The heat was terrible. Even under the canopy of trees, the sun still imparted its intense heat. And while the humidity provided a ready source of water for condensation, its presence only created the need for even more condensation. It had rained earlier, but that had only taken the edge off for a short while. It seemed nothing would remove the heat permanently.
After leaving the battle site, they had struck out south-east across the fields and orchards dotting the region. They had run afoul of a few farmers, but Jorvanultumn’s presence had so awed them each time, they soon not only let them cross their lands, but even offered some of their produce for free. In better times, Jorvanultumn would never have accepted items offered practically in worship, but these were not better times. Their food supplies were low, and none of them was in the shape for hunting.
Once they had made a wide berth to the side of the city, they rejoined the road running east. By then, it was well past nightfall, but they kept on. The farmland soon gave way to thick, virgin forest. It was in the forest that they were able to find an area to settle down at last. By then, Jorvanultumn was exhausted, but he gathered some last bits of strength for a flight over the area to learn the terrain.
What he had learned on that flight had left him very eager to just hide away and sleep once he was back. He had slept late into this day.
Jorvanultumn wiped a bit of water off a leaf and watched it glisten on his finger for a few moments before it evaporated. He did not know what type of plant the leaf belonged to. He did not know the plants of this area—not that he really knew the plants anywhere in Arnor very well. This one was green, but so were most Arnorin plants. That did make them more colourful than the usual grey of Arctic plants. Nevertheless, he preferred the Arctic plants, even if only because they were not associated with unbearable heat.
Grabbing the stalk of the plant, Jorvanultumn gave it a good shake. The spray from the water left on the leaves provided only the barest of refreshment, but it was something. He was trying to find a balance between keeping cool and conserving his magical energy, and so did not have his rain cloud going at the moment. As such, any little relief from the heat was welcome.
“Careful what you touch,” Zandrue called. “Some plants in this region can be dangerous.”
“Which ones?” Jorvanultumn asked.
“Not that one.” She laughed a little and groaned in pain. “Honestly, I’m no expert, so I’d just suggest hands off everything unless necessary.”
Jorvanultumn nodded. There went that plan. With a sigh, he began to gather water vapour between his hands, forming it into a small cloud. Then, with a slight flick of his wrist and the expenditure of a little energy, the cloud flew over his head and gave him a short, but vigorous, downpour. That was better. With a wave of his hand, the rain stopped, and the cloud dissipated.
Zandrue was watching him. “We need to get moving again. We’ve been here almost a day already, and that’s one day too long.”
Rudiger, who had been brushing Borisin, looked over at her. “Are you strong enough?”
Zandrue shrugged. “I’m about as well off as Jorvan at the moment. I should be able to manage. I’ll have to.”
“What about the goblins Jorvan saw?” Rudiger asked.
“We hope they don’t catch us,” Zandrue replied.
They had been out in large numbers last night. Hundreds of the beasts, a few miles south-east of Bever. At first, Jorvanultumn had thought they were just a large group of humans, but as he had flown over them, their hunched gait and long arms became more apparent. It had been too dark to get a good look at any faces, but on a few of them, their tusks had been noticeable. He had not remained to watch them for very long. However, he had noticed a single figure moving away from them at immense speed. Unless one of the goblins was also capable of such speed, there could be little doubt who it was. As such, Jorvanultumn could only assume that the goblins were looking for him, Zandrue, and Rudiger.
“We have a better chance of avoiding them if we keep moving,” Zandrue continued. “If we sit here much longer, they’ll stumble across us for sure.”
“What about sneaking past them, back into Bever?” Rudiger asked.
Zandrue shook her head. “Too risky at the moment. Besides, if we did manage it, we’d probably just walk into another trap laid for us in the city. I don’t think they want us getting to Lockanith.”
“We continue east?” Jorvanultumn asked.
Zandrue nodded and said, “I don’t like it very much, but we don’t have any other choice.”
“Is there any other way to Lockanith?” Rudiger asked.
“Not really. There’s nothing south of Bever before the Ninifin wall. The only other option would be to go all the way to the east coast, cross the Bay of Ras, walk down the Thumb, and then go overland back to the west coast, which would take forever, probably half a year or more.”
“Or we could go to Ninifin,” Rudiger said. “That Darker said they had a way in.”
“That was from the south,” Zandrue said.
“Yeah, but there’s got to be gates in their wall, right?”
“One in the north and one in the south, yes, and they don’t let just anybody through.”
“Then we find another way. Climb the wall or something. I don’t know. If Corvinian’s there...”
“And if he isn’t?” Zandrue said. “If that was a lie?”
