Chapter 05 - Truths

The inn greatroom was about half-full of people, but looked as if it had been fuller earlier. Some women and boys were moving from table to table with trays, collecting up empty plates and cups that had been left behind as people finished eating. People were quieter, however, and the general murmur of conversation around them was not hard to hear over. A few minutes passed, and a young woman came by and put a plate in front of him, with bacon, eggs, toast, and some cooked, spiced apples on it, along with a cup of juice and some utensils to eat with. He dug in hungrily as he listened to some of the conversation at the table.

"Across the river," Raleth was saying. "They say he's dead on. Can tell ya all manner 'o things about yer future."

"Horseshit!" Kelver said, shaking his head. "He can't do that unless he's usin' magic or some kind 'o priest."

"There was a woman in Mountain Rest who could tell you yer future, sure 'nuff," Sameth piped up. "She used cards though. Laid 'em out all particular. Told me Ma that I'd be a boy afore I was born even. Most times her tellin' is kinda vague though. Seems like ye could see in it what ye wanted."

"That's what I'm sayin'," Kelver nodded. "The gypsy ones, for example. It's all just smoke an' magic. Lies or generalizations. They can't really tell you fer sure what's gonna happen. Even the magic can be faulty or vague. Only priests can really see into the future and only when it's real important."

"They say this guy's never wrong. Old as dirt, an' hard ta find, but I got this here map." Raleth pulled out a ragged piece of parchment from his pants pocket. "I dunno if it's magic or not, but just findin' the guy with the map means I can turn around an' sell it ta someone else fer more than I bought it for. Ye know what I mean? If I can verify that it's real, then it's worth somethin' to someone."

"Dunno, Raleth," Nelser shook his head. "Sounds like a stretch to me, but I guess it couldn't hurt to look."

"Waste of time," Kelver told his brother with a frown.

"Then don't come," Nelser shrugged. "Sounds like a bit of adventure to me. But then you just want to hang out here and try to talk to... what's her name? Grenna... that's it. He's in love."

"Am not!" Kelver hit his brother on the shoulder. "Fine, I'm in. But don't blame me if it's a total waste of time."

"Do we have enough time ta get there an' back?" Nelser asked. "I'm likin' this job, and don' wanta be left behind if the Old Dwarf moves on before we get back."

"It looks like not quite two days away," Raleth said, pointing to the map. "Two there, an' two back, tops. We spend a few hours there findin' stuff out and head back. Frank said we're here about another five, prob'ly. If we leave this morning, should be no problem. So who's in?"

"I'm in!" Sameth piped up without hesitation.

"Looks like we're comin'," Nelser added.

Dir Ketten shrugged and nodded when he was asked. Matner wondered if the caravan would wait an extra day for the tribal man or not. If nothing else, him coming along probably made the whole thing less risky.

"As long as you think we'll be back before Old Fredrickson leaves, I've probably got some questions," he said.

"Back with plenty of time," Raleth insisted.

"Okay, then," he said, looking forward to the adventure.

"Right, well those who're comin' git yer bags an' check outta the inn then. We'll run by Frank an' let 'im know," Raleth folded up the map and stuffed it back in his pocket.

"I wonder what he'll tell me?" Sameth mused aloud as they stood up from the table.

"Probably that yer lass is pinin' fer ya," Brint, the guard who'd been a mercanery, said, giving Sameth a slap on the back.

"I sent a letter to her yesterday," Sameth said. "I wonder how long it will take to get there. I sent it by pigeon."

"Won't take long then," One of the other guards, Trevon commented.

Once upstairs, Matner threw his things back into his bag and ran downstairs to let the innkeeper know he wouldn't be staying another night. He waited on the porch for the others. Dir Ketten arrived a moment after Matner, and he wondered how the man communicated with the innkeeper if he never spoke. He didn't really have the nerve to try and ask though. Dir Ketten stood at the porch railing, silently watching the people pass in the street.

It didn't take long before the others were assembled, and they made their way back to camp, sharing ideas on what questions to ask if they found the man they were going to search for.

"I want to know if I'm going to be rich one day!" Linden declared. "I want enough to buy myself a whole bunch of land. Maybe even a town!"

"If you're going to ask him anything, you should be specific," Kelver said, shaking his head. "Otherwise he'll just use fancy words and it could mean anything."

"You know you don't have to come," Raleth told him, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not letting you take my brother off on some fool's errand and not coming to watch his back," Kelver replied.

"How dangerous can something be not thirty miles from a city?" Raleth challenged.

"If it were easy, everyone 'round here would know about it, and people'd go there all the time," Brint suggested.

"And if it were all that dangerous," Raleth countered, "everyone would know that, too, and we'd know too."

