She placed the shard back in the bundle and re-wrapped it. “Today you will seek additional pieces such as this along with any other markings. Saryn will take etchings of any carvings on the walls so that we can study them here. Up until now, we had assumed that movement outside of this realm was a function of these shards. But your story about moonbeams, little one, casts some doubt. So perhaps we will find another link—something previously unnoticed—that will inform our efforts.”
Marzi stared at the bundle for a moment before nodding. At least their purpose had something to do with travel outside, which meant possibly a way of getting home. She reached down and retrieved her small pack.
Saryn strode out in front of the group, making his way toward the narrow path alongside the cliff leading to the top. “Come. Let us make haste.”
The group fell in line behind him without a word. They trudged to the top without speaking, Saige bringing up the rear. As they emerged onto the grassy bluff, the wind from the sea buffeted them. The chill, combined with her lack of sleep, cut Marzi to the core. She tugged on her tunic, pulling it tighter around her.
The group paused as Saryn looked from member to member, apparently checking them out. When he finished, he turned to Saige and nodded. “We appear to be ready.”
“Good. Travel swiftly and be cautious. You should make the ruins by dusk. Work through the day tomorrow and remain there tomorrow night. But start back at first light the following day. Make your time count. Valyn grant you swift feet and sharp eyes.”
Saryn bowed and beckoned to the group. As the troop fell into a single-file line and started for the forest, a sole figure emerged from the brush and approached them.
Marzi’s eyes widened as the identity of the new arrival registered. She exclaimed under her breath, “Lord Rintaur?”
Chapter 69: Tovi
The next day brought a flurry of activity, starting with Klunk’s visit to the chief. Tovi watched the ogre trudge across the compound, head down. Growl remained behind at the hut.
“I don’t know, Growl. I hope he’s okay.” Tovi stroked the dog’s head. Together they sat and watched as Klunk disappeared into the chief’s home.
About half an hour later, he emerged, looking no less troubled than when he had entered. Tovi stood as the ogre approached. “So? How did it go? What did he say?”
Klunk shook his head but said nothing. He pulled back the door covering and went inside, allowing the leather to fall back into place after him.
Tovi stood staring at the door. He wanted to go in, but his friend’s face had told him no. He sat down on the stoop next to Growl. Klik emerged from hiding and leapt onto his shoulder, perching on hind legs. And there they sat, the Azyrean and two pets that weren’t really pets.
Less than an hour later, an adult ogre, one that Tovi had never noticed before, approached the hut and knocked on the doorframe. The covering parted to allow entry. The visitor entered only to emerge less than a minute later with Mamaw in tow. Together, they strode toward the chief’s home.
Tovi sprang up and went inside to find Klunk sitting on his pad staring at the floor. “What’s wrong? Where did your mother go?” Although he knew. She had been summoned by the chief.
Klunk shook his head without looking up.
Tovi sat down beside him. “I don’t understand, Klunk. You didn’t do anything wrong. What’s going on?” He tried to keep the sense of desperation out of his voice. It was as if the entire world was starting to come apart.
“It is nothing to do with you, Tovi. It is on me. I must answer for it.”
“What is it? What do you have to answer for?”
Klunk shook his head and remained silent for a moment before standing. “Come. We must prepare our things to go out tomorrow. I must start to hunt larger game to feed Growl. He cannot exist on the hares that I bring home.”
“How do we hunt bigger animals?” Tovi had been a little squeamish over the hares. He worried about how he might react to killing larger animals.
“Growl will chase them and herd them for me. I will strike quickly when they are near enough. I will know more when I get to where we must hunt.” He strode toward the door and gestured for Tovi to follow.
No sooner had they passed through the door than Mamaw strode across the compound, her jaw clenched, and a stare locked on her son. “Ogwurm, inside. We must talk.” Her gaze didn’t falter.
