by Aaron Oster
“I think that peak over there looks sort of like the one on this map,” Grace finally said, holding the piece of paper before his eyes and pointing to one of the few landmarks Gold had noted down.
Morgan looked between the paper and the peak where Grace was pointing, then traced the line to their current position. Looking to the south, he finally found their landing point, an area where the ground protruded into the ocean and on which stood a single scraggly tree. It was so unique that it couldn’t be anything else.
“Put that in your pack,” he said as he angled towards the tree. “We’ll need it again later.”
The remainder of their flight took only twenty minutes to complete, with Morgan touching down for the first time since he’d left in nearly three days. He immediately loosened the harness, allowing Grace to drop to the ground with a sigh of relief, while he began to stretch. The sun was already high in the sky, showing that it was just past noon. He knew that the best thing to do right now was to set up a camp, then sweep the area for other signs of life.
From what Gold had said, they were now on the very fringes of the Wilderwood, home to the beastmen. There could be patrols out and about for all he knew, and seeing as he couldn’t spread his Aura Sense out more than a few inches without being blinded – he’d already tried – they had little choice but to do it the old-fashioned way.
“Come on,” he said, pulling an armored shirt over his head and starting to walk. “Best to get off the shoreline and into the cover of the trees.”
Grace followed, her legs a bit wobbly, nonetheless thrilled at being back on solid ground.
“So, what exactly are we going to be doing here?” she asked, practically skipping alongside him.
“First of all, keep your voice down,” Morgan admonished. “We’re in enemy territory, so don’t go looking for trouble. Secondly, walk normally. Skipping will create harder and unnatural footfalls that will disturb the normal sounds of this forest.”
“Sorry,” Grace whispered, some of her good cheer seeming to leave at his criticism.
“And don’t whisper either,” Morgan said, busily scanning their surroundings. “It makes sound carry far more than just talking in a low voice.”
“Right. I’ll remember that,” Grace said, shoulders slumping a bit and good cheer now gone.
She’d forgotten they were on a mission, one that was serious and potentially deadly. She’d grown so used to Morgan’s company and easy manner over the last few days that she’d forgotten he was her teacher, not her friend.
They walked on in silence, Morgan ghosting between the trees, while Grace did her best to keep up. Strange birds called to one another in the trees above, but Morgan couldn’t use his Aura Sense to see if they were beasts or not. It was more than a little frustrating, but Gold had had him do training during their time together where he’d only rely on one of his senses at a time, be they his eyes, ears, nose, or sense of touch.
Morgan walked a wide circle, finally settling on a good place to camp. It was against the hollow of one of the larger trees in the forest of giants. The indent was some three feet deep, which hardly seemed to be anything in a tree more than a hundred feet around. Masses of roots pulled up near the tree, giving them ample cover. What he found to be more eerie than anything else was the complete lack of grass or deadfall.
No leaves littered the bare ground, no sticks, broken branches, or anything at all really. Morgan couldn’t see or hear anything out of the ordinary, so he finally relaxed, motioning to Grace that she could do the same.
“I’m going up to check and see if there’s anything we might have missed,” he told her as she dropped her pack. “Use your Echolocation to see if you can spot anything as well.”
Grace nodded, seeming happy now that she had something to do and began clicking her tongue. Morgan took off, Lumia still perched on his shoulder, sticking close to the trunk of the tree. He didn’t want to stand out, and with the lowest branches starting some hundred feet off the ground, a flying person most definitely would.
The trees were spaced far enough apart to give him a good view of the landscape as he stopped right below the canopy. He did a slow turn, circling the tree to ensure he hadn’t missed anything. He could hear a stream burbling some way off, though he wasn’t high enough to see it, and if he climbed any higher, the foliage would obstruct his view. He couldn’t spot anything at all as he circled, doing another lap just in case.
“See anything?” he asked in an undertone.
“Nothing at all,” Lumia replied. “This place smells very strange, like nothing I’ve ever smelled before.”
“I know,” Morgan said.
Though his own sense of smell couldn’t even compare to Lumia’s, his was quite keen. Far more so than a normal human, even one that would match him in rank. He simply assumed it was his bestial side, the side of him that had once been the Beast King. That monster hadn’t been unleashed in quite some time, and Morgan intended to keep it that way.
Finally, after his third lap, Morgan started drifting back down to their camp. He’d memorized the immediate area and would draw a crude map once he did. Their mission here wasn’t just to find the smith, though that was their first priority. He’d also be mapping out the area, so the combined forces of the Five Kingdoms wouldn’t be going in blind.
“I couldn’t find anything,” Grace said as he landed, not that that was a surprise.
If he couldn’t see anything, he doubted she, with her much shorter range, would be able to. He’d only asked her to begin instilling the habit of always double-checking, and with a skill like hers, it was something she should be doing, regardless of whether he was here or not.
“So, what are we going to do now?” she asked, clasping both arms behind her back. “Because if we’re not doing anything, I’d really like to find a stream and…”
“Pushups,” Morgan said, sitting in a cross-legged position and removing a jar of ink from his pack.
