Jake stared down at the three intruders as they gaped up at him in awe. One, obviously female, kept shaking her head slightly as if trying to deny her senses; the other two just stood stock still, like deer caught in headlights.
“I believe I asked a question.” Jake grumbled. He felt a little cranky after such a long sleep—just how long he couldn’t tell, his sense of time was quite fouled up.
They opened their mouths as if to speak, though no noise came out. They looked so comical that Jake actually laughed; a deep rolling sound that shook the hall and made the gold bounce and rattle together. The three aliens threw themselves on the floor and covered their ears, whimpering. Evidently they thought he’d lost his patience and was going to eat them!
As one they began to speak, the words rushed and overlapping to the point where any individual sentence was impossible to pick out.
“Please don’t hurt them! They’re my sisters you see…Not my master and mistress! Please don’t…It’s my fault we’re here, don’t hurt the others.” And so on.
Jake opened his mouth to speak, but found himself rudely interrupted. A fourth creature that had evidently been outside rushed in with a shriek. Her features were reminiscent of a desert wolf although lessened to a proportion that she could speak words. Her long black hair whipped wildly about her shoulders while her bright green eyes were filled with a strange mixture of terror and determination. She was dressed in garb like he’d seen on Nacomi when she’d dressed up for a festival or powwow.
She threw her spear at him. Its aim proved true as it raced at terrific speed and struck him in the chest. There was a shower of sparks and the sound of metal striking metal, and the spear ricocheted downward into the gold at Jake’s feet and stuck there.
Jake was unimpressed with the results but touched at her courage. Quicker than a striking rattler he struck down the she-wolf and held her pinned. He could feel the heart beating rapidly in her chest as she whined, very much in dog fashion.
The others quickly got to their feet and raced to help their friend. The pried and pulled at Jake’s fingers, but his grip was iron and they succeeded only in tiring themselves out.
“Enough.” Jake said at last when he’d gotten bored of watching them strain against his grip. “I will not hurt her, but she cannot go attacking me again.” He felt very reasonable when he said this. He wanted to talk, after all, and not fight.
They all glanced at each other and down at the desert she-wolf and nodded.
“Very well. Let us speak reasonably with one another then.” Jake said settling himself even more firmly on his haunches and picking the paw with the girl up and setting it on his other front paw so she could sit comfortably. So vast was it in comparison to the girl, that he held her from her shoulders down below her tail, and had to bend his finger in so she could sit. He didn’t release his grip on her though. “I want to know who each of you are and what business has brought you to my home.” He took a deep sniff. “I must say I’ve never smelled your kind before. Where do you come from, may I ask?”
They glanced at each other again before the male spoke, trying to keep the fear from his voice. “My name is Gavin Tidwell, and I’m from England. We are archaeologists who came to this truly hospitable mountain in search of truth from an ancient civilization whose remains were rumored to be here.” He finished in a rush when his nerve obviously failed him.
Jake cocked his head curiously. “What ancient civilization?” He asked.
“Well, the one that seemed based not far from the roots of your mountain.” Gavin replied hurriedly. “We haven’t found much there, for we’re only exploring the site a little. We are supposed to return to England very soon to report back.” He added in a rush.
Jake said nothing. Obviously flustered the young man fidgeted where he stood.
“I may know something of that civilization.” Jake said at long last. “But you would not be expected for some weeks at least. And you haven’t introduced your companions to me either.”
Gavin gulped and introduced the others. “My sister Annabel,” he gestured to the other woman next to him. They were obviously family, and Jake was pleased his guess had been right. They both looked very similar to golden retrievers in his eye. He turned to the cat whose markings and features spoke of a cross between a house cat and a jaguar of the South American rain forest.
She caught his look and curtsied very low. “Matcha, milord.” She said formally. “I’m miss Tidwell’s maidservant.”
“A slave?” Jake asked in a hard voice. He’d always hated the notion of slavery.
Matcha shook her head hurriedly. “No slave, just servant.” Her voice lost some of its polish as she defended her mistress.
Jake subsided; if she got paid for her services and had the right to leave at any time, then that was all right. He turned his attention to the girl trapped in his grip.
“This is Mausi.” Gavin said. “She’s our native guide to the region.”
“I see.” Jake said quietly. Mausi stared up at him with awe and reverence. She spoke hurriedly as well.
“I see you Great Lord. I did not mean to interrupt your Sleep, forgive this one her offense. She did not believe at first but does so now.” She added many more words in her own language, very similar to a dog’s barking. It took Jake only a few moments to learn enough of it to understand she was offering a prayer for his supplication.
