by R J Murray
Chapter 9 - Something New
Frank was tired, but very satisfied. His town was growing and the cavern John had shown them was massive and beautiful. It traveled for miles and eventually joined with the original cave they had started to settle. The road between the caves would have to be much improved before it would see much use, but there was a connection.
This side of the cave system was perfect from the perspective of a Dwarf, with an underground lake, several small rivers in and out of the lake, and a fish population that would be added to when the mirrors were ready. With light funneled in from outside, an ecosystem from an outside lake could be transplanted, allowing normal fish and plants to grow here, not just the tiny blind fish and algae. In an upper section there were many smaller caves which would make animal pens and barns, close enough to the surface that crops could be grown and transported easily, but with the passages well hidden from anyone not living here. Ventilation was good throughout the cavern and in a few areas, it was improved with tunnels, ventilation shafts cut through to the surface with tiny, well concealed openings.
The population was also growing, with Dwarfs showing up in small groups, ones and twos every few days. Some found them through some small inner urges telling them to come to this place and not a few were directed here by the people in Tammy's village, after being fed and housed for a night. Frank made a mental note to get back to the village and thank them for the help and maybe bring some meat or cheese to repay the kindness shown to his people. Maybe by week’s end, they would take a break from building this home and make time for a visit.
With over two hundred and fifty Dwarfs now living here, there was a lot of work still to be done, but there were plenty of willing hands. You don't teach a Dwarf a work ethic; they are born with the desire to build. Toys and gifts for Dwarf children are easy choices. Tools. Hammers, chisels, picks, saws, they love them all.
The offer by John of teaching advanced blacksmith skills were the best thing he could have offered, for while the Dwarfs were most happy when creating or building, they did not have as intense a genetic memory as the Goblins. The skills needed to be polished with practice and with a Masters teaching.
Frank had mixed feelings about a Dwarf Wizard. A magic user would make them much more secure and could help them in the long run. They would not be dependent on John or any other Human Wizard to keep their home well lit and warm. But, magic? He was distrustful of people with power, remembering crooked politicians and law back home. Frank headed back down to the main cavern looking for his construction foreman and to check on the housing being built out of the rock walls lining the main passage.
Carl was a newcomer to the community, having shown up only three days ago, but he had been a contractor before and understood construction and crews. With his Dwarfish skills growing, he knew how much stone could be removed and how to shape it to achieve both practicality and beauty in his work. He would typically put in an eighteen hour day and think nothing of it. He was a Dwarf after Franks own heart.
He saw Carl in front of what appeared to be a finished home, with the front door, carved of wood and iron strapped, already hung. Loren, Frank’s wife, was standing with Carl, obviously admiring the door. Carl waved at Frank as he approached. Loren turned to see who was coming and smiled when she saw it was Frank. Hugging her husband, she was smiling broadly. “Do you see this? It is so beautiful.”
“Carl, did you finish this already?”
“What do you mean already? It took a lot longer than it should have. But, yes, this one is ready for a family.”
“That is a piece of work.” said Frank, pointing at the door. “It looks like it could hold up the roof by itself and that carving is fantastic. Who do we have that can carve like that?”
Carl actually blushed. Frank laughed at him. “Hidden talents are coming out of everywhere, aren't they. It's a good skill for our people. I'm glad you're here.”
Loren nodded as well. “Now we just need to find you a good wife to start making little Carl's for you to pass your skills on to.”
Carl blushed again and ducked his head, mumbling about the next house and no time.
Frank slapped him on the back and told him to relax; a good woman will turn up for him.
Carl asked about the chisels and John's next visit, and the conversation turned to magic.
“I really don't understand all that. I hear the others talking about Wizards and flying ships, but I haven't seen anything like that. Have you really seen magic?” Carl was skeptical, like Frank when he was first introduced to John.
Loren responded first. “Yes, I saw John activate the crystals myself and start a fire with them and use a wand to carve stone, slicing it like a hot knife through butter.” She looked at Frank, “Yes, I know that's an old, hackneyed expression and it annoys you, but I can't think of a better one.”
“What crystals?” asked Carl.
“THE crystals, the ones below, in the big cavern above the lake and to the east. You haven't seen them yet?”
“Well, no. I keep hearing stuff, wild tales, but I've got work to do. Are they only in that case?”
