Two bears entered the space where the mist couldn't invade thanks to the power of music.
A few of the satyr hunters became wary and cautious. Bears were some of the satyr's natural predators. Despite the goat-people having a higher level of intelligence, many had still died by bear claws.
One of Jericho's four clones turned around. "Bears wielding an Ax and holding items? That doesn't seem normal." He muttered. "Don't attack; I think there may be something more to this than meets the eye." He held out a hand to tell the goats to back off slightly.
"(Thank goodness)" Harr growled.
Jericho faced the bears. "I'm sorry, I don't speak animal."
Lux assumed his human form. "I can translate for you!"
"(Ken? Where is Princess? And why were disguised as an animal?)" Lednar asked because he knew his friend had the ability Speak with Animals.
Lux listened and repeated what he heard. "Horn, fruit, hat, pen, pipe, and disk?" (Umm, little bear what are you trying to say?)
Lednar sighed. "(That is definitely not what I am saying. Can you please stop joking around?)
The lynx in human form listened a bit more before donning a look of horror. "They are Monosyllabears! Everyone get back! Don't let them touch you or you will be cursed to speak in random short nonsense words!" Lux hid behind Jericho.
Lednar roared in frustration. "(Ken, stop fooling around!)"
"Monosyllabears?" The clone of Jericho that currently wasn't playing an instrument inquired at the very ridiculous sounding name. "What are they Lux?"
"(Lux?)" Lednar felt confused.
"They are Syllabears that speak in short words and don't make sense! I can't believe they look just like regular bears! My mother warned me about them. She always said that among the Syllabears that some of the Mono ones make you sound really dumb."
Harr, the larger bear, growled with the shake of his head.
Jericho sighed. "Can you understand me?" He asked the larger bear.
Harr nodded.
"Are you a Monosyllabear?" Jericho asked, since Lux didn't really have any reason to lie.
The large bear shook his head.
"(Harr, write drink this with your ax in the dirt.)" Lednar the smaller bear said as he held out the dark purple liquid vial.
Harr took the poll end of his ax and wrote in the dirt. *Drink this*
"Jericho, don't it is a trap!" Lux quietly exclaimed.
The bard chuckled. "This is only 1/4th of me. If it is a trap, then it won't affect me much." He took the liquid and drank it. When he looked back at the bears he saw the people behind the appearance of the bears. "Ah, so the bear thing is a disguise." He thought out loud.
Harr smiled without showing his teeth. "(Now you should be able to understand us too.)"
Jericho gave a nod. "I can. But the others probably can't still, right?"
Lednar sighed. "(The illusion dust and scent I put on us can only be washed off with water and I don't see a water source nearby. If we had water, we would remove out disguise as it would not be needed anymore.)"
"Alright, I just need to get you wet then?" Jericho merged two of the four copies of himself so he could use Create Water. Water appeared and he used Control Water to splash it onto the two bears.
"Finally I don't have to smell that foul odor!" Harr exclaimed through his reptilian mask as most of the illusion wore off. There were still parts of him and Lednar that still looked like they belonged to a bear. "Lednar, you illusion is great but that was a real pain." He turned to the bard who had once again separated himself so he could recover faster as they traveled. "My name is Harr. This is Lednar. Sorry for the scare earlier. Sneaking past the animals in the mist was easier this way."
The bard nodded. "I'm Jericho, we are on our way out of the forest. Are you going to come with us?"
The young pre-teen looked up. "Ah, so you are the famous Jericho my best friends have been raving about at school. Your sister and Kenneth talk about you a lot. Speaking of your sister, where is she?"
Harr mouthed 'don't say it' with a shake of his head.
Jericho, seeing the motion half smiled. "You must be Alexander then. I am curious why you haven't come over to hang out with her yet. She has told me quite a bit about you too."
Lednar nodded. "Right; that is something I wanted to talk to you about. But you are dodging my question."
The minstrel smiled. "One second." Jericho walked over to the other halves of him that were playing and swapped them jobs for the eighth time. Their stamina and magic were depleted again. The mist was kept at bay by the continuation of the serenade. The other two Jerichos came over to Lednar. "They ran off earlier but Princess has a way to protect herself from the mist as well." Jericho explained calmly to avoid letting his own personal worry reveal itself.
Lednar frowned. "Then who is that behind you acting scared and calling us made up creatures? He looks just like Ken."
Jericho laughed. "Want to introduce yourself officially Lux?"
"I don't want to tell the Monosyllabears that I am Ken's younger brother though." The feline replied defiantly.
Lednar adjusted his glasses. "I think you mean Monosyllables. I heard your description before and it sounded like you were being taught about speech not about mythical creatures. Jericho, I will ask that you help me understand the meaning behind Lux's words. Ken doesn't have a younger brother."
"Wait! That is right, she called them MonosyllaBulls! Stay away you MonosyllaBulls and don't infect me you short random word disease, you cows in disguise!" Lux reverted to his animal form and vanished into the pet space located in the temporary tattoo on Jericho's hand.
Jericho came closer chuckling at Lux's severe misunderstanding. "As you can see, Lux can make himself look like Ken so the two of them started calling each other brothers. The healer girl over there thinks Ken is an NPC. So please respect your friend's choice in not telling her."
