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the-northkingdoms · 3 years

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Chapter 5

The dream was the same as it had been the night before.

Again, he was in the skal as it burned, the wind raging around him. Again, the undead Ragnov came for him. Again Ganlin tried to fight him, and was quickly defeated, somehow losing his hand in the process. When Ragnov swung down for the killing blow, Ganlin was once more transported to that strange, endless hallway. He walked it endlessly again, the only difference being that it didn’t take as long for him to arrive at that specific door. Opening it, Ganlin saw the room was the same, and the figure was seated in the same place as they had been in the dream the night before. When Ganlin

tried speaking to them, and again they looked up at him, extending their finger again, and again opening their mouth as though to speak and

Yet again Ganlin woke up with a start.

A guard banged on the door, and Ganlin was led off to the quarry again.

Ganlin’s second day at Silvirtharn was much like the day before, which was much like the day after, which was similar to the day after that, which was identical to the day beyond that.

Ganlin’s days ran together, as they were so identical. Wake up, go to the quarry, break apart stone all day, go up to the prison and eat, help sort through the rooms with other prisoners, go to bed, have the same terrible dream before it cuts off in the same place, wake up and do the day all over again.

As the days went one, Ganlin began to feel worse and worse. The bruises along his arm were healing, but the injury his back took from Ragnov throwing him into the tree felt as though it was only getting worse, the pain being amplified by the work of mining in the quarry. Some days it hurt so much it was difficult to get out of bed, sometimes the injury would cause him to be slow in the mines, earning him a whipping from one of the guards. Ganlin could feel his spirit breaking.

One morning, one where Ganlin woke up earlier than he did most days, he stayed on the bedroll, looking up at the ceiling as he pondered the dream that he had been having every night.

Growing up, Ganlin never paid mind to his dreams. Some of the more spiritual Ank’harans would talk about how important they could be, a signal of something important to come, but they had never been interesting to Ganlin. He rarely ever remembered his dreams, and as such he never analyzed them.

Even Ganlin could tell this dream was different, though. He had never had the same dream more than once before, and none of his dreams had ever felt so real. There was something about it that was different, and Ganlin was unsettled by the fact that he couldn’t figure it out.

Soon enough a guard came to his door, and he was led out into the courtyard and down into the quarry. His back hurt, more than it usually did, and it took most of Ganlin’s energy to even stay standing.

Ganlin felt broken as he took up a pick and began picking away at the stone, trying his best to work through the pain. When he left Ank'har, he knew that he wasn't the strongest warrior to ever be, but he had still thought himself competent with a weapon, a force to be reckoned with. Maybe he was, but did it matter if he was good when it seemed like everyone else was great? He had managed to put down Ragnov, but he probably still would have died, had it not been for Lady Sivna arriving. Ganlin felt weak, weaker than he ever had. He couldn't stop thinking of himself as an idiot, for going to the North. He had thrown his life away, disgracing himself by not being able to follow his word, and now trapped in a prison, too weak to even think of escaping.

His weakness made him angry, and the fact that he was in no position to do anything about it made him angrier. The shame of being unable to help that skal made him angry, the pain in his back made him angry, the monotony of the work made him angry. All of it made him angry. Ganlin had been angry in his life before, he was human, after all, but this was something different, something primal. The rage of a man who was chained, a man who had not only failed himself, but had lost his freedom in doing so.

The anger drove him to swing his pick harder and faster. The pain that exploded across his back from the force of his swings only made him swing even harder. The rock flew out at frightening speed as he took his pick to it, bending the metal head. He swung until he could swing no more, and he could no longer draw breath faster than he was using it. Slowing down as exhaustion washed over him, he raised his pick one more time, then stopped.

There was something different about the rock here, something was stuck within the stone. It was speckled throughout the rock, glittering a beautiful dark blue as the sunlight shined upon it. Ganlin reached out with curious fingers, feeling the strange texture of it. He could almost see through it, but there was a strange cloudiness to it, so he could only see hints of what was on the other side.

Ganlin had realized that the quarry had grown quieter. There were still the sounds of picks hitting the stone, but it was quieter. Tearing his eyes from the beautiful stones, he saw it was because more than a few of the other prisoners working in the quarry had stopped to stare at him, only those farther away from him had kept working. Most of the guards were watching him as well, some having a nervous hand on their sheathed weapons. Farther away, the Foreman was staring at him, and though too far away to see his face clearly, Ganlin thought the man looked afraid.

Ganlin pointed at the strange rocks with his pickaxe. The head of which, Ganlin realized, had become completely blunt.

"I found something." He said.

The guard closest to Ganlin moved over to where Ganlin was standing and took a closer look at the objects that were set into the rock. Seeing it, they gasped, and waved the foreman over to take a look. The stocky figure ran over, escorted by two more guards. When he saw it, the foreman gasped as well, and Ganlin saw the man's lips pull upward in a hungry looking grin.

