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Chapter 13 |  |
Many members of the Covenant have found something to say about this escapade:
I, Julio, make this account, for Doña Esperanza, who is Maga of this Covenant.
We have with us the Frenchman "Jiles", who is our expert on Rocks, and I translate for the Señora, for all that my French is not too good yet. This week, we search through the woods, with our eyes sharp, for the signs we seek: we seek the gleam of Magic, and we seek the Gleam of Silver. I am not sure about the Magics of the Magi, but Esperanza, she knows this very well. The Silver, is for the treasury of the Pacto, that they may pay us our wages. I do not question how it is, that we three alone may gather so much Silver that we may pay all of the people who have gathered to form the Pacto: it is not my part to ask such questions.
Doña Esperanza is studying any rocks and minerals that we present to her, but has rejected all that we have made to her, excepting this day, when we found a piece of purest Silver, in the bed of a stream. When she studies this Silver, she puts on one of her looks of Concentración and says that we should follow this stream, so up we go, getting our feet wet. As we go along, we are finding more pieces of this Silver, so we gather them all into a saco.
When we get to the source of this stream, it is disappearing into a dark Caverna, so the Señora, she conjures a Torchlight for us, but still we cannot see far into this Caverna, and so she says, we will take what we have gathered and we will return later with more people, for I do not trust this Caverna. And how true she was, that she not trust the Caverna, for later on, it tried to eat our people!
We's been looking to cut a quarry, or perhaps sink a mine-shaft, to get silver from the rocks of this area. The Wizards have us walk through the forest, and bring them pebbles. Then they speak spells over them, and then they throw away the rocks, or else they asks me, would this rock make a quarry? and I says, I can't tell from here, I need to see the rock 'self. And then they mutters another spell and says, it's from over there, and we walks over there, this way and that with the Wizard holding this pebble like it was a Lodestone - and for all I knows they used their spells to change it into a Lodestone, for a Lodestone has the power of Finding.
Anyways, we's got this load of pebbles we've thrown away, and we've been out since we broke our fast, and it's coming up Midday, when Hoolio who's supposed to be minding the Wizard lady with us, he speaks up and says, look at this (only he has to say it twice, once in Hispanic which is what he and the Wizard lady speaks, and then again in really bad French, so as I can tell what he's on about). So then, we all looks at it, as if we wouldn't have done at anything showed up, 'cos we hadn't found anything good all day. And this time it's the real thing: Silver, I can see, but the Wizard lady, she casts spells on it anyway, 'til she agrees with me.
Now I'm not a real shaftsman, like, but I knows a bit about the other rocks and things, and I can see this silver bit was brought down by the waters of this stream we found it in, like as not; so the Wizard lady says another of her spells, and looks all keen and hard into the nugget, and then she says the same: she says follow the stream. And, we do, 'cos we've all got orders as we do what the Wizards say.
There's more nuggets in the stream as we climb, so as even the Wizard's spotting some, which says somewhat of how many we found. Anyways, we's all getting real chatty and excited when we follows the stream up this ravine to a cave mouth. We can't see into the cave 'cos it's all dark, and we didn't bring any torches with us which I 'spose we should've done. But we have a Wizard, and she spells up a fiery torchlight, which spreads out around us and into the cave, and it impresses me, more than what she sees in the rocks, which I reckons I could do meself. But the torch light only goes in so far, with the Lady on the outside, but I could see the shine of light on more nuggets bedded into the walls of the cave and on the floor further in.
So she thinks, this Wizard lady, and she says it's too risky, for all as we were for goin' on in further. And she says as we're to come back with more men, not as I can see any risk in it, but that's as what she says. So we gathers up all as we has found, and trudges back, and I gets the afternoon off, as I'm studying the silver... while the Lady Wizard, she's gone up in the Tower to study it some more too.
