Chapter 44 - The Marshland
"Are you bent on exploring the marshland?" Quinn asked Lydia. "It is not the most delightful of places."
"Yes," she said.
"We need to enter the marshes to find the next token," Oddy explained. "Lydia can point out the direction we should travel, but we don't know the paths to take. We're right in assuming you have to be careful where you put your feet?"
"If you wish to survive, it is advisable to remain on the paths," Quinn conceded.
"Survival's nice." Dean piped up.
"Survival without using magic and drawing the Watcher's attention would be even better," Oddy added.
The outcropping of rock where they had spent the night was behind and above them now. There were meadows and water-meadows before the marshland proper began. The coastline was out of sight, but there was still that quality of light that betrayed the sea's presence. The marsh, Quinn had told them, was the delta of a river running down from the distant mountains. As it reached the broad coastal plain, the river forked into many narrow, meandering streams. These soaked the land across a wide area and created the marshland habitat. There were windswept and stunted trees, stands of long grass, and beds of reeds stretching into the distance. Already they could smell a damp and rotten odour. The Companions remembered the marsh where the inferi had attacked.
"Do you know the paths through the marshes, Quinn?" Lydia asked.
"I know some," he said. "There are many which are unknown to me. There is the possibility that the trails have themselves strayed over the years since last I wandered here. What is important is that I understand the language of the marsh. I can read the signs in the plants and the tracks of animals. I also know that the flat, shiny bits are the water."
"Comforting to have an expert with us," Corben said.
The meadows, which sloped gently down to the flatland, were a source of some relief and joy to the band of travellers. The going was easy and the ground soft underfoot. Flowers studded the lush grass. Bees bumbled around their ankles, visiting the blooms in the morning sunshine. Butterflies flickered here and there in a merry dance. Even Lydia felt some respite from her burden of cares.
But the meadows lasted no longer than the morning. The ground softened further and squelched under their feet. They resolved to walk in single file following the wanderer. Lydia walked close behind him with the mandala, telling him where they needed to aim their path. There was a faint haze over the wetland. As the afternoon progressed and they moved deeper into the marshes, the haze became a mist and then a fog. They could still see far enough to work out their way, but the lack of scenery was depressing. There was no break from the interminable stepping and trailing in the footprints left by those ahead of them in the line.
The daylight was dimming when Quinn suggested a diversion. He knew of a raised area where they might camp for the night. Reaching this island involved a detour. Lydia felt uncomfortable moving in a direction which took them further from the destination the mandala was pulling her toward. She did it for their safety and comfort, but she gained no comfort from the move.
Quinn found the island for them, which was a relief. His frequently vague manner did not instil confidence. They pitched their tents and built a fire with a sense of solace, but little joy. The mist had thickened into a fog, and twilight had fallen quicker and deeper than normal. As they prepared the fire, a few noticed drifting lights on the edge of their sight through the mists. Quinn warned them to pay the lights no heed and never to follow them.
They ate their evening meal in near-silence. The heavy wetness of the fog dampened the campfire and their spirits. Lydia was feeling especially gloomy and unresponsive. Oddy checked with her about his and Dev's interpretations of some of the information they had learned from Ambrose. She added very little to their knowledge, but it gave her something to think about and took her out of her inner troubles. It was not until she rose to go to her bed that she realised that had been Oddy's intent. It showed he had a better understanding of people and a level of compassion she would not have expected only a few days earlier.
Lydia had borrowed the mandala. She had been following its pull for a long time now. That had given her a kind of closeness to the mandala. She found she could make out the image it held even when Freddie was not touching it. The mandala was opening up to her, in its own way. Freddie was still its master, though. Lydia did not want to take that away from him.
She handed the mandala back to Freddie. The move was certainly not for safe-keeping, more to bolster Freddie's role within the team. Dean and Jimmy were their muscle and humour. Odysseus and Dev provided brains and knowledge. Shona gave support and healing. Sophie — and Christie, when she returned — contributed speed. Corben had a craftiness for cutting through problems. Xander was the best watchman — watchcat? — they could desire. And Quinn the wanderer evidently had his uses. They could not have pitched their tents in the pools and watercourses of the marshland.
