Dread Mountain

Lief took a step forward, then jumped as a hand gripped his arm. It was Barda, his eyes swollen with sleep. Jasmine was right behind him.

“Come away, Lief,” Barda whispered under his breath. “They are going to rest and eat. We can be long gone by the time they are ready to leave.”

Lief shook his head violently, his eyes still fixed on the figures by the spring. “I cannot go,” he hissed. “I cannot let them kill my friend.”

He saw Barda and Jasmine exchange glances and knew that they must think he had lost his wits. “There is no time to explain. Where are the blisters?” he breathed. “Go and get them.”

Without a word Jasmine slipped away into the trees. She might think Lief was being foolish, but she was not going to let him face the Guards with only a sword to protect himself.

With Barda close behind him, Lief began moving closer to the spring, running from tree to tree until he was very near to where Prin was lying.

“Pig for breakfast,” Carn 4 was crowing. “Nothing better.”

“It’s not a pig,” the other one said. “Look at its feet.”

“It’s fat, whatever it is. It’ll be good eating.” Carn 4 straightened his back and went over to the spring, taking the cap off his water bottle.

“We smelled out this water just in time, Carn 5,” he called, tipping up the bottle and shaking it to show how empty it was.

Lief heard Barda draw a sharp breath. “They are members of the Carn pod,” Barda breathed. “Like …”

“I know,” Lief whispered in reply. “Like the Guards who caught us in Rithmere.”

His hand was slippery on the hilt of his sword. Did Carn 4 and 5 know or guess what had happened to their brothers in the Shifting Sands? Had they taken over where Carn 2 and Carn 8 had left off, to save their pod from disgrace?

Carn 5 strolled over to join his fellow at the spring, rubbing his nose with the back of his hand. “This place stinks of ticks,” he complained.

Lief held his breath.

“Not ours, though.” Carn 4 bent to fill his bottle. “Our two and their friend went straight on. That big ugly one — the one they call Glock — he drags his feet. You can smell every step he takes. He didn’t come in here.”

Lief’s heart was thudding wildly. So Doom had released Glock and Neridah, as he had planned. Carn 4 and 5 must have been Glock and Neridah’s captors. Now they were pursuing them just as Carn 2 and Carn 8 had pursued Lief and his companions after their escape.

The Guards were both facing the spring. Now was the time to try to get Prin away. Lief glanced urgently over his shoulder. Where was Jasmine with the blisters?

“We’ll get them by nightfall,” Carn 5 said confidently, kneeling down beside Carn 4 and plunging his own water bottle into the water. “Them and whoever let them go. And won’t we make him sorry for himself?”

“We’ll have some fun with him,” the other agreed.

They both laughed and bent to drink, sucking and lapping noisily.

Lief knew he could not wait. He could not miss his chance. Ignoring Barda’s restraining hand on his arm, he darted into the open, seized the limp bundle that was Prin, and began dragging it away.

Afterwards, he cursed himself for his stupid thoughtlessness. He had just assumed that Prin was unconscious. But Prin was very much awake, lying motionless in an agony of fear. Feeling unknown hands upon her she squealed in terror.

Instantly the Guards leaped to their feet and whirled around, still swallowing the water in their mouths, their blisters and slings already in their dripping hands. They saw Lief bent over Prin. Snarling, they rushed towards them.

“Lief! Run!” Lief heard Barda roar, as the big man lunged forward trying to push him out of the way. But Lief was frozen to the spot. He was gaping in shock.

For the Guards were screaming. They were staggering, stopping. Their feet were sprouting roots that snaked into the earth, tying them in place. Their legs were drawing together, hardening into a solid trunk. Their bodies, arms, and necks were stretching towards the sky, and pale leaves were forcing their way through skin that was becoming smooth bark.

And in moments, two trees stood in their places. Two new trees for the grove — as silent, still, and perfect as all the others.

Jasmine came running, with Filli chattering in fear on her shoulder. “The rocks are coming alive!” she panted. “They are coming this way!”

