The Staff of Sakatha

by Tom Liberman

  “You don’t have to tell me,” said Sorus as he continued to look at each large rock or tree in the hopes he might spot an attack before it happened. “Can we start a fire to cook the goat?” he said, “or should we try not to draw attention to ourselves with the smoke and light?”

  Jon looked to Proteus who replied, “A fire should be all right if we keep it under an overhang. Smoke isn’t easy to see at night and the light won’t be visible from too far away if we keep it low.”

  Soon enough they sat around a fire, goat haunch over the open flame, as they drank hot water and complained about the already cold temperature. “It’ll be colder later,” said Proteus. “Jon, do you think we should set watches or just try and get a good night’s sleep?”

  Jon shrugged, “Watches are probably a good idea just to get into the habit. It might take us a couple of days up here to find the ruins and if we’re on the wrong path longer than that.”

  “Sorus,” said Proteus to the young knight, “why don’t you get to sleep first to recover from your overindulgence, I’ll take the first watch after dinner, Jon you take the second, and Sorus can take over from you until morning.”

  Late that night Jon shook Sorus’s shoulder as the boy lay curled under the heavy wool blanket and it took a moment for him to wake up, “Hmmm,” he grunted, “my watch?”

  “Here,” said Jon and handed him a mug filled with hot liquid, “I stoked the fire a bit and boiled some water. This should wake you up, drink it and have some food as well, that helps on watch.”

  “Thanks, Jon,” said the boy as he rolled out of his blanket and found his heavy boots in the dark after a missed grope or two. He knocked them together and flipped them over for a few seconds before he put them on his feet, while Jon crawled under his own heavy woolen blanket and began to breathe heavily within a few seconds.

  The moon was low on the horizon when Sorus looked up from his cup of coffee towards the sky. Even at this lower altitude of the mountains the sky seemed clearer than on the ground near Black Dale and the twinkles of the stars gleamed like lanterns during a festival night. The moon was low on the horizon and the only sounds that came to the young knight’s ears were the snores of Proteus and the rhythmic croaks from the little frogs that lived in the trees. On the night he and Jon chased the goblins into the cave he didn’t notice such things and he couldn’t help but stare at the stars and listen to the new sounds for a moment before he shook off his wonder and looked around the camp. By the fire several chunks of goat meat sat in a pan and the coffee pot rested on a little mesh tray just next to the fire.

  Sorus took a few steps over to it when a small crack from somewhere beyond the camp caused him to stop suddenly and snap to attention. In the night it was impossible to tell from what direction the noise came, but the camp rested against a little notch in the hillside which limited the possibilities. He stood frozen with the empty mug of coffee in one hand, strained his ears towards the darkness, and waited for another sound, but long minutes passed without a repeat. Sorus realized he wasn’t breathing and took in a large gulp of air when an owl flew silently overhead. It was only the fact that he happened to look in that direction that he noted the creature at all and he jumped backwards with a cry as it sailed a few feet over his head.

  Proteus and Jon were up in a flash, both with swords in hand as the first looked into the darkness and then at Sorus, “What is it?” they said almost in unison.

  “Just an owl,” said Sorus. “It flew past my ear and startled me.”

  “There are some little ones up in the mountains,” said Proteus, “I think they call them elf owls and they eat mostly insects and such. They make a whinny like a horse,” he continued as he lay his sword down next to his bedroll and started to climb back in. Just at that moment a heavy growl suddenly came out of the darkness and the square-jawed knight reached for his sword again.

  “What was that?” said Sorus and Jon shook his head, shrugged his shoulder, and looked to Proteus in the dim light of the campfire.

  “Not a cougar,” said Proteus who stood up his blade in one hand, “more like a wolf or a pack of those wild dogs that roam up here, what do they call them, bush dogs, good swimmers but not active at night much,” he said.

  “I don’t know,” said Jon as he stared out into the darkness just as a second growl and a little bark emanated from the night. “If they’re just dogs then they’d leave us alone, unless they’re more aggressive down south.”