“What?” Grace asked, brows furrowing in confusion.
“You heard me,” Morgan replied, fishing out a sheaf of parchment. “Get down on the ground and start doing pushups.”
Grace hesitated for another moment, but when Morgan threatened to sit on her back to give her a little extra work, she was quick to oblige, dropping into the proper position and beginning to push.
“I’ll head out to do a little more scouting,” Lumia said as Grace began grunting lightly with the effort of her exercise.
“Be careful, and if need be, don’t hesitate to show them what you’ve got,” Morgan replied, making the first, sloppy line on the paper.
“Don’t you worry about me,” Lumia said, flashing him a toothy grin. “If I get into a fight, this whole forest will see what I’ve got!”
30
“That’s impossible,” Grace said, staring at Morgan with a mixture of annoyance and disgust. “How am I supposed to run up the trunk of a tree?”
“Like this,” Morgan replied, taking a small running start, then lightly running several steps up the trunk using his momentum.
Then, once he got about ten feet up, he pushed off, neatly back-flipping and landing on his feet.
“Listen, that might be easy for you, but I don’t have nearly the Strength, Agility, or coordination to pull that off,” Grace retorted.
“Which is precisely why you’re doing it,” he said. “This exercise will take the place of your running while we’re here, as I can’t exactly have you go running around in enemy territory. Sure, it’ll be painful and unpleasant, and you’ll probably pick up some bruises. Luckily for you, bruises heal, so you’d best get to it.”
Grace glowered at him but didn’t give him the chance to threaten her with extra weight. Instead, she ran at the trunk with all she was worth, before placing her foot on the trunk. She made it one step before her foot slipped. She slid forward and whacked her head on the tree, collapsing onto her back with a muffled cry of pain.
“I said to run up the tree,
not tackle it headfirst,” Morgan said.
The smaller girl, now with a red mark on her forehead and eyes watering, shot him such a venomous glare that Morgan was shocked he didn’t drop dead on the spot. However, she did as she was told and got back to her feet. This time, when she ran at the trunk, it was at a far slower pace, one that would not get her even a single step up off the ground.
So it was, when she reached the tree, that her foot immediately slipped, and she fell once more.
“This is impossible!” she complained as she rose to her feet, her hands, arms, and rear now covered in dirt.
“Not impossible, just hard,” Morgan said, going back to his work. “Unless you’d prefer to do pushups until the sun goes down, you’ll keep doing this until I tell you to stop.”
He could feel her glaring at him once again, but this time didn’t even bother looking up. Lumia had been gone for close to an hour now and he was nearly finished with his horrible map. He’d flown a wider circle before beginning this exercise, just to make sure Grace’s inevitable bumbling wouldn’t be overheard. As a result, he’d be adding more on the fringes when he finished with the first part.
It was only when Lumia returned, some hour and a half later, that Morgan finally let Grace, now covered in scrapes, bruises, and splinters, take a break.
“There’s a stream about a mile in that direction,” he said, pointing to the north. “Go wash up and refill our canteens. Make sure to check your surroundings and don’t be more than half an hour.”
“But…it’s…a mile…each way!” Grace said between panting breaths.
Morgan seemed to rethink that, then slowly nodded.
“Make it an hour, then. But if you’re not back in exactly an hour, I’ll be coming to look for you. If you see anything, come back immediately. If you can’t escape, call for help, and I’ll come and get you.”
Grace nodded, her sweat-streaked and muddy hair swaying along with the motion. She stooped, grabbing her pack, and shuffled off through the trees, snapping her fingers as she went. Only once she was out of earshot, did he turn to the small drake.
“Tell me what you’ve seen.”
***
Katherine sat in the small meeting room, awaiting the arrival of her two very important guests. She’d called this meeting just a few minutes after Morgan had left and had already opened portals to their respective kingdoms. Now, she waited. Le’vine, Queen of the East, was the first to arrive, stepping from one of the open portals and into the small meeting room. She was dressed in a long flowing gown and looked a bit more done up than usual.
Katherine had to assume she’d been in the middle of something — that something likely being a date. But Le’vine learned that when Katherine called an urgent meeting, it was indeed urgent. Hilda, her sister-in-law and aide, followed a moment later, and Katherine allowed the portal to close as she stepped through. The woman was even more fearsome than the last time they’d seen one another some year and a half ago.
She now wore a short, sleeveless armored shirt that left her well-muscled midriff exposed, as well as her toned arms. Her long blonde hair fell in a single braid over her shoulder, and a pair of spiked gauntlets hung from her waist. Judging by the furtive look she gave her brother, Shul, who’d been called in for this meeting, Katherine guessed she was trying to ask him something without speaking aloud. Shul just shook his head, and Hilda’s shoulders noticeably slumped.
Ah, Katherine thought with some amusement and more than a little understanding.
“Le’vine, thank you for coming on such short notice,” she said, rising to greet her ally.
“I really do hope it’s important,” Le’vine said, clasping her arm firmly. “I left my Jeffry in the middle of a very delicious meal. I do hope he’ll forgive me.”
