by Bill Albert
She opened her eyes and sat up straight. Though her head was clear she still had trouble remembering what had happened downstairs the night before. She could see Loreba and the drink the young man had sent over. She was sure that someone had eventually sat down at the table with her and for a few minutes wondered if it was the young man. No, she decided, it wasn’t him. She thought carefully and remembered a man who was talking to her about something. Giants? Yes, giants going against the Giant Lords!
She quickly stood and looked out the window again. She was relieved that only a few minutes had passed since she had fallen to the floor and it was still very early in the day. She could see by the dress of the people on the street outside that it was considerably colder, so she added a fur lining to her boots and a short fur cloak to keep her shoulders and neck warm. There was only so much she could add before it hampered her movements and fighting abilities, but it was enough to protect her on the cool morning. She grabbed an extra blanket for Snow and headed out.
***
As she reached the eastern edge of Primor it was now cold enough to see her breath. She decided to make sure she got warmer clothes if they didn’t finish up their business here in the next few days.
She was surprised at just how steep the ground on the eastern side of Primor really was. Coming in on the main road of Primor she found herself in the middle of the hillside with temples terraced above and below her. She figured that no religion would like to be considered in the shadow of any other be it emotionally, mentally or physically. She looked at the temples further down the mountain side from her vantage point, but it was difficult to tell which one was which. She looked up and saw the sun glistening off the shiny temples that towered above her position. Only a few terraces up from where she stood, she saw a dark stoned building nestled between two giant statues. Each statue was of an open hand with the palms raised to the sky. In each palm were carved various plants and animals indicating the close relationship between nature and civilization. She knew that it was the Temple of Tebiet.
Outside the temple gates were several waist high wooden poles with small hands carved on each. Two other horses stood with their reins wrapped around the hands so Gallif did the same with Snow. She wrapped the cloak around herself before going in.
She entered a small chamber ten feet in length. There were three windows on each side with a thin white cloth over the glass to give a friendly, yet subdued, feeling to the area. At the far end was an archway with dark blue curtains hung on the opposite side. Midway down the chamber were two dwarves dressed in simple white robes. They opened their hands in friendship and approached Gallif slowly. In response she knelt down on one knee and also opened her hands to them.
“Welcome, follower of Tebiet,” they said in unison.
“I am the daughter of followers,” she said looking at them. “My belief in them is as strong as their belief in Tebiet.”
“Welcome, daughter,” one of the dwarves said and warmly grabbed her hands. “Come with us,” he said, and he guided her down the chamber. The curtains opened and as she passed through them Gallif noticed there were no wires, strings or hands in sight that could have guided them, yet she felt no fear as the curtains fell closed behind her.
This room was ten times as big as the first. It was circular in nature with two other curtains leading off to more areas evenly spaced along the walls. There were three rows of wooden benches set in a curve. Though there were no obvious candles burning the light in the room had an orange tint and occasionally flickered. In the center of the room was an amazingly detailed and colorful sculpture of the dwarven god, Tebiet, facing her and wearing a tri-color robe. The robe was decorated with images of animals and plants and was sometimes difficult to tell where the change from dwarf to animal was. It was such a striking sculpture that she spent several minutes staring at it before she realized that the dwarves were gone.
She heard a movement off to one side and slowly focused on who else was in the room. Two of the other occupants wore the same simple white robes that the hobgoblins had and were kneeling in prayer. They had their hoods up and she could not see their faces. There were two elderly dwarven women dressed in rags that were praying together and sharing a vial of water. The only other person was a middle-aged human male wearing the uniform of the militia. She suddenly became aware that, though he was militia, she was the only one with weapons. She quickly took off her cloak and wrapped it around the sheathed flame sword and laid it on the floor as she sat down at one of the benches.
She stared up at the face of the statue and let her thoughts linger on the whispered memories of her parents. She was very proud of the fact that she could still remember everything about them. She knew exactly how they walked, talked, sounded and even smelled. Mom always smelled like vanilla and Dad always reminded her of apple trees. His job taking care of the orchards had benefits that she had enjoyed.
She looked up as a woman came into the room and started working her way from person to person. She wore the same white robe as the others, but the hood was down, and she smiled politely as she walked. She had short dark hair and a very plain face.
“Hello,” the woman whispered as she finally got to Gallif. “My name is Kavelle and I am one of the humble servants here at the temple. May I offer you some assistance?”
“My name is Gallif,” she said. “I’m looking for something.”
“Advice? Friendship? Guidance?”
“A tomb,” Gallif said quietly. “I’m looking for Tome’s Tomb.”
“Ahh, I understand,” Kavelle said and if she had been surprised by the news, she did not show it. “Follow me,” she said and offered her hand to Gallif as she stood.
Gallif grabbed her coat and weapon, took Kavelle’s hand, and followed her to one of the curtained exits on the far side of the room. As before the curtain silently, without any obvious means, opened up for them to pass through. Once inside the next room the curtain closed behind them.