Freddie's significant contribution was just… himself. His inexhaustible positivity kept those around him from sinking too far down. Even now, simply thinking about Freddie, and about Odysseus' kindness, raised her spirits. But she worried about how Freddie felt. He never seemed to mind, but a distinct role for him, and him alone, to fulfil must make him feel valuable and valued. She hoped so.
"Good night, Lydz," Sophie said.
Lydia remembered what Xander had told her. "Sleep tight, Soph, Shones. And if you come across the Watcher in your dreams, tell him Lydia says, 'Bugger off!'."
"Have you been dreaming about him too?" Shona asked.
Lydia laughed a mirthless laugh. "Ha. He doesn't dare bother me anymore. But he can't help poking his nose into other people's dreams."
"He doesn't bother with me either," Sophie said. "I think ever since we spanked his butt at that tower, when we stole Freddie back right from under his nose, he's given up on us. Good riddance."
Lydia smiled as she shuffled down into her sleeping bag. Sophie was a true friend. She had needed reminding of that fact.
As they struck camp the following morning, the fog had burned away to a faint haze in the sunlight. Quinn had wandered off in the first glimmering of light. Dev and Sophie had been on watch together. Xander, returning shortly before Quinn, reported that the wanderer had scouted the area and got his bearings. There was no evidence of the vagabond meeting or messaging anyone else. He seemed to be on the level.
Quinn joined them for breakfast. He ate sparingly, as always. Freddie and Lydia pored over the mandala for a while. It was still guiding Lydia to the same spot she had felt pulling at her attention the previous day. Breakfast, ablutions, and packing complete, they set off from the island. The team's mood was lighter in the full daylight. Shona confided that the evening's dark fog had made her think of the inferi they had encountered after passing through the portal. Most of the others had had the same thought.
"It's a pity we can't use magic to freeze this marsh like the professors did," Freddie said. "We could have skated all the way. That'd be fun!"
"Did you bring ice skates, Freddie?" Corben asked with a quizzical smile.
"Well, no, I suppose that would be a problem," Freddie admitted.
"Plus," Dean added, "this marsh is a lot lumpier. You'd be up on the grass and down on the ice every couple of seconds."
"Oh, if you're going to shoot all the good ideas down…" Freddie said.
"Leave Freddie alone, Dean," Oddy said. "If it wasn't for him and his mandala, we wouldn't have found the first token yet, and you wouldn't have had your little holiday at the Old Rectory!"
"Hey, that was no holiday. I was injured and in pain," Dean protested.
"Deano, you've already admitted that Ambrose fixed you up in a flash," Jimmy pointed out. "And that you spent the rest of the time lozzocking around in bed. Slacker!"
"Actually," Sophie said. "Freddie makes a good point. There are alternative ways of getting about. I have my broom. If you want to borrow it, Lydz, you could zoom off and get the token and meet us back here."
"I've got my own broom with me," Lydia replied. "And I have thought about it. But we're a team for a reason. We don't know how to deal with what seems to be a bubble. One of us needs to be present to take it to Ambrose. We have no idea what's guarding it. Ambrose made it pretty clear this should be a joint effort and that you guys need to advise me so that I don't do anything stupid. But I like that you're thinking around the problems, Soph. Thanks."
"Your leader is wise," Quinn turned to say. "There are many peculiar and unsavoury creatures in this marsh."
"Present company excepted, of course," he added.
"It feels close," Lydia confided to Oddy. "Not much further. We need to be ready."
She turned to address the rest of the team. "It shouldn't be far now. There may be guards. Get your weapons out and keep your wands handy. But only as a last resort."
She winked at Sophie. Sophie got the message.
