by Adams, David
“What happens if we reach the coast and it’s all cliffs?”
“No reason to worry about that until we arrive,” Barlow replied.
“That’s his way of saying he’s worried about the same thing,” Silas added.
Barlow answered with a “hrmpf” but didn’t disagree with his friend.
“Might be an interesting dilemma,” Adrianna admitted. “If we can’t go over or around…” She added a shrug, having no other viable option to offer.
“Why do you think there might be cliffs?” Luke asked.
“Just speculation. The shores in this part of the Far North aren’t rumored to be hospitable—rocky I’ve heard. And where these mountains reach the sea… I’m hoping they level out and let us pass around, but it’s hope only, not confidence.”
“Well, unless we get lucky finding a way over the top, I guess we’ll know in a couple of days,” Silas said. “Until then, we might as well keep alert for the giants and any likely route through this wall of mountains.”
As had been their habit of late, they camped that night with no fire, flames being all too easy to spot from the heights before them. Summer was giving way to fall, but even here in the north the nights were still pleasant, cool but not cold. Cold was something they spoke little of, but as summer faded and they moved further north it seemed to stalk them, like a phantom just at the periphery of their vision. They knew they needed to reach their destination well before winter set in, and winter came early and hard in the Far North.
*
Like dinner the night before, breakfast was cold, not very filling, and eaten in near silence. As the sun’s first rays started to filter through the trees to the east, they set out once again. They were still within sight of their camp when the sounds of heavy footsteps and cracking tree limbs were heard, the noise far too close for comfort. As they scrambled for cover, a large stone giant lumbered down from the base of the mountains and into a gap in the trees. Any hope that they had not been spotted was dashed as the giant flung a stone at the tree Barlow and Silas were sheltering behind. Luckily they saw it coming and leapt away before the stone crashed into the tree, leaving the trunk a barely-together pile of splintered wood. Now in the open and exposed, the two men had to choose whether to flee or attack before the giant grabbed another projectile. Knowing he would warn his fellow giants of their presence even if they could escape him, they did what they had to do: they attacked.
The giant saw that they intended to fight, and that they were smart enough to approach from different angels so he couldn’t strike at both with one swipe. With surprising agility he stooped down and scooped up a handful of dirt, pebbles, and other assorted debris, then flung it at Barlow, using a side-to-side toss to cast the material across a wider area.
Barlow only had time to skid to a stop and raise his sword arm in front of his face before he was struck. The tossed debris did no real physical damage, but it accomplished the giant’s purpose. Several critical seconds passed before Barlow’s vision cleared and he could start forward again, meaning Silas reached the giant alone.
The giant smiled even as Silas raced in, thinking he had already won the day. But Silas was far more agile than he expected, and his first two attempts to grab the smaller man left him grasping air. As he twisted and turned, his own bulk shielding his enemy, he saw he had made a second error. The two men were not the only foes he faced.
Darius and Luke arrived almost simultaneously on the giant’s right and left, swords ready to strike.
The giant, becoming more distracted and frantic with each passing second, took a half-hearted swing at Darius, simply to force him to check his advance, then leapt back several steps. All four men were closing on him now, but at least he could see them all.
Unseen was Adrianna, who sent a wall of force racing at the giant, rather than charging in herself.
The giant took the blow, showing his massive strength by remaining upright. His brain tried to process this new bit of information, and even though he had been hit in the chest, he glanced behind himself, sure that none of the four racing toward him had struck him. If not for his size it would have been a fatal mistake.
Luke brought his sword down on the giant’s ankle. His recent injuries stole a bit of the power from the blow, and the stone giant’s skin managed to blunt the sword’s edge without splitting open, but the force of the blade hitting above the bone was enough to make the giant roar in pain. Angry now, the monster swung a mighty hand at Luke, a glancing blow that sent the youngster rolling several feet down the hill.
