Range heard the explosion behind them and the yelling that ensued.“We must flee!” he said, spurring his horse.
His horse had taken five steps and was about to break into a full gallop when a figure appeared in front of him. He pulled his horse up in time to miss the dolt and pulled his sword, leveling it at the man.
“I have him in my sights,” Sterlin said, with his bow fully drawn.
“Who are you?”Range asked of the shadow. The snow was brightened by the moonlight, but they were in the shadows of the trees.
The figure stood and said nothing.
“Get out of my way, or get run down,” Range said.
The figure did not balk.
“Run him down so we can get moving!”Remmy said from the back.Cortibis gave him an elbow.
Range could feel the chase growing. He didn’t have time for this.
He made to go around the figure, but the figure moved to block his path again.
“This is great. Do you fools want to die?” the prince asked.”How did I get abducted by such a bunch of fools?”
“Quiet boy!”Rolin chastised.
“I will run you down,” Range threatened.
The figure raised both of its hands, showing them empty, and slowly moved toward Range.
“Sterlin?”Range said.
“I’ve still got him,” Sterlin replied. The arrow was on his cheek.”But hurry up, my arm’s getting tired.”
The figure stepped close enough for Range to see his face.Rolin moved up next to Range.
Rolin pulled a piece of quickflint from his pocket and lit a durry. Its rich orange glow lit up the area only well enough to break stiff shadows on the stranger’s face.Range kept looking behind him, waiting for the inevitable. Rolin took a few deep puffs from the durry to brighten the cherry.The man was pointing to his open mouth.He was making a strange gaggling sound.Rolin leaned the durry toward the man.
“He has no tongue,” Rolin said as if he had seen it a hundred times.
“What?”Remmy said.”Let me see!”
“Stay where you are, boy,” Cortibis said. Remmy coughed up a sigh.
“How will we know what he wants?”Sterlin asked.
“We can ask him yes or no questions,” Rolin said.
The man nodded.His face was harsh in the durrie-light.Not ugly, but worn and tired.His eyes glittered with quiet intelligence. At least he wasn’t mad.
“Did someone cut out your tongue?” Range asked.
Nod.
“Why are you here?” Rolin asked.
Shrug.
“Why are you blocking our way?” Range asked.
The man acted as if he had a sword and began fighting with it.
“You want to fight?” Range asked.
The man shook his head.They were quickly running out of time.Range could hear men yelling behind them now.
“Hurry it up, friend. We’ve got company coming,” Range said.”Is there someone up ahead who wants to fight?”
Nod.
“Might there be a few soldiers?”
Nod.
Range sighed and leaned back in his saddle.
“The mage has the area watched.”
The man nodded.
“Do you know a path?”Range said leaning forward again.
Nod.
“Will we be noticed?”
Shake.
“How many men do you think are out there?”Rolin asked.
Shrug.Then he held up ten fingers, put them down and then held up three more.
“Anything else?”Range asked.
The man nodded.
“What?”
The man held his hands up like claws and loped around like a beast.
“Demons?” Range asked.
Nod. Cortibis sighed.
“Ooln help us,” Range said.
“Why are you believing him?” the prince asked.
“What?”
“Why are believing a word that comes out of that man’s head?We don’t know him!You commoners and your trust, you throw it around as if it were your manhood and you were proud of it.”
Nicodemus moved closer to the man.
The man stood his ground.
“Do you have a horse?”Nicodemus asked him.
The man shook his head.
“Where might you hail from?”
The man shrugged and indicated writing.
“Perhaps he wishes to scribe some of his thoughts,” Sterlin said.
“We don’t have time,” Range said.”Stranger, if you know a way, then lead us. We have time for no other choice.Nicky, give him your horse, and let him ride.If this is indeed a trap, they will think he is the one walking, and not attack you. Let us begin!”
Nicky traded foot for hoof with the stranger and they followed.
The man led them through an area of thick and snowy vegetation.On a few occasions they heard talking and others moving about in the woods, but no one stopped them.Apparently the mute man was indeed leading them around trouble.They moved at a cautious quick pace that seemed unnervingly slow to Range.He was constantly hearing pursuit when there was none. His heart was so thick in his ears he was not certain he would be able to discern real trouble.
Suddenly behind them Range heard actual yells of alarm. Someone had located tracks in the snow.
