Finding The Soul Bridge (The Soul Fire Saga Book 1) (25 page)

47

Kelvin yawned.

Uncle Tarn had been relating the story of the dragon and the soul trap for the last hour. It was a twisted tale passed down through hearsay. There were two main characters in the story, the guardian and the subverter. The story was intriguing but long. He didn’t know if it was true or even useful at all to know.

“So let me get this straight.” said Thist “The guardian in the story protects the soul bridge and the subverter is looking for it in order to take the souls from the world?”

Uncle Tarn nodded. “Yes.”

“Neither of the two has been seen in living memory but you suspect that the dragon is the subverter and the dragon is in the castle?” asked Thist

“Yes.” said Uncle Tarn. “And we believe that you Thist are the Guardian.”

“That is silly.” said Thist “It’s not me.”

“Well, it’s someone for sure.” said Uncle Tarn. “Why can’t it be you?”

“Maybe it is Kelvin or Jem.” said Thist “Where is Jem? It’s getting dark.”

No sooner had he asked when Jem walked into the tent. “Sheesh.” exclaimed Jem. “How do you people breathe in this place?”

“Is there something wrong?” asked Uncle Tarn.

Jem looked embarrassed. Kelvin and Thist both gave Jem an embarrassing smile.

Jem didn’t skip a heartbeat. “Yes Uncle Tarn, this place stinks.”

“What do you mean.” he asked.

“It’s the smell.” said Jem.

“Oh.” said Uncle Tarn, “It’s my cheeses.”

“What?” exclaimed Jem not knowing how to respond.

“I make aromatic cheeses.” explained Uncle Tarn. “This climate is great for it.”

“Why?” asked Jem.

“We eat it.” said Uncle Tarn “It’s our town delicacy.”

“It smells like putrid corpse in here.” said Jem.

“Jem!” shouted Kelvin. “You are being rude to our hosts.”

“I apologise.” said Jem, “I’m just hungry and irritated, you know.”

“I understand.” said Uncle Tarn with a large grin. “A hungry man is an angry man. Would you like some cheeses?”

Jem was horrified by the notion. “No thanks, I have a little mushroom preserve in the other sack. Have you chaps learned anything useful?”

“A lot actually.” lied Kelvin. “Uncle Tarn was explaining to us the history of the subverter and the guardian. Did you figure something out in your scrolls?”

“Yes.” said Jem, “But I think we need to limit what I have figured out to a ‘need to know’ basis. Nobody in this room needs to know yet.”

“Do you at least have a secret way in?” asked Thist.

“No.” said Jem with a sigh. “But what I have found is a little disturbing.”

“Excuse us, Uncle Tarn.” said Kelvin “But we need to have a private conversation.” He got up and left the tent.

Uncle Tarn scrutinized the three young men for a moment and then bade them fair greeting.

The trio walked up to the outcrop where Jem had been sitting and studying the blueprints while gazing at the castle in the distance.

“What I found,” started Jem, “was that if you take the four scrolls and lay them over each other and hold them up to the light, then a total image is displayed from all four. But if you twisted one or the other scrolls then the image that is displayed could be changed. I had a look at the combinations of images on the four scrolls.”

“Please tell me that you have figured it out.” said Thist.

“Yes I have.” said Jem. “It is like forty scrolls in four.” There is a wealth of information in them, and the instructions are complete but they are riddles. It is annoying.”

“Didn’t you have to fold them into triangles?” asked Thist.

“Yes.” replied Jem, holding an index finger in the air to emphasize the point. “There seems to be a diversion in the drawings, but there are clues in the riddles. This makes the scrolls a real puzzle.”

“But puzzles are your thing.” said Kelvin. “So what is disturbing?”

“The references to the subverter.” said Jem “This castle is related but I cannot figure out how.”

Thist seemed dubious. “What is a subverter anyway?” At that moment he could hear a chatter of voices. He turned to look but there was nobody. It was his head voices.

“Hearing voices Thist?” asked Kelvin.

“Yes.” said Thist, “They don’t like this subverter guy.”

