"Staff made of wood," said Shamki.
Humbort"s eyes opened very wide and he stopped as the donkey-pulled wagon continued on its way. He stood rooted to the spot for several minutes as the wagon moved ahead of him until he realized he was by himself and had to sprint to catch back up.
"What staff?" said Tanner.
"Finish story," said Shamki.
"We do have an agreement," said Tanner to the big half-orc who nodded his head.
"The Shepherds were living things of their own right, not animated objects from the crafts of wizards. At least that"s how the stories go. But, so as not to anger my daughter further, I shall continue with my story. Dredogastus told me they knew right away that something was wrong although they didn"t know about the shipwreck and connect the two events until years later. The water that came into the fen was tainted with what the old Fen Druid called the Living Death. Those old fens have been around forever and there are graves dating back to the Old Empire hidden amongst all the decay. Dredogastus said things started to rise and clerics of Mistress of the Abyss began flocking to the fen."
"Who?" asked Shalalee.
"Smyrnala," said Humbort and put his face into his hands. "The G.o.ddess of Death, Ruler of Thanatos, Princess of the Dead, She Who has Always Ruled and Shall Always Rule."
"Yes, yes we get the point," said Tanner with a shake of his head while he looked down at Humbort who immediately stumbled over a rock in the road that he didn"t see because of his covered eyes. The thin man went down with a thump in a tangle of arms and legs. "Go help Humbort will you, Tylan," went on Tanner while Shalalee covered her mouth to silence the giggle.
The lad leapt off the wagon, his arms and legs flew in all directions, but landed safely enough and began to help straighten up their fallen companion. "Come on Humbort, Smyrnala isn"t here now."
"Don"t say her name," trembled Humbort his hands shook violently and he curled up into a ball.
"It"s okay," said Tylan with a pat to the older man"s back. "Everything is going to be fine. Shamki"s here and so is dad."
"You didn"t see all them skeletons," said Humbort his whole body beginning to shake uncontrollably. "There was thousands of them, all walking and digging and then that arm, that staff, and they all wanted it and now we"re going back to the cave."
"I don"t understand," said Tylan. "Come on, Humbort, snap out of it. The wagon is getting ahead of us."
The man sat on the ground sobbing violently but eventually allowed the young boy to help him get to his feet, and they began to walk toward the wagon and make up the distance between them slowly but steadily.
Back on the wagon everyone sat in silence for long moments and waited for the other two to catch up. "What"s got Humbort so spooked?" Shalalee asked Shamki.
"The Staff of Naught," said the half-orc with sort of a growl.
"I don"t like the sound of that," said Shalalee.
"No," said Tanner with a look at the half-orc. "Is that what all those skeletons wanted out on that shipwreck?"
Shamki nodded his heavy head. "Now we got."
"So, that"s what this is all about. Just water that ran over the thing infected the entire Salt Fen. Dredogastus didn"t track years much so he didn"t know how long it was but it"s been almost thirty years since the wreck according to what I found. Thirty years of death seeping into the Great Salt Fen. Dredogastus said it didn"t used to be so bad in there but now there is death everywhere. All the creatures that lived there over the years, so many years, since the world was born, they"re all coming back as dead creatures and the Priests of Smyrnala have control over most of the fen. That"s what Dredogastus told me, what he showed me."
"Show you?"
"I had to see for myself," said Tanner with a shrug of his shoulders. "Lousa said to find out what I could."
At the mention of Lousa"s name Almara"s face went sour as if she had to spit out a gristly piece of meat. "I don"t like that woman."
"She"s all right, Almara," said Tanner and gave his wife a kiss on the cheek. "You know I like a woman with a little more meat on her bones than that skinny little half-elf."
"She"s skinny but she"s got huge b.o.o.bs!" said Shalalee not particularly helping matters.
Shamki chuckled which sounded more like a growl and looked away as Almara gave him a look with her eyes almost closed in a squint and her nose wrinkled up.
"I know that look," said Tylan, who finally caught up to the wagon. "What did you do, Shamki?"
Tanner and Shalalee immediately started to laugh, after a moment Shamki and Humbort joined them, and even Almara struggled to keep quiet.
"The fen is overrun with worshippers of Smyrnala according to Dredogastus and he took me back into them, not far, but enough to see."
"See what?" asked Shalalee.
The merchant shook his head and wiped his brow, "Things you don"t want to see. Dead things eating living things, squirrels, even insects, dead flies, dead maggots, dead things. Now it makes sense. This staff of death, tainting the waters of the fen for thirty years bringing decay and death."
"What does naught mean?" asked Shalalee "Nothing, the Staff of Nothing," said Shamki his deep ba.s.s voice seeming to intone solemnity to the p.r.o.nouncement that hung in the air for long moments.
