by J Battle
‘Tell me everything, man, and pray that you have not just seen a star in the sky,’ he said, slowly, as he squeezed his mighty, long-fingered hands into fists.
‘I was checking on the harroweed fields, as is my duty on your behalf, my Lord, and I was at the very far end of the valley, almost where the ice reaches, when I spied a white furfox, racing across the ice, and I thought, my Lord Elstar, he surely likes his white fur, and, I thought, it would please him mightily if I should bring back such a prize and place it in his hands. So I chased after the little fellow, but he was quick and tricky, and led me a merry trail, he did, until the night caught me alone and cold on the ice, and I thought, if I be dead, the Crawlord will not be best pleased with me, and I thought I’d best get back before I freeze to ice, and be no use to no-one.’
He paused for breath and a quick glance at his lord.
‘That was when I saw the light, my Lord, and it weren’t no star; I know that ‘cause I seen plenty of stars, and this weren’t one of them. No. It weren’t. You can’t see it from the rest of the valley, ‘cause Big Peak is in the way, and if you be on the east side of the valley, then Little Peak is in the way. But I seen it ‘cause I was on the ice, ‘tween the pair of them peaks, and that’s the truth and may the Devil take my tongue and use it to clean his hooves if I be wrong.’
‘The light, man! Tell me about the light.’
‘Yes, the light. It weren’t no star; it were more like a tower of light; red and orange, stretching up into the sky, from over the ice, somewhere to the West I think, or maybe the North. Yes; it could be North West; yes, that’s most likely right. Unless I got turned around somehow. No, I‘m certain it was North West; almost. And, anyway, I saw it and I thought oh my, that ain’t no natural light; that’s an unnatural light, and the Crawlord Elstar himself will want to know about this, and that as certain as certain is, and no mistake.’
He stopped then; run out of words and the breath to speak them.
'This light; was it jumping around, or was it still?' said the Crawlord, slowly.
'It be still as stone, my Lord. Did I do right, to bring this news to you, my Lord?' he asked, anxiously.
Elstar rose to his full height, and stared across the great hall, to the North West.
'Do you have a cause for this light, Henray?' he said, without looking.
'Well, I thought, when I saw it, and I was surely shivering with the cold at the time, but I thought, well, if that be not Magic, then I'd like to ask what else it could be, and I said to myself, as there was no-one else there to hear me, that the crawlord, in his great and awesome wisdom, would know the truth of the matter, and that's for sure.'
Elstar dropped a heavy hand onto his shoulder.
'Well, Henray, I'd say you may be right. Yes, indeed, that would be a wonderful thing to behold, if it were true and right.'
Henray smiled up at him, his face glowing.
'Now, take an hour for rest and food, then be back here, with a team of 10 men, and we'll see what this be, Henray, whether 'tis Magic or folly, and you should hope that you are not wrong.'
Henray gulped, but held his head up.
'And if I be right, my Lord?' he whispered.
The Crawlord lifted his head and laughed; the sound echoing through the hall.
'If you are right, Henray, then the world will change once more, for there is Magic in the world, and we shall once again be as we were. We will dance in the sunlight, and there will be children again, and all the peoples of the world will bow to us and have joy in our resurgence.'
He spun on one foot, landing awkwardly on the other, with a grunt.
Henray gathered his courage together, such as it was, and asked the question he really wanted to ask.
'And for me, Lord; your lowly and devoted servant? What reward will you consider just and right, for the man who found Magic for you?'
'Have no fear, Henray; you will receive your just reward. But ask me not now, when the truth of your discovery is still in doubt. I fear you will not want to ask the question again if you are wrong, and you will not need to ask if you are right.'
Henray bowed away from the crawlord.
'Thank you my Lord. I can ask for nothing else.'
Alone, Elstar walked to the Talking Stone and, for a moment, played with the idea of a future where he returned with the power of the Wellstone in his hands and cast the elflord from his elevated seat, and took his place, with the hall ringing with cheers of joy from the jubilant and renewed Elvenfolk.
