The Hammer of Fire (25 page)

Manetho looked at the tall dwarf with the
apples, “I’m surprised such a thing interests you, my friend.”

Dol nodded his head, “It interests me greatly
and has to do with our quest to the south. I ask again,” this time
with a sharp edge to his voice, “what do you know about the Age of
Elementals?”

Manetho shrugged his shoulders as the horses
set off at a canter, “It was thousands of years ago but the desert
preserves time more surely than the grassy plains. The elementals
shaped the earth for untold generations but eventually were
overthrown by an alliance of tree shepherds, dwarves, men, elves,
and the other races. Their relics remain all over the world and
many of the creatures still serve, spellbound, their
conquerors.”

“And the greatest of elementals, the most
ancient four. Do you know them?” asked Dol.

“We know mainly of those of fire here in the
desert, the great first elemental Gazadum, his first-born son
Shadak the Black Fire, the twins Hezfer the Blue Flame and Eleniak
the Dancing Flame, the terrible Mountainous Fire Loigor, and there
are others of course.”

“Gazadum, the first fire elemental,” said Dol
and fingered the hammer at his side, “what do you know of him?”

The horses covered the dry lands of the Sands
with breathtaking speed even moving along as casually as they did
now. The thundering of their hooves on the hard sand and dirt
drowned out the sounds around them and the nomad had to raise his
voice to be heard, “He was the first.”

“I know that,” said Dol and narrowed his
eyes. “What else?”

“Don’t be rude,” said Milli as she skillfully
maneuvered her horse next to the dwarf, “are you feeling all
right?”

“I’m fine,” shouted Dol and then turned back
to Manetho. “Tell me everything you know about Gazadum.”

Manetho looked at Dol out of the corner of
his eye and then waved one hand in sort of a circular movement.
“That was thousands of years ago, my friend. I know he was the
first and most powerful of the fire elementals. That with his three
siblings they shaped the world. He supposedly lived in a volcano in
the far northern realms but was driven out by the tree shepherds
and their allies. Does this have something to do with why you’re
looking for five volcanoes?”

Dol nodded his head and fixed his steely eyes
to the horizon, “It does.”

“Dol,” said Milli trying to put warning in
her voice.

“Shut up, Milli,” said Dol with a fierce look
at the halfling girl. His eyes had a reddish tint and his lips were
curled in a snarl. “It doesn’t make any difference if he knows my
mission.”

“Our mission,” shouted Brogus from not far
away as he held onto the reins with both hands with white knuckled
intensity.

“My mission,” said Dol. “I seek Gazadum,” he
went on and took the handle of the Hammer of Fire in one hand and
held it at eye level. “To destroy him.”

Manetho raised his eyebrows, tilted his head
to one side, “I wish you luck with that.” Then the nomad pointed
his finger towards an object in the distance that seemed to waver
back and forth in the waves of heat. The horses hooves continued
their rhythmic beat as the shape began to coalesce into something
their eyes could understand and within minutes they approached the
massive pyramid.

Its height was difficult to judge but Milli
thought it might just fit into the Grand Hall of Craggen Steep
whose ceilings measured nearly two hundred feet in height. The
strange structure was possibly even wider than that at the base.
The sides were sand-blasted stone and apparently smooth although as
they approached, the weather-beaten nature of the structure came
into clarity. The most striking feature was a long rent that
started near the top of the pyramid and wound down the side they
approached before it disappeared around the corner. It seemed
likely the crack extended further down the side of the mammoth
structure that faced away from them.

“It’s massive,” said Brogus as all the horses
stopped although his went a few strides further before he
remembered to pull back on the reins. The short-legged dwarf tried
to dismount gracefully but only managed to fall out of the saddle
and onto the ground with a thump.

“I thought the Black Rider was supposed to
meet us here,” said Petra looking around at the absence of horsemen
in the vicinity. Her hand went to the little knife at her side but
the only nomads in evidence were Manetho and Tahnoon and she
doubted they would attempt to attack them. Her eyes darted back and
forth but she could see nothing of anyone else.

