“And you?” Gelbran asked, peering up at Asdor.
“Afraid not,” he sighed, casting another sideways glance at Cordain, “I’m almost as bad as him. Admittedly, I didn’t bring down half a mountain, but, no I couldn’t guarantee anyone’s safety.”
“This is so frustrating!” bawled Gelbran. “How can there be only one way to get over a mountain? There must be another trail somewhere, buried beneath the snow perhaps?”
“We melted the snow anywhere that we thought there might be a path,” lied Asdor. “There is no other route.”
“It’ll have to be just the three of us then!” Gelbran suddenly announced. “The others can make their way back down, but there’s no reason for us to quit.”
“What!” exclaimed Asdor. “You want to keep going?”
“Well I’m not giving up if that’s what you mean,” Gelbran huffed.
“Weren’t you listening?” Cordain asked. “You won’t be able to do anything whilst we’re in the air, and you’ll probably be squashed by one of us two when we try to land!”
“It’s my life, it’s up to me what I do with it!” snapped Gelbran.
“That’s as the case may be!” argued Asdor. “But how could either of us carry on knowing that we were responsible for your death, you pig-headed fool? Well I’ll tell you something right now. Leader or not… I won’t take you!”
“Neither will I,” said Cordain, “If you want to cross this mountain so bad, you’d better start climbing!”
“We tried our best, but now it’s time to turn back, Gelbran.” Gelbran, Asdor and Cordain turned to see Fellis watching them. “You can’t ask your friends to put your life in danger like that, it’s not fair.”
Gelbran sank to his knees, “But… we’re so close,” he whispered in a pleading tone. “We almost had him. He’s just the other side of the mountain. We could end all the killing.”
Fellis knelt beside him and placed her arm around his shoulders, “We’ll have our chance, Gelbran. We’ll watch and we’ll listen, and when the time comes, we’ll get him. At least your little Grubb will get his daddy back this time. Think about that, eh?”
“He’s one lucky kid, Gelbran,” said Asdor. “He’ll grow up with a mom and dad who love him, and he’ll be the envy of the whole village. I mean, none of the other kids will have two pet dragons, will they?”
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” mumbled Gelbran, “We no longer have a village, Asdor. That thing destroyed it.”
“We’ll just have to build a new village then, won’t we? We can go anywhere we want and make a new life for ourselves and your little Grubb,” Fellis said with a smile.
“And if that thing decides to come back, he’ll have two dragons and a giant to contend with. He won’t survive that, will he?”
Gelbran glanced up at Asdor, “No,” he replied quietly. “No, I don’t suppose he will.”
They walked slowly back to the cave. Gelbran’s mind was in a whirl. To have come this far only to tell his people that their efforts had all been in vain was almost too much for him bear. Entering the cave, he looked at the expectant expressions on the faces of his kin and lowered his head, “It gives me no pleasure to tell you this,” he said solemnly, “but we must turn back.”
There were murmurs amongst the crowd and Gelbran glanced at them. Their expressions had changed. He could tell that some were confused by what he had just announced, others were angry and more than a few, relieved.
“Our way is barred,” he continued. “A landslide has destroyed the only route we could take to cross the mountain. Asdor and I contemplated clearing the path, but it would take all our efforts to accomplish and the danger of causing more rockfall is very real. I will not endanger a single life purely for revenge. We will leave this place and find a new home. We will rebuild our lives far from this accursed place and we will become strong and proud once more. I am sorry for all of the hardships you have had to endure, but I will make it my life’s work to see you all happy and safe again. For we are… the vikkery!”
Fellis took his hand as he turned away, “Everyone knows you did the best you could, you know,” she said soothingly. “They trust you, Gelbran. They always have and they always will.”
“Oh they trust me alright,” Gelbran scoffed. “I’ve marched them hundreds of miles and halfway up a mountain so that they can get even with a marauding dragon which would probably have killed them anyway, only to tell them that we can’t go any farther because of a few poxy rocks being in the way! Yeah, some leader I am!”
