I had prepared to say my name, but my heart froze as I looked into the pale dead eyes that stared unflinching back at me.  Once a fat priest, now the flesh had faded into nothing by thin gray whiteness and the wispy hair drifted into smoky etherealness from behind a once balding pate.  The dead eyes had no pupils, only rolling cloudy orbs above a clear-white face.  As I looked into those eyes I saw not only the depths of fear, anger, and pain, but also the walls and decorations of the temple.  Weapon or not, this foe I could not destroy in battle.  I could not speak for a long time for it held me transfixed in anguish with its stare.  The creature appeared to be waiting, but for what I could not tell.

As if in response to my thoughts the temple door opened and slowly a procession of other smoky-white entities began to file into the large worship hall.  Though many seemed still to be dressed in clear or white versions of their earthly clothes, most had torsos and legs that faded into wispy nothingness with only faces and arms bearing their human resemblance.  Slowly I began to understand.  The eyes of long dead nobility focused on me and the simple offering I had made to my goddess.  Though they barely filled the hall a quarter of the way, the procession ended and the door closed behind them as suddenly as it had opened.  I felt at once trapped, frightened and exhilarated.

I stood, a mere spectator, as events beyond my control unfolded.  I suddenly felt the chill in my blood give way to warmth that encompassed my entire body.  The bright, snowy light I had seen only once before suddenly surrounded the offering pit and began to fill the entire chamber.  Against that brightness the angry spirits became nearly invisible.  The threatening eyes recoiled in confusion and awe.  The majestic, sublime and simple voice addressed them.
“Give way now, my loyal children for the time has come for the world to be healed again.  Your vow to protect my holy place is fulfilled, come now and enter my rest.”

Just as suddenly as it had appeared the light began to fade, but behind me my little fire flared into life beyond its means.  One by one the specters moved forward.  I stepped aside though they now seemed oblivious of my presence.  Each in turn entered my fire, and as they did it flared up until the last, the deadly priest that first addressed me vanished in its heat and the fire died suddenly into cold black ashes.
For the briefest moment I stared about into the encroaching darkness.  I found that I was covered in sweat and grime from the day’s labors and from the intense heat of the fire.  I could not separate the confusion swimming in my head.  Clearly Tylos wanted me for something, but there, alone in a forsaken dead city I could not have guessed my future.

Much later, long after dark I reached our camp.  I approached silently, for that had long become my habit and found them guarding a little fire.  Dina jumped in surprise and fear when I stepped from the shadows but Pascalli merely smiled and quipped, “I see you’ve done well lad.”

“Is there any hot food,” I asked, for I felt my strength had all drained away.  Something about those garish faces seemed to have stolen the life from my limbs.

“Not yet, though we got some meat today,” winked Pascalli.  Dina will cook.”  Dina glared at the wizard and clearly meant to refuse.  I shrugged and went to find their kill, but Pascalli called me back.  “Sit down, Scratch.  By the look of you I’d say you’ve seen death, or worse.  Now go one girl, I’m sure you can manage.”

I found a comfortable spot out of the smoke near our fire and waited.  Dina retrieved a scrawny rabbit, which Pascalli helped her prepare.  After they had it roasting she looked me over, and with some hesitation asked, “What happened?”

I didn’t mean to ignore her, but I couldn’t begin to describe anything.  Pascalli gave her a disapproving look, but said nothing.
“Is there some secret?” she asked.  I sensed the frustration in her voice.  “I feel like I have a right to know what’s going on.  I’m out here too, you know!”

I turned away from her, numbly staring into the flames, but I quickly found that too horrible as my mind kept conjuring images of the dead as they walked into a different fire.

“There are some questions, which cannot be answered,” said Pascalli.  “There are some questions that should not be asked.”

Dina glared, rolled her eyes and sighed.  “Did you at least open the gate?” she asked.

I did not answer, I was still lost in thought, but Pascalli brought me to my senses.  “I believe the young woman asked a question,” he said.

I didn’t care for his tone, but then I didn’t much care for the conversation.  “It’s open,” I said simply.

