"I do not know how long we will be gone," Mikal said to Captain Gomery, "but we need this ship to return to Alcea. I do not like leaving you and the men on it in the middle of a swamp, but that is how things worked out. There will be no place for you to provision."
"The crew are good at fishing," replied the captain.
"Understood," nodded Mikal, "but that is not what this talk is about. You are the captain of the Remora, and you should do what a captain does. If you feel that it is imperative to weigh anchor and move the ship, do so. Use Squirt to keep in touch with us, but do whatever you have to do to save the lives of your crew and this ship. And I meant those in the order they were given. You and your crew mean more to me than the ship, but try to keep it all intact. If you find another Snake in your midst, kill him. I know that is not necessarily how things are done in Alcea, but we are not in Alcea any more."
"You suspect that there is another Snake onboard?" asked the captain.
"Not necessarily," answered Mikal, "but I like to keep an open mind. One thing that troubles me is how the sailor put to sleep by Squirt managed to get out of the hold."
"I assumed that her spell was faulty," frowned Captain Gomery.
"I do not think so," Mikal shook his head. "The sleep spell is one of their primary means of defense. I have felt its effects myself, and I do not believe that Squirt failed in using it."
"Then that demands that another Snake is onboard," the captain pointed out.
"Perhaps," Mikal hesitated. "There is much that we do not yet understand about Zaran mind magic. I suppose that it is possible for a Zaran to be mentally under the control of another. I am not sure how that would affect the sleep spell. Or there could be another Snake. I do not know and neither do you. Just be wary, and do not be afraid to do what must be done to protect the crew and ship."
"You can count on me," promised Captain Gomery. "When the time comes to sail back to Alcea, the Remora and I will be ready."
Chapter 10
Landfall
The sun was high overhead as the three elves stepped out of the small boat and waded to shore. Three Rangers and five Knights of Alcea stood watching their arrival.
"We are complete now," declared Mikal Obanik. "Where are we going, Clint?"
"The Sea of Tears lies far to our northeast," declared the Ranger mapmaker. "I suggest we head in that direction while I send Runt out to survey the area. It will take a few days before I have enough information for even a rudimentary map of this area of Zara."
"Button can help," offered Tedi as he stuck his finger into his breast pocket and stirred his fairy to life. "That should make things a little easier."
"And Peanut," volunteered Karl Gree. "I am sure the little guy would enjoy getting away from me for a while."
"Shouldn't all of the fairies be used?" asked Prince Rigal as he woke Mite, the fairy assigned to the elves.
"Bitsy will stay with us," stated Mikal, "but there is no reason why the other fairies could not help with the mapping for now. The sooner we discover what awaits us on this journey the better."
Clint kneeled in the sand and spread the crude chart out on the ground. While there was some detail of the waters surrounding Zara, only the major coastal cities and the mouths of the major rivers marred the blankness of the landmass.
"I have had no experience with fairies and what they are capable of," Clint said to the four fairies that descended to stand on the chart, "so I will learn as we go along. Each of you will have a different area to survey."
Clint ran his finger over the chart as he assigned sections to each of the fairies.
"When you have gathered enough information about your assigned sectors for me to draw in the details, return to us," he instructed the little people. "If it is too much for you to memorize all of it, return sooner, and I will adjust the size of the sectors based on that. Any questions?"
"We can handle much more than that," boasted Runt.
"Have you ever seen a human map?" questioned Mite. "Some of them have great detail. Do what you are charged with and let the mapmaker decide what you are capable of."
"We can make a contest out of it," interjected Peanut. "Let's see who can get the most information in the shortest time."
Button rolled her eyes and darted up to Natia's shoulder. "Men!" she whispered in the gypsy's ear. "All they ever do is argue and boast."
Natia tried to stifle her laugh, but it was obvious that Button had just besmirched the male fairies. Button blushed a bit before leaping from Natia's shoulder and darting into the air.
"She's getting a head start!" Peanut shouted with alarm.
