Gleeman's Tales

by Matthew Travagline

  “Your senses are as keen as ever,” Freki mused. “That being said, I could’ve killed you a half dozen times over before you would’ve even felt an itch.”

  “Just a half-dozen? It seems your prowling skills are slacking,” he said, taking a jab at the wolf. “In any sense, I thank you for your restraint.” He bowed his head.

  “It was not restraint that has stayed my claws and jaws today, Kitten, but a need for haste. I come with a message.” The wolf paused to lick the hair on its front paws. “This is a message for your ears alone, as all of my messages are. Not for your bigoted commander, nor your companion, and especially not the girl, though she is the reason I am here.”

  Harvey arched an eyebrow. “I’m not killing her. My days of murdering for the Earth are over—or have you forgotten your promise, the promise you made on behalf of all—”

  “Yes, yes, as you have made abundantly clear on more than one occasion. But think greatly on this. You may not wield our blade, but you swing with our arm.” The wolf paused. “No, we certainly wouldn’t ask you to kill her. Quite the opposite, actually.”

  Sensing where the wolf was leading, Harvey said, “Spit it out already.”

  “She is a peculiar echoer, that Cleo.” The wolf waited to see how Harvey reacted to her mention. When he gave no indication of his feelings for her, Freki continued. “You must be her guardian.”

  Without letting the moment breathe, Harvey said, “Gleeman is her guardian.”

  “Gleeman is more of a father to her. And he is impaired. You, Harvey, must swing the sword that Gleeman cannot. You must wield the shield that he cannot. You must protect Cleo at all costs.”

  “Why is she so important?”

  “Do you remember what I told you a while back?”

  “You always speak in riddles,” Harvey said, smiling. “You’re going to have to be a little more specific.” A low thunderous growl tumbled around in the wolf’s throat. “To expect change?” he asked, placating the beast.

  “Ahh, so Kitten does pay attention.” Freki laughed, the hostility completely gone from his voice. “Yes, change. Cleo is the harbinger of change.”

  “What do you mean? Is she to lead, to command an army, or to topple governments?”

  “One needs not to swing a sword or even to command the sword in order to direct change in the world. You’d best remember that, Kitten.”

  “So, I’m supposed to stop my life and follow her around? Because who knows where her and Gleeman are headed. Besides, he is in with a bad crowd.”

  “Wow, for a divine warrior (ahem, a retired-divine warrior), you sure do whine like a child. We are well aware of Silentore—and Oceanmane, for that matter. Even the Luddites are enraged at Gleeman, I suppose.” Freki uttered a noise from his mouth that could only be described as a sigh. “Ultimately, it is your choice of course. But know this: Cleo will need your protection. Should you fail her, and should Cleo fail, the world will revert back to the corrupt cesspit that nearly destroyed it once already.”

  “What exactly does she have to do?” Harvey asked.

  “That’s not my job to disclose, nor would it be your job to know.”

  “What would you have me tell them: that I quit my honorable life as a soldier to protect an echoer because a wolf told me to?”

  “You are smart. I know you will come up with something.” Freki spent a minute scratching intently at some fickle flea nibbling at his neck. He abruptly stopped scratching and looked back to Harvey, who had been observing in quiet curiosity. “I have one more verbal parcel for you. Pay attention, Kitten.” He showed his teeth in what was probably supposed to be a coy smile, but it ended up, like all of his expressions, appearing wolfish. “Listen for the bells that toll in midnight alarm. Amid the chaos, look for an inn with the faintest glow coming from the attic crawlspace.”

  “What bells? Will I hear them tomorrow? In a week? A year?”

  “My time is short. Your companion is soon to be joining us. Remember, Kitten: tell them naught of our conversation, or of your path. Each has its own destiny.” In the distance, a dull crack echoed through the canyon. The sound seemed oddly familiar to Harvey’s ears, but his mind was drawn from the sound by Freki dashing away and hopping off the cliff’s edge, disappearing down the mountain-face.

  Harvey swallowed a hard lump. “You never make things easy.”

  “Who never does?” Roy asked, approaching from the cave. He sat down next to Harvey, sleep still laden in his eyes.

