by deSouza, Leo
“Behold! The Beige plains, the uninhabited vastness by the slope of the red mountains!” Thuor exclaimed.
“It is for sure very wide.” Said Rurur impressed.
“How much time for us to cross it?” Asked Olaf.
“Like two days of hasty stepping.” Replied Thuor.
Torag thrust his arm in the air throwing Balfour. “Just in case, ye know. It is a very open field, it is good to have an eye in the skies.” He said.
Thuor gave him a slight slap on his shoulder and stepped ahead, coming down the hill towards the plain. The other ones came after him, so they entered the fields, the grass was high enough to reach their knees, and the atmosphere was dry, hot air blew striking the grass and making it move like scattered waves.
“For someone who walked on a desert, that does not seem that clear, still quite clear anyway.” Olaf said.
“Well in case any danger comes from up high, we can at least hide ourselves in the grass.” Torag spoke.
Rurur was carefully looking at the ground as he walked, and Thuor noticed it. “Ye will not find herbs here, it is all grass.” He said.
“Worst for us then, my spice is running out, we better find something to flavor the food soon.” Rurur replied.
At some point, the grass became higher, tall enough to cover a dwarf, and the road was not that well preserved there.
“I need some time to do my… Necessities.” Torag said as he stopped walking.
Thuor stopped too, he rested his hands on his waist and looked ahead. “Go.”
Torag entered the grass, Olaf put his backpack on the ground and sat on it. Rurur came to the saddle on Jewelry and began arranging things as he hummed:
“Old wise dwarf,
go get arrange your stuff,
take all what ye need,
and prepare for great deed,
don’t forget about,
the good friends ye have around…”
He continued singing while Thuor was noticing something strange in Olaf. “Ye seem quite downcast.” He said.
“Yes I… I’m not feeling that good actually.” Olaf replied.
Rurur came close as he heard the talk. “What are ye feeling?”
“I’m not sure, a strange tiredness and a dismay. It is as if my joy is being drained by a strange bad mood.” Olaf said.
“Another dream?” Rurur asked.
“No… I was feeling quite good, till just now, I feel like I’m approaching something bad.” Olaf replied.
“Or something bad is approaching ye.” Thuor spoke. “Why did not ye tell me before about what really happened in your meeting with the dark rider?”
“Well captain, some think it is wise to keep certain things in secret.” Replied Olaf. “Guess what the council of the elders would have decided about me if I had told them. Besides, I could not tell if it actually had real importance. It was just a damn piece of cloth! But I might apologize.” He looked away at some birds flying near the horizon. “These birds…” He was saying as he turned back to Thuor, but at this exact moment he saw behind the captain a man with a knife about to stab him in the back. “Captain!” Olaf shouted
All of a sudden the attacker stopped with wide eyes and then fell on the ground, dead, an arrow in his back. Thuor looked back, there came Torag from the grass, holding his crossbow. “There are more of them!” He shouted.
Thuor drew his hammer, Torag reloaded his weapon, Rurur took from the ram’s saddle the mattock, and Olaf came after him, taking shield and axe. In no time, more attackers came from the grass, four of them. The tempers exalted, everyone got into fighting stance, the dwarfs could now see their aggressors, tall men, dressed in light armor and with typical eastern men’s weapons.
“Wraaagh!” Torag cried as he advanced against one. He pushed him with his foot and went into melee fight. Thuor began a struggle with another one, defending himself against attacks made with a saber, using the handle of his hammer. Olaf ran against one man and pushed him with his shield, making the aggressor fall back and Rurur advanced against his opponent with his axe. A fierce battle began, the ambushers had a strange behavior, not like ordinary men, they fought as if possessed by a strange force. Even so they were no match for the captain and Torag, and that does not mean Olaf and Rurur were not capable. After some clashes of weapons, pushes and punches, Thuor eliminated his foe. Torag decided to drop his crossbow and dealt with his enemy using his bare hands and feet, the dwarf went into frenzy, so wildly that his foe was totally desperate a moment before dying. Olaf did not manage to defeat his one alone, but Thuor came in his aid and with a strong blow of his hammer, the captain put the aggressor on his knees, then Olaf himself finished him. Rurur did not have the chance to hit, or to be hit, for Jewelry came and hammered his head against his enemy, making the man fall to the ground, there Torag came and terminated this last one. Now the dwarfs were breathless, they kept alert for some moments more, waiting in case more attackers came, then finally rested.
“What was that?” Olaf asked.
Torag was sweating, he pushed away his hair from his own face. “Ambushers! I saw them passing, sneaking across the grass… They passed without noticing me.”
“What was it that these damn miserable thieves wanted from us?” Olaf exclaimed as he kicked one of the dead men in the ground.
“Maybe it is simply like ye say, they were thieves, looking for good spoil.” Rurur spoke.
Now they began to inspect the bodies, it did not take much time for Thuor to find something. “Black viper.” He said as he held the arm of one of the dead assassins.
The others approached and saw on the fist of the dead one a tattoo of a black enrolled snake, they looked at Thuor as if expecting an explanation.
