Winking to Gareth, Lyndra turned a speculative look to Chiu. “So that’s where you got those noises you were making the other night.”
Chiu’s head snapped up, her face flaming as she glared at the other woman. “You… you…” Gareth was making choking sounds and Captain Athan was having great difficulty not laughing aloud. Chiu’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “I’ll get even.”
Gareth cleared his throat. “So, do you know where we can hire a few horses?”
Chiu gave Lyndra a last hard glare before turning. “There just happens to be a stable behind this inn where we can get horses. We can leave tomorrow morning, if you like, but until then I need to shop for some new clothes.” Turning her head fractionally, she raised a single eyebrow as she glanced at Lyndra. “Coming?”
It had been raining, and the hooves of the horses made hollow sucking sounds as they plodded over the soupy countryside. Cattails brushed Gareth’s legs, leaving wispy trails of yellow pollen wherever they touched, and the air smelled of rotten vegetation. A chill ran up his spine and he pulled the collar of his warm coat up a little higher. It certainly wasn’t the day to go exploring, but he wouldn’t be the one to gainsay Chiu so they slogged on through the oily stinky mud.
Two hours later, when Gareth was about to say enough is enough, Chiu stopped and turned. “This is the place.” Gareth shuddered, and when Lyndra was about to make a scathing comment, shook his head to indicate that she should keep her mouth shut and her comments to herself.
Looking around, his brows furrowed. “I don’t see any sort of a shelter. Where did you sleep?”
Although she didn’t look up, her hand pointed. “There.” Gareth studied the head-high pile of refuse. “There’s a big flat rock under that pile, and there’s a small hollow under the rock. The water drained away quite well… most of the time.” Her laugh was bitter. “The witch found me one day very much like this, when my hole had filled up with mud.” Lyndra was staring at the other woman, all trace of derision gone from her face to be replaced with dawning horror. “A few months later, when she’d managed to clean me up a little, I met Gareth.”
“You lived there for how long?” Lyndra asked, managing to sound both amazed and horrified.
“Six months or a year. I lost track of time.” Chiu shrugged as she sat slumped in her saddle.
“Unless there is some pressing reason to stay, I think we’ve seen enough of your former home.”
“I’ve seen enough.” Both Chiu and Lyndra whispered at exactly the same time.
Eight days later the five companions, along with Captain Athan, were all able to move back into the restored Arrow; Kuan excited, his arms full of maps and Wokeg plodding, saying nothing. During the day dockworkers swarmed over the masts and rigging, replacing anything that might look worn or frayed, while on the deck more workers sanded, stained and polished woodwork until it glowed. Over all this confusion Captain Athan stood watching from the quarterdeck, arms crossed on his chest, a look of vague contempt on his face. One evening when the ship was free from workers and they were standing at the deserted taffrail, he admitted to Gareth that the scowl was simply a fiction used to keep the workers busy, if not scared.
In a distant building lit by candles or oil lamps, a woman laughed. The night sky was clear, and a warm breeze blew out of the south. The ship was secured, lines neatly flaked on the deck, new sails furled neatly. Below decks Gareth could hear the murmur of voices from the old and new crew at their dinners. A scent of tar, paint and wax mixed comfortably with the aroma of the sea. With Chiu at his side he looked over to Captain Athan.
“Set sail in the morning then?”
The tall captain sniffed the air, as if he could tell what the weather would be solely by smell. “We’ll set out at first light.” He confirmed. “The journey should be swift… ten days I expect. The local weather predictor said we’ll have two weeks of clear sailing.” Athan’s yellow teeth glinted in the moonlight. “What could possibly go wrong?”
Chapter 6
MISTAKES
Wokeg had been standing silently by the railing staring at the green woods and towering peaks of the Island of Iystrichi since they had first come into view two days before.
Lyndra touched Gareth’s shoulder as she cast a worried glance at her friend. “What’s he waiting for, a reception committee to come out to meet him?”
