by Bill Albert
Luvin used his youth and size to quietly move around a very large man and slip under a fruit stand next to the show. He grabbed a few apples as he passed and went into the shadows of the alley behind the trade post next door.
Gallif took a few steps back until she was standing directly in front of a group of people who were all almost a head smaller than she was. She apologized to them and crouched down to get out of their way. She took advantage of their number to get lost in the maze and finally stood up behind them. The man who had been following them realized that they were gone and scanned the crowd. The crowd applauded loudly as the puppet show came to an end and started to move forward to tip the puppet master. Gallif quickly moved around the fruit stand and joined Luvin just as he was finishing his apple.
She grabbed him by the collar, and they ran along the ally for several buildings and came to a stop behind a small shed. They waited silently for several minutes. Carefully they looked into the still crowded streets and when they were sure they had lost their pursuer they headed out.
Once they got back to the temporary horse corral, they waited a few minutes before Snow, completely saddled, was brought to them. As Gallif took the reins the dwarven handler smiled and held out a hand for a tip. Luvin smiled back and quickly placed an apple into the dwarf’s hand. With a cynical cough the dwarf moved off.
“Well done,” Gallif giggled. “How many of those did you steal?”
“Just one more,” Luvin said and held out the apple to Snow. She sniffed at it for a moment and then engulfed the entire apple into her mouth and started chewing.
Gallif climbed into the saddle and smiled as she offered a hand to Luvin. He took it and climbed onto the horse.
“It’s late afternoon,” Luvin pointed out as they trotted to the exit. “Will we get back before dark?”
“Yeah, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
As they got to the exit one of the dwarves in charge flagged her down. He had a small piece of paper in his hand. Most of the citizens of Starpoint had learned the common language in addition to their natural tongues. Unfortunately, there were those that had learned just enough to get by. Sometimes they were difficult to completely understand.
“I’s supposded to give this do you,” the dwarf said with some difficulty. “A masaage was dropped off for you a fu hors ago,” he said. Instead of holding up the message he offered an empty hand.
Gallif exchanged a coin for the message.
“No mors apples, eh?” the dwarf sniggered.
Gallif opened up the paper and read the short message of ‘I must see you.’ in it. She turned it over for more information but there was none. There was also no signature or any identifying marks.
“Who brought this?” Gallif asked the dwarf.
“Cat say. Dark haired human wid blue sirt,” he waved them off.
“Is that the best you can tell me?” she asked, her curiosity aroused.
“Dunno. Yous all loog the shame to me.”
FIVE:
HARD RIDE HOME
After riding at a steady pace for over an hour Gallif brought them to a stop by a small cove of trees just off the main road. She looped Snow’s reins around one of the branches and leaned against a trunk for a while to rest before the last, and hardest, leg of the ride back to the school. Despite it being late in the afternoon there was very little traffic on the road as most of the people who attended Festival Day stayed overnight to enjoy the evening dinners and celebrations.
“I was thinking about that man,” she said as she chewed on a small twig. “I wonder what he wanted.”
“You aren’t thinking of going back for him are you?” Luvin asked as he sat on one of the large roots of the tree. He had been thinking about the man as well, but for very different reasons.
“No,” she said. “Just curiosity.”
Luvin sighed in relief and said, “It probably wasn’t anything big. Better off to just forget about him.”
Gallif let out a small chuckle and smiled. Her smile faded quickly when they felt a very slight rumbling in the ground beneath their feet. They both jumped up and looked around the area.
“It’s not a quake,” Gallif said confused and looked as Snow who didn’t seem unusually disturbed. “The animals are still around. They haven’t fled. This is something different.”
Slowly but steadily the rumbling increased. They were considering mounting Snow and making a run for it when there was a shout from up the road in the direction they had come from.
With some relief both Gallif and Luvin relaxed as they saw the first set of horses come over the hill. Each was ridden by a hobgoblin who wore the official coat of the Giant Lords and each horse was harnessed into a yoke. In total there were ten horses with riders pulling the massive carriage behind them; the required amount it took to move one of the Giant Lords with an entourage. The carriage was nearly fifteen feet in length and almost as high as a house. There were three wheels and two windows on each side and with all of the curtains drawn over the windows. The door to the carriage was on the far side and had a third window which was also closed. The carriage itself was mounted by a metal rail where another four hobgoblins sat inside on guard.
When the carriage and team was nearest the ground shook steadily and as it passed out of sight over a hill the trembling faded away.
They both admitted that they were relieved and climbed on to Snow to continue in. At a slow trot they followed the path the carriage had taken until they came to the shortcut back to the school. Gallif was about to turn off when Luvin tapped her on the shoulder and asked her to stop.
“There,” Luvin called excitedly.
He pointed to small outcropping of rock about seven hundred feet up the mountain face. Gallif held Snow steady and focused her eyes on the area in question. She glanced briefly at the sky to see where the clouds were and then back to the mountain. Something long and dark flashed briefly out from the edge and then was gone.
“It’s a bird, I think,” Gallif said.
“You couldn’t see it that high up,” Luvin pointed.
