Wordscapist: The Myth (The Way of the Word Book 1)

by Arpan Panicker

  Eventually, Dew looked up, ready for conversation. I gestured to De Vorto to join us. There was a lot to talk about. Dew gave the cigarette a rather disgusted look and asked, “Do you have to?” I shrugged and tried to look sheepish. Nevertheless, I took a couple of quick puffs and stubbed out the cigarette. De Vorto came closer, running into a swirl of smoke. He went a shade of grey-blue and looked like he was choking. He recovered quickly enough to make me wonder if it had been a show. All of this from someone who had been an inveterate pipe smoker all his life! His new anti-smoking policy was quite irritating. Just my luck, to be stuck in the middle of nowhere with two virulent non-smokers.

  Dew leaned forward and spoke, her expression serious, “First things first; where are we? I have not had a chance to ask you yet. We seem to be in a jungle of some sort.”

  I was rather pleased with myself for having brought us here. “Yes, it is a jungle. This is one of the islands in the Andaman and Nicobar chain. We used to come here every couple of years. My friend owns a bit of land and this cabin here. I could not think of any place safer than this.”

  “The Andaman and Nicobar islands?” Dew asked, her voice quite shocked. “And which island is this?”

  I crossed my fingers behind my back as I coughed through the name, “Katchal.”

  “Katchal?” Dew asked, the way she said it clearly indicating that she knew the name.

  “Yes,” I said, trying to keep my deadpan expression.

  De Vorto wasn’t getting this, and was alternating between our faces.

  “And how do we get out of this place?” De Vorto asked, an edge to his voice.

  “Well, we teleported in. We can teleport out.” I said, wondering why De Vorto was getting worked up, though I could understand why Dew might be getting testy.

  “Can you, Dew?” De Vorto asked Dew. She shook her head. “I thought as much. It takes an experienced wordsmith to manage a teleport. You, sir, got lucky with all you did, and it took everything I had to prevent you from exploding spontaneously as you did it. Now, I would not be able to do that anymore. And neither can you. So what are our options?”

  I had a sinking feeling. I realised that I had taken a lot of things for granted. I lowered my head, wishing I could somehow hide my face between my shoulders. I gulped and muttered, “There is no other way. We will have to wait till someone comes here. And this time of the year, no one will.”

  “I’m not surprised,” Dew said, gritting her teeth.

  “Something I should know?” De Vorto asked, anger fighting with curiosity.

  “Katchal was one of the worst hit islands when a tsunami - that’s a massive wave triggered by an earthquake - hit these parts.” I volunteered the information before Dew could say much. “The government is still rebuilding infrastructure here. Also, this place is closed to tourists, and there are only a few inhabitants.”

  “What!” Dew and De Vorto shouted in chorus. I pulled my head in a couple more inches, wincing a bit.

  “I thought you knew this, from the way you said Katchal,” I said to Dew, half petulantly.

  “I knew about the tsunami, not about the rest of it. Is there no way to send word to your friends? A radio or something?” Dew asked.

  “My friend has a Sat-Phone. But it is not here. He brings it with him when we visit. This place doesn’t have any kind of connectivity at all. It’s just tribal folk living on the far side of the island, and they are pretty hostile.”

  “What is a sat fun?” De Vorto asked.

  “Never mind, De Vorto. You have 400 years of catching up to do. We’ll explain things in time.” I said.

  “No connectivity, hostile locals, Andaman fucking Nicobar islands! Brilliant! Well done, Slick!” Dew’s sarcasm was vicious, “You have been a peach all along. First you almost murder a dozen beach bums. Then you take on a warren of Free wordsmiths and antagonise them no end with all the fancy tricks you pulled off. Then you go and bust your leg with your stupid posturing! And now you bring us all to the back of beyond where we are stuck for I do not know how long! Congratulations!”