Loren explained that one of the first things that she had the children and teenagers doing when they moved in here was to gather all the loose crystals from the floors in the upper caves and put them all into the one crystal cavern. She and Frank each kept one of the lite crystals with them to check each newcomer for magic abilities, but no one had turned up yet.
“Why would you move them, if no one can use them?”
“Safety. Some are very dangerous, melting stone, or flying across the room and blowing a hole in the stone wall. If someone came across one not knowing they were magic and activated one by accident, it could kill someone. That's why Loren and I carry one of these.” Frank held up a lite crystal. “These glow and give a very strong light, but don't do any harm. They are safer for testing.”
“How do you do a test?”
“Didn't we test you already?”
“No. This is the first time I've seen one of those. Can I hold it?”
Frank handed the crystal to Carl, and as it touched his hand, it glowed with a brilliant white light.
“Wow. How did you do that, Frank?”
“It was you. Carl, you're a Wizard!” Frank smiled, but his chest grew tight and a cold feeling swept over him.
Joshua was relaxing in a hammock, underneath a pair of Elm trees. It was Sunday and among the rules that John had insisted they all follow was to take a day of rest, when they weren't fighting for their lives, that is. Most everybody took Sunday off, as it seemed most natural, but a few took Saturday, for religious reasons. John didn't feel that the day mattered, as long as it was restful. You could do things that you found relaxing, hobbies or crafts, just catch up on gossip, read a book, whatever. The idea was to do something that you wanted to do, or to do nothing, if that was what made you rest.
Joshua was most comfortable with the trees. Meadows were nice and shrubs and flowers were OK, but trees were the best. He could almost feel the sap flowing and the leaves soaking up the sunshine. The animals that lived in the trees were noticed as well, whether they were harmful or helpful or neutral, Joshua knew.
Today, he had spent mostly doing some light cleaning in his quarters but after lunch he had migrated to the wooded areas and put up the hammock. Relaxing was not always easy, considering what was going on around them and the problems that were coming up, but here, Joshua found he could clear his mind and enjoy the moment.
“Oh. Hi. I didn't realize you were here.”
Joshua looked over at Christine, swinging his legs out of the hammock. “Not a problem, it's not like I'm actually doing anything. Shouldn't you be doing nothing too?”
Christine giggled. “How can you do nothing? Isn't that one of those paradox things?”
“Maybe. What were you doing? Something?”
Christine didn't respond immediately, but looked down at the ground and fidgeted.
“Sorry, I did
n't mean to get personal.”
“No, it's not that. It's just, well; I don't know how to say it without sounding stupid.”
“I've sounded stupid before. I healed after a while and I only have a few small scars to show for it. Take a chance; I'll only laugh for a few minutes.”
“I was listening to the trees.”
Joshua didn't laugh. He did smile and answered. “So was I. Can you understand them, or is it just impressions, or what?”
“Really. You are serious, aren't you? Please tell me you're not pulling my leg.”
“I think I'm an Elf. I mean, Frank is a Dwarf, we were attacked by Goblins, John is a Wizard, and Elf is all that's left from legend. They were in tune with nature; they understood plants and forests and were most comfortable within the confines of some kind of woodland environment, right?” Joshua hesitated, knowing how crazy it was going to sound. “Remember at the battle of West Base I could sense the wolves were approaching? I think the trees told me.”
Christine didn't laugh. “What’s next, dragons, some kind of quest?”
“Maybe. John doesn't think it's like Hollywood's idea of fairy tales; it's something deeper, more basic. It's like the thing the movies do with real history. I mean history like what we know. They can't leave ANY story alone, no matter how good it is. Exactly what a Wizard or a Goblin or an Elf is has been changed by telling and retelling over the centuries, until what we have is a heavily distorted version of what was, but that story still has kernels of truth. Wizards cast magic, Goblins are bad, Dwarfs like underground homes and Elves are most comfortable with nature. I was lying here, listening to the trees. They didn't say anything, but I was listening anyway. Would you like to join me?”
