EAGLES

Callie stopped walking, looking up at Lena. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm fine," the Elf replied, stopping and turning to look at her friend.

"I can see it on your face. What?"

"It's just … the story you finished telling us. It's …" Lena trailed off, looking confused.

"It's what? What's wrong with it?"

"No, the story is good, great even. It's just …"

"It's just what?"

Lena sighed. "Okay, fine. Tell me this, why didn't they just have the Eagles carry them all the way there?"

"Right! Exactly my thought!" Pixyl exclaimed in agreement, gesturing emphatically towards Lena with both hands.

"The Eagles?"

Pixyl re-emphasised her gesture towards Lena. "It would have saved d-d-days of walking."

"Exactly that, Pixyl! If the Eagles could swoop in and save them from the side of the mountain at the end, why didn't they just carry them all the way there to begin with?" Lena looked expectantly for an answer.

"I don't know!" Callie retorted. "The ring was getting heavier the closer they got to the mountain, so maybe they'd be too heavy for the birds to carry them."

"But Sam c-c-could carry him just fine," Pixyl said.

"Maybe they'd be too easy to spot?" Callie suggested next. "If they went in on foot they'd have a better chance of sneaking in. Between the armies they had to get by, and that big eye being able to see everything, they'd be detected."

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"Maybe," Lena hedged. "Still, they could fly high enough to avoid detection. Or low enough."

"And they would have speed on their side," Pixyl added.

"I mean, sure, it wouldn't be much of a story," Lena conceded, "but the Eagles could have just flown him as fast as possible to the mountain. Then Frodo could have run into the cave and tossed the ring into the lava, and then run back out to fly home. Minimal risk."

"It's a story, Lena," Callie groused. "The long journey is the adventure, not winning in the end!"

Pixyl snickered as she watched Callie get exasperated.

"It's just a story!" Callie snapped again.

"I know, but it has a huge plot hole in the middle of it big enough for Tazrok's Brontorn to walk through, Callie. It's bugging me, that's all."

Callie rolled her eyes. "What story doesn't? I'm sure if someone wrote a story about me, it'd be full of all kinds of plot holes and inconsistencies. Stop over-analysing it."

Pixyl giggled. "The Adventures of Callie the Gnome," she said, moving her hand across the air as if to see the letters on a sign overhead. "I'd r-r-read that."

"How about The Pink-Haired Menace?" Lena suggested.

"Callie Versus the Demons: The Tales of a Crazy Gnome?" Pixyl added.

"Or maybe Trouble Today, Trouble Tomorrow, Trouble Forever."

"Ooo! I got it! Big Trouble from Little Callie." Pixyl giggled at her girlfriend. "They could turn it into one of your moo-vees."

"There you are! A thrilling adventure about you and your little band of heroes. Or would it be a band of heroes and little you?" Lena giggled in unison with Pixyl, adding, "Either way, something would need to be little."

Callie stood there dumbfounded. Finally, she let out a huff and threw her arms out. "It's just a story, it's a great story, and I hate both of you right now." She looked up, yelling generically at the sky. "You hear that? Anyone out there reading about my heroic adventure, stop worrying about plot holes and inconsistencies. The world is strange." Callie then stuck her tongue out at her friends, then at whoever in the sky was reading her story. She spun, continuing the walk towards the training field while at the same time trying to hide her smile and not break into giggles of her own.

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