Hand of Fire: Book 1 of the Master of the Tane

by Thomas Rath

  “No, but there’s a storm cooking up outside and if you want to get to Hell’s End Station before summer comes, you had better move your rear end and start helping me.”

  Thane sat up and stretched, still feeling exhausted from the lack of sleep two days before. Working his still sleeping body to get it moving, he got up and disappeared through the cave entrance followed by Erl. A moment later, he reappeared. “You can stop Jack. No storm until tonight.”

  “What?”

  “No storm Jack. The rain not start until tonight.”

  “It’s will not and how do you know that? I’ve been living in these mountains for quite a few years boy and I think I know a little bit about what an oncoming storm looks and feels like. Now, if you are finished, I would appreciate a little help with these things.”

  Thane smiled, not wanting to argue and certainly not willing to tell him about his ability to know the weather. Like all ArVen, he could smell it on the wind. Well, I guess the sooner we leave the better. Who knows how long Tam can hold out or when those stinking trolls might just decide to kill her.

  He jumped right in to help and in quick order they were leaving their comfortable cave home behind. The sun was still tucked away for the night making the trail dark and treacherous. Erl lead the way followed by Jack and then finally Thane. Jack tried to get Thane to follow after Erl, saying something to the effect that he knew the trail like the tops of his feet and he didn’t want Thane falling over the edge. Thane tried to argue but Jack would not have it. He finally decided it best he reveal his innate power of night vision, figuring it was better to tell him than to have Jack fall off the cliff.

  Jack stared at him with his mouth agape. When he finally found his voice again, he asked, “You really can do that?”

  Thane suddenly felt he had made the wrong decision. “Yes,” he answered hesitantly, “all Chufa can see in the dark.”

  “Well, I’ll be an orc’s mother.” Jack smiled. “To the rear with you then, boy.”

  He couldn’t help the great sigh of relief at how easily Jack had accepted this tiny bit of truth about him. It almost made him want to tell more but his past experience with others finding out about his abilities kept his mouth tightly shut.

  They moved rather quickly for being in almost complete darkness. Thane’s vision was a bit dim, but he was able to pick his way fairly easily and Jack and Erl knew the route quite well. By the time the sun lightened the cloud covered sky in a dark gray, they had reached the other peak and had started their climb to the summit. Their progress at once slowed due to the rough terrain and their full packs of furs and other goods. Thane was still not completely used to his new clothing but knew Jack was right in making him wear it. There was no way he could have survived in that frozen land in just a breechcloth.

  Erl suddenly slowed, sniffing intently at the wind and the small trail in front of them. “What is it boy?” Jack whispered, scanning the area as he approached the wolg. Thane came up from behind and they gathered around a couple of tracks headed in the same direction.

  “Trolls,” Thane said. “Probably a week.”

  Jack gave him a surprised look. “That’s right. How did you know that?”

  Thane regarded his friend as if startled by his question. “I learn since a child.”

  Jack smiled brightly. “You know Thane, I learn something new about you every day. It makes me almost anxious for tomorrow to see what else you can do.”

  Thane bit his lip, feeling a bit unsettled at Jack’s comment. What was he saying? Did he suspect something?

  “Come on,” Jack said, hitting him on the shoulder. “Let’s get going.”

  Thane forced a smile. “Yes.”

  The rest of the day was spent in the arduous climb up the side of the mountain. They did find a small trail switching back and forth that helped a little, but all three were quickly sweating profusely from the exertion. “I need to get out more,” Jack panted hitting his hand against his rounded belly.

  By the time they reached the icy summit, the clouds overhead had become ominously dark and foreboding. Lightning flashes were visible in the distance and the wind had picked up considerably blowing dangerously hard against them.

  “Well,” Jack yelled over the din, “you were right about the storm. I don’t pretend to know how, but you were right. We need to start down off this slope quickly before that lightning catches up to us and fries us for dinner.”

  Thane only nodded while squinting his eyes against the angry wind. The smell of rain was strong in the air and he knew it wouldn’t be long before they were all drenched in the downpour.

