Eternal Beasts

Making a Map

As they sat around the fire, Nikeera snuggled up to the big man, Jared spoke in a low voice to Gereth, hoping to pick his brains on the Danath and the upcoming situation in the Muul kerKerath. The more he knew, the better he'd be able to prepare for what could transpire there.

"You seem to know quite a bit about the woodland sprites and the like, my friend," the big man pointed out, glancing at the small plant he had drawn out of his pack to water. "Yet we still ran afoul of them. How did you manage to avoid the same problems with the dryads on the way through the first time?"

Gereth shrugged, using a wooden spoon to chase the last chunk of rabbit meat in his small, wooden bowl.

"I think it was because I was wounded in spirit," he said after a thoughtful pause. "All the MuulHaden felt the loss of the Hammer." He glanced up then back down at his bowl. "It was our strength, the symbol of our freedom from oppression. When it was taken, we were all stricken."

A slight smile danced for a moment on the stocky young man's lips.

"I don't think the dryads want anything that's been damaged. Makes the taste bitter."

"I don't know whether to pity you for the loss of the Hammer. Or congratulate you on finding dryad repellent!" Jared said with a wry smile and Gereth chuckled softly. Beside him, Jared could see Nikeera smiling out of the corner of his eye and, across the fire, Wren looked up from the book of scripture she was reading to grin.

Then Jared sobered.

"Will the dryads pursue us past the Danath?" Gereth shook his head.

"Their strength diminishes with every step from the trees that give them strength," the stocky muuler revealed. "By the last day we're in the Danath, we'll be hard pressed to find any trace of them."

Jared slowly nodded as he absorbed that.

"How about the Ves Tinol? Does it too have its share of mysterious spirits and creatures?"

"Hardly," the muuler replied. "The Ves Tinol is a forbidding stretch of bare rock and sheer cliffs marking the entrance to the Muul kerKerath. I would be more concerned about being caught out in the open by dragons than anything else there. We will need to pass over it as quickly as possible to reduce our risk."

"Agreed." Jared pulled out a soft fabric map from his pouch to look at it by the fire's light. "Right. From the Ves Tinol we go through the Nar Shava Pass, which winds through the first wall of the Muul kerKerath to Muul HesBaden." He tapped the spot with his finger. "The only trading post the MuulHaden have on this side of the mountains."

Again Gereth nodded.

"Aye. Muul HesBaden was our first holding to be overrun by General Scathcon and his drolim elite forces, which call themselves the Surdah."

"Chosen, in Qaysho," Nikeera grimly translated. "The drolim were always so very impressed with themselves."

Jared looked at her, then back over at Gereth.

"Did you see any of these drolim Surdah there when you passed by it, Gereth?"

"Aye," he darkly confirmed. "They had established a garrison there, using captured MuulHaden as slave labor to repair the fortifications. Mostly Surdah, with a mixture of Kelathi and nysim-suru."

Nysim-suru. Jared frowned tightly. Unlike the nysim-vadu of the Western Kingdoms and the Caer Nerath, who were considered races of the Light, these were humans that willingly bent the knee to the Harbingers. The Watcher indicated they were descendents of the first corrupted dragon riders from the Second War, which rapidly increased their numbers by using captured nysim-vadu from the Western Kingdoms. As he had witnessed at Kaem Borath, they were as tall as mageborn, intelligent and driven. And dark to the core.