The Warded Box

by Guy Antibes

  They returned to the camp in the meadow.

  “I suppose you can go now,” Amee said to the five of them. Her people were dismantling the stockade and cutting up the wood. “We have a start on cutting wood for winter,” she said. “I have something for you all.” She nodded to a woman holding a sack. “You don’t seem worried about money, so I had our best decorators make some things for you to remember us by.”

  She handed Jack decorated braces. The black leather had been boiled and decorated with metal studs. “We don’t make finer. You bore the brunt of the task we gave you, and I am amazed a young man like you didn’t complain more. I also give you this ring. It is made to match the studs on your bracers.”

  “I might have used these sooner,” Jack said, with a smile, slipping the ring on his finger.

  Amee looked at his arms. “You didn’t need them, as far as I can see.”

  Ralinn and Helen received thick leather vests.

  “Decorative armor,” Amee said. The woman gave them all soft lambskin pouches. “For something special. Now you can go. If anyone in the mountains gives you any trouble, show them your trinkets. I will lend you one of my men to show you the way to the south road, so you can proceed to Yellowbird. Our people thank you for saving so many lives, animal and human.” She bowed to them, and then the rest of those close by did the same.

  They were given supplies for their trek across the mountains. No tracks showed on the maps that Tanner and Lark had, but their guide said there was a reason for that.

  Once they headed east from the meadow, Tanner looked back at the busy people. “Do you have a family name?” he asked their guide.

  “Me or our community?”

  “Both,” Lark said.

  “We call ourselves Morakans. It comes from an old language we used to speak long, long ago. I am Jim Lessikan.”

  “You didn’t fight the wolves,” Helen said.

  “No, I do other things for our community.”

  “And Amee?” Jack asked.

  “She is our chief and the best one any of us remember having. None of the old ones would have thought to bring you in, but she said Eldora inspired her. Most of us worship Alderach, but she does what she pleases.”

  “Eldora,” Tanner said, smiling at Jack.

  “Is there something wrong?”

  Tanner shook his head. “I think Eldora is looking over us a little more closely than Alderach.”

  Jack kept his mouth shut, but he touched the little blue box tied to the Serpent’s Orb. Heading into the mountains he wanted to be prepared if they were attacked by the mountain bandits. He didn’t trust Amee’s promise. In his experience, bandits were an independent lot.

  They rode on. Jim spent more time talking to Helen and Ralinn, and Jack decided that he might do the same. Lark looked a bit sullen, but Tanner seemed to enjoy the ride as much as Jack did.

  They had crossed over to the south side of the mountains. Jim called them hills, since they rose even higher to the east. The water was clear and the air bracing for a summer’s day. Everyone kept their armor on, and Jim kept his vest on, a masculine version of what Ralinn and Helen currently wore.

  Jack looked at his bracers. He wondered if he could imbue them. As they continued down the narrow trail, Jack decided he would make them protectors. One he would try to imbue with the fire protection spell and the other with anti-coercion, but he would wait until they had shed their guide and were back on the road to Yellowbird.

  “We will be out of the mountains tomorrow. I will leave you then.” Jim said as they rode into a clearing.

  Jack was looking forward to sleeping on a bed again. He laid his blankets out and removed his bracers. Jim walked over.

  “Those are the best we make,” he said. “I have a similar pair. Black is reserved for notable Morakans. It is an honor among us. The studs are silver, you know.”

  Jack looked them over. “I didn’t. That means they are more decorative than protective?”

  “The leather is protection enough. We are experts.”

  “Do you sell your leather goods?” Jack asked.

  “We do. Most of our work goes to Gameton where it fetches the best prices. You are headed there, right?”

  “It is along the way,” Jack said.

  “Go to the best arms stores. You should see our goods displayed. I was surprised Lark Handerkraft and Ralinn didn’t recognize our work.” He shrugged. “They will stop a blade as well as most armor. Amee isn’t one to compliment, but your bracers are a notable gift. Your name and deeds will be talked about among our people.”

