Quentin and the Cataclysmic Quest - Day 21
Quentin reached over and shook Xarthen. Xarthen's body heaved and he half snored and half grumbled, sounding quite like whatever those animals in the forest that easily spooked the horses. Quentin jumped back and watched to make sure that the horses were not completely spooked. Both Bolster and Bobbin were whinnying loudly.
This woke Xarthen and the horses quickly calmed when Xarthen's grumbling and snoring stopped. Xarthen stretch and then stood. He walked over to Bobbin and Bolster, stroked their sides, pulled out a carrot for each of them and fed each one. This calmed the horses completely and he could get ready to shod them.
Quentin eyed Xarthen carefully as he first walked away from the horses because walking away from what needed to be done did not seem like what Xarthen would do. However, Xarthen was just stretching as Quentin soon knew when Xarthen shouted to him, “I just needed to stretch for a bit. I'm just going to walk around this area and be right back.”
Quentin decided he'd look at the horseshoes and the box that contained the tools and the nails. He held his sword which glowed, but was not needed since it was still light enough to see. Quentin set it down because of the brightness. He stared at the nails intently, then he turned away from the box and vomited into the fresh mud. He could not stand thinking about having shoes nailed into feet.
Just as Quentin was lifting his head, Xarthen returned. Okay, I'm ready to shod the horses. Do you mind giving me the box? Quentin shook his head, still feeling queasy, and handed the box to Xarthen. He started, “Xarthen, do you mind if I. . .” but Xarthen cut him off, “I am going to need you to stay with me. I want these horses to not mind the fact that they are being shod. They are usually good, but something to distract them from what's happening would be good.”
Quentin visibly shivered from his head down to his toes. Xarthen inhaled deeply, “I know that you do not like the thought of shoes being nailed to feet. You do not need to look at my work. I just need you to stand by each horse and feed him a carrot. You shouldn't hear anything that would disturb you.”
Quentin just nodded as he watched Xarthen dig for two carrots from one of the baskets. Xarthen handed the carrots to Quentin. Quentin swallowed the lump in his throat, but it seemed to return from his stomach without any warning.
“Just start feeding Bobbin gently. Make sure he takes little bites.” Quentin nodded and walked up to Bolster, offering him the carrot but gently tugged it back from the Bobbin's mouth as he took a bite. Xarthen was able to put all four horseshoes on Bobbin even though sometimes Quentin was the one who flinched at the sounds of the hammer hitting the nail.
Every single time Quentin flinched, Bobbin would snort because the carrot was too far out of reach and Xarthen would look over at Quentin and yell, “It should sound pretty much like woodworking, nothing else. Think of it as hearing me building something with wood.”
Quentin would just nod and walk slowly back to Bobbin and continue feeding him the carrot. It did not seem all that long until Xarthen had shod Bobbin.
“Well, now I need to shod Bolster,” slurred Xarthen in a party groggy and partly nonchalant tone.
Quentin just shrugged and walked over to Bolster. Since he had been riding Bolster, he was not as intimidated by the horse. Bolster was actually very gentle, playing with Quentin more than getting upset when he would flinch and pull the carrot away.
Once Xarthen had shod Bolster, the sun had started to set. The sky was layers of red and orange. Xarthen spoke gently, “Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky at morning, sailor's warning.”
“Huh?” said Quentin. His left eye squinted as he vocalized the word.
Xarthen laughed, “It's an old saying. It means that if there is a red sky at a night, a sailor, that's somebody who steers a boat, will be happy because there will not be rain. If there's a red sky at morning, there will probably be rain, so a sailor will not be happy.”
“Er, yeah, I guess that makes sense. Can we just get going?”
“Why are you in such a rush? I do not even know if we should go yet. What makes you feel like we should go?”
“I don't like all the rustling I'm hearing. What if one of those animals was to come?”
“Quentin, the rustling has been happening all evening. Most of it, if not all of it, is the wind. Now, we'll head out on the horses and we'll get going after we make sure to pack all of our things.”
