Land of Mytycaea

Chapter One: The New Land

Summary: Svengal finds a land far to the south of Araluen. Will Treaty and his closest friends are sent to explore and learn more about it, but to do that, they must assimilate to the ways of the new land, find a way to help the natives, and come back home-alive.


I'm considering making these people less Native American-like and perhaps more modern. I'd like your thoughts and opinions on that, as well as on what you thought of the story as a whole.

A HUGE thank-you goes to MeL (Rowana Renee), who beta-read the story before I actually published it. She really encouraged me to make this story happen, and if it weren't for her, I'd be bored out of my mind right now, as I'm now on summer vacation.

Without further ado-enjoy! :D


Svengal gazed out over the Endless Ocean. For the thousandth time that day, he asked himself, What made me leave everything to explore the vast unknown?

His own countrymen had laughed at him, even Erak. The Oberjarl had considered the matter very serious, but hadn't wanted to endanger his position by opposing the crowd, Svengal supposed. Though that was highly uncharacteristic of him.

The Gallicans had somehow got wind of it and, as he'd sailed past their country, those waiting by the coasts had called out to him, jeered at him, taunted him.

Not even the Rangers Halt and Will Treaty had shown even remote interest in finding a new world! Well, that's what the King had said. And Svengal knew that the King would never lie.

But now, here he was with the rest of Wolfwind's crew, staring out over the vast, empty ocean. What good had their exploring done? The trip had been doomed to failure from the start, Svengal thought bitterly.

Their provisions were nearly out, after over a month of aimless sailing. But they were so far out to sea that the land had simply disappeared more than two weeks ago. If they didn't find any sort of land by the next day, they'd die.

And, on that happy note, Svengal suddenly noticed a faint green line on the horizon.

"Land ho!"

Cheers erupted from all the men, Svengal included.

"We'll be famous now, won't we? We've discovered a new land. Surely this will convince some more people-like those Rangers-to come," one of the crew said.

Svengal ignored the rest of that debate, back at the wheel and looking at the land, looming larger and larger as they moved closer.

Less than two hours later, they'd laid anchor and were surveying the island in front of them.

"Plenty of trees and grass," Svengal commented.

Thud! An arrow slammed into the wood of the wheel.

Svengal jerked his left hand back from it, startled by the sudden appearance and sound announcing its arrival.

"Who's there?" he demanded.

"I could ask you the same thing, stranger," a deep voice with more than a bit of menace touching it and a strange, almost indechiperable accent responded. "Now get lost! You don't belong here."

"Why not? Why can't we just take a look around this new land?" Svengal asked scathingly.

An instant later, he wished he hadn't spoken at all.

Svengal felt a searing pain in his chest. Looking down, he realized his suspicions were correct. He hurriedly tore out as much of the arrow as he could, then grabbed a rough cloth hanging on the railing and pressed it to his newest wound.

"I could very easily have poisoned that arrow I just sent at you, and you'd be dead by now," that same dark, threatening voice said now. "So go back to wherever you came from. You aren't welcome here, and you never will be. Go away!"

"We're about to run out of food and water, though!" Svengal whined. The thought of having to survive another month on one jug of ale and on two loaves of bread was already tortuous to him-and doubtless the same for his crew.

An exasperated sigh could be heard from the trees. Then, suddenly, many fruits came flying from the trees onto the deck of Wolfwind. Svengal gaped at the extreme variety, even if they were fruits; their different colors; and the never-before-seen kinds. Even better, he noted with satisfaction at their scent, they were all fresh and juicy.

"Now leave and don't come back!" the voice ordered.

Svengal sighed, then mumbled, "Yes, sir."

They lifted anchor, turned the Wolfwind's hull back towards home, and sailed off.


"Strangers came today," a tall, blonde girl reported to her mother in their tent.

Her mother glanced up from her weaving basket, surprise written all over her face.

"It's been over thirty years since anyone has come this far south, though!"

The girl nodded grimly. "Perhaps they felt like they wished to explore more of the world. Maybe even try to capture us, or take the land."

"Or both," her mother added. "What were they like?"

The girl wrinkled her nose. "They smelled like horse butt. Looked fat, but muscular. And they had terrible manners. Lightning on Jagged Rock had to use two arrows and give them some of our precious fruit to get rid of them!"

"We have plenty of fruit still, Creek," her mother said calmly. "And much wood left for arrows."

Creek Where Sun Shines made a frustrated gesture with her hands. "I know, Mother, but Lightning warned me that they'll bring more back with them! She could tell!"

Her mother was silent for a long time. Then she stood and called out into the night, "Stone by Fast Stream!"