“Do you hear any of them complaining?” Fellis asked him, leaning down to look him in the eye. “They never wanted to come after the dragon, but they knew that you wanted to. That’s why they’re here, Gelbran! They’re here for you!”
“You mean, none of them wanted revenge on that thing?”
“Of course they wanted it dead, but none of them felt that they would be the one to kill it!” she paused, “Well maybe Asdor did, but he’s an idiot.”
“I heard that,” came a voice from outside the cave.
Gelbran sat on a rock with a weary grunt. Fellis knelt in front of him, “Where shall we go then?” she asked, excitedly.
Gelbran shrugged his shoulders, “Haven’t had time to think about it to be honest. Any ideas?”
“Somewhere nice and warm,” Fellis replied, dreamily. “Somewhere by a river so we can build some boats and go fishing. Somewhere with lots of trees the children can climb. Somewhere with long grass so that we can lie in the sunshine. Somewhere… magical!”
A slight smile raised the corners of Gelbran’s mouth, “Haven’t you had enough of magic? Look what we’ve become since we met that wizard. We’re nothing but a bunch of freaks now.”
“But look at what we’ll be able to achieve now that we’re freaks, Gelbran. Once we find the right place, we’ll be safer than we’ve ever been. We’ll have sentries soaring in the clouds, we’ll have wolves and bears guarding our borders. And in the middle of the village, we’ll have a giant who could crush any who would dare threaten us!”
“Tell me, young lady. How long have you been planning this new life for us all?” asked Gelbran, now smiling fully.
Fellis smiled back at him, “Ooh, let’s work it out,” she replied thoughtfully, “Always!”
“What does that mean?” Gelbran laughed.
“I’ve always thought the village should have been somewhere else, even before the attacks began. Whoever chose that place to build a village needs his head looking at!” She grimaced as she looked at Gelbran, “It was you, wasn’t it?” she asked nervously.
Gelbran nodded, “Seemed perfectly fine at the time,” he chuckled.
CHAPTER 27
Stitch breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the daylight peeping through a crack in the rock ahead of them. “At last!” he gasped, “Fresh air!”
“You won’t say that once we’re out of this cave,” grunted Barden. “It’s absolutely freezing out there!”
“Ooh, do you think that’s why they call them the ice fields?” asked Yello, sarcastically.
“Why don’t you just shut it, Tarrock,” snapped Barden.
“Why don’t you make me, you little oik?”
“Why don’t you both shut up and get a move on?” Porflax asked, loudly. “Damned kids! Grow up, the pair of you!”
“Oh go on, let ‘em fight,” chuckled Ballorn. “We could have a little wager on who might win.”
“The one thing you wouldn’t want to see, Ballorn, is two wizards duelling. It always gets out of hand and one of them inevitably ends up dead!”
“Might as well make the wager a big one then,” laughed Ballorn. “There won’t be any chance of a re-match.”
Hunter nudged him, “Probably not a good idea to goad him too much, Ballorn. He seems quite serious.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” bellowed Porflax. “I’ve seen what these youngsters are capable of when tempers are frayed. They give no thought to innocent bystanders
once the spells start flying!”
“We’ll hide behind the rocks then,” continued Ballorn, who was having far too much fun to stop now.
“You could hide behind what you like!” exclaimed Porflax. “You still wouldn’t be safe! You’d just blown up along with whatever it was! They have no self-control I tell you!”
“Erm, sorry to interrupt,” Emnor said quietly, “but Barden’s already gone, and Stitch followed right behind him.”
“That blasted tailor!” chuntered Ballorn. “I told him to stay where I could keep an eye on him!”
“You can’t blame him, Ballorn. He couldn’t wait to get out of here, and you knew that.”
Ballorn glared at Yello, “Oh, just, just… shove it, Yello,” he growled.
Charging forward, he headed toward the light. Bursting into the cold daylight took his breath away, not only the freezing air, but the clean, crisp beauty of the landscape that sprawled before him. “Wow, would you look at that!” he sighed, feeling a tug at his sleeve.
“N n n never mind that,” said Stitch, shivering, “G g g give me one of those coats before I f f freeze to death!”
Ballorn hurriedly rammed his hand into his backbag, grabbing the fur coat and quickly wrapping it around Stitch. “You can’t be that cold, surely? You’ve only been out here for a minute, at most!”
“F f far too long without a c c coat, Ballorn. We…” he shuddered, “we aren’t all lucky enough to b be the n n…”
“Alright, Stitch. I get it,” Ballorn said, rubbing the tailor’s back to warm him. “Hunter, you’d best put the other one on.” Then, something dawned on him. “I never packed those heavy robes,” he said, looking horrified at his omission.
“We know,” said Yello. “But don’t worry. We know what it’s like out here so we’re already wearing them. That’s the thing with our robes, they all look the same.”
“Thank goodness for that,” said Hunter, “Otherwise we’d be sliding four icicles along the ground to get you home.”
Yello sniffed, “Well… three, anyway,” he said as he glanced at Barden.
“Enough,” Emnor warned him. “We need to move on.”
“What?” cried Stitch, “Not yet! You can’t expect us to go already? I can’t walk, I can’t even feel my legs they’re that cold!”
Ballorn eyed Stitch for a moment, then opened his backbag, “I’ve got an idea,” he said. “Stitch… climb in.”
“You can’t carry him!” laughed Hunter.
“I’m not going to,” replied Ballorn. “This is snow, right? Snow is slippery, so he gets in the pack, I hold the strap and I’ll slide him along behind me. He’ll be nice and warm and, more importantly, he won’t slow us down.”
Stitch had a huge smile on his face, “That sounds like a wonderful idea to me!” he said happily. “It’ll help me save my strength for when it’s needed most as well. I can leap out at any time and…”
“Just get in the bag!” bellowed Ballorn.
Doing as he was told, Stitch climbed in and shuffled as deep as he could. Wrapping his coat tightly around him, he smiled. “It’s quite cosy in here you know. We should have one of these each.”
“That’s not a bad idea, Stitch, apart from one thing,” said Ballorn.
“What’s that?” asked Stitch, innocently.
“Who’d pull us along!”
“Ah, good point,” replied Stitch. “Maybe we could get some ponies to pull us along, that’d work.”
“Brilliant!” Ballorn said with fake glee. “You pop off and get us a few ponies then and we’ll wait here ‘til you get back.”
“There’s no need to be nasty! You know there aren’t any ponies here, I meant for in the future. You know, if we ever have to travel in the snow when we get back home.”
“If indeed, we do get back home,” mumbled Hunter.
Ballorn gave him a surprised look. Hunter had never taken a defeatist attitude and it took him aback slightly. “Now, now, we’ll have none of that,” he said reassuringly. “We’re all going home when this is done, but seriously, Stitch, when can you remembering it ever snowing in Krevick?”
“There’s a first time for everything, Ballorn.” He clapped his hands together. “We should give your new idea a name! What about… a slider?”
“It’s already got a name, Stitch. It’s called, a bag.”
“Not when you use it like this it’s not!” argued Stitch. “We could make some out of old bits of wood, they’d last much longer if they were made out of wood, wouldn’t they?”
“I wish you were made of wood,” groaned Ballorn, “then you wouldn’t be able to talk so much.”
“Ha, see! You know it’s a good idea and you’re grumpy because you never thought of it first.”
Ballorn turned his back and carried on walking, towing the tailor behind him. “I’ve got enough to think about without coming up with stupid ideas on how to use old bits of wood to drag people around in the snow. Now do be quiet, there’s a good chap. Pull your coat up over your mouth for a while. It won’t stop you talking, but at least it’ll muffle the sound enough for me not to be able to hear you!”
Hunter walked beside him, “What are we looking for out here, Ballorn?” he asked.
“Not sure. We’re in the hands of young Barden now. He said he had friends who could help us, but I have no knowledge of anyone living in such a harsh place as this.”
“Help us in what way?”
“Well, to defeat the dragon I suppose.”
