Wizard's Blood [Part Two]

by Bob Blink

  While Shyar made camp, the rest of the team explored the nearby area for a couple of trees that would be likely candidates for the boat they intended to make. Most of the trees close to the water were smaller, but a hundred yards back and off to one side they found a large specimen of a tree that Samz was familiar with. He grinned happily when they found it.

  “Perfect,” he exclaimed. “The bark on this tree will strip right off leaving a smooth surface that’ll be perfect for our purpose. It’s also thick enough.”

  Samz had explained to Jolan what he hoped to make. Unlike the broad beamed boats they had used to come ashore from the Wave Runner, he wanted to make something resembling a canoe. It would have a stabilizing beam off to one side, but would be far easier and swifter for the three of them to paddle than the more standard boat.

  Jolan used a bit of magic to bring down the huge tree, then lifted it and moved it back to the shore. Immediately the four men went to work stripping off the branches and the bark. Samz marked off the area he intended to hollow out, and then they made room for Shyar, who was more talented than Jolan at this kind of thing. Quickly she removed the unwanted wood from the center, leaving behind a smooth interior with more than enough room for the three of them. A bit more carefully applied magic and the forward end of the log was turned into a pointed bow. All that remained was for the balance beam to be added, and a couple of comfortable seats to be fitted to the inside. They had brought a couple of paddles with them, so it wasn’t necessary to fabricate any. In a little more than an hour, the boat was complete.

  Lyen insisted that the three of them take a short trial run, just to be sure the balance was correct and there wasn’t something they’d overlooked. Splashing into the shallow water, Jolan got into the back, and Shyar climbed in directly in front of him. Asari took the bow position and, with a push from Lyen standing knee deep in the water, they headed out into the lake.

  There was nothing wrong with the boat, but their paddling skills were less than the finest. It took a bit of practice before they became coordinated and were able to maintain a straight line. Soon, however, they were able to adjust course with only a few words exchanged. They rowed a couple of hundred yards out into the lake, made a wide circle, and then returned to shore to a grinning Lyen and Samz.

  They would all set off at first light. Jolan, Shyar, and Asari would start across the lake, and the three remaining crew would head back to the Wave Runner. There would be little point in their waiting here for the several weeks the trip to the Dragon’s Nest was expected to take and, as they had seen, potential danger. Jolan was a bit concerned about the trek they had to make back without the benefits of magic and the ring in case it was needed. Lyen explained they would camp tonight before they hit the thickest jungle, and then they would all stay awake for the one night they had to spend in the more dangerous area. They would arrive tired, but he wasn’t too concerned. They would build a ring fire and stay inside the circle to discourage any crawling creatures.

  Chapter 168

  They had to travel almost a mile out into the lake before the water finally became deep enough they couldn’t see all the way to the bottom through the clear water. The water was a bit cooler than Jolan would have expected given the elevated temperature of the surrounding area, but whether it was from evaporation or from water feeding the lake below the water line from the distant mountains, he had no idea.

  They were all especially alert for the first hour on the lake, with Asari voicing his concern they might have to deal with some of the same kinds of creatures they’d encountered before. Nothing appeared to threaten them, and they soon decided that none of the magical protectors lived in this lake. Before, the creatures seemed to know almost immediately when someone trespassed on the forbidden waters and arrived quickly. Thus far, the most they had seen was the occasional splash caused by a large fish breaking the water to grab a foolish bug that had flown too close to the surface and became lunch.

  Their hastily manufactured canoe handled better than they had any right to expect, and as the hours wore on they became expert at maneuvering the narrow craft. As their confidence grew they became less concerned about how far from the edge of the lake they were traveling. According to the maps, the right side should be angling in towards them, and by later in the afternoon they should end up quite close to the edge, which would allow them to search for a likely campground before evening. If it didn’t appear they were converging fast enough, they could always angle to the right to make it happen sooner, but any deviation from north at this point would only extend the total distance they had to travel.

  Sitting low in the canoe was a bit disconcerting, and they looked across the water with their heads only a few feet higher than the surrounding water. The shoreline was a mixture of heavily forested hillsides where the trees walked all the way down to the water, rocky shores with slides that covered the hillside with fallen rock, and large open meadows that sometimes extended great distances back into the land before the trees became so thick they couldn’t see any farther. To the west they looked across the vastness of the lake. The land on that side was difficult to define, although for the most part it appeared to be flat and green. To the east and to a lesser degree north, the direction they were headed, they could see the looming mountains in the distance. Despite being days away, the peaks remained impressive, and even this late in the season in an area so warm, they were heavily covered with snow. It was easy to see why no one made their way into the territories by crossing those fearsome peaks.

