116 – Final Plans and Preparation

  Karen fell in step with the Caplan’s “We hike all day tomorrow, then about this time the next day we should be at the cave entrance.”

  Rox was most shaken. “We just killed those men. Without any hesitation. Over what, some food?”

  Karen took up the answer. “You did not kill yours, though they were badly hurt. Food, metal items, you life. The bag was to cover your head and arms. The archer in case you tried to resist. They would not have worried about your life or pain. Don’t worry about theirs.”

  Karen knew that she now had two more faces to fade to gray in her dreams. She stepped away from the Caplan’s as Steven put his arm around his wife’s shoulders and kept her walking. Karen’s senses told her that Steven was as torn up as his wife, but better trained to deal with it.

  “That force wall was rather efficient.” Karen spoke to Caspian, taking the animals lead back.

  “Thank you.” Caspian replied. “Weren’t some of these guys at the village we stopped at?”

  “Possibly. I did not take a long look at them then. Probably should of. Would have if I were actively hunting. I must be a bit dull of edge right now.”

  Karen’s passive senses told her that Caspian was unsure. Cyrril was watching, her. She risked a brief active scan of Caspian. She found he wanted to compliment her, but did not know how.

  Karen walked along quietly smiling slightly. Caspian was cute when he was befuddled. Cyrril was just plain cute, when he wasn’t creepy.

  Over the next two days the most remarkable thing to happen was the road had a branch, and gained a bunch of altitude. After that it appeared to be little more than ruts across a forest and its meadows as the river valley gave way to mountain foothills. The road paralleled the stream between foothills and started into a canyon of the mountains.

  Along the way, they discussed the plans of who was going where, after which child. Karen had already mentioned that her information was of the two villages, elf and psi-warriors. As she had gotten to know the Caplan’s she was confident that Rox should go to the elf village after Diana, and Steven to the psi-warriors after Alex.

  Steven and Roxanne also took opportunity to practice fighting together, as a team. Caspian gave them some illusionary characters to fight.

  Karen was impressed by their competence, and heartened that this just might work. Her problem was that despite his dour and unfriendly behavior, she found that she rather liked being near Caspian. She was commissioned to kill him, and train the Caplan’s. She was in process with what she needed to for Steven and Roxanne. When the kids were here, she would need to do the same to them.

  Journal of Steven Caplan: Day 144

  Hiking though mountains, Again. It is both surprising and disconcerting how far we are and are not away from where we started. If I got our directions and distances right, we are a little over one hundred miles straight line east from Skarg. Looking at a local map would be nice, but we left the city in enough of a rush that we did not get one.

  The canyon climbed at an easy climb, mostly. A few parts were deceptively steep. The road picked up and followed a stream that wound back and forth a bit, before the canyon widening into a larger clearing. Two large boulders straddled the road as it entered the clearing and went up a short rise. The stream wandered to the south side of the clearing and into a small lake or large pond fed by several sources. On the north half of the clearing the road turned into a stand of trees against the curved wall of the canyon. The trees shaded a large cave mouth on the east wall of the north east corner of the clearing. Once at the cave mouth, and turned aside to a convenient camping spot, Karen began to relax.

  Steven was the impatient one. “Do we go in now; just saddle up and head in?”

  “No.” Caspian answered. “First and most importantly at the moment, you would not be able to see. We rest for the afternoon, and as far into the evening as we can. Tonight, after our eyes have adjusted, then we go in.”

  “I think he is right.” Rox seconded. “Sure, we could go in and be adjusted within an hour, but we would not be rested.”

  Karen spoke up. “And I have a bit more to tell you, now.”

  They turned to look at her.

  Karen put on her professional face and began. “I have been waiting to now to tell you that I have to give you the path to the villages. I need to do so in a manor that you will not loose, using my talents. The best way to do that is with you at or near asleep.”

  Steven responded. “So that was what you did to us those two nights. I wondered where those dreams came from.”

  Karen was slightly put off by this. “Yeah it was, but you were not supposed to remember my actions.”

  Rox laughed slightly. “You have never slept with someone for years. You notice when they are gone over long. Then looking out and seeing you kneeling over Steven was a shock, but since you were not hurting him so far as I could tell, I let it go, and figured you had done the same to me. We don’t remember your actions in first person, but each saw it done to the other, and put two and two together.”

  Karen was very put off by this. “I will have to remember that.” She continued. “Anyway, I need to do that now, to give you the borrowed memories of people who have been on the path you are now going to go. It will be easier than drawing you a map you will not otherwise be able to read.”

  “You won’t change your mind, about coming in?” Caspian asked.

  “No. I won’t. I would just be in the way of you and Roxanne. I could help Steven some, but he will do just fine on his own.” Karen answered.

