Faraway Stars: Night Fog on Mount Tambonas

By Roger Hunter

This book tells the tragic love story of a knight and a necromancer. While they were alive, they were suppressed to death because of secular prejudices and family pressures that prevented them from living freely together. After death they become ghosts and wander the Tambonas Mountains. The two poor lovers turn their love for each other into a night mist of the mountains, wetting the eyes of travelers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: xmac
• Release date: Aug 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9783969693117

Book preview

Faraway Stars - Night Fog on Mount Tambonas

Roger Hunter

Faraway Stars - Night Fog on Mount Tambonas

Copyright

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Cover

Table of contents

Copyright

COLOPHON

Faraway Stars - Night Fog on Mount Tambonas

Roger Hunter

© 2020 Roger Hunter

All rights reserved.

Author: Roger Hunter

Contact Data ([e-mail])

ISBN: 978-3-96969-311-7

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Chapter 1

Schert jumped up onto a rocky outcrop and looked down. The stars twinkled in the night sky, but the brilliant lights at the foot of the hill were more striking than the stars, like a great jeweled crown glowing with color.

Are you still able to walk? Schert called back, smoothly straightening the collar of his white shirt. Behind him came a slim figure in a gray robe, panting incessantly and obviously exhausted.

You’re simply slower than a worm, Felix, Schert commented unceremoniously. It doesn’t seem to suit the bard’s physique this way.

But the climb will save us a day’s journey. Replied the bard.

At the rate you’re going, we’ll be delayed a day instead! Schert retorted.

I’m not as fit as you blacksmiths,Felix muttered as he struggled up the hill and stood beside his companion. The pale night mist of Mount Tambonas drifted across his cheeks, curling into droplets that dripped from the end of his jaw whiskers. The bard looked ahead, his eyes suddenly glowing. Oh, it’s beautiful! He couldn’t help but shout. I never thought the city of Katiro would be so…so magnificent.

Certainly, replied the blacksmith, it is, after all, the domain of the Tronedo family. Of the five royal families of the Taubira Kingdom, Tronedo is the most prosperous.

The River of Lost Dreams is beautiful! Felix took in the view down the hill almost greedily, I can see the flash of the Sparrow Plume Lighthouse. I hope we can make it to town at dawn.

Then we’ll have to hurry, Schert looked around, the mountain fog has risen.

Indeed, as the blacksmith had said, the fog was thickening, gathering into a mass that drifted among the rocks. The two men stopped no longer and returned to the trail. The trail twisted and turned, descending at a slow pace, with sparse jungle appearing from time to time by the side of the road. The two travelers picked up their pace carefully, trying to complete the distance before the fog obscured the road.

The mountain fog, however, was faster than their footsteps. After a few miles, large patches of fog had gathered and the trail seemed to be slowly swallowed by a white monster. The fog quickly condensed beneath every rock, lingering not. The starlight overhead gradually disappeared, and everything around them became hazy. They walked for some time against the mountain wall, and finally stopped in unison.

This won’t do, Schert said anxiously, we’ll fall off the cliff!

Felix tried to keep his eyes open, barely able to see the fog pouring out of the woods beside the road. The old trees stretched their twisted arms in the fog, silent asmany gloomy ghosts. He suddenly gave an involuntary shudder.

We can’t go any further, said the bard, let’s rest here. Let’s wait until the fog clears.

Schert shook his head. He didn’t like the idea of spending the night on the trail, but there was no other way. The blacksmith sighed heavily and sat down against the mountain wall.

The bard also found a place to sit down and look into the fog, which was still thickening. Unlike during the day, the mountain fog was a slightly transparent black at night. It was like being in the center of a huge black crystal, and no matter which direction one looked, the darkness was elusive. Especially now, the fog was surprisingly thick. Even though Schert was three steps away, Felix couldn’t see his companion’s face.

For some reason, Felix was inexplicably nervous. Could there be…something on this mountain? For a moment, he remembered many strange legends, most of them about the ghosts of the mountains.

No, he comforted himself. It just didn’t happen to us.

The bard took out his harp from his waist and tried to chase away the pesky feeling of unease with music. He played a few tunes and then plucked them at random in boredom, making the strings make varying and pleasant chords.

You be careful, said the blacksmith with all seriousness, and you’d better stop playing.

Why?

Because you can’t make noise overnight in the mountains. Haven’t you noticed that any living creature is quiet now, Schert said casually, suddenly realizing that it was very quiet indeed, and that not even the sound of insects could be heard. The blacksmith had a certain strange feeling. It seemed that something was hiding in the oppressive silent darkness peeking at him. Schert was uneasy, but he went on with the joke.

Be careful, Felix! Music doesn’t only work on living things. You’re likely to attract…

He stopped abruptly. A breeze blew, and a wispy shadow appeared in the mist. It emerged quietly from the woods by the side of the road with a shivering chill.

…a ghost.

Schert opened his mouth wide, unable to close it for a long time. At the same time, the sound of the lyre stopped abruptly. The bard moved quickly to his side. Schert felt Felix’s shoulders were wet and cold. He wasn’t sure if it was from the sweat or the fog.

Hello guys! The shadow said. It’s hard to climb in the night. May I ask if you have seen a woman pass by?

The two friends looked at each other in astonishment. The voice had the hollow echoes characteristic of the dead, but the tone was as vibrant as the living.

wandering ghosts. Felix said in Schert’s ear. The blacksmith realized at once what they were facing. A person can become a wandering ghost when they are dying with a strong unfulfilled wish. A wandering ghost usually does not realize they are dead and still continues to pursue their goals in life. They wander the human world and do not fall into the world of ghosts.

Excuse me, said the shadow again, did you see a woman pass by? I don’t think you would refuse to help a knight.

You’re a knight? Schert stared at it for a moment, finally daring to ask. The shadow drifted a few paces away from him, and Schert could vaguely see his body fluttering gently in the wind. He wore a long sword at his waist, but no armor. Nor