by Logan Jacobs
"Like that?" Aerin asked, and when I looked in the direction that she pointed, my spirits lifted a little.
Off in the distance, maybe a mile away, a tall, twisted tree stood above the surrounding cacti and scrub. It almost looked dead with its gray, peeling bark, but it had the dark red leaves that Uriel had told me to look for.
"That's it," I replied with a smile. We could get the bark and the sap that we needed and be back at the oasis before dark.
The others must have come to the same realization because as we started for the tree, our pace was considerably livelier than it had been all day. It wasn't until we got closer and could see the fence around the tree and the little wooden cabin nestled among the boulders next to it that I began to wonder if there might still be a few obstacles in store for us.
The fence surrounded both the cabin and the tree and came up to my chest. The posts were roughly hewn juniper branches, and they were threaded together with barbed wire. In case that wasn't enough to deter potential intruders, various magical charms and totems hung from the wires or sat along the posts, and I saw more hanging from the branches of the tree and the windowsills of the cabin.
"Who in their right mind would live out here?" Maruk wondered aloud as we stopped before the fence.
No sooner had he asked when there was a click from somewhere near the house. I reacted instinctively and ducked, but I didn't have time to warn Maruk before the homemade catapult that was hidden in the shadow of the cabin swung forward and launched a clump of cacti at his face.
Chapter 6
The orc staggered back with a cry of pain as the rest of us took what shelter we could behind the fence posts.
“Don’t touch it!” Aerin shouted as Maruk reached up automatically at the cactus stuck to his chin. He was lucky he was so tall or else the spines probably would have poked him in the eyes. No doubt that was the owner’s intention, but as it was, the cactus was mostly stuck to the fabric of Maruk’s collar and the bottom of his wide chin.
While Aerin helped pry the cactus off Maruk’s face, I scanned the ground around us. There didn’t seem to be an automatic trigger of any kind for the catapult, no tripwire or pressure plate that Maruk had disturbed, which meant it must have been fired by whoever lived in this cabin. So, at least we knew someone was home.
“Oww,” Maruk groaned. “Why does this keep happening to me? I’m an orc of honor. What did I ever do?"
“I think you’re just the biggest target,” Lavinia replied frankly while she peered out from behind the cover of a fence post toward the cabin.
I followed her gaze and caught sight of a shadow as it flitted past one of the windows, and then I confirmed what I’d already deduced. There was someone inside. I didn’t see any more catapults or other devices around the cabin, but the observation hardly put me at ease. There were enough rocks and bushes scattered around the property that more traps would be easy enough to hide from our view.
“Hold still,” Aerin ordered as she pulled the cactus free.
“I don’t see any more catapults,” I reported, “but they could be hidden, and there might be other traps besides. Let’s be careful."
“Get your shields up, Maruk,” Lavinia said.
“You want to go up there?” Maruk asked, his tone incredulous. He frowned as he rubbed at his chin where a few spines still stuck out from his green skin like stubble, and he pulled them free and flicked them away with a pained hiss. “Go yourself, I’ve been through quite enough for one day, thank you very much.”
“We need to get to that tree,” I told him. “We don’t really have a choice."
“We should try to talk to whoever lives here,” Lena offered. “Maybe if we explain what we’re doing, they’ll let us take what we need."
“I don’t think so. It seems like this person is the ’shoot first’ type,” Lavinia replied. “We could make a run for the tree. It’s pretty wide, we could use it for cover while we get the sap and bark and everything."
“That’s stealing, Lavinia,” Aerin cut in with a stern frown directed at the ladona woman. “We don’t do that."
“What are you talking about?” Lavinia asked, her brows raised. “We loot all the time. What about all the stuff we took from the necromancer? That was, what, two weeks ago? Besides, this is just a tree. Who owns a tree?”
“It’s different!” the redheaded elf insisted. “He was evil. And dead now. Look, whoever lives here put this fence up and is obviously trying to defend their property. Lena’s right, we have to at least try to talk to them."
