War of the Wisps

The sound of wheels rolled along off the cave walls ahead of the caravan. Each of the three wagons glowed in the light of dozens of lanterns strapped along them. The donkeys pulling the carts trudged along at the insistence of their drivers, their breath puffing under the weight of the Dwarves’ cargo. Most of the merchants rode in the carts with their goods and families, though a few walked alongside the wagons, lightening the load for their little beasts.

A Dwarf girl with a red rope of hair braided down her back sat nestled in with the cargo. She’d shoved her way between two crates at the top of the stack, and had two books laid out in front of her, along with a small pile of loose papers. Her focus was all on the bigger book. It’s yellow pages were frayed at the edges, and each time she turned a page, dust that smelled more like a moldy old library than the road puffed from the volume.

“Anna? Anna!”

“Yes, Papa?” the Dwarf girl said. She looked up at the wagon driver. The rotund little man had the same red hair as her, albeit cut short and shot through with white. He was pointed ahead.

“Coming to the end of the tunnel, kiddo. Saw some flashes. Thought you might want to put your books away before we’re out in the rain.”

“Oh! Thank you, Papa.”

“Did you finish looking over the manifest, by the way?”

The Dwarf girl nodded as she gathered up the loose pages and fitted them into the cover of the smaller book. “Yes. Everything looked normal. I don’t know why you’re so worried about Master Bolin, though.”

Her father sighed. “Maybe I’m just getting paranoid. It’s been ten years, and we’re almost out. Suppose I’m just worried he’s gotten used to having me as a debtor.”

“Everything looked above board to me.”

“I know, I know. Still, I miss having the resources to trade farther south. Or even to get into the valley proper. Never go into debt, Kido. It messes with you.”

Anna brushed the surface of her larger book. The old tome was a Grealish study on wisps. They’d picked it up the road, and she’d spent every moment she could reading through it as they traveled. She’d hoped to go into the valley on this trip, if only to see a little part of the kingdom. Unfortunately, their route had left them in the tunnels going to the dwarf cities almost the whole time.

A distant boom up ahead drew her out of her thoughts. Now that they were closer, she could here the murmur of rain on the path leading out of the mountain. She shoved the book into her pack and drew a cloak up around her shoulders. It may have been spring, but these were early days yet, and this far north, the rain would be frigid no mater what.

“Boss,” one of the drivers called back to her father. “Should we just wait in the tunnel tonight? Storm looks like a bad one.”

The older dwarf thought for a few moments, then shrugged. “Might as well. We’ll see if it lets up by morning.” The dwarves halted by the entrance to the tunnel and began setting up for an overnight camp. Miss Birta prepared a stew for the company while everyone else organized bedrolls and the youngest of the apprentices fed the donkeys. Anna sat by the fire and began reading to the sound of the rain.

The book had been marketed as a guide for understanding the magical creatures, but most of it were stories of historical sightings. There was a story of the second King of Grealand, who’d unmasked an enemies strategy by following a wisp through the wilds. A second story told of a man who’d gone missing, only to be found a month later, driven mad and raving about the wisps. The current section talked about the Elven mage who’d recently discovered that wisps could hide themselves in gemstones, proving they were composed of magic.

There was no time between the brilliant white flash and an air splitting crack overhead. Anna and the other Dwarves flinched, looking out of the tunnel’s mouth. Were it just the thunderbolt, they would have returned to setting up camp. But even through their ringing ears, the dwarves could hear something else following it. There was another rumble overhead, lower but growing louder in all directions.

Anna looked into the tunnel and saw nothing. Then she turned back to the entrance. She was just in time to see the landslide pour down, a wall of mud and stone and trees cutting off the cave mouth. The road ran downhill, away from the tunnel, but the sudden dumping of earth sent mud splashing back into the cave. Anna scrambled away, trying to shield her book from the torrent of mud.

Even as she moved, she knew something was wrong about the roar in her ears. It was too loud. And when she looked up, she saw why. Fifty paces back into the tunnel, where the carts had been parked, the tunnel ceiling had caved in. Support beams had snapped, burring one of the wagons under the debris, while the traders tried to run away.

Almost as fast as the cave in had begun, the mountain seemed to settle. The few lanterns that were still lit showed the dwarves had come to huddle together between the two earth-falls. As the ringing in her ears faded, Anna realized that the only sound was the rain, beating against the earth pile blocking their way of escape.

“Sound off,” came her father’s voice. She looked around, and was relieved to find him still in one piece. They counted off the dwarves, and were relieved to find they’d made it through without serious injury. So far anyway. But they had lost a lot of cargo and…

“Do we have any tools to get out of here?” She asked. She met her father’s gaze. He didn’t answer the question, but she could tell the answer from the worry written there.

“We can hold out for a few days at least,” he said. “When the storm ends, someone will see the tunnel’s blocked and can dig us out. We just have to wait until then. I’m sure of it. Everyone, see what you can recover of your belongings. We’ll take inventory.”

It didn’t take them long to realize most of their personal effects had been damaged, if not outright ruined, by the wave of mud washing over everything. It had pooled at their feet now, and throughout that night, the sloshing mud combined with the cramped space made sleep a chore. Some managed it though, including Anna. When she woke up, she remembered with a start that they hadn’t had a chance to eat. Then she realized they wouldn’t be able to cook anything. Their food would all be in poor condition now, and they’d need to ration it.

It was a small ration for breakfast, just an apple to each of the merchants, and two for old miss Birta. While Anna ate, she saw the apprentices had gathered together on one side of the cave, where they huddled together, bunched up in their sodden cloaks. She was a few years senior to them, and she thought they must have just realized something that had occurred to her the previous night. Whatever happened, there wasn’t much they could do waiting here in the cave.

She walked over to the group. “How are all of you doing?” she asked.

“Oh, Miss Anna,” said one. The young trader nodded in acknowledgement but didn’t answer the question.

Another of the boys snorted. “Oh, we’re having a grand morning, miss. Just keeping out of the rain, is all.”

“Oi!” came Miss Birka’s voice from half way across the tunnel. “I don’t want to hear any of you young lads snapping at your elders like that!”

“Thank you Miss Birka. We’re all just a little tense is all, though.” The Dwarf matron nodded, but kept an eye on the group as Anna spoke to them. “I know we’ll be stuck in here for a little bit, but I thought we could pass the time a little better if we talked. Told stories and things like that.”

“Afraid I don’t have any stories for you, Miss,” the first apprentice said.

“Not even about the time you startled that dragon down in {dwarven city west of Iron Valley}?” Asked a different apprentice.

“That was your fault though!” the first dwarf said, though he was smiling. For the next couple of hours, the young apprentices began trading stories of the few other trading trips they’d been on, or of interesting things they’d done back home. Some of the older Dwarves began joining in, telling their stories until the whole group had come around the group. Many of those who hadn’t got sleep the night before were able to now.

Anna’s father came over and rested his hand on her shoulder. “Nice job,” he mouthed to her, trying not to interrupt an older journeyman talking about the time the company had tried shipping their goods by sea. Anna remembered her father telling her that particular story. It hadn’t gone that well. Not as bad as their current problem, but still something of a fiasco.

“I can’t believe how long we’ve been just been talking,” one of the apprentices said.

Anna smiled. “See? Time flies.”

“On that note,” her father cut in, “If we want any light to see by tomorrow, we should blow out our lanterns now and all try for some shut eye. With any luck, the storm will blow itself out by morning and someone will find us during breakfast.”

“We can only hope,” said an older journeyman.

The group of dwarves found the most comfortable places they could in the soaked cavern and began blowing out their lanterns. Anna chose a spot next to one of the donkeys. Unpleasant as the smell of wet equine might be, it was warmer than anywhere else, and comparatively dry. The little beast didn’t seem to mind at all bumping her once with his nose as if to say hello. When the last lantern went out, she found she could still see a dim light above her.

“What is that?” she whispered.

Her father’s voice came from nearby, low enough so he wouldn’t disturb the others. “The sky, kiddo. The landslide left a little gap at the top of the tunnel.” He sighed. “If we had picks, we might be able to get to it and dig our own way out.”

“Without them?” Anna asked.

“I tried climbing that landslide last night. So did some of the journeymen. No one made it up six feet before sliding back down.”

Anna looked at the grey line, realizing it was probably still early evening. But now, in the dark, it felt like midnight. “At least it’s a light,” she said.

“At least it’s a light,” her father agreed. “Get some sleep, Kiddo.”

Anna continued to star at the strip of sky as it faded into blackness. The thunder had stopped well into the previous night, so there were no white flashes to illuminate their little opening into the rest of the world. Once it was dark, the darkness was all consuming. She couldn’t tell the difference between opening and closing her eyes. So she wasn’t certain if she’d even fallen asleep or not.

She rubbed her eyes at one point, ours later, and was found that she could see something through the crack. She wondered if it was already morning. She wouldn’t expect it to be so bright though. Not while she could still hear the rhythm of the rain. She wondered if city had sent someone to check on the tunnel even though the rain hadn’t stopped. But no. This wasn’t a lantern. It cast everything in blue.

It bobbed up to the crack, then drifted into the cavern. The light was a little ball of smoke, shining in cobalt blue. Wisps of the smoke drifted off the light as it floated down. At the thought, she realized the light was a Wisp. She’d only ever seen them in red or yellow before, and not so close.

Her throat closed up on her. She could already feel the magic creatures influence falling over her. Sorrow. This was a creature of sorrow. If everyone were to wake up, they might be able to drive it away. But she couldn’t bring herself to open her mouth. Then something changed. The creature’s color shifted. It was still blue, but now it was the Azure of a clear sky. Just a little lighter than before. But its mood changed.

