Jalia in the North (Jalia - World of Jalon) (2 page)

“Too many people are avoiding talking about Ranwin and I want to know why. So what’s the plan?”

Daniel seized the moment. “We should go back to the village and leave the donkeys, trade goods, and your horse with Drall. We can trust him to take care of them for a reasonable fee.” Daniel looked at Jalia and to his amazement she nodded. ‘
What had got into the girl?’
“Then we go to Ranwin and see what happens when we reach the gates. Either that, or we miss out Ranwin and head east towards Telmar.” He looked at Jalia for confirmation.

“I’m not missing entering Ranwin after coming all this way.”

Jalia grinned at him, certain he already knew that. “Let’s visit Ranwin and then I can take the gamblers of Baltar for all they have. After that, we move on to Telmar. I plan to see this place where gold nuggets are found lying on the ground.”

Daniel punched Jalia lightly on the arm. “You have stitched the elements together with a touch of mayhem, as usual.”

“Daniel,” Jalia replied in mock horror. “You know how upset you get when life gets boring.”

Before the break of dawn, Daniel and Jalia set forth from Bent Elms having deposited most of what they owned with Drall, a man Daniel instinctively trusted. He had no doubt some of his trade items would vanish while they were gone, but he was equally certain they would go to people who needed them. That was a fair trade for looking after their things.

Jalia and Daniel carried travel bags over their shoulders. It would have looked suspicious if they turned up at Ranwin’s gates carrying nothing. This way they would look like tinkers rather than wealthy traders.

It was getting on for evening when they reached Baltar and headed out along the ancient Magicians Road towards Ranwin. The road was in relatively good shape. It started abruptly a little way beyond Baltar and ran straight towards the bridge that crossed the river.

The river was over half a mile across at this point and running slow. Winter was approaching, which meant the prevailing wind was from the west, making it easy for boats coming up river to Baltar.

The bridge was a work of the old times and Jalia and Daniel felt their breath catch when they saw it close up. It was built of dark brown glass blocks used in place of stone. Each block formed a cube over twelve feet to a side. Daniel could not even begin to guess how such large pieces had been moved into position.

Fifteen arches split the river into fast moving channels. There had once been spires atop each span, but only four remained. The bridge was over a hundred yards wide and stood whole along its length, though some parts of its walls had fallen into the torrents below.

Daniel still wondered why the ancients made the bridge so boats couldn’t pass beneath it. But since nobody was around to answer him he stored the question away for future thought as he and Jalia set forth across the bridge.

Daniel walked down the center of the road trying to see through the glass beneath his feet, but the blocks were too scratched, scarred and battered to allow him even a glimpse. Jalia walked along the top of the western wall staring down at the torrents of water, jumping down wherever blocks were missing and clambering up again as soon as she could. Daniel didn’t watch her as the sight unnerved him. He had no wish to see her fall to certain death.

On the far side of the river the road split into two, one branch heading east while the other followed the banks of the river to Ranwin.

From the northern side of the bridge, Ranwin was less than a mile away, its towers glistening and glinting in autumnal sunlight. The city had an impressively tall outer wall. Every tree and bush for miles had been cut down, leaving massive stumps in the ground. It was clear the people of Ranwin didn’t want anybody sneaking up on them.

They set off at a brisk pace, as they wanted to reach the city before nightfall. When they approached the gates, they saw guards marching along the top of the wall, three abreast in a manner suggesting they expected attack at any moment. While sure they had been seen as soon as they left the bridge, no one on the wall took any notice of them.

The enormous gates were closed. A city usually only closed its gates during the day if it was under attack. Though it was true in this case that there was no reason particular for them to be open, as nobody else was on the road and, apart from the guards on the walls, they had not seen a living soul since they crossed the bridge.

The city walls were made of glass, but unlike the bridge, this glass was black and absorbed the light hitting it. This gave the walls a sinister look. Daniel doubted the wisdom of their visit and wondered if he should suggest to Jalia that now would be a good time to retreat. One look at her face told him such a suggestion would be a lost cause; curiosity was written on Jalia’s face so deep he could almost smell it.