  “No,” said Proteus with a shake of his head. “Dogs like that won’t attack men, not during the day at least, but they travel in packs, up to a dozen or more. I don’t think they’d come at us but maybe something has them worked up.”

  “What should we do?” asked Sorus as he looked back and forth to Proteus and Jon. “Attack? Wait for them?”

  “Do goblins used trained bush dogs?” said Jon with sword in hand as he tried to penetrate the darkness with his gaze.

  “No, not around here at least, they hate dogs, kill them on sight, but they do ride lizard creatures sometimes,” said Proteus who also looked back and forth as the three men drew up into a semicircle around the fire. “That didn’t sound much like a lizard and goblins generally don’t stalk around much, they just attack.”

  Two more growls sounded from outside the fire and Sorus repeated his question, “What should we do?”

  Jon looked to Proteus who reached into the low fire, pulled out the back end of a smoldering log, took a few steps into the darkness, and waved it back and forth. Sorus bent down and picked up another branch while Jon simply watched the darkness and spotted a pair of green eyes glowing to his left, “There’s one,” he said and pointed with his huge stone sword towards the eyes, but they blinked out almost as soon as he gestured.

  “I don’t see it,” said Sorus as he tried to follow the point of Jon’s sword. Proteus continued to advanced forward in half steps while he waved the smoldering log.

  “I don’t see anything,” said Proteus but another growl sounded to their right and Jon spun in his tracks, lashed out quickly with his sword, but saw nothing and hit the same. “They’re not behaving like wild dogs,” said the older man his back towards Jon and Sorus. There’s something strange going on here, they wouldn’t hold back like this if they weren’t under some sort of intelligent command.”

  “Do you think they’re being controlled by something, someone?” said Sorus.

  “I don’t know said,” Proteus, “but the fire is getting low and they’re just standing out there growling at us. Put some more wood on and, if they are just wild dogs, that should frighten them off quickly enough.

  Sorus went over to the small wood pile and looked at the few pieces stored for a quick morning fire and little else, “There’s not much wood here,” he said. “We only piled up enough for breakfast tomorrow.

  “Put it all on,” said Proteus, “no sense in taking half steps.”

  Sorus looked over to Jon who nodded his head, “If you’re going to do something do it all out, no half measures.”

  Sorus began to pile the few pieces of wood onto the fire, which first began to smoke, and after a few seconds burst into flame. The region lightened noticeably with the increased blaze but the growls seemed to grow in intensity with it until it seemed like at least a dozen of the dogs surrounded them. “It’s not working,” said Sorus, “and that’s the last of the firewood. It won’t last more than half an hour.”

  “No dog is smart enough to wait like this,” said Proteus. “Who’s out there?” he suddenly yelled into the darkness but the only response was another chorus of growls.

  “That’s it,” said Jon suddenly and rushed out into the darkness and left Proteus and Sorus to look at one another for a second and then, as if by some unspoken but mutual communication, they both rushed after him. Sorus felt his heart hammer in his chest as he charged into the darkness unable to see much of anything. A large shape came up suddenly to his right and he lashed out and stuck his blade several inches i
nto a small tree. “Damnit,” he shouted as he looked around but saw nothing. A shout from Jon to his left caused him to pull at the sword. This action seemed to wedge it more deeply into the tree. “Let go!” he shouted at the tree, put both hands to the sword, pulled with a mighty heave that unstuck the blade with a sudden lurch, and sent him backwards head over heels where he landed with a thump and cracked his head against a large rock.

  He sat up a second later; the world swam in front of him and a rough hand grabbed him, he tried to lash out with his sword but the blade didn’t seem to be there and he smacked Proteus in the side. “Sorus, are you all right?” said the square jawed farmer as he looked around.

  “I … I’m okay,” said the young knight with a shake of his head and a glance around. “I fell down.” He reached back and grabbed at the sharp pain in the back of his head and suddenly touched wet hair. “I’m bleeding?”

  “Did something attack you?” asked Proteus, “Jon, he’s over here.”