  “And you will still be here when we get back.” Rox commented.

  “Someone has to watch the horses.” Karen responded. She had other things to prepare in the mean time anyway. “Any other questions?”

  “Yeah,” Steven turned to Caspian. “Why not teleport, this time? I am fairly certain that you don’t know the landing point, regardless of any magic shields that might get in the way. So teleporting in is out of the question. But why not teleport to get back together, or back to the surface?”

  Caspian looked at Steven for a bit, trying to decide whether Steven was just teasing, bringing up a settled argument for the sake of rearguing it, or being serious. After a few moments of the men not staring each other down, Caspian answered.

  “I expect that there are magic users of several stripes among the elves. If you have a teleport of sufficient distance prepared to do, you can escape them quickly. Otherwise they can sense you casting your spell and interfere, piggyback, or follow easily. Do you want to try to fight in a cavern where you have to provide your own light, and they can see clearly? How about have tag-along’s showing up unexpectedly? No, the better way is that of the mouse, run for the tunnels and hide where they can’t easily if at all follow. Once we are clear of the initial search groups, we can reassess the situation. That is of course assuming that these elves that Rox and I are going to go to react typically, and aggressively.”

  Steven accepted this. He really had not expected Caspian to want to teleport, but was curious to know why.

  The horses were hobbled, but otherwise allowed to roam and graze. The cart was set among a copse of trees in sight of the cave. They had taken time to sort through their things and set up their bags and equipment to hike. Steven was still going back and forth about carrying his crossbow, particularly because he had his gun, but noise of the gun vs. bulk of the crossbow . . .

  Karen set up a bit of a camp for herself. After some reluctance, she set up Caspian’s single occupant tent for herself, and she left it to air out before putting her sleeping gear into it.

  After being sure that they were ready, the Caplan’s and Caspian lay down to rest, and nap. Karen took advantage of this, with permission this time. Once done she puttered about camp and the meadow. She had dinner ready when the other three got up from their naps.

  They sat around the fire burning down to coals talking as the last light from the sunset fled the sky, three of the moons had set behind the western hills in the afternoon. The one of the twins was up over the eastern mountains before full dark, brightening things a little.

  Caspian had given Steven the trackers the elves had made for Roxanne and Alex. Somewhere he had acquired necklace chains and attached the trackers as medallions. Steven quickly intuited how to read them. Rox’s had a bright rainbow dot at the center of the doomed surface. Alex’s had a very dim dot partway down the side and to the southwest, as oriented to the compass. The necklace was long enough to look at the medallions without removing the chain from around one’s neck. Caspian had thoughtfully arranged the trackers on independent loop-strands. Steven unhooked Rox’s from the neck chain, and hooked it into the pocket of his jacket.

  Rox was given the pair for Diana and Steven. Diana’s dim dot was to the southeast. Like Steven she put the chain on and separated Steven’s from Diana’s and put it in a pocket.

  Along the way, Steven had gathered three sticks that were of a length to use as torches. He had some strips of canvas that he had acquired and soaked in lamp oil carried in a sealed leather bag. As he sat he wrapped some strips around the end of one of the sticks to use as a torch. He took two more sticks and secured them to his pack to use if this one he had burned to un-usability. He expected to use one each for about a day before it was little more than kindling for cooking on and maybe starting the next one.

  Caspian declined any torches, stating that he would use his magic. Rox had been practicing with her heat-vision and was going to work with it.

  Steven sat across the small fire from Caspian, Rox to his right, Karen to his left: they were conducting a final briefing and discussion. Karen was discussing the path they would have to travel. As Caspian and Rox began to digest and brainstorm about getting Diana out of the village, Karen turned to Steven.

  “You have the harder task. The people in the village you are going to – there is no way you can stand up to them in a concerted fight anymore than you could stand up to me long term. You have seen what I can do, with my talents. There are people in the village you are going to who may be orders of magnitude stronger than me.” Karen was deadly serious about this.

  “So how do I fight them? Hit and run, and don’t let them pin me down?” A tinge of negativity lurked in Steven’s mood, partly from the sense that Karen might be bragging just now.

  Karen shook her head. “You don’t fight them. You use a different tact, and the one thing that should convince them. Your blood-right to your son.”

  “Just walk in and ask?”

  “Exactly.” Karen could sense Steven’s dubious assessment of the situation, or of her information. But she had already put this idea into his subconscious. She threw down her next play.

  “Look. My grandmother’s grandmother came from them. They value family above all else. Twelve generations ago they broke out of slavery. Ten generations ago they came to this world. That sense of family is the primary reason for both of those. You assert your family and it should be a stronger means of battle than your physical skills. Your preferred weapons are unavailable. Your army is not here to back you up. But just by being the father of your son, you have already won. Those who are true to culture will stand with you, against those not true.”

