Chapter 23
ONE CANNOT SHEAR A NAKED SHEEP
Not wanting to waste a single moment, Danik and Veru set about the first task immediately. Taking the wooden cup, the list of instructions, and their bags, they headed out to the summer porch in search of the white knight. They didn’t have to look long before they came upon him.
“Let me see this list,” he said. “Ah, it’s as I feared. She’s given you tasks impossible to accomplish.”
“But are they truly?” Veru asked. “Just show us where the water is found, and we’ll take it from there.”
“That’s the problem. My emblem is the dawn.
The water she’s referring to is the place where the sun crests upon the water at daybreak.
That could be any place around the world at any time, for the sun casts its light upon the water for but an instant.
I fear by the time you traveled to any one location, it would have moved on to the next one, and so forth.
It would take you eons to fill the barrel, if you even could. ”
Zarya took the cup and dipped it into the well, then lifted it to his mouth to drink. Tiny, unseen holes at the bottom of the wooden mug dribbled water over his hands and breastplate quickly enough that by the time he pressed the edge to his lips there was nothing left inside but a few drops.
“See here? The cup is riddled with tiny slits. She’s made certain you will fail.”
He handed the container back to Danik, who tried his luck. Just as with the knight, water streamed out the bottom in thin rivulets. “Deceitful old woman,” he said, watching as the contents quickly drained before his eyes.
“Yes,” Veru said. “She’s a crafty one.” Pacing, Veru clasped her hands behind her back and bit her lip.
“You have an idea,” Danik said.
“Maybe.” She turned to Zarya. “There isn’t a certain place where your emblem rises, then? Nothing in particular she’s referring to?”
“I wouldn’t think so. It could be a stream, an ocean, a lake, anything really.”
“Right. So long as it’s water.” Veru stopped.
“Her instructions specifically say to take the cup and dip it into the water, then fill the barrel. It doesn’t say we have to use the cup to fill the barrel.
It also doesn’t stipulate that the barrel cannot be moved.
So, here’s what I’m thinking: We bring the barrel with us, find a stream or a lake that the rising sun will touch, dip the cup, then fill the barrel using whatever means we can, and bring it back. Will that work?”
The knight pulled off his helmet and rubbed his jaw. “The fastest way to find the dawn would be to use my mirror. It’s how I make my way home when I must replenish my energy.”
“Your mirror?”
“Yes. It’s how I traverse realms quickly to serve the needs of my mistress.
When I cast my mirror down, it becomes a body of water near a distant shore where she wishes me to go.
Most every town and city are built near water.
I simply state my destination, then I wait for dawn’s light to create a passage between.
“You see, my horse travels along daybreak’s band of light. But without my armor, I fear the fiery rays would burn your fair skin and leave you blind. I dare not expose you to that danger. Only the magic binding us to this servitude protects us from harm.”
“I’m not giving up,” Veru said. “If we can accomplish her tasks, then you and your brothers are to be freed as well.”
“Though I am grateful for your kindness in thinking of us, it is likely your generosity that has caused her to create tasks that are so very difficult. I fear the two of you are doomed along with us to continue on in this half-life until you pass from this mortal realm.”
“Not if there’s a breath left in my body,” Veru vowed.
“What about your cloak?” Danik asked, interrupting.
“My cloak?”
“Yes. I’d assume your clothing helps protect you. Do you need your cloak?”
“I’ve never tried moving between places without it.”
“What if we used it to shield something? Have you ever brought items with you across the divide?”
“Yes. Now that you mention it, I have fetched ingredients for her various potions from distant places. They haven’t burned up. But she always lent me her stone dish to carry them in.”
“You mean the big one?” Veru asked. “The one she rides in?”
“No. A smaller vessel. It has a handle I can lash to my saddle.”
Danik disappeared into the house and returned with a smaller version of the stone pot. “Is this what you’re talking about?”
“Yes. That’s the one.”
Examining the vessel, Danik said, “It’s been fired. Something made of wood might burn. What we need is a wheeled cart made of stone, something small and not so heavy that your horse can’t pull it, but large enough to fit me and the barrel.”
