She paused and tilted her head inside of her robes.
“You are both attractive, which helps, I suppose. Well, enough of that. Welcome to my home. What can I do for you today, my friends?”
Sandra led them into the room and offered them seats in front of her hut, the one closest to the entrance. Once Sarah and Bobby were seated, another Changling silently brought them tall glasses of water and then hurried away without speaking.
“What's wrong with your friends?” Sarah asked Sandra, who was sitting across from her. “Are we that scary looking without our heads covered?”
“Hardly. But you know how people are. When they see something new, it can take a little while to adjust to it. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them start removing their head wrappings too, now that they've seen that we don't die from exposing ourselves to fresh air.”
“And yourself?”
Sandra chuckled, her laugh deep and melodic.
“I'm a traditionalist, as you well know. Give me a little bit of time to get used to the idea. I do often reveal my face to my closest friends, so I'm not averse to the idea. So we'll see. Now, what's up?”
Sarah told her what had happened to Bobby and the other woman made a sound of disgust deep in her throat.
“So the slimy little monsters are upping their game, are they? And Magnus thinks that they may be building a permanent camp? Damn it! I told all of you when we first ran into the goblins years ago that we should have wiped out that patrol. If they had never returned to their masters in the south, it might have dissuaded them from exploring this part of the country. But no, you and the other leaders decided that it was too dangerous. And now see where we are.”
“That's hardly fair,” Bobby objected, to Sarah's surprise. He wasn't usually that forthcoming when dealing with other people, especially those as intimidating as Sandra.
“We were still very young and inexperienced when the goblins first came, five or six years ago,” he continued. “And then the magic faded away and we were almost defenseless.”
Sandra waited a moment before she answered.
“Yes, I suppose that's true. Well, now we'll never know if it would have worked or not, will we? And we can't live in the past, so let's move on. I'll inform my people to keep an eye out for traps. All of them can sense magic, especially hostile emanations, so that isn't a problem. The problems will come later, if the goblins dig in and others come north to join them. We are simply too few in number to put up a decent defense. I was tempted to hunt down some of them when we spotted them yesterday, but Miesha convinced me that it would be too dangerous.”
She shrugged.
“And she was right, in hindsight. There are only a dozen people here and I cherish all of them. Wasting their lives in a battle that we cannot win, at least not right now, would be a betrayal of their faith in me and I will not do that. But if any of those damned creatures come sniffing around my door, they will be in for a rude awakening,” she added ominously.
Sarah felt relieved by how reasonable the older woman was being. Sandra wasn't known for her restraint and it was good to know that she would be cautious when dealing with the goblin threat.
They chatted for a little while, discussing more day to day subjects. Then Sarah and Bobby finished their water and stood up, ready to move on again.
“Where are you off to next?” Sandra asked as she escorted them to the entrance.
“I'm trying to figure out who's closest from here,” Sarah told her. “Alexa is about as far south as Clara is, but one of them is southwest and the other is southeast. What do you think?”
“I think neither,” the older woman replied, to Sarah's surprise. “I'll send a couple of people to tell those two about the goblin traps. That will give you enough time before sundown to get to Zack's place. It's the furthest south of all of the camps and the last one that needs to be informed of the new danger from the goblins.”
Bobby visibly shuddered and Sandra's head tilted to one side within her wrappings again.
“What's the matter?” she asked.
He shook his head and looked away.
“Nothing. I just find it a bit weird that Eric and the others still living there refuse to accept that Zack is dead. They keep his hut exactly the same as it's always been, leave a place open around the fire when they eat; hell, they still refuse to name anyone as their new leader. Sure, Eric runs the place, but he still says that he's just the temporary replacement. It's weird, that's all.”
“Grief is a funny thing,” Sandra told him, her voice gentle. “Zack was a larger than life figure for all of us. He led us out of the Diefenbunker when we desperately needed someone to give us direction. He taught us how to fight, how to build these camps, and so much more. And then he disappeared one night while scouting, the same night that a pack of drakes swept through the city. We all assume that he got careless and was killed by those despicable monsters, but his closest friends refuse to believe it. It's a natural reaction.”
“But Sandra, it's been three years,” Sarah spoke up. “I admired Zack a great deal. We all did. But Eric and the others' refusal to admit that he's gone just can't be healthy.”
“It's their choice,” Sandra said firmly. “Don't all of us emphasize the fact that free will is a basic right? Each of us is free to make our own decisions, and the belief that Zack lives is one of theirs. They'll eventually come around, I believe, but it is obviously going to take a great deal of time. And speaking of time, you two had better hurry. It's going to take at least two hours to reach that camp and the sun won't wait.”
They bid their farewells and walked back up the sloping tunnel toward the exit.
“Do you think she's right?” Bobby asked quietly. “That Eric and the others will ever admit that Zack isn't coming back?”
