“What? You have been working on these since then?”
“Oh yes, takes a long time to make this quality you know and I didn’t have long. Right, let's see how these chaps fit.”
Tallia felt rather overwhelmed that this man who she hardly knew had worked through two nights and a day to do this for her. “Thank you, thank you so very much.”
“My, my, seems these fit just fine as well. Walk around a bit lets see if they rub any.” Tallia walked around his workshop and decided they felt rather comfortable and didn’t hinder her at all.
“So how do they feel?”
“Very good. Actually, it’s almost like they are not there at all.”
“Excellent, excellent, good, right now for the sleeves.” He held out one for her to put her arm in. She went to put her right arm in. “No, no wrong arm, the other one. Look see the shape here, designed for the left arm. Tell you what I’ll mark it inside just here.” He took a knife and shaved the letter L in the inside of the sleeve at the top. He held it out and Tallia put her left arm in. He attached the sleeve by straps and buckles to the vest then held her arm out straight, then bent it, then out again, all the time looking up and down the sleeve.
“Oh for the love of Skasdiz it’s too long. I will get that put right.”
“Is it?”
“Yes look it should come to here when your arm is bent,” he said pointing to a point one fingers width above where it currently was.
“It’s perfect as it is. I always have preferred having my armour sleeves just that fraction longer,” she said although this is the first time in her life she has seen any armour close up, let alone worn any.
“Oh, really, well I never, how about that. I must have had Skasdiz himself guiding my hand.” Tallia smiled. “Now look, I have allowed extra length in all the adjustment straps to allow for you to grow some more. Promise me this though, please. When you get bigger, and near the end of the straps you find your way back to me so I can make you a new set.”
“I promise.”
“Good, right, right arm. Ha I just said right right arm.” Tallia giggled.
Merek sat down in a small chamber he had off his main cave where he had built a small altar. The walls were carved with all the symbols of the gods along with many other mystical shapes. The alter was surrounded by lit candles.
On the altar directly in front of him, he had placed a talisman made of silver. It was round with the symbols of the gods cast around the edge interspersed with other strange shapes. In the centre was a large smooth red stone.
As he chanted a spell over it, the red stone began to glow, and clouds swirled within it.
When he had completed the spell, the stone returned to its original state, and Merek sat down in a chair sweating profusely. “That should do it. Now I can keep an eye on the little witch.”
Chapter VI
When Tallia and Jeb arrived with their parents at the north wall, they found a large crowd waiting for them. It seemed the whole village had turned out to wish them well and wave them off.
As they approached the crowd, it parted making a corridor through to Poriya and Merek. Walking slowly through, they were patted on the back and shook many hands. It seemed to take forever to get to the front where Merek approached Tallia. “I have a small gift for you to keep you safe on your journey and as a sign to the elders to show I sent you.” He handed her the talisman. “Keep this on you at all times. It has magical properties that will protect you from demons. Also when you get to the castle present this to an elder and they will know it is from me.”
“Thank you, your eminence,” Tallia said. She had a distinct feeling that there was something else but Merek said no more and turned away. She was sure she heard a muffled thought but didn’t try to seek it out as she was immediately distracted by Mrs. Pace. “Here you go, my dear. I have decided to call them Tallia’s Quest Biscuits,” she said as she handed her a parcel.
“Thank you so much, Mrs. Pace. You do me such a great honour to name them after me.”
“These are all yours I have given Jeb and Poriya’s theirs already.”
“Wow, there seems enough to last me ten quests. Thank you," Tallia said as she put the parcel in her back bag.
Tallia then spotted Jeb who was now in his new armour, had been given all the arrows that were made for him and she burst out laughing. He had so many that it seemed there were more arrows and quivers than there was Jeb. “Here Jeb give me a couple of those quivers I can carry those.”
“Thanks, Tallia. I think they went a bit mad with making them.”
“Yes seems so,” said Poriya as he walked up to them. “You better give me two as well otherwise we will have to wait an age for you to climb out of them before you can even use your bow.”
“Thank you Poriya.”
“Right come on you two we need to make use of every moment of light.”
Tallia gave her mother a last quick hug as Jeb did the same to his mother and father.
The three of them made their way to a gap in the wall where a ladder had been lowered for them to climb down. As they each turned and stepped onto the ladder the crowd cheered and clapped and Merek prayed to the gods for them.
It took much longer to climb down the ladder than Tallia expected. She really hadn’t grasped just how high the plateau that she had lived on all of her life was. The slow, steady descent down the long ladder made her realise just how safe it was up there.
The final step off the last rung of the ladder onto the ground below was a momentous moment for both Tallia and Jeb.
Tallia carefully stepped off the ladder onto the ground for the first time in her life. She tentatively put her first foot down as if she expected it not to be there or solid. Taking her weight on the first foot, she lifted her other foot off the ladder and placed it on the ground still hanging on tightly to the ladder. She looked up to the top of the ladder, and it seemed so much further up than it did when she had looked down from the top. Hesitantly she let go of the ladder along with the very last strand of her childhood, her home, her life and everything she had ever known. Slowly she turned around and looked out across the fields of crops and beyond into the distance towards her new life as no longer a child but a grown young woman, even though she was a few weeks from her thirteenth birthday when she would become officially of age.
