The Changing (20 page)

"That solved," the chief said. "Now you are hooman and you are here. Why you here? You here to hurt my people?" The chief gestured to the miniature city around them.

"We are not here to hurt you," Seth responded.

"Good. We talk." The chief concluded his questioning, and deciding Seth and Sara were not a threat, his soldiers returned to their other duties.

For nearly an hour Seth, Sara and the chief attempted to make conversation, though the process was not an easy one. Even so, they were able to determine many things from the ramblings of the chief. First, these people had had contact with the dwarves in the past. Second, the dwarves lived inside the mountains to the west, affirming in Seth’s mind that they were headed in the right direction. Third and finally, Seth was able to ascertain that any answer he might get from the chief would be at best humorous and at worst incoherent.

"What do you call your people?" Seth asked.

"My people," the chief replied.

"Yes, but what do you call them?" Seth asked again.

"My people," the chief repeated, causing Seth to change tactics.

"My people are called humans, what are your people called?" Seth asked.

"My people!" the chief shouted, thinking Seth hard of hearing.

Often the conversation went this way with Seth simply shaking his head or sharing a laugh with Sara, but both of them were sincerely interested in the tiny race of man and for that reason Sara joined in on the questioning.

"Where do your people come from?" Sara asked.

"From girls," the chief replied looking at Sara like she was a fool.

"What I mean is did you always live here?" Sara asked gesturing at the grass hut city around them.

"No, we come from mountain, from dwarves," the chief explained.

This answered a lot of questions for Seth and Sara. They now understood how the tiny men had learned the common tongue, at least some of it, and how they knew about the dwarves.

"So you are friends with the dwarves?" Sara asked hoping for more useful information.

"No, my people work for dwarves, many long time, then dwarves tell us go and we go here." The chief explained. "Then dwarves dig deep hole. Dwarves find Zoomba. Dwarves chase out Zoomba and tell them go. Now Zoomba here too. We have war with Zoomba every dark. Zoomba very strong, very many. Hard war, many long time. My people grow small then very small, this all left," the chief clarified.

To both Seth and Sara it seemed that for many generations these tiny people worked in the mines of the dwarves, probably as uneducated slaves. Then for one reason or another, the dwarves no longer had a use for them and so set them free to go wherever they chose. The miniature men settled in the plains peacefully until the dwarves found some other race of creature underground which they then set loose upon their once slaves. Now it seemed these tiny men were fighting for the very survival of their race in a nightly battle which they were losing. Both Seth and Sara now felt it was their duty to help, though first they wanted to know what they were up against.

"How many Zoomba are there?" Sara asked.

"Very much many," the chief answered.

"Show me," Sara said, and as luck would have it the chief actually understood what she meant. However, his answer was much to her and Seth’s dismay.

Leaning back as far as his little spine and neck would allow the tiny chief pointed one finger towards the stars in the sky and repeated his previous answer.

"Very much many," he said again.

"How nice of the dwarves," Seth muttered nonchalantly.

"Dwarves not nice. Dwarves bring Zoomba!" the chief yelled at the man who apparently did not understand anything. At least the girl had some sense.

"When do the Zoomba come?" Sara asked.

"Zoomba come dark, we have war," the chief responded.

"It is dark now, when will they come?" Sara tried again and this time the chief appeared to understand as well.

Leaning back once more the chief looked to the stars, then removing what looked like a small pebble from his pocket he held the item up at arm’s length using the object to make a measurement or calculation from the stars before returning the item to where he retrieved it.

"Zoomba come now. We go! If we not go Zoomba come hurt girls," the chief replied.

"We will come too," Sara replied taking the chief's meaning. "We will help fight the Zoomba."

"Hoomans welcome fight Zoomba," the chief said with a crooked grin. "Hoomans splat splat Zoomba!" he roared in his tiny little voice before beginning to laugh hysterically at his own jest, which neither Seth nor Sara understood, though it wasn't long before they got his meaning.

