Ch: 103 Crocodile Rock
They fetched up and made fast to a nice, sunny roadside clearing for a late lunch. The horses and ponies had a nice graze after a morning’s gentle exercise in the sunshine. The tiny bronze bells on their halters made a soft tinkle as they roamed, bringing pools of bug free air with them.
Becky watched them graze, almost hypnotized by the swirling bugs orbiting each animal in frustration, while the non herbivores ate mudbug tacos on the boat.
“That’s really all it is? Just music?” Becky asked, peering at one of the bells under a magnifying glass from Tawny’s kit.
“How does that even make sense… it’s just little marks…”
“That’s the part where I’m weird…” He sighed long and deep. “It’s musical notation, guitar tablature, about sixteen different languages in eight different alphabets… Kanji, a few different runic scripts, Ogham and some hieroglyphics… and cuneiform, linear A and B, sanskrit… acadian… cave drawings…”
“Uhh huh… explain this then?” Becky demanded, holding up Amy’s favorite sweater. “No metal tabs or buttons, no writing or marks at all, yet this thing is enchanted to the freaking moon and back…” She fumed, waving the garment at him like a bright blue accusation.
“This thing is probably as tough as Shai’s chainmail… Killing me…” She flopped down on a bench and started eating while glaring at her obnoxious brother.
“It's a khipu, a song spelled out in Incan knot talk... The textile language of a lost civilization from my home.” He shrugged again. “It’s just a song, an old song, so old…”
He began to whistle, sweet and low and then to sing softly, as he smoothed the rumpled sweater and gently draped it over Amy, where it belonged.
I’ll sell me rod, I’ll sell me creel,
I’ll sew my Johnny a coat of steel…
My love, has gone for a so-ldi-er…
#
Back on the way, Shai and the kids were riding in the early afternoon sunshine, while Liam and Tawny kept him company on the boat. Becky and Dannyl were still in the prow, making mellow sounds in turns.
“So why do you read and know all these languages but I don’t?” Becky demanded after a while. “I understand all the books in your memories and read them just fine…”
“Exactly, that’s why it took a while to spot it, you read them in my memories. Your language gift is empathic. It reads the intent to communicate directly and translates it for you… mine is more… intricate.”
He gave her the ‘buckle up, it’s getting weird’ smile he saved for only her, Shai and the kids.
“Somewhere in my skull… is every word I ever heard, read or saw, all the alphabets and exposure to random errata that anyone in my world finds themselves stuffed with…” That smile got bigger.
“Plus some extra, cause I’m what we call, a weeb.” He mulled that for a moment and continued. “More like, extra nerdy weeb, with a side of cripple. One that spent way too much time in the library, hiding from everyone and everything.” He sighed wistfully.
“In the library, it’s cool in the summer, warm when it rains and nobody calls the cops if you sit in the corner and read all day… good times.”
“I learned musical notation and tablature the hard way, the rest… they just come from my rotting brain. If you wanna enchant like me, musical notation and tabs are the start. There's way more to learn, like the art of the khipu sweater. Don’t blab that around… it’s my secret magic.”
“Gary… if you can knit a child’s sweater into a coat of enchanted mail... Why do you wear all those lobster plates?” Dannyl asked from the bow, while fingering his own enchanted leather and plates.
“When Skrigg shot me in the back, If I’d been wearing that sweater, I’d have a broken shoulder and a bunch of smashed ribs…” He thumped his armored torso with a knuckle.
“In this, I’d have been able to repay his kindness more directly. This isn't as good against armor piercing arrows… but the impact would have been dispersed.” He gave that mad grin again.
“Besides, nobody is intimidated by a person in a sweater, no matter how fashionable and elegant.” He finished with a smug little riff on his banjo.
#
Ease Way village was charming and very accommodating. After a few short minutes of cruising through the farmlands and fields surrounding the island, they tied up to the pier and gathered on the village green while the riders crossed a stone causeway into the village proper.
Fields spread out from the little island of stone houses in a verdant quilt of green in all the shades of spring. Deep dark garden beds of fresh turned soil showed where summer plantings were going in, while ponds swarmed with farmed catfish and trout by the canal side.
