oread

Golden Door Chapter 15 Chris in the Camp, part 2 of 2

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

There followed a half-dozen waves altogether, but the last ones got progressively smaller. The underground sea calmed and Deathwalker yelled at Crusher to turn toward the castle as quickly as possible. “The ash and steam are almost upon us!”

Chris stood and separated again from Silverstain who looked suddenly innocent and demure and returned to her seat. Chris brushed himself off while the others began to rise, except Watcher who appeared content to hide under his hood.

“Incoming!” They all heard the word, but it took a second to realize Heathfire had abandoned the furnace, and Broomwick was with her. They struck Chris, still in fire form, and Chris became covered in flame. He was on fire, but curiously not burnt, and as soon as Heathfire and Broomwick retreated to the furnace, the fire began to go out. Heathfire spoke again out of the furnace, and it had the metallic echo Chris expected.

“Volcanic ash burns. Now Chris will be able to make his own fire,” she did not explain as the ash slowly settled into the sea and began to sizzle all around them. A number of flakes hit the boat and Redeyes, Crusher and Silverstain received a few burns, but none seemed severe. Chris felt some on his head and arms and put his hand out to catch one. It felt plenty warm, but no worse than a warm rain, and even his hair resisted the flames. The boat, however, caught fire in a few places and they had to douse the flames while Deathwalker, Redeyes, and a reluctant Watcher joined in some magic that put something like an invisible umbrella over the top of the ship.

Crusher kept them pointed toward the castle island while the fire sprites turned up the steam.

“More faggots!” Broomwick echoed from inside the furnace. Stalker made to reach for Watcher, but Watcher jumped back.

“Not funny!”

The goblin laughed, a truly evil sounding laugh, even as Deathwalker hit him in the shoulder, and they turned to feed the furnace with more coal.

Chris reached for Silverstain’s hand. “Let me see it,” he said, but she turned her arm away from him.

“It doesn’t hurt.”

“Come on,” he insisted.

Redeyes butted up with a bit of sarcasm. “He just wants to hold your hand.”

“Oh,” Silverstain breathed and gave her brother an evil look, like only a true goblin can give, and held out her arm. Chris examined the small blister and thought to kiss it, but his tongue got ahead of him, so he ended up licking the burn. The blister immediately shrank and disappeared, and the redness went away. “Oh,” Silverstain breathed again, but this time it sounded like surprise. Deathwalker spoke to Redeyes.

“He is the son of the Kairos. The attraction can’t be helped.”

Redeyes nodded. No doubt he felt it too, but his mouth shouted something else. “Kraken!”

A long strand of seaweed came up over the rail of the ship, but it slithered like a snake. It wrapped around Silverstain, and she screamed—a chilling, earsplitting sound. A second strand grabbed Crusher around the leg. A third and fourth strand flopped on to the deck, but Heathfire and Broomwick were right there to flame the seaweed tentacles, and they quickly withdrew, not liking the fire at all.

Chris grabbed the weed around Silverstain while Redeyes grabbed his sister to keep her from being dragged overboard. Chris felt the flame, having caught Heathfire out of the corner of his eye. In a moment, his hands were on fire and something at sea let out a low moan that rapidly rose to a high-pitched squeal. The strand of seaweed uncoiled from Silverstain, but it was damaged, and the fire did not go out until it struck the water.

Crusher snapped the weed around his leg and tossed the dead end back into the sea. Deathwalker shouted at the sprites. “Get those paddles moving. It is far off, but it will get closer.” He had a sword in his hand. Who knew where he got it from, but as Chris looked, he saw the whole crew was armed. There were two axes along with the sword, and several wicked looking knives.

“How do you know how far away it is?” Chris asked as Silverstain pulled a stiletto from some unseen pocket. Chris imagined she did not have enough clothes on to carry such a weapon, but Redeyes distracted him with an answer.

“Very small, leading-edge tentacles. The closer it gets, the bigger the tentacles will get.”

“Great,” Chris said in his best sarcastic voice, and he began to look around for a weapon of his own. The next ten minutes were spent hacking, chopping, and burning Kraken tentacles which were indeed getting larger, but then Watcher shouted into the dark.

“Firedrake!”

