The goat path crested into another thorn bush which Saeya moved clear with an expert push and then she held onto the sedge as the others came up over the edge. They picked their way through the pine forest on the mountain slope above Atarskall on their move toward Atar's Falls and the Wolfspire. They hiked even higher up-hill and soon found a path for wheeled carts.
Saeya turned them onto the grassy trail. The ground was flat and both sides were lined with bushy plants and herbs. Lon saw animal scat and reckoned the mossy grass fed ground hogs and deer. The waterfall was near, and its gentle hiss whispered through the trees. As they hiked closer it grew steadily louder and Lon yearned to see the spectacle he'd admired so often from below. Its swishing sound was like a soft blanket and its plush serenade was only occasionally interrupted by far-away shouts, barking dogs, and the distant clash of swords.
The group was in a mood now of course and Lon felt terrible and could see the others struggled to hold their wits and brace in the face of such a tragedy. The lad had only known the giant for five days, but he too felt the sharp pain his oversized absence would bring. He too would miss Atar's booming laugh in the halls and in the construction site and he'd miss his wise words and council. Lon treasured his talks with the aged deepcomber and he would forever think of the watermill and its gears when he used his mind and spoke Varget. Lon's mind worked overtime trying to sort out what the hulk's death could mean and how things would change. In this respect the exercise of hiking through the tall pines was very therapeutic for the woodsfeigor and it calmed him right up until the scenery took over his thoughts. He looked around and smiled. This was Amon's Home.
Here was a healthy forest filled with valuable logs on a splendid alpine ledge. A quiet breeze blew through the boughs overhead and sunlight dappled their bodies. Leafy herbs and flowers abounded on both sides of the road. Lon understood how the trail had four separate uses and there was different season for each reason to visit. In the winter, the Calbians would no doubt log the tall pines and collect deadwood for cooking and heating. In the spring they'd ply the route again to collect pitch. Axe-cuts in tree trunks revealed how the locals collected the resin which the trees secreted to heal the wounds. This was how they made the water-tight leather boats he'd seen in the bog. Additionally, the monks distilled the pine tar and needle-mash in that alembic in the cellar. The spirit of pine is a powerful solvent. In the summertime, the templekin would return to this track and collect the medicinal herbs which grew so thick at the roadside. There were hundreds of different species here and the trail was something of a garden path in many places. In the fall, the hunters would come again and try for deer and other wild game. They'd also collect pine fronds to freshen their living spaces and make festive wreathes and thrushes for the cold stone floors. Thick pines filled this narrow shelf and it was wonderfully peaceful here...
"He died a proper deepcombers' death." Melcart interrupted the sea drover's tranquil thoughts and brought the agony back again.
Lon was about to send his counterpart a withering glance for being so hopelessly insensitive when he saw their freckle-faced friend smile. Saeya liked that idea.
"And in front of everyone," she said and smiled again. She thought about it some more. "He didn't want to grow old."
They walked on in silence for another few paces. "I got that sense too," Lon said.
"He went down swinging," Melcart chimed, and then put his hands together in mock prayer. "I hope I go the same way. Kluth willing..."
"He'd always said he'd lived too long, and he yearned to be young again," Saeya said.
"To ride the Bombora," Melcart said it like he was singing a song. He made the same curious wave motion with his hand. Lon gave him a look which asked: What does that mean?
"The Bombora is where all feigorin memory is stored," the rogue supplied.
"Let me guess," Lon ventured, "It's in the Book of Kluth?"
"That wasn't in yours?" Val raised an eyebrow at him.
"Some say the Bombora is the wind that comes from the Secondsun," Mel explained. "When it comes it starts the Varget season. But I don't think so. I surmise it's separate, or maybe it comes from a special place inside the great smilk-sphere."
"Where in The Bible is it? Er what does it say exactly?" Lon asked.
"Ahh. I believe it's the Midnight Banquet; Feigors rise and fall, I have memories of you all. I keep every face you ever wore or saw in a place beside everything yet to be. Our bambora is an ocean wave that ebbs and flows through time. All living minds are nightly washed by the shapeless memories of our Bombora."
Lon smiled at Mel and enjoyed the irony. He marveled at the rogue's ability to flawlessly quote the Book of Kluth and yet he was the least pious scholar he'd ever met.
