by Bill Albert
Gallif, Jakobus and Blinks headed south with only a few yards separating them. Luvin rode alone behind them.
NINE: THE OUTPOST
The sun was well into its downward curve when they came around the southern tip of the Rainbow Mountains. They had encountered several caravans and passed through small towns along the way but had only stopped once for fresh water and food. Several times Gallif thought she was recognized but kept moving and hoped they had passed fast enough to leave doubt in the viewers. Even during their stop she had Jakobus and Blinks go inside and get supplies while she stayed near the barn. Gallif, Jakobus and Blinks had spoken occasionally, but Luvin had not said a word. The only times his eyes left Blinks was when he would glance at her.
The Rainbow Mountains were made up of several different ranges of mountains very close together. By chance or design each range was made up of soil that was naturally colored. The result was a larger range that, strung together, matched the colors of a rainbow. The eastern most range, where most of the cities were located, was red soil and tapered off very quickly. The second range was yellow and ran the furthest south. These were followed by green and blue ranges in the west, but very little activity ever took place there according to the Giant Lords.
At the south end of the yellow range the green and brown covering of grass, bushes, and trees became scarce and the yellow was most prevalent. This was also where the Dragon Burial Grounds were located.
Constructed from carved blue stones the walls that surrounded the Burial Grounds were visible from ten miles away. The single gate located near the eastern end was equal to the gates of the capital city in size, but not in glamour. It was a dull, gray metal gate decorated with only a single green and azure Giant Lord banner. They stopped a hundred feet from the gate and dismounted. At first there appeared to be no windows or guards but as they looked intently at the blue walls they could see the truth. Between the stones there were peep holes and arrow slots. There were also dark colored spikes located from top to bottom that would have made the walls impossible to climb. It was clear that visitors were not welcome.
Leaving her swords sheathed and holding her hands up and open Gallif approached the gate. Suddenly a heavily armed guard appeared directly in front of her. She managed to keep her surprise secret and stopped in her tracks. She did not move her hands or look away from the armored face of the guard.
“Name?” the guard asked. The guard was speaking the common language but there was a hint of accent in his voice that she did not recognize.
“Gallif, sent here by- “
“Stop,” the guard ordered. There was a brief pause and then he said “Proof.”
Unsure of what to do she held out the token to identify her official position. The guard’s head did not move to look at it closer, so she held the badge up above her head.
“Name?” the guard asked again.
Gallif was about to repeat her name but it occurred to her that were others standing behind her. “Jakobus,” she said.
“Name?” the guard asked again.
“Blinks,” she replied.
“No,” the guard said. “Not allowed.”
Blinks protested and started to approach, but she waved for him to stay in place.
“I was given authority to bring along anyone I needed,” she said loudly and clearly. “I need him,” she added forcefully.
There was a very long pause before the guard asked again, “Name?”
“Luvin.”
“Others?”
“No,” Gallif said confused.
“Follow,” the guard said and turned and walked towards the gate. Gallif waved the rest of them on and they all walked forward with their horses close behind. As the guard reached the gate there was a shimmer like a heat wave and a portion of the gate, large enough to bring the horses through disappeared. “Enter,” the guard said and stepped aside for them to pass.
Gallif took another quick look at the guard and then took a bold step forward. She walked through the opening and into a courtyard on the other side. She pulled on the reins and slowly Snow walked through as well. Jakobus followed with Harton who came through easily. It took Blinks several yanks, but finally Horse came through as well.
“Can we go out and come in again,” Blinks asked her.
“No,” Gallif said quickly and felt a touch of guilt. “Maybe later,” she added, and he smiled.
Luvin brought Sparks through without a problem.
The courtyard and the buildings surrounding it were surprisingly nice and colorful. There were two large red buildings that appeared to be dorms and work buildings and a third that was a large green barn. There was a small brook that brought fresh water fell from high in the mountainside and flowed beyond the barn. On the far side of the yard there was another blue stone wall, this one just as tall as she was, and beyond that the brush covered yellow mountain range.
“Excuse me, miss, you can keep your horses in here.”
Gallif’s attention quickly moved from the colors of the landscape to the hobgoblin standing next to her. Though he was only three feet tall he was very muscular. The bits of straw sprinkled on his clothes and the distinct musty smell told her that he was used to handling animals. He nodded for them to follow and walked to the barn.
They followed him inside and were each shown to their own stable. Another hobgoblin tried to remove Snow’s saddle, but he protested with a snort and Gallif whispered a few things to him to convince him the hobgoblin meant no harm. As she watched him brush the saddle clean she thought about the nice family who had been so kind to her before. She made a mental note to check up on Geier, Reva and their children some day and hoped they were well. Once she made sure there was fresh water for Snow, she gathered the others together and left the barn.
