Chapter Seventeen
:Druantia,: Rhoswen closed her eyes and called. :I need to talk with you.:
:I will see you at the crossroads,: was Druantia's answer. With that, Rhoswen had to be satisfied.
They had left the winter zone and were traveling towards the sea. Alana and Kellan had traded places so Alana was now driving the wagon. Alana glanced from time to time at Meifen who seemed to be sleeping. She'd bet her boots he was doing no such thing. She was glad for the sunshine, glad for the warmth flushing her face.
Alana thought curiously about what Dara had said regarding the noise in her head, and wondered just exactly what was normal. She had always heard the buzz of the creatures around her. She knew people thought she was a bit absent minded, the mean ones would say scatterbrained—or worse, because she didn't immediately give them her full attention, but sometimes she needed to listen to what the creatures around were chattering about. She was listening now. They seemed unusually cheerful, or maybe it was the land which was cheerful. Either way, this was a happy area. Alana smiled with contentment.
It was only a few minutes later when everyone was suddenly thrust forward as the wagon lurched to a standstill. Davy would have toppled out if Kellan hadn't blocked his tumble. Meifen, as Alana suspected, had not been sleeping. His eyes were very alert as he bent over to peer at the stuck wheel.
"Pull, Kingdom," Alana instructed.
"AW-EE, AW-EE," Kingdom yelled back at her and refused to pull.
"Fine," Alana called out and climbed out of the wagon—and straight into a patch of bog. The mud slid up to her ankles. "Oh no!"
Kellan scrambled to look over the side at her. She grimaced sympathetically when she saw the wet slimy marsh suck her foot down farther. She held out her hand and pulled Alana back into the wagon.
"That shouldn't be happening," Vevila exclaimed. "Papa drained this bog out!"
"It resisted," Meifen stated calmly. "It is in the natural state it was meant to be. How far does it extend?"
Rhoswen frowned looking around. They were actually at the tip of the bog. The main part of the bog extended over several acres.
"If I remember this area correctly," Rhoswen figured. "We should be able to avoid the bog by swinging a little to the west. Can you get Kingdom to try to move backwards?"
"No," Alana told them. "I can tell. He isn't going anywhere until we unhitch him and let him out of this gunk. I'll do it. My feet are already a mess."
Kellan watched Vevila hide her bare feet in the blankets and sighed. If they were going to have to walk, she would be carrying Vevila. This could be hazardous on bare feet.
Alana climbed back out of the wagon. Her face wore a fixed expression of disgust as each foot sunk into the mud, and then made a ghastly sound every time it was pulled back up.
SLUKSH-FUFT—SLUKSH-FUFT—SLUKSH-FUFT—SLUKSH-FUFT.
"That is really nasty!" Vevila complained as she watched Alana make her way to the donkey. "It stinks, too."
"I don't blame you for not wanting to walk any further in this." Alana told Kingdom while unbuckling his harness. In thanks, he rushed her to get out of the mud, sending her flying into the bog.
"Kingdom!" Alana screamed at the donkey as she sat in the mud. He pulled his ears back.
"Oh!" Kane called out. "Careful!"
"Are you okay?" Kellan asked.
They all stood to watch as Alana pull herself out of the mud and make her way back to the wagon. She glared furiously at Kingdom. He hung his head with shame. Alana looked up sharply when she heard a snort, and a giggle. She started with surprise to see Meifen holding his mouth with both hands. His whole body was shaking. On seeing her expression, he let loose.
"Hee-hee-hah-he," he laughed loudly, "hee-he."
Hearing him laugh sent the others laughing, too. Alana glared at them all at first, but couldn't help but see how funny she and Kingdom must look. She started to laugh as well and started to climb into the wagon.
"Oh no, you don't!" Rhoswen blocked her way.
"You're all slimy all over," Vevila frowned at her.
"And no offence," Kellan laughed at her, "but you smell."
"So what do you expect me to do?" Alana glared at them.
"After we free the wagon," Kellan told her. "We can bathe in the stream which is a little farther up the road. I imagine you will not be the only one to get bogged."
"Fine!" Alana said resigned.
"We're going to have to get into that," Vevila grimaced, "aren't we?"
"Not you," Kellan told her. "You don't have any shoes. Get scratched or punctured in that mess, and you're looking for a festering."
Vevila just grinned at her. Kellan sighed and climbed out of the wagon. Kane cautiously followed.
"The front left wheel is sunk to the axel," Kellan told them. "It could be worse."
"I don't see how," Alana frowned at the buried wheel. "If Kingdom won't pull it out, how are we?"
"Know any spells?" Rhoswen asked sweetly from inside the wagon.
Kellan looked up at her smug face and quickly walked over and pulled her out of the wagon to stand in the mud with the rest of them.
"Stop it!" Rhoswen screeched as Kellan dumped her into the mud.
"Yes," Kellan told her, "the spell of good old fashioned manual labor!"