Silas went behind the giant and tried to lever him off balance with his staff, but the giant’s stance was too firm, and he held fast against the cleric’s efforts.
Silas’ exertions were more of an annoyance to the giant at the moment than anything else, the pain in his ankle still too fresh and real. Rather than looking beneath him, he simply flung his legs out and allowed himself to drop onto his rear end, hoping to crush his foe.
Silas scampered away with only inches to spare, but lost his own balance in the process. The sudden movement, especially the outthrust legs, likewise stopped both Darius and Barlow in their tracks. Their goal had been to bring the giant down, but now that he had done it himself, none of them were in position to take advantage of it.
Everyone moved at once. The men regained their momentum and pressed the attack once more, while Adrianna sent another spell flying. But the giant rolled aside, forcing the invisible spell to miss, then found his feet and took six large bounds further up the slope of the mountain. He bent and grabbed two large stones from a pile he had made, then turned to fight.
The companions saw the giant was armed once more, but that only increased the urgency of their charge. Had they kept their distance, he would simply fire away in relative safety. Only up close could they hope to defeat the behemoth.
Stone giants that use rocks as their main weapons do so for a reason. Trained since early childhood, by the time they are full grown they can hurl large stones with great power but also with great skill and accuracy. When this giant released the first stone those closest—Darius and Barlow—couldn’t help but flinch, wondering if they would have time to dodge. But the stone flew past them, straight at the giant’s intended target. Still smarting physically and mentally from the shot to his ankle, the giant had decided the first stone would be tossed at Luke.
In the usual confusion of battle, there was little thought to following the trajectory of the stone, or wondering why they had been spared. Hesitation could be deadly, and the giant had another stone in his hands. Darius and Barlow closed with their foe.
The giant chose the accuracy of his dominant hand rather than speed, believing he had time before his attackers could reach him. But as the stone was moving from his left hand to his right, another spell hurled by Adrianna hit him. To the misfortune of the giant, the wall of force hit at just the right moment, and the stone, rather than being transferred cleanly from one hand to the other, was knocked from his grasp. The stone and the remaining force of the spell bounced off the giant’s chest, forcing him to stagger back a step. The rock fell to the ground and rolled out of his reach.
Adrianna didn’t see how fortunate the timing of her spell had been. She had cast it in desperation, then ran forward, as if to follow-up on any temporary advantage it might give her. But she ran on instinct, and not for the giant, but for Luke.
Darius and Barlow reached the giant before the monster could recover and grab another stone. But they were checked by his flailing arms, and struggled to find a way to do him any real harm. Silas arrived, rolling under the giant and behind him, trying to break the deadlock before the giant could deliver a telling blow. As he wheeled up and around, he was surprised to hear a scream of pain and rage from the giant. As he looked up he could see the beast clutching at his eyes, his chin raised as he let out another bellow, a primal howl of agony.
The bellow went up another octave as a half-dozen bolts slammed into the
side of the giant’s face. All three men stepped back from the raging monster, the unknown source of this new assault making them hesitate. They turned in time to see a group of dwarves working to reload their crossbows, while another group quickly slipped past them. These raised their axes and flung themselves at the stricken giant. Their foe, blind and delirious with pain, fell swiftly.
Before the giant even hit the ground, Silas was moving away from the fight, calling for Barlow to follow in an urgent tone that brooked no questions. Darius, focused on the swift, gruesome work of the dwarves, did not take immediate note of his friend’s swift departure, odd though it otherwise would have seemed to him. He stayed a few steps away from the dwarves, seeing they didn’t need his sword and somewhat concerned with the wild way they hacked with their weapons. He was surprised they didn't hurt one another. Even when the battle lust had faded and the dwarves calmed themselves, he stayed at attention, his sword out and ready. Just because the dwarves considered the giant an enemy didn’t mean they’d call Darius a friend. Wary though he was, there was no doubt the dwarves’ intervention had been timely, and while he would keep his guard up, they had clearly earned the thanks of Darius and his companions.
