by Dave Hazel
“See what Myk?” Jake asked and looked where Mykal pointed.
“Yeah, I don’t see anything,” Boris squinted and stared.
“Right there,” his frustrated tone shot out like a bolt and then it occurred to him it had to be magic. “Never mind. My mistake,” he lied to take their attention away. So many thoughts flooded his mind. With Towbar’s blood inside him, Towbar had explained he would be able to use and detect magic. This could be an amazing reward. The excitement and anticipation felt just like when he was eleven years old and went to Bingo with his grandmother. He needed one number to be called to win the two hundred dollar jackpot. He could hardly sit still, his breathing was uncontrolled and if the caller would just say one number he would be filthy rich as an eleven year old would think.
He had that same excitement rushing through his entire being. Only it wasn’t a two hundred dollar jackpot set before him, it was the possibility of untold powers and untold riches. He had to gather up the items and would determine the powers later. Towbar never explained to him how to discover the magical properties of a given item.
He moved to the three rings and they glowed brightly but the others couldn’t see it. He touched the first of the rings and he felt a warm sensation that vibrated from the ring up his arm. ‘It’s either magic or I’m going friggin nuts,’ he pondered while he looked at the ring.
“What does it do?” He whispered and concentrated on the gold band in his hand. Suddenly, a rush of thoughts filled his mind as if someone spoke to him. It was like someone tried to explain what the ring could do. It felt as if something tried to invade his mind. In fear of the unknown he quickly dropped the ring. He looked around to make sure there wasn’t a visible presence that he sensed. “Damn,” he whispered.
“What is it Myk?” Jake called out to the expression he gave.
“Nothin’. This skeleton spooked me for a moment,” he lied.
“You sure?”
“Yeah,” he turned back to the ring he dropped and scooped it up. He held it in his open palm and wondered again what the ring would do. There was a sudden gush of thoughts and ideas as if a strong wind blew on him. It was like a thousand voices flooded his mind in whispered choruses, but they stopped just as suddenly and then there was only one hushed tone of a man speaking softly.
“Imagine you will be gone, with my ring about your finger, though you have not departed, your form will no longer linger,” the voice said.
Mykal’s heart leapt into his throat. He felt very confident this ring would turn him invisible. Suddenly he was terrified. ‘What if it’s a trick or a trap of some sort? What if this is the same trick that killed them?’ His heart beat increased but before thinking it through he forced the ring onto his index finger and closed his eyes. ‘What could happen?’
“What the hell?” Jake gawked.
“Where the hell did he go?” Boris asked. “He was right there. I just watched him disappear.”
Mykal looked at his own hand and clearly saw himself though they said they couldn’t see him. He wanted to laugh out loud. There were so many things he wanted to do, but he couldn’t let others know he had such an amazing find. He quickly dropped to the ground and pulled the ring off.
“Myk, where are--oh, what the hell happened?”
“I tripped,” Mykal lied as he stood to his feet. He started to laugh because he couldn’t believe he had in his possession a ring of invisibility. He didn’t want to share the truth with his friends until he discovered what the other items were. “I can’t believe it,” he continued to laugh at Boris’s confused glare.
He quickly slipped the ring into his pocket to experiment with it later. With the ring in his pocket he felt a warming sensation against his leg. His pocket gave a faint glow through the heavy material of the camouflage trousers.
He knelt down to examine the other two rings on the bones that were once fingers. There wasn’t anything special about them. They didn’t give off the golden glow and to his touch they were as cold and dead as the body they were attached to. He picked them up and put them in his other pocket.
At the feet of the ring wearer laid a rotted cloth sack. It gave off a glow that made Mykal’s heart jump with excitement. Mykal knew something gave off properties of magic from inside the cloth sack that had long since worn out due to exposure.
Mykal picked up the sack that was tied at the mouth with a thin leather strap. Under the weight of the contents the bottom of the cloth bag broke open. The items that tumbled out surprised him; a large rock, a straight dagger, two little figurines in the shape of lions, a leather pouch and four slender rods about eighteen inches long. Each of the rods had a gold tip on one end. “Magic wands?” He asked himself quietly so the others would not hear him.
