“Mink, I’d like to see you for a few minutes after we eat.”
“Sure, Jal.”
The two walked away from the group. “Mink, you’re going home today.”
“What?” the boy raised his voice. “What are you talking about?”
“You and your sister are going home today. I want you to pack all the things that you have collected. I’ll make sure that you receive three-fourths of your pay, instead of the half that we agreed on.”
“You’re just doing this to pick on me!”
“No, Mink. I know that you’re only five years old. You don’t know magic, and you don’t know how to fight.”
“I told you that I didn’t know magic. I do know how to fight!”
“Mink, don’t lie. You fight like a five-year-old who's had minimal training. You and your sister are going home. She’s already been injured. You put our entire group at risk yesterday. It was because you’ve not had the training, and you lied on your application. Somehow, you got people to lie for you. You must have been very convincing. I’ll make certain that you get to a Protectorate safely, then you can ask to be transported to the place of your choice. Go pack your things.”
Mink slunk off to his tent.
A few minutes later, Jal found Zamani. “It’s time for you to go home, Zamani. You need to pack your things.”
She stared at him in disbelief. “What?” Jal repeated itself. “No way!”
“Yes. You put this entire group at risk yesterday.”
“But it was only once. I’m a hard worker, Jal. I’ve done everything that everyone’s asked me to do. I’ve carried a heavy pack this far. Over the mountains and through the woods. Please don’t send me home, Jal!”
“You and your brother are going home. You need to pack your things.”
“I don’t have a brother.”
“If he heard you say that, how do you think he’d feel? I know that you’re not even six, that you don’t really know magic, and that you and Mink are really good at pretending that you’re fighters!”
“We are good fighters! We are!”
“You fight like a five-year-old that has had only a few lessons. Stop pretending and go pack your things.”
“I can’t!”
“Then I will come and do it for you.”
“No! You’re just picking on me, because you don’t like me!”
“Is that what you and Mink say when you don’t get what you want?” Jal saw the tears in her eyes. “Tell me, why is it that you want the currency so bad that you’ll do anything to get it?”
“Our parents told us not to come back, unless we could support ourselves. They don’t want us. No one wants kids like us. Our father’s a Maz, and our mother’s an Eza. There’s no place for us!”
Jal started to feel bad but made itself stop. “You’re going home. You’re being paid three-fourths of the amount you would have received, even though we agreed you’d get half of it. You can keep the backpack, the sleeping bag, and one of the tents between the two of you. Go get your things.”
A short time later, the children were transported back to the Protectorate. No one saw them leave.
Jal wondered who else was hiding secrets.
***
Jal stood in the circle. “There are twenty-three of us now. We’ve learned to rely on one another, and you all have worked hard to get this far. We still have quite a distance to go. I sent the children home. I would like to know how many of you knew their secret?”
“What children and what secret?” several people said to one another.
“Zamani and Mink are brother and sister. They are both five years old. They’ve been sent home.” It appeared to Jal that no one had a clue that this was the truth.
“You sent them home because of what happened yesterday,” Andi accused Jal.
“Did you want them to continue to place your life at risk? If they did it yesterday, when would they do it again?” The question was met with silence. “Ladi Woer and Tomau Wop are not very interested in sharing a tent. Can I leave it to the group to tell me how you are going to fix this? Think about it as we’re walking today. Maybe you can work it out at the noon meal.”
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“Are we all ready?” Golsho asked. When everyone said yes, they started off. It was later than normal, but they could still cover a good amount of territory, providing nothing happened.
Golsho’s hope was short-lived. They came to a wide river, that for some reason, wasn’t on the map. The water moved rapidly downstream. Golsho, Luk, Jal, and The Luminary had a brief discussion about what to do. The river flowed from north to southwest, and they agreed that it might be best to hike upstream and see if there were a narrower place to cross it. The ground angled sharply for a short way, then became flat. A wind blew from the northwest, creating waves on the water, and pushing the hikers to the side when it gusted.
At the midday meal, there was a lot of chatter about switching tent partners. In the end, the group worked it out amongst themselves, and Jal made a new list on its pad. The extra tent would be sent home later.
That afternoon, the group made good time across a relatively flat area, continuing to follow along the river. They were about to make camp when Pira spotted movement in the forest. Everyone stopped and watched as a risar came into view. With the river on the left and the forest on the right, the group waited for Golsho to make a decision as to what to do. They slowly moved into the forest and stood behind the nearest trees studying the area. Those in the front of the line watched as the huge creature lumbered to the river and washed itself. It wasn’t long before a small one joined the first. It seemed like forever before the huge animals left.