“Keldenar said that you must be the one to defeat it. Aren’t you concerned that whoever these friends are might want to kill it, not just stop it?”
Ballorn leaned closer, “If it comes to it, I’ll kill the thing myself!” he hissed. “It sounds harsh I know, but one way or another… the dragon will be stopped!”
Throughout the day, they trudged on, battling against the relentless blizzards of Ellan-Ouine. They could see no more than a few yards ahead of them as they followed Barden, who seemed to know exactly where he was going. A few times, Stitch climbed out of his new slider and walked beside them. He felt slightly guilty and insisted that, although the Nibrilsiem had immense strength, he should conserve as much of it as possible. “We could come face-to-face with that thing at any moment and you’ll need all the energy you can muster to tackle it, Ballorn.”
Unfortunately, his good intentions lasted but a few minutes before his pace started to slow and he had to clamber back into the backbag. “I’m so sorry, Ballorn,” he would say apologetically, “I’m simply not built to deal with the cold.”
At last, they had a reprieve. The wind died down and the driving snow calmed to an occasional flurry. The scene ahead became clear, but their hearts sank as they stared in bewilderment. They had surely travelled many miles, but none were certain how the terrain would appear once they had cleared the blizzard. But they were not expecting this. It was identical to what they had seen when they had first left the caverns. Mile after mile of open, frozen wasteland lay before them. There were no hills, mountains, nothing higher than an occasional bump or hillock of snow that had perhaps buried a hardy plant or fern.
Looking back, Ballorn could see the faint shadow of the Muurkain Mountains on the horizon. “They look so small!” he gasped, “Another hour and we won’t be able to see them at all!”
“Which means we aren’t even halfway to wherever Barden is leading us,” whispered Hunter.
“But… but we can’t survive this!” whimpered Stitch. “We can’t stay out here at night! Once the sun goes down, it’ll get even colder and,” he gulped, “we’ll be nothing but blocks of ice by morning!”
Porflax tutted, “As if we’d expect you to be out here at night,” he snorted.
“Thank goodness!” Stitch said with a sigh of relief, “So there’s a secret place you’re taking us to where we’ll be warm and safe then?”
Porflax frowned, “What, you think I have a log cabin stored in my robes? I simply meant that it never gets dar
k when you’re this far into Ellan-Ouine! So stop fretting, Stitch, it won’t get any colder. But tell me, have you ever been lucky enough to spend the night in a proper wizard’s camp?”
Stitch pulled his coat up around his face and they could hear his muted ramblings, “Won’t get any colder… never gets dark… proper wizard’s camp? Why didn’t he tell us about that when we were stuck in Slymeer swamp?”
“Barden!” called Porflax, “We should set up camp for the night.”
Barden looked up at the sky, “We need to press on whilst the calm weather holds,” he replied, frustrated by the suggestion. “We’ll make better progress now!”
“The nemilar need to rest, Barden,” Porflax replied adamantly. “We’ll set camp now!”
Barden stormed back toward them, “We need to be there first thing tomorrow or…”
“Need to be where?” Ballorn asked, slowly.
Barden glared at him, “You’ll find out when we get there,” he replied angrily. “If we ever get there. Four hours, that’s all the time we can spare,” he added, “less if the storm returns.” He leaned down and looked into Ballorn’s eyes, “Make the most of it!”
Ballorn twitched and Hunter grabbed his arm. Ballorn glanced sideways at him and nodded knowingly, “Four hours it is,” he said, looking back at Barden.
“Right,” cried Porflax, loudly. “Watch this!”
He raised his arms and began to chant. A shower of sparks rained down and they were surprised that, when a few strays landed on their skin, they were not burned by them. All around, the snow started to bubble and bulge with small cracks appearing as slender sticks poked up through it. The bubbling became heaving and suddenly they were covered with snow as large tents erupted from beneath the crisp white blanket that had lain before them a split second before. Flames erupted, but the sudden inferno shrank to become a large campfire, complete with a kettle hanging over it.
Mark of The Nibrilsiem: Set before The Ascension of Karrak (The Karrak Trilogy Book 4) Page 26
