The Inner Realm

by Dale Furse

  Wiping his wound with the cloth, he kept his eyes on Vala. Droplets of sweat reappeared on her forehead.

  The potion hurt and stung the wound, but his pain was for the stunning girl. Her fever was peaking once more.

  She groaned and her face twisted in pain, but even that movement could not hide her full lips—shaped as if drawn by an artist. Mike’s heart fluttered. He had never felt anything like that before and it crossed his mind that maybe he his wounds were making him feverish.

  He tore another piece of cloth from the other side of his shirt. After soaking the material with water from the bag, he stroked her forehead with it, squeezing the cloth until water dripped over her hairline. He pushed her hair back off her face. She flung her arm up over her eyes as if a bright light blinded her. Mike pulled it back down and, careful not to let the water drip into her eyes, reapplied the cloth. After a few moments, she smiled a smile and calmed once more. He took the opportunity to give her more medicine.

  She was much more accepting of the liquid and seemed to fall into a real sleep. Her breathing was shallow, but rhythmical.

  “It’s all right,” Mike said. Folding the cloth, he left it on her forehead and sat back. “You’ll be all right now.” The fever had broken. He relaxed his tense muscles and rested his head on his knees for a short time.

  Mike’s mind turned to Terni. “I’m sorry, mate,” he whispered as he raised his head and looked around, listening. He would know if anything happened to the kid. He was sure of it.

  Mike woke with a start. He had been dreaming of home, of his mother and Dan, and his warm, clean, soft bed. His room and his computer seemed so real. He wiped the sleep from his eyes. He missed playing computer games online with his friends. Baby Derek had still cried in his dream, but Mike was surprised he missed him. He missed everybody and everything. The ever-present dull ache in his thigh was still there as a reminder he needed medication. He didn’t know how long he could ward off the infection and fever with willpower alone. He had to get back.

  Mike eyes focused as the fogginess of sleep cleared from his brain. It dawned on him then, he didn’t miss any of the girl’s in Trevel. He smiled at Vala. No wonder.

  She breathed easier. Mike closed his eyes, saying a silent thank you to God.

  After a moment, he opened his eyes and shimmied over to Vala. The grey light of morning replaced the night sky as he patted Vala on her shoulder. “Are you all right?”

  Her eyes sprung open and looked at him. “I had terrible nightmares.” She sat up and rubbed her hands over her face, pushing her dirty, clumped hair behind her ears. “We were being hunted by Mashki.”

  “It’s all right now. You had a fever, but it broke last night. Are you thirsty?”

  She moved her tongue around her mouth and made a face. “Yuk, my mouth tastes like the floor of a pig pen.”

  Handing her the water bag, Mike said, “Don’t drink it all, I’ve something here to make tea.”

  He rose, walked to the dead fire, and re-lit it. Balancing the bowl on two rocks, he poked the fiery tinder underneath. If he was careful, he could warm the water before the wooden bowl turned to ash. With just enough water in the bowl for three small teas, he picked the flowers and dropped them into the liquid. Not daring to wait more than a minute, he pushed the bowl off the fire. He washed the goo out of the other bowl he had used for Vala and poured the tea.

  Noor woke and jumped onto her feet. “What happened? What time is it?” She looked up at the high sun, and shrieked, “It’s the middle of the day.” She glared at Mike. “You were supposed to wake me well before dawn for my watch.” Her eyes narrowed and she added, “Were you awake the entire time?”

  “Of course I was. I was worried about Vala. Wait.” Mike held up a hand to stop Noor from interrupting, “I know I should’ve woken you when I realized how bad Vala was, but you needed sleep. There wasn’t much you could do anyway. Your father gave me some stuff for a bad headache the first night we spent with you people so I figured it would help Vala too.” Vala stirred. “Look, she’s okay and you’re okay. Can’t we just drink this,” he held up his bowl, “and get going again?”

  Noor dropped to her knees beside Vala. “Are you all right?” Vala nodded, and Noor again turned on Mike. “You didn’t think it strange I slept for so long?”