Meifen jumped out from the back of the wagon, landing on dry land. They watched him with disgust, cringing as they felt the cold, wet slimy, water pull over their boots and slide down their ankles.
"Work smarter," Meifen told them. "Not harder."
"Rhoswen may have had a point," Kane told them. "I can try lifting the wagon up magically as you try pulling it backwards."
"Maybe you should try putting rocks behind the sunken wheel," Vevila suggested. "I've seen papa do that."
"I think that only works when you have a donkey to pull the wagon up onto the rocks." Alana gave Kingdom a grievous look. "I don't think we can pull it out of the mud—and up over a pile of rocks."
"What about breaking the suction around the wheel?" Kane suggested.
"That's a good idea," Alana looked thoughtful, "but how?"
"Maybe one of us could poke at the mud while the others pull," Rhoswen suggested.
"We can try," Kellan sighed. "I'm the strongest, so I'll pull."
"I have to touch what I want to lift if it is heavy," Kane told them. "So I'll have to be at the stuck wheel."
They both looked between Meifen and Rhoswen expectantly.
"I'll find a stick," Rhoswen said dejectedly, "or can I use your staff?" She asked Meifen.
"It is very heavy," Meifen told her. "It would be better for you to find a stick."
"Oh," Rhoswen said with surprise.
Rhoswen hadn't expected him to refuse her request. She eyed his staff curiously, and climbed out of the mud and went in search of a sturdy stick. When she returned, she grudgingly stomped through the mud to the front wheel.
"Ready?" Kellan called.
Meifen and Kellan were in the back ready to pull. Rhoswen was ready to poke at the base of the wheel with a stick. Kane was touching the seat above the wheel. Vevila was smiling serenely sitting on a rock with Davy, between them sat a basket of food stuffs, under them, the pile of blankets. Kellan had told her that she was to sit on the rock, so she was here, sitting on the rock.
"Are you comfortable enough?" Alana asked her.
"Oh quite," she laughed. Alana just rolled her eyes.
"Ready," Kane called out, "on three."
"One—two—three," they counted together and pulled, yanked, and poked.
The wagon started to lift. They pulled harder. Suddenly, the seat which Kane had been pulling on went soaring into the air. The wagon sank back into the mud.
"Oh!" Kane watched as the seat struck vertically into the bog and got sucked down under. "I guess I should have held onto the wheel itself."
"No," Meifen told her. "Then you would have just torn off the wheel, and we would still be stuck. We can dr
ive without a seat, but not without a wheel."
"Can you lift the wagon equally from the underside," Rhoswen asked. "Kind of spread your energy out?"
"I think I can do that," Kane thought about the wagon and the energy she could use to move it. She imagined the energy as a color, and then imagined that color spreading across the bottom of the wagon. It felt right. "Let's try again."
This time Kane lightly touched the side of the wagon. She pictured her color all under the wagon. She held that picture. She would feed the color when they called on three.
"Let's do this linked this time," Rhoswen requested. "That way we can add our magical energy to Kane's."
"She already tore off the seat," Alana scolded her. "What more energy does she need?"
"Linked will also provide more unity," Meifen told them, "and more control."
"Okay," Alana shrugged.
The sisters linked. They were surprised when Meifen linked in with them. The link was very strong.
:Ready,: Kane called to them.
:One—two—three,: they all counted out.
On three, they all did their jobs. This time when the wheel started to pull upward, Rhoswen furiously went at it with the stick. She could tell that the stick was indeed, breaking the suction and allowing air to mix with the mud.
Kane could feel her magic adding to lift the wagon. She could feel it lifting the wagon equally across the bottom, exactly as she wanted. It was moving. They were all getting excited and trying a little harder.
Kellan could feel the wagon lifting. She was pulling it backward as hard as she could. She could feel Meifen straining beside her. Her sight suddenly shifted and she could see the bindings which were holding the wagon fast to the earth. There were millions of them. They attached themselves to the total length and width of the wagon. She felt her magical energy stir and allowed it to pierce through those bindings. They sorely resisted. She pressed more energy against all the bindings. She could feel the energy from the link pass into her efforts.
In a brilliant flash of light, all the bindings broke at once. The whole wagon suddenly hurled into the air over Kellan and Meifen's heads. They all fell into the bog with the release of the wagon. They watched in wonder as the wagon tumbled over and over across the sky. Its path seemed endless. It just kept going and going. They all stared until it was out of sight.
"Well," was all that Vevila could say.
Kellan stared around confused and then passed out. Alana and Rhoswen ran to her with concern. Meifen just hoped Vevila had chosen the basket with the Kaliton. It was going to be a long walk home.
"Vevila," Davy asked. "Why did your sisters throw the wagon away?"
"They didn't plan to," Vevila answered dazed. "It just kind of happened."
"Oh," he frowned looking off into the direction the wagon had gone.
Vevila had actually cleared most everything out of the wagon. She had thought that the emptier it was, the easier it would be to move. She glanced thoughtfully around looking at all their stuff. She had no idea how they were going to carry it all. She was surprised when Meifen handed her a cup of Kaliton.
