Excerpts: Toby’s Adventures
. . .
“Okay. I’ll listen.”
“I knew you would have a change of heart. It was all just a matter of time,” said Eldrik as he patted the seat next to him. “Have a seat. I’ll share my food and drink with you. You look like you could eat a little something,” he smiled.
He thought about it for a moment or two. Then looking at the chair Eldrik patted, he chose to settle into the seat directly across from him. He knew he couldn’t trust the man sitting across from him for even a minute. Especially one with such a nervous twitch under his left eye.
Toby glanced at the platter in the centre of the table laden with all kinds of meats, cheeses and pastries. His eyes were suddenly drawn to the mounds of cheese. Each chunk seemed to call to him and his stomach growled in response. He felt his hands begin to shake and clasped them tightly together in his lap to keep them from roaming. Leaning slightly forward, he allowed the vapors seeping out of the ham to invade his nostrils and he welcomed it. The smells were so strong they were almost potent and he was beginning to feel light headed. It was becoming almost unbearable. Patience is a virtue, he thought silently to himself.
As he watched Eldrik pick up chunk after chunk of cheese and pop them carefully into his mouth, Toby knew that his moment would arrive. Not long after however, he saw his chance. There it was. Poking out from the very bottom of the pile was his prize. He knew this piece would certainly be safe enough to eat. He reached out, pulled it gingerly towards him and took a big bite. The tangy zest of its flavour reeked havoc with his taste buds and he crammed the remainder of the cheese into his mouth with a sigh of utmost bliss. He was almost tempted to write a letter home to his grandmother about the deliciousness of it.
Eldrik picked up a tart and bit delicately into it and Toby watched as the light from the candles flickered off his teeth. He was about to take another bite out of the precious tart when Toby interrupted him.
“You know,” said Toby suddenly. “Too much sugar is bad for you.”
Eldrik paused and stared at the tart in mid bite as if it had suddenly sprouted horns. “Why is that?” he asked as he eyed Toby suspiciously.
“It rots your teeth,” Toby replied picking up another chunk of marble cheese.
“It certainly does not,” he said stiffly, dropping the tart back onto the plate just in case.
Toby shrugged. “If you saw my bus driver’s teeth you wouldn’t be saying that.”
Eldrik brushed tart crumbs from his hands then leaned over as a sly half smile curved thin lips. His hawkish nose turned down slightly at the end and his eyes held a cunning, mischievous glean that Toby knew he shouldn’t dare ignore under any circumstances whatsoever.
“I think I have something that would be of interest to you,” he said.
“Like what?” asked Toby suspiciously.
“I have a charm that can guide you to the castle. It will cost you next to nothing,” he said as he busied himself flicking invisible lint from his robes.
“Yeah? Well, I know a charm that can do the same thing.”
“Really?” asked Eldrik pretending not to look too concerned that perhaps Toby knew more than Eldrik thought he did.
“Yeah. It’s called a flashlight,” Toby replied through a mouthful of cheese.
Eldrik stopped flicking the invisible lint to look at him quizzically. Toby could almost see a yellow question mark quivering uncertainly above Eldrik’s head.
Just what I thought, Toby mused. He’s clueless. He should try sitting in Vermion’s poetry class with a look like that on his face. That look alone would guarantee detention.
Toby wanted to know more about what Eldrik had to say about Ridik not about his ridiculous charms. Getting to the castle was another matter. He wanted to know more about the man everyone was so afraid of. He wanted to know the best way to stop him from doing what he was doing. Toby had to figure out Ridik’s weakness.
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Zoey sat and watched them out of the corner of his eye from across the room. He was ready for action and ready to take on anyone who threatened Toby should the need arise.
Just then, he saw Eldrik’s hand slip under his cloak then pass a cup to Toby with the other. He knew something was about to go terribly wrong. The instant Toby took the cup and put it to his lips, Zoey was up and across the room.
“Toby! No!” he yelled.
Toby felt his heart skip a beat and his eyes grew as big as flying saucers when he saw an angry elf fly across the room, leap into the air, land on the table then viciously kick the cup out of his hand. All this in under a few seconds, with no hesitation. Just like that. He watched with surprise when Zoey swung himself down off the table and maneuvered around to the back of Eldrik’s chair, grab his neck and hold him in a grip lock.
“You lying weasel!” screamed Zoey as he tried to squeeze the life out of the sorcerer.
In an instant Eldrik was up and out of his seat with Zoey dangling from the back of his neck like a misplaced scarf left to fend for itself. The only thing that kept him from falling was the death grip he had around the sorcerer’s neck.
Toby watched in alarm and grew concerned for Zoey’s safety as he watched Zoey flapping around unmercifully about Eldrik’s neck by an unseen yet unrelenting wind.
Eldrik tried desperately to turn around and reach for Zoey who was much lighter and twice as quick. Zoey pushed himself off the back of the chair then rolled underneath the table out of his reach. Without a second thought, Toby dropped the cheese he was eating and followed Zoey in hot pursuit under the table.
“Did you see that?” asked Toby’s shaky voice.
“His face changed. That was Rufus after all,” Zoey replied short of breath from his acrobatic ordeal.
“Rufus?” Toby asked.
“Yes,” replied Zoey. “The one whose path you do not wish to cross.”
Around them, they listened to the chaos that followed and spent this time studying the old food on the floor boards. They watched the scurrying of feet as people screamed and shoved one another about trying to figure out who started the disruption.
Rufus was darting his head about this way and that like a lost fish in the sea trying to figure out how the boy and the elf learned how to disappear without a trace in such a busy tavern full of adults.
Meanwhile, the boy and the elf were waiting underneath the tables counting breadcrumbs until there was enough to make another loaf. Finally, looking at one another, they made an executive decision to crawl out from their hiding place. Very casually, they stepped out into the crowd. No sooner had they stood up, unusually strong and coarse hands picked them both up by their cuffs as their feet dangled in the air.
“No children allowed in my tavern!” Cyrus yelled. “Do you see any other children around here?” he asked gruffly.
He carried them in this manner toward the front door as they kicked and screamed to be put down. Before Cyrus made it to the door, he flinched when he felt a gust of wind followed by the sound of a sharp snap and even sharper voice.
“Drop them Cyrus.”
“Sabrina!” he gasped as he turned to face large almond shaped ocean green eyes, which glared defiantly at him.
“Drop them now. I am especially certain Zoey does not wish to be carried about in such a manner. He does have some dignity, unlike yourself,” she purred. Her pupils slit like the eyes of a cat as she drew nearer to him challenging him.
As though his hands had suddenly caught fire, Cyrus dropped them like a sack of hot roasted potatoes and they fell to the ground in a heap but were immediately on their feet just as swift. Brushing themselves off, they shuffled around to look with wide eyes at the woman who had just saved their bacon from an embarrassing exit from the tavern.
She was exotic, extremely tall and built like a warrior with beautiful golden skin. She moved as silent as a cat when she snuck up behind Cyrus and held a long golden whip.
Besides her long flowing strawberry blonde curls, what caught Toby’s eye was her high collared red tunic with a golden dragon captured in the threads. She looked at Zoey who stared back in disbelief.
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Logan’s days are filled with excitement and each day he is ready for a new adventure. When things go wrong, he saves the day and saves the life of his best friend. Follow Logan on his journey as he touches the hearts and lives of everyone he meets.
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