by Blink, Bob
“Took you a damn long time to get up here,” the man said suddenly startling them. He didn’t even turn around to face them. “Are you that concerned about a lone old man out in the woods?”
“We weren’t sure who you were. We wanted to be certain that we weren’t walking into one of the raiding parties from Lopal,” Kaler said.
“Ridiculous,” the man growled. “There ain’t none of them down this far south. “I haven’t seen any of ‘em more than a day or two south of Ny’em.”
“Ny’em?” Rigo asked.
“Sure don’t know the area do ya? Ny’em is the southern most camp that Lopal has along the river. About six days north of here. Lots of swampland or rocky hills on the south side makes it not too useful for many things.”
“You saw us coming?” Daria asked.
“Of course I did. It pays to keep an eye out for the unexpected out here.”
The old man turned and looked over his shoulder at them. He slid around on the flat rock that served as his seat to face them. He looked to be at least fifty, although with the fluffy white beard and mustache that hid most of his face it was difficult to be sure. His white hair was chopped short on the top and sides, probably to minimize upkeep, and just a little longer in back. Even the beard had been hacked off so that it wasn’t more than a couple of inches long.
Wise and humorous eyes peered out of the wrinkled face, and a generous round nose filled in much of the remaining landscape. The man’s lips couldn’t be seen, hidden somewhere beneath the hair on his face. Sitting, his height couldn’t be judged exactly, but he appeared to be of medium height, with a build that Rigo would have termed husky. He appeared fit and at ease. Other than a belt knife he carried no weapons they could see, other than a stout staff made from a branch of a tree that rested against a rock a dozen paces away. It appeared to be well worn.
“You don’t seem to be concerned about our presence. Maybe we are scouts for raiders,” Kaler said.
The man snorted at the idea. “You aren’t raiders. That’s pretty obvious.”
“Maybe we’re bandits,” Kaler said, pursuing the idea.
“Ye ain’t,” the man said positively. “I could tell that from far off. You look like a mixed lot that doesn’t know what they are about. You’re the only one that’s really armed. Of course, now that you’re near, I can see the woman has a couple of knives hidden away. And of course, you have that wizard’s staff,” he said pointing at Rigo with a large spoon.
“My what?” Rigo sputtered taken aback. “Are you talking about my walking stick?”
“It’s a lot more than that,” the old man said positively.
“This is just an old staff that helps me walk, and also serves as a defense weapon,” Rigo insisted.
The old man fixed Rigo with a knowing look. “Of course it is. We both know better. I’ve seen one before. Ain’t likely to forget something like that.”
“Who are you?” Daria asked to change the subject.
The eyes shifted to her, lingering as he evaluated her carefully. “I think you might be the dangerous one,” he said finally. Then he added, “I’m Ash’urn. Welcome to my camp. Anyone hungry? I made a lot of stew when I saw you would get here for supper.”
“That’s a name,” Rigo said. “But it doesn’t explain who you are.”
“I’m a wanderer; a naturalist, a biologist, a scientist, an explorer, an adventurer – whatever you like. Take your pick. Mostly I’m just a curious sort and like to have a look at things that grab my fancy. Some say I’m just nosy. I’ve been a teacher. Maybe I’m a scholar of sorts. I’ve seen a lot and know a bunch of random facts.”
“What brings you here?” Kaler asked. “What is there to study out here?”
“Well, that’s kind of my business, but in fact I’ve been following the southern mountains. I’ve traveled all the way from the Great Sea. Seems to me there has to be a way to get on the other side, but it looks like I’ll need to travel on into Lopal if I’m to find a way. I could float down the river here, but that’s a one way trip. I usually like to know a way back from places I visit. I might not like it down there, after all.”
“You’re going into Lopal?” Rigo asked.
“That’s what I said, isn’t it? By the way, if you’re staying, one of you best fetch your horses before it gets dark. It’s treacherous climbing around these hills at night.”
“I’ll go,” Kaler offered.
“Good,’ Ash’urn said. “Company’s always welcome. Maybe you can tell me what you three are stumbling about out here for while we eat.”
Ash’urn stood up nimbly enough. Rigo realized the man was taller than he’d expected. His worn, faded and scuffed pants and a sturdy pair of boots both had seen lots of service. His shirt was long sleeved, but rolled up against the heat with a couple of the top clasps undone showing the white hairs on his chest. He walked over to a sack and rummaged around, coming out with more bowls and spoons. He waved these at Rigo and Daria, who slowly came forward and accepted the dishes.
“Help yourself,” Ash’urn said as he shoveled another spoonful into his own mouth.
“Where are you headed in Lopal?” Daria asked as they sat around the campfire. They had finished up and it was now quite dark. The fire lit up the small circle of campers, their blankets spread around the circumference. For the moment they sat on the blankets and traded small talk.
“I figure I’ll have to follow the southern range all the way to the Ruins,” Ash’urn replied. “From what I’ve been told and read, there isn’t a southern passage in Lopal any more than there is in Kellmore. “I’ll have a look, but if needed, I’ll continue east. The mountains are supposed to fade away out in the wastelands somewhere. How about you? What are you looking for in Lopal?”
