175) The Salvation of Eden, Chapter 11 -- A Different Way to Fly

They ran directly into the swamp. There wasn’t a discernible path that Kohra could see, but Dominic seemed to know where he was going. Their backpacks were surprisingly light, and they slipped through the grasses silent and swift, like deer. Or, Kohra imagined it that way at least. In reality, Dominic might have had a shot at being granted silent-deer-status, and Kohra made a respectable showing, but Lenny crashed and thumped along like a charging ox.  She hoped the swamp noises drowned out the Lenny noises.        

Thanking the Gods for small mercies, Kohra didn’t see a single nasty swamp creature wanting to eat them, although that might have been because she was intensely focused on following Dominic’s footsteps.        

It was eerie. Swamps can be eerie at the best of times, especially for people who are not fond of sharing their physical space with whatever mysterious and no-doubt-horrible creatures lurk beneath the scummy surface. Kohra felt that every step was a potential death trap. Anything could be a trick. A mat of green plants could hide a vast deep pool underneath. Gods, she hated swamps.        

To say “she couldn’t believe this was happening” was so obvious it was a stupid thing to even bother saying. But yeah, she couldn’t believe this was happening. How in the Hells were they going to get out of this? Would they ever be safe? And what happens if you’re being chased for so long that you just really, REALLY have to go to the bathroom?        

Thoughts flitted and swooped like butterflies. She remembered hearing a story once that there was a whole valley somewhere, filled with butterflies. The local people in that area had stories about the beginning of the worlds that nobody else knew about. She wondered if they had a story for the ending of the worlds too. She wondered if any story was the true one. Maybe they all were, in some way. Or maybe none of them were. Maybe they were all just stories people made up to make life seem meaningful.        

Then she fell. Flat out in the mud. “Damn it!”        

Dominic whirled around, “PFffffttttt!! Hahahahaaa!! Lenny!” But Lenny was already laughing. Kohra scrambled to her feet, spat mud out of her mouth and glared at them. For a moment, out of sheer compassion, they tried to keep straight faces.        

Then Kohra looked down at herself, covered with mud from head to toe; it WAS ridiculous, she had to admit. She raised her arms like a Swamp Creature, bellowed “Baaaauuuuugggghhhhh!!” and started towards Lenny as though to attack her. Then she ingloriously lost her balance and ended up on her face all over again.          Dominic laughed so hard that he lost his balance too, although he managed to catch himself more gracefully, ending up with only one wet knee. Lenny sat back on a large tuft of swamp grass, using it like a chair, and watched the two of them, refusing to help. “If I stick my hand out for you, I know exactly where I’m ending up.” She stuck out her tongue at Dominic. He threw a clump of mud at her.        

“No!!” Lenny warned him, pointing with one finger like she was going to light him on fire with her mind. “Look people, this is fun and all, but we are running for our lives here, remember? And just because you idiots fell in the mud, gives you no right to inflict it on me. Y’hear?”        

Dominic stood, arm cocked, a second mud volley dripping out of his hand. Lenny glared dangerously and, for a moment, neither of them moved. Then Dominic made a wise decision, and dropped the mud.        

Kohra quickly changed into fresh clothes and they moved on. There was no stopping for long, not while they were in the swamp. It didn’t take long for the afterglow of their lighthearted moment to fade, and Kohra went back to thinking about how much she hated swamps.        

The hours crept by in a viscous haze, her mind as dank and sluggish as the cold mist that swirled around them as they walked, like they were wading through a pit of ghosts.        

And then, just when Kohra was wondering if they were walking in circles, the mucky ground dried up, swamp grass and rotting logs giving way to gooseberry bushes and poplar trees. Birdsong replaced frog singing and the ground crunched again instead of squishing.        

They kept walking; it was a steep grade upwards now, but that was just fine with Kohra, as long as it got them away from that swamp.        

Two hours later, the meager light was fading into pitch blackness. They had heard no sounds of pursuit all day. Dominic slowed and then stopped, gesturing around at the trees. “Let’s camp here. Don’t worry, nobody can get through that swamp at night.”        

He uncoiled Arrowhead from around his body and the snake slithered into the trees. Squirrelly watched it with beady eyes from Lenny’s shoulder. Kohra hadn’t realized until that moment that Squirrelly must be even more uncomfortable with the snake than she was.        

She sat down heavily, leaning against her pack. She meant to ask about keeping watch, meant to take out her bedroll, meant to help set up camp, meant to take off her boots and rub her feet, meant to do a lot of things. Instead, she woke up, several hours later, with a headache. The forest was quiet, the ground glistening with a fine dew that outlined beautifully the myriad tiny spiderwebs interwoven into a creepy-but-incredible blanket covering the forest floor.

