Chapter 17

THE CHIRA


The first thing that Dylan noticed about the land after they left Vermouth was that the soil was very sandy. In some small way it reminded him a little of home. The dirt of Sandy Cove was a course loam that was only a little different than what the wagon was presently rolling across. The terrain was very flat and the bushes were thick and deep green in color. The most intriguing feature was a variety of gargantuan pine tree with huge thick needles. Crystal called it the Arrow-leaf pine. She told them that some of the clannish tribes used the yard long pine needles as arrows. She said that they coat the needle in sap and when it hardens, it is as good as any arrow made anywhere.

Dylan thought that it was clever application for the unusual pine needles. The tree’s cones also amused him. Though the tree must have been two hundred feet tall, with needles the size of an arrow, the cone was so small that at first he thought it was an acorn.

Another thing that Crystal told them about was the canker that she had mentioned the day before. The host tree was a common form of birch and not really all that unusual. It was not the tree, rather the disease that had infested it that was the object of interest. A large bulbous swelling was growing at the junction of a limb and the trunk. Crystal proclaimed that particular canker unusable for her purposes, but she told them that if caught early enough, the thing could be cut out with a sword or axe. Not only would the removal of the mass help the tree, but the canker itself was made of a combination of concentrated sap and tar that burned very fast and hot. She told them that the thing could be set aflame and tossed at an enemy and it would explode on contact. It was quite popular with alchemists who extracted the volatile contents. She said that the king’s army of High Branch also bought them.

The canker she had shown them was too dangerous to harvest, and they would more likely start the woods afire if they didn’t kill themselves in the process. Left alone it would eventually kill the tree, but unless hit by lightning it would not do any more damage.
Dylan continued with his studies from the back of the wagon most of the day, but he occasionally would listen in on some of the things that Crystal was teaching Cindy. It began to occur to him just how much about the world that he was not learning anything about. There were many things that his lessons omitted simply because it had nothing to do with magic. One night, after they had eaten and most of the others had gone to bed, he asked his master about it.

“You are right,” Gage had answered. “I am afraid that those are the things that you will have to learn on your own. You did not think that your education would end when you became a journeyman did you?”

“I hadn’t thought about it,” Dylan admitted. “I guess in a way I did.”

“No,” his master told him. “All of us will always be working hard to learn new things. I still study and research. Even uncle Ultrecht is always trying to learn new things.”

“I would have thought that he knew everything.”

“Sometimes he thinks he does,” Gage laughed. “Then father and Armegon will go out of their way to remind him that he does not.”

The weather turned hot and sticky over the next couple of days. Dylan found it necessary to wear very loose clothing and as little of it as he could get away with. Rathe, wore only a loincloth and even Coran had shed most of his armor. Gage continued to wear his robe, but it was evident that he wore very little beneath it. Oddly enough, Velar had not changed his attire. But given his secret form, Dylan did not find that surprising. The women, Crystal and Cindy wore very loose fitting gowns made of a light fabric. All rules of modesty were met, and strangely, Dylan felt just a little bit disappointed. He knew that he should be ashamed of that feeling, but he could not help it.

“This is the region that the Chira inhabit,” Crystal told them as they stopped for lunch. She pointed out a cairn, a small stacking of stones. “That’s a marker. It means that the locals hold an allegiance with one of the more powerful devils, or so they claim, but I can’t read which one.”

“Are we likely to run into any of them?” Rathe asked. His voice betrayed no fear, but his eyes shifted to and fro nervously.

“Devils? No. They don’t normally appear unless summoned. This road leads to a village. It’s about another day away, and there’ll be plenty of the Chira there. They're friendly enough," she explained, "as long as you don’t plan to stay. I mean they like the money that passing pilgrims spend, but they don’t like strangers settling in their lands."

“When we get there, I think we can try to make out like we’re going to rest from a long trek before continuing,” Coran suggested. “That should let us stay for several days without any problems. Then we’ll have a little time to investigate and see if we can find out what’s going on down here.”

Gage slapped harshly at an insect on his arm. “That is the third time I have been bitten in as many minutes. What are these things?”

Crystal waved a hand at a couple of the bugs driving them away. “They’re just called yellow flies,” she told them. "They’re like mosquitoes, only bigger and more of a nuisance. They don’t like sunlight, so you can try riding out of the shade”

“Roast or be eaten,” Gage muttered. “Some choice.”