Tovi watched as the two passed through the entrance, allowing the covering to fall into place. He turned to Growl. “I guess that means it didn’t go very well with the chief.” The beast stared up at Tovi with his red eyes.
At first, he could only hear the low murmur of the conversation inside. But with each passing moment, the volume increased until he could make out the words, which left him cold.
“He must leave. He cannot remain here.”
“But Mamaw, the chief said that he can remain, but he must see Myhrren. We will go soon. We will get answers.”
“He can go alone. It is not your responsibility. He belongs among his own kind, not here.”
“But he is my friend.”
“You have friends among the ogres. He can seek friends among his own. You know well that other people bring nothing but sorrow to our people. He shows up and now you go to the chief to talk about crystals!”
“He is alone here. What will he do? He cannot survive alone.”
“He must do what he must do. We did not ask him to come here. We owe him nothing.”
“Do we not owe him kindness and compassion, as the book says?”
“We gave him that, and he brought trouble upon us. No, the time is now. He must go.”
Tovi fought back tears. He glanced down at Growl, who gazed back at him with a baleful look that felt like understanding. “I guess I need to go.” He forced himself to recall the conversation about Myhrren. He lives toward the rising sun, nearly a day’s walk. He could do that alone.
He went over to the side of the stoop and picked up the pack that he had been preparing for the hunt. “Klik, come.”
The squirrel scampered out from under the stoop and leapt onto his shoulders.
“We need to get moving.” Tovi reached over and patted Growl on the head. “Take good care of Klunk.” He shouldered his pack and started out across the compound toward the gate. As he trudged along, he became aware of the large dog shadowing him. “No, Growl. You stay.” He pointed toward the hut. “Stay with Klunk.”
Growl tilted his head back and howled once, after which he stared at Tovi for a moment and then turned toward the hut. The Azyrean, with Klik on his shoulder, resumed his pace, passing through the gate and into the desert outside. The sun had passed its height and was retreating to the west. Tovi turned in the opposite direction and took that first step.
Chapter 70: Tovi
Several disturbing realizations crossed Tovi’s mind within minutes of striking out across the desert. First, he was alone. Klunk had warned him about this—the dangers that might await him in the desert. And now, here he was, marching into… who knows what? Second, his destination, a vague location to the east where Myhrren supposedly lived, was nearly a day’s trek and it was already afternoon. That meant traveling after dark or trying to find a safe place to sleep the night. Tears threatened.
He considered turning back and, at least, talking to Klunk and maybe waiting until the next morning. But Mamaw’s words and tone came back to him. No. The way was ahead.
His feet picked up their pace, almost to a trot. Maybe, with speed, he could reach Myhrren’s by dark or just after. He reminded himself, though, that Klunk’s estimate of travel time was based on the ogre’s long legs and steady stride. Tovi’s heart dropped once again.
By his crude reckoning, barely a half-hour had passed when he caught a slight movement out of the corner of his eye. Without stopping, he glanced to his left. His heart froze. Pacing him about three meters distant was a rock dog.
Tovi froze in place and turned to face the animal, which
stopped and stared balefully back at him. If things weren’t bad enough, another rock dog came into view just beyond the first one. It too stopped and stared.
Tovi turned and looked back toward the kraal, a half-hour’s march away. Even if he tried to run, he’d never make it. He had no idea what lay ahead. Climbing a tree might have been an effective escape, if there had been any trees nearby. But flat, sandy desert scattered with rocks reigned.
Maybe fighting them would work. If he just put up a good fight, the dogs might quit and run away. He could also try to throw rocks at them. Naw, that would only anger them, and, besides, they would hardly feel the rocks on their tough hides.
The dogs moved closer. The one farthest away began to circle back to the left, effectively cutting off his route back to the kraal.
Tovi turned alternately to face each, trying his best to look as fierce as he could. On his shoulder, Klik chattered incessantly but didn’t move.
