Into the Realm

by R W Foster

  “Scratch his ear,” she whispered. I did as she suggested and was rewarded with almost being knocked off my feet by the horse’s enthusiastic reaction. After a couple of minutes scratching the big horse, Dearbhaile lead me to each of the others, allowing us to get used to each other. As I scratched the silver’s ear, hands lifted me by my waist and setting me on her saddle. I grabbed the saddle in a white knuckle grip and spun in place to scowl at Angriz as he swung up into the saddle of the Clydesdale. Keeper Dearbhaile was already atop the black.

  “W-what the hell, Ang-griz!” I stuttered.

  “Keeper Dearbhaile wanted us to hurry, Carter. We’ve spared ten minutes for you to get to know the horses, now we ride.”

  “I don’t know how!”

  “You’ll be fine. Hold the reins and grip his sides with your thighs. He’ll stick with the others.”

  I must say, the half dragon was pretty cavalier with my safety. I felt dizzy and twitchy, like my insides were trembling. The sun beat down. My chest was tight and my heart racing. ‘I’m going to fall off this animal and it’s gonna step on my head, and I’m gonna die!’ Sweat poured down my face and I’m sure my eyes were bugging out. I tried not to look at the ground which was too far below me.

  Keeper Dearbhaile took pity on me: she wheeled her horse around and took the reins from me. “Hold on tae th’ pommel,” she said. “I’ll lead yer horse for ye.”

  I held on for dear life.

  7

  The midday sun beat down on our head when we arrived at the remnants of the town of Rivorei. The fires, having consumed all they could, had all but burned out. The acrid stench of smoke, burned wood and charred flesh hung in the air like a wet blanket. The horses refused to get any closer, so we dismounted, tied their reins around some trees, and entered on foot. The city walls, once proud evidence of the town’s prosperity, were melted like wax candles. We walked through the sagging, gaping hole in the wall. I was amazed by the scale of the destruction and the absolute silence. I was cognizant of Keeper Dearbhaile sliding her hand into mine, but at the edge of my awareness. The cobblestones underfoot were still warm from the fires that just raged through the city . A charred wooden wall had the blackened remains of a person hanging from a spear through the gut.

  We found ourselves walking through what had been an alleyway, the buildings on either side slumped from the fire. I stepped in something squishy and wet. Looking down, I realized I had my foot in a stream of a thick pinkish brown liquid with a greasy film. ‘What the hell?’ I went to one knee and dragged my finger through the slurry. I caught the stench of sewage and blood. I recoiled so hard I fell on my butt.

  I noticed something odd sticking out from the mess. I fished the thing out and dried in on my pants. It was a flat, grey stone with some odd etchings on one side. Keeper Dearbhaile helped me to my feet, her eyes brilliant with unshed tears. She moved further into the ruined city and I stuck the stone in my pocket without thinking about why I did so. I turned to ask Angriz what he thought had happened here, but he was gone. I turned and headed out of the alley.

  I found him in the center of what must have been the market square. The scattered piles of burned wood and bodies made identifying things difficult. Men, women and children lay about, hacked into pieces. Some had arrows, or spears, in their backs as if they had been killed as they tried to flee. He was looking at a huge emerald flag hanging above a pyramid of slain townspeople. In the center was an emblem of a colossal silver dragon clutching a dozen spears in one fist and the throat of a vampire in its other.

  “Shit, Angriz. Isn’t that the flag of the Orwens?” I said.

  Eyes still fixed on the flag, he nodded his head.

  8

  Near sunset, we stopped to set up camp. Angriz maintained his silence all day. Once we had a fire going and tents up, he said in a gruff voice he would return, and headed off into the growing darkness.

  “Any idea as tae what be goin’ on with Sir Angriz?” Keeper Dearbhaile asked.

  “Indeed,” I said. “Now, I’m not a telepath, but I’d be willing to wager my services for three years, no task refused versus you answering five personal questions he is angry we aren’t going after Lady Orwen and by what happened in Rivorei.”

  “What kind o’ personal questions?”

  “Any I may devise.”

  “That wager doesn’t seem fair tae ye.”

  “Don’t worry about me. Do you accept?”

  “Nae.”

