Accidental Mage: Book Three in the LitRPG Accidental Traveler Adventure

by Jamie Davis

  He hoped, even if the goblins didn’t speak the common tongue, they’d recognize his pronunciation of the chief’s name.

  The ranger standing over him lowered his bow, pointing the nocked arrow at the ground rather than Hal’s head. A few words in the goblin tongue and the other goblins lowered their weapons but remained on guard.

  It was a start.

  Hal sat up, moving with slow precision so as not to display any sudden movements.

  “Do any of you speak the common tongue?”

  One of the rangers on the other side of the ledge stepped forward.

  “Speak I — little.”

  Hal touched his chest.

  “I’m Hal Dix. Your name?”

  “Tarront is name.”

  The goblin looked familiar to Hal, but he wasn’t one of the rangers Hal assisted with the Troll raid.

  “Do you know Gand, Zeth, or Plank?”

  “Plank is brother.”

  “I helped Plank with a Troll raid a year ago. With Shalush. Do you remember?”

  “Caravan? Bilham Gary?”

  “Yes, yes,” Hal agreed. Thank God, they knew the name of the caravan guard captain, Bilham Gary. They remembered the caravan coming through. “I was one of the guards, Hal Dix.”

  One of the other goblins spoke up in their language. Hal recognized two things in what he said. He heard his name and the work “Hyroth.” Maybe the other goblin knew of his befriending of the Goblins in the gladiator pens and the slave army he raised afterward.

  “Yes, I’m Hal Dix from Hyroth and the slave revolt.”

  There was a great deal of discussion he couldn’t follow for a few minutes while he, Kay, and the disarmed dragoons waited for some sign the standoff was resolved. The debate ended and Tarront offered Hal a hand.

  The goblin grinned, baring his teeth in an alarming display of the filed points he had.

  “Come, Hal Dix. We go Shalush.”

  Trying not to let his relief show, Hal smiled back at the ranger and took the offered hand to help him stand. He called out to the others.

  “They’re taking us to their chief. He is known to me and I to him. We'll be fine, but no one do anything to provoke a response. No sudden moves, alright?”

  He tried to make eye contact with all the dragoons. They nodded and picked up their weapons, sheathing their swords. Once everyone was ready to move, Hal turned to Tarront.

  “We are ready. We will follow you.”

  Tarront issued several commands. A few of the goblins jogged off down the trail ahead of them. Hal was sure they were sent on to alert the tribe they were coming.

  Once all the humans lined up, Tarront took the lead with Hal and Kay behind him. The other rangers formed up around them and they followed the trail down from the pass and into the lush valley below.

  Hal and the others followed the goblins without stopping for a long time. It was mid-afternoon when they arrived at the village serving as the central meeting place for the tribe living in the valley.

  Shalush waited for them as they arrived at the edge of the small community. He and Hal clasped wrists in the traditional greeting Hal had learned on his last journey through the valley.

  “Greetings, my friend,” the goblin Chieftain said.

  “Greetings to you as well, Shalush. I want to thank your rangers for allowing us passage through the valley.”

  “You are known to us, Hal Dix. We know that you are a man of honor and you have helped us in the past. I'm sorry however we cannot offer you a place to stay in our village. It is not safe here. We have many of our number who've come down with a strange illness. Our healers are unable to help those afflicted. Many have died, and I believe many more will die before this disease has played out its course.”

  The news of the disease outbreak concerned Hal. He had helped these people in the past and he wanted to help them now.

  “I will have my party camp here on the outskirts of your village to keep them and you safe. I, however, would like to come into your village and see if I could help in some way. I have gained some additional skills since I last passed through.”

  “Unless you have become a magician of great skill and healing ability, I do not see how you can help us.”

  “Actually, my friend, that is exactly what has happened. Take me to the place where you are tending to your sick. I will see if there's anything I can do.”

  Shalush took Hal to the center of the village. There was a large round structure that must have served as a central meeting place and home to the chieftain. Inside, rows of sleeping pallets lined the floor, all of them occupied by sick and emaciated goblins. There were children, adults and the elderly among the ill.

  “How long has this been going on?”

  “For several weeks. We had just fought off an imperial raiding party and one of our rangers came down with the strange illness a few days later. Several of our healers think the illness came because of contact with the human soldiers.”

  “That is possible. Is it alright if I examine a few of the people here?”

  “Yes, of course, we will accept any aid you might be able to provide.”

  A goblin in robes standing nearby stepped forward.

  “Excuse me, my chief. Do you think that is wise? After all, if it was contact with humans which caused this disease, wouldn't contact with more humans make more people sick?”

  Before Shalush could answer, Hal confronted the robed goblin.

  “And you are?”

  “I am Garand, chief healer and high priest of this clan. I believe your people are responsible for this illness and I will not let you harm any others.”

  Hal knew he needed to defuse the situation if he was going to find a way to help these people. First, he needed to get on the right side of the goblin healers.

  “Garand, even if humans are responsible for this illness, I am not currently ill and do not carry any illness with me. I am a healer of sorts myself and may be able to lend my magical abilities to help you and your people. May I examine some of your patients?”

