by P. G. Thomas
“NO! We need to be subtle, no drastic actions, as he doesn’t know that were looking at him. If you do something extreme, Zymse might rabbit, meaning that we might never find him. We primarily want to observe him in a natural way, at best, keep him distracted. If anybody does something that he can relate to, like a Bastard with Sister’s gift burning down one of his buildings, he could vanish like smoke. You have to remember that were looking for triplets, not just one child.” Steve continued to point out the remaining four properties. “The good news is they’re almost in a straight line, not spread out over the four corners, but it could take hours to get from one to the next. Since we won’t be able to clean all of those streets, we’ll need a better plan.”
Mirtza scanned the group, “Without somebody from Darkpaye with us, they will follow us everywhere. If they even let us across at all.”
He nodded, “I know.”
“There are many over there,” began Panry, “perchance we can borrow one?”
“I said nothing to bring any attention to us!” protested Steve.
“What happens if we could find somebody willing?” asked Ryan. [Deception requested. Review visual references. Select applicable.] His features and clothes began to alter, his hair grew longer, his facial features also changing. The fabric of his clothes became more expensive, as a black sash formed across his body with a veil over his lower face.
They all took a step back, especially Jasmine.
Mirtza nodded, “It looks good, but not black, it should be gray.”
Then the colors of his clothes changed before them, “With me in the back of the carriage, they should leave us alone.”
“Okay, Kid, you’ll be our decoy. With me pretending to be his manservant, Mirtza will drive the carriage.”
“I will go with you,” advised Panry.
“It might be a little hard to explain what your role is,” warned Steve.
“Not any shall see or question my presence.”
*******
When the first sun started to rise, Sam nudged Hope into an abandoned shed, as he looked back to the alpha female they had followed for two nights. How much longer? Never answering his thoughts, she just turned to the west. Sam thought back to their confusing journey that night, which had brought them to their current destination, but if not for the suns rising in the east, he would have no idea what direction she faced.
*******
At first light, a carriage guided by Mirtza had headed out, hoping to make it to their final destination of Zymse residence before dark. Inside were Panry, Steve, and Ryan who had morphed into a privileged Darkpaye.
In the stables, Jasmine held open the door for the six Guardians and blood wolves, followed by the Ironhouse Earth Mother with her brother.
“How was your talk with the Guardians last night?” asked Lauren.
“Not well. When he does not speak, even though I pleaded with him, I sought out Earth Mother, and he explained them to me. Should I be honest, I both do and do not understand your Guardians that protect you, but as it is an honor quest, I shall not interfere with such.”
As Jasmine headed to her stag, Lauren watched Gayne head out with John, who was going to the school to examine the root, with his Earth Guard following behind them.
*******
With Mirtza guiding the carriage towards the Key River, Steve was the only one concerned that they were about to be challenged like never before. That morning, Gayne had provided him with less than respectable clothing, giving him the appearance of a Calicon underprivileged in the employment of a Darkpaye master. Even though Steve felt confident that both he and Ryan would pass the test, the same was not extended to Panry, the elf sitting inside the dark carriage. Wondering how they could explain that presence, in the hour it took to travel to the Key, Steve pleaded with both to conjure a believable story. Ryan, having told him to trust the Earth Guard, was now quiet, and Panry had no interest in the conversation. Feeling the familiar cobblestones of the bridge resonate inside the carriage, Steve, seeing Panry pull his cloak over his head, began to check his weapons, and then he felt the carriage stop.
When Ryan heard a knock outside his window, they both raised their shades, staring at the Darkpaye Watch member who scanned the inside. Before the guard could ask any questions, he looked away, simply stating, “My manservant. Now leave us alone.”
Seeing the guard step away, Mirtza smacked the reins, making the horses proceed down the street. Inside, the occupants raised the remaining shades that covered the windows.
Steve turned to Panry, noticing the cloak was no longer a camouflaged green pattern, but was black instead, “Why didn’t he see you?”
“My robe blends with the shadows. Even though you do know that I am here, he does not, so it robs his vision of my presence.”
Once in the Darkpaye territory, they noticed the Academy by the river, and after several blocks, saw the second property owned by Zymse, so Mirtza guided them to a major street, allowing them to increase their speed.
*******
Eric watched from the carriage bench, and inside Logan, the guardians, and blood wolves did the same, as Lauren wandered through the garden she had planted, followed by her three Earth Guards. When she returned, she looked at Eric. “My garden is dying, and without it, the Earth Daughters won’t be able to help those who suffer. Worse yet, they’ll be unable to tell them about Mother. While I’ve given it a boost, it won’t last long.”
Nodding, he had also seen how much shorter the staff was. “What about that forest we found on the outskirts. Can we cure it? If Mother’s magic is still there, then the plants should grow, shouldn’t they?”
She nodded, “I thought of that, but it’s so far away. How would they get to it?”
“It’s a shame we don’t know somebody who can create portal bracelets.”
“I think that concussion may have actually made you smarter.”
*******
Late that night, the four were still on their scouting mission, so after the rest finished their meal, Lauren walked over to Gayne, asking quietly to speak with him in private.
