“No. Just reflections of what we see here right now.”
“Is it safe?” asked Von Wilding.
“I think so.”
Hatch interrupted. “So, then do you agree with me that we should take the shortcut through the Spirit Walker Troll’s realm and save ourselves days, perhaps weeks of travel? And that is just to begin our journey through the Moor.”
Sai looked at the two men. Von Wilding shook his head, but Hatch was hopeful. “I don’t wish to go that way,” she said.
Von Wilding grinned as if he had just won a bet.
“But, if it will help us get this over with quicker, I think we should do it.”
Von Wilding snarled and stomped a few feet away but muttered, “Fine. I’m with you.”
“Good,” said Hatch. “I knew you’d come around.”
Wildflower exited the tent. She looked unhappy but said, “I’ve decided I’ll help, but I don’t want any of you seeing how I do this or watching when we are traveling through the spirit path.”
The three of them gave each other puzzled looks. “What do you want us to do?” asked Hatch.
Wildflower produced three smelly sacks. “Put these over your heads and that way you won’t see or hear much, and I’ll guide us through.”
“I’m not doing that,” spat Von Wilding. “I’ll not let you bash us over the heads because we were foolish enough to put bags over them.”
“Wildflower isn’t like that,” said Hatch.
“Maybe she’s not, but what about the other trolls in there?”
Wildflower grimaced and said, “It doesn’t work like that, little man. We won’t bump into any material trolls while traveling on the spirit path.”
Von Wilding looked suspicious.
Sai guessed this would be the best chance she might have to escape, so she gave the most convincing disarming lie she could think of. “I don’t have a bad feeling about this, and if Hatch will trust his safety with a sack over his head, I suppose I will too.”
Hatch gave her a warm smile for that.
Von Wilding remained quiet but begrudgingly took a sack from Wildflower.
The troll matron beckoned them to follow her to the billowing tent. Inside, numerous roots and plants hung from the ceiling to dry. Various small jars and canisters of exotic substances filled the shelves. A rabbit hung upside down, soon to be Wildflower’s lunch, or so it appeared.
“I’ll begin the ceremony. You all put those bags over your heads and don’t try and listen too close. When I give you a tug, stand and hold hands and we’ll enter the spirit path and start toward your destination. Inside, you don’t have to hold hands, but maybe it will give you comfort. You won’t feel anything, nor have any other senses of this journey. It will be over before you know it.”
They put the sacks over their heads.
Sai’s smelled like rotten potatoes. Though it muffled everything, Sai thought she could hear Wildflower softly chanting, but even without the sack, she wouldn’t have understood a word of the troll’s language. Now is as good a time as any. I’m done with this nonsense. Let the princesses take care of themselves. She ported just outside the tent and took the sack off.
Pondering how to best elude Hatch if he came after her, movement caught her eye and she squinted through the tiny gap in the trees that they had come by a short time ago.
Masked black riders emerged one by one from the thick woods. There had to be a dozen of them. Some didn’t look like they were even living.
They looked a whole lot more pleased to see Sai in the clearing by herself than she was to see them. They drew swords, wands, and nocked arrows in bows.
Sai ported back inside the tent. “We’ve got enemies outside! At least a dozen!”
Wildflower frowned at Sai for having taken the sack off her head. She was so involved with her troll ritual, she hadn’t noticed that Sai had ported out and back.
Hatch and Von Wilding leaned toward the sound of Sai’s voice with sacks still over their heads but all she could hear was a mumbled, “What?” from Hatch.
Arrows ripped through the tent. Wildflower caught one of the shafts in her arm and she cried out in anger.
A focused blast of magic threw the tent away like it was picked up by a hurricane. Only then did Sai see the swirling blue and black circle behind the tent. It was like a cave in the air. It led beyond her sight into darkness.
Wildflower grated, “Take them in! Let’s go! Those are witches of the Dark Consul!”
