The Gray King
Kairn ignored the man at his side and directly addressed the rest of the men around the fire.
"I, Kairn, son of Dhurgal, ask to seat as a man among other men, and to fight in war as warrior among other warriors."
"Isn't too soon for your initiation ceremony Kairn, son of Dhurgal?What do you think allows you to address this council in such disrespectful manner?"
That was the calm response of the chieftain while he looked at Kairn with eyes hard and cold as an iron blade.
Kairn sustained that stare for long moments before opening his arms with the palms facing up.
"I have no intention to offend my elders, my only desire is to offer my life for the sake of my people, for this I ask to sustain the trial of the wooden ring, let me honor Crom with my strength and courage, if not with my own blood."
This last words made a profound impression on the men hearing them.
"Bold words, Words that Crom would never allow you to take back now son of Dhurgal."
The voice cometh from a dark corner in the back, a man which black hair time tuned white as snow was intensely looking in Kairn's direction.
"Come near me blacksmith' son"
Said the shaman indicating the place in front of him.
Silently Kairn seated nigh the old man, in doing so he noticed that despite the age the weathered body was still brimming with ferine vitality.
The shaman pointed his eyes straight in his interlocutor's face.
"Tell me, are you a fool who doesn't fear death?"
"Death whispered her lullabies in my ear since when I was a newborn child, sang her song for me during the stormy nights when I was venturing forth on the mountains as a kid, and kissed me with the bite of ferocious beasts during long hunts as I came of age .She is my second mother, that I shall meet at the end of my days"
Kairn said these words with glacial impassibility.
The shaman continued his scrutiny.
"And don't you fear the gods?If you die during the trial Crom could be offended by your rashness, and instead of welcoming you between the gray halls of his palace he could precipitate you at the center of the earth, where the eternal worm dwells feasting upon the dead."
Without hesitation Kairn answered:
"I fear that he will be more offended by me not answering the call of the fire that burns in my heart that could have been lit only by him."
After few moments, the shaman stood up."Follow me to my abode son of Dhurgal."
They walked in the snow until reaching a dwelling dug in the foothill above the village.
While entering Kairn was set aback from the green phosphorescence emitted by the walls, as many Cimmerians superstitious fears still lingered in his barbarian soul.
"Something is wrong son of the blacksmith?"
Inquired the shaman with renewed duress in his voice.
Out of the spur of pride Kairn stepped inside with decision.
There was no fire but the digging had a uneasy warmth in it that made the young Cimmerian uncomfortable.
The shaman indicated a rock at the enter of the handcrafted room.
"Seat here."Commanded.
Kairn obeyed the intimation sitting with his legs crossed, while the elder seated in front of him and began to mix in a mortar some dessicated herbs and mushrooms he took from a leather bag he wore around his neck, muttering a litany for all the time, of which Kairn couldn't clearly make the words, then from a bottle on the ground poured root beer in a cup adding the mixture in the mortar.
Then he took various sips of the liquid he obtained washing his mouth with it and spitting it back in the cup.
"Drink all."
Was the intimation of the shaman handing the cup.
Kairn drank in one gulp, despite the vile odor and taste.
After that the elder draw a circle around Kairn versing red ocher from a jar.
Completed this task the shaman continued his chanting sitting in front of his young host.
After a while Kairn thought to understand the words, something stirred in the most remote recesses of his memory, the ancient record of his race engraved in his body and soul, in that moment a sense of vertigo caught him, through his obfuscated sight he couldn't make anymore the facial features of the man looking at him, only the eyes of the old Cimmerian were clearly visible until they commence to spiral in circles of fire, growing bigger and bigger until the son of Dhurgal fell into oblivion.
The ghost kings are marching; the midnight knows their tread,
From the distant, stealthy planets of the dim, unstable dead;
There are whisperings on the night-winds and the shuddering stars have fled.
A ghostly trumpet echoes from a barren mountainhead;
Through the fen the wandering witch-lights gleam like phantom arrows sped;
There is silence in the valleys and the moon is rising red.
The ghost kings are marching down the ages' dusty maze;
The unseen feet are tramping through the moonlight's pallid haze,
Down the hollow clanging stairways of a million yesterdays.
The ghost kings are marching, where the vague moon-vapor creeps,
While the night-wind to their coming, like a thund'rous herald sweeps;
They are clad in ancient grandeur, but the world, unheeding, sleeps.
Kairn found himself wandering in a thick fog, unaware of his surrounding and why he was there.
After a time that seemed eternal a vast gray hall appeared in front of him, it was as he had been wandering in there until that moment.
Walking among giant pillar of stones he looked at the distant volutes disappearing in the ceiling high as the sky.
An imposing figure was seated on the throne at the end of the hall, an iron band circled his forehead, he looked like a Cimmerian but different at the same time.
His eyes displayed a profound sadness that Kairn never observed before in other men.
"Is this another of your magic trick Gonar, or I am definetly lost in the maze Tuzun Thune built for me?"
He narrowed his eyes while observing Kairn.
"Are you just a figment of my imagination mirror image of my youth or am I the memory of a future that never was?"
"No, wait, now that I can see clearly you are very similar, but very different too."
The forgotten king raised himself and advanced towards Kairn.
"Maybe you can't see it, but now I recognize the bond between us."
Kairn looked around with ferocious eyes as a caged beast.
"What foolishness is this, am I lost with a madman in a place that I don't recognize, where are we, answer to my question or you will answer my fist."
The king erupted in a resounding laughter at these words.
"Such fiery attitude young wolf."
After that unexpected moment of hilarity he regained his grave look.
"From what I understand from my previous experiences we are at a place stranded in space and time, but I feel that the magic sustaining it is wearing off by the minute."
Now that he was near Kairn could see that he was shadowed by the mere physical presence of the man, but his words sounded as a distant echo.
"I feel that my days are growing short, maybe the gods gave me the opportunity to relieve my shoulders from the burden of the struggle against the accursed sons of Seth, a struggle ancient as the race, for there never will be peace between the serpent and Man."
After a moment of hesitation he asked.
"But are you willing to take this burden upon yourself?"
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A)Accept your ancestral heritage.Bonus
B)Refuse, only present counts, you have no obligation to none.
C)Remain silent.(The option that has won)
References for this story:
The Ghost Kings
Worms of the Earth
The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune