Portals of Infinity: Book Three: Of Temples and Trials

by John Van Stry

  I had seen the plans of the temple they wanted to build; it would start out as a simple affair, and then grow over time. Watching them mark out the different boundaries and place markers was interesting. I started to get a sense of just how it would look as I saw the outlines for the foundation, statue locations, and other parts of the site.

  Kevi worked until it was too dark to continue, then took his workers off to have dinner.

  Narasamman didn’t stop until she was finished, which ended with her standing in the center of the town square, and doing one final ritual that seemed to take a good half hour. When she finished I could see her tail was drooping and she looked completely exhausted.

  “Wow, I had no idea that was so draining.” I said and helped her and the others put their things away.

  “All magic, spiritual or other, takes energy from the caster. This was a lot of land to cover.”

  “Well you didn’t have to cover the whole square,” I teased.

  “Yes I did,” she grumbled and shot me a look.

  “Oh,” I said and tried to look embarrassed, I knew Fel well enough to know he’d want all of it covered.

  “Don’t worry, tomorrow you get to help.”

  I smiled, “Fine. Now, let’s go get some dinner and if you behave I’ll give you a massage.”

  “If I behave?” she laughed and gave me a swat on the rump.

  “Better,” I purred and taking her arm steered her towards the pub.

  “For a male that doesn’t want to attract females you sure do seem to take a lot of interest in this one,” she purred.

  I tried not to blush as my tail curled in embarrassment, “It’s not that I don’t like females,” I said and gave her a squeeze, “it’s just that I was encouraged to limit my carousing.”

  “Well thank Feliogustus for limits,” she purred.

  “So what do we have to do tomorrow?”

  “Tomorrow we set the wards.”

  “Those two foot stone pillars?”

  She nodded, “They get buried at the cardinal points and sub-points that Kevi marked today.”

  “What are those for?”

  “They set the boundaries of the temple, what is holy ground, what isn’t. Without those, we can’t set the altar.”

  I nodded and thought about that. “So those were made back in the main temple?”

  Narasamman shook her head, “No, right now they’re just matched pieces of cut stone. You can use anything to make a ward. Stone just last longer so I had those made. I’ll bless and set them tomorrow while you’re digging holes.” She grinned at me as she finished.

  I gave her a pinch on the butt, but rather than squeak she leaned into me a little harder.

  “So how long until all of this is finished?”

  “A year, probably two. A proper building needs to be constructed and that always takes time. But once we set the wards, you and I will set the altar while Kevi and the others build the first structure. He’s assured me that he can have that done in two weeks, after which I think they won’t be needing us anymore and we can head back home and you can get ready for your trip to Tradeson.”

  “You’re not going on that one?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?” I asked curious as we reached the door to the inn.

  “Because I’m going to be pregnant,” she purred.

  “Oh... OH!” I said and I know my tail bushed out.

  She purred and rubbed against me as we went inside to eat.

  “So you wouldn’t mind giving me another child?” She asked.

  “Suddenly I can’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing.”

  “Good boy,” she laughed.

  It took us two weeks to finish the basics on the new temple. Kevi had been correct in his estimates, the altar and the enclosing structure was finished. It was basically just a sacristy, so it was only three walls. The pews and other parts were being laid out and a great tent had been erected over that portion for now. Real walls and a roof would be added later.

  Narasamman held a high mass before she left, to christen the temple, and almost everyone in town attended. It was quite a sight to see, Narasamman was impressive as the high priestess, and she gave a sermon that had them all enthralled. Heck, I knew Feliogustus personally and had met him face to face dozens of times and it even had me on the edge of my seat.

  Narasamman was without a doubt a very impressive female, that she was so very interested in me was almost humbling. I know that some men wondered why I didn’t boff every fem that came along as they were sure willing enough. But the idea of lots of meaningless one night stands didn’t appeal to me all that much, not anymore at least.

  Especially not with females like Narasamman, Rachel, or Darlene in my life.

  Five

  (Saladin – Tradeson)

  I looked around us as we neared Tradeson. We were still almost a half-day’s travel from the city gates, but I could see farms off in the distance. We’d come out onto the grasslands this morning, and I could see why Tradeson hadn’t been raided like the other towns, they could see you coming long before you got close. I could see several watchtowers off in the distance as well; there wouldn’t be any surprise attacks here.

  We’d been traveling from Hiland for four days now. Tradeson was farther than Kethel, but the road to it was in much better shape as well as being a lot smoother with fewer hills and other such obstacles.

  The group with me was probably four times as big as the group I’d taken to Kethel, but then we had a lot more to deal with here, and it probably wouldn’t be as safe. There were nomads out on the plains to the east of Tradeson, with which the town did a lot of trading. Those nomads, combined with Tradeson being on the other side of the river from Rivervail, had both been contributing factors to the lack of Mulander raids.

  “I’d hate to be coming down this road during the rain,” Second Carso said to me as we walked along.

