Chapter 67:

Black Tokens

Ballad of the Bard


Words were shouted in Dryadic and stirred Bard. Trees were on fire around them, which alerted Bard that something was completely wrong. The heat was growing as well.

“Get him out of here!” someone shouted as Bard began to rouse. Sen grabbed his hand.

“Sen?”

“I’m sorry,” she said as she deftly tied down his hands and put them in the straps. She then grabbed his tokens and he craned his neck to see a lack of kids around them. “Now Kai!” She shouted. Bard hadn’t even realized they were really moving until he felt them veer to the lake. The fires were moving in a different direction, and Bard heard screams and shouts.

“Sen! The dryads, the trees!” he shouted as Kai jumped into the lake, Sen standing high and swinging their tokens around.

“It’s too late. They’ll have to make their own way!” Sen shouted. “Some of the trees are on fire to keep the shades at bay. They’re going to make a run for it.”

“That wasn’t the plan!” Bard shouted angrily. “Kai!” He wrested one hand free. Kai continued to swim as Bard struggled. He looked back to see the trees ablaze. The ones on fire, confronted the shades and burned their green tops. More screams were heard from the shades and what Bard thought was the Dryads as they continued along the lake edge. The shade trees were held back by the blaze, and Bard watched till his sight was blocked by shades that swarmed around them. The water churned and a bit of the glow of the fire was seen from the growing pillar of smoke.

Sen crawled back to him and Bard saw her tear streaked face. On her arm was a bit of blood, and his stomach churned at the sight. Bard bit his lip. How much had he slept through?

“This was the best we could do to help,” Sen said softly as she helped him unfasten his bindings and pulled him higher up Kai’s back. “If we split their attention and brought as many of the lake shades away from them, then they could use less trees to keep them at bay…” Sen said as more tears spilled down her cheeks. She hastily wiped them away and began to move the tokens around again. Bard looked back at the retreating shades. They had gotten close. Too close. Kai continued to swim as the sounds of the fire grew distant. Bard prayed that the dryads would make it out alive. The group was larger than those from the Silver woods, but that meant the damage could be catastrophic.

The suns began to rise as they continued to swim, and Kai seemed to be getting more tired. Bard watched the shades disappear into the lake’s surface, and far out in the distance he could see the orange glow of the fire and the huge pillar of smoke that grew wider and wider.

“Sen, help me for a second,” he said as he clambered around. He grabbed some canvas and freed it from its casing. He then tied the end tightly and gathered the other end together. With Sen’s help, they gathered in air and then tied it off. Sen couldn’t see the point to this until he set it on the water. It somewhat floated now, and that was weight Kai didn’t have to carry. They found more creative ways to lighten Kai’s load, and then Bard jumped into the lake and swam next to Kai. With the sun out, it was hard for the shades to come near them. But when Bard looked into the cold depths, he could see them swirling below, their eyes watching, following their movements. Sen also swam, eventually floating along on her back. Eventually, Bard resorted to floating until they were too tired and climbed onto Kai. Kai was nearly floating himself at this point. Bard brought some of the wood they carried and tied it together, creating a sudo raft. He placed it under Kai’s head so he had something to rest on and to help prevent him from drowning. With no end to the lake in sight, this would be a long swim.

Kai kept swimming into the night, and they barely saw the opposite shore. It would still take a while to reach, but the more concerning issue was if there were shaded trees over there. They were on their own again, and he had seen how hard it had been to keep them away. Bard took another turn swimming as he mulled things over in his head.

“Think we’ll see any shades?” Sen asked, as their vision was obscured by the hordes.

“The ones around us?” Bard asked, shifting to his back.

“I meant on the shore!” she growled.

“Even if they are there, we’ll take a small part and make camp. Kai won’t last much longer, and we need to eat and rest as well,” Bard said, ending the discussion. He floated along, allowing Kai’s current to help carry him further.

“But Bard,” Sen groaned.

“If we worry now, then we will wear ourselves out further. We can, however, make simple plans of what we can do once we are at shore,” Bard said. “Prepare our minds, if you can understand.” Sen’s reply was not forthcoming. Instead, he heard a splash and straightened up. Sen wasn’t on this side, so she must have jumped off on the other side. He quickly returned to floating and kicked off to catch back up to Kai.

They reached the shore as the suns began to appear. Kai barely was able to bring himself in as the shore becoming shallow quite a ways out. The trees here seemed sporadically shaded, mostly to the east and north.

Despite wanting to get ahead of the shades and their attacks, Bard made camp and placed the sunstones out to absorb the sunlight. He then made camp and began to cook, then something warm and easy to eat. He himself was worn out. That was far too long of a swim and so underprepared. If not for Kai, he doubted they would have made it.

They rested at that beach for the next few days, keeping the shades away. Each day, more trees shaded, but they seemed more like the completely shaded trees that had to intersperse instead of the ones they faced in the middle of the narrow lands. Bard dried out their things as well, making sure that they dried themselves as well so they wouldn’t get sick.

As he looked out at the smoke, he felt a bit depressed. He had hoped to get them to safety. But he had driven them into more of a corner. If only he hadn’t been put to sleep. Then he could have played and kept them away. Bard shook his head. He had been up a full day at that point. One wrong note and he could have caused the same outcome.

He watched the smoke move until his eyes wouldn’t stay open. They weren’t in too much danger right then, so it was fine to rest for a bit. Right?

“Bard wake up. It’s time to go,” Sen said, shaking his shoulder over and over again. He roused and noticed the suns had moved. “Have a nice nap?” Sen asked, and he blinked a few times before nodding slowly.

“Well, we need to get going. The shades are on the move and this is the last day I feel comfortable waiting,” She said as she indicated to the woods. Just the west side was still doing alright against the shading. If they waited much longer, they could get trapped here. As he helped pack their things, Sen continued like normal. But for Bard, he felt slow and heavy. He averted his eyes from the smoke, a reminder of their failure. Sen slowly kept him moving. Eventually they climbed on Kai and took off, keeping to the shore while they moved. Eventually the lake changed direction, heading south, so they took into the woods again. The lack of Shades felt so weird now.

As they made camp for the night, he heard a crack and the humming of the tokens stopped briefly.

Bard quickly reached for them and felt time stop. One token turned black, just like the Dryad shade’s. As he looked over the tokens, he realized this one belonged to Life, and his heart paused. Without much time to process it, the token belonging to Preparation began to crack and turn black.

A hand on his shoulder woke him from this nightmare unfolding before his eyes. He turned to see Sen, looking at him worriedly. He closed his eyes and pulled the tokens those two had entrusted to him for her. They, too, were black, another confirmation. Sen looked worried as she pulled at his fingers, seeing the black.

“Were those for me?” she asked as she looked at the other two tokens. Bard nodded and handed them to her.

“I… I’m sorry. I need some space,” Bard said before turning and leaving.