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| The forest master demands a toll |
Chonkorchuk returns from
his search for the bridge to the sounds of his companions looking for trees to
chop down. Though he did not find what he was looking for, his journey was
eventful. An hour away, along the River of Fire and on the edge of the woods,
he encountered a curious hairy man with small horns, wearing his clothes
backwards, and bast shoes on the wrong feet. The man demanded tribute for
trespassing through his woods, and would not countenance Chonkorchuk’s claim to
be working for Baba Yaga, so the hermit decided it would be best to turn
invisible and to make himself scarce. Along the way back to where he left his
companions, he saw what appeared to be a storm drifting along the edge of the River
of Fire. Divining the storm to be an intelligence of some sort, Chonkorchuk
went deeper into the woods.
At the riverbank, his
companions try to decide on a course of action after the Knights took away
Plamen and Khurshid, and severed the rope across the River of Fire to prevent
them from being followed. Raskel, who led the effort to build that bridge, is
at a bit of a loss: his spellbook, and his casting ring have both been taken by
the knights, and his abilities without them are limited. He can still summon Kutkh,
and toys with the idea of having the raven fly him in fox form across the
ravine, but then decides the plan is too risky, and initiates a plan to chop
down a tall tree so that the party can somehow get it to stretch across the
canyon. Unfortunately, no one has an axe. Across the river, he sees a large
storm cloud, or whirlwind, moving quickly in their direction, and bids his
companions to take cover deeper in the woods. That is when Chonkorchuk
invisibly comes up behind them.
Chonkorchuk does have an axe
– two, actually, one being a battleaxe he stole from the Knights. But there is
no way to drag a huge tree to the ravine. Instead, Raskel has Kutkh carry
Chonkorchuk’s fefila – much lighter than his fox form – across the ravine, and
then has her fetch the severed ropes that dangle down into the chasm. The
fefila proves surprisingly adept at tying knots, and after checking and
rechecking the rigging, and refashioning the harnesses, the entire rest of the
party, along with Katarina and Vasya, cross to the other side. The black rider
passes somewhere nearby soon thereafter, and darkness descends, so the party
breaks camp, deciding to leave off the search for their companions until the
return of the light.
* * *
The darkness falls on the
Knights and their prisoners at roughly the same time. They have not gotten far
from the River of Fire, and also have no desire to travel through Baba Yaga’s
realm in darkness. On top of that, Khushid, who is exhausted after his
transformation, is useless to them until he rests up. They set up their camp,
and release their mounts into the woods. Inside the prisoner’s tent, and under
the watchful eyes of Hans and Franz, who do not speak the Noriki tongue,
Khurshid and Plamen exchange words after the southerner’s nightly prayers. He
informs his companion that he cannot perform the transformation until he has
regained his strength, and therefore, does not intend an immediate escape.
Plamen, for his part, tells Khurshid that he also can transform into an animal,
but has kept this ability secret for the time being.
The following morning, the
Knights break camp, load their prisoners onto one of the horses, and set off in
search of Baba Yaga. Along the way, Plamen converses with a raven who is Kutkh,
sent by Raskel to find his companions. Plamen informs the bird about the
direction they are traveling in, but Father Sigismund grows suspicious, and
Plamen is forced to break off, while Kutkh flies back with news for her master.
 |
| Baba Yaga seems to have a metal aesthetic |
Surprisingly, they are
rewarded after less than half a day’s travel. In a clearing in the woods, they
discover a large roughly circular wall built of bones, with a padlocked gate
made of femurs and tibias. Bone posts along the wall are crowned with skulls.
Father Sigismund and Andreas inform their captives that it is time for them to
do their job, and to find a way to enter the compound. They recommend that
Khurshid perform his transformation trick again, but the Rakhman says that he
cannot do so again until tomorrow. After toying with the idea of smashing the
gate, he and Plamen decide to circle the compound under the cover of an
obscurement the healer conjures up by burning some leaves. While they do so,
the Knights keep an eye on them as best they can from under cover of the
forest. Initially, all goes according to plan, but Khursid steps on a branch,
and the skulls awake, and float up from their perches. One hovers over its
post, and launches a fireball out of its mouth before the two prisoners are
able to take cover. The fireball strikes Plamen directly, devouring his
bearskin cover, scorching his skin, and sending him into shock. His companion
is a bit luckier – he is blown over by the blazing heat of the ball, has his
hair singed and his skin covered with soot, but he manages to keep hold of his
senses, and drags Plamen back into the woods before the skull can pursue them,
or other skulls arrive on the scene.
Unexpectedly, Father
Sigismund and the knights turn out to possess healing abilities, and between
three of them, they are able to restore their prisoners and stop their skin
from breaking out in terrible blisters. The price of their aid – Plamen and
Khushid must return to circling the compound to look for another way in. Plamen
calls on his obscurement again, and the two continue to circle the wall of
bone, hoping that their magical veil offers them better protection this time
around.
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