“How did you meet Ambrosius?” Thorik asked his giant companion as they walked along the edge of a shallow gorge. The summer had dried up most of the water at its base, leaving only a small stream until the spring rains would refill it.
The open dry landscape was colored with patches of short golden grass. Splashes of purple added color to the O’Sid Fields from hard little seeds that clung to the stems of the local govi-weed. The land was dreadfully hard and flat, except for the dry waterbeds and the tall termite mounds.
They had been walking for days outside the Dovenar Wall without the fear of being attacked by humans. Of course, walking in the open Fesh’Unday land was not the safest way to travel.
“It was before the Civil War.” Grewen moved Avanda’s sleeping body from his left arm to his right to prevent it from stiffening up. His long robe had been patched up as best as they could after being ripped up prior to the Coliseum games. “Ambrosius had come to Pelonthal after it had been invaded by the Ov’Unday.”
“I thought Ov’Unday were pacifists. Why would they invade a human province?”
“It’s complicated, Thorik.” Grewen walked over to one of the thin tall mud mounds.
“Everything about Ambrosius seems to be complicated. The facts that I continue to learn seem straight forward, and so far support Darkmere more than Ambrosius.”
“Like I said, it is complicated.” Grewen made a fist with his free hand and slammed it deep into the mud mound before stirring it around inside.
“It appears simple enough to me. The Unday continue to attack men and Nums. Darkmere is fighting for the men while Ambrosius is fighting for the Altered Creatures.”
The Mognin pulled his hand free of the mound. Giant biting termites coated his fist as they attacked his thick skin. “Don’t always believe what you hear.” Sucking the insects off his hand, one finger at a time, he pushed a few trying escape back into his mouth.
“I don’t have to. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Ambrosius destroyed the Grand Council, we both heard the ghost of the Council. Ambrosius destroyed the buildings of Pyrth and killed many of its residents; we both saw that, as well. His friends are Ov’Unday and Del’Unday. What more proof do I need?”
Licking the remaining termites from his palm, Grewen looked down at the little Num. It appeared that Thorik was struggling with his own argument. “So why is it even you don’t believe it to be true?”
“I don’t know, maybe that’s what bothers me the most. My heart is not agreeing with my eyes.”
They continued walking in silence for a short time.
“Thorik, did you fight alongside Ambrosius and me against the Del’Unday and the human Alchemist, north of Woodlen?” Grewen asked.
“Of course I did. You were there.”
“Do you consider me your friend?”
“I tracked you down and saved you in the Coliseum Melee Matches, didn’t I?”
“So, are you against Del’Unday and humans working together for peace?” Grewen asked.
“No, what kind of question is that?”
“The evidence would imply it. You befriended an Ov’Unday and then fought Del’Unday and a human. Even though these facts are true, they are obviously not complete. You are accusing Ambrosius of the same thing. Seeing his battles and my friendship has given you facts but not the entire story, and yet you are using them against him,” Grewen stated with no response, so he continued. “Do you consider Draq your friend?”
Thorik gave off a half smile. “I don’t know yet.”
Grewen nodded his head in agreement. “Me either.”
They both lightened the serious mood with a long overdue laugh.
Thorik’s smile lessened a bit. “I wish I knew where I fit into all of this.”
“What do you mean?”
“What’s my purpose here? I feel that I can make a difference in this world, but how? And who am I to become?” Thorik took a deep breath while reflecting on his own questions. “Following Brimmelle’s words of wholesome tradition fills me with comfort, but Ambrosius’ conviction to change things for the better feeds a fire within me that I feel destined to follow. I struggle between the security of Farbank and the adventure over the next hill.” Looking up at the gentle giant he asked, “I want both, and yet neither of the extremes. How do I find out who I am and what I should believe?”
Grewen warmly grinned and tilted his head toward the Num. “My dear little friend. Life isn’t about finding yourself, it’s about creating yourself.”
