He quickly walked around the cave and peeked out the other side. He spent a bit of time standing on the narrow stone ledge looking down. After that he snorted and stroked his beard pensively.
“Not a bad cave, but we found a better one. Ours has a whole three exits, but here there’s basically just one. Come with me, I’ll get you warmed up by the fire. You must be chilled to the bone.”
In point of fact, we had tried to start a bonfire once before but, after the harn’s daily patrol, he told us the smoke smell made us too easy to track down. So we decided not to keep risking it. Over the preceding month, I’d gotten used to living without fire so it was no big deal.
Randelph led us to a small cave one level lower, where his companions were sitting around a fire. The damp shrub branches were throwing up an incredible amount of smoke. The gremlin and I winced in unison. An excellent way to attract all the beasts in the area!
The redhead, noticing my facial expression, gave another thoughtful snort.
“Bruni!” he gave a muted shout to a buff man with dark blonde hair fussing around near the fire pit. “Have you lost your mind?! Why’d you throw so many wet branches on the fire?! Set them next to it so they can dry off first.”
The brute furrowed his narrow brow, looked at Randelph then turned his gaze to us. I could read surprise in his big blue eyes. Broad shoulders, hands like shovels — by all appearances, this Bruni could never have been a ranger.
A bit farther away was a third person, lying down. Gray hair, a narrow wrinkled face, gaunt constitution, a dirty rag stretched tight over his right side — that must have been the blood Gorgie was smelling. By all appearances, he was not just asleep, but unconscious. If not dead already.
“Randy, who’d you drag in this time?” Bruni buzzed.
Entirely ignoring Larsen’s admonishment about the fire, he stood up to his whole enormous height. The levels of the two men, sixteen for the younger one and twenty for the gray-hair, led me to believe fate had brought us together with a group of warriors.
“These are our friends in misfortune,” Randy said, taking the wet branches off the fire. “I swore we wouldn’t hurt them. So be gentle.”
Bruni just snorted indistinctly and took a few steps in our direction. Walking a circle around us, he gave another snort and walked toward the fire.
“Alright,” he grumbled. “I’ll do my best.”
“Guys, come sit by the fire,” Randelph invited us, himself taking a seat. “Let’s warm up.”
“So Randy, shot anything yet?” the big guy muttered sadly. “My belly’s about to start getting restless.”
“No,” the redhead shook his head. “It’s like everything around here died.”
And it’s no surprise. Two days of the golem rampaging plus Gorgie’s patrols — if there still was anything alive in these caves, it must have hidden itself very well. But I decided to make the first move, hoping to establish amicable relations.
Pretending to rummage in my knapsack, I took a few chunks of steppe antelope meat out of my ephemeral backpack, which the harn had hunted before leaving to get the firepaw fangs.
“Here you go,” I said. “My treat!”
“Well, well!” Bruni lit up. “Where’d you drum up this small fortune?”
“We found a dead antelope on the riverbank,” I lied without a blink.
Bruni took one of the meat chunks and sniffed it.
“This’ll do!” he rendered his verdict. “We’ve had worse.”
An hour later we were eating the big fellow’s poorly-cooked, tough meat. And by the way, he was eating most of all.
In that time, I was able to get a decent look at all three. They had lots of old scars on their faces and hands. The looks, movements and chopped phrases — I was right — these were warriors. But it remained to be seen who they served. They weren’t from our barony. That was for sure. The accent wasn’t right. Most likely northerners. Hm, might they be from the retinue of the Steel King? That was probably it.
The gray-hair hadn’t come to his senses yet. I suspect it’s already too late for him. The dirty rag covering his wound was soaked through with blood. I think even if I activated Lair right now, it wouldn’t do much good, just prolong his agony.
Following my gaze, Randy said:
“An orc stuck a spear into his side.”
“Tusked degenerate!” Bruni barked.
“Were you taken captive?” I asked cautiously.
“Yes,” nodded the redhead. “By the Black Wolves. What about you?”
“Clan of the Gray Mountain,” Mee squeaked. “Our master’s family was having a celebration. He and his warriors were inhaling the smoke of the dope grass.”
“And you ran away under cover of all the noise?” Randy chuckled.
The gremlin and I made honest eyes and nodded simultaneously.
“Hehe, I guess those lowlifes noticed you were gone too late!” Bruni chuckled. “If they ever even noticed.”
“So what do you plan to do next?” the redhead asked. “Where are you gonna go?”
“We were going west, sir,” I answered. “To human lands.”
“You got family there?”
“No,” I shook my head and pointed to the gremlin: “Mee is the only family I have.”
