Typo Alley~C Part Two

A/N: Just FYI, I haven't really had time to read over this work much. Nitpicking would be much appreciated... this time that is...;)

I walk up to the rise of the hill, clearly out of breath. RP is standing there looking out on the red sunset. His right hand grips his staff and his left is wiping sweat from the brow of his forehead. Even he is a little bit tired out. Wold walks right behind me. Her panting is practically audible from ten paces away.

"Let's. Have a look at the map," RP says. His dark brown hair is dripping with sweat.

I nod, not bothering to expend any breath, and hand him the map. The air is so humid. I am glad to find that the map has been protected from the moisture on my skin by an inner pocket of my cloak which I slung over my shoulder so I wouldn't burn to death in it.

RP takes the map and examines it with care. At this point I'm not worried about where we go, just so long as it is shady and we have an opportunity to get some food. RP, on the other hand, is quite interested. I guess I will leave that up to him.

"Come on," he says after he has examined the map to his satisfaction. "Let's head down and set up camp in that little grove of trees over there. We will be able to access water from that stream that flows down into the valley. We will leave that tall mountain unconquered for now. We will be able to tackle it tomorrow. Wold, you gather wood for a fire and gather water. Racen and I will set up camp. After that I will go hunting and she will make dinner."

~~~

The firelight reflects off of RP's magnificent sword as he polishes the scabbard. It also shines through the pieces of jade like a prism, illuminating ever part of the stone in pure teal light. Wold and I watch as he goes about his work on the scabbard with his sword balanced perfectly across his lap. That night he finally had the decency to change, even if only to make sure his sword remained perfectly clean. My eyes are transfixed by it and I think back to the words written on the blade. Just then one of the phrases sticks out to me. It pops up right before my eyes like a raindrop falling down and scoring a direct hit on your glasses. What is the prophecy of Arcade? Those three words nag me as I sit there silently reflecting on the saying. I replay the words in my head again and again trying to discern what the prophecy might be.

"I wonder what we should call the blade?" Wold says, her brown furrowed. "I thought that all blades have names. Some less desirable than others, such as Wolf'sBane, but nonetheless all ancient swords, whether owned by a hero or a villain have always had names to go by."

"Hmm..." RP mumbles, half distracted. "Oh yes. I guess I never thought about it. I mean...to be honest the thought never crossed my mind— Now I think about it it this "light" though, I think I will name it Báuräc: it is dwarvish for FireBane. It came to me as I was staring into the light of the fire, I think it fits. What do you think, Racen?" I turn my head and nod distractedly.

I have to find out what the prophecy of Arcade is! The name of the sword isn't important now.

Standing I address Wold and RP. "Do you two remember the first phrase of the second line on the sword...Báuräc I mean?" They both nod. "Well it has me wondering, what is the prophesy of Arcade? It is obviously the name of a person, but what I wonder is, what does the prophecy say? It seems like once we figure that out we will be able to figure out why we were sent here by the author. After that, we simply have to do whatever it is he wants us to do and do it."

"The question is," Wold began, "how do we know where to go to find this Arcade fellow, if he even exists? We will have to somehow figure that out first. After that our task will be easier."

"Point taken," I concede. "I think we should try to get out of this mountain range. After that we will come upon some civilizations surely."

"First we will head or that peak there. There might be a settlement of dwarves there. After exploring it we will head out of the mountains, provided that we don't find any dwarves there."

"Fine," I concede irritatedly. "After that we are heading out of these mountains right away."

"Sounds good to me!" Wold says. Now let's get some sleep."

RP and I both agree (for once) and we all start climbing under our blankets. Unfortunately we have not tent, but so far we have made out alright. I wonder if Katya would make a good tent. I smile absentmindedly at that thought. I think Elephants stand while they sleep... I don't know. It doesn't matter now that she is gone anyway.

Opening my eyes, I see RP finishing his sword. It is quite shiny now. Before the scabbard had been covered with dust and the sword's edges were slightly dull, but now they are sharp the the blade and scabbard are as sharp as they can be. The workmanship is only just shy of total perfection!

I watch as he stands and stoops down. I assume he is going to bed, but a minute later I hear a stick crack. My eyes fly open and I notice his bedroll is still neatly laid out. I can just barely make out his form fifteen feet away he holds his sword it his hand then I hear another crack. RP momentarily disappears into the brush. I stand and follow him. He can't be hunting. He already shot a fox and a rabbit.

Grabbing my bow, I follow him into the woods. I take care to make sure that my movements are not heard by him. After some five minutes he reaches a clearing about thirty feet wide and a hundred feet long. I watch as he pulls out his sword and drops into a fighting stance. I reach back for an arrow, but pause as I realize that there is no real threat. He has come out here to practice. I now recall hearing noises in the past few nights that had passed out of my short term memory, but have returned to help me understand what is transpiring.

For a while he simply thrusts at an old stump in the middle of the clearing. The tree that used to be attached to it fell down half the length of the clearing causing a multitude of weeds and vines to spring up all throughout the clearing.

Eventually he gives up stabbing and hacking the stump to pieces and moves on to a mock battle. I am impressed by the skill he has already acquired. He is clearly a natural swordsman or rather swordsdwarf. I can hardly perceive where his sword is or anticipate where he will choose to strike next despite the adequate moonlight because of his speed.

When an hour passed I pick up my bow and silently sneak off. I have seen enough. I am glad that we have a good fighter among us, even if he is a little bit annoying at some times. Tired, I rub my eyes and curl up in my blanket within minutes I am fast asleep.

