by Bob Blink
Finally, she turned to the old man who Kaler had long ago disarmed and told to sit out of the way. The man had watched fearfully as Daria had extracted the information she sought.
“Who are you?” he asked uncertainly as Daria walked over to where he sat.
“I’ve been known in the past as the KalaBhoot,” Daria said softly, her eyes burning into those of the man. She could see that he was, or at least had been, very much like the rest of these vandals.
The old man paled visibility and sat back as if he’d been slapped. The name was one he hadn’t heard in a very long time, and even back then it had been spoken fearfully and usually in whispers.
“The KalaBhoot is a man,” he said contradicting her claim. Even though she was disguised, he could tell that he was speaking with a woman. No man had eyes like that, nor a voice so alluring.
“Are you so certain,” she whispered. It didn’t matter if he was to learn otherwise. There were already rumors that proclaimed as much. Daria kept the secrets of the KalaBhoot as much out of habit and for the mystique. It had been many years since she had been very active. Besides, whatever this old man claimed would be added to the vast network of stories, believed or not depending on the person who heard the tale. Most, she knew, would discount it. Few believed a woman could have done what she had.
The old man hesitated. There had been rumors the assassin might be female, but almost none believed them.
“That KalaBhoot is dead,” he said uncertainly, trying a different approach. There had also been rumors the assassin had been killed. Those were almost certainly true. The stories of new killings had died away years ago. How could that be if the assassin hadn’t been killed?
“Do you think so?” Daria asked without breaking the man’s gaze. “Look around you. How many of you were there yesterday? How many are still alive now? Who do you think killed your friends? A ghost?”
The man looked at the bodies that lay scattered around the farmhouse. After a moment he began to believe. If what the woman said was true, the rest of the band were dead as well, just as he expected when the two knife wielding terrors came down from the roof.
“What about me?” he asked nervously. The KalaBhoot had a reputation of leaving no one alive who had wronged her friends.
“You weren’t involved. Not this time. At least not directly. You are certainly as bad as the rest, but you may live if you do as I ask. You will be my messenger. Spread the word. Tell everyone that attacking the Wanderers is not something to consider lightly. The Wanderers are the KalaBhoot’s friends. Any who take action against them does so at their own risk. I will find them and they will pay. Tell them! Tell everyone what has happened here.”
“What of him?” the old man asked, looking at the shaking and broken man who had been the leader of the group.
“Take him with you. The ride will be an experience for him. He won’t live, but you are welcome to try.”
A short time later they watched the two men ride away.
“Do you think he can find the village?” Kaler asked. “He’s nearly blind after all, and it is getting dark.”
“He said his horse knows the way. If not, someone will find him tomorrow. He’ll live, but I can’t say as much for his leader.”
“The poison?” Kaler asked, having recognized the knife she used.
Daria nodded. “The ride and his other wounds will hasten and aggravate the poison. It will not be a pleasant journey for either of them, and will end predictably for the former head of this band. Come, we have work to do before dawn arrives.”
The first thing was a return to the Wanderer camp. Daria sought out Nadine and told her what they had found and what had happened to Bella. Nadine reminded her there were two other girls to find. Then they told Torusk what had happened, and with a group gathered from the men in the camp, they returned to the farmhouse. Wood and lamp oil were tossed down the well in large quantities, and then set afire. Their friend would be cremated as was proper.
Next they went back to the cave Kaler had checked on earlier, where they recovered the items that had been taken from the Wanderer wagons. The cave was where the bandit leader had said it would be and the goods that hadn’t been sold off were scattered around the small room inside the front opening. Daria attempted to make a Doorway inside the cave but the resulting arch was noticeably odd. The bordering edge was faintly purple, and the area under the arch shimmered somehow. While she had become used to seeing nothing in the arch besides the local scenery, she was certain she saw a ghost-like figure moving in the faint mist that seemed to fill the space under the arch. Uncertain what had happened, and not wanting to take any chances, she closed the Doorway, and went outside the cave to make another. This time the Doorway opened normally. The artifacts were taken through to the orphanage. Daria would arrange for them to be passed along to the wizards at the Outpost later. After this was done and the borrowed wagon and horses recovered, Daria bid a temporary farewell to her friends.
“What do you have in mind for Ferd?” Kaler asked.
“No more than he deserves,” Daria said.
They returned to Fontin, and Daria slipped inside the home of the old Wanderer’s Friend, and where Ferd now watched over his father. She returned shortly later. “Let’s go back to camp. We will finish here in the morning.”
Ferd woke at the usual time, and checked on his sleeping father. He left food and drink where the dying old man would find them, then prepared to go to the store. He knew that he would be unloading the goods the two Wanderers had left this morning. They would have been eliminated the previous day, and once the goods were gone, there would be nothing to tie him to their visit.