Xarthen and Quentin picked up the tools and the sword to make sure that they would not forget anything. Then Quentin remembered that he had not yet put the box that had held the tools into a basket. As Quentin held the box, it felt warm in his hand. He stared into it and saw some lines appearing in the bottom of it.
“Quentin, what's the matter? What's happening?”
“I'm not sure, Xarthen. There's something happening with this box that held the tools.”
Quentin blinking and tried to read the writing, but it just looked like little squiggles and lines. He squinted some more and then he opened his eyes fully again. Nothing he did seemed to make the writing look clear.
“I'm sure there's a message here, Xarthen. It just never seems to decode itself. I do not know what any of it means. Look.”
Quentin held the box towards Xarthen who peered inside of it intently. He saw the same series of squiggles and lines.
“It doesn't look like anything is there to me, either. It's just chicken scratch.”
“We don't have a chicken!”
Xarthen laughed and waved his hand as he said, “Never mind. Have you tried your sword?”
“Tried my sword?”
“Well, it is getting dark.”
“True. Maybe it only appears in the light. I'll try that.”
Quentin grabbed his sword and held it above the box. He looked inside and the squiggle and lines seemed to do a wiggly dance, crossing over each other and forming a message in English.
“Xarthen! Xarthen!!! Come here! You have to see this!!! It is amazing!”
Xarthen rushed over and stood behind Quentin.
“What? I don't see anything.”
“Can't you see the lines moving? Can't you see the letters?”
“It still looks like those squiggles to me. Nothing seems to have changed at all.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I'm sure. Perhaps it's only a thing you can see. After all, the sword only works for you. Maybe it's that way with the box, too.”
“I never thought of that,” gasped Quentin and he dropped the box. The letters quickly seemed to go back to the squiggles and lines and then disappear.
“Oh!”
Quentin picked up the box again and held the sword high. Once again, it felt warm in his hands and the squiggles and lines appeared. They seemed to do the dance and cross over each other faster and spell out a message. Quentin read it out loud so Xarthen could hear.
“On a mission you have gone, to a world of mystery from a place known. You are to aide the people met, in each place you will get, an item, a clue, or something better. Your clue is here is that you must get wetter. The horseshoes will help. You will see that in order to float you do not need a boat.”
Xarthen stared at Quentin to see if he was going to speak, but Quentin just shook his head. The both pondered what the words could mean. Quentin muttered under his breath, “Float? Without a boat? What does that mean? We can swim. We can? What can we do? Horseshoes can't swim.”
“You know, Quentin,” comforted Xarthen, “things have already been strange. I wouldn't be surprised if they got stranger now. Let's think out of the box. I put the horseshoes on the horses. There were eight of them and whoever or whatever left the horseshoes here seemed to know the right size horseshoes and that we would have two horses. Now, the horseshoes are going to help with floating and they are on the horses' feet.”
“Take a horse into the water!” Quentin shouted. “Let's see what happens! We have to see what happens if we take a horse into the water!”
Xarthen nodded and he untied Bolster's reins and led Bolster to the water. Quentin inhaled and kept his breath inside, he chest fully puffed, until Bolster walked into the water. At first, the horse seemed to sink, but as Xarthen led the horse further, he began to float on the water.
Quentin blew out all his breath, gasped, and then yelled, “That's it! Now we know!!!”
Xarthen smiled, “Yeah, we know the reason for the horseshoes, anyway.”
The box was still lying in the mud. As Quentin followed Xarthen who was leading Bolster back to the tree, he picked up the box, lighting it with the sword. It once again felt warm and this time on the lid of the box appeared writing that both of them could see. Xarthen read it, “As you travel from day to day, follow the coast for Africa knows the way.”
“Well,” Quentin glanced back at Xarthen and then bit his bottom lip not continuing.
“It looks like we had the right plan all along. I guess that this person did not expect the countries and continents to not be like they were before World War Three, though.”
“You called it World War Three.”
“What's so strange about that.”
