The wind runner book 10.., p.32
The Wind Runner: Book 10 (The Wandering Inn), page 32
“They’re Italian. They were on a tour or something—only one of them can speak English well—and they just appeared here. This is Lorenzo, Diana, and Nicoletta—”
“Nicoletta.”
The last girl introduced herself. She was around Blake’s age, possibly not even twenty yet. No—definitely around nineteen, the both of them. Daly hesitated. Now what was the best move?
Siri made it for him. She reached out and offered a hand.
“Siri. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Salve. My name is Nicoletta. I’m from Italy. You’re—from Earth?”
She spoke in halting English, partially fragmented. Lorenzo and Diana watched her, and Daly saw their eyes flickering from him to Dawson.
They didn’t understand English. Well, no wonder they’d had a terrible time of it. Daly hesitated, then he offered his hand. Lorenzo was the first to shake it. The Italians shook hands and repeated the same question, even if it was condensed to one word.
“Earth? Earth?”
And Daly nodded. He repeated himself.
“Earth. Australians. Friends.”
The relief in their eyes was palpable. Daly looked at Blake. The New Zealander was eying him and then the Centaurs.
“Are those—”
“Centaurs. Yeah. They’re pulling our wagon. We should pile in—this place isn’t entirely safe.”
“It’s not. There were these little spiders in one of the houses—wait, you said go with them? In the wagon?”
Blake looked uncertain. Nicoletta, who was whispering to the others, translated, and they drew back. Daly hesitated.
“They’re friendly. They’re Centaurs. You know—”
He had no idea how common Centaurs were in Italian folklore, but popular culture was popular culture. That didn’t seem to be the problem though. Nicoletta shuddered and backed up. Blake hesitated.
“We met Centaurs that—is that why you’re armed?”
“No. To fight monsters. We’re adventurers.”
“Adventurers?”
Every second seemed to be confusing the Earthworlders more and more. Daly hesitated. They had a lot to explain, but right now wasn’t the time. Pihava was pawing the ground with one hoof, clearly impatient. Nicoletta turned to Daly as he was trying to figure out how to reassure them.
“You’re—from Earth? You know how to get back?”
He met her eyes. They were desperate. Afraid. She looked at him with wild hope. As one lost, frightened person did to another. But—Daly wondered if that was how he’d looked at first. Afraid. Terrified, in fact. But with a core of something in her eyes. Determination. The will to survive. Slowly, he shook his head.
“No. We don’t. We’re lost. Like you. But now—”
He reached out. Nicoletta took his hand. Daly spoke quietly.
“We’ve got you. We’ll protect you. We’re not alone. We are part of the United Nations company.”
Nicoletta jumped when she heard the words. Blake opened his mouth, his eyes wide. Daly looked at them. He pointed down the hill.
“Come with us. You’re safe now.”
And he knew that was the right thing to say.
——
“Another world.”
That was all Blake said when they were loaded on the wagon and driving away from the village. It had taken time, twenty minutes in fact, to get the others to approach the Centaurs and into the wagon. But now they were driving back down the way they’d come. Pihava and Bault were pulling the wagon quickly despite the new passengers. Once in a while, they’d glance backwards to stare at the Humans. When they did, the Italians and Blake would flinch.
They’d had a nightmarish time of it. Blake explained in a shuddering voice as they drove. He couldn’t take his eyes off the Centaur until Siri fished out some travel rations and handed them around. The hard, dry meat was salty, a miserable meal. But the other Earthworlders tore into it ravenously. Daly brought out his water and found they were dehydrated as well.
“We didn’t know where to get safe water. There was a stream—but we’ve barely been able to start a fire. We couldn’t find firewood, and none of us had anything useful on us—and there are things out there. In the jungle.”
Blake shuddered as he wiped his mouth. His hand was shaking as he reached for more travel jerky and crammed it into his mouth. Daly squatted next to him, too restless to sit properly on the moving wagon.
“Tell me about it.”
