Chapter 14: Houses on Pillars of Stone

We started early, I walked beside the lead horses as Ellie sat on the wagon and worked on her new dress. Little One and Charles seemed content to ride in back and sleep. The farms we passed were well kept and they waved at us. We stopped beside a wide fast moving stream and I decided to fish for dinner.

Ellie thought I was crazy since it was cold but sat on the bank and watched. I hooked a huge fish and backed towards the bank as I fought it. She was jumping up and down clapping as I kept fighting the fish. I glanced at her and almost dropped the rod. An old man was standing behind her watching me curiously.

I gestured and Ellie turned as I backed out more and finally lifted the fish and walked ashore. The old man’s eyes were shining as he looked at the two foot long fish. He glanced at me finally, “That looked fun.”

I grinned and turned to start cleaning the fish. He watched everything I did closely. I handed the fish to Ellie, “put this by the fire.”

I looked at the old man, “Want to try your luck?”

He grinned, “I would love to.”

I started showing him what to do and a moment later he took off his old worn boots and waded into the stream. Beginners luck was with him because within seconds a huge fish exploded out of the water as it took the fly. He yanked the pole back and started reeling as I tried to calmly remind him what to do.

It was a quarter hour before he brought the fish ashore. I showed him how to clean it and then led him to the fire. I filleted the two fish and seasoned them before starting to grill them. Ellie was skeptical but made flat bread and pulled out a small wheel of cheese. Both Charles and Little One had devoured the parts of fish I had tossed to them.

While we ate dinner we talked and I found out Chris (the old man) was returning to the area with the burrowers. He grinned at us, “I built houses along the way on stone pillars to stay off the ground and away from burrowers. Burrowers are good for the soil, I farm the valley and they kept the pests away from my crop.”

I grinned, “no game to hunt?”

He laughed, “Burrowers taste good if you roast them.”

Ellie shuddered but I pointed to the two fillets she had eaten. She actually grinned before sticking her tongue out. Chris laughed and we talked about the rumors of orcs. He snorted, “they be dumb, if they come around my farm they will just be more worm food.”

Ellie nodded and then stood to stretch. She climbed into the wagon as I stood and said good night. Chris just rolled out a bed roll and laid back to watch the stars. Little One and Charles both crawled onto us when we laid down and started purring as we pet them and whispered to each other.

I was up early but Chris already had the fire going. I heated water for porridge and coffee before checking the horses and harnessing them. I glanced at him when I was done, “What about horses?”

He lifted an eyebrow, “What about them?”

I smiled, “the burrowers? I do not think you pull the plow yourself.”

He grinned, “I have small stalls built up beside the houses. The trick is to get the horse up the narrow ramps.”

I nodded and glanced at the wagon as Ellie climbed out. When we left Chris tossed his heavy pack in the back of the wagon and bent to scoop Little One up before walking beside me, “stay on the road and I will show you where the way houses are.”

I smiled as Little One started purring and Ellie grinned as she bent to lift Charles. He had decided that if Little One was getting attention he should have it too. I let my super long hang as I carried the bow and started looking for targets to practice on. I thought these houses on pillars were only a few feet above ground.

When we turned off the road in the late afternoon it was to see a house twenty feet above the ground. The stalls beside the house turned out to be small barn like sheds and not small stalls. It was more like the house was part of the barn. He was right about getting the horses to climb the ramps though.

We had to blindfold them to get them to do it. The houses were black with slate grey wooden boards. There was not a stove, just a central stone fireplace. We carried bedding up the ramp with what we needed for dinner. Chris grinned as Ellie started making dinner, “Burrowers are mostly drawn to movement and sound so the wagon should be fine.”

As it began to get dark I went out to see if any Burrowers would come up. Ellie and Chris came to stand with me and Chris pointed down close to one pillar, “see the ground moving? I buried the Pillars deep and solid so they can not move them but they can sense us here.”

I bent to pick up Little One, “You stay up here tonight.”

She purred and butted her head against me and I sighed, “I must be getting soft.”

Chris snorted and Ellie bent to lift Charles into her arms. I woke often during the night and each time I looked for the cats before walking out and looking around. A week later we walked down into a wide beautiful green valley with a river running through the middle.

Chris chuckled, “The Burrowers stay away from the river because they can drown.”

His house was in a large grove of trees beside the river. The house was twenty feet in the air with a wide barn connected to it. A woman met us as we came near and Chris embraced her before turning to us, “My wife, Natalia.”

After introducing us she looked at him, “I saw an orc.”

Chris shook his head and looked at us, “they have come this way a few times but never learn.”

They helped move our horses up into his barn and then our sleeping things. I sat on the wide porch with Little One in my lap as the sun set. Chris sat beside me and pointed towards a field, “dumb orcs are going to end up as Burrower food.”

I watched in the dim light as the orcs suddenly yelled and jumped around before starting to scream. It went on for a few more minutes before it became quiet. I glanced towards Chris, “the orcs do not come up through the trees?”

He chuckled, “They used to but I put up a high stone wall with orc skulls lining it. The dumb buggers will not even climb over it if they can go around.”

Suddenly there were a lot more screams. I glanced at Chris as I lifted my rifle, “That is not a few orcs.”