Ironcraft Read online

  But Talizima would not let him speak further:

  “I would like you to choose Moruzio as your second witness.”

  “Moruzio?!” The thought of having a brute like him as a witness to his adulthood ritual! Skillotz did not know whether such thought bewildered or repulsed him more.

  “Yea, you need someone strong in your party. Neither you nor Kolinzio would be able to slaughter a saber-tooth if it ambushed you. Moruzio is the only one in our village capable of single-handedly slaying a mammoth.”

  “But, father… am I not supposed to be the one to anoint my own witnesses?”

  “I have already discussed the matter with Moruzio, and paid him a week’s worth of woodcutting. There is nothing else to be said.”

  Skillotz wrung the club in his hand as much as he could, and then loosened his grip with a deep sigh:

  “Yes, father. I understand.”

  “Good lad.” Talizima finished the ritual paintings. “These runes will invoke Moriah’s protection upon you. Now, you are indeed ready.”

  Skillotz tied up his loincloth, made of an aurochs skin, and went for the door. His father, though, halted him once more:

  “Son…”

  Skillotz did not dare to turn to face Talizima. If he did, he would not see what he feared, but rather what he yearned. His father’s gaze was now emptied of its usual austerity, and filled with tenderness:

  “Be safe, son…”

  Once again, Skillotz did not turn. After a brief pause, he merely sighed, clasped the club in his hand, and left.

  ***

  As he met his two witnesses in the center of the village, Skillotz felt a sense of pride. Till now, there was nothing setting him apart from any other giant, besides being the councilor’s son. He did not have his father’s linen mantle over his back. His loincloth, unlike Kolinzio’s, did not extend over his chest and strap over his right shoulder, as was proper of a judge. He did not even have, as Moruzio did, a bear skin covering his shoulders, as a keepsake of past hunts.

  Skillotz’s beard was meagre, barely sprouting from his jaws, whereas Kolinzio’s fell down to his navel, and Moruzio’s spread across his chest like a lion’s mane.

  Today, however, Skillotz could flaunt something no one else had: the runes covering his body. Today, he was distinguished from everyone else. Today was his day, and no one else’s.

  It was early morning when Skillotz, Kolinzio, and Moruzio departed from Enoch. It was incumbent upon the witnesses to aid the youngling, but not lead him. This was Skillotz’s journey, and he should be the one to choose his path. Yet, as the day went on, and the journey went along, it was clear there was something wrong with the path Skillotz had chosen. Moruzio, as an experienced woodsman, who could fashion a compass from the sun in the sky or the moss on the trees, was the one who noticed it first. But he was a giant of few words, so he said nothing. Soon, Kolinzio would become aware of it as well:

  “Skillotz, my friend. Is it not south we are heading?”

  Skillotz nodded, and they did not realize Moruzio had nodded as well. Kolinzio asked again:

  “But the sea lies to the east. You cannot reach the sea by the south except by traversing the Forbidden Lands.”

  “I make not for the sea.”

  “No? Where are we heading, then?”

  “My father thinks me a weakling. A swim in the sea, or a measly pearl, cannot prove my true valour to him. I must do something worthy of a councilor’s son. Nay, of a councilor.”

  “What lies in your thoughts?”

  “We will journey south, right into the mouth of the Forbidden Lands. I will find a monster!” Skillotz said, as he lightly pounded his left hand with the blunt end of the club. “And I will slay it!”

  Moruzio coughed slightly, wondering to himself how much more he could charge Talizima for this task—it was certainly worth more than a mere week of woodcutting. Kolinzio was also much distressed:

  “A… monster?! No monster has been sighted in millennia! And even if we did find one… do you know how many of our kind perished in the war against the monsters? This is a feat meant only for the great heroes of yore!”

  “What you say only proves me right. Only a feat such as this will prove my true might.”

  Kolinzio ran to Skillotz and grabbed his arm:

  “No need to vanquish a monster for that! You can prove yourself by killing a saber-tooth tiger! Or what about a mammoth? There was a herd sighted to the northwest but days ago!”