"Well," Sameth said, hiking a bag that kept trying to slip off his shoulder. "We'll just have to find out. How 'bout you, Matner? What're you gonna ask?"

"I think Kelver's probably right," Matner said. "I think how the question is worded might just mean as much as what the question is. I might have to narrow it down to one good question."

"Like?"

"Like how can I make a difference in the world, although that might be too general," he answered.

"Everyone wants to be a hero," Brint said. "Maybe some people get to. Maybe sometimes you just settle for helping people day by day."

"I don't know that I need to be a hero," Matner replied with a shrug. "But it would be nice to make a difference somewhere."

"Whatever you say, kid," Brint replied with a chuckle.

They stopped in camp and grabbed bags and armor for the journey. They told Frank of their plans and he confirmed that they would easily have enough time.

"I thought we were only going to be here for a couple more days," Matner questioned, remembering what Frank had told the Magistrate.

"We're waiting on a passenger we're going to be taking on, actually," Frank said. "Seems the fare being paid is worth enough for us to wait."

"Ah," Matner nodded. He'd heard a couple of references to a passenger joining them, but hadn't known they'd be waiting on one. He wondered briefly how often that happened. He'd heard people talk about passengers they'd had in the past, though, so he supposed it was common enough.

Frank had heard tales of the man they were headed out to find, and wished them luck in their search.

"If you find him with that raggedy bit of parchment, you let me know. Maybe I'll buy it off you next, Raleth," he added as they started heading out. "Gods know, I've got a question or two myself for when we're here next."

They made their way down to the river in fine spirits, joking and laughing with excitement. Each of them chipped in a little money to pay for the ferry across, on one of the long, flat boats that were pushed and steered across the river by men with long, poles. The man had thick, muscled arms and strained against the current as he dug the pole into the riverbed to keep them moving in the right direction. Even with the man's efforts they arrived on the other side a little further downriver than they had begun.

They had a sunny day to start out. The ground on the far side of the river was rolling farmland. Each hill seemed crowned with a little crop of farmhouses. They saw fenced fields where cows loitered around watched them walk past. The occassional farmer watched them with either a friendly wave or suspicious looks.

They followed the river upstream for a while. Now and then they saw boats either drifting lazily down the current or being patiently rowed upstream. The wind blew across wheat and corn fields. They crossed three little streams before stopping for lunch.

Some of them had thought to bring supplies. Matner was forced to confess not having thought of that before leaving. After a quick group inventory, they decided they had enough to last the few days they would be gone. They planned to eat light, just in case. They filled water skins from a little brook before continuing on. The day was warm, but it was breezy enough to remain pleasant.

It was about an hour before lunch that they found a tree with one huge limb reaching out over the river. It matched one sketched on the map. There was a note on the map that said to look where the tree pointed and go the other way. They dutifully looked across the river before turning around and marching away from it.

At first, there hadn't been much talking except speculation about the man they were looking to find and the route to get there. After lunch and the tree, however, the walking and quiet began to draw out and conversations started up. Eventually, Nelser turned to Matner.

"So, what's your story anyway?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Matner replied.

"Well you were kind of vague when explaining how you came to sign on with Old Fredrickson. You've yet to really tell us much about yourself. Just wondering what your story is."

"Oh," Matner said. "There's really not much of one, honestly."

"Oh come on," Kelver piped in. "Doesn't matter if it's a good story or not. We just want to know ya better is all."

A few of the others voiced their agreement. Matner sighed and shrugged.

"I guess," he finally said. "But it's really not that thrilling. I'm the eldest son in my family, and my father has some money. So, I was slated for a military career from the beginning. Since we lived in Calster, my father made sure I was able to go to the Academy. Then he had it all worked out where he was lining up jobs for me where I'd stay in the city and be someone's guard. There was even an offer from the King's Guard, since I was highest ranked in my graduating class. But nobody asked me what I wanted to do. So I left. I'm just trying to find my place in the world, figure out what I want to do. I like the idea of helping people, so something where I can use my skills to do that would be good."

He said it all in a rush, just to get it out and over with. He didn't really know what to make of the moment of silence that followed, although it felt strange to put his past into a few simple words like that. He couldn't really think of more to add. But then the silence ended and there were a burst of questions from the group.

"You passed on a job with the Royal Guard?" Brint asked incredulously.

"You went to the Academy?" Sameth asked, "What was it like?"

"Isn't guarding people helping them?" Kelver added.

Others echoed the same questions in slightly different words. Eventually he put his hands up to stop them.

"I didn't see that I'd really earned the job with the Royal Guard. My father arranged it for me more than anything else. It's not like I'd done anything in the field, so I haven't had enough real experience to warrant it. Maybe one day, when I return to Calster I'll want something like that. But I'm not ready to settle down into anything either. I want to see some of the world. Have a little adventure. And earn myself a place in it."

