Origin Scroll

by Richard S. Tuttle

  Gidas was furious, stating that he had only gone to relieve himself and came back to find everyone hiding. He demanded that they come out and stop trying to scare him. Alex figured that Gidas was telling the truth and he had been overreacting. Just then Alex heard sounds coming from the road.

  “Gidas,” he called softly, “get into the woods. Somebody is behind you on the road.”

  “Alex,” Gidas said, trying to determine the direction that Alex’s voice had come from, “is that you?”

  Alex called to Gidas again and Gidas came towards Alex’s voice and entered the woods. Gidas knelt next to Alex and demanded an end to the joke. Alex told Gidas to go further into the woods and hide himself and Gidas obeyed.

  Alex heard rustling sounds coming from behind the wagons and peered into the night. The fire had long ago died to embers and the woods were quite dark. Alex managed to pick out several shapes moving through the campsite and shoving blankets aside with their swords. “Throw your bows out and we’ll let you live,” the shape called out. Alex said nothing.

  “I don’t have time for boys’ games,” the shadow shouted. “Throw out your bows now and I’ll let you all live. If you don’t, we’ll kill you all. Drivers included.”

  Gidas called from the rear, “Throw them your bows. We don’t need to die for Tulek’s cargo.”

  Fram shouted, “Don’t be fooled lads. They’ll no more let us live, than they’re on a pilgrimage to the temple.”

  An arrow sailed into the woods in the direction of Fram’s voice. Alex peered at the shadows. He could make out six of them. They would never survive an archery contest with the bandits. Alex whispered to Larc and Oscar. Oscar gave his bow to Larc and crawled off to the right. Alex gave his bow to Larc and crawled off to the left. “You’ve got one minute to throw out your bows or we come in after you,” came the demand.

  Larc positioned himself behind a large tree and waited as long as he thought he could before calling out, “Okay, we’re throwing the bows out.”

  Fram cried, “No!” and another arrow sped towards his voice.

  Larc threw one bow at a time out. When the third bow bounced in the campsite, several arrows thudded into the tree Larc was hiding behind. The laugh boomed through the forest, “Never send boys to do a man’s work, I say.” Larc immediately moved as Alex had instructed.

  The six shapes moved towards the forest. Larc saw one of them stumble and fall. They were getting closer and Larc got his reed ready. Another of the shadows fell and there were sounds of confusion coming from the clearing. Larc sent a quill sailing into the leader and the shape immediately dropped to the ground, jostling the man next to him. Alex saw the leader fall as he was sending a quill into a bandit who had turned around to see what had happened to the cohort behind him. Uncertainty filled the clearing and the two remaining killers weren’t sure whether they should continue the attack or flee. Within seconds it didn’t matter, Oscar and Larc had fired their second shots and the clearing was quiet.

  Oscar came out of the woods and pulled the quills from each of the bandits, while Alex and Larc remained concealed. Gidas came up behind Larc to see what was going on and Larc demanded that he remain down. Oscar disposed of the quills in the forest and Alex came walking up the path from the road.

  “It’s okay to come out now,” he called. “Fram, Gidas, Jerrick, it’s safe to come out. Let’s get this site cleaned up and get out of here.” Alex then turned around and disappeared down towards the road.

  The group started to reassemble in the clearing. Oscar was gathering the bandits’ weapons and searching the bodies. When Oscar was finished, Larc helped him drag the bodies into the woods.

  “What happened?” demanded Gidas. “How did they die? I don’t understand. I thought we all would die.”

  Oscar stepped into the clearing and said, “Did he forget to mention it? Alex is a mage. All he had to do was look into their eyes and their own wickedness stopped their hearts.”

  Gidas was speechless. The boys helped themselves to the weapons, so that each boy now had a sword, shield and dagger in addition to his bow. The rest of the weapons were put into the back of Fram’s wagon. Alex returned leading six saddled horses. He proceeded to tie two to the back of each wagon. “It looks like the village has a start on its livestock,” he commented.

