Chapter 18

Birds called out a constant cacophony as Corec followed the pebble-lined trail into the village of Betan. With fewer than two hundred residents, Betan was still somehow the largest settlement along the western edge of the swamp. In contrast to the wildlife, the villagers themselves were quiet, staring in silence when Corec, Ellerie, Leena, and Josip passed by.

Half of the huts were built on land, while others perched on stilts over the murky water. A series of wooden bridges connected the stilt houses to each other and to the rest of the village, and small rowboats were bobbing in the water, tied up to the houses. Tall trees shaded the area, only allowing scattered beams of sunlight through. A bellowing growl came from just out of sight, followed by a loud splash. None of the villagers reacted, and a short time later, the growling started again.

“It’s right up here,” Josip said. “They told me he’d be back by now.”

They stopped at what appeared to be an outdoor tavern—a hut with a bar in place of one wall. Three customers, all smelling strongly of fish, sat in rickety chairs under an awning.

Josip spoke to them in rapid Nysan.

“Aye,” an elderly man answered. He wore grimy clothes and a hat with a flap that covered the back of his neck. “I’m Niklo. What ye want?”

“You speak trade tongue?” Josip asked, surprised.

“I’m speaking it, eh?”

Ellerie said, “Mr. Niklo, we’d like to hire you to help guide us across the swamp. We’re going east.”

The man looked them over, paying close attention to Corec’s greatsword and the cheap brigandine armor he was wearing. Corec had convinced Marco to pay for it before they’d left Aencyr.

“Aye, I can do that,” Niklo said, “but it’ll cost ye. Five’s too many for me boat. I’ll have ta borrow another.”

“It’s not just us. We’ve got thirteen people, plus horses and mules.”

“Ye want ta take horses across de waters?” the man asked. “Ye daft?”

“We can find a way to bring them across,” Ellerie said, glancing at Leena, who nodded. “We’d like to hire you to get us there safely. None of us are familiar with the area. Can you do that?”

“Not making any promises about de horses. I could git ye across de swamp without dem.”

“There’s a way,” Leena said. “We need to go north first. Just a few miles.” She was wearing one of her usual modest dresses, and had borrowed Katrin’s tight-fitting straw hat to hide the new rune on her forehead, an eight-pointed star similar to a compass rose. After hearing Leena’s story, Corec hadn’t been entirely surprised when she’d asked him to bond her, but the fact that Ellerie supported the decision had come as a shock. Even Razai hadn’t tried very hard to convince her otherwise.

“Nord?” Niklo asked doubtfully. “Thought ye wanted east, eh? Nord don’t go across de waters.”

Leena said, “If we want to take the horses east, we have to go north first. There’s a way to get through.”

“We’ll take care of finding the route,” Ellerie told Niklo. “Can you help us make it through the swamp?”

“It’s yer money ta waste. A silver a day.”

Corec shared a glance with Ellerie. It was less than they’d expected to pay.

When no one objected, Niklo quickly added, “And five coppers. A silver and five coppers a day.”

“It’s a deal,” Ellerie replied.

Niklo nodded and stood up. He appeared spry despite his age. “What’s de swords for?” he asked, pointing to Corec’s sword and Ellerie’s rapier.

“Hopefully nothing,” Corec said. “Is there anything dangerous in the swamp?”

The man laughed. “Aye, lots, but I don’t know what good a sword’ll do ye. Stick with old Niklo; I’ll get ye through.”

“What kind of dangers?” Ellerie asked.

“To start with, ye’ll need something to cover yer neck so when de spiders and snakes drop from de branches, dey don’t get inside yer clothing.”

Corec’s skin crawled.

Ellerie just nodded. “What about those sounds?”

“Ye mean de birds or de gators?”

“Gators?”

“De alligators. Big lizards. Dem growls are de boys looking for girls ta make de babies.”

That deep bellowing noise was coming from a lizard? Just how big were they?

“Are they dangerous?” Ellerie asked.

“Only if ye’re stupid—or if dey are. Stay away from de water at night, watch carefully during de day. If one comes at ye, run de other way as fast as ye can. Dey get tired fast. One of de stupid ones might try to eat a horse, so don’t let it.”

