Dream of Legends (88 page)

It was a tiny respite granted by his drained physical and mental condition. A thousand new personal demons had been created that day, adding their numbers to the legions that had existed before. A host of sleepless nights and nightmares pounded at the gates of his mind, but the abyss of unconsciousness had him confined for a few, short, precious hours.

The time passed altogether too quickly. As if echoes from another world, faint voices reached out to him through the murky depths of black sleep. The voices reminded him of the world that he had left behind, calling him back to cognizance.

When he became aware of them, his first impulse was to ignore them, and give himself over to the darkened embrace of forgetfulness. His world had been turned upside down, and his soul was spinning out of control in the midst of the horrors that he had done everything to avoid. The gray mists of nothingness beckoned invitingly, and there was even a part of him that did not really care if he ever woke up into the terrible world he had left behind.

Yet like a last ember stoked by a breeze, the part of him that was resolute and persevering heard the distant, clarion calls. Though only having a shred of willpower to grasp onto, that latter part of him clenched onto it with an iron grip. He willfully made the gradual ascent back into full consciousness, emerging the victor over the swirling, debilitating impulses that fought for control within him.

What had sounded like crisp voices belonged to one source, which rose steadily in clarity and volume, as he left the haven of oblivion. At the end, as he was on the cusp of waking, the sound filled his head like a booming din, conjuring a biting ache inside his head.

“What!” he barked out irately, mustering a burst of aggravated energy.

He heard the sound of shuffling feet, as someone moved backwards across the stone floor.

“Gunther?” inquired a startled, soft voice from the dim shadows beside him. It took Gunther a moment to register that the voice belonged to the outlander named Lynn. “Gunther, I really need to speak with you. I’m so sorry for waking you … but it is important. I promise I would not have done it otherwise.”

A part of him wanted to lash out, and command her to leave him alone. Fatigue had eroded his already thin patience for the travails of others, especially those that he had already paid a great price for.

He could not deny that there was an edge to her voice, which told him right away that something was indeed very wrong. He had awoken to find himself cast right into another dilemma. The world was relentless in its merciless cruelty.

Almost hating himself for it, he knew that he was the one choosing to embroil himself continually in the things that he had expressly sought to avoid. Gunther had arrived in the woodlands of western Saxany with a precise, dedicated purpose, when he had used axe and adze to cut the first timbers of his remote, woodland dwelling.

The gruff woodsman took a deep breath to temper the scathing fires of agitation that had arisen in him. Of the four outlanders, Lynn was definitely not the one that would be prone to needlessly rousing him. The young, headstrong male, and the moody female, Ryan and Erin, were much more likely to do something like that. The realization of that contrast was just enough to help him regain a vague semblance of rational control over his embattled emotions.

“What is it, Lynn? What is so important” he muttered thickly, through dry lips.

Slowly, he opened his eyes, the lids feeling as if they were made of stone. He gave a silent prayer of thanks to the All-Father, that the bright rays of daylight were not able to penetrate through the caverns to his sleeping quarters.

He could see the wide-eyed expression on Lynn’s face, and her hands were clenched together in front of her, faintly shaking.

“I think that Ryan and Erin left the caverns,” Lynn told him, following a nervous pause, before she drifted off again into silence.

The words struck Gunther fully awake, as if a whip had been lashed against his bare skin. He sat up with an abrupt start, causing Lynn to flinch.

“Gone? What happened? How do you know for sure?” he asked quickly, almost blending the questions together in his haste for immediate answers.

The sudden urgency produced a throbbing ache and dizziness within his drained head.

“They both have left this city,” Lynn replied. A look of worry and sorrow was prevalent upon her face, as he stared at her. “They wanted to go to the surface, to see the day again. Maybe it’s our fault, as Lee and I talked about how nice it was to breath the open air again, when you took us above earlier.

She looked down at the ground forlornly.

“What else? Do you know anything at all about where they went?” Gunther prodded her.