"The Academy was great," he added, turning to Sameth. "The instructors really knew a lot and seemed to like teaching us. I feel really fortunate to have had the chance to go there."

"So, ye were afraid we'd think ye were some rich kid, were ya?" Linden asked.

"Well, I was concerned that someone might think that because I'd had the opportunities..."

"Did yer father give ye any money afore ye left?"

"No," Matner shook his head. "I didn't tell father I was going. I sort of snuck away, actually."

"Then ye ain't got any more money than the rest o' us. Better boots, maybe, but it's not like ye've been expectin' us ta shine 'em fer ye."

"Most folk who'll pull their own weight w'out whinin' 're alright by me," Brint said. "From I've seen so far ye'll be fine."

"Yeah," Kelver said, "not like that one 'Lady'...what was her name?"

"Elene," Brint answered. Dir Ketten spat loudly.

Matner saw Sameth's eyebrow raise and was glad he wasn't the only one.

"How come I've never heard that story before?" Sameth asked.

"It's not a story that gets told often," Brint explained. "She and our friend Ketten did not get along."

"She was all high 'n' ladylike..." Kelver said, "like she thought she was some kinda princess er somfin'."

"All better'n us and too good to be dealin' with the likes of us," Nelser added.

"But not too good to let us save her pious skin from bandits."

"Good thing she never did find out about Frank!"

"I've ne'er seen the Old Dwarf that angry," Brint added. "I mean they say dwarfs can have a temper an' all, but man..."

"I thought he was gonna kill her," Kelver said. "I'd never seen him so intent on keepin' his sword sharp."

"He usually doesn't even wear it," Nelser added, "but he was keepin' it sharp and at the ready all the time on that trek."

"Well someone tell it from the beginnin' then," Linden said. "So's they can hear it."

"Well, we picked 'er up in Shadow Lake," Brint began. "She seemed a mite snooty fer my taste from the get go, but she 'ad three paid servants an' a slave wit 'er, so it weren't a big issue at first. In fact, the slave girl cooked some pretty elegant food, stuff that impressed Ennick anyhow, an' she was nice about showin' him how ta do it too. The paid servants kept to themselves though. Seems they thought they were too good fer us too."

"So she booked passage to go wit us to Miln. 'Bout halfway up the river ta Falltez there's a path what veers off near direct ta Miln, an' Fredrickson ain't afraid ta take it now an' again. Saves a good two weeks ta a month o' travel from what it'd be to git to Falltez an' take the other branch o' river ta Miln instead. She was payin' good too, so it seemed a tidy profit fer a journey we was plannin' ta make anyway."

"Halfway ta the path, one o' the servants gits some sorta cough. Next thing we know, all three o' them has it. So she wants nothin' ta do wit them anymore. The elf is fine, see, so she has the elf doin' everything while Evara's tryin' ta tend ta the poor servants an' help 'em. Old Fredrickson suggests we turn 'round an' get 'em proper care, but Elene will have none o' it. She demands we press on, sayin' they're just tryin' ta get out o' the hard work. All three o' them died the same night, mind you. We never did fiind out what it were that they'd got. Nobody else came down wit it."

"So then we see her startin' ta beat that poor elf girl. The woman had this cane she carried 'round. Said she had a troubled leg er somethin'. Never saw 'er limp, mind you. But she does start beatin' the slave girl when she don't move fast enough. Old Fredrickson, tryin' ta be diplomatic still, suggests we give the girl a hand helpin' wit what the lady needs. Elene catches on quick, see, an' the next thing we know, she starts givin' us orders like she owned us er somethin'! Since Ketten here don't talk, she decides he must be deaf or somethin' too, so she yells at 'im at the top 'o 'er voice."

"This kept up fer most o' the way down the path. We put up wit' it fer a while, thinkin' it'll keep 'er quiet. But it just gets worse. More an' more she complains that we can't do anything right."

"Then one night she goes on rantin', and next thing we know she's sayin' somethin' about how people not like us are only good for slaves, an' since Dir Ketten--she never called him by name, or course, he was just The Tribal. Anyway, since he wasn't like her an' he never talked, she got really bossy on him. Tried orderin' him around."

"Now, Ketten was nothin' but polite the whole time. Patient like a tree, but we all know that. But after her rantin', she went and called him Slave, and gave him orders. Fer the first time he just looked back at her and didn't respond at all. That really got her riled. She yelled and screamed, giving the same order over and over. Gosh, I don't even remember what she wanted him to do. It was somethin' stupid, though."

