The Bane of Karrak: Ascension II of III (The Karrak Trilogy Part Two)

by Robert J Marsters

  A haggard Thedarian man appeared amongst them. He turned from one to the other in no particular order, pointing his finger and shaking his head. “Remember…” he continued, as his warning became a whisper, “… the second, not the first, but not the second, the second.” Although, obviously passionate to get his meaning across, he was making no sense and the smile that remained on his face throughout proved that Koloss, the once-proud King of Thedar, was far from sane. Erenthas lowered her head, in sorrow more than shame, if that were possible for a Thedarian.

  Faylore rose and took the man’s hands. “Father, it is I, Faylore, your daughter,” she said, quietly.

  “No, no, no! The second,” Koloss continued. “He’ll be here soon with the first. It’s the second, not the second.” His eyes darted frantically around. He had no perception of reality, it seemed, as he pointed at shadows and continued to shake his head. He began to laugh. “It was the old man… but he was a young man, not an old man… but he was an old man,” he rambled.

  Faylore, Erenthas and Seenara were more concerned, obviously, with Koloss’ wellbeing than his meaningless rants and were attempting to calm him, but Lodren had heard something different. Nudging Grubb, he leaned across. “You don’t think he could be talking about Karrak, do you?” he asked quietly.

  “Why would he be on about Karrak? ’e’s as mad as a frog with its bum on fire.”

  “Listen. The second? Karrak’s the second son, and he’s not old, he’s young, but he disguises himself as an old man so nobody recognises him.”

  “Might be, I suppose. It could just be a coincidence.”

  “I would have agreed with you a few years ago, Grubb, but with all we’ve been through I don’t believe in coincidences any more. Especially when it comes to Karrak.”

  “We’ll ’ave to be careful what we say though, we don’t want to upset anyone. We’ll talk to Faylore when we’re alone, alright?”

  “I didn’t know Faylore had another sister, did you?”

  “Of course I did, Lodren. Tells me everythin’, Faylore does. Ye know what a chatterbox she can be!”

  “There’s no need to be sarcastic, Grubb. I just wondered if she’d mentioned her in passing.”

  “No. I didn’t know she ’ad another sister. Mind you, they ’aven’t mentioned Jendilomin either, ’ave they?”

  “Do you think they know about her and the forest nymphs?”

  “I don’t know if they know about ’er, the nymphs or that she was as barmy as ’er old dad.”

  “Keep your voice down, Grubb! And don’t say things like that, you never know who’s listening.”

  “’ere! What if it’s a family thing? What if all the royal family go barmy eventually? Faylore could be next.”

  “Of course they don’t, you stupid Vikkery. Her mother’s fine, isn’t she?”

  “For now maybe, but who knows? Before long…” Grubb stuck his tongue out of the side of his mouth, crossed his eyes and pretended to screw his finger into the side of his head.

  “You’ll get another taste of my hammer if you keep this up, Grubb, and I’m not joking.”

  CHAPTER 15

  “Alright, so it’s decided, we begin our hunt for Karrak at first light tomorrow,” said Jared.

  “It’s a long way to Merrsdan, Jared,” said Emnor. “It’s going to take weeks and we can’t use magic to shorten our journey. For one, Hannock’s body would never take the strain, and secondly, if the scroll is to be believed, Karrak would surely detect our presence as we drew nearer to his location.”

  “I’d rather you didn’t discuss my body, thank you very much,” said Hannock, pulling at his tunic.

  Emnor rolled his eyes, “I was merely stating the fact that if we were to use relocation spells, your organs would become so dehydrated that it may give you heart failure or something equally as fatal.”

  “And you can leave my organs out of it as well!”

  “Oh, do shut up, Hannock,” said Jared. “This is the serious part, remember.”

  Hannock grinned. “By your leave, Your Highness,” he said, and gave an exaggerated bow.

  “He’s right, Cap’. You’d be shrivelled up like a prune in a few days,” whispered Drake.

  “You’ve used that spell on me more than once and I was fine, why should a couple of more times do any harm?” asked Hannock.

  “It’s called cumulative effect,” replied Drake.

  “Which means what exactly?”

