Chapter Text
CHAPTER FOUR
It had not been an easy battle.
And the victory would be hard-won.
The three heroes, guided by Kolomaq’s roars, reached the Great Beast where he was striding across the land.
“Great Beast Kolomaq, cease your attack immediately!” Narya shouted. “We have come to defeat you!”
The monster roared with laughter. “And who is ‘we’, halfling?”
“The Talisman, Elizabeth Twoyoungmen,” Narya announced. “And my son, Richard Thompson, a descendant of the Inua pantheon.”
If anything, Kolomaq laughed even harder, “A mortal and a quarterling! What can they do to defeat a Great Beast with centuries of experience?”
“Just this, you bad old Beast!” Richard shouted. He dropped a huge rock on Kolomaq’s head, with Narya following suit. Now, this may not sound like much, but the rocks were part of the tundra, and the frozen earth of the Arctic was Kolomaq’s mortal foe.
And with Kolomaq distracted, Talisman cast a special spell to defeat him.
“Earth, arise and claim this Beast as your own! Drag him so deeply into your embrace that he can never harm anyone again!”
With that, the frozen earth of the tundra began to rise in a circular wall around Kolomaq. The Beast looked around in bewilderment, his arrogance giving way to fear.
“No! No! No! This cannot be! You cannot defeat me like this---”
But whatever else he had been going to say was never to be heard, for the earth sucked him downward. Deep, deep, deep down he was drawn, the earth covering him completely until his cries were muffled, and then, non-existent.
There was silence.
And with the silence came peace.
And visibility.
Everything that had been invisible in the white-out storm suddenly became visible again.
Snowbird, Talisman, and Richard saw each other appear. They were soaked to the skin by the snow, and dirty. But they were alive, and safe.
“Mommy! Aunt Liz!” Richard cried happily. The three of them ran up to each other, and hugged. Then, they looked around.
The tundra lay peacefully under a sparkling new blanket of snow. All around them, life was stirring again. Creatures who had hidden during the storm, now peeked out of burrows, while birds soared once again in the sky. Snowbird looked around contentedly.
“We have saved the earth,” she said simply.
“Right you are, foster sis!” Elizabeth spoke happily. “But we look pretty wrecked after having done it. Let’s go home.” At Narya’s assenting nod, the three huddled together, and Elizabeth teleported them back to the Thompsons’ house.
The Thompsons’ living room was briefly illuminated by the golden flash of the Talisman’s teleportation spell. Narya looked around happily.
“Home again.” She beamed with satisfaction.
“An’ we all saved Canada,” Richard announced proudly. He looked up at his mother. “Now can I be in Gamma Flight, Mommy?”
Both Narya and Elizabeth laughed. “My sweet son, you have come closer to training with Gamma Flight,” Narya admitted. She stroked her small son’s hair. “I shall speak to the Hudsons about your observing our Flight activities in the spring.”
“And you can add this fight with a Great Beast to your resume, Richard,” Elizabeth added. “Well, I’ve got to be getting home to Calgary.”
“My sister, can you not stay?” Narya exclaimed. “You can refresh yourself here.”
“No thanks, anyway, foster sis,” Elizabeth smiled. “We’ve had some adventure. But now, I’d like to go home and wash up. Anyway, you and Richard need to wash up here yourselves and be ready when Doug comes home. But we’ll always be in touch. Love you both.” She hugged and kissed Narya and Richard; then, vanished in a flash of light.
Richard looked up at his mother. “I like Aunt Liz. I’m glad she was here to help us.”
“Yes, my sweet son.” Narya paused reflectively. “And I’m glad she decided to defy my orders so she could defeat the Beast. For I could not have vanquished him without her help. But now, we must clean up before your father returns. For, in spite of his saying that he will be home tomorrow, with the cessation of this storm, I sense he will be here shortly, after all.”
“Aw, Mommy….” Richard started to protest.
“Richard! What did I tell you about whining? Now into the bathtub you shall go.”
“Yes, Mommy,” Richard said humbly.
They were washed and dressed in clean clothes when Doug Thompson walked in the door.
“Whoa! What a blizzard that was! I’m glad I stayed at the post until it was over.” He smiled at his wife and son. “Well, at least you stayed home where you were safe and sound.”
Narya and Richard exchanged an ironic and secretive look. Doug caught their exchange.
“Hon? Did something happen while I was away?”
Narya and Richard burst into laughter. Douglas began to look puzzled.
Narya broke off laughing in order to speak to Douglas. “My love, you had better sit down. For Richard and I have quite a lot to tell you!”