Chapter 10 Esmere
'You be pretty, Miss. Very Pretty. Ain't she pretty, Orther?'
Esmere struggled against her bonds in vain.
'Ay, Harld, you's as right as day. But, shush, she's awake now, and we have work to do.'
'I was just saying, is all. I like pretty girls; don't you Orther?'
'Ay, lad. There ain't nothing better that a pretty girl, unless it's one who gives you a smile.'
'Shall I take the cloth from her face, Orther? Just so's to see her better.'
'Well, if she screams, it ain't no harm, is it?'
Harld pulled the gag from Esmere's face, as gently as his thick fingers could manage.
'Who! What! Let me free, or my Pa will have your guts ripped out!' She twisted and jerked, causing them both to take half a step back.
'My, she's fierce, ain't she?' said Harld.
'Ain't no need for that sort of talk, young miss. We was just doing as we was told, and we didn't hardly hurt you at all. And we could have done, couldn't we, Harld?' Orther looked hurt at Esmere's reaction.
'What about Billiam? Where's Billiam?'
'If that be the young man who was with ye, then, I'm sorry Miss, but he took a sword to us, and we can't allow that, can we? Not when we're in the service of Lydorth.' Orther looked at Harld for confirmation.
'And we didn't hardly hurt him as much as we could have done, Miss. He ain't dead or anything like that; he's just a bit sore around the head, and his back, I should think,' confirmed Harld.
'And his legs; you banged his legs a bit hard with your club, Harld. I was going to say something about that, but you were too quick.'
'Yes, Miss. His legs will be sore for sure, but not much else, I don't think. Least, I was pretty sure he was alive when we left him.'
'Let me free, now, or you will be in such trouble!' She tried to sit up, but her legs and arms were too tightly bound; after a few seconds, she slumped back onto the table. ‘My Pa is a close friend of Lydorth, and they will both be so angry when they find out what you've done.' She began to twist and turn, jerking at her bonds.
Orther and Harld looked at each other, and then back at their wriggling captive.
'Listen, Miss. In a minute, I'm going to give you a stick with this little pin, and when I do, I want you to scream as loud as the loudest scream that's ever been heard, though it will hardly hurt you at all. Look.'
Orther stuck the pin in Harld's arm.
'Ouch!' said, Harld, giving him a dark look. 'Why's you have to go and do that?'
'See, Miss, it won't hurt at all, but you have to scream, 'cause Lydorth needs to hear you scream, and that's the truth for sure, ain't it Harld?'
Harold merely grunted moodily as he rubbed his arm.
‘I said let me go, and I won’t scream until you do,’ said Esmere; her eyes flitting from the large, and rotund Orther to the somewhat smaller, but equally round Harld.
‘Now Harld, you go and take a peek and see if his lordship be about, ‘cause there ain’t no point in a scream unless it be heard, and if he’s not in the hall, then he might not hear, and that’d be a mighty waste of the young miss’s lungs, I should think.’
‘I told you; I won’t scream, unless you free me and let me go.’
Orther studied her as Harld slipped out of the little room.
‘Now, Miss, you should listen to me carefully and you should heed my words. You are in a bad situation here, and that’s the truth. But there’s bad and there’s bad, an
d if you could choose which bad you took, then you might find that it ain’t that bad at all.’
‘I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about. But, release me and I’ll do whatever you want.’
Orther laughed and held his big belly with his hands to slow the shaking.
‘Oh, Miss. I been lied to by the best, but nobody has lied to me so sweetly.’
‘Free me, please.’ She locked her eyes on his, as if to make him comply by the power of her will alone.
‘Now, let me see. I could free your legs, and your arms, and that would leave just your wrists tied together. How would that be, Miss?’
‘That would be good, for a start.’
‘Well, before I do, you want to listen. Will you do that for me, or do I have to start thinking of horrible threats to make?’
‘Yes, I’ll listen,’ she replied, and then she gave him a little smile.
