Mark of the Ranger

XXV. The Magic Farmer

          "This better not be another one of your silly plans," Oculus told his old friend. His old friend turned from the thing he was working on and gave an almost genuine laugh in response. "Of course it's not a silly plan. I know what I'm doing, and the Lightforge will be ready for the operation soon. you can't expect me to be omnipotent, Oculus."

          Oculus snorted, as much as an automaton could snort. "Whatever you say, Alchemist. However, if your super-powered Lightforge fails, you will only have yourself to blame."

          The Alchemist nodded. "Infernas will never see the operation coming. Trust me."

*****

           "Ah, so it is an island," I quipped as I saw the landmass in front of us. I tried again to work my hands out of the manacles, but I had no luck, as I had the last twenty-three times. I sighed internally, but still managed to stay chipper as I once again gazed at the island again.

          The island was made completely out of some sort of black rock. The tallest peak must have been only about half the size of those in the Highlands, but that was still very tall. All the rocky cliffs and mounts jutted out awkwardly and almost evilly, as if a deranged six-year-old had hastily thrown a bunch of sharp rocks together and called it an island. The only difference was that the island was much bigger than any sharp rock a deranged six-year-old could easily find. 

          "That's the island of the magic farmers we're shipping you to," the captain said behind me, making me jump. I wished for the eighth time that my manacled hands were in front of me instead of behind me. The captain snickered at my inconvenience. "They're going to kill you." I would have protested at the negativity the bearded barbarian was giving me, but I was too busy struggling. Stupid manacles.

          Elena stood next to me, as she always did. I found it strange, but I didn't know anything about the way wood elves thought. I looked at her face, as it was much more cheery than a pile of sharp rocks in the middle of the sea. Her hair was a bright golden blonde. Freckles laid across her face like stars in the night sky. I had never noticed her eyes before, but they were a perfect emerald green. "Stop look at me like that," Elena said suddenly. She must have noticed. "Sorry, I got lost in thought," I apologized. Elena smirked and turned back toward the island. 

          We were almost to the rocky mass, just a few more yards. I braced myself for the thunk of landfall that came just seconds later. A large wood plank fell from the side of the ship, creating a ramp for us to walk down. I walked down over to the island, followed by Elena and most likely everyone else. A man, about a six feet tall, came to greet us. "You must be my new servants, heh heh," he said with a voice like cobblestone. He walked behind me and cleaved off the links to my manacles with what must have been a knife, then did the same to my teammates.

          I looked at my forearms. They were still in manacles, of course, disabling me from tracing my Mark of Strength, but now I could actually move them freely. The severed links hung sadly from their hooks, no longer impeding my arm movement. I heard the boat take off again, and turned around. The magic farmer must have paid in advance. I looked at my friends, who were now free from their bonds.

          I wondered about Isabel, then saw the magic farmer place some sort of collar on her before removing her gag, then did the same to Karen. "Torpeo!" Isabel shouted, but nothing happened. She put her hands on the collar. It stops magic, I thought. Now, Isabel could speak and eat, but she couldn't use magic. I had to silently applaud the magic farmer, but the collar was just cruel. The magic farmer then asked us why Ko was wearing a gag. "He talks too much," I answered honestly. The magic farmer removed the gag.

          "Karen, I suppose you can't sing, can you?" I asked Karen. She shook her head. "Most likely not, if it stops Isabel from magic. But don't you need a staff for that, Isabel?" She asked Isabel. Isabel put her head in her hands in exasperation as she remembered she needed her staff for magic. I almost would have laughed if it wasn't as disencouraging as it was. "But she might find a staff, or a magic crystal, and if she could use magic, then she could rebel against the farmers," I realized. Karen made an expression that said, Ah, you have a point. "Let me try to sing, see if this is real." Karen cleared her throat, then turned to the magic farmer. "Your mind is mine, you must do my bidding. Throw yourself into the sea, I'm not kidding." The magic farmer did not throw himself into the sea, but instead beckoned us over to a rock wall. We followed, obviously not wanting to be left powerless on the beach.

          "Well, I can't sing," Karen concluded bluntly. I snorted a bit at that. The rock wall turned out to hide a small hallway, large enough for the magic farmer to fit in, but small enough for David to have to crouch a bit to fit in. The rock hallway led us to a larger open space, something like a gathering hall. There were many other manacled people there, of all ages, lands, and races. I even saw a few Half-Worths among those people. Half-Worths being people who are half-dragon, half-human. The slogan is that they cost half of what they're worth, so Half-Worth is really a nickname.

          "So, new people," the magic farmer began, turning back to us. "You will be performing chores for us, and you must be doing those chores all day. You may return to here, the lobby, before the sun rises, after it sets, and when it is high in the sky. At those times, you may rest or eat. Your chores will be assigned soon, so just wait around here."

          The magic farmer left us to ponder what had happened. We were slaves now, forced to do chores for the most dangerous occupation in the Five Lands. As another magic farmer approached us, identified by his lack of manacled forearms, there was one thing I hoped for: That I didn't have to milk a geovore.