  “Why settle for a mammoth’s hide, if I can return with a monster’s head? Now, unhand me! You blur the runes on my arm!” And he tore his arm away. As for Kolinzio, he knew not aught else to say to convince his friend. He wailed, his voice covered with despair:

  “Those are the Forbidden Lands! They are forbidden for a reason! The prince himself told us to…”

  “Where is the prince now?! Do you not know history? Why are we, giants of the south, doomed to remain here in these wastelands while our brethren prance in the lush greenness of the north? Was it not because our forefathers were weak in the war against the monsters? They who are strong go into battle and triumph! I am strong as well!”

  “That is not what I remember from the annals. Our forebears were told to fight, and they did not. You are told not to go into the Forbidden Lands, and you do. They may have been weak, yea, but their sin was not weakness itself, but rather the path you are now treading. You may be strong as they were weak; yet you walk in their footsteps.”

  “You have too much philosophy about you, Kolinzio,” Skillotz chortled derisively. “Maybe that is why you are the youngest judge Enoch has ever seen.”

  “I know not why I was deemed worthy to be named judge so soon in my life; but I do know I did what I was supposed to, when I undertook this same journey seven years ago. Doing so helped, rather than hindered, attaining my station.”

  “Yea, verily. Well, after my journey is complete, I shall not only be named judge as you, but councilor! As for history, no flowery words can obscure it. Our ancestors cowered, and were punished for it. I am no coward” And he held his father’s club above his head “I am strong as this here club!”

  And on he kept walking. Kolinzio remained, watching his friend move step by step further south. The young judge turned to Moruzio, his eyes filled with anguish, praying him to say something. But Moruzio shook his head and mumbled. As witnesses, they were not to interfere. This was Skillotz’s journey.

  ***

  They sojourned south a whole three days. They passed Ophir, with its high walls, and the Sym-Bolon mountain cropping the horizon in the distance to their left. Southward lay the Forbidden Lands. And it did show. Whereas the soil until then had been carpeted with emerald grass, and sylvan stalks, and dewed moss, and purple heather, and mottled mushrooms, there was nothing but cracked and shriveled dirt beyond that point. The group supplied itself as it could, and then ventured into the Forbidden Lands for a few more hours, until night fell.

  That day was the Spring equinox.

  They were already several miles into proscribed territory when they made camp. They lit a fire, not so much for warmness sake—for the air was sultry in those parts, even at night—but to ward off monsters or other creatures of the night that might be lurking about, feeding in the shadows. And as the sky was clear, and covered with stars, they decided not to raise tents, but set their aurochs skins in a circle around the bonfire. They lay on them and fell asleep.

  That was the fateful night. Miles away in the north, the pontiff’s sleep was marred by prophetic nightmares.

  In the wee hours of dawn, Skillotz awoke from his slumber. A kind of gleam had lashed out at his drowsy eyelids, just for a moment. As he rubbed his eyes, he could not help but wonder what had happened. Was it a bolt? But the skies had been clear of clouds just a few short hours before! And yet, as he looked upward, he saw that the lightning had not gone out, as usually happens. It lingered, a kind of luminous pillar rending the night sky. And as thunder follows ligh
tning, so Skillotz could hear a muffled growl, similar to the sea when the storm rages. All the while the dark nebula was swallowing the shimmer of all the stars in the firmament. But Skillotz did not notice this, since that strange light enthralled his gaze.

  The incandescent column kept its downward trajectory across the celestial sphere. It spiraled down, darting down, running down. At last, as an athlete finishing his course, the strange light found its mark, and fell on the horizon to the southwest of their camp.

  Then the quiet bustling of the light released all its anger in a thunderous roar: The earth quaked. The light ignited in a blazing inferno, blinding Skillotz’s eyes. A whirlwind struck, which swept giants and camp alike for a good half-dozen feet in logizkal measure. And it seemed that the roar, and the fire, and the wind were one and the same thing: a wave of dust and pure, invisible strength.

  Only then did Kolinzio awake:

  “Mamreh help us! What be this commotion? Did the foundations of the earth cave? Is this the end of all things?”

