Alexander stretched as he sat up and pulled his cloak around him. He fumbled with his boots and carefully made his way to a nearby log to sit down while he kept watch over his sleeping friends. He fought to stay awake. He was tired and the night was so dark. To keep his mind active, he tried to work through all of the challenges he faced. Toward the end of his watch, he looked up with a start when he saw a light in the distance through the trees. It was just a flash but it had the quality of real light and not the gentle, colorful glow of an aura seen with his second sight. He focused and caught another flash of light. It looked like it was coming toward them. His blood ran cold when he realized it looked like torches coming through the forest.
He woke Anatoly. “Looks like we have company,” he whispered. The big man-at-arms sat up and looked in the direction Alexander pointed. After only a moment he nodded and started strapping on his breastplate. Alexander woke everyone else in turn. They quietly made ready for the coming threat. When the lights got closer, it looked to be about half a dozen men with torches. Alexander reminded himself that there could be considerably more than that if only a few were carrying light.
They decided they would have a better chance if they caught the enemy by surprise in the dark rather than try to flee through the forest at night. They spread out and waited with weapons ready. When the enemy got closer, Lucky stood up abruptly. Alexander could see the sense of alarm in his colors.
“Those aren’t soldiers, they’re night wisps. Quickly, gather wood for torches and a fire.”
Chapter 42
Lucky didn’t often get excited and he rarely commanded anyone to do anything. It just wasn’t in his nature. He was far more likely to gently suggest a course of action or ask questions designed to lead others to a conclusion.
Alexander didn’t hesitate. He had no idea what a night wisp was, but the fear in Lucky’s voice was enough to send a shiver up his spine. He started gathering sticks and small branches. Everyone else joined him quickly. Lucky was busy clearing an area for a fire pit and setting a few stones in place.
Alexander dumped the first load of twigs and sticks into the little circle of stones and went back to work finding more. A moment later the stack of kindling he’d given Lucky whooshed into a bright fire, casting light and shadows into the surrounding forest. Alexander worried that the Reishi might see the flames but decided that whatever the night wisps were, they were a more imminent threat than the Reishi, who’d made camp a few miles back under the watchful eye of Slyder.
As the fire grew and more wood was brought to the little circle, Lucky called out, “Look for branches that would make good torches.” Then he started rummaging around in his bag.
A few moments later he called out again, “They’re almost here. Quickly, everyone into the firelight.”
They all gathered around the little fire just before the night wisps floated out of the woods and into the clearing. Each was about a foot in diameter and looked like nothing more than a pale glowing orb of light. They bobbed and flitted about erratically, sometimes moving slowly like a soap bubble on a gentle breeze, other times moving with startling quickness, easily covering the space of a dozen feet in the blink of an eye. They floated, bobbed, weaved, and flitted into the clearing, coming right for the six of them. When they reached the glow of the fire, they abruptly recoiled out of range of the firelight.
“Light, fire, and magic can harm them. Your weapons are useless. Steel has no effect,” Lucky said as he wrapped lengths of burlap around the ends of the torch sticks and then drizzled them with oil. He lit one and handed it to Anatoly, who was looking irritable that his axe had just been pronounced useless.
He took the torch and held it up high. The night wisps shied away from the brightness. Once everyone was armed with a torch, it became clear that they would run out of firewood before dawn.
Anatoly, Isabel, and Alexander held their torches high and escorted Jack into the brush to look for more firewood. The night wisps floated closer but stayed just outside of the glow of the torchlight. Jack was able to gather another load of wood but it was a nerve-racking process. The strange glowing orbs looked so calm and quiet. There was no ferocity or snarling to them at all, yet they conveyed a sense of menace that made Alexander shudder.
They worked for the next hour to keep the fire stoked and burning brightly, but the firewood was becoming scarce near the clearing and they had to venture farther into the darkness to find the wood they needed. The brightness of the torches was not enough to keep the creatures very far away.
Jack found a dead limb and managed to break off a hefty piece, when one of the night wisps darted forward into the dim light of the torches and passed right through Alexander’s left shoulder. It felt like the touch of death itself. He was grateful that the creature hit his left side because he would have surely dropped the torch if it had hit his right shoulder. Numbing cold stabbed through him where the creature had passed, while at the same time a deep, penetrating fatigue flooded into him that left him almost too tired to stay on his feet. The little orb of light glowed more brightly just after passing through him, as though it had taken something from him and gained strength for it.
Anatoly struck the thing squarely with his torch. It hissed and backed away, then slowly dropped toward the ground.
When they made it back to the safety of the ring of firelight, Alexander sat down heavily under the exhaustion and sudden fatigue. The prickly sensation of pins and needles danced across his flesh as the cold slowly seeped away and he started to regain some use of his left arm.
When he looked out into the forest, there were only five of the dangerous little lights left. But the light of Lucky’s fire was starting to fade. The wisp Anatoly had stabbed with his torch had fallen to the ground and faded out. Another wisp darted into the edge of the firelight toward Jack and was met by both Abigail and Isabel’s torches. They both hit it squarely and sent it tumbling down toward the forest floor, where it faded and went dark.
