Age of the Gods: The Complete, twelve novel, fantasy series (The Blood and Brotherhood Saga) (172 page)

It was four days before Gnak reached the grassy edge of the desert that marked the rockier soil where the mountains began. And though he could have easily started his ascension that fourth day, it was not until the following night that he began up the slopes at the base of the mountains. Only twice in his life had he ever encountered trolls, and on both occasions it was during the daylight hours. Though he could not be certain, these two occasions led him to believe that like humans, trolls were more active during the hours of sunlight. From here out, he would only move during the hours of darkness.

Watching the sun drop below the land beyond, Gnak waited as the last crimson streak in the sky crept lower and lower, until finally it faded to purple and then black. With light gone, he collected his meager supplies, and rising, he began across the gentle rocky slopes leading up to the mountainside. Here nothing but hard soil, razor sharp grass, and rocks spanned for miles to both the east and west. But ahead, as he grew nearer to the rising mountains, trees in a multitude of shades of green and grey rose from the craggy earth.

Though the ground was becoming more and more solid with each step as he left the loose sand behind, the mounds of loose pine needles upon the rocky slopes made for a deadly climb as time and again what appeared to be a sure step, suddenly gave way beneath his weight. It was not going to be an easy path up this portion of the mountain range, but he had chosen the location for a reason. Here, he had envisioned a city scratched out and carved from the side of the mountain itself.

Looking up to the highest peak of the southern range of the Rancor mountains, he felt drawn to the highest reaches. Something pulled him here, and Gnak was not about to ignore the feeling. If this is where the world led him, then perhaps Ishanya was guiding him forward to his destiny. Gnak felt that this was where he would find trolls. But to reach them would take several nights of climbing. So climb he did.

For the first several hours of the night, despite the constant threat of the ground slipping out beneath him, the climb was fairly easy. As the night progressed, however, the slopes became steeper and harder to navigate. But it was near morning when he hit his first real setback.

Leaping up to the outcropping above, Gnak grasped at the ledge with his fingertips. Though he could not be certain from his lower vantage point, it appeared that just beyond the ledge above was a fairly easy-to-navigate plateau that spanned into the mountain forest beyond where any trail was lost from sight. Grasping at the stone, he heaved his body with all his might and pulled himself up to the crest of the ledge. With a grunt and one more shove, he raised his torso above the higher ledge, and kicking his legs out behind him he rolled at the same time, drawing his body up and over the edge. Laying on his back, he was surprised to see a sky full of stars.

Enjoying both the view and the relaxing sensation of resting on his back upon the stone ledge, Gnak laid unmoving for several moments before rolling to his side to see what lay beyond.

What he had expected to be a solid level surface of stone that ran on for several hundred yards into the unseen beyond, was instead a great crater in the side of the mountain, where he laid upon its rim. All around the rim giant shards and slabs of stone jutted up, making the path treacherous or impassable altogether. His shoulders slumping, he realized his only options were to go back the way he came and try and find a way around which could take hours or even days, or climb down into the crater and hope to find a path through it and out the other side. Whether it was an actual decision, or orcish pride that would not let him go back the way he had come, Gnak swung his legs over the inside edge of the crater rim, and twisting his body he began searching for hand and foot holds as he descended.

It took over an hour to climb down into the floor of the crater, and as he descended it was readily apparent that this place was unlike any other he had ever been. Where before he had been surrounded by evergreens and rock with little else, here ferns and vines covered the entire floor as wispy fog moved about unnaturally as if it were alive. Within the crater it was warm and humid, whereas the mountainside had been cool and the air dry. Odd trees sprang up from within the crater, with peculiar twisting grey-purple trunks and long red leaves that hung in bunches from the gnarled branches. The sounds of insects pervaded the air in a constant hum of rattling, chirping, and screeching that had Gnak craning his neck at each new sound. Something about this unnatural place made him uneasy.

Carefully and slowly he crept through the odd landscape, picking a path between the twisted trees, careful not to trip upon the crisscrossing vines beneath him that lay camouflaged under the layer of ferns. It was slow going, especially when every peculiar sound set him on edge, causing him to pause and listen intently before resuming his trek. Above him the sky began to lighten.

Though he had decided to travel only in darkness, there was no way he was going to stay within the crater unprotected during the daylight hours as he slept. With imagined horrors haunting his imagination, Gnak worked further and further down into the crater as the fog began to pool about his ankles, obscuring the vine-covered ground further. For hours he slowly progressed downwards towards the center of the crater, and with every hour the fog grew deeper as the sounds of insects grew louder and louder. Finally when the fog climbed to his chest, it appeared it would get no deeper as swirls were left in its depths as he passed.

Stumbling time and again, Gnak cursed his decision to enter the crater as the sun shone from directly above, reflecting off the fog and creating a quagmire of blinding light. But tripping time and time again as he swore into the fog, it was not until he discovered that all the insects had stopped their endless screeching and buzzing that he realized that he was in trouble.

Freezing in his tracks, his head swung this way and that, seeking any disturbance in the fog that would alert him of some unseen predator. Here and there he thought he saw a swirl in the blinding fog, but his imagination was creating monsters where nothing lurked. With nothing else to do, he waited many long minutes just watching and listening for signs of danger. But no sign ever came beyond the roar that exploded from just feet before him.

Out of the fog lunged a nightmare of a beast, of the likes that Gnak had never seen before. All white fur and claws the beast leapt upon him, driving him down into the fog where the creature atop him was lost from sight. Struggling beneath the creature he grasped at it as it clawed at him, roaring in anger as Gnak thrashed wildly, kicking at the creature to dislodge it. With hot breath blasting in his face, he reached up and grasped two fistfuls of the beast’s thick white mane as saliva sprayed his face and claws ripped into his chest.

