Chapter Twenty

The trees started out short and scrubby, but gained height quickly. Close to mid-day, Stig began to complain that his stomach hurt. Arabella took it as a sign to get out the food bag. She thought that at least she would never miss a meal when she traveled with Stig. He ate quickly and then flopped onto his back in the fir needles. He let out a large sign and napped. Arabella found that she was too tense to nap. She jumped at every strange sound. When the wind whooshed through the tree tops, she leaped to her feet ready the run off.

"Arabella," Stig said sleepily. "Please calm down. Take a rest. I will let you know if something is coming."

She nodded and leaned back on a tree trunk. She closed her eyes but could not drift off to sleep. She gave up and started to pick at the fir needles on the ground. Stig's ear twitched and he opened one eye to look at her. After a moment, he rolled over and shook the needles out of his fur.

"You have gone dark again," Arabella said.

"Yep," he said. "It is a good thing. It means that we will not run into snow."

"But you did not change last time until it was already snowing," she point out.

"That was a magic storm," he said. "I change ahead of time if the conditions are natural. Should have noticed that last time. Let's go."

She tied the sword onto her back again and shouldered her sack. Stig had looked at the map early and pointed out the route to where the fairies lived. The map showed that there were no major obstacles between them and the fairies' mountain. Stig led the way through the trees in a downward direction. The gentle slope of the path did not last very long. Stig stopped abruptly and they discovered that they were looking at a steep slope that ran nearly vertical.

"Know any magic that can make up fly?" Stig asked. Arabella shook her head. "Then we are going to have to do this the hard way."

Stig led the way again, only this time he looked for human friendly places for Arabella. She had started by stepping out on a tree trunk that was growing horizontally from the slop. She looked down and swallowed hard. She was not afraid of heights, but usually she had something beneath her to catch her. She sat down on the trunk and stretched her legs out to the tree below her that Stig had just left. Once her feet were solidly on the tree, she moved to the lower tree. She continued to travel like this until the slope became less cliff-like.

She found that she could swing from tree to tree using her arms. This way was faster except when she used a tree that was not rooted into the ground securely. She went sliding and finally caught herself on another tree. She looked up at Stig who was looking down at her. He seemed a bit shocked that she had gone flying past him. She wedged herself between the tree and the slope. Stig hopped beside her and insisted that he check her over to make sure she was not hurt. They counted themselves lucky that she only had a scrape on her forearm. Finally they reached the bottom. Here the trees grew the proper direction and the way seemed flat after traversing the slope.

"What is that?" Arabella asked Stig before they started moving again. A rushing noise echoed through the trees. Stig's ears popped up.

"Oh no," he groaned. He ran off towards the sound without another word.

"Stig, wait," Arabella called. She rushed after him. She had to move fast because it was hard to follow a racing weasel through the trees. Not far away they burst out of the trees. Stig sat down and looked distressed. Before them lay a huge river. It was so large that they could barely see the other shore.

"This," Arabella said, "was not on the map." Stig shook his head.

"I'm going to have wet fur," he said. "I hate wet fur." He lay down and started whining.

"Well how about you zap across and wait on the other side?" she asked.

"That won't work," Stig wrinkled his nose. "It's not zapping, it's teleporting and it is too far." He ended the sentence on a howl. Arabella sat down beside him.

"Well, this is new to me," she said. "How do people normally cross a river?"

"On a boat," he said. He squinted at the river.

"Stig, I do not want to sound stupid, but just what is a boat?" she asked.

"A boat is a floaty thing made out of wood," he said. "Sometimes they have sides and sometimes they don't. They usually keep stuff dry when you cross a river. I've seen them were they use poles of wood to steer the craft across. This river would be too deep for that." Arabella looked around. The river was dotted with small islands that were just big enough for a couple of people to sit on. There was a larger one closer to the other shore.

"Look," she pointed. "I think I see the fairies' mountain." Stig looked across the river and at a small mountain. He stared at it for about five minutes. Suddenly he hopped up like a bee stung him.

"I've got it!" he shouted. "We can make a raft. Everything we need is right here.  You can use your magic knife to cut some wood and then we need to figure out to tie the thing together."

