by Kay L. Ling
“And you wisely saved it for a special day,” Elias said, charitable as always. “Today we’ll reach Last Hope and Corrustown.”
Ben and Tina Ann were already on the supply cart ready to go.
“Can I drive?” Kaff asked hopefully. When Parcune needed a break, Jules or Elias always took over.
“Do you know how?” Parcune asked.
“Well no, but it can’t be that hard.”
“I beg to differ,” Parcune said. “It takes skill and training.” He cast an annoyed looked at Elias and Jules, clearly hoping they’d veto the idea.
“It’s up to you, Parcune,” Elias said. “You’d be the one teaching him. But I think it might be helpful to have another driver.”
Parcune looked stricken, and Jules supposed that if he were Parcune, he’d feel the same way. It was annoying to cater to someone half your age who looked down on you. Kaff had made several remarks about Parcune’s lack of gem powers and clearly considered him excess baggage. But, Jules thought with a smirk, Parcune was an excellent driver, and here was an opportunity for him to demonstrate his superiority.
This must have occurred to Parcune at the same moment because he got a devious glint in his eye, and his face stretched in a slow smile. “All right, then,” he said, slapping Kaff on the back so hard the lad stumbled forward. “I’ll be at your side, pointing out your mistakes, so you can’t get into too much trouble. And if something should go awry, as it often does with inexperienced drivers, I’ll be there to take the reins.”
Kaff made a disgusted noise. “I’ll be fine. After all, Ben drives, and he’s just a breghlin.” He started to the cart with Parcune on his heels.
To Jules’s surprise, Parcune—no breghlin lover himself—came to Ben’s defense. “Breghlin are remarkably coordinated, for all their awkward appearance. Ben shot a bird with a crossbow the other day.” Jules was sure it pained Parcune to admit that Ben was a good hunter. “And I’ve seen furniture they’ve made that I’d be pleased to own.”
The conversation ended abruptly as they approached the supply cart, but Jules could tell by the surprised look on Ben’s face that he’d heard Parcune’s kind words.
Kaff beat Parcune to the passenger cart and seated himself on the driver’s box.
Elias said to Parcune, “After a couple hours, Jules or I will take a turn and give you both a break,” to which Parcune stared stonily back and said nothing.
“I hope I won’t be sorry I let Kaff drive,” Elias whispered to Jules as they climbed into the back.
The cart lurched forward and Parcune cried, “Easy now! Hold the reins like so.”
Jules shot Elias a nervous grin.
Morodin was right. Little remained of the village of Corrustown. The road was clear of trees and brush since workers needed to transport corrustone from the mines. Everywhere else, weeds, scrub brush, vines, and trees had taken over.
The fact that anything remained was a testament to gnome building skills, Jules thought sadly as he surveyed the structures. The buildings had been made of pitch-coated timbers and dry-stacked stone, so there was no mortar to crumble away. Roofs were long gone, and the frameless window openings were like baleful eyes watching for gnomes who never returned.
The blight had taken its toll here. There were more dead trees than living, and gnarled vines encircled living trees in a strangling embrace.
“I suppose this was the main road, and these may have been commercial buildings,” Elias said as they crossed the deserted road. “Over there, the structures look smaller and may have been residences.” He pointed through the trees where portions of stone walls peeked through the greenery.
Jules tried to imagine what this village had looked like in its prime. Most of the stone and timber buildings on this street had two stories. Shop owners may have lived over their stores.
“I’m ready to start exploring,” said an eager voice behind them. “Are we going to split up or stay together?”
Jules and Elias turned to see Kaff leaning on a shovel. Parcune held a pick in one hand and a shovel in the other.
“We can cover more ground if we split up,” Parcune said, perhaps hoping to get away from Kaff.
“Me an’ Tina Ann can look for caves while you look aroun’ here,” Ben suggested. Tina Ann, who held a lantern, nodded in agreement.
“I’m going with Elias,” Kaff announced.
Jules tried not to laugh at Elias’s sour expression.