“I think that the subverter and the dragon are the same problem.” said Jem as he rolled up his scrolls. “But I have formulated a cunning siege plan.”

“Let’s hear it.” encouraged Thist.

“It will only involve the three of us.” said Jem. “I think that we can lay siege to the castle successfully without the loss of life on either side.”

Kelvin was intrigued. “I trust your plans normally, so let’s get started.”

“Wait.” Thist interjected. “We three are leading a massive army to lay siege to the castle and possibly win. Is that the plan or am I missing something?”

“No.” said Jem “We three are going to lay siege to the castle, just us three.”

“No,” said Thist. “Just us three, it’s suicide, what do we know about how to lay siege to a castle anyway?”

Jem looked over his shoulder to the plume of fog that rose just behind the tent village. “As much as we know about canyon crossing.” said Jem. “Take heart Thist, this is my plan; we will retire to our own places of peace and quiet and formulate micro plans. In the morning we can start building a mature plan.”

“What is our advantage?” asked Thist.

“High ground, surprise and water supply.” said Jem, “If we plan well, then we can use their greatest asset against them.”

“What is that?” asked Kelvin.

“The castle.” said Jem. “As far as I can tell, they are all trapped inside it.”

Thist looked at the castle in the distance. “What will stop them from leaving their sanctuary and come charging after us?”

“Easy.” said Jem “They will be looking out for a large army and there will be only three of us.”

“How is that a good thing?” asked Thist.

Jem looked excited as his own plan started to build inside his mind. “Well, three guys can hide a lot easier than a large army.”

“I will have to sleep on it.” said Thist.

“Take some of your special tea first.” teased Kelvin “Maybe it will clear your mind a little.”

Thist glared at Kelvin for a moment and then grinned widely, “That is not a bad idea. I can come up with some cunning ideas when I am on the sauce!” Thist humoured Kelvin as he didn’t want them to know that he had eaten the entire last batch of his tea. “I am curious to see what you will come up with Kelvin.” said Thist.

Kelvin grinned back, “I’m going to need some target practice and some arrows.”

Jem rubbed his hands together as he stared down at the castle. To the right he noticed a forest with very tall straight trees. “How convenient?” He chuckled. “I’m going to need a scouting trip.”

“I’m up for a scouting trip.” said Thist. “We could even camp out for the night.”

Jem laughed, “As opposed to sleeping in Smellville and eating deadfall cheese for every meal?”

“It’s decided.” said Kelvin, “We are camping out tonight. Where are we scouting to Jem?”

“That neat timber forest over there.” said Jem. “I think we can set up one siege point there.”

Thist shook his head, “You are optimistic my friend, that forest isn’t as close to the castle as it looks from here. Besides, those Hyperion trees look just a hair’s breadth bigger than massive.”

“Well Thist my friend, do you know any spell slingers around here that can do good?” asked Jem.

Thist gave Jem a jocular smile. “I know that I can do good. It is in my nature. The question at hand, I think, is whether I have the skill and experience to do well.”

Kelvin looked confused. “Say what?”

Thist hated explaining his own jokes. “I am not evil, therefore I can do good, but every time I have tried hard to excel, I have burnt out.”

Kelvin nodded. “I think I know what you mean, but everybody in the world gets that. You just have to learn how to manage it.”

“What?” asked Thist, “Doing good or burning out?”

Kelvin shook his index finger in the air as if to make a valid point. “Even the most evil of evil doers in the whole world are good doers most of the time. It is easy to do good when everything around you is in perfect order. Only a truly good person can do good when he himself is experiencing hardships.”

“What about doing well then? Isn’t that different?” asked Jem.

Kelvin hung his head for a second and then looked far into the distance. “Sometimes,” said Kelvin, “I think the taste of success can lead you to failure.”

Jem nodded, “That is true, and sometimes the hardest thing to do after you have succeeded is to succeed again.”

A cool breeze rustled the leaves. Jem looked up. “Well that is convenient. It’s probably going to rain in an hour.” said Jem.

“How is that convenient?” asked Thist.

