The Travelers' Song

by Brendan O'Gara

  Chapter Thirty

  Johan’s body moved. His muscles protested from the single position in which he had lain stationary. A sharp, throbbing pain wrapped around his limbs and back. He lurched in an attempt to vomit out the muscle cramps. The voices in his head that normally contradicted each other now screamed in unison. They told him to stop moving and find a way out of this misery.

  “I hate the waiting, like throwing rocks at a mountain,” Darr complained as he waited with Charlotte.

  “What tastes better than it smells?” Charlotte retorted to Darr as she patted Johan’s forehead, dabbing at the sweat that continued to develop.

  “How the hell do I know?” Darr complained.

  “The tongue, silly,” Charlotte replied, trying to help pass the waiting. However, she agreed with Darr, and loathed waiting.

  “Really? Riddles? The monks and I would do riddles as well. Very well, try this one,” Darr replied. “I never was, I am always to be. No one ever saw me, nor ever will. And yet I am the confidence of all, to live and breathe on this terrestrial ball. What am I?” Darr stated smugly to Charlotte, certain that he had bested her.

  As soon as Darr made his riddle known, he heard the town crier call out the hour of the night. Darr looked at Charlotte, putting up a hand to silence her from giving a reply. Darr dropped to his knees and began to pray.

  “Gracious Father, Redeemer of souls, hear my voice in my time of need. Lead me so I may lift my burdens up to You. I ask this of You in your eternal light, Oh Giver of love. Empower me with Your infinite mercy,” Darr prayed earnestly.

  “The future,” Charlotte replied to Darr after he had lifted from his knee. He simply nodded.

  Thunder began to rumble a long roll through the sky. Only a moment ago the air was comfortable with the window open for the night air. Now their breath could be seen as the air grew cold and rain threatened to fall. Charlotte could see townspeople as they moved from out in the open with their candle vigils held for Johan, to sheltered areas to protect their flames from the rain. Not one let the rain deter them from the cause. The people were as devout to the vanquishers of the kimera as Darr was to the God of Light.

  Outside the tall timber wall came a shout: “Open the gate! Open I say,” Thalin called out to the guard as he, Gadlin, and Wandalor thundered up to the wall. The gatekeepers rushed to pull the long log that served as a crossbar and gate lock. The hooves of the horses sloshed in the mud and picked up clods of muck that fell away like lumpy oatmeal as the trio barreled into Blackweb. “Close the gate!” Thalin shouted as he rode through.

  In a rush, the men dismounted their steeds in front of the inn. The storm that the men had outrun had caught up, drenching the township. The horses knew to go directly to the barn, escaping the falling rain.

  Charlotte and Darr heard their friends come through the gate. She jumped to look out the window, keeping watch for the party as they came into town. She saw them jump off of their horses and make their way into the inn. Darr got up, moved to Johan, knelt at his side, and spoke directly in his ear. He wanted to sound reassuring, “Johan, we’re here to help you. We’ll do what it takes to save you, my friend. Even if we must fight death itself to bring you back to us.” Then, as was his way, Darr, prayed. “Most esteemed Father, my Refuge and Salvation, hear me now in this my desperate hour. Guide my soul so I may lighten Johan’s encumbrance. I request this of You with true devotion, Oh bringer of life. Grace me with Your gracious spirit. Let the aid brought by these be powered by You and raise up this soul we call Johan.” Tears began to flow from Darr’s eyes. Having spent this time with his friend he had come to grips with the thought of losing him, and it hurt the paladin to his core.

  The door sprang open as Thalin, Wandalor, and Gadlin entered in a phalanx of mud, rain, and sweat. The odor of the road carried with them a scent of the forest, horses, and earth. The three had ridden hard and long. The ride and the herb had taken a toll on them. The latter was wearing off and fatigue appeared. Thalin knew that they had to act fast. The Eldritch he used would wear off soon and the exhaustion will prevail. The crowd inside moved out of their way and fell silent. Gadlin led the charge for the stairs and into the room, where Charlotte and Darr stood at the ready.