"Not like nothing at all," said Tylan.
"No, not that kind of nothing," replied Tanner. "So, Lousa"s got this staff now and she wants to talk to me before I talk to the mayor?"
Shamki nodded his head.
"She knows the mayor will find out I"m in town and I"ll have to report to him in any case, right?"
Shamki shrugged.
"Where is Lousa with the staff?"
"Iv"s Leap," said Shamki.
Shalalee"s eyes widened at the mention of the location, "That"s where he jumped off because he loved Miralee!"
"That"s just a stupid girl"s story," said Tylan and pushed his sister as he climbed back into wagon.
"Actually," said Tanner. "That one is real although I"m not sure he made the leap simply for love, stupidity might have had something to do with it."
"Stupidity and love are related to each other," said Almara and put her arm around her husband. "Do you remember that fellow I dated back in Cap when we first met?"
"You dated someone besides dad?" asked Shalalee and looked at her mother with raised eyebrows.
"Yes, your father and I had lives before we met each other and before you were born, as shocking as that might be."
"What happened to the other guy?" asked Tylan of his father.
"It was nothing," said Tanner but could not help the wide grin that came across his face. "You were a saucy little wench back then. What was the name of that tavern?"
"You met in a tavern?" said Shalalee.
"You were a bar wench?" asked Tylan and the wagon erupted in a babble of questions, denials, and half denials.
Chapter 9.
Unerus swung from the rocks above Iv"s Leap as was his morning ritual. The birds by now recognized what time of day the boy made his visits and already swirled around the rocky point where he often launched attacks against them. The aggressive little Grayband Scrub-jays began to dive at him even before he got to the point, but he brought along a long stick that he used to keep them at bay. This kept him from his normal attacks and eventually they forced him around to the west side of the leap where a large overhang protected him from the birds but also provided a poor angle of attack.
For a day or two he was able sneak up on their nests and raid eggs but most of them had hatched and the fun quickly evaporated in any case. So now he spent a few hours swinging from one rock to the next, his legs dangling over the chasm and otherwise occupying himself. On this occasion his sister joined him and sat away to the opposite side of the leap and painstakingly worked with string and needle to apply the lessons that Lousa tried to drill into her.
"Come on, Ariana!" shouted Unerus as he flipped himself up over the lip of the cliff and spotted his sister sitting in the sun. "Forget about stupid knitting and let"s see if we can find those foxes!"
The girl looked at the long needle in her hand and ground her teeth together for a moment before she looked up at him, "If I don"t do it she"ll just make me stay up all night, and it"s hard in the dark."
"You"re no fun anymore!" shouted the boy and dashed off down the hill his eyes darting back and forth.
Ariana busied herself with the needles again their clacks somehow soothed her and now that her brother was gone the endless cacophony of the jays receded into a more normal pattern. She found her thoughts drift to those stolen moments with the Staff of Naught when no one else was in the cave. The thing drew her to it, she had to admit, in an unnatural way. At first she convinced herself that it was normal curiosity; after all the thing was a powerful relic possibly of the Old Empire. But, each time she held it she more deeply remembered the power over the skeletons that she briefly had, how they moved away to allow her to pa.s.s, how some of them even attempted an awkward sort of bow. "I could have ordered them around I bet," she said out loud, glad to be away from everyone in the cramped cave. Then had come last night; the others were asleep and she felt it call to her in a more persistent way, as if the voice wasn"t her own mind but someone else"s.
It was where it always was, in the back side of the cave around the corner where people didn"t have to look at it, didn"t have to think about it. She slipped off her covers after making sure she heard the rhythmic breath of everyone in the cave. Her brother was a light sleeper but she knew the sounds he made from endless nights together. Lousa made a funny little snore noise, not loud and gross but soft and almost pretty, just like the woman. Hazlebub snored like a grown man from the far end of the cave. As for the Ghost, it seemed to vanish for longer and longer periods these days. She darted her eyes in all directions and looked for the tell-tale blue aura of the creature. Even when the spirit was in the wall or ceiling, which sometimes it forgot that it was, its aura often gave it away. She supposed Khemer might hide deep inside the wall of the cave but she wasn"t sure it could see through so much dense rock. The exact nature of the spirit puzzled her, how it moved through material like a hand through water but somehow staying attached to the ground at the same time. She asked Khemer once why he didn"t just sink into the ground but the ghost didn"t have a ready answer. It was a puzzle for certain but none of that was on her mind last night as she crept around the corner to where the staff waited.
