by Bill Albert
When he was on his feet again, he wiped the sweat away from his forehead. Acrufix could not be seen from here but one of the dragons was in front of him facing away. He looped the axe to his belt and took a few seconds to pull his bow from behind him. He drew a cast arrow from his quiver, aimed and fired rapidly five times. Three of the arrows hit the nearest dragon in the back of the head and cracked the bone of the skull. The other two hit the right shoulder of the dragon but the bone was strong, and the arrows bounced clear. The dragon howled in anger and turned in his direction but by the time it completely turned around he was already clear of the spot.
He looked for Acrufix as he ran through the stone debris. He came to an intersection and turned right but almost immediately came to a dead end. He turned back and as he exited the path fired three more arrows at the same dragon and struck it twice in its left leg. It stumbled, howled, then looked in his direction and before Luvin could decide which way to go he heard someone rushing up behind him. Acrufix grabbed him by the shoulder and got him going before the dragon’s tail slapped down where he had stood.
“Beside it,” Acrufix yelled. “Hammer,” he added and started towards the dragon.
Luvin switched his weapons as he ran and when he caught up with Acrufix his axe was ready. They each took a position on one side and started alternating attacks on the dragon. Acrufix hit at it with his sword and as the dragon turned to strike back at him Luvin did the same with his hammer. Luvin took a second and looked over to see Gallif, Jakobus and Blinks doing the same thing with the other dragon.
Between the three of them they had done a great deal of damage to the dragon they were fighting and a dozen bones had been cracked. It was howling in anger and its movements had slowed considerably.
Gallif made a low swing with the flame sword and pounded into a bone. She made a slightly higher attack with the frost sword and managed to completely remove the dragon’s left arm. The dragon howled and shifted its fury in her direction.
She jumped back to avoid its path and quickly felt her back hit the cavern wall. To her left were more broken stones and to her right was a clear path out of the space. She was unsure of what to do as everything around her slowed. The dragon’s wail was a steady, slow groan and the body was sluggishly coming towards her. In a blur she saw Jakobus, his axe pounding on the dragon’s right leg, looking at her and yelling, but she couldn’t make out his words.
The bone golem was now only a few feet away from her and reared back its tail to strike. Blinks ran forward and a thrust from his sword broke the dragon’s back. As the body collapsed forward the tail continued on. The path shifted slightly but it was enough for the momentum to carry it into the wall above Gallif’s head. Then the remains of the dragon and some of the cavern came down on top of her.
Luvin could see the first dragon go down on the other side of the cavern and turned his attention back to the one Acrufix and he had been dealing with. It was in bad shape and he knew it would soon fall. He looked up in surprise and saw Acrufix standing on top of the largest chunk of the stone slab. Luvin saw what he was doing and used his hammer to shatter part of the dragon’s left foot. The dragon howled and its head came towards him with the jaw open to rip him apart with the jaws. As it passed where Acrufix stood he drove his sword straight down with all the strength he could muster. The skull of the dragon shattered on impact and the entire body fell to ground in a scattered pile of bones.
Luvin looked up at Acrufix truly amazed at what he had done. He smiled and even though he could not see Acrufix’s face he just knew the man was smiling. Acrufix jumped from the slab and landed squarely on his feet in front of Luvin.
“You fought well,” Acrufix said to the young boy.
“You fought better,” Luvin countered. “That was fantastic.”
“I couldn’t have done it had you not distracted the monster,” Acrufix said and tapped him on the shoulder. “We fought well,” he said stressing the change.
“Quickly,” they heard Jakobus call from across the cavern.
“Get over here!” Blinks shouted desperately.
Luvin looked at Acrufix as fear spread across his face. The older man nodded and followed as they ran to the source of the call.
They rounded a boulder of stone and stopped in their tracks. Under another large chunk of stone Gallif lay trapped. She was on her side, trapped just above the knees, and her face was contorted in pain.
