Intermezzo X - Sugar, Spice, Everything Nice

Reviewer's Comment (Rue - Official Intermezzo Reviewer)

Ladies and gentlemen, if there is one Intermezzo that you read during the Quest, please make it Intermezzo Ten: Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice. All eight chapters are delightful to read, and every single chapter explains some of the mysteries that you and I have been wondering about since day one. Shocking plot twists at every turn await, with an ending that everyone will be talking about. Plot points essential to the next session of the ‘Quest’ are revealed. Reading Intermezzo Ten is not an option, it is a must.

Rating: A+

Prologue – I Saw A Man Who Wasn’t There.

“I need you more than want you;

And I want you for all time.”

~Glen Campbell, “Wichita Lineman”



The four of them sat around the table in silence for a few moments. The room was quite dark, only one candle on the table gave dim illumination. A sharp, high pitched whistle filled the room. Barry stood up sharply and crossed to the stove, carefully lifting the kettle.
Within a few minutes the four of them had a cup of steaming hot tea each, the room was filled with quiet chit-chat. ‘Have you seen Shandor lately? Him and his missus has gone off again. One of those grandiose trips, no doubt.’ Barry, husband of Clare, the young lady sitting next to him, stated after taking a sip.

‘I saw him recently, didn’t look very good – no missus either. Makes me think something happened to them.’ Jason, owner of the shop just across the marketplace from Shandor’s, said darkly.

Julie, Jason’s wife, laughed a sharp, shrill laugh, ‘I doubt it would be a fight, them two are sickeningly in love, puppy eyes. Ugh.’

Jason smiled to himself as he took a sip. Clare, on the other hand, looked more pensive. After a moment or two, she spoke up, ‘I ran into him as he was leaving his shop. He didn’t look well at all. He looked a bit crazy, to me.’

The others smiled or chuckled, Julie giving another painfully shrill laugh, ‘Shandor’s always been crazy.’ Barry smiled.

Clare avoided their gaze, muttering, ‘Not the happy-go-lucky, fun to talk to, slightly eccentric crazy that he normally is. I’m talking about off-the-rails, liable to do anything, one hundred percent crazy. He frightened me, he did. I looked into his eyes and…’ she paused to take a particularly large mouthful of tea, ‘and I didn’t see anything looking back at me.’

Barry waved his hand at her, ‘Woman, you imagine far too much. He was probably having a bad day.’

Jason said, ‘Well, perhaps not. I was buying some fruit when there was an awful lot of noise coming from his shop. A moment later, a gnome crashed through the door, sprinting for his life.’

Barry replied, ‘Maybe we are all just feeling the effect of all the trouble that’s happening.’

A new topic had emerged, and the vultures were eager to get their scrap, ‘Did you hear what happened in Loldar?’

‘Something’s gone wrong in Borwin, great slaughter I’m told. The dwarves are trying to keep it quiet.’

‘Maybe the orcs did it.’

‘The orcs haven’t been seen in weeks! Heck, the orcs in Tildruin have been steadily moving out.’

‘Aye, and a bunch of people – all human – have been arriving from the outlying towns and villages.’

‘That’s not all, Viirnial was destroyed, and now all the elves are pottering off towards A’lure. It’s very odd.’

‘And the trolls have been moving off. The dwarves left, mostly, after what happened at Borwin, like it was some great big secret only dwarves were allowed in on.’

‘Wouldn’t be the first time…’

‘I think Borwin was hit by the same thing that hit the others.’

‘I heard stuff about a dragon. Dragons! In this day and age!’

‘I don’t know, dragons or great winged things have been reported by the survivors of each attack. Makes you wonder…’

‘And did you see those gnomes? Practically tried swimming across the ocean to get the heck out of here.’

‘Makes you think that they had something to do with the attacks.’

‘Oh please? Gnomes? And dragons? They wouldn’t even be considered a light snack, the dragon’d probably just squish them.’

‘Remember that dragon what burst up ‘round here?’

‘Who could forget?’

‘And who was there? Shandor and his bunch of weird followers.’

‘You’re not suggesting Shandor has something to do with this, are ya?’

‘I dunno. Seems a bit odd too me.’

‘I’m only surprised Tildruin hasn’t been hit. I mean, it’s the biggest place.’

‘Ha! Whoever’s doing this is probably cowering from us, I mean, we’ve got the best defence on the planet.’

‘I dunno. I’m just… worried is all.’

‘These are dark, dark days.’

‘What can we do, though?’

Barry shrugged, ‘There’s always faith, religion. Religion can help many a poor soul who needs it.’



The elven priest moved down the centre of the temple. He was chanting in ancient elven, the sacred ritual of blessing that was performed on holy ground every evening. When he got to the end, he turned and moved over to the row of pillars that ran up both sides of the temple (leaving a small, pitch black area either side). Each of the pillars had a statue of a head and torso with hands cupped together. The priest moved along and when he reached the hands, he took a small, delicate, velvety soft pink petal and placed it in them. The roof of the temple was, for the most part, one large skylight, which let in the gentle glow of the moonlight. He was almost at the end of that row when something leapt at him from the shadows. It grabbed his wrist (knocking the wooden bowl out of his hands and scattering the petals around) and caught him by the neck with its other hand. ‘The temple is closed, my child.’ The priest nearly shouted, squirming free of the creature’s grasp. Shandor let go of the priest, who quickly repeated that the temple was closed.

‘I’m not here to pray, as I doubt the gods can help me now. I come for It.’

‘I’m afraid-‘ The priest paused as he knelt down to pick up the bowl, ‘-You’ve interrupted the blessing ritual. You will have to come back tomorrow.’

‘I don’t think so. I came for It, and I will leave with It.’

‘My child, It cannot help you. I beg you, for your eternal soul, turn back from this path. It could only lead to a greater darkness…’

‘Are you quite done, as I am quite bored. So where is It?’

‘My child, It is an ancient relic, one that has been in this temple for centuries, I cannot just give It to you.’

‘Then find someone who can, because this elf is getting, as I may have mentioned before, rather *bored*.’

‘I simply cannot…’

‘Oh fine.’ Shandor stepped past the priest and headed up the temple, toward the altar, aiming for one of the side doors. The priest, at a run, managed to cut him off, ‘Please, my child, I beg of you. You can still turn back, leave this place…’

Shandor pushed the priest sharply into the door, and it gave a groan, ‘Is that locked?’

The priest looked at the door, ‘Yes.’

‘Then unlock it. Or I will take the key.’

The priest looked at him with slightly flushed cheeks. Sadly, he removed a steel key from his pocket and unlocked the door, pushing it open slowly only to be shoved through it by Shandor. Shandor looked about and spotted a large, golden, cylinder on a marble shelf. ‘In there?’ Shandor guessed aloud.

The priest nodded, scrambling to his feet. He shuffled over in front of it, in a repeat of his meagre attempt to block Shandor, ‘I will not allow it!’

‘It needs another key, doesn’t it?’

‘Yes, but that is besides the point as you will not get the key from me!’

‘I’ll take it from you, unless you open it willingly. Right now.’

The priest had momentarily puffed up cheeks in an attempt to gather enough strength to protest. Then, as if he realised what he was standing up against, he surrendered, removing a very small, gold, key and inserting it in the cylinder. With a tiny click, it swung open. Inside, there was a red, velvet cushion with golden tassels. Atop the cushion was a small object, rectangular in shape, it was a slightly tarnished gold in colour and had peculiar, curved, black indents on each side. Shandor reached in, picked it up and pocketed it. ‘Thanks, you’ve been a great help.’

‘I pray for your soul.’ The priest said simply as Shandor left the room.