They were met outside by the Captain of the Guard, a male dwarf who introduced himself as Lyledge. “We received word about you yesterday,” he said and nodded to the barn before she could ask anything. From here they could see the pigeon coop with the open gates built into the roof. “We were told three of you would arrive together and the rest would arrive separately.”
“Others?” Luvin asked before Gallif could speak.
“I was expecting one more,” Gallif said not looking back at him. “The Third Minister said he would send someone to accompany us through the grounds.”
“What? The Third Minister?” Luvin said in shock but any protest was stopped by a sharp look from Gallif. He clenched his teeth tight and looked away.
“One arrived yesterday,” Lyledge said. “He’s been waiting inside.” Letting the official face drop for a second he continued. “Truthfully, we’ve all been very excited, I have to admit, having him here. A bit of a break from the routine and we’ve enjoyed his stories. I’m sure you’ll be excited to meet him.” Lyledge nodded to them and walked away.
Gallif shrugged and they all followed him towards the main building. They were just at the steps when the door opened and an imposing, confident figure stepped outside.
Gallif stopped and stared and tried to calm her mixed emotions. Jakobus stopped and his eyes widened briefly but he managed to keep his emotions in check and avoided any other sign of surprise. Blinks and Luvin, however didn’t try to hide theirs and quickly came forward.
“I’m sure I do not need to introduce myself,” Acrufix said as he stepped down to greet them. Despite the closed face on the helmet his voice was clear and strong. “No need to introduce yourself either, Gallif,” he said. He reached forward and shook her hand so easily and quickly she didn’t even realize he’d touched her. “I have heard about your own adventures. Some day your exploits will be almost as popular as mine.”
She stood wondering if she had just been complimented or insulted. She still found the lack of a face disturbing. All the children grew up hearing of Acrufix and seeing sketches of his image, but now that she saw him up close a second time it was even more unsettling.
Jakobus was polite and gracious whe
n Acrufix shook his hand but gave the legend no extra praise as they spoke.
Luvin failed to hide his admiration. As they spoke, he beamed proudly and fawned over the man. “I grew up dreaming about being you,” he said rapidly. “Maybe even fighting with you some day.”
“Tell me, Luvin, in your dreams were you sometimes not just a fighter with me, but as me?”
“Yes, sir,” Luvin said with a guilty smile.
“Then we are even. I would have liked to have been you flying a dragon.” Acrufix said.
Luvin stood tall and proudly nodded at his hero.
“My name is Blinks,” the excited man declared nearly jumping up and down as he spoke. “I just wanted to say, and I’m sure I’m not the first, in fact I’m most likely the thirty-seven thousandth, to say it is a privilege and an honor to meet you. Who’d have guessed Blinks would ever actually meet you? Well, I’m sure nobody but me would really guess it, but you get my point. I have one very important question,” Blinks said with his eyelids flashing.
“Of course, go ahead and ask.”
“Could I have your autograph?”
Gallif coughed loudly and ground her boot heel into the dirt worrying that the situation was getting too far out of control. She was relieved when one of the guards called that a rider was approaching. They waited patiently while the arrival went through the question and answer session outside. Gallif wondered who else had been sent to join her and hoped that it would be someone less flashy and more agreeable than Acrufix. A few seconds later a woman came through the open wall and Gallif knew things had just gotten worse.
She was definitely a caster. She wore more tokens, charms and small cloth bags hanging from her clothes than anyone would have thought possible. There were dozens of small tokens and symbols attached to a net like garb that hung from her shoulders to her knees. Among the menagerie of colors an uncountable number of source and focus stones were nestled in the design. The lights they emitted, and their reflections were constantly changing positions as she moved, and the result was a slight blur to her form.
She had frizzy, dirty blond hair that stuck out several inches from her head. Despite the mayhem of her appearance her face was calm and collected. Her eyes were bright and sharp and darted back and forth as she examined the area. She looked at her audience and finally walked steadily towards Gallif.
“Greetings. My name is Marassa and you are Gallif, the leader of this expedition. I’ve been asked by the Third Minister, to escort you. I believe he told you I would be here,” she said and held out her hand.
“Yes, he did,” Gallif said as she took the offer and shook the other woman’s hand. “He didn’t tell me much about you.”
“I’ve studied the records of some of the expeditions that have gone into the Grounds before. Not many made it back again and most of their stories were only partial and jagged. I’ve tried very hard to put the variations of stories together.” From a pouch so well hidden beneath her robes no one saw her reach for it she pulled out several pieces of parchment. Each had ink sketches of various sizes and details on them.
“That looks like part of a map,” Gallif said and stepped closer to study them.
“They are, sort of,” Marassa said. “They were made from the descriptions and records of people who managed to come out of the caves. The problem is there is no reliable information on how to get from one to the other or even what order they actually exist in.”