“The weather will give us good cover.” explained Jem, “It will be unpleasant to be in but we could scout much closer in rainy weather than any other time. Let’s get our packs prepared lightly and head out.”

48

The hagget had summoned rain again. It had crossed the raging river on the ropes that had been strung across and had nearly drowned in its own terror. It had to cross no matter what the cost.

This was its last chance. The only thing that mattered to it was the prize at the end of the journey. It had led the boys on a perilous journey that would break them, kill them or forge them into the formidable tools that it needed. It suffered in silence as it navigated its stealthy form in the tent village. The ghastly cheeses caused its skin and eyes to burn and it needed its daily rain wash. The boys; who had now been transformed into men, were leaving the awkward tent village for the forest. There it could make it rain like never before.

49

The trio walked down the hillside toward the forest. The warm rain fell softly and tasted sweet. They had been walking away from the village for just over an hour and were soaked through, but none the worse for wear. It was pleasant and the rain formed a dark curtain between themselves and the castle. 

As they approached the forest, the ground seemed to become softer, not from mud, but deadfall leaves, bark, cones and needles. The sound of trickling water was ever present as the rain fell on the tree canopy above. It made its way to the ground in the form of tiny streams down the tree trunks. The ‘slap-slap’ sound of large drops falling on forest floor was ghostly and the smell of tree sap and fresh rain elevated their moods. Kelvin was enjoying the sheer firmness on the ground as he moved along and every so often he would glance around to check if he wasn’t being followed by a bridge rope.

“Nervous?” asked Jem.

“I don’t know what it is.” said Kelvin. “I feel as if the bridge rope is following me.”

Jem looked behind him, then the other way. “Thist stop!” he whispered.

Kelvin seized his bow and notched an arrow. The trio scanned the forest. Jem listened to the natural sounds of the forest and then tried to make them go away. He tried to listen past the noises and into the silence that eluded their ears beyond that. “What is it?” whispered Thist.

“Ssshh,” shushed Jem. “There is something.”

They stood still, arrow drawn. Jem looked at Kelvin for a moment, then at Thist.

A twig snapped, then a rustle of leaves. Just a short distance from them a shadow darted from behind a tree. All three of them saw it but none of them recognised what it was. “Who goes there?” shouted Thist.

“Shut up Thist,” scolded Kelvin in a harsh whisper. “This is a scouting mission. We are supposed to be stealthy, not shouting and blundering like oafs.”

Another twig snapped.

“It’s a wisp,” said Thist, “just a forest spirit.”

Jem raised both of his hands in front of his face, his palms pointing outward like a market square mime. Thist understood that he was trying to communicate without speaking and tried to heed his attention.

“They are nothing Jem.” said Thist, “It’s just a forest spirit.”

Jem stopped miming and asked. “Where do you get your information from? Pray tell how can you be sure, and besides can a wisp thing cause a twig to snap?”

“Seriously?” asked Thist as he pointed up without looking up, “There are constantly twigs snapping and falling, it’s a natural forest sound. Besides, I have a hundred people giving me advice; they all say that it is a forest spirit, or a wisp and they all agree that it’s nothing to worry about.”

Kelvin shook his head, “Must we start listening to your head voices now?”

“Look!” said Thist as he pointed to a gap in the trees. “There is another one.”

Kelvin and Jem looked to where Thist was pointing. In a gap between groves of Hyperion trees was a dark apparition, like a puff of black smoke that had a will of its own.

Kelvin drew his bow.

“Stay your bow Kelvin, they are friendly.” said Thist.

Jem was riveted to the spot, unable to move. His eyes were wide and his legs trembled. The wisp turned as if noticing the trio and then vanished into the trees to one side.

“Friendly but shy.” said Thist. “Let’s press on.”

Jem’s face was flushed white. His eyes darted from one place to the other. “Are there many?”

“One for every tree.” said Thist. “So this forest must be full of them. It’s okay Jem, really.”

Jem looked at Thist and then to Kelvin, “Are you sure?”

“It’s okay.” said Kelvin. “If they wanted to harm us in any way then they would have done it already.”

