121 – Town Meetings

  Steven paused and looked at the tracker that hung around his neck the spot for Alex was bright and near the top/center, and oriented off to Steven’s left. He put it back within his jacket. Sucking up his courage and taking faith that he had gotten this far and was meant to get his son back, Steven stood up and marched down the trail.

  Very quickly the handful of beings noticed him. As he approached, their shapes in the dim light resolved into that of five men conversing amongst themselves. However, Steven did not hear any voices. Steven felt two something’s pass by that raised the hair on the back of his neck.

  His hand wanted to go for his sword, but that was both out of Steven’s current character, and five on one was not a good bet. His gun behind his right hip briefly suggested it self, and was just as quickly passed. Steven realized that he was marching to an old boot camp chant as it filled his head. All thoughts of battle dropped as quick as they had appeared.

  -Who are you, and what do you want?-

  This entered Steven’s thoughts and he realized that it felt familiar, but he suddenly could not remember the other person who had done that. As for this voice, it seamed to strike the same vibe as a sergeant standing guard. Board, in charge, ready to defend his people.

  “I am Steven Caplan, come to retrieve my kidnapped son, Alexander Caplan. He was kidnapped from our home planet at the order of the monarchs of Krogg and sent here.” Steven stopped at seven paces from the group who were all looking at him. They spread out a bit from each other as Steven stood.

  Steven watched as their heads moved back and forth a bit, apparently in silent conversation.

  -Who told you to come here?-

  Steven paused, and could almost see a figure in his minds eye, but there were no distinct features to latch on to. “Umm. . .”

  -I see. Your informant has blocked himself from your memory. Why come this way, instead of from the main highway?-

  “So as to get directly here, and not loose my way. I am not in my normal element here, being an off-planet sun-lander. Once I have my son with, we will depart to the main highway and return to the surface.” Steven briefly wondered about the term ‘sun-lander’ but did not dwell on it.

  The men communicated a bit more. Two of the five stepped forward to Steven.

  -We will take you into our village. Any hostility will be met with violence.-

  One of two started up the side path of the cavern and up the trail that followed the flow of water here. Steven was motioned to follow, and did so, the second falling in line behind him. The other three stayed behind, evidently returning to whatever conversation they had been having.

  The roof of the cavern quickly curved down to where Steven could reach up and touch it over his head. The river that occupied the majority of the tunnel was flowing toward the lake. The trail was carved into the rock above the level of the water, and ran almost straight while the small river wound back and forth in its bed. The walls and other surfaces were intermittently covered with the same luminous lichen or moss or whatever it really was, providing enough light to see by. After a short time of hiking, the cavern brightened and they passed through an archway into a larger chamber. A water wheel dominated what he could identify; the sounds were of ordered cacophony, the air a slight warm breeze with an earthy scent. But he was not given time to examine anything as he was ushered past. A second chamber had other things going on, with another water wheel. This sounded like a workshop of some kind, was warmer with a stronger breeze, and the smell of industry.

  Finally he was led up a passage into another chamber, leaving the river behind and below. Here he could see he was brought into a more domestic setting. The luminous lichen was on many surfaces, an a few additional non-fire light sources were scattered about. The air was cooler than the industrial areas, with a bit more of a stale fug to it. The overall impression was of a town, within an irregularly pillared cathedral; it briefly reminded Steven of Veradale, with large irregularly placed pillars and arches supporting the roof above as the structures at this level were carved partially or wholly into the native rock, masonry filling in where the carving left off. As Steven considered, he noticed that the ground did not seem to have a level spot anywhere.

  The light was enough to make out general forms and lines. Steven and his two escorts were walking in an undulating avenue between single and double story structures. Stairs leading up and down to the entries.

  ‘Is nothing on a single level?’ Steven though to himself.

  -Why should it be?- came an unexpected response. -We can easily make flat surfaces at need. But when the rock itself rises and falls, why not build to meet the best part of the surface?-

  Steven listened to this for a brief moment, before turning to glance toward the native behind him. He was beginning to figure that for the most part he had been communicating with only this one of the locals.

  The community appeared to be an orderly pattern on an approximate grid, but the overall area was large enough and the ambient light dim enough that Steven could not begin to get a sense of how big, or how spread out. The roof above was of uncertain distance and completely devoid of light as the luminous lichen did not seem to spread easily on that surface. The deeper into the community they traveled, the more locals they encountered. Most of it seemed to be the daily domestic maintenance of a normal community. But Steven was ushered along quickly enough he could not linger on the dimly lit details.

  Steven figured he was escorted most of a mile before turning a corner, traveling another considerable distance, and being brought to a stop in a square. This looked to be a central meeting place or typical town square, with the main roads of the town converging here. There was a medium sized gathering of people here, with several men and women at the center to meet him. It looked like the usual dress of the locals was a top and trousers of some kind.

  -Who is this? What is his business in Kadomu?-

  -He says he is the father of the boy placed among us. He addressed the boy by name.-

  Steven could hear the conversation with his mind, but did not have specific ideas of who all the sources of the thoughts were. They almost had different voices, but Steven figured that he did not have the expertise to tell for sure.

  Steven began to speak. “I am— ”

  He was interrupted. -Yes. Steven Caplan. We can read it faster than you can say it. Let’s see if this boy knows you.-

  Some of them turned as others approached. Steven felt a little left out of the conversation.

  Steven asked to anyone who was listening. “Do any of you speak, or do you just think to each other?”

  The man at his left replied, and Steven confirmed this was the one who had been primarily addressing him. “Mostly we think to each other. The family with custody of your son does not want to give him up. They are childless, and none are available to foster.”

