“Cut the rope now!” Mai screams as she tries to swing herself into the boat.
Ericka cuts the rope with the first cut, and it starts to float out into the river.
“Mashaun, get in!” Berg yells as Ericka helps Mai into the boat. Mashaun sends another arrow flying before turning around, tossing Dalistra and her quiver in the boat. With Mashaun pushing it farther out into the river, the water is up past his waist, and he can barely hold on to the side when one of the Tsaub’ spears hit the boat by his hands, forcing him to let go, sending him under the boat. Tera returns fire, hitting another Tsaub. Without thinking, Ericka picks up Dalistra and shoots at the Tsaub, to the surprise of Mai and Berg. The Tsaub that threw the spear soon finds an arrow from Dalistra in its head. Mai and Berg look for Mashaun along the riverbank while Ericka and Tera continue to shoot at Tsaub.
Mashaun breaks the surface of the water, spitting and sputtering, looking for the boat, which is downstream, a good dozen yards already, and rushing away. The Tsaub chase the boat down river forgetting about him. He stands in chest-deep water, watching the boat and Dalistra drift away when a floating tree runs into him. It hits with such force that it knocks him off his feet. Trapped in tree branches, he heads down the river, at the mercy of its current. With a loud splash, the tree rolls, sending Mashaun under the water and up the other side. He has lost sight of the boat, but he can tell that Dalistra is in Ericka’s hands, shooting Tsaubs.
Soon the Tsaub quit chasing the boat, and the group stops shooting, putting the bow down to join the search for Mashaun in the debris-filled river.
“Where are you?” Dalistra asks, searching for Mashaun’s thoughts.
“Dalistra, is that you?” he asks weakly. Dalistra can tell that he is nearly out of range and moving away.
“You’re alive!” Dalistra is ecstatic, and then she recomposes herself. “Yes, but I’m trapped in a tree branch floating down the river.” “Who else knows what I can do?” Dalistra inquires.
“No one,” he responds.
Dalistra is in a bind. Mashaun treats her like part of the team, never as just an object. Unless one of them picks her up, she is helpless to show them the part of the river that Mashaun sees, so they can find him.
“I helped Ericka drop several Tsaub and found something out about her,” Dalistra tells Mashaun, trying to keep his spirits up.
“Yes, I can feel you,” he excitedly tells her.
“Her magic is impressive; she can be the grand wizard, a rainbow, or even a diamond wizard.” Dalistra tells him.
“I suspected as much, look at her sister.”
“No, you don’t understand,” Dalistra insists.
“That can wait, I am kind of busy right now,” Mashaun tells her as the cold water begins to sap his strength. He knows that somehow he needs to get free and on top of the tree and out of the water.
“You have to return, otherwise they will give me to Ericka, and she grips like I am going to fly away. She does not know how to treat me,” Dalistra says tearfully.
“You’re not going to get rid of me that easily,” Mashaun says half-jokingly.
From the boat, they look and yell for Mashaun, but all they hear are the sounds of a rushing river and the splashing of the boat.
Mashaun calms down and visualizes the tree rolling so that he is on top, and soon that is what the tree does. Without the force of the water to hold him, he manages to get free and makes his way to the trunk, where the branches are thinner, and he can see the boat a long way away. He curses himself for not spending more time learning how to swim. He could swim a few laps in a pool, but trying to swim to the boat would be suicide. He does the next best thing, he yells at the boat. They are too far away and the sound of the rushing river is almost deafening.
Dalistra can see the boat through his eyes, but unless someone touches her, she cannot show them where he is. Mashaun watches the boat drift farther and farther away until it disappears around a bend in the river. Soon he can no longer sense Dalistra. The night is beginning to set in, and the clouds mean that it will be dark, without any moonlight. Crawling back into the branches, he holds on throughout the night.
***===***
The rudder is useless in the river without oars. Still, they take turns at the helm though none of them knows why. Ericka takes the helm, and the boat seems to have a forward motion. She turns the rudder, and the boat turns. She discovers that if she lifts the torpedo, it pushes the nose down, slowing the boat, and when she puts it deeper in the water, the front lifts up, increasing the speed of the boat.
