Chronicles of a So-called Fire God (Abridged)

10. The Long Run

A light rain falling onto my face woke me. Until then I'd been having a wonderful dream that my beloved Eria was waiting for me, arms outstretched, saying she forgave me of my misdeeds. Erian was standing by her side, also happy to see me and he greeted me like an old, lost friend. Erian was shaking my hand and saying my name over and over. I tried to ignore the rain and kept my eyes closed.

"Wake up!" Torq shouted close to my ear. His growl was unmistakable. "Daylight is nearly upon us. It's time we were moving."

I turned to rise and nearly fell from the platform I lay upon. Torq had constructed a shelter up a tree near the lake shore. The ground was more than six feet below and my vision swam as I tried to focus. It took me a moment to gather myself before I could attempt to climb down.

The climb was slow, even for so short a distance. I was still exhausted from pushing myself with using my magic. "How long have I been out?" I asked.

"Probably around five hours," Torq replied.

Once at the bottom of the tree I could see a large pyre of smouldering embers short distance away. "The goblins?" I asked, pointing to the pyre.

"Mostly. But I added what pieces of wood I could see laying around to pile it high and keep us both warm for a while. It also helped to keep the beasties at bay meaning we were able to rest a little better."

Whilst he was talking I dug around in my pack for some trail rations. My stomach grumbled as it anticipated food. Torq didn't want any when I offered to share.

"You obviously need it more than I," he said.

I chewed the dried meat and bread in silence for a moment before packing my things away again. "Do you know where we are?" I asked.

"From looking around at the top of that hillock," he jerked his thumb over his left shoulder, "I believe we are slightly more than a day's walk away from Grennis. This area looks familiar to me from our journey to Derno. However, if we set off now, and travel hard, we may well get there before they close the gates for the night."

My knees felt weak, my head felt light, but I wasn't about to show it. "We best get going then."

Our pace was slow at first while we were in the forest. However, once we found a road that Torq believed would lead us to Grennis, our speed increased remarkably. We force-marched for a while, ran for a little more, and generally walked as fast as we could in between. The pace was gruelling. We did stop for little breaks here and there to catch our breath or take a bite out of our rations, but mostly we walked or ran.

More than once though we were forced to stop as the pace took its toll on me particularly. Still exhausted from my magical exertions and needing significant rest, I was very ill. And our pace meant that the food and drink I'd gulped down during our little breaks throughout the day wouldn't stay down for long.

Thankfully we didn't meet any trouble on the journey to Grennis and by nightfall we could see the signal fires on the watchtowers near the gate.  The gate bell was ringing, signalling the imminent closure, so we sprinted the last half mile.  Or at least we tried to.

It was just too far and I knew I'd not make it before the gate closed. In fact the bell had stopped ringing, which usually meant the gate was closed. Strangely, however, the gate had not closed. Instead there was a solitary figure stood between the gate posts. His outline clear against torchlight.

Behind this figure we saw three men, they were animatedly gesturing toward the silhouette in the gateway. None seemed too keen to get near to the topic of their conversation.

As we closed in on the gate, we slowed to a cautious walk. Torq drew his axe and I incanted my power word. I was glad of Torq being there, because the flame I tried to ignite in my hand fizzled and popped and then went out. I had no strength left in me to create any magic. So I drew my new sword instead, which made me think of the moment Lestergrad gave it to me. I was not sure I could even swing the sword in my current condition, but it was better than the nothing my magic was able to give me.

Torq stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes, obviously better in the dark due to him being a dwarf, had seen something of interest. "Lestergrad?" I heard him say.

I stopped alongside Torq as Lestergrad stepped from the shadows.  Torq dropped his axe to the floor, something I never thought I'd see, and then he charged towards Lestergrad. They clasped each other's hands in a strong handshake. I could see that Lestergrad was actually smiling, which he didn't do often. It was a happy smile. He even waved at me, telling me to come forward also.

"I'm heartily glad to see you both, my friends," he said. "I thought I'd lost you, both of you," he looked at Torq and then me, "to the Nether. And that without me you'd not make it home. It's good to see you made it out."

"That was all Warryn," Torq said, "and I owe him my life."

No-one had ever owed me anything before, and now Torq's comments from the night before truly hit home. I'd never felt so welcome in another's company before. Lestergrad looked at me with curious, but very happy, eyes.

 "You'll have to tell me all about it over a dwarven ale, or four. I have a tale of my own to share also. For now, let us away, eat, get drunk, and be happy."