Vibrations: Harmonic Magic Book 1

by P. E. Padilla

  He noticed that the narrow passage in which they stood was the convergence of several other passageways, some at foot level and others up higher. Altogether, there were at least ten passages of varying size, most of them intersecting the main passage and continuing out from the other side. The sounds seemed to be coming from them, not the main passage.

  Sam saw a flash of movement from his right, just behind him, and then Rindu was there, batting aside the monstrous head of a snake that was twenty feet long if it was one, if the width of the head was any indication. It spit and hissed as its jaws snapped shut with the force of Rindu’s blow.

  “Go forward, get out of this junction,” he commanded as he scanned the openings along the passageway. As one, the party rushed past Sam, who only stood watching Rindu, too shocked by his close call to react quickly. In just a few seconds, only he and Rindu were still there.

  “Watch for them from the side passages, Sam,” the Zouy said.

  They backed up, facing the hole where the serpent had entered the passage. Sam still heard the paper-on-stone sound of the reptile moving around, and the occasional soft hiss. He couldn’t reconcile the sound from so many directions as belonging to the one snake unless the beast was wrapped entirely around the main passage.

  Backing toward where the party had stopped further down the passage, moving slowly, Sam was sorry that his reasoning was correct. Three of the giant reptiles were emerging from three separate side passages, one much larger than the other two. Sam realized, to his horror, that they had invaded the home of an entire family of giant snakes.

  The heads of the pale beasts bobbed forward as they slithered from their hiding places, the largest in front. The parent had a head that Sam could barely have put his arms all the way around, flat-topped and ridged with rough scales. The blood red eyes with vertical black slits that were barely visible in the light of Sam’s staff seemed to glow in contrast to the pale yellow, almost white, color of the reptile’s scales. It regarded the pair hungrily, mouth open and hissing, fangs that were almost as big as Sam’s forearm dripping venom. The forked tongue flicked out, testing the air, making Sam fear it was the precursor to attack.

  It was obvious that the larger snake would strike soon, and its copies would strike immediately after, if not simultaneously. There was no way they would survive the poison from snakes this size. Just the bite may kill them even without the poison. With a snick, Sam separated Ahimiro, each half with a glowing tip.

  “Be still,” Rindu told him, and raised his hands slowly to the snakes. As he did, Sam felt a pressure build from the monk and he saw Rindu’s hands start to glow softly. The snakes’ pupils didn’t contract further, so Sam knew he was looking at the glow of Rindu’s rohw and not visible light.

  The Zouy started moving his hands, both together, slowly from right to left and then back from left to right. To Sam’s surprise, the heads of all three snakes began to follow the monk’s hands. “Back away,” Rindu whispered to him. “Have the others move down the passage. Read the marks, lead them.”

  “What about you?” Sam whispered back.

  “I will be fine. Leave now.” Rindu put his attention back on the snakes, which were still moving their heads in time with his hands. As he moved slowly back, the pool of his light receded from Rindu until he could only see the glowing red eyes of the largest snake and then nothing. He backed up for several more feet until turning to walk toward the party. He explained to them what Rindu said and, surprisingly, Nalia didn’t say a word, but guided the rakkeben to follow Sam. Dr. Walt was the last one to turn and follow, not wanting to leave his friend.

  “Come, Dr. Walt,” Nalia admonished. “He knows what he is doing. He will be fine. We must get out of the cave before the serpents recover.”

  The party had only been at the cave exit for a few minutes when Rindu came jogging out of the passage. “Let us leave this place. The beasts will not be happy when they realize their meal has eluded them.” The party wasted no time in picking their way down from the cave opening to what appeared to be a trail through the underbrush. Within moments, they had put enough distance between the cave and themselves that they felt safe from pursuit.

  Rindu comforted them as they stopped to drink and eat a light snack. “It is cooler outside. The snakes will not be comfortable if they emerge. The temperature will make them sluggish. They will not follow us, knowing they would be at a disadvantage in the cooler temperatures. That is why they have their abode in the heated sections of the cavern.”

