Apparition

by Tom Liberman

  Marianna started to ask why but the look on Rhia’s face was firm and confident, “Ok,” is what she said and began to pack her own meager equipment.

  “Check your bow and flights,” said Rhia. “Make sure they haven’t been tampered with.”

  Marianna again started to ask why but then simply went about doing as Rhia suggested. “Is Mike ready?” said Marianna as she ran her finger along her bowstring. “Hey!”

  Rhia looked up, “What?”

  “The gut is notched,” said Marianna. “I must have knocked it around the other day. I’m glad you had me check. I wouldn’t want it to snap at an inopportune moment.”

  “This world is far more dangerous than I ever understood,” said Rhia her narrowed eyes looking all around. “We must be more cautious. I’ve been living the life of a happy fool. Those days are over. We are in terrible danger. Get Mike. Let’s go now. We should head south first and circle around to the north later in case someone is watching.”

  Marianna looked at Rhia, “Something has happened,” she said.

  “Yes.”

  “Adusko?”

  Rhia shook her head, “We can talk about it later, when we’re out of this place. I’ve been so foolish. Go and get Mike. Get her now and let’s be gone quickly.”

  Marianna picked up the bow and headed into the wagon. A short time later the two girls emerged with packs on their back and ready to go. Mike said nothing and gave Rhia a long glare.

  “We’re going south to throw off pursuers although I think that is pointless as well. They know exactly where we are going and why but I will not be incautious again.”

  “Who knows?” said Mike taking a step back from Rhia and her forceful words.

  “Everyone knows. Everyone. We’re on a secret mission for Lofo, for the Gray Lord, for Tanelorn, and we’ve basically told everyone exactly what we are doing here. We’ve made no secret of it whatsoever. The gnolls are the enemy of Tanelorn. We have few friends here and we’ve been absolutely foolish about everything. Looking back upon it I cannot imagine why we are still alive. We have to get out of here and right now. They might be coming for us now. Borrombo is anything but a fool and I did not understand it fully until just now.”

  “Borrombo is our friend,” said Mike.

  Rhia shook her head, “Borrombo is his own friend. A friend to that dwarf citadel to the north and to no one else. We were a convenient alliance at most. No, Mike. We have to stop living in a fantasy world where we believe what people tell us. We must grow up, we need to do it right away or we will soon be dead. Come on. Now. No more talking. We leave and we leave now.”

  Mike started to open her mouth but Rhia turned her back and started walking to the south. Mike looked over to Marianna for some sort of comfort but the freckled girl was already following Rhia. “Fine. But I’m still in charge,” said Mike and followed the other two.

  Rhia led the way south through the tents and eventually to the river that flowed relentlessly on. They followed it for several hours in silence as Rhia led the way. A large portion of the moon still shone in the sky and the stars were out making it fairly easy to progress in the darkness without worry of falling into some hidden pit.

  “We don’t even know where there’s a ford down here,” said Mike. “This was a bad idea.”

  “We’re not going across a ford,” said Rhia shaking her head. “We’re far enough now. Find a downed tree. We’ll kick across.”

  “That will push us who knows how far downstream,” said Mike shaking her head. “And we’ll get soaking wet.”

  “It’s not very cold,” said Rhia. “And I don’t care how far downstream we get pushed. We’ll circle back to the north for as long as it takes to find the Sunbringer camp. The more unpredictable our movements the better.”

  Mike shook her head, “This is crazy but I’m willing to go along with you for now,” she said. “But I can’t put up with this forever.”

  “Understood,” said Rhia. “There, there’s a copse of trees. We’ll find something big enough to float. All three of us kicking hard and we’ll get over quick enough.

  Rhia’s plan worked well enough although, as Mike suggested, they were soaking wet when they emerged on the other side.

  “Carry this log with us,” said Rhia leaning down to grab an end. “I want to put it a good distance from the river.”

