The Dreadful Hunt

by J. E. Thompson

  Vexx scanned stall after stall as they made their way past, then a familiar name caught his attention.

  “Doctor Fansee’s Potions?” he read the sign in surprise, approaching the stall. A couple wisps of white hair appeared, and then the gnome emerged with two burbling potions clutched in his hands. He beamed at them in surprise and recognition.

  “Oh, Vexx! Fancy seeing you here. How was the trip to Golden Streams Landing?”

  Vexx shook his head. “It wasn’t great,” he admitted. “Nearly died half a dozen times.”

  “But my potions saved you?” Doctor Fansee prompted.

  “To be honest, your potion was probably what brought me closest to death.”

  “Hah! Well, never mind that. You’re an enterprising lad, aren’t you? Oh, and the beautiful Kaylin and alluring Shyola!”

  Shyola frowned. “She’s not beautiful. Passably comely, perhaps.”

  “Still keeping this young man alive? Well, good for you!” Doctor Fansee said with a good natured chortle. “What brings you all to Oerchenbrach? Not the legend of this dragon egg, surely? You’re much too clever to go on such a wild goose chase.”

  “Well…I mainly just wanted to see Dred Wyrm, really,” Vexx said, scratching at his neck and shooting Doctor Fansee an embarrassed smile. “But I guess we got here too early. It’s another two days until he arrives, and we were hoping to take some quests while in town, but with all the dungeoneers around…”

  “You’re in luck, my friend,” Doctor Fansee said. All this time, he’d been pulling out a miniature ladder, and now, he set it up beside his stall and climbed up to the sign. He pulled out a thin chunk of wood, removed a thin layer of film, then slapped it against the wall. “Genuine horse hoof paste,” Doctor Fansee said approvingly. “Sticks fast to anything!” He leaned back on his ladder, rocking in place precariously. He gestured over at his new “Sold Out” sign, which had been plastered to his stall.

  “Now, then,” Doctor Fansee said, hopping down to the ground and folding his ladder back up. “I have a job for you.”

  “We’re listening,” Vexx replied.

  “I had a dungeoneering party come by this morning and take the rest of what I had in stock. Never seen so much demand! Now, you know I like to add a bit of mint to give it that special flavor—”

  “I’ve been missing it,” Vexx cut in.

  “And I’m sure you have, but that’s easy enough to get. What I need are some herbs on one of the islands nearby. Now, I suppose you’ll have to convince someone to row you out there…hmm, maybe you aren’t the bunch for me…”

  “We have a boat now, Doctor Fansee, and it would take merely a moment to get ourselves out there.”

  “Wonderful! Splendid! It’s just off the coast, with a spiny ridge that makes people around here call it Hedgehog Island. You get a lot of rainfall in these parts, and they gather in pools around the peaks of Hedgehog Island, where you’ll find a lot of larynroot. It’s a thin, spindly, crimson and violet crop that’s a pivotal ingredient in healing potions.”

  “Healing potions,” Vexx repeated. “But do you have anything for magic? I’m sorry to insist, Doctor, but I’m just about all out.”

  “Ah, my boy! Never you fear. I can get the components in town just fine, although if you do come across any white, star-shaped flowers, I could throw those in as well. I’m not sure if they grow around here, but it’s possible. The larynroot, however, is key. Healing potions is how I make the bulk of my sales, you know. Plenty of big, strong fellas just want to swing a sword around and don’t even piss about with the blue stuff. They’re missing out on life, I say, but never mind that.”

  Doctor Fansee clapped his hands together. “Sooner you bring it back, the better. I’ll give you, say, a gold Imperial for every four full larynroot stems you bring me, and I’ll toss in the last of my Confusion potions.”

  “Why would you drink those?” Kaylin asked, frowning down at the glowing yellow potions sitting on the counter of Doctor Fansee’s stall. “That’s confusing.”

  “Ah, they’re not for drinking, Miss Kaylin! If you splash them open on your adversary, you can bewilder and alarm them. They…admittedly are not my best sellers, but they’re all I have left.” Doctor Fansee thoughtfully scratched his white beard. “Hmm…I suppose you could take them with you, if you’d like.”

