The Dreadful Hunt

by J. E. Thompson

  “He’s speaking Dwarven,” she explained, “though it’s hard to understand, since his tongue is probably a shriveled mess.”

  “What’s he saying?”

  “Oh…not to kill us. What a relief. He says ‘you vowed to defend us in our time of need. That time is…no?’” Shy tilted her head in confusion. “Oh, ‘that time is now.’ And the frost wyrm is—”

  A concentrated stream of ice burst from the frost wyrm’s jaws, instantly dropping the surrounding temperatures to below freezing. A group of thirty advancing minotaurs slowly froze, though they still struggled forward. Their front hooves sank into the mud, and after a moment, all of them were entombed in ice. Even the mud turned into a slick, frozen morass. The frost wyrm turned its massive head, a stream of spreading frost coating the enemies around them. Some of the burrowers burst from the intense shift in temperatures, exploding into frozen chunks of meat and blood, while others merely turned into ice statues.

  Abruptly, the stream of frost came to a stop.

  “What have you done?”

  The hag’s voice was no longer a cackle. She stood on the roof of the temple, gaping down at the temple complex in disbelief. A few of the minotaurs had been untouched, and now, they turned to run. The frost wyrm gave chase, flapping its magnificent wings once again, sending out gales of powerful wind, and the ensuing blast of icy wind froze the retreating minotaurs in their tracks.

  “Got you!” Kaylin called out, smiling triumphantly as her arrow pierced the hag’s left leg. The hag shrieked, reaching for the haft and struggling to remove it. Her gnarled hands were soon slicked with blood as the dungeoneers rushed forward.

  “Gaaugh,” the hag groaned, jerking the arrow out and stumbling back. She fell through the open roof, collapsing onto a pile of rubble as the dungeoneers rushed into the open temple.

  “One hag down,” Vexx said, swiftly approaching the witch and leveling his staff at her.

  She reached for something in her robes and clutched the voodoo doll in her trembling hand.

  “With this, I control—”

  Shy struck, slashing clear through the hag’s arm. There was barely even the smallest spurt of blood as the hag’s sentence ended with a pained howl. Then Shyola cut down, easily decapitating the hag, smiling smugly down at the deceased witch.

  “That was satisfying.”

  Vexx leaned over and prodded the hag’s severed arm with his staff. He reached for the voodoo doll and examined it, then he looked at the two dwarves standing stoically at his side.

  “Where’s Kazmerian?”

  He looked over at Kaylin, ignoring the succubus rummaging through the hag’s robes, and together, they left the temple. The frost wyrm was silent now, staring down at Kazmerian Thunderbrow, who appeared to be speaking to the ancient dragon in slow, painful speech.

  “What are you saying?”

  The undead dwarf glanced over briefly before resuming the conversation. Vexx frowned, confused that his thrall was acting so independently.

  “He’s thanking the frost wyrm for helping Kazmerian and his comrades,” Shy said, emerging from the temple and wiping her hands against her thighs. “Says he’s a ‘dragon of his word.’ He also adds that they have not yet found another frost wyrm.” Shyola paused as the frost wyrm let out some peculiar noises in a low, rumbling pitch. “The dragon replies that his wait will continue. And now…”

  The frost wyrm settled itself back into the same position on its pedestal, emanating a whirlwind of frost and ice that chilled the entire temple complex. The ice settled around the frost wyrm, and soon, the dragon bore the same detailed design as it had before. Kazmerian turned his eerie green eyes toward Vexx and stuck out a linen-clad hand, barking something threatening in Dwarven.

  “He says that the voodoo doll belongs to them,” Shyola explained. “He wants to be buried with it once again…and to be rid of you.”

  “How is he talking?” Vexx asked in astonishment. “I’ve never had such an advanced minion.”

  “He says he agreed to be reanimated to fight for his people once again. And that…you should leave, you foul corpse-witch.” Shyola shrugged. “His words.”

  Kazmerian stalked forward, snatching the voodoo doll out of Vexx’s slack grip, and the other two undead dwarves fell into position with him as they marched back to their graves.

  “But how will we prove that we killed the hag?” Vexx asked after an uncomfortable few moments. Shy grinned as she lifted the hag’s severed arm.