Lednar sighed. "Fine."
Jericho observed the two who still had some parts of themselves that looked like bears. "You still look a little ridiculous like that. Let me help you out." The bard used the water technique from before and drenched the two. "Shall we head out? It is tiring to constantly be playing the same musical piece over and over with no real break. I am hoping to get out of here sooner rather than later."
The wet Harr nodded. "Let's go." He started to walk forward and join the group. "Oh, Jericho what can you tell me about all of the satyrs that are here?"
Jericho half smiled. "We helped them out a lot and these are the ones we could save so we are bringing them out. You see that older goat with a skip in his step still despite the fact that they just lost their home? His name is Carn. He is their current leader."
Harr gave a nod. "Thank you for being so forthcoming. Do you have plans with them once you leave?"
Jericho shook his head. "No, and just a second." He tagged out the copies of him that were playing. "I have no clue as to where they would be able to go; but if you have an idea, great. I will just give you warning now; they are very particular about music and dancing. They look poorly on others because they lack 'Culture'." Jericho emphasized the last word.
"Culture? Like being Posh and drinking tea or wine in an elegant manner?"
Jericho chuckled. "No, they view that type of stuff poorly. If you show interest in performance related skills, you may be able to get them to view you in a slightly better light."
"I see, thank you." Harr left to go talk to Carn as they walked.
Lednar came up behind Jericho. "So, back to the topic of me coming over to hang out with Moira…" He paused awkwardly.
Jericho let out a soft chuckle. "There is no harm in you coming over. Any time that either of us say it is okay for you to come, then you are free to. You don't need both of our permissions."
The boy adjusted his mask. "What I meant to say is, I want to learn how to play musical instruments from you. I have been staying after school to learn the basics of a few of them but a live teacher would be better. I would like to have a real teacher help me know more than just the 'How to' that I can get in the school's learning database simulator. They didn't even give me extra credit for learning it because it is considered obsolete and worthless knowledge. But you know differently."
Jericho smiled at the boy. "May I know why you are so eager to learn?"
Lednar adjusted his glasses that were behind the mask. "I want to become a very powerful player that people recognize as one of the best. Of course I am really young and so I can't game all day like most of these people."
Seeing the boy pause in his explanation, Jericho motioned with his hands. "Continue."
"Both alchemy and magic are knowledge oriented pursuits, but I suspect that emotions are just as valuable. My theory is that with emotions included, the power and potency will improve. Emotions are part of the mind after all. However from a logical standpoint it is hard to inject the emotions into solving a basic math equation that you have solved hundreds of times."
Jericho nodded as he waited for the long round about explanation to finish taking place.
"Then, on the week of Moira's birthday she mentioned your music was magical; that there was something about your music that was unique. At the time I didn't understand but became intrigued. I know I upset her when I told her magic wasn't reality and I apologized later."
Jericho held up his hand. "Just a second I need to switch off again." When his clones returned he smiled. "Continue."
"The things I have been learning in the school's database has been very equation oriented. Play C, E, and G and get a very common chord. But the way you play is... different. I watched some of your performances and felt something. It was like your music had feelings of its own and you were there to help it express itself. After that, I realized that if I played instruments to help with the emotional sides of alchemy and magic, I might just be able to achieve my dream of becoming a top player. I might be able to see past the data and numbers."
Jericho chuckled. "At least you are honest about it. And Moira was right, your vocabulary is well beyond most twelve year olds. I have one question for you. Do you like music?"
Lednar sighed. "I really do like music. I have liked learning how to play it too. It is because I like it that I feel like I can utilize it to achieve the other dreams I have."
"I could tell; however, you explained so much your intent was almost lost on me. I don't mind teaching you but every single person I teach must get past Moira first. You know how protective she is when it comes to me."
Lednar chuckled. "Truly."
Jericho continued. "Where you are one of her two best friends I am sure she will willing but it is better to get it from her mouth instead of assuming it is fine. However, when you ask her, I would avoid the long explanation. Just tell her you really want to learn from the best. She seems to respond to people better when they verbally talk about me positively."
The pre-teen nodded. "Thank you Jericho; and thanks for telling me the secret on how to communicate better with your sister. Now that I know you are willing I will talk to Moira about it in school later unless we meet up with her sooner."
"Right, so what instruments have you been learning by staying after school?"
"They were called the bass guitar, electric guitar, a drum set, keyboard and a few others. I really like the instruments I play with my fingers or small object. There was one that I liked that had a very different sound but the ukulele was also really fun to play."
Jericho smirked. "Have you ever listened to rock style music?"
Lednar shook his head. "I don't know. To be honest there are so many categories of music out there that I can't keep them straight."
***
Director Fletcher wrote a few words on a piece of paper. "Thank you Lux for that brilliant idea." He passed the note to his secretary. "Pass this on to the monster creation sub-department."
The secretary ran off and read the note.
New monster: MonosyllaBulls: There is so much Bull going around that these bovine like creatures have resorted to randomly speaking in monosyllables. Have fun with this idea!
-Director Fletcher
© J Eranoth