Chapter Twelve: The Girl
Bohdan Dune and the Perilum Tales
Warmest Greetings and Salutations!
We embark a little further into the Kingdom of Gallimaufria. If you’re new, be sure to catch up on previous chapters here!
Happiest of reading!
Bohdan would have screamed if he hadn’t been so mesmerized. The girl’s silver eyes shone in the hazy green light of the marsh. Dark silver hair fell in wispy layers along her collarbone. She had the same hollowed out look as so many of the kids in the Wastelands and was absolutely filthy. Her tunic and pants were as muddied as the swamp itself.
“Do all Wastelanders stare? Or just you?” Her voice had the slightest accent, almost melodic. Bohdan knew there was only one group of people who possessed silver hair and eyes, but they’d vanished a century ago.
“Uh…” Bohdan didn’t know what to say. He and Fedir weren’t exactly lost, but he wasn’t certain where they were either. “I’m sorry, but who are you?”
“I could ask you the same thing.” The girl plucked a leaf from the branch beside her and curled it into a small ball. With a flick of her wrist, she tossed it at Fedir’s open mouth.
“Hey!” Bohdan protested, but it was too late.
With perfect precision, the balled-up leaf disappeared down Fedir’s throat. With a guttural cough Fedir sat up and began hitting his chest with a clenched fist.
“It’s okay Fed!” Bohdan grabbed him by the shoulder. “Calm down or you’ll tumble out of the tree.”
“And we wouldn’t want that,” the girl grinned.
Fedir stopped coughing abruptly and glared up at the silver-haired girl. “Fishes below,” he mumbled in between fits. “What in the name of the Winds is a Deady doing in the Marshlands?”
With a roll of her eyes, the girl crossed her arms. “I thought only dunderheads used names like Deady. And wouldn’t you know? I was right.”
“You’re really from the Deadwood?” Bohdan asked, amazed and completely oblivious to the dangerous shade of red glowing in Fedir’s face.
“I am.”
Fedir stood, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “You were the noise we heard last night. Climbing through the branches.”
“I was.”
Bohdan watched her carefully. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
The girl shrugged. Her composed and clipped nature was a bit unnerving.
“How did you even know we were here?” Fedir eyed her suspiciously. “It was pitch black and you climbed right around us.”
“I have impeccable hearing.” Her mouth formed a pleased grin. “Surely a Lush can appreciate that.”
To that Fedir said nothing. Whatever history sat between Lushlanders and the people of the Deadwood, it was clear to Bohdan the animosity ran deep.
“I’m Bohdan Dune,” Bohdan said to break the silence. “This is Fedir Spruce. We’re on our way to the Peaklands.”
The girl’s eyes widened but relaxed just as quickly. “Silver Frost. And why would a Wastelander and a Lush want to go to the Peaklands?”
“Probably not the same reasons a Deady would be creeping around in the marsh at night,” Fedir grumbled as he fastened his boots. “Come on, Wastey. Let’s go.”
Silver crossed her arms. “A dunderhead and a wit. I must say you’re the most interesting Lush I’ve ever met.”
Fedir scowled as his usually light eyes narrowed. Sensing a full-on brawl, Bohdan offered, “we’re trying to find our siblings.”
Silver raised in eyebrow. “And why would they be in the Peaklands?”
“It’s a long story,” Fedir groaned as he stretched, careful to keep from falling out of the tree. “That music last night. Did you hear it?”
“Yes.”
Fedir held his hands out expectantly. “And?”
She shrugged. “And nothing.”
The tension between Silver and Fedir made Bohdan feel like a blaze beetle trying to mediate between two Devil’s Hens. He opened his satchel and pulled out a small bottle of waterberry juice. He held it out to Silver as a peace offering.
She didn’t bother hiding her suspicion as she stared down at the bottle. “What is it?”
“Waterberry juice. It’s sweet, you’ll like it.”
