The Guide

by Trudie Collins

  “This isn’t a dream, is it?” she asked, very quietly.

  Hurst removed his hands from her head and placed them over hers, in her lap. “No my dear,” he whispered. “I am afraid this is very much real.”

  Chapter 4

  It took a long while for Sam to calm down enough to start talking properly again. Shock had set in as soon as she realised that she had no idea where she was, what she was doing there or how she was going to get home. She was surrounded by strangers, some of whom were not human and others who could obviously do magic. Real magic, not the sleight of hand and optical illusions that all of the magicians she had ever heard of practiced.

  She now found herself drinking a mug of strong tea that tasted faintly of orange, listening to a strange tale of how each person had joined the party. Tor did his best to explain everything, but was frequently interrupted by others, adding things he had missed or had deemed unimportant. Bellak was no longer around. He had politely been asked to leave after it became obvious that his muttered grumbles were causing a distraction rather than adding any value.

  From what Sam could work out, after over an hour of listening and asking the occasional question, Tor was a Prince, of some place she had never heard of before. When his father, the king, had died suddenly the previous year, his advisor, a wizard named Albian, had called together all nine of his sons to discuss the succession. In that country, Sam had already forgotten what it was called, the eldest son did not automatically take over the throne. Each King decided how the next King was to be chosen. In the past, some kings had specified who they wanted to succeed them, others set challenges that tested bravery, skill or intelligence. The successor did not have to be a blood relative, but nearly always was.

  Which was why Sam now found herself in the middle of a quest, though she preferred to refer to it as a magical version of the television program ‘The Amazing Race’. Each brother had been given the first clue and was told to gather as many people as they wished to help them solve it, by any means necessary. The clue would lead them to the location of the next clue, which would lead them to the next clue, and so on. At each location there was one less vessel containing the next clue, meaning the last brother to arrive at the destination was ‘out of the race’ and could not be the next King. Hurst quoted the first clue.

  Upon a quiet, distant shore

  The seekers of truth study their lore.

  They require a blind man who can read

  Provide one if you wish to succeed.

  Hurst, of course, was the ‘blind man who can read’. He had been friends with Tor for a long time, so was quickly sought out. Bellak happened to be visiting Hurst, studying him to see if his mind reading abilities could be copied, when Tor arrived and readily agreed to join in the expedition, much to the disgust of his wife. The others they gathered on the way, some joining because they matched a clue, the rest because their various abilities could be useful in the future. All had already proven themselves to be great assets, as well as friends.

  River was the ‘water maiden’ in clue two, and Oak was the ‘moving tree’ from clue three. Clue two also said ‘search high and low for those you seek’, which Ban and Grimmel satisfied. Ria had been working with a travelling circus when she met the others. They had decided to stay for the night in the village where the circus had camped. The ringmaster had gotten drunk and broke into Ria’s caravan intending, as he put it, ‘to make a real woman out of her’. Tor happened to be walking past and, seeing what was happening, ran to her aid. As it turned out, it was the ringmaster he ended up saving. Ria already had her legs wrapped around his neck and was just about to break it by the time Tor made it through the broken door. It took a long time to persuade her that killing him was not a good option, as the Queen’s guards were staying in the local inn and would probably decide it was murder instead of self-defence. The ringmaster was unconscious by the time she eventually released her leg hold, though he was still breathing.

  As well as an acrobat, Ria was an expert in unarmed combat. Having been brought up on the streets, she had quickly learned that nobody else would look after her, so she would have to fend for herself. She learned how to fight and to steal. Acrobatics came later, once she learned that her skills for getting into ‘impenetrable’ places could be put to a more legal use. That did not stop her occasionally going back to her previous trade, but now she only did it when she wanted to, not because she needed to.

  Modo was discovered in a bar, not long after Ria joined them. He was playing cards with a group of men who were obviously too drunk to notice he was cheating. Whenever it was his turn to deal, he slightly opened the eye on one of his fingers, looking at the cards each man was dealt. As it was only possible to do this when he dealt, he was not winning enough hands to cause suspicion, though anyone watching could not fail to notice. Luckily only Tor was in the correct position and he just watched, fascinated. After the game, Tor bought him a drink and asked him to join them. Modo’s ‘seeing fingers’ had helped them out of many a difficult situation and had probably saved their lives on more than one occasion.

  Tor hesitated before explaining about Patrick, who had left the room to check on Dal. He had known him all of his life and still found it difficult to talk about his past. Patrick had served in Tor’s father’s court while Tor was growing up and they soon became friends.

  Patrick had been born a little over 700 years ago, on an island called Shelton, which he became, and still was, the owner of. Patrick loved court life and it suited him well. He had the physique, the style and the manners. He could also talk to children and commoners with as much ease as he did the gentry. His downfall had been women. He liked them. A lot. And they liked him. Unfortunately they saw him as husband material, whereas he saw them as entertainment.