  “There’s your proof!”

  “You didn’t need to bring that,” Theo said, wrinkling his nose in disgust as Shy proudly displayed the hag’s severed arm.

  “You wanted proof, didn’t you?” the succubus prompted.

  “I wanted the voodoo doll she was using,” Theo griped, glancing over at Kaylin and Vexx. “Do you have that?”

  “Ah…we felt it was best to be placed at rest along with the dwarves.”

  “Really?” Theo frowned, scratching the side of his head. “That wasn’t quite what we agreed on…”

  “Oh, come off it, Theo!” Prandor called. “They did what needed doing. The graves aren’t being desecrated anymore; that’s what we wanted, after all,” he said, brushing sawdust off his tunic, and Theo reluctantly nodded. “Anyway, I just finished getting those last planks installed to replace the damaged ones. We added some waterproofing oil as well. She’s seaworthy now, my friends!”

  “Already?” Vexx asked, raising his eyebrows.

  “Come on!” Prandor said, waving them along and making his way toward the cove. Theo joined the dungeoneers as they trudged toward the rocky hill overlooking the beach.

  “I really can’t thank you enough,” Theo said. “You’ve come a long way, Kaylin. I thought that curse would keep you down for sure. How’d you manage to cure yourself?”

  “Oh, I never did!” Kaylin said with a grin. “Just managed to take it one day at a time, you know?” Kaylin hopped onto a rock, which immediately began sliding downhill. She stumbled and windmilled her arms to keep her footing, but she lost her balance on the loose sand and tumbled down the beach.

  “Unbelievable,” Theo said, shaking his head.

  “A curse?” Shy asked. “What kind?”

  “I can’t remember exactly what it was, but she was hexed for acting up. It kept her dangerously naive and clumsy, and she was trapped in the mental state of an elf in her mid-forties—a terrible fate!” Theo shook his head. “I wouldn’t have thought she’d figure her way out of that, but…” he sighed. “She’s a strange one, that Kaylin.”

  Shy and Vexx both nodded.

  “More importantly, we have your fishing boat ready. I think you’ll be pleased with our craftsmanship. Prandor is the expert, of course, but I helped him with the repairs.”

  “I didn’t expect it to be fixed by now,” Vexx admitted. “I’m glad you had such confidence in our success!”

  “Well, not exactly,” Theo hedged, approaching the beached boat and giving it an affectionate tap on the side. Prandor had paused to help Kaylin up, and the other elves joined the dungeoneers assembled beside the fishing boat. “If you had died, we’d have gotten a free boat.”

  Prandor nodded. “No use in it being broken. But you killed the hag, which is nice,” he admitted. “At least those dwarves can rest easy now. Their old bones have been through enough.”

  “Very true,” Vexx admitted, already clambering aboard. He reached a hand out to haul Shyola up. “Thanks for your hard work!”

  “Where are you off to now?” Theo asked, his long ears twitching. “The waves have settled down, so it should be safe to sail, at least, though I wouldn’t push it too hard.”

  “We’re going to Oerchenbrach!” Vexx declared as Shyola slipped off the rope. “Adventure awaits!”

  Arriving in Oerchenbrach

  The lights of Oerchenbrach reflected off the water as their fishing boat approached the harbor. Vexx squinted, carefully adjusting the ship’s wheel to take their vessel i
n. It had been a pleasant enough voyage, though he had already grown sick of the nautical life.

  “It’ll feel nice to get a good night’s sleep on land,” Vexx commented, managing to weave between two larger boats tied along the harbor. “Did you see that? I’m getting the hang of this.”

  The boat scraped against the side of the harbor before coming to a halt.

  “I’ll get us tied and secured,” Shyola announced as she clambered onto the harbor, quickly cinching the boat into position and knotting the ropes with expert motions. Kaylin and Vexx grabbed their rucksacks and stepped out onto the harbor. A stern-looking guardsman stood watch at the end, his long spear reflecting the gleaming light of the dockside taverns and restaurants. It was a busy evening in Oerchenbrach, laughter and chatter echoed throughout the harbor as the dungeoneers approached.

  “Anything to declare?” the guard asked, looking bored as he scanned the dungeoneers.

