Hilda - Lycadea (23 page)

"Daily round?"

"Yes. Since our tribe left the cities, there
was a rule in place that there would be signs for the witch, and
that two of us would come here, to see if you had arrived. Our
ancestors knew that you would come. You would be the one to find
the book. You did find the book, did you not?"

"You mean the tablet thing with the scribbly
map on it? Yes, we got that."

While talking, the group reached the small
camp, where the smell of food and the sight of large comfy chairs
were waiting for them.

William frowned as his witch came back with
two strangers. "Who'd you bring, and where did you find them? I
doubt there's enough food for all..."

Rebel grinned.

Kerna just stared at the two people, holding
Obsi close to her. Grimalkin sat at her feet, keeping an eye on the
two as well.

Kyru and Sodor were introduced. As they met
Kerna, they stared back at her. "You are from here," they
immediately decided.

"Hey, no nagging Kerna! She's with us, so be
nice to her!" Hilda jumped in, even before something had happened.
"She risked her neck for us a few times and has been
invaluable."

Kerna looked at the witch in surprise. She
had not expected so much praise, clearly.

By then William was handing out plates with
food, having heard that the two newcomers did not want anything. As
they all were sitting, Kyru and Sodor started talking.

"Our ancestors left the cities long ago. Too
much technology was getting into fashion, and there were those that
adored it and those that worried that this technology would take
over too much. At a certain point, a seer stood up from the midst
of our ancestors and told them about the Prophecy."

"Oh, yes, we know that one," Hilda muttered.
"That's what got me here in the first place. I wish that person had
kept its mouth shut."

The two looked puzzled for a moment. Kyru
continued: "The seer warned for the bad parts of the Prophecy, and
it was obviously almost too late. So our ancestors decided that
they should leave, before everything went bad."

"Seers usually aren't believed until the
dragon's shit hits the market square," Hilda knew. "I've heard of
that happen far too often."

After finishing the meal, the camp was packed
up. William shrunk everything back to easily transportable packets,
to the amazement of Kyru and Sodor who obviously never had seen a
true magical at work.

Hilda could do nothing but supervise the job
and again hate the fact that she had no control over her magic. How
on Earth, she wondered, was she going to do something about this
crazy place without having her magic? She was supposed to make
right what was wrong, according to the folks here, and there was no
way she saw how that could happen.

"Well, I guess we’re going with you now," the
witch said to the two young old ones.

"We already hoped you would, indeed." Sodor
nodded.

"I hope you have a place that’s nicer than
this one," Hilda said, looking back to the area they had come from.
"I’m sick and tired of rocks and sand."

"We assume that the pillars were useful."
Kyru pointed at one of the large red-eyed rocks that was near.

"They’re yours?" Maurizio wondered.

"Yes. We did not abandon all technology,"
Sodor explained, "there were some applications of it that were
considered very useful, so our people worked for years to create
these guiding pillars, for this particular moment."

"All of them? We’ve seen hundreds of them!"
Hilda, despite herself, was genuinely impressed. All that work they
had done for her, while they had no idea when or even if she ever
would come. Or perhaps the ‘if’ had not been so much a question for
them.

"Actually there are several thousands of
them," Kyru said. "Nobody knew from where you would come, honoured
witch, so the pillars have been made into all directions."

"Suck an elf," Hilda said.

William and Rebel had finished packing and
storing their camp in several pockets. "So, are we going to fly the
rig, or are we in walking distance?"

Kyru smiled at the wizard. "Everything is in
walking distance, wizard William."

William realised that he was not honoured in
these parts. "Okay. Let’s go then."

With Sodor and Kyru in the lead, the group
left their temporary resting place, the rig remaining as the only
proof that people had been there.

They had been walking for a considerable
number of hours when Hilda asked the two: "When are we going to get
to wherever you are taking us? You said it was in walking
distance!"

Sodor looked at the witch. "We are almost
there. We are going to our village of course."

'Almost there' meant another hour of walking
and a more frequent handing over of cats from one to another,
through an environment that was changing very rapidly. They had
just walked past a few groups of trees, when they entered a forest
with humongously big trees. Everyone, except the two natives, had
their head on a swivel, trying to see all the high treetops, or
discover what animals up there were making a cacophony of
sounds.

"SHUT UP!" Hilda had called out at one
moment. Her outburst only had a momentary effect. Right after that,
the animal choir came back with an even louder concerto.

William took pity on his witch and produced
ear plugs, but after she had tried to eat them (he had forgotten to
explain what they were for) her mood had deteriorated rapidly.

"Suck an elf," Hilda said when the village
finally came in sight. "Next time someone says anything about
walking distance, I'm going to be very thorough in determining what
their concept of that is!"

Her footwear was not made for this kind of
activity. Once she had her magic back, she'd give these people a
piece of her mind, she promised them in silence. But - why wait?
Hilda took in a sharp breath, to vent her extreme displeasure, when
Sodor and Jyru stopped and turned.

"We do apologise! We should have thought
better before taking you here on foot, honoured witch..."

Sodor suggested that the group should sit
down and wait there, with Kyru, while he would run up to the
village and summon some carts that could carry the tired walkers
the last stretch.

Everyone was entirely in favour of that idea.
William quickly magicked up a few seats from wood that lay on the
ground, while Sodor took off at an astounding speed.

"Does he have feet of concrete? Don't they
hurt?" the witch wondered out loud.

"We are used to walking," Kyru said, "this is
a stretch we usually walk when we make the round to see if you have
arrived yet."

"Crappedy crap, I admire your stamina but no
way that I am going to build that up. My feet would kill me if they
weren't already." Hilda kicked off her shoes and wiggled her
toes.

Rebel, William and Maurizio also sat down and
stretched their legs.