  Shortly a couple marched up in an escort, with Alex between them. Each had a hand on one of his shoulders.

  “Release the boy, and let him speak freely.” This came from who Steven gathered was the leader of this part of the community.

  -It is not for us to keep the man’s child from him.- This came from elsewhere, but Steven could not begin to identify the source.

  Grudgingly the couple did so and the escort took the couple back one step, as an escort stayed with Alex.

  Steven realized that most of the adults in this community he had seen wore short swords at their belts. Many of the young adults did also. Alex had one at his belt. It was almost as long as his leg.

  The Leader spoke. “Boy. This man claims to be your father. Do you recognize him?”

  Alex looked around, then at Steven. “Where’s mom?”

  Steven answered. “Your mother, Roxanne, is after your sister Diana.”

  Alex continued through the safety questions that Steven had taught Alex and Diana to use when he was not sure who to go with. “What was her last car?”

  Steven thought he could feel some kind of scan on his mind as he answered. “A Camero. 1968, rebuilt completely by her.” For a moment the image of it flashed through his mind.

  Alex started forward. “He is my father.”

  Steven knelt and Alex all but jumped into his embrace as the couple behind him tried to reach for him.

  Hands grabbed Steven from behind and pulled him over, and after a moment pulled him back to his feet as best they could for being an average of a foot shorter than he was. In all this, he still held Alex with his left arm, his right going around for his sword handle. The sounds of battle beginning followed Steven as he was carried quickly in to the dimness.

  -No time for you to fight. Come!-

  Before very far Steven was let go of and regained his balance and footing; he put Alex down, keeping his hand, and they were almost jogged out of the square and down a road. a group of locals surrounded Steven and Alex. The one who had first encountered Steven was still with him, and spoke to Steven as the rest looked for any kind of fight to come in this direction.

  -Go. Take your son and get out.-

  A man from the group handed Steven a scroll, about a foot long and two inches around. “Here, take this for later.”

  “Don’t give him that.” Another woman protested.

  “Yes. They can’t read it.” The man holding the scroll touched Alex’s head for a moment. “In time he will be able to.”

  The woman looked at Alex. “So be it. Share that with no one, boy.”

  Steven could hear the noise of a brawl behind him. They turned a corner, went down an alley, and then were led out into another road.

  The escort of a half dozen locals took them to what Steven figured was the edge of the town, where a large tunnel fronted to the road. A woman from the escort spoke to them, putting her hand on Steven’s forehead. “This will lead you back to the main way to the surface, sun-lander. Go quickly; we will see that you are not followed. May your thoughts be your own.”

  Steven felt a burst of information fill his mind as to the path to take and which way out of the rift, once he got to it. The woman withdrew her hand and gently turned Steven and he regained his equilibrium.

  Steven kept Alex’s hand and they trotted a ways into this dark tunnel. Soon the luminescent lichen and the humidity from the water returned. At another cavern a quad of guards pointed them into another tunnel. This cavern was strange to Steven as it smelled of wood, and growing plants. Alex led, as he could more easily see what was around them. As Steven paced the trail, he found he was surrounded by what he gathered were trees. The growth ended as they left the cavern for the next tunnel.

122 – Travels in tunnels

  By the time they were another hour along, the tunnel began to darken and the air to be dryer. They had crossed two more agricultural caverns, and the trail had changed direction several times. Steven was ready for lunch, and to get one of his torches out. As he did, he produced the change of clothes for Alex. For his part, Alex was pleased to get into his own underwear, not liking the local underwear anymore than his mother had. He also put on the clothes that the elves had provided. Steven took a moment to fix the sleeves and trouser legs to length. Alex had to keep the moccasins that he had been given.

  After Alex had changed, they took the clothes he had been wearing, ripped them to strips and soaked some of them in the bag of oil that Steven had for maintaining torches, and then wrapped one of the strips around one of the torches that Steven had. Steven lit the torch and gave it to Alex, telling Alex to hold it above his eyes as much as he could and to keep up. At first Alex tried to protest but Steven insisted, so that he could keep track of Alex by the torch. Alex stopped arguing with that.

  As they walked along, Alex began to tell all that had happened to him and Diana. They had first been scared when Mom had been separated from them. Then they simply had to keep walking as long as they could every day. The food was terrible and the people mean. The bugs stung a few times. Soon his shoes wore out and he was given some moccasins. Those also wore out, and he was given a second set. Some of the sights they saw were really neat to see. Then he and Diana were put into a cage on a cart and rolled into a city, where they met some scary people. He was separated from Diana and brought to here. They took his clothes and burned them and gave him the clothes he had worn up to now.

  He had met a few boys and girls here, but none seamed to like him, except to tease. He was taken to the smith and the man cut a small patch of his scalp off and put it into the sword that was given to Alex when it was finished. Once Alex had the sword, he found he could stand up to the teasing, and had used some of the fighting that Mom had taught him to beat up a bully who would not leave him alone.

  When they stopped to eat and rest, Alex curled up in Steven’s lap and dozed off. Steven put out the torch and after getting comfortable, Steven napped holding his son.

  In their next awake time, they ate a bit, and continued traveling the tunnels and caverns. At the approximate mid-afternoon, they came out of a wide tunnel onto the floor of the rift that Steven had left some few days and a bit of altitude earlier. Steven turned to his left and started along the floor, looking for the signs of a used trail. As he went he got the second tracker he had been given out of a vest pocket. The spot glowed a bit dim about half way from the middle to the edge, and off to Steven’s 4-o’clock as he aligned himself to he direction of the rift, 12-o’clock being the direction out.

