If You Trust Me - An Onward Fan-Novel

◊ Chapter 23 ◊

Previously on Onward...

The Manticore directs Ian and Barley to Dangarnon—a hidden village near the Untold Caverns famous for housing the mischievous, night-crawling creatures known as gremlins. After Barley convinces Ian that he can't take on Gedeon alone, the brothers prepare themselves and leave for the village at once—determined to find the villain and save the S.S. Medallion.

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◊ Chant of the Lightfoot Brothers ◊

The path to Dangarnon was easy for Ian and Barley to compromise. All they had to do was stay on the expressway for a few hours, then exit off a road that would lead them straight towards the Untold Caverns. While not as treacherous as the dreaded Path of Peril they went through six months ago, this particular road was still quite bumpy and unpaved. At times, it was almost like they were on a rollercoaster—going up, then down, until suddenly...BUMP! That process repeated itself several times in the last couple minutes of their drive.

As Barley steered, Ian's eyes were focused on the Armor Spell page in Quests of Yore. Indeed its magic decree clearly stated that he couldn't take anything personally, hence why the spell failed for him the other day. So now that the younger Lightfoot knew for sure what he had to do in order for this spell to work, he had to find some way to not let his enemy's words get to him—which, for a caring elf like him, was easier said than done.

Meanwhile, Barley was drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, and humming to himself as he stared out into the horizon—where the sun was now beginning to set. Very soon, the older elf couldn't keep his humming all to himself anymore and quietly began to sing aloud, "we're heading on our quest, the medallion we must retrieve..." Then he went back to humming the last few imaginary verses he had in mind. After that, he went silent, until he began humming once more to the tune he was just singing to himself. Then his humming turned into words again when he chanted, "the Lightfoot brothers can't be stopped...something, something...that rhymes with...RETRIEEEEEVE!"

After Barley made the last part of his song into more of a yell, Ian's ears began to ring. Slightly irked, the younger elf closed the QOY guidebook with both of his hands, and asked his brother, "what are you doing?"

"What I always do when I'm bored...chant!" Barley answered with a gusto at the end.

"Chant?"

"Yeah! You can, uh...join in if you want..."

"I'd...rather not...," Ian said awkwardly as he reopened Quests of Yore and resumed reading from its master spell pages once more.

"Oh, come on! It might cheer you up!" Barley insisted. But even still, his brother didn't look interested one bit. His eyes on the road, the older Lightfoot then said, drumming his fingers again, "you know, this, uh, this chant...that I, uh, well, just chanted, was one I was trying to come up with during our quest to bring Dad back."

Ian peered up from the book, confused. "You never did any chanting, I mean...not like what you were just doing anyway."

"Well, obviously!" Barley chuckled, then he once again changed his tenor to sound medieval. "That's 'cause thou were asleep whilst I chanted. But since you art not sleeping now, you can hear me and my gut bust out this glorious tune!"

"Yeah-hah...no thanks. I just want us to get in and out of Dangarnon as soon as possible with that medallion without making myself feel any worse."

"And this chant is just the cure for that, dear brother of mine! You'd be surprised how the power of song can boost an adventurer's confidence."

"Barley—"