Chapter 17: Farintine

We were sitting outside after a late morning storm. Winter was coming and it was beginning to get cooler. We had looked but no raw star silver could be had short of Scarlet mountain or Finagore. Dusty, a new elven ranger cleared his throat, “Since you are thinking of going to Dawn’s Step to forge the sword you could go to Farintine.”

I looked at him as Aveine frowned, “I thought Farintine was destroyed?”

He shook his head, “There was a lot that was destroyed but not all. Those that took the Farintine Heart back said most of the galleys are intact.”

I nodded and looked at Aveline, “It would have star silver ore?”

She nodded, “We would have to go through the galleys and deep into the mountain but star silver is there.”

I sat back to think and looked at her, “You do not want to go?”

She smiled, “It is not that I do not want to go. We left there for a reason.”

I smiled, “Your people left there.”

I looked across the square before sighing, “It would be closer to Dawn’s Step.”

I looked at Aveline, “You need a proper sword.”

We had talked of this and she smiled, “And you think you can make a great weapon.”

I thought of the magic inside me and nodded, “I can make a sword.”

She nodded, “Tomorrow morning.”

When we left in the morning it was overcast and windy. We could both smell the rain in the air. Before we were out of the pass it was pouring and it did not stop as we went across the north plains. By the time we reached the marsh before Dawn’s Step it had been snowing for a week. It made traveling through the marsh much harder.

I could feel a change as we moved through the giant trees. There was a sense of something not right and the forest was a lot quieter. We were almost to the city when we found the orcs. It was a small group and they were frightened. It looked like they had come from the north and were escaping from something.

We waited until they were close before using our bows. Unlike other times they did not even try to fight and only fled to the south faster. Aveline was frowning as I returned from making sure those we had hit were dead, “They did not act right.”

I agreed and looked after those that had continued to flee. We walked into the empty city and could see a few signs of something large that had been here. We checked the large forge and the bins of coal before making camp. Aveline drew a map while we huddled and Farintine was only three days to the north.

When we left it was once more snowing and we could barely see ten paces in front of us. The first couple of days there was thick forest in the mountains with smaller game. The last day we kept seeing burnt trees or scorch marks. I thought of lightning but it still seemed strange. When we saw the huge elegant doors of Farintine it was mid afternoon.

We looked in and put our things to one side in what looked like a guard room. We went out to hunt for dinner and brought back a couple of rabbits. We cooked dinner in the guard room using an ancient fireplace and then rolled out our bedroll beside the fire. There was plenty of wood someone had left, probable those that had returned the Farintine Heart.

We had closed the ancient door but could hear if anything moved beyond. We were up early and had to wait for the sun to rise before leaving. We used an ancient star silver lantern from the guards room and added chemicals. Moving through the long abandoned halls and galleys had us trying to be silent.

There were huge crystal chandeliers with intricate chemical lanterns. Faded tapestries hung from the ceilings and walls. Star silver weapons hung on walls and tempted us. It was not long before we were in narrower halls that led deeper into the mountain. Several hours later we came to caverns that had collapsed and began to hunt for ways through.

After that we would find ways collapsed or blocked. We made camp in a tiny area beside an underground stream. When we woke it was more of the same for what felt like most of the day as we went deeper into the mountain. We were moving through a collapsed cavern when one wall dropped and the floor seemed to shatter.

Aveline dove right and caught a huge rock and hung on. I leaped for a huge rock and landed as it suddenly dropped through the floor. I tried to ride it as it fell and then slid but when it began to tumble I jumped. The next moments had me bouncing from one sliding boulder to another. It was after I had fallen from a long drop that I hit and everything stopped.

It was dark and I hurt everywhere as I slowly began checking myself. I heard Aveline yelling above and a long ways away. I yelled and searched in my pack by feel for a tiny piece of candle. It took a minute to light it and then I started looking around. Everything around me was sparkling and I saw thick veins of star silver ore.

I turned around and stopped moving when I saw the black orb that seemed to pull at me and push at the same time. I felt a chill pass through me as I kept looking at it. I put the candle on a rock and moved a little closer to see the orb better. The rock it was on tilted and it rolled and fell. I reached out to catch it and froze when my hand caught it.

The world exploded and it felt as if I went with it. All I felt was searing pain and I thought of Elvenhome and the gods as I screamed and kept screaming. Suddenly the pain was gone, or rather put aside. I was someplace that glowed like the inside of thick fog. I heard murmuring voices and looked around as more of the fog peeled back.