Bladvaneer

by Dennis Purves

The old man stared Maurya in the eye. He wanted to believe she was just kidding about the killing part, but somehow he wasn’t quite sure. After several moments, he seemed to reach a decision.

  “Very well. Tell me what you want to know. If I have any information on it, I’ll give it to you. But in return, you leave here and don’t come back. And you don’t tell anyone anything about … anything.”

  Maurya winked at him. “You have nothing to worry about.”

  “Good.”

  Maurya glanced at Klavin, who took up the conversation. “We’re looking to find out if there are any … unusual structures in this town. Or perhaps some unusual happenings. Anything you can tell us will be greatly appreciated.”

  The old man mulled this over. “Have you heard of the Floating Fortress of Venatros?” he finally asked.

  “Yes, of course. Everyone has,” Klavin answered.

  “That is the only unusual thing in this town. Good day.”

  “Not so fast. What else can you tell us about it?” Maurya pressed.

  “Oh, very well. I’ll tell you just to get rid of you. Every second you’re sitting here is time I’m missing out on potential victims. The Floating Fortress is within the mountains. You probably can’t get in.”

  “Probably?” Klavin asked.

  “There is no visible entrance, at least from the ground. People have tried various means of approaching it from above, or from the side, but they are always deflected by some type of protective barrier. If there’s a way in, it’s through the bottom, because it’s impossible from any other direction.”

  Klavin glanced at Maurya. “So is it possible to get inside or not?” he asked.

  “From what I’ve heard, a few people have gotten in. They obviously figured out the secret, but if they know it, they don’t seem to be sharing. It’s usually only outsiders who even try to get in. The people who live here don’t even give that big brick a second thought. I think the ones that do manage it just go home and brag about the achievement. I’ve never heard about what’s inside.”

  “Anything else?” Maurya pressed.

  “Please, I’ve already told you everything I know. I’m not going to make you beg for more information, because knowing you, you’d do it all day. You know what I know. Now please keep your end of the bargain.”

  Maurya nodded. “Very well. Thank you for your time. Let’s go.”

  She led them outside. Klavin shot a glance back at the old man before leaving.

  “Well, it seems you were right. That floating fortress has got to be the place. We might as well head out,” she said.

  “Wait a minute. I’m glad we know where we’re going now, but I have to admit I have a problem with letting that old man and whatever gang he has continue to lead people into a trap and rob them.”

  “A deal is a deal. I did give my word that we wouldn’t warn anyone about what he was doing. As vile as he is, I think we have to stick by that.”

  Klavin didn’t look happy. “Fine. But after what we saw in the last two towns we visited, I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself for letting something like that continue here.”

  “I’ll tell you what,” she said, a smile on her lips. “Why don’t you share your feelings with the old man’s gang when we get to them?”

  “What?” Klavin asked.

  “What?” Simko asked as well, once again apparently interested in the conversation.

  “We promised we’d never tell anyone. No one said a word about us doing anything about the trap.”

  “Do you know where to find them?” Klavin asked, becoming more and more impressed with Maurya by the second.

  “He left that map open on the table a bit too long,” she grinned.

  Klavin placed his hand on Talb’s shoulder, and smiled at him.

  “Ready to go back to work?” he asked.

  He could tell Talb was looking forward to it.

  20

  They arrived at the foot of the mountains and looked up to see what could best be described as a huge brick floating about several hundred feet up in the sky. From a distance they had been able to make out gates and turrets and windows which you would find on any grounded fortress. Plenty of means to enter, except that based on what they had been told there was no way to use any of them. Looking up, they scanned the flat, white bottom of the structure. It seemed perfectly smooth, with no obvious doors or panels. Then again, they were trying to see from quite a distance. How to bridge that distance appeared to be the first obstacle.

  “Hmmmm,” Klavin muttered.

  Maurya smirked at him. “Looks like this might not be as easy as taking out that old man’s toughs.”

  He smiled back. “So the next person who the old man cons into following his map … what do you think he’ll do when he finds a bunch of thugs tied to the trees?”

  “Hopefully he won’t untie them. Once we finish here, we can find some guards to take care of them. No doubt at least one of them will be willing to sell out the man in the tavern.”

  “There’s no way up there,” Simko stated, still looking up at the floating brick.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll find a way,” Klavin said, although he had no idea where to start.

  Klavin, Simko, Maurya, and Talb walked around the area, hoping to find some clue as to how to reach that fortress. Klavin picked up a handful of dirt from the ground and fingered through it. It was dry and sprinkled back to the ground, but there seemed to be nothing special about it. Although it did give him an idea.

  “Simko,” he called.

  “Yes?”

  “Do you remember that spell you used to save me from Tarquin the first time we met?”

  “How could I forget it? I still laugh at the look on his face when he got caught in all those vines.”

  “Good. Could you cast it now?”

  “Sure, but why? Oh,” he said, realizing what Klavin’s idea was.

  Simko began casting. After a few moments some tiny plants burst out of the ground. They sprouted, quickly growing larger. And up. Klavin smiled as their ladder grew right out of the ground. In a few minutes the biggest challenge they’d have would be climbing it.