The worship made him uncomfortable, but he respected her beliefs enough not to come right out and say it. All he told her, in her own language of course, was that he hoped he proved worthy of her adulation.
The one called Annabel seemed impatient and broke in before anything further could be said.
“You spoke of the ancient civilization. Does that mean you know what happened to it? And what it was like? We only found this, (she held up the rod from before which Jake recognized as part of the axle to a child’s wagon, as evidenced by the R on the one side in the distinctive cursive of the company) and part of some great wagon that had been headed for your mountain. Did they take refuge here? What were they, a race of the cat-people?” She spoke excitedly, and it was clear that her passion for the past had outweighed her fear of him. Jake found the notion amusing.
“I should think so, considering you are holding a axle for a child’s wagon.” He told them. They glanced at it in surprise. “But it wasn’t a race of cat-people that lived in that city.” He told them. “No such race existed when they last roamed this world.” He spoke sadly, recalling his time as a human, and the great cities and monuments they’d built. Gone forever, of course.
“What?!” They cried, stunned. “Of course there must be. Why would you tell us such a thing?”
Only Matcha, who was looking at the cup lying on the floor where Gavin had dropped it, remained quiet. She looked up to find Jake’s knowing gaze on her.
“That’s impossible.” Annabel declared. “The Holy Book says that we were created as His companions in the long dark. There’s no mention of a tailless being in all the holy scripture.”
Jake looked at her calmly. “This world is old, child of the empire.” He told her calmly. He found it curious that as much knowledge of the past had remained, but it had obviously been corrupted, which could be expected. He continued to speak.
“Long ago, the earth was created by two planets colliding. They fused into one new planet and one satellite, the moon. For billions of years it cooled, leaching a colorless, odorless gas that formed the first atmosphere. Eventually the first water fell from the sky and filled the deep holes in the surface, creating the first oceans, rivers, lakes, ponds, streams, creeks, seas and rivulets.”
“With that water came the first life. These were simple organisms that proved the most reliable. Jellyfish, for example. They were billions of years old when I came into being and had the potential to survive long after I had passed into the void. I wonder if there are any still around.”
“If you are talking about the strange, gelatinous things that are found in the seas and have no skeleton and long tendrils…” Gavin began.
“Ah, so they are still around. They are some of the oldest creatures to have lived on this planet. A very hardy race.” Jake remarked. “But where was I? Ah yes, jellyfish. From these simple times more complex creatures began to evolve. Over processes of millions of years, shelled creatures emerged, then beings that could see with the very first eyes, from which came the first arms race between predator and prey. Various tacks were tried, but the best advantages came from those creatures that developed memory. The power of the mind began to take what had once been lowly creatures on the bottom of the food chain and gave them a huge advantage over their predators. They could remember where the most dangerous areas of travel were, for instance. How to avoid one set of attacks with ease, or how to recognize the warning signs left by their enemies.”
“As the oceans filled and became crowded, the most adventurous creatures were pushed out of the water and onto land. They saw the first plants and felt the extraordinary heat of the sun. It would take more millenia before the land began to transform into a full sustaining environment. That was the Age of the Arachnid, when giant insects and spiders roamed and reined supreme over all but the amphibians and fish, who were water bound and could still grow to enormous sizes. That Age lasted many centuries, but eventually shifted. Then the Age of the Reptiles came at last. They, being faster and more easily adaptable, began to shift and change. They expanded and withdrew several times in their history, changing shape and will at each setback, becoming bigger, stronger and faster. Their most effective and powerful shape came during the Time of the Dinosaur, which lasted about a hundred million years. They lived in a paradise world and had no need of tools to get about their daily lives. They were quite content to remain as they were, changing their bodies through breeding to become better suited for their environments. Enormous predators and even bigger herbivores.”
“Alas, their end came swiftly. All their magnificent race was utterly wiped out by a Apocalypse. When the dust had settled, it became the Age of Mammals turn. They swept in to fill the voids left by the dinosaurs. Eventually, a curious mammal took it upon itself to learn and take the ability to reason to the next level. It started to seek ways to change the environment around it, rather than change itself to suit the environment. This led to rapid advancement of tools, and civilization began to appear. These were the first men, and they forged a dynasty that lasted for hundreds of thousands of years.”
“What happened to them?” Matcha prompted when the silence had become too much.