  Gidas started to object, pointedly avoiding Alex’s gaze. Larc stepped over to Gidas and held up a hand drawn map that had been found on one of the bodies. The map showed their stopping points. A note was scrawled on the back, which indicated the boys were armed only with bows and not to worry about the additional quivers because they were religious articles. “Alex knows,” Larc stated.

  Gidas grabbed Larc’s sword but before he could complete his swing a myric quill appeared in his chest.

  Chapter 4

  Magician

  Jenneva wept. Her Uncle Hasra had died during the night. He had pleaded with her yesterday to go after Alex and the villagers but she had been stubborn. She had refused to leave her uncle to die alone. He had been too weak to travel and she knew that if she left him alone in the cave that he would die there. If she remained with him, she thought his condition would improve with rest. He must have known that he did not have much time left, but he was too weak to even argue with her. Poor Alex. He must have been confused when her friendship turned to rude dismissal, but she could not allow Alex time to agree with her uncle. Now she was alone. She would not be able to find River’s Run on her own and she couldn’t hope to find Alex in the forest.

  The thought of roaming the forest alone looking for someone who could give her directions made her body shiver. She was afraid, she realized. She had never known fear before. Even trapped in the cave with the Yaki attacking, she had not known fear. Her uncle had been with her; Alex and the villagers had been with her. She had felt comforted and knew everything would work out somehow. Not any longer. She should not have thought about the Yaki. That very thought brought the sounds of scurrying outside the cave to her ears. Even though she knew it was probably her imagination, she could not put the sounds out of her mind. She backed into the wall of the cave and the stone was cold on her back. Another shiver ran through her body and she couldn’t be sure if she was shivering from the cold contact with the wall or the fear coursing through her body.

  What was it that Alex’s father kept saying to him? Concentrate. Never doubt your abilities. What abilities? Her only ability had been to control her emotions. She laughed. Control her emotions? She couldn’t even stop shivering. Concentrate on what you can affect. Dismiss that which you can’t. That had been her secret that she had shared with Alex. He had been impressed. She wondered how impressed he would be if he could see her now?

  She jumped. Had she seen movement outside the cave opening? The sounds were still there. Was she losing her mind? She backed farther into the cave. The Yaki were coming for her. She knew it. She backed into the deepest corner of the cave and, with a feeling of disorientation, passed through the stone. Jenneva’s world went black and she sat down and cried herself asleep.

  Jenneva awoke in the darkness. Her skin was taut from her eyes to her jaw where her tears had dried. She wasn’t sure how long she had slept or even if she was now awake. She felt awake and composed but her surroundings were different enough to cause a great deal of doubt. She remembered losing control after discovering that Hasra had died. The last thing she remembered was the feeling of having passed through the stone of the cave. She knew this must be her mind playing tricks on her, but then where was she?

  She could feel the stone wall on both sides of her. She seemed to be in a tunnel and could go either way, but which way should she go? It was unsettling to be unable to see. Slowly she rose to a standing position, careful to not strike her head. She placed her right hand on the wall and stretched her left out in front her and started walking slowly. The tunnel was long. After about a half hour, she switched hands. The tunnel twisted and turned every which way but she had the distinct im
pression of constantly going down. She switched hands several more times before she realized that had she been consistent with which wall she had been following, she would have been able to retrace her steps. It wouldn’t matter now. She was sure that she had gone through several intersections in the last several hours.

  Jenneva sat down to rest. She reached into the pouch at her waist and scooped out some berries. She ate them slowly, savoring each one. She must conserve them. She was thankful that she had gone out yesterday and picked the berries. The villagers had left some smoked beef and dried biscuits for her and Hasra but she had wanted something fresh and picked the berries. She contemplated the tunnels she had been meandering in. They were obviously man made and quite extensive. She didn’t think she was going in circles because the slope always appeared to be down. She was puzzled as to how she had entered the tunnels. She was sure that she was not sleeping now. And she didn’t think she was insane, but she could not explain her entrance into the tunnels. Had there been a narrow opening into the cave, she would have seen some light when she woke up, even if it was night out. She had seen nothing.

