by Tiger Hebert
“Tsk, tsk. Do you kiss your Grand Master with that foul mouth of yours?” joked Renlar.
“You try unbuckling three hundred straps when your bladder is about to burst,” she snapped.
“I always did have a knack for unbuckling...”
“Ugh, you dog!”
Renlar laughed. “It’s a joke, Vacinne. Ever heard of those? You really need to lighten up a bit. You’re too serious all the time.”
“Stop talking. I can’t concentrate,” she barked. “And no listening either!”
Renlar quietly chuckled and whispered to himself, “What am I going to do with this one?”
The moonlit ruins of the once thriving city of Esboralis shrunk from view with each step Renlar and Vacinne made higher up the path. The mountain trail was fairly narrow, but the footing was solid in most places, save for the areas covered with ice and snow. Fortunately, the snowdrifts proved little more than an inconvenience for Renlar’s talents. Vacinne worried how long he could keep it up though. They’d already been at it for several hours.
She wasn’t an expert on magic. She’d only learned to develop her own powers over the past two years, but she figured his spirit had to be drained by now. That meant danger. But he said nothing as he blasted snow out of their way time and time again as they hiked deeper into the night. Then he stopped in his tracks and turned back to her.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“The weather is turning for the worse. It’s going to get bad tonight. We need to find a place to hunker down for the night.”
“Where do you suggest?”
“There are some old sentry towers up here, but as fast as the storm is moving, I don’t think we will be able to reach any of them in time.”
Vacinne breathed heavily. “What other options do we have?”
Renlar said, “There are lots of caves up here. In the next mile or two we should start—”
“Uh, haven’t you read any books? Whenever people try to find shelter in mountain caves, bad things happen. No thank you! I’d rather try my luck in the storm.”
Renlar shrugged. “Suit yourself. Better get moving, I estimate we’ve got close to four miles before the next tower. That’s another two hours if we’re lucky.”
“Then we better stop talking, and get moving,” said Vacinne while gesturing for Renlar to get back to hiking.
They did just that. Few words were shared. Instead, the night air was filled with the sounds of labored breathing and boots crunching on frozen earth. Vacinne hated the silence, but in the thin, cold air, her breath seemed better spent in other ways.
An hour had passed, and they’d made good progress. Two more miles were behind them, but the conditions deteriorated quickly. Frigid wind lashed them, flinging ice and snow from the mountainside down on them.
Vacinne shouted over the gusts, “For someone who controls wind, isn’t there something you can do here?”
“I’ve been fighting it for the past hour,” said Renlar with a grunt.
“Seems like you’re losing.”
“No man can match the power and the fury of mother nature. She only allows us to believe we can at times,” admitted Renlar.
The winds almost came alive at his remark, gusting and howling with fervor. Echoes of mocking laughter seemed to cascade across the mountain. Even in the frigid mountain air, new chills crept down Vacinne’s spine.
Snow and sleet pelted them. The wind intensified, and the two travelers fought against it, but even with Renlar’s magic, they struggled to advance. Their progress drew quickly to a halt.
“We have to find shelter, now!” Renlar yelled, trying to overpower the wind with his voice.
Vacinne had no choice. He was right. It was unbelievable how long he used his magic. Most people would have collapsed hours ago.
Renlar pointed a short way down the path behind them. There was a trail that branched off toward the east. He shook his hand, indicating that is where they needed to go. So Vacinne turned and began back tracking. It wasn’t far. The trail forked off about fifty yards back. Vacinne worked to carefully navigate the icy terrain in her descent. Within minutes the two of them veered off onto the other path and found themselves skirting around a massive stone outcropping. Soon they were around the massive earthen wall and out of the wind.
Vacinne allowed herself to lean back into the wall. She fought to catch her breath. Renlar walked past her and pointed to the small opening in the side of the rock face.
“The cave looks small, but it opens up a bit once you get in. It’s not deep, but it’s big enough for a campfire and a few bedrolls,” said Renlar before making that familiar gesture toward the cave with his hands.