“I really don’t know, Lyndra, and I suspect neither does he. That’s the problem.” He stopped for a moment to listen to the high-pitched laughter from Kuan as he diced with one sailor or another. THAT was one person, Gareth mused, who didn’t let minor things like the end of all life slow him down. “I spoke with him about his concerns, and was told to mind my own business. He has every intention of heading out, by himself, as soon as we land.” Lyndra opened her mouth, but Gareth cut her off. “The answer is no. You will not follow him as a wolf. For all you know ogres have a keener sense of smell than a wolf, and would smell you coming a mile away. One person in danger is too many, and I will not see you run headlong into trouble in a strange land.”
“But…”
“No! I can’t say no to Wokeg, but I damned well will say no to you. If you try to sneak out Chiu and I will track you down, find you, bring you back and tie you to the mainmast.”
“That’s not fair, and anyway, how do you know Chiu would do that?” Lyndra said angrily.
“I’m not trying to be fair Lyndra, and I’m speaking with Chiu at this moment.” His grin was chilly. “It’s one of the benefits of having her as my familiar.”
Lyndra’s face was red with anger, contrasting nicely with her hair when suddenly her eyes went wide, and the flush turned to pallor. “You’re not saying this because you’re mad, you’re saying this because you really do care what happens to me.” Her gaze slid over to Chiu who had just come up on deck to stand beside Gareth. “Both of you.”
Chiu put her arms about the other woman’s shoulders. “Of course we do, silly.” She gave Gareth a wink as she led the suddenly sniffling Lyndra below decks. Watching them leave, Gareth wished handling Wokeg could be so easy.
The south facing harbor on the very end of the Island of Iystrichi was a deep seven kilometer bowl surrounded by forests. A gentle breeze that smelled of pine trees wafted across the water, and on the northern side of the harbor Gareth could see where buildings, docks and a vast city had once stood. All that remained now were crumbling fingers of black stone poking out into the still harbor and the scattered odd section of a standing wall. Beside him Chiu bit her lip.
“It doesn’t look like time forgot this place.” Her voice was flat.
“I agree.” Gareth commented sourly. “But we still have to look around. There are two cities left after this.” He winced in his mind when he remembered that, according to Murphy’s Laws, the correct choice in any given situation will be the last possible choice available. He sincerely hoped that it wasn’t so.
In an unknown land, Gareth recommended that the Arrow anchor at least a full cable from the moldering jetty, and in this case Captain Athan agreed that prudence was called for. Gareth, Wokeg, Lyndra, and Chiu sat unspeaking as the seamen rowed the long cutter ashore. Gareth was the first to step onto the heavily graveled beach, his hand on the butt of the Colt. Behind him Wokeg stepped ashore, and sniffed the air speculatively.
“I would recommend that you wait until you are more concealed before you change back into your ogre form. We have several new seamen who might get… excited.” Wokeg’s face could have been carved from stone. “Would you like to borrow the kukri?” He asked softly.
Wokeg frowned. “I don’t think so. I don’t want anything that might smell foreign to the other ogres. I’ll use a nice tree branch.”
Gareth sighed, knowing that he couldn’t delay Wokeg anymore. “Be careful, and remember that you always have a home here, with us.”
He saw Wokeg swallow and waver just for a moment. A raucous bird called from the dense woods, and they both turned. “I will be f
ine, Gareth.” Wokeg said slowly. “After all, I’m going home.”
Gareth clapped him on the shoulder and Chiu gave him a quick kiss on the cheek while Lyndra kissed the other. Wokeg turned, and in a half dozen steps had vanished into the woods. Gareth sighed and glanced up as the second boat ground to the beach. “Leave three or four men here to guard the boats.” He said flatly to Flibby Fallapadax, the stocky First Mate. Then he pointed to a sheltered spot close to the rocky jetty and within running distance of the boats. “Set up a camp there. We’ll be back in a while.” The man just nodded dubiously, and turned to another seaman. Gareth picked up his battered rucksack and slung it over his shoulder. “We need eyes in the sky for this.” He said to Chiu. “We also don’t know what to expect. Be careful.” Without you, he continued mind to mind, this whole crazy expedition would grind to a stop.
That doesn’t put too much pressure on me does it?
