The Dreams: Tower - Part 1

Part 1

"What time do you need to get up tomorrow?"

Don leaned back sleepily in his bed, one arm covering his eyes against the harsh light of fluorescent bulb. "I don't have to be there until seven-thirty."

His wife groaned. "Lucky! I have to get up at six."

"Then make sure you don't wake me up when you're getting ready." He felt a pillow impact solidly with his chest. "Love you, dear."

"Yeah, yeah." She shut off the light. "Love you too."

---

Marcus woke as Jamie gently shook him. He blinked and looked around. The dawn light was just bright enough to show his fellow travelers getting ready.

He looked at Jamie. "I've had the strangest dream."

She ignored the comment. "You should get ready."

He rose from his bedroll and began to put his boots on.

Jamie walked over to load her mule. Her real name was Hamishina but insisted everybody called her Jamie.

"Why do you tell everyone your name is Jamie?" He'd once asked her.

She'd given him an exasperated look. "Who'd want to be called Hamishina?"

Jamie and he had been traveling companions for several years now. They were alike in many ways so there was rarely any conflict between them. At least there hadn't been until lately. Both of them had a calm, unflappable demeanor. She was tall for a lady, although still a good eight inches shorter than Marcus. They were both swarthy, although she was olive skinned with chestnut hair while he was bronze and his hair nearly black. Jamie fought with a targe strapped to her left arm, dirk in her left hand and a sword in her right, while he preferred simply a buckler and sword. The main difference between the two, apart from age (she was six years his greater,) was that she was married with three children while Marcus was still a bachelor.

This was a problem as they'd ended up in each others' arms a few months ago.

He loved Jamie, but he couldn't say how; friend, sister, or something more. When the combat grew desperate they would fight back to back. He knew there was no one in the world he trusted at his back more than Jamie.

Perhaps that was his answer.

He finished pulling his boots on before helping Jamie load the mules.

"How close are we?" he asked.

"The reiver's not back yet, but I think we'll get there today." Jamie didn't much care for Jack and rarely referred to him by name. Jack had spent time on both sides of the law, reiving for a few years before working as a ranger hanging cattle thieves. He'd now turned to the (mostly) lawful profession of treasure hunting.

Jamie was the daughter of a cattleman and wouldn't forgive him for the years of raiding settlements and rustling. Besides that, Jack was a bit of rake who had a habit of looking at women as if he knew what they looked like without their clothes on. A short man with dark hair and lazy grace, even Marcus was unnerved by how quietly the man moved both mounted and dismounted.

"Did you remember to oil your crossbow?" asked Jamie suddenly.

"Yes, action smoothed out nicely. Were you able to fix the strap on your targe?"

"Yep." She smiled softly. "We should go break our fast before we need to put out the cook fire."

A dark-haired girl with pale skin strained to read a scroll in the firelight. Her blue-green eyes looked up at Marcus as he approached.

"There's an infusion in the pot if you'd like to have some." She carefully rolled the scroll back up. "If not, just pour it out over the fire when you're done with it."

"Thank you, Elizabeth." Marcus made no move to touch the pot, instead stirring the coals with a nearby stick.

Jamie nodded toward where a tall blonde man was readying a pair of horses. "Why is Toila saddling your horse?"

Marcus smirked. "Did you bewitch him?"

Elizabeth snorted. "Yes, I turned Toila into a toad and made a Toad look like Toila. Not that it'd be difficult..."

Marcus shook his head. Even he had to admit that Toila was a remarkably handsome man.

The blond man walked past to the fire. "Don't ever do that again." He pointed at Elizabeth.

"What was that about?" Jamie asked around a mouthful of hard biscuit.

Elizabeth gave a broad smile.

At that moment Jack rode up, robbing Jamie of the chance of pursuing the question.

He leapt down from the horse. Jack walked toward the group then jumped and landed in a seated position upon a rock. "Howdy."

"Did you scout ahead?" asked Jamie curtly.

"Sura did," Jack drawled. "Tower still stands, don't look too beat up neither. Didn't see no signs of life, but then I was still pretty fer away."