“A great war was fought. It was nothing new to men, for they had fought each other as often as not throughout their history, creating ever better tools and devices for it. But this time it was different. I had come into being at that time, when the last men roamed. I saw the start of the war that would finish them off, and the weapons used were most terrible. Ones that could annihilate cities of millions with a single fell stroke, and an enemy even more remorseless and terrifying than any before encountered. I was struck down in the opening stages of the war, after helping to deal a death blow to the Leader of the Enemy and laying waste to much of his followers.”
He turned slightly and gazed at the cold fireplace, lost in thought. “We were barely recovered from that last battle.” He remembered. “We had to find someplace to rest and recover. We brought all we could to the mountain stronghold, as the ashes of our friends and the city fell about us like snow. There were signs that a bare handful of the enemy had escaped, but I, in my exhaustion and arrogance, believed that the ones that had escaped would be few in number and easily dealt with by the armies of men. I could not be more wrong.”
His voice saddened as he thought of the great cities and arts that men had created across the face of the globe, scarred by wars and blackened by vile men and their devices, yet still a shining example of what could be achieved.
“I slept for hundreds of years, to recover and let the world around change for the better. When I emerged, however, I found only ruins. The sky had turned black from the ash clouds which blanketed the earth and turned it to a barren wasteland. I realized then that the demons had proven more numerous and powerful than I’d thought. I’d let the world suffer and die in my pride.” He admitted.
“I spent years gathering the greatest treasures of men. Now that I look back on things, I also discovered your people as well, though I did not know it at the time.”
“What?” Gavin asked, startled.
“Yes. You see, your kind has been alongside mankind for much of its existence, but only as companions, beasts with the potential for growth. How that growth came about I do not know. I can only suspect that a group of humans, or perhaps several groups working in tandem, gifted your earliest ancestors with greater intelligence to aid in the war against the demons. It proved too little too late, however; and though your people still lived on, the race that created them vanished into legend.”
Silence reigned for a long while. Then Annabel spoke.
“Are you telling me, that you were around at the cataclysmic battle that decided the fate of my people?” she asked incredulously.
“You doubt my word.” Jake smiled at her. “That is understandable. Come, I will show you.”
He got up and, releasing Mausi, proceeded to one wall. Using the secret handle, he opened the door hidden in plain view and stepped through. The others followed with wary amazement, staring at the faded tapestries and goggling at the ancient feasting hall.
Abruptly Annabel squealed in delight and darted into an open room. Jake paused and noticed that she’d gone into the library.
The dwarven library, like all of their works, was built to a scale as to be comfortable for giants. The room soared two hundred feet into the air or more, lit at the top with huge braziers and glowing crystals of gold or silver rock the making of which was lost with the disappearance of their creators. Around a central pillar ran a staircase that circled almost to the ceiling; made of a deep black marble embossed with gold and gilt in silver that reflected the light most cleverly, lighting the room like an outdoor amphitheater without the need for hundreds of candles. On the outside of the stairs wound huge bookcases on which sat every book that Jake collected from the great Libraries, lesser libraries, book stores, repositories and wherever he could find them. Short passages dug into the surrounding rock at irregular intervals led to much smaller, normal rooms, some with fireplaces and some without, and both the rooms and passages were lined with bookcases, small reading nooks, tables, chairs, cushions, ornately decorated stands with light crystals, suits of armor and three held rescued computers of advanced design that Jake had discovered. The pillar itself held special books sealed behind barred gates; these held the few dwarven records they’d found, as well as their own histories, technical documents, weapons manuals, schematics, industrial records, and the other written information needed to jump-start a civilization. Jake thought of most things when it came to his library, and he proudly acknowledged it to be the best in the world.
His companions evidently agreed, for they stood and soaked in the sight of the knowledge that beckoned to them from the tomes that lay in front of them.
Eagerly Annabel grasped one and pulled it off the shelf. She gave a bitter laugh when she discovered the book, like everything else in the library, encased in a strange clear rock.
“THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND AND THE IMPACT ON THE MODERN WORLD” Jake read aloud.
“You can read it?!” Annabel asked excitedly.
“Of course.” Jake told her. “Though I will not read it now; it is a very thick book.” The tome could pass for a box, it was so big.
“If you would like,” Jake said as she looked disappointedly at the book in her hand. “I do have some primer books as well that use a combination of pictures to help the youngest children learn how to read and write. A little study of those manuals should have you ready to read the texts fairly rapidly.”
He noted with a pleased feeling that her tail wagged happily as she put the book back.
“But what was that rock that was over it?” she asked as they filed out of the library and continued down the smooth passage. “It was on everything.”
