by Allan Joyal
Inside, our only light was provided by the two fires that Kariy and Al kept burning. Victoria and Heather spent much of the time with Kariy, learning about cooking and making sure that warm soup or stew was always available.
Trapped in the house, the rest of the time was spent discussing the idea of creating our own home. Hencktor continued to be a bit afraid of the idea of traveling that far from settled lands, but the others agreed that we would struggle to fit into any of the communities we had seen so far.
We soon found that none of us had a clear picture of what we needed. Too much of our knowledge was from books or late evenings watching "educational" television. Victoria proved to have the most experience with trying to grow plants, and soon was working out mental lists of seeds and tools she thought we would want.
We also came up with other items we might want to have with us. The list kept increasing, and finally Steve suggested that we visit a blacksmith once the snow stopped. We needed to see if we could take some lessons on how to make or repair the tools we would need.
"Otherwise, we are looking at needing four or five wagons just to carry the tools. And that would mean we have to learn how to guide wagons," he commented.
The storm did finally start to die out on the evening of our third day trapped in the house. With the chill winds dying down, the fires in the main room were able to finally warm the air. Lydia convinced us to clean our bodies in the washbasin we had found on the doorstep early that day. There was no soap, but Kariy suggested using a cake she had made out of ash and grease. It was extremely rank smelling at first, but once the lather it produced was rinsed off we all felt much cleaner. Natalie and Jennifer even used the same substance to wash our clothes, while everyone sat around the fire huddled in their bedrolls.
The next morning, the room seemed unnaturally quiet. The thick walls had muffled the howling winds, but we still could hear the rush of wind as it passed over the stone roof and shook the door. I unwound myself from Heather's embrace and stumbled to the door. I fought the latch for a moment. When it was free, the door groaned as I forced it open.
Outside the door, I found a wall of snow and ice. It reached from the ground to above the door in a solid block of white. Sunlight filtered through, throwing rainbows into the floor at my feet.
"Is the storm over?" Lisa sleepily called out from behind me.
"It seems that way," I said. "But we'll have to clear the snow in order to leave. Right now it's probably seven feet deep."
Lisa gasped, but ran over to look out of the open door. While she stood there gaping, I headed over to the corner of the room where we kept our packs and weapons. Retrieving the spear, I returned to the doorway and thrust the spear into the snow.
The metal blade slid deep into the snow. The weight of the snow offered a slight resistance as I swept it back and forth in the snow.
My actions disturbed the delicate balance of the snow, and the drift collapsed. A tide of snow flowed through the doorway, soaking my feet and causing me to jump away from the cold.
Lisa gave a shriek of dismay and dashed back to her bedroll. She immediately used the furs to brush the ice from her feet before she shook Hencktor awake. The rest of the group was stirring. I walked a bit more slowly to my bedroll and sat on it, looking out the open door at the pile of snow.
Hencktor managed to crawl out from his bedroll. He immediately pulled on some boots and then walked over to the open door. I watched as he pushed his hands into the snow. He quickly removed them and then turned back to me.
"We won't be able to walk on this snow," he reported. "At least not for a few days. Right now, if you could climb on top of the drifts, you'd sink to your waist with every step. But shouldn't we try to start exploring?"
"I guess we'll need to dig a path through the snow then," I said with a sigh as I looked for my socks. "Unfortunately, I don't think we have any shovels, so we are going to have to improvise as we dig the path. Victoria, can you make sure we have warm food all morning? If we all pitch in and work together, we might find the gate in a couple of hours. Everyone can take breaks to eat."
I found my battered shoes and pulled them on my feet. Once the laces were tied, I walked over to the washbasin we had left in the corner of the main room. "Steve, let's use this to help carry the snow away from the doorway."
Steve was standing up after pulling his own shoes on. He walked over to join me, and we carried the washbasin to the doorway. Immediately, Jennifer and Lydia began pushing snow into the basin. It took only a few minutes to fill the basin.
"What do we do with this now?" Steve asked.
"Why don't you dump it out in one of the toilets? We know that the pits below them are more than deep enough, and it would get the snow out of the way," Lydia suggested as she and Jennifer started pushing more snow away from the doorway.
I shrugged at the idea, and Steve said nothing, so we picked up the basin and carried it to the closer of the two toilet chambers. The snow added quite a bit of weight, and we were both sweating heavily as we wrestled the basin through the doorway and turned it on its side.
The now melting snow quickly oozed out of the basin. Once it was empty, we brought it back out. At first, I was going to lead Steve back to the doorway, but Heather saw us emerge from the bathroom and shouted. "I don't think we need that. We've figured out a way to push back the snow enough to create a path. We'll still have to wrap our feet, but we should be able to find the gate."
Steve and I put the washbasin back in the corner and then joined the others at the doorway. Hencktor had covered his hands with an empty pack and had waded into the area where the snow was only knee high. He was then pushing on the huge snowdrifts, forcing the snow to the right of the growing pathway.