"Ohoho," He intoned, leaning forward and running one of his figures over the surface of the strange rock.

"Great job prisoner, I believe the Warden will be more than happy to find out about this. Yes, excellent find indeed." The foreman turned to the surrounding guards. "One of you, go to the kitchens and make sure the cooks know that this one is to get an extra plate at mealtime, as a reward for his discovery, and the hard work to get it." He added, casting an eye at the blunted pick. "And you there," pointing at one of the other guards. "Go and find the Warden, and inform him that one of the prisoners has discovered a deposit of Vievstone."

At his words, some of the guards gasped, mouths falling agape and eyes going wide. Then they all dispersed, running off to do as the foreman said. The foreman turned back to Ganlin.

"Wonderful find, truly a wonderful find. Go, grab another pick, then come back here and mine out around the Vievstones. Let us see just how great a treasure you have found for us."

Ganlin, confused by all the uproar, walked towards the farther side of the quarry, where a barrel of spare picks were found. Behind him, he could hear the foreman getting one of the other prisoners to come over as well.

Vievstone. The word sounded somewhat familiar to Ganlin, and it took him some time to place why. He had heard the word before in some of the stories that the elders of the clans told, vievstone would sometimes be mentioned in the stories of great wizards. However that was all Ganlin could remember, as he hadn't paid much attention to those stories. He had never been interested in the stories of wizards, their abilities had not awed him, but simply frightened him. No one should be able to do such strange and powerful things, Ganlin thought.

He regretted having not listened as much to those stories now, as he found himself wishing he knew what the importance of the strange stones were.

Coming back, he aided in the mining out of the surrounding area using his new pickaxe. As they were working, the Warden quickly came, his retinue of guards struggling to keep up with him.

"Let me see!" He said as he arrived, excitedly shoving one of the other prisoners aside so that he could look at it.

In the five minutes it took for the Warden to arrive, Ganlin and the others had exposed more of the strange looking stones. Ganlid heard the Warden take a sharp breath as he looked at it all, a smile coming to his lips. The Warden stood up and took a couple steps back.

"Foreman, thank you for bringing this to my attention. Keep watching the other prisoners, I shall watch this personally. Continue, prisoners." He continued on, speaking to Ganlin and the others now. "Expose the rest of this deposit."

With a quick "Yes Warden", the foreman returned to his position, watching over the other prisoners as they toiled, and Ganlin and the other two prisoners kept mining, this time under the watchful eye of the Warden.

Another five minutes passed, then another ten. Then twenty. As the sun moved through the sky, more and more of the Vievstone was uncovered. Ganlin could see the Warden becoming more and more flustered as the mining kept going, revealing even more of the blue stones. Soon, other prisoners were halting in their work to shoot awed looks at the deposit, whispers spreading among the crowds. The Warden got the guards to pull in more miners, and finally, after a full hour of work, the full vein was uncovered.

All said and done, it stretched on for a length that was about five times Ganlin's height laying down, it went about two full body lengths deep into the stone, and even went a little bit below the ground. There must have been close to a hundred of the beautiful blue stones, all various sizes, shining gloriously in the light of the sun.

"This is a very good find." The Warden rumbled in his low and gentle voice, excitement leaking through the tone of his words. The Warden turned to the foreman. "Which one of these prisoners is responsible for this most bountiful find?"

"That one, Warden sir," the foreman responded, pointing at Ganlin, who was breathing heavily as he tried his best to stand straight, sweat running down his body. "The foreigner, from the West."

The Warden looked Ganlin straight in the eyes, and nodded, almost as if he had expected that to be the case.

"Very well. Thank you, foreman. Get the others to extract the vievstones from the rock. I'll send out some messengers to those who will be very interested by what we've dug up here today. You, Westerner," The Warden said to Ganlin, as the foreman got the other prisoners to continue the work. "Come with me, I'd like a word with you."

Ganlin followed as the Warden led him away from the crowd of miners and towards the centre of the quarry, where a more private conversation could be held. The Warden was first to speak.

"I have realized I don't know your name Ank'haran, and I would like to speak to as more than a prisoner or a foreigner for the time being."

Ganlin felt awkward at the attention of the giant man, and something about the attention he'd been getting since finding the stones was making him nervous. Both in the case of the Warden and foreman's excitement, and in the looks some of the other prisoners were casting towards him. Not wanting to somehow anger the man by not answering quickly enough, Ganlin spoke.

"I am Ganlin, sir. Ganlin Hardell."

"Ganlin, eh?" His name sounded odd when spoken by the Nothern accent of the Warden. "Very well. I would like to both congratulate, and thank you for your find today, Ganlin Hardell. You have done very, very well today."

The Warden stopped talking at that, staring at Ganlin. Realizing he was waiting for a response, Ganlin bowed his head.

“Thank you, Warden.”

The Warden inclined his head, and continued talking.