Next day, four of us set off, with me as knows the way, and three of the soldier "grogs": Young Caspar who's keen and does things, and Garth-the-troll who's big and strong, and uhmm, odd, and Zane-the-fairy, who they say is a soldier man, but seems... odd: he spends his watches talking to clouds and trees... So this bunch of mismatched fellows sets off to deal with this dangerous cave as we daresn't enter yesterday, only now we does, as we've got torches and ropes and things. And when as we gets near we finds more bits of silver in the stream which is exciting so we make speed to get up there.
By we gets there we could hardly wait to get in and find the real treasure, so we rushes the torch lighting and goes in anyways, except Young Caspar who's keen and says he has to light another torch. So after a while as when we're counting all the silver, we notices that Young Caspar never did make it in, and I says as he must still be lighting that torch, and we all laughs, but its seems as there's four voices, for all as Young Caspar's still outside...
When Gilles, Garth and Zane went into the Cave, I held back slightly, and watching their eagerness to enter somehow made me more wary. While I held back I got the impression that the Cave Mouth was narrower than at first, indeed, was narrowing as I watched! I retreated calling to the others, without response, until I was outside, and the Cave Mouth (seeming now very literally Mouth-like) closed on them.
I made haste back to the Covenant to report, but found that the Maga Speranda had already led a party to rescue us! I calmed down, and made my report, glad that I need not rush back into the woods after my race home.
About three hours later, Elli turned up entirely out of breath, and gasped out an account of happenings at the cave:
The three French Magi agreed to assist Maga Speranda, and a new party was organised, with myself as guide. We brought Milon, Yves, and Duncan as the Magi's shield-grogs, myself and Elli (now rested) as guides, and Magus Speculor brought the grog Huon, who he claims is a personal Grog - bully for the Magus.
We arrived some two hours later to find the Maga Speranda tired and hurt, and the grogs fearful and worried.
It seemed that after Elli left, Maga Speranda had attempted further Magics, and had forced open the Mouth. Gilles, Garth and Zane had been sighted within, but failed to respond to orders to leave, seeming Entranced by the contents of the Cave. Maga Speranda had attempted more Magics to overcome the Entrancement, but while preparing her spells, had been struck and wounded by a sling-shot from within. Subsequent to this, a gaping pit had opened along the Cave floor, from the Mouth back along the Gullet, as it were.
The other Magi now tackled the Færie cave with Magics, and pronounced that the whole Cliff, or perhaps just the whole Cave, made up the body of a Troll, a Færie creature or spirit embedded in the very rock itself. [It were good that Garth not hear this version, for it might colour his views on his ancestry.]
Magus Joachus announced that a stranger had appeared beyond the Pit, and opined that it be the Fæ itself (though Magus Speculor stated his disagreement with this view). Magus Joachus traded question-and-answer with the stranger, and found that the Troll intended to Eat the Grogs it had Swallowed; Magus Speculor risked a faux-trade by conjuring Imaginary People and offering to trade them with the Færie for our Covenant Grogs: this failed dismally, not so much as the Troll seeing through his Illusions, as that it failed to perceive them at all. While Magus Speculor conjured further Images and sought to convince the Troll of the Worth of his Conjury, the other Magi engaged in a technical debate on the proper Forms and Techniques appropriate to apply to a Cave which was a Troll. Magus Joachus seemed convinced that the Form of puppeteering was appropriate, for he brought out several Puppets and proceeded to entertain the Troll with a Story, but the Troll would not return our Grogs in exchange for Stories.
Finally Magus Joachus hit upon some variant Magic which had the effect of making the Cave writhe as if in Pain - to see the very Stone itself move so was a marvel in itself. He then raised himself to float in the air, and made his way above the Pit, into the heart of the Cave, then returned a few minutes later with the first of our Grogs, Garth, as the Pit closed itself before him. Garth was enspelled by Magus Joachus, so as to overcome the Troll's enchantment, but since the spell was temporary, we must needs bind poor Garth and force him to remain. Magus Joachus then returned with the other two Grogs, equally reluctant to leave, so that we must bind all three and force march them back to the Covenant.