Jeb jumped off the last rung so both feet would land on the ground at the same time. He looked around then back to the rock face behind the ladder and followed it all the way up to the top. He let out a loud whoop and started to jump up and down which he quickly stopped as his arrows started to threaten to jump out of their quivers. For him, he was finally a man and something worth celebrating even though like Tallia he was not quite thirteen.
Now that the small band of three were on the ground they strode out away from the plateau along a narrow track between two large fields of cabbages. Reaching the far edge of the fields Tallia and Jeb stopped and looked out over the plains they were to walk over, A golden coloured grass as tall as the top of their boots spread out in front of them as far as they could see interspersed with the occasional tree.
Poriya had strode out ahead and stopped when he realised Tallia and Jeb were no longer just behind him. “Problem?”
“Sorry,” they said together and started walking towards him.
“Just a bit overwhelmed then?”
“I suppose, sort of,” Tallia said.
“It’s very big,” Jeb said.
“It looks so different from down here,” Tallia said.
“Even the trees look bigger,” Jeb said.
“It’s quite beautiful,” Tallia said.
“There doesn’t seem to be as many.”
“Really?” Poriya said. “You two going to go on like that all the way?”
“Sorry,” they said together.
“Can we just concentrate on walking we have a long way to go,” said Poriya.
After a short period of silence, Tallia asked, �
�How do you know which way to go it all looks the same.”
Poriya rolled his eyes and sighed. “I use the position of the sun to know which direction to go.”
“Oh”
“And because I have done this journey a few times before, I look for known landmarks like trees, rocks, and mountains.”
Jeb looked ahead and around a little. He couldn’t see any mountains or rocks, and all the trees in every direction looked the same. “I can’t see any landmark thingies.”
“You're not looking properly.”
Jeb looked around again but still could not make anything out. Eventually, he said, “No, I still can’t see anything.”
“Look straight ahead. What do you see.”
“Err, sky, ground, and trees.”
“Yes, a tree.”
“But they all look the same. How do you know what one to walk towards?”
“Look more carefully. Some look very different.”
Jeb thought for a few moments looking at the shape of each tree. He then looked directly ahead, and if anyone had been watching him, they would have seen his face light up as he realised what to look for. “You mean like the one a long way off that is leaning over?”
“Oh thank all the gods, The lad has finally got it.”
For three days they walked and saw nothing but grass and trees. At the end of the third day when they stopped to make camp Poriya said “No fire tonight. We are less than a days walk to Whitelight and there may be bandits around. A fire will only alert them to us being here.” “Are we in danger?” Tallia said.
“Not really, we're still a long way from Whitelight, and it’s unlikely they will wander this far out on a whim.”
“But a fire will be seen from a long way off?” Jeb asked.
“Correct.”
“But you said a fire keeps wild animals away,” Tallia said.
“I did, and it does, but I would rather tackle a beastie or two than a bunch of bandits with weapons,” Poriya said.
“They have weapons?” Jeb said.
“Err yeah,” Poriya said slowly. “How do you expect them to rob you? Ask nicely?” Using a silly voice, he said, “Oh please can I have all your things and then die for me.” Tallia giggled, and Jeb looked rather sheepish.
Jeb then drew an arrow from a quiver and put it on his bow all ready for action.
“Put that away,” Poriya said. “I will keep watch and wake you in plenty of time if I hear anything. Anyway, I have no desire to be shot by you when you fall asleep and lose that arrow by accident.”
“I won’t,” Jeb said defensively.
“You will. Now put it away and get some sleep.”
Jeb returned the arrow to the quiver and settled down to sleep as did Tallia. Just before she fell asleep, she tried listening with her mind out into the darkness to see if she could hear or sense anything. There was nothing.
The night went without any incident, and Poriya woke them just as the sky was starting to lighten. Jeb jumped up in a panic and made a grab for his bow and a quiver sending arrows all over the place. He tried to grab one off the floor and stumbled breaking three with his feet as he stepped on them.
“Woah fella,” Poriya said. “Calm down. I was just waking you as it’s nearly light and time to leave.”
Jeb stopped flapping around and looked at Tallia who was rolling on the floor holding her sides with tears streaming down her face. “That was the funniest thing I have ever seen.”
Jeb looked up at Poriya who was not so amused and was looking somewhat disappointed. He heaved a big sigh. “Great. A fat lot of good your going to be in a surprise attack.” He then looked at Tallia who was trying to get her breath back and rolled his eyes. “Get it together you two I want to get to Whitelight before sundown.
Jeb picked up the arrows he spilled, and they both hurried after Poriya as he strode off.
“Sorry, Poriya,” Jeb said. “I will be better next time.”
“I do hope so.”