Sai was unsure but grabbed Hatch and Von Wilding and led them into the portal. Wildflower stood between them and the dark forces. She had magic of her own and shot a bolt of lightning back at the witches, but she was hit by another pair of arrows and a purple blast of energy. She screamed in pain and fell into the portal.
Sai watched the incoming rain of arrows and magic bolts move towards them, but the opening blacked out and infinite darkness engulfed her.
Chapter 4: The Spirit Path
One instant she saw the light of the outside world filled with a wave of arrows and spells, then as the portal closed, she was surrounded by cold darkness. The interior felt sticky and unsteady, as if she was suddenly within a giant spiderweb tunnel.
The corridor ahead of them stretched on like a road at night as if stars were at the far end, giving weak light. Behind them, in the dark emptiness of the closed portal, everything fell into the gloom of a bottomless precipice.
A strange sound sucked at her ears and she was momentarily petrified until she realized it was Wildflower at her feet. She knelt, and warm, sticky liquid met her hands.
Wildflower’s breath was coming in quick gasps.
“Hatch! Help me!” Sai cried.
Muffled sound came from farther into the gloom and her eyes became accustomed to the dark spaces. The tunnel was lit with scintillating splashes of black and blue. Sai could not tell what the tunnel was made of.
The warden took the sack from his head. “Are we on the spirit path?”
Sai nodded. “Wildflower was hit by arrows and some other kind of magic from the witch coven.”
Hatch looked Wildflower over. “Don’t pull the arrows out yet. Put pressure on that open wound,” he directed. “What kind of spell hit her?”
“I don’t know. It was like purple lightning.”
“Knockdown spell,” said Von Wilding.
“How did you get her in?”
“She fell in behind us after opening the portal. What do we do?”
“I don’t know yet. She’s hurt bad,” said Hatch.
The troll beckoned to him. “Closer,” Wildflower whispered. “Guess I’m finally even with you now.”
“No, not like this,” said Hatch, as he leaned in.
“My time was up a long time ago. You just gave me some to borrow,” answered the troll matron with a wretched wheeze.
“No, Wildflower. Tell me how to patch you up.”
“I’m not going to make it. Go down the path. Be careful, the ancestors won’t be happy you’re here. Some may try and stop you. Worse things may be waiting too. Be wary.”
Hatch shook his head. “We can’t leave you, Wildflower.”
“You don’t have a choice. I am done and must remain. You must go on.”
“How far is it?” asked Sai.
Wildflower shook her head. “I’ve never tried to make a spirit path this long before. Might take you an hour, might take you days.” She coughed up dark blood and cringed into the fetal position.
“We can’t leave her,” said Sai.
“We can’t carry her either,” said Von Wilding. “Especially if this journey takes us days. We don’t have the horses or hardly any of our extra rations or supplies.”
“Go on,” croaked Wildflower. “I am where I want to be. You go, now.” She closed her eyes with a shiver and was still.
She had lost people before and tried to be thick-skinned about it, but this troll matron brought ba
ck all the memories of her own lost mother: the gentleness, and smell of a warm home-cooked meal. She was moved to a few tears that she quickly wiped away before the others noticed.
“We best get moving,” said Hatch.
“Shouldn’t we at least bury her or say a few words?” asked Sai.
“Can’t bury anyone on the spirit path. It’s probably etherium. Feel it, it’s like a sponge but there is no penetrating it, no cutting or digging. It’s not like matter back in the realms,” said Von Wilding.
“It doesn’t seem right to leave her here.”
“You heard her. This where she belongs,” said Hatch as he stood and secured his sword belt. “We don’t know what lies ahead or how long it will take us, so we best hurry along.”
Von Wilding agreed and started down the tunnel. Sai frowned but didn’t move. Hatch looked at her and gestured with his thumb to follow Von Wilding. She reluctantly went after him.
The shimmering dark blue and black swirled about eerily, but they didn’t hear anything except their own breathing and soft footsteps for hours.