"But then she hauled off and hit him with that cane o' hers. He doesn't even flinch, so she does it again, an' this time he catches it. She screams an' pulls out a knife. She stabs him in the arm an' he just looks at her. That right there just 'bout broke her nerve."

"That's when the Old Dwarf came out of a tent. 'That's it' he yells. He comes runnin' over and snatches her cane away from her. He broke it into four pieces an' threw them on the fire."

"'How dare you?' she shrieks. He comes over an' grabs her by her jacket, pullin' her forward to her knees until they're the same height. The he grabs the collar of her blouse and drags her off behind one o' the tents. Now, he's still never said what he said to her, but when he leads her back she's all white in the face like you've never seen. She ne'er so much as looked at most of us the rest of the way ta Miln."

"Frank said he told her that Ketten's people were cannibals," Kelver piped up. "An' that he'd said she looked about right fer a nice stew."

The group laughed, and even Dir Kitten was shaking his head and smiling at that.

"Naw, he probably told her that none 'o us had been with a woman in long enough that we'd just make her our slave," Linden threw in.

"Might 'o done her some good!" Raleth replied.

"Don't give me nightmares, she weren't a pretty one, that witch!" Trevon commented.

"Don't matter what the Old Dwarf said, just that it shut 'er up," Brint said. "We didn't stay long in Miln after that. He seemed ta want ta put some distance between 'er an' himself. Got happier the further we got."

One of the logs on the fire cracked loudly, reminding them of the night. Matner looked around and noticed it had gotten pretty dark while they'd been talking.

"We should get some sleep," he commented.

"Aye," several of them agreed.

They set up a watch rotation, mixing it up a bit from the usual pairings they had with the caravan, with plans to switch partners each of the nights. Matner found himself on the first watch, with Dir Ketten. They had brought a couple of canvases to set up if it was to rain, but otherwise everyone laid out their bedrolls in a circle around the the fire, and crawled into them. A few fell asleep right away, a couple of them snoring. Eventually it was just Matner and Ketten, sitting by the fire. Ketten pulled out a small book from his bag, and began writing in it. Now and again, he would stop and look up, as if listening, before returning to the book. After a while it seemed to Matner that he was not only writing words, but making small sketches in the book as well.

As much as he wanted to peer over and see just what the man was sketching, he did not. He stared at the fire for a while, listening to the night in much the same way that Ketten was from time to time stopping to listen.

"I'd bet you've got some interesting stories to tell," he eventually said quietly. There was, of course, no reply.

He sat for a while and just waited, yawning several times. He heard wolves off in the distance, but it did not sound at all close. He wondered how many of them there were. Endrew had once read a book about wolves, and had explained that each wolf's howl is a little different, so that when they howl as a pack they sound like a pack.

Eventually Dir Ketten tapped Matner's knee with a stick. When Matner looked up, the man pointed at two sleeping figures before moving over to his own bedroll. Matner took the cue and woke those two for the next watch. He had no trouble falling asleep.

He woke easily in the morning. They ate a quick breakfast and packed everything up and looked over the map again before setting off. Today they would find him.

When they stopped for lunch Sameth complained about being tired from all the walking.

"My feet hurt," he said, kicking the heel of his boot in the dust. "Explain to me again why we didn't take the horses?"

"I was curious about that myself," Matner admitted. "Seems it would have been faster."

"Sure," Raleth nodded. "But we don't all own our own horses, see. 'Bout half 'o them are owned by Old Fredrickson, an' we get to use them is all."

"He used to let people use them durin' the downtime too," Brint added. "Until he had a couple o' men run off with 'em. Since then he's got Shannah keepin' a sharp eye on the ones that are his. Wouldn't seem fair ta the horses ta have everyone double up fer this little jaunt."

"I see," Matner nodded.

"We had another horse," Kelver said. "But on the way ta Calster, Fat Ren took it into his head to start ridin' 'stead of bein' on a wagon bench."

"Gave that poor horse a heart failure, he did!" Nelser burst in, laughing. "You should've seen the look on Ren's face when that horse just plain gave out underneath 'im!"

"Prices on horses in Calster were outrageous though," Kelver finished. "I think Old Fredrickson's waiting to get a better deal before he replaces the horse. Then you'll likely git ta ride one too. Both Nelser an' I are borrowin' horses from the Dwarf. So're Sameth, Linden an' Raleth. Brint, Trevon, an Dir Ketten all own their own. An' Frank. He's had that same horse forever."

"Anyhow, 'tis easier ta see the landmarks on the map from foot anyway. Might miss 'em on horseback." Raleth shrugged, studying the map again. "We should be seein' this one pretty soon. After that, we just have ta find the place it says the man lives in. Part of some old ruins. Says here he's got a spot on the west side of 'em where one o' the towers is most intact."

"I wonder what used to be there?" Sameth asked.

