Holes & Strings

Xylo opened his eyes. He sat up and looked around. Brandon and Idalene were fast asleep and snuggled under black wool blankets. Xylo also noticed that a blanket covered him from the waist down. He figured Lafiet must have put wool blankets over them sometime after they dozed off. They all fell asleep on deck under the pole that held the ship’s main sail. Rubbing his eyes, Xylo looked into the sky. The sky was still black with a hint of blue; the sun had not yet shown itself over the horizon.

As Xylo was about to rest his head, he noticed Malica standing on the side of the boat where the wooden rails were. She was looking at the fading moon.

Xylo got up and walked over beside Malica. “Nice breeze,” he said. Malica nodded her head slightly, acknowledging that she knew he was there. She kept her attention on the moon. Xylo looked at the landless horizon. “The sun should be rising shortly.” A nice breeze blew. Xylo looked down and saw calm waves. “I feel like we have him. We are on his trail.”

Once more, Xylo looked at the horizon. Through his peripheral vision, he noticed Malica was looking at him. He turned his head to her. She looked into his eyes. Her eyes lit up under the fading moonlight. “Xylo,” she said.

Xylo froze. His eyes widened. Malica had spoken. Her voice was soft, gentle, yet clear. It was as sweet as a harp, practically music to Xylo’s ears.

“I don’t think I ever said thank you,” Malica said. “Thank you.”

“It was nothing, Malica,” Xylo said.

Malica grabbed Xylo’s wrist and pulled him with her as she walked away. She lead him away from the sleeping Brandon and Idalene. Malica lead Xylo to an open area. She sat down and crisscrossed her legs. She took out her flute.

Xylo was still standing. Malica nodded for him to sit down. He sat down slowly and took out his flute.

“You had said you’d like me to teach you some healing melodies, right?” Malica said.

“Of course,” Xylo said. “I’d be honored.”

Malica began playing on her flute. Xylo payed close attention. The melody contained ten notes. It started with “F.”

Once more, Malica played the melody. This time, Xylo played along with her. Malica stopped after she completed the song. Xylo played the melody again. Malica smiled faintly.

Xylo finished playing the melody and put his flute down.

“It’s called Melody of Healing: Song of Sewing,” Malica stated. “It stops nonfatal bleeding.

Xylo couldn’t hide his smile. “I’m in awe, Mailca,” he said.

The sun began revealing itself over the horizon. “We are here!” Lafiet alerted everyone. Xylo and Malica walked back to where Brandon and Idalene were.

Brandon and Idalene were just waking up. Brandon was rubbing his eyes. Idalene was stretching her arms.

“There are better ways to wake someone up,” Brandon mutter.

“You need to prepare to be off this ship in ten minutes,” Lafiet said as he walked down the steps from the ship’s steering wheel.

“Lafiet, we just got up,” Brandon said.

“Land is calling my name,” Lafiet replied. “I’ve already anchored at the closest ship dock to Rumpett. The road should lead us there. I’m quite ready to find an inn. Unlike you, I haven’t been to sleep.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Brandon responded.

They all disembarked. In front of them is a dirt road. They saw mountains in the far distance and a few trees nearby. They began walking.

About ten minutes later, they were walking up to Rumpett. The village was quiet. Candles were lit throughout the village dirt road streets. Decorations banners hung about on the village houses and buildings.

A man in a cloak and scarf stood outside the village entrance. He was holding a candle and wearing a black hat with a wide, circular brim and rounded crown. His white mustache covered his lips and his eyes seemed to be closed through his round glasses.

The man walked up to them. “Are you he?” he whispered with excitement.

“No,” Xylo replied. “We are just visitors to Rumpett.

“No worries,” the man said. “I’m still eager. I am waiting here on behalf of the village to greet our expected guest, should he come while the village is asleep. I presume you all are here for his arrival, too.”

“We are here to meet with a healing musición,” Xylo said.

