by Clark Graham
“How did the Shadow King come to rule this land?” she asked.
“This land had a beloved old King who loved his people and his people loved him. He was a friend with both King Gustaff and the Dwarves. The old King died, but he had no children and left no heir. The Dukes of the land each claimed the throne, so a civil war started. It was Duke against Duke and the people of the land suffered. One Duke, who had been defeated, hid himself in a cave, where the Shadow King’s lair is. He was walking around in the cave and came upon a light and a shadow behind a curtain. The shadow claimed to be the spirit of the old King that had come back because of the civil war. He told the Duke that looking behind the curtain would cause instant death. The Duke believed and rallied people to his cause. Soon most of the people were believers in the Shadow King and forced the other Dukes to stop fighting amongst themselves and follow the Shadow King,” Groli explained.
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Emily said.
Groli went on, “The war was over and the people were happy. If that was the end of it all would be good, but the Shadow King got greedy and claimed the lands of King Gustaff. He sent his armies to capture those lands. He had a problem though, as you know. Most of his good soldiers were lost or been wounded in the civil war. He had to take farmers and herders to fight. His land is nearly barren of men, just the old and the young are left. If he were truly the spirit of the old King, he would not have wanted war with his friend.”
“So are you afraid to look around the curtain of the Shadow King?” she asked.
“I am not, nor do I believe that you are either,” He said.
“I have never seen a dead man’s spirit before; I probably would look just to see what one of those looks like,” Emily said.
Groli smiled and said, "We will tear down that curtain when we get there. But for now we will need some sleep."
They both climbed into the shelter and went to sleep.
Stormy Night
Emily woke late in the night. Groli was snoring loudly so she crawled out of the shelter. The fire had burned down to a few embers. She could still feel some warmth. Suddenly there was a flash of lightening and a crash of thunder over her head. Emily let out a small shriek and jumped back into the shelter to put her arms around Groli.
He rose out of bed just as the rain started coming down. "The air gods are fighting again," he said.
"Air gods?" she asked incredulously. "What are you talking about?"
"Air gods are the masters of sky and clouds, and when they fight the lightning and thunder starts." He explained.
"Do you really believe that?"
"It's a story Dwarf parents tell their children," he said.
"Do you think that's very nice, scaring young children like that?" Emily was still upset by the suddenness of the storm. “I suppose not, it's just a story."
Emily crawled further back into the shelter as the rain began to come down harder. She could hear the rain pounding the grass on the roof. Soon the thunder and lightning stopped, just leaving the sound of the rain, and she was able to fall asleep.
When she woke up Emily was surprisingly dry considering the simple shelter that they had been under. It was a sunny day and had stopped raining. She could see Groli’s matted hair on the top of his head. It was the first time she had seen him without his helmet. She sat up and noticed that his helmet was turned upside down at her feet and it was full of berries.
“Yum,” she said as she started eating and then realized where the helmet had been the whole time and paused.
Groli must have read her thought when he said, “I washed it out, don’t worry.”
“Oh, good,” she sighed and went back to eating. After eating quite a few she suddenly asked, “I thought these would make us sick if we ate too many.”
Groli’s response was simple, “If they didn’t yesterday, they probably won’t today either.”
She seemed satisfied with that answered and ate a few more before asking, “Are we going to cross the river today?”
“No, the river is too high for a Dwarf and a girl. We could make it if I was as tall as a man, but I am not. You have to work with what you got.”
Emily giggled. “It’s alright; I wouldn’t want you to be an inch taller, you’re perfect just the size you are.”
“Hmmff,” said the Dwarf.
“What are you working on?” she asked as she just noticed he was doing a project.
“I am making rope to help us cross the river. We might be fine without it, but this will make it much easier. I found the dried reeds by the river they are fibrous and can be made into a satisfactory rope.”
Emily watched him for a few minutes. He was shaving off the fivers from the reeds and then twisting them into twine. When he had a sufficient amount of twine, he took all of the twine, tied it around a tree and tied the other end around his battleaxe. He then walked half way through the large meadow and started twisting his battleaxe around and around until all of his twine was now a single rope. Groli pulled on it to tighten it then lashed to the two ends so it wouldn’t unravel.
“There,” he said, “that ought to do it.”
He then went over to Emily and looked at her feet. “Much better. Do they still hurt?”
“No not at all, thanks for asking, and thanks for the balm, it worked wonders.”
“Good! Do you want to put you shoes on and go look at the river?” he asked.
Emily smiled, “I would like that very much. I have heard its rushing in the background this whole time and wondered what it looked like.”
Emily latched up her worn shoes and Groli led her to the edge of the river. It was wider than she expected, with lots of vegetation on both banks. It was clear running water and she could see large and small rocks in the riverbed. It felt a lot cooler down by the water and she could tell that the water was going to be cold. Large trees overhung the river on both sides. It was like being in a tunnel.
Emily thought of crossing the river, the current looked fast and scary, but she knew that Groli would not make the attempt until the water had subsided. As she was looking over at the far bank she asked, “What is the land like on the other side after we leave the river?”