Turning to face his small city, the miniature chief stuck his fingers in his mouth and issued forth a high-pitched whistle that made both Seth and Sara’s hair stand upon their necks. Within seconds several hundred of the mini-warriors came spewing out of the countless grass huts and more came rushing in from outside the small city. They quickly lined up into columns with practiced precision showing proof of the frequency of such a drill. A few seconds later the chief led the column of troops out of the city leaving Seth and Sara to trail behind at an abnormally slow pace. The distance to the so-called battleground was very nearly a mile by Seth’s judgment, and reaching the edge of the plains Seth looked out upon a land barren of life. He had seen this patch of earth from atop the pyramid just days ago as dust was swept up by the wind obscuring the land beyond. Here nothing lived. Neither shrub nor blade of grass protruded from the earth. The soil lay dry and bare except for the evidence of hundreds of nightly battles of the past. Huge insect carapaces littered the ground for as far as the eye could see. Some lay half encompassed by the earth, having filled with dust and beginning to settle into the ground, yet thousands of others lay scattered about like so many stones polished smooth by the wind.

Finally Seth and Sara got the chief's earlier joke. Splat indeed; the enemies were bugs. They were huge by any standard for an insect, about the size of a house cat, but for the chief and his small people, these insects were akin to the size of a bear in comparison to an average human. So far as Seth could tell the Zoomba were some sort of cross between an ant and a crab. They had segmented bodies with a large, bulbous head with a maw consisting of two mandibles. They had three legs on each side of their body which would allow them to move easily in any direction. Most formidable however were the creature’s common attribute with a crab. From either side of the dead insects were arms at the end of which were pincers. Each seemed to have a dominant side, with one pincer being several times the size of the other. So even though Seth and Sara had the advantages of size and armor, if there were as many as the chief said there were, Seth was certain this battle would not be ended in a single night. Fortunately for Seth he would not have to wait long to find out.

* * * * *

Borrik took stock of the battlefield, racing as fast as his muscular legs would carry him around the giant. He had dozens of injured men, though most could move of their own volition. A few would need to be transported, and with the encounter they had just had, Borrik dared not leave any of them behind. Quickly the he gathered his thoughts and gave orders to his men and he watched as those orders were responded to immediately without question. Three dozen of his men raced back down the mountainside to collect tree boughs large enough to create litters while others went about tearing away what usable material they could from the corpse of the giant. As Borrik watched the progress of his troops, from the corner of his eye he glimpsed the two feline sisters darting through the shadows before disappearing once again into the mountain pass.

Borrik was proud of his men. They were a fighting force unlike any other upon Thurr, and if they had not proved it at the battle with the black horde a week ago, they had certainly proved it now. Borrik imagined there were few alive on Thurr who could boast of winning a battle with a giant and be telling the truth, if there were any. Though there were none to witness the deeds of himself and his men, Borrik knew what they could accomplish, and because of this some of his shame from their acts only a few nights previous was set aside, easing the burden upon his soul.

Nearly two hours passed as Borrik’s troops built the litters to bear their injured and dead. Lashing the victims into place Borrik gave the order to proceed down the dark mountain pass. The sisters, Borrik reminded himself, had a two-hour head start and were not impeded by carrying wounded troops. This in his mind Borrik took the lead himself and set a quick pace for his troops to match. The pass was not near as hard to negotiate as Borrik had imagined it would be. It had been trampled flat by the weight of the giant, and was plenty wide enough, allowing him to keep the pace he initially set. Borrik raced along the nearly smooth and level stone surface for an hour before he broke free of the great rock sides of the pass. Sniffing the air he caught the scent of the sisters who led the way. Giving his men a moment to catch up, and himself a moment to judge the lay of the land ahead, Borrik scanned the darkness for as far as his feral eyes could see in the gloom, looking for some sign of civilization that might give a clue to his master's whereabouts. Finding none Borrik stretched his leg muscles for a second in preparation to begin the run anew when he saw something that made the blood in his veins boil and his hair stand on end.