Pascalli forced me to eat before going to sleep.  I ate mechanically, tasting nothing.  Dina had never before cooked during our journey together, so it should have been a memorable moment, but it was lost to me.  I saw the hurt in her eyes as I ignored them both, but lacked the strength of will to respond.
“Whatever evil remains we will have to face ourselves,” I mumbled.  “The dead have gone, but they left their work behind.”

So many of my memories have been lost in the well of time, but I can never look at a fire without seeing the dead or recalling the night of nightmares that ensued.  If Pascalli or Dina asked me more that night, I didn’t answer.  I drifted into exhausted oblivion, chased by the images of the dead.  For days and nights afterwards I slept only fitfully, and Pascalli did not let me stand watch alone.
Copyright 2008 Kelly David Tolman

On to The Cleansing of Darnuth Keep Fantasy Novel Chapter Fourty Two

Back to The Cleansing of Darnuth Keep Fantasy Novel Chapter Fourty

My first impression of Darnuth Keep remains forever implanted into my memory.  The great towers, like icicles rise triumphant from the mountainside.  True to the name, the towers are constructed of ancient clear-white crystal that shoots into the sky like diamond.  A winding, narrow road that has remained undamaged cuts a path up the edge of Mount Hansfor.  After hours of labor in thinning air we turned a final sharp corner and saw it rising both ominous and beautiful over the valley and pass bellow.  The Hansfor River begins atop the mountain and runs swiftly down, cascading over steep falls before it fills the lake in the valley and races south and west towards the empire and the sea.

“Our destination,” said Pascalli thoughtfully as he scratched his beard.  “Perhaps not a destination,” he contradicted almost immediately.  “Perhaps a starting point.”  He seemed to be lost in his own world for a long moment, until Dina began moving her horse forward.  “You’re right, there’s no point standing outside.  After all I’m sure we’re expected.”  He winked and grinned viciously.

As though time did not exist in the valley or on that mountain, the gates stood tall and clean against the autumn sun.  At least three times the height of a man, the polished white crystal of the main gate seemed impregnable at first.

“How do we get in,” asked Dina.  I was glad she had asked the question, though it echoed my thought.

“By walking, child, of course,” replied the wizard.  “Unless you have learned to fly, which I doubt.”

I managed to fake a cough in order to stifle my laugh, but Dina gave me an angry glare anyway.  Pascalli lead us very close to the wall and over to a path, just wide enough for one horse to go at a time.  The path ran directly beneath the battlements with the sheer face of the wall on one side and a steep slope up the mountain on the other.  I observed that although an army might attempt to approach the fortress from behind, the steep edges sloped just enough that the best they could hope for would be to slide down to the path we now walked where they would be crushed by boulders or burned with oil from the parapets.
At the very back of the keep waits a door just large enough to admit a horse, if it is not a large horse and it is not carrying a great deal of bulk.  Pascalli produced a key and opened the door and we began the time consuming task of unloading our horses to get them through the door.  The door leads through a dark tunnel to another door, which opens into Darnuth Keep.

Many dozens of buildings without roofs lined the barren streets of the lowest level, bearing silent testament to the greatness of the city’s past.  Small doors opened directly into small rooms within the outer city wall.  I estimated that the wall spanned some thirty meters across at the top.  The ancient city guard must have had their barracks either in the low buildings near the wall or in the small rooms inside.  Not a single stair or ladder of any kind graced the sheer surface outside of the wall, the only way up or down came from the inside.  Many pools and fountains still danced in the setting sun as we entered, and I felt as if the ghosts of an age long past laughed at us through the water.

“At last, a bath,” said Dina.

“Yes,” agreed Pascalli.  “Though the water will likely be icy cold.”

“No fires then,” I suggested.

“Here in the lower city we probably haven’t been spotted yet, although to be perfectly honest I’m not sure what or who watches the surface these days.”  Pascalli once again seemed distracted, as if calculating a difficult sum in his head.

“I would very much like a warm meal and a warm bath,” said Dina.

“At what cost,” I said sharply, though she had not been speaking to me.

She turned abruptly to face me.  “I am not your charge,” she said.  Needles seemed to pierce me as she spoke.  “I do not need your counsel.”

