by K. T. Tomb
“How’d I do?” she managed to squeak out.
“You did great, kid,” Jarreth responded.
“You did great for a first time,” Hugh qualified. “You’re in bad shape now because you didn’t focus. You wouldn’t let me help either when I felt you losing control. But other than those two things, you were perfect.”
She smiled and immediately collapsed into sleep.
Jarreth looked over at Hugh, and both men looked out over the prow as Ri was carried below. The water they were gently bobbing in was crystal clear. It appeared to be some kind of large lake, or a slow, wide area of a river that fed into the lake and then ran into an ocean further down the waterway. The second thing Jarreth noticed was a group of dark shapes staring down at their ship. They appeared to be humanoid, but before Jarreth could ask Kaerl to make a formal observation, the shapes were gone.
Either I’m getting so old that my eyesight is failing and my eyes are playing tricks on or there were shapes up there and they were somewhat intelligent—maybe another form of life. This paradise is absolutely gorgeous, and it would make an ideal place for humanity to restart and restore itself. Hopefully whatever it was just leaves us alone.
They sailed the boat to the mouth of what appeared to be the main tributary to the lake, and then beached it against a gently sloping shoreline. The air was pristine and clear, and it was already easier to breathe than the air back home. They heard birdsong in the trees, and what could have passed easily for a cousin of the deer back home shyly peaked its head out to see the newcomers before quickly vanishing into the deep shade of the forest.
Jarreth checked the log book again, and gathered the crew in order to quit the ship. Though a bit groggy Ri joined the assembled crew and received her orders along with the rest.
“We’ll send out three pairs ahead of us spread out and carrying light,” Jarreth ordered. “Haervey, break the new crew in beside your experienced ones.”
“Aye, Cap.”
“Disembark with your gear bags ready to set up camp,” he continued. “We’ll take the small cart with the water casks and a small keg of ale on it. Throw the packs of our guard on there as well. I don’t want them weighed down. Hugh will guide us forward once we’ve quit the ship. I want to be moving off the beach within a quarter of an hour, so look sharp.”
“Here,” Hugh told Ri several minutes later as they were among the assembled crew on the beach. “Watch how I manipulate the air around the ship to make it appear to be just another fallen in, sunken tree.”
He focused for a few seconds and the air seemed to ripple.
“I can still see it,” Ri scoffed at Hugh’s failed attempt.
“Ah, but you know what you’re looking for,” he replied knowingly. “This time, look away, and then swing your vision from right to left, so that the ship slides through your vision.”
She did, and she exclaimed with delight, “That is a most useful trick.”
“We’ll go into the forest about two miles,” Jarreth said. “That’s where the old base camp should be. Hopefully it’s still relatively clear.”
“Yvo and Mik tae the point,” Haervey joined in. “Tea res’ of you heavies ot in pairs to the sides—fifty paces twinx yea. Bull an myself will form up the rear-guard, got it?”
The crew all agreed. Yvo and Mik took their positions at the point and they headed into the woods. The hike was completely uneventful. It was so much so that it was actually peaceful. By the time the crew reached the glade, they were more refreshed than tired.
“This isn’t so bad at all,” Mik said, looking at the area that, in the past would have been a natural opening in the area anyway. “All we need to do is clear out some of this brush and some of this higher grass, and we’ll be set!”
The crew put down their gear bags and quickly got to work clearing brush.
“Save some of those larger pieces,” Jarreth called over his shoulder as he and Haervey were working on pulling out an uprooted tree. “We’ll make a perimeter fence and try to close off as many alleys into this place as we can. I have some rope in the bottom of my bag that we can use to hold the barriers in place,” he added.
“Jarreth,” Kaerl breathed out in delight, “Willem and I are going to begin collecting samples of everything here. We can’t put that off—we have to use as much light as we can. Willem, quickly now, get the vials and containers out of our bags. Set up that camp table as well, so we can put all of our supplies out.”
