Stephen Zimmer - Crown of Vengeance

“A man with some good taste,” complimented Gunther, who appeared more than happy to oblige the young man. His serious expression was brightened by the trace of a mischievous smirk. “It looks like the mead has chosen to give you the moustache of a Saxan thane.”

Ryan, his mouth full with a large bite of bread sopped generously in the porridge-stew, replied slowly, in a muffled voice. “I think I could get very used to this.”

Gunther shook his head, and let another amused smirk escape. “We will not always be able to drink so well, though you are fortunate that I am a good hunter, and can hunt these woods freely.”

There was no arrogance in his voice, the tone simply being that of a statement of fact. The woodsman then shot a quick glance towards Erin. “Meat is much more scarce in the villages, and I get good trade value for it. Mead, on the other hand, is a real luxury. Elfrida, wife of Leodulf, from the village near Dragon’s Back Ridge in Beordenshire, is most skilled in the making of mead. Ale is much more common in these lands. I live with no woman, so I have learned to make my own ale. I will give you some of it soon, so that you can judge my skill for yourself.”

Ryan finished off another cup of the treasured mead.

“Slow down, young lad,” Gunther cautioned Ryan. “You may not yet realize the full power of that mead. Elfrida puts great strength into it. Nonetheless, I do wish to provide you all a good welcome feast, as best I can.”

Taking another mouthful of food, Gunther stood up and took the empty pitcher over to a corner of the room, where he refilled it from the contents of a small wooden barrel. Returning back to his stool, he leaned over and refilled Ryan’s cup again, up to the brim, with a little sloshing over the edge.

“If it would okay to ask you, where does that door go to?” Lee asked Gunther, as the woodsman settled back down, pointing over towards the closed door in the back of the room.

Gunther nodded slowly to Lee, his mouth occupied for a moment as he took another prodigious draught of the mead. He set the cup down upon the trestle board, glancing briefly towards the door as all of his guests waited expectantly for his answer.

“To the abode of the Unguhur. It is the reason why I chose this place to build my home… once I made myself known to them, and knew of their presence here,” Gunther began, as his eyes took on a more faraway gaze.

“I discovered it all only by the whims of fortune. I had heard of them in tales before. The Stone Hides, they were once called, dwelling in a forested land populated by an alliance of tribes, which lies to the east of the Gallean kingdom.

“Better yet, not long after I discovered them, I was able to befriend them. Not an easy thing, when they diligently keep to themselves in their underground world, and do not concern themselves with the surface kingdoms of humankind.

“Rest assured, they know of the door. It would not be there if they objected to it, believe me,” Gunther commented, with a low chuckle. “In a way, I guard an entrance into their world. They do not have to worry about the smaller minds among us, who might try to go down to attack or hunt them, though it would be great folly to even try to do so.”

“What are Unguhur?” asked Lynn curiously, posing the question that was on Lee’s own tongue.

“They are a strong race that dwells under the surface of the world. A very strong race… of fierce appearance, but quite gentle in nature. You will see for yourselves soon enough. Much taller than a man, and so much stronger. Thick skin… almost like a leather jerkin for a man. There is a good reason why those tribes called them Stone Hides, believe my words. There is a world under this world, and the Unguhur are no small part of it,” Gunther informed them.

“Do you go there often?” asked Ryan, nearly finished with his next cup of mead.

Ryan’s head was evidently feeling much lighter, as he was swaying a little, and a silly smile was now beginning to emerge upon his face. The young man would have to be cut off from quaffing more mead before much longer.

“I go there when I may. Sometimes they have even let me hunt and fish within their realm,” Gunther replied. “That is no small wonder, for one who naturally inhabits the surface world.”

“So, what brought you here? To this… place…” Ryan asked, his inhibitions lessening. “You don’t live in a village. Just out here by yourself, with all of your creatures… out in the woods. What made you want to live here? Why not around people?”

For a brief moment, Lee could have sworn that Gunther’s eyes misted over. If they had, the woodsman made a quick recovery, but he also made it abundantly clear that the question concerned a topic that he did not yet want to address.

His voice was low and steady as he responded to Ryan. “We will speak of it perhaps another time. Good fortune seldom drives a man to live by himself. That is all I can say, and want to say at this time. Do not press me further on this.”

Ryan nodded, his mirth curtailed somewhat by the somber tone of their host. Ryan was not so far gone into his drink that he was unable to retract the grin on his face. Lee felt quite relieved for that lingering sensibility, as he could tell that the subject was very sensitive to the woodsman.

“And your creatures? Do you raise them?” Lynn asked, clearly sensing the need to change the subject of conversation between them.

“The Jaghuns? I have raised every one that you have seen here, from their birth,” Gunther remarked with a flare of pride in his voice and expression. “The only ones you will see anywhere, except for where their kind naturally lives within the Shadowlands.”

“The Shadowlands?” queried Ryan.

“A very dark and brooding land… very, very far from here, to the east. My travels carried me there, many years ago… such a dark and dangerous land… I was fortunate to get away from there,” he told them, staring off with a grim look on his face, as if remembering old fears that had rested dormant in him.

He paused for a few moments, swallowing a mouthful of food, and taking another drink out of his mead cup, before resuming. “I found two Jaghun cubs stranded in the wilderness. Their mother had clearly been killed, as I would have likely been dead to come upon two cubs otherwise. In that terrible land, they stood no chance… I decided to take mercy upon them, and I took them with me. To my later fortune, one was a male, and one was a female.

“It was a long journey back, fraught with many perils, but they made it to Saxany alive and healthy with me. Those special two have since departed from this world, after living a full measure of life, but their blood still lives on within Ave. Their blood has grown and multiplied with me here in the Saxan woodlands, and they will never be forgotten.”

Lee greatly desired to question Gunther further about the Shadowlands, but held his impulse back in order to respect the woodsman’s earlier admonishment to avoid asking questions regarding his past. He would have to be content with the information that Gunther was willing to offer, though he hoped that it would not be long before the woodsman was more favorably disposed towards indulging his curiosity.

Lynn then ventured a safer question, which still addressed some of his curiosities.

“So, what are the lands surrounding your home?” she asked him, dipping another piece of bread. “We really have no idea where we are right now.”

“The Kingdom of Ehrengard lies to the west of Saxany, connected by a narrow stretch of land. To the north, across the ocean waters, is a land of dense forests and hills, populated by tribal people. A few of these tribes formed a kind of alliance, known as the Five Realms. They have a fierce love of their ways and land, and I am certain that they are not very favored by the Unifier,” Gunther said, as an inkling of a grin played about his face. “I truly admire their heart, and my hope is that they are left to their own will.