Chapter Two
The legend of the Spine
The next morning was cold but beautiful; the waters were half frozen over, looking as though you could walk right across it. The boy ate his small breakfast of porridge, and then returned to the small glen where he had found the stone and lost the deer the night before. Examining the charred area of where the stone had landed brought no new details of how it had came and the trail for the deer was cold. Winter was coming sooner then he thought so it was best that he head for home, even though he was empty handed.
The boy returned to the trail with what he had entered the Spine, it was a rough old game trail and in some places the path was nonexistent. It had been made by animals so it backtracked and took long detours. Yet it was the fastest way the boy knew of out of the mountains.
As we said before the Spine was a place not many people dared go into. There were too many stories of people disappearing or worse. The Spine was the only place near the boy, that King Galbatorix could not call his own. The boy remembered hearing the story of how half Galbatorix's army just disappeared after marching into the Spine, never to be seen or heard from again. Though bad luck seemed to hang in its branches, the trees still grew tall, the sun and the star shone brightly, though still, few people would enter the Spine.
Many people would tell the boy or his uncle or his cousins that he had a gift to be able to go into the Spine and return to his family. The boy himself didn't think of it as a gift, just persistent vigilance and sharp reflexes. His own cousins wouldn't even go into the Spine but, the boy had hiked the mountain range for years now, he may have been able to enter it, but he was still wary of it. Every time he thought he had found the last secret of the wood, something would happen to make him question it once more, like the stone appearing in front of him.
His pace was brisk but not to hard, as the day went on, the leagues slowly disappeared. By evening the boy had reached the edge of a precipitous ravine. He could hear the Anora River as it rushed by far below, heading through the Palancar Valley. It had hundreds of smaller streams running off of it and you could hear it rumble as it moved along.
The boy camped in a thicket near the ravine and watched the moonrise before he rapped himself in his blankets and fell asleep.
……………………………………………….
The next day and a half grew even colder as the boy moved on. He traveled quickly, the only wildlife he saw was a few birds and a small rabbit. Around noon or a bit after the boy heard the Igualda Falls as it blanketed everything with the dull sound of splashes. He continued on the trail as it led him onto a moist outcropping. The river sped past it, going out into the empty air and down the mossy cliffs.
The next thing the boy saw was the last of Palancar Valley, it lay out like an unrolled map just waiting for him. The boy was in the northern part of the Valley, just a little ways from the Igualda Falls was the town of Carvahall, the boy's home town. From where the boy was he could see the whole town, the smoke rising from chimneys, at the height he was, the farms where small, no bigger then his finger. The Anora River wound from the falls all the way to the southern end of Palancar Valley. Farther on he knew it flowed past the village of Therinsford and the lonely mountain Utgard. Beyond that he only knew that it turned north towards the sea.
After his long pause the boy left the outcropping and started down the tail towards the town. He hated how steep his descent was. When he finally reach the bottom it was nearly night fall and Carvahall's lights began to shimmer in the twilight; the shadows of the houses where tall and wide. Aside from Therinsford, Carvahall was the only village in Palancar Valley. They were surrounded by the beautiful landscape. Few traveled here except for the merchants and the trappers.
The boy slowly made his way through town and headed for the butcher's shop, it was a thick-beamed building, overhead, the chimney showed that someone was into with the way it belched the black smoke. He pushed the door open. The room was warm and well lit thanks to the fire in the fireplace. The room was very clean, the bare counter stretched across the room, the floor was covered with a layer of straw. Behind the counter stood the butcher, Sloan. He was a small man, with a sallow pockmarked face, he wore a white cotton shirt and a long, bloodstained smock. His butcher knives swung from his belt. His black eyes were full of suspicion. He looked at up as the boy entered polishing the counter with a ragged cloth.
The boy never had liked Sloan, and it seemed Sloan did not like him either, or his uncle or his cousins for that matter. There was only one person Sloan seem to care about, and that was his daughter Katrina. Right now thought the boy needed meat and Sloan was the only person who could give it to him.
"Good evening Sir," the boy said as politely as he could, then the meat on the side of the counter that he had not seen before caught his eye.
Sloan noticed the boy's eye movement and smiled, "That's expensive taste young Virgil. It's the king's strip, the fat just melts into the meat."
