GoCorral

Chapter 11 – Shrine of Artemis (Continued)

Galandir said, “I’ve already been making the offerings. It becomes second nature.”

Blendegad said, “So that’s what you were doing? Every time you picked up an acorn and threw it you were giving an offering to Artemis?”

Galandir enthusiastically nodded. “Exactly! You’ve got it.”

Blendegad shrugged, picked up an acorn, and chucked it down the hillside they were walking on. Tereman raised his hands to say something but made fists instead. He looked away then picked up an acorn. He threw it up the hill instead.

Blendegad said, “There we go. Now we can hunt deer?”

Galandir said, “Just make sure its a good enough offering. You can’t do it just once.”

Tereman said, “We’ll do plenty more. Let’s get to the top of this hill first. Then we’ll see about hunting before our supplies run low.”

The group hiked up the last portion of the hill they were climbing. At the top, rather than a wooded area, there was a clearing. The space had been hidden from their previous hill to the south by tree cover on the southern slope. The top and northern slope were a beautiful meadow filled with grass, flowers, ground animals, butterfly’s, and birds. At the very center of the meadow, at the top of the hill, was a small shack.

Blendegad said, “The shrine!”

“Must be,” said Tereman.

The three walked over to the small structure. It was built from wooden planks, now long since damaged by rain and sun over the years. Animals kept their distance as the trio trudged through the grassy meadow. Dozens of small brown eyes watched their approach.

The walls covered the south, west, and north sides of the tiny shack. The trio circled around to the eastern side and peered in. Within was a simple shrine. A small statue of the Huntress on a rickety table. The statue was carved from limestone. It depicted Artemis with a crown of leaves and a bow held tightly to her chest. She wore a short dress for ease of running while on the hunt. On the table in front of the statue was a small silver plate. A withered garland of flowers lay on the plate.

Blendegad said, “I can see why they wanted this returned to the city for care. Look at the state of it.”

Tereman said, “Yes. Looks as if it would fall over if you touched it the wrong way.”

Blendegad said, “Also, this shrine looks suspiciously like an outhouse…”

Tereman said through a smile, “Shh! The goddess might hear you.”

Galandir looked off to the north. “Hold. What’s that?”

Galandir pointed in that direction. The others followed his gesture to see a blue spindle structure in the northern valley. The meadow descended towards it. Halfway down the hill the tree line reformed. From above they could see the trees around the structure knocked down outwards from the center. The spindle extended from the structure through the upper branches of the beech and alder trees to the west.

Galandir drew his sword. He began the incantation to summon his invisible armor.

“Hang on,” said Tereman. He detached his new shield from his pack. Tereman had purchased it in Phoenix when they outfitted themselves for their trip. He strapped it onto his left arm then drew his sword. Blendegad drew his as well. Tereman said, “Okay, now I’m ready.”

They made their way down quietly. At the edge of the forest Galandir lowered his pack to the ground and indicated the others to do the same. The final few steps through the wood were as silent as possible.

Unfortunately, Tereman was unused to hunting in forests. His feet stepped on twigs and underbrush, creating an obvious noise. Blendegad cringed at every footfall from his hoplite armor clad companion. Anybody listening would know they were coming.

Blendegad whispered, “They’ll hear you! Let’s just rush in quickly and take them by surprise before they can react.”

Galandir whispered, “Be patient! We don’t know what’s over there.”

“No, I’m going now!”

Blendegad ran forward through the trees. Tereman groaned. He and Galandir swiftly followed behind him. They burst from the foliage into the area with downed trees by the spindle structure.

Adlishar corpses lay among the trees and broken branches, victims of a gruesome attack. Their bodies were chewed to the bones from predators and scavengers. The gristle around the joints remained along with bits and pieces in other regions. Their orange skin, spots, and black eyes were gone, but the trio could tell they were adlishars by the strange elbow joints and the silver swords that lay next to each body. They had gone down fighting.

What they had been fighting was immediately obvious. Along with the adlishar bodies were the carcasses of several wolves, bears, and two mountain lions. The animals were picked over less than the adlishars but still showed the signs of scavengers eating their fill. The more preserved animal corpses displayed dry cuts and stabs inflicted by an edged weapon of some sort, such as the flowing silver swords of the adlishars.

