Jak was the least exhausted of the party, so he began to scout around for a safe place to stay for the night. After a time searching he found a spot not too far away where there was a small spring and some large trees. He thought they would at least have water here. However, when he told the others of the place Nicoldani and Benjim both dismissed the place since it would be the most likely spot for the Vashi to look for them if they did return.
So Jak set off in search again. After some time of wandering around, he found a narrow gorge to the south which he hoped would work for them to hide for the night. The gorge was not very wide but it was deep, and it was big enough to hold them all as well as the two remaining horses. The rock was eroded at the side of the gorge wall making an overhang almost like a shallow cave where they would be able to shelter beneath. He didn’t think they would be able to be seen from a distance at this location. There were many such gorges and washes in this part of the mountain so it would take searchers a substantial amount of time to search them all, if they chose to return and search. Someone would have to walk up the winding gorge and be almost on top of them before they noticed that they were there.
Jak wished he knew where Frog was. If the dog were here, Jak could have set him to watch the entrance of the gorge. But as it was, he didn’t even know if the dog were alive or dead. Perhaps the Vashi had killed and eaten him. The thought made him even angrier than he already was, especially with Mortikus since this was all the tiny man’s fault. If Jak ever met Mortikus, again he feared he would kill the little man.
Jak hurried back to the cave entrance where the others were located to tell them of the potential campsite he had found. From his description, they agreed it should be a good spot to hold up for the night. So they collected all their belongings and made their way over some ridges, before finding the entrance to the gorge. It was a little further than Jak remembered it being. Benjim was so weak that he almost had to be carried the last several hundred yards to the campsite.
Once they got all their things settled and the two horses staked out, Nicoldani abruptly left. Jak wondered where the man was going since Nicoldani had left without saying a word to anyone. Perhaps the big man was just making sure that they had collected all the useable things from the Vashi camp. But after a short while, Nicoldani returned carrying two large chunks of horse meat.
“Do you expect us to eat that?” Benjim asked, his lips pursed in a look of disgust. “You would not even eat it in the cell when Mortikus was trying to force you to eat of it.”
“I wouldn’t eat it then because that pompous little man wanted me to eat it,” Nicoldani said gravely. “But if it is needed in order to survive…..then I will eat it. There really isn’t much of a choice, is there? We don’t have many supplies left and need to conserve what remains. Besides, we don’t have to eat it raw now either, we can cook it first. All of us are very weak and will need our strength in the coming days. Not much food remains, and we will need to ration what we have in order to make it across the desert alive. This meat we have here and now, and it won’t last long in the heat before it spoils, so we can’t take it with us. Better if we make use of it now while we are able. We should be fine with a small fire as long as we put it out when we are finished. A fire burning after dark would be a beacon to anyone around and easily give our position away. But we still have a few of hours before dark.”
That was the most words Jak had ever heard the big man speak at one time.
Gin was very reluctant to eat the horse-meat and wrinkled her nose at the thought of it. For that matter, Benjim didn’t really want to eat it either. But everyone was very hungry and once the meat started cooking, and the juices dripped on the fire they began to come around. The aroma was not the best Jak had smelled, but at that moment, it was very appetizing. In the end, they all gave in to their hunger and ate greedily until they were full. After the meat was cooked, they put the fire out as not to draw unwanted attention.
The sun was almost down, as Jak looked out over the Jaharian Desert from his elevated position in the foothills of the Mountains of Kaal. From here the desert seemed to go on forever. His heart sank at the sight of what seemed like an endless expanse. The road back was going to be long and hard, made even worse by the fact that they would have to walk the whole way. Just the thought of it made him tired. He returned to the back of the gorge where the other three were already fast asleep. He was very weary as well and once he lay down he fell asleep almost immediately.
The next morning everyone was feeling better but still a little weak. But they needed to be on their way and away from this place before the other Vashi showed up. So they gathered their things quickly, and as much water as they could carry and set off down the slope to the Jaharian desert.
It wasn’t exactly a desert, Jak thought to himself. At least not like the ones he had read about, with great mountains of sand and incredibly hot and dry. But according to Benjim it was a high desert, which just meant that very little rain would ever fall. It was barren of trees and the ground was fairly dry and parched, with only sparse tufts of grass growing here and there. There were some areas that were all sand in rolling mounds and there was no grass or shrubs growing in those areas.
It got hot during the day, but the nights were very cold. No rivers or streams traversed this part of the land and the only source of water for the entire crossing was at the junction where they had stopped when Mortikus had taken them prisoner. That was still a very long ways off.
Benjim said that if they headed generally east they would eventually meet back up with the Three Forks Road. He wasn’t sure how far it would be, since he didn’t know exactly where they were in the mountains. The Mountains of Kaal stretched for many leagues north and south. They could be anywhere along the range. They did know that it was about a nine day ride on horseback to the junction where the gnome had captured them that night. Jak wasn’t sure how long it would take them now since they were on foot.