  Alex watched Steven wave it around like he did when using a compass, then put it away. “Which way do we go?”

  Steven sat for a moment, easing his pack off of his back, and let his coat breath a bit. “We are supposed to meet your mother and sister and a friend here somewhere. But I don’t know for sure where. We have three days of food, and I think it is just over two days to hike out. The question is do we wait, or start out?”

  Alex thought for a moment. “How do they find us? This is not the mall or the store.”

  Steven was well aware of that. “Your mother has a tracker like this one, which she can use to find Diana, and another for finding me. Her guide should know the way out to the surface.”

  Alex did not wait to think long. “I want to see the sky. Mom hikes fast. She can catch up.”

  The main road was similar to what Steven had traveled earlier, wide enough for wagons to pass each other, with the ground beyond unproven and irregular at best. The road mostly went straight along the floor of the rift, following the roll of the ground. They walked up an incline, and at the top of this hill they found a warn path that turned into a tunnel in the side of the rift. It had a carved and enlarged entrance. Steven somehow recognized the writing as of the local elf-script, and immediately dragged Alex away from it. as he mulled why he recognized the characters, he recalled both the various alphabets he had seen in Shalaia, and Karen giving him a warning to avoid the people who made that script.

  “We have to get away from here. These people can see in the dark, and maybe even the heat of where your torch was.” Steven led Alex away from the tunnel opening.

  “So can I, Dad.”

  Steven led them up the road a little to where it went through a rock garden. Steven had been to Goblin Valley in east central Utah a few times, and had promised himself to take the kids there someday. This rock garden reminded him of there.

  Alex was visibly getting tired at this point, Steven had been carrying him on and off and figured this was as good a place to stop as any. Steven moved through it to his left and up to the wall of the rift. There was a spring here, trickling into a pool. Steven touched it and found it was fresh water, if a bit warm. Not a geology expert, Steven figured it was probably from the same general source as the lake that he had been past. He refilled Alex’s water skin from him bladder in his pack, then refilled the bladder through the filter from the spring and pool.

  Steven let the torch burn down low, and out of the way as he worked. Their thrust slaked, they leaned against the wall as Alex again curled up not quite in his lap. The torch went out not long after both father and son sank into sleep. Fortunately the smell of the burnt torch kept the local critters from coming to close to investigate.

  Alex woke at the noise. People were running by on the road. He could not see it from here, so they probably could not see him. This allowed him to relax, and count. He though he heard four people run past, rattling in some kind of gear. As he looked around, he could see the shapes in the heat. The rock garden stretched out around them for as far as he could see. The wall they were against stretched to both sides and a long way up. Above the tops of the close rock pillars, he could see the far wall also going up too far to see.

  Alex had gotten used to the novelty of seeing in the dark the first few nights on planet. So had Diana. But until he had gotten into the village no one had explained it to him. When Dad had given him the torch, Alex knew that it was going to hinder him from seeing that way, if he had the torch in front of him, but had not been able to get his Dad to listen then. As it was the torch was long enough to hold high and behind his head, so it did not effect his sight too much. Now Alex felt and saw that his Dad was soundly asleep and they were for the moment safe. The people had run on, and were gone. Alex lay his head back down and went back to sleep.

*     *     *

  Caspian led by deliberate decision of Roxanne. She did not want his light from his staff interfering with her vision. She had come to see quite clearly with her recently discovered ability. As they hiked the floor of the rift, they left the arches and pillars behind, and quickly found a crossroads, where the path turned to their left and through a carved opening in the rift wall into another tunnel. There was a carved arch in the natural rock, with carved characters in it. Rox could recognize the individual characters as such, but had no idea what the language was or the meaning of the characters.

  Caspian looked the arch over. “This is probably it. Check you r tracker.”

  Rox got the tracker for Diana out, and looked it over. The point of light was a forward and to her right from center, and a bit over half way down the curve of the surface.

  Caspian stood by and looked at it, and nodded. “That is promising. She is a day away, give or take, in that general direction.”

  He started forward into the darkness of the tunnel. Rox put the tracker back under her jacket a followed after.

  This road was a bit more than one wagon wide, having been carved to that width. In prior conversation about it, Caspian had joined the Caplan’s speculation that these tunnels were not fully carved from solid rock, but rather existing tunnels and cracks that had been enlarged.

  The tunnel did not branch, but it did twist some. Soon they came out into a cavern. This cavern was humid and sticky feeling. Rox could see all sorts of crystals lining almost every surface. Water seamed to pool and puddle in the low spots of the carved road. The crystals and water glowed with whatever light struck them. They exited the far side of this chamber through a hole surrounded by crystal. There were no natural bio-luminescent sources, even with Caspian’s staff giving off light. Rox could see just fine with her expanded visual range.

  Karen came to Roxanne’s mind saying they would have to travel through three caverns like this, and then the elf village of Chigoria would be in a large series of caverns after that. Rox found to the road now went uphill as she went.

  Within the second chamber, Rox realized that they were inside what might be a large geode, of similar type of cavern. As they left the third, the humidity of the previous area seamed to end abruptly as if a door prevents its passage. The road was still a wagon width, and the passage was carved and decorated.

  The next chamber was also lined with crystal, but this was being sculpted and cut, rather than left natural. There was no one here at the moment, but the chamber looked like it was being cleared for use.

  Rox was ready for lunch, and Caspian agreed.

  They crossed this chamber into a natural rock tunnel and were quickly into a maze of regular carved tunnels, some road sized, some walkways. Caspian led in a left-handed direction through the tunnels, looking for a place to rest for a bit.

