Empress Aurora Trilogy Quest For the Kingdom Parts I, II, and III Revised With Index (Quest For the Kingdom Set) (9 page)

It was not an
easy trek. The trees grew so closely together that the daylight was obscured
and filtered only dimly through the towering forest. In some places the
branches interlocked overhead, producing a gloom impossible to dispel.

Exposed tree
roots made a trap for unwary feet, so they looked carefully where they trod.
The snow was only a light covering here due to the near impenetrability of the
trees. Still, the frigid temperatures produced a slick glaze of ice that slowed
their progress as they walked slowly and carefully lest they slip and lose
their balance.

“It could be
worse,” opined Felix with his characteristic optimism. “We could be walking up
to our knees in snow. I have heard that the drifts are high in this land.”

“What we have
to endure is hard enough! How can anyone live in a land of such darkness,”
Marcus grumbled as he placed his hands carefully from one trunk to the next as he
struggled to find his way.

The darkness
was so complete that they were forced to light torches in order to see where
they were going. But the gloom was so thick that they could not discern a path,
so they walked slowly, grasping for trunks and holding to each other.

In this
fashion they made slow progress, but by the end of their first day they
estimated that they had penetrated some twenty miles through the forest.
Considering how difficult the terrain and how intense the darkness, Marcus felt
it was not a bad start to the journey.

They found a
grove of pine trees that formed a semi-circle where they decided to make camp
for the night. They soon had a bright and cheerful fire going where they
roasted the venison that the garrison had sent with them as a farewell offering.
The meat was welcome after the energy they had expended in their slog over the
rough and uneven ground.

They made a
primitive tent from the woolen hangings they had brought with them from
Valerium by draping them over low hanging pine boughs, thus sheltering them
from any wind that might chance to blow. They fed the fire to keep it burning
during the night, and snug in their tent, they were soon fast asleep.

The day
dawned, but without any sign of the sun. It was as dark at sunrise as it had
been after sunset. Marcus noted to himself that the day before had produced
only about four hours of daylight in the early afternoon. Still, they could not
be deterred by something that could not be changed. This was their road, and
take it they must.

After they broke
their fast with bread, cheese and dried fruit, they collected their hangings
and bundles and proceeded to continue their hike. The forest had an eerie
stillness that kept both of the young men alert and casting a wary eye in all
directions as they ambled on.

They were
making decent progress and had trudged another fifteen miles or so by late
afternoon. By now the sun had emerged, but did little to dissipate the
murkiness of the forest. Marcus allowed himself to feel a little more
optimistic; they had traveled thus far on their own resources and he felt
Valerius would be proud of his son. His father had trained Marcus on how to
camp and to march through the wilderness for many long miles, and the training
was bearing good fruit.

Suddenly they
heard a sound. It was not a sound that gladdened their hearts or inspired their
courage. It was a deep, rumbling sound that came alternately with short gasps,
as if of some large animal panting for breath.

The two
glanced to the right, to the left, behind them and before them, but saw nothing
clearly in the gloom. The sound came closer and they could hear the breaking of
branches and the snapping of twigs.

“There!” Felix
shouted, as a huge bear suddenly bounded into sight.

The bear had
spotted Marcus and sprang toward him, its huge jaws opened, ready to pounce.
Marcus froze, all of his soldierly training taught by his father forgotten,
unable even to think in the unexpectedness of the attack.

Whoosh! Zing!
Suddenly the bear hit the ground with a crash that shook the forest floor. It
lay utterly still on its side, its heart pierced with a long wooden spear.

Marcus and
Felix stood transfixed looking at the enormous body. But for the intervention
of the spear that could be my body lying there, Marcus mused. Felix blinked his
eyes, wetted his dry lips, and glanced around.

“Who…”

“I!” boomed a
voice nearby. “I slew the bear!”

A large man
came into view. He was taller than any man they had ever seen, a full head
taller than Marcus, who towered over most men of their acquaintance. Broad and
heavily muscled, the newcomer completed this imposing appearance with his
choice of weapons. For slung on his fur-clad back was a quiver full of arrows,
dangling from his leather belt was an axe with a newly sharpened blade. He
carried a large bow, and he sprang to the bear’s body to retrieve the spear he
had pierced him with.

With a heavy
grunt he pulled the spear from the animal’s chest and wiped it on the ground.
He kicked the carcass as if to make certain that the bear was dead; then he
turned to the boys.

“Why are you
here?” he thundered, a scowl marking his brow.