  All three scurried as fast as they were able down the west side of the mountain, racing against time to reach the relative safety found farther below. Another problem presented itself almost instantly when Jack slipped on ice that sent him crashing down with a thud. The early thaw from the warming days and the freezing cold of the winter nights made the mountain side an unstable sheet of iced snow. Jack got up slowly, trying to balance himself on the slick surface while at the same time pushing back against the driving wind. A bright flash momentarily blinded all three and was almost instantly followed by the crashing roar of thunder. A sheet of rain, like a wall of water, blanketed the trio as it rushed on, chased by the wind. Thane felt himself slipping as large streams of rushing water appeared out of nowhere racing for the mountain base.

  “I am slipping,” Thane yelled over the wind. “I cannot hold on with these boots.”

  Jack looked up in time to see both of Thane’s feet suddenly fly out from under him and send him flailing to the ground. He grasped frantically for a hold but it was useless. With gaining speed, he raced down the side of the mountain heading straight for Jack. Jack tried to move out of the way but was too slow. He was thrown from his feet as Thane crashed headlong into him creating a pile of flailing arms and legs. Both finally slid to a stop and were greeted by Erl’s lapping tongue.

  “How we going to get down?” Thane yelled over the howling wind.

  Another flash of lightning broke through the dark sky as buckets of rain continued dousing them. “We ha...” Jack started and was cut off by the deafening thunder.

  “What?”

  “We have to get down soon or it will be the end of us.”

  “But the snow is like ice,” Thane yelled pulling his soaking cloak tighter against his body. “If we not careful, we will slip off edge of the mountain.” Both looked down to the ledge, not fifty feet below. It had a small, jutting lip that made it appear similar to the trail they had taken up from the other side.

  “We must reach that trail down there,” Jack screamed, barely able to get his voice above the cry of the angry storm.

  Thane nodded, recognizing the obvious but unsure how they were going to accomplish such a feat. He could feel his boots giving way again and fought the pack on his back for balance.

  “Turn around,” Jack yelled, his voice carried off with the wind and rain.

  “What?”

  “Turn around,” he repeated moving his finger in a circular motion. Thane obliged and Jack started rummaging through his pack. “I’ve got it.”

  Thane turned back and was suddenly grabbed around the waist and jostled about. “What you doing?” he bellowed against the wind. Jack stood back holding a rope in his hand that now extended to Thane’s waist.

  “I will lower you down and then the packs.”

  Thane looked again at the distance he must cover and he wondered if Jack would be able to hold him in such conditions. Already, Erl was inching his way back and forth down the mountainside and had covered about half of the expanse. Another blast of lightning and immediate thunder shattered the sky almost sending Thane in a quick slide down the slope.

  “Give me your pack.”

  Thane slipped off his pack and prepared to go. He wasn’t really afraid for himself, but he wondered how Jack was going to get down after him.

  “Make for that tree down there,” Jack shouted in h
is ear as if answering his thoughts, “and when you and the packs are down, wrap the rope around it and then I will come down.”

  Thane nodded and then quickly started his decent. The snow was slick causing him to slip often, but somehow, Jack was able to keep his own feet planted firmly on the ground. In no time, Thane found himself, with Erl, safely on the ledge. Wasting no time, he quickly untied the rope around his waist and then sent it back up. Jack pulled it up quickly and then started on the packs. Comparatively, they were rather easy and in short order both packs were safely down the mountainside. Thane wrapped his end of the rope around an old tree that shot out from the ledge before it made a quick turn up and reached for the sky. Bracing his feet against the trunk, he prepared for Jack’s climb down ready to pull in the excess slack as he went. If Jack should fall and go off the edge, he didn’t want any extra rope to go off with him.

