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by Joe Bandel |
 Anarchist Knight: Apprentice
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After grabbing a bite to eat and changing into his robe Tobal wandered around chatting with friends till circle started. He found a place near the fire to sit with Melanie and Becca during the initiations. The two girls spent most of the time gaily chatting back and forth about where they were going to go and he felt left out. The past month had really brought Melanie and Becca closer together as friends. He wasn’t in the mood for such levity and moved off for a little solitude. This time Misty was the High Priestess as Ellen stood in the back ground waiting to help out if needed. He was surprised to see Angel wearing the red robes of a Master. She had certainly come quite a way since he had first seen her laid up with a leg injury in sanctuary. He finally caught up with Rafe after circle. This was Tobal’s last chance before winter to go back to the lake and check out the abandoned gathering spot. It was Rafe that provided him with the seed of an idea. "I’ve been thinking about this," Rafe said. "I’m not supposed to talk about Journeyman stuff with you but I don’t think it really matters. We meet in a large cave and have our fights. There are always several medics because people get hurt during the fights and the signals from the med-alert bracelets don’t go through the rock." "You can’t take the med-alert bracelet off because the monitors would show you as dead. Also if you are found without a med-alert bracelet you need to start training from the beginning. You don’t want to do that." Tobal nodded his agreement. "What should I do then?" "Hide in small caves or under rock ledges during the day so no air sleds can find you. If you are under or within the rock they should not be able to pick you up on the monitor screen. Then travel quickly at night. When you travel at night it will be seen that your med-alert bracelet is working properly after all and they don’t need to worry about it. They might try to find you at night but it is getting colder and no one wants to be out on an air sled in the middle of a cold night." "Besides," Rafe said with a grin. "You are not doing anything wrong. At least no one has told you that you can’t go there. They probably will once they catch you. Try to get there in the middle of the night. It’s a full moon so there will be enough light to see. Give yourself about three hours and then get the hell out of there as fast as you can. It will be interesting to see what happens when they do catch up with you." "That sounds like a good idea," Tobal told him. "I think I’ll do exactly as you said." They talked a little more about his upcoming journey and then the talk wandered around to Rafe and how he got his second chevron. It was late before Tobal got to sleep. Tobal started out the next morning as if he were heading toward his base camp. There was nothing unusual about that and it shouldn’t draw attention. The area between his base camp and the abandoned gathering spot was very rocky and there were a few caves and outcroppings he remembered seeing. He used them now travelling at night and holing up during the day. It should make them think his med-alert was malfunctioning. He made cold camps during the day and gradually worked his way closer to the waterfall moving quickly at night and hiding during the day. He was glad for the furs since they provided the protection from the elements that he needed. He tried sleeping during the day without much success and when he did sleep it was troubled with nightmarish images that became more intense the closer he got to the waterfall. It was midnight on the fourth day when he stood in front of the cairn in the haunted gathering spot and felt the ghosts around him. There was enough moonlight to see and he searched as much of the cairn as possible without lighting a torch. He examined some of the objects that had been laid there but they simply seemed to be offerings. He was baffled and frustrated. The answer certainly did not seem to be here and the rest of the camp looked to have been thoroughly cleansed. There was nothing to see and his instinct kept telling him to leave as quickly as possible. He hated the thought of going down the cliff face in the dark but an inner prompting kept screaming that is was not safe to be here and that he had to leave as soon as possible. Going down the rock chimney was much easier than going up and soon he was scrambling over the edge of the cliff trying to find the toe holds he knew were there. It was with relief his searching toe finally found the first hole and from then on the descent went quickly. Soon he was standing in the small patio area near the pool at the base of the waterfall. He figured about an hour had passed which gave him two hours more. He stripped off his clothes and put them in a small pile in a corner of the patio where they were hidden by some rocks. He kept the knife strapped around his leg and the magnesium fire starter on a small chain around his neck. He had carefully thought this out during the past month and knew he needed to at least try exploring the pool. Bracing himself he stepped into the icy water with his foot reaching for the first step he knew was there. Three more steps and he was up to his waist in the freezing water and facing the waterfall itself. He knew what he had to do as if some unknown hand was guiding him. He plunged into the deep pool and began swimming strongly toward the waterfall. Right before he reached it he dove deeply and explored the rock face with his fingers. As he suspected there was an opening about three feet below the surface of the pool