Chris’ first thought was, great, with an extra dose of sarcasm. He imagined they had their hands full already. But when he looked, he saw some bird-like animal that glowed a deep red. It seemed hard to tell at that distance, like it was hard to tell what the Kraken in the distance might look like, until the bird, or whatever it was, spewed a great burst of flame. Something caught fire that appeared to be five stories high and as wide as a city block. The tentacles withdrew from the ship and Chris saw waterspouts shoot up into the sky and douse the flames that had to be on the Kraken’s head. The firedrake had to thread carefully between the spouts. It swooped over the ship and headed back out to flame the Kraken again from above.

“That’s Uncle Burns drake riding,” Heathfire shouted and clapped.

“Get this tub moving,” Deathwalker shouted back. “A single drake might startle the beast, but the Kraken will be back. It has touched soft flesh.”

“Can’t be talking about me,” Crusher said with a tusky grin, as he turned the ship back toward the castle island.

“They usually stay in the deep.” Deathwalker said to Chris. “The earthquake must have shaken it to the surface.”

“Earthquake?” Chris pointed at what he finally realized was lava pouring out of a crack in the wall.

“Volcanic result,” Deathwalker said. “That is how the firedrake got loose, but it has to go back now to refuel, you might say.”

Something bumped the bottom of the ship. “Get ready,” Redeyes said, though Chris wondered how ready they could get. That bump felt and sounded like a very big tentacle. Several smaller tentacles crept up the side of the ship and the ship stopped moving altogether.

“Over the side,” Crusher yelled.

“No wait!” Deathwalker shouted above the noise of creaking, cracking planks. Something blue, some electrical charge ran down the sides of the ship and the Kraken let go. They all heard the low moan again and saw when the moan rose to the shrill shriek. The Kraken in the distance became covered in blue sparkles, and Chris understood that something or someone was electrocuting the beast. He watched it submerge even as he lost his footing and collapsed to the deck. The boat got picked right out of the water and started flying toward the castle. Watcher lost his footing. Silverstain spread her legs and fell to her hands. Stalker, Redeyes and Deathwalker held themselves upright by gripping with their toes. Crusher, of course, had the tiller, and Broomwick and Heathfire still burned in the furnace until the ship steadied. They came out and took solid form which Chris then understood was not their natural form.

“Lady Alice?” Chris asked.

Deathwalker shook his head. “My guess would be Crystal, the oread of the mountain.”

They got deposited at the castle dock. It looked soaked from the tidal waves that went through, as was most of the hill, but they saw a woman on the dock, and she looked to be pacing despite the dock being slippery when wet. She also held one hand to her side like a person who might have a bad muscle cramp.

“Let me see him.” The woman did not shout, but she was heard by all. Stalker and Watcher got busy making the boat fast to the dock.  Redeyes, Silverstain and Crusher kept back. A demigoddess was not someone they wanted to mess with. Fortunately, Chris did not really understand the dynamics, so he was not put off when Deathwalker took him by the arm and moved him forward.

Crystal, the oread, walked all the way around Chris and complimented Deathwalker. “The disguise is good. He looks very average. And I see you made his lungs able to withstand the toxic fumes you sometimes encounter underground.”

“That was Stalker who came up with that,” Deathwalker admitted. “Lady Alice picked him.”

“And no doubt for good reason,” Crystal said, and she let out the hint of a smile. All this time, her hand remained on her side. Chris felt curious but held his tongue. This woman had skin the color of fine marble and hair that doubled for her clothes, but it was her eyes that intrigued Chris the most. The pupils were as clear and colorless as a mountain spring, but like prisms, they showed a kaleidoscope of every color, like little rainbows every time her eyes moved. Chris hardly paid attention when the woman said, “One more thing is needed.” He felt startled, briefly, when she raised her hand and placed it on his head.

“A gift?” Mister Walker asked.

“Insubstantial, but not invisible at Lady Alice’s insistence. She said she did not want her son’s molecules scattered all over creation.”

“Lady!” Redeyes gasped and spoke. They all noticed the bleeding gash on the Lady’s side where her hand had been.

“He will now be able to walk through the earth and stone, and castle walls.” She did smile while Chris looked quickly at her cut and then shot his eyes to the crack in the cavern wall where the lava continued to seep out and flow into the sea. “I am the mountain,” the Lady said, and vanished. The goblins and Crusher all bowed their heads, but Chris looked around and caught Silverstain’s eye.

“You have a mirror?” Deathwalker spoke quickly. Of course, she did.

“Now, don’t panic. You can take off the frightening aspect with a bit of concentration and look like your old, normal self whenever you please.”

“And put it back on again, whenever,” Redeyes added.

“But it will stay on without having to think about it until you deliberately take it off,” Deathwalker finished.

