“We never got a chance to discuss the companion fish before the stranger disappeared,” a man named Sueska responded.
“I think we should let it go,” Jared said, his voice pleading.
“I think we should kill it right now,” said Ratore. “The council would be happy to be spared the problem of making a decision.” Ratore stepped forward menacingly. Jared stepped between him and Akca.
Sueska replied, “Ratore has a point. The council will not make this decision easily. By the time they do the fish will likely be dead. Its death now would not be a bad thing. Rations are short now and that will only get worse if there is a war. Who knows, we might acquire a taste for the companion fish.”
“But they are different. They can talk.” Jared protested.
“They have never talked to me.” Ratore stated. “Have they ever talked to anyone else here?” There was silence. “Well, have you ever had them talk to you Jared?”
“No, but…”
“Perhaps they really can’t talk. We only have the word of the mer for that, and their word can’t be trusted.”
“But, but…we have an agreement not to eat mer fish friends.”
“In times of war, agreements no longer hold,” Sueska responded.
From behind Ben, a voice called out, “Have you seen the stranger? Has he come back here?”
Ben had a problem. Two people were walking towards him. They could not help but run into him if he stayed where he was. They were walking side by side on the narrow walkway. Sueska and his companions stood at the bottom of the steps in such a way that Ben could not slip by them onto the lily pad.
Ben had made progress in undoing the rope around his wrists. He bent his head and pulled frantically with his teeth. The two searchers were close enough to touch Ben when the rope slide from his hands. The rope became visible as it fell to the ground.
“Did you see that?” one of the men demanded. “That rope came out of nowhere. The changeling must be close by.”
The group took another step forward. Ben took the only option available to him. He stepped off the walkway into the water. Ben found himself once more in water over his head. He went under briefly, but quickly surfaced. Above him a voice shouted, “What was that?” Ben looked up. Two men were staring down at him. Ben was still invisible, but they could see the unusual hole in the water where Ben’s body was. Sueska said, “Something’s down there. Take a couple of boats and investigate.” Ratore and three of the other men took two of the boats out, which left only Sueska and Jared on the lily pad.
Ben knew he needed to get out of the water before a boat came around beside him. They might not be able to see him, but they would be able to see where he was as long as he was in the water. Ben’s attempts to swim had always been accompanied by a great deal of splashing as he thrashed about in the water. This time he gently kicked his legs and slowly moved his arms out and back towards himself in the water. It was the first time he had tried such a movement and it was surprisingly successful. He moved towards an upright log that supported the walkway. Once there he thought of the suction cups that had helped him stay on Akca’s back. They appeared and he climbed the log easily and pulled his invisible self onto the now empty walkway. Ben moved quietly onto the lily pad. It dipped slightly as he stepped onto it, but Jared and Sueska did not notice. Ben walked along the outside of the lily pad on the opposite side of the men searching for him with their boats. Jared and Sueska had their backs to him and did not notice the wet footprints or the water that dripped from him onto the lily pad. He knelt down beside the fish. It was barely breathing. It lay unmoving on the lily pad although Jared had untangled it from the net.
Ben took hold of the rope around Akca’s snout. To his surprise he found the rope was already untied and had been draped over the Orca’s jaw to give the appearance that it was still tied. Ben, still invisible, pushed Akca, but the fish was heavy and he was not able to move him. He pushed again and this time it was easier. It was easier because there was another pair of hands pushing. While Sueska faced the other way, watching the boats that were searching for Ben, Jared pushed the fish. As the fish flopped into the water, Jared stood up and yelled, “Help, the fish has escaped.”
Ben moved quickly out of the way. He climbed into a boat as the men converged back at the point where Akca had gone into the water. Ratore looked suspiciously at Jared and said, “How did that fish get untangled from the net?”
“I loosened it,” Jared replied. “I didn’t think it had the strength to escape.”