“Let us be gone!Our ruse is revealed!Fly!”And with that, they were gone into the night.Rolin pulled Nicodemus onto his horse as he rode by.
The night air bit into Range’s face causing his eyes to stream with tears.The trotting of the horse was a steady rhythm under him.Suddenly his horse let out whinny and he was falling.He fell as the air around him became black.He landed on the back of the horse with a thick smack. He heard the snap of the beast’s legs. He rolled off the horse and moved out of the way of the thrashing beast.The horse kicked its back legs in the dark, knocking over dark shapes in the pit and stirring up more dust. Range could hear the panicking squeal of the beast as it sought to right itself and pushed himself away.
Above him, was a square of the dim night sky.Dark shapes appeared around the edges of the square.
“Range, are you hurt?” came a whispered shout from above.
“I am fine,” he said, standing.His back was stiff, but overall he was in good shape.”But I think my horse’s legs are broken.”The horse’s breath was labored. It was too dark for Range to see the steed’s condition.
“Hold, we will toss you a light!” He wished they would hurry.
Range heard some rustling around and then the scratch of quickflint.
A torch was lit and tossed down. He grabbed it and held it high.
Range looked over at his horse.Its front legs were broken and twisted grotesquely, bone could be seen poking out and mangled meat scraped on the floor.The beast lie on its side panting heavily, its eyes wide with shock.
Range was in a house. The walls were stone and stopped where the ground above him began. Someone had built a cottage underground.
The smell was like a sepulcher and dust floated about.The home was furnished richly, fine tables and chairs sat about the room.Thick carpets muffled his walk as he traversed the home. The ceilings were so high he did not feel claustrophobic.
He saw no evidence of a door and wondered how the owners got in and out.
“Range, what have you found?”
“It appears to be a home.”
“How will we get you out?” came the whisper from above.
Range walked around the house, looking for some sort of door. After a few moments he saw a concealed ramp. He followed it up. It had grown over thickly with roots and he stopped to hack a few times.He finally came to a door with a rusted metal handle.This house had been unoccupied and buried for a very long time. Grime and dirt had long sealed the door.
“I have found a door, but I cannot open it from inside.You must use the horses and open it from out there!” He whispered back up to his colleagues.
“One moment!” He heard some scurrying aro
und. He was certain that at any moment they would be found and caught.He knew their pursuers were only a short distance behind.
“Range!We have located the door. Stand away!”
Range went into the other room.
After a few moments of thrusting and moaning, the door popped open with a small screech.Dirt and snow fell into the home.An idea was forming in Range’s mind.
Cortibis, Sterlin and Rolin made their way down into the pit.Nicodemus and their mute colleague waited outside.
“Let us be gone quickly!”Sterlin said.
“Let’s stay here.They won’t suspect we are hiding directly under their feet and we can rest.We can be off in the morning and be in Romus by day’s end.”
“The idea has merit,” Rolin said.
“Maybe,” Sterlin said.”But how do we keep them from falling into the same hole you did?”
“We will need to put something over it,” Range said.
“Something that can hold up a horse?” Sterlin asked.
“We are running out of time.” Rolin said.
“If we hole up in here and they locate us, it will be an easy victory for them.” Sterlin said.
“Do something quick fools, before they get here!” Remmy said.
“Rolin, Nicky, come up top with me, let’s see if we can find something to cover that hole with.Sterlin, put that horse out of its misery.”
They scramble out of the home.The hole Range fell into was just big enough for the horse to fit.
“What if we got and get one of the tables from the home and lie it over that hole. Then cover the table up?” Nicky said.
“All right.” Range said.They scrambled down and grabbed a large eating table. They broke the legs off and carried it out the door.They placed it over the hole and it covered it adequately.
“Wont someone notice when they run a horse over this table?”Nicky asked.
“Possibly,” Range said.He could hear more yelling and noises in the distance.
“I will cover our tracks. You cover the table.” Rolin said. He went back they way they had come.
Range and Nicodemus started to cover the table with debris and branches.
“Make it tall so no one will walk a horse over it,” Range said.
“Good idea,” Nicky said.
They piled the brush and debris up to their shoulders.The pursuers were getting closer.
“Hurry!” Range said.
Rolin was there. He appeared from the woods.”We must hurry.”
