That afternoon, Mashaun shows them the new room, and they each take turns trying out the canons. Ericka is playing around with them, and they don’t make a sound as a ball of energy shoots out toward the building, the four hitting so close that they look like a line instead of four balls. She jumps back startled, as does everybody else. When they look at the meadow, the main building and several tents are gone, just a pile of ashes remains. The awrks run around in different directions. Berg wants her to repeat everything she just did, including every thought, but nothing happens. Again, Ericka goes over everything she did step by step, and nothing happens. They try repeatedly with no results. Finally, Elina asks her if she thought in Thesilan. Ericka slaps her forehead. Again, four balls of energy explode on the ground, leveling the rest of the awrks’ village. What few awrks could stand soon disappear into the forest.
The group spends the evening in the weapons room, discussing their options. Berg needs some more time with the maps, and Mashaun wants to climb the ladder to see where it ends. After a short discussion, they decide that Mashaun and Mai would climb the ladder while Berg and Tera would stay in the cave with the twins. Berg will work on the map while the girls keep watch in case the awrks return. That night, they hear a noise, like someone dragging a foot in the cave. The sound is clear enough that they follow its movements around the cave until it goes into the water room. Mashaun and Tera, with swords ready, cautiously go into the water room and find nothing.
The next morning, they find food on the table on the other side of the big room, remembering that there was no food there the previous day. At first, they are hesitant, but they remember there was food laid out for them the first time they were here. They enjoy a meal before going on their separate tasks. Berg uses some old cloth to draw out the maps so he can carry them. The twins go to separate attack rooms to keep watch while Tera watches the meadow from inside the cave. Mashaun and Mai climb the ladder, with Mashaun going first.
Berg makes a copy of the maps onto several different pieces of cloth before laying them on one of the beds to study. He rotates them, rearranges them, and even tries to imagine them on top of one another, but he still is confused. Using the book, he continues to look for clues to decode the maps. However, every answer, it only leads to more questions. Not knowing the language, he asks Ericka to come down. Elina wants to go down also, but the pull of the staff and the disk is getting stronger, so they stay away from each other. Figuring that with Tera on watch at the entrance and one in the perch, the cave is still safe.
It doesn’t take long for Ericka to notice that the writing on the second map is backward. She goes to read the map from the inside of the weapons room and notices a symbol in the lower-right corner that is not on the map. When she asks Berg about it, he tells her it wasn’t there earlier. Ericka returns to study the other map. As she leaves the room, Berg notices that the symbol slowly fades until it’s gone. He calls Ericka back into the room. As she approaches, the symbol reappears. This time there is more of the symbol, and they figure that there has to be a connection with the staff. They both call for Elina to join them. Standing between them, Berg can feel the attraction of the two. More important is that a second and a third set of characters appear in the corner.
Studying the symbol and the map, Berg understands that it is not a map of the land but instructions on how to find the map. Asking the twins to follow, he goes to the middle of the large room and starts examining the center of the floor. In the center of the room is a small geometric hole that matches the bottom of the staff. He asks Ericka to place the staff into the hole, which she does with some reluctance, and nothing happens. As he thinks about it, the sun starts to peek through the hole in the ceiling.
They all watch as the sunbeam makes it way down the wall, across the floor to the staff, and still nothing. Berg runs into the room, gets a small polished shield, and places it on the staff, angling it, bouncing the sunlight toward the map. Elina and Berg run to the map, noticing that the wall alters the beam as it shines on the back wall, revealing a detailed map with major cities, including Thesilay, Thesilau, Thesilar, and Thesila along with blurry numbers by each one, with a different format from the numbers that Mashaun has been recording every night. In addition, written down one side of the map are short descriptions of each city.
Shen Sherin: Where the river braids into the sea, a strong fortress stands, among the tall weeds, is the best hope of man.
Chanvin Lake: The water boils; the air is foul, for those who toil may run afoul.
Thesilar: Hidden under the mountain high, ancient people locked in chains, can only watch the world pass by, for in these forbidden halls magic still reigns.