"You rode up but wouldn't go any closer?"

"Jus' so."

"Oh." Jamie remarked, then went back to her biscuit.

Jack just smiled at her, refusing to take the bait; he was no coward and he knew it.

Toila marched back to the fire, poleaxe in hand. "What word is there?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "He just finished telling us. You couldn't have be here half a moment earlier?"

"Perhaps if you'd saddled your own horse instead of spending your time..." He frowned.

"Spendin' her time doin' what?" asked Jack. The others all turned to Toila curiously.

"Pay it no heed!" He sputtered. "Are we going to waste the rest of the morning arguing or march forth?"

"Either would suit me." Elizabeth folded her hands in her lap.

The tall man snorted and walked toward his horse.

Marcus looked at Jamie. "You really think there's gold in this tower?"

She shrugged. "Based on what the reiver's friend told us, it's very possible."

Jack rolled his eyes. "It's there, trust me. Got a nose for these thangs. Eronshire's got a heap of money never made it to the tax man and this is the only place it could be."

"You mean, the only place it could be unless someone stole it along the way. Or unless somebody else already went to the tower and took it. Or a host of other things that could have happened." Jamie said, heaps of sarcasm apparent in her tone.

Jack shrugged. "Got a nose for these thangs. You didn' think it was here too, you wouldn' be here neither."

Jamie made an indignant sound and walked over to her mule. Jack just grinned.

---

Elizabeth and Jack mounted their horses; Elizabeth preferring not to walk and Jack needing the ability to scout and fight from horseback. Most of the food and equipment had been loaded on Toila's horse and the mules that Jamie and Marcus led. Their progress was slow but the tower wasn't far.

The countryside was mostly flat, interrupted only by a few streams. Oaks, maples, and pines grew around them, but provided little shade for the main road.

They had only just set out when a low, mournful noise blew in from the east. All eyes turned to Elizabeth.

"No, probably just the wind through some rocks." She sighed, exasperated. Jack made a sign to ward off evil and Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "And that doesn't help."

"Witch." Jack mumbled under his breath.

"It's not an insult when it's my profession."

Toila laughed, but then his face turned serious. "How will we know if it's... a haunting?"

"I'll know, don't concern yourself with it."

He frowned. "You can't do better than that?"

She sighed. "We're far enough from the Haunted Forest that it'd be pretty rare. Plus the gods of this place would let me know."

"There is only one Goddess." corrected Toila.

"If that." sneered Elizabeth. "These are the small gods of the place; call them spirits or ghosts if it please you."

Toila spat. "I've seen the power of the Goddess put down a hundred witches like you."

Elizabeth inhaled loudly. The sound seemed to echo against the trees like the inside of a cave. Even the pitch of it was wrong, like the noise of a powerful old man before he bellowed. They all saw it, although Toila would later declare of trick of the light. It was a face, wise and regal, that stared out from among the oak leaves from which it was made. She exhaled and it was gone.

"Believe what you wish, Southman." Elizabeth rode ahead through the tunnel of oak trees.

---

Jack stayed in the front. From time to time he would ride ahead a quarter mile or so, then either ride back or poke about for a bit while he waited for the rest of them to catch up.

"Anything ahead?" Toila would always call when the horseman came in sight.

There was always an answer, long-winded but with little meat to it, like: "Road snakes for a while, there's a maple with a sorta funny-lookin' branch, and tiny brook that I don' much like."

Toila would nod, or grimace at the more absurd pieces of information. After a couple of hours of this he rolled his eyes and called out in a somewhat annoyed voice, "Just tell us if you see an ambush."

"Sura will..." Jack answered, with a touch of mischief.

A quarter mile later they came upon Jack's horse grazing unattended in a clearing next to the road.

Marcus and Toila instantly readied their weapons, but as Marcus made to follow the blond man, Jamie grabbed his arm.

He looked back at her, alarmed, only to see her grinning. She pointed at a pine branch above them where Jack was standing. He looked down on Toila like a cat about to pounce on a rat.

