by Allan Joyal
"He's a lawyer," Lisa called out. "Do you know any that are honest?"
"One who stays bought," Al replied as the group burst into bitter laughter. Werlyn just watched the interplay of the group and continued to eat the stew.
Al's comments appeared to end the attempt to answer the question. Everyone turned to eating the stew. I glanced down and realized that I had finished more than half of my serving and was having to scrape the inside of the roll if I wanted to bring a full spoonful to my mouth.
Werlyn closed his eyes and set his bowl down. "So I guess you aren't interested in the others?"
It was my turn to sigh. "I wouldn't say that. The problem is that we know that our small group could become prey to the large group. None of us want that, so we would prefer to avoid any encounters. We also had one member of our group leave when he was unable to force us to accept his leadership. Later, he tried to get a couple of local groups to attack us. The results were unpleasant."
"I would have thought you would have tried to work together," Werlyn commented. "However, I cannot force you to. Third question then. Will you be leaving when the snow melt ends?"
I glanced at Steve. He shrugged. Heather poked me in the side. "Tell the truth," she whispered.
"We realize that Cerlonin and some of the other wizards are unhappy with our presence here," I said. "So part of our plan is to see how quickly we can resume our journey. Let's just say we have a long distance to travel."
Werlyn was looking down at his hand. He had something cupped in it, but the angle made it impossible to see. "You don't like to lie," he told me. "Puzzling."
"Where I come from I worked as a salesman. I would travel from place to place attempting to sell goods and services. I found that lying to a potential customer often caused problems. People do talk, and over time your lies will be revealed," I said.
Werlyn nodded. "You are a man of honor then. Forgive me for saying that it is rare to find one in these lands. Now do you have any questions for me?"
Lydia perked up. "Are we in danger here? Will the other wizards hurt us?"
Werlyn's face became dark again. "For now you are safe, but Cerlonin is unhappy. The wizard who brought you here was one of his star students. His failure reflects on Cerlonin, and he's worried that someone will challenge him for leadership of the academy. For a man like him, this would be a serious blow to his prestige. Just by being here, you remind some wizards of what was done."
"Damn," Steve said. "Ron, I don't think we should stay for the winter. It might not be safe."
"We don't want to travel in a storm," I said. "And we don't have the gear we need. But we can definitely start planning on leaving early."
"Ron!" Lydia called out. "We have a wizard in the room. Should we be saying this?"
Werlyn laughed. "It's safer for you to talk about it now. No wizard can spy on you with magic if I'm here. So your plans won't be overheard."
"Except by you," Lydia moaned. "Ron, we should just leave now."
"Not into a storm," I reminded her. "And not until we have a better method for carrying our gear and obtaining more. We will need a way to keep everyone fed for more than a year I expect. Especially if we travel as far as we've talked about."
"We also need a lot of tools," Hencktor said quietly. "We'll need axes to fell trees, saws to shape the logs, and shovels to clear ground, and that's just the start. I know little of farming, but won't we need seeds to grow?"
Jennifer sighed. "More than just the seeds. We'll probably want a plow to help break the ground and prepare the fields, but that means we need a way of pulling it. We'll also want livestock. And I don't know what kind of animals we might find."
I looked at Werlyn. He had a strange look on his face. His gaze would slowly switch from one member of our group to another. Finally he looked back at me. "How do your people know so much?"
I pointed at Jennifer, and then over at Natalie and Esme who were sitting quietly against the wall. "These young ladies were still in school back at our homes," I said. "Our society values learning and education. Sadly, it's not practical education for this land, so this journey will be the first time we actually farm and such."
"It's going to be hard," Heather admitted. "And everything is unusual for us."
"Why would it be so different?" Werlyn asked. "Are you not human?"
Steve laughed. "The problem is that we are used to a work that had harnessed power that you don't use here. You would consider many of the devices from our world to be magical. Now we don't have all of that magic and have to learn to work without it."
Werlyn smiled. "None of you have any ability with magic. But that does not matter. I thank you for the stew. If you want, I can make sure food is delivered every four days until you depart."
"Kariy?" I asked.
The young woman nodded. "That would be fine. Can I ask if the next delivery would include two dozen holly branches and a bundle of mint leaves?"
"Certainly," Werlyn said with a smile. "Is there anything else you might want?"
Kariy looked at the ceiling. "Dried or salted fish for some variety. And if you could, have a couple more small cauldrons delivered and perhaps a grill with stand. It would be nice to do some more baking than we do now."
Werlyn nodded as he looked around the room. "It seems strange that you have so little."
"We haven't had time to collect much," I said. "I'd also ask if you would provide some heavy furs and some things we can use to sew some coats or leggings. If we do end up leaving before the last of the snow is melted, we'll need warm clothing."
"I can work on that," Werlyn said. "It can be brought in packages one messenger can carry. And my apprentices want to thank you for the glow weed."
I nodded. "Thank you for your help."
Werlyn picked up his bowl from the floor. He slid it up his left sleeve and then climbed to his feet. He walked over to the door and carefully pulled it open.
As the door opened, we could hear the faint howl of the wind. Werlyn turned back to look at us. "The storm should be here within the hour. Stay warm."
