Chapter Eleven: Lost in Transition

［What do you mean, “What is a map?” Are you kidding me? How stupid are you?］

The disdain in Oberon’s voice was sharp and surprisingly hurtful. Rook was just starting to get used to this new situation, but he still questioned if this was truly the right course.

After spending his entire life isolated from anyone who wasn’t cruel and abusive, he had started to develop a connection with this strange voice in his head, though it wasn’t happening smoothly.

While Oberon was often insulting and very eccentric, so far, he had seemed demonstrably interested in Rook’s well-being, at least in the immediate sense.

Still, it hurt to be constantly put down by the resident inside his soul space. The insults of Rhaeger and his son never bothered him much. Instead, they were simply useful indicators of how likely a blow to the head, or a full on beating was to come at him.

The barbs from Oberon, in contrast, were entirely verbal, but still made him feel weak and inadequate. It turned a sliver of self-doubt in his gut to flare into fear that his future was certain to end soon in a harsh and useless death.

“I just don’t know what you are talking about. What is a map?”

Oberon had made another window appear in the air. This one, while Rook was still standing in the forest.

I was translucent, like looking through the dirty glass windows of the ranch house, but had a bright, luminescent frame, glowing with a strange light.

There was no view in this window, instead, it was smoky grey, but with a few strange glowing dots scattered around. They looked like firebugs, but whenever Rook moved his head, the whole frame, and the dots, followed his view exactly, as if tied to his head with invisible rope.

［I guess I was expecting too much. After all, you never stepped foot off that ranch.］

If anything, the pitying tone in the voice was even more insulting because it was true.

Rook had no useful skills or knowledge outside of the ranch. The only practical thing he knew was how to take care of the bubals, but he had left them behind in the camp.

Everything he knew of the outside world came from threats of danger from Rhaeger, bragging stories told by Rhaegun, and the occasional story from a visitor that he could overhear if he sat below the windows of the ranch house.

He was now relying entirely on a mysterious voice in his head to escape a situation that, just a few days ago, he had been certain, would lead to his inevitable death.

［Look, the mark in the center is you.］

Oberon seemed to be referring to the arrow-shaped, glowing green marker in the middle of the window.

［Turn around, and you can see. The mark will rotate along with the direction you are facing.］

Rook did as instructed. Sure enough, as he turned, the arrow spun around. He immediately recognized the value of this tool.

Up until now, he had been moving in what he thought was a straight line away from the camp. Still, he only had his own observations of things, like the position of the sun, to keep his bearing. Since the sun was often blocked by trees, and moved just as he was moving, for all he knew, he was walking in a circle.

If that happened, he would be caught for sure.

If what Oberon was saying was true, he could pick a direction, and as long as the direction of the arrow did not change, he could feel more confident that he was still heading in the same direction.

［The small red dot is the camp, and the yellow dot in the corner is the ranch.］

A map, it seems, was a tool to help you navigate. Something that recorded where you have been, and could help you know where you were heading.

There was a very thin line that connected the three glowing dots on the map. It started at the ranch, made a meandering path to the camp, and then a short jerky line to the center where he was currently located, apparently.

［This is only a simple map. Thayn had a real map. This is what they look like. Here…］

In Rook’s hand appeared a scroll made of thin leather. Rook unrolled the scroll and found odd markings covering both sides. It made no sense at all to Rook, however.

［The map I can make only shows the places you have been. This map seems to have far more information. It has the locations of cities, and villages, of rivers, and potential dangers.］

Rook blinked. If that was true… But as intently as he studied the map, he could not decipher its’ meaning, or how it functioned.

［Ideally, we could use Thayne’s map to fill in the details on my map, but there is a problem.］

Rook held the map up, and as if trying to help him, the glowing window slowly moved to take up the same location as the scroll. As it overlapped, the glowing window shifted back and forth, and the dots moved around the space in seemingly random patterns. After a time, the moving stopped, and the glowing window disappeared.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

［Unfortunately, I can’t merge the information. It should be a piece of cake, but in order to do that, I need two common points. Two locations that can be used to synchronize the data. I can’t even tell where that old ranch is located, and you don’t even know the name of the village.］

Indeed, Rook had never heard of anyone calling it anything but “the village.”

［For now, I can at least track your distance from the camp, and we can plot a course forward without turning around on ourselves.］

The window reappeared. This time, there were only two marks. The arrow, which was larger now, and the red dot. The dot representing the ranch was no longer present.

［I can also do this.］

In the window, a small golden flag appeared on the map. Simultaneously, a similar flag appeared outside the map window. This second flag was much larger than the one inside the map, and Rook noticed that while the window and everything inside it stayed in front of him, regardless of how he moved his head, the second flag seemed to stay still in the same place relative to him.

［If you keep walking toward that flag, then you will move in the same direction as the flag on the map, get it?］

“What is there? I thought you didn’t know where we are.”

［I don’t, but I can make an educated guess. On the map, the western border appears to be a large ocean. It extends across the entire western side of the map. Assuming that we are located somewhere on the map, that means if we go in that direction, we will eventually get to the water.］

“Uh… Okay. But what’s an ocean?”

［…］

“Oberon?”

