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The Godspeaker — Episode 2
Calm after the storm
They were exhausted the next day. The fear of another chase kept them going for hours. The sun was already rising when they stopped. They broke their fast, washed their dirt in a stream, and were once again on the road. They went on for another hour until an old structure far off the road caught their attention. A promising place to rest a little, they thought.
After scouting the surroundings, one took guard shifts while the others slept. They were too tired to continue without a long pause. It was noon when they resumed their journey after lunching almost all their food. The four prepared to leave the roofless house, but a group of Roman soldiers appeared. Behind them, horses pulled a big chart. They were coming from the keep’s direction. The four stopped and hid in the shelter.
Ládheris talked something with Ildus and turned to the other Goths, “the Roman said we are still far from the fortress so these men can’t be patrols. More likely they are in some kind of mission.”
“Could they be looking for the other party?” Édegorn asked.
“Unlikely, bad news doesn’t travel that fast. This group is double the size of the other and some look like they never saw a battlefield. See how their gear dances around their body. They don’t know how to wear their own armor yet,” Ládheris said. He turned to Ildus and asked something.
Ildus nods and exits the place towards the soldiers. They see their compatriot with curiosity and go to meet him. Some of the clumsy soldiers put their hands on their swords. Ildus greet them with a high and solemn voice so Ládheris can hear him.
“Stay hidden. I can hear what the Roman says behind these walls no need to expose ourselves unless necessary,” Ládheris said to the other two beside him. He shuts up and continues to listen. “Ildus said he is a tanner from the nearby keep. I can’t understand what they said but I think they bought it. They are recruiters from the Dux. I guess our foe is in dire need of people. Good for us– Wait– Hmm, Good idea Ildus. He said there are three Goths accompanying him.”
“How come this be a good idea?” Édegorn whined.
“Shh. Come, you two, he summoned us. It will work out. If not, there are only 2 soldiers worth a fight among them, the others will run the moment I hold my ax with only one hand. Come, don’t make them wait.”
The three showed themselves and reach the Romans.
Ildus turns to Ládheris, blinks and says in their language, “yes, I friend Ládherius and Édegorn no. Good morning, Haffan. No I friend, yes no…” and goes on saying the few words he knows of their language as if he was explaining the situation to them.
“Don’t frown, he is performing to the soldiers,” Ládheris said speaking to the Goths but facing Ildus. “We are a nod away from becoming Dux’s soldiers. Nod now,” he said now facing the Goths. “Just nod to them, you two.”
The Other Goths nod to the Romans. Ládheris does the same.
“Then, we are settled. There is only one issue. Can you give me some recommendation so I present them in the keep?” Ildus asked the commander.
“But I thought you were going with us…” the commander answered.
“I need to go back to my duties in the keep. But I can guide them there. They can enlist and train at once instead of encumbering your group with more mouths to feed. Still, a recommendation will make things easier when I present them to the master of arms. By the way, our food is scarce and we are still a day away from our destination. Would you mind giving us something to eat?”
“You ask too much, tanner. We are a lot of mouths to feed as you said yourself.” The commander asks for something to heat the wax and brands a clean sheet with his seal. “Give this to the master of arms in the barracks as a sign of my recruitment.”
The two groups part from each other in opposite direction.
***
“Don’t be so down. You tried to get us food, I appreciate that. Anyway, it was nice thinking to seize the moment and get a recommendation from the recruiter. Now we have a good reason to be inside the fortification,” Ládheris said.
“I guess…” Ildus answered, “I…we, actually, have a problem. When I left, I didn’t go out for a walk. I abandoned my duties altogether without no one’s permission. Those soldiers didn’t know me so it was easy to show them I lived there. But if I go near the keep after months missing, and with Goths, there will be a price to pay. So we have to lay out a plan before getting close.”
“We do it in the morning. Now, let’s set up camp and spread some traps. If we are lucky, we can have rabbit soup to break our fast tomorrow,” Ládheris said.
While they were building a fire, the chieftain explained Ildus’s situation to the other two.
“I will ask the Gods for guidance tonight. Let me go grab some herbs to the ritual,” Édegorn said, “no Haffan, you don’t go with me. I go alone. But you can dig holes and set traps before it gets dark.”
The sturdy little Goth went deeper into the forest. After many years of brewing potions and collecting ingredients, the trip was automatic. The flora this side of the mountain was not so different from the other side. Even if it were, their tribe roamed to many lands so he knew his way around Nature. He didn’t become Shaman without proving himself first.
He lowered and picked some blue flowers.
He remembered that time they were caught in a blizzard after fleeing from a Roman army. It was Ládheris who saved them by finding a cave. But in the days that followed, many fell ill. They could barely talk with so much mucus going through their noses. Who found the herbs to cure the entire tribe? He did, in the middle of winter! Later, the Gods told him this was punishment because they weren’t ready to fight 80 skinny Romans.
He sniffed a ground plant with white dandelion-like seed heads. It was the right one. He picked some.
He told Ládheris the Gods send that disease as punishment and the chieftain laughed out loud. But Édegorn noticed there were no more lazy days around camp. This was good, otherwise, they wouldn’t have survived a clash with a Hun tribe twice their size a moon cycle after that snowstorm. Then he learned to trust and hail the Gods. He learned also his leader was a worthy one and they would accomplish a lot together. That’s why he agreed to such a stupid plan: storm into a Roman keep leaving the entire tribe to cross a mountain range leaderless.
He skinned a tree’s trunk for some splints. It was the last piece, without which, the smoke wouldn’t be decent.
They stopped to camp early, Édegorn noticed. Only now the sun began to turn orange and red. More than enough time to do the ritual right where he stood. He could finish it and go back to camp with a faint light of day remaining.
He lit a fire then threw the plant parts he crushed in a small mortar. The fire blazes with the mix and the splints. The smoke fills the shaman’s nostrils. It was inebriating, divine. All the hair in his body bristled. His senses heightened and ebbed, just to heighten more than later. The cycles built to the point his entire body failed and he passed away.
—
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