"I can't swim and I do not see any life jackets or anything that this world would use for that."
Shading his eyes and looking down river Jack took in the situation. "Tracy, the boat is stable and the river looks smooth and slow. Just be careful when poling. Besides I'm a great swimmer even if you do fall in."
"Hardy har har Jack." said Tracy with a touch of snideness.
Back inside the building they saw that there was not much in the way of supplies left. Boxed breadfruits and dried meats were the most of it. There was also lengths of rope. They quickly loaded everything from the building into the small storage hold. Unloading Rush they also stored their own gear. Tracy worried about Rush grabbed his lead. Hoping for the best she walked out onto the dock. There was no need to worry as Rush walked out as if he owned it and crossed the gangplank onto the boat with no problem. He even calmly walked himself and stood right in front of the small room.
Smiling with relief Tracy said, "I guess Rush has done this before. That means he has done this more than me."
An amused Jack picked up one of the poles and Phillip another. Tracy cautiously approached the side and undid the line that held the boat to the dock. Just in time Phillip remembered the gangway, dropping his pole he was able to grab and hold on. It took all three of them to haul it aboard.
"Whew, that was close. Would have been a bear to get on and off this tub with out the gangway." Phillip remarked as he returned to the pole.
Grunting with some effort Jack and Phillip both shoved against the bottom of the river. Slowly they moved away from the dock. The gentle current caught them and they started drifting down the river.
** On the River **
It turned out that the man that had told them that it was easy was both right and wrong. Drifting with the current was easy. But the teens found out changing direction of a semi large flat-bottomed boat with just a few oars took time and a lot of energy. If they knew the river it would have been easier because they would have known when to start changing direction to hit a good landing spot. Poling was no piece of cake either. More than once Jack and Phillip both almost lost their poles. The poles seemed determined to stick to the bottom and let the boat run over them as it drifted about. At last when they were in the middle of the river they put the poles down and started to relax a bit.
A gentle breeze quickly cooled and dried the sweat they had worked up. The boys could not help but smile when they noticed Tracy peering unhappily out of the cut out openings of the small shack room. When she noticed them grinning at her she glared and dropped down out of sight.
After an hour or so Tracy emerged and daintily walked to the front of the boat and joined the rest. Cautiously she sat well back from the edge.
Glancing back at her Jack let her know, "You do know that you are not going to capsize this thing. You are perfectly safe. Just try relaxing a bit and enjoy the view."
"That's what brought me out here. I couldn't see a thing sitting on the floor in there. I could get used to this but still prefer dry land under my feet."
A comfortable silence developed as each looked around. Graceful birds could be seen skimming the surface of the water. Every once in a while a silvery fish would break the surface in an arced jump to come back down with a splash. The trees on the shore slid slowly past.
"Sun is going to start going down in a bit. Do we keep going on the river or do we try to land this thing and go ashore for the night?"
Phillip considered the question for a moment then replied, "I think we should keep going Jack. We will have moonlight to see by. We haven't seen any other boats or anything else to run into. So why don't we just set watches like normal and keep going."
Jack looked over at Tracy.
"Does not matter to me one way or the other." She said with a shrug. "Can't this thing stay straight though? We're sideways now and a little bit ago we were getting nice looks of where we have already been."
Grinning Jack stretched out. "We could keep it straight. But that would mean that we would have to continuously use the oars. That would get tiring."
"I guess this slow spinning is ok then. I will be much happier when we get to Rhind and I can keep my nose pointing forward."
"Would you like a little cheese with that whine?" laughed Jack as he rolled out of the way when Tracy tried to smack him.
"You just wait Jack, paybacks going to be a .."
Phillip sprung to his feet and started for the storage compartment. "Speaking of cheese let's eat. I'm starved!"
Realizing that they were also very hungry Jack and Tracy quickly followed. Before Tracy herself ate she got Rush his feed bag and gave it to him. "Don't worry Rush, we will go ashore tomorrow so you can get a proper meal."