He saw the Earthworlders look around at each other. Daly understood the feeling. How could you explain the shock of it? The sense of being in another world, the confirmation of that reality? But they weren’t describing anything unknown to the others. Blake spoke, coughing on another mouthful of water.
“The first day—I thought I was losing my mind. I was playing rugby with some friends. I went to grab the ball and I landed…”
In another world. In the water, in fact. Blake was so shocked that he just stood there in the waist-deep pool. That was, until something started biting him. He looked down, felt a searing pain, and then ran for the shore. In that time, he picked up three leeches and the fish took two more bites out of his legs. He still had scars. And when he ran into the group of Italians, they nearly attacked him, bleeding and terrified as he was.
Nicoletta, Lorenzo, and Diana had all been riding a crowded bus when they’d passed through a tunnel and found themselves standing in the middle of a forest. It hadn’t just been three of them. There had been eight. Plus a pair of two confused people. From…
“We think they were from Venezuela. I think that’s what they were saying. But they were speaking Spanish, and none of us…”
The initial confusion of what had happened led to an immediate need to get their bearing. To survive. And at first, they’d managed it. A pocket lighter, meant for cigarettes, some branches—they’d even gone back to the pool and collected some water to boil. They’d gotten that far. But after that—
“The first night, they got us.”
That was all Blake said. He turned dead white and couldn’t go on. Neither could Nicoletta. Daly didn’t press them.
Something had happened. After that, the four survivors had fled. They’d hidden from civilization, foraged, kept away from the roads and all species they’d encountered, and eventually ended up at the village. That’s where they’d stayed until Daly and the others had found them.
“How long was it?”
“Three weeks?”
Daly exchanged a glance with Dawson and Siri. Three weeks? Blake wasn’t sure, but even if he was off by a few days, the timing didn’t match up with anyone else. Were people still coming over from Earth? It was a question for later, though. Because Blake and the others had thousands of their own.
“This is another world, isn’t it?”
“Yep.”
“And those are—”
“Centaurs, mate. Centaurs. They live on this continent. We’re on Baleros. It’s inhabited by Centaurs, Lizardfolk, Dullahans…”
Blake stared at Daly as if the Australian were mad. Daly had to admit it was a far-fetched tale. But the only way he could put it was like that.
“This is a fantasy world, Blake. Right out of a story. There’s magic and shit and monsters too.”
“Magic? Now you’re kidding me—”
Siri had to cast a [Light] spell to show them. When she did that, Lorenzo nearly scrambled out of the wagon. Daly gave them the quick rundown, pausing to let Nicoletta translate—or try.
“Everyone here speaks English. Just English. I don’t know why, but it’s universal.”
“That’s not right.”
Blake frowned. Daly shrugged. It was convenient—until you remembered that Ken, Kirana, and everyone else who came from a country that didn’t have English as a native language was screwed. It was probably why they’d found so few people who didn’t speak English alive.
“We’ll give you the full story later. The important thing to remember is that you’re safe. We call ourselves the United Nations company. To let everyone know we’re from Earth. And there are more of us. You’ll get food and we’ll give you a checkup back at base.”
“Safety.”
Blake breathed the words. Dawson grinned.
“What, you think we’d abandon someone from Earth? We’ve got you. Aussies and kiwis got to stick together, right?”
“Your countries are right next to each other, right?”
Siri looked at Daly for confirmation. He nodded.
“We’re close by. But totally different. You know, Australia and New Zealand have different cultures, so we make fun of each other. We have different words, different accents—”
“Ours are better.”
Blake grinned faintly as the two gently ribbed him. Siri looked between the three.
“You both sound pretty much the same to me.”
Daly, Dawson, and Blake all glared at Siri. She shrugged completely unapologetically. She looked over at Nicoletta.
“More food?”
The girl nodded. Siri fished out a nali-stick and showed them how to eat it. Blake sat back as she offered him a piece. He chewed, and his eyes opened wide.
“Sweet!”
“It’s sugarcane. Or something like it.”
