“I thank you, Majesty, with my deepest sincerity, for entrusting me with this gem. I’ll do my utmost to be worthy of your trust and faith.”
Saxthor accepted the White Diamond of Honesty and tucked it into the open pocket of his tunic. Not knowing what else to say, he withdrew, bowing as he went. Looking at the dragon ring and the Celestial Fire Topaz of Humanity, Saxthor pondered what Ormadese said. When he was back in the corridor, his guide reappeared and led him to his chamber for the night.
The next morning, when the guide dwarf knocked on his door, Saxthor awoke refreshed in spite of his shortened hours of sleep. Following another feast with his companions, they met with King Ormadese again.
“We trust you slept well?”
“We did indeed, Your Majesty,” Saxthor said. “Again, let me express our gratitude for your kindness to such weary travelers.” Delia wagged her tail as if she knew herself to be included.
“Let us advise you to hasten on to the Hadorhof, where you’ll meet with Duke Jedrac. It’s imperative you council with him, as you’ll need to know and understand the Castilyernov Hadorhof and its strategic importance and position in the pass into Dreaddrac.”
“We’ll leave at once, Your Majesty,” Saxthor said.
“Don’t mention the jewels to the duke,” King Ormadese said. “Temptation might be too much for him.”
“Thank you for your hospitality and your advice, which we shall heed.”
At the audience’s conclusion, the guide dwarf led the travelers back out and used his magic to open the wall. Before they left, the dwarf pulled Saxthor aside. “If ever you need our assistance, write this rune on the stone cliff across from any cave in these mountains.” The dwarf showed Saxthor the rune and was gone.
* * *
Hendrel and the Astorax made good time crossing the sandy hills of central Hador and hurried toward the fortress town of Hador. Where the road entered the mountains from the plain, there were three house-size boulders on each side of the road. All travelers approaching the mountain pass first passed between the boulders. None escaped inspection by the guards in the observatory above.
“People call the boulders ‘The Guardians’.” Hendrel stopped and watched Astorax’s reaction. “Rumor has it magic restrains the innermost boulders. If an evil soul attempts to pass between them, they’ll slam together, crushing the villain. No one I’ve ever met can remember seeing the boulders move. Orcs slipping through the mountains don’t test the rumor but sneak around far out on the plain.”
“They slam together?” Astorax said, staring at the boulders. “Do you think they’ll mash me?”
“Evil is in the heart, my friend; I’m certain you’re safe.”
Hendrel passed the boulders with no problem. Astorax hesitated, putting one hoof in front of the other, watching back and forth to see if either boulder moved. Hendrel watched the skittish Astorax and finally went back and walked beside him. Once past the boulders, they advanced nearly a mile along the road that worked its way around the first mountain with sharp left turns in three places.
“Why the sharp turns?” Astorax asked.
“To ensure that attackers don’t drag large siege machinery up the mountainside. Look up there on top of the mountain. See that huge cache of rocks and boulders restrained by timbers? Defenders can release the rocks down the slope on attackers, both killing them and closing the road to further intrusion.”
Behind the mountain, the slope fell away into a deep gorge and the road ended. A great suspension bridge spanned the chasm.
“Another defense?” Astorax asked. He looked down over the edge, then back at Hendrel.
“Under attack, Hadorians can cut the supports, toppling the bridge into the abyss and leaving a fantastic moat.”
As Hendrel came to the bridge, he stood and marveled as he always did. The incredible natural defenses, – even without the fortress at the top, were impregnable.
“I’m amazed by the world I’ve seen since leaving my home in Heggolstockin,” Astorax said. “I spent all my life there and never expected to leave.”
“You never know how life will change.”
The two travelers approached the bridge and stood, looking at the mountains’ next ridge. Sheer stone mountainside shot vertically to the clouds.
“I can hardly believe it. It looks like the wall at world’s end,” Astorax said. He looked over the side of the mountain where he stood and then stepped back. “Maybe you should go on without me. I can’t go any further. I can’t cross that bridge. My hooves will catch in the bridge plank’s spacing, and over the side I’ll go, I know it.”
