by Bill Albert
As she looked at the mountain in the distance, she remembered how she and her brother had once played games imagining that they would climb the mountain and find an incredibly large pot of gold at the top. They imagined they would take handfuls of it and throw it over the edge and the gold riches would rain on everyone in the land. Even the Giant Lords would honor them and praise them for their generosity. They would be heroes.
Smiling, Gallif moved to the tree stump and sat on the ground with her back against the dead wood.
After her brother had died her dreams and thoughts about the mountain had changed. Not long after he was lost she had pretended that she alone would crown the mountain and find him there waiting for her. Reunited, they would leave the mountain together and spend the rest of their lives living even more fantastic adventures. But those thoughts lessened from the harsh life she led at a young age.
With a blank face and tears in her eyes Gallif laid back further. The grass beneath her was soft and warm and incredibly comfortable after the long ride.
She hadn’t really thought about the mountain or what was at the top for many years. As a young woman its fascination was lost, and it became just a part of the landscape that had to be dealt with. Even when things settled down to a steady lifestyle at the school, she rarely thought about the mountain outside of her history or mythology classes. The magic of the mountain, to her, was no more than a thousand-year-old legend. It was just something that was always there and always would be, but she couldn’t help but feel guilty. As if she had ignored an old friend by failing to properly respect it.
Before the sun set, she was sound asleep. Snow also found some soft grass to enjoy the rest.
***
She opened her eyes several hours later with the feeling that something was terribly wrong. She was lying on her left side now facing the road. She could smell the wet grass beneath her and feel it against her face. There was wind, she could hear it and feel it across her bare left arm, but the trees themselves were not moving under the force. She could not move either. She tried to prop herself up, but the muscles in her arms and legs wouldn’t respond. She tried to open her mouth to call for Snow, but even her jaw would not move.
She forced herself to remain calm and rapidly tried to think things through. She looked in as many directions as she could but could see nothing unusual. She listened to what the night forest was telling her but could make out no details or signs. Then she closed her eyes and listened again. This time she heard a rumbling from a distance. It was getting louder and she knew that it meant something was approaching on the road she had traveled on. She opened her eyes and was relieved that she could at least see part of the road from where she lay as her head was tilted at just the right angle. She closed her eyes and listened again.
This time she could hear it more clearly and could tell that it was a horse drawn carriage approaching from the same direction she had come. She counted the beats of the hooves on the hard ground and could tell it was only a four-horse team so she ruled out a giant approaching.
She looked at the road and soon she could see the light starting to increase as the carriage got closer. She was worried because it wasn’t the orange light that natural fire created, but rather a sharp white light that hinted of casting.
After a few more seconds she stared in shock as the entire horse and carriage team passed by. The horses were as big as Snow, but there was a sickly gray color to them, and their skin was thin and dry. The carriage was also gray with only a windowed door on the side, but it was impossible to see though due to the speed as it passed. She saw that the driver holding the whip and the reins of the team was also gray and pale with incredibly thin arms and a face that gave it a skeletal look. Behind the driver and on top of the carriage another skeletal figure sat holding a bow and arrow in its arms to prevent any followers from coming to close.
Before she could pick out any more details the entire group moved out of sight and within a minute the sound and trembling that accompanied it had vanished. Another minute later Gallif was alerted by the feel of the blowing grass as it brushed her arm and within a second, she was on her feet bolting to the road. She looked in the direction it had gone for any unnatural traces but found none. As she watched she heard heavy steps approaching her and a snort as Snow came beside her. She took the reins and mounted immediately, then urged Snow to a full gallop after a few steps.
With the wind blowing through her hair Gallif kept moving up the road. For a brief moment she could see the mysterious carriage pass over another hill just on the edge of her sight. She knew she was losing ground and pushed Snow as hard and as fast as she could to catch up, but by the time she made it to the next peak it was completely gone.
She paused to look for side roads the party could have used and that she had missed but found none. She drew her attention back to the road and started forward at a slow pace with all her senses alert and scanned the area. At barely a hundred feet from the peak a glimmer of something lying on the road caught her attention. She stopped Snow and dismounted.
An oblong object on the road in front of her glowed with a bright, blue-white light. She drew her flame sword as she approached and held it in front of her pointed at the object. She was a few steps away when she realized that what lay in the road was a human bone. It was a large, thick bone and she estimated it was about the length of the bone from her shoulder to her elbow. She knelt down to look closer and saw that one of the joints had been wrapped with thin leather straps to make it easier to grip. The other end had been carved open into a slot that could have held either the head of a hammer or the blade of an axe and she gasped at the horrible thought of using bones as weapons.
She rested on her knees and looked even closer. As she stared at the odd grain of the bone, she realized that it was caused by the rough surface of the road below. She could not only see the bone in close detail, but through the bone onto the road beneath it. As fear touched her, she quickly rose and took a few steps back.
