by Bill Albert
Unsure how to respond Gallif smiled and simply said, “Thank you, my lord.”
“I hope you’ll be staying with us for a few days so I can speak with you more. I would like to hear of your experiences firsthand. There is a great deal to take care of today, but I will call for you tomorrow. Good day,” the Second Minister said and continued on his way.
Tikke urged her to continue and she started walking. Several times she glanced back uneasily in the direction the Second Minister had gone. As she walked, she thought about the odd things he had said but her thoughts cleared as they turned a corner and exited the building.
Walking on grass always made her feel good. She felt more comfortable with a sky overhead and could almost swear that even the outside air she breathed was better. They were still inside the walls of the city, but she could still look up and feel the soothing warmth of the sun on her face. The shadows were getting longer, and she knew sundown was not far away.
She looked forward and smiled. A goblin guard who was talking to Jakobus looked at her and nodded back to him. Jakobus turned to see her, quickly thanked the guard for his time, and then came towards her with a hearty laugh that everyone in the open yard heard. He thanked the dwarven gods and offered her his hand in friendship. She paused briefly and then shook it.
“It’s good to see you again, Jakobus. I’m glad you made it here safely.”
“It’s been a very interesting journey,” he said and looked at Tikke standing nearby. “I take it you have much to tell us.”
“As much as I can,” she said.
Tikke stepped forward and signaled as the guard who had been with Jakobus moved next to him. “This guard will stay with you. When you are ready, he will take you to a smaller gate in the wall. You’ll be able to exit the city without unwarranted attention.”
“Thank you,” she nodded.
“Good luck to you,” Tikke said and marched off.
“Was your trip safe?” she asked Jakobus.
“Most of it was,” he said modestly. “We encountered a few obstacles during the trip but nothing that we couldn’t deal with.”
Before she could ask another question, she heard someone calling her name. She looked up to see Luvin approaching at a full run. His eyes were glued on her and as he neared he opened his arms to embrace her. Instead of a warm hug he suddenly stopped as if he had hit a solid wall. Gallif’s hands were pressed on his chest keeping him at a distance. In confusion he tried to move closer, but her stance didn’t alter, and she pushed him back. He looked at her bewildered; despite her actions the look in her eyes said she was genuinely glad to see him.
“Jakobus said you had some obstacles getting here,” she said making sure he didn’t get closer.
All Luvin could think about was how much he wanted to put his arms around her, but there was no way to break past the wall she had set up. Desperate to say something, he blurted out how glad he was to see her, but his feelings were hurt, and the words showed it.
“So, what has happened here?” Jakobus asked to break the awkward moment. Luvin was staring at her and breathing heavily while she looked away. “What have you learned here?”
“The Giant Lords are working to keep everyone calmed down and prevent things from getting worse. They have sent out rescue caravans on mercy missions. In the meantime, they are trying to sort things out. Once they have a better idea of everyone’s state of mind, they’ll decide what to do next.”
“Is there anything we can do?”
“I’ve met with some of the Circle of Ministers.”
This news brought Luvin out of his confused state and even Jakobus jumped in surprise.
“You’ve actually spoken with one the Ministers?” Jakobus asked slightly shaken.
“Yes,” she nodded as if what she was saying was a common remark. “We need to get the horses ready. We’ll be leaving soon.”
She enquired about their horses and the guard told them to follow him. They walked without saying a word, with Gallif a few steps ahead of Luvin and Jakobus, to a two storey barn. Once inside Gallif signaled for them to take care of their horses. She got a bucket of fresh water from the well and walked along the barn until she found Snow. She smiled and started scratching him behind the ears. He was happy enough to see and snorted politely. She offered him the bucket and he gratefully lapped up the water.
“They’ve been taking good care of you, Snow,” she said. She was very pleased how well he looked, and she walked around his body checking for any marks and scars. His coat was clean, but she found a piece of straw entangled in his tail which she removed. Though it was free of debris she took a brush and ran it over his mane.
“Snow, the original Snow, she was a good companion. I could tell by the feel of her muscles when I rode what direction she was going to take. I could get her to completely turn around with just a hint from my own body.” She stopped brushing, put her hands over him, and rested her head on his neck. “Sometimes I feel if I’d just done something different, left her someplace else, she wouldn’t have been murdered.”
Snow didn’t move a muscle; he just stood there and listened to her as she spoke.
“I don’t expect that you’ll be just like her, you have your own personality, but I’m sure we’ll learn to trust each other more and get along just fine. You’re as smart as she was, a bit stronger, and twice as stubborn,” Gallif added with a giggle. “We’re going to have to get to trust each other really fast. There’s an important trip to make and things could get rough.” With that she took a step forward and looked him straight in the face. “I trust you,” she said with complete confidence.”
Snow gave out a gentle snort. He nudged her shoulder with his wet nose and looked at the barn doors. She knew he was ready to go and safely saddled him and walked him out of the barn.
With the guard to lead them they traveled south until just after the sun was completely down. The area they had to go was sparse with shrubs and the sky was clear, so it was bright enough to let them see clearly.