Pressing his legs against the ground with every ounce of strength he could muster, Gnak managed to roll the creature off of him, and kicking as he rolled, the beast’s roars were cut short as it released him. Feeling the hot wetness dripping from his chest, Gnak took no time, scratching his way back to his feet only to peer about in all directions to see nothing but fog and the trees that sprang up from its unseen depths. He drew his swords.

Again there was no warning when the creature tore free of the fog, lancing through the air with open maw and raised immense paws that ended in long sharp claws. With a predatory growl, the giant white beast reached out to grasp him as it lunged. The world seemed to slow as Gnak noticed something familiar about the beast, and raising his hand he summoned the orb of power from within the creature and watched as he stepped aside and the great beast fell to the ground, frozen.

Waiting as his pulse and breathing returned to normal, the adrenaline fading in his veins, he knelt in the mist and, waving his hands to disperse the thick fog, he studied the creature. It was white from head to toe, minus its large black eyes and nose. All about its head and neck a thick mane of long fur framed its face, trailing down both its back and chest. It had four thick and muscular legs, and a tail that was long with a thicker tuft of fur at the end. He had never heard of such a beast in all his days and knew it to be a rare find. Months ago it would have been a great prize to kill and later adorn his home with the fur and bones. But now, with the understanding that all life was precious, he could not help but believe that this rare, beautiful, and deadly creature was no different to a man. If it were as rare as he believed it to be, perhaps its life was even more valuable than his own. This line of thinking brought with it another problem entirely.

He knew that the beast’s lifespan without its will was short. Its body could live on in this state, but only for a finite amount of time, and there was no way to know how long that was. With limited options, Gnak felt inward for Jen’s essence, and reassuring himself with her presence, he pondered his dilemma.

He could restore the beast but it would likely attack him again. He could leave the beast in its current state, but likely for only a day or so before it died. Or, he could replace its will with that of another. Such a transition from one creature to another took time to establish, and might allow him to escape, but the consequences of such a combination could be more dangerous than the beast on its own. Gnak shuddered at the thought of his father’s essence in the great white beast. No. If he were to replace the beast’s essence with another it would have to be one he trusted, but that only left Jen and Bota, the man who once served as his second in command.

No matter what his current situation was, however, he did not want to place Jen within the body of an animal. It simply felt like an improper way to treat the small girl who had died so that he could live, and become greater than he had been before meeting her. This left only Bota, but with the circumstances of
his
death, Gnak had a feeling that the man might have a slightly different attitude towards Gnak now that he had been used as the subject of a test. There was only one thing he could do.

Kneeling down, he brushed his hand across the beast’s soft fur and reached up to pet its face. It was truly a magnificent animal. Sliding his hand up under the creature’s chin, he tilted the massive head back to peer in the black depths of its eyes. Then, in one clean motion, he thrust one blade into the exposed neck and further still, up into the brain within its skull. Without so much as a twitch, the light faded from the beast’s eyes as gurgling sounds escaped its mouth and warm blood seeped in sickening quantity from the wound. Shaking his head Gnak rose, wiping the blood from his blade upon the white fur of the beast. There was no better way to deal with the creature and the circumstance of their meeting than this. It had to be done. At least he had killed the animal both honorably and painlessly. It was the best he could do.

With a blade in his hand, in case another of the beasts stirred somewhere in the mist, he peered down at the wounds in his chest. Though they were not too serious, wide rends in his flesh bled freely. With the rush that came from battle, pain was no consequence, but he knew that something had to be done about the wounds. Unslinging the bundle of supplies from his back, he dropped it upon the ground and fought with the mist as he tried to untie its bindings with fingers of bone.

Though with limited vision and his unnatural fingers, the task was difficult to say the least; eventually he managed to not only open the bundle, but also locate the small container he sought. Smelling the reek of sulfur and a multitude of spicy scents, he pulled the wooden stopper from the small hollowed out horn of some unfortunate animal and peered inside.

Within the small confines of the horn was a familiar looking paste of a semi-transparent green color. Though it stunk beyond an acceptable measure, Gnak scooped a portion of the paste out with the boney tip of one finger, and raised it to his face. Taking one long pull to test the scent further, he was immediately overcome by a dizzying euphoric effect that left his head spinning for several minutes. If the balm did not speed his healing or prevent infliction, then at least he could sniff it to alleviate the pain later.

Assured it was the right container, he carefully applied the paste to each of the jagged flesh wounds upon his chest, smearing it in a thin layer upon all damaged surfaces. Careful not to waste any of the balm, he stoppered the small horn closed once more and repacked it away in his bundle, before binding the narrow leather cords to secure his makeshift pack closed once more. Shouldering his supplies, he strode again in his original direction in hopes of finding the other side of the crater without incident.

It was nearing sunset once more when Gnak broke free from a tight cluster of the odd purple-skinned trees to view the northern wall of the crater before him. Here, a stone wall rose straight up from the floor below in a thick tangle of moss and vines that seemed to climb up to the very sky itself. His jaw nearly falling open, Gnak looked both left and right before settling his gaze on the stone face before him once again. In his vision, this was where the gates to his city were located.

Closing his eyes, he envisioned the massive gates of the city and the wall that stretched out to either side. Above him the tops of huge hulking buildings could be seen above the towering walls, and passages and paths were carved into the face of the mountain beyond that spoke of unseen dwellings and hidden secrets.

Grinning to himself, Gnak opened his eyes and viewed the natural wall of stone that stood in his path once again. Looking up, he imagined it would take at least two full nights of climbing to reach the summit, and though he had not slept in a full night and day, he was not about to take a break whilst still in the crater.