Calm. It was calm and determined. The terror she’d felt just moments ago was crowded out as the magic creature floated into cramped cave. By it’s light, she could see her companions. They were all asleep. She watched their expressions change, becoming more peaceful as the wisp passed over them. Its influence grew stronger as it approached. Images of childhood came to her, as if the creature was trying to give her sweet dreams of halcyon days.

“You want to help?” Anna asked. The creature made no response. The feelings flowing off of it didn’t change, and it’s color remained the same. Anna could feel her own emotions playing out under the influence of the wisp. Fear of the creature, though that had weakened now that it seemed friendly. Worse was the frustration. If the creature wanted to help them, it could go and bring help. It could find someone from time and convince them to follow it here.

She found herself voicing the thought allowed. “Find someone. Bring help!” Now the wisp did respond. It latched on to that feeling, that urgency, and it surged. The smoke pouring out of the center of the creature whirled around, and the creature bobbed up and down. Again, its color changed, becoming an even lighter blue.

Anna felt her urgency flow into the wisp like water, becoming the emotion it was using to influence the world. She saw her companion’s shift. A few woke up and saw the bobbing whisp. Then urgency snapped, forming a single thought that slammed into Anna.

“Bring help!”

The wisp shot up, flying like a bird back out of the cave and vanishing into the night. As its influence vanished, Anna felt the full force of her emotions coming back to her.

“What was that? What the hell was that?”

“What’s going on?”

“Is everyone still here?”

“What just happened?”

The cries of confusion filled the air. The donkey Anna had been sleeping against stood up, braying in the confusion and sending her splashing back into the mud. She rushed to her feet, and found herself hyperventilating. She ran through the last minute in her head a dozen times. Had it understood her? Had it spoken?

“Anna? Anna!”

Anna turned to her father’s voice, even though she couldn’t see him in the darkness. “I’m here,” she said, forcing her breaths to calm down.

“Thank goodness,” he said. “Are you alright? Was it doing something to you?”

“I don’t know,” Anna said.

“Someone, light a lantern!” her father barked at the group. “We need to look over everyone. Make sure everyone is still alright.”

In a moment, several of the lanterns were lit, and the various families among the traders were checking one another, making certain that each person was still themselves before beginning to calm down.

“Oi!” the voice came from overhead and everyone looked up to see the thin crack leading out of the cavern had a lantern glowing orange hanging over it. The shifting light suggested something blue hovering not far away. “Oi, mate, it’s over here!”

“Good lord… There’s people down there,” came a second voice.

“Told you we should follow the—”

“Hello down there! Can you all hear me?”

“We can hear you!” Anna’s father shouted up at the group. “I’m Guild Master Tomlan. There’s been a cave in.”

“Master Tomlan? How many of you are down there?”

“All fifteen of us!”

“We’re gonna run and get help sir, don’t you worry. Just hold out a little while longer, sir.” After that, the orange lights disappeared as the two Dwarves ran to alert the city to their emergency. But the blue light remained. The wisp itself wasn’t visible, but the crack was visible in the night as it waited for the others to return.

By noon the next day, despite the continued downpour, the village had managed to expand the crack in the tunnel enough that they could toss a ladder down to get the other dwarves out. The donkeys would still have to stay in the cave until the rain ended, but at least they’d be able to get food down for the sturdy beasts, and clean water.

When Anna finally made it out of the cave, she and her father were greeted by her mother, who presented them with fresh cloaks. “You’ve had me worried sick ever since the landslide. Didn’t expect you were actually under it!”

“We made it alright, deary,” Anna’s father said.

“All thanks to that,” Anna said, looking off in the distance. There, at the base of the landslide and far enough that it wouldn’t be influencing anyone, the blue wisp floated, unconcerned by the rain falling through it all the time.

“I heard a wisp lead the watchmen over to you,” her mother said. “I can’t believe it stuck around.”

“Normally they don’t,” Anna said. “You two stay here. I want to go see something.”

Her father put a hand on her shoulder, grip firm and she looked back at him. “Be careful, okay Kiddo?”

“Yes, papa. I’ll be careful.”

She made her way to the wisp. The ground slid around underneath her, but she kept moving until she stood before the floating ball of energy. It’s influence didn’t seem nearly as strong as before. Perhaps because she was expecting it this time. But she could still feel its emotions layered on top of hers. It hadn’t changed from the night before. The lighter blue color was the same, though the grey skies made it seem somehow less intense. The sense of urgency, though, was identical.

“Did you understand me?” she asked.

It pulsed, light growing a little brighter, smoky tendrils spinning a little faster. The influence grew. An urgency. A need to find something. It wasn’t quite identical, she realized. Last night, it had copied her urgency and even her goal. It found the nearest dwarves and brought them to help.

Now it wanted something else.

“What do you want, though?” she asked. She tried to feel the question as much as ask it, wondering if that would help the creature understand. She focused on her curiosity. “What do you want?”

The creature brushed up against that emotion. It didn’t take it in this time, though. Instead, it began pulsing, over and over again, its urgency growing.

“Bring help!”

“Bring help!”

“Bring help!”