The Treasured One

‘I need to talk with you, Zelana,’ Longbow sent out his silent, urgent call the following morning.

‘Some new disaster, perhaps?’

‘I don’t really think so. I think your brothers should sit in as well, and probably Narasan, too.’

‘Is something bothering you, Longbow?’

‘I’m not sure if “bother” is the right word. If I’m anywhere at all close to being right about this, we’re getting help - from somebody we didn’t even know was there.’

‘That’s very irritating, Longbow. Don’t leave things hanging up in the air like that.’

‘I’m sorry, but I’m still trying to sort this out. Maybe we should meet down near the geyser. I don’t think we want to spread this around just yet - and we definitely don’t want word of this to get back to the Vlagh.’

‘This had better be good, Longbow.’

‘If I’m anywhere close to being right, it goes a long way past good.’

Longbow went out of the forest where he usually slept and walked on down to the noisy geyser, trying to sort through his most peculiar experience.

When he reached the geyser that was the primary source of the River Vash, Zelana and her brothers were already there, along with Rabbit, Keselo, Gunda, Torl, and Narasan.

‘What’s this all about, Longbow?’ Rabbit asked.

‘Let’s go back just a ways,’ Longbow said. ‘Ashad’s dream told us that there was going to be a second invasion of Veltan’s Domain, and, sure enough, five church armies showed up on the south coast almost before we reached Veltan’s house.’

‘This is all ancient history, Longbow,’ Gunda protested.

‘Perhaps, but I think we might want to take a second look at it. Now, then, the church soldiers rounded up all the local people down there and then sat around rubbing their hands together while they waited for the slave-ships to arrive.’

‘We’ve heard about all this before,’ Narasan said.

‘I know, but perhaps we weren’t listening quite hard enough. Before the slavers even made it to the beach, something very peculiar was going on. Torl tells us that every time one of those farmers heard somebody say “gold”, he went into a kind of trance and recited an ancient fairy tale - which probably wasn’t really all that ancient, since Omago had never heard of it. Then, after any one of the church soldiers heard the story, he immediately decided to give up army life and run north just as hard as he could. Then, after they discovered that trying to come up here through the various ravines, gullies, and passes was extremely dangerous, they gathered together to build that ramp, which isn’t really in a very good place, and they’ve stayed at it with what seems to be mindless determination.’ He looked at Narasan. ‘You know much more about those church armies than I do. Does that sound at all like something they’d normally do?’

‘Probably not,’ Narasan conceded, ‘but the thought of vast amounts of gold just lying on the ground waiting for them to come along and pick it up might have unhinged their minds just a bit.’

‘All of their minds? Wouldn’t at least a few of them want more proof?’

‘I think I see what you’re getting at, Longbow,’ Narasan said. ‘Those church soldiers aren’t behaving normally, but that doesn’t alter the fact that they’re charging at my rear, and I can’t hold them back and fight off the bug-people at the same time. What set you off on this?’

‘Somebody - or something’s - been talking to me while I’m asleep. The language is quite formal, but what it all boils down to is “get out of the way”. This whoever - or whatever - seems to believe that those church armies and the servants of the Vlagh will destroy each other if we’ll just get out from between them and stop dropping boulders on that ramp the church armies are building.’

‘When did you suddenly become one of the Dreamers, Longbow?’ Dahlaine asked skeptically.

‘It’s not really the same sort of dream,’ Longbow replied. ‘The children make things happen with their dreams. I think that all I’m supposed to do is persuade you to step aside.’

‘Whose voice is it that you’re hearing?’ Rabbit asked.

‘I’m not really sure,’ Longbow admitted. ‘I know that I’ve heard it before, but I can’t quite put my finger on just exactly who it is.’

‘I think we’re going to need something more in the way of proof before we abandon our defenses,’ Gunda said with a note of skepticism. ‘There are just a few too many “maybes” involved in your dream, Longbow.’

‘I think that pretty much sums it up, Longbow,’ Dahlaine said. ‘If somebody - or something - has been tampering with the minds of the church soldiers, I’d say that it’s more probably the Vlagh than some unknown friend. If we pull out and the church armies join forces with the servants of the Vlagh, we could very well lose the entirety of Veltan’s Domain before summer’s over. We’ll keep our eyes open, but if we don’t get something a bit more solid to work with, I don’t think we’ll dare to just pack up and leave.’

‘They’re sort of thick-headed, aren’t they?’ Torl said quietly to Longbow as the two of them stood atop the central tower of Gunda’s wall. ‘It might just be that they weren’t down south to watch the grand plan of the Trogs go all to pieces when those farmers started reciting the fairytale.’ Then the young Maag looked down at the Wasteland. ‘That might have something to do with it, you know. Your theory might have carried more weight if that sand down there was yellow instead of red.’

‘I’m not sure if even that would have convinced them,’ Longbow disagreed. ‘They’re a very stubborn people, Torl, and their ideas sometimes get locked in stone.’

‘It looks like we might have weather coming,’ Torl said, pointing at the ridge-line off to the west.

Longbow frowned slightly as he peered at the boiling cloud swirling higher and higher over the ridge. ‘I don’t think it’s weather, Torl,’ he disagreed. ‘It looks more like a sandstorm to me.’

‘I hate those,’ Torl declared. ‘Sand seems to creep under my clothes and slide down my throat when those silly things come boiling in like that.’

Longbow frowned slightly. ‘It shouldn’t be coming from that direction,’ he said. ‘The west side of that ridge is covered with trees and bushes. I don’t think there’s enough sand over there to form a cloud that big.’