Willem eagerly complied—this was, after all, what he was recruited to do. Kaerl and Willem got their collecting gear out—vials and jars of all shapes and sizes. They took soil samples, samples of the leaves on the nearby trees, samples of berries growing ripe and lush and red in the underbrush. They even opened one vial, scooped it around, and put a stopper in it.
“It’s so we can examine and analyze the air when we return,” he explained with a grin to the skeptical look on Ri’s face. She just smiled and continued rigging another rough square of brush and logs, which she then tied to the one directly beside it. Soon the crew was happily exhausted; the first legion of Kaerl’s jars and vials were full.
The sunlight slowly began to fade, creating a beautiful world of shadows juxtaposed with violent oranges, reds and blues. They built a fire and were seated contentedly for the evening meal of cold smoked meat and bread.
“I want regular patrols this evening,” Jarreth said, spoiling the peaceful quiet. “Javelins, spears and shields posted at regular intervals so that, if we need them, we can get to them immediately.”
“Ah, Jarret’,” Haervey said. “Don’t cha tink yer bein’ a wee bi’ o’er cautious ‘ere, lad? We haen’t seen a ting tae give us reason to expec’ violence. This is one o’ thae mos’ peaceful places yeh’ve e’er brough’ thae croo.”
“As I’ve told other members of this crew, this place may not be all that it seems. There are plenty of records in the log book about the misfortunes of previous explorations to this place. The captain of the Narwhal lost eleven people in his journeys here. Eleven,” he added for emphasis.
The crew sat up, and looked around suspiciously. The warmth of the night suddenly felt as though it had a deeper chill to it than just the soft, cooling breeze that blew in from the water.
“Three shifts tonight,” Jarreth continued. “I want Hugh, Haervey and myself on the middle shift. Seems like that’s when things go wrong here, and if anything is going to go wrong, it’ll go wrong on my account. I don’t want anyone else carrying that burden. The rest of you can divide up how you like.”
With that, he rolled out his sleeping pad and blankets, and stretched out with his back to the dying fire. The night passed completely without a single moment of disquiet, and the crew awoke feeling even more refreshed and energized than they could ever remember being.
“Maybe,” Ri said softly to Yvo as they accompanied the two recorders into the wilds to collect more samples, “it’s because this place is so… new. Not new in the ‘just created’ sense, but new to… civilization. I mean, sure, it’s possible that there are cities elsewhere, I suppose. But it doesn’t feel like there are, you know?”
“Aye, sure I dae,” Yvo replied. “Eyes up though, lass, keep sharp nae. I do nae trus’ a place as sof’ an’ invitin’ as one like thess.”
“That was most loquacious for you.” She smiled at him. “I didn’t think you’d ever say that many words to me at once.” She moved past him to see what the recorders were looking at, leaving Yvo with his jaw sagging as he looked after her.
“Oh my,” she exclaimed, enchanted. The recorders found a den, high up in a tree with a kind of speckled cat that looked out at them suspiciously.
“Can you do anything to coax it down here?” Kaerl asked her. “I would love to take a hair sample, but something tells me that, even though it hasn’t run off yet, it would fight like hell if I went up the tree after it. I’d hate to kill it just to get a sample.”
“You would do no such thing,” she
said. “I wouldn’t let you. No point in wasting a life like that. I’ll get her down here, though,” she added, softening the hard line she drew in the sand with her comment.
“Much obliged,” Kaerl replied, and thought to himself that this would be a dangerous woman to cross.
We are friends, she cast her thought towards the cat.
Hsss, the cat replied audibly and inside her head, lifting one lip to show glittering fangs.
We will not hurt you, Great Hunter, Ri persisted.
The cat put its lip down.
There is no other creature in the forest as beautiful as you. No one can climb the way you climb, no one can hunt the way you hunt, and there is certainly not a single soul here that is nearly as clean as you are. We just would like to meet you, Great Hunter, so that we may tell tales of your glory, and that we may put our names alongside yours as footnotes in your accomplished and vast history.