Chris examined himself as well as he could in the little pocket mirror. He had teeth to make a vampire proud, little horns of bone above his pointed ears, orange eyes with cat pupils that ran up and down, and a long, snake-like forked tongue to match Silverstain. His hands had something of a claw look to them as well.

“I like it,” Chris said, and practiced his trademark grin. Silverstain stepped up and hugged him, and Chris almost dropped the mirror.

“Seven years’ bad luck,” he said, but Silverstain shook her head.

“For us, that is seven years’ good luck.”

Reflections Flrn-10 part 2 of 3

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Faya flew into the dark and picked up a few followers along the way. She had a long flight to the stone tower where the Were king and queen resided. Faya recalled her own days there fondly, with her beast and their many children. Not to say that everything was perfect. The gods were at war in those early days. But mostly it had been a wonderful life, and she hoped Flern and Kined could find some happiness together as well, if she could figure out how to switch Wlvn and Flern back to where they belonged.

When Faya landed, and resumed human form, her followers did the same. She had collected a small crowd behind her on the stone court, and she wondered what they might be thinking, especially since she began to glow over the last couple of miles. “As the crow flies,” she said to herself, and ignored the people behind her as she knocked gently on the door.

A young man opened the door. “May I help you?” he asked, before he took a look at her face.

“Faya, to see whoever is in charge,” she said, and there were several audible gasps from behind. The young man tried to smile.

“One moment.” He shut the door slowly, but his trembling hand suggested he wanted to slam it. A moment later, a rather older and bigger man came and hauled the door open.

“Who dares? I don’t find it funny.” The older man already decided what he would believe before he arrived.

Faya studied the man and saw something of her beast in him these many generations later. She spoke calmly. “I think you may call me grandmother,” she decided.

“Eh?” And for the first time the big old man looked squarely at Faya and into her eyes. Faya let the fires of the sun come up into her eyes. She waved her hand and the vines that clung to the tower grew miraculously and stretched out to the very edges of the door, like they were ready to crash inside the house. Then she rose up until she was able to look him straight in the eye and spoke sternly.

“This is an urgent matter and I have no time to play. Be a good boy and hear me.” She turned and addressed all the ones who had gathered. “My friend Carpasis has likely told you already, but just to be sure. There is a human who rode up on to the plateau with a dragon hot on his trail. Have you seen him or heard of him?”

Everyone said no, including the big man in the doorway.

“I wish to know if he survived or if the dragon caught him. If he survived, I want him treated with respect, fed and rested, and brought safely to the village on the mountainside where Raini and I used to play. Tell him he is to go to the inn of Nadia and her father which is on the road that leads down the mountain and wish him well. If he did not survive, if the dragon caught him, I would like to see the evidence. And if you kill him after this telling, I will find out and I will be very cross with you all.” Faya turned again to face the big man in the door and look at him eye to eye. “Hear me,” she said, and then she could not help putting out her hand and touching the man on the cheek. “My grandchild.”

With that, Faya rose up high into the sky and changed back into the scarlet owl as she headed back toward the inn. Some of her first followers followed her again, and they picked up a group of new ones as well along the way. Faya only hoped she could get back by sunrise. She would be very tired, but she paid for two nights because she knew that both she and Wlvn would need some rest.”

When she arrived, the Were stopped at the wall on the edge of town, but Faya flew freely over the rooftops. She saw a perch erected in the town square, just where she used to land when she visited her cousin Raini. The only thing missing on the perch was the big copper bell. She knew it would be a walk to the inn, but she could not resist. She changed to an eagle with the same red glean in her feathers as the sky in the east turned a corresponding red, and she landed on the perch and paused only to preen her shoulder feather. Then she jumped from the perch and changed simultaneously into Faya as she landed and thought she could not count the number of times she did that in the deep past.

Faya sensed the arrow in the air before she saw it. Her aunt Freja taught her that—aunt Vrya, she corrected her pronunciation. Her right hand came up as she thought and something like a solar flare came from her hand. It turned the arrow shaft completely to dust and the copper head to little melted drops that fell and blended into the soil. At the same time, she raised her left hand and the clouds overhead congealed in a moment of time. A bolt of lightning struck the earth not two feet from the bowman. The bowman got tossed by the explosion. He got singed everywhere, but not badly burnt, and he went unconscious, but did not die.