“Not much. It's just that most people have been calling it The Great Cataclysm.”
“It just sounds a bit friendlier, thought not much, I think.”
Today's Word Count: 1679
Total Word Count: 36116
This woke Xarthen and the horses quickly calmed when Xarthen's grumbling and snoring stopped. Xarthen stretch and then stood. He walked over to Bobbin and Bolster, stroked their sides, pulled out a carrot for each of them and fed each one. This calmed the horses completely and he could get ready to shod them.
Quentin eyed Xarthen carefully as he first walked away from the horses because walking away from what needed to be done did not seem like what Xarthen would do. However, Xarthen was just stretching as Quentin soon knew when Xarthen shouted to him, “I just needed to stretch for a bit. I'm just going to walk around this area and be right back.”
Quentin decided he'd look at the horseshoes and the box that contained the tools and the nails. He held his sword which glowed, but was not needed since it was still light enough to see. Quentin set it down because of the brightness. He stared at the nails intently, then he turned away from the box and vomited into the fresh mud. He could not stand thinking about having shoes nailed into feet.
Just as Quentin was lifting his head, Xarthen returned. Okay, I'm ready to shod the horses. Do you mind giving me the box? Quentin shook his head, still feeling queasy, and handed the box to Xarthen. He started, “Xarthen, do you mind if I. . .” but Xarthen cut him off, “I am going to need you to stay with me. I want these horses to not mind the fact that they are being shod. They are usually good, but something to distract them from what's happening would be good.”
Quentin visibly shivered from his head down to his toes. Xarthen inhaled deeply, “I know that you do not like the thought of shoes being nailed to feet. You do not need to look at my work. I just need you to stand by each horse and feed him a carrot. You shouldn't hear anything that would disturb you.”
Quentin just nodded as he watched Xarthen dig for two carrots from one of the baskets. Xarthen handed the carrots to Quentin. Quentin swallowed the lump in his throat, but it seemed to return from his stomach without any warning.
“Just start feeding Bobbin gently. Make sure he takes little bites.” Quentin nodded and walked up to Bolster, offering him the carrot but gently tugged it back from the Bobbin's mouth as he took a bite. Xarthen was able to put all four horseshoes on Bobbin even though sometimes Quentin was the one who flinched at the sounds of the hammer hitting the nail.
Every single time Quentin flinched, Bobbin would snort because the carrot was too far out of reach and Xarthen would look over at Quentin and yell, “It should sound pretty much like woodworking, nothing else. Think of it as hearing me building something with wood.”
Quentin would just nod and walk slowly back to Bobbin and continue feeding him the carrot. It did not seem all that long until Xarthen had shod Bobbin.
“Well, now I need to shod Bolster,” slurred Xarthen in a party groggy and partly nonchalant tone.
Quentin just shrugged and walked over to Bolster. Since he had been riding Bolster, he was not as intimidated by the horse. Bolster was actually very gentle, playing with Quentin more than getting upset when he would flinch and pull the carrot away.
Once Xarthen had shod Bolster, the sun had started to set. The sky was layers of red and orange. Xarthen spoke gently, “Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky at morning, sailor's warning.”
“Huh?” said Quentin. His left eye squinted as he vocalized the word.
Xarthen laughed, “It's an old saying. It means that if there is a red sky at a night, a sailor, that's somebody who steers a boat, will be happy because there will not be rain. If there's a red sky at morning, there will probably be rain, so a sailor will not be happy.”
“Er, yeah, I guess that makes sense. Can we just get going?”
“Why are you in such a rush? I do not even know if we should go yet. What makes you feel like we should go?”
“I don't like all the rustling I'm hearing. What if one of those animals was to come?”
“Quentin, the rustling has been happening all evening. Most of it, if not all of it, is the wind. Now, we'll head out on the horses and we'll get going after we make sure to pack all of our things.”
Xarthen and Quentin picked up the tools and the sword to make sure that they would not forget anything. Then Quentin remembered that he had not yet put the box that had held the tools into a basket. As Quentin held the box, it felt warm in his hand. He stared into it and saw some lines appearing in the bottom of it.
