Sword of Kings
Chapter 38 – A New Sense of Purpose

by Bill W

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Legal Notice:
The following story contains descriptions of graphic sexual acts. 
The story is a work of fiction and has no basis in reality.
Don’t read this story if:
**You’re not 18 or over,    
**If it is illegal to read this type of material where you live,
**Or if you don’t want to read about gay/bi people in love or having sex.

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I wish to extend my thank you to Emoe57 for his editorial assistance with this chapter.

E-mail responses to the stories, story suggestions, or other ‘constructive’ comments or advice may be sent to: bwstories8@aol.com.

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It was about forty minutes later before Quintain located a promising formation. Immediately, he conferred with his brother and they agreed about how they were going to test it, to see if it was what they were looking for. Cautiously they approached the span, which from all outward appearances didn’t seem any different than the span Romaric had run out upon. Only this time, they would take appropriate precautions to prevent another accident.

First, they tied two long ropes to Quintain, which were to be anchored by the other warriors. Half of the group would secure the first rope for him, while the others grabbed a hold of the second. This was just in case one of the ropes broke or was yanked from the grasp of those gripping it. Slowly, he started out over the span. After going out about a quarter of the way, he stopped and used Hadwin’s pike to probe beneath the surface. He plunged it forcefully into the ground, in an effort to discover what made up the core. When he could probe no further, he would widen the hole, so he could determine if there was ice or rock at the center. Throughout the entire process, he kept the others informed of his progress.

“Once I discover what lies beneath,” the dwarf advised them, “we can decide if this will suit our purposes or if we have to look for another span.” Carefully the dwarf continued his work, wondering how long it would take before he was able to determine the answer to his question. It was just a few minutes later when he announced his findings.

“It is land,” he advised them, “but next we must test its strength, to see if it will support our weight. I shall perform the first tests. If it holds up under this, then we shall proceed to the next phase.”

He cautiously moved to the center of the expanse, stopped and began stomping his foot against the surface, to see if it was going to give way. When nothing happened, he increased the force of the blows, before he began to jump up and down on the formation. He needed to determine how much weight this expanse would hold up under. When he was satisfied it was strong enough to support the larger warriors and permit them to cross safely, he continued on to the other side. When he reached the far slope, he untied the ropes from about his waist and let the others drag them back, so they could use them to secure the next person crossing.

Rhys immediately volunteered to follow, but quickly gave way to Turquinine’s demands. The giant of a man suggested his body weight would be the truest test to see if it could support everyone else and no one could argue with his logic. All of the others silently prayed they would not be tested to see if they could keep the Mitikuan’s immense weight from tumbling down the mountainside if this didn’t work, as they watched him start out. The giant knight moved purposefully across the span, without being reckless, until he reached the center. Once there, he did a couple of little hops, to test the strength of the arch, and then he continued his journey. After what seemed like forever, he reached the opposite slope, untied the ropes and allowed them to be dragged back, so the next person could follow.

Alaric was the next to go, followed by Sedain, and then they decided to reverse the shore on which they anchored the crossing member, as they had sufficient strength on the far side to do that now. This time they did not let the others drag the ropes back. Instead, they kept their ends and used them to anchor the next person to make the trip. The quickly decided that Kieren should be the next to make the attempt. They had four on the far side of the slope to defend him, should anything happen, and they would quickly bring the others across too, to keep improving the odds. Kieren had the ropes securely fastened around his body and then stepped out onto the exposed bridge.

The young man was uneasy as he crossed the land bridge, picking his steps with great care. He did stop at one point, to look around. He wanted to see if he could find any indication that Romaric might have survived, but he quickly dismissed that notion. It was just too great of a drop and there wasn’t even a trace of his friend’s body anywhere. Just as he started to take his next steps, another thought occurred to him - the condor. What if it showed up now? How could he possibly keep from being spotted? His heart began to race and he hurriedly scanned the horizon, to see if there was any indication the beast was in the area. He let out a sigh of relief, once he realized it was nowhere in sight, but it did cause him to move a little more swiftly from that point on.