At one point the guard moved ahead of them far enough to make sure that the guards at the gate knew they were coming. They passed through the small gate with only a pause and headed south.
They had only been traveling an hour when they spotted something odd in the distance. They soon realized that there were some things the fall of the mountain had woken up. Things that were best left sleeping.
They came to a stop as soon as it was apparent that there was someone on the road ahead of them. Almost a mile ahead was the definite shape of someone walking along the side of the road. Gallif watched the shape closely and tried to see details but couldn’t.
“What would anyone be doing walking along out here at night all alone?” Luvin asked and drew his cast hammer.
“Someone lost, or someone in need of help,” Jakobus speculated.
“Leave your weapon down,” Gallif ordered glancing at Luvin. “If they are coming this way, they could be headed to Spring Field. There’s no telling how far the tremors went after the mountain fell.”
Gallif started towards it but at a slow trot. Jakobus started after her and Luvin, after angrily putting his hammer away, followed.
“It’s a person walking this way,” Gallif announced when they got close enough to see the shape better. “It’s an old woman,” she added when they were a hundred feet away. They could make out the shape of a very old woman approaching. At five feet tall she was a head taller than Jakobus and was wearing ash colored clothing and an oblong four-pointed hat. To their surprise she was also carrying a pot in her left hand.
Gallif watched and listened to the woman. It all looked very natural, but she kept sensing something out of place. She even glanced at the horizon where Starpoint Mountain had once stood and suspected it was part of adjusting to so many changes. She dismounted and walked towards the woman to offer her help. She looked so poor and lonely out here Gallif couldn’t resist the urge to do something for her. When they were closer the woman loo
ked up and, freed from the shadow of the hat, Gallif saw her face. Gallif drew a deep breath and was shocked at just how hideous the old woman looked. She was even more horrifying when she smiled.
“Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeb!” the woman screamed.
Gallif felt her whole world shake as the scream pierced her. It took all of her willpower to stop herself from falling to the ground and her hands slowly moved to her weapons.
“Gwyllion,” Jakobus cried when the wave of the scream reached him. His horse skittered, but before it could bolt, Jakobus was on his feet, shadow axe in hand, heading towards Gallif.
Luvin was fighting his horse and trying to keep it from throwing him. He finally managed to get a good balance on its shivering body and let himself drop to the ground.
“Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeb!” the gwyllion cried again.
Gallif felt the cold fear of the sound shake her thoughts. Out of desperation she swung the flame sword in the direction of the hag. She knew she would miss but hoped it would be close enough to cause the spirit to break its howl. Jakobus’s dwarven will was very strong and he had managed to cover the distance fairly quickly. He swung his axe as well, but knew it missed its target. The blade struck the ground and he could hear the thud as it hit the dirt. Luvin’s approach was much slower but, thanks to his youth, the scream had a lesser effect on him. He was desperately searching his memory for a way to dispel the creatures howl.
“Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeb!”
Gallif forced herself to take a step forward and swung again. The fear from the scream was so deep it had distorted her vision, but she was sure she had made a step in the right direction. She felt resistance this time and knew that she had connected with the target. Jakobus was also having trouble seeing as the disruption of the gwyllion’s scream kept shaking him. He tried to raise the axe for another attack but felt it fall from his grip. Luvin had remembered something, some small fact he had learned one day in school. He knew he had nothing on him that could stop their attacker, but he knew who did.
Gallif felt some of her strength return and could see she had struck the gwyllion’s side. It was moving away from her and she hoped Jakobus would be waiting for it. His vision was blurred, and he was trying to figure which of the axes he saw on the ground was his. He reached for one, but it vanished before he could touch it. He looked again and worried when he saw that both the axes were now gone. He looked up and saw that Luvin had his axe in his hand.
The gwyllion had been distracted, but not wounded, by Gallif’s attack. It shifted until it was between Gallif and Jakobus, hoping it could trick the two into attacking each other. It was starting to scream again when something to one side caught its attention. Luvin was holding the axe in front of him. He was not using it to attack but was trying to angle the blade correctly.
Gallif’s thoughts had cleared and she was ready to attack the spirit. Luvin feared that if she did the gwyllion would step back and he would strike Jakobus instead. He held the axe as far above his head as he could and shifted it in as many directions as he could.
The gwyllion’s next scream wasn’t as piercing or as destructive as the others. In the confusion and disorientation both Gallif’s and Jakobus’ thoughts cleared enough to sense the anger and fear in the call. A second later they both dropped to the ground suffering from dizziness. Neither of them could move a muscle but their thoughts were clearing quickly.
Jakobus came to his senses first. When he opened his eyes and looked around, he saw Luvin standing nearby. He had Jakobus’s axe in his hand and was holding it above his head. Jakobus looked for the spirit but it was nowhere to be seen.
“What? What?” Gallif tried to speak as she started to rise. The effort was too much too soon, and she was only able to roll over onto her back. She used all of her strength to push herself to a sitting position but kept her eyes closed. “What the hell was that doing all the way out here?” she finally asked hoping someone was listening. “They only wander around deep in the mountains.”