  Time to move on. For several more hours, Jenneva groped along in the darkness, always going down a barely perceptible slope. She stopped and rested several more times. If these tunnels are man made, she thought, sooner or later there would be an exit and maybe some one who could direct her. The slope stopped and the walls were curved. She could hear the echo of her footsteps, which indicated to her that she was in a large chamber. She inched along the wall until it abruptly turned. She bent down and laid a berry on the ground and then went past the turn in the wall. The wall started again and she began to think her impression was correct. She felt from the curve in the wall that she was in a round chamber. If this were true, it would be the first significant landmark on her mental map. She continued around the room, checking for the berry at each intersection. She found it on the eighth intersection.

  Jenneva sat down and ate the berry. She needed a plan. If these tunnels were extensive, she could be lost for days. She couldn’t survive on a pouch full of berries forever and she had no indication of any miners in the tunnels. She needed a clue as to which of the seven remaining tunnels to explore. Perhaps there was one that was worn more than the others. She felt the floor of the tunnel that she was at. Nothing remarkable here. She crawled to the next tunnel. Nothing here either, but the tunnel appeared to incline upward. She continued until she had made the complete circle. There was no way she could determine which path was the most used. Five of the tunnels slanted upward, including the one she had come down. Three of them appeared to stay level. Two of the level paths were directly opposite each other. She decided to try the remaining level path.

  This tunnel was fairly straight and level, but had numerous intersections. After half an hour, she detected light down one of the cross tunnels. The excitement of a possible escape sent energy coursing through her body. She could mover faster now as she was able to see, but she kept her pace slow. The tunnel made a right turn and ended in a solid wall. The wall was aglow. She reached out and touched the wall and her hand seemed to go through it. Hesitantly, she slowly walked through the wall and found herself in an extremely large cavern that was brightly lit. The light seemed to emanate from the ceiling although she saw no torches of any kind. Jenneva walked towards the center of the cavern. The ground looked similar to the floor of the cave she had left Uncle Hasra in, but it felt spongy. She saw a man sitting cross-legged on the ground with his back towards her. She called out, “Hello.”

  The man spun around and raised his hands towards her. Instantly, Jenneva found herself in a giant birdcage. The man rose, his long, brilliantly patterned robe flowing around him. Jenneva could see his long, gray beard swinging in step with his approach. She thought she should be afraid of this man, but she was not. She remained silent. “Who dares to enter my chambers unbidden?” he demanded in a voice that reverberated off the walls.

  “I am Jenneva,” she whispered, “and I apologize for disturbing you, but I am lost.”

  “Lost?” roared the man. “You expect me to believe that you just happened to wander in here? Do not trifle with me woman, if that’s what you are. Who is this Jenneva and why do you suspect that I would recognize the name?”

  “I am a woman!” snapped Jenneva, “Even your old eyes should be able to see that! I do not expect you to know me and I don’t really care to know you. What I want is for you to remove this fool cage and direct me to the exit so I may be on my way.”

  “Oh, certainly, Your Majesty,” mocked the man. “I’ll remove my barrier so that you may attack me. Stop playing me for the fool. I will never release the barrier until you have satisfied me.”

  “Well,” quipped Jenneva, “then you had better throw some food in here because these berries won’t last forever. If I die it is going to smell pretty bad in your holy chambers.”

  The man’s eyes twinkled as he watched the girl sitting there eating a berry. “Tell me your story of how you came to my chambers.”

  Jenneva told the man about traveling with her Uncle Hasra, the appearance of the villagers, the attack of the Yaki and the death of her uncle. He sat there looking quite bored as if listening to a merchant selling water as a miracle cure. When she told him of her uncharacteristic bout of fear and backing into the cave wall and ending up in darkness, his interest heightened. He walked over to the cage and examined her closely. She continued her story but he held up his hand and walked away. He returned a moment later and handed her a damp cloth. “Wipe your face,” he instructed.

