Magic's Genesis- Sword of Wilmamen

by Rosaire Bushey

  In silence, the pair walked together and then drifted apart through the trees, Haustis moving in a line to intercept Relin, and Lydria moving to her left to listen for and to speak to Kimi who was much further ahead scouting the trail than the others.

  “What does the trail look like Kimi?”

  “The same. And it smells the same too. Is Pars sure this is the right direction?”

  “Yes, he is. We all ask him at least five times a day. He assures us that the forest will end, and we will one day find roads again, and that, perhaps, we will come to a time where we would prefer the monotony of the forest.”

  Kimi’s silence told Lydria that the cat either didn’t believe her, or that he was sniffing something, or possibly attacking lunch.

  Despite the seeming emptiness of the woods, they slept each night without a fire, Lydria cooking their food with magic. As the summer progressed the weather was pleasant, and except for the bugs and flies, it was comfortable sleeping outside at night.

  “We will move more slowly and carefully going forward,” Pars said the next evening. “We are nearing the lands where the Chag Ca’Grae can be found and it may be best if we sleep and watch in pairs throughout the night. The Chag Ca’Grae, are not violent in the way of the Qorghal, but so few people have met them that it is impossible to say what they will do or how they will react to people passing through their lands.”

  Until Pars’ announcement the expedition seemed to be a walk in the woods, but the reality and the danger of what they walked toward reasserted itself in their minds. Throughout the night, those who took watch spoke of little else other than that they didn’t know if their expedition would lead to the Eifen or if the Eifen still lived.

  Lydria and Kimi lay under a blanket, listening to the sounds of the evening, and through Kimi’s ears, Lydria could hear the conversation between Haustis and Relin. Both the Eifen were aware that their mission may be in vain, and both were trying to come to grips with the worst case, while still maintaining hope.

  “Your people spend a lot of time hoping, even when there is nothing you can do about it.” Kimi was tired, and his thought trailed into Lydria’s head as his low rumbling purr faded into the evening. Lydria answered quietly as she lay her head next to the thick fur of his neck, “Sometimes hope is all we have, my friend.”

  The group stayed closer together the next day and walked more slowly through the trees. The Eifen slipped easily into their pace where they made next to no noise at all and left almost no trace of their passage. Pars imitated their movement, receiving appraising and approving glances from both Relin and Haustis. Among all the humans Lydria had ever met, Pars was uniquely gifted in his ability to blend so seamlessly with his surroundings. Even his clothes seemed to blend with the trees and dirt, making him conspicuous only by his absence and a pocket of silence that followed him through the trees.

  Lydria would often listen through Kimi’s ears to hear her own one-woman stampede of the undergrowth, and she then used magic to deaden her footfalls and for the first time, make her the quietest member of the group.

  By nightfall they had traveled several miles less than the day previously. Pars and the Eifen had made a game of judging their distance. Each evening they would tell Lydria what they thought, and Kimi, who understood the measures, but whose ability to accurately estimate distance was greater than the others, would be the judge. For the last several days, the estimation of Pars was nearly that of the bobcat and the Eifen conceded the game.

  As they walked Relin picked up the story of his previous journey south. “We took a different road than what we travel now. We were further to the west before we turned south, and these roads are not familiar to me.” Relin looked to Pars hoping he would know where they were.

  “The paths we follow now lead in the general direction of where Relin said his people were taken, and where the stories I have heard describe that they must go. From my travels I know that the ruins of Nethyngal should be about a week’s march to the south and west. But the Qorghal live there and so that area is given a wide birth. To our direct west is the rumored home of the Chag Ca’Grae, a quiet people who live largely underground. No one has seen a Chag Ca’Grae in many years and stories of them are few, but some stories say they are short, hairless and afraid of the sun.” Pars paused again, taking several steps before continuing, “Other stories say they are bearded giants who rip apart stone with their bare hands. And still others would have you believe that they are a tale, or that if you see a Chag Ca’Grae, you will be afflicted with bad luck and die within the year. So, all we really know is that we do not want to go to Nethyngal.” Pars lifted a water skin to his mouth and said no more. They were truly on their own now, Lydria knew, and finding the Eifen was seeming more difficult and less likely.