  Steven considered this. At the same time, he decided not to take the crossbow.

  “And if I do have to fight?”

  “They are as human as you an me. Still soft and squishy with a few hard parts. Your sword does not stop psionics, so be careful with that. Most psionics do not use magic. I haven’t heard of any locally that do. If they attack you with psionics, just keep your mind as focused as you can, like any other attack and injury. Almost no non-psionics can withstand direct psionic attack.” Karen was a professionally matter-of-fact as she could be.

  Steven accepted this, as he put the prepared torch away.

117 – Descent into the Underworld

  They started at night, to avoid a long adjustment period for seeing versus not seeing. The cave entrance was large enough to drive a laden caravan wagon into with room to spare. From the outside it was a dark spot in the dim light from the small moon.

  The cave itself stretched into the hill and mountain essentially straight for as far as could be seen from outside in daylight.  Not too far after that, the cave opened into a larger cavern. The road turned to the right, the south, and started down hill in this cavern. The size of the actual cavern was indeterminate without more equipment and time than was had, but the echoes of the sound told of it being reasonably large. Not long after turning the corner Caspian used some magic and lit up his staff. The carved dragon on the head emitted a weak light, enough to see clearly, without flash blindness. The light moved about as the staff did, being a directional beam, which Caspian was careful not to wave around. Rox’s vision had begun to noticeably expand beyond the visual and into the heat spectrum before entering the cave, and was clear even before the light from without failed. For his part, Steven kept his torches aside, but ready, walking behind Caspian, letting his light be sufficient.

  Before long the cavern gave way to a tunnel. In the dim light, it was hard to tell if it was natural, or carved. This passage proved carved from a natural tunnel, as it traveled mostly straight, with a perceptible downward grade, and not quite smooth surface with wagon ruts worn smooth by use. The walls alternated between carved regularity and natural irregularity. There was a slight breeze in their faces as they hiked.

  After what felt like a few hours and several miles of straight travel, they came into a second chamber. This was the first crossroad, and a good rest stop, particularly as all were tired from hiking the most of the day, and now part way into their normal sleep cycle.

  They quickly settled into a side area of the chamber. A brief inspection showed it to be a sort of way-station, similar to the ones they had encountered on the highways above ground. They picked a camp spot and were quickly asleep.

  Journal of Steven Caplan: Day 145

  Filling in from memory. Acclimating to being underground was strange. Before too long my hearing began to tell more information than sight. I did not get real good at it, but confidence soon overcame fear.

  Rox could see just fine, thanks to her awakened ancestral abilities. I think her hearing was better than mine as well.

  I do still wonder who the miners were that carved the tunnels, and what equipment they used. From what I gather from underground mines at home, there is some terrific engineering at work to extract the minerals without having the ceiling give way.

  Where we were, most of it was natural caverns, which I presume were somehow the result of natural geology in action.

  Steven woke first and made a few false starts trying to start a small fire in a protected hole in the pitch blackness with just flint and steel. Cyrril came to help, and got the fire going. This was in a small depression carved into a larger rock about a foot tall, as a sort of cooking stove. Cyrril then disappeared into the dark. Steven then put together breakfast, finding it tricky to do with only the reduced and reflected light source of the fire, and doing his best to keep it as a reflected light, rather than looking directly at the fire and loose what night-vision he had. Rox and Caspian woke in turn, with Cyrril fluttering in from elsewhere not long after. They ate, packed up, and left the remnant of the fire to burn out.

  The cave continued to alternate between improved passages and caverns as it went generally south and down. They continued in the same order as they walked the first set of passages. As they went they talked in hushed tones. Rox and Caspian, and Steven laid out their general plans of the next few days to each other.

  Steven planned to trek down the few days to the cavern with the village of the talents, taking the shorter side route, and walk in and demand Alex, his son. From all Karen had said that was all he needed to do, and then prove his credentials. But that would not be hard for the talents. Then he and Alex would leave via the main passage, heading to a certain large cavern, and hook up with Rox, Caspian, and Diana.

  Caspian and Rox were likewise going to hike through the tunnels to the village of the elves where Diana was supposed to be. They would have the harder time as these elves were reputed to be generally hostile to surface dwellers, let alone humans. Rox had already been planning for this, without knowing exactly why. She and Caspian had only to work out the details. They would then have to evade pursuit and any other trouble. Along the way they would have to scan Diana for anything done to her. Rox figured she would dismiss the spell she had cast on Diana as an infant, at least for a while.

  There was supposed to be a large cavern that the highway connected to, and was near to halfway between the villages they were going to. Karen suggested this as a staging point to regroup before coming back to the surface. Further there was supposed to be a freshwater source. Rox and Caspian then could attend to any magic on Alex as well. Whoever got there first would have to hide for a time to let the other catch up, and be where they could be found by each other without being found by any pursuit.