When he reached the other side, those greeting him suddenly realized they had a new problem, one they had failed to anticipate. Both ends of the rope were now with those who had already crossed the expanse. Somehow, they would have to find a way to get one end of each rope back across the gap, to those waiting on the other side. They wondered how they were going to correct this situation, when Alaric came up with a solution. Without hesitation, the elf extracted a spool of heavy string from his pack and tied one end of the twine around the ends of both ropes. He then unwound the remainder of the spool and tied the other end around the shaft of one of his arrows, just past the center. After that had been done, Alaric notched the arrow on his bowstring, took careful aim and fired it at a safe spot on the opposite side.

Those on the other slope retrieved the arrow and used the string to pull the rope to where they stood. Once they had both ropes again, they tied them around the next adventurer. The person crossing the expanse had to carry the arrow and string with him as he went, so it could be used again. This was the procedure they would follow until each of the others was brought safely across.

Garreth was the next to go after Kieren, and then Hadwin crossed over too, leaving just Qaim and Rhys behind. The only problem was that everyone forgot Qaim would not use the ropes, as he claimed they burned his skin. So, when Rhys attempted to fasten them to the aignx, Qaim adamantly refused to let him do so. “Qaim no use vines. They hurt Qaim,” he protested, shying away from the Akiktite.

“Damn, it seems we forgot about that,” Rhys responded, speaking his thoughts aloud. Quickly, he tried to think of another way he could take their guide across safely, without using the ropes. After a minute or two of concentration, he eventually came up with an idea. He tied the ropes around himself, grabbed Qaim by the hand and began to side step across the land bridge, pulling the aignx behind him. He held tightly onto Qaim’s hand, in case their guide slipped and started to fall, while the others took up the slack on the rope.

It was a slow and risky solution, but once they reached the other slope, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. With little hesitation, they decided they’d better set off right away, as they had only a couple of hours left before it would be dark. The dwarfs looked around, to get their bearings, and then quickly determined what heading they should take. They were now one huge step closer to their goal.

This time everyone seemed to move with a greater purpose and there was a bit more urgency to their pace. The accumulation of snow still made the traveling difficult, but they didn’t let it bother them as much as it had in the past. They continued to move on; lifting their legs high to get through the drifts, until they realized it seemed to be getting dark even earlier than they anticipated. They began to debate if it would be wiser to stop for the night or continue on, because they didn’t wish to take any foolish risks in the waning light. After due consideration, they finally concluded it would be wiser to spend another night in the mountains.

Hastily, they began to look for a place to camp and Hadwin discovered a wall of boulders they could use as a base for another campsite. Once again, they would be able to drape their blankets to make another temporary shelter, which they did as quickly as they could. When the tent-like structure was completed, they went inside, got comfortable, ate and decided who would take first watch.

Each member of the party was exhausted from the day’s activities, especially due to the emotional drain of losing Romaric, so they all agreed to turn in early. It didn’t take long for them to fall asleep, except for the one on watch, but it didn’t mean their slumber was restful. Kieren and Garreth’s dreams were plagued by visions of their lost friend. Images of Romaric’s final moments with them flooded their minds, as the pair recounted every painful step either of them had taken during that entire time. These visions would play over again, interspersed with memories of other more enjoyable times they had spent together, which only helped to ease their torment temporarily. When they finally awakened the next morning, they were thankful their trip down memory lane had come to an end, as most of it had been extremely painful to deal with.

Fortunately, the activities of the new day distracted them from reliving any more awful memories. Once they began performing their morning rituals, they stayed focused on what they were doing and didn’t let their thoughts drift. Not only that, but there was another change that dominated their attention. The minute they were ready to resume their journey, Qaim stepped to the front of the group, and without uttering a word or asking permission, assumed the lead. Of course, not everyone was pleased by his action.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?” Sedain barked out, upset by this apparent affront.