“I guess that leaves us as partners,” Parcune said to Jules. “Unless you’d rather go alone.”
“Of course not. I’ll get a few things from the cart and then we’ll go.”
Jules retrieved his backpack, journal, and lightgems, checked to make sure he had the Challengers blade, and started back. He found Parcune staring after Elias and Kaff who were walking toward one of the more intact buildings.
“If they find anything, we’ll never hear the end of it,” Parcune grumbled. “The lad is insufferable now.”
Jules gave him a friendly clap on the back. “If there’s anything worth finding, we’ll make sure we’re the ones to find it. Let start over there—those smaller buildings through the trees.”
Parcune had a hard time keeping up with Jules’s long strides, especially since he was carrying tools. As soon as they left the main road and started through the woods, both had to go slower. The uneven ground was treacherous, and there were rocks among the weeds. There had been roads here once but it was hard to tell now.
Sweeping branches aside, they pushed their way toward the buildings.
“This is probably a waste of time,” Parcune said. “Gnomes and breghlin have been poking around here for a couple centuries. And S probably confiscated anything worth having during the Great Upheaval.”
Jules ducked under a low-hanging tree limb. “Back then, gnomes knew how to make concealment wards, judging by the hidden room in the castle, so she might not have found everything.”
“But most gnomes didn’t have gem powers. And wards are no good against fires. S burned down plenty of Tree Homes and villages, according to the legends.”
“A ledge or a crevice in a cave would make an ideal hiding place, especially if it was warded.”
Parcune kicked a fallen branch aside. “Yes, we should have gone there instead of Ben and Tina Ann. If Kaff is right, it’ll take gem powers to find what others missed.”
Jules smiled. “Now and then Kaff makes a valid point.”
“If we don’t find anything around these buildings, let’s go look for the caves. I’d like to see if—” Parcune stumbled over a rock in the weeds, which proved to be fortuitous. It saved him from falling into remains of an old foundation a few feet ahead that had been hidden from view by the weeds. “That was a close call,” Parcune panted. “Nearly went headfirst into this cellar.”
Jules felt a wave of relief. They might both have fallen in.
“I’ll climb down and poke around a bit,” Parcune volunteered, regaining his composure. He handed Jules the shovel, swept weeds and brush aside, and sat down on the remains of the foundation wall to assess the situation. “Looks safe enough,” he concluded and pushed off, landing on a layer of leaves and twigs about three feet below.
Jules handed him the shovel.
“No stone under here, just dirt,” Parcune announced, probing with the shovel. He spent a few minutes shoveling forest debris aside so he could examine the ground beneath. “There’s not as much as a piece of broken pottery down here. Do you want me to dig deeper? The ground is really hard.”
“No point wearing you out if there’s nothing to find. Maybe I should do as Kaff suggests and use gems to see if I sense anything buried.”
Parcune smiled up at him. “Good idea. I’ll stand aside and let you use your gem master skills.”
During their monotonous drive, Jules had infused native gems that might be helpful, but he was more comfortable using the Fair Lands gems in his knife. He unsheathed it and closed his eyes to concentrate.
>
What came to him had nothing to do with the cellar, and the impression was too strong to ignore. Lana’s in danger! He tried to draw more power to heighten his perception. He wasn’t sure whether this was intuition, foresight, or a mental connection with Lana. How far could a mental connection reach? Last time they’d communicated telepathically, she’d been up in a tree after outrunning crocodillos, and he’d been a couple miles away.
What kind of danger was she was in? S’s monsters were gone. Breghlin wouldn’t hurt her. Had she been injured? Had a gem experiment gone wrong? Nothing specific came to him—just the certainty that something was wrong.
“Gem Master Jules. Are you all right?”
Parcune’s concerned tone brought Jules out of his trancelike state, and he opened his eyes. “Lana’s in danger. That’s all I know.”
“What?” Parcune tossed his shovel over the cellar wall and hoisted himself out. “Let’s go find Elias. Maybe he’ll have a way of telling what’s wrong.”
