Eventually, they arrived at a fork bisecting the cavern with one passage running to the right and the other passage running to the left. After some discussion, Ilkchild decided to take the path to the right, along the stream.
“Fairchild,” Ilkchild ordered, “make your mark just inside this tunnel in the runic symbol of Elwas to show where our paths turned. We’re going down to that tunnel that goes along the stream.”
While Fairchild was marking the wall, the others took the opportunity to drink from the stream.
Suddenly, Fromer exclaimed, “What the hell?”
Sunchild looked down at where Fromer was pointing and set up an alarm. “Yeoh! Look at this! Can we get a torch over here? I ain’t ever seen a coon track this size before.”
Xelph held his torch high illuminating a wide circle around the tracks, “I don’t think that’s a coon track. Never seen the likes of it.”
The crew all clustered near the pool staring at the grey mud. Before them in perfect molded form were unrecognizable footprints, the length of a man’s, but narrower in width with elongated toes.
Elf Beard bent down and traced the outline of the track with his fingers, “By all the elves of Herewardom! This makes no sense at all. I’m with you, Xelph, I know I’ve never seen this track before.”
Xelph bent closer to study the tracks. “They’re not quite human and they’re not quite coon.”
Elf Beard growled, “They’re damned nearer human, if anything.”
Ilkchild declared, “Whatever they are, they are not wearing shoes.”
Elf Beard placed his foot beside the print and observed, “It is about the same size as my foot and weighs close to what I weigh.”
“I knew it!” Fromer exploded, the whites of his eyes bulging like pigeon eggs, “They’re demonic troll tracks. These caves lead straight into Satan’s Infernal Pit.”
* * *
The grass beast’s roaring charge was surprisingly swift, leaving them with little time to get a firm grip on their weapons. Black Khem and Crooked Jack jammed the butts of their whale spears in the ground behind them. The impact plunged the spears deep into the beast’s chest cavity. Khem and Crooked Jack then fell back as Sur Sceaf had directed them to. At the same time Sur Sceaf thrust the point of his harpoon into what he thought must be the beast’s heart. Holding his ground with great difficulty, he twisted the harpoon causing blood to spurt like a geyser from the wound. With a ferocious roar, the beast rose up on its hind legs. Pushing with all his might Sur Sceaf impaled it deeper on his harpoon. The roars grew enraged showering pink blood all over Sur Sceaf’s face and front. Without losing his grip on the harpoon, he struggled to wipe the blood from his eyes with his forearm. Glancing back, Red Fox and Mendaka were making ready with their harpoons.
He shouted, “Get ready!” Behind him he heard Red Fox and Mendaka yell, “Ready.”
Sur Sceaf released his now slippery grip on the harpoon and fell back.
The beast clawed at the earth with its blade like claws embedding the spears deeper and lifting itself from the ground as it attempted to reach them in its fury. Just as it lifted up and charged again Redfox and Mendaka thrust their harpoons into its bloody chest. And then they, too, fell back.
The beast screamed in rage and clawed at the harpoons, its mouth covered with pink blood and its chest running with thick dark red blood that pulsed out in waves. Its teeth cut at the harpoons like saber saws, splintering the wooden handles and beating them from side-to-side in an insane rage.
Muryh who stood with Elijah and Hartmut as the last line of attack, shouted over the roar, “We have spears and ax. Should we attack now?”
The beast struggled in a frenzy to rid itself of the harpoon embedded deeply between its ribs and rolled back and forth clawing at its wounds like a turtle on its back trying to right itself.
“Let’s just wait and see!” Sur Sceaf shouted. “Too dangerous to approach now.”
Suddenly, the fight escaped from the beast like steam from a pot that has been removed from a very hot fire. With one final gurgling roar the beast staggered and collapsed to the ground. A few more horrible gurgles and it went still.
Silence fell over the exhausted men as they stared at the blood-drenched beast and the teeth frozen in a permanent grimace like the frown on a booger mask.