In the commotion, the torches dimmed and the fire sputtered. The remaining four wisps took advantage of the sudden moment of darkness and darted in so fast that no one could even try to stop them. Jack, Abigail, and Anatoly were each hit. All three went to their knees from the numbing cold of the little monsters.
Lucky poured a flask of oil on the fire, bringing it roaring back to life. The night wisps retreated well away from the ring of firelight. Three of the remaining four night wisps glowed more brightly as if they’d grown stronger after passing through a living being. They bobbled in the darkness for a moment, then each of the three slowly separated into two little glowing orbs each.
Now there were seven.
Anatoly tried to stand but couldn’t muster the strength. Jack and Abigail stayed on their knees, trying to overcome the agony of the deathly cold that shot through them. The seven night wisps hovered in the periphery of the little clearing, keeping to the shadows. Isabel handed her torch to Lucky and snapped up her bow. She tore a cloth strip from the hem of her shirt, wrapped it around the tip of an arrow, then held it in the fire. She took careful aim and loosed her flaming arrow. It passed right through the center of one of the little floating orbs and stuck, still burning, into the side of a tree. The wisp slowly floated to the ground and went dark, as the dry moss on the tree caught fire. The flames licked the dead, dry branches above and soon the side of the tree was ablaze. The wisps moved away, farther into the forest to escape the light. The flames on the tree burned brightly for several minutes until all of the lower dead wood was burnt, but the fire failed to ignite the live branches and the needles of the boughs higher up.
Alexander stood, finally able to muster some strength, and found his bow. He made a flaming arrow of his own and targeted another wisp in the trees. It was far enough away that he missed but his burning arrow managed to catch the lower dead wood of another tree on fire.
Then Alexander noticed the light of dawn dimming the stars above.
It seemed that the wi
sps also noticed the coming dawn, because they started to move away into the forest.
Lucky started ministering to the wounded and found that mostly they were just cold to the core and too tired to get up. Isabel and Lucky built up the fire in the growing light and put water on to boil for hot tea. They cooked breakfast while the four who’d been hit by the night wisps tried to recover some of their strength.
Lucky gave them each a steaming mug of tea laced with potent-smelling herbs. Alexander didn’t care about the bitter taste; he just wanted the warmth of it. They all drank their tea too quickly but felt better for it even if it did burn their tongues a bit.
“Looks like the Reishi are on the move and they’re headed right for us. I’d say they’re about three miles off,” Isabel reported after her first cup of tea.
Alexander shook his head. “I wish we could slow them down somehow. We’re not going to make very good time today with everyone feeling like they could sleep for a week.”
Abigail nodded her agreement with a grimace.
The night wisps had robbed them of a much-needed night’s sleep and had added to their fatigue by draining vital energy with their attacks. The fire had no doubt alerted the Reishi to their position, undoing all of the hard work Isabel had done the day before to lose their pursuers.
“I may have something that can help,” Lucky said as he began rummaging through his bag. “Ah, here it is.” Smiling broadly, he held up a little canister.
Anatoly looked skeptical, “What’s it do?”
“The Reishi will no doubt find our campground here,” Lucky motioned to the little clearing. “When they do, the powder in this container will make their lives miserable for a few hours.”
Anatoly wasn’t convinced. He’d seen Lucky’s concoctions work and he’d also seen them fail miserably. He wanted to be sure this one would work. “How so?” he asked.
Lucky smiled again at his old friend, “I’m glad you asked.” Anatoly rolled his eyes. “I’ll sprinkle a bit around the camp and cast the activating spell when we’re a good distance away. Then, the next time anyone sets foot in the area, thousands of tiny little slivers no bigger than a hair and no longer than an eyelash will lift up off the ground and swarm the intruders. The sharp little slivers will embed themselves in their clothing and cause such itching and irritation that they’ll just about have to stop and thoroughly clean out their clothes. The alternative is to be literally rubbed raw. Left unattended, the slivers will work themselves into a person’s skin and cause all sorts of sores and infections. Really quite nasty.” Lucky punctuated his explanation with another broad smile.
Anatoly just chuckled and shook his head.
“If we can strike back at them, even if it is with high-grade itching powder, I’m all for it,” Alexander said, packing up his bedroll in the growing light.
While the others packed, Lucky went to the dead night wisps and carefully scraped up the little puddles of clear-looking slime that remained. “Night-wisp ectoplasm is a powerful substance,” he muttered almost to himself, while he carefully filled several little vials with the strange-looking stuff.
Soon they were on their way and moving as fast as they could given their fatigue. They made no attempt to cover their trail for the duration of the morning and stopped for lunch in a field of boulders on the slope of a little hill in the forest. When they finished eating, Isabel took a look through Slyder’s eyes. He was waiting at the site of their camp to see how Lucky’s delaying tactic worked. When she started laughing out loud, Alexander figured it had worked well.
“Lucky, you’re a genius,” Isabel said. “They’re all running around trying to get away from their own clothes. It’s like watching a dog chase its tail.” She giggled again at the sight. “Looks like they’re going to be a while. The guy in black doesn’t look happy about it and neither does Rangle.”