“It seems, my dear boy, that the lady will not be denied her pleasantry,” said Pascalli.  His tone neither mocked nor condoned, but simply stated a fact.  “Go and fetch some water, Scratch, and dig up a pot for heating it.  I should like some proper dinner as well, see what you can do about that, lad, if you don’t mind.”

I opened my mouth to disagree when I saw Dina’s look of triumph, but shut it again quickly.  “Will you at least help with the fire,” I asked.

“Sorry Scratch,” he said.  His voice was suddenly quite serious.  “I’m off scouting for a bit.  There are plenty of dry timbers around that should burn well enough.  Seasoned wood burns the best.”  I grabbed my spear and started towards the nearest building.  “Find a place with half a roof if you can,” called Pascalli behind me.  “Don’t get into trouble.”

By then I absolutely fumed inside.  Dina proved to be a hindrance in every possible way.  She outright demanded I build a separate fire for her in a separate building where she could heat water and bath herself properly.  She did not move a single finger to help.  I realize now that once again Pascalli was giving me a simple test of self-control.  The danger of our situation was no less now than before, but I guarded the camp alone.

Rather than use two buildings, I waited until Dina seemed content and then built our cooking fire just in front of the abandoned house she had chosen.  I stacked our gear just outside the door and began preparing a stew of dried meat and herbs.  Dusk already began to drift over us as I began to light the fire, and the shadows seemed to bring with them a quiet that even stilled the tinkle of running water.  Dina hummed an unfamiliar but content tune from within the house.  My stew simmered very quietly.  I heard the soft scrap of something on a stone.

I crept as quickly as I dared, making no noise and grabbed my bow.  Finally, after what had seemed like ages of practice I could move almost silently when the need arose.  I peered through the depths of darkness for the enemy that surely stalked either my fire or Dina.  Dina would have no weapons, and even an unintelligent attacker would deem her the easier target.  I went inside the house.

I heard Dina finish her humming and fumbling around for a buffalo hide.  She saw me against the light of the fire and shouted.  “Scratch, get out of here!  I’m bathing.”  When I didn’t move she became really angry, and I think she reached to find something to throw at me.  Truthfully I couldn’t say what she did because at that moment I caught the movement in the shadows along the roof that I had been looking for.  I loosed an arrow, and a piercing shriek, very similar to Dina’s, tore into the night.  Something large and black fell into the building and growled in pain.  I sent a second arrow past Dina and into the enormous black cat.

“Supper is ready,” I said, and turned and walked out.
Copyright 2008 Kelly David Tolman

On to The Cleansing of Darnuth Keep Fantasy Novel Chapter Thirty Nine

Back to The Cleansing of Darnuth Keep Fantasy Novel Chapter Thirty Seven

We lit no fires.  Dina complained about this the first night, until I warned her that we were being watched.  At first I think she wanted to argue the point until Pascalli nodded his agreement with my assessment.  “Don’t be foolish,” he whispered.  “He may be a farmer, lass, but he knows the wild.”

After we abandoned the wagon I did not see any signs for two more days.  I thought that whatever was following us had lost interest.

We huddled together for warmth, our backs to each other taking turns nodding off in the night.  I saw a flicker of luminous green in the dark.  Then it disappeared.  An eye most likely, reflecting the dim moonlight.  I gently prodded Pascalli and Dina.  Pascalli prodded back.  He also had noticed something, a shadow perhaps.  Dina breathed in sharply and jerked her bow up off her knees.  It must have been her sudden move that drew the attention of our attackers because they concentrated on her.

The attack came sudden and precise with all the cunning of a master bandit.  Four shapes blacker than the darkness came at us, their pale green eyes the only warning a split second before fangs and claws tore into us.  Dina’s arrow caught one in the chest, while mine found a mark in the throat.  Behind me I heard Pascalli crack his staff hard into a third.  The fourth had caught Dina across the chest with a claw and she fell hard onto the stony earth.

I knocked and loosed a second arrow without hesitation, before it could either flee or attack someone else.  The creatures were similar in body to the tigers of the east, with cat-like claws and long tails, but I did not understand the elongated bear-like faces and fangs.  Neither bears nor cats hunted in packs, and certainly they would not take unknown prey like this.