  “Each time a mortal body is transported, it absorbs magical energy, but with each consecutive spell, it absorbs a greater amount than the previous time. Once is fine, twice isn’t too harmful… but three or four, or even more, could be fatal. It dries you out from the inside. You can retrieve enough moisture from water the first couple of times but after that, you’d be pushing your luck if you were re-located more than once a month.”

  “Sounds nasty,” said Hannock.

  “It would be,” said Harley. “You could dry out so completely that the flick of a finger could cause you to turn to dust.”

  “Jared, if we are to begin our search, we will need horses. We cannot walk all the way to Merrsdan,” suggested Hannock.

  “Are there any villages nearby, Emnor?” asked Jared.

  Yello interjected at this point. “There is,” he said. “At least there was one, not too far from here. I could take a couple of the lads and find out.”

  “No,” replied Emnor, sternly. “We can plot a course that can take us through it. Even if you were to go ahead, you’d have to wait for us to catch up.”

  “Aren’t we overlooking a couple of things?” asked Hannock. “The small matter of your father, who is incapable of travel. Not to mention the two Dergon we have locked up downstairs.”

  Jared sighed and gently banged his fist against the side of a cart, “The situation with the Dergon is simple enough, but as for my father, I am unsure of what to do.”

  “So you mean to execute the prisoners?” asked Yello.

  “No,” replied Jared, “I mean to release them.”

  “What!” exclaimed Hannock, “Jared, you can’t. They slaughtered hundreds of our people, butchered them. You can’t just let them go.”

  “They can be another distraction for Karrak. It will take them as long to reach Merrsdan as it will take us, maybe less. If Karrak’s attention is focussed on them, it may give us an edge.”

  “Or, if they get ahead of us,” snapped Hannock, “They could lie in wait and ambush us again!”

  “They have seen our strength, Hannock, six wizards and we two. I saw the rage in Ramah’s eyes and it was not directed at us. He yearns for his revenge on Karrak, nothing else matters to him.”

  “Seven wizards,” chirped Drake. The whole assembly turned to face him. “Well… six and a half, I suppose. You’re not that strong yet,” he added, winking at Jared.

  “Do not forget, Jared, you also have two Gerrowliens on your side.”

  Jared turned to face Lawton, “Forgive me, my friend. I did not feel it right to assume your involvement in our mission.”

  “See, there it is. Our mission. We’ve come this far with you, we may as well complete the journey,” Lawton placed his hand on Jared’s shoulder. “To the end,” he added.

  “Are you in agreement with your friend, Poom?” asked Jared. “Will you be joining us?”

  “What! Leave fat boy to his own devices and miss out on a good scrap?” laughed Poom. “You did hear him say two Gerrowliens? Of course, I’m with you. Just point the way.”

  Jared, Hannock, Emnor and Yello, flanked by the Gerrowliens, headed down the steep, stone staircase. Reaching the Dergon’s makeshift gaol, Emnor unlocked the door and steered everyone inside. Ramah and Korbah immediately sprang to their feet. Poom and Lawton lurched forward and roared at their captives. Jared held up his hand and the Gerrowliens stepped back, still growling quietly.

  “We mean you no harm, Ramah,” said Jared. “My decision is all but made, but I shall need your word of no furt
her hostilities toward us before I can make a judgement.”

  “If you look for apologies or a whimpering plea for our lives, you are mistaken, Borellian! You shall receive neither. We will not beg for our lives. Kill us and have done with it. If we cannot have our revenge on Karrak, our lives are meaningless anyway.”

  “So you maintain that your only goal is the destruction of Karrak?” asked Emnor.

  “I do,” sneered Ramah, “Karrak will die by my hand if I live through this day.”

  “Do I have your word that in no way will you involve yourself, or any other, with myself or my company?” asked Jared.

  “I care not for you and yours, Borellian. Release us and never again will our paths cross. On that, you have my word.”

  The Dergon were led to the courtyard. Yello stepped forward. “Where shall I take them?” he asked, volunteering to transport them from Reiggan.

