Wizard Lallo looked at the slashes on Sidi Chikat’s, Tomau Lop’s, and Pira Pibul’s arms and back. She handed them each a small bottle, and they choked down the contents. The cuts rapidly closed as the elixirs took effect. Zalim Misra cast a repair spell and reattached Pari Navid’s arm. Pari returned the favor by fixing Zalim’s back. She first repaired the other android’s skin covering, then restored his fighting gear to a usable condition.
Golsho and Ladi checked one another’s cuts and healed them, as Zamani watched in disbelief. The five fighters stood together doing repairs to their gear.
“Erboon!” Sage Elvan repaired the back of Jal’s fighting gear as Wizard Kir and the Luminary checked one another for damage.
After the fighters checked one another for damage, they examined the corpses of the enemy. The creatures had returned to the form of four-footed felines. Their skins were soft and similar to the small felines that many shopkeepers kept for controlling the rodent population. There was no indication that any of them had carried weapons or worn armor.
They gathered the weapons that their enemies had dropped during battle. Most of them were simple swords. Dr. Gyasi picked up a staff and examined it. One end was rounded with an eye carved into it. He took it to Wizard Kir, who attempted to identify it. Under an identity spell, the staff appeared to be a simple walking stick, but Kir could sense that there was some sort of power emanating from it. He slid the stick into a slot on his belt.
After the group members had gathered their things, they shouldered their packs and continued walking westward. As the group went along, several of them commented that it seemed someone or something was moving in a parallel path. During a short break, they filled canteens from a stream, dropped purifying tablets into the water, and searched the landscape for plants and animals they hadn’t seen before.
“Do you sense that there’s something watching us?” Luk asked Jal.
“I’m uneasy, but I think it’s because those creatures changed their appearance. I can’t tell you if there’s something out there or not, sorry.”
“I think we should have guards on duty tonight,” Luk proposed. "We got lucky today. Some of us were injured, but no one died."
Jal stopped walking. “Have you actually seen something?”
“No. But I don’t think we should let down our guard.”
“I’ll talk to Dr. Gyasi when we stop.”
The expedition members kept a steady pace and walked for several hours before slowing down to forage and hunt. The wildlife was prolific and there were many small mammals and birds. As they ate a meal of fowl and a collection of wild edible roots, Dr. Gyasi organized the armed guards for the night. Guards patrolled the campsite, watching for threats, and the night passed peacefully.
People began their morning routines early. Some were awake right at dawn and took care of food preparation before beginning their scientific observations.
Chetan Loe and Sidi Chikat were packing their gear when they noticed a feline that looked like those they had encountered the day before. They quietly alerted the others in the group.
Using spotting scopes, Pari Navid, Cirus Young and Dr. Gyasi confirmed these were the same type of felines. Golsho, Morti, and Jal studied the maps. There didn’t seem to be any high places that would provide defensive advantages to the group, so Jal contacted the scientists at one of the Enclaves.
“Are there any large groves of trees in the surrounding area?”
There was a long pause as the scientists studied the maps. “No. There’s a stream about eight kilometers northwest of your present location. There’s a very small cluster on the west side of it.”
Jal thanked her and ended the conversation. “Let’s go there.”
“Why?” Dr. Gyasi asked.
“We’re going that way anyway. If we’re going to fight, the trees might give us an advantage. It would be nice to have some shade to rest in. Access to fresh water would be helpful.”
As the company headed west, they could see the felines moving parallel to them. When they reached their destination, they filled their canteens and studied the surrounding area. Dr. Gyasi spoke, “I only see eight.” Group members agreed with him. Nervous, but not necessarily feeling that there was a grave threat, they continued onward. In late afternoon, the pace slowed as hunters took out their weapons and edible plants were located.
Guards stood watch as a campsite was set up and the meal was prepared. The sun was low in the sky when the guards noticed the arrival of a large group of felines. The hikers had been able to rest, and prepared for the attack of the felines, who had begun to circle the camp.
Fighters stood in a circle as they had the previous time, with the magicians in the center. A great howl announced the felines’ attack on the travelers, and they bounded forward, changing into warriors with various types of swords.
Morti landed a blow on a two-footed creature. Their swords clanged but the animal was thrown off balance by her ferocity. She yanked out her wand. “Hemmev!” The lightning bolt killed the creature instantly.
