Chapter 9

More plans

The next morning Jex moaned about her need for a toothbrush, and Rome complained about a lack of toilet paper, but over all they were happy to be full and warm and together. Graul and Brun gathered more firewood while the others went looking for food, basically hunting for rabbits. When they got back Jex said “I think we should head to Lake Havasu and find those vials. I think they’re potions.”

Torger and Graul screamed “No!” and told them about Graul’s near death experience from being allergic to magic. Next they all agreed that Catalina may contain a portal home, but they had no way of getting to the island. Torger and Graul might be able to build a basic canoe, and sharks shouldn’t be in the area during winter, but the waves would be too big to make it. Arden said they should get those grenade looking things in Yosemite. That sounded appealing, but they would have to go during the summer. The snow can get very deep there. The most benign and unappealing image on the map was an icon of a bed near Yuma, and if they were going there it would have to be in winter. They wouldn’t survive one day in a blistering hundred and twenty degrees. Even if they had water, Torger and Arden knew there is no shade there.

As they were discussing whether to go to Yuma or build up the village of Home, Baybil called out from beyond the shield. He had been given access to enter, but his hunters hadn’t. He made introductions to everyone, and they were all polite, but Torger and Rome could tell the dwarves were underwhelmed with this “village.”

Torger asked Baybil “What does this ability, water well, do again?”

“It shows if there is water underground, and if so, where is the best place to dig for it. I strongly recommend you use it. You will always need water.”

Torger answered, “Yes, we do need water, but I’m really tempted to use my ability point on strength. I think I speak for all of us when I say we hate having our thirty-five year old faces on fourteen year old bodies. I want to grow some muscles.”

Rome said “Speak for yourself. This was the best diet plan ever! I bet I lost ninety pounds.” Jex agreed that her fourteen year old body looked better than her thirty-five year old body.

“Yeah, and you’re four inches shorter. We are not prepared for combat. At all.” Torger was always pragmatic.

Baybil quickly agreed to that. “You lot have no protection and no way of caring for yourselves. I guess if the Small Hammer village is going to give credit to Home village, I might as well extend it. My archer will teach you basic sword and bow skills, until you’re all at level 3 in each, for another one gold per person of course. From where I stand it’s an offer you literally can’t refuse. Basically take it or die in the wilds.”

Brun said “You’re all heart Baybil. Torger, Graul, it’s your village, you have to accept or decline. And by the way, the village Home is a stupid name. Baybil, is there a way they can change the name?”

“Yes. That will become available once the village gets to level three. So do you accept my offer? We can start today.”

Torger and Graul talked it over then agreed to Baybil’s proposal. They now owed him twelve gold, and had no source of income, or food, or water. “We agree Baybil, but tell us how we can get money to pay you back.”

“You can take up a trade and work for it. As I said our village needs a couple quality woodworkers. Or you can be adventurers and look for caves like the one at Calico, then kill the monsters and take the treasure.”

The whole group quickly agreed killing monsters was way better than working long days for the next two years to pay off the debt. They eagerly approached the hunters to begin practicing with swords and bows, except only Torger and Graul had a sword and bow. That turned out to not be a problem because they were each given sticks to use. Six of them broke into pairs to face off, while Torger went out with hunters to find rabbits and coyotes to practice with his weak recurve bow.

The sword instructor was named Quickly. He got the name because he moved exceptionally fast for a dwarf. Most of the others preferred bows and axes, but he was naturally good with the proper footwork for being an effective sword fighter. For the first twenty minutes he taught them how to stand, and none of them even swung the stick. Arden got frustrated and his ADD made him walk away from the group and start swinging at the birch tree. He swung the stick like it was a hatchet and Quickly told everyone it was time for a demonstration. He called Arden over and sheathed his sword. He had a round wood and iron shield strapped to his back, and he placed it in his left hand. “Arden, I have no sword, not even a stick. Use your training sword and aim for my shoulders and knees. I’ll show you just how effective you are.”

Arden swung at his left shoulder with an unrestrained full body swing. Quickly moved his shield slightly and Arden’s stick broke, and he yelled out and started shaking his hand because the sting in his hand was intense.

After a few seconds Quickly instructed all the others to lay their practice swords on the ground near Arden. “Pick whatever one you want. A one handed or two handed wood sword, or one in each hand. Try again, but I recommend using a different technique.”

This time Arden grabbed a large two-handed stick. He started swinging it again at Quickly’s left shoulder, then slowed and changed direction to go in front of him then a quick back slash towards the dwarf’s right knee. Again a slight movement of the shield resulted in Arden shaking the sting out of both hands.

Brun called “Just give up and let’s resume our lesson.”