Thesila: In the dead fire mountain lies the city of gold, with three becoming one. . .
The two of them start to write everything down when it suddenly stops. They go ask Ericka what has happened as they find her tired, almost ready to collapse. There is something written under the pictures of Thesilau, Thesilay, Twin Rivers, Tenskie, and many others, but they run out of the time or it is too blurry to read. Elina returns to the watchtower as Ericka lies down and falls asleep. Berg puts the map down and starts to make notes on it.
Tera sits on the floor by the cave entrance, keeping a watch of the forest edge, in case the awrks come back or Magdalenia’s men find them, and she does not want to be surprised. She enjoys the warmth of the morning sun as it climbs into the sky once again, exposing the meadow with a burned patch in the middle where the building once stood. Late in the afternoon, she sees some movement in the bushes by the road. Standing up to get a better look, she nocks an arrow and waits.
CHAPTER 21
http://www.thesilaprophecy.com/magic/
Uninvited guest
Mashaun and Mai climb past the landing and up into a tree in the middle of a forest of evergreens. They slowly look around before stepping out of the tree into the coolness of the early morning. Once out of the tree, they turn and see that it is just like all the others with a small trunk, much smaller than their own width. Mai hangs a piece of brown cloth from a branch about eight feet off the ground before they start to scout the area. The canopy is thick, blocking much of the direct sunlight, and the needles on the ground make a muffled crunch as they walk.
They move in a zigzag pattern away from the tree for several hundred feet before returning to the tree. They do this in different directions, being cautious not to step on any sticks and watching for any signs of life in this apparently dead underbrush. Once, Mai steps on a twig, making a loud snap. Freezing, they wait and watch, but the forest remains quiet.
They can tell that it is about midday by the short shadows when they hear rushing water in the distance. Following the sound, they come upon a small clearing with a stream flowing through then disappearing into a hole as a mist rises, dissipating just above the cave. They rest under the shade just off the clearing, enjoying the sights and sounds. Starting to doze off, they are startled when they hear a muffled clicking noise from the sky. They scramble behind the tree and watch the sky and the clearing, trying to see what is making the noise.
Two large insect-like creatures land near the stream. They are a little over six feet tall and ten feet long with a segmented body and a pair of translucent wings. They have six legs that resemble that of a praying mantis with two arms that end in claws. Each claw has two fixed points, and one movable part enables them to remove the packs that they carry on their chest. On each side of the pack are three javelins and a sword. They seem to communicate by making a clicking sound with their mandibles.
Mashaun asks Dalistra if she knows what they are. She tells him that they call themselves Kaovjs. They are mostly peaceful, but they are unable to speak other languages, and most can’t speak theirs, so they pretty much keep to themselves. She has known several who have tried to speak with them, but she doesn’t know of any that have succeeded. Mashaun asks her if she can understand them, and she tells him no. Without saying a word, Mai stands up and
walks into the clearing, keeping her hand visible to the Kaovjs. The Kaovj’s eyes jerk in her direction, but otherwise, they remain motionless, relying on their camouflage as they change color, matching the grass.
She gets too close as they jump in different directions, landing some distance away and each at an angle away from her, forcing her to face only one of them while the other stays out of her sight. Mashaun watches from the shadows as Mai uses slow hand gestures. They slowly begin to move toward her, trying to mimic her actions. Mai moves to the stream, where she gets her finger wet and writes on a rock, then points to herself. The Kaovjs follows suit, and after some several attempts, she reaches her hand forward as to shake hands. it does the same, and they shake hands. It is a strange feeling for both, the warm, soft flesh of Mai’s hand compared to the cold, hard chitin of the Kaovj’s hand.