  “There have been no Eifen who have come this way,” Kimi told Lydria. “But there are strange smells in this part of the world. I don’t know what they are, but they are not us.”

  “Can you describe what you smell?” Lydria knew she could enter Kimi’s senses and smell for herself, but she also knew the cat’s senses would mean little to her.

  “There is something that has been through here recently that has an odor unlike anything I have smelled before. It is not an animal, nor is it Eifen or human. It has more in common with burrowing creatures, than anything that lives above ground. If I didn’t know better, I would say it is a type of gopher, or rabbit, but there is something about it that makes me believe it is none of those things, but more like you than unlike.”

  Lydria thanked Kimi and the others began to make guesses as to what the creature might be but quickly lapsed into the routine of setting up camp, making food, and setting the evening’s watch.

  It was early in the morning, well before the first rays of the sun lightened the eastern horizon, when Kimi’s voice came to Lydria, warning her that there was something moving nearby the camp. Even straining her ears, Lydria could hear nothing out of the ordinary nearby. Relin and Haustis sat wide awake, looking into the forest, and moving their heads slowly from side to side but providing no indication they heard, saw, or felt anything amiss; so, it came as a surprise to all of them, when Pars thrashed out suddenly, a muffled cry escaping his lips, had everyone standing up, weapons drawn, looking in his direction.

  In the darkness Lydria couldn’t see and was prepared to look through Kimi’s eyes when Relin’s voice called out to hold. “Lydria, Haustis, everyone relax and put away your weapons,” Relin said quietly. “Pars is being held, but not threatened. There is no blade to his throat.” Haustis and Kimi confirmed as much, and the group moved together toward the center of the camp but keeping their distance from Pars.

  “Who are you strangers, far from home and trespassing on our lands?” The voice was deep and gravelly and came from the tree line behind Lydria. A second voice soon joined it, slightly higher in pitch, and from a position noticeably removed from the first. A third voice soon joined it as well, again, removed from the other two, each asking the same question.

  It was Relin who spoke first, not turning, but continuing to look toward Pars who had been placed on his knees, his wrists being held on top of his head by a single, enormous hand. “We are looking for our friends, who traveled this way many days ago and were taken by a group of Qorghal. We are on our way to find them, and if possible, rescue them.”

  At the mention of the Qorghal, the voices began again, speaking quickly amongst each other in their own language – a harsh, sharp language filled with low sounds and little inflection.

  “Can you understand them?” Kimi asked. Lydria looked around and realized Kimi had gone into the woods when he sensed the creatures associated with the unfamiliar smell were nearby. His initial warning to her must have come from the forest where he now moved slowly around the campsite.

  “No. I could try, but I have no idea what it might do to me. Stay where you are for now and be cautious.” Lydria moved into Kimi’s eyes for a moment and found at least fi
ve strangers including the one that held Pars. They were armed and had encircled the camp, and one was looking straight at Kimi even now. Lydria released Kimi’s eyes back to the bobcat and told him to go deeper into the forest, but to be wary.

  “You are the enemy of the Qorghal?” It was the creature who held Pars. Through Kimi’s eyes, Lydria knew that they were short and had large eyes with stout, close-quarters weapons, but not much else. From Pars’ descriptions, she could only guess they spoke to the Chag Ca’Grae. It was time Lydria thought, to be properly introduced.

  “I am Lydria, Prime Wielder of Eigrae, and we are not friends of the Qorghal. Whether we are their enemies will be determined by the fate of our friends and their treatment. If they have been treated ill, then yes, we are most assuredly the enemy of the Qorghal. Who are you who would impede us on our way to aid our friends?”