But Arden’s ego had been damaged. He picked up the two smallest sticks, one in each hand, and swung both of them at Quickly’s shoulders, one on each side. He leaned his head back and brought up the shield parallel to the ground and both swords went flying out of Arden’s hands. His pride was hurt so he stormed off to be by himself, and no longer participated in the sword lessons.

The others were attentive students, with varying degrees of success. By the end of the day none of them had swung a stick at anyone else, but they all had greatly improved stances and grips for both one handed and two handed swords. They were all exhausted.

Torger had much better luck killing rabbits with the hunters than he did with Graul. By the end of the day he had reached his experience limit of killing twenty-five rabbits, and had killed three more coyotes. They easily found the rabbits and killed the coyotes. They taught him what signs to look for when chasing rabbits, coyotes, or deer. They showed him how to properly skin the pelts and dry them for a tanner. He had made it to level three in bows in just one day, and that was the greatest feeling he had since coming to Nuva.

The next day Arden, Jex, and Brun went out to practice with bows. Torger was at a great disadvantage with one handed swords, since he didn’t get the footwork and grip lessons of the previous day, but his and Graul’s years of playing softball let them quickly learn two handed swords.

That night after dinner Arden addressed his friends, away from the dwarves. “Brun and Jex and I talked it over today. With the tyters coming in three years we need better weapons. We want to head to Yosemite to see what those grenade things are.”

Brun and Jex looked down as if Arden had pressured them into agreeing. Torger answered “We talked about this already. Either we need to stay here and fortify the village, or go to the bed in Yuma. We can do Yosemite later. There’s no rush. And I always repay my debts. I’m hoping we find a novice cave to conquer near here or on the way to Yuma. I say no. We need to think things through.”

“You’re not in charge Torger. If we want to go to Yosemite, then we’re going to Yosemite.”

“I know I’m not in charge, but if we want to survive then we need to stick together and level up safely. Brun, I know he’s your brother, and Jex you’re his wife, so you don’t want division in the family, but let’s come up with a better plan than going into deep snow in the winter.”

“We need better weapons, and that is our best chance.” Arden was determined.

“You don’t even know where in Yosemite to look. It’s a huge place, just like the area surrounding Yuma or Lake Havasu are huge areas. We need specific directions.”

Rome joined the conversation. “Didn’t you guys figure out how to read your maps? After the video played and Arden’s Kindle was destroyed, we didn’t want to play it again. But the next day I had an idea, so I played it again. Once the map came up and the fourth icon appeared, I was able to push pause. I was then able to zoom in on each icon, one at a time. The others took pictures of my map with their Kindles, like the video suggested. We narrowed down the search area to one square mile. Since I couldn’t press play again without the video restarting and self destructing, I kept it away from all light until the battery died. When I turned it on I got the original ‘We are tyters and you are doomed’ message. It’s actually likely a pre-recorded message meant only for the tyter hunters to have seen. I bet there’s a central broadcast station in orbit that sent it to all tyter devices. They may not know we’re here and assume their own hunters are here instead.”

Torger and Graul realized that had been a foolish oversight on their parts. It made sense that they could have paused the video, but at the time they thought it was a live transmission.

After further discussion, and objections from Arden, they agreed to one more day of sword and bow training, then head for Yuma. They hoped a picture of a bed turned out to be something cool, but it was likely to be safe.

Chapter 10

Surprise!

At the end of the third day of training, Torger had reached level three in one and two handed swords, successfully using his copper sword to land a glancing blow on Quickly’s armor, getting around the wood shield. Graul and Arden had no idea if they were gaining levels or not since their tablets were destroyed. Rome, Antic, Jex, and Brun all reached level two in bows, one handed and two handed swords. Torger would not brag or put anyone down, but he knew he was the dominant fighter of the group.

Before they set out, Torger used his one ability point for Water Well. An image of his property came up on his tablet, and it sent a pulse into the ground that vibrated his hands. A few seconds later it showed there was water, and the best place to dig was near the eucalyptus tree in the back yard. He wasn’t too concerned about using the one ability point, since his personal experience was now 859/1000. He would get another one soon.

They traded fifty-one rabbits, and the nine coyotes and four deer they had killed while practicing bows with the hunters. The group kept eleven rabbits for their own food. What they got in return was each person had two skins full of water and a poor quality magic satchel full of food. Everyone except Torger and Graul received a copper sword with sheath. While the others were trading at Small Hammer, Torger and Graul made a beginners recurve bow out of Eucalyptus for each of their friends. They were all also given a winter coat, for an increase in the village debt. In short, they all had the exact same gear, except Torger and Graul who had leather armor instead of wearing cave man furs.

