by Jamie Davis
Chrrrak scratched his head, his fingers digging at the shaggy mop of black hair growing there. “Not easy travel mountains to east. Better go west along coast to large human city.”
“Some of us will go that way. But a small group of us must travel eastward. Can you get us through the mountains?”
Chrrrak paused before continuing. “There is way. It not easy. Is dangerous.”
Cari shrugged. Staying here was dangerous, too, she knew. They had to take a chance because she feared there were naval forces and soldiers of the Duke of Charon both at sea and somewhere in the vicinity of Tandon, maybe close to these very woods. She couldn’t risk having Jaycee fall into the Duke’s hands. “We will take our chances, Chrrrak. If you show us the way, I trust we will be well.”
“I show you,” the troll chieftain said.
“Thank you. Please, come and share a meal with us while we talk about what lies ahead of us.”
The trolls came forward and sat with the people of Cari’s crew. Everything was a bit tense at first. Cari noticed how the trolls stayed well away from the burning logs of their campfire. It made sense. Trolls possessed the ability to regenerate from injuries; however, they were very susceptible to fire. Burning would not only prevent their injuries from regenerating, but it would also kill them very quickly if they were not careful.
Despite not liking fire, they enjoyed the concept of hot food very much. Cari realized that they must have a love-hate relationship with fire because they had to cook food, but they also had to keep away from getting burned. She longed to ask questions about it but feared it was a taboo subject.
They were just finishing up their meal when Francesca, who’s turn it was to stand lookout on the cliff, came running back towards the camp. “There’s a navy ship pulling into the cove now. They’ve definitely spotted the Sailfish. We need to get out of here, ma’am.”
“Damn, I’d hoped they would sail past without investigating. Never mind that now. Everybody, start gathering what you can carry. Make sure everyone has at least a pistol or a musket, along with a cutlass.”
“What do you want us to do?” Helen asked.
“We’re going to split into two groups. Sylvie and the other crewman we picked up in the Cairn Islands will head west along the coast and make for Tandon. She can carry a message for us to the Duke.”
“And the rest of us?” Helen asked.
“The rest of us follow Chrrrak and the rest of the trolls. He’s going to lead us to a trail that will take us through the mountains to the east. It’s time we started on our path to the Crystal City.
Helen looked to the east at the imposing cliffs. “Those mountains are considered wild lands ma’am. Trolls might be the least of our worries as we travel across them.”
“We don’t have a choice, Helen. Heading west is going in the wrong direction and I fear there are soldiers loyal to the Duke in that direction watching for us to try to get into Tandon. Our safest option is to head east. We’ll have Chrrrak and his trolls to watch over us for at least a portion of the journey. It’ll be alright.”
Helen nodded and set about gathering up the packs and weapons she and the others would need. She and Cari both shoved two pistols in their belts. Francesca did the same as well as grabbing a musket, too. Percy had a pistol and a cutlass as well as his backpack. He looked like he was carrying quite the load for his age, but Cari didn’t say anything.
Once Cari had gathered the two pistols for herself and shouldered a leather pack filled with food and some spare blankets, Cari turned to Chrrrak and said, “Men come. They hunt us. We need to get away. Now.”
Chrrrak stood from where he crouched beside his food. He gave a sharp gesture with one hand and two of the trolls raced off into the forest, leaving the others with their chieftain. “I send for help. If those who follow come our lands, we defend. Come, you follow. They not find you.”
Cari nodded. She turned to the other half of the crew. They were all set to march west. “Sylvie, I want you to take a message to the Duke of Tandon. Give it directly to him in private.”
“I understand, what is it?”
“Tell him we are setting off towards the Crystal City with the princess. We will get to Hyroth and wait for our other companions there. He’ll know who I mean. If he could send them along in that direction, I would appreciate it.”
“Got it, ma’am. I’ll make sure he gets the message.”
Cari watched as Sylvie and the others set out to the west. Once they disappeared into the tree line, Cari turned and nodded at Chrrrak. It was time to disappear into the trolls’ forest.
Quest accepted – Find a path through the mountains
Chapter 7
Mona sat up from where she had been hunched over the workbench and raised her arms over her head. She stretched and stood up from the work area the blade smith, Heath Fletcher, had built for her beside his forge. She pulled a colorful kerchief from the pocket of her leather vest and dabbed at the sweat on her brow.
“Finally decided to take a break?” Heath asked from where he stood next to his anvil a few yards away.
“I am so close to figuring the last piece needed to get this portal device to work. It’s our only way to get back home with the way magic has changed in Fantasma. I wouldn’t be this close if it weren’t for you and everything you’ve done to help me.”
“I have to say, Mona, you’ve taught me so much I think I should thank you. In just the few months you’ve been here I’ve learned more about crafting and metal work than I could ever have thought existed. The new alloys I can now make will be worth a fortune to my family and me.”
“You earned it, Heath. I could never have built the fine spring and clockwork mechanism at the center of this transporter if it hadn’t been for your excellent casting skills at the forge. The cogs for the clockwork mechanism alone would have stymied me.”