The encounter occurred a few days ago. The smell of carrion and rot hit the noses of Blendegad, Galandir, and Tereman as they entered the battlefield. Blendegad pulled back as he entered. He uttered a guttural sound as he held back from retching. Galandir and Tereman ran up beside him. They held back similar reactions, slightly muted due to the small warning Blendegad’s response had given them for what awaited around the spindle structure.

Tereman said, “Good gods, what happened here?”

Galandir looked across the devastation and said, “The wrath of Artemis. They offended her and they were punished.”

Blendegad stepped forward and kicked one of the adlishar bodies with bright blue trousers and shirt. “Should’ve been throwing more acorns around.” Blendegad bent down and picked up one of the silver swords. The rippling silver surface flowed towards his hand, crashed against the hilt, and the retreated back to the hooked tip to reestablish its slow, erratic movement.

Tereman came forward and picked up one of the silver swords with his shield hand. “How do they sheath these?” He sheathed his own sword before running his hand along the flowing silver sword from the hilt to the point. “Huh. It feels flat.”

Blendegad looked around at the corpses. “You’re right. None of them have scabbards.”

Galandir said, “I never noticed that before. How strange.” He picked up a silver sword of his own.

Tereman said, “These will be good mementos, but we need to focus. There could still be some of them alive inside the building.” With nowhere to stow the weapon, Tereman stabbed it into the ground. Blendegad and Galandir repeated the action with the swords they’d acquired. Tereman retrieved his own weapon from its sheath. He led the three of them forward into the blue spindle structure.

A thorough search of the spindle structure revealed no living adlishars within. There were twenty six dead bodies the trio counted in total, including those outside. There were a few forest critters within the structure eating the bodies within. The animals scattered as the adventurers made their way through the twisting halls and rooms.

Their search of the spindle structure revealed it as an elaborate barracks or fort of some kind. The layout was similar but not identical to the spindle structure. There were thirty three private bedrooms in total with one of them being twice the size of the others for the leader of the group. Galandir identified a prison area similar to the one he and Stenvall had found at the structure by Shalerton. The egg room Tereman and Blendegad had fought in was present as well. The whole complex seemed dark and terrifying, riddled as it was with dead adlishars and dead animals.

Additional rooms included a kitchen, mess hall, training room, alchemical laboratory, and some sort of office room. The kitchen and mess hall were familiar areas. The training room wall had a rack with silver swords in it. There were around fifty slots and three dozen of the swords were missing. Tereman realized that the adlishars must keep their swords here rather than in scabbards. Training mannequins, wood blocks, and target boards were available for testing one’s ability. A shelf above the sword racks held iron balls of varying sizes. Tereman was unsure of what their use was. He grabbed a few of the smaller ones to take with him.

The alchemical laboratory contained many plants that Blendegad had never heard of. Jars contained strange leaves in the shape of sickles and odd square yellow and red flowers. A wooden tray held a quivering, shining jelly-like substance. Blendegad took the jars containing plants he had never seen before. He found a sack to carry the jars in a drawer underneath the alembic. The jelly was another interesting find. He used a spoon to scoop some into a jar of salt he’d emptied. The jelly jar went into the sack as well.

The office was at the peak of the structure where the spindle extended into the forest. The shape of the room was a half circle, with the flat edge facing the rest of the structure. Windows surrounded the room, looking out at the trees and sky. Several desks positioned, pointing outwards. Each desk had a large pipe of some kind coming out of the center of it. The pipe curved to face the desk chair, but the end was covered with a pane of glass. Dozens of dials and switches covered the desks around the pipes.

None of the three adventurers could discern what the desks and pipes were for. Not typical office work for sure. Galandir used a spell and found dozens of magical auras within the room. His eyes were inexperienced at examining such things. The mixture of so many auras together in the same place was overwhelming. He couldn’t even determine the scaffolding of the many spells weaved together within the office room.

The group exited the structure together.

Tereman said, “How many bodies did we find?”

Blendegad answered, “Twenty six.”

“And how many sleeping quarters?”

Galandir answered, “Thirty three.”

Tereman said, “That leaves seven unaccounted for.”

Blendegad wondered, “Where would they be if they’re not here?”

Tereman said, “Not hunting. There was plenty of food in there.” He pointed at the structure behind them. “And they would have had plenty of wild game right here.”

Blendegad said, “Maybe those seven left before the battle with the animals?”

Galandir said, “Let’s look around the edge of the clearing. There might be some tracks to follow.”

