The Dreaming Goddess

Chapter Nine: Bloodied Hands

They were assailed with the smell of death when they got outside the chimera's lair. Half a dozen satyr corpses were lying around them, bloodied. Some looked to have had pieces of them bitten off. One had been torn in half. William felt a surge of pity and horror. To die in such a way was indescribable.

"They had no idea what they were waking up," realized William.

"They tried to smoke us to death," said Felix. "Less sympathy, more moving."

"Which way?" asked William.

"I..." Felix paused. "All right, the hole was on the opposite side of the mound from where we came in. So if we go straight from the other side of this mound, we should find our way back to the river."

"That makes sense to me," said William. "Let's go."

They ran.

The two boys moved with everything they had. With each passing moment, they were afraid they might hear the hollers of satyrs or the roar of the chimera. Soon, their legs were aching, and their lungs were burning. William's heart was beating so hard he feared it would burst from his chest. Yet they saw no sign of the river. Then, they came to a sheer cliff rising high above them.

They collapsed to the ground, gasping for air. Then, for a few minutes, they kneeled there, getting their bearings. Then they rose.

"This was not here before," said William. "What happened? Do you think we aimed wrong?"

"Maybe," said Felix. "Still, our general direction is toward the shore. We should find a place where it levels out if we walk along here."

"No," said William, "we'll climb it. If we scale up this thing, the satyrs might have difficulty following us, and that chimera won't be able to at all."

"I don't know," said Felix.

"At the very least, it may have trouble picking up our scent," said William.

He reached out and found a handhold on the rock before pulling himself up. It was more difficult than at Carn Gable, of course. He needed to find out where all the footholds were. Worse still, he was carrying a heavy pack that Felix had stuffed with valuables. Nevertheless, he made his way slowly up and soon neared the top. Glancing down, he saw that Felix had barely started. The other boy was clinging to the rock desperately.

"Are you all right?" asked William.

Felix looked up, sweat dripping down his brow. "Yes... I just..." He hauled himself up a little further. "This pack is too heavy. I don't think I can take it all up here."

"Climb back down; I'll be right with you," said William.

Then he pulled himself over the top and pulled off his pack. Setting it down, he scaled back down toward Felix. Felix was gasping for air at the base and was beginning to unpack the gold. "Put those back," said William. "If we leave things behind, anyone here will know we came this way. Could you give me the pack? I'll take it up, and you can climb without the burden."

"Right," said Felix, "I... I really shouldn't-"

"Forget it," said William.

They began to scale the cliff once more, and once more, William reached the top ahead of Felix despite his burden. He helped Felix get over the top, and then the two paused momentarily to catch their breath. William felt a little winded while Felix was gasping for air.

"How do you do this?" asked Felix. "Keep going?"

"It's in my blood, I suppose," said William. "Come, we'll get out of sight of the woods below. Then we can rest and have something to eat."

When they had gotten out of sight, William set down his pack and began to search through it. It occurred to William that his new harp might have been battered to splinters. He frantically removed it from his bag. It was completely unharmed. Looking over it, he once again marveled at its craft. He wondered how it could be so strong after all the time it had lain there. It had to be magical.

Drawing out his waterskin, he sipped it, and Felix did the same with his own.

"That harp," said Felix, "what kind of enchantment is on it?"

"Several, I think," said William. "I'll have Rusara look at it when we find her."

"Speaking of which," said Felix, "how near are we to the sea anyway? We must be getting nearby now."

"That depends on which way the shore is," said William. "Depending on how wrong our bearings were, we could have been heading away from it."

Felix only said something else once they had eaten. William did not blame him, for the morning's excitement had taken a lot out of them. Annoyingly, the rations had been battered to pieces. The gold and jewels Felix had filled their packs with had done that much, at least.

Then Felix pointed upwards. William followed his motion and looked to the sky. The clouds were gathering overhead.

"It looks like it might rain," said William.

"No, I mean the tree," said Felix. "It is taller than the rest and in a high place. If you scaled up it, we could see around Seathorius. We'd be able to know how close Savior's Run is and where we are about the sea."

"Good idea, Felix," said William. "Wait here and guard the packs."

Scaling the tree was much more comfortable than climbing trees in Carn Gable. The branches in these were lower and twisted so that one could quickly get very high if they were skilled. As he clambered higher, William remembered long ago when he feared heights. His mother had taken him to the tallest tree in the area and ordered him to scale it.

