Adversaries Together (23 page)

“
I would never take
anything from you,” Riv glared, his tone the kind you would use to
reprimand a child, “You know full well. I’ve only ever given to
you.”

Asa broke his gaze, stood up, picked up his
glass and placed it on the table. He took up the port bottle and
slowly poured himself another, “I know. I know.”

“
Tell what you know.” Riv
relaxed, cocked his head to one-side, “Because it appears as though
you’re plotting something.”

“
They disgraced me. They
treated me like some kind of…base scofflaw.”

“
You are a free trader. You
know we can be held in contempt by gentry.”

“
These sad little men,
these achingly dimwitted civics holding on desperately to the
illusion that this city isn’t a slum that needs to be
razed.”

“
What are they to you? If
they are so dimwitted.”

“
They are nothing to me.”
Asa raised his voice.

Riv guffawed, “Obviously.”

“
They aren’t.” he walked to
the window, “But it’s eating at me. What they thought of me.
Clawing at the walls of my mind. I can’t shake the look that Alder
gave me. I can’t get his tone out of my head.”

“
This is bruised pride, a
sliver, a mere scratch. Stop picking at it, let it heal, and forget
it.”

“
No, I can’t. What I did
for those fools. They have their first bargaining chip in years,
because of me.” He turned suddenly, “Me! And they couldn’t be
bothered to show the least bit of gratitude.”

“
They gave us plenty. You
wanted more coin; did you ever think that they didn’t have more
coin?” Asa blinked at this, his face changed, and it was clear the
thought had never crossed his mind. Riv continued, “They gave us
the run of their storehouse and in a city that’s choked, drying
out, and smoldering that is quite a lot.”

“
Yes, true but…” Asa closed
his eyes and swallowed hard, “I need them to…I need the girl to
be…”

Riv raised an eyebrow, “And you did damage to
that girl that was unnecessary.”

Asa shook his head, “You can’t have a
prisoner believing they have reign.”

“
There are other ways, and
you know that. You simply prefer the easiest method.” Riv spoke
matter-of-factly without judgment.

Asa nodded, “I suppose. Effective but…I get
taken up and fail to see consequences down the line.” He leaned
back in his chair and seemed to look tired. For a moment, Riv
thought he saw a boy sitting in front of him realizing that the
game he was playing was harder than he realized.

“
At times,” Riv’s tone was
softer, “But that is why I am here.”

Asa grinned, “That is true.”

“
So,” Riv nudged the bottle
closer to Asa as he leaned forward to light some candles on the
table, as the light had died, “We need to be moving on.”

Siracene Highlands,
11
^th
of Mabon

It was perhaps the fifth dead village they
had stumbled upon, Reg wouldn’t have noticed the first if Roth
hadn’t pointed it out to him—a low grass ridges led to a rise of
stones, the remains of building foundations. He was on the lookout
for others after that, but the next dead villages they encountered
were all clearly abandoned settlements with rickety structures of
sad greyed wood and stone looking they were about to collapse. The
second night away from the caravan’s path they made camp in the
ruins of two stonewalls. The next morning Reg saw a strange cut
into the side of the hill, like steps only far too large.

“
These would be mine towns.
Built fast to accommodate the miners that came to coax the gold,
silver, and iron out of the mountains. For a brief time, this was
the mineral belt for the world.” Roth explained.

“
What made the world all
silver and gold, eh?”

“
Yes, actually. The
would-be miners were a bizarre mix from your Novosy and the far
north, some Lakelanders, and even some Adrenines—nearly all
Dystosi.”

“
That why there are so many
halflings in these parts?” Reg asked.

Roth nodded as Lo moved along at a lazy pace,
“None of them had any idea what they were doing. There are
mineshafts and strip cuts like that one,” Roth gestured to the
steps that Reg had seen, “that were poorly chosen and poorly
executed.”

“
So the town would rise up
and then close up.” Reg muttered.

