126 – Mom to the Rescue

  Rox stood for a moment, catching her breath, and focusing her mind on the magic pattern she had been taught. Then she yelled/cast her daughters name at the house, in English.

  “Diana Margaret Caplan, come her now.”

  She took her staff to a ready position, not sure what to expect. She could sense some commotion inside, and then her little girl came cannonballing out of one of the windows. She tumbled to her feet, looked around, and ran most of the way to Rox, yelling what Rox had ached to hear.

  “Mom!”

  But Diana stopped a few feet short, not quite recognizing her mother. This was understandable, as there was little about Rox that was quite the same as it had been before this all started. As well there was almost no light and Diana was seeing Rox with her expanded senses for the first time.

  Rox had prepared for this.

  As her daughter stopped, the door to the house opened, and a local elf woman came out calling for Diana to come back into the house where it would be safer.

  Rox moved a step closer. “Diana Margaret Caplan. You come here now. We are leaving.” Roxanne had rarely used that tone of voice, but Diana instinctively knew it and that to hesitate to obey it meant tears before bedtime. She moved, doubts put aside for a moment.

  The strange costume that her mother was wearing was new, but fitting. She ran to her mother and wrapped her arms around her mother’s waist.

  Rox cradled Diana’s head a moment, then batted the incoming magic aside with her staff. Diana shied away from this around behind her mother, as Rox turned to face the Urnvtai elf witch.

  “Give me that little girl.” The witch took a few steps out away from the house, mainly to avoid damaging it in the conflict that was about to happen.

  Right then, Rox saw Cyrril, who was looking for her. “Cyrril!” Rox was still using her command voice. The little dragon arrowed right for Rox and her outstretched hand. Diana had not let go of Rox’s belt, since latching on to it. The witch was busy formulating a spell. Rox had to clear the field before getting into this fight.

  “Cyrril, take my daughter aside. Protect her.”

  The dragon’s thoughts were indecipherable to any but Caspian, but Rox could briefly see the mental conflict and resolve in the little beast. It wanted to report to Caspian, but also recognized the primal tone of a mother protecting its young, and the unstated consequence of failure in that charge.

  Cyrril chirped, and climbed from Rox’s hand to Diana’s shoulder, wrapping his tail around her throat as a protective necklace. Diana tried to look at him as he moved, while also maintaining a hold on her mother. But with her distracted, Rox had herself free from her daughter.

  Right then a blinding flash and rush of air crashed through them, as the witch fired her opening salvo.

  Diana had cowered to cover as Rox covered her, hoping her shields would hold.

  They did.

  Leaving her child with the little dragon, Rox turned and activated both ends of her staff. Something about filling a giant with terrible resolve slipped through her mind as she charged at the witch.

  The witch had thought this to be a quick route and then clean up. That Rox was relatively untouched was a surprise. That she was charging took a moment to register, and that the gold chains and attached jewelry were alive with energy never got a chance to get on any mental list. Instead the witch stopped her next spell, and activated a ring on her finger, pushing out a wall of force.

  Rox could sense the wall coming. An expanding ring of energy emanating from the ring in the witches hand. Rox countered with her staff again, swinging it so that both ends struck the wall, one that stopped its expansion, and the other shattered the spell with the energy evaporating.

  The witch completed her spell, and tossed a small sphere of energy at Roxanne.

  Rox had never played any game like lacrosse, softball, or golf, mostly from lack of interest. But she swung the staff, connecting with the ball of energy and batting it away hissing and spitting to land where it would harmlessly fizzle with out actually going off.

  Rox was now in striking range of the witch, and let her have it with both ends of the staff. She connected with each of the witch’s arms shattering the bones in them, and finished jabbing the witch in the sternum. The witch fell over backward, gasping for breath that would not come.

  Rox stood ready for the fight to continue, but she had already won.

  Rox watched as panic spread across a face that appeared not that far different from her own in age. Before the panic could reach full bloom the life behind it began to noticeably fade, already slipping into unconsciousness. Death would soon follow.

  Rox had not thought about killing this elf. And as she watched the features relax they reverted to their natural beauty. Rox moved again, as she had since starting, with thoughtful urgency. She deactivated her staff, and knelt beside the elf woman, no more a witch. Rox reached out with her magic sense, looking for healing magic. There; on the amulet in the woman’s purse at her side.

  Rox dumped the purse out, and picked up the small piece of black marble set in a holder of metal. Rox took this, and then drew a blank. She tried to remember the phrase for a generic activation, but couldn’t.

  Two someone’s stepped up behind her, surprising Rox. Caspian and Diana stood there; Cyrril still on Diana’s shoulder.

  “Caspian, what was the General Activation?”

