The Curse of Credesar, Part 1 by Robert E. Keller

Author:Robert E. Keller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fantasy, magic, sword and sorcery, wizards, demons, epic fantasy, quests

Chapter 9: The Galds

The path was marked with ancient Halstarion relics stuck in the ground or leaning against trees, placed to look like humanoids, animals, or spirit creatures. Wires had been strung into hair, pipes formed arms and legs, drums were bloated bellies, and anything black or shiny formed eyes.

They were soon met in the trail by Gald children who materialized from the shadowy woods, their black eyes shining with excitement and curiosity. They leapt around and waved sticks over Kelden's face, their thin bodies looking like spindly insects.

Dameon smiled down at Kelden reassuringly, but couldn't hide the uncertainty in his eyes. Dameon was taking a huge gamble, and Kelden couldn't begin to fathom the mad schemes that were running through his mind. Kelden was being bounced along by a smiling lunatic right into the mouth of doom.

One of the children got too hyper and struck Kelden in the face with his stick. The Gald warrior grabbed him and spanked him before tossing him down. The unfortunate lad ran off down the trail crying and holding his backside, while the other children laughed at him. The stick had left bark fragments in Kelden's eye. The eye twitched and watered miserably as he was carried along.

Kelden caught occasional glimpses of wooden huts as Dameon shifted him around. The former seer was getting tired, his breathing labored. Finally he laid Kelden on the ground and stood panting. "I'm too fat for this," he explained, patting his belly.

The Gald warrior grinned and nodded, giving Dameon's gut a poke. Then he seized Kelden, throwing him over his shoulder. Kelden gagged on the warrior's strange, sour stench, wondering why heaven and earth had turned against him.

They resumed walking again. The Gald began torturing Kelden in sneaky ways. A tug of hair here, a pinch there--mean little attacks the savage undoubtedly found quite humorous.

Like all Gald villages, this one was built in the shape of a spider web, the crisscrossing trails forming the strands, all leading to a round clearing at the center of town--nicknamed the Hub by humans--where everything important took place. Huts were all of the same shape and size, and all were spaced a perfect distance from each other. The Galds didn't believe in expressing individuality, expect for their shaman--the village leader who could be male or female. Because they were just as strong and athletic as the men, women were also warriors, and duties such as cooking and cleaning were shared by all. Unless a female was pregnant, she was expected to hunt and fight alongside the males. The sexes were considered completely equal in all ways.

The Galds gave great reverence to pain and suffering in the name of their gods. Their gruesome artwork was stitched into their quilts and painted on the walls of their huts. Human heads hung throughout the village from tree limbs and poles. Dried skin was tacked to huts. Skulls were placed atop the metal totems to represent sacrifices. And mounds of human bones erected about the village had been made into lairs for poisonous snakes the Galds used in rituals.

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