  Caspian was on edge, and Rox could see he was a bit stressed. They found a chamber that was organic in its scent. As Rox looked it over, it was like a large green house with some strange kind of leafless trees growing from the ceiling, and orderly rows of indeterminate crops arrayed across the large chamber.

  “This is a garden of some sort. I don’t see anyone here.”

  Caspian agreed as he moved off to his left against the wall, then stopped at a curve of the wall. He leaned against the wall and took a deep breath, then sat down.

  “Time to do some setup, and reconnoitering. Cyrril is out buzzing around testing for any standing magic fields. I haven’t felt any active magic yet. We may have managed to sneak in without detection, so far.”

  Rox nodded as she took her bag off.

127 – A Few Loose Ends

  Rox withdrew from the two symbols, and removed her equipment harness, and put down her bow. She then entered the pentagram opposite Caspian, and stopped at the edge of the octagram, at Diana’s feet. She then acted as a control valve as Caspian worked the magic.

  First he mapped all the magic around Diana. He threaded past Rox’s spell, and quickly dispelled the next three placed on Diana by the black elf. At that point, Cyrril darted in and grabbed the necklace. He bit through one side of the silver chain and took the whole thing away with him.

  Now it was Rox’s turn. She tested the pattern of the magic that she had put on Diana, at Diana’s birth. There was the key. She dispelled it, and the rest collapsed. There was a brief shimmer around Diana, as the spell dispersed. When it faded the most noticeable difference was that Diana’s hair quickly turned as white as Rox’s had turned. Rox then backed up to the spell she had put on Diana a few moments ago. This was released as fast as it was activated, but the effects took longer to manifest. That was just as well. It gave Rox a moment to be a mother. With the casting done, she stepped into the octagram, which was now no more than lines on the ground. She picked up Diana’s limp form and hugged her close. Slowly Diana came back to herself, crying and clutching at her mother as if to let go would be forever.

  Caspian watched this with a detached interest. Then turned back to practical matters. Cyrril was already making ribbons of the Urnvtai elf clothes that Diana had been wearing. Caspian moved him aside and incinerated the rest of it. Then sent Cyrril on another errand. To go get the packs that they would have picked up had they gone out the way they had planned.

  Cyrril was up and gone just that fast, passing through the ward and down one of the tunnels. Caspian could have teleported the things straight here, but that would have alerted every magic user in the area to their location. Instead he maintained the ward with its camouflage, and let Rox have the privacy with her daughter. For the same reason of alerting the magic users, he would not be teleporting them back to the surface. That left them walking the whole way back out.

  Diana did not settle down completely until Cyrril returned. The clever beast had the packs in tow, having levitated them, and then dragged then by their straps. He also reported to Caspian that the search parties were out in earnest.

  Caspian dug into his pack for some fresh spell components, and also some digging tools. He then set about collecting some of every substance in the cavern.

  Rox had taken her pack and dug out the clothes that the Nidaer Clan had given to clothe Diana in. She helped Diana put these on. Underwear, then some trousers, and an elfin silk blouse with a leather vest. A belt, a pair of socks and boots were the last. The clothes were adjusted to fit. Diana was feeling much better now. Rather like she had just got up from a night of bad dreams. Except this one was not yet finished.

  Diana looked herself over and was already showing the resilience of children. She would spend a while playing with her hair, until she got used to it being white and the mohawk stood up. At this point Caspian put his tools away and shouldering his bag, he looked at Diana, and spoke in English.

  “Diana, can you lead us out of here?”

  Rox put her harness back on and secured the girdle, settled the quiver, and put her staff back on the under side out of the quiver. Then she put her shoulder bag on and picked up her bow.

  Diana looked at Caspian and her mother and nodded. She turned around twice, looking the cavern over and getting her bearings, then started in a new direction, roughly perpendicular to the one she had been on when she came into this chamber. “The Urnvtai allowed me to play with the other children down here, and a few times I managed to find the way to the main tunnel to the surface. I think it was this way. They always stopped me from going very far into the main tunnel.”

  As they left the cavern, Caspian cast one last quick spell. He collapsed the ward, and had the barrier sweep the floor as it did, removing the symbols that had been drawn.

  Several turns along, they came into a larger carved passage. Diana led almost running. Rox followed and had her bow out and another of her crystal tipped arrows in battery, ready to draw and aim. Caspian and Cyrril brought up the rear alternating between a fast walk and jog to keep up.

  This passage went more or less straight for a ways, then came to another intersection. Rox and Caspian both felt magic coming from somewhere up the passage to their right. Rox got a hold of Diana and slowed her down. Caspian got ready to put up a shield. As Diana and Rox crossed the passage, Caspian put a blocking shield across its opening. Rox surged forward, dragging Diana across the opening, and a blast of magic impacted on the shield Caspian had energized.

  Diana complained at Rox’s manhandling of her. Rox paused as she got clear of the opening on the far side of it. Caspian stepped around the corner and let lose with a lightening bolt into the cross passage. The concussion of this deafened everyone.

  “Diana, stay down.” Rox looked over the magic in action, and then brought her bow up. She aimed at the top of the side tunnel and let fly with her arrow. It passed through Caspian’s shield and down the passage several yards and hit the top of the tunnel. The magic on the crystal arrowhead hit the stone and sparked and shattered. The metal arrow head began to crumple against the stone, the wooden shaft to shatter. Then the spell on the crystal detonated. A wave of energy radiated out from the arrowhead, shattering the rock for three meters plus around it.