“I thank you, good dwarves,” said Darius, trying to strike a formal tone. “Your aid is appreciated and shall not be forgotten.” Darius addressed the dwarf with the longest beard, which hung in two braided cords of fiery red that tickled his toes. He assumed this one to be the leader, and felt a small surge of pride and relief as this dwarf spoke in kind.
“You don’t need to be thanking us for helping once the fighting started. Big oaf had it coming, and you and yours fought brave and strong. Wish we could have helped sooner, but orders were to track you, quiet like. Hard to be quiet bringing down one of these brutes.”
“ ‘Orders’?” Darius asked, trying to keep his voice level and calm. “Whose orders?”
“Our clan leader, of course. You are strangers here, and on our lands. Just wanted to see what you were up to, and where you were going. If not for the brute, you as like as not would’ve never been the wiser. We’ve been watching your group for three days.”
The thought that they had been tracked for three days without knowing it made the hair on the back of Darius’s neck stand up. “We meant no offense, and aren’t looking to trespass. We are trying to go further north, but we need to find a way around these mountains.”
“What for? Isn’t anything up that way but elves and—” The dwarf stopped, his eyes focusing on something past Darius. His face sagged a bit, and he said, “I think your friend needs to see you.”
Darius turned, and the look on Adrianna’s face hit him like a cold, hard slap. He looked past her, where Barlow and Silas were bent low, busy with some task. He glanced right and left, hoping against hope to see Luke, but his ever-tightening stomach admitted the grim reality of where he would find his brother.
Adrianna reached him just as he started to move. “Darius, don’t,” she said, pulling him close to hold him back and to comfort him.
He struggled once, briefly, to shrug her off, but stopped himself. The last thing he wanted was to knock her to the ground in a panicked rush to get to his brother. And the way she had said those two simple words… He closed his eyes and let out a long, slow breath. “Adrianna, please. I have to go to him.”
She knew it had been a vain hope that she might ward him away, to spare him the sight. She squeezed him once and stepped back, trying to hold back her tears.
She wasn’t the only one crying. As Darius drew near, Barlow looked up, and tears rolled freely down his cheeks. “I’m sorry,” he said, struggling to keep his voice from cracking. “He’s too far gone for what skill we have.”
Darius now saw his younger brother fully. The great stone the giant had hurled had driven him to the ground, then rolled some distance away. Most of Luke’s chest was crushed into a concave shape, and the upper part of his left arm was badly smashed as well. Blood, fresh and bright red, trickled from his nose and mouth. Darius knelt slowly by his side, reaching out tentatively with his hands but afraid of what his touch might do.
Silas was kneeling as well, holding Luke’s right hand and praying quietly with his eyes closed. He paused and opened his eyes just long enough to let Darius know with a nod that he should go ahead, then he went back to what he had been doing.
Darius placed the fingers of one hand ever-so-gently on the side of Luke’s face. The skin felt clammy and cold. At first Luke did not react to the touch, and Darius thought it was over, but then he shuddered twice, turned his head fractionally toward Darius, and opened his eyes. He managed a tired smile. “Funny thing. Doesn’t even hurt.”
Darius reacted to the words with a puff of air that was half-laugh, half-sob. His vision blurred and he squeezed the tears out, wiping them from his cheeks but not embarrassed by them. “I don’t know what to say…what to do.”
“Don’t need to say anything,” Luke replied in a voice like a faint wind. “Just see this thing through, for Sasha.”
Darius didn’t want to commit to that, to make a promise he wasn’t sure he could keep. Even if by taking the book they had saved Sasha—and he had no way of knowing whether that was so—it had now cost Luke his life. But he couldn’t look his dying brother in the eye and disappoint him. “Luke, I’ll…”
Luke’s eyes were focused far away, then on nothing.
