by Sam Ferguson
“Over here,” Sami called out from a table a few yards away. The two of them walked to it and ate their food in silence. Jonathan fought the urge to glance back over his shoulder at the beauty leaning on the wall. He didn’t want her to think him odd. He stirred his spoon through his soup and ate the larger chunks of meat and onion before picking up the bowl to drink the broth. After they had finished, Rourke pointed off to a door.
“I was able to procure a room for us. There is only one bed, but there is enough floor space for us all to share the room,” Rourke said.
Jonathan nodded and looked in the direction Rourke was pointing. It was only a few feet away from where the black haired girl stood. Jonathan looked back to his bowl reflexively.
“Everything alright?” Rourke asked for the second time.
Sami grinned wide and slapped Rourke on the shoulder. “I think he fancies the girl over there,” he said.
“Ah,” Rourke said with a smile of his own. “Well, I suppose you will have your pick of any girl you want after you find your brother and become the first to emerge alive from The Warrens.”
Sami’s smile faded and he thunked Rourke again, this time hard enough that the scout flinched. “What would you say that for?” he whispered harshly. “You say it like it ain’t gonna happen, but you saw what he did with that bow when the trolls came. They were no match for him at all.”
Rourke sighed and looked away.
Sami leaned over the table and tried to put on another smile. “Don’t you worry, we’ll watch your back through the swamps. We’ll come back alive alright, you mark my words.” He then pulled up a wooden tube and pried the cap loose. “I even got this at Fort Sym before we left. We can put the map in here once we find it, and it should stay dry.”
“Assuming the map is dry to begin with,” Rourke put in.
Sami turned a sour eye on the man. “Enough with the pessimism,” Sami said.
“You don’t have to come along,” Jonathan told Rourke. “I am sure Captain Burke would consider the debt paid in full that you were willing to get me this far. I bet he would be happy to have you back too.”
Rourke wrinkled his nose and shook his head. “It isn’t that,” he said. “I don’t want to leave, I just feel uneasy about going, that’s all.”
“Then stay, and go back with the refugees,” Sami put in. “The kid’s right. You don’t have to come along.”
Rourke sighed. “I appreciate the permission, but if it’s all the same to you, I’ll be sticking around. I grew up in Garrick, and we take our debts very seriously there. It stems from the Konnon traditions. At least, that’s what everyone in Garrick says anyway. When we wrong a person, we settle the debt not to be even, but to pay twice what we owe. Since I nearly got Jonathan killed. I am now his man until I die. There is no debate.” Rourke looked at Jonathan sternly then and nodded decisively. “If you were to march into Hammenfein itself, I would march with you.”
Jonathan pursed his lips and arched his right brow. “I suppose we might be doing exactly that,” he said quietly.
Sami cut the silence with one of his big toothy grins and obnoxiously confident reassurances. “Well then, we’ll just have to send all of the trolls there first. We’ll be marching back here before the spring is over, mark my words.”
“What about you, Sami,” Rourke asked. “Why are you here? You don’t owe the boy anything.”
Sami’s smile faded and he shrugged. “I guess I just want one more crack at those trolls,” he said. Something about his uneven grin queued Jonathan in to the fact that there was definitely something else there, but he wasn’t going to push it. He trusted Sami, and that was enough. Jonathan looked to the table, wishing he could believe Sami’s reassurances that they would live through it all.
Jonathan nodded blankly. It wasn’t really something he wanted to think about right now. Sure, they had survived the attack outside Wendyn, but that was because he was able to pick off a lot of trolls as they ran toward the larger group. It wasn’t until he killed a couple dozen of the things that they started to run at him. Without the group of soldiers though, any trolls they met would all be focused on the three of them. Magic bow or not, that turned the odds considerably to the enemy’s favor. Jonathan could only shoot so fast. It was a numbers game, and Jonathan knew it.
“I’m beat,” Jonathan said. “I’m going to bed.”