  “Not really.” He shrugged. “You were tired.”

  She studied Mike. “What happened to your cheek?”

  “Huh? Oh, yeah, I tripped when I was picking the stuff for the tea.”

  “It doesn’t look too deep. You’ll probably live.”

  “Thanks.” Mike stroked his cheek wound. The cut didn’t feel as deep as it was. Nor did it hurt. The plant had healed it before an infection had taken hold. He wondered if the plant would grow back home. If it did, he could farm it and make a fortune. He frowned. If he ever made it home. First, he had to fight off the infection and he had to find the wall. He did not want to think about what would happen if the wall never returned, or how the infection might grow without medication. Could he lose his leg? Or would it kill him before then? Mike blinked his eyes. He could not think like that. He had to believe he would get himself and Terni home.

  Noor snorted. “I don’t believe it was a normal sleep. I have never slept for that length of time no matter how tired I was. Someone’s given me a sleeping potion.”

  “The only time I wasn’t here was when I climbed up there.” He pointed to the top of the cliff. “I didn’t see anyone, but then again, I wasn’t looking down all the time.”

  “That’s it. That is when I must have fallen into the strange asleep. It was Derek. But for what purpose?”

  “Not Derek this time. I saw the leader and believe it or not, it was Ludo.”

  “It can’t be. Prince Ludo is with the king and Father.”

  “I’m telling you, the leader of the group I saw was Ludo.”

  “I think you’re mistaken.”

  “I’m not blind, I saw him.”

  “But why? And why would he give me a sleeping draught?”

  “Maybe you could ask him when you see him.”

  “I will.” Noor drank her tea. “Perhaps there is a plausible reason for his appearance.”

  “Yeah, he’s in league with Derek.”

  Noor frowned but drank her tea in silence.

  “Mmm,” Vala said, as she sipped the just warm liquid. “This is great. How did you know to make tea from the gindi plant?”

  Mike absently brushed Vala’s hair back to stop it from falling into her tea. “Back at the camp with the king, your father gave me some of the mush when I had a headache and I… I figured the flowers would make a rejuvenating cup of tea for us.” He made a mental note of the plant’s name.

  “Well, you figured right, young man.” Noor gulped the last of her tea and bounded to her feet. “Show me where you got the water and plants.”

  “I’m coming too,” said Vala, tipping out the dregs of her bowl. She wiped it with the hem of her shirt and put it down her front.

  Mike threw the contents of his bowl and shoved it down the front of his shirt too before helping her to her feet. “Are you sure you can walk? I can still make a stretcher.”

  She smiled, but her look told Mike not to argue.

  “Thanks. I’ll be okay. My legs are a little shaky, that’s all.”

  He guessed by the way she trembled, her legs were a more than a little shaky. “Okay, but let me help you ‘till they get stronger.” He put his arm around her waist. “Lean on me.”

  She did. Mike held her, taking care not to hurt her.

  Noor nodded to Mike to let him know to lead the way.

  At the small stream, Mike left Vala resting against a rock while he joined Noor searching the banks.

  “Mashki prints,” Noor said. “Lucky they didn’t venture far from here and,” she tilted her head to look at Mike, “lucky they weren’t here when you were.”

  Mike exaggerated a shiver. “Yeah.” He felt for his sword. �
�Oh, no.” He turned back to where they had stopped the night before and took off, only pausing as he passed Vala. She was asleep. He could not believe he had forgotten the sword.

  “Wait,” Noor called out.

  Mike didn’t stop, nor did he explain. He sped as fast as he could. After a few minutes, Noor’s footfalls sounded behind him. His heart sank as soon as he rounded the last bend. There was no sign of the sword. He moved what vegetation there was and snorted. How could a large sword hide in the small amount of greenery? He knew as he searched it wasn’t there, but he hoped it would just appear as it did when the Shanks gave it to him. The Shanks. They must have taken it.

  “What are you looking for?” Noor asked frowning. “We have everything with us.”