Thorik pondered the words and looked back at the path before them. It would take some time to fully digest Grewen’s comments.
The friends headed south over the O’Sid grasslands that slowly turned to sparse vegetation and Kiri Drylands, always keeping the Dovenar Wall just within sight to their west. Bands of Del’Unday and Fesh’Unday were occasionally seen. Hiding from them slowed down the trip often to a snail’s pace. Grewen taught Thorik and Avanda what plants and roots were edible as they stopped frequently to fill Grewen’s rumbling stomach.
Avanda made several attempts to catch a horned toad before she was successful. “I’ll call you Ralph,” she told the critter who rested in between her hands. Its capture was short lived as she dropped it and wiped her hands off. “Yuck! It peed on me.” She then started the chase again.
Thorik had finished eating and began working on his maps and notes again while Grewen continued to search for enough food to fill his large body.
Chewing on various plant roots, Grewen asked Thorik, “What made you decide to become a Sec?”
“I really didn’t have a lot of choice.”
Grewen’s face shifted as he looked confused. “What do you mean?”
“After my parents died, I was too young to live on my own so my Granna Gluic took me in to live with her and Brimmelle. He didn’t appreciate my moving in, feeling I was too unstructured and childish. I lived with them until I turned sixteen, this past spring.”
“Surely he could remember what it was like to be a youth.”
“No, I don’t think so. His father trained him to be a Sec since he was seven. Then he passed away when Brimmelle was only eleven, handing over the Fir status to him. He quickly became the leader of our village with no time to be a child. I think he has always held that against me; the fact that I still choose to enjoy life instead of giving into being an adult.”
“Becoming an adult doesn’t mean giving up your ability to have fun and enjoy life,” Grewen replied.
“To him it does. And I have failed in doing so. During my long three years living with them he trained me endlessly to become a Sec. He still insists on it, but I frequently let him down.”
“Why do you let him get to you? He’s your uncle, not your father.”
“He’s the closest thing I have to a father. He has saved me from myself on more than one occasion.”
“According to him or to you?”
Thorik looked confused. “What do you mean?”
“He has convinced you that you need him. From what I have seen, you do not.”
Thorik became defensive. “He’s done a lot for me and has looked after me when I needed it.”
“Don’t get emotional, little man. I was just saying that you have proven on this journey that you can handle yourself. His words should be used more for guidance rather than orders to be taken.”
Thorik sighed. It was easy to say, but he couldn’t ever see himself stand up against Brimmelle. Just the thought made him uncomfortable.
Avanda returned to them displaying her newly caught common brown-back snake. The two-foot-long snake coiled around her wrist and hung its head down looking for insects as Avanda tried to feed it grass. “Thorik, would you like to meet Ralph?”
“Ralph?” Thorik questioned. “I thought the horned toad had that name.”
“Yes. It’s easier to remember their names if they are all the same,” she added. “Here, you can hold him?”
Thorik instinctively stepped back. “No thank
s. We need to get going soon. You should put your friend back with his family.”
“All right. I think I saw about twenty of his brothers and sisters near here earlier. I’ll see if I can find them again,” she responded.
Thorik took a quick survey of the ground near him to make sure none of Ralph’s family had dropped by to visit.
Grewen smirked. “It’s only a snake.”
“I know. I was just checking to make sure we aren’t forgetting anything.”
“You’re a terrible liar, Thorik.” Grewen chuckled to himself as they prepared to leave the site.
Slightly embarrassed, Thorik looked up to see the endless horizon of the desert. “How much farther do we have to travel?”
“Well, we passed the Woodlen Province, so we probably have a day before we finish passing the province of Doven and arrive at River’s Edge.”
“Is River’s Edge a nice place? I would assume that they allow Ov’Unday, if they are going to allow you to cross,” Thorik surmised.