His hands rolled inward and back out in a flowing circular manner, then a short gust of wind followed. The currents of air shot into the cave before circulating back out.
Satisfied, he nodded and said, “Coast is clear. Let’s warm-up.”
Renlar got down on his hands and knees and crawled into the cave through the low opening. Once through, he stood up. Vacinne only saw his legs.
“What other choice do I have?” she muttered as she removed the pack from her back and got down on her hands and knees.
Fortunately, the moon was full, giving them just enough light at the cave’s entrance to get the fire going. Renlar rummaged through his pack to pull out a strange looking brown brick, some tinder, a stone, and some flint. Vacinne rubbed her hands together for warmth as he set the brown brick across two smaller rocks that he found in the cave. He uncorked his flask and was careful to only allow a few drops to spill out onto the brick. Then, with the brick propped up off the ground, he tucked the tinder underneath the brick, then went about striking the flint to the stone. After nearly a dozen tries, a simple spark leapt off the stone, setting the tinder ablaze. It didn’t take any time at all for the brown brick to catch fire and begin to burn.
“What is that brick that you have there?” asked Vacinne.
“Just a fire brick,” he said.
“It’s magic?”
Renlar laughed, “Oh, no. It’s just made up of ground up wood dust and shavings and pressed into a mold. The alcohol just helps jump start it. A single brick doesn’t make a big fire, but it will burn longer than simple wood, and it’s easier to carry.”
“It’s brilliant,” said Vacinne as she huddled close and reached out to feel the little fire’s warmth.
Renlar shrugged and laid out his bedroll between the fire and the cave exit. Then he was off to rummaging through his pack in search of food. After a moment of digging, he pulled out a small bundle of cloth and a small cast iron skillet. He managed to prop the skillet up over the flames with the help of a couple nearby rocks. Then he hurried to unwrap the treasure hidden within the cloth. Inside were two narrow strips of steak.
As he placed them into the skillet with care, Vacinne said, “How long have those pieces of meat been sitting?”
“A good cut of beef can easily be aged over forty days without any issue. You’ve just got to make sure you season and store it right and it’ll keep. These ones are on day forty-three,” he replied.
Vacinne crossed her arms. “I’m not eating any meat that’s a month and a half old.”
“And what will you be eating then? Hmm?”
“Soup,” she replied as she began to rifle through her own supplies.
“Oh really, very nice,” said Renlar as he watched her go about her task.
Vacinne pulled a small tea kettle from her pack before she crawled out of the cave with it in hand. She was only gone for a moment before she came crawling back inside, her kettle now topped off with fresh white snow. She placed the kettle as close to their tiny fire as possible, without disturbing Renlar’s skillet. The kettle would take a while to warm, but the snow began to melt right away. Renlar watched as she pulled a few small pouches from her pack and began to open them one-by-one. Vacinne took a modest pinch of the first and dropped the contents into her kettle. Dried vegetables
of one sort or another fell away into the pot’s waters. Another pinch of this and a smidgen of that, and Vacinne had herself a proper soup brewing in her tiny kettle.
“Is that toshemi pepper soup?” he asked.
Vacinne looked up. “You know it?”
“Know it? It’s the only thing to come out of the Ashtogi region worth a damn!”
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” countered Vacinne. “I’ve taken a liking to secudri, bah dehmau, and red ressau.”
Renlar laughed. “Red ressau! What does a girl like you know about red ressau? That’s not even a drink, it’s more of a hearth cleaner. That stuff will put hair on a man’s chest, and no doubt yours too!”
Vacinne snorted, “I don’t drink the stuff! God no, but it is a fantastic tenderizer. Take the tough cuts, like a beef or pork shoulder, or, well, any part of a terreden buck, and you soak it for a day or two.”
Renlar asked, “It tenderizes the meat?”
“The combination of the soaking and the slow cooking do a number on the meat, soft as veal when it’s all said and done.”