Jakobus ordered them to help lift and together the four of them managed to lift some of the weight away from Gallif. After a few more attempts there was enough room for Marassa to safely pull her out of the way and they let the stone drop to the ground. Marassa rested Gallif’s back against the wall and got in front of her. Even without the direct pressure Gallif was in great pain and Marassa carefully ran her hands across her legs.
“They don’t feel broken,” Marassa said with relief. “I don’t think you did any damage to a vital organ.”
“Name a non-vital organ,” Blinks said a bit louder than he had planned.
“Drink this, drink this, drink this,” Marassa pulled a potion bottle from beneath her blurred robes and opened it for Gallif. She lifted it and poured it down Gallif’s throat as fast as the girl could take it.
Gallif’s first reaction was to spit some of the fluid out but when she smelled the slight herbal fragrance, she took a deep breath and swallowed as fast as possible. The pain immediately decreased but did not completely go away. As her mind cleared she knew the casting on the armor would heal the rest.
“Thank you,” Gallif said as she leaned forward and gently rubbed her knees. She looked at Jakobus and Blinks and smiled and then quickly glanced at Acrufix who stood with his arms crossed looking down on her. She looked around at the disaster inside the cavern and frowned at the sight of the exit they had hoped to take. “You think we’ll have any luck moving that?” she asked them.
“Let’s see what we can move,” Jakobus said and started to make his way towards the blocked exit with Blinks and Acrufix close behind.
“You, too,” she said sharply to Luvin.
Embarrassed that he was staring at her, Luvin hurried off to catch up.
Marassa decided to stay with Gallif until she was able to walk on her own. She offered to rub Gallif’s legs to help them feel better, but the younger woman turned her down.
“They’re healing quite well,” Gallif said. “I just want to get the circulation going.”
Marassa watched Luvin move away from them and then turned to Gallif. “What’s going on between you two?”
“Nothing,” Gallif said after a deep breath. “He’s just a boy.”
“No,” Marassa shook her head. “Not anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re looking at him but not seeing him. There’s confusion about him. The type of confusion that comes between being a boy and being a man. Part of him wants to be a man. Part of him is afraid and wants to stay a boy. I used to teach,” she added. “I’ve seen it in students.”
“He’s only sixteen.”
“You were eleven, weren’t you? When you were on the streets and grew up.”
“Yes,” Gallif confirmed. “It was different for me, I had to grow up, I had no family to go to. He’s a runaway, he can always go home.”
“He doesn’t want to go home. With you he’s gotten more excitement than he ever could at home. He wants to stay with you. He wants to be with you.”
“I know,” Gallif said looking at her legs. The pain was almost gone, and she stretched her legs a few times. “We’ve been friends a long time. We went through the mountain together.”
“He wants to be with you,” Marassa repeated and waited for Gallif to understand.
Gallif gasped and rubbed a hand across her stomach. It was obvious the thought made her uncomfortable. “He wants me to be his first?”
“No, no, no,” Marassa shook her head. “He’s already had his first. That’s where much of the confusion began.”
&nbs
p; Gallif looked over and watched Luvin try to help move the broken stones. He was smaller than Blinks and Acrufix and not as muscular as Jakobus, but he kept up with them quite well.
She heard a frustrated gasp from Marassa and looked back to see what she was doing. Marassa had produced a blue velvet bag with a black string and was sorting through its contents. She pulled out several red tinted focus stones and examined them closely. One of them was dark, no light from the interior, and she dropped it to the ground where the first one lay.
“This is bad,” Marassa said with great concern. “Two this time.”
Gallif picked up the lightless stones and looked at Marassa for more information.
“The stones are losing their power. Once they go dark they won’t help you with casting anymore.”
“What’s happening?”
“No one really knows for sure,” she sighed. “There are lots of debates in casting circles about why it’s happening. Stones have just lost their power and gone dead before but it’s increasing. It’s happening a lot more. Many of us are starting to worry.”
“I thought the stones were pretty common.”