  That did it. I had a pretty unpredictable breaking point. And this time it happened - I gave it back to her. “Thank you, Dew. Now please try and do something for me,” I knelt in front of her, looking her in the eyes, ignoring the pain from my leg. “Think about your life and everything about it that you hold dear. Take enough time while you think, so that you can remember all the little things, things that make you smile, that make you feel nice and warm inside. Think about everything you have worked towards, squirreling away precious baubles like an obsessive magpie. Think about those few things, those few people you would kill for.” I took hold of the cushion she was holding, and tugged firmly at it, pulling it away, continuing to speak, “Now…take all that away; each and every one of these things, these people. Take away the whole world you have got used to and mastered. Fill up all the emptiness left behind with pain, violence, confusion and fear. Replace all those you love and who love you with people who hunt you or try to hurt you. Now, put yourself in a world you do not understand. Twist and tear every little thing out of shape till you do not recognise a single thing about your life anymore.”

  I let the words sink in, watching her eyes go all wide and serious. Ruthlessly, I drove the point home, “Have you done all this? Have you imagined how this would be? Now, let us look at the person you are. Are you the same person, Dew? Do you stay untouched, virginal white? Will you be able to stay true to all that you believe in? Will you be able to just get on with this new life and master all that is new? Would you be able to think sensibly and take the right actions in spite of all the insanity around you? Think hard and answer me honestly. Think Dew, before you pass judgment on someone else.”

  I pushed myself up and hobbled to a corner of the room, standing before a window, looking at the storm that raged outside. There was an uncomfortable silence, but I was beyond caring. I lit up another cigarette rather vehemently. They could go stuff it if they disapproved. After a while, I felt a hand on my elbow. “I’m sorry,” I heard. It was Dew.

  “The big guys who were standing outside the tent; do all of them work for your dad?” I asked Dew.

  She was pretty confused at that turn in the conversation. “Akto is not my dad. I just call him Papa Loon because everyone calls him that. And if you mean the guards, yes. You saw Reno who was asked to guard you. There are two more.”

  “Great. I just saw one of them peering at the cabin from between the trees. I think they have tracked us down. De Vorto! What do we do?” I looked around. De Vorto was nowhere to be seen. “Shit! Dew, turn off the lamps. Let’s scoot up to the attic. We can hide!”

  Dew shook her head, her face pale. “They will just run a trace scape on me. They won’t have your signature yet, but they have mine. They will find us.”

  I felt a clammy hand wrap itself in my guts. I hobbled to the storm lamps and turned them off. The room was plunged in darkness, except for the occasional burst of white from the lightning. “I’m assuming they traced the spot we teleported to. They must be hiking around, trying to see where we are. There are a couple more cabins around this place. These guys have probably split up to check the place. Tell me, is this guy a wordsmith?” Dew shook her head. “Good,” I said. I knew I could not use my gift, but I could use everything else I had. The presence in my head stirred and flared. But at least now there were no words. I focussed on the situation and ignored the silent urging within me to reach out for the gift.

  I went to the closet and opened it, pulling out a small axe we used for chopping firewood. I was done running and hiding. I was going to take the fight to those bastards. I turned around and saw Dew kneeling, her eyes closed. She seemed to be praying. Well, we could always use a little prayer. De Vorto was still nowhere to be seen.

  I went to the kitchen and let myself into the garden - the rain was sheeting down and I was soaked in a few seconds. I limped, trying to ignore the pain, sticking to the wall. I caught sight of
a tree that would cover me. I made a quick dash for the tree and reached it just before the entire place was lit up by a flash of lightning. I hefted the axe in my hand and peeked out from behind the tree. I could see the courtyard in front of the house. It was deserted. It was then that I noticed the big guy next to the wall. He was making his way to the window, the same window I had been standing at a few moments before. I hobbled and skipped from tree to tree, jumping over rivulets of water and slimy patches.