“They are not entirely animal,” said Pascalli. “Look.”

Before my eyes the dead began to shed portions of their furry skin.  The faces melted into something almost human, black like the monkeys of the south, but still with the pale green eyes.

“What evil is this?” asked Dina between painful breaths.

“A remnant from the breaking,” I answered.  “This is why we have come, to make things right.”

Fortunately, Dina’s wound was not as serious as it could have been.  The claws had cut cleanly enough, but I knew that I would not be able to see the source of infection and sickness until after it started.  I found my bag of herbs and began cutting bandages.

She still did not trust me, and when I moved to help her she shied away.  “I will be fine,” she said.  “I am not hurt badly.”

“That is something for the healer to judge,” I said.  The teeth or claws had rent her leathers and I could clearly see the wounded flesh beneath.  “We do not know these creatures.  There may be poison in the wound.  It needs to be properly cleaned anyway to prevent sickness.”

“I wish we had a proper surgeon,” she said.

“Scratch has experience enough with mercenaries and outlaws,” said Pascalli.  “I’m sure he can manage to stitch together a lady.”

I had never before laid eyes upon a woman’s breast, and I daresay that I was very glad for the dim, shadowy light of the one candle Pascalli allowed me to work by.  I discovered that she was very beautiful, although I had never really thought about it much.  I treated the wound with much more care and tenderness than I believe I had planned, and I am sure she was grateful for that care in the end.  I had a bit of tyrnwood that I used to make a poultice to deaden the pain and soak any poison.  I am sure that in the cold night air my indelicate fingers did not feel pleasant, and I regretted not having something better for the pain.  Three cuts ran around the edge of her left breast, claw marks, and all three required stitches.  Afterwards we bundled her in several blankets and sat back to back watching over her the rest of the night.

Once again the wonders of tyrnwood proved useful.  By morning Dina practically bounced out of the blankets.  Though her arm was still too weak from the torn chest muscles to properly manage a bow, she willingly helped with chores she had complained about only the day before.

After that incident Pascalli pushed us harder to reach Darnuth Keep.  All thought of practice or training of any kind vanished.  For the first time in what seemed forever I did not rise each day to be soundly beaten by a solid oak staff.  Pascalli knew that we would need the protection of the battlements as well as a base from which to hunt and gather supplies for the coming winter.  Dina had often hunted for sport with her father and brothers but was unused to surviving in the wilderness without the comforts of her station.  She did not know how to cook, though most of our food at the time was cold.  She did not find sleeping under the stars comfortable and did not understand that we would be easy prey inside of tents.

“I don’t think Dina is made for the wild,” I observed to Pascalli on evening.  “I don’t know if she is strong enough to make it out here.”

“Don’t judge her too swiftly Scratch.  There’s a strength there that you don’t see yet.  Remember all that you’ve done and seen since leaving home.  There were times I wondered about you,” he said.

“I’ll do my best,” I murmured.

Pascalli smiled at me.  “A friend is a friend and a good friend even better.  She’s a part to play yet.  Give her time.  Someday you may come to understand the sacrifice she has given to join us.  She has freely left behind much that others would struggle their whole lives to gain.  We’ll reach the keep in another day.  I’ll be relying on your help when we get there.  Make sure your head is clear.”

Copyright 2008 Kelly David Tolman

On to The Cleansing of Darnuth Keep Fantasy Novel Chapter Thirty Eight

Back to The Cleansing of Darnuth Keep Fantasy Novel Chapter Thirty Six

We sat, both of us staring at the leaf for a long time.  I wondered what it meant, how it was possible, and if Pascalli would teach me more.  I can only imagine the thoughts he had as the full realization of the power of the curse he had been given settled on his mind.

