Spin Offs, Walker Part A

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Walker

 

Walker felt his dream shift away. It was not that the dream suddenly left and was gone, elements of the waterfall and his lovely companions remained. The smaller details, those intrinsic to the deeper self, gave way to the influences of the other consciousness trying to reach him. His dreaming self ascended to to the top of the falls, he looked around expectantly.

An eagle cried high above and he then knew who was trying to reach him. He focused on the image he held of his sister, it was a memory from their youth when the two of them had spent a lot of time together, training under the gifted elders of their people. The eagle dropped down to the falls, shifting into his sister, a blending of how he saw her and how she saw herself.

“Phantsy.”

“Walker.”

“How are the mountains?”

“As you would expect.”

“Ah.”

She looked around, noted the two women swimming in the pool below them, “Where are you?”

“North side of the Maldorn Mountains.”

“Tanni get herself into trouble?”

“No, I was helping Flint. I’ll be checking in on Tipper soon.”

She kept watching the women, then asked, “Can you come get me after Kaymere?”

“Where are you?”

“Warskavva Freehold.”

“South of River Gate?”

“South by southeast, yes.”

“It’ll take me a bit, a fortnight of travel after Kaymere. At least three eight-days before I get to you.”

“That’s fine, I would like to get home for the winter. I’ll need to recruit some help to get into Peraggado.”

“So you found the city? That’s good.”

“It’s in really great shape, all things considered. The problem is, whatever spell they used to preserve the place also stops me, and apparently anyone else, from getting in.”

“A barrier you can’t get past, that must be upsetting.”

She ignored that comment, still watching the two women, “You made some friends Walker, I’m happy for you.”

“I have friends.”

“Of course you do. These ones are definitely a step up for you. I almost feel bad for taking you away from them.”

“That was going to happen regardless. They have their own business to attend to.”

“Well, enjoy. I’ll see you in a few eight-days.” She vanished from his dream.

Walker woke. He was too warm, despite the windows of their luxurious room being wide open. It was raining again, as it had been for most of the past eight-day. Ijah slept, laying on his right arm, he slowly extracted his limb, flexing his hand a number of times to encourage his blood to flow properly. Roddarra was half sprawled across his other side. She was waking up. She opened an eye, looked at him sleepily and ran a long fingered hand across his chest. Quietly he asked, “Can I get up?”

“No.” She snuggled against him, sighed contentedly and closed her eyes.

He tried to shift out from under her, without disturbing Ijah. Roddarra was not going to let him. She moved more of her weight onto him. Undeterred he gently rolled over, shifting her onto her back. She moaned quietly, wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck.

Her insistence prevented him from leaving, at least for a while. They made love quietly, the darkness turned to grey as the day slowly started. Despite their hushed intimacies, Ijah woke and watched them for a while. When they had finished she rose from the bed and went to pee.

Walker left the bed and slipped into the large stone tub that was built into the floor of the room. The water was cool and refreshing. He cleaned up then surrendered the pool to the women. A while later they sat at the small table under the main window and were served breakfast by the undead servant. The rain continued, the valley shrouded in a heavy fog.

Walker informed them when the meal was done, “I’ve a few tasks to see to and will be leaving two or three days from now.”

While Roddarra looked disappointed, Ijah simply nodded, braiding her hair, “We should be leaving soon as well. If Igma will not give me a reply to the council’s request for aid, then I must continue on to West Port.”

“I intend to speak to the sorceress. Perhaps I should remind her that we all have other business to attend to and many yat to travel before the winter settles.”

“As you will. Though, at this point I expect little from her.” Ijah’s displeasure with their hostess had persisted and though the sorceress had talked to each of the rest of them she had remained aloof regarding the purpose of Ijah’s visit.

Walker nodded. He left their room to see if he could find the sorceress. Igma spent most of her time secluded within her tower and did not seem to keep a regular pattern to her daily activities. He went down to the main hall where they first had an audience with the necromancer. It was here that he could most reliably find others of her court.

