The group was strung out along what might be laughingly called a trail, three days after they’d left Angel City. Last night had been a little harrowing when a patrol of Horde warriors passed by their camp, nearly close enough to touch. Tenthé had set up some sort of ward that the Horde hadn’t sensed, but everyone, maybe even the burros and mules, had held their breath while the warriors went past.
Not wishing to risk running into the patrol, the group moved further away from the original trail. The map had indicated they should be in some small hills, but instead, the level of the land slowly dropped until they found themselves traveling along a gully broken by marshy pools of standing water. The map didn’t show anything like this.
They were swarmed by bugs, but so far, the repellent spells were holding up. Mixed in with the bugs were little glowing blue stars, which no-one could identify. All attempts to trap them failed; they were strangely elusive.
After a few hours of travel with no sign of the Horde, the current leader, Elishua, called a halt on a mound of dry sand surrounded by shallow pools of water. The canyon was so deep now that they were constantly shaded. The sun itself was doing strange things, bouncing around the sky when no-one was watching, so that it was no longer a reliable source of direction and time.
“Any real idea where we are?” Tenthé asked at some point.
The Magister answered, “We are where we believe we are. The fish here believe they have water, so there’s water. Something believes there’s a canyon, so the canyon’s here. We believe we are going toward the City Proper, so we should be.”
That sounded good, until she added, “Hopefully.”
Leo chimed in, “I want to bring up an issue. I’ve never heard of these blue glowing things. That could be bad. If no-one’s reported them, it means they’ve never been seen before, or anyone who has seen them never made it back.”
On that happy note, everyone dismounted, glad to be sitting on something that wasn’t moving. Whatever time it was, it had been a while since they’d taken a break. A few people brought out some food, which quite excited the clouds of bugs.
“Yeah, I remember one of our classes where they talked about the wildest parts of the Wildlands. I never expected to be here, off of the trails. If we fall asleep, will our dreams change things?” Elishua asked.
“No,” the Magister stated. “We have enough strong-willed individuals to keep us on track. Your musings may affect how long this trip takes and what we run onto, but we should be okay.”
“Is that the prophet speaking?” Elishua probed.
“Maybe,” the Magister replied with a little smile. “But, of course, there are other strong-willed things out here. That might be more of a problem.”
Nobody had anything else to say, so the rest of the group watched the kids try to catch a blue star. The boys were shockingly fast, but even they failed at trapping one of the glows.
At that moment number of warriors leaped over the nearest canyon wall, sliding and half falling to the bottom. Everyone except Tenthé jumped to their feet and huddled up to defend themselves.
“Pssst! Tenthé!” Leo hissed. “The Horde.”
Tenthé gave him a look. “Yeah, really? I kinda figured it out on my own, thanks. They’ve been following us for a while.”
He sighed and got up and casually sauntered over to the warriors. As he neared, they pulled out a variety of weapons.
“So, do you give up?” Tenthé asked.
The warrior replied, “How droll. Quite the contrary. We are going to return you to Angel City where you will pay for what you have done.”
“Uh-huh. You can follow us if you like. We’ll be leaving shortly. By the way, do you know what the blue glowing things are?”
At that point, the warrior made a sign and, with horrifying screams, the warriors attacked. A few seconds later, they were still running, not getting any closer. After a while, they slowed, having made no perceptible headway.
“I like the Wildlands,” Tenthé said. “I had wondered if that would work. It’s nice of you to volunteer to help me experiment.”
The warrior who had spoken earlier yelled back, sounding more like a villain should, “The tribe of the Broken Heart will never yield to your evil! We’ll follow and overcome your terrible power! When the final tally is taken, the only ones left on the battlefield will be us!”
No-one was listening by the time he finished. Tenthé had returned to his burro and motioned for the others to mount. The warriors pulled out nasty looking clubs, and in perfect synchronization, wound up and hurled them at the group. The clubs sailed through the air and came to earth, having travelled only a few paces. In fact, some of them fell on other warriors, injuring a few, which, in turn, resulted in a number of glares between the warriors.
As the travelers rode away, following the gully, the warriors retrieved their weapons, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t catch up to their quarry. Frustration was evident as they trailed behind.