  Caspian knelt, took the necklace. “Let me.” He spoke a phrase that crackled with power, and the amulet unlocked and started emanating organizing power. Caspian quickly put it around the elf woman’s neck. He looked at her a moment and then took the arm closest to him, and holding on the elbow and wrist he spoke another sharp set of words and pulled the arm straight. He then spoke a softer set of words, these wrapping around the arm to splint it. He then moved around and did the same on the other side.

  “She won’t be able to do anything with her arms for several days, but they will heal.”

  Roxanne and Caspian stood, Diana moving to her mother’s side and taking her hand.

  Caspian looked around. “Time to go. They are already getting the fires under control. Then they will be looking for us.” He turned to head back the way he had came, Rox following with Diana, when Diana tugged her mother in another direction.

  “This way, Mom.”

  The adults followed the child between a few houses, into another open area. Diana looked quickly and raced across it to a child’s playhouse, and crawled in. Parties of locals could be heard nearby. Rox and Caspian looked briefly at each other, and around. Rox quickly followed Diana inside. She briefly thought of Lewis Carroll, then pushed that aside.

  Inside the playhouse was a hole in the floor. Diana was already climbing down a rope ladder. Rox tested it, then followed her daughter, holding her staff in one hand as she went down. Caspian followed after.

  The shaft went down into a maze under the town. Diana led them through several tunnels and into the first chamber. There was phosphor on the walls, but not very bright; the air a bit staler. Caspian called them to a stop here.

  “Roxanne, I realize we need to get out of here, but Diana reeks of magic. We need to diminish that now.”

  Roxanne knew what he meant, they having talked about it on the way here. The magic had been in her senses, but she had been focused on other things. She turned to her daughter. “Diana, come here.”

  Rox knelt to look Diana in the eye, as Caspian commenced drawing on the ground with his staff. Cyrril was still on Diana’s shoulder. Rox looked at him.

  “Cyrril. Thank you. Go help Caspian.”

  Cyrril blinked, turned and leapt off, Diana turned to watch him go.

  “Mom, he’s a dragon, isn’t he.”

  “Yes.” Rox took her daughters shoulders in hand and turned Diana to face her. Some uncomfortable memories were in the back of her mind, but she had to put her daughter through the same things she had been through.

  “Now listen to me. Caspian and I need to remove some magic from you. To do this you need to be brave, get undressed, and do exactly as you are told and nothing else. This is going to be uncomfortable but it won’t hurt. All right?”

  Diana looked dubious for a moment, but nodded her agreement. She then looked at Caspian as he finished his first circle, still muttering. Suddenly Diana felt very warm, and began removing the clothes she wore.

  Rox felt the temperature shift as well. As Caspian completed the Warding Barrier he also removed the chill from the air to help Diana be more comfortable on the cold stone.

  Rox took her staff, and while Caspian drew the circle, she drew the pentagram with inscribed octagram. She finished this and noticed that Diana was hesitating to finish undressing. She went to her daughter.

  “Diana, what’s wrong?”

  “Him, being here.” Something about Caspian disturbed Diana.

  Rox guessed, correctly, that the local elves had already begun to try to indoctrinate Diana into dark magic, so she would already be adverse to a white wizard. But that wasn’t all of it. Then it came to her.

  “Oh. I see. In this case it’s all right. Like being at the doctor’s office. Remember?”

  That physical had not been a high point for Diana but she had survived it.

  Rox could sense her daughter’s reluctance, and something else, more than just being indoctrinated. Caspian would later explain that she was sensing some dark magic that had already been bound to Diana to turn her natural personality to a more malevolent bent. And that Diana was fighting it. But to win right here, she needed her mothers support.

  “Quickly now, the sooner you lay down, the sooner you can get dressed and lead us out of here.”

  Rox took the tunic her daughter was wearing and pulled it over Diana’s head and off.

  She tossed this aside and then noticed the little necklace Diana was wearing. A black piece of rock in silver setting; similar to the one that the witch had.

  Rox fingered it, and looked at Diana. “Where did you get this?”

  Diana’s features and aura shifted suddenly, and she tried to turn and flee, wearing only her breach cloth.

  Rox having had some practice at this game caught her daughter before she got one step.

  She quickly picked her daughter up, and holding her with one arm she pulled the breach cloth off with the other. Diana was kicking and starting to scream.

  Rox and Caspian had prepared for this, hoping they would not encounter it. Rox spoke the prepared spell. The crackling power of it shocked her as it wrapped Diana up and rendered her body limp, effectively severing the connection between Diana’s mind and her body. She then carried Diana to the center of the octagram and lay her down in it. Caspian had completed his part of the spell and had been waiting for this. He had felt the power of Rox’s spell and gave a slight shake of his head at its necessity.

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.”

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.