Virgil watched as Sloan put the meat down again and then asked, "How much?"
Sloan smiled and scoffed, "How much, how much you ask? Too much for a poor farm boy."
Virgil glared at him and reached into his pack, "I have something, something to trade," he handed the stone to the butcher.
Sloan took it into his hands and looked at it, "What is this? Some kind of stone. Where did you get it?"
Virgil straighten as he said, "I found it."
"Stole it more likely," Sloan said as he looked at the stone with wonder.
"I was hunting," Virgil muttered as he slung his pack over his shoulder again.
"How much is it worth?" Sloan asked not taking his eyes off the stone.
"I don't know," Virgil admitted, "But I doubt anyone would have gone to so much trouble to shape it like that unless it had some value."
"Well yes, but the question is how much, and since you don't know I suggest that you find a trader who does or take my offer of three crowns."
Virgil's eyes widened, "It must be worth ten times that amount, three crowns would not even pay for a weeks worth of meat."
"If you don't like my offer then wait until the traders come, it's your choice," Sloan said.
Virgil did not want to wait for the traders, it would be a while yet and his family needed the meat now. "Fine, I'll take it," he snapped.
"Good, though just wondering where did you find this?" Sloan asked as he ran his hand over the stone.
"About two nights ago in the Spine," Virgil said with a huff.
Sloan's eyes shot up and he thrust the stone into Virgil's hands. "Put it back, it belongs to the king, tell no one you have it, you could endanger the whole village, now get out, I don't need that kind of trouble here, get out." Sloan yelled nearly throwing the egg back at Virgil.
"What about my meat!" Virgil yelled.
"I said get out!" Sloan yelled just as Horst and Katrina entered the room.
"What's going on in here?" Horst asked as he came to stand by Virgil.
Horst was a hulking man, with a tired, worked face, he was the town's smith and you could tell by his worked hands. Virgil had always liked him. Katrina was a girl of sixteen only about four months older then Virgil.
"He won't sell me any meat," Virgil said to answer the question.
"Why is that Sloan?" Horst asked turning to the butcher.
"He has no money," Sloan spat.
"Is this true Virgil?" Horst asked turning to the fifteen year old once more.
"I offered this stone as payment and he took it, it was when he found that it came from the Spine he refused to even touch it," Virgil said.
Horst looked at the stone and then back to the butcher, "Sloan I have no love of the Spine myself but it is about the stone's worth not where it was found."
"Father, Virgil is willing to pay. Give him the meat please, his family needs it," Katrina said sweetly.
Sloan stared at his daughter with narrowed eyes, "Go home, this has nothing to do with you---I said go home!" Katrina's eyes narrowed as she turned around and walked out the room with her back stiff.
Horst had had enough, "Fine Sloan, if you won't let Virgil pay for the meat then I will, here," Horst poured out some coins on the counter, "Make sure it's enough to fill Virgil's pack."
Sloan grumbled but got Horst the meat and Horst put it into Virgil's pack next to the stone.
"Thank you Sloan, good night," and with that Horst walked outside, Virgil hurried behind him.
"Thank you, Horst, Uncle Jeff will be pleased." Virgil said as he once more slung his pack over his shoulder. "Do you know why Sloan exploded like that? I mean all because of the Spine?"
Horst shrugged and said, "Ask you Uncle, he knows more about it then I do."
"Well now I have another reason to hurry home, here this is rightfully yours." Virgil said as he offered Horst the stone.
"No, you can keep your stone, how about you come help me in forge this summer while Albriech is away, you can work off the debt that way." Horst said with a chuckle.
Virgil's eyes widened, "Thank you! I look forward to working with you." This made Virgil's spirits lift he knew his uncle would never accept charity, even if they needed it.
Then Virgil suddenly remembered what his cousin had asked him to do before he left on the hunt. "John asked me to give Katrina a message, but seeing as how I can't, can you get it to her?"
"Of course, what is it?" Horst asked.
"He said to tell her that he'll come to town as soon as the merchants arrive and that he will see her then." Virgil said with a grin.
"Is that all?" Horst asked.
"Virgil turned slightly red as he said, "No, he also wants her to know that she is the most beautiful girl he had ever seen and that he thinks of nothing else."