“Ah, yes,” the greeter said. “You are at the right place. Welcome to the village of Rumpett. I hope you enjoy your stay.”

They walked passed the greeter and entered the city. It was quiet, aside from a few birds chirping. The sky became more bright and blue by the minute.

Idalene led them all to an inn. The wooden structure was two stories high. Lafiet paid for two rooms on the second floor, one for the boys and one for the girls. By this time, the sun was brightly shining its light into the village. As they sat their belongings down, the village became more active.

Xylo walked over to the window. He peeked outside. Brandon was sitting at the end of his bed, massaging his feet. Lafiet was stretched out on his bed, resting his eyes.

“How will we know when the musición gets to town?” Brandon asked.

“We’ll hear it,” Xylo said. “You know villages get extremely excited when a musición visits.”

Idalene and Malica came into the boys’ room. Idalene sat on the end of Lafiet’s bed. Malica remained by the door.

“Are you really going to sleep all day, Lafiet?” Idalene said.

Lafiet didn’t respond.

“I guess that answers my question,” Idalene said. “Xylo, I’m ready to eat.”

Lafiet sat up straight. “On second thought,” he said, “I am craving something tasty.”

“There should be a restaurant down the street,” Idalene said.

“Sounds good to me,” Lafiet said.

Idalene and Lafiet led the others down the street. They passed by many of the village people. Some streets were more crowded than others. There was a big man with a full black beard selling watermelon, a woman selling mirrors, and a whole row of other people selling a variety of wares. Some kids were kicking a ball to each other around the crowds.

Idalene stopped in front of a building with wooden columns on each corner. It had a roof that was mainly supported by a column in the center. The sound of food sizzling was heard throughout the place. It was humid. Steam and the smell of food flowed from the building.

“We’re here,” Idalene said. “I haven’t been here in years.”

They all took a seat at a circular table with a stacks of menus at the center. The place only housed a few costumers. A woman with long brown hair approached them.

“Good Morning,” the woman said. “My name is Clair. I’ll be serving you all today. What can I get you?”

“Fish,” Lafiet said. “I want lots of fish.”

Clair wrote down Lafiet’s order. She smiled and looked at the others. They were looking at their menus.

“It seems we’ll need more time,” Idalene said.

“Take your time,” Clair cheered.

Clair walked away. Xylo and Brandon were smiling at Idalene.

“What?” Idalene said.

“Nothing,” Brandon said. “It’s just a little funny because you had a job like that not long ago.”

Some time had passed. The restaurant was now packed. Xylo, Brandon, Idalene, Malica, and Lafiet were in the middle of a fish, bacon, salad, bread, and fruit breakfast.

“This was one of my father’s favorite places to eat,” Idalene said. “He looked forward to coming here every time we visited.”

“What a coincidence,” Lafiet said while gobbling his meal. “My dad liked this place, too.”

“You’ve been here before?” Xylo asked.

Lafiet wiped his mouth with a napkin. “No,” he said. “He’d talk about it after he came back home from visiting Rumpett.”

“Your father traveled, huh?,” Xylo responded. “Was he a merchant?”

“No,” Lafiet replied. “He was a very busy man, though. Too busy to just stay home with his family.”

“Where was home?” Brandon asked.

“From age ten and up, “ Lafiet said, “I was raised in the kingdom, Exandrial. Lived like any other kid there, nothing out of the ordinary.”

Lafiet continued to eat his food.

Malica didn’t eat much. She sat quietly while the others continued to eat.

When they were done eating, the server, Clair, walked by their table.

“Excuse me, Clair,” Lafiet said. “We are ready to pay.”

“Are you all paying together or separately?” Clair asked.

Xylo was about to speak, but Lafiet interrupted him.

“I’ll pay for everything,” Lafiet said.

“Lafiet?” Xylo responded.

“No, no,” Lafiet said. “I insist. This won’t be a problem at all.”

“Your total is fifty gold pieces,” Clair said.

