Acting the Part

“And here we are.”

Dirgg had led me to the exit. It was some thirty minutes from his home, and it opened up to a new side of the mountain. The early light of the day was creeping over the world, shining gold and brilliantly, reflecting orange off the crystallized snow.

“Thank you, Dirgg. I wasn’t sure how I’d find my way out of that cave.”

“Bah, think nothing of it, my boy. It was entertaining for me, for it’s not everyday that a human visits my home. Now, you’ll be on your own from here on out. Your companions will assist you, but the choices you make and how you utilize their help rests on you.”

“Do you have any idea where they could be? I told you we got separated when a frost giant sent an avalanche at us.”

The hermit stood still for a moment, racking his brain as he tried to remember details from a time long ago. He scratched his beard and looked into the distance with his blind eyes, searching for a clue.

“Hmm. They’ll be tried for trespassing on Boreas’ land, so you should start with the jail, which is... in that direction.” He pointed to a mountain a few kilometres away. “Mmh, yes, yes, that way I’m sure... I think.”

I was glad he was blind because I didn’t want him to see the doubt on my face.

“Oh, I just remembered something important!” Dirgg exclaimed.

My rush to doubt was preemptive. Time to redeem yourself, old man.

“If you see my wife, please give her my regards.”

A heavy sigh escaped from my lips. “I don’t know what she looks like or where to find her, but sure, I’ll give her your regards.”

“Oh, don’t worry too much about it, she’ll find you, like I did. And if I can find you, then others can as well—like your friend behind the barrier. Off you go.”

He gave me a push on my back, sending me stumbling forward. When I turned around, he was gone. With no choice but to traverse the open fields, I waded through the snow to the mountain side Dirgg had pointed out. If luck was on my side, I should be able to reach it without being spotted. I stuck close to the crest of the snowbank to hide my approach.

The mountain side was covered in rocks and snow. Where an entrance was, I didn’t know. I wished the old man had been more specific. I wandered around the perimeter of the mountain for some time until I found an opening carved into the side. This must be what I was looking for. I took a moment to observe the opening, but no frost giants made their presence known.

The torches that lit the way indicated that this cave was in use. The passage way inside the cave went round and round, leading further into the mountain. Sometimes the pathway went up and sometimes it went down. Eventually, I came across a large wooden door with a giant sleeping next to it. There was no other route that I could take, and I was sure I hadn’t missed any side passages, so this had to be the only way forward. I could see a keyring hanging on the giants belt. Tempting as it was, I decided against sneaking over and stealing it. What I needed was a way to get the giant to open the door for me. I sat down on a knee-high boulder and thought until inspiration struck.

Ahem “Excuse me, Mr. Frost Giant, do you know where I can find the jail?”

The frost giant rubbed his eyes as he was inelegantly woken up from his slumber. He looked at me for a moment as his small brain tried to process what it was seeing.

“Oi! Who let you in here?”

“King Boreas did.”

“He did, did he? What a load of mud.”

“No, it’s true. Uh, see, look here,” I said as I fished King Eulerich’s medallion out of my pocket. I held it up for the giant to see.

“What’s dat?”

“It’s King Boreas’ official medal, entrusted only to me. You wouldn’t want to go against him, would you?”

“I ain’t never heard of no official medal. ‘Sides, why’s a bird in the middle and not King Boreas?”

“King Boreas was wise to put someone as observant as you here—nothing escapes your watch. Tell me, have you not seen any bird-like creatures visit King Boreas lately?”

“Hmm. Now dat you mention it, I did see one of them buzzards the other day.”

They must be related to the first bird-like creature that tried to trick me. I wondered what they were doing here.

“Exactly! The King works with them, and thus his medal reflects this. On the other side would be an image of King Boreas but we needed to make this medal quickly, so we didn’t have time to engrave him on it, only the bird.”

“Hmm. Mmh. I suppose dat makes sense. So you need to see the jail?”

“Yes, that’s right. If you would be so kind.”

The frost giant, having made up his mind, pushed himself to his feet and removed the keyring from his belt. He fumbled through the keys until he found the right one, unlocking the door and opening it for me.

“Thank you,” I said, giving him a small salute with my index and middle finger as I walked in.

“Don’t mention it.”

“Oh, one more thing. I believe you picked up some prisoners that should have been brought in last night.”

“Hmm, aye, we got two last night. Tried to disguise themselves as sheep, but Boreas is gonna freeze them to death soon enough.” He made a pummelling motion with his hands.

“Right, right. Now, before he can freeze them, I need to step into their cell and interrogate them. Can I borrow their cell key for a while?”

“Hmm. Make sure they don’t escape. And ask Juerg if you need any torture instruments.”

The frost giant flipped through the keys, removed one, and handed it to me. I grabbed the key, which was about the length of a foot and weighed equally as much. It had a sweaty, frost giant smell to it. The frost giant closed the door behind me. I had gotten this far, but now I needed to think of a way out.