It was late in the afternoon. The sun was low but still bright. Lydia was glad it was not dark and foggy as it had been the previous evening. Although she could see well in the darkness, the others would have been on edge. The feeling would have pervaded the whole troupe. There was a breeze picking up. Lydia might have called it a fresh breeze, but nothing about the marshland felt fresh. There was decay everywhere: rotting plants, dead birds, strange fungi.
Some way off, Lydia recognised their destination. It was a wide area of open water: a lake. The surface rippled outwards from the distant centre, she saw, though the others might not make that out.
"That is unusual," Quinn remarked.
"The ripples?" Lydia asked.
Quinn shaded his eyes to see. "No, I had not noticed. I meant that I did not remember ever seeing so large a body of water in this marsh before."
"The mandala is drawing me to it," Lydia said. "It must be something to do with the token."
"That seems possible," Quinn admitted.
"What sort of guardians could we find here?" she asked.
"Assuming the Watcher's attention is not looking this way," he replied, "any of the usual aquatic or amphibian creatures — or plants, of course. Snakes, crocodiles, bitey fish, grindylows, tetchy carp, floppy sucky things. Any or all of those."
They continued following the wanderer until they came to the edge of the pool. The water was opaque with mud, disturbed by the rippling. She was relieved to reach the water without meeting any guardians. Out in the middle of the pool was a disturbance, as though the water were welling up from below. In the centre of the disturbance, something glistened in the reddening sunlight. Lydia knew it to be the token.
She reached into the muddied water with her senses. There were many creatures moving in the lake. She could not make them out. Between them, a force flickered, which disturbed Lydia's senses as a bright flashing beacon would disturb her sight.
"There are creatures in the water," she said to Quinn and Oddy, who were closest to her. "I'm not sure, but they might be electric eels. They're hard to make out."
"That's logical," Oddy said. "Electric eels live in water where there is little visibility. They use the electricity to sense what is around them and can turn it up to stun prey or aggressors."
Lydia sighed. "I could take my broom, fly to the token and grab it that way."
"Might I raise a concern?" Quinn asked. "Although each quest is different, I think I have seen a few. It is not always easy to separate memory from dream. Something I have observed is that if there is more than one path to a questing object, each path will have its own guardians. If you take the path through the sky, there will be sky guardians."
"Can't you command the eels like you did the sea creatures?" Oddy suggested.
"I could command them because they were the creatures of an underwater forest," Lydia explained. "And I couldn't command the guardian, even then."
"Unless you have some rubber trousers and chain mail boots, you might be better off taking the sky path," Oddy ventured.
"Oh! The one time I forget to bring mine," Jimmy joked from behind her.
Laughter ran around those gathered other than Quinn.
"Could we build some kind of causeway or bridge?" Shona asked.
"I haven't seen a rock since we left last night's camp, nor a tree before that," Lydia noted. "What sort of sky guardians could we expect, Quinn?"
"Eagles, wyverns, firedrakes, syringe flies," Quinn began.
"Bitey birds?" Freddie suggested.
"Very bitey birds," he confirmed. "And do not discount the risk of them pushing you down into the eel-infested waters, to be stunned and bitten."
"What do I do, Odysseus?" Lydia pleaded. "How do muggles manage anything without magic?"
"Take the sky path," said Dean.
Dean had brought his own broom and his beater's bat. He told Lydia to fly to the centre of the pool and collect the token. He and Sophie would do their best to protect her from whatever guardians appeared. Oddy suggested that the rest of them arm themselves with swords and machetes. Lydia could return to them and they would help guard her.
It was getting dark, though there should have been daytime enough remaining. Storm clouds were gathering, hanging low overhead and blocking out the remnants of the sunlight.
"I believe the Anteworld knows what you intend, Lydia," Quinn remarked. "Those clouds may conceal whatever guardians it will send to protect the token."
"Let's make it quick, guys," Lydia said to Sophie and Dean.
They mounted their brooms. At a nod from Lydia, they shot out over the water toward the disturbance. Harsh squawking broke from above. A dozen eagles stooped from the lowering clouds, heading towards the centre of the lake.