There was something different about it last night. For a moment, when she first rounded the corner it was as if the clawed hand held an object. A black, l.u.s.trous round rock. It gleamed although there was only the vague light from the embers of the fire around the corner to guide her. It was like the obsidian rock that came from The Maw. She knew all about that, master stone workers created all sorts of things from the black rock but this somehow did not seem the same. She stood and gawked for long moments before she blinked her eyes and the round rock was gone. She blinked again but it did not reappear. Ariana thought about going back to bed again but the voice in her head said that she wanted to hold the staff just one more time. Tanner would come back, Khemer would figure out a way to destroy it, and then she would never have the chance again. At least that"s what she usually told herself but this time it was different, she thought, as she reminisced. This time the voice wanted her to take the staff for another reason and just used her thoughts to drive her to it.
She was unable to resist the allure and felt a sense of relief wash over her entire body as her hand grasped the smooth tapered wood handle that seemed to fit her perfectly. She lifted it up over her head, twirled around, and whispered secret dreams aloud, "You will obey me," she said to a legion of undead minions. "I am your master!" But then the voice came and it wasn"t her own thoughts, it was someone else and it was clear and it was strong.
"Ariana," said the voice. She could tell it was an older man but the voice was firm.
"Yes?" she whispered back, suddenly paralyzed, holding the staff high above her head and standing on her tip toes.
"The G.o.ds are not real."
The girl was only able to give a small squeak.
"Ras of the Sun is nothing more than a Fiery Elemental from the time before the Old Empire," said the voice and she could hear the distaste in the words.
"I ... I ... don"t know what that means," said the girl still unable to move.
"It is difficult to speak but we will talk again. There is much of great importance to do, Ariana."
"Wha ... who ... are you?" she finally managed to tremble out, but the voice was gone and her body was somehow hers to control again. She immediately put the staff back in the little niche in the wall and went to bed. She didn"t think that she would ever fall asleep but eventually it was morning and her brother called her to come out and play.
At that moment she opened her eyes and saw the little wagon far below headed towards the hill. She watched it for a long time as it seemed to almost not be moving but it made steady progress across the gra.s.sy plans until she could even see the two donkeys leading the way although not the men in the cab.
"Uney!" she called out although did not look for her brother but continued to watch the little wagon.
A moment later the boy, breathless and holding a smooth flat stone in one hand appeared next to her. "Look at this skipping rock I found! I bet I can make it hop twenty times."
"Look," said Ariana and pointed down into the valley.
The boy"s sharp eyes widened, "It"s them!"
"How can you tell?" asked Ariana, looking at her brother with raised eyebrows.
"Who else would it be?" he returned the question.
Ariana nodded her head, "You"re probably right."
"Whooop," whooped Unerus and dashed off down the hillside to the entrance to the small cave while Ariana stayed and watched as the wagon drove progressively closer. In about five minutes she could make out the form of Shamki and she felt a little thrill run through her body and then the strange awkward walk of Humbort confirmed her brother"s opinion. A moment later Hazlebub, unwashed and smelling of sulfur for some reason, joined her at the leap.
"It"s them then," said the witch and squinted in completely the wrong direction.
By now Ariana knew that the old woman was very short sighted and couldn"t be trusted to get to the creek that supplied their daily water needs without a point in the right direction. Ariana pointed to the wagon below and gently led the old woman away from the ledge. "It"s them Hazle. What do you think will happen now?"
The old woman shook her head. "Between you and me, dearie?"
Ariana nodded her head.
"I have no idea."
"Oh," said Ariana.
A few moments later Lousa joined them on the top of the hill and looked down at the wagon for only the briefest of seconds and then turned to the girl. "They"ll be here in about half an hour. That should give you just enough time to finish today"s work," she said with a pointed look to the abandoned knitting needle and ball of yarn that had almost rolled off the edge of the cliff only saved by a small depression that was half filled with water.
"Oh sh ...," said Ariana but quickly corrected herself, "Oh my, what an unfortunate thing to have happened."
Hazlebub laughed but Lousa just looked at her with those eyes that went from a beautiful emerald green that matched her hair when she was happy to a stormy, tempestuous, violent green when she was angry. They were somewhere in between at the moment and Ariana quickly gathered up her wet yarn and needles and dashed down towards the cave entrance.
"What do you think the merchant will tell us?" asked Hazlebub turning to the woman.
"Between you and me?" asked Lousa and Hazlebub managed to keep the laugh that threatened to erupt down to a slight upward turn of the outside of her lips and only nodded her head once.
"I have no idea!"
At this the witch could no longer stem the flow and began to laugh out loud while the beautiful woman looked at her with a puzzled sort of expression.
Chapter 10.
Tanner looked over to the little group in the cave and to his children already at play with Ariana and Unerus. His wife stood, with her arms crossed, at the back of the cave and glared at Lousa while Shamki busied himself unpacking various items from the large sacks they brought with them.