  “No,” said Sorus and looked at his wet hand in the darkness not able to tell much of anything. “I swung at a tree and my sword got stuck and then when I tried to get it out I fell over backwards, my sword!” he suddenly said and looked around wildly in the darkness.

  Proteus scanned around as the hulking seven foot form of Jon Gray suddenly emerged from the darkness, “They’re gone,” said the gray knight. “That was no band of bush dogs,” he went on and then noticed Sorus sitting on the ground. “Are you ok?”

  “Here it is,” said Proteus a few feet away as he picked up the sword. “Come on, let’s get you back to the camp and look at that nut of yours.”

  “Is he wounded?” said Jon and glanced at Sorus with his eyes wide in the darkness.

  “It’s not bad,” said Sorus, “I just hit my head on a rock when I fell down,” and he moved his hand back to his head and the wetness that seemed to grow more damp.

  Proteus took the boy by the arm, helped him up, and the three found their way back into the camp after a couple of mistrials in the darkness. Only a low, orange flame remained in the campfire as Proteus lowered Sorus down, “Here, let me look at that. Jon, see if you can find a few more logs but don’t go too far from the camp. Whatever was out there isn’t far away.”

  Jon nodded and headed out into the darkness as Proteus had Sorus lean over and saw the large amount of blood that came from a gash across the boys head, “Head wounds bleed like a creek at spring flood, let me get some bandages from my bag,” he continued and headed over to his pack. When he got there it was clear someone ransacked the camp while the trio blundered around on the mountain. “The map!” he exclaimed and rushed over to the open sack and the scattered possessions. It didn’t take him long to find it missing.

  “What’s wrong,” said Sorus as he began to feel a little lightheaded.

  “They stole the map,” said Proteus who soon returned with bandages. “But how could anyone know that we had it?” as he applied the thick cloth to Sorus’s head. “Hold this in place,” he ordered Sorus who put his hand to the cloth and pressed it down. “If it doesn’t stop bleeding in ten minutes or so I might have to stitch it up. I’ve got needle and thread in the pack if they didn’t steal that.”

  “You know the healing arts?” said Jon as he returned at that moment, his sword sheathed, and a thick pile of dead wood in his arms.

  Proteus nodded, “All knights need to know such things in case there isn’t a priest with healing magic available after a battle.”

  Jon nodded, “The knights of Tanelorn can learn much from those of Elekargul,” he said as he put the wood onto the fire which almost immediately sprang back to life.

  “They stole the map,” said Proteus to Jon, “but they didn’t kill the horses or take anything else that I noticed.”

  “That means …,” said Jon.

  “That they know exactly why we’re here,” finished Proteus. “The only way that can be is if they watched the trail because they captured or killed the others.”

  “That makes sense,” said Jon. “It also means we’re on the right track. They were stupid not to kill the horses when they had the chance.”

  “Probably just low level thugs sent with orders to steal the map and nothing else,” said Proteus. “That’s the problem with slave based militaries. You can’t trust the average soldier with even the simplest task because they have no motivation to think on their own.”

  Jon nodded, “It’s the same in Tanelorn. We defeated the orcs of the Five Nations just a couple of years ago when they attacked us. The orcs themselves come from five different tribes and don’t coordinate well, but they also relied on slave auxiliary who never fought like soldiers.”

  “I thought you didn’t fight wars of aggression,” said Proteus as the two moved over to Sorus. “Keep pressure on that for a few more minutes,” he said and examined the blood-soaked bandage, “I don’t like the look of that, we’ll probably have to stitch.”

  “It was a strange war. I was only eleven or so when it started” said Jon with a shake of his head. “It began with them trying to fight a group of elves that live on the opposite side of Tanelorn. They marched across our territory and we didn’t allow it. After that they sent an army but we defeated them and all of sudden the orcs began to revolt against their leaders, against the idea of slavery. My father says the presence of a free nation like Tanelorn makes every right-thinking man want a better form of government for themselves.”