The two groups proceeded in this manner for the rest of the day. One unexpected side effect of the warriors’ presence was that the sun stopped jumping around. Generally, it was felt that the larger group helped stabilize the area.
The warriors didn’t give up. Some of them scaled the canyon walls, ran along the top, and descended in front of the travelers. But, as the group approached, the warriors oozed to the side more and more until they were once again behind. This happened more than once, with warriors trying to run at the group or throw their clubs. No matter what, they couldn’t get near.
At one point, one of the warriors had tried to travel back the way they’d come, probably to report, but after running for quite a while, he never got out of sight. Eventually, he gave up and returned, only needing to take a few steps to reach get back to his group.
The strange parade continued as it grew darker. Elishua informed everyone that they would travel for another hour, then stop. Tenthé was drifting along, half asleep, barely aware of what was going on. He roused as Magister Grenville slowed to come beside him.
“Tenthé. I need to tell you something,” she said. “I’m having trouble seeing what is coming. Or, rather, I see us continuing, being captured, fighting with the Horde to repel something, everyone dying while going insane, or… nothing. I’m not used to nothing. That worries me. I have to admit, too, that this trip is starting to tire me. I’m not as alert as usual.”
“Um, okay.”
“And one other thing’s not right. In all that I can see and have seen, I don’t know of these blue things. That shouldn’t be.”
While the Magister talked, Tenthé was busy. He was certain they weren’t under any mental control and what was around them was as real as things got in the Wildlands. There weren’t any signs of unexpected lurkers, malicious plants, or really, anything else along their path, either.
Which, in itself, was out of the ordinary. The slow-moving stream they were traveling beside should have attracted more wildlife than they’d seen. He thought about it and yelled for a halt. The group circled him, with the Horde surrounding them a number of paces further out.
“Everyone listen!” he said loudly, and then even louder. “And our Horde friends as well! Magister Grenville is worried, so I looked around and we have a problem. It’s not what’s here, but what isn’t! There should be more wildlife where the water is. All I see are a few fish and the bugs. What I don’t see are tracks to show other kinds of wildlife drinking the water, here. Something’s going on and we better figure it out!”
The group was oddly subdued. The Envoy was the only one to speak up, and even she sounded half asleep. “You know? You’re right. There aren’t any little things. No mice, snakes or any kind of small life at all. That’s unusual. Has anyone else seen anything?” she asked. “Anyone?”
Tenthé watched as she peered around and idly reached up to scratch herself. That was odd. He couldn’t recall her ever doing that before.
“Uh, Gyri, can I ask, do you usually scratch yourself in public?”
“What? No, never! That is only a thing that cubs do.”
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“Hmm… Leo? You’re being quiet. Any thoughts? Maybe your family knows something… uh, Leo?”
Leo wasn’t answering, sitting on his burro, wearing his helm, and facing in the general direction they had been traveling. He hadn’t acknowledged Tenthé in any way.
Tenthé was immediately on guard.
“All of you, step away from him! Something’s wrong!”
He watched as everyone drifted away from Leo. Tenthé noted they weren’t moving any too fast themselves. He sent a small force probe at Leo, who was jolted when it landed, but showed no other response.
Tentatively, Tenthé moved up beside him. He reached over with one hand and undid the fastening for Leo’s helm. There was still no reaction. Tenthé stayed as far away as he could, then quickly ripped the helm off.
He stepped back as everyone gasped! Leo’s head was covered in the glowing blue things! So much so that it looked as his skin was blue! He simply sat as they flowed over his face, in his eyes, nose, mouth, and even his hair. Tenthé watched and noted that where the sun hit him, the blue thinned.
It appeared the creatures didn’t like sunshine!
“Everyone, quick, strip! I bet these things are on us too!” Tenthé yelled.
He leaped to the ground and ripped his clothes off. Sure enough, the blue things were crawling all over him too! Not as bad as Leo, but still!
Upon seeing that, everybody, including the warriors, began dancing around and tossing their clothing everywhere. Tenthé watched as the warriors beat on each other, trying to smash the blue things. With the creatures so concentrated, they had no problem hitting them, but it didn’t have any effect.