“A hundred years ago they were. They were found in clusters of hundreds at a time back then. Not so many of them now.”
“You can still cast without them. Some people never use the stones.”
“Yes, they aren’t necessary, but they are helpful.”
“If they work right. I heard once about a caster trying to break a hot summer streak and ended up pulling ice off his beard.”
Marassa giggled and said, “Well, not all casts work, but most of them do. Occasionally one will end up with a miscast, but I don’t think it’s anything that bad.” Her face lost its smile and she looked at the stones in Gallif’s hand. “The belief is there is just some flaw in the stone that causes that to happen. Personally, I don’t think we’ll ever know.”
Their attention shifted as Jakobus approached them. Gallif’s hand went to her stomach and she rubbed it lightly. She swallowed and couldn’t help but feel she was getting sick.
“Do you have any kind of casting that could help us through?” he asked Marassa. “It really looks like the entire tunnel has collapsed.”
“There are some minor levitation casts I have,” Marassa said as she turned to look at the caved in area.
They all walked to where Blinks, Acrufix and Luvin were waiting. Marassa looked at the mound of various sized red rocks and boulders and finally just shook her head and turned to Gallif. “I don’t have anything that could get us through there. Especially without knowing how far this damage goes.”
“I suspect this goes on for hundreds of yards at least,” Jakobus said. “I’m afraid this is where the path ends.”
“I suggest we keep digging.” Acrufix said. It was so sudden and confident they all turned to look at him for more. “We don’t know how far the damage is and my instincts tell me it’s only a few hours work.”
Jakobus was about to defend his suggestion when Gallif, physically feeling much better, stood between him and Acrufix.
“No, Acrufix is right and I’ll take his advice,” Gallif said looking hard at blackness under the helmet. “The dwarves have built an entire city beneath the surface. His ability to read the underground matches my own to read nature up top. We go back for now.”
Luvin was about to point out how her abilities had led them into an ambush before but looked in to Gallif’s green eyes and lost the anger. Instead he took a few steps to stand just behind Acrufix.
“I don’t mean to interrupt,” Blinks said stepping forward to join Gallif. “Personally, I think it’s rude to interrupt, but I have to interrupt so please forgive me for interrupting. If you feel the urge to interrupt me later in return, I’ll understand,” he said blinking steadily. “What’s that noise?”
They all stood silent, even holding their breath, and listened carefully. There was a clacking sound that they could just barely hear so distant there was only one direction it could be coming from. They all drew their weapons and headed for the south entrance. Gallif arrived first and came to a stop when she saw figures carrying lights approaching. As they neared the clacking sound got louder and Jakobus was the first to realize what it was.
“That’s the sound of bones snapping against each other.”
“More skeletons?” Blinks asked.
“Worse!” Gallif barked and instinctively backed them all away from the entrance.
It was disturbing enough that five well armed skeletons came marching into the cavern and took up positions opposite them. The first carried a flame sword in one hand and a frost sword in the other. The second was sporting a long sword and swung it deftly in circles. A shorter, stocky skeleton followed carrying a cast axe and the fourth a cast hammer. The last had a silver coated wand in each hand.
“Luvin,” Gallif ordered. “The one opposite you, use your bow.”
Luvin pulled an arrow and drew it back as he took aim. The skeleton across from him matched his size and had no armor to protect its bones. It would be an easy hit and he knew he could cut through the chest bones with a single strike. It shifted slightly and he saw the way it was preparing for combat. He recognized the stance as one of his own and paused as he looked directly at his opposite.
“Luvin,” Gallif demanded. “Take the shot!”
Luvin looked again and took aim but couldn’t bring himself to fire. He aimed at the feet of the skeleton with the long sword and fired. His aim was good, and the arrow grazed across the top of a foot.
“OUCH!” Blinks cried in pain and hopped around for several seconds. Then he settled as the pain quickly receded as he realized what had just happened and he added, “This is bad.”
