Leaves of Urth

Danner

Bluehat's #5: 01/18/08 This story takes place in Duthon around 168, a year before the death of the King. A small valley maybe in the middle of the long Duthon valley, on the south side, jutting up against those tall scary mountains. I will retitle it later. Enjoy!



The stallion snorted steam into the cold morning air and danced a few steps in place. The rider pulled his cloak tighter around him and muttered, “Hurry up Deny.”

Danner held his reins and those of another horse and moved closer to the sunlight portion of the dirt yard. He stared at a sod building, smoke pouring from its chimney.

A door finally opened and Deny emerged with their father. Deny secured his saddle bags and mounted the remaining horse. He then took a eight foot spear his father had carried out and placed the butt of it in a cup on top of his stirrup.

“Be back by highsun tomorrow, still lots of work to get done around here”, the older man said looking at Deny, then glancing at Danner. The two brothers nodded, Danner setting off at a trot, Deny replying, “We will Da, no worries.” Deny spurred his horse to catch up.

The old man shivered in the cold as he watched his sons ride out of sight. He then noticed the barn door had been left open. Mumbling about children never changing, he walked over to close it before returning to the warm kitchen.

****

“What’s the spear for?” Danner asked as his younger brother caught up to him.

“A cave bear was seen coming down from the mountains, just before you rode in. Da wanted me to take it, you know, in that tone that says ‘no arguments’. ”

“Ya, I know, not much has really changed in seven years, with him that is.” Danner still was getting used to his little brother having grown up in his absence. They were now of the same height after years of Deny being the smaller, younger and weaker.

“He has changed, he can’t do it all around the ranch anymore.” Deny brushed his dark hair out of his eyes to look closely at his brother, “He knows I have to learn some things on my own if this will all be mine someday,” he looked away to stare at the gate ahead.

Silence stretched on for a while as Danner swallowed, remembering past arguments with his father and his final defiant act, leaving to join the cavalry when he was 17. As they reached the gate out of the large yard, Danner looked over at his brother, grinned and yelled, “Race Ya!” He spurred his horse, bending over the stallion as he began to pick up speed.

Deny gave a startled oath, he was 25 yards behind, then spurred his own horse in pursuit. He knew exactly where they raced toward, they had done it many times as boys. An ancient spreading oak towered over a bridge which spanned a creek, less than half a mile away.

Danner felt the cold wind on his face and the cloak pulling against his neck as he raced ahead. The road was muddy from two days of rain and yesterday’s fog, but he trusted his horse’s footing. It was with surprise that less than halfway to the oak he say his brother’s horse come even with him and soon pass. He had forgotten the boar spear, but Deny carried it as a lance and quickly forged past him. Danner spurred his horse on, but soon realized it was useless. He eased up before crossing under the oak.

“HA! Even with your cheating you still lose!” Deny lifted the spear in triumph and smiled more than Danner had seen since his arrival.

“I let you win”, Danner’s boast was greeted with even more laughter. “You have the faster horse, I concede.”

As soon as Deny caught his breathe he smiled, “Maybe not the fastest horse, but the one with the lightest load!”

Danner’s angry retort died in a second, “HA! HA! Your right!” A year of being sergeant in his company had softened him so that he had difficulty saddling his own horse this morning. “Good to get out though. Two days of being cooped up inside is more than I am used to.”

“You could have chopped wood, rode the herd, instead of playing the honored guest for the last three days,” There wasn’t any tone of resentment in Deny’s voice.

“Well, I’m here now, and we’re riding edge, at least you have me for company instead of riding alone. Which way did you want to head out if we’re to get to Uncle Tevis’s before evening?”

“Da wanted me to check on the Maerl ford, so lets head south first and angle back toward the mountains and the ford, it’ll keep us in the sun the most.” Danner nodded and they crossed the wooden bridge and across the grassy valley.

***

The brothers quickly feel into an old rhythm of riding, talking and hunting. Danner took out his short bow, strung it and began to look for small game as they road.