going under the waterfall itself. Bobbing to the surface he took a deep breath and dived again swimming as deeply into the opening as possible and rose feeling the rock surface above his head sloping upward until it opened into a silent pool. His head broke the surface as he gasped for breath. It had not been a bad swim but it had been a frightening one. The water was icy and he pulled himself out of it onto a rocky ledge. He was shivering in the dark as his fingers searched and found what felt a pack of some type and a torch. Tearing the pack open by touch his fingers closed on the heavy wool like material of a robe. Gratefully he slipped it on and pounded his body until the circulation started coming back. His fingers searched and found a pouch of tinder. He soon had the torch going and was warming himself as he was looking around. The pool looked only six feet across and was his only way back. His heart was racing wildly. He knew this was the secret the lake hid and he also knew he only had two hours to explore before he had to leave. The good news was he felt certain the med-alert bracelet would not give him away within the cavern. He was safe as long as he stayed inside. The torch flickered as he walked barefoot deeper into the cave. The thundering of the waterfall made the entire cave seem to vibrate even though the sound was muted and it was hard to tell where it was coming from. The floor of the cave sloped sharply downward for twenty feet and then leveled out into an open area. There was an opening that turned sharply to the right but Tobal ignored it, his entire attention was focussed on the chamber ahead of him. There was a rough stone altar with unlit torches set into the wall on each side and the emblem painted on the rock behind the altar took his breath away. It was the same symbol of a man and woman holding hands within a circle that had been on the gold medallion his parents had left him. He lit the two altar torches and stepped back to examine the chamber he found himself in. There was a rough circle in front of the altar for circle members to sit and many of the places seemed to have personal belongings placed carefully around them. On sudden impulse he moved to one of the cushions near the altar and picked up a clay bowl that held some dust covered items. In the torchlight he carefully emptied the contents of the bowl on the ground and picked two plastic bracelets up. He recognized them as hospital bracelets. Wiping the dust off them he held the larger one closer to the light of the torch. He saw the words "Rachel Kane" written plainly on it. With his heart thundering in his chest he picked the smaller one up and examined it. Under a coating of grime and dust he saw "Tobal Kane" written and then the date of his birth. It was his baby bracelet from when he had been born. These things must have belonged to his mother. Blinking away tears, he moved the other items with his finger to examine them more closely. A jade and amber necklace caught his eye. Static electrical energy seemed to crackle from it as he ran it through his fingers wiping the dust off. Thinking quickly he put the necklace over his head and thrilled at the intense feeling of love and peace that swept over him. He didn’t have much time. One of these piles belonged to his father and he hastily searched the area nearest his mother. Somehow that didn’t seem right. On impulse he moved over to the other side of the altar and the cushion nearest it on that side. There were items that belonged to the High Priest and he remembered similar items that had been placed around his mother’s seat. His eye was drawn to a ceremonial dagger and sheath that lay in front of the cushion. Picking it up he saw that R.K. had been burned into the sheath and he knew it belonged to his father. He slipped his own knife out of its sheath and strapped the dagger hurriedly into it. He didn’t have time to find a belt for the dagger and sheath. Taking his own torch he walked around the chamber trying to get an idea of its true size. There was an opening off to the left of the altar that led deeper into the cave through some type of corridor. He stooped and walked down the corridor gasping in surprise as he turned a quick corner and gazed upon an unbelievable sight. It was another large cavern but filled with artifacts like those at the antique shop in Old Seattle. His torch reflected off burnished armor and weapons of steel and bronze. Even stranger was one area that was set aside from the others. The items collected here were not of the world he knew. They did not belong to either the present or the past. He didn’t even know if human hands made these items. There was a slender silver rod that glinted in the torchlight and he picked it up. It had some small buttons on the side near the grip and a cord that went around the wrist to keep from loosing it. Pushing the first button made the tip of the rod glow with a comfortable light that lit up the room. He pushed the second button and a beam shot out from the wand touching the wall of the cave. Within seconds the cave wall began glowing red with heat. He hastily released the button and prayed nothing else would happen. He slipped the cord around his wrist for carrying the wand and retraced his steps back to the other cavern. He snuffed out the two torches on the wall above the altar and made his way back to the pool. At the edge of the pool he set the tinder and another torch ready for the next time he came and then carefully set the torch where it would burn out on its own without hurting anything. Then he slipped off the woolen robe, put the two hospital bracelets in his mouth and taking a deep breath dove into the black pool of freezing water. Moments