The Rose and the Skull

20

No trap, no matter how clever, could be this obvious, A trail of crumbs, rinds, crusts, husks, shells, and cores marked a spoor a blind gully dwarf could follow. Harj thought this statement supremely ironic, considering the quarry of his hunt. Though the quarry had a name, Harj still thought of it only as an "it," an object, a target for his knife when the time came.

That time was fast approaching, he now knew. His tongue flickered excitedly in the air at the thought of the slaying to come. At first, he'd had little enough enthusiasm for this hunt, but with weeks of failure, his anticipation of the kill sharpened. When first he picked up this newest spoor, he'd left a message on the trail-an encoded pattern of sticks in the elven fashion-giving a likely destination. He let the others know the gully dwarves were headed for Town.

So now it was with some surprise that Harj found the trail ended at the blank face of a cliff wall. He searched the surrounding area for some time without finding further signs. He began to suspect that he'd been thwarted once again. They'd obviously backtracked somewhere along the trail, but Harj never suspected gully dwarves could be so clever. Unless he got spectacularly lucky, he'd never find their trail in the dark. With night swiftly approaching, he'd have to wait until the morrow to search it out again. He began to suspect a greater mind at work, for the spoor had obviously been left on purpose for him to follow it to this dead end. Perhaps this was even…

"A trap!" he snarled, drawing his dagger as a twig snapped behind him. He spun round, only to see the rugged scrub terrain common to this area, darkened now in the shadow of the mountains. He crouched, ready to fight or flee, his long reptilian tail thrashing angrily behind him. He licked the blade of his dagger to envenom it with his poisonous saliva.

"Ssssso, Harj hasssss lossst the trail already," laughed a voice from the bushes.

Harj angrily sheathed his dagger as a figure robed all in black appeared from behind a boulder. It approached, its robes whispering over the stony trail.

"These are not mere gully dwarves," Harj asserted as he stared at the cliff face. "No gully dwarf is this smart."

"He issss not sssmart," the robed figure hissed as it pushed back its hood, revealing a draconian face. "You overthink him. He issss only a gully dwarf."

"Bozaks know everything," Harj snarled. "If you know so much, why haven't you caught him?"

"That isssss the kapaksss's job. I am here to assisssssst you, not sssssniff out sssspoor," the bozak draconian lisped.

Harj's mouth writhed into a sneer, revealing long, yellow fangs made for shredding flesh. "Bozaks let the kapaks do the work, then claim all the glory." he said.

"Let ussss not forget we are brotherssss," the bozak warned.

Harj bowed. "All praise to the Old Master who guides us," he said. "His wisdom is without measure."

"Well said, Brother Harj."

"Thank you, Brother Shaeder," Harj replied. "But now what? You said I overthink him… "

"You expect guile where there issss only ssssssimplicity, even sssstupidity. He doesssss what only an idiot , would do, and therefore you never consssssider other posssssssibilities," Shaeder said.

"Like what?" Harj asked, his impatience with his fellow draconian growing.

"They can't sssscale the cliff. It isss too sssteep," the bozak answered, looking up at the rock wall hanging well out over their heads, "and they didn't go around. So you examined the cliff face for ssssecret doorssss?"

"Not yet, I didn't think… " Harj's voice trailed off.

"Didn't think what?"

Harj spun around and quickly scanned the rock wall for any sign of a craftily hidden entrance. In short order, he spotted words carved in very small letters. They read, "Secret entrance. You no see." A little lower down, next to an all too obvious protrusion, were the words "This not latch." With a malicious grin Harj pressed the not-latch and the stone parted, revealing a dark, narrow passage into the cliff.

With a conspiratorial look at the bozak, Harj entered the passage. Shaeder, the bozak, followed close on his tail. The passage, never more than a few feet wide, wound and doubled upon itself endlessly in utter darkness. They didn't need to see to know they were on the right path, for as they walked, they stepped on the litter of rinds and crusts and husks left behind, but they did have to keep low, because the gully dwarves had strolled easily under the edges and overhangs of rock that Harj had a tendency to crash into. After one particularly painful knock on the pate, he thought he was seeing stars until he realized that he was seeing stars. High overhead, through a crack in the roof of the cave, a few stars glimmered in the black sky.

After a few hundred more yards of careful stalking along dry and dusty floors, the roof opened again to the night sky, but now as they progressed, it continued to widen. Soon, they realized they were heading generally north along the floor of a steep canyon. Their pace slowed. Even by starlight, they saw the walls were riddled with caves and hollows. The floor of the canyon, once smooth and flat, became broken and rugged, with slabs of rock tilting this way and that, some rising, some falling, and some dropping off into cracks of blackness into which a pebble might slide and vanish without a sound. One of these slabs ended abruptly at a dizzying precipice of several hundred feet. Harj stopped suddenly at the edge, while Shaeder stumbled into him, almost toppling him over the edge. Harj said nothing. Instead, he stared down and hissed happily to himself.

