The sun was going down when they finally rounded the corner and saw the Keep. One might pass it by without even noticing it because it was built into the mountain that surrounded it. The main stone wall towered at least fifty feet in the air and was surrounded by multiple towers. The wall was riddled with crumbling stone and in some places it had collapsed entirely. The two main towers, situated along the front section of the wall, enclosed a huge stone door. And in front of the door, a sheer cliff drove downwards into the forest below, where Hefring, Ajax, and Selena now stood.
Selena groaned. It had been a long day of running through the forest and she was tired.
"How are we supposed to get up there" she said after kneeling over to catch her breath. "No, no let me guess" She continued, shifting her gaze towards the black wolf stalking behind them, "Ajax can fly?"
"There's a hidden passage up the mountain" Hefring answered, not amused by Selena's feeble attempt at a joke. "Come on lets go"
They walked at an easy pace until they reached the base of the summit. The cliff was indeed sheer, climbing into the sky above them. Hefring had always thought the cliff actually leaned outwards and he closed in against the rock to check his theory again. As he looked to the sky, Hefring noticed that the sun had dropped below the horizon of trees and he decided that he would much rather sleep in his own bed than out in the forest again.
Hefring led the trio along the cliff. There was a well-worn path between the trees to Hefring's right and the stone to his left, made from years of him walking this same route coming home from hunting expeditions. Ajax could not fit on the path so he lumbered through the forest next to them. The cliff was extremely large so it took them the better part of an hour to traverse their way to the passage Hefring mentioned earlier.
The passage was a stairway, the entrance of which was a narrow gap in the rock just the right size for a young boy and a small framed woman to fit through. Hefring pointed at Selena and then the gap, beckoning her to enter the passage. She muttered something under her breath and squirmed her way through, quickly followed by Hefring. The stairway was very narrow as juts of rock weaved their way in and out along the stairs, which meandered upwards in a generally straight path. Hefring looked up and saw the sky through the sliver of a crack that weaved its way along with the stairs. The sun had finally dropped below the real horizon and the stars were beginning to appear.
Hefring peaked back through the crack and looked for Ajax, who could not possibly fit through the narrow entrance. The wolf had disappeared in the night, leaving them for another passageway further down, which isn't traversable to humans or other natural sized beings.
"Does this go all the way up?" Selena asked from a few steps up from Hefring.
"Yeah it does. It comes out a stones throw from the main gate." He replied.
They made their way up the steep stairs, maintaining a brisk pace. After a while the crack above them widened, revealing more of the sky and Hefring found himself staring up at the stars. They were beautifully laid out leaving bright pin pricks in a black blanket. Hefring hadn't studied the sky in detail until the old man arrived at the Keep. He had taught Hefring about the constellations and galaxies and gave him names to put on them. The man had brought a substantial amount of scrolls and books with him on a vast array of topics. The ones let Hefring study were mostly compendiums filled with the ancient language and various books on astronomy and botany.
Finally arriving at the top of the winding stairs, Hefring and Selena climbed out of the gap in the rock on the outside of the main wall. They rounded a corner of the wall and walked up to the gate. The two towers on both sides of it were looming above them, staring down at them like silent guardians.
They approached the giant stone door which was solid and flawless unlike the rest of the wall. Hefring paused at the door and Selena reached up and ran her fingers against the stone. Then she looked towards Hefring for an explanation, wondering how the door opened.
"It cannot be opened from the outside." He explained and after he laid his hands on the gate he muttered, "Losna du huildr eom thornessa grind. Ma'mor."
There were a series of clicks from behind the stone door and after the mechanism fell silent there was a resounding boom as the door creased down the middle and slowly swung inwards. The door was thicker than it looked from the outside, reinforced by several feet of solid rock.
They walked through the gate and proceeded towards the inner grounds. There was a large smooth field of rock between the outer gates and the inner Keep, which was built at the very rear of the area, against the mountain side. The cliff leaned inwards, extending about halfway over the area leaving the front section open to the elements and the rear, including the Keep, protected.
"This place was built by the dwarves a long time ago." Hefring explained to Selena
They made their way over the flat rock floor to the keep, which was very large itself. They came to a metal gate which, unlike the main door, Hefring unlocked from the outside and it grated inwards until it came to rest on the stone floor. It was eerily dark and musky inside the main chamber. The walls were still made of stone and they were covered with a thick, green moss.
"You live in here?" Selena asked after looking into the chamber.
"It's too big to maintain with just the three of us. We live on the next floor." He replied, walking into the darkness.
Hefring continued for several hundred paces into the chamber, running his hand along the cold, dank wall for support. Selena was right behind him, following the sound of his footsteps.
He came to a familiar spot and swung out his foot towards a gap in the wall. When he hit stone he felt around and made sure they were stairs. He warned Selena about them and they slowly made their way upwards. The lighting slowly got brighter as they closed in to the next floor until, reaching the top of the staircase, a lantern appeared on the wall. Grabbing the white light, Hefring made his way through another dark passage way until he finally came out to the main hallway.
The hallway was quite spacious and the walls were no longer green and damp. They were ornamented with various tapestries and fairths, presenting dwarven kings of old and long lost lands filled with mystical beasts. The ceiling was high and wide with chandeliers dropping down, highlighting the hall with a bright and cheery light. Tables were bordering the walls and on them lay gold plaques and various jewels and trinkets, glittering in the light of the chandeliers.
Hefring dropped the lantern on one of the tables and they made their way down the hall and when Hefring came before a certain door he took a breath and righted himself. He looked at Selena and wondered if she would survive the night hoping she would. He, by all rights, should view her as an enemy for she did approach his home in an act of violence.