They knew it would be a very long walk to Yuma, and danger could be found over the next hill the whole way there, but it was better than sitting at Home and waiting. Torger and Graul wished that Graul still had his tablet. If he had, he would also have an ability point to spend on the village, and they would put it into the shield. And they really needed five ability points to expand the village. They now had thirteen residents, and only a two hundred foot diameter. They needed to build another house, but why bother if they were going to die in three years anyway?

As they talked about their property and village growth, their friends weren’t jealous. Everyone was always happy for each other’s good fortune. As they continued on Rome said “I could really go for a candy bar right now. This fruit, bread and meat is OK, but I want some fake sugar. Or maybe a pizza. I also need sunglasses. Looking at snow in sunlight hurts my eyes.”

Everyone realized that they missed home, but were grateful that they were no longer starving and cold. Another storm was on its way, and a cold wind was blowing, but the winter coats kept them warm, except for their feet, hands and faces. They traveled the rest of the day without incident, but that night they tried without success to make a fire. The cold night made everyone grumpy the next day, and they knew they had to find flint to go with the steel guns.

As they were eating breakfast Brun saw a coyote on a nearby hill watching them. They quickly finished eating while scanning the horizon for more. Once they started walking again, they saw another on the same hill. Jex and Brun knocked arrows, while the others withdrew their swords. Antic said “Do we take them out to test ourselves, or turn a different direction away from them?”

Arden said “Of course we’re going to attack them! This is exactly the kind of practice we need.”

Torger said “I think it’s best to keep heading the direction we’re going, and defend ourselves if necessary.”

No one had better ideas, and everyone but Arden agreed. He called them wimps, but stayed with them. As they continued the coyotes kept just ahead of them and to the north. They needed to refill their water skins in a stream from the runoff from Lake Arrowhead, which was to the northeast, with the coyotes between them and their water. Refilling the skins was a top priority before they started heading southeast through brutal desert. The snow wasn’t deep enough to gather up handfuls and melt it.

After a few miles the coyotes disappeared. They hunt at dusk and dawn, and the sun was too high overhead by then. The group felt good about at least appearing formidable. They began heading north, but once they were closer to the foothills they saw three coyotes attacking a deer. This time there was no discussion, the experience was too easy to pass up.

They all ran forward and the coyotes looked at them. The deer was bloody and took the opportunity to run away. The three coyotes wanted to give chase, but knew they were now threatened, so they circled around the men with swords. Brun released his arrow, but was too far away and he missed. Torger and Arden were the first to meet their foes. Arden ran at the one on the left and swung his same wild slash he had tried on Quickly. The big arm wind up let the coyote see it coming and it easily backed away in time. Torger remembered his experience fighting them in the field with nothing but a branch and a rock, so he knew they like to stay low to the ground. He kept his sword at knee height and ran at the one on the right. He faked a thrust then changed to a back swing landing a weak hit. The copper sword hit the shoulder bone and stopped. The coyote yelped and hopped sideways, but instead of backing away it lunged at Torger’s leg, and the bite left deep puncture wounds in his thigh. He jerked back in pain, but kept his head straight and with a downward thrust stabbed it in the back. The coyote released its bite, then it bit Torger in the left forearm, but his thick winter coat absorbed most of the damage, although he still bled a little. He twisted the sword then withdrew it, severing the spinal cord. The coyote was paralyzed in the back legs. Torger hobbled away to safety, his thigh hurting even through the adrenaline.

Graul ran forward and stabbed the coyote through the mouth and out its neck. It convulsed then died. Meanwhile Brun and Jex kept shooting arrows at the one on the left, occasionally hitting it. It ran at them instead of away, and they were defenseless. It bit Brun on the arm and locked on. He tried to shake it off but it was too heavy and powerful for that. He began punching it in the side, but the blows were weak and ineffective, except that it gave Jex time to stab it in the side with her sword. The blade stopped when it hit a rib, and still it didn’t let go of Brun’s arm. He looked to see where the others were and saw Graul finishing off the one in the middle, with Rome and Arden standing close by watching his powerful two handed swing sink deep into the coyotes neck. Brun called for Arden to come help him, and Arden unholstered his revolver and shot it. That got it to release its bite. Arden grabbed one of the arrows sticking out of its front leg and pushed it in deeper. Rome saw that and caught on to the idea and pushed an arrow deeper into the beast’s side near where Jex stabbed it. That arrow punctured a lung and immediately blood came out of its mouth. Graul saw this and yelled for them to just back away and let it bleed to death. In less than a minute it lay still and unmoving.

Arden asked “Who’s not hurt?”