  “Don’t mind if I do,” Vexx said, scooping the two Confusion potions into his rucksack. “Never fear, Doctor Fansee, we’ll sail out now and get you your herbs.”

  “Glad to hear it, my boy!” Doctor Fansee called out, already scurrying into the crowd. “I’ll see you soon!”

  Hedgehog Island

  “I’m starving,” Kaylin moaned while Vexx ignored his own pangs of hunger, steering the fishing boat into the waters off the island marked by the pointed rocks.

  “We need money to eat, Kaylin,” Vexx said as he looked for a spot to dock.

  “Speak for yourself,” Shy cut in, but Vexx ignored her. He found a hidden cove against the rocky shore and carefully navigated the fishing boat around the rocks as the tide splashed against the edge of Hedgehog Island.

  “Who wants to tie us up?” Vexx asked.

  “I would love to, Master,” Shy said, sprinting along the narrow length of the vessel with a rope in hand. She soared outward over a rock, easily clearing the short distance to the small beach.

  Kaylin clapped. “Nice jump!”

  Shyola braced herself against the sand and strained to bring the boat in. Finally, she wrapped it around a large boulder as Vexx and Kaylin splashed their way onto the island.

  “Now to find those herbs,” Vexx said, patting his stomach. “And pay for lodging…food too, if we can afford it.”

  “Food first,” Kaylin insisted, leading the way up the rocky slope of Hedgehog Island. Loose rocks clattered down the slope as she made her way past, barely avoiding the other grumbling dungeoneers. “It wasn’t too comfortable for me anyway. We could probably find better lodgings elsewhere.”

  “I suppose we could sleep out here if it came to it,” Vexx said, though he was skeptical at the idea. “Ow, watch it, Kaylin!” he snapped, Kaylin had knocked a stone loose and it smacked directly into his forehead.

  “Sorry about that,” she shouted down at him. “Must be the curse.”

  Kaylin resumed her climb, hauling herself up as she grabbed onto a small tree for purchase.

  “Hmm…” Shy dodged another sliding rock. “That could explain it, I suppose. It seems quite unbelievable that she’s even managed to survive that long, and some curses can haunt a person for ages. I’ve known a few hex givers in my time; witches, warlocks, and other demons. And I can say from experience, that if I had the ability…” She glared up at Kaylin, now silhouetted beside a boulder. “I would have definitely cursed her.”

  They finally struggled up the top, where the slope evened out. Kaylin frowned over at Shy.

  “Really?”

  “I would have cursed your hearing, you little spy,” Shy muttered.

  Kaylin’s ears twitched. “Well, it’s my hearing that made me stop. Look over there. Do you see any movement in the trees?”

  Now that Vexx looked, he could see a few of the branches in the pine trees moving. After a moment, a flight of birds took off, soaring over the island.

  Shy snorted. “You’re listening to birds now?”

  Kaylin shrugged, looking faintly embarrassed as Vexx began trekking forward to the rocky outcrop ahead of them. Vexx kept a steady pace as he worked his way uphill, already thinking about all the food they’d be able to buy once they returned with as many herbs as they could stuff in their packs. So when a javelin sailed out from behind a boulder, Vexx only stared dumbly at it as it clattered off the rocks beside him.

  “Ambush!” Kaylin shouted, and Vexx heard the thrum of her bowstring. “Get to cover, Vexx!”

  He snapped out of it, dodging to the side as two black arrows soared out. He caught the briefest glimpse of a goblin silhouetted against
the sun with a bow pulled back. Then Kaylin’s arrow soared forward, catching the goblin in the arm. His shot went wild, and the arrow spun end over end as he staggered behind a tree for cover.

  “Damn, why are there goblins everywhere?” Shyola spat as she ran past, fading into nothingness as she ran closer to the goblins. Scree shifted beneath her feet as she vaulted over a boulder and disappeared into the nearby grove of trees. Another goblin archer was perched on a tree limb, pulling his bow back just as Vexx casted a fireball. The arrow streamed past the fireball and lodged in Vexx’s shoulder. He cried out even as the fireball exploded in the goblin’s chest, knocking the dead creature off the branch.

  “Behind you!”