Heath pointed up at the sun, settling towards the western horizon. “It’s nearly the end of the day. Why don’t we head back to the house? Sterling and Maisy can watch over the shop until closing. Hal is probably waiting for us anyway. He’s getting tired of being cooped up in the house with Becca all the time.”
Mona laughed. “That’s all right, I know she has him doing housework. It’s good for him.”
Heath laughed with her. He knew his wife wouldn’t let idle hands rest for long in her house. Even if those hands belonged to the legendary Prince Hal.
Together, Heath and Mona put away their tools and shut down the forge for the night. When finished, they headed for the small shop that stood in front of the forge yard.
As they entered Sterling Fletcher and the shop girl Macy, stood up suddenly and stepped away from each other. Mona smiled. She knew the two were a couple now and had likely been clutched in an embrace while they had a moment alone between customers. They were both nice kids and she was happy to see them build a relationship together. It was a flash of normalcy despite the fact their town was now occupied by the Duke of Charon’s soldiers.
Mona wondered again if Cari had managed to get to safety as Hal believed. She’d expected them to get some word of her whereabouts by now. Hal went out nightly to search for any word of her. Using his thief skills, he snuck into the inn where the Duke’s guard commander had taken up residence. In the colonel’s office there, Hal rummaged through the papers of the occupying force, searching for any report of where his daughter might be.
Mona knew they were going to have to leave soon. They couldn’t remain in Morton Creek forever. They also knew Cari wouldn’t stay in hiding much longer either.
“Sterling, Mona and I are heading back to the house for dinner. You and Maisy can stay here and close up the shop without us, right?” Heath asked.
“Oh, yes sir. We’d be happy to close up the shop together. Isn’t that right, Maisy?”
“Yes, Mr. Heath. We’d love to close up the shop together.”
Mona hid her smile behind one hand and turned away so they didn’t see her grin
ning. She noticed out of the corner of her eye Heath was grinning, too. He didn’t bother to hide it.
“Good, then close up the shop when it’s time, and walk Maisy home. I’ll have your mother keep some dinner on the new stove.”
“There’s no need for that, Mr. Heath, sir. Sterling can have dinner with my family at my house,” Maisy said.
Sterling grinned from ear to ear at the invitation to stay and have dinner with her family. “Is it all right if I have dinner with Maisy’s family, dad?”
“It’s fine with me. Just make sure you’re home before it gets too late. You know the Colonel has put in place a curfew. You don’t want to be caught out on the streets by any patrols too late.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll be careful, sir.”
Heath nodded his approval. He grabbed his cloak from the hook by the door and he and Mona left the shop. They turned to the right and headed towards the residential district nearby where the Fletcher’s had their home.
When they arrived, Becca was thrilled to see them home early for a change. “For once, I won’t have to keep dinner warming on the stove for the two of you until all hours of the night. I guess Stefan wasn’t able to join us?”
Stefan had been living in one of the taverns near the harbor these past few months while Mona and Hal stayed with the Fletcher’s.
“No, I think he made plans to go out with some of the other young men in town, you remember what it was like,” laughed Mona. “On another note, I want to thank you for letting Heath and I work late so often. A suspicious wife wouldn’t like having her husband spending so much time with another woman,” Mona grinned.
Becca chuckled. “I know my Heath better than that. And, I know you would never be unfaithful to Hal.”
“Fair enough,” Mona said. “What’s for dinner?”
“I’ve got roasted goat and rice pilaf. It’s so much easier to cook over this new model cast-iron stove you helped Heath design. Frankly, for us and for those that have bought one, it’s really changed the way the people of Morgan Creek prepare their dinners.”
“Not a problem,” Mona said. “It was time for you and everyone else here to have developed that sort of stove to use in your kitchens and heat your homes. How’s the new pump design for the well working out?”
“It’s working out very well, indeed. It’s so nice not to have to go out to the backyard to fetch water from the well anymore. Though I think it spoils the children. They should have to do the same type of chores I did when I was their age. Now all they do is crank the handle in the kitchen and water comes out.”
“I feel the same way about how easy it is for kids where I come from, Becca.”
“You’ve told me so much about where you come from. It sounds like a strange and magical place. Perhaps someday we can travel to your world, rather than you travel here.”
“That would be nice, but first I need to figure out how to get us home before I start worrying about bringing anyone else through a gateway back to Earth.”
Hal came in from the backyard. He walked over to the sink to wash his hands and looked over his shoulder at his wife. “Still having trouble with the final piece of the transporter?”
“Yes. I’m having issues with the tuning mechanism. I can generate and store the power needed internally. I just need some way to refocus the gathered energy in such a way as to let me pick the destination, without it, all it will do is open up a random gateway that could lead anywhere. It might be here on Fantasma, it might be somewhere else in the universe. I’m not willing to take in that kind of chance. There has to be a way to focus the energy and select a specific location. Until I get that issue licked, we’re right and truly stuck here.”
“Well, if anyone can figure it out, I know you can, dear.”
“Are you planning on heading out to do more scouting tonight?” Heath asked, stepping up to wash his hands as soon as Hal was finished at the sink.