He studied all the items and they all gave off the yellow glow except for the rock. The rock was like many scattered all around. All the other items, however, caused his mouth to water with greedy excitement as they blazed golden light. He looked to Boris and Jake to see if they could see what he saw. His two close friends were discussing something and barely noticed the contents fall to the ground.
To the side of what would have been the body, Mykal eyed a sword in the leather and wood scabbard. A faint yellow light radiated from the top of the scabbard where just a hint of the blade lay exposed. Mykal was drawn to the sword immediately. He grabbed the handle and pulled it free from the covering and to his surprised a surge of power jolted through his arm. The jolt made his arm stiffen as if the weapon was powered by a strong electrical current. As soon as he wrapped his hand around the handle, it felt comfortable like a perfect mold to his grip. In his hand it was free of any weight, but he knew it to be a mighty weapon.
He eyed the gleaming blade in his grasp and suddenly in his mind’s eye he saw the wielder of this weapon swinging it with such ease. While being swung he saw the blade changed from metal to flames. The flames were of extraordinary heat that would cut through almost anything. He could tell the brandisher of the sword would not be affected by the tremendous heat. He sheathed the blade and stuck the sword casing inside his web belt to inspect later.
Mykal’s focus returned to the items that fell through the deteriorated cloth of the bag at the dead man’s feet. His eyes were drawn first to the two figurines. They were about three inches tall and the detail in the metal had been crafted sharp and clear. Both lions had wings on their back, long teeth in the open mouth and large massive claws. Holding the two pieces of metal he concentrated on them, in hopes to determine what the magical properties would be.
In his mind he imagined himself tossing the figurines to the ground and calling out the word “Furundy”. The two figurines transformed into living creatures after the magic word was uttered. While on all four legs he saw they both would stand taller than himself. Mykal’s head reached the beasts’ lower jaw. In his mind he saw himself stroking the creatures as if they were loyal pets and knew they would be his to command. He put the figurines in his pocket with the magical ring for closer inspection later.
Mykal grabbed the four metal rods from the ground at once and couldn’t detect what they were capable of doing. He tried to hold them individually to see if that would get a sense of the power in them. He placed one in his palm and concentrated. A vision appeared of lightning bolts shooting down from the sky as he commanded with the word “Trass” aloud and pointed the wand at specific targets. Something within gave him a sense that he had to use this item sparingly because it would not last very long.
The next wand in hand gave him a feeling of power over people and animals. He saw an image of people and animals cowering in fear at him as he pointed the slender rod and spoke the command word “Blizdo”. At his spoken word those standing nearby would drop to the ground. Those not as close would run in fear and scatter in a panic. “This could come in handy,” he whispered and smirked.
The third magic baton gave him a mood of tremendous power in his grip. In his mind he clearly saw shooting fire balls
stream from the gold tip of the wand and he could almost imagine a pulsing throb of power in his arm when the fireballs shot forth. The balls of fire grew in both size and flame while they flew through the air. The ‘power’ word was “Nesk” and it caused anything flammable to ignite once the fire ball came in contact. The balls of fire would explode on impact like Molotov cocktails.
The fourth shaft made Mykal chuckle with disbelief. With the wand in his palm he could envision himself turning people into small harmless creatures such as insects, birds, reptiles or small furry mammals. “Fordess” would change a human to a small creature whereas the words “Fordme” would change them back to normal. “Maybe I’ll give this one to Boris,” he laughed and wondered what would happen to William.
He tucked the four slender wands into his belt to examine in depth at a later time. He wished Towbar was here so he could share the magic spoils with his friend who would know more about such items and would probably have a keen insight to the use and the properties with them.
