Nexus Moons: Book One of the Tales of Graal by Ron Root

Author:Ron Root [Root, Ron]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BookBaby
Published: 2020-05-22T06:00:00+00:00

A’ryth

Jarek shook Goodricke’s shoulder, waking him. Goodricke sat up, looking around. “Is Caitlyn out hunting food?”

“She’s gone. Judging from the amount of dew in her tracks, she left soon after we fell asleep.”

Goodricke frowned. “Why would she lead us out of the swamp only to desert us?”

He shrugged. “She seemed awfully protective of her homeland. The reading you took last night said the Nexus was close. Perhaps we were too close for her liking.”

“Should we try to follow her?”

“Trying to track a tracker would be folly. Best we seek A’ryth on our own.”

After a foraged meal a quick pack, they were ascending the mountain again. Goodricke led the way, his eyes always on their path, hopeful of finding Caitlyn’s trail. Jarek doubted he would. What concerned him were the incessant ups and downs, every dip followed by another. Sitting astride his capall had spoiled him. Now that he was afoot, the drudgery of a mountain trek became far more real.

The sun was high when they finally reached the summit. To his delight, the land flattened.

Goodricke squatted, examining the ground ahead, looking concerned. “This is a well-traveled path, milord. It may be a game trail, or perhaps some pathway Caitlyn’s people use,” He looked up at Jarek, “or we may be entering something’s feeding grounds.”

“Let me scan for signs of life.” He probed. “How strange. Behind us, all seems what I’d expect of the hinterlands—yet in front of us I find no sign of life whatsoever. But if there’s nothing in front of us, why the path? Something is amiss.” Were the arts in play? Was it Caitlyn’s Crone’s doing—or perhaps the mysterious creature Lavan had warned him about?

“Do we proceed, milord?”

“What choice have we?”

They trekked onward, albeit far more warily than when they had Caitlyn as their guide. Fortunately, they encountered nothing out of the ordinary—until they came upon some foothills. Long, straight and vertical, they filled the horizon, stretching as far as the eye could see. Save for an archway where their trail ended, it looked impassable.

“What do you make of it milord?”

“It’s too perfectly proportioned to be natural; it must be man-made. He probed again. “I find no life whatsoever.” He stared ahead. “My gut tells me those hills ahead are the reason why.”

Goodricke stared at it. “Dare we proceed?”

“It’s that or give up on Lavan—something neither of us is willing to do.”

Their footsteps echoed off its walls when they walked under the archway, into a tunnel, Jarek probing; Goodricke at his side him, hand on his sword. The tunnel was short, and they quickly found themselves at its other end, standing before a stream. Like the strange hills they’d just passed through, the river continued as far as they could see in either direction, its width never varying. Trees abounded on the opposite bank, and they could see where their path continued. What was lacking however, was a means for crossing the water.

Jarek probed, surprised to suddenly detect an abundance of life. Grabbing a stick, he stuck it into the water, testing the stream’s depth.

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