“You’re worrying too much,” Hilda said with an eye-roll. “If he were going to leave you, he’d have done it months ago. I’m sure he understands you’re busy, you know, being Queen and all.”
Le’vine shot her a withering glare before turning to Shul with a warm smile.
“It’s good to see you made it here safely. Judging by the lack of both Grace and Morgan, am I to assume he’s returned and taken her off your hands?”
Shul nodded emphatically.
“Good,” Le’vine said, seeming relieved as well. “I don’t know anyone who could have taught her as well as he, and I don’t think anyone would have had the patience.”
“That girl seemed to be quite willful,” Katherine said with a nod of agreement.
“Who is willful?”
Everyone turned as Herald, King of the Central Kingdom, stepped through the other portal. He was dressed as he always was, in a neatly pressed armored uniform, with not so much as a stray hair out of place. The King always gave off an aura of strength and surety, one that had led Katherine to seek an alliance with him long before their debacle with the Pinnacle King.
“Grace,” Le’vine replied after Katherine shot her a questioning glance.
It was true that Herald was an ally, but it wasn’t the North Queen’s place to divulge information about a diplomatic visitor from the East.
“She’s the new supermage we discovered and sent here to train.”
Another man, vaguely familiar, stepped out after him. Katherine believed his name was Munic, and he was Herald’s aide. He never really said much, so she couldn’t pretend to know him all that well.
“This is good news indeed,” Herald said, looking between the two. “Another supermage will greatly help in our efforts to ward off the invasion.”
“That’s why I called you both here,” Katherine said, gesturing to the two open seats at the table.
“Why aren’t the other two here?” Herald asked as they moved to sit.
“Because what I’m about to tell you is of a very sensitive nature and seeing as we’re still not entirely sure if we can trust them, we felt it prudent to speak to the two of you first.”
“Am I to assume, by the lack of this new supermage’s presence, that she is off training somewhere?” Herald asked.
“On a mission, actually,” Katherine replied. “With Morgan.”
Herald started for a moment, surprise briefly flashing across his normally stoic features.
“Morgan? Is he back from his extended hiatus? Why was I not informed of this development?”
“Calm down, Herald,” Le’vine said with an offhanded wave. “I didn’t know either, so there’s no need to get your panties in a bunch.”
“I do not wear…”
“We’re getting off-topic here,” Katherine cut in before this could devolve into an argument.
She didn’t know why, but Le’vine seemed to enjoy goading Herald into arguments. Perhaps it was because of his consistently stiff demeanor, or his tendency for not taking insults well. Either way, this wasn’t the time for this sort of thing.
“What we’re here to discuss is where they’ve gone and what they’re hoping to accomplish.”
The two rulers lapsed into silence, listening to Katherine’s retelling of the plan, the spies in their midst, as well as Morgan’s side-mission to scope out the landscape. When she finished, neither ruler said a thing, both seemingly lost in their own thoughts. While Le’vine looked troubled, Herald was unreadable. Finally, the man rose.
“If what you say is true, then I must immediately rally my troops. We must weed out the spies at once and prepare to send ones of our own.”
“I agree,” Le’vine said. “As much as Morgan can do on his own, we need more people on the ground. We’ve been preparing for this for two years now, and I think we’re well-prepared for whatever they might throw at us. Right now, though, we lack key information on their home turf, while they already have their spies here.”
Katherine nodded, opening a portal for Herald to walk through.
“I’ll begin making arrangements immediately. Munic will stay here to relay any necessary information.”
The man, still silent, gave
his king a nod before the man vanished through the tear in space. Le’vine rose as well, stretching her arms and giving Shul a nod.
“Hope you don’t mind staying a little longer, but we need someone here.”
“Actually, would you mind if I stayed in his place?” Hilda asked. “I’m getting quite bored hanging around at home and not really doing anything. Besides, Shul is the captain of the guard. I’m just your glorified assistant, and with Jeffry around, you haven’t really needed me for much.”
Le’vine shot her a suspicious stare, knowing full well the reason she wanted to stay behind. However, she did make a good point. Still, she wanted the woman close in case she was needed.
“We could really use her help here,” Katherine piped up. “Garrison Blue is getting out of hand, and they’re not having much luck with hunting down any of the spies. Maybe with someone like Hilda here, they’ll behave better and actually do their jobs.”
Le’vine looked between the two women before rolling her eyes.
“Fine, Hilda can stay. But if I need her for anything, I’ll expect you to send her back.”
“Of course,” Katherine said with a slight bow of her head.
“Come on then, Shul. Let’s go home,” Le’vine said, turning to the newly opened portal.
Shul shot his sister a grateful look before moving to follow his queen. He didn’t have to say it aloud for the others to know that he was happy to be going back east, especially with how long he’d been tasked with babysitting the wayward supermage.
“Well, now that we’re finally alone,” Katherine said once the portal closed. “How about you paint me a picture of how you’ll whip my men into shape.”
The predatory grin that Hilda gave her in response made Katherine glad that she wasn’t in Garrison Blue.