"Maybe you can ask him," Kelver said.

"Yeah, and waste yer question!" Nelser joked.

"Not a chance!" Sameth replied laughing.

The next landmark was a group of four tall trees. They made four corners to a square, and each tree grew at an angle away from the rest. Directly in the center was a stone gravemark. There was a seven-pointed star carved into it, along with the name Mellie.

"Who do you think she was?" Sameth wondered.

"Well, we're looking for some old guy," Raleth said, "maybe it was his wife?"

"You could always ask him," Nelser teased.

As before, they found there way by facing the gravestone and turning around. They walked for hours. It was feeling like it was taking too long, and some started to wonder if they were on the right track, or if the guy was even out here.

"Shouldn't we be there by now?" "Soon."

"Are we lost?" "No, we're followin' the map."

"I thought you said a day and a half?" "It's hard to judge."

"I told you it wasn't even true..." "The map has been right so far..."

The sun was decending when they saw shadowed ruins up ahead.

"I see a light over there," Sameth said, pointing.

They made their way forward slowly, the shadows around them growing longer as the sun set further down on the horizon. Most of the ruins seemed covered over in moss and twisted vines as nature reclaimed the crumbling stones. The ground was uneven rubble, with tufts of grass and other plants coming up from between the stones. The trees around the ruins were tall and ancient, whereas there were smaller trees here and there closer to, and even inside the ruins themselves, where newer trees had sprung up in the years since the structure had fallen. From it's size and layout, Matner estimated it might have been a small keep or nobleman's estate once.

The light was coming from the one tower that stood the tallest of what looked to have been six. While the others were large mounds of rubble, of varying size, this one looked to be intact except for the top of it. It looked as if the top two stories of the tower had been sheared off at an angle by some force of magic. The area where it ended looked black and scorched, but the rest of the tower looked clean and maintained. It had once been about six stories high. There were no vines creeping up it's sides, and the grass around it was short. A small family of goats looked to be grazing off to one side of the grass, and beyond them a garden was fenced off.

Dir Ketten and Trevon both raised a hand, almost simultaneously, to stop the group of them.

"Wolf," Trevon said in a hushed voice.

A solitary wolf came out of a shadow, towards them, moving to the edge of the shortened grass and stopping, looking at them. Kelver reached for his sword hilt, but Ketten put a hand on his arm, shaking his head. Dir Ketten put up a hand and then one finger, signalling to them all, before stepping forward. He advanced towards the wolf slowly, and Matner saw that he had a bit of smoked meat in one hand, held out. Once he was close enough, Dir Ketten crouched down in front of the wolf and extended the meat to the wolf, who took it in it's mouth. To the group's surprise, the wolf then wagged it's tail as a dog might, and nudged Ketten's hand with his head. Then he trotted off towards the tower, barking as if to announce their presence.

"Well, I'll be damned," Linden said.

"How'd he know to do that?" Sameth asked.

"Dunno, but I think we should follow," Raleth said, gesturing at Dir Ketten, who was already following the wolf toward the tower.

"Must be a pet," Brint said. "The goats aren't acting scared."

The followed right up to the tower. The wolf wasn't looking back to see if they were following it, just strolling along wagging its tail.

There was a heavy looking oak door at the base of the tower. It was open, and the wolf went inside.

"I guess we follow."

"Shouldn't we at least knock first," Matner suggested. Brint went to the door and banged loudly on it three times with his fist. There was no reply, and the wolf had gone in. It was darker inside than outside.

As they stepped inside a fire started in a fireplace. This level of the tower was one large room. Stairs curved up one wall. The fireplace was set into the wall under the stairs. There were carved wood chairs set about a small round stone table. Other wall areas were lined with neatly stacked firewood. It was a lot of firewood.

"Hello?" Raleth called out. "We have a map, and it said we could find you here."

"It said that, did it?" a man's voice from above answered. "Well, come up here then, and bring your talking map."

"How do we even know that's the guy we're looking for?" Kelver whispered.

"Well, who else would it be?" Raleth pointed out, in a similar whisper.

"He's got a point, Kel," Nelser added, following Raleth as he headed towards the stairs.

Dir Ketten seemed to be leading the way, with Raleth and Trevon right behind him. The others fell in behind them, and Matner found himself following right before Kelver and Sameth, who took up the rear. Kelver was still shaking his head as they started up the stone steps.

The stairs themselves seemed to keep curving upwards, along the wall, with a landing at each level. As his head came up where he could see above the ceiling of the lower level, he was able to get a view of the room above it, and the man that had spoken.