“If that was a lie, then Lockanith was probably a lie, too, and if it wasn’t a lie, Lockanith was just a stop on the way. If we can’t sneak back into Bever and we have to head towards Ninifin anyway, why not just go all the way?”
“No,” Zandrue snapped. “Not until we’re sure.”
“Why not?” Jorvanultumn asked.
“It’s too dangerous. We might as well just walk up and surrender to the goblins. We’d probably be treated better.”
“They do not like Isyar,” Jorvanultumn said. “I understand.”
“It’s more than just dislike. They will do terrible things to you if they get their hands on you, and in your weakened condition, you’ll have a hard time defending yourself. Ninifin is farther south still and we haven’t even hit summer yet. It will be much hotter.”
Jorvanultumn thought for a moment. He was a bit surprised her reasons included concern for him, although he could not be certain she did not have other reasons as well. She kept so many secrets, and that bothered him. “And you and Rudiger in Ninifin?”
Zandrue sighed. “It would be dangerous for us, too, although not to the same extent. If it was just me and Rudiger, I’d be more willing to try it.”
“Then do not worry about me. We will go to Ninifin.”
“What?” Zandrue said.
“We will go to Ninifin.” He did not want an argument with Zandrue—she did not like being contradicted and had a tendency to consider herself in charge—but Ninifin was the obvious next destination. He was willing to take the risks for Corvinian’s sake. There was also his elispt to think of.
“Are you out of your fucking mind? I realise I’ve only given you the broadest description of Ninifin, but I thought I’d gotten my point across. They do terrible things to prisoners and I can only imagine what they might do if they got their hands on an Isyar. They will torture you. Scar you. Break your wings. Who knows what else? If you’re lucky, you’ll die quickly. Is that really what you want?”
“No, but that changes nothing. We must find Corvinian. I promised to protect him.”
“And we will find him. But we don’t know he’s in Ninifin. Let’s at least find out first before you go and get yourself killed, okay?”
They stared at each other for a few moments. There was anger in Zandrue’s eyes. Her stare was intimidating enough to make him consider backing down. Perhaps he was being foolish. He did not like the idea of letting her win the argument, but perhaps she was right.
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Rudiger put a hand on Zandrue’s shoulder, but she pushed it away. “Look, we have to go east for a little while anyway to get away from the goblins. Let’s worry about that first.”
Zandrue stared at Jorvanultumn for a few moments more, then took a deep breath. “You’re right. We need to worry about the goblins first.” She looked away.
Rudiger looked to Jorvanultumn, who nodded. “Yes, you are right.”
So they road east. Staying ahead of the goblins proved easier than they had expected, and it did not take long before they had left the goblins well behind. On this day, they passed a couple small villages and made certain to warn the locals. However, Jorvanultumn made far more of an impression on them than the threat of goblins. The people in these parts were familiar with goblins and did not appear worried about a large group of them. Clusters of goblins formed from time to time, and while they might cause problems for some farms by going after livestock, they mostly left human settlements alone, so there was little point bothering about them. However, an Isyar was worth gawking over. Jorvanultumn would never understand human motivations.
The next morning, Jorvanultumn flew back west in an attempt to see how far behind the goblins were, but there was no sign of them.
“They’re not following us then,” Zandrue said. “The question is, are they still blocking the way back into Bever or have they headed off some other way?”
“Do we go back?” Rudiger asked.
“Yes,” Jorvanultumn hurried to answer before Zandrue could. Her wide-eyed expression showed her surprise at his answer. “If the goblins are not there, we go to Lockanith. If they are...”
She picked up on his meaning. “We continue east to Getavin and from there, we look into the possibility of Ninifin.”
“Thank you,” Jorvanultumn said.
Zandrue grabbed her horse’s reins. “Oh, don’t mind me. I become an ass when I have to do something I don’t want to do. I come round in the end though. Sometimes. If there’s good reason.”
The heat was not as bad today, and it rained a few times as well—short, brisk downpours, but they were refreshing. It meant that Jorvanultumn maintained enough energy to fly ahead a few times to look for signs of goblins. In the late afternoon, he spotted them. Still numbering in the hundreds in total, they were spread out in smaller groups through the forests and fields north and south of the road outside Bever. Unlike when he had first spotted them, they were not on the move. On guard, perhaps?
Jorvanultumn did not have the strength to circle over the road for more than a couple minutes to determine the goblins’ response to travellers, though he did spot a single merchant caravan that was moving without being attacked.
