Blood of the Red

Chapter 21 - Dain

Part 21 – Dain

The Matterack Mountains towered above Dain on every side. As though a heavy sea had been transmuted to rock, the mountains frozen in immense waves. The elements had failed to mute their harsh edges, sharp stone teeth menaced the sky. Through this chaotic heave and bulk of bedrock Dain and Ingold wove their way, gaining height at each turn. Dain's eyes were, for the most part, fixed on Ingold's back. His world had focused down to leaden legs ending in two sore feet that needed to be lifted and set down endlessly. Dain pressed his lips into a thin line, sealing in any complaint. The light around them was failing fast, the shadows of the peaks reached for the east.

They carried supplies bought in the small town of Narvil, down in the lush peninsular valleys. Ingold had purchased a sheepskin and decent boots for Dain. In his weighty leather backpack, Ingold had rations for a week's travel, and tarps for a makeshift shelter. The thick wooden staff on which the bard leaned was also newly acquired.

"That's not good." Ingold levelled his walking staff at a black thunderhead to the west. "The Matteracks are no place to face a storm. Flash floods will flush you out of the gorges, the winds will strip you off the ridges."

Dain shivered and shrunk back into his sheepskin, "Cap'n Elbard said there was a straight road from Narvil to Parsus City."

"What of it?"

"That's where we're going isn't it? To the capital, to the royal palace? You're going to kill King Handelf!"

A smile tugged at one side of Ingold's mouth. "You seem to know a lot about it lad. Tell me more."

"Cap'n Elbard said the new king killed your wife and family. He said you've been looking for something, and now you've found it the whole world is after you. Said you'd be heading for Parsus City to do something stupid."

"Dan Elbard is a fisherman who should stick to chasing halibut. We're wandering these mountains to find somebody I need to speak to. A certain somebody who doesn't like to be found. When I've met with him, then I might be ready to visit Parsus City."

The wind sang over the ridges. It picked up coarse grit from the mountain flanks and tore at the travellers with rough fingers. Fat drops of rain scattered around them, the prelude to what promised to be a thorough soaking.

"We're close!" Ingold had to shout to be heard over the wind.

Sudden thunder smote the mountainside. The gathering gloom was gone in an instant as electric light blinded them. The shattering crash broke into deep rumbles, running back and forth across the peaks. Rain came with the same swiftness, the few drops becoming a deluge in moments.

Dain staggered on across the treacherous rocks. His vision swam with after-images and the rain filled his eyes. He could barely make out the shape of the bard just a yard before him. Around his soaking feet Dain could see the water gathering in rivulets, streaming down the slope.

Dain gritted his teeth and drove himself on. If he complained Ingold would leave him behind again, like he did at Glorsa. Dain's father had left him behind. His mother said he walked away from them when Dain was a baby.

"I'd have walked after him." Dain spat the rain from his mouth as he muttered.

He marched on doggedly.

Dain remembered when his mother had worked in the fields of Thelim. Not their own field, but land owned by a Lord too high and mighty to till the soil. His memories of those days were dim but there was a glow to them, there had been happy moments. Then something had got into his mother's chest. A disease that ate at her lungs. When she could no longer fill five baskets in a day, they turned her away from the potato fields. She'd worked the taverns then. Dain knew she'd hated those men. Something had broken inside her, she wouldn't fight. He woke one morning to find her arms cold about him. She was grey and her eyes just stared. He struggled to free himself. The blood on her lips had been the only colour, shocking crimson, wetting her cheek. When she wouldn't speak, he shouted at her. They carried her away before he could tell her he was sorry. Dain's mother had been a year dead when Ingold came.