“Qaim lead you to bad wizard’s home,” the aignx stated, without emotion. He felt he was merely doing his job, seeing they were now officially in the Devil’s Horseshoe. He didn’t realize he had ruffled the feathers of the dwarfs and caused some hard feelings by doing so.

“You’ve been supposed to lead us since Beraut departed,” Sedain snapped, “but until now you’ve left that job up to my brother and me. What makes you think you can do it now?”

“Qaim can find way from here,” he replied, somewhat confused by the dwarf’s objection.

“Doth thou knoweth the way from here?” Turquinine asked Sedain, trying to clarify the problem.

“No, not exactly,” the dwarf began, “but I’m sure Quintain and I can figure it out. We’ve done pretty well up until now.”

“None of us would disagree with that,” Alaric offered, “but if Qaim knows where to go from here, I think we should let him do his job.” Sedain looked hurt by this pronouncement, but steadfastly refused to step aside. Obviously, his ego had been bruised by the elf’s suggestion and apparently he wasn’t going to relinquish his position willingly.

“Beraut did tell us to trust and follow Qaim,” Kieren added, trying to convince Sedain, without offending him further. “Even though he hasn’t been that much help in the past, he does seem to know where to go now, so I think we should let him show us the way.”

Sedain folded his arms across his chest and heaved a mighty, ‘hmmmph.’ This let the others know he wasn’t convinced, but at the same time, he felt the odds were stacked against him. To top it off, it seemed Quintain felt the same way.

“If they want Qaim to lead them,” Quintain offered, to his brother, “then let him do so. I just don’t want them to come running to us when they discover Qaim managed to get them hopelessly lost.”

“If that should happen,” Hadwin challenged, “I think you would be man enough, or dwarf enough, to help us out of such a predicament. We all have our duties here and I agree this job belongs to Qaim.” The Nardinian’s words seemed to surprise the two dwarfs, because during most of the earlier disagreements, he had sided with them. Fortunately, both were able to judge that Hadwin didn’t seem to be mocking them and wasn’t saying this disparagingly, so the two of them, or at least Quintain, considered his words.

“We’re wasting time sitting debating the point,” Rhys prodded them, in an attempt to get them moving again. “Let’s just agree quickly on who should lead us and then get underway.” There were some continued rumbling, as various members started to discuss this with those they felt the most comfortable dealing with, but Quintain soon put an end to it all.

“Let Qaim lead us then,” the dwarf announced. “My brother and I will help, as needed, but Hadwin and Rhys are correct. We all have specific tasks to perform and we can’t afford to stand idly about questioning this. We have a mission to complete.” The others nodded and thanked him for ending the stalemate, before they urged the aignx to lead the way. The dwarfs did watch Qaim closely though, in an effort to judge his performance, and they were pleasantly surprised by what they saw. Grudgingly, they had to admit they were impressed by his confidence and innate ability to know which way to go.

Kieren also watched the aignx, but as he did so, he thought back to what the wizard had said about the creature. He recalled how Beraut had advised them about Qaim’s qualifications and then insisted they trust in the aignx’s abilities. He remembered how the mage emphasized that Qaim would be the one who would locate the hidden entrance to Treblanc and take them safely through the passages that led up to the fortress itself. Thinking about that advice, Kieren focused almost exclusively on this mystical little figure and studied every movement the furry critter made.

This was one of the few times since they had discovered Qaim in Briarwood that the young man had actually paid attention to the aignx’s movements for any prolonged period of time. Before now, he was never that interested in what Qaim was up to and merely accepted he was part of the group. However, after observing him perform these past few minutes, Kieren was beginning to think about the aignx differently. He was becoming increasingly fascinated watching Qaim’s furtive movements and noting their guide’s uncanny sense of direction, primitive cunning and unerring instincts. The teen believed that only the wizard could have equaled the aignx’s extraordinary abilities, and before the end of the day, Kieren began to have nearly as much confidence in Qaim, as he would have had in Beraut. At long last, he began to understand why the wizard had so easily placed such great faith in this unknown quantity.

