D. MacHale - Black Water

“You don’t want to know.”

I was lowered to my feet and stood facing my friend, the tall African-American guy who was the Traveler from First Earth, Vincent “Gunny” Van Dyke. He looked good for a guy in his sixties. But he also looked tired, with a bit more gray in his hair. No big surprise. Eelong did that to people. He put his ring on the finger of his right hand, then looked to me and shook his head. “You look older than when I saw you last.”

“I am,” I said. “Man, it’s good to see you.” I threw my arms around him and hugged him tight. A huge waveofrelief washed over me. Gunny was alive and I was no longer alone. I didn’t want to let him go, but an angry snarl brought me back to reality. I looked to see a few gars poking at Kasha and Yorn as they dangled in their net traps.

A gar ran up to Gunny and said, “We will kill them now, while they’re trapped.”

I don’t know what was more of a shock, knowing that Yorn and Kasha were about to be killed, or hearing a gar speak fluently.

“No!” I shouted quickly. “They’re friends.”

“Klees are not friends,” the gar said. “They will die now.” The gar pulled a weapon from beneath his cloak. It looked like a long arrow, almost a spear, that was loaded in a simple contraption with a band pulled taut, like a spear gun. He raised the tip, and I saw it was very large and very pointy. He headed for the dangling klees, ready for an execution.

“Gunny,” I shouted in desperation. “Seegen is dead. The black klee is his daughter, Kasha.”

“Aron, wait!” Gunny shouted to the gar. The gar, Aron, stopped.

Gunny looked to me and said, “Seegen’s dead? How?”

“I don’t know,” I answered. “But Kasha is the Traveler now.”

“Gunny!” Yorn called. “It’s me, Yorn. Seegen’s acolyte.”

Gunny walked quickly over to the traps where Kasha and Yorn were dangling.

“What happened to Seegen?” Gunny asked Yorn.

“He went to Second Earth and came back dead,” the old klee snapped, sounding irritated. “Now would you mind instructing these gars to cut us down before I injure something.”

“In a second,” Gunny answered, then looked at Kasha. “I don’t know you. But I can’t let you loose until I know you won’t harm these gars.”

“Gunny!” Yorn exclaimed in surprise. “It’s Seegen’s daughter!”

“My father asked that I bring Pendragon to you,” she growled. “That’s what I did. I have no interest in these gars.”

I jumped in, saying, “She’s already saved my life a dozen times over.” I took a chance and added, “There’s only one problem.”

“What’s that?” Gunny asked quickly.

“Kasha doesn’t want to be a Traveler.” I figured I’d lay it all out for Gunny, in front of Kasha. What did I have to lose? “She says she doesn’t care about the gars, but then she helps them every chance she gets. She’s worried about the future of Eelong, but doesn’t believe in the threat of Saint Dane. She’s the Traveler, but I don’t know how to convince her that by helping us, she’s helping Eelong.”

Gunny said to Kasha, “You’re in a tough spot, missy. These gars would kill you both without a second thought. I’ll let them do it, too…unless you do what I say.”

“I’m listening,” Kasha growled.

“Come to Black Water with us.”

“No!” shouted the gar named Aron. “No klee has ever been to Black Water!”

Like the other gars, Aron wasn’t much taller than five feet. He had long dark hair that fell to his shoulders and even though he looked like an older guy, his face didn’t have the hint of a beard. It was weird, because I doubted if these guys shaved. They were like adult children. But more interesting, unlike the gars from Leeandra, there was intelligence behind their eyes. They stood straight and moved with purpose. It was just one more proof that gars weren’t animals to be hunted and slaughtered.

Gunny spoke to Aron like a wise parent. “I need you to trust me, Aron. My friend and I are here to help you, but we can’t do that without these klees.” Gunny spoke softly, and convincingly. It was like listening to Mister Rogers… or a Traveler using his powers of persuasion. Could Mister Rogers have been a Traveler? Interesting.

“I will take responsibility,” Gunny continued, addressing all of them. “They won’t harm you, I promise.”

The gars looked nervously between Gunny and the trapped klees. It seemed like they wanted to believe him, but their natural fear of klees made it tough.

“But they might tell others of the secret of Black Water,” Aron said worriedly. “We cannot let that happen.”

“It won’t,” Gunny assured him. “If they try to reveal the location of Black Water, I’ll kill them myself.”

Whoa, strong words from Gunny. He definitely had more of an edge than the last time we were together. Then again, I think I did too. Constant fear does that to people. I glanced to Kasha. Her ears went back.

“Do you trust me?” Gunny asked Aron.

The small gar looked to the others. They all nodded.

“Good,” Gunny said. He looked to Kasha and asked, “What’s it going to be, missy?”

Kasha’s ears were still back. She didn’t like being cornered. “I don’t see that I have a choice. I’ll go with you.”

“Wonderful! Would you please cut us down now,” Yorn begged.

“Cut them down!” Gunny said to the gars. “Be gentle; they’re our guests.”

The gars used small knives to cut the klees down, but they weren’t gentle. Kasha and Yorn hit the ground hard. Their legs were all tangled in the net so they couldn’t even do the cat thing and land on their feet. The gars quickly surrounded them, ready to attack if they so much as growled. They all had those spear weapons that were loaded and ready.

“Let’s all take it easy,” Gunny said. He walked deliberately into the circle of gars and stood next to Kasha and Yorn. “It’s late. We should get back.” He motioned for everyone to join him and we all started toward the waterfall. I couldn’t call it “black” anymore, because the sunbelt was long gone and pretty much everything was black. But the stars were out and we were able to find our way without walking into any trees. Gunny, Kasha, Yorn, and I walked together, with the gars behind us, keeping a watchful eye.

“How did you get to be chief gar, Gunny?” I said, half joking.

Gunny chuckled and said, “I’m not. But they listen to me. They’re scared, and from what I’ve heard, they should be.”

“So they know the klees want to start hunting them?” I asked.

“Yes, they do,” Gunny said. “They send scouts to Leeandra all the time. It’s a frightening thing, being declared food. I figure Saint Dane must have his hand in this somewhere.”

“He does,” Yorn answered. “Seegen discovered that.”

“I don’t understand,” Kasha said. “These gars are, are-“

“Intelligent?” Gunny said. “Is that the word you’re looking for?”

“Yes,” Kasha admitted.

“I think there’s a whole lot about the gars you don’t know about, that’s why I want you to come to Black Water.”

We approached the pool at the base of the waterfall. Gunny led us around to the rock wall next to it and continued walking… on top of the water! At first I thought he was actually walking on water, but when I looked closer, I saw there were flat stones lying right below water level. I watched as Gunny walked directly toward the waterfall, then made a sharp turn and walkedbehindthe water! Awesome! I went next, carefully making my way across the rocks, trying not to slip off and get wet. I stayed focused and when I looked up, I found myself behind the waterfall.

“This way, shorty,” Gunny called. He was standing on dry land at the mouth of a cave that disappeared deeper into the mountain. I joined him, then turned around to watch Kasha, Yorn, and then Aron and the gars enter from outside. Gunny picked up something that looked like a black tube about a foot long. He broke it in two. Instantly the two halves glowed bright yellow.