A Record of Ash & Ruin: The Grieving Lands - Book 3: Chapter 15: Back on the Road

War is the result of a quandary to which no solution can be found.

– From the diary of Damien de Savant.

The air was moist, a juxtaposition to the dry desert breeze that came from the west. The new growth that had taken over this part of the sands could not completely hide the passage of the Ravens’s wagons. My new Tracking skill, low level as it was, gave me a greater clarity in my interpretation of the land. Little things that I had never noticed before, or paid little attention to, came to a stark focus as my eyes roved over them. Browning grass showed where a Xaruar had lain for the night, creating its bed from the crush of leaves. Broken stems here and hoofprints there told me of where the horses had been staked down for the night.

“There’s jus’ a bit further downright!” exclaimed Larynda, a bright and innocent smile brightening her features. The young half-elf looked carefree and I could see that a little of the permanent darkness and tension that had been about her was now gone.

I was just about to grunt a reply when I saw something moving under the folds of her loose clothes. For a moment, I thought that some new and alien horror would burst out of the little girl. I was to be partially right.

Brown beady eyes popped out, looking out at the world from just under the little girl’s chin. A whiskered nose on a soft-furred face sniffed at the air. Its nose turned in my direction and its little eyes caught sight of me. The rodent, sensing a dangerous presence, retreated under the folds of her clothes. It was the Whispermews, Larynda’s new pet.

“Stop that, Bubbles! Stay still, already!” chided Larynda, laughing gently as she did so.

“I see you are taking care of my gift,” I commented, rolling my shoulders to let loose a little of the tension.

“Yeah, he’s great! Stop that, you. Not you I mean,” she continued. “I think he’s just scared. He’s a really good boy and doesn’t usually act like this. And thanks for Bubbles, he really is the best!”

“Take good care of it… him. All life is important,” I returned lamely, wanting to end our conversation.

I looked towards the other members of my little team, Kidu and Pakum, but they both seemed to just ignore our little exchange. The boy’s eyes were fixed on the path upriver, guiding his charge with his stick. Kidu was nibbling on a piece of jerky to while away the time, looking much like a man who was enjoying a pleasant safari.

I had told my companions a very highly edited version of my time beneath the earth. Something in the back of my mind told me that giving them the full uncensored version would not have been the wisest of choices. Noticing Elwin’s typical reaction to some of my accounts, I did not need much convincing.

There had been no encounter with a fell goddess, nor the harrowing divine ordeal that had come with that. It was one of those circumstances where the truth was far far less believable than a convenient lie. No, the tale I gave them simply involved me finding my way to the surface, fighting through an underground cave system filled with monsters and bloody-thirsty locals.

With the exception of Cordelia and Kidu, they received my account with various degrees of skepticism. However, for the most part, It was gladdening that they had looked for me. It almost gave me back my faith in this world’s people. Almost.

*

It was early morning when we finally rejoined the caravan. Along the sandy banks of the Green Road, a thin mist was struggling feebly against the rising desert sun. The vehicles of the train were arranged into a circular formation on the left bank of the river, a plume rising from a large cooking fire at its center. One of the scouts let out a cry, causing the caravan to bestir itself like an anthill under attack.

Once the commotion had died down, Laes and Khalam rode out to meet us, an equal mix of relief and disbelief. I had already played out this encounter a few times in my mind, and I was of two minds as to how I would deal with the Ravens.

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I was under the impression that Laes had wanted to continue on to Al-Lazar, taking Larynda with him to fulfill his promise to Hamsa.

However, against his wishes, the small half-elf had been most obstinate, and her protestations had been backed up by a mountain of a man, a former, presumed, assassin, and a warrior-knight of the Goddess herself. In the end, a compromise was reached.

The caravan would wait a little way upriver, and my companions had been given a week to search for me. Anything more than a week would have meant that the sands had truly claimed me. It was a cold calculation, but an understandable one. Overall, I found myself respecting his choice. Still, a small part of it did not sit well with me.

It was very different when one being affected was you, and not some stranger who was half a world away.

“Master Gilgamesh, by the Goddess you have returned. I must confess that I harbored certain doubts. Rare are those who survive an encounter with a Guardian,” he studied my face, searching for answers. “Rarer still for one of them to come from so close to the Green Road. This year the Green Road has been especially strong and, running water, it is an anathema to them. What could have made a Sand Father… ”

“What indeed?” the old Guard Master Khalam added a little acerbically, giving me a knowing look. “I say that we…”

“Enough!” commanded Laes, his usual veneer of restraint and control vanishing like the morning mist. “Must you shame me so! We have talked enough of this. Enough, I say!”

“But Laes, my duty is to the train…” Khalam began to blurt like a child.

“And I am its leader. You would do well to not forget whose coin you take?”

“And what of signs!? You know I learned a little from my brother of the River God’s Pattern. It was how I rose high in the ranks. Nothing but misfortune dogs our trail and, Caravan Master Laes, you know well the reason why,” retorted the old man, bristling.

“Must you bring this up again, it is unseemly,” hissed Laes, growing ever more upset. I could see why. He was losing face in front of, what basically was, the hired help.

Gripping his reins tightly, Khalam seethed like a boy who had been censored by his teacher, but he held back a reply, instead shooting me another scathing glare. I had always felt that the snake had borne a simmering resentment towards me, and this just cemented those feelings into fact.

“By the blessing of the Goddess, we have returned, Master Laes, Master Khalam. As it was foreordained,” interjected Cordelia cooly. Almost immediately the heat left Khalam, leaving him unbalanced.

“Mistress de Aserac, with all due respect…” he began before I decided to add my piece.

“I have it on good authority that the Guardians will not bother us,” I stated simply, causing the old Guard Master’s perpetual frown to deepen. The man really needed to learn to let things go.

“On what authority… would you presume that the…”

Laes placed a hand on Khalam’s shoulder, and didn’t say a word. His touch was not particularly heavy, nor violent in its nature, but it was finally enough to shut him up.

I relished my next words, “On the authority of the Goddess herself,” I stated simply as if I was making a note of the weather. It was a fact after all.

This caused everyone to pause for a moment. No doubt, coming from anyone else, these would be the words of a madman touched by the desert sun. These were, however, the words of a man touched by the Goddess, though which Goddess I had opted not to divulge. It felt good to turn the native’s backward thinking against them.

Laes gave his second a quick look before he bowed slightly. “If Master Gilgamesh says it is so… who are we to doubt the benevolence of the Goddess. Understand that as you place your trust in the Goddess, my people trust in me. I have a duty to them. I could wait no longer than a week. I hope you can understand this,” confessed the horse-faced man.

Had I not needed him and his people to get me to Al-Lazar, to my silly quest, I would have cut him from neck to navel, a feat I was sure that, with my current physical prowess, I could achieve.

“Your display of faith is most heartwarming,” replied Cordelia cooly, taking his near-blasphemy in her stride.

“Welcome Master Gilgamesh. Like me, there are others who are glad of your return,” finished the caravan master, gesturing to some familiar shapes that had started to walk out to meet us from the circle of caravans.

The familiar figures bridged the gap between us. Each face, etched with relief and palpable joy, belonged to people I knew well. Among them, one sight stood out, soothing the pain I endured. A pretty woman, eyes alight with happiness, covered her mouth in a joyful shriek before sprinting towards me.