Runefell: Crossroads

by Shawn Sodman

  “Can you eat them?” Isen asks.

  “Sure,” Ambra replies, “if you want to die.”

  “They are very poisonous,” Gena explains.

  “Oh,” Isen says as he steps back from them. “Then why are we bothering with them?”

  “Not everything has to be edible to be useful,” Kianna says.

  Ya'leigh asks her sister, “Ambra, do you know any potions that use them?”

  “Yes,” Ambra answers, “But I don't have an alchemy lab or the other ingredients.”

  “Are they valuable?” Isen asks.

  “Very,” Kelik replies.

  “Well then, let’s grab them and go,” Isen says.

  Gena warns, “We have to be careful, and we also only want to take one or two.”

  “Why?” Isen asks.

  “Because they take a very long time to grow,” Gena explains, “And if we take too many we would endanger them.”

  Ambra takes out a small jar from her backpack. She carefully places it behind one of the mushrooms and uses the lid to push it in. “Alright,” She says, “I got one. Let's go.”

  The group continues on their way as Kreeshaw leads. Finally he stops and points to a place ahead where a separate tunnel branches off. “This is the place,” Kreeshaw says. “My friends and I were storing our ore here when we were attacked by the spider. I was the only one who made it out alive. Take the path to the left.”

  Isen starts to walk down the rocky corridor and says, “Let's get this over with.” He draws his morning star out and flames magically emanate from it. The fiery weapon lights his way.

  Ya'leigh pulls out her bow, Incendia, and draws the bowstring. The fiery arrow that appears lights up the cave a little more. Kelik pulls a crossbow out his backpack. “No,” Ya'leigh says, pushing her brother back, “You and Ambra stay here.”

  “But I want to help,” Kelik protests.

  “Stay here!” Ya'leigh repeats sternly.

  Kelik sighs and says, “Fine.”

  Kianna begins to cast the ice dagger spell. Within the faint blue glow emanating from her hands, three icicles form. With the sharp ends facing in front of her, she channels more energy into it making them larger. She then proceeds to carefully advance as she carries the spell with her. Gena charges a lightning bolt in her hands and follows Kianna.

  Garrin readies his shield and says, “I'll stay here with the children and make sure they are alright.”

  Kreeshaw stays back with Kelik, Ambra, and Garrin. Ya'leigh, Gena, and Kianna make their way to the split where Isen is already waiting. He looks into the next chamber, but his light does not shine brightly enough to make anything out. He turns back to Ya'leigh and says, “Can you shoot one of your fire arrows up there?”

  “Sure,” Ya'leigh replies. “But I don't know if it will stay up there.”

  “Well, I can't see a thing,” Isen says.

  Ya'leigh steps up and peers into the larger cavern opening. She aims her bow at the roof of the cave and releases the bowstring. The flaming arrow flies up about the height of a two level building before hitting rock. The arrow gets caught in some webbing and as the web catches fire, the arrow falls to the ground at the center of the cave. The webbing above burns only a few moments longer, but it is long enough for Isen to see movement. Isen looks closer and can see the glow of the fire reflecting off the beady eyes of the giant arachnid.

  “I see it,” Isen says. “Shoot another arrow.”

  He carefully steps into the cavern and waits, staring up at the roof. Ya'leigh draws back for another shot and the spider turns and scurries into the darkness. Ya'leigh releases the arrow, and the room lights up a little more. Now there is just enough light for the others to see the shadowy figure. With its long legs the spider nearly spans twice the length of a human. Kianna peers in and gasps at its enormous size. She nervously tries to hit it with her ice daggers but only manages to graze it. Kianna steps back and begins to cast again.

  “Come on everyone,” Isen says. “Get it down so I can kill it.”

  “We are trying!” Ya'leigh yells as she shoots again. This time she hits her target and the spider jumps down to the ground along the far back wall.

  It is about forty paces away, and Isen starts to charge at it. He gets to the center of the cavern when his legs become entangled in something. “What the!” Isen exclaims as he looks down. His legs are now covered with webbing.

  Gena fires her lightning bolt striking the spider. It screeches in pain. Ya'leigh aims again at the dark fuzzy creature when she feels a sting on her leg. She looks down and can see that her legs are crawling with a dozen spiders the size of her fists. In a panic she fires her bow blindly and misses the spider. She yells out, “They are on me!” She takes her bow and starts to swat them off her.

  Isen can see a swarm of these smaller spiders coming at him. He swings at the ground with his flaming weapon, keeping them away. The giant spider begins to close in on Isen. Kianna fires another ice dagger at the huge beast but only hits one of its legs. Isen, busy keeping the smaller pests from overwhelming him, doesn't notice the big one is about to strike him with its fangs.

  “Look out!” Kianna warns Isen.

  Isen looks up at the fangs coming at him when suddenly something hits the spider in one of its eyes. The spider recoils and backs off. Ya'leigh turns to see who attacked it only to find her brother, Kelik, holding his crossbow.

