Zantalth: The magic is returning

by Gary Burfield-Wallis

  Jeb looked at it and then up at Poriya.

  “Looks good Jeb,” he said.

  Jeb then noticed Macaque watching. “What do you think?”

  I think you people are strange. What use is it? Can you eat it? Macaque thought.

  “What did she say?” Jeb asked Tallia.

  “She says it looks great on you.”

  No I didn’t.

  Jeb grinned and stared at it again as Tallia shot Macaque a look.

  Yeah okay whatever you said.

  Tallia smiled.

  Just as they were finishing their breakfast, Tog came out of the kitchen with four packages. She handed them out to Tallia, Poriya, and Jeb. “A little something for you all to eat on your journey.”

  Tallia stood up and hugged her and said, “Thank you so much. That is so kind of you.”

  Tog wiped a tear from her cheek. “Don’t worry yourself my dear. I liked having you all hear, nicest guests we have ever had.” She called over to the bar, “Isn’t that so Tov?”

  “Oh yes my dear, oh yes indeed, nicest ever,” he replied.

  “What’s the other package?” Tallia said.

  “Isn’t it obvious my dear?”

  Tallia shook her head.

  “It’s for her,” nodding towards Macaque.

  Tallia looked surprised and a little embarrassed as she had not got round to asking if she could take her with them. “Oh, errr, I wanted to talk to you long before now. Sorry.”

  “Ah get away with you girl. I guessed straight away. I could see that you two had some sort of odd bond and knew this was going to happen.”

  “Anyway,” Tog said as he walked over from behind the bar. “It’s not as if we own her. Sort of inherited her.”

  “We will miss her though,” Tog added.

  Macaque leapt off the table onto Tog’s head and messed his hair up before leaping across to Tov.

  “I’m not going to miss her doing that,” he said while trying to straighten his hair.

  Tog laughed and petted Macaque before she jumped over to Tallia and onto her shoulders.

  They weren’t allowed to leave until they promised they would return with tales of their quest and so they could see Macaque again.

  They walked out of the inn into the early morning sun and headed towards the other side of town to pick up the trail to Kargell Landing cutting through the market square as the tradesmen were setting up their stalls ready for another day.

  Walking along a well defined and wide trail made it much easier going than their journey so far. Along the way, they met several traders heading to Darkedge, and they stopped to buy salted fish from them and ask if they had heard of Amelia Beastwalker or the priest with the sea creature symbol on his robe.

  It wasn’t until the third trader they met they thought to ask what the sea creature might look like. He laughed and held up a fish by its tail. As he saw them all realise what he meant he laughed even harder and was still laughing as he bade them goodbye and headed on his way.

  Close to the end of the fifth day, they saw Kargell Landing in the distance. As it was nearing the end of the day and would be dark soon, they decided to make camp where they were and get a full day to be able to find lodgings.

  As the sun fell behind the horizon, they were surprised at how much the horizon glowed over where Kargell Landing was. “That must be a lot of lanterns,” Poriya said.

  “I wonder how many people live there?” Tallia said.

  “At least a hundred times more than our village,” Jeb said.

  “I think a hundred of a hundred,” Poriya said.

  Jeb looked at Poriya and said, “Wow I can’t even count that high.”

  As they approached the city the following morning, two men of the guard approached them. “What is your business here in Kargell Landing?” said one.

  “We are on a quest for Elder Digast,” Tallia said.

  “Is your name Poriya?”

  “I am,” said Poriya.

  “Halthor sends his regards and to offer any assistance we can.”

  “Thank you. Please send my regards back to him.”

  “Will do.”

  “Can you direct us to some lodgings please?”

  “If you walk straight down that street and keep going until you get to a small square then take the left street, just along a little way, you will find the Guard and Pike Inn. Very respectable establishment. If you say Halthor recommended you they will give you the guards rate.”

  “Many thanks.”

  “May I ask?” Tallia said. “Do you know of a priest that has a symbol of a fish on the front of his robes.”

  “We are a new detachment miss and haven’t been here long so no sorry.”

  “That’s okay and thank you.”

  “May the gods be with you.”

  “Thank you and you.”

  They walked into the city, and down the wide street the guard had indicated. Most of the houses were built with large rocks, not something any of them had ever seen, and they looked at them in fascination. When they got to the first house that was three stories high, they all stopped and looked upwards.

  “It looks like they have built a house on top of a house on top of a house,” Jeb said.

  “I suppose it’s no different to us with our houses that go down into the ground,” Tallia said.

  “It’s completely different they have it all upside down.”

  The door to the house opened and an angry looking man came out. “What do you want?”

  “My apologies sir,” Tallia said. “We have never seen a house this big before.”

  “What are you talking about girl?” the man said sounding irritated.

  “You have a house on a house on a house,” Jeb said.

  He scowled at him and said, “are you stupid boy? It’s one house with three floors.” It then dawned on him what they were saying. “Well get used to it there’s lots like that around here. Now get away from the front of my house.” He went back inside slamming the door behind him.

  They moved on and continued down the street until they reached the small square where they turned left as instructed.