“Why?” Faya asked out loud. I pose no threat to anyone, she thought, and she started toward the bowman, but stopped after only a step. Wlvn said this should be his job, and she could not argue. All she could do was look around and say it felt so good to be home, and then she went away. Wlvn came back and headed for the archer.

“Jaccar.” Wlvn recognized what passed for a uniform. He wondered how that was possible, but he remembered one of the gods stood behind the Wicca and helped her in her wicked designs. Wlvn had a thought and ran for the inn at super speed before the gathering crowd could block his way.

Reflections Flern-9 part 2 of 3

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That night, halfway up the mountain, it became a warm but comfortable night with all the stars out in their glory. The moon came up full as well, and while the lovers loved, Wlvn knew that up on the plateau, the Were hunted under the wolf moon. Presently, they hunted in the guise of wolves and this being the second night of the moon, he knew the blood lust would be at its peak. They would reach the top of the pass in the afternoon, but Wlvn would make them camp off the plateau again, to avoid the third and final night of the wolf moon.

The next day they rode some, but often had to walk their horses up the mountainside. Thrud complained the whole way. Vinnu stayed unnaturally quiet. Bricklebrains made up for it by jabbering about the great life he had in Movan Mountain, and how lucky he was to be a dwarf instead of thick mud like the humans. No one but Kined, and sometimes Fritt really listened to the dwarf, but no one had to listen at all since he appeared to be speaking to himself. Wlvn only felt glad the dwarf seemed to have adjusted to being one of their companions.

Riah, like Vinnu, also stayed unnaturally quiet. When pressed, she confessed some trepidation about going up on the plateau of the Were. They were not known to be a friendly lot, not even to the little ones. “Mostly the spirits of the earth work there invisible and immaterial,” she said, though that was true in most places. “It just isn’t safe otherwise.”

Wlvn understood.

Shortly after noon, they came across a great stone wall made up of many slabs of stone that appeared to have been pushed up from below. They were rounded and weathered, but even Wlvn could not imagine a force that might have pushed them up so perfectly into a wall. He just wondered about that when they walked to the upside of the wall, and he heard a sound he never expected. The roar got followed by a stream of fire. The dragon landed where the wall stood between them. Then the big worm lifted its head over the top of the wall as if to spy on them. Wlvn immediately got the impression of someone’s spoiled pet. It did not do well in flight, like it got too fat.

Vinnu, Thrud and Fritt all screamed. Tiren and Kined appeared frozen in place. Gunder and Vilder tried to get them all moving, but no one seriously moved until the next stream of fire just missed frying Pinn, horse and all.

“This way!” Pinn shouted above the screams. Wlvn shouted something else. He knew that, like night creatures, dragons were an off-world phenomenon. The people who bred dragons, bred into them obedience to certain, simple words in their tongue. Wlvn found that tongue in the mind of Kartesh, his most recent life. He called out to the dragon and tried desperately to shout over the screams of the others. But then he knew, once the dragons got big and old, they did not necessarily respond to the words.

“No fire. Do no harm. No fire!” It was not clear if the dragon even heard him.

They started moving out of range along a rock face. The dragon slithered over the stone wall to follow. It could have taken to the air, but it preferred to slither up alongside them, and though the plateau sat just above, it did not look like they were going to make it. Another stream of fire cut off that direction temporarily. It seemed the dragon decided to play cat and mouse, and they were the mice.

Vinnu continued to scream. Wlvn continued to shout his words in the attempt to be heard above the din. It is a wonder that Riah heard a quiet voice call from a dark place in the rock face.

“In here. Hurry.”

As it happened, they were turned around at that point so Fritt appeared in the lead. Riah turned for the dark space and found a cave. Her horse barely fit, when she dismounted, but the cave got deep and ran back a long way. She imagined it might not be big enough for the dragon, though, and that mattered most. Tiren, Gunder, Thrud and Vinnu followed, and Vinnu temporarily stopped screaming. Pinn, Vilder and Kined came right behind, and the dragon realized it was losing its prey. It swung straight for them.

Fritt raised his voice above the others, now that the screaming abated. He rode quickly very close to the dragon’s mouth. He turned up toward the plateau, away from the others, and the dragon turned after him. It made a lunge at him, and barely missed as Fritt topped the rise and became lost to sight, the dragon literally hot on his trail.

Wlvn, the last in the cave, arrived just in time to hear Vinnu start screaming again. Their saviors turned out to be a troop of dark elves, what most people would call goblins. Wlvn stepped over and put his hand over Vinnu’s mouth before he handed her to Gunder and spoke.