“That is something I did,” Jake told them, “to protect the pages from the ravages of time. You must have noted how most books will disintegrate after several centuries, no matter how well cared for. The rock encasing the books protects the contents so they will still be readable as if they were brand new even today.”
He didn’t really want to get into the details of his accomplishments right now. He had a different goal in mind as he led them down the main road that led down deep into the roots of the mountain.
The explorers were properly awed at the sight of the huge dwarf city with its mansions, palaces, passages, walkways, arched bridges, statues, plazas and halls, all carved from the same black granite and marble as the rest of the city, and gilt in gold or silver depending on the artist’s preference that stood revealed to them, and they had to hurry to catch up several times if they didn’t want to get lost.
Jake stopped in the Vault Room, staring at the sturdy dwarf statues that provided the key to their opening. The vault doors looked unforced and sturdy, the steel faced with intricate spells of warding.
His hands followed a nearly forgotten pattern from long, long ago; moving the statues carefully. Behind the walls ancient machinery, long idle, groaned as they moved for the first time in millennia. The room vibrated from the pressures that formed behind the wall.
With a squeal of metal and a shower of dust, the door to the Vault of History swung slowly open.
Jake strode into the vault, not noticing the treasures scattered across the floor. His eye was on the formations that stood in the center of the vault floor, the clear crystal running from ceiling to floor, in the center of each stood a person.
Mausi came to stand beside him as he stood in front of one of the statues unmoving. She stared at the furless being inside curiously. Her legends had of course mentioned tailless beings, but she couldn’t recall ever hearing of a legend that mentioned they were furless! She took the opportunity to silently study the woman inside.
Her hair was long and white, reaching down past her hips. On her forehead a blue mark shone bright against her pale white skin. She was naked from head-to-toe, holding no secret back. She seemed so tall, much taller than anyone Mausi had ever met, she doubted her ears could so much as tickle the chin of this person. Yet despite the lack of fur, she seemed perfect somehow, the very image of feminine beauty. A deep desire woke in Mausi’s heart, she wished she could have seen this person alive and talked to her.
I’ll bet her voice was beautiful, she thought.
Jake stood in companionable silence with Mausi, wondering what she could be thinking as he stared at his sister.
“She’s like the white snow of the mountain or the joyous cloud in the sky.” His ears caught her mutter.
“She is, isn’t she?” Jake agreed quietly. “I suspect she won’t be pleased with me for leaving them asleep for this long.” He sighed. “But I might as well get it over with.” He said resignedly. He didn’t notice her surprised look.
Cracking his jaws, he let a steam fall that enshrouded his sister’s tomb. The others stepped back quickly to not be touched, fear and wonder on their faces as the gray mist shot upwards as if blown by a fan until it reached the ceiling. There it hung suspended for long moments until it dissipated like smoke.
Serena stood for a minute, blinking the sleep from her eyes. Then she smiled up at Jake.
“It’s about time.” She laughed; a noise like tinkling bells. She eyed the strangers curiously, an elegant dress forming on her immediately.
“Greetings, strangers.” She said when the silence had grown uncomfortable. Jake hadn’t introduced any of them yet and he was shaken from his thoughts.
“Lady Serena, this is Lady Annabel Tidwell, Lady Matcha, Lord Gavin Tidwell, and Warrior Mausi. This is my sister, the Lady Serena.”
Annabel and Matcha curtsied while Gavin bowed low. Mausi seemed too stunned to do much of anything.
Serena laughed in delight and curtsied to all of them as well. Then she ran to her brother and hugged his nose when he dropped it down to her level.
“You’ve gotten much bigger than I remember!”
“It has been a long time.” Jake hinted warningly. “But I’ve got to wake the others.”
Serena nodded. “It’s been too long since I’ve been normal. I’ve got to change, and entertain our guests.”
There came a flash of light and the impression of something shifting, and Serena whickered in relieved delight at being back to her normal self.
Jake eyed their guests and suppressed the urge to laugh. Four identical expressions made a comic retinue as they took in the fact that where a human had once stood a unicorn had appeared. Of course, that assumed they’d even had any myths or legends surrounding unicorns. Jake would find out much later that there were some myths, but they centered on a horse-shaped creature with a great gold horn and a foul temper that raged in wildfires and shot spears of golden flame from its horn to smite the wicked.
Serena led the four adventurers from the Vault, laying her horn on each of them in turn so she could speak with them. On each person the moment she touched them, a look of blissful peace and contentment appeared.
