The beast still trudged back and forth, and it knew where each of the members of the quest hid. Frustrated, it growled and made passes at the rocks with the two remaining heads. One head came at Kale again, and she backed up, raising her sword. Instead of flicking its tongue in the space above the boulders, it rammed its massive head against the rocks. The blow shook their little stronghold. Dirt and grit showered down on them, covering their clothing and hair with dust.
Kale looked over to see Librettowit and Fenworth whispering to each other and casually brushing dust off their heads. She gritted her teeth.
Will he have that spell ready in time?
The creature moved off toward Lee Ark’s sheltering rocks. Kale watched. The third head dragged the ground. The beast stumbled and struggled. His movements seemed more encumbered than just from the fallen head.
“His tail is turning gray,” she reported to the men behind her.
Librettowit rose to spy over the boulders.
“It’s turning to rock. Good job, Fen, but how about starting at the other end. It would be nice to have those disgusting heads turn to stone first.”
Fenworth ran his hand over the top of his head. Kale noticed for the first time a bald spot right on the crown, surrounded by the long fringe of gray hair. The wizard’s fingertips made a circular motion on the exposed scalp.
“Let’s see, that would require a number of adjustments…Yes, it could be done.”
“Never mind,” said Librettowit. “The process ceased while you were contemplating the change. Just go on. The beast will quit moving as soon as you get to the legs.”
Librettowit gave a yelp of approval. “That’s the way. That last bit charged up the remainder of his tail. He’s hauling around a city building’s worth of stone on his backside. Oops! That seems to have irritated the fellow.”
Two roars competed in ferocity. One of the heads reached over and nipped the other. Kale held her breath as she watched the hind legs pause, stiffen, and then change color from green to gray.
“Be a little quicker, will you, Fen?” said Librettowit. “The thing is going to suffer now.” He turned his head away.
“Right,” said Wizard Fenworth and closed his eyes to concentrate.
Kale turned away too. Then she covered her ears as the beast moaned. She welcomed the silence a moment later and looked back to the mountain path. A stone statue stood with one head hanging over the cliff edge. The two upright necks twined around each other and bent back along the creature’s spine.
Dar, Lee Ark, and Brunstetter cautiously came out of their hiding places. Leetu began her descent, and the kimens skittered across the open space to stand with Kale as she emerged.
“Well, then.” Fenworth climbed awkwardly over the rocks. Lee Ark and Kale moved to help him.
He crammed his hat back on his head and dusted off his robes. Then he slapped his palms together, knocking off the dirt.
“That was an uncomfortable situation. Warned you, didn’t I? Quests are quite interesting except for the uncomfortable parts. I don’t suppose that unpleasant woman is still here.” He looked around, even stretching to stand on his toes and peer beyond the monster. “A female wizard. Didn’t recognize her, but I suspect she was that Burner Stox woman. Married Crim Copper. Beastly wizard. Can’t say they get along at all well.”
The others began to move. Kale felt as if she had awakened from a bad dream. A giggle bubbled up in her throat, and she repressed it, knowing the others would count it for just what it was, nerves. She watched as Leetu picked up the few arrows that had bounced off the monster when it was still alive to threaten their lives.
The arrows stuck in its hide were stone now.
Dar rejoiced that his pack had not been trodden upon. Brunstetter and the kimens quickly gathered more of the scattered belongings and brought them to the wizard.
“My walking stick.” With one finger, Fenworth patted Seezle on the shoulder. “Thank you, my dear.”
He glanced up at the monstrous statue. “You know, I really think we must be going. I can’t remember if this spell holds or not.”
Kale had no problem with clearing out of the vicinity of the solidified creature. Lee Ark again took the lead, and the rest followed. Minutes later they heard a grinding crunch, and then a massive shudder vibrated under their feet.
“Crumbles,” said Fenworth. “I remember now. Crumbles. Good thing we weren’t standing under it. Wit, you’re going to have to explain to your kinsmen why one of their mountain passes is now filled with rubble. Should sit better with them, coming from one of their own.”
