Chapter 7

The innkeeper stared at the group of eight that had come stumbling into the inn. He'd never had these many customers all at one go. The only people who seemed to be all right were a knight who had an expression that suggested disgruntledness at the world in general, and a crusader whose personal aura was overwhelming. She vaguely reminded him of one of those seven-foot women he'd heard about bearing six-foot spears and great longbows and warred like men. He gulped. It was only a legend, but in Rune-Midgard legends had a tendency to become true.

'May I...be of any service?' he said hesitantly.

'Do we look like we're here to mess you around?' replied the knight.

The innkeeper was taken aback. Years of the absence of war in his world had caused the entire population to mass-produce complacent, more-brawn-than-brain warriors. These people didn't behave like that sort. He was used to that sort.

'Umm...well...'

'Eight of your rooms, please, and no questions,' said the crusader. She had a rich voice that certainly hinted of a warrior-like woman, and the fact that there was a long, heavy sword at her side and a massive shield. The knight looked no weaker. He had a good long sword that had been used quite frequently. The innkeeper didn't want to know what had felt its blade.

'All right,' he said, pulling out a book carefully, 'but I'm not sure if I have any empty rooms, because with the rush of people coming into the inn--'

It happened too fast to be seen. When everything had calmed down, the innkeeper was looking along two feet of sharp metal into the steady green eyes of the knight.

'If you don't have any vacancies,' he said, 'I'll make sure you get some. I've known you for years, innkeeper, and although I don't know your name I do know where you live and you always give me what I need. Do it. Now.'

'Now, now, Valkron,' said the crusader, in a cheerfulness that the innkeeper was coming to dread. 'You'll have him fainting and then where would we be?'

The luckless man said, 'Actually, I've got what you wanted. Just take the row of keys behind me. Feel free to pick any of them.' He gestured, with some difficulty, at the board of keys behind him.

As the little party made their way up the stairs Iruna asked, 'Incidentally, where does he live, Valkron?'

'Behind the counter.'

Valkron looked out of the window and down at the people milling about. He was thinking.

No one understood this threat. But how could it be a threat if no one cared about it? And incidentally, why did the eight of them get affected by the portal's old magic? Why did no one else get it?

Emeth was already up, he thought. That was good. The wizard had wordlessly gone out, and Valkron had watched him make his way towards the library, a place that was just another distant building from the window. No one else was stirring out.

The cool little voice said: Eni said her party was going to Al de Baran. Iruna had said otherwise. Why?

The knight pondered carefully a little longer, and then got up and reached for the door. He pulled it open to find Iruna with her fist half-raised. She lowered it in surprise.

'What are you doing here?' said Valkron, equally surprised.

'How did you know I was going to knock?' said Iruna, at exactly the same time.

They stared at each other, or in Iruna's case faced. Then they started speaking at the same time.

'I didn't know--'

'That was--'

They stopped again, this time clearly out of embarrassment.

Finally Valkron said, 'I didn't know you were going to knock, and frankly I didn't hear you. Do you have a reason for seeing me?'

Iruna looked startled. 'Do people need to have a reason to visit you?'

'Well, yes. In normal circumstances I see them, and I always have a reason.'

'Oh. Then I'd like to discuss over some things with you, since you appear to be,' she turned her head to face either side of her, as if she was looking down the corridor, 'the only one who knows what he's doing right now.'

Valkron sighed. 'Come in.' He stood aside as the crusader walked in with a faint clinking sound.

Once the door was closed Iruna turned to Valkron. 'I don't sense any other chair here.'

'It's under my cloak.' He pulled it off.

'Hm.' She appeared to be making a decision, before she raised her hands to the knot behind her head and untied it. Valkron watched it in shock and fascination as the strip of cloth fell away from her eyes. She blinked several times and rubbed an eye a little. 'Ah, that's better.'

'Hey, I thought you were blind!' he said. Iruna turned to look at him, frowning slightly. Hey eyes were clear brown.

'Nope, sorry. It's training.' She gathered her skirt and sat down primly. 'I take it off when I'm going to bed, talking to people about serious matters and seeing to things. Sit down, Valkron.'