Christine nodded and they lay in the hammock, close together, listening. In the shadows, a few yards away, Cecilia sat, hugging a tree, crying. She knew she was a kid and Joshua was an adult, but she still dreamed of a maybe, a possibility and she saw it vanish. She waited until she could stop crying and slipped away, unseen by the couple in the hammock. She made her way back to the base and headed for her room, keeping her head down and trying not to be noticed. She really didn't want to talk to anyone and didn't want anyone to see that she had been crying. She made it and went inside, where she let all her disappointment, her fear and her dreams wash away into her pillow.
When Elizabeth, one of her roommates, got home, Cecilia was asleep and Elizabeth didn't disturb her. Elizabeth had spent most of the day with 'her' kids, the ones John had rescued with her and brought back to the Citadel. Even though the adults were actually taking care of them and doing a much better job than Mary and Bill had done, Elizabeth still felt like they were her responsibility.
Tricia was with Jenny, the girl from West Base, but they were going to meet later and have dinner together with the adults in John's quarters. Elizabeth wasn't sure whether to wake up Cecilia or not, but when Tricia and Jenny arrived, they made enough noise to wake the dead, much less an emotionally stressed twelve year old.
Elizabeth felt something was wrong, but Cecilia didn't say anything, so Elizabeth wanted to wait until they were alone to ask her. She seemed to join in with the chatter and the laughter, until they got to John's quarters and Joshua answered the door. Cecilia seemed to shrink when she saw him, even when he hugged her. Elizabeth figured that Joshua didn't have a clue about how Cecilia felt toward him and he had done or said something that hurt her. She would find out. She just didn't realize how soon.
The evening went well, everyone seeming to enjoy the chance to get together, Christine and Tricia, Joshua and Cecilia, Charlie, Gary, Prof. Johnson, Suki, John, Elizabeth and Jenny. Then Joshua started a new conversation about Elves. John was nodding, as though he already knew and he probably did. Elizabeth felt like Cecilia was going to start crying any second, so she moved closer and took her hand, trying to be inconspicuous, but John saw her. He gave her a small nod and Elizabeth felt better, having him confirm her suspicions. Then John started talking about his sight and what he had seen.
“We are going to find, more and more often, that Humanity is being split into old divisions. Human, Elf and Dwarf, with Goblin, Wolfen and other dark species against them. Even the animals will take sides, dire wolves with the Goblins, the great cats with Elves, dragons with Wizards.” He waited for what he had said to sink in, and for the group to react.
“Dragons?”
“Cats?”
“What's a Wolfen?”
“We haven't reached a point where everything has changed. Some creatures will take longer than others to grow and to learn who they are. Wizards learn the fastest, because they have magic which speeds up the process. That's people like Elizabeth, Jenny, and me. Others, like non-magic Goblins and Dwarfs learn next, because the changes from Human are the greatest with them. The last Human change will be the Elves, because they change the least, physically, but the most in other ways. We should see all these changes completes within a year or two for Humans, a bit longer for the animal species like Wolfen.
“In time, there will be subdivision among the races, like the Goblins and the Trolls, the dire wolves and the Wolfen, the great cats and the Changeling, the dragons and the waveryn. Wizards will divide as well, with the Full Wizards, both light and dark, the Minor Wizards and the Lesser Wizards. The weaker Wizards won't show up for a time yet.
“It took a while for all this to gel, you understand, it didn't just pop into my head one day. A little at a time, things fell into place. The choices we make each day, each moment, makes the future change. Joshua and Christine, in one future, are the first of the line of Elfish royalty, while in another; he chooses Cecilia and lives a different life entirely.”
Cecilia reacted by ducking her head and leaning against Elizabeth. Joshua looked shocked at both choices and looked back and forth between John, Cecilia and Christine, who merely blushed and took Joshua's arm, leaning her head against his shoulder. John smiled and looked around the room. Everyone except Elizabeth and Jenny was in shock and they were a bit surprised.
John looked at Charlie and Gary and then at Cecilia. “You have the greatest burden and the best future, because you can just live normal lives. Of course, you have the least power and the greatest enemies, as well. Sorry 'bout that. Have large families and spread fast, it's your best chance for survival. Elves live the longest, after Wizards, but breed the slowest. Goblins, mostly, live fast and die young, but they breed like flies. A few, the strongest, will live a hundred and sixty or seventy years, but most will be dead by a hundred. Dwarfs live for hundreds of years and have numerous progeny in that time. Humans have gained a longer life in this reality and many will live to see a hundred, two hundred years or more, baring accidents or disease. We four will be allies at times, foes at other times and sometimes, will join together for a group effort.”