Luk swung at a feline that was a bit shorter than the others. It countered Luk’s blows as it bent and swayed out of the way. Frustrated, Luk stepped to one side, paused for a second, and as the creature came at him, lifted and turned his weapon. He caught the animal below its left ear and blood poured out. The animal howled, swung at Luk, then collapsed to the ground. Luk drove his sword into the underbelly, pulled it out and ran to help Maya.
She had become the target of two of the creatures. As one of them hefted a heavy sword into the air, Luk came from behind it and jabbed his sword into its neck. Maya disarmed the other one and shoved it hard with her shield.
It landed on top of a different type of creature who shrieked like a Nekkian pig. Sage Elvan sliced the head off the feline and shoved its sword into the mouth of another monster.
Across the circle four of the fighters, who had been hired for this type of combat, swung their weapons as they spun. Using this method, they killed nearly a dozen of their enemies. When Pira Pibull cried out that she’d been injured, Elodi and Tomau responded and eliminated her attacker. Tomau called Wizard Lallo for a healing potion, and she raced over with one.
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The fighters moved on to their comrades who were fighting feverishly. After they killed a tall creature that wasn’t one of the felines, there was a loud howl. The animals retreated, then turned and ran.
***
The expedition members checked one another over, repaired things and treated the injured. As they examined their enemies’ corpses, the fighters studied the two that were different. “Who are they? And what do you think they hoped to gain?”
“I’m not sure,” Sage Elvan said as it studied them. “They remind me of the Genomos, but their foreheads and bridge of their noses are different.”
Morti asked Cirus and Pari to assist her in a brief exercise, and the three of them carried one of the felines to an open spot. They carefully performed an autopsy of the beast and made a visual record of its internal organs. When they had completed it, she shared the results with everyone. “The creatures have the internal organs of a feline, but the brain appears to be humanoid. There’s an organ in the middle of the stomach that I’ve never seen before. I assume that it controls the transformation process.”
“That might be why the ‘identify weakness’ spell showed the area as a weakness,” Wizard Lallo said.
“I’ve submitted the report to the Protectorate with the animal’s name as Transmogrifying Panther,” Morti said. “We’ll continue to collect data on its habits and abilities.”
The next several days, the hikers started out early in the morning and before the midday meal, the felines would initiate a skirmish. The expedition would kill nine or ten of the panthers, who would disengage from fighting and run. The number of corpses that were not feline slowly increased and the group realized that the features of the creatures were eerily like the Genomos, but they were taller.
***
One day the group neared what appeared to be a good-sized permanent settlement of buildings. A group of scouts went forward to meet the residents and the rest stayed behind. There were very few inhabitants, and those who were present invited the scouting party to share a meal. As the sun slid lower in the sky, large groups of residents returned to their homes in the village.
“You’ll stay with us?” the spokesman, Babil asked. “You can place your shelters over there.”
The expedition leaders held a short conference. “We’ll stay overnight,” Jal said when it returned to their hosts. During the meal, the two groups of people mingled and shared stories. They were friendly and seemed sincere. Over the course of the evening, it began to rain. Some of the hosts hurried to clear the food and dishes from the table, then most of them gathered and stood in the rain singing and talking loudly. When the rain stopped, the people went into their homes to bed.
The following morning, one of the children of the village watched as Jal waved its wand. “Tent neer.”
The child watched, stunned, as the tent folded tightly into a small packet. “How did you do that?” She said accusingly, “Magic? You used magic? That’s forbidden here.”
Jal was confused. “Your parents use magic to clean the dishes after you eat.”
“That’s not magic. It’s cleaning. That’s what the napkins are for.”
“Other people use soap and water.”
Other children who had gathered to watch began to laugh. “Water? Water is for drinking.”
“How do you clean things up?”
“Napkins and towels.”
“Your parents use magic for the food,” Jal pointed out. “The containers never were empty.”
“That’s how all containers work. You put the food in them. It’s always there, always hot.”
Jal had to think about this. “What about your clothes? How do you clean your clothes?”
“It rains every day. The rain cleans our clothes.”
“Ah! You stand in the rain at night!” The children smiled and nodded. Two of them stood watching as Jal packed its things away. “Why do you wear the same color hats?” Jal asked the children.
“To keep our heads dry,” one answered.
“You don’t have one,” the other remarked. “If you’d like, I can get you one.”