Still unconvinced, he asked, “But it still tastes like red ressau?”
“Oh, heavens no,” said Vacinne with a laugh. “That would be awful!”
The two laughed.
Renlar looked at her and said, “I wouldn’t have pegged you for the domesticated type, what with the sword and being a Warden and all.”
“Truthfully, I’m really not, but my family needed me. You learn what you need to survive. At least till they shipped me off to the temple,” said Vacinne as she stirred her slowly warming soup.
Renlar flipped his steaks.
“Shipped you off? I took you for the type that threatened to run off to the temple, and wild horses couldn’t hold you back. But I’m sensing there’s more to your story?”
Vacinne didn’t meet his eyes, she just stared as she stirred her pot. “Oh, I always wanted to be a Warden. Even as a young girl playing in the streets. But when my mum got sick, things changed. My father buried himself in his work and drink. So, I quit school to help around the house. After the fever took mum, father was never the same.”
Her voice drifted off, but Renlar waited patiently.
Vacinne sighed. “My uncle knew I needed a way out, so he purchased it for me. Whatever opinion you may have of Vichont LeDroux, know that he paid handsomely to allow me into the Kothari Temple.”
Puzzled, Renlar asked, “He is an established member with long-standing history. Why would it have cost him so much to get you in, especially as a Lightborn?”
“I am fortunate to be a chosen of the Light, but at that time in my life, I wasn’t a Lightborn yet,” she replied.
Renlar’s mouth started to fall open, before he caught himself. “Ah, I see.”
“My awakening didn’t come until some months after I’d already committed myself to the Light, the Wardens, and sealed my oaths in the temple.”
“Of course it didn’t,” mumbled Renlar as he pulled his skillet from the fire.
“What?”
Renlar poked at the still sizzling steak with his knife. “Listen Vacinne, you’ve been taught and trained for the last several years of your life that everything that has happened to you was this divine, pre-orchestrated plan executed by the Light in all his benevolence toward you. Now I’ve got nothing against the Light himself, per se, but if you believe that you were chosen by your God to just so happen to be in the right spot at the right time as a rift opened, then we’ve got to talk.”
“Renlar, what do you mean?”
“If you were already a Lightborn, they would have come to you. Your uncle, likely well intentioned, didn’t pay a fortune for your education. He paid a fortune for your awakening. The whole thing was orchestrated, for the benefit of the Rift Wardens.”
Vacinne scoffed. “You can’t orchestrate awakenings!”
“Funny, we could when I was trying to become a Warden,” muttered Renlar.
“Wait, what?”
Renlar laughed while he chewed on his steak. “But... that was a long time ago. I suppose the opening and closing of the rifts between the realms and awakenings could work differently these days.”
Vacinne huffed at his remark, but she was left speechless. There is no way he could be right about this. It went against everything she had been taught, and everything that she’d witnessed. Or at least, what she believed she witnessed.
The silence lingered around the small campfire for several minutes. She was lost in contemplation, and Renlar, well he was a guy, so he was probably just enjoying the silence. She rejected everything he said immediately, but his words gnawed at her, and her mind raced.
Vacinne looked up at Renlar. He sat opposite her. He wasn’t paying attention. Instead, he must have been daydreaming as he stared off into the nothingness of their small cave. Vacinne caught herself studying how the light of the small fire danced across his caramel skin. The cavorting light shined in his green eyes and across his dark brown hair.
He’s handsome, she thought, without realizing it.
It was true though. It didn’t matter that he was well older than her, and he was. She guessed that he was probably in his later thirties, but he was a good-looking man. She just needed to make sure that he didn’t know that.
Ugh, he probably already thinks he’s God’s gift to women anyways. Eh, he’s not that special.
But Vacinne didn’t look away, even when Renlar’s warm gaze met hers. When she realized she’d been staring dreamily at him, and got caught, her face flushed, and she looked away.
