The Path to Eden, episode 7: There and Back Again

Chronicler Venno's audience were once again eagerly awaiting the next episode.  Not such a cliffhanger this time, but with so many injuries, who knew what might happen?

"Zippo and Katin dashed to Lenny's aid, Katin keeping Lenny distracted while Zippo attempted to set his broken leg.  An enormously stressful experience for him, seeing his friend in so much pain as he treated the wound, but ultimately a success.  Lenny would be OK - eventually.  The two of them celebrated briefly, before moving on to Silas.

This didn't go quite so well.  Zippo already wasn't feeling great after seeing far too much of the inside of Lenny's leg, and Katin wasnt much help.  For now, the crossbow bolt stuck in Silas would have to stay there.  Perhaps he could use it as an extra arm?

As they discussed getting some sleep and hoping they felt better in the morning, Zippo was distracted by the sound of yapping.

'Ork!'

'Where?  Where?  Oh, that Ork.'

It was a dog.  A dog they all recognised.  And he seemed to want something.

'What's that, Ork? Someone's trapped down a well?'

While Lenny ate some more stew, Katin and Lenny followed Ork to a door at the back of the room.  Pushing it open they found bodies.  Lots of them, hanging from the ceiling, and several with clear signs of having been carved.

'Lenny, don't eat the stew!'

'Too late.'

In amongst the bodies was one who was still alive.  Ork's handler, Quin.  In a flash, Zippo and Katin were at her side, cutting her down to take her back with them to the fire.  Silas began to come round just as Quin was also waking up.

'Quin!  It's so good to see you again.'

While Silas removed the bolt from his own chest, Quin explained how she had got there.  She'd been out searching for junk and anything else that Zippo could use to get the temple and the sundial done faster, so that Briktoria would stop pulling on his ears.  Not that she had a problem with his ears.  Quite the reverse, in fact.  And she'd met these people who she thought were going to help, but instead had hung her up in their larder.

Zippo collected up weapons from the fallen enemies, and handed them out.  Scrap spears, good for poking people while out of arm's reach.  Also useful as crutches while Lenny and Silas needed help walking with their broken bones.  What was left of what Quin had found out here was a flat basketball and a picture showing two people and 2.4 hobbits.  Perhaps it would look nice in the temple?

While the others got some sleep, Zippo sat down to talk to Quin.  He was concerned about her putting herself in danger.  Quin tried to reassure him that she had Ork to look after her.  And between that and some sleep, he started to feel better.

The next morning, everyone was feeling significantly better, broken bones notwithstanding.  Zippo took on the challenge of repairing Katin's artifact bow, but was so confused by its complex construction that he completely destroyed it.  Fortunately, he'd given Katin the crossbow he'd taken from Malcolm the night before, so she wasn't too angry about it.  And Silas's scrap bow proved significantly easier to repair.

While Zippo was at work, the others went to do a bit of exploring.  With Katin taking the lead, they managed to hunt down a small number of bullets, plus some rot-contaminated food that wasn't made of people and which could be cooked into something edible back at the Ark.  Next they tried climbing upwards in search of a good vantage point to get a look at the nearby area, just in case the red cross symbol the elf had told them about was visible.  But getting a really good look was going to take time, and Katin was worried about Lenny.

The five of them (and the dog) set out once more, and a few hours later they were all safely home.  It was time to do some work.  Katin and Silas worked together on the sundial, getting quite a lot more completed, although the words of the great prophet Ikea remained too confusing for Katin.  Quin, Lenny and a reluctant but resigned Zippo made their way down to the temple.  The damage done by saboteurs was restored and more progress made.  Perhaps with a little more work both projects would soon be completed?"

There was a small murmur of disappointment that the story was over, but the fact that he was not leaving them on yet another cliffhanger left many of them more relieved than anything else.  For now, at least, their heroes were safe.

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