Silas put a strong hand over Luke’s forehead and eyes and spoke a few words. He closed Luke’s eyelids before he took his hand away, then squeezed Darius’ shoulder. “I’m sorry, Darius.”
Darius just nodded once and walked away, needing to be alone for a few moments.
The leader of the dwarven party, who was named Burstel, approached Adrianna. “We’ll grieve your loss with you in due time, miss, but with no disrespect, we need to get inside. That large fellow is likely to have friends, and we won’t get the drop on them as easily.”
“Of course,” Adrianna replied. “Our thanks, for your help, and your hospitality.”
Burstel bowed and took a step back. “We’ll lead on as soon as you’re ready, but please do be swift.”
Adrianna repeated the conversation for Barlow and Silas, but only after looking at Luke one last time, a shudder passing up her spine at the harsh reality of his broken body.
“Don’t know much about northern dwarves,” Barlow said. “Can we trust them?”
“I’m sure they’ll want to know why we’re here and where we’re going, and that in itself is a problem,” Silas answered. “But I don’t see we’ve got much of a choice. If we stay here we’ll have parties of giants searching for us. I’d rather take my chances with the dwarves, and better as guests than prisoners.”
“We won’t be sure we’re guests until it’s time to leave,” Adrianna pointed out.
Silas shrugged. “Can’t argue the point, but there’s not much we can do about it either.”
“What about Luke?” Darius asked. He remained a dozen steps away with his back to them.
They looked at one another, not sure how to answer.
“We need to bury him,” Darius said, turning around now. “I’m not leaving him here for the scavengers or for some of the giant’s friends.”
While the others had been keeping their voices down, Darius spoke in a stronger tone, wanting to be heard. Burstel was within earshot, and it was he that answered. “It would be our honor to bear your friend inside, where he can be prepared for his passage beyond while a proper site is found. A cairn of stones here won’t stop those big brutes from…if you take my meaning.”
“He was my friend and my brother, by blood and deed,” Darius said, his gaze firm and locked with Burstel’s, measuring the dwarf, measuring his sincerity. He sensed he could put his faith in this stranger. “Let it be as you say.”
A few minutes later the dwarves brought forth a litter and gently placed Luke upon it. Burstel looked at Luke’s sword and then at Darius. “If you will allow me?” Once
he had Darius’ approval, he took the weapon, placed it on what remained of Luke’s chest, then folded the dead boy’s arms across it. “A warrior should be carried from the field with his weapon,” Burstel said by way of explanation, and then to Luke’s still form he added, “Rest well, fellow warrior, brother-at-arms. Your enemy is slain, you are avenged, and your friends have won the day.”
They formed a single file line that snaked deeper up into the foothills, Darius right behind the litter-bearers. If the dwarves trod upon a known path, it was not visible to their guests. As the slope grew steeper the mountains loomed ever larger, threatening to blot out the sky. They came to a halt in a place apparently no different than any other, but the lead dwarf, who was facing the sheer wall of the mountain, suddenly pushed open a door, one so well concealed that the companions doubted they could find it even if they knew where to look. The entrance and hall, hewn from the rock by dwarven miners, extended only a few feet before turning abruptly west, and then north again, where torches lit the way. As the door slid closed behind them, they could hear the turning of some ancient mechanism, and then the stone portal itself clapping shut like a tomb.
The hall they traveled was narrow and sloped gently downward. Here and there one might spy small slits in the rock, where watching eyes might observe or bolt be fired from sheltered rooms. Clearly any enemy who might be lucky enough to stumble upon the doorway would still have perils to overcome if he sought dwarven treasure. After traveling some time, the visitors started to lose all sense of just how far into and under the mountain they might have come. The torches had been spaced such that they only provided the dimmest of light, but ahead several were grouped, and a great iron portcullis was positioned as another obstacle to unwanted visitors. Fortunately the gate was now open and the two dwarves that guarded it simply stood at attention as the scouting party and their guests entered the main dwarven hall.