by Joe Sniezek
“The sky is the right color. It looks a little like my home, but it’s the wrong time of year. It wasn’t spring. And the mountains are too small.” Wilfer was disappointed.
“It’s ok. This was just the closest place. It was the best place to start looking, but I didn’t think you were from here since your clothes are not right. But, it is a nice place to visit,” Eniyan said while sweeping his arms wide. “We will wait for sunset again before heading back. I fear it may be tricky to get by those guards, unseen. It seemed they were more concerned with who is leaving than entering.”
“Oh, you don’t think they are here for me? That’s a relief,” Wilfer said as a bit of tension eased from his body.
“No. That garrison was placed there recently, but not yesterday,” Eniyan said. After a thoughtful pause, he continued, “However, all things are related, in some way. I cannot say what the meaning is, but it sure seems like trouble is brewing. Were you at war in your home?”
“I don’t think so. We had plenty of soldiers, but I never heard anything about a war. To be honest, I was not in a position to be informed about things like that,” Wilfer said with a shrug and a flap of his arms.
“What position were you in? What do you do?” Eniyan asked.
“Oh, not much of anything, I’m afraid. I had my hobbies to keep me entertained. I spent time with friends. Self-defense training was required. I enjoyed riding my horse. In the evenings, I used to visit the pubs, but they refused to serve me anymore. So I haven’t had a drink in a long time,” Wilfer remembered with a smile.
“I see,” Eniyan said slowly. Wilfer could see that certain assumptions were clicking into place in Eniyan’s mind, and he didn’t like the implications of that.
He thought of something to say in his defense. “I didn’t wander away drunk. How would I have locked myself in a room from the outside?” Wilfer voice was rising.
“Good point,” Eniyan said with good humor to relieve the tension.
∞∞∞
Wilfer heard a faint guitar playing in the distance. The sound drifted through the trees, intermittently. Without realizing it, they found themselves being drawn towards the music. Neither Wilfer nor Eniyan had intended to investigate, but as they walked they found themselves closer and closer to the source of the music.
They could hear a woman’s voice singing a carefree song to accompany the strumming of the guitar. “There must be a farmhouse or cabin up ahead,” Wilfer reasoned.
Eniyan nodded in response, but as they approached the clearing, they saw neither cabin nor farm. There were only a horse and a girl, sitting on her blanket, enjoying a picnic.
Wilfer and Eniyan paused at the edge of the field, just out of sight, hidden by some branches and leaves. “Hmm, I don’t know. Does this look like a trap? I think we should walk away,” Wilfer whispered.
“Good idea. We don’t really have a reason to be here. Let’s go,” Eniyan nodded.
Just as they turned to leave, the girl called out, “Come and join me for some fruit. It’s delicious.”
Eniyan and Wilfer looked at each other. Wilfer was still intending to leave, but Eniyan shrugged. If it was a trap, it has been sprung, they might as well explore the situation.
As Eniyan and Wilfer carefully looked around, the girl said, “It’s just me.”
“Aren’t you afraid to be out here all alone?” Wilfer asked as they approached her blanket.
“Why would I be afraid?” she said as she pulled something from her bag. Instead of more fruit, she pulled out a crossbow.
Eniyan froze and Wilfer raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. The Girl looked at them for a moment, then laughed with delight. She gestured for them to sit and join her. As they did, she placed the crossbow down and grabbed a couple of pears.
“I’m Zumi,” she said as she tossed a piece of fruit to each of them. Wilfer caught the fruit and looked at the young woman. She was a small, slender girl with long straight black hair. Was it just the way her hair lay, or did her earlobes rise to a point? Before he could decide, Wilfer’s eyes were drawn to her small mouth that was quick to break into a wide smile. Her dark eyes sparkled above prominent angular cheekbones. Her delicate golden skin and the white flowing silk robes said she did not spend much time outdoors. This picnic was a pleasure outing, no doubt.
“What brings you to San La? Neither of you looks like you are from around here,” she said with the amusement clear in her speech.