  “Let him look at a few of them, Garand,” Shalush said. “It will hurt nothing; he is a friend.”

  The healer scowled but acquiesced, gesturing at the row of sick people next to him.

  Hal approached the closest pallet and knelt down. The patient, a goblin who couldn't have been much older than his own two-year-old daughter, lay on the pile of blankets. The child's chest heaved, gasping for breath.

  He opened himself up to earth magic and delved into the child with his mind. Placing his hands with care, he touched either side of the baby's head with his fingertips and tried to sense the source of the illness.

  The goblin child stirred but did not wake up as Hal searched for the source of the illness. There was something strange about the child's sickness. When Hal tried to cast heal wounds, the spell found nothing to which it could attach. It was as if there was no illness at all.

  After several tries and fighting down his frustration at being unable to do anything, Hal tried a different approach. An idea occurred to him. If he couldn't cure the disease, maybe it was because there was no disease there. Perhaps these people weren't sick but poisoned or affected by some other external source.

  He tried casting neutralize poison, but nothing happened either.

  Something else was at work here.

  Remembering the tingling he had felt during the ambush, Hal wondered if he could detect magic in other ways intentionally. He reached out with his magical senses feeling for any magical energy around him. Hal cast his awareness outward to draw in as much information about any magic at work nearby as he could. He felt several sources of magic inside the large room. It was a blackness leaving a vile aftertaste when he touched it with his mind. Each instance was associated with one of the sick individuals.

  New spell learned: detect magic

  Hal continued to draw from this new magical ability focusing on one of the specific locations, the one closest to the child next to
him. He saw a nexus of magic beneath the kid’s pallet. There was a thin black line of connecting magic leading off to the wall of the building on the north side. It was barely detectable even with his advanced magical vision.

  Walking to the next pallet, Hal found a similar magical source leading to the north wall. It was some a variation earth magic, but it had a taint to it. Instead of healing the individuals, this magic drew energy away from them.

  Hal looked down at the thin line connecting the patient to the point on the wall and attempted to sever it. When he applied force to the connection, the patient began to thrash about in some sort of seizure. He stopped trying to sever the line as soon as the seizure began.

  Garand pointed at Hal.

  “What did you do? See, my chief, he is injuring our people.”

  Shalush waved off the comment.

  “Hal, what happened?”

  “This isn't a disease at all, or at least not in the traditional sense. This is all caused by a variation of earth magic. Their life force is being pulled away by a spell I've never seen before. It all leads to the north side of the building. I'm going outside to see what is there.”

  Hal left the building and headed around to the north wall. Shalush and Garand followed. Focusing his magic on the ground, Hal saw the thin line of magic coming from the building. It continued to the north before it disappeared.

  Shalush and the goblin healer caught up to him where he knelt by the north wall staring into the distance.

  “What did you find, Hal?” Shalush asked.

  “The source of your problem is coming from that direction. Is there anything out there to the north nearby that might be causing a magical disruption?”

  Shalush looked at the healer who shrugged.

  “Nothing I know of, my chief.”

  “Well, something or someone is using a perverted form of earth magic to drain the life from your people. I'm not sure why or even how they're doing it, but I think we need to follow the magic north until we find out where it is coming from.”

  “I do not have many men left to spare, Hal. So many are ill. I could lend you one or two warriors but no more. Do you think that will be enough?”

  I suppose it will have to be. I'll bring a few of the dragoons along as well. It is getting dark. Given how sick those people are, I hate to lose a whole night. More could die. Are your rangers able to lead us north in the dark?”

  “If you can track the magic, they can help you travel safely through the forest and hills.”

  “Good, then we leave immediately.”

  Quest accepted — locate and destroy the source of evil earth magic

  “Godspeed, Hal," Shalush said. "We'll wait for your return. Two of my rangers will meet you where your soldiers camp outside the village.”

  Hal ran back to the camp and told Kay what was happening in the village. She began preparing her gear for the trek north. Hal turned to sergeant Madry.

  “I need two of your best men to accompany us. We shouldn't be gone long. The goblins will treat you well and bring you food while we’re gone.”

  “I’ll tell Jenkins and Williams to gather their kit and prepare to leave with you and her highness.”

  The sergeant turned and began calling out orders, leaving Hal to wait and ponder what sort of evil magic was at play here. Jenkins and Williams arrived at the same time as the goblin rangers jogged into the camp. Hal recognized one of them as Tarront.

  Tarront introduced his colleague as Bellen. Hal introduced the two dragoons who were accompanying them, as well as Kay.

  “Is everyone ready to go?” He waited for nods all around. “Excellent, then let's hurry. This sort of magic is powerful but does not have a very long range. Wherever it's coming from, it has to be close by.”

  As dusk fell, the six of them headed out into the forest to the north.

  28

  Hal led the way, focusing himself on the faint magical trail leading away from the village. Tarront and Bellen walked on either side of Hal, helping him avoid tripping in the increasing darkness. Hal was glad for the help. He was so intent on tracking source of the magic; he had little attention to pay to keep him from tripping over tree roots and branches on the ground.