"There it issss," Shaeder said after he climbed up beside his companion. "Gully dwarf Town."

Several hundred feet below them and about a mile away, on the floor of a scrub valley dotted with small inky water holes, sprawled a multitude of earthen mounds. No lights shone, but here and there a gray tendril of smoke rose against the lighter shade of the valley floor, while a smell of burning mopane wood rose into the air. Even stronger than the wood smoke was the strong, unmistakable odor of gully dwarves-hundreds and hundreds of gully dwarves.

Shaeder pointed at a cut in the rock at the edge of the precipice. "Look, ssstepsss," he hissed. By leaning well out over the edge of the cliff, the two draconians spotted steps cut into the vertical face of rock, providing a rather dangerous but serviceable stair to the floor of the valley. Neither had any desire to try to navigate that narrow stair with their broad wings and long tails, but neither did they need to. The draconians had their own way of descending the cliff. Although not powerful flyers, they were very good at gliding. Given a high enough starting point, they could soar for many minutes, covering great distances.

Harj stepped back to gain a little running room, then launched himself into empty space, unfolding his wings to catch the wind. Shaeder watched him glide outward from the cliff like some huge carrion bird, working his tail like a rudder to steer himself clear of the rock. Shaeder then stripped off his heavy robes, crouched, and leaped over the edge. He unfolded his wings and soared after his companion.

They landed a few hundred yards from the mound nearest the cliff, just beside a little pool of water. The ground was rocky, with more sand than soil, but near the water holes a few hardy plants had managed to leech out enough sustenance to survive. All around the valley tall mountains rose like the jagged walls of a crumbling fortress, effectively shutting off this arid land from the outside world. Desert hares and smaller rodents abounded, as did herds of tough and wiry mountain ponies. The draconians' flight had carried them over one large herd, startling them into a stampede, and even now the ground rumbled with their distant panic. Heavy clouds of dust rose against the stars.

Harj crept over to the pool and dipped his snout into the water to drink. He came up coughing and gagging. Shaeder laughed.

"Alkali," Harj spat. "This land is cursed."

"No wonder the gully dwarvessss took it," Shaeder said. "They can live almossst anywhere, on food that would ssstarve a goat."

"Well, I say we find this one particular gully dwarf and get out of here. I'll slip into one of these mounds and 'question' the inhabitants," Harj said. "Once we know where he is, we'll break in and grab him."

"No killing," Shaeder reminded. "The Old Man wantssss Uhoh alive for quessstioning."

"Questioning a gully dwarf? It can't be done!" Harj snarled derisively.

"We have waysss. He'll talk. He'll wish he wasss sssmarter sssso he can tell ussss more," Shaeder cackled while rubbing his clawed hands together in anticipation.

"Well, once we've found out where he's hiding, we'll slip in, subdue him, and carry him off before anyone is the wiser," Harj said.

He crouched and started off towards the closest mound of earth, his bozak companion at his side. Together, they crept up to one mound and searched for a door or hole. The mounds seemed made of nothing more than heapedup sand, gravel, and soil. The carving and writing on some of the stones gave them an appearance of great antiquity. Probably the gully dwarves had burrowed their way into some ancient burial mounds and taken up residence among the bones and artifacts of a forgotten people.

"Maybe there will be some treasure here," Harj whispered greedily. "Perhaps we should stay and explore about that possibility, too."

"Firssst the gully dwarf. You and I can return later for the treasure," Shaeder warned. "Of coursssse, if sssomething along the way catchesss your eye… "

They slipped into a cut in the mound, where a narrow wooden door stood in a frame made of thick wooden beams. The wood appeared old and gray, weathered to the point of rotting. Harj pushed his companion aside and approached the door. With a grunt, he kicked it in.

With a groan and a crack of wood, the entire mound collapsed upon itself. Dust and sand billowed outward with a roar, drowning out the screams of those buried alive within. Harj and Shaeder stumbled away, coughing on the thick alkali dust and blinking sand from their eyes. The screams of the trapped gully dwarves quickly faded. Finally able to breath, the draconians stared in awe at the destruction.

