Song of Echoes

by R. E. Palmer

  Toryn found the cheese. ‘But the little people? In the woods?’

  ‘Not just little, but old, ancient even. Those that lived in these parts long before we came here. I reckon they hide deep in the forests. We’d scare them, being all big and blundering around like we own the place.’ He handed Toryn a chunk of bread and took the cheese. ‘My mother saw one once.’

  Toryn sniggered. ‘A little man?’

  ‘Don’t scoff, lad. She may have been young, but she said she could remember it as if were only yesterday.’ Hamar held his hands in front of his face, then stuck his head out and stared wide-eyed at Toryn. ‘Peering out from behind a tree it was.’

  Toryn could not help but laugh. ‘Did she marry the little chap? It would explain a lot.’

  Hamar clipped Toryn’s ear. ‘Whelp. No, of course she didn’t. It was only a brief glimpse. Her father had sent her and her brothers out to collect twigs for kindling. She said it was covered with hair and had these great, big eyes.’

  Toryn clenched his jaw but could not stop the grin spreading across his face. ‘So… was it just your family, or do you know of anyone else who’s seen these little, fuzzy fellows?’

  Hamar glared. ‘We all could have. The tales tell of those who’ve been among them are changed somehow. If they come back, they have a strange look in their eye and speak of hearing voices in their heads.’

  ‘I’ve spent a lot of time in the woods and have never seen one.’

  Hamar jabbed a hunk of bread at Toryn. ‘How do you know for sure? Do you think they’d let you go home and tell everyone where they live?’ He took a bite and spoke with a full mouth. ‘They can make you forget. That’s how they’ve survived for so long.’

  ‘But I have no memory of—’

  ‘Ha! Then there you go. Kind of proves my point, don’t it.’

  ‘So, not remembering meeting the little folk is proof I’ve met them.’ Toryn’s eyes widened in mock disbelief. ‘Then perhaps I’ve seen drayloks and droogs, because I have no memory of them either.’

  Hamar clicked his tongue. ‘Don’t be joking about such things.’ He took another mouthful and chewed slowly while glancing around. ‘They could be watching us right now.’

  Toryn leaned back against a trunk, then bolted upright. ‘Did you hear that?’

  Hamar looked up. ‘No.’

  ‘Thought I heard a twig snap.’ He peered around the trunk into the dark.

  Hamar stopped chewing. ‘See anything?’

  ‘Just a little, hairy man. But wait… no, it was only the trees.’ Toryn smirked. ‘Would you believe it? I’ve forgotten already.’ He sat back and took a bite of his mother’s bread as Hamar sighed. Toryn chewed, not appreciating he was hungry until he tasted Miram’s cooking. He also realized he already missed home.

  9. the Singing Stone

  A gleaming silver circle in the puddle caught Toryn’s eye. He looked up to see the moon had broken through the clouds as it rose over the horizon. Hamar chuckled. ‘Ha! The fairy folk are on our side, see, they’ve lit the lantern to show us the way.’

  Toryn felt the tension in his shoulders ease. His breath blew like wispy clouds as he laughed along with Hamar. ‘Good. I’m getting fed up with seeing no further than two paces ahead of my nose.’ Toryn stopped at the edge of the trees and peered across a farmed field in the faint light. ‘I’d hoped to see a bit more of the world, but this place could be our home.’

  ‘There're more hills and valleys on the way. And the folk of Greendell will cheer you up. They’re good people, hard-working and honest.’ He chuckled. ‘Plus, they enjoy an evening listening to a good tale washed down with a fine ale.’

  ‘That’ll make a change. We’ve been walking for three days and haven’t seen a soul.’

  Hamar leaned against a crumbled wall. ‘Good, that’s how we want it. Don’t need news of our passing reaching the wrong ears, do we?’

  ‘I know, but I’m starting to think we’re the only two left in this world.’

  Hamar’s head tipped back as he gazed at the moon. ‘We’re never alone in this world. Trust me, there are greater forces at play we know little about.’ He placed his hands on his hips. ‘I’ve seen too many sights on my travels that can have no other explanation.’

  Toryn watched the emerging stars as the clouds thinned. ‘Do you believe in the Three?’

  ‘Of course, lad. Why wouldn’t you? Who do you think created the land, oceans and the sky? Do you think they sprung from nothing?’

  ‘But the Three Maidens? It has to be a fairytale, surely?’