Somewhere in his mind the little voice said: Ask her.

'I thought you were going to Al de Baran?' he said, sitting down. 'Eni said so. And then you suddenly tell me you've got nowhere to go.'

'It's something we made up,' said Iruna. 'I'm the leader of our party, and I keep receiving challenges from other mercenary parties. Apparently they think a woman as a crusader doesn't work out.'

'Women generally choose to become priestesses or wiz-- witches or huntresses.'

'In other words, tame jobs.' Iruna adjusted her skirt. 'So we just make excuses to skip the challenges. I prefer negotiation to fighting.'

'Ah. This is the real world, you know.'

'Since this is the real world we should all be trying to find out what's going on,' said the crusader. 'By general observation I've seen monsters try to attack innocent passers-by. Being struck by pain is not an option either. I say we go and look for the threat and end it.'

'I thought you said you preferred not to fight?'

'When it comes to a point where negotiation is, uh, ineffective I fight.' The crusader gave Valkron a meaningful look. 'As you said, this is the real world.'

For some reason everyone's spotting me out for who I am, thought Valkron, staring at her. But somehow I like it. It's sparking my brain. I feel more alive than I have ever had.

Aloud, he said, 'We don't know what the threat is, apart from the fact that it's a portal opening up in our world and it's using a lot of old magic. Samaroh and Emeth have come up with the theories that explain it, but it's something like a jigsaw puzzle without the important, significant pieces.'

'Then it's up to us to search out those pieces,' said Iruna, looking steadily into Valkron's eyes.

'Number one, we don't know where the portal is. Number two,' Valkron tried not to burst out with this statement, 'I'm not mad.'

'No, we aren't,' said Iruna softly. 'But we are warriors of the world.'

Valkron was shocked, but he rallied magnificently. 'I'm still not going to endanger people's lives, Iruna,' he said. 'I've spent an almost entire life being alone. I'm an orphan, brought up by the Swordsman Academy, the Prontera Chivalry and the ways of the mercenary. I've wandered everywhere alone. May I draw your attention to the fact that this is the first time I've got such a big party? Five men, including me! I don't even know how to handle it!'

'You're doing pretty well, for a leader who's leading for the first time,' said the crusader, still gazing steadily at Valkron. 'Your party's not five men anymore. It's six men and two women.'

Valkron could have thrown himself out of the window now.

'WHAT?'

'I've decided to join you. When I make a decision, Nocturne and Eni usually follow.' She shook her head. 'They're lost wanderers in the plains of life. I have to guide them. The shepherdess. Sometimes I wish I wasn't.'

Valkron put a hand to his forehead, but he said nothing.

'Listen, Valkron. I'm a bit like you, all right? I didn't have a happy childhood either, okay. I was brought up by people I didn't even trust. But somehow I've learnt that the only way to solve a problem is face it, all right? This threat thing is a problem that's not only affecting us - sooner or later it's going to affect the world. Nobody cares about it, because they don't know how it feels like to have the deepest part of your very soul torn open.'

'Exactly,' muttered Valkron, still not looking up.

'No, that's not it! Can't you see? No one cares! It was probably the portal's doing!' Iruna spread her arms. 'We don't know if it's on purpose or not, but I have a feeling we have something to do with it! You're not just going to sit there and mumble to your party members about the threat not worth investigating!'

'She's right,' said a muffled voice from outside the door.

'Emeth, if you eavesdrop like that one more time I swear I will shove my sword where the sun doesn't shine,' said Valkron, not moving. 'Get in. Next time you knock.'

The wizard sheepishly entered the room and closed the door behind him. 'I got chased out,' he said.

'Of the library?' said Iruna. 'But you're a wizard!'

'Err, that's what I said to the librarian. But right now there's a bunch of magicians taking up the space. Educational trip.' Emeth looked disgusted. 'I never had this sort of thing when I was a magician.'

'So you didn't get anything?' said the crusader, sounding slightly crestfallen.

'Well, there's an advantage of being a wizard.' Emeth rummaged around inside his cloak. 'I carry this bag around my waist, but no one usually sees it because of my cloak...'