  “Here, take this. Johan must swallow it... pour it into his mouth and hold his nose... whatever it takes.” Gadlin held out the drinking horn with the elixir they had acquired. Darr silently took the liquid-filled horn. Charlotte worked quickly to move furniture and make space for the men. Water fell from drenched clothing in a quiet chorus where the three men stood.

  Wandalor shifted his weight from one leg to another, his legs numb. He lost the struggle with consciousness and sank to his knees inside his cloak. The cloak stood as a monolithic reminder of where he had just been, a wet thud emanated from it. The contents of the many pockets inside the cloak closed to keep the plethora of spell components contained inside, the cloak itself having a contingency spell for such an emergency activated immediately. Pouring forth from the level just above the floor the feathers released salt and fluttered in vibrant ways. The salt formed runes on the floor as a yellow light drifted up from its surface, meant to protect Wandalor from danger as he slumbered in the harpy cocoon.

  “Dammit...” Charlotte said angrily, forgetting it was impolite for a lady to swear. Darr whipped his head around to see what happened at the sound of the thud, expecting an invasion into the room. “What was that?” Darr exclaimed, genuinely surprised. “I wasn’t fast enough,” Charlotte explained. “Wandalor has collapsed in his cloak.”

  Thalin turned and pointed himself in the direction of a bunk to fall onto when the herbs wore off him. He hoped that when fatigue did overtake him he would not fall and break his nose. He stepped for the bunk. His own feet rooted to the floor he knew that he was next for the small death that was sleep. Having experienced this before, as this was the fruit of his own handiwork, he was ready for it when it did indeed arrive. The air in the room rushed out through the window as someone entered the room behind the trio. Thalin could hear voices speaking in quick terse phrases; his mind just was shutting down and was unable to discern the conversation around him. The temperature dropped again and his own breath was visible to him as he breathed and came to the realization that the bunk was getting closer to his face. Was it coming up to meet him or was he falling to meet it? Then darkness.

  “What is his condition, Darr? I have to know.” Gadlin was frantic. Darr shrugged at his friend and then gave them both the sign of the God of Light. Darr reached out for Gadlin and directed him, using his own weight as a counterbalance to Gadlin’s sturdy form, onto an empty bunk. Gadlin’s thoughts were unable to race inside his sluggish mind as the darkness swallowed him. Darr whispered to Gadlin, “Sometimes the best thing you can do is to not think, not wonder, not imagine, not obsess, and have faith that everything will work out for the best.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Half a world away, in the Kingdom of Emeranthia, in the Keep of the Shadowdark, inside a room resplendent with a tile floor with alternating blood red and black obsidian, its domed ceiling held in place with brass fixtures making the upper area look like dragon scales, the emperor slept. One wall was covered with a huge map of the world. On that map were several different colored lights that moved about in named cities and some in the wilds. In one town marked Blackweb, four dots lit up as two of the dots went dark. The emperor bolted upright, now awake from his place in bed in the center of the black and red tiles on a lifted ebony wood platform.

  “Gadlin!” Mooreclasian yelled, staring at the wall of lights.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  The Inexorables, the Guardians of Reality and the Keepers of the Well of Souls, surrounded Johan in the realm between the spiritual and the physical planes. The voice of Slauer echoed inside Johan’s head as he sat on the beach upon an erosion shelf of sand with his feet in the surf.