A few low, scaly snouts peered from overhanging bushes or pushed through the waterways. Crocs of more normal size swam here and there, avoiding humans for the most part.
The village rose on a low stoney island in the marsh, with a low, sheer waterfront wall of stone around the perimeter. Obviously a wildlife deterrent, rather than a defense against humans, it was barely a yard high.
People gathered in loose knots, gossiping no doubt about the visiting Adventurers in their midst. They wore loose fitting clothes that covered completely. All the trailing edges and hems were dagged and tasseled, designed to wave in the breeze and spook skeeters no doubt. Most wore veils or wide brimmed hats with dangling threads to confound the everpresent bugs.
Most of the local leather goods seemed to be reptile skin, so someone was keeping the crocs on their toes… The strange box for Gary’s crossbow made an appearance when the first croc did, though the weapon remained hidden.
The horses came stamping up the neat, cobbled streets, bearing Shai and her jingling bells. Her music joined Dannyl and Becky’s, in sweet chiming joy, that was what Gary was waiting for…
He spanked his guitar into howling life, rattling his strings in a primitive, driving beat, with a clanging melody line. The rest just shook their heads and joined the noise.
Well, take me back down, where cool water flows, y'all
Oh, let me remember things I love
Stoppin' at the log where catfish bite
Walkin' along the river road at night
Barefoot girls… dancin' in the moon-light
Wheeeaaaallll!
I can hear the bullfrogs callin’ me…
Somehow, his strange music fit the place and even more strangely, the people. Loose languid dancers took to the green, almost as soon as the music started. Banjos, washboards and other instruments began to appear as people came to see.
These people hear my music,
clangin’ through the trees…
Grab yer ol squeeze box
Come on look an’ see…
Either crawdad boil or catfish fry,
Dangle a line in the river and try,
Somethin’s goin down, out by the river tonight!
The poor mad boy kept improvising, expanding on ‘Green River’, scatting and playing until the whole town was gathered, stomping and clapping along like fools.
The music wound down, when Annie came over and nudged Gary with her huge chocolate nose.
“Sorry about that… sorry, my fault…” Gary scratched the giant horse’s ears while the rest of his party got themselves in order.
“Well…” An elderly man with a poorly concealed clay jug behind his back coughed into his hand. “I assume you are our Adventurers… come to put old Gretchen down?”
“Yes, Ginger Dreadnought, Adventurers out of Wheatford… mostly.” Liam replied, shooting Gary a sharp look. “Please forgive our intrusion… we will find a place to encamp and try to stay out of the way…” Liam sighed and shook his head in mirth and frustration.
“Gary… Shai… no, please…” Liam turned back to the village elder and bowed. “Again, my apologies, my comrades have decided to camp here… on the green. Please forgive us elder…?”
“Hamblin, youngster, elder Hamblin’s fine… what are they on about… more music?”
He turned to a tiny girl at his hip and swatted her on the behind gently. “Aimee, run get yer grandpa’s pipe and tell yer papa to get his fiddle, it’s a doing on the green!”
More residents were scrambling for their homes and emerging with… things. Kettles, instruments, tables, dishes, chairs and benches of every kind migrated from homes and onto the green.
Oil filled torches sparked up in holders and sconces all over the green, others were carried by hand, giving off a tangy, citrus and herb scent. Tables were set, braziers and grills lit, kettles began heating as fishermen began hauling in traps from the waterside.
Crabs, crayfish, lobsters, shrimp, and catfish all found themselves on the rapidly expanding menu, as the populace got ready to have a bayou party.
So intent on their own preparations, the townsfolk looked up as a group and noticed the new addition to the green, only after it was finished.
‘Proud Mary’ and ‘Old Man Down The Road’ rounded out the set, just as the cloud of steam from the baths started drifting skyward.
“Sweet… that was prolly the fastest setup ever… Rock on Ease Way village!” He shouted into the crowd, who had no clue, but cheered anyway. There were already a few kegs and clay cups around…
“Hey, Liam, help me schlep some groundworm out… we still have a lot…” Gary shouted to his brother, making Becky and Dannyl freeze in place, horrified.
The young duo watched, aghast as Gary opened the freezer door, onto a vast supply of dark red, gelid worm.
