Tin Thoughts (The Downfall Saga Book 2) Page 25

  Several tree branches had wrapped themselves around Ravyn, and were trying to force her down into the mud.

  “Hold on! I’m coming!” said Kort.

  He fought his way towards her. Donovan watched as an arm welled up out of the mud and caught his leg, tripping him. A second arm, made of mud, wrapped itself around his back and started pulling him under.

  Donovan heard yelling from off to his right, but didn’t spare it a glance.

  Donovan slogged towards Ravyn. He was only ten feet away, but it looked like she’d be fully submerged by the time he got to her.

  A whistling sound punctured the silence, followed by a loud crack.

  The end of one of the branches holding Ravyn fell into the mud.

  Eva made a whipping motion with her arm, and another crack sounded.

  Ravyn managed to sever the remaining branch with a bout of flame from her hand.

  Another branch reached towards her, and she aimed the flames towards it. The entire tree recoiled from the fire.

  “Kort!” yelled Donovan.

  He’d made his way to the base of the tree near Ravyn and Eva. He looked at them, but they both shook their heads.

  Ravyn kept a small flame pointed at the tree, keeping it at bay, as she and Eva started towards Kort.

  Kort lay on his back in the mud, with only his shoulders and head still above the mud.

  Donovan wrapped his arms around the trunk of the tree and pulled himself up, out of the mud. He climbed up another couple of feet before twisting around to place his feet against the trunk. He pushed off as hard as he could.

  He flew through the air for a few feet before hitting the mud with a splat. The mud hid his embarrassment as he thought about how he must have looked flopping into the mud. He spat out a mouthful of mud, but had to admit that it tasted better than it smelled.

  He got one leg free and took a large step towards Kort, who was up to his neck in mud. He tried to yank his other leg free, but boot was caught on something on the ground under the mud. He reached towards Kort, but their hands were still at least a foot apart.

  He wrapped his hands around his leg and tried to pull it free, but it wouldn’t budge.

  He untied his belt and held on to one end of his scabbard. He reached out with it towards Kort, who tried to grab it, but his hand slid off the muddy end.

  Kort swung his arm up a second time and got a hand on the scabbard.

  They both tugged on it, and Kort managed to pull his head a couple inches out of the muck.

  “I can’t get enough leverage,” said Donovan. “I’m going to let go so I can free my foot from whatever it’s caught on.”

  “Please,” said Kort, “don’t let go.”

  “I could use some help!” called Donovan over his shoulder.

  “What do you suggest?” asked Eva.

  “Anything to help with the mud. Freeze it, dry it out, toss it into the air. Anything would be a help.”

  He heard the sloshing sounds from behind him stop, a quick glance showed Eva deep in concentration, while Ravyn guarded her back.

  The sludge around Kort started to thicken. One of the muddy arms snapped off in his hand and he clawed his way out of its depths.

  “Thanks,” said Kort.

  The four of them gathered together. Kort wiped mud off himself and flicked it onto the ground.

  The rest of the group had fared better than they had. Caddaric, Brighid and Finian stood together in a tight cluster fending off attacks. The elves had figured out a way to solidify the mud so they could walk across its surface and were nearing the island covered in grass in the center.

  “Step wherever I step,” said Eva. “The rest of you keep the trees at bay.”

  A thin layer of frost began to form on the mud in front of her. After a minute, she climbed on top of a solid section of frozen mud, and started slowly walking across its surface. It let out a loud cracking sound, but continued to hold her weight.

  Kort climbed up after her, with Donovan and Ravyn close behind. They hurried across the frozen path, and stepped onto the grassy island where the rest of the elves were waiting.

  Kort, Ravyn and Eva all collapsed to the ground, exhausted from the extended use of their magic.

  Donovan walked over to a small wooden box sitting on the grass and pulled out a rolled up piece of paper, tied with a black piece of string.

  “We’ve got out clue,” said Treowe. “Let’s go.”

  He reached down and helped Eva to her feet.

  “You can come with us if you want, but we’re not waiting for the rest of your group.”

  “We have to wait for them,” said Ravyn. “We’re not leaving them behind.”

  “I can’t even see them,” said Donovan. “It would be quicker if they turned around and headed for shore.”

  “You’d better make a decision because we’re leaving.”

  An ear splitting scream rent the air from the direction they’d come from.

  Chapter 27

  “We have to help them,” said Ravyn.

  “You two are too tired to help right now,” said Donovan. “Go with them. Get out of the mud, then circle around to where we came in.”

  “What are you planning?” asked Kort.

  “No idea.”

  Donovan turned and ran along the rapidly melting path that they’d just followed. The frozen mud groaned, and spider web cracks formed with every step. Twice his foot punched through to the soft mud underneath, dropping him into a roll. Without warning he came to the end of the frozen section and fell face first into the mud.

  He fought his way back to his feet, and took a moment to catch his breath which had been knocked out of him from the impact.

