Golden Slimes

…the deadliest in the dungeon


The Doclopedia #3,028

366 Days, 366 Paragraphs: #267

Chapter Forty One: Striking Distance

Seyan had Lahn put Gertie down halfway between Denton and Long Bay City. They landed a few hundred yards north of the Road in a spot that had probably been an early Town. Like almost all of the first original Towns and many that came after, this one had been forced to move when Mother Road had shifted after a couple of centuries. Nobody knew why the Road would disappear over the course of a couple of months, only to reappear a couple of miles away, but it was suspected that it was done to decrease the human imprint of certain areas. It happened every 200 years or so.

When Road Shift happened, Towns were either dismantled and moved or just abandoned. Either way, the spot where a Town had been usually went back to nature pretty quickly. This particular spot looked like most of the Town had been dismantled. There were very few signs of human habitation left. Mostly, the area was a flat field with some very small trees growing in it.

Once Gertie was tied down and Lahn was sure they could find her again, the three of them headed towards the Road. From the air, Lahn had figured that Long Bay City was at least 5 hours away, which would put Carso’s beaver pond no more than an hour from them. The problem was that this area had about a hundred ponds per square mile in most places, so they would have to stick pretty near the Road so they could see the blue ribbon Carso had left.

They were lucky that this was a seldom traveled stretch of Road, so chances of meeting anyone were slight. Despite that, Seyan insisted on running ahead a few hundred yards to check on things, while also insisting that Lahn and Dree walk close to the edge of the road and look behind them frequently.

They had been walking about half an hour when Seyan came running back towards them, waving for them to stop.

“I saw the blue ribbon, but heard horses in the distance, so I climbed a grandfather tree to have a look around. There are four riders camped maybe half a mile east of the pond. I’m not entirely sure, but I think I saw two other riders a couple of miles behind you. We’ve got to get off the Road right now!”

It only took a minute for them to get off the road far enough to not be seen. After making sure Lahn and Dree were well hidden, she told them she was going to get nearer to the Road to watch the two riders.

“But what about the ribbon?” Dree whispered “What if they see it?”

Seyan took a length of blue fabric from her pocket And handed it to Dree.

“Not much chance of that happening,” she said with a smile. Then she was off towards the Road and they could only watch as she climbed up a very tall tree.

Dree turned to Lahn and asked, “What’s a grandfather tree?”

“The tallest and oldest tree in an area,” he whispered back. “Judging from the size of most of these trees, I’d say at least 200 feet tall.”

The boy gave a very quiet whistle.

“She’s crazy.”

Lahn decided to remain silent on that point.

One hundred feet up in a tree very near the Road, Seyan watched the two Seekers approach. Something about the smaller one looked familiar. She began a mental search and hoped it wouldn’t take all night. The taller man also had an appearance that she felt she should know, but could not place. Whatever the case, they passed by her tree without seeing her, then continued on towards the pond and the other four riders.

Once they were well past her tree, Seyan began to climb down. She was only halfway when her comslate buzzed. It was a message from Ala that said, “Coming down road from Denton. Saw Seekers heading same way. Following about three miles back.”

Seyan apprised Ala of the current situation, then told her where to stash the horses near Gertie. She then began climbing down again, only to have a huge bird land on a branch right beside her.

It was the hawk she had seen that day on the southern prairie. He looked even larger this close up. He didn’t show any aggression towards her, but instead just looked at her. Seyan could not forget how he had winked at her that day.

“So, are you here to visit or do you have a message or omen or something?” She was glad nobody could see her talking to a bird.

The hawk, or maybe he was an eagle, looked at her, then looked down the road towards the riders, then back at her. He repeated that three times, then winked at her before flying off.

Seyan was too surprised to move for at least a minute, then slowly climbed down and went over to Lahn and Dree. She told them about the two men, then about Ala contacting her, then about the hawk.

“Well,” Lahn said, “maybe we have a new friend. Can’t hurt.”

Carso had abandoned his horse miles back at a small Town. He had also managed to grab a couple of very delicious sausages from a smokehouse, which filled his aching stomach quite nicely. He had then stayed off the Road for many miles, though never too far off the Road. As a result, he had seen the four Seekers ride by a couple of hours ago. They were heading right towards the pond.

Luckily, Carso had found a deer trail that lead to the stream that came out of the beaver pond. By following it, he came to the pond just as the four riders did and saw that they stopped near the road on the same side of the pond that the relic was on. He couldn’t get to it with them there.

Slowly and silently, Carso made his way over to the far side of the pond, which was the side his family had actually camped near. He had very little in the way of equipment, having taken only a bedroll, a knife and some dried fruit with him when he ran away, but he had remembered his brother Leono getting in trouble days later for leaving some things behind when the family left. If those things were there, Carso had an idea or two about how he might be able to help Dree when he got here.

Moving stealthily in broad daylight was made slightly easier by the shadows of the trees and the odd bush here and there, but it still took Carso nearly half an hour to get to where his family had camped. Once there, however, it only took a few minutes to find the stuff Leono had forgotten. Fortunately, none of it had attracted the attention of animals.

After gathering everything up, Carso went behind a very large bush and started thinking up a plan.

The Seekers by the pond saw Hadolfus and Padro long before the two riders cpould have seen them. Tonas was not happy to see that smug bastard Hadolfus and said as much to his associates.

“You can bet that prick is going to try and get the relic for himself, and if he doesn’t, he’ll try to make sure anybody who has it dies on the Road.”

Binjim agreed. “He’s not to be trusted, that’s a fact. I say we fade back into the forest and watch what he does. If he finds the relic, we kill him and take it.”