  After checking on Skitter and Shonyb to make sure they were all right and had not been injured in any way, Sam sat down next to Rindu. “What did you do to those snakes? Did you control their minds?”

  Rindu looked impassively at Sam. “Control their minds? Sam, I am no magician, no witch. How would I control their minds? Do not be ridiculous.”

  “Then how did you do what you did?”

  “It is my knowledge that allowed me to soothe the reptiles. As a boy, I would often catch the poisonous water snakes in the rivers that emptied into the ocean near my village. An old man in the village used to train the snakes, playing a simple instrument he blew into, making the snakes sway and sleep. To me, it was magic, and I followed the old man around, hoping I would learn to do magic, too. Alas, when he finally explained it to me, I realized that it was not magic. It was something better. It was knowledge, knowledge of how a creature thinks, how it works.

  “You see, serpents do not see as well as some creatures. Much of their information comes to them through other senses. They are very sensitive to vibrations. When they flick their tongues, they are “tasting” vibrations. They are actually tasting rohw. What the old man explained to me is that the snakes were not soothed because of the sound of the music, but because of the vibrations that the music represented. So, in the cavern, I simply found a vibration the monsters enjoyed, and I generated it. Along with that, I gave them something to focus on, my hands, and moved them in time with the vibration. They had no choice but to join in, swaying and entering a trance of their own. It was simply using knowledge of themselves against them. Not magic at all, but just as good, I think.”

  “Definitely just as good,” Sam agreed.

  After their short break, the small group followed the trail, which was looking more and more like an animal trail as they went along, until it dead-ended in a small box canyon. Too late, they realized what they had done.

  “Now just relax and put all your weapons in a pile over near the far wall,” a voice boomed out from one of the cliff walls, “and we won’t have to have any messy deaths today.” As the echo of the voice faded, three dozen bandits with bows and crossbows stood up along the ridgeline on all three sides, razor sharp projectiles aimed at the party.

  45

  Rindu looked at the man who was speaking, high up on one of the walls. In his peripheral vision, though, he saw the other men lining the walls. There were close to forty of them, all with bows or crossbows. He and the rest of the members of the little party were in a clearing, with no cover and only sheer walls a dozen feet away. The walls provided no shielding from falling arrows.

  Quickly, he ran through the options in his head. He might be able to survive that many men firing projectiles at him, perhaps even long enough to escape, though he would most likely be injured. Even he could not count on being able to dodge or deflect that many arrows and bolts. Nalia, too, may survive, using her shrapezi, which were already in her hands, to deflect the missiles.

  The rest of the party could not do so, however. Sam was becoming more skilled and could probably deflect or dodge an arrow or two, but not this many. Dr. Walt could do nothing. If he could signal the others, let them know to take cover behind the rakkeben, they may survive at the expense of the big wolves, but no, that was unthinkable. He could not sacrifice the beasts who had all but become part of their family. Besides, there was no way to be shielded from all three sides. There was no other option.

  “Do as he says,” Ri
ndu said. Not having weapons of his own, he simply raised his arms and, with a look, admonished the others to put down their weapons. Nalia looked as if she would challenge him at first, but she quickly realized what he already knew: there was no way out of this situation with all of them alive unless they surrendered. They would probably be killed after giving up, but there may be a better chance to escape before that happened. They had to do what the bandits wanted now; they had no chance to survive if they didn’t.

  The others dropped their weapons where the voice had told them and stepped back, arms raised to show they were unarmed.

  The voice sounded again. “Do not allow the rakkeben to cause problems. Even as formidable as they are, a dozen arrows in each will stop them. I’ll come down and talk to you.”

