The next several days were a blur. Colors merged and faded from reality. It wasn’t until I fully recovered from the experience that I learned what happened. After Gunner gave me those visions, he brought me to a cell deep inside the fortress. I had no idea if the others knew I was alive, or if they were as well. 

Greenspring had cast some spell on me so he could hear what was going on around me, but I didn’t know if it was still working. I hadn’t heard his voice since I was taken away from them. My only contact with the outside world was an older harska named Ellover.

The room they put me in was small. It had a straw bed for me to sleep on, a hole covered with a wooden lid for me to defecate in, and nothing else. The walls, ceiling, and floor were carved out of stone. Compared to the rest of the fortress, it was a bad job. Bits of rocks protruded from the wall and floor, causing me to suffer small cuts and scrapes during my stay. A strong wooden door was the only entrance and exit for the room. A section of the door opened enough for food and water to be pushed through, but not large enough for me to escape.

Ellover brought me a tray of food in the morning and a tray at night, so I didn’t starve during my stay. I wished she would talk to me, tell me anything about what was going on, but she stayed silent. To pass the time, I exercised and sang songs. Without any of my belongings, that was all I could do. Of course, I still had my knife hidden inside my boots, but there wasn’t a good time to use it.

I waited for Gunner to call for me. While I wasn’t happy about serving him, I knew it was the easiest way to get my family back. He wanted me to be a leader for his troops, or at least that’s what he had told me. Stuck inside with no one to talk to, I did a lot of thinking. Thinking of my family, mostly. Were they thinking of me? Of Henry and Arienne?

This cell was one of several holding cells in the massive fortress the harska called home. Outside of the room was a hallway with doors leading to several other cells. Some of them looked pretty worn down, but it was hard to tell with how little I got to see of them. While I was in the middle of thinking about Henry and Arienne, I heard footsteps stomping down the hall. They didn’t sound like Ellover’s but I couldn’t be sure.

The door opened and two guards rushed into the room. They grabbed my arms and pushed me onto my knees. I didn’t resist. Looking up, I met the lime-colored eyes of Gunner. He smiled and gestured to the guards who then pulled me to the back of the room. My arms were placed in chains as I was locked onto the wall. They backed away and quickly left the room, leaving me and Gunner alone.

“It smells terrible in here,” he said.

“Does it? I guess I got used to it,” I said, barely hiding my anger. He had taken my family away from me, kept my friends captive. There were so many violent things I wanted to do to him, but I couldn’t. My family’s life was in his hands. I was powerless. Not a single spell I knew could help me single-handedly save everyone.

I needed to bide my time.

Gunner clasped his hands together and adjusted his posture. “I suppose I should make this quick. Do you still agree to join me?”

I hesitated, before swallowing my anger and pride. “Yes, as long as you agree to free my family and friends.”

He waved his hand dismissively. “In due time. You must prove yourself first.”

“And what about Nia and Greenspring? Are they alright?”

Gunner nodded. “I didn’t hurt a hair on their heads. Perhaps after your first mission, I’ll let you see them.”

I raised an eyebrow. “First mission?”

“You’ll lead a scouting party into Orten to observe the local iron trade.”

This wasn’t the first time I’d heard of Orten, but I wasn’t too familiar with the town. Pop sometimes went there to trade for supplies during harsher years. They needed food, and he could provide it. Orten wares weren’t the best, but the prices were cheap, as he used to say. I had never been there and was curious what the town looked like. But honestly, I was ready to get out of my cage and breathe fresh air again.

“Any reason why?” I asked.

“Because I said so,” said Gunner turning toward the door. “You’ll leave in three days. Damian will get you when it’s time.” 

My pulse quickened. Damian? The same Damian from Kent’s Crossing. I gritted my teeth. “Of course, King Gunner.”

The two guards from before opened the door and slipped past Gunner. After I was unchained, they held me to the wall so Gunner could leave unimpeded. When he was gone, they let me down and quickly left the room. I rubbed my wrists and glared at the door. At least Nia and Greenspring were alive.

With nothing to do and no one to talk to, the next three days passed by slowly. My head was still foggy from the visions Gunner had subjected me to, so it was hard to think about Orten. If only I had listened better when Pop told his lengthy stories. He always had a story to tell but no ears willing to listen. Sort of like my career as a bard, guess it ran in the family.

When I left Xalir, I never would have dreamed that I’d be involved in such a mess. All I wanted to do was find my family. Maybe gain some renown in the process. Everything had gone wrong, but how could I have known? I knew nothing about adventures except what was said in stories.

I fell asleep that final night thinking about Beth and how she would feel about this. Would she want me to obey Gunner, or run the first chance I got?

The door to my cell opened, revealing a harska with black fur and a crooked tail. The fur above his lime-colored eyes was patchy. It lead up to his ears, showing off his pink skin. He wore nothing except for a bracelet made of small pink flowers. Each flower had a small bit of yellow in the center. Greenspring would’ve known what it was called.