  I smiled. “Are you afraid I am correct?”

  “Nae. I just think if yer goin’ ta risk servitude, Laird Blake, I should as well.”

  I laughed. “Are you certain? Remember, I have traveled with Angriz for a while.”

  “Aye. I be certain. The loser gives one year of absolute service tae th’ other fer one year. That, I’ll agree tae.”

  “Done,” I said. “While we wait for his return, how about we begin preparing dinner?”

  “Good idea. How does rabbit stew soun’?”

  “Excellent, milady,” I said. “Would you do something for me Keeper Dearbhaile?”

  “Of course, milord.”

  “Call me ‘Carter.’”

  “Really? Thank ye so much!” She gushed.

  “I don’t understand. Why are you so happy I invited you to use my first name?” I said.

  “Oh, ’tis a gran’ honor, mi-, um, Carter. For me people, th’ use o’ birth names without titles be only for ones considered equals.”

  I grinned, then volunteered to get the rabbits. Before I could head out, Angriz strode into the firelight. He carried a four point buck under one arm. He let the carcass drop to the ground near the fire.

  “Dinner,” he announced.

  He began to clean the deer for dinner. As he worked, I decided to talk with him, and to be cautious as he wielded a wicked looking knife.

  “Angriz,” I ventured.

  “Yes, Carter,” he said.

  “I’m sorry my choice upset you.”

  He heaved a sigh. “No need,” he said. “You made the more difficult choice. To be honest, it is the best one. Lady Orwen would have been quite displeased when she learned we had chosen her rather than ending the war faster. I admit I was angry with you for your choice. However, I realize I was being unfair because I had vowed to go wherever you lead and I refused to help you choose. Most important, you are not at fault we are in this position. I hope you can forgive me.”

  “There is nothing to forgive, Angriz. I know you care a great deal for your friends. I would despair if you did not.”

  He nodded in acknowledgment of my words and finished preparing the buck for our meal. “We also have the mystery of what happened in Rivorei.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Rivorei was a town which belonged to Lady Orwen. It makes no sense for it to have been destroyed; even less as she has been abducted.”

  “Maybe that’s why?” I said. “A punishment for being involved in her abduction.”

  Angriz shook his head. “The children wouldn’t have been killed if that were the case.”

  “In the history of my world, sometimes the children were killed so no one would have to worry about them getting revenge when they grew into adults.”

  He shook his head. “Neither the Orwens, nor their people behave this way.”

  I let that go. He seemed pretty innocent for a warrior. I shoved my hands in my pockets, not sure how to continue. I felt the odd piece of stone I found earlier. I showed the rock to him.

  “Have you ever seen anything like this before?”

  He looked at the medium sized piece of slate with the odd etched shapes. “No, but the markings resemble Dwarven runes. Maybe Keeper Dearbhaile will be able to translate them.”

  Keeper Dearbhaile placed a large kettle of water on the fire as we talked. I don’t know where the pot came from, but I guess she conjured it. She added various vegetables and spices to the heating water. I took up an ax and walked over to a grove of maple trees. Sp
otting a couple of young ones, I felled them and began chopping the green wood for another fire. From the corner of my eye, I spotted a strange green light playing around the outside of the pot. ‘Is she using magic to cook the food faster? I hope it doesn’t change anything within me. Better not say anything to her. I don’t want to hurt her feelings.’ When I had a sufficient quantity, I stacked the wood in a pyramid shape. I ringed the stack with medium sized rocks from the forest floor.

  “That’s goin' tae produce a lot o’ smoke,” Keeper Dearbhaile observed.

  “Indeed.”

  She had claimed both hind legs of the deer for her stew by the time I finished with the wood, so I began carving the remainder of the meat into chunks and strips. Angriz drew another knife from a hip sheathe and joined me at my labor. Just as Keeper Dearbhaile announced dinner was ready, Angriz breathed a thin stream of fire over the maple wood. The intense heat of his breath dried the wood just enough for ignition.

  While the deer meat smoked, we sat down to our meal.

  “The stew is delicious, Keeper Dearbhaile,” I said. ‘What kind of rabbit is this again?”