The glow of the other sword caught his attention again and Mykal turned to the skeletal remains of the one he thought to be an Elf. The sword in hand looked like it was brand new and hadn’t been ravaged by time or weather. Clearly Mykal saw a golden aura around the weapon. He knew the weapon to be a magic sword. When he reached down to grab the sword something stopped him. He couldn’t move any closer. There was a physical presence that wouldn’t allow him to grab or even touch the weapon. He wasn’t harmed and didn’t experience fear, but there seemed to be an invisible force that wouldn’t allow him to touch it. Mykal looked at the gleaming blade and wondered if he needed a secret word or a secret object, a key of some sort to unlock it to allow him near it. It truly puzzled him.
He stood there with his hand on his chin trying to unravel the secret to allow him access to the weapon, but nothing came to mind. He tried again to reach for the magnificent blade and the same invisible force wouldn’t allow him to hold it. Mykal tried to walk around it to reach from a different position or angle, but he could not lay his hand on the brilliant blade. He wondered if there was some sort of magic cast over it the weapon to protect it like a shield. The strange prevention piqued his curiosity. He studied it from a few feet away and deep inside he knew he should leave the dead Elf’s sword alone.
Mykal returned to the skeleton that gave him many magic items and picked up the leather pouch that emitted a gold glow. He felt there were several items inside. Just as he prepared to untie the mouth of the pouch Boris and Jake ran to him. “Whatta ya got there?” Boris asked. “Is it gold? Are we rich?”
“Is it a treasure?” Jake asked.
“You guys ain’t gonna believe what I have,” Mykal laughed and didn’t open the leather pouch. He stuffed the rawhide bag into one of the large pockets in his trousers to examine later. “I don’t know if I should show you this,” he laughed with excitement, unsure if he should keep the magic a secret.
“What, what is it? Is it like a lost treasure?” Boris asked and his face lit up with greedy excitement.
“Better,” he said and smiled. He fished for the special ring from his pocket. “This has to stay just between us. Do I have your word?”
“Sure,” Jake answered. He and Boris looked at each other and shrugged their half-hearted belief.
Mykal glanced around to see if any of the men were watching them and it seemed as if they were busy keeping watch on the area. Mykal gave a broad smile and hoped it wasn’t just his imagination. “Watch this,” he said with a cocky smile and slipped the ring onto his finger while his hand was still inside his pocket so they wouldn’t see that he used a ring. At the same time he snapped his fingers of his left hand and he disappeared.
“What the--” Boris gawked and was shocked. Mykal was no longer standing there. Now he was sure Mykal disappeared earlier.
“Where the hell did he go?” Jake asked.
Mykal quietly walked behind them and wondered if he could just think of re-appearing as opposed to taking the ring off. “I’m right here,” he said from behind them without taking the ring off his finger.
“How the hell did you do that?” Boris asked in stunned amazement as Mykal seemed to just appear out of nowhere behind where they were standing.
“Seriously Myk, how did you do that?” Jake asked. “Is it a parlor trick?
“You guys can see me?”
“Yeah, but how did you do that?” Boris looked baffled.
“You mean this?” Mykal asked and thought of himself being invisible while snapping the fingers of his left hand. He disappeared from their sight, and quickly moved to position himself behind them again
“What the friggin hell?” Boris asked and reached his hand out to touch where Mykal had been standing but he swiped only air.
“You guys looking for me?” Mykal laughed from behind them.
“How the hell did you do that Myk?” Jake questioned and his voice turned serious.
“It’s magic,” Mykal laughed playfully while wiggling his fingers before their faces in a mock mysterious performance.
“Come on man, quit playing. How did you do it?” Boris demanded.
“I have a magic object in my pocket,” he fibbed. He didn’t want to tell them it was the ring.
“I’m not buying it,” Jake said and shook his head. He stared at Mykal as if trying to figure out a card trick that had just been performed.
“Here, check this out,” Mykal said and handed the dagger to Jake. He wasn’t sure what it would do yet, but he knew there was something special about it. “Don’t lose this. And if you don’t want it, give it back.”