Slowly, Lynn brought her eyes back up, though she had not ceased her trembling.

“They told us that there was probably nothing to worry about … the battle above was over, and that there were other places in the forest that wouldn’t have enemy forces. They really believed there wouldn’t be any real danger above right now.

“Then they left, and were gone for a long time. Lee and I tried looking for them. We couldn’t find them, and then we got the help of the Unguhur. They put a search out, and found one who had guided Ryan and Erin on the underground streams, to a place where there is a passage that took them out to another part of the forest.”

Gunther shook his head, as he bitterly cursed his ill fortunes, his mounting irritation spreading abundantly across the features of his face. His countenance darkened, as he thought of the foolishness that so many people always seemed so eager to embrace.

Ignorance combined with stubbornness had brought a great number of people to their doom over the course of humankind’s history. Gunther had long ago stopped trying to fathom the rationale by which fools set about their ill-advised tasks, especially within the confines of his own land and time. Gunther was not about to start trying to understand foolishness brought over from a strange, unknown world, one that he had not even heard of until his encounter with the four now in his care.

Though he knew that neither Ryan nor Erin were anything like himself, he could not help but imagine what his own decisions would have been like, if he had been one of them. Had he been taken to another world against his will, and found himself blessed with a guide and protector, one that knew both the nature and land of that strange new world, he would have likely remained on his knees in extended thanksgiving to the All-Father. He would never have questioned anyone who kept him safe in the midst of an unfamiliar world, especially one caught up within widespread wars and turmoil.

Muttering further curses under his breath, he forced himself to stop worrying about what he would have done. The decision made by the two outlanders had never been his. No amount of agonizing over what would have been his own choice would change the circumstances.

“Then I suppose we must find them,” Gunther responded matter-of-factly, for there was nothing else sufficient to say, and he was not going to take out his ire on the messenger.

“What can we do?” Lynn asked him.

“Not much, but their idiocy will be putting others in trouble … myself, perhaps the Unguhur, and perhaps yourself and Lee,” Gunther said with grim certitude. His tone then sharpened. “Do not forget that, if you ever ponder such foolhardy notions.”

Lynn shook her head emphatically. “No, Gunther. I’m sorry. Please don’t think that we don’t appreciate you. Erin and Ryan are being very rash, and what they’ve done is their choice alone. One is still young, and the other I can’t understand sometimes. But it’s certain that both of them are being very, very stupid.”

“Rash and stupid … either reason can get you killed in these woodlands, even if there were no invading army,” Gunther remarked darkly, though not intending to mock her assertions.

Slowly, he drew himself up into a sitting position, and cringed with the motion. He would have thought such stiffness of body and muscle to be for someone twice his age. He moaned softly, as all extremities of his joints, and all the length of his muscles, seemed to cry out at once. It had been a long, long time since he had taxed his body to such an extreme.

The causes for his body’s weakened state flashed through his head. The war had not been of his own making. It was not of the Saxans’ making either, but he had foresworn taking part in the conflicts of kings and empires.

He had paid dearly for the several hours spent over the course of a couple hellish days, sifting through the numerous bodies. On countless occasions, he had lifted dead corpses, some still in their mail armor, to uncover others beneath, as he made certain that any who still had even a frail breath of life in them were not abandoned.

In some way that he could not yet fully fathom, the urgency of that horrible task was somehow expected of him, if he considered himself a true follower of the All-Father. Now, faced with responding to yet more ill-advised follies, something similar was being asked of him. As tired as he was, there was nothing to do but respond.

Gunther winced again as he stood up on his sore feet, still in the leather shoes whose soles were now nearly worn to their end. He leaned back, and twisted side to side, trying to ease the cracks and pops out of his weary body. There was little else to do but to put on his baldric, which was the only thing he had taken off when he had returned to Oranim. Even his belt, with his seax and affixed pouches, still remained wound around his dirty tunic, just above his breeches.