  “This mind,” Harvey said looking up, “never makes things easy.”

  “At least you have the wolves,” Roy noted. Harvey’s eyes widened in shock, but Roy was gazing down the canyon and missed the slight. “I know you like listening to the wolves howling at night.”

  “Hey, Roy?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I just want you to know that everything I’ve done has been for you. You’re all that I’ve got now. Don’t for a second think otherwise,” Harvey said, his heart raw from the confession.

  “Whoa, whoa! Are you dying?” Roy stood quickly.

  “No.” Then after a moment, Harvey said, “Not yet at least. Keep that in mind in the future, regardless of what happens.”

  “You don’t need to remind me, Harv. I still remember. You could’ve left me at that, but you took me in as though I was your equal. No. Providence over Blue, I was your better. Some nights I ate when you didn’t.”

  “You needed the food more. I was accustomed to hunger’s solemn embrace.”

  “What’s going on?” Roy asked. “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah. I have my mind bogged down in the future is all,” Harvey replied, unsure of his own words.

  “Hey, as long as we—”

  “Boys! Quickly pack your things! Saddle the animals. We must leave in minutes.” Kib said, after flying from down the path in the form of a crow. When he reverted to his human form, blood streaked down his torso. He doubled over and braced himself as one hand suppressed the trickle of blood oozing from his side.

  “Kib, are you alright? What happened?” Roy arrived first to his side.

  “I’m fine,” Kib said, though his grating voice seemed to suggest otherwise. “Rouse the others. We need to abandon the cave now!”

  Chapter 41

  The group of six and their two mounts raced down the mountain. Despite his wound, Kib pressed them down the its western face at a taxing pace for all. They eventually found a secure spot to camp, allowing the weary animals and wired humans to rest. It was only after the animals were watered, grazing, and their people, all sitting around in agitated silence, that Harvey spoke.

  “Listen,” he said, “you can hear the Blue-farmlands.”

  Gnochi heard the first roosters serenaded the coming sun.

  “Didn’t think I’d be back here quite so soon,” Roy said. “At least Nimbus will be happy to have their supplies back.”

  Cleo shook her head. “I’ve heard it mentioned a few times before and I meant to ask. What’s Nimbus?”

  “It’s the entertainer city,” Gnochi said. “Hardly a city, though. It’s supposed to be nomadic, traveling around, much like how the Perm travels around on wagons. But for the past decade, it’s been rutting itself in at Blue Haven.” He grumbled afterwards about bureaucracy and royal laws.

  Without saying a word, Kib launched himself into the air in the form of a hawk and spiraled up into the clouds. “So, Cig,” Cleo asked between two yawns. “What happened to Kib? And why the sudden move?”

  “Kib was scouting down by Urtin when he spotted Ren leading a band of men up our pass. It seems the pirate had caught wind of my dealings with the locals and was coming to investigate. I don’t know why he shot Kib, but his aim must be deadly accurate because Kib told me that he was well away from the group and he still got nicked.”

  Gnochi found his eyes drawn to Cleo’s.

  “He might never have discovered your cave if it weren’t for us,” Roy admitted. “We’ve put your life and livelih
ood in jeopardy.”

  “No need to fret, my friend,” Cig responded. “Kib and I were getting cave-fever. We were longing for a new residency for a while but have not had the motivation until now.”

  “Where will you go?” Cleo asked.

  “Mind your manners,” Gnochi said, wincing at the tone of his voice that was too stern for the offense.

  After a moment, Cig said, “Curiosity’s nothing to be ashamed of.” She waited another moment, looking high to the sky, no doubt searching for her companion. “We will likely travel east across the ocean.”

  “How will you take a boat with Oceanmane crews on the lookout for you?” Harvey asked.

  “Oh, heavens no! You wouldn’t catch me dead in a boat,” Cig exclaimed.

  “I know,” Roy shouted. “Kib will transform into a whale and you will ride him over.”

  “That won’t work,” Kib said, landing and reverting to his human form in a blur of feathers. He wore a grimace plain on his scarred face. “I have to be human to sleep. Plus, the winteryear will soon be upon us.”