Hendrel put his hand on Astorax’s shoulder.
“I’ll walk over the bridge to show you how safe it is.” Hendrel turned and crossed the bridge with complete calm and ease. He then returned the same way. “Now you try it, at least try it.”
“I can’t.”
“Astorax, I must continue searching for Saxthor. There’s too much at stake. You’ve nowhere else to go. You’ll be a stranger wherever you go alone. I’m your friend. You must trust me in this.”
Astorax stamped around in the dust, thinking through the situation and finding no easy solutions. He looked up at Hendrel.
“It would be better to die on the bridge than to be alone, lost out here, where I am a freak.”
“I won’t let you fall, my friend.”
“You think you can carry me across the bridge?” Astorax grinned, and Hendrel did the same.
“You’re too fat.”
“Fat! When’s the last time you saw a fat deer?”
Hendrel ducked, dodged, and bobbed, pretending to poke his friend in the stomach.
Astorax relaxed into a grin. “Next time you call an Astorax fat, be prepared for a deer antler in your butt.”
“I’ll remember that.” Hendrel turned to the bridge. “We need to cross. Just hold onto the rope with your right hand and onto me with your left. Don’t look down; just feel for the plank ahead with your hoof.”
Trembling, Astorax stepped onto the first plank and closed his eyes. The bridge swayed, and Astorax squeezed Hendrel’s shoulder. When the bridge didn’t fail, he opened his eyes and took a deep breath. He looked straight ahead, as Hendrel instructed.
“One hoof at a time as you say.”
Astorax advanced, holding onto the rope rail with white knuckles, and if his tense body seemed off-balance, he’d dig his fingers into Hendrel.
Another traveler stepped onto the bridge behind them. The bridge and rope swayed. Astorax froze, clinching both rope and Hendrel.
“It’s OK; it’s just another person stepping onto the bridge.” Again, the two moved forward.
After what seemed an eternity, the pair crossed the bridge and continued up the road. They found a level spot to rest for the night.
The stress has worn Astorax out, Hendrel thought.
His companion stared up at the mountainside. “All I can see ahead is sheer rock wall going into clouds. I’ll never see the Castilyernov Hadorhof at the top of that mountain.”
“Sorry you came along with me?” Hendrel asked. He tossed another stick on the fire and looked at his friend.
“My home’s green hills are so far away,” Astorax said. “Wizards or demons must inhabit the fortress. What can I do? I’m traveling with a wizard.”
*
During the night, there was a noise. Astorax, being a forest creature, was always alert to the night’s unusual sounds. He woke up and poked Hendrel. Hendrel couldn’t see well in the dark, but the Astorax was used to it and spotted a pair of orcs sneaking by, headed for the bridge.
The shocked orc saw Astorax and gasped, then backing up, clumsily snatched out his sword. Both he and his partner faced the deer-man. With sword flashing in the pale moonlight, the grinning first orc charged the defenseless beast.
“Look out!” Astorax yelled, fumbling getting up.
Finally awake and unnoticed, Hendrel leaped up and jumped between orc and Astorax, s
lashing the orc with his sword’s uppercut.
The orc froze, staring at the heretofore unseen wizard. Then he dropped his weapon, looked down, and grasped his spilling entrails. Blood flowed through his filthy fingers for a second before he toppled forward, dead, into the dust.
“I’ll get you!” the second orc said, rushing from behind the first.
He jumped down on Hendrel before he could recover. The wizard hadn’t recoiled from blocking the first orc’s sword arc that exposed his side. He looked at the arcing blade in horror.
Bearing down on Hendrel, the orc didn’t follow Astorax’s movement. The horned beast lowered his head and leaped between Hendrel and the orc.
At full speed, the surprised orc impaled himself on Astorax’s horns. The stunned attacker froze as life drained out of him. Astorax shook his head, and the second dead orc dropped on top of the first with a thud. Hendrel looked at his savior, back at the bodies, then back at Astorax.