  “I didn’t do anything extraordinary. I just killed a lot of wolves and one angry ram.”

  Jim laughed. “That is an admirable attitude. Keep it.” He left Jack holding the bracers and went to help Tanner and Helen fix dinner.

  Jack looked up at the tops of the trees on the other side of the meadow, swaying in the breeze. He didn’t like the notoriety, and if his name and deeds were spread around the Morakans, he was happy since he wouldn’t be there to listen to it. He was a jokester, and a ne’er-do-well, with a little magical talent. Jack only knew a few spells, but he had to admit they had served him well, and he was able to use a few tools that others couldn’t, so that did give him an edge.

  He put his hand to the wound that still gave him a twinge of pain from time to time. A wolf clawed him. He bled and could be killed like anyone else. He’d been told enough times, even by Eldora herself, that meddling too deeply in magical affairs could get him killed. He believed it, especially after the literal fall of Aramore Gant.

  “Riders,” Helen said.

  Seven men and two women rode into the clearing, swords out.

  “It would be better if you didn’t go for your weapons,” one of the women said. She looked at them. “Jim! What are you doing here?”

  “I am escorting friends of the Morakan out of the mountains,” Jim said.

  “Friends? Who are our friends?” one of the men said.

  Jim recounted their recent adventures battling wolves on behalf of the mountain people. He had them show the bandits their gifts from Amee. The men dismounted and hugged the surprised travelers. Jack didn’t understand what was happening, but he would rather get a hug than fight these men. Although Tanner looked like he might rather fight.

  “We will take them to the road from here,” the woman who spoke first said. “You can return.”

  “In the morning. Do you want to join us this evening?”

  The bandits looked at each other. “We could. We have camped here before.”

  “As have I,” Jim said.

  Jack realized Jim was a bandit too. Tanner nodded to Jack and gave him half a smile of reassurance. The Morakans went to work. The fire was increased in size, and the clearing was soon filled with the smell of mutton stew.

  One of the women bandits sat beside Jack. She gazed at his bracers. “So you are the hero?”

  “No hero. I was asked to help, so I helped,” Jack said, a bit embarrassed by the attention from the bandits. “You don’t like wizards?” Jack asked.

  “We prefer to do most things on our own. Wizards have tossed their weight around the mountains before. We even have another eruption of the magical wolves in men’s clothing just to the west of us. Wizards can be killed, you know.”

  “I know,” Jack said.

  “Have you killed any wizards?”

  “I’m not sure,” Jack said, “but I have fought wizards.”

  “And you survived,” the woman said. “There are more wizards on your way to Gameton.”

  “In Gameton?” Lark said.

  She shrugged. “Who knows? The Black Finger Society has suddenly been more than active,” she said. “They don’t stop us as well as they would like,” she said.

  “Have you killed wizards?” Jack asked.

  “I’m sure I have, but I don’t test their abilities. An arrow will kill a wizard as easily as one would kill you,” The female bandit said, but then s
he laughed. “You aren’t in any danger so don’t wet your breeches.”

  The rest of the bandits laughed along with her. Jack noticed that none of his group did.

  Chapter Fifteen

  ~

  E veryone breathed a sigh of relief when they were shown the road by their escorts. They were told to show their leatherwork if they were challenged by another group of Morakans. There were always three or four groups working the road between Yellowbird and Faring Flat, the Morakans said.

  The map said there was a village not far ahead. The Morakans told them that the villagers paid a modest amount of protection, to keep the bandits from bothering them. The main purpose of the harassment was to keep people from straying into the mountains. Jack wasn’t so sure after meeting the group. Jim seemed friendly, but their escort showed a bit more braggadocio than made Jack comfortable.

  “They are a tough people,” Tanner said, looking up at the slopes to their left. “I expected them to be isolated, but they aren’t if they sell goods in Gameton.”