The big guy took a heavy sigh and Randy stroked his chin pensively, then said:
“I’m sorry to disappoint you, kid, but you’ll end up under the same kind of slavery in human lands. The laws of our Kingdoms protect only the rich and powerful.”
Heh, you’re telling me.
“You can say that again,” Bruni confirmed. “They’ll put you with the tramps and send you off to work for some fatcat. And I won’t even mentioned what they’ll do to the gremlin.”
After that, Mee shuddered and squeezed up against me in fear.
“But that isn’t the worst part,” Randy said. “The way west is impassable.”
“Yeah,” I nodded. “We wanted to wait for the water level to go down.”
“No,” the redhead interrupted. “When I said the way west is impassable, I was talking about something else.”
“Orcs,” the big guy muttered wickedly.
“A few clans sent warriors before the rainy season to patrol the steppe on the border with our lands,” Randy explained.
“The area is teeming with wolf riders,” the dark-blonde giant muttered, clenching his fists.
“They’re the elite of the orcish warband,” Randy added fuel to the fire. “It wouldn’t just be hard for a person to get past them, a mouse could hardly make it. But what am I saying? You already know that perfectly well.”
They fell silent, staring pensively at the fire. I meanwhile was thinking deeply. If there’s no way to go west, where should we go? The strong rains will end very soon. This is the best time to get underway.
As if reading my thoughts, the redhead started to speak.
“The western tract is not the only way out of the Wastes. There is also Drake’s Ridge.”
“True,” Bruni nodded. “But honestly, winter is already on the horizon. We’d run the risk of getting stranded in the Pass of the Seven Winds.”
“Those parts are best avoided this time of year,” the redhead agreed.
“Is there really no other way?” I asked, putting a naive look on my face.
The men both frowned and exchanged glances.
“There is one,” Randy nodded. “But it’s no good for kids at your level. Even me and Bruni would have a hard time.”
I mentally noted that the redhead had not mentioned their third companion. I took that to mean neither of them believed he’d be getting up either.
“You’d be better off sitting in some secluded spot and hoping nobody notices you,” Bruni said, but I could hear notes of doubt in his voice.
No, big fellow. That is not the way for us. Sooner or later, we’d be caught. Slavery again? No thanks.
Apparently, the plan Mee and I cooked up was not going to work. The or
cish chieftain was no fool. He was afraid of information leaking. The wolf rider squads had the border sealed tight. And they were on the hunt for human trespassers. If they were elite warriors as Randy said, we’d surely be found.
Drake’s Ridge is also no good. In the winter, the mountains are not exactly the best place for a stroll. All we have left is to figure out what these two have in mind.
They clearly have a plan. But based on their intonation and facial expressions, they don’t much like it themselves.
“Randy, check on the captain,” Bruni said calmly. “I don’t think he’s breathing.”
The redhead nodded and placed his right hand on the gray-hair’s neck. I closed my eyes for a moment.
“You’re right,” he said quietly. “His suffering is at an end. Let’s drag him deeper into the cave, then tomorrow we can lay his mortal remains to rest.”
Bruni nodded and stood to his full height.
A few minutes later, the men went back to the fire.
The big guy sighed heavily and muttered:
“Litz was of course a real scoundrel, but he fought valiantly.”
“But what good was his valor?” Randy objected maliciously, getting a more comfortable seat and extending his hands toward the warmth of the fire. “All of our brothers at arms died thanks to that idiot. It was just because he wanted to prove himself to the Duke and dragged us all into a trap!”
“And the sergeant warned him,” Bruni nodded glumly.
“Here, here!” Randy supported him. “Seima, my sister’s husband, was torn to shreds by wargs before my very eyes! I mean, we grew up together. What am I supposed to tell her now? And that’s if we can actually get out of this asshole of the earth.”
They both spent a bit of time in silence. Only a furious wheeze spoke to their extremely agitated state.
“Understandable,” Randy continued once he’d calmed down a bit. “In my time, when I signed up for the retinue, I knew that sooner or later I’d have to lay down my life in battle. But I didn’t think my comrades and I would be dying for no reason. And I didn’t think some captain’s vanity would get all our boys killed in an utterly dumb and senseless battle. Bruni, why on earth did that idiot have to put us in such a dangerous position?”
“You know why,” the big guy snorted. “So that if we won, the captain could ride his white steed up to the Duke’s pampered ass and give it a big, wet smooch.”
“May the abyss take him!” Randy cursed through his teeth.
As I listened, I realized that despite the downpour, mud and most importantly their distaste for the foolish commander, these men had dragged his near lifeless body all this way. If you ask me, something like that merits respect. To be honest, I was starting to like these guys.
“By the way, you still haven’t told me your names,” Bruni suddenly said.