  “Mayhap, dear Kolinzio, but there are yet more important matters to attend to! A piece of heaven just fell on yonder lands!” Skillotz had jumped from his covers and now stood, narrowing his eyes to better perceive the happenings in the southwest. To no avail: No sight could pierce the dust cloud stretching upward from the horizon. Yet a low glimmer was indeed visible at the centre of the cloud, as a diamond shining in a muddy pond. It stirred Skillotz’s curiosity, and unawares he started walking towards it. Swift as the flow of his thoughts were his steps, but swifter was Kolinzio, who once more sought to stay his friend:

  “We should not! Who knows what dangers may beset us there? Let us return to Enoch and relay our tidings to the judges. If danger we must face, let us at least return hither in greater numbers, and duly prepared.”

  “What need have I for judges? Though I be no judge myself, yet I know how to judge. There is a miracle unfolding, before our very eyes! And I judge a miracle worthy to be witnessed! What fool would close his eyes to such a wonder before his own face?”

  “Mayhap not a fool, but a true judge as I! Poisonous animals flaunt bright colors, but it is more beautiful to avoid such creatures and preserve one’s life.”

  “So not my father alone thinks me a weakling, it seems. So you consider me powerless!” Skillotz retrieved the club, which the blast had knocked clean away to the outskirts of the camp. “Nay, it is today! Today I prove my worth to you all! I shall not return to Enoch, except as the hero who testified to a miracle from the heavens!”

  “Then be it known to you, oh Skillotz, that as your witness I shall not accompany you!” replied Kolinzio, crossing his arms. “If you seek out trouble, I will not be there to aid you as usual.” He spake thus, not out of fear or moping, but as a sign of friendship: for he knew naught else that could dissuade Skillotz. Yet Skillotz was unmoved:

  “Very well. Moruzio shall escort me and aid me. Is it not so, Moruzio? Or have you forgotten the task my father paid you to do? Dare you break a contract sealed with the councilor?”

  Until then, Moruzio’s mind was as clouded as the dust storm that had swept him, his mind a blend of sleep, confusion, and fright. Only hearing his name stirred him from his stupour. The woodsman shook his head and mumbled disapprovingly, yet in the end agreed to accompany Skillotz.

  “It is true in sooth,” insisted Kolinzio. “Moruzio is the strongest from amongst giantkind. Yet have you not heard that thunder? Do you not see the destruction it wrought over yonder? How can a giant, even one like Moruzio, prevail against such force? I beg you, my dearest friend: Reconsider! I implore you with all my strength! You do not need to prove anything to…”

  Skillotz’s patience evaporated. He would brook no more of it, nay, not even one more word:

  “Oh Aigonz! How do you dole out gifts to your children, so that many have so much bravery and others so little?” Then, turning to Kolinzio, “Can you not see it? There is no more thunder! There is no more wind! There is no more tempest! Only that serene glow in the midst of the dust! So delay my course no further; do not sing me litanies of reasons, or try to fright me with horror tales as if I were a child at a bonfire! You strive in vain! Follow your heart and do as you please, and I shall do the same! Let me incur the peril, and let you return to Enoch, as you said. If I be right, I shall soon join you and relay more to the judges than what we already know. But if you be right, then you shall have saved your life and lost nothing by letting me go.”

  “Lost nothing except a friend, the son of my friend. This is no treasure the wise can despise. And my friend are you, despite your unfair affronts. Yet you are right in one thing you say: My usefulness is greater at Enoch than here. So I shall go.”

  “Go then!” Skillotz replied, with ill-humour. “Go with my blessing and trouble me no more!”

  So they parted ways, Kolinzio returning to the north, and Skillotz with Moruzio continuing to the southwest. Skillotz held high his chin, and kept his spine stiff as a column, like an ancient statue of an even more ancient hero. Yet as soon as he felt not the gaze of Kolinzio’s reproachful eyes, caution overtook Skillotz for all his talk. He crouched and crept with care into the pillar of cloud, into the dust, with the valiant Moruzio by his side.