  “We’re glad to be in Oerchenbrach!” Kaylin proudly declared.

  The guard seemed unimpressed. “Right…well, good luck finding a room. The whole city’s gone mad ever since word came round of Dred Wyrm visiting. All the inns are booked up, as far as I can tell, and even some of the common folk are renting out spare rooms. Don’t let us catch you on the streets, either,” he added casually. “We’ll run you out of town. You got any reservations?”

  “Reservations about visiting?” Kaylin blinked. “Well, now that you mention it, I have some…”

  “We’ll be fine,” Vexx said, nodding to the guard as the dungeoneers made their way toward the main street.

  “If we need a room, we could always kill the occupant,” Shyola mused. “That would provide us with dinner as well!”

  “Us?”

  “Well, me, but…” Shyola trailed off as they approached the dockside street. A procession of enthusiastic marchers was making its way past, talking loudly and laughing raucously. A few raised torches were hoisted in the air, while others displayed banners showing the face of a noble-looking man with the leathery skin of a dragonborn adventurer.

  “Dred Wyrm,” Vexx breathed, watching the procession with an open mouth. He closed it in a hurry. “It seems like the whole town is here to celebrate him. Come on, let’s see where they’re going!”

  “Master, now is not the time for your man crush,” Shyola grumbled as she gripped his arm, anchoring him in place. “We need to secure lodging. He isn’t even supposed to be here yet, correct?”

  “Well…” Vexx trailed off. “Mm, I suppose so. We still have a few days.”

  “Are you sure we can even afford rooms for a couple days?” Kaylin asked. The procession left the muddy road, though the traffic was still quite busy for a typical evening. A plow horse tramped on past, loaded down with grain, and a mage in a shimmering blue tunic joked to a broad-shouldered archer as the pair walked by.

  “The place is lousy with dungeoneers,” Vexx muttered, grimacing as he took in several adventurers in armor. “I bet it’ll be hard to find ourselves a job here.”

  “One step at a time,” Shyola patted his shoulder, making her way to the first dockside inn; a ramshackle three-story establishment that seemed to be on the verge of collapse. There was no occupancy there, and even the fully loaded rooms had been so crammed that parties were being lodged together. Steadily, the dungeoneers made their way outward, visiting any place, regardless of how seedy it seemed.

  Half an hour had passed before they reached an inn atop a blacksmith; the sounds of hammer work rang through the air despite the late hour. Vexx made his way up, tired and disappointed, and he rapped on the door. It opened to reveal a gap-toothed old man with a shaggy mop of white hair.

  “What? More tourists?”

  “Something like that,” Vexx said. “Can we come in?”

  “What?” the man repeated as the hammering continued downstairs. Vexx wondered just how long the man had lived here. He supposed it wasn’t a great place to maintain your hearing. Already, Kaylin was grimacing, her long ears twitching at every loud clang of the blacksmith’s hammer in the building below.

  “Can. We. Get. A. Room!?” Vexx shouted.

  “Oh, why didn’t you say so? Come on in,” the old man said, waving them inside while he shuffled over to his desk, where a candle cast a flickering light over a thick sheaf of papers. “We were full…but then someone pulled a sword on the blacksmith downstairs, demanding that he stop working. Got his brains bashed in not an hour ago. So, you’re in luck! Oh, but um…it’s just one room,” he said, eyeing the party of three.

  “We’ll make it work,” Vexx said tiredly, and the others nodded unenthusiastically.

  “Seven gold Imperials,” the old man announced, tapping at his desk. “Per night.”

  “What, are you nuts?” Vexx glared at the man, his patience fraying away. “That could last us a week in a fine establishment. In this place? That’s downright criminal.”

  The old man shrugged. “Lots of people visiting. They want to take a look at Dred Wyrm, maybe even meet him and join his crew. A load of nonsense, if you ask me, but some people love that guy. There are also a bunch of foolhardy dungeoneer types who think they can find a dragon egg. Probably the worst of the lot.”

  Vexx grumbled, feeling through his pockets. Shyola shrugged, she never carried anything, nor did she have any interest in money at all, while Kaylin produced a few bits of gleaming metal and passed them over to Vexx.