  ‘Until folk can prove otherwise, I’ll believe in my fairytales thank you. But fairytales have a happy ending, yet the fate of the Three was nothing of the kind. Therefore, it must be real. Why make up a story with such a tragic end?’

  ‘But an evil force? Greater than your Three Maidens?’

  Hamar shrugged. ‘Why not? They say the Evil One could not bear to see such beauty of the Three and their creation. Those fair maidens couldn’t have imagined something so twisted could exist in a world they’d had a hand in making.’ He looked Toryn in the eye. ‘The winter gales blowing in from the north. Are you telling me you can’t hear them scream?’ He bowed his head. ‘Those poor lasses. Can’t imagine the pain they suffered. We stuffed our socks in our ears when the storms blew in. Their tormented cries could drive a man mad.’

  Toryn laughed. ‘Are you sure you stuffed both ears?’

  ‘Oh, you can scoff. You’ve lived your entire life sheltered in a mostly quiet part of the world.’ He wagged his finger. ‘But I tell you, you’ll see sights soon enough to open your mind.’

  ‘I don’t doubt that, I…’ Toryn realized Hamar had stopped listening. ‘What is it? What have you seen?’

  Hamar stroked his whiskers. He squinted at the line of hills. ‘I’ve been here before.’ He arched his back and checked ahead. ‘Ah, yes.’ A smile spread across his lips. ‘Yes, I remember.’ He turned back to Toryn. ‘Fairytales, you say?’ He nodded. ‘You’re in luck. Let me show you something that might change your mind.’ Hamar paused for a moment, looking back to the horizon. ‘Now then. If my memory still serves me right, it’ll be over there, won’t take long. A few minutes at most to the rocks.’

  Hamar led Toryn along the side of a stream up a gentle slope. He pointed ahead. ‘If I recall, we’ll come across a thick hedge.’

  A dark line crossed their path. ‘I see it.’ Toryn strode up to find the hedge stood both taller and thicker than it first appeared. He called back to Hamar. ‘I can’t see a gap, not even over the stream.’

  Hamar puffed as he caught up. ‘Then we’ll get wet.’

  Toryn glanced at the water trickling over the rocks. He shivered. ‘Can’t you tell me?’

  Hamar clicked his tongue. ‘We’ll face worse than this later, boy. And no, I can’t tell you, because you wouldn’t believe me.’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘And I don’t have the words to do it justice.’

  Toryn caught the glint in Hamar’s eyes. Toryn rolled up his trouser legs. ‘Alright, you’ve got my interest.’ He scrambled down the shallow bank and plunged into the water. He gasped. ‘It’s freezing. This better be worth it.’

  Hamar grunted as he dipped his foot in the stream. ‘Oh, it will be, mark my words. Keep your head tucked in. These thorns will happily tear the flesh from your cheeks.’ He laughed. ‘We should take a cutting. Save us the trouble of building fences if we had this hedge on our border.’

  Toryn shivered as he crawled beneath the thorns. He twisted to check. ‘We’re through.’ He stood and shuddered as his wet skin met with the cold air. He turned to give Hamar a hand. ‘I suppose we must come back this way.’

  Hamar smirked. ‘We do, but you’ll thank me later. See.’ He pointed over Toryn’s shoulder. Toryn turned. The moon peered over the top of a dark, jagged line of rocks sheltering a small wood. The pale light shone through the sparse leaves braving the cool spring air. A narrow path wound its way through the dark trunks. Hamar whispered
. ‘Just a short way further, up the path to the rock face.’

  Toryn found his feet following the path. The ground rose as they made their way further into the wood. Hamar tapped his shoulder. ‘Can you hear that?’

  Toryn cocked his head. ‘Water?’

  ‘Not just water. Keep going, nearly there.’

  A short way ahead, the trees thinned out, allowing more moonlight through. Toryn stopped. ‘It’s a dead end.’

  ‘Is it?’ Hamar stepped up to his side. He stooped and peered at the rock face. ‘Run your hands along the rock.’

  Toryn did as asked. ‘I can’t see what’s… oh, wait. There’s a gap.’

  ‘Like a postern gate, see. Those wishing to keep this spot hidden, placed a slab of rock in front of a small gap. Head on, you can’t see it, but if you know what you’re looking for, you can find your way inside.’