  Rindu put his hand on his rakkeban’s head, speaking soothingly to him. The others did the same with their mounts. The wolves seemed to understand and their hackles lowered and their growls subsided, for the most part. There was the occasional growl and Shonyb, Sam’s magnificent rakkeban, grunted questioningly to her bond-mate. Sam whispered something in the big wolf’s ear and she settled down, lying on the ground, placated for the moment. Immediately after, the other rakkeben followed her lead and laid down.

  Rindu detected movement from the side of the little box canyon on which the voice was being projected. There was apparently some sort of hidden path to the top of the cliff there because six men were on the ground level and making their way toward the party. Five of the men were huge, dressed in some sort of leather armor with metal plates at crucial areas, and bristling with weapons. Two of them carried bows with arrows nocked but not yet drawn, while the other three carried close-quarter weapons.

  The sixth man didn’t look like he fit in with the others. He was a small man, even shorter than Rindu himself, and slender. He moved as if he was a warrior, though, and Rindu knew that of the six, he was the most dangerous. He had a single sword, its hilt protruding above his left shoulder where the scabbard was strapped. Based on the worn leather of the handle, Rindu was sure the sword had seen heavy use. This was not a man to trifle with, he concluded.

  Five of the men halted twenty feet away, stopping together at some unseen signal from the smaller man. He himself continued on until he was just a few feet away from Rindu. He stood there for a moment, looking over each of them. Rindu could not help but thinking that he was evaluating each, weighing them in his mind.

  As the man looked them over, Rindu inspected him in turn. This close, he saw that the man was not so slender as he had appeared when in the midst of the larger, bulkier men. He was compact, but appeared well-muscled under his green clothing. From the glimpse he got of the man’s left palm, he knew he was correct about the sword. The palm was calloused from constant sword-work.

  His clothing was of the upper class, finely cut and sewn, obviously tailored precisely for the man to allow him movement and protection. His green pants were tucked into boots that extended to mid-calf. His tunic was half unlaced, and on the belt buckled over it hung a large dueling dagger, crowded by throwing knives. Rindu did not doubt that he had other knives secreted about his person. The collar on his tunic extended up strangely to cover the man’s neck. Rindu did not see a need for that, but perhaps it was just a fashion consideration and not a functional one. On top of the man’s head was a cap that was roughly a triangle, doing nothing more than to keep the man’s hair from his face.

  Looking into the man’s brown eyes, Rindu saw that he was evaluating Rindu’s evaluation of himself. His mouth twitched into a slight smile before dropping back into an expressionless line. “I,” the man pronounced, “am Danaba Kemp. And these, my fine companions,” he swept his arm to encompass the entire box canyon, “are proud members of the Red Fangs, the most notorious of bandit gangs. You may be suitably impressed now.” He laughed at his own joke.

  Turning to Rindu, whom he had picked out as the obvious leader, he continued. “What have we here? A Zouy mage, if I do not miss my guess.” He nodded to Rindu.

  Looking toward Nalia, he said, “and a Sapsyr, with a mask. The Faceless Sapsyr, if rumors are now being made flesh.” He dipped his head in a slight bow toward her. “But what else, what else? An old man and a young one.” Catching the shift in Nalia’s stance, he raised his arms. “No, no, don’t be alarmed. I will not hurt the grandfather or your friend. Friend, or something more? Hmmmm.”

  So, the man was as perceptive as Rindu had feared. This one would not be easily swayed by arguments. They were in a great deal of trouble. “I am Rindu Zose, of the Zouyim, as you surmised. What are your plans for us, Master Kemp?”

  “Oh, please, don’t be so formal. You may call me Danaba, or simply Dan. As to our plans, well, that is to be seen. I would talk with you. You may have information that is valuable to us and I never waste an opportunity for learning something new.”

  Rindu sighed. “Very well, Danaba, we are at your mercy. Ask what you will and we will cooperate with your inquiry. I have one question first, however. When we have given you information and you are satisfied, what will you do with us?”

  “Ah, that’s the question, isn’t it? But let’s not discuss this here. We would be more comfortable back at camp. However,” he looked at the rakkeben, “we will have to do something about them.