“This is good enough. It someone starts poking their nose in it, the subterfuge won’t last, but at first appearance, this will work.”
Rolin and Nicodemus closed the main door and covered it up again. It was well hidden under a bush. No cursory search would alert anyone to its presence.
The men and horses were stuffed inside the front room.
Range’s horse had an arrow in its left eye.Rolin covered it with a thick blanket.
They settled into their surroundings. They had to be careful with the torch, it would only last so long, and they could not start a real fire. As soon as the torch burned up, they would be in the cold darkness.
Range located a quill pen with a moist inkwell.The parchment was old, but would hold the ink if they were careful.With the time left he decided to question their mute friend.
He placed the parchment and ink on a cobweb-infested desk.The torchlight flickered behind them.
“Hold the torch over here, I want to see what he writes,” Range said to Cortibis.
Cortibis found an old lamp and tested it, but it was too dry to support a flame.He eventually located a stand where he could place the torch.
“Now, first of all, what is your name?”Range asked.
The mute dipped the pen into the well, shook it momentarily and then began to scrawl.It was in a language that Range could not read.
“Damn! He does not write in our language.”
Sterlin bent over the parchment,”It looks like ancient Torii.”
“Let me look at it, you unschooled buffoons,” the prince said, leaning away from his anchor.
“Be quiet,” Cortibis said.
“Face the parchment this way,” the prince ordered. They did and the prince looked at it.”It says his name is Tu’Taelon.”
Rolin scrutinized the man,”’Tu’ is a title of a Deen in our clans.Are you Zmarly?”
Taelon shook his head.
“Is ‘Tu’ a title?” Range asked.
Nod.
Sterlin’s eyes widened,”You are The Hunter!”
Taelon nodded.
“Where do you hail from?”Sterlin asked.
Scribbling.
“He says he is from a land very far from here.He has traveled thirty-six long moons.He came in from the town of Romus.And was arrested in Kitarssis.”
“Why were you arrested in Kitarssis?” Range asked.
Scribbling.
“He says that…he was accused of a crime against the crown.”
“What crime?”Range asked.
Scribbling.
“It says…um…He…This is hard to read…” the prince worked out a few words in his head.”It appears that he had love with the Princess…No! With the Queen!”Remmy looked up at him with shock,”It was you!”
Range turned toward The Hunter,”You were the one.I had thought you had been killed.That was the story.”
Taelon shook his head.
“You are The Hunter. What do you hunt?”Rolin asked.
“Women” the prince said.
“The Hunter is the man hunting for his bride.He will know his mate and wed her, to live forever in bliss. It is supposedly an augur passed to him by his people. He will someday lead them with his wife, his soul-share. He is, by all accounts, royalty,” Sterlin said.
“I think it is a whole lot of something having to do with nothing,” prince Remmy said.
“The Augurs of his people have somehow imbibed him with a force that will lead him to his prey,” Sterlin continued.
“Yes, but why did he have an affair with the Queen of Kitarssis?”Range asked.
Scribbling.
“It says that he thought she might be the one.There is only one way to…to find out.Apparently he has to…cons-“
“Bed her down! That would be a great way to find your bride to be!”Nicodemus laughed.
“So I guess you somehow escaped?” Range asked.
Scribbling.
“He writes:Yes, I escaped from the dungeon, but not before they cut my tongue out. They did not want me to speak of what had happened. The king wanted me alive so that I would forever rue the day I sullied his queen,” the prince translated.Remmy settled back, clearly bored with all of this now.
Scribbling.
“Remmy, come over here and read this.”
“I grow tired of translating his scribbles.Have him write down much so that I can lie back and read them.” He studied his fingernails.
“Why are you trusting us with this information?” Range asked.
Taelon shrugged.
“Where will you go, and what will you do?” Range asked.
Shrug.
“Perhaps he cannot find the love of his life if he is mute,” Sterlin said.
Taelon looked at the ground.
“You’re afraid you have let your people down by not fulfilling your deed.”
Nod.
“Then what shall you do now?”Range asked again.
Shrug.
“Oh, I’m sure he’ll join this little ratty band of hearty adventurers and do battle with the forces of evil,” Remmy said.”Run evil! Range Ironstone and his band of merry men are after you!”
Presently they could hear the sounds of horses and men. If they were found now, then they were trapped and dead.
