The Fellowship of the Band Nerds

Chapter One

One day after school, Sami and Eric were in the band room, looking for her oboe.

"Dammit," Sami muttered. "Where is my oboe?"

"Here's one, Miss Sami," Eric said, pulling out a dusty oboe case.

Sami opened the case, revealing a shiny golden oboe.

"OoOoOoO..." she said. "Pretty..."

"My preciousssssssssss..." a voice hissed from one corner of the band room.

"What'd you say, Eric?"

"I didn't say nothin', honest, Miss Sami, I didn't!"

Sami shot him an odd look. "You sure?"

"Yes, honestly!"

"Oooooookay. Well. We'd better go."

As they were walking out the door, Elizabeth walked in.

"Lizzie!" Sami exclaimed, grinning.

"Hey Sam," she replied, as usual. "I have something very important to tell you."

She sounded so serious that Sami stopped smiling. "What is it?"

"I see that you are carrying the One Oboe of Power."

"The what?"

"The One Oboe of Power," she repeated. "It's an object of pure evil, brought into existence by Mullins."

"...Mullins? As in Mr. Mullins?"

"Yes. Haven't you wondered why he's been absent for the past two weeks? He went into battle trying to take over all the bands in the St. Louis area. But he lost the One Oboe of Power as Katy stole it. It began long ago. He had forged twenty instruments in the heart of Mount Tune...

Three for the drum majors under the sky.
Seven for the guardies, dedicated members of the band.
Nine for the band nerds doomed to die.
One for the Dark Director and his Dark Stand.
In the Land of Sdrendnab where the intonation lies.
One Oboe to rule them all, One Oboe to find them.
One Oboe to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them.
In the Land of Sdrendnab where the intonation lies."

"...Okay, that's creepy," Sami commented.

"Yeah, well, he lost," Elizabeth went on. "And now he's been reduced to a giant monocle."

"Er...all right."

"But since he doesn't have the One Oboe of Power anymore, he cannot restore his body, and he can no longer conduct."

"Cooool..." Eric whispered to Sami.

"So...what do I have to do with all of this?" Sami asked.

"You are the new Oboebearer. You must make certain that the Oboe gets destroyed. The only way this can happen is to take the Oboe to Mount Tune in the Land of Sdrendnab.

"Go now to Squee. I'll meet you there at the Inn of Mony, Mony." She turned to leave. "There is one other thing. You must never play it. Mullins and his servants are drawn to its power. He must never find it."

"Um...all right," Sami said, but Elizabeth was already gone. "Well, Eric, what do you think about all this?"

Eric shrugged. "I dunno, Miss Sami. I'm just a poor trumpet player; you can't expect me to have an opinion on something like this."

Sami rolled her eyes, starting to get rather impatient with Eric. "Okay, whatever. Let's just get going." She picked up her backpack, carefully putting the Oboe inside first, slung it over one shoulder, and walked out the door.

"Wait for me, Miss Sami!" Eric called, running to catch up.