  He drew his sword, and began wading towards Brighid’s cries. He did his best to stay clear of the trees, but every so often one reached out for him with the supple end of a branch. He hacked mercilessly at the branches, like a butcher cutting through a bone, and they quickly withdrew. Hands made of mud started to well up ahead of him and tried to grab him as he passed, but collapsed back into the pool each time they touched him. He couldn’t explain why the hands couldn’t touch him, but he wasn’t going to complain.

  “Where are you?” he yelled.

  “Here! Hurry!” came Brighid’s voice from off to his left.

  He had to pass near a tree to get to them. He tried to watch all of its branches at once, and nearly stumbled in the mud because of his inattentiveness. The tree never moved, and he made his way to his three companions.

  Brighid stood upright, an arm wrapped around each of them to prevent them from sinking below the surface.

  Finian, still wearing his chain shirt, looked like a turtle on its back as he thrashed around, trying to get his feet back underneath him.

  Caddaric was quiet and pale. A section of branch was wrapped around his left arm, which hung at an odd angle. Donovan could see blood dripping down his arm, and was afraid of what he’d find if he looked underneath the sleeve.

  He circled around behind Finian, and crouched low in the viscous mud. He heaved with all his might. The mud resisted his efforts initially, but he refused to quit, and Finian finally came free of the mud with a sloshing sound.

  The three of them carefully extradited Caddaric from the mud. Finian picked him up into his arms with a surprising gentleness, and started to carry him to shore.

  Brighid was exhausted, but vigilantly watched the trees and they waded towards the shore.

  Kort and Ravyn were waiting for them when they wearily crawled back onto solid ground.

  “What happened?” asked Ravyn.

  “Kort, you need to look at his arm,” said Donovan.

  Finian gently laid an unconscious Caddaric onto the grass. Kort gingerly probed Caddaric’s arm with his fingers, before looking up at the group.

  “It’s broken. Compound fracture. I can feel the bone sticking through the skin.”

  “I should have been there to help him,” said Ravyn, turning to fa
ce away from them.

  “What can we do?” asked Donovan.

  “I’ll need something to use as a splint. A couple of branches will do.”

  Finian took off to find something for the splint.

  “We’ll also need some padding and something clean to dress the wound.”

  “I’ll find something,” said Brighid, heading towards where their pack were laying on the ground.

  Donovan knelt on the other side of Caddaric. “What can I do?”

  “Let’s get the sleeve out of the way.”

  Donovan drew the muddy knife from his leg and did his best to wipe it off on the grass beside him. With Kort supporting the arm, Donovan slowly cut off Caddaric’s sleeve and peeled it away from his arm.

  He heard a sharp intake of breath from Kort as he examined the wound, but he kept his own gaze averted.

  “I’m going to need your help straightening the bone, before we can splint it. Ravyn, I need you.”

  She stood there, stiff backed and unmoving, before turning around and hurrying over. Donovan thought he saw the trace of a smile on her face which disappeared as she crouched down beside them.

  “What can I do?”

  “Hold his chest down. Don’t let him move. Donovan, you’re going to pull on his arm as I put it back into place. You’ll need to pull hard, but steadily. Don’t yank on his arm.”

  Donovan took several slow, calming breaths, before nodding to Kort. He wrapped his hands around Caddaric’s elbow. Kort gave him a nod and he pulled on the arm. Caddaric was jolted back into consciousness and let out an inhuman scream. Ravyn fought to keep him flat on his back. With a grating sound, Kort managed to straighten out the bone, and Donovan released his arm. Looking down at Caddaric, they saw that he was unconscious once more.

  With a professional efficiency that he’d rarely seen from Kort before, Caddaric’s arm was cleaned and dressed. They waited for Finian to return before Kort fashioned a crude splint.

  “Let’s head back to camp so someone can heal him,” said Kort.

  “No,” said Ravyn. There was a finality to her tone.

  “I’ve done all that I can. We need to get him to someone who can help.”

  “No. We’ve came too far to give up. He wouldn’t have wanted us to abandon the task for him.”

  “What are you saying?” asked Donovan.

  “Finian can help him back to camp. The rest of us will finish what we started.”

  “What’s the point?” asked Kort. We’re already in last place, and now we’ll be down a couple members. We should be glad to have had this experience, but it’s over.”

  “No. I will not give up! I’ll go on alone if all of you abandon me.”

  “What about Caddaric?” asked Donovan. “We can’t abandon him.”

  “Finian will take him back to camp. Anyone who wants to, can go back with him, but I’m continuing on.”

  “I can’t let you go alone after what happened in there,” said Kort, waving vaguely towards the mud.

  ***

  “There it is,” said Ravyn, holding up the clue in front of her.

  The top of the clue had been torn off, and they were left with a series of jagged edges running across the top of the paper. What they’d initially thought was just a tear along the top of the clue, turned out to be a clue itself. The jagged tear lined up perfectly with the contours of hills in the distance.

  “That’s why they made you captain,” said Donovan. “No one else would have figured that out.”

  “Hurry up,” said Ravyn. “We haven’t seen the elves. Hopefully we’ve passed them.”

  With a renewed sense of hope, the four of them headed for a narrow ravine. The forest was dense, and they had to climb over several fallen trees to get to the mouth of the ravine. Walking between a pair of towering trees which looked like sentinels guarding the path, they climbed down into the narrow ravine.