“Apparently he was delayed,” said Manetho
with a shrug of his shoulders. “Many people demand his time and
circumstances arise that make his schedule unpredictable. I’m
certain he will be along shortly. In the meantime, perhaps you
would care to examine the pyramid, although I see your friend has
already begun that process.”

“I will go and find them,” said Tahnoon with
a strange look at Manetho that Petra could not decipher. With that
he spurred his horse and it rattled off into the desert soon
disappearing in the waves of heat that shimmered in all
directions.

Brogus stood at the side of the great stone
structure and ran his hand along its surface, leaned in close and
smelled it, and then licked his finger. “Good work here,” he said.
“Fine craftsmanship. It reminds me of the old parts of Craggen
Steep but weathered for many centuries.”

“Earth elementals then?” said Dol as he too
approached the side of the tremendous structure.

“Or dwarves,” said Brogus with a smile. “Not
goblins or elves. Too bad we don’t have our climbing gear,” he
continued and chucked Dol on the shoulder. “Pitons, carabineers,
quickdraws, and rope and we’d be up to the top in no time. I’d bet
there are a dozen hidden chambers in there as well. We’d have to
ascend to that big crack and do some digging. Who knows how much
debris has piled up in there over th years. Think if some of the
stone masters from back in Craggen Steep were here. What treasure
they’d find? We have to remember this place, Dol. This world … this
world is much bigger than I ever dreamed. I see it now for the
first time. I see how we’re trapped in our city, held back by
ancient laws, kept from exploring the world, using our wealth, our
power.”

Dol nodded his head as he touched the surface
of the stone, “All this may be true, my friend, but this is the
work of earth elementals, not fire, and is not my concern.”

Brogus looked at Dol with a frown and shook
his head from side to side, “You love masonry, this is ancient
work, elemental work, we could spend months here.”

“I don’t love it anymore,” said Dol with a
shake of his head, turned away from the ancient stones, and walked
back towards the group. He knew the stonework should interest him
and one part of him wanted to explore the pyramid and learn its
secrets but somehow he found himself bored by the stones. His hand
went back to the hammer and began to gently caress the smooth,
white handle covered by strange elven runes.

“Your friend,” said Manetho to Petra and
Milli with a nod of his hat head towards Dol, “has what we in the
desert call a Holy See, a quest, a calling from the gods. I see now
what drives you.”

“He,” said Milli with a little turn-down of
her lips, “he wasn’t always like this. He’s changed.”

“We suspected you were spies,” said Manetho
and pulled off his hat to wipe his sweaty head with a thick rag
that he carried for just this purpose. “We planned to interrogate
you and kill you after we learned all we knew.”

Milli turned to him and gazed with strong,
steady eyes, “I suspected … well, Petra suspected. Why are you
telling me this?”

“Because I know now it is not true. You are
not spies. You may have come from the north, possibly you promised
Corancil you would learn what you could of us, but you are not here
to spy. You are here for your quest; you are driven by the
gods.”

“Does this mean you won’t have us killed?”
said Petra as she staggered over to join the conversation. The heat
was too much for the older woman and her breath came in heavy pants
as she sat down with a thump on a large rock. It looked of the same
material as the pyramid itself, perhaps a left-over stone from the
time of construction; it was rounded from centuries of weathering
although there were hints that at one time it was square.

“It means I will tell the Black Rider what I
now know,” said Manetho and wiped his brow and the top of his head
again, then looked at Petra and his eyes went soft. “The desert is
harsh for strangers. Your skin, your lungs, they are unused to the
conditions. We must get you into the shade. Come, Petra. Let’s us
walk to the west side of the pyramid where it is cooler.”

“Thank you, Manetho,” said Petra with a
little smile as she put down a hand, unsteadily got to her feet,
and began to walk with the nomad. “What decision will the Black
Rider make about our future?”

Manetho said nothing as the three made their
way into the long, morning shadow cast by the pyramid. Dol stood
aloof looking at the shimmering heat waves on the horizon while
Brogus continued looking at the heavy stones of the Broken Pyramid.
Even in the shade it was hotter than a normal summer day in the
north but at least it seemed cool in comparison to the direct
sunlight, and the nomadic clothes they wore somehow seemed to allow
the breeze in but kept the sun off at the same time. Only when they
reached the shade and sat down on a group of stone rocks apparently
built exactly for that purpose did Manetho speak again, “I cannot
say what the Black Rider will decide, but I see no reason for him
to order your execution. He is a reasonable man … when left to make
his own decision.”

