by Kris Schnee
Perspective Flip
by Kris Schnee
Copyright © 2017
Kris M. Schnee
All rights reserved.
Cover art by Antanariva,
http://www.furaffinity.net/user/antanariva/.
A version of the story "Vixen Visitor" first appeared at "Catprog's Interactive Stories",
http://catprog.org/.
Contents
The Treasure of Jardin's Island
A Walk In the Park
A Family Tradition
Vixen Visitor
Stripes of Justice
Lifepod
Safari Swap
Doom of the Pun-Mage
Island Tail
The Doe Festival
Turning Back
Author's Note
About the Author/Other Works
The Treasure of Jardin's Island
* 1. Connor *
The tropical wind smelled of salt and ashes. The big man wrinkled his nose and drowned out the scent with another swig of beer. Half the foam got into his red mustache. He swiped one hand through it and focused on the smells and the drink, instead of the job ahead.
"Hey, Connor!" Fianna called out in the distance. Her feet kicked up sandy soil as she ran, waving. Everyone drinking in the thatch-roofed, wall-less bar turned to see her. A couple of village kids were following the girl around, which made Connor grin and lift his mug to her.
"Bribing people again?" he asked.
Fianna hefted her oversize backpack and dug through the many pockets of her vest and belt, finally pulling out some candies from a city a two hundred miles away. She passed them out to the kids and said, "Sorry, guys, but I need to go talk with my friend."
She went under the bar's thatch canopy and flopped onto a stool opposite Connor. "So, I made some friends and asked around. They think we're crazy."
Connor drank. "Did they tell you about the Salted Place?"
"What the kids said was that a scary plant-monster washed ashore years ago, and they thrashed and burned and salted that whole patch of ground. So that was probably Jardin's work. But they haven't actually seen Jardin or any of his other creations."
"Jardin's Island is thataway" — Connor pointed toward the coast — "so this salty spot is probably close."
"Yeah, I see it. Weirdly grey, no beach grass."
Connor squinted. "You and your young eyes. Where is Lugh, anyway?"
"I see someone over there, probably him. Are you sober enough to talk strategy with him?"
"Bah!" said Connor. The girl was always nagging him to quit drinking, trim his beard, and let Lugh lecture him on magic. "Fine, bring him."
Here in the Arbre Islands, there were few enough visitors that word tended to spread when any were around. "Excuse me, sir," said an old man just after Fianna had run off. "Do I understand that you plan to go to Jardin's Island?"
Connor nodded. "We'll take care of him for you."
"But surely you know he's dangerous. Wizard Jardin of the Oaken Army, the Blossom Plague, and all that?"
Connor finished his drink and said, "We also know about the monster you killed at the Salted Place. It must've been impressive. But we three have experience in fighting things like that."
The old man lowered his voice and said, "That 'thing' had been a person. It was just human enough that we could tell."
"What?"
"And Jardin has done nothing against us other than that one time, thank Maia. As far as we know, he simply came to the islands to retire, and has no interest in conquering anyone."
"Retiring?" said Connor. "Do evil wizards just hang up their hats and stop?"
"Presumably, if they live so long."
Connor said, "But he's made several comebacks. Just because he's had a long and villainous career doesn't mean he's harmless." What Connor didn't add was that would-be conquerors tended to have a fortune in treasure. Anyone ridding the world of him would get a nice bonus for fighting evil.
"You should also know," said the native, "that you're not the first to attack the island. There was a group of knights and mages the year after Jardin's arrival. We never saw them again."
"Thank you, sir," said Connor. "We'll be sure to be careful."
The native left shaking his head. "We'll be happy to sell you supplies for a one-way trip."
Connor sighed and pulled out a coin. "Barkeep, I'd like to try that rum after all."
* 2. Fianna *
Lugh woke them up at dawn, at the inn. It was always strange to see him without his robe, with all his burns and scars (much worse than Fianna's, though he was hardly older) visible around his tunic. The scars outside, anyway. "You were snoring," he said.