［… God, you are dumb.］

Rook scowled.

［Anyway, don’t worry about it for now. It’s just an idea that might get us

somewhere we can get our bearings. Maybe even find a town or a city. That is unless you have a better idea.］

Rook did not have a better idea.

Instead, he started walking again. Using the floating flag as a guide, he tried to increase his pace, but remained vigilant about leaving an obvious path.

By the time the sun was high in the sky, he felt that he had made significant progress. The distance from the red dot was growing steadily. As long as the bandits didn’t find his trail, he hoped that he could eventually get far enough away that they wouldn’t be able to keep up the search.

Of course, the bandits were not the only thing to fear in the forest. So far, he had yet to encounter any dangerous animals, but that might have just been luck. Sooner or later, he knew he would have to face someone or something, to survive.

He had no way to practically defend himself, other than to retreat into the soul space. Rook contemplated taking out one of the weapons that he had looted from the camp, but he knew that was foolish. He had no mind for how to use such things.

During the day, things seemed to be going well. He took several breaks inside his soul space, leaving a totem object outside so that they could monitor and ensure that the space was safe before exiting.

He even considered trying to stay inside the space for an extended period of time, but the environment inside was difficult to adjust to. The cold seemed to get worse the longer he stayed inside. Spending the night inside did not seem like a practical plan.

While considering this, Rook felt something wet on his cheek. He immediately froze, various images of what could have touched him flashing across his consciousness. He was about to call out to Oberon to bring him inside when he heard the noise.

It took a moment to recognize what was causing the sound. The only reason he did not panic was that the sound was coming from a distance, and that it did not sound like anything that could be caused by a person or animal.

It was as if the background noise of the forest was suddenly and dramatically amplified. What was a light brushing of the wind against leaves was replaced with a scraping and howling.

As more liquid wet his face and hair, Rooks’s first reaction was to curse his luck. This was a purely instinctual response, and almost as soon as that thought formed, he took it back. This was a godsend.

The waning sun was all but snuffed out in moments as rain started to pour from the sky.

Certainly, to a traveler in the woods, a sudden downpour would be far from a welcome sight. But to a fugitive, trying to avoid pursuers, the rain should dramatically increase his chances of hiding his tracks.

He just needed to find somewhere to stay out of sight. It would be even better if it were someplace he could dry off.

［Turn around.］

“What? Go back?”

［Yes. Not far. Just back to those rocks, we passed by earlier.］

Rook remembered the rock formations along part of an eroded hillside. There had been some cave like formations, and it seemed like a good place to get out from the rain. His only worry was that it was so good, that it might attract others seeking shelter, or even worse, his pursuers.

［It will be fine. I have an idea.］

It took only minutes to get back to the rocks, but by then, the rain was pouring down in buckets. Rook was soaked to the bone, but carefully approached the caves, on the watch for any movement.

It turned out that the caves were not very large after all. After a quick inspection, they only seemed to penetrate into the hill four or five strides. The wind and rain even penetrated far into them that Rook was not surprised that no animals seemed to be taking refuge inside. He was getting ready to move on in search of better shelter when Oberon stopped him.

Where are you going? This place is perfect!

He was about to complain when a blue flag appeared ahead of him. Just like the golden flag that had been his directional marker, the blue flag hung in the air in front of him.

It appeared right over a part of the hill that had eroded over time. Granite stone, buried under the ground, had cracked and left behind several giant boulders. The blue flag disappeared, and one of the larger rocks started to glow with the same blue light.

The stone was several times larger than Rook. I must weigh more than two bubals, he thought to himself. It had broken off the main rock formation, and had a sheer, flat side, and a more smoothed, weathered face on the other side.

［Grab it!］

“What?”

［I mean, put that boulder into your storage, dummy.］

“Huh? Why?”

［I don’t know why you even bother opening your mouth to say anything when the only words you ever say are “Huh? and What?” I am sure everyone you meet already knows how dumb you are. Shut up and grab the rock.］

Rook was cold, soaked, and tired. He wanted to protest, but he wanted out of the rain even more, so for now, he just silently complied. He touched the rock, and it disappeared. The dry patch under the boulder immediately started to collect the rain that was falling even harder.

［Now, go over here.］

The blue flag appeared again, this time in front of a large alcove. It was large enough that a portion of the space was still somewhat dry. Rook quickly moved into the protected area and checked his surroundings again for animals or people.

［Alright, this is going to be the tricky part. Wait a minute while I figure this out.］

Suddenly, the space in front of Rook was filled with a wall of translucent blue light. He could still see through it somewhat. Then, the light started to spin and flip around. Finally, it stopped twisting and turning. As soon as he recognized that the shape of the light was, in fact, the exact same size and shape of the boulder he had stored, he understood the plan.

A large purple handprint appeared on the glowing blue ghostly rock.

This should be the right way. Just put your hand on the mark, and I’ll take care of the rest.

As Rook placed his hand over the marker, the light was replaced by the actual boulder. It now completely covered the entrance to the alcove, turning the space into a closed bubble of space, now almost entirely cut off from the outside.

This, of course, made what little light that was left vanish. Rook was once again plunged into darkness.