The Lengthening Shadow

Samuel and Vi’lle stood on the cliff where he had killed Spera, watching the stars. The badger sat down and revealed something.

“There was a prophecy that came to me the moment you stabbed Spera.”

“What was it?”

“You might not want to know. It extends far into the future.”

“Let’s have it.”

The Bluff is dead, its power spent

You may rejoice to your content

But you must travel to the land of cold

To the General who is ruled by gold

And in the mountain where metal reigns

To face the wolf, take any pains

When the evil lord is slain and gone

A new threat shall arise thereon

Beware the Lark with eye of red

For he will strike, and raise the dead

And the mouse of warrior’s line

Shall end evil for all time.

“Wait, what?”

“I don’t want to repeat myself. But you get the point.”

“Yes.”

“How do you propose we do that?”

“Well, it obviously refers to General Steeltooth, who is ruled by gold. I’ve never met a more greedy crocodile. This Lark, I’ve heard of him before, but I don’t know where.”

Samuel noticed a young warrior talking to an elder one. “Elder, why are animals like they are?”

“Long ago, about ten thousand years back, animals could not commune with one another or think as we do. All beasts spoke a different tongue. Back then, the most intelligent creatures, the ones whose language we speak, were called Mans, and they had no fur. The Mans ruled the earth, though they often fought among themselves. The worst war was ten thousand years ago. On one side was the States United. On the other was the Soviet Empire. They wiped each other out with strange bombs known as ‘nukes’. The entire Mans race became extinct. There were strange effects to the ‘nukes’. They turned us into what we are now, and shaped the world into what it is now. Here, we can converse freely with any animal. That is how the world began.”

“Amazing,” said Samuel.

Vi’lle was not surprised. “That writer who you mentioned, Shake-Spear, was a Mans. I’ve heard this story many times before. It’s an old tale, but true.”

“What about Lark? Have you remembered yet?”

“Yes. I don’t know how I could have forgotten. Lark is one of the Four Gods, he represents evil and death.

“Then what do we do now?”

“We return to Fernwood and clear up everything else. This part of the adventure is over. Let’s go.”

All of them were tired and sad. So many good comrades had been lost ridding Greenbloom and the whole of Certaria of the evil that was Deadbeast Bluff. However, it was a happy hour, for there was so much peace now without Spera, Alrack, or the scorpions. No matter how hard Thazanc fought, they would be boosted by this great victory.

Looking far away, Samuel thought he could see Fernwood. He almost cried at the sight of his home at peace. He turned and gave the order for a double pace, where the army would march faster than ever. After that, he called out far and wide. “I am coming home!”

They marched away and north, to Fernwood and the end of the journey, which began so long ago in the bedchamber of Jacober.