Soon they found themselves surrounded by hundreds of gully dwarves who, hearing the noise, had come rushing from their own barrow homes. They ignored the draconians for a few moments while they too stared in fascination at the collapsed mound. This was not a new occurrence. A closer examination of the town would have revealed several other mounds in a similar state. Nevertheless, the gully dwarves seemed awestruck by the event, so much so they didn't even acknowledge the presence of the draconians.

"If they turn on us… " Harj hissed.

"Show no fear. We are their masstersss of old," Shaeder answered. "They've not forgotten usss already." He raised his head and gave a long piercing cry, the one given in olden days by draconian slave drivers, which awakened captives to a new day of work.

The gully dwarves shrank in terror at the remembered sound. Despite their huge superiority in numbers, they immediately cowered before the two draconians standing in their midst.

"We have come for the gully dwarf known to you as Uhoh Ragnap," Harj shouted.

"Run away!" an anonymous gully dwarf screamed from the darkness. Instantly, the area erupted in confusion, gully dwarves fleeing every which way, stumbling over each other, colliding in huge pileups, bumping into the draconians. Harj and Shaeder were in very real danger of being crushed in the stampede.

Harj shouted, trying to frighten the creatures into obedience, "We destroyed one barrow; we can destroy another. Hide if you like, we'll bring everything down on top of your miserable heads if you don't deliver Uhoh to us!"

It did no good. In moments, the gully dwarves had vanished. Many they heard blubbering in terror inside the mounds, many more had fled screaming into the desert.

Harj looked at his companion and shrugged his coppery wings. They stalked over to the nearest mound and pounded on the door. It cracked and shivered but didn't collapse.

"Uhoh Ragnap, come out or die!" he shouted.

"Uhoh not here," a sobbing voice answered.

"Deliver Uhoh Ragnap and we'll spare your lives!" he shouted.

"But he not here!" the voice cried.

Harj kicked open the door. Screams of terror burst from the darkness beyond, but the mound remained intact. Shaeder stepped into the doorway. He held forth his clawed hands with fingers spread in a fan shape, the thumbs touching, and he began to mutter in a strange tongue whose words the mind had difficulty grasping. Their result was sudden and violent. A fan-shaped sheet of flame erupted from his clawtips. It flashed into existence only for a moment, but when it had gone, the dry support timbers and rotting door frame burned as though doused with oil.

Shaeder skipped back from the flames, cackling with glee. Soon, a pillar of fire roared from the doorway, while a jet of blue flame hissed from the chimney. The gully dwarves inside screamed pain and terror, their voices rising in pitch until they were finally cut short by a deafening roar. Sheets of flame leaped up from the barrow top. The mound collapsed upon itself thunderously, while a mushrooming cloud of black smoke rose high above the valley.

The other barrows grew suddenly silent. Harj and Shaeder approached the next one. Its door was illuminated by the flames, and they saw that it was slightly open. A small gully dwarf female stood there, eyeing the destruction with her large, tear-filled eyes. Around her neck hung a necklace of gold, from which dangled a ruby pendant as large as a robin's egg. It glowed in the firelight, and the gold sparkled red. Harj sucked in his breath at the sight.

"Gully dwarves wearing gold," he snarled. "We'll soon fix that." He pointed at the jewel-bedecked gully dwarf and shouted, "You there!"

She eyed him without fear. "Yes, you! Come here, you miserable slug," he shouted derisively, trying to intimidate the gully dwarf.

She seemed to hesitate, as though trying to decide whether to run or brave him out. In the end, she approached slowly, warily, as though ready to bolt at any moment. Harj chuckled to himself.

"You are the leader here?" he asked.

She nodded. "Me Highbulp Mommamose I," she squeaked.

"You know Uhoh Ragnap?" Harj asked.

Again, she nodded.

"Bring him to us or we destroy this Town, kill you all," Harj demanded. She looked at him for a moment, and then at his companion.

Shaeder wiggled his fingers at her and said, "Abracadabra."

She jumped, her eyes wide with fear now, then turned and motioned at the door of the barrow where she'd been hiding. There was a scuffling noise and a wail of despair, but then the door opened and three gully dwarves spilled out backward. Several more followed, crying and hurling curses at the three, but upon seeing the draconians, they cowered back, weeping hysterically.

The three gully dwarves dragged a heavy sack before the draconians. They dropped their end, gave one look at the Highbulp, and fled into the night. Something inside the sack thrashed and moaned and struggled.

Harj picked up one end and slit it open with his dagger. He then lifted it, dumping Uhoh out on the ground. Shaeder snatched the gully dwarf up by his collar and shook him violently.

"Be ssstill," he hissed.

"That's him," Harj said to his companion. He bent down and stuck his snout in Uhoh's face. "You ran me quite a race, little worm, but I've got you now," he growled. "The Old Man wants to see you."