Mountain peaks soared from the flat valley floor with few valleys piercing their granite walls. Waterfalls from hanging valleys could be seen in the spring melting seasons. The nearest village was thirty miles away on the Duthgalean river, which split the broad Duthon Duchy in half.

Their Uncle’s house was on the eastern side of the wide valley, and closer to the southern mountains which made up the boundary of the duchy, and kingdom. The two families looked over hundreds of head of cattle and horses and needed to protect their investments, hence riders would ride along the edge of the valley constantly guarding. The Maerl ran along the western side of he south opening valley, the ford near the northern most part of the lower valley. North of the ford the valley quickly gained elevation and was covered in thick woods.

Danner finally got a rabbit after several misses, then took the spear from his brother so he could take his own bow out and try his luck. The two continued to talk about Danner’s life in the cavalry over the years, stories he hadn’t told his mother and sisters during the last several days of catching up with the doings of the family. Deny shared the more illicit goings on of the local families, things that didn’t make for polite conversation as their mother had constantly admonished them as children.

A pheasant burst from some bushes as the horses past and Deny quickly put an arrow through it. Danner dismounted to retrieve the bird and barely hid his astonishment at the feat. His first thought was to sign up such a talent to the Duthon Light Cavalry, then he quickly thought of his father’s reaction, then realized that his brother would never leave this small part of the world, it was all he ever needed or wanted.

“I doubt that was a lucky shot from your lack of boasting.” Danner picked the bird up with a long blade of grass and twisted the grass around the birds feet, hanging it from his brothers saddle bag.

“No. I pretty much hit what I aim for.”

********

They continued riding, the sun getting higher, warming the valley floor. Two rabbits fell to Deny’s aim and he put his bow away. Low fog had burned away, giving Danner his first look in seven years at the place where he had grown up. Green grass for miles, occasional copses of trees, and scattered herds roaming in between. They turned back to the north and the mountains towered over the flat valley floor, seemingly rising straight up for most of their extent. Storm King on the east of the valley, the Teeth next in line, and looking up the Maerl valley ahead of them stood the one called the Guardian. To the west smaller peaks marked the sky until came the tallest of them in the west, Cloud Spike. Snow covered all the peaks leaving only the lowest of the green forest to shine through the fresh winter blanket.

Each herd they came to brought a list of its members from Deny, too many to stick in Danner’s head, who never had a head for the details of breeding and husbandry. He had always dreamed of seeing the land over the next river, seeing what was in the mountains... over there. Those dreams had driven him away from this valley, into a larger world.

It was after highsun when they neared the Maerl ford and Danner spoke of stopping for lunch. One of the cattle herds milled some distance off.

“Sure, Ma packed biscuits and cheese for us,” Deny patted his saddle bags, “We can cook two of the rabbits and bring the rest to Uncle’s for dinner.”

Danner smiled at the thought of his mother’s biscuits. He dismounted and began to gather wood and kindling for a fire, rabbit size. It was a while before Danner noticed his brother was still ahorse. “Want to help?”

“Uh, sure, just wondering where Big Dee is, and the herd here is short a couple from what I can see. I’m going to ride over and take a closer look. Here’s the other rabbit.” Deny untied the rabbit and tossed it to his brother and started off.

Danner quickly found a place that had obviously been used for campfires before, and took out his flint and knife. He had the rabbits skinned and ready, then gathered kindling and wood. He had the fire going before his brother was back.

“Not there, and I count the herd four short, that's too many for Dee to be playing with behind some rock.” The valley had narrowed as it went up, the plains giving way to more trees and larger rocks.

“Big Dee the bull?”, Danner asked as he spitted the rabbits over the fire.

“Ya, big, horns go around and make a ‘D’”, Deny held his arms up over his head, elbows bent, hands almost touching, then he twisted his body to the side to make the letter.

“We’ll go look after we eat. Did you bring any wine?” Deny nodded and retrieved his saddle bags and came to sit by the fire.

