“You need to watch your back with Wix,” Kandish whispered to Qenn. She was close enough to smell the sweat in his blonde hair. Her lips brushed against his ear by accident, but he didn’t seem to mind. “He’ll take the staff the first chance he gets. I don’t trust him.”
Qenn nodded. He turned his head slightly, just enough to make eye contact. He did not want her to move any further away. He reached down and took one of her hands into his own and squeezed it gently.
Hours had passed since the group crossed the Spira, leaving the smoldering dead city behind them. Kamen and Wix took the lead, Qenn and Kandish walked together a few yards behind them, and Prevost trailed by himself. The night was cloudy, darkness smothered the land around. They left the main road and headed north on a narrow trail. The trail they walked on now was becoming overgrown with weeds as they left the grass-bedded fields and entered into a stretch of woods. They were in complete darkness then and their pace slowed considerably. The group tightened together, keeping within arm’s length as they stumbled through almost blindly. The terrain became hilly, long slopes and steep drops were choked by scrub bushes almost every step of the way.
“Do we have any water?” Wix asked, doubling over to catch his breath. They had been walking for so many hours now without rest that they decided a short one would be permitted.
Resting in a small clearing, the group passed around a canister of water. No one sat down or even tried to sleep, they remained cautious of the woods and anything that might be dwelling in it. They had been through too much to let their guard down now. Even if one of them had wanted to sleep, it would have gone unnoticed to Kamen Ode. Within a few minutes, the big man was urging them to trudge forward once more.
It was less than an hour later that they reached the top of a bluff overlooking the land. The group stood near the edge and admired the view. The sun was at their backs, shedding light across the hills and deep valleys plastered with green leafy trees, stretching for miles in any direction.
“You know the way to Creatia?” Kamen asked Wix. The other looked up from his slouched position and nodded, pointing to the northwest.
“The LifeWaters is where we need to go,” Kandish corrected.
Wix’s face turned sour instantly. He stood upright and faced the girl. Something had upset him. “Well, which is it? Because they are two different places, girl. One of you wants one thing, another of you wants something else. Make up your minds.”
“LifeWaters.” Kandish didn’t back down from his rant. She was happy to see that she had made him just as uncomfortable as he made her. “That is where you need to take us.”
The anger in Wix’s eyes intensified. “The way you are going leads to your deaths. You must be mad! The so-called LifeWaters is forsaken. Entire tribes have gone there looking for its magical waters, and none of them returned! And beyond that, north through the stench-plagued swamps, you’ll find nothing but wickedness and the darkness festering there!”
He stomped his feet in a fit, then yelled to himself, keeping his voice bottled up. When he was finished, with everyone staring at him in wonder, his face changed and he smiled. “And you want me to guide you for nothing?”
“You could die right now.” Kamen growled at Wix, who shrank down to the earth. “But the choice is yours. I don’t care either way.”
All eyes were on Wix. His face turned red, but he held his tongue. Seconds later he was answering with a smile. “Of course. Anything to help. You saved my life, after all.”
Qenn saw the look Wix gave the staff just before he looked down into the valley below them. It was quick, merely a second, but noticeable nonetheless. Kandish was right. He would snatch the staff the moment he had the chance. Qenn clutched it tightly in both hands. Wix would not catch him off guard. He allowed Kamen and Wix to walk several paces ahead of him before he followed.
It was light for over an hour before the sun was seen rising above the tree tops. The foliage was thick overhead, the forest flush with plants and trees, with small birds skittering from one branch to the next. The morning was growing hot already and in the deep woods there was very little breeze. Sweat flowed freely, bringing with it bugs that fed off it.
It was mid-afternoon when the group came to a small river and took a well-deserved rest. Wix dropped to the ground as soon as Kamen said they could stop, the others either sat against a tree, or sat on the river bank. Prevost used his sword and speared some fish and they made a small fire to cook them. Kandish and Qenn found some berries and nuts to offer the group as well. Once they were finished eating, they discussed again the direction they would take to the LifeWaters. Wix told them they were heading in the right direction. Another day, maybe two, and they would be there.
They all questioned Wix’s sincerity, but none of them said anything out loud. None of them enjoyed his company. His eyes were shifty, and uncertain at best when asked questions about the territory and what he knew of it. He was lying, or hiding something, they thought. Kamen had threatened him several times, but Wix knew as well as the rest of them that he was their only guide. And for now, at least, they would have to trust him.
