Gruff Tolls, Page 2

toll. So he watched him approach until he came within a spear's throw of the threshold. He then jumped off the column and emerged from its shadow to place himself on the path. The traveler hesitated when he saw him, but after a moment tugged on his yak in resignation and trudged on forward.

  When the traveler came within jumping distance, the spider realized with surprise that he had mistaken "his" gender. The traveler was actually a female, and a most unusual one at that. She had a flat, oval face with skin the color of burnt charcoal. Two small horns stood out at the extreme ends of her forehead, and along with her pointed ears they framed her curly mass of short ash-gray hair. She wore a laced leather vest over a simple, long-sleeved shirt, and a pair of breeches, and she carried a cloak over one arm, but she was barefoot. Which made sense, considering that her feet more closely resembled those of a dragon than a human, down to the claws and the rearward pointing fourth toe. That was when he spotted the barbed tail lashing about behind her knees, and the vestigial wings sprouting from her shoulder blades. She looked unlike any being he had ever seen before and he felt oddly apprehensive.

  When she came within a body-length of him, he raised his pedipalps in warning. She stopped as he expected her to, but she did not seem at all frightened, or even nervous.

  "Do not move," he said in a loud, breathy whisper. "I will not harm you, but I will defend myself if attacked." He spoke in the language common to all denizens of the Land of Dreams, which he had learned to master over many years. Spiders communicated with each other in a whistling tongue using air expressed from their book lungs, but few non-spiders ever learned it, for obvious reasons. However, lacking true lungs, he could not force breath through the orifices in his abdomen with sufficient power to be heard beyond a few feet.

  "I am unarmed," she said, "and defenseless. I mean no one harm." Yet he couldn't help notice that her fingers had claws instead of nails.

  "Tell me you name and profession."

  "I am Mephitis. I am an apothecary; I have a shop in Ulthar in the Six Kingdoms."

  "And what is your business this day?"

  "I am journeying to Inganok to catch a ship home."

  "Very well. You are free to use my bridge to cross over, but you must pay a toll."

  She raised an eyebrow above her blood-red eyes. "What sort of toll?"

  He clicked his fangs together for emphasis. "Anything I can eat, or barring that, anything I can use to purchase food."

  She managed to look disappointed. "Unfortunately, I don't have anything I can pay you with. I carry only travel food: unleavened biscuits, jerky, and dried fruit."

  "I accept coin."

  "What few tahlers I have left I need for room and board in Inganok and boat passage."

  "Then I will take a portion of your goods."

  "I carry only ingredients I've collected for my medicinal preparations. They are of little value to anyone else in their raw state."

  "Then I shall take your yak."

  "I cannot carry my packs by myself."

  "I'm afraid you have little choice. If you do not give me your yak, I will take you instead."

  "I can always go back the way I came."

  "If you try, I can catch and subdue you before you turn away. Yet, even if you were to escape, consider the risk. Take another route, and you may still lose all, including your life. At least this way, you may keep your life and whatever goods you can carry, and I will gladly protect the rest until you can return for them, for an additional toll."

  She did an odd thing then: she grinned, revealing upper and lower canines that were long and needle sharp. "I have a counter proposal, if you are interested."

  "I am willing to negotiate."

  "My traveling companions behind me are wealthier than I am. They will pay my toll as well as their own, but only if you let me pass unmolested."

  Suspicion danced though his mind. "How do I know you speak the truth?"

  She shrugged. "You don't. However, they can pay you quite handsomely, and you can always eat them if they refuse. If, on the other hand, you attack me, they will leave, and you will profit little from this encounter. The choice is yours."

  He didn't take long to consider. She had a strong case, and truth be told, she didn't look all that appetizing. At best, he would only eat the yak and claim what little money she possessed. Even her clothes and equipment were unlikely to be worth bartering with future travelers, and if she told the truth about her goods, they were practically worthless. In any event, thought it worth the gamble.

  He strode off the path to one side. "Very well, you may pass. But I will remember you, and if you've plaid me false, I will take you should you ever come through here again."

  "So be it." She nodded and walked past him.

  He watched her as she crossed the bridge, and when she reached half-way, one of the remaining travelers began the descent from the ridge top. He moved back onto the path to face the second person. He suspected that it was a woman, but being as her clothing obscured her form, he couldn't be certain until she had come as close as the first. She was tall, with a slender dancer's physique that belied the strength underlying her body. She wore a long, open, black robe over purple silk pantaloons and a hauberk of cuir-bouilli covered with metal scales. A turban of black cloth bound her head, from under which strands of midnight-blue hair dangled, while the lower half of her face lay hidden behind a black silk veil, leaving only her violet eyes visible. Soft leather boots covered her feet, and soft leather gloves her hands. A belt cradled her hips, and suspended from it were a curved, thin-bladed sword, a knife with a thick blade with a dog-leg bend, various tools and pieces of equipment, and a number of pouches.

  As before, he raised his pedipalps and she stopped, but her expression remained invisible behind her veil.

  "Do not move. I will not harm you, but I will defend myself if attacked."

  She lowered the veil, leaving it dangling from one side of the turban, to reveal her light bronze-colored skin. "If you say so." She stood easy and relaxed, with one hand resting on the hilt of her sword, as if symbolically proclaiming the same announcement as his.