Horst grinned at Virgil's embarrassment, "He's getting pretty serious, isn't he?"
"Yes sir," Virgil answered with a smile.
"Will you sup with us?" Horst asked as they reached his house.
"I'm sorry, I can't. Uncle Jeff and Aunt Lucy are expecting me." Virgil said as he shifted his pack from one shoulder to the other.
"Well good night then," Horst said as he entered his house.
"Good night, Horst," Virgil said as he headed towards the edge of the village.
It didn't take him long to reach the end of the village and he left the warm comforting glow of the lights behind him. The moon peeked over the mountains, bathing the land in a light ghostly light. Virgil was nearing the end of his journey as he turned off the road, which continued south. There was a small path leading through the waist-high grass, going up a knoll, almost hidden by the shadows the of the elm trees. As he crested the hill he saw a gently light shining from his home, waiting for him.
The house had a shingled roof and a brick chimney. Eaves hung over the whitewashed walls, shadowing the ground below. One side of the enclosed porch was filled with split wood, ready for the fire. A jumble of farm tools cluttered the other side.
The house was ten miles from Carvahall, the one farthest out. Some people thought it was dangerous to live to far from the village because then the family could not rely on help in times of trouble, but Virgil's Aunt and Uncle were happy with where they lived.
Across from the house was a barn, which housed two horses,--Birka and Brugh—plus the cow and the chicken. Sometimes there was also a pig, but they couldn't afford one this year. A wagon sat wedged between the stalls. On the edge of their fields, a thick line of trees traced along the Anora River.
Virgil saw a light move as he got closer, "Uncle Jeff, it's me, it's Virgil, let me in."
The door slowly opened to reveal Jeff standing in the doorway, Lucy stood behind him, "Your cousin's are sleeping, so be quiet okay."
Virgil nodded as he stepped inside and received a hug from his aunt. A lantern flickered on a wood table in the corner. There was a second door the opened to the rest of the house. The floor was made of board's polished smooth by years of tramping feet.
Virgil took off his pack and took out the meat.
"What's this, you bought meat?" Jeff asked looking confused.
"Where did you get the money?" Lucy asked with surprise.
Virgil took a deep breath and answered their questions, "Horst bought it for us."
"You let him pay for our meat? Virgil Tracy, we do not beg," Jeff said roughly.
"I didn't accept charity," Virgil snapped, "Horst agreed to let me work the debt off this spring and summer he needs help, when Albriech goes away for the seasons."
"How will you find time to do this?" Jeff asked.
"I don't know Uncle, but I will, I also found something that might help with our money problem," Virgil said as he took out the stone and set it on the table. "I found this in the Spine."
Jeff looked at running his hand over the stone with a twitch, "You found this in the Spine?"
"Yes," Virgil said and he explained what had happened in the woods. "I lost my best arrow, I'll have to make more I guess."
"How was the weather?" his Aunt asked as she brought him a cup of tea.
"Cold, it didn't snow, but it froze each night." Virgil said as he sipped his tea thankful for the warmth.
"Tomorrow, you and John will have to finish with the barley harvest. Maybe Gordon and Alan can pick the squash that way if it freezes down here we're ready," Jeff said with a small smile as he passed the stone back to Virgil, "Keep this, When the traders come, we'll find out what it's worth. Selling it looks like the best thing to do. The less we have to do with magic the better. Um, why did Horst buy the meat?"
Virgil told them about his argument with Sloan, "Why does it anger him so?"
Jeff shrugged, "Sloan's wife, Ismira, went over the Igualda Falls a year before you and your brother were brought here. He hasn't been near the Spine since, nor had anything to d with it. But that's no reason not to sell you meat, I think he wanted to give you trouble."
Virgil nodded as his eyes began to droop, Lucy smile and said, "You better get to bed before you fall over."
Virgil smile as Jeff put his hand on his shoulder. "It's good to be back." Jeff's eyes softened, and he nodded. Virgil stumbled to his room, pushed the stone under his bed, then fell onto the mattress. Home. For the first time since before the hunt, he relaxed completely as sleep overtook him.
T.B.C.
author's note: I wrote this at 2am so if there are spelling errors I'm very sorry. I didn't proof read very well. I got one review for my chapter can a get a little more for my second one pretty please. thank you. Anakin's girl 11