“You could use magic to drive them off couldn’t you?” Coran asked. He had been riding in the sun with most of the others, so he had not noticed the flies.

Gage nodded. “I hate to waste power on something so trivial, though,” he said irritably. “But if these things get any worse, I just may do it.”

It was later the next day when they finally reached the village of Sloam. It was a frontier town with a few inns and shops. The people watched them curiously, but made little effort to greet them or show disapproval at their presence.

Crystal and Gage obtained lodging and Dylan carried his master’s belongings up to their room while Rathe and Coran saw to the animals and wagon. Crystal and Cindy had Velar carry their things up and finally rejoined the rest of them in the main hall. There was a fire in the fireplace heating a kettle, and Dylan noted that none of the patrons were seated anywhere near the fire. It was just too hot inside the tavern to seek out extra heat.

“I told the innkeeper that we had been on the road for several weeks and needed to rest for a few days,” Gage informed them. “He seemed to be interested in which way we were going. When I mentioned west, he seemed to be a bit nervous. He tried to convince me that the flooding would make that way difficult, and he tried to suggest that we go south to the great south caravan route.”

“I didn’t even know there was a caravan route in the south,” Coran stated with some surprise.

“There is,” Rathe told him. “It’s fairly busy, but mostly with timber and goods of lesser value. There aren’t any large cities in the deep south other than Vermouth.”
“Isn’t Pak-D’Char near the caravan route?” Crystal asked.

“It’s not far. The route actually follows the southern coastal area for a bit then turns in towards the mountains. Pak-D’Char is on a chaparral near that spot.”

“I thought Pak-D’Char was nothing but a big ruin,” Coran interjected.

“It is,” Rathe told him. “Occasionally somebody goes there to try to find some treasure, but the place’s haunted, and few ever return. Nobody return unscathed.” The giant stretched his legs out and leaned back. The tiny chair was barely more than a low stool to him, and threatened to collapse under him.

“I shared a drink with a man who claimed to’ve been to those ruins once,” he continued. “I tried to get him to talk about it, but all he’d do was look at the stump of his left arm where he’d lost a hand and then he would order another drink. Whatever happened to him there, it must’ve been pretty bad.”

“That region really isn’t very far from here,” Crystal added. “I think it’s only about a week or so away. Beyond that, the hills flatten out and the Grog starts. That’s where you find the Keld.”

“There is still a good bit of light left,” Gage noted as he glanced briefly at the bright sun. “Let us get a feel for the town. I do not think that there will be a guild office here, but there might be some other merchants that will deal in magical paraphernalia.”

“Okay,” Coran agreed. “I’ll try a few places too. Crystal can come with me, I think I saw an apothecary as we entered the town.”

“I’ll see if there’s any gossip to be found at the bar,” Rathe added.

“What can we do?” Dylan asked.

“Study?” Gage suggested with a stern look.

“Please make no misunderstanding,” Velar interrupted, “but the youths may be able to glean knowledge from their own kind that would otherwise be veiled from adult inqueries. Mayhap they should seek out other youths. I pledge to see to their safety.”

“That’s a good idea,” Crystal agreed. "Dylan and Cindy might be able to get some information from other kids." Dylan balked involuntarily at being referred to as a kid, but he could not object to the chance to get out and see the town.

They left after a few moments of discussion. Velar followed them out and then stood near a corner of the inn. “I saw children of your ilk and age thither,” he told them as he gestured down a side street. “If you meander as you please down that way, I shall follow discretely and see that you are unmolested. Should you find other youths, feel free to engage them at your leisure and without fear of danger.”

Dylan nodded and beckoned for Cindy to follow. “He sure talks funny,” she said as they passed out of what she thought was earshot. Dylan was not fooled. He knew what Velar was and would not have been surprised if he could hear their words.”

“He’s an unusual person,” Dylan answered after a brief pause. “There’s more to him than anyone would expect. But Coran trusts him and he was sent on this journey by Gage’s father and uncles. That makes him above reproach, I guess.”

“He’s still strange,” Cindy insisted.

“Yep,” Dylan agreed.