When they’d gone, Jake went to Brian and woke him up from his slumber. His hooves struck the ground with a resounding thump as he fell from his warrior pose. He yawned and stretched like he’d just gotten out of bed. He stooped down to the ground and slipped into his shirt and gathered his bundle from the ground.
“Hey, Jake. How’s it going?”
“Interesting.” Jake replied. In as few short sentences as he could manage, he explained about their strange guests.
Brian held a thoughtful expression as Jake busied himself in freeing Rachel. She yawned and stretched, her back popping slightly as she shook a stray bang from her eyes.
“Aww man, looks like I’m not first this time.” She grinned and lightly smacked Jake before stooping for her shirt and parcel. “I told you I should have been first. Who’d you go for this time? Nacomi, right?”
“No, Serena actually,” Jake told her, “though I will be waking Nacomi shortly. We have guests though, just to let you know. Brian can catch you up.” He added as he went to wake Tom, Stacey, Asbiorn and Shyla.
They came awake much quieter than the centaurs, merely giving a wave as they were freed. Shyla and Asbiorn, after hearing the news of their strange guests hurried off to help Serena while Tom and Stacey stayed with Brian and Rachel and went to Nacomi’s statue.
He stared at her for a long time, raging a fierce internal debate about whether or not now would be the right time to wake her up. He’d sealed her against her will the last time, and hadn’t woken her up except once to gain her advice after the battle with Cassandra. What would she think? What could he say?
“You guys had better go on.” He told them. “This could take a while.”
“Eh, you may need someone to save your life.” Brian said loyally.
“Or at least help calm her down when she’s done with your corpse.” Rachel added with a snicker.
“Very funny, very funny.” Jake laughed. “All right you comedians, let’s see if you’re right.”
Nacomi came free without any fuss and stood bemused, blinking in the unexpected light. Jake passed her some clothes as they turned away to give her some privacy. When she cleared her throat they turned back around.
Nacomi stood dressed in the clothes from her apartment; a white t-shirt with the words NATIVE PRIDE stenciled around a shadow canoe with paddlers. Her long raven hair had been pulled back and tied with a native bead hair piece, and her jeans seemed to hug her hips so tightly as to be almost a part of her skin, which was a reddish nut-brown color. Her features were beautiful in the classic sense; petite and curvy body matched with her sparkling brown eyes set in a face unlined with worry or care. Every time Jake saw her, she took his breath away, like a poor man who, while stumbling around in the woods, comes across an elven princess.
“Hey.” She greeted.
“Hey.” Jake managed
“So, what’s up now?” she asked.
“uh,” Jake felt like shaking himself. How could he get tongue-tied after so long?
“What the big softie is trying to say is that it’s good to see you.” Brian chimed in, punching Jake on the leg as he came around. He might as well have punched a tree for all that Jake noticed.
“Right.” Jake glared at him. “But there’s more than just that.” And he told everyone again what had transpired the last time he’d woken up, and what had happened this time as well.
The news that the human race had evidently disappeared hit everyone hard. They looked guiltily at one another, Brian scudded a hoof over the ground, Rachel tried to hide her tears, Stacey wept openly on Tom’s shoulder. Only Nacomi was different. She marched right up to Jake and shook her finger at his nose.
“Now you listen to me, you big idiot. I don’t care what you’ve been telling yourself, this wasn’t your fault. You found only a couple of signs of demonic creatures, and you evidently thought that we had the power to stop so few. You were hurt! You had a nuke go off right next to you, for cryin’ out loud! NO ONE would blame you if you needed to sleep it off! The fact that any of us are still alive is thanks to you, so stop blaming yourself!”
Jake felt his jaw hanging open. How had she guessed his thoughts so well? She was wrong, he had to admit it to himself, he’d laid down on the job and gotten the world killed off.
He tried to tell her that, but she made a rapid “knock it off” motion with her hand and glared at him so hard that he burst out chuckling. It was like watching a chipmunk try to intimidate a Kodiak bear.
She puffed up, ready to flay him again when he shushed her with the tip of his tail. “All right, I guess you’re right.” He said soothingly. “It won’t be any easier convincing myself of that, but I’ll believe you.”
“Right.” Stacey jumped in before they could start arguing again. “Now we should meet our guests. Serena’s probably starting to wonder where we are by now.”
They left the Vault after sealing it up tight again. Ascending the spiraling ramp, they made their slow way back up to the main hall. There, they found their company seated around the cold fireplace. A pile of firewood, frozen still, lay beside it. After thawing the wood, they placed several pieces in the hearth and Jake lit it with a short blast.
