Legends: The Folklore Trilogy Book 2

Chapter 28-Where We Are Reunited

We decided to rest a bit and set up camp in the clearing. Ore was surprisingly useful, making pillow like things out of moss and helping us build a fire. Everything he did was slow and methodical. It was almost calming to watch him work.

"Are we storming the castle tomorrow?" Deynan asked quietly.

I nodded slowly. "I guess so."

There was a moment of silence. Isaac sighed. "That's freaky."

"I'm honestly trying not to think about it too much," I admitted.

Deynan nodded seriously. "Hey man, that's how I deal with most of my problems."

"Yeah, Deynan, we noticed," Isaac said, deadpan. I laughed and Deynan grinned.

"Look on the bright side," I said, smiling. "We're going to rescue the girls."

"The girls in question don't need rescuing," a familiar voice said.

I turned around so quickly my back cracked.

And there they were, Sierra, Audrey, and Sophie, grinning their heads off. Audrey had spoken. "We aren't damsels in distress you know," she continued, raising an eyebrow.

There was a moment of shocked silence.

Then we scrambled up with a roar and rushed towards them.

The next few moments were a bit chaotic, filled with laughter and shouts and awkward half-embraces. I felt like I was floating 300 feet above the ground. We were all tangled together in happiness, and I forgot myself for a few precious moments. I was beyond happy. There weren't, and still aren't, words to describe the feeling.

And then it was over. We were standing apart, still grinning, but slowly, coming back down to earth. It was a strange feeling. I had never really felt it before. I liked it.

"How'd you get out?" Isaac finally asked.

"It was Sophie," Sierra said, as Sophie said, "it was Sierra."

"It was NOT me!" Audrey declared.

I couldn't stop grinning. "I have a feeling that this is quite a story."

"Yep, and it's pretty long," Sierra said, laughing a bit. "Let's sit down."

It was only then that I noticed how tired they looked: the bags below their eyes, the dirt smudged across their faces, the way their legs trembled.

"And I'm hungry," Audrey added. "Really hungry. Please. Food."

We lead them to our small campout circle, where Ore had already begun to prepare more moss beds.

"Who's this?" Sophie asked quietly.

"Oh," Deynan said, laughing. "This is Ore. He's a golem."

"Hello!" he said happily to the three girls. "I am Ore. I am good."

"Hey, Ore," Sierra said with an amused grin. "I'm Sierra, and this is Sophie and Audrey."

Ore gazed at them for a long time. "You are good," he finally decided.

"Yes," Audrey whispered. "My life is complete." Isaac laughed softly.

"Sit," Ore said, walking around a bit. "I shall start a fire. You sit. You eat." He wandered off, presumably to get wood.

"I like him," Sierra said, sitting down. "Where did you find him again?"

"Oh," I said, remembering, "well...they're Mr. Marquez's. He sent them to find Giselle. Ore broke off from the group to come with us. We haven't told him that Giselle isn't here anymore."