Chapter 44-
Sonsee reached out and touched the window of the train car; it was like a portal through which heat seemed to be sucked through. Gallow watched her trace her finger around the glass, making lines and shapes.
“How many times have you been on a train?”
Her eyes jumped from the window to him, her face almost embarrassed, like she’d forgotten she wasn’t alone.
“A train? A few times, this is my fourth time, I think.”
The late night had given way to morning, and the sky was just beginning to lighten; passengers at other booths were in various states of waking, some conscious, some drowsy, many still slumbering. Janna sat next to Sonsee, the constant rattle of the tracks having lulled her to sleep; like the waves of the ocean, its regular roll and crash was comforting to the mind.
“What do you think of them?”
“Hm?” her face was puzzled.
Gallow leaned over and looked back and forth from the window to her.
“You know, do you like them? I’m just curious.”
Sonsee considered her answer for a moment.
“I think they’re a little strange,” she looked out at some of the other passengers. “The way that everyone’s strangers here.”
“Strangers?”
“Yeah,” she affirmed. “Everyone knew each other in the Atamape,” she smiled unknowingly. “Most of the people in the village were there for my birth.”
Her eyes drifted back up to Gallow.
“Even when I lived near white men’s towns, everyone seemed to be friendly with each other.”
Gallow smirked.
“Not everyone,” he chuckled.
“Well, you know what I mean,” she laid her palm out, like she was presenting something. “It’s just strange to think that you could be around so many people you don’t know, for so long.”
A moment of silence passed between them.
“Hey, Gallow,” Sonsee spoke up again. “When you were sheriff, how much crime was there in Sigrit?”
“In Sigrit? I guess there wasn’t much, not really,” he mused. “Every now and again there was a dispute over some land that Mayor Junda had to work out, and I just hung around. There were these two neighbors who had been there since forever, right? And they just could not resolve this problem over who owned what part of property, because their grandfather’s had made some stupid agreement that wasn’t put into law, and their kids disagreed over it, and so their kids…”
He hit the brakes on his train of thought.
“Sorry, I’m rambling.”
“No, it’s okay,” she assured him.
“Well, anyway,” he got back on track. “Most of the real stuff I had to deal with always came from outside, it was always other people coming in, usually by themselves, maybe with a posse, but that was it, for the most part.”
She nodded along, her mind already working out a thought in response.
“So, no one who lived there ever tried to hurt anyone else?”
Gallow looked almost confused.
“No, I guess not,” he answered. “What are you thinking?”
“Well, those big cities have a big crime problem, don’t they?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you think it has anything to do with the fact that most people don’t know each other?”
He pondered her statement for a moment, never having approached the idea in that way.
“It could be part of it,” Gallow supposed. “I think most people would find it easier to hurt someone they don’t know.”
Sonsee looked down, at nowhere in particular; words piled up in her chest, ones she wasn’t sure if she should get out.
“I wonder if the men who killed my village felt the same way…”
Gallow’s lips parted, but he didn’t know what to say. Sonsee regretted her words immediately.
“Sorry, that’s a heavy thing to say,” she looked back out the window.
“No, it’s alright,” he said. “This is a good time to say things like that.”
He was smiling when she turned her head back to him.
“Oh, really?” Sonsee’s voice carried some nervous energy.
“Yeah, sure,” he reassured her. “In the early morning, when there’s a bunch of strangers around?” He glanced to the car and back to her. “I guess it’s an upside of nobody knowing each other, all the strange stuff you do is less noticeable.”
“I guess so…” she trailed off and looked past the glass to the horizon. Gallow watched her for a second, then to the window.
“Hm?”
She had drawn the Navigator symbol in the condensation. His eyes lingered on it; he almost said something, until Janna leaned over in her sleep. Her head came to rest on Sonsee’s shoulder; for a moment, Sonsee looked at the top of her head curiously, before a small, sweet smile formed across her lips.
Janna didn’t hold this position for very long, as her breathing shifted in such a way that both Gallow and Sonsee could tell she was awake. After a few moments of fighting the hooks of consciousness, Janna was dragged up to the surface and reluctantly opened her eyes. When she had oriented herself, she realized where her head was and lifted off of Sonsee.
“Sorry,” she said sleepily, stretching and yawning.
“It’s alright,” Sonsee replied, her smile diminished, but sitting comfortably on her face. “You need the rest anyway, how’d you sleep?”
“I’ve never slept sitting before, this is only my second time on a train, to be honest,” Janna confessed. “My neck feels really stiff, though,” she said, rubbing it in vain.
“Maybe crack it?” Gallow suggested.
“Crack it?” she repeated. “What do you mean?”
