.
Chapter 17: Bruma, Part Ten
As the sunlight failed, the noise increased. Grey clouds made a ceiling not far above the trees, lit from below by the howling Gate and from within by flashes of lightning. Jerric felt his chest compress.
That smell… His eyes burned with memory. This time the fume held a thin note of pine. Jagged stumps stuck out of the snow near the Gate, and splintered timbers poked out of the drifts all around. He stepped carefully.
Two Nords in furs stood guard within a circle of trampled snow. A third figure lay dead, arms crossed over her chest. A shattered shield rested on her belly. Two clannfears and a dremora sprawled in dark stains nearby.
Kjestrid called to Jerric, “Stay back.” She moved forward with Shamir-do at her side. The Khajiit’s nocked arrow pointed at the ground.
Gjaever stepped up to Jerric’s right.
“Those kids aren’t the enemy,” Jerric said. He shrugged off his pack and began to sort his gear.
Kjestrid beckoned the two back to Gjaever and Jerric. The Gate’s whine nearly drowned out her words. “Thursten Long-Eye,” she said to the shorter one. “Report.”
Jerric estimated Thursten was yet in his teens. The lad’s eyes were red and running, but his raised voice sounded firm. “We found it this morning. Hard to say how long ago. The sun was well up over the ridge. We snuck up and shot those two beasts, but the man thing wouldn’t go down. It killed Jytte when she got too close. Marsten broke its knee. When we were done Jytte was already gone.”
“Where’s Marsten now?”
Thursten hawked out a wad of phlegm. “Went to put the marker out and warn the village.”
Jerric had heard enough. “Give me all of your water. Don’t let anyone else in after I go through. It may take three or four days on this side, but I’m going to close this Gate. Anyone who goes in after me will get stuck in there when it closes.”
Probably.“We don’t have the skins to carry four days’ worth of water,” Kjestrid told him.
“Time is different there,” Jerric said. “Won’t feel like more than a day or so to me on the other side. Come on, hand them over. I’ll take your food, too. Everything I won’t have to cook.”
“Will the other side be guarded?” Kjestrid asked.
“Maybe. Sometimes.” Jerric took the opportunity to empty his bladder. Gjaever did the same.
“Go back and report,” Kjestrid told Shamir-do. The Khajiit executed a neat turn and started back the way they had come.
“Wait,” Jerric said.
“Wait!” Kjestrid called to Shamir-do. She glanced at Gjaever and then back at Jerric. “Go ahead.”
Jerric sorted out his words while he finished buckling.
“I can reach Darnand. With my mind. With magic. What’s your message?”
Kjestrid looked like she was arguing with herself.
Jerric snorted. “If you don’t trust my friend, send your cat. It’s the same to me.”
“Tell him to find Asgerd,” Kjestrid said. “She’ll coordinate our support. Make sure he doesn’t fetch it up.” She turned to the villagers. “You two move the bodies out of sight and take cover. If something comes out that you can’t kill, then don’t die trying. Thursten, you track it. Svaknar, you keep watch. Like he said, no one else goes through after us.”
“There’s no support for this,” Jerric told Kjestrid. “I go in and I might come out, that’s it. There’s no
us. If you charge in there like you’re the Legion, you get noticed and die. I’ve seen it.”
Thursten and Svaknar began carrying out their orders. Shamir-do filled his canteen from one handed to him by the militia members.
“Thanks,” Jerric said to him, reaching to take the water.
“Khajiit will fill this one’s skins next,” Shamir-do said. He hung his own from the loop on his pack.
“No way,” said Jerric. “You’ll make too much noise. I’m not taking you in there with me.”
“Hah!” said Kjestrid. “
We all hunt. You’re the one who sounds like a tin peddler.”
Jerric noted that even the mountainous Gjaever wore the type of fur and leather protection approved of by Lildereth. He was the only one in plate and mail.
“You should help them hold this side,” Jerric said. “And if you can’t hold it, make sure that Bruma is warned.”
Kjestrid was busy with her gear. She spoke without looking up. “There’s no discussion.”
I don’t want to see these people die. He tried another approach. “If you fall in there, that’s where you’ll stay. I won’t drag you out. I don’t know what’ll happen to your soul. I don’t even know if that’s Dagon’s realm. It could be anywhere.”