“Goldenstone, can we get back to the surface from here without crossing the path of the dragon again?”

The goblin looked surprised at having his name known, but quickly recovered. “I thought you might like to go underground to the other side and not have to deal with the wolves above.”

“Yes, the wolf moon. But that is only for another night and then they will settle down again for a time.”

“But they remain Were,” Goldenstone argued.

“Listen, Goldenstone,” Bricklebrains stepped up. “These may be mud people, but they are all right, I tell you.”

“Bricklebrains.” The goblin knew the dwarf. “And I see you brought an underage, scrawny little elf with you.” Riah made a fist, but Wlvn caught it.

“She isn’t here,” one of the goblins spoke up from the cave entrance where he managed to get behind them.

“Maybe she is lost.”

“Or the dragon got her.

“Or maybe she is dead already.” The last suggestion became the one most of the dark elves appeared to agree with. The humans, of course, knew exactly who they were talking about.

“Oh bother.” Wlvn sighed before he waved his hand and said, “All of you are free from the enchantment of the Wicca,” and all of the goblins fainted. “And any trolls or goblins or others that might be down any of these passages or in any of the rooms, you are all free from the enchantment, even if you can’t hear my voice.”

“I don’t understand.” Vinnu removed Gunder’s hand from her mouth to express her uncertainty.

“These ones belong to the Lord, too,” Bricklebrains explained.

“All of the little ones,” Pinn remembered the village battle against the Jaccar. “All of the sprites of the air, water and fire as well as the earth.”

“Er, yes,” Riah agreed, though she was not sure she liked the idea of being referred to as an earth sprite.

“Be free,” Wlvn said again with a smile and show of his hand. He was kidding, but at once the earth began to tremble. Above ground, that could be frightening. Underground it became terrifying. Fortunately, it did not last long as a woman as tall as the tunnel appeared. She came dressed in something like silk, and it gave her demeanor a true stately appearance, but her skin looked gray, and her eyes and face looked like marble, and that made her look more like a moving statue.

“I was afraid for you, but I see you have handled things well enough.”

“And you are?” Wlvn got curious enough to speak. The others dared not speak in this great lady’s presence.

The lady squinted. “The young woman did not tell you?”

Wlvn sighed and guessed. “Flern and I are not in contact at the moment.”

“Oh, I see.” The lady said, but what she actually saw would be a matter for later debate. “I am Carpasis. I am the oread of these mountains. Oakvein and Firblog both said you were coming. And I had a reception planned, but at the last minute I got word that my sister Sylvan needed me. She lives on the other side of the plateau.”

“May I ask how this word was delivered?”

“Yes, one of the rats that burrow through these caves. But when I got there, I found she did not need me. And when I returned, I found the dragon you gave me awake and hungry. It is the strangest thing. I had thought the dragon would sleep another year at least.”

“Pardon.” Kined found the courage to speak before Wlvn could say, “The dragon I gave you?” Kined rightly worried. “My friend Fritt drew the dragon away so we could make it safely to this cave. Is there any way to see if he is all right?”

“I can speak to the Were,” Carpasis answered. “But I would not hold out hope if he was being chased by my dragon. I am sorry your reception turned less than pleasant.”

“Quite all right.” Wlvn spoke again. “Now we have these good dark elves to guide us through the mountain. Can we convey your greetings to your sister when we arrive on the other side?”

The oread smiled. “You are very like her. She thought to thank me for my assistance. That was most unexpected and most appreciated. I will say, the goddess is waiting for your arrival. Safe journey.” She vanished even as the goblins started to get up.

“Poor Fritt,” Vinnu said, with a look up into Gunder’s face. He nodded.

“Poor us,” Thrud said with a look around and up at the roof of the cave. “Can we get out of here now?”

“No.” Wlvn said. “How long to the other side?”

Goldenstone bowed. “Lord, it should only be two days to the other side by our reckoning.”

“Underground elf ways,” Wlvn said. “But we better keep to the troll roads to make sure there is enough room for the horses.” Goldenstone bowed again.

“Two days!” Thrud erupted and buried her face in Tiren’s shoulder.

“Claustrophobic,” Wlvn concluded though no one there knew the word. “But I wouldn’t worry. I don’t expect the trolls will exact much of a price for the troll road.” He giggled at his own bad joke, well used as it was, though again no one knew what he was talking about.