  They squeezed through the gap and entered a small clearing to be greeted by the sound of a babbling brook. Toryn’s heart stopped. A tall, dark figure stood in the middle. He crouched and motioned to Hamar. ‘Someone’s here. Could be one of those shadow creatures.’

  But Hamar stayed on his feet. He grinned. ‘Believe me, if it was, your knees would have given way, and your stomach squirming like a huckle in a trap.’ Toryn felt his face flush. Hamar took his arm. ‘Don’t fret, lad, you’re not the first to be fooled.’ They stepped out into the opening, awash with moonlight. In the center, water bubbled up from a small pile of rocks. Behind stood a tall black stone, a few feet taller than Toryn. Hamar nudged him. ‘Go on. Touch it.’

  Toryn approached the stone and placed his hand on the smooth surface. ‘It’s warm!’ He turned back to Hamar. ‘How can it be warm in the middle of a chilly night?’

  ‘No idea. We called them Singing Stones. Came across two on my travels.’

  Toryn found he could not take his hand away. He turned back to the stone and stroked his palm across its face. ‘What are they?’

  Hamar scratched his head. ‘No one knows for sure, but the Archon gave us strict instructions to report directly to him if we ever found one.’

  Toryn peered closer; the rock glimmered in the moonlight. ‘So how did you find this one? It’s not like you can stumble across it by mistake.’

  Hamar nodded. ‘Quite so, and by no accident I’m sure.’

  ‘So how did you find it?’

  He thought for a moment. ‘A stranger had the locals worried. At first, we thought it was some rogue from the wilds, or a cobtroll from the under the mountains.’ Hamar held up his hand as Toryn went to speak. ‘Oh yes, back then they’d still venture this far out of their caves now and then, usually banished by their own kind. Somehow, they’d evade the watch on the pass, or find a way out through the caverns and tunnels elsewhere. Anyways, this traveler led us a right merry old dance for days, I can tell you. This way and that, no obvious reason for their route, and when we thought we had them cornered, they’d suddenly disappear. No tracks, no sign of a camp or anything.’

  ‘Did you find them? Was it a cobtroll?’

  Hamar smiled. ‘Oh no, outsmarted us too often, too clever for a cobtroll. No, we soon suspected a lone Amayan warrior was up to no good.’ An eyebrow raised. ‘That’s why we were so keen to stay on their tail. They usually stick together, but it wasn’t unknown for the odd one to take on a quest alone.’

  Toryn grinned. ‘Did you catch up with her?’

  Hamar rubbed the back of his neck. ‘Almost.’ His eyebrows raised. ‘It was a woman, but not an Amayan. We were in for a shock when we eventually got close enough for a brief glimpse. Too old and bent to be a warrior.’ He frowned. ‘Which made it all the queerer we couldn’t keep up with her.’ He chuckled. ‘Our captain swore us to secrecy about the whole affair. We were too proud to admit she’d gotten the better of us, so we agreed. We’d have never heard the end of the matter from the others. Would have our legs pulled for years.’ He chuckled. ‘We never did apprehend her. The tracks we could follow led us here, but none led away.’ He patted the stone. ‘Anyways, we found this beauty instead.’ He ran his hand down the stone. ‘Not sure if we ever reported this one to The Archon, seeing as we’d struck the previous few days from our records.’

  Toryn peered at the stone. ‘Are there many?’

  ‘I’ve only heard talk of three in all, usually found by a spring like this fine lady.’ He sighed. ‘I’d forgotten how good they feel. Another further north saved a few frostbitten fingers.’

  ‘Why call it a Singing Stone?’

  ‘Ah, well, not sure if it’s their proper name. A guard must have found out by accident, but if you tap one with a sword, they make a sound like you’ve never heard. Stand all the hairs up on the back of your neck it does.’ Toryn reached for his sword tied to his pack. Hamar stayed his hand. ‘No, not now. You’ll alert everyone within a league.’

  Again, Toryn felt his face redden. ‘What are they for?’

  ‘I can only guess they’re part of a watch, maybe a beacon, but easier to maintain with no need for fuel, dry wood and a torch.’ He patted the stone. ‘All you do is tap it and let your friends know trouble is near.’

  Toryn glanced over the surrounding rocks. ‘Maybe if it stood on the top of a hill, but what would you see in the middle of this clearing?’