  They soon arrived at a major crossroad where they were to split up. This was not a large cavern, but a carved crossroad sufficient to turn a large wagon and team in. All the air moved from the three tributary passages and up in the direction they had come from. The left cavern where Rox and Caspian were to take was dry air. The middle one Steven was to take was dry, and the right one was moist, and smelled slightly foul. Also the two dry passages went down, the moist one went up.

  Steven watched Caspian and Cyrril move off into the dark. Rox lingered a bit. They embraced and kissed.

  “Good luck,” Steven whispered.

  “Bring my son back, safe,” Rox responded

  “I will. Bring back my daughter.”

  They let go. Rox turned and walked off, squaring her shoulders under her load. Steven put his thumbs under his shoulder straps and adjusted his load, shrugging his shoulders to resettle it. He was left with just his torches for light, as Caspian’s light did not carry far.

  First, Steven looked at the tracker for Alex. The dot was brighter than it had been on the surface, though that might be because of the difference in the ambient light. Steven turned, and oriented for a bit, then set to other business.

  Normally, Steven would turn on a red or blue filtered flash light, or some night-vision goggles. These all ran on batteries and teleportation apparently drained batteries. He did not have anything that let him see ambient light, either magic or technology. So he got out one of his prepared torches and one of his matches.

  Carefully Steven struck the match and touched it to the oiled cloth wrapped and tied around the end of a good stick. The oil was slow burning, and did not produce much flame, but would be consistent for many hours. He did not want to affect his dark-vision too much, as that would become a liability. Normally he would call it night vision, but for the next few days, he was not going to see any difference between day and night.

  Steven held the torch high, putting it high and behind his head, it was above his eye line and out of his peripheral vision. The air current carried the smoke behind him and up the tunnel, while also slightly fanning the torch to burn a bit brighter. The tunnel itself maintained the same general size and shape to accommodate a laden caravan wagon in its carving that the previous ones had shown, so he had no concern for hitting the top with his torch. He set out down his appointed tunnel.

  As comparatively heavy as the batteries for the light would have been, Steven wished briefly he had one. It would make less heat than the torch, and would not consume the air he needed to breathe. Also with the right lens it would not leave bright spots in his eyes, the way a torch would. He had had enough of that in the catacombs looking for the sword, so he tried to be more careful here.

  Several hours along, his eyes had adjusted to the almost complete absence of light. And he came to his next crossroad. According to Karen, the village he wanted could be reached by several routes. The one he was on at this moment was the most direct and thus most likely to be thoroughly watched, after the main one. As he walked, Steven’s mind wandered back over the last months of his life, and how much had changed. He also watched for the turnoff Karen had told him to look for.

  This led to another line of thought, focusing on her. Just who was she? What was her roll in this drama? She had plenty of advantageous information, but was this a good thing?

  These thoughts rolled through Steven’s mind as he found the turn he was looking for. This led to a parson sized, less direct set of passages, Karen had said. And these still had their own dangers: fewer guards, more natural dangers.

  Aside from being a bit footsore from another week’s worth of hiking, Steven had no real troubles his first day alone, and his second day under ground. He found a side chamber to sleep in when he decided he was tired enough. Evidently this was a common stop on this path, as it had what appeared to be a dung hole. Steven used it as such and did not give it a second thought.

  Journal of Steven Caplan: Day 146

  The Sun does not govern ‘day’ and ‘night’ underground. Sleep-cycle does.

  The next time he was awake, after making and eating breakfast, and relighting his refurbished torch, Steven pushed his coals and trash into the hole after everything else and moved on. Before going very far, he entered a large cavern, so large that he could not gauge its true size. A vague reflection of light seemed to filter in from high above, and to come from far below. Steven knew he was ignorant enough about geology to not bother guessing how deep it could go, as for light sources he had no idea.

  The trail he walked traveled along the wall of this cavern. A few spots opened into flat areas large enough to move around on, but the path had been cut right onto the side of the wall wide enough for one to walk comfortably, or three abreast with one against the wall and the other side right on the edge. Some places the path tunneled through outcroppings, others it was overhung. Were there light, it might have been vertiginous. But generally the path was just flat against the wall. In one place Steven found the wall dropped away underneath, and a metal bridge had been constructed. This was old enough that a glassy, thin layer of rock had formed over most of it by the same process that stalagmites and stalactites form.

  As he stood on the middle of the bridge, Steven realized he was standing in a downdraft of moist almost fresh air. His torch fluttered and flared brighter.

  “Fitch would have loved to explore this area.” Steven spoke, remembering a Marine who loved spelunking. “Wonder how big this really is, like Carlsbad, or that set in the Appalachians, or wherever it really is near there.”

