Cascade Rock

Part 3

For the next hour or so Darl sat sullenly, head bowed nearly to his knees. When his brother arrived he didn't rise to greet him nor did he lift his head.

"I shouldn't have brought you here," Darl said.

"It was very stupid of you," Ven agreed. "She's called Adrestia the Inescapable for a reason."

Darl shuddered. "I know."

"And you stole from the dreaded warlord Baron Redway, wearer of the crown of teeth, scourge of the frontier. For a hafkin, that is very, very stupid."

"I know."

"And now, it appears, the Baron plans to meet out his vengeance and reclaim his property."

"That's about the size of it."

"Well, it's a good thing we're getting out of here."

"That's for the best," Darl said, resignation thick in his throat. "If you return the map to Adrestia before you all flee, perhaps the baron will sate his anger on me and not hunt the rest of our band."

"I don't think so," Ven said. "Didn't you hear me? We are getting out of here. You as well."

For the first time since he heard his brother's light footfalls enter the room, Darl looked up. To his surprise, Ven was not alone; the sturdy, barrel-chested shape of Magistrate Retton stood silently beside him.

"Darl Hafkin," the magistrate began in his gruff authoritative voice, "For your crimes of reckless mischief and destruction of public and private property, I hereby sentence you to exile in the valley above the fall. May you find a way to repay the damage you've caused or die in the wilderness far from any civilization."

Darl stared wide-eyed at the magistrate.

"Saw that coming," Bill said from his stool.

"Shut up, Bill!" Darl snarled.

Retton cleared his throat. "Bill, please step out. I need a moment with the prisoner."

As Bill crossed in front of Darl's cage, he cast the hafkin a cockeyed look. "It was nice knowin' ya," he said. "That's a death sentence."

Once the door was closed behind Bill, the magistrate produced a ring of keys and unlocked Darl's cell.

"Your mother visited me," he said. "She and your brother here showed me the map. They were able to translate bits of it. The Valley of the Gods. Of course, we here in Cascade Rock already know about the legends of ancient, treasure-obsessed gods. It's partly what brought the first men all the way out here. And I'll be damned if I'm going to let a bloodthirsty warlord like Redway get his hands on it before us.

"You must know that it's dangerous above the falls. Deadly. It is a realm forgotten by time and undisturbed by man. And I tell you the fae still dwell there, if not the gods of old. Few who have ventured far into that mist-shrouded land have returned to tell the tale. But until now no one had a map.

"So I exile you, Darl. But what wealth you find shall pay your debt to Cascade Rock first. After that, a tithe is owed––your mother has agreed to this. In return, you shall be as good as dead to the great Baron, and his beloved map lost. Are these terms acceptable to you?"

Darl's mouth had been hanging slack the entire time Retton spoke and now words in answer to the question alluded him.

"Yes," Ven put in definitively. "They are acceptable and we thank you."

"Wait," Darl said, eyes narrowing on Retton. "You'd risk the wrath of Baron Redway? For a hafkin? Why?"

Retton's thick chest heaved with a heavy, long-suffering breath. "The way I see it, your life is the only thing I'm risking. Redway is not the only one with an imperial mandate. If he lays siege to Cascade Rock, he'll disrupt the flow of hardwood to the capitol. The Immortal Emperor's shipwrights will be very put out should that happen. And, I will admit to taking some pleasure from denying so onerous an individual as Redway something he desires."