The city wall ran to the river and into it. Daniel was sure a harbor lay behind the walls, but he couldn’t see it from where they stood. The only thing Daniel was certain about was that this city did not welcome visitors.

As Jalia came to his side, Daniel noticed she wasn’t wearing her magic ring. The gold band was usually distinctive on her right hand. He wondered where she had hidden it and why. He trusted Jalia’s instincts and it made him nervous that she had said nothing to him about it.

“Hello, the city of Ranwin!” Daniel shouted. The guards continued to pace on the walls without giving them a second glance. “We are two travelers seeking hospitality and with good money to pay for food and lodgings.” Some cities wouldn’t let you in if you were penniless, so it was always worth letting them know you could pay.

The guards continued to pace above them and Daniel started getting irritated. He looked to his side, saw Jalia pick up a stone, and was only just able to knock it out of her hand before she used it to brain the nearest guard.

“I was only trying to get his attention,” she complained, looking around for more stones.

“Stop it, you idiot,” was all Daniel managed to say before a creaking sound from the gates caught their attention. One of the gates was moving.

It took five minutes to open wide enough to let them squeeze in. No guards came out to greet them, the door opened just wide enough and there it stayed. The guards above them continued to pace along the walls, seemingly oblivious.

The gate was over a foot thick, made of some hard dark wood pinned together with huge iron plates. It was dark inside and neither could see a thing. The tower and walls were wide and so they were faced with a tunnel. As soon as they stepped inside all sound died and the temperature dropped enough to make Daniel shiver.

They were on their guard, but could see nothing. Daniel felt Jalia grab his coat and he led the way with his arms outstretched, holding them high, as he didn’t want to bang his head on a low ceiling. He was concentrating so much on walking forward the blow from the side took him completely by surprise. He collapsed onto the ground. A couple of seconds later Jalia fell on top of him, but by that time he was unconscious.

Captured

Daniel’s brain was trying to get out of his head. It appeared to be using a sledgehammer and he woke in agony as it thumped against his skull. He tried to move, but his hands were bound above his head. When he tried to open his eyes the pain was so great that tears blurred his vision. He sat on the floor of a long tunnel and a narrow strip of sunlight shone on his face, blinding him

He was naked. He could feel the cold of stone seeping through his flesh. Until his headache dropped a notch or two, all he could do was endure.

After about an hour, the pain diminished and Daniel finally got his eyes open. The shaft of light had moved and was no longer shone in his face. Some dried blood, presumably his own, made his right eyelid difficult to open. By pushing himself up against the wall he was able to get his hand to his face and rub the blood off. The first thing he saw was Jalia slumped opposite him on the other side of the tunnel with her hands chained to the wall.

“Jalia!”

She was too far away for him to reach with his feet, even when he sat down again, though his foot swept within a few inches of hers.

“Keep the noise down, Daniel. I’m trying to sleep.” Jalia mumbled groggily and then came instantly awake. “Daniel, you’re stark naked.”

“Well, so are you,” Daniel replied and Jalia looked down at herself in surprise.

Unlike Daniel, Jalia woke without pain and quickly took in her surroundings. They were certainly unusual, if a little macabre. They were chained in a long corridor that vanished off into the distance in both directions. There were slots high in the walls at regular intervals providing a small amount of daylight.

Chains ending in manacles were installed along both sides of the corridor, high on the wall and a few feet apart. Every set of manacles held the desiccated remains of what once had been a human being. On the floor at their feet, two dried up bodies lay broken on the floor. It was easy to deduce that they had replaced them.

The shapes and sizes of the corpses told them that the bodies of men, women and children hung about them.

Jalia took a good look at Daniel and the floor beneath him. “Daniel, are you all right?”

“I had a bad headache when I woke, but it’s almost gone now. Why, do I look bad?”

“From the blood on you and pooled on the floor beneath you I would say you should be dead.” Jalia frowned for a second and then smiled, her teeth flashing white in the semi-darkness, “You do get me into the most awful messes.”

Daniel smiled back at her. “The Fairie said the healing magic might last a second time. It looks as though I owe them my life, again.”