  Mike against started to object but Marianna simply bent down and picked up one end of the log while Rhia picked up the other. Mike joined Marianna and the three managed to muscle it quite a distance from the river.

  “Far enough?” said Mike panting out the words from the exertion.

  “Good enough,” said Rhia and they dropped the log.

  “North now,” said Mike and started walking back up the river.

  Rhia followed behind her but repeatedly glanced to the opposite side of the river looking for movement in the night. The sound of crickets, owls, and a few night birds were the only noises as the three girls moved slowly up the river toward the camp of the Sunbringer and whatever it would bring. Eventually the moon finished its long pass across the sky and clouds began to roll in from the west eliminating most of their light.

  “We need to light a lantern,” said Mike.

  “No,” said Rhia. “We’ll stop here and wait until it gets brighter.”

  “We won’t be there in the morning to watch Sunbringer decamp,” said Mike. “That’s the whole reason we’re doing this, right?”

  “It’s one of the reasons we’re doing this,” said Rhia. “And because lighting a lantern will expose us to anyone following or waiting we’ll have to miss out on that opportunity. Mike, I was harsh earlier but I’m not apologizing. We are in deadly danger. Borrombo is not our friend nor is he a friend of Tanelorn. What’s happening here is going to affect the entire world, not just Grelm and Tanelorn. There are things happening, big things, and we’re nothing to them. Killing us is nothing to the plans of whoever is behind all of this. We have to be much more cautious.”

  “I don’t know about all of that,” said Mike.

  “You saw what they were doing to Marianna. Do you think that was just cruelty for the sake of it? Pillsar is no fool. Borrombo and Pillswar know one another at the very least. Maybe they both work for someone else. I don’t know, but I do know this is much bigger than I realized. Have you heard of Stav’rol?”

  Mike’s head swiveled suddenly and she stared at Rhia, “What about it?”

  “Have you heard of it?”

  Mike nodded her head, “I have, why do you ask?”

  “Because Borrombo is working with them or using them or being used by them. I don’t know. But they are working together. They want to destroy Tanelorn. I don’t know why but I’m certain of it. What do you know? I saw that look!”

  “My grandfather, my paw-paw,” said Mike. “He’s from there. He was a soldier in their armies. Because he is a dwarf he was … was treated badly. I don’t know the details but I know it was bad. He was essentially a slave, forced to fight and kill, to do bad things to people. He ran away with some of his friends when he heard about Tanelorn and the Gray Lord. That’s about all I know.”

  “That’s the kind people we’re up against,” said Rhia. “I know this has been fun, an adventure, and I’m just as guilty as you of being incautious. But it’s time to stop all that. We have to be careful. Mike, you have to understand. Marianna, you know what Pillswar and his ilk are capable of doing. Borrombo is worse, far worse. He might be using Pillswar, I’m not sure. If we don’t want them running Tanelorn, running this world, then we need to stop them.”

  “I hear you,” said Mike. “I’m not sure we’re talking about the entire world or anything but I don’t want Tanelorn to come under the control of people like that. Paw-paw doesn’t talk about what it was like to us kids but sometimes they don’t know we’re around and they talk. I’ve heard some things. You’re right, I was treating this like a game. Let’s stop until we get a little light.”

  �
��Sounds good,” said Rhia looking around for a nice place to settle in for a few hours. “I could use some sleep in any case.”

  “Over there looks about right,” said Mike pointing to a little hill away from the river with a good view of the surrounding countryside. “We’ll take watches. Marianna you go first.”

  Marianna nodded her head and the three girls walked quickly over to the hill and made a small camp without speaking. Rhia and Mike lay down on their bedrolls while Marianna stood by a tree and kept the watch.

  Soon the two girls were either asleep or feigning as much and Marianna knew only the sounds of the deep night. It was strange being out and free like this. Before her father died she often went on overnight trips with him to do hunting and fishing but after his death the only time she left the house was under close supervision of Pillswar or his minions. As she looked up at the low clouds, which were rushing past quite quickly, and she remembered her father and those bygone years of her youth. It had seemed like everything was always going to be all right but that had not turned out to be the case.