The three male fairies leaped into the air and dispersed. In seconds they were gone, and Clint rolled up the chart and stood.
"To the northeast then," he proclaimed.
"Lyron," commanded Mikal, "you take the lead for now. We will rotate the position periodically."
The short elf nodded silently, his black, unruly hair swirling as if it had a mind of its own. Lyron's eyes scanned the edge of the beach, looking for any sign of a trail, but there was none to be found. In fact, there appeared to be nothing but tall grass for as far as the eye could see. Lyron shrugged and started walking towards the grass, and the others formed a line behind him.
There had been a breeze along the shore, but that seemed to magically vanish as soon as the group entered the tall grass. Lyron started out with a straight course to the northeast, but it took only moments for him to discover that not all of the land beneath his boots was solid. After Lyron sunk ankle deep in muck, the elf began to eye each pace of grass suspiciously, testing the ground before him with his staff.
The progress was slow, and the heat of midday soon began to torment the travelers, soaking them with perspiration. As they began to sweat profusely, swarms of stinging black flies descended upon the intruders. Slaps and mumbled curses became continual echoes as the column of Alceans slowly wound its way through the tall grass. Two hours into the march through the swamp, Mikal called for a halt. The group stopped in a small, circular area where the tall grass had been crushed flat. Shawn Cowen knelt in the clearing and studied the ground.
"Some type of large beast has been here," commented Karl. "Whatever it is, it has considerable weight to crush the grass so."
"Alligators," nodded Shawn. "It looks like at least two of them have been here recently, probably within the last hour."
"What type of creature is an alligator?" asked Gerant, the tallest of the elves.
"A reptile," the Ranger replied as he stared at the elf. "Think of a giant lizard about four times longer than you are tall."
"With a cavernous snout full of teeth," added Max Caber. "They are nasty creatures to encounter. Their hide is hard to penetrate, and they are quick when they want to be."
Gerant looked around anxiously, his long brown hair sodden with dampness as it dragged across his shoulders. "Are they prone to attacking people?" he asked as he gripped his staff a little tighter.
"They are not very intelligent," shrugged Shawn, "but they are meat eaters. We should use caution if they are around."
Mikal looked at the elf with compassion. He knew that the elves of Glendor were brave warriors, but he also knew that they had been fairly isolated in their mountain forest and knew little about the rest of the world. He knew that there would always be a tinge of fear in the unknown, no matter the race, so he decided to change the conversation.
"We must always be cautious in strange lands," declared Mikal, "but the main threat to our party is the Zarans. As they seem to know that some Alceans are coming, we can assume that they will be looking for strangers. As for our trek through this swamp, make sure to keep up your intake of fluids. Karl, you will lead for the next leg. Continue to move northeast. After a couple of hours, we will take another short break and rotate the trailblazer."
Karl nodded and rose to his feet. As he stepped out of the small clearing, the others rose and fell into line behind him. Following Lyron's l
ead, the Cordonian tested the firmness of the ground before him with his staff, but Karl's course soon became more meandering as small streams began to appear. Whenever a stream blocked the path to the northeast, Karl had to search for a way to cross the murky waters without subjecting the entire party to swimming. While he had never actually seen an alligator, he had heard tales of their swiftness in water. He was not going to chance such an encounter if he could avoid it. After two hours of mucking about in the tall grass, Mikal called for another halt. Karl saw a lone tree slightly off his course and changed direction to reach it.
The tree was old and twisted, but the grass was short underneath its branches. The group eagerly crowded into the shade it offered and began drinking water to replenish their bodies. Everyone sat in the shade in silence, except Gerant. The tall elf stood gazing at the edge of the grass as if expecting an alligator to suddenly appear. When Gerant noticed Mikal watching him, he pulled his bow and strung it. He stood fiddling with his bow, as if testing the tension of the string was good enough reason to remain standing.
"Maybe we can see more of this swamp from the branches of this tree," Natia said as she stood and gazed upward. "I am going to have a look. There must be something out here besides grass and streams."