Groli looked over to where she pointed and said, “I don’t know. I have only been as for as the river and then we always headed home. I have seen maps, but they didn’t show the lay of the land, just where the cities and roads are. I know that there is a large city that is directly in front of a mountain, and inside the mountain is the lair of the Shadow King. When the old King was alive, he loved his palace and the comforts it afforded him; I cannot believe his spirit would want to live in a cave. The old King’s palace is in the city at the base of the mountain. Both the coastal road and the forest road lead to that city. We crossed the forest road when we traveled overnight. This area is going to be much more populated, so we will need to travel at night here also. When the river goes down we will cross, then we will camp until it gets dark and head out.”
Emily didn’t like the thought of walking at night but she knew that more people meant more prying eyes and understood the need to use darkness as a cover. He glanced at the river one more time and then Groli and she went back to their camp.
“I understand that your feet are feeling much better,” Groli said, “but I think you should rest them the rest of the day anyway. I will go back to the river and try to catch a fish or two for dinner.”
“That would be fine,” Emily said. She never thought of fish as pets so eating fish would not be a problem for her.
After Groli left, Emily took her shoes back off and sat there in bare feet enjoying the sunshine while sitting on the long grass. She felt suddenly sad when she remembered the spring day that she had spent on the front lawn of her house picking wild flowers for her mother. It seemed like a lifetime ago, although it wasn’t that long. She wondered where her parents were and if they were hungry and scared. She had been lucky to fall in with the Dwarves and she knew it. She was
thankful that Groli was letting her try to find her parents even though it seemed an impossible task. Still, she had to try. Emily thought about the Shadow King’s lair.
It had to be guarded. How was one Dwarf going to get past all those guards? Still, she had captured a very capable Dwarf. He had been able to find food and build shelters. He had known the lay of the land up to this point. Still Emily knew in her heart that Groli could have forced her to go back to the camp of the Dwarves anytime he had wanted.
She was mulling all this around in her mind when Groli came up with some fish. “I’m thinking of fish stew tonight,” he said as he held the fish up. They were all small and would not do very well for frying.
“You don’t have a pot to cook stew in,” Emily said.
Just then Groli took off his helmet and said, “yes I do.”
“Eww, wash it out first,” she said.
“Of course,” he replied, and then set to work cleaning the fish. He was soon able to scrounge up some leeks to use as onions and roots of reeds to use as potatoes. Emily smelled the stew cooking a couple of hours later and it again reminded her of home. Groli carved some spoons out of branches and they both ate out of his helmet. The warm soup felt good as it went down. Emily could not remember enjoying a fish stew more.
Crossing the River
That night Emily slept so soundly with a good supper in her she didn’t even notice if Groli snored or not. She woke up refreshed in the morning. The sun was shining again and again she had a helmet full of berries at her feet. “Good morning,” she said to Groli as he sat on the grass and sharpened his axe.
“Good morning,” he replied. “I have gathered some roots and more berries for us to eat on the way. I fear there will not be a lot of food for us to gather as we go north. It will be too early for apples and other fruits to ripen and game will be scarce because of the population. We would not be able to start a fire even if we were able to find game.”
“Are we going to be alright?” she asked.
“If the journey is short, we will be fine. If the journey is long, we are going to have to find food somewhere.”
That answer seemed to satisfy Emily. “Well, let’s be off then,” she said as she strapped on her shoes. She stood and started to put on her pack. She noticed it was heavier than it had been the night before. Groli had stored some of their food in her pack. ‘It’s only fair,’ she thought to herself as she threw it over her shoulder.
As they walked down to the river, Emily noticed that it was lower than the day before. Groli took his axe and tied the rope to it and then threw it across the river. As he pulled on it, it did not attach to anything, so he pulled it back across the river. He grimaced as it hit the river rocks in the riverbed, on the way back. Again he threw it, this time it made a loud thunk as it hit something solid. He pulled on it hard to see if it would stay, and it did. When he seemed satisfied, he took the packs and one at a time threw them across the river.
“No sense in carrying all that weight across with us,” he said.
He had Emily get on his back as he started across. She clung tightly to his neck, but he threw a short rope around her waist and tied it onto himself, just in case. Emily was right about the temperature of the water. It was freezing cold. The water was up to both of their chests near the middle of the river. Groli held on the rope to steady them as he walked across, and Emily was glad when the river started to get shallower near the far bank. They were both shivering when they came up on the shore, so Groli quickly dug a small pit and made a fire. Emily ducked behind a tree, after she found her pack and quickly changed dresses. She was back to the blue one. It was dry and she figured it would be less noticeable at night. She then rushed back to the fire with her blanket around her shoulders.
“Thank you,” she said finally.
“For what?” Groli asked.
“For taking me this far, for getting me across the river, for not forcing me back to the camp of the Dwarves and for finding me food when I was hungry,” Emily answered.
He smiled and said, “Have I been a good prisoner then?”
She just laughed and said, “Oh, you.”