In agreement, they all got on their horses and silently rode away.

Hadolfus and Padro stopped on the same side of the beaver pond as Carso, thus not seeing any sign of the other four Seekers. They tied their horses to a small tree well off the Road and then sat down on a log.

“Nobody about but us,” Padro observed “Should we start looking?”

Hadolfus looked around and sniffed the air. “No,” he said slowly, “I think we are not alone and we might just want to wait a bit and see what the other side does first.”

Padro was getting a very bad feeling about all this and decided that it might be getting on towards time to leave soon, if he could figure out a way to do it without Hadolfus finding out.

“I’m going to walk down the creek a ways, Hadolfus, to get a look at the area on the other side of the pond.”

The larger man nodded and got up to head in the opposite direction.

“Not too far now, Padro. We have company somewhere out there. Be back here in ten minutes.”

Padro started walking towards the creek, ever watchful for enemies. He was about three minutes out when, just out of the corner of his eye, he saw a kid behind a bush. Acting like he saw nothing, he slowly angled over until he was near the bush, then quietly said, “I know you’re there, kid. Don’t try to run, I just want to talk. Now, tell me, how many others are out there?”

Padro was terrified. He had seen this man with the other Curator at Blue Tree. This guy didn’t look nearly as bad as the other one, but they were both Museum people. Of course, this man had also not grabbed him or called for the other yet, either.

Carso decided to talk to him, but lie a bit.

“There are four other Seekers out there. They hid when they saw you coming. There are also five of my friends out here, too.”

Four other Seekers, hiding from them? Padro did not like that at all. And five others, at least two of them Museum agents? No, not good at all.

“Ok, kid, so tell me, does anybody have the relic yet?”

Carso didn’t lie about that. “No, sir, not yet.”

So it was a standoff, thought Padro. Standoffs usually ended up with arrows flying and people dying, both of which he did not want to be around. Yes, it was time to go now.

“One more thing, kid, do you know where this deer trail leads?”

It dawned on Carso that this man did not want to be here. He was looking to get out of here. Carso figured that one less enemy was good, so he was honest again.

“It goes all the way to where a side Road curves south, maybe six miles. Not sure if any of those Seekers are near it.”

Padro thought a moment, then decided that there might be another way to work this. He’d have to wait a little while, but he thought it would be worth it. He then took a red ribbon, a memento of a girl in the last Town they’d visited before all of this started. Next, he bent down and picked up a fist sized rock and tied the ribbon to it. Once that was done, he threw it a few yards down on the opposite side of the creek.

“Thanks, kid. I suggest you move farther out of sight. That other guy isn’t as nice as I am.”

With that, Padro walked back to the horses and sat down. A few minutes later, Hadolfus returned and sat beside him.

“Did you see anything?” he asked Padro impatiently.

“I’m not sure. I thought I saw something move down a deer trail that runs near that creek, but there was too much brush in the way. What about you?”

Hadolfus smiled. “There are horse turds on the Road a couple of hundred yards down. I’d say riders passed by there, and since they never passed us, my guess is they turned into the woods on that side of the pond. I also found signs of an old campfire over there a bit. I suspect that we’re on the right side of the pond.”

Padro nodded. The kid had told the truth.

“So, what do we do now?” He hoped Hadolfus acted predictably. His hopes were answered.

“We sit here for a while longer, to let the shadows grow a bit, then we start searching with swords drawn.” He kept looking towards the creek and the deer trail. He was thinking about Padro possibly seeing someone who did not attack him. The boy, perhaps, trying to get back to the family camp? Or maybe just get to the relic, but frightened off by Padro. He would think on that for awhile.

Back at Gertie, the reunion with their three friends was brief, and then the planning began. Seyan, Bevan and Sunset all went off scouting, but came back after about half an hour. During that time, Seyan had remembered who the two Seekers were. The smaller one, Padro, was not known for being particularly daring or tough. He had only been a Seeker a short time. The other, Hadolfus, was a mean, tough son of a bitch who wanted to gain rank, fame and fortune. A dangerous fellow and obviously here for his own gain, since all of the Seekers knew Porcero was dead by now.

She had gone to check on the other four Seekers, but had seen that their camp was deserted. Fortunately, she found their trail deeper into the woods and soon spotted them. The only one she recognized was Binjim, who was one of the best known Seekers around. He looked dangerous and angry. The other three Seekers just looked dangerous. Satisfied with what she had found out, she backtracked to the road, quickly crossed it, then started back to the others.

Bevan had watched Hadolfus and Padro from a tree. They weren’t doing much, so he also scouted out the area across the pond. He could see all of it it from his perch and as he checked it out, he say a ray of sunlight coming through the trees and falling right across three large stones with a white stone on top. The relic was there! He quickly climbed down the tree and headed back to Gertie.

Sunset was moving silently through the woods when she smelled a familiar smell. It took her less than a minute to find Carso in his new hiding place. When he saw her, he was afraid, so she laid down, rolled over on her back and looked at him. After a moment, he reached out tentatively and rubbed her belly. Once he knew she was friendly, he wondered aloud, but quietly, where this dog had come from. Sunset sat up and pointed back into the forest with a paw. As Carso continued to whisper to her, glad for company after days alone, it dawned on him that this dog seemed to understand him. He asked her to do things like point towards the creek, look at his feet, etc, and she did everything he asked. Then a thought came to him and he said, “Girl, I have a plan you can help me with…”

The four Seekers had dismounted and spread out. Hadolfus would make his move soon and they were ready for him. Bows were drawn and arrows notched. Soon, people would die.