No one responded, but Tedi cupped his hands to give Natia a step up to the branch over his head. The gypsy princess smiled at her husband and promptly stepped into Tedi's cupped hands and onto his shoulders. From there, she pulled herself up to the first branch. As Natia reached for the next branch, a bowstring snapped, and an arrow whistled through the air. Natia gasped loudly as the arrow struck just over her head. The Alceans leaped to their feet, as Gerant nocked another arrow.
"Snake!" shouted Gerant.
Weapons swung free from their sheaths as the Alceans searched the tall grass with their eyes, but Mikal followed Gerant's gaze up into the tree. He saw the huge head of a python pinned to the trunk of the tree by Gerant's arrow. A tremor raced through his body as he called up to Natia.
"Come back down, Natia," Mikal commanded. "There may be more snakes up there."
The gypsy stared up at the snake's head, which was only a pace away from her. Nodding silently, Natia slowly lowered herself to the branch and jumped to the ground. She nodded thankfully to the tall elf and stepped away from the tree.
"A python," Shawn announced excitedly as he stared up at the large snake. "That one is over seven paces long. I'd wager it could have given an alligator a bit of a fight."
"An alligator was not its intended victim," Mikal stated. "Let's get back on course. Shawn, you have the lead."
"What about seeing the rest of the swamp?" protested Natia.
"We can send Bitsy out to scout," replied Yolinda as she looked at Mikal. "The fairy can share the view with all of us without any need to climb trees."
Mikal nodded and woke up the fairy and gave her instructions. The tiny woman leaped into the air and disappeared over the tall grass. Moments later she returned and displayed an image of the path ahead. The image enabled Shawn to alter his course slightly to avoid streams, and the rate of movement through the swamp increased significantly.
Two hours later, the sun began to approach the horizon. Mikal called a halt when they saw a small hammock with several ancient trees. Bitsy was sent up into the trees to check for snakes before the groups settled down. While they were resting in the shade, the other fairies returned with reports for Clint. Mikal watched intently as Clint drew new lines on the chart from the images that the fairies were sharing. The short rest stop stretched onward until dusk was only an hour away.
"We will spend the night here," announced Mikal. "There is no sense in pushing onward only to have to sleep in the grass."
The Alceans rose enthusiastically to create a campsite while Mikal returned his attention to the chart.
"It looks as if this swamp is endless," he remarked to Clint.
"It would appear so," replied the Ranger. "I would like to send the fairies back out before dark," he requested a moment later. "It takes me a while to add what they have seen to the chart, and I might as well do that tonight rather than delay the whole group in the morning."
"Can they handle it?" asked Mikal.
"We could have done much more than we were assigned," boasted Runt. "We only came back because we had completed our assignments."
"Then get back out there," chuckled Mikal.
Clint quickly assigned areas to the fairies and they departed once again.
"Their abilities are fantastic," Clint remarked once the fairies had left. "Give me a couple of months with their help, and I will have a detailed map of all of Zara."
"If only that were possible," sighed Mikal. "Once we leave this swamp, it will be time for each group of us to go our own ways. Starting tomorrow, assign the fairies tracts that are large enough to last them the entire day. I am afraid that we cannot afford the luxury of halting our progress during the day to update the chart."
"Understood," nodded the Ranger. "Still, from what I see so far, we will remain in this swamp for some time yet. It truly is endless from what we know so far."
"That will change," shrugged Mikal. "We saw mature forests at Shark Point, and you said there must be mountains in the center of Zara according to the rivers on the chart."
"True," agreed Clint, "but Zara is a large landmass, and this swamp is a big portion of it. I suspect that it might be as large as the Great Sordoan Desert back home."
Mikal frowned as he contemplated the Ranger's words. "You are talking about a journey longer than a week," he said to Clint.
"I know," sighed Clint as he gazed at the sun. "I do not look forward to a week in a swamp. Within an hour the mosquitoes will be swarming. Between them and the stinging flies, it is going to get rather uncomfortable."
Mikal nodded wordlessly and walked away. He found Yolinda and gently led her aside.