The first thing that came into view for him was a pair of muddy boots. They stood on a bit of rough floor, near the stairs, that wasn't covered by the large, woven rug that was over most of the thick stone floor. The room itself was well-lit, with a fire burning merrily in another fireplace that seemed directly above the one he had seen in the room below. There were a few oil lanterns hanging here and there on hooks in the wall about the room, as well as a couple sitting here and there on furniture. The furniture included a couple of overstuffed couches and chairs all arranged around a low table facing the fire. Along the walls of the room were bookshelves, filled with books, boxes and jars of all manner of things. Some of the jars looked to contain pebbles, or leaves. Others looked as if they held bits of some animal's innards. One looked to have eyes, and almost seemed to follow Matner as he stepped up into the room. He stopped looking too closely at the shelves after that.

The wolf had taken up residence at the man's feet by the fire, curled up contentedly, but still watching them with alert eyes and pricked up ears. The man, himself was possibly one of the most unremarkable men Matner had ever seen. He appeared to be middle-aged, his brown hair slightly graying at the temples where his hairline was receding a little. He seemed to be an average build, if a bit muscled, and his skin appeared a bit weathered as if he spent much of his time outside. He didn't even look up when they approached, but gestured at the seating around him instead. He was cutting pieces off of a large loaf of bread and putting them onto plates on the table. A quick count showed there were nine plates in all, each with a bowl of something steaming on top of it, and a spoon.

"Took your time though, didn't you? The food would have been cold if you'd dallied any longer." He doled out the last slice of bread and dusted his hands off on his weathered overalls before looking up at the group. "I'll have that map of yours, if you please gentlemen. You get one question, and one question only. And it'll cost you. Looking into the future is dangerous business, and not to be taken lightly. The meal is free, but the information comes with a price. What you pay me is up to you, but remember - you'll get what you've paid for."

Most of the group stood there a moment, with their mouths hanging open. Matner realized he was doing the same and consciously closed it, searching his mind to remember what items of value he might have with him that he could trade, or wondering if money would be enough. He knew he didn't have a lot of money left in his purse, and still had no idea when he might be paid next. Meanwhile, Raleth looked reluctant to hand over the map.

"It doesn't... um.... talk, sir. It's just a regular map," Raleth admitted.

"Hrm," the man said, pulling it free of Raleth's hand and inspecting it. "Now, see, that would have been something interesting."

To Matner's surprise, he crumpled the map up and tossed it on the fire.

"Hey!" Raleth protested, echoed by a few of the others. "We need that to find our way back to the city!"

"Calm down, Raleth, you'll be fine," the man replied, rolling his eyes. "Besides, Dir Ketten ought to know the way back by now. This is what? Your third time here now? Perhaps you could pick a different question this time."

"Wait," Raleth said. "You've been here before? How come you didn't tell us?--I mean, why didn't we know that?"

Dir Ketten laughed and sat on one of the chairs before scooping up a bowl. The rest followed his example. Matner wanted to ask what was going to happen, but was afraid to say anything that might have been construed as a question. He could only assume Raleth's had not been taken that way because it had not been directed to the man.

There was stew in the bowl, and the bread was freshly baked. They ate in awkward silence. There were other things on the table, he noticed. There were colored stones, little bags, gems, scattered coins, even a couple of tiny jars. The jars looked like the type used for expensive perfumes. He could only assume that those were things that had been traded for answers. Perhaps, he speculated, he left recent payments out as examples to others.

When they were done eating they had to decide what order to go in. Raleth tried to say that he should go first since he had supplied the map. Linden spoke up suggesting that maybe they had not needed the map to begin with. They ended up deciding to go in order by how long they'd been with the group. That meant Matner last.

Brint went first, and he reached into his purse before setting a small pile of coins on the table. The man stood and led Brint over to a window. The man looked out the window, and there was no way to know what was asked or told.

Dir Ketten paid with a small figurine of some kind. It looked like a horse and appeared made out of twisted grasses. Linden added a pale gem to the table. Others mostly seemed to pay with coins. When it was finally his turn he looked at the ring on his right hand. It was an academy ring. It was something with value that he could afford to do without. He wondered what kind of answer it would buy.

He pulled it off and dropped it on the table with the other payments, glancing at the man to try and gauge his reaction to it. The man didn't seem any more or less impressed with it than anything else, and just nodded his head towards the window again. Matner stood and followed.

"So, what's your question then, Matner?" he said.

It was all Matner could do not to ask how the man knew his name. Instead, he tried to form the words in his mind carefully, so he would be specific enough with his question.

"I... I'd like to know... what I should do with my life... so that I can make a difference... and help people," he said finally.

"Everybody overthinks it," the man commented. "Always trying to be specific and maximize what answer they can get for their question."

"I wasn't trying to - " Matner began to protest.