Tenthé shouted his idea about the sunlight, and shortly afterward, everyone was naked, turning this way and that to get the sun on every part of them. It wasn’t doing much, but it did force the blue things to move around. Only Leo sat unmoving, sitting on his burro as the blue crawled all over him. This was not good!
The Envoy was on the ground, searching through her fur. “They’re on me too! Not as bad as you others, but I can see them! They look like blue fleas!” At this, she shuddered. Maybe the Trachteur hated fleas. Tenthé could understand. If he had fur he would probably feel the same way.
He didn’t want to be the one to mention it, but they might have to shave the Envoy. Maybe not, though. They were all in trouble unless they could find some way to get the sun to all parts of everyone at the same time. And, if the blue things were in their ears and nose, then they might be inside, too! That had to be bad!
Since he already had the blue things on him, he went over and pulled Leo off his burro. He stripped him out of his clothes and tried to turn him over and get rid of the things covering him, but, like everyone else, it wasn’t accomplishing much.
He looked up to find out what everyone was doing. In better circumstances, it would be funny as every one of them, even the Horde warriors, turned this way and that to expose themselves to the sunlight. The results were a bit bawdy.
He spoke up, “Everybody! Yeah, even you Horde guys! This is not working. It only moves them around. And even worse, it’s getting dark! We have to come up with something better, quick!
He yelled at the warriors, “You guys! If you promise to be good, I’ll let you come here. Stop that! Beating on each other isn’t doing anything. Screw it! Just come over here! We need to come up with ideas!”
Tenthé re-ordered his spells so the warriors weren’t in a weird space anymore. He had to wait for a few minutes until they stopped hitting each other and tentatively meandered over.
Elishua had roused and started shouting, “Okay, you all! We have a crisis! Night’s coming and we need a solution before then. As it is, we’re barely doing anything!”
Out of the corner of his eye, Tenthé saw the kids slapping each other, even though, of all of them, they were the least infected. He looked closer and shook his head. They weren’t even hitting each other where the blue things were.
Elishua was continuing, “Okay, people! We really are nearly out of time! What do we know? I’ll go first.
“One: these things sap our will. The more covered we are, the worse it is.
“Two: sunlight seems to annoy them.
“Three: they get everywhere. We can’t get enough sunlight on us to make them leave, or kill them if that’s at all possible.
“Four: bug repellent spells don’t work on them.
“Five: Uh… I don’t know, maybe, they also get into fur. Hey! Someone check the burros!”
The Magister went over to a burro and looked in its hair.
“Yep, they’re on them too,” she yelled back.
Everybody was glancing at the sun. They were running out of time!
Elishua was on top of it, though. “We need some solution to get us through the night. Quick everyone, throw out ideas. Anything! I’ll start, um… fire! Will fire get rid of them?”
The Envoy piped up, “Yeah, let’s set everyone on fire. Great plan.”
Elishua yelled at her, “Shut up! We’re working on it. Hey kids, can one of you volunteer to be set on fire and we’ll see?”
Both of them stepped ahead, and the Envoy tossed a small yellow fireball at Yu. He stood and watched as his arm burned.
“They don’t like it,” he said. “But they aren’t killed. They just move around a lot faster.”
“Let me try something,” the Magister asked. She hit An with a fireball, but her’s was so blue that it was hard to see.
A cloud of the blue things came off his body, as well as so much heat that everyone, even the warriors, had to step away. An simply watched the flames burning all over him.
“I think they’re gone. They really hated that,” he said, matter-of-factly.
“That’ll work for the kids, but what about the rest of us?” the Envoy griped.
“I don’t know!” Elishua yelled. “It’s a start!”
“Try me,” Tenthé ordered.
“You sure?” the Magister responded.
“Yeah.”
She fired a fireball at Tenthé. It splashed onto his shield and spread. Under the flames, everyone could see Tenthé trying different shields. At any other time, they’d be shocked that he had so many!
As the flames were dying down, Tenthé said, “Ow. That stings, but… Hey! The blue things are going away. But, ow. I mean that. Ow.”
The last of the flames went out and Tenthé stood, unharmed. Sort of.