He sucked the cut on his finger. He couldn’t remember cutting it the day before, but clearly he had. The cut wasn’t that long or deep, but it ached horribly. He would have to get something for it on the way to the store. Shaking his hand as the discomfort was working its way up his arm, he left and headed down the street. He had no idea how bad his last day was going to be.
Two glass later Daria and a couple of Wanderers arrived at the house. They took the ailing Jon through the Doorway back to camp. The Wanderers would see to his needs for the few weeks remaining to him. His son wouldn’t be there to do so.
All that remained were the items in the son’s shop, but those had been marked for shipment, and without Ferd and the bandits to hand them off to, they would be shipped back to Daria as intended. Not that there was anything of real value in them.
Daria and Kaler headed back to the orphanage. They would see to the important artifacts, and then they had a couple of young women to locate.
Chapter 24
Senior Caster Debi, leader of the Sedfair expedition into the southern jungles, stepped out of the exit end of the Doorway she had made in Nals into the steamy air of the hateful jungle. The rest of her team was already in place, just waiting for her arrival so they could get started on another hot and miserable trek into the dangerous lands where they had spent more weeks than she cared to think about. She had been delayed by a last minute request to meet with Ardra, and hence was arriving after everyone else. She could see the tired and unhappy looks on the faces of the others. She knew their looks mirrored her own.
The members of the team had been rotated, so that only a fraction of the original group was here today. Over a period of several weeks, all of the originals would get their week of jungle duty. Then they would get a couple of weeks back in Nals. They had learned that moral was much higher that way. They had also had fewer accidents, and fewer team members harmed by the indigenous creatures that called this place home. Even so, three team members had been replaced this week after being bitten by something unseen, and who were too sick to continue onward. So far, six individuals had perished because of infections or poisonous bites that even the wizard medical experts hadn’t been able to overcome in time.
Debi was the only member of the team who had yet to be relieved. She had spent every miserable day th
e team had been down here leading the way. At first she had felt it was her place as the leader, but as the weeks and days drew on, she began to know she couldn’t keep it up either. She feared that if they did encounter the Baldari, or whatever force was behind them, she would be so worn down that bad decisions might result. Decisions that could get people killed. As a result, the Guild was grooming a replacement for her. Someone who could take charge on alternate weeks, giving her a chance to regain her drive and enthusiasm.
“Sorry I’m so late,” she said as she stepped to the head of the team where Crissi waited. “Let’s get started or today will be completely wasted.”
Crissi grimaced, but turned and shouted orders to the team, who stood from the comfortable positions they had assumed in the clearing. They arranged gear to be more comfortable, and formed up automatically in the order habit had ingrained into them. Crissi signaled they were to move, and they started the trek into the green foliage that had to be fought through for passage. Today, as the day before, Crissi would lead the team, with Debi standing back and observing. It was a graduation of sorts for the other Caster, after two weeks of shadowing Debi’s lead.
Crissi was not happy about being here, and in the beginning had made little secret that she felt she was being punished by Ardra, now one of the permanent heads of the Guild. By formal order of Queen Jusay, both Ardra and Lyes had been made the shared directors. No longer was the position seen as temporary, which many had expected to be the case. The move said something about the new Queen, and how she planned to move forward with many of the former Queen’s directives.
Ardra had told Crissi she needed field experience, something Ardra planned for every Senior Caster in the Guild. They were effectively at war, and no longer could the Guild afford an elite of Casters who operated strictly behind the lines without a good understanding of the enemy they faced. This would be her chance to demonstrate she was as qualified as she thought herself to be. Pull this off, she would have her chance at better things. Besides, someone needed to replace Syd who had fallen to one of the poisonous bites, and she had the same kind of abilities as he’d had.
Debi noted that Crissi was doing better today. Sometime in the last week she appeared to accept the reality of her situation, and the importance of doing her job well. Debi couldn’t yet decide if the change was based on the realization she had many lives under her control, or whether it was self interest, knowing that once she was alone with the team, her own survival might depend on how well she performed the task at hand.
They were deep into the strange land south of the Great Mountains. Twice they had encountered other ranges of mountains, and had climbed over ranges that while not as impressive as those that bordered southern Sedfair, were impressive enough. Always however, on the far side they descended back into the moist steamy jungle and had to fight their way slowly through the obscuring trees.
Not that they had found anything. No sign of the Baldari had been found. No signs of villages, or trails, or anything that would suggest anything beyond the various wild creatures that lived in the cursed region. Of those, they found far too many. Most were dangerous. They invariably had teeth and claws, and most were venomous. Exposed skin was always a target, so despite the oppressive and sauna-like conditions, everyone kept themselves wrapped up. Since coming over the last range of mountains they had encountered a type of gnat that was a particular problem. They attacked anything, and their bite would put one in a coma within several glass. Fortunately, the bites were so painful there was little doubt one had received the attention of the nasty things, and their wizards could quickly cure the problem. Each time the group stopped for a break, everyone made a check to see if somehow they had been bitten by anything. The only solution to the gnats, which attacked in a swarm, was to use Fire Cloud, a ball of intense fire that could wipe out an approaching swarm before they could attack. The sharp blast that was associated with the magic would reveal their presence to anyone nearby, but there wasn’t any other simple solution other than let everyone be bitten, which then meant treatment. Maybe the noise would attract the Baldari and they would finally know where they were hiding. Debi was surprised they hadn’t had to resort to the magic yet this morning. Every day they hoped they might be moving beyond the territory of the little beasts, but everyday they were proven wrong.