"No, I wasn't saying you were," the man stopped him. "Athough, technically, you were, but that's beside the point. And, by the way, it's rude to interrupt a man when he's prophesizing, you know."

"Sorry." Matner said, worriedly.

"Some answers can come down to a simple 'yes' or 'no'. Others can be a little more complicated. Others still, can yield something of a puzzle. And, not everyone gets the answer they are looking for either. You may want to lend your friend, Sameth, a bit of a shoulder on the way back, for example. He didn't get the answer he was hoping for. Neither did Dir Ketten, mind you, but he'll be back."

"In your case, however, it's not so simple. You're asking a rather broad question, one that encompasses your whole life. What should you do? Do you mean right now, this very second? Or next week? Or next year? As a person grows they want, need, and do different things based on the sum of their experiences. Only you can decide what you should do, young man. I know what you will do. You will do many different things. You will make some mistakes. You will help people. You will fail others. Your successes will be greater than your failures, however, so it will come out alright in the end I suppose. But that's not the answer you're looking for, now, is it?"

"Um... no, sir," Matner admitted.

"Follow your heart and instincts, Matner. Let them lead the way before you, and you will find your path. That is all the answer I can give you this day."

"Still..."

"Not the answer you were looking for? Or hoping for, maybe?"

"No."

"Don't worry, you'll like your answer better next time."

The man stepped away from the window at that point, turning towards the rest of the room.

"Now," he said to the group. "You'll want to sleep downstairs. Be polite and stay down there. And try not to be too loud. I don't generally care for guests that much, perhaps you can guess why. But I won't make you start walking back in the rain. Good night."

"So, who are you?" Raleth asked.

"One question, remember?" the man said, cocking his head and raising an eyebrow.

They filed downstairs. Some walked with confidence, some shuffled along unhappily. Matner chose to focus himself on knowing he was going to help people. The man had not said he would be a hero, but he supposed there were a lot of ways to be a hero.

"Who's he think he is, anyhow?" Sameth complained, once they started rolling out bedrolls on the stone floor.

"What's the matter? Didn't git the answer you wanted?" Linden asked.

"No!" Sameth said, unhappily. "He says she's gonna marry somebody else. Won't tell me who or why either." He kicked at the floor irritably.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it, Sameth," Kelver said. "It's all smoke an' mirrors anyways."

"What makes you think that?" Matner asked, curious.

"Well, his answer to me was pretty vague. Coulda meant anything," Kelver replied.

"Funny though, how ye still put money down on the table Kel," Nelser said. "What'd you ask 'im anyway?"

"I asked him whether or not I was going to look after your sorry neck fer the rest 'o my life!" Kelver joked, slapping his brother on the back.

"What did you ask Kelver?" Raleth asked.

"Don't matter none. It's a bunch 'o nonsense meant to make you believe is all. The guy's a phoney."

"He prob'ly got told he ain't ever gonna get himself a girl!" Nelser laughed.

"Hey - Dir Ketten was holding out on us though," Kelver added, pointing at the man in question. "We could've gotten here quicker if he'd just shown us the way."

"You've been here twice before?" Raleth asked, turning to Dir Ketten. The man merely nodded and shrugged in response, taking a seat on his neatly unrolled blankets, and rifling around in his knapsack. He pulled out the book Matner had seen before, and began writing in it again, seeming to ignore the conversation as it continued around him.

"I can't believe he took the map an' burned it though," Raleth frowned. "I could've gotten a decent price for it."

"Not if you'd sold it to Frank," Trevon said. "He's too stingy with his money, that one."

"Aye," Linden nodded. "I saw him haggle over the price of an ale once even. Poor serving girl didn't know what to make of it."

"I wonder what he's savin' it all for?" Sameth said.

"Dunno, but he ought to have quite a bit o' gold stashed up by now," Trevon replied. "He's been with Fredrickson for quite a while now, and he's the highest paid of us all."

"An' he never spends it," Linden agreed. "Oh the occasional ale or night at an inn now and again, but he mostly just keeps it squirreled away."

"I asked him about that once," Brint said. Matner was not the only one to turn abruptly to look at him.

"'I'm not gonna wander the world forever,' was all he said. At the time it wasn't my place to push him for more."

"Maybe he's been and met this guy a'fore!" Kelver joked.

The wolf came and curled up on the steps up, seeming to serve as a guard to keep anyone from exploring during the night. Matner looked at the gold reflecting in its eyes from their lights as rain started to fall outside.

It started lightly, but had grown to quite a downpour before he fell asleep. One of the last things he noted was that even with no door in the doorway, no rain made it inside the tower. The rain was over when he woke.

Sunshine spilled in through the doorway. The group all seemed to wake more or less at the same time. There were soft groans, yawns both soft and loud, and some popping and cracking of joints as people stretched their way to wakefulness.