“At a glance I could have destroyed a forest,” he mumbled bitterly.  The look in his eye burned with a hatred that sent shivers down my spine.  I had never before seen him filled with dread or indignant anger.  That moment was the only one in which I feared for my safety while in his presence, but the moment passed quickly.  “Matters have changed, Scratch,” he said with a finality that brought me quickly to attention.  “Now you must become fully my apprentice, at least for a short time, until I can find a more suitable master, which I am afraid may not be possible.  Clearly Tylos thrust you upon me to break my heart again.”  He winked.  “On a more serious note, if it is possible to be more serious, I must take you even more into my confidence now.  First, you must not share this experience with anyone, ever.”

I already knew that much, and had not intended to tell anyone anyway.

“Second, you must understand that this means that the enemy can use magic.”

That too was obvious.

“Also that these enemies, for there will be more than one of them, will have had probably eighteen or nineteen winters more than you to learn magic.  That is to say that there is at least one Kaarum shaman in this world who has been practicing magic since before you were born.”  He seemed completely distracted as he spoke.

“What does all this mean for us here and now,” I finally asked him.  “Are we still going to Darnuth Keep?”

“Yes, my boy, oh yes,” he replied.  “We very much need to get there, now more than ever.  You’ve managed to get a decent handle on that pig-poker, but unfortunately I won’t have time to really train you up properly in case of a real duel.  Pray, lad, pray.  In the meantime our plans do not change, other than you will have to work extra hard.”  He caught my resigned sigh.  “I don’t mean cooking and cleaning, Scratch, although there will be plenty of that to go around.  You’ll find that these old hands can be useful sometimes, and we’ve a third pair now.  I hadn’t counted on using magic until now, so you’ll have to learn to deal with that before you’re really ready.”

We rode into last gate early in the morning.  The mud houses looked golden gray in the reflected sunlight.  Smoke from cooking fires drifted through the still sky.  Though a few dogs called out to each other, only our slow wagon stirred the streets.  The village seemed as undisturbed by time as by our small intrusion.  The enormous wall, built centuries before, loomed like a large dark hand over even the tallest of the buildings.  A wide, worn highway wandered north and stopped abruptly at the enormous black gates.  Soldiers sat idly atop the parapets, smoking pipes and watching our approach.

Getting the guards of Last Gate to open their ancient charge proved to be much more hassle than anticipated, but Pascalli took it all in with a laugh.  Listening to Pascalli haggle with the gate captain did nothing to ease the building sense of dread inside me.

“The Last Gate has not been opened in over a thousand winters,” said Garret, leader of the guards.  “Our law strictly forbids it.”

“I know the law,” said Pascalli.  “By the light of Tylos, I made the law.  I closed the gate.  By the demons in Hieron I made the wall.”  His eyes were a blaze of fury that quelled the other man.  “Now open the gate or I will, and for good measure I’ll leave it open too.  Send word to your master that a ragtag named Pascalli has run off with a bandit and the daughter of the great Taradurk through the Last Gate.  Have me hunted if you dare, but do not impede me today.”

In the end Pascalli had his way of course.  Only the very stubborn and stupid could repel him for long.  The great iron gears, whose teeth were each larger than a man rolled painfully along a course they had not traveled in a millennium.  A small crack, just wide enough for our wagon, and then they lurched and yelled and slammed shut, leaving us in silence to face a path that no longer led anywhere.

“I had hoped to go on ahead,” said Pascalli.  “There is much to be done before winter, but I dare not delay your training Scratch.”  He surveyed the broken, overgrown land ahead.  The foothills of the Northern Crown lay covered with thick shrubs and tall unhindered timber.  Finding a path for the wagon would be both cumbersome and slow.  “We’ll try it this way for a day or two and see how it goes.  Once there was a very great highway that ran through here, perhaps it has survived the test of time.”

Only long summers of hard labor would uncover the remains of that ancient thoroughfare.  We managed to stumble on an occasional brick, but that was more inconvenience than help.  The wagon proved to be utterly useless and an even worse hindrance than first thought.  After two days the decision became clear.  Either we abandon the wagon and make haste to Darnuth Keep or we keep battling the wagon and risk reaching our destination after the first snows.  Either way we would be faced with a lack of critical food-stores.

“Well, what shall it be children?” he asked, though I am sure he guessed our thoughts.

“Ride while we can,” I answered.

“I am a huntress,” said Dina.  “We can hunt food when we get there.”