“How do you know? All this stuff, how do you know?” Christine waited for an answer.
“This is not written in stone, everyone has choices. Like I said, details change based on the choices individuals make. There's one other thing I wanted to share with you, about Frank and the Dwarfs. They now have a Wizard. I don't know the name, but we felt him when he activated the first crystal this morning, Jenny and I, that is. Did anyone else?”
Elizabeth said she felt something, but couldn't identify it. Christine shook her head no. “You gonna tell me how you know this stuff?”
John nodded. “Jenny and I were practicing with the newly modified com crystals, thank you Christine for the help on that, by the way. That’s why we could identify it as well as we did. We are going to visit them tomorrow anyway, to drop off some equipment they asked for, so we will get a chance to visit with the new Wizard as well. Do you feel we should offer any training to him, or a wand?”
“I think we should be ready to make such an offer, but we should feel him out first. On another note, speaking of training, we have come up with a curriculum and books, and materials for the Academy, but we need a few more teachers. We ha
ve magic covered quite well, for now, but we could use a math teacher and an English teacher. I can cover history and Suki is taking mechanical engineering. With John handling metal working and cheese making, this is our basic class schedule so far. We need to increase our classes, but not without teachers.” Johnson said.
“I can teach math and English. I was a school teacher before, you know. John, if you don't answer me I'm going to kick you in the head.”
The professor looked at Christine. “Actually, I had no idea. That is excellent. Does anyone else have a secret past we should know about?”
“Have we advertised our plans around the village?” John asked. “I did ask you to trust me, right? I just know things and I really can't tell you how right now. Like I said before, things gel for a while and then just pop into my head. I'm still learning here, just like the rest of you.”
“Yes, both by word of mouth and by signs, posters and announcements in the dining hall. Everyone should be aware of our plans, although not everyone is too excited about them. You expect me to be satisfied with that wimpy answer?
“I think we should hold a town meeting. If no one knew I was a teacher, then we probably have other skills in hiding as well. We also need to make sure that everyone understands that we are still running this place under martial law and will be for a long time. I've had a few people ask me about when the government is going to get here with the emergency people, FEMA. Believe it or not, a lot of people think this is temporary. They think it's a hurricane or an earthquake and they will all go home again in a week or two. It's going to take a major shock to wake them up.”
The group sat in silence for a minute, before John spoke again. “Fine. Suki, we need to get the command back together and start training with current weapons, bows, spears, swords. Our heavy weapons will be trebuchet, arbalast and catapult. See to assembling the men in two hours in the barracks. I will address them then. I will have some examples of weapons with me as well as some armor. Cecilia, I understand you are a good archer. I will need you to do a demo for me, so I can plan on how to use you as a trainer. Jenny, you need to get ready for a demo with a rapier.”
“We will have a town meeting in three days. I will explain the current situation and you will need to have topics to discuss as well. Come up with them among yourselves so we each have some part in this meeting and these people get use to the idea that we are in charge. Split the needs up into areas you are each familiar with. We will be accepting recruits into the armed forces as well, so be ready for a lot of gripping. A lot of people are working hard to keep us alive, but the rest of them will get off their butts or find themselves digging ditches in a forced labor squad if they don't find a needed skill or trade and they will resist with every lazy bone in their bodies. We need to find a way to make them use their brains and their skills or they and we all are going to die.”
“I'm not sure I can go along with forced labor. That seems a little harsh.”
“Then, Gary, I suggest that you and anyone else who can't handle the alternatives, come up with a solution, or feel free to get off my Citadel and start your own colony. We will assist you as much as possible to get you started, but I will not waste a single soldier to defend you, if you do not contribute to our mutual defense.”
“You sound a lot like someone else I know with a Caesar complex. Your Citadel, her Island, your rules. I don't much care for your attitude. I think I will leave, and good riddance to you all.” Gary stood up and looked around the table. “What about the rest of you? You just going to sit there and let him dictate your lives?”
