WOLVERINE'S WORLD - THE CAMP
The amount of distance that can be covered in a canoe, even when going upriver, surprises many people. If you're going against the current, the trick is to keep away from the main channel and work your way through the side channels where the current is weaker. If a water course peters off, you simply carry the canoe overland to another channel and continue onward.
Perhaps twelve hours after we began working our way upriver, we were a considerable distance north of the Point. And then we found some bodies.
There were four of them on a small islet - a decapitated Blood ronin and three hacked-to-death Folk merchants. A fifth body - that of another ronin - was several hundred yards away, caught behind a beaver dam. Like the other Blood, his head was gone.
I examined the scene, sorting through scents and scrutinizing tracks. The murdered party was attacked after they settled in for the night. There had been about a dozen attackers. They'd approached from two directions, wading through the water until they got to the island. They wore boots and carried bows and swords. Several broken arrows resembled the type that had been retrieved from the ogre's boat. The two yojimbos fought hard, but they were badly outnumbered. The one who almost got away only fled after his companion and all three of their charges were dead. However, the two ronin took a toll on their attackers. Several dead and wounded had been carried away by the attackers.
Anna pointed out some burn-like marks on one of the dead ronin. Unlike normal burns, the flesh around his injuries were oddly pale - as if the blood had been drained away.
"Magic," Anna said. I nodded in agreement.
"What's this?" Rahne asked, as she crouched and sniffed at a splash of dried purple-red blood. Her noise wrinkled at the acrid smell.
"The enemy," I answered. Despite all of the years that had passed, I recognized the scent of the attackers. My hope that we'd stumbled upon nothing more than an isolated intrusion into our world was rapidly vanishing.
Emma frowned thoughtfully as she mentally scanned the area.
*There's nobody within a mile of us,* she reported to me mind-to-mind.
*We need to be careful,* I thought back to her. *If they find us first, they'll kill us.*
Her eyes coldly serious, Emma nodded in agreement.
Really, it wasn't wise to delay any longer. We should have continued on. However, Emma and I had responsibilities that reached beyond this material world. So we buried the dead as respectfully as possible in hastily scooped out shallow graves. Then we marked the graves with river cobbles so they could be found later.
Most Elves follow the old faith of the Folk, so Anna had an understanding of what to do for them. Over the graves of the three Folk, she spoke their words of farewell. What she said was about reuniting with loved ones in a place of peace and contentment, and then someday experiencing resurrection. Those concepts are not a part of my beliefs, but they have a tremendous resonance. Whenever I hear them, I find myself haunted by the memories of those I have lost.
When Anna was done, she and Emma looked at each other, and then at me. I understood - the graves of the two Blood had not been properly consecrated.
"If it is the will of the Old One and Lady Grey, we will return," I told them. I was trying to be prudent.
Emma shook her head. "We have time," she said quietly, but firmly.
Anna nodded in agreement. I'm honestly not sure about Anna's religious beliefs, but on some matters she has a strong sense of propriety. She'd helped me serve the graves of Blood males before.
I took a moment to be astonished by the experience of Anna and Emma seeing eye-to-eye on something.
A space had been intentionally left between the graves of the two ronin. It had already been cleared of vegetation and loose rocks. Anna and Emma spread out a blanket and smoothed it flat. And then they began undressing.
"Keep watch for us," I told Rahne. "And don't go too far."
She nodded and faded back into the trees.
Despite my concerns, I felt better once we were done. Leaving the dead unhallowed must sometimes be done, especially during time of war, but it always nags at me.
As Emma offered the traditional prayer to help guide the two dead Ronin to the spirit world, Anna helped me dress. As always, she was in no particular hurry to put on her own clothes. Anna had the slender and graceful body of her kind. She liked to show it off.
Or perhaps she was taking her time dressing because Emma was still naked. The prayer Emma was saying is traditionally done immediately after the ritual of graveside sex. Most women don't bother to dress before making it. It's assumed by many that the prayer should be delivered while unclothed, although the Traditions are actually unspecific about that. Perhaps Anna simply didn't want to be upstaged.
Anna nodded towards Emma. "She's a priestess, right? For the Lady of Fire if I had to guess."
*I hate to admit it, but she's actually quite intelligent,* Emma sent telepathically. She had just finished her prayer and was gathering her clothes.
"That's not really important right now," I replied to Anna as I secured my traditional tooth and claw necklace around my neck.
Anna handed me my staff. I took it... but she didn't let go. Instead, she suggestively ran her hand up and down it's upper length.
*She never really stops, does she?* Emma observed.
I yanked my staff away from Anna.
"There's something I need to say to you," Anna said quietly.
"What?" I asked.
"That I'm sorry," she replied. Her eyes were now staring directly into mine. Given the almost solid yellow nature of an Elf's eyes, some people find that disconcerting. I'm not one of them.
I paused. This really wasn't the time or place, but...
*You might as well get this out of the way,* Emma suggested dryly. *After all, it's not like we're in any danger, or on an important mission, or anything like that.*
"There's nothing to be sorry about," I told Anna. "We're both wanderers, but we have different callings. I wasn't angry when you left. I knew it would happen."