  Mike heard her words, but his mind was a jumble. Where were the Shanks? He sprinted around the bend in the opposite direction of the stream a little way, stopped, and examined the area as if somehow, something would tell him what he wanted to know.

  “Mike,” Noor called from the dead fire. “Come here.”

  With heavy legs, Mike returned. Noor squatted and wiped the dirt away from the hard ground.

  “What is it?” asked Mike.

  “Horses. Horses were here, and whoever it was used something to brush their tracks. They weren’t very thorough. Two, maybe three—all unshod. Derek.” She twisted on her haunches and gazed at the tee junction. “He must be following Ludo and his men.” She rose to her feet and turned to Mike. “He might have been the one who gave me the sleeping draught.”

  Mike, not wanting to go back over that, bent to where Noor had pointed before her musings. “If they came here after we left…” He tried to remember if the sword was there when he woke up, but couldn’t place seeing it.

  “Is something missing? What did Derek take?” Noor asked.

  “A sword. I… I found a sword.”

  She tugged at his back. “So that’s what this is, a sheath. It must have been a big sword by the looks of it.”

  “It was, and sharp.”

  “I’ve still got my bow and some arrows,” Noor said with an encouraging smile. “If we can find some bamboo, we can make more arrows.”

  When Mike moved a foot to rise from his haunches, his other foot slipped and he fell back against the cliff face. Something snagged the side of what were now his shorts. He dropped a hand to release the cloth and a pain like a cut sprang to his finger. “Ouch.” He peered at his finger. A drop of blood formed at his little finger’s first knuckle. Moving to his right, he felt the ground. Careful not to cut his fingers, he traced what he thought felt like a blade. On his knees, he inched along the cliff until he found the hilt of the invisible sword. Clever sword.

  “What are you doing?” Noor asked.

  “Hang on.” As Mike picked it up, the sword appeared in his hand. He stood and faced Noor.

  “What is that?” Noor stepped back. “Sorcery.”

  “No, of course not. It must have gotten buried somehow.”

  Noor narrowed her eyes and sucked in the side of her mouth.

  “Trust me, I’m no magician. If I was, don’t you think I’d use a spell to get Terni back?”

  With a smile, she turned and refocused her attention on the ground.

  Mike remembered the promise he had made to Terni during the night. “Which way should we go?” With the sword safe and secure in its holder, he had to find the little messenger.

  Noor walked back to the tee-junction and looked toward the stream, then turned her head the other way. Mike followed.

  “I don’t know, Mike. I don’t even know where we are.”

  “We’d better get back to Vala first anyway. We might find more tracks at the stream. They would have needed water.”

  “But if they collected water, then came here, they would have passed us going to the stream.”

  “Yeah.” Mike thought for a moment. “They might have stopped at a different part of the stream and came here through a different canyon.”

  “That’s one theory and it’s all very fine, but the stream runs east and west. While the coast isn’t too far west, the source could be anywhere between here and the east coast.” It was Noor’s turn to pause. “We would have to split up—look in both directions.”

  “I don’t like that idea.” Something nagged at the back of Mike’s mind. Hankley had looked west when he said he felt some sort of mystical energy. “I figure we follow the stream west.”

  “Why west?”

  “It just makes sense to me.”

  “I don’t know.” Noor spoke slowly.

  “Look, you can yell at me if we don’t find anything, okay?”

  “Don’t worry, I will.”

  Once at the stream, Noor took off looking for horse’s tracks. Mike was glad Vala slept. She needed her strength. He bent down and felt her forehead. Not hot. He sighed and straightened.

  She opened her eyes. “Where did you go?”

  “I forgot the sword I found last night.”

  “Oh.”

  Mike expected more questions and although her eyes held them, Vala kept quiet.

  She used the rock to get to her feet. “Where’s Noor?”

  “Looking for tracks.”

  And it wasn’t long before she found some. She whistled.

  When Mike tried to put his arm around Vala, she shook her head. “No, I’m fine.”

  He kept close in case she stumbled as they walked along the bank.

  “They followed the stream west,” she called out as they approached. She continued moving along the bank but soon stopped.

