“There’s so much to tell and none of them are alike….” She started. “I suppose the best one to start with would be the ginger boy. You’d really like him, Bohga. He has so much eagerness to learn…”

  Meanwhile, back at the home of the cyclops, Prince Damron continued to hunt for gels. Things had gone rather slow as he’d only found one in the hours since Bohga and Hoxley departed. Instead of walking with gel in hand, he tried pulling a fair amount of vine from the underbrush to lash the gel to the end of a long stick without it falling off. By doing this, he was able to swing the stick in slow wide arcs across his path as he walked to cover more ground. He hadn’t been walking with his wild contraption very long when the gelatin gave up the tiniest of sounds.

  *pip*pip*

  “What’s this? You found something?” he asked, waving it to the right side where it seemed to make the noise. *pip*pip*pip* “You do have something!” The pips led him to a huge tree with an exposed root system. To his surprise, there were many gels out in the open rolling around and sliding across the roots. He wasted no time in kneeling with his basket and collecting as many as he could find. Two, five, seven, eight, eleven! So many! He snatched up all that could be found. By the time he’d finished circling the tree, he’d gathered just more than a dozen of the gels who were now pipping away now that they’d been thrown together. More important than having the ones he’d collected, the prince looked the tree over to try and discover why there were so many in one place. What drew them here? There was nothing special about the neiklot; a common tree with wide green leaves. Perhaps there was something about the tree that the gels preferred. He looked around and spied another full sized neiklot not forty paces away. With basket in hand, he headed that direction.

  His head swiveled as he walked, hoping to find more but didn’t see any nearby. But no sooner than he started to approach the tree, his invention of “gel on a stick” began to pip and peep once more. In fact, the whole basket of gels he’d scavenged became much more animated, pipping and pipping. Excited, he set down the basket and dropped to his knees, using the short stick with pointed end he made and began digging. The soil was thick and rich like pottery clay. This made it hard to remove, but with the other gels making such a racket, he pressed on, removing scoopful after scoopful. Six inches, a foot, a foot and a half he jabbed and pried to work the dirt loose enough to remove. It was tough going. His arms struck time and again as his back arched to keep the jabs coming. Several times he had to stop and take a breather as the hole grew deeper. The end of the stick that was quickly losing its sharp point. He was about to stop and sharpen it again when the tip of the stick not only drove deep into the soil but went through it! Prince Damron looked close to discover a small chamber hiding just beneath the surface. He set aside the stick and laid flat to look closer. The area beneath looked to be no bigger than the area needed for a campfire. There wasn’t much light so he dug at the edges until he could see more. No gels revealed themselves. To test a theory, he plucked a gel from the basket and dropped it down the hole. Instead of a flat “plap” sound of the gel hiding the ground, it stead made a wet “pwop” like striking water instead. Curious, he peeked within the hole again to find it no deeper than his legs so he dangled his feet over the edge and pushed himself in, being careful not to squish the gel he’d dropped. His stomach turned as his feet didn’t strike hard soil but instead sank him up to the calves in a thick goo.

  “Is…is this gelicate?” he said to no one. The slime gave a long, thick “shlorp” as he pulled his feet free one at a time to stand on the concaved edges of the pocket. Stooping low, he snatched up the gel and flung it over his head into the basket before reaching low again. Cupping hands scooped out handfuls of the lifeless gelicate to see it in the light. Sure enough, it was gelicate! It was a half a small bathing tub worth! A smile spread over his face he dropped himself back into the center of the squishiness to feel for himself the colorless fruit of his labor.

  “It is! It is! Ha ha!” he shouted with unabashed glee. And as fast as he could pull himself out of the hole, he rushed back to Bohga’s home to get more baskets. Two, three, four, even five he tucked under arms and pressed against himself as he waddled back to the hole. One of Bohga’s dinner bowls served as a perfect ladle to gather the goo. Container after container he filled until there was no more left to harvest. Content with his work, he hefted the baskets back to the cave one at a time. The baskets were lighter than he imagined, but it made sense that the substance needed to create lyythium would weigh significantly less than other things like water buckets.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  The long treks back and forth gave him enough time to try and wrap his mind around what was taking place. After all, it was Bohga that told them how he’d invented the craft of casting lyythium. But how was he going to learn if he needed people who’d never done it before but had only learned about the craft from when he’d told them? It was all similar to a dog chasing its tail was the one to start the chase and go round and round. Trying to keep track of it all was almost enough to cross his eyes. Once the baskets were inside and the one with the still living gels covered, he enjoyed a long drink of cool water from the water barrel. He’d barely had time to take a second gulp before the sounds of the creaking cart echoed at the entrance.

  “Hellloooo, young king!” the cyclops’ voice boomed through the cave. “We have returned!”

  “Here I am, Bohga!” he shouted, running to meet him at the entrance. Prince Damron found Bohga and Hoxley unloading a full cart of gumfruit. He stepped out of the way as the pair each took turns rolling the spherical fruit across the floor into the dining area.

  “I hope you are hungry.” Bohga chuckled. “We have gathered a bounty of delicious fruit!” Bohga offered his hand to Hoxley who gingerly stepped down from the cart and into the shadows.

  “How are you feeling?” the boy asked.

  “Better for now.” She tried to smile. “Better than I was.”

  “I believe I may have a remedy.” Offered the cyclops. “I will boil these down, extract the nut meats and make a large batch of gumfruit juice! Quite revitalizing it is! Ho Ho! It should be just the thing to help you along your path to full health. What say you, young king? Have you found any more of the gels?”

  “Not only did I find some, but I found a lot!” Prince Damron said, retrieving the baskets of gel and gelicate to show them. The more he brought out, the greater the expression of astoundment on the others faces. “Gels and gelicate!” Hoxley looked flabbergasted.

  “There’s so much of it.” She marveled. “How did you find so much?”

  “I used my head and fashioned a gel on the end of a stick to wave about and cover more ground. I also learned that gels may have a habit of gathering around Neiklot trees. Is there something special about them that they like?”

  “Hmmm.” Bohga pondered the thought. “Neiklot trees produce a sweet sap. Perhaps the gels are attracted to it. If your assumption is true, it may be a way to harvest them in greater numbers!”

  “Or even attract them!” offered Hoxley.

  “Yes, yes! Wouldn’t that be something to have the gels do all the work? Something indeed!” Bohga stomped his foot with joy. “Now then! We have much to do and we have a long evening ahead of us if we are to begin our craft! But we can’t work on empty stomachs, can we? Why don’t both of you clean yourselves at the river and I shall begin preparing a hearty meal! Yes, begone and let Bohga begin!”

  Prince Damron and Hoxley started the trek down the hill. He just happened to catch her looking upon him with a warm smile.

  “Why the face?” he asked. “You’re looking at me.”

  “No reason.” She continued to grin. “Or perhaps here it is you have surprised me with your craftiness. You’ve come quite a way since we met, your highness. I must admit your new work ethic and insightfulness has impressed even me. Well done.” She thumped the butt of her spear upon the ground without stopping. “No one has ever been worse for wear for wanting to work smarter or harder. Who knows? This day’s ingenuity may be the foundation for greater things.”

  “Perhaps.” Prince Damron considered as her smile became infectious enough to grow onto his face as well. “Wouldn’t that be something.”

  “Quite. In fact, because of the amount you’ve collected, Bohga may be able to begin experimenting on how to create weapons as soon as tonight if he can find a way to make the molds.”

  “What about something else?” asked Prince Damron

  “Something else?” asked Hoxley with a bit of confusion.