  A low growl began in Shonyb’s throat, clawing its way toward the surface. Her lupine eyes shone with promised violence.

  “Now, now,” Danaba said. “I didn’t mean it that way. Calm yourself. I would never harm such magnificent creatures if it could be helped. No, I have a much simpler and less violent solution in mind. If you are properly bonded, as I’m sure you must be, then I ask only that you send the rakkeben off to forage or hunt or do as they will, leaving you to our care.” He looked questioningly at Rindu. “And, of course, you four will need to be blindfolded. If we decide to let you live, we can’t have you telling others of our camp’s location.”

  Rindu looked to the others, seeing the affirmation in their eyes. They knew as well as he that they had no choice in the matter. Better to send the rakkeben away in the chance they could help rescue them at an appropriate time. Better that than letting harm come to them now. “It is agreed.”

  Soon after, the rakkeben departed, with Skitter still snug in his litter on Shonyb’s back. The litter looked much like the other panniers and saddle packs the other rakkeben wore, so the bandits didn’t notice the hapaki. The party was blind-folded and led through a series of twists, turns, and even a few tunnels. Rindu could “see” where he was going with his rohw, of course, but finding his way out again would have to be hit-and-miss, using his abilities like a compass to give a general direction. First, though, he had to determine how to escape.

  In less than an hour, the party was marched into an area where the sound of people inundated them. When the blindfolds were removed, Rindu saw that they were in a large clearing with at least fifty people walking around, doing various types of work or sitting around fires eating. The clearing was almost completely obscured from above by a dense canopy of large trees surrounding it, shading it and hiding it from detection at the same time. Tents were scattered throughout in an apparently random configuration. If Danaba Kemp was half as clever as he seemed, Rindu knew that the placement of the tents was not random.

  “Here we are, then,” Danaba Kemp stated, leading them to a nearby fire and sitting on a large fallen tree trunk. “Sit, and tell me what you are about. Be careful, though. If you lie to me, if you try to deceive me, it will mean your death. Though we have no set law about it, it is generally recognized that those we come across should be made incapable of ever spreading information about us. A good half the men wanted to just kill you in the box canyon and be done with it. So, what say you? Who are you and what is your purpose for trespassing in the Grinder?”

  Rindu looked to each of the party members’ faces, checking to see if any of them wanted to speak. He saw written on each one that he should continue in dealing with t
his man. “I, as I have said, am Rindu Zose. I am perhaps the last of the Zouyim. Nalia, my daughter, is perhaps the last of the Sapsyra. Dr. Walt is a historian and scholar. Sam is merely our companion, one who had no others and so joined us. We are heading north.”

  Danaba Kemp considered Rindu for a moment, locking eyes with the Zouy. “Now, why would you be heading north?” he asked. “And have a care, mage. If you mince words with me, there will be dire consequences.”

  Without looking away, Rindu answered. “We are going to the Gray Fortress. We have business with the Gray Man.”

  A flicker or anger passed over the bandit’s face and then disappeared quickly. “What business?”

  Rindu looked again to the others, not so much looking for affirmation as stalling, putting off answering the question for just a little while longer. “He has something we need and we will attempt to take it from him.”

  “Are you friends, then? Enemies? Common thieves? What is your purpose? Answer me plainly, Zouy. I’m growing tired of the games.”

  Letting out a small sigh, Rindu said simply, “We will try to force him to give us information we need. If he does not do so, we will take his life. If we can.”

  The bandit broke out in a hearty belly laugh. “Aha! My instincts were right about you and your friends. Any enemy of the Gray Man is a friend of mine.” He slapped Rindu on the back companionably. “If I could, I would kill the fiend myself, but I have grown much too attached to my head to let him take it off for me. Still, maybe I can help in some small way.”

  Rindu stared, speechless. Of all the responses, he did not expect this one. Help them? “You have…issues with the Gray Man?”