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.”

130 – Covering the Bases

  Karen had previously given a cursory warning about the weapons from the psi-community. First that it was even odds that they would give Alex one. Second, that through some psionic tricks, the weapon would somehow be tuned to Alex and only him, such that anyone else trying to handle it would get anything from a mild shock to bitten hard. Because of this, Steven and Rox had so far not brought up much about Alex having the sword, other than to keep it put away unless he needed to defend himself or his sister.

  Alex brought the sword over and held it out upright to his father. “This is mine. The people in the cave gave it to me. They cut a small patch of skin and hair from my head and folded it into the metal as they hammered it to shape. They said I was not to loose it or let anyone else handle it.”

  Karen spoke up in her language. “Did they send a book with it?”

  Steven again remembered the scroll, still in his pack. He answered in the local language. “Yeah, they did. Is it the Manual of Arms?”

  Karen had understanding of such weapons and their unique qualities. She knew of the book and had a general idea of its teachings. But she had neither any such weapon, nor any training from the manual of arms for one. “Most likely. I expect it is written in their script. Unless they did something to Alex, or taught him their alphabet and dictionary, he will need one of them to read it.”

  Alex listened carefully, but did not understand any of it. “What is she saying, Dad?”

  “That you need to hold on to the scroll that the people sent with when they picked you up. At some point you will need someone like those people to help you read it, unless you can read their language.”

  “You mean like when they put their language into my head? One of them did something like that. On our way out.”

  Steven remembered what Alex was referencing. “Did any of them do any of that to you, any other times?”

  “I think one of them, did, but so I could speak their language. Not that most of them did speak. Mostly they just talked in my head.”

  -Like this?-

  Alex turned directly to Karen, his boyish face full of anger. “Don’t do that again. You’re one of them aren’t you?”

  Steven intervened, before the potential conflict escalated. “Alex! Put your sword away.”

  The older women finished with Diana’s braids, and Diana and Rox switched places.

  -Right now, everyone can hear me. One of my grandmother’s grandmothers was from them,- Karen answered Alex’s accusation. -I’m from the city that you were taken to, before being sent into the caves. And I’m helping your parents to get you back and safe.-

  “Fine.” Alex picked up the scabbard for his sword, and the belt it hung from. “Stay out of my head.”

  Alex slid the sword home, and put his belt on and settled the sword to place with some evident practice and familiarity.

  Steven turned the spotlight away from Alex, and onto Diana. “What about you, Diana. What happened to you? Did you bring any thing out?”

  Diana shook her head. “Anything I might have brought was taken away. The Urnvtai gave me a necklace, but when mom took all the magic off of me, the necklace had to go with.”

  Rox interrupted her daughter. “It had some bad magic on it. I had to get rid of it to bring you home.”

  “We’re not home yet,” Diana grumped. “The Urnvtaīnī I was placed with was trying to teach me their magic. One of the things she did was to magic their spoken language into me before I went to bed that first night. Then she was teaching me their writing. The letters are a lot different than at home.”

  Caspian strolled up at this point. He was about to speak to Karen, but noticed she was halfway through a braid on Rox’s hair, and let the subject go. Not having a spare change of outer clothes, he had rinsed his current set out. Now for fun he showed off a little, and cast a spell that pushed all the water off of him, making a puddle on the ground.

  As soon as Rox’s first braid was done, Karen excused herself to go bathe, whether she actually needed it or not.

  Diana and Alex took turns talking about all that had happened to them. They had traveled with the caravan. At first they were in a cart. Then they were allowed to walk. Along the way they were given local clothes purchased in a market. Alex got a little sick from some food, but was soon better. It rained sometimes. They saw some strange animals, and occasionally someone from the caravan hunted, and skinned and cut it up what he brought back. There were twenty men in the caravan. Diana could see that one of the men glowed more than the others, the way that Caspian and Mom glow more than Dad or the other woman. At first they could only point and grunt, but soon Diana and Alex began to understand some words. There was no reason to run away, because there was no where to run to. Also both kids knew that Dad and Mom would come, eventually. None of the men tried to do anything to them, other than keep them healthy. Both kids were surprised that hey could see in the dark, but kept this to themselves.

  They were put back in the wagon and taken into the city and across the river into the castle. An important man looked at them, and the men from the caravan were dismissed. Some other men led the wagon back out of the city, and they were brought to a town where Diana was given to four Urnvtai, and Alex was given to five of those other people. They were taken in different directions.