Anna nodded slowly. "You deserved an explanation. I didn't give you one."
*The explanation's fairly simple,* Emma contributed. *She's a selfish trollop who's unable to commit herself to anything but the open road, a bottle of whiskey, and a tumble with anything willing.*
"It's fine, Anna," I answered, some exasperation creeping into my voice.
Anna sighed. "Would you at least have the decency to be angry with me?"
*I agree with her there,* Emma observed approvingly.
"Why?" I asked.
Anna gave me a hard look. "Because you risked your life to save my blue ass, and then I ran off without a word? For God's sake, James, I owed you more than that."
*Good point,* Emma supplied helpfully.
I put a hand on Anna's bare shoulder. "If it will help, the next time we're alone, I promise to be angry and bitter."
*No, you won't,* Emma chortled in my mind.
"No, you won't," Anna sighed.
Anna gave me a disconsolate look. "There's one more thing..."
*Uh-oh,* Emma thought warily.
It was my turn to sigh. "What?"
"Am I your wife?" Anna asked.
That brought me up short. Anna was staring at me as she waited for my answer. Emma suddenly had nothing to contribute.
"You are my wife according to both law and tradition," I replied slowly.
"Fuck law and tradition," Anna snarled. "Am I really your wife?"
"For pity's sake, Anna..." I began.
Then Rahne ran out of the trees. She moved as silently as a ghost and was pointing urgently behind her.
Emma dove into some high brush. Rahne dodged back into the trees. Anna and I took cover in a tangled pile of driftwood. Fortunately, we'd already hidden the canoe in some tall cattails.
Then we waited.
After a tense minute or so, a boat rowed past, coming from upriver. Inside were a half-dozen dark-elf warriors. Four had oars, while the remaining two wielded heavy-looking bows as they scanned the adjacent banks. The boat was an ordinary fishing skiff, common to the local rivers and lakes. The previous owner was almost certainly dead.
The dark-elves had slender frames and blue-purplish skin. Their helmets partially concealed their faces and hair, but their facial features were elongated and narrow. The scale armor they all wore had the look of a uniform. They were armed with bows and long-swords.
At the sight of the dark-elves, I felt my lips draw back in a reflexive snarl as a growl rumbled through my chest. Anna grabbed me and hugged me tight. That calmed me.
Fortunately, dark-elves are nose-blind - like so many of the non-Blood. The wind actually didn't favor us, but they were unable to catch our scent.
*Emma?* I called, hoping she would be able to detect my thoughts.
*It's a scouting party,* Emma sent back to me. *There's nobody else with them.*
*Can you get any other information?*
*They're difficult to read, but they're acting under orders and are part of a larger force.*
*Can you tell how large of a force? Or its location?*
*No.*
*Anything else?*
Emma paused before replying. *They're not just scouting. They're looking for something. Something important.*
That didn't mean anything to me.
*One more thing,* Emma added.
*What?*
*They're frightened,* Emma sent. *The dark-elves are terrified of whatever it is they're searching for.*
We continued upriver. I wanted to get a better sense of the enemy. When - if - Emma and I finally called for war, I wanted to have a better idea of what we were facing. The trick was to not get killed in the process.
Anna and I rowed. Rahne and Emma kept watch. We moved in short bursts, with Emma, Rahne, and I confirming that there were no observers before we moved from point to point. Using her telepathic abilities so intensively was putting an obvious strain on Emma, but we didn't have much choice.
Within an hour, we came upon a dark-elf camp.
They had prisoners. We recognized them.
"You know them?" Anna asked softly.
We were ashore in a jumble of woods, brush, and driftwood that gave us cover and a good view of the dark-elf camp. The camp held about a hundred dark-elf warriors and wasn't fortified - it was obviously intended to be temporary. Roughly a dozen captured local boats were grounded on the river bank adjacent to the camp.
"That man is named Benjamin," I whispered back. "He's a wallcrawler. The woman is Faye. We met them just south of Cats Kill. Faye's the sister of a mad Green Bastard that we killed."
Anna gave me a startled look. "That must have been an interesting conversation when you met."
Emma sniffed. "I thought we'd have to kill them. But Faye already knew that her brother was beyond any real help. Rahne simply settled the issue when she killed him."
Anna stared at Rahne. "You killed a Green Bastard?"
Rahne looked straight ahead and didn't respond. Rick's death had been necessary, but it still weighed on her.
Benjamin and Faye were in a crudely fenced and guarded enclosure. Benjamin was sitting cross-legged in an ornate cage that was barely larger than he was. He was silently and resentfully staring out at this captors. The bars of the cage looked frail, but they had to be incredibly strong. Wallcrawlers are a physically powerful breed.
Faye was fully transformed into her Green form. She was naked and on her knees, heavy manacles and ankle chains restraining her. A chain ran from a collar around her neck and was attached to a metal post that was driven deep into the ground beside her. The metal of her bounds looked like some kind of dark iron, but it had to be much more than that.