“Quentin, what's the matter? What's happening?”
“I'm not sure, Xarthen. There's something happening with this box that held the tools.”
Quentin blinking and tried to read the writing, but it just looked like little squiggles and lines. He squinted some more and then he opened his eyes fully again. Nothing he did seemed to make the writing look clear.
“I'm sure there's a message here, Xarthen. It just never seems to decode itself. I do not know what any of it means. Look.”
Quentin held the box towards Xarthen who peered inside of it intently. He saw the same series of squiggles and lines.
“It doesn't look like anything is there to me, either. It's just chicken scratch.”
“We don't have a chicken!”
Xarthen laughed and waved his hand as he said, “Never mind. Have you tried your sword?”
“Tried my sword?”
“Well, it is getting dark.”
“True. Maybe it only appears in the light. I'll try that.”
Quentin grabbed his sword and held it above the box. He looked inside and the squiggle and lines seemed to do a wiggly dance, crossing over each other and forming a message in English.
“Xarthen! Xarthen!!! Come here! You have to see this!!! It is amazing!”
Xarthen rushed over and stood behind Quentin.
“What? I don't see anything.”
“Can't you see the lines moving? Can't you see the letters?”
“It still looks like those squiggles to me. Nothing seems to have changed at all.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I'm sure. Perhaps it's only a thing you can see. After all, the sword only works for you. Maybe it's that way with the box, too.”
“I never thought of that,” gasped Quentin and he dropped the box. The letters quickly seemed to go back to the squiggles and lines and then disappear.
“Oh!”
Quentin picked up the box again and held the sword high. Once again, it felt warm in his hands and the squiggles and lines appeared. They seemed to do the dance and cross over each other faster and spell out a message. Quentin read it out loud so Xarthen could hear.
“On a mission you have gone, to a world of mystery from a place known. You are to aide the people met, in each place you will get, an item, a clue, or something better. Your clue is here is that you must get wetter. The horseshoes will help. You will see that in order to float you do not need a boat.”
Xarthen stared at Quentin to see if he was going to speak, but Quentin just shook his head. The both pondered what the words could mean. Quentin muttered under his breath, “Float? Without a boat? What does that mean? We can swim. We can? What can we do? Horseshoes can't swim.”
“You know, Quentin,” comforted Xarthen, “things have already been strange. I wouldn't be surprised if they got stranger now. Let's think out of the box. I put the horseshoes on the horses. There were eight of them and whoever or whatever left the horseshoes here seemed to know the right size horseshoes and that we would have two horses. Now, the horseshoes are going to help with floating and they are on the horses' feet.”
“Take a horse into the water!” Quentin shouted. “Let's see what happens! We have to see what happens if we take a horse into the water!”
Xarthen nodded and he untied Bolster's reins and led Bolster to the water. Quentin inhaled and kept his breath inside, he chest fully puffed, until Bolster walked into the water. At first, the horse seemed to sink, but as Xarthen led the horse further, he began to float on the water.
Quentin blew out all his breath, gasped, and then yelled, “That's it! Now we know!!!”
Xarthen smiled, “Yeah, we know the reason for the horseshoes, anyway.”
The box was still lying in the mud. As Quentin followed Xarthen who was leading Bolster back to the tree, he picked up the box, lighting it with the sword. It once again felt warm and this time on the lid of the box appeared writing that both of them could see. Xarthen read it, “As you travel from day to day, follow the coast for Africa knows the way.”
“Well,” Quentin glanced back at Xarthen and then bit his bottom lip not continuing.
“It looks like we had the right plan all along. I guess that this person did not expect the countries and continents to not be like they were before World War Three, though.”
“You called it World War Three.”
“What's so strange about that.”
“Not much. It's just that most people have been calling it The Great Cataclysm.”
“It just sounds a bit friendlier, thought not much, I think.”
Today's Word Count: 1679
Total Word Count: 36116