Chapter Fifty One – The Cleansing of Darnuth Keep by Kelly D. Tolman
Posted by admin on September 14, 2009
The Cleansing of Darnuth Keep is a fantasy novel describing the adventures of Colter Halfspear as he becomes a man and an initiate of magical powers.
Judging distance in that half-light was intolerably difficult. I imagine we followed the path for less than a kilometer, but truthfully we judged time and distance only by the changes that happened to our surroundings and by the degree of weariness our bodies felt.
A distant scrape of something hard against the stone brought us up short.
Ahead and to the left grew a small grove of giant mushrooms, a few of them shedding a dim orange glow, while to our right was nothing but blackness. I called a gentle breeze to blow our scent behind us, away from the sound, and Pascalli and I took cover behind two of the lager stalks.
I am sure we made no sound while we moved, but I knew better than to rely solely on sight and sound. After a moment of tense waiting, the breeze brought the unmistakable scent that constantly surrounded the scaly green lizard-like bipeds. A group of three slowly emerged from the black shadows. Their animal faces reflected dimly in the mushroom light. Each carried a short spear in one hand, and it was obvious from their slow, calculated movements that they were searching for something.
Cautiously, I willed the breeze to change slightly. I did not want them to wander downwind of us. The instant they caught our scent we would have to fight.
I had planned on hiding and waiting for them to pass, but as they drew nearer Pascalli suddenly leapt from hiding and set about them with amazing speed. His staff was a whirlwind of motion, and they were caught by complete surprise. He had cracked two skulls before they turned to face him, and the third was down before its spear could even be brought into play.
“There is no point trying to hide from a group this small,” he said. “Search them. There may be more clues.”
Obediently, I began rifling through the pouches and pockets, ignoring the stench they brought. Each carried a small earthenware jar of water as well as a small packet of either fungus or dried meat. “Just food and water,” I said.
“They were hunting for something,” replied Pascalli. “Either us or food.”
“Either way we are closer,” I said. “We should probably avoid the path as much as possible. There will be more of them.”
“Very well, but we will let none of them escape that we find,” replied the wizard. “Fear is a great tool, and if enough of these things disappear to unknown enemies they will take the defensive and stop venturing out. The less they know about us, the better.”
The patches of giant fungus slowly became a forest though which the stone path meandered carelessly. Though there was little undergrowth like we would find in a forest above the ground, we moved at an excruciatingly slow pace. Each sound carried too far for comfort, and neither of us trusted the black mushrooms as safe.
We dispatched two more groups of the creatures as well as a large lion. We cut the lion into strips, risking a little light to work by. “We need food,” I complained.
Pascalli nodded his agreement. “We can risk a day to jerk some of it, though the smell may attract predators. I don’t know how much longer we will be down here.”
The dried out mushrooms burned poorly, and they gave the meat a bitter taste, but at least it would no longer spoil. Though the ceiling was high, the smoke still clouded and smoked more than we wanted, and I eventually had to use magic to create a breeze to carry it away from us.
“Blow it back the way we came,” suggested Pascalli. “No point giving any more warning than we need to whatever lies ahead of us.”
Eventually we saw another glowing fountain ahead of us and to the left. This one was much less impressive than the water we had rested near, but its glowing bubbles remained a thing of beauty. Careful to make no sound, I took out my canteen and motioned to Pascalli. He nodded his agreement, and handed me a second canteen.
The lizard scent wafted suddenly very strong as I approached the water. I slipped quietly back into the shadows to watch. Several small patches of moss glowed dimly around the pillars that marked the buildings in this area. The sound of shuffling feet brought us up short, and we waited in silence for the sound to pass. Two quiet figures came to the fountain and filled large earthenware pots with water. Their manner was casual, even careless, and they hissed to each other in a strange whisper, like the wind in summer grass.
They filled their pots and turned to leave. I waited just long enough for them to turn their backs before approaching the little lake. I quickly filled my own vessels. Pascalli startled me as I turned to leave.
“We have to follow them,” he whispered. I nodded and handed him his water bottle.
Careful to keep downwind, we followed them as they carried their burdens back to a tight cluster of dwellings. All of the buildings on the north side of the fountain seemed to be occupied, and a wide street ran from the fountain north through a passage between dwellings. We held to the shadows, moving as silently as possible until we reached the street and passed the first open stone houses. Then we found a quiet alley, and sat to rest and wait.
I am not sure what Pascalli expected to see, but I was waiting for one or more of the creatures to come along that looked or acted differently from the rest. In the meantime I was content to learn their habits and rest my tired feet.
Without exception each family dwelling had a large patch of glowing moss somewhere near the marking pillar. By this means we were able to discern which pillars marked homes, and which marked public buildings. Several times two or three came out for water, returning with their pots sloshing gently, but on the whole the place was very quiet. They spoke to each other with a muffled hissing language whose sound carried only a short distance.
After a short period of hiding we determined that nobody in the area knew of our presence. Pascalli signaled to me that he wanted me to take the first watch, and he drifted into silent sleep. When he woke some time later I had no recollection of how much time may have passed, and I had not seen anything of interest happening. I reluctantly lay down in the shadows and drifted again into uneasy sleep.
Copyright 2008 Kelly David Tolman
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