  “We can do three a night,” Vexx said. “We’re all using the same room anyway, so there’s no reason to charge us extra.”

  “And only one bed, too,” the old man said with a leering smile. “You lucky goat, you should be paying me extra for that. Best I can do is five. Otherwise, I’ll throw you out and get a new dungeoneer who’ll pay.”

  “At this time of night?” Vexx grimaced. “Five, then. Know any place where we can make that money back?”

  “No,” the old man replied, scooping up Vexx’s coins with surprising agility. “Third room on the right. Enjoy your stay!”

  Vexx tried to reply, but the blacksmith started banging away just below them again, and so he settled for a grudging nod as the dungeoneers made their way down the corridor to their room. His disappointment only increased when he opened the door and lit a small flame to partly illuminate the room. There were cobwebs in the corner, and a half-empty shelf with a straw bed took up an entire side of the room. A bundle of towels was unceremoniously dumped on the other side.

  “Is this just a spare closet?”

  “It’ll have to do,” Shy said, peeking past him. “I claim the towels,” she said, sidling past Vexx and approaching the bundle of towels. She gave them a poke and yawned. “I don’t know about you two, but I’m bushed.” Shyola collapsed on the pile of towels as Kaylin and Vexx glanced at each other.

  “Well, I’m taking the bed. Are you going to sleep with me, Vexx?”

  The blacksmith’s hammering had ended at some point in the night, but it returned early in the morning, along with the crowing of nearby roosters. The dungeoneers jolted awake at the sounds of clashing metal, and they glanced around blearily, rubbing the sleep from their eyes.

  Shyola’s yawn soon turned into a frown.

  “Are you naked, elf?”

  Kaylin glanced over at the succubus, leaning forward to clutch the light blanket to her chest. “Of course! Leather is too hot to wear at night.”

  Kaylin yawned again. “I didn’t get much sleep, though. Felt like there was something poking me all night.”

  Shy fixed her glare at Vexx. “Master…”

  “It must have been the straw,” Vexx mumbled.

  “No, it was definitely—”

  “Let’s get an early start,” Vexx said, rising out of the straw bed, still wearing his robes. He ran a hand through his hair, brushing it back into some semblance of organization. He bit back another yawn as bits of straw fluttered to the ground. “This room isn’t cheap. If we can drum up some work, then so much the better.”
>
  Vexx made his way out in a hurry, Shyola hot on his heels, slamming the door behind her. “Master, we should just kill the elf! I feel like she’s getting between us.”

  “Look, we’re all just companions,” Vexx said. “We fight together, yes? That’s all.”

  “Hmm…”

  The succubus crossed her arms, fixing Vexx with a hard look.

  “If any paladins were to hear of you consorting with an elf—”

  “I am doing no such thing,” Vexx said, falling to a whisper as another door opened. Two adventurers emerged, rubbing their tired faces, barely glancing at Vexx and Shy as they passed by. “No such thing,” Vexx repeated. “Besides, you’re one to talk, you succubus.”

  Shy shrugged. “I just know all the trouble a wizard’s wand can get him in. You know, if you’re starving for companionship,” she grinned wickedly, practically purring as she pressed against his side, “then you’re in luck, because I have centuries of—”

  The door squeaked open as Kaylin emerged, decked out in her leather armor. “Creep,” she rolled her eyes at Shy, already pushing her way past. “Come on, wizard, old lady. We have work to do.”

  Vexx hurried past the sputtering succubus and joined Kaylin as they walked down the stairs, emerging at the front of the blacksmith’s shop. A few wares were set out for display; swords and knives, mainly, which were of little interest to Vexx. Instead, he looked over at the dockside market, where crowds were already forming around merchants and food stalls. Vexx’s stomach grumbled, and he patted it reassuringly.

  “Let’s get something to eat,” he declared, weaving his way through a bustling crowd. He flinched as he took in the prices written on the stalls all around him. “What? You’ve got to be kidding me. Oerchenbrach is expensive!”

  “That’s rather pricey for a breakfast,” Shyola said with a whistle. “Nothing like Golden Streams Landing prices. Ah, and it’s so busy that stealing a soul in the crowd will be…hmm, I can make it work,” she mused.