“Like this,” he threw his head to one side, a quiet snapping sound barely audible. “I’m not too stiff very often, but it feels nice.”
“You just…?”
“It’s like you’re stretching, basically,” he advised, demonstrating by stretching his own neck to the side.
“Hm…”
Janna threw her head to the side, just as she’d seen him do, and stretched until she felt a seismic crack through her neck.
“Oh! Oh, wow!” She rolled her head around in circles, feeling free as a bird.
“Sounds like you were pretty stiff, then?” Gallow smirked and cracked his fingers over the table. Following his lead, Janna did the same, and felt the same, satisfying snap burst from each of her digits. She giggled and attempted it again, but to no avail.
“Aw,” she lamented. “I wonder why it does that?”
“My mom told me it was stress leaving your bones,” Gallow set his arms on the table. “I could never do it as a kid, so I always thought I wasn’t stressed.”
Settling into her seat, Janna gripped her arms, shivering.
“Eeeesh, it’s cold in here.”
Sonsee pointed her gaze outside.
“Just wait for the sun to come up,” she advised. “It’ll warm up quickly.”
“Don’t be so sure,” Gallow cut in. “The weather is gonna be colder up here for a bit. We need to cross through the Redmaines, and they always have cold snaps at this time of year.”
Sonsee’s face contorted in dismay.
“You want to go through a mountain range in the cold? We couldn’t find a way around it?”
“Well,” Gallow leaned forward, shooting her a knowing look. “The Academy’s exam is in two weeks, and going through the Redmaines is the only way to make it on-time.”
“So what’s the plan for getting there, in that case?”
Gallow reached into his coat.
“I’m glad you asked!”
“Oh, are you?”
“A bit, I was gonna tell you anyway.”
He pulled out a paper scroll, unfurling it across the table, revealing a geographical map of Andeidra. To the west, some mountain ranges were scattered around the area, but it was mostly dominated by arid plains. East of that, the Grand Plains stretched across the middle of the country. The northwest region was dubbed the “timber band” for the forests that stretched almost halfway across the nation . The midcountry was separated from the east by a gargantuan mountain range, the Redmaines.
“So we,” he pointed at a spot to the left of the Redmaines. “Are right about here, and it’s too expensive and time-consuming to go around, so we’ll hire a guide and go right through, simple enough, right?”
Janna studied the map for a moment longer.
“Say,” she wondered aloud. “Didn’t you say you were from Pettma?”
Gallow stopped.
“Yeah?”
“Well, it’s right by the Redmaines, near where we might come out.” She put her finger to the city’s marking on the map. “Did you want to stop by?”
Gallow didn’t let anything loose from his tongue.
“Yeah, I guess we can work that in, if we have a day to spare.”
Before he could say anything else, the sound of the engine changed; the train was beginning to slow down.
“Hey, looks like we’ll be in town soon,” he noted. “Did you bring a coat?”
Janna wore an expression of befuddlement.
“I don’t even think I own a coat, not one that you mean, anyway.”
“Lets stop by and pick one up, huh?”
She was almost taken aback.
“You’d buy me a-- a coat?”
Gallow didn’t smile at her, his voice was quite matter-of-fact, but there was some vulnerability tucked away beneath his words.
“Yeah, of course.”
The air in the little town of Kilroy was dry and breezy. The houses were built in the style of the East Antiquity nations, who had first settled the area; white walls with dark wood beams running vertically, and flat wooden roof tiles that sloped upwards at the ends. The curved sides of the roofs were an innovation by the settlers to better deal with the seasonal snowfall; the snow would be caught in the curve, melt, and pour out on one of the ends into buckets to be boiled and reused.
They found a clothes shop after searching through the town on foot through the cold streets. A bell rang as Gallow opened the door; pale, early morning sunlight illuminated the inside through the front window.
“Welcome!” A kindly voice greeted them from behind the counter. An older woman with spectacles shot a glowing smile at Gallow and Janna.
After looking through some of the shop’s wares, Janna found a thick maroon coat.
“Are you sure it isn’t too expensive?” she asked, looking nervously at the price tag.
“Don’t worry, it’s all good,” Gallow reassured her yet again. “Say, Sonsee,” he added. “Did you bring anything heavier for the cold?”
Sonsee pretended to look at him, but ended up focusing on his cheek or eyebrow, anything to avoid eye contact.
“No… I didn’t really expect I’d need it…”
Gallow laughed.
“Have you ever been out of the South West?”
Again, she could only reply sheepishly.
“No…”
“Pick something out, I’ll cover it.”
Sonsee blushed; it wasn’t in her nature to ask someone to buy something for her.