 * * * * *         

She was snuggled warmly inside a bedroll. Someone must have tucked her in. Dominic sat a few feet from her, silhouetted against the sky, looking into the forest. “Hey, have you slept?” she whispered. He looked back, but didn’t respond.        

Kohra stretched, yawning. “I’ll take over. Thanks Dom, I wouldn’t have made it without you.” A few seconds later, he was softly snoring. 

* * * * *                

By the first light of dawn, they were already moving, scrambling up rocky inclines into a denser part of the forest. After that, the going was much slower. It was darker and there were a surprising number of insects, biting ones at that. And more spiderwebs. She swatted with one hand, waving a stick around in front of her with the other to get the spiderwebs, cursing her way noisily forward. They hadn’t heard any sounds of pursuit since leaving Galen’s, and Kohra had stopped worrying so much about being quiet.        

Dominic slipped through the forest ahead as though none of this – flies, spiderwebs, tangled forest – bothered him at all. Kohra cursed him silently. Damn Rangers, it’s not fair….        

They came over a rise, and there it was, the glittering waters of the Crystal River. It was far bigger than she had expected, bigger than any river she’d ever seen. It must have been half a mile at least from one bank to the other. 

* * * * *         

They found the spot where the river split into two. The tributary on their side must be DannyBoy Creek. Slowly, fearfully, they approached the water, Kohra ready to bolt at the slightest movement. Crossing that shallow stream was one of the scariest moments of her life, waist-deep in water, knowing that a few hundred feet away in the main river swam a gigantic monster that could slay entire armies.                    

But they crossed without incident, traversed the little forested strip of land, and emerged onto the rocks of the other side. And there, right at the tree line, far back from the water’s edge, they saw a multi-trunked birch tree. Kohra counted. Twelve. A lantern hung on one of the branches.        

Dominic took out his tinder kit, then opened the glass door on the lantern that allowed access to the wick, and sparked. The wick flared up right away, casting a bright white light. He closed the little glass door, stepped back and…nothing happened.        

They stood for a minute, looking out across the river, wondering what was supposed to happen. Maybe someone would signal back? But, nothing.        

Turning back toward the forest, Kohra gasped. A squad of archers, at least two dozen, stood behind them, covered from head to toe in hunters’ camouflage, bows drawn.        

A tall woman in the center of the group spoke quietly, dangerously. “Sit down. Now.” They sat.        

She stood stiffly in front of Dominic, bow drawn, arrow aimed directly at his face. “Why did you light the lamp?”        

Dominic swallowed nervously. “To…to get across the river?”        

Her eyes narrowed. “How does lighting a lamp have anything to do with getting you across the river? And don’t you know that illegal transport into or out of Anthor is punishable by death?”        

“But, but we, I, I don’t know. I have to be honest with you.” Dominic looked up with sincere pleading in his eyes. “I don’t know how this lamp helps us get across the River. I’m sorry if that’s a test, but…I failed it.”        

The archers tightened their bowstrings slightly, as though about to fire. Kohra closed her eyes.        

“Hey, back off!” Lenny sounded annoyed. “The Green Wizard told us to come here!”        

Quickly, the tall woman stepped over to where Lenny was sitting. “You know her, do you?”        

“He’s a guy, but nice try,” Lenny replied coolly. “Look, we don’t know much, but the Green Wizard personally sent us here and told us to light the lantern. So are you going to help us or what?” 

* * * * *         

The tall woman led them up a rocky outcropping, a little further along the Dannyboy Creek from where they had previously crossed. The rest of the archers had faded into the trees, their camouflage clearly effective, given that Kohra hadn’t seen a single one since.        

She led them toward a pile of boulders at the top of the outcropping, climbing until she was standing on the highest one. There was some wooden equipment up there, but Kohra couldn’t see enough to tell what it was. The woman motioned for them to come up. “One at a time. There’s not much room up here.”        

They looked at each other uncertainly. Then Lenny stepped forward. “Sure, I’ll do it.” She climbed up beside their mysterious guide, then stepped back quickly. “You want to strap me into a ‘fernal catapult!!?? No way, haha, not gonna happen.” She looked back at Kohra and Dominic. “These guys are gonna catapult us right into the river!” She started to climb back down.        

Squirrelly, still on her shoulder, chittered loudly. She seemed angry, running down Lenny’s arm onto her hand and standing there, shaking her fist. The tall woman snickered. “It seems your squirrel trusts the Green Wizard more than you do.”        