Grewen looked a little set back at the question. “It wasn’t Para’Mathyus, but it was very nice. Like all provinces, the Dovenar Wall surrounds it to prevent Unday from entering. In River’s Edge, the wall lined the province along the crest of the shallow river valley bluffs. The entire province is only a few miles wide but it follows the river for probably eighty miles upstream from Lake Luthralum.”
“You said it ‘was very nice’, does that mean it was destroyed by the Del’Unday?”
“It means that it was once a rich valley of growth and prosperity from both a natural and economical way. It was caught up in the middle of the Dovenar Civil War and became the final battle point between the North and the South.”
Avanda released the reptile, returned and started gathered her things so they could start heading south again.
“Who won the Civil War?” Thorik asked.
Grewen shook his head at such a black and white thought. “Neither. During the final battle, a great wave from Lake Luthralum came ashore and destroyed all lakeside cities. River’s Edge was hit the hardest as the wave rolled up the low river valley all the way to the end of the province, only to be stopped by the Dovenar Wall, near Ki’Volney Lake.”
“Once the water receded did they rebuild?” Thorik asked.
“Interesting enough, the waters didn’t recede. They stayed at the higher levers and the coastline cities as well as most of River’s Edge remains submerged. The majority of all humans and Polenums at that time lived on Lake Luthralum’s shores and were killed by the wave. What you have seen outside your valley is the starting over of a new civilization. You were one of the few totally isolated from these major events of our time. Consider yourself lucky.”
As predicted, the landscape became barren and opened up to sand dunes just before they reached River’s Edge’s exterior province wall. It was constructed with higher quality than the Woodlen Province wall but not quite as tall.
Unable to climb up the wall, Grewen took a short break and enjoyed his time basking in the warmth of the hot desert sun as he sank his exposed feet into the hot loose sand of the Kiri sand dune. He missed this kind of weather that reminded him of his days as a youth collecting sandcrabs along Ki’Volney Lake.
He sat on the top of a tall dune and leaned back on the Dovenar Wall. Daydreaming of past and future events, he was struck on the head with a metal chain. Looking up, he found Thorik leaning over the edge of the wall.
“Sorry about that.” Thorik stood on the massive abandoned wall as he struggled to maneuver the chains he found to make four loops hanging off the side down to Grewen.
Grewen stepped back to ensure he wouldn’t get clobbered again. The tall sand dune had already taken care of half the wall’s height so the chains would only have to support him climbing the second half. “Are these going to hold me?”
“Yes. As long as the links are still strong… and these old metal brackets hold tight.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Grewen held the four loops of chain links in his hands. Using the different height loops for footholds and pulling hand over hand, he scaled the wall within a few minutes. The hard part was still to come as he tried to pull his body up onto the ledge while Thorik and Avanda attempted to help the giant at least twenty times their own weight. But pull they did, as they finally rolled his exhausted body onto the top of the wall.
“That was easy enough,” Grewen said between breaths.
“Our next path appears easy as long as you can swim.” Thorik peered out across the mile to the far wall of River’s Edge. “You can swim, can’t you?”
“Not one of my strengths, little man.”
“Well, I forgot to bring my boat on this trip. So unless you have one hidden under your robes, I think you need to learn quickly.”
Grewen smiled at the candor and wit of the remark. “It’s good to see you found your sense of humor.”
“Oh, and by the way, Avanda will be riding on your back. She doesn’t know how to swim either.”
Avanda’s ears perked up. “I’m not going to ride on him. He’ll sink.”
“I’m inclined to agree with Avanda on this one. Mognin’s sink like a rock,” Grewen said.
Thorik looked at them both. “Grewen, is crossing these waters our only chance to catch up with Brimmelle before he goes to the mines?”
“Yes, as far as I know,” the Mognin answered reluctantly. “They will take the prisoners all the way upstream to the Eastland bridge in order to cross the river. Crossing here is our only chance of getting in front of them.”
Thorik nodded. “Avanda, do you want Fir Brimmelle to be lost forever in some mine? Never to see Farbank again? Is that the fate you wish upon him?”