  “We will cross once the oceans have frozen over and the winterbush has taken root,” Cig said.

  “That must be a sight,” Roy said, pausing. “The grandest ocean, frozen. As solid as the land on which we now walk. It’s a shame we are conscripted for another fifteen years and won’t get to see that, huh, Harv?” The elephanteer said nothing, but looked away from his friend.

  “We should keep moving as long as the animals are rested,” Kib said, evoking a chorus of groans from the younger travelers. “Those who are pursuing us have discovered our escape route and are beginning their descent,”

  ◆◆◆

  A cross-road pike, topped by a small flame, stood imposingly before the small group. Immediately in any direction of the road were farmlands; the fields of wheat, barley, corn and low bushes of berries stretched to the horizon all around.

  The sign pointing west, directed to the city proper; the sign, northwest, directed towards Nimbus; the sign, southwest, directed to a few other hamlets huddling close to the prosperity of the capital city.

  “Hey, I think I can see the top of Dorry’s tent from here,” Roy said, stepping on top of a large bolder. “They must be camped out between the main gates, because I can just barely see the turrets on either side.”

  A few of the closest turrets and battlements along the walls also punctured through the hilly horizon. In the distance, far behind the walls, Cleo was sure that she saw the faded outline of a keep which towered in the clouds. She then directed her gaze to the northwest as if hoping to catch some glance of the entertainer’s rolling city, Nimbus.

  Kib pulled the group from their collective daze. “This is where we go our separate ways,” he said.

  “Sure we cannot convince you two to join us?” Gnochi asked, though his voice sounded as though he knew the offer to be of formality more than naught.

  “No,” Kib said.

  “Fair enough. If you ever find yourselves south of Imuny, ask around for me.”

  “We will. And to you, remember to inquire at the Sleeping Maiden,” Cig reminded.

  “I will,” Gnochi said. Cleo watched him offer his hand to the pair of echoers, saying, “I cannot thank you enough. To your travels.”

  “I’m ready to go, Kib,” Cig announced.

  “By your word,” the shapeshifter said, stooping and transforming into a huge bird, easily thrice the size of the largest man. With grace, Cig mounted the bird’s feathery back. His black wings stretched out greedily, soaking up the sun and rippling in the slight morning breeze. Without further delay, he launched up into the air, gliding easily on the wind’s back. Cleo watched until the distant bird became a mere speck in the blue sky.

  Breaking the silence, Roy said, “Well, I for one am looking forward to my cot again. I wonder if Debs misses me? I’ve taken riding him for granted.” He patted at his thighs. “When I see him next, he’s getting a juicy carrot.”

  Gnochi placed a hand on Roy’s shoulder, reining in his enthusiasm. “Before we go any further, we need to have a discussion,” he said. Cleo nodded, noticing that both Roy and Harvey agreed.

  “As far as my health,” Gnochi said. “If he asks. If anyone asks, the healer mixed a few concoctions of unknown herbs and it was those potions that roused me from my slumber. As far as what else transpired,” he said. “No mention of echoes, least of all of Cleo’s. And it might be better for you to not mention Ren at all. If the man is brazen enough to approach you stationed outside of Blue Haven—well, I doubt he’d be that foolish.”

  “Wait! You speak as though you aren’t coming back,” Roy said.

  “I’m not,” Gnochi said. “As you know, I’m contracted by Silentore. My target lives in this area—for secrecy, I won’t say who or where—but it’s better if I make my exit of government ties before I proceed.”

  “And I’m with him every step of the way,” Cleo said.

  “That’s true. If Dorothea sees you quickly up and leave, he might get it in his head to try to stop you from your contract,” Harvey noted. “Anything to make a quick pence.”

  “What of your horse and equipment?” Roy asked.

  “Well, Fester is rightly yours,” Gnochi said. “But I am going to need help with Perogie and our packs. Can you two enter camp and saddle her up for me? As Cleo noted, our bags are packed, so all you need to do is load her up and cut her reins. I’ll call her from afar and she will come to me.”