Orther was fairly sure that he’d never been smiled at before by such a beautiful girl, and he felt a strong urge to make it happen again.
‘Now, when Harld returns with news that Lydorth is sitting on his throne, then I’m going to stick you with this little pin, and you are going to scream the mightiest scream of your life.’
‘But why?’
‘I told you why; Lydorth has to hear you scream, or he won’t think we’ve done our job and prepared you for him.’
Esmere lost the composure that she had gradually been regaining at that.
‘What do you mean, ‘prepare’? I’m not going anywhere near that monster, and that’s for certain.’
‘He wants us to make you ready to receive him, in a romantic sort of way, if you like,’ said Harld from the doorway, a wide smile on his face.
‘Don’t you take no notice of what Harld says, ‘cause we’re going to fix things for you, and that’s the truth, ain’t it Harld?’
‘Mayhap he’ll like her; she sure is pretty.’
‘Don’t start that again. You’re scaring the girl.’
‘You can’t let him do…that to me. I won’t allow it. Kill me first!’
‘No need for that, long as we use our noggins, like. Now, let me tell you what’s to happen, and no interruptions.’
He gave a stern look to both Esmere and Harld.
‘Now, as I say, you’ll scream and the Master will see that as proof that we’ve stretched and cut you to fit, ‘cause the Trytor and the Human female are not a proper match, if you forgive me, Miss. So, tonight he’ll come to you, and you’ll be afeared, mighty afeared, and I don’t blame you, but you mustn’t let it show. Not at all. If your heart be beating 10 to the dozen, you must keep it to yourself, and meet his eyes with yours. You must be calm and cold, and stern and you must stare him down until he looks away. If he sees you afeared, his blood will rise and there will be no hope for you. He’ll rip you apart and show no mercy.
‘But if you show him your coldest, hardest look, then you’ll remind him of one who went before you, many years now past, and he’ll… how should I say this, Miss? He’ll be unmanned, so to speak, though he be much more than a man. And you’ll be safe.’
‘What will he do then?’
‘Hard to say, Miss. He may turn away and not want to look on your face ever again. If that be the case, then after enough time passes, we’ll sneak you away, and then you shall be free.’ He nodded then, and smiled.
‘He’s there now, Miss,’ said Harld, ‘and it’s time to see how loud you can scream.’
Esmere waited for Orther to free her bonds then she climbed to her feet.
Somehow, she had no trouble in producing the loudest, mightiest scream of her young life.
Chapter 11 Teddy
Teddy moved slowly through the long grass, hardly daring to breath.
He’d never caught a drsill before, and he meant to change that before his 12th summer; only a couple of moons away.
He’d been wandering through the thinning woods near the north of the valley when he spotted the wily little rodent.
Its brown and grey coat had been hard to see in the shadows of the trees, but Teddy’s eyes were sharp as an eagle’s, and he saw it when it moved.
Silent as a hungry snake, he’d set off after it, and he was now less than half a mile from the great wall of mist that protected the valley from the outside world.
This far north, the mist was of a ligh-yellow hue, fading to a pastel green as you looked along its eastern face towards the south, where it would turn a glistening silver before fading to shades of blue and pink as it marched north.
Teddy knew that, on the other side, the wall was white and hard to see, for he’d witnessed it himself, when his Pa had taken him to Hesselton on the other side, to buy provisions just a few moons earlier.
The drsill was perched on a rock, no more than three paces from him, its small head cocked as if listening, and then it was gone, so quickly that Anders the Ugly might have made it disappear in a fete of Magic.
Teddy sat back on heels, and muttered one of the cusses that his Pa used when he thought no-one was listening.
He would have arisen then, and made his way back home, a little disappointed perhaps, for a while, but soon it would have passed and he'd be his usual happy self.
But he heard a noise and turned, and then he ducked his head down by the rock.
Two men had walked through the mist, one tall and angular, leading the shorter, younger man by the wrist.
Teddy took a peek, and then he dropped back quickly, lest he be spotted.