A lizard that could eat a horse?

“What about boggarts?” Josip asked.

Niklo scowled. “Don’t talk about de boggarts. Ye talk about dem, it might bring dem.”

“Look at this,” Shavala said. “Niklo calls them pitcher plants. The smell attracts insects and then the plant eats them.” The tall green stalks growing near the water had reddish, cup-like protuberances that were partly filled with pungent-smelling water.

“What?” Katrin said, peering inside at the dead flies and ants floating in the liquid. “That’s gross!”

“Why? Plants always live on decomposing matter. But I’ve never seen one that actually hunts before. How tall do these look? Three to four feet?” Shavala pulled a scrap of paper from her pocket, along with one of the stormborn writing sticks she’d bought in Snow Crown. She scribbled down enough notes to help jog her memory later when she’d have time to write about the plants in more detail.

“I wish you wouldn’t get so close to the water. It’s almost dark. Remember what Niklo said.”

Shavala checked her elder senses. “It’ll be all right. The only alligator nearby is that one,” she said, pointing to the creature they’d both seen earlier, floating like a log in the water thirty feet away. She called out to it. “Hello! Are you awake?”

“Shavala!”

Shavala grinned back at her. It was easy to tease Katrin. “Don’t worry, it won’t listen to me. I know it can hear what I’m saying; it’s just not interested. That’s how reptiles are. I keep trying to get them to come closer, but they refuse.”

“Why would you want them closer?”

“I’d like to get a better description for my book.” Shavala had originally planned to just write individual summaries of any new plants or animals she’d encountered, but the trip to Cordaea had changed things. By the time they returned, she’d have enough for an entire book—and that was just counting the more unusual creatures. It wouldn’t be feasible to include all the minor variants she’d come across; doing so would take years, or maybe decades.

The alligators were unlike any lizard Shavala had ever encountered. She wasn’t sure they were lizards at all. They were short and squat and covered with dark green or brown scales, and had long tails, a long snout, and a mouth filled with pointed teeth. From the glimpses she’d seen, they could reach lengths of ten to twelve feet. They moved slowly most of the time, but could lurch forward quickly when hunting a meal. They didn’t do much during the day, but were more active after dark. Between their mating bellows, the constant birdcalls, and all the other sounds of the swamp—many of which even Niklo couldn’t explain—it was sometimes hard to fall asleep at night.

The group had been in Nera Athoryvos for a week now, seeking a route that would be safe for the horses. Each time they thought they’d run into a dead end, Leena had managed to find a way forward. There were islands of dry land throughout the swamp, sometimes connected by old bridges. Three times, they’d had to lead the horses through the water, but Leena had found shallow spots where the mud wasn’t thick enough to trap them in place. The third time, though, they’d found leeches on the horses’ legs ... and then on their own. The worm-like parasites had worked their way up under everyone’s clothing.

On the second day, Leena had discovered an ancient, mile-long section of a raised stone road. Ellerie was convinced it was part of the swamp road she’d been looking for, but when they reached the end, there was no further sign of it, and Leena had led them off along a different path. They were making progress, but it was slow going—Leena could only use her magic a few times a day, and the ground was moist enough that they had to be careful where the horses stepped.

It had gradually become apparent why the village of Betan was so small. The swamp people didn’t like congregating in one place, instead living independently all throughout the area. It was common to come across a single stilt house in the middle of nowhere, the owner staring at the group silently. Sometimes Niklo greeted them, even buying fish from a few, while other times he ignored them completely, as if they weren’t there.

Shavala finished writing her notes and returned them to her pocket. “I think I’ve got enough for tonight,” she said. “Are you ready to head back?” She started off in the direction of the camp.

Katrin didn’t follow, and when Shavala stopped to look back at her, the other woman woman suddenly blurted out, “Why didn’t you answer Corec when I told him to ask you about elven sharing customs?”