“There’s plenty for everyone…” He sang happily, as Becky wept in Dannyl’s arms. “I know, we have so much to be thankful for…”
#
“It’s like a whole town full of Garys, without the crazy magic and weird abilities…” Liam whispered to Khan. “It’s scary…”
Knots of people were scattered in the pools of lamplight as the fog came up, chatting, laughing, dancing.
A good portion of the village seemed to know their way around some kind of noise maker; washtubs, washboards, upended soup pots and clay jugs kept the music simple and lively.
“You see this in the fringe too, people just waiting for an excuse to throw a party… tomorrow things will be relatively normal… in a few weeks, if we come by again… boom.” Luna described an explosive event with her long, nimble fingers.
“Enjoy it while it lasts, they will. That’s why we do this on the edge of things.” Luna said sagely. “Those who live in between, or on the margins must find joy when and where they may.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
With that she hopped up, grabbed Khan by the hand and spun him out into the dancing bodies. Tawny strolled over, nudged Liam on the ankle and held out a hand in silence, smiling with golden radiance. He took her hand and swept her into the press, singing out in time as they danced.
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he's a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.
That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may, go marry;
For having lost but once your prime,
You may forever tarry.
“Where ever did you hear that bit of rhyme?” Tawny asked in amusement. “Is it yours?”
“I don’t remember… it feels old though.” He mumbled, lost in her swaying form. “It feels like I should worry about that…” Those thoughts drifted away in Tawny’s arms.
No one really noticed when the little family vanished upstairs to bed, Gary and Shai tucked in their sleepy kids and collapsed in their own room, sharing a kiss and a pinch of pollen.
#
“Knocked out this wall, climbed into the pond. She ate the whole catfish population while they were stuck in there with her. Fish in a barrel as it were.”
Huntsman Zorro wore a gator vest, a gator hat, gator boots and python pants, a string of croc teeth and claws ran around his hat band in savage splendor… but he had a clear, slightly drawling accent… not australian at all.
Gary was also disappointed, when he found the man’s name to be perfectly ordinary. Zorro was a common name in the region, for both men and women…
“That’s just not fair…”
They were standing on a levy road, overlooking a large fishpond. Several acres of low walled, murky water was churned into mud and stank horribly of fish refuse and croc turds.
“She headed off east, probably to sleep it off before coming back for more.” He said calmly while assessing the damage.
“How smart is it?” Gary asked. “Is it actually planning or just…”
“It’s just. Crocs are too dumb to plan or scheme, she’s cunning and tough, but don’t expect any genius moves.” Zorro said. “She’s too slow to catch enough small prey at her size, once she ate the last big critter in range, she had to find easy prey… That’s fishponds like this one.”
#
The kids were at the house with Becky and Tawny, keeping busy. Healers only made the trek to marsh villages occasionally, so word spread quickly. She found herself busy enough to recruit Becky and both kids to help, along with the local herb women and grannies.
Bug stings, snake bites, foot fungus, boils and ingrown toenails filled her glamorous Adventure, she reveled in every minor, bothersome moment. Tawny had a song in her heart, as she lanced and plucked her way through minor ailments aplenty.
She both loved and hated that Gary’s bath would have cleared up most of these problems with a few prolonged soaks.
“Ahh, that’s better!” She sighed as she stitched up the abcessed snakebite in Seamus Miller’s pet dog. The little hairy scamp was out cold on a table in the inn room she had commandeered for surgery.
“Becky, be a dear and take little Ambrose to the pool for recovery. Amy, who’s next?”
“All done… rest of the patients are for doctor Gary in the workshop… lots of broken toys in town.” Nurse Amy said with the confidence of the deeply precocious.
“Ohh.. well. That was exciting!” Tawny sighed happily.
#
“That was a little too exciting.’’ Gary sighed, as he used his spear in gaff form, to drag the crock onto the boat. “Do they do that often? Charge boats?”
“No. Almost never and then only when near a nest or a kill.” Zorro said quietly. “Something about you really pissed it off.”
“I’m not wearing it’s kinfolk man… sure it was mad at me?” He asked the hunter with a cheeky grin.
“Yeah, it was after you… not even the boat… you.” Zorro had one of those, ‘dude, I’m not fucking with you’ looks that almost always meant the opposite…
“It did really seem to focus on me…” Gary mumbled.