  “What do you need to do to get to where you need to get to? What must you do t
oday to become the person you must be tomorrow? Who do you need to become to get to where you need to go to? What do you need to do to become who you must become? These are the most powerful and important questions you should ask yourself every day, every time you need to make a decision. What do you want to be proud of tomorrow? Who do you want to be tomorrow? The man who quit or the man who kept going? The man who took the easy option or the one who went all in? The one who gave in to temptation or the one who showed discipline? The hard work you put in today will be worth it tomorrow. The discipline you show today will be worth it for many tomorrows. The strong choices, the right choices, you make today will make you proud for many tomorrows. What must you achieve today to make it possible for you to achieve in the future? What do you need to do to get where you must get to? What do you need to learn? What do you have to become to get the results you must have? What do you need to master, what new skills must you obtain? You will never get to the next level in life until you master the skills that the next level requires. You have lived in an average rut, like so many around you. What is not easy is to put in the hard work when you do not feel like it. You must constantly raise the bar even when everyone around you stays the same. There is no easy road, Johan. You will not get to the top of the heap by taking the easy road. The life ahead is all uphill. It is a challenge. A challenge that will build your strength. Pride. Courage. A journey that will build character, it will also build you into a stronger being. You will never achieve any greatness by remaining the same; you must rise up and be willing to put in the work required. Be willing to do whatever it takes to become that person. That person that you know is inside. What do you want to be remembered for? Who do you want to be tomorrow? Who do you want to spend time with, and who do you have to become to spend time with those people? There is no quick way to success; you must work and you must take the stairs. Each step is a new skill and each step you take is a new level of strength. Each step you take is leading you to a better place. To a better tomorrow. If you want to be a champion, you must earn it. You must work for it. Are you prepared to put in the work it takes to become that person? Are you ready to invest everything you have in order to become that person? Every drop of sweat, every bit of blood, all of your time? Are you ready to get up? You have suffered. Now tell me, are you ready for the suffering to end so that you can get to where you should be? Push through the pain so that you can get to the top of your own mountain peak? Most people quit right here. Pride. Perseverance. Courage. This will set you aside from the rest. Johan, get up. Walk through that door.”

  Johan looked up and saw a doorway that wasn’t there a moment before. He could see through the doorway. He saw a room. He saw his friends lying in bunks, resting peacefully. He saw Darr and Charlotte holding hands and praying over a man on a cot.

  Darr opened the horn and held it aloft. With his other hand he grasped Johan’s jaw and pulled his mouth open. The liquid sparkled like the purest water. Light from the window bounced through the stream as it entered Johan’s mouth, casting prisms of color on the wall. He gulped the drink as a man sucking refreshment from an oasis. Johan didn’t cough or sputter, only sighed; satisfied as Darr removed the empty horn from his lips. Darr returned to pray next to Charlotte, who was on her knees next to Johan’s bedside.

  The powerful voice of Maven came to Slauer. “You are investing a great deal into this one; I hope it is not unwarranted.”

  “As do I, Old One. As do I. However, if not these, then who? And if not now, when? We are working indirectly, so we do not intervene directly. Physically,” Slauer replied.

  The voice stopped. The spirits left Johan.

  Suddenly, Johan opened his eyes and spoke.

  “Darr...Darr, have you hunted down and killed the cat that defecated in my mouth? If not, please do so.” His voice was weak, yet audible.

  “Johan.” Charlotte released Darr from where the two of them had been praying. She grabbed a cup of water for Johan. He sipped a small amount and smiled.

  Darr squeezed his friend’s hand. “It is good to see you haven’t lost your sense of humor.”

  Johan sat up and looked around. He appeared refreshed and unharmed. No wounds remained on his body. He was physically better than he had ever been. His eyes were full of lust; this desire was fueled by his nose as the aroma of foods and ale filled his lungs. The idea of food crashed through his head. The thought of a bottomless pit in his stomach and a desire for things he hadn’t enjoyed in days filled him. Johan was famished.

  “I need to eat...” Johan swung his legs around and put his feet on the floor. He patted his bare stomach. Charlotte blushed, retrieving a shirt from a nearby chair. Johan saw his friends who lay motionless on their beds. He stood, taking long strides towards the door.

  “Thank you both for the vigil. You must have sat a long time. After I eat, you and I need to talk...” Johan told Darr. “Right now, however, I need food.” Johan grabbed the door and vanished through it before Darr or Charlotte could recover from the shock of seeing their friend get up, speak, and walk away. “Follow him,” Darr said.

  Charlotte nodded, remembered Wandalor on the floor, and moved to help him into a bed. As she reached out for his cloak, Darr batted her hand away.