  The street seemed to be all built of three-story houses and built closely to each other, some even touching each other and others with very narrow alleys between them.

  Outside one of the buildings hung a large sign with a picture of a proud looking guardsman holding a long pike in his right hand with the words GUARD AND PIKE INN written below it.

  Inside was just like any other tavern they had been in with tables and chairs dotted around, a large fireplace and a bar which the landlord stood behind to serve customers.

  Being a little early in the day, the bar was empty of customers or at least, so it seemed. It did have one customer, a hooded figure sat at a table in the shadows of the far corner who watched the group arrive and approach the bar.

  The man behind the bar came over to them. “My name is Poriya. Sargent Halthor of the Guard recommended we lodge here.”

  “Your not guards,” said the man.

  “No. We are on a quest for the elders and have the guards assistance if we need it.”

  The man looked at Macaque sitting on Tallia’s shoulders. “Is that dangerous?”

  “No, she is not. I will take full responsibility for her,“ Tallia replied.

  He turned back to Poriya, “Best you stay here then. I’ll let you have the guard special rate. How many rooms?”

  “Three,” Poriya said.

  “Three coins each a night, board only, food and drink extra.”

  Poriya reached for his coin purse.

  “Pay before you leave. Guards and friends of the guard are trusted here.”

  Poriya nodded and put his purse away.

  “My name is Bledros, pleased to make your acquaintance.” He held out his hand and Poriya shook it.

  “Jeb,” Jeb said and shook his hand.

  “Tallia,” Tallia said and did the same. “And this is Macaque.�
�

  Macaque held out her hand to him and he took it very nervously. Tallia laughed. “Don’t worry she is very nice and won't hurt you. Have you never seen an ape before?”

  “Is that what it is? No, I have to say that is my very first. Are they all like that?”

  “No idea I guess so, never seen any other myself. Please call her she or Macaque, her name, she doesn’t like being called it.”

  “It, sorry, I mean she understands what we say?”

  “Oh yes perfectly.”

  “By the gods, thought I had seen everything running this place but I guess not. Anyway, I expect you want to see your rooms. All on the top floor, I would show you myself, but my barmaid has not come in yet. Just go through that door over there and up the ladder to your right to the top. First three doors on the right.”

  As they climbed the ladder, Jeb said, “see upside down seems silly to climb a ladder to your bed.”

  “I’m sure you'll get used to it,” Poriya said.

  The windows in the rooms were much bigger than they had ever seen before and looked out across the rooftops of the houses as they sloped down towards the docks and the wide river at the bottom of the hill.

  Tallia stood at the window and stared out in awe of the sight. She had never seen so many roofs as they stretched out below her. The roofs looked funny to Tallia as they were tiled with some strange stone and had lots of ridges in them.

  Chapter XVII

  Tallia heard a knock on the door snapping her out of her reverie. “Come in,” she called out.

  Jeb walked in with a big grin on his face as he so often had when he looked at Tallia.

  “You don’t need to knock Jeb.”

  “Your of age now and a woman,” Jeb said and blushed

  “And your still my best friend.”

  Jeb smiled but still looked a little embarrassed.

  “Have you seen outside the window, it’s amazing,” Tallia said.

  “Mines just the same,” Jeb said. “Feels weird being up here.”

  Tallia gave him a quizzical look. “But we spent all our lives even higher up.”

  “Yeah I know, but that was on the plateau not in an upside down house.”

  “I see what you mean. Yeah, kind of odd, I suppose.”

  “Anyway Poriya said he is going down to the bar. You coming?”

  “Yeah, okay.”

  They joined Poriya at the bar. “Just been talking to Bledros and said we are likely to be here awhile and needed to find some work to replenish the coins we have spent. He has offered me work behind the bar. Pay is okay. He also said he would pay well for rabbit and boar. So if you want to go hunting Jeb? We can make a good amount.”

  “Yeah sure,” Jeb said quite excited.

  “Apparently everyone around here are fishermen and they hardly ever get fresh meat,” Poriya said.

  “What can I do?” Tallia said.

  “You can work out where we are going next, see if you can find that priest or some other clues,” Poriya said.

  “But that won’t make any coins.”

  “No that’s our job you and Macaque need to keep working on your quest otherwise we will end up here forever.”

  “What’s boar?” Jeb said.

  “Pig,” Tallia and Poriya said together.

  “Why do they call it boar then?”

  Poriya rolled his eyes while Tallia said, “well it’s not exactly the same, as the pigs back home these are wild pigs.”

  “When you hunt them,” Poriya said. “you need to be careful. They can get rather angry if you shoot at them and miss. Oh for the gods what am I saying. You never miss.”

  Jeb grinned at him.

  “I start first thing tomorrow, so let's go and have a look round now,” Poriya said.

  They walked back to the little square and turned left and down the hill to the docks. They spent the rest of the day down there looking at all the fishing boats and stopped for lunch at a waterfront tavern.

  “It’s really quite beautiful here,” Tallia said. “I wonder what it’s like to go on a boat.”

  “Don’t think I would like to,” Jeb said.

  “Why not?”