Danner went to the nearby river to wash his hands and dispose of the rabbit remnants. When he got back to the fire Deny had knocked down the wood to make for a better cooking fire and was cutting the cheese into two halves, he offered one to Danner and then unstopped the wine skin.

“Since your leaving in a couple of days, before the Winter Festival, I wanted to tell you that I’m going to be a father. Elia told me just before you arrived and we were going to wait until the festival to tell everyone...” Deny still held the wine skin out to his brother when he was picked up off the ground and almost crushed in a hug.

“That’s great! Wow!... I wish... I guess I don’t know what to say!”

“Don’t spill anymore wine. Maybe you should make a toast? And don’t tell anyone, Ma and Da should have really been the first, but I figured since you were going away again so soon... Elia agreed that I should tell you.”

“To my first nephew, or niece!”, he grinned, “Hard to make a proper toast without names.” He took a swallow from the skin and passed it back to Deny, who quickly drank too.

They both sat down next the fire and begin to eat the roasted rabbits, enjoying the moment without feeling the need to saw anything more.

Danner finally broke the silence, “If it is a boy, what are you going to name him?” It was their custom for the men to name the boys and the women to name the girls, the first born son was usually named after a honored ancestor or great hero from the past.

Deny looked up ,“I had been thinking of Da’s pa, the Giantkiller...”

Danner let out a laugh, “There’s a name to strike fear into men! Giantkiller! I doubt Elia will allow that, first born or not.”

“No, no, Adani is the name, its a good name. Don’t know of another in the area.”

“That is a good one, Da will be happy.” Danner went back to eating. He began to wonder what name he would pick for his son, if such a thing were to ever happen to him. So many great names he had heard in legend and song, and heroes he had served with in the present. Leave it to his brother to pick one that wasn’t even known on the other side of the duchy.

It wasn’t long before the rabbits were down to bones and the brothers began to pack up and put the fire out. They both mounted up and Danner looked over to Deny, ” Which way do you want to go? If we split up we can find Dee and his cows quicker.”

Deny shook his head, “Da told me that he wanted us to go by here because Torgil, Uncle’s man, had seen a fire this way two nights ago, when he was riding watch. We stay together, maybe the missing cattle and that fire are related.”

This news got Danner’s attention. “Campfire? Or lightning strike? It was raining two nights ago.”

“Didn’ hear no thunder these last days, did you? He said it seemed bigger than a campfire might be, but he didn’t get too close, being alone as he was.”

“And the boar spear?” Danner pointed to the spear Deny carried, “Is that Da’s idea of dealing with whoever started the fire?” He was getting angry at not being included earlier.

“There was a cave bear down here last week. Uncle said the dogs had chased it down the valley, but you never know.”

Danner took this all in, back to his sergeant’s way of doing things. “Bear might explain the missing cattle.”

“Two maybe, if the bear took out a cow and Dee came to its defense, but I count five missing total. A bear would kill to eat or defend, that doesn’t make for three more missing cows.” Deny started his horse across the ford, “ You stay on this side, but close to the banks, look for anything and holler.”

Danner nodded to himself at his brother’s plan and begin to move upstream on his side, stringing his bow as he went, wondering how many arrows it might take to bring down an angry bear.

*****

It didn’t take too long for Deny to come across one of the missing cows, or what remained of it. He gave a loud whistle and waited for his brother to cross the swollen creek. He was still sitting on his horse when Danner came on the scene of the slaughter.

All that remained were the five heads, the one that must have been Big Dee had the horns removed near the skull, but all were covered crows. The skull of Big Dee was moving back and forth.

Danner dismounted, took the spear from his brother and looked from side to side in the clearing. Seeing nothing he advanced on the rocking skull, spear held out. As soon as he poked the skull with the spear point an angry wolverine emerged, mouth full of bloody brains. A further advance from Danner drove the sated wolverine away, and he looked at the skull closely.