“No,” she replied.
“Then we need to get past our fears and cross River’s Edge province to save him.” Thorik was fully in charge.
All in agreement, they worked their way down the steps on the inside of the Dovenar Wall to the flooded province valley. Grewen slowly stepped into the cloudy water and found that it only came up to his thighs. “Perhaps I’ll just walk across, want a ride?”
Backing up to the wall’s staircase, Thorik climbed onto his back and straddled the Mognin’s neck as he held onto his large head for support. Avanda stepped onto Grewen’s large palm before sitting down for the ride. They were ready for their casual stroll to the far wall.
Making their way toward the center, the water continued to work its way up Grewen’s body until Thorik’s feet were getting wet. It didn’t bother him until he thought he saw movement within the murky water.
“What’s the matter, Thorik? I thought you knew how to swim.” Grewen chucked as he kept lifting his hand higher to prevent Avanda from getting wet.
“I do, but I thought I saw something.”
“In the water?” Grewen glanced down, but the muddy brown water gave little to view.
Avanda had no luck either, although she was excited to see anything to bring some life into the boring river crossing.
“Yes…” Thorik’s head spun back and forth searching the waters until he saw a bony figure rise near the surface for a brief moment. “In the water! I saw it again!”
“Where?” Avanda nearly fell off Grewen while jumping around with excitement at the opportunity.
Grewen chuckled at the skittish nature of Nums. “Did you get see a ghost or something?”
“Grewen, how did you know?” Thorik asked while searching the waters for more signs.
“I was just poking fun, Thorik. Legends of the waters being haunted by Irluk’s drowned souls of River’s Edge are just folklore.”
“Your folklore just surfaced and looked me in the face,” Thorik rebutted.
Grewen chuckled as the water reached a new level that came up to Grewen’s chin. “The only haunting of River’s Edge is down by Lake Luthralum, where Maegoth used to stand. The rest of the river is safe, as far as I know,” Grewen added and winked at Avanda.
She pla
yed along. “You’re not scared, are you Thorik?”
“No, Grewen’s words have given me great comfort,” Thorik said with dry sarcasm. He then lifted his feet out of the rising water and grabbed his backpack to set it on Grewen’s head. “I hope this is the deepest part of the valley.”
Grewen step fell a little deeper. “I don’t think we have even hit the original river yet, so you two will need to start to swim for it soon. I’ll do my best to hold my breath and run along the bottom until I reach the safe levels.”
Nervous about what he had seen, Thorik began to get his gear ready for the swim. “I hope your knowledge of folklore is better than my vision.”
Avanda eyed several old metal poles sticking out of the water. She was very nervous about swimming and willing to try anything before having to do so. “Grewen, do you see that row of lamp poles? Perhaps that is a bridge over the old river base.” A sparkle of hope was in her voice.
“It’s worth a try.” Grewen agreed and moved over to it. “Your eyes have done it again little one, we have found an old stone bridge. I hope it’s intact all the way across.”
They were now moving very slowly as Grewen walked on his toes and paddled with his free hand. This continued for nearly an hour as he tried to maintain his balance so he wouldn’t spill his passengers or their supplies into the water. They eventually crossed the bridge and made their way toward the far wall without any issues.
Finally the water level began to recede down Grewen’s neck to his chest.
Relieved, Thorik sighed. “I have to admit that you were correct, Grewen. My eyes must have been playing tricks on me. It should be smooth sailing from here. I’m glad that’s behind us.”
“See, worrying only adds stress to your life and it’s usually has no validity in the first place,” Grewen added to the comment.
Avanda laughed at both of them. “Come on, Grewen, you both were scared. I saw your face when you thought you had to run along the bottom holding your breath.”
“Don’t confuse being concerned with worrying… Ouch!” Grewen expressed. “Something just bit my leg.”
Thorik laughed. “I’m not falling for it, Grewen.”
“I’m serious. That really hurt.”
