I had my doubts about this as it looked to me as if something was smouldering rather than burning, or cooking for that matter.
“I guess we’ll just have to find out,” I replied as I urged Storm on to continue forwards.
It soon became all too apparent that the smoke did not belong to any campfire, but instead was the smouldering remains of some dead fiery blaze that had blackened all the ground around it. The smoke we had seen from afar was still emanating from a large blackened heap in the centre of this scorched earth. As we came upon the spot of the seared ground, this heap was now seen to be a wagon of some description. Metal bands around the wheels of the wagon had buckled under an immense heat and had paled to a rust orange, but they remained the only thing visible on the wagon that had not turned to blackened ash.
Trees caught within the circle of the fire were also withered and burnt, the ground barren and bare, with only the rocks on the earth immune to the nature of the blaze.
I looked at the shell of the wagon, then to the ground about it. Something was not right here.
“I have never seen a fire that could form such a perfect circle as this one did.” My comment was said aloud and aimed at no one in particular, but it was the mage who answered.
“Magical fire.” I turned my head to him, but his gaze remained upon the area of the blaze.
“You are telling me a wizard did this?”
“Quite so,” replied Jaramel, “and one of some power by the looks of it,” he added.
“Why?” I added not really expecting an answer.
“Who knows.” Jaramel shrugged.
My eyes went back to the scene in front of me. Baram had moved Anvil out to the right of the wagon’s shell and was now eyeing something with distaste.
“Taragon!” he called. “There are bodies on this side.”
Sure enough, five blackened corpses were lying on the ground at what would have been the front part of the wagon. Four of these were of human origin; the other was that of a horse. It looked as if they died where they stood and did not even make an attempt to flee from the blaze. But if a wizard was responsible, then maybe they were unable to? I swung from my horse for a better examination of the nearest body.
I did my best not to look at the face but found myself instantly drawn to the opened mouth, wide eyes and blackened flaking skin of the poor unfortunate soul. I lowered my eyes to the garments he wore. The first thing I noticed was that he did not appear to be wearing any armour at all, he did not even seem to have a weapon at hand either. I cast a quick glance over the rest of his stricken party. They all appeared to be dressed the same, no armour, no weapons, and clothed in what looked to have been simple robes of some description. One of the bodies had escaped the very worst of the flames, at least some of his garments had. Brown threads of cloth were visible from the sides of this corpse, and it was to this new victim where I now moved. Kneeling down next to the blackened husk, I reached out a hand with the intention of turning the man on his back, but I found my hand frozen mid-air, hovering just over the body as thoughts of what happened the last time I turned over a corpse returned. I fought my fears and won them over as I effortlessly turned the dried out remains of the man onto his back, and subsequently was greeted with the symbol of a yellow sun upon a cloak of brown cloth.
“Monks of the Order of Light,” I said as I stood, my eyes still fixed upon the symbol of the sun.
“Monks?” repeated Baram sounding confused.
“I have heard of this order,” added Jaramel.
“Monks….” said Baram again this time with more thought.
I turned from the corpse and eyed my friend’s ponderings as he rubbed at his beard with his hand.
“I know these people,” he suddenly said aloud. “They visited Kendra and me about six months ago.” His eyes went to the burnt-out remains of the four as he talked.
“They wanted to speak of all sorts of ways they could bring more sunshine and light into our lives.” He snorted as he recalled the event and then aimed his next comment at Jaramel. The young apprentice humoured him by turning his head to listen. “Kendra wanted to entertain them further. She said it was rude to just shut the door on them, but I was having none of it,” he finished his recollection with a grin.
“Well, by the looks of them, these few won’t be bringing any more sunshine into anybody's lives anymore,” I said with a final look behind.
“What beats me, though, is how they got this far north in the first place?”
A brief silence had ensued before Jaramel offered a reply.
“It is probably as Governor Talak mentioned, they cannot watch all of the divide all of the time. If the criminals of the south can make it to these territories, then so could they.”