“What’s at Whitelight?” Tallia asked.
“Mostly bandits and bad people.”
“Then why are we going there?”
“Because they also have somewhere we can replenish our supplies and sleep in a bed.”
As the sun reached it’s highest point Poriya suddenly stopped and squatted down and waved his hand behind him to signal the others to do the same which they did. He crawled back to them and whispered. “Can you see them?”
They could see a small group of six people a long way off. They seem to be just sitting around something.
“Yes,” Tallia whispered. “Who are they?”
“Could be bandits, could be just travellers. Impossible to tell from this far away.”
“What do we do?” Jeb asked.
“We could try and go round them but will almost certainly mean we won't make it by sundown. Depends on who they are. Trouble is to get close enough to find out they may spot us and if their bandits were going to have a problem.”
Tallia stared at the group and tried to listen to their thoughts but couldn’t hear anything. She guessed they were too far away. Just as she stopped concentrating the chirping of a bird in a nearby tree caught her attention. “Hang on. I have an idea.”
Jeb and Poriya stared at her with puzzled expressions as she stared at the tree off to their right trying to see the bird she just heard. What in the gods names does she think she can do he thought.
“I can use the bird in that tree to go look at them,” she said. “If I could just see it. And yes I heard what you thought. Now please be very quiet I need to concentrate.”
Poriya opened his mouth to say something but then closed it silently as he had no idea what he was going to say.
“Ah, there you are.” Tallia connected with the bird and closed her eyes. The vision through the bird's eyes appeared. She conjured up the feeling of wanting to fly. She felt a slight confusion from the bird, but it took off into the sky, and the confusion passed quickly.
Tallia controlled her breathing and kept her thoughts calm and quiet as she got the bird to turn in a slow wide circle until she saw the group of people. She focused on them with a desire to fly towards them, and the bird stopped its wide turn and headed directly towards them.
Poriya silently watched the bird as it flew towards the group while Jeb watched Tallia closely for any signs she may be in trouble. Ha had no idea what sort of trouble but watched anyway.
She got the bird to swoop down directly over their heads but not so close as to startle them at all. The bird then made a wide turn and flew back towards them landing on the ground a safe distance away where Tallia listened.
“I don’t see why we can’t go to Lightwater,” said a man.
“I have told you we will get robbed,” said another man.
“Only if they know what we have.”
“And you think your halfwit sister will keep her mouth shut?”
“Hey,” said a woman.
“Don’t worry about her, I will take care of it,” said the second man.
“Look, I don’t care, we are not going, and that’s the end of it,” said the first man.
“Will you three stop. I’m sick of it,” said a third man. “Come on let's get moving again. We're sitting ducks out here.”
Tallia opened her eyes and broke the contact with the bird. “There’re travellers arguing about going to Lightwater. One wants to go, but one is strongly against it. They have got something on them that will get them robbed.”
“Do they have any weapons?” Poriya said.
“When I flew over I couldn’t see any only a chest about an arm's length in size that they were sitting around.”
“Look they are moving,” said Jeb. They watched for a moment as they began moving off to the left.
“Right let’s get moving as well then,” Poriya said. “If they do spot us they will think were bandits and make a run for it.”
As they began walking again, Poriya mumbled “Well done Tallia.”
Tallia and Jeb shared a smile.
Chapter VII
The landscape started to change, rather than being mostly flat it started to rise and fall in gently rolling hills like giant waves frozen in time. The grass gave way to bare rock in places, and large boulders were dotted around. Some looked as if they had been arranged by the gods in small piles or maybe they had stacked them up in towers which had long since collapsed.
As they rounded the crest of a hill, they looked down on the village of Whitelight. “Oh, is that it?” Tallia said with disappointment in her voice. It consisted of two rows of shabby and neglected buildings with a single road between them.
“Great innit?” Poriya said.
“I expected something much bigger,” Tallia said.
“We’re lucky it’s even here. The only reason it exists is it’s close to one of the east-west trails between the two coasts.”
“Have you seen the great sea Poriya?” Jeb asked.
“Nope.”
They walked down the gentle slope to one end of the village. The sun was low in the sky making long shadows and the buildings look even more dilapidated than they already did. All of the houses were made of wood, something Tallia and Jeb had never seen as the houses on the plateau were all made of the soft rock dust that was dug out to make the caves mixed with water, shaped and allowed to set hard.
The village appeared to be deserted as they walked along the street. “Is everyone at prayers?” Tallia asked.
“No priest here, so no.” Both Tallia and Jeb looked shocked at this.
“So where is everyone?”
“Guess some will be tucked up in their houses but most will be in the tavern.”
“Tavern?” Jeb said.
“A place where people go to meet and drink alcohol.”
“Alcohol?” Tallia and Jeb said together.
Poriya stopped and looked at them both. “Listen, there’s a lot of new things you're going to come across outside the plateau. Some, no, most of it is not good. Alcohol is a good example. If someone offers you any DON’T drink it.”
Zantalth: The magic is returning Page 5