Into Darkness

58

Richard watched as a few dozen or so of the Glee waded through the swampy water, bending down and pulling up water weeds here and there. As they collected it, they threw their loads on the bank beside the pile of float weed.

While they were doing that, he directed others to collect more of the float weed and an even bigger pile of flutter weed. They had no idea why he wanted them to do it, and he knew that they possibly thought he was crazy, but as he and Vika watched, they all went along with his odd request and collected the water plants. As they worked, the piles grew quite large. Every time they asked if they had gathered enough, he had them continue adding more to the piles.

As the Glee brought ever more of the water weed up onto the bank, Richard finally squatted down and pulled some of the scrum plants from the pile. The plant was tough and fibrous, and almost transparent. The broad, flat blades were almost as wide as his fingers would be if he spread them all the way out. Each piece was longer than he was tall, and a relatively uniform width.

The most remarkable thing about it, though, was how slimy the long blades were. If he pulled one through his fingers, he could collect globs of the sticky, gelatinous coating. The broad leaves themselves remained quite slimy despite some of the coating being removed.

The other plant, the float weed, had groups of nodules that apparently caused the ends of the plant to float, probably so that they could reach up to get more sun. Below the nodules, the broad blades of the plant were almost as wide as the scrum, but it was only slightly slimy, as was any plant growing in water, and the leaf texture was thick and strong. It was hard to tear.

The flutter weed was similar to the float weed, but without the nodules and even more flexible. Both sides of the broad blades were wavy, but they were pliable enough that they could easily be flattened out.

Richard looked up at the puzzled Glee watching him. “I need the help of one of you so I can demonstrate what we are going to do.”

Looking around at the others and not seeing any more volunteers, one of the Glee finally stepped forward. “I am Iben, Lord Rahl. I will help you. What would you like me to do?”

Richard stood, bringing up a bundle of scrum plants in one hand. “I would like you to simply stand there so I can demonstrate to everyone that it is possible to protect yourselves so that you can survive a good long time in any dry land.”

Iben shared a look with Sang before finally coming up to stand in front of Richard. Richard immediately began layering the slimy scrum plants over and around Iben’s body. Next he wrapped his arms and legs with lengths of the wet, slippery plant. He draped some over Iben’s large, black head and around his chin and then around his neck. He directed the others watching to pay attention as he explained how to lay down the strands to weave the long plants together in order to give them more strength together and hold them in place.

All the Glee watching were fascinated. Richard thought that since they so enjoyed being wet, this must be something that felt luxurious to them. A few of the Glee stepped up to help by smoothing down the scrum in a few places or filling in missing spots. As they did, Iben made a low, guttural, cooing sound.

“Now,” Richard told his eager audience, “over the top of the scrum, we are going to do the same thing with the float and flutter weed. On the flutter weed, pull off the round nodules, like this. We don’t want that part of the plant. We only want the long, broad parts.”

When he did, several of the Glee scooped up the discarded nodules and tossed them in their mouths. He could hear them softly pop as the Glee chewed them.

As they watched, Richard began covering Iben in the same way he had done with the scrum plants, but this time covering it over with the thicker types of water weeds. He wove the layers together so that they had strength in all directions.

“How does this feel, Iben?” he asked.

“Actually, quite wonderfully wet.”

“Good. Now, walk around to make sure it stays put.”

Another Glee called out for them to wait. Soon, it brought long, thin, flexible vines out of the water. They were about as thick as string, but stronger.

“Use this,” the Glee said. “Put it around and around to help hold the scrum, flutter weed, and float weed in place.”

Together Richard and the one who had brought the vine used it to quickly weave a net of sorts to help hold the water weeds down on Iben. Richard remembered quite well how the gelatinous material always slid off the Glee when they arrived in his world. Now the flutter and float weed, layered over scrum, kept the slime against Iben’s skin so it couldn’t slide off.

Richard gestured. “Move around. Run and bend.” Iben hopped about, following the instructions. “See how well it stays in place?”

Iben demonstrated his new suit of water weed to the others, walking among them so they could inspect it. It worked better than Richard had dared hope.

“Now, I want all of you to do the same thing with each other. Put the scrum on first, as I showed you, and then the other weeds over the top both to hold it in place and to keep it from drying out. This way, even if the top layers of flutter weed dry out, it won’t matter because underneath it will still be wet and comfortable.”

The Glee were all eager to try both being the one wrapped and the one doing the wrapping. It almost seemed a game to them, something new and unheard of. They cooed excitedly.

With an eye to the sky, keeping track of the day and how much time they had before dark, Richard saw that the afternoon was wearing on. He urged them to hurry. If Sang’s map was at all accurate, it was a long journey across the drylands, and Richard wanted to arrive at the enemy camp while they were still asleep.

It never ceased to surprise him just how much dexterity the Glee actually had with their big claws. They could pinch the first two on one hand together to hold things, much like fingers. Of course, without thumbs, it was still somewhat difficult, but they managed and were obviously good at it. In fact, maybe because they were used to handling the water weeds, they were faster at it than Richard had been. Along the way, they perfected the weaving technique, making the suits of water weed fit snugly yet still allow them freedom to move.

As they worked at wrapping each other, more of the Glee collected the water plants needed. Before long they had an entire trade in full swing. The Glee found the wrapping exciting and interesting. None voiced any complaints. He knew that when they came to his world, if they became too dry, they could always activate their lifeline and return to their own wet world. Out in the drylands, they would not have that ability.

He was sure that somewhere along the line, they had to have figured out what he had in mind, and why he was doing this, but if they had, none of them balked or refused to join in.

As they worked, he realized it was building a sense of camaraderie, like soldiers working on their armor to get each other ready for combat.

He hoped they would maintain that sense of spirit when they headed out into the drylands, and even more so, when they met the enemy.

As they were wrapped, the Glee drew their lips back to show him a kind of frightening smile. He returned a similar smile, hoping it satisfied them despite his not being able to quite match the display of teeth.

Sang came up to him, completely wrapped from head to toe. “I am amazed by this, Lord Rahl. I thought crossing the drylands would be impossible for us, but I really think this will work. Not only now, but in the future, after we are rid of the goddess, this will give us a way to expand our world and discover new places and more food.”

Richard put a hand on Sang’s slimy shoulder. “I’m glad to hear it. But the day is wearing on. We must hurry. We need to get to the goddess’s followers while they are still there and before they leave to come here. We still have a long way to go.”

Sang nodded. “As you say, we must get started, then. You are right that it is a long way around through the drylands in order to get to the place the goddess holds. Unfortunately, none of us has ever traveled there, so we are not exactly sure of what that place is like or what we might encounter there.

“We will not be able to get there in one day. We will have to stop along the way tonight for some sleep for at least a little while, because it will be a longer day tomorrow and then tomorrow night we will arrive there.”

Richard looked around at all the Glee, wrapped in water weed, watching him. “You all look wonderful. Let’s get moving.”