Camping by the Cairn

The four companions unpacked their sleeping-bags from their packs, together with some provisions for their evening meal. (They would have to watch their supplies carefully. It might not be possible to live off the land, and they had no idea how long it would take them to find what they sought - always assuming that they could succeed in doing so.)

Once they began to eat, Fredric took the opportunity to look around him again. Though this was a desolate spot, the view had a certain wild beauty to it. To the south and east and north, the shore of the ocean that he knew as the Arin was only a short distance away. To the northwest was a plain, dotted with a large number of circular lakes of varying sizes. To the west ran the mountain range near whose eastern extremity they were now perched. To the southwest there was another range, higher than the other (by chance it had suffered less from the Ravage); some of its peaks were above the snow line. Between the two ranges lay a great forest that had grown up in the last hundred years or so.

The four ate for a while in silence. Then Fredric said: "According to our family's lore, we once held a duchy in A'laria, before we were forced to flee eastward across the sea, in my great-great-great-grandfather's time. I wonder how far that duchy was from here and in which direction."

Val smiled. "Stories tend to grow in the telling," he said. "I suspect it's more likely that your ancestors were small farmers or even peasants. Not that it makes much difference. The land that your family once owned, rented, or worked on, depending on their status, is most probably somewhere under the sea."

"So how are we going to find the Dragon's treasure?" Chuc broke in impatiently. He was too single-minded in the pursuit of riches to be interested in what Fredric's heritage might be.

"We've discussed this countless times already, on the boat coming over and even before that," Val sighed. "We know that the old stories say that the wyrm had its lair in a cave somewhere within the mountains." He gestured at the ranges that were no longer known as the Shreken and the Goth. "If - and I admit that it's a big if - that cave is still accessible from the outside world, then sooner or later we shall find it. If we can't cover all the ground on this trip, then we will return home to resupply ourselves and come back. It will be worth it if we can find even a small fraction of the Dragon's riches, if he had anything like the hoard that the legends say."

Elashi responded: "Let's hope we don't need to come here a second time. I suppose that may depend on whether we guess right over which mountain range to search first. What's your feeling on that, Val?"

"I think tossing a coin will probably be as good a way to decide as any. The legends only speak of a cave in the mountains, but even if they went into more detail it might not have helped us too much, given how much the lie of the land must have changed as a result of the Ravage. But the decision on that can wait till the morning. Talking of which, it's about time to turn in. Who wants to take the first watch?"

Elashi volunteered, and the others got into their sleeping bags and were soon asleep.

1. The next two hours passed without incident, and then Elashi woke Chuc and he took over the watch.
2. As the evening darkened, Elashi was able to see something odd about the cairn. It seemed to be inscribed with glowing runes.
3. The full moon rose to the east. Elashi spotted a plume of smoke rising in front of it. Perhaps the Great Island was not as deserted as it had at first seemed. Worryingly, their boat lay in roughly that direction.

Add New Option

Go Back

View Forward Story Tree
View Back Story Tree