130: The Middle Mountains

Hello, mum. I have some sad news. Guido has decided to leave us. He didn’t really explain why, but after talking to Hildegund he said he wouldn’t go with us to Karak Skygg. I think perhaps he has found Myrmidia again, and wants to do her work. It makes you wonder, though, why would Myrmidia send him a vision of some halflings that needed to be protected, and then deliver him to those halflings, only for him to leave again. Perhaps he thinks those halflings don’t need protecting any more. And he might be right. Dreamy has gone (great job protecting him, Guido) and Willow seems to have landed on her feet, so perhaps he thinks I don’t need help (and I am a lot tougher than I was when we first met, mum). So that’s that. Blume said she thinks he’s going to turn into a giant fire eagle and fly away. And I think he might. Anyway, I will miss him, even if he was pompous and overbearing.

We left for Karak Skygg first thing the next day and barely had time to say goodbye to Guido. And we hadn’t gone very far when it all started to get a bit unnerving. Erina didn’t look at home at all in the mountains, and Fred was a bit quiet.

We had a discussion about who was going to be mountain captain, but none of us really knew much about travelling in the mountains. And then we realised that we didn’t need to appoint a captain after all. That was a thing Guido used to do, and now he wasn’t here we didn’t have to play by his rules any more. Erina said we should form a workers’ collective. So we stood around for a while all trying to work out which direction to travel in, and after about ten minutes we all pointed in different directions. So, perhaps we needed a captain after all.

I tried to track my way to Karak Skygg, and I got Boy out to help me, but he wasn’t much use at all. I think I have probably spoiled that dog, mum. I never make him do much, and just feed him for free. So he isn’t really a working dog. Anyway, I found some tracks that were probably from clan Mange stragglers, but they didn’t seem to have any better idea of the way to Karak Skygg than I did.

But eventually we agreed on a route to take and we scrambled up the makeshift path with our two goats in tow, laden with black powder and kvass. It had been nice enough weather when we had left the picket, but now we could feel the air getting colder and the winds picking up.

We hadn’t gone far at all, when Erina spotted a snake. It fitted the description of the wide mouthed mountain viper, we had been told about. And Erina quickly gave it a dart of fire magic. But she missed, and the snake didn’t do much, so we just left it where it was. They don’t look as dangerous as we were told, mum.

And every now and then we heard or saw some rocks falling down the mountain slopes. It could be that that happens all the time, but it made me think that there might be creatures higher up the mountain watching on us. And Erina got a bit unnerved by it all, and insisted we hurry on our way. And then after a bit, Erina saw a flower closing its petals, and she said it did that when it was about to rain. And I think we should have heeded the flower’s warning and set up our tents there and then, because in a little while the heavens opened and we were drenched.

We tried to continue for a bit but soon realised that it was pointless and we needed to find shelter. So we got one of the tents out and tried for ages to put it up, but it was so windy we didn’t have a chance. And by this time we were all a bit tired, but I could see that Erina was fit to drop.

It was still tipping down, and we had to find shelter, but Erina just collapsed in a heap, so we stood the goats over her and left Fred guarding her, and went to see if we could find anything useful. Even though we had brought some tents and lots of food, I don’t think we were really prepared for this journey and the changeable weather, and to be honest, mum, we didn’t really know what we were doing in the mountains.

Luckily, we managed to find a bit of a cave with some plants near it, so I left Blume to light a fire while I went to fetch Erina and Fred. Erina was so cold and exhausted Fred had to carry her, and by the time we got back to the cave, Blume had just begun to think about building the fire.

We were all very cold and wet and tired, but eventually we got the fire lit, and managed to warm up a bit. And so we were saved. And then I found that old potion of vitality in my pack, which is absolutely great for picking people up when they are exhausted. And so I showed it to Erina, and told her that if she got exhausted again tomorrow she could have some. But I don’t think she appreciated that, for some reason.

We made sure to keep the fire burning all night, and we kept watch all night, too, because although we were all alone half way up a mountain, we knew there were any number of dangers out there.

