Book 3: Chapter 12 - Return of the Hero

On the fairest of morns, mariners whisper of glimpsing the Heaven's Pillar across the shimmering expanse of the Glass Fire Sea. I have beheld it with my own eyes during a voyage to document the courage of those seafarers who dare the perilous waves and gather its gleaming crystal treasure. Truly, it stands as a shadowy column, stretching skyward to the heavens as its namesake suggests.

It is doubtful that nature alone sculpted such a wonder, yet its origin remains shrouded in mystery - born of man's hand, or perhaps simply a creation of the gods themselves? Its true essence remains unknown, for to date, no soul has traversed the Glass Fire and returned to tell the tale.

- The Fanciful Travels by Beron de Laney 376 AC.

Alone with no companions, under an alien sky, brought with it a minor spell of agoraphobia as my world expanded with the heavens above. It took me a few moments to gather myself as I took in the breathtaking view. Under the midnight stars, I started the mental maintenance of sorting out the tangled knot of my emotions and taking general stock. Looking across the dunes of Wastes, I saw a familiar straight, dark line cutting across the silver sands in the distance.

It was the Samasutum, the Green Road, the only familiar landmark in the desert, and the only hope of reuniting with my companions. I have never been great with judging distance, the translation from abstract measurements to a good approximation a difficult task for me. Even so, I estimated the distance until I hit the river to be around half a day’s walk. With the greater part of my reserves of Stamina remaining, my body was willing, but my mind sought rest, stretched to the limit as it was. I longed for the healing void that only true slumber could bring.

However, to sleep so close to the gates of my personal hell, would be a fool’s choice and night would be the best time to travel. With an almost full moon high in the sky, it would be easy to navigate across the sands. And so, with a mental prod, I began my tiring trek. I was driven by a will to live and a fear of a death, and underlying all of that an ambition to be something more. After all, I was brought to this world for a reason, but it would be up to me to find my destiny. Or to create one, free from the meddling of those more powerful than I.

So I plodded on, up and down the dunes, the shifting sands under my feet sapping my Stamina at a greater rate than I had thought it would. Climbing a particularly difficult dune, I spent a minute or so just getting my breath back. It was no doubt cold, but my exertions fuelled an inner fire that kept me warm.

A wondrous, if a little worrying, sight filled my eyes as I looked across the vast expanse before me. In the pale light, I spied a group of creatures cutting through the air a meter or so above the sands. Diamond-shaped bodies that were flat and thin made, laterally positioned large eyes, and twin tails that whisked through the air, made them resemble a school of manta rays.

The expanse played merry havoc with my already poor sense of distance, so I could not truly judge the size of the manta ray analogues correctly. Also, they were well beyond the range of my Identify, not that it would have been given me any insight on their sight. Still, it would have served to satisfy some of my curiosity and at the very least would give a name to these creatures.

Once they had disappeared over the dune and far away, I resumed my plodding walk to the Green Road. Careful not to stumble, I made my descent down the slope of the dune before making another climb up another. This pattern repeated itself until the horizon broke with the first light to the east.

The silver of the Green Road changed into a yellowish orange and the stars of the night sky were dispelled with the new pastel dawn. As time passed, these colors in turn gave way to a clean azure blue as the sun made her presence known.

Even at this early hour, the cold of the night was swiftly being overcome. I was grateful for the scraps that remained of my tatty robe, for they would provide some protection from the sun’s rays.

However, with my high Constitution, I was pretty sure I could survive even in a furnace for a good amount of time. The dry desert heat did however sap what moisture I had, and I had to drink often and drink deeply from my supplies. The water I had acquired from the underground lake tasted acrid and unpleasant, the metallic notes reminding me of the taste of old blood.

Then I saw it between a swig of water, a thin wavy line that reached up into the sky. Initially, I believed it to be a mirage, a deception of the eyes on the brain. However, unlike a mirage, as I got closer the vision remained. It was a column of smoke, and here in the Whispering Wastes, it could mean only one thing, the presence of people.

Encouraged with new purpose, my stride lengthened as I walked towards the source of the smoke. An hour passed, or it could have been two, and my eyes were greeted with a flashing glint of something reflecting the sun’s light. A minute or so later, there was another glint, this time closer. I thought that this could be the flash of metal. And metal could mean the presence of weapons.