“I’ve never seen anyone polish off a steak so quickly. You act like you’ve never eaten,” she bristled.
A small smile crept across Renlar’s lips, but he said nothing as he prepared his bed roll for sleep. He pulled off his boots and slid into the bedroll. He turned onto his side, facing away from her.
“So, you’re just going to ignore me and turn away?” she demanded.
“Good night, Vacinne,” said Renlar in a gentle, and irritatingly smooth voice as he took watch over the entrance to their cave.
10
Spoils
Vacinne shivered as she came to. Her eyes didn’t want to open, but her cold body just wouldn’t allow her to sleep anymore. It was time to get up. She wiped the crust from her eyes, then opened them to find herself in an empty cave. There was no fire or sign of Renlar. His bedroll was gone, his pack, everything was gone.
“He left me, that son-of-a—”
“Good morning princess,” said Renlar ducking his head into the cave opening. “I hope you got enough beauty rest. The weather is favorable, so we should be moving.”
“What the—”
He cut her off once again, “Unless you want to spend another night sleeping up here, I suggest we move.”
The thought of sleeping in a frigid cave was all the motivation she needed. She nodded and climbed from her bed roll. The chill of the wintry air assailed her, urging that she dress quickly. She wasted no time pulling her armors over top of her under layers. She didn’t care how well they fit, she just wanted the extra layers, and she wanted them now.
Renlar poked his head in again. “Come on, let’s go.”
“I just crawled out of bed, give me a moment, for heaven’s sake! Goodness, I’ve been awake for thirty seconds, and you’re already treading on every last nerve,” she snapped.
He poked his head in again and flashed his pearly whites in a big smile. “Glad to know I could be of service, Madam.”
“Madam?” she snapped. “Who in the Nine Hells are you calling Madam? I am neither a school marm, nor am I the owner of a brothel. I would think you’d know better since you’ve surely met your fair share of the latter.”
Even though he’d already ducked out of the cave, she stood there with her arms crossed and an imperious glare on her face.
I told him.
Before the thought finished, a large, fluffy ball of snow popped her right in the mouth. Snow spla
shed everywhere as the soft snowball exploded, sending frigid flurries up her nose and down her blouse, and every other conceivable direction.
“Ugh!” roared Vacinne to a return chorus of Renlar’s distant laughter.
She brushed away the snow and threw on the rest of her gear. She rolled up her bedroll and packed up her things with haste. Then she crawled out of the cave and climbed to her feet with her anger fully stoked.
There Renlar stood waiting for her, face to face. He grinned as he held out his hand. Vacinne looked down and saw a snowball sitting in the palm of his hand. She looked back up and saw him smile. She hesitated before reaching for the snowball, then she snatched it quickly in case he might change his mind. Then without mercy, she tossed it at him. The snowball exploded into a powdery puff as it landed on his chin.
Vacinne laughed as the snow covered his face and the front of his leathers and overcoat.
Renlar shook away the snow. “There, we’re even now.”
Vacinne wanted to disagree, naturally, but she reluctantly gave an agreeable nod.
“Shall we get moving now?” asked Renlar, with an outstretched hand pointing back to their path from the previous day. “Oh, and eat this.”
Renlar’s hand stretched out once more. He held a bright red and green apple, one of the kinds that commonly grew around Ketabo. She gladly took it and chomped into it. Then, realizing she forgot her manners, she thanked him around a mouth full of apple.
Renlar chuckled and began his hike. Vacinne followed and their journey resumed. Renlar led the way down the narrow, snow dusted path. Within minutes, they were back on the main trail.
Renlar turned to her and said, “We’ve got to clear this range by nightfall, or I fear we shouldn’t make it another night. The other side of these peaks do not offer many refuges like the one we had last night.”
Vacinne didn’t know the mountains like he did. She simply nodded.
Renlar glanced toward the rising sun in the distance. “Fortunately, Jhebal shines down on us today. The favorable weather should make our trek quick.”