“He was voted in, by you as well as us. The ground rules were laid out and we accepted them. If you think you can get a 75% vote against his measures, then sit down and ask for a vote. If you just want to be the power behind the throne and never be told what to do, then it's a good idea for you to leave and soon. If you do leave, nothing said in this room will be repeated until the town meeting.”
“Is that a threat? If I talk you'll do what? Flame me?”
“Yes. To ashes. Completely, totally, instantly. Martial law is enforced by physical violence against the law breakers. If you break the law of the land, which is the law you voted in favor of, then you are a criminal and will face the penalty for your criminal acts.” Joshua had a wand on the table. “If you choose wrong, please back up a few feet first, so I don't make an ash of myself.”
Gary looked at the wand and then at John. John looked at the others. “Well. Decide. Are we in this for survival or popularity?” He laid his wand on the table pointed toward the center.
The others slowly voted as well, Wizards with wand, the others turned their glasses upside down. It was unanimous. John looked at the group and smiled. “Good. Thanks Gary, it was very convincing. You almost had me believing you.”
“It was a little scary when Joshua pulled that wand out.” Gary wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, and sat down.
“That was an act? You set this up?” Everyone started talking all at once. John waited for them to stop before he started talking again.
“If you're not serious, if you are not dedicated to our survival, how can you convince anyone else that we mean business? Gary and I talked about this last night and he offered to do this. We both figured he was the logical choice for a dissenting vote and he would be the most believable. Looks like we were right.”
“We are going to have a serious talk later, Mister.” Jenny was standing up, hands on her hips, glaring at John.
“Yes Ma'am.”
“Don't make fun of me. I'm serious. You said I was your protégé and you pull this? What's up with that?”
“Training. Wizards must see through deception. If you had used your sight and not your emotions, you would have seen through this immediately. I did teach you about that and told you to practice, didn't I?”
“Oh.”
“Wait, sight? What do you mean?”
“What's up with the protégé thing?”
Elizabeth giggled. “You sounded married for a minute. I wanna talk to you Mister. Or maybe his mom.”
John tapped on the table with his wand. “Enough idle chatter. We need that Roberts Rules book fast. Have we found one yet?”
“Unfortunately, no. We have several more places to look, but a lot of the books that survived were damaged badly by exposure to the elements the last few months. School books were seemingly more protected, so we have a lot of them, as well as writing supplies. Also I have found several candidates for council secretary and historian. We probably ought to interview them before the town meeting and it would be nice to have someone to take to the field when we meet with other groups.” Gary looked at his notes for a minute before finishing his report.
The council meeting ended finally and John, Gary, Suki, and Jenny left together. Christine nudged Joshua. “What do you think of that?”
“It was effective. We stand committed.”
“No, dummy. Jenny and John.”
“Oh. I don't think it's a bad idea; she does need a strong hand and training. Besides, I'm not sure I could be as patient as John.”
“Me neither.” Elizabeth joined in. “She's nice most of the time, but she tends to revert to her 'everyone else is a peasant' attitude every now and then. Not as much as before, but some. She needs him to keep her in check and to learn how to behave around people. I think he's doing a good job with her, so far.”
“I think they may be surgically joined, myself.” Charlie chuckled. “Kind of like when you and Tricia showed up. Actually, even like now.” She turned to look at Tricia, hanging on to Christine's arm. “You ever let go of her?”
“In the bathroom. Christine made me stop there.”
They shook their heads in sympathy. “She made you stop, huh. How mean.”
Joshua leaned over to Christine, “Think John makes her stop there?” Christine hit him, none too gently, with her right fist. “Pervert. Wait a minute! That jerk! He never did answer me!”
John's meeting with the remaining troops went well. The thirty five men and women were expecting something, since modern weapons only worked with a Wizards touch and they only had knives and clubs otherwise. John did not disappoint them, but brought a variety of equipment to demonstrate.
When he arrived, he was wearing chain mail and carrying a shield and sword and had Suki and Gary each pushing a small cart with more on them. Jenny was carrying a rapier and a buckler, a small round metal shield and a bow over her shoulder. Cecilia had a long bow, and a crossbow, with mail armor and a small shield. All five of them also had a dagger or knife on their waist and at least one in a boot.