Worried now, I paced myself and watched my Stamina. I wanted to face whoever it was, at least able to swing my weapon a few times. I played with the idea of simply stopping and observing, but I knew this thought to be born from mental laziness, as a quick glance at my Status show my Stamina to still be around three quarters full. Plenty of gas in the tank, so to speak.

Perhaps it was my Endure skill, but I felt the extremes of the heat and the cold of the desert less. In full armor, no less. Another hour passed, and I saw dots moving towards me on an intercept course and the glint of exposed metal flashed again, this time unerringly closer. Long minutes passed, and the dots resolved into indistinct figures.

Wait, was one of them waving at me? I squinted, the heatwave over the sands was playing tricks with my eyes no doubt, but something made me wave back. The figures were growing clearer as if becoming a higher resolution. I fancied I saw a familiar blonde on an even more familiar frame.

The larger figure detached itself from the group, coming at me at a loping run that ate up the distance between us. It could have only been Kidu, as he whooped and hollered in a booming voice that could have only belonged to my old companion.

Exhausted, both mentally and physically, I could not return his enthusiasm. I could only plod on, drawing to the next fated moment, my mind a whirl with the fact of the reality before me.

“By the blood of the gods! It is you!” exclaimed the wild man, running up to me and clasping my shoulder. He was almost quivering with joy and excitement. Like a dog that had been too long without its master.

My voice betrayed me, a stutter I did not know I had, becoming an impediment to my response. I simply nodded in acknowledgment before forcing out my next words.

“H… how long has it been,” the weakness in my voice, a surprise even to me.

“Three days and four nights since the Earth Dragon came…” began Kidu in a rumbling voice that was cut off suddenly by a childish squeal of delight.

“I told you! It’s Gil!” an annoying high-pitched voice exclaimed, a voice that could have only belonged to Larynda.

“You will have to tell me all… later,” I panted, before taking the last swig of water from one of my recently acquired water skins.

I looked at Larynda who was almost bouncing with enthusiasm, pointing at me and whispering to Cordelia, her energy almost infectious. Cordelia met my eyes before, with a beautific grace, she went down on bended knee on the hot sand.

“It is just like the vision, praise be the Goddess,” she intoned in an uncharacteristically quiet voice as if she doubted the reality before her. That more than anything stirred a little phantom of worry in my gut.

A zealot doubting their faith was as dangerous as one in the throes of religious experience. Even now, was Avaria still pulling at the threads like a spider at the center of the web? Would it be best if I ended Cordelia here and now, yes it would be a waste but…

“…for the best part of the day we rode the great worm before exhausted, it sought the deeper sands. For the first time in my life, I was lost…” Kidu continued with his explanation.

“But thanks to me, I led us back to the river! I got water for us when we got all hot and thirsty! Then… then…” chirped Larynda, in what she probably thought of as a helpful manner.

“We thought that you would head back to the Green Road. We found Pakum there, along with Elwin. By the grace of the Goddess, none of were injured apart from a few minor hurts. Truly a miracle. Now, the pair wait for us with nary a scratch on them with the main part of our supplies closer to the Samasutum. It was Kidu who ordered them to keep a signal fire lit at all times,” she clarified, giving a nod of respect and acknowledgment to the large man.

“After rejoining the caravan for supply, we spent the next day searching for you. In a moment of weakness, I feared you lost. Then that same night, in my most troubled sleep, Avaria gave me a vision of you fighting the dread minions of the underworld. I saw you walking here along the sands, and so as Avaria showed me, so it has come to pass.”

“Minions of the underworld!? Hah, if that is true you go to places where no normal mortal may walk. Your legend only grows. If only I could have been with you… not that riding a Guardian is not also worthy of song. If only I had learned more of the womanly arts, I could make an epic of our deeds!” guffawed Kidu, his laugh throaty.

“I will tell you all about it, but I would feel better if I did in a touch more comfortable of settings…” I inserted, hoping that they got my drift. I still needed a little time to process and digest this little reunion.

Sensing my intent, Cordelia was quick to support me. “Of course, Her… Gilgamesh. Come now, let us be on our way. There will be time enough for your account later,” she said her voice filled with new authority.

The whole thing stank to high heaven. To be attacked by a great worm, only to be separated from my companions, and then to reunite with them in this vast expanse? What were the odds? A part of me almost expected a gain in my Luck attribute, such were the odds against this fortuitous turn of events.

It stank of divine meddling, but I could do nothing. It also did not help that I was in fact secretly glad that things had turned out the way they did.