Simultaneously the two groups charged at each other. Acrufix, with no opposite to fight, cursed loudly and followed them in. He held back attacking any of the skeletons for fear of damaging anyone on his team but hoped he could help in the encounter.
Gallif reached her skeleton first and drove the flame sword in to try and impale it. The skeleton deflected the attack with its own flame sword, but she managed to connect with its shoulder blade. It jerked the shoulder back and she could tell it was reacting from the damage. She was relieved that she felt nothing in response but quickly took a step back to avoid an attack from the skeleton’s frost sword. She knew immediately that the skeletons were as well armed as their living counterparts; the advantage they had was that the skeletons were not wearing armor.
The skeleton swung the flame sword in a quick circle, but Gallif recognized the move as one of her own. She was not distracted by it and used both her swords to counter the frost blade as it tried to cut her beneath the knees.
As she tried to circle the skeleton, she saw Marassa standing several steps away from her opposite. Her hands were moving incredibly fast and she could tell by her movements she was trying to cast against the skeleton. Gallif hoped that Marassa’s ability to speak would give her the edge.
Gallif flinched and bit her lip as the skeleton took a strike at her bare left arm. She felt the heat of the blade against her skin and the pain shot through her arm. She managed to maintain her grip and arced down and inward at the skeleton. Gallif’s own flame sword cut up through several ribs and they cracked and fell away. She hoped the others were aware of their advantages as she was.
She heard a shout off to her right side and looked quickly to see Blinks fighting his own skeleton. Blinks’ eyes were wide and stayed open as he fought. She could see the smile on his face and swore that he was actually enjoying what he was doing.
Gallif took three steps quickly forward, hoping to press in an attack on her skeleton. The move worked, it nearly tripped backward over a loose stone and she made a strike on one of the skeleton’s legs. The bone cracked but didn’t break. She kept thrusting forward planning to back it against the cavern wall. The skeleton started to circle but she refused to give it back any ground.
As she spun to make an attack, she
caught a glimpse of Jakobus. He was very methodical in his attacks, but she could see that skeleton was matching his every move.
The skeleton Gallif was fighting suddenly came rushing at her with both swords slashing in circles. She crossed her arms and each flame sword struck a frost sword at full strength. They were incredibly close to each other and she could hear the distinct clacking of the skeleton bones as it tried to trip her up. She was forced to back away and break contact but quickly retaliated with another inside cut and removal of some more ribs.
Out of the corner of her eye her heart sank as she saw Luvin was in trouble. He took a weak swing at his skeleton opponent and missed his opportunity. She had seen him fight better many times but had no time to wonder what his problem was. There was a flash of Acrufix’s shiny armor, and she hoped he could at least distract the skeleton long enough to allow Luvin to smash it with his cast hammer.
There was a cheer behind her and, as she countered a blow from the flame sword, she could tell that Blinks had defeated his opponent. A shadow passed by from overhead and she glanced up to see the skeleton Marassa had been fighting shatter as it smacked hard against the cavern wall.
Gallif firmly planted her boots into the red dirt and struck at the center of the skeleton she was fighting with both swords. They hit their targets and large chunks of the skeleton’s rib cage broke to pieces. She swung the flame sword out and around and hit the skeleton in its left leg, then repeated the same move with the frost sword and damaged the right. The skeleton lunged at her again, she managed to force the weapons aside, but they collided shoulder to shoulder struggling for domination.
She looked at the empty skull of her opponent and a sudden sadness swept over her. She had encountered death many times in her life, her parents, her brother, Jakobus’ parents who had rescued her on the trip to Primor, but now she was actually facing her own. The skeleton pushed in and twisted, and she felt the heat of the flame sword pass near her face. She shook her head knowing if she lost her concentration, she would lose the battle and her life.
She pulled away from the skeleton. The sudden shift made it loose balance and it fell to the ground losing the frost sword. She knew this was the opportunity to finish it, but the sadness made her feel like she was moving through syrup and it was hard to get the strength to attack.