“Robin Hood is one of the most famous archers on earth and William Tell is the second. At this time, Cecilia is holding the number three position but, you will have a chance to take that position. Today, we will see how many archers we have among you. We also have a few other toys to play with, including a few sketches of some heavy weapons we can build. Lieutenant Akatsuki Nakamura is my second in command and my chief engineer. He is going to be building some of these heavy weapons. For now, I'd like to introduce you to my best friend.” John pulled a morning star from the wagon and held it up. “This has a lot of names and not everyone agrees which one is correct, so I just call this Sallie.” Nervous laughter came from the soldiers, as expected.
“You can name yours anything you want. We put tags on these,” John said, pulling a paper tag up from the handle so it could be seen, “so that when we say morning star practice today, you will have a clue what we are talking about. Nomenclature is important, as you well know, so we tagged each weapon. Now, I need you to bring two of the long tables from the mess hall over here and we will spread these toys out for you to peruse.”
Suki picked four to get the tables and when they arrived, the soldiers spread the contents of the wagons out on them. Swords, daggers, spears, pikes, flails, hammers, tomahawks, maces, and knives, at least two of each were on one table. The second table contained five bows, two crossbows, both each with a quiver, and six atlatls with quivers of long darts.
“You should all have knives of some kind and some of you may have other edged weapons. Keep them, because we will take an inventory of them as well and train with them. Edged weapons are about all we are going to have pretty soon. Some of these were made here, by me, others were recovered out there. We will train with these and when we find what works best, we will get more. Any questions so far?”
One hand came up before the others, so he was called on.
“Sir, Private Milton, first squad. Do we get a suit like yours? Sir?”
“As a matter of fact, yes. Mail armor is very time consuming to make, but it is flexible and easy to repair. With the proper padding, it will offer some protection from piercing weapons and some impacts. It doesn't offer quite as much protection from piercing, like arrows at close range, as plate, but it can be modified to handle those better. The problem with armor is that whatever you have, something will defeat it. You have to pick your best bet and modify it to meet current conditions. What we saw at the West Base can be handled with mail, leather, padded gambesons and shields, but the next battle may need something different. We will develop other defenses. We will develop other weapons. For now, we work with these. I need a volunteer. Milton, you will do fine. Pick a weapon.”
“Sir. Any weapon?”
“From the first table.”
Predictably. Milton picked the longest sword in the group.
“Nice. What is it?”
“It's a sword, Sir.”
“It's a rapier. It's like the one the little girl is wearing.”
Everyone except Jenny laughed.
“I want you to take the rapier away from the little girl and you can use that sword in your hand to do it, if you need to.”
“You're kidding. Sir.”
“I'll give you five minutes. Then, I'll take your sword away from you with Sallie. Start now.” The spiked ball whistled as John spun it.
Milton smiled and moved to Jenny, his hand out. “Gimme the sword kid.”
Jenny drew the rapier and smacked his forearm, raising a large red welt. He screamed and backed up, holding his arm. “Don't hurt him too badly, Jenny. We need all of them.” John motioned Milton forward.
Awkwardly holding the sword like a baseball bat Milton moved forward. Jenny raised her buckler and gripped the rapier lightly, moving around on the balls of her feet. Milton was sliced and diced and couldn't get a single blow past her buckler. After the time was up, John called a halt to the one sided fight.
“Thank you Milton and thank you Jenny for holding back. Go ahead and heal him while I talk, you need to hear this. Jenny is twelve years old, but she knows more about fencing than Milton here does and probably more than the rest of you. If you can't beat her, you can't beat the enemy. Now, it's true that enough of you could simply rush her and take her down by sheer numbers, but if pressed, she would kill or cripple a lot of you in the process. We don't have numbers. We have thirty five of you and I can't afford to lose one of you to some stupid accident or ignorance. So, we will train you how to fight with these weapons.
“It will not be a battle of heroes in single combat, although we will need to work on that. It will be more like the roman infantry, fighting as a unit, depending on each man to do their job. In time we will build our forces and you people will be the core. We will have heavy infantry, archers, throwers, cavalry and artillery. In time. For now, we have us and five Wizards. We have the Citadel, to the north a swamp, to the east and west the ocean and to the south, open land to raise crops and families. This is a good position, hard to attack, easy to defend. We will grow stronger here and we will prepare for whatever will come. Lieutenant, issue weapons and we will begin the training schedule.”