Chapter 42 - A Tale of Tokens

The Companions struck camp after breakfast, burying the fire with sandy earth.

"Maybe he's just wandered 'cos he's a wanderer," Freddie suggested. "It's in his nature."

"We don't even know if he was the wanderer Aron expected us to meet," Corben said.

"What did he want with us?" Sophie asked.

"Information, I suppose," Lydia said. "Spying on us for the Watcher."

"If that were the case," Dev asked, "why has the Watcher not done anything to us in the night while we've been sitting here?"

"Waiting for me to be weaker, I guess," Lydia said.

"I think Freddie's right," Jimmy said. "He's just wandered off, like the wandering wanderer he is."

"We'll see. Let's go," Lydia snapped.

The feeling Lydia received from the mandala led them further along the beach. The wind was stronger than the previous day. It was blowing onshore, carrying foam from the sea onto the sand in places.

"How much further?!" Freddie complained as it was nearing midday.

"Mum? Are we there yet?" Sophie mocked.

"It's weird this time," Lydia remarked to Oddy.

"The mandala seems to have led us a long way," he said. "Maybe that's making it feel odd?"

Lydia frowned. "Possibly. I'm not sure we've gone much further. It feels that way because it's been a long trek, but the other two times we were quite a distance from the token when we started."

"It's hard for anyone else to comment," Oddy conceded. "You are the only one who can feel the pull."

"We are getting closer, anyway, but we're not there yet," she concluded.

They clambered around a small headland of smooth boulders. As they reached the sand again, they saw a familiar figure sitting and staring wistfully out to sea.

"Ah! There you are. You wandered my way, it seems," Quinn observed.

"Quinn!" Jimmy called. "Where did you get to, man?"

He rose, spider-like. "I was unable to sleep and went for a walk. When the dawn came, I realised I was alone. I waited here for you to arrive."

"It would have been nice to know you had left us," Oddy said.

Quinn gave a slow nod. "I imagine so. It has been a great time since I walked with fellow wanderers. I sometimes think it has been a long time. Other times, I am not so sure. I have become unaccustomed, it would seem. I regret any distress or discomfort I may have occasioned on this… occasion."

Lydia was staring past the vagrant at the beach beyond. A raft of foam and bubbles was coming ashore a hundred metres further on.

"We're nearly there, Freddie," Lydia announced. "It's in that mound of froth just ahead."

As they stepped out towards the heap of foam, Oddy turned to Lydia.

"Do you think it might have felt different because the token had not arrived where we were to find it? It was still out to sea when you were feeling for it."

"I think that must have been it, Odysseus," she said with a smile. "It was on its own little Odyssey."

"We need to keep alert," Oddy warned. "The other tokens were guarded."

"Good point," she said. "Hey! Everyone be careful. We don't know what might be guarding this bubble."

Lydia walked forward as though it were a lion's den she was approaching. She could feel the token now. She could feel its exact location. Heck, she could see it as if there was a spotlight trained on it. It felt different from the other tokens and that worried her.

"I suppose I wouldn't be able to find it otherwise," she muttered to herself. "It is just one big heap of bubbles. Maybe that's why it's unusual. Now, how do you pick up a bubble without using magic?"

She diverted and walked down to the water's edge. Bending down, she wet the palms of her hands with sea water. She returned to the mound of sea foam. It had a brownish tint — from the plankton caught up in it, she told herself. But there was one clean bubble, shining with an unnatural light. The tainted bubbles surrounded it, but it peeked out on the surface of the mass. There were two options: scoop it out with her wet hands and hope she could get it to the 'returner', or use magic.

She stood and breathed, staring at the bubble. Why would a token be so difficult to take? OK, maybe the tokens are hard to gain in the first place, but after that it should be easy. All she had to do was give the bubble to someone else. Then it would be Ambrose's problem. But would it reach him intact? What if the bubble was not as fragile as she was assuming? It ought to be stronger. The token had some purpose — she assumed Ambrose knew what and was not telling her, as usual — so it should be usable. There was no way it would be as vulnerable as an ordinary bubble, would it? She could not just grab it and take the risk. If she destroyed a token, the quest would have failed. If she used magic, the token would be safe, but there was no knowing what the Watcher might send to 'entertain' them.

Wet hands, it was. She cupped her hands around the bubble and lifted it out. It had a white, foggy surface with hints of rainbow colours, more like an opal than a soap bubble.

"OK. Whoever's going back this time, wet your hands and come and take this," Lydia called out.

Jimmy ran down to the sea, soaked his hands, then moved to Lydia's side.

Lydia smiled. "Looking for a holiday already, Jimmy?"

"Nah," Jimmy replied. "It's the air token and I'm an airhead. Just seemed a good fit."

