Whie the watchtower that had been erected did its job well in providing a good lookout and high advantage to the scouts that rotated through it, it was unsatisfactory to Daveth, who had an itch to see over the thick canopy of trees. It was impossible to get a sense or lay of the local geography because of the riotous growth of the jungle.
Keeping in mind Aldric’s insistence to not set the entire jungle aflame, Daveth instead was able to drum up some lumberjacks from the locals who were more than happy to work as long as the Seventh Seal was there to protect them from the beasts and monsters that seemed to lurk between every fern, tree, shrub, and climbing vines.
When asked, it seemed that the lumberjacks had been brought in nearly a year prior. The Anglish needed large volumes of wood. The only problem was that Moore couldn’t offer them any sort of protection from the hazards of the rainforest, a number of them died, and as a result, the lumberjacks refused to work without protection. Around and around the debates went; Moore demanding results but refusing guards, the lumberjacks refusing to work without them.
Once the lumberjacks had gotten underway, the Brotherhood were free to do what they did best, and gradually a part of the city that had been devoured by the jungle was peeled back, although all that remained after four hundred years of unrestricted growth was broken up stone from walls and buildings that had been crushed by the inexorable press of trees and constricting vines.
*****
“Hey Commander, are you busy?” Audra appeared in the watchtower alongside him as if by magic.
“You’re getting better at being sneaky.” Daveth observed instead. “But the third rung on the ladder is creaky.”
She twisted her mouth at that. “Like someone as big as you could be sneaky?” She prodded, and Daveth laughed.
“Probably not. What do you need?”
“Want to borrow you for a test.” Audra replied ambiguously. Daveth frowned down at her, but her face revealed nothing.
“...fine. Get a replacement scout up here. And you should think about moving the tower. We’ve been here a month and the perimeter’s changed.” Daveth advised, and Audra swung down the ladder with practically a spider’s grace, reaching the ground much faster than usual. Daveth himself wouldn’t dare attempt acrobatic swings and drops; the ladder itself barely supported him when climbing it, casually dropping freefall with only a few casual grabs at the ladder to slow ones’ descent would likely tear it from the tower itself.
He stepped off the ladder and eyed the elf. “What do you need?”
“How far can you throw, Commander?” Audra asked him suddenly, and he gave her a baffled look.
“I’ve no fucking clue.” he replied. “It’s not something that’s ever come up before.” He eyed her lithe form and stroked his beard thoughtfully. “I could probably throw you into the forest from the top of the tower.”
“Har har, very funny, Commander.” Audra replied sarcastically. “Seriously.”
“I dunno.” He replied with a shrug.
She gave him a brilliant smile. “Fantastic. Come with me.”
*****
She brought him out along the outskirts of the city, a bit away from the reclamation that the Brotherhood was working on, and brought Daveth to a pile of iron balls that were coated in rust. She pointed at the low wall that she and some of the other female members of the Seal had sat on, observing their fellow mercenaries at work a month earlier.
“These are ten pound iron balls.” Audra indicated. “The cannon they were designed for is currently being melted down at Captain Aldric’s request. I think he wants to try to get another four-pound gun made.” Audra offered with a shrug. She gestured at the wall. “If your eyes are as good as mine, you should see the red spot I painted on the wall there.” She added. “We’re about three times bowshot range. I’d like to see if you can hit the target.”
Daveth frowned down at her. “What exactly is this supposed to accomplish?”
Audra gave him a thoughtful look. “Well, I once saw you throw a full grown donkey at someone.” She mentioned. “I have a sneaking suspicion that you’ll be able to hit that wall. If you can, I want your help with something else, something constructive. Think of it as a test run.”
He eyed her carefully, trying to see if there was some motive behind her actions, but eventually reached down and picked up one of the rusty balls.
He eyed the wall and imagined he could see a smudge on itl. He took a deep breath and hurled the iron ball as hard as he could, staggering as he threw. The iron ball disappeared, and Audra gave him a withering look.
“Hasn’t anyone ever taught you to throw properly?” She asked curiously. She picked up a hand-sized rock, adopted a stance, and threw the rock at a crumbled piece of wall that was much closer. The stone rebounded and left a white fleck from the strike.
“Watch how I throw.” Audra encouraged, and picked up another stone and hurled it at the same spot. From this range it was easy to see that she’d hit the same spot as before.