“Poor fools,” added Baram, “to think, that they thought they could to bring their teachings to here of all places!”
“Come. We’ve lingered too long. Whoever did this may still be somewhere nearby.” With a quick glance around, I mounted Storm before setting off three abreast at a steady pace across the exposed landscape.
“You think it was Vorgannon that did that?” said Baram as he rode next to Jaramel.
Jaramel shook his head. “I do not believe so. It was too messy for Vorgannon’s taste, apart from not wasting his time on such unworthy prey, he would not have resorted to fire magic to kill them.”
My interest was captured upon hearing this new information.
“Why?” I added sceptically.
“He would have used lightning to kill them.”
“Lightning!” I asked, “why lightning?”
Jaramel turned his head fully in my direction whilst giving up all regard for whatever lay in front of him. Not that there was much in the way of obstacles to avoid on this terrain, but I think it was because he was still quite content just to hang on and let Udos do all the work. Come to think of it, giving Udos’s nature, he probably could have been blindfolded whilst sitting facing the rear, and still would have been able to ride just as well.
“It is because as you may have gathered Mr Stein, my speciality like my master’s, is that of the flame. Vorgannon, however, excels in the equally destructive magic of lightning.”
“You’ll have to remind me never to shake his hand on a stormy night then,” I smiled.
“I doubt you would ever get that close,” Jaramel replied coldly, before turning to face forwards. Somehow not getting “that close” suited me fine.
The rest of that day’s ride was travelled in silence, and with the approaching of the night, our first full day in the North had ended pretty much uneventfully. Not that I was complaining! The only other people we had seen apart from each other had been four dead monks! But my feelings told me that it was not going to stay like this for long.
Camp was made in the lay between two hills. The location offered excellent protection from the wind, but if it were going to rain we would all get soaked. A quick look to the darkening heavens above revealed little chance of this happening, at least on this night. I eyed our encampment on returning from securing our horses. Jaramel was busily gathering our utensils ready for our campfire, while Baram was rummaging through our supplies sack to see what culinary delights would be on offer for tonight’s meal. Considering our location, I was not too worried by the light that our fire would make. The hills would block out most of it. Still, it would have to be kept small and dug into the earth. I started to return to my companions and wondered to myself where all the blasted trees were in this country! I had always felt much happier to make camp in a grove of trees than anywhere else on the land. Sometimes I would continue for miles in the darkness just to make camp within a well-known tree line. There was something about them, almost as if they kept watch while I rested, and as well as the ample supply of firewood they offered there was also a chance to rest your back against one, or even climb one for safety if the occasion called for it. But no such opportunities had presented themselves this evening.
“Well, what’s for dinner?”
“Looks like rabbit and vegetables tonight,” replied Baram.
Good, I thought… I like rabbit.
Little was said all evening long, as each of us sat in silence, each contemplating his own private thoughts. Baram was sat with his head angled ever so slightly to one side, every now and again he would breathe deeply in, and let the air come out in the form of a small sigh as if recalling some fond memory. I am sure most of them centred upon Kendra.
I looked again at Jaramel. He was still sitting upright near to our small campfire. His eyes were closed, and his arms were folded across his chest. He appeared to be in some kind of meditating state, as he had not moved in past thirty minutes! As for me, well I had been looking forward to my rabbit meal, but its taste was blander than I had remembered it to be. I think our moods may have had something to do with finding the bodies of the four scorched monks today, and the sudden realisation that this horrible fate, or one just as similar, could befall any of us or all of us at any one given moment. But this was not what was concerning me, every time I woke from my bed I lived with the realisation that it could be my last. No, the thing that was bothering me was two-fold. First, it was nearly time to sleep again, and after my previous nightmare, It would be untrue to think being visited by this Bane demon in my dreams again was not going to worry me in the slightest. Creatures of the flesh I could handle well enough, but creatures of the mind were a different matter altogether. The second thing that troubled my thoughts was the constant feeling that our mission, and ourselves, were somehow known to our enemies. I had felt this way ever since stepping onto northern soil after our journey through the mountain, and then seeing that ranger again did little to help. Just where did he go to in such a hurry? It was a feeling I just could not shake. It almost felt as if even now we were being watched. Indeed twice today when I had been at the rear of our group, I suddenly found myself turning quickly to look behind me, as if I would catch some previously unseen foe with my eye, only to view the empty place from where we had just travelled.
