Chapter 5: Plans

Solomon was sweating and groaning. He had barely walked an hour but was already exhausted. The forest did not make for solid hiking terrain and the cauldron's added weight only amplified his displeasure.

He managed to continue for another fifteen minutes before dropping down in a heap of exhaustion. "This won't work." He thought to himself. "I can't take another months-long journey with this bloody cauldron attached to my back, it will probably double my already far too long travelling time."

He sat back against a tree and thought for a while. "I will have to find a way to make the cauldron easier to transport. Besides making it easier for me, I also have to make sure I won't attract too much attention. Maybe I'll shrink the cauldron? No, I can't perform that kind of magic yet, and who knows how it might affect the cauldron's magic. I'll make it fly? And risk letting someone see me walking alongside a flying cauldron, hell no! I'll make it invisible and then make it fly! That might work."

He quickly took out one of the older spell books and started looking for an invisibility spell. The only one he could find was to make one's self invisible, not other items, so that plan was out of the picture.

"What else?" he thought to himself. "I could teleport maybe? What does the book say about that?" He looked up the chapter on teleportation and was quickly disappointed.

Everything and everyone can be teleported by an established and licensed mage, witch or sorcerer. To use the spell with minimal risk, use a flat surface and have a recipient on the other end of the desired teleportation. It is also preferred for said mage, witch or sorcerer to have absolute knowledge of the desired location of teleportation. In order for a large number of items or people to be teleported at once, one must make use of a pre-determined portal, of which there are currently 77 spread throughout the kingdoms.

An unbreakable teleportation spell can also be cast over an item of choice by the caster. This spell requires two participants, with one being the teleported and the other being the teleporter. The teleporter can choose to either send the teleported away or receive the teleported on the agreed place of teleportation. The item of choice is the totem for this spell and whomever holds it at the moment the teleporter chooses to cast the spell will be teleported. Note: This spell is unbreakable and unlike other teleportation spells can be used wherever, even in magically barricaded places. Downside is that the teleporter potentially has no control over who or what gets teleported if the teleporter takes on the role of receiver.

Note: Magical items, including but not limited to; staffs, wands, orbs and charms, must never be transported through teleportation as it can lead to said item to lose its magical abilities. See page 287 for more possible magical occurrences and accidents concerning transforming, transporting and enchanting.

"Damn!" he thought, "it was like everything was specially designed to stop him from getting the cauldron anywhere." He sat back and though again. If he would teleport the cauldron, it could possibly lose its magical abilities, a risk he was not willing to take.

Then, probably the simplest plan he could have thought of went through his mind. He could simply head to the nearest road and hijack the first proper vehicle he would come across. Auradon had enough distant roads to escape any curious onlookers and he would travel much faster than before.

He took out his map of Auradon again. It didn't take him long to establish where he was right now and saw that it was a day's walk at most to get to the nearest road. Once he would get there, it would remain to be seen how long it would take for a vehicle to show up.

With renewed energy, he hoisted the cauldron onto his back and started walking.

With the cauldron on his back, the journey to the nearest road took a bit longer than expected, but Solomon eventually reached the side of the road around noon. He took out the daggers of Shan Yu and placed the cauldron with all its other contents behind a small bush on the side of the road and looked around.

The road was a small dirt road, not much bigger than a regular path. This would have concerned him is he hadn't seen on the map that this tiny dirt road was the fastest connection point between two villages, which meant it must be traveled quite regularly. Furthermore, because the road is so small, no large vehicles could traverse it, which only helped. He did not want to steal a vehicle that was too large, in order to not get unwanted attention.

Solomon sat back against a tree nearby the road. From this point he had a proper view of the turn in front of him and could thus see vehicles from quite a distance.

He did not have any luck in the first few hours. The first sign of life on the road he saw were a couple of hikers, for whom he hid behind his tree. The hikers were followed by a sheep herder with a whole herd of sheep and an old dog. When it was nearing afternoon however, he spotted something in the distance.

Its headlights were easily distinguishable, as well as the soft, rumbling sound it made. As it approached him, he saw that it was some kind of a cross between a bike and a small car, he would later find out it was called a rickshaw. It was an old vehicle and it really needed a paintjob and some maintenance, but it would suffice.

When the rickshaw approached him, he appeared from behind his tree and waved his hand towards the driver, signaling him to stop. The driver did just that before stepping out.

"Can I help you son?" the driver asked. He was a short, skinny, old man with thin strands of short, grey hair, large glasses and a prominent, stubbed chin.

"Yes." Solomon replied with what was supposed to be a kind smile. "I seem to be lost, you wouldn't happen to have a map, or directions?"

"Oh, well yes of course." The old man said with a genuine smile. "I have a map in my trunk, I'll just go and get it for you." He said before turning around slowly and started rummaging through his truck. "I have not seen you around before." The man said while his shaking fingers grabbing a small case. "Where are you heading young man?"

"Oh, I'm just passing through." Solomon said darkly.

"Ah, a journeyman. I used to be just like you." The old man said before turning around with a map in his hand. "Travelling around, until I took an-"

The man's speech was stopped cold in his throat as he looked at the dagger that had been stuck through his chest. A shocked gasp escaped his mouth before he looked up into Solomon's eyes. They showed not a single sign of regret or sympathy, they simply had a victorious gloom around them. The man grabbed Solomon's collar and clung to it for dear life, but Solomon just snarled and pushed the man away while retracting the blade from his chest. The man fell with a thud, and blood started seeping through his clothes onto the ground. The man made some attempts to speak and crawl away, but soon succumbed to his wounds and lay still on the road.

Solomon wiped his dagger clean on his coat and looked at the man he'd just killed. It was stupid of him to be so trusting. Everyone on the isle would have recognized the previous situation as a trap and would not have dared to approach him, he hadn't even frisked him for weapons.

He felt no shock, no remorse. Naturally, this was not his first kill. His first kill had been at age 13 on the isle. He had gotten in a fight with an older kid whom he'd eventually hit on the head with a shovel, breaking the other kid's skull. He had not felt remorse then, or the other times he had been forced to take someone's life. Remorse was for the weak.

He looked around, no one in sight. He first grabbed the man's corpse by his ankles and dragged him to the side of the road, behind a bush and covered him with some leaves as best as he could. He then grabbed the cauldron and his other possessions and went to the rickshaw.

When he opened the back, he saw it was packed with jars, bottles, flasks and boxes, all meticulously labeled. He grabbed jar and looked at the inscription, oregano. The man apparently was an herbalist. Not wanting to leave more evidence laying around, Solomon simply moved some jars and bottles out of the way to make room for the cauldron, before covering it with his blanket.

He stepped back and looked around again, still nobody. He closed the backdoor and headed to the front of the rickshaw. He got in and looked around. He had never driven a car or anything similar before, but how hard could it be. He saw the keys sticking out of the ignition and turned them. The engine immediately sprung to life with a lot of sputtering sounds. He looked down and saw two pedals. He softly pressed the right pedal and the rickshaw softly started going forward. He let go of the pedal and pressed the other one and the rickshaw came to a hold again. He quickly got the concept and pressed the right pedal again, a little harder this time, the rickshaw went forward again, and Solomon steered as much as he could to avoid ending on any of the sides of the road. His eyes gleamed with excitement, he was going home with the cauldron, and nobody could stop him.