The cat stood up from its nest and stretched the length of its body along a sturdy limb, and then proceeded to leap down, and it landed noiselessly in front of the group.
May I? Ri asked, as she tentatively held out a hand. The cat warily crept forward, and then pushed her head against Ri’s hand. A deep noise emanated from the cat, making Ri laugh with delight, even as Kaerl and Willem stepped back in worry, as they reached their hands towards the daggers at their belts.
“She’s purring,” Ri said, with a smile at the two men. “There is nothing to fear here as long as we treat her with respect and dignity.”
The cat eventually had its fill of attention and made its way back to its den in the boughs of the tree, where it quickly curled up and fell asleep.
You can come back if you like, it projected into Ri’s mind.
Ri was so startled she had no response at first, and then said, Perhaps tomorrow, I will bring you something to eat!
The group proceeded further into the woods. Light was waning as they returned to the camp; Yvo looked more like a pack mule than a warrior, overburdened as he was.
The crew quickly ate and then prepared for bed. Jarreth gave the command that the watch would be rotated—whoever was on last shift the previous night would be on first shift, with he and Hugh still taking the middle shift.
Just as Yvo, Mik and Ri were about to awaken Jarreth and Hugh for their shift, they began to hear noises.
“What was that?” Mik asked softly as the three of them took cover behind one of their screens.
“Saends li’ a crakin’ branch in thae win’ tae me,” Yvo replied.
“No,” Ri said, “and yes. It was a branch creaking, but it wasn’t from the wind. There’s something out there, watching us.”
“Well,” Mik asked in a hushed tone, “what should we do about it?”
“I want you to go quietly wake up Jarreth and Hugh. Let’s see what they have to say, and we can go from there,” Ri told him in a low voice.
Mik, crouched low to the ground so he did not to profile himself against the smoldering coals of their fire to whomever—or whatever—might have been in the trees, and quickly made his way over to Jarreth. He prodded the sleeping captain until he awoke.
Mik saw his eyes open, and lightly put a hand on the captain’s chest, signaling that he should stay down. Mik lay down on his side, and in the captain’s ear whispered, “Someone or something is out there. And it is watching us. What do we do?”
“Wake up Hugh,” Jarreth whispered urgently. “Stay low, and tell him what you just told me.”
Mik quickly awakened Hugh, and Hugh instantly casted out with his mind for the rest of the crew. He woke them up by speaking in their minds, and told them all to stay low. He then gave them instructions to shield their eyes. He focused, and from the center of the fire, a white hot glowing orb shot into the sky and quickly expanded. The light was bright and harsh, casting sharp shadows across the whole camp, but it also illuminated the camp extremely well.
The crew jumped up, eyes adjusting quickly to the light as everyone drew their weapons. Hugh, Ri, Kaerl and Willem formed the innermost ring around Kaerl’s samples and collections. Yvo and Mik took stances back to back, with the recorders and sentients between them. The rest of the group arrayed themselves in a loose circle around the other four crew members, everyone tense and hostile.
Silence permeated the air, the lack of sound created an even deeper tension. No one moved, and no one saw movement. After what seemed like hours, but was in reality only minutes, the crew began to relax. Finally, as they could quickly see that there was no real threat, they all headed back to their beds, and a couple of them made light jokes at Mik for his overreaction and at Hugh for ruining their night by almost blinding them all.
The camp quickly quieted down and the crew went back to their bedrolls. The night passed, and the watches switched. There were no further disturbances.
Dawn broke bright and with the promise of a beautiful day. Jarreth stood up and stretched. He got everyone awake, and went to find Kaerl. His bed was rumpled and left in a mess, and Jarreth thought nothing of it, thinking the recorder may have walked into the woods to search for something, or to relieve himself. Then he looked again and noticed that Willem was also missing. Jarreth scanned the camp. Everyone else was there and accounted for.
“Wake up!” Jarreth shouted. “Everyone up!”
The crew came to their feet quickly enough.
“Where are Kaerl and Willem?” he addressed the group. The crew all looked at each other. “Well?” he said.