“Fix your stance and use your whole body in the throw.” She encouraged, and threw a third stone, putting all the force of her tiny frame behind it. For the third time, her shot was true and the rock hit the closer wall in the exact spot. She then pointed at the wall in the distance. “Use the same stance, and try and hit that wall.”
Daveth followed her instructions and adjusted his stance and hurled an iron ball at the wall. Audra gave him a skeptical look as he missed twice more.
“I don’t think I can do it.” He remarked, and she laughed. “You’re aces for distance but not so great with the target.”
“I don’t know what that means.” He glared down at her, and she laughed again. “Just live in happy ignorance as to what you hit instead of the wall.” She offered mysteriously, and urged him to try again.
He gave her a suspicious look, bent down and picked up one of the remaining cannonball. He settled his feet, took a breath, wound up, and hurled the iron ball as hard as he could.
Even he could see the puff of shattered rock and dust from the wall he’d been aiming at. Audra gazed up at him with happiness.
“Let’s go check out the damage, and then we’ll move on to stage two.”
*****
The iron ball he’d thrown from roughly three hundred feet away stuck in the wall like a raisin in a cake. He tried to work the cannonball free, but it seemed a permanent addition to the wall at this point.
“Think I missed your target.” He muttered, looking around the wall for the red spot she’d painted, but Audra shook her head. “You hit it dead-on, commander. You’d have to dig out the cannonball to see it.”
“Okay, I played your game, so what’s the point of all this?” He asked, and she gave him a baffled look. She gestured at the wall. “Think if that were a person’s head you threw that at.” She offered, and then added, “From three hundred feet away.”
“Okay, I’m supposed to be impressed. Good job, me. Beer’s on me next rotation back to town.” He offered sarcastically, and patted himself on the back.
“You don’t seem to be having fun at all.” She complained.
“Just don’t see the point is all. Sure, I can toss a cannonball further than you can shoot a bow, but a cannon will do it much further. Anything closer is fodder for the archers, anything after that and it’s cavalry and infantry time.” He explained. “I’m best at infantry, not bad at cavalry.” He explained, but she shook her head.
“You’re just not thinking of the big picture, Commander. Come ride with me.” She casually slapped his chest with the back of her hand. “If we’re in luck, we might find something interesting.”
*****
Audra drove a simple light cart she’d appropriated from who-knew-where, where things under a tarp clattered and jingled metallically.
“I spent some time listening to the locals.” She offered conversationally, pitching her voice to be heard over the rattling in the back of her cart. “There’s a little bit of a library here too- no more than a book room, really, and I heard tell of something interesting.”
“What is it?” Daveth asked from astride his horse.
Audra laughed at that. “Ancient ruins, forbidden treasures, that sort of thing.”
Daveth turned his horse sharply, forcing Audra to an abrupt halt. “You’re dragging me out for a treasure hunt?”
Audra nodded. “There’s supposed to be some temple ruins a bit of a ways in.” she offered helpfully. “No more than a couple of days ride, and a bit of a hike after.”
“Did you get Aldric’s permission for this?” He asked sharply. Going off-mission was a serious offense.
“I got my Commander’s permission.” She replied, and winked at him.
“No, no you didn’t.” Daveth replied warningly.
“Oh come on.” Audra urged. “I’m bored, and this is fun. You remember fun, don’t you, Commander?”
“Picking through ruins for “treasure” is fun?” He asked, and she nodded.
“Coin, magical items, books of forbidden knowledge men weren’t meant to know, jewels, armor, weapons; absolutely fun.”
“Texts of forbidden knowledge?” He repeated, and she shrugged. “I’m a woman and an elf. Doesn’t count. You might not want to look at those, though.” She replied primly.
Daveth examined the canopy of trees overhead, checked their backtrail, peered ahead as he considered.
There was the obvious: Going off mission was usually followed by expulsion from the Seal, and in some cases, execution. There was no forgiveness or leniency given. Daveth wasn’t wholly sure whether or not it applied to him, though. He could say it was a scouting mission to Aldric later. It wouldn’t even be entirely wrong, either.
There were uncountable dangers in the jungle, however. Jasin had met his end as a meal for a giant snake. A lumberjack strangled to death by stepping into some sort of predatory plant, of all things. Beasts, beastmen, perhaps less-friendly people living hidden amongst the forest, the whole of it could swallow them both up.
Finally, there was only the two of them.
Daveth took a deep breath, held it, and released it. The air was so thick with humidity it almost hurt to breathe, like you were nearly drawing in the moisture-laden air.