“If you say so, let’s get out of here,” Jalia said, changing the subject. The first time Daniel had died was down to her and she didn’t like being reminded of it.

“And pray tell; how do you plan to do that?” Daniel asked, amused despite the seriousness of their situation.

“Magic Ring open Daniel’s shackles and mine,” Jalia said solemnly and the heavy iron manacles fell from them to jangle against the walls.

“Jalia, you didn’t hide your magic ring in your …?”

Jalia followed his gaze down her body and laughed, “Male guards always have their fingers up there, first thing. They would have found it for certain. I instructed it to become invisible.”

Daniel blushed. It amazed him that Jalia took such violations of her body for granted. He would happily cut the throat of the guard involved the first chance he got. Then he acknowledged that Jalia would almost certainly get there before him. For the first time, Daniel admitted to himself that Jalia often had good reasons for the extreme acts she committed.

“Some clothes would be nice.” Daniel hinted.

“We know the magic ring runs out of power quickly so I’d rather hold it in reserve for something important. We have to get your dagger back as soon as we can.” Jalia paused for breath.

“Come on,” she said as she led him down the corridor, carefully avoiding stepping on the bones and desiccated flesh of the dead.

Captain Haran knocked and walked into the room once he heard his King call out “Enter”. He stood, waiting stiffly at attention, until his King gave him permission to speak. He kept his eyes pointing straight forward and made no attempt to look at his King as he went about his tasks.

“Two came to the gate,” the King said in a flat voice, “Are they taken care of?”

“The man is dead. The woman awaits death against the wall of the long dungeon, my Lord.”

“You searched them thoroughly?”

“They were stripped as per your standing orders. The girl had some coin, a good sword and three well balanced knives. The man had nothing to speak of except a dagger that at first glance looked worthless, but it has the keenest blade I have ever seen.”

“I am not interested in daggers!” the King screamed. “Was there a ring?”

“No, Sire!” Haran answered military style and straightened up at the rebuke.

“You checked everywhere?”

“Everywhere, sir. Three of my men spent some time making sure that the girl had nothing in any of her orifices.” Haran grinned at the thought of how eager they had been to investigate those particular places. He remembered where he was and pulled his face straight.

“The prophecy says the ring will be my undoing. I sense it is near, Haran. I feel my doom approaching as you stand there doing nothing!”

The King started pacing the room. King Fran, son of Talor was frantic with worry. He was thirty-five years old and convinced he would not live to see thirty-six. The prophesy he read when fifteen years old was creeping up on him and he saw no way out. Ten years had passed since his father died and he started this campaign, but still the threat lingered on.

“You think I’m mad don’t you, Captain?”

The King did not wait for or expect an answer, but carried on speaking faster and faster. “You don’t believe the High King is going to kill me. You think I have killed the boys and most of the people in this city for nothing, don’t you?” His last words came out almost as a scream.

“Your father felt pretty young girls were sapping his life away and then died of a heart attack after seeing a naked girl rise from the waters of the river.” Captain Haran answered. “It seems to me that your family has some sight in these matters. I don’t see how the High Kings of legend could return, but I will do my duty and protect you.”

“My gold, and first choice of the women in the city helps, doesn’t it, Captain?” the King asked dryly as he calmed.

“It is good to be appreciated, Sire,” Haran said, standing at attention once more.

“And you are sure the man is dead?”

“Sire, I smashed the back of his head in myself.”

“The prophesy was made by a man called Jer a’Dall, Captain. Have you heard of him?”

“Only from you, Sire, you have told me many times…” The captain sighed quietly knowing that the King was going to tell him him again.

“Eight hundred years ago,” the King continued, as if Haran had not spoken. “He was the greatest prophet that ever lived. Our family is related to him. He wrote that the Magician King would rise again and the first King to feel his wrath would be the Ruler of Ranwin.” The King looked sharply at the captain, “What did you do with the man’s body?”

“We manacled it to the wall opposite the girl. The men thought it would give her someone to talk to when she woke. He must have lost a lot of blood because the men said he was light as a feather when they carried him.”