“In my entire life I’ve never heard of anyone coming out of the caves at all,” Luvin said as he stepped forward. He looked at Marassa sideways as he spoke. “We’ve all been told to believe that going in and out of the Grounds was impossible. How is it you suddenly have these accounts at all?” he asked.
Gallif’s first thought was to order Luvin to stay quiet, but she had to admit there was an oddity to these sudden map pieces.
“You’ve never heard of anyone in your entire life,” she said matching his glare. “How old are you? Fifteen? Fourteen?”
“Sixteen,” he said.
Gallif softened a bit at the thought of him being sixteen now. When had his birthday come? Was it at the school after she’d left and before the attack came? Was it while he was on his own afterwards? Was it inside Starpoint Mountain? She tried to dismiss the regret for now and concentrate on what the female caster was saying.
“Sixteen,” Marassa said. Despite her smile she was not talking down to him. “The Dragon War was a thousand years ago. Isn’t it possible that sometime in those centuries someone could have been inside?”
“Yes,” Luvin said after a moment. He looked down and away.
“Yes, it is,” Jakobus said and moved to stand next to the boy. “I am several times his age and even I find it difficult to comprehend.” He patted Luvin on the shoulder and the young human smiled and looked back at Marassa.
“Of course,” Marassa said. “In our relatively short life spans it’s difficult to understand the scope of a thousand years.” There was a brief moment of silence as they all considered what she had said and Gallif finally broke it.
“Do you know where the entrance is?” she asked.
“There are actually two known entrances and a possible third.”
“Which one do you think is the best choice?”
“Well, from what I can tell all of those who survived were ones that went in through the entrance that faces east. No one has ever emerged from the western mouth.”
Gallif brushed her red hair back over her shoulder and scratched her chin. She knew all eyes were on her and, despite the temptation; she wanted to do what was best. “We’ll start with the eastern faced entrance.” She turned to Lyledge and asked, “What’s between the gate and the caves? Anything we need to know of?”
“I don’t know,” he said without flinching. “Our job is to prevent unauthorized people from getting into the Burial Grounds. We do our job very well,” he said and turned away towards the main building.
“We’ll leave at dawn,” Gallif said and walked off to find a comfortable spot near some trees to sleep.
TEN: CRACKS
The first day of school after the fall of the mountain began with a meeting. The teachers, faculty, and the School Master had talked extensively about how to deal with the calamity and had decided it would be best to bring them all together. There was a steady stream of whispers as the students filled up the auditorium. Many had been worried about the safety and well being of their friends and every time another student entered there was a general sigh of relief. When the bell rang and the doors closed there was a sense of gratitude that most had returned and a worried undertone for those that had not.
The School Master stood on the center podium and cleared his throat three times before speaking.
“Teachers, students, friends,” he said slowly and deliberately. It was the same way he started every meeting and he hoped using it today would help calm people’s fears. “Welcome, it is so great to see you and your dedication to our school and our future.” A noticeable wave of comfort swept across the room as they all settled down and relaxed. “I’m sure we all have so much to say and so many questions to ask. Please be assured that I and all of the teachers will be ready and willing to help you. Where should we begin?”
All of his best hopes and plans as to how the situation would be dealt with were swept away with an explosion of children’s voices. Everyone wanted to speak and had decided that they should be the first and the uproar of voices was deafening. He waved his hands to try and regain control but almost all of the voices molded together into one steady screech. All except for one young girl near the back.
“Gallif stayed at my house,” Aliala said. As suddenly as it had started, the explosion of noise stopped, and all eyes turned to her. “She showed up after the fall and spent the night with us.” Then the rumbling of voices started again as all the other children wanted to know more.
It had taken the rest of the day to get everyone to believe what she had said. Even wi
th her brother there to back her up it wasn’t until her parents talked about it amongst the adults, who confirmed it to their children, that any doubts of her claim disappeared. The next day she was the most popular girl in the school and felt like the second most popular girl in the Land of Starpoint.
Everyone in the school wanted to be her best friend. They wanted to know everything that had happened. Where she had slept? How red was her hair? How green were her eyes? The questions never stopped.
Binchilla, a human girl, wanted to know all of the details about exactly how long Gallif’s hair had been and how it was cut.
Bogat, a dwarven boy, had been disappointed to find out that no one had seen her weapons. He had been particularly interested in the flame sword and was saddened that there was no information on the casting.
Fluvy, a human boy, had been fixated with getting a description of Gallif’s feet and Aliala quickly started avoiding him whenever possible.
On the third day they were again in the assembly hall. Aliala was seated in the front row surrounded by her followers, when the School Master opened a royal proclamation.
“The following is hereby declared by King Paleth and the Circle of Ministers,” he said slowly and clearly. He didn’t need to elaborate or stress the words he read, a royal proclamation was always important, and everyone was eager to find out if the Giant lords were doing well.