  “Okay, that could work. But, what about Dorothea? Once he sees us arrive without you two, he’ll likely get suspicious. Then if he sees us packing Perogie with your loot, the advantage would be his,” Harvey said.

  “Let me think this through.” Gnochi paced, his lips, pursed and brows, tight. “Cleo, care to rip out a sheet of paper from the journal for me? And bring the writing instruments too, please,” he ordered. She produced the materials and handed them to him. Once he had dipped the nib into ink, Gnochi proceeded to scratch quickly onto the page.

  “Control your focus. Neatness is key,” she said, teasing Gnochi by regurgitating a few bits of wisdom that he had drilled into her as she had written in the past. A few minutes later, he scrawled a signature onto the bottom. He tapped the pen to his chin, wrote another passage, and then sat back. He folded the note into a pouch, then, after fishing around in his purse, slipped three gold pence into the paper pouch.

  “You pull money like that out and throw it around like it was copper,” Cleo joked. “We could’ve bought the menagerie with that kind of money. Every night we could’ve had the royalty suite at the inns. You’ve been holding out on me, Gnochi,” Cleo complained.

  Without responding, he produced a stick of sealing wax and warmed it by the fire atop the cross-roads sign. She watched him dab the hot wax stick on the fold and brand it with his coat-of-arms pendant. As it dried, Cleo noted that all the miniscule intricacies of the pendant transferred identically onto the wax, marking it as his own.

  The group continued along the path toward the menagerie for a time. Gnochi leaned less on the crutch, though his eyes appeared permanently squinted in pain. “Alright, no time to dawdle, gentlemen,” he said, handing the envelope to Harvey. “Give this to Dorothea and offer my sincerest apologies that I have to end our shared company so.”

  He picked a farmhouse close by to hide behind as they waited for Harvey and Roy to proceed with their role in the plan. “I suspect that we will meet again, though I’m not claiming to be clairvoyant,” Gnochi offered.

  “Will you stay in Blue Haven after?” Harvey asked.

  “Maybe,” Gnochi said. “Depends on the backlash from the guard. Either way, you can always seek out a man named Skuddy in Nimbus. Tell him that you’re looking for the Librarian. He might be able to direct you to a safe place where I might be found.”

  “I appreciate you telling us that.”

  “Yeah,” Roy added. “Even though we could totally use that against you, you trust us enough to tell us that.
”

  “Thank you for making us look devious, Roy,” Harvey said.

  Cleo laughed. She watched Gnochi say goodbye with the two teens, grasping hands and sharing in a brief hug with the two. Whatever whispers passed between them were too quiet for her to overhear. Harvey then approached her and kneeled. With his knee on the road, his eyes were just lower than her own. His words were almost imperceptible to her ears.

  “Cleo, this is not goodbye forever. The spirits have dictated that I am to be your trusted blade. I am going to be looking to escape my conscription as soon as we are off duty. Frankly, I’d skip out now, but I don’t think Roy could pull the ruse alone, and I’d like him to come with us. I will find you, and I will serve you to my last breath if need be.” Before standing, he placed the gentlest kiss upon her hand.

  She felt her mouth fall open but was too shocked to pull it closed. What did he mean, the spirits ordered him to be her trusted blade? Her hand felt warm where his lips had placed their soft caress and her cheeks reddened. He stood, turned, then made to inspect the mule as though nothing more innocuous than a handshake had transpired.

  Roy moved to stand before Cleo. As he gleamed down at her, a pang of sadness reflected briefly in his eyes. “Be well, young one. Keep that lug over there out of trouble,” he joked. Cleo nodded, not trusting herself to speak. “It seems like Harvey has his mind wrapped around a way to travel with you two.” She shot him a curious look that seemed to ask if he had overheard. “I’ve lived with him almost my entire life,” he explained. “I know when he is amiss, and he is definitely amiss right now. Maybe we will rejoin you soon, but for today, we must part. Be well indeed,” he said, kissing her already reddened cheeks. She felt the bristles of stubble rough against her face, yet his lips were soft and smooth. Her hand rose instinctively, fingers searching, though for what, she did not know.