After two more days of uneventful, almost relaxing traveling alongside the river, interrupted from time to time by Duzz's short hunting expedition, the two of them got to their destination. They kept well away from the river at night to meet no more fish-creatures.
As they emerged out of a bit of grove adjoining the river, a wide plain opened up ahead of them. The river zigzagged in the distance into a large lake at the foot of a lone hill and where the lake curved around the hill, they could see a small fishing village. But what dominated the landscape was the structure that sat on top of the lone hill. It was a very broad and slightly curving tower constructed using an ancient, forgotten technology. The tower was unevenly thick in places and did not stand straight - it seemed slanted towards the lake. The top of the tower was missing, as if it had fallen off in some far distant past.
At the base of the tower there was a monastery built in the custom of modern people, encircling the ancient structure. This must have been the monastery of the Order of Brukeln - the martyr goddess of the new age.
As soon as Crefar saw the tower, he paused, looking at it.
"Wait a second!" he said.
"What?" Duzz looked back at him.
"I don't... I'm not sure. I think... Oh, never mind." and he walked on, not saying anything, but he never ceased looking up at the strange structure. Something about it felt familiar, even though he could not pinpoint what it was.
They contemplated stopping by at the village for a while, but Duzz finally convinced Crefar to push on and avoid unnecessary encounters with people. So they traveled directly up to the monastery on the hill.
The monastery was well-guarded. There was a stout gate in the walls surrounding the main tower and in the lookouts on both sides of it, there stood a heavily-armed woman with a longbow.
"Who goes there?" one of the armed guards shouted down at the arriving travelers.
"We are..." Crefar looked at Duzz and then down on himself. "...scholars. We seek the wisdom of your famed library."
The guard took a while to answer, eyeing the two suspiciously. But then, she said, "Wait a minute. I'll fetch the Grand Wise Woman."
"L-looks like there's a hie-hie-hierarchy to everything." Duzz commented.
Soon, the gate opened and as the inner courtyard opened up to Duzz and Crefar, they saw two women in colorful decorated gowns standing there, flanked by four other women in armor. One of the two was younger, in her mid-fourties. She had a piercing gaze. The other looked a lot older, maybe in her sixties, and seemed more timid, keeping in the back and not engaging in the exchange of looks.
"Welcome, travelers," the younger woman said. "I am Ludmilla, the Grand Wise Woman of our order. This is Eva, our librarian," she added, pointing at the older priestess. "I heard you are seeking the wisdom of our library."
"Yes, that we are." Crefar said and bowed slightly. Duzz reluctantly followed his example.
"The door of our order is always open to those seeking wisdom and enlightenment, but in these trying times I have to ask you for our own safety, who you are and where are you traveling?" the Grand Wise Woman inquired.
"We understand," Crefar said and nodded in the direction of Duzz. "My name is Crefar and I come from a far off land. We both do. This is my traveling companion Duzz. I realize we both may seem a bit awkward, but please bear with us, this is our first time in the Baronies."
"Oh. Then we might be of service to each other," the Grand Wise Woman replied. "I'm very keen to hear everything about the countries outside of our realm."
YOU ARE READING
The Hall of Heroes
Fantasy"It is not just a tale." the wise woman said calmly. "The Hall of Heroes exists. It is a tomb built by our ancestors that houses the remains of long dead heroes native to this mountain country. And through a certain ritual, those heroes can be calle...
