Mighty Hammer Down

by David J Guyton

  Chapter 30

  "Well?" Alana asked.

  "Well what? You mean does it look like it did in the dreams? Of course it does. I can't believe you still bother to ask me that."

  "Just how often do you have these dreams Master Rommus?"

  Rommus scratched his head. "Not quite every night, but close to it."

  "So five or six since we were in Burnhamheade?"

  "I don't know. I stopped counting them a while ago. I figure that what's really important must be here in the real world, and the dreams are kind of like signs directing me. I just try to find the things I see in them and see what happens when I do."

  The town of Reyth was not spectacular in any way. While Burnhamheade was a marvelous sight to behold, Reyth, like many other Vindyri towns, was dull and dirty. It looked more like an arrangement of stables and cabins than legitimate settlement, and barely qualified as a town at all. There were no large buildings, and only one that was made of stone. That was a temple devoted to all the gods, but even it looked like it was crafted by amateurs. The rest of the buildings were made from wood, but it was wood that was splintered and decayed, with no adornments whatsoever.

  Most of the roads this far north in Vindyrion were not paved, and even the streets beneath them were nothing but dirt. They were a little muddy from the rain the night before, but they seemed fairly solid. The horses didn't seem to care what they walked on as long as they were fed regularly and had cool water to drink. Rommus pet the neck of the animal beneath him as he thought about how much the horse had helped them in their journey. Alana rode with Vohl, giving Rommus's horse a break from the extra weight.

  While the town itself was lackluster, the view around them was absolutely astonishing. To the north, east and west they could see the jagged, snow-topped mountains rising up at the horizon, hiding the clouds as they slowly slid by. To the south they could see far across the land; almost to the southern wall. The air was cooler at this altitude, and Rommus breathed it in eagerly. It was a refreshing change from the muggy heat they had experienced on the way there.

  "Up there," Rommus pointed, "that's where I saw the false sunset. Of course it's too early in the day, but I know the sun doesn't set there. It's sets over there in the west."

  Vohl looked off to the northern horizon. "Master Rommus, that's in the direction of the Land of the Gods. Are you aware of that?"

  "Yes I'm aware of it. I don't think it means anything though. My beliefs about the gods have not changed, even if you say you have seen them. As far as I know, you might have simply thought they were gods when they were nothing more than clever humans playing a trick."

  Vohl laughed. "If you ever meet them, you will not think it is simply a trick, Master Rommus. You will know in your heart that what you see is real. Tell me, if you do not find what you are looking for here in Reyth, will you go to this false sunset?"

  "Yes I'm curious about that too Rommus," Alana added.

  He ran his fingers through his hair. "I don't see how I can avoid it. It's odd but I feel a stronger pull over there to the southwest. That feeling I have been having recently is getting stronger, but I still think we should go north. I really see nothing here that is catching my attention, so it only makes sense to see what's beyond those mountains. I didn't come all this way just to turn around now."

  "Then we will all go to the Land of the Gods together," Vohl said. "If nothing else, you can at least say you saw the ruins of the Columns of Inshae. Your father will be proud of that I think."

  He smiled. "It takes a little more to make him proud, but he'll enjoy the story anyway. I am actually curious to see them with my own eyes."

  "Well the ruins are not far from here. We need only travel down this mountain and follow that valley. There is only one river to cross."

  "And I assume we'll have to pay to cross the bridge like we did at the River Eloria?" he asked Alana.

  "Well yes, we have to pay to cross any bridge here."

  "Why is that?" Vohl asked her. "I was wondering what that was about."

  "Because the King collects money from the people in many ways in order to redistribute it to the people who need it."

  "So he makes people pay to cross a river?" Vohl asked. "The bridge is already built. It does not cost him anything to maintain it. Don't you find it a little unfair to be charged for that?"

  Alana cleared her throat. "Well, I don't like that I have to pay, but it's for the good of the kingdom. There are needy people who benefit from all the taxes."

  Rommus looked at the dirty, bland town surrounding them. "And are these people paying the taxes or receiving them? How can you tell who is poor and who is wealthy here?"

  She lowered her eyebrows at him. "I'm afraid I am not getting your point Rommus."

  "My point is, I understand the need for taxes; our leaders can't do things without money. They can't provide us with protection or paved roads and things like that. However, when I look around and see that everyone here looks like they are struggling, I have to wonder how well your King's system works.

  "Ever since we got here we have been losing money faster than I can hand it to the next collector. We have been heavily taxed for everything we have bought, and even for services we didn't need. How can your King take so much and provide so little?"

  "We have paved roads and protection here just like you have in Medora, Rommus."

  "I see dirt roads. And I have not seen a Vindyri soldier since the ones we killed when we got these horses; not one piece of their black armor. What I am trying to say is I don't believe in your system. You cannot punish the productive and reward the nonproductive. The wealthy, productive people will soon lose interest in making money if they cannot keep it, and the lazy will not become productive if you give them money for doing nothing."

  She looked a little annoyed. "Are you saying that we have no business helping people?"

  "No, of course not. Like I said, the rulers need money. It's important to understand that we are not free and safe without a nation to live in. It's also noble to want to help people. It is your right to help whoever you choose in whatever way you choose, however, it is wrong for this to be demanded of you. You should never be forced to pay to help people. When people realize that they are responsible for their own success, that no one is going to hand them food or money, they will find a way to make things work. That drive can be found in just about every Medoran, and we are all successful and productive. If you take away that drive, the people become little more than greedy children, always clawing for more free things. They feel they are entitled to things that they did not earn, and that the people who actually earned them have no right to them at all."

  "Rommus I am shocked. I thought that you were more caring than that," Alana said.

  "I'm a little shocked, Alana, that you think I am uncaring because of that. It should be obvious to you that I want everyone to succeed, and to do that they need to have a chance for success. The way of this nation does not allow for that, and these dirt roads and dilapidated buildings prove it. The only nice place I have seen here is Burnhamheade, and that is where your King lives."

  "I am not shocked at all Master Rommus," Vohl said proudly. "You have just described the reasons I left my people. Our leaders were doing much the same thing, forcing us all to the same level. No matter how hard someone worked, he could not make more money than anyone else. This made people stop and wonder why they should work hard when they could just be lazy and collect the same pay. I don't see your views as heartless at all.

  "But we are all influenced by our cultures. I understand what Alana means. She has grown up in a land where this is normal, and so it seems right to her. You grew up in another place, and you believe different things. I have lived long enough to see many ways come to pass, and I believe that the way of the Medorans is the better way."

  "I don't think it's all culture," Rommus said. "To think that we are all just part of the group means that there is no importance for the individual. Yo
u can disagree with things in your culture, and that means that you have a mind of your own and you can use reason to come to your conclusions. I am unimpressed when I hear people preaching about the way things should be when I can tell that they are just reciting things they have heard in the past. It's important to think for yourself."

  "Well that much I agree with," Alana said. "I don't think anyone wants other people to think for them."

  Vohl turned his head around to Alana behind him. "I think you'd be surprised at the number of people who are willing give up that burden Alana."

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