“Who said we are headed into Lopal?” Rigo asked.
“It’s pretty obvious. Otherwise why would you be following the river so close. It’s a lot easier to travel a half-day inland. There’s even a trail. But then you know that.”
“We have personal business in central Lopal,” Rigo said finally.
“That so?” Ash’urn said. “That’s why you are sneaking in the country down here rather than traveling the easy way up north a ways.” Then he shook his head. “Sorry. I told you I was nosy.”
“It’s okay,” Daria said, smoothing over the moment. “There are some people we are looking for. We are not sure exactly where they might be and want to be able to ask questions as we travel north.”
“Maybe you’d like to join us until our paths point us in different directions?” Kaler suggested. “We both need to find a way across the river.”
“Don’t think so,” Ash’urn said. “You’re lost. Can’t see how that’ll help me much.”
“I suppose you know how to get across the river?” Rigo asked.
“’Course I do,” Ash’urn said. “Why else would I be here?”
“You mean there is a way across nearby?” Daria asked.
“A half days walk from here,” Ash’urn replied. “Maybe you want to join me?”
“Where is this crossing?” Kaler asked, doubtful the old man knew what he was talking about.
“A place called the connector,” the old man answered. “There is a large waterfall just over the next hill. At the bottom, the river goes underground for a spell. The land between Kellmore and Lopal are joined at that point and one can just walk across.”
“We had been planning to simply loop around the next couple of mountains and get away from the rocky cliffs before following the river again,” Rigo said.
“Well then, you would have had to walk all the way to Ny’em before finding a crossing,” Ash’urn told him.
Everyone was silent for a while. After a while, Ash’urn pointed at Rigo’s staff.
“Are you willing to tell me about that?”
“My walking staff?” Rigo asked cautiously.
Even through his beard Rigo could see the old man’s frown. “We both know better,” Ash
’urn said finally. “Or perhaps you don’t know what you have there, but I find that hard to believe. At least based on what I’ve been able to learn after forty years of looking.”
“What are you talking about?” Rigo asked, suddenly curious.
“I saw one much like it once before,” Ash’urn said slowly. “I was about ten. A man, about your age visited the village where I lived. He carried an old staff like that, same kind of aged wood. There was a problem at the time with the herds being thinned out by some kind of wild beast. No one ever saw it, but each day one or two of the bison were gone. This man came into the village and offered to see what he could do. The village elders explained where the losses had been happening and he headed out one night alone to see what he could discover. Everyone was afraid to go with him, but I was just a stupid child. I knew the way and several shortcuts as well. I caught up to him and trailed him.”
“He found the herd and set up behind some rocks to wait and see what would appear. I hid in a tree, afraid to go any closer or to be on the ground. I wished then I had stayed in the village. After several hours something attacked. The man seemed unconcerned and walked out into the open and challenged the beast, whatever it was. It was too dark to see distinctly. It was large however, and seemed to flicker with some kind of internal light. As the man walked toward the beast, it shot a flickering bolt of yellow light at him. Sort of like lightening, only very faint. The man seemed to push it aside without a thought and then from his staff or his hand, I’ve never been sure which, shot a bolt of brilliant blue white light. It was so intense I couldn’t see clearly. After the light dimmed, he walked over and checked where the beast had been. Then he stood and walked into the trees. We never saw him again.”
“What was the beast?” Kaler asked after a moment.
“I don’t know,” the man said truthfully. “I hid in the tree until it was light. Then I carefully crept down to have a look. All that was left were a few remains and a corpse I couldn’t make sense out of. I was too afraid of what I had seen to tell anyone else in the village.”
“Where did this happen?” Rigo asked finally.
“I was born in the far northeast of Lopal,” Ash’urn replied. “It was there I saw the staff like yours. I have always wanted answers since that time. When I was old enough I started looking, hoping I might find the man again. I never have.”
Rigo questioned him about the man but there was little Ash’urn could add. It had been a long time ago and there had been nothing to distinguish the man. He could have been anybody.
“That’s quite a tale,” Daria said.
“It ain’t a tale,” Ash’urn snapped. “It’s the truth by all the gods. And I know that staff your friend carries can do the same. Do you know how to use it, or are you carrying something you don’t understand?” he asked looking at Rigo.
Rigo was shaken by what he had just heard. The description of the bolt from the staff matched too closely to what he had read in the accounts just a few weeks earlier. He had to believe the old man had seen what he described. He also appeared to know the way across the river. Perhaps he could be helpful to them. Something inside him told him that the old man was very important to what lay ahead.
“I can’t do what you described,” Rigo said finally. “But I can do a few lesser things.”
“You have the power of magic?” the old man said, his face revealing he hadn’t really dared to hope even though he’d been so positive in his claims. “Show me,” he pleaded.
Rigo picked up his staff and caused it to form a ball of light, the same light he and Kaler had used to explore the cave so long ago.
“I knew it,” Ash’urn said, as though the weight of forty years had been lifted. “I knew what I saw was real!”
