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The
Traveler:
By Markus Thyme
A few days after Bruce the
Elder had offered his bold plan to the folk, a traveler came over the foothills
into the north tunnel. He was greeted and fed. Then the elders of the north
tunnel folk went with him to the south tunnel. When they arrived, Bruce the
Elder called for a gathering of the elders. They came immediately and sat with
the traveler in the main hall.
“Welcome to the home of
the Tunnel Folk. I be Bruce the Elder of Bravard,” offered Bruce.
“What be your name?”
“I be Damon
of Seattle,” he replied.
“
“Aye,
elder. Far indeed. I be a traveler.”
“Mayhap you
have traveled near a place called Ruins of Denver.”
“Aye,
elder. I have sat with the wise ones at times.”
“Be they
truly wise ones, Damon?” queried Robert of Willets.
“Aye,
elder. I so believe. I have seen magic things there in the Caves.”
“What sort
of magic, have they?”
“They have tools that
can throw small bolts without a bow. They hold it in their hands. It makes a
loud sound like a hand clap and a hole appears wherever they have pointed the
tool.”
Bruce turned to Robert with
widened eyes. “Might this be like the tool that felled Jack?”
Robert pondered for a moment.
“Indeed, it so appears,” he whispered.
“Do this thing make
holes that could fell a man?” he asked Damon.
“They so say. They say
it could fell a doe or a buck. I did not see, but they did so say.”
“What call they this
tool?” asked Thomas of
Newport.
“They call
it a gun, elder.”
Matthew of
Bravard drew in a sharp hiss of breath.
“I have
heard of such a thing. It is told in the ancient chronicles as my father told
them to me,” he said with awe.
“Indeed?”
asked Bruce.
“Indeed,
elder Bruce. My father so told me as it was told to him.”
“Then these men of
He turned to Damon.
“What other things have they? What other things do they?” he asked
eagerly.
“Many things, elder.
They have a thing that makes light without fire.”
“I have heard others
speak of such a thing,” uttered Bruce. “What call they this
thing?”
“It be two
things,” offered Damon. “One thing that makes the light they call a
bulb. The other thing is a thing they spin. I heard the name, but it is long. I
remember it not. It is a large thing like a strange chair. A man must sit on it
and make it spin with his feet. When he does, the bulb makes light. When he
stops, the light fades away.”
“What else,”
demanded Thomas of Newport.
“They have
things of leather and some things they call pages. These things have many
pieces of these pages tied together and covered with leather. They call them
books and they have many, many of them. They say the books contain wisdom and
they can look within them and know the wisdom.”
“The
ancient chronicles,” gasped Mathew. “They have the true ancient
chronicles, not words remember, but the words scribed.”
“What mean
this scribed?” demanded Bruce.
Damon spoke up.
“It be a way of making marks that others can see and know. It be, as
Mathew said, a way of making the ancient chronicles. I so saw,” he
insisted. “The wise ones do this thing.”
Bruce was speechless
for a moment. Others were not. Damon was showered with questions from the
elders eager for his knowledge. They did not limit the questions to the wise
ones of
There were many
settlements of folk who lived in many different places. In the Ruins of Detroit
lived a large community of folk hidden in the old salt mines under the city.
There was another very large community in a place called
While they were
at sup, Bruce explained the plan to learn the strength of the folk and test the
Invaders. Damon the traveler listened as he supped.
“In this
plan,” said Bruce, “I would enlist your aid as a messenger and
carrier of news. If we are ever to drive these cursed invaders from our homes,
we must needs be together. I would ask you to be one messenger of many. I would
ask you to send other travelers to me as you find them on your travels. I would
have a net of travelers, like threads over the land, bearing news and messages
among the many folk. I ask you not to take risk, but to be a messenger until we
know our strength. Be you of a will?”
Damon paused for
only a moment. Then he said, “I be with you elder. I be sick of these
cursed Invades. I be sick of being a homeless wanderer in my own land. Aye,
elder. I be with you. It be time?”
“’Tis
good,” Smiled Bruce. “We have agreed, it be better to die than to
continue as we have. With your aid, and that of many travelers like you, we
will find our strength. Then we will see what we can do”
“Remember
our Invader,” reminded Mathew.
“Indeed,”
smiled Bruce. “We do have one other surprise to add to our plan.”
“What be
that?” asked Damon.
“We have a
captive invader in our care.”
The eyes of Damon
gave witness to his surprise. “You have captured an invader?”
“Indeed,”
exulted Bruce.
“Have you
no fear? The Invaders will find you and destroy you,” he gasped.
“That be
not so,” replied Bruce. “The Invaders think him dead, but he be
not. We have him here.”
Then Bruce told
the traveler the entire tale of the Invader’s attack and how it ended, with
nine folk dead and one Invader captive.
Then, skirting the edge of truth a bit, Bruce remarked, “Even now we have sent a brave man of the House of Willets who has gone to watch the stronghold of these Invaders. He will learn what he can of them. As we learn our own strength, we will also learn the strength of the Invaders.”
As Bruce looked up, he received a surprise of his own. Standing in the passage of the main hall stood Randolph of Willits with a rather sly smile.
“Aha,” shouted Bruce. “You be back. Be you well?”
“Well indeed, elder Bruce, and I have much to tell you. There is much you must needs know.”
“Indeed,” replied Bruce, “but first you must rest and sup.”
Bruce turned to the traveler. “This be the brave Randolph of Willet of who I just spoke. He has returned with news of the cursed Invaders.”
As he supped,
“This does change my thoughts on the Invaders,” remarked Bruce.
“Another plan?” queried Mathew.
“Mayhap better plans,” answered Bruce. “We have now to consider the wrath of the Invaders and what they might do; we must consider what to do with our captive, and we must consider how to best shape our future course. That be the things we must ponder over the cold season.”
“Think you that my actions may bring vengeance from
the Invaders?” asked
“We may hope not, but even if so, they know not where
to find us. They did not find us when their flyer fell. We must needs be, as
always cautious. Nay,
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