He got up and shuffled his way through the other soldiers until he found his door. The black haired girl looked at him with her green eyes, but she didn’t smile or say anything. Jonathan averted his eyes and pushed through into the room. He pulled off his clothes and set them over a chair. Then he hopped into bed. It was the first time in weeks that he had felt the comfort of a real bed. The soft mattress and the warm blankets welcomed his weary body and the pillow was quick to calm his mind and let him drift off to a deep slumber.
The remainder of the night and half the morning passed before Jonathan woke to the sound of rustling armor and grumbling men outside his door. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, almost forgetting where he was. He looked around the room and saw Sami, half dressed in just his black trousers and wrestling with his boots. Rourke was nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s Rourke?” Jonathan asked.
Sami shrugged. “Getting food I suppose. Dell was in here a few minutes ago. He tried to wake you, but you were out like a rock.”
“Are they leaving?” Jonathan asked.
Sami nodded. “The townsfolk are ready to make the journey back. Dell has ordered everyone to be ready within the hour.”
“That was a quick march,” Jonathan said.
“Such is the reality of the swamps,” Sami replied as he tugged at his boot and grunted. “Cursed thing must have shrunk!” Sami shouted as he tossed the cleated boot to the floor.
“Are all of the townsfolk leaving too, then?” Jonathan asked.
“I assume they are,” Sami replied. “Dell said that Wendyn had a few wagons and teams of horses to make the journey a bit easier on the elderly and the children. The town also has some guards that they can add to the patrol, though I don’t remember how many Dell said there were.” Sami shrugged. “Sorry, just with us going deeper into the swamp, I figured it wasn’t important so I didn’t pay close attention.”
Jonathan nodded. “That’s alright.”
A knock came at the door.
Sami jumped up and rubbed his massive hands together. “That will be Rourke with the food!” Sami said with a grin. Before the big man could move, the door opened and in came one of the soldiers holding a large, black boot.
“Pardon me, but it appears I have switched boots with someone,” the soldier said. The man looked down and saw the boot Sami had discarded and smiled as he went for it. “There it is. This must be yours then,” he said as he held the large boot out for Sami.
Sami took it and eyed the boot for a moment before smiling wide. “Thank the gods!” Sami said. “I’d hate to go out there with one bare foot!” Sami sat back down and tugged the boot onto his foot. It slid on nicely, lacing up snug and fitting as well as it had the day before.
The other soldier left, bumping into someone as he exited the room. “Excuse me,” he said as he turned to the side and slid out the doorway.
Jonathan looked up to see the young woman with the black hair come into the room. He was happily surprised at first, but then realized that he was mostly naked, covered only from the waist down with the blanket. If the girl noticed Jonathan squirm and pull the blanket up a bit tighter around himself, she didn’t show it. She turned to Sami and addressed him instead.
“Did I hear you correctly last night saying that you are going to Battlegrym?” she asked.
Sami looked to Jonathan. “He’s the man in charge,” Sami said. Jonathan caught a winking grin from Sami after the girl turned back to him. Jonathan blushed, glancing quickly to the chair where he had placed his clothes only to discover that they were gone. “Your clothes are on the rack, Sir Jonathan,” Sami
said with extra emphasis on the “sir” part of the name. “I’ll go and get them.”
“No that’s not—” Jonathan stammered through the words but Sami wasn’t listening. He left the room and promptly pulled the door closed behind himself.
“Odd fellow,” the girl said after the door was closed. She stepped in closer to Jonathan, her boot heels clicking on the wooden floor. “So it is ‘Sir Jonathan’ is it?” she asked.
Jonathan shook his head. “Just Jonathan,” he assured her. “What was your question about Battlegrym?”
The girl folded her arms. “I am going with you,” she said decisively.
Jonathan looked at her curiously. “Why would you want to do that?” he asked.
“I am looking for my father,” she said. “He was with the Ghosts of the Quags. He was their wizard.”