  “Nowhere,” said Emnor, suddenly. “I will remove them from here. You should rest, my friend. Don’t worry, I’ll only be an hour or so,” and with that, he placed his hands on the Dergon’s shoulders, and vanished.

  “He goes on as if I’m a decrepit old fart!” exclaimed Yello.

  The boys began to laugh, as did the Gerrowliens.

  “He goes on as if he were your best friend, because he is. That’s why he wants you to rest,” said Jared, slapping him on the back. “Now do as he asks and rest. As he said, he’ll be back in no time.”

  “I can’t rest just yet, Jared. I have a suggestion on what to do about Tamor.”

  “Oh really?” asked Jared. “What’s that then?”

  “A seclusion spell,” replied Yello, quietly.

  Their conversation was not a secret, therefore it was no surprise that the boys overheard. “Oh, YES!” exclaimed Drake.

  “I’ve read about those. Can we watch?” asked Harley, excitedly.

  “We do not even know if Jared will agree to it yet, Harley. Hold your horses, boy.”

  “Why wouldn’t I agree?” asked Jared. “Is it dangerous?”

  “Not at all, dear boy,” replied Yello, clearing his throat whilst mischievously avoiding eye contact. “Do you think that I would put your father at risk?”

  “What do you mean!” exclaimed Drake, “I read about a bloke once who ended up like a pound of crispy bacon when it went horribly wrong.”

  “Firstly, Drake, that was a very long time ago, and secondly, I knew the fellow who performed that spell. He was bloody hopeless. Couldn’t even boil water in a flask with a look. As a matter of fact, he was drawn to stop him from ever using magic again,” snapped Yello.

  “What do you mean, he was drawn?” asked Jared.

  “Oh, Jared, you should see it. It’s awesome,” interrupted Drake. “A load of the elders form a circle around a wizard and suck the magic out of him.”

  “That’s enough, Drake!” yelled Yello, “We do not discuss such things.”

  “No, Master Yello. My apologies, sir,” Drake replied hurriedly, lowering his head.

  “It’s the idea of my father being reduced to crispy bacon that I’m more concerned about, Yello. Is there the slightest chance of that happening?” asked Jared, sceptically.

  “None whatsoever, Your Highness. I could conceal your father as easily as you conjure that fireball you’re so fond of.”

  “How does it work? Does it make him invisible or something?”

  “It’s far better than that. It conceals him in time,” replied Yello.

  “How can you hide someone in time?” asked Jared, now looking very confused.

  “You’ve witnessed me freeze time, as I did when the Dergon were captured, yes?” Jared nodded, “Well, all I have to do is reverse time around someone and they’re taken into the past, only by a few seconds of course. If anyone were to search a room where they stood or lay, they would remain undetected, because, in reality, that person would not exist in our time.”

  “If this works, and forgive me but I am a little dubious, how would you return them to the present?” asked Jared.

  “You simply focus on the point where you left them, it’s the area that is affected, not the person, you see?” replied Yello, confidently.

  “And what if, somehow, that person has been removed from the area that was affected?”

  “You’d be stuffed! Probably never find them again. But stop worrying, it’s never happened before. At least I don’t think it has,” Yello replied, stroking his beard.

  “Let’s wait until Emnor returns, shall we?” suggested Jared. “I’d like to hear his thoughts on the matter.”

  “Oh, he won’t want to get involved,” replied Yello. “He was never interested in any type of magic that involved time.”

  “But he’s the head, sorry, he was the head of the Administration. Surely, he’d know all there was to know about any type of spell?”

  Yello laughed, “You’d think so, wouldn’t you? Problem is, he was useless when it came to the simplest of time spells. When we were young students here, he tried to stop time around one of our classmates and botched it up. Poor fellow was only affected from the waist down, he couldn’t walk properly for two days. Looked like he’d got two branches tied to his legs.”

  “All the same, I’d still like to hear his opinion,” insisted Jared.

  “Oh, don’t be such a wet blanket, Jared. I’m not going to risk hurting your father after bringing him all the way here now, am I?” Poom cleared his throat and looked across at Yello. “I mean, after we brought him here, of course,” Yello added.

  Jared had his reservations, but the old wizard had proven his loyalty on more than one occasion and he was sure that he would never put his father at risk. “You’re sure he’ll be in no danger?” he asked, slowly.