Benjim said that once they did reach the road they would need to be careful since apparently there was someone coming from Yilavo City for Jak. They would need to be watchful and wary of anyone they met on the road in an effort to make sure they avoided whoever it was that was coming for Jak.
The old man said that some merchants traveled the road to take their goods to Three Forks for trade, but even they traveled under heavy guard this far out. It was a necessary precaution since bandits were not uncommon such a long ways from cities. The threat of bandits, along with the fact that someone was looking for Jak made them decide that their best course of action would just be to avoid anyone on the road. However, that was a concern for later since they hadn’t even reached to road yet.
Five long days of traveling through the barren land with little change to say they had traveled any further than the day before, found the small party back on the Three Forks Road. The road was much easier traveling, but more dangerous since there were other travelers on the road on occasion. It was not a heavily traveled road, but it was not too far fetched that they would encounter other people. This far away from villages and cities it was just as likely anyone they passed would be bandits, as it would of them being friendly. So they had to be watchful and try and hide whenever they would see others on the road.
The days were hot, and the nights were cold, and Jak wished they could somehow combine the two extremes. During the day, he felt as if he was going to melt away from the oppressive heat. But then, shortly after the sun would set it would start to cool down very rapidly. Only few hours after dark it would be cold enough to need a good stout blanket in order to keep warm.
Jak just wanted to be done with this barren desolate place. He missed the cool mountain air of Elsdon. His feet hurt from walking and his legs were sore, although they were not nearly as sore as he would expect from such a long trek. The worst part was they were not even half way to Yilavo City yet.
Each night when they would stop, Benjim took up the lessons with Gin. The old man was am
azed at the little girl’s progress and said that it was purely astounding. The girl’s natural talent was greater than any he had ever seen before, which was saying a lot coming from the old man. Jak hadn’t been all that impressed by what he had seen Gin do. Just lighting small fires and suspending globes of light in the air and making them change colors didn’t seem spectacular to him. But then again, it was far more than he could do and impressive it its own way. On second thought, they were fairly impressive feats in themselves, but he just didn’t think they were as amazing as Benjim thought them to be.
Jak suddenly found himself remembering a time not very long ago when he didn’t even believe magic was real. Then again, that time seemed like ages ago. It made him think of Elsdon and the home he had lost. Thoughts of Elsdon of course, always made him think of Brigette, and he wondered if he would ever see her again.
Nevertheless, Benjim thought Gin’s progress was nothing short of astounding. Even so, Jak was proud of his little sister and her dedication to learning what the old man was teaching her. Gin never tried shortcuts or to get out of doing her lessons. The little girl was always eager for as much as the old man could teach her, and her determination and effort belied her young age.
Finally, after seven more days of grueling travel they were back at the junction where Mortikus had taken them captive that night. It felt odd and a little eerie being back in that same place. It was menacing and a little creepy, and almost seemed as if they were to go to sleep here they might end up back in captivity to the little man. Jak wasn’t the only one to feel this way. It seemed that no one felt much like staying at the same spot as they had before, so they decided to move down the road a little further.
As they were making their way further down the road from the junction Jak thought he heard a barking sound. Scanning the area, he spotted Frog running towards them out of the sparse trees that were found by the small spring at the junction. He had wondered what had happened to the dog, and was glad to see that the Vashi or Mortikus had not killed him.
Frog seemed to have made out better than they had. From the fresh killed rabbit he was carrying in his mouth it looked like he was doing very well on his own. That gave Jak an idea. He and the others had been rationing their food in an effort to make their meager supplies last for the entire crossing and they were running low on food. They didn’t have a bow or any other suitable weapon that they could do any hunting with along the way. Jak’s dagger was the only weapon they had been able to find at the Vashi camp. Without anything to hunt with it made it impossible to obtain any more food along the way. So the only food they had was what they had been able to carry from the Vashi camp which was beginning to run very low.
They found a spot that was a comfortable distance from where the gnome had taken them and setup camp. Once everything was setup, Jak gave Frog a silent command to go out and get more rabbits. It was surprising to him that any rabbits even lived in this barren land. But it wasn’t long before Frog had a pile of four fat rabbits near the fire. The others looked at Frog in wonder as he returned time after time with the rabbits in his mouth and laid them at Jak’s feet. Then they looked suspiciously at Jak, who just shrugged his shoulders noncommittally. But nobody complained in the least when they ate well that night.
The next morning they arose early with a little fresher outlook and broke camp to set off towards Yilavo City. They had not been on the road more than a half an hour when they topped a small rise to see an encampment just below.
They had been so assiduous up until now to avoid any travelers on the road, only to now almost walk right into this encampment. It looked to be five or perhaps six men, who were just beginning to break camp and pack their things to be on their way. It was aggravating to a certain degree that after being so careful the whole time to avoid strangers that they had blundered right into this. Nicoldani in particular was abashed and angry with himself that he allowed the folly to occur. But it was no use trying to hide now, the men in the camp had already spotted them topping the rise.
