He hammered away, Muredin was lying under the wagon with boards of wood he bought at a resting point for the horses. He used nothing but his two hand axes, both to cut the boards and planks to size, as to hammer the nails in with the back sides. xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Kyell tried to help as much as possible. He was intrigued by what the dwarf had come up with. Muredin was making a hidden opening in the floor of the wagon, right under their table in there. You could open it rather easily, even though it was utterly unnoticeable, even if you knew it was there. Once open, it allowed you to hide under the wagon, or simply escape from it. He also added some more boards next to the wheels, so that no one would even see you under the wagon even if they were looking straight at it.

‘So what is the use of a cork on an empty bottle?’

Kyell looked at Muredin smiling.

‘That should be an easy one for you lad.’

‘Depends on wheather the answer is smart or silly I guess.’

Muredin burst out laughing. He took out the bottle, lifted of the cork and had another drink.

‘Still not empty, so can’t tell you yet.’

Kyell sighed a him, both for not getting an answer as for the dwarf drinking this early in the morning.

‘You know lad, when they will ask you who got you out of trouble safe, tell them it was the bravest dwarf that ever existed.’

‘Oh, nice, and when exactly is he coming to help us than?’

‘Funny lad, real funny.’

‘Why is it so important we say you are the bravest dwarf that ever existed than?’

‘Well, first of all because it is true,’ he chuckled, ‘and secondly because I want Kildur to hear somebody else than me say this for a change.’

‘It was Kildur who sent you along with us, despite every one else saying you were nothing but a drunken fool. So I guess he already thinks high enough of you as it is.’

‘Nice of you to say so, I think…’

When he was done, he saw to it to fix some of the other things on the wagon. Muredin was rather amazed with the mechanic Malika, the children’s mother, had made to free Petta from her collar with just one push. Instead of being mechanical with chains and bolts, it was in fact a self-untying series of knots and ropes. Leki had to explain to him how the knots actually were done. Upon examining the ropes themselves, he noticed them being oiled up and smooth yet firm as a steel cable when tightened. He had noticed this on the other ropes used in the wagon as well: they were prepared in such a way no water or drought would affect them. This was all the work of a true Kaliari, Malika obviously was from the rope people. Which was odd: they never travelled alone like this, and neither the wagon nor the children had any of the usual ritual Kaliari markings.

‘Mother left the tribe.’ Leki said, without really explaining why.

‘I hope they still get along.’

‘Meme Uzuela looks us up every now and than. Whenever her tribe is near, that is. Meme is my grandmother by the way.’ Leki’s face cheered up at the thought of her grandmother. She wished Tati would come by very soon now, she probably hadn’t even heard of Malika’s sickness yet.

‘I would be honoured to meet your grandmother some day.’ Muredin replied. In the way that Leki had said ‘her tribe’ he sensed this woman was probably the head of the tribe.

‘Did your grandmother teach you that trick with the rope you used in the fight?’

‘No, mommy did. Meme taught me this one.’

‘Which one is that?’ Muredin looked up from his work.

Leki walked away, giggling.

Muredin understood he was trapped in some way and he instinctively looked at his feet before moving an inch. Indeed there was a rope draped over his left boot. He slowly wriggled his foot out of it.

‘You almost had me there, lass.’

The next moment he hit a bucket with water behind his head. The rope at his boot remained lying still; it wasn’t attached or knotted in any way. Simply a lose piece of rope she had laid there as distraction. The cold water drenched Muredin’s back. Petta snorted from sheer amusement.

‘Meme says people focus on our ropes too much, as if that’s all we can do.’

The soaking dwarf had learned a lesson and raised a drink on that.

‘Hey Leki, come here. I found something.’ Kyell called out from a bit up hill between the trees. Leki walked up to him, behind her she noticed Muredin looking worried for a moment.

‘Let that be children.’

‘What is it Muredin? You know what Kyell found than?’

‘Aye, it’s the grave no doubt.’

Leki shuddered a moment: graves made her feel uneasy. She could always sense so much of the ones lying in them. Leki had this way of connecting to things that died, even more than she did to the feelings of animals or even persons. Still she was curious enough to go see what Kyell was excited about.