None of them said much initially, as they were distracted by pulling boots back on, rolling up bedrolls, and pulling belongings together.

"I don't suppose there's any way we'll get 'im ta put on some breakfast," Kelver finally said. "Or at least some coffee?"

"I wouldn't bet on it," Nelser said.

Dir Ketten shook his head in response.

"This is not an inn," the man's voice came abruptly down the stairs to them.

The wolf stood up, stretched and then stared at them, as if waiting. Kelver took a tenative step towards it, and the wolf's ears folded back against it's head as a low growl came from deep in it's throat. Ketten reached forward and took Kelver's arm, gesturing towards the doorway out of the tower.

"I agree with Ketten," Trevon said. "We ought to be going."

The group grabbed up their gear and moved out of the tower. While nobody specifically seemed to be hurrying, Matner noticed that none of them seemed to be eager to test the man's patience. They were out of there in short order and headed out of the ruins before anyone made any further mention of breakfast. They compared notes and broke out some bits of jerky and a few apples to share as they walked. Dir Ketten took the lead, with a quick but easy stride, cutting bits off an apple and popping them into his mouth. Matner noticed he inspected every one before he ate them, as if looking for something wrong with the apple. Most others seemed to just eat theirs normally, taking bites directly from the fruit.

"Why does he do that?" Matner asked Nelser quietly. "With the apple, I mean."

"Dunno," Nelser replied between bites. "Trevon says he's watching for bugs. Maybe they have a problem with fruit where he comes from."

"Hmm."

"Yeah, lots of little things like that he does that're different. Just from livin' in a different culture I guess." Nelser shrugged.

They tromped through wet, and sometimes muddy, grasses. They passed stands of trees still dripping from last night's rain. When they came to the occasional small streams they paused to clean mud off of boots.

The soft ground made for slow and tiring progress. They pushed on, slogging along, knowing that it was taking longer than they thought and that they did not want to be late getting back. They eventually stopped for the night, exhausted.

There was tired grumbling about whether they really needed watches or not. Dir Ketten pointed out pairs in order, putting himself in the first watch. Matner was in the last watch. That seemed to put an end to the discussion.

They were able to find dry wood for a fire without too much searching. As soon as some dried meat was warmed up with some quick soup extra logs got tossed on the fire to make a pleasant blaze. They set their boots and wet clothes out to dry out good. Dir Ketten took small branches and wove them together into a rack that they all set their boots on.

Matner had no trouble falling asleep, and dreamed of the odd man in his tower. When he was woken for his watch he could not remember the details of the dream. He spent the first half of his uneventful watch staring at the fire, and the end of it watching the sun come up. He took the initiative to wake people up before the sun was completely up. They had agreed before that they would need to get an early start.

That day was easier going than the previous one had been. While there was still some areas where their boots sank and stuck in the mud, they were able to avoid the worst of it. It wasn't until after lunch that they saw the first farm.

After that, however, they were able to start taking the roads and paths that led between farms and crops, making the pace much quicker. Spirits raised again, and at one point Brint taught them all a couple of the marching songs he'd learned from the mercenaries he'd worked with. Both were crude, but funny, and it did make the time pass faster. Matner noticed that even Dir Ketten fell into the pattern of the song when marching, and seemed a bit amused by the songs themselves.

The sun dipped low on the horizon by the time they reached the river again. There was one, lonely, ferryman sitting in a wooden shack on their side of the river. They found themselves having to pay the man twice what they had paid to get across in the first place.

"Or ye could swim if ye like," the man told them with a grin that showed he was missing most of his teeth, much like his gray hair. "Take yer pick."

They grudgingly handed over the money and boarded the somewhat rickety boat. It seemed to bow under their weight a bit, and Matner was not the only one who worried that it might not hold all of them and still make it across. A couple of them even put voice to those concerns.

"She'll hold," the man assured them. "She ain't failed me yet."

He put the pole into the water and pushed them away from the bank with surprising strength. Despite the fact that it did not take long for him to steer them across the river, the sun had already dropped down below the city when they arrived. Matner watched as they approached, and soon the city was bathed in a warm glow from the many lanterns and fires that were lit.

Once they reached the camp again, they stowed their gear and then gathered around the fire to share the story of their journey. None of them told what they had asked the man, however. It seemed as if there was some unspoken agreement that had formed, that they weren't going to share that part.

They were surprised to find that Frank wasn't in the camp. Old Fredrickson said that he'd send Frank ahead with an errand and that he'd meet them on the road. The plan was to leave early the next morning, and that the passenger would join them as they left town. The dwarf suggested that they get as much sleep as they could. It didn't take long before everyone was heading to the tents and unrolling their bedrolls.