Nice attempt at humor. Gareth growled in his thoughts.
Chiu gave him a quick kiss and turned for the woods, adjusting her pack as she walked. A moment later a small hawk darted out of the woods and toward the ruined city. Gareth and Lyndra followed at a slightly slower pace. For thirty minutes they pushed their way through dense brush and thorny bushes, when Gareth suddenly stopped. “What the bloody hell.” He said aloud to no one in particular. “Why are we walking on two legs?”
Lyndra wiped a drop of sweat off her nose. “I thought that it might be some obscure religious ritual.” She said straight faced.
“Yuk it up, blondie.” Gareth sighed, beginning to picture the sabertooth cat in his mind.
Before you go that far… The voice of Chiu said in his mind, from her position on a branch fifteen meters above his head. you might like to know that we aren’t alone. There are two separate parties scouting this ruin, but they aren’t together and that’s strange. I would say that they are trying very hard not to be seen by each other.
That’s all we need. Gareth grumbled. To be caught in an intramural squabble.
That’s not the only thing. Chiu continued. One party is traveling with light swift horses, with silver chased tack. The other party has a single riding horse and a single pack horse. Both are designed to handle heavy weights.
Two separate species maybe?
Maybe. Chiu said doubtfully. I seem to remember stories I heard while living in the marsh about hostilities between the dwarves and the elves, but I didn’t pay it much mind. It wouldn’t keep me warm and I couldn’t eat it.
You have dwarves and elves in this insane asylum? Gareth gave an audible groan.
“What is it?” Lyndra murmured, looking at Gareth with some concern.
“We have got to get this fixed right now!” He growled, stepping away from Lyndra. “Athena, is there any way that Lyndra can be my familiar also? I need her to be able to hear my thoughts, as well as Chiu’s.”
From the corner of his eye he caught sight of Chiu dropping from the tree, morphing as she fell to land as a woman beside him. Her eyes were wild. “Gareth!” She pulled his arm. “That just isn’t done! It’s expressly forbidden in fact.”
Gareth was furious “Why?”
Chiu stopped and blinked. “Well… I… It just is.” She stammered. Lyndra was standing rigid, her mouth hanging open, and Gareth rounded on the blond.
“If we can do this thing,” he said in a level voice, “would you be willing to share your thoughts with us, and in turn share ours?”
Lyndra’s eyes got very wide, and she swallowed. “Do I get any privacy at all?” She asked in a small voice.
“Chiu taught me how to block my thoughts from others. I can show you, if you wish.” Gareth replied gently. “In time you may find, like I did, that you don’t need to hide anything.” He laughed. “If Chiu can stand what I have in my mind, so can you.” He took her hand. “Just remember this, there is no going back.”
“It’s like stepping off a cliff.” Chiu muttered with a teasing grin on her face.
Gareth gave the dark-haired woman a glare. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” Chiu’s smile widened.
“Yes.” Lyndra said after only a moment’s more hesitation.
“Good.” A voice from the air that Gareth recognized as Athena said briskly. “You will all have to come here, I think, in order to do it right. I haven’t done a three-way in centuries.”
“You’ve done them before?” Chiu asked softly.
“Oh yes.” The three were suddenly in the plain featureless white room, and Lyndra gave a little squeak of fear. “Three-ways were all the rage for a while among humans, and fours and fives.” Athena said stepping forward. “As is usually the case with humans, politics got involved. One person who couldn’t have any familiars pushed to have familiar pairings banned altogether. The political parties compromised at one.”
“And what happened to those who were already paired?” Chiu asked in a voice that said she didn’t really want to hear the answer.
“The central person and all the familiars were lobotomized. It was considered kinder than picking one or two familiars to eliminate.”
Chiu went pale and Gareth quickly took her hand. “Thanks.” He said to Athena with a glower.
“But she asked.” Athena frowned.
“You have the tact of a main battle tank, Athena.” He growled. “Just because she asked doesn’t mean she should hear.”
“It does too” Chiu blurted.