“Black viper assassins.” The captain continued. “The infamous guild of thieves, robbers and assassins from the Golden City, they are nothing but shameless mercenaries, ready to kill if the bounty is worth it. Still very skilled killers, we would be dead now if caugh by surprise, they are not fit for fighting openly, these assassins are ambushers who kill without being noticed. Luck saved us today.”
“Torag’s surname is luck then.” Olaf said, he took from the pocket of another dead one a small note. “Here!” He said as he rose.
The others came to him.
“There is something written…” Continued Olaf.
“Give me it here.” Torag said as he took the note to himself.
“What it says?” Rurur asked.
Torag took some time reading it, then revealed the content of the note to the others. “There is an order to kill us!”
“What? A reward on our heads?” Olaf asked.
“No!” Torag replied. “An order! Here it says a group of four dwarfs from the RockFoot house, travelling south!”
“Who signs it?” Thuor asked.
“None.” Torag replied. “I see now, these were the ones who came sneaking up on us, we saw them before.”
“So why did not they attack before?” Rurur asked.
“Because they were awaiting the best opportunity to do it, as I said, they are ambushers.” Thuor replied.
Torag spat on one of the bodies on the ground. “They were!”
“And why by all the fates would such a bunch of assassins want to kill us?” Olaf asked.
“They act under the command of someone else who hired them, least is to know who.” Thuor spoke.
“Yes. Who could be?” Rurur asked.
“That is he question. Who, and why. But I don’t believe we can get these answers here and now. It is better for us to leave.” Thuor spoke.
So they did, leaving behind the dead bodies, and with a more watchful stance, prepared for any new aggression, holding their weapons. But nothing more came, the dwarfs left the high grass and went into open fields again, now they were on a plain, even a deer could be seen leagues away. The journey took the rest of the day, and it was a tranquil travel across the fields, now the only thing that brought back the memories of
the dwarfs to their house and the place they left at the beginning of the journey was the Red Mountains Range that could still be seen far away to the east. When night came, the company set up camp and prepared to rest, Balfour, the hawk, returned to his master and was now landing on the ram’s saddle. Meal, bonfire and dwarfs sitting on the ground, as always. Torag was close to Thuor, chewing a piece of bread. “Black viper guild, that seems quite serious.” He said.
“Even more serious if one knows that these assassins work under the blessing of the king on the golden throne, the king of the eastern men.” Thuor replied.
“What do ye mean?” Torag asked.
“I came thinking about it after the attack… I mean that they would not usually leave the city to hunt like they did, unless the price paid is good enough, or their master is someone really powerful.” Thuor spoke.
“Hunf… Good looking as I am, yet I don’t think my head is that expensive.” Torag spoke, full mouthed.
Thuor had a thoughtful mien. “Maybe there is something bigger involved in this.”
“Do ye think it can have something to do with the entire enterprise? The Dark Rider…” Olaf asked.
“I’m not sure, but anyway, it seems we will not need to look that far, we came looking for answers, but the answers are coming to us now, and fast.” The captain spoke.
“May it come in a lighter way next time… Actually… They can send whoever they want, no one can deal with us so easily!” Torag said.
“I’m not sure about this, Torag. It was luck that ye went away through the grass, otherwise they would have caught us all unwary. I might thank ye for that.” Thuor spoke.
Torag bit his last piece of bread. “No need captain, old Torag here is only doing his job.”
The night advanced, the soft wind blowing across the fields sounded as it gently stirred the grass around, bringing a cozy mood, the dwarfs rested, always keeping one as watch.
When morning came, it was a warm light day, after a meal they took the path one more time to cross these lands. The sun was getting higher and many birds were flying around, singing and twirling in the air, far ahead, they could see tall figures across the field, Torag threw his bird in the air.
“I see big figures far ahead. What is it?” Asked Olaf as he put his hand over his eyes and squinted.
“The hosts of this place!” Said Thuor.
They came through the fields and the figures became bigger to their sight, the dwarfs noticed that some of them were slowly moving, like moving giant trees. But it took some time of walking for them to really see what they were, not trees but animals, giant quadrupeds, known in the west by a different name, they were called by the eastern folks by the name of Zilonis, creatures similar to the elephants we know, but far bigger.
“This is something new for me, for sure.” Said Rurur wide eyed.
“Not just for ye, I have never seen animals like these.” Said Torag.
As they came closer, they could hear the trumpeting of the animals.
“Are they aggressive?” Asked Olaf.
Thuor shook his head. “No, but we should not risk passing too close.”
Among the herd they saw some calves running through the tall legs of the adults. The dwarfs strayed from the path and passed through the side of the herd after hearing Thuor’s instruction that they should not make noise or sudden gestures. They continued and drew away from the animals leaving them behind. Rurur took a canteen from the ram’s saddle and drunk some gulps of water. “Anyone else want it?” He asked reaching out the canteen.
Everyone drunk, except for Torag who made a negative gesture rejecting it, he was carefully looking at the sky, Rurur took the canteen back. “Where is your hawk?” He asked.
“Somewhere… I’m not looking for him now, I’m looking at the clouds, they are changing.” Said Torag.
