by deSouza, Leo
“Men.” Said Thuor. “Western men, in their open cities, under their fragile roofs.”
Everyone looked at the captain, and then back to the beast out there. The heavy clouds came and covered almost all the sky, except for a little portion back northward from where the company came.
“It seems we came to the first conclusion about this rider in a very odd way. And in a very odd situation.” Said Torag.
“Look at him… He is not killing the animals.” Said Rurur.
They could see the beast flying above the Zilonis, scratching their backs with its sharp claws and making them howl and run disoriented.
“It is as I said, he is just training.” Said Thuor.
“How is it possible for someone to train such a beast? It’s a savage thing.” Said Torag.
“It is under witchcraft. I saw him charming it.” Replied Olaf.
“Well... What now, captain?” Asked Rurur.
“I think it is a good idea for us to stay here inside, for a while. It is getting dark, better for us.” Replied Thuor.
“that seems quite reasonable.” Said Torag.
They stayed there, quiet, waiting for the rider to leave, and after some time the Zilonis spread, they could still see the flying monster far away chasing some of them. The heavy clouds covered all, a cold wind began to blow, the atmosphere became oddly dark and on the horizon at the south they saw rain falling. Now there was only one Ziloni nearby, a young one, trumpeting and walking in circles, as if trying to find its parents. The dwarfs decided to have a meal right there, but they thought it wise not to light a fire, so they ate cold food one more time. Time passed and afternoon advanced, Torag was gently stroking Balfour as he perched on his arm. “Seems the monster is gone.” He said.
“Why don’t ye send it through the air? So we could know if the creature is still around.” Said Olaf reaching out to the bird.
Torag quickly moved distancing his pet and looked at Olaf, vexed. “Ye want him to be devoured by the beast? Why don’t ye go out there and take a look for us?”
“No one will leave this place till night when we will walk again.” Said Thuor.
And so it was, an entire afternoon passed under the protection of the ribs of a dead animal. Rain came and the dwarfs covered themselves with their cloaks, there was much talking and arguing about what to do next while dripping water fell from their soaked mustaches. When sunset finally came the dwarfs arranged their stuff and left the skeleton, it was getting dark quickly and the rain continued.
“How will we find the way in the dark? The sky is all covered with clouds, no star can be seen.” Olaf asked.
Thuor was tying something on the ram’s saddle and pointed to Torag with his thumb. “Torag will lead us, he is surer of finding the path in the darkness than a bat.” He said.
“South is this way.” Said Torag pointing away. “I can tell it by the position of the skeleton.”
The journey began again, through the flooded fields, they were wet and the rain drops touching their cloaks could be heard, besides their steps on the pools on the ground. Sometimes lightning lit up the sky and then they could see the silhouette of the mountains to the east, which gave them some more sense of direction. Either way Torag seemed pretty confident of what he was doing.
“How are ye feeling now?” Thuor asked to Olaf.
“Better, I could say.” Olaf replied.
“It seems like someway, somehow ye were feeling his presence, and his oncoming made ye downcast. Ye are linked to him, if I can say anything about these things.” Thuor spoke.
“But that brings back the old question. Would he be linked to Olaf too?” Rurur asked.
“I don’t think so, Olaf did not get into direct contact with him, as he told.” Thuor replied.
“Direct contact…I will tell ye something. I would like to meet this Rider face to face, without that horrid flying beast! Then I would teach him some lessons.” Torag spoke.
“We were not sent to face him, actually, we should avoid crossing him again. This company’s purpose is to reach the tower were the Elder lives, and to talk with him about what is happening.” Said Thuor.
The dwarfs were now feeling safe under the shadows of the night, but none of them were completely sure that the rider and his mount had left, and from time to time one of them looked up as if expecting to see him coming down. Torag started singing, as if trying to whisk the tense mood.
“Walk brave,
not falter,
cause the road does not forgive,
and there is no innocent traveler.