Lydia heard the cries and risked a glance skyward. She saw several large hawk-like birds, and the figure of Dean soaring up to meet them. She turned her attention back to the upsurging disturbance in the lake, a short distance ahead of her now. Turning and slowing, she brought her broom to a hover over its centre. Wary of the electricity of the eels, she spat into her cupped hand to wet it. There, on top of the very centre, no, hovering a little way over it, was the bubble whose image she had seen in the mandala. She wanted to look up to see how her friends were coping with the birds, but forced herself to focus on the token and trust them. She bent low, leaning to the side of her broom, and scooped the bubble up. It was hard, like glass, like solid crystal. Yet it weighed no more than a soap bubble.
With the token in her grasp, she turned back towards the group on the lakeside and sped off. It was harder to manage her broom, flying it as Madam Hooch had taught her. She could not fly as she normally would. That would have meant using her own magic. She heard the air battle between her friends and the birds above her, but relied on them and committed to returning to the others.
At the water's edge, the remaining Companions shuddered with anxiety as they watched on. Lydia had skimmed to the centre of the pool, grabbed something, and turned back towards them. Above her, Sophie dodged around the oversized eagles, confusing them until they crashed into their fellows. Dean darted here and there, clubbing the birds as best he could. One spiralled and flapped down into the waters of the lake. As Lydia turned to return, they followed, friends and eagles alike.
Lydia tumbled to a landing a little before the birds arrived. She stuffed the token inside her shirt and grabbed a machete from her rucksack. Turning, she faced two sets of talons the size of garden forks bearing down on her. She swung and, with a crunching jolt which jarred her arm, severed a clawed foot from its leg. The huge eagle screamed and beat its wings as it crashed into the marsh beyond the group of students. Jimmy leapt at it and plunged his sword into its back. The bird convulsed and fell silent. The other birds drew away for a moment. Another eagle — they had a look of a vulture, Lydia noticed — crumpled to the ground some way off, wings flapping and jerking. Dean's bat had broken its neck.
The sky above them still seemed to be full of these eagle vultures. Sophie was darting through and between them, confusing them but making them more angry. Freddie jumped at Lydia and thrust his hand into her shirt.
"Freddie! What the hell?!" she cried.
Freddie held up the shining token, fumbled it more than once, then dropped it into Jimmy's palm. Jimmy disappeared; Christie returned.
The Companions continued to attack, but the fight went out of the birds. Christie picked up the bloodied sword that Jimmy had dropped. She swung it to save Shona from a grabbing claw centimetres from her face. The eagle screeched and flew upward, fleeing the scene of the battle. One by one, the other enormous hawks followed, leaving the students on the lakeside, panting and gasping and bleeding. Dean and Sophie came in to land beside the group.
"What happened?" Dev asked, then noticed that Christie was with them once again and Jimmy had left.
Oddy looked at him and gestured toward Christie.
"That was good thinking, Freddie," Lydia conceded. "How did you know they would give up?"
"I didn't," he admitted. "I just hoped they would have no reason to be attacking us if the token had gone."
"How did Freddie hand the token to Jimmy?" Dev asked.
"What?" Lydia asked, then understood.
She turned to Oddy. "That seems like an important question. Why did Freddie not disappear?"
"There are two reasons that present themselves," he said. "Either Jimmy was the only one who could take it once we had nominated him."
"Or?" Corben prompted.
"Or perhaps Freddie has some other role to play and can't go back," Oddy said to the group. "In the same way that Lydia can't go back."
"Maybe Freddie is like a mascot," Xander suggested. "I've always thought the team needed a mascot."
"You're our mascot, Xander," Sophie explained.
"No, no, no." Xander protested. "That's not how it works. You cannot make the leader of the team the mascot, even if I am by far the prettiest."
"Nah," Freddie contradicted. "The mascot is usually the floofiest."
"That's true," Sophie grinned.
They all laughed, except for Xander, who narrowed his eyes at Freddie. This made the others laugh even more. Much of the laughter was relief. They had another token, Christie was back, Jimmy was safe, and they had done it all without magic.