Eniyan smiled but did not answer right away. Wilfer answered for him. “Ah, merely passing through. Just visiting,” he said in a friendly way, but his caution was obvious.
“Oh come now, you’ll have to do better than that,” she said as her hand rested lightly on the bag containing the crossbow. It was a subtle gesture, but the meaning was clear.
Eniyan and Wilfer exchanged a long look, then Eniyan sighed and said, “It’s a long story with more questions than answers, I’m afraid.”
“Ohh! A riddle. I love riddles.” She clapped and her eyes grew wide. She looked at Wilfer with interest. Wilfer found himself subconsciously straitening his posture under her attention. This was not lost on Zumi as her mouth slowly spread into a warm smile. “You must tell me everything,” she said with enthusiasm.
Four
Wilfer found himself telling his entire story to Zumi, even though that wasn’t his intention. For some reason, he felt very comfortable and open with her. He could not stop himself from wanting to share everything with her.
She listened with full attention and found the story fascinating, saying “That’s quite a story. And the only part you left out is your names.”
“Oh right! My name is Wilfer,” he said and took her outstretched hand. He blushed as their hands touched.
“Have we met before, Wilfer?” she asked looking up at him with a shy smile.
“No, I definitely would remember something like that,” he said and smiled as she let out a soft laugh.
She held his eyes with hers for a while and then turned to Eniyan with a raised eyebrow. “I am Eniyan.” He said nothing more, but it was with a friendly demeanor.
“And you don’t remember the guard post being there? It’s been there for as long as I can remember, though I’ve never actually gone directly to it,” Zumi said, tilting her head.
“I guess it’s been longer than I thought since I last passed this way,” Eniyan said as he stroked his beard and nodded. Wilfer thought he saw doubt in the old man’s eyes, but he couldn’t imagine why; Zumi was trustworthy. “So what brings you all the way out here, if not the gate?” Eniyan also asked.
“A picnic, of course,” Zumi said brightly, but her tone had a wistful edge. “It’s nice to get away, so sometimes I make sure to get nice and lost.”
Wilfer agreed. Who couldn’t relate to the oppressiveness of daily demands? He was growing quite fond of this girl. He was glad to have met her.
They relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful day and tasty fruit for a bit, then Eniyan asked casually, “Well, it seems I’m out of the loop. Why do they guard the gateway? Do a lot of people come and go? I thought it was little used.”
“I don’t think it’s used very much at all,” Zumi agreed, “Nobody goes through it because it’s terrible on the other side. And only once every few years does a merchant bring his cart through.”
“Hmm, why the guards then?” Eniyan persisted.
“I’m not sure. I think there are lots of guards along the roadways, not just there. Why didn’t you ask them? You can get into big trouble for not checking in as you pass by,” Zumi informed them.
“They would have been friendly, I’m sure of it. Especially to you,” she said pointing to Wilfer with a smile. “We are friendly people. Why don’t you come back with me to the Capital? I can show you around, and maybe someone there will know more about your situation. I haven’t heard of any trouble, or people getting kidnapped lately, but maybe someone heard a rumor.”
Wilfer looked over at Eniyan for his opi
nion, but the old man just gave a faint shrug and stared off into the distance. He obviously wanted to leave any decisions up to Wilfer. That’s one thing Wilfer noticed about him, he never seemed to make a decision. Around Eniyan, decisions seemed to make themselves. The old man did nothing and everything just fell into place.
Wilfer felt torn. He knew that any chance to spend time with Zumi was a good thing, but on the other hand, he would be giving up some level of control. He did wake up in a locked room, the other day. He wanted to avoid anything like that happening again. He couldn’t be certain that the next time he would escape so easily. Furthermore, as Zumi pointed out, it was already too late to stay. He didn’t check in properly at the checkpoint. There would be some sort of repercussions, wouldn’t there?
The idea of just going back the way he came tempted him, but that would require some tact. They had just met this lady. She could easily summon the guards at the slightest offense. Also, Wilfer didn’t forget that she had a loaded crossbow within arm’s reach. If he and Eniyan decided to make their way back through the gateway, Zumi’s blessing was needed.
