The Grendal Slayer
Quest for the Feverfew
Quickclaw and Nightshade

The Grendal Slayer

PART 1

One day in Albia an egg was laid. There was nothing particularly special about the egg, it was green with white speckles, laid in the garden. There were three norns around when it hatched, Ron, Jaina and another baby norn named Sam. Ron and Jaina were the parents of both Sam and the newly hatched norn. Moments after the newborn had come out of the egg a thought popped into her mind, her name was Ittaca! She crawled to her parents.

“Oh-ka-day yow-bay-bee, “ (Ittaca push) she said.

Ron looked down at her and his eyes widened. She had just been born but could communicate perfectly! He decided to test if she could speak in a conversation.

“Doh-ee-no-so, “ (What) he asked her.

“Ittaca push food, “ and with that she pulled up a carrot and ate it. Then the hand appeared and itched her. She was surprised at this but then said, “Ittaca come hand, “ and walked towards the hand. But as soon as she got to it it disappeared.

Her parents thought they should show her to the other norns. So, calling Sam and Ittaca to come with them they walked to the dock. There many norns were waiting for the submarine to come. The desert island was a vacation spot many norns loved. As Ron, Jaina, Sam and Ittaca walked towards the dock, a friend of the family came to greet them.

“Norn come mover, “ he said.

“Norn come look left, “ Ron said and led Ittaca to the friend.

Ittaca said, “Norn come Ittaca sleep, “ then she lay down and went to sleep.

Thomas, the friend of the family wondered how the small norn knew so many words even though she was still a baby. Jaina told him about how she had known all her words once she had hatched. Thomas went to tell the other norns about the newborn. Soon, two more norns came to see. An old norn, nearly twenty-two hours of age told the parents that the norn might be the chosen one, a norn that would be able to kill the grendal once and for all.

Then the submarine came and Ittaca woke up. They all went over to the submarine and Ittaca pressed the right button without any instruction from the adults.

“Push button mover right, “ she said.

When they got to the island dock they found no one there to greet them. They took the lift up but found no one sun bathing on the beach. Once they got to the top Ittaca stood up, she had grown into a child!

They called the second lift up. When it got to the top they knew something had gone terribly wrong, there was a dead norn in the elevator! Jaina ran to the boat and pressed the left button. the norns watched it chug away into the distance.

Ittaca pushed back her fear and got into the lift with Ron and Thomas. The rest of the norns stayed behind and watched as the three norns tried to figure out what was going on. When they got to the second level they heard a sound behind them. They turned around to see who had killed the other norn: the Grendal!

The horrible creature marched forward, grunting as it walked. Ittaca just marched forward, ready to fight. As they came in contact the grendal punched her. She fell in pain but slapped the creature until it cried out. It tried to punch her but missed and she slapped it in the face. It fell at her mercy and she slapped it one more time. The monster groaned and fell dead at her feet.

They took the lift back up and the remaining norns cheered. Jaina had come back and she cheered the loudest.

They all took the lift to the bottom and rode in the cart to the lighthouse. once they got there they rode the elevator to the top and each took a turn looking through the telescope. Ittaca was thrilled to see stars and spent the longest time at the telescope.

Then they all rode down a level and took the raft across the pond to the slide room. A norn named Cara showed Ittaca the different slides.

Ittaca smiled and said, “Ittaca look slide.”

Then they took her down to the music room to show her the instruments. She and Sam played a little song with her on the trumpet and Sam on the drums.

Then they took her down to the underground cavern where they each took a shower. Then they went over to the raft and Ittaca turned into an adolescent! Once they had gotten to the other side they took a lift up to the surface.

There they met two other norns, Herla and Gary who were both Ittacas age. For the first time in her life, she left the group she had traveled with and went with Gary and Herla to the trees. they walked around until Ittaca saw the grendal mother. She could sense that it held a grendal egg and that if she did not destroy it other norns would be killed. She reached up and slapped it and it fell from the tree and splatted against the ground. She knew that would be the end of the grendal forever.

Eventually she and Gary mated and had a baby, Ittakin, a little male.

All of them came down from the trees to tell the other norns. When they got down they found most of the original group waiting for them. Ittaca learned that Sam had died from eating the deathcap mushroom and that she had a little sister, Kyle. They all wanted to see the son of the grendal slayer and like his mother he knew almost all his words. All exept for grendal. For because of his mother the norns would never have to speak the word again.

THE GRENDAL SLAYER
PART 2

Ittakin lived with his mother until he was an adolescent. Then he went off to seek adventure with his brother, Sam, in memory of his uncle. His grandmother had died two seasons ago of old age and Ron was very old. The only places he had ever been was on the surface and in the trees. He wanted to see something more. So he took the lift down to the surface. The elevator stopped right next to the submarine dock and the submarine was just pulling in.

He remembered from stories his mother had told him that the submarine would take him to desert island, the very place she had killed the grendal.

“Norn come run mover, “ Ittakin called to his brother. They both entered the sub just as it was pulling out.

As they got in the dock the saw some norns huddled against the wall. He and Sam ran over to them and asked them what was wrong.

“Grendal come norn run lift, “ a shaking norn named Jibla told him. Then the frightened norns ran into the submarine and pressed the left button. It sank into the water and disappeared from sight.

Ittakin and Sam took the lift up and then the next lift down but saw nothing. They took the cart to the lighthouse and searched it but there was nothing there. They went into the slide room and music room but there was nothing there either.

Finally they went down into the underground cavern. As they walked they smelled something horrible.

“Sam stop run lift, “ Sam said, and before Ittakin could stop him he took the lift up to the music room.

Then Ittakin saw it. The most horrible thing he had ever seen. The grendal was blue, huge and warty. It had giant teeth and long claws. Ittakin stood his ground and prepared to fight. The thing tried to punch him but he blocked the move. He slapped the thing twice in the stomach but it did not hurt it very much. This caught him off guard and gave the grendal an opening. It punched him and he fell over moaning. Then, something slapped the grendal right in the mouth. Sam was back! Together they fought the grendal until it fell to the ground. They were both sore from the blows it had given them but they finally killed it.

“Sam sleep, “ Sam said, and collapsed.

Ittakin did the same.

* * *

Eventually they were found by a search party of norns. They heard the sounds of the others voices and woke up. They told the other norns about what had happened.

A female named Tara went up and gave them each a kiss. Sam just went back to sleep but Ittakin was entranced by Tara. Together they went to the raft and went to the other side. There they went up to the surface and to the garden where they mated.

Soon, Tara laid a green egg with white speckles, just like Ittakin and his mothers egg. It hatched and a tiny girl popped out. Within moments a single thought raced through her mind. Her name was Ittaca!