  "Tell me you name and profession."

  "I am Morgiana of the House of Baba. I am a Master in the Thieves' Guild of Creachabh in the Six Kingdoms."

  "And what is your business this day?"

  "I am traveling to Inganok, to seek passage south."

  "Very well. You are free to use my bridge to cross over, but you must pay a toll."

  "I expected as much." Her tone had a facetious quality to it, as if she laughed at him, and her eyes crinkled in a mischievous manner as she smiled.

  "Anything I can eat, or barring that, anything I can use to purchase food."

  Now her eyes grew grave as she frowned and a grim tone filled her voice. "I'm not sure what I might have that could accommodate your fee."

  "I will accept coin."

  She dismissed that idea with a languid wave of her hand. "Money is of no use in the wilderness; it only makes you a target. As well, I have little need for it, since I can steal whatever items I require. And those few times I do require currency, I can steal that, too."

  "Then I shall take a portion of your goods."

  She chuckled. "What I carry are artifacts liberated from the north: statuary, small reliefs, pots, jars, vases, and the like, all made of stone or terracotta. I plan to sell them to collectors in the Six Kingdoms. They are of little value to anyone else."

  "No gold or precious gems?"

  She shook her head. "Such make you a target. As well, my customers are looking for exotic paraphernalia to decorate their homes, not treasure to increase their wealth. Though they pay well for such items."

  "Then I will take your yak."

  Her posture tensed into one of defiance. "I cannot possibly carry all my goods myself, nor will I leave anything behind."

  "Then that leaves you."

  Her grip tightened on her sword, but she made no move to pull it. "Like you, I mean no harm,
but I will defend myself."

  "Your companion, Mephitis, promised me you could pay both your toll and hers, yet you seem incapable of paying your own. Did she lie?"

  Her posture relaxed as her eyes crinkled and her lips turned up, as if he had said something humorous. "No, she did not. I have wealth enough for both of us, but it is in a form that cannot benefit you. However, I have an alternative offer to make."

  He drummed his pedipalps on the ground in irritation. Their routine has gotten monotonous, not to mention frustrating and ludicrous. "What is it?"

  "Our companion who waits on the ridge above is wealthier than Mephitis and I combined. She can easily pay the toll for all three of us, and then some, and she can pay in coin, gold, or gems. Let me pass, and she will approach; attack me, and she will depart, leaving you with only a minor reward."

  He whistled in exasperation. One promise made so far had already turned out false, but if she told the truth, he could not afford to pass up the opportunity. And if she didn't, at least there were no other travelers behind the third. He should be able to get something at last.

  He sidestepped off the path. "Very well, you may proceed. But I shall remember you, and if you have deceived me, I will claim you if ever you pass this way again."

  She pulled the veil back over her face and tugged on the yak, then strode forward, but as she passed him she said, "You are welcome to try."

  He ignored her and watched her cross over, and again when she got half way, the third traveler descended the slope. He moved back onto the path to wait for her.

  For once, he noted even from a distance that the last individual was a woman. And what a woman at that. She stood taller than the thief; indeed, she would have towered over anyone he had previously met. She was also the biggest person he had ever seen. She had a massive body, with wide shoulders and hips, and large, firm, erect, well-rounded breasts. But she also had a narrow waist and a flat stomach. As she got closer, he could see the powerful muscles that underlay her frame, despite that her loose, flowing dress hid her body from sight. It had long sleeves and a long, smooth skirt that fell to her ankles, colored forest-green and decorated with red filigree around her neckline, cuffs, and hem. Ties secured it at her shoulders, while a charcoal-gray cloak lay draped over one side, secured over her bosom with a bronze brooch. A belt of woven, black-dyed leather strips encircled her waist, and from it hung a broad sword with a three-foot blade, a heavy-bladed dirk, and a number of pouches, all of which bulged as if ready to burst. On her feet she wore hard-soled cloth shoes that matched her dress. Gold-tinged bronze hair crowned her bare head, which hung loose and strait to the small of her back, except for two braids that hung off either temple down her front to her belt. A handful of small golden balls had been woven into the tip of each. The hair was secured with a band of silvery metal that encircled her head, and around her throat sat a neckring of heavy-twisted gold, open at the throat, the ends of which were capped with large, uncut rubies. She carried an eight-foot spear in one hand, with a broad, single-edged, serrated blade and an iron spike attached to the butt, using it like a staff.

  When she reached him, he announced for a third time, "Do not move. I will not harm you, but I will defend myself if attacked."

  She stopped as the others had, but unlike them she said nothing, while her handsome, long oval face with its sharp features and smooth adobe complexion gave him a look of haughty disdain. He noticed that her eyebrows had been painted jet black and her lips crimson, like fresh blood.

  "Tell me you name and profession."

  She had a strong, sing-song contralto voice with a ringing, imperious tone. "I am Medb hErenn of Ulthar; High Queen of Erin, Defender of the Fir Bholg, Champion of the Tuatha De Danann, Protector of the Heighbernigh, Hero to the Gaels, Friend to the Daoine Sidhe, and Scourge of the Fomoraigh. Loyal, generous,