With the coming darkness the normal watches were set. Tracy lay down in the little shack and Jack stretched out on the deck. Rolling over on his back Jack watched the stars come out. Stars that were different than home, but yet the same. For one thing it looked like there were a lot more of them. Thousands of tiny pinpricks against a black backdrop. Sighing he closed his eyes and went to sleep.
Phillip found himself restlessly padding back and forth like a cat along the deck. Mainly he watched forward keeping an eye out for things they may run into but the river remained clear. Something in his gut told him that soon there would be problems. The moon was up but being only half full the light it provided was not much. He was able to make out the shoreline but detail was lost. Time passed and when he felt himself getting sleepy he went and gently shook Tracy awake for her stint. He lay down where Tracy had been unsure he would be able to sleep even though he was tired. He had nothing to worry about because the sandman quickly stole him away.
Tracy wanted to stay by Rush and stroke his soft nose but she knew that horses needed sleep just like people. So she stayed close to the shack well back from the edges. Of course her imagination soon took hold. Dim tree outlines on the shore became an army of goblins watching them. Fish plopping in the water became slimy creatures swimming toward them. One time she about screamed and jumped out of her skin when Rush nuzzled her. Biting her tongue she spun to give Rush a look. Rush whickered and bobbed his head up and down. "So you thought that was funny did you?" she whispered. Rush once again bobbed his head up and down. "Well just for that you can stay up with me and help me watch." Properly chastised Rush ducked his head. "Its ok. I'm not mad." Reaching up Tracy put her arms around his neck and gave him a hug. After what seemed a long time Tracy's eyelids started growing heavy. That was her signal to go wake Jack for his turn. After she woke Jack she crawled into the small shack careful not to wake Phillip. There was no way she was going to sleep out on deck. It would be her luck she would roll a few times and wind up in the water.
The sky was just starting to lighten when a small breeze picked up. The breeze felt good and it gently played in his hair. Breathing in deeply Jack realized something. The breeze was bringing a slight tang of smoke with it. It was coming from somewhere upstream. He hoped that it was cooking fires and wished for a bit more light to see by. As the sun struggled a bit higher he got his wish.
Chapter 8: Rhind
** Smoke and Haze **
"Wake up!" Jack hissed. "Something's wrong!"
With a start Phillip and Tracy leapt to their feet quickly coming wide-awake. Looking about they spotted Jack on the downstream side of the boat and went to stand beside him. He pointed downstream. In the weak very early morning light they could barely make out a line of haze in the distance. Then they also noticed the acrid tang of smoke in the air.
"Way to much smoke for cooking fires." Jack remarked. "I think we need to grab up the oars and get to shore as quick as we can. I do not want us drifting into a possibly dangerous situation."
Even with all three of them with oars pulling toward shore it took a lot of effort to get out of the main flow. Finally they reached poling depth. Even so after they were still taken around a sharp bend the current suddenly picked up and drove them back across
the river. Pushing with the current they picked up speed and managed to run it a ground close to the shore.
Clucking Phillip noted that it would be to far for the gangplank to be used. "Well, looks like we're going to get wet. But we should be able to keep the supplies dry by carrying them over our heads."
Jack slid overboard first and involuntarily clinched his teeth against the waters coldness. Phillip followed and held up his arms to Tracy to take the first package. Working together all the supplies were soon safe and dry on shore. Tracy then slid daintily into the water and waded to shore bringing the tie line with her.
Rush looked at the teens with what could be an amused look in his eyes. With a toss of his head he easily made the jump and did not even get so much as a hoof wet. Once on shore he let out a whicker that sounded strangely like laughter.
Tracy snorted and patted his neck. "Show off."