It vexed me so, but I kept my feelings and suspicions to myself. I felt that it would not be fair to worry my companions with my musings, not until some hard evidence presented itself anyway.
“Jaramel.” The mage immediately opened his eyes at my summons, as if he had been merely blinking with them.
“Will you take first watch?” The mage said nothing but nodded his head in acceptance.
I began pulling my bedding around myself as I prepared to sleep, I then noticed that Baram had recovered from his thoughts and was looking in my direction.
“You should get some rest too my friend, for tomorrow I want us to journey further than we did today.” The big weaponsmith stretched out his arms whilst nodding his head.
“I guess you’re right Taragon,” he yawned, and with that, he settled to sleep….
It was no good. After an hour of tossing and turning, I finally gave up on my bed. It was not because I was not tired, far from it! It was just that every time I closed my eyes, I would see once again that dreaded demons head as clear as day rising slowly from a circle of green flame. But it was a different kind of feeling to what I had experienced the night before. Now I knew it was only fears of my own making keeping me awake, nothing more.
After throwing back my bed blankets, I quenched my thirst on one of our water skins, before surveying our moonlit camp.
Baram was laid not far from our dying campfire and was contentedly snoring to himself in restful slumber. Jaramel, however, was nowhere to be seen. After several sharp turns of the head, two fiery coals of light were seen to be glaring at me in the darkness a little way north of our camp. I headed towards the beacons of light with one hand on my crossbow strap, just in case they did not belong to Jaramel.
Thankfully they did. I found the mage sitting on a small stone, wrapped in a darkness of his own making.
“One day you’re going to have to show me how you do that,” I said as I approached.
“It would serve little purpose Mr Stein as I have already told you, you do not possess any magical abilities within yourself.” I shrugged my shoulders as I crouched down beside him.
“Anything to report?”
“No, there is nothing but the night,” said Jaramel as he cast his gaze once again to the darkness.
“Good,” I nodded.
“I thought… I’d relieve you of your watch.” Jaramel turned to me once again.
“But I am not tired,” he protested “and besides, you have at least two hours before your watch is due, do you not?” Obviously, he was not going to go without an explanation.
“I …cannot sleep,” I replied sheepishly.
“I see,” replied Jaramel. “If it helps, I have something here in my pouch which could aid you in that…although it will fog the mind slightly.” He began reaching at one of the many pouches that hung from his belt.
“No thanks,” I shook my head at his offer. The thought of having a clouded mind, when and if something should happen was not a happy one.
“As you wish, then if you insist I shall take to my bed.” Jaramel rose with a bow of the head and made ready to return to camp.
“There is one thing that I‘ve been meaning to ask,” I interjected hastily before his departure.
Jaramel turned to face me in the dark, the cloak of darkness that he wore faded before my eyes to reveal the outline of his normal travelling robe. My eyes watched transfixed on this small transformation as he awaited my question.
“Well, it’s been bothering me since the other night,” I started.
“What has?” enquired Jaramel sharply.
I looked at him in the darkness, feeling slightly foolish about what I was about to say, but if my mind was to be at rest, then I knew that Jaramel was probably the only one with the answers I sought.
“Why…why did this Bane Demon seek to visit me in my dreams?”
“Have you had another visitation?” enquired Jaramel now sounding more interested.
“No. It’s just that…well, why not you, or Baram for that matter, why did this demon just see fit to plague my dreams,” If ever there was one of those moments when I did not know if Jaramel was grinning to himself or not, then this was one of them.
A few brief seconds past before I had my reply.