"If I untie the sword, we can use that twine," Arabella said.

"Problem is," he said. "That will not make a very big raft. It would only be big enough for our supplies and me. You would have to swim behind it and push it along."

"That is all right," she said. "You did say that it was too deep to pole across so I would have to push anyway. I am worried that it maybe too far for me to swim. I am not very good."

"If you hang onto the edge of the raft, it will help you to float," he said.

Together they picked out tree to cut and then used Arabella's knife to cut them down. The knife slid through the wood like it was cutting bread. It took them only an hour to tie the trees together in order to make a raft large enough for a weasel. Once made Arabella took off most of her clothes and stuffed them into the sack along with her cape. She put the sack on the raft then wedged the sword partway under the sack. Stig sat on top of it all. Arabella stood in knee deep water in her shift. She was expecting it to be cold like the river near Mount Tully, but it was warm. She pushed the raft away from the shore.

"Careful," Stig shouted. The raft wobbled a bit when she leaned on it. They floated farther out. Stig looked back at her. "Arabella, you do know how to swim, right?" he asked. "Come on girl, kick your feet!"

Slowly she started kicking. They were moving fast at least. Stig started watching her instead of the water. He stood on the pile giving her directions on how to swim.

"Point your feet," he said. "Lock your knees. Kick faster. Tilt your body so your feet are at the surface." Stig became so excited shouting orders to Arabella that he began to jump up and down on the sack.

At the first island, Arabella climbed on and panted. This was harder then she expected. Once she caught her breath, she went back to pushing the raft. In the middle of the river, the water was rough. A few of the waves threatened to wash over her head. Near one of the islands she swallowed some water and began to choke. She was able to pull the raft and herself on to the edge of the island before succumbing to a coughing spasm.

“Hold your breath when a wave comes at you like that,” Stig patted her back as he scolded her. “You almost swamped me.”

They were soon on the move again. Stig started to get nervous. He ran from one side of the raft to the other and then back again. He kept peering into the river. Between Stig’s movement and the waves, Arabella started to loose control of the raft. It swerved away from the large island. Arabella muscled it back on course. The raft tilted and Stig tumbled towards the edge. He screamed and clawed the sack. There was a long grating noise and a splash. The twine began to come undone. Gaps appeared between the logs.

“Arabella,” Stig cried. “We lost the sword. It cut the raft. Hurry, aim for the big island.” He looked at her with wide eyes.  Arabella kicked furiously and sped up. She rammed the raft onto the island. She crawled up onto the shore beside the raft. Stig quickly dragged the sack off onto shore. The raft broke up the rest of the way and the pieces floated down river.

“Get out of the water,” Stig demanded. Arabella looked at him like he was crazy. “Get out now before something tries to eat you.”

“Stig, what are you talking about?” she said as she pulled herself the rest of the way on land.

“Fish,” he said. “Nasty large fish, the kind that come up from the bottom of large bodies of water and swallows you whole. If you have really bad luck then it will take a few bites first.”

“Oh Stig,” Arabella said. “I thought you were afraid of the water, but you are really afraid of fish.”

“No I’m not,” he snorted. Stig froze and his eyes got round. “Arabella,” he whispered. “Move.”

Arabella know by now to do as Stig said without question. She pushed herself up and took the first few steps using her hands against the ground. Her legs felt so weak that it was hard to stand. Once she got running it was a little better. Arabella heard a massive hissing behind her. Stig stopped in the middle of the island. When Arabella caught up, she turned to look.

Rising out of the river was a massive serpent type of creature. Its body was snake-like with no arms. It had large fins sticking out of the sides of its face. Its jaws were triangular and filled with sharp teeth. Its yellow eyes fixed on Arabella and Stig. It raised the spines on its back. Arabella could hear them rattle. The monster hissed again and then moved to the side of the island. It made a lunge at them. Arabella jumped back as the jaws snapped directly in front of her.

“This is not good,” Stig said panting. “That thing can reach us no matter where we go on this island. It is only a matter of time before it gets us.”

