THE BRISTOLON CHRONICLES: Temler's Quest

By KELLY KAST

Temler, a Bristolon, knows desperation can lead to courage, but will courage be enough to save his friends? Offspring of the oldest tree on earth, the Bristlecone Pine, Bristolon have lived centuries without human's knowing of them. But now, Temler has only two choices: lose his three Bristolon friends, forever, or break Bristolon law and seek h

• Language: English
• Publisher: LT Book Writing
• Release date: Sep 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9781088027547

KELLY KAST

Kelly Kast is an author, born and raised in a small town in Idaho. Her writing career began as a staff writer and then editor, of a local newspaper. Kelly has also published numerous magazine articles on travel, Idaho history, and ranch life. In 2013 she published her first book: "Without Compromise: 75 years of The Idaho State Police." She has a life-long love of children's books and often draws inspiration from her nine grandchildren. Kelly and her husband, Dalen, own and operate a cattle ranch in South-Central Idaho.

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THE BRISTOLON CHRONICLES

TEMLER’S QUEST

A NOVEL

BY

KELLY KAST

Copyright © 2023

Kelly Kast

ISBN Paper Back: 978-1-962012-50-8

ISBN Hard Cover: 978-1-962012-51-5

All Rights Reserved. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is strictly prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author.All reasonable attempts have been made to verify the accuracy of the information provided in this publication. Nevertheless, the author assumes no responsibility for any errors and/or omissions.

♦♦DEDICATION♦♦

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER  1

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Temler knew the difference between an act of courage and one of desperation. At that moment, he was hoping his desperation would give him courage. Temler had never spoken to a human, but there were no two ways about it; without human help, he would never be able to save his friends.

Temler had been warned from his earliest memory that humans were no friend to Bristolons.

Humans are very destructive creatures, the Elders warned. They have incurable curiosity. While curiosity is not a bad attribute, in humans, it’s nearly always coupled with an appalling lack of sensitivity or kindness to any life form different from theirs. Bristolons must stay as far away from humans as Bristolonly possible.

Temler knew the warnings of the Elders were not to be taken lightly. Bristolon are the offspring of the Bristlecone Pine, the world’s oldest tree. They were no fools.

Then again, Temler thought bitterly since he and his friends were the first Bristolons in memory to be captured by humans—and it was entirely Temler’s fault—one did what one had to.

From his vantage point on the rim of the canyon, Temler shivered with equal parts anticipation and fear as he watched the three young humans he’d decided to seek help from, navigate their way through the jumble of rocks, sagebrush, and tumbleweeds littering the canyon floor. He’d been shadowing the trio for several days, forming and discarding one idea after another on how to approach them.

Although he hadn’t yet come up with a plan he thought would work, Temler had learned a lot about the trio, which consisted of two boys and a girl. The tallest of the three, nearly a head taller than the other two, was named Henry. Temler’s first impression of Henry was that he was like a human spider. The boy considered just about anything vertical a personal climbing challenge. Temler had to admit Henry’s long arms and legs did make the boy an excellent climber.

The other two, Charlie and Lillia, were very opposite in looks to Henry, who had pale blue eyes and a mop of cinnamon-colored curls. Charlie and Lillia were both small and wiry with black hair, dark eyes, and honey-colored skin.

Having eavesdropped on many of their conversations, Temler learned Charlie and Lillia were twins. Most importantly, Temler discovered the three were amazingly secretive thrill-seekers, which was exactly the type of humans Temler needed.

Still, Temler sighed as the glum feeling he’d had for several days now settled back over him. The thought of actually talking to humans—given what he knew of their nature—made him feel like he was about to roll in something icky. The kind of ick that took a long time to completely rub off. He’d already spent days being poked and prodded by the awful humans who’d captured him and his friends. That was enough for any Bristolon.

In all probability, the three would take one look at him and run screaming. Temlerknew he was as nice-looking a Bristolon as any other, but the humans he’d met so far considered him quite ugly. Temler wouldn’t soon forget the unflattering description one of his human captors had given of him while talking to a small, legless, silver creature named iPhone.

The creature resembles a large piece of bleached driftwood with limbs shaped roughly the same as human arms and legs, his captor told iPhone. Each limb ends in ten vine-like twigs. The creature’s head is shaped somewhat like summer squash. It has one greenish-colored eye and one dark yellow eye. Two distinct apertures that may serve as nostrils for breathing are directly below the thing’s eyes. A larger opening is located under the apparent nostrils that may serve as a mouth. This opening is generally tightly closed, although the thingy does open it occasionally. Whatever it is, this creature does not appear to have any detectable intelligence.

At that point, Temler wanted to yell at the human and iPhone that Bristolons were among the most ancient species on Earth and extremely intelligent, thank you very much! But iPhone began making buzzing and dinging noises, which Temler assumed meant it agreed with the human, so he decided to do what he had done since his capture: keep his mouth shut and find a way to escape.

Peering over the canyon rim, Temler nearly fell from his perch when he realized the trio had covered a great deal of ground while he'd been reflecting.. They were almost directly below him and all three were looking up at the canyon rim.

Had they seen him? Fear lanced through Temler as he forced himself to remain completely still. He could hear their conversation clearly, and after a few seconds, he relaxed, realizing they were arguing about whether or not Henry should climb the canyon wall.

I swear, Henry, trying to change your mind is like drilling a hole in the water, Lillia sounded angry and exasperated. See all of these rocks? They fell from that wall, doofus. It’s too dangerous.

Whatever, Lillia, Henry laughed at her. Just look at this beauty. This rock is made for climbing. I bet I can make it to the canyon rim in twenty minutes tops.

I’ll time you, Charlie said, laughing with his friend. Anything over twenty minutes and you owe me five bucks.

Temler looked down the massive, lava rock wall that jutted thirty or so feet out of the canyon floor like a tar-colored sheet of ice.

Ha, he whispered. I could climb it in about thirty seconds. Still, that didn’t stop Temler from realizing Lillia was right. He could see the massive scars on the rock face from previous rock slides. 

It occurred to Temler, as Henry started climbing, how this might be the golden opportunity he’d been waiting for to make himself known to the three. Temler thought quickly of a couple of scenarios he could use. He settled on the simplest plan: as soon as Henry got to the top of the rim, Temler would grab him, hold him down, and explain he desperately needed the help of Henry and his friends.

Temler ignored the sudden barrage of doubts ping-ponging around in his mind. He was desperate. The life of his friends hung in the balance.

Eleven minutes, Temler heard Charlie shout. You only have nine minutes to reach the top before you owe me money.

No problem, Henry shouted back. This is easy climbing.

If Temler’s calculations on the route Henry was taking were correct, Henry would reach the top of the canyon wall several feet to the left of Temler’s position.

I need to be close enough to grab him before he realizes I’m here, Temler thought as he began inching his way toward the spot. With any luck, I’ll have him before he even sees me.

Temler was nearly halfway to the spot where he’d decided to launch his ambush when a long, horrified scream, accompanied by a series of strange, loud popping noises, rent the air and echoed down the canyon.

Temler scuttled backwards, his imagination slamming into overdrive. He wondered what kind of crazed beast was about to crest the canyon rim. His first thought was that Henry must have startled an eagle or some