Elijah wiped the sweat from his brow. “I was glad, my lord, thou didst hold me, Muryh, and Hartmut back, because I did not wish to go up against that demon alone, or with anyone else for that matter. Not even with the great warriors, Mendaka and Jackie Doo. But I must, indeed, confess, I have never in my life felt my blood course through my veins so consciously as just now. It scareth the bats out of me.” Elijah shook for a moment. “I became so stricken with terror, I believe my spirit left my body and by the time it got to be our turn, I was already frozen to the ground.”
“We all felt fear.” Sur Sceaf voiced. “And you were right, Mendaka. This treasure does indeed have its guardian.”
“But such a monstrous one,” Hartmut said. “Hope this meaneth the treasure will be great.”
“Perhaps, Sur Sceaf,” Elijah inquired, “this grass beast hath changed thy mind about settling here?”
Sur Sceaf smiled, “Was there not a serpent in your Garden of Eden, Brother Elijah?”
Muryh looked Sur Sceaf square on. “If we do indeed settle here, it will be imperative to build mighty walls to keep out such trolls.”
Red Fox postulated, “Perhaps it was the intention of the gods to warn us to do just that.”
The birds in the gorse that had gone ominously silent in the moments before the attack of the beast, now twittered and sang as if nothing had happened. The streamlet gave its gentle trickling sounds and the breeze teased the fragrance of the gorse. The world got back to normal all too soon in Sur Sceaf’s estimation. “Don’t let down your guards. It’s my experience that such mighty predators usually hunt alone and have a marked turf, but where there is one, we can bet there are others.”
Sur Sceaf’s muscles were still tingling, alert, tense and not ready for calm. Even though this beast was no longer a threat, his heart still raced like it always did when he was ready to go into battle. The victorious fight with the grass beast left him feeling both vulnerable and invincible all at the same time.
“It would seem, the All Father gives great trials and usually brings a man low before he exalts him.” Sur Sceaf looked at Mendaka, “Brother, the gods have been merciful this day. I have never seen the makings of such a troll as this one.”
Hartmut dared to move in closer for a better look. “Why would God have created such an evil creature?”
“All things are frightful until you come to know them,” Mendaka declared, “then they become commonplace.”
“Men and brethren,” Sur Sceaf said, “let us get to the task of skinning this beast. Keep the head, so we can take this trophy back to the tribes as evidence of the fearsome obstacles in discovering this new world.”
“Had any previous castaways made it here,” Hartmut said, taking out his elf blade, “they were surely eaten alive.”
“Perhaps we shall discover their bones someday.” Muryh said.
Sur Sceaf turned to Xelph. “We owe considerable thanks to you, who gave warning of this troll. Thank the gods we honored your uniqueness and let you go wandering. Had we not known of the beast’s existence, it would have gone down very bad for us.”
“Yes,” Mendaka nodded, “thanks to Xelph’s usual restless spirit, which sometimes can be a trial, but in this case proved to be a blessing for us.”
“I’m just glad we weren’t eaten before we were warned.”
Sur Sceaf removed his bandana, poured water from his drinking flask on it and washed the blood from his face. “Red Fox, Muryh, and Hartmut, I will let you three carve up the carcass while the rest of us make camp at the crest of this ridge. When done, we will return and assist you in carrying the choice cuts of meat up to the top.”
“Methinks,” H
artmut said, “we will need a wagon to carry all this meat.”
“Khem is strong enough to carry a pack of meat on his back, build a sled, and take turns pulling it. We can do little more than leave the rest for the birds of heaven and the canids of the brush to finish off.”
As they made their way up the path, still on alert, Sur Sceaf remarked, “I can’t wait to tell this adventure to our comrades and families. I can picture their eyes wide open and their mouths agape.”
“No need to embellish here,” Jackie Doo said. “This will make for some good campfire tales and you know how those grow with time.” They laughed.
Elijah said, “It wondereth me, what must Ilkchild’s cave exploration be like in the bowels of the mountain.”
Khem said, “At least they won’t have any monster trolls to deal with.”
* * *
“We have come to Hell itself!”
