41 The Hill (1/2)

A hill loomed before us, the blackened earth distorted into waves and ripples which shifted before my very eyes. ”What is it?”

Yuvina set her basket full of meat down and I followed suit. ”I'm not sure what it is exactly, we usually just call it 'the hill'.”

”Uh-huh… and what's the meat for?”

”To feed it.”

”And why are we feeding a hill?” I felt ridiculous even asking the question, let alone about to do that very thing.

”Because it's useful.” She sighed. ”Just wait here and watch.” Picking up her basket, she scaled the hill. The shifting nature of it made it a little difficult, but she seemed accustomed to hopping over the little waves of earth. As it moved, I caught glimpses of other things beneath the outer layer. Bits of metal and rock lay within, twisting and warping in time with the rest of the hill. Whatever it was, it didn't seem safe to be around but the demon climbing it paid no mind to the potential dangers.

Maybe whatever magic gripped it, and it was clearly magical, didn't affect organic matter. It would make things a lot safer, but if that were the case why were they feeding it? Whatever feeding even meant for something that was clearly inorganic. Was it more akin to some kind of sacrifice? It made sense but that didn't seem to be the case. Once Yuvina reached the top she dropped the whole basket into a recess and made her way back.

Before she reached the ground, the hill stopped shifting for a moment and shuddered. Thin strands of leathery fibre emerged from between the folds and dropped in a little pile. So it was some kind of trade? Was this hill-thing actually intelligent? Or was this a natural result of… whatever it was doing with the meat? It seemed too mechanical for that but maybe that was just how the magic worked. I was brimming with curiosity when Yuvina finished her descent. ”I'm guessing from the fact that you guys don't even have a proper name for it that you don't know much about it, right?”

”Yep.”

It was as I'd expected but it was still disappointing though I was careful not to let that show. ”Is there anyone that does know about it?”

”Maybe. No one I know though. You'd probably have to ask a wizard or something, if you can find one. Though if you do, do us all a favour and kill them while you're at it, eh?” She winked at me, as if she'd said something humorous.

I was a lot less interested in the subject of killing but it didn't seem like she had anything else to say about the hill. ”Why would I kill them?” Much as I would have liked to just go along with the flow, I really had no idea what she was talking about.

”Wow, you really don't know anything. They're the ones who messed up the whole world.”

”Oh. I'll, uh, keep that in mind if I run into one.”

”It's okay, you won't. All they do is hide now, assuming any of them are even still alive.”

I cleared my throat. ”Anyway, are the wizards the one who made this hill-thing then?”

”Yeah. Though probably not on purpose. It's more than likely just a result of the merging.” She narrowed her eyes. ”You do at least know about that, right?”

”Yeah. Lady Sarinknell explained it to me a while ago.”

”Good. I was beginning to think you were totally ignorant of our history.”

I laughed. ”I am trying to learn, there's just a lot to take in.”

”I bet. Well, you can take your bucket up now.”

”Can't you do it?” The climb had looked unpleasant enough when she was doing, I didn't much want to experience it for myself.