It didn’t take the trio long to return back to the top of the small hill their camp was situated on, and Holl continued explaining some background history about what he suspected Bindon to be reading.
When they reached the campsite, he unearthed the still-hot embers from beneath the coating of wood and sandy dirt, restarting the flames.
“Bindon. Go lay down in the shelter and sleep until I wake you.”
“Captain, the stream-”
“Yes. I will wake you later tonight, get rest for now.”
The sailor nodded his head and obediently lay down on one side of their small lean-to shelter. After wrapping himself up in a few blankets, the sailor seemed to fall asleep swiftly.
“Alright, I think we can talk again.”
Holl pulled a few small chunks of jerky from his pack before sitting down in front of the fire.
“Honestly, there are too many stories about the mysterious stuff that happens on this massive lake to know what’s really true. What happened to our boat, and now to Bindon, though, definitely isn’t something natural.”
The captain’s eyes wandered toward the sheepskin scroll in Roth’s own backpack as he spoke, but he controlled himself before Roth could notice where he was looking.
“I don’t know if what Bindon is saying is really true, or if any of this is…but if we want to live, we should be careful.”
Holl leaned back, the light from the flames flickering in his eyes.
“I’ll tell you a shortened version of the story now.”
~
A trickster hero- half man, half spirit. Someone who always acted for the benefit of both the humans and nature around it. The trickster had no gender, and its signature ability was that of shape-shifting. Most often, it roamed about as a rabbit, and was sometimes depicted with spider legs.
The spirit warned its brother, Wolf, not to cross a stream without first making an offering of respect.
One day, Wolf didn’t follow the trickster spirit’s advice. While chasing a group of deer, he leaped over the water’s surface, and even days later, didn’t return back home.
The trickster spirit searched and searched for its brother, but couldn’t find a trace of him. Only when it consulted Kingfisher for help did he get a lead.
Underwater manidos- water spirits- had captured Wolf, and now held him at their abode.
Furthermore, the spirit learned from Kingfisher that the manidos were planning on holding a celebration in the upcoming days.
After thanking Kingfisher, the spirit put a hold on its usual jovial pranks and started plotting to bring its brother back. It disguised itself as a stump and successfully snuck up on the underwater manidos’ game, then shot the chief manidos, injuring him.
Unfortunately, the spirit didn’t know where the manidos’ lair was, and it was forced to back away.
~
Holl suddenly cut himself off, stopping the story.
“Then… I can’t remember for a bit, but the spirit eventually sneaks into the manidos’ lair, sees Wolf’s bloody, skinned pelt, and kills the chief of the manidos. Afterward, it breathes life back into Wolf, but the underwater manidos mourn the death of their chief. With their combined efforts, the entire world is flooded, save for a small raft and a few animals saved by the trickster spirit.”
Holl glanced over at where Bindon appeared to be softly sleeping.
“If we reach that final part of the story, I doubt it really matters what happens on the raft. If the world starts to flood, we’re probably done for.”
The longer Roth listened, the more the story lined up with what Bindon had been doing and saying since he picked up the odd booklet.
“Captain, why don’t we just take it from him and check it ourselves?”
Holl raised his eyebrows at the young man.
“I’ll leave that to you, then. I’ve watched someone I’ve known for years turn almost completely unfamiliar in a matter of days, and that booklet is the most likely cause for it. If you think you can handle it…”
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
There was a slight tone of sadness in the captain's words as he spoke, but his eyes were still gleaming in the dancing light of the fire.
“You take the first watch. I’ll get a bit of rest first, make sure to wake me before midnight. If whatever that possessed-looking Bindon from earlier said is true, and he really can only be controlled by orders like I’ve been doing… I fear he might stop listening if we don’t follow him tonight.”
Roth was mildly surprised that Holl would be willing to rest when so much unnatural stuff was going on around him, but he still quickly agreed.
Finally, if everyone was asleep, he would be able to further investigate just what was going on with his map. As much as he was worried about what was going on with Bindon, Roth was still more concerned about finding a way to survive the next few days.
“Remember, wake me up soon. Keep the fire running.”
The captain went over and laid down on the opposite side of the lean-to from where Bindon was sleeping, then pulled a couple of blankets over himself.
For the next few minutes, Roth just sat there watching the fire. Once enough time had passed, he glanced back to check on the captain. The man’s face was almost entirely covered by blankets, along with the rest of his body. Roth could see his chest moving steadily, and his eyes were closed.