“Look!” Ericka says with excitement. As she sharply turns the boat upriver, Mai falls on Dalistra and gets a flash of a tree floating in the water. But it is dark, and unless the tree runs into the boat, they probably won’t see it, but they still look. They decide that they should make camp on the riverbank before continuing in the morning.
***===***
Sometime during the night, the tree suddenly stops, knocking Mashaun off before swinging around, leaving him floundering in the river. He swims to what he hopes is the shore just a little way off, only to find that he can stand and wade up onshore. He is unsure about which side of the river he is on, but he needs to dry out and get warm before he slips any deeper into hypothermia. Taking an inventory of his possessions, he finds the flint and steel, which brighten up his spirits. He builds a fire and things start looking up. He searches for Dalistra, but she is still out of range. For now, he is safe and warm as he huddles around the fire.
By morning, the clouds have all but vanished, and it looks like it is going to be a sunny day. Mashaun heads downriver, hoping to find something, while at the same time he feels naked without having Dalistra if he runs into trouble, but he still has his swords, but he prefers not getting that close. He stays next to the river but just inside the trees so that he can see anybody on the river before they see him. He can barely sense Dalistra and hopes that someone picks her up so he can see each other’s location.
***===***
Mai is up first, rushing everybody in the boat to look for Mashaun and anything to eat. With Ericka at the helm, they go back upriver not far from shore, looking for anything. By late morning, they head downriver. Ericka has discovered that the faster the boat travels, the more tired she gets. Shortly after noon, Berg points at some movement in the trees. Mai picks up Dalistra without thinking. Dalistra and Mai are uncomfortable as Mai fearfully holds the bow, looking at the few arrows they have left. What am I doing, I’m a healer, not a warrior, flashes through her mind as she tries to nock an arrow. However, it is killed or be killed, she thinks as she shakily holds Dalistra; ready to shoot with Tera standing by her side. Ericka turns the boat in the direction of the movement. Berg watches for things in the water while the girls watch the shoreline.
***===***
Mashaun can sense Dalistra getting closer and feels the tight, nervous grip on her.
“What do you see?” Mashaun asks her. Dalistra wants to use Mai’s eyes secretly but is afraid of what might happen if Mai discovers her secret.
“They have spotted something onshore and are going to have a look,” Dalistra tells him.
Mashaun scans the river but does not see that boat, but they must be close if they can talk.
“I don’t see you, but you are close,” Mashaun tells her.
“No! It’s not him, turn the boat!” Mai shouts. Ericka quickly turns the boat back into the river, dipping the tip deeper in the water as a few spears are thrown, falling short of the boat; now heading away from shore.
“How did you know?” Tera asks Mai.
“I don’t know. I saw a flash of Mashaun looking over the river, and we weren’t there,” she tells them.
“What else did you see?” Berg asks her.
“Trees and the river,” she says. Looking around, it all looks the same to her.
Dalistra realizes that her connection with Mashaun is getting weaker, and she needs to get them to turn the boat around.
<
br /> “Back, we must go back up the other side,” Mai says, first questioning herself, then with confidence.
Ericka does as Mai says, everyone scanning the shore for Mashaun.
Mashaun sees a small boat appear from around a bend downriver.
Dalistra also sees the boat and lets her excitement get the better of her.
Mai feels her eagerness and drops Dalistra on the floor, staring at it.
“What?” Berg asks.
“Mashaun is up there, on the bank,” Mai tells him, trembling.
“How do you know, did the bow tell you?” Berg asks a little sarcastically.
“Yes, I saw the boat from his eyes,” she says, backing away from Dalistra. Everyone just looks at her as if she is crazy until she points to the spot where Mashaun is standing.