Taking the tie line from her Phillip secured the ferryboat to a tree so it would not drift down stream and possibly alert someone or something to their presence. Snagging some dried meat from one of the pouches they had a light breakfast while Rush hungrily cropped. With that done, they loaded Rush with all the supplies and tied the supplies up with a slipknot that could easily be grabbed and pulled loose.
They quickly decided that they would stick to the shoreline as it had plenty of trees that could be used for cover. They had a better chance of coming up on Rhind unseen doing that. If they were lucky they would be able to watch safely from a distance.
At the much slower pace it took a few hours before they could finally catch glimpses of what had to be Rhind. It did not look good but they needed to be closer. The sun continued to rise as they continued their journey.
** Rhind **
As the sun reached its midpoint they drew close enough that they could see how bad the damage really was. Many of the town buildings were nothing but smoking skeletons sitting on a bed of ashes. The outlying homes did fare better, with a few looking to be untouched. The packed dirt streets were littered with over-turned carts, foodstuffs, and any sort of items that had been tossed out of the buildings. They were not fire experts but best guesses placed the event at yesterday or day before yesterday. If it had of been last night they should have been able to see a red glare in the night sky.
Moving cautiously they stayed as close to the trees that lined the river as possible. Rush was stepping lightly; his ears pricked up and turned toward Rhind. His muscles taunt. They did not know if it was due to the smell of smoke or if he sensed whoever did this was still about. Reaching the last copse of trees they stopped. It was not much cover but it was better than nothing. They decided to wait under the trees for a bit to see if anything moved or made a sound.
Time passed and the only sound that would come would be the occasional snapping followed by a crunch as burnt timbers would give into gravity and fall. The only movement was from tendrils of smoke drifting with the slight breeze. A heavy sadness could almost be felt in the air. They had never been there but they could tell that Rhind used to be a bustling busy port town full of life and activity. If they closed their eyes they could almost hear it come to life with the noise of flourishing businesses and the hum of people living. But now Rhind was gone. Rhind was dead.
Suddenly a movement caught their eyes. A lone figure staggered from the doorway of one of the damaged but not destroyed homes. It was a man; his clothing was so tattered they were barely hanging onto him. He looked to be bloodied and very badly beaten. Tracy started to run to him but Jack put his hand on her shoulder and gave a slight shake of his head. As the man reached the middle of the street he stopped and turned in a circle. Looking all about, he then put both his hands over his face and dropped to his knees sobbing. That did it. Tracy shook off Jacks restraining hand and raced toward the man.
** Skirmish **
Before Tracy could reach him other figures suddenly poured out of the house and other homes. They looked like people but were not. The eyes were much larger and they had brownish leathery tough looking skin. They also had large pointed teeth and claws. The worse news is that most of them were armed with swords and clubs. When Tracy saw what was happening she came to a skidding halt.
"Oh crap..." She started easing backwards while reaching behind her for an arrow. There were about a dozen or so of the hideous beings. The things put their noses in the air as if scenting Tracy.
Jack seeing this quickly reacted and let loose the knot that held their supplies on Rush's broad back. Rush upon being freed sprung into action and charged toward Tracy. Jack and Phillip pulled their weapons and followed in Rush's thundering hoof beats path.
The things suddenly sprang into action and started moving quickly forward while hissing loudly. There was no doubt a fight was coming.
"Get behind us Tracy!" Jack shouted as Rush flew by Tracy. Tracy turned and raced back to give herself precious room for her arrows to work while Jack and Phillip closed the distance on their attackers. Rush broke through the line and sent a few of the things sprawling like bowling pins. Then he spun around and reared, his mighty hooves pawing the air and striking those close by. Making angry neighing sounds Rush was a whirlwind of devastation. This proved to be enough of a distraction that Jack and Phillip were able to join the battle that was unfolding.
Phillip was holding nothing back this time as he had with the Krone. This was life or death. Using his staff he was blocking sword strikes and dealing crushing head blows. Using leg sweeps he would take his attacker down and finish them by driving his staff home into the eyes. Spinning roundhouse kicks to the temple and finger strikes to the throat Phillip stayed a blur of motion. His yells were always followed by a grunt and a thud as his foes fell.