I’ll wait a few more minutes. I don’t know what’s going on with the map… but it’s probably better if I keep it to myself.
Roth continued sitting by the fire, glancing back at both Holl and Bindon every couple of minutes to confirm that they were still sound asleep. When he finally grew too impatient, the young man pulled the map out from his backpack.
Unfurling it before the firelight, he gazed upon the old sheepskin.
This… How is the stream red?
The map looked pretty similar to what he’d seen earlier, before being interrupted by Bindon. There was a small triangular shape in almost the same spot as before, right where he was currently sitting.
The only change was the color of the stream. The originally black ink lines were bleeding into the paper, dying it a sinister shade of crimson.
What Holl said, underwater manidos… is the stream really deadly?
Roth reached down and brushed his finger against the map, trying to feel if the bleeding ink was as wet as it looked.
The moment his finger touched the map’s surface, the entire world seemed to fade away. Roth’s heartbeat pounded in his head, overpowering every sound in the world.
An intense feeling of weakness drained all of the strength from his limbs, and Roth could vaguely feel himself collapsing to the ground as his vision faded.
The last image burned into his mind before everything turned black was of the map. There was a small smudge where his finger brushed against the paper. Instead of being smeared, the ink of the river looked like it had been distorted and moved over in the same direction his finger had made on the page.
-
-
Roth’s eyes shot open, only to be met with almost complete darkness. He quickly sat up and looked around. While the starless, cloudy sky couldn’t help him see any better, the still dimly-glowing fire provided just enough light for him to see his surroundings.
What was that?!
The young man looked around himself, trying to find the scroll. It wasn’t on the ground.
Where did it-
His search stopped as his eyes fell upon his backpack. Tucked neatly inside, right where it normally stayed, was his map.
Did… did I just drift off to sleep and dream that? My map is still in there…
He was about to pull the scroll out to check on it, but quickly rethought it.
This shit is too weird. If that wasn’t a dream, and that happens again…
Roth looked up at his two remaining crewmates.
Can I still trust them? People can do ruthless things if they’re in a dangerous spot… and both of them have already been acting strangely.
If he passed out again, Roth wasn’t sure if he’d still be able to wake up in the same condition. Aside from feeling a bit weaker than normal, everything felt fine to him.
Looking at the fire, it’s probably been a few hours already. It’s probably getting close to when Holl wants to get up.
Instead of waking the captain immediately, Roth got up and walked over to their small pile of gathered dry firewood. After tucking a few fresh pieces into the flames and waiting a few minutes for the fire to flare back to a more vibrant life, he finally went over to wake his teammates.
“Holl, Bindon. I think it’s close to midnight.”
Both of them woke up from just a few words, and Roth wasn’t even speaking loudly. He glanced back over at his map as they slowly uncovered themselves from the rough woolen blankets.
Neither of them would have woken up when I fell asleep earlier, right? If that wasn’t a dream… did one of them wrap up the map and put it back for me?
A slight chill ran down Roth’s spine. If it was one of his crewmates, why would they do that? Surely they would’ve seen the blank map, and both of them had previously seen it fully detailed. Right now, though, they were both acting like nothing had happened.
Holl refused to try touching Bindon’s booklet, so would he really dare to pick up the sheepskin map that was also behaving unnaturally?
Other than me, there are only these two in the camp. If I wasn’t dreaming, it would have to be one of them, right?
Roth didn’t have long to think about it as the other two got up from where they had been resting and began preparing to set out. Holl diligently checked over his gear, but Bindon seemed even more spaced out than usual. He just picked up his backpack and stared off in the direction of the stream.
Why do I feel like we’re about to get into even more danger… If we had stayed on the boat before, we might’ve been able to escape the island and be just fine. Now, if we stay here…
Roth recalled how the possessed-looking Bindon had claimed that it was asking ‘her’ for a boat to come. Roth would much rather run away from this place than try to chase after whatever stories were controlling Bindon.
“Roth, are you ready? Make sure you have enough blankets with you to stay warm, in case anything goes awry.”
“I’m ready.”
Still, if he had to choose between hiding on his own or following his crewmates, he would choose the latter. Possessed Bindon was one thing, but Roth still felt like there was a bit of trust he could put in Holl.
Aside from leading them onto the island, the captain hadn’t done anything to directly put him into harm’s way and had even shared the story with him before going to sleep.
As they started moving, on Roth’s map, tucked away in his pack, the small triangle denoting his position started to move, heading back down toward where Cundy went missing.