The beast was twelve feet long and heavily muscled. Ridged armor plates and thick hide were enough to make it the top predator in these waters and then some.
Sadly, Gary’s crossbow was a hard hitting argument for humanity to continue holding the top spot, for today.
The beast had charged from a low hanging snag and chased the boat for a quarter mile, bellowing its strange call. It took two bolts to get a solid hit on the creature, the third pierced its armored skull and ended the conversation for good.
Crocodile, beast, reptile, carnivore/aggressive, normal rank, threat: moderate/high
The sun was sinking, and the fog rising as they headed back to the village, Gary lit the boat lights as mist began drifting from the bayou and waterlogged forest. They bumped up to the dock just as the fog began to close its grip in the region for the evening.
Zorro, Gary, Khan and a number of late strolling volunteers managed to haul the croc off the boat and onto the pier. Together they dragged it into Gary’s garden for butchering; a long, bloody, but satisfying job.
#
“Gross Gary, you’ll eat anything won’t you?” Becky scolded as he washed up in the outside bathing room. Blood and less identifiable substances sluiced down the drain to feed his garden, as he washed away a long, busy day.
“You’re really just mad that I had more worm… lots more worm.” He sighed as a robe fell over his body. “I like this place… and the authorities from Port Clement can’t complain at me out here.” Gary strolled in through the garden door and hugged Shai up for a kiss.
“We bagged a gator, Zorro says he has some recipes for us.” He hugged the kids and bustled for the kitchen, pointedly ignoring Becky’s sour grimace.
“I had an idea today… Hear me out, fried worm nuggets…” That was where he lost Becky for good. She stomped off to complain to Dannyl.
Gary manifested a deep fryer in the corner, while everyone watched Becky’s dramatics. Shai turned around and sighed.
“Fine, Let me fetch some oil frae the stores…” She started fishing around when Gary stopped her.
“Hold on babe… make the nuggies with me. I’ll handle the fryer.” It only took a few minutes to get things sizzling, they worked together in the kitchen the way that they danced, intimately and without hesitation.
Stir fried vegetables, hot rice and fresh worm nuggies eventually tempted even Becky and Dannyl back to the tables.
The tempura and stir fried veggies were tasty, rice was a winner any day… she finally gave in and took a crisp, golden morsel and bit into it with resignation in her eyes.
“Ducky and his kin should be all finished before we get back…” Gary said happily, his knife flashing in quick economical movements, to quickly chunk up another slab of worm.
“Aye, what shall we do, an a coterie of unfriendly clerics descend in a strange town boy? Are ye mad? Fie dinnae answer that.” Shai grumbled, while she dredged a huge tray of worm chunks in flour.
“This time the gods are keeping mum, so it shouldn’t kick back on us again.” Gary smiled blissfully around a nuggie. “All they will know is that all those kids started sprouting Contracts.” The hiss of his enormous fryer and the whirr of the ventilator hauling out the steam silenced him for a while.
“These are really good…” Becky mumbled around a nugget. “Really good… what did you do? Did you put duskmoon pollen in the batter? These are too good…”
“Great idea Becks! Put a pin in that Shai… we’ll serve it with duskmoon edamame… our ultimate date night menu is complete!” Gary cooed while Shai smiled and nodded.
He dropped one giant tray of fried worm on the counter after another, steam drifted through the room drawing attention to their antics.
“Yer latest beer be just the thing…” Shai whispered before scooting off to fetch a couple mugs.
“Nothing added to the nuggets love, same recipe, tossed in yogurt and egg wash, rolled in seasoned wheat and rice flour into a quick beer batter dip and into the fryer…” Gary winked at her as though getting away with the greatest crime of the century.
“I filled the fryer with imaginary oil. Instead of draining the oil off, I vanish it entirely.”
The moment Shai returned with his beer, they stood together to face the crowded common room… A loud ringing, bell-like tone thundered from the instruments on the walls, drawing every eye.
“Hear ye, hear ye!” Gary called out, striking a heroic pose, while Shai fawned up at him adoringly, enjoying the deeply silly man she loved...