They rounded a gentle bend in the street and found themselves on the edge of the town. A large grassy field lay there. Several clusters of people were about. A father and his child were playing tug of war with a brown dog to one side, and a young pair of adults were courting near a shallow pond. Over near a large low hanging willow tree was a trio of younger people about their own age.

Cindy took the initiative and started over in that direction. Dylan followed quickly, and they approached unobserved for the most part. They got close enough for him to hear that there was a bit of an argument going on, before the three spotted them and went silent.

“Hi,” Cindy greeted them. She had such a bubbly lilt to her voice that Dylan almost did a double take, as if he was not sure if this was the same person he had known for the last few years.

“Hello,” a boy, a bit larger that Dylan and obviously feeling a bit belligerent, responded. The other two were both girls. One was standing on the opposite side of the boy and consoling the other girl, who was working hard to keep from crying about something.

“We just got into town,” Cindy explained, ignoring the emotional distress of the other girl.

“We thought you might have some ideas about what kind of entertainment there might be around here.”

“Are you newcomers?” the one girl, wearing a kerchief in her hair, asked as she rested a comforting hand on the crying girl’s shoulder.

“No,” Dylan answered quickly. “We’re just passing through. My master is on a sabbatical and we have been traveling for two weeks. We just wanted to stop and sleep in a proper bed and get some supplies.”

“What does your master do?” the boy asked suspiciously.

“He is a mage,” Cindy told them. “We’re just his vassals.”

“Are you mages too?” The girl who had been weeping asked in a small voice.

“No,” Dylan answered. “Maybe one day, but we are just servants right now.” He did not know why Cindy had wanted to hide his apprenticeship, but he decided to go along with it.

Cindy pretended to just notice the girl’s emotional state. “I’m sorry,” she said as she pushed by the boy. “Is something wrong? What are you upset about?”

The girls both glanced briefly at their male companion then the girl in the kerchief answered for both. “It’s nothing really,” she lied none too well. “A lover’s spat. That’s all”
The boy sighed and threw his hands up in despair. “Fine, tell everyone.” Then he stormed off towards the town.

“He seemed upset,” Dylan observed, detached.

“You too?” Cindy chastised him. “You unfeeling lump of coal, can’t you see she’s upset? Why don’t you go and sit over by the pond. If you don’t want to help, then get out of the way. Sometimes talking makes me feel better when I’m upset, so I’m going to listen to her. You go away.”

There was ice in Cindy’s voice, and it confused Dylan completely. He just wandered off dazed to sit alone at the edge of the pond. There, at a good distance, he watched as Cindy and the two girls huddled together, talking.

He sat there in befuddlement for almost an hour. The light was fading quickly and Dylan was tempted to go and interrupt Cindy so that they could return to the inn, but just as he was about to get up, the girls broke out in laughter and Cindy waved goodbye to them as she came towards him.

“Oh, you’re not going to believe this,” she said to him quietly as he met her. She took him by the hand and steered him towards the town

“What?” he asked curiously.

“I’ll tell you later. Right now you need to act as if you’re my lover. I had to tell them that.”

Dylan balked reflexively. “You told them what?””

Cindy gripped his arm tightly and pulled him close. Then she planted a long and lingering kiss on his lips. Dylan could not quite remember all that happened during those few seconds. His mind seemed to have shut down and it was not until they had separated that he realized that he had put his arms around her and had been holding her close with no lack of enthusiasm.

When they were parted, he simply stood looking at his pretend lover, feeling his body, heart and blood responding to the hormonal call of nature. The pounding in his chest seemed to drown out everything else.

“Are you listening?”

“Huh?” Dylan snapped back to consciousness.

“I said, ‘that was some pretty serious acting’,” she grinned at him mischievously.

“On whose part?” Dylan countered. He could not remember much of it, but it seemed to him that she seemed to be enjoying the game as much as he had.

Cindy smiled even more and took his hand, half dragging him back towards the town.
“So what did they tell you?” he asked finally. “And why’d you want them to believe that we were lovers?”

“I told them that so that they would think I understood how hard headed and cold hearted men could be,” she explained. “I needed to gain their confidence.”

“So what did you learn?”

“The girl who was crying is named Sarah. She’s in love with Thomas, the boy. And he claims to love her too, but he’s been selected to participate in some religious ritual that would make it impossible for them to marry.”