  “Different from the Soffez,” Helen said.

  “In some ways, in other ways, no,” Tanner replied. “They both live life on their own terms, but the Soffez aren’t bandits, and they don’t live their lives so roughly. That is by choice, I’m sure.”

  “I’m just glad we made it out alive. The Black Fingers and the bandits are behind us,” Ralinn said.

  “And in front of us,” Helen said. “We aren’t out of their territory yet,” she said. “Let’s pick up the pace.”

  They arrived at the village on the map. It had a stockade around the homes. A local elder sat on a chair by the gate.

  He stood up as they approached and looked at the women’s vests and Jack’s bracers. “You aren’t bandits, are you? You wear some of their doodads, but you don’t look like ‘em.” He said, spitting on the ground.

  “We rode through their territory,” Lark said. “They needed a bit of help with some wolves, so they let us through.”

  “Must have been some big wolves to go through the mountains unscathed.”

  Jack pointed to the rips in his shirt. “Not quite unscathed.”

  The man nodded. “Go on through. The inn is on the other side of town, right next to the healer’s house. Most visitors through here need one or the other, or both.”

  The village looked like any other they had seen. Fields surrounded the stockade, so Jack figured the villagers lived behind the fence and ventured out to their fields to tend their crops.

  There wasn’t much to the place, but Jack appreciated the bed he slept on that night and the food that wasn’t lamb or mutton. That had gotten a bit tiresome. They pulled out the map and spread it out on the table.

  “We are halfway to Yellowbird from Faring Flat,” Lark said. “I thought we would have lost more time, but from my reckoning, we only lost two days, maybe three.” His finger traced their pathway through the mountains and back to the road.

  The innkeeper looked over Tanner’s shoulder. She grunted. “West or East?”

  “East,” Lark said. “We’ve already had our encounter with the mountain bandits,” he said.

  “Looks like you bought them out. We’ve seen those vests before on the lady thieves.”

  “I had expected to be robbed,” Tanner said, “but the group we encountered were more interested in what we had to trade.”

  “And what was that?”

  “Labor,” Lark said. “We are wizards, and they needed a touch of wizarding.”

  The innkeeper made a face. “They don’t like wizards.”

  “They were in need,” Ralinn said.

  Jack wished the pair kept quiet. He looked at Tanner’s face, which nearly grimaced at Lark and Ralinn’s comments.

  “But that is behind us,” Jack said. “How is the road to Yellowbird?”

  “Long,” she said, “and dusty at this time of year. You might run into your bandit friends, again, so be aware.”

  “We already are,” Tanner said. “What is on the menu?”

  “Chicken, chicken, and chicken. What do you want?”

  “Chicken,” Helen said with a smile.

  Jack agreed.

  The food wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t from a curly-haired, white animal, Jack thought. They had eggs and fried potatoes for breakfast and were back on their way.

  Tanner rubbed the back of his neck as he rode next to Lark. Jack could tell he was working up the courage to scold the wizard.

  “Please don’t give any person detailed information about us in the future,” Tanner began. “Who knows who might be listening at the inn or who might be paying the innkeeper for information. We have already been betrayed a few times on our journey.”

  Lark sat up a little straighter in the saddle. “Don’t tell me how to behave in front of my countrymen,” he said. “If I want to tell them we had some problems along the way, I will,” he said.

  “Then do it when your apprentice’s life isn’t at stake. Or Helen’s. Or mine. Jack is the only one who seems to be able to take care of himself,” Tanner said. “You got yourself captured, and Jack saved you.”

  “You were captured too,” Lark said.

  “I was. I’m not perfect and neither is Jack, but he has courage,” Tanner said

  Foolish bravery, Jack thought as Tanner said it.

  “He climbed into the corral when no one else would. The wolves were jumping over the fence, and only one person stood up to them. It wasn’t me, and it wasn’t you. The problem with you is that I don’t really think you understand that your whole country is enemy territory.”

