“What about something besides weapons? Something people can really use to make their lives better instead of taking lives. Plow shears perhaps? They’d never lose their edges and be used for entire generations.” Hoxley’s smile broadened a little more.

  “There it is.” she said with some satisfaction. “There’s the voice of someone meant to rule.”

  Meanwhile, Atticus and Loxo anxiously watched the calm surface of the large pool. The water was so murky and hard to see though that when Morell came bursting though to the surface, he nearly frightened them half to death.

  “WWhhhhhhhhhuuuuuuuuHHH!” the boy expelled as he clawed at the edge of the pool. Long Brambillion arms extended down to pluck him from the water and set him on his feet.

  “Quickly now,” said Atticus as he slapped Morell on the back to get him to spit out water he’d swallowed. “What did you see down there?” Morell took a few deep breaths before he plopped down and rolled onto his back.

  “It’s hard…to see…anything at all.” He gasped.

  “I know what you mean.” Said Loxo as he calmly stared off into space. “I’ve been seeing nothing but rainbows running in front of my eyes the whole time you were gone.”

  “Shut up, you fool.” Atticus grunted. “Unlike some, the boy is being productive. Morell? What can be done?”

  “I can’t fix a problem if I can’t see it. I have to find a way to be able to see while in the depths.”

  “So…” Atticus said with a furled brow. “You need light…and clarity. But how does one burn a torch underwater?”

  “I don’t know.” Morell said, shaking his head as he sat up and slumped forward. It was in this moment that he remembered “Wait. Maybe I do!” He said excitedly, snatching up his pack to dig through the pockets.

  “You have a waterproof torch in your bag?” asked Loxo.

  “No, I have my gel, Jam!” he said as he continued to look.

  “How is a gel going to help?” the pirate pondered.

  “Siouxsie uses her gel Pumpkin, as a lantern all the time! All we have to do is set something on fire then set the gel on top of it and it will absorb the flame without putting it out! It will light my way! Wait, where is he?”

  “What is it?” asked Atticus. “What’s the matter?”

  “He’s missing! Jam! My gel, Jam is gone from my pack!”

  “Is that it?” asked the man. “Why is that distressing?”

  “I’ve had him for years!” The boy panicked as he turned his pack upside down to empty the remaining contents onto the ground. “No! He must have fallen out!”

  “Why are you so upset? We’ll find another gel for you to play with!”

  “I fed him special so he would change to the purple color he was! The same thing Siouxsie did with Pumpkin to turn him orange!”

  “Morell, stop this nonsense! We have bigger things to deal with other than you losing your pet!”

  “But he was more than that…” the boy said as he sniffled with tears building up at the corners of his eyes. “He was my only friend until the day Hoxley and the prince showed up.” Morell sagged like a bag full of grains that had leaned over too far. “My grandfather thought me a burden and rarely talked to me, so I used to tell Jam everything I’d learned about mushrooms…about dreams or stories I made up about knights brave enough to face savage dragons. He’s been with me ever since I can remember…and now he’s gone and I’ll never see him again.” Atticus seemed annoyed at such tomfoolery and was about to say something else when Loxo pulled his thoughts together enough to finally add something to the situation.

  “YOU KNOW,” The slender pirate said, staggering to get to his feet before placing a delicate hand upon the other man’s chest to quell him. “I believe, I may just have the remedy to sort things out here.” Morell and Atticus watched as Loxo opened his own pack and dumped it out to reveal a clink-clanking mess of stolen goods and trinkets dumped in a heap.

  “You are out of your head.” Atticus sighed with a pained expression. “Thank you for dumping your thefts at our feet. I’m not in the market for what looks like a stolen goblet, two daggers, four money pouches, a handful of silver utensils, something I’m hoping isn’t a set of ladies’ undergarments and whatever else this refuse is.”

  “I MAY just be out of my head.” Loxo grinned at him. “But I think the very thing we need is just within this pile.” He squatted low and began pushing the items apart. The other two made a confused glance at one another until finally Loxo shouted with excitement. “Aha! Here they are!” Morell looked to see the man’s hands vanish into the pile only to emerge with a gel in each hand. “Here Morell!” He shoved them into the boy’s hands. “Here! Not one, but two gels to make a light if you can!” Morell was overcome with elation.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Thank you Loxo! This is exactly what I need!”

  “Well, if that isn’t a stroke of luck.” Said Atticus. “Now that you have the vital component, I have flint and steel in my pack to make a fire of we can find suitable tinder that will burn in this damp place.” The two set to work to scavenge kindling while Loxo proceeded to take a nap. Once it was gathered and Atticus got it lit, Morell mimicked Siouxsie’s method of holding the gel over the flame and watching the gel absorb the small bit of burning wood. To his surprise, the small bit of light the fire created within was multiplied and became almost too bright to look at within the jiggling mass.

  “Isn’t that burning your hands?” asked Atticus.

  “No.” Morell smiled, “The gel seems to absorb the heat and look, he seems to like it!” Sure enough, the expression on the gel became one of calm satisfaction. Its little eyes closed into soft arches and it seemed to shimmy with contentment.

  “Look at that.” the man said with surprise. “It does look happy. It looks like you’ll have light now, what will you do about being able to see?”

  “I’ve given that some thought.” Morell said as he put the glowing gel on the ground and gathered up a pair of his specimen jars. “You know how old people can use spectacles to help them see? Well, I was thinking I may be able to build a set of underwater spectacles.”

  “Underwater spectacles? How do you intend to do that?”

  “See here. Look what happens when I put the bottom of these jars just inside the water.” Morell said, coaxing Atticus to look closely. “See there?” he pointed. “With the bottom of the glass below the surface the view under the water becomes clear.”

  “I’ve never seen that before! Morell, you are full of surprises. How do you intend to wear them and keep the water out?”

  “I was just thinking about that, and I think I may have a solution to that too.”

  “You have?”

  “Yes, but I’ll need a bit of string; something to wrap around the two jars and hold them together.” Atticus looked around and spied a tiny string cross woven through the holes of the neckline of Loxo’s shirt. Quietly, as not to wake him, Atticus leaned down and unraveled the string out of the eyelets and handed it to Morell. He took the string, set the two bottles down next to one another on the ground and tied the string around the middle, knotting it to hold the jars perfectly side by side. Atticus appeared a bit puzzled but didn’t interfere. Morell then took the gel that wasn’t glowing and began to tug and pull at it to stretch it out. The gel didn’t seem to mind as it only blinked with its little eyes as it was stretched and yanked out of proportion like a wad of bread dough. Atticus had no idea of what the boy intended until Morell picked up the jars and wrapped the gel around it so that the jars poked all the way through and created the concave big enough to fit around the head.

  “Is…Is that a helmet?” he asked.

  “It is!” Morell said with satisfaction. “or, a ‘gelmet’ if you will. The gel will hold the jars over my eyes and stay wrapped around my head! It can also help the other gel affix itself!” he took the glowing gel and sat it atop its head where it latched onto the other gel and didn’t move.

  “Will it help you breathe?” he asked.

  “No, because there’s no air to filter. However, I think I have a solution to that as well!!” Morell looked up to the closest Brambillion and spoke in the strange plant speak. “Sssshhhurrrkeettiisssssffuullllliirrrrtt!” he said. The plant creatures all moved in closer to him. “Shatskirunt puurrsshhth uffnntmirrrr uuggertuth!” As soon as the words were spoken the Brambillions began to congregate on one side of the pool. Their huge leafy hands all came together to join and make one big leafy dome. It looked like a green bowl upside down.