“What kind of religious ritual would do that?” Dylan wondered aloud.

“Cathy, the other girl, wouldn’t come right out and say it, but Sarah slipped up and mentioned that she didn’t want to be the wife of a devil, so I think that they were talking about a possession. Remember what Crystal said about the Chira and their worship of devils? Thomas had that tattoo on his wrist. I saw it when he waved his hands and left.

“Wow,” Dylan gasped. “He’s going to allow himself to be possessed on purpose?”

“That’s what it looks like,” Cindy answered. “Cathy said that his family was going to be honored for many years and they would get lots of money someday for his cooperation.”

“So she was trying to get him not to go through with it?” Dylan guessed.

“Yes. She wants to marry him and he wants to marry her too, but he thinks that it’s his duty to go through with this thing.”

"That’s too bad,” he shook his head. “She was a very cute girl.”

“Oh?”

Dylan had known Cindy long enough to hear the warning tone, and decided to shut up before he got himself into too much trouble.

Instead, they made their way back to the inn. Velar joined them when they turned up the street. They both came up short, having forgotten all about his presence. Dylan wondered if he saw the kiss.

Velar simply greeted them and urged their return to the inn, citing the approaching night as the reason for haste.

At the inn, they met in Gage’s room with the others. Cindy told them what she had learned, and it turned out to be the only information that any one of them had gotten. Velar had been right and the adults were much more skilled at keeping secrets than a heartbroken teenage girl.

“I do not suppose they told you when and where this was supposed to take place?” Gage asked. “I think I would like to see this ritual, if for no other reason than to see if this has anything to do with what we are investigating.”

“Cathy mentioned something about tonight,” Cindy answered. “But no one said where.”

“I think I might have to go out tonight,” Gage decided.

“I’ll join you,” Crystal added. “If this kind of thing is as bad as it sounds, my father’ll want to know about it.”

“I suppose I’d better go along too, then,” Coran sighed. “You’ll need a good sword arm if these folks discover an unwanted audience.”

“We still don’t know where, though,” Crystal pointed out.

Velar stood. “If it is of such significance, that you feel you must indulge your voyeuristic instincts, I shall divine the location you seek later. It will be no mean feat, but I shall require solitude.” He bowed slightly to the ladies. “To that effect, I shall repair to the countryside.”

“What can we do?” Dylan asked.

“Study?” Gage suggested. He saw the downcast look on his pupil’s face. “Do not feel left out,” he told the boy. “You and Cindy have provided vital information. There will be time aplenty for adventures when you reach journeyman rank.” Then as an afterthought he inquired, “What happens when a time suspension spell is cast within an area where time has been stopped by the same spell?”

Dylan was ready for the question, though. He had already read that one. “The time suspension within a pocket defined by the second spell is extended because the compounded affect is that the second spell freezes the function of the first spell. When the second spell reaches the fulfillment of its duration, then it closes and the first spell’s function resumes.”

Gage nodded quietly. “Very good. Continue with those studies. I think you will find that some spell combinations have very unusual effects.

Dylan felt dejected. Only the fact that Cindy would share in his being left behind made it at all bearable. He knew, even as he retired and was being sent to his room to study that Cindy was also feeling as he was.

In spite of the apparent need for caution, Dylan really wanted to go with his master. Coran was going to help protect them and Rathe was probably going to go as well. Velar, who could probably take on the whole Chira village if he needed to, was going to locate the site of the terrible ritual. It did not take much imagination to figure out how the disguised dragon was going to do that. That probably explained why he had wanted to do it in private.

“I wish they would get it through their heads that we aren’t children anymore,” Cindy muttered as she joined him in the main room of the apartment that Gage and Dylan shared. Dylan had been lighting a lamp and was about to settle down to read from one of the texts that Gage had laid out for him.

“No kidding,” Dylan agreed. “I’m tempted to march down there and follow them. Who would stop me?”

“Rathe,” Cindy told him. “That oversized bonehead is sitting down there drinking and has orders to keep us out of mischief.”

“Humph!” Dylan grunted. “If we could distract him for just a little bit, we could slip right past him.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Cindy grinned. “Do you have any money?”

“What?”