“Excellent,” Lafiet said. He reached into a pouch in his jacket and took out fifty gold coins, ten at a time. He placed the gold into a rectangular, dark-blue tray that Clair was holding.

“I hope you all enjoyed your food,” Clair cheered. “I’ll escort you all out.”

They followed Clair as she guided them through the other servers. Clair smiled as she stepped aside to let them outside. “Enjoy the rest of your day!” she cheered. Then, she walked away to tend to other costumers.

The sun was bright. The village was still active. All seemed well.

Xylo took one step off the restaurant’s wooden platform. When he stepped on the ground, the scream of a woman sounded throughout the village.

The people of the village quieted down. Xylo looked down the street and saw it. A foggy mist creeped into the village. It was engulfing the village from the west. Other people began to scream in terror. All of the villagers began running indoors. With the exception of a few of the servers, the restaurant became vacant.

Xylo and the others backed up to the center of the restaurant where the servers were. There was fear in the servers’ eyes. Some had quivering legs and shaking hands.

“That mist,” Brandon muttered.

“Didn’t that Zygous guy warn us about this?” Idalene responded.

Xylo slowly walked closer to the side of the restaurant.

“Where are you going?” Idalene hissed.

Xylo stared into the mist. He saw a something moving. His eyes opened wider. He began to frown. A hooded man in a cloak was passing through. It was the healing musición.

Xylo looked back at the others and said, “Stay together.” He then ran out into the mist.

“What a great role model you are,” Lafiet replied.

Xylo found himself running through the streets of Rumpett. He could hear his deep breathing and footsteps. His eyes were on that healing musición. Xylo crossed and intersection of roads. He could no longer see his target. The mist was too thick. He ended up on a silent street, coming to a complete stop. He exhaled and observantly looked around. The only thing he could see was the ground beneath him.

“Lost him,” Xylo uttered.

Xylo began to notice humanoid silhouettes appear around him. He glanced around and saw that there were about eight, the closest being around twenty feet away.

“Looks like not all the villagers made it inside,” Xylo noted.

Xylo pulled out his flute.

“I better let them know what this is so they don’t get startled,” Xylo said. “Melody of Vibration: Song of Brief Tempest!”

Xylo played a fast paced, seven note melody and a gust a wild blew the surrounding mist away from Xylo.

Xylo flinched. Everything seemed to have paused. The figures behind the silhouettes were revealed. Mummified beings stood around Xylo. Some had their faces covered with bandages. They all had pieces of busted golden armor on. Their fingers were long. Some had recessed eyes and burnt skin, while others had dry skin and dry bulging eyelids the were slight opened. The bones of their pelvises protruded through their skinny hips.

Xylo stood his ground. The creatures turned their heads in unnatural ways to look at Xylo. Seconds after he played the melody, the fog swiftly filled in the area around him.

The sound of movement grew closer to Xylo. He could hear the creatures dragging themselves across the ground, their armor clanking as they progress toward him. He was surrounded, watching the silhouettes getting nearer.

Xylo kneeled to the ground. He looked for an opening that he could dash through. It wasn’t looking good for him.

“Didn’t I tell you to avoid the mist?” a voice said from behind Xylo.

Xylo looked behind him and saw Zygous. Zygous wrapped his arms around Xylo.

“Close your eyes,” Zygous commanded.

Xylo shut his eyes. Instantly, he felt the ground beneath him change. Then, he felt Zygous let go of him.

Xylo opened his eyes. He was in front of the restaurant. He turned around, but Zygous was gone. Xylo walked into the restaurant. At the center were thin sliding doors that led to where the supplies were kept, and where most of the cooking took place.

Xylo opened a sliding door and saw the others huddled together.

“Where were you?” Idalene asked.

“I saw him,” Xylo answered. He closed the sliding door behind him and waited with the others.

They were silent. Sounds of movement in front of the restaurant could be heard. They didn’t utter a word.

The mist slowly began to fade from the village. And soon, it vanished completely, nowhere to be seen.