by Sam Ferguson
Had it not been for the fact that the Old Gods had given the Taish runes to the elves, thereby creating the first written language upon Terramyr, Kamal might have brought up the fact that his likelihood of ever meeting an elf was slimmer than him becoming a fish and swimming across the Inner Sea. Not that saying something like that would have gone over well with his father anyway, but he probably would have said it nonetheless. However, even an appreciation of the importance of Taish as a gift given directly from the hands of the Old Gods only helped him endure his study until his hands began cramping from tracing the runes over and over again.
On this particular day, after nearly losing a great friend and reflecting on seeing a god, he had to wonder if he was wasting his time more than he realized. It wasn’t long before he closed the book. He decided to offer to work an extra shift at the temple. That would get him out of his Taish lesson, and it would give him a couple of days away from the house. Perhaps that would help him reset his mind.
Then again, how does one go about forgetting that they had seen a god?
CHAPTER SEVEN
Halsten called the group to a halt. The children and the elderly were the first to take advantage of the rest. The men and women immediately began breaking out the food and water, seeing to the elders first, as Halsten had instructed, and then to the others. In the fifteen days since leaving the village, the clan had made their way northward along the edge of the mountains. They had been out of Feklyn Woods for over a week now. Traveling through the lands where the desert encroached on what used to be lush, green valleys was not particularly harder than the forest, but it did result in a need for extra scouts to find suitable sources of water, which slowed them down just a bit as they took care to stock up as much water as they could each time they found a source.
The food was running even shorter than usual, but Samek and the scouting party never failed to bring back at least a deer or an antelope.
They would walk as far as the elders could go each day, and then they would stop to make camp. Halsten could tell by the look on Deggeira’s face that she was done for today. He gave the signal for the others to start setting up for the night, and then went on ahead to look for Samek and the other scouts.
He walked along the sand for an hour, but could see no sign of tracks to follow. The hot sun bore down on him terribly, making him sweat in places that had never sweated before. He peered across the sand, spying a few patches of reeds or sturdy clumps of grass sticking up through the sand, fighting futilely against the inevitable. To his left were mountains so tall they reached above the clouds. To his right was what appeared to be an endless ocean of golden sand.
He looked back to the south, where the others had stopped to make camp, and took in a deep breath. The young chief then spat on the ground and turned toward the mountains. It took him nearly two hours to reach the base of the nearest mountain. The sun had already gone out behind the great peaks, and so he knew his time was short before he would need to turn back, but he thought he might be able to find Samek, or perhaps some animal to add to the camp’s dinner that night.
He waked through a patch of three-foot tall junipers, jumping back once when he saw a tan viper lurking just on the other side of a large, gray stone. The snake flicked its tongue at him, but didn’t make any aggressive moves or even coil up. It just watched him with its sinister eyes as he went around.
Halsten went toward the side of the mountain, but had to cross three foothills before he ever reached the actual mountain. Then, he was only able to ascend the side for a few hundred yards before it abruptly shifted into a sheer cliff face that rose for at least two hundred feet. He scanned the cliff face for a few moments, and then he turned back, deciding it was best to return to camp.
As he did so, he thought he saw something along the top of one of the foothills. He peered at the shape, placing one hand over his eyes, and then gasped when he realized what it was.
A black wolf was standing at the top of the hill, looking directly at him.
“Akuhn, you have sent your servant,” Halsten whispered. He knelt where he was and sat still, watching the wolf, wondering why it had followed him. He thought to offer a prayer to the Great Goddess, but as he was about to speak, the wolf trotted down the hill at an angle. Instead of coming straight toward him, it went to the right several yards, and then zig-zagged back and forth as it came down the hill.
All the while, Halsten sat still, watching the wolf.
Had it come to tell him something, like in his dreams? He had seen the wolf three times since becoming chief, always in the same dream as the night his father was slain. This was the first time in his life he had ever seen a wolf in the flesh. His heart beat faster, and his hand flexed slightly, as if the limb wanted to go to Halsten’s axe, but he held still, waiting for the wolf to make the first move.
The animal trotted up to within several yards of where he was sitting. It was large, perhaps as tall as he was if it were to walk upon its hind feet, and Halsten was nearly seven feet tall. Its black fur was thick around the mane and tail, but thinner along the back and sides, with little tufts shooting off the back of its legs just above the paws. The wolf didn’t make a sound. It looked at him with its blue eyes in silence.
Halsten realized then that it was not the same wolf as in his dream, for that one had not had eyes the color of the sky. It cocked its head at him and then came forward three steps and paused with its right foreleg a few inches above the ground in mid-step. Its ears twitched, and then it turned and loped off toward the foothill.
The young chief stood and watched as the animal disappeared over the hill.
A moment later, a hulking figure came over the hill on the northern side. Samek waved at Halsten, and Halsten returned the gesture. He approached his friend and the two clasped hands.
“Any trouble” Halsten asked first.
Samek nodded. “We found a few orcs. They had built a house of sticks out in the desert.”
“How many?” Halsten asked.
“Only three,” Samek replied. “Looks like they had been exiled.”
“You slew them?”
Samek nodded with a grin. “Better than that, we slew them and took their food. They had a smokehouse made of clay out behind the little house. It was filled with smoked antelope and deer. The other scouts gathered it all up and took it back to the others. Agatha sent me after you.”
Halsten smirked. “How’d you find me?” he asked. “The sand doesn’t leave tracks.”
“You may be the chief, but I am the best tracker,” Samek said with a grin. “I can always find what I am after.” Samek pointed to the hill. “Speaking of which, I saw a wolf, or at least I think it was a wolf, running toward the south.”
Halsten nodded. “It came up to me,” he said.
Samek regarded Halsten for a moment and then nodded with a grin. “A good omen, then,” he said. “We find food and a wolf comes to pay a visit to our new chief. Things are going to be back to the way they should be soon.”
Halsten nodded in agreement. “Soon we will have our blessings restored. Come, let’s eat.”
“Hold on a moment,” Samek said. His eyes had shot up to look at the cliff behind Halsten. “Did you see that?”
Halsten turned around and saw a large, white mountain goat climbing along the cliff. He let out a small chuckle and shook his head. “Must have come while I was watching the wolf,” Halsten said.
“A good omen indeed!” Samek replied. “First one to hit it gets to carry it back to camp,” Samek said.
Halsten agreed and the two readied their bows. Samek fired first, but the arrow went just a hair above the goat. The animal stopped in mid-step and looked down at them, then it started to jump aggressively along the cliff in an attempt to escape.
“Not today, my friend,” Halsten said as he pulled his arrow back. He took in a deep breath and then steadied his arms. He allowed for a bit of lead, and then fired. Four seconds later, the goat’s head slammed into th
e cliff. The arrow had pierced the animal’s neck just behind the skull.
“Pray it doesn’t die standing on the cliff and get stuck,” Samek said.
Halsten watched and then smiled wide as the goat slowly tumbled out away from the cliff and then down to the ground. Even from where they were, they could hear the mighty thump. The two men raced toward the animal like a couple of excited Varvarr youth on their first hunt. In some respects, it was new for both of them, as neither had ever slain a mountain goat before. They were very rare, and to get to them usually meant crossing through large swaths of orc territory.
When they reached the goat, Halsten laughed as he saw just how big the animal was.
“There will be plenty to eat tonight,” he said as he slapped Samek on the back.
“You shot it, but I might have to carry it for you,” Samek said with a sly grin. “It is a long way to camp, you know.”
“And let you take the credit, I don’t think so.”
Halsten knelt beside the animal and immediately went into his hunting ritual of thanks.
“Brother goat, I thank you for your life, which will now give my family strength. Go now, and run in the Sacred Valley of Akuhn.” Halsten pulled his field knife and turned the goat a bit to the side so that the belly faced him and Samek pulled the legs away so he could have clear access to clean the animal. Halsten quickly gutted the animal, taking the kidneys and liver for himself and wrapping the heart as an offering for Akuhn as he always did. He then replaced his knife and took the carcass up in his hands and slung it across his shoulders.
“Lead the way, Samek.”
The two made their way back to camp. Even from a distance they could see that a great fire had been built, its flames rising high in the darkening sky. As they drew nearer they could hear the sound of children laughing and playing games. Even the sound of joyful adult voices floated to them on the warm evening breeze and the two hunters exchanged smiles. When they entered the main circle of tents, Halsten gave the goat to Jorgen, and the man quickly set to skinning it together with a pair of Varvarr women so they could get it roasted for the night’s meal.
Agatha and Sarkis were off in their tent, according to Deggeira. Had they been out among the others, he would have made sure to say hello to them as it would have been rather odd to return to camp without greeting his family. However, since they were in the tent and had not seen him return, Halsten decided to properly offer his thanks to Akuhn rather than take additional time to seek them out and announce his return. He left the camp again and walked out into the night a few hundred yards to the east. Samek went with him, but the two didn’t speak. When Halsten found a small grassy area that had enough large rocks, he set about building a small altar in a fashion similar to what the elders had shown him. Samek gathered wood from the many sage bushes which dotted the landscape and carefully piled it atop the altar. Halsten then spoke the requisite prayer of thanks as he placed the heart, still sealed in the dried corn husks, onto the altar and lit the fire.
Halsten watched the flames consume the offering and felt overcome with hope for his people. The journey was difficult, but the spirit among the Gray Wolf tribe was strong, and joyful. The young chief watched the orange and red flames dance, and then he let his soul sing with a tune that he had never heard before.
Dreams of yore, long forgotten
Hopes of those now downtrodden
Dreams of home
Dreams of love
Grant me strength from above
We will go home, we will go home
We will go home, across the waters
Shadows stretch over our fathers
Reachin o’er across the waters
Land of mist
Land of kin
Grant me strength from within
We will go home, we will go home
We will go home, across the waters
His words finished just as the last of the heart was consumed by the flames on the altar. He took in a deep breath, savouring the scent of the roasting meat, and then he looked to Samek.
The large Varvarr reached down into a pouch and pulled out the wrapped kidneys and liver. He held them up as if to ask permission to cook them. Halsten nodded and Samek eagerly went about building another fire. The coals from the altar were not to be used for anything they would consume, so Samek made sure to build the new fire ten feet away from the altar.
“Where did you learn that song?” Samek asked. “I haven’t heard it before.”
Halsten shrugged. “I was thinking about our journey, and it came to me.”
Samek nodded.
The two sat in silence as only good friends can as they built the fire up, cooked the kidneys and liver, and ate the special treats. When they finished, they covered the fire with dirt and then went back to camp to find the others eating and singing songs throughout the camp. Halsten walked among the others for a time, making sure each had enough to eat. Then he took food to his wife and son, who were still in the tent.
“It was a good hunt today,” Halsten told Agatha when he saw her.
She smiled at him and nodded. “Yes, I heard you slew a mountain goat.”
“I went out and saw it, it was huge!” Sarkis exclaimed.
“Have you eaten yet?” Halsten asked.
Agatha shook her head, but Sarkis noded emphatically and took a bit of meat from his father.
“I am ready for more!” Sarkis said as he tore into the meat.
“He’s a growing boy,” Agatha commented. “Soon he’ll be as big as his father.”
Halsten nodded and went in to lie down on the bedroll beside his wife, offering the food to her. “By then, we shall have been in the Sacred Valley for several years.” He rolled onto his back and slipped his hands under his head.
Agatha took a bite of the meat and began to eat while Halsten let his mind wander about what kind of game might be waiting for him in the Sacred Valley. He wondered if there would be herds of elk. Those were his favorite animals to hunt. Perhaps there would even be moose. He had heard his father speak of moose sightings along the western shore of the Inner Sea. The tales of moose had always intrigued Halsten. Large, cranky animals that were as apt to charge a man down as to run. He smiled as he thought of taking a moose with his bow. How great it would be to hunt an animal so large that he would need to build a sled or littler of some sort just to bring it back to his people.
“What are you smiling about?” Agatha asked between bites.
Halsten took in a breath as his thoughts returned to the present. “I was contemplating what a moose would look like, and how many people it might feed. My father said there are such animals in the Sacred Valley.”
“A moose?” Agatha scoffed. “You would need three Samek’s just to haul it back with you.”
“But that is the glory,” Halsten said. “Imagine feeding the whole village with one animal.”
“I heard its antlers can grow as long and wide as a man,” Agatha said. “Imagine what that would do to you if you missed with your first shot.”
Halsten laughed and took some of the food in hand.
“I heard Samek found orcs,” Sarkis called out with a mouth full of meat.
Halsten nodded. “They were outcasts, nothing to worry about.”
“The scouts killed them all, that’s where the other food came from tonight. The orcs had a whole smokehouse full of meat!”
Halsten nodded.
“Sounds as though things are improving,” Agatha said.
“I think they are,” Halsten agreed. “Akuhn has seen fit to bless us early, for our willingness to return to our duties, I suppose.” He set his food down and then whispered to his wife. “I saw a wolf today, a real one. It came close to me, so close I could almost reach out and touch him.”
Agatha’s eyes widened. “Really? Was it black, like in your dreams?”
Halsten nodded. “It was black, but the eyes were different. They were sky blue, and peaceful, somehow. I don’t know how t
o explain it, but it felt like a messenger from Akuhn. A good omen.”
Agatha placed a loving hand on Halsten’s cheek. “I am sure it was, then. That is not all that we are blessed with either,” Agatha said.
“You have heard more news?” Halsten asked curiously. “What else is there?”
Agatha smiled and put her hand down on her stomach. “I am not entirely sure yet, but I think we might be having another child.”
Halsten blinked at her with his mouth agape. “What?”
Agatha giggled and leaned in close to kiss him. Then she pulled away. “I have that feeling I had when Sarkis was growing inside me.”
“Well…er… how long have you…”
“I wasn’t sure until this morning. The last few days I have felt a bit uneasy in my stomach in the morning, but it passes by mid-day. Today is when I realized I am not sick.”
Halsten smiled. “Another child!” he exclaimed in a whisper so that Sarkis couldn’t hear. Agatha nodded and the two shared another, longer kiss. Then they finished their meal and went to sleep.
That night, Halsten was not plagued with the dream he had seen so often since the night of his father’s death. Instead, he slept deeply, and saw no dreams at all. He woke in the morning with a new vigor, though he did find it difficult not to tell Samek about the new child. As they went about breaking camp and preparing for the day’s journey, Halsten continuously offered silent prayers of gratitude to Akuhn for her mercies toward him and his people.