Wilfer now saw how every decision had layers of complexity. Most things required an abundance of tact and patience to do properly. He was beginning to understand why Eniyan showed such reluctant in making a decision prematurely.
Wilfer decided the best thing to do was keeping her talking and see what options revealed themselves. “Where is the Capital?” he asked.
“Not far from here. Maybe a half hour on foot. I know you’d love it. It is the most beautiful city, and everybody will be so anxious to meet you,” Zumi said. “We could get to know each other better,” she added and placed her hand on his arm.
Wilfer felt the blood rush to his cheeks at her touch. He glanced at Eniyan who wasn’t paying attention to their conversation. In fact, his eyes were closed and he was close to falling asleep. Wilfer used that as an excuse. “We probably should get back, Eniyan is old and tired.”
Eniyan’s eyes snapped wide open, but he said nothing.
Zumi pouted. She thought about it for a moment then said, “You could stay the night with us!” She leaned forward; if Wilfer had allowed his eyes to wander, they would have glanced down her gown as it fell forward slightly and exposed her cleavage. But his eyes were firmly locked with hers.
Wilfer put on his most regretful and pained expression and he said, “Ah, poor Eniyan is almost falling asleep as it is. I couldn’t bear it if the poor old man were to die on us.”
Zumi relented, stood up, and slung her pack over the back of her horse. Wilfer and Eniyan rose also. As she gathered her other things, Wilfer gave a princely bow and said, “It was a great pleasure to meet you Zumi, and I hope I have the pleasure again.” A smile was her only response as she rode away.
While travelling back home, Eniyan looked sideways at Wilfer and said, “Old man, eh? About to die?”
Wilfer laughed, “I had to convince her to let us go, somehow.” He shrugged and added, “You never know what a woman will do.”
“You could have found another way,” Eniyan said sullenly.
“That’s what you get for leaving these things up to me,” Wilfer said.
“I was waiting for events to mature. I have been to the Capital before, you know. It is a nice place. She was telling the truth,” Eniyan said.
“So you think we should have gone with her?” Wilfer asked with the frustration evident in his voice.
“I didn’t say that. This is probably best, but things would have probably worked out fine if we did go,” Eniyan said.
Wilfer nodded towards the road ahead. “It’s safe to assume that the guards will still be there, and they may not be as friendly as Zumi said. Maybe we should wait until sundown again?”
“Good idea. Let’s get a little closer while we still have the light, but we will slip by after dark, if we can,” Eniyan agreed.
As they approached the same path they had used to leave the road, the guard house came into view. The four guards on duty appeared to be alert, awake and preparing torches and lanterns for nightfall. Wilfer and Eniyan were creeping closer when Wilfer felt a pebble strike his back. He turned around to see Zumi waving at him with a large grin. He crept back to her and whispered, “What are you doing here?”
“The gateway is closed. I asked around. Nobody can enter or leave without permission of the Prefect,” Zumi said. Seeing dismay cloud Wilfer’s face she quickly added, “But I know of a side entrance. There’s a small gap we can squeeze through.”
They examined the cliff face and found the fissure. The side passage must have been known by more than just Zumi because there were two more guards sitting on a large rock beside it.
“I have an idea. I can send Plumblossom here to distract them,” as she patted her pony. She grabbed her pack and kissed her pony on the nose and whispered to it, sending it off towards the road. Its hooves clapped on the occasional stone and hard ground, and the iron rings of her bridle rang out with each step. Upon hearing the pony, both guards rose to follow and inspect the horse, perhaps expecting trouble. Zumi, Wilfer, and Eniyan took the opportunity to slip through the gap into the cave and on through the gateway.
No one was following; they had gone through unnoticed. If Zumi enjoyed picnics often, perhaps the guards recognized the horse, assumed it merely wandered away.
The land of the Crossroads Realm was quiet that morning. The sun was shining brightly in spite of the black sky. Zumi commented on the sky, “Oh, it’s kind of depressing. I like blue better.” Wilfer and Eniyan found themselves agreeing.