  Jenneva wiped the tearstains off her face and returned the cloth. “Thank you,” she said. He indicated that she should continue, so she told him of the many hours of traveling the dark passages complete with her feelings and thoughts as best she could remember them. She explained her logic at the circle room and told how she had seen the light and glowing wall and walked through it.

  “This Hasra,” he asked, “did he have another name?”

  “His formal name was Hasra Roth,” she replied.

  “And is your name Roth also?”

  “I don’t know. I have always been called just Jenneva. I did not know my parents or Hasra’s relationship to them, but he loved me as his own and cared for me. We were traveling to River’s Run where my cousin, Dawn, lives but Uncle Hasra did say that she was ‘sort of’ a cousin.”

  “You may call me Egam,” stated the old man as he raised his hands. “Please make yourself comfortable.” The cage disappeared. “And forgive my method of introduction, but I have enemies whom mean me harm and are very talented in their ability to deceive. You may wander as you will. You will find food, accommodations and facilities. You will be treated as my guest. If you will excuse me for awhile, I have some research to do.”

  Jenneva wandered around the cave. It had a very airy feel to it; fresh, not like the dank passages she had roamed for hours. The cavern was huge and filled with tables, bookshelves, and furniture. She had never seen so many books before. Uncle Hasra used to boast that his book collection was second in the region only to the Baron’s. With amazement, Jenneva realized that Uncle Hasra’s collection would not fill even one shelf of Egam’s library and Egam had many shelves. The tables were covered with beakers and flasks. Shelves with glass jars and tins were tiered around the cave. There were also a wide variety of objects that were foreign to her, spheres of various sizes and composition, as well as rectangular objects of different colors that appeared solid and without lids. Most unique was an arrangement of four doorframes that were arranged in a square, but with enough room to walk around each door. There were no doors in the frames and it looked like a giant ivy garden before the ivy was planted.

  Walking around, she realized that the cavern was even larger than she had thought. It took her over ten minutes to walk from one side to the other. She discovered a large pool of water on the floor and stopped to view her reflection. She looked horrible. Her long, golden hair was knot
ted and dirty. Her face was still smudged although the tearstains were gone. She looked down at her dress and wondered how Egam could have refrained from laughing at her condition. Jenneva didn’t think she could appear dirtier if she lay in the dirt road and rolled herself over and over.

  Jenneva looked around for Egam, but he was nowhere in sight. She quickly stepped out of her dress and dipped it in the water. The pool of water was much deeper than it appeared. She reached her hand down as far as she could reach and could not touch the bottom. Timidly, she placed her foot in the water and was rewarded with the feel of a firm bottom. She placed her other foot further into the pool and found that it sloped downward towards the center. She walked in until she was waist deep. The water was cold, but it felt refreshing to Jenneva. She ducked her head under the water quickly and got her hair wet. The water tasted fresh and Jenneva longed for a bath. She looked around again for Egam and was startled to see a long purple robe, comb, towel and slippers laid out where she had dropped her dress. Jenneva removed her sandals and the rest of her clothes and happily submerged herself.

  After bathing,Jenneva wrapped herself in the purple robe and combed her hair. She spread her clothes out over the stone floor to dry. The refreshing bath had buoyed her spirits. Egam approached with a silver tray loaded with fresh fruit, cheese and bread. He sat facing Jenneva and asked, “I trust you are refreshed. Eat. Those berries make for a terrible diet.”

  “Thank you, sir,” she replied. “I am indebted for your gracious hospitality.”

  Egam waved his hand as if to dismiss the need for gratitude. “You mentioned that your Uncle Hasra died while taking you to live with this Dawn, who is not really your cousin. Have you no other family? Even distant relatives?”

  “If I do, uncle was not aware of them,” stated Jenneva. “When my uncle realized that he was not well enough to care for me, he pondered for several days on where to take me. He never spoke of my parents. In truth, I believe that he did not know them, much less was he related to them. Several times I broached the subject of our association, but he would not speak of its origin, as if afraid to. No, I fear that River’s Run is the only destination that I can plead. Do you know how to get there?”