Chương 113: Chapter 112 – Who’s Pulling the Strings?

Ray noticed Rune's sense of growing discomfort and unease as they continued to make their way to the cargo loading area. He watched the young dwarf's eyes dart from the group of boys on the side of the road to the ground in front of him. Their laughing and pointing from the side of the road caused the boy's jaw to clench, and him to make tight fists while they taunted him.

"Those guys are your friends, huh?" Ray asked, strategically trying to block the young man from their view.

"Yeah, what of its?" Rune snapped. Ray glared down at the young man, reminding him who he was talking to. Rune looked up and shook his head and rolled his eyes before self-correcting his tone.

"Yes, those be my mates, sir," he paused, then looked back down at his feet.

"Well, theys supposed to be," he sighed.

"I didn't catch that." Ray said, bending down closer to the young man. Rune looked up at him.

"I's said, theys supposed to be, but…" he broke off.

"But they tease you and say hurtful things if you don't act a certain way… or do things they tell you to do even if you don't really want to do?" Ray asked. Rune looked at him surprised.

"Yeah, how did yous know?"

"Because I know the type. Believe it or not, I used to be a kid once too," he said, giving Rune a small smile. Rune laughed.

"What's so funny?" Ray asked.

"I's is Just imagining yous as a kid, I mean look at yous! Were yous my size when yous were born?" He asked. Ray looked down at him and snickered, "Close, you are kind of puny." He smiled.

"Am not! I'm taller than a lots of guys," he said, indignantly.

"Ma says I'm gonna be at least five-feet when I'm done growin'""What are you now, two-foot eight, standing on your tiptoes?" He chided.

"No! I be almost four-feet," he said proudly.

"At least my shoes aren't the size of boats… I mean look atum? Me and my mates could go fishin' in those things." He laughed. Ray looked down at his feet.

"That's nothing, you should have seen me trying to wear a building earlier." He laughed. Rune began to laugh loudly at the mental image.

"Wish I seen that one."

"Stick around kid and you may get your chance. Doorways are not my friend right now that's for sure." he scoffed. Rune had pretty much forgotten about his group of friends on the side of the road, until one of them shouted.

"Hey Rune, off to joins the circus? Careful the big one doesn't eats you!" Ray saw the boy immediately stiffen.

"You know, the more they know they're getting to you, the more they're going to do it." He sighed. Rune looked up at him confused.

"So what am I's supposed to do? I can't lets them talk to me like that," Rune said, his frustration mounting.

"Why can't you?" Ray asked.

"Why do you think you need to respond to such nonsense?" He sighed.

"Look kid, take it from me, engaging small minds like that isn't always the best way to go. They are trying to get under your skin. They want you to react. They want you to do or say something stupid. Their goal is to get you off balance, then they have the control. It's called manipulation," Ray said, softly.

"Have you ever seen a puppet?" he asked, looking down at him.

"What's a puppet gots to do with any of this?" Rune asked, his face riddled with confusion.

"The puppet dances when the master pulls the strings, right? The puppet can't move unless someone you can't see moves the strings. Think of it that way… you, my young friend, are the puppet, and as long as you are giving them what they want, they are the master, pulling those strings," Ray explained, hoping it made sense to the young man. Ray watched as the concept clicked.

"So, when they say sometin', they are pulling a string, if I answer or do sometin' then I'm being the puppet, if I ignore them then the string ain't attached to nuttin'?"

"Something like that, yeah." Ray laughed at the boy's interpretation.

"So, I guess the question is, do you want to be the puppet or the master?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Remember when I was making comments about your size, I was getting under your skin, I could see it, you came back with that comment about my shoes being the size of boats. You were trying to insult me, rile me up, but it didn't work. It didn't work because I didn't let it. You get it?" A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Yeah, you came back with that joke about wearin' a building." Rune laughed.

"Precisely, yes, I'm big, so I can either let it be a sore spot or own it. I choose to own it. It's the truth and no matter what I say or do. I can deny it, become offended by it or even become angry over it. How is that doing me any favors? The only thing that would do is mess up my day. By owning it, I have control over it, no one can use it to hurt me or manipulate me," he said, putting a gentle arm on the boy's shoulder.

"But what abouts what they said? How woulds you have responded?" Rune asked.

"I didn't, didn't need to, but a good response may have been… Yeah and I'm going to take up the trapeze, or even… yeah, they're gonna stick me in a cannon and shoot me into his mouth." He snickered.

"Oh, that be brilliant." Rune chuckled.

"It's funny and just as stupid as the question."

"I think you're getting it," Ray said, gently patting him on the back.

"So where are yous guys going anyways?" Rune asked.

"Some place called the Shadowborne Villa," Ray answered, "You been there?"

"Nah, that place is for high falutin' folks. They have parties and stuff there," he said, furrowing his brows.

"You guys plannin' a party?" he asked.