Marcus had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing. As Toila turned to communicate something to his companions, Jack let out a whoop and dumped an armful of dead pine needles on top of the large man. Toila made a ridiculous face as the needles covered him.

"I done found an ambush!" Jack called out. Everybody laughed, including Toila.

"Whoreson!" Toila called out without any real malice. He shook the pine needles off like a mighty bear.

Jamie laughed. "I'm afraid you've got pine needles in your hair, Marcus." She reached up and gently plucked them off his head.

"You've got a few too." He took a few out, then ran his fingers through her hair. He spent a long moment just looking at her.

"You can stop staring at me any time." Jamie finally said.

"I just..." Marcus gave an awkward laugh. "I can't look at you?"

"No, not if you want to keep traveling with me." Jamie cut him off before he could protest. "It was one night, I was a long way from my husband and family and we were both emotional. You're young, Marcus, and you can't spend your life making cow eyes at every woman you lay with."

He laughed again. "I wasn't... You're a remarkable woman, Hamishina. I don't meet many remarkable women."

She smiled and shook her head. "Even if I wasn't older and spoken for, we aren't a match. You can be too alike, you know?"

The rest of the group had started to head up the road. Elizabeth turned to regard them. "What are you two whispering about back there?"

"Nothing." said Jamie.

"Boils!" replied Marcus.

"I wanna talk about boils..." Elizabeth mumbled to no one in particular.

"Too alike?" Marcus asked. "This sounds like the sort of protest my sister gave suitors."

Jamie gave a sad smile. "A man and a woman have to be balanced. You can't have two calm, quiet people or there's no energy for anything to be done."

"So who do I need?"

"Someone like her." She motioned toward Elizabeth.

Marcus laughed. "The witch? You're serious?"

"You need a woman with fire and passion."

"Is that how your husband is?"

She smiled sadly. "That's how he used to be."

At that moment the wind gusted, blowing her hair about her face. It also blew a hat directly into Marcus's face.

Elizabeth looked back at him, hand trying to keep her dark hair from blowing into her eyes. "Do you mind?"

Marcus looked at Jamie, who just motioned toward Elizabeth. He marched forward and offered her the hat.

"Thanks." She put it back on her head and tucked her hair under it. "Wouldn't want to go into danger without a hat on."

He smiled. "But you're willing to go into danger bare."

Elizabeth started. "I'm hardly bare!"

"I mean... you're not wearing armor, not that you're... bare." He winced.

She shrugged. "Armor doesn't fit well on me." She looked down. Marcus couldn't help but look as well. She was rather busty.

"And anyway armor tends to get in the way of what I do."

"Armor probably isn't much good against magic, right?"

"Like cutting through soft cheese." She made a cutting noise and poked his armor.

"Glad we've got you to protect us from the oathbreakers and demons."

"Mortal magic isn't much good against demons; you've heard of what happened at Cold Point, right? Besides, who said I'd protect you?" For a moment she looked at him seriously, then she stuck out her tongue.

"Ha! You should watch what you're saying when you're not wearing any armor to protect you!"

"This is all the armor I need." She reached out and brushed his gambeson with her hand.

He chuckled. "Yeah, I'll be your armor."

"Good, always nice to have a man willing to die for you." She smirked, then urged her horse forward.

"Hmm." The sound came from Jamie behind him.

Marcus blushed. "That wasn't-"

Jamie shook her head slowly, smirking. "I didn't say anything."

---

It was late in the morning as the terrain turned to rolling hills when Jack rode back with a concerned look on his face. "Likely ambush hole ahead, don' mean-a pine needle one neither."

"Where is it?" asked Jamie.

"See where those two rocks jut up out the ground on the sides of the road?"

Jamie squinted. "Not much cover."

"Nah, just beyond there, road slopes down and curves around through some brush. Lotsa hidin' spots."

She nodded. "What do you want to do?"

"Move up to them two rocks and use those to cover our flanks. I'll ride up ahead and see if I can spook anything outta the woods."

"I'll cover the back if anything happens." Jamie declared.

Elizabeth frowned. "We'll never be able to defend ourselves from there if they surround us."