To their surprise, they were able to travel quite quickly, because the day was unusually uneventful. Even the weather had improved. In addition to that, even though they had been keeping alert for the return of the condor and watched for any other dangers the mountains might be hiding, they encountered no such intrusions. Due to the combination of those factors, they had been able to cover more ground than on previous days and their spirits seemed to be lifted higher than ever. Everyone moved enthusiastically along the slopes, knowing they must be getting close to reaching their destination. Eventually, they began to discuss whether they should stop to eat or continue on. They were still debating this point, when Qaim unexpectedly stopped dead in his tracks, which caused some confusion. The others quickly suspected the aignx was dramatically announcing his vote and indicating that he wanted to eat, but that idea was quickly dismissed, when Qaim spoke.

“Qaim bring you here safely,” he announced, seemingly pleased with himself.

Everyone looked around, puzzled by his statement. All they could see was the same snow-covered landscape over which they had been traveling for days. “Brought us where, you blasted ninny?” bellowed Sedain. “We’re in the middle of nowhere. There is nothing here. I warned you he didn’t know what he was doing,” the dwarf told the others.

“Qaim bring you to nasty wizard’s secret door,” the aignx responded, unfazed by the ridicule.

“I don’t see any door, you witless fool,” chided Sedain. “I believe you must be going daft.”

“The door is here,” their guide insisted. “Qaim know where door is. Qaim check to see if nasty wizard has set a trap on it.” With lightning speed, the aignx’s hands darted in and out of the snow, moving so quickly the others were not sure what he was up to. He continued this flurry of activity for several minutes and then he stopped. At that point Qaim turned to the others and announced, “It safe. Qaim to take you inside now.”

Once more, he thrust his hairy hands into the pile of snow, but this time the others heard a very audible click, just before his hands stopped moving. The aignx then began to struggle, as he used both of his arms to pull on some unseen object. None of the others knew for sure what they should do to help, until it seemed like a small piece of the slope began to move toward them.

Once they saw what was happening, Turquinine and Rhys reacted first. The pair immediately jumped forward and began to pull on the part of the rocky surface that seemed to be breaking away from the rest of the mountainside. The difficulty of this task was considerably greater than it might have otherwise been, due to the amount of snow that surrounded it. As they pulled on the hillside, the snow quickly packed into a pile in front of it, acting like a doorstop and making it nearly impossible to open the hatchway further.

Kieren, Garreth and the two dwarfs quickly took it upon themselves to remove this hindrance, by using their hands to scoop away the accumulation of snow. While they did that, the others positioned themselves so they could help to push the doorway open. After a great deal of effort, on everyone’s part, an archway began to appear and exposed a long abandoned tunnel hidden behind it. As they examined the opening, they noticed it was covered in a thick coating of sticky webs, which proved it had not been used recently. It also made the entrance appear very uninviting.

“This is way to bad magician’s home,” the aignx announced. “You follow Qaim. Qaim take you there.” Suddenly their guide bolted through the opening, without being bothered by the fact that the webs were sticking to his furry coat as he passed through. The others hesitated following his lead, because they were unsure if it was what they were expected to do. That question was soon answered for them, however, when their guide peered back through the opening.

“You come inside, so Qaim can shut door,” the aignx told them. “No go far. You wait for Qaim.”

The others heeded his suggestion and moved through the opening, but only far enough to actually claim they were inside. They had concluded Qaim’s warning about not going very far inside was made because he feared there might be booby traps awaiting them, so none of them ventured any farther into the tunnel than was absolutely necessary.

Patiently, they stood and waited for their furry little leader to tell them what to do next, while watching him slowly pull the door shut behind them. Suddenly, they were swallowed up in total darkness. It was so black inside that they couldn’t even see the person standing next to them. This unsettled everyone, except for the dwarfs and Qaim, and caused them to remain as immobile as statues, hardly daring to even breathe. As their eyes began to adjust to the darkness, they remained silent and waited for the aignx to give them further directions.