# The Wandering Shadow: Chapter Nineteen

Author: LucarioZer0
Tags: Canine, Human, Magic, Plot Development, Story Progression, Wolf, Wolfess


19
"This
doesn't make any sense," David grumbled.
The three
of them had spent the past two days camped in the lowlands, enjoying the more
temperate climate created by Nepal's highly varied geography. Will and Jenna
were out side, tending to the camp while David sat inside the cart, trying to
figure out where it was they were meant to be going. Laid out before him were
Max's book and a map of Nepal. For his part he was finding it difficult to make
sense of the few clues Max had left to indicate where the supposed monasteries
were located.
He
growled with frustration. "Dammit Max...couldn't you have given me more to work
with here?"
He ran
both hands through his hair, sliding them down his head to brace the back of
his neck for a moment. He then leaned forward, looking more closely at the
meager resources he had to work with. "This doesn't make any bloody sense!"
***
Will sat
on a wooden folding chair, stoking their camp's fire. Jenna was beside him,
sprawled out on the ground with her belly toward the fire. About a meter away
was their tent, the beige fabric standing out against the green grasses all
around them. Taking a moment to look around, Will noted not for the first time
how strange it seemed to see so much that was green and growing when surrounded
by mountains.
Also
strange to him was how at peace he felt. 
There he sat, halfway around the world from his home, facing the
possibility that there might be no solution for his and Jenna's problems, and yet
all he could feel was...serenity.
Will
smiled. "You know, even though we've had some pretty bad stuff happen the past
couple months, a good thing or two has come out of it all."
Jenna
raised her head to look at him, a questioning look in her eyes.
"Well,
just look at where we are right now," he explained. "If it weren't for all the
bad things that have gone on, we never would've had an excuse to travel all
over the world. We wouldn't be here, in what may be one of the most beautiful
places in the world. We wouldn't have gone to Paris...traveled across the
Mediterranean...London...Cairo...all these places. Sure, things haven't been great--they've
been pretty shitty, in fact--but there is a bit of a 'silver lining', so to
speak."
Jenna
rose slowly into a sitting position, looking all around. I hadn't really considered it, but he's kinda right, she thought. Who knows, maybe someday we'll be able to
look back on some of this fondly.
A
comfortable silence fell between them, and for but the briefest of moments it
was like they were back home.
The
moment passed when they heard a cry of frustration from the cart, surprising
them and startling Vincent.
Will
sighed. "I suppose we should see what's got him upset."
Jenna
grumbled and nodded reluctantly. They stood and walked over to the cart,
stopping for a moment to soothe Vincent's nerves. The poor horse had put up
with traveling across half the world. The least they could do was keep him from
being unduly stressed.
With the
grey shire colt calmed the two of them continued around to the back of the
cart, where Jenna stood on her hind legs and the both of them poked their heads
inside. "Is everything alright in here?" Will asked.
David
looked over at them, his eyes twitching slightly. "Oh yeah, just brilliant. You
know, aside from the fact that I can't figure out where we're supposed to be
going."
Will
pushed the canvas aside and hopped into the cart, holding it open so Jenna
could follow suit. They then sat down and looked over David's maps. After a
moment Will asked, "So what is the problem?"
David
groaned. "Okay, so it starts with Max's book. See, he makes it pretty damn
clear that these monasteries--should they exist--are somewhere in Nepal."
"Right.
Not seeing the problem yet."
"Oh, you
will soon enough," David assured him. "Because you see, he provides four
coordinate sets, and says that he thinks that they're the most likely places
for the monasteries to be. Well, as it happens, none of those coordinates are
actually in Nepal. They're all just
outside the country."
"Uh
huh...are you sure that you have the coordinates right? I mean are you sure you
didn't make some mistake somewhere?"
"No, I
triple checked. Each one is just outside the country." David pointed to the map
of Nepal, and pointed in turn to four black dots he had drawn on the paper.
"There they are. All outside the country."
Will and
Jenna both immediately noticed that the four dots formed a roughly square
pattern. When Will asked if David had noticed the shape the illusionist said,
"Yeah, I did, but I'm not sure what to make of it."
Will
nodded. "Did Max write anything else? Maybe some clue that could help us here?"
"Not as
far as I can tell," David groaned. Even so he picked up Max's book and passed
it to Will. "It's open to the right page. It's all there."
Will read
through it a few times, holding at an angle so that Jenna could see as well.
When he was satisfied he set the book down and asked, "Do you have a pencil?"
David
nodded and--after rummaging in his pockets--handed a stubby pencil to Will. Will
took it and pulled the map of Nepal toward him. Using the pencil he began to
connect each of the four dots David had already put down. He spoke as he drew
out each line. "While there was no explicit clue, there was one line that I
think might just hold an answer. Max mentioned something about all of the sites
being connected, but he didn't say how. Looking at this though..."
He pushed
the map away, and they could all see that all four of the locations were
connected and not only was there a definite box around part of Nepal, but there
was also a large "X" through the country. Will pointed to the spot at the
center where the lines crossed. "Since we have no better theories, it may pay
to check there."
"Now see,