Jonathan swung his legs over the bed at the mention of the Ghosts, nearly losing the blanket from his middle before regaining his composure and pulling the blanket tighter over himself again.
“There is an entire room full of men in their underwear outside your door,” the girl said as she noticed Jonathan’s embarrassment. “I promise I won’t stare at your ankles too much.”
Jonathan smirked and replied, “I don’t have any underwear. I took it off to dry out while I slept.” His cheeks flushed a bit and he looked at the floor, suddenly wishing he could take the words back.
“Oh,” the girl said. Jonathan looked up just in time to catch the last of the small grin across her face. Then she turned away. “Well, I will let you get dressed then. I will be waiting outside when you’re ready.”
“My brother,” Jonathan said, suddenly not wanting her to leave. The girl turned back and looked at him curiously. “My brother was also with the Ghosts of the Quags,” he explained. “I am looking for him.”
The young woman nodded. “Well, you have a bow, a giant, and a scout. I will add magic to the group. My father is a great wizard. I have many of his talents.”
Jonathan grinned eagerly. “Can you keep us dry?” he asked.
The black haired beauty shrugged. “My father always said that magic should be used sparingly in the swamps. We’ll see how it goes.”
With that, she turned and left the room. No sooner had she exited than Sami came stumbling in the door with an arm full of clothes.
“They are warm and dry,” he said with a big toothy grin as he plopped the clothes on the bed. He then thumbed at the door. “So?”
“So what?” Jonathan asked roughly as he reached out for his clothes. He slipped his underwear on under the blanket and then got out of bed to finish dressing.
“How did it go?” Sami pressed.
“She was asking to join our group to find her father, not for marriage,” Jonathan shot back.
Sami’s smile turned into a straight lipped expression with eyes that seemed to be telling Jonathan he had missed some sort of opportunity. “The more the merrier, I suppose.”
Rourke came into the room then with a plate full of bread, boiled eggs, and sausages. “No, actually the more people in our group, the harder it will be to infiltrate the swamps without being caught,” he corrected. “She can’t come with us.”
Jonathan pulled his pants up and buttoned them. “She said she can wield magic,” Jonathan said quickly. “Sounds like a smart addition if you ask me.”
Rourke pulled his mouth to the left corner and wrinkled his nose before responding with, “I suppose that might be helpful.”
“She is looking for her father,” Jonathan continued. “She said he was with the Ghosts of the Quags as well. Our purpose is the same, it only makes sense to help each other.”
“You sure it’s her magic, and not her looks that have you jumping at the chance to take her along?” Rourke asked pointedly.
Jonathan shrugged as he shook out his shirt. “She said her father was the wizard for the Ghosts, so if she has some of his talent, I assume it will be quite useful for us.” He then grinned at Sami.
Sami winked back at the young man. “Her looks won’t hurt either,” Sami added.
Rourke sighed and shook his head. “Make sure you are thinking with your head, Jonathan. It’s one thing to throw yourself into the swamps, but it’s another thing to take others with you.”
Jonathan tugged his shirt over his head and shoulders before straightening it over his torso. “You don’t have to come, Rourke. Go back with the others if you want.”
Rourke set the plate of food on the bed and folded his arms. “It isn’t that, it’s just that she is young.”
“So am I,” Jonathan pointed out.
Rourke pointed out the doorway. “Does she have any experience fighting trolls?”
Jonathan shrugged again. “I didn’t have any experience doing that until last night,” he rebutted.
“But you survived the Kigyo and came back with Kigabané,” Rourke countered. “What has she done?”
At that moment the black haired girl stomped back into the room. Her staff was firmly in her right hand and a red, hooded cloak now hung over her shoulders. “My name is Miranda,” she said pointedly. “And I came to Wendyn all by myself through the swamps just two days before any of you showed up. I was only stocking up on supplies before I headed out to Battlegrym. I am leaving with or without you to find my father. I just thought it might be smart to team together, since the two of you blathered on for over an hour last night about going to Battlegrym and such.”