“Fine. We’ll do this. But you get your choice when we get back: two weeks in the stocks for not asking permission, or twenty lashes.”
Her face lit up at the first and fell at the second. “You’re serious?”
He nodded. “Of course. You should have asked first. Aldric probably would have okayed it. He likes extra coin flowing.”
*****
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
The two-day trip went without hiccup, except for a river crossing. Audra held up a signal to wait, took out her bow, slipped down from the cart, and trotted into the forest, where something screamed as it died.
She returned, struggling to drag a boar that was nearly three times her weight. Daveth hauled it up from her.
“Dinner, I suppose? I don’t mind, but I’m getting a bit tired of pig.” He opined. Audra shook her head.
“It’s for the river. Throw it in, and then we can cross.”
Daveth gave her a baffled look. “The river?”
Audra nodded, and gestured. Daveth gave her another confused look and tossed the corpse of the boar into the water.
Instantly, the river started boiling, the surface splashing furiously.
“Now! Hurry!” Audra called out and dashed her horse and cart across the river. Daveth followed, eyes on the spot where he’d thrown the boar. There wasn’t even any blood in the water.
“What was that?” He asked her when he got to the other side of the river.
“The locals call them demon fish. When the river’s high, there’s plenty of food, but when the river is as low as it is now, food becomes... scarce. That was a feeding frenzy. I hear that they can skeletonize a cow in under a minute. If we hadn’t given them something to eat, they’d’ve eaten our horses out from underneath us.” Audra explained.
“Maybe yours, perhaps.” Daveth offered darkly, glaring at her. “Anything else you need to tell me?”
She shrugged. “Should be smooth sailing until we reach the gorge. Then your impressive throwing skill will be handy.”
“I got half a mind to show you how far I can throw you.” He muttered, and she laughed freely.
“You should try to have some fun sometime, Commander.”
“‘Fun’ she says.” Daveth muttered to himself. “I’d like to keep my hide attached.”
“So would I. That’s why I’m keeping an eye on it.” Audra offered flirtatiously. “You can keep an eye on mine in exchange.”
Daveth rolled his eyes, but Audra gestured at him. “How is this not fun? We’re in an unknown land, chasing after treasures unknown and uncountable. The danger is thick, the adventure high. We’ve got nobody but each other to depend on. Isn’t this exciting?”
After a long moment, Daveth let out a sigh. “It’s fun. Or, it would be if it were just us. I’ve... gotta look out for my people, Audra. I’m a commander in an army....” he paused a moment and then added, “and I don’t want to see another Ankar-Set in my lifetime. We lost too many good people.”
Audra took a breath and nodded. “I agree. That’s why we’re scouting.” She offered, and Daveth responded by waving his hands as he gave her a baffled look. “I thought you said this was an adventure?”
She smiled again. “Nothing says it can’t be both. Come on, I want to get to the top of the gorge tonight.”
*****
They reached the gorge at sundown. Daveth peeked over the edge, but he couldn’t see the bottom. It looked as if the ground itself had bucked and snapped in half. The edges were sheer, with no obvious protrusions for hand or footholds. Daveth shuddered; if he fell into the gorge, he’d fall forever until he woke up in the Void.
“Looks like nothing’s changed; that’s a relief.” Audra offered as she set up a tiny campfire and prepared their rations.
“You’ve come here before?” He asked, feeling a stirring of anger.
“Scouts have to scout, Commander.” She replied simply. “We’ve only gotten this far in this direction, though.” She pointed in the directions paralleling the gorge. “We’ll probably head off in one of these directions soon enough, but I’d like to try and see what’s on the other side of the gorge tomorrow. Local legend says there’s a temple.”
Daveth gave her a confused look. “How?”
Audra gestured for him to follow, and led him around to the back of the wagon. Drawing back the tarp, she revealed a massive coil of chain, and a number of long metal spikes that looked almost half as tall as she was.
“We’ll take these, hook them to the chains, and you can hurl them across to the other side of the gorge. I think we’ve got enough chain for that.” She offered with a smile. “Then I’ll web them together with this rope so we have a bridge. We’ll have to leave the horses here, but I just want a peek over the ridge on the other side of the gorge, so we should be fine leaving them here.” she chattered.
Daveth hefted one of the iron spikes. “You really think I can chuck this all the way to the other side of the gorge?” He asked, and she nodded.
“Absolutely you can. If you can throw an eight hundred pound animal across the Seventh Seal’s camp, you can definitely hurl this with ease. Let’s get some food in us.” She replied, and urged him to the small fire.
