How to Traverse Terra Incognita

by Dean Francis Alfar

  Guilt and dread filled his being as he looked at her, using his eyes to search for weapons or blades or the usual signs of magery. She looked like no warrior or druid. Ven decided that she must be one of the villagers, or a traveler caught in the terrible web of his anger.

  He knelt by the woman’s side, extending a hand to lift her mud-splattered head from off the ground.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, hoping she was still alive.

  Tenet’s body had returned to its original state moments after the temblor ceased. But she had no time to reflect on the fact that she had managed a feat few would even consider attempting, for when her vision returned, she saw the face of a stranger and realized that he was cradling her.

  “Excuse me,” Tenet muttered, struggling away from the man’s powerfully built arms and on to her unsteady feet. She grimaced, as a dull ache traveled up and down her right leg. She looked around wildly, anticipating another assault, before rubbing away the most of the mud that covered her face.

  “Are you all right?” Ven asked, rising to his full height, towering over the wisp of a woman before him. She looked like a strong wind could blow her over, but she was more than fair, he observed, abruptly aware of how much he missed a woman’s company. He ignored his thoughts’ digression.

  “I’m fine,” Tenet said, as she met his gaze, staring a moment too long into the man’s deep black eyes. When she felt her heart quicken in that moment, Tenet thought that her own Craft had betrayed her, finding the secret weakness of its own mistress. Damn it all! Isn’t this just too much? I could be attacked in the next moment This isn’t the time or place for this I don’t even know who this man is where he’s been what he’s done if he even likes women And he looks like a savage all covered in mud like he’s been rolling in it I don’t want to I don’t want to

  “Who are you?” Tenet demanded, attempting to regain her composure.

  “My name is Ven,” the broad-shouldered man said, offering his hand before just as quickly taking it back, only to extend it once again after wiping away most of the mud that encrusted it. “And you are?”

  “I’m Tenet,” she said, shaking his hand against her will, biting her lower lip to prevent any more words except what was absolutely necessary from coming out, as she looked away from the tall stranger. Don’t do this to me Not again not again Why does this have to happen here now? He could even be the enemy

  Tenet entertained a brief memory of her time with the poet Larsus, the most execrable man she ever met. “Women are defined by their emotions, men by action. When a man meets a woman, he considers what to do. When a woman meets a man, she considers if she should fall in love,” Larsus had told her once, over dinner at the court of the Weimark. Tenet, of course, disagreed vehemently.

  “Pardon me,” Ven told the strangely curt woman whose thoughts seemed elsewhere. “If you can walk, I’m sorry, but you must leave. This is not a safe place. There is—”

  “Danger,” Tenet interrupted him, pulling away from her own untimely reminiscences to focus on the matter at hand. “I know. I came to help.”

  Ven looked at her questioningly, blinking away rainwater. “Help? But there is—”

  Tenet raised her hand to stop him and forced her heart to focus on the matter at hand. “There is something here, someone who is—”

  “Perverting nature,” Ven said, ignoring Tenet’s hand. “I know. I have been fighting him.”

  “So have I,” Tenet said. She bent over to briefly massage her right calf.

  “You have?” Ven said, looking her over, before quickly averting his gaze. He had noticed how she favored one leg over the other and felt an intense longing to touch her, to see if she was all right.

  “Do I look like I’m out here for any other reason?” Tenet asked him, wiping raindrops away from her lips.

  “I don’t think it’s safe here, not for you,” Ven said, turning toward her. “There is a village down there—”

  “Listen, Ven,” Tenet said. “For your information, I’ve been here since yesterday, doing something about the strange weather, and I—”

  “You have?”

  “I have. And furthermore—”

  “Are you a druid? Because if you are, I haven’t—”

  “No, no,” Tenet laughed dismissively. “Of course not.”

  Ven waited for Tenet’s laughter to fade in the uncomfortable silence.

  “Wait, are you a druid?” Tenet began tentatively.

  “Yes.”

  “I see.”