This morning there were only a couple of Igma’s people present. The Fool lounged in Igma’s oversized chair, apparently asleep. The other was sitting on the floor, under one of the large windows perusing a collection of charts and maps. Walker did not recognizer her, she had not been in the hall when he and the others had arrived, nor had she been at the feast. She was a mage, not hiding the fact and she had apparently failed to notice his approach.

He cleared his throat, “Hello.”

Startled, the young appearing woman looked up at him, “Oh. Hello Walker. I’m Timid, Destroyer of Worlds.”

“Pardon.”

“Ha, just joking. Seriously though, do you know anything about the gates?”

“Do you mean the ellodran gate system?”

“Yeah,” She looked hopeful, “That’s it exactly. What do you know?”

“Not much unfortunately. I know they don’t seem to work properly.”

“Ah, well, yes, I’d managed to work that part out a few years ago. Anything else?”

“They make a good anchor point to teleport to or from, or so I’m told. And, similar to an area of elevated mana they make a good point to enter or exit the ways.”

“I knew the first one, but that second fact is new to me. Do you access the ley lines?”

Hesitantly he nodded.

She seemed impressed and gave him a dimpled smile, “That’s something I’d like to know more about.”

“Well, I’m actually looking for Igma. Do you know where she is?”

“If I did, would you show me how to access the ways?”

“Well, I could yes.”

“Great!” She stood up, stretched, then shook out her arms, “I’m ready.”

He looked down at her, “Do you know where the sorceress is?”

“No. But I can find her for you.”

“It seems like a rather unbalanced exchanged.”

“Oh. Yeah, it kind of would be I guess. What else did you want? Gold? Spell lore? Sex?”

“Spell lore and Igma’s location.”

“Right, what did you want to learn?”

“What are your areas of expertise?”

“I’m a generalist actually. My best spell is clean.”

“Clean?”

“Yeah, I really dislike dirt, filth and clutter.”

“I see. So you want me to teach you how to access the ways and in exchange you will teach me how to clean things.”

“And, I’ll find Igma for you.” She gave him a big wink.

“Well, I’m offering you lore that has been lost to most. You’re offering me a spell to clean things.”

“Um, yes. The clean spell is one of the most useful spells I have, you can clean yourself, other folks, clothing, dishes, anything really. I can’t tell you how much time it has saved me over the years.”

“How did you intend to help me find Igma?”

“Well not with the clean spell, if that’s what you are inferring.”

“No, it was a serious question.”

“Well, I know how to seek others through magic.”

“Beyond seeking someone through their dreams?”

She regarded him with a curious expression, nodded and said, “Yes.”

“That would be of more interest to me then, closer to some of my other disciplines.”

“Oh. Well, if you’re sure. Did you want to start or should I go first?”

“It might save a lot of time if we were to write the lore down and exchange it that way.”

“Ah, you’re in a rush then.”

“A bit, yes.”

“Well, that’s fine. Do you read elvish or ellodran?”

“Either is fine.”

“Oh, that’s rare. I’ve been trying to pick up some ancient Tannican, but there’s always so much other stuff to do that I end up forgetting what I learned by the time I get back around to it again.”

“Do you have paper and ink?”

“Yeah, I mean there’s what, like twenty mages or so in this place? Of course we have paper. There’s some just over here.” She took him over to a table, producing the required materials from a nearby cabinet.

“Do you prefer ellodran or elvish?”

“Either is fine.” Once again she gave him a big wink.

They set about their task. It took most of the rest of the morning and three leaves of paper for Walker to compile the lore he knew. It was more than just the basics for casting the spell, there were many things about the ways that were good to know.

She had finished well before him, waiting patiently, returning to peruse the charts she had been looking over when he arrived. She jumped up eagerly when he was done, “Since you were taking so long, I put the clean spell on there for you too.” She handed him a piece of paper and looked over the pages he had written.

“And now you will take me to Igma?”

She looked up at him, “You have a very nice hand, for a man. Your grammar and spelling are excellent. I’ve met few people with this level of understanding of the elvish language. Thank you so much.”

He smiled and waited. She took a moment to cast a spell, and then said, “Follow me, I bet I know exactly where she is.”

He followed her down into the depths of the citadel.

 

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