“So what sort of temple is it?” Daveth asked curiously. “An Anglish cathedral?” He prodded.
“By the Nameless Stone I hope not.” Audra retorted. “The only clue I have is the word ‘Nothulzoth’.” She offered and shrugged. “No clue what that means.”
“Maybe one of the False Gods or Goddesses real names? Or another fake name?” Daveth offered.
Audra shrugged. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Daveth gave her a puzzled look. “What’re you talking about, you don’t know what I mean?”
Audra sighed and crossed her legs in front of her. “I grew up in a tiny mountain village. I wanted to see the world, so I signed on to the Seventh Seal. I’m learning a lot as I go. So tell me what you mean by true names and false names and all that.”
“I don’t know much myself.” Daveth offered. “What I do know I picked up here and there. The false gods and goddesses had all sorts of fake names. The Lady of Song. The Silver Lady. The Golden Lady. The Lady of Spring. The Son of War, that sort of thing.” Daveth explained, and Audra nodded to show she understood.
“They also had true names that only their followers knew. I’ve heard of a few. Inanna. Seski. Eisa. Anshar. This... ‘Nothulzoth’ could be the name of one of the other gods.” He shrugged.
“I don’t want some ‘sacred relic’.” Audra decided. “I want to see treasure. Coins piled high, gem-encrusted armor, stuff like that.”
Daveth laughed. “That’d be nice. We’ll have a look tomorrow.”
Daveth couldn’t sleep, so he paced around the camp, his back to the fire to preserve his night vision. He didn’t go far, because he couldn’t remember where the edge of the cliff was. At first the jungle was quiet, but as Audra fell asleep and Daveth began running through the mental exercises his master Darius had taught him, birds and beasts and insects started chirping, screeching, clicking and buzzing. The last worried Daveth; the last time he’d heard a droning noise that loud he’d been face to face with a giant hornet in a desert a continent away.
There was a sense of eyes on him though, and although he was familiar with that set of eyes and the strange woman that carried them, he had no urge to leave the comfort of the fire and seek her out. Strangely, there seemed to be a sense of approval in his decision to not seek her out. He couldn’t be sure of that though, as his thoughts grew sluggish and his eyes slid closed.
*****
Daveth snapped back to awareness, a shot of adrenaline knifing his heart. How long had he been asleep? He glanced around himself, and then to the other side of the fire, where Audra was curled up into a ball.
He stood up and stretched and paced the camp in the early light of dawn. It seemed as though nothing and no one had bothered them in the night. Daveth made himself a promise to ask for some lashes when he got back to camp, treasure or no. You did not fall asleep on watch. Not once, not ever.
“Fucking undisciplined idiot.” He cursed himself as he rummaged in the cart for more rations.
“Thought it was you.” Audra called as he came back to the small campfire.
“And if it wasn’t?” he asked as he passed her some hardtack and jerky.
“You’d’ve gotten a hatchet in the skull for your trouble.” She replied simply.
*****
After breakfast, Daveth launched the pitons at the far side of the gorge, and as Audra had predicted, he was able to hit more or less where she wanted. There were three lengths of chain that reached across the chasm, and Audra threaded a rope back and forth between the links, creating something of a rope bridge with handrails, with which they used to cross the gorge with the bottom that could not be seen.
The far side of the gorge boasted no jungle, just a series of short rises in the rocks. Audra was enjoying herself; she’d run through forests, plains, mountains, deserts, and even the tundras of Nauders with the same innocent glee of exploration, the eternal question “what lies just beyond that rise? Come and see!” urging her onward.
Daveth was a lot more pragmatic, he ran with a sword in his hand, constantly on the watch for anything that looked hostile.
Just before Audra topped the final rise, Daveth grabbed her by the seat of her pants and yanked her back. Audra bit back a yelp as she landed on her ass and shot a hot look of anger at Daveth.
“What did you see?” Daveth asked, and Audra shook her head. “Nothing, asshole, you yanked me back before I could see anything.”
Daveth grinned. “Good. That might mean that anything on the other side of that rise didn’t see you, either.”
Audra froze for a moment and palmed her face. “You’re right. We’re scouting. Shouldn’t have just run over the rise. I hate you, but thank you.” She grumbled. “Still, you didn’t have to do it like that.”
Daveth ignored her, and watching where he put his foot and handholds, he eased up and peeked over the ridge.
“Huh.” He muttered, and then gestured to Audra. “Come on up and have a peek. Tell me what you see.”