  Jack started slowly, picking his way carefully through the icy snow like one who had been born to it. He looked for any kind of foothold he might be able to use before making each step. With nightfall coming, Thane’s eyes switched to night vision but the heavy rain and the blinding flashes of lightning made it difficult for him to keep track of his HuMan friend. The constant downpour had thrown a dark covering over the land and Thane was now unsure where Jack actually was. He pulled slowly on the rope careful to take in the slack but, at the same time, tried not to go faster than his friend’s progress. He did not want to be the one to pull Jack off the mountain.

  Erl paced about frantically, letting out an occasional whine as both wolg and Chufa anxiously awaited Jack’s safe arrival. Minutes passed and Thane pulled on the rope again, feeling enough time had gone by for Jack to have descended another few feet. Suddenly, the rope went taut and for a split second Thane stared in horror at the straight cord that disappeared up the mountainside. In the next breath, the rope went completely slack and dropped lifeless to the ground. “Kinpa’s bones!” he shouted. He knew Jack must have fallen and was racing down the mountain towards them, but where would he land? He pulled desperately on the rope trying to reel in as much slack as he could praying that Jack was not too far from the ledge and their position.

  Suddenly, the rope jerked taut again. The tree bent slightly and Thane felt himself being jerked forward. He dug in with his heels pulling back with all his strength to keep himself from slipping off the tree and toppling over the edge. Erl barked and grabbed the rope with his teeth adding his power and mass to the tug-of-war that held their friend in the balance. Thane called out to Jack to see if he was all right, but heard no answer over the roar of the storm.

  Slowly, they began to pull the rope back, straining with all they had to quickly reach the end and hopefully find their friend still alive. Thane cursed himself for being so foolish, knowing that he must have pulled Jack down the mountainside. The strain was getting to him and his arms screamed for relief. The sound of cracking wood suddenly resounded in his ears and he knew it would be only moments before the tree gave way. If that happened, he knew it would be the end. There was no way they could hold all of Jack’s weight on this sheet of ice. They would either have to let their friend drop or follow after him over the edge and to their deaths. Mustering all the strength he had, he gave one last effort and pulled. Every ounce of energy he had left was used in a final, dying exertion to haul Jack back over the edge to safety.

  Suddenly, as if in answer to prayer, a large, dark mass scrambled onto the lip of the trail causing the rope to go slack and toppling Thane and Erl back to the ground. Thane raised his head slowly and watched as Jack tried to fend off Erl’s attacking tongue. “I’m already wet enough,” he growled, “without you adding your slobber to it.”

  Thane laid his head back and smiled, suddenly feeling a tremendous urge to laugh. Just then, a loud crack split the air and his heart almost stopped. Sitting up quickly, he caught the surprised look on Jack’s face as the tree slumped down continuing to splinter. Jack wrestled with the knot around his waist as the tree cracked again threatening to take them both back over the edge. Erl grabbed at the cord and Thane tried to rise but tripped on the pile of rope that had gathered at his feet sending him face first back to the ground. He fought with the web in a frenzy knowing that each moment brought his friend closer to death. He freed himself and stood just as the tree cracked again and then disappeared over the ledge. In that frozen moment of time when life and death stare combatively at one another in a fierce battle of wills, Thane’s feet left the ground as he flung himself into the air pulling his dagger as he did so. Jack’s body jerked, as the rope went taut putting him in motion towards the dark cliff.

  Thane’s body extended, stretching to its limits as his arm reached for the rope that was still tied around Jack’s waist. Jack’s heels dug deep into the snow, plowing it before him in two narrow tracks now just inches from the edge. Thane’s body landed falling just short of his friend but close enough to place his razor sharp knife to the hard, stretched rope. Erl’s teeth dug into Jack’s cloak and held tight as he leaned against the pull that dragged them both forward. With a quick cut, Thane’s knife broke through the taut cord just as Jack’s feet reached the edge. Thane grabbed his friend desperately, pulling him back as Jack kicked his feet in a frantic motion to find solid ground.

  All three fell back in a piled heap of exhaustion just above the rock lip. Thane’s eyes filled with tears of relief that mixed with the rainwater streaming off his face. “I am sorry Jack,” he cried unable to halt the tears. “I could not see. I did not know where you were. I thought you farther down mountain. I did not know.”

