Chapter 12: Disappointment

~~ Delta - July/Aug/02 - (Earth - Feb/2095) ~~

Jahn finally found the cavern entrance after three weeks (Utopian time) of walking and searching.

He had managed to find eggs, nuts, berries and some tuber roots, so he didn’t starve to death. He even managed on the third night to set some simple snares he remembered how to make and spell. He caught an animal he believed was related to the reptii back on Jahnville. It was the size of a small to a medium-sized dog but had hooves like a pig.

Since he had no difficulties lighting a fire with magic, he had feasted that night and felt his energies return. His head still hurt, and he was still limping from the deep cut on his leg. He was worried about it getting more infected and bathed it again finding it still had puss in it.

He had never been able to heal himself or anyone else for that matter. He packed up the last of the meat and put a preservation spell on it, so it would last him several days. He made sure he set his snares before curling up to sleep each night.

He had found the spare suit over his other suit in spite of its smell, came in handy at night, as it got frigid here in the higher altitude. The two space blankets helped as well. He found he was grateful to the soldier, as these few possessions had been invaluable after all.

Over the next couple of weeks, he had caught several animals that looked similar too and tasted like rabbit. They too helped him keep his energy up. He also found the raincoat helpful. It had rained for the last two days almost none stop.

There had been a huge storm the night before. It still hadn’t cleared off. He only established the reflection shield to keep off the rain when he had too. It took a lot of his energy to maintain it for extended periods.

The island was shaped like the South Island of New Zealand. However, it was twice as long. It was as mountainous, and it even had similar weather patterns in the northern part he was in.

The fog was one issue he had to deal with as it reduced visibility. He had also found there were some not so friendly animals on this island. Rah had, had a thing for predators if he remembered rightly. The only good thing about the rain was it smothered his trail.

He didn’t think the cat-like critter was still following him. It had scared the crap out of him that morning. He had gone to check his snares and found it helping itself to his breakfast. The damn thing was as big as an Alsatian dog with a longer body and tail. It had a typical cat-like face eyes and paws but huge teeth. It’s mottled grey, and black coat let it blend into the shadows.

He had also heard what he believed was a pack of wolves or dogs in the second week of his trek. He thought they sniffed after him for several days, but he hadn’t seen them. Again, he believed that the rain had been his friend in this regard.

On the fourteenth day, he found the remains of the village that Rah’s people must have built when he bought them here. Most of it was smashed rubble, but he found one of the stone huts that was still standing was liveable.

He had spent two days here getting his strength back. He even hit the beach and found several shellfish he could eat. His leg wound had opened again. He believed a piece of shrapnel was in his leg, but he didn’t have the tools to get it out. He had tried spells, but whatever it was, it resisted his efforts to dislodge it.

The wound would heal for a few days and then heat up, and he would have to try to clean the pus out again. He had found some herbs to help. But he knew it was getting worse.

Rested, he then started his slow and painful trek up the mountain to the cavern. He got there late on the sixteenth day. With much relief, he entered the cavern.

He found his way to the transportation chamber and was horrified by what he found. The platform that contained the ring was gone. The 6m area it had covered was now just a flat section of untiled floor.

When he examined it, he noticed there was little dust and realised it had only recently been removed. He screamed in rage, “That fucking bitch. That fucking bitch took it.”

The platform now resided in Clarksville in a special dome similar to the one Sean and Lee had designed for Sean’s family. They had sent the one that had been on Queland to Robert after Kyle had located it near Zan’s city.

Zan had said they could have it. The ring had been broken when the cavern it was in was affected by an Earthquake many years before. Lee had been able to repair it thanks to Rah’s books.

Still very upset, Jahn made his way to the main treasure cavern. The first thing he noticed was that there were no longer any spells on the room. His hopes plummeted.

He was not so surprised when he opened the door to find it was totally cleaned out. He looked at the tiled walls and around the empty chamber. Not one thing was in it. He slumped against the wall, devastated.

The day he had huddled under the ledge, Lee, Kyle, Tony and Sean cleaned the place out. Kyle had already moved some of the stuff to their hidden cavern on Watson Island. But with the help of the others, they made short work of shifting the rest. They also moved Lee’s treasures for good measure.

Jahn made camp in the main cavern and spent the next few days searching in case they hadn’t found everything Rah had hidden. The man had been very secretive and liked to hide all sorts of things.

He found two other caches, but they too were empty. Lee and Kyle had been very thorough in ferreting out Rah’s hidey-hole. They even found two more caches that Jahn didn’t.

He had been sitting defeated in front of his fire the next day when he heard noises from the tunnel. He stood and drew his staff and waited. Four men entered. Not one of them was shorter than 210cm. The tallest was 260cm.

They had the look of the people he knew of as Vikings, he thought. The tallest man had broad shoulders and narrow hips. His fine blonde hair was plated down his back, and he had a trimmed beard and moustache.

The next two tallest men at around 230cm had shocks of bright red hair. They sported long bushy moustaches but no beards on their chins or cheeks. They all had light coloured purple-tinged blue eyes.

The smallest man was also a redhead, but his hair was a dark auburn colour, and he had no facial hair. He also had the slighter build of the four and lovely eyes more purple than blue. Jahn suspected he had a generous dab of Genteli blood in his system and found the younger man very attractive.

Upon seeing him, they all bowed. “Master Mage, how may we help you?”

He had looked at them flabbergasted. Then he remembered Rah had decided to use the race of people who were often called the Giants for his guardians. Jahn had always suspected the people know as Vikings had Giant’s blood in their ancestry. Some of them had been as tall as these people were.

“I need to be taken to the hidden chamber my old Master Wizard Rah, left you to guard,” hoping beyond hope that they guarded a different chamber. Since the bitch had emptied this one and the Giants hadn’t stopped people entering it.