“I dunnae,” Haervey added. “Mehbey thae’re out inae woo’s lookin’ fer… stuff,” he finished lamely.
“No,” Jarreth said. “Ri, Hugh, can you find them?”
“Let us work on it,” Hugh said, and they moved a couple feet away.
“Take my hands,” Hugh commanded Ri. “I will need your help in this. Focus with me, and I will direct our efforts toward Kaerl and Willem. Hopefully we can turn them up.”
“Ok,” Ri said, nervous and worried for the other members of the group.
They focused, and Ri felt Hugh ever expanding his search, but they could find nothing. Abruptly, their power hit an impenetrable wall.
“What the hell?” Hugh said, more to himself than to Ri. “Hang on,” and he pushed his power even harder at the wall. He had no success, and the barrier remained in place, steadfast as a castle wall.
“We can’t find them,” Hugh said, after returning to the circle, defeat written in every line on his face.
“We found some kind of… barrier,” Ri added. “No matter how hard Hugh pushed, we couldn’t get through. There is something out there,” she tacked on, fear edging her voice to a higher pitch than usual.
“Back to the ship,” Jarreth said. “Everyone back to the ship. Grab all of their findings—we’re bringing all of that back to our sponsors. Perhaps that will drive them to action and give us enough men to storm this place and figure out what is going on here.”
“Jarret’,” Haervey said in a dangerously low voice, “we cannae jus’ leave them ‘ere. Thae’re equal par’ners jess like the res’ o’ the crae.”
“No. If we stay, we risk losing more men. We go back, show our findings to the sponsors. Come back in force. Hugh and Ri will lead us to the edge of that barrier. We’ll get ‘em back, Harv. Just not right this second. Kaerl knows too much; we can’t afford to leave him. Back to the ship.”
The crew packed up, taking extra care with Kaerl and Willem’s samples as well as their gear. They quickly made it back to the boat and back through the veil, thanks to Ri’s ability as a student and Kaerl’s ability as an instructor. Within hours, they were sailing for their homeland.
Chapter Eight
The ship docked and Jarreth sent the rest of the crew back to Loki’s Luck with the express order to stay ready and to be prepared to take off immediately once more men were hired and ready to go. Jarreth saddled Raven, and with Hugh and the bags of Kaerl’s samples, the two men rode off toward Vorbasse and the jarl Algoth’s keep.
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Dust and stones swirled into the air behind their mounts. They rode until both men were exhausted, then stopped and camped for the night. The horses were still tired and worn in the morning, so the men started out walking, taking all three horses along by their leads.
“We’ll make the jarl’s holdfast tonight. We should be able to see him immediately, then head back in a day. The horses will need to rest,” Jarreth said.
“Jarreth, we can’t leave Kaerl and Willem that long. I’m going to heal these horses, and I’m also going to give them some extra endurance as well. It’ll take a lot of focus, but after we meet the jarl and get what we need, then we’ll be able to make it back to Loki’s Luck tomorrow night and set out first thing in the morning the following day. We’ll get ‘em back,” Hugh said, more to himself than to Jarreth.
“Even better,” Jarreth replied. He held back the temptation to tease him about giving orders. They walked on in silence until they felt the horses were warmed up and would not hurt themselves. They got back in the saddle and started riding down the main route to the jarl’s holdfast. They got there just as the sun was going down. They banged on the door, and immediately requested an audience with the jarl. They waited for a moment, watching the castellan disappear into the depths of the hold. It seemed as though they waited longer than they should, and finally the castellan tramped back to the door.
“The jarl will see you, though… you could both use a bath,” the castellan added in a disapproving tone. “Leave your horses here; they will be cared for.”
“We thank you for your hospitality,” Jarreth said as he and Hugh removed the saddle bags from the pack horse, each man shouldering two, and followed the castellan into Algoth’s central chamber.
“Algoth,” Jarreth said, greeting him. “We have news—the trip was mostly a success. Here’s the samples and the… stuff… our recorder collected.”