  “What about it?” Ven asked.

  “I meant no disrespect,” Tenet replied, turning away.

  “Then you should listen to me, Tenet,” Ven said forcefully. “You must leave. I am engaged in a duel, and I—”

  “No, you listen,” Tenet faced Ven. “I’m not leaving. I’m in a duel too.”

  “You are?”

  “I am.”

  “And by what virtue are you in a duel?”

  “By the virtue of Craft, that’s how.”

  “I see.”

  “Good.”

  “A Craftsman.”

  “Yes.”

  “You.”

  “Yes!”

  “Well, then.”

  Tenet watched Ven control his facial expression. See? He’s not anything special just like every other man I’ve met judgmental and boorish and and and

  Ven watched Tenet’s mud-smeared beauty eclipsed in magnitude by her spirit, and fought the improper attraction he felt for her, despite her obvious flaws.

  “Then stay, Tenet,” Ven told her. “But stay behind me where it’s safe. I could be—”

  Tenet bristled at his words. “I’ll stay because I want to stay, and not because you permit me to stay. And I could be attacked anytime too, so you better watch yourself, druid.”

  Tenet stood next to Ven and looked him squarely in the eyes, attempting her best defiant stance. Don’t look into his eyes his eyes don’t don’t

  Ven shrugged his wide shoulders and suppressed a smile. “Do what you like, Craftsman, but do it quietly. What I do requires concentration.”

  “Well, you keep quiet yourself,” Tenet admonished him. “I need silence too.”

  “I hope you can defend yourself, because if—”

  “Please,” Tenet interrupted, closing her eyes.

  Without further word, Ven knelt down and selected several stones on the ground. Sweat dotted his brow, as a small stone floated up first, followed by a second, then by a third, then more and more, the collective mass growing in size, until a large cluster of rocks defied the pull of the earth in front of him. He glanced briefly at his new spirited companion beside him, astonished to discover that Tenet was no less attractive when she wasn’t arguing with him.

  Tenet’s eyes were shut tight, as she fought to control her Craft, which was focused on the man beside her. Enough enough so he has nice eyes so what? There’s a battle to be fought a duel to be won and I can’t afford to – he’s looking at me he’s looking me – no no no no – concentrate concentrate Tenet forced her Craft to deal with the pattern of rain, coaxing more from the sky, fighting the rule of drought. Who knows he may be of some help after all

  When the rain continued to grow in strength, Ven stood up and released his armada of floating rocks, hurling them downhill. “Findfoe,” he intoned, his raspy voice charged with potency.

  Satisfied with his work, he watched the flying stones gain speed. He was about to speak to his companion when he saw the stones veer backward toward him and Tenet.

  “Look out!” Ven shouted, pushing Tenet away.

  Tenet landed with a shocked grunt and opened her eyes, only to see a swarm of stones heading toward her. She raised her hand and pulled at the pattern of motion, instantly causing the rocks to turn away. “Back! Back to your master!” And as soon as she was certain she was out of danger, she rapidly stroked the lines that led to the dark clouds once again. Bolt bolt bolt bolt bolt

  “No!” Ven shouted, moving away from
Tenet as he gestured at the stones hurtling toward him. “What are you doing? I’m their master!”

  “What?” Tenet shouted over the ominous rumbling from the heavens.

  In the downpour, Ven alternately waved his hands left and right in quick succession, causing the incoming stones to crash in those directions, away from him. “Why did you—”

  “But I didn’t mean—Wait!” Tenet gestured frantically in the rain. “You were the one who sent the elemental?”

  Ven and Tenet exchanged a look of bitter epiphany, as the smell of metal surrounded the druid.

  “You sent the lightn—” Ven began.

  Their next words were lost in the sudden brilliance of the multiple lightning strokes that blazed from the sky, the crash of thunder that followed a moment after, and the mudslide that enveloped them both in its voracious embrace.