  By midafternoon they had come to see the lake as peaceful, with all sense of the dangers they had seen the previous days now behind them. While the canoe slipped easily through the water, it took almost continuous rowing to keep it moving, which used a different set of muscles. Both Jolan and Asari could feel the pull in their arms and back, and realized the next day would be a bit of a challenge after the heavily worked muscles had a chance to stiffen up. Unfortunately, they hadn’t come up with any way to use magic to offload the work involved in driving the canoe.

  “Let’s head over there,” Shyar said suddenly. She had been scanning an open area that had come into view a half hour earlier with their binoculars, and had finally seen something that she liked. They hoped to make camp early today, since this would be the first time they had to land the boat, secure it, and then set up camp on their own. Since they had been unable to see much detail of the country they were traveling through, they wanted ample time to scout around and make sure there weren’t obvious dangers before having to commit to a campsite.

  Soon they could hear the small waves slapping against the shore, and then the bottom of the lake showed through the water, rapidly rising up as they approached their intended destination. Jolan and Asari kept up a bit of speed since they were coming into a sandy shore, and drove the boat into the beach at the edge of the lake.

  Asari jumped out, and then held out his hand for Shyar, who followed shortly afterward. Jolan made his way forward and jumped out to stand beside them, turning and using a bit of the power to drag their transportation a little further up onto the beach until he was certain it was secure.

  “I like this,” Shyar announced, as they walked away from the water toward the grass covered clearing a short distance away. A large open meadow filled with long grasses and flowers extended almost a quarter of a mile before the forest closed in again. The trees appeared to be the type with large heavy leaves rather than the palm-like variety that had come to represent the jungle in their minds. After a bit of exploring and finding nothing that was obviously a threat, they decided to make camp.

  Before long they had a fire going, and Jolan had unpacked a hearty meal from the Travel Box. Somebody back at the Wave Runner had been hunting, and they had some kind of wild pig and several plump game birds along with a small cask of ale. Asari brought over a handful of the purple fruit that they had all come to favor, and the three friends sat down to their first meal on the final leg of their journe
y. Two or three more days on the water should bring them to the northern shore of the lake, and then a few days hiking, depending on the terrain they found, would bring them to the designated spot on the map. Asari didn’t know how they would find the exact location. It could become another hunt similar to the search for Ygooro. But somehow he sensed it wouldn’t be like that. He’d know where to go once they got close. He didn’t know why, but he was certain of the fact.

  In the morning they had visitors. There were six of them, sitting on their haunches and watching quietly from just outside the barrier that Shyar had erected. From their location and the stoic way they sat waiting, it was obvious they were aware of the barrier, and it had to be because they could sense it rather than any attempt to pass through because that would have triggered an alert and Shyar would have known immediately.

  Asari had been the first to wake and notice they had company. He reached over and nudged Jolan. When Jolan opened his eyes and looked at him, Asari nodded his head in the direction of the waiting group. Jolan looked where his attention had been aimed, and then calmly reached over to grab Shyar’s shoulder, giving her a small shake. The silent process was repeated, and she suddenly sat up facing the small group waiting patiently outside the barrier.

  The natives were clearly quite primitive, and while they were all armed, they didn’t seem particularly frightening. Each was dressed in short pants made of some kind of animal skin. From the variety of colors it appeared several different animals were represented by the coverings the group wore. No one wore anything above the waist except some jewelry. Two wore intricate necklaces made of claws or teeth, and a couple wore simpler bands around their wrists. All were barefoot with feet that were quite dirty, with bits of mud still clinging to their ankles in places.

  Each carried a spear with crudely worked metal tips attached to the six foot long shafts. The spears were resting vertically with the back end of the shafts resting on the ground and the shafts supported by the right hand of each tribesman. Jolan was certain this was a hunting party, which was partially supported by the wild boar that lay on the ground behind one of the natives.

  “Who do you think is in charge?” Shyar asked quietly.

  “Probably the one in the front,” Jolan responded. “He looks the oldest, and he is showing the most bravery by being where he is.”

  Shyar nodded. “The one behind him is some kind of spiritual man. He is also reasonably strong in the power.”

  Jolan took a longer look at the man Shyar had referred to. He wasn’t currently drawing any power, or if he was it was so small Jolan couldn’t detect it. He had missed the fact that the man had the ability and wondered how Shyar had known. Now that he looked more closely, the crudely drawn symbols on his chest were barely recognizable as two symbols from the mages’ language. They were modifiers representing speed and strength. Jolan wondered if the man really knew what they were, or whether they were something that had been passed down for generations, and represented authority within his tribe simply because he was aware of them and the others weren’t. The man also wore what appeared to be an enormous spider, preserved somehow, on the top of his headdress. Jolan had never seen anything so fierce looking, nor a spider approaching the thing in size.

  While they were watching the group, Asari had casually drawn his pistol and held it loosely at his side. They wouldn’t recognize it as a weapon, and it was capable of the fastest response of anything available to him. His bow was several feet away, and going to retrieve it would clearly be recognized as a sign of distrust at best and a threat at worst.

  “What do you want to do?” Asari asked.