Jex and Rome said they weren’t, so Arden asked them to come with him to finish off the deer. Rome agreed but Jex wanted to rest for a minute. She was noticeably shaking from the adrenaline rush. Rome and Arden ran off following the blood trail, while the others looked at their wounds and applied pressure to stop the bleeding.

A half hour later Arden and Rome dragged back the deer carcass, a look of triumph on their faces. Torger kept his thoughts to himself, which consisted of “It’s not a huge accomplishment to stab a nearly dead deer.” They all ate and rested then removed the pelts. They all agreed they had never heard of coyotes that big or aggressive before. A fight of three coyotes against seven humans would never happen on earth. There was plenty of food and water around, so it made no sense. Torger told Arden to stop wasting the precious ammo, but shut up when Brun showed him the bite marks on his arm.

They were all covered in blood and used most of their drinking water to clean up. That wasn’t a big deal because they knew they were going to make it to a stream the next day. They walked a few more miles then stopped for the night. Once again they were unable to make a fire.

After breakfast the next morning they walked at a slow pace, hurting from the fight the previous day. This time they were striking rocks against each other making arrowheads. The fight made them realize the weak bows with sharpened wood arrows didn’t inflict much damage on the coyotes, and they hoped the arrowheads would do a better job. On the bright side they found that Arden and Graul were still getting experience points, even without their tablets. Torger and Graul knew that each coyote gave a total of fifty-two exp, so a hundred fifty-six total, but each of their personal exp showed a gain of twenty-two, except Rome who gained seven more from killing the deer with Arden. Rome did the math to find out experience was being divided seven ways, not five ways.

By the time they made it to the stream, a cold rain was falling, defeating the point of going there. As the rain dampened their clothes, it also dampened their spirits. Antic walked over to sit under a redwood that kept most of the rain off him. The others saw the wisdom in that and followed. They made no more progress walking that day, but tied the arrowheads to new arrows using twine they bought from the dwarves, and sharpened their bent and chipped swords on flat rocks. It was far from being professionally sharpened, but the copper was quickly dulling and something had to be done.

The next morning they ate the last of their dwarf food, upset that they couldn’t make a fire to cook the deer meat from Arden and Rome’s kill. The rain kept coming, but they decided to walk in it rather than sit in it; either way it sucked and walking brought them closer to their destination, sitting didn’t.

As they made it out of the foothills and into rocky desert they knew they were mostly healed from the coyote bites and scratches. Boredom and monotony had set in, yet they kept walking hoping to find something new. As they stopped on a hilltop that evening, the rain finally, blessedly, stopped. Jex and Arden had each killed a rabbit that day, and the group was determined to make a fire that night for food.

Graul and Arden struck rocks together looking for sparks, while Brun and Antic looked for dry shrubs. Jex cleaned the rabbits and Rome and Torger rubbed sticks together. Torger thought it would be nice to use Arden’s glasses like a magnifying glass, then realized Arden didn’t have his glasses.

“Arden, how can you see without glasses?”

“I can’t. Everything is blurry.”

“Oh I didn’t know. That sucks.”

“Yeah well complaining won’t do me any good, and there’s nothing anyone can do to fix it, so mentioning it would be a waste of time.”

Torger had that same kind of mentality- either tell him about the things he can fix or don’t complain. Complaining changes nothing. He looked at Arden again, who was tying an arrowhead on an arrow. Torger chuckled. “Liar. Glad you can see.”

Arden grinned at him, but couldn’t explain how he could see except that he had new eyes.

As they were joking Brun said “Guys. We have company.”

They looked and saw him pointing at a huge cockroach at the bottom of the hill. The thing was more than three foot tall! It saw them then paced back and forth. They all waited for it to go away. But it didn’t go away. It climbed the hill and waved its antennae toward them, then ran at Brun, who was still pointing, dumbstruck.

Torger yelled “Everyone stay back. I’ll take it out.”

Arden said “No way. We’re getting a piece of this action. Brun and Jex, try out those arrowheads.”

Jex recovered from the shock first. She got her bow but it was too late. It was still heading toward Brun as fast as a dog can run, its six legs having no trouble with the rocky ground. Torger, Graul and Arden each ran toward it and stabbed it, but their swords were deflected off its tough exoskeleton. Torger regained his footing and swung at its head. The blade sunk in a little, but not much. It flinched then turned sideways, knocking Arden down. Graul swung hard at its side, but again the sword didn’t penetrate.

The cockroach monster thing raised its front leg and brought it down on Arden, piercing his sword hand. Torger ran over and swung at the leg, which was cut off completely. Graul saw this and cut off a back leg. The cockroach was off balance but rammed its head into Torger, knocking him down. Brun and Jex shot an arrow, the stone arrowhead glancing off. Rome and Antic had their swords out, but were keeping their distance.