later he was outside climbing the stone stairs out of the pool. He wasted no time sliding into his tunic and furs. He was still wet as he hastily donned his boots and grabbed his pack and equipment. He put the wand into his pack and the hospital bracelets in a leather pouch on his waist for safe keeping. He guessed it was about 3:00 a.m. and the air sleds would be looking for him anytime. He headed at a dog trot through the maze of rock toward the edge of the lake. He hurried toward his burned out campsite planning to stop there and rest. He was halfway around the lake in the predawn light and walking normally when the first air sled appeared. He was not surprised to see the air sled drop to the ground on the beach in front of him and a medic step toward him. To his relief it was Ellen in her red medic’s tunic. "Are you alright?" she asked sharply. "I’m fine," he said. "Why?" "You’ve been appearing and disappearing from our monitors the last several days. Can I check your med-alert bracelet please?" The way she was holding her hand out told Tobal that she was telling him and not asking. Wordlessly he took off the med-alert bracelet and handed it to her. Immediately an alarm sounded at the air-sled and she went over to shut it off. She was on the radio a few minutes and then started to do some tests on the med-alert bracelet. It seemed to test out ok and she finally handed it back to him. "What were you doing over by the waterfall?" "When I soloed I came out here," he told her, "and decided to make my base camp on the lake over there." He pointed to the area where his burned out camp had been. "I spent a lot of time and work building things up," he continued. "Then I was training Melanie and brought her out here with me. We found my entire camp destroyed and burned by rogues. I was only able to find one food cache left intact. We didn’t want to meet any more rogues and felt it was not safe to stay in the area." "What does that have to do with the waterfall?" Ellen interrupted. "Everything," said Tobal." We headed around the lake and saw the waterfall. We decided to try finding a way up the stream and explore in that direction while I was training Melanie." "Did you know there is an abandoned gathering spot there?" He interrupted excitedly. "It has a huge pile of stones in the center of it too!" He was watching carefully to see what effect the news of the cairn had upon her. He was disappointed since she didn’t seem to care either way about it. "Anyway," he continued, "we went up the stream and then cut cross country to where my base camp is. That’s how I originally found my base camp. That was last summer but I always wondered what really happened to my first base camp and wanted to come back here before snowfall and see if I could find anything of value the rogues had missed. I was worried about Melanie before and didn’t want to endanger her. I thought I could come down here and check my old base camp real quick and be back in plenty of time for circle." "I never heard your camp had been burned out," she said. "Did you tell anyone else?" "I talked with Rafe about it quite a bit. He was pretty upset too and told me the lake wasn’t a good place for a base camp." "Rafe was right," she said grimly. "It’s not a good place to hang around anytime, especially by the waterfall. As medics we are given explicit instructions to keep a very close eye on anyone in this area because this is where most of the rogue attacks happen. Get on and we’ll go look at your old camp." Hardly believing his luck, he carefully climbed on the back of her air sled and directed her to what was left of his burned out camp. Together they poked around and he showed her the remains of his teepee, smoke rack and sweat lodge. They did find a stone axe. He looked at it and recognized it as the first stone ax he had ever made. He told Ellen and she grinned. She seemed more relaxed now that his story had proven true. "There have been other people whose camps have been destroyed," she said. "These attacks seem to be coming more frequently and I don’t know what we are going to do about them. They are centered around this area but we have been told the rogues live in a settlement about two hundred miles west of us. That doesn’t make sense to me somehow." "A settlement to the west?" Tobal asked. Ellen nodded, "It’s a village made up of people that decided to drop out of training and not be citizens. You may have heard rumors about it but only we medics know where it is. I’ve actually checked it out and there are children and old people in it. None of them wear med-alert bracelets and we don’t really know anything about them. If these raids continue I’ve heard rumors that the city might attack the village and close it down." "Is that what happened to the gathering spot by the waterfall?" Tobal asked, fishing for information. "You must never mention that place to anyone," she said sharply. "It is a forbidden area and we have been told to keep people away from it." "Why is it a forbidden area?" Tobal said belligerently. "I should be able to go anywhere I want. This is a wide open wilderness and no one has ever told me that certain places are off limits." "Well they are," she said matter of factly. "We don’t tell people about them unless they stumble into them like you have. I don’t really know why myself," she said. "I think is has something to do with the rogues and keeping clansmen safe from them. There are some other areas that are "off limits" because they are dangerous for people on foot." It was mid afternoon and Ellen said she needed to get back on patrol. She was sorry to hear Tobal had been burnt out and was going to make a note of it in her report. She advised him not to stay in the