Lenny glared at Squirrelly. “Oh fine!  Squirrelly, if this doesn’t work, that’s on you.” Huffing with indignation, she stomped onto the catapult. “What do I do?”        

A minute later, she was ready, wearing some sort of harness. Squirrelly climbed inside her shirt and disappeared, except for her tail, which slipped out repeatedly, tickling Lenny’s neck. “Squirrelly!!” she growled. “For the LAST TIME—”        

The catapult’s huge arm sprang forward with a sharp CRACK, and Lenny (and Squirrelly) hurtled through the air as though they’d been thrown by a Giant. Kohra watched anxiously. It quickly became apparent that they weren’t going to make it! Not even close! They started to fall, only a third of way across.        

“Dom!” Kohra shrieked, staring in horror as Lenny plunged toward the deadly waters. And then, suddenly, it seemed she wasn’t falling anymore, but…gliding? Flying? Lenny took off on a near-horizontal slide, zooming into the trees on the far side of the river. A minute later, a light blinked momentarily.        

The tall woman looked down to them. “Who’s next?” Dom stepped forward while Kohra stammered in indecision. A minute later, he too catapulted into the air, fell in a sickening arc towards the water, and then, miraculously, glided toward the far shore, disappearing into the trees.        

There was nobody left but her, and now she was more scared to stay here by herself than to get catapulted across the river. She closed her eyes while she was strapped into the harness and positioned on the catapult. She kept them closed while the woman gave her instructions, which she didn’t hear but nodded anyway. She intended to keep them closed until she got to the far shore but, as she started her own sickening free-fall toward the river, she opened them to see the water rushing towards her. She screamed, just as her harness caught on something and she started zooming forwards, gliding rapidly sideways above the water. She looked up. A zip-line? But, what was holding it up? And then she was in the trees, and hands were unbuckling the harness and letting her out, and Dominic was high-fiving her and Lenny was sitting there grinning, Squirrelly clapping her paws.        

She turned to thank the people who had helped her out of the harness and…her breath caught in her throat. There was just one “person.” Kohra tried not to recoil in fear. The…thing…had snake eyes and a long snout like an ant-eater, with six arms working independently on different tasks, packing up the harness equipment, coiling ropes and cranking a wheel that seemed to be re-setting the zip-line somehow. She watched, transfixed, until he…she…it…looked over. A snake-tongue flickered out momentarily. “Yes? Did you forget something?” Surprisingly, it spoke perfect Anthorrian.        

“Um no, just, thanks for helping us.”        

The creature smiled, revealing surprisingly sharp teeth for an ant-eater. “We are all in this together, friends. Welcome to what they now call the Borderlands. Although I still prefer its old name.”        

“What’s that?”        

“Mythria,” it intoned reverently. “The Unconquerable Lands of Wisdom.”        

“That’s way better,” Lenny stated conclusively.           

The multi-limbed snake-creature turned to her. “Indeed. One way to begin conquering the unconquerable is to change its name.” It turned back to its contraption.        

“Um, excuse me. Uh, what do we do now?” Kohra asked. Now that they were in the Borderlands, she realized they had no idea where to go, what to do. This was actually a terrible plan.        

“Whatever you want, young one,” the snake-anteater-creature replied. “You are Free.” It smiled (at least Kohra assumed it was a smile), then turned back to its work.        

They walked out into the night. The sky looked the same. The air smelled the same. The trees looked the same. But as they looked at the glittering waters of the Crystal River from the wrong side, they knew they weren’t in Anthor anymore.        

“Hey wait!” Kohra exclaimed. “Let’s ask it about that blacksmith person…what’s his name?”        

“Jorn Habaldson,” Lenny replied. “You don’t remember that?”        

Kohra stuck out her tongue. Lenny laughed. “Good idea!” said Dom, quickly backtracking to the catapult area. They followed him, until he stopped, looking around at the trees in confusion. “I don’t get it. There’s nothing here. It should be…right here!”        

There was nothing. Just forest. They searched more widely in case Dom’s estimate was off, although he insisted they were in exactly the right place. In any case, there was no catapult station with a 6-armed snake-anteater to be found.        

Lenny shrugged, “Well, let’s get out of here. Let’s go find one of those friendly little hamlets we’ve heard so much about.”        

“Friendliest muggers in all of Eden,” Kohra muttered.        

Dom frowned. “Yeah, let’s not forget that. We’ll have to be extra careful.”        

Lenny nodded smartly. “That’s us! Careful.”

They walked through the forest together, heading away from the River, away from Anthor, into a new land.