Walk next to a friend,
and your enemies ahead,
but keep an eye always behind,
for the traitors are lurking.
Pay cheap when ye can,
but do not forget to payback,
for there is no innocent traveler,
and they all want their share.
And if friendship fails,
or if the enemy strikes ye,
or if a traitor stabs ye on the back,
then ye will understand,
that the fool was ye,
for there are no innocents on the roads.”
The night advanced as the dwarfs walked, more thunder and lightning came, they did not talk much and the travel became slow as the soil was soaked, they had to choose between walking on the grass or on the mud. But at the end of the night the company had travelled a long distance, they were now approaching the border of the plains, and could already see trees ahead. By the beginning of the morning the clouds cleared away, leaving just a few of them behind, sun came from the mountains and illuminated the fields, making its light reflect in the pools on the ground.
“What about ye, Rurur? Ye did not told us about ye.” Said Torag.
Rurur snorted. “Hunf... There is not that much to tell.”
“I’m sure about this. But I would like to hear from ye anyway. Tell us how boring your life is.” Replied Torag.
“If ye insist, there we go... I was born in our lovely kingdom, but not inside the fortress.” Said Rurur.
“Oh really?” Asked Torag. “And how did ye end up inside our castle?”
“By force of circumstances, my parents were very poor farmers, and we went through difficulties. There were times when we lacked food.” Said Rurur.
“Ye see? He came to the fortress looking for more food, the amount he had on the fields was not enough. No wonder why he is always inside the larder.” Said Torag.
Rurur grumbled. “Ye know nothing. We went to the fortress, the King was looking for workers to work on the side wall, near the east wing.”
“Ye worked on the repairing of the walls?” Asked Thuor turning to look at him.
“Yes, as young as I was.” Said Rurur.
“And now ye are too fat, and lazy.” Said Torag.
“Do ye still live with your parents?” Asked Thuor.
Olaf interrupted: “They are long dead.”
Thuor looked at Rurur again.
“Yes, but they died peacefully, of old age.” Said Rurur.
There was a moment of silence and then Torag spoke: “Well… This is very instructive.”
“What do ye mean?” Asked Rurur.
Torag spat on the ground and scratched his face. “Ye see… The ones who stay quiet inside the caves, doing their work, can die in peace. While the ones who venture on the roads can die in many unpleasant ways. Like being stuck by a goblin, or eaten by a beast.”
“I’m thankful ye are here to guarantee our safety.” Olaf spoke.
The dwarfs laughed, walking ahead, the tense mood began to vanish.
The Noon Dale.
It was the last week of the last month of autumn and the cold now began to really manifest, no blizzard came yet, but the freezing wind predicted the winter that was about to hit. Now the morning was set, the company was walking through green again, there was some big trees ahead, and haze at their tops so that they looked like pillars for some kind of fal
se ceiling. The ground was wet and the leaves of the bushes were dripping water. Rurur made a long stretch and yawned. “My back hurts, we have been walking without much rest since we left the plains, a well deserved rest is requested.” He spoke.
“We walked with no long stops for a reason, and still we need to get farther, there is safe terrain near ahead, and we must reach it as soon as possible.” Said Thuor, but then he looked back to Rurur and spoke again as if remembering something. “But I know… It is true that ye almost got eaten by the beast, my friend Rurur. I think ye deserve more rest after all.”
“Fine. Let’s find a mound where there are no water pools, to set up camp and have our morning meal.” Said Torag.
They did as he said, everyone looked around trying to find such a mound, but they found none so they dispersed. The dwarfs walked among the tall trees, each trunk was thick enough for four dwarfs to embrace it, they could not see much as the haze was around, and the entire place had a grey somber appearance.
From afar, Olaf shouted: “Here! Come quickly!”
The others followed his voice and came close. As they approached they saw Olaf staring into a water pool as he looked down, there was something near his feet.