Fianna yawned and made herself do a few situps. "Blame him." Connor lay like a bear on the straw cot, already snoring again. Fianna fished through her supply of gadgets and upended the everfull vial over him, making a trickle of water splash his face.
Connor sputtered and opened his eyes. Lugh nodded to him, then limped away to get himself ready. Fianna prodded Connor until he got up too, grunting. They were almost family.
Before long they were at the beach and geared up. Connor had his spear, shield, and axe. Fianna had all her pockets and stuff and was wearing her grab-you-'cross-the-room gloves and boingy-boots. (These were the correct technical terms no matter what Lugh said.) Lugh wore his deep red robe and sword-belt and was doing something to a pair of ugly straw hats in their canoe.
"Why'd you buy those, anyway?" Fianna said.
"Insects. We should avoid having exposed skin." He handed her a hat. His hood covered his own baldness.
As she tried the pointy thing on, a faint red glow flickered into place around her head. The air suddenly felt cool and dry in her lungs. Lugh said, "The air goes elsewhere on its way in. That will kill insects."
"Where, exactly?"
"Outside," said Lugh, in a tone that made Fianna shiver. He'd never fully explained the term. Mostly he mumbled it in nightmares.
"Let's go," said Connor.
The big guy did most of the paddling, which let Fianna relax and enjoy the sea spray on her face. Jardin's Island was a speck on the horizon, with shapes that were hopefully just trees. "Hey, Lugh, can you sense anything?"
Lugh, sitting behind her with an oar, said, "Reading details of spells is one of my blind spots, remember?"
"Yeah, but don't you detect anything?"
"Of course. The island's crawling with magic. But you already know that." Lugh was silent for a moment. "I think the water is safe, but I'm not good enough to be sure."
"We'll be fine, you two," said Connor. The canoe bounced through the waves.
Fianna tugged Connor's shoulder. "Hey, Connor, are we there yet?"
Connor grunted. "Kids."
Soon the island loomed large. Fianna couldn't decide whether it was pretty, with its huge forest and flashes of colorful birds, or unnerving. She went with, "Pretty."
"Bah," said Connor. "You think elementals' lairs look nice."
Lugh added, "They smell good." Fianna and Connor turned back to look at him and caught a bewildered expression on his face. "Don't they?"
"So, where do we land?" Connor asked.
Fianna squinted. "No obvious docks, but there's a safe-looking shore on that side."
When they beached the canoe, nothing happened. Fianna hopped into the shallow surf and ran onto the sand, then looked around and fidgeted with her magic boomerang. The others were more cautious. Lugh seemed to have decided he liked the double-bladed oar he'd been using and kept it for a weapon, using a spell to add glowing red edges to it. Fianna took up position at Connor's right. "All right! Let's have some fun."
* 3. Lugh *
Lugh blinked. "Fun? We're here to
kill someone."
"Don't tell me you're losing your nerve," said Fianna.
"No. I just need to focus." He hefted the nice, well-balanced oar, made sure everyone was protected with what long-lasting barriers he could make, and slipped into second sight.
Jardin's Island rippled with green energies. Magic splashed with their every step on the grass and shined in the trees. Lugh thought he could sense a brighter energy somewhere in the distance, but with little detail. He pointed it out anyway. He looked around once more and smiled, spotting one of the tiny, lucky whirlpools that the sages called Salvation Points. He tapped it with his oar and it made a chime no one else could hear.
"Hello, Lugh? We're going."
Lugh looked up at Fianna. As usual, her whole body was a rainbow of magical energies from all the miscellaneous gadgets she carried. Something for every occasion. She always seemed so confident on trips like these. "Yes, of course," he said.
The forest had no trails, which left them to wander in the rough direction he'd shown them. They hacked through dense brush for a while. The salty breeze kept them cool in the muggy morning air.
Fianna called out, "Bugs!"
