The Mistress of the Light

Balischo readily agreed. Gloria picked out one more piece of equipment from the stores. It was a small brown leather case, with three brass clasps that sealed it shut. Gloria placed it inside a saddlebag. Balischo looked at it, but did not say anything.

A couple of women at the station loaded some food into the saddlebags of the two horses. Balischo started to politely decline, but Gloria noticed and said, "Let them pack." The concept of servants, especially Aqualarian servants, doing something for him that he could well do himself, unsettled the Dunchovian. But the will of the sourceress overruled his qualms.

Gloria asked a question of one of the servants, who pointed down a street and appeared to be giving her directions to something. Gloria then motioned to Balischo to follow her.

Balischo looked at the buildings of the station. They did not seem as grand now that he had seen Themyscira, if only from a distance. She entered the place where he had seen the centurion and the mayor on the journey into Themyscira. The mayor was there. Gloria asked about the heptillions.

The mayor replied, "I do not know. We have heard about them, but the accounts are vague. It could be anything. Some people think that they are real, and are some sort of magic that the dragon used to prevent people from approaching the caves. I think that they probably are not real."

"How would you explain them?"

"You are supposed to be the expert!" said the mayor, in a friendly way. "But since you asked, it seems to me the descriptions of strange colour and vision could describe someone who was drunk, hungry, or tired."

"Madame, is there anyone here who has seen them?"

The mayor said, "Nobody goes out that far. Just the Dunchovians and maybe some of the more adventurous traders. Have you asked him?"

There was a moment of silence as Balischo expected Gloria to speak. As she did not, he said, "Madame, I personally have not seen it. The stories that I get are from others, who have heard about them."

The mayor said, "We get twice-told tales at the station as well. But I have yet to talk to anyone who claims to have seen him for his or herself."

Gloria appeared to be thinking. The mayor said, "Dame, do you think that there might be something to these tales?"

"There could be. Have these stories always been told, or did they start at a given point in time?"

The mayor said, "I have not paid it much attention, really. Tales like this have been told since I first came here."

Gloria then said, "Well, we do not have time to investigate." A man entered the room, and reported to the mayor.

One of our scouts has signalled that there appears to a band of Dunchovians camped out in the west. They had two fires burning.

"How many?"

"She could not tell from that distance, but she thought it was a large tribe. She thought anywhere from forty to one hundred."

"Balischo?"

"Two fires. It had to have been two tribes. But that never happens this time of year." He paused, and thought. "Unless they met up with the Red Boar Dunchovians. Yes, that would do it."

"So what has happened?"

"Normally we would never go through their hunting grounds, but it is possible that the tribes met by chance. If there are two fires, then something big is going on."

The mayor said, "There is not going to be trouble between the two tribes, is there?"

Balischo said, "I doubt it. More likely, some or all of the Red Boar tribe is going to ask to come along. Two fires is a sign of a council to determine what to do."

"That will slow them down, will it not?"

Balischo nodded his head, and said, "You are right. I had not thought about it, but everyone is going to want to tell the story of the stone woman and the marvellous visions. They probably have not moved much today."

Gloria said, "I was thinking more about the extra people slowing down the group going to the bridge. We might be able to catch up to them."

Balischo said, "I do not see how. I do not see them staying in camp long enough for us to catch up."

"If we sit here talking, we will not catch up. I think that I am ready to go. Lady Mayor, would you be able to keep some scouts out on the trail that leads toward the bridge? There might be some messages for you. I will use the mirror code. It will be in the key of five."

"I will make sure that this is done."

As the two left, Balischo asked, "If I may be so bold, what is the mirror code?"

"It is exactly what it sounds like. We will use a mirror to reflect light back toward the station. I will move the mirror to flash out a series of long and short dots that match letters of our alphabet."

"So is the key in the brown case that you packed?"

Gloria laughed. "You are far off. The key is a change we make to the message. What we do is change the usual letters to the code, so that it is harder to read. A key of five is the way we make that change."

"But we will be far outside of the distance light from a shiny mirror can go. It spreads out pretty fast."

"We Aqualarians know a few tricks to make the light go farther - and the message to go much farther." She changed the subject. "Now, as to the brown case - there are no keys there. But there are some magical items in there. You just have to know how to put them together. But let us ride out, and think while we are riding."

1. Back at the camp of the Dunchovians ....
2. Gloria and Balischo set out.
3. Elsewhere....

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