“The impossible nuggy is born… let the bells and horns ring out… Today is a grand day to know me! Bask in my glory and feast on the nuggies of my bounty!”
His maniacal laughter rang on and on, while the hungry crowd swarmed over the baskets of fried worm.
#
On a bright, misty morning, Luna was in the boat with the rest and not happy about it. Her new horse, Camelia, stayed behind in the village, along with the other normal equines. Only Annie trotted up the road, bearing Khan.
Even Herlick and Bannock’s extraordinarily well trained and experienced mounts would be a hindrance in the marshlands, so the crew rode in the boat. The little craft was packed to the gunnels with heavily armed, lightly armored warriors, wearing Gary’s weird ‘Life Jackets’.
“I hate these dumb things..” Dannyl griped again.
“Heya… bro, how much gear you wearing? How fast will you sink if you go overboard without my ‘dumb thing?” Gary smiled when Shai spoke up.
“I will nae let any sail intae action unguarded and liable tae be lost, none of Dread Pirate Shai’s crew will feed the mudbugs.” She said firmly. “Captain’s orders. First mate, see that tis upheld.”
“Sorry bro, captain’s orders…” His grin was insufferable.
Liam chimed in as well, happily bubbling along. “Your vest is actually a minor miracle… each of those little pockets holds a tablet of soil with a single balloon weed seed… within a few seconds of getting wet they inflate their bladder leaves with air… bloop, right to the surface.”
“Shut up nerd. You too Liam, herb nerds.” The young warrior had grumbled and complained about the bright yellow vest with a dozen tiny pockets, constantly since he had been ordered to put it on.
“You didn’t make the kids wear them...”
“The kids have those built into their stuff, I just didn’t tell them, ‘cause I’m sneaky and a bad person…”
#
Tawny and Nara stayed in the village with the kids and horses, minding the house. It was near midday when the first parent showed up with a dazed looking teenager in tow.
“My Josiah, he’s been smiling and giggling all day… got a whole day’s chores done in half a morning, then he started drawing pictures on the wall of my smokeshed in charcoal…” Mistress Whitwell complained while dragging a very amused looking late teen boy by the hand.
“Such pictures too, he’s always on about wanting chalk and such but this is too much, he must be ill…”
“Do I have your permission to assay his Contracts? The ritual is quick and harmless.” Tawny asked with a smile for the lad.
“He’s no Contracts at all, we haven't been able to negotiate any… fisher folk get little coin…” Mother Whitwell shifted and squirmed in embarrassment. “Craft asks so much and he is reluctant to take War…”
“Well he should be reluctant, mistress, he has been touched by lady Dana, the Healer. War would have been a constant sorrow and would have denied him his Contract.” Tawny sniffed. “He will be well when his new Contracts settle in. perhaps a day or two. It appears that he has spontaneously bonded with Joy, and Healer, The spirit of Water and the god of Beasts will be by, in a few weeks…”
“Lady Tawny, we have not negotiated any Contracts…” The frightened woman began, stammering in her haste.
“He did my dear… last night, in his dreams… as was done in olden days long forgotten, Dana abides no longer by the laws of mortals.” Tawny turned her golden gaze on the young man.
“Run, leap, celebrate with your friends… I think you will find that many have been greatly changed in the night.”
She pinned the nervous woman with her gaze. “Spread the word my dear, any that are worried, tell them to come to me. This is simply a blessing from the gods, long withheld, and now released into the world again.”
#
Their first clue was a mud slip, fifteen feet wide. Claw marks in the sticky clay made a few mouths go dry, even in the humid swamp.
“Oh, that’s big.” Gary said softly.
“Biggest in the region, that’s why we need help.” Zorro said happily. “I’ll leave anything big enough to swallow me whole to the experts.”
#
Gary slowed the motor and got his head on a swivel as they cruised into an open patch of shallow murk.
“Hsst… on the right…” Liam whispered harshly when he spotted the creature.
“Starboard ye lubber, I do see it.” Shai replied. Gary got his weapon up and passed it to Liam. The young warrior locked it into the gimbal mount with a click and reached for a quarrel.