“Yes, I haven’t been down to check on the latest dispatches in the Colonel’s office for a few nights. It would be good to see what new information has come in.”
“Do be careful, Hal,” Mona said. “I know you’re very good at what you do when you’re out on your little late-night missions. Still, one of these days you’re going to press your luck, and the Colonel is going to realize someone’s been rummaging through his papers while he’s been sleeping.”
“Don’t you know, Mona? Pressing my luck is what I do best.” Hal winked at her as he sat down at the dinner table.
Mona shook her head and rolled her eyes. That set Becca laughing along with Heath. The two couples got along well with each other and had formed a close friendship since meeting after Hal and Mona’s arrival in Morton Creek. It didn’t just have to do with the fact that Becca had acted as a sort of mother figure to Cari when she stayed here the previous year. It was also that they had similar goals when it came to making sure the young princess in Cari’s care made it to her great-grandmother’s side.
Mona was proud of how much Cari had accomplished in her time here. She worried about her daughter’s safety, but she could see how much she did to help the people here in much the same way her father had years before.
“Hal, look again for any sign of what the other contingents of the Duke’s forces are up to. It would be nice to have an idea of which direction they’re headed. We’re going to have to leave here eventually and it would make sense to know where to avoid unfriendly troops.”
“Honestly, Mona, I’ve been waiting to have you finish the transporter. Once that’s done, we can use it to travel to wherever Cari is now or at least to where she’s headed.”
“You mean, you know where she is?”
“I know where the Colonel thinks she is. That’s why I want to head back there tonight. He was expecting a ship to come into the harbor with news of some plan he had in the works. From what I could tell the last time, I think he was hoping to get the Raiders to overthrow their leadership for some reason and return to their pirate ways along these coasts. Based on that plan, I think that’s where Cari is; somewhere in the islands to the east. I’ve been waiting to see what he learns about the plan’s effectiveness.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Mona asked, more than a little perturbed with her husband.
“I didn’t want to worry you. I was going to wait and see what this latest message said before I told you anything about it. All I knew was some speculation based on the few things I’ve been able to read on the Colonel’s desk. There’s nothing concrete to go on yet.”
“Is there any sign that the Duke of Charon’s men might finally leave Morgan Creek?” Heath asked. “It would be nice to settle back into the nice quiet routine we had before they arrived. It’s stifling everyone’s business.”
Hal shook his head. “I’m not sure there’s any way to know for sure, yet. It’s my hope that once Cari starts on the move that they will remove the blockade on the port here and let people come and go from the city. I know Mona and I could slip out if we had to, but I’d rather not be chased across the countryside while I’m looking for my daughter.”
“But, Hal, I don’t think I’ll be able to finish the destination focuser for the transporter with what I have at hand.”
Becca frowned. “I suppose that means you’ll be leaving us one way or the other then?”
Mona nodded. “Yes, I think that is best. We need to get on the road again and start looking for Cari. If she’s in the Cairn Islands, then that’s where we should go. We need to get to her before she starts moving again.”
“You can’t get a ship to the Raider islands here. I assume that means you’re heading to Tandon?” Heath asked.
“Not sure.” Hal scratched his head. “It’ll depend on what that message the Colonel is waiting for says.”
At that moment, the Fletchers’ other children came running into the kitchen and settled down to their spots around the table. The conversation turned to lighter topics, such as the children’s studies here at home. Mona
had taken to teaching them basic crafting and science skills. A few of the kids took to it very quickly.
When dinner was finished, and the dishes were cleared and cleaned up, Mona and Hal sat outside the house on the front steps looking at the small homes clustered around them in this quiet and usually peaceful town as dusk fell over Morton Creek. “It’ll be good to get on the road again, Hal.”
“I agree. I’d hoped we’d hear something concrete about Cari to know which way to go. I have to think she’d send word here to her friends in some way to let them know she was all right.”
As they sat watching the sunset over the western headland that encircled the town’s harbor, a bell sounded in the center of town. Soon after, a bell up in the old Baron’s castle began ringing as well. Mona looked at Hal and he shrugged.
Heath and Becca came out onto the stoop behind them. “What’s the bell for?” Heath asked.
“I was going to ask you,” Mona replied. “Has it ever rung for a long time like this before?”
“Not that I can remember. It’s only supposed to ring like that for news of great importance from the capital or an imperial edict to be read publicly at the town’s central square.”
A woman came running up the street. Mona recognized her as one of the Fletchers’ neighbors. It looked like she was crying.
“Yasmine,” Becca called out. “What is wrong?”
“She’s dead, Becca.”
“Who’s dead?”
“The Empress, may she rest in peace. The Empress has died. Soldiers are nailing up public notices all over the city.”
Mona looked at Hal. He now sat rigid, his back ramrod straight as he stared off into the distance. She put an arm around his shoulders. The Empress had been his companion when he was younger, during his earlier adventures in this world. Due to the strange time differential between their worlds, she’d aged eighty years while he’d only aged fifteen. Now she was gone and he sat staring off over the roofs of the homes opposite theirs. He was probably thinking about his memories of the girl he first knew as Kay, the thief, all those years ago.