The sound of ringing steel and the sight of flying sparks followed Jack wherever he went. Steel on steel. His own sword seemed to take on a light of its own as it flashed in the bright sunlight. His lips were drawn back from his teeth and his eyes burning he battled on. Blood fell like rain.
Tracy, her eyes cold and calculating let arrow after arrow fly, each striking home. Silent with no warning they would strike and pierce deeply with the same result. Death in flight.
Two of the flying gargoyle type creatures appeared from above and dove toward the fight. Poor things did not stand a chance as Tracy saw them. They hit the ground in a useless crumpled mass, each with an arrow projecting from its throat.
Screaming and with sword held out to his side Jack turned slowly in a circle. His breath coming in ragged draws he saw that the only things standing was Rush and his friends. He bent down and ripped a shirt off one of the creatures and used it to clean his sword before resheathing it.
Phillip, also breathing heavy, triggered his staff and put it away. He started walking about and pulling Tracy's arrows. A few had penetrated so deeply he had to put his foot on the thing to pull it loose. He had to fight the bile back down those times. But he felt sure that every one of them would be needed in the near future.
Tracy slowly approached. Her eyes filling with tears as she looked at the carnage that lay around her in the settling dust. She tried her best to hold it in but she bent over and lost what little food she had inside her. Rush, his coat dark with sweat and flecked with foam came to her and nuzzled her.
It was over for now. From start to finish it had taken not even ten minutes. The time that it would take to microwave a dinner.
Tracy suddenly remembered why she had broken from the cover of the trees in the first place. Looking around she spotted the fallen man and ran over to him and knelt at his side. He was face down in the dirt. Even looking at his back she knew he was in bad shape from his torn clothing and blood. With a feeling of dread she carefully rolled him over. The man's blank eyes stared sightlessly up into the sky. He was dead. Her tears toppled her cheeks and fell on the man's cheeks cutting clean rivulets in his grime covered face. Two shadows pooled next to her and she looked up at Jack and Phillip. Jack's face was set in stone his anger still reflected t
here. Phillip's look was one of compassion.
"Why? Why are we doing this? We are supposed to save this world and our own and we cannot even save this one man!" Tracy wailed sobs racking her body.
Hunkering down Phillip extended one arm and put it around Tracy. "I think it was a trap. He was the bait. He was beaten so badly that he would not have lived anyway. I'm so sorry Trace."
At the mention of the word trap Jack squatted down to bring himself eye level to Phillip. "I had that feeling to. But if it really was a trap that would mean that something or someone knows what we are here for. Something that does not want us to do what we were brought here for."
** The Arrow Flies **
Still covered in the creatures blood, Jack suddenly felt as if he was being watched and stood. Turning suddenly, with sword ready, he saw a dark robed figure standing in the middle of the road. The figure was blocking the way to the sea dock. Walking warily he edged closer to whatever it was. A cold feeling was building, working its way into his gut. Licking his lips he tried to call out to the others, nothing came out except a harsh cough like sound. Swallowing deeply he took a few steps back. Doing that seemed to ease the tight imaginary bands that seemed to be squeezing his chest. He thought of Phillip and Tracy and like magic they were there at his side.
Together they walked a bit closer. The nearer they drew, the thicker the air seemed to get. The dark robed one made no move nor sound.
"W.. w.. hat is it?" Tracy managed to get out.
"Its just a man Trace. He is just trying to get into our heads and mess with us."
Tracy looked over at Phillip with true fear in her eyes. "He doesn't have a face Phillip, he's got no face!"
Looking back at Tracy Phillip looked deep into her eyes. "Yes he does Trace. The cowl, his hood is just hiding it. Just keep looking in my eyes. Believe me Trace, it's a man."