Finding Home

'By the holy light of the goddess, whoever chose to live in a tower on top of a hill where the only road up was hundreds upon hundreds of steps, should be declared insane,' Irin thought, as she tackled another of the stone steps. She paused and took deep breaths, looking behind her, happy to see she had made good progress, then she looked ahead and realised she wasn't even at the halfway point. 'Deep breaths, no need to get upset,' she reminded herself as she continued her way up. No wonder the high priest had sent her, the newest addition to the temple, to this place. None of the priests or priestesses that knew anything about Karyon Tower would have wanted the assignment. 'So why not pawn it off to the newbie?' 'No, don’t think like that,' Irin reminded herself. 'Think positive, this is an important assignment and you were entrusted with it. When you return with an accomplished mission, you will have proven you can keep your temper in check and you won’t give up.' Irin’s pep talk kept on a steady loop in her mind and she continued to climb up the steep hill, which was covered in grass and rocks. The sun shone down on her and she could feel the saltiness of the ocean in the air. She still wasn’t used to the smell, being from the inland, but she had a feeling she would have enjoyed herself if she didn’t feel hurried and pressured to return to the temple with good news. Finally, the steps ended and a stone path lay in front of her. She lifted her gaze and saw she had reached a plateau. In the middle of it, a stone tower stretched up towards the sky. 'It probably has a lot more stairs inside it,' Irin thought, happy she wouldn’t have to walk up them. The tower was surrounded by what, at some point, had been a garden, but now it was more like an overgrown patch of plants. Someone had at least kept the path clean. Irin walked up to the three steps that led to the door; she walked up them with a light heart and knocked on the door and waited. And waited. And waited. She knocked again. Still no response. She felt her annoyance rise again. She sighed and was just about to knock again when the door opened and she looked straight at a… greenish chest covered in black tattoos? Her eyes travelled up the naked, muscular torso, covered in symbols carved into the flesh. When she tilted her head far back, she finally met two moss green eyes that looked down on her. Oh boy.

“Yes?” the man, or maybe the giant, in front of her asked. Irin’s mind went blank for a moment. The man cocked one of his eyebrows.

“I’m Irin, I’m from the temple,” she said, as she finally found her voice.

“I can see that, little one,” he said. Irin’s eyebrow shot up. Who was he calling little?

“Excuse me?” she asked.

“For what?”

“Who are you calling little?”

“Seeing as you barely reach my nipples, I think that would be you,” he told her with a grin.

'Deep breaths,' Irin reminded herself.

“As I said, I’m from the temple.” She started over.

“And as I said, I can see that,” he repeated, raking his eyes over her body, clad in the usual attire for a temple cleric.

“So you did. Then I guess you know why I’m here?”

“I haven’t a clue,” he said with a shrug.

“The high priest told me he spoke to you several months ago, commissioning a new protection amulet for the temple. He wants to know if it’s ready,” Irin told him.

“Why then did he send you?”

“The high priest has better things to do than climb up here.” This man was starting to get on her nerves. She looked at him more closely. When the high priest had told her she would be visiting a wizard, this was not what she had imagined. In her mind, she had pictured an old man with a long white beard, frail and scrawny. But the man in front of her resembled none of that. Well, he did have a beard, but not a long one. He was at least two heads taller than Irin, his skin was tanned, almost shifting towards green. Irin looked closer at his face and could just barely see two small tusks poking out over his upper lip. He was a half-orc, she realised. His jet-black hair was long, half of it tied into a ponytail. The tattoos that covered his exposed chest made patterns Irin could get lost in, trying to trace. She forced herself to snap out of her thoughts. “Well?” she asked.

“Well what?”

“Well, are you done with the high priest’s order?”

“Maybe, maybe not. How do I know the high priest really sent you?” he asked with a smile that was far too charming to make Irin happy.

“I’m not asking you to hand it over, I just need to know if it’s done, or if you can tell me when it will be done,” she said with a sigh.

“You may return and try to rob it from me,” he said, mimicking worry.

“Oh, for the love of the goddess, do you think I would try to rob you? Have you seen you?” she exclaimed. The wizard chuckled.

“Just because you are smaller than me doesn’t mean you can’t cause me harm, little one.” He sounded cheerful and not at all worried.

“Can you stop calling me that? I have a name,” she told him.

“And what would that be?” he asked. Irin hesitated. Should she tell him? It felt like it would be a mistake, but if she just told him her first name, he couldn’t do anything with it. She looked at him and saw he was waiting.

“My name is Irin,” she finally said.

“Koth, at your service, little one,” he said with a grin, holding out a hand which looked bigger than most cartwheels. She was too polite not to shake it; when she did, his hand enveloped hers.

“Well?” she asked again.

“Has anyone told you, you are too stubborn for your own good?” Koth asked, instead of answering.

“Yes, it’s one of my better traits,” she said coldly. He just hummed. After that, they ended up just staring at each other.

“If that was all, you can get going. I have things to do,” Koth finally told her and started to close the door.

“You haven’t answered my question yet!” Irin objected, glaring at him.

“What question was that, little one?”

“Oh, give me a break. You can’t be this stupid, even if you are the size of an ox. Is the high priest’s project ready?”

“That’s quite a temper for one so small and fragile,” he laughed.

“Don’t change the subject, wizard.” He sighed and the merry look in his eyes disappeared. Irin realised it had all been a mask.

“Very well, cleric. No, the amulet isn’t done yet. I don’t know when it will be done,” he told her in a cold voice.

“What is the hold up?” she asked.

“I need crystals that aren’t available to just buy. I need to get them from the source and I need to wait for the snow to melt off the mountain, it came early this year.”

“Thank you. Have a nice day,” Irin said and turned around to start the long walk down the hill and into the city.

“Wait, that’s it?” Koth asked and grabbed her elbow. Irin turned her head to look back at him and shrugged.

“I was tasked to get information about when the amulet would be done. I have the information. I see no need to linger.”

“But I couldn’t give you a date.”

“Because you can’t. If you need the ice to melt, then you can’t give me a date. I’m not stupid enough to expect you to be able to predict something like that. Was that all?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said, still looking surprised. Irin looked down at his hand, which was still gripping her elbow.

“Oh,” he said, releasing her.

“Have a nice day,” she said with a nod.

"You too," she heard him say before the door closed. Irin knew the wizard couldn't give her a specific time, but that didn't make telling the high priest any easier. If the wizard needed those crystals, however, there was nothing to be done. She trotted down the steps, this time taking the opportunity to enjoy the view. In the distance, she could see the city, and beyond that, the ocean. Grasslands surrounded the hill, but the forest wasn't far away. It was a breathtaking view, but its unfamiliarity caused a pang of homesickness. Irin missed the acres of farmland she was used to, and the smell of country air, which didn't hold the scent of the ocean. At least this assignment had taken her out of the city for a while; she definitely hadn't grown accustomed to the city smells yet. Reaching the foot of the hill, she walked over to her horse, who stood tied to a young birch tree. It was a blessing she didn't need to walk all the way back to the city; even though it only took five minutes on horseback, it would have been uncomfortable to go on foot in the heat after climbing the hill. As she rode towards the city, Irin couldn't help but look back at the tower on the hill, thinking about the strange man she couldn't read. She still couldn't figure out if he was trustworthy.