  “We’ve seen similar things here in Elekargul,” said Proteus, “but I think now we need to take care of young Sorus here. Have you ever stitched someone up before?”

  Jon shook his head.

  “Now’s as good a time as any to learn and I’d prefer you practice on the boy in case something happens to me later!” said Proteus as he clapped Jon on the shoulder.

  Sorus looked up while he still held the bloody bandages to the back of his head. “Do I get any say in this?”

  Proteus shook his head, “Nope.”

  Jon looked nervous as well. “Do I get any say in this?”

  Proteus smiled and walked over to his pack and began to rummage around for the needle and thread. “You want to put the needle in the fire for a bit to keep down the chance of infection,” he said, “and we’ll douse Sorus’s head with some of the bourbon to clean the wound.”

  “Can I drink some as well?” said Sorus as he eyed first the needle that Proteus pulled out of his pack and then Jon Gray’s huge hands. “Do you think you can handle something so fine?” he asked the big knight.

  Jon shrugged, “There’s a first time for everything,” he said with a smile, took the needle from Proteus, then looked to the fire as he twisted the little thing in his hand back and forth. He thought about it for a moment and then pulled a fiery brand from the blaze and held the needle up to it for a few moments. Meanwhile Proteus found the flask of bourbon and applied it in equal doses to Sorus’s head and mouth. Jon attempted to thread the needle several times without success but eventually managed the trick.

  “I’m gaining a new respect for mother,” said Jon with a shake of his head as he tried to tie a knot in the end of the string after watching the thread slip out the first time.

  “Your mother,” said Sorus, “Not your sister; hey can I have another swig?”

  “My sister,” said Jon with a snort as he finally managed to tie off the thread. “She wouldn’t know a needle and thread if I stabbed her in the behind with it. You think I’m a stubborn mule? I wish you could meet her,” he finished as he walked over to Sorus and Proteus with the tools of his new trade. “All right Sorus, this will hurt you more than it’ll hurt me!”

  “Great,” said the young knight with a smile and bent his head over. “Let’s get this over with.”

  Proteus leaned over and offered advice as Jon began to slip the needle through the skin on the top of Sorus’s head, “Come in at a steep angle, that’s right, there you go, and pull it through, excellent. Now repeat that about ten more times back
and forth.”

  “What are we … unnh … going to do without the map?” said Sorus as he gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the pain.

  “Good question,” said Proteus as he watched Jon’s work carefully. “You’ve got to pull the thread tight but you don’t want to break it, that’s the way.”

  “You pretty much know that map by heart anyway, don’t you Proteus?” said Jon, his huge hands on Sorus’s forehead making the knight look more like a child than a young man. “I think we just go on with the mission. Our other choice is to head back down the mountain, find the First Rider, and then climb all the way back up and be pretty much in the same position.”

  Proteus nodded, “That’s right, now loop back one more time, there, I can’t say I disagree with you, Jon. I’d rather get in trouble for doing something than not doing something, but the thing that concerns me the most is that our foes know we are here, they know where we are headed, and they might even know what we are looking for if they captured the other knights.”

  “We don’t even know who are foes are,” said Sorus and winced as the needle passed through his skin one last time. “They can ambush us any time.”

  “That is true,” said Jon. “There, now what?”

  Proteus looked down at the stitch work and smiled, “You’ve got to make a little knot there at the end, no, don’t cut it until after you finish the knot. Here,” he said and took the needle from Jon’s hand, “it’s a special kind of knot called a square knot, like this. There we go. Good as new, Sorus. I’ll want you to clean that out with bourbon or alcohol every day but we’ll dress it for now with some more cloth. Was that too bad?”

  “No,” said Jon and Sorus in unison and then they laughed.

  “I think he was talking to me,” said Sorus and held a wad of fresh cloth to the back of his head while Proteus wrapped a length of leather around it.

  “This won’t be such a great hold,” said the older knight as he cinched the bandage on, “but it’ll do for now. The light is coming up already so we need to decide on our next course of action pretty quickly now.”