No sooner had Fromer spoken than a cat-like cry split the air and echoed down the stream.
“What in Os’ name was that?” Elfdane cried out.
“It was a panther,” Sunchild offered, his head on a swivel trying to pinpoint the sound.
Ilkchild drew his kukri, his muscles tense. The darkness beyond the reach of the torches magnified the ferocity of the caterwauling answer from farther up the stream bed. “Men, we got to get out of this place. I don’t want to find out what that was up ahead. Let’s turn back and head down. They turned and hurriedly retraced their steps when much to their horror, the same cat like cries that were ahead of them now came from below them.
“It appears we are trapped between two of these trolls. I think the best course would be to seek out the other cave and head up.”
“I concur,” Ilkchild said. The two of them lead the way, holding their torches as weapons and safe guards against the approaching trolls.”
Dust rose from their hurried exodus. They hadn’t gone far when Elf Beard called a halt. “Look! Bones! I see fowls, crabs, and mussel shells. This must be where these trolls bring their prey to feed at their leisure. It’s a midden.”
“It’s the damned boneyard of a demon’s table,” Fromer claimed as he clung like a shadow to Elf Beard.
Ilkchild added, “First we saw bamboo culms in the sea chamber, and now, we see bones, but at no time did we see bones and culms together. Methinks we are dealing with two very different creatures. This one is obviously a carnivore and has made some rather large kills. Just look at those stacks of elk antlers over there. Some of these bones still have flesh adhering to them. These are fresh kills.”
Elf Beard nodded to him, “I’d give anything for my hounds right now boys!” A panther scream split the air closer this time. They tensed up and grabbed their weapons tightly to hand. It was immediately followed by another cat-like scream.
Ilkchild fought off a moment of panic. This was his first command and he didn’t want to show any fear to his comrades. At least he was grateful Elf Beard was shadowing him.
Something about Elf Beard’s unnatural calmness caused Ilkchild to take pause. “The damn demon-troll is getting an answer, listen.”
One cry far off was answered nearer than anyone cared to hear.
“Boys,” Old Grokk held up a sword in one hand and a kukri in the other, “we need to ready ourselves for a confrontation with Hell itself. Now, no matter what happens, our only hope of survival is to stay as close and tight to one another as possible. Predators will try to make us split, so they can kill us off one at a time. Don’t let it happen.”
They tightened up into a phalanx as they had been trained to do. No sooner had Elf Beard spoken than the entire chamber filled with strange and deafening cat calls. Some from the chambers above and still others came from somewhere along the stream below.
Fairchild cried, “By the gods, they must be everywhere.”
“I knew it,” Fromer cried, “I blame Sur Sceaf and those heathen stones of his for this.”
Sunchild grabbed him by the arm, “Those stones are holy and they are as sacred to Herewardi as your holy books are to you.”
“You can argue about that later,” Elf Beard said sternly, before turning to Ilkchild. “I suggest we stay in a covey-phalanx and move slowly upward.”
“I agree,” Ilkchild said. “These whaling spears and harpoons are too cumbersome to keep in these close quarters.” He yelled over the shrill screeching, “Drop your spears, pull your elf blades, if you haven’t already. Half of you use your axes. Only the two members at the back, and two at the front should brandish and use them. We don’t want to end up hacking one another. Elfdane you take the torch to the front, Fairchild, you keep the torch to the back. Be ready at all times. An attack can come from any direction.”
They dropped the harpoons and slowly moved forward, weapons at the ready. The cave narrowed.
Elf Beard shouted, “Be warned, this is an ideal place for an ambush.”
Moments later the hiss of a panther pierced their ears. Out of the darkness a grey hairy arm with a claw-like hand sliced into Elf Beard’s head. Another nearly clawed Ilkchild, who ducked.
Elf Beard cried out, “Ow! It clawed me boys! The damned troll clawed me!”
They struck out blindly. Ilkchild said, “Use your torches.”
When the torches were held up, shadowy figures retreated back into the darkness.
Ilkchild shouted, “Forward, keep formation, and pick up speed.”