When she’d found a long brown coat, they made their way to the counter to pay. Gallow handed his money over to the kindly older woman and she quickly recorded it in a notebook by her register.
“Getting something a little heavier for yourself?” she said, referring to the brown coat.
“Oh, no, it’s for her,” Gallow corrected, gesturing to Sonsee. A strange look came over the woman’s face, but she didn’t make any comment.
Once they’d left the store, Janna and Sonsee put on their new overwear.
“Oh, it’s so nice!” Janna said, rubbing the material on the inside.
“It covers my legs,” Sonsee noted absentmindedly, inspecting the length of the coat. She looked back up at Gallow, who was following her gaze, and they both shared a laugh.
“Alright, time to find a guide,” he announced, placing his hands on his hips and pointing his eyes around. Spotting a man on an early morning stroll, he waved him down and asked for directions.
Once he was done speaking with the man, Gallow informed his companions that there was a single guide in town who would take them through the mountains.
“Only one?” Sonsee found it hard to believe that it wasn’t a bigger industry.
“I guess this place isn’t a hotspot,” he figured. “Apparently, the government wants to build a rail that cuts straight through the Redmaines, right now you would need to go south down river and around the range to catch another train to the other side; it’s a big headache for the shipping companies.”
“Why haven’t they done it yet, then?” Janna wondered as they started following the directions Gallow had gotten.
“Not enough money, I guess,” he reasoned.
“What do we spend so much money on?” she pushed.
“Wars!” Gallow laughed, his breath visible in the air.
“Yeah, wars,” Sonsee added. “Maybe they could be over faster if there weren’t so many deserters.”
“H-hey!” he cried. “I wasn’t going to see any action anyway, right? They have enough young guys in the army anyway! And they’re a lot more qualified to be soldiers than me, okay? And even if…”
---
The guide lived on the far end of town, in a small house with boarded windows. Its door was an old, wooden relic worn by years of exposure. Janna got the impression that any breeze might knock it down, but its mere existence was proof to the contrary.
Gallow looked around for no particular reason before knocking. He couldn’t pin it down, but there was a strange air about the house, a strange sensation that floated from it.
The three of them waited for a few moments with no response, not even the sound of footsteps. Gallow raised his fist to knock again, but just before he laid his hand on the door, he heard a squeaking sound. Frozen in place, he watched it swing open slowly.
A short man with pinkish skin stood in the doorway, his face as worn as the door of his house. He was obviously quite a bit older, and his eyes had a look of perpetual tiredness.
“Hello, sir--”
“Come in…” his voice was heavy and gravelly. He turned around and disappeared into his house, leaving the door open.
“Well, you aren’t going to let the cold in, are you?” he called.
The three travelers looked at each other, unsure of what exactly to do.
“Alright, then,” Gallow said. “Let’s go in.”
The inside of the man’s house was draped in shadows which were only penetrated by a handful of candles lit and placed on various pieces of furniture. There was a bed tucked into a corner, and a table set to the side. It was an exceptionally simple abode, even more so than Ansel’s had been.
The guide found a small wooden chair that made a terrific screeching noise as he took a seat in it. Gesturing to some other chairs around the table, he invited them to join him.
“So, you’d like me to guide you through the Redmaines, then?”
They sat back in their chairs; his forwardness unexpected.
“What?” he continued, taking note of their surprise. “There’s no other reason to come to me. I’m a one-purpose human being. My name is Disael.”
Taking it in stride, Gallow decided to get back to business.
“We need you to take us through the Redmaines, what are your rates?”
“Two and twenty cents.”
Gallow swallowed. That would have cleaned them out
“What about one and fifty?”
Disael scoffed.
“Two and twenty.”
“You won’t consider one and fifty?” Gallow was gambling on a classic haggling tactic-- to ask for an unreasonably low deal to convince the seller to give you a more reasonable discount, but a discount nonetheless.
“No, two and twenty.”
This wasn’t getting anywhere, if he wanted a lower price, Gallow needed to try something more out-of-the-ordinary.
“What would you be willing to exchange for a discount, then?”
For the first time, Disael’s cold expression broke into one of confusion more than anything else.
“What do you mean?” he asked gruffly. “You give me money, I give you a service, that’s the exchange.”
“Of course, but what I’m saying is,” Gallow held up one finger. “I can offer you money and something else you need,” he lifted a second as he added on his offer.
For a moment, Disael didn’t say anything, but he studied Gallow’s posture, the way he leaned forward on the table and smirked; his eyes were oddly bright in the dim room.
“What are you willing to give up?”
A heavy silence fell upon the room; all they could hear was the sound of grass rustling in the breeze outside.
“Give up?” Gallow was hesitant to ask.