  “Don’t try to touch him; that harpy cloak won’t be favorable to anyone.” Darr said motioning to the cloak that stood like a monolith.

  “Wait, what?” Charlotte stepped back, confused.

  “His harpy cloak—well, it’s not his cloak, it’s a cloak he was issued in Emeranthia. None of us have our own equipment. This armor.” Darr said, motioning to his armor and the items around the room that sat on chairs and in trunks. “All of our belongings were taken when we were arrested. Everything we’re wearing and everything you see on us was issued to us by the acquisitionists of Emeranthia.” Darr brushed his hand across his ear, pointing out the leaf communicator attached to the lobe and weapons.

  “What are you saying? Arrested? Why?”

  “The only two people who have their own equipment, armor, and weapons are you and Thalin. We chose to pick you up on the road, you and Thalin. We four were drafted into service in Emeranthia. Gadlin is the only true believer of the ways of Emeranthia and of its king.” Darr ushered her in the direction of the door.

  “Still, arrested?” she asked again.

  “There will be time for explanations later. Go check on Johan,” Darr said as he pushed her closer to the door.

  “What about you, and them?” Charlotte protested.

  “I won’t leave them unguarded. Follow Johan to be sure as you can that he doesn’t run victim to any other misfortune. There may well be others here who will have a problem with a dead man getting up and walking about the town with them. Darr spoke to Charlotte as he gathered up her cloak and belt pouch handing it to her. “Better yet, don’t let him leave the inn.”

  Charlotte descended the stairs to the main hall of the inn. The sounds that she had become accustomed to in this establishment were absent. The chatter of who felled what tree, the talk of fish that got away, or the sights of creatures from the depths was missing. The story that Pearl Cleage would tell any newcomer who would sit still and listen, of his encounter with a sea serpent some twenty-foot long that came up to the surface of the water to get a better look at him. He would tell about the eye that was as big as a dinner plate and how the thing wrapped its scaley tentacles around his fishing boat, the Orion II not the Orion I. Oh no, the first Orion burned in a freak accident having to do with lightning. The creature took Cleage and all his gear to the crushing depths of the ocean and tucked him under an oyster. He would tell how he had not drowned on account of air pockets held by the boat. Somewhere in there he’d talk about how, while being dragged down, the serpent lashed out at him and gouged out his eye. The very eye he replaced with a pearl that he removed from said oyster. That sea serpent swam off and he made for the surface. Pearl Cleage had no recollection of how he got to shore, only that he did, and his proof th
at the tale was true was the pearl the size of a human eye. Charlotte listened from the stairs and heard none of Pearl Cleage’s story. Then she saw the cause of the silence.

  Johan was stopped on the bottom step of the stairs. He stood looking out over the tavern crowd, the crowd of people he’d fought for and almost died defending. Charlotte didn’t move. She waited for a tavern girl to approach him and speak. Charlotte could see him, however she couldn’t hear the girl speak. The girl motioned to a long table and Johan stepped down off the last stair.

  The silent crowd separated, opening up to reveal a table of gifts for Johan and the travelers. Villagers had brought food from their farms, bakeries, and kitchens. Items on the table included steamed duck, gooseberry tart, bottles of rum, roasted veal, whisky- poached eggs, braised carp with garlic and onion, baked emu, walnut bread, cider, mead, and countless other delightful foods. Baskets, plates, and wood boards were filled with enough food to feed the entire settlement of Blackweb.

  “Come eat.” One-Cut bellowed, breaking the silence. “You and your comrades are our honored guests. These gifts are our paltry attempt to thank you.”

  Johan was filled with emotion, and he swallowed hard. He sat down and Charlotte sat across from him. He took a large sampling of all the food within his reach, eating without speaking. Charlotte nibbled, watching him. She studied his face when he wasn’t looking at her. There was something different about him. He looked like the same man, but lighter, younger, happier? She wasn’t sure what was different about him, just certain something was different.

  Johan ate his fill and decided to speak to the crowd, stepping up on the bar. His face broke out into a huge, brilliant smile. He looked to One-Cut, who nodded.