“That was close.”
Astorax shrugged his shoulders, steadying himself for another attack, but none came.
“Thanks for saving my life. Maybe I need to teach you how to use a sword, just in case.” Hendrel cleaned his sword on an orc’s traveling cape and sheathed it. He then cleaned Astorax’s antlers.
“Thanks for saving my life when the first one charged,” Astorax said. “I was going to lower my head, but you disposed of him first.”
Hendrel selected the best orc sword, wiped it clean, and handed it to Astorax. “Thanks for saving my life when the other one charged.”
The deer-man buckled the orc’s scabbard belt around his waist. “This feels strange... I’ve never had a sword before.” He drew the blade, whacked the air several times, and grinned.
“Come on; we might as well get a head start. I don’t want to sleep beside two dead orcs.”
Still grinning, Astorax said nothing, just picked up part of their gear, and started up the road between Hendrel and the sheer rock wall. Within the hour, the morning light shone over their heads, and they stopped to eat.
“The sun won’t reach us until midday,” Hendrel said. “The road gets steep. It’ll be an effort, and we’ll tire soon.”
“Another defense?”
“Yes, another defense. If attacking troops climbed to the citadel up this, the only road, they’d be too exhausted to fight when they got there. I wonder why we haven’t seen anyone else on the road.”
“All cities have travelers coming and going,” Astorax said.
“Hador has a large garrison; it’s the largest city in Hador. There were always people coming and going when I left. We’ll have to stop at the rest station further up the road and ask about the situation up on the pass.”
“Have you always lived in the sky city?”
“Well, no. I was born in Heedra on the River Nhy. The farmers and boatmen of Heedra didn’t have much work for my father. He was a smith, and his specialty was forging shields, so my family left Heedra and made our way up to Hador, where there was more work.”
“If you were a smith, why did you become a wizard?”
Each answer in this man’s life seems to lead to more questions, Hendrel thought. I guess mine is like that, too.
“Memlatec passed through Hador one day when I was young. He took note of me and told my father I had potential. I wasn’t much use as a smith, so my father apprenticed me to Memlatec as a wizard’s helper. My father was glad to be rid of me, I think.” He was silent for the space of a memory, then continued, “Anyway, I followed Memlatec back to Konnotan and trained as an assistant wizard until he sent me back to Hador to watch the border. When Prince Saxthor returned to the peninsula, Memlatec sent for me to intercept Saxthor and protect him as best I could.”
“We’ve had unusual lives,” Astorax said. “This Prince Saxthor must be important.”
“If that satisfies your curiosity, we need to get going. I want to reach the rest station as soon as possible. You’ll meet Saxthor in Hador and make your judgment.”
The two travelers packed their food, and gear and continued up the highway. Soon they ran into a man with a burro and cart coming down the road. The man was scared to death of the Astorax, and the burro refused to budge.
“He’s not hostile,” Hendrel assured the man.
Astorax had to walk a wide circle around the fidgeting burro to avoid spooking it.
“I don’t think I’ll be welcome in your city,” Astorax said after a bit of silent walking. His hooves dragged in the dust. “Maybe you should just go on and leave me here. I can hide out on these cliffs until you return.”
“No, I know it’s rough being treated like that, but I need your help, and I’m not coming back this way. When I find Saxthor, we’ll all go over the pass into Dreaddrac.”
“It’s not easy being a freak,” Astorax blurted out.
“No, but then we’re all different to someone. We just have to find the good people and not waste time on the mean ones.”
“I’m sorry to cause you so much trouble.”
“You’re not causing me trouble.” Hendrel put his hand on Astorax’s shoulder. “I hate that people are mean to you, but there’s little we can do to change their minds other than set an example. You’re my friend, and I’m not giving up my friend to the mercy of mean, insecure people.”
The two arrived at the rest station, apprehensive of their reception. They went to the entrance and looked in to see the large room partly filled with travelers.