  Hamar straightened. ‘As I said, only a guess, but you’ll never see a slab of stone such as this anywhere else. You can hit them hard with the strongest blade and it won’t scratch, dent, or make a spark. One of my company tried, just to show us how tough he was.’ Hamar laughed but covered his mouth. He whispered. ‘Sorry, should be more careful. But you’d have laughed if you’d seen his face when his blade shattered like an icicle. Took days for his hands to stop shaking.’ He stood back. ‘Imagine if we could have used these to build the Caerwal Gate. Wouldn’t have to place a watch on it. They’d never break through.’

  ‘But if it’s not part of a watch, what could they be for?’

  ‘Got me there. But what I do know is the Archon told us on pain of death not to reveal their whereabouts.’

  ‘But you brought me.’

  Hamar shrugged. ‘Death will find me soon enough, whatever I do. But be sure you keep it to yourself… just to be safe.’

  ‘Don’t worry, I will.’ Toryn walked around the stone. ‘I wonder who put them here?’

  ‘Not us, for sure. Way beyond the skill of our stoneworkers to create a monument such as this. Must have been folk long before our people came to these lands.’ Hamar’s eyes glistened. ‘I reckon it’s the work of the Three.’

  The hairs on the back of Toryn’s neck stood up. ‘Shame we can’t make it sing.’

  ‘A shame to be sure. I’d wager it sounds like the very Maidens themselves singing. I would love to hear their song one more time before I’m done with this world.’ He ran his gnarled hand along the stone. ‘Perhaps another time.’

  Toryn strolled to the far side of the small clearing. He stooped and dipped his hand in the cold water. At first, all he heard was the trickle as it tumbled across the rocks. But then, he could not be sure if it was his imagination, but it seemed a voice sang softly.

  Hamar hobbled across the grass. He cocked his head towards the stream. ‘My dear mother, bless her, told me if you listen carefully you can hear the echo from the time the Three Maidens first sang their Song of Creation.’ He kept his eyes on the stream. ‘It’s in the water, from the babbling of a brook, to the roaring of the rapids, or in the rustling of the leaves on a tall tree.’ He looked up. ‘The birds know. You see, the Maidens taught them each a part of the Song, so if the worse happens, they could sing it all over again between them.’ Hamar turned to Toryn. ‘Still listening? I know you don’t believe in magic and myths.’

  Only a few days ago, Toryn would have dismissed Hamar’s tale as nonsense, but sitting in the moonlight next to the stone, he understood the words of Hamar’s mother. He smiled. ‘No, honestly, I’m listening. You’ve not told me this one before.’

  Ham
ar sighed. ‘I seem to remember more of my mother’s stories these past few years.’ He closed his eyes. ‘I must be nearing my time.’

  Toryn dipped his hand back in the cold spring. ‘Tell me more about the birds.’

  Hamar beamed. ‘Gladly. Now, let me see. The thrush, ah yes, the song thrush. If I could only hear one bird, it would be them.’ He straightened as if reciting a story. ‘The thrush will sing and pause’ — he tilted his head — ‘sing and pause, waiting for the Maidens to answer. But it’s all in vain.’

  ‘What about the skylark? They’re my favorite. They sing all summer above the fields.’

  Hamar held up a finger. ‘Whereas the lark will twitter away all day long, hovering high in the sky.’ He let out a long sigh. ‘I reckon skylarks don’t want to stop because they can’t bear the silence when there’s no reply.’ He ran his fingers through his beard. ‘Must break their poor little hearts when they’re too exhausted to sing and sink back to the ground.’

  ‘And the cuckoo?’

  ‘Can’t remember. Most likely come in near the end of the song, seeing as they only know two notes.’

  ‘I never knew you thought about such matters. I mean, you know a lot about farming, but’ — he listened again to the soft voice in the water — ‘all this. Echoes. Maidens, birds and… and the like.’

  A tear formed in Hamar’s eye. He smiled. ‘You might think I’m an old fool, but—’

  ‘I don’t. I can’t think of anyone who knows as much as you.’

  Hamar blinked. ‘I know you and the others have a laugh behind my back, but I don’t mind, I really don’t. There’s little cause for joy these days, so if I can bring a little mirth into your lives, that’s fine with me.’ Hamar’s watery eyes reflected the moonlight as he stared at the stone. He sighed. ‘Despite all the darkness and cruelty in the world, if you listen carefully, you can still hear the hope of new life. It’s what keeps me going when…’ he turned away.

  Toryn gave him a moment before asking, ‘Should we be going? Can only be a few hours before sunrise.’