Chapter Sixteen - The Cleansing of Darnuth Keep by Kelly D. Tolman
Posted by admin on January 12, 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.
On feast days to Moalthor I was given time to visit my companions, though at first I barely had energy talk. Iven appeared as tired as me but Pascalli always looked as fresh as though he hadn’t lifted a finger. During the rest of the cycle I saw them only rarely. If an errand took us to another place of work we could chat for a short moment. Otherwise we took our leisure with the Veldmen.
“I don’t understand how you manage it, old man,” said Iven as we lazed near a glowing coal fire.
“The trick is understanding perfectly the task you have been given,” replied Pascalli. “After a few more lifetimes you will come to understand it the same way I have. Besides, they do not have me swinging a hammer or shoveling coal. Vrashnil is much more interested in the knowledge I have not chosen to share with the rest of the world.”
“That I can understand,” replied the smith. “The machines they have here are beyond my grasp. I’ve never seen the like. They mix alloys of iron and other metals that I had not seen before. I understand the forging of steel, and how to mix bronze as well as a half dozen different ways to weld and pull wire, but nearly all of it is done by hand with hard labor. I’ve never seen iron wire turned so neatly. All of it so uniform with no kinks or breaks along the line.”
“Open your eyes, then,” said Pascalli. “There’s nothing magic about it. No mysterious secret. By and large it is the power of coal and steam that turn their engines. They’ve a better annealing process than you have, and they understand that lime makes a better lubricant for wire than the oils you are accustomed to.”
“I watched Torsith repair the automatic hammer he uses,” I said. “There is a cylinder inside a cylinder, and a number of wheels that turn when the cylinders move. Or perhaps only one of them moves. That is what makes the motion for the hammer.”
“You’ve a keen eye, lad,” agreed Iven. “Perhaps you can help me make drawings of the machines when we leave.” After that I tried extra hard to learn the ways of the Veldmen and understand exactly what Torsith and his apprentices did.
I ate at the forge, drank while gathering ore, and slept again near the warm coals. After completing his two cycles of service Pascalli managed to convince Vrashnil that I should spend half the day every-other day at the equally rigorous torture of training my spear with the Veldmen guards who spent their entire lives learning the use of the weapon and perfecting that skill.
“The Barak-dun may come,” said Pascalli. “The boy has some skill with his spear and you may find his help welcome. Besides, your guards could use the practice against our foreign fighting style.”
At times I thought of the wide world above ground. I thought of my farm and family in Dunston. I even wondered at times what Laural might be doing, if she ever escaped the Blue Dragon. I felt caught in a dream hidden from the sun. When I mentioned this to Pascalli he laughed quietly.
“You’re beginning to change, Scratch,” he said. “One day you’ll look into a stream and not recognize who you’ve become.”
The many markets of practice with Iven and Pascalli as we journeyed in the wild prepared me well for my time with the Veldmen guards. After only two more cycles their captain allowed me to train with the regular guards. Many times I thought I would collapse from the exhaustion, but a healthy draught of a wine they make from fungus brought me back to my senses so that I could finish the day.
“The Barak-dun, or people of stone as they call themselves, may attack during the winter,” warned Pascalli as we rested during Moalthor’s holiday. “They are intelligent creatures, similar in many ways to the Kaarum, but much more organized and dangerous.”
“Where do they live?” I asked.
“They have many tunnels and caves throughout the mountains, though generally farther north. I believe they may have a loose alliance with the Kaarum far beyond the Northern Crown.”
“What do they look like?” I asked. Pascalli had a way of exciting my curiosity.
“Like short yellow or green, hairless men. You will have no trouble recognizing them.”
Some sixty days into this nightmare, just as my body had adjusted to the rhythm of the work and rest, the Barak-dun attacked the city as Pascalli had foreseen. As an honorary member of their guard I came immediately to defend a tunnel at the far end of the city. All lights extinguished at once. Though I have never found a creature that can see in such absolute darkness, the Veldmen have ears and noses as keen as a dog’s. I neither heard nor smelled the enemies approaching, but I felt the soldier next to me tense and I knew they were upon us.
At the captain’s order someone struck a small spark for light and we all leapt into action. The Barak-dun fought viciously according to their nature. They had tipped their spears with sticky venom gathered from fungi. A companion next to me fell instantly after a cut in the shoulder during our ambush. He clutched in agony at the burning, bleeding flesh. To my own surprise I summoned the discipline to ignore him for the moment and sent my father’s spear into one target’s chest. Their armor appeared to have been scavenged from fallen enemies for it did not seem to fit properly, and offered little protection against our far superior weapons. My height and reach gave me an unexpected advantage that I quickly put to good use.