This room was an office and featured a large wooden desk along one wall. The opposite wall was made of shelves with hundreds of books on each shelf. The books were virtually identical in size and shape but each one had a date carefully written in gold colored ink on its spine. On the far wall were two sets of curtains leading out.
“Did you know Tome?” Kavelle asked.
“Briefly,” Gallif said. “We met in Atrexia.”
Kavelle nodded and ran her finger along one of the shelves until she found the book she wanted. She pulled it from the row, opened it and flipped through it briefly, then turned to show Gallif the pages.
“Is this him?”
Gallif looked at the charcoal drawing of a man. The hair was much longer, and this person had a mustache, but it was definitely the man she had met, and she nodded to Kavelle. The dark-haired woman laid the book open on the desk.
“Come with me,” Kavelle said and slowly marched to one of the sets of curtains. She stopped suddenly when she got to the exit and looked up and down the curtain. Unlike the others it hadn’t parted for them to pass through. She then looked Gallif up and down, her face in a puzzled expression, then back at the curtain. It remained closed. “I don’t understand.”
“Could it be my weapon?”
“No, since you are here for Tome it should accept you with one,” Kavelle said and pulled a four-foot-long mace from under her robe. It was very well crafted with a hard metal cap at one end. It was a formidable weapon and Gallif was impressed that the woman had been carrying it without being noticed.
Kavelle gestured for Gallif to take a few steps back and wait. Then she turned towards the exit and the curtain parted and allowed her through. Gallif took a step forward and the curtain closed to prevent her from going inside.
Confused at being rejected Gallif paced patiently around the room. After a few steps she attached the sword to her belt and put the fur coat on. She stared at the closed curtain a while then went to the desk where the book Kavelle had shown her still laid op
en.
She looked at the drawing of Tome and lightly traced his face with her fingers. He was a good fighter and she was willing to go in to combat with him again. She trusted him and if he could lead them to the source of the giant attacks, she would follow him. He was handsome and she had no qualms with offering herself to him. There were very few she had been willing to say the same of.
She turned as she heard footsteps approaching and the curtains slid open of their own accord. Kavelle stepped into the room with Tome directly behind her. His clothes were wrinkled and worn, and it was obvious he had been riding hard to get there. He had a leather satchel slung over his shoulder. Though his face was grim when he entered, as soon as they made eye contact, he broke into a weary smile.
“Good to see you, again,” he said.
“It’s been quite a while,” she smiled and stepped close to him.
“I was praying that you would make it okay. Was it a safe trip?”
“Mostly,” she said calmly. “What have you found out?”
“It’s not good,” he said solemnly. Gallif glanced briefly at Kavelle and then looked back at him with concern on her face. “It’s okay,” Tome said. “She’s a member of the same group that I belong to. She knows what’s been going on.”
“More than I?” she asked with a tinge of jealousy.
“Just what I was told when he arrived here yesterday,” Kavelle said.
“There have been more attacks on giants,” Tome told Gallif suddenly. “Five deaths in total including a family that was ambushed as they were traveling through the Rainbow Mountains.”
“A family,” Gallif gasped. “Who were they? Were they part of the royal family?”
“No,” he said. “That’s the odd thing that no one understands. They weren’t officials of any kind. Just a family out for a day’s ride.”
“Could they have stumbled across something?”
“That was checked,” Kavelle jumped in. “The last rider Tome spoke with said that nothing unusual had been discovered. It looks like they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. We’ve had people coming to us here,” Kavelle said. “There has been talk of giants coming through at night.”
“I hadn’t heard anything about that from the people I have talked to.” Gallif reported.
“You’ve only been here two days but, some of us have been here for months. We probably have better contacts,” Kavelle said.
“But,” Gallif continued, “I did come across two giants setting up camp along the Black Road.” Kavelle failed to hide her surprise at the news. Gallif smiled to herself feeling she had put the other woman in her place. She stopped herself from saying anything else and looked at Tome. “Were any tracks of the aquilus found?”
“No,” he shook his head. “These hits were done by orcs. There was one thing that was uncovered, however,” he said. He reached into the satchel and pulled out a clay jar.
“It’s just like the jar we found,” Gallif pointed out and Tome nodded that it was.
“That’s not much help. You can find them anywhere,” Kavelle said with a sly grin. “They are here by the hundreds.”
“But the meat and the spices used can tell you a lot,” she said as she brushed her hair back. With a look from Kavelle she took the jar from Tome and popped it open. Inside was the same type of dried meat that the other jar had been holding. She quickly pulled a strip from the jar and munched on it. She chewed it thoroughly and sucked on it for a while before swallowing. “It’s the same style of cooked rabbit.
“How can that help?”
“I checked around,” Gallif said with a glance at Kavelle. “According to an innkeeper I spoke with there are only a few people in the area that can cook like this. I spoke with one of them, who is a giant, and he said Bitran was the one who used those particular spices.”
“Did you go talk to him?”