There was nothing that unusual about the men, and no way to tell if they were friendly or hostile. Several of the men started walking forward to meet their small party and showed no signs of aggression. It seemed as if Jak and the others had avoided a near disastrous mistake.
But then suddenly, Jak heard one of them men shout, “That’s them. That’s the one she wants, get them.” All six men now turned and advanced in their direction. All of the men were wearing swords, which they unsheathed as they stalked threateningly towards the little party.
Nicoldani had not been able to find his sword at the Vashi camp, and had supposed that Mortikus or one of the Vashi had run off with it. Jak didn’t have his bow either, only the dagger at his belt. The six looked like mercenaries or fighting men now with their swords in hand, and Jak didn’t think he would be as lucky this time as he had been at Hellstone against the villagers. He didn’t really want to find out either.
Jak glanced questioningly at Benjim for guidance and was surprised to see a furious look on the old man’s face. In all the time Jak had spent with the old man, he couldn’t ever remember seeing Benjim angry, let alone furious. Jak watched curiously as Benjim uttered a few strange words which Jak could not understand, and then the old man raised his hands over his head. Gin also watched Benjim intently as if studying his movements and words, trying to remember every detail of what the man was doing.
Out of a cloudless sky, a large bolt of lightning streaked downwards to strike one of the armed men who were advancing towards them. Abruptly, there was another bright bolt which struck before the first was even gone.
Shortly after it was followed by another flash, and then more bolts, raining death on the mercenaries. The sound of the thunder produced by the large bolts of lightning was deafening and the bright light left purple lines dancing across Jak’s vision when he would blink.
Once the furious barrage finally stopped, all fell silent and the six men lay dead in the road. There were small tendrils of smoke still rising from their charred clothing and parts of their exposed flesh were blackened and burned.
Jak thought to himself that it would be a good idea to never make the old man angry. But then again, Jak supposed Benjim had just had enough of people trying to harm them and finally lost his temper. In any case, it seemed that the old man was capable of inflicting severe damage to those that angered him.
Apparently, these men had planned on paying Mortikus and the Vashi very well in exchange for delivering Jak to them. Nicoldani found a large sum of gold in one of the stranger’s saddlebags. Jak didn’t feel right about just taking the gold from the dead men. But apparently these were the rules of the road so to speak. If someone attacked you, and you were the lucky one that survived, it was expected, or at least acceptable to take the other’s belongings. Nicoldani was actually surprised when Jak objected to what he called thievery.
“What should we do? Leave it here for the next people to find?” The big man said in dismay”. “Whoever comes along after us won’t hesitate to take it. These men don’t need their belongings any longer. Do you just want to leave everything here for someone else, when we can use it?”
Jak supposed it made some sense in a way, especially since there were things the men had that Jak and the others needed. Nicoldani also found a sword belt that was not damaged from the lightning, along with the best sword that he could find among the attackers belongings. After inspecting the blade and swinging it around a bit, the big man strapped the belt to his hip and sheathed the sword. Up until now, Jak had wondered what had been missing from Nicoldani. It turned out that this was the missing piece of the puzzle. The big man just didn’t look himself without a sword strapped to his hip.
As luck would have it, the men’s horses had not run too far despite all the lightning and noise. This time Jak didn’t hesitate in the least to take the horses, since now he would be able to ride once again instead of walk. The horse Jak ended up with was a little more spirited
than Gandur had been, but even so, it was far better than walking the rest of the way. Once they had collected all that they could use and packed it on the horses, they set off again for Yilavo City.
Finally, after two more days of traveling, Jak and the others reached the ridge that overlooked the Sanchi River and Yilavo City. Yilavo City didn’t look all that big from high on the ridge, but Jak could see it sprawled all the way to the edge of the sea. Nicoldani figured that once they descended the plateau to the valley below, they could be in the city just after midday. It was a huge relief to Jak to finally see their destination after all this time. They started to make their way down the steep grade that led off the Lihali Plateau and into the lowlands near the river.
Jak’s feeling of being drawn and pulled had steadily grown stronger the closer they had gotten to the city. But as they were crossing the bridge that passed over the Sanchi River just northwest of the city, he abruptly reigned in his horse and stopped in the middle of the bridge. He could tell that something was wrong, there was something missing. It was then he realized that he could no longer feel the pulling. It had not moved or altered it just….vanished. It left him feeling empty and hollow inside without it. It had been there drawing him onward this whole time and he had become accustomed to the feeling over the past month or so. The familiar sensation had started to be a comfort to him, but now it was gone in an instant and he felt lonely and empty.
“What is it boy?” Benjim asked, when he noticed Jak stopped in the middle of the bridge apparently staring at nothing.
Jak just sat there for several moments without speaking, before he finally turned to the old man and said, “It’s gone….. I can’t feel her anymore.”
The Blood Witch (The Blood Reign Chronicles Book 1) Page 30