Leading her to his study, he closed the door, “What would Earth Mother like?”
“Portal bracelets. The garden I planted is dying. My Earth Daughters need the gifts of Mother, but the distance—only your magic will allow them to harvest the gifts that I plant on the outskirts, so they can transplant my hope to those who suffer in the heart of the Bright Coast.”
“I will have my students start your request tomorrow,” advised Gayne.
It was several hours later when the portal opened. With a heightened excitement to explain what they had observed, the four quickly ate their cold meal, before heading into the study. Two servants carrying a selection of beverages followed, and when all had a fresh drink, Steve walked over to the map spread out on the floor. “This is his Academy, which is right on the edge of the Key, but there was nobody there when we arrived. Objective number two is a, well, from what we could see, it looks like to be a brothel. I don’t know if he owns it or is just leasing it, but from the decorations in front, those girls could only be selling—how did you describe it Panry?”
“Pleasures intimate.”
Then he pointed to the third building, “I don’t know what to make of this one. Two stories tall, stone, boarded up doors and windows. There were two guys out front trying to blend in, trying too hard, as they were armed and guarding it.”
“As it does be plain, I think it has no value,” added Panry.
“That’s the best way not to draw attention to it,” then Steve pointed to the next. “I think Zymse may have sold this one, as it’s a rundown animal shelter of some kind. When I went inside, they had stray dogs, a few wild animals like raccoons and squirrels. The guy in the shop said the wild animals were injured, which would be released when healed, and the others they were trying to find homes for. Strange thing, he wanted to make sure I wasn’t a butcher.”
Mirtza sighed, “
Good meat is expensive in the Bright Coast.”
Everybody turned to look at Gayne, “I only buy from the best butchers!”
Steve nodded, “Nobody ever said you didn’t. Like I said, I don’t think we need to concentrate on these two, as this entire section of town was run down, more or less. Mainly abandoned houses with few people out, but it took most of the day to get to the last two. The first one was a huge stone building, being four stories tall, that seemed abandoned, so I don’t think we need to concentrate on it either. As the second sun began to set, we arrived at objective number one.” He pointed to the farthest mark on the map. “It’s like the tax records said: huge, walls twenty feet high, and manned by a severe looking security force. I’m not even sure if we’ll be able to gain access.” Then he turned to Panry standing beside him, remembering the unseen obvious elf in the carriage. “These are the primary points of interest. With Ryan shaped like a Darkpaye privileged immigrant, we can travel where we want.”
“What about Sam and Hope?” asked Lauren.
“They seem to have the smarts, which they probably got from their mother,” advised Steve, “and with his abilities, I say we give them another week. Let’s face it, there’s no way we can track them.”
Lauren was shaking her head, “We’ll wait a few days because I’m uncertain about waiting a week, but how do we find my babies?”
“The last time I was on the job, we used satellites, drones, and occasionally we would embed somebody in deep cover.”
Panry tilted his head, “Stalactites and bees, how do they help?”
“Bed with covers deep? That does not make sense,” added Jasmine.
“Umm, we watched them with special eyes, or we would have somebody join them, like the spies in Alron,” advised Steve.
Ryan wrapped his arm around Lauren. “How’s this going to help us find our daughters?”
“Look, the original plan is still the same. We help to heal Mother, which means fixing the forests to make her children talk to her. You do remember the forest? Since we know that Mother can find them, we help her. This is only to acquire more information since it’ll give us some power. If we can find where all three are, we might be able to do something, but he knows magic. At the right time, we might be able to smoke him out.”
“Please, provide a better explanation,” requested Jasmine.
“In the past, I’ve set buildings on fire to make the bad guys come out, or to end their—well, it usually works. Here if that happens, he could portal away. If we observe him, we might be able to find a weakness that we can exploit. A servant that might turn on him, an underpaid guard, maybe gain access into his fort, or similar. Even though there are a number of possibilities that we need to keep our eyes open for, let me stress this one more time; Mother is our number one objective. When she wakes, I’m willing to bet she can tell us where all three are,” I hope. God, what I would do for one single satellite. Sorry, Tranquil, Fury, but I’ll trade tech for faith any day of the week.
*******
Steve’s blood coursed with adrenaline from the day’s activities, like when he was in the service. Remembering John offering to get more wine, which seemed like hours ago, he headed down to the wine cellar. In a room at the bottom of the stairs, he saw John sitting at a workbench lit by two candles, moving various items on the surface in front of him. “Mono chess?”
John jerked his head to the side, “What?”
“Are you playing chess with yourself?”
“No—I just needed some time alone.”
Then Steve looked around the room, feeling a twinge of pain from his knee, “It feels like I’ve been here before.”
“What do you mean?”
“Feels like déjà vu.”
John shook his head, “First time I’ve ever been down here.”
“There have been other times when somebody said something that I was just about to say, or they answer a question, but I don’t remember asking it. While this all seems strange even for this world, I keep having feelings that I’ve been here before, which doesn’t seem possible.”