Breathing heavily, she extended the tip of the flame sword to the bone. She got closer and waved the sword to see if the bone reacted to the cast flame. It remained unchanged so she moved even closer intending to rest the tip of the sword against the ghastly object. As slow as possible she tried to move the object, but just as the tip brushed where the surface would have been, the bone and the light vanished. There was nothing. All sign of what she had seen was gone. She laid her hand flat on the road and ran it through the loose layer of dirt leaving palm prints. Whatever had been there, if anything had really been there, was gone.
She glanced back at Snow who soon joined her and decided to keep the flame sword in her hand until she felt safe.
An hour later she was riding at a steady pace through a dark path of trees with the long sword still ready. The flames from the sword provided some light, but it was still difficult to see anything more than a dozen feet in front of her.
After another mile she finally came to a stop. The forest canopy ahead was dense and there was nothing but absolute darkness. She waved the sword in circles to illuminate as much area as possible.
“No,” she said as she turned back to Snow. “Let’s go back to that last turn and wait there until the sky lightens up. A few more hours of sleep wouldn’t hurt us either.” She took Snow’s reins and patted her on the nose. She tried to lead her away, but Snow snorted to get her attention and she turned back to face the black tunnel before them.
Three skeletons carrying bone axes and emitting the same white-blue glow that the carriage had were walking towards them.
“Go!” she ordered her companion without looking back.
Snow took a few steps backwards but refused to move further away than that.
As they approached, Gallif waved her flame sword several times to try and warn them off. They moved further apart from each other but kept closing in on her. They each swung their axes more to mimic and intimidate her than to do anything else.
She re
adied herself for battle. When they were but a few steps away she raised the flame sword and whipped it in a circle towards them. For the first time they faltered, and she knew she could damage them.
The skeleton directly in front of her pulled back the axe and hacked at her with more strength than she would have guessed. She parried with her sword and deflected its aim and sent the swing downward. With the same motion she brought the sword back up at the skeleton to her right. The move caught it by surprise, and it shook as the sword hit it hard in the pelvis. Before it could strike back she readied to attack it again but ducked when she felt the rush of a blade passing near her head. She took a step back and jabbed the hot blade at that attacker but missed it as well.
She leapt forward and passed between two of the skeletons who quickly turned to follow her while the third one was still behind them. She drew the sword back and drove it deep towards the closest skeleton. She hit dead center of its elbow and cut its arm in half. The limb dropped to the ground disappearing when it touched the dirt and the skeleton staggered off balance but regained its footing quickly. The arm with the weapon was still intact so she knew it was still a danger.
She told herself to keep moving and make them come after her and took a large leap sideways. The one-armed skeleton moved back and the other came rushing forward brandishing its axe at incredible speed. She saw the third one starting to circle around her and tried to counter its move. The brief pause made her defensive swing late and her sword bounced off the axe. It deflected the skeleton’s blade, but the tip cut her left leg above the knee and she grit her teeth in pain.
The third skeleton moved in with its axe ready, but she ducked and rolled away and was back on her feet. Limping from the pain she went on the offensive and chopped at the one-armed skeleton’s weapon arm. She missed the appendage but struck the bone handle of the weapon and heard it crack.
The first skeleton swung back, and she realized it was about to throw the axe. She tried to roll again but this time she landed on the cut in her leg and stumbled. She grunted as she rose and used every ounce of will power she could muster to push the pain away. The third skeleton came at her again and she targeted its chest. She managed to slip beneath its swing and shattered several of its ribs.
She rapidly drew her sword from its body and stepped back. With surprising speed, the one-armed skeleton was behind her and moving into strike. Her move also caught it off guard and though the blade missed her, the bone handle slammed her in the side. The contact was low and solid, and she knew that it had broken some of her ribs as well. She gripped the bone axe with her left hand and drove her right elbow back. The skeleton lost its grip on the weapon as it fell back. She tried to throw the axe away into the dark, but, before she could, it disappeared from her hand.
Gasping for breath and limping she tried to keep moving, but the pain was getting worse and it was getting harder for her to focus. As they advanced, she backed away a few more strides until she was only a yard away from Snow, knowing she would lose this battle unless something changed. She glanced at her companion and debated mounting her and fleeing when she saw her other sword in its sheath on the saddle. She grabbed it and stood with both weapons ready.
The weaponless skeleton broke away from the other and came running at her to knock her over. She waved the flame sword away at the last second and impaled the skeleton with her long sword. It was trapped and she made two swift sweeps with the flame sword through the skeleton’s body. It completely collapsed and the bones vanished when they hit the ground. The confidence of having defeated one of her attackers helped her ignore the pain and she went after the others.
She knew the trick wouldn’t work twice, so she changed her tactics. She moved directly between the skeletons and parried both their attacks. She feigned a step one way and they moved to counter her, but she instead stepped the other and came to the side of the first skeleton. It aimed high at her and she aimed low removing its leg below the knee. It tilted to one side and disappeared as it hit the ground.
