025 - Journey to the East

Lars seemed to hesitate for a moment, then said; "Well, I'm going to the city. You can follow, if you can. I ain't gonna go slow though, and don't go blaming me if you fall into the swamp, right?"

Magnus nodded eagerly. "Right. That's where the Witching Road is?"

"Yeah. Make sure you follow with care. This way." Lars led Magnus south to a point where black rocks were just above the surface of the murky blue swamp waters.

The boy walked with ease, Magnus found it hard to maintain balance on the slick rocks, a few times he felt a wave of nausea and sickness rising, fighting against it. Magnus hobbled on, following Lars into over the black rocks deeper and deeper into the Empire Swamp.

Lars didn't speak much, didn't seem much interested in Magnus at all. Magnus hurried to keep up, Lars often had to stop and wait when he'd fallen too far behind.

"What is this place? I thought swamps were places teeming with life?" Magnus couldn't hold his curiosity.

"This here is the Empire Swamp, right enough. The living waters, the dead rocks, and over there; the dead city. No life can survive in the living waters long." Lars halted, showing Magnus his hand. "See? I fell and my hand went into the waters last year." The boy's hand had an extra thumb and forefinger jutting out at an odd angle.

"Just from touching the water? Why do you still live here? Why don't you move away?" Magnus thought of all the abandoned fields and houses. It seemed like very few others chose to stay.

"It ain't so bad, heh." Lars smiled, "Someone needs to stay and guide those who want to get to the dead city. My Pa says its an honest job, there's always those who want to go. Well, not so much of late, but there is treasure! There are riches in the city!"

"So why aren't you rich?" Magnus raised his eyebrows.

"I said so," Lars frowned, "we're just the guides. Me and Pa. Well, Pa is, I'm just helping, but I know my ways just as well." The boy seemed annoyed, Magnus sighed.

The two walked on in silence for a time. Lars suddenly halted and said "here, look. Pa says there are secrets hidden in the swamp, secrets worth more than any treasure. See, the Alchemist said so too." Lars took an apple out of his bag and held it for Magnus to see. "See? Look what happens."

Lars threw the apple out into the swamp. It hit the waters with a gloop, floating on the surface. The waters around it begun to fizz, the apple cracked and in a matter of seconds a green shoot rose into the air. It grew a leaf, then another, grew taller and taller and took root. Magnus watched in amazement as roots dug into the mud, as the shoot shot up into a sapling, grew thicker and thicker and burst up into the sky with a hundred vibrant leaves and branches. In the space of a couple of breaths the apple grew into a tree that grew majestic and towered above them.

On the branches appeared countless apples, tiny green things that rapidly became a deep juicy red, and as soon as they grew they ripened and fell from the branches and into the waters. Those new apples cracked and new saplings shot up. Incredibly, these new apple trees grew even faster, shooting up into the sky, and as the original tree became crooked with age, its bark and trunk splitting, these new trees grew apples of their own.

In less than a minute a forest flourished, for a hundred meters around Lars and Magnus there was the endless groan and swoosh of trees shooting up into the air, expanding from the single point where Lars had thrown the apple. The outer trees grew in a flash, and died just as quick; Magnus saw that they lived and died too fast, so quick that no new fruit flowered, and, as quick as it had grown the forest fell.

"Living waters, see? Nothing can survive." Lars took out a second apple and bit into it. "You imagine what would happen if a person takes a dip? Pa's seen it happen more than once."

Magnus stared dumbly at Lars. The boy seemed pleased by his reaction, he grinned and went on walking over the black stones.

"How'd it get like this?" Magnus called out. "It can't be natural. This whole place, and the dead city, what happened here?"

"Dunno. Pa thinks it was a curse. Does it matter? Happened years ago. Years and years ago. Pa said that the city here was the centre of the all Jute once, the biggest city for miles and miles." Lars shrugged.

"Could it have been the Alchemists?" Magnus eyes narrowed. He could believe that the Alchemists were capable of something like this.

"Dunno, dunno. I happened years and years ago, I said that already, no? Pa says two hundred years." Lars chewed through the core of his apple. "You can ask Pa, maybe he know. Anyways, we're near the city. Pa is there with the Alchemist . . should be there . ."

"With an Alchemist?"

"Yeah. A proper Alchemist too. Pa went to guide him in a week ago. He's never been gone so long in the city, and. ." Lars sighed. "And why am I telling you all this? The city is right ahead."