Finally, Hatch broke the stillness. He turned to Sai, “So, how did you know that witches were attacking?”
“Maybe I poked my head out a little, to listen.”
“I doubt you were that curious about a troll ritual.”
Sai huffed in acknowledgment. “I wasn’t, but when I looked out in the clearing, the witch coven was coming and started shooting arrows and spells at us. There wasn’t any time to think. I guess I just sensed that they were out there, and I had to look,” she said, hoping that sounded reasonable.
Hatch grunted but didn’t appear convinced.
“Maybe there aren’t any dangers here and we’ll have an easy time of it,” said Sai, trying to change the subject.
Hatch shrugged and said, “That’s what worries me.”
“Why?”
“If I let my guard down and start thinking that way, that’s when it happens.”
“You don’t have to be paranoid.”
“I’m not. I’m being practical.”
Von Wilding turned and shushed them with a silent finger to his lips.
“What is it?”
“Something is coming, and we have nowhere to hide,” he whispered.
They waited a ponderous moment until a pale, shuffling figure came into view. It was semi-transparent, a great toad-like ghost of a troll. It looked them over and moved a pale, frosty tongue over its lips.
“Never have I feasted as I shall now,” it bellowed.
“I think not!” growled Hatch, sending his ax through the ghost. The handle and iron head went through the ghostly mist and the troll came closer.
“I hunger,” it boomed as it reached for them with long icicle-like talons on the tips of its fingers.
They dodged back and nearly tumbled over each other in the gloom.
The ghost laughed at them and came closer, waddling like a grotesque toad.
Von Wilding drew his whip and lashed out, but the troll ghost came on all the swifter, opening its mouth with a long tongue that swept out like a flailing serpent.
Sai ported behind it and tried to stab with her twin daggers but caught nothing. The specter noticed her, turned, and raked its claws toward her. She ported out of the way just in time to avoid the looming death.
Hatch swung his sword, but it passed through the monster as if it wasn’t there. Worried at what might happen if it touched him, he sprinted back before the ghost could get him.
“I’ll feast well on you,” said the ghost.
Von Wilding whipped the thing again, to no avail. “Maybe if we can’t hurt it, it can’t hurt us either?”
“You want to take that chance?” questioned Hatch.
“No, but there is only one way to find out,” said Von Wilding.
Von Wilding charged and slid between the ghost’s legs and cracked his whip at its rear. It turned to look but decided to go after Hatch instead of Von Wilding or Sai.
Hatch raised his sword and charged right through the mass of the ghost. He slowed ever so briefly but made his way through to the others. The ghost troll turned to come after them, albeit at a slower pace than they could run.
“We have to keep going this way anyhow,” Hatch directed them. “Let’s get moving.”
The troll ghost rumbled after them but was soon lost far behind in the gloom.
“Do you suppose that it doesn’t know it is dead?” asked Sai.
“Hard to say what any troll really thinks. Wildflower was the only one I was ever able to have a decent conversation with,” said Hatch. “And for a troll, she was a genius.”
Von Wilding nodded at that. “I rarely ever saw one that could put together more than a simple sentence.”
They walked on for what seemed like hours. Despite the softness of walking on etherium, Sai’s feet were starting to ache. Inside the portal, nothing was as it seemed. It played with her memory, sense of direction, and time.
“No way to tell if we are close yet is there?” she asked.
“No,” answered Hatch. “Wildflower said it might be hours or days. We have to keep moving.”
Voices whispered through the gray corridor ahead. They slowed and cautiously moved forward. A curious being sat on its haunches. It was almost as wide as the tunnel itself, having very broad shoulders. It had three heads and appeared to be having a conversation with itself.
“I want the last piece.”
“It’s my turn.”
“You said that last time. I think it’s my turn.”
“Well, I’m holding it, so finders’ keepers.”
Sai whispered, “What’s it talking about?”
“I don’t think we really want to know,” said Von Wilding.
“Well, at least it’s not a ghost,” she said.