  The rock having lost integrity, it collapsed into the passage. The elves having been good engineers had avoided leaving seams as they had carved these tunnels, so there were no sympathetic fractures beyond this one. As it was, enough graveled rock obeyed gravity and collapsed into the tunnel blocking the way of the locals beyond it.

  The dust from the falling rock filled the cavern and obscured everything for a few moments. Then Caspian worked a spell that drew air from the direction they were headed and carried the dust the way they had come from.

  Once he could breathe clearly again, he dispelled his active shield and walked over to where Rox and Diana were getting up and brushing the dust off.

  “Can you hear me?” he spoke at normal level, he could barely hear himself.

  Rox did not even look over at him. Caspian cast a spell over himself, and Cyrril. This got Rox’s attention. Keeping the spell in process, he reached for Rox’s ears, and restored her hearing. Diana watched, and then let him do the same to her.

  “Can you hear me now?”

  “Yeah.” Rox answered in the northern language that she had most often spoke to Caspian in.

  “Mom, what are you saying?”

  Rox and Caspian looked down to her, and switched to English. “Caspian just asked if I can hear again, after all the big booms. What languages do you know from this world, besides English?”

  “The Urnvtai woman put their language into my head. I picked up some of the words that caravan spoke. Otherwise, I don’t know any other language from here.”

  Caspian continued in English. “We better get going. I put that group down, but there are sure to be others.” He turned to Rox. “Warn me next time you let one of those arrows fly at close range.”

  They moved on, following the passage.

*          *          *

  Steven woke up to find that Alex was sitting nearby on top of a low pillar looking around. The torch was cold. Steven could hardly see in the dark, while Alex could see just fine. By feel he carefully pulled out a lighter and found the right end of the torch. In moments the end was slowly burning, and Steven’s night vision had bright spots all over it. Steven put the lighter away, and pulled a strip of cloth out and wrapped it around the torch, almost smothering it before the oil caught and started burning.

  With the torch lit Steven called Alex over. Alex got down off the rock keeping his face away from the torch.

  “Alex, come here and let me show you something.” Steven pulled out the tracker out of his vest.

  Alex shaded his eyes as he walked over. “That hurts my eyes, Dad.”

  For a few moments, Steven did not understand. Then turned and set the torch on the ground upright against a nearby rock pillar, and walked back so it backlit him.

  “Is that better?”

  Alex put his hand down. He could see everything, and it was kind of strange to see the heat and light where the torch lit things.

  Steven knelt down and held out the tracker in his palm. “Alex, have a look at this.”

  Alex picked it up. It was a disk that filled most of his father’s palm, with a flat bubble of stuff on one side and a heavy metal back on the other. A swirl of light was right on the top. “Is this the tracker you talked about yesterday?”

  Steven smiled as Alex put is back in his palm. “Yes, it is. The top point is you.”

  Steven pulled the second one from his vest, and held it out. “This one is for Mom.”

  It had a swirl part way down the side of the bubble, not as bright as the other tracker.

  “I was told by the people who made it that it cannot read through thick rock very well. It does show the direction a person is, and how far away they are.”

  Alex looked and pointed back in the direction they had come past. “So Mom is that way, and not very far.”

  Steven had guessed that was about at the direction of the archway with the elf writing on it. This made him nervous, but it was expected. “That’s right. I figure we will wait for them here.”

  Steven’s tactical sense was telling him this would be a good place to squabble if need be. He only hoped he could do some good in the dark if it came to that.

  As it turned out, the need did not happen. Steven made breakfast for himself and Alex, using a small camp stove he had sparingly used to this point. He was glad for the warm breakfast, and had extinguished the torch in the mean time.

  Alex saw them first, which did not surprise Steven. They sat below the top of rock pillars near the wall. Steven could not see much beyond dark, but could hear lots. Alex said he could see everything, for a ways up, and in either direction along the rift. Then he saw a light in the elf’s tunnel.

  Steven turned and saw it, and finally had a rough clue on the distance. He gauged the bottom of the rift to vary between 75 and 150 meters across. The rock garden was about 400 meters from the archway. From Steven’s orientation the arch was to his right, and the way out was to his left, two days away.

  Cyrril startled Steven as he appeared out of the dark, having evidently flown under Alex’s sight line. He climbed up Steven’s boot and stood on his thigh as Steven crouched against the pillar.

128 – Joyful Reunion

  “Hello, there. Yes, it is both of us. Do we pause here and rest, or go on?”

  Cyrril looked around and evidently spotted Alex, and then chittered noncommittally.

  Steven was only a few feet off the cavern floor. “Watch out, I am getting down.” As he stood, Cyrril let go and took wing disappearing into the darkness.

  Steven stepped out and dropped about half his height to the floor. The burner put out just enough light to see to the next pillar where Alex sat, watching.

  “What was that, Dad?”

  “That was Cyrril. He belongs to a friend. It means that that light is most likely near your mother and sister. I think they are going to come this way.”

  “I think I can see them from here. A man in front with the light. Then I guess that is Mom and Diana behind him.”

  They waited. Alex giving some updates as the light got closer. Steven got his gear together and ready to leave. He had given Alex one of the two spare water skins to carry. Steven saw in the low light that his son had it slung on his right side counter to his sword, on his left.

  Steven stood by the pillar his son sat on as Rox and Diana came into view. Caspian and his light were slightly away, evidently looking at something.

  Diana ran up and embraced her kneeling Daddy as Alex jumped down and ran to his Mother.

  This was shortly a family group hug. For a bit no one wanted to let go.