  I was in a different zone altogether now, completely focussed on the man and nothing else. He reached the window, and within seconds he was dashing for the door - he had seen Dew! I made a beeline for him, running flat out, ignoring the pain and everything else. He put his shoulder to the door and rushed into the house while I was still some twenty metres away. I came very close to giving into the desperate mental flares to try something wordsmithy. Instead, I took a deep breath and threw the axe at the door, hoping to get a lucky shot at the guy’s back. I was running behind on my axe throwing practice though and the axe hit the wall a good distance away from the door, clattering to the floor. I had no option now. I closed my eyes and drew on the power, waiting for the words to come. I could feel the presence swell and fill my mind. And just when I braced myself to say the words, I heard an explosion. I opened my eyes just in time to see the intruder come flying out the door to land with a huge splash in the muck right in front of me. I looked up at the doorway as Dew walked up.

  “You think you’re the only who can do any rescuing around here?”

  She had been weaving a scape when I saw her kneel on the floor. I felt pretty stupid after all the stunts I had just pulled in my panic. Relief washed over me. She was safe, and that was what mattered. As the adrenaline retreated, I felt the pain from my badly abused leg surging back. I limped to the door and almost collapsed on the floor.

  “We cannot rest now. We have to go. There is someone with a CM out there and it is sure to have detected what I just did. They will be here in no time.” Dew pulled my hand and tugged.

  I pulled myself up and went to the kitchen. I picked a bag from the storeroom and stuffed it with whatever provisions I could. I slung the bag on my back and returned to the hall. Meanwhile Dew had found a couple of jackets inside. Equipped as well as we could be, we headed for the door. I winced as I saw the state it was in. I was going to have to pay my friend for all the provision pilfering and the damage done to the house.

  I saw the axe lying forlorn on the floor and left it where it was – I was likely to do more damage to myself than anyone else. I looked around for something I could pick up to use as a weapon. I saw a bamboo staff, thick enough to do damage and long enough to use as a walking stick. I picked it up, groaning as my leg complained when I leaned over. I wondered where De Vorto had gone off to, especially when we needed him the most. I nodded at Dew to indicate that I was ready. It was close to dawn when we took off into the jungle, the rain still pouring down.

  ***

  It was a crazy trek through the forest. We jogged while I could, and walked when the pain got too much to bear. Dew kept muttering a healing scape that stopped the pain from completely crippling me. We did not stop though. We did not dare. I kept trying to send De Vorto telepathic messages. But I did not know if I was getting it right and whether they actually made it through to him. I found myself regretting the separation scape. At times like this one can even miss an insane voice in the head. I would have loved to have been able to teleport us all out of there to some other location where no one could follow us. I could feel the gift slithering in me, but it was too alien and way too scary for me to risk without De Vorto’s commands to guide me.

  “Where are we going, Slick?” she gasped, leaning against a tree for a moment.

  I stopped too, using my staff for support. The incessant rain was beginning to get on my nerves. I wanted to be some place where we could be dry and safe. Did I have a plan? I decided to cook one up for the moment. “There is a river nearby. If we can reach there and walk upriver to the tribal area we may find a find a boat. Then we can try and make our way to the nearest inhabited island - that is, one with civilised people living on it.”

  Dew gave me one of her looks as I stumbled through the crazy plan. “Sounds good,” she said, “Let’s go.” And she took off again.

  I stared after her incredulously. She actually thought the plan sounded good. It was complete suicide! I would have to think of an alternative before this woman actually started executing my plan. I decided that I would figure it out along the way.

  We continued until we stumbled onto the river bank, more by chance than design. Then, we started moving upstream, following the plan, word for word. Me and my big mouth! By this time, night had receded and the approaching dawn made the going a bit easier. My leg had gone almost numb and I had stopped thinking about it. I just focussed on the next step, gritting my teeth against the pain and discomfort. Dew was incredibly tough and did not utter a word of complaint. Finally, a couple of hours into our escape, we took our first real break. We settled down and made a meal of some tinned pineapples and biscuits, washing it down with juice. I was dripping wet and something squelched with every move I made. Right then, I would have killed for dry clothes. The rain had lessened to a light drizzle though, and things were looking up. “Can they track you here?” I asked Dew, still thinking of the trace scape she had talked about.