‘Look Leki, her name was Tekshi. You can’t see it on the front, but it’s actually at the back of the stone.’ Leki looked at the grave, at the bush growing over it, the moss, the tree next to it, the rocks on the path passing. She looked and kept looking as if she wanted to find something there.

‘See Leki, here: the stone is bleached from the sun a bit, but it’s facing north. Still the moss and grass are all going on naturally.’

‘Now that’s odd lad, I never noticed that before. Let me look at that.’ Muredin went to sit next to Kyell, both examining the back of the stone carefully.

‘Well, I’ll be damned. This stone is turned indeed, but it’s been done man many years ago. I’ve never seen it any other way than this. Even the grass grew over it like this, so it must have been ages.’

‘Guys, could you both keep quiet for a moment please!’

Something had scared Leki, and she still couldn’t stop scouting the surroundings of the grave.

‘What is it Leki?’ Kyell knew her well enough to know something was seriously upsetting her.

‘She’s not in it.’

‘What?’

‘Tekshi. She’s not in her grave.’

‘Leki, she’s dead, you can’t be feeling her now can you.’

‘Kyell! I feel it when they are in their grave, not even their bodies but, you know… they themselves.’

‘Lass, what are you saying: their ghosts?’ Muredin frowned.

‘Not sure if I can call it that. They are always still, so more like sleeping ghosts or something. But not this one: her corpse may be here well enough, but she is not.’

‘That doesn’t make sense lass.’

‘I know it doesn’t make sense! I have no clue what I’m talking about either, but I can guarantee you that whoever this Tekshi is, she is dead for sure and she is not here where her body is lying!’

Both Muredin and Kyell tried to put together what she was saying.

‘Never mind, I want to get out of here.’ Leki ran to Petta and put the horse to the cart.

Muredin was finished anyhow, so they might as well leave he figured. They had stopped long enough.

They rode out, going over the hillside to the left, so they would cut of a part of the road going around the hill. Leki couldn’t stop looking around, trying to focus her mind to feel beyond all the living things there. Kyell watched her a bit ill at ease, she could truly scare him when she acted up like this.

‘Stop here.’ Muredin said it out of nothing, in the middle of the grassy hillside. Leki felt it too, the whole hillside seemed alive to her. Alive in a scary way.

‘Leki, don’t say a word, but simply jump of and sort out Petta’s harness as if it’s loose.’

Leki hesitated, but she obeyed before understanding. Kyell looked puzzled at Muredin.

‘Remember lad, tell them it was the bravest of all dwarves helping you out.’

‘Muredin, don’t be scaring me as well. What are you on about suddenly?’

Leki felt something she hadn’t felt with Muredin ever before: fear.

‘Hush Kyell,’ she whispered, ‘what is wrong Muredin?’

‘Now listen up kids, and keep quiet. You ride on down the hill and take the road to the right.’

Kyell knew he was serious now, it was just like yesterday when he jumped of before the country lodge. Except for the fact that Muredin sounded far more concerned this time.

Leki wanted to ask what on earth was scaring him, but the dwarf silenced her.

‘So go on, and when things go wrong, you race on till you come across a small bridge over a river, it’s directly after a turn in the road. You do not go over the bridge, although they will expect you to, but you take the right side of it and ride straight onto the water.’

Kyell pondered that word: ‘onto’ where he expected ‘into’ when it concerned riding to a river.

‘The water is shallow, even though it looks rough. Ride over the river so you end up behind the rocks. Keep going into the forest. Don’t hesitate at the bridge or the water, or you won’t have enough time before you’re seen. They have to think you went over the bridge, the road has so many turns they won’t figure it out before it’s way too long. And even than they will never know you went through the water. The river is deep all over, except that one point.’

Leki still had no clue what was happening.

‘Come back on the trestle now, as normal as you always do. When you are in the forest, find a safe spot and wait there.’

Leki stepped back up and sat down next to Kyell. The children looked at each other not knowing what was happening at all.