“Right,” said the tumanhofer, nodding his head and glowering.
“Perhaps you could write a history of the occurrence,” suggested the wizard.
“I’m a librarian. I read books. I don’t write—”
“Hmm? Well, then. Tut-tut. I could—”
“I’ll see to it, Fenworth.”
41
CITY OF DAEL
The path widened as it joined another mountain trail. The snow fell in earnest. The sun had been behind clouds for hours, and now the gray light grew darker. The veil of loosely woven moonbeam cloth over Kale’s face protected her from the chill and aided her ability to see. But as the afternoon faded into night, she began to worry about losing their way in the mountain passes.
“Not much farther,” Librettowit called to his companions.
“Stay close together,” ordered Lee Ark as he moved down the line, checking on each of the trekkers.
On his way back to the head of the line moments later, he repositioned the kimens. He sent Shimeran to the front. Seezle walked directly before Kale.
“Shine,” barked Lee Ark as he strode against the quickening wind to the front of their procession.
The kimens produced a bright yellow light. Even so, Kale barely made out Shimeran’s form, and Seezle’s glow cast just enough light to make the path between the o’rant girl and the doneel visible.
The others must be having it harder than I am. I have the moonbeam cape.
They’d packed heavy winter clothing. After the encounter with the woman wizard and the three-headed monster, they had reached an altitude where the wind pressed like icy fingers into their skin. Lee Ark had paused long enough for everyone to put on the extra clothing. The kimens, of course, had no need for anything other than their usual light attire. Kale had gratefully tucked her feet into extra socks and her hands into mittens knitted by Granny Noon.
“Not much farther,” Librettowit called again.
Kale’s feet sank in the snow as it piled higher on the path. Lee Ark tramped back again. “Put a hand on the shoulder of the person in front of you.”
This time he brought Brunstetter to walk directly behind Shimeran and Wizard Fenworth behind the urohm. The giant walked, shuffling his feet, deliberately clearing a trail for those following.
Kale’s fingers on Dar’s shoulder grew numb. She switched hands, pulling the cold one into the warmth under her cape. Seezle held onto the back of Dar’s pant leg. Kale wondered if the little creature was warm, and if her light warmed the back of Dar’s leg.
“Not much farther,” Librettowit repeated.
Kale had no warning when they came to the massive wooden doors that made up the gate of Dael. Even standing huddled next to the others with Brunstetter applying his massive fist to announce their arrival, she could see only a dark bulk stretching out of sight to either side. The wind howled, and the snow swirled in a blinding curtain. Only one lantern beside a boarded window in the gate flickered a grudging welcome.
The wooden shutter swung back from the gate window. A square of light appeared and then was blocked by a head bundled in a dark scarf.
“What? What?” the gatekeeper growled. “No admittance after dark. Go to the caves for shelter and come again in the morning.”
The shutter started to swing shut, but Brunstetter caught it.
His low voice rumbled pleasantly as if he were explaining to a chi
ld some simple matter of courtesy. “We’ve Wizard Fenworth with us, and we’re on Paladin’s business.”
“That won’t work here,” grumbled the gatekeeper. His hands covered in thick gloves jerked at the edge of the shutter, trying to dislodge it from Brunstetter’s massive grip. “Here now, let go of that. Go to the caves like any decent citizen and wait for morning. Wizards, indeed. Using Paladin’s name as if it were a password. Shame on you, and let go!”
Librettowit pushed to the front. “Trevithick Librettowit here. I’m not interested in sheltering in the caves tonight. Let us in.”
“Wit? Wit? You don’t say? Bumby Bumbocore here. How’ve you been, you old bookhound?”
“Busy,” Librettowit snapped. “And cold.”
“Oh yes, just a minute.” He started to move away from the gate window. “Tell your friend to let go.”
Brunstetter released his hold on the shutter. The square patch of light disappeared. A moment later the rumbles and groans of gears meshing and grating together signaled that they would be admitted. The noise went on for a long time before a large door set in the bigger gate swung open.