  “What?” Mike said.

  “More horses, shod ones, another group joined them here. It looks like they split up,” she said, making a v with her arms. “Some continue west, but about six travel north across the stream here.” She pointed at the water beside them. Smooth, small rocks rested just under the water’s surface. She looked at Mike with unseeing eyes. “If the new group is Ludo’s men, the princes are together.”

  “Finally, she gets it,” Mike said, looking up to the sky. “But which ones should we follow? How would we ever know which ones had Terni?”

  Noor faced Mike. “We still have to split up,” she said. “It’s the only way.”

  Panic flew through Mike’s chest. Even with the sword, he couldn’t fight a hundred or more men, not without the Shanks. He did not know the land and he couldn’t track an elephant. What did a Mashki print look like? Even if he did find Terni, he would end up getting the kid and himself lost or killed, or both. Sure, Noor could track and she would probably know to hide if someone came near but without him and his sword, what chance did they have? They needed him as much as he needed them.

  “Listen, Mike, you’re fast and agile and now you’re armed. I know it’s scary, but if you stay out of sight, you’ll be all right. If you locate them, memorize some landmarks to show the way and come back to the stream. I’ll do the same.”

  “I’m not scared. I just don’t think we should split up.” Mike looked at Vala. Maybe Noor meant to leave her.

  “Vala comes with me.”

  “But what about the Mashki?”

  “If it’s night, I will have a great fire burning and so should you.”

  “What if the rogues travel for days? What will I do then?”

  “They won’t.”

  Mike sucked in his bottom lip. He had to find a way to make her see his side.

  “I can smell salt in the air,” Noor said. “They can ride as far west as the sea, and if I’m correct, the north is blocked by an impassable mountain range. It should be a day’s ride from here.”

  “What if you’re wrong?” Mike did not like the idea of leaving them and although there were only three of them, at least together, they were three. Without him, they could easily be over run by bloodthirsty bandits.

  With a heavy sigh, Noor said, “Look, travel until the sun begins its journey to the horizon. Even if you don’t find where they are going, rest and then return here.
We’ll either be waiting for you or will soon be back.”

  Mike opened his mouth to ask another question, but Noor put her finger over his lips.

  “You’re old enough to be a hunter or join the king’s army. I know you are inexperienced, but you’re a man and you have accepted this quest as have I. You have to stick with it. Do you understand?”

  Mike’s head throbbed. He wanted to say no, but he had never come across such a volatile, but perfectly able, woman. He didn’t want to die, either by the hands of mad men or Mashki, and without the Shanks’ help that was a distinct possibility. The thought of the bandits getting their hands on Vala almost had him screaming at Noor, but he said, “I understand.”

  Mike had to admit Terni was the one who was in danger right at that moment. If anything happened to the kid, Mike would never be able to forgive himself.

  “Good.” She clasped her hand under his forearm and indicated with a nod he do the same to hers. Mike did. “We will prevail, my brave young man, we will prevail.” She tightened her grip until Mike nodded before she let go.

  “See you later,” said Vala, her smile, too confident.

  Noor held Vala’s hand and hurried west as fast as Vala could go.

  Mike sighed in frustration but started on his way.

  Stopping every now and then to check he was going in the right direction, Mike felt more desolate with each step. Although Terni was foremost in his thoughts, he wondered if he would ever see his family again. He stopped again to check the track.

  He noticed for the first time, he had climbed out of the canyons and the gullies flowing through them. His mind was so absorbed in his troubles. Nor had he realized he had been walking uphill. But now he could see a forest looming up before him. Behind the woodland towered high mountains and they, like the wall, appeared to stretch forever in both directions.

  He slowed. Maybe the tracks veered off to the west before the forest. He grunted at his inattentiveness, but hoped he was right. He would rather go back than enter the forest. He pushed on. As he approached the trees, his hopes faded. Horse’s tracks disappeared into the forest. Maybe he would be out again by nightfall. He snickered. The bandits probably didn’t like forests at night either. Mashki were terrifying creatures.