Half an hour later, still dazed, Lief, Barda, and Jasmine were sitting among a group of huge Kin. Filli was staring, wide-eyed, at the great creatures. Prin, complaining bitterly, had been made to climb into her mother’s pouch.

“You must stay curled until we awake, Little One!” her mother scolded. “How many times have I told you? Now see what has happened. Those evil ones might have killed you!”

“They drank the water, Mother,” sulked Prin from the depths of the pouch. “I knew they would.”

“You could not know that they would drink before they did you harm!” her mother snapped. “Be still. Your side is badly bruised.”

“We drank the water also!” exclaimed Barda, who was gazing from the Kin to the motionless trees in pure amazement.

Prin poked her head out of the pouch and twitched her whiskers. “Those who mean no harm can drink without harm,” she chanted, plainly repeating something she had been taught.

Her mother ignored her and turned to Barda. “We knew you were of good heart when you drank from the spring and remained unharmed,” she said in her slow, deep voice. “Sure that you were not a danger to us, we dreamed peacefully last night — little knowing that our child would be a danger to you in the morning. We are sorry.”

Barda bowed. “It was my friend who helped the little one,” he said, gesturing to Lief. “But for my part, it is a privilege to meet you. I never thought to see the Kin in my lifetime.”

“We are few now,” said an old Kin standing beside Prin’s mother. “Since we left our Mountain —”

“Dread Mountain! You lived on Dread Mountain once, did you not? Why did you leave?” Lief interrupted, able to keep silent no longer.

The old Kin stopped, and looked at Barda.

Barda smiled. “As you see, I too have young ones in my care,” he said, to Lief’s annoyance. “Please forgive the interruption and continue.”

“The gnomes of Dread Mountain had always tried to hunt us,” said the old one. “But their arrows could not do us great harm. Our main dangers were Grey Guards and Vraal beasts, coming from the Shadowlands. But long ago something changed …”

His voice trailed off and he bent his head.

“The gnomes began using poison on their arrow tips,” said Prin’s mother, taking up the story. “It was deadly poison, and killed painfully and quickly. Many of us died.” Her voice sank to a whisper. “It was a terrible time. I was very young then. But I remember.”

The other Kin nodded and whispered among themselves. Plainly they too remembered.

“At last, the few of us that were left decided we could stay on the Mountain no longer,” the old Kin rumbled. “This grove used to be our winter home — a good place for the growing young. Now we are here all year long. Now we can visit our Mountain — see the Boolong trees, hear the rippling streams, and smell the sweet, cool air — only in our dreams.”

A feeling of sadness swept over the group. There was a long silence. Jasmine fidgeted uncomfortably.

“I had a strange dream last night,” she said, plainly trying to bring a little cheer to the gathering. “I dreamed I saw the man Doom. He was in a cave full of people. The boy Dain was there — and Neridah, and Glock, and many others. Glock was eating soup, spilling it all down his chin. I called to them, but they did not hear me. It was so real!”

The old Kin looked at her. “Do you not understand? It was real,” he said. He waved a paw at the spring. “This is the Dreaming Spring. Whatever or whoever you picture in your mind when you drink, you visit in spirit when you sleep.”

“We ourselves visit our Mountain every night,” Prin’s mother added, as Jasmine looked disbelieving. “It comforts us greatly to see it as it is now. The Boolong trees grow thickly — far more thickly than they once did. Of course, we cannot eat the cones, but at least we are there, and together.”

“Not me!” said Prin loudly. “I cannot go there. I have never seen it! I have never known anywhere but here. So I have nothing to dream of. It is not fair!”

Her mother bent over her, murmuring. The other adults looked at one another sadly.

“What I saw in my dream was real?” Jasmine gasped.

“So Doom, Neridah, and Glock have reached the Resistance stronghold in safety!” Barda exclaimed. He looked with satisfaction at the two new trees by the spring. “And now no Guards will trouble them.”

He grinned. “I dreamed of Manus and the Ralad people. I stood by the stream in their underground town. They were singing, and all was well. That is very good to know.”

But Lief sat in silence, numb with shock. He was remembering his own dream, and slowly facing the knowledge that it too had been true.