“Launching cacti at helpless travelers isn’t evil?” Maruk snorted as he rubbed at his chin.
“There’s got to be a way we can signal to them that we’re friendly,” I said, and now that I thought about it, I couldn’t really blame the owner for the catapult business. We were a pretty fearsome-looking group, and with all the bandits in the area, it made sense to err on the side of caution when a bunch of strangers came up to your house.
“Oh! I know!” Lena said excitedly. She began to rummage through her pack and muttered to herself until she found what she was looking for, but even when she pulled the object out, I didn’t catch on to her plan right away.
“Uh, what is that?” I asked as the alchemist held up a disc. It was carved out of wood and inscribed along the edge with a series of runes and symbols.
“It’s a talisman of protection,” Lena answered cheerfully, “just like all of these.” She gestured to the various objects that hung from the fence and the roof of the cabin in the distance. “We’ll offer it to the owner as a sign of goodwill.”
“Which god’s protection does it invoke?” Aerin asked as she examined Lena’s offering with a furrowed brow.
“It’s not for a god,” Lena replied.
Aerin stared at the other elf. “Then … how does it work?”
“It channels natural energy,” Lena answered. “You know, it draws in the good forces and expels the bad.”
“Right,” Aerin replied as she exchanged a skeptical look with Lavinia.
I didn’t really care how the talisman worked at the moment, or if it worked at all. I just wanted to know how we were supposed to get it to our friend in the cabin without getting more cacti hurled at us.
Maruk seemed to be wondering the same thing.
“So do we throw it over the fence?” he asked, and his tone suggested that was as much as he wanted to be involved in whatever we were going to do.
“I’ll just bring it up,” Lena said as she stood.
“Wait, Lena,” I hissed as I grabbed the elf woman’s wrist. “There could be more traps--"
Lena cut me off with a cheerful giggle. “Don’t worry! The talisman will protect me. That’s what it does."
I looked to the others for support, but none of them seemed particularly inclined to stop her.
Before I could say anything else, Lena swung open the rusted metal gate and began to walk toward the cabin. I stood, certain the alchemist was going to get hurt if I didn’t intervene, and grabbed one of Maruk’s shields and pulled it off his arm.
“Hey!” the orc cried. “There’s no need to yank my arm about. You could have asked.”
“Sorry,” I called back. Then I followed Lena through the gate and ran to catch up to her with the borrowed shield raised to protect us.
Lena seemed surprised but pleased to see me.
“Oh, are you coming, too, Gabriel?” she asked with a smile. “That’s good, since you’re our leader, you can help us make a good impression.”
I’d been thinking less about impressing the owner of the cabin and more about protecting Lena from flying cacti, but I didn’t bother to correct her, because at that moment, I noticed something strange about the elven woman.
Lena’s mana glowed the same way a mage’s did when they cast a spell, the same way Lavinia and Maruk’s mana glowed when they executed a special attack of some kind. The light seemed to collect around the talisman as she held it in her hand, and the sh
een illuminated the inscribed symbols on the wood. As I was trying to work out what exactly I was seeing, I heard the click of another catapult as it fired.
A clump of cactus, just like the one launched at Maruk a few minutes ago, sailed through the air from behind a bush toward us, and I grabbed Lena by the shoulder to stop her as I moved the shield to intercept the spiny plant. I expected a thunk as the cactus hit the shield, but it never came. It was as though the projectile had stopped in mid-air right before it would have made impact, and then it fell harmlessly to the dirt at our feet.
I stared at it for a moment as I tried to work out what happened. I hadn’t done that. Had Lena?
I turned to her, but before I could ask, she just giggled and pulled me forward by the hand. As we continued up the path, several more catapults fired from various hiding places around the yard, but not a single cactus hit her though she made no move to dodge them or even turn to see where they were coming from.