“You can come with us and explain to the council how that fish escaped.” Sueska stated firmly. “Tully, you search this area. Kirk, you guard the walkway leading to this pad until you are relieved.”
Kirk, not relishing spending much of the night alone, and not wanting to miss an interesting discussion by the council said, “The changeling escaped with his fish friend. He’s long gone. There’s no need for me to stay.”
“If Kirk is not staying, neither am I,” stated Tully.
“All right,” Sueska replied. “Search the area and then come to the meeting hall.”
Ben leaned back in the boat and pulled a piece of the sail over himself. After Kirk and Tully finished he planned to take a boat and make his escape. He listened to Tully sing in the darkness as he searched. Ben’s eyes closed. The boat rocked gently back and forth in the waves. Ben soon fell asleep. The moment he fell asleep, Ben became visible
9. Friend or Foe
When Ben opened his eyes he expected to see his roommate Denzel. His first thought was that Denzel was beside him, waking him up from a nightmare. When he actually opened his eyes it was not Denzel’s dark face he saw, but Jared’s round freckled face. Jared’s blue eyes were staring down at him. Jared was shaking him awake. Ben became invisible a moment later. So did Jared’s hand and arm. Jared’s eyes went wide and he gasped. At the same time he tightened his grip on Ben’s invisible shoulder.
“The council members will send someone down here soon,” Jared said quietly. “I wouldn’t want to be you when they get here. I’ve got one question and I want a true response. Did you really come to find the crown and stop a war between us and the mer?”
Everything in Ben wanted to find a way to leave this world and its endless water, but he whispered, “Yes.”
“I’m going to help you escape,” said Jared quietly. “In exchange you will do me a favor.”
“What favor?” Ben asked.
“Let me come with you.” Jared responded.
An invisible Ben quickly whispered, “Yes.”
“Do you promise to take me with you?”
“Yes,” Ben stated firmly. In truth it would be a relief not to be alone in this strange world.
“I’d stay invisible if I were you. I think everyone is asleep, but it is better to be safe than sorry,” Jared said.
A faint glow shone on the eastern horizon with the promise of a new day. One moon hung low in the western sky, the other had disappeared. Jared pushed the boat away from the lily pad and rowed it out into open water where he untied the sail and rigged it out. He took hold of the tiller as a stiff breeze caught the sail.
“I figured you were around somewhere,” Jared said. “I tried really hard to get that fish off the pad before the others came. It wouldn’t budge. I pushed with all my strength. Couldn’t figure out how it got so much easier until I thought about how you disappeared from sight right in front of the whole council. Then I realized you must have been pushing that fish alongside me. I’d sure like you to teach me how to be invisible.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t think it’s something you can teach.”
“Yeah…it figures. It’s a pity though. Where we are going it would help to be invisible.”
“And where’s that?”
“Spencer Island. It is where the tregs nest. And from all accounts there are other dangers besides the tregs. People almost never go to Spencer Island and when they do they almost never return.”
&
nbsp; “And you want to go there?”
“I have to. That’s where my brother is and he needs my help if he’s going to come home again. I told the council that and they didn’t believe me, just like they didn’t believe you when you said you were sent to find the crown. I’m not sure I believe you either. Why would anyone send a kid like you to do such a dangerous job?”
Ben bristled a little at being called a kid by someone just a bit older than he was. Finally he said, “I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense to me either.”
“Who sent you?”
“My school principal, Miss Templeton, but she really did not want to send me, someone called the Guardian told her to do it.”
“The Guardian?”
“The Guardian is someone or something who watches over six worlds that are somehow linked together. There are doors between the worlds and people like Miss Templeton on Earth and Lea Waterborn on Lushaka train people to send though those doors to other worlds to do the work of this Guardian.”
“Which is?”
“Peace, justice, help for people in trouble…I guess. At least that is what I’ve been able to pick up in the past two days.”
Jared snorted and then laughed out loud, “That’s an unbelievable story.”