  “No,” Dew said, “That works only in close areas. They will assume that we teleported out and will now be looking for the port location so that they can trace out the next point in the port.”

  “You mean to say they can always track down a teleport?”

  “Not necessarily. There are ways to erase the tracks of a teleport. But it takes a lot of skill to pull off something like that. Even senior wordsmiths have trouble doing something like that.”

  “Hmmm,” I digested that bit, pulling my trouser leg up to ease the pain.

  “Slick, your leg has gone purple,” Dew gasped. I looked at it myself and realised that she was right. The leg had also doubled in size. I felt sick to the stomach at seeing my own leg looking like a rotting piece of meat. “I guess the healing scape you used has not been working,” I said, my voice quivering a bit.

  “I’m sorry,” Dew whispered, tears coming to her eyes, “I was focussing on easing your pain. I am not very good at healing. I was training with Lonigan to be a hunter. Healing is not something I am expected to know.”

  “A hunter?” I asked, gulping inwardly at the ominous sounding word.

  “Clichéd revenge story. My dad was a Free wordsmith. He was assassinated by a squad of Guild Hunters. I was born with the gift, and the Free Word took me in right from the beginning. When I made it to breathsmith, I was asked to choose a vocation. The choice was clear. I wanted to be a hunter. I wanted to fight the Guild and its assassins.” Dew said all this as she folded her scarf and then tied it around my leg, above the injury; a rudimentary tourniquet. “This will prevent the infection from spreading to the rest of the leg,” she said, as she tightened the knot.

  “Where the hell is that blessed dead wordsmith when you need him?” I swore freely, letting some of my frustration out.

  “Right here. And I am not a dead wordsmith. I am very much alive.” De Vorto was hovering right above us, trying to look outraged while smirking; a feat he managed to accomplish rather successfully.

  Dew

  I looked out at the blue expanse, unable to believe where I was - a small boat in the midst of the ocean. We figured we couldn’t head towards any of the other islands because of the danger and were making for the Indian coastline, trying to sneak in somewhere close to Pondicherry, a place with civilisation enough to give us options. Provided we got there in the first place.

  We were in a boat. And we had a few hundred miles to go. It was also really cold. Being a wordsmith helped make the boat a little safer than it was. But there was only so much you could do when you were taking on the might of the oce
an. It didn’t help that the two companions I had were the most powerful wordsmiths I had ever known, yet were currently quite useless in terms of weaving up assistance. One of them was lying on the floor of the boat, fast asleep. I looked at him for a while, a thousand mixed emotions roaring through my head. It was all his fault. Or maybe it wasn’t. I couldn’t decide. I looked at De Vorto, who was flitting above the boat, his face turned towards an imagined horizon in the distance. The faerie form might have given him supernatural vision. I couldn’t say. I called out to him.

  “De Vorto!” A moment later, he was fluttering beside me. “Can you sit down some place? It’s difficult to talk to someone hovering mid-air,” I said.

  “Well, it’s a lot more effort to appear to be sitting. You see, there’s no real matter to me, so I don’t need to rest. Also, it’s quite a pleasure to fly about. You really should try it sometime!” De Vorto was putting on an air of fake cheer. That was scary. What little I knew of him, he didn’t care much for other people. If he was trying to lift my spirits, things were definitely worse than they were some time before.

  I gulped and waved my hand, “I think I’ll pass. I’m comfortable sitting. I just wanted to talk for a bit. And I don’t think I want to talk to him. Not for a while at least.”

  De Vorto looked at Slick and nodded, “I can understand that. I was in his head all this while and now that I’m out, the last thing I want to do is talk to him.”

  “Did I do the right thing?” I was still staring at the ocean. I was trying hard to gulp down a huge lump in my throat that kept showing up, threating to burst the dam that had been building for a while now.