He considered using the crystal but knew that it would only hold them at bay while it was out. If he put it away, they would attack. And maybe it would anger them. All the same, he put his hand into his pocket and grasped the crystal but didn’t remove it. When the two animals came within about a meter, they stopped. Time stood still. Tovi stared at them. Klik squealed. The dogs stared.
“Stay away! Get!” Tovi stood up straighter and tried to widen his shoulders. He took a deep breath. Anything to try and look bigger, more threatening.
If the animals were impressed, they didn’t show it. But neither did they rush him. Instead, they stared. First at him, then at each other, and then, oddly enough, at the rough trail that lay ahead of him to the east.
Gradually, Tovi once again became aware of time passing, of a cloud moving in front of the sun, of a soft, hot breeze on his face. A glimmer of hope—maybe he was not about to die after all.
But the strangest turn of events came next. One of the dogs turned and moved over to a point to the east of Tovi—directly in his path toward Myhrren. It stood there, looking first at Tovi and then at the path ahead, and then back again, as if signaling him. The other dog circled around behind, came up to the right of Tovi and dropped, lying on the ground with its head on its paws.
Tovi reached up and scratched his ears. At that moment, he remembered his last encounter with Growl, when the beast had howled loudly and then turned away from him. Could that have something to do with this? No way. That’s crazy. But still, the two dogs were acting very strange.
The first one, standing to the east, took a few steps in that direction and then turned to once again stare at Tovi, who simply stared back. The dog turned and walked a few more meters to the east before turning again to look beseechingly at the Azyrean.
It clicked. I’m supposed to follow him. Tovi took a few steps and then came to a halt, hoping for a reaction from the animal. It turned and walked farther into the east, then again stopped and waited. Tovi took several more steps and stopped.
And so, they repeated this sequence a few more times. All the while, the reclining dog to Tovi’s right watched without movement.
Finally, Tovi strode forward without stopping. “Okay, if you say so.” By this time, Klik had fallen silent and was once again maintaining vigil on the Azyrean’s shoulder. The resting dog rose, stretched, and moved in closer to Tovi, paralleling his travel.
To his surprise, when he glanced behind him, the sun was just beginning to touch the horizon. Night approached. The two rock dogs had closed the distance and now walked with him.
◆◆◆
Tovi would have liked a fire but he lacked Klunk’s skills. Instead, when darkness fell, he found a spot with a few boulders around it and parked there. Not that the large rocks did much. They still held a little heat from the blistering heat of the day, but mostly the rocks and partially-enclosed space gave him a sense of safety.
He took out a few nuts and handed them to Klik, who nibbled on them as he continued to stand watch. The two dogs were lying down—one right next to him and the other about a meter away. He took out some strips of dried hare and offered them to the one at his side. The animal took a single strip of meat and chewed it slowly, not reaching for the others. Tovi shifted his attention to the other dog, holding his hand out in that direction. The animal moved closer to Tovi and took a single strip of meat, then went back to his resting place.
Tovi chewed on a piece and put the rest back into his pack. Not thinking, he placed his hand on the nearest dog’s head and patted it. The animal glanced up—strange, these dogs have pale gray eyes, not at all like the red eyes of Growl and the other dogs at the oasis—then turned its watchful eyes toward the darkness.
As he gazed up into the sky, Tovi once again felt overwhelmed by the sheer immensity and darkness of it all, as well as the millions of twinkling stars. The single moon—Brahl, Klunk had called it—had not yet made an appearance. He had seen it when he first arrived, a slender crescent hanging low in the western sky. But, with each passing night it grew larger until it was full and then began to shrink, only to rise again later. He assumed that it would be up later in the night or probably early the next morning. He’d never really paid much attention to how moons worked.
Low growls from his two new friends brought him out of his thoughts. He stood and looked around but could see nothing. He heard other growls, more distant. The dogs near him stood and then moved outward and crouched, as if preparing to spring. Their growls became barks.
To his surprise, only silence answered the two animals. Whatever had approached must have decided to leave. The rock dogs returned to their respective spots and resumed watch.