  The effect after Lydria’s first few words were immediate. Raising herself to her full height, she had lifted her arms above her head and lit the entire campsite with a bright light, which the newcomers hid from with their arms over their eyes and turning away from the sudden and intense light. Pars moved quickly away and toward the center of the group, where Haustis and Relin were already on one knee with arrows knocked in their bowstrings.

  “Hold, I say to you all,” Lydria commanded, and no one moved. Lowering the intensity of her light, her voice changed, calmer, friendlier and inviting to those who stood outside the small campsite. “Come forward so that we might see each other by the low light of a fire. With a thought, there was a small fire burning in the middle of the camp near to where Relin knelt and Haustis was already picking up small sticks nearby to feed the fire. Pars stood still, looking at Lydria with his eyes wide.

  After several tense moments, there were whisperings of the hoarse language from outside the campsite followed by the tentative steps of a short, dour warrior dressed in clothing the color of dirt and mud.

  “I am Hokra, of the Chag Ca’Grae. If you are enemy of the Qorghal, we may be friends; but you trespass still, and I am charged with giving account to strangers who cross our borders.”

  Lydria walked toward Hokra with her hands to her sides. “Welcome, Hokra, I am Lydria. We will lay down our weapons and tell you our story.”

  8 - Safarngal

  The walk with Hokra and his people went quickly, the Chag Ca’ Grae’s short, stout legs moving furiously across the land, yet hardly seeming to touch the ground. The prints they left, however, were unmistakable as they were not a light people and their heavily shod feet sunk deep into the soil despite their appearance otherwise.

  Hokra took the arrows and short swords from the trespassers and passed them amongst his soldiers, apologizing to Lydria as he did so. “I know not what power you bring to call forth light and fire as you do, but still, we must take the weapons of your company. To not do so would make me look foolish and weak in front of our king, and this must not be so.” He looked up at Lydria’s neck for a long moment before adding more quietly, “I have heard of this magic out of the east and the sign of she who wields it. Your story will be well attended, and if true, and if you are an enemy of the Qorghal, then you have no need to fear us.”

  The walk to Hokra’s city took several hours. The Chag Ca’Grae were fascinating to Lydria who had only ever seen humans and Eifen, and the people before her now were much shorter, and more solidly built than any she had seen before. Their hands were enormous in proportion to their bodies – closer in size to the hands of King Keldon, who stood nearly twice as tall as the Chag Ca’Grae. Astonishing as their hands were, however, easily their most noticeable feature was their eyes – solid brown or deep grey, their eyes were much larger than human eyes with two sets of lids, one from above like a human, and another set from below. Their clothes were not snug to their bodies like Haustis, but neither were they ill fitting, and they were almost completely without color. If a Chag Ca’Grae sat upon the ground, he could easily be stepped upon so evenly did he blend into the dirt and stone.

  “We are called the Chags in your tongue and we are happy for you to do the same, as your pronunciation of Chag Ca’Grae is not pleasant for us to hear.” Hokra looked up at Lydria and smiled so that the collar-wearing woman was sure he was being friendly and not rude. “We have lived in our city, Safarngal, for as long as I or anyone there can remember, however, we once lived in a city to the south, where we mined deep and traded with many people who came to us by forest roads. We built deep caves and beautiful underground palaces. Until the Qorghal came.” Hokra’s face tensed as he said the name and remembered the story as if he had personally been banished from his former home. His bald head was furrowed above his large eyes and he stroked the short, rough beard that covered the rest of his face. The hair was wiry and dark, like thin strands of rope and Lydria was worried he would pull it out of his face as hard as he stroked it with his massive hands.

  “I will say no more for now, but I am sure you will hear more than you care of the Qorghal before our king decides your fate.”

  Saying no more Hokra moved forward leaving Lydria to consider what might happen should the king decide they and the Chags were not friends.

  “Kimi, what do you see?”

