounded the half-armed troop, looking to deal the final blow. They replaced their whips with swords and inched towards the troop.

A bright green light shone above the battle. The light slowly descended from the treetops. Everyone forgot about the fight and looked up. The light grew more defined as it lowered. A figure appeared. It wore a cloak of deep green light, its face, hands, and feet a bright yellow. It landed between the men in black and the soldiers.

"The Spirit of Trungen!" Tat and Splinter shouted in unison.

She carried a green-fiery staff. "Have you made up your minds? Shall we fight? Or will you run?" She spun her staff so quick that it sounded like a giant hummingbird in flight. The men in black ran away.

The soldiers began to chase after them when Trungen called for them to stop. "Let them go. They can't go anywhere in my forest without me knowing."

The men of Selwyn were dumbstruck. They heard of The Spirit of Trungen but never dreamed they would meet her.

Trungen's blinding light dimmed, and the troop could see clearly. The formerly knocked-out man shook his head, attempting to clear his foggy mind from the mesmerizing light of Trungen. He asked, "Who were those men?"

"They are not men. They are shadow elves."

"Shadow elves?"

"Yes. They live in a dense forest covering a peninsula at the northernmost point of Wanowyn."

"Why have we never heard of them?"

"They only now leave their forest. And before you ask, I do not know why just yet."

"Well, we all owe you dearly. Thank you. That battle wasn't going well for us." The entire troop bowed.

"You're welcome. Now follow me. I will escort you to Lady Nimmo. There are many shadow elves around. Hopefully, we will soon find a way to get rid of them."

They marched through the night and into the morning before they reached Jorton, Lady Nimmo's capital. Lady Nimmo found them lodging in the inn and showed them great hospitality. She asked them to wait a day before getting down to business, which they graciously agreed to.

She knew deep inside that things were never going to be the same after this impending meeting. She didn't know the details, but a dread was brewing, like an evening storm in summer. She could see it coming—a deadly storm.

But for now, she returned to her workshop and resumed carving her latest stumper. She was most relaxed while carving, the day's stresses melting off like snow in summer. She forgot about the storm and enjoyed bringing life to another tree stump. Today, life was good.