"All of you depleted energy from the link," he told her.
"What happened?" She asked him.
"We will ask Kellan when she wakes," he answered. "She did this."
"I thought it was Kane," she questioned.
"Not this time," he told her.
Vevila was surprised to see a prideful look on his face. Whatever Kellan had done, Meifen seamed unusually satisfied.
It was hardly afternoon, but Meifen built up a fire, handed them all blankets, and told them to sleep. It was a warm afternoon, but with the energy depletion, they were going to feel cold.
Doug Haugen, Julie and around twenty of his men had arrived a few acres over expecting to get to work on their new lodgings. They had arrived with stone and wood only to find that the bog had returned. Doug looked on with anger and disgust. Keegan had gone to great lengths to convert the bog. Doug had watched as he expended a large amount of time and energy to drain it. Keegan had made good his promise to create an area that Doug and his workers could build a permanent homestead—now this. Doug scratched his head with obvious irritation and disappointment. They couldn't build in this mess!
They all jumped, startled when a huge crashing bang echoed from the next field over.
"Good god!" Julie looked up toward the sound. "What was that?"
"I don't know," Doug walked over to Ginger, his horse, "I better check it out."
"I'm going with you," Julie told him.
"What do you want us to do?" Gerald asked.
"Take a break," Doug told him, "the bogs not going anywhere—unfortunately."
Julie grabbed an aid kit and strapped it onto her horse. It was lucky that they hadn't yet unharnessed the animals. They had still been checking on the dimensions of the bog.
"Wait," Doug cautioned, "slowly."
Doug had spied a splintered mess of wood and wheels. He noticed a strange glow around the object. Most people didn't know it, but Doug—like many that lived in this area—had a small portion of O'Byrne blood himself. Nothing like the purple eyes, but enough to recognize magic when he saw it.
He and Julie ventured slowly toward the destroyed wagon. Doug instantly identified it as the O'Byrne girl's buckboard. He shivered as thoughts raced around his brain as to what might have just happened.
He tentatively touched the wheel. It was scorching hot. He quickly pulled his hand back.
"Look!" Julie pointed to a nearby piece of wood. It was mending itself!
"Step back," Doug yelled.
They pulled back by a decent distance and watched in wonder as the wagon repaired itself. It started out rather sluggishly, each piece lifting slowly into the correct position, but the more it repaired, the faster the pieces moved into place.
"Will it hold?" Julie asked awed.
"I would suspect so," Doug answered. "Keegan made that wagon for his girls. He must have put some spells and protections on it."
"I hope that means the girls are safe," Julie said worriedly. "Where could they be?"
"I'll head in that direction," he pointed toward the obvious landing marks the wagon made across the land. "You bring the wagon—when it's finished."
"Yes, boss," she answered distractedly.
He looked at her sharply to see if she was being sarcastic, but she was simply absorbed with fascination at the sight of the wagon mending itself. He couldn't blame her. It was probably the first time she had seen real magic.
Doug kept to the edge of the marsh. He thought it would be unlikely that they would have actually entered into the bog. He hoped not. It didn't take him very long before he came upon their site. He was surprised to see them all sleeping peacefully around a blazing fire. A strange little Chinaman stood up as he approached. Meifen pulled his sleeve up to show him the raven. Doug also pulled his sleeve up to show this stranger his own raven.
"What happened?" Doug asked when they quietly seated themselves. "The wagon crashed close to our site."
"Kellan has come into her gift," Meifen told him. "It was she who tossed the wagon as if it was a mere toy."
Doug blanched. He was uncomfortable with that kind of magic. He was fine with the simple stuff, darn handy in fact, but magic like this disrupted the energy plains.
"She will learn," Meifen told him.
"Or die," Doug stated bluntly.
"Or die," Meifen agreed.
Gifts like these would burn the person out unless they learned control. Meifen did not know if Kellan had been saved because of the energy flow of the link, or if the link had caused the blaze of energy. Only Kellan could tell them what she had actually done. This magic had felt unfamiliar to Meifen. He was familiar with earth, wind, fire, water, nature—meaning life energy, and even dragon magic. He was also familiar with demigod bonds such as Druantia's, the benevolence. This was different from all of those. He was surprised to realize that there was magic
which he did not recognize.
Julie rode up hauling the wagon.
"Ah," Meifen nodded seeing the flaring wards. "I might have guessed."
They all jerked with surprise when the seat flew out of the bog with a loud slurp, and then land in its correct position. They watched in wonder as the wood finished bonding, and the flaring subsided.
****
Dara was suddenly and inexplicably tired. Celeste and Stefan looked up surprised and then ordered her to go lie down. Celeste looked off into the distance and saw the wagon tumbling in the sky, and the magically depleted girls being cared for by Meifen.
"I'm glad I didn't loan them my wagon after all," she told Stefan and continued working on the sailor.