We returned safely to the Covenant, to be berated by the Centurion for our joint failure to defend Maga Speranda from the hurts inflicted by the troll upon her very body. She was wounded so that she must retire to her bed; and, by the orders of the healer, Jimena, she must bide there for nigh on three weeks while she heals properly, lest activity re-open her wounds. For all the time that she must heal, we shall be berated each day by the Centurion, 'til we remember our Duty to the Magi.
The fourth voice introduces himself as the Cave, and us as his Dinner, which seems a bit much. We offers to share our lunch packets with 'im, but it seems as he is set on eating us oursen.
He seems to like us talking to him, as he don't get people to talk to much, and seeing as how they only ever gets to talk to him the once, which he thought funny, but we doesn't laugh at this. He seems pleased as we like his silver bits, and so we sets to counting them, even if we's not going to be leaving ever, 'cos then we'll be knowing how much silver we has while we're here. 'Sfunny now, telling you as how it was, but back 'en, it seems so much to us as we know how much there's gathered there.
It's not as though he tells us much in so many words, as he wants to list as we talks. An there were ought else as to do, we'd have done that, but we sets to and tells this fellow all he wants, while we counts his silver. It did seem as how he was a funny looking fellow, as how he's a real good statue carved as though he's alive but all in stone. There's two other fellows like him, in the cave, but they's just a-sitting there doing nothing, more like statues than his fellow.
A whiles later, there's quite some water built up against the front of the cave, where it closes, and we's noticing the torch is smoking some, like the air was bad, when there's more light and the water rushes out and wets the feet of the wizard Lady, who's standing there like this was the place to be. We can see this from where we's sitting, though she can't really see us properly 'cos we're so far in the dark I think. Anyways she's calling for us to break off what we's doing, and for us to come out to her; but this'd mean for us leaving all the silver around us, there being more'n we can carry now, and we can't be doing that, so we stays to count the silver.
Seems as there's some fighting by the light 'cos the lady cries out like someone stabbed, and she goes away, and the others don't sound pleased, from what they're saying. I can hear them talking about how's there's a great hole by the front of the cave, but it doesn't seem to me as there can be 'cos it warn't there when we enters before. (So we counts some more of the silver; or was it we counts it again?)
And so later there's a lot of talking outside, as though many people has come and all talks at once, and after some spelling and shouting, one of the to fellows as was sitting like statues, well, like statues do all day I 'spose, anyway, he gets up and walk to the light near the open cave mouth and he talks to them.While we's counting they sets to taking and arguing, and we hears them offering to get us out, which is strange seeing as how we doesn't want to leave anyways.
The while we's counting, and they's talking, a-sudden like, Garth gets up and runs like he's in a great panic "don't panic, don't panic" he cries, only he does, too... and rushes out to where there's this pit as they's all talking on about, and he falls into the water, where the stream's filling the pit. So while he's floundering down there, the Hunchback Wizard, the one with the puppets, he comes in like he's walking on his hands, only on the roof of the cave, and he sets to talking to the second statue fellow, while we counts silver with the first. The hunchback, he's a powerful Wizard, it seems, 'cos soon he has the statue writhing on the flor, and this has the other statue, with us, writhing too.
While this Wizard has the fellow on the floor, he keeps frowning at the fellow, to keep him there, and he talks to the funny fellow with us, the Zane chap, and he asks him to look again at the cave and to tell him what he sees. Zane, he starts to babble about Life, and Trolls, and Fairies, and such as I don't think he understands right, but the Hunchback he listens all careful, and then he spells some more and then he orders the pit to close, and it does, and he orders poor Garth to leave the Silver, and to go with him; and then he comes to us, and he chants in his Latin, and spells us so's we has to leave too, all that silver, still in there...
Looking back at all that, I sees as how it warn't quite right as we sits and counts the silver, more'n there's rights to be in one small cave, and it seems the whole thing was for Fairy, only a Dark Fairy, a Monster, and it seems it put us under a spell, and only now it's slowly wearing off and we can bear to be away from the silver.
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