Two strangers; it was unheard of. Who were they? Where had they come from? And how had they managed to overcome the barrier of the Mist?
He risked another glance. The tall man was dressed in a robe and cloak; he had a bag over his shoulder and a sword at his waist. He laughed at the other, who was surely only a few summers older than Teddy. He wore a jerkin, a cloak, thick leggings and what looked like a blanket, slung over his shoulders, along with a heavy bag.
‘Now this is fine and dandy, don’t you think?’ said the older man, with laughter in his voice, though his face was so thin and pale.
‘I thought we were lost for certain in that there white sea, Mr Cavour, for I couldn’t see the nose on my face, let alone where I was going.’
‘Well, we’re here now, and it is perhaps time to finalize our plans.’
They settled down on the grass and the tall man rummaged in his pack.
‘What are you looking for, Mr Cavour?’
‘Well, my pipe, of course. You can’t talk plans without a pipe in your mouth now, can you?’
‘Ain’t that the truth and no mistake, and I think I'll join you.’
Whilst they were occupied, Teddy decided that he should leave them to their smoke and their plans, and that he should go and tell his Pa.
Moving with even more care than he’d used when stalking the drsill, he edged away from the rock and down the hill. When he was sure that he was out of sight, he dropped the careful steps and began to run.
His Pa needed to know about the strangers, and he needed to know now.
He raced past the new woods, and along the rich fertile fields and by the side of the narrow fast flowing river Hessel, and he was fair out of breath when he reached the small farmhouse he called home.
His Pa was by the door, sharpening his tools with a heavy stone on a spindle.
'What's all the rush, Tedward?' he asked, without looking up, 'you surely flew down that hill.'
'Pa...,' gasped Teddy, his face as red as beet and his hair all mussed, 'Pa… I seen… there's…'
'Just catch your breath, boy. Whatever news you have can wait until you can speak.'
'But Pa, I seen strangers. Up in the north, past the new wood.'
'Strangers? How can there be strangers up there?'
'They came through the mist, Pa. I seen them for sure.'
Frenk put down the blade he'd been working on and stood up. He was a tall man, with broad shoulders and big hands.
He ruffled h
is son's hair some more as he stared back the way he'd come.
'What do they look like, these strangers?'
'One's old and thin, with a stern look, though his voice be friendly. The other's young, I reckon.'
'You heard them speak? Did they see you?'
'No, Pa, I hid soon as I spied them, then I sneaked away as quiet as anything.'
'What should we do, then, do you think?' said Frenk, mostly to himself, as he studied the hills.
'Here, boy,’ he said, at last. ‘This is what we'll do. You skip off to the Mage's palace, and you…no, wait. You don't want to disturb the Mage; best he don't know your face, less he has to.
'No, you run past his palace and keep on running. Find the young Lady, and you tell her what you seen, and she'll know what to do about it. Yes, that'd be fine, I think. Now, off you go then, lad, and let's see how fast you can run.'
'What will you do, Pa?'
'Well now, that's a question, and I'll have to think on it for a while. But I am the Ward of the North, after my Pa and his Pa, and I can't just sit and ponder, can I, Tedward?'
'Will you wait until I get back with help?'
'That's part of my considerations; yes indeed. Now, off you go.'
Frenk watched as his son leapt the low fence that surrounded their modest property, and set off down the road to what passed as a village in the valley; just a few houses, a mill and, of course, a palace.
'No point in standing here mulling,' he said as he turned and entered beneath the low doorway, 'there's a job to be done.'
Inside the house, he turned and reached up above the lintel over the doorway.
Carefully he took down his most prized possession, handed down from generation to generation, and removed the heavy cloth wrappings.
Then he stepped back outside and held it up to the light, its long sharp blade flashed in the light of the sun.
He swung the sword one handed; cross and cross; jab and jab; getting used to its weight again. Every Sunday morn, he practiced with the sword for an hour or more, to be sure that he did not make a fool of himself if he should ever need to use its sharp blade.