“Hehe, you know something? That’s right!” Randelph chuckled openly. “You already know too much about us!”
I smiled in response and, placing my hand on the gremlin’s shoulder, said:
“This is Mee, and my name is Eric.”
“Eric... Eric what?” Bruni asked.
“Bergman,” I answered. “Eric Bergman.”
“Bergman. Bergman...” Randy said thoughtfully, stroking his red beard. “Feels very familiar. Where are you from?”
“Orchus. But my parents were born in the west.”
“Where exactly?” Bruni inquired. “My family is from that area.”
“Achena,” I answered.
The men’s faces instantly went gloomy. And it’s understandable. Who doesn’t know the tale of the epidemic and the torched city?
Suddenly Randy raised his head and looked at me closely. I could tell from his face that he had probably remembered something.
“Listen, Eric,” he began. “Any chance your dad was a miner?”
I felt a brigade of ants start marching down my spine.
“He was,” I answered excitedly. “Did you know my father? Aren Bergman?”
“No,” Randy shook his head.
I exhaled sadly.
“But I think I knew his son,” Randy answered. “Ivar Bergman. In those days, he was in the Orchus retinue. It feels like a lifetime ago. Hehe, fifteen, no, sixteen years back.”
I listened to the redheaded warrior in silence, but my heart was about to jump out of my chest!
“I can see you recognize that name.” Randy said, fired up.
“Yes,” I nodded quickly. “Ivar was my brother.”
“What do you mean was?”
“Sixteen years ago, my parents were informed that he was killed here in the Wastes.”
“Hm, well that’s right around the time I last saw him,” Randy said dubiously. “Are you sure we’re talking about the same person?”
“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “But we’re the only Bergmans in Orchus.”
“Then I’m totally lost,” Randy said, confused. “If we’re talking about the same person, the Ivar I knew simply could not have died in the Wastes at that time.”
I felt my heart, already pounding out a fervent rhythm, start beating even faster.
“W-why not?” I whispered my stupid question, hiccupping.
“Because the Ivar I knew never went to the Wastes. As a matter of fact, sixteen years ago, when I last ran into him, we were in the port area of the capital city. The Yellow Crab tavern. The same place we first met. And as you know, that’s pretty far from the Wastes.”
“You can say that again,” Bruni tossed his two cents in and added dreamily: “What I wouldn’t give for an hour in the Yellow Crab right now... A couple mugs of dark beer couldn’t do me any harm.”
Listening to Randy, I couldn’t believe my ears!
“How is that possible?” I asked, dumbfounded. “I mean, my parents got a death certificate and everything!”
“The paper-pushers must have gotten something mixed up again,” Bruni snorted scornfully, distracted by his dreams of dark beer.
“But father went to the chancery...”
“Bruni’s right,” Randy nodded, interrupting me. “Those pencil-pushers are always burying our brothers before they’ve gone.”
“But sixteen years...” I said, looking around perplexed.
“Now that is a valid point,” agreed the bearded redhead, the big fellow also nodding. “Your brother should have turned up by now.”
“Did your father ever speak with his commander or brothers in arms?”
“No one from his company ever returned,” I shook my head.
“What a mess,” Bruni said in surprise.
“This all sounds very strange,” Randy frowned.
“Would you happen to remember anything else?” I asked with hope. “Maybe my brother said where he was planning to go?”
“No,” the redhead answered, furrowing his brow. “I only remember that his unit was accompanying the Baron. That’s it. But there was no talk of the Wastes.”
“What a tangled web,” Bruni again gave his estimation.
“Well, I have to unravel it!” I said, clenching my fists. “What was it you said? The Yellow Crab tavern?”
Randelph gave a sad nod. Bruni chuckled and said:
“You’re getting ahead of yourself! First you get to our borders, then...”
“Speaking of that,” I interrupted him. “As far as I understand, you have a plan? You think we could maybe join forces?”
The men exchanged glances and looked at us with pity.
“Yes,” Randy answered. “We know one way. But believe you me, you’re probably not gonna like it.”
Got it. He doesn’t want to say. He’s afraid we might say something if we get captured.
“Speak. I swear I’ll take your secret to the grave!”
“I also swear!” Mee squeaked.
The men again exchanged glances. Bruni shrugged his shoulders and said to Randy:
“Okay then, tell them. Hehe. When we see the looks on their faces…”
The redhead chuckled.
“We intend to try our luck to the south,” he said briefly.
I stared at the laughing men in incomprehension. Then I turned my gaze to Mee, who looked shaken-up.
“There’s only one way to the south — the Stone Forest,” he whispered nervously. “Even the orcs are afraid of that place.”
The Wastes Page 12