~~~

The next day I wake up early. Today it is my turn to do the cooking. As a result no one else is up and about yet. I yawn and stretch. The sun hasn't yet crested the horizon, though orange rays have already begun to slice their way into the sky giving evidence that the sun is on its way up. Running the sleep out of my eyes, I stand and gaze around the campsite. The ashes from the fire last night are cold and cheerless. However, the birds are quite chipper.

With their serenade ringing in the background I begin preparing the coffee to wash down our eggs and sausage. The sausage comes from a deer RP brought down in the previous days. This will be the last meal that it will make up. Without it we have only the meat from the fox and rabbit RP shot a few days before.

Within minutes I chop it up into bite size pieces and prepare crack the eggs. Soon after that, a crackling fire has leapt into existence. The flames stick up like a series of jagged mountain pieces constantly changing shape as if they were waves on an ocean being blown by the wind. I cook the eggs using a pan that hangs from a tripod. The tripods legs rest a few inches out of the fire ring.

The eggs begin to crackle as they are warmed by the fire, and the sausages sizzle like mine fire crackers going off constantly. The noise, along with the delicious smells also bring my two sleeping companions out of bed.

"Good morning, Wold, good morning, RP. You look tired RP. Did you sleep well?" I know why he is tired, though I just want to test him to see whether he is willing to say anything about it.

"I slept fine. It just took me a little while to clean of my... Báuräc after... after you went to bed last night. I'll be alright though. I will be even better when I finish breakfast though." We all smile.

"Well you can't be as hungry as I am," Wold says. "I am as hungry as a wolf." We all laugh. I recall that she used that joke before. Now it is more of an inside joke though.

"Well if you will all be patient I will serve them out to you. Some raw eggs will be just fine if you are so hungry," I tease. Another chuckle escapes from Wold. RP reluctantly joins in, but I can tell he is becoming weary of jokes.

Within half an hour all the eggs have been served. RP is already don eating, but Wold is still working on finishing hers. We sit and talk to each other for a few minutes before reluctantly standing and washing out dishes in the creek. RP has already doused the fire and gathered all our corporate belongings into packs.

"We need to get going soon," he says. "It might take us until noon to reach the top of that... mountain. I guess it is a little too big to be a hill. It would be helpful if you two could gather up all your stuff. I am already set up to go. Now hurry up; we need to move quickly."

I reluctantly gather up my stuff. I am still trying to get used to all of this. The routine is rather grueling on one. However, each day I find a little more strength. I guess I am getting used to it now. But still, I have a long way to go before I am ready to do this for months at a time.

RP interrupts my mediation with a short command. "Let's get goin'. We've got a long road ahead!"

At that, all three of us begin the long, arduous trek up the mountain.