“I said, ‘do you have any money?’”

“I know what you said, but what do you want it for?”

“You really are turning into a mage,” Cindy told him. “Crystal says that all mages are frugal.”

Dylan looked hurt. “I’m not frugal, just curious.” He reached into his travel bag and took a small pouch out. He loosened the drawstrings and tumbled a few gold coins into his palm. “Is this enough?”

“It’ll be just right,” Cindy told him. “Now watch and learn.” She opened the door and stood there for a moment watching inn workers pass back and forth for a little bit. Then she summoned a young lady over to the door. From the looks of her burdens, she appeared to be a laundress. Cindy talked to her on brief low sentences that Dylan could not quite make out. Then he saw the gold exchange hands, and the laundress smiled. Cindy nodded at something the young woman said and then shut the door as the laundress left.

“Okay,” Dylan demanded, “give. What was that all about?”

“It was all about a distraction, my dear young mage’s apprentice. Gage has been teaching you so much about magic that he has neglected to teach you about life and people.”

“So what did you pay her to do?”

“I told her that Rathe was a traveling companion of ours and that he recently lost his wife to a fever. I asked her to flirt with him outrageously, to cheer him up, but I warned her not to mention his late wife.”

“Cindy!” Dylan was shocked at the subterfuge of his best friend.

“Trust me,” she laughed. “Our Minotaan companion is going to be very involved tonight.”

“You mean they are going to ...I mean she’s a ... Oh dear!”

Cindy touched Dylan’s cheek fondly. “Someday, you and I are going to have to have a little talk about your naivety.”

Dylan blushed furiously. “Well, I suppose I could put these studies aside for a few moments if you want to talk.”

“Oh no,” Cindy answered. “We’re going out tonight. Let’s give our little secret agent a little time to get Rathe’s attention completely, then we’ll sneak out.”

“How would we find the place,” Dylan objected. He was no longer sure it was a good idea. “We can’t well ask Velar.”

“Simplicity in itself,” Cindy answered. “We know what Cathy and Sarah and Thomas look like. Cathy said that they all had to be there.”

“So we just find Cathy and her friends and follow them?”

“Yep,” Cindy was way too smug about her plan. Dylan sensed that there was probably a flaw in it, but he could not put a finger on it. He just hoped that it would not prove fatal. He also hoped his master did not find out about their planned adventure.

Cindy left the room for a few minutes as Dylan put his spell book and a few odds and ends into his shoulder bag. He only knew a couple of spells, and he was not really supposed to use them unless his life was in danger. He just hoped they would not be needed. He was about to leave when a thought occurred to him. He went back to his luggage and rummaged through it. It did not take him long to find what he was looking for.
The scroll tube was very light and made of wood. He worked the top off and when he did so, a brilliant beam of light blasted forth lighting up the room and blinding him in the process.

Blinking mechanically, Dylan replaced the cap on the tube. Coran had called it a flash light, but had conceded that it was only a name given to the item by his master’s father and teachers. It was the only magical item that he owned, but since they were going to be in the dark, he decided that it just might come in handy.

Cindy returned after a moment and motioned Dylan to join her. Together they crept to the banister and looked down into the commons area of the tavern. Rathe was there with a bucket of ale on his table. On his knee was the young woman that Cindy had hired. The Minotaan giant was so much larger than the young woman that she appeared barely more than a child in his lap. It was almost comical, but Dylan could not help but feel a pang of guilt at the deception.

Cindy and Dylan made it outside unobserved with great ease. Cindy was actually giggling when they rounded a corner towards the place where they had met the youths earlier in the day. Cindy reasoned that the kids would not have gone far from home just to be together, so they had to live pretty close to that spot. Her logic was inescapable, and Dylan and Cindy had not been sitting near the tree that they had met the other three for very long when they spotted the two girls following a couple of other villagers down a well trodden side trail. None of them were taking pains to keep from being followed.

Cindy and Dylan waited for a few moments, to make sure no one else was close by, and then they too took to the trail. Only the dim light of the smaller moon cast its faint glow allowing them to keep their quarry in site.

The trail twisted and turned madly, but it had been traveled so often that even in almost total darkness, Dylan and Cindy could tell where it was. The ground beneath their feet was devoid of vegetation, and in some places gravel had been placed to cover ruts and holes. Cindy wore calf high boots with soft soles and could tell the trail by the feel of the ground beneath her.