  “Ach, shut yer mouth, ye galoot,” she said to my teasing. “Thank ye for killin’ tha deer, Sir Angriz.”

  I passed her the stone I’d shown Angriz. “Can you translate this? Angriz thinks the etchings are Dwarven.”

  She tossed the rest of her biscuit into her mouth, brushed off her hands and took the stone from me. Her eyes widened and she leaned closer to the fire, tilting the stone to the flames.

  “Where did ye find this, Carter?”

  “Back in Rivorei. After I stepped in that muck.”

  “This is part of a larger one, but this section seems to be orders from Drago the Clanless to his troops!”

  “What do they say?” Angriz asked before I could.

  “I can nae make out all of them, but they seem tae be sayin’ that the next target be Hawgrave City.”

  “Hmm,” mused Angriz. “That’s three days to the east. We don’t have time to help them.”

  “But we have tae do somethin’!”

  “Dearbhaile, can you can use your magic to send them a message?” I asked.

  She gave me a comical look of surprise. “Aye!” She slapped herself in the forehead. “Why did I nae think o’ that?”

  She pulled a small bird charm from her necklace and whispered for a few seconds. She cast the charm in the air, and to my delighted surprise, it flew east. After dinner, I gathered the dishes and took them to a nearby stream to wash them.

  Just as I finished, the Slitter that adopted me leaped up onto my shoulder. It had a tendency to come and go as it pleased. I turned my head to look, and got poked in my cheek with a sharp claw. I recoiled from the pain, and a knife flipped by my face, missing me by about a centimeter. I almost vomited at the sight of my attacker as it stalked out of the bushes.

  The somewhat humanoid creature was gaunt with two long, pale, writhing tentacles beneath its arms which hung near to its knees. It had a flat face, broad bat-like nose, pointed ears, wide mouth and six inch fangs. Wicked talons capped its skeletal fingers. Its hairless, waxy gray skin was covered in weeping sores that oozed a pale greenish fluid.

  Something had me rise up on the balls of my feet and go loose limbed. The gruesome creature launched itself at me as if my movement signaled the attack. The world slowed to a crawl. In slow motion, the creature flexed its leg muscles and sprang for my throat. The world then returned to normal and the creature was still running towards me. My brain froze in bewilderment, and my body tried to follow. But my momentum kept me traveling backward and I tripped over a root as the thing sprung as I foresaw. Tripping saved my life. The creature flew over my head as I slammed into the ground. I rolled to my right and rose. The monstrosity scrambled to its feet and charged again, swinging its arms in arcs, leading with its scythe-like claws.

  Again, the world slowed. I detected myself backing up in a hurry, wheeling my arms out of reach of those vicious claws. I backed into a tree, stopping my movement with my right foot sweeping back into the tree. I kicked off the trunk with the same foot. My foot rocketed forward and caught the creature underneath its jaw. Once more, the world snapped back to normal. This time, I was waiting for things to speed up and began the exact movements I had just seen myself do.

  The creature seemed confused by the circling of my arms, but pressed forward nonetheless. At the perfect moment of my retreat, my right leg swung back, hitting the tree and halting my movement. I swung forward again, bending my knee and snapping my leg straight as it whipped through the air. My foot flashed forward and exploded under its jaw. The creature’s mouth crashed closed, breaking many of its teeth. It wobbled, dazed. I came forward, caught it by the back of its head and with a twist of my body, rammed it face first into the tree I had kicked off of. Bone crunched and a blue fluid squirted as its skull was crushed.

  I let the creature slump to the forest floor and bent at the waist, panting from my exertions. I made the unfortunate choice to catch my breath right above the body as a foul stench wafted up. I vomited my dinner on the creature’s carcass. I staggered away, wiping my mouth. I sat down hard on an up-thrust root and rested. Several minutes passed as my heartbeat and breathing returned to normal. My eyes kept trying to return to the dead thing, but using all my resolve, I continued to avert them again. After about twenty minutes, I got up and walked over to the forgotten dinner dishes. I paused to rinse my mouth of the flavor of bile, gathered the dishes and returned to camp, wondering how the hell I’d just done that. ‘Where did I get this fighting skill? Is it a spell?’