“You must have faith, Tovi Gloam of Pangrove. I remind you, things happen for a reason. You are on the right track.”
Tovi sprang up from his sitting position. “Wait. What?” He had questions and he was suddenly brave enough to demand answers. “I want to know what’s going on. What do you want from me?”
But the voice fell silent.
Chapter 71: Tovi
Tovi awoke to the half-light of a washed-out dawn. The two dogs resting nearby reassured him that he had not dreamed the previous day’s events. He stood and stretched, yawning and turning toward the east. Streaks of orange and magenta slashed the deep blue sky.
The journey to Myhrren couldn’t be more than a few extra hours. He bent down, rustled through his pack and took out food for the party—nuts for Klik and dried hare, what was left of it, for his newfound friends. He ate a few nuts and drank from his water skin before shouldering his pack.
“Come, Klik.” He reached up and patted his shoulder. The squirrel scampered over and leapt up at the invitation. “I guess we should go.” He assumed that the two dogs understood his words. They rose, stretched their paws out in front of them, bowing their backs, and took up a slow trot toward the rising sun.
It felt good to be moving again. He didn’t do much walking in Pangrove. There weren’t many places to walk to, at least none requiring long walks. But since he had been here, it seems that he’d been constantly walking. He felt stronger. His legs didn’t ache as much as they did at first. And he didn’t run out of breath so easily. He smiled. If Marzi could see me now.
Sunrise came and went. The golden orb climbed higher in the eastern sky and the cool morning breeze turned into a hot wind and then died altogether. The party trudged on in silence. Klik kept watch on Tovi’s shoulder while the two dogs ranged five or so meters out in front. They paused occasionally and looked back, as if to confirm that the Azyrean followed.
Tovi heard the sound before he could see what made it. Shouts broke the silence from somewhere ahead of them. The dogs crouched and growled but remained frozen in place. Tovi eased slightly past them but could see nothing. As the group resumed their forward trek, the shouts were joined by what sounded like metal beating on wood.
As they trudged along, a chaotic sight came into view ahead of them. Seven or eight beings, some ogre and some not, engaged in a pitched battle. The smal
ler of the bunch wielded swords, swinging them at the ogres, who seemed determined to defend themselves by fending off the blows with clubs and poles.
The two dogs momentarily froze in place and uttered low, guttural growls. And then, without warning, they sprang forward into the fray. Tovi watched in amazement as the animals leapt onto the smaller beings, the ones with swords. But even with the dogs joining the battle, the odds seemed stacked against the ogres. There were just too many of the others.
As he drew closer, a horrifying thought occurred to Tovi. The ogres were his friends. If they were beaten, the others would turn on him and he had no defense at all. The dogs fought fiercely but numbers would soon overwhelm them. With scarcely an instant’s thought or, more accurately, no thought at all, Tovi rushed into the scene.
He entered the circle of battle shouting at the top of his lungs. He chose a target that was already under assault by one of his dogs. Plowing into the being’s leg, it proved just enough to topple it. The dog went for the throat. Before it could finish the job, though, the being rolled away and sprang to its feet. With sword in hand, it advanced on Tovi.
Tovi saw the sword arcing down toward him and turned away, offering the pack on his back to the blade. He felt the blow to his back and then his head. His eyes grew blurry and stars buzzed around his head. He stumbled and rolled away. He turned and stood shakily, only to see the being striding toward him with a cold grin on his face. Tovi fell again and tried to move away, but the thing kept coming. Just as the sword was about to come down once more, a dog intervened. Tovi caught a glimpse of the animal leaping as it tore into the assailant.
Somewhere in the distance, a voice emerged from the chaos, shouting, “We got the crystals, let’s go!” A few more growls, grunts, and groans, and then silence descended. As Tovi tried to stand, he felt a warm, gooey liquid streaming down the side of his face. He tried to wipe it off, but it kept coming. Darkness closed in.
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