John shrugged his shoulders, “The only phenomena to explain that would be reincarnation, where the memories of a previous life are transferred from one life presence to the next. Like upgrading your computer, but putting the old hard drive into the new shell. From what I understand, those memories would need to be significant, like a life-ending event, something extremely substantial for the memory transference. Since it’s not a real science, I can’t add much more.” Then he headed up the stairs.
Steve stood in silence in the deserted workshop, turned to the north wall thinking he would see a set of stairs leading to the outside, but only saw the stone foundation.
*******
While the moon was bright, the shadows were dark, and Sam with Hope were tired. They had continued to follow the mixed breed for the third night, hoping she had something to show them. When they rounded a corner, Hope’s ears perked up when she ran across the street, and on the other side, she started to sniff a set of large iron-clad wooden doors. While the scent had also caught Sam’s interest, who had followed his sister, when he looked back, he saw the female dog sitting on her haunches, facing what he hoped was west. Forcing himself between the building and his sister, he compelled her to continue their journey, but on the other side, he took several seconds to memorize the scents, as he knew they would have to return.
Chapter 4
The next morning, Gayne with John donned their rain gear before taking the uncovered wagon to the school, as they had discussed the night before. Then Mirtza materialized a second before Jasmine’s eyes, which Ryan disguised like a privileged Darkpaye resident entered. He was followed by Steve, who had plans to observe the two closest properties this day, and Panry. While still in disbelief, Jasmine waited for Eric to arrive, watching while he materialized a third, as today Earth Mother had advised they would visit one of Mother’s forests, so she was looking forward to being in a familiar setting.
*******
Looking at the root, John walked up to the chalkboard, drawing a large square on it, he wrote ‘internet’ at the top. Inside of it, he drew two long rectangles, adding question above the first and answer above the second. In the first box, he inserted ‘how to kill a fungus,’ then waited a few seconds, adding ‘H2O2’ into the second. God, I miss technology. After erasing the silly drawing, he wrote the complicated process required to make the simple element. Retrieving a beaker of water, he looked at the chalkboard and then to the water. All of that just to add an oxygen molecule to another, which has already bonded with two hydrogen atoms. On a different board, he drew a replica of the map Gayne had shown them of Calicon, marking on the three special forests that he knew of: the Bright Coast, the once covered forest, and in Alron. “If it was just one forest, I might stand a chance, but Tranquil said they all started dying. We don’t even know where the rest are, so even if I find a solution, the delivery method will be the obstacle. First things first, John, just like Steve said, concentrate on the root.” He pulled his first cloak out of the satchel, pushed his arms through the sleeves, accepting the heavy weight. “In Alron, you changed gold into lead, which was just simple molecular subtraction, so do the reverse.” He formed the images of the two atomic structures in his mind: water and hydrogen peroxide. He then concentrated for twenty minutes, adding the desired elements to the contents of the beaker. When done, he poured the liquid into the pan, being unsure if he was feeding or killing it. After twenty minutes of doing nothing, he headed down to his machine and started to strip off some of the larger damaged components.
*******
The first sun setting as the carriage pulled up to the forest on the outskirts of the Bright Coast with the storm displaying its fury overhead. Eric pulled his raincoat tight, jumped from the driver’s seat, and adjusted the long sword.
Then he opened the door for Lauren, who with her cape tightly secured stepped from the carriage, setting the end of the
staff into the mud. Find me the heart of the yellow root.
While Eric watched, Jasmine, Silmon, and Jacping dismounted from their stags. Their elven cloaks helping to shield the rain from their bodies but not their faces. The Guardians had also disembarked from the carriage, mounted their blood wolves, forming a perimeter around the small group. Even though the six were absent of clothing to protect themselves from the elements, they showed no signs of discomfort.
Eric coughed, pulling his hood down over his eyes. “How’re you going to kill it?”
“I’m not, you are,” replied Lauren. “Mother’s magic is for giving life, as the bounty of death belongs to Father.”
“Okay, so how am I going to kill it?”
She started to walk into the forest, “Like anything, were going to stab it in the heart.” Concentrating on the image supplied by the staff of the corrupting root, the others followed Lauren who headed deeper into the wet forest
“Champion, I do nto like this,” advised Jasmine. “If I realized the forest was so large, more Earth Guard I would suggest we bring.”
“Call me Eric.” Then he scanned the terrain, as the dark clouds consumed the remaining light, nodded, “Well, were here now.”
“I shall talk with Earth Mother, advising her that my council she needs to consider before such trips.”
“Yeah, let me know how that goes.”
Walking across the wet leaves on the ground, Lauren headed deeper into the forest, but the farther she went into it, the darker it became. Then, from her staff, a soft white illumination began to glow, showing the path she made to all. They followed for thirty minutes, as cold rain found every opportunity to rob them of their body heat, running down their backs, matting down their hair, and finding every hole in their garments meant to repel it.
When Lauren finally stopped, lightning exploding overhead showed the group an unusual spectacle. Numerous tall trees, all dead, circled the clearing. Even though the ground was dirt, as not even plants grew here, in the center, hundreds of small yellow stems protruded from the earth, each having an odd flower-like appearance. Walking to the middle, with her boot, she scraped away the wet dirt to expose a large piece of the yellow root. “This is its heart, the center.”