  Diana was taken down another cave and taken to the Urnvtai village. They were not surprised that she could see in the dark like they could. She was given to a woman who had two other daughters, and a boy who was not hers. She was teaching them all magic. Her husband was a builder of some kind. The Urnvtai woman cast some spells on Diana so she could speak and understand the language. The Urnvtai kids allowed Diana to play with them, once they understood she could speak their language. Diana tried to find her way to the main tunnel, but was always stopped by the time she got to the passage to it. She did begin to learn their written language and a little of the magic the woman began to teach Diana.

  Alex was taken down a different tunnel than Diana, and into the village of the people who thought to him. These people were surprised that he could see in the dark, as they did not. Rather as an extension of their mind-powers, they could sense the world around them. That was also why they liked the phosphorescent stuff to give off light. He was given to a couple who could not have kids. This helped the wife to be happier, as she tried to mother him. But Alex hated that they thought into his head, rather than talked. The man did put their spoken language into Alex’s head, but they still mostly thought at him. The kids in the village teased Alex because he could not think into their heads. Alex was not able to explore very far. But the people were surprised that he could swim, the one time he got to the lake. It was colder than Tahoe, so he did not try to go very far.

  The man took Alex to the smithy where a small chunk of his hair and scalp were cut off. It was about the size of his finger nail, and had since healed. The bit was then folded into the middle of a chunk of metal that was being hammered into the sword he has. The smith taught him how to treat the sword and to be careful of it. When the sword was ready, another man began to teach Alex how to use it, starting with a wooden sword, like the other kids, so that nobody got very hurt.

  When Karen returned, Rox borrowed one of her knives to trim Alex’s hair, with Karen and Caspian giving advice on technique. First she cut the sides carefully, evening them to about the thickness of Rox’s fingers. Then she took the top and back. Like Diana’s it was not yet standing up the way Rox’s did. Part of this was due to the length of the hair. Neither Diana nor Alex had received a haircut since coming here. Carefully Rox trimmed Alex’s mop to a mohawk. Diana watched as the shorter hair began to stand up straight on its own. Karen took a moment when Rox was finished, to smooth things out. This because of Rox’s lack of specific skill more than anything. Alex was then sent to rinse his head off, and come back. Rox and Caspian gathered as much of the hair as they could, and burned it in the fire.

  Alex was all grins when he came back. “Can I keep the mohawk when we get home?”

  Rox remained noncommittal. “We will see.”

  Diana declined a haircut just now. Even so, her hair was standing a few fingers taller than it had the day before. She played with her braids some.

  The afternoon was uneventful. Alex and Diana pestered the animals a bit, and explored the meadow with instructions to not go up stream or down. Rox and Steven inventoried all their gear, and noted how much was left, and how far to anywhere to replenish. As this finished, Steven prepared another batch of bread. And put it aside. The couple then lay down for a short nap. Before long the kids were getting archery and crossbow lessons.

  Caspian looked his equipment over, while spending some time looking at nothing, in Karen’s general direction. It was Caspian’s turn to prepare dinner this evening. So it would most likely be a stew. He started prepping vegetables when he had nothing else to do.

  Karen mulled about, with little to do. Eventually she joined the archery lesson, mostly observing.

  As dinner progressed Steven brought up the question about languages. Steven started this meeting, as the food was being consumed. Steven sat with Rox to his left, then the kids.

  “I will start in English, and Karen is the only one who cannot understand it, but I trust she can pick up the meanings, from our thoughts.” He looked at her as he said this.

  Karen nodded in agreement and acceptance.

  Steven continued. “Between us there are several known languages, at least one of which we still need to use for a short bit. Starting from myself as point of reference, my native language is English, with Rox, Diana and Ales, also native. Caspian also speaks it, but is a bit rusty. Caspian used magic to put bits of the language of Dorston and the northern traders’ dialect into my mind. Caspian and Rox can both communicate in those. Then there is the language from Shalaia. Again a magic implant; I can remember it, and can probably understand it if it is spoken to me, but can’t really speak it just now. I think Caspian speaks some of this, and Rox is fluent. Then there in the local kingdom’s dialect. Again a magic implant. That is spoken by me, Rox, Caspian, and Karen. Diana and Alex don’t, and so I am not using that just now.”

  Steven then turned to Rox. “As for Rox, I believe I have covered all the languages she knows, though not necessarily the level of fluency or method of acquiring.”

  “Diana, speaks English, as noted. She reportedly picked up a few words from the caravan which I presume is the local dialect here. And the elves below put their language into her by magic.”

  “Alex, like Diana has English, and some local words, and the language of the people he was with, by their mind powers.”

  “Caspian has been generally covered, though he no doubt speaks several more languages to various levels of ability.”

  Caspian nodded positively to this.

  Last Steven turned to Karen, who sat next to Caspian, and across the fire from Rox.

  “Karen speaks the local language as her known primary. She also has shown some fluency with the southern trader’s dialect. Whatever else she knows beyond that is not known. Apparently she has no knowledge of English or of the Shalaia dialects. However with her mind powers, if she is listening, she can hear a person’s thoughts to understand them.”