Why would such a simple wooden door require all that ruckus to get it open?
Brunstetter stepped aside, allowing Fenworth to enter first, followed by Librettowit and the rest of the party. The urohm had to stoop to get through the entry. Gatekeeper Bumbocore shut the door, abruptly cutting off the sound of the howling wind.
Kale threw back the hood of her cape and shook snow from her clothing. She stamped her feet and hoped they all would soon be someplace where she could put her frigid toes next to a fireplace.
Librettowit introduced the gatekeeper. “A cousin,” he explained. He and Bumbocore did a lot of backslapping and questioning. They asked more questions of each other than they bothered to answer.
“Ahem!” Wizard Fenworth cleared his throat. “Mustn’t keep your mother waiting, Wit.”
Bumbocore looked startled. “Is Gloritemdomer expecting you? I just saw your father today at noonmeal, and he didn’t say a thing.”
“Now isn’t that the way of a quest?” Fenworth tapped his walking stick vigorously against the stone flooring. “Risto knows we’re coming. That Burner Stox woman knows we’re coming. Probably that no-good husband of hers, Crim Copper, knows we’re coming. Even sent out a three-headed monster to greet us, but do our people know we’re coming?” He started muttering and shaking his head, pulling his beard with one hand, knocking newly sprouting leaves to the floor as he did so.
Bumbocore paled. “R-risto? Burner St-stox? Monster?”
Fenworth patted the short man on his back. “Been bothering you, too? Tut-tut. We’ll have to do something about that. Good calcification spell works if you remember to move briskly afterward.”
He cleared his throat and gestured to his librarian. “Nice talking to old friends, but we must be going. Gloritemdomer makes a good supper, and we don’t want to be late. Rude, you know.”
Librettowit led the way through the wide streets of the stone city. Lightrocks shone in a variety of colors along the way. Kale wondered why they were spaced so far apart. The cheery colors brightened dark passages but were not grouped together to illuminate the entire area. After a while, she grew used to the effect of the subdued lighting and thought it was a pretty way to brighten the constant gray of the granite.
“Now you see,” said Librettowit, doffing his hat to those he passed as he went on instructing his traveling companions, “tumanhofers don’t take granite from the mountain, chip it into blocks, haul it across the country, and stack it into buildings. Such an inefficient way to build a city. Our homes are carved out of the rock. Our streets are not paved, because they are rock to begin with. Therefore we can spend our time on more worthwhile things.”
Leetu?
“Yes?”
What do tumanhofers think are worthwhile things to do?
“Digging.”
Digging? As in dirt?
“Sometimes, if you count their extensive agricultural research programs. But more into the way things work. Librettowit digs into books and finds interesting facts. Some tumanhofers dig into different ways of doing things. There are more inventors, scientists, and scholars among the tumanhofers than any other race. In Dael alone, there are six universities.”
Does anybody need that much learning?
“The tumanhofers do. It keeps them happy.”
Kale unbuttoned her cape, and the two dragons scrambled out to sit on her shoulders. They chittered excitedly. Kale caught the gist of what they said by listening with her mind.
She grinned as she realized they were saying things she wanted to exclaim herself. Metta and Gymn were uttering, “Look at that. Did you ever see…? What is that used for? Ooo, that’s pretty,” over and over in different variations of the same, awed thoughts.
The questing party walked a long, long way before the house fronts began to look like homes instead of stores and inns. Their tumanhofer guide quit talking as he rounded a corner and quickened his pace. Down the street a door flew open, and a stout woman rushed out. She trotted to meet them and embraced Librettowit.
“Mama!” he exclaimed and enveloped her in a big hug. A man appeared and joined the hug, adding slaps on Librettowit’s back and exclaiming, “Well, well, welcome, son.”