“Yeah,” Ben said. “I wouldn’t believe it either, but here I am, in a world not my own. I tried to convince myself it was a nightmare I’m having trouble waking up from. Perhaps it is.”
Ben was silent for several minutes as he thought about all that had happened to him in the past two days. Finally he spoke, “Your brother is on Spencer Island?”
“My brother and five others are missing. Four weeks ago three of our bravest and best went out after that crown. They never returned. Six days ago another group of three went out including my older brother Gill. I wanted to go, but they wouldn’t have me. They said I was too young. Every day that Gill has been gone I have felt dread grow in me. Somehow, I know he can't come back unless I help him.”
“Six days isn’t that long to be gone,” Ben said. “He might be on his way back already.”
“He isn’t. Like I said, I can’t explain it, but I just know that my brother is in trouble, and unless I go help him he will not come home ever. I don’t know how I know this. I just do. Every day this feeling that my brother’s life depends on me grows stronger. The council is debating whether to send another group of three. By the time they finish debating my brother will be dead and the war will have begun in earnest.”
Ben was silent as he thought about Jared’s words. Then he said, “If your brother could not conquer whatever is on that island, what makes you think that you and I can?”
“Every night for the last week I have had dreams, dreams unlike anything I have ever dreamed before. My dreams show me going to rescue my brother as one of a group of three. Three travel up the mountain. They rescue Gill and bring back the crown.”
“There are only two of us.”
“My dreams were of three. A rope with three strands is not easily broken. Perhaps a third will show up just like you did. And if not then the two of us will do what it needs three people to do.”
Ben was no longer invisible. Invisibility required that he concentrate some effort on remaining so. As he and Jared talked he had slowly materialized without realizing it. Ben had a sinking feeling that he knew who the third would be if there was any truth to Jared’s dreams. Ben muttered to himself, “No way! Not if I can help it!” Ben had no desire to spend any more time in Charla’s company.
Jared broke into his thoughts with the words, “You really believe you’re from another world?”
“Yes!”
“Huh,” Jared grunted. Disbelief was clearly written on his face. “Tell me something about Earth.”
“It’s different from Lushaka. In our world there is only one moon. There are no mer,” Ben paused and then said, “at least none that I know of.
“That’s an improvement,” Jared broke in.
“We have a lot more land than you have,” Ben continued. “And we don’t live in trees. We build our houses on the land from trees that we cut down.”
“You’re going to have to come up with a better story than that for anyone to believe you. Why would people live on land? Most of it is dangerous and besides food comes from the sea.”
“It’s not a story. Every word is true. My world is different than yours. Most of our food comes from the land rather than the sea.” Ben said loudly. He did not like being called a liar.
“Okay, okay, so you come from another world,” Jared said soothingly, “where people live on land and you have been Chosen by someone called the Guardian to come to Lushaka and help stop a war.” Jared’s tone suggested that he was not convinced, but didn’t think it was worth an argument.
“Tell me about the Tregs,” Ben said, partly because he wanted to change the subject.
“The Tregs around here make Spencer Island their home. From there they fly out over the water looking for food – fish, animals, people and mer. Normally a full grown adult is safe from attack, but children have been carried away. A year ago, treg behavior changed. They started to pick up things, things like wood, rope, pots, trinkets and now the Mer King’s crown.”
“Why would they do that?” Ben asked.
“No one knows, but a dragon was seen flying near the Island.”
“A dragon! What kind of dragon?”
“The only kind there is. As big as a whale, like a lizard, only it flies. And if the stories are true it can turn you into a lump of charcoal with the fire it breathes.”
“Has anyone seen this dragon?” Ben asked.
“Two men of our clan have seen it from a distance.”
“Do you believe them?”
Jared shrugged. Then he said, “The council didn’t believe them.”
“Ah,” Ben said aloud, but he felt quite sure there was no dragon.
