Ratastrophe Catastrophe by David Lee Stone

Author:David Lee Stone [Stone, David Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4804-6145-1
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 2014-01-10T00:39:00+00:00

FOURTEEN

CHARCOAL CLOUDS GATHERED OVER the Varick Pass, hung there motionless for a time, and then began to spit all over the place like the worst kind of ball player.

Low-lying cloud formations encircled the tallest peaks. It was said that, upon reaching the summit of the Twelve, a man could be forgiven for thinking that he had entered a land of balding giants. Patches of sparse woodland dotted the mountainsides, where a few of the region’s more unsociable dwarf tribes lived. These wooded areas were also frequented by trolls, ogres, and the occasional wandering Notjusyeti (a strange beast with big feet and a tendency to keep mountaineers waiting).

High on a rocky path, approximately halfway up the Twelve, Diek Wustapha stopped dead before a rock wall and listened. Moments before, he’d emerged from the clouds like an apparition, stepping through thin air as if descending an invisible staircase. The children had followed in a straight, orderly line, their eyes focused on some distant preoccupation.

And, still, Diek listened.

A number of the smaller children careened into him, their zombielike eyes wide. Diek pushed them back, drew in a breath, and raised his arms. The voice that came forth was not his own.

“Eliumariss toomathane. Rastarinimpetus kadant!”

For a time, nothing happened. Diek just stood motionless before the rock face, his hands shaking from the sheer mental effort the spell required. He took a few tentative steps, then strode right through the barrier as though it had never existed. One by one, the children followed him beyond the wall and down, down into the darkness.

Far below, Gordo had decided to go around the base of the Twelve, but this had turned out to be a very unfortunate choice in terms of their progress. Their problems had begun with a chance meeting with a group of nomads who had set up camp in the gargantuan mountain’s lower foothills. The nomads mixed warm hospitality with a seemingly endless supply of ale. Consequently, the group had been in their company for the best part of a day. Now, thanks to some friendly nomad advice about the dangerous creatures lurking on the Twelve’s eastern base, they’d elected to go over the mountain instead. To do this successfully, Tambor had reasoned, they needed to start from the well-worn path that they had been on the day before, and that meant starting the whole journey over again from scratch. During these difficult hours, they spent much of their journey retracing their steps in hushed silence (or at least the sort of silence that’s regularly interrupted by muffled curses).

A glimmer on the horizon signaled that thunder was lurking and a bitter wind whistled down the path, making progress as difficult as possible.

“I don’t suppose either of you carries a readable map of the area?” Tambor said, his teeth chattering in the wind.

Groan and Gordo stared blankly at each other. Then they cast a glance in every direction, hoping to see some signs of a path that wouldn’t involve conquering the mountain.

“I take it that’s a no, then?” the old man continued.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.