Neighbors poured out of the nearby homes and gathered in the street. Kale stood back and watched. This was unlike anything she had ever seen. Mariones did not display their affections. These tumanhofers spent twenty minutes greeting each other and making introductions. They laughed and hugged. Librettowit’s father, Grundtrieg, took over the introductions once his son had led him around and made known the names of each of his companions. Grundtrieg introduced Kale to a young tumanhofer girl named Estellabrist. She pulled the o’rant girl around to meet at least fifty neighbors, relatives, and friends who had come over from the surrounding streets.
Finally the visiting travelers were escorted into the house. Kale sank onto a soft cushion next to the wall. Dar lowered himself beside her.
“Would it be rude to take off my boots?” she asked the doneel. “My feet ache.”
“Not a bit. You’ve been accepted as an honored guest.”
“Honored guests can take their boots off?”
“Most definitely.”
Kale pushed the cape off her shoulders and let it fall behind her, then went to work on her boots. With double socks beneath, they seemed determined to remain on her feet.
Dar braced himself and helped her tug. Then Kale returned the favor and marveled at how comfortable she felt with the doneel after all this time together. In River Away, no one would have helped her remove her boots, not that she’d ever had any. She would have been ordered to assist Dar. As they settled down again, she grinned at him just because it was good to have a friend.
Wizard Fenworth had been given the biggest, most comfortable chair next to a cozy fireplace. Brunstetter sat on the steps of a stairwell. Lee Ark and Leetu Bends sat at the table with Librettowit and his father. The kimens had found a corner where they wouldn’t be stepped on as Mistress Librettowit and her daughters bustled around making supper.
“Librettowit is happy here,” said Kale.
“Tumanhofers enjoy family.”
“Do you have family, Dar?”
He nodded, then closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall.
“Lots.”
Kale thought about Fenworth’s comment about her mother. Could it be true her mother was alive? Could the old wizard know where she was? She almost asked Dar’s opinion when she remembered Fenworth also said that talking about her mother would put her life in danger.
I want my mother to be alive. I would like to find her. She let her eyes roam over the room watching the tumanhofers exchange smiles and affectionate pats as they passed. Librettowit’s mother kissed his cheek as she set a basket of bread on the table. His father gave his wife a hug around the waist. I wonder what it feels
like to be part of a family. I think it would be nice.
“You belong, Kale.” Dar’s soft voice interrupted her thoughts. “You are part of Paladin’s legion. We are your family.”
Kale gave him a hard look. He still leaned with his head against the wall, his eyes closed. He looked tired and innocent of any mischief.
“Are you sure you don’t read my mind?”
“Positive. You are altogether too predictable to even have to bother.”
“Could you read my mind if you wanted to?”
“Nope. Haven’t got the talent. I can only converse with you if you initiate the mindspeaking.”
Librettowit’s sisters brought around bowls of warm, soapy water and towels. They washed for dinner there in the parlor of Librettowit’s home. Kale thought that was a quaint custom. Another sister soon provided each guest with bread on a platter, a steaming bowl, and a spoon. Dar sat up and smiled his most charming as he thanked her.
“Don’t eat yet,” he whispered to Kale as the tumanhofer woman walked away. “Grundtrieg will say a blessing on the meal first.”
When everyone was served, the father bowed his head and repeated a simple grace. Then he thanked Wulder for the company and the pleasure of seeing their son. He added that he and his family were honored to assist in Paladin’s plan in any way put before them.
Kale looked down at her bowl. In the dim light, she could not tell what was in it, although it did smell delicious.
“What is this?” she asked Dar.
“Tumanhofers live underground, so it could be roots or mole stew or grubs.”
He lifted the spoon to his lips and took a slurping sip. Across the room, Leetu’s head jerked up, and she frowned at the doneel.
Dar ignored her. “It’s good, Kale. Now it would be rude not to eat what they have put before you. Just enjoy it.”
“What is it?”
Dar heaved an exaggerated sigh. “Flatworm soup.”
Kale bit her lip and looked around the room. No one noticed she wasn’t eating. Metta and Gymn scurried around the base of the walls, looking for insects. The little dragons liked worms and grubs and things. Would they eat cooked flatworms?