In the morning, Erina had recovered and I think she may have been in more danger than we thought she was, and perhaps even close to death. Because she was so grateful to us all for saving her that made us breakfast. I’m not sure how you can go wrong with egg and tomato on toast, mum, but Erina managed it. The egg was rubbery and the toast was completely charred, and the tomatoes were so hot it didn’t seem possible. But she seemed so pleased to be thanking us that we told her that the food was magic. At least the goat milk was ok, but I think they got their teats singed.

The weather had changed again and there had been a snowfall overnight. We found some tracks but they were from confused rat men again, so they were hard to make sense of. And Blume nearly fell over a cliff where the snowfall had hidden the drop, but she noticed it just in time. And then we found the bodies of a couple of clan mange rats so they had probably been just as lost as we were. And the way got much steeper so we had to scramble up the rocks. Luckily the goats were better at it than we were.

As we went we saw another rock fall, and Erina was obviously still spooked by them, because she quickly darted in the rocks’ direction, but it didn’t achieve anything except making more rocks fall.

Still, the day was much drier, and at dusk we pitched one of the tents and got a fire going and I quickly volunteered to make dinner. We set watches again, and while Blume was on duty, she heard some strange voices carried on the air. She ignored them for a bit but when they didn’t stop, she woke up Erina and asked her if it was magic. Erina said it didn’t sound like magic. And so she woke me up (just as I was getting some decent sleep, mum) and we went out to investigate.

We followed the noise along a ridge and eventually I was able to see a figure through the darkness. Blume still couldn’t see a thing, so I edged towards the figure, and once I got a bit closer I could see that it was sort of hovering above the ground, and it was a bit translucent. It looked like it was just a poor man who had got lost in the mountains and died many years ago, probably.

Being quite experienced in the ways of the supernatural, and having travelled with Willow, I felt quite confident about this, and I calmly told the spirit not to worry and to go home to bed. And it suddenly turned to me, and let out a blood curdling wail, and flailed at me with its arms.

It was all I could do not to run way. And Blume did run. She screamed very loudly and legged it along the ridge. The figure moved towards me, and I think I was too frightened to move and it rent me with its weird translucent arms. Luckily, Blume’s screams alerted Erina and Fred and they came out to look for me.

The creature attacked me again, and I was still too frightened to react, so I said a brief prayer to Uncle Isaac (now Guido is gone, I’m free to talk to Uncle Isaac again, mum) asking him to help me overcome my fear, and that helped a lot. The creature seemed to be circling round me, herding me towards the edge of the cliff. But I managed to stand up to it and I even swung my sword at it.

And then one of Erina's fiery darts lit up the night, as it burst over the spirit. And Fred managed to reach us, and although he seemed to get a good hit on the creature, his blade went straight through it. And Erina hit it with another dart, and the spirit screamed and toppled over the side of the cliff to its death, again.

When we got back to the tent we found Blume hiding under her roll mat, but she said she was just looking after the goats.

I’m not sure how we should have dealt with the mountaineer spirit, mum. Willow spoke nicely to the other ghost we saw, and it told her what the problem was, and she had solved it. And I tried to do the same, here, and it didn’t work. Perhaps ghosts are just like people, mum, and it depends on what sort of mood they are in as to whether they can be reasoned with. Maybe some are just so upset they won’t listen.

I couldn’t help thinking, mum, that when he was alive, the mountaineer had climbed all the way to the top of that ridge, and then for some reason, maybe he jumped or maybe he was pushed, had fallen to his death. And now, because he can’t find Morr, he has to climb all the way to the top of the ridge every day for all eternity, and then he falls to his death every night, for the rest of time. And that’s why you have to respect Morr, mum, or you end up a ghost like that.

Anyway, mum, these mountains are cold and dangerous, and I’ve no idea how far we are away from Karak Skygg. I’m not saying Guido has a knack for missing out on the difficult bits, but I think he did well to miss this. I’ll let you know if we see a fiery eagle in the sky, or if we ever get to Karak Skygg, in my next letter.