Legends: The Folklore Trilogy Book 2

Chapter 21-Where We Battle on the Beach

It was around nightfall that it happened. The second attack.

We had just spotted the island, and were preparing to land, even though we had no idea how to prepare to land. Mostly, we were stuffing food into sacks and anything else we thought we had to bring, like Sophie's book.

The boat came up beside the island. We weren't entirely sure what to do, so we climbed out. The boat bobbed just off the edge of the island. We watched it curiously.

"Well," Isaac said eventually, "it doesn't LOOK like it's going anywhere."

"I feel like we should tie it up," I said, frowning.

"With what rope?" Deynan said, raising an eyebrow. "Isaac is right, it's magical, we'll probably be fine."

"I don't like this 'probably' aspect," I muttered.

"Well that's just too bad," Deynan countered.

Just then, I felt a chill travel down my spine. I froze in place, still looking at the boat. The feeling was uncomfortable.

"Come on, let's find somewhere to make camp for the night," Deynan said, turning around. Then he froze. "Crap."

I spun around, and there it was, floating. Just floating, and staring at us. It was eerie. This one's hair was gray, not gray like you would see on an elderly person, but rather an almost metallic sheen, like dull silver. The tentacles were sort of an icky brown that made me want to gag just by looking at it. Its eyes were a harsh, freezing silver that almost hurt to look at.

My hands started shaking and I accidentally dropped the bag in the sand next to me. My heart began to speed up. I didn't know what to do. Could we run? No, that was stupid, it could fly. Could we defeat it?

Maybe?

Then it opened its mouth and began to shriek.

My hands instantly went to my ears to block out the air-splitting sound, but it was no use. The scream resonated in my very bones, shattering any previous concentration and sloshing around inside me like a turbulent, boiling wave. My mind frantically began to work overtime.

I could run. No one had ever told me I couldn't. This adventure was a choice, that's what Dr. Smith had said. I could leave. This was a dangerous situation after all. I could die.

But how could I make sure I was safe, even when I was gone? This world was a dangerous place to live in. The only thing that had power was...

My mind sharpened.

Money.

We had valuables in these sacks! I could take it and run, that would surely help me get money. Money was power. I had heard that saying a million times.

Then I realized something was weird. Money? Since when did I care about money?

What the...

It was as if someone had breathed and fogged up the glass of my mind, and instantly cleared it up. It was the Tempter! Duh! It was still there, shrieking its stupid face off. Then why wasn't I affected anymore...

I frowned, narrowing my eyes. I could still feel it, the tug for money and power. The tug for all that which guaranteed my safety.

But it wasn't consuming my thoughts anymore.

I looked at Deynan and Isaac. Isaac looked like he was struggling slightly. His face contorted, and for a moment, a dark contour fell over it that made me shudder to see on Isaac's face. Panic flared up in my heart. "Isaac!" I yelled over the shrieking.

He looked at me sharply, and then his crystal blue eyes focused. The darkness fell away quickly, but he suddenly lurched over, grabbing his stomach like he was going to be sick. But then he began taking deep breaths and looked like he was almost better. My heart began to beat a little slower. I looked at Deynan.

He was not doing as well.

He had fallen to his knees, his hands clutching his hair in tightly bound fists. He was swaying from side to side, towards the sacks, away from the sacks.

Isaac finally stood up, panting. "That sucked."

"It's not over," I said, gesturing to Deynan.

Isaac saw the situation, nodded grimly, and knelt down. "Deynan!" he shouted over the screaming, "there is literally nothing valuable in the sacks. Nothing! No money, no gold, no jewels."

For a moment, Deynan froze. Then his hand lurched out and slapped Isaac across the face.

Isaac gasped and grit his teeth in pain. I could see the red mark, and I could sympathize how much it hurt. Why did we have to feel more pain?

And now I knew for sure how deeply the Tempter was affecting him. Deynan was rude, abrasive, and sarcastic, but I truly believed he would never hurt anyone. Especially not Isaac. Especially not someone he knew felt the pain twice as hard.

I tried to continue in the same vein Isaac was coming from, just from a safer distance. "Deynan, it's the Tempter making you feel this way, you seriously will not be any better off with wealth or power." I wracked my brain for any feelings I was having just moments ago. "Uh..."

Safety! That was it! That was why I wanted it!

"Having money won't make you any safer than you are right now," I said loudly. "Deynan, money won't help at all. We're fighting a different kind of battle. You can't run away from it either, so don't even think about it."

"Turn dwarf," Isaac encouraged, closing his eyes.

Of course. Dwarfs were charity. That counteracted greed. This was greed for sure.

I closed my eyes and remembered my metaphor. Like a tree, strongly rooted, yet arms stretching out, ready to give good things to the world. All from within, sharing without. That's what felt good. Giving the world what it wanted, needed. The best way to be happy was to make others happy.

And suddenly I was one foot tall.

Deynan looked at me and Isaac, small and insignificant, yet probably more powerful than we looked. I didn't know. I hadn't really done much in dwarf form yet. His chest was heaving.

The Tempter's shrieking grew more shrill.

Then Deynan stumbled to his feet, let out a wild, battle cry sort of roar, and fell to his knees once more as light swirled around him.

When he landed, he was a dwarf, small, but eyes burning with intensity like I had never seen.