  Rox found words first. “Have you been waiting long?”

  Steven answered, a few tears on his cheeks. “We stopped here to sleep. When we woke, you were on the tracker so we waited.”

  “The trackers.” Rox deadpanned, as she let go a little to step back. “I forgot to even look at that after I got Diana.”

  “What happened?” Steven leaned against the pillar next to him.

  Diana and Alex were still attached to one parent or the other.

  Rox answered Steven. “Oh, we smashed a few big buildings in their village. Then we spent half of the last day playing dodge the search party.”

  Alex interjected, from Rox’s side. “Is that who that was.”

  Steven picked up on this. “Who what was?”

  “Last night while you were asleep, a group of noisy people ran by on the road.” Alex replied.

  Rox looked at Steven. “Could be.”

  Steven responded. “Must have been some party. I just walked in and identified myself. Alex identified me and we walked out. However there was some bit of a domestic squabble among the locals. We haven’t seen anyone since.”

  Rox nodded “Caspian suspects the elves are still trying to search for Diana. There is one way to be sure they can’t track us easily.”

  Rox turned to Alex. “You have magic about you, young man. I need to take it off you, with the help of a Mage. Soon as he gets over here.”

  Steven had listened to this on the trail here, but not fully. Now was as good a time as any. “So what exactly does that entail?”

  Rox looked briefly down at Diana, who was winding her hair around her fingers. “It means I need to draw a magic circle, Alex needs to strip naked, and then I dispel the spell I put on him just after he was born.”

  Alex looked at Diana then at his mother. “Will it hurt?”

  Diana answered. “No. It’s embarrassing, like going to the doctors; but no shots.” She seamed almost completely preoccupied with her hair.

  Steven could not see all the features of his family in the dim light of the small camp stove on the ground and two meters away. But he could hear in the voices that this was necessary, and potentially embarrassing. Also that Diana was still a bit uncomfortable about something.

  Caspian took that moment to walk in, his staff radiating dimly, Cyrril perched on his shoulder, his robe looking a bit more singed and road dirty.

  “No one is about. Now is as good a time as any, Roxanne. Steven. I see you were as successful as we were. Did you get the book?” Caspian was his usual brusque.

  Steven had to shift mental gears for a moment, and the memory of being handed a scroll replayed itself in his hand. At the time it had not meant anything. The scroll now sat in his backpack. “Yes. I think. I did not ask for it, they just handed it to me.”

  Caspian nodded. As Steven looked around there was enough light that he could see Diana’s hair was a different color than he remembered. It was much lighter, the way that Rox’s was now.

  Steven looked at Rox. “Magic hair dye?”

  Rox smirked. “Closer to the reverse of that, removing the magic hair color.”

  Alex brightened a bit. “I get to have silver hair, like Cable?”

  Rox did not approve of Alex watching that cartoon, but it was one fight she was not about to dredge up now. “Yes, like him. And me, and your sister, and grandmother.”

  “Cool.”

  Rox turned to look at Caspian, as she pulled her staff from her hip quiver. “Take Diana and step aside, to give us some privacy. And this too.”

  Rox unslung her bow, and unencumbered herself of her other equipment, and handed them all to Steven, who took them and stepped aside with his daughter. As he listened, he was mildly surprised and very pleased to hear Rox take the lead over Caspian in this magic.

  Steven led Diana around a pillar for give Rox and Alex privacy. Steven carefully put his wife’s equipment down next to his own, and sat down. Diana crawled into his arms and did not let go as she started crying. Steven held her and let her cry herself out, feeling his own tears run.

  Alex was not quite as reluctant as Diana, for any number of reasons, and there was less to deal with in removing all the active and passive magic on him. Rox later wondered if part of it was that Caspian could not see Alex in the dark, as opposed to Diana realizing that Caspian could see her. The other option was that the local elves had done something to Diana already, and its after affects should be watched out for. After the casting was finished, Alex got dressed quickly. As there was not as much light to deal with, the color change of Alex’s hair went unobserved.

  Shortly the party was fed as much as they wanted, packed, and ready to go. Steven put out the torch he had previously lit, and once cool enough packed it with the other one in his pack. Steven and Alex were a bit off from the others as far as their individual schedules. The family and Caspian hiked along the floor of the Rift for several hours. The kids took turns holding dad’s hand as he could not see in the dark. The other one held mom’s hand just to be near her. Steven did not relight a torch, instead letting his kids lead him, and letting the light from Caspian’s staff lead the way, as he walked out front. Cyrril spent some time on Alex’s shoulder. Diana reported that he has already done the same to her in the smaller tunnels.

  The rock garden passed by a larger spring; a short spur of the road looped past the pool fed by the spring. The outflow from this pool went directly into the wall, along a narrow tunnel. Caspian and Rox had passed by this place while going the other direction without stopping. This time, everyone turned here and filled up their respective water bags. Near the respective afternoons, they left the rock garden behind. While the surface was relatively flat in general appearance, it undulated a little and had a subtle rise in elevation in the direction they were heading. They passed into a noticeably warmer area, with a slight upward breeze.

  Then the road took a sharp turn and started up an incline.

  “This is it,” Caspian stopped. “We can rest now, and take the hill in one go tomorrow, or we can get about half way up, and stop. There are water and camp spots along the way.”

  Rox nodded, remembering the way down. “It’s really not that long, but for the end of the day, I don’t want to start.”