I am glad to say that the battle ended on a victorious note for the most part. Unfortunately two of the wounded were dragged away when the Barak-dun retreated.
“What will happen to them?” I asked Pascalli as we counted the missing.
“The Barak-dun will sacrifice them to Wolfar,” replied Vrashnil sadly.
“Can’t we do something?” I asked. “If we hurry we can still catch them.”
“You are willing to try to find them?” asked Vrashnil. “Why?”
“We can’t just abandon them.” I didn’t know what else to say. I had never before considered leaving a comrade behind.
“Who will join him?” asked the king. “Who will bring our brothers back?”
Pascalli immediately offered his services, as did Iven. “I shall not have you wandering these great halls unsupervised,” snorted Pascalli indignantly. Of the Veldmen, only their High Captain, Lagathin offered his spear.
By Lagathin’s calculations the Barak-dun would again celebrate their holy sacrifices in four days. The Barak-dun did not often build their own tunnels, but rather used natural caverns or stole the tunnels of the Veldmen. Unless they had made some new route, Lagathin could track them without a problem. I had no idea how we would enter their holding unnoticed and leave again with the prisoners.
I don’t know what sort of a leader I made on that silly adventure, no-one ever bothered to tell me if I did well or not. Pascalli offered no suggestions, insight, or help of any kind other than to say, “We’ll need plenty of luck.”
Three days later we sneaked up on the Barak-dun guards. Apparently the Veldmen did not have a practice of making war in return because the guards were lazy to the point of absurdity. Even when they clearly heard Iven stumble in the passageway, they argued amongst themselves rather than sending someone to find us. Those four we dispatched unawares and without trouble. The hundreds inside their village remained a distinct problem.
Not much burns underground, at least not without some planning and forethought. I did not have an amazing plan, but the one I put together on the spot worked reasonably well. For flammables we had a certain quantity of oil, some alcohol, some fungus from which the oil was derived, and four corpses. I am not proud to say that I defiled the dead, not even the dead of a race as foul as the Barak-dun, but I did. We lit the bodies into a full blaze and each of us dragging one charged into the city. Then we cast them aside, careful not to smother the flames and in the confusion looked for our captive comrades. Such a smothering ruckus and echo I hoped never to see or hear or feel again. The odor overwhelmed the senses, causing Barak-dun women and children to flee in terror and agony and even their stoutest warriors to vomit. Aided by the cover of smoke we escaped detection until our wise captive companions found us. At the first sound of confusion they had run from their captors, who merely stood guard with spears and had not bound them for lack of ropes or chains. Together we made a final run to the exit and kept sprinting lest the sure pursuit overtake us. Veldmen are a stout race but not one for winning contests of speed.
Such a tale among the Veldmen had not often been told before, and Torsith made me recount it again and again as I returned to the forge. Vrashnil rewarded us all handsomely with any trinkets we desired and told Pascalli that his debt had been repaid more times than could be counted. I replaced my chain shirt with one of much finer quality, such as would turn the blades of most spears and swords without taking the least dent or scratch. At Torsith’s forge I learned the strength of patience and the value of steady effort. Under Lagathin’s careful eye my skill with the spear developed into a love of tactics in motion. Though I took with me a pocket full of gold and silver and enough memories to fill a lifetime, the greatest treasure I realized came from the knowledge Pascalli so carefully bought with my labor.
I blinked stupidly when I first stepped back into the cold sunlight. Though winter still gripped the high lands, I knew that lower down spring must be close. Torsith’s forge melted into a kind memory as I mounted my horse once more. I breathed in the fresh mountain air and pointed my horse after Pascalli.
“Back at it, then Scratch,” said Pascalli. “A boy never grew into a man by blinking away the sunlight.”
After the Veldmen, Pascalli took a more focused approach to my training. Each day we focused on specific topics rather than fill my head with generalities. “We’re returning to the realm of men. You will need to learn how to deal with men as men if you wish to survive.”
“How?” I asked.
“Practice, of course.” The wizard winked. “We’ve a great many roads to travel before we reach our destination. Between now and then we’ll find many ways for you to learn.”
Copyright 2008 Kelly David Tolman
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