The sounds of the riders dissipated.Cortibis let out a slight whistle.
Range sighed and leaned back against the wall.
“Well are we taking him with us?” Ste
rlin asked.
Range looked around at his companions.Noncommittal faces were his only counsel.
Scribble.
Range picked the paper up and carried it to Remmy.
Remmy casually accepted the paper, as if it were a napkin.
“He says:I am not a charity, I will make good on my own.”
Nicodemus snickered.
“If you wish to come with us, you can,” Range started.”You will have to pull your own weight and do your own share of the work.”
The forlorn Hunter merely looked at the ground.
“It isn’t like you’re doing a great job anyway,” Remmy said.
“Prince Remmy, you are a hostage. Kindly begin to act like one, and shut up,” Sterlin said.
“Oh, the big adventuring thief, threatening the innocent prince,” Remmy said.
“Hardly innocent,” Cortibis said.
“Hardly a man,” Remmy said back.
“That’s enough,” Range said.”Let’s all get some sleep. We’ll make any decisions in the morning.”
The house was a tight fit, but they all had a place to lie down.Sterlin and Cortibis scavenged around and located some trinkets, which might earn them some money at market.They rolled up one rich looking rug and a few drawers full of silver.The rest of the men began the bedding down process. The lone bed was musty, but still in good working order.Range settled in next to the Prince and Nicodemus.Cortibis took first watch, and with him The Hunter.Rolin stretched out on the floor.
“How will the mute warn you of an intruder?” Remmy asked.”Wave his arms like a madman?” Range ignored him, pulling his blanket up over his head. The blanket smelled old and dirty.
“Will we be able to see anything once the torch goes out?” the prince asked.Cortibis snorted. Range had to admit claustrophobia was sneaking into his mind.He didn’t have time for it.If he could just go to sleep, he would be all right.
“Can we keep the torch burning all night?” Remmy asked.
“No. Go to sleep,” Range said.
The prince was silent.
“Are you afraid of the dark?” Cortibis asked the prince.
“No,” Remmy replied.”More afraid of your breath.”
“Go to sleep,” Cortibis said.
The prince burrowed deeper into the old blankets on the bed. Finally he covered his head and fell asleep.
Range woke his companions the next morning. He could see bits of light creeping in from the manufactured cover.
The group pulled their horses out of the home only after Rolin and Nicodemus made certain no ambush awaited.
“Keep your eyes open,” Range said.
“That’s sage advice,” Remmy said.”Is there some new person in the party who does not know our predicament?”
They rode the entire day. It had snowed the night before and the powder muffled their travels.The clouds blew away and the sun emerged during the middle of the afternoon, firing the day with dazzling light.The mood of the group lifted as they rode. Sterlin and Nicodemus even broke out into song.
As the sun dipped heavily in the sky, they spotted the town of Romus.
The light had caught the west side of the town, tossing the rest into shadows.It was significantly larger than the village Kor.Romus was the main town for travelers entering and leaving the land.The founder of Romus was a traveler himself who thought it an excellent place considering the Sky Silencer Mountains blocked any other passage to the land.Many people inhabited Romus, but few called it home.Most were adventurers seeking glory and renown in other lands.
The roads were clean and trash-free and the homes and buildings were arranged in a systematic way.Range could see some sort of festivities being put up on the west side of the town, red and white banners unfurled into the wind. He was impressed. For a town on the outskirts of the land, this place was nice.
When they ultimately got into the town, the sun had already dropped behind the mountains.It was dark and the wind was beginning to kick up.The moon came out and brilliantly lit up the ground where snow still held.Most people were busy in their homes.Range led his group past the primary point of the village and more along the outer limits.He was following a small path that looked rarely traveled.Leafless trees with snow-laden limbs attempted to block their path.
Presently the trees split apart and there before them stood a nice sized cottage.
It was built from hewn stones placed perfectly edge-to-edge.Some sort of putty had been forced between the rocks to seal it. A toasty warm light beckoned them from misshapen windows on either side of the door.Billowing smoke plumed from the cockeyed chimney.Cooking smells filled the air, forcing Range’s hunger into his throat.
Range approached the door, but before he could knock, it swung inward and golden light burst forth into the cold silvery night.
In the doorway stood Garon Pourghadiri.