The cockroach lifted a leg to pierce Torger, making it very off balance, and Graul swung and severed the other back leg. The cockroach fell on its butt as its front leg extended trying to pierce Torger, but it missed. He and Arden got to their feet, and Arden strategically retreated, knowing his right hand was useless. Brun grabbed his sword and ran in to replace him. Jex used the .22 rifle and hit it in the mouth. It shook its head violently, and that gave Graul and Torger the opportunity to each cut off another leg. The beast collapsed, and the others ran in and they all hacked away at its hard back until yellow ooze came out. Next they each grabbed their bows, except Arden, and shot arrows at its face. The tough bastard just would not die! Once the arrows were spent, Torger cautiously walked up to it and with a well timed swing embedded his sword into one of its mandibles. Next Graul did the same. They all backed away and watched for a few minutes until it died.

Rome asked the obvious question “What is that thing?”

Antic answered “How should we know? It must be one of those aliens the tyters hunt.”

Torger said “Maybe. But that was too easy for them. I hate to say it but if the tyters hunt them, there must be more around. Let’s get out of here.”

Graul said “No. we’re on a hilltop, a good defendable position. Let’s retrieve the arrows and stay.”

The others agreed. As they gathered arrows and swords, Antic looked closely at a leg. He saw that it was hard and tapered and over a foot long. He walked around and found a long straight stick, then unstrung his bow and tied the leg to the stick. He spun it in the air and thrust it forward. He said “Torger and Graul, thank you for making my bow, but if it’s all the same to you, this spear feels much more comfortable to me. It’s a natural fit for me, like swords are for you two and bows are for Jex. What I’m saying is I think this is the weapon for me.”

Torger and Graul agreed with no problem, if that meant Antic would be more of a participant in the fighting. So far he had done nothing for the team in terms of fighting. Everyone tried to hold and use the spear, but Torger was the only one that was good at it. The spear reminded him of a pool stick.

No more cockroaches came that night, but the next day they followed its tracks. It led a couple miles away to a cave where they saw one coming out. Graul said “This must be one of those types of caves that Small Foot was talking about. One where monsters guard wealth. I wonder how many are in there.”

Jex said “If there are two, that’s too many. We’re not strong enough to risk it.”

Rome said “I agree. I marked this place on my map, so we can come by on our way back from Yuma, if we’re strong enough by then.”

They all agreed and thanked him for marking his map, then continued on to leave the rocky desert and enter the sandy desert. As they were walking away Arden said “Look. I’m going to find out what that is.”

They followed him and saw a dead body that had been dragged to near the cave entrance. It was a dwarf that had puncture wounds all over and had clearly lost a fight with a cockroach. Graul grabbed the dwarf axe and strapped it to his own back, Torger grabbed the round shield, full of holes, and Jex found some arrows. Most looked normal but one was painted red and another painted blue. She felt the arrowheads and said “The red one feels warm and the blue one feels cold.”

Graul said “Don’t touch that! It’s magic.”

She dropped them, then realized she had already touched them. She picked them up again and said “I’m going to put my magic arrows into my magic satchel. I’m not sure your magic allergy story adds up.”

Torger said “I was there. I saw him throw up when he drank a potion and convulse when a spell was cast on him. I don’t know what to make of it.”

“Maybe the magic can’t enter the body, but we can touch it. Let’s get some distance between us and the cockroaches then talk about it.”

They walked a few miles away. Jex grabbed a normal looking arrow and shot it at a Joshua tree. Nothing happened. Next she shot the red arrow at it. On impact it burst into flames and scorched the outside of the tree.

“Fire!” yelled Rome and ran to it and grabbed some brush off the ground and lit it on fire. They all ran to help him then cooked the rabbits that were killed the previous day. Bland roasted rabbit never tasted so good to them. Hunger is the best seasoning for any dish. When they were done eating Rome cut off a piece of his winter coat and threw it into the fire. The fur caught on fire but the skin slowly shriveled. Next he used Antic’s spear to poke a bunch of holes in it, then folded it into quarters and sewed up the ends, then threw it on the fire again. He had made char cloth, something that will take a flame at a lower temperature than brush. While it was still hot enough to burn his fingers, he wrapped it in wet leaves and put it into his satchel. They finally had a chance to eat meat again and stay warm at nights.

Not knowing what to do with the dwarf, they buried him after looking for anything else useful on him. Instead of a satchel he had a backpack, but it was full of holes from a cockroach leg. They decided it had been a good idea to not go into the cave.