  She breathed in the cool night air and smiled although she felt the tears that came to her eyes at the thought of her father. Rhia was likely right about Borrombo and about their chances of surviving. It was a dangerous world and she knew it better than Mike most certainly, although likely even more than Rhia. She had been so happy to be free and away from her mother and the others that she hadn’t bothered to think about it too much. She had lived with the fact of her imminent death for so long the dangers of their current adventure didn’t concern her at all. She had supposed they would kill her long ago and she knew that they had killed her father. Until now she had simply accepted these facts but tonight as she looked at the sleeping Rhia and Mike and realized that she was the one protecting them, she suddenly wanted to live, for the first time in a long while.

  She didn’t wake them until the sun began to make its presence known in the east and even then she wanted to be the one protecting them for just a little bit longer. “Wake up, Mike,” she said shaking the girl. “Rhia, it’s morning. We need to get going.”

  The two girls groggily opened their eyes. Mike looked lovely as always and Rhia looked as if she had slept on the ground, as always. Marianna laughed at the site of her disheveled hair.

  “You look a fright,” she said to Rhia and smiled.

  “You let us sleep the rest of the night?” asked the girl looking up from the ground, running her fingers through her unruly black hair, and smiling.

  “I did,” said Marianna. “I was enjoying the evening alone without the sound of you two bickering.”

  Rhia laughed. “Fair enough.”

  Mike laughed as well, “Come on now. Let’s pack up and get going. We probably won’t get to see Sunbringer leaving camp but we’ll get a chance to watch them come back if he survives his fight. It would be useful if we spoke the language.”

  Rhia nodded, “Yes, I didn’t even think about that before we came here. It’s too late to worry though.” With that she piled her few belongings into her pack and soon they were once again walking along the river toward the where they presumed the Sunbringer camp was located.

  The morning brought out songbirds by the thousand and the woods to the east of the river were abuzz with chirping.

  “It’s so beautiful out here,” said Marianna smiling as she looked around. “The river, the woods, the birds, the sunrise. Being here and being alive with you two is wonderful. I know what we’re doing is dangerous, Rhia, you don’t have to remind me, I just think maybe we should enjoy the good things while we have them. We might not for much longer.”

  Rhia nodded her head, “I agree with the sentiment, Marianna, but we need to be careful. We need to watch for ambushers not listen to birds. I don’t mean to be cruel but there is every chance Borrombo has sent people after us. Maybe even Adusko.”

  “I can take that thug,” said Mike her hand on the sword at her side. “He only surprised me before but this time I’ll be ready.”

  Rhia glanced over at the girl quickly and said nothing.

  They continued to walk along the river as the sun rose in the sky but there was no sign of any encampment of gnolls. There was no smoke from what should be morning campfires. Just the sound of birds and the brightening blue sky. The clouds from yesterday evening were still lingering about but so far did not seem to be threatening any storms.

  “What if we missed it?” said Mike voicing the very thought in Rhia’s head.

  “I don’t know,” said Rhia. “I don’t want to turn back now. There’s nothing for us back at the tournament. There’s nothing more to learn. We could go back to Tanelorn and tell Lofo what we’ve found but that seems like a failure to me. The only thing I want is to be a Gray Knight.”

  “We have to figure out what is going on here,” said Mike with a grin.

  “Right you are,” said Rhia. “I say we keep going up river. It can’t be much further. They’d have to be within a couple of hours of the tournament otherwise they wouldn’t be able to make it for morning fights.”

  “Maybe they aren’t on the river at all,” said Mike. “If what you said about Borrombo is true then he could have lied to us. His translators could have lied to us. The people we spoke with might not have known anything at all.”

  Rhia nodded her head again, “That’s all possible but what other choice do we have?”