Dylan wore hard soled shoes, and woolen breeches, but the shirt was light material and none too warm. They days had been hot and sticky, and he had selected the lighter fabric and color accordingly. Now the moonlight made his shirt stick out a little more than he liked.

Apparently it made little difference, though as no one seemed to notice either of the extra attendees as they passed through the woods. Perhaps the distant observer mistook them for other villagers and ignored them or perhaps everyone was so intent on what was to come that they simply were not watching.

Dylan and Cindy pulled up short as they rounded a curve in the trail. Some distance ahead of them was a bonfire. They both agreed without a word that they did not want to draw close to the fire while still in the open of the trail.

Instead, Dylan pulled Cindy off to one side of the trail. There in the thick underbrush they were much better concealed and it was a simple thing to close in on the bonfire from the bushes. Noise was not an issue as there was a soft beating of a muffled drum and a chanting sound coming from the clearing ahead of them.

The two young spies crawled closer until they had an almost unobstructed view of the proceedings going on in the clearing.

To one side of the fire, an older woman was seated with Thomas. While he was drinking from a cup, she was painting symbols on his skin and another woman was rubbing some form of oil on his head and hands. Dylan could not make all the symbols out completely, but he did recognize one. It was a cursing symbol used to weaken the mind and spirit of the wearer. He knew of it, because he knew that anyone who tried to open his master’s spell book without the proper charm of permission would receive such a mark as punishment. His master had explained it to him one afternoon when they were talking about spell books.

Thomas seemed to be swaying slightly to the rhythm of the beating of the drums. His eyelids seemed half closed, almost as if he were drugged or in a trance.

Dylan saw the two girls, Sarah and Cathy on the opposite side of the fire. Neither girls appeared too happy to be present, but instead were probably too afraid to protest or leave.

Cindy nudged Dylan and pointed to the far side of the clearing. In the firelight, a gathering of adults had stripped nude and were covering themselves in greenish brown clay. They smeared the muck all over themselves and drew more symbols in the grime on their flesh.
Finally, the old woman stood in the middle of the clearing. She reached into a pouch and withdrew a handful of powder. This she tossed into the fire and yelled a strange word. Dylan did not recognize the language, but for some reason the word made his ears burn and his skin crawl.

When the powder hit the fire, it blazed higher and took on a deep turquoise hue. Immediately, the drummers picked up their tempo and the mud-covered people began to dance a wildly gyrating and obscene dance.

The woman watched satisfied for many long moments, then she drew an ugly knife from her belt and drew the blade across her forearm. Even in the light of the fire and from a distance, Dylan could tell that those arms were covered in scars from similar uncounted actions.

She began to mutter and speak in a chanting gait. As her voice rose and fell in time with the drums, the dancers also pranced around in a circle making lewd gestures and joining in the overall mood of savagery and mindless obedience to some sick tradition.

The dancing continued and the woman’s chanting switched from what might have been some strange form of prayer in an unknown language to a series of words and phrases that Dylan knew all too well.

The woman was using power words. She was speaking bits and pieces of a preamble, but she was casting without direction, or conclusion. His studies told him that she was asking for big trouble. As long as she provided the spell with a closure, she would not get harmed by the backlash, but without the direction and conclusion, she would not be able to control what magic she had summoned. That in itself was enough to make Dylan consider leaving right then and there.

As the old woman continued her incantation, the color of the flame deepened to a violet shade. The dancers whirled and leapt madly across the fire pit. The drums increased in fervor and the other onlookers all moaned and swayed hypnotically.

Then Thomas stood and walked over to the old woman. She turned him to face the flames and then gently pushed him down to be seated before the fire.

“Lord below,” she bellowed triumphantly. “Thy servants call to thee. Lend us thy protection. Use this thy tool, and let thy dominion on this world begin.”

She followed her speech with a rapid succession of those terrible words that hurt Dylan’s ears.

There was a burst of flame as the fire blossomed in a bright scarlet color. Foul smelling smoke billowed forth and from its midst stepped a creature that Dylan had only seen in sketches, sketches that had raised horrible nightmares. It was a being from the nether world. It was a devil.