  “Wo, wo,” Jack said trying to catch his breath while still fighting off the chill that comes from coming so close to death. “What are you babbling about?”

  Thane kept his head down unable to look at his friend. “I pulled you off mountain.”

  Jack gave him a look of frustration. “It’s the mountain and no you didn’t.”

  “What you mean?” Thane asked trying, with a bit more success, to stop crying.

  “Just what I said. You didn’t pull me off the mountain, it was my own stupidity.”

  “What?”

  “I slipped, Thane. I fell. You had nothing to do with it.”

  “But the rope.”

  “What about it?” Jack asked getting slowly to his feet.

  “It went tight,” Thane answered following him up.

  “That’s right,” Jack laughed. “It got caught on a small branch that was sticking out of the snow before my excess weight snapped it.”

  “A branch?” Thane felt a slight twinge of relief. “Then it really was not me.”

  “That’s what I’ve been telling you, boy,” Jack yelled. “Don’t you listen?”

  Thane looked at his feet and then smiled and nodded. “It wasn’t me.”

  “Well, don’t be too pleased with yourself now,” Jack chided. “You do know what this means now, don’t you?”

  Thane’s head popped up and he met Jack’s eyes. “What?”

  Jack smiled slightly. “This means I owe you now. We’re not even anymore. You saved my life again. I’m in your debt, and Jack always pays his debts.”

  Thane blushed shaking his head. “You owe me nothing Jack, really.”

  “Oh no,” he countered holding up his hand. “You’re not getting out of it that easily. You’re stuck with me now boy until the slate is clean again.”

  “But...”

  “No arguing,” Jack insisted picking up his pack and putting it on. “Now, let’s get out of here before we get water logged in all of this and then freeze to death to boot before I have a chance to repay you.”

  Thane wanted to argue, but just shook his head instead.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Thane sat shivering, trying to find sleep but unable to reach it. They had walked at least three or four hours in the cold, night rain before finally finding a small bit of shelter near the base of the mountain. The storm had not let up at all and all three wer
e soaked to the bone. Now they sat huddled under a small outcropping of rock that jutted out from the mountainside sheltering them from the pelting rain. Luckily, the wind was blowing from behind and was, therefore, unable to reach them as it passed by in a roar of protest.

  Thane stared at the small pile of wet wood he had gathered and sighed heavily. He had almost started it right up, not thinking that normal fire would not be able to touch such soaking wet timber. Jack had laughed when he came to the shelter with it. “You’ll never be able to get that started,” he had said. “You might as well try and light a pile of mud.”

  They all sat silently now trying to find a bit of warmth while staring out at the cold, mountain storm. Jack produced a handful of jerked meat and offered a piece to Thane.

  Thane looked at it for a brief moment and then took a piece. “Why not,” he mumbled in his own tongue, “anything to keep my mind off of this cold.”

  “Hey,” Jack grumbled, “none of that now. You can’t learn to speak right if you keep talking in your own tongue.”

  “Sorry,” he sighed through chattering teeth. “You know, you should learn more of my language. Could be helpful.”

  “Huh,” Jack grunted trying to fold his dripping cloak tighter around him. “I don’t think I’ll be running into too many of your kind where we’re going.”

  “Still,” Thane retorted, “you could use more practice yourself. Then, maybe you know more what it like to learn other words.”

  “Maybe,” Jack sighed leaning his head against the rock behind him. Erl yelped in his sleep, not seeming to notice the cold, drawing envious looks from Jack and Thane. Both had gone silent again except for the noise of their banging teeth as their bodies shivered fiercely trying to create more warmth.

  “You know,” Thane said through the drumming of the falling rain, “you really not owe me anything for tonight. I know you do the same for me.”

  “That’s right, I would. But that doesn’t change the fact that it was me hanging off that mountain and that you were the one that saved me. Nobody has ever been able to hang a debt over my head before and I’m not about to start now.”