  Vexx turned at Kaylin’s cry, doing his best to ignore the burning pain radiating from his shoulder. Raising his staff, he aimed a powerful Ethereal Screech at two snarling goblins that scrambled up the rocky incline behind them. But after the danger had passed, he sunk to one knee, dropping his staff and reaching for the arrow. Taking a fortifying breath, Vexx wrenched the arrow free and dropped it to the ground.

  Shyola’s crazed laughter echoed from the trees, and in the distance, Vexx caught brief glimpses of her orange-red whip flashing as it snapped from side to side.

  Then, a silence fell upon Hedgehog Island.

  “Are you alright, Vexx?”

  Vexx winced as he felt Kaylin patting his back. “Not…great, but…could you pull out a bandage for me?”

  He felt her rummaging in his rucksack and then she triumphantly produced a roll of bandages.

  “I’ve got you,” she said, helping Vexx pull the right sleeve of his robes up. “We don’t have any salve though,” Kaylin added, and he winced as he felt her rolling the bandage around his shoulder.

  “Can’t be helped,” he muttered, fumbling for a health potion and taking a long swallow. He grimaced at the taste, but the pain was already leaving him.

  “All good,” Kaylin said, tying the bandage securely and stepping back.

  “Those goblins are done for,” Shyola announced, sauntering toward them and wiping her mouth. “And there’s breakfast! What’s the matter, Master, got a little graze?”

  “Sure,” Vexx said, taking a step forward and resisting the urge to rub at the dull ache. “It’s nothing. Let’s get those herbs already.”

  The rainwater ponds were easy to find, scattered as they were behind the copse of trees where the goblins had planned their ambush. The scent of the pine trees mixed with the fresh stench of death as the dungeoneers made their way over toward the first small pool. Frogs scattered at their approach, and a kaleidoscope of dragonflies flew lazy circles over the tranquil spot. Shyola pointed at a small cluster of white flowers with five points.

  “Master, Did Doctor Fansee mention something like this? I know nothing of herbology, but I do vaguely recall this having some importance as a component in healing poultices.”

  “Those are a bonus, yes,” Vexx replied, wincing as he bent down and delicately pried one loose. He shifted, using his uninjured arm to pluck the others as Kaylin circled the periphery of the lake.

  “Oh, look! I found one of the purplish-red ones!”

  By the time Vexx had finished gathering the white flowers and stuffing them in his rucksack, Kaylin was sawing away at a cluster of the wild larynroot. He hurried over when he noticed. Kaylin cut through a few of them, raising them high and shooting Vexx a smile.

  “You have to pull them up by the roots,” Vexx explained, trying to hide his impatience. “See?” He reached down and pried one free; nearly double the length of the ones Kaylin had cut. “We need to get as much of this as we can.”

  “Oh…”

  Vexx moved onward, trying to see what Shyola was doing. The succubus was kicking at clusters of plants, occasionally chopping at them with her whip and glaring at the results.

  “I don’t see any,” she muttered, walking over to another small pool after leaving a mess of long, leafy stalks and blue flowers in her wake.

  “Just look. You don’t have to destroy it all.” Vexx sighed. This wasn’t how he’d planned to spend his morning.

  One of Hedgehog Island’s large spikes could be seen just ahead; a bizarrely shaped rocky outcrop with a dark outline showing a cave in the center. Vexx glanced over, then walked through the meadows on this part of the island to peer inside.

  “Ah, there’s a bunch of them!” Shyola called out, but Vexx ignored her, his boots squelching as he skirted around a small pool toward the cave entrance. He raised his staff, summoning a small flame, then he fed more power into the growing ball of fire to cast light into the dark cavern.

  I wonder what’s in here…

  A rumbling from within interrupted his thoughts, and then a dark figure appeared from a side passage in the cave.

  The Cave Troll

  “Oh, shit,” Vexx muttered, already backing up. The splashing of his boots in the pond attracted the attention of the other dungeoneers. “Shit, shit!”

  “What’s the matter, Master?” Shyola asked casually. “Are you worried about—oh, hells...”

  Emerging from the cave entrance was a massive cave troll, squinting as it raised a massive arm to block out the sun. Already his arm was sizzling as the light began turning it into stone, but the cave troll seemed unbothered. Still, from the glare he fixed on Vexx as he advanced, the dungeoneers had disturbed him. He bent down and picked up a huge log that had been resting by the entrance.