"That kind of implies the feigorin are ... Replaceable?" Valari opined.
"But the ebb and flow part, it's a wave you see..." Melcart raised and lowered his hand to make the sign of a rolling wave. "Atar said he wanted to be young again."
"He didn't kill himself." Saeya nipped that idea in the bud. She seemed to be feeling better now and looked as though she enjoyed their discussion. "The Po say the Bombora is the great stew pot where our spirits are thrown and... where we melt back into the shapeless muck from which each new soul is struck."
"That's a nice idea," Valari agreed.
"Tell that to the Crols," Lon said. "They wouldn't like their souls being stewed beside lizards and lions and bird-feigors and seakin."
"That's their problem," Saeya said.
"Well. At present it's our problem." Melcart sighed.
The escarpment overlooked Atarskal and the four hikers could see the monastery's red brick buildings and countless stickwood lodges. The southeast quarter smoldered yet there were no battle-sounds emanating from the area. The stone curtain wall appeared to have withstood the Crol's first attempts but everyone down there no doubt licked their wounds and mourned the loss of their great leader and the five other Calbians in the cavalry corp. The Crols had also lost many warriors of course, and now they too must grieve for their dead; Lon could see how they'd lit several small fires and had probably stocked their supper pots by foraging the summer crops directly underfoot.
The forest trail they'd followed ended at the waterfall. The explorers came to a logging station where they sensed the moisture in the air and felt the spray. The ledge was empty of people or houses but nestled among the dripping wet pines was a hutch where the reptilians kept the two-wheeled pushcarts they used to ply the trail. Lon looked down at his feet for the tell-tale signs of winter logging, but he couldn't see any bark in the grass or sawdust in the soil. The pine logs must be skidded south.
The ledge had two views; they could stare forever at waterfall to the north, or gaze down at the Siege of Atarskal to the east. In between these two vistas was the top of the Wolfspire.
A narrow stone overpass connected the cliff to the rock tower. The arched transom was only six feet wide and yet the bridge spanned a twenty-foot distance to reach the wolf's neck. When Lon peered over the edge, he could see a dense forest canopy broiling on the breezes below. Then his eyes caught sight of the wolf's tail and the well-made stairs hewed in the rock. The clever lad reckoned that's how the Calbians came up here to this high-altitude forest. He imagined how those stairs must curl-up and around the wolf's belly and when he turned his eyes to other side of the arch, he saw that he was right. The path that began down on the tail ended at the flat square ledge on the wolf's left shoulder.
Wolfspire was a granite spike which had its feet in the steamy cauldron. The pilgrims to Ephram's shrine must also climb this way and cross this same stone arch he reckoned. They'd carry-on from here up another route behind him. This must be the pilgrim's path up to the shrine, and Clyde would have walked these stairs earlier this day. Perhaps he was still on the trail up there somewhere? Maybe just a little higher up the mountain? Lon turned and studied the zigzag track that hiked up the cliff behind the ledge.
"That's how you get to Ephram," Saeya confirmed his guess. It didn't look that difficult, but it would take hours to accomplish. There at the top, hidden in the mist was the green gold pagoda with two stone columns. The plunge pool below the falls was small compared to its southern sister and Lon saw how it fed into Atar's Pond which was an otherwise placid body-of-water that lay just beyond the north wall of Atarskal. This fed Atar's Creek and that's how the others would sneak back into camp.
"Who named it Wolfspire?" Lon asked. The reason why was obvious; it looked like a wolf aspiring to jump over the waterfall, but he wondered on the history of the pinnacle.
"This is First Age," Saeya explained as they prepared to cross over the high-altitude stone bridge which led from the cliff to the wolf's left shoulder. "It was fashioned by Atmos to watch this approach to Oub". Spray from the cascading water stream would frequently drench the world below and its sides and icy stairs-up would be deadly in the wintertime, thought Lon.
"Bantaskal has Eaglespire which does the same," Val informed him, "only ten miles from port."