"This kind of exercise is good, if performed
in parts about one tenth of what we just did," the captain
philosophised.

"How about one hundredth," Hilda muttered as
she longed for a foot bath. She growled inside. If only she could
just whip one up. She hated having to ask William for everything,
but with even their bond gone that was the only way to get it.

William knew his witch well, though, and soon
she enjoyed a nice bubbly bath for her feet. Without having asked
for it.

Sodor and six other people from the village
came back soon, pushing large four-wheeled carts. The people were
very surprised to see the seats, the two small tables and cups and
even a few glasses.

"Sodor! You would not believe the adventures
these people all have had," Kyru exclaimed at the man as she waved
a glass that had contained wine.

Rebel had gotten up from her seat and looked
at the carts. "These people in Pyramid City overdid their tech,"
she remarked, "but it looks as if these ones underdid it."

Sodor introduced the six people that had come
along. They all were impressed to see Hilda, although a few were
not convinced that she would be "the one". Nonetheless, the
travellers were made very welcome and invited to sit on the
carts.

"We just don't know if we can take all the
furniture with us," one of the men commented as he looked at the
seats and tables.

"Oh. That." William popped up his wand and
disassembled the items, turning them back into the pieces of wood
they had originally been. This was quite a shock for the people who
had not seen how the furniture had been created.

The travellers then sat on the carts, that
were covered with large, soft cushions. Sodor and the other
villagers took position to start pushing the carts, when Hilda
jumped down again.

"I am sorry. I can't let you do that.
William, I am sure we can do something with these carts,
right?"

It took some convincing, but the villagers
sat on the carts as well, and then William and Rebel applied some
magic and other kinds of power, after which the carts started
moving towards the village.

The houses in the village that they reached
were simple, made of wood and with thatched roofs made of twigs and
a kind of grey-green reeds. Outside these homes, children and their
mothers stared at the wagons that moved by themselves, and the
strange people that were on them.

Hilda spotted smaller animals running through
the - well, streets would be too flattering a name for these not
even cobblestone trails - and pointed some of them out to William.
"I never saw cats or dogs like that."

William agreed. Cats and dogs did not come
with six or eight legs. "They’re probably called something
else."

"Dragon balls," the witch said, "they should
have cats here." She cuddled Grimalkin for a moment. The cat
endured the treatment without protest.

Kerna looked at William. She was holding Obsi
and wondered when the wizard would want his cat back for a cuddle
as well.

Instead of looking at the cat, William kept
the carts going until Sodor said they had arrived. The carts came
to a stop on a small, triangular village square. The long trail of
people from the village that had formed behind them also
stopped.

Everyone stepped from the carts, after which
Sodor and Kyru announced with loud voices that finally the witch
had come. Cheers rose up from the throats of the many people that
had gathered round the small group.

Hilda elbowed her wizard lightly. "See that
man back there? The one with the sour face who isn't cheering? I
think he's the only sensible one around."

William nodded as he draped Obsidian over his
shoulder. Either these people knew something they didn't, or they
were too quick in believing something.

As if the man had noticed that the two were
talking about him, he stepped forward. "I am Tarkan."

"Lucky you," Hilda responded. "I'm Hilda."
She then introduced the others in her group.

"Do you claim to be the one we are waiting
for?" Tarkan asked.

"No. I claim that I want to go home. Others
claim that I am the witch who is going to make things well again,
but I am doubting that."

Tarkan stared at Hilda. Clearly that was not
what he had expected. "Who is she?" he then asked, poking a finger
towards Kerna.

Hilda raised an eyebrow. "I recall
introducing Kerna. I am not going to do that again. Pay attention,
will you?"

Sodor and Kyru had eyes that could not be
bigger.

Come to think of it, Hilda noticed, that was
true for most of the other folks around as well. This Tarkan person
had to be someone important to them, kind of a Davdruw or so.

"You are impertinent," Tarkan observed.

"I'm a witch," Hilda countered. "Like it or
not. Now is there someone who can get us some tea, or coffee?
Otherwise we'll arrange something ourselves. Won't we?" The last
bit was directed at the wizard.

"Of course. That should be no problem."

"You are not the witch. You should be
silent," said Tarkan.

William looked at the man with the faded blue
hair.

"I know I am not the witch." The wizard
raised his hand and popped out his wand. "But I can do tricks."

A gasp went through the crowd that was still
around them.

Tarkan stared at the wand. "It is a mere
piece of wood."

"And that is where you go wrong," Hilda said.
"Who are you anyway, except someone called Tarkan? You failed
miserably as welcoming committee, but the others seem impressed
with you so you're probably good at something."

This caused a rather loud and disturbed gasp.
Hilda knew she had struck proverbial gold.

"I am Tarkan, the leader of the village. I
have been since very long." The man straightened himself, barely
towering over Hilda. He had no idea that the only effect this had
on the witch was an adverse one.

"And how long has this village been the way
it is now?" Rebel asked without being invited.

"Very long," Tarkan said, with obvious
satisfaction and a disapproving look towards the woman in
leather.

"Which means too long," Rebel nodded.
"Thought so." And to Maurizio she said: "I wonder what he has or
knows that these people don't choose a new leader."

"Silence!" Tarkan roared with unexpected
vigour, as if Rebel had said something blasphemous.

"We still have no tea," Maurizio commented,
disregarding Tarkan's angered demand.

"True," said Hilda as she turned to the
captain. "I think we should find ourselves a nice place and get
some water boiling."

Tarkan was not in the clear on how to handle
a witch. Or rather, how not to handle one. Especially the one that
was Hilda the wicked witch. He put a hand on her shoulder.

Hilda froze. "Take your hand off me."

"You will listen to me, and be respectful
like the others!" Tarkan said very loudly.