The Cave Part 25

Having decided now as the best time to contact Tharkin by the ring which he had given me for communication, I stared at it hard, trying to perceive any flicker of inner fire in the center of the red faceted stone. The hermit had not said what was required for the use of the ring's power, and it infuriated me now that I had not asked. I wore it on my right hand, astride the index finger. I decided to speak to it, hoping that would trigger the magic. It did not. Finally in frustration, I tried taking it off and on, rotating around the finger, but nothing I did seemed to work. My last try was to wipe the red gemstone, for it appeared slightly smudged and it wouldn't hurt to clean it at the same time. Then, a sudden flash of light winked from within the red depths.

"Cair, what is it? What happened on your journey today?" The sound of the old man's voice in my mind was momentarily off putting, and yet a relief to hear.

"Oh, that's how it works?" I replied wryly, "it took me a few moments to figure it out."

"I did not tell you?" he asked. "I suppose I thought I did. Old age is my excuse. So tell me, what has happened?"

It was the work of a few minutes to recount my conversation with Garthax, the meeting with Glip, the goblin council, Bjardon the orc. The recounted narrative of the creature that came from the Shadow Crack particularly interested and horrified Tharkin. It was not so much his voice that told me this, for the magic of the rings did not give impressions like that, but it was the words he chose to use that said as much.

"Do not go into those mines yet," he instructed with firmness. "Not until I arrive to help you. I will have words with Garthax tomorrow morning on my way down to meet with you, and inquire of him for advice. This is not a thing that any hero should take lightly, and there is more to the mystery here than we yet see."

"I'm so glad to hear you say that," I replied, feeling a huge weight of fear I did not quite see, slide off my shoulders. "The goblins have such faith I can handle this thing, but I do not."

"I do not doubt the vision of Elder Mona," said he. "I have known her for many years, and she is a strong and wise leader of her people. Yet her dream sight is only so much revealed, as is all foresight. There are others things at play here, and you will no doubt defeat this creature, but you will need all our help. I will be there tomorrow by evening at least if not sooner."

"Thank you," I replied, grateful for the reprieve and excuse to not enter the blocked mines yet. "What should I do while I wait for you?"

"Spend some time reading your book, the Reflections of Raith Kan. Study with Lady Ipda, for she is very learned in the ways of healing and medicine, herb lore and hunting too when she has a mind."

"I will do those things. Anything else?"

"Gather as much information as you can. I will be there soon. This release from the Shadow Realm greatly disturbs me, as do the ruins the goblins found. I wonder what else the mysterious goblin Cobub found before meeting his end. But enough, you should rest for now."

We said goodbye and the fire of the red gemstone went out. I was once again alone in my room with my few belongings and the soft sound of singing somewhere next door at the tavern. Clearly more patrons had arrived to ease their aching muscles with a little liquid cheer and light hearted verse. It was pleasant to listen to, and for a time I just lay on my bed listening, as the sounds of crickets began to play their own soft tunes in the gardens beyond my window. I had meant to read and perhaps plan out a course of action for the next day while I waited for Tharkin to arrive, but before I was aware of it, my thoughts had flown away into deep sleep.

I knew I was asleep, even as I felt the lucidity of a dream that felt more real than it should. I was clothed as usual, holding my staff and wearing my sword as mist parted to either side of me. I felt no fear, but anxiety as to what I might see. Perhaps the land of the goblins lay in the lap of some mysterious force which brought dreams of things that were to come to all, and not just some of the elders. Was I to behold the future as well? Then a voice came to me out of the darkness.

"You return! Why do you haunt my dreams like this?"

I gasped, or so I thought I did. Does one actually gasp in a dream? Whether or not, my attention was fully locked onto the dark haired woman who strode out of the mist, still wearing her purple raiment, her right arm in a sling at her side. She bore a cut across her right eyebrow, but despite the injuries, the rage and fire of her eyes were undimmed. It was the grave woman from my dreams so many nights back that I had lost count and nearly forgotten the vision. Yet here she was now, once again staring me down as if she could reach and end my life with her blades. Could she? I was afraid to know that truth.

"My lady, what has happened to you?" was the only pitiful thing I could say. I had truly forgotten how this dream woman could so deeply unnerve me with just her eyes and voice.

"War does not favor the slave anymore than the queen," she replied hotly. "But see, you return me to this tower to show the forces of my sister. Is this your mission, to give me no rest even in the bitter few hours forced upon my body by necessity?"

At that moment, the mist suddenly dissipated as if by the great gust of wind from an oncoming storm, promising rain and thunder behind it. The tower we had first met in was revealed, and I saw the brilliant sparkle of stars in the evening sky as she and I both stood again gazing out over the desert landscape. Fires raged from below, and I saw that fighting had taken its toll on the outer walls of the city we stood above. There was destruction beyond in the camps that relentlessly squeezed around us, the siege never ending, though craters of violent magnitude dotted the enemy dominated lines.

"How long have I been gone? When were you hurt? Is this just a hallucination?"

"Look me in the eyes," she commanded, her left hand taking my chin in her grasp. Those dark eyes gripped and ran through me as if scouring my insides to find any falsehood within. A long moment passed, and I thought I trembled in this dream.

"It has been one day since you invaded and then ran from my thoughts," said she. "What has it been to you?"