  The vines had grown about twelve feet high before it hit a barrier. Simko couldn’t understand what was happening, since there was nothing there. The vines bumped up against this invisible force before giving up and simply evaporating.

  “What happened?” Klavin asked.

  “I have no idea. There’s nothing there.”

  To illustrate, Simko walked to where the vines had been and reached up. His hand passed through empty air.

  “The vines got higher than that before they stopped,” Maurya pointed out.

  “Thanks, I know. But there’s no way for me to get that high to see what’s there. Does anyone see anything?”

  Everyone stared up at apparently nothing. Maurya was the first to decide this was pointless, and that they would be better off trying to find another way up. Looking away, she immediately saw something that was completely unexpected, and tapped Simko on the shoulder.

  “What?” he asked, not looking down.

  “Can your familiar float?” she asked.

  This pulled Simko away from staring at nothing. “He’s a cat. Of course he can’t float. Why do you ask?”

  Maurya pointed. About a hundred feet behind them Simko’s familiar was apparently floating about four feet off the ground. Simko tapped Klavin.

  “What? What are you two going on about? I thought we were going to try to get up there,” he scolded.

  “You should look at this,” Simko said simply.

  Klavin did. After the initial shock wore off, they walked over to the cat’s vicinity and confirmed that he was comfortably lying four feet off the ground, and on absolutely nothing.

  “How is this possible?” Klavin asked, not really expecting an answer.

  “It’s not. At least, he’s never done this before,” Simko answered, and absentmindedly leaned over, resting his elbow next to
the familiar. He didn’t even realize what was happening until the others pointed it out.

  “Your elbow,” Maurya prompted.

  “Yes? What about it?”

  “What exactly are you leaning on?”

  “Hmmm,” was all he could say.

  There was obviously something solid holding up his elbow. It could probably be assumed that it was the same solid something that was supporting the familiar. He tapped the nothing, and it seemed pretty solid.

  Klavin walked around the area, hoping to accidentally find another one of these invisible areas. He didn’t.

  “Let me boost you up,” Klavin instructed Simko.

  “What, on that piece of nothing? With the cat? It’s already taking all my strength to not stand here sneezing.”

  “Come on, this might be our only chance.”

  “Fine.”

  Klavin cupped his hands and after Simko placed his foot in them, boosted him up so that he was able to pull himself onto whatever it was that the familiar was resting on. Whatever it was, it was strong enough to support the two of them. The familiar stared at Simko, hatred in his eyes. His territory had been invaded, and he didn’t like it one bit. Simko nervously stood.

  “I’m willing to bet there are more of those around there. That’s how people can get up there,” Klavin said.

  “That’s great, but how am I supposed to find them?”

  “Yes, I can see there’s a problem there,” Klavin admitted.

  “Here, try this,” Maurya suggested, grabbing a handful of dry dirt and passing it to Simko.

  “What am I supposed to do with this?”

  “Sprinkle it around. If there are more of those steps around, the dirt should land and mark them so we’ll be able to find them when we climb up,” she said.

  “Good idea. Let me try.”

  Simko tossed the dirt around, a little at a time. Sure enough, while some fell back to the ground other particles landed on something solid yet invisible and sat there, giving a pretty good idea where one could walk. From the ground, Maurya and Klavin both smiled.

  A strong wind passed through, scattering the dirt and leaving the steps invisible again.

  “Er … it wasn’t windy a second ago,” Simko said.

  “Yes, and it’s not windy now,” Klavin added. “Let’s try again.”

  For a second time Maurya passed up a handful of dirt. For the second time Simko sprinkled it around, and for a second time several steps were marked. And then, for a second time, a strong wind came out of nowhere and blew away the markers.

  “Ah,” Klavin said.

  “Looks like this is going to be even harder than I though,” Simko said.

  “Maybe you could just feel around and try to find another step to get to,” Maurya suggested.

  “What, for a thousand feet?” Klavin asked, looking way up at his intended destination.

  “Well, unless you have another idea …” she admitted.

  “Fine. Whatever. I’ll give it a try,” Simko said.

  He closed his eyes and tried to sense where the next step would be. Once he was confident he knew its location, he shot his foot out and stepped down. On absolutely nothing. A second later he was on the ground looking up at his friends.

  “Are you all right?” Klavin asked, helping up Simko.

  Simko brushed himself off. “Yes, I’m fine. But there’s no way I’m doing that again. What if I had gotten all the way to the top and that happened?”

  They let the question go unanswered, although it had been prevalent in all their minds. Once again they wandered the area aimlessly, since the clearest path up now seemed impossible to navigate. Maurya found her eyes drawn back to Simko’s familiar.

  “You can communicate with your familiar, right? Not just like most people would talk to their pets, but have him actually understand you,” she said.

  “I’m not sure how this is helpful at this point, but yes, I can communicate with him, and he’ll understand me. Whether he’ll actually do what I say is another matter.”

  “Your own familiar won’t obey you?”

  “He’s still a cat. The only time they’ll really obey an order is when it coincidentally winds up being something they wanted to do anyway.”