Jennifer and Lydia were following; they also had wrapped their hands and were pushing at the loose snow to the sides of the path Hencktor was clearing. Between the efforts of the three, a three-foot wide path was starting to emerge.
Hencktor noticed that Steve and I were watching. He stopped pushing the snow and turned back to us. "It's not great work, but it should open a path."
"It will collapse back on you," Heather said as she looked at the walls of snow left behind by the efforts of the others. "But until we get a real shovel, it might be all we can do. You should stop regularly and come in to warm up and dry off while you work. If you sweat, you don't want the sweat to cool off and freeze on your skin."
"Good idea," Steve shouted. "They can take a break now while Ron and I work to extend the path a bit."
Hencktor turned and headed back inside the room. He had barely come back inside before he was stripping off his shirt and sitting down next to the fire. He used the cloth of the shirt to brush away sweat while the fire warmed his body. Jennifer and Lydia followed him. Once they were back inside, Steve and I headed out into the snow and began trying to excavate a path.
Our efforts had added only a few yards to the area of packed snow when the wall in front erupted into steam. Steve and I dove out of the way to avoid the scalding cloud of heated water as a glowing rod appeared in the snow. It waved back and forth, melting an area just over two yards wide from the top of the snow, down to about knee height.
We scrambled back to the doorway and waited as the cloud of steam dispersed. Once it had, we could see a young man of about twenty holding the rod. He was wearing robes of some black dyed fabric. He held the rod out as the glow faded from the tip and then thrust the rod into the snow by his side. This time no steam appeared. He looked around at the area we had already cleared and shook his head.
"How did you clear all this?" he asked.
"We just worked at pushing the snow out of the way," I replied as I stepped out from the doorway. "With the storm over, we wanted to see about visiting some craftsmen and a tavern. We know we can't stay here forever and want to start preparing for when we have to leave."
The man looked around. His frown indicated that he found our claims dubious. Nothing was said though,
and finally he pointed to the doorway. "Can I come inside while we talk? The storm might be over, but it is still quite cold."
I glanced at Steve, who nodded. We turned back toward the building and walked through the doorway. Inside, we could hear Kariy quietly instructing Victoria and Jennifer in how they could score some dried meat before throwing it into the cauldron to make stew. I had missed the explanation of why they might want to do that, but nodded at Kariy's quiet confidence in the instructions she was giving.
The rest of the group was gathered near the fire. Esme and Natalie had begun sorting through all of the packs, looking for things they could put into a medical kit. They had not found much. The others were discussing possible trade goods we might want to make once we had established our new home.
The young man followed us into the room. As he did, he relaxed and raised the rod to his shoulder as he scanned the room. "Let's see," he mused. "Everyone here is completely mundane, not a spark of magic at all. I see no banners or shields. Why are you in this house?"
"Because the wizard decided that the services we offered to provide mean we deserved to stay here," Lydia said sharply. "Who are you to ask?"
The man stepped back and lowered his rod. The tip began to glow, and I could feel faint waves of heat emanating from it. "I am Roqumanfred, Apprentice to Grand Wizard Cerlonin, and I do not have to answer to some mundane doxy."
Lydia gathered herself. Her hands came up and it was clear she was about to jump at this officious apprentice. Hencktor reached out and pulled her to his chest in a fierce hug. Steve and Al both jumped between the apprentice and Lydia, holding their empty hands up.
"Sorry," Steve said. "Look, we were brought here by Werlyn. Cerlonin met with us here and agreed that we could stay until the winter storms are over, but they left before explaining anything."
The man snorted. "It's not the place of a wizard to explain himself to a mundane. Now I was told to melt the snow so that you can walk from the door to the streets. Then I was told I'd be taking a food order. That made no sense until now. What is your order?"
I glanced back at Kariy, but she was deep in discussion with her students. Roqumanfred was impatiently pacing the floor, so I turned back to him. "We burned a good deal of wood during the storm, so it would be nice to see that resupplied. And if you can check with Werlyn and have him send the same amount and types of food as last time. That will serve for now. You can also mention that we're willing to write down orders if that works."
"Ron!" Steve said with a snort. "Can you write in the language used here?"
I paused and looked at him. "You know, I never checked. But you're right, if I write in English, it would be unreadable to everyone."
The apprentice just snorted and then smacked the end of the rod on the stone floor in the room. "Any mage can cast a spell allowing him to read all languages. I'll see if Werlyn will actually lower himself to read the writings of a madman. Now unless you have more to say, I must be going."
"Are there any open markets or taverns?" I asked him. "We would like to look around and see what might be available."
"Head back to the gates," Roqumanfred said with a sneer. "You'll find plenty of taverns. Some will be open this early. And there won't be an open market, but near the gates there are a couple of merchant houses that maintain haberdasheries."
The man spun around and stomped out of the room through the still open door. Everyone in the room sat or stood silently staring at the door until we could no longer hear his boots sloshing in the snow.
Then Steve growled, "That man is a menace." My friend went over to the woodpile and picked up a large log. He then pushed our door until it was almost closed and then used the log to secure the door. It was a flimsy setup.
