David Farland - Beyond the Gate

“We are our bodies,” Ceravanne whispered. “We are all imprisoned in a cage of flesh, doomed to sometimes think and act in ways we would prefer not to. You, I, Gallen, the Inhuman. Maggie, I hate myself for what I tried to do, and I am grateful to Gallen for resisting me. I won’t let this happen again.”

Maggie took her fists and rubbed her eyes with them. It was so late, and she was confused. She wanted to be angry, and it might have been that she was tired, or it might have had more to do with Ceravanne’s ability to manipulate her, or it might have been that it was just the right thing to do. In any case, Maggie just shook her head. “All right, then,” she said, and she went over to Gallen and lay beside her husband.

My husband , she thought. Mine. And I won’t let any damned Tharrin or any damned Inhuman take him away from me.

She slept soundly that night, with no disturbing visitors. And such was Gallen’s woodsmanship that for the next day, they saw no sign of pursuit. The only evidence that someone might live in this region came when they passed a small stream, and enormous footprints could be seen in the mud. Tallea was driving the team, and Orick sat beside her, but when Orick asked what made the tracks, she only urged the horses faster and said, “You don’t want to know.”

Maggie was sitting in the back of the wagon, and she’d been holding Gallen’s hand, and she squeezed it as they passed the muddy tracks, and Gallen squeezed her hand back. He sat watching her for a bit as the wagon rolled away, and at last he bent forward and kissed her, experimentally, as if it were the first time.

On the evening of the third day out from High Home, Gallen left the ancient highway, taking the wagon up a narrow pass, beside ruins so ancient that no single building still stood.

For the first time, Ceravanne seemed uncertain of his direction. “Where are we going?” she asked. “Are you heading to Ophat? The Nigangi Pass is down below to the east.”

“And it may be closed to us,” Gallen said. “So we’re heading to Ophat. I need to get some height, and from this peak, I should be able to see all of the way from here to Moree.”

Thus he led them up an ever steeper trail, past ancient ruins above the tree line. Long the travelbeast climbed, until it was exhausted, foam dripping from its mouth. Often the road was ruined, and portions had dropped from the sides of the treacherous cliff to the chasms beneath.

Still, the road wound on, up through cold ruins where bitter winds blew among the rocks until at last they reached one sheltered niche between two arms of the mountain. There, some ancient hallways still stood, carved back under recesses of stone, a hundred meters in from the treacherous road. There was a great pillared hall, and beside each of its massive doors was a carved image of a somber giant in breastplates, carrying heavy spears in one hand, a gem in the other. Ancient cobblestones littered a broad courtyard, empty of all but the sparest dead grasses.

The stonework here was cracked and old, far older, Maggie guessed, than anything that she had seen before.

“The travelbeast can safely climb no higher,” Gallen said, “and forage is scarce enough here as it is. You can camp inside the hallway, and may even build a small fire. No scouts will trouble you here tonight.”

“Why is that?” Orick asked.

“We have been climbing for the past four days, and now we are at nearly three thousand meters on this peak. The scouts’ wings give them little purchase in such thin air. Though they could walk up the road as we do, they are not likely to bother. Besides, we are on the far side of the mountain from where they will be searching.”

So Gallen had them unload the wagon and let the travel beast graze in the courtyard. Huge cisterns in the courtyard were full of water, though a green moss had built up all along the basins. Still it seemed drinkable.

Maggie went inside the ancient palace and found that some passages led to caves that delved deep under the mountain. Some Derrit dung littered the great hall, but it was old, dry dung that could have been there for years. Still, Gallen insisted on securing a defensible room, and he left Tallea in charge.

“I have much scouting to do on my own tonight,” Gallen said rather formally, “and I will be climbing the road higher. You should be all right.”

“I’m coming with you,” Maggie said.

“That isn’t necessary,” Gallen said, and he looked into her eyes with some relief, as if he’d wanted to beg her to come, but was somehow afraid that she wouldn’t. “It will be bitter cold up on the mountaintop, and I’m not even sure if there’s a shelter.”

“I’m not going because it’s necessary. I’m going because it’s desirable,” Maggie said. She took his arm in hers. “And I’ll just have to trust you to keep me warm.”

Before they left, Maggie kissed Orick on the snout, and Gallen patted his head, and then they were gone, heading out the doorway to the tower atop the mountain.

Something about the formality of their departure bothered Orick. It was as if they were newlyweds, scurrying off for their honeymoon. In a way, they were formally bidding the rest of the world good-bye. Orick felt a ponderous emptiness in his chest, for Gallen had been his closest friend, and now Orick felt somehow deserted. He went and curled up on the floor feeling empty and barren.

Ceravanne must have sensed his mood, for she came to him after a while, put her thin arms around him.

“Why do you think he did that, went off without me?” Orick asked.

“It may have been my influence,” Ceravanne whispered. “I strengthened Maggie’s bond to him when I let him touch my skin. The Inhuman tried to break that bond in him, but I think Maggie has reawakened it. It is a terrible thing to be alone when you become so deeply bonded. Gallen needs her now, as he needs water or air. And I suspect that she has needed him as badly all along. We should rejoice that they have each other.”

Orick listened to the words, but found little comfort in them.

“And maybe it is also the fear of battle,” Ceravanne said at last. “We are about to cross the Telgood Mountains, into the desert of Moree. None of us can be sure what our future holds. So he seeks to show his love for her, in case he dies.”

Orick just grunted, and Ceravanne went back beside the fire. A burning cold was seeping through the stone walls, though Orick hardly minded. But a minute later, Tallea came and knelt beside him.

“When I young, I live in crèche,” Tallea whispered into his ear. “My sister slept with me, fought beside me, for many years. When grow, she go to marriage, I go to war. It hurt, when she slept with another.”

Orick didn’t answer, but Tallea went on. “Someday, you find bear woman to sleep with?” She said it half in comfort, half as question.

“No,” Orick whispered. “Bear women don’t love the way that human women do.”

“Oh, very sad,” Tallea said, and to Orick’s surprise, she lay down beside him, curled up against his thick fur. And she just held him, like a friend, until he fell asleep.

For his part, Gallen took Maggie up an ancient stair, and on his back he carried firewood and some blankets. There, at the peak of the mountain, the memories newly downloaded in his head told him an ancient race with powerful vision had once built a tower to keep watch over the valleys below.

Indeed, he found the tower as legend said, though it was but a small, cylindrical shack carved from stone, stuck between a crevice in the rocks. Still, it contained two large beds carved into stone, and a dome-shaped fire chamber with a tiny chimney. Gallen built a good fire, and soon the room was surprisingly warm.