“Those inspectors at the desk check travelers and their goods for any sign of weapons or contraband. While Hador is a trading town, it’s governed as a military stronghold.”
The two took deep breaths and entered the way station, where everyone turned to look at the Astorax. Complete silence fell over the room. Hendrel and Astorax strolled up to the reception desk to register. Hendrel listed his business as a citizen, declaring he had a small shop where he assisted people with simple magic.
Astorax entered that he was a citizen of Heggolstockin, traveling to Hador at the request of Hendrel the Wizard.
When the inspectors looked at the registration page, they could find nothing wrong with it. The inspectors looked at Astorax, then huddled and chattered among themselves. Hendrel couldn’t make out what they said, but he could tell they didn’t trust the Astorax and wanted to prevent him from continuing on to Hador.
“What’s his business in Hador?” the inspector asked.
“You responsible for that? Your magic go awry?”
“No, he’s helping me. You should ask him yourself.”
“You sure he can speak for himself?” The inspector stared at the Astorax.
“I can speak as well as you.”
The inspector looked at Astorax but turned to Hendrel. “You a good sorcerer, or are you connected to that bad lot in Dreaddrac?”
“I’ve lived in Hador for a good twenty years and studied under Memlatec the Great before that.”
That seemed to satisfy the inspector.
“Where’s this shop of yours?”
“On Okken Street.”
Another inspector, apparently familiar with the street and possibly shop, mumbled something in the chief’s ear. The inspector seemed satisfied at last. He and the others in the room went about their business, but they kept a wary eye on the Astorax. The two travelers sat on a bench while the inspector checked their gear for weapons and contraband. Hendrel lay down to rest with one eye on Astorax, who, still nervous, kept watch for them both.
A patrol of soldiers came in with an orc they caught trying to sneak over the mountains., The disarmed orc stood submissive while the soldiers registered at the desk. When the soldiers were preoccupied, the orc snatched a dagger from his boot and lunged at the first soldier.
Astorax leaped from his seat, and with lowered head, pinned the orc prisoner to the desk with his antlers. The soldier spun around, sword arcing from its scabbard.
“Stop!” Hendrel yelled as he jumped up.
&nbs
p; The soldier was about to slash the deer-man when he saw Astorax wasn’t attacking him but had, in fact, saved his life. For a moment, the man just stared at Astorax, holding the orc against the desk.
Hendrel walked over and took the dagger from the orc’s hand. Only then did Astorax release him. The second soldier tied the orc’s hands behind his back as the first soldier returned his sword to its sheath. He looked again at Astorax, who was walking back to his seat with Hendrel. Everyone in the room was looking at Astorax, who was embarrassed once again by the attention.
The first soldier stuck out his chest in good military posture and walked over to Astorax. He stood a moment, then cleared his throat. “Sir, I thank you for saving my life.”
“I’m glad I could be of assistance.”
The soldier thrust out his hand to Astorax and nodded to Hendrel. Astorax looked at Hendrel, who nodded. The great horned beast then shook the soldier’s hand, and the room erupted in applause.
The soldiers took their prisoner and left, heading toward the citadel. Shortly after, the inspector smiled at Hendrel and Astorax.
“Everything seems to be in order, gentlemen. Hope you enjoy your stay in Hador.”
Man and hero turned to leave.
“Sir,” the inspector said, coming around the counter. “Mr. Astorax, I’m honored to make your acquaintance. The duke shall hear of your valor.” With that, the inspector stuck out his hand. Astorax looked at Hendrel, who again nodded, and Astorax turned back to shake his hand.
The two travelers left the rest station and continued on to Hador. They walked without speaking for a long way. Finally, Astorax broke the silence.
“All these years, I’ve been hated and feared. Today was the first time a person looked at me as if I wasn’t a freak. I had forgotten what it felt like to be accepted.”
The two continued on. The road wound around a small mountain with steep sides. For some distance, the roadbed was wood planking supported by heavy timbers propped against the steep rock.
The N Arc of Empire- Complete Series Page 57