Jake hefted it in his hand. It wasn’t too impressive to look at. The weapon felt heavier in the blade rather than more of the weight being in the handle. The blade neared seven inches long. The metal was flatter and narrowed to a needle like point.
“What’s so magical about this?” He looked over the knife.
“I’m not sure yet but it looks like it could be a throwing knife. Give it a try.”
“Oh brother, I’ve never thrown a knife before. Alright, let’s see,” Jake mumbled and turned to the tree. Holding the knife by the point of the blade he cocked his arm behind his head and threw it. “Damn,” he gaped at how easily the weapon flew from his hand and stuck into the tree.
“Man Jake, you did that like a pro,” Mykal pretended to be impressed. He knew it was a weapon of magic.
“I’ve never thrown a knife in my life,” Jake chortled at his surprise of such a well thrown knife.
“Oh man, look at that,” Boris gawked with surprised.
The knife appeared to wiggle from side to side and bore deeper into the tree trunk. The blade continued to drill until the hilt reached the tree bark. The entire seven inches of the blade had been buried inside the wood of the tree.
“How the hell did that happen? And now how am I supposed to get that out of the tree?” Jake asked and all three circled around the strange sight.
“Try commanding it to come out,” Mykal offered since Jake was the one to throw it.
“Come out, come out,” Jake commanded in a low tone. He playfully furrowed his brow and held his long skinny fingers out as if he was performing a mystical act.
“Yeah, ‘Skinny Mini the Mystical Beanpole’,” Boris mocked and then gawked when the blade started to wiggle again and work its way out of the tree. “You gotta be friggin kiddin me,”
“What the hell? I was just playing,” Jake admitted.
“Like I said, don’t lose it,” Mykal demanded as they watched the special throwing knife fall to the ground.
“I want some magic,” Boris demanded like a jealous child.
Mykal’s eye caught sight of a golden glow from the sword again. He knew there was more magic, but he didn’t know how to gain access to it.
“Is there more?” Boris asked as he followed Mykal’s line of sight. “Is that magic?”
They could clearly see a gleaming sword by the lone skeleton, but on one of
the bone fingers of the free hand was a golden ring and Mykal could sense it radiated magical powers due to the glowing aura of yellow, though Boris and Jake couldn’t see it. Mykal was more interested in the sword that didn’t appear to have been ravaged by time and weather that he wasn’t permitted to touch. He didn’t notice the ring on the free hand before Boris spotted it.
“Is this magic?” Boris asked as he rushed to the body long since dead. He casually took the ring from the man who would have no use for such an unknown treasure. “What do I do? Just put it on?” He asked while placing it on his finger.
Mykal tried to get a sense for the ring. He didn’t have physical contact with it and drew a blank with ideas.
“What does it do Myk?” Jake asked for Boris.
“I don’t know,” he answered and they all caught sight of some movement under the rags of the dead body.
Suddenly a short dagger ripped through decaying cloth and shot upward about five feet off the ground. The knife paused for a moment as if something invisible held the dagger in midair. The blade turned until it seemed to sight in on Boris and abruptly dove toward Boris in a deliberate attack on him. The tip of the blade struck Boris on the hand that bore the ring. The point of the dagger cut through the skin making him bleed.
“Owww,” Boris howled in fear more than pain. “What the hell?” Boris gasped in fright and gazed at the wet red on his hand.
They watched in surprised horror when the knife pulled back by itself as if an invisible hand drew it in reverse. The blade, still in midair, stopped a couple of feet away from Boris and quickly lunged at him a second time. This time the point of the blade stuck Boris in his face ripping his cheek open. There was more force with the second strike, but the pain was mild compared to the fear stirred by the unseen attacker.
“That frickin’ hurt. What the hell’s going on?” Boris cried out loudly getting the attention of a number of the men.
“Is that a bird attacking him?” Diaz called out.
“Yeah,” Mykal yelled back and was sure at that distance it must have looked like a bird was attacking Boris.