Marcus took
one look at that rugged face with the jutting chin, crooked nose that looked as
if it may have been broken (no doubt in another bear encounter! he ventured)
and blazing black eyes, and knew he had better give a good account for their
presence in the forest. With his tumbled brown hair, massive body, and booming
voice the man before him resembled a bear himself, and looked just as wild. His
long cloak of bear-skin only added to that impression. Noting that he had
addressed them in the Common Tongue, Marcus responded to him in the same.

“We are
traveling through Trekur Lende on our way to Gaudereaux. We have business in
that country and are anxious to be on our way. I thank you for the service you
have rendered us, but we must be off on our journey. Good day.”

“Whoa!”

The bear-like
man shot up a retaining hand. The boys instinctively obeyed it.

“Who are you?”
he rumbled. “You are in
my
land. Who are you? Tell me, or die,” and
pointed the spear at them.

Felix poked
Marcus in the side with his elbow. He inclined his head toward the stranger. He
nodded to Marcus. Tell him, he silently advised.

Marcus sighed.
After all, the stranger would probably have no idea who they were even if he
told the truth. And Marcus had already witnessed what he had done to the bear.
It would be nothing for him to dispatch him and Felix with the same ease and
speed as he did the great beast.

“I am Marcus
Maximus. My friend is Felix Lucius. And as I have told you, we are traveling to
Gaudereaux.”

The stranger
planted his feet on the ground, and crossed his arms over his chest. He looked
steadily at both of the young men, studying them intently. Then he extended one
hand to Marcus.

“I am Dag. Dag
Adalbjorg. I go with you.”

“No, I cannot
permit that,” a startled Marcus exclaimed.

“Yah, I save
your life. I take care of you. It is our way,” Dag announced. “First we cut up
the bear and take meat. Then we go.”

He no sooner
declared this announcement than he proceeded to butcher the bear on the spot,
using some long knives he carried on his belt. Dag produced some bags woven
from flax from a sack on his back and stuffed them full of the bear meat.

He looked at
Marcus and Felix and raised one eyebrow, jerking his head in the direction from
which he had come. Reluctantly, they exchanged glances and turned to the
bear-like man. He distributed bags of the meat to Marcus and Felix to carry.
Then, with the air of one having settled the matter Dag turned on his heel and
proceeded to lead the boys through the forest.

On a winding
trail dusted with snow, through the dense undergrowth he led them. The cold was
bitter, penetrating the bones. Marcus felt his feet go numb, and occasionally
stopped to shake his legs and swing his arms to get his blood flowing.

He noticed
that Dag wore some heavy boots covered with the pelt of animal skins. Little
wonder these people could survive in such a harsh climate. His own boots of
leather lined with fleece, although ideal for keeping out water, did not
provide adequate warmth in this frigid land. He wondered how Felix fared and
glanced in his direction. Felix pursed his lips and kept his own gaze straight
ahead, but said nothing.

Marcus had
never seen such a dense forest. All the land he knew in Valerium was cultivated
and landscaped with gardens and fountains and courtyards. Even during his
captivity in Eirinia he had lived in open spaces of gently rolling hills, with
the forest just a border in the background. This wilderness of woods was a
novelty to him. He was not sure if he liked it.

For many hours
they followed their guide as he led them deeper into the heart of the forest.
Hampering their progress was the additional burden of bear meat they carried.
Already bundled up to guard against the cold, the bags seemed weighted, a
nuisance to fling around on their backs.

But Dag had
come to the forest to hunt, he told them. An early thaw had just ended and the
thaw sometimes fooled the bears into thinking spring had come. His home was not
far away and he could offer shelter for the night.

As they
journeyed they soon learned that their guide was not much given to
conversation, and what responses they could elicit from him were terse and
direct. His vocabulary seemed to consist entirely of monosyllables and he did
not elaborate on their questions, answering only the question put to him, but
nothing more.

“Not exactly a
sparkling conversationalist, is he?” Felix muttered to Marcus under his breath.

Marcus smiled
but shook his head. He did not want Dag to overhear. Possibly he didn’t know
any more than the basics of the Common Tongue in which they had conversed since
their encounter. The boys knew nothing of the language of Trekur Lende, so they
could hardly fault Dag if he knew nothing of theirs!

After hiking
about ten miles and as the waning daylight was fading to dusk, they at last
came to a clearing in the forest floor. The trees thinned out dramatically
leaving an open space. Directly ahead of them stood a sturdy wall constructed
of logs, and encompassed an area of at least fifty acres, Marcus estimated.

Dag strolled
up to the wall and knocked on a gated door. A slat opened and revealed a pair
of searching eyes that studied the three young men thoroughly. Satisfied upon
spotting Dag, the sentinel opened the door and admitted them.

