"I"d like to go to the Lonely Mountain someday," said Tylan with a wide smile. "And see if I can find the dwarves of Craggen Steep!"
"That"s a big hunk of meat you"ve grabbed from the line, son. It"s good to dream big I suppose and you"re of the age when dreaming is a good thing. But, we"re simple traders and I doubt you"ll ever make it that far."
"I will, someday," said Tylan and set his jaw firmly and pounded his fist into his hand.
Tanner nodded his head, "Well, son, don"t let an old merchant man like me talk you out of it. If you think you"re going to the Lonely Mountain and you"re going to find old Craggen Steep then you just go ahead and do it!"
Tylan smiled broadly and looked over at this father, "Thanks, dad, maybe we could go explore Hot Rock until Ariana and the others get back!"
"She"s a pretty girl, isn"t she," said Tanner as he stood up and threw on his old wool jacket.
Tylan wrinkled his nose up, "Not really, she"s still missing half her teeth but she"s brave for someone her age and I like her anyway."
"Good for you, son, beauty isn"t everything."
"Is that why you married mom instead of Lousa?" asked Tylan and his father gave him a sharp look.
"Don"t you ever say anything like that around your mother or you won"t be sitting for a month. Lousa"s a good woman too and, there"s no denying she"s easy on the eyes, but she"s had a troubled life from what I can tell. I don"t much think she wants to settle down and have children. I married your mom because we both wanted kids, although looking at you and your sister sometimes I can"t figure out exactly what we were thinking!"
"Shut up, dad, you know you love us."
"Well, maybe you"re right about that after all," said Tanner and put his arm around the boy. "C"mon I want to show you Amalg"s Sculptures; it"s a place you"ll never forget, even if you go all the way to the Lonely Mountain."
"What is it?"
"You"ll see soon enough. Put on your jacket, it gets cold up in the mountains at night even this far south," said Tanner to his son as he walked to the door.
A moment later the two, father and son, helmets firmly in place on their heads, walked down a narrow avenue flanked by the strange spring stilt houses and buildings constructed on every open area of the small clearing.
"There it is," said Tanner and pointed to a low slung home where dozens of strange looking statues were scattered around the yard.
"He makes statues?" asked Tylan and walked over to the closest stone object. It was perhaps eight feet tall and appeared to be nothing more than a strange series of twists and turns although the rock itself was interlaced with a strange green mineral that mimicked the pattern of the thing itself in a way that made the young boy look away for a moment and then gaze again. "It"s ... it doesn"t ... it"s not anything but ... it"s like it is something," said Tylan after a moment and then turned away. "It gives me a headache."
Tanner laughed. "You don"t want to look too closely at Amalg"s works," said the merchant and clapped his son on the back. "Wait until you meet the sculptor himself. Now, I think I see him back there but I have to warn you. He"s a bit scary looking, he"s a creature you"ve probably heard stories about, but don"t worry, he won"t hurt you."
Tylan watched where his father pointed and caught a quick slip of movement as a long-robed humanoid looking figure with a small hammer in one hand pa.s.sed between two statues.
"Come along," said Tanner, grabbing his son by the upper arm and pulling him forward. "Amalg," the merchant called out loud to the figure ahead.
The creature that appeared suddenly in front of the two made Tylan gasp in surprise as the boy took a step backwards before he regained his courage and held his ground. Amalg was actually shorter than Tanner and not much taller than the boy but his head was bald and overly long from front to back with a round, bulbous back. The narrow eyes were of the deepest purple and deeply embedded into his head. The most startling feature of the creature was the half a dozen long tentacles that emerged from his head and seemed to wave about in hypnotic pattern.
"Tentacled One!" said Tylan in an almost gasp.
The creature gave a small bow to Tanner and the boy and then a strange little lurch to the side, "Welcome Tanner Wilmer to my gallery, this tadpole is your offspring, yes?"
"Yes, this is my son Tylan," said Tanner and put his hand to the back of Tylan and shoved him forward.
Amalg bowed again and Tylan found himself bending over in reply although he kept his head lifted to watch the tentacles as they waved back and forth.