When the sun set ahead of them and the land fell under darkness again, Kamen Ode brought the group to a halt for the night. A leafy dinner, with more nuts and berries, was prepared, and after that they slept. Kamen took the first watch, as usual. Kandish and Qenn slept close to one another, with Prevost not too far away. Wix complained about their sleeping grounds, the temperature, and the bugs, before finally shutting his eyes and mouth, a few yards away from the group. Kamen sat perched atop a massive rock embedded within the dirt overlooking them. The night was still, and he could see for several yards around them. Nothing would get close enough, he thought.
A few hours had passed when Kamen Ode quietly slid down from the rock and stretched his tired body. The forest was still, save for the insects and the biting bugs. Kamen walked over to sit near his companions. As he made his position comfortable, he made eye contact with Qenn. Seconds later, the elf was up and sitting close to him.
“I can take over.” Qenn offered, keeping his voice low enough to not wake anyone else. “Get some rest.”
“I might do that,” Kamen said in the same fashion. He was tired. His body and mind were exhausted. He stared at the staff in Qenn’s hands for a few moments before a deep frown washed over his face and he looked away to the ground.
“Thinking about your mother?”
“So much of my life was spent trying to make sure it didn’t happen.” His words were slow, his voice melancholy. His large hands fiddled with a small stick as he spoke, his gaze drifted down to the dirt between his feet. “I failed.”
“You protected her as long as you could.”
Kamen shook his head slightly. “She told me it was going to happen and how. I became obsessed. Protecting her gave me purpose. But the demons are something that I cannot kill. I’m fighting a battle that I cannot win. It will be the death of me. But my anger now is so strong that I cannot let go.”
Qenn heard the twig in his hands snap. They were quiet for a little longer. Each of them lost in thought. By the time Qenn was ready to talk again, he could see the big man staring at him. “I never thought of my mother dying. Not even when I saw that it had happened. If she had told me as your mother told you, then I would do everything I could to prevent it, too. I wish I had had the chance to. It was very unexpected.”
Qenn stared at Kamen with teary eyes. “I hate the Takers for killing her. I hate them for what they are. I’ve taken the quest given me by the sorcerer because I wanted to avenge my mother’s death. I could not protect her. But by destroying them, I can protect someone else.”
“I will make sure that you get your chance to destroy them all. Every one of them. Use your staff and do what it takes to make them all die.” The vengeance in Kamen’s eyes was not lost in the dark. “You give me purpose again, elf.”
Qenn turned his head so Kamen would not see his tears. “Thank you, Kamen.”
<
br /> Kamen patted him on the shoulder, before lying down to sleep. “It is I who will be thanking you, Qenn.”
Qenn wiped the streaming tears from his cheeks. When he turned to Kamen again, the big man was asleep. With his mind overrun with so many troubles that sleep was not permitted, Qenn walked to the massive rock and climbed to the top. Holding his staff, he let his thoughts drift away on it.
In the grass ahead of him, a set of beady eyes fixed on the staff in Qenn’s hands.
When dawn broke, the group was up and already marching again through the woods. There were no conversations. Even when they questioned their route it was with curious looks and answered by finger pointing. A night’s rest may have done their bodies some good, but the journey itself was depleting them.
Qenn trailed Kandish slightly, behind Wix and Kamen, with Prevost behind them still. Qenn’s thoughts were on Kamen Ode. He understood the big man a bit more than he had before last night. Not being able to save his mother was absolute torment. Kamen would never be free of his anger, Qenn thought. Even if all the Takers were killed, the big man would still have to live with his self-proclaimed failure. Maybe in time he could learn how to forgive himself.
A look from Kandish’s wondrous eyes made Qenn suddenly forget what he was thinking about. His pace had slowed, she noticed. And she had looked back to make certain he was alright. It was a way of showing that she cared, he thought. He would have done the same for her.
It was late afternoon when something crunched underneath Qenn’s foot. As he looked down, he saw the outline of a small bird’s skeleton. He looked back up to see Kandish pointing to another one just off to their left. Bones of animals were seen lying in the dirt as well. The group stopped walking at Kamen’s command. The big man stared straight ahead. More skeletons were seen littering the ground like snow. Kamen ordered them to continue slowly.
Then Wix yelled. “Look!”
Bones. Everywhere along the ground. Wix turned and tried to run away, but Kamen grabbed hold of his coat and held him in place.
“We can’t stay here! Something is killing everything!” Wix cried, his face stricken with panic.
“Calm down.” Kamen growled. “Is there a way around?”
