10 Chapter 10 : The trap.
River Watcher POV
"...and the Atros flower, oh it's just great with throat aches, cold, cough, all kinds of maladies, which I know, sounds very counterintuitive given it's otherwise constrictive properties, but with the right treatment....." The River Watcher expounded, trying to keep the Child of Earth before him distracted as he eyed the waters of the river for any sign of her, watching every burl and eddy for the distinctive ivory and green but he had had no such fortune this past hour and half.
Where is she? He wondered.
She should be here any moment now. Unless, perchance it hadn't caught her attention?
No. That cannot be. This was her river. She was one with it. Not a single wave nor floating soul could ever escape her senses upon these waters.
Then what was keeping her?
Had she lost interest?
Did she not recognize his signal? The symbol he had silently cast into the boat's keel earlier should have alerted her a long while back.
Worry clouded his mind and a little fear began to seep in.
What if she knew of the Earth-Child and intentionally avoided them?
What if...
"Hey! Earth to River Watcher, you there?" He heard the Earth-Child call out, snapping his fingers before him, "Don't you go having another Vietnam flashback before me pal, I don't wanna get flashbang'ed again." The impudent scamp snorted.
"I .... am not. I just forgot the recipe." The River Watcher put on a smile and lied, trying to tide the man over.
He did not know what a Vietnam flashback was or what flashbang meant but he knew the condescending tone.
The Earth-Child was making fun of him. It infuriated him. Those eyes. The same eyes as everyone else.
Mocking him. Mocking him for his drink, his status, his form, his ... Calling.
He clutched the boat's edge with an iron grip, anger and impatience bubbling just beneath his mask of friendliness, and heard it creak under him.
The Earth-Child eyed him, then the boat and raised an eyebrow, prompting the River Watcher to pull back his hand. He couldn't have the Earth-Child suspect anything.
"Ah, no problem. Take your time. We have all day." The man said and smiled, leaning back as he stared up at the sky, for no reason.
The River Watcher chalked it up to just another oddity the Children of Earth seemed to have, each with their own madness.
This Earth-Child wasn't even the worst. That honor went to the Earth-Child that he found mid.....relations with a pair of talking horses, when he came to capture them for the reward. There was also a rumor of another of her band that preferred dragons. Obsessed, some even claimed.
Earth-women. He scoffed.
So craven. Utterly unnatural.
This one was far better in comparison. He was almost tolerable.
He would have to admit, the Earth-Child had a glib tongue on him, it had almost captivated the River Watcher. Dreams of wealth, fame, status. Respect.
So long had he craved it. So dearly did he desire it. He had almost given in to the delusions.
Yet, the River Watcher was no knave. Words were words, actions were an entirely different game.
He had seen the Monster before. He knew his prowess. Banishing Umber and Ember, casting Fillory into perpetual twilight, and what really drove the fear into his heart, the vanishing of the fairies. None before had been able to so much as scratch the pests, but the Monster.....he had sent them reeling. Trapped in their own realm in utter terror of him. None could match him. Not even this Earth-Child.
Admittedly, he was quick on his feet, and of wit. But the Monster could banish Gods. The best course of action would be to sell him to the Monster and get his reward; for as much as he desired all that the Earth-Child promised, and as much as he would hate to betray someone once again, he feared the Monster far, far more.
Yet the River Watcher was no knave, aye.
He had been confident in his abilities whence he first came across the Earth-Child. Naked, oblivious, weak. Not a lick of magic to him.
Easy prey. He thought.
He had been ready to capture him. Sell him to the Monster and be done with it. Get his gold, find a tavern and drink his conscience away as always.
But then the Earth-Child pointed a bow and arrow at him. He almost laughed out loud at that. A bow and arrow? Against him?
Preposterous!
Yet the man....the coldness of his eyes, they unsettled him.
Even as he lowered his bow, let slack his bowstring, his eyes remained fearless. He recognised the River Watcher. His power. He could see it in his face. Yet he remained fearless.
And the River Watcher recognised it.
It wasn't the fearlessness of one who didn't know the danger. No.
It was the fearlessness of one who knew all about it and yet did not fear death.
A look he had seen before.
It was the same look his Queen had given him when she returned. When she threw the fairies out of Fillory. When she came back to power, defying the odds and the Gods.
When she took back her kingdom with blood and iron.
The same look as when she banished him.
The look of a sovereign. Unbending, unbowed, unbroken. A sight from so far above everyone seemed like ants to her. Unbothered, like a lion observing by the workings of sheep.
And he had seen those eyes again, when he met the Monster for the first time. Those eyes, he would never forget.
Seeing the same eyes on this Child of Earth had shaken him. The River Watcher doubted his eyes for a moment.
Had he misjudged him?
He had been sure the Earth-Child had no magic and yet he wasn't afraid.
No, something even more than that.
He walked up to the River Watcher, put a hand around his shoulders and cajoled him like one would cajole a child. To appease an annoyance.
It had planted a seed of doubt within him.
Was the Earth-Child truly so powerless?
Or perhaps the reason he couldn't sense his magic was because the Earth-Child was so far beyond him that it wasn't possible for him to sense it.
If so, there was only one conclusion to be reached.
The only reason he wasn't afraid was because he didn't see the River Watcher as a threat, merely an annoyance. One he couldn't be bothered to fight, but wouldn't hate to appease for the sake of convenience.
If that was true, that meant only one thing.
The Earth-Child was a master magician. This sentiment was only strengthened when the man not only identified but also understood what the curse in his Age Suspension spell did with a glance. He even equated it to something called Lobo-tummy, which the River Watcher knew nothing of.
The Earth-Child had knowledge far beyond what an ordinary magician could have. He had to be a master magician.
The River Watcher knew he could not take him on by himself.
He needed aid.
So he played along, convincing the Earth-Child to come with him, through the river, with the promise of a quicker route to his destination. All to get him into the Burnt River. It was there that he would cast his hand and it would matter not if the Child of Earth was a master magician or just an overzealous fool. He would meet his end there.
After all he had an accomplice in the river. Someone who also stood to benefit from the Earth-Child's capture.
He smiled.
When last the Children of Earth had come, he had captured them and sold them to the Monster, yes, but he hadn't been alone in their capture. One more had helped him.
The Burnt River Naiad. Anais.
On the river, her river, she was all but invincible.
Together, they would be more than a match for a master magician.
If only she would come and find him.
But it had been over an hour and she was nowhere to be seen.
He was just about to give up hope. If it came down to it, he would just have to wait till the Earth-Child fell asleep to do it, or catch him in an unguarded moment. Something or the other.
Anything to get that reward.
He needed that gold. He hadn't had a drink in a fair spot and the miserly bar-bear just refused to extend his tab anymore.
He really needed that drink.
But just as he seemed ready to resign himself to it, the waters around the boat stilled, and the faintest hint of ivory appeared in the deep.
And the River Watcher smiled.
It was about to be payday for him.
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The River Watcher unveils his master plan and leads MC into a trap, because MC's bluff worked a bit too well and the River Watcher thinks that the reason MC was so chill even when he was being threatened was cuz MC was a master magician.
The side effects of rolling a Nat 20 on your deception check, gentlemen.
Anyways, I tried putting a different POV cuz a friend recommended it to me.
Tell me what you think?
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Also, sorry for the delay. Exams and all, and then my phone got wet, so I had to wait till it started working right again to write this chappy.
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