  Karen nodded, and answered in her own language. “Yes. That is a good summary.”

  Steven watched Diana and Alex, who both showed some recognition of part of what Karen said.

131 – More preparations for . . . what?

  Steven continued. “It appears that our next planned stop is a check in at Shalaia, with the extended family; then the four of us return to our home planet.”

  Rox, Caspian and the Karen all appeared to mutually agree as Steven put this forward.

  Steven turned to Karen. “Switching languages, a moment.”

  Steven continued in Karen’s language. “How long are you staying with us?”

  Karen appeared reticent. “That depends on how things go. As I said before you went down that hole, there are things that need to happen, that I need to prepare you for. The next step includes the kids.”

  Steven made the connections and leaps instants before Rox. “Some of what you put in my mind before we went down was useful down there. Thank you for that. But there is more, isn’t there. Somebody’s machinations still involve us here in this kingdom.”

  Karen finished her bite before answering. “First to your language issue; the kids need the local language, so that anything I have to say will be understood by them. Then I can prepare you for the next bit. So, Caspian, do you want to do your language spell again, or do I do the ‘mind-power’ thing on them? Or Rox could do the spell.”

  “That is an overnight spell,” Caspian answered. “And when the talent in Shalaia did the knowledge thing to Rox it took her overnight to recover, and a little longer to process. Are you saying that is where things stop for the moment?”

  Karen nodded. “Yes, pretty much.”

  Diana spoke for herself and brother, as his mouth was full. “What are you saying?”

  Switching back to English Steven pointed at Karen and Caspian on his right, and Rox on his left, “You and Alex are going to have one of these three, use their native skills to give you the local language, and maybe also the language of the elf’s that your mother’s family is descended from. This will be done tonight. Then when we can all understand her, Karen is going to explain more.”

  Alex answered through his full mouth. “I want Mom to do it.”

  Steven nodded. He trusted Karen, somewhat, but there was something unsettling about her, more so since they rejoined company. He was not so worried about pushing her into something, as simply having her come clean.

  The discussion continued, with Rox asking about how to do this spell, and how it worked. Rox made sure to ask in English, not to exclude Karen, but to include Diana and Alex. Caspian likewise answered in English. Further to Rox’s approval, Diana listened to the magic theory.

  With the magic lesson in process, Steven gathered his crossbow, his coat and hat, and Alex. Getting Alex into his own poncho, Steven led out of the little meadow and down stream in the rapidly settling dusk. Steven walked as quietly as he could; Alex picked up on this did his best to walk quietly. They soon were a few turns down the canyon, when the floor of the canyon opened further.  Alex saw his father change, going from quietly hiking to more dangerous. The cross bow was prepared and carried before Steven, in a comfortable position.

  Steven kept track of the sky, as he hiked down the canyon. He wanted to find something to harvest, before it got so dark he would need Alex to lead him back to camp. Unfortunately luck was not with him, and they soon began hiking back up the canyon.

  Alex was delighted to begin to see in the dark again, as much for the novelty of it as the new things he saw. Alex understood what hunting was, but had never been out with his dad, as Steven did not go for some reason that Alex had never thought to ask about. Now as they hiked back to the meadow, Alex was happy just to be out with his dad, as they hiked back to the camp.

  A heavy chill settled in the canyon as full dark came on.

  Steven and Alex returned to find that Caspian and Rox had a plan for the spell, and that Caspian had been drilling Rox on its execution with Diana paying attention. Caspian explained that Rox would be casting the spell before they went to bed, and the spell would then work on them all over night. Further that the spell was of such design that it only transferred language, and not anything else.

  As this was happening, Karen was practicing her skills, climbing on the rock wall near by. The cold of the winter night seemed to be of little notice to her.

  Finally came bed time. This time the whole family would sleep under the cart and the tarp set up behind it. This simply because the kids did not want to sleep alone and their tent did not hold more than two adult bodies comfortably. Caspian would be in his tent, and Karen in the larger one.

  Under Caspian’s direction Rox cast the spell, marking every person in their group. Diana and Alex were marked as recipients of Karen’s native language from everyone, for the elf language from Rox, and the trader’s dialects from Caspian and Karen. Karen was marked as a recipient of English from all of them, and the elf language from Karen. Steven was marked for the elf language from Rox. With all of these markings in place, the spell was completed and set to its work. They all then went to bed.

  As they slept, the spell began its work. The perceived manifestations, as usual, were that the dreams had by all were in the new languages, as the spell was able to disseminate them. For Alex and Diana, as with Rox, the elf language was less new information as information retrieved form long-term storage. Karen found that English was as flexible and expressive as her native language, though the grammar different from her native language. The other languages were less remarkable, and actually provoked some almost nightmares for Diana. In Alex’s dreams, he had his sword to counter and change things.