"How does my art strike you?" asked Amalg with a languorous wave of his right hand which had slipped out from under the long sleeve of the robe.
Tylan opened his mouth and then closed it again not saying anything, but the creature seemed to have infinite patience as it stood in front of him waiting for a reply.
"Well, Tylan, go ahead, tell Amalg what you just told me," said Tanner and tried to keep from laughing out loud at the discomfort of the boy.
"It ... it makes my head hurt," said Tylan all in a quick blurt.
The strange gurgling sound that came from Amalg was almost as disturbing as the appearance of the creature and Tylan took a step backwards despite his best effort. Tanner put his arm around the boy to steady him and they waited for the Tentacled One to reply.
It nodded its head up and down several times before the gurgle finally subsided. "Excellent, stupendous. You are a true aesthetic tadpole, Tylan Wilmer. You may have one piece," he went on and waved his arm across the yard.
"I ... I don"t have much money," said the boy and rummaged in his pocket for the few copper coins that he knew were there. He"d seen the art shows in Iv"s Folly and even in the big city of Lycidas and knew that important statues like these could cost thousands of silver coins.
"No, no," said Tanner patting his son on the back. "Amalg doesn"t sell his art; he gives it to those he deems worthy. You should take your time and pick something you really like. Look around, I want to speak with Amalg about that item your girlfriend is getting back for us."
"She"s not my girlfriend," said Tylan and shook off his father"s hand but looked eagerly about the yard. At first it looked like there were just hundreds of the large statues but a closer examination revealed many more smaller pieces, some of them inside the bigger pieces, some blended into the natural rocks that also littered the yard, some actually half buried in the ground, and some that might be art and might just be twisted sc.r.a.ps of rock and metal. The boy began to explore slowly going from one strange twisted form to the next.
"Amalg," said Tanner and spread his arms. "I know art is your venue but your species is well known to have acc.u.mulated much information over the ages. I was hoping you might know something about a strange item that was found recently just off coast at Iv"s Folly."
"I am no longer a member of The Collective," said Amalg as his purple eyes suddenly gleamed. "But, I will answer your queries as best I can."
"I appreciate that, my friend," said Tanner. "The Great Eastern Sea dips pretty far south around Iv"s Folly although the coast is all rocks and there are no good ports until you travel northwest to Sea Fen. A ship ran aground there about thirty years ago and there was something on it called the Staff of Naught. A couple of weeks ago the undead of the region started to rise from their graves and dig towards the wreck searching for this staff."
"What does it look like?" asked the creature with its tentacles dancing lightly in front of its face.
"It looks like an arm, a boney arm but it"s carved from wood. There"s a hand at the end sort of half grasping at something, like this," said Tanner who held his own hand up in a half-globe like shape. "It"s like it"s supposed to be holding something but there"s nothing there."
"I am ignorant of this thing," said Amalg, "but I am intrigued. A Staff of Nothing, holding the hearts of the slaves of Vanth. It is cold to the touch?"
Tanner looked at Amalg for a moment and thought back to the people who had worked with the staff. "I don"t think so. When Ariana took it to Khemer it didn"t look like it was hurting her."
"Khemer is another companion?" asked Amalg with another sudden tick of his head.
"No, well, yes. He was a ghost summoned by our witch to help us find out what was going on back at the shipwreck. He told us that he wanted to destroy the staff and brought us up into the mountains to perform the ceremony. But he betrayed us; he was trying to use it to bring himself back to life. We killed him, my son did," suddenly his eyes opened wide. "My G.o.d, it was Tylan who killed him, I just realized that."
"I thought I felt the touch of a killer around his soul," said Amalg. "Perhaps that is why he was able to discern so much from his first glance at my works."
"He"s not a killer," said Tanner. "He just picked up that hammer and hit him from behind because he was attacking Lousa and Ariana. Whatever happened to that hammer," the merchant finished. "It was far too big for him to wield properly anyway and the boy has no combat training. Shamki has been working with Unerus."
"He committed homicide," said Amalg and bowed his head and put his hands in front of his face in a prayer position. "Therefore he has touched his soul in a way beyond your comprehension," said the artisan. "The more a soul is touched the greater it"s appreciation for my work."