A short time later, they see a lone figure standing on the riverbank, waving them down. Mai is first to get out of the boat to give Mashaun a big hug and a kiss. Berg, Tera, and Ericka are also delighted to see him though the other two girls refrain from kissing him. Mashaun gently picks up Dalistra, rubbing her limbs as the other watch with amazement.
“What? I am rather attached to this bow,” he says offhandedly.
The river is still too treacherous for night travel, and they set up camp, exchanging stories around the campfire. After they eat and relax, Mai tells Mashaun about seeing the boat from this spot and other things that have happened when they were looking for him. Mashaun can feel Dalistra’s embarrassment as she tells him it was the excitement of the moment. Mashaun thinks for a minute. The group has gotten out of a lot of scrapes, but it just not safe for them to know the whole story.
After a long pause, he says, “You remember the pit when you saw the trail and the ledges but they weren’t really there?” he asks Mai. She nods affirmatively.
“Well, don’t you think that is the same?” She shakes her head.
“No, that bow told me you were not at the first place, and then it showed me where you were. There is something going on with you and the bow.”
“This is a dream world, and strange things happen”
“I guess that’s it,” she says, really believing that it’s the bow and not wishful thinking, but she doesn’t understand why he’s keeping it a secret from them. You don’t need to know how to read minds to know that Mai is a little disappointed. Nevertheless, Dalistra tells him that it is for the best. Maybe so, but he feels terrible about keeping it from them after all they’ve gone through together.
The river subsides a little, putting the boat on a patch of mud that takes them over an hour to get the boat to float before continuing downstream. For days, they travel downriver as it snakes its way through the forest, collecting the water from other tributaries, stopping only at night. Under a cloudless sky, the reflection off the river not only makes it hotter but also turns their skin red and sore. They make a canopy for some shade, but it is only large enough for two of them. The forest slowly gives way to plains that seem to stretch on forever. By the fifth day, a wooden palisade comes into view. Civilization at last, but after the last city, they want to make sure it is safe.
There is no sign of life, but it looks well maintained. As they approach, suddenly arrows fly over the wall. Ericka sharply turns the boat out to the middle and downstream but not fast enough as Berg takes an arrow in the leg. Mai gets him under the canopy while the archers look for a target. Even Dalistra can’t find anything or anybody. Berg is lucky the arrow didn’t hit anything major, but he will have problems getting around for a while.
Ericka rounds a bend in the river, revealing a wall of stone. Similar to that in Shen Sherin stands towering over the water’s edge reaching up forty feet. Ericka sees the confluence of two major rivers, splashing and swirling, creating a chaotic landscape up ahead. It will be a rough ride if they stay their course, and she tries to get the boat to the outside, but the current catches the little boat taking them down along the wall.
CHAPTER 27
Twin Rivers
The boat rounds the corner of the wall to where the two rivers converge. They expect the ride to get rough when an open gate forces the boat into a city. The gate closes, and the waters become calm. They are trapped in a docking area, for better or worse. There are a couple of warriors, a dockhand, and a man standing on the dock with shoulder-length golden hair and with bronze skin and dark-blue eyes, about the same height as Ericka, wearing a shirt and pants made from some unknown fabric. Mai shows them Berg’s leg which still has the arrow, and the man says something to one of the dockhands, who takes off running only to return shortly with a small flat-bottomed boat and a couple of men. They load Berg on the boat and move off without any means of movement similar to their own boat. Mai tries to go with him, but one of the warriors stops her. “He is my patient, and I should be with him,” she tries to argue, but they don’t understand her and will not let her on the boat.
They load them on a second boat, which has three benches across the boat with three guards and a steersman. It soon becomes clear that there are no roads here, and the sole means of travel is by boat. Mashaun sits back and enjoys the ride, figuring that if they were going to kill them, they would already be dead. Dalistra agrees with him. The girls do not like the situation, and Mai is especially not happy not knowing where they took Berg. They don’t understand why Mashaun seems unconcerned as they proceed down the waterway.