Both Benjamin and Faye were beaten and bruised. They hadn't been captured without a fight.
As we watched, Faye seemed to gather her will and began straining against her restraints. A light blue glow built up around her. The color deepened as Faye continued to struggle. It was only when she ceased that the glow began to slowly dissipate.
"Magical bonds," Emma observed. "If they were ordinary iron or steel, Faye would be free by now."
I nodded in agreement.
"What can you sense?" I asked Emma.
"This isn't all of the dark-elves," Emma replied instantly. "There are more - many more - located north of us. This is an advance camp for search parties."
Anna and Rahne exchanged a look.
"Can you make a better guess of their numbers?" I asked.
Emma hesitated before replying. "No, but these dark-elves are all part of a single, distinctive, military formation. They feel tremendous loyalty to it. And they believe that all of the dark-elves currently in our world are members of that same unit."
"They call it a legion," I said. "It's their basic unit of maneuver. Dark-elf warriors spend their entire lives attached to a single legion. The officers of a legion are a form of nobility whose titles are based on their role in the legion.
Each legion has its own battle mages as well."
"How many in a legion?" Anna asked worriedly.
"About five thousand dark-elves and supporting creatures."
Rahne winced. "That's bad."
"We destroyed five legions at the battle of Delphi," I added bleakly. "But it cost us dearly. About half of the Blood fighters for hundreds of miles around were killed. There was massive political turmoil afterwards because of the large number of lords and holders who died in battle - and more died because of that. Nyack lost so many Folk, Scatter, and Wilder warriors that it seemed empty for decades afterwards."
"Why are they here?" Anna asked Emma. "You said something about search parties?"
Emma glanced back at Anna. "They're looking for something they think is important. I don't know what it is."
"We have to free Benjamin and Faye," Rahne interjected.
I examined the dark-elf camp skeptically. The situation didn't look good for an escape.
"I don't think that's possible," Emma said with a shake of her head.
"Can we sneak in after dark?" Rahne suggested.
"Dark-elves see as well at night as in the day," I told her.
"So we want those two free, but there's never going to be a good time to extract them?" Anna summarized.
"Yes," I answered distractedly. "Perhaps we can..."
BAMF!
Anna was gone in a haze of smoke and brimstone. Emma made a disgusted face and hastily covered her nose and mouth with her scarf. Rahne stumbled back in surprise - she'd never seen an Elf teleport below.
I looked back at the dark-elf camp. Anna was now standing next to Faye. Then she knelt, wrapped her arms around Faye's waist, and teleported her out of her bonds. They appeared next to Benjamin's cage.
"Oh, fuck this!" Emma gasped out. Rahne's eyes were wide-open and she had an expression on her face that would have been comical under any other circumstances.
Only a few of the dark-elves were aware of what was happening - it was occurring so fast. However, voices began yelling and swords were being drawn. A tall and cadaverously thin figure wearing an ornate variation of the dark-elf armored uniform came out of a tent. She looked about in obvious confusion as she began making some kind of complex gesture with one hand.
"Mage," Emma warned. Then she concentrated on the distant figure.
The mage doubled over, collapsed to her hands and knees, and began retching.
Anna still had an arm around Faye as she reached inside the cage holding Benjamin and grabbed him by the hair...
There was an outward rush of air and another wash of sulfurous stench, and then Anna, Benjamin, and Faye were standing among us. Anna staggered and Benjamin clutched at her to keep her from collapsing. Anna was a very powerful teleporter, but she had just performed three jumps within a matter of a few seconds. She was on the verge of collapse.
"You?" Faye gasped in surprise as she stared at us. Then she let go of Anna, formed her hands into fists and fell into a fighting crouch. I held out my hands to forestall a fight.
Meanwhile, the enemy camp was in turmoil. However, it was organized turmoil. Squads of dark-elf warriors were already moving out of the camp or taking up defensive positions on the perimeter. Other squads were forming. Another mage, this time male, appeared out of the same tent as the first mage. He glanced down at his companion and then quickly began casting a spell. Runes of power, glowing sea-green and ice-blue, appeared in the air and began revolving around him.
"Well, shit," Emma said angrily as she stared at the activity in the camp. "They've put up a psionic shield."
"Go!" I yelled, giving Emma and Rahne a none-too-gentle shove as I did. That snapped them out of their inactivity and they began sprinting towards the boat.
Faye looked at me for a long moment. Then she shook her head and dropped her belligerent stance.
"See you on the other side of the river," she said. Then she gathered up Anna and Benjamin and took off in a tremendous leap. Anna let out a choked scream of surprise. Faye tried to keep low to the ground and that restricted how much distance she could cover in a single bound. The three of them ended up on a sandbar that was about two-thirds of the way across the river. They landed in a spray of sand, mud, and water.
I dashed after Emma and Rahne. They jumped into the canoe and grabbed for the oars. I pushed the canoe away from the shore, splashed after it, and scrambled inside.
Behind us, the hue and cry from the enemy camp grew louder and louder.
"I'm going to murder your wife," Emma told me conversationally as she began rowing.