  Kelik raises his right hand and magically summons a blaze in front of Ya'leigh that makes most of the smaller spiders retreat. Ya'leigh stands close to the fire nearly putting herself within the flames as the spiders jump from her and flee. Kianna uses her shield to smash any spider that comes close to her while Gena user her staff to swat them away.

  Isen, who is now aware of the closeness of the giant arachnid, ignores the smaller spiders even as they begin to bite him. He swings his morning star at the giant spider, striking it on the head. The cracking sound of the steel meeting the exoskeleton and the hissing sound the spider makes tells Isen that it was a solid hit. He pulls back the flaming weapon only to strike it again. The spider stops moving as Isen hits it one more time to be absolutely sure it is no longer a threat. Then he makes haste to the fire that Kelik had set moments earlier and the flames force the smaller spiders off of his legs. Ya'leigh rapidly shoots arrow after arrow into the cavern burning away the webbing and creating more light.

  Garrin, Ambra, and Kreeshaw join the others.

  Ya'leigh says, “My legs are really stinging.”

  “Hold still,” Gena says, “I can cleanse the venom.” Ya'leigh sits down as Gena begins to cast a spell. Her hands glow green, and as she passes them over Ya'leigh's legs she says, “That should help.”

  Ya'leigh takes a deep breath and says, “That is better. Thanks.”

  Isen then asks, “They bit me too, can you cast that on me?”

  “Sure,” Gena replies. Isen sits down and she casts the spell again.

  “Oh, yes,” Isen says with a heavy sigh of relief. “That's better.”

  “You're welcome,” says Gena.

  “Thank you,” Isen says with a smile.

  Kreeshaw looks in and shudders when he sees the giant arachnid in the middle of the cave. “Good work, everyone.” With several flaming arrows still lighting the room, Kreeshaw walks in and finds two large sacks along the wall. He kneels down a pulls out a small bag and begins to put some of the ore inside.

  “Is that really going to hold all that ore?” Isen asks.

  “Absolutely,” Kreeshaw answers. “It holds a lot more than it looks.”

  “A bottomless bag?” Kianna asks.

  “Sort of,” Kreeshaw says as he starts to empty the second bag, “It's limited to rocks and minerals.”

  “A bottomless miner's sack,” Garrin says.

  “Very good,” Kreeshaw says as he finishes loading the ore to his new bag.

  Ya'leigh walks up to Kelik and says, “I thought I told you to stay back.” Kelik, surprised by his sis
ter’s reaction, stands there with a confused look. Before he can replay, Ya'leigh adds, “Thanks for not listening.” She smiles at her brother and he laughs.

  “I think I got it all,” Kreeshaw says. “Now that you have completed your end of the bargain, it’s time for me to complete mine. We have a long way to go, so we best not waste any time.”

  “How long is it going to take us?” Kianna asks.

  “We should reach Coldrock sometime tomorrow,” Kreeshaw says, “That will put us about half way to the other side.”

  “Hey, Ambra,” Isen says. “Can you use the spider venom for anything?”

  “Only if you want to poison your weapons,” Ambra replies. “It is really dangerous. Most of the time you don't even know you have been poisoned until it's too late. It will just hit you suddenly about an hour after.”

  “Oh, then never mind,” Isen says.

  The group continues on their way through a world that is forever dark. They will spend three more days in this eternal night.

  Chapter 33

  Not a little girl

  In contrast to the darkness of the caves below, the bright snow of the mountain top is almost blinding to the Amazons of the Silver Moon as they continue with their journey. Sven leads the way through the ice and snow. The sun is shining and as they walk through a valley the temperatures are mild.

  Sven stops and says, “This will be good place to eat.” Suddenly a snowball hits him in the shoulder. He is surprised and looks to see who threw it only to find Lyra standing there holding another snowball in her hands. She is glaring at Sven and doesn't say a word. Sven laughs and asks, “Why you do that?” Instead of an answer, Lyra just angrily throws the other snowball at him. He manages to put his arm up just in time to block it before it hits him in the face.

  The others back up a bit and take off their backpacks as they watch Lyra pelt Sven again and again with more snowballs. She snaps at him, “I am NOT a little girl!”

  The others look confused except for Kristieana, who can't help but grin as she continues to watch the situation unfold.

  “What are you talking about?” Sven asks as he continues to put his hands up to prevent the snow from hitting him in the face.

  Lyra stops throwing the snowballs and walks up to Sven. Looking up at the man who towers over her, she yells, “I heard what you said to Kristieana last night, and I am not a little girl!”

  Sven closes his eyes with he realizes of what she is talking about. Looking down at the furious Lyra he says, “Lyra, Sven is sorry, Sven...”

  She doesn't let him finish however she strikes his broad chest with her fist and says, “I know I may not look like it, but with the exception of Kristieana, I am as old as all of them!”

  “Sven did not mean it,” Sven tries to explain. “Sven was just...” Sven pauses and looks around at the others. He can see that they all are listening closely.

  “You were just trying to sleep with her,” Lyra says, finishing the words he couldn't say.