The wind was brisk and the boat made rapid progress. At mid-morning the island appeared before them. The island was actually a single mountain that rose up out of the sea. A sandy beach stretched along the shore for as far as Ben could see. From the beach to the forest there was about a quarter mile of sand. Jared brought the sail down as they approached the beach. The boat bumped softly against the shore. Jared jumped into the shallow water and grabbed a rope to pull the boat up on the sand. Just as he was going to step onto the sand, a single word rang out, “Stop!”
Jared scanned the shore and then the water. Coming towards them was a mer. Jared grabbed one of the spears from the bottom of the boat.
Ben said, “It’s O.K. Put the spear down.”
But Jared continued to hold the spear over his head. Ben jumped into the water, grabbed the spear from Jared and threw it back into the bottom of the boat. Once again the voice, this time closer, yelled out with urgency, “Stop. Don’t step onto the sand.”
Jared clearly took these words as a threat and once again reached for the spear. Ben grabbed his arm and the two of them struggled until they fell into the water. When they were back on their feet Charla was there with her hand resting on the boat. Jared stepped backwards onto the wet sand of the shoreline. Behind him, in all directions, the sand began to move. The ripples came closer and closer. Jared was not looking at the sand, he was looking at Charla. He yelled, “Don’t come any closer Fish Breath, or I’ll make you sorry you did!”
“You stupid tree ape, look at the sand behind you!” Charla said in a high-pitched voice. Jared thought it was a trick and ignored her, but Ben turned and saw the moving sand. Ben grabbed Jared and dragged him deeper into the water.
Jared fought back and screamed, “Let go of me you changeling traitor.” The struggle turned Jared around so that he faced the land. He stopped fighting when he saw the moving sand. From all directions things under the sand converged to where Jared had just been standing. Jared broke free of Ben and dove into the boat. Ben followed him. Whatever was under the sand moved towards the point where the boat rested o
n the sand. Jared took a paddle and pushed them away from shore. They inspected the sandy beach they had just about walked onto.
“Bones, there are bones everywhere.” Jared murmured. Not far away was an old skull – either human or mer. A strange-looking creature stared at them through an empty eye socket.
“I came from that direction,” Charla pointed. “Back that way there is a recent skull on the beach. There’s hair attached to it, with scattered bits of clothing and a weapon. The sand around the skull is dark with what looks like dried blood.”
“Was it human or mer?” Jared interrupted.
“Human,” Charla replied.
“What color?” Jared asked.
“Dark brown,” said Charla.
With a sigh of relief, Jared murmured, “Not my brother Gill.”
“I wanted to get a closer look so I came partly onto the shore,” Charla continued. “I reached out my arm to pick up the weapon when there was movement under the sand. I wondered if whatever it was had killed whoever died there. So I caught a fish to throw on the sand and see what happened.”
“What happened?” Ben asked.
“I saw you coming. I decided it was more important to warn you and experiment later. Don’t you think I made a good choice?” Charla finished smugly.
“Maybe,” Ben replied reluctantly. “Let’s see.”
Charla took the fish out of her net and gave it to Ben. “Throw it up onto the beach,” she directed.
There was no sign of movement as Ben stood and tossed the fish up onto the dry land. Almost immediately the sand began to bubble and churn. Things under the sand were moving towards the fish. Creatures with hard shells that reminded Ben of clams popped out from under the sand. The idea that these creatures looked like clams evaporated the moment lids on two bumps at the top front of each shell rolled back to reveal a pair of beady eyes. Supporting the shell was a set of eight armor-coated legs. The lower front of the shell cracked open to reveal a bird-like beak. The beak contained razor sharp teeth. The creatures looked like a cross between a clam, a spider, a bird and a rabid dog. The beak and teeth were in constant motion. Ben, Jared and Charla watched in horror as hundreds of the creatures fought over the fish. More were arriving all the time.
Ben the Dragonborn Page 7