“I thought ye was looking for a good place for a meal.” Said Torag.
“What is it, Olaf?” Asked Thuor approaching.
But before Olaf could say anything more, they came to see what it was. On the ground, near the dwarf’s feet, there was a body, his face down in the water, some wounds and gore on his back, the captain approached and examined it for a moment. “It is one of the wilding dwarfs…” He whispered.
“What happened?” Asked Rurur.
“They are savages. Maybe they killed their own partners, for some ulterior motivation.” Olaf spoke.
“No, not this one, look at the wounds on his back. It was not made by any weapon or arrow.” Said Torag.
“The rider and his monster again?” Asked Rurur.
“Yes it seems so…” Whispered Torag looking around.
“Where are the others? Do ye think they abandoned him?” Asked Rurur.
“Well I would not blame them, not even an entire garrison of armed dwarfs could deal with that beast.” Said Torag.
“They must have fled, or maybe this one was attacked because he was separated from the others.” Said Olaf.
Torag moved away walking while looking to the ground around.
“Somehow I feel bad for this one. As evil as they were, that’s cowardice. Maybe we should have warned them.” Said Rurur.
Olaf now had his hands on his waist. “If he died alone, then the others may know nothing about it, maybe they are coming back looking for him, they should be warned. But looking for them is not something we should think about now, they are on their own. Where would one look for them after all?”
“Ye would not need to go far.” Said Torag at distance. “There is another one here.”
The other dwarfs came closer to him and saw there another corpse.
“Oh dear…” Whispered Rurur.
Thuor was looking ahead as he squinted, Torag noticed it and looked out too. From far, amongst the mist, they saw what appeared to be many corpses laying on the ground.
“They are all dead, it was a massacre.” Said Thuor.
A sudden dreary mood took the dwarfs.
“We can’t say that it was the rider, maybe they were attacked by another beast, a ground beast.” Said Olaf.
“I don’t think any ground beast that dwells in these lands could do such damage, even if coming in a pack, these were not defenseless dwarfs, they were warriors.” Said Thuor.
Torag pointed to something on a nearby tree, the others looked out and saw there claw marks carved on the trunk, and as they looked at the ground again they noticed some cracked branches.
“It was him, that is for sure.” Said Torag.
Olaf crouched and took a canteen from the dead body, he shed its contents and dropped the canteen on the ground. “What is this at all? What is he doing? It is some kind of sick game?” He asked.
“Did ye forget about what captain Thuor said? He is training the beast! He throws the flying monster against others beasts, and against folks!” Said Torag.
Olaf looked up and saw big vultures landing on the tree branches, they were looking down as if waiting for the dwarfs to leave so they could begin the banquet.
“He came through the trees.” Whispered Torag.
“We have been finding corpses since we left the stronghold, this is the trail of death.” Olaf said.
“Let’s leave this place.” Said Rurur.
No one said anything more, they just left walking back to the road. The dwarfs walked in silence as the morning advanced, the sun came higher and the haze began to vanish, some time passed and they could already see the sun above their heads and the air became hotter, a bland wind blowing. The terrain became rough and some bare rocks could be seen among the grass, now they came down a slope. The road turned into a narrow passage between cliffs and they could see nothing but the way back and ahead, water came from the rock cracks streaming as it infiltrated through the ground during the rain.
“We are about to reach the Noon Dale, a place of abundant wood and many opportunities for one who has arms strong enough to wield an axe, or a saw.” Said Thuor.
“I hope this vale is deep and narrow enough to avoid big things coming flying from the skies.” Said Rurur.
“That is the point. Do ye know the place, Torag? Have ye ever been there before?” Asked Thuor.
Torag shook his head. “No, captain. I never came to these lands. Once when I came I took the road to the west, circling this place.”
“Here ye will see what a big work of logging is like.” Said Thuor.