“Who knows?” Sarah replied sadly. “Eric and Zack had a special bond that most of us don't. Remember how Eric used to follow him around back when we first moved into the bunker? He was his hero and a role model. To lose someone like that, especially when there are so few of us to begin with? It's hard, Bobby. I feel the same way that you do about their extended mourning period, but like Sandra said, their lives are their lives. They can do whatever they want to with them. I do want to warn them about the traps though. I doubt that any of them have a death wish, no matter how much they grieve for Zack. So let's get there while the sun still shines.”
Marshall was still studying his textbook when they reached his post, but when they saw him, both Sarah and Bobby smiled widely. Marshall had removed his head coverings.
“Well, look at you,” Sarah exclaimed. “This is a sudden change, isn't it?”
The young man shrugged in his seat. The candles burning on the table reflected off of a shock of red hair on his head and his bright green eyes. Marshall's face was covered with freckles, with a stubby nose and wide lips. His mutation wasn't evident until he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
He had webbed fingers. Thick skin between the digits made him look like some sort of exotic aquatic creature. Sarah knew that he also had webbed toes and a long fin that grew from just below his neck to his waist. Fortunately for Marshall, he could flatten the fin so that he could wear clothes easily. Needless to say, the young man could swim better than any other Changling.
“Yeah, I guess so,” he replied to Sarah. “But I've been thinking about it for a while now. Those damned wraps just felt so constricting, you know? First chance I get, I'm going to find some real clothes up top and start wearing them.”
He actually sounded excited at the prospect and both Sarah and Bobby laughed.
“Good for you,” Bobby said cheerfully. “I feel the same way and so does Sarah. At least if we get more people to take off their head coverings, they'll be able to see better. That should help us stay safer now that the goblins are back.”
“Yeah, I agree,” Marshall told him. “I feel like a new man. Come on; I'll push the plank over the pit so that you guys can get moving.
You probably want to go while there's still daylight left.”
“Yes, we do. Thanks Marshall,” Sarah said.
“No problem. Just be careful out there. The city's a lot more dangerous now, and not just because of the goblins.”
“I wonder what Marshall was hinting at back there?” Bobby mused as he and Sarah reached the surface again.
It was well past noon now and the sky was dotted with thick, white clouds that looked like fat cotton balls floated across the sun. The air was warm and a breeze danced through the remains of the city.
Sarah paused to close her eyes and just breathe. The sun against her skin was as gentle as a caress and the wind tugging at her hair felt playful. She smiled and enjoyed the moment.
“You okay?” Bobby asked her.
“Oh yeah, I'm good,” she murmured. “It just feels so wonderful to be free of those stifling coverings, you know? I'm sorry that it took me so long to smarten up.”
She opened her eyes and grinned at him.
“You still feeling weird about it?”
Bobby took off his sunglasses for a moment and copied her. He shut his eyes, just letting the breeze flow by him.
“No. No, I'm not. Actually, this feels so go that it's almost indecent.” He chuckled. “So this is what being an adult feels like. Cool.”
Sarah laughed at his remark and then led the way forward. They walked straight south, following what had once been Bank Street down a winding hill toward the Rideau River. Debris had slid down the hill back when the dragons had attacked and filled up the river at the time, diverting it and splitting in it two. Now, instead of a wide, deep flow of water, the river was a series of rivulets that the pair easily hopped over as they crossed the debris-choked river bed.
Slim fish and odd little reptiles that looked like miniature alligators darted through the shallow water and Sarah and Bobby cautiously avoided the scaled creatures. They were known to attack in groups, like piranha and, unlike the fish, they could chase a person on land as well as in the water. Fortunately they didn't also live to the north in the Ottawa River or the Changlings would never have been able to bathe in that large body of water.
It took them quite some time to make their way carefully across the streams and rivulets to dry ground and neither spoke again until they were safely past them.
Once they reached the far side and started to climb another slope, still on the cracked and broken pavement of Bank Street, Sarah glanced at Bobby curiously.
“What were you asking before? About Marshall?”
“Hmm? Oh right, him. I was just wondering about that cryptic warning he gave us as we left; you know, about goblins not being the only danger right now.”
“Ah, yes. That.”
Sarah looked to her right, at the smashed ruins that had once been a major mall. She couldn't remember its name, but the Changlings from Zack's camp had picked it clean of anything useful over the years. Now it was just a collection of useless mounds made of concrete, steel and melted glass. It looked more like a moon landscape than something that had once been built by human beings.
“I think that he was talking about the return of the magic,” she continued as they climbed the slope, slipping occasionally on loose stones and slippery weeds growing between cracks in the pavement.
“The power made all of this,” she waved at the destruction around them, “possible. And it made us too, really. It's effect on the world around us are real, and often dangerous, and now it's back full force. Anything could happen because of that. New monsters, more mutations, anything. And I guarantee you that some of what is to come will be dangerous.”
Bobby frowned as he followed her around rusted-out cars and over mounds of rock.
“Yeah but those changes are usually fairly slow. Marshall made it sound like there was a more immediate threat.”
“Did he? Then I don't know, Bobby. Maybe it was just a figure of speech or something.”
“Maybe.”