  Chapter 5

  1

  I didn’t mention the attack to anyone. I can’t figure out why.

  I must have gotten some of the creature’s stench on me because Angriz told me in delicate terms about my odor. “Carter, you stink. Ask Keeper Dearbhaile to throw the soap at – I mean to – you, and head west of camp. There you will find a hot spring. Wash. Please.”

  “Hey, Angriz,” I said.

  “Yes, Carter?”

  “Stop being polite and tell me how you really feel.”

  “Fine. I don’t think I have ever smelled something so—”

  “Alright!” I shouted with exasperation. “I get your point! I smell! I’m going!”

  He had yet more. “Thank you, my friend. You have no idea how much that means to me!”

  “You are an asshole,” I said.

  I glanced over my shoulder in time to see him try to hide a laugh. I asked Keeper Dearbhaile for the castile, and as soon as I had the cleanser, pegged it at Angriz’ head. Right as the bar was going to collide with the back of his head, the soap stopped, tumbled in mid-air and flew back into my waiting hand.

  “Please do nae play —” she began.

  The soap bar flew back through the air on a perfect trajectory and slapped into the back of Angriz’ head.

  “With the soap, Carter.” If her words had been any drier, I could use them to towel off.

  “What the —?” Angriz said, rubbing the back of his head as he turned.

  I didn’t wait, but turned and ran for where he’d said I could locate the spring. The spring had formed a wide and deep pool. At the water’s edge, something walloped me in the back of my head. The world rotated, and I landed in the hot spring. I surfaced, spitting water. Angriz’ booming laugh sounded as if he stood nearby even though he was back in camp. I held him responsible for my sudden dunking, and cussed him under my breath, calling him everything but a half-dragon.

  I pulled off my sodden clothing and tossed it to shore. My pants got caught in a tree. The tree appeared to be trying to put my pants on while they were upside down. I began to cackle at the absurdity of this thought. I thought of how I must have looked muttering under my breath like a crazy man, and laughed even harder. Soon, I guffawed about hitting Angriz with the cake of soap and clutched my ribs, so great was my amusement. I stopped when a twig snapped nearby. I submerged my body un
til all which showed above the water was from my upper lip to the top of my skull.

  I hunted around with my eyes until I spotted Keeper Dearbhaile coming towards the water. I froze in shock as she began undressing, calm as could be.

  “I’m still in here, Keeper Dearbhaile!” I shouted.

  “I know,” she replied, as she tossed her robe on a bush.

  “What are you doing?” I said with some trepidation.

  Okay, I admit, I only pretend to be smooth around the ladies. I always heard, “Fake it ‘til you make it,” and figured the adage applied to everything. I learned this doesn’t work with women. Unless they somehow intuit I’m still fourteen.

  “I be gettin' ready tae bathe,” she said as if her logic was the most obvious thing in the world, and tossed her underwear beside the robe.

  “Not while I’m in here!” I said, near panic. ‘What if the worst should happen?’

  “And why not? ‘Tis only a bath. Elven bathe together all the time. ‘Tis only natural. How else are ye goin’ tae get yer back clean?”

  I was unable to continue the argument because at this point, the full moon came out from behind a cloud, revealing her nude form. My mouth dried up and my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth, entranced by my second sight of a live, nude female. Her soft brown hair was pulled back and twisted into a braid. Her pointed ears, revealed all the way for the first time, were not as surprising as I thought they’d be. Then again, I was distracted.

  She had firm, up-thrust breasts, a line outlining her abdominal muscles, a defined “V” shape where her abs descended to her pubis, which had no hair. The evident inward curve to the outline of her body at her waist and sharp flare outward at her hips entranced me. She had muscular, yet feminine legs and delicate feet. She performed a swan dive into the water, revealing the graceful curve of her back, and mesmerizing half-moon indents above a round, plump bottom.

  Keeper Dearbhaile surfaced next to me and shot the cake of soap into my distended mouth. Spluttering and gagging while she let out a merry laugh, I scooped water into my mouth and gargled before spitting out. I lunged with a growl to duck her under the water, but she escaped with the ease of an eel, popped up behind me and called my name. I turned and received a face full of water as she used the flat of her hand to shove the liquid at me.