Chapter 5

“What the hell was that box back there?” Ezza asked. “People don’t spontaneously combust.”

“With a little help they can,” Aden said. “The box was a nasty little trick called ‘the oven.’ It tricks the person holding it to uncontrollably ramp up his phyzeec to an unsustainable level. The victim is instantly charred to a crisp by their own hand. There were several boxes on display in the library, upstairs, of course.”

“Of course,” Ezza said with flourish. “What in the gods’ names would I know about what is in your library?” His brow was pinched with concern and anxiety plainly written across it. “Upstairs. That man is ash and cinder and all you can say is ‘of course.’”

Aden shrugged. “Sorry, I rarely get to teach willing students these days and I have a bad habit of jumping from point A to point D, forgetting to explain B and C.

“What I should have said was that the library is large and consisted of several floors. The main floor is for novices and students. Admittance to the books and the displays on the top floor is reserved only for masters of phyzeek. School books can be boring and all the truly good stuff - weapons, espionage, intrigue, and lusty tomes of Masters’ adventures - are upstairs.

“Based on his recent demise, we may conclude that people like the late unlamented Grimwald do not go to the library often and do not explore the upper floors, which do not house any books required for the temple school. He probably never went; we will never know for certain.

“If Grimwald had been the least bit curious during his novitiate, he might have survived Brule’s treachery, an assassination task with no hope of return. Just how lacking of thought, knowledge and basic curiosity could Grimwald have been to fail to realize there was no way to return? The big button device that killed him was up the stairs and two display cases down on the left – with big letters and a complete description. He was a full-fledged practitioner of the temple, yet he died of basic ignorance.”

Ezza sighed. “Even I know there are many kinds of knowledge, common sense being one of them.”

“Agreed,” Aden said. “By the time I came to the Temple, most no longer spent hours searching the shelves and poking in the cabinets. I loved having an area on an upper floor to myself for hours; how lucky I thought I was when it happened. ‘It was a good day’ I would tell my friends at dinner. ‘Let me tell you what I found.’ How was I to know my isolation was a sign of the end times?”

“May I make a further observation?” Ezza said and, not waiting for a reply, continued. “How long are you going to rub this point of temple rot and how long must I endure your rant? A three- or four-story building with magical items to touch sounds like great adventure but the commentary is wearing. We’ve got a week’s worth of good walking to reach Crestfall and I was hoping for something a bit more companionable. I’ve heard enough lamentation already to last me a lifetime.”

“My apologies,” Aden said automatically without intent. “Tell me about this hold we are aiming towards.”

They walked the old road for eight days, taking time to hunt, to stretch, and even bathe as they followed the river. They found grain sheaves and corn growing in clumps, probably on the remains of ancient farmland. The land was bountiful and the only thing missing was human beings. Aden made many mental notes along the way to add to his thesis of human abandonment. The world was fading away.

On the eighth day, the two men came around a small hillock and stopped to gaze.

“A cut stone keep?” Aden said. “Out here, in the middle of nowhere? Granite?”

His eyes stared at the aging walls. They were grey and still stood solid from the foundation stones on the bottom to the square towers he could see standing sentinel on the other side, facing south. Aden could not spy any cracks or missing stones that often marked the slow crumbling of all things manmade. There were spots underneath stone ledges where fungus left green stains or where brambles had gained a temporary foothold only to die back and collapse. So untouched was the keep that even grasses surrounding were untouched.

“Welcome to Crestfall,” Ezza said. “Within these walls lies a warm bed, a full tankard, and if the gods be kind, a generous set of breasts.”

“I think generous sets of breasts are easy to come by; however, a generous set that doesn’t sway all the way down to the bellybutton may be a truer blessing,” Aden said.

“Swords and magic and gruesome deaths, no problem,” Ezza said with a shake of his head. “The only miracle you want is a young woman’s teats on a mature woman’s chest. Beware of your age, wizard, a young woman’s breasts could kill either one of us.”

“I could die with a smile on my face,” Aden said, pausing to consider the possibility. “I used to tell my betters that I expected to die at the tender age of ninety, run through by the jealous husband of my mistress.”

Ezza chuckled. “If you are going to dream, you might as well dream big, I suppose. I always said that if I make it to seventy with a stiff upper lip, I will take it as a blessing.”

Aden nodded with understanding. “No one told us what forty years of age was going to be like. Even if they had, we would not have believed them. Come, swaying bosoms await.”

The road swung past the west side of the hold. As the two men approached from the north, Aden commented that the walls were not manned.

“What is the point,” Ezza said. “The only fear out here is wolves, bears and the like. There is better hunting for them back the way we came without any human interference; they stay away. This fort is the most northern point of human settlement. Look closely, even the fields and orchards are only south of the walls. As I told you before, I am probably the only human to venture north on this road for many years and I go only because my lord pays me to march in that direction.”

“Is it a law that no one can plant on the north side or perhaps the soil is poor?” Aden said.

“No law and no reason,” Ezza said. “People will simply not take one extra step northward; could be wizardry don’t you think? These huge stones would indicate wizardry but there is no memory of a wizard’s shrine or warding room.”

“You present a puzzle, journey friend,” Aden said, pulling his travel cloak tighter. “Perhaps we will find answers on the inside, after we find a bit of comfort and respite.”

They left the road as they passed the southwest corner of the keep. Aden could see a well-worn path that led from the gates southward to meet up with the road further down; they were walking across uneven ground strewn with rocks and weeds all the way to the gates. From the south side, Aden could get a better view of the two towers, burgeoning square structures that rose many meters above the wall parapet. They looked wide enough to hold a small catapult each but seemed better suited for statues or weather measuring equipment. Only on the turrets did Aden see any hint of decay, old scars from projectiles that had scored deep into the stone blocks. Some ancient battle had focused on the turrets.

The guards at the gate were sloppy and relaxed. They gave proper due to the “Old Sergeant” and welcomed him back from his journey. They gave Aden a bit of an eye but said little in his direction. They did not grab their halberds from the gateway or move to block his way. They just stared.

“Afternoon, gentlemen,” Aden said with a cock of his head. Ezza placed his hand on Aden’s shoulder and together they walked through the open gate. The layout of the keep was simple with buildings in straight lines, two wide avenues and streets crossing them all the way to the back wall.