  IT WAS THE rain that revived Tenet. She found herself half-buried in silt and stone, carried by the mudslide near the small house the woman Maery had told her she could live in. Nearby, she could hear the frenzied braying of Alister, her mule, who was mere instants from breaking the cord that tied him to the post of his makeshift corral. When the rope finally frayed apart, Alister rushed to his mistress, attempting to soothe her.

  “Alister.” Tenet pulled on the mule’s reins and brought herself up out of the mud. Every part of her body ached, and the throbbing in her chest made her suspect that she had shattered more than one rib. She looked up the broken hill and saw a lopsided tree tumble down the slope, blackened and charred by lightning. Her eyes widened as she remembered Ven. No no no

  “Alister, there’s a—there’s a man down here,” she cried, ignoring the flares of pain in her legs and arms as she crouched and began to dig through the mud and stones. The mule stood by her side, unable to do more than nuzzle the back of Tenet’s neck, as she frantically searched.

  Painful minutes passed, before she located Ven’s body. Like the tree that fell, it was charred almost beyond recognition. Tenet could not fight the tears that ran down her muddy face as she gently excised Ven from the ground.

  He can’t be dead I refuse I refuse I refuse

  In the downpour, Tenet triggered her Craft and realized that he was still alive, albeit barely. She felt a surge of joy rush through her tired mind and body. He needs healing he needs healing

  She considered invoking her Craft to help him, but knew better. There were some things she could not do.

  “Alister, come here.” Summoning the last reserves of her strength, she somehow managed to lift Ven’s dying form onto the mule. “Come on, I hope the woman Maery can help.”

  Alister followed his mistress, pausing when Ven’s body began to slip down to the ground.

  Tenet corrected the load, fought back her tears, and spoke to her mule.

  “Alister,” she said. “This is Ven.”

  And they rushed toward the center of the small village, oblivious to the pelting rain and empty houses.

  THE WOMAN MAERY and the wiry man in rough homespun stood in the rain by the well, waiting for Tenet.

  “Look at everything that has happened,” the man said without looking at the woman Maery. “It was a mistake, inviting that girl to stay.”

  “I wanted rain,” shrugged the woman Maery, wiping away the water that dripped down her face. “No harm in wishing.”

  “You gave her a house to stay in,” the man said, spitting into the mud in front of him. “You asked her to stay.”

  “The well needs refilling,” the woman Maery turned to look at her husband. “You know that.”

  “Didn’t have to be this one,” her thin husband said. “Too dangerous. The earthquake, the angry skies—”

  “In time it would be you or me,” the woman Maery shrugged again. “Is that what you want?”

  The man kept silent.

  “Hush now,” the woman Maery told her husband. “She comes.”

  “She looks hurt,” the man observed.

  Tenet approached the couple, leading Alister, who had Ven on his back.

  The woman Maery raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

  “Who’s that?” her husband asked. “What happened? Look at you. What have you done, Craftsman?”

  “Please,” Tenet began. “This man needs help. Can you help him? Do you have anything that can help? Please!”

  The man walked toward the mule and grimaced at the sight of the burned body. “Looks dead to me.”

  “You’re wrong,” Tenet exclaimed. “He’s still alive. But please, he’s slipping away. It’s all my fault, it was a misunderstanding, and I—I—”

  Tenet gave in to tears of guilt, turning her back to the couple and leaning over the well.

  “There, there,” the woman Maery offered, signaling her husband.

  “I—I can’t help him, the way he is right now,” Tenet said softly. “My Craft, it doesn’t work that way. He doesn’t deserve to die; he was only trying to help. But I didn’t—I didn’t know—”

  Thunder drowned her words as the man took her violently by the legs and upended her into the well. Tenet didn’t even have enough time to form a scream.

  “That’s that,” the man said, wiping water away from his face.

  “And what of that?” The woman Maery pointed to the body on the mule.

  “Save the mule,” her husband said. “The well has no use for the dead.”

  “She said he’s still alive,” the woman Maery said.

  “Not for long,” her husband replied.