  Journal of Steven Caplan: Day 151

  Karen seems determined to work her machinations. Rox wants to do similar. Not necessarily the same machinations, but they are on parallel tracks. Karen has things for us to do and people for us to see. Can’t she just tell us straight?

  Either way, this has been a nice rest. Time to get back on the trail the kids should be up to it.

  Looks like a storm front is coming in. The weather in this area is strange. I would expect it to be colder for how far south I think we are.

  The next morning was curious as everyone but Alex deliberately tried out their new languages. He made deliberate efforts to keep distance from Karen, even when she spoke fluent though accented English.

  Diana began singing some song to herself as things went along. Karen asked her about the song. Diana responded in Karen’s native language that she had picked the song up while underground, and it was the language they spoke, and was similar to the one from the other elves.

  With breakfast finished and cleaned up, everyone began packing the cart. The tents came down in short order and were rolled up and stowed. Everything else that was not going to be worn was packed up.

  Then Karen interrupted things. “I need to talk to Rox and Diana. There are a few things I need to show and tell you.”

  Rox and Diana went aside with Karen, where she sat down with a bag that had previously sat in Karen’s pile of things in the cart to this point. Steven, Alex, and Caspian gathered around, with Cyrril swooping in to land on a tree behind Karen.

  “Rox, do you remember how I said to deal with a demon?”

  “You mentioned silver and fire,” Rox answered. “I gather from the specific things you have tried to teach me, that this is all connected.”

  “You are right. While you were down below, I made this.” Karen opened the bag, and showed then a rope. The rope itself was to thin to try to support weight, but would serve as a lead line or for tying down cargo. But it had a metal sheen to it.

  “I brought some silver and melted it to liquid, and impregnated it into this rope.” Karen handed the bag to Rox. It was both lighter and heavier than expected.

  “How long is this?”

  “It should be long enough to touch the ground from fifteen floors up. Tie it to an arrow, and your bow should be more than strong enough to carry the rope its own length.”

  Rox was growing concerned. “And when am I supposed to use this?”

  Karen put on her professional demeanor. “I will let you know, the same way I let you know about the passage to the village.”

  “Do you want me to ask what I may have to fight?”

  “No. And I won’t answer you even if you do ask.”

  Steven spoke up with his own concern. “Why don’t you just tell us outright? Why the intrigue?”

  Karen stayed neutral. “You will understand after it all happens. You are smart and good with information. I just hope you don’t figure things out too soon. For your own safety.”

  Steven and Rox looked at each other, as they began considering this.

  Karen got up and pointed at the cleared dirt on the far side of the trees, almost to the wall of the canyon. “That is fresh. I did it myself, the afternoon before you came out. They will not be reporting to Skarg that you have Diana out of the Urnvtai village. You needn’t worry about anybody warning about Alex. I understand there are other politics involved.”

  The Caplan’s considered the dirt, that they had just been told was graves for unknown elves. Steven shrugged and turned back to Karen. Rox looked longer, before turning to contemplate Karen. Diana seamed content with things. Alex dismissed things and was ready to move on.

  Caspian turned to Karen with one question. “And their gear? Is it traceable?”

  Karen dismissed the concern. “Just standard stuff. No reason to keep any of it. If it were magic, you would already have been making a fuss about it. Let’s catch your ponies and get then harnessed. Then we can go.”

  As they traveled, Rox and Karen began team teaching Diana and Alex how to fight. Alex resisted Karen, but she persisted, and at Rox’s urging demonstrated her knowledge of using a weapon like Alex now carried. After this, and with Steven’s not interfering, Alex let Karen begin instruction on the basics.

  Caspian was friendly to Karen, but still a bit standoffish. He was particularly annoyed about her method of revealing and distributing information. However either Cyrril or Caspian was in evidence the whole time. He also took moments to review spells and situations with Rox. During this time Rox reminded Caspian of his own proclivity to keep information close. Steven found himself mostly as a wrangler, leading the ponies, with Karen’s horse again tied to the back of the cart.

  For her own part while she walked alone, Karen was particularly worried about why she had taken such a quick liking to this family of off-worlders, let alone the wizard. He was still cute, and reminded her a bit of herself. She still had to evaluate and be sure that the kids were up to the task ahead, as well as their parents. Her psionics would be helpful with that. Alex would be the most tricky; depending on how strong the bond with his sword was, and if it acted the same as with talents. The other option was to deal with him when did not have it.

  Seeing how much attention and interest Diana had in the magic, heartened Karen. Seeing that both kids had been instructed to some degree in how to fight was reassuring. But there were still unknowns.