Chapter 10

Realization and Reunions

Garret strode down the vacant corridor of the castle amazed as he always was to behold the building at night. Every wall was polished smooth as was every floor of the stone structure. Sconces hung regularly upon the walls with enchanted torches blazing silently but for an occasional sputter. Every nook and every cranny of the castle was cast in light even in the darkest of nights, and Garret could not help but wonder what deed it was that brought the inhabitants of the castle to illuminate it so brightly. As Garret rounded the corner to the staircase that would bring him to the stairs he needed to reach the third floor and Linaya’s chamber beyond, he was caught unaware and nearly collided with the magnificently beautiful woman herself.

Wearing naught but a light linen nightgown covered by a silken robe Linaya was, even in her night clothes, a vision to behold. At this early hour of the morning most inhabitants of the castle were fast asleep. Those who weren’t were themselves members of the royal council and were now out attending to the arrangements for the king's parade and funeral. Yet here in the silent depths of night the lithe woman with her platinum hair braided loosely over her shoulder walked silently about the castle like a wraith formed of silk and beauty incarnate.

Garret and Linaya both paused as they nearly collided rounding the same corner from opposite directions, and each stood looking the other over for an awkward moment, alone in the night. Neither of them wanted to stare, however each took their time to assess the other before finally their eyes met and Garret found himself caught up in the emerald depths of Linaya’s eyes once again, unable to speak.

"Lord Garret, I had hoped that I might see you again tonight, but feared your meeting would run on late into the morning. I only came down to find something to eat," Linaya stated, her voice coming like music to Garret’s ears.

"Indeed m’lady, I was just on my way to see how you were doing. I fear that my duties to the council are not concluded, just postponed until after the parade and funeral," Garret replied. "Though I think you should probably be resting, I am glad to see that you are doing well and happy to hear that you have an appetite."

"I am feeling better, though some might think me callous for it," Linaya said, pausing briefly to gauge Garret’s reaction. Seemingly satisfied she then continued. "I always knew it likely my father would die on the battlefield. Not that he loved war or killing, but he did love his men. It is not that he did not love me and mother too, of course he did, and he visited each of us often. We spent as much time as we were afforded together. It was simply that he felt the most at home I think, with the other knights.  They shared a bond with my father that I and my mother never could. I don't know if it was because each of you are blessed by Gorandor and have the same faith, or the fact that as brothers of the sword you are sworn to each other’s lives, though the reason matters little, I imagine. As I said, for mother and I it was never if father died in battle it was when. Though I am saddened by the loss, I have been preparing myself for it my entire life I suppose, and I am sure that he died as he would have chosen to. I am sure he died with honor protecting the kingdom and all he loved here in Valdadore.” She said pausing briefly. “My mother is another notion entirely. I would have never expected her to take her own life, though I know her love and passion for my father knew no bounds. At first it hurt me, perhaps more than it should have and I was as angry as I was sad that she would leave me behind like this. Then I understood something. Mother did no less than what I would expect any woman to do who loves a man so deeply. Though sad, I find it romantic that she would chose to throw down her life to again rejoin my father to share their love for one another eternally. I could choose to mourn their loss, though they would not prefer it that way, I am sure. Instead I shall cherish their memory and know that each of them died for what they loved most and believed in. I can hold no hard feelings or sorrow for them, though I will miss them, but I realize now that they did not leave me here to face the world alone," Linaya said, her feelings pouring from her mouth in a flood and piercing Garret’s heart with their emotion.

"What do you mean, they did not leave you alone?" Garret asked, thinking she meant all the others who would mourn her parents with her.

"They left me you," Linaya said with a slight grin. "Father made you strong and taught you to fight against any foe. He led you to Gorandor to bring you untold might because he saw in you the honor of a protective soul. Mother adored your playful nature with your brother, and the way it was said that you too protected him. She also told me you were very handsome. So the way I see it is simply this. Mother approved of your character, and father honed it to perfection through his own skill and through his connection with Gorandor. They each left you to bear witness to their ends, so that you might be better prepared to take care of me and everyone else who requires protection in their time of need."