The group slowly continued their hike, nervously watching for more risars. Tomau Lop was at the back of the line. He noticed a big animal in the forest. They were nearly past it when Tomau alerted Ladi, who was in front of him.
“It’s headed our way,” Tomau said to Ladi. “What should I do?” Ladi passed the word up the line and Golsho stepped to the side, sending everyone ahead. He joined Ladi at the back. As they walked along the river, Golsho watched the animal. He thought he could hear squeals and small chirping sounds from the creature. He nearly stopped in his tracks when he saw another risar. Word from the front of the line was passed back; Jal and Pari had two more in their sight. Golsho weighed the options as they walked along. They could cross the river; they could hide behind the trees in the forest, or they could keep going.
“We keep going,” Golsho told the group. He had to think. “What is the best spell to use?” He sent a message to the front of the line. “Use the size reduction spell, then a paralyze one if they get too close and are throwing fire towards us. That should hold them until we get past.”
Jal and Pari watched closely as the risars headed their way. The expedition picked up speed as they hurried to get past them. Armed with their shields and wands, the group continued on. As they walked, they saw more of the creatures ambling through the woods. Some risars saw their motion, but others were oblivious to their presence. When Jal and Pari came to a small meadow, they led the expedition away from the woods to the center of the meadow. It ran along the river, which had narrowed somewhat. Now they could see any opponents clearly. After sliding their packs off, they drank deeply from their canteens.
“Good job!” Golsho told the small groups as he headed toward Jal. “I have an idea,” Golsho said when he found Jal. “Can we adjust the volume of our communication devices?”
“I don’t think so.” They examined the small devices. “Let’s ask the Luminary. He might know.” The two leaders found Luminary Dev talking to Sage Elvan. “Luminary, is it possible to adjust the volume of our communicators?”
“I believe so.” He looked at his and with a fingernail, popped the back off. “I believe that if you push this tiny button, the volume will go up and down. Go that way about twenty meters. The Luminary spoke into his. “If you can hear me, take two steps to the right.” Golsho stepped right.
“Try whispering,” Jal suggested.
“Would you turn around and see if there’s anything at the far side of the meadow?”
Golsho turned and checked. “Nothing there.” Jal waved for Golsho to rejoin them. “Here’s what I’d like us to do,” he proposed. “If everyone adjusts their communication devices, we wouldn’t have to pass messages back and forth along the line.”
“I agree,” the Luminary responded. “Everyone would know what was going on, especially since we’ve seen so many risars in this area.”
In minutes, Jal and Golsho were going from group to group, showing people how to make the adjustments. The band started off again, continuing along the river. Eventually, it led away from the forest and into some hills. During the next break, Chetan and Andi joined the leaders were discussing whether they should cross the river.
“Have you noticed the small mammals that are so numerous here?” Chetan asked.
“Not really.”
Andi spoke up, “We think they would make a good meal.”
“We could stop here,” Jal said thoughtfully. “But it hasn’t been that many days since we had a resting day. It might be better to continue on our way. Would you give us a few minutes to talk about it?”
Golsho and Jal looked at the map. “We’re right here. The river curves here. It looks like it curves back this way pretty sharply. If we could find where it curves sharply, we would have water on three sides of our camp. It would be easier to protect.”
“Are we pushing everyone too hard?” Jal wondered. “If we could see what's ahead, we could cut across places where the river curves.”
“You’re right. We would have only two sides to protect.”
“This river doesn’t seem to be getting smaller,” Golsho muttered. “I had hoped we would cross it sooner. I think we should stop here. We can save distance tomorrow.”
“I’ll make an announcement over our communicators. It will be a good way to test them.” Within minutes the tents were set up and a group of hunters had assembled to catch dinner. Chetan and Andi tried to explain what the mammals looked like. “How are we supposed to kill something so small?” someone asked.
“Aren’t you the person who bragged that they could easily hit a small moving target?” they began to banter back and forth.
“You could set some snares,” Jal proposed as he came over to hear what they were talking about.
“Snares? Where’s the fun in that? Targets. I like targets. Besides, this could be fun. Maybe we should try to catch them with our hands. Look there goes one!” Tomau laughed and went after it. It wasn’t long before he let out a yell. The others doing the chasing gathered around Tomau. He held a dead rabbit. “I caught a rabbit with my bare hands, but It bit me!”
“Did it draw blood?
“Yes.”
“You’d better go see Lallo. You don’t want to get sick from it. She has a balm that will help.” Off they went again. It took some time before they had enough for the evening meal.