Silver held out a calloused hand. She sniffed and took a tiny sip. To Bohdan’s surprise, she smiled in earnest. The transformation was remarkable. Despite the considerable muck and jutting cheekbones, she was extremely pretty.
“Thank you.” She offered Bohdan a quick smile then sighed. “My little sister was taken. We were hiding in a tree like this one and I climbed down to collect water from some treecups. I was making my way back up to her when I heard music, like the kind last night. But by the time I got back, she was gone. I’ve been trying to follow it whenever I can.”
Bohdan frowned and exchanged looks with Fedir. There were no caves in the swamp. How could goblins or pipers lure children through tunnels in a place like this?
“What?” asked Silver.
Bohdan hesitated. He had no reason to trust the girl, but he couldn’t imagine she would make up such a story. “It’s just…Cobran and Wren disappeared near caves, but they had been following music too.”
He explained everything Ma had shared about the kingdom beneath the mountain. About the king and the rats and goblins. The pipers and the music. Silver seemed unimpressed but she didn’t challenge anything he shared. She simply sat and listened.
“There may not be any caves in the marsh,” Silver began, “but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other ways kids can be snatched.”
Bohdan frowned. “How long have you been in here?”
“Three months.”
“Three months!” Fedir repeated, dumbfounded. “I can’t bear the thought of being in here three days. I’ll never set foot in this boggy stench land again. Marshlands is too tame of a name if you ask me. It should be called the Deathlands or the No-One-Should-Ever-Come-Here-lands.”
Silver shrugged. “I never said I liked it, but I’m not leaving here without Caspia.”
A loud splash interrupted them. Silver climbed down and stood beside Bohdan. For a brief moment, he caught a glimpse of a chink in her tough exterior. How had a girl from the Deadwood survived in this place for so long?
“I can take you the fastest way through.” Silver offered, though she didn’t look at Fedir. “Once you’re out, you’ll only be a few miles from the outskirts of Chaosity.”
Bohdan stole a glance at Fedir, who looked torn between trusting the Deadwood girl and risking being stuck in the Marshlands longer than necessary. He looked back at Silver, whose silvery eyes were hard but not unkind.
“Deal.”
For hours Bohdan and Fedir followed Silver through the marsh, climbing their way across the entanglement of trees. The girl’s nimbleness was mind-blowing. Fedir, who spent most of his time on solid ground, and Bohdan, who had known nothing but sand and rocky clay, possessed all the grace of tree-scaling donkeys.
Bohdan peered down. Every now and then he’d see the water surge or splash. He was grateful the insects remained low, buzzing noisily over the water. Mudfrogs and swamp-toads leapt from moss covered logs and captured mouthfuls of bugs without any trouble. Every now and again, bumpy-skinned lizards would scurry past and jump from branch to branch, unbothered by the presence of the climbing troupe.
The further they ventured into the marsh, the farther apart the trees became. The black water of the swamp spread out like a lake. Thankfully, the sheer size of the trees allowed the branches to extend far enough that Bohdan and his traveling companions could still make their way across without falling into the water.
“How do you know we’re going the right way?” Fedir asked as they stopped to rest on a particularly ancient tree. “The wind is blowing south, but we’re traveling west. We should be going south too.”
“We have to move west before we can go south,” Silver answered irritably. “Or else we’ll get trapped in the sink pits.”
Bohdan frowned. “The Sink Pits are in the Badlands.”
Silver stretched out across a wide branch and massaged her hands. “This is as good a spot as any to rest for a bit.”
Bohdan wasn’t sure if she’d heard him. He was about to ask but stopped. “Uh, Silver? Fed? You guys might want to take a look at this.”
Where the branches of the tree should all meet together at the trunk, the hollowed-out space was filled to the brim with thousands of glistening black rocks. Bohdan shimmied to the end of his branch to get a closer look. The rocks were as big as his head, and warm to the touch.