“I believe I understand what you intend,” the knight said. “Remain here. I know of a place where such things are made.”
Climbing on his horse, he rode around the house and disappeared. Within the span of just a few moments, they heard a heavy thump. There was a neigh accompanied by the crack of thunder and lightning. The white horse turned the corner, rolling its eyes and shooting golden flames from its mouth.
Attached behind him was a heavy chariot that looked as if it had been carved from the most exquisite, flawless white marble. Every part of it—from the spokes to the axle to the shaft—was made of stone.
Danik ran his hand over it. “It’s beautiful!” he said. “Are you certain she can pull it?”
“Over land it would be difficult, but on the dawn highway, she will draw energy from the sky. We become weightless. You will see.”
“But won’t we still burn in the back?” Veru asked.
Shaking his head, Danik said, “I’m thinking you ride inside the barrel for protection, and we’ll use the cloak as a cover to shield our heads. Do you think it will work?”
The knight considered and replied, “As long as the two of you keep your eyes tightly closed when we are traveling along the dawn road. Make certain your limbs are well hidden so you won’t be burned.
I feel I must warn you though: I have never brought back a living thing without a lid covering the stone basin. I fear for your lives.”
Veru and Danik looked at one another and then nodded. Veru said, “We would rather risk our lives trying than end up in servitude.”
The knight let out a small sigh, then moved to help Danik lift the barrel into the back of the chariot.
When it was tightly secured, bound with strong ropes tied to inner hooks of marble, Veru climbed inside, and the lid was placed on top.
After the cloak was tied down as well, they were told to make ready, and it seemed like only a moment before Veru felt her entire body lift into the air.
She heard the hiss of something sizzling, and there was an intense heat.
The knight warned them to close their eyes, and even through her closed lids, there was a brightness like nothing she’d ever seen before. Then a jolt that made her bite down on her tongue and bang her head against the inside of the dank barrel. The bright light dimmed and then vanished.
“You can open your eyes now!” shouted the knight. “Dawn approaches quickly.”
The top of the barrel was removed, and Danik lifted her out, then they rolled the barrel out of the chariot. They crouched down beside a quiet lake, the trees around it white with snow. Veru paused above the water with the mug, ready to dip, watching the knight for his signal.
He lifted his gloved hand. “Wait,” he said. “Wait for it. It’s coming. Almost . . .” Then he pointed his finger. “Now!”
She dipped her cup just as the dawn broke over the water, the rosy golden light kissing the lapping waves as they filled the cup.
Veru placed her hand over the bottom to contain as much of the liquid as she could and then unceremoniously dumped the contents into the barrel.
It was a pathetic start, and she knew at that rate it would take weeks, if not months, to fill the entire thing.
It didn’t matter, though, because then the knight and Danik lifted the barrel and dunked it into the lake, filling it completely before capping it.
When they rolled it out, they waited a moment to make certain the barrel was watertight before positioning it onto the chariot, then they secured it again, preparing for the return.
The problem they hadn’t considered was how tight the trip home was going to be now that the barrel was filled with water.
“We could make two trips,” Danik suggested. “You go first, Veru, and then he can come back and pick me up later.”
“That would work,” the knight said, “but dawn is fleeting. The time draws to a close even now. If we don’t leave within a few moments, I fear we will be stuck in this place for another day.”
Veru held out a hand. “Come on, Danik. We’ll make do. I’m not leaving you here that long. I’ll just sit on your lap.”
Danik’s expression became unreadable, but he stalked forward and climbed into the chariot, scooting as far into the back as he could, then pulled his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around them.
Veru rolled her eyes. “That’s not going to work. Relax your knees, open your arms. You’re going to have to hold on to me.”
She climbed into the chariot, positioning herself on his lap, elbowing him when he sat so stiffly she was uncomfortable. “Relax! Would you? I’m not going to bite you. Neveroyatno. Put your arms around my waist. Tighter. I’m going to fall out if you don’t hold on to me. That’s better.”
“Are you settled, then, my lady?” the knight asked.
“We are,” Veru answered. “Please take us home.”