Reflections Wlvn-11 part 3 of 3

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The group left early in the morning. The poor villagers, still in a state of shock, began to grieve for the dead. Sadly, Flern could not do anything for them, and she feared the night creatures would show up and finish the job if they did not leave. They had a pass into the mountains to navigate.

Thred did not like the climb, and they often walked the horses as they climbed. There seemed little else they could do beyond struggling up the rough path at a gentle but steady pace. Wlkn looked back now and then, afraid of what might be coming next, but the others kept their eyes focused ahead and did not really have the strength to spare.

The clouds thickened all that day, so they were forced to spend a night among the rocks. Though they had food and managed a fire, it became a cold and miserable night all the same. Flern shivered by sunrise, and when she heard the baby wail in the distance, she shivered all the more.

The second day became a repeat of the first, only this time the legs and backs already ached. By lunch, it finally began to snow, and it came down in blizzard proportions for hours. Even Elleya got cold in the chill wind that seemed to sweep right up the mountainside with an unnatural strength. Boritz, who had been exceptionally quiet since the ghouls, gave her his shirt, and it helped. It covered her to well below the knees, almost like a dress. Andrea looked up at the big man and he looked down at her, sheepishly. Then she stood on her toes, and he still had to lean down a bit, and they kissed, and enough so the others had to look away to be polite.

“That is just for warmth,” Andrea said as she took hold of her horse’s reigns and started to walk again. Boritz said nothing, but he did appear to grin rather broadly, and continued to grin for some time after.

They reached the top of the pass just as the afternoon came to a close and the snow finally tapered off. Wlkn looked back and Elleya looked with him. Andrea and Boritz were trying hard not to look at each other. Moriah and Badl were looking at each other and congratulating each other on making the climb; though to be sure, they were far less tired than the others, apart from Laurel, who still appeared as fresh as a spring flower. Flern felt exhausted from the two-day climb, and all of the stress. She admitted that stress had a lot to do with her condition. She presently felt worn very thin. No wonder she reacted the way she did when the giants approached them—just ordinary ten- or twelve-foot giants, not Titans.

“We have no argument with you, grandson of Perun.” The blond leader of the group recognized Boritz and made a point of asking him to stay out of it. Boritz stood an impossibly big man in that day and age, but he stood several feet shorter than the smallest of the giants. Nevertheless, the giants clearly respected the man, or at least they respected the blood that ran in Boritz’s veins. “We just want the red headed girl. The rest of you can go in peace.” Loki had apparently figured out the switch.

“And do what with her?” Badl asked. Flern presently had her head in her hands. She started working on a whopper headache.

“We have no quarrel with the dwarfs or elves. You are safe here.” The chief said, and that was all he was going to say, but one of the giants in the back spoke up, though he probably should have held his tongue.

“The god said we could roast her, and when we were done, we should throw her remains off the cliff. Then he will bless us with all sorts of good things.” A young giant, he clearly looked forward to the good things, whatever they might be.

Flern snapped. She floated up off of Thred’s back and found the power to fly up to the lead giant’s face where he stood, one giant step out from the crowd. She wagged her finger sternly in that face and yelled. “My village got overrun with the enemy and my family may already be dead for all I know. I escaped to get help, but all I get is one stupid headache after another.” The giant took a step back in the face of her fury, but she followed him. “I was almost raped, and I had to kill him, and I resent whoever manipulated that poor slow mind in the first place. Then I got in a battle and plenty of good people got killed. Then I got tricked into looking into a mirror and I got sucked into this time period and I might never be able to get home. Now, I have lost all of my friends back home as well as my family.” Flern started to glow as her anger began to seep out of her pores, and the giant took another step back.

“But I got stuck here, only to get into another battle, and this time it was not with men, but with ghouls. Now, I am dirty, beat up, and worn to my last thread. I don’t have time to play with a bunch of stupid little giants, so you better hear this. Loki does not own me. I do not belong to the gods and do not bow to them because I have been counted as one of them for hundreds of years. Loki can promise you whatever he wants, but he cannot give me to you, and I will tell you right now you don’t have the guts to take me. You get the same warning I gave the ghouls, leave now and I will let you live. The ghouls did not listen and now they are all dead and here we are, safe and sound. So, leave now before I get really mad.” The giant took one more step back and ended in the midst of his group.

Laurel, Moriah and Elleya had their mouths open. Badl and Wlkn cowered, never having imagined that this sweet little red-headed girl could vent like this. Boritz stood calmly, cradled his big club in his arms like a baby, and Andrea reached up to take the big man’s arm and stand close to him. The corners of Andrea’s lips turned up ever so slightly, and she nodded, but otherwise she looked cool and calm in the face of the storm.