  Steven could not see much, save what Caspian was currently pointing his staff at. The luminescent lichen he had dealt with for half of his journey was evidently not here, possibly due to lack of moisture. But listening he could tell that he was in a box canyon, and that the walls only went up. He looked at what he could see of his wife and kids. Both kids were at the ends of their energy, but eager to go wherever their parents went. Rox was tired, and she was fidgeting with the straps of her bags and equipment. He realized he had been fidgeting with his own for the last while.

  “We rest. Is there a spot her, out of the way?”

  Journal of Steven Caplan: Day 148 (retrospect)

  My children are back. My family is back together. Diana and Alex are with Rox and Me.

  We were still in a deep hole in the ground with about a day and a half or so of hiking to get out. There might be search parties out for Diana. Rox and Caspian evidently caused a lot more commotion that I did.

  Karen said that getting Alex would be harder, than getting Diana. I guess she meant that it would be harder not to fight for my son. There was still some squabble as Alex and I were sent out. I wonder how well I might have actually done. Maybe that is part of why it was harder. She seemed of the opinion that if I had tried to fight, I would have gotten stomped on.

  Camping with the kids had always been enjoyable. For the most part Alex was the adventurous boy turning over every rock and playing at the typical boy’s games that proved his youthful immortality and that he was the hero of what ever story he was playing through. Diana was typically girly in keeping herself clean despite the dirt while either playing with her younger brother, somewhere in orbit of her parents, or investigating whatever local fauna caught her attention. Both were willing to take their turns with the chores and help when asked, provided they were not absolutely engrossed in something else.

  Now, with Steven being effectively blind while the rest of the family could see, Rox took charge of breakfast with Diana’s help, and Alex led Steven and Caspian over to the dunny.

  For breakfast they sat around Steven’s camp stove with the breakfast pot on it, eating a local variation of grits.

  Steven kept looking up into the darkness. “How high up is it?”

  Rox answered before Caspian. “It only took up a couple of hours to come down. I can see a few switch backs before the hill slants out of view. It was not that hard, but long.”

  Steven nodded. “Caspian, remember that spell you did in Veradale, so that we could jump levels. Can you do that here?”

  Caspian considered. Like most mages, caution had been drilled into him, to the point of not using magic when mundane efforts would suffice. He finished his mouthful of food and he mulled over ideas.

  “I would not want to risk separating people. You and I can’t see in the dark, the way Rox and the kids can. My initial concern is being able to see where we are going and avoid obstacles.”

129 – Hike out, Rest, Clean up

  Rox did not understand. “What are you talking about?”

  Steven explained. “In Veradale, Caspian cast some spell on me and Abey that allowed us to jump ridiculous distances in any direction. We were able to go from the ground level up two or three terraces at a time on the long jumps. On shorter ones it was jumping across streets and up a few floors at a time. I am wondering about using that same idea to just go up this climb.”

  Rox nodded. “I suppose it’s possible. But the magic will attract the attention of the three magic users who are currently scanning this area. I would just as soon walk.”

  Caspian looked up and around, while the Caplan’s continued talking. The wards he had set up the night before and the camouflage that Rox had set up were still going, so unless someone got into visual range, they were just another empty spot in the area. But there were a few active scans that he could sense, like hearing the echo of someone yelling. Caspian’s attention returned to the conversation, as Steven conceded to his wife’s reasoning. They would be walking.

  Once they packed and broke camp Rox took the lead, with a rope tied to her, then Alex, Caspian, Diana and Steven at the end. The kids would spend most of their time holding the hand of a parent, which allowed Steven to be led by someone who could see, and Alex to actually set the pace. Caspian just marched along between Steven and Rox as best he could, with his staff turned off for the moment. Cyrril was about, though mostly on Caspian’s shoulder where he could see for Caspian. For the most part nobody tripped or got lost, though Caspian and Steven occasionally were pulled around a corner.

  The road mostly went up the wall of the Rift, but in a few areas it would pass through a small boxed area. In places that had enough area it would switch back on itself. The road changed in elevation quickly, going up an incline then leveling for a bit, then going up again. This allowed for a rapid climb without a continual rise. Alex and Diana stopped several times for water. The adults appreciated the pauses. They were to the top shortly before lunch.

  Going the other direction, Rox and Caspian had not paused long at this point. Now, they all stopped to rest and catch their breath. As she looked around, Rox saw that this was a narrowing area between the walls, where both sides were closing in to a boxed area, almost level, perhaps big enough to park a small to medium size wagon train. The road went almost straight, and into a hole in the wall. A slight breeze came from the hole. Above the roof of the chamber was still not visible.

  “Dad, how high did we just climb?” Alex was sitting, and had taken his water bag off his shoulder and sipped at it while catching his breath.

  Steven could not see anything around him, but was able to hear that they were in a smaller area. “No idea, Alex. But my ears did pop twice as we came up.”

  Diana tabled the next item of business. “When do we eat? I’m hungry.”

  Caspian answered this. “We go up the road a ways further, through some tunnels, then we come into some caves and chambers. We can eat there.”

  Steven was surprised to hear Caspian talking in English, having been used to him speaking in native languages. Rox was less surprised, as Caspian had been using English since they had picked up Diana. The subject had not been brought up, but she figured she would ask Karen to implant some languages into the kids, the same as had been done to her in Shalaia.

  Steven nodded, and stretched his back a bit. “Is anyone behind us that you can sense?”

  Rox and Caspian both turned and looked back along the Rift the way they had come from. Caspian cast about with his passive senses, but only picked up the party around him. Rox also ‘listened’, and only picked up Caspian.

  Rox spoke first. “I don’t sense anybody. Do you?”

  “No. If everyone is ready, let’s get going.” Caspian turned to the tunnel. “Shield your eyes.”