“Fine, I’ll have a look at it when we get to the wall.”
“Ouch!” Grewen jerked forward to pull his foot free, nearly knocking Avanda out of his hand. It didn’t help. “Something has a hold of me.”
Grewen was slowly being pulled backward by one leg while attempting to stop himself with the other leg pressing against the muddy lake bottom.
“What’s happening?” Thorik asked.
“I told you, something has a hold of my leg. It’s dragging us back into deeper waters.” Grewen clenched his large jaw as he made another attempt to pull free without any success. “You two need to jump off and swim the rest of the way while I try to free myself.”
Thorik pulled out his hunting knife. “I’m not leaving you again.” He then tied Avanda’s and his items together and tossed one sack on each side of Grewen’s neck for safety. “Stay still and I’ll swim down and cut you free from the plants you most likely got caught in.”
Second-guessing himself only for a moment, Thorik jumped into the water and swam down in the thick murky waters. Even with no cloud cover, it was difficult to see anything as he followed Grewen’s body down to his captured leg.
Expecting to see some aquatic vine wrapped around Grewen’s foot, Thorik was terrified to find an army of skeletons pulling on him. Remnants of flesh and mud covered the animated bones as they worked together to pull Grewen into darker waters.
Blood could be seen spilling out of Grewen’s leg from what appeared to be bite marks. Thorik didn’t take time to think as he reacted to the situation. He reached down and grabbed Grewen’s thick leg for balance and used his own feet to kick off as many of the skeletons as he could.
Three of the semi-flesh covered dead floated forward and grabbed Grewen’s other leg, causing the giant to lose his balance. Avanda splashed into the lake as he was forced to use both hands to stabilize himself.
As his mighty hand reached over to grab her, she was pulled under the murky water, out of his sight.
“Avanda!” he yelled and plunged both arms under the surface to find her. His huge limbs swung back and forth in his attempt to grab her body.
After a few quick passes he clutched onto her and raised his hand above the water to investigate. To his surprise he found an animated corpse in his hand instead of the little Num. He tossed their bones into the distance before submerging his massive hands for another attempt.
Thorik held onto Grewen’s leg as the large limb thrashed about. He continued to kick the skeletons off Grewen’s body one by one. However, it wasn’t long before a few of them began attacking Thorik’s grasp with series of bites and clawing at his own arms and hands.
Feeling another hand on his leg, Thorik reached down to remove it. But upon touching it, it felt more flesh than bone. He grabbed the wrist and pulled it off his leg before raising it toward him. It was Avanda, and she was in a state of horror.
She screamed in fear as her remaining breath escaped from her mouth and floated upward.
Thorik pulled her toward him just as a fleshless face looked over her shoulder at him. This latest skeleton was armed with a rusty sword as he prepared to shove it through Avanda’s back and into Thorik’s chest.
Thorik let go of the security of Grewen’s body. Kicking hard at the bony arm that held onto Avanda’s leg, Thorik pushed Avanda up toward the surface with all his might as the skeleton’s weapon made its way toward them.
The water erupted with bubbles in front of Thorik as he waited to feel the rusty blade penetrate his chest. Instead, a large hand reached out and grabbed Thorik around his chest and shoulders. He was instantly raised above the surface to see Avanda in Grewen’s other hand.
Grewen was violently kicking at the attacks on his legs. He laid the two Nums over his shoulders and began to swipe at the skeletons crawling up his sides, out of the water.
Thorik and Avanda held onto Grewen with their remaining strength as they both gasped for air.
Grewen removed the clinging skeletons from Thorik and Avanda’s bodies as he headed for the wall. Once there, he set the Nums down on the wall’s lower dry platform and sat down to remove the stragglers hanging onto his own legs.
Thorik choked his way back to life. “Folklore?”
“So I’ve heard,” Grewen replied as he tended to his own wounds.
Chapter 28
Myth’Unday
Fate of Thorik Page 34