Chapter XXII - Mermaids
Two days passed after the group split up. Thomas could already move his fingers and the muscles of his face; Habel and Richard’s boils were disappearing. On the morning of the third day, the group could move swiftly.
Richard was indignant at what they decided. “You should have waited; I would have gone along; Zauber cannot find me, either!” He wanted to get his things and go after them, and since no argument would suffice, Lorne solved the problem.
“If you wish so much to go, then leave,” Lorne said, “but good luck finding the way.”
Richard was furious; not only with Lorne but with everyone because no one—including Hubert—wanted to help him.
Hubert tried to justify himself. “Steven is doing this for all of us,” he said, “and you have no chance alone out there... he made us promise that we would not let you go. They must be far away by now, anyway...”
Richard walked away without a word. He was never one to talk much, and since arguing was no use, there was no point in continuing that conversation. The only thing to do was believe the plan would work.
Thomas did not manifest himself. He would have liked to have said goodbye to the two. For a moment, the thought of going after them passed through his head but soon disappeared, and the only thing he did was wish them well in silence.
As soon as the issue with Richard was dealt with, they set off; they needed to go far away because they had remained in the same area for a long time.
As they walked, Hubert’s head was boiling with ideas. “I’ve been thinking...” Hubert told Lorne. “Maybe, if we had something they needed, we could offer an exchange. You said yourself that they’re interested in that sort of thing.”
“We have nothing they want,” Lorne replied, “and to get rid of everything we’ve done, we’d have to have something they crave more than anything.”
“But they do not know we do not have it,” Hubert countered. “If they suspected that we had the spear Chad should have found... what’s it worth?”
Lorne considered. “They are not so ignorant; we will not deceive them, and we have nothing that can pass for the spear; it would take a long time to do something like that... no, and why take the risk of trying to make a change, if we can do everything without approaching them?” He ceased talking for a moment before continuing, “The legend says this spear steals powers. If the spear-bearer hit me, for example, he would steal my powers.”
“That’s why he wants it!” Hubert insisted. “I thought it would be advantageous to have something like that, in case they catch us. Was it not you who said it is convenient to plan before you need it?”
Richard, who was attentive to the conversation, said, “You prefer not to get close to them, so Steven and Virginia are going in there, as if they were you.”
Lorne thought it best not to reply.
Hubert spoke again. “I hoped you and Azura could make some sort of illusion. Pick up some object and make it look like the spear.”
Azura and Lorne looked at each other. “We’ll think about it and see if it’s possible,” Lorne answered. In fact, the fellow was right, and it was an excellent plan, but they would have to stand still for a while, which he wanted to avoid at all costs.
“What did you used to do for them?” Theo asked Azura.
“Sermerios are excellent warriors, and they are intelligent too; all sermerios—even fishermen and servants—know languages and history, and they can build anything you can imagine. They made most of the buildings you’ve seen in this world. That is why most other beings do not wish to have disputes with them. However, there is one thing they do not know: Magic. No sermerio was ever a wizard, and for some time now, the king thought it was time to learn this craft, but it is not a walk in the park to learn to be a wizard. He hired me to train him and could not stand even a day of training. Uaica, our goddess—the one who gives us power—did not accept him. The king almost died... I should have let him die. Grant changed tactics by sending humans behind powerful objects, and he asked me to formulate a potion to control humans. The rest you already know.”
Theo remembered the days when he’d passed for a tiger without knowing how to get back to normal, and the pain he went through every time his body transformed.
“Why did they not imprison you here?” Hubert continued.
“The prison of the Oasis is the only one that has cuffs that can prevent a wizard from doing any magic,” Azura replied.
At that point, they reached the river that crossed Sermeria once again.
“Are we coming back?” Richard asked with a blend of surprise and indignation.
“We’ve got to get away from Steven and Virginia,” Azura explained, “or what they’re doing will be useless.”
The weather was foggy, the wind was sharp, and an irritating drizzle fell over their heads. They walked along the river for a long time—until Habel came close to the water to satiate her thirst, and suddenly, two arms broke out of the water and pulled her to the bottom. She struggled, but soon, three more mermaids came to hold her down. The color of their skin was a pale blue, their hair was black, long, and had green streaks that danced in the water; from the waist down, they had fish tails with scales that looked like blue pearls. They had gills on their necks, and translucent webbing between their fingers. Lorne and the others glared at the water, not knowing what was going on. Kyla tried to aim an arrow at one, but it was impossible to distinguish who was who in the middle of the agitated water. Theo was about to leap into the water, but Lorne held him while stretching out his arm, and the water level rose. They saw the mermaids leading Habel to the bottom. Lorne lowered the water, and the river was quiet again, as if nothing had happened. They stared into it for a while, assimilating what had just transpired.
“What was that?!” Thomas yelled.
“Mermaids...” Lorne replied, hypnotized. He looked at the group’s determined faces and understood what was passing through their minds, so he continued, “We cannot go after her...”
“Of course not!” interrupted Kyla. “We should abandon her, should we not? This is your preferred solution.”