"Far from, I guess that is where we will be staying for a bit," Ray said.

"I guess that makes sense, you wouldn't fit nowheres else," he began, then caught himself.

"I wasn't takin' a pot shot again, it's the truth. You wouldn't be able to get yourself in most places round here," Rune said, nervously.

"Relax, kid, I knew what you meant," Ray said, half smiling at him.

"So how come no one has ever seen your kind round here before?" Rune asked, curious.

"I mean, where do you guys come from, your obviously not from round these parts, I think someone would have noticed yous before if you had."

"Well, I'm what they call a goblin, and I come from a place known as Falotopia, my friend over there," he said pointing to Celestia, "she's what is known as a fairy, and she comes from the Fairy Sphere, and my three friends in the middle here," he said motioning to the core of the group, "they are what they call elves and they come from the elven realm, but I am not sure what its official name is." Ray said.

"Hey, Sheera?" he called out.

"Yes," she replied turning to face him.

"What do you call where you come from?" he asked.

"What do you mean, where I come from? You mean my town or kingdom?" she asked.

"Kingdom, I guess," he replied.

"I didn't know there was more than one," he remarked.

"I live in the town of Splendor, in the kingdom of Ferngrove, in the land of Greenwish," she said, then turned back.

"Anything else you want to know?" she asked again over her shoulder.

"Nope, that's it, for now. If I think of anything else I'll give you a shout."

"So, you don't even come from the same place." he commented.

"What's a realm?" he asked, confused.

"Like another kingdom or something?"

"Well, kind of, a realm is actually a whole other world, when you say we don't come from here, that is the understatement of the century." Ray said, "you can't get to where we're from by road or boat, we had to use a special machine to get here from where we live." Rune's jaw dropped.

"So, you guys just visitin' or somethin' like that?"

"Yeah, something like that," Ray agreed, not wanting to get into the specifics with him. Rune looked around realizing the time.

"I really need to get going. My ma's gonna kill me." He said nervously.

"Can I come visit you?" He paused.

"You know, if you're gonna be here a while."

"I would like that Rune, I really would," he said, giving the boy a big smile.

"Just remember what we talked about. Puppet or Master." Rune stepped his way out of the group.

"Master, definitely Master." He smiled before checking to see if his friends were still lurking about.

"I'll come see you soon!" he called out as he began running down the street.

"Well, that was impressive." Sheera said, over her shoulder to Ray.

"What do you mean?" Ray asked, embarrassed.

"They way you handled that kid," she said, falling into step with Ray.

"I didn't handle him, Sheera. He didn't need to be handled, just redirected." Ray said, giving her a smile.

"He reminds me a lot of myself when I was that age."

"Well, whatever you want to call it, it was impressive," She said, the sincerity reflected in her eyes.

"You are just full of surprises, Ray."

"That's me, just when you think you have me figured out, you find there's much, much more." He snickered. Ray looked around.

"This place is amazing, despite it being so small," he said marveling at the waterfall, gently gurgling down to the reflecting pond nestled in the rocks.

"It is like nothing I have ever seen before," Sheera said.

"It's amazing how they have taken a place filled with rock and made it so lush. It certainly mixes functionality with beauty."

"Okay folks, we're here." Grim called out as they came to a large river.

"As soon as the ship arrives, we will be on our way."

"I've never been on a boat before." Sheera admitted nervously.

"Is it dangerous?" Ray looked at the rushing water in front of them.

"You'll be fine, it's like driving down the highway."

"Driving?" Sheera asked, confused.

"Highway? I don't know what those things are."

"Yeah, you know, you get in your vehicle and go." Ray said, studying the confusion on her face then realized, they didn't have highways or vehicles where she came from.

"Yeah, but you have no clue what either of those things are, do you?" he asked, nodding his head. Trying to find something she could relate to.

"Like riding in a carriage only on water," he said, hoping that hit the mark.

"Oh," she said, nodding in acknowledgement.

"Momma?" Thai asked softly, lifting a sleepy head off Rowan's shoulder.

"Right here baby," Sheera said, turning to her daughter.

"Are we there yet?" Thai asked.

"Pretty soon." Sheera replied.

"Okay," She said, putting her head back down.

"You want me to take her for a bit?" Sheera asked Rowan.

"No, she's fine." Rowan said.

"She feels a little warm. I figured she'd be up and running around by now, especially with all the new sights and sounds, but she has been out cold this entire time." Sheera looked at her daughter. Ray could see the little girl looked pale. He watched as Sheera reached out her hand and felt Thai's head.

"You're right, she is warm."

"You okay, baby," Sheera asked, as Thai's eyes fluttered open.

"Sleepy and my tummy hurts," She mumbled. Sherra shot Rowan a worried glance.

"You don't think she is getting sick, do you?"

"Thai doesn't get sick," Rowan said, his eyes becoming filled with concern.