“Now, it may be hard to believe, but I am not a bad person. I recognize the hard work of those who are kept under my care here, and I believe in rewarding that hard work. Since you have found something truly special, I shall give you a reward that is truly special as well. After your meal tonight, you shall not have to do any work. Instead, you shall be given the chance to sit outside, simply enjoying the fresh air without exerting any labour. Then, a guard shall take you to a room with a warm bed that shall be yours for the night. I also notice the wounds that mark your body, I shall have a medic look at it, see if there can be anything done about that.”

Ganlin stared at the man in front of him, awestruck. His second day, and he had been blessed with something that sounded so nice. He thanked the divines for such good fortune.

“Thank you Warden. I greatly appreciate it, and you are very kind.”

“Yes, I know. Now get back to work, it’s not mealtime for you yet.” And with that, the Warden walked off, his guards following him back up to Silvirtharn proper.

Ganlin walked back to the vievstone and began chipping away at it again, helping the other miners break the stone around so they could be transported as smaller chunks to be extracted more precisely. An odd sense of pride swelled within him. A string of thoughts began weaving themselves together in Ganlin’s head. Perhaps this was a sign from the divines, telling him to not give up hope. If he continued working hard in the quarry, perhaps he could truly earn the favour of Warden Kilvarg and find a way to convince him to let Ganlin go. Was it possible to earn freedom? Ganlin felt himself becoming hopeful, maybe this was a second chance, a way for him to get out of Silvirtharn and to make things right with his honour.

“Warden gave you some reward, did he?” said an accented voice.

Ganlin hadn’t noticed the prisoner come up beside him, striking the rock next to Ganlin. They were a little bit taller than him, and their matted hair went down to their shoulders, showing that they had been at Silvirtharn for some time.

“Watch your back then. It’s a rare day when the others treat somebody who gets that treatment fondly. That’s just how it works, falling on the Warden’s good side means you’re on everyone else’s bad. A lot of the people here already weren’t fans of you, being a Westerner and all, so watch your back, because today definitely didn’t help your standing.”

Ganlin thought on the prisoner’s words for a moment before he responded.

“So, what? There’s not much they can do about it, is there?”

“Maybe, maybe not. Maybe someone trips while swinging a pickaxe next to you, and instead of hitting rock it hits skin, accidents happen after all, even if it’s rare. Maybe someone hears you whispering about escape, and let’s the guards take care of it. Or maybe they just outright attack you, one can never know for sure.”

“Would they really attack me? What would be the point in that? They’d only get in trouble for such a thing.”

The other prisoner laughed, a humorless sound. “They would, yeah. In the end though, would it even matter? We’re all in here until we die anyway, they can’t really make it any worse.” With that, the prisoner went off to a different section of the rock.

Ganlin thought about the prisoner’s words as he continued mining. Looking around, he noticed that some of the others would occasionally look at him with glaring eyes. Perhaps the Warden’s good favour wasn’t as much a blessing as it first appeared to be. Ganlin cursed himself for being so stupid as to not have already considered the inherent danger of his current position. Each prisoner at Silvirtharn was imprisoned for a reason, that reason being they were deemed dangerous, and not in a way that they could be used as soldiers. Ganlin felt a fool for not noticing the danger sooner. He thought he should thank the prisoner who warned him, but decided against it. If some of the other prisoners truly did hold a grudge against Ganlin, then talking further with the one who warned him might earn them some trouble, as well, and Ganlin didn’t want to repay their kindness by getting them hurt or possibly even killed.

As the day stretched on, Ganlin became more and more nervous, he found himself casting looks over his shoulder without thinking about it, and the muscles in his legs were constantly tensed, ready to launch him out of harm’s way. All of Ganlin’s combat training was kicking in as he became more on edge.

When the foreman blew his whistle, and told the prisoners to head back up, Ganlin was constantly on a swivel. During mealtime, there was a space on either side of Ganlin as they all ate, others whispering, and some of the larger and more muscular prisoners casting dark looks his way.

Ganlin was able to sit at the table and tuck into a second serving of dinner as all the other prisoners were taken off to do their nighttime tasks.

Then, after he was done eating, guards escorted him outside, and he was able to enjoy the view of the stars in the night sky, which allowed him to calm himself somewhat. After spending some time outside, the guards then led Ganlin into Silvirtharn, going down many different hallways before leading him into a room with an older woman, grey hair tied in a knot behind her head. The woman was the doctor the warden had mentioned, and she tended to Ganlin’s wounds. She used thread to stitch the worst of his cuts, and rubbed some strange cold powder on his back, easing the pain immensely.

“It’s not a perfect fix,” she said, “but we can’t have you spending a week doing nothing, so this is the best I can do.”

Ganlin was so grateful for the being gone that he didn’t mind that it would only be absent for a while. He thanked the doctor, and the guards led him to his room for the night. It was about twice as big as his cell in every dimension, and there was a large, soft bed. Ganlin fell into it, and immediately drifted off to sleep.

-End of Chapter 5-

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