When they reached the main road, Jules shouted for Elias. Two green-robed figures came out of one of the buildings.
“Did you find something?” Kaff called.
Jules ran to meet them and stumbled to a halt, panting. Before he could say a word, Elias said sharply, “Lana’s in danger?”
Jules nodded, trying to get his breath. Sometimes Elias’s habit of reading minds came in handy. “I was using my knife. Hoping to sense buried items. But I got a strong impression about Lana. No details, just . . . she’s in trouble.”
Elias reached for a pendant that held a dark green gem known for intuition and foresight. “Were your minds linked, or was it intuition?”
“I think it was a mental link.”
“Your connection to Lana is stronger than mine.” Elias closed his eyes, and Jules waited impatiently, studying his face for a clue to what he was sensing. Finally, Elias opened his eyes. “I sense danger but not peril.”
“Is there a difference?”
“Peril implies imminent risk of harm.”
“So you’re saying she’s in danger, but there’s a chance she’ll be all right?”
“Yes. That may not sound very encouraging, but remember, our girl is very resourceful.”
Parcune looked relieved, but Kaff glanced toward the buildings, shifting from one foot to another impatiently, as if anxious to get back to exploring.
“We’re too far away to help her, anyway,” Kaff put in unhelpfully. When everyone glared at him, he shrugged and said defensively, “Well, it’s true. We can’t go back. We’re five days away.”
Elias laid a comforting hand on Jules’s arm. “We have to trust that she can take care of herself. And don’t forget, Franklin and Tyla are there.”
“What if she’s injured? What if something went wrong with one of her gem experiments?” It was hard to accept that he couldn’t help her. Why hadn’t he left her his knife? She was familiar with using it, and it might have protected her.
“Tyla and others have gem powers, and they can always consult the spell book,” Elias said calmly, but Jules could see he was worried too.
“Everything will be all right,” Kaff said with an annoying lack of concern.
The muscles in Jules’s jaw tightened. He wanted to grab Kaff and shake him.
“Have faith in Lana’s abilities,” Elias said gently. “I’ll use my gems again later and see if I sense any change.”
Jules sighed. He did have faith in her, but he’d be a poor excuse for a man if he didn’t want to protect the woman he loved. And yes, he loved her, even though it seemed pointless when they lived in different worlds.
“We’ll be back in a couple hours,” he said to Elias and walked away. He had to focus on exploring the ruins or he’d drive himself crazy with worry. Parcune followed. Neither of them felt like talking so they returned to the ruins in gloomy silence.
The knife would be useless now, he realized as they approached the old foundation. He’d only sense Lana’s danger. He might have better luck with native gems, assuming he could concentrate at all, which was doubtful.
“We’ve seen enough here. Let’s look at one of the other buildings,” Parcune said, looking into the open cellar. “And never mind using gem powers,” he added. “We’ll make do without.” His concerned tone surprised Jules. There was a softer side to Parcune after all.
Jules nodded. “All right. Lead the way.”
Parcune dragged the pick and shovel, letting them bump against branches and rocks as he forged through the brush.
The outer walls of the next building, which had probably been a home, varied in height since most of the stones had been salvaged and hauled away. A few floor joists remained, but even though they looked sturdy, Jules and Parcune didn’t go inside. Parcune dug around the perimeter and made a pretense of looking for discarded or buried objects.
“Now what?” he asked when he’d finished.
Jules was about to answer when he heard Ben calling him. He looked around and saw Ben and Tina threading their way through the trees.
“Back already?” he called to them.
“Found two caves,” Tina Ann called back. “One had a buncha crevices.”
Jules glanced at Parcune, remembering their conversation about hiding valuables. They hurried to meet the breghlin.
Ben said, “The crevices be narrow an’ don’t go far.”
“Almost got stuck in one,” Tina Ann confessed with a laugh.
“That be the place that stung me,” Ben said, rubbing his arm.
“Stung you?” Jules asked.
“It feel like somethin’ stung me when my arm touch the wall.”