Her last opponent took a few steps back but kept its weapon ready. She saw its head jerk in several direction and knew it was looking for a new approach. She glanced over her shoulder and saw that Snow was now directly behind her. When her eyes returned to the skeleton it pulled its weapon back to throw. She knew either her or Snow would be hit and with all her strength ran at the skeleton with her sword held high. As it started to throw, she drove the flame blade into the skeleton’s chest. She broke its backbone completely and the entire body shattered. Like the others the bones and bone fragments vanished as they hit the ground.
Exhausted and with the cut in her leg and the bruise on her side she stumbled but stayed up. Snow came to her and stood close. She put the sword in its sheath but kept the flame sword in her hand. She couldn’t mount completely so she held tight to the saddle as Snow carried her to some of the soft grass far enough away from the trees to be seen clear in the starlight.
Once there Gallif pulled a small leather purse from a saddle bag and dropped to the ground. She considered using her own healing abilities but could not concentrate long enough to make them work. She grunted again and took several deep breaths to try and calm herself. She pulled several bandages and rags from the purse and carefully cleaned and wrapped the cut on her leg. She thought of digging up the healing potion but decided to save it for wounds far worse than this. She laughed at the realization that this was most likely much better than what was to come. Whatever that was.
After the wound was cleaned and dressed, she lay on the ground and didn’t move for several hours. Snow stood guard nearby.
***
When she woke there was a horse and carriage sitting along the road. It was a plain brown coach with two horses to pull it and several heavy crates and bags tied onto the roof. There was an elderly dwarven couple standing and watching her sleep. Snow stood firmly between the couple and Gallif stamping her hooves on the ground.
“She won’t let uz trew,” the female dwarf said.
Gallif sat up and brushed her hair away. It was just after dawn and the sun was barely over the horizon. She remembered the battle from the night before and checked her injuries. The cut in the leg had stopped bleeding, but there was a sharp pain in her side when she moved.
“Cen we help you?” the male dwarf asked.
She nodded and said, “Please let them through.” Snow stepped aside but kept watching.
The couple came to her and the woman opened a pouch of water and offered it to her. Gallif took it and drank heartily. “Thank you.”
The couple introduced themselves. He was Arca, a jeweler, and she was Linea, a bread maker.
“We are headed vor Primor to get work,” Arca explained. “Most of ta south eastern mines have been pretty picked clean. There were rumorz of shome good in the Stack Black Mountains so we tought we’d try our luck there.”
“Where ver you headed?” Linea asked.
“Primor, for a start,” Gallif said. “I’ve never been this far north before and wanted to find out, er, try my luck as well.” She stumbled over her words as a throbbing pain in her side poked at her.
“What happened to you?” Linea asked as she gently laid a hand on Gallif’s side. “Did zour horse trow you?”
At that Snow snorted at them and shook her head wildly.
“No offends,” Linea said to Snow.
“Whys you not heals yerself?” Arca asked.
“How did you know?” Gallif asked with her head tilted.
“Ta way yous horse racted,” Arca said. “Only few would have like tat relationship. Our sons wan to be one but he take ther interests.”
“I was hoping if I slept a bit and let it start to heal I could push it a long when I woke up,” she admitted. “Unfortunately, this is beyond one day’s healing,” she said as she gingerly touched her side.
Arca said something to Linea in a dwarven tongue that Gallif partially understood. He was sending her to fetch something blue from th
e carriage and off she darted as fast as she could go. She quickly pulled something from inside and returned with a clay bottle. She removed the cork and handed it to Gallif.
Gallif sniffed the bottle and detected the slight herbal fragrance. She let some of the contents drip on to her fingers and she licked the light blue liquid. Then she tried to hand the bottle back and said, “This is too generous. I know these are not easy to come by.”
“Pleez take just a sip,” Linea said. “Tos get the healing oing.”
They both encouraged her to drink, so she took barely a mouthful and swallowed it at one shot. She felt some of the pain from the cut in her leg fade away and the sharpness in her side became a steady thud. She pulled the bandage off and saw that her skin was red and bruised, but the cut was gone.
“We going to Primor,” Arca said. “Mabe we cen take you there.”
Gallif considered her options and found she really had no other choice, so she accepted their offer. They helped her into their carriage and tied Snow’s reins to the back before they set out on their way.
FOURTEEN:
OFF THE MAIN ROAD
By the first afternoon Gallif was feeling much better. She had slept well and had used her own abilities to heal herself. There were still some dull pains in her side if she moved quickly but she knew they would be gone before she reached Primor in another four days. She knew she could leave the couple and pick up speed, but decided to stay and take care of them for a while longer. The forest along the southern border of the Stack Black Mountains was the thickest and roughest in the area. It had taken a work force of giants, dwarves, humans and hobgoblins years to cut a system of roads through the forest. The main road that they were traveling on had taken a year and a half itself to be completed. It was difficult to get through and she felt it was the least she could do to help the couple that had been so nice to her.
