CHAPTER 66

"Spirits of the earth. Water, wind, fire, the like. When I speak with ye, I get the feeling I be speaking to a kindred spirit, with ye smelling damp like the back of a cave in the deepest mountains and all." The gnome sighed. "But, I'm afraid that my hands be tied. I can offer ye no help nor assistance other than to let ye know that ye be not welcome in our land."

"So you won't help us."

"Nay." He sucked on his pipe and fixed Beth with a knowing look, then blew a red puff of smoke.

"Well,if you can't help us, then we're leaving." Mike made to stand, but Beth grabbed his tie and held him down.

"Hold on." She contemplated the gnome before her. "You can't help us, so why are you here?"

"Out fer a smoke. Not against the law. Yet." He sucked on the pipe and shot yellow smoke out of his nostrils.

"I think I understand." She turned to Mike. "Do you think we should follow the hills?"

"Maybe." He turned to look at her, but she was looking at the gnome. Little green rings hovered in the air around the creature's head.

"Follow them for awhile, or for just a little bit?"

"Um... a while?" Mike ventured after Beth nudged him.

Yellow smoke this time.

"Well... until we see something different, like a path or a river," she amended.

Green smoke now. The gnome scratched his belly through his beard.

"And then maybe turn left?" Beth was watching the gnome intently now.

He blew a red smoke ring that hovered above his head, then scowled at her. "You gonna be on your way, or what?"

"Or maybe we'll go right," Mike suggested, his eyes on Beth.

She turned her face toward him a little bit, making sure to keep the gnome in her peripheral vision. He was clearly risking a lot of trouble for them, and she knew there were probably eyes everywhere.

The gnome blew a green ring through the center of the red one, and they mixed together and vanished in the breeze. "Aye, well, I'm afraid that I canna even give ye a morsel of a hint, and would kindly ask for ye to shove off."

"Right. Well, guess we're on our own, so let's go." Beth said, then looked over the rocks. The small cloud of fae was now distant. "If we stick to the treeline, they probably won't spot us."

"And if they do, we will have plenty of warning." Mike stood up and straightened out his jacket. A shiny button fell out of his hand and onto the ground, but he ignored it. "C'mon, let's get out of here before this talking lawn ornament tells his buddies where we are."

"Hmph." The gnome scowled at them as they moved away from the rocks.

When they had gone about twenty feet, Beth looked over her shoulder.

Both the gnome and the button were gone.

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A half an hour after leaving the gnome behind, they took a quick break for both of them to eat an energy bar and pee. When it was her turn to use the bathroom behind a bush, she practically had to beg Mike to keep an eye on her, because he kept trying to look away and give her some privacy. She appreciated that he was trying to be a gentleman, but she also didn't want to get dragged into the woods on account of having a full bladder. He whistled loudly to himself when she let her stream loose, and his face stayed bright red for several minutes after.

The giant in the distance moved on occasion, and it was late afternoon when they spotted the cobblestone road that wound between the hills. Grateful to see a change in scenery that included a sign of civilization, they got on the path and headed right.

The path bisected the massive woods around them, and they walked with no idea how far it would be until they got anywhere. The path narrowed dramatically until they reached a small village, but it was literally a small village; no building was more than a foot tall, and there wasn't a single sign of life around.

"Think they're hiding?" Beth asked.

"Yup," Mike answered. "I'm fine with anything that chooses to stay out of our way."

Once out of the village, the path widened again and they kept moving. It was now late in the afternoon; they stopped again for a break and drank some water. Both of their stomachs were growling audibly now, and she now wished that she had actually brought some gum with her.

The temperature dropped a little bit, and the smell of water tickled her nose. The forest on their left side vanished dramatically around a rocky corner and revealed that they were now on a large cliff overlooking a huge expanse of water that was most likely the ocean. Down below, small waves broke on the shoreline, and they stopped to rest for a bit, their eyes on the distant horizon.

Beth pulled out her phone and tried to take a picture. Strangely, her phone glitched out, and all she got was pictures of static.

"That's weird," Mike told her, then tried to the same thing. His phone was unable to take pictures as well.

"Must be part of the magic," she guessed. "Keep people from visiting and bringing back evidence, maybe."

"That's as good an explanation as I can..." He looked out toward the horizon, his mouth hanging open. When she followed his gaze, she saw that a long-necked creature had emerged. Its enormous head surveyed the nearby waters, then it dramatically vanished beneath the waves again.

"Was... was that... what I think that was?"