“Hey!” said the Envoy, “You’ve got a bad sunburn!”
“Oh really? I hadn’t noticed,” he replied sarcastically. “But, ow, ow, ow!”
The Magister broke in, “Blue light! That’s what gives you sunburn! The things are blue, which means that’s the light they reflect. I bet they’re not glowing, just they reflect so much it looks that way. That’s how we can see them in the sunlight! I have a spell that can make a really strong blue light. Let’s see if it works the same as the flames!”
She turned to the kids, who were the ideal test subjects. The sun was almost below the edge of the canyon and the blue things were starting to land on An again.
“Everyone, look away, and maybe close your eyes,” the Magister ordered. Once she was sure they’d complied, everyone saw a bright lingering flash, even through their eyelids.
There were a few yells from the warriors who hadn’t been fast enough.
“Put your hands over your eyes too!” Tenthé yelled at them. Probably a bit too late, though.
“Now, spin around,” the Magister said. Tenthé did so, until he realized she was probably speaking to the kids.
There was a second long flash.
“It’s okay now,” the Magister said. “You can open your eyes.”
She walked over to Yu, told him to lie down, and started examining him closely. As improper as it was, their lives depended on the results.
Eventually, the Magister straightened and allowed Yu to get up.
“Good news and bad,” she said. “It works. That’s the good news. Bad news is that we’re going to have to do this over and over. And, all of us will have the worst sunburn ever! We can’t even try to protect ourselves. The best we can do is keep healing the damage. The other bad news is that all the light will attract things.
“So, what do we all want to do?” she asked.
Tenthé replied, “Um, I know how to cast a cover over us that should hide us from the local things. I don’t know about the blue light leaking out, I’ve never tried anything like that. It might take some tries to get it right. If everyone helps, we’ll probably be okay. This means all of you, too.” He directed the last at the warriors.
The warriors were pretty impressive, even naked. A few of them were still trying to blink and get their vision back.
The one who had spoken before appeared to be their spokesman. “We aren’t barbarians,” he said. “We see the need for cooperation. At this point, we’ll do our part. The more we see of your group, the more obvious it is that we were never going to be able to capture you, anyway. We weren’t told the entire truth.”
As he finished, the Magister jumped in. “I think we’ll need a series of lights at different heights. If we stand in one place or clump together, there’ll be parts that are shaded. I’m afraid it’s necessary for everyone to keep moving in order for the light to get everywhere. And we’ll have to do something with the burros and mules. I’m not sure what. We’ll have to keep trying things to see what works best. And remember, you must heal yourselves and each other, repeatedly.
“It’s will be a long night, and it starts now.”
With that, the sun disappeared behind the canyon wall and blue things erupted from everywhere, coming out of the walls all up and down the canyon. Contrary to their theory, the things were still glowing, even without the sun. The Magister was hard-pressed to bring up a sufficient number of intense blue globes of lights.
Fortunately, the lights she had set up were working.
Tenthé figured out what she was doing and copied her. The Magister glanced over at him in relief, since her slowing pace showed she didn’t have anywhere near the reserves he did. Soon, the canyon was covered in globes.
What the Magister had told them was true, Tenthé had to keep casting low level heals on himself and the warriors, since they had no magic to speak of. He would wait until they had seeping boils, then cure them of that and the blindness the light caused. None of them acknowledged the sores or the healing, they simply kept patrolling the outer edge.
They were quite efficient. Half of them would be on watch while the other half exposed themselves to the lights. Tenthé’s companions saw what they were doing and followed suit.
The kids were walking the burros and mules around. The light was proving to be bright enough to penetrate their fur, which also worked for the Envoy. Tenthé was a little sad about the missed opportunity.
The Envoy and Elishua had made it their business to keep turning Leo over to ensure the blue things didn’t re-infect him, but he hadn’t recovered. Time would tell, he wouldn’t be the first companion Tenthé’d lost.
Just then, the scream of some animal filled the night and Tenthé realized he’d forgotten to shield the camp. He quickly did so, then checked for anything approaching. Unfortunately, his oversight had roused the curiosity of several beasts.
He had incoming to deal with.