At first Lugh didn't see the cloud, but then the buzzing became unmistakable all around them. He swatted the air with the two-bladed oar. Where it struck the cloud, he felt it resist and buzz louder.
"Ugh!" said Fianna. "I hope your special hats work."
Connor swung his shield. "We need shelter! I can't hit what I can barely see."
"They're like a net," Lugh said, seeing the faint light trails that linked all the insects in midair.
Fianna bounded over Lugh's head to a high branch, drawing part of the cloud upward. "What do you mean?" she called down at him. She whipped out an iron fan and slashed with it, creating short-lived blades of wind that killed bugs by the hundred.
Lugh said, "They're all connected by one spell."
Connor sputtered. "This is useless. Do something!"
Fianna balanced on the tree limb long enough to put her fan away. She pulled out her boomerang again and took aim. Lugh watched the thing sail past him and hit the bugs to no obvious effect... but then the entire cloud crashed to the ground with a visible splash of magic. The buzzing stopped.
Fianna called down from the tree, "The swarm looked like that spot was the center."
Lugh stared up at her. Even without those boots (from the hoard of a small sheep-stealing dragon), Fianna moved fluidly, easily. Lugh limped over to Connor, then turned back to watch her land perfectly with her Boots of Agility.
Connor muttered, "They got my arm a couple of times." His axe-arm's sleeve had come loose, and there were several welts on him.
Lugh said, "The laces came off? Fianna, antivenom." He'd let Connor down; he should've devised a full-body shield spell.
"Great," Fianna said, digging a medical kit from her pack. In a moment she'd grabbed a jar of salve and started dabbing the nasty, musky stuff on Connor. "Not the first time we've gotten waylaid by bugs."
Connor said, "It's nothing."
"We don't know how dangerous these are," Lugh said. "Jardin's known for using sentries, so hopefully —"
Fianna was glaring at him, but he couldn't guess why. "Hopefully there's nothing beyond the usual venom in these."
His friend sighed; had he said something wrong? She said, "And hopefully we killed 'em quickly enough not to get anyone's attention."
Lugh looked into the forest and saw the swirling green sparks of the jungle's magic. They were still quiet and inactive, for now.
* 4. Connor *
An hour later, Connor covered his itching arm and took the lead. They were all battered and tired. "Spread out. I don't want us all caught in the same pit trap. Again."
The trees loomed close around them as they plunged into another especially dense part of the forested island. The sunlight took on a sickly green shade that filtered down between the leaves. He kept one gloved hand on his axe, ready to hack Lugh or Fianna free of a feisty branch.
There, a flash of color! Connor craned his neck to spot a bird with a feline tail, preening and posing as if to show off its spotted wings. Connor pointed.
Fianna just shrugged.
"Be careful. We're heading for — can that thing hear us?"
"Maybe."
"Let's just go, then."
"I think I see something," Fianna said. "A blocky shape covered in vines."
"A building?" Lugh asked.
"Worth checking."
They hiked through the woods toward it, and started to see the greenery-blurred outline of a stone pyramid. The salty breeze helped keep Connor comfortable under the supposedly bug-proof clothes. He kept glancing at the bird that followed them, but it made no attempt at stealth. If anything it seemed miffed that they weren't paying it more attention.
Fianna said, "Can we take a break?"
Connor found they'd reached a glade of blue flowers among the trees. "We haven't gone far." But Fianna's stride was short and Lugh was no great hiker, not that he'd ever complain when the girl might hear. Connor raised one hand to call the group to a halt. "All right. Don't go too far."
Fianna pounced the ground and sat with her head propped up on her arms, humming. Lugh brushed his robe to one side and sat cross-legged. Connor stood looking around for a moment, but reluctantly he lowered himself to the soft ground too.
"Lugh," said Fianna, "What's with that bird?" It was still chirping at them and posing.
"Sometimes a bird is just a bird."
The girl yawned. "Whatever. So, how will we get in?"
Lugh shrugged.
Connor said, "Between you two you'll find an entrance."