Wix’s answer was less than convincing. “Yeah. Yeah, we should walk around it. Way around.”
“I wonder what happened,” Qenn said, kneeling down to inspect the various bones. None of them were broken; most of them were complete skeletons of all types of animals and birds.
“Or what is still happening,” Prevost offered. He pointed a few yards to their right where a large bird lay unmoving.
Kandish looked worriedly to Qenn. “He’s right. These animals didn’t just die on their own.”
“We need to get out of here!” Wix snapped. He looked terrified.
Kamen moved over to get within an inch from Wix’s face. “This is not the last of the death we will find! Get moving!”
With weapons drawn, the group moved parallel to the stretch of bones, until their way forward ended at a steep drop into a ravine. There was no safe way down. They decided to back track then, and it wasn’t long before they were running into skeletons again.
“Skirting this could take a while,” Prevost grunted.
“We don’t have a while,” sighed Qenn.
Then Kamen got mad. “We’re going in!”
“We can’t just run reckless in hopes that we’ll survive!” Wix cried.
“Is the LifeWaters still that way?” Prevost questioned Wix, pointing past the bones. Wix nodded reluctantly. “Then that is the way.”
As they began their intrusion, Kamen pulled Wix along. For the first fifty yards in, all they saw were bones. There didn’t appear to be a pattern; there were infant skeletons as well as mature ones. The animal kingdom didn’t fare any better. And all the skeletons were facing the same direction. They had been looking to escape, Kandish said earlier. It was appearing as though she was right.
The group was on their toes, moving carefully, eyes scanning everywhere, ears listening intently, waiting for something to strike at them. But then the skeletal remains began to clear out, and all but disappear. Soon there were no bones at all. Whatever had ended the lives of so many things, the group thought that they had passed it. Their sweaty faces showed relief.
When it was too dark to move forward, Kamen brought them to a halt. A shallow stream trickled nearby and they thought it best to camp for the night. Kandish passed a water can to Qenn and Prevost, who both drank, but Kamen refused and it wasn’t offered to Wix. She told them to drink up and she would refill at the stream. As they found suitable resting positions, Wix rose and settled in uncomfortably close to Qenn. All eyes were fixed on Wix then. Qenn sat upright and stared at the other.
“What do you want?” Qenn asked him, his irritation showing.
“Tell me about your staff.” Wix’s eyes were wide, sparkling with desire. “May I hold it?”
Kandish sat up then, followed by Prevost. They would be on top of Wix if he tried something. But Wix kept to himself.
“What I know, is that it’s mine. And only mine to use.” Qenn answered. He sat waiting for Wix to reach for it, feeling the other’s want, seeing it in his beady eyes.
“Go to sleep, Wix.” Prevost said quietly. The look he gave him said it was an order.
“It’s magic. I can smell it. What does it do? Please, tell me.” Wix pressed, paying no attention to anyone else.
“I don’t know what it does, Wix. I just know that it will not work for you.”
“Let me see for myself. Let me touch it.”
“No.”
Now Kamen was up, too. “You will not have the staff, Wix. Not now. Not ever.”
Wix blew up in frustration then. “It’s not fair! Why can’t I see it? I have nothing to defend myself with! Why not let me carry it? Is it a power that I could use against you? Is that why you’re afraid? Let me see it just once.”
“Back off!” Qenn stood and moved to the other side of Kandish before lying back down again.
Kandish smiled at Wix, a dagger in both her hands. “If you try to take it, I will bleed you.”
“Why are you here, Wix?” Prevost asked in a calm fashion. The question seemed to trouble Wix.
“You need a guide, and I need to leave the city. And for all I know, you’re the only people left alive. You asked me to join you. You need me!” Wix panicked. “I can take you where you want to go.”
“Or are you here because of the staff?” Prevost pressed.
Wix jumped to his feet, screaming quietly, flailing his arms around as if he had no idea how to use them, then stormed to the stream. They could hear him splashing water onto his face for several minutes, cursing to himself about them all, whispering something about magic as he let his frustrations out with a scream. When he returned, he lied down in the same place and went to sleep.
“I wasn’t going to hurt you,” he mumbled before falling asleep.
Kandish stood directly over Wix. Her daggers were still out for them all to see. “I’ll take first watch.” The others agreed and were out in minutes. Kandish remained where she was, weapons ready.