Deny was beside him seconds later, bow drawn. “I didn’t think, sorry about the whistle...”, he began.

“Its all right. I doubt whoever did this is still around. They field dressed them here and the scavengers have been eating the leftovers for days, not much left.” Danner was looking at the cut that had severed the bull’s head form its body along the backbone, it had been done in one very powerful cut.

They walked among the rest of the remains before noticing the ashes of a large fire near a large granite boulder, forty feet high and more wide. Danner pointed at the rock face, “The fire lit up this rock, that's what Torgil saw. No tracks either, the scavengers ruined whatever the rain didn’t wash away.”

Deny finally found his voice, “So much meat... it could feed hundreds. What could have done this?”

“No bear. I think its a who were searching for now.” Danner handed the spear back to his brother and began to search the edges of the clearing for the path that the hundreds of pounds of meat must have taken out of the clearing.

He had hoped to find some signs along the northern opening of the clearing, toward the valley they had just come up, but it was on the southern uphill side that he found the broken branches. His mind had begun to think of a plausible explanation, spurred on by the brother’s earlier conversation. And the trail leading up into the mountains, not toward the valley below seemed to push toward a most unwelcome conclusion. He walked back to the horses trying to think of another possibility but failed by the time he reached Deny.

“Den? Ride to Uncle’s house, quick but careful. Tell him what we saw here. And then tell him I think the giants might be back.”

Deny said nothing, but began to nod accepting his brother’s words, then mounted his horse. Danner took off his cape and tied his horse’s reins to tree near the creek.

Noticing his brother’s actions, Deny turned around, “What are you going to do?”

“I have a hunch, just want to make sure before everyone gets here. You reminded me of the stories we used to hear of when the giants last came to the valley. I’m just going up the valley a bit.”

“Why don’t I go with you, two is better than one, right?”

“Little brother, you just told me why your not going to come up there, at the fire, remember?”

Deny looked puzzled, almost ready to argue his point when he got his brother’s meaning. He sighed, nodded again and tossed the eight foot spear to his brother. “Don’t do anything to make me think of changing my firstborn’s name.” And he turned his horse downstream, back to the ford and toward his Uncle’s house.

*****

Danner looked up at the sun, not much daylight remained in this steep walled valley. He continued uphill following the now obvious trail through thick brush. Grasses had been recently trampled, some still smeared with the dried blood of the stolen meat. He couldn’t help but notice the height of some of the broken branches on the trail, almost as high as he could lift his spear.

He paused often to look ahead and listen, but nothing else stirred. He tried to remember the stories he had heard in his youth about Adani and the men who had killed the invading giants so many years before he had been born. It had all sounded like so many other myths and legends, except that it had been his granda who had done it. He hadn’t actually killed a giant in hand to hand combat, he had used his brain to beat its brawn, how many depended on who told the story. But there was one thing he did know was true about that story and he was determined to see it still existed.

Danner began to realize how foolish he was being, not waiting for help, but he didn’t really believe his own story to his brother, not yet. He didn’t have any armor on, not even his sword, just an ash spear, bow over his back and a dagger. What would he do if he encountered a giant on the trail? Run as fast as he could. The blows that had butchered the bull’s head had come from a sharp blade, probably an ax, and there was no defense from that kind of strength.

He finally escaped the thick brush of the valley floor and came to a meadow. Across the meadow was scattered a pile of boulders that extended to both sides of the valley walls and back for almost a hundred yards. This was the remains of that final battle his granda Adani had fought, as the story went. He had caused a landslide to bury the invading giant army. How? the stories didn’t agree, but they all ended the same, the giants dead or trapped on the wrong side of the rock fall and Adani caught in it too.

Danner crossed the meadow to the foot of the tumble of rocks. One large boulder had fallen farther than the rest and was alone laying flat. On it the human survivors of that long ago battle had erected a pile of giant bones, capped by a huge skull, reported to be of their chief. Danner had remembered seeing it long ago when hunting up the valley. It had been a warning, a monument and now it was missing.