Fire-Eye #14 Elfquest vol. 2 #14
Warp, Jul 1997, b&w
1 Fire-Eye #14 cover Includes "Fire-Eye #14"
Jethel kicks Chot off of him, asking him if he learned anything and if Go Backs are all so thick. Chot calls him a weakling little tree dweller, "Go Backs have honor! They know how to fight and take!!" He punches but misses. Jethel asks, "The way your chieftess Kahvi and her bedmate Tyldak stole the little palace from the sun village?" (in HIDDEN YEARS #2). Kibo wonders if they should try...Koni says, "Don't you dare! This is good!" Chot kicks under Jethel as Jethel tells him that Kahvi would never leave her tribe the way Chot wants to leave these cubs. Chot gets on top of him, "I'll rip your innards out and let em steam in the sun for that! These miserable whelps are nothing but troubleñnot worth caring for!!" Jethel says, "I don't believe you, Chot..." Jethel tickles Chot who calls him a muck eating little snake. Jethel asks, "What's this? A weakness in your Go Back armor?" They end up laughing. Chot gets up, "A rotten, stinking, steaming low trick, heh, maybe there's a little GoñBack in you after all, snerk." Even after the fire in the forevergreen, Jethel now realizes Chot was there watching out for him. Chot smirks, "Just don't go making a big noise about it, will you?" They sit side by side, touching sides. Jethel gives his word about it, "And don't you get it into your thick skull that I won't listen to your adviceññeven if you serve it up at the point of a spear." The backers of Ahnn Li are with Ahnessah now. Among them a monk like figure and a thick haired blond boy with big, frightened eyes. She wants Li's dream to live on. The guards are too afraid to tell her Cam is gone. As the kids of Pei Lar look on at Cam, one says, "Kinda dumb, in't he?" Jooka watches as Pei Lar meet Cam, thinking that he is as crazy as she is, "Maybe they all get that way when they get old," Jooka thinks. Pei Lar was going to kill Ahnn Li at first chance but he went dancing off his balcony, she says. Cam talks with Pei Lar about wanting to protect the children. They differ only in the elves. Cam tells her he has heard other versions of how she was grievously hurt and they don't agree at all points. Jooka decides to climb out the hole and go warn Ahnessah, thinking she will say, "Well done, Jooka. That's more than I ever got here." Chot thinks she troll Ahnessah's toadies are on the way here, thinking Cam spilled his brains. Willowsnap says, "Bubble belly big thing all pieces...parts..." Jethel plays a large stick flute, "I'm worried about him, too. That is what you meant, isn't it?" Chot doesn't want Jethel to start all that again. Chot tells him he is a caretaker, "I don't want the chief's place. But I'll defend my chief and his tribe to my death. Or the sailor's if that's what it takes to keep us safe." Jethel hugs Kibo around his shoulder and neck. Jethel agrees they must not allow Cam to give out his knowledge of where the tribe isññhe must be saved or...Jethel saysno more. He has an idea, "Trade me for the human." FULL CLOSEUP ON HIM. They send Koni to let them know about the trade. Bren sees Koni in town. He asks if what Koni has to do has anything to do with why he was so strange to him last time they met. Bren tells him it hurt when he lied to him last time. Koni tells him he couldn't tell him...it would have meant danger to his new friends. Bren guesses that Koni is with the forest spirits now. Koni lets him know it is better out there than in Lord Ahnn Li's house. Bren tells Koni that Cam is out already. Koni does not have to go into the house to face Ahnessah. Jooka is listening to all this, hiding at a wall. He runs through town past a man with an Indiana Jones hat on. Jooka passes a guard and goes to Lady Ahnessa with some very important news.