The others looked up and saw he was right, the heavy clouds had approached quickly and now the skies were getting darker, a strange wind began to blow whirling through the grass, half the sky was covered by heavy clouds and the other half was clear, but the sun was still shining.
“There is rain coming.” Said Rurur.
“Is it rain?” Asked Torag. He had his eyes fixedly looking to the horizon ahead as they walked.
At some distance they saw again something that caught their attention, lying ahead there were bones, many bones of those giant animals, the Zilonis, and some were complete skeletons, with their big ribs and legs.
“Is it a graveyard for them?” Asked Olaf.
“Yes some of them come here to die, in a last pilgrimage, they just come, then lay down, and then die, as if they knew the time.” Replied Thuor.
They were now approaching one of these complete skeletons.
“Give me some water, Rurur.” Said Torag reaching his arm back without turning himself.
Rurur turned to the ram. “Ye said ye did not want…” He whispered. But after a moment looking for the canteen, he could not find it. He looked back to the field where they passed and saw far away there a small pot shining through the grass. “Oh! Curse!” He exclaimed, then turned and went walking back to the canteen.
“What?” Asked Torag.
As Rurur walked back the others stopped near the skeleton and stood there looking around, the heavy clouds were still advancing.
“These are strange clouds.” Said Thuor.
“Yes… Too heavy for this season, and somehow I think they are moving against the wind.” Said Torag.
“Not against the wind, there is another wind flow up there pushing them.” Said Olaf.
They heard a chirp, then suddenly Balfour came flying down, he landed so abruptly that Torag almost had no time to raise his arm for him. The bird was agitated and still chirping a loud noise that was enough to hurt the dwarfs’ ears.
“Shhh.” Hissed Torag looking at the bird. “What is it, my friend?”
“Did he see something?” Asked Thuor looking around.
“It seems so. He chirps to warn me about things, but he is too agitated now.” Replied Torag.
The three dwarfs looked around, trying to see something. Olaf noticed that the Zilonis were now running back there where they passed earlier, Rurur was almost reaching the fallen canteen. Then Olaf saw something that made him petrified, back there, passing quickly in the air, a big monstrous flying figure came, the dwarf slapped Thuor’s shoulder and pointed to it, the other ones looked and also saw.
“It’s him!” Exclaimed Olaf.
“Rurur!” Exclaimed Torag.
“Don’t make him run, it will be worse!” Replied Thuor.
Olaf shouted long. “Rurur!”
The other ones did the same, repeatedly. The monstrous figure was now advancing even more quickly, like an arrow ripping the air, but absolutely silent. When Rurur finally took the canteen from the ground, he looked back as he heard the other ones calling him, from far he could see them gesturing for him to crouch.
“What is this that these clumsy ones want?” He whispered for himself as he stood still.
It was Torag himself who pointed to the side toward the monster, and after that Rurur looked out and saw the creature coming in his direction, it took less than a blink for him to trigger a desperate running back to the others. The flying beast was now chasing him as it came lower close to the ground at a frightening speed, the dwarfs could see the figure of someone riding it.
“Run Rurur!” Shouted Torag.
Rurur came, running so fast that the others did not even know he could do that, clumsy but amazingly quick, and his eyes were wide due to the terror approaching.
“He will not make it!” Said Olaf visibly frightened.
The monster was now very close to them, right on Rurur’s track, it moved its claws towards the dwarf, the other ones jumped inside the Ziloni skeleton and crouched bringing with them the ram, and then came Rurur in a jump, just a moment before the monster could catch him, he joined the others inside the skeleton falling above them. The mo
nster’s nails scratched the ribs of the skeleton when it went over and flew away, receding. Everyone looked at Rurur, he was pale as white porcelain, there was no drop of blood beneath the thick skin of his face, and his eyes were bulging, Torag was laughing quietly. “That was close...” He muttered.
Rurur gave him a slap in the face. “Ye think it was funny?”
Then they all crept and stared through the ribs of the skeleton, the flying monster was there ahead, it turned around and went towards the Zilonis, chasing them.
“There is your dark rider chasing the giants… Like ye dreamed.” Rurur said as he looked at Olaf.
This one looked back to him, and glanced as if impressed by what he said.
“We should be thankful that there is bigger preys than us around.” Torag spoke.
“It came after me! It wanted me!” Said Rurur.
“Yes we saw it; that was the Dark Rider... But it seems that ye were just in his way, he has no special interest in a chubby dwarf. At least now we know the stories are true… There is him…” Said Thuor.
“Oh yes, very true they are.” Said Olaf.
The monster and his rider were still there tormenting the animals as they ran, trying to escape.
“Why is he doing it?” Asked Rurur.
“He is training the beast.” Said Thuor.
“Training for what?” Asked Olaf.
“For war.” Said Torag looking at Thuor. “He is preparing his mount for strife, for the battlefield.”
Thuor nodded.
“War… War against who?” Olaf asked. “We dwarfs live inside caves, underground, a flying beast is of no use when attacking such places, not to tell about the elves in their dense forests and under the trees.”