“
Sometimes within only a
few weeks. Others lasted longer, they actually got mineral. Despite
themselves.”

“
But there were real
villages around here, right?”

“
Yes, several actually.
Hardly any exist now. These the miners abandoned once they realized
they didn’t know how to live in the highlands. The others died once
all the mineral was gone. And of those that hung on, well, they had
their fate settled after the edicts.”

“
Not quite farmland.” Reg
shrugged.

“
Well actually, those
potatoes in that cart of yours were probably from this region
originally.”

“
My geography seems to pale
to yours.”

“
It’s not your fault. You
Novosy don’t really like to deal with the world beyond the
Falkstone.”

“
Funny.” Reg
smirked.

“
I’m a clever man.” Roth
was deadpan, but he spurred Lo on to keep pace with Reg’s mount
Kia. When he had pulled up even with Reg, he asked, “You realize
how odd it is to be a Novosar shepherd.”

“
Oh, yeah?” Reg seemed
uninterested, “I suppose as odd as pulling an Athingani from the
Novostos.”

Roth nodded, “Fair enough.”

Silence fell between them, which only made
the dead villages they passed through more unnerving to Reg. The
first that actually resembled a town was made up of four wooden
buildings in an even row—two cabins and what may have been a tavern
and store. The interiors could just barely be made out, dark and
empty with odd shadows. These building were like dead trees
hollowed out by some long passed rot. He had thought it was going
to make for a good place to rest for the night, but the walls of
the structures barely kept the wind at bay and any heat escaped
through the gapes in the roof; it was really no better than out in
the open. Many of the villages were only shacks, and most of the
shacks were no more than collapsed boards fallen toward each other
in near perfect looking pyramids.

The days in the highlands were a queer
mixture of easy, familiarity, and blind faith. The last dead
village they came upon that Reg paid attention to seemed the most
significant; Roth called it Ashcroft.

“
It wasn’t just a silver
mine.” He said, “Though it did produce a good amount for a long
time, longer than most.”

“
What else was there?” Reg
looked around and could see what looked like lots that had been
carved out of the woods. There were also trenches that had to have
been human made.

“
It became rather infamous,
inspired a monument.”

“
Wait…I know this,” Reg
felt a tug at his memory, a song that his wife had sung to Colm;
“…this is the Cruor?”

Roth nodded and smiled, “So even a Novosar
knows some heresy. Excellent. But, no, this isn’t the Cruor.”

“
Is it nearby?”

“
It is. In fact, it’s where
we’re going to camp for the night.”

“
Oh? Any particular
reason?”

“
I feel more comfortable
sleeping in dead places.”

Reg smirked, shaking his head, “Yeah, well,
that makes nothing but sense…”

Kia and Lo were tired; the horses’ paces had
slowed to a near shuffle. It wouldn’t have been much of an
exaggeration to say the mounts were sleepwalking. Reg could feel
Kia’s hooves drag and he felt guilty for having pushed his two
steeds so hard. But very soon they came up to a sheer rock face,
bright with grey diagonal striations, at the bottom center of which
was carved a cove about thirty yards long and nearly that high.
Within the niche and carved out of the hillside stone was what
looked like some beast, evening was coming on fast and Reg couldn’t
make out all the details of this new locale. The sculpture did seem
to depict some kind of death throe, the beast was on its side
making some horrible expression and what looked like a broken spear
sculpted protruding from its side. Rust brown, reddish stains came
out of the faux wound and the beast’s mouth, a kind of leaking
font.

“
What is that?” Reg
asked.

“’
The stone that remembers
and will forever bleed.’” Roth recited.

They came upon a large pool at the base of
the cliff-side. The stain seemed to dribble into the waters leaving
a slight sickly pink discoloration; otherwise, the pool had an
eerie clarity and stillness, its bottom an earthy turquoise.