He also spotted a single figure again moving at extreme speeds between the different groups of goblins. Jorvanultumn presumed that “Mister Speedy” as Zandrue had taken to calling him must be keeping the goblins organised.
“Sounds like they’re guarding against us,” Rudiger said when Jorvanultumn returned.
“Yeah, and I really wish I knew why they’re so intent to keep us out of there,” Zandrue said. “Still, I guess we don’t have any choice. I hope you two realise though that if there really are Darkers operating out of Ninifin, we’re likely to encounter at least as much opposition to keep us out of there. And that’s just from the Darkers, never mind the Ninifins themselves. Let’s go.”
After they passed the same two villages for the third time, the number of settlements they encountered decreased over the next few days to none, and the forest became thicker. According to Zandrue, this was one of the most sparsely settled areas in Arnor with only the extreme south and extreme north being more so. Even other travellers on the road were uncommon. All told, it made things peaceful, and the thick canopy of trees helped keep the excesses of the sun bearable.
After nearly two weeks of travelling, they finally encountered a village again along the banks of the Sulaji River, which marked the border between the Provinces of Friaz and Nallin. The forest did not extend past the river, giving way instead to more farmland. Over the next two days, they passed through a few more villages before finally reaching Getavin.
A weathered ziggurat towered over the city’s other buildings, including the two other ziggurats on either side of it. Large, potted plants decorated the stepped levels of all three ziggurats as well as their flat tops, providing a burst of green dominating the centre of the otherwise grey and brown city.
“Saw a drawing of those once in Dorg,” Rudiger said. “Didn’t realise they were quite so big. Who built them?”
“Ninifins,” Zandrue answered. “Or more precisely, the people who became the Ninifins and the locals. They’re quite the sight up close.”
“Why doesn’t it surprise me you’ve been here before?” Rudiger said.
Zandrue smiled. “I climbed to the top of the big one last time I was here. They don’t actually like people doing that. Too dangerous. The thing’s old and not well maintained. Still, I couldn’t resist.”
The rest of the city surrounding the ziggurats consisted of a very different architecture. Instead of stone, it was a maze of reed and thatch huts. It lacked any true streets other than the main road. Buildings had been built wherever there was space and did not conform to any standard patterns. Even the spaces between the huts did not make for good streets as they were generally filled with boxes and barrels, or had ropes tied from one building to the next, upon which laundry had been hung to dry.
Most people had copper complexions and dark hair. They were obviously poor, but seemed happier about it than Jorvanultumn was used to seeing amongst human poor. Dirty, naked children played joyfully, while adults chatted or went about their business with smiles on their faces. Only the scrawny, ill-fed dogs all over the place were anything less than happy—and then, only when Zandrue passed near them. As soon as she was out of their path, they stopped growling and went back to playing with the children.
It was comforting to see people happy for a change, and Jorvanultumn found that he could almost forget about the heat for a while. Indeed, wandering amongst these people soon put a smile on his face. They did not even surround him in mobs the way people had in Friaz. A few rushed over to him, to ask his blessing or similar nonsense. Others, especially children, pointed at him and called after him. However, the majority did little more than watch him pass, awe in their faces, but not in their actions.
Nearer to the inner city and the three ziggurats, a small crowd had gathered a short distance off the main road. Intrigued, Jorvanultumn moved closer to see what was happening. A mature, copper-skinned woman wearing a shawl and long skirt, both of vibrant mixed colours, sat on some boxes. On her head, she wore a tall headdress adorned with white feathers. To either side of her stood a human carrying a spear adorned with a few red and black feathers. Each warrior’s face, neck, and bare arms bore multiple tattoos of various abstract designs. Both wore padded armour, but neither bore a tabard indicating allegiance like most human warriors Jorvanultumn had encountered. One of the two warriors was a woman, which was unusual. Jorvanultumn had not seen many women warriors amongst humans. Zandrue carried weapons, and he had seen a couple female guards at the Arnorin Royal Palace, but that was the extent that he had ever encountered. He had heard that it was customary for noblewomen to obtain some martial training, but he had not seen any who actually made use of that training.
The woman with the feathered headdress was speaking to the small crowd in front of her. The crowd was predominantly young women and girls, although a few men stood along the edges, scowling—the first openly unhappy people Jorvanultumn had seen in this city. With only a few exceptions, even the young women and girls seemed only half interested in what the woman in the gown had to say.
“Throw off the yoke of your oppressors! Let Ninussa light your way to truth, freedom, and happiness. Look at the squalor your so-called rulers make you live in! Lord Elaster. King Wavon. Who are these men? Have you ever seen either of them before? No? Then why should they have a say in your day-to-day lives? What gives them that right? What do they do for you? Let me share with you the words of Eleuia, as transcribed by her disciple, Nin-Papan. She said—”
“Go back to the shit you came from, bitch!” one of the men yelled. “Let us live our own lives.”