Uhoh's legs gave beneath him. He collapsed like an empty sack, his eyes rolling up in his head. The two draconians bent over their victim, taking delight in tormenting the gully dwarf with descriptions of what awaited him. While they were thus occupied, the Highbulp backed toward the door where the other gully dwarves still cringed and sobbed. As she neared them, one female detached herself from the others and crept toward her leader. It was Glabella. Lumpo cowered nearest the door, his eyes frozen with terror.

"Mommamose, how you do this to Uhoh?" Glabella cried as she clawed at the Highbulp's filthy dress.

"Shut up, gulpfunger. Slagd kill all if I not give them Uhoh," she answered.

"But he your son," Glabella wailed. "Uhoh your baby!"

"I got plan. You shut up, watch," Mommamose said.

She motioned to one of the other gully dwarves. He crept forward, his eyes on the draconians.

"Give me twig that make thunder," she said.

He nodded and pulled a long leather wallet from some hidden fold in his rags. It had a gold snap and was beaded with seed pearls. He opened it, retrieving a long wand of amber. As thick as a finger at one end, it tapered to a needle point at the other. At the thick end, a tiny sapphire was embedded in the amber. Glabella stared at it in wonder, forgetting for a moment her fear for Uhoh.

"What that?" Glabella asked.

"This twig that make thunder," Mommamose answered. "It big magic, fix slagd good."

"How it work?"

"When I say magic word and touch this pretty blue rock in the end," she said, indicating the sapphire, "it shoot thunderbolt out other end, fry everything wham! just like that."

"What magic word?" Glabella asked.

"I not tell you," the Highbulp said, turning her nose up with disdain. "You only little gulpfunger."

"You there!" Harj snarled.

The Highbulp spun around, hiding the wand behind her back. The draconians had bound Uhoh's hands behind his back but left his legs free. He stared miserably at Glabella, his heart in his eyes. Glabella burst out crying.

"Come here," Harj yelled at the Highbulp.

She approached within a few yards and stopped, still hiding the wand behind her back. Glabella followed her, and the gully dwarf with the leather wallet trailed behind. Despite his fear, it was his wand, and he wanted to see it didn't get broken.

"Come closer, little one," Harj said in honeyed tones. "I'll not hurt you. I want to thank you for delivering this criminal to us."

The Highbulp took another step closer. Harj's long arm shot out, his claws tangling in the chain around her neck. With a sharp jerk, he snatched the jeweled amulet away, breaking the heavy chain and nearly decapitating the Highbulp. At the same time, Shaeder leaped forward and tore the wallet from the other gully dwarf's grasp.

"I'll take thisss," he laughed.

Harj kicked Uhoh and grunted, "Get moving!" meanwhile tucking the amulet into a pouch at his belt.

Shaeder fell in behind them, cackling to himself. The Highbulp rubbed her bruised neck while the other gullydwarf crowded close to her. Glabella crept nearer as well.

Highbulp Mommamose pointed the wand at the backs of the draconians. "Toejam!" she barked. Nothing happened. She tried it again. "Toejam!"

"That not magic word!" the other gully dwarf said.

"I touch blue rock," the Highbulp said. "What wrong with this thing?"

"You got to say magic word," he answered.

"But I say magic word," she said.

He grabbed the sharp end of the wand and tried to pull it away from her. Thus began a struggle, the two gully dwarves spinning round and round on either end of the wand, one yanking one way, one the other. Harj and Shaeder stopped to watch. Uhoh peered between their legs.

"I touch blue stone!" the Highbulp shouted from the melee.

"You not say magic word."

"I say Toejam!"

"Toejam not magic word."

"What magic word?"

"Crackling!"

With a deafening clap of thunder, a blue bolt of lightning streaked into the night sky. Although well over their heads, Harj and Shaeder ducked reflexively, cursing in awe at the sudden display of magic from a lowly gully dwarf.

Harj grabbed Uhoh to prevent his running away and shouted, "A magic wand! Go get it before she uses it again."

Ducking, Shaeder hurried back to the spot, but he found the street empty and not a gully dwarf in sight. A tattered pair of shoes lay on the ground in the center of a small pile of smoking ash. The wand was nowhere to be seen. Still ducking, he scuttled back to his kapak companion.

"Let'sss get out of here," he said without stopping to wait. He vanished in a cloud of dust.

Harj lifted Uhoh and slung him over his back, crouched, and dashed off in a low, almost four-footed run, his wings beating and helping him along. With a low mournful wail from the back of his captor, Uhoh vanished into the night.