“Hush!” Gareth hissed. “I’m having an argument here, and it does NOT.” He took a deep breath and counted to a hundred in German, just to get his heart rate down. It was about then that he noticed Athena giving him a long speculative look. “What??”
“Ohhh, nothing.” Her smile was mysterious. “Why don’t you three just take off your packs and sit down over there.” She waved a hand at three comfortable looking recliners set in a circle facing each other. “You’ll find a bottle of water next to the chair if you’re thirsty.” Gareth frowned. He’d been about to ask for that very thing. Setting the rucksack on the floor, along with his weapons, Gareth drained half the water and then sat back. For some reason the room seemed to be getting dimmer, but it didn’t bother him as he relaxed further. It might have been his imagination, but he could hear Chiu’s distant train of thought, and if he concentrated on it, Lyndra’s also.
Turning his head, he gave her a sleepy look. It’s all right, Lyndra. Athena likes to be melodramatic. He never considered whether or not the blond woman could hear his thought.
Thank you. Came back to him dimly from Lyndra, and then the emerald eyes closed.
In his mind he could feel her heartbeat, and Chiu’s, and his own. Soon all three were beating with a single rhythm. Gareth slept.
Something squawked nearby, and his eyes snapped open. The grass he lay on was soft and dry, and for some reason smelled freshly mowed. The smell brought back pleasant memories of hot summer evenings after mowing the grass, and sipping iced tea with his parents on the porch of the sprawling waterfront house in Crisfield Maryland, overlooking the Chesapeake Bay. It was all so long ago, but he could still see the eleven meter Pearson 365 Ketch they’d named the Venture II rocking gently at the dock, and feel his building excitement at the upcoming sail.
Mmmmm. Those are nice memories. Lyndra’s thought was soft as a feather in his mind.
More please. Came from Chiu. He would know the flavor of her thoughts in his sleep. In his half doze his thoughts drifted to his youth, and sailing in the wide bay with his father. His mother had hated the water, and much preferred spending her time in Macy’s. Thoughts of dolphins swam through his recollections, and shrimpburgers piled with fresh coleslaw at the local diner. He purposely cut the memories short before they turned grim and filled with death.
But what happened to all that? It felt like a door just closed in your mind. It was Lyndra again, and Gareth decided that she deserved an answer.
To put it in a nutshell… my father died in a senseless accident, and my mother fel
l into the bottle. I packed up all my aggressions, and joined the marines. After that Mom’s social drinking became serious. She died while I was deployed. I drifted from one war to another. He chuckled sadly. I came home once, visited my parent’s graves, and got blindingly drunk. I woke up with a hell of a hangover, and a new wife. I’m not sure which was worse, but the hangover did get better. A few months later I was blown up, lost a leg and an eye and got home to find out that my wife had taken everything else. I gave up. That’s when Athena found me. He adjusted the pack on his shoulders. “Where did those other parties enter the city?”
Chiu adjusted her own pack and looked around. “Through there, I think.” She said, pointing.
Pushing through the dense underbrush, Gareth was the first to stumble on the thirty meter dome shaped mound of debris. Clearing away a section, he discovered glass beneath; incredibly strong shatterproof glass, as he found after several futile hits with a heavy rock. He hesitated to use the Colt, for fear of alerting everything within ten kilometers to their presence.
Walking around the dome, they found a small personnel door on the side that had been dug out, and then battered open with a sledge, which was still sitting in the dirt beside the much dented door. Gareth grunted when he picked the tool up, guessing the weight at seven kilograms, which gave him a rough idea of the owner’s stature, since human sledgehammers usually weighed no more than four.
The inside of the dome was lit with the dim outside light. A rope had been slung around the open door and descended to the shadowy floor ten meters below. Gareth could see where the entry platform had existed at one time, but platform and stairs had long since succumbed to the ravages of time. As the door’s opener must have done, Gareth took the rope and slid to the floor. Debris crunched under his feet, and along the walls he could see streaks where the seals at the edge of the glass dome had begun to leak. The air smelled damp and moldy.
This is probably far enough for our human forms. Chiu commented wryly. The cats and the wolf can see better and move more silently.
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