Chương 4: The elder

Ch 4: The elder Felix rumbled along on his magic wagon, wincing at the bigger bumps and trying to keep his leg from bouncing. He inspected the beautiful, tropical trees, then started wondering: why the hell are there palm trees? He'd seen the like before but not remotely this far north. A man would have to sail south for weeks before he saw trees like these. And he couldn't have been unconscious for more than what… a day?

Not to mention he'd been on a very broken ship, which—even if he'd crawled back onto it half conscious, and if it had survived the crash and drifted—wouldn't have gone very far. So another tick went in the 'afterlife' column, but he felt pretty strangely calm about it. He would have liked to have said goodbye to his father, but they both had known that Felix's life might end suddenly, and probably violently. They'd both been ready to die for years.

"What happens when we get to the elder?" he finally asked the two spearmen guiding him along. They exchanged a look, and one glanced back with a neutral expression.

"Outsiders are unwelcome. You'll be sent away." Outsiders, eh? Well, if he wasn't dead, and this really was some strange island Felix had never heard of, it was still just off the damn coast. It wasn't possible it could be some undisturbed place with isolated natives. Unless they somehow hid themselves with magic, of course. That was maybe possible. And uh, apparently changed the climate. The thought struck Felix as ridiculous. OK, yes, they could move a wagon with magic. That was a neat trick.

But that was a hell of a lot different than hiding an island from the dozens of surrounding peoples and constant ships moving up and down the coast. Mostly he tried not to think too much, especially since he had no answers. He watched the trees, listened to the birds, and tried to focus on the pleasant warm air instead of his throbbing leg. Then the trees finally ended as the wagon crested a hill, and Felix felt his mouth hang open as he looked out at a descending valley that stretched for miles, and miles.

Farmland had been built into the hillside in perfect rows, the valley walls somehow cut into and smoothed out to create more room. Crops of many different colors surrounded the valley, with farmers moving about in wide brim hats. In the center of the valley, a beautiful lake sparkled in golden light, surrounded by villages. Short, white stone walls circled the water, and a hundred little boats fished on the surface.

"By the gods," he muttered. It was picturesque, beautiful beyond words. It looked so peaceful. One of his guides looked at him and grinned.

"Enjoy it, outsider. You will never see this place again." That sounded vaguely ominous. Felix hoped 'you will be sent away' didn't really mean 'dropped into the sea and drowned'. Not that he could do a damn thing about it with his injured leg. The thought did occur to him, however, that his best chance of escape might be now. He only had to kill these two warriors, hide the wagon, and run (limp) off into the trees. Even if he succeeded, though, his chances didn't seem amazing.

They'd probably just hunt him down and kill him. But once they took him down anywhere near that central city, he knew he'd be completely surrounded and helpless. He felt sweat bead on his forehead as he weighed life and death. His hand gripped the side of the wagon, and he knew he could infuse himself with enough magic to kill the men with his bare hands if needed. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

But the wagon kept rolling, and the moment passed. Felix had no desire to kill these people. They seemed decent enough, just men doing their jobs without any of the cruelty they might have shown. Felix wouldn't steal their lives over his own bad luck. As usual, he'd toss the rigged dice of fate and face what came. And Ertuna, the god of fortune, could shove a hot poker up her fickle twat. Because Felix the Fox was still going to win. * As it turned out, the spearmen didn't roll him towards the center at all.

Instead his hosts veered down another path that took them to the edge of the valley, mostly avoiding the farmers as well as the 'city'. A small town was built into the edge of the trees, with simple but comfortable looking wooden houses. Felix saw a decent well in the center, many tables set up in a kind of square, and lots of healthy looking women and children working or running about. They were more than healthy looking, in fact. The women were fit and gorgeous, regardless of age.

And their children were cute as kittens. They had a wide mixture of darker skin tones, with even more diverse hair and eye colors. Though unlike the folk in most coastal towns these days, they were all human. Or at least they looked human. Felix's 'captors' took him straight through, and he soon became a spectacle. The whole town stared and followed, babbling in whatever language Felix didn't understand. But at least they were smiling and not fetching rope or torches.

The wagon stopped at the largest building in town, and the young spearmen 'helped' Felix climb out and walk up the steps to get inside. A woman maybe in her forties met him at the door. Her features were sharp and severe, her long, dark hair tied behind her head. But she had the same natural beauty as everyone else on the bloody island.

"Mele tina," said a spearman, and the women nodded.

"You understand me?" she asked in a tone like a strict school teacher.

"I do. My name is Felix. What's yours?" The woman snorted.

"Bring him inside." She winced like she'd forgotten she was still speaking his language, then said a lot more words in her native tongue. The spearmen brought Felix forward and closed the door behind them, then found him a chair.

"Thanks, gentlemen," he said with genuine gratitude, doing his best to seem friendly and not at all concerned he was about to get hung or possibly sacrificed to some island god. The older woman sat across on a simple cushion.

"I've alerted the royal family to your presence," she said, pouring something from a pitcher into two steaming cups.

"They'll send a Wizard, and you'll be expelled. But first I have questions." Felix smiled politely as a spearman brought him his drink, no intention of drinking it. A wizard? No one called mages 'wizards' except a few old books Felix's father kept from the wars.

"All due respect, but why should I answer any of your questions? No one will answer mine. And does 'expelled' mean sent to the coast on a ship?" The woman narrowed her dark brown eyes.

"My name is Delia, and I'm the elder of this village. Expelled means returned to wherever you came from."

"I came from the sea on a broken ship. And you look a bit young to be an elder, Delia." The woman waved a hand in dismissal and sipped her drink.

"Your ship will be repaired. We'll tow it to the coast, if that's what you wish. Please drink your tea, it will make this easier." Felix glanced at his drink.

"Make what easier?"

"Your healing." Felix trusted 'healers' about as much as he trusted tax collectors. He'd seen men die of simple infections as healers prayed and chanted or smeared their wounds with smelly ointments. He'd spent his life cleaning himself as much as possible with salty water, and figured that was about the best cure for anything that ailed you.

"No offense," he said, setting the tea down.

"But there's no chance in Hel's sweaty asshole I'm drinking this, or letting any kind of healer near my leg. It's a small break. I just need some rope and something for a splint." The woman's shocked expression implied she wasn't used to being spoken to quite like that. When her eyes returned to their normal position, she flicked a hand, and the two spearmen grabbed Felix's arms.

"The wizards will want you healed before their tests. I was just trying to make it easy." Felix flung the first smaller man back into the wall with one arm. Then he grabbed the other and spun him forwards to a heap on the floor.

"Pardon my sailor's tongue," he said.

"But I haven't known one day of 'easy' in my whole fuckin' life." Delia stared at the two young men, then rose and checked on them. But he hadn't intended to hurt them and they were already up and probably red-faced. The 'elder' came back and took a deep breath, then tossed her hands.

"What do I care? Do whatever you wish. The wizard will be here soon, then I'll never have to see or think about you again. You can stay here and suffer and rot." With that she spoke to the men in her own language, and all three left Felix alone in his chair. He decided it had gone rather well, all things considered.