Chapter 30
Ash’urn was up with first light and had a fire going so that a warm broth could quickly be made when the others rolled out ready for the day.
“Are you certain you know a way across the river?” Kaler asked the older man. “Have you ever crossed here before?”
“Once before,” Ash’urn assured him. “Two years ago when I first heard of the place I came in search of it. Be assured it exists as I’ve described it. It is a sight to behold and not so very far.”
They quickly finished a breakfast of the broth and what remained of the two geese that Rigo had brought down the morning before. Then they set to packing up the camp, which went quickly with four pairs of hands.
“What have you got in there?” Rigo asked after he helped Ash’urn load a heavy leather bag onto the pack horse the old man used to carry most of his belongings.
“My journals. I keep records of the places I’ve been. Maps, descriptions of the country. I hope one day to write a number of books.”
“You carry them with you everywhere you go?” asked Daria in wonder.
Ash’urn shook his head. “There would be too many. Every year or so I drop off what I had added at the home of my brother. He keeps them for me.”
“Where is that?”
“In northern Lopal where I lived as a child. Not many from my village ever leave there. I am somewhat unusual and many in the village think I am not entirely sane. But at long last I may have found what I have been searching for.” He glanced at Rigo as he said this.
Once everything was loaded, they set off with the old adventurer leading the way. Rigo rode alongside him trying to answer some of the questions that he was bombarded with. Daria and Kaler rode a short distance behind.
They climbed up the backside of the first hill, then looped away from the river. They followed Ash’urn through the thinning broadleaf trees down through a saddle-point that looked as if it would dead end not very far ahead of them. When it appeared they could go no farther, a sudden turn in the hillside revealed a narrow passageway between a pair of huge boulders that opened onto a flat expanse of ground that extended for some distance to the east.
They rode carefully onto the rocky ground whose thin soil supported only bushes and the rare tree. Large areas were smooth expanses of bare stone that would have been difficult to cross without the horses slipping had it not been as level as it was.
“We are over the river now,” Ash’urn said. He pointed to the north and south. They could see the river in the distance, and it was obvious by connecting the two that unless the mighty river made a very sharp loop somewhere, it had to cross through the point where they stood. To the north a distant rumbling could be heard.
“Come, you should see this,” Ash’urn urged and turned his horse northward.
The thundering grew in intensity as they moved toward the strip of river they could see to the north. After a bit, Ash’urn signaled them to tether their horses.
“We should go the rest of the way on foot,” he explained.
They walked single file, Ash’urn, Rigo, Daria, and Kaler bringing up the rear. It was difficult to talk over the roar of the falls which had to be close. They worked their way between massive stone boulders, and had to move more slowly as the rocks became wet with the mist from the falls. Small rivulets of water flowed between the rocks at their feet, sometimes forming mini streams that worked their way back in the direction of the river.
Then, there it was. A series of massive waterfalls as the river thundered over rocky cliffs to a small roiling lake below. The falls were of different heights, some a single plunge into the waters of the lake, others a series of smaller falls. The amount of water cascading over the edge was incredible, as was the resulting noise. Below, the lake churned and spun the water around in a whirlpool. At the base of the stone mountain they stood upon, where the water would normally have continued on its way, was a sheer stone wall. Waves broke against the base, but the wall appeared continuous. Somewhere, under the surface of the swirling waters was a massive tunnel carved into the base of the mountain. Large enough that all the water flowing over the falls was able to find passage down under the mountain.
“That’s incredible,” Rigo said, looking
in awe at the magnificent display.
“The far side is less impressive,” Ash’urn said. “The water flows out of the ground almost sedately from a number of openings and rejoins to form the river once again. It is hidden from sight only along this short crossing which we could walk from end to end in less than a half glass.”
They were getting wet and it was time to continue on. Ash’urn led them back to the horses and they resumed their trek across the passage.
“So you don’t know how you came to be blessed with such powers?” Ash’urn asked Rigo as they walked side by side leading their horses.
Rigo had explained a little about himself and that he was unable to answer many of the burning questions that had driven Ash’urn since he had witnessed the wizard kill the beast so long ago.
“You imply that your journey is related to your own search for answers,” Ash’urn said.
“We have learned that the ancient stories consistently point to a small area in eastern Lopal where people with magical powers were said to live. I am hoping there are answers to be found there. It would not be inconsistent with your own experience. Where we are headed is only weeks away from where you lived as a youth.”
“I would travel with you,” Ash’urn said. “You offer the best chance I’ve had at learning about those with magical powers. If nothing comes of it, I can always visit my village and exchange my load of journals before continuing on my own.”
“What about your trip south of the mountains?” Rigo asked.
“The Ruins and the mountains will still be there. I feel I can be of use to you in your travels. I am, after all, a native of Lopal. That might work in your favor, especially now that relations are deteriorating between countries.”
They arrived at the far side where the soil became thicker and the trees begin to grow more abundantly. The Lopal side was flatter, at least along the river’s edge. They passed several sandy beaches before coming to a split in the trail, one path continuing along the river northward and the other branching east, heading toward a deep valley between the mountains.