They went even further down the slope and followed a curve in the road; that was when they finally saw the dale ahead. A large crack in the earth, with steep cliffs on both sides, red and solid rock could be seen through the sparse undergrowth, green grass and a few bushes. But what really took their attention were undoubtedly the big pine trees that grew there, tall trees as the dwarfs had seen when they left the fields. In the valley they could see a raging river that came from a very high and steep waterfall and continued running down the strait between the cliffs, disappearing later, falling again in another waterfall far away where they could see a formation of hills and it was known that the land was even lower there. There was some houses, made of wood, with chimneys throwing smoke into the air, nearby there were a lot of logs, stacked on each other, they could also see men working along the cliffs, handling the logs. Their cries echoed through the dale, the sound of the waterfall was constant and gave the air a mood of tranquility, birds could also be seen flying around. The valley was very narrow and deep, that is why it was known as Noon Dale, for only when the sun was at its highest point was it that it illuminated the place. Right now it was still morning, so the sun's rays did not hit the cliffs directly, yet the place looked bright and joyful.
“These are valiant men, hard workers and skilled lumberjacks, I know these folks, we can cross the vale in safety, as long as we don’t make any trouble.” Said Thuor.
“Do they live here?” Asked Olaf.
“No. They spend seasons here working on the trees, but their houses are distant, where the river runs, in even lower lands. There their women and children are waiting for them to come back.” Said Thuor.
“And where will all this wood go?” Asked Torag.
“To the big inland sea, to the dwellings of the Eastern Lords, many of their cities, and their capital.” Said Thuor.
“Great folks! Strong and honorable, I know their capital city. A pompous city full of wonders.” Said Torag.
“Wonders! Like the guild of assassins sent to kill us!” Olaf replied.
“Oh I… Forgot about this.” Torag said.
“There are many rumors, some say everything now moves towards war. And when war is at pace everything changes, won
ders give space to war crafts, and grand folks become warriors, forgetting about all their lore and turning into warmongers.” Said Thuor with a disinterested tone.
The company went down a narrow path on the cliff slope, they passed by some high trees, the road was surprisingly well preserved for the lumbermen used it often, then the dwarfs came to a larger portion of plain ground where there were some men working. They were very tall and strong men, dressed in pants and shirts, many of them wielding great axes. One of the men stopped chopping and stared at the dwarfs as he rested his axe on his shoulder. “Morning, sir. How is the wood cutting today?” Thuor asked.
The man gave no immediate answer, he looked at each dwarf and then spoke: “Good morning, strangers.”
Someone shouted from a distance: “Hey! Look! More travelers.”
Thuor waved and spoke again, persisting in trying to sound friendly. “How is the tree felling today?”
“Good as always in this vale, master dwarf. May I ask you what brings a group of dwarfs like you to this vale?” Asked the man.
“We are just passing.” Said Thuor.
The other dwarfs heard the conversation as they examined the men around. Torag threw Balfour into the air, the bird flew away as the talking man watched it.
“Why don’t you take the road to circle the vale? This would be smarter, there are many slopes and cliffs, and rocks to stumble. Travelers generally use the road around.” Said the man now resting his axe on the ground.
“Well, master lumberman, I’m an old expert in travelling through this part of the world, and I know that these lands belongs to our sovereign, the Thick Beard king under his halls. Not that I am wanting to bother ye, but as far as I know, any traveler can cross this vale.” Said Thuor.
The man spat on the ground and lifted his axe. “If you say so, sir. You can go ahead, we have work to do, and no time for quarrel.” He chopped a small piece of wood with violence.
“We thank ye for your understanding.” Said Thuor motioning to the other dwarfs to follow him as he stepped ahead.
“But be warned, rushed traveler, that there is a blockage on the other side of the vale. The road is blocked.” Said the man. He took a small piece of dry leaf from his pocket and put in it some tobacco, then enrolled the leaf, making a cigarette. The man walked to a nearby bonfire and lit the cigarette there, then smoked it.