Five Runes: Prologue - At Least the Tree Isn't a Cold Hearted Bitch

by JF Hindy

  Pretia and Kotomos stopped and looked at the gnome. He looked absurd to anyone who may have been watching. The little gnome, hands firmly planted on his hips, emitted a constant jingle because of his various tools and gadgets, scolding two humans. One of which was nearly twice his size. The other being an immortal mage.

  “Warren is right, as usual. We've wasted enough time and energy with this. We still have many miles to travel before we're there and I doubt we're going to make it before nightfall,” Pretia put her cowl up to cover up her disappointment. She swore to herself with every bone in her immortal body that was willing to waste a year of her life to consume the giant warrior in a ball of fire and rage. Now that she had cooled down a bit, she decided he wasn't worth it.

  Kotomos, used to Pretia taking the veritable high horse, said nothing and started walking in the direction they had been going before the argument. When he was well in front of Pretia, he mocked her face to himself, mouthing what she had said to him. Then he giggled. Mocking complete, the warrior was himself again.

  The trio kept walking, with Pretia checking with Warren every so often to make sure his device (which he lovingly called “a compass”) said they were still going in the right direction. Normally they didn't have any trouble navigating with the sun and the well known trail tip that moss grows on the north side of trees. However, thanks to the forest creating an impenetrable ceiling, no moss or anything else grew and the sun was pretty much absent.

  This kept on for several frustrating days. Pretia and Kotomos fought on an almost hourly basis and Warren was getting tired of it. It was understandable in a way. The woods were so dense and dark that they had to carry torches most of the time. The tree trunks were so large and numerous that every few minutes they felt they were walking in circles.

  Yet they pushed on. Pretia because she knew they were getting closer. Kotomos because his nearly empty noggin couldn't figure out a good enough reason to turn around. Warren because their destination was the most interesting place he'd ever go.

  “Tell me again, where the hell are we going?” Kotomos asked. He was leading the way holding the torch. Since he was the tallest, he held the torch and led the way. There was just more light that way. Plus, he had been logic-bombed into it by Pretia, who secretly just didn't want to carry the torch because it was heavy and she didn't have any measurable upper body strength. Curse of the mages as it were. All the study and none of the physical exercise.

  “We're headed for original temple of Gravi,” Pretia answered. They hadn't slept well in the weird woods and Pretia was now too tired to remind Kotomos that he'd asked that question every 6 hours since they entered the woods.

  “Oh right, the god who made all the other gods right?” Kotomos was proud he remembered.

  “More or less yes. In the old days, when this continent was much more populated, there was a temple in the middle of a city. By that, I mean they literally build the whole damn city around this one temple. No one knew who the temple was for. If it was for a mortal prophet or an immortal god of some sort.”

  “So these people just blindly worshiped a building? Ha! Even I'm not that stupid!” Kotomos guffawed.

  “Would you shut up and listen to the story! I'll bet they weren't so bullheaded as to interrupt the story teller!” Pretia fumed. He took a breath and continued.

  “One day, people started leaving the temple with strange powers. One man came out and could control the water. Another came out and could control fire. Not a day later, twins came out that could control the wind and the weather. A fifth came out that could control the ground, the trees, and the animals. A final person came out who brought with them the gift of magic.”

  “These sound a lot like the gods we currently worship,” Warren said.

  “That's because they are. As they came out, they realized their strength was immense and that they became completely immortal. They told the world that Gravi had given them powers and knowledge. We know them as the Council of Immortals or, as Warren pointed out, the gods. They didn't govern the people as most had expected. Part of their deal with Gravi is that they could not use their powers to control, only to create.”

  “What's the point of having power if you don't use it to destroy evil and control people?” Kotomos asked. Pretia responded by kicking him squarely in his hind quarters.

  “That's not what it's for you giant oaf. I swear if you attained godhood you'd... you'd... I don't know, probably something completely counterproductive.” Pretia retorted lamely.

  “Counter-what?!” Kotomos hated it when Pretia used big words. He didn't understand those.