This piece of information had the opposite effect on the King to that Haran expected. The King paled and almost fell over, holding onto his desk for support. “You fool. Have you never heard how Fairie magic heals the sick? Quickly, we must go to the dungeon.”

The King dragged the Captain out of the room. As they ran down the corridor, Haran signaled for men to follow. Haran wondered how he was supposed to know how Fairie healed people when he had always believed they did not exist.

The corridor seemed to go on for miles, though Daniel suspected this was more a mental problem as he felt extremely uneasy walking among the bodies of so many dead while naked, and without a weapon to his name. He gave serious thought to breaking off a leg or an arm from a mummified corpse to use as a weapon, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Finally they reached a door and Jalia whispered to her ring. The door groaned as the levers in its lock moved reluctantly.

Jalia peeked out into the room beyond. It was deserted and she beckoned Daniel to follow. She ordered her ring to lock the door, as she wanted to leave no clues to where they had left the dungeon.

The room they entered was bare of any ornament. Daniel would have given a great deal for a tablecloth or a tapestry to cover his manhood, but had no such luck. The room led to another room and that led to a corridor with a guard stood beside a door at the end of it. Jalia whispered to her ring and he fell asleep. It was tempting to take the man’s clothes and weapons, but that would create too obvious a trail for those who might soon be looking for them, so they hurried past and slipped out into the street.

Ranwin was remarkable for its lack of citizens. It looked like a ghost town, deserted and with no sounds of activity. They kept close to the walls of buildings and used alleys wherever they could. When they came to a wide street, Jalia nudged Daniel and pointed. He looked up to see bleaching skulls stuck to pikes along the rooftops. He frowned because many of those skulls were so small they could only be of children.

They passed a door from which the smell of cooking food wafted. Jalia commanded her ring to unlock the door and the two made their way inside. They tiptoed down a dark hallway to a door that led into a kitchen. An old man was cooking eggs in a wide flat iron pan over a stove. He hummed softly as he worked.

As Daniel entered the room he knocked over a stool and the man spun around. He stared at Daniel as though he was a ghost, putting down his pan and backing away. “The High King, you must be the High King.”

“What’s a High King? Does that mean he sits on a taller throne?” Jalia asked.

Daniel grimaced at her comment. He hated it when she pretended to be stupid. He was well aware she used apparent ignorance to get people to underestimate her, but he still found it irritating. The man continued to back away and it looked as though he might bolt. Daniel had no choice but to grab him and twist the man’s arm behind his back.

“We don’t want to hurt you, we just want some clothes and maybe a weapon,” Daniel said as the man struggled to free himself. Jalia had already left the room to search the house, stopping only to move the pan away from the flames as she was feeling a little hungry and it seemed a shame to waste the food.

“He will kill me if he finds you here,” the man said anxiously.

“Then be quiet. We have even more reason than you to avoid anyone finding us.”

The logic of Daniel’s words got through and the man stopped struggling. He stood straighter and announced proudly.

“I am Sandor Jant, a worker of glass. I cut and polish it to create works of beauty.”

“I am Daniel and the girl is Jalia. What is going on in this city?”

“You should be dead. The King ordered that all young men and boys be killed for these last ten years, only old men like myself live because we practice the ancient crafts that once provided the city with its wealth. Men are killed the moment they enter Ranwin while the women that come are left to starve to death in the dungeon.”

“What about the Guards?” asked Daniel, “I saw several young men on the walls?”

“He trusts his Guards. There is a prophecy that has driven the King insane. It says he will be killed by the returned High King.”

“So why kill all the boys and men of his own city if he thinks this High King will come to call on him?”

“Did I not mention that the King is insane?”

Daniel let the man go and they faced each other.

Sandor whispered urgently. “If you go on the street he will kill you, as you’re obviously neither female nor an old man.”

Jalia entered the room wearing a strange mix of clothes. While they were all men’s clothes, no one could have mistaken her for anything but a woman. She threw some clothes over to Daniel and grabbed a wicked looking knife from the table next to the stove. She mimed lifting something up delicately with her thumb and fingers and then she mimed swiftly cutting it off. “I could help you with that male problem,” she told Daniel.