Everyone sat around for a while discussing human history and past. Annabel asked the most questions, her ears forward and eyes bright and alert. Matcha had nearly the same look although managed to hide it better under her feline haughtiness, while Gavin wrote frantically in a little notebook. Nacomi and Mausi were a little separate from the others, talking in quiet undertones. Mausi had been the most shocked to find someone who claimed to be like her, and the two had started discussing various things from basket weaving to spear making.
For the most part Jake was content to sit back and let the others do the talking. It allowed him more time to think and plan the next steps ahead, as well as arguments for and against it.
The fire started to burn low as the conversation wound on. Shadows that had been previously banished reappeared and started to gain dominion over the hall. Jake tossed a couple more pieces on the fire and drove the shadows out again, but he didn’t want to use the precious firewood they possessed until he could be sure of a steady supply. The description of the world outside didn’t sound so different from the last time he’d been out; barren and desolate wasteland as far as the eye could see, Annabel claimed dismissively. The others glanced at each other when she said that, startled. They remembered when the mountains surrounding theirs were covered in thick forests and filled with birds and beasts of every shape and color.
“A great deal of time has passed,” Jake rumbled, “and I suspect the land has changed a good deal since we…retired. It should not surprise us that conditions have changed.”
“Yes, but how long have we been asleep?” Brian asked. “We can wait until nightfall to plot the stars and compare the constellations that we find, but that is still some time off, I think.”
“Not too much longer.” Jake assured him. “I’m starting to get my sense of time back now, it has been out of wack since I woke up, and I can feel that the sunset is starting to approach. Also,” he hesitated, unsure of whether or not he should mention the rest. He shrugged, figuring he might as well go for broke. “Also, I can estimate roughly how long I’ve been asleep now.”
“And, how long?” Rachel asked, looking at his worried face.
Jake sighed. “By my estimate, we’ve been asleep for three million, two hundred thousand and fifty-odd years.”
A dead silence followed his announcement. Shock warred on everyone’s faces as they struggled to comprehend.
“But that’s only an estimate.” Jake said hurriedly. “I might be off. We will be able to be sure better tonight when Brian and Rachel have done their calculations.”
Serena shook her head, catching the firelight in her mane. ‘I don’t think you’re wrong.’ She said. ‘And you don’t think you’re wrong either.’
Jake glared at her before melting into a warm chuckle. “I never could hide anything from you, and now you’re even worse. All right, I don’t think I’m wrong, but let Brian and Rachel do their research to prove me right.”
Asbiorn nodded. He was in human form and sat on a chair with Shyla next to him. The Brissons kept casting nervous glances at him; he seemed a giant in human standards, what must he look like to them, Jake wondered.
“I can’t believe we’re the last ones left.” Shyla shuddered, hugging her guardian tight.
“We will adapt.” Jake told her soothingly. “We saved most of the city, after all. The race of man isn’t over yet.”
“WHAT!” The Brissons shouted. They leapt to their feet. “You mean there are more of you?” Annabel and Matcha asked eagerly. Gavin looked terrified at the prospect, probably thinking of a challenge to his people from creatures he’d once considered legend, while Mausi looked politely curious.
“Not like us.” Jake explained. “But actual humans like Nacomi. She’s human, and the people we have saved will be more like her. There are thousands stored in the places below us.
“Right, but we can’t just spring back into the world.” Brian argued. “Leaving aside the massive political upheavals for our new friends here, there’s going to be a lot of friction amongst our own people here. The colony, for that’s what it’s going to be after all, will be extremely fragile and weak. Everything we’ve ever taken for granted in the past is gone, including the tools and knowledge. We’re going to have to start from scratch.”
“Trust me to have arranged things better than that!” Jake laughed. “I told you, I was not idle during my seven years awake in 2115. I scoured the world seeking whatever I could find; the library is fully stocked with every book on every subject we can think of, there’s computer equipment and some memory devices I salvaged from the Library of Congress, basic tools and implements of classic farming as well as stonework, masonry, blacksmithing and such, plus the dwarven texts on that last subject that should enhance our work considerably.”
Brian looked at him a long moment before laughing. “Excellent.” He said. “Now we at least have something to start with! But what do we do in the meantime? There’s bound to be a lot of trouble with our colonists!”
Everyone nodded. For the most part, everyone was versed in human history and knew that while rapid upheavals could be overcome, they were never clean or easy.