  During the last few centuries he had been exiled from almost every country for getting involved with the wrong woman. Even the King’s new bride in one land. It seemed the harder they were to get, the more he persisted, enjoying the challenge. As he travelled from court to court, his reputation preceded him. Amazingly, this made women flock to him instead of avoid him. He left a trail of broken hearts in every kingdom he visited.

  His fortunes changed when he seduced a witch. Had he known she was a witch, would he have still taken her to his bed? Probably. He enjoyed the conquest even more than the bedroom activities. She had asked him to stay with her and he refused, politely of course, so she cursed him.

  “He can never die,” Tor said, a touch of sadness in his voice. “He can be killed, but always revives within a few days, as soon as his body has healed itself.”

  Sam was confused. “What’s so bad about that? A lot of people want to live forever.”

  Tor shook his head. “Only those who do not understand what it means. He has no family left. He can never have his own family as he could not bear to watch his children grow old and die. Just think how many friends he has seen die while he stays forever young? He never lets himself get close to anyone anymore. During the first hundred years he tried to kill himself, but nothing worked. He put a sword through his heart, drank poison, drowned himself. Each time he awoke to find his body fully healed. Now he seems not to care about himself at all.”

  “Do not misunderstand me,” Tor added quickly. “He always looks immaculate. I am sure he spends more time bathing and perfuming his body than most women. He is always clean shaven, with just enough oil in his hair to keep it in place without it looking overdone. And as for his clothes, you will never see him in anything other than the best silk. But he takes risks. When in a fight, he goes only for the attack, never defending himself properly. I think he keeps hoping that eventually he will receive a fatal blow that really will end his life.”

  “Why doesn’t he just have someone cut his head off?” Sam asked. “Surely he’ll be dead then.”

  “Do not be so callous,” Ellen snapped. “He would live on, head and body separated until they are put together again and can mend.”
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br />   Sam shivered. The thought of being alive as just a head made her want to vomit. Being able to see and hear but not move would be sheer torture.

  A chuckle came from beside her. Seth smiled at her. “One thing that Tor forgot to mention,” he said, gesturing toward the other woman. “Ellen is in love with him.”

  “No I am not,” Ellen huffed and stomped off, indignantly.

  “I do not know why she keeps denying it,” Seth continued, grinning. “Why else would she take such good care of him? She cooks, she cleans, she mends his clothes. No woman fusses over a man like that unless she is either paid to do it or is in love.”

  “Do not be so sure you know everything about women young Seth,” Liselle said, a slight smile on her face.

  Tor quickly continued the story. They were now down to only six teams, six brothers. He explained about finding the latest clue, about beating his brother to it and having to watch him die. They had been studying a map of all known kingdoms, when Sam had barged into the kitchen, trying to think of anywhere that ‘the maiden’s fountain’ could be. There were a number of deserts, ranging from the small Kinda desert in the west, which could be crossed in a day, to the Loden desert in the north, which takes at least 2 weeks. Nobody had ever heard of the fountain though.

  “So who are the good guys and who are the bad guys?” Sam asked.

  Tor was confused. “While I like some of my brothers more than others and I may not like some of the things they do, I would never describe any of them as ‘bad guys’. What exactly is it you want to know?”

  “In all of the books, and all films, it’s always the good guys who win,” Sam explained. “So I just wanted to know if I was going to be on the winning team, or if I should be on the lookout for swapping at some point.”

  “Sorry to disappoint you, girl,” Torrick snarled, “But this is no book. There are no good or bad guys, just a few brothers trying to outwit each other.”

  Sam shrugged, ignoring the menace in his voice. “So why exactly am I here?” Sam asked. “I know nothing about your deserts or any fountains.”

  “Each clue so far has required us to find someone and take them to the next location. The holders of the next clue decide if the ones we bring with us meet the requirements or not. So far we have been lucky and have not been turned away, but I heard a rumour that one of my brothers did not satisfy the ‘blind man who can read’ sufficiently and was sent away to find another one. You my dear,” he continued, taking her hand, “are the guide from another world.”

  “Actually no, she is not,” Bellak’s gruff voice sounded as he strode into the room. “Technically she is from another time, not another world.”

  Everyone just stared at him, Seth with his mouth open.

  “As a scholar I studied ancient history. Thousands of years ago, the land was very different. We are currently standing in what used to be Europe. Germany, I think.” He went on to explain about how a new kind of weapon was developed to replace nuclear. There had been a fire at one of the manufacturing plants in Africa. The resulting explosion had destroyed half the continent and a toxic cloud had made its way around the world. The chemical rain it created killed all it touched and poisoned the water and the land. Over half of the world’s population had been destroyed within a month. Governments broke down, countries’ economies fell apart. There were mass food shortages everywhere. Two hundred years later all sign of manmade technology was gone and the people were back to being peasants, living off the land. Power stations had eventually stopped working and without electricity, most things became useless.

  Slowly the people stopped dying as the cloud thinned. Instead, some were transformed into monsters. All of the strange creatures, Modo included, descended from those contaminated. Eventually the only good side effect of the poisoning became apparent; magic, real magic.