“Perhaps we can,” said Pascalli.  “If there is anything fit left to eat in these parts.  So be it.  Pack all of the grain and blankets, the salt, sugar, gear, and as much of the dried meat as possible.  We’ll walk if we have to, but we must make haste.”

Something picked up our trail almost immediately after crossing the Gate.  I imagine that our entrance into that solitary territory disturbed a great many creatures.  I knew that a skillful hunter tracked us nearly from the beginning.  A shadow would move, or occasionally a leaf shuddered against the wind behind us or off to one side.  Never close enough to hear, always near enough to make me very nervous.  Pascalli also knew immediately that we were being tracked.  Only Dina appeared oblivious.  The first day Pascalli tried to get me to concentrate on the air while we rode, attempting to repeat the same lesson as before.  The lesson proved a complete failure as neither of us could divert enough of our attention away from our followers.
Copyright 2008 Kelly David Tolman

On to The Cleansing of Darnuth Keep Fantasy Novel Chapter Thirty Seven

Back to The Cleansing of Darnuth Keep Fantasy Novel Chapter Thirty Five

I worked at the forge until late in the evening.  I found Tarkin, Pascalli, and Dina just finishing a fine meal.  “Sit down, lad,” invited Tarkin.  “You’ve worked yourself over-hard since you came.  I can never repay such kindness.  Enjoy some of this roast.”

I knew that I smelled of the forge and that my unwashed face must have appeared rather unruly to Dina.  I became conscious for the first time of how graceful she truly was.  She had tied her hair in a tight knot at her neck.  Her eyes were a penetrating shade of jade, almost like a cat’s that still glared at me across the table.  In her boots she stood as tall as me.  I noticed that she kept her cutlass and bow close by.

“I believe that you have not been properly introduced,” said Pascalli casually.  “This is my knight and protector, Sir Lanseg.”  She nodded.  “And this is Dina, third daughter of Lord Taradurk.”  I bowed deeply, remembering my manners.

I had not learned to speak with much grace and I felt my cheeks flush, so I did the only thing my mouth was good for and stuffed it with food.

“Her ladyship has come to avenge the loss of the blacksmith, Sir Lanseg,” said Tarkin.  “She is a very great hunter of evil, both of men and creatures.”  The farmer seemed genuinely excited about the arrival of that surly girl.  “She was just telling us of a particularly nasty creature.  Please continue.”

“There really isn’t much more to it,” she replied.  “We came upon them just after dawn and slew them quickly.”

“What sort of creatures were they?” asked Tarkin.

“Beasts that walk like men, with horns and claws.  One had the head of a dog, the other the head of a goat.  Both were covered in black fur and scales.”

I opened my mouth to say Kaarum, but caught Pascalli’s eye and stuffed it with food instead.

“When was this?” asked Pascalli.

“Two markets ago, near the great wall,” she replied.

“Do you hear that Lanseg?” he said.  I nodded.  “We will have to make haste.  We must be at our destination before winter arrives and already the hills grow dangerous.”

“After we solve the murder,” I said bluntly.

“Oh, of course,” he continued casually.  “We were just discussing the matter when you arrived.  I have done some scouting, and I believe we will be able to take care of that problem without too much trouble in the morning.  Then it will be a small matter for the farm to find a new smith and we can be on our way.”

“Where are you going?” asked Dina.

“Why, to Darnuth Keep, my dear,” said Pascalli as casually as if we were taking a summer stroll to go fishing.  My jaw dropped.  My fork dropped.  I did not have the presence to even hide my surprise my stuffing my mouth again.  Winters now of traveling in secrecy and he just spouted it off.

“You are joking of course,” replied Dina, her voice betraying her shock.  “That place is haunted, filled with deadly evil beasts.  Legend has it that it was cursed from the breaking and can never be made whole again.”

“Never is a very long time,” said Pascalli.  “Despite the dangers we are going there.  I am surprised at you, Dina, frightened of mere stories when you have yourself fought and conquered evil.  I should think you would want to come with us.”  Now I really was struggling to keep myself composed.  The last thing I wanted along was a silly girl who couldn’t take care of herself, let alone help out in a tight spot.  But my fears were unfounded.