She gave him a curious look, but crept up in the same way that he had, testing her foot and handholds before hauling herself up to peek over the top of the rise.
What she saw was a great gray expanse of nothing. She turned and gave Daveth a puzzled look. “There’s nothing down there. No forest at all.”
There was a crater, perhaps a mile or so wide with absolutely nothing growing in it. No birds flew overhead, no bugs hopped, crawled or buzzed nearby. There wasn’t even any lichen or moss. Just a great, lifeless pit.
Daveth could see at the very center of the crater a building carved from the same barren bedrock that filled the crater.
“That’s your temple.” He pointed, his arm crossing the edge of the crater.
Suddenly his hand drooped, his arm lost strength.
Without knowing what he was doing he twisted, and his right arm flopped uselessly at his side. He stared at it, willed it to move, but strangely, it simply lay there, dangling at his side, limp.
Suddenly there was a hot surge down his arm, and a pins-and-needles feeling of circulation returning; Daveth grit his teeth at the discomfort.
“There’s some shit-” He began, until a bird flew overhead and across the crater. Audra and Daveth both watched, horrified, as the bird suddenly switched direction, spiraled, and hit the ground. It decayed instantly, bones peeking through feathers crumbling away to dust. A moment later there weren't even any bones.
Daveth’s arm was still numb and wasn’t working correctly; it felt like he couldn’t even make a fist.
“What is this?” Audra asked.
“It’s death, I think.” Daveth muttered. “You’re a ranger, right?”
“Used to be. Now I’m a scout.” She replied, never taking her eyes off the crater.
“Well, you can use magic, right?” He asked awkwardly.
“A little.” She agreed.
“Well, can you magic an animal up here?” He asked. “I want to-”
“‘Magic an animal up here?’” Audra repeated. “Do you have any idea of what magic is or how it works?”
“Hey, fuck you, alright?” Daveth complained. “I don’t do magic. Not my thing.”
Audra sighed. “I can try to call an animal here, if there are any close by. It’ll probably be a bird, since...” She trailed off as her eyes glazed over. She frowned. “I don’t like the feeling of magic here.” She made a face. “It scratches at the back of your throat like it’s trying to choke the life from you.”
“Right, okay, bad.” Daveth agreed. “But an animal...”
“Animals avoid this place. They’ve learned what it means to come here.” She muttered.
Daveth looked at her as she stared off into the distance, eyes vacant, face relaxed.
“You think we should go?” He asked, and Audra glanced at him.
“I think I have an animal that’ll suit us.” She pointed back to the chain bridge and Daveth jolted as a massive snake, easily a hundred feet long slithered out of the jungle on the far side of the gorge and across the bridge. It was huge, with a coffin-shaped head and variegated mottled green scales.
“Don’t fuck with me Daveth, not while I’m in control of this thing.” Audra muttered. “First thing it’ll do is kill us.” Her face adopted a look of concentration.
Daveth was already stiff with fear, he tried to stay perfectly motionless as the reptile slid over the edge of the crater
Audra cried out and Daveth struggled to reach her with his useless arm. She grabbed at him; he could feel her hanging off his arm in a very numb disconnected sort of way.
They hopped down to a more stable footing where Daveth began to rub his arm. He eyed the unmoving snake warily.
“Don’t bother, Daveth. It died when it crossed the edge of the crater.” Audra announced dully. “Almost instant death. There’s something down there that just... sucks the life right out of things.” She eyed him carefully. “How’s the arm?”
“Numb. hurts.” Daveth reported. “Can’t use it.” He eyed the chain bridge. “I don’t know if I can get back across that.”
Audra rubbed her head in pain. “Always get a headache when I use magic.” She complained. “You owe me at least two beers.”
“Was it my idea to come out here?” Daveth retorted, and Audra punched him weakly in his numb arm.
Daveth massaged the muscles of his arm, trying to urge them to work. He could move his shoulder a bit, twitch his elbow, and wiggle his fingers a little, but that was it.
There was a sound, a noise, something that Daveth hadn’t heard before, a clicking rattle, the tenebrous squeal of bone against bone, joint against joint. He looked up as something with skeletal hands grabbed the remaining two thirds of the snake’s carcass and hauled it over the lip of the crater.
He opened his mouth to shout, to run, but his nerves seemed scrambled, he couldn’t do anything but topple from his perch.
Audra unlimbered her bow and fired; the skeleton ignored the arrow in its ribcage and it advanced towards the two of them.