It was still several hours before sunrise when Qenn’s screams awoke everyone. His staff was gone and something had stung his forehead. He yelled for help as he waited for the dizziness to fade. The others were up instantly, hearing something tear through the woods, running back the way they had come. Kandish had been on watch, and she too had been knocked down, rubbing a spot on the side of her head, wincing in pain. She complained about hearing something move next to her, then she was out. Kandish checked Qenn’s face and saw a bruise already forming. He had been hit with something hard. Then Kamen announced angrily that one of them was missing.
“Wix!”
Heads turned in confusion, but none could see him. He was gone.
“He was after that staff all along!” Prevost yelled.
“He couldn’t have gotten far!” Kamen cursed, h
is large frame already moving towards the fleeing sound of Wix.
They ran through the dark woods as fast as they could manage when they heard Wix scream somewhere far ahead of them. The sound was terrifying. He was injured, dying perhaps. The group slowed their pursuit. Then they noticed the field of bones. Whatever they had escaped from earlier had found Wix, they thought. They nearly came to a halt then as they listened for any sounds of a battle. The silence was deafening.
“Where is he?” Prevost asked very quietly. No one could answer.
In a tight line they walked, bones crunching underneath their feet. It was a while before Kamen broke the silence.
“Over there.”
One hand pointed right. Wix’s body lay motionless, sprawled face down across the ground. The group looked around carefully. Nothing moved. All was quiet. For several minutes they waited, then Kamen moved towards him. The staff was clutched tightly in Wix’s left hand, his face frozen in terror. Kamen checked out his body. There were no signs of an attack. The others slowly joined Kamen. Kandish removed the staff and handed it to Qenn.
“What happened to him?” Qenn was puzzled.
“There’s no blood. No wounds.” Kandish replied in the same fashion.
They each stood in wonder, staring at his body. The woods were still all around them.
“I know how your friend died,” a young girl’s chipper voice called out to them suddenly.
Instantly the group turned. The girl stood less than twenty yards away. She was wearing a white dress; her blonde hair was curly. She stood unmoving, unafraid, waiting. Kamen and the others slowly moved towards her.
“Did you see what attacked him?” Kamen asked the girl.
“You cannot see it. Not really.” The girl responded with a smile. “Come with me. You cannot help your friend.”
“What happened to him?” Kamen pressed.
“I am not allowed to speak of it.” She paused, then added, “Will you come with me?”
“How do we know we’ll be safe?” Kandish asked.
The girl chuckled. “You would already be dead.”
“What is your name, girl?” Kamen asked.
“You can call me Aless.”
“Aless, I am Kandish. Nice to meet you.” Kandish moved in closer, the rest followed. She knelt down beside the girl. “Why are you out here?”
“Where is your family?” Qenn added.
“Here. There. It depends.”
“Depends on what, Aless?” Kandish kept the conversation going, hoping to get enough answers out of her before Kamen got mad.
“Depends on where you’re standing.” Aless’ face never changed. She looked neither happy, nor sad.
“You mean these bones?” Prevost pointed down to the bones scattered along the ground.
Aless nodded.
“Where is your home?” Kamen asked, a hint of wonder in his tone.
“Come with me. I will show you.” She paused as Kandish stood. “You don’t really have a choice.”
“Why is that?” Kandish asked softly.
“Because no one leaves. No one can.” Aless pointed to the line of bones. “No one makes it any farther. Never have.”
“I don’t like the sounds of that,” Prevost whispered to Kamen. “I can only assume that we are being watched right now. If we run, maybe they kill us, too.”
Kandish and Qenn joined in, moving close to Prevost and Kamen. Kandish whispered, “We can’t just leave her out here alone.”
“She might be better off out here than us,” Prevost snapped back. “I don’t want to know what killed all these people.”
“I don’t think we should be afraid of her,” Qenn offered. “I sense no danger from her. I think we can trust her.”
Kamen thought it over, then agreed with Prevost. “We’ll ask her for a way around this death. But we can’t stay.”
He turned to Aless. “Can you tell us a way around whatever is killing everything?”
Aless looked confused. “There is no way. Everything outside the circle dies.”
Kandish smiled at Aless, brushing back her blonde hair. “We are on a very important journey, Aless. We don’t have a lot of time. Can you tell us a safe way around?”
“Important? Where is more important?”
“We are seeking the LifeWaters.”
“Yes.” Aless nodded. “I can take you to my home.”
Now Kamen was confused. “Where is your home, girl?”
“The LifeWaters, silly man.”
“That’s your home?” asked Kandish. “Can you take us there?”
Aless nodded, taking Kandish by the hand. “Follow me.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE