Chronicles of Galadria III - Lessons

by David Gay-Perret

  “The last one left a month ago.”

  “In that case, do you have some other kind of healer? This man should see a doctor as soon as possible.”

  “Our leader knows the healing arts,” declared one. “He was the one who decided we should build our village here, because he’s familiar with the region. But he left the village this morning to gather some herbs that we need.”

  “Wait,” exclaimed another. “He has a cabin nearby. He stays there when he leaves like this.”

  “Perfect. Is it far?” demanded Kezthrem.

  “No, but we can’t transport Fordel in his condition.” Glaide assumed from that that Fordel must be the name of the injured man.

  “We have horses. Perhaps we can use them to pull something.”

  “I have a cart,” offered a man.

  “And I have some ropes and straps...”

  “Then go and get them,” ordered Kezthrem, “and quickly.” As the villagers began to scatter, he added, “We’ll need three people to come with us. We’ll settle the injured man into the cart and attach it to my horse. We’ll also need a guide.” Within a few seconds he had his volunteers. Naturally, Glaide prepared to go with them, but the man stopped him with a firm voice.

  “Not you. You need to stay here, find that menace, and eradicate it. It appears there are no soldiers among these people, and there is no telling how long it will take to find this healer. I don’t even know if the man will survive. However, from the look of these wounds, one thing is certain: he wasn’t walking for very long.”

  “That means whatever attacked him is nearby. I understand, master, and I’ll take care of it.” Really, Glaide was frightened at the prospect of having to deal with the situation alone, but as he saw the smile his master cast in his direction, a bit of pride rose up in him, and he felt he’d risen a bit in his master’s opinion. His doubts quickly evaporated so that all that remained was the desire to help those around him, as he’d been unable to do for Rackk.

  The villagers returned then with the cart and some things to attach it with. Calmly, the horse let them do what they wanted, and they carefully knotted leather straps here and there to ensure the injured man would be secure once he was inside the cart. Then came the moment to move him. As slowly and carefully as possible, they lift him from the ground and laid him down on a blanket inside the cart. Without adding anything else, Kezthrem and his three volunteers headed toward the path the master and his disciples had traveled up. It was the only visible access route for the plateau.

  The adolescent didn’t wait for the group to disappear from view before declaring, “We don’t have a minute to lose. Who is in charge of watching this road?” Four men raised their hands. “Good, then return to your posts. If we are attacked from that side, we should be able to defend ourselves easily enough. For that, though, we need someone to warn us.” The men quickly left to find some weapons, and returned with four bows and arrows, plus a few long knives, before heading for their hiding places. As they did that, Glaide continued to speak.

  “Does anyone here know what attacked Fordel?”

  “I do,” replied a woman. “When I saw him arrive—before he collapsed and I alerted the villagers—he mentioned mountain trolls and goblins.” Hearing that, the young man’s eyes widened. His mouth felt dry, and when he spoke, his voice sounded less sure. “Right, um, so... Do you know how he came to be attacked?”

  “Well, normally the only way to access our village is by the path that you arrived on, but he was attacked here, on the plateau, and I don’t see how that’s possible.” All of the villagers began to talk amongst themselves at that. They were obviously all astonished that a monster could have reached their village without coming through the main route. Glaide, however, was thinking quickly. As Kezthrem had feared, the danger was nearby. Finally, he spoke again.

  “Put all of the children somewhere safe, and find weapons. I’ll look around to try to discover where our enemies came from. Although this seems like quite a small plateau, I’ll need a guide. Anyone who knows how to fight and wants to come with me would be welcome.” The boy didn’t really expect to have many volunteers, but five men raised their hands. The youngest, a few years younger than Glaide, acted as his guide. The others, whose ages averaged around thirty, would fight if the need arose. The young man waited until the villagers had barricaded themselves in, and until his companions could collect weapons, then the six moved away from the spot.

  The adolescent quickly realized that the village was installed in what appeared to be the crater of a volcano, though it certainly wasn’t an active one. All around the plateau, sharp peaks prevented access from any direction but the main route, and as the inhabitants had said, in theory, it would be impossible for them to be attacked without seeing the attackers coming.

  “There is only one place here that could shelter those creatures, in my opinion,” declared the guide. “There’s a small stand of trees against the edge of the crater. Otherwise, the rest of the area is an open plain.”

  “Then take me to the trees,” announced Glaide, before falling into step behind his companions. As they went, he realized that he was still not entirely conscious that everything in this world was real. When Kezthrem had asked him to help the villagers, he had understood what that meant, but at the moment, it felt more like a game. In his eyes, it was a chance for some action, and running off to hunt for goblins like this made him forget that if he failed, the consequences would be serious. In fact, the term “consequences” didn’t mean much for him here on Galadria.

  After a few minutes of rapid travel, the stand of trees appeared in front of the companions.

  “There it is,” exclaimed the youngest of the group.

  “Good, then can you lead us inside?” asked Glaide.

  “No problem,” he replied, “but the area really is small.”

  They began walking again, but more slowly and more carefully this time. The young man, counting on the element of surprise, made his blade appear in his hand, instead of drawing, since that would make more sound than he’d like. He saw his five companions open their eyes wide at what he’d just done, but no one commented. Glaide began to advance, however, a few seconds later, he froze in place. Behind him, he heard the loud sound of steel leaving sheaths. The five villagers had drawn their weapons and were smiling at him. The adolescent rolled his eyes up toward the sky, but said nothing.

  “And just like that, we can forget having the element of surprise,” he thought to himself. The small group began walking again, each of them gripping their swords as tightly as they could. Rapidly, Glaide realized that their guide had not misspoken. The stand of trees was miniscule. He could see the edges of it to the left and to the right. “This place can’t hide an army, for goodness sake! Where are the trolls and goblins?” he wondered. The group approached the rocky wall that formed the edge of the plateau, and there where the trees ended to be replaced by rock, they finally found a clue. Before them was the gaping entrance to a cave. Glaide went to say something, but their guide preempted his words.

  “The monsters can’t have come from there. I’ve been inside several times, and it leads nowhere.”

  “But if they didn’t come from there, you have no other ideas, do you?” demanded the adolescent.

  “None, no.”

  “Well, then, we’ll take our chances.” He started forward, but realized then that no one was following. Turning around, he soon saw the reason. The four older men were talking to the younger man. They told him not to come in, but instead to hide nearby. If he heard anything suspicious, he should immediately run to alert the villagers. The boy begrudgingly agreed, and soon disappeared among the trees. The men rejoined Glaide, and one offered their excuses.

  “We don’t want him to be injured. He’s still so young,” he offered as explanation.

  “You don’t have to justify yourselves to me,” replied the adolescent. “It’s perfectly normal to want to protect him.” Then, as one man, the grou
p stepped into the cave.

  It was dark there, but subtly lit by the few rays of sun that managed to slip in through the entrance. No one stepped forward, because in front of them, they could make out some cries, growls, and the noise of weapons and armor. The cacophony was muffled, though, signifying that the danger was farther in, but that they should be careful.

  “It appears we’re right, after all,” murmured Glaide. To reassure himself, he thought back over his master’s lessons quickly. For the first time, his master was not beside him, and this promised to be a rough fight. Finally, he was ready to advance, and his companions followed on his heels. The daylight let them progress for awhile, then it faded away, leaving the back of the cave in complete darkness. The five men stopped, trying to make anything out in the darkness. Suddenly, Glaide’s heart skipped a beat. In a whisper, he told his companions to pull back, slowly, without turning their backs on what was before them. He realized that the men had also quickly spotted the problem. Though it was very dark at the back of the cave, after his eyes had adapted some to the limited light, the boy had been able to make out some even darker moving shadows. In front of the five fighters stood an entire troop of goblins, if the extent of the shadows could be believed. Taking advantage of the darkness, they had set up an ambush there. The legendary stupidity of the creatures was a lucky break for the group, because before their enemy even realized they’d been discovered, the five combatants had moved back nearer the entrance to the cave, where the light would better allow them to fight the battle that was certainly not going to be long in coming. Glaide heard a cry of rage from the small creatures, and from a distance, he saw the dark shapes begin to move.

  “Prepare yourselves,” he cried. “They’re coming!” Instinctively, he took on a guard position. When the first of the creatures stepped into the light, they were blinded for a moment. The adolescent took advantage of the pause and yelled, “Charge!” Crying out in rage, his four companions threw themselves forward with him. Fighting their temporarily blinded enemies was easy, and Glaide cheered that happy chance, because he was also able to count them then, and estimated that there must be at least thirty of them. “They couldn’t all have been waiting there in the back of the cave,” he thought to himself as he ran a goblin through. “There must be a tunnel or something that they were able to pass through.”

  The battle raged, but the limited space meant that the fighters only had to face a few of the creatures at a time. That, combined with the stupidity of their enemies, gave them victory. The creatures in the back, instead of waiting their turn, jumped forward, knocking aside their fellows so that the five companions had no difficulty dispensing them all. However, when the battle seemed finished, one goblin, more intelligent than the others, came rushing out of a hiding place and tried to stab one of the men with a knife. No one was close enough to lend him a hand, and it was with horror that Glaide watched the villager open his eyes wide with surprise as the creature threw itself at him. Suddenly, however, an arrow came flying through the cave to strike the monster in the chest, knocking him aside. He landed among his fellow goblins, dead. All five faces turned toward the entrance to the cave. There stood their young guide, breathing fast.

  “Papa...” he murmured. He dropped his weapon as his father dropped his, and the two hugged, tears streaming down their faces. Glaide, for once, understood just how close they’d come to tragedy. The other men sheathed their swords, tears of relief streaming down their faces as well.

  “They’ve shown exceptional bravery,” thought the adolescent in admiration. “They only just know how to fight, and I don’t think they were prepared to fight so many adversaries at once. And yet, none of them fled. And thank goodness, because alone, I wouldn’t have stood a chance.” The young man had to put a stop to the effusive joy, however, because the danger was not yet over. “Listen, you were very helpful, and if you want to return to your families, go ahead. However, I have to admit that your help would still be very useful to me. These goblins were supposed to be part of a larger group, which should also include mountain trolls. I think the key to this all is at the back of the cave. That being said, we have no time to lose. New enemies could be on their way, and we need to know if it’s necessary to ask for aid from another village in the area.”

