Spears of Redriver

Part Fifty-Nine - In the Valley of the Dead

Carthus opened his eyes and blinked. An intense light beamed down at him from the window by the bedside. He blinked again, only stopping to rub his eyes as he sat up. A jolt of pain suddenly went up his leg and down his spine. It was broken, wrapped tightly in a sturdy splint, it was all real. For a moment, he didn't know what had actually happened and what the dream was.

"Where am I?" he whispered to himself and glanced around the room. It was empty, aside from a small table at the center and the bed he was on. The window was opened wide, and he could see square-shaped houses through it. Most of the structures outside were black, which was strange to him.

He leaned to the side, carefully sliding his broken leg off the bed and setting his feet to the bare wooden floor. His eyes landed on a crutch by the bedside, and he nodded to himself, eager to be out of bed. The last thing he remembered was standing atop the cliff in the mouth of that cave beneath the dead tower, How did I get here?

He took the crutch and used it to raise himself up from the bed, leaning on it as he limped across the room to the only doorway in sight. The opening was obscured by a long curtain, which he gently pushed aside as he walked through. The warm sunlight hit his face, and he closed his eyes, raising his head in its direction. There was a gentle breeze in the air, but with it came the stench of decay. Carthus coughed slightly, regretting the deep inhale.

"You are up and about!" Enleif's voice broke the silence, and the Nord stepped in for an embrace. Carthus blinked in surprise, as he was almost knocked off balance by the larger man.

"Where are we?" the Maad asked.

"One of the burned villages in the valley, the dead are actually dead, and it is safe to rest," the Nord replied. Carthus glanced around again, and now that he was outside, he realized the buildings were not black, their original color was a sandy yellow, but they seemed to have been charred black by smoke.

"How did we get down from the cliff?" Carthus asked, turning back to Enleif.

"Well, our friends came and found us, after you fell unconscious, we stayed up there for almost a day," the Nord replied, "we thought we were going to have to climb down the wall without rope but did not know how to do it with you and your leg, of course, the boy refused to leave your side...credit to him...anyway, the Ordethi came shortly after and helped us down."

"And they brought us here?" Carthus asked.

"Yes, we brought you here...when we saw the dead just drop to the ground, we knew something was off, in a good way, and rode hard for the tower, lucky we found you when we did," Lyor approached with a grin.

"Yes, we are," Carthus nodded. They shook hands and embraced quickly, "did you find our friend Farg?"

"Yes, we had men sneak into their camp and break him out...it was done quickly and quietly...it was when we left the camp, that we saw the dead, dying" Lyor looked around as if searching for something. Carthus followed his gaze back and forth, there were several piles of bodies already set alight, and Ordethi warriors moved more of them, chanting prayers over their remains before lighting new pyres. Carthus frowned.

"So many dead...so many pyres," his memory flashed back to his dream.

"It is all the king's fault...we will deal with that when the time comes," Lyor replied. He turned back to Carthus, "tell me, did you destroy the Crystal?"

"Yes, it is gone..." Carthus frowned again, remembering the stone figure that attacked them.

"I am glad you did not listen to me when I suggested you leave it be and return to Morside" Lyor laughed and patted a hand across the Maad's shoulder, "now that you are up, we will move quickly, the Blue Army will no doubt come looking into the valley when they too realize the dead are dead."

"Where will we go next?" Carthus asked.

"To Morside, of course, there is much work yet to be done, and you need to heal my friend," Lyor said, glaring into Carthus' eyes.