If You Trust Me - An Onward Fan-Novel

◊ Chapter 28 ◊

Previously on Onward...

As the Lightfoot brothers aimlessly search for Gedeon in the streets of Dangarnon, they discover just how poor and shady the town really is with makeshift instrument bands, prank calling, and gremlins hanging around every corner. They also inadvertently cause trouble for one of the townsfolk—who gives chase—but luckily, the disguised elves manage to escape.

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◊ The Hangar of Misfit Gremlins ◊

Reaching the end of their alleyway passage, Ian and Barley stopped their running and panted for breath. It didn't take long for them to realize that they were now on the edge of town. There were no more disheveled buildings, nor a single gremlin crowd in sight. Only each other, the view of more sandy dirt, mountains on the horizon, and a large old abandoned hangar about fifty feet away.

"I think...we lost him...thank Zadar...," Ian finally said, still letting out short quick breaths from the exertion.

"Yep...we sure did," Barley concurred, equally exhausted. But the younger elf could tell from the solemness in his brother's voice that the older Lightfoot was feeling a little disappointed. Thankfully, he knew exactly why.

As soon as they were both done taking a breather, Ian stepped closer to Barley and put a light comforting hand on his shoulder. "Hey...I-I know in the five minutes you got to know each other that that book meant a lot to you," the younger Lightfoot said.

But the older elf remained quiet, giving Ian the impression that losing this book was perhaps in some ways to his brother not so different from losing Guinevere. After all, both had defended the two of them from chases that needed an end. But with that in mind, the younger elf had an idea.

"Whaddya say, after all this is over, we look it up on Valkyrie Prime and see if they have it in stock?"

Barley gave that a moment of thought, until finally he said, now looking at his brother, "would it even be the same though? I mean, that book is from a town we've never been to before, much less heard of until yesterday."

"I know, but...it came from a gremlin who tried to kill us, and it's not even the gremlin we're trying to find. Speaking of which—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah...," the older Lightfoot interrupted. "But really, you should know that on a quest, souvenirs of a great encounter markth the memory of a grand adventure."

"Ah, another one of Barley the Bold's vital questing tips...noted," Ian said sarcastically.

"I'm serious! I don't know, I guess I just thought...maybe...that book could have been a great souvenir for this quest."

The younger Lightfoot darted his eyes to the side and furrowed his brows. Once again, his brother was making this whole journey about the experience. As much as Ian wanted to find Gedeon already, he also remembered at that moment that for the older elf, quests weren't always about the destination. So his tone now serious, Ian asked his brother, "what even was the souvenir from our last quest? I mean, it's not like we were able to save anything from that."

"Actually, we did," Barley corrected. "It's right around your neck."

The younger elf let out a small gasp, then he searched under his cloak, and under his shirt for his tiny wizard staff, and held it out. After that big chase just now, it was still there. That gave him a huge sigh of relief. But now his eyes focused upon the small splinter, Ian got down to wondering how he could've possibly forgotten that their very first real quest together gave them his staff, and how he could've forgotten that this staff was a small piece of his father's staff. Barley was right. It was a souvenir. A lucky one at that. The younger Lightfoot smiled as he held the chain, and looked up to notice that his brother was now smiling too. Then he put it back where it was until it was time to use it.