“Well, it looked like a wing and the giant eagles from the Rainbow Mountains get that big. They’d be visible.”
Luvin had to admit that was a believable explanation. It wasn’t impossible that one of the giant eagles could have flown here.
“I’ve watched the mountain a lot and have never seen any bird land there,” Luvin said. “Nothing grows there so there’s no food. I just don’t think it’s a bird. Mystery Day.”
“Fair enough,” Gallif said. “Bring it up when you get into history class at school tomorrow. Ready to head home?”
Luvin’s shoulders dropped as he thought of what would happen in the next few days and leaned forward to hold on to Gallif. His arms were around her waist and his head on her back. “Yes. Let’s go home.”
With one last glance up at the mountain Gallif swung Snow off the main path into the short cut. She went a few hundred yards before she started to pick up speed. Just as they reached full gallop a horrible screech broke the air and she brought Snow to a stop so fast they were nearly thrown from their mount.
“That’s a giant cry!” Luvin gasped.
“Where? Where from?” Gallif demanded as she called on all of her own abilities for information.
“There!” Luvin shouted and pointed to the northwest of them.
“It has to be the one we saw!” Gallif claimed and shouted for Luvin to hold tight. She steered Snow in the direction the giant would be by now and tore through the forest at a full gallop.
The forest slid past them in a blur as they rode hard. There was a low hanging branch from a tree that they ducked at the last second and missed. A low branch caught Gallif’s arm and Luvin tore it away. Green and brown flashes of trees passed too fast for them to see any detail. Gallif and Luvin leaned forward as Snow leapt over a small creek. Snow’s hooves caught the mud on the other side, but she held her balance. A small meadow gave them a brief break, but a thick
patch of evergreens lay ahead of them.
There was another cry in the air and Gallif pressed hard for more speed. Snow met the request with every ounce of strength she had.
The evergreens they entered were just far enough apart for them to zigzag through but not without danger. They led to the left to circle an ancient tree then forward through some saplings and straight through a few dead trees. Gallif misjudged the distance and, with a sting, a branch caught her on the right side of her face just below her eye.
With a sudden lurch they erupted from the forest onto the road and swung to the left. Even with all the horses pulling the giant carriage it could not have gone much further.
They came around an outcrop of rock from Starpoint Mountain and barely a mile ahead on the straight stretch between two small cropping of trees there was a very nasty battle in progress. Gallif guessed that they had been ambushed between the tree lines. The giant coach lay on its side with two cracked wheels, some of the horses were down and the hobgoblin defenders were already in combat.
Gallif pressed Snow for more speed and her companion met the urge. Luvin reached into his backpack for his weapon of choice.
As they got closer they were able to identify the attackers. Well trained orcs were armed with swords and spears. Their gray skinned bodies were muscular and bestial in looks and they each wore metal armor. It was hard to see just how many there were from this distance but there had been enough to bring the mighty caravan to a stop. The bodies of hobgoblins killed in the first strike were on the road and the Third Minister was using his mace for defense. At nearly ten feet in length the mace gave a killing blow to any target it hit, but the orcs were more maneuverable and could escape its path.
“Are you ready?” Gallif called back.
“Ready,” Luvin replied as he swung his hammer out.
Gallif guided Snow to one side. The element of surprise would enable them to do some damage before the orcs were aware that they had arrived. An orc with a large spear stretched back for a throw. At full gallop Snow passed just a few feet beside it, enabling Gallif to nudge the spear and throw it off balance. Luvin brought the hammer in hard and despite the metal helmet the orc wore it dropped lifeless to the ground.
A second orc was ahead of them in single combat with a hobgoblin. Luvin’s hammer dropped it and a third was quickly taken down the same way. By now they had completely crossed the battlefield and Gallif slowed to turn around.
“Off,” she cried to Luvin and as they swung he leaped from the horse. With only a second’s pause to regain balance he started running to the nearest orc.
Gallif turned Snow and headed back. The Minister was using the coach to defend his back when she saw two orcs climbing up the overturned cab. She swung towards the back side of the coach and picked up speed. When she was even with it she reached out and grabbed the rail while releasing her legs from Snow. She swung with the momentum and kicked one of the orcs hard in the side. It dropped to the ground gasping for breath with several broken bones as she climbed on to the top side of the wreck.
Another orc was already on top of the cab and was carefully walking along the door frame to avoid falling in. Gallif pulled her short sword and swung it down hard against the wood. The frame splintered and under too much weight it fell into the cabin taking the orc with it.
Looking down she saw the Minister was alone fighting off five of the orcs. She saw the bodies of the hobgoblins that had died to defend him at his feet. She glanced and saw that Luvin had been holding his own against an orc and was being joined by one of the hobgoblin defenders. There was nothing left to do for her but to jump.
She landed square on her feet next to the Minister. The giant had been ready to swing his mighty mace and paused briefly when she appeared. They made eye contact long enough for her to know that he recognized her from Atrexia and knew she was not a threat to him.