“Yes,” Luvin said. “Only preying on lost travelers. Somehow that’s changed,” he stated as he offered a hand to the dwarf.
“And you knew how to get rid of her,” Jakobus said as Luvin helped him stand. “The flash of light on a blade is enough to scare them.” He smiled proudly at Luvin who modestly nodded back.
Gallif was having some trouble rising and Luvin went to her and offered a hand to help. She waved him away and forced herself to her feet. Snow quickly came forward and stood next to her so she could steady herself.
“I’m afraid the fall of the mountain has disturbed more than those of us who live in the open.”
“You mean there could be more things roving around out here?” Gallif asked.
“Yes,” Luvin jumped in. “Lots more things we rarely see. Things we’d rather not face.”
“Things we’ll have to face,” she said as she climbed back on to her saddle. Her strength was coming back to her rapidly and she wanted them to get moving.
“My hammer isn’t shiny enough to reflect anything,” Luvin said as he and Jakobus mounted their horses. “I needed Jakobus’s blade for that.”
“I heard,” Gallif said without looking at him. “Let’s go,” she said and started away from them at a steady gallop. Her two friends looked at each other in confusion and then followed her.
***
The sun had only been over the horizon for an hour before Gallif brought them to a halt. They found a small clearing fifty yards inside the forest and she decided that they would stay there for the day. She said they should all try to get some sleep even though none of them were very tired. She just didn’t want to be seen traveling south at this time and wanted them to have some rest in case the second night brought any more surprises. She took Luvin’s bow and arrow without asking for his permission and caught them breakfast while Luvin and Jakobus started a small fire. Jakobus’s fire building talents were always good and the fire was very intense despite the small size of the pit and relatively small amount of wood. While Gallif cleaned and cooked the rabbit, Jakobus went to find a private spot to say his morning prayers.
Gallif was gently turning the meat over the flames when Luvin came over and sat down directly next to her. She immediately stood and put a few dry twigs in to the fire before sitting down a few feet away. Luvin’s shoulders dropped and he just watched her without saying a word for several minutes. She used the knife she kept strapped to her thigh to cut open some of the meat and check its tenderness.
“A few more minutes and this’ll be done,” she said.
“Sure,” he said flatly. Though she did not look at him he could not take his eyes off of her.
“Did you tell anyone? Say anything about what we saw inside the mountain?”
“No, I’ve been quiet about it and haven’t said anything, even to Jakobus.”
“Good,” she said not really surprised.
“I was asked what it was like to ride a dragon. When we were flying low to warn people we swept over Dakteria. Someone recognized me at the inn we stayed at. I’ll tell you; it was pretty exciting. They all listened to me, just me, and wanted to hear every word. They wanted to know how it felt, how it sounded, what he said. It felt real good to be the center of attention for a while. To be treated like a hero.”
“You didn’t tell them though, did you?” Gallif asked staring at the cooked rabbit.
“What?” he asked in confusion.
“About what the dragon said to us. Did you tell them?” she asked running her fingers through her hair.
“No,” he said shortly. “I told you before that I didn’t say anything about what we were told.”
She took the rabbit from the fire and laid it on a nice, clean, dry piece of wood and cut their dinner into three chunks. “Good,” she said looking at the food. “One piece for each of us,” she said and took a nice meaty bone for breakfast.
Luvin quickly grabbed a piece of meat and marched out of sight without saying a wor
d.
Gallif sat quietly and could hear Jakobus approaching when he was still forty feet away. It was quiet, he was very good, but her senses were highly attuned to the natural surroundings and anything unnatural easily caught her attention. She offered him some rabbit and he sat on the opposite side of the fire as they ate.
“Where are we headed?” Jakobus asked. “It would make travelling so much easier if we knew the destination.”
Gallif looked around to make sure no one was listening before she whispered, “The Dragon Burial Grounds.”
Knowing she was serious Jakobus finished a mouthful of food. “Two more nights ride to get there. If we rode most of the day we could be there late in the afternoon tomorrow.”
“I’m hoping to keep out of sight for now. Let people think I’m still with the Giant Lords.”
“I understand,” he said. “But I think you are just holding off the inevitable. Keeping a secret will get even harder now. People are talking about you and with red hair, red cast armor, and a pure white horse they will see you.”
Gallif smiled and ran her fingers through her hair. She looked down at the tint of her armor and realized that he was right. “Maybe when this is all over, I can change this,” she looked him in the eyes as she spoke. “I feel confident right now. I know where I’m going and what I have to do. Since the fire that killed my parents and destroyed my home, I haven’t been able to say that much.”
“That’s good,” Jakobus nodded. “Are you ready to accept the responsibility for what you are doing?” he paused. “What you have done?”
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes,” he said without a pause. “You showed kindness to my parents, you cared for them, and you grieved for them. Yet, sometimes, my dwarven curiosity gets the best of me.”
“I understand,” she said as she finished off her portion of the meal. She stood and moved over to sit nearer to Jakobus. “The fall of Starpoint Mountain was only the beginning. There’s an even bigger change to come. Luvin told you about the dragon?”