Without making any reference to the dangerous drop on either side, or appearing frightened in any way, Saeya led the squad over the narrow stone bridge and onto the wolf's left shoulder. She fearlessly crossed the twenty-foot span where there were no guardrails and if there'd been any wind it would have made the journey more hazardous. But Saeya expertly hustled them across the arch and onto a level perch that was a three-way junction. The stairs-up crested here, but Saeya ignored them and walked instead through a fissure in the wolf's neck mane. Here was path through the monument's stony spine that led to other side and another landing. From there, the last ten steps-up were cut right into the wolf's neck under its huge right ear. This crooked trail led-up to the final platform atop the monolith.
Another incredible view, along with the rank smell of death, greeted the four young masters when they arrived on the wolf's face. Lon marveled at the sight of a twenty-foot-wide stone dais set atop the landmark's lupine snout. At the center of a flat stone circle was three-foot-wide stone fire pit which was ringed with dead animals. These were forest creatures who'd died from curiosity. Here were dead rabbits, a fox, two snakes, dead carrion birds and a lonely pigeon. Their corrupted bodies moldered on the stone surface all around the dangerous furnace. Lon had seen similar carnage before, and he knew the cause; it was because the installation had the deadly Toll Stones in its composition. They are death stones to anyone, and anything not connected to the Secondsun. The macabre scene reminded the young lad of the broken crypt in which he'd found the first tablet strapped to the skeleton. The inside of that funerary cone was also ringed with dry flesh and bones.
Valari picked-up a long flat-edged stick which she used to clear the dead animals from the circular pad.
"Wait. We need to count them." Saeya said. The blond held her nose and stepped gingerly over the cadavers. Melcart and Lon just stared at her and then at each other. Why?
"There are seven total," Val said. "It's looks like eight but these two are the same."
"Alright. Seven. Remember that." Without offering any explanation, Saeya turned her back on the curious boys and crouched beside the fire hole. The pit still had ashes from the last incineration and the blond scooped as much of the remains as she could into the cloth picnic bag. Lon came and held the sack so she could use two hands. The young lad had no idea why she did this and he didn't ask. The ashes were littered with charred bones and teeth. Once the bag was full, she took it back and bumped him out of the way again. Next Saeya unsheathed her knife and chiseled at the blocks that ringed the hearth. The circular fire pit was made entirely of yellow tablets, but it also had three different-sized metal uprights built into its circumference. These metal fins were about six inches apart and were set right into the base of the attraction. Pockmarked with oxidation, each flange was two inches thick and as wide as Lon's hand. They rose to three different heights. The first was only three feet tall, and the next was six and the last was nine. Lon reckoned they were wind chimes, but he had no idea how they functioned or what special purpose they might serve.
Valari used her stick to push the dead things into a pile next to the pit. Lon reckoned they'd burn these bodies once they'd made a blaze. But first they had to take apart the fireplace and pull out the proper stones for his pilgrimage. Saeya had engrossed herself in the work probably as a welcome distraction from having to think about the very traumatic events of the day. Val helped her once the dais was clear and the bodies were piled near the pit.
Lon looked about and found Melcart off by himself. The rogue stood alone on the wolf's nose and gazed out to the northeast.
It was late afternoon and the sun hung low over Westmont. Saeya and Valari worked in the shadow of the wolf's ears. Lon and Mel stood together at the end of the snout and they cast their own long shadows across the pondscape below. From up here Lon see could every detail of the Crolean siege but that was just one visual spectacle to behold; laid out before his eyes was a life-sized map of the Forbidden Isle. From atop Wolfspire he could glimpse the barren sea behind the Banta, and the white shimmering swamp in front. The waterfall filled the plunge pool at his feet and he could see how it drained down into Atar's pond which became Atar's creek which ran through Atarskal. The entire watercourse was laid out splendidly before his eyes. But that's not what caught and held his eye.
Both youths were consumed by a fresh sight to the northeast. Never mind the spectacular waterfall which splashed down on the left, or the view of the settlement being attacked by siege artillery on the right, it was the northeast view straight ahead that fascinated them both. Here was the prison canyon. The Boobyland as the top plain was called, and there at the far end was the legendary boundary known as the Tall Wall. It was barely visible, being ninety miles away or more, yet it looked like a long grey snake. The dark patch in that linear attraction was likely the Great Door. The chasm was Oub.