  “You’d be forced to go off it, or sink in your knees to the mud.” I agreed.

  “Makes you wonder what they’ve hidden in the grass, doesn’t it?”

  I shrugged, yes, a few well-placed ditches would have added to the defenses, but the grassland spread out rather far in all directions, so it seemed a bit pointless to me.

  “Any idea on what kind of greeting we can expect Will?” He asked.

  “The courier Queen Rachel sent came back saying they were interested in our visit, not much more than that.”

  “Well at least we won’t be a surprise showing up at their gate.”

  I looked back at the group, twenty-three of them were from the temple, sixty-four of them came from the army. Two days behind us at the still growing town of Midway we’d left behind a thousand more soldiers. Primarily they were there to help build the garrison, and engage in training, but they would be available if I needed any of them.

  “We shall see,” was all I could think to say.

  It was late in the day when we finally reached the gates. The city had a fairly well built wall, close to twenty feet high. All the farms around here had farmhouses as well, though the houses were built a bit sturdier than I would have expected. Perhaps raiding from the occasion nomad tribe was a bit of a problem, but not enough that they had all moved inside the walls.

  “You are the group from Hiland city?” The guard asked looking us over.

  “Yes, that would be us.” I nodded. “This is Second Carso, and this is the Priest Toble.”

  “And you would be?” He asked craning his head to look up at me. Sometimes being big was a pain in the ass.

  “I am William.”

  “William the Godslayer?” he asked a bit skeptical.

  “William will do just fine.”

  “Ya’ know, you cost the people here quite a bit of trade,” he grumbled as he waved to the others to open the gates.

  “Oh really?” I said letting my voice drop down lower, tail lashing. “And just what kind of trade are we talking about?”

 
; “Ich! Keep your ears up!” He said looking surprised by my reaction and taking a step back. “We traded foods and other such goods. What did you think we traded?”

  “Slaves perhaps?” I growled.

  “No, of course not! Slavery has no place here in Tradeson, we just trade goods, not people. Not at all, not ever.” He said keeping a wary eye on me.

  “Glad to hear it,” I said letting my voice return to normal, but not missing the look on the Second’s face.

  Another male walked up to us then, he was dressed in much nicer clothes than the guard was and wasn’t wearing any armor or weapons.

  “This is Kyle,” the guard told me. “The council sent him to deal with your needs.”

  I nodded and touched palms with Kyle.

  “William,” I said introducing myself. “Though I suspect you already knew that.”

  Kyle nodded. “My name is Kyle, and as he said, I’ve been asked by the council to see to your needs.”

  “If I may be excused?” The guard asked.

  Kyle nodded and he left.

  “If you and your men will follow me we have set aside a barracks for the men and wagons as well as an inn for your use and the use of the clergy.”

  “Thank you,” I replied. “I was worried about finding enough space for everyone.”

  “Oh think nothing of it. We get trade caravans coming out of the plains at least twice a year now. We’ve gotten used to groups showing up.”

  I nodded, and moved to follow as he set off down the street, the Second signaling the rest of the group to follow.

  “What about trade caravans from other places?” I asked curious.

  “Well the ones from Rivervail have stopped of course; those were also twice a year.”

  “Hopefully we will be able to start those back up soon,” I told him, “that is part of why we have come.”

  “Well I’m sure people will be happy to hear about that.” Kyle said with a smile.

  “Where else do you get caravans from?”

  “Marland mainly. Occasionally Holden, Kethel, and of course Hiland.”

  “To be honest I’m surprised that the Mulanders left you alone,” I said looking around at the city. The buildings were all well maintained, and they weren’t shoehorned up against each other. The city had wealth, even if it wasn’t obvious to most people.

  “Well they learned that trade was a lot more profitable than conquest,” Kyle said.

  “And how much did teaching them that lesson cost?”

  Kyle coughed, “I couldn’t honestly say, I was just a young child at the time. But,” he turned and looked at me. “Imagine trying to lay siege to a well prepared city when there are dozens of tribes who think that it’s great fun to attack your encampments night after night.”

  I smiled at that. “I think I’d like to meet some of these tribesmen.”

  “I might be able to arrange a meeting.”

  “After I meet the council first of course.”

  Kyle nodded. “Of course. I had been asked if you would be willing to meet with them tomorrow?”

  “The sooner the better,” I said looking down the street at what appeared to be a street performer. I’d never seen a street performer in Saladin before.

  “What’s that?” I asked gesturing towards the figure that looked like they were playing some sort of instrument.

  “Some new group that came to the city a few years back. Not sure if they’re a cult or just some kind of wandering tribe. They perform for money; some of them are quite good actually.”

  “Huh,” I looked at the figure as we drew closer. There were actually two of them; one was playing something that looked like a flute, the other some kind of stringed instrument. They had a small hat sitting out and there were a few coins in it. I could hear the tune they were playing from here, nothing magical, just a pleasant tune.

  “Well here we are,” Kyle said and motioned to the two buildings we had stopped in front of. One was definitely an inn, the other was some sort of boarding house, most likely the barracks he had mentioned.