  Chapter

  2

  The Fallen Star

  As the dust settled, Skillotz and Moruzio could perceive more and more of what lay ahead—still, it was not much. The night was star-less, so the giants had to bring torches, lit at the campfire. They walked almost blindly till they stumbled onto a wall of rubble. How strange! They could have sworn there was nothing there before but plains! Climbing the wall and peering down, they saw a roundly-shaped hole, vast as a lake, completely walled off by the newly-formed fence of debris. Yea, a smoldering, smoking hole it was, where once had been flat ground.

  Odd as it might seem, a greater source of wonder lay at the centre of the crater: a beautiful damsel, still convalescing from her fall from heaven high above. Fair was this damsel, clad with a tunic of pure whiteness, similar to the far south’s silver plains of eternal snow. As white was her mane, running down her head and shoulders like glacier waterfalls. Her skin, even paler than her dress and hair, surrounded a carmine isle of lips and two eyes which were like a pair of frozen sapphires. Silvery were her sandals and the diadem adorning her head.

  She was the same size as the giants, but unlike them: Her proportions were harmonious, much like those of women nowadays. Apart from her stature, one would think of her as a human, rather than a giant. But her glow removed all doubt about her essence. She was a sylphid, and an ethereal sylphid at that: a spirit from the stars. And her shine illuminated the crater all around her, so that the giants did not need torches anymore.

  Skillotz remained in contemplation of this vision, as if bewitched by her. And Moruzio’s brave chest—which until then had felt no fear, whether of tiger or mammoth—was now petrified. Both stood in silence. It was the strange damsel who, getting up, went up to them:

  “Hail, beautiful mortals! I see you! Do not be afraid to approach.”

  They nodded as she waved, but dared not obey. She continued:

  “Come! Come hither! My wish is to speak with you!”

  As at first they had dared not obey, so now they dared not disobey. They drew near, yet with caution—as if she was no damsel, but a sleeping beast. Skillotz’s club and Moruzio’s axe were both ready, even if they did not know if they could muster the will to wield them against such a fair creature. They could see her tunic and hair billowing, not according to the wind—of which there was none—but in harmony with the vapours issuing from the crater. She was surely not made of flesh like them. The more they approached, the more certain they were of this, for she was getting the more translucent by the step. And as they grew certain of her otherworldly essence, they feared her the more.

  How amazed were they then, when they saw her falling to her knees, prostrating her face in the incandescent soil, as if she was the one who
was fragile and they the bearers of great strength and might.

  “Oh, elect amongst the mortals! See, I place myself under your service! For this purpose was I sent hither by the Ethereal Sylphs, who govern the celestial spheres! I bear you distressing tidings, so hark: There is upheaval high above, in the dome of Dumah! Behold, a new age is rising, as a baneful sunrise! It will consume everything! Naught will rest as it once was! There will not be a stone unturned! There will not remain anything more than ashes! Yet ‘tis not too late! I have been sent here to avert such cruel fate, according to what is in my power to grant!”

  Moruzio was the first to awaken from his astonishment. These words had stirred his virile chest, his woodsman heart. As when he perceived a trail of a panther in the forest, so now he perceived peril, and knew how expedient it was to fight it:

  “Master Skillotz! Did you not say you would be judge? Then judge, if you will! On my part, I know we must act, but how to act, I must leave up to you!”

  But for all his previous boastfulness, Skillotz was now taken by indecision. His mind eddied with the force of a thousand thoughts. So he decided only in an apparent way, making a choice that was no more than indecision in the guise of decision:

  “Let us take this herald of the stars to Enoch's judges. There, we will deliberate on the best course of action.” And he turned to her to say, “You shall come with us!”

  “So I shall. Yet behold: The night is dark. The stars have gone out in the midst of the heavenly chaos! The night in these lands is already treacherous under the attentive and loving gaze of the stars—how much more at present! ‘Twould be wise, my lord, to await the dawn.”

  Moruzio, however, could not contain the heat of his unrest:

  “What say you? First you disquiet us with your tidings, as if the world itself would crumble beneath our feet! Now you stifle our heightened spirits as if this be a night like any other! Are not the dangers of these lands lesser than the perils of tomorrow? So let it be known to you, oh star, I would rather brave this night’s darkness to halt the darkness of an endless night like the one you prophesied!”