Lon stood and soaked up the sight for the first time in his life. This was his first look at the land he'd so often read about in deepcombers' broadsheets, and there at the bottom, fifty miles away was the top half of the road he'd so often descended in his dreams. Now here was new information. He could see patchwork fields and small gardens to the left and right and he wondered about the agriculture. What herbs and vegetables did they grow in the Boobyland?
When he'd looked this way from atop the lookout tower in Atarskal, only the north peaks of the timeless prison cavity were visible. Now he could see all the nooks and crannies in the stony vale, and he marveled at the true deprecation of the realm. It was a wretched space filled with rubble and ruin but not entirely void of life. While there were no people moving about, he could detect signs of intelligence. Clothes dried on a wash line near a creek and one or two wisps of smoke that might be cooking fires could be seen deeper in the canyon.
"I must admit, I feel its appeal." Lon yelled over to Melcart; he had to shout over the roar of the falls. The rogue smirked to acknowledge how he referenced Zed. Our enemies always just disappear down the drain. They both stared down the sink hole. Indeed, the top of the road was called The Sink and the bottom was The Sunk. Oub was ten miles deep they said and wider than the island, and the region below was honeycombed with wealth and splendor. The Book of Kluth called it the 'underground continent'. But that great age ended when Pinc's sky wagons stopped coming. Now they were ants fighting over anthills.
Crolean troops moved in brigade-sized blocks of black leather clad bodies. Lon heard the cattle bawl and he identified that black mass in the far pasture as the remains of the dairy herd. The animals would soon be food for the occupiers. Those cows must simply have been abandoned by Hosni and the herdsfeigors. But what else could they do?
At their feet, down in the trees, Lon could see what he imagined to be Crol infantry. They blocked the orchard path and the stairs up to the Wolfspire. That meant Crolean sentries had now completely encircled the stone walls of Atarskal. Or perhaps it was the wildkin who bravely lurked below? He couldn't be sure but there were indeed torches at the base of the spire.
It didn't surprise him that the enemy had some presence directly below, but that meant they'd best hurry and be on-guard for hostiles coming up the stairs. It also put the second part of Saeya's plan in jeopardy. Lon could probably climb without issue, but the others may have difficulty getting back down and swimming inside the settlement
Valari and Saeya already hustled at top speed. They'd torn apart the central furnace to find and clean three yellow blocks from the fire pit. The blocks had holes on top just as Saeya had said, and Valari cut the rope with her handy blade to make neck slings for carriage.
Was this the right move? Lon couldn't help feeling like he was running away, and that he'd never lay eyes on any of them ever again. He gazed up at the shrine; nobody had come down alive in ten years. When he returned to study the fireplace, his eyes caught a new detail.
These yellow Toll Stones were not like the red ones from the monastery and the difference was profound. These new yellow tablets didn't have the Secondsun emblazoned in gold on their surface, but rather they had the forbidden symbol inlaid in silver. Two diamonds with a circle in between; this meant two 'gors' shared a 'ma' or smilk-reserve. The sea drover gasped.
Lon had first seen this geometry in the leather-bound tome beside Saeya's bed in the infirmary last night. He'd even deduced its nomenclature from the Varget scraps he'd learned thus far. He'd guessed the proper words to intone the glyph as Duma Gor Ma, and in another conversation with Hamlin afterwards he'd more-or-less confirmed he was right. But the Templemaster had also told him that this symbol was an unbreakable contract and never to be used. So, what was it doing here?
"Never use that." Melcart had another conniption when he spotted the mark. Just like in the temple, the rogue broke-down and went temporarily insane. He pointed and repeated, "never."
"It's fine," Saeya said, "they'll work for here."
"Never use this Lon. Never!" Mel was vehement.
"Okay. He knows." Val stood between them and pushed the rogue away. Visibly shaken, he turned his back to stare at the waterfall and hopefully calm his nerves.
"Why?" Lon quietly asked.
"The wolfkin are pack animals and they suckle.." Valari shrugged. "They share smilk like twins in symmetry."
"Ignore this rune entirely. It's not for us." Saeya summarized.
"We don't share is what matters." Val concluded
"The block is heavy is what matters," Saeya said, "and it can be lightened by thinking about the Secondsun same as the regular Toll. Just concentrate on your smulcrum." She smiled at him confidently as she came in close and draped the first rope and heavy block over his neck.