A spear passed near her knees and into the carriage. Gallif turned to face the attacking orc and swept hard with the sword. The orc sidestepped quickly enough to stay out of reach of the smaller weapon and she easily missed.
The Minister took advantage of the attention being shifted to his new ally and drove the mace at the nearest attacker. The orc was caught in the center of its massive chest and the force lifted it off the ground and threw it into the ditch.
The orc Gallif was fighting moved in thrusting abruptly at her with a short spear. She took a few steps back and then swiftly brought her sword down on the shaft of the weapon. It shattered to pieces. The orc took an angry swing at her with its fists. She ducked and reversed the direction of the sword to impale the orc.
She heard a cry from the Minster and glanced over to see that he had been cut badly in the left leg by a long sword. The giant stumbled and she downed the attacker before it could draw back for another strike.
She looked over and saw that Luvin and the remaining hobgoblins had managed to split the orc forces in half. The numbers were even.
One of the two remaining orcs attacked Gallif with its own hammer. The face came close enough that had it been the size of Luvin’s hammer it would have struck her on the jaw and as it swept past she felt the movement of air. She stabbed in with her own sword and caught the side. There was a clank against metal, but the orc was barely injured.
The Minister swung his mace, but the defensive move was short as the orc stepped aside. The impact of the mace striking the ground would have caused any foe to shudder. The orc kept an eye on the mace but not on the surrounding area and it tripped over the body of a hobgoblin and fell into the blood-stained mud. The next strike of the mace connected with its target.
Over the shoulder of the orc she was fighting Gallif saw that the defenders had downed almost all of the orcs. Her orc came at her with its hammer. She stepped forward, countering its movement and for a brief moment they came face to face. It barked and growled at her as they struggled then tried to pull back. As it did its elbow caught Gallif in the cheek and she shuddered from the pain. She ducked briefly as the hammer flashed by and again thrust hard upward into the orc’s chest. It died before it hit the ground.
She saw that the giant had defeated his opponent and for now they were clear. They heard a call from the other battle and looked to see only one orc left to the defenders.
Before she could plan her next move she heard another cry from the Minister. She turned to see a spear had struck the Minister directly in the stomach. The giant stumbled back against the coach and dropped to ground. He was still alive, but badly injured. Gallif followed the spear’s path and saw an orc standing several yards out near one of the trees. It had a spear in its hand and with no projectile weapon of her own she knew she could not stop it from this distance. She took a few steps to the side and placed herself in front of the giant.
The orc reared back the sword and growled as it targeted the bright red headed female human that was in its way. Just as it was about to launch the weapon a blast of hot breath at its side caught its attention and a blinding white fury completely covered its view as Snow reared up on her hind legs. The orc dropped the spear in shock and before it could react her hooves came down and knocked him to the ground. It was trying to rise when three defender hobgoblins arrived and pushed it face down on the ground. They wrestled with it briefly and used what they could to subdue it but keep it alive.
Gallif turned and knelt next to the Minister. She put a hand near his face to check for breath and was relieved to feel the rough and labored passage of air. The Minister opened his eyes and looked at her deeply. He nodded but didn’t try to speak.
Soon they were joined by the hobgoblins that had ridden with the Minister. One of them identified itself as the Captain of the team. It looked at the giant’s wounds and ordered one of the others to climb inside the carriage and get the healing potions.
“It won’t be enough to heal him completely,” the Captain said, “but it’ll keep him steady until help arrives.”
The Captain took another of
his soldiers and headed off to one of the horses that were still standing near the broken carriage. He gave him instructions to hurry back to Atrexia and get help.
Luvin came forward and took hold of Gallif’s arm. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said as she looked up at him. Despite her claims the large dark bruise was quickly swelling on her cheek and the blood from the cut below her eye told a different story.
“Let me help you,” Luvin pleaded with her.
“Just give me a moment,” she said and brushed him away.
Luvin stepped back and tried to quiet the nearby hobgoblins.
Though people like Gallif did not generally cast magic, they did have certain abilities. It took great training and concentration, but with care they could harness the healing power of nature. She let her mind clear for a moment and then pictured herself in an utterly peaceful forest. She heard the birds in the trees and felt the wind blow on her face. Without thinking she gently laid a hand on one of the giant’s bruises. After a pause the scarred flesh was replaced by healed skin. In her mind’s eye Gallif held out a finger and a gentle butterfly landed in her palm. Without looking her hand slid gingerly across another scar and it too was healed. In her own forest Gallif pulled a flower off its stem and held the cup to her nose. In both worlds she inhaled deeply and held the air in her lungs. She laid both hands on the giant’s chest and rough breathing was replaced by the slow and steady rhythm of sleep.
Gallif opened her eyes and without a word stood and walked away.
The Captain had watched the rider he’d dispatched gallop out of sight and then came back to the coach. They had gently lowered a casket to the ground, and he unlocked it with his key. Some of the bottles were broken and only six remained. He picked one up and ordered two of his soldiers to stay with the Minister and the rest to keep a close eye on the area for any more attackers.
The Captain came over to Gallif and handed her the bottle.