  “Second Carso, would you sort everyone out please?” I asked.

  “It would be my pleasure William,” he said and turning to his subordinates started getting everyone organized.

  “What time should I expect to meet with the council tomorrow?” I asked Kyle.

  “Probably around the ninth hour. I’ll be here before then to escort you.”

  I nodded. “Thank you. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “You sure there is nothing else you will need tonight?”

  I shook my head. “No, I’ll be fine.”

  I looked around a moment as Kyle shrugged and walked off. Second Carso was getting his men organized; I looked over at the two priests and two priestesses who had accompanied me as they got their own people organized. Narasamman had sent a much larger group as they were planning a much larger establishment here, plus I’d be heading to Stongshold directly once we were done. I walked over to the four of them.

  “I’m going inside to get a room and see how many rooms they have for us. Someone ask Carso if he wants to stay at the inn or with his men.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Tareassa said attaching herself to my arm. I shrugged, “Sure,” several of the females had tried to gain my attentions, none had been successful so far.

  “I’ll go check with him,” Lisel told me and went off to talk to Second Carso.

  I nodded and turning headed into the inn with Tareassa in tow.

  Walking inside it was actually a fairly nice place, it had a large open tap room with a rather well built long bar along the far wall. An older male walked up to me as I looked around.

  “Yes sir?” He asked.

  “How many rooms do you have open?”

  “Twenty sir.”

  I nodded, “I think we’ll be taking them all. I’ll take the one with the most windows.”

  He nodded, “Of course sir. Would you like to see your room now?”

  I nodded and turned to Tareassa, “Go tell the others there are nineteen open rooms and to plan accordingly.

  “But I wanted to go with you,” she purred smiling.

  “I’m not going anywhere, but upstairs,” I said and putting my hands on her shoulders, I turned her towards the door and gave her a light swat on the butt. “Now go.”

  She grumbled a little but went.

  “You’re a better male than I,” the innkeeper said softly watching as Tareassa sashayed out the door. She was rather attractive.

  I laughed, “I notice you don’t spend your whole day drinking beer for all that you have so much of it around.”

  He chuckled and looked at me, “I see your point, though I must admit at first I did try to sample them all.”

  I grinned, “You and me both!”

  He laughed at that, “Come, let me show you your room.”

  Dinner was served a couple of hours later after everyone had gotten settled. Tareassa, Lisel, Toble, Second Carso, a few acolytes I didn’t know the names of, and two of Carso’s officers sat at the long table with us. There were another ten or so at another table, but I understood that most of the troops were eating at the simple mess in the building next door.

  The food was good, the conversation was enjoyable, and Tareassa seemed to think she had pretty much staked out a claim on my person. About halfway through the meal a minstrel of sorts came in and started to perform. She hadn’t been one of the two outside earlier; those had been a male and a female. She was rather good however.

  “Do you hire them?” I asked the bar maid as she came by with more drinks.

  “Harston, the owner, he allows them to play, but they only get what tips they make, he don’t pay them at all.”

  I nodded. I found the whole thing very interesting. While the Hilanders liked to sing, I had yet to see any playing any instruments. It actually hadn’t occurred to me until just now that there wasn’t much music beyond that singing, a lot of which was for church, in the Hi
lander’s city.

  I noticed the rest of the people sitting at my table were fascinated by the minstrel’s performance and watched it intently. At those tables in the room that had locals seated at them, most didn’t pay it too much attention. I guess they were used to it by now, but it was obviously new to the members of my group.

  When she finished I called her over to the table. She seemed hesitant at first and Tareassa was definitely not happy, until I put my foot on top of hers and pressed down slightly. She got the message and stopped growling.

  I pulled a silver piece from my money pouch and laid it on the table, as an incentive. She hesitated a moment more, but approached then.

  “Why so wary singer of tales?” I asked. Apparently, the language here had no word for ‘minstrel’ yet.

  “I know who you are milord, you are a most fearsome warrior,” she said looking into my eyes. I could see her nervousness, but I didn’t think she was worried about my being a fearsome warrior. More likely she was worried about ending up in my bed unwillingly.

  “I do not make it a habit to accost women, so put your mind at rest. I am curious about your instrument. I haven’t seen any like that since I came here.

  “May I?” I asked and held out a hand.

  She looked even more worried then, I could see her eyes checking out the exits.

  “I won’t damage it, never fear. I’m just curious about the sound.”

  “Please be careful with it milord,” she said handing it over hesitantly. “It is most expensive and hard to replace.”

  “I don’t doubt it,” I said as I turned in my seat from the table to give myself more room and took the instrument.

  Looking closely at it, it was very similar to a guitar. It only had five strings however, and the fingerboard had no frets, though it was marked. Plucking the strings it had a tuning that I wasn’t familiar with, but the notes were ones I recognized at least. Playing with claws I could see would be a slight issue, the strings were all gut of some sort I suspected.