Connor took in the sweet scent of the glade and spent a minute just enjoying the breeze. "Let's get moving again."
Fianna just muttered.
"Hey, this is no time for napping." Lugh was meditating or something, and Connor had to admit the spot was relaxing, but the damn bug bites itched too much for him to rest, even in such a nice-smelling, sleepy place...
Connor stood up sharply. "Get up, now!"
"Five more minutes," said Fianna.
Connor said, "The flowers." He reached down and grabbed the girl's hair.
"Ow!"
"Up!" He made her stand, then shook Lugh awake. Fianna was picking up her backpack, but looked about to collapse on top of it. He felt like a nap himself but held both the youngsters by the scruff of the neck and marched them out of the clearing, until he could no longer smell the flowers.
Fianna blinked sleepily. "What's the big idea?"
Lugh said, "Some kind of knockout dust. I should have guessed." He turned toward the glade and held out his hands, creating a ghostly red wall between them and the flowers. When he turned back toward the others he was holding back tears. "I'm sorry! I've failed twice already today."
Connor laid a hand on his shoulder. "It's all right. All three of us were caught off guard. It won't happen again."
"Yeah," Fianna said. "You already helped."
Lugh looked down and brushed pollen off the bottom of his robe. "Well. We should be going."
"Does everyone have their gear?" Connor said. They checked, then hurried away.
Even from nearby, the pyramid was tricky to see. It didn't look all that old, but the jungle had claimed much of the brown stone surface. The building had many flat tiers like a fancy garden that'd been neglected.
Fianna said, "Are the vines moving?"
Lugh watched for a while. "I don't think so. The space there on the left is different somehow, though. It might be a door."
Connor's arm throbbed, but he let the kids chatter and head for the spot they mentioned. That meant climbing up from the ground to the first tier; there were no stairs.
Fianna charged up her boots, then bounded over Connor's head to the mossy ledge. She lowered a rope for the admiring Lugh, struggled with his weight, and finally managed to haul him up. Connor wasn't going to be able to follow them t
he same way; the boy couldn't lift much either.
Lugh said, "Let me try something." He waved his hands and spoke a few odd echoing syllables to cast another spell. A ripple of air condensed into a dim red ramp from the ground up to his level. He tried stepping on it, then waved for Connor to join them. Once they were all up, they looked around for a door up here on the elevated garden. Nothing tried to kill him, which was refreshing.
"Is there a thinner wall?" Fianna asked.
"No," said Lugh. "Thinner space. Look." And at his gesture, part of the mossy stone faded and became a passage into darkness.
Connor pushed past them, axe and shield at the ready. The interior smelled dusty and dead compared to the forest, with wind blowing from behind him down a sandstone passage. He waved the others forward, and hissed in pain.
"What's wrong?" Fianna asked.
"Just my arm. Never mind." It was tough to keep his grip on the axe. He ignored that and led the others down the passage. There were halls and alcoves in various directions. "I don't like mazes."
Lugh created a series of ceiling lights like dim flames and Fianna held up a glowing ball. Connor led them creeping around a corner, and found a storeroom.
Shelves of rakes and shears lined the walls. Connor eyed a dark shape that turned out to be a crate with writing on it.
Lugh stepped closer to read. "Jardin."
Connor pried open the crate and pulled out one of the many dark glassy things inside. "Wine bottles!"
Then his whole arm and side seemed to catch fire from the persistent sting of the bug bites. He staggered and crashed into the wall with a shout.
"Connor!" said Lugh. Fianna made a grabbing motion with her gloved hands, and the falling bottle stopped in midair and drifted closer to her.
Connor clutched his pained arm. "Open that bottle," he said through clenched teeth.
Fianna pried out the cork with a knife and handed him the bottle, while Lugh muttered. He gulped a lot of the stuff and the pain faded quickly. The wine had a good but salty taste. He undid the laces on his shirt to expose the bite wounds, thinking he could pour some of the alcohol on them.