  “None,” said Mike. “Other than going back to Tanelorn and I don’t want to do that either.”

  Suddenly a high-pitched shriek penetrated the air and all three girls looked in different directions. “Over there!” they said in unison pointing to different places.

  “I’m pretty sure it was over there,” said Rhia pointing across to the other side of the river but Marianna looked at her dubiously and Mike shook her head.

  “All right,” said Mike. “Just be quiet. Listen.”

  The waited like that, standing in silence, for long seconds but no other cries sounded out.

  “Forward, I say,” said Mike pointing along the river. “I doubt we missed anything so it’s probably ahead.”

  “Agreed,” said Rhia and Marianna nodded her head as well.

  “I’ll take the lead,” said Mike. “You two stay well back.”

  Rhia nodded her head again and dropped to a knee. “Go on, we’ll be behind you.”

  Mike crouched low to the ground and then began to stealthily move forward. She moved with incredible grace, her steps both light and quick. When she reached the river she dove in without hesitation and swam quickly across.

  “She moves so beautifully,” said Marianna watching the lithe girl move through the high grass and flowers beside the river.

  “She’s half elf,” said Rhia. “You should see her mother.”

  “Pretty?” asked Marianna.

  Rhia snorted, “Yeah, that’s one word for it.”

  “My mother is pretty also,” said Marianna. “But she’s not nice.”

  “No,” said Rhia. “Mike’s mother seemed like a decent sort of person but I didn’t really get to talk to her. She and Mike don’t get along. Enough of that though, come on, she’s far enough ahead now. Keep that bow handy.”

  “Right,” said Marianna fingering the bow at her side.

  The two then set out after Mike taking a wider pass to the side of the river and doing their best to stay out of sight. Neither moved with anything near the grace of Mike and whenever one or the other stepped on a stick they looked guiltily at each other.

  They walked perhaps a quarter of a mile along the river following on the opposite bank and a decent distance behind Mike when the half-elf girl suddenly stopped and crouched low.

  “Wait,” whispered Rhia to Marianna but it was unnecessary for the girl had already ducked down.

  “What is it?” whispered Marianna back to Rhia.

  “I don’t know,” said Rhia with a shrug. “She sees something though. She’s right at the top of that little rise, it’s proba
bly below it.”

  “Yeah,” said Marianna and realized she was holding her breath. She let it out as quietly as possible and kept her eyes trained on Mike. The girl was absolutely still as she looked out over the grassy plains and then, after what seemed an eternity, she turned and made come forward motions with her hand.

  “Come on,” said Rhia and began to creep slowly forward. The young woman did not move with particular grace. Both she and Marianna plunged into the cold water and swam across without incident although the current took them down below where Mike awaited. Rhia moved more quickly and eventually arrived next to Mike having made only a modicum of noise.

  “You’re like an elephant,” said Mike not even looking when Rhia crouched down next to her, the water dripping from her clothes. Rhia picked up her head so that she could see over the rise and spotted a dozen children playing some sort of game in front of an ill-kept house.

  “What is it?” said Rhia just as Marianna arrived next to them and flopped down in the grass, just as wet as Rhia.

  “Kids playing,” said Mike. “I’m not sure what’s going on to be honest.”

  The yard below in which the children played was filled with debris including large rocks, scraps of discarded metal, and other garbage.

  “They don’t look like they’re having much fun,” whispered Marianna remembering the joyful play of the children at Ada’s house. “And the yard is dangerous, that’s a jagged chunk of metal out there.”

  The children largely were not smiling but instead looking at the house repeatedly while some of them ran around the yard and others stood quietly watching. While perhaps five of them were gnolls the others appeared to be human or half-breed and there was even a little goblin girl no more than five years old huddled near a rock and holding a dirty blanket.

  “I don’t even understand what game they’re playing,” said Mike shaking her head and looking at the other girls. “It’s not tag … I’m not sure it’s anything.”