“Wait, use this first, don’t miss, I only made a few.” The madman passed over a bamboo arrow with a bronze ferrule at the nock end and a triangular, iron armor piercing head. “Try and hit something soft. Throat, eye… inside the mouth…”
While they prepared, the slow moving ancient reptile had her own thoughts on the matter of hunters and prey, particularly, who was playing which role. She eased her long knobby body into the murk in near silence, vanishing below the surface.
With slow strokes of her mighty tail, she swam towards the human boat. The thing made one of the most annoying roars of challenge she had ever heard, while moving away from her at high speed, into the shallows.
#
“Ok Gary, come about, be ready to move if she charges.” Liam called from the bow.
“Shai’s taking the helm bro, I’m on crowd control and buffs. Dannyl, Becky, spotters.” Gary sang back while drawing out his trusty recorder.
Herlick, Bannock and Becky and Dannyl had long spears to repel any surprise boarding action, while Luna had her bow out and ready. Liam rested comfortably on his massive weapon while Gary tootled up some nonsense. Shai’s steady hand on the helm was a reassuring thought.
Shai had the prop going at a slow reverse to counter the current, as the giant croc stalked them over the mud flat. She was at least forty feet from nose to tail. Ten feet wide at the belly, with a jaw that could swallow a pony in a bite or two.
Her hide was knobbed with dermal plates and thick enough to make her an unchallenged terror in the swamp. Mud, silt and small vermin shook loose and fell off her broad back as her bellow shook the marsh. She made a furious dash at the puny humans.
Liam’s weird bamboo quarrel shot right into her open mouth and shattered into a forest of sharp splinters and metal shards.
Pain blossomed in her open mouth, pain that spread to engulf her whole head in moments; dazzling, blinding, debilitating pain broke her charge and left her thrashing in fury.
Luna bent her bow and hurled an arrow into the softer flesh behind the croc’s jaw, as she rolled and thrashed on the mud flat.
Liam blasted an armor piercing quarrel into her exposed throat as she rolled, quickly reloading and taking aim for another shot.
“I’m running dry bro, use this on your next shot.” Gary gasped as he handed over a heavy bolt of solid bronze. Liam tossed the mundane bolt aside and seated the thing. When he fired, the bow lurched ominously, as though pushed back by some awful force.
The arrow hurled faster than the eye could follow, blasting a terrible wound into the creature’s throat.
Liam grabbed another of those bamboo quarrels that seemed so effective and lined up on the awful wound he had already inflicted. His bolt shot true, right into the gaping rent in her armor.
“Back, up… I’m out…” Gary mumbled, sinking to the bench beside Shai. “She’s done, just not a clean kill… Beast will forgive us this time I think.” He gasped, leaning on her sturdy shoulder. Gary handed Shai a small clay tablet. “Full reverse love. Get some distance, then break that tablet and duck.”
He slipped to the deck, into a meditative pose and began a series of breathing exercises. “Don’t mind, me just too tired.”
“Fie, Becky, take the helm, I hae ye Liam, Gary keep yer meditations up.” Shai’s violin and bells began to sound, as she played; smooth, mellow and slow. Her brow furrowed in concentration, as she brought her gifts and enchanted tools into full harmony.
“Oh!” Gary gasped from the deck. “That’s a cool breeze!” In the corner of his eye, where his stamina, mana and etheric pools were hovering near empty, things started bubbling. They surged and boiled as the levels began creeping up slowly, but not very slowly.
He felt Liam cock the bow again, taking a big bite out of what little had recovered.
#
Becky cut to port hard, digging in to drive the boat hard for the deeper channels. Liam kept hammering bolts into the monster, while Shai’s wailing violin and hypnotic, shimmering hips dominated the scene.
Her wild wailing music lifted so high into the sky even the sun seemed to shine a little brighter…
Becky cut the tiller and pushed the motor into full reverse, to pivot the little boat, strafing by the monster so Liam could really nail her.
He took full advantage, hammering a bolt into the massive beast’s concealed earhole. That sent her over the edge, she started to break for deep water, scrambling off the mud flat.
“Now, Shai, everybody, duck!” Gary gasped, taking his own advice. Shai cracked the little tile against a cleat, while Ravel’s ‘Bolero’ was still resonating in her violin.
Terrified birds flashed into a clear springtime sky, as a shattering thunderclap broke over the world with humbling violence.