'Hah,' said Valkron.

'...ah, here it is.' He pulled a heavy book and handed it to Iruna, who took it and glanced at the cover.

'"The Magical Background of Rune-Midgard and Related Magical Items",' she said. 'Wow. You read this?'

'Plenty of times.'

She opened it, and a cloud of dust dissipated in front of her nose. Emeth fanned his cloak at it helpfully, as she coughed.

'It looks difficult to read,' she said, after the dust had cleared away. 'The writing's badly smudged. Oh, well, it's been a long time since I curled up with a good book to read.' She looked up at the two men. 'What? Reading's not confined to wizards and priests, is it?'

'Are we going to sit here and wait for you to finish reading?' said Valkron irritably.

'I found out something else,' said Emeth, drawing out a piece of paper from his left glove. 'Had to scribble it down, on account that I was only able to get that book before the librarian arrived to kick me out.' He handed to it Valkron.

The knight read it. He'd seen wizards write before, but their handwriting had looked more like spiky grass than anything else. Emeth's was long and elegant, like someone who knew what he was writing and respected it.

'It disrupts the magical balance of the world?' he said, looking up at Emeth.

'Yep.'

'But everything depends on the magical balance! If it was disturbed, that'll mean...everything goes wrong.'

'Yep.'

'And it says here,' Valkron consulted the piece of paper again, 'what was once human would belong to the beasts.'

'Yep.'

'Is there a high probability of that succeeding? We can't have a load of animals telling us what to do!'

'Actually, it's more like we become their slaves.' Iruna looked up at Emeth. 'Is that right?'

'Yep.'

'And we become more or less like animals and the animals become like us?'

'Yep.'

'Hold it right there. How'd you know?' said Valkron suspiciously.

'It says here, right in this book. Listen: "Yt Yse Muche Knowne that oure Worlde Once be Affected by a Great Plague, Whereforth the Might Beastes took Over the Worlde ande lefte Men to become like Beastes. Thys Plague, Saide to be a Portale from a Worlde of Another Sort, Ate Away the Mindes of Men ande gave Beastes the Powere to Think ande Acte like Men".' Iruna looked up. 'Ew. I can imagine that sort of thing happening.'

'That is NOT going to happen again!'

Emeth leapt back a remarkable two feet to avoid Valkron's hand. The knight had stood up with rage amazingly fast. 'There's going to be no such possibility of that happening,' he said. 'That sounds too much!'

'It's magic going too far,' said Emeth.

'Exactly! And I'm going to put a stop to i--'

The building suddenly shook. Emeth and Valkron nearly lost their footing as things around them clattered, trembled or fell off.

Outside, cracks began to appear in the cobblestones of the streets. They spready, creating some sort of spiderweb. People screamed and tripped over one another and their own feet to get away from the heaving ground. Steam issued from some of the cracks. All over the city, mortar crumbled and bricks broke. The trees creaked dangerously.

Out in the forest monsters of all kinds fled past the city in a roaring stampede. Nothing was trying to eat anything else. They dashed to wherever they thought was safe, united by the goal to get away from whatever it was shaking up the world.

In the remote regions of Mjollnir, the range of mountains that signified the start of the most dangerous lands of Rune-Midgard, ice cracked and fell. There were several deep rumbles, and great drifts of snow began to slide off the mountains. Monsters raced out of the mountains into the dark terrain before the mountains, where they would be safe from the avalanches now starting up everywhere.

Below the ground dungeons once spanning thousands of feet deep below shook. The ground collapsed, blocking passages and crushing anything that happened to stand in the way of the falling rocks. Pillars cracked and toppled, torches guttered violently and went out, the floors heaved upwards like some behemoth below trying to rid itself of the load on its back.

Gradually everything quietened down.

Valkron looked back at the piece of paper. His rage was subsiding. It had been replaced by fear.

'"When the portal is complete, the tearing apart of the world will begin."'

'Yep.' Emeth had gone white, which was a sickly complexion for a wizard like him, but he managed.

'You idiot, you should have written this first.'

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I've been reading too many Discworld novels. The influence isn't exactly there, but it's more of a hint.