  “Oh forget it. Shut up and pay attention. The Council used their powers to increase mankind's power. They helped invent irrigation, weaponry, better boats and buildings, and even helped improve medicine and extend life. Before they came along, people only lived a few dozen years. Now they can live nearly a century. For those of us who got the random magic, it's much longer.”

  “So what happened to this big town? I mean you said it was around here, shouldn't we, you know, see something by now?”

  “No, when people found out that Gravi had granted these seemingly random people gifts, they fled to the temple to worship him. Instead of being grateful for the gifts he bestowed upon them in the form of the things the Council invented, they were jealous that these people got powers and they did not. He was so mad that he exacted revenge on the entire city in the form of the Great Upheaval.”

  “I heard about that. I thought he just destroyed the city.” Warren commented. The Great Upheaval was a myth among people, although many took it as fact. Pretia was one of them.

  “Gravi did destroy the city. He lifted the entire city up into the sky, turned it upside down and smashed it back into the ground. According to scholars and the one or two mages still left from way back then, it was probably the most terrifying display of raw power they've ever seen.”

  “You mean like a gods damned pancake?!” Kotomos had a look of sheer terror. He would, and likely could, go toe to toe with any living, breathing mortal out there. All this magic stuff spooked him.

  “Yes, Kotomos, like a gods damned pancake. The woods we are walking through right now are the woods that grew on the ground on the site of that city,” Pretia closed her eyes and sighed. “Deep down below the ground we tread upon lies the buried and ruined city of Gravi.”

  “Okay, so if the city is way the hell down there, how are we supposed to find the temple?” Warren asked. It made sense. If Gravi flipped the city, the temple was down there, not up here with the awful trees and musty air.

  “Legend has it that when Gravi flipped the city. If you'll recall, the temple was standing long before the city was ever built. As the legend goes, Gravi didn't believe that his temple was a part of their city. Like it was separate from the twisted greed and madness that had descended upon the people of the city. Before you go into one of your anti-human rants, Warren, do know that all four major races lived in that city. It was everyone's fault.”

  “Who said I was going to say bad things against humans? Just because you people are general dull witted, warmongers doesn't mean you're responsible for every bad thing that ever happened,” Warren turned his head sideways as a nobleman might turn his nose up against a peasant. “Just most things.”

  Pretia rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say Warren. In any case, the legend goes that if you brave the cursed woods-”

  “Cursed woods!?” Warren and Kotomos shouted at once. Warren stared at Pretia and Kotomos wheeled on his heels to join him. Pretia crossed her arms.

  “Are you kidding me? How is this a surprise to any of you? There's nothing alive in these woods except the giant trees that block the life giving sun! You both have been walking around here for days calling this place cursed. Now it's a big deal when I confirm that it is?” Pretia berated them both. She wiggled her index finger at Warren like he was a little kid, the wheeled with amazing agility and slapped Kotomos in the face. <
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  “Well a little warning would've been nice. I've been sleeping in this forest. We haven't been setting watches, what if a ghost or something came up on us?” Kotomos fumed. He understood the importance of preparing for danger.

  “For what? Nothing ever happens to anyone they just get lost,” Pretia massaged her temples.

  “Lost for how long?” Warren raised an eyebrow.

  “Forever.”

  “Son of a bitch,” Kotomos groaned. He turned and punched a tree, then spent the next five minutes wrapping his hand in some spare cloth to cover his bleeding knuckles.

  “I took precautions. I studied the maps and all the historical records. I made sure Warren came along with his gadgets. I know where we're going. People get lost because they don't have one of those things. What are they called?”

  “A compass,” Warren smiled and touched his possession.

  “Yes, a compass. You can't tell north from south in here. That's why people get lost. These woods cover hundreds of miles. It's bigger than the kingdom of Zhemton,” Pretia motion around her dramatically. She had a penchant for the dramatic.

  Warren and Kotomos were still angry, but it was hard to argue with Pretia's logic. She had been, after all, arguing with people long before either of them were born. While Warren could best her in engineering, neither could surpass her knowledge