Chapter 9

"Wake up, you sleepy head!" I kicked the small mound of blankets, where I guessed Gaku lay. Even I was a little leery of the guard wolves Blaster had set on duty, so I let my loud voice wake the Muse. He sat up and stretched, scratching a wolf behind an ear.

"I swear," Blaster said, "I didn't even close my eyes last night, let alone get any sleep."

Gaku and I laughed. The noises of Blaster snoring throughout the night was our beacon, bringing us safely back to the campsite, when we were on watch.

"What is so funny?" Blaster cast a small spell, releasing his troupe of guardians. "Go on, boys! Good job! Go get yourself some breakfast!"

The wolves disappeared into the woods.

"I seemed to have missed my turn at sentry," Blaster said, somewhat self-consciously. "Did anything happen?"

Gaku told him about the Zibong and its reaction to my poetry. Blaster just laughed.

"You must be seeing things!" He chortled, "I know a thing or two about Zibongs and it isn't possible. They are spirit creatures like the Gods, but where the Gods show themselves on this plane and belong in the realm of Heaven, Zibongs belong someplace much more Evil. They are Immortal like a God, so you can never kill one. Its hold on this world is nebulous, however, so you can easily break their grasp, sending them hurtling back to the Netherworld. Of course, if you are standing next to one when that happens, the shock wave will snap your own spirit's hold on your body, killing you instantly. No matter how strong you are, a Zibong's 'Death' will kill you too. So, be careful, if you see another one of those."

"Now," Blaster sat back from where he was packing up his gear, "Why would such an Evil creature be interested in your poetry?"

"Maybe because no one else is?" I laughed, and shoved a bowl of hot boiled oats at Blaster. It was all I was prepared to fix for the two of them this morning.

Blaster finished off his oats in a rush, eating like one of his pet wolves. "I am really sorry I missed my turn at watch. Why didn't you wake me?"

"No trouble at all, my friend," I rinsed out my bowl and packed it. "I took all the watches last night."

"It must be this outdoors air... or are you feeling better without all the wine?"

"That I am!"

We mounted up and I took the lead from Blaster. I led the horses over the rise into the small vale we saw last night. It was empty. We had to lead our horses carefully through the trees, but even so, we made very good time, exiting the vale before lunchtime.

The north end of the vale was a narrow defile, walls of fine stone reaching up high over our heads on either side. Blaster looked distinctly uncomfortable.

"Worried about ambushes?" I asked him, "It doesn't seem to be our enemies style."

"No, not that," he replied. "I recognize this place. I haven't been here in years, though, since training. I used to come up here with a friend from town, we were street kids together. He was just about the only one I ever knew, besides me, to get out of those gangs. We studied some of the same spells, but he was in training to be a Mage and I was a Poet."

"You mean Spellblaster?" I asked, "I thought he was dead."

"Most likely." Blaster replied, "He disappeared before the Sohni invaded, treasure hunting. He was always greedy for rare items. If he was searching someplace dangerous when the 'taint' started... well, I guess it is likely that he is dead. We used to go to this old quarry that's up here, there was always some old junk we could find in the mines.

"We seem to be headed that way," I remarked. "Perhaps the quarry is our goal?"

"If it isn't, I can't think what else it is," Blaster said, "There isn't a whole lot else up here."

The defile ended in a landslide of loose stone, perhaps twice the height of a man. It blocked completely the entrance to the quarry, with no way to lead the horses around.

"Ready for a fight, boys?" I hopped down from my horse, tying it to some scrub bushes.

"You seem to be getting into the spirit of the Quest, Gareth," Blaster said, securing his horse loosely to some more shrubs. I guess he was thinking there was a likelihood we may not be back and he wanted the horse to be able to free itself. "Why all the sudden enthusiasm?"