Debi wished they could simply forget the whole thing. She knew that the Three Kingdom’s team had had no more luck than they had. The team lead by the wizard named Burke was farther south than they were, the river allowing them to move much faster through the jungle regions. Talking to Burke at one of the coordination meetings they held every two weeks, she wasn’t certain she would trade some of the problems he had with river creatures, to those she had encountered fighting their way through the underbrush. While they encountered water, and small streams, this area didn’t appear to have a major river flowing through it like the more western regions. Of course, as thick as the cover was, there could be a major stream a half glass to either side of their path, and they wouldn’t know it.
Unfortunately, Debi knew there would be no calling off the expeditions. Because they were home frequently, and if not back in Nals, the daily courier to the mountain camp kept them informed of events back in the capital, Debi was painfully aware of recent developments. The Baldari attacks had grown more widespread, and worse, they appeared to have some means of using captured Casters to do their bidding. Using the abilities of the Casters, they were able to create Doorways that exposed all areas of the kingdom. The captured Casters had also exhibited abilities that no one else could match. Most worrisome was a protective shield against which their magic was said to be ineffective.
As the enemy attacks grew, it became more important than ever to locate the homelands of the Baldari. Even more important would be to learn who or what controlled the Baldari. There was little doubt in the minds of Ardra and Lyes that this was being done. Debi had even learned of the visions of the woman named Mitty, who had described a strange appearing female who was thought to be one of the real enemy. Sedfair needed intelligence, despite the risks. They had to know what they were up against if they were to have any chance of fighting back.
Although she understood this, Debi wondered what would happen if they did succeed and find the enemy. She could envision a situation where her team was suddenly surrounded by a force that they were unable to resist. If her magic was useless against the enemy, then would they become captives, and eventually slaves used against Sedfair? The possibility had been discussed at length, and under Lyes supervision, a fallback plan had been developed. If an encounter looked to be failing, she was under orders to flee with her team to the special location.
A very large underground mine had been chosen. The normal entrance had been collapsed, burying the entrance under more rock than any team of Casters could clear in a reasonable time. Using the skills of one of the Three Kingdom wizards, the interior of the mine had been prepared so that only a few Casters had the ability to form a Doorway out. One of the Casters with the ability to do so was on duty in the mine at all times. The mines had been liberally treated with the magical blocking glyphs as well, hopefully blocking the magic of any who entered the cavern.
Debi knew if her team fled to the mine, they would be quickly escorted out to safety, hopefully any group that followed them would end up trapped in the mine. While Debi could mask her Doorways, no one was confident the enemy didn’t have the ability to track even masked Doorways. They had skills with Doorways that the Guild had never encountered before. Once someone was trapped in the mine, the intention was to trigger a special spell that would rapidly consume all the breathable air in the vast cavern. By this means, it was hoped any group that attempted to follow Debi’s team would be eliminated. Maybe it would work, maybe not.
Her musings were interrupted by a shout at the front of the column. She looked up to see that Crissi was signaling for her. With a sigh, Debi picked up her pace and hurried forward to see what ha
d been found. She wondered idly if Burke’s team had found anything.
Far to the west, Burke stood in his sweat stained clothes as he surveyed the fields off to the side of the river. To the east the jungle pressed up against the river as usual. There was shade to be found there, but even though the strange worms had not been seen for a couple of weeks now, none of the team was comfortable traveling under overhanging bushes. Having seen how quickly the worms could burrow into a man, no one wanted to risk it. Instead, they stayed closer to the center of the river as they traveled. There were creatures to fear there as well, but they had proven easier to deal with.
To the west of the river was a vast expanse of red. The plant seemed to occupy all the land as far as he could see, climbing up the small rise and disappearing over the crest. While the base was a dark brown, the top third of the plant was a bulb of dull red. The strong, very unpleasant smell of the plants could be detected even out in the middle of the river. Something about the plant bothered him. He thought it appeared cultivated, but he couldn’t say why. It wasn’t planted in rows, nor did there appear to be an easy path through it, but something tugged at the back of his mind.
“Let’s pull over to shore,” Burke said to the helmsman. “I want to look at that field.”
The man looked at Burke and shrugged. Burke knew what he was thinking. This was something new. Anything new was dangerous. They had seen that often enough. While there were dangers on the river, those were mostly understood. Still, they were here for a reason, and this might be the first sign they were approaching what they sought. Other than the strange crater they had seen two days ago, they had seen nothing out of the ordinary in weeks.