  Jolan stood slowly and held out his hand to assist Shyar to stand as well.

  He shrugged and said, “Good morning. I assume we are intruding on your lands.”

  The group watched him as he spoke. Then the man Shyar had suggested might be the leader spoke to the man with the symbols in a language they didn’t understand. This was a bit unusual since the whole of the Settled Lands used the same basic language, although with a variety of accents in the various countries to give it a local flavor. It appeared that something different was used here, although after a thousand years or more of isolation that wasn’t too surprising.

  The lead man suddenly spoke a few words back at them. It was nothing like anything they had ever heard, but it tickled something in the back of Jolan’s brain. One of the words was almost like something he’d heard before. Then it struck him. They were speaking a variation of the ancient language. Actually, they might be speaking the ancient language. Since no one in the rest of the Settled Lands really knew how it was supposed to sound, they had made up the pronunciation based on the spelling of the words they had learned.

  Jolan quickly explained to Shyar and Asari what he suspected. Even if he was right, it wouldn’t help them much. None of them spoke the language other than their own interpretation of a few words.

  Shyar knelt suddenly and drew a few symbols on the ground. She had written the ancient word for friend in the dirt. The leader looked at her scribbling, and after a minute shook his head. The spiritual man looked long and hard, and finally knelt and scratched something of his own. He drew the basic symbol for the power and pointed at Shyar and Jolan. So he knew they had the ability and that Asari didn’t.

  Several more attempts at communicating didn’t produce much more in the way of results, but the relaxed attitude as the natives attempted to communicate convinced them they were not hostile. After quietly raising their shields and seeing the act didn’t register with the spiritual one, Shyar released the barrier. Jolan open the Travel Box and withdrew a number of items of food that were passed around to the small group. They were astounded by the Box and wanted to peer inside. As the group sat down to eat the food Jolan had distributed, Shyar drew a map of the lake and then the ocean shore a bit further away. She indicated their current location and then drew a line from the shore to where they were. The leader nodded his understanding. So they knew of the ocean and recognized the lake.

  The leader then drew a small square a bit further up the shore of the lake, and pointed at his group and then the location. That must be where they live, Jolan surmised. They could expect to pass it later in the day as they continued north.

  Shyar then pointed at the canoe and indicated on the lake their intended direction, showing them leaving at the north shore and continuing onward. That caused a bit of concern, and the leader clearly was disturbed by what he had been shown. He shook his head, and was clearly trying to convince her against going that way. Without a common language to communicate it was difficult to appreciate what was being communicated, but clearly the man was warning them of danger in that direction. He pointed at the lake, and back the direction they had come. He was clearly suggesting that they go back the way they had come, but his demeanor was one of concern not one of threat. He obviously wanted them to know they were heading into an area of danger.

  Little more was successfully communicated, and after a while it was time to move on. Jolan had put a note in the Box and asked for a carrying knife, and when he checked someone had placed one in the Box at the other end. It was a nicely made knife of quality steel with a solid jinga wood handle. It was slipped into a leather carrying sheath. Jolan withdrew it and made a show of presenting it to the leader, who couldn’t conceal the look of desire in his eyes when he examined the blade. Shortly afterwards the small group headed off with small waves and smiles. The three travelers quickly packed up and loaded the canoe, and then shoved off, heading north as planned. They were forewarned, but they still had to continue in their intended direction or the whole trip would be for naught. Less than a half hour later they caught sight of the small band making their way northward, most likely headed home. Jolan thought he saw the leader shake his head when he observed them still headed north despite the man’s best efforts to warn them.

  In the early afternoon they spotted a small village along the shore. It was most likely the vill
age the men were returning to, and while several people came out to the shore of the lake and waved, they made no attempt to put into shore and greet them. They already knew they couldn’t communicate, and there was little more to be gained by delaying further. Jolan and Asari continued to paddle, their rhythm unbroken. Several hours later they found another promising place for their camp and made for shore.

  The next morning they set off early. They had seen no more people, nor had there been any problems with snakes or other creatures during the night. Whatever danger the natives had been concerned about must be further to the north. The day passed peacefully enough, and later in the day they searched for another campground. They hoped this would be the last full day on the lake and that they would reach the northern shore sometime around midday tomorrow. That would allow them to begin the final part of the journey.

  They beached the canoe in the middle of a wide stretch of smooth sand and set about making camp. Soon they had a fire going and had spread out their sleeping mats. Asari walked along the shore picking up firewood. Jolan could see him walking about a hundred yards further up the beach. He had turned to talk with Shyar about touching base with Tishe when suddenly a shot rang out. It was followed a moment later by two more in rapid succession.

  Jolan turned to look in Asari’s direction and was surprised to see his friend waving and running in their direction. He had discarded the firewood he had been picking up, and ran with his pistol in his hand. Behind him, the beach was wiggling with small brown objects that were making their way swiftly after him.