“No, thanks. Hats make my hair hurt.”
“We wear them all the time. Especially when it rains.”
“Oh?”
“Mom says not to take them off or the world will stop until she puts it back on me.” They laughed. Jal chuckled as the children went off to play.
“Are we ready?” Dr. Gyasi called out to those around him. The hikers picked up their weapons and shields and began to leave their camping site.
“Please stay another night!” An enormous crowd suddenly formed. “Please stay!” they said loudly.
“We need to be on our way.” The villagers insisted that they stay. Multiple children wrapped themselves around each of the travelers' legs. The hikers couldn’t move. The throng demanded that their guests make a home there. Jal told them that eventually others would come searching for the travelers.
"We love visitors!" they responded.
This happy group of people had great fun teasing their guests. They wrestled each person down to the ground, then piled onto their victim’s lap and legs, laughing but refusing to release them. People sat on them all day, unwilling to let them go. When the expedition members stated they needed to use the toilet, they were led to an outdoor building. The hosts barricaded the door with their bodies and stood below the window. When the person using the toilet emerged, a new set of captors took over.
The expedition members conceived a plan that they thought would convince the villagers to let them go. Twenty-four of the twenty-five people stopped talking, believing if they refused to socialize, they would become bored. Jal, however, strategically asked questions. It learned that the villagers farmed the fields around the small village. They pooled their harvests together and kept the crops in a community storage building. They worked hard in the fields and liked it when people came to distract them from their work.
One man told Jal that the tallest, biggest member of the community was mean. He would hide in his home all day and send his hired men to threaten and harass the rest of the people. Those who didn’t give him currency when he demanded it were captured and hauled to his farm to be his slaves.
As Jal was held down by its captors, one told it that Jal and the rest of the group would make great slaves. This would distract the “boss” from taking out his anger on them. For several days, the people cheerfully held Jal and its friends hostage during the day, then released them to sleep in their tents at night, but posted guards throughout their campsite.
Jal thought about all the things it had seen and evaluated all its interactions with this group of people. It had never seen the boss, or his hired men. Jal thought about the different people and their various personalities. They all seemed very easy-going and would accuse one another of being lazy.
“The only unhappiness I’ve seen is from the babies,” Jal thought. “They cry every night when they get wet. Their mothers take their hats off, and they stop crying. I don't understand why they don't cry harder. If they didn't take the hats off, what would happen?" Jal thought about the babies for a long time. They reminded him of the little Genomos girl with the red hat that was too big for her.
As Jal sat, pinned down, it began to tease the small people around it. It reached out and yanked off one man’s hat. “Hey, I need that!” Jal gave it back.
“Why do you wear hats all the time? Do you sleep with them on too?” No one answered Jal’s question. “I have something in my pack that I would trade you for a hat. It’s lighter than your hat and much prettier.”
“Show us! Show us!”
Jal reached into its backpack. “I’ll trade you this, for your hat.” It held a ruby up into the sunlight and the stone glittered in the light. “Isn’t it beautiful? It will fit in your pocket. I’ll trade you a gem for a hat.”
The men and women around Jal looked at one another. “I want one!”
“Me too!”
“I’d like to trade.”
It wasn’t long before Jal had a stack of hats. When it was in the toilet, Jal tapped its communicator and told the expedition members what it had done. They too, traded their rubies for the little blue tams that everyone wore. Each of them packed the hats into their backpacks and secured the tents to hang on the frames of their packs. When their hosts asked them why they were putting the tents away, they explained that sometimes they slept on the ground because it reminded them of home.
As everyone gathered for the evening meal, the story of Jal trading the beautiful red rubies for hats spread through the community. Most people were willing to trade their blue hats for a ruby.
When the thunder began to boom over the mountains, a few people carried the food dishes inside. Jal looked around at its friends and patted its backpack. When it began to pour buckets of rain, the local people stood silently in the rain. The expedition members looked around and saw that they had turned into statues. Jal urged its friends to hurry, since it knew that some people weren't around when the trading was taking place.
Silently, the group left in the rain and the darkness. They travelled several hours and eventually set up their tents in a meadow. Once again, guards took shifts and walked the perimeter of the camp while the others slept.
The next morning when the group awoke, they could see the reflection of the sun off the Protectorate Enclave of Northern Shifos.