Just as the chamber opened they heard a scream from behind.
“It’s Fromer,” Fairchild shouted. He raised his torch to reveal Fromer on all fours scrambling over the cave floor.
“Help me! The demon has got me. He’s got me!”
Elf Beard let out a curse and ran back to grab Fromer by his coat. He dragged him to safety, while thrusting an elf blade at the beast still attached to Fromer’s rear. He dragged Fromer back to the group and Fairchild’s torch flickered slowly out.
Chapter 12 : The Wyrm Kats
Much of the day had passed before Sur Sceaf’s party reached what they thought was the crest of the cliff, but was only a wide ledge about three-fourths of the way up the hill. As Sur Sceaf scanned the horizon to the west, he spotted a beautiful, towering, monolithic snow-capped mountain jutting straight up from the hills in the distance. He guessed it to be about thirty to fifty miles from where they stood and resembled a giant white throne, with its snowy head thrust deep up through the clouds encircling it.
He said, “That’s got to be as tall as Mount Shasta, but instead of a cone shape it’s a straight column.”
Elijah contributed. “One of the pillars of heaven, I’ll wager you.”
“Looks like a solid granite or marble shaft.” Mendaka said.
Sur Sceaf surveyed the area for the best course up the cliff. “I believe our best course would be to continue in a southerly direction. What say you, Mendaka?”
Mendaka considered the matter for a moment, “It does appear that this game path goes in a southwesterly direction around this stone incline.”
Elijah declared, “We must be close to directly above the sea chamber by now, but I see no stream up here.”
Sur Sceaf said, “More than likely, we have to move around to the south side of this mountain before we’ll see the wellspring of the stream.”
They followed the game trail to the south over the mostly barren stone top. He halted and warned. “Careful, though hardly visible in the leaf litter, there’s a large coiled copperhead pit viper directly ahead in the path.”
Alerted to their presence, it raised its veiled head two feet from the ground, revealing a beautiful black pertha rune letter inscribed by nature on its hood. They waited until it no longer perceived them to be a threat and slithered on across the path. It appeared to be fourteen spans of a hand long and at least the thickness of a man’s calf. Displaying no further aggression it disappeared into a crevice in the cleft of a rock.
Mendaka declared, “It is an omen that this land is very powerful.”
Xelph said, “But it didn’t resemble the copperheads I’ve ever known. Know you of any copperheads with a hood or runic marking on it?”
Dak teased, “It should be obvious to you Xelph. It’s a Herewardi serpent.”
They all laughed.
“In that case,” Xelph said, “watch your women close around this one. He’s liable to take your lady. I hear women prefer a hooded snake.” Once again, they all laughed. “Yet I am left to ponder what meaning the fates have in a copperhead with an omega letter on its hood.”
“It certainly is strange. The field is speaking to us,” Muryh agreed. “It is a given that the omega signature on its head is testimony that the gods have marked it as special. Not to mention its enormous size. That’s definitely the boast of a Herewardi snake.”
Elijah said, “I don’t get it. I mean I’m laughing, but I don’t get why we’re laughing.”
“It’s alright, Elijah, just some vulgar Herewardi humor you wouldn’t like if you got it. But Elijah, please note in your record that I named this place ‘Copperhead Ridge’ after the pit viper we found guarding it. From now on I expect you to keep a running record of everything we’ve done today and in the future. We’re making history here.”
Sur Sceaf found a flat area with some sheltering spruce and large boulders. He considered the view out to sea, the protection the rocks gave by defining a defensible space, and the flatness of the area. “This looks like as good a place as any for a camp. Those spruces will break the westerly winds; the rocks will protect us from attack. And there are lots of fallen branches for a fire. We’ll call this camp for the night.”
Xelph volunteered, “I’ll gather fire wood and get a good fire burning while you all return to help with that beast, and by that time the day will be well over.”
Elijah said, “I’ll stay with Xelph and do the cooking, but we’re going to need more water.”
The Isle of Ilkchild (The King of Three Bloods Book 4) Page 17