By this time, those who had fallen prey to the night wisps had regained much of their strength. They were all still tired, but the penetrating fatigue brought on by the night wisps’ attack had faded. They moved for speed as much as possible, only occasionally choosing a course for the purpose of hiding their trail. About midafternoon, it started to drizzle, and as the afternoon wore on, it turned into the kind of steady light rain that soaked into everything.
Isabel reported that the Reishi had managed to clean their clothes enough to start moving again but they looked quite uncomfortable. They moved more slowly and were constantly scratching some spot or other. She giggled mischievously to herself every time she looked through Slyder’s eyes.
Alexander was just happy they were outpacing their pursuers. When evening began to fall, he started to worry about the night wisps. With the steady light rain, it would be difficult to build a fire and keep it going. Without fire, they would be helpless against the menacing little creatures.
They found a rock outcropping in the forest that provided some cover from the rain, and built a makeshift shelter over the exposed side with fir boughs. Unfortunately, they couldn’t find enough dry wood to keep a fire going all night, so they stacked what they could and made a few torches and a few more fire arrows. Alexander knew it wouldn’t be enough, but it was all they could do with what they had.
More than anything, they needed a good night’s sleep. He drew second watch; it was quiet except for the steady fall of light rain and the sporadic cacophony of drops falling from the tree limbs when the wind blew through. He went back to his bedroll after his watch, hopeful that the night would pass quietly.
He woke at dawn feeling rested and ready for another day’s travel. After a quick breakfast, Isabel took a look at the Reishi through Slyder’s eyes.
“Huh, the night wisps attacked the Reishi last night. I saw at least three dead and a number of scorch marks where Rangle apparently used his fire to ward off the wisps.” She smiled at Alexander, “Looks like we caught a break.”
He couldn’t help but feel good at the news, and her smile always lifted his spirits. Everyone was in much better shape after a full night’s sleep and a good meal. They would make good time even with the steady rain that showed no signs of letting up. Alexander pulled the hood of his cloak up before stepping out into the weather.
For the next two days they made steady progress heading east. Isabel led the way through seemingly endless tracts of fir trees, winding through the brush to make their trail difficult to follow. She kept Slyder near the Reishi and looked in on them often. They were losing ground and struggling to stay on the trail. In two days, they’d fallen about five miles behind.
The rain had been falling steadily and the forest was wet. Alexander and his companions were soggy and cold. In the back of his mind, he worried about the night wisps. Now that the forest was thoroughly soaked, they couldn’t build a decent fire if they wanted to, even with the little bit of oil that Lucky had left. Without fire, the night wisps could easily be the end of them. He reminded himself to stop wasting energy on problems that hadn’t happened yet. He had more than enough real problems to worry about without fretting over potential dangers.
The next morning the rain broke and the sky showed signs of clearing. The monotone, flat-grey cloud cover gave way to big grey puffball clouds that scudded across the sky like they were marching toward a distant enemy. The sun peeked through here and there, casting bright rays of light down to the ground through the thick, moist air. The day was warmer than the past few, but the wind had picked up so it felt colder in the shade of the forest.
Isabel turned them north about midday. She said they should reach the northern edge of the forest by evening of the next day. The Reishi were still a good distance behind and steadily losing ground. The rain was making it even harder for them to follow Isabel’s circuitous trail. She led them in a straight line until the terrain presented an opportunity to confuse the Reishi, then she led them in unpredictable and almost bizarre patterns, sometimes turning abruptly for no apparent reason and other times walking in large circles so their tracks would in
tersect and create a confusing maze of trails to follow. Where they found flowing water or stone, she used it to conceal their path. Other times she stopped and brushed out their footprints with fir boughs to make it look as if they had simply vanished.
She knew an experienced tracker would find the trail eventually, but it would take much more time to find it than it took her to obscure it. Every tactic she employed was designed more to delay their enemy than to lose them outright, and her efforts worked. She frequently looked at the enemy’s progress through Slyder’s eyes and saw them walking in circles looking for some sign or mark on the ground. She kept Slyder high in the trees and was careful to ensure that he was never seen. She knew all too well that the value of a spy diminished greatly if the enemy knew they were being watched.
True to her word, Isabel led them to the northern edge of the forest in the late afternoon of the next day. Alexander could see the city off in the distance. It was bigger than he had expected. He’d only seen Southport, Highlands Reach, and Glen Morillian in his whole life. Each was a fair-sized city but none was close to the size of New Ruatha. Even at this distance, he could see the sprawl of the houses and buildings stretching out onto the plains all around, but the thing that caught his eye and captured his imagination was the multi-tiered plateau in the center of the city. It was still two hours until dusk and he could already see the seemingly endless lights glittering over every part of it.
Chapter 43
Jack smiled at the sight. “It’s been a long time since I’ve looked on the Glittering City. It’s good to be home.” He sighed somewhat wistfully and then said more sardonically, “I only hope my guild is still in order. Bards can be an unruly bunch when left unsupervised for so long.”
Thinblade Page 38