“God, I’m so hungry. And this is so—”
Blake started choking up. Dawson looked the other way, but Daly grabbed Blake’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry. Just relax.”
The younger man nodded. It was at this point that Bault looked backwards. He cleared his throat.
“Sorry, we can’t help but overhear some of that. Are these Humans—friends?”
Daly looked up. He cursed as he realized the Centaurs had probably heard the stuff about this being another world. Or not—they’d been talking quietly up till now. Either way, he could only roll with it.
“That’s right. They’re from the same place. Civilians. Not warriors. They landed in the jungle. Blake here landed knee-deep in a pool with a piranha and leeches or something.”
“That’s awful.”
Pihava looked over her shoulder and gave Blake a sympathetic glance. He tensed up and then slowly waved a hand. The Centauress looked at Daly.
“Is that why your company put out a bounty for any strange Humans?”
Daly nodded.
“We don’t know what hit us. Teleportation spell, maybe. We’re looking for anyone else who’s out of place.”
The two Centaurs exchanged a long glance. Bault coughed.
“I didn’t know that. I just heard there was a bounty. Tell you what, if we hear of anything, we’ll bring news of it your way, okay? Free of charge.”
“And you can hire us. Ask by name. We know all the roads around here.”
Pihava tossed her head and gave them a nod. Daly smiled.
“That’s very kind of you. But if you could keep what you heard a secret, that’d do us even more of a favor.”
“Of course. But we will tell everyone at the Guild you’re looking. Dead gods, a teleportation spell? You should get the Adventurer’s Guild to put out an all-alert.”
Daly blinked.
“You think they would?”
“Of course! If there are Humans wandering around with no idea of the dangers—these ones are lucky to have survived this long! We’ll get you back to the city. Come on, Bault.”
The wagon noticeably picked up in speed. The Earthworlders stared at the Centaurs’ backs. Lorenzo whispered something to Nicoletta. She spoke up.
“They’re nice? Not…monsters?”
Both Centaurs stiffened. Daly bit his tongue. Pihava looked back with a glare that made Nicoletta flinch.
“We’re not monsters.”
Daly held up a hand and waved it.
“They’ve never seen Centaurs before. Not Lizardfolk or Dullahans either. Just Humans. They’re far from home.”
“Terandrians.”
Bault snorted. But the Centaurs relaxed ever-so-slightly. And they kept moving, fast enough to be back in Talenqual much faster than they’d spent going. They made their way through the gates as the Bushrangers did their best to keep the other Earthworlders from freaking out at the sight of all the Lizardfolk, Dullahans, and Centaurs. It seemed the Centaurs bothered them the most—the Dullahans made them nervous, but not in the same way. The Lizardfolk were just…strange.
“Here’s our stop. It’s not much, but it’s filled with people from Earth. Go on, Siri will lead you inside. Dawson? Do a runner and tell everyone what’s up.”
“You got it.”
Dawson and Siri hopped out. Daly jogged around the wagon as they helped Blake and the others to the ground. He looked up at the Centaurs, who were panting.
“You two did a fantastic job. I’ll say as much next time I’m in the Runner’s Guild. Here.”
He reached into his belt pouch and offered both Centaurs a gold coin. They eyed it appreciatively. It was a generous tip, but they’d run fast and far and Daly was paying for the insult and goodwill.
“It was nothing. Like we said, we’ll spread the word. Call on us.”
“Absolutely.”
Daly promised and meant it. The Centaurs took off, dragging the wagon back towards the Runner’s Guild, done for the day. It was early evening now, and Daly headed straight into the apartments. He heard a commotion, then opened the door and saw Kirana hugging Nicoletta, and more of the Earthworlders in the United Nations company surrounded the overwhelmed group.
“Hey! Come on! Clear a space! Let me introduce them!”
Daly raised his voice. He gestured to the group and spoke to Blake.
“This here’s the headquarters of our group of refugees from Earth. Let me introduce you. Take a seat here—hey, they’re thirsty and hungry. Do we have food…?”
