MAGISTAN

Chapter 4: A Peculiar Creature Named Lorn

The thunderstorm swept across the land. Everyone living in the Blue Bark forest of Magistan was snuggled inside their homes. Except for a peculiar creature named Lorn, also known as L-shell. He was part tortoise, part man. His speed was sharply affected by this alone. Worse yet, he was old. Lorn didn't care much about anything or anyone, not even himself. Perhaps that could explain why he stumbled along the roaring riverbank while it hurled huge boulders and tree limbs down a steep canyon draped with ferns. His scaly legs wobbled. His webbed hands shook, as he drove a wooden cane into the mud. He pressed on through the wild winds. They whipped around the Blue Bark trees causing them to sway like blades of grass touched by a breeze.  

Lorn shuddered. He shielded his stubbly face from the cluster of maple leaves that swarmed through the air, thinking, I should have stayed inside Shady Kay's giant honeycomb hive until the storm passed. However, Shady Kay gave Lorn the willies. For one thing, he always buzzed around with a dark pair of shades - even at night. He collected all sorts of stuff too, things nearly three times his size. How a honeybee could do that was a mystery to everyone, except Shady Kay, who insisted it was just a bit of bee magic. Maybe that would explain why Shady Kay claimed to make anything from furniture to fortune cookies from only twigs, leaves and pollen. To Lorn, this was strange indeed, as were the many stories drifting around the forest about what actually went on inside Shady Kay's beehive. Weird sounds came from the cracked open windows on the top floor. Sometimes there was a strange knocking, like a woodpecker. Once in a while there was soft sweet music, like a symphony. While other times, it sounded like someone jackhammering. What was he making in there, everyone wondered. But, no one knew for certain because Shady Kay rarely invited anyone inside his beehive. And those he did, declined, just as Lorn had done this very evening.  

"Cuh Boom!" the thunder roared as the storm quickly approached.  

Lorn looked up. "One... Two... three..." he counted.  

"Cuh Boom!" the thunder sounded again.  

Lorn's heart hammered. It's not much further, he thought as he dashed down the path of silver pine needles. He hustled through the grove of Blue Bark trees. On the other side of the grove was a cobblestone staircase that wrapped around the mountain. At the top was Lorn's house. "Come on legs... Don't fail me now. You're almost there," he whispered while he burst through the ferns and scampered up the spiral staircase, skipping steps along the way. He moved quite quickly as he neared the top. Once he reached the last step, he stopped to catch his breath. Then he continued up the prairie toward his crooked cobblestone cottage buried beneath a canopy of oak trees. He'd nearly made it to the front door when... lighting struck again. Snap! 

Lorn halted. He glanced up. A chunk of a twisted oak tree headed toward him. He ducked. A branch clipped Lorn's shoulder. It flattened him like a squashed slug.