‘Start moving slowly Petta, and get these children out of here.’

Petta snorted, and Leki was sure the horse knew exactly what was scaring Muredin. The fact Petta didn’t react even worried her more. If Petta felt she best not draw attention, it had to be something really dangerous observing them this very instant. This horse wasn’t the type that kept still in the face of danger except when it was a matter of life and dead.

The wagon pulled on, the children sat there nervous, trying to act normal.

Not a word, Muredin leaped forward with both axes gripped. He landed upon something that squeeled for a second. There was blood on his axes as he lashed out to something a bit further. There was growling to be heard from everywhere around. Muredin ran alongside the wagon and incited Petta, who started running as fast as the wagon could bear the hillside.

Something furry but with pieces hanging loose jumped up and got struck down the very instant by the running dwarf. Muredin still ran as fast as the wagon, striking here or there without even stopping. Whatever he was hitting, he killed them of with a single blow each time so far.

Than the howling began. Leki felt the entire hillside was filled with foul creatures crawling in the grass. Several of the things raised up now, leaving the cover that had failed them. The wagon went so fast the children could hardly make out what these things really looked like, but Leki felt death and mutilation everywhere.

‘What are they?’ Kyell gasped.

‘I don’t know Kyell, be ready to kill anything that comes close. These creatures are insane for blood;’

‘We can’t leave Muredin behind.’ He looked over and saw Muredin fighting of things jumping up and over him, they were clawing and biting like animals but still human in some way. They all went for him, drawn by the blood he spilled. His axes went around like lightning, splattering blood up high. He ran from here to there, sometimes avoiding them, sometimes attacking, and always gathering as much as he could. He got further and further behind the wagon, luring of any of the creatures that tried following the children.

‘There are more Kyell, in front as well. It’s like… like they’re hungry.’

‘What, they want to eat us?’ Kyell took his stick in his hand, still looking behind for Muredin.

‘I feel pain and agony Kyell, not just the creatures and their hunger. There are others here, terrified and hurting.’

‘Like victims?’

‘Yes.’

‘Leki, are you saying they are eating their victims alive here?’

‘Not eating, torturing. I’m scared Kyell.’

‘Hell, I’m terrified, and what will they do to Muredin?’

‘Don’t look back Kyell, Muredin said we have to get to that river.’

Petta was running, here or there swaying to avoid some of the creatures coming there way. They had lost Muredin, the wagon went up the road and Kyell couldn’t make him out anymore.

At that very moment Leki screamed. It was a shrill crying, something had just horrified Leki beyond reason.

‘What? Did they kill Muredin?’

‘She’s here Kyell!’

‘Who is?’

‘Tekshi!’

‘Who?’

‘That woman from the grave, the turned stone.’

‘No way.’

‘She’s right there in the pack. I’m telling you Kyell, she is there.’

Kyell had lost all words. Back there, far behind them, Muredin was fighting of hordes of bloodthursty creatures eating their victims alive, and in between all that Leki saw a dead woman roaming around.

Kyell couldn’t see anything but these jumping things far behind, men or beasts he couldn’t tell. They seemed both to him. A ghost however he could not see, or hear, or feel.

Leki shuddered, tears ran freely over her face and she was shaking.

‘It’s her Kyell. They are feeding her! They are feeding her pain.’

Petta ran and ran, none of the creatures was fast enough to stick close. Muredin had no chance of catching up, if he was still alive at all. The children clung unto the wagon and tried to fight their fear. They couldn’t stand the thought of leaving Muredin behind.

When Kyell saw the bridge he looked back first: none of the creatures was in sight yet. That river looked deep, he wondered for a second if it had swollen since Muredin last saw it. Kyell didn’t have to make the decision: Petta rushed onto the water. The wheels hardly went in more than halfway, it was like riding on a sandbank at sea. The water was foaming still from the speed it hit the stones upstream with. That gave the wade the look of being just as deep as the rest of the river.

Petta pulled the wagon out of sight along the rock the bridge was build upon. They entered the forest and couldn’t look back anymore. They were out of sight indeed, but did that mean they were also safe now?