Before the sun rose, James was awake. He had stowed all the gear they would need on the small boat. He was climbing down the rope ladder to board and make a trip alone when he heard someone stirring on deck. Kilani leaned her head over the side. The bright moon meant that even at this hour James didn’t need a light orb to see.
“In a hurry, are we?” asked Kilani.
“Anxious is a better word, I think,” replied James, settling into the stern of the canoe. “Care to come along?”
Kilani looked over her shoulder to see if anyone else was awake then quickly made her way down the ladder. James positioned the boat with his paddle so the bow seat was just beneath her feet. She stepped cautiously inside and sat. James handed her a paddle, and they began pulling at the water.
“I’m curious, James,” said Kilani.
“So I’ve learned,” he replied.
“I’m curious why you are paddling this boat when you have the knowledge to use probably a dozen incantations to get us where you want to go without all the work.”
“I shall satiate your curiosity by telling you this. Even when I was at home both my body and mind required some physical exertion to get going in the morning, which is why at the present moment, I am paddling us across the harbor.”
“So it’s got nothing to do with a fear of your newfound abilities?”
James couldn’t tell where Kilani was going with this line of questioning and decided to tread cautiously. Kilani never asked questions for the sake of conversation.
“What makes you think I’m afraid of my new abilities?”
“I’m not sure, exactly. Just a feeling I’m getting.”
“Worry not, my lady. If you’d prefer, I’ll propel us across this harbor at maddening speeds,” said James. He extended his hands over the water and said, “ Tertiri ze Manukto ahlnas svartbek.” Immediately the boat lurched forward. James let his oar drag in the water as a rudder.
Within minutes the small boat ran aground on a beach. Kilani had to hold onto the sides to keep from being thrown over the bow onto the sand. She laughed out loud. That’s a wonderful sound, thought James. They quickly unloaded the supplies and readied the canoe for another trip. Kilani volunteered to stay behind.
“I forgot to tell you some exciting news,” James said, looking over his shoulder at Kilani as he prepared to push off the sand with his oar.
“It’s so exciting you forgot to tell me?” said Kilani.
“The natives can transport,” James said, immediately pushing off the sand and gliding across the water toward the Queen Mary. Kilani stood dumbfounded, staring after him. A smile crossed her face as she watched him paddle back to the ship. Things are about to change for the better, she thought.
James first returned with William and Roger and then made another trip to bring Luno. As James steadied the canoe beneath the ladder for the last time, Luno stepped inside. A small satchel, which James had never seen before, was slung over Luno’s shoulder. James was tempted to ask what was inside, but he decided against it. He turned the boat and began to paddle. Instead of reaching for the paddle lying beside him to help, Luno simply sat staring at the sunrise.
“Amid all your excitement yesterday I didn’t get the opportunity to tell you about our travels,” Luno said, looking over his shoulder at James. “We reached the abandoned village that overlooks the northern coast.”
“And what was your impression?” asked James.
“I agree with Roger’s and Kilani’s assessment. It has been abandoned for about a year. Its constructors were European, masters of their trade for sure, who were quite possibly abducted from their homes.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Their belongings are still inside the buildings. Several of the beds are turned down. One house had long- rotted food on a table, and outside there were the sun-bleached bones of some kind of creature tethered to a pole.”
“Do you believe the natives have something to do with it?” asked James.
“My list of suspects at the moment is short.”
“Do you think we’re walking into a trap?”
“If they wanted us captured or dead, my boy, I believe they would have already taken or killed us.”
“So what do you believe?”
“I believe, my boy, they are not so different from us. Based on what you’ve told me, they too have been waiting for someone of unprecedented abilities to come along and deliver them from whatever it is they need delivering.”
Luno had confirmed that James’s suspicions were rightfully founded. He had spent most of his life being that person and was rapidly growing weary of it. Neither spoke for the remainder of the paddle across the harbor.
By the time they arrived, Kilani, Roger, and William were standing ready. They had divided the supplies among them and left two piles for James and Luno. James sheathed his dagger and slung his bedroll over his shoulder. He looked up and down the beach for any sign of Peroc. The beach was empty in both directions. He decided to drink from the stream before they got going. Luno joined him as the others had already had their fill while waiting for the pair to return from the Queen Mary.
James knelt at the edge of the stream, his long hair dangling in the water. He splashed some in his face before drinking. As he drank, he suddenly noticed a reflection in the water that hadn’t been there before. He looked up. Peroc stood on the opposite side grinning down at him. James smiled back and looked over at Luno, whose entire head was submerged in the water.
“Today is a good day,” said Peroc in his native tongue, “I bring you and your friends to my village.”
“My friends are happy to meet you and the members of your tribe,” said James.
“And I am happy to bring Chief and his friends home,” said Peroc.
At this James could only smile awkwardly. He reached over and tapped Luno on the shoulder. Luno lifted his head from the water and gave James an irritated look. James tilted his head toward Peroc. Luno’s expression quickly changed to a smile.
“ Muojarvi,” Luno said in the native language James had taught the group.
“ Muojarvi,” said Peroc. “It is an honor to meet friends of the Chief.”
Luno looked at James for a translation.
“He said it’s an honor to meet you.”
“Where are the others?” asked Peroc.
“Down the beach,” replied James, pointing behind him.
“We must gather and go,” said Peroc. “It is a long walk, and we don’t want to be out after sunset.”
He nodded and the trio walked back to where Kilani and the others stood. James introduced everyone and they set out heading west. No words were spoken as they moved through the jungle. Peroc was pleasantly surprised to find out they could all keep pace with him with little effort. What he didn’t know was this pace was still not as fast as they usually traveled.
They followed a well-worn game trail for some time, until it broke through the jungle into a grassy field. James recognized the field immediately from the hill with the weary-looking tree perched on top. Peroc gave a slight bow in the direction of the hill and kept moving in a westerly direction. Not long after crossing the western edge of the grassy field back into the jungle, Peroc came to a halt.
The group looked down into a crater. Rather than being barren and void of life, this crater was full of trees and plants. So dense was the vegetation that one couldn’t see the bottom. Trees grew inward from the sides of the crater, stretching impossible distances before bending slightly up toward the sun. The edges were steep yet plant life was still able to cling to the sides. James noticed there were birds here as well. Thousands of them moving about from tree to tree.
“Our home is at the bottom,” said Peroc.
He quickly turned and ran along the rim of the crater until he reached a narrow path on the far side of a giant tree. They made countless switchbacks and traveled over and under numerous trees, all growing from the sides of the crater rather than the bottom, before reaching flat terrain. Everyone in the group was awestruck when they came to a stop. The bottom of the crater was completely treeless. Only a closely-knit groundcover grew on the
