Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal Author Quest Read Free

“It’s a shame I have been walking so long today. I nearly have it, but my legs are so tired.” He took off his armor. Dressed only in his robe, which was fastened tightly at his waist with a leather belt, he took a longer running start and jumped. With both arms extended, he soared through the air but never came close to reaching the pomintinas. He landed facedown in the field’s humid soil. Parra looked away out of respect, but he couldn’t help but notice Kairn’s frown and muddy robe.
    Parra handed Kairn his armor. “The branches are very high during this season, Kairn. Please, allow me.
Sī Anonna, sī Anonna, paminoorah, paminoorahsee
.”
    The leaves hummed and the boughs trembled. Kairn looked at the precarious fruit in wordless wonder.
    â€œ
Paminoorah, paminoorahsee, shendeemoh, shendeemoh.
” The shaking boughs dropped lower and lower.
    â€œWatch out!” Parra lunged forward to grab Kairn, who had wandered beneath the branches. But he was too late—the tree yielded to the song and rained its fruit on their heads. Even after the fruit had knocked them to the ground, the tree’s bounty wouldn’t cease. Ripe, purple pomintinas pounded down on the pair relentlessly as they rolled away to safety.
    Parra crossed his small hands and looked at the ground in front of him. He feared how this proud warrior might react to being defeated by a fruit tree. He glanced up just in time to see a piece of fruit tossed by Kairn bounce off his hands. Kairn held pomintinas in both hands and smiled at him. “Hungry?” he asked. “I’m eating two.”
    Parra crunched into his pomintinas. Once they had finished eating, Kairn and Parra gathered the fruit into Parra’s basket and made a pact not to share their embarrassment with the village.
    Once they reached Greggan, the Podlings poured out of their homes to meet the visitor. Orritch emerged from the center of the crowd. A lumpy Podling with squishy cheeks and bright eyes, he did not look like the warrior Parra claimed he was. He was dressed in a simple brown frock, like the other villagers, though his did appear newer. “Stranger, welcome to Greggan. I am Orritch, though I am sure I need no introduction. And what is your name?”
    Kairn knelt before Orritch. Now at equal height with the Podling, he said, “I am Kairn, a Gelfling of the Spriton clan. I am honored to be your guest.”
    Orritch bellowed in laughter and slapped Kairn on the back. “Rise, Kairn. Tonight, we shall have a banquet in your honor, but for now, clean yourself up! If I didn’t know better, I would think you were rolling around in the mud under a pomintinas monsoon!”

Chapter Two
    Kairn had never attended a Podling banquet. He was thus unprepared for the cacophony of clanking dishes and the hurricane of heavy aromas. He was equally unprepared for the dancers who spun around the room, bumping into each other and knocking over the steaming cauldrons that were scattered haphazardly around the floor.
    He’d heard the music before. A Podling minstrel had once come to Hallis many trines ago and played at a feast. Still, he had never heard so
much
of it. In one corner, two old Podlings played wooden flutes; the jig from the first player’s flute twirled around the other’s solemn march. Elsewhere, two drummers pounded away while dancers stomped in circles to their rhythms. Atop a table, two young Podlings picked at long, stringed instruments whose dreamy tunes calmed Kairn.
    As they crossed the banquet hall, Parra grabbed every Podling’s arm, anxious to introduce them to Kairn. The Podlings, who had been so eager to meet Kairn when he arrived in the village that morning, didn’t have a moment to spare for him, as they were consumed by the banquet. Kairn tried hard not to mind, and Parra seemed not to notice.
    Between introductions, Parra attempted to explain the name and meaning of each new item they