"If there's that many of them, they'll take us anyway." Marcus said gravely. "Anyway, we don't even know if there's an ambush for certain yet."

The group moved ahead, Elizabeth sliding to the back and Jack trotting in front. They all tried their best to look casual, but it was hard not to scan the brush or finger a sword hilt nervously.

Up ahead Jack stiffened and loaded a small crossbow in his left hand. "Weapons at ready."

Jamie and Marcus drew their swords. Marcus pushed forward until he was beyond the rocks. Toila readied his poleaxe with surprising speed. The horse sensed Elizabeth's nervousness and whinnied.

Marcus met Elizabeth's wild eyes and calmly ordered. "Go to Jamie."

Jack maneuvered his horse agilely up ahead. Then suddenly he pointed his crossbow and fired it into the brush.

"Shit. Jamie are we clear?"

"It's empty."

"Get the animals behind us." An arrow flew lazily through the air and went well wide of Jack. "Elizabeth, dismount."

"What!? But-"

"Now!" Jamie shouted from behind.

The group that emerged from the brush was ragtag: improvised armor and little idea of how to fight as a unit. But there were seven of them and an archer and that was dangerous enough. Marcus took a deep breath to slow the pounding of his heart. Toila and Jamie emerged from his right and left to face their foe. The high rocks actually formed walls on their flanks, limiting the number of ways they could be attacked. Marcus felt calm.

Jack wheeled suddenly and fired the crossbow again. One of the thugs clutched the quarrel that sprung from his throat, sinking to the ground as Jack guided his horse away from the group. They seemed confused suddenly, not knowing whether to pursue the horseman or march on. The archer loosed from the woods again, nearly hitting one of his own men.

"Fools." Toila uttered.

"Just foolish enough to be dangerous." said Marcus softly.

"You don't want to fight us." Jamie called to the group. Marcus wondered if it was the same tone of voice she used when she scolded her children.

One of the group stopped and shuddered at her words, staring on mutely as the other bandits marched forward.

The fight was over in moments. Jamie parried an ax up with her targe and stabbed her attacker in one smooth motion. A man with a staff tried to use it like a two-ended weapon and Marcus maimed both of the robber's hands before he even had time to attack. Jamie's second attacker tripped over backwards and she hacked down at his head twice before rushing over to help her companions. Toila chopped the arm off of a thug before he had time to realize the man was trying to surrender. Marcus looked up to see Jack riding back slowly, the tip of his lance bloody and the archer face down in the dirt.

"You three, on the ground." The thugs complied quickly. As Marcus looked over at the bandit who had stopped short of the fight, he quickly realized the man wasn't scared. He was dead. The flesh around his face was bubbled and black, thick blood leaking out from cracks in the skin.

Elizabeth walked forward panting slightly. "The gods of this place... didn't like them."

Marcus shivered.

"The gods, or you?" Toila asked.

"The gods." Elizabeth answered severely.

"What should we do with them?" Jamie asked.

Marcus regarded the three sitting on the ground. Two of them were younger than he and all three were scared.

"He's done for." Toila indicated the one without an arm. He showed no reaction to Toila's words. The bleeding wasn't stopping and the man was an unnatural shade of white.

"What do you think we should do with these outlaws?" Jamie asked Jack pointedly.

He studied them for a moment from the back of his horse. "Let 'em go."

"I'm shocked." Jamie said sarcastically.

Jack ignored her. "Seen it afore. They'll turn to honest work after this."

"And if they don't?" Jamie asked.

He shrugged. "We'll kill 'em jus' like their friends."

"What if we're not the ones they attack next time?" She questioned. "Not everyone can defend themselves like we can."

Toila snorted. "If you can't defend yourself, you shouldn't be out on the road."

"That's easy to say when you're as tall as a pine tree and as thick as an oak. What if it were your wife?"

Toila looked down at the boys.

"Please," one of them said, "times is hard-"

"Shut up." Marcus said darkly. "You haven't even had time to find work yet."

Jack looked over the faces of the rest of the group. He sighed. "At least make it quick."

Continued in Part 2

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