“Can you teleport to the other shore now?” Arabella asked.

“Maybe,” Stig looked desperately around. “But even if I could get there, I will not leave you to the monster.”

“You are a very heroic weasel,” Arabella said. They dodged the river monster again. “What is that?” Arabella pointed to a dark hole with steam rising out of it.

“It’s a cave,” Stig ran into it. Arabella followed quickly. She avoided stepping in the stream pouring from the mouth of the cave. Steam rose up from its surface. Arabella covered her nose and mouth. “Blah, the air is foul in here. Wouldn’t surprise me if it was poisonous.”

“Stig, you always look on the bright side of things,” she said.

The creature rammed the entrance of the cave. Rocks fell from the ceiling and landed in the water. Arabella gave a short scream as she was splashed by boiling water. They went deeper into the cave.

“I am having trouble breathing,” she said.

“Look,” Stig said. “Look in the pool.”

In the middle of small cavern was a pool of muddy gray water. Arabella eyes watered from the fumes. A long stick was embedded in the middle of the pool. On top of the stick was a glowing blue crystal. Arabella leaned out over the pool and grabbed the stick. She pulled and gasped for breath. It did not budge. She pulled harder and the stick shifted. One more jerk pulled the thing free. She fell back against the wall with the stick clutched in both hands. Stig stared at her as she leaned there gasping for air.

“We have to go,” Stig said. “Now before we die.” Arabella nodded. Together they rushed out into the open. Stig spun around looking for the monster. He slowed and spun again. “Where’s the water?” he asked.

The only water to be found was the noxious water pouring from the cave still.

“I think this is a magic staff,” Arabella looked at the stick in her hands. “Do you think this thing created the river?”

“Possibly,” he said still looking around. “I think it might have created that monster.”

Stig’s fur stood on end and he stalked stiff legged over to the edge of where the island had ended. There was a gentle slope that led down towards a shallow valley. Arabella followed and then she saw a long slimy eel flopping in the wet grass. Its gills were flapping in distress. Stig growled and pounced on it.

“Stig, what are you doing?” she asked. Stig did not answer because his mouth was full of eel. “Oh don’t eat that. It might be poisonous.” The last of the eel slid down Stig’s throat. Arabella thought she was going to be sick.

“I don’t care,” he said. “It was going to eat us, so I’m just returning the favor.”

Arabella went to fetch the sack of supplies. Every muscle hurt and she coughed in spasms. She could still smell the sulfuric odor from the cave. She opened up the sack and discovered that all her clothing was wet. The sun was setting as well. Stars started filling the sky as the sun disappeared.

“Arabella,” Stig came over to her with a mouth full of fish. “It looks like that staff is the proof that someone is sabotaging us.” She nodded. “I still think it is your mother.”

“No,” Arabella said slowly studying the staff. “I do not recognize this staff. It is not hers. Besides, she is so powerful, she does not need a tool like this to do magic.”

“Oh,” he sat and cleaned the fish from between his claws. “You mean she can do magic like yours.”

“No,” Arabella said sounding shocked. “I mean she uses nothing but words to create her magic, each time I have done a spell I’ve used Denrisi’s crystal ball.”

“Are you sure about that?” he asked looking at her in the failing light.

“Yeah,” she looked doubtful. “I think so anyway.”

“Arabella,” a high voice said from the sky.

“Oh man,” Stig shook his head. “I was hoping the bear ate you!”

“He would have eaten you, but you taste too nasty,” Mavie said as she landed on Arabella’s shoulder.

“Oh Mavie,” Arabella said happily. “If you were big enough I would hug you.”

“Yuck, you’re all wet,” she ran her beak through Arabella’s hair beside her ear. “You need to get warm and dry. Come with me.”

Mavie darted back and forth through the air as Stig and Arabella followed her. They were heading to where the shore of the huge river would have been. From the top of a small rise, they spotted a fire burning invitingly.

“Wait,” Stig said. “We need to sneak up and see who that is.”

“No you don’t stupid, I know who it is,” Mavie said. “It is Prince Lann,” she shouted back over her shoulder at them.