Blendegad and Tereman nodded. They joined Galandir in looking around the clearing’s edge for signs that the adlishars had left. Blendegad and Tereman had some rudimentary tracking experience from hunting trips around Densmith or on patrol. Neither of them had the skills to truly find humanoid tracks days afterwards.

Galandir had some practical experience in tracking but the majority of his ability came from lessons taught by his hunting instructor, Filanean. Old Filanean taught tracking to Galandir and the others taking the ranger course. They focused heavily on skills that were useful against humanoid invaders from east of Cimmeria, orcs, goblins, and lizardfolk. Those same techniques for tracking the regular menaces of Cimmeria were useful in their current situation.

After a long search of the area around the structure Galandir called out, “Over here! I found something.” Tereman and Blendegad came over. Galandir told them, “Do you see these broken sticks here and that imprint in the leaves? Definitely a bare foot. The adlishars don’t use shoes. It has to be them.”

The other two nodded. Tereman said, “Whatever you say.”

Galandir said, “They went off to the north in that direction. We can follow them.”

Blendegad asked, “How long ago did they leave?”

Galandir said, “I’m not sure. It was a few days ago. Probably the same day of that battle.” Galandir pointed over his shoulder with his thumb.

Tereman said, “We don’t know how far they’ve gone. Let’s get our packs before we head out.”

Galandir nodded. “Alright.”

The trail did not go far. Galandir led Blendegad and Tereman through the trees along the valley floor between the hills. The reagents from the alchemy laboratory and the iron weights from the training room were stowed in the group’s packs. They traveled north, going upriver along the trickling stream that marked the valley. The stream and the trail that Galandir followed ended at a calm pool in the forest.

The pool had a magical feeling to it that the three men all noticed immediately. Moss covered stones defined the water’s edge. The water itself was almost crystal clear, reflecting the cerulean sky above like a mirror. Small swirls of emerald-colored algae meandered across the surface. Beech trees surrounded the pool’s edge. Branches hung over the water, heavy with ripening yellow beechnuts. The noise of birds and insects within the woods quieted as they looked upon the pool. As if the animals of the woods respected the stillness of the pool.

The group approached the pool on the right side of the stream bank. Further along the right stone border of the pool was a strange sight. The thin grass and the trunk of a beech tree were stained darkly. Galandir focused his gaze on the color and saw streaks leading further into the wood to the east.

Tereman whispered, “This is the domain of Artemis. We should be careful. Pools like this… They are unwelcome places for men with eyes.”

Galandir said, “Shh… I see something over there.” He pointed at the stains.

Blendegad said, “What is that?”

Galandir said, “Stay here. I’ll take a look.”

Galandir tip-toed over to the stains. He sniffed the air. Blood. The adlishars? His eyes followed the dark red trail to the right. Just a few feet into the woods was a pile of bodies. The orange adlishars with black spots were stacked on top of each other like firewood. Some intelligence had killed them by the pool and dragged their bodies just out of sight.

Tereman looked back down the stream. Blendegad kept his orange eyes on the pool. A small ripple extended from a point on the far side of the water. Had something landed there? Blendegad scanned the tree line around the pool. Another ripple. What was causing that?

A face rose out of the water. Long blue hair in strings as water flowed off the hair into the pool. A light blue face with large blue eyes and long eye lashes. A thin chin and an elegant neck. A woman stood up on the other side of the pool. The water flowed past her shoulders, cascading down her chest. Blendegad ripped his eyes away, heeding Tereman’s warning.

Galandir stared at the pile of bodies. The second from the bottom moved slightly. It shifted away from the pool, deeper into the forest. Was it dead? He couldn’t tell from complexion along with the creature’s orange skin.

Blendegad gave a harsh whisper, “There’s a nymph!”

A shape rose from behind the corpse stack, huge, terrible, and furred. An enormous bear with a brown hide and horrifying dark eyes. A severed adlishar hand dangled from the bear’s sharp-toothed mouth. The bear crunched the hand with its teeth. A sickening cracking sound seemed to echo through the whole forest.

Galandir backed away slowly. His gaze stayed on the bear. He whispered out of the corner of his mouth, “There’s a—”

“RAAWWWRRR!” The bear let out a deafening growl. This time the sound truly did echo across the hills around the valley floor.

“—bear,” Galandir finished.