“Great,” said Milli with a broad smile that
showed her brilliant white teeth to their best advantage.

“You said if he is allowed to make his own
decision,” said Petra not willing to forego the topic. “Who else
would decide for him?”

Manetho shrugged and looked at his feet.

“Tahnoon?” said Petra persisting.

“The vizier has great influence with Sheikh
Ming,” said Manetho although he continued to look down. “When Ming
emerged from the darkling lands he was badly wounded, nigh onto
death. It was Tahnoon and his family that saved him from instant
execution as a darkling. He nursed Ming back to health, gave him a
position in his tribal family. There is a strong bond there that
cannot be easily broken.”

“And you think Tahnoon might prefer to
execute us?” said Milli her yellow eyes narrow and gazing at the
man intently.

“I’ve known the vizier for over twenty
years,” said Manetho as he leaned back on the stone and gazed at
the blue sky. “The desert is a predictable land. It rains at the
same time every year. The great migrations occur at the same time
every year and the predators fill their bellies on this cycle.”

“The vizier is also predictable,” said Petra
and leaned forward to listen closely to the wizard’s words.

“He is.”

“And what do you predict?” asked the witch
woman.

Manetho shrugged again, mopped his brow and
his head, and then looked at the old woman in the eyes, “I suggest
you ride your horses as quickly as possible to the south.”

“You’ll not stop us?” she said as Milli
watched with wide eyes and a half-open mouth.

“I’ll even provide a map,” suddenly smiling
as he came to a decision. “I think you’ve appeared here for a
reason. Perhaps only Ras knows the reason but I do not think it is
a coincidence. I will help you today and I hope that you will
remember me on some day that will come.”

“I don’t see how we’ll ever be in position to
help you,” said Milli with a smile although she shook her head,
“but, that being said, if I can help you sometime in the future
then I will.”

Manetho nodded his own bald head and smiled
with slightly upturned lips. “Ride south until you reach a river,
it is called the Low River and it will be merely a trickle at this
time of year. Turn directly west from there and ride as hard and
straight as you can. You’ll pass the territories of the Fire Riders
or perhaps, the Horns of the Minotaur. They are fierce tribes both
but have tenuous alliances with the Black Rider. I will give you
papers to show them and perhaps they will let you pass. Eventually
you will reach a tall mountain range, The Desert’s End Mountains.
Of course, the people that live beyond call it them the Desert’s
Beginning but that is merely a matter of semantics. The dwarves of
Temin live in the mountains and guard its passes fiercely. However,
I think your friends might find allies that will guide you south to
the grasslands of Shandoria. That is the volcanic land although I
do not know if your five volcanoes are there or not. It is all that
I can offer.”

“How long will it take us to get to the
mountains?” said Petra. “Do we have enough supplies on the
horses?”

“You are strangers and your animals were not
well stocked I’m afraid to say. However, there are supplies hidden
in the pyramid and we can use them to equip you for the journey.
The water of the Low River will be murky this time of year but it
is not toxic. Let us begin at once; there is no telling when the
Black Rider and Tahnoon will arrive.”

Brogus leaned back on the strange thick furs
that covered the stone bed and burped loudly. He looked to his
right and spotted Dol pacing furiously back and forth along the
floor of their temporary chamber. Then he looked to his left and
found a heavy pewter mug with the symbol of a dragon emblazoned on
its side sitting on the table where he put it down just a moment
before. He reached over to grasp it by the handle and maneuvered it
carefully to his chest where he set it down for a moment. He
breathed deeply, sighed and smiled, and then carefully brought it
to his lips and poured a generous swallow down his throat, although
he failed to keep some from spilling out onto the fur. “Stop your
pacing Dol,” he said as he tried to move the mug back to the side
table. “You’re making me nervous. We’re home or at least in a place
as close to being home as we can find. After the desert I’d think
you’d be happy to sit down and rest.”