Shavala hesitated, not sure how to respond. Finally, she said, “Because I’m not sure what you want. You’re planning to marry him—do you just feel guilty that you met him first? You don’t have to be, you know. I’m not in love with him. I’m happy for you.”

“Maybe you don’t love him, but you like him.”

“Sure. He’s a good friend, and those muscles ... elven men don’t have muscles like that.”

Katrin snickered. “So, what’s the problem?”

Shavala tilted her head to the side. “You two are both humans. Don’t you want to follow human marriage customs?”

“Which human marriage customs? Corec’s the son of a baron—there’s a good chance he’ll take a concubine someday. His brother already did, and having a concubine in the family would make people take us more seriously. That might be useful for whatever he wants to do as a warden.”

“Treya?” Shavala asked.

“She insists she’s not a concubine. I don’t think the two of them have ever talked about it. But whoever it is, I need some time to get used to the idea. It would be easier if you were first.”

“Why are you so interested in this happening? He and I flirt, but you’re always the one suggesting I take it further.”

Katrin looked down. “I guess I just want you to be happier. Sometimes you seem so sad and quiet, and lonely.”

“Then you do feel guilty,” Shavala said.

“No, I’m worried about you.”

Shavala wasn’t sure how to explain everything in a way Katrin could understand. “I’m quiet because it’s hard to talk when so many people are around. By the time there’s an opening for me to say something, someone else has already said it. But I’m not sad—not about Corec, anyway. I’m sad when people try to hurt us and we have to kill them. Don’t they know what a waste it all is? I’m sad because I couldn’t talk to the snow beasts to stop them. They aren’t animals, but they were following an animal instinct to find food. It’s not their fault they attacked, but now they’re dead, and Fergus is dead, and it was all just so stupid!” She stopped talking, embarrassed. It had been a long time since she’d said that much all at once.

“I’m sorry,” Katrin said. “I didn’t know. Why didn’t you tell me any of that before?”

Shavala shrugged. “We did what we had to do. At least with the pirates, most of them lived, but I couldn’t think of any way to save the men who attacked us outside Tir Shar. There wasn’t enough time. They had to be stopped before they killed someone.”

Katrin nodded. “I don’t know what else we could have done. I made some of them run away—I could try that again next time.”

“I’d like that,” Shavala said. “I’d like it more if we don’t need to fight them at all. It’s not how things are supposed to work.”

“Sometimes people just don’t have a choice. Don’t elves ever fight with each other? From the things Ellerie has said about Terevas, I thought they did.”

“The dorvasta and nilvasta are different,” Shavala said. “The tree bond makes...” She snapped her mouth closed.

“Tree bond?”

“Never mind. It’s not important.” She couldn’t talk about that with an outsider—not even with Katrin. “It still sounds like you feel guilty.”

“No, not guilty,” Katrin said, “but the three of us spend a lot of time together. Doesn’t it feel like something’s missing?”

“Sometimes, maybe,” Shavala admitted. She’d grown closer to Corec and Katrin than to anyone else besides her family. It would be nice if there was more to it.

“You should come to our tent tonight.”

Shavala bit her lower lip, then nodded. Before she could say anything, though, she noticed a shifting movement near a cypress tree behind Katrin, almost as if the tree bark itself was moving.

“Katrin, stay still,” Shavala warned, keeping her voice low.

Katrin’s eyes grew wide. “What?” she whispered. “What’s going on? Is it a snake?” She tugged at the scarf Shavala had loaned her, making sure it was still in place protecting her head and neck from anything that might drop down on her.

It was difficult to tell the creature apart from the tree. It was two feet tall and stood upright like a person, but its arms reached all the way to the ground, its hands resting on the dirt. Its skin was mottled and gray, matching the bark of the cypress trees that grew everywhere throughout the swamp. Its eyes were solid black, and it stared unblinking at the two women. It had pointed ears that had swiveled toward the sound of their talking, like a cat’s.

“Can you hear me?” Shavala asked softly. The creature didn’t react other than to turn its gaze her way, moving slowly enough that she wouldn’t have noticed anything if she hadn’t already been watching it. Whatever it was, her elder senses could barely distinguish it from the surrounding plant life.