"I"ve always said I liked your work Amalg," said Tanner and looked around for his son both left and right and then stood on his tip toes. "Where has that boy gotten to?"
"Fear not," said Amalg a tentacle coming up with a darting sort of motion and caressing the merchant"s face.
Tanner jumped back, "Don"t ... don"t do that."
The creature"s body gave a sudden jerk and his arm began to twitch with a rhythmic motion. "I must apologize," said Amalg his voice suddenly strained and his body tense. "My illness overcomes me, please excuse me," and with that the creature turned with a sudden movement and rushed back into the small house and shut the door quickly behind him.
Tanner stood a moment and shuddered, as he still felt that touch upon his cheek. He shook his head and turned towards the main yard just as Tylan popped out from behind a large statue that looked sort of like a tornado of rocks but then again, didn"t really. Tanner jumped again, "By Itzli the Stone Knife, don"t sneak up on your father like that!"
"Look what I found, dad," said Tylan and held up a purple and gold statuette that stood no more than six inches high. It consisted primarily of a dark purple rock with flecks of green but a golden river of ore twisted through its body. It was oval in shape with a smooth exterior like a long egg but riddled with holes that slipped through it leaving irregular patterns like hands loosely touching one another. The inner part of the stone was jagged and as Tanner reached for it Tylan pulled back.
"Don"t touch the middle, just the edges," said the boy and showed his own b.l.o.o.d.y finger to his father. "It"s real sharp inside. I think that"s gold ore!"
Tanner took the thing and carefully looked at it from various angles but could make nothing from his observations. "It looks like a rock with holes carved in it," said the merchant handing it back to his son. "Although you could be right, that might be gold, if so it"s going to very valuable for that even if its artistic value isn"t high."
"You don"t see it," said Tylan and looked at his father with his head tilted to the side.
"Don"t see what?"
"In the middle dad, look close."
Tanner took the object back and twisted it back and forth, held it up to the slowly fading light but he could only see jagged gashes that ran through the rock in seemingly random formations. "I"m afraid not Tylan. Amalg said that you might see more than me because you"ve killed a man."
Tylan"s body went suddenly rigid. "I ... Khemer was just a ghost, he wasn"t real. I guess I killed him, but not really. I mean he tried to kill Lousa and he was going to do something to Ariana. I had to do it, and that hammer was just lying there."
"It"s okay, son," said Tanner and took a hold of his boy with a big hug. "You did exactly what you should have done and never feel bad about it. But, Amalg is right, you"ve killed now and that makes you different from me. I"ve never killed a man. I"ve been in a few fights over the years, bloodied a nose or two, but I"ve never killed anyone. What is it that you see in there?"
"It"s hard to describe, dad," said Tylan and released his father and took the stone back from him. "It"s like the inside of a person. Not like their guts or anything, like if you could see into what they were thinking. It feels like a real person in there. I don"t know, I just like it and Amalg said I could have anything I wanted. There was much more valuable stuff than this I bet. Can I thank him?"
Tanner shook his head. "When Amalg and I were talking about the Staff of Naught I think I disturbed him a little bit. He has a disease that makes him lose control of his body and he had an episode. We can come back tomorrow and thank him. It"s getting late anyway. Your mother and sister will probably be back at the Camel and we can have dinner in the common room. There are usually travelers there telling stories about their adventures."
"We won"t say anything about the staff, will we?" asked Tylan with a look up at his father.
"No, I think we best keep that to ourselves. Maybe the others will be back by now."
Tylan"s eyes suddenly brightened and a huge smile came across his face. "I hope so!"
"Say, son," said Tanner as the two headed back towards the inn. "Whatever happened to that hammer you took from the bugbear?"
"Oh that," said Tylan with a shrug of his shoulders. "I just put it in the wagon. You can"t believe how light it is for how big it looks and it"s got this big splash of black right through the head. Didn"t you say something about Edorin and the Black Fire Forge?"
Tanner looked at Tylan for a moment and then nodded his head. "It was Radvor"s, there"s every chance it was forged by Edorin. That hammer might be more valuable that that little rock Amalg gave you." As the two approached the Camel Sway a sudden shriek caused them to turn their heads towards a young girl who ran towards them with open arms.