“It simply sought you out because you are the one who most wants to find it. It knows this, and I guess it was just curious.”
“Curious?” I responded feeling none the wiser.
Jaramel’s hooded head nodded in the darkness.
“The Bane Demon is bound to the Soul Crystal. You seek the Soul Crystal. The Demon within the Crystal can feel your desire to find it, as your thoughts are fixed intently on its discovery. It was merely interested in discovering your identity.”
“For what purpose!” I said slightly alarmed.
“None other than curiosity I’m sure, Mr Stein.”
“But you seek the Crystal too,” I said accusingly, “and so does Baram, so why isn’t this thing curious about the two of you.”
Jaramel remained silent for a few moments.
“It is because out of the three of us, your desire is the greatest to find the Crystal.”
“How can you be so sure,” I angered back.
“I believe five hundred gold pieces would have something to do with that.” Jaramel turned and started to walk back to camp, and I was left to muse over his words.
“Will it bother me again,” I called out after the departing form of Jaramel as he sauntered back into the blackness.
“Who knows?” came the reply from the night.
“Wizards!” I said to myself and settled down for my uncomfortable watch…
Baram prodded again at my side with the tip of his boot. I stirred from my bed and sat upright within its folds. It appeared that I had finally managed to sleep after all, but what rest I had managed to steal for myself was none too refreshing, although welcoming anyway. I o
pened an eye to see a towering misty-covered figure standing ominously over me. I rubbed at tired eyes in an attempt to clear my weary head, as Baram’s voice sounded somewhere above me.
“Taragon…it’s after dawn, and a mist has risen all around us.”
With an effort to stand, I rose from my bed and looked about me. A mist had indeed risen, but to me, it looked more like dense fog, I could barely see ten paces in front of me! Our journey on the previous day had taken us once again not far from coastal waters, and it was the cold air and taste of salt upon my lips that told me that this fog had rolled inland from sea.
“Where’s the mage?” I asked, but before Baram could answer the familiar voice of Jaramel sounded somewhere behind me.
“I am here.” Jaramel was leading large horse-shaped shadows out of the mist towards us.
“Good, well let us break camp and be on our way.” I listened for any disagreements, but there was none.
“Camp is already broken,” stated Baram. “It is just your bedding here that needs to be stowed.”
“How long have you been awake?” I asked surprised whilst wondering just how long past dawn it actually was?
“Nearly an hour now,” replied the weaponsmith “Erm..Jaramel thought it best that you should rest, so we also took your second watch for you too.” I turned to the apprentice and back to Baram before stooping quickly to retrieve my bundle of bedding from the dew-covered earth. Once standing again I glared in Baram’s direction.
“You should have woken me sooner!” I said accusingly. Baram remained silent as I moved to my horse.
Once mounted, we set off at a slow pace heading north.
This fog was thick! I had ridden in fog and mist before of course, but it had been on roads well known to me, but now I was heading vaguely north on roads that had never touched my horse’s tread. I decided now would be a good time to refresh my memory of Jantar’s map. Reaching to my saddle pouch, I unrolled the valued item and rested it upon Storm’s back whilst continuing slowly forwards. Judging by my estimates, we were currently four miles to the west of the first town that we would pass. The town was not marked by any visible name and was only indicated by a dot from Jantar’s hand upon the parchment. Further inspection revealed another town marked a little way ahead, but this was far out to the west on a peninsula and almost certainly some kind of fishing village. Directly ahead of us the map revealed a larger symbol in our path, this we would probably have reached at the end of this day’s journey, had our day been a clearer one. This marking was obviously a large village of some description, maybe even a significant community of sorts. I cast my gaze northwards past the large town, a thick wooded section followed upon the map. This had but one town represented by yet another circular marking near to its centre with another town marked outside of the forest to the east. These were both much smaller looking settlements than the impending nearing one. Once past this forested section there was an open expanse of land, quickly followed by a dark coloured section of the map that was our goal…The Dead Lands.
Taragon Stein: The Search For The Soul Crystal Page 26