He'd obeyed. It had taken him a week of work and many scraped knees, but he had managed it. Then he'd fallen out on his way down and broken his arm. His mother hadn't said anything; she carried him back to the healer and saw that he had fully recovered. After that, she'd never spoken of the whole thing again. He'd wanted her to be proud of him, but she had forgotten she'd even given him the task.

Since then, he'd gotten very good at climbing.

William emerged at the top of the tree and looked around. He saw before him all the lands of Seathorius flowing outward. They were beautiful, and they were changing. Before his very eyes, he could see the trees and hills changing position. Only the area around the river and the sea did not change — the very far away river. In the opposite direction of the way they had been going.

What was wrong with that thought process? Oh, that was what was wrong.

"Son of a-" William stopped before climbing down in a fouler mood than ever.

"What is it?" asked Felix.

"The land changed!" snapped William. "Bjorn warned us this would happen, and we didn't listen! While we were in the chimera's lair, it twisted itself up! As a result, we've been heading in exactly the opposite direction we ought to have gone!"

"So we should go back," guessed Felix.

"What's the point?" asked William. "Even if we backtrack, it'll just shift again. We're so far away from river and sea at this point that we might as well cut out losses. We'll try to cut straight through to Artarq." He sighed. "Okay, are you ready to keep moving?"

"I can go on," said Felix. "I just needed some time to rest."

"Good," said William, "we'll put some distance between us and where we were. With any luck, the satyrs and the chimera are just as lost as we are."

"Maybe," mused Felix, "but they know this place better than us. They may have a means of navigating where we can't."

"We'll think about that later," said William. "Let's go."

Thunder rolled from the clouds above, and Felix narrowed his eyes as he slung a pack over one shoulder. "I think we may need to find shelter soon."

"We'll see what we can find while we travel," said William.

William kept the harp in his hands as they journeyed onward. Enchanted or not, he did not like the idea of it bouncing around in his pack with the valuables Felix had found. Said valuables stuck into his back every so often. He was forever shifting his bag to make it more comfortable. In the meantime, he kept his harp beneath his cloak to protect it from any sudden downpour.

The trees around them had become strange. They looked normal at first glance, but the longer one gazed at them, the more they seemed... unknown. It was a difficult thing to comprehend. William found himself walking slower despite their need for haste. Looking around him, he kept expecting to see eyes watching from the underbrush.

Then, it began to rain, as he feared. Droplets of water poured down on the branches above, dripping them. William raised his hood and saw Felix do the same. He looked around for shelter.

"There is a bit of good cover here," said William.

Felix shook his head. "We should keep moving."

They picked up their pace, but the strangeness surrounding them grew in intensity. The trees seemed to pulse with some unholy presence. William was unsure what was watching them, but he didn't like it. Felix sensed it, too; he could tell by how he kept glancing around. The branches above them looked more and more like claws grasping for each other. Their distance seemed to blur as the night passed, and the shadows grew longer.

William stowed his harp in his pack. Although he felt guilty doing so, he needed to be able to draw his sword. Something was sticking into his back. The backpack over his shoulder seemed more cumbersome than ever. He looked at Felix. "The valuables we stole are slowing us down, Felix. We should get rid of them."

"Oh, that's all very easy for you to say," said Felix. "You've never been poor a day in your life. I have, and I don't want to repeat the experience."
William wasn't sure how to respond. He had never heard what it was that had led to Felix being sold at the slave market. He or his mother. He did not intend to ask. It was a sensitive subject for his friend.

"What good are gold or jewels if the satyrs kill us?" he asked instead.

"What good is a harp against satyrs?" asked Felix.

"The harp saved us from the chimera," noted William.

"You didn't know it could when you first picked it up," said Felix.

"I had the idea that it was magical," said William. "And anyway, what has it to do with the gold weighing us down? Something that creates music is far more valuable than all the gold in the world."

"I wish you wouldn't try so hard to sound wise," said Felix. "You aren't, and everyone knows you aren't. And I'm not getting rid of the gold."

William felt a surge of irritation. He wasn't willing to leave Felix behind. Even if he got rid of the wretched trinkets in his pack, he'd have to check his pace. Felix was dragging them both down for nothing. Why did he care so much about the money? Their lives were on the line.

"I could order you to get rid of them, you know," said William. "You are my servant."

"And I could point out that if you hadn't been such a coward, we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place!" snapped Felix.

William opened his mouth to reply and then shut it. He didn't trust himself to speak. They were both in a bad temper, and harsh words could lead to worse conflict. Besides, he was right.

"I'm sorry," said Felix. "I shouldn't have said that."