  “That was all nearly two thousand years ago. Today there is still no technology, not like there was back in the twenty fourth century. Scholars have books, preserved by magic, from that time, but it was decided not to try to follow that path again.”

  Bellak stopped talking. Everyone stared at him, silently. Some of them had studied history, but only going back a few hundred years. Patrick, of course, could remember further back, but he never talked about it. None had ever heard this tale before and were stunned.

  Sam remained quiet, taking it all in. Hearing that she was in the future was a shock, but to hear the disasters that had befallen the Earth was mind numbing. What made it worse was realising that, if ever she made it back to her own time, she would know the disaster that would happen in the future but be unable to do anything to prevent it.

  “Why can I understand you?” Sam finally asked. “If that amount of time has gone then surely language must have changed.

  “Each race has its own language,” Tor replied. “But a common language was also developed. That is what we are all speaking now. But I see your point.” He turned to look at Bellak. “How does she know what we are saying?”

  Bellak grimaced, obviously reluctant to answer the question. After grumbling a bit he explained. It was a side effect of the spell that had dragged Sam through time. She now had the ability to understand and communicate with everyone. Every race. Including animals.

  Sam did not seem convinced. “So I can talk to the birds and the fish can I?” she asked sarcastically.

  “Yes. Why not try it?”

  Sam took that as a challenge and got up. Finding her way to the garden she looked around for wild life. She saw a rabbit close to a hedge and carefully edged close to it.

  “Hi,” she said, quietly. She did not want to startle it.

  For a while it just stared at her. “Hello,” it eventually said, a little nervously. “Would you mind telling me if the fiend is around?”

  “What fiend?”

  “The big grey one with teeth and claws that ate my cousin.” Sam was actually holding a conversation with a rabbit. Realising that it was talking about the wolf, she assured the timid animal that it had gone off hunting in the woods and would not be back for a few hours. Relief showed on the rabbit’s face. It politely thanked her, then called out. Suddenly other rabbits appeared, obviously its family, and headed toward the vegetable patch.

  Sam was about to warn it that Mama Rose would probably be upset with them if they ate her carrots, but was side tracked by a sudden high pitched voice.

  “She can hear us, she can hear us,” it said, very quickly. Looking up, Sam saw a number of small birds heading toward her. They flew circles over her head, all calling out at the same time.

  “Stop it,” she laughed. “How can I hear what you are saying when you are all talking at once?” At that, they went quiet. One landed on her shoulder and introduced himself and his flock.

  When she had heard enough about flying and eggs and nests, she made her way back toward the cottage, where a small crowd had gathered to watch her, once they realised Bellak had been telling the truth.

  Seth grinned at her. “You are going to be quite useful,” he said. “No more need for hunting. If we get hungry we just get you to ask the nearest animal to climb into the pot for us.”

  Sam punched him hard on the arm. She was pleased to see she was not the only one unimpressed with his comment as Ria’s hand slapped the back of his head in almost perfect co-ordination.

  “Ow. I was just joking. What did bunny have to say anyway?”

  “He was asking about the wolf. Seems he doesn’t want to be anyone’s dinner.”

  Modo held out his arm. “May I escort the lady back into the kitchen, where food is almost ready?”

  Sam took the proffered arm in hers and started toward the door. “It really is true,” Tor said, as she passed.

  Sam paused. Now what was he talking about? She turned to face him, raising an eyebrow in question.

  “Modo just spoke in the language of his people and you did not even realise it,” he told her. “You are going to be very useful,” he added, a smile begin
ning to appear on his face.

  They ate their meal in shifts, as there were too many to fit around the table, then retired to the garden, where they took turns explaining a little more about the land and its people to an eagerly attentive Sam. She, in turn, let them know about life in the twenty first century. They could not seem to grasp the concept of television, computers, cars or anything electrical, it seemed. The ladies seemed particularly interested in the houses having hot running water.

  Although there was royalty in each land, it was the local Lords who really ruled their own provinces. They were supposed to obey the laws laid down by their King, or Queen, but in most countries royal soldiers rarely strayed far from the capital, so the Lords mainly governed as they saw fit. Most did it well, striving to improve life for the people who lived on their land, but there were those who thought only of increasing their own wealth. Slavery was returning, though it was still illegal in most countries. Fighting between provinces was also on the increase, leading to numerous small wars. Prisoners of war often became slaves. The only way to gain their freedom was for their owner to sign release papers, which rarely happened. If a female slave gave birth, the child automatically became the property of the mother’s owner. The owner had to give permission for a slave to marry. Basically they were property instead of people. The only good point was that the owner had to provide them with food, clothing and somewhere to live, so in some ways their life was better than some of the poorer peasants. Unfortunately, not all Lords made sure slaves in their province were treated properly.

  “That sucks,” Sam commented. “Why doesn’t anyone enforce law and order? These Lords have no right to treat people like animals.”