I couldn’t share in her nonchalance. I moved the shield as quickly as possible, and this time I heard more than a few thunks as I stopped the cacti from hitting us. Still, for as many as I blocked, twice as many seemed to fall away on their own, diverted by the power of Lena’s talisman, or some strange magic Lena herself possessed.
When at last we reached the sagging porch, I let the heavy shield drop and tried to work the tension out of my shoulders while Lena skipped up confidently to knock on the door.
Still perfectly at ease, Lena rocked on her heels and hummed a cheerful little tune while we waited for the owner to come to the door. I, on the other hand, kept my hand on the hilt of my dagger and my eyes glued to the graying wood of the threshold. Unlike Lena, I wasn’t sure we would receive a friendly welcome from the owner of the cabin.
The seconds seemed to drag on before at last the door to the cabin creaked open. There were no lights on inside, and beneath the shade of the porch I couldn’t make out much except for the owner’s lanky silhouette and the tips of the pointed ears that stuck out from his head. He didn’t appear to be armed, but I kept my hand on my dagger anyway.
“Good morning!” Lena said enthusiastically as she stuck out her hand.
The other elf said nothing and made no move to take Lena’s hand, but he didn’t close the door. He peered at her, then at me.
Lena continued on, undiscouraged.
“My name is Lena, and this is my friend, Gabriel. We’re here with our guild.”
As she spoke, she gestured out to the others by the fence. Still the other elf didn’t take his eyes off of us or speak. I began to wonder if he could, or if perhaps he was deaf. I didn’t know what sorts of sign language existed here. It seemed Theira hadn’t included that among her gifts to me. I was just beginning to think of how we might still be able to mime what we needed when at last the elf spoke in a rough drawl.
“What do you want?”
“Would it be alright if my friends and I came inside for a moment to talk to you?” Lena asked, and then she held up the talisman in her hand. “We were hoping you might be able to help us with something.”
The elf’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.
“Why would you think that?” he asked.
“Well, it’s this tree you have here,” Lena explained as she pointed up at our prize. “Our caravan was attacked recently, and we need some of the bark and sap to repair our wagons.
The other elf didn’t respond right away, and I was beginning to think this diplomatic approach wasn’t going to work when Lena changed tactics.
“I noticed you have an interest in protective charms,” she continued. “I make some myself, and I can tell yours are very good. I thought you might like this one, as a gift.”
Lena held out the talisman then, and the other elf took it and examined it closely for several seconds. Then Lena clasped her hands behind her back, and she rocked back and forth on her toes while she waited.
“‘S nice,” the other elf said as he turned the talisman in his hands. “You say it’s a gift?”
“And a token of friendship,” Lena added. “Really, we only want to talk to you for a few minutes, if you’d just hear us out. I’m sure you have plenty of reasons to be wary of strangers out here, but we don’t mean to cause you any trouble.”
The elf still wore a deep frown, but Lena’s charm must have won him over, because he heaved a sigh and waved his hand. “Fine, come on in.”
Lena turned and waved to the others to join us on the porch, and Aerin and Lavinia cautiously slipped through the gate and walked up the path to us.
Maruk didn’t budge.
The orc was planted like a tree by the fence, his expression resolute. When Lavinia realized he hadn’t followed, she turned back and gestured to him.
“Come on, don’t be a coward,” she called. “It’s safe, see?”
“I’ll just wait here,” Maruk shouted back.
“Maruk, come on,” Aerin groaned.
“I’m not taking any chances,” the orc insisted as he crossed his arms. “You don’t really need me for this, anyway.”
Aerin’s shoulders dropped, and she swung her head back in exasperation.
“You’re a part of this guild! You have to do things with us. Look, I’ll let you get the stationary you wanted for the hall when we get back.”
That caught Maruk’s interest, and he perked up slightly.
“With the perfumed notepaper?” he asked.
“Yeah, sure, whatever you want, just come on already,” Aerin replied as she rubbed at her brow.