  Glaide saw the faces of his companions become serious again. They drew their swords, and the young man was happy to have them following him. This time, though, the young guide remained with them.

  Chapter 25

  THE back of the cave was still just as dark, but with his hand on the wall to orient himself, Glaide was able to travel a bit further. Soon, he saw a glow of light appear in front of him. Orange in color, it appeared to come from a fire. As he approached it, he realized that there was a tunnel that led deep into the mountain. They would have to walk single file to pass through it.

  “That’s where the goblins came from,” he murmured. “And there could be more of them.”

  “But I could have sworn there was no other way out of this cavern,” replied the young man. The light in front of them became brighter and brighter until the group discovered a torch attached to the wall with a metal framework.

  “This tunnel isn’t new, and it wasn’t made by goblins,” thought Glaide. They continued down the tunnel, passing other torches that illuminated the path. The warm light relaxed the atmosphere, and their tension gradually faded. After a few minutes, the pathway opened into a much bigger, circular room with two other tunnels leading out of it. They saw no one, and not the slightest sound indicated any signs of life. As quickly as possible, the group inspected the room, and almost immediately, one thing became obvious: all of the work here belonged to an ancient race, and the monsters that had roamed through the space had only made use of what was already there. All around them, the walls were decorated in bas-reliefs in quite good condition, and the torches were all placed in framework made of forged iron. Glaide gathered together the men, who were busily admiring the place.

  “Listen, it appears the creatures that attacked us were simply using these subterranean ways to move about. That way, they didn’t have to come via the main road. According to you,” he said, pointing to their guide, “there was no other entrance to the cave. However, I think we can all agree that this room and these tunnels weren’t created recently.” Everyone nodded at that. “That means that they were probably blocked up until recently and that some other creatures, the mountain trolls, for example, reopened them.”

  “But we can’t fight here, and in the small space, an army would be useless,” declared the father of the boy.

  “And it would be stupid to just try to fill the hole up again. The trolls will simply open it for them again. It would only be a matter of time.”

  “That’s true,” admitted Glaide. As was his habit when thinking, he began to pace. The others, too, plunged deep in their thoughts, trying to find a solution for the prickly problem. The young man carefully looked around at the other tunnels, and discovered that they weren’t lit. Then, he looked at the walls of the room and the tunnel that rose toward the surface, and an idea came to mind. Before announcing it, he turned it over in his mind, looking for weaknesses; however, it seemed perfect to him.

  “I think I know what we should do,” he declared with a big smile. His companions drew closer. “Look, you can see that the stone making up the walls of the room and those of the tunnel we took are very similar. Of course, with the torches, everything is distinct, but the other tunnels are completely dark. If we take away the light in this room, it will be completely dark, too.”

  “Right, but how does that help us?”

  “Well, listen. Before, we talked about blocking the entrance, but the fact is that there is little we could do that would hold up against a mountain troll. So, then, we don’t want to play against their strength, but their intelligence.” Everyone looked around with smiles. Glaide may not have revealed his plan yet, but the base of it, which meant playing on the stupidity of the
ir enemies, pleased them!

  “This is what we’ll do. There is debris on the ground here, and there must be some at the entrance of the tunnel, in the cave, as well. Those are probably the remains of the blockages that sealed this space and protected your village. What we want to do is build a wall, not to simply block the entrance this time, but to make it disappear.” The men stared at him with inquisitive looks, so the young man continued, “We’ll take out the torches, so that when the goblins arrive in this room, it will be entirely plunged in darkness. Though they can see in the dark, if our construction is convincing enough, this room will appear to hold two tunnels, and not three.”

  “They won’t think to break through our barricade, because they won’t even see it!” a man finished with a big smile.

  “The only thing left to worry about is time. Our enemies could be anywhere in this web of rooms and tunnels, and who knows when they’ll follow one of the tunnels that comes out here? We must warn the villagers, and anyone who can carry stones should come. If we put our backs into it, we should be able to build the wall in an hour.”

  “I’ll let them know,” declared the boy.

  “When you do that, ask too that they make a mixture of dirt, water, and sand to cement the stones against each other. We know that won’t stop a troll if he wants to demolish it, but it will improve the illusion.” The guide nodded, then disappeared. Glaide knew that water was rare here, but he saw no other solution.

  “And what if one day, the monsters figure out what we’ve done?” asked a man, nervously.

  “Well, we will also need to block the tunnel, and for a start there, I think we should make use of the woods. Tree trunks, branches, and anything else that might slow their advancement. Then, if our plan is discovered, and they destroy our wall, they’ll collide with a mass of wood. To get rid of that, they’ll have to shave it away to nothing, and that could take them years. Nonetheless, I think you should come back to check this tunnel at least once a year.” The man nodded, pleased by the idea, even if it meant that they couldn’t definitively put an end to the creatures menacing the village.