The Hermit, the Mountain, and the Chocolate Lock

Commander Renardgarenfrank

The smell of bacon woke a smiling Denis, who slowly opened his eyes to greet the day. Oh how he loved bacon! He sat up and took a deep whiff, and his vacant grin slowly melted into a scowl. The girl! Where is she? What has she done? He rose up as quickly as he could on his good leg and looked around. She was nowhere to be found. In a small plate by the fireplace was three strips of bacon and a fried egg. Bo had already gotten ahold of a forth strip of bacon and was gazing at Denis sheepishly as he chewed. Oh bacon! How long has it been? Denis loathed interacting with people so much that he refused to go to the village markets. He had eaten nothing but scavenged roots, berries and the occasional rabbit for the many years. The deliciousness of bacon and eggs had nearly been forgotten to him until he bit into a juicy mouthful. Perhaps letting the girl stay was not such a terrible thing after all.

As he munched on his breakfast, he looked over at the pile of pine needles the girl had slept on. He would probably have to toss them out and gather fresh pine. Who knew case what diseases the girl carried in from the outside world? Swallowing the last bit of egg, the old man got up and hobbled over with an old broom to where she had slept. As he brushed away the needles, he felt his broom brush over a hard object. Leaning over he peered into the pile of needles and saw a old book. The leather was aged and musty, and dangling from a metal plate on the cover was a brown lock. Denis picked it up attempted to pry it open, but to no avail. Useless, he thought to himself as he tossed it into his coat pocket. Bo sniffed it eagerly.

"C'mon old fella," Denis said as he beckoned to Bo, "Lets go find some rabbits for tonight."

Bo pranced eagerly out the door after Denis, his tail wagging happily.

They headed into the woods. The forest seemed to envelope them in pine boughs. In these parts the trees grew far taller than anywhere else, towering over in a dense canopy. About a mile into the woods Denis spotted his first target.

"Stay still," he whispered to Bo.

Bo was a great companion but worthless as a hunting dog. He sat rigid and pulled his floppy ears back. Denis eyeballed the rabbit grazing behind a stump as he pulled his arrow back in his bow.

Crrrack!

The sudden noise sent the rabbit flying into the bushes and knocked Denis over onto his back in surprise. When he opened his eyes he was laying on the ground staring at a pair of bright turquoise eyes set into a furry beige face.

"Aaaaaaaaggghhhhh!" screamed Denis as he frantically tried to crawl away.

"I wouldn't run if I were you," spoke the creature.

Denis finally had a chance to get a good look at it. It had four hoofed legs and a ropy black tail, all beneath a torso not unlike a mans. It's entire form was covered in tawny fur and a small mohawk of ebony hair rested on its head. Beside him stood Bo, happily panting and wagging his tail.

"You're a - a centaur," Denis stammered.

"My name is Commander Renardgarenfrank and you are to address me as such," bellowed the centaur, who then paused and added, "You may call me Frank if my name is too hard to manage with your primitive tongue."

This can't be real, thought Denis.

"I assure you this is very real," said the centaur.

"You can read minds too?"

"No I cannot," replied Frank, "but you seem mumble your thoughts out loud without realizing it."

Denis shut his mouth in embarrassment. The years of solitude had finally caught up with him it seemed.

"You cannot return to your cave," said Frank

"The hell I can't!"

"The cave has been compromised."

"Listen, I don't know who the hell you are or if this is even real, but I'm going back to my damn cave and you can't stop me."

"I assure you I can," replied the centaur, his face was completely devoid of emotion.

Denis grunted in disgust and turned around.

"Come on Bo! Let's get outta here."

Before Denis could even take a step, the centaur leaped out in front of him, swooped down and with one arm, tossed Denis across his back. Frank then took off into the forest at full speed with Denis dangling off his horse-like back as Bo ran cheerfully behind them.

"I cannot let you put yourself into danger by going back to your cave," shouted Frank as he galloped, "But I can perhaps help you understand."

They ran for nearly an hour, until reaching the top of a hill several miles away that overlooked the cave. Frank bent his back legs onto the ground so that Denis slid off onto the ground. Bo licked his face as he squirmed on the ground . Wiping off Bo's slobber, Denis stood up and saw his cave in the distance . Around it were many men dressed in deep blue robes and huge monstrous shadows with glowing red eyes.

"Who are they and what do they want?" asked Denis, fearfully.

"They are called the Order of the Indigo Light and they seek a girl with golden locks"

"The girl! I knew she was trouble when I first laid eyes on her. She left this morning, why can't I just go back and tell them she left?"

"They know she was there. If you go back they will torture you for information and then execute you for uselessness."

The centaurs face remained unflinching. Denis gulped and gripped Bo tightly.

"What do they want from her anyways?" he asked.

"A book she was carrying"

"Why?"

"Because it contains a weapon that would destroy them"

"Where is the book now?" Denis asked as he stroked his pocket nervously.

"The book is lost" replied Frank.

"Why did you rescue me?"

"It was the girls request"

"Where is she now?"

"Enough questions," said the Centaur, "We will travel all night until we reach the northern docks. There you will board a ferry and be taken to safety."

The centaur gazed unblinking into Denis's face as if trying to dig into his scull with his flaming turquoise eyes. His face remained expressionless as if made of stone. He tossed Denis across his back again and took off, with Bo leaping quickly after him.