Disael leaned back, taking a deep breath, and came forward again, resting his hands on the table.
“Are you willing to risk your lives?”
Gallow felt a burning anxiety fester in his stomach.
“I don’t want to risk our safety any more than we already have,” he proclaimed.
“Then two and twenty is your rate.”
Disael’s expression was so obstinate it was law.
---
The Redmaines were infamous for their beautiful and treacherous terrain; many would-be adventurers had lost their lives in the settling days, believing that there was some sort of treasure hidden away in its stone walls. Even today, there were few people who dared to cross them, making the river to the south of the range a bottleneck of trade; the lords of river shipping made incredible wealth off of their monopoly, and lobbied constantly against a transcontinental railway.
Janna felt as though the upward slope would continue forever, just foot after foot of incline and dirt. She stopped on the trail to catch her breath, though the air seemed to burn in her lungs.
“Spoiled by the plains, huh?” Sonsee teased, taking her hand and helping her forward.
“I’ve never done anything… like this before,” she explained between breaths. I didn’t expect it to be so hard.”
“Hey, we’re almost to the top, don’t worry.”
In another minute, they broke over the ridge and gazed into a grand valley, surrounded on all sides by towering faces of rock. Janna couldn’t help but marvel at the view of the landscape.
“It’s like something out of a painting!”
“Yeah, looks great,” Gallow agreed. “Hey, Disael,” he called to the guide. “What’s the next one?”
From up ahead by a fair margin, Disael pointed to another mountain without looking back at them.
At once, all of the color drained from Janna’s face.
“There’s another one??”
“Yeah, welcome to the Redmaines.”
“But-but that one’s even bigger!”
Gallow tried to explain to Janna that they weren’t climbing the whole thing, only scaling around it, while Sonsee found herself thinking about what Disael had requested of them.
“For many years, there has been a despicable evil in the mountains. Deep within one of its valleys, something has dwelled, a perversion of life. I want you to purge it.”
In the dimness of his house, lit only by the warm glow of the candle, his temperament had reminded her of the Atamape chief when he spoke. Disael knew not what this evil was exactly, but he was very aware of its existence. He would not disclose how he learned of it, or when, or how they might go about defeating it, but after Gallow explained how much they had left, they agreed that it was either this way or the long way.
“At least this time, the short route is the scenic route…” he’d tried to comfort them.
Day turned to evening, and they decided to set up camp on a rocky outlook, handpicked by Disael. After laying down their things and starting a small fire, the travelling group ate a small meal before bed. Janna was the first to pass out, exhausted from the day’s journey, and Sonsee soon followed her, leaving only the two men.
The crackling of the fire turned to embers. Gallow sat with his legs drawn up, leaning back on a rock wall, Disael perched cross-legged opposite him. Gallow’s eyes turned to the two sleeping, then to his guide. There was curiosity and intent in his eyes.
“Disael,” he began. “You don’t know anything about this thing we’re supposed to kill?”
The older man huffed out of his nostrils.
“I only know what it feels like.”
“Is it an animal?”
“Maybe.”
“A person?
“Perhaps.”
“A ghost?” Gallow was starting to get annoyed.
“I can tell you its nature,” Disael explained. “But its form doesn’t matter.”
“Alright then, what’s its ‘nature’?”
Disael looked much older than he already was whenever he spoke with authority.
“It’s the natural way of life for everything to expand itself, wouldn’t you agree?”
“I-- sure.”
“Every living thing exists to grow larger, reproduce, expand, the overflowing bowl of life. But not this thing, this thing exists to spread death, it is dead and death itself.”
Gallow paused, reading only honesty in this man’s face.
“Is it a spirit? A ghost?” he asked again.
Disael sighed.
“Its form is not important, I’ve told you.”
“But if I don’t know what it is, how am I going to kill it? How do I kill something that isn’t even alive?”
“You don’t kill it,” Disael’s voice was even graver. “You only send it somewhere else.”
Gallow raised an eyebrow.
“What are you talking about?”
“How would you combat the soul of death?”
“The soul--?” Gallow stopped before saying anything more. Disael’s eyes were fixed on his Navigator sigil. Pulling his hand up and studying at it as well, he said “Do you know what this is…?”
Disael didn’t reply. Turning his attention to the dark horizon, obscured by mountain tops, he continued.
“Beyond those mountains is a valley, the Valley of Bones. It’s called so because every traveller who has entered there has died. Many think it’s because of its terrain, but I know the truth.”
He looked back at Gallow.
“I alone have seen why it is called the Valley of Bones.”
The fire burned away to ash between them, and darkness enveloped the camp. The moonlight was the only reminder of heaven.
“Let’s get to sleep, tomorrow will be a long day.”