“Aye,” Kjestrid shot back. “It could be the Hunting Grounds or Moonshadow, or maybe just some wizard’s tower. There’s a portal in Niben Bay they say leads to the realm of Madness, but who knows? I can tell you this, though. I know my orders. We’ll be getting you out alive, ‘Kjellingsson of Anvil.’ Are you ready yet, or do you want to run your mouth some more?”
Kjestrid’s brows were drawn down and her jaw stuck out. Jerric suspected she was trying to keep her teeth from chattering.
“All right,” said Jerric. “But dump your extra gear. We won’t need snowshoes on bare rock and sand, and we’ll surely need to run.”
“We’ll take them,” Kjestrid said. “Unless there’s a general goods outfit on the other side there’s no such thing as extra. Carry your weight, Anvil.”
Jerric thought of the times he could have used a splint or a spare set of laces. He finished securing his gear by lashing the snowshoes to his pack. “I’m going to tell Darnand what’s going on. What should I say about, uh, our location?”
“We’re two miles east of the Maiden Spring trail, right below the first ridge. They’ll find it. Tell him to say ‘ragged’ to Asgerd. Otherwise they won’t take him seriously.”
“Mage,” Shamir-do explained.
“Make sure he informs the
Fighters Guild first,” Kjestrid said. “They know what to do.”
No one knows what to do, thought Jerric.
That’s why you’re listening to me.It took several moments to get Darnand’s attention. Jerric broke off the contact as soon as the Breton repeated his message. This was no time to think about what he could lose.
“I’ll go in first,” he told them. “Just walk into the portal and you’ll come out the other side in the Deadlands. It looks like fire but it doesn’t burn. Duck your chin and look at your feet or you won’t be able to see for a few moments. Move to the side and get low once you’re through. Unless you see me killing something. Ha. Uh, and there might be a drop, so be ready for it.” He took a swig of
Jerric’s Juice and stepped forward. Anticipation prickled over his skin.
Gjaever yanked him back as if he weighed no more than Darnand.
Jerric gave him a shove as soon as he could pull loose. “Put your hands on me again, snowback!”
“Save it,” Kjestrid said. “Shamir-do will go first. Then Anvil and me, then Gjaever. Can we return the same way we entered?” The last was directed at Jerric.
“That’s how it worked before.” Jerric pushed his anger back into its place.
Keep your skitt together. Kjestrid nodded to Shamir-do. The Khajiit drew his blades before he vanished into the portal.
The Gate’s whine made Jerric’s teeth ache. He dropped a knee to the ground and closed his eyes, reaching for that place inside that was calm because it was already over.
Akatosh, lend me your strength. Shor, call me home. “How long should we wait?” Kjestrid asked.
“We go now,” said Jerric.
Kjestrid blew out a breath. “Three days for one, right? We wait.”
When Shamir-do returned his ears were flat and his tail bushed like bottle brush. “Cold,” he called out.
The Khajiit looked unharmed. Jerric didn’t wait for Kjestrid’s command. He strode past Shamir-do and into the blinding Gate.
Cold air stung his face and lungs. Jerric coughed out his first breath in surprise. Grey clouds circled here, too. The light was wrong. So was the footing.
What the hells is this?“This one is pleased to have snowshoes,” Shamir-do said, his voice raised over the Gate’s noise. The others had joined him.
Jerric kicked at the ground. Pale grey powder gusted around his ankles, blown by a fitful wind. It wasn’t quite snow, but it wasn’t ash either. The land sloped away from the Gate on their side, but rocky hills rose above it at the rear. Dust clouded the near distance. Or was it fog? Even the smell here was different. Jerric moved down the hill away from the Gate until the shriek and glare didn’t overwhelm his senses.
“All right,” Kjestrid said. “Cold, not hot. What are we looking for?”
“A tower,” said Jerric. “With a column of fire running through the center. The sigil stone that holds the Gate open will be at the top of the tower. When we take it the column will collapse. We’ll ride the fire back out to county Bruma.”
Even Gjaever looked unhappy with that news.