I thought of that too," David said while shaking his head, "But I think that
seems a bit too easy, don't you?"
Will
shrugged. "Why do things have to be complicated? It's okay for things to be simple
once in a while, don't ya think?"
Jenna
nodded in agreement. She would be more than happy for something easy after
everything they'd been through.
"Alright
then," David sighed. "I guess we don't have any better ideas. Looks like that
spot isn't too far from here. We could be there by this time tomorrow.
Though...do you have a back up plan?"
Will
shook his head. "Not a one. But at this point back up plans aren't really
possible. We have to go one step at a time."
"Lovely.
Well, no point in waiting then. Let's move out, yeah?"
Will and
Jenna both nodded in agreement, and within the hour they left their campsite
behind. 
***
As David
had predicted they neared the spot on the map where the lines intersected late
in the afternoon the next day, the cart ferrying them through passes lined with
mountains that towered to heights beyond seeing.
While
Will and Jenna were hopeful, David was notably pessimistic. This was only
multiplied when they passed by a village that was unmarked on their map. "You
see that?" He asked, pointing to the settlement. "There are people living in
this area. If there was some kind of temple or something in this area, wouldn't
word of it have spread?"
"I don't
think so," Will replied, shaking his head. "Just because they live here doesn't
mean they know everything about the area. Besides, maybe they've agreed to keep
the secret. We didn't even know they were here...so if anything it proves there
could be places hidden around the area."
David
didn't reply, merely rolling his eyes and thinking that it was foolish to be so
optimistic at this point.
An hour
or so after they passed the village David poked his head into the back part of
the cart and said, "Looks like we're coming up on some kind of valley. I think
it's the end of the line."
Will and
Jenna poked their heads out, looking ahead with no small amount of excitement.
Coming out of the mountain pass they pulled out into a valley that was roughly
u-shaped. Half of its space was taken up by a small body of water and the rest
was taken up by some kind of knee high grass. Nowhere to be seen though was any
kind of temple or monastery.
The area
was devoid of any human life except for theirs.
Will and
Jenna climbed out of the cart, both walking out ahead and looking around as
though hoping that something would appear if the simply looked in a different
direction. Will dropped down to sit on the ground, the grasses now coming up to
his chest. Jenna sat beside him, whining mournfully. He placed a hand on her
head, gently pulling her a bit closer. "It's...okay Jen. We knew this was a long
shot, right? We'll just have to look somewhere else."
They sat
there for a while, quiet. As David watched he could tell that neither of them
would be in much of a mood to do anything else for the day. "I'll uh...set up camp
for the night, yeah?"
He
received no response, decided it didn't matter, and got to work on clearing a
spot.
A cold
wind began to blow down from the mountains, sweeping across the field of grass.
Will shuddered and drew his cloak closer around him as Jenna moved in closer to
him, putting her head under his chin. He kissed the top of her head and brushed
a hand through her fur as he looked over the vale. It was really too bad it was
so pretty to look at, as all he could feel was disappointment. He let his mind
wander as he looked over the field of grass, being brushed by the wind.
Will
stood without warning, his eyes wide and wild. Jenna grumbled over being
knocked aside by him, but he ignored her, staring at something intently. "It
couldn't be..." he whispered.
He bent
over and came back up with a small rock, setting off toward the far side of the
valley. Jenna followed at his heels, wondering what was going on in his head.
He stopped about a hundred meters from the cart, still staring ahead. Will
rolled the rock between his fingers a few times then threw it out ahead of him.
Jenna's
eyes went wide with surprise and Will smiled triumphantly when the rock seemed
to bounce off thin air. "I knew it."
He turned
and yelled, "David, don't bother with the camp! Just bring it all over here!"
"What are
you on about now?!" The illusionist yelled back.
"Just get
over here!"
Will and Jenna
waited less than patiently as David guided the cart over to them, asking, "What
is it?" when he jumped down from the driver's bench.
Will
pointed. "There's something hidden here."
"And how
do you know that then?"
"Because
of the wind. It's blowing all the grass in the valley, but not in this area."
Indeed it
seemed that was the case, as there was a large, roughly rectangular area where
the grass was still even when all the grass around it swayed. If one looked
close enough it was even possible to see that some of the stalks were bouncing
off the same invisible barrier that had stopped Will's rock. Feeling skeptical
though, David reached out and found that his hand too met unseen resistance.
David
cleared his throat. "Alright, so there's something here then. I actually feel
kinda thick for not spotting it...but assuming this is what we're looking for,
how do we get in?"
"Just
start feeling along the wall. If we're lucky, we might find an opening."
It was
only a minute later that David yelped in surprise as he stumbled slightly,
pulling back from the invisible wall. "I uh...found an opening."
Resisting
the urge to make some joke at the illusionist's expense, Will said, "Alright,
no point in lingering out here then. Let's see just what we've found."
The three
braced themselves as they faced the spot David had passed through. There was a
spark of anticipation in the air, and a rising chill of uncertainty that they
did their best to ignore as they stepped through the veil and into the unknown.

Source: https://sofurry.com/view/890059