Zack's camp was located deep beneath an old bus station, almost at the border where the city of Ottawa had transitioned into farmland. The basements underneath the station descended three levels, almost forty feet deep, and Zack and his followers had turned the descent into a deathtrap for the unwary.
Spike traps, deep pits and dead falls that were set up to drop boulders on the heads of invaders were some of the dangers. Sarah and Bobby warily descended the paths, carefully slipping past each trap. All of the other Changlings had learned where the dangerous creations were located, but Eric and the others occasionally altered the traps or moved them around, and sometimes they forgot to warn everyone else. Fortunately no one had died from the traps so far, but it had come close a few times.
“Keep a sharp lookout for the signs,” Bobby said as he followed Sarah down a narrow hallway made of cement.
The walls and ceiling were cracked and the floor was slippery with debris. Scuffed footprints were obvious in the thick dust under their feet, but it was impossible to tell how many people had passed through the area or when. The air was dry and made the pair cough as they moved slowly forward.
“I know, Bobby,” Sarah replied tersely.
She held up her glowing stone and searched the walls, looking for the special mark that Changlings used when they wanted to indicate special locations to each other. The sign was used to mark caches of food, dangerous paths where the ground was unstable, or traps like the ones that Sarah and Bobby were trying to avoid. The sign was simple to identify; two diagonal slashes to the right, the bottom one shorter than the top. To Sarah they had always looked like a crooked smile, even though the origin of the mark was long forgotten.
They edged forward one step at a time. The path was eerily silent and the air was still. Both of them were sweating, more from nerves than from the heat; the underground pathway was actually rather cool.
The first trap was set up just around a sharp corner, at the bottom of a staircase. Sarah turned the corner and stopped so quickly that Bobby bumped into her. She turned to glare at him.
“Careful!” she hissed.
“Sorry,” he said quickly and stepped back.
Seeing his pale face and frightened eyes, she calmed down at once and forced a smile.
“It's okay, Bobby. Just stay back a little further. We don't want to set any of these damned things off.”
“Got it, got it.”
The mark was etched into the cement wall to her left and Sarah moved against that wall and began to inch forward, staring nervously at the ground. The thick dust and bits of broken concrete there looked undisturbed, but she wasn't fooled. There was definitely something dangerous under that innocent facade.
Bobby copied her exactly and neither of them breathed deeply until they had passed a second mark, telling them that the coast was clear.
“Well, that's one,” Sarah said shakily as they both stopped to try to relax their tense muscles. “Do we know how many of these traps there are down here?”
“I don't think anyone knows except for Eric and his friends,” Bobby replied as he wiped off his forehead on his sleeve. “They change them and move them around regularly. You'd think that they didn't want any visitors,” he added with a weak grin.
Sarah smiled vaguely and then set off again, more nervous than ever. There was still a long way to go.
In the end, they counted five traps before they reached the heavy iron door that led into Eric's camp. The pair was shaking a bit with relief as they stood in front of the portal, and Sarah took several deep breaths before she banged on the rusted, metal surface.
A shower of iron flakes fell from the door and the sound echoed back the way that they had come.
“I wish that there was a way out of here other than retracing our steps,” Bobby said as they waited. “I'm not looking forward to going back outside again.”
“Well, at least we know where the traps are on the return trip,” Sarah replied practically. “That will make it a bit easier.”
“But
not less scary.”
“True.”
There was a slot in the door about five feet off of the ground and they heard it pulled back with a squeal. They couldn't see anyone looking out at them, but they knew that they were being examined carefully.
“Who is it?” a deep male voice barked.
“Hey Eric. It's me, Sarah. And Bobby's with me.”
“Oh! Hi guys. It took me a second to recognize your faces. You look good! Hang on and I'll open the door.”
“Thanks.”
Sarah turned to Bobby and spoke quietly as they heard the door being unlocked.
“Remember who we're dealing with here,” she warned him. “Sandra may be aggressive but Eric and his people are a little...volatile. Don't say anything to set them off.”
He nodded grimly.
“I know, Sarah. Just you remember to ask about Zack. If you don't, they'll be insulted and God knows what will happen.”
The door began to open with a loud squeal.
“Here we go.”
Chapter 7
The duo walked through the doorway and the metal door slammed shut behind them. They turned and looked at Eric.
“Welcome, guys. Come on in,” he said as he moved past them to lead the way through an empty room lined with brown brick.
Eric was wearing the usual layers of old rags and cast-off clothing, but all of his wrappings were different shades of blue. The late, lamented Zack had begun a tradition years ago of wearing his favorite color, even if no one could see his features, and all of the Changlings who followed him had done the same thing. That habit continued even after he had disappeared. The one color that no one dared to wear was red, Zack's color.
“Thanks, Eric,” Sarah said as she and Bobby followed him. “How are you and the others doing? And have you heard from Zack yet?”
“We're fine. Fani has a bad cold, but you know how he's always catching something or other. Everybody else is okay.”
He hesitated.
“Still nothing from Zack. We hope to hear something soon.”
The Changlings (The New Earth Chronicles Book 2) Page 9