“Norman Benson, I believe we’ve met.” He spoke quickly with a higher-pitched voice.

“Is there anything I should know before we leave?” I asked, brushing off my pants.

“If you try and run, I’ll kill you. If you try and hurt any of the others, I’ll kill you. If you try and hurt me… I’m sure you can guess what will happen.”

I gulped. “Message received.”

He held the door open and gestured towards the hallway. It was a pain to move past him, as he didn’t want to leave the doorway lest I try and backstab him or something. Once I squeezed past, I tried to glance around, but he pushed me forward. I would have told him off, but I didn’t want to push my luck. Gods know I would need it.

We didn’t go back through the fortress up to the main entrance. Instead, we walked down some short hallways the opposite way. The halls twisted and turned until we found ourselves in front of a thin ventilation shaft. Dwarves would build them to bring fresh air to the lowest parts of their fortresses. I sometimes wondered if they even needed it with how long they spent underground.

Damian pulled on the opening, revealing a panel that opened the vent. Fully extended, it still looked like a tight fit for a harska. For me, it looked impossible. “You go first,” said Damian, shoving me forward.

“Are you crazy? I can’t fit through that.”

“You’ll fit.” His annoyed expression told me that I shouldn’t push the issue further. Taking a deep breath, I climbed up into the vent and tried to snake my way toward the light. My boots slid against the smooth walls of the vent, but it wasn’t as hard as I thought. If it weren’t for Damian pushing me upwards, it would have been hard. After a considerable effort from Damian and a good try from myself, we found ourselves at the top.

Wind. A cool breeze blew past my head into the distance. I’d never thought I would miss the wind, but I did. It blew past the two of us through a patch of flowers enjoying the morning sun. I turned around to see a large tree protruding out of a small hill. Under its roots was the hole we had climbed out of. It looked even smaller than the hole we’d started in, but it didn’t feel like it when crawling out.

The mountain the fortress was built into wasn’t that far away, still towering over the landscape. From the angle I could see it, it appeared that we had come out the other side, but I had no way of knowing for sure. A light fog drifted around the Sapphire Mountains, extending down to the forest below. It felt good to be outside, though I wished the circumstances were better.

Standing a couple of meters away, hidden among the trees, were several other harska. I noticed their eyes first, reflecting sunlight at me. Damian walked over to them, hitting me on the shoulder to knock me out of my thoughts. Once the harska stepped out of the shadows, I could get a better count. In total, there were five of us. Four harska and one of me.

Damian introduced me to each of them in turn. First was Bagheera. He had lime-colored eyes and black fur like Damian, though he lacked the patchy fur and crooked tail. His fur also seemed to turn brown in the sunlight. Unfortunately, that didn’t help to distinguish him from Damian at a glance. Bagheera was the quietest of the group, only speaking when asked a question. He walked with a limp and leaned on a wooden cane when standing.

Next was Smokey. Smokey looked exactly like Gunner, with lime-colored eyes and grey fur. The main difference being the size of their stomachs. Out of all the harska I had seen, Smokey was the largest.

Last was Patches. She looked like Princess, though much cleaner. Her eyes were mustard-colored and her fur was white with patches of black… Patches of black? Wait a second.

“Is that your real name?” I asked.

Damian shot me a glare, but Patches couldn’t stop herself from laughing. “Did no one ever tell you? Harska have more than one name. Damian’s telling you our common names to save time.”

“Why? Is there a reason for the two names? Forgive me if I’m asking too much, I’m genuinely curious.”

Smokey spoke up first. “The first name we’re given is our birth name. It’s more formal and only used for ceremonial purposes. Mine is Porphürión, I understand if that’s difficult for you to pronounce, sorry. 

“The second, and more common, name we choose ourselves. Some harska go their entire lives with only one name. Others go by many names. Most abandon their first name by the time they reach adulthood. My apologies for the confusing explanation.”

Bagheera grabbed Smokey by the shoulder, whispering something into his ear. Smokey seemed to like whatever he said and looked quite proud of himself.

I turned back toward Patches. “So you chose to call yourself…”

She shrugged. “Not everything has to be complicated. My fur has patches of black in it, so I call myself Patches.”

“Since we’re learning new things about each other, I have to ask, are you related to Princess?” I asked.

All of them flinched, but Patches still answered, “Her mother came from the same litter as I did. Other than that, no. I’ve never spoken to her.”

“I come from a different litter than King Gunner,” said Smokey, before looking nervous. “I know you didn’t ask, sorry. Figured we were on the subject.”

Damian, who had been busy stretching his muscles on a nearby tree, stomped over. “We don’t have time for this. Get ready to leave, we need to reach Orten before Sunday.”

The other harska immediately stood single file, each facing forward. I was still curious; however, and didn’t move. “Why Sunday? What day is it today?”

Damian smacked my back and sent me into the formation at the front of the line. “Because, and not relevant. Set the pace for the march. If it’s too slow, you’ll get much more of that.”

Taking a deep breath, I began the march to Orten. Thus beginning my first job for Gunner.