  He reactivated the spell on his staff, and shortly a dim column of light projected from it. Caspian kept it pointed down mostly, and in front of him the rest of the time as he took the lead. Steven needing the light, he followed close to Caspian. Alex caught up to his dad, taking his hand or otherwise being nearby. Rox and Diana followed last.

  Journal of Steven Caplan: Day 150

  The trip out was almost anti-climatic. The only exciting thing was a few of us gagging on some mineral water.

  We had planned well, and ate the last of our food for breakfast before hiking the last couple of hours out to the surface. We had also lost some sense of time along the way, and came out after dark. Karen had the cargo tarp set up as a fly off the back of the wagon. She had also set up our tent sometime since we had last seen her.  The animals were near by, having been allowed to go farther to forage. Dinner simmered over a bed of coals when we came out. But to us it was a lunch time meal. As it was, the exertions and stresses of the last few days had us all ready for bed.

  The kids were nervous to be out of the cave, and of Karen. Neither spoke any language the other could understand at this point. After dinner the kids insisted that I sleep with them in the tent. They also wanted Rox inside, but there was not enough room for all of us. So Rox got under the tarp with Caspian. Karen remained in Caspian’s borrowed tent. Cyrril disappeared into the night.

  Steven had a dutch oven of bread going next to a the lid of the other which he used as a griddle for eggs, while the pot of the same was used to cook some meet and vegetables, all for breakfast, or actually for early lunch, as everyone woke well after dawn.

  The kids both got out of the tent in time to help Rox take care of the animals. Mainly this was to get the stake that Karen had tethered the hobbles of one of the ponies to, and move the animal to a fresh spot of grass, along the stream bank. The other pony and Karen’s horse both stayed near the hobbled one. Next they switched the hobble out to the other pony. Karen had mentioned to Rox the night before that she had been rotating which animal was hobbled. The animals done and seeing breakfast ready to serve to the first comers, they went back across the little meadow they were in.

  Caspian and Karen joined after the kids were given their portions. Diana and Alex were surprised at Steven’s bread. They gobbled the first hunks quickly, clearly enjoying it.

  As they ate, Steven and Rox caught themselves starting to talk to Karen in English, only for Karen to stop them and get them to switch to her language. Steven and Rox decided this would be addressed later, but needed to be addressed.

  With breakfast done, and the dishes washed off, Rox declared that everyone was going to bathe, regardless of how cold the water was. Also that they was going to be a day of resting before hitting the road again. As well, this would give Karen time to explain herself and what had happened in their absence. Then Steven noticed that there was a fresh pile of dirt near the north wall of the canyon meadow, about big enough for a few bodies.

  As the Caplan’s had only one set of washing stuff, each parent would take their respective child over and around the corner of the wall in the pond. This order being set Rox gathered her things, and Diana, and went to set the example.

  Cyrril showed up, and this being the first time Alex had seen him in daylight, he spent some time looking the little dragon over, and touching and holding him some. The young boy also started asking questions. Could he ask questions now, that they were out of the tunnels? What happened to his eyesight that everything was in color again? Why was Diana’s and mom’s hair white like Grandma’s? Why were there four moons? Why were only three visible at most? Two were almost full, and one was new. Where were they? Why were the stars different and what languages did these people speak? Could he keep his sword? Could Dad teach him how to use it? Could one of his uncles, or someone else that Mom knew? Who were these bad guys and why did they do what they did? Why did they take mom away instead of bringing her with? Who is this strange woman who was keeping the camp? Was she a friend of Caspian? Who was Caspian, and what did he do? …..

  Rox and Diana returned, both looking a bit damp. Rox had changed clothes to her spare set and proceeded to lay her damp set that she had been wearing out to dry, after having rinsed it out. Diana followed her mother’s example. Steven got his spare set of clothes and the spare for Alex, and took the soap and towel and took Alex around in the same direction Rox and Diana had been. Alex was a little nervous, about the water itself, but otherwise he and Steven were quickly washing up. Alex realized that his hair was now as white as his mother and sister’s. Following Rox’s example they both rinsed the clothes they had been wearing, and then getting out they shared the towel, dressed, and returned back to camp.

  Caspian got up and went to wash as Steven and Alex laid their clothes over the available tree branches to dry.

  Diana looked at her younger brother. “Alex, you need a hair cut. Your hair is all sticking up.”

  Alex took a moment to look his sister over. Rox and Karen were working on either side of Diana, braiding the sides of her hair into three braids like Rox had been wearing before letting them out to rinse her own hair. Unlike Rox’s length, Diana’s hair was too long front to back to stand up very far, and all folded over to the back. Seeing nothing to directly tease his sister over, he instead turned to his sword.

  The grip was overlarge for his boy-size hands, but he still held it correctly. The scabbard was of the same wood that the grip was, both finished to a matte red, and showed the blade had a slight curve to its shape. The crossbar was a stylized oblong disk at the end of the grip, just large enough to keep an adult hand from sliding past onto the blade. Alex drew the sword from its scabbard. For his childish stature, the sword was over sized. When grown to full adult size, it would be medium to short length with a single hand wield. It was single edged, with a rounded chisel point, and a mild fuller on the thicker part of the blade. It had a polished cutting surface but the rest of the blade was a matte finish. Alex immediately showed that he understood how sharp it potentially was, and was all business handling his sword.

  “I could use this to cut my hair. One swipe and it’s all the same length.”

  Steven watched his son, but was not yet ready to be excided. “Put your sword away, Alex. There is nothing here to use it on, unless you want to show-and-tell to us.”