“Count backward from fifty.” suggested Thist. “It helps. And try to focus your attention back to the mission.”

Jem staggered, sort of following the other two while walking backward and looking every which way. “Remind me again what the mission is?” stammered Jem.

“Scouting, remember? We are going to lay siege to the castle and we need to see what we have to work with.” replied Kelvin. “So far we have Hyperion trees, in a dark forest full of wisps.”

“Big, wet, dark forest.” said Jem, “It looks as if it rains here every single day.”

Jem was familiar with how trees grew in the forests near their home. He had observed them lovingly. The trees in this forest were massive, with trunks thick enough to hide a wagon behind them and they were proportionally tall.

The moss was thick and lush on all sides of the trees.

“Stop.” said Jem. “Listen.”

The trio stopped. “What is it now Jem?” asked Kelvin.

Jem held up his hand. A soft whooping laugh emanated from high up in the branches. Jem pointed at the direction of the sound. He held up a finger to his lips to signal for silence and made a listening gesture. Another whooping laugh was heard farther on in the forest.

“Hear that second one?” asked Jem.

“Yes.” said Thist. “That is the whooping laugh bird. We’ve had them in our forest a few times; very shy birds but if you walk into their nesting area then they will start whooping to warn each other and give away the position and movement of intruders.”

“Nice.” said Kelvin sarcastically. “They are giving away our position now aren’t they?”

“Unfortunately they are.” said Thist. “But only if somebody is listening for it. Besides, they whoop for foxes too.”

The three stood still for a long time and listened to the sounds of the forest. There were forest ferns on the ground with large leaves that caught many of the big drops and funnelled them to their centre. Every time a drop struck a fern leaf it made a loud pop sound. Jem drank his fill from one of the large fern leaves. In the distance they could hear the ‘whoop-whoop-whoop’ of the whooping laugh birds.

Kelvin looked each way as if looking for something or someone. “We are lost.”

Jem was still a little distracted by the notion of wisps and looked here and there to see if there wasn’t a wisp stalking them. “How lost do you mean Kelvin?”

“All I can see is that we are in the middle of a big dark wet forest and I have lost all land marks and there is no sunlight for all the rain.” said Kelvin. “We are lost.”

“I have an idea.” said Thist. “Let’s all point in the direction that we think we should go in and compare.”

The three young men each chose a direction to point to and all three pointed in different places.”

“We are lost!” said Jem. “Now what?”

Thist started to count out aloud. “Fifty, forty nine, forty eight…”

He kept on counting, slowly at first as his emotions were interfering with his ability to think and then faster until he reached zero. “That way.” said Thist. “It might not be the perfect direction but I think we should follow the water as it flows down the hill. We can find a river or a stream and then follow it down. The castle was at the bottom of this valley, so I figure we just go down. What are you thinking Kelvin?”

Kelvin stroked his chin as he thought. “I don’t have a better idea, how about you Jem?”

“I could climb a tree, or try at least.” replied Jem, “Then I can have a look from much higher up.”

Thist scrutinized the tree right in front of him. “That’s not going to happen, these trees are too…” Thist made a hand gesture at the fat straight trunk with no branches on it from the middle down.

Jem shook his head at the massive tree in front of him. “You know, you can bribe me with a tree like this. I love trees. But I think that you are right, no climbing on this, not in a hurry at least.”

“It’s getting late.” said Kelvin. “We should press on. Try to find a good stream of water.”

They walked through the forest, minding their step as they went along. Some of the old trees had grown close to other trees and their top branches scraped against each other as they swayed in the light breeze. Despite the rain it was warm inside the forest and the air was fresh with the scent of tree sap and needles. “Look.” said Thist as he pointed up and behind the other two. “The wisps are following us.”

Jem startled but Kelvin was just curious. A group of wisps had gathered several trees behind and were peeking to see what the trio was doing.

“They seem playful.” said Kelvin.

“Or maybe they are scared of us.” said Thist.

Jem picked up a stone as if arming himself.

“Don’t, you are displaying aggression.” said Thist and knocked the stone from his hand. “Just ignore them, it’s their forest they will follow us until we leave it.”