“If you want to take a dive to see if you can find her, I will not stop you,” Lorne replied, already losing patience.
“Do they work for the sermerios?” Richard asked, before Kyla could say anything.
“They are free beings,” Lorne replied. “They do not work for anyone and do not care what happens on land. I do not understand why they would have placed themselves in the position of being the sermerios’ servants. There’s something wrong about this.”
“She must be dead by now,” Richard said regretfully.
“No,” pondered Azura. “If the mermaids are with the sermerios, and this is the only explanation, then they will not kill her.” Azura was not sure of what she was saying, but she wanted to convince herself of this.
“Prisoners for exchange,” Hubert said, as a student who had learned his lesson.
“What can they want to exchange?” Azura replied. “I thought they wanted us all dead.”
“That’s what they want... it makes little sense…” Kyla thoughtfully added.
“If we do as I suggested... if we have something that they need...” Hubert insisted.
“I already said it’s not that simple,” Lorne said.
“Why?!” Hubert yelled confidently. “Everything in this place is not simple; we already know! Everything is complicated and risky; I know, but if we do not try... if they are planning something, and we have no idea what it can be, we need something to give us security!” He turned to Azura and continued, “You will leave her there? She declared war on these beings, only to get you out of that prison. I realize you saved her, but she spent all her time trying to find a way to get you out.”
Lorne considered himself to be a practical person, always preferring to take the easier road to get the results he wanted. What Hubert said was not prudent at all, but the lad was right; they required
an advantage. “By now, if everything went smoothly, Steven and Virginia should be close to the city,” he reflected a little more, all eyes upon him. “Let’s get out of here—”
“Get out of here?!” Theo exclaimed before the wizard could finish.
“We’ll do what Hubert suggested,” Lorne replied. “We’ll improvise something they crave: The Grail Spear.”
Hubert felt his throat go dry.
Lorne continued, “To do that, we have to get away because we will have to remain still. To be convincing enough, something like that will not happen in a day.”
“How long will it take?” Kyla asked.
“Like I said, more than a day.”
There was a unanimous hesitation in the group.
“I will not go,” said Richard. “If you make more of that thing that you gave Steven, I can confuse Zauber even more. It will give you more time, and maybe I can reach them...”
“No, we do not have time to prepare it...” Lorne felt incredibly frustrated and annoyed; he had no more energy, nor did he have the inclination to persuade them to do anything. “If you want so badly to remain and search for them, I will not stop you. I’ll tell you which path you should travel; Zauber cannot locate you, so you have that advantage. The way things are, I do not know what else to do, so whatever happens, go the way they did; if you do not encounter them, keep going, until you reach the portal.”
“I’m staying, too,” Hubert said.
Lorne let out a sigh of impatience; everyone wanted to be heroes. “Do as you wish, but you will only mess things up; Zauber knows you.”
“It is all right, Hubert; we’ll see each other in a few days,” Richard added.
Hubert did not respond. Steven would never forgive him if he left Richard alone.
“I’ll remain with him,” Thomas said indifferently. Shocked looks fell upon him, but the pirate just burst out laughing, and then clarified, “I can fight these damn tail people, but against a fellow who can make lightning fall from the sky... I do not want to even come near that old man. If I understand, the bearded man cannot find me, can he? So, I will continue with Richard and help him find our little friends.”
“I don’t like it,” Hubert said. “I think he might be better on his own than with you. If the sermerios appear, you would give him up to save your own skin—or am I mistaken? You’re only with us because it’s been convenient so far.”
“I do not recall asking for your permission,” Thomas countered. “I will stay. Whether you like it or not, it’s your problem.”
Lorne and Azura stared at each other, reading each other’s thoughts; they let the conversation continue and rationed the limited food they still had.
Kyla was the only one who realized what they were doing, and she knew what it meant: They would leave and did not care who else would travel with them or stay. “I think you’d better end this debate because they will not wait,” Kyla said to the others.
“It’s all right,” Richard said to Hubert. “I can deal with him; do not worry. He’s not that bad.”
Unwillingly, Hubert agreed; after all, he had no choice.
The farewell was brief and without many words. Azura took the wand from her pocket and spun it in a circle on the floor.
“Come in,” Lorne said.
A black fire arose and encircled them; the flames rose until they covered them completely. It was not a hot fire; neither did it produce smoke. Seconds passed, and the flames were consumed by the air.
Richard and Thomas were alone.
Chapter XXIII - In the Enemy’s Skin
Pain all over their bodies awakened Steven and Virginia. The sun was already high, its rays entering the cave and warming them.
“Can you continue?” the doctor asked in a trembling voice. He could not tell how long they slept, but he felt the urge to signal Lorne.
Virginia nodded.
They were hungry, and all that was left were some nuts. As they ate, Steven watched Virginia with regret; her face, hands, and arms were scratched. He knew he had done what he needed, but as he pushed her into that narrow passage, the harshness of the rocks hurt her.
“I’m sor—” he said, but she interrupted.