"Why?" Lisa asked.
"Help keep the heat in a bit," Steve said. "But keep the door open for the demons that will be coming by with things. I wanted to save a bit of time."
Kariy giggled from the kitchen corner. "You realize that we have enough food to last another eight or nine days. If we get another delivery, I can probably make it last twenty. Why did you get more, Ron?"
I shrugged. "I felt a long conversation with that man might cause trouble. He didn't seem very willing to talk. So I went with my first impulse. And we can use anything he does bring."
"You should have asked for medical items," Esme said. She stood up and walked over to the large counter. Once there, she examined some of the packages and packaging that the demon had brought at the beginning of the storm.
"What are you looking for?" Jennifer asked.
"I was going to see if there were any herbal remedies I could ask for," Esme said. "I was also considering what kind of containers we can expect. We don't have rubber here, so the kind of glass containers I'm used to won't be an option for anything."
"Herbal remedies?" Lisa asked.
Esme nodded as she turned away from the counter and walked back over to where Natalie was still examining items pulled from the packs. "Sure, one of the first painkillers was a form of willow bark tea. Aloe for sunburn would be an option, but raw aloe doesn't store well, and I don't know how to process it. That's why I wondered about packaging. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to bring many medicines along. Which means we'll only have a dozen or so bandages and a sewing kit as part of our medical pack."
"We can try to get some more information later today," I said. "Once the deliveries are made, if everyone has a few minutes to talk, I have an idea."
"Let me get the stew going," Kariy said. "This one can simmer for a while without someone hovering over it."
"We can wait," Steve called out as something hit the side of the building with a loud thump. My friend and I moved to the propped open front door and opened it all the way.
Two of the misshapen creatures that had shown up before were standing just outside the door. The snow nearest them melted rapidly. I noticed that the creatures had their backs to us and were holding their hands out at chest level. The tips of their fingers seemed to glow as the snow turned to steam in the morning air.
The vanishing snow and the light from the creatures distracted me. I was trying to figure out what the creatures were doing when Steve cursed. "That's one way to bring wood."
I looked past the creatures. The area where the snow had melted away now contained a large bundle of wood. It appeared to be stacked on a long board or crate. The demons lowered their hands and walked around the bundle until they were standing like two movers about to lift a sofa. Then without saying a word, they lifted the bundle and started to carry it through the doorway.
Everyone scattered out of the demons' way as they entered the room. The lead one kept walking backwards until the second demon had passed through the doorway and then the two demons circled each other. When the bundle of wood was parallel to the stack along the wall, the demon's raised their arms and then swiftly overturned the wood so that it lay upon the woodpile. There was a resounding crash as the weight of the wood came down, but the operation was performed smoothly. They pulled the carrying board away from the top of the woodpile and then walked out of the room together, leaving us staring at the restocked wood supply.
"That's one way to do it … I guess," Lydia said as we continued to stare at the woodpile. We were still staring when another demon stepped through the open doorway.
Actually, it might have been one of the ones from before. The creature said nothing as it entered. Like the visit from four days before, this demon walked over to the kitchen counter area and started pulling packages from a bag. This time I walked over to the creature.
"Hello," I said. The creature looked at me for a moment, but resumed its work without speaking.
"Sir… Well, I'm going to guess that it should be sir. First I want to thank you for bringing the food to us. We do appreciate it," I tried again.
This time the creature looked at me for a longer period of time while continuing to empty the bag. When the bag was finally empty, it turned to stare m
ore closely at me. The misshapen and twisted face came down until it was maybe an inch away from my face, and I could smell the creature's sulfurous breath. His right eye gazed directly into my own eye. I stood there quietly, waiting for the creature to do something, but after a staring contest that felt like it went on for hours, the creature merely stood up and walked out of the room.
Steve followed the creature to the door. Once it had left the building, my friend shut and secured the door. There was a long silence in the room when he was done.
"What the fuck was that?" Lydia screamed out. "Ron, are you trying to get yourself killed?"
"Look, we know the wizards are probably going to turn on us," I replied. "There is a good chance that these demons might be able to give us some warning. The only way we can make that happen is to talk to the demons."
Steve shook his head. "Not this time," he said. "It's too risky. The demons might also report back that we are trying to subvert them and then we lose any surprise we might otherwise have. We need to concentrate on what we know we can do. And we have a plan for today, don't we?"
"Visit some merchants to get an idea of what items we can obtain here and perhaps what we might take from here for trade," Victoria said. "And then visit a tavern to see if we can gain some information and advice. We definitely need to find some farmers to talk to, so we can work on getting an idea of what farming gear we will need."
"So soon?" Jennifer asked. "I thought we had sixty days before we would be leaving here."
"Depending on how the storms develop and what cold weather clothing we can get, we might leave after forty to forty-five days," I admitted. "We can't get a wagon here, it would alert the wizards. So we will be better off if there is still snow on the ground. We'd be able to set up some kind of sled to help carry our gear when we leave here."