  The terrain through which they traveled grew increasingly damp until they found themselves inside a swampy area thick with brush, trees, and a boot-sucking muck that made it hard to take each step.

  “Tarront, how long has this swamp been here?” Hal asked.

  “I was here a year ago; there was no swamp.”

  “Let's be extra careful, then, and be on our guard. I expect we are going to run into some trouble soon. Bellen, go back and join Kay at the rear and watch our backs. Make sure no one sneaks up on us. Jenkins and Williams will stay in the middle and be ready to jump and attack in either direction. Got it?”

  Hal could barely make out the nodding heads in the darkness amidst the trees. There was very little light filtering down from full moon above but there was enough to see the others understood their orders.

  Turning his attention back to following the magic trail, Hal started searching for traps or pitfalls in addition to keeping his eyes on the thin line of magic still heading northward. They traveled for about an hour longer when they arrived at a strange hill sticking up from the center of the swamp. It's rounded, grass-covered surface formed a perfect dome in the midst of the marshy ground.

  The trail ended here.

  “This is it,” Hal said. “This is where the magic is coming from. Search the base of this hill for an entrance of some kind.”

  Hal should have realized splitting up the group to search for an entrance was a bad idea. It was too late to change his mind. That was when the trolls attacked.

  Shuffling out of the darkness, the enormous 8-foot-tall creatures snarled their war cries at the intruders and attacked. One picked Jenkins off the ground and flung him against a nearby tree. Hal heard a sickening crack as the impact broke Jenkins’ back and he fell to the ground, limp and lifeless.

  Williams was a little luckier. He managed to draw his sword and slash at the beast closest to him drawing blood and causing the troll to howl in pain.

  Kay ran in to help Williams as she slashed her blade at the back of the troll’s knees, cutting its hamstrings, bringing it crashing to the ground.

  Hal drew upon his fire magic. He had to be ready to burn any troll as soon as it was taken down. Only fire would stop the creatures from regenerating. One of the trolls jumped in his way and tried to pull him close to bite his shoulder.

  Firing multiple jets of flame from his fingertips, Hal set the creature ablaze. The troll’s hairy hide went up like a matchstick and it fell to the ground.

  1,000 experience awarded

  Hal ran up to where Kay and Williams hacked at the troll on the ground next to them. Every time they thought they'd killed it, the creature would start to get back up again. That ended with a quick dose of fire spray as Hal ran up to finish the job.

  1,000 experience awarded

  Tarront and Bellen each fought a troll and were hard pressed to gain an advantage. Both bled from multiple wounds when Hal arrived to assist them.

  He launched a fist-sized ball of fire at the troll fighting Tarront. It hit the creature in the chest, burning a hole all the way through.

  The troll stared at the gaping hole for a moment in shock before it collapsed in a heap on the ground.

  1,000 experience awarded

  Bellen already had his troll on the ground and was hacking at it trying to remove its head. He was tiring, and the troll would soon rise again unless he managed to cut all the way through.

  Hal ran over, extended two fingers, firing twin jets of flame into the wounded creature’s neck while the goblin ranger hacked away with his sword. Together, they managed to destroy it.

  1,000 experience awarded

  With all four trolls killed, Hal rushed over to check on Jenkins, though he feared the worst. He was right. Jenkins’ lifeless eye
s stared up in the moonlight from where he lay next to the tree that had helped kill him.

  Hal reached out with two fingers and brushed the dragoon’s eyelids closed then he turned and stood. They had a job to do and he couldn't worry about one dead companion right now. His body would have to wait until they returned.

  “Keep searching. These trolls guarded something. Let’s find out what it was.”

  Hal and the others fanned out around the base of the small hill. A shout from the far side drew them all together again. Bellen had found an entrance hidden behind a mass of thorny brush.

  They pulled the branches back, cutting some away until they exposed a cave entrance sloping downward, deeper into the hillside. A soft yellow glow came from somewhere below.

  “Whoever it is, it looks like they’re home,” Kay remarked. “Shall we crash the party?”

  “It would be rude not to,” Hal agreed. “I’ll go first followed by Kay, Tarront, Williams, and Bellen in the rear.”

  The others nodded. They were ready.

  Hal avoided the remaining thorns and entered the cave. He paused a few steps inside, waiting for the others to come through, then continued down the sloping passage.

  He moved downward, trying to remain silent to avoid detection by whoever was down below. The hair on the back of his neck was up again, indicating strong magic at use below. He drew on all his remaining magical energy, casting his ice armor spell and preparing several offensive spells for rapid use. They had to catch whoever was down there by surprise.

  The glow ahead grew and Hal started to make out voices. It sounded like there were several people down there. They were likely human or about the same size, judging from the size of the passage dug into the hillside.

  The five companions almost made it all the way down to the chamber at the bottom of the passageway without being detected but one of the occupants below started up the passage and spotted them. Hal almost ran into a balding man wearing red robes. The robed man yelped and fired off a six-inch-thick stream of fire in their direction causing them all to dive to the dirt floor of the passage.