  “What are we looking for?” asked Brighid.

  “Someplace dark,” said Ravyn.

  The floor of the ravine was clear of any vegetation and covered in small smooth stones. They walked along the floor of the ravine, their footsteps making crunching sounds on the stones which echoed off the steep walls, until Kort spotted a narrow opening in the wall.

  “It’s a tight fit, but it looks like it opens up after a ways, and I can see a light back there,” said Kort.

  They all took off their packs and squeezed themselves through the narrow opening and found themselves in a circular room. An all too familiar orb hung from the ceiling, the sides were covered so it provided a narrow spotlight shining down on the center of the room. A square stone was illuminated by the light, with a wooden bucket sitting on top of it. Sitting inside the bucket was a large silver sphere.

  “This is clearly here for a reason,” said Kort. “What does it mean?”

  Three of them summoned their own lights, and began searching the room.

  Donovan wandered over beside Brighid.

  “How are you doing?” he whispered.

  She whipped her heads towards him. She had a manic expression on her pale face.

  “I’ll survive. I wish that there was more air in here.” She was panting heavily.

  “You can step outside if you need to.”

  “There’s writing over here,” called Ravyn.

  They all hurried over to see what she’d found.

  “Bend the light. What does bend the light mean?” she asked.

  Three lines of writing were etched into the wall, each in a different language.

  “This says the same thing, only it’s written in Dwarven,” said Donovan, pointing at the bottom line of writing. “I assume the other one is in Elven.”

  “I didn’t know that you spoke Dwarven,” said Ravyn. “When did you learn it?”

  “Sometime before I lost my memories.”

  Brighid shot Donovan a questioning look, but didn’t say anything.

  Ravyn turned back to the writing, and stared at it silently, mouthing the words as she read them over and over again, as if she was hoping that they would reveal their secrets.

  “How do you bend light?” asked Brighid.

  “All we need is a mirror to reflect it,” said Ravyn.

  She pulled out a dagger and walked over to the bucket.

  “What do you want us to do?” asked Kort.

  “Just stay out of my way. None of you will be any help solving this.”

  The three of them wandered around the room, searching for anything that they’d missed, before settling down on the floor near the entrance.

  Ravyn spent the next hour trying everything that she could think to do with the light in the center of the room. Her calm demeanor slowly slipped away, and by the end of the hour she was trying to smash everything in sight in case the clue was hidden inside of it.

  “Calm down over there,” said Donovan. “Other teams must have already solved this without resorting to breaking things.”

  “I wish Caddaric was here,” said Ravyn.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Kort.

  “At least he could help.”

  “Are you sure there isn’t another reason?”

  “Of course not. He could help me solve this if he was here.”

  “We could help.”

  She let out a derisive laugh. “Just stay out of my way.”

  “I don’t see you making any progress,” snapped Kort.

  “That’s because you’re too stupid to understand what I’m doing.”

  “It looked like you were trying to smash everything in sight a minute ago.”

  “Get out!”

  Kort slowly stood up. “Go ahead and put your feelings ahead of the team’s success. I’m not sure that I’d tell you the answer if you begged me to.”

  He slipped out of the cave, and Donovan followed after him. They walked away from the cave before sitting down in the dirt.

  “Do you really know how to solve it?” asked Donovan.

 
“No clue, but don’t tell her that.”

  “No worries.”

  “I hope she learns from this. She is always the best at what she does. Some humility would make her more attractive.”

  “She works hard at everything she does. You know that.”

  “I wish she’d give me some credit every once in a while. I’ve been working my tail off this year. I should be studying for my exams right now, instead of coming here to keep her safe.”

  “You’d be worried about her if you’d stayed at Haven.”

  “Don’t you dare tell her that.”

  “Since we’re stuck here anyways, maybe we should actually try to solve it,” said Donovan.

  “How could you possible bend light? It’s not like you can just grab it and flex your muscles.”

  “Where have we seen light bend before? Hey, what about a rainbow?”

  “What about it?”

  “It curves and is made of light, right?”

  “Maybe,” said Kort, hesitantly. “How do you make a rainbow?”

  “No idea.”

  “Then why did you bring it up?”

  “I don’t see you helping.”

  Kort stood up, and began pacing back and forth. His right hand stroked the fluff on his chin which he considered the start of a beard. Many minutes passed before Kort spun to face Donovan.

  “I’ve got it. Have you ever been fishing?”

  “Can’t say that I have.”

  “The fish are never where you think they are, and if you put a stick in the water it appears to bend.”

  “So we need to put water in the bucket,” said Donovan slowly, as he pieced things together.

  “Let’s go find somewhere to refill our water skins.”

  They found a trickle of water running down the wall of the ravine. Donovan drank the remainder of his water before refilling the skin under the trickle.

  “Let me tell her that we solved it,” said Kort.

  Donovan held up his right arm, and they bumped their forearms together before heading back to the cave.

  Ravyn and Brighid were sitting in silence at opposite sides of the room.

  “Guess who’s back?” said Kort in an overly cheerful tone.