The other Kaovjs begins to move toward them slowly as if unsure and cautious. Mashaun steps out of the shadows with his hands in plain sight, showing that he has nothing to hide. The two Kaovjs jump up and back, covering about thirty feet, landing with javelins in hand. Everybody freezes for what seems like an eternity before Mai slowly sits down on the nearby rock. She motions everyone to her as she lays out some food as if she were getting ready for a picnic. With reluctant steps, everyone moves closer to her, with the one Kaovjs getting to her first. She cautiously takes its claw and shakes it before putting Mashaun’s hand in the Kaovj’s claw, and soon they are sharing food and using pictures to talk with each other.
***===***
Tera watches several swordsmen in full chain armor, carrying bows and swords, step out from the bushes on the other side of the meadow. They wear no insignia on their tunics, which worries her, knowing that there are two reasons they don’t have an insignia. However, they are too well armed for bandits, making them mercenaries. She watches a couple walk around the black spot, looking at the ground, while several others watch the forest.
After they spend some time examining the burn, one of the men raises his hand, and dozens of archers come out of the woods. They break up into four groups of six, each with two warriors and four archers. After spending a little time searching the forest edge, they line up along the rocks at the edge of the cliff about twelve feet apart. The warriors then throw rocks at the wall, and the archers stand ready with bows drawn. Starting with the group closest to the trees, they watch the rock bounce off the cliff, then they would move behind all the others to the end, and the next would do the same. It is only a matter of time before they find the opening.
Tera runs and gets Berg and Ericka, grabbing all the maps before running toward the weapons room, but changing her mind at the last moment, she drags them to the water room and tells them to climb the ladder quickly, keeping watch at the doorway as they scramble up the ladder. She hears an explosion outside followed by some screams and then a second explosion, and then it is quiet.
Shortly she hears rocks bouncing off the floor of the cave and sees a half dozen arrows flying into the cave. These guys aren’t here to take them back; they want them dead. She turns and flies up the ladder to the landing, where she fills in Berg and the twins on what she saw. Elina weakly tells her that she got a few, but the weapons are just too draining. The twins watch the meadow, but they are both so tired that it is all they can do. They find a blind spot, and that is straight down the cliff face. Tera and Berg watch the ladder, Tera with her bow ready, and Berg has a short sword ready.
The party can hear their chain armor rustling as it echoes in the cave and rocks bouncing off the cave walls. For the most part, Tera can’t make out what is said except that she thinks she hears Elina and Ericka mentioned by name. They listen to the intruders for some time before it gets quite. After a while, Tera goes and quietly asks the twins if they see anything; both shake their heads. Tera knows they are still in the cave, but nonetheless, she cautiously climbs down the ladder to have a look. She doesn’t see anybody in the water room. She looks behind the waterfall and in the stream, making sure it’s empty. Warily she peeks around the door into the main cave, where several archers stand by the large cave door, watching the meadow. She counts five swordsmen and ten archers in main room while she tries to listen.
One of the swordsmen has his doubts that the group has been in the cave, while the obvious leader is sure that the group is hiding somewhere in the cave. He tells the men that Magdalenia wants her staff, the twins, and Dalistra alive and in one piece. The others, she doesn’t care, as long as they end up dead. Tera returns to the landing and informs everybody what she heard. Berg is not happy that they showed up. He needs more time to examine the map.
That is not going to happen while the cave is in the control of this new threat. They will probably find the weapons room, if they haven’t already, and they will find the ladder eventually. They seem to know what they are doing. Everybody knows that they can hold mercenaries off for a while, but if even one makes it to the landing, it would be over. They think about continuing up the ladder, but that would lead them into the unknown. Trapping them between the unknown above, and professional fighters in the cave.
***===***
After lunch, Mai and Mashaun say their good-byes to the Kaovjses and return to the tree. Mashaun takes the cloth down before stepping into the tree. The two climb down the ladder to where Tera is on watch. Tera informs them on what has happened that morning while the two of them listen closely. Afterward, they all get together as Mashaun and Mai tell them about the Kaovjs and the forest on top. Berg tells them that they need to go up and head north to Thesilar by Chanvin Lake. He believes that is where the next piece of the puzzle lies. After some discussion, they decide that they would leave in the morning and that someone would watch the ladder.