Kelvin called to the other two from twenty yards on. “Here guys. Come look here. It looks as if there is a nice stream here, crystal clear water.”

Jem hurried over to where Kelvin was standing and pointing. A small but steady stream of water flowed and there were smooth boulders exposed from the forest floor. “Come on Thist.” called Jem.

As Jem turned to call Thist one wisp rush straight at Thist and collided with him. As it did its essence dissipated and then rematerialized, and it darted off into the forest. It was hard to tell if there were two or ten others but they vanished along with the other one.

Thist was startled and looked to where it had come from and then to where they all had gone. He ran to where Kelvin and Jem were standing, his long black coat flailing behind him like a cape in the wind.

“Not aggressive, hey Thist?” taunted Jem. “I don’t care what you say, I don’t trust those things.”

Thist shook his head, “I don’t know what that was. They seem more inclined to leave us alone if we are in a tight group. Let’s stick together, and let’s get a fire going.”

“No!” said Kelvin. “Cold camp tonight, we are on a scouting mission, remember?”

“Oh great.” said Jem “Now we get to spend the night with an army of forest ghosts in the cold wet jungle in total darkness.”

Thist sat down on a bolder. “We have to communicate with them somehow, let them know we mean them well.”

“How?” asked Jem. “They cannot possibly understand anything that we say or even sign with our hands.”

“It’s a very old forest.” said Kelvin “Many thousands of years.”

“Still.” said Thist “How do we communicate with a being that is so foreign to us and us to them?”

“We can’t even feed them.” said Jem.

“They have a problem,” said Kelvin “If we can solve their problem then we can win their favour.”

Jem looked dubious. “Kelvin, you are mad. What problem could they have?”

Everyone and everything in the world has problems.” said Kelvin. “Look around in the forest as far as you can see. Can you see anything out of place in this forest, anything at all?”

Jem looked at the forest; everything was perfect, more than perfect. Something was missing. The Hyperion trees were everywhere, there were small forest ferns and the whole of the forest floor was covered in a rotting deadfall.

“All the trees are old and massive.” said Thist.

“And?” asked Kelvin sounding like an old school tutor.

Jem stood up and scanned the forest floor, then turned and looked to the other way cupping his hands to the side of his face as he strained to focus. “There are no small trees.”

“Isn’t that strange?” asked Kelvin. “Even the trees of the forest are not reproducing.”

“It’s not that strange.” offered Jem. “This type of tree needs fire to germinate their seed. There just hasn’t been a forest fire in this forest for thousands of years.”

“I have an idea.” said Jem. “We can make a small fire and flash some seeds then we can plant them and hope the wisps will like us. What do you think?”

Thist nodded his head and pursed his lips in a gesture of approval. “Worth a try, I’ll get some wood.”

“I did advise against a fire,” muttered Kelvin, “but I guess the trees are so tall and thick that we should be just fine. Besides, the castle is still a long ways off.”

Jem and Thist built up a small camp fire while Kelvin scouted close by for some seeds. As the fire started to crackle and smoke, the wisps started to gather in numbers on the edge of the firelight. The crowd of black apparitions became larger as more and more wisps joined in to watch. They stayed just beyond the firelight, jostling for position like a crowd of market-goers trying to watch a thespian show.

Jem watched the crowd grow, with open mouthed, wide eyed horror. Kelvin was still busy sorting seeds and had not looked up yet. But Thist was enjoying the spectacle.

“I wonder who’s watching who?” said Thist.

Kelvin looked up and froze in position as his jaw dropped. “Ho…!” the profanity went cold in his mouth.

The forest of a hundred thousand ancient trees had not seen the glow of firelight in thousands of years.  A gathering of a hundred thousand curious dark apparitions collected in a tight circle around them. For a while none of them spoke, Jem was frozen cold with fear. Kelvin was riveted in disbelief and Thist was enjoying the spectacle.

“Let’s do the job guys. We have a full house watching.” Thist’s words may just as well have fallen onto rocks. “Jem! Kelvin! Are we roasting seeds or what?”