Jonathan smiled wide. “See, I am not taking her along. We’re just headed the same direction.”
Rourke huffed, thoroughly defeated, but clearly not happy about it. He took a piece of bread from the plate and walked toward the door. “I’ll see about buying some food for the road.”
“You have four mouths to feed now,” Miranda put in as he passed her.
Jonathan and Sami shared a laugh at Rourke’s expense.
“I like her,” Sami said.
Chapter 12
The foursome found themselves in a thick copse of bald cypress trees, looking down from a hill onto the ruins that had once been Battlegrym. The gray and black stone structure was tilted off toward the north. Another massive section of the fortress had apparently broken off and was now lying across a shattered mess of wood and stone that surrounded what had once been the main building. Ivy and thick vines now covered every surface. Skeletons still clothed in armor littered the ground, with moss and mushrooms growing out of the remains.
Around the base of the castle structure was a large depression that had swallowed much of Battlegrym into the ground. From their vantage point, Jonathan could just see the surface of the water building in the depression.
“You sure we can find the map in there?” Rourke asked.
Jonathan shrugged. “I’m not sure it is still there, but I know that’s where Pa said it was.”
“I’ll go in with you,” Sami said quickly. “Check your bow. Are there any trolls?”
Jonathan pulled his bow around again and held the weapon. He shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
“Why don’t we all go in?” Rourke asked. “Four sets of eyes are better than two.”
Sami shook his head and pointed to the sky. “It’s light out for now, and the rain has stopped. As soon as the monsoon picks up again, that building is going to be slicker and deadlier than you can imagine. I was here before. I know my way around, and Jonathan knows what he is looking for. We’ll go in and slip back out.”
Miranda nodded. “It’s a good plan. We’ll keep a lookout out here.”
Jonathan and Sami slipped out from the trees and half slid, half ran down the hill until they reached the clearing below. Jonathan kept a solid grip on his bow, worried that any number of trolls might be nearby.
Encouraged by the fact that the bow was not alerting him to any danger, the two sprinted up to the closest bit of rubble. Sami pried open a half busted door and made a way for them to walk inside of a large covered deck area.
“This
is new,” Sami said. “They must have built this after my last tour.”
“What is it?” Jonathan asked. He ducked under a few broken beams and crawled around piles of rubble and stone.
“Some sort of expansion, I suppose,” Sami said with a shrug. He point off toward one of the exterior walls. “There is an arrow slit there. Perhaps they thought with the monsoons spreading heavier and farther than before that they needed to create a covered perimeter.”
Jonathan looked down and saw a hole through the floor, noting that it was at least two and a half feet down to the water below. “They built it up from the ground too,” Jonathan said.
“To keep the water out,” Sami said.
Just then a large form swam past the hole Jonathan was looking down. “Sami, there’s something down there!”
“Troll?” Sami said as he whipped his hammer out.
Jonathan shook his head and glanced to his bow. There was no tingling sensation and he couldn’t hear the beating of a heart. “No. Not a troll, and not a snake either.”
“Big?” Sami asked as he turned and approached the hole.
Jonathan nodded.
They two of them stared down for a few moments and then Sami slapped Jonathan’s shoulder. “Maybe just a shadow,” he said.
“I don’t think so,” Jonathan replied.
Sami shrugged. “Whatever it is, it can’t get us from down there. Come on.” The two of them walked over the creaking, moss-covered floorboards. They made their way toward an opening that had been created when a portion of Battlegrym had fallen down upon it. Jagged boards and beams jutted out every which way over a pile of finely hewn rocks that created a slope downward. The hallway before them was entirely blocked off. They knew they would have to go out the opening and then climb atop the structure to get closer to the entrance.
They moved to the pile of rubble and looked down. Stone and bits of wood were piled all around them. The slope was thick, disappearing into the blue-green pool of water that had been created when the stones had fallen and another sinkhole had been created.