  “You are not far from their city. I will be able to stay here – their people stick to their trails and pathways through the forests. Of course, you cannot see their signs, but they make little attempt to hide their markers and anyone who could see as I do can easily find their way.”

  “Stay as close as you can. We may need you before we are through here.”

  The Chags made no attempt to stop Lydria and her friends from speaking with each other, but none did. Haustis, Relin, and Pars were all looking carefully at the path they followed and making detailed mental notes of the Chags and their weapons, which consisted solely of short swords, axes, and what looked like spades but with serrated edges. All but Hokra carried a length of dark rope which was thin and Lydria guessed very strong judging by the weave which was so tightly wound it was difficult to see. The male Chags were bald with short beards and most had pale scars on their scalps. They marched more than walked, with a military precision that Lydria thought her father would have found beautiful. The female soldiers among their group were very similar to the men but they did not have beards. Their heads were mostly bald, save a small fringe of thick dark brown hair that grew in a band across the top of their otherwise bald heads from ear to ear. Whether or not the female Chags were shaped differently than their male counterparts, it was impossible to determine under tight fitting leather strips that covered their chests from their neck to their waists.

  “It is not far now, and I urge you to speak only if you are spoken to or given leave to speak.” Hokra had stopped at the base of a hill to ensure everyone heard his instructions. At a nod his fellows took up positions on either side and at the rear of the procession, so that Lydria didn’t feel like they were guests as much as prisoners.

  Hokra jogged slightly ahead and Lydria was surprised when two figures appeared seemingly from the ground to stop him and then just as quickly placed their left arms across their chests, so their hands rested upon their right shoulder and bowed quickly at the head before melting back into the landscape once again.

  Cresting the hill, Lydria’s breath was taken away by the first sight of Safarngal which spread out below her as an enormous city built into the cliff walls of a valley overlooking a swift river. Ornate columns and doorways were carved from the rock, and windows of a hundred shapes and sizes created a veritable hive in the mountain. Lydria thought of what the place might look like from above and noticed the hills above the valley wall opposite hung over the tops of the walls like a roof. To notice the city, one would have to stand on the edge of the cliff where they stood now or walk into the valley by following the river course below. Lydria stood for several minutes with her lips slightly parted, taking in the majesty of craftsmanship that had created Safarngal.

  Laid out along the valley
floor, a river flowed in a meandering series of curves, twisting through trees and around small river islands, and collecting in languid pools to form a series of falls, at least four that Lydria could see, short, sharp drops of water picked out by the white foam at the bottom of each. The valley drove down the mountain, and Safarngal was at the top.

  Hokra paused with the rest as they looked across the valley. “This is my favorite view and one I never tire of,” he admitted. “Yet the elders say the site you see is a puddle compared to the grandeur of what the Qorghal have taken from us.”

  “He loves it here.” Lydria’s thoughts reached out to Kimi who responded slowly and carefully from a distance away.

  “How could he not? It makes Bayside look like a hunting camp.”

  “You should see it from the other side,” Hokra laughed as he saw Lydria and the others register that they stood upon the roof of the Chags’ homes and that the two sides must somehow be connected from below.

  Lydria followed Hokra down a narrow rock trail where more Chag soldiers appeared and disappeared with increasing frequency before being led into a small cave opening that Lydria and the others had to duck and squeeze through and walk with their legs bent for what must have been a quarter mile before the ceilings rose and they were able to stand upright once again.

  “I’m sorry for your discomfort, but we find that most of the things we have to defend ourselves against do not fit very well through passages cut so small, whereas we can act with relative freedom.” Hokra’s explanation wasn’t necessary. Lydria smiled at the simple and effective defensive measure.

  Able to stand freely, Haustis walked alongside Lydria and spoke openly so that Hokra could hear. “Eigrae is very content in this space,” she said. “The Chags have worked lovingly with the earth and stone. If you will pardon my saying, I am unsure as to why your elders wish to leave this place, Hokra. You are in harmony with Eigrae in this place.”