Flern began to weep, even as the chief giant yelled back. “Get her.” No giants moved to obey that command as the earth began to shake and rumble. A genuine earthquake. A sudden great gust of wind blew Flern back to her friends where she fell on to a pile of soft snow and let out her tears. She utterly ignored the rumbling beneath her. No one else ignored it. They all screamed and shouted at each other to hold on. The giants all fell to the earth except one who managed to spread his legs, lean over and place his hands on the ground. He looked like a jackass ready to kick, but he did not utterly collapse. Then rocks began to shoot up like spikes reaching for the heavens. They came up between the two parties and became like a wall so neither side could get at the other. When the wall became complete, the shaking stopped, and Badl, Andrea and Wlkn had a terrible time rounding up the horses.

A woman appeared beside the wall, but on Flern’s side of the wall. She stood too tall, perhaps a foot taller than the tallest giant, and while she wore a long dress that looked and moved like silk in the wind, she appeared to have gray skin and white, marble eyes that were nevertheless alert and aware.

“Who are you?” Flern looked up and feared that this might be yet another one of Loki’s surrogates.

“I am Carpasis, the oread of the mountain, and this is my pass. Greovic and his friends shall not determine who may pass and who may not.”

Flern let out a laugh, a small slightly hysterical laugh, while the Storyteller echoed instructions into her mind. “My name is Flern. I seek the Golden Hind, and my favorite color is red.”

The oread stopped moving. “The red suits you,” she said. “But I know who you are and what you seek. The goddess came this way only a day ago. She has gone on to visit my sister, Sylvan in the place where the river runs out of the plateau and down the far side on its journey to the Great River. You must cross the plateau, not go around as you have been thinking, and you must look for my sister when you arrive, before you descend into the Great River Valley.”

Flern took that as permission given and she immediately whistled for Thred who came bounding up like a faithful puppy dog. The others tried to get up on their horses. Only Andrea had a bit of a problem calming her horse enough to take Boritz once again. “Thank you.” Flern looked at the oread who looked startled for just a second.

“You’re welcome,” Carpasis responded, and then added one thought. “If my earth shake sent some of my children of stone into the valley below, and if one boulder happened to crush a night creature, it cannot be helped. There are still four behind you, though I cannot imagine they will bother you tonight.

“Thank you again.” Flern repeated and she started forward before anything else changed. Laurel caught up to ride beside her.

“The Great Lady of Love is most thoughtful to provide a way for us.” Laurel said, having guessed who Carpasis meant with the word, goddess.

“Yes, and I thank her every day.” Flern admitted.

Laurel paused before she spoke again. “So, we are going across the plateau of the Were after all.”

“Yes. Faya help us.”

Laurel said no more, she just clicked her tongue.

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MONDAY

The quest needs to cross the plateau of the Were, that is, werewolves, not to mention lions, tigers, and bears… Until next time, Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Reading.

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Avalon 3.1: part 7 of 7, Carthair Revealed

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

“Can I stay and watch?” Vrya asked.

“Of course, mother,” Danna responded, and she clapped her hands. “Boys!” There were three who appeared. Two went straight to the body and hauled the ghost of Carthair out by his arms. He kicked and screamed and protested, but it did him no good. The third one went straight to Danna.

.“No, please,” Carthair protested. “It was Vorgen. He made me do it. I didn’t want to kill anybody. I was enchanted.”

“I was thinking the deepest pit for this one,” the man said to Danna.

Danna slapped the man hard on his cheek. “You were raised better than that. You do what is right, and nothing more and nothing less.”

“Ow.” The man put his hand to his cheek. “Mother!” he protested.

“I like that,” Vrya said. “Do the right thing.” Danna simply nodded.

“All right,” the man said. “But he did commit murder, and he was not enchanted so it won’t be easy on him.” He pointed to his compatriots and they all vanished along with Carthair’s ghost.

“Mother Vrya.” Danna turned to the goddess.

“I’ll meet your friends another time,” Vrya said and she vanished. So Danna also left that time, and Lucas instantly came back in her place, and it was just in time to be smothered by a young girl and her kisses. Lucas did not seem to mind, but when he could catch a breath, he yelled.inside Blacksmith

“Boston!”

Boston nudged Roland with her head. “Is it safe now to uncover my eyes?”