He sighed and decided to wait for his master's opinion before making his own.
Hefring pushed the door and let it swing open. Inside was a very large chamber devoid of furniture with the exception of a large stone chair bordering an unlit fireplace on the far wall. Ajax was sprawled out on the left side of the room with his head lying on the bare floor. There were multiple doors leading out to rooms unknown, but besides the chair and fireplace the chamber was unnaturally empty.
Hefring made his way towards Ajax, Selena following close behind. The woman had been very quiet during the journey here, perhaps because she believed that she was walking to her execution.
Hefring reached out with his mind and contacted Ajax. "Where's master? I kind of expected him to jump down our necks as soon as we came in." he asked.
"Don't get your hopes up Hefring, he comes shortly." Ajax replied.
Indeed he did. Only several minutes past after Hefring posed the question when an old man, the same old man Hefring saw in his scry, barged through one of the doors on the opposite wall. He was wearing a plain brown robe, tied in the middle with a black rope, and small leather padded shoes. After entering the room, the old man bounded towards Hefring, Selena and Ajax with an incredulous marching gait.
He paused by the fireplace and pointed a finger at the logs resting within it. They suddenly burst into flames, sending a flickering orange glow against the stone walls.
He came to a stop a couple feet in front of Hefring, ignoring the others, and put his hands behind his back, leaning forward. Hefring noticed the old man's beard was longer than before.
Hefring waited for his master to speak but, after a considerable length of time, he decided the man was waiting for him so he started, "Wha…"
"Did you fetch me a young trout!" the old man suddenly inquired in a loud voice, interrupting Hefring.
"Huh?"
"You know I like a fresh young trout for my dinner. Did you fetch me one?" The man continued still leaning forward.
Hefring hesitated not understanding the situation. "Uh…there aren't any streams big enough in the forest for trout."
"Hmm. Did you try in Belatona? I find the most delicious lake trout come from Lake Leona. I remember visiting a while back and I bought a full stringer of them." The man explained, "You did try in Belatona did you not?"
Finally realizing where the conversation was headed, Hefring decided to skip the banter as he replied, "I killed one soldier and we have a prisoner."
"He he he." The old man chuckled in a high-pitched voice, still not moving. The old man squinted at Hefring through his overgrown eyebrows. Then suddenly he hitched up his robe above his knees, revealing his pale and scrawny legs, and starting kicking Hefring in the shins.
"You dim-witted child." He continued, following Hefring's retreat behind Ajax. "All I asked for was a trout. You couldn't even catch…"
The old man stopped mid-kick when he saw Selena and after a moment of silence in the room he said "Ah we have a guest". He lowered his robe and examined the woman, who was staring with a confused look at the old man.
He strode up to the Selena and poked her in the chest.
"My name is Master but you can call me Master" he said to the woman, who kept staring at him, her mouth slightly agape.
"I'm…" she started to reply.
"The Black Foot," Master interrupted again. "I know who you are, Foot. You aren't fooling anybody here." He was squinting again, this time at the woman.
Selena seemed to choke on her words but after several long seconds she coughed, muttered something under her breath that sounded something like "loony old nut", and turned towards the door they entered through.
Master didn't move until after the woman took several steps, then he raised his hand towards Selena and she crumpling to the ground, letting out a small gasp before falling unconscious. Her arms and leg bones had been shattered, leaving her body limp and twitching on the cold floor. The old man then bounded nimbly towards the body, flipped it over with his foot and stepped on Selena's throat.
Ajax let out a deep growl and bounded to his feet, as if he was going to knock the old man off the woman to protect her.
Without moving the old man raised his other hand and Ajax was suddenly jerked off the ground, elevated in the air. He tried to maintain his balance but ended up just twisting and turning around an unknown center of gravity. The wolf submitted to the powerful spell and fell limp, dangling in the air, feet brushing the stone floor. Getting the control he wanted, the old man released his hold on Ajax, letting him fall to his feet, and stood silent, orange glow from the fire flickering against his face.
Turning towards Hefring and asked, "Why is she still alive?"
"I…she…" Hefring struggled with the words, not knowing how to respond. He was astounded at the old man's power. Ajax couldn't even fight back against him. He jerked his mind away from the confrontation and concentrated on the question. There was a reason Selena was alive, a reason he deemed it necessary to bring her back to the Keep. But what was it?
Ajax answered for him.
"She wasn't an immediate threat" he said to both Hefring and the old man. "And she had the chance to kill Hefring and chose to spare his life."
"But you brought her here! What are we going to do with her if not kill her?" the old man replied still putting pressure on the woman's neck.
"You can alter her memories." Hefring suggested. For some reason he felt protective towards the woman. She was his only connection with the rest of the world. "You can alter her memories." He said again.
He ran up to his master and pulled him off Selena's body. "She doesn't need to die" he insisted. The old man brushed off Hefring's hand and walked a short ways towards the fireplace.
Hefring's Master stood in front of the fireplace for a long time, watching the flames flicker and glow among the logs. When he finally moved he looked weaker, hobbling more like the old man that he is rather than a strong and nimble spell caster. He strode up to Hefring again, stroking his gray beard.
"Fine." He said, breaking the uncomfortable silence that hung over the chamber. He continued, "I will erase her memories. But you must realize that she will not be staying here."
"What do you mean?"
"She will be returning home and you will not see her again. I assumed you should know since you seem so very fond of her" The old man explained. "But it will have to wait till morning as I'm feeling slightly comatose from all this havoc you've caused." He pointed towards Ajax and muttered, "You deal with her" and then walked across the large room and out one of the doors.
And the Master was gone.