Realized that they no longer had a destination in mind, Wilfer asked Eniyan, “So where are we heading to now?”
“I don’t know. My plan was to check out the nearest realm hoping you would recognize it, though I doubted you would.” Eniyan didn’t appear to have anything further to say, despite Wilfer’s expectant stare. He sighed in exasperation with the realization that Eniyan wouldn’t be much help.
Zumi offered a suggestion, “We could go back to San La.” Seeing his puzzled expression, she continued, “Well, if we go back, we’ll be following the rules this time. And since I’m with you, they’ll let us in.”
Eniyan asked, “Won’t they have a lot of questions? Like why you are coming through the gate, where did you go, and who we are?”
“We’ll just have to think of some good answers, but my family is kind of a big deal. I think we’d be able to talk our way out of it,” she said, attempting to be as cute and charming as she could.
Wilfer was hesitant. For some reason, Zumi seemed a little too eager to return. Did she come with them just to bring them back? “What are our options?” he said as he turned to Eniyan, “I don’t know where I am, where I’ve been, or where I’m going. It’s a really uncomfortable situation to be in.”
“You have to get used to not knowing and not being in control all the time,” Eniyan said. “As for our options? Well, we can go back with Zumi, we can go back to my house, or we can go somewhere else.”
“C’mon, that’s not helpful,” Wilfer said. “I suppose we can just stay right here forever too, right?” That caused a quick laugh from Zumi followed by a bigger laugh from Eniyan.
Eniyan gathered his thoughts and grew more serious. “Where do you want to go? You are trying to return home, right?
“You know that I am,” Wilfer said.
“Even though there may be trouble? I thought we might be trying to figure out what’s going on, first. If you really want to choose which path to take now, decide on that bigger issue. The rest will become obvious,” Eniyan instructed.
Wilfer was stunned. He hadn’t bothered to think through all the ramifications. He was too wrapped up in events and he assumed Eniyan would take care of things. He did try to figure out what had happened to him. But once he ran out of answers, he defaulted to getting back home. But was that really the best plan?
Wilfer took the current opportunity to think about things on a deeper level. A
s far as he can remember, he went to bed normally and woke up in this strange world. Didn’t that mean someone had kidnapped him? If that’s the case, then going back without knowing, would put him in danger.
Maybe figuring out the reason would lead him to the identity of his kidnappers. What would it accomplish to snatch him at night and leave him in a strange land free to wander away? They didn’t want to harm him, or they would have. They didn’t want to imprison him permanently. It was clear that they only wanted to delay him for a short time. He said to Eniyan, “I guess someone is trying to keep me out of the way for a while. But I can’t imagine who.”
“Sounds reasonable,” Eniyan replied. “So you’ve made your decision then?”
“Not even remotely,” Wilfer admitted. “Should we split up? Should we remain together? Should we stay right here and do nothing? I really don’t know.”
Eniyan clapped his hand on Wilfer’s shoulder to reassure him. “I will stay with you, my friend. I feel that I still have much to offer. What do your instincts tell you?”
“I am so tired. Sleeping on the ground for the past couple of days has been wearing me down. I’m just not used to that, and Zumi surely isn’t either. You, however, look like you’ve done that a lot.” Wilfer poked Eniyan in the side and laughed.
“Do you want to go back to my house? What if more men come looking for you?” Eniyan asked.
“That’s one way to get some answers, right? We will be very cautious. We didn’t even really look for any answers, did we? We just visited San La. Maybe this time, we’ll come up with a better plan,” Wilfer said.
“Perhaps,” Eniyan said, staring off into the distance.
“For all we know, the people who came banging on the door were looking to rescue me, right?” Wilfer said.
“Perhaps,” Eniyan repeated. his mind was still off in the distance, but he had a sparkle in his eye and a faint smile forming on his lips.
“The town sounds exciting,” Zumi said and smiled, looking at each of them.
They swiftly headed downhill, back to town. As the road crested each rise, they caught a glimpse ahead. The way was clear.