When he was finished stretching, he looked over at Lynn, who was standing patiently. At the very least, he could console himself that she had not been acting foolishly, and that she shared his ire towards the others.

“Let us go find those two fools,” he said, striding past her and out through the chamber’s entry way. “But do not expect me to give them a warm welcome when we find them.”

“I don’t plan to give them a warm one either,” Lynn replied.

When they exited the chamber, he saw Lee standing at the far edge of the rooftop, looking out over the underground city. Lee turned towards them as he heard them emerge, a drawn, tired look on his face.

“I didn’t know that they would be dumb enough to leave on their own,” Lee said, with an undercurrent of apology.

“People make their own choices,” Gunther retorted, pausing a second before adding, “and they are responsible for those choices. So if they come to an ill end before we reach them, then they are the only ones to blame.”

Neither Lee nor Lynn contradicted him, both continuing to look very downcast.

“We will not delay further. Take me to the fellow who guided them to the passageway,” Gunther said, walking over to the opening in the roof where the ladder descended down to the next chamber. His Jaghuns, having heard his approach, were already stirring, and milling around the base of the ladder.

Gunther fingered the hilt of the sword at his side, perhaps for emphasis, as he paused at the top of the ladder. “Out in these forests, there are many creatures that can endanger your life. If you go, we stay close together. Is that clear?”

One glance told him that he had their full cooperation.

With the remaining mature, healthy Jaghuns in his wake, Gunther strode down towards the shoreline. Regaining his stride, Gunther outdistanced the other two easily, prompting them to break into a mild jog just to catch up with him.

They did not have far to go, as Lee and Lynn pointed out the particular Unguhur that had conveyed Erin and Ryan to the passageway leading to the world above. It took a couple of moments to board all of them, Jaghun and human, and they set off across the lake. They worked their way to an area of the cavern located far to the right of the tunnel leading back to the underground forest beneath Gunther’s abode.

The Jaghuns appeared eager for the adventure, as they paced the drifting rafts. At a few points, they cast fidgety looks towards a pair of immense gallidils, cruising slowly along the surface in the vicinity. One was a behemoth of its kind, so large that it drew wary glances from their Unguhur guides. The huge creature possessed a back as wide as the raft, and a length that was many times longer than the watercraft.

The scaly giant paid them little heed, intent on gliding to other parts of the underground lake, and the streams and rivers beyond, where bountiful fish and other creatures supplied the needs of its considerable appetite.

They finally entered the stream exiting the right side of the cavern. The ceiling of the passageway was much lower than the one leading to the underground forest was, such that the tall Unguhur had to crouch as they worked their way down the smaller channel.

It was clearly a passage that was well-traversed by the Unguhur. There were many areas in the clefts, folds, and niches of the rock where the familiar bluish-light emitted from luminescent fungus patches cultivated to provide ambience. In the tighter confines of the tunnel, the light cast a strange pall over the water, raft, and travelers, as they continued on past several other offshoots and confluences over the course of a couple of leagues.

The Unguhur pilot presently slowed, and deftly navigated them off to the left as the passage widened on that side. He brought the raft to rest against a rough, thin shelf of rock at the stream’s edge. A thick, pungent scent reached Gunther’s nostrils, as they heard flitting sounds within the depths of the shadows above them.

Scattered about the upper ceiling of the adjacent small cavern were a fair number of bats. Gunther gestured to the others to keep their silence, not wanting to suddenly arouse the horde of tiny creatures nesting in the high reaches of the rocky ceiling.

The Unguhur gestured at an opening off to the left, accessible by the rock shelf. The opening was marked with more of the luminescent fungi. Gunther nodded in response, and signaled for Lynn and Lee to follow him. The Jaghuns were unloaded a moment later. The beasts stared upward towards the bats, though Gunther hushed them before they made any loud noises.

As they entered the passage to the surface, Gunther found that it was just big enough for a single Unguhur to move through. From the look of the two sides of the passage, it was also clear that some stone had been cut away, to further widen it.