“
Deep in the mountains
there are hot springs, this is a kind of one. Unlike a geyser or a
hot pool, this font bubbles over irregularly. Water leaks its way
out here, but because it comes from such a deep place it’s warm and
has the bizarre color.” Roth dismounted and Lo immediately made to
drink from the pool. The horse bent to drink, paused, drank a
little, and then pulled away.

“
The red.” Reg said
dismounting and leading Kia to the pool as well, he tied each
mount’s reins together around a sapling.

“
Yes, it dissipates after a
while, that’s why the pond is so clear. But when it comes out of
the stone it’s warm and red like blood. When the carved the statue,
they incorporated that into it as the wounds. The water stays a bit
salty, a draw for animals from all over. You can taste the
minerals.”

“
A salt lick.” Reg
nodded.

“
A good place to lie in
wait for game.”

“
What about water for the
horses?” Reg asked watching the animals.

Roth was pulling down his packs and bedroll
from Lo, patted her on the hind, and gestured beyond her, “There’s
a cistern in the woods over there. If you want less queer tasting
water. This will be fine though. Plenty for all of us.”

Reg gazed at the great sculpture, “What is it
though?”

Roth paused, squatting over his things, “It’s
a bear.”

“
A bear? I didn’t think
there were any bears in these hills.” Reg was genuinely
surprised.

“
There used to be, back
when it was carved.”

Reg’s eyes had adjusted to the dimming light
and he could make out the monument a bit better, twilight shadows
seemed to imbue it with a deep pathos; it looked at once forlorn,
defeated, and defiant.

“
So the wound and the mouth
are where the channels are?” Reg said.

“
Yeah,” Roth was attempting
to make a fire pit, “it was carved into the cliff face following
the channels that had wormed their way to the surface.”

“
Damn skilled. Craft.” Reg
said bringing his gear over to Roth.

“
Hmm. We should make a
fire.” Roth held out his hands at the rough circle he had
made.

Reg grimaced, brushed him aside, and took
over, “You seem quite underwhelmed by this.”

Roth was annoyed at having his fire making
usurped yet again, “It’s not new to me.”

“
The banality of the
familiar?”

“
Of a sort.” Roth stared at
the monument, “Gammon Serero made it.” There was a distance in his
voice.

“
You’ll need to tell me
more over the fire tonight.” Reg said, “After you fetch water for
Kia and Lo.” He leaned back as the circle lit up and a good-looking
flame began to grow.

Roth cursed and turned towards the woods,
“We’ll see.”

Reg laughed a bit to himself and unfurled his
bedroll, “That always means ‘no.’”

The Aral,
14
^th
of Mabon

Suddenly it seemed as though the dunes had
relinquished their claim on light, and the heat of the day
evaporated into the invisible chill of the night. Towsend sat near
the fire coveting its warmth while Cochrane sat with is back to the
flames starring out into the vast darkness. The sky above was
cloudless, moonless but filled with the distant flicker of stars.
The soft push of wind over the dunes was the only sound other than
the fire’s crackling. There was always a danger in setting a fire
in such an open expanse, but it wasn’t as if they could get around
it—the night was as cold as the day was hot.

“
Do you see anything?” It
was rather unnerving staring at Cochrane’s back.

“
Yes.”

Towsend perked up, urgency came into his
voice, “Rovers?”

Cochrane’s shoulders seemed to shake as
though he were convulsing, “No. The desert.”

Towsend picked up a pebble and whipped it at
Cochrane’s head, “Damn it. You needn’t be that way all the
time.”

He turned to face the fire, laughing, and
Towsend couldn’t help but laugh as well, “I’m sorry.” Cochrane
said.

“
Pay me no mind, I’m just
on edge.” Towsend pressed himself down further onto his bedroll on
the cold sand.

“
The desert unsettles
you?”

“
No, not the desert so much
as the lack….of anything. I need to be around people.”

“
Havan.” Cochrane said
nodding.

“
Yes,” Towsend lost his
gaze in the firelight, “it’s been so long since I’ve been back
there. I suppose I miss it.”