Daughter Of A Southern King Chapter 2

It had been three months since she left the Arkine Desert when she came upon a sight she had only heard of in stories from traveling merchants of the north. A lone mountain pierced the sky like a rose’s thorn piercing delicate skin greeted her eyes from her rocky perch. The Lonely Mountain as it was called. A home to dwarves of the north it was said. Well, she’ll be the judge of that.

Her name was Eria Orenda Speartooth and she was a dwarf of the south, she had sand blond hair braided with golden beads and brightly coloured feathers, chocolate brown eyes, an elegant nose and full rosy lips and no beard; like her mother. Eria was as a common site in her kingdom. Dwarf woman of the south rarely grew beards and had less hair on their bodies unlike the dwarf women Eria had heard in the stories the merchants told.

Eria wore clothing unseen to this new world she entered but common in most dwarf women in the south. It was white, fitted and easy to move in; something the women of her mother’s clan preferred above all. A royal purple sash was wrapped around Eria’s waist covered by a thick leather belt and a baldric slung over her shoulder and fastened to the opposite hip, leather vambraces adorned both forearms etched with the crests of her father’s house and Eria’s thick leather boots were made for moving without being heard. Eria fisted her gloved hands as she surveyed the landscape searching for the easiest route down.

A feline moan came from behind her; Eria smiled as she turned to face her massive feline companion, a massive orange cat sat on his haunches panting heavily, two foot long canines protruded from the upper jaw of his large orange and white black striped head that was attached to his muscular body by a thick neck. The cat’s white paws were bigger than any wargs or wolves and held retractable lethal claws. His tail was long and striped like his face and his orange coat was streaked with bold black stripe that mimicked streaks lightning. He was far larger than warg or dire wolf ever known to man, elf or dwarf. In the south they called his kind the Saber-Tooth Tiger or the Spear Tooth, a most revered and dangerous yet magnificent animal.

Many say Eria was insane for choosing such a ferocious and dangerous battle companion, but he was not without his flaws and his advantages. For below him lay the corpse of a warg, mangled and bloody, he had this one sided game he played with wargs “cat and mouse” it was a hate and fear relationship between two species that started when they first set foot in Middle Earth. Every time he saw smelt or heard one he would kill it, mark his territory or roar and every time the wargs would run with their tails between their legs as fast as they could and for most, it wasn’t fast enough. This warg was one of the unfortunate few. He had even dragged the body for a few leagues only dropping it when he was hungry, thirsty, or giving himself a bath. The carcass was beginning to reek of rot and decay. A few times the wind would pick up the smell and she would almost retch from her spot on his back. But today was different; he didn’t seem to into it anymore as if he were bored of the body which made her breathe a sigh of relief. That was until his black ears perked up that her relief turned into sour grimace.

“Oryis we are NOT bringing that… thing, with us any further!” Eria protested and before she had even finished Oryis had picked it up in his mouth and carried it over to the cliff edge. He looked at her mischievously and chuffed. She glared at the cat “Drop it!” she demanded; so he did and down and down it went hitting every rock and bolder on the way, the sounds of bones breaking and tearing flesh against stone echoed through the mountain range. When the corpse tumbled to a stop its spine had twisted twice around, its jaw was set at an awkward angle with its neck snapped back and its legs a broken and lacerated mess. The site made Eria’s mouth drop and Oryis moan as if to say ‘you said drop it’.

Eria shook her head and walk to pick up her pack and Oryis’ riding harness and what was left of their food supply. As she lifted the bag; the weight of it made her sigh. “Not much left for me to eat Oryis, looks like we better start moving a little faster and that means no killing wargs, understood.” Oryis groaned and softly bumped his head against her back. Eria smiled leaning against him. “I’m tired too, boy.” She sighed and turned around to his shoulder and swung the harness onto his back fastening it under his ribs and around the front where his neck met his chest. She tied her packs to the back of the harness before hoisting herself up “alright let’s be off.” Oryis leapt from the cliff to a rock a twenty feet down and jumped to the next and so on. When they got to the bottom of the mountain Oryis sniffed the mangled and contorted carcass of the warg before pacing toward the lone mountain.

On the way Eria and Oryis only stopped for food, water and sleep and the landscape changed from its rocky mountains to thick forest to grassy plains. It took them a whole month till they saw large doors between two stone statues on a flat part of the southern face of the mountain. It was something that she recognized something familiar, something only dwarves would have the talent of doing. “Well would you look at that, the legends that Halldor spoke of maybe be true after all! Come on lets go.” she laughed excitedly as Oryis leapt from his pace into a run. As Oryis ran Eria saw a city not far off the base of the mountain.

It took them half a week to finally make out the intricate details of a city and the mountain door and no sooner too, Eria had all but finished her provisions and Oryis had become tired from the run. They stopped at a large bolder shaded by two large oak trees close to the side of road and rested. The city was only about half a day’s walk away now and rest was something they greatly needed. Eria opened her pack and laid out her fur blanket while Oryis hopped on top of the bolder and scouted for prey. A herd of large elk to the east caught his attention. Tonight he would hunt.

That night Eria sat close to the fire waiting for Oryis’ return from hunting, she snuggled into her fur pelt; it had been given to her by a dear friend. Its yellow fur was dotted by black rosettes, jaguar fur; it was warm from the fire but not warm enough. It was cold at night in the north much colder than the southern nights that she was use to and stranger, for no jungle sounds surrounded her, no hoots and screeches from the night creatures in the trees warning all below of predators nearby.

Eria watched the city and mountain over the light of the fire when a sudden movement brought her attention to edge of the fires light. She grabbed the hilt of her sword and was about to act when a grey fox stepped in to the flickering light with its nose to the ground searching for food. Eria slowly reached for her pack in search of any bits of food she could share with the small creature. She held out her hand to the fox with what food she had found. The fox stared at Eria’s hand cautiously at first but his sense of smell got the better of him and he began to eat out of her hand.

It was only then when the grey fox was licking her hand clean and the fire was now only red embers that a roar ripped through the night scaring the fox, who ran back into the darkness and awakening everything miles around including the city and mountain. She watched through the trees as torches were lit and people gathered along the walls to try to see where the roar had originated.

Oryis returned to the bolder moments after when the touches were put out and people had gone back to bed, dragging a half-eaten elk by its neck in his blood stained jaws, he walked past a sleeping Eria and dropped the carcass and began to give himself a bath. After
Oryis finished giving himself a tongue bath he stood up and stretched with a yawn before ambling over to Eria. Oryis gently rubbed his head against her back and curled up around her sleeping form and chuffed when Eria woke and buried her head in the thick fur of his neck, she brought her knees up close to her body and tightened the fur pelt around her. Eria was almost asleep when felt his right foreleg move from its position beneath him to gently drape over her and protect her from the cold northern night. She felt Oryis sigh as he relaxed and fell asleep soon after.

For tomorrow was only half a day’s walk away.