“I have other duties,” she replied.  “I am not always free to chase my quarry or to follow fools into darkness.”

“Of course,” replied Pascalli, and as far as we were all concerned the matter was closed.  The conversation turned to more mundane topics until I drifted to sleep at the table from exhaustion.

The morning found us looking for over-sized gopher holes.  “What we are looking for, are holes about this large,” described Pascalli very carefully.  He held his hands apart to form a circle about the size of my head.  “They will be surrounded by the burrowed out dirt, and probably by a sort of yellow slime or yellow dirt.  I have already marked three of them, but there should be a few more, possibly as many as ten or twelve.”

“What do we do when we find them,” I asked.

“Just mark them with a stick, like this, and a bit of cloth.”  He handed each of us a few strips of cloth.  “Whatever you do, do not put your hand or foot inside one of these holes!  The creatures inside can be very dangerous, as you will soon see.”

As Pascalli had guessed, the work was relatively quick and easy.  Both Tarkin and I had experience hunting vermin of this sort in the fields, so we knew what signs to look for.  Dina learned quickly what we were searching for, and in less than an hour we had all nine burrows marked.

Pascalli gathered us together with several of the other farm workers.  “Now for the fun part,” he said.  Each of you put a generous amount of this powder down a hole, all except one hole, which Lanseg and Dina will watch with their bows.”  He passed a generous round of reddish powder to eight different willing parties.  “When I give the signal, put your torches to the powder.  Mind you be careful, and if you see any creature coming out of the hole run back away and call out for assistance.”

“What are we to do?” asked Dina.

“Shoot them as they come out, of course.”  Pascalli winked.  “I did say this was the fun part, didn’t I.  Oh, but be careful not to get bitten.  I believe you will find that they move spectacularly fast when frightened, and their venom is quite deadly.”

Just as planned, eight torches set off fire and smoke in unison and a few short seconds later out crawled seven enormous lizards.  I call them lizards but truly they were more like giant centipedes with lizard-like heads.  They sported just one vicious fang, almost like a horn.  Their mouths opened with rages of fear, pain and anger as they emerged, and their bulbous eyes blinked in the morning sun.  One by one we shot them with our arrows as they emerged.  Most of them required more than one shot to stop.  They had some inner desire to keep moving, to keep attacking that went far beyond normal instinct.  The last one very nearly reached Dina’s legs before I put an arrow through its eye.  She gave me a grudging thank you, and turned to survey the situation.

After a few moments, the fury was over and I began skinning one of the creatures.  “What could you possibly want with that,” asked Dina, a look of disgust on her face.

“New boots,” I suggested, indicating my worn footwear.  I’m not sure what made me continue, “I can make a pair for you if you’d like.”  The words seemed to escape my lips before I knew I was even speaking.

She looked at first taken aback, and then wary, then replied, “I’m sure you’ll be long gone before you can finish them.  Besides I have business.”

“Then I will send them to your father as a trophy of his daughter’s triumph.”  To my surprise there was no note of mockery in my voice.  She had done very well that day and I did want to make up.

“Thank you,” she stammered.  I believe that was the first time someone had sincerely complimented her in her life, if not, it was certainly the most powerful.  She was used to the idle prattle of hangers-on and the expected kindnesses of servants.

“Taking trophies already I see,” interrupted Pascalli.  “Wonderful.  I could use a new belt, but mind the fangs and let me know if you see any of their eggs.”

“I’ll be careful,” I grumbled.  “The hides are already spoken for.”

“Oh well, another time then,” responded Pascalli cheerfully.  “Ho, Tarkin, come see what we’ve managed.”  The farmer was already halfway to us of course.  “Now mind you that we may not have gotten all the eggs.  If we didn’t you’ll see a few young come out in one or two markets.  The young will be looking for mice or frogs, whatever they can get.  I suggest you set some traps around the burrows at night.  Go ahead and plug as many as you can.”
Copyright 2008 Kelly David Tolman

On to The Cleansing of Darnuth Keep Fantasy Novel Chapter Thirty Four

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