  “We rode through Loyalist lands,” Lark said.

  “And had to fight our way out of recently acquired Sparrow territory and were captured by the Black Finger Society. The only reason your fingers aren’t black is because of Jack. We all spoke too freely, and they found out about us,” Tanner said. “I’ve got some improving to do as well as you.”

  Lark’s eyes were narrowed as they all came to a stop in the middle of the road.

  “He is right, Lark,” Ralinn said, stopping her horse. “We are all guilty of not being discreet enough.”

  “I am discreet. That is why I am riding about in Tesoria. You know that, Ralinn.”

  “Don’t be stupid,” she said. “We need to be better. Yellowbird isn’t solidly Loyalist, and you know it.”

  “It isn’t?” Jack asked.

  Lark glared at his sister. “No,” he said. “It is more like a free city. No one will take it over, because everyone wants a place to talk and conduct business without worrying about the insurgents.”

  “Or the Black Finger Society?” Jack asked.

  Lark threw up his hands. “Who knows about them? I think we are finished here.”

  “You were about to say what the Black Fingers planned,” Tanner said. He took a deep breath. “Where do we go from here? Are you and Ralinn going to go off on your own?”

  Ralinn looked at her mentor. “No, we won’t,” she said. “Jack is Eldora-touched. We can’t abandon him, no matter how mad you get,” she said to Lark. “The fishbone box is proof of that. We are bound together until Gameton.”

  Jack was surprised she spoke so boldly to her mentor, but Lark looked down at his hands and back at his apprentice. The glare was gone. He put out a hand to Tanner. “I apologize. We will all do better.”

  “Including me,” Jack quickly said.

  “How should we comport ourselves?” Lark said. Jack could hear the defeat in his voice.

  “No mention of where we have been, and no mention of where we are going, for a start. Jack has his errands to perform, but we don’t talk about those either. No ‘Eldora-touched’ comments from here on out. Jack can talk about his errands as he pleases,” Tanner looked back at Jack, “but he needs to keep that to a minimum. The only inquiries we should make are for directions to good inns or how to get out of Yellowbird. Jack will handle finding out where his contact is. Can you do that?”

  “He will,
” Ralinn said. She gave Lark a stern look.

  “Are you going to let your apprentice talk to you like that?” Helen said.

  “Yes. I’ve learned to abide by Ralinn’s wisdom when she speaks like that,” Lark said.

  Helen looked at Lark, but Jack couldn’t interpret her expression. Maybe he would ask Tanner what was going on with her. She had begun to act strangely, for her anyway, ever since they joined forces with the wizards.

  “Shall we proceed?” Ralinn said.

  ~

  The mountains still shadowed their left when their luck ran out. A group of people was gathered on the road ahead. Jack could see a carriage and a wagon along with horses. Facing them were ten bandits. Swords were out on both sides, but the battle had not yet started.

  “Shall we go around them?” Lark asked Tanner.

  “I don’t think either party will want us to. This will be tricky.”

  Jack agreed. If Morakans had confronted them on their own, Jack was convinced they could talk their way through, but with another party being stopped, he didn’t think it would work. Jack wasn’t about to become a bandit. He was sure Tanner was thinking the same thing.

  Tanner rode up front and stopped twenty paces from the confrontation.

  “Help us,” the carriage driver said.

  “I agree, join them,” the bandit leader said.

  Tanner motioned to slowly approach the two groups.

  “Who is who?” Tanner said.

  “They are bandits,” the carriage driver said.

  “Are you the leader?” Tanner asked the man.

  “No. The leader is in the carriage. He is Lord Gargonin.”

  Ralinn gasped. “We can’t let him see us,” she said through her veil.

  “They will recognize you the way you are? You don’t look like wizards,” Tanner said.

  “He is right, Ralinn,” Lark said.

  “Then we will ride in the back.”

  Tanner pulled out his sword. “What is the story here? We are headed east and need to be on our way.”