The Night Journey
When darkness fell, they put out the fire and took up their packs and headed out into the darkness. At first they were walking through the vegetation by the river, but soon they were past that and heading up a steep hill. Groli decided it was best to go to the top of the hill to get his bearings, so they climbed at night by starlight. The ground was getting rockier as they went. They were both panting and sweating when they reached the top. Groli looked out at the area from the new viewpoint. It wasn't the tallest hill around, but it would do for what he needed it for. He could see the mountain from there and the capital city that was just in front of it. It looked like a long ways away. He plotted out the course that they would need to take to keep away from the larger parts of the population. They would not be able to avoid people altogether, but they could minimize the contact.
On the way down the hill, some of the rocks were loose and Emily began to lose her footing. It seemed steeper than it had been on the way up. After one step, the rock under her foot gave way and it started rolling down the hill. She would have followed it, had it not been for Groli grabbing her arm and stopping her. He showed her how to plant her feet to get the best traction on the hillside. She did not have a problem the rest of the way down. When they arrived at the base of the hill, they started following the road. The brush on the sides of the road was so thick that it would have been slow going to cut their way through it. They would have to depart the road very quickly if they saw anyone coming. They ate some roots and berries as they walked, so they would not have to stop. The raw roots were a little bitter and made Emily’s stomach feel sour, but she didn’t complain. Indeed, they barely talked at all, deciding to remain as silent as possible. Just when the horizon was starting to get light, Groli cut a path into the bushes, by the side of the road. He found a nice thicket right under a tree where no one would be able to see them from the road and used his axe to hollow it out a little bit. They had just enough room for his bedroll and her blanket.
Both of them were very tired at this point so their first order of business was getting some sleep. It was not long in coming.
Emily awoke half way through the morning because Groli was starting to snore. She gave him a quick elbow. He grunted and rolled over; he didn't even wake up, but he did stop snoring. Emily crawled out of the thicket, just far enough to see the road. She was worried that someone had heard him and might be coming to investigate the noise. To her surprise, there was no one on the road. It was empty in both directions. She sat there for the longest time, but saw no one. After a long time she watched a group of three old men, with swords strapped to their waists, and loose fitting mismatched breast plates and helmets pass by. They were talking, but she couldn’t hear what they were saying. She could hear Groli crawling through the brush to come up next to her. She put her finger to her mouth to keep him from talking. He nodded his head that he understood, and he didn’t say anything until the men disappeared around a corner.
“Old men on patrol, the situation in these lands is worse than I had imagined,” Groli said finally.
“What do you mean?” Emily asked.
“Those men are not part of an army. They are too old and were not in uniform. They are patrolling to keep an eye on the fields and farms. Someone must be trying to steal food,” Groli explained.
“You mean, besides us?” Emily asked.
Groli smiled at that. “We have enough for now. The roots do not taste very good, but will keep us alive. We need to be careful not to run into any of those patrols.”
An Encounter on the Road
Emily nodded and they both crawled back to their sleeping area. It was another meal of roots and berries, and then a wait until darkness fell. Emily napped on and off and Groli quietly sharpened his battleaxe. It had gotten banged up when he dragged it across the river. As soon
as it was dark, they crawled out of their hideout and walked back onto the road. There were no clouds in the sky and the moon was bright giving them more light to walk by, but also giving anyone out there more light to see them by. They had walked for about three hours when suddenly a lantern was lit up about a hundred feet in front of them. Groli immediately ran into the bushes, hacking his way through them as he ran. Emily followed.
An old- sounding voice yelled, “Who goes there? You had better come out or I will wake the whole village and they will roust you out of there.”
Emily turned around and looked back; it was an old man that was slightly bent over. He had a walking cane that was taller than he was and he was leaning heavily on it. He had no armor or sword and looked like he could have been someone’s grandfather. She walked back out of the brush. Groli turned to try and stop her but it was too late, she was out in the open.
“It’s just me sir, I’ve lost my dog so I went looking for him. He just darted in this bush If I am quick I can catch him,” Emily said to the old man.
“Aren’t you too young to be going out late at night?” the old man asked.
“No, Sir, I am older than I look, please, I must hurry if I am to catch him,” she pleaded.
“Very well, go get your dog, walking around here late at night, nearly giving an old man a heart attack, you did,” replied the man.
Emily darted back into the brush. When she caught up with Groli he gave her a curious look.
“No, I wasn’t calling you a dog,” she said in her own defense.
Groli seemed satisfied with that and led her deeper into the bushes.
“We should stay off the road from now on. That was a near thing,” Groli said at last.
“Agreed,” was Emily’s response. `
Groli fought the brush for half an hour before coming across an open field. By this time both of them were all scratched up from going through the bushes. He scouted for a farm house and saw it one the distance. All the lights were out so he deemed it safe. They both took across the open field being as quietly as they could. When they finally got to the row of bushes on the other side it was nearing dawn, so they made a hiding spot like they had the day before. Groli noticed that all the fields around them were divided by rows of bushes. He could use that to his advantage. They decided to sleep in shifts; the one would stay awake and warn the other of approaching danger. Then the other would sleep. It was also Emily’s job to keep Groli from snoring. Every time he sounded like he was about to snore, she would elbow him in the ribs and that would put a stop to that.