  Maurya mulled this over. “I still think this might work.”

  “What?” Simko asked, once again lost in a conversation.

  “Klavin, bring me your canteen.”

  “Okay?” Klavin answered, bringing her the bottle.

  Maurya shook the canteen, listening to the liquid sloshing around inside. She unscrewed the top and turned it over.

  “What are you doing? That’s all the water I have!” Klavin shouted.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll be able to get more in town. You won’t die of thirst in the meantime.”

  She got on her knees and mixed the dry dirt with the puddle of water, making a small patch of mud.

  “What are you doing?” Klavin repeated, intrigued by her actions.

  “Bring me your familiar,” Maurya ordered Simko, completely ignoring Klavin.

  “Bring him? Are you crazy?” Simko asked.

  “Please. I need him.”

  Simko rolled his eyes and headed over to his familiar, who eyed him suspiciously. Desperately trying to stifle a sneeze, Simko did the unthinkable and pet the cat.

  The familiar was confused. He knew that Simko was up to something, and that the wisest course of action would be to run away, but curiosity got the best of him. He began planning what he would do to punish the human later for whatever he was about to do.

  Out of nowhere Simko grabbed his familiar, another new experience for the two of them. The cat knew he could get away whenever he wanted, but still wanted to know what was happening here. He took some pleasure in hearing a sneeze coming from above him.

  The familiar suddenly found himself in Maurya’s arms. This he liked. He wondered if it was possible to become her familiar instead. Unfortunately, she immediately broke this forming bond by dropping him paws first into the mud. Seemingly without covering the ground between the two points, he found himself back on the invisible step, wishing death on everyone within sight.

  “Wow, he’s fast,” Maurya commented, rubbing the newly acquired scratches on her hands.

  Simko looked stunned. “What exactly did you accomplish by doing that? He’s probably going to kill me in my sleep now.”

  “Look,” she said, pointing down.

  A line of muddy paw prints led from the puddle to the step from which the familiar was still staring at them.

  “Okay?” Simko said, feeling lost again.

  “I get it. We get him to go to the top. He’ll leave paw prints the whole way. Since the mud will stick to the steps, the wind won’t be able to blow it off. Then we can follow the trail,” Klavin said.

  “Exactly,” Maurya responded, clearly proud of her idea.

  “Wait a minute. If we can’t find the steps because they’re invisible, how will he do it?” Simko asked.

  “Well, he found that step, didn’t he?” Maurya pointed out. “Besides, don’t cats just have an instinct for that sort of thing?”

  “I guess,” Simko admitted. “But how are we going to get him to go up? He seems pretty comfortable where he is now, and he won’t do it just because I tell him to. Especially not now.”

  “Couldn’t you trick him? Maybe tell him that fortress is filled with people who hate cats? Aren’t cats usually drawn to people like that?” Klavin suggested.

  “He’s not that stupid,” Simko said. “Unfortunately,” he added.

  “Don’t you have a spell that could help?” Maurya asked.

  “It’s possible he would follow the vines, but they can’t figure out how to get around the invisible steps, so that won’t work …” Simko started saying, then lost himself in thought. “I know some basic illusion spells. Maybe one of those would work.”

  “Could you create the illusion of a mouse running up to the fortress?” Klavin as
ked.

  “How would I do that? If I don’t know where the steps are, how can I make an illusion of anything running up them?”

  “It doesn’t actually have to run up the steps, does it? I’d think that if a cat saw a mouse running away, it wouldn’t stop to think about what was keeping it suspended,” Klavin said.

  Simko thought this over. “It’s worth a shot. I hope it works, though, because if it doesn’t I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

  Simko began casting. Several moments later a white mouse appeared on the step in front of the familiar. The cat watched it curiously. There was something not quite right about it. Namely, how could a mouse suddenly appear in front of him without him smelling it a mile away? In fact, he couldn’t smell it now. As suspicious as the familiar found this, he wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to take out his frustrations. Especially not after what he’d just been through.

  After letting enough time pass that the familiar thought would convince everyone that he had long ago lost interest, he pounced. The mouse jumped just out of reach, then up about two feet. The familiar found this especially curious, since there was no step under the mouse. He decided that his prey was trying to trick it into jumping there and falling, and he wasn’t about to fall for it. With a newfound respect for the rodent, he jumped to the next step and began the chase.

  “Let’s go,” Simko said, heading for the first step.

  “Shouldn’t we wait till he gets to the top? We don’t want to distract him before he does,” Klavin said.

  “Are you kidding? He won’t even notice we’re here now.”

  Like before, Klavin boosted Simko onto the step. Klavin was then helped up, and he and Simko both brought up Maurya. Finally Klavin reached down and pulled up Talb. They saw the paw prints marking the next step.

  “You know, this is going to take long enough as it is. It might be easier doing this with three than four,” Maurya suggested.

  “Okay, I’ll stay here,” Simko said.

  “No you won’t. I think I know what you mean,” Klavin said.

  Through an unspoken communication, Talb understood Klavin’s desires and transformed from flesh and fur into metal. Klavin put the sword into the sheath on his back.