‘I will help with keeping the peace.’ Serena offered. ‘I can keep people calm and focused, as well as discourage the desire to hurt others.’
“Then I will be the Lieutenant Worf to your Counselor Troi.” Jake grinned. “Between your peace and the threat of evil-doers facing me, I’m sure things will be kept fairly peaceful.”
“All the same, I suggest we let them out in small batches. Say thirty people at a time. This will give them time to acclimate to our changed surroundings, and allow stockpiles to be built for the people who follow. Right now we are without food of any sort, water isn’t a problem but irrigation is. We don’t want the outside world finding out about us.”
They stared at the four brissons who were looking positively ill.
“You aren’t…” Gavin began nervously.
“No! No,” Jake assured him hastily, “nothing like that. We’ll just need you to stay here longer than you originally planned, and swear to us that you will never reveal what you have found here, or who we are, or the colony.”
Gavin nodded in relief. “Very well, I swear.” He said solemnly.
Serena stood up and put her horn on his chest over his heart. He looked really scared at first, but repeated his oath slowly at Jake’s prompting. Serena’s horn flared white as he spoke and dimmed when he’d finished. Gavin shuddered and rubbed his body.
“Like being wrapped in a sack cloth.” Jake caught him mutter.
The women repeated the same oath with exactly the same results. When Serena stepped back, each looked slightly uncomfortable and asked what had just happened.
“The oath you took is binding.” Jake explained. “A part of who you are, thanks to magic. It will let us trust you completely in this matter.”
The brissons looked surprised at first, but these slowly faded to be replaced by thoughtful expressions. Jake left them to their own devices, let them make of it what they will. He had no worries now that they’d run off to tell the world about the colony and the mountain home.
They went outside for a breath of fresh air and to look at the sunset in all its magnificent glory. The red hues of the sun set over a broad, flat land that stretched all around them in unbroken glory. Here and there a hardy cactus or other desert plant stood defiantly in the loose sand, but they were generally very small and clung together to stay alive.
It seemed such a dead world that Jake wondered how they would possibly be able to create a colony there. He knew it would be possible—people had lived in the desert all the time in his day, but he didn’t want to imagine the struggle to start a colony in such a dry area unless they could bring water to the desert.
The mountain seemed very lonely, he thought. Instead of being part of a great chain, it had somehow stayed tall and strong while the others around it had been beaten into sand or been swallowed by the earth. How this feat had occurred he couldn’t say, but he suspected magic lay at the bottom of it. I guess there are some good things to say about living in a magic house, he thought.
He stared at the surrounding desert, trying to imagine what it could be like in fifty years, with a strong colony going. There would be a chance that people would still be living in the mountain, but Jake doubted it. Men needed light and air, preferring to live outdoors on fairly flat and stable land, building houses out of wood, mud or stucco. Serena wouldn’t want any harm to come to her fledgling forest (that she would have one Jake didn’t doubt), so harvesting resources from there would be difficult, at best. He would ponder the matter, he decided.
Movement on the plains below caught his eye. He looked hard and saw six shapes moving stealthily across the plains. They were more brissons, he noted, but these had a more unsavory air about them. With the aid of his dragon eyes, he could tell that they had a slovenly appearance about them, and all of them sported a wheel-lock pistol or rifle. Jake found that odd; why would creatures with the equivalent of eighteenth century garb or early nineteenth century still be using fifteenth or fourteenth century technology? In addition to the pistols and rifles, they were all armed with long knives and one even had a sword.
He pointed them out to his companions and immediately Mausi and Brian were squinting down at the valley.
“You’ve got great eyes.” Brian commented. “All I can see are shadows. They may be moving or not, but it seems a trick of the light. What else can you tell me about them?”
“Well, one is rather fat and carries his shoulder at a strange angle. I think it might have been broken at one point. His fur is a reddish-color and he has features like a coyote.”
Mausi hissed. “Red Dog! He’s notorious in these parts; a motherless cur that preys on the weak. If he’s here then you can bet they’re up to no good.”
“Well, these fellows may provide the excuse we need.” Jake suggested.
“What do you mean?” they asked.
“Well, it’s obvious that these men are here to rob or kill you or both. No one else is in sight, so we can rule out chance meetings. Perhaps we can fool them into thinking they’ve already accomplished their goal of robbing and killing you. They can return to town and spread rumors of your deaths and people will believe them. No further investigation into your disappearance will be taken. If the rumors of the attack are savage enough, then it may even keep others from investigating the site of the city for some time. Time we need to get the colony on its feet.”
