The Scrolls of Skava

Return to the Emerald Oracle - Part 6

     “What was the tale about?” asked Naomi excitedly.

     “An Oracle who would answer any question you asked it. Any question at all. The only thing is that, according to the story, everyone in the world only gets one question. You ask your one and only question, and after that it’ll ignore anything else you say to it.”

     “We’ll see if he can ignore this,” said Arroc, hefting his scimitar meaningfully.

     “Yes, it must be!” agreed Dennis, ignoring the trog. “It fits perfectly! The Oracle could have told the others where the Scrolls are.”

     “But why didn’t they want to tell us about it?” asked Naomi in a hurt tone of voice. “Why keep it a secret from us? I mean, we’re teammates.”

     “Maybe we’ll find out when we meet this Oracle chap,” suggested Dennis. “Come on, let’s find a way across.”

     They soon found out that getting to the island was more difficult than it sounded, though. Just like the Claimjumpers before them, they found the bridge and found to their dismay that it was guarded by a five headed monster the size of two fully grown elephants, and when they thought about swimming across the lake they found it full of flesh eating fish.

     “Okay,” said Dennis, scratching his head thoughtfully. “Any ideas?”

     They stood for a while, each of them looking at each of the others in turn. Each of them hoping they’d say something, that they'd have an idea, but the silence lasted for several minutes until Teasel was driven to speak just to break the tension. “Maybe if we distracted the fish...” She fell silent as she realised how ridiculous it sounded and dropped her eyes in embarrassment.

     Dennis looked at her with interest, though. “Distract them?” he said. “How?”

     Teasel was still too embarrassed to speak, but Naomi spoke instead. “They’re flesh eating fish, right? What if we threw one of the dead wolves into the water?”

     “We don’t know how many fish there are,” pointed out Arroc. “One dead wolf might only attract a few of them. And besides, it would mean going back to where the living wolves are. We were drassed lucky to get away from them last time.”

     The others knew he was right, but none of them could think of anything better. “We’ve only got two options,” said Dennis finally. “Get past the fish or get past that thing up there.” He cocked his thumb at the five headed monster, still standing on the bridge, staring at them with all ten eyes and rumbling deep in its chest; a sound that spoke directly to some deep, primeval part of their brains. “Any of you fancy your chances against him?”

     None of them did, so they looked back at the fish. “The wolves are scared of us now,” said Dennis. “Maybe we could just chase them away long enough to grab a dead wolf.”

     “Rather you than me,” said Arroc doubtfully.

     “I’ll need your help,” the soldier said, however. “I couldn’t do it alone, and Naomi’s in no condition to exert herself. We either try it or we camp down here and prepare to make it our home for the rest of our lives.”

     The trog gave a great sigh and looked up at the yellow sun, now almost directly overhead. They were running out of time. “Oh well, who wants ter live forever?” he growled.

     “Be careful!” warned Teasel, and Dennis smiled reassuringly at her as he and the trog headed back into the forest.

     They returned about an hour later with a dead butterfly wolf slung casually over Arroc’s shoulder. “No problem,” said Dennis triumphantly as they returned to the water’s edge. “They just backed away as we approached.” He glanced at the trog and tried to suppress a shudder of fear. They’d agreed, on the way back, not to tell the two woman how close they’d come to being torn to shreds as they’d tried to drive the wolves back, the carnivores being reluctant to abandon the only source of food they had on the island. No point in worrying them any more than they already were.