“This one does not see a tower,” Shamir-do said. The Khajiit crouched down where he could watch the front. Gjaever moved around to the rear.
“Well?” Kjestrid asked.
“Give me a moment,” said Jerric.
Kjestrid spoke immediately. “We’ll stay within sight of the Gate. If we don’t see a tower at the limit, we’re going back through.”
“Deal,” Jerric said.
You can go back through.Kjestrid had managed to get uphill. She looked Jerric straight in the eyes. “It’s not a deal. That’s what we’re doing.” She made a gesture that meant look around first. Jerric walked back up the hill to the Gate’s far side and climbed to the top of the rocks. Gjaever stayed with him.
The ground dropped away here as well, covered in the same loose powder. Down below it seemed that fog filled the hollows, but it could be blowing grit. Jerric yanked off a gauntlet and sifted some across his fingers. It was dry and very cold. “I think this is snow.”
Gjaever’s shoulders heaved, but the Gate drowned out whatever noise he might have made.
“
Salij,” Kjestrid agreed. “It’s so cold it’s like sand. We don’t get this in Bruma.”
“Nor in Corinthe,” said Shamir-do. “Khajiit sees no tower. Khajiit sees only
salij.”
Jerric scraped the snow until he uncovered hard ground. “Not the same,” he muttered. “No fire in the ground. No lava, no… Not the same. How..?”
“Which way?” asked Kjestrid. “If we’re not going back we get moving.”
Jerric looked across the low hills, watching for movement. The Gate did not seem to be guarded. That didn’t mean it wasn’t.
“That way,” he said, picking a direction. He started down the hill, sliding his brass and pearl life detection ring onto his finger.
Pink glows flared to life at ground level all around them. Jerric halted, arms spread out at his sides. “Oh,
skitt.”
“What is it?” Kjestrid called. She drew her long blade.
“I have no fetching idea. It’s…” He made a gesture. “A sea of life signs. Or maybe just one. Big. Everywhere. Look.” He handed Kjestrid his ring.
Shamir-do had his sword in hand. He probed the ground with its point.
Gjaever made a yelp from the rear.
“Dammit!” cried Kjestrid. “Pick your feet up!”
Jerric moved one foot, but then the other seemed frozen to the ground. He yanked it up with a
crack and then the first one was stuck again. He started quick-stepping back and forth in place.
“Back through the Gate!” Kjestrid called. “Move it!”
Jerric took off running in the direction he had chosen.
Shoot me if you like. The surface of the snow began to shift as he ran. At first he thought it was a reaction from his footsteps. Then he realized a vibration was coming from the ground.
He could hear the others yelling at his back, but he didn’t turn to determine their intentions. He felt as if he was rising and falling, too quickly to be progress over crests and valleys of the hills. A familiar feeling became an internal wail.
Waves. Hump me sideways, the ground is making waves.The waves rose higher and sank less with each undulation. Snow slid back and forth, but mostly toward him and then past. It deepened quickly to knee height, and then to his thighs, tugging his legs as he waded forward.
Kjestrid gave a wordless shout. Jerric turned to see her wave toward a rocky outcrop to their left. Gjaever appeared slogging through the powder at Jerric’s right, almost within his reach.
A dry, crunching sound came from the rear, followed by a cascade of sharp pops. They reached the rocks and clambered to the top as the popping became a roar. Jerric turned to see a chasm open at the foot of their ridge. Snow rushed into the gap while powder rose in a cloud. Jerric realized that he had seized Kjestrid and Shamir-do’s arms in a protective reflex. Gjaever had Jerric’s shoulder in his grip. This time Jerric did not object.
It took only moments for the groundshake to stop. The avalanche became a trickle as the last of the loose surface material rained into the new canyon.
“Shor’s bones,” said Kjestrid.
Shamir-do removed his arm from Jerric’s fist. He gestured toward the Gate. “We could go around to that—”
The Gate let out a deafening shriek. Orange light flared outward and then drew back into itself until with a mighty whoosh, it went out.
Jerric stared at the black, empty arms reaching like mandibles toward the grey sky.
Gjaever’s growl broke the sudden silence. “
Fikken Orkey,” he said.
.
This post has been edited by Grits: Nov 28 2015, 04:06 PM