All the buildings seem to grow from the ground, including the steps leading up to the doors. The three-story buildings cast their shadows over the canal as their boat makes its way to an area in front of a plain building of white stone with inlays of gold. The men help them out of the boat and shown inside. A different man gives them each a bag for their weapons before it is sealed shut. Much to Mashaun’s delight, they allow them to keep their weapons after the seal is in place. They march them into an opulent throne room that dwarfs them when they enter. At the far end is a golden chair adorned with a sphere in the middle of a triangle, and a circle at each corner. Are they in Thesila? They each whisper.
They watch an elderly man and woman enter the room, and all the guards bow as they approach the throne. One of the guards hits Mashaun behind one knee, dropping him to his knees where he stays. He can hear Dalistra telling him to hold his tongue, but they let the girls remain standing but with their heads bowed. They help him up. When the couple is sitting on the throne next to each other, one of the guards speaks with them, though none of them can hear what is being said as the guard keeps pointing to them. The old man waves the guard off and says something. They look at one another again before shrugging their shoulders. He repeats his words, and again they shrug their shoulders.
He can hear Dalistra say, “It is an ancient language. He wants to know who you are and where you are from, repeat what I say exactly.”
Mashaun’s first attempt brought curious looks from the couple and the guards. Dalistra tells him, “No, not like that.” The girls look at him strangely and say, “What, how?” One of the guards says something and goes to slap Ericka, but the queen snaps at the guard, and he backs away, bowing.
Mashaun’s second attempt is more successful.
“My lords, I am Mashaun from distant lands,” he says, bowing.
“These are my companions, Mai, Ericka, Tera, and your doctor has Berg,” he continues.
“No, they are called a healer. What is a doctor?” Dalistra asks Mashaun.
The term got a puzzling look from everyone else except Mai.
“It will help the argument,” he tells Dalistra.
“A doctor is like your healer,” he tells them, and they nod in agreement.
They question him for some time. Mashaun often mispronounces the words, and he is sure that his sentences are clumsy at best, sometimes to the laughter of everyone. After some time, they are taken to see Berg. He is sitting upright and glad to see them, telling them that he has tried to talk with them but they can’t understand each other. The girls look at Mashaun, askin
g him how he can understand them. Berg looks at him inquisitively.
“You can understand them?” Berg asks.
“A little,” he replies, but the girls shake their heads.
“A LITTLE! You were able to answer all the questions, I think. You know more than a little,” Mai states.
Mashaun starts to say he studied it at Myelikkan but knows that Berg would know better. He probably knows more about the different languages than Llewellyn does. He tries to change the subject, but when they would not let it drop, he tells them, “Later.” The guard asks them to follow him though they don’t really have a choice. They are led to a third-floor room not far from where they have Berg.
The room has a single window that overlooks a canal about ten feet wide that allows two narrow boats to pass. The room itself has a small round wooden table with four chairs, a basin with a pump to get some water from, and a couple of feather beds. Mai is the first to lie in the bed, almost disappearing into the soft mattress.
“Oh, I had almost forgotten how good this feels,” Mai says as she squirms in the bed.
“OK, how do you understand them? I’m from here and speak ancient Thesilan and I didn’t understand them,” Ericka nonchalantly asks Mashaun with a biting tone, leaning against the wall. Mai sits up as the other two turn and stares at him. He can feel their penetrating stare as he thinks about how to answer the question. Dalistra keeps telling him not to say anything about her.
“It’s the bow, isn’t it!” finally Ericka flatly blurts out. This shocks both Mashaun and Dalistra, and Ericka knows that’s right by the look on his face. There is a long, uneasy silence as they each consider what was just said.
“That’s why the bow glowed red at Shen Sherin, isn’t it?” Mai asks him. He nods his head yes as a little boy caught in a lie.
“You can’t tell anyone, no one must know about Dalistra, promise me!” Mashaun frightfully tells them. They all agree. Mai is upset that all this time and he did not tell her. She isn’t sure if she should be mad at him or hurt that he doesn’t trust her.
Thesila Prophecy - The Journey Home Page 24