Fan Fiction ❯ The Keeper of the Orbs ❯ Restless Spirits ( Chapter 22 )

Chapter Twenty-Two

Restless Spirit

 

Kale and Frax woke slowly. Sala sat by the fire silently watching the fire. Kale saw the earring dangling from her left lobe and the scrap of fabric torn from her skirt wrapped around her arm. Another spirit had challenged her and she'd won. Sala didn't look at them. She didn't acknowledge them in anyway.

 

"Let's go." she said, rising to her feet and turning on her heel.

 

"Why?" Frax asked.

 

Sala whirled around and leapt over the fire. One of her daggers was in her hand and pressed to Frax's throat before either of them could make a move. Frax trembled as the Draegan woman glared at him. Kale didn't move to her side. He was enjoying watching the sorry human tremble.

 

"I said that we're leaving and that's that." she growled. "Any other pointless question?"

 

Frax shook his head. Sala sheathed her knife and walked away from him. When Frax realized that Yent was gone, he didn't even ask Sala if she knew anything about his little servant. They moved through the forest in silence. Kale realized that most of their journeying had been full of silence since the night Sala had passed out by the fire. What had happened to her?

 

True, they were all that was left of their kind, but that was no reason to turn insane. Kale distanced himself from her and watched her as they walked through the waning darkness. Dawn came slowly for the two men. When it finally shown it's bright face over the horizon, a large mountain range stood before them.

 

"Kraken Range." Kale mumbled.

 

Sala only nodded. She was still in no mood for conversation. They moved on towards the mountains and followed the twisting trail through the craggy mountain range. The day was dull and uneventful for them. Noon came and went. Still, Sala was silent.

 

As night began to fall, Sala showed no intention of stopping. Kale looked at Frax. Like the human, he was getting weary. They hadn't stopped all day. Sala had pushed them on with her angry silence. Kale moved closer to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

 

"We have to stop for the night." he told her.

 

Sala pulled away. "Where would you have us stay Kale?!" she demanded.

 

"There." Frax said, pointing past Sala.

 

The woman whirled around and saw a rundown cabin snuggled between two mountain walls that had been broken down by weathing. Sala ground her teeth, but gave in to their request. They moved to the cabin and knocked on the door. A fragile looking woman answered, peering at them through beady eyes.

 

"Yes?" she asked in a creaky voice.

 

"Excuse me, aunt." Sala began. "We seek shelter for the night."

 

"Not just the night, child. Do come in." the old woman said.

 

She had long smoke blue-gray hair and deep grey eyes gazed at them from beneath bushy eyebrows. The old woman moved aside and motioned them in.

 

Frax moved inside past the woman. "What do you mean?" he asked.

 

"The spirit of the mountain is restless. A storm is brewing, lad." she said.

 

Sala and Kale entered and the old woman closed her door. She went to her stove and pulled off a kettle of tea. She moved towards an old table and sat down in one of the chairs. Laying out four cups, some honey, sugar, and four spoons, the old woman motioned them to sit down. Frax, Sala, and Kale did the so. For a long while the woman was silent. Finally the silence became too much for Sala.

 

"You said the spirit of the mountain was restless." she said. "What did you mean?"

 

The old woman poured them each a cup of tea and settled back into her chair. She picked up the honey and squirted some in her tea then added a bit of sugar. As she stirred it, her face took on the same one her grandfather's took when he was going to tell a story. As she sat, silently preparing her tale in her head, the three of them took the time to pour some tea and fix it up the way they liked it.

 

"Something has happened here that not even I can explain." she began. "For a while now strange things have been happening. Earthquakes come up and cause great avalanches. Snow melt suddenly and causes a great flood of the rivers that get the melted snow. Those such things. Something is wrong with the Spirits of the Elements."

 

"More than you know." Frax said, sipping his tea.

 

Kale elbowed him causing the human to spill tea all over himself. Frax shot him and angry glare and snarled at him. The young woman eyed her companions, warning them to behave. Sala turned her attention back to the old woman.

 

"Please continue." she said.

 

Before the old woman could continue her tale, a gust of wind hit the cottage. Sala jumped to her feet so suddenly that her chair hit the floor with a clatter. She dropped the tea cup, shattering it as it hit the floor. The old woman cocked an eyebrow at them. Frax and Kale were on their feet now.

 

"There's the storm." she said. "He comes."

 

Sala ran to the door. She tore it open and snow hit her as she stepped out into the night. Wind buffeted her and snow bit into her skin as she stood there. She trembled from the cold. Sala reached to her belt and pulled her pipe out. Through chattering teeth, the young woman managed to play the tune she'd used to bring life back to the forest outside of Orbian. It felt like ages since she'd done that.

 

The storm subsided and the other three joined her outside.

 

"So much for restless spirits." Frax said sardonically.

 

The earth trembled beneath them and they fell to the ground. Kale tossed a glare at Frax as he helped the old woman to her feet.

 

"Moron!" he growled.

 

"Come." the old aunt said. "It's nothing."

 

Frax climbed to his feet. "But you said..."

 

The old woman cut him off. "Just the babbling of an old woman." she said hastily. "I'm not what I used to be, lad. Now come and I'll make up a place for you to sleep tonight."

 

Sala climbed to her feet and followed them back into the cottage. She paused on the threshold and looked up the dark mountain path. What lay out there? Would she be able to stop it when it came for her? Sala shrugged her shoulders and entered the cottage. She lay on the pallet the old woman had made up for her and Kale, snuggling into his chest.

 

Outside, the wind howled and the ground trembled far within.