“See how the dissenters turn to name calling whenever they do not get their way? Can any of you offer a true denial of my words?” The woman’s eyes scanned the crowd, looking for dissenters. Several people started calling her down, but her gaze had stopped on Jorvanultumn. There was fear in those dark eyes, and soon the other people began to quieten and turn to see what she was looking at.
Jorvanultumn offered her and everyone there a smile.
“Evil!” the woman screeched. “See the evil that infests the world! Cast it out, I say! Cast it out!”
“An Isyar!” a young girl exclaimed, joy and awe on her face.
“Please,” Jorvanultumn began, “I do not wish—”
“Cast it out!” the woman cried again. Jorvanultumn had not seen her grab it, but she now had a rock in her hand and she lobbed it at him. Taking him by surprise, it struck him across the side of his forehead. He stumbled back, wiping blood from his eyes.
The young girl screamed. Several people rushed the woman in the gown, but her guards moved to protect her, knocking down the first two men to get near. Dazed, one of the two men tried to grab a guard’s foot, but she kicked him in the face. The small crowd quickly dispersed after that, the two men running with all the others. The young girl was still screaming when a slightly older girl picked her up and carried her off.
The woman bent down and picked up another stone. “Bastard of creation. Unholy child of the Dark Lady.” She threw the stone at him, but Jorvanultumn was ready this time. He caught it in a pocket of air and then broke it apart, letting the resulting sand fall harmlessly to the ground.
A hand touched Jorvanultumn’s shoulder. “Let’s go,” Zandrue said. “She can do no more harm. No one’s likely to listen to her once the story of how she attacked an angel spreads.”
With a nod, Jorvanultumn gave a small tug on his horse’s reins and followed Zandrue, the mare tagging along behind. He took a glance back to make certain the woman’s guards were not trying to rush him, but she only yelled curses at him.
Rudiger was waiting for them farther down the street. He grinned. “Thought we lost you. You shouldn’t wander off like that.”
“I was doing...research,” Jorvanultumn replied. He turned to Zandure. “Was she a Ninifin?”
“Yes,” Zandrue replied. “Technically, most people here are Ninifins, though they get called Eloorin because they don’t actually live in Ninifin, or something like that. I don’t know. It’s complicated. Anyway, she was a Ninifin from Ninifin. I did warn you what things could be like. The only reason she didn’t try to kill you is because she knows the local authorities would hang her if she did. In Ninifin, she’ll have the law on her side. You still up for going there?”
“Do we have a choice?”
“Unfortunately, it doesn’t look that way.”
Rudiger put his arm around her. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure out a way. We’ve already survived far worse than anything the Ninifins can throw at us.”
“Maybe,” Zandrue said, laying her head against his chest and hugging her arms around his waist.
Jorvanultumn watched in fascination. He had been trying to figure out for some time whether Zandrue and Rudiger were fomasee, but human mating rituals were bizarre. For some reason, they did not like admitting their connection to one another.
“So what do we have to do?” Rudiger asked.
“We stay here for tomorrow and possibly the day after,” Zandrue replied. “I don’t want to waste any more time, but if we go to Ninifin, we have to be prepared. I need to do a little bit of research first. I’ll check in with some local contacts, see if I can find out about Darkers in the area.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?” Rudiger asked. “They’re probably looking for us just like every other Darker in the world.”
Zandrue stared at him. “You want to go to Ninifin, and you’re worried about dangerous? Let’s not forget, we don’t know for certain Corvinian is even in Ninifin. Or they might have moved him by now. If I can pick up hints of anything like that, we may not need to go there at all. If this is going to work, you both have to listen to me very carefully and do exactly what I tell you to. Agreed?”
Jorvanultumn nodded his acceptance and Rudiger said, “Of course.”
“Great!” Zandrue said, clapping her hands together. “Well, if I’m going to spend the next little while plotting our collective suicide, I think for tonight, I just want to get rip-roaring drunk! Come on, let’s get out of these slums and into the real city.” She slipped away from Rudiger, grabbed her horse’s reins, and began walking down the street towards the inner city.
“She is strange,” Jorvanultumn said to Rudiger, “but I think I begin to understand her.”
Rudiger smiled, the way someone did about their fomase when others said complimentary things about them. “She’s a pretty amazing woman.”
Jorvanultumn nodded. If only she did not have so many secrets.