"No, you are right," said William. "I threw down my weapons and ran when I should have fought. Raynald or Mother would have-"

"Come off it," said Felix. "We're children. I only said what I did because it was a sore spot. You're probably right. We should at least get rid of some of it."

William's senses began to scream. He tensed as he felt a presence heading toward them. Something terrible was about to happen. He could feel it. Even as Felix slung off his pack, William rushed forward to tackle him to the ground.

A spear sailed over their heads and planted itself in a tree.

Out of the darkness came a satyr holding a scimitar. It stabbed at them, and William rolled aside, getting to his feet while throwing off his pack. Ducking under a sword blow meant for his neck, he backed away to avoid an onslaught of slashes. Then, drawing his sword, he parried three strokes and stopped. William turned their sword and raked it across the hand. Then he rolled away from its counterattack, feeling the air of the blade near his ear.

He brought his blade around and slashed it across the side of the neck. Blood spewed from where he struck onto his hands, and the creature fell backward. It clutched at its wound. It gasped for air, rolling in the dirt, then fell still as its blood soaked the ground.

William had killed it. He had slain another humanoid creature. In single combat. In honorable combat. In self-defense. However, it did not matter. He looked into its dead eyes and then into his blood-soaked hands. He tried wiping the blood off his clothes, but the stain remained. It would always be there.

What had he done?

"William..." gasped Felix.

William looked up and saw his friend. He was lying on the ground, clutching a deep wound in the stomach. His clothes and hands were stained red with his blood. Felix had been hurt! He ran to him. "Felix, are you all right?" But, of course, he wasn't all right; he was hurt badly.

"It... it hurts..." said Felix, face looking pale.

Setting aside his blade, William stared in horror. What did he do? What did he do? "You'll be fine, Felix, I'll; I'll use my cloak as a bandage, so just-"

"I don't want to die..." said Felix, the voice of dawning realization. "I don't want to die..."

"You aren't going to die!" said William. "You can't die!"

Felix smiled distantly. "Not... not... much choice, is there?"

His eyes were dimming, and he was going still. Felix's lifeblood was soaking his hands. William could do nothing. He took off his cloak but knew it would do no good.

He needed a healer! He needed help!

Then, suddenly, William realized he had all the power he needed. It flowed into him from an outside source, from Elranor. He set his hands upon Felix and focused his will through the wound. A warm glow came from his hands, and he felt an unfathomable power surge through him and into Felix. It was beyond any accurate description. Felix gasped as the wound closed and healed without a scar, as though it had never been.
William breathed in relief. Felix stared.

"What did you do?" asked Felix.

"I... Elranor helped me heal you," said William. "I think. Can you stand?"

"Give me my water skin," said Felix. "I need water."

"Right," said William, giving him his own. "Drink carefully."

Felix sat up and did so. He nearly finished the waterskin, but William didn't blame him. He'd lost a lot of blood. Then he looked at William. "How did you do that?"

"I don't know," admitted William. "I know Elranor helped us, but it came naturally. It was like the charm I used to create the light, but... different. More instinctive. He helped us like he did when he sent Kiyora to help us."

"Great," said Felix, standing up and picking up his pack. "We should get moving. Where one satyr was, there are probably others."

"Yes," said William, "you are right."

He wiped his sword off on the grass and sheathed it. Then he picked up his pack, and they were off. They'd lost their walking sticks at some point when they were fleeing the satyrs. William couldn't remember when, exactly, but he regretted it now. Felix was unsteady on his feet and could not go very fast. Several times, he had to stop to rest.

Darkness was growing around them, and William dared not risk any light. He had the feeling enemies were close at hand, quietly stalking them. It was maddening to think they were being pursued. Even more, maddening did not know how many there were or where they came from. Yet William could feel their presence, following behind.

And somehow, he knew they were getting closer.

His hair was standing on end. Night came on, and the crescent moon shone down on them from the treetops. And in a beam of light, the shadow of a girl his age. Armed to the teeth, Satyrs came around them from the underbrush in every direction. Doltier was amongst them.

"Well now," said the demoness, "what absolute perfect convenience. You were on a direct path to Baltoth's Retribution, and I've been ordered to take you there. Truly a mutually beneficial arrangement if ever there was one."

"Who are you?" asked Felix, putting an unsteady hand on his sword.

"I need not answer to you." said the demoness. "Indeed, I have precious little interest in you."

"What do you want?" asked William. "I assume it isn't us dead."

"Ask not what I want," said the demoness, "but what Melchious wants." A chill went down William's spine as his worst fears were confirmed.