The young girl giggled at Boston’s response and then spoke to Lucas like they did not have any visitors. “I was with Mother Vrya. We were making wedding plans.”

“Really? Who is getting married?”

The girl’s mouth opened wide in pretend shock. She slapped Lucas softly in his arm before she took the arm and turned at last to the travelers. “You are,” she said to the side.

“Oh,” Lucas pretended surprise. “To you, I suppose.”

“No one else,” the girl said and proceeded to introduce herself. “I’m Oneesis. I felt you all day walking down my mountainside. Sometimes it tickles.”

“The oread of the mountain,” Lincoln said.

“Lovely to meet you,” Alexis shook the girl’s hand.

Katie had a different thought and turned it on Lucas. “Do you ever marry a normal woman, human I mean.”

“Yes, yes. Normally. All the time.” His voice trailed off as a normal, human woman came into the blacksmith shop with two small children. The woman fell on Carthair’s body and began to weep. The children did not know what to do, so they stared at the travelers with weepy eyes. Men were coming in to take away the body, so Lucas thought it was wise to move everyone back outside.

blacksmith shop“Maybe we should all go over to Bogart’s,” he said.

After that, it was mostly a liquid supper. The elf bread Alexis offered up did not help much. Elder Stow opted out of the refreshment. He found a place to set their camp and put up his tent to rest. For the others, there was plenty of laughter and good feelings until Decker could not hold back his question.

“So who did Carthair murder?”

The locals grew quiet so the travelers did the same. They looked at Lucas. Oneesis put an arms around him and gave him a squeeze of support. “My father,” Lucas answered. He took a deep breath before he told the story.

“I was just thirteen or so. My father was the worker in metals in our village on the other side of the mountains, you see, and when traders came over the mountains with bronze artifacts, we just had to find out how to make that metal.   It took some convincing, but my older brother got the metal works and Father and I went back over the mountains with the traders.

“We spent almost two years here learning the craft of bronze making. Then we were ready to take our knowledge back to our people. Carthair was a helper in the shop, and he volunteered to go with us. He said he knew the way over the mountains and he could help once we got settled in back home. Father was agreeable.

“The first leg of the journey was the worst. It took a week going around, not through the goblin lair, to get to the stunted forest beside the glacier. We felt invigorated, because no part of the long journey to come would take us to so high an elevation. It was there that father let me hunt for something edible, as long as I didn’t wander too far. I found the goblin lair and made a request for some deer meat. You can imagine.

“Carthair took advantage of my absence to stab my father in the shoulder. Father knocked Carthair into a hole he had trouble getting out of, but then Father saw two men rushing up. They had followed all the way from the village. Father was bleeding badly, but he had no choice but to grab his bow and run.

“Father climbed the ice, thinking the men would not follow him there. He had a good head start and got way up on the glacier. The thing is, ice flows develop cracks as they move, especially when they are generally melting back, and it is. The last vestige of the last ice age. It may be gone in several thousand years. But anyway, he was losing blood and strength and knew they would catch him in time. He turned and shot Carthair in the belly. The men fired back, but it was Carthair’s arrow that pierced my father’s heart.

“Now Carthair was the one lagging behind and losing blood and strength. When he stepped over a crack in the ice and broke through, he plummeted into the ravine and got stuck down some twenty feet. He broke his leg. The other two men had no way to get him up, and anyway, already counted him dead, so they moved on.

“I returned to the camp. I saw the blood and pieced it together in my mind. I hid when the two men came though. They called Carthair no great loss, and said as a young boy I wouldn’t last three days in the wilderness this high up. I am ashamed to say it, but I let the goblins have the men. It was Aphrodite, of all people who found me, freezing, and took me to my father’s ghost. Then Hades showed up, but that is a very long story.”celtic town

The howl of a wolf sounded in the distance and echoed down the mountainside. The locals thought nothing of it since wolves were common in the alps. The travelers recognized the slightly human nuance in that sound, and Roland stepped out to confirm the full moon. They were about to discuss what measures to take when Elder Stow returned to the party.

“I set a screen around the village. The people will not be able to go out tonight, but the wolf should not be able to get in either.” He took a few discs out of a pocket in his belt. “Are there any unaccounted for villagers in the wilderness tonight?”

“By the way, Lucas,” Gunther looked over at the young man. “You did shut down the forge for the night, didn’t you?”

Lucas spilled his drink and jumped to his feet. “Damn!” He ran out. There was no telling what those dwarfs might be doing left to their own devices.