  “You have my word, Your Highness,” Yello assured him.

  Jared sighed. “Lead the way,” he said slowly. “And yes, if you feel you need to watch, you may accompany us,” he added, glancing over at the boys.

  “We’ll stay here, thank you,” said Lawton, as Jared glanced at him. “We’re not really interested in wizards’ hocus pocus.”

  Jared nodded and turned to follow Yello and the boys who, in their eagerness, were already headed indoors. Hannock, who had remained silent throughout, followed them inside.

  They entered the room where Tamor had been housed to find him still sleeping peacefully, unaware of both his surroundings and his planned concealment.

  “Still out like a light,” stated Drake. “Has he even stirred while you’ve been watching him, Alexander?”

  “No, he hasn’t even breathed heavily. Just lies there without so much as the twitch of a finger,” replied Alex.

  “Do you think he dreams at all, Jared?” asked Harley.

  “I don’t think he’d be having dreams. Nightmares perhaps, but no, not dreams.”

  “If he’d been having nightmares, Jared, I would have known. Who would know a person’s reactions to nightmares better than I?” Alex said, quietly. The way he said it was a little disturbing. Admittedly, he had been through an ordeal when he was younger, having had no father’s guidance, but what would prompt such a statement? Realising what he had said aloud, Alex turned to face the assembly. “You know what I mean, nightmares about being threatened and bullied when I was a child?” he added with a fake laugh.

  “Yes, I suppose that would give you nightmares,” said Jared, patting Alex gently on the shoulder.

  “Come on, let’s get on with it!” urged Xarran. He had witnessed most forms of magic, but never time manipulation, as it had always been frowned upon by the Administration. He himself had been frozen in time along with his friends and the Dergon. Now he had the opportunity to witness someone being hidden in time by one of the masters. His impatience was getting the better of him, aggressively so as his voice changed, his words sounding more like a challenge than encouragement.

  To Yello, time dilation was nothing spectacular and he waved his hand toward Xarran in dismissal, “Just wait a minute, dear
boy. One does not simply just zap someone into the past. It takes time and preparation.”

  “What sort of preparation?” asked Jared, quizzically.

  “Well, we need to apply the tonath oil for a start!” exclaimed Yello, amazed that nobody in the room seemed to have ever heard of it.

  “What exactly is tonath oil?” asked Jared, giving in to the fact that this was something that he would not understand easily.

  “It’s a plant extract,” Harley suddenly replied. “You have to apply it to the skin before the spell can be cast.”

  “Very good, Harley. How did you know?” asked Yello.

  “I am Emnor’s apprentice. It’s my duty to know these things, Master Yellodius,” replied Harley, pompously.

  “Don’t you ‘Master Yellodius’ me, you little pipsqueak! You’ll get my foot up your a….”

  “Can we get back to the subject, please!” Jared was in no mood to referee a slanging match between two wizards, regardless of their ages. “Why do you need to apply the oil?”

  “He’ll be excluded from time, Jared. If he were left there for a century, he wouldn’t age a day. Magic, however, dehydrates the mortal body and the oil will help to counteract that dehydration for… ooh, let’s see, coincidentally, about a hundred years. However, if you don’t apply the oil, he’ll end up looking like a week-old kerrand fruit, and you wouldn’t want that, would you?” asked Yello.

  “Obviously!” replied Jared. “But I don’t envisage him being hidden for the next century, either!”

  “Of course you don’t. An example, dear boy, just an example. Stop getting your drawers in ruck. He’ll be fine until we bring him back in a couple of months or so. Now, where’s my bag?”

  “You left it in the courtyard,” replied Drake.

  “Do me a favour, could you?” asked Yello, winking at Drake, “Save my old legs and nip up and get it for me would you?”

  Drake rolled his eyes and sighed, “Back in a minute.”

  Hannock strolled slowly across the room and leaned down so as to whisper in Yello’s ear, “You do understand…” he began, “… that if this goes wrong and the king is harmed in any way or perhaps dies due to your incompetence, and please don’t take this too personally, that you will be next?”