Lon felt the weight and he brought the smulcrum to life on his mantle. The burden decreased perceptibly, but he still wasn't convinced. "How do know these Wolf Stones will work?" he asked. It was already getting hard to think and talk and keep the symbol alight.
Saeya just stared at him with red eyes.
"You're the one who has to do the work." Valari replied. Saeya nodded.
Val placed the second tablet over his neck and paused to carefully adjust his white hair under the rope. She looked in his eyes and smiled. Was that a last look? The weight was heavy now.
"Concentrate on the smulcrum," Saeya said again as she hung the last block around his neck. These big yellow plates were more cumbersome that the red ones. He felt ponderous and realized it would be easy to lose balance. That could be a real downer...
Lon turned and set his eyes on the narrow trail in the cliff behind the wolf's head and he saw how it disappeared up the mountainside and into the misty clouds. The pilgrims ascended using stairs cut in the rock, but it would still require strength and concentration. This was going to take everything he had. Could he even accomplish it? Yes! Lon could see his smulcrum burned with fierce intensity. The sun-that-never-rises blazed inside him. When the lad brought his attention to the symbol and concentrated on the mark, the weight of all three stones completely disappeared. He took a few steps forward and marveled at the effect. With this sign alive in his mind, the blocks felt as though they were made of corkwood.
"Melcart, please help," Saeya asked, and the rogue turned to find the females worked to repair the fireplace. Valari used her sticks to pick up corpses and dump them into the burn pit.
Mel helped them both and soon they were ready to light the blaze. Lon expected Saeya would demonstrate some nifty fire construct like her flare but instead she nodded at Valari and the two smilkmaidens took up positions near the iron flanges on other side of the circle. The blond borrowed a stick and used it to strike the two outside bars, once each. Blang-Blong. And then Val banged on the wind chime in the center seven times. Bleng Bleng Bleng Bleng Bleng Bleng Bleng. She huffed from the exercise afterwards. Nothing happened. Saeya repeated her symphonic strikes on outside chimes again Blang-Blong.
Phooosh! The fire in the stone circle blazed to life.
Lon stepped back in shock. Melcart was similarly surprised and laughed at the effect. Saeya and Valari stepped-out from behind the pyre with huge grins on their faces.
"Glory to the Wolfkin," Val said. Saeya laughed and they all danced about, and the cheery mood lasted for several minutes. The smoke from the dead animals made a terrible smell and that was funny too. The fire made the world dark around them and it lit-up the mists and the waterfall, as was its purpose.
The four young masters watched the blaze and listened to the wind chimes reverberate. The flanges hummed a melody above the shushing water. Now Saeya stared at Lon with tears in her eyes and Valari also looked sad. It was Melcart who first closed-in for a hug. They all embraced right over top of the Toll Stones which made it even more emotionally weighted for the white-haired lad. He relaxed his concentration on the smulcrum and they all took and shared his burden and it was a special moment. Lon recovered and stood apart and he made them all do the group hand gesture where they stacked their outstretched fingers and palms in a tower, and this made the girls smile and dried their tears.
One foot followed the next as Lon aimed his heavy body toward the stone staircase under wolf's ear. He looked back to find his three companions in line behind him. Saeya had picked up her bone sack to bring up the rear. The blond huntress scattered the ashes and charred remains on the dais and steps as she walked. Once again Lon wondered why. She smiled but didn't say anything as she passed. When he paused to regard her, she simple carried-on ahead and continued sewing the ash on the steps.
"It's to warn the other animals," Valari said, "so they don't come up here and die."
"Of course," Lon smiled at that; any precautions the huntress could take to save the lives of innocent woodland creatures would certainly be enacted, even in these dire circumstances.
Saeya turned them to the right at the shoulder ledge to walk through the narrow defile between the boulders over the wolf's spine. The group made for the stone bridge where Lon reckoned, they'd all say goodbye again. He would carry-on across the arch alone. He'd go up the cliff while the others would descend, around the wolf's belly.
But just before they reached the left pad they were suddenly and unexpectedly confronted by strangers who'd come across the narrow pass.