One of the Indian girls, Priya, rushed into the kitchen and came out with food. The still-hungry Italians and Blake set to as Daly pointed around the room.
“Let’s see. This is Kirana, Priya, um—”
“Amoli.”
Daly turned red as it transpired that he didn’t know all the names. They introduced themselves, talking in slow English while the others volunteered their names. Daly heard a clatter down the stairs and looked up. Paige stopped on the stairs, staring.
“Hey, Paige! You’ll never guess who dropped in! Someone from fucking New Zealand of all the luck!”
The Australian girl stared at Blake and then descended slowly. The first thing she did was give him a hug, which made Daly embarrassed for the ribbing. He coughed.
“Paige is the one who holds down the fort while we’re all away. You could say she’s the boss around here.”
Paige gave Daly a look, and he went on.
“But our real leaders are all out. There’s about forty of us—but we have two guys and a girl who are pretty much running the show. Ken, Luan, and Geneva. And Aiko?”
“Are they adventurers? Like you?”
Blake pointed at Daly’s axe. Daly shook his head, grinning ruefully.
“Better. Ken’s a [Negotiator]. You got classes, so you know what I mean. He and Aiko—she’s Japanese too—they’re always with Geneva. He talks to people, gets them to let her work in peace. Aiko’s Geneva’s number one assistant.”
Besides Okasha. And no one was allowed to know about her. Then Daly realized he hadn’t said what Geneva did.
“Geneva’s a [Doctor].”
The word made all of the new Earthworlders look up. Diana urgently tugged on Nicoletta’s arm. She’d been swaying in the wagon, and Lorenzo had been helping her move about. Nicoletta looked up.
“Is she here? Diana is sick.”
Half of the people at the table drew back. Nicoletta waved a hand.
“No, no. It’s—”
She looked at Blake. He looked grave.
“Diabetes. She’s out of insulin, and we—”
“Kirana! Grab us that kit!”
He jumped as both Paige and Daly turned and shouted. Kirana was already grabbing for a bottle. She pressed it on Diana, and they rushed to explain what it was. The girl took a sip of the stamina potion after staring at it for a second. Then she gasped, and color flooded into her face. Daly took off and left the apartment to run and find the other person with diabetes—Filip, of Poland. He was working as a [Scribe], but he repeated Geneva’s instructions, and Daly came back, huffing and puffing, to find that Paige had already found the hand-written instructions.
They were explaining more about Baleros and this world to the Italians, filling in the gaps that they’d guessed at. It turned out that the announcements in their head were a universal language, so the [Scavenger], [Survivalist], and [Skulker] classes they’d received were all familiar to them.
“We’re all working to survive here. The other species are different—but they are people. You can work and earn money, like everywhere. That’s why so many are out right now. Working. Ken and Geneva and Aiko will be back tomorrow morning.”
“And she is a [Doctor]?”
“That’s right. She doesn’t have her tools, but she studied medicine, and she’s the best we’ve got. Her and Luan are the oldest. He’s a Runner.”
Then they had to explain what Runners were. And adventurers again. Daly corrected himself as he sat at the table, drinking some of the sugar water that came from boiling water with nali-sticks.
“City Runner. Well, I say ‘Runner’, but he only operates on the water. He’s a kayak—sorry, a rower. Nothing to do with kayaks. And he’s an Olympian, a professional athlete.”
“He never actually competed.”
Paige demurred. Daly snorted.
“But he’s on the South African team.”
“An athlete? He must be insane on the water.”
Blake looked up. Daly grinned.
“Fast as fuck. When he gets back, you’ve got to watch him zip around. He can move faster in that canoe than I can run. Way faster with Skills.”
It was scary, really. But hearing about Luan was reassuring, as if someone who would have gone to the summer Olympics conveyed more safety. The Italians were relaxing by the time Nicoletta asked about the name.
“Why United Nations company?”
They’d understood that, but not the reason the Earthworlders had rallied around the name. Daly gave them a wry smile.