He stepped through the doorway and pulled the door closed. The latch failed to properly engage, and a moment later a gust of freezing air pushed the door open. The fires in the room were stirred up. I jumped to my feet and ran over to the door to push it closed.
I took a moment to look up. Black clouds obscured the sky. It was as if an early night had fallen over the city. The path through the snow was being eroded as the wind pushed the snow across the ground, causing it to fall in and fill the area that had been cleared that morning. I stepped back inside and closed the door, making sure the latch was securely engaged.
"It's going to be another night of wind and snow," I said to the room.
"We'll stay warm," Heather promised. "Al and Jennifer are both learning to keep the fire going."
"Self preservation," Jennifer called back. "I don't have a wonderful man to cuddle up with like you do."
"I'm married?" Hencktor said quietly. It was the first words he had said since Lydia had sat down next to him.
"Do you not want me?" Lydia asked. There was so much worry in her voice that I glanced over at her in surprise. She was leaning on Hencktor, and her right hand made lazy circles on the man's chest.
Hencktor grabbed her hand and brought it up to his lips. He kissed the fingers and then looked down at her. "I just don't understand. Why me?"
"That's easy," Steve called out. "You make her happy. Be content with that."
Hencktor nodded and pulled Lydia's body tighter against his. Everyone relaxed for a moment.
I was about to sit back down when the fire suddenly turned green. The heat remained the same, but everyone stared at the unnatural color. The tongues of flame came together until they formed a face. The beard showed that it was a wizard's face, but I did not recognize the man.
"So," the face remarked. "You are so gracious in accepting our hospitality."
"And we thank you for providin
g wanderers like us shelter against the storm," I replied carefully.
"Yes, we did do that," the face said. "Although I have to admit I never expected humans to bribe the wizard's council with a few nuggets of mithril."
"We had an opportunity to provide a service to a dwarven clan," I said. "They felt the nuggets were a fair trade. Is there a problem with our payment?"
"Other than the fact that the council will horde it for themselves?" the face said. "Not that I've heard. But I wanted to see the mundanes that had the ability to convince the council to allow them to stay for the winter."
"We'll leave the house in good condition," I promised. "You won't be able to tell that we were ever here."
"That's not the point," the face screamed.
The green face flashed bright for a moment, and then the flames split. The green face moved to the left of the fire pit, and a new blue flame burned on the right. Once again, the flames shifted and twisted until a face was revealed. "Who is that?" the new face asked.
"Can you not recognize Zanratil?" the green face said with a sneer. "I knew the council could be arrogant, but never expected such a clear example."
"It is not your place to interrogate the mundanes," the blue face responded.
"Oh, give it up Sespa," Zanratil said with a sneer. The green flames jumped up for a moment, but quickly calmed down.
"The use of the lodge is a decision to be made by the council. All the wizards agreed to that," Sespa responded.
Zanratil laughed. "I just wanted to see what kind of humans would be able to bring mithril. After all, the council kept the pieces we were given. Perhaps I wanted to find my own wandering mundane who could trade with the dwarves."
Sespa's face raised an eyebrow. "How would talking to these people help you find a mundane? They certainly would have no insight."
Zanratil's forehead wrinkled, and his face turned to face Sespa's. "And that is why you will soon be off the council," he bellowed. "You are a disgrace to all wizards. Only Cerlonin's support got you raised to the council, and now Cerlonin is falling."
"Be gone," Sespa said. The green flames returned to their normal color, and the face vanished. Once it was gone, the blue flames drifted to the center of the fire and started to consume the normal flames, increasing the size of the face.
"Wizard Sespa," I said cautiously. "How might we assist you?"
"By assisting me in some research on cross-dimensional travel," the wizard responded.
"But we are all mundane," I replied. "And you informed us that a return to our home world is not possible. How could one such as I assist you in your research?"
"I don't need you anyway," Sespa spat. "I want that blond trollop that's with you. I need to investigate how your bodies are different from a native to Jord."
"Not gonna happen," Heather replied. "Sorry, but I won't play lab rat for you or anyone else."
"I need this information," Sespa growled. "And you will come and assist me. Not today, the storm prevents travel, but I expect you to be ready when I call."
Heather was poised to jump at the flames. I reached out and wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her off her feet. "We can discuss this later," I told the wizard.
The flames flickered, but the face remained. Its unblinking stare watched me as I dragged Heather into one of the side rooms.
Chapter 5 – Another Complication
I kicked the door closed with my foot, leaving Heather and me in darkness. Heather had been kicking at me the whole time, and her heel made solid contact with my shin. The pain caused me to relax my grip, and she whirled in my arms.
"What the fuck! Ron, why did you drag me out of that room! I wanted to give that wizard a piece of my mind!" she shrieked.
I wrapped her up in a hug and held her to my chest. "That's what he wanted. It's pretty clear that Sespa doesn't welcome our being here."
Heather punched weakly at my chest. "I still should have been able to speak my mind. What he was asking for was wrong."
"I know," I said quietly. "And do you really think I'd allow my wife to be alone with him?"