The next morning, there is a thick blanket of fog, giving the forest an eerie look; they can barely see the next tree as they make their way. Moving one tree at a time, Mashaun chooses a tree that is six trees away and ties a piece of cloth on a branch on the opposite side of the tree, wrapping it around the branch six times before tying it into a knot. When he returns to the group, they wonder which way is north.
The forest is deathly quiet as Mashaun listens in vain for any sound. Using the ladder as a reference point, he starts in the same direction of the stream, hoping that he is heading in the right direction. They stop a few times to listen and to rest; each time, they would ask Mashaun where they are going, and he would tell them, “To a stream.” After a while, the group begins to doubt him. They ask him if he is sure, sure, they are going the right way. He responds with “I think so.”
After walking for what seems like hours, they hear the faint sound of falling water. Getting a bearing on the direction, they finally arrive at the stream, but it is still so foggy that he can’t tell if it’s the correct stream. Following the stream, they go to where it disappears into the ground. They decide to stop and discuss their next course of action. Overhead they hear the sound of huge flapping wings, and a large shadow passes near them, but the dense fog makes it impossible to see anything.
After a short rest, they continue traveling in the same direction, across the stream, and through an open field. The fog begins to lift as the morning becomes afternoon, but it never completely dissipates. By night, they reach a tree line and choose to spend the night just inside the woods. They set up watches, not knowing what creatures might roam about, using only two watches per night. Mai, Ericka, and Mashaun take the last watch while Tera, Elina, and Berg take the first watch. The next morning dawn is cool and damp with a light fog. They can barely make out the trees in the distance, but it is a far cry better than the previous day. After having something to eat, they continue to head deeper into the forest.
They continue for days with the consistent scenery of forest. It is an old forest with little or no ground cover. The lower branches of the trees are dead like the twigs and sticks cluttering the ground. The only reason they don’t make a sound when they walk is the fog is keeping everything damp. So
me days it is thicker than others, but it is always there, giving a gloomy feel to the woods. Once, they hear a loud cry of a hawk, only much louder, as they duck for cover but don’t see a thing. A few times, they hear the sound of clinking armor, but they can’t see anything through the fog. After traveling for a week, the forest ends at a precipice of a cliff. They can hear faint bubbling coming from somewhere below but can’t see anything. They follow the cliff, looking for a way down or around.
They spend the day searching the cliff for a way down, but to no avail, but Berg is sure that it is the Chanvin Lake at the bottom of the cliff. Out of frustration, Berg tells them there has to be a way down, but there is no mention of one. Shortly he finds a path winding along the cliff face, disappearing down in the fog. Everybody just looks at him as if he were crazy, but before anybody can say anything, he steps off the cliff and starts walking down a stair-step path, and then no one else can see. Mai and
Mashaun follow closely behind as the unseen path materializes before them, leading down into the mist. Tera wants to follow but can’t see the path. In disbelief, she watches as the three head down, quickly disappearing in the mist.
Believing that Berg right, Tera steps off the cliff and starts to fall. Mashaun grabs her arm to swing her on the path, but she could still not see the trail. Elina manages to grab Tera’s other arm but is pulled off-balance, and before she can let go, Elina is pulled over the side of the cliff. The extra weight and the suddenness of Elina’s fall jerk Mashaun off the trail, and the three start to fall. Before anyone else can react, they disappear into the mist below.
The remaining three watch in horror as their companions fall out of sight. Forgetting about Ericka, Berg and Mai run down the trail into the mist to reach the bottom. Near the bottom, they pass by several caves about six feet wide and nine feet tall. The cave walls are six feet tall before creating a perfect half circle with a three-foot radius. After passing a-half dozen tunnels, they reach the bottom, but they are now a long way away from where their friends went over. The floor is solid rock with pools of boiling water of various sizes scattered about the landscape. The smell of rotting eggs lingers on the air.
Thesila Prophecy - The Journey Home Page 19