Lydia laughed and held the bubble out to him. "Take it carefully. See you later, Jimmy."

He took the bubble. He did not disappear.

"It's actually right firm," Jimmy noted. "Not like a bubble at all."

"Erm, Jimmy, you're still here," Lydia reminded him.

"Oh," Jimmy frowned. "Did I do summat wrong? It's not damaged."

"I don't know," Lydia scowled. "Did you notice the other thing that's weird?"

"You mean there's nowt guarding it and giving us a hard time."

"Exactly," she said. "Something smells fishy, and it's not just the sea."

"Excuse me, my friends."

Quinn had joined them.

"Do you know anything about this, Quinn?" Lydia asked.

"I have known times when the… what is his title? That villain who hails from the Alterworld and is always watching what we do?"

"We call him the Grey Watcher, or just Watcher," Lydia said.

"That would be easy to remember, I imagine."

"You were saying?" Jimmy prompted.

"Was I? What was that?" Quinn inquired.

"I asked if you knew anything that might explain the fact that this bubble isn't acting like a token," Lydia reminded him. "And you said you've known times when the Watcher… Then you stopped."

The vagabond puzzled over this for a second. "Ah, yes. I was going to say I have known times when he has tried to lead quests astray. He may have been trying to divert you from your path or to persuade you to do something which would give him either an insight into your plans, or some manner of advantage."

"I think he has been tempting us to use magic, so that he can find us," Lydia said.

Jimmy frowned. "I don't see the sense in that. He knows where we are from the fact we've been where the tokens are."

"That tells him only where: a point," Quinn explained. "It does not give him a when or a who, nor a how you succeeded. If he can feel your magic, he knows how strong you are. If he can taste it, he knows who you are and when you used it. Also, magic lingers. You yourselves know, I presume, that when a place or an object has known much magic, you can sense it. It is my suspicion that the Watcher can sense a lingering trail of your magic for some little while after you use it."

"Sounds like it'd be a good move to get away from here," Jimmy said.

They returned to the others, explaining why the apparent token had not sent Jimmy to Ambrose and brought Christie back. The entire group set off along the beach again, wary of the approach of the Watcher's agents.

"Does the Watcher know where the tokens are hidden?" Lydia asked Quinn as they set up camp.

Quinn had brought them to a broad hollow behind some rocks at the top of a sea-cliff. The wind had continued to strengthen during the afternoon, and the hollow provided some protection from what was now a gale. They had erected their tents but not without a moment's panic as one tent tried to tear itself from their hands. Quinn had explained how to build a hearth of rocks, which would provide enough shelter for them to light a fire. The vagabond turned to Lydia as he lay a last stone on the hearth.

"I have come to believe he does not know where the tokens lie," he said. "The guardians of the tokens are not, initially, his. They are of this intermediate world, which I call the Anteworld. The Watcher will send his own emissaries to harry the questing party if he can, but only once he knows where that party is."

Lydia nodded.

"What happened to the fake token?" Oddy asked.

"Jimmy had it last," Lydia replied. "Why?"

"The Watcher sent the fake token," Oddy said. "Presumably, he knew where we would pick it up because he had chosen the location. He could have sent someone or something to wait and watch for us. But we weren't attacked and you haven't sensed anyone following us. If we accept the Watcher wants to know where we are…"

"Then the token would be an opportunity to track us," Lydia added. "The scheme would fail if we just abandoned the fake token — which is pretty likely."

"Unless there is an enchantment making the bearer not want to get rid of it," Oddy said. "I was surprised you didn't throw it away in disgust when it failed to send Jimmy back home."

"So it, and the Watcher, could know where we are," Lydia reasoned.

"He might even hear what's being said," Oddy warned.

"Why hasn't he attacked us already?" Lydia asked.

"He would wait until we have settled for the night," Quinn said.

"He's still very wary of you, Faye," Oddy added. "You have bested him again and again. He is going to want as much of an advantage as he can create. I suspect he won't attack tonight. He'll wait until we're already struggling with something else, then move in. Frontal attacks have not worked for him."

"I can't take risks with the lives of everybody here," Lydia decided. "I have to assume there's a chance he could attack tonight. He seems to be prepared to have a shot at us any time he gets an opportunity."

"You're the leader," Oddy said.

"OK," Lydia resolved. "If Jimmy's still got that fake token, we'll throw it off the cliff and move on."

"Let's find Jimmy, then" Oddy said.

Jimmy did indeed have the counterfeit token. The team left it by their campfire while Lydia took them aside to explain the danger it presented. They packed their belongings and departed, putting more wood on the fire and pretending to say goodnight to each other.