"Your wife?" Heather said. Her voice jumped up an octave, and I felt her push against my chest. I glanced down, but could not make out her face in the darkness.
"Isn't that what you offered me? That you would be my companion and lover for the rest of our lives?" I asked. I was holding back laughter as Heather pushed against my arms trying to separate us.
I allowed her to succeed. She left the circle of my arms, but kept a hand on my left arm. I felt something pass in front of my face. "I don't see a ring on this hand," Heather said. "My price for being your wife is a ring. Until you give me one, you can sleep alone."
"A ring," I said. "Now rings are not easy to find, and then I'd have to pay for it with funds we don't have. I guess I'll sleep alone then."
The door behind us opened. I found that the sudden light blurred my vision. Heather gasped and then threw her arms around me. ‘I'm sorry," she pleaded. "Ron, I need you, I was just playing. Please, I'll be your wife."
"Talked her into marrying you, did you?" Steve said from behind me. "Just wanted to let you know that the wizard is gone and the fire is back to normal."
I kissed Heather's forehead before lifting her up and turning around. "We can discuss children later," I quipped. "Meanwhile, perhaps we should take time during this storm to practice with our weapons. We might end up needing them earlier than we expected. Cover the knives with cloth and practice knife fighting?" I asked.
"Not sure that will work," Steve said. "But I asked Hencktor, and he has no more idea than we do about how to work out learning to fight. We can practice some by shadow fighting, but even then we'll probably learn some bad habits."
"I like the idea," Heather said. "How many knives to we have to practice with?"
"Four," I heard Hencktor say. "Those and maybe the spear. I figure we can use the package wrappings the demon keeps bringing. They are thick enough to prevent cuts and have some string we can use to tie them on the knives."
"Let's go," I said, guiding Heather back to the main room.
I went over and found the spear as Hencktor went to the pile of discarded wrappings that Kariy kept in a corner near the kitchen fire. He brought one over to me and placed it on the tip of the spear. I brought it down and wrapped it over the blade, making four full revolutions before I ran out of material. I struggled a bit tying the string to secure the binding until Kariy came over and tied the knots while I held the blade.
"What would you do without me?" she asked. "And can I learn to use a knife?"
"Go ahead," I said as I turned and made an experimental thrust with the spear. The balance did not seem to be thrown off by the binding, so I started testing different thrusts to see which ones felt more powerful.
I quickly noticed that it was not possible to swing the spear over my head or to the side in the small space of the room. Overhead moves struck the rafters, often pulling the spear from my hands. Any swing to the side had the potential of striking one of my friends, especially after they formed two pairs to experiment with the knives. I kept up a simple series of basic thrusts until my arms ached and then turned to watch the others.
By the time I turned, the pairings had changed more than once. I knew Heather, Henckor and Lydia had all tried out the knives, but as I found a spot on the wall, the pairings were Al facing Natalie, and Kariy facing off against Victoria. Natalie was clearly not comfortable pushing off with her injured right leg and knee. If she could lead with that foot, she was unbelievably quick, pushing Al back on more than one occasion. However, as soon as he started to circle her, she would lose confidence, and he could rush in. Al turned it into a game, gliding inside her reach and kissing her on the nose before dodging back with a laugh. Surprisingly, Natalie did not lose her cool and on one occasion caught Al in the stomach with her knife as he tried to sneak in for another kiss.
Kariy and Victoria were another study in contrasts. Victoria was like
a cat, always moving and looking for the right moment to strike. Kariy was calm and cool, circling slowly and then striking with the speed of a viper. It was soon clear that Kariy had a very good eye for distance, as she seemed able to strike Victoria on the arms at will. The two ladies were covered with sweat. I watched Victoria spring forward on the attack, ducking a wild slash from Kariy and bouncing the knife off Kariy's shoulder before collapsing to the floor.
"Nice one," Lydia said. "That would have been right in the neck if it was real."
"She would have dropped the knife long before," Steve said. "Kariy hit her arms more than a dozen times. Still, for people who have no idea what we are doing, it wasn't too bad."
Heather gathered up the knives from Kariy and Victoria, then she ran up to me. "Hold out your hand," she demanded.
I raised my right hand and Heather slapped one of the knives into it. "Me against you right now," she said with a chirp. "I can take you."
Steve and Lydia laughed as I put the spear against the wall and allowed myself to be dragged out into the middle of the room. In the corner of my eye, I saw Natalie and Al pause in their practice to watch.
Heather let go of my hand and then walked for three more steps before turning around and crouching. "Shall we start?" she asked.
The cracking of the fire made the silence that followed seem to go on forever. I waited for someone to speak, but when no one protested, I shifted my right hand with the knife forward. I swung my left leg around so that my right side was facing Heather.
"Fights here are real," Steve called out. "No rules. Pause only if someone would be killed by a strike. Go!"
Heather skipped forward, her knife held out wide in her right hand. I pivoted to face her and dropped my knife to waist level. Her left foot stepped past my right leg, and her hand started to bring the knife toward me.
I stepped inside the swing and grabbed just behind her right elbow with my left hand. The knife I was holding struck her in her gut, and Heather let out a huge blast of air.