  “All right, then.” The woman Maery nodded, approaching the mule.

  Alister furrowed his brow and started backing away.

  TENET’S THOUGHTS, AFTER landing with a resounding crash in the well: He pushed me into the well he pushed me and I’ll kill the bastard and I’m alive and I think I broke my arm and Ha! I knew there was something with the well and how will I get out of this and Ven what about Ven and Alister

  The first thing she did after looking upward was to check herself for injuries, cataloguing new pains and breaks with an affected distance. This is the worst day of my life She knew her left arm was possibly broken in several places, which made the thought of somehow climbing up the well an absurd notion. She gingerly touched the area behind her head and above her neck and realized she was bleeding. Wonderful

  The second thing Tenet did was to shout—

  “Help! Help me!”

  —before realizing that the only two people who could hear her were the man who threw her in the well in the first place and his accomplice of a wife, the woman Maery. Tenet didn’t hold high hopes for Alister to rescue her. He was, after all, only a mule, albeit a loyal one. And Ven could be dead by now he could be

  The third thing she did was to investigate where she had fallen and how she still lived. The bottom of the well was mostly covered in mud, the result of her overnight rainfall. It was the mud that had broken her fall—which meant that either she had not fallen that far or that the ability of mud to absorb a fall was severely underrated. Go on make light of things because Ven and Alister are as good as dead and all you can do is

  The last thing she did was to decide to explore the rough tunnel that she found while she struggled around the bottom of the well. Maybe it leads up let it lead up somehow

  VEN FELT HIMSELF floating in the dull emptiness of pain. With what little power he had left, he clung to life but knew he would die soon. Most of the energy of the lightning bolts had been absorbed by the dweomered tree he had conjured earlier, but when its capacity was overwhelmed, Ven was exposed to the remaining bolts’ fatal force.

  As he began to slip into darkness, Ven thought about the argumentative but attractive Tenet, the sad and unexpected ending of his life, and heard a voice call his name.

  Wake up

  In the growing dimness, Ven struggled to open his eyes but failed.

  I know what you are what you can do Take my strength now and help Tenet

  Ven gathered strength and sent his thoughts
toward the voice. Who are you?

  Tenet calls me Alister which is good enough

  Alister?

  Yes Listen she has been thrown into the well You must help her

  Into the well? But I can’t—I have no—I’m hurt

  Take my strength I know you are able to I am a beast

  A beast? Her beast? No, no, I can’t—

  I can see why you don’t want to I can see your memories You can heal by sharing the life of beasts

  Then you know that the first and only time I did that my companion—

  Died I know Do this

  You might die in my place

  If it is so then it is my life to give Hurry now you’re fading

  Why are you doing this for me?

  I do it for Tenet This is the only way I can help her You must live so she can live

  If you perish—

  Then make certain I do not

  But she’ll—

  Tell her I made you do this

  Do you understand what you’re asking me to do? How you could—

  Do it

  And Ven did.

  THE WOMAN MAERY walked toward the mule Alister, her head partially averted as she truly did not wish to see the dead body on the mule’s back.

  “Come now,” she said in the rain.

  Her eyes widened, when the mule suddenly knelt on the muddy ground, as if the charred burden on its back became too heavy to bear. The woman Maery watched in trepidation, as the mule became suffused in a soft green glow.

  “Husband,” she cried, gesturing for the man to come over.

  “What?” her husband said, joining her.

  “Look,” the woman Maery whispered.

  The charred body of the man twitched once before issuing a dreadful wail, its head twisting upward as if to drink from the bountiful rain. The woman Maery and her husband were unable to move, transfixed by the occurrence before them. Pink flesh peeked from under the cracked and burnt skin, forcing its way up, as the druid Ven regenerated himself. New sinews grew where muscles were lost, and the sound of reinvigorated bones, aligning themselves where they should, filled the drenched air. He stood on renewed legs, carefully drawing as much as he dared from the mule, making sure that he did not repeat the tragedy of his past fatal error.