Silver lowered herself down and hunched beside him. She gasped. “We have to move.”
Bohdan gulped. The tone of her voice wasn’t reassuring. “What are these things?”
“Eggs,” she whispered, wide-eyed. “This is a Shredder’s nest.”
Oona’s voice revisited him. By the time you’ve seen a Shredder, it has already decided to kill you. And there isn’t a more painful way to die. Well, except, perhaps, by Vody Laiths.
“A nest?” Bohdan whispered in alarm. “There has to be thousands of them!”
“And we don’t want to be anywhere near when they hatch,” Silver snapped. “Move!”
They scrambled back up to Fedir, who was clinging to his branch and sweating profusely. Without saying a word, Silver rushed past him.
Fedir raised an eyebrow at Bohdan. “What’s going on?”
“We’re in a Shredder’s nest. We have to get out of here!” Bohdan followed after Silver. He planted his feet firmly on the wide limb, and side-stepped along, sliding his hands quickly on the branch above.
“Wastey…” Fedir’s voice trembled.
Bohdan glanced back over his shoulder. Fedir wasn’t looking at him, but back at the nesting tree. Slithering toward them, with skin as thick and ridged as dragon’s hide, was an enormous black snake. Its wide face came to a point, with razor sharp teeth poking out from its mouth, creating a terrifying smile.
“A Shredder.” Silver’s voice shook as she spoke. “Don’t break eye contact with it, Lush. It will attack if you do—”
But Silver stopped short. Bohdan faced forward, and his mouth went dry. A second Shredder slithered along with such ease it made Bohdan’s insides squirm. He dropped his gaze.
His mind raced. If Fedir or Silver broke their eye contact, they were dead. But even if they didn’t, surely the monstrous creatures wouldn’t just stare at them forever. He doubted Fedir’s bow would do any damage. Sweat trickled down his face, and slicked across his palms as he gazed down into the water. If they jumped, he had no doubt other horrors lingered just below the surface.
“Silver, what do we do?” Bohdan whispered. He could see the snake-like beasts in his peripherals, inching closer.
“We die here,” she said softly. “Or down there.”
He could hear the tears in her voice. As the Shredders slithered nearer, Fedir and Silver each took steps back, until the three of them were pressed tightly together in the middle of the branch.
“I say we take our chances in the water,” said Fedir shakily. “I’ll help you, Wastey.”
“On the count of three,” Bohdan whispered. Fear raged through his body with the fierceness of a firewind.
“One…two…”
But before Bohdan could finish, something heavy, like a net, fell over his head and the next thing he knew, they were falling through the air, screaming. With a great tug they swung back and forth, shouting all the while, until they landed with an excruciating thud onto a hard surface.
Bohdan groaned as he was yanked out from the net. Fedir crashed into him, moaning. Sprawled across the ground, Bohdan tried to make sense of what was going on.
Silver stood a few feet away, her arms crossed tightly against her chest. Two dozen fierce looking men, all as filthy and unkempt as the marsh, encircled them. Bohdan’s stomach coiled as he took in their scowling and mirthless, smiling faces. Eerie oil-lit lanterns hung from a few carved wooden beams, illuminating a tattered black sail that rested lazily from the lack of wind. The grubby wooden floor rocked slightly beneath him.
“Well, well, well,” a creaky voice called out, followed by a slow procession of claps.
Bohdan and Fedir hurried to their feet. The crowd of men parted and a woman swaggered toward them. A wild mane of dark green hair flowed out beneath her tattered black hat. Her billowy white blouse and swampy green pants, though grimy, were finely tailored. Lethal, pointed black boots reached up past her kneecaps, adorned with a dozen rusted, golden buckles.
“Job well done, Miss Silver,” the woman smiled, revealing two rows of yellow, overlapped teeth. “Gentleman, welcome aboard.”
Thanks for reading along! Tune in next week for the next installment!
“We Wait on the Winds”
-Periwinkle Twist