Jules tried to contain his excitement. “Could you find that crevice again?”
Ben shrugged. “Guess so. Why?”
Parcune looked at Jules. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“It sounds like the ward at Shadowglade.” He wasn’t sure how much Ben and Tina Ann had heard about this, so he explained for their benefit. “There was a hole in the wall, and when Elias put his hand there, he got burned—or that’s what it felt like, anyway.”
“So we foun’ somethin’ important?” Tina Ann asked, swelling with pride.
“I think so. Let’s go find out.”
They abandoned the crowbar and shovel.
Parcune said enviously, “You breghlin sure have luck finding things. First, gems in a stream, and now this.”
Fortunately, Ben and Tina Ann had no trouble finding the crevice, and a couple hours later the group returned to the main road, each carrying part of their enigmatic find. Parcune, Tina Ann, and Ben held theirs protectively against their chests, and Jules carried the largest one in his backpack.
Elias and Kaff were sitting on the front stoop of one of the buildings, apparently tired of exploring. If they’d found anything, it must be small, because Jules didn’t see anything. He quickened his pace, and his weary companions struggled to keep up.
As they approached, Kaff noticed they were carrying something, and his stunned expression was priceless. Parcune started to snicker.
Kaff bolted from the stoop and almost tripped over the hem of his green robe in his haste to reach them. Elias followed more sedately.
“What have we here?” Elias asked as they met in the middle of the road.
“We have no idea,” Jules admitted, shrugging out of his backpack. “But they were warded, so they must be important.”
“Foun’ ’em in a cave,” Tina Ann said proudly. “Me an’ Ben. They was in a hole. A hole we couldn’t see.”
“But I got stung, so we tooked Jules there, and he could see it,” Ben said, as if all this should make perfect sense. He handed one of the mysterious objects to Elias.
“Gem Master Jules pull these out,” Tina Ann said, and handed both of hers to Kaff who was bursting with curiosity.
Jules opened his backpack. The one he carried was three times larger than the rest. He pulled out a strange, oblong piece of wood and held it up. T
he grain was beautiful, and the object was smooth and lustrous. But what was it? It didn’t appear to open, the shape didn’t suggest any particular function, and if it was supposed to be ornamental, it wasn’t very impressive. Why would anyone hide and ward these?
“Very curious indeed,” said Elias, examining the one Ben had given him. “The only feature worth mentioning is this mark.” He tilted it to catch the fading afternoon sunlight, and Jules stepped closer. A small design was pressed into the wood near one end. It looked like a coat of arms.
“We didn’t notice any markings, but this is easy to miss.”
“See if yours has a mark,” Elias said.
“Yes. There it is.”
Elias compared the marks. “They’re different.”
Parcune and Kaff looked, and then checked the remaining relics, which all had the same marks as Elias’s.
“Mine seems to be the exception,” Jules said.
Kaff gave the relics a disapproving frown. “They could be ceremonial objects, but they look like boring blocks of wood to me.”
“I have a feeling they serve some useful function. But I can’t imagine what,” Jules said.
Elias picked up each object in turn, a strange look on his face. “I sense something when I hold them. Do you?”
Jules shook his head. “Maybe that perception comes from a native gem I haven’t infused.”
“Possibly.”
Kaff picked one up and made a show of studying it. Every few seconds he murmured “hmm” or “ahh,” and then he said, “I think I do sense something.”
Jules gave him a dubious look. A moment ago, they were boring blocks of wood. “What do you sense?”
Kaff shifted uncomfortably and dropped his eyes. “I’m not sure. It’s hard to describe.”
Jules looked at Parcune who rolled his eyes.
“Let’s put these in the cart,” Elias said. “Perhaps we’ll figure out what they are eventually.”
Chapter 10
Aside from the wooden relics, the team found little of interest in Corrustown. Sunday afternoon, Elias sensed buried objects in a cellar, but it was nothing more than an old silver necklace—which Kaff immediately appropriated as if he were entitled to it—a couple dented tankards, and a pottery jug with a broken handle.