  “Damn it all,” Vexx said as he scrambled back to the others. “Hey, we don’t want any trouble!”

  The cave troll rumbled as he hefted his enormous tree club and rested it on one shoulder. The troll had trimmed away the branches and even spent some time smoothing out the grip, but his weapon was still essentially a tree. An arrow sailed out, thudding into the troll’s right thigh, but it did nothing to slow its steady advance. Its beady eyes bored holes into Vexx as the cave troll moved forward.

  “Ethereal Screech!” Vexx called out, jabbing his staff forward and calling forth a barrage of skulls. They slammed into the troll, pausing his advance and splashing pond water everywhere as they detonated around the creature. In that moment, Vexx noticed the clusters of larynroot around the edges of the pool, and he gripped his staff harder, determined to fight for the prize.

  The cave troll reeled back now, momentarily caught off guard. A series of small splashes disturbed the surface of the pond, then an orange-red whip lashed out from nowhere, curling around the cave troll’s right thigh and leaving a sizzling mark. Shyola appeared as she struck, darting behind the troll and slashing him in the back.

  The troll let out a guttural moan and turned, swinging its club in a wide arc. Its tree club nearly caught Shyola in the head, and it forced her to dive backwards, splashing into the pool. The cave troll ignored her and stomped toward Vexx instead. Reacting instinctively, Vexx fired a series of fireballs at the troll, but they seemed to harmlessly roll off the creature’s stony skin. The troll advanced, looking no worse for wear through the smoke, and then Vexx focused his fire higher. Three fireballs smashed into the tree club, knocking it back and almost out of the cave troll’s grip. The troll rumbled, smashing the smoldering log into the pond to put out the flames, looking up in surprise as an arrow whizzed by to sink into the troll’s face. He jerked a hand away and blocked his eyes, seemingly worried for the first time.

  “Get back!” Vexx shouted, feeding strength into a growing spray of flames. He adjusted his staff, pouring even more magical energy into it to enhance the appearance, even as his head began to throb from the overuse of magic. “Go on, get!”

  The troll rumbled and took a step back, though it raised its tree club again, which was now charred and dripping water. Suddenly, it spun around, and the end of the club smashed solidly into Shy’s torso. She yelped in pain as she fell into the pond.

  In a flash of movement, Kaylin dashed to the edge of the pond, whipping out her disassembled tree snare and tossing it around the succubus. She pu
lled back as the snare landed, dragging the cursing Shyola out of the pond like a fisherwoman reeling in a big fish.

  The troll’s giant foot landed where Shy had been mere moments ago, and it roared, raising its club again.

  “Get back in your cave!” Vexx shouted, heaving a fireball into the cave troll’s back. It grunted and dropped its club, slapping uselessly at his back as it tried to get rid of the flames. Then, abruptly, the troll retreated toward the entrance of its cave. Vexx lowered his staff, and a moment later, they heard scratching and scraping from within. A massive boulder appeared from inside to block the entrance.

  Silence filled the area.

  Then, with a long-suffering sigh, Shyola began disentangling herself. “You didn’t have to do that,” she complained as she pulled her limbs loose. “Dragging me through the muck like that.”

  “You would have been trampled otherwise,” Kaylin pointed out.

  “No, no, I had the troll right where I wanted him,” Shy insisted. “We could have killed him and then taken his stuff. But you ruined everything! Right, Master?”

  “We didn’t come here for that,” Vexx said, already wading through the pond to the nearest clump of larynroot. “Let’s be quick about this. We’ll get all the herbs we can carry, take them back to Doctor Fansee, and if we make a profit, then we can buy ourselves a meal!”

  The dungeoneers soon dispersed, cutting away at the larynroot and prying them loose, stuffing their rucksacks full of the herb. In under five minutes, the crop was all theirs, and they hurried back to their fishing boat, already thinking of the food they’d soon stuff into their bellies.

  In their excitement, they’d almost missed the snuffling and snorting in the grove of trees where they’d left the goblin carcasses.

  A herd of a wild boar emerged from the undergrowth, black goblin blood staining their curved tusks. More of the beasts looked over, pausing their meal of goblins to sniff at the air as the dungeoneers approached. They grunted in alarm, shifting restlessly.