"What can you do about protecting us from insects?" he asked.
"I am hesitant to use magic for such a small thing," answered Yolinda. "If the Zarans know that we are coming, they will be attempting to pick up spell vibrations. Any use of magic could alert them to our location."
"That's assuming that the Zarans think a mage is among us," retorted Mikal. "The only magic you have used on the journey so far was during the eye of the storm, and that was shielded from the sailors."
"I also used magic to aid the healing of Ecaro's leg," stated Yolinda, "but I doubt he spoke of that to the others."
"What about the fairies?" asked Mikal. "Doesn't their magic pose a problem for us?"
"I don't think so," replied Yolinda. "Their spells do not create much of a vibration. Besides, I doubt that any Zaran mages are familiar with fairy magic. Chances are that they would not recognize the vibration if they managed to sense it."
"But they would recognize it as magic, wouldn't they?" queried Mikal.
"Perhaps," shrugged Yolinda. "All living things give off vibrations of one sort or another. Mages tend to filter out such background noise when they are searching for other mages. If one didn't, they would be overwhelmed with a cacophony of sounds."
"Well," sighed Mikal, "we need to do something about the flies and mosquitoes or everyone will be itching too much to remain alert."
"Perhaps there is a more natural way to accomplish your goal," shrugged Yolinda. "Talk to Shawn. He has an amazing knowledge of plants and animals. Maybe he can think of something."
"I hope so," scowled Mikal as he slapped at a buzzing mosquito. "It appears that they are beginning to arrive."
Indeed the mosquitoes swarmed into the campsite as if someone had just thrown open an invisible door to admit them. Slaps and muttered curses came from all over the hammock as Mikal searched for Shawn. Mikal walked around the campsite three times before realizing that Shawn Cowen was nowhere to be found. He was just about to alert the camp when a shout came from behind him.
"Put down that bow!" shouted the voice from the grass. "It's Shawn Cowen."
Mikal spun to see Lyron with an arrow nocked. He looked past the elf and saw a man emerging from the tall grass. His skin glistened in the dying glow of the sun, but it was clearly the Ranger. Mikal hurried over to meet him. Mikal stopped a pace from the Ranger and stared at the man. His skin was covered with a thin brown substance, and Mikal raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"It's mud mixed with the sap of a melanrie plant," explained Shawn as he handed some thin stalks to Mikal. "It will keep the bugs away. This was all I could find, but it should be enough to cover everyone if we don't waste it. Tomorrow I will look for more."
"You shouldn't have left the campsite without informing someone," scolded Mikal. "You could have died out there."
"There is more truth in that statement than you know," smiled Shawn. "I also found a myric."
"Did you get the quills?" Mikal asked as his expression brightened.
"Of course," grinned Shawn. "If there is one myric in this swamp, there will be more. I think we should stay in the swamp until we all have full quivers."
"Have no fear in that regard," replied Mikal. "We have no chance of leaving this swamp anytime soon."
* * *
Mikal stood unmoving as he listened intently to the sounds of the swamp. The hairs on the back of his neck rose, and an old familiar tingle raced up his spine. His eyes narrowed as he surveyed the tall grass surrounding the primitive campsite, but he could see nothing in the predawn light. Slowly, he rotated so that he was looking over the sleeping forms of his comrades. There had been no trees to seek shelter under the previous night, so the campsite was merely a circle of flattened grass. They had even forsaken a cooking fire for fear of creating an inferno that would envelop them all.
The noise came again, or was it again? Had he truly heard it before? He could not be certain, but his senses were screaming danger. Mikal silently swiveled to face the direction of the noise. Ever so slowly, he drew his long, two-handed sword out of its sheath, its blade glinting in the slowly increasing light of the new day. One of the elves rolled over in his sleep, and Mikal began to wonder if he had managed to spook himself. He knew it often happened to sentries near the end of their shift. He also knew that the predawn hour was the hardest for a sentry. It was a time when your senses could lull you to sleep or heighten your imagination. He remained silent and still.
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