Brian digested what he had said a moment. “What do you suggest?” he asked.
“Do you see that streambed? The shallow one there not far from where those fellows are walking?”
Everyone looked. In the fading light it was difficult to tell, but to Jake’s eyes it was as plain as day. The desert at the foot of the mountain was not completely featureless; part of the sand had a shallow channel cut into it and meandered back and forth. At one point a bend came close to the foot of the mountain perhaps a thousand feet below the entrance to the cave, before making its way further south. Where it joined up Jake didn’t know, he would have to explore it first, discovering that it made its way to a larger stream that flowed in summer months to a river that ran year round to the Atlantic.
“What about the stream bed?” Rachel asked. “We aren’t going to fool them into thinking our friends have drowned!”
“No, but we might be able to fake a quicksand pit.” Jake suggested.
Asbiorn laughed, quietly but deeply. “Excellent!” he said. “They will think our friends have been pulled under.”
“Precisely. After that, we would hardly have to do anything else. A bald night in the bar, a little too much to drink, and the story will come out. After that, anyone coming to look for our friends will have no further need to investigate their disappearance.”
“But, our families.” Annabel said, clearly disturbed. “We don’t want to put them through that pain.”
“Then don’t” Shyla unexpectedly chimed in. “While those loudmouths may or may not speak of the foul deed here, you could send a small message back with people you trust, saying that you feared for your life and are in hiding. You’ve found good friends and not to worry. Something along those lines.”
“This entire scheme sounds a little hair-brained.” Rachel complained. “Not well thought through or planned.”
“True.” Brian agreed. “A lot hinges on our friends here and those fine fellows below following the script.”
“What other option do we have?” Jake asked. “We’ll need to find a way to remain safe and secret for some time yet.”
Everyone fell silent. At last Annabel spoke. Her voice was quiet and subdued, but her words were strong and hard.
“We’ll do it. As long as we can send messages back to our families letting them know we are all right.”
“You have my word.” Jake said solemnly.
“What do you need from us?” Gavin asked.
Jake didn’t actually need much from them. His idea was to fly a little ahead of the bandits, invisible, and drop Mausi and Brian carefully into the streambed. They would then leave some small articles behind from each of the four travelers at the edge of a suitable depression and Brian could make it look like the ponies wandered off after their masters sank in quicksand.
Despite the rapid planning and lack of foresight, the plan worked surprisingly well. Mausi scattered the items brought; a silk scarf, a cuff link, a dropped arrow and a torn cloth from Matcha’s sleeve. She quickly made marks in the sand to show the desperate signs of the trapped attempting to escape while Brian trotted away for some distance while Jake soared invisibly above, keeping an eye on the sleeping brissons.
In the distance Jake could see the bandits had made camp for the night in a shallow gully; there was no campfire or other betraying presence. Of everything they’d shown, that struck Jake as the most damming.
Finished with their subterfuge, Jake now had the difficult task of bringing the other two back to the mountain without landing. He soared as low and slow as he could, seeming to crawl above the sand as Brian faced away and held perfectly still. With a supreme effort, Jake grasped Brian carefully under his belly and struggled aloft with Mausi on the ground to eliminate their tracks as best she could. When she finished she slipped away, moving towards the mountain like a ghost.
The trio returned to the cave entrance before the morning rays of dawn touched the sky. Jake waited at the entrance to observe the bandits movements as he was the only one who could easily and safely do so.
He reported to the others after midday.
“They found the clothes and stuff pretty early,” He told the assembled, “as we expected. They seemed rather put out about it. Their leader, Red Dog, threw a bit of a tantrum, throwing his sword down on the ground and shooting one of his men dead.” Jake shook his head in wonder. “I’m surprised the others didn’t jump him then. For whatever reason, they didn’t seem at all perturbed at the death of one of their fellows. They looted that body and left it to rot in the sun while they followed Brian’s tracks a ways, but gave it up as a bad job and made their way back the way they’d come.”
“Red Dog has an evil reputation.” Mausi spat. “He delights in killing and being robbed of the chance for sport made him dangerous.”
“Well, we won’t have to worry about them for a while, I’d wager.” Jake said softly. “Though the next time I see that mad dog I’ll put him down the hard way.” He opened his fangs to show what he thought of that.
“Well, now that the danger has passed, what do we do now?” Rachel asked.
“Now, I go hunting.” Jake told her. “I’m starving. Then we’ll see about waking up our families and getting ready to start colonizing this mountain again.”