They entered
the gate and beheld some two dozen wooden structures of a curious construction.
They consisted of one story buildings that were square but for a steep peaked
roof that extended several feet beyond the frame on either side of the house,
nearly to the ground. They were constructed entirely out of logs. In a corner
underneath the roof of each house hung a curious construction of metal
tube-like chimes strung on a wooden bow.

Felix asked
Dag why the roofs were so long and flared out on either side of the house.

“The snow
falls down the side of the roof so its weight does not pile up on the house.
They are long so the snow does not drift the house in.”

“How ingenious!”
Felix exclaimed. “What a marvel of design!”

Dag looked at
him blankly.

“We are wild
men, not dumb beasts.”

A quick grin
illuminated his rugged face and he walked on. He led them to a house near the
center of the small village.

“Mienne hoss!”
Dag smiled with an air of one who has wandered long and finally seen Paradise.

Marcus and
Felix exchanged a quick glance before comprehension set in.

“Oh,
my
house
!” Felix muttered before Marcus hushed him.

Not deigning
to comment on their asides, Dag opened the door and thrust back an animal skin
that hung suspended against it. The skin, he explained, provided extra warmth
as it sealed off any drafts from cracks in the door frame.

Dag strode to
the center of the room, to a small ring of stones. He proceeded to build a fire
using chips of wood he scooped out of a chest carved of pine wood. Using a
flint, he ignited the chips and before long a small blaze warmed their hands
and feet. Soon Marcus felt a tingle in his limbs as he felt them thaw in the
glowing warmth.

“We will eat,”
Dag announced.

He strode
across the room and lifted a wooden slab in the floor. It revealed a cavity
lined with smooth stone of what appeared to be slate. Out of this cavity, Dag
pulled what looked at first like a block of ice, but at second glance looked
more opaque than ice.

“What is
that?” Felix inquired, never letting his curiosity go unsatisfied for long.

“Molke!” Dag
answered.

He noted their
blank faces.

“Milk,” he
ventured in the Common Tongue.

“Milk?” Marcus
echoed doubtfully.

“Yah! Good and
cold!” Dag cheerily answered.

He took his ax
and chopped off a small chunk of the milk. He placed it in a pan of some
grayish metal that Marcus had never seen before and placed it over the fire.
The milk soon melted and Dag set it aside to cool on a heavy wooden table that
was placed against one side of the wall.

Dag produced
some small metal spikes that he skewered the bear meat with, and set them over
the fire to roast, anchoring them to two wooden trays with carved notches that
he set on either side of the fire.

The juice from
the meat sizzled and the fire crackled. The smoke from the fire burned the
eyes. Felix coughed and rubbed at his eyes. Dag glanced at him, then loped over
to a long wooden rod that dangled from the ceiling. He turned it, and the boys
felt a current of air in the stifling room. The smoke rose vertically in a slim
column, and escaped through wooden slats in a small hole in the center of the
roof.

Felix bounded
over to where Dag stood.

“May I look?”
he inquired.

Marcus joined
him and they saw that if one turned the rod one way, slats produced a primitive
form of ventilation. When the rod was turned the other way, the slats closed,
leaving a solid roof once more.

“Clever!”
Felix remarked.

Seeing Dag’s
brow darken, he hastened to exclaim, “Oh, but, you are wild men, not dumb
beasts!”

At this Dag
was appeased, and bestowed a forgiving smile on Felix. He then turned back to
the cavity in the floor and produced bread of a darker grain and a rougher
texture than the boys were accustomed to eating, creamy butter, and wild honey.
These he laid on the table and removed three wooden trenchers from a cupboard
in the wall.

He turned back
to the fire and removed the meat, filling the trenchers with a generous
portion.

“Come, we
eat,” he announced.

Marcus and
Felix stole sidelong looks at one another. Neither had ever eaten bear before.
Neither was sure they wanted to add the experience to their life history.

“I’m hungry,”
Felix decided, with a wicked sparkle in his merry eyes.

Perhaps it was
hunger, but Marcus found the bear to be delicious, rich and satisfying. The
coarse bread was not really to his liking, but the butter and honey he dolloped
on it made it palatable. And the milk was cold and smooth. He had not realized
how thirsty he was and devoured it in one swallow.

There was no
doubt that their host found no fault with the meal. He soon devoured his meal
with amazing speed, not pausing for polite conversation. Only once did he offer
any comment. Upon biting into his honey-dipped bread, a smile of complete
ecstasy broke across his face, and he exulted, “I love honey, I
love
honey!”

Felix choked
on the milk he was just about to drink, and made a small sound that to Dag
sounded like a cough, but to Marcus sounded suspiciously like a snicker. He
shot an admonishing glance at his friend. Dag rose from the table to dish more
bear meat. Felix caught Marcus’ eye and grinned.

“Just like a
bear!” he mouthed in irrepressible glee.