The wind was a moderate breeze, and small clouds scattered the sky. The moon was bright, and they made their way along the clifftops with little difficulty. As the morning began to drown out the night stars, they descended from the cliffs through meadows towards a wide, open lowland. Quinn met a goat he seemed to know. They conversed for a while, though Quinn did all the talking.

"Did your goat friend have any interesting news?" Dean asked the wanderer.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Quinn chided. "Interesting news from a goat? The very idea. Nothing interesting ever happens around here."

"Except us," Sophie reminded him.

"You make a fascinating point, and you make it well," Quinn conceded.

"That lowland looks as though it might be wet," Lydia said. "I think we should camp by that outcrop of rock before we get too low down. I feel we've all done a bit more walking than we'd like. I also think we need to post a guard. Xander, would you be willing to take the first watch?"

"Would you be willing to kiss my fuzzy butt?!" Xander retorted. "You seem to overlook the fact that I am a cat and that this is the time I should be having my supper before a twelve-hour sleep."

"I don't mind taking the first couple of hours," Sophie volunteered.

"Who else?" Lydia asked. "We should always watch in pairs to keep each other awake."

"I'm terrible at sleeping when it's light," said Dev. "If Sophie doesn't mind."

"'Course not," Sophie smiled. "It'll be nice to have a chat."

"I'm not great at small talk, I must warn you," Dev admitted.

"That won't be a problem, Dev," Freddie told him. "It's not like you're going to get a word in!"

Sophie narrowed her eyes at him. Freddie grinned.

They set up camp by the rocks, making a hearth and building a fire, but not lighting it. As there were no stars for Quinn to sleep under, he elected to join the boys in their tent. Most of them took a light breakfast before turning in. Lydia went straight to her bed.

Xander woke Lydia about noon.

"I need a word with you, Lydia," he murmured. "Outside would be best."

Lydia scowled but crawled out of her sleeping bag, taking care not to wake anyone else.

"Who is on guard duty?" she asked as they emerged into the day's glare.

"Dean and Shona," Xander told her. "We shouldn't disturb them. I think Shona's helping Dean with his loss of Oddy to, shall we say, his duties as your mentor."

"What did you want to talk about?" she asked.

"I've been talking to the others, individually, that is."

"You mean, while you were making them carry you."

"Aye. It's a great way to get people to open up. You just have to purr at them a bit. Rather like you with Odysseus, I might say."

"Only if you wanted me to turn you into a Chihuahua," Lydia growled.

"There's no need for language like that, young lady," Xander said. "Anyway, what I have learned is that most, possibly all, of the team are having certain dreams. Not the dreams you normally expect teenagers to have, thankfully. These could be coming from the Watcher."

"Most of them?"

"Well," he continued. "Some are better at remembering the details, others are merely left with a feeling. Quinn and I seem to be immune. Oddy may have other things on his mind. Freddie seems not to have been disturbed. But Freddie has been in one of the Watcher's dreams with you and he shrugged it off. But that's Freddie all over."

"Do you know what any of these dreams are about?" Lydia inquired.

"There is no clear theme yet," he said. "But I suspect the Watcher is testing them; looking for someone he can use."

"OK," said Lydia. "Thanks for that. Don't press anyone, but if they want to tell you more, let them. Monitor the situation as best you can."

She yawned. Xander yawned.

"Back to your pit with you, woman," he ordered. "You need your sleep."

"Will you join me?" she asked. "Like we used to?"

"I would be honoured."

It felt to Lydia that Freddie woke her five minutes later. It was an hour and a half by her watch, but she did not believe it.

"What is it, Fredster?" she asked.

"Mandala?" Xander asked, emerging from the sleeping bag.

"Yeah," he admitted. "It's showing the same bubble, as far as I can see."

"You're so tired, Freddie," Lydia commiserated.

"Yeah. How can you tell?"

"You're not freaking out like a headless goose," Xander explained. "That's unusual for you, Freddie."

Lydia sat up and yawned. Xander hopped down from the camp bed and stretched his long, lean body.

"Show me," Lydia said.

Freddie held out the mandala. Looking inside, Lydia saw the bubble again.

"See?" Freddie sighed. "Same as before."

"Ye-es," Lydia said. "Same as it showed before, but not the same as the fake. This looks like a real bubble. The fake sort of glowed, and the film was white-ish, opalescent. This is like oil on water, like a soap bubble. I should have seen straightaway that the other one wasn't right."

"But the mandala drew you to it," Freddie said.

"Something did. I told you at the time it felt different," Lydia explained. "God, I've been stupid."

"If you're going to berate yourselves for every feat of stupidity," Xander pointed out. "Then we shall have no time left for the quest. I mean, you lot are only human, after all."