Moments later, a wizened old man entered the tent.

"Did you hear?" Creek's mother demanded.

Stone by Fast Stream nodded gravely. "I heard enough."

"Well then, what do you think? If they find out that our land is-"

"Enough!" Stone by Fast Stream cut Creek's mother off sternly. "We may be able to welcome them if they are polite and respectful. But we must also take extreme precautions if we invite them on our land so that they have no temptations to learn more than they should."

He stood and nodded to Creek and her mother. "We must let the Nyon'uku Tribe of the Ya'bota Mountains know of this. They will be next in line if our tribe is endangered. Creek, carry on with helping your mother and the other tribe girls. Sun on Gray Mount, have Star in Night Sky ready to leave by dawn tomorrow."


Will sat back in his chair in Crowley's office and set down the report Crowley, Commandant of the Ranger Corps, had just handed him.

"Huh. So Svengal's found a strange new land far to the south?"

Halt nodded. "That's right. And the King wanted you and me to go. There's...one problem, though."

Halt and Crowley exchanged a glance.

Crowley cleared his throat several times. "The, ah...the Temujai are acting up again."

"Right." Will raised an eyebrow. There was something that Halt and Crowley weren't telling him, he was sure of it. But he decided to play along for now and ask Halt about it later. "So...I'm going...alone?" Now a hint of nervousness touched his voice. (After all, the idea of exploring an unknown land all by himself, not knowing whether he'd even return home, was more than a little daunting.)

"No, no," Halt was quick to reassure him. "Our one and only Champion is coming along, of course. And perhaps another Ranger friend, from Meric Fief? Oh, our Crown Princess, for political reasons and maybe for negotiating, and some famous blonde Courier-our favorite-will be journeying as well."

"Hmm." Will rubbed his chin in mock thoughtfulness. "Let me guess-Horace, Gilan, Evanlyn, and Alyss. Well then, if these islander people get even more violent than they were to poor Svengal, what about bringing some Skandians along?"

Crowley grinned. "Way ahead of you, Will. Erak is too busy as Oberjarl, but Svengal, Gundar Hardstriker, and about fifteen others will meet you just outside the Castle in the ship Wolfwind."

"Speaking of Wolfwind, looks like she's outside right now," Halt commented dryly, pointing out the window.

"You never told me it was going to be today!" Will exclaimed accusingly. He was a little hurt that his former mentor and friend, along with his chief, would trick him like this.

Halt shrugged. "As I told Crowley earlier-you would've agonized over being sent on the mission and moaned about how incompetent you are and, generally speaking, have wasted a whole lot of time."

"But..." Will began. Then he stopped himself. Gilan would be there. Will was a relatively new Ranger. But Gilan knew how to do everything. He'd handle anything out of the ordinary the right way. As for Horace, well, he was amazing with that sword of his, and about the two girls...

Will grinned inwardly. It was growing quite obvious that Horace and Evanlyn were falling for each other. Horace would murder anyone else who tried to touch a single honey-blonde hair on the Princess's head. Much the same, however, he reflected, could be said for him and Alyss. He knew that he'd protect her with every ounce of his strength, even if he himself died from it.

Halt watched his former apprentice closely. The shoulders were more relaxed now than they had been a couple minutes ago, his body wasn't as tense, and there was a faint smile lurking at the corners of his mouth. Halt turned back towards the window to conceal the smile that was spreading across his own face. It'd be Alyss, for sure.


"Hey, Gil!" Will called cheerfully to the green-cloaked figure sitting astride a familiar bay horse.

"Hey, Will! How are things?" The tall Ranger grinned and threw back the cowl of his cloak.

Abruptly, Will's easygoing expression changed to one of concern and he walked closer to Gilan until they could talk without fear of being overheard.

"Actually, I'm a little worried about Halt. He's...I dunno. More grumpy, and just...well, when I got the briefing for the mission, Crowley said that Halt had to do something about the Temujai, but it was-"

"Obvious that he was lying," Gilan finished for him. "Crowley told me that Halt needed to take care of a huge group of bandits back at Redmont."

The two younger Rangers exchanged a glance, then nodded at the same time. Halt was in for some serious questioning from the two of them. The thing was, would he tell the truth, even if he'd possibly told Crowley not to for their sakes?


Anyway, any comments and suggestions are welcome! I'd especially like to know what you all think of the actual idea of discovering a new world, and whether the characters were truly in-character. Thank you again, MeL!

And also, if you've read this far, please take the time to review. It doesn't have to be a huge, enormously long one either. Maybe two or three sentences. That's it.

Well, I'll say bye for now, then. Expect Chapter Two, up and running, within the week!