"Ariana!" cried Tanner and Tylan together, and rushed over to greet her.
Tanner picked the girl up and spun her around twice before setting her on the ground where Tylan gave her a short hug. "Is everyone else here too?" asked Tylan.
"They"re inside," said Ariana, "and we got the staff back!"
"That"s great," said Tylan although Tanner remained silent for a moment.
"Was anyone hurt?" he finally asked.
"No, everyone is fine; Shamki and my brother got it from a darkling. She was taking it with her back underground but Shamki outsmarted her."
"That sounds like quite a story, young lady," said Tanner and took her by the hand. "Why don"t we go inside and hear all about it. I"m sure Shalalee and Almara will want to know every detail."
Chapter 19.
Lilithia knelt on the ground in the ma.s.sive chamber whose vaulted ceiling rose well over one hundred feet above the marble floor below her knees. Sitting on a bone throne carved apparently from the skull of a ma.s.sive dragon was another woman whose silver hair and purple eyes were quite similar to Lilithia"s but whose face was creased with narrow age lines and whose lips were pursed. "I am sorry mother, I have failed," said the darkling with her head bowed and her eyes closed. "I accept whatever punishment you think fit."
The woman looked down upon her daughter and smiled. "It is good you admit to your failure, Lilithia," she said and I have heard of all the things that happened on the surface. I have also made consultation with She of the Eight Legs."
Lilithia did not change her position in the slightest nor did she say anything to this p.r.o.nouncement.
"Do you not wonder what the result was of that discussion," said the woman as her tone softened in the slightest way.
"That is for you to tell me, mother," said Lilithia with her head still bowed but her body lost some rigidity. She knew that it was all too common to lull a victim into a false sense of security and only then unleash some horrible retribution so she did not smile or show any other outward sign of relief.
"Very good, Lilithia, you were always one of my favorite daughters and even in failure I am willing to indulge you. The great Spider G.o.ddess has explained to me that our needs for the Staff of Naught can be gained by using the surface dwellers, and that in fact, this might be the better path. If we take the thing that will alert the traitorous girl who pretends she is the ruler of the Abyss that we are scheming against her."
"Thank you, mother," said Lilithia and looked up but her eyes remained slits and darted both left and right for a moment before she allowed herself a small smile.
The woman on the throne nodded her head and smiled, "You are right to be cautious, my daughter," she said and stood up from the throne putting her hand on Lilithia"s head. "Hazhallahad"s Staff will bring our Mistress revenge against her loathsome step-sister and bring us closer to ultimate power within the realms. You are to return to the surface; we will provide you with more of the cloaking stones that allow you to travel in the vile sunlight."
"What am I to do, mother?" asked Lilithia as she rose to her feet and the two women began to walk across the ma.s.sive chamber, their light footsteps barely audible on the marble floor. A pair of darkling men stood at a large bronze door, etched with the motif of a ma.s.sive black spider, and opened it at their approach and bowed their heads and put their hands to slim steel scimitars strapped to their side.
"The humans must be made aware of the origins and power of the Hazhallahad"s Staff so that they can attempt to destroy it more readily," said the woman as the two exited the chamber and came into a long hallway with vaulted arches that led past numerous side chambers. A group of strangely deformed dwarves with dark skin and shackles on their legs marched past with a large marble stone upon on their shoulders as a silvered haired woman with a long whip urged them about their task with great vigor.
"Destroy it?" asked Lilithia unable to keep her head from darting quickly to the older woman.
"Do you suppose now that I, the Great Mother, spared your life, that you are suddenly given the privilege of putting my policies to question?" asked the woman and continued to walk forward at the same pace and did not bother to even look at Lilithia.
Lilithia bowed her head again and said no more.
Chapter 20.
Four horses stood at the small creek their heads bowed and drank up the cool water with abandon as the men who rode them spoke to one another under the shade of a large oak tree whose limbs spread out in a ma.s.sive canopy.
"The journey is long yet," said the man in the yellow robes whose sleeves showed the symbol of a burning sun. "We must make haste before the spider worshippers do something foolish with the Staff of Naught."