Warily, with his remaining shield up in preparation to block any flying cacti, Maruk eased through the gate. As soon as he’d crossed the threshold into the yard, however, he seemed to rethink his strategy and made a mad dash for the porch, where he joined us seconds later and panted heavily.
Lavinia rolled her eyes, and together we all filed inside.
The cabin looked small from the outside, but the collection of ornaments, knick-knacks, and other assorted hoarded junk just made the space feel even more cramped. It didn’t help that there were five of us now crammed into the single room, or that the ceiling was built so low even I had to duck, and Maruk was nearly doubled over.
The owner didn’t look any more comfortable than we were, and he looked us over with sullen brown eyes. As I’d noticed earlier, he was an elf, and like most of the elves I’d met, he had a fairly compact frame and long, thin fingers. Unlike most of the elves I’d met, however, he appeared to be wearing nothing more than a stained and fraying robe, his dusty brown hair was unkempt, and he sported a stubbly beard. He also smelled strongly of alcohol and sweat. It was difficult to place his age. He could have been anywhere from thirty to fifty.
“This is Ellis,” Lena said brightly, and then she swept her hand out to each of us in turn. “Ellis, these are my friends, Gabriel, Aerin, Lavinia, and Maruk.”
Ellis grunted.
I wasn’t sure how to respond to that, but Lena wasn’t discouraged in the slightest.
“Like I said,” the honey-haired elf went on, “my friends and I need to get some bark and sap from the tree in your yard to repair our wagons. We didn’t mean to bother you, and we’d be happy to pay for what we take.”
“Would we?” Aerin started, but Lavinia elbowed her in the ribs.
Ellis looked unimpressed. He blinked slowly and looked us over again, then dragged his gaze around the small cabin. At first I wasn’t sure he was going to respond at all, but finally, he turned back to us and spoke in a voice hoarse from disuse.
“You know what that tree is?”
The way he asked, I guessed the answer Ellis was looking for wasn’t “live oak.” It had to be something special, more special than Uriel had made it out to be, anyway, but a quick glance to the others told me they were at just as much of a loss as I was.
Apparently, Ellis could tell we didn’t follow, because he answered his own question a moment later.
“That tree is special,” he said firmly. “It protects me
from the bandits and the gryphons and the wisps.”
“If the tree protects you, why do you need the catapults?” Maruk muttered under his breath, but if Ellis heard him, he paid him no mind.
“Now I can’t just let some strangers mosey on up here and start lopping off branches of my protection tree, can I?” the elf demanded.
At first, none of us responded to what we expected was a rhetorical question, but finally, Lena answered.
“I suppose not,” she said solemnly, “and I understand your concern, believe me, I do, but we don’t mean to cause you any trouble. We’ll pay whatever you believe is fair compensation for what we need to take to fix our wagons.”
“Now what exactly do you expect I’m gonna do with your money?” he asked. “Buy carrion from the buzzards?”
“Well, if you don’t want it--” Aerin started again, but I cut her off.
“We need that bark,” I explained. “If we can’t repair our wagons, our caravan can’t leave. If you don’t want money, maybe there’s something we could trade for it.”
Ellis turned his gaze on me and stared for several long moments, his mouth twisted up in an annoyed sort of frown. I wondered which aspect of my argument appealed to him more, the prospect we might never leave if we didn’t get the materials we needed, or the idea that we had something worth trading.
"I suppose there’s something you could do,” he said at last as he scratched his stubbly chin. “Something of mine was stolen a couple nights back. If you can get it back for me, I’ll let you take what you need from my tree."
“No problem,” I answered.
The elf barked a harsh chuckle.
“I wouldn’t say that.”
“Why not?” I asked with a frown.
“More’n likely,” Ellis said, “you’re all gonna die.”
Chapter 7
“Oh, forget this!” Lavinia growled. “Let’s just take what we need. This guy’s an asshole, he’s not worth our time.”
Ellis’s sleepy eyes shot open, and he jabbed his finger out at Lavinia.