“No. Don’t apologize. I... I cannot believe I did that. I came to help, not to have a nervous breakdown. You did what you had to; it’s all right. I think we’d better go.”
After a few strides, they were on a road. Only then did they stare at the horizon; by day, the city was even more fascinating. It was encrusted in the mountains, as if they were only one thing. They could see the smoke coming out of the houses, and the sermerios coming and going.
Steven felt so tired that, for a moment, looking at the city, he forgot what he was doing there. They do not look so different from us.
Virginia took his hand, interrupting his thoughts. “Everything all right?”
“I was just thinking... let’s go.”
“Azura said we could not avoid this stretch of road...” Virginia’s voice made it sound like she was unsure. “It would have been better to cross through here at night; it was not wise to sleep...”
“We were exhausted; we could not go on like that,” Steven replied.
Virginia would have suggested that they wait for nightfall, but she knew they could not afford to waste time and did not want to look weak, as she had the previous night. “Let’s walk fast,” she said. “We have the potion; that’s why they gave it to us.”
They walked to a point where massive trees surrounded the road. The tree trunks were thick, one leaning against the other. They were all dry and bending over the road, giving the impression that they were in a tunnel made by nature.
Virginia had been there once before, and she remembered how she thought it was beautiful. “Maybe it’s better to drink the potion now,” she said. “Someone can come through here at any moment, and with these trees around, we have nowhere to go.”
Steven turned to take the potion, and as he did, he looked back and saw something in the distance; it was coming toward them. Whatever it was, it moved fast. Virginia was right; they could not get off the road; the trees were too close together, and they did not have time to go back. They were trapped.
Virginia grabbed the potion from Steven’s hand, and, without hesitation, she drank it all. The doctor did the same. At first, they felt nothing. They looked at each other’s faces, expecting to see a transformation, but nothing happened. Desperation did not let the air out of their lungs.
They could see the silhouette of two creatures that led the carriage. Virginia ran, but she did not take three steps before she fell to the ground. Her skin burned, and her head felt like a volcano about to explode. She glanced back at Steven, but he also squirmed on the floor. They wanted to scream, but at first, they managed to hold on. It was as if their skin were ripping apart; they could not take it any longer, and their cries echoed down the road.
Two sermerios approached, mounted on horses. In the middle of them, two lizards pulled a rough, wooden board with wheels. Atop it was a dead bear. They found Virginia and Steven, lying on the floor with their eyes wet and glazed.
One sermerio jumped off the horse and rushed to them. “What happened? We heard screams!”
They thought about what they wanted to say, but nothing came out; their view was blurred; they could not see what or who was near them, and the words of the sermerio made no sense.
The other sermerio also got off the horse. “Are they injured?”
“I do not know; I see no bruises, but they look like they’re in shock. How did you end up here?” he asked them.
“Naruc will know what to do with them,” the other sermerio said.
Steven and Virginia felt someone lifting them carefully, and they were each placed on a horse. Virginia fainted, but Steven was still conscious. He looked at his hands; they were not his. They were bigger and full of drawings. It worked, was the last thing he thought before he lost his senses.
Chapter XXIV - Taking Pr
isoners
Richard and Thomas set out on the path to town as soon as the others disappeared. Thomas always walked two steps ahead of him; the young man still could not tell if he could completely trust the one who was his enemy before. Virginia’s words always came back to his mind: He is not your enemy here. However, that did not mean he was a friend. His countenance was serious, and his steps were careful. He wanted to ask him something, to start any conversation, but nothing came to him. The night fell, and they set up camp among some trees.
Thomas stretched out, looking around. “I hope our friends have not rubbed that thing in the trees the wrong way; otherwise, we’ll be dragon dinner.” He laughed.
I think he’s the only one who laughs around here, Richard thought and smiled without realizing it.
They slept in shifts; Richard was not sure if he should, but there was no other choice. When the morning arrived, they collected everything and wiped out their tracks. After a few moments, there was a red light, followed by a crash and a blast of warm air that threw them backward. They lost their hearing for a moment; the scent of burned wood invaded the air, and their eyes watered. They had not fallen far from each other. Staggering through the smoke, they found each other again. Slowly the sounds were coming back, and, in that instant, a dragon came down in front of them. Then, another dragon landed behind them. They both stood, petrified.
The sermerio in front of them was older by his marked expression. He looked like someone who never smiled in his life. A younger woman rode the other dragon; her long hair was trapped in a ponytail, and she had a sinister smile. Richard felt like ripping that smile off her face with his own hands. Thomas’s hands were already lifting his pistol, and, at the same time, the sermerios lifted their bows.
“Let’s ask a few questions,” the man declared, not caring if they were armed. “If you answer, we’ll provide you with an immediate death—or you’ll turn into a plaything for our dragons.”
Richard did not care about threats; since he’d been poisoned and knew Steven was gone, his prospect of returning to life had faded, and, at that moment, he felt a deep hatred, and a desire to kill that man.
The Fourth World Page 18