  “Don’t know, looks kind of scary.”

  “Good thing they don’t have rabbits out on the river then,” Poriya said and laughed. Jeb didn’t get the joke.

  When they got back to the inn, they found that Bledros had put up some posters announcing they would have rabbit available tomorrow.

  “Look at that Jeb,” Poriya said, “better bring rabbits back tomorrow otherwise Bledros will be cooking you.”

  Jeb looked in horror. “He wouldn’t, would he?”

  Poriya laughed. “Best not find out if I were you.”

  After the sun had gone down, the inn slowly filled with local customers and a few of the guard. All watched silently by the hooded figure sat at a table, on their own, in the shadows.

  Elder Digast hadn’t slept very well since meeting Tallia, and something seemed to bother him about the whole affair but just couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

  He had taken to roaming the castle late at night to try and tire himself out in the hope he would be able to get a good nights sleep, but it never seemed to work.

  It occurred to him that maybe he should try reading. After all as a young initiate all those years ago he would often fall asleep trying to read some book.

  Down in the library, he wandered up and down the shelves of books wondering what he should read. He turned a corner and there in the middle of the floor was a book just laying on the floor.

  He walked up to the book and stared down at it suspiciously then looked along the shelves until he saw the gap it had come from. He looked back down, shrugged and picked it up. He took the book back to his rooms.

  He settled down in his chair and opened the book. Rather than make him sleepy he kept reading. He read all through the night, the more he read, the more fearful he became, but he couldn’t stop reading. By the time he closed the book, the sweat was pouring off him, and he had a look of terror on his face.

  His aide found him trembling with the book still on his lap. “Whatever is the matter elder?”

  “Go and get all the elders into the council chambers. No, wait. You’ll never do it. Get me Demski and then get Captain Kagan up here. Go man quickly.”

  The aide rushed out of the elder's rooms to find Demski the most recently ordained priest who had not yet been assigned anywhere.

  There was a knock on elder Digast’s door. “Come in,” the elder called out.

  “You asked to see me elder?” said a tall skinny man in his early thirties with short cropped dark hair and a pointed face.

  “Ah good, yes Demski. I have an urgent assignment for you. I want you to go to the plateau of Skasdiz and take over from the priest who is there. I need him elsewhere.”

  “Very good elder I will prepare to leave,”

  There was another knock at the door. “Come in,” called out elder Digast.

  Captain Kagan walked in. “Demski wait here a moment this concerns you. Sargent, you're to take a small detachment and Demski here to the plateau of Skasdiz. When you get there bring Merek back with you immediately and leave Demski in his place.’

  “Certainly elder, we will leave as soon as his eminence is ready.”

  “Excellent, he will be ready to leave at sunrise,” Digast said.

  “But elder, I have.....” Demski began to say but was cut off by the glare the elder gave him and said “Sunrise.”

  “Yes elder, sunrise.”

  “Well, off you go and get on. Not you Captain.” After the priest had left he said, “If Merek protests bring him by force if necessary.”

  “What do I tell him elder?”

  “Nothing, only he is required at the castle immediately.”

  Kagan nodded.

  “One more thing Captain. Assign a squad to round up each of the elders and take them to the council chambers.”

  Kagan look
ed surprised and said, “Round them up?”

  “Yes I need them in the chambers quickly, drag them there if you have to.”

  “Elder, we can’t do that.”

  “Yes you can and you will, that is an order. Do you understand? Don’t worry I will take full responsibility.”

  “Yes elder. If you're sure.”

  “I am, very sure.”

  The elders began to arrive in the council chamber mostly under their own steam, but a couple had to be carried in by the guard. All of them shouting and demanding to know what is going on and why they had been dragged out of bed in the middle of the night, even though it was not that late at all.

  Elder Digast stood up and bellowed for silence. The eleven other elders all stopped shouting and stared at him in shock that he had shouted at them like that. He then went on to explain what he had read in the book he had found on the library floor.

  “Is that girl we saw the one in that book?” Elder Ruwyn said.

  “What girl?” Elder Ocrighast asked.

  “The one with the green eyes.” Elder Ruwyn said.

  A ripple of mumbled words spread around the room as the elders remembered who she was.

  “Yes Ruwyn,” Digast said. “I believe she is and if we don’t stop her things will change. Our authority will be undermined by a girl. A girl! We cannot allow it.”

  “Yes, yes, but what can we do?” Elder Flitrix said. “If she is as powerful as the prophecy says.”

  “That’s why we must act quickly. Before she becomes too powerful.” Elder Digast said. “I have already arranged to collect Merek and bring him here. It is he who knows her and didn’t deal with her when he could so he can go and errr, dispose of her.”

  “Good idea Digast, well done,” said Elder Stakron.

  “Actually, I am going to need your help Stakron. I will need you to cast one of your magic protection spells on him. Give him a bit of a chance just in case and all that.”

  “Yes, yes, good idea.”

  “Well seems we have it all in hand,” Elder Potwik said. “I think a trip to the kitchens is in order next.”

  The elders all mumbled their approval of the excellent idea and started to head out the door and down to the kitchens.