“Worse, it looks like it’s an Ettin, though, I’ve never known one to have three heads instead of two,” Von Wilding said as he drew his blade.
Hatch added, “Doesn’t matter, we have to get past him. Sai, port in front of him while we attack from behind.”
“That seems a might unfair.”
“You don’t know Ettins. We need all the advantage we can get.”
Sai shook her head, saying, “I’ll try to talk to it and see if it’s friendly first. Besides, you were friends with a troll once.”
“It’s not the same,” argued Hatch.
“That’s bad idea,” said Von Wilding.
“I’m trying to tell her that,” said Hatch, drawing his sword. “Get ready.”
“We’ll see,” Sai said, as she vanished.
Sai suddenly appeared before the huge creature. “Hello.”
It looked almost like a giant baby with fat pudgy rolls but there were three big faces looking back at Sai, and all three mouths hung open with twisted-looking teeth. Its eyes went big at the sight of her and all three heads said simultaneously, “Yum!”
It dropped the torn carcass of who-knew-what and lunged for her with fingers that turned into suckered tentacles.
Sai ported backward ten feet, and still the behemoth almost got her again. For something with such big flabby arms, it was incredibly fast. It was all Sai could do to keep porting backward to keep ahead of the amorphous monster.
Behind them, Hatch and Von Wilding were running at a furious pace to catch up.
“I’m gonna eat you up!” cried the Ettin-thing.
Sai started to panic; she had never had to port this many times to escape anything. She was starting to get tired, and the huge monster was still thundering toward her. She knew she couldn’t keep up this pace and needed the help of the others. She gritted her teeth, drew her daggers, and stood her ground.
The Ettin-thing reached for her, and she swung her blades in a fury. She cut one of its hands, but it simply morphed away the wounds, sealing in seconds the gashes that a normal creature would have taken weeks to recover from. But while Sai po
ndered that, the other hand reached and took her about the shoulders in an icy, crushing grip.
“You look so yummy,” two of the three voices said. The other one just opened wide, and a tongue came snaking out and slapped her across her face.
Sai ported away. She was free, and instantly the monster seized her again. She ported and was caught again. Why couldn’t she get far enough away? The monstrous grip knocked the air from her lungs.
Then the Ettin-thing cried out as Von Wilding and Hatch attacked its backside.
It swung about violently to face them. Sai was free again to catch her breath. A light danced in front of her face and she knew she must be more hurt than she initially guessed. A massive flabby foot almost stepped on her. She had just rolled away when a circle of light caught her eye.
“Sai! Can you get up? We need your help,” called Hatch as he swung mightily at the monster.
She got to her knees and took a deep breath. The circle of light in front of her solidified and she could see green trees and water beyond them in a sunlit vista.
The monster roared a challenge, and Sai ported to the back of the monster and plunged her daggers in to the hilt.
It slammed her against the etherium walls and she ported away before being crushed.
“I think we found the exit!” she shouted.
“I see it!” affirmed Von Wilding.
“We can’t get past this beast yet!” yelled Hatch, as Sai slashed again at the mountainous flab.
Sai tried her attack again, and this time the Ettin-thing went down and rolled across the tunnel floor. Von Wilding and Hatch raced over the monster and Sai ported after them.
They raced to reach the shrinking doorway.
“Wildflower’s ritual must be wearing out—we have to hurry!”
The circular doorway was shrinking rapidly, and Sai panicked, porting to catch the others as the Ettin-thing roared and raced behind her.
Hatch made it through, then Von Wilding, just barely. Sai was halfway out when the Ettin-thing grasped her about the waist with its fleshy tentacles and pulled her back into the dark. Within seconds, the portal shrank from the size of a wagon wheel to a foxhole.
***
Hatch lunged back into the portal for her, but Von Wilding drew him back. “I can’t have you losing an arm,” he said as the hole shrank rapidly down to the size of a rabbit’s burrow.
The Glauerdoom Moor Page 3