“No, I was told he is out hunting in the ice fields.”
“There could still be some information at his estate,” Kavelle said with a steely look at Gallif. “I think we should go there first.”
“I was planning on that,” Gallif said and rolled her eyes. “He also pointed out something else,” Gallif continued. “Those jars would be too small for giants to use. They couldn’t get their hands on them to open so there had to be someone else.”
“So, this could be a connection between events,” Tome said. “You’re right,” he said and looked at Kavelle. “We should go to his place.”
Kavelle smiled and Gallif was frustrated being treated like she had not been quick enough to think of that.
“What did you find out about the other things we picked up in the lair? That small sculpture or idol or whatever it was?”
“Nothing,” Tome said. He reached into the satchel and pulled the small carving out to show it to Kavelle. After she looked at it, he set it on its end on one of the shelves. “Nobody can make anything out of it. They think it may be just a simple carving or just a weight. No one thinks it has any significance.”
“So, let’s go to Bitran’s estate,” Kavelle said. “We should get moving,” she said looking at Tome.
Gallif looked at the other woman and wondered just who she had meant by “we” but before she could do anything Tome said he agreed, and they should leave as soon as possible. Kavelle pointed out that Bitran’s estate was less than an hour’s walk from them and Tome told Gallif there was a secure stable behind the temple where she could leave Snow. He said he would wait there, and the curtains opened up to allow him passage through when he left.
Kavelle and Gallif headed outside and when they were in the main area with the statue Gallif stopped briefly and looked around as Kavelle walked on. Only one of the elderly dwarven women was still left in the room and she was bent over in deep prayer. Gallif looked at her up closely and saw just how thin the rags the woman was wearing really were. It would be difficult for her to survive the winter in those clothes and Gallif did not know if there were any services in the region that would help her. She took a step closer and heard a mumbling from the woman as she said her prayers. Gallif reached under her skirt and pulled out her bag of coins and jewels. So as not to disturb or embarrass the old woman she quietly knelt over and dropped a giant coin into the woman’s pocket before she left.
SEVENTEEN:
END OF THE LANE
When she got to the stable where Kavelle and Tome were waiting she was caught off guard by their appearances. Kavelle had removed her robe and was now dressed in leather armor that had a distinct red tint. She had several pouches and talons attached to her belt and it was clear she was quite adept at casting. She also wore a mace at her side showing there was much more to her than she had shown before. Tome was also dressed in red tinted leather armor with a long sword sheathed on one side and a short sword sheathed on the other. It was an odd combination for a warrior, but she had no doubt he was adept at both. Gallif was very aware of her black armor and the way Kavelle’s eyes kept drifting to it. The sun had warmed things up a bit but there was a cool breeze and Gallif decided to keep her fur cloak on for a while.
“I told our greeters that I would be gone for several hours,” Kavelle was saying. “They said that they had also heard that Bitran had gone hunting into the ice fields.”
“Okay,” Tome said as he studied the way the two women were eyeing each other.
“I know the way,” Kavelle said and looked directly at Gallif. “Follow me.”
Before she could say anything Kavelle left the stable and started walking at a steady pace northward. Gallif and Tome quickly caught up with her. Gallif was barely a step behind Kavelle but her eyes kept glaring at the back of the other woman’s neck.
“I have a question, Gallif,” Tome said after several very quiet moments. “When I asked about the trip here you said it was mostly safe. What did you mean?”
“I rode with a dwarven couple for a while. Partially to protect them and partially to heal myself.”
“You were h
urt?” Tome asked with genuine concern.
“Did the giants you spotted find you?” Kavelle asked with little concern in her voice.
“No, getting away from the giants was easy.”
“Your horse tripped up on the Black Road then,” Kavelle speculated.
“Snow is too smart to do something as stupid as that,” Gallif said with great offence. “She’s better at handling her way through the forest than most people,” she sneered at Kavelle.
“Are you okay now?’ Tome asked. He had spotted the friction there was between his two companions and hoped that talking about the situation would get their attention on more important matters.
“I was held for a while as a carriage passed by,” Gallif finally said. “There were also skeletal warriors behind it that I had to combat.”
Tome came to a stop and grabbed her hand. “Are you okay now?” he asked again. Kavelle had also stopped and turned to see her.
“Yes, but I found there were others who were not as successful,” she said flatly. The breeze was strong enough to blow strands of her red hair into her face and Tome brushed them back. “I’ll tell you more as we go,” Gallif said after a deep breath and started walking again.
Gallif walked between them and spoke of all that had happened in the forest. She told them about the time she had spent at the inn and what Maura had told her about the frozen man.
By the time she was finished they had left the terraces of religious temples and were walking along a hard road. On each side of the road were various large gated estates. They were in a valley between two mountains now and there was no breeze to keep things cool. The temperature was noticeably warmer so Gallif removed the cloak and quickly folded it away into her backpack. She made sure she positioned herself so they could not get a look at the inside.