area as it might be dangerous and she recommended he get another med-alert bracelet the next time he was in sanctuary. Tobal was in agreement and headed straight for sanctuary. He knew the route and more importantly knew a small cave where he could shelter for the night. It would give him a location where his med-alert bracelet would not give him away as he slept. Somehow that felt very important right now. He didn’t know whom he could trust. He had been very lucky Ellen had been the medic that found him. It was dark when he turned sharply to the left and stepped along a ridge he remembered having a small cave in it. Cautiously he poked his walking stick into the opening making sure no one else was using it before crawling inside. He wrapped himself in warm furs and fell into a sleep of exhaustion with eerie dreams of his father and mother in a cave doing some type of ritual. Before dawn the next morning he was back on the trail toward sanctuary. He was prompted by a sense of urgency and a sixth sense that told him he was being followed. It was only a half hour later when an air sled circled and waved. He waved back and continued on. This time at a dog trot that ate up the miles. That day two more air sleds circled overhead making certain of his destination, but none stopped him. That night he again crawled into a small cave and slept without a fire of any kind, munching on cold jerky and rinsing it down with water from his canteen. He was making good time and with any luck at all should be at sanctuary the next evening. The sense of being pursued stayed with him that night and all of the next day. Again he was up before dawn on the trail and again an air sled appeared, this time only fifteen minutes after he had gotten under way. They had obviously been out looking for him and wondering what was wrong with his med-alert bracelet. Well he at least felt better with the air sleds since they were medics and not rogues. But he still didn’t waste any time getting to sanctuary. It was twilight when he finally got to the edge of the wooded area that opened onto the meadow leading to sanctuary itself. He took a few minutes to hide the things from his parents before going into sanctuary with the rest of his supplies and pack. No one was there and he wasted no time setting his pack and clothing under one cot and stepping into the medical center as Ellen had suggested. He felt relief as the door slid shut behind him and locked. He took off his med-alert bracelet, dropped it on the floor and pounded it with the heavy hilt of the knife he had brought with him. Under the heavy pounding it broke into three pieces and he left it there. He knew the medics would be alerted when he had taken it off and then would be even more alerted when it suddenly stopped broadcasting. He was hoping one of them would be there when he came out the other end in a few hours. Three hours later he had a new med-alert bracelet and fresh clothing and equipment. As the door slid open he cautiously stepped out into the gloom and stood still waiting for his eyes to adjust in the dark. His knife was in his hand and he knew he was not the only one in the room. He stood silently waiting for someone to make the first move. "Tobal, is that you?" He heard Ellen’s voice coming from near one of the cots. Relief spilled through him, "Yes, is it safe?" "For now," she said. "Come, we’ve got some talking to do." He shouldered his new equipment and carried it over to the cot where he had stored the rest of his stuff. He searched under the cot and found he had been right. His things had been searched and gone through carefully while he had been in the medical chamber. He laid everything on the bed and tried to determine in the dim light if he was missing anything. Everything seemed to be there. Ellen stood silently by and watched as he sorted and repacked things. Tobal saw there two other very serious Masters standing guard at the entrance. "What’s going on?" She demanded. "We were monitoring your signal and then the alarm went off as if you were dead. Then the signal stopped completely and we came immediately to see what was wrong. The first one here saw three rogues dressed in black running out of the sanctuary building and into the woods. It was dark and they didn’t show up on the air sled monitors so we lost them. We don’t know where they are now." "We went inside and saw that your pack had been searched but you were not here. Then your signal showed up once more on the monitors and we figured you must be in the medical chamber so we waited for you to come out." "They followed me from the lake," Tobal said. "I knew they were following me. I could feel it and hid at night. I came here as fast as I could just like you said to." "How could they follow you from the lake?" Ellen frowned. "They don’t have monitors like we do on our air sleds." "They must have some way of tracking me," he repeated. "They would have gotten me if you hadn’t shown up when you did. It’s not safe out here anymore!" "We’re going to take you back to the gathering spot where you and I are going to have a little chat," Ellen whispered. "You are holding something back and I want to know what it is." They walked toward Ellen’s air sled and Tobal suddenly remembered his package in the woods. Ellen was on the air sled waiting when he ran back up and climbed on behind her. The three air sleds sped into the night toward the gathering spot. "Wait here," he shouted "I’ll be right back" and he ran into the woods to retrieve the rest of his things. Ellen was on the air sled waiting when he ran back up and climbed on behind her. The three air sleds sped into the night toward the gathering spot.
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