  “Yes,” he quietly answers. His eyes now drop to the ground, too embarrassed to look at her.

  “So, it's as simple as that?” Lyra asks. “You insulted me just so you could sleep with someone?”

  Sven looks up from the ground at her now as a tear falls down her cheek. “Please, Lyra, Sven didn't mean it. You have to believe Sven,” he says he tries to wipe the tear from her face.

  She swats his hand away and yells, “Yes, you did!” She turns to others and continues to speak, “All my life I have been called names. Not by any of you here now, but by others. I have been called a runt, halfling, and dwarf. I am always reminded how small I am by the others.” She turns back to Sven and says, “I am tired of being talked down to as if I am a child. Even a few of the elders said I couldn't come on this Rite of Passage. They actually forgot how old I am. You want to know why I have so many of these black beads?” She asks holding out her necklace. “It is not because I failed. It is because I used to run away. I hated my studies with the others so much that I would steal magic books and run off to study on my own. I taught myself the light school spells. Now, when I want to be alone, all I have to do is become invisible.”

  Sven looks down and says, “Lyra, Sven is very sorry. Sven never meant to hurt you.”

  Lyra, wiping away her tears, replies, “I just want to be seen for who I truly am on the inside, and not be defined by what people see on the outside.”

  Sven smiles and says, “Sven promises not to call you little Lyra anymore.”

  Gelana puts her hand on Lyra's shoulder. The others stand around her as well without saying a word. Feeling a little better, Lyra sniffs and wipes her cheek again and says, “It's alright, Sven, if someone is going to call me little, it may as well come from someone more than twice my size.”

  “Sven knows what is like to be small,” he says as he stands next to her.

  “What do you know about being small?” Lyra asks with a doubtful grin.

  Sven just laughs and says, “More than you know. So, can Lyra forgive Sven?”

  Lyra replies, “As long as you promise not to call me a little girl ever again.”

  “You have Sven's word,” he says putting his hand up. Then he says, “Now, Sven has something for you.”

  Lyra smiles and say, “For me? What is it?”

  Sven turns his back to her and bends over for a moment. He stands up and turns back around and says, “Here, catch.” In his hands is a giant chunk of snow. He tosses it at the unsuspecting Lyra who is knocked to the ground. She looks up, surprised, and the others laugh.

  Lyra says with a big smile, “Oh, you are going to pay for that.” She climbs up out of the snow that covers her and begins to make more snowballs before throwing them at Sven.

  Gelana calls out, “Kel'ana!” Just as Kel'ana turns around to see what Gelana wanted, she too is met with snow in the face.

  Yentroc says, “I think Kel'ana is the last one I would want to have a snow fight with.” A snow ball pelts Yentroc, and she turns to see Rehma getting ready to throw another one at her.

  Kel'ana now begins to cast a spell. At her feet the snow forms a large column and as she raises her left hand the small tower of snow also rises. With a flicking motion of her right hand, Kel'ana begins to fling snow from the top of the rising pile. Bits of snow are hurled faster and faster towards Gelana who is hiding behind her new shield, Infragilis. The snow is coming at her so fast that it is as if ten people were throwing snowballs at her.

  The more serious Evelena gets herself involved as she begins to throw snowballs along with Kristieana. Chaos in the snow ensues as Kel'ana now begins to target her close friend Ja'noa. However, Ja'noa easily dodges and ducks every snow ball hurled her way. She rolls behind Evelena who now begins to get hit by Kel'ana's snowy attacks. From behind Evelena's cover, Ja'noa quickly packs together a small snow ball. She then jumps into the air and throws her snow ball at Kel'ana with uncanny precision. It happens so fast that Kel'ana doesn't have time to dodge, and is hit directly in the face.

  “I am going to get you for that,” Kel'ana says, as she wipes the snow from her face. Motioning with both hands she now concentrates and lifts a huge mass of snow from the ground. She sends it at Ja'noa like a wave. Unable to escape, Ja'noa closes her eyes before the wall of snow hits her.

  “That is why,” Sven says with a laugh, “you should never have snow fight with ice mage.” Suddenly Sven is hit in the back. “Ow! Alright,” Sven says as he begins to turn to see who hit him, “who's throwing the ice?”

  When Sven turns to look behind him, the others see an arrow sticking out the back of his left shoulder. An orcnea, just ahead of them on the path begins to notch another arrow in his bow. Three more orcneas step out from hiding and begin to aim their bows. Before Sven and the others have any time to react, the arrows are launched.

  The first arrow strikes Kel'ana in her left arm. The second is aimed at Gelana. Fortunately for her it is deflected by Infragilis. The third comes right at Lyra. J
ust before it strikes her Sven puts himself right in the line of fire as he turns his back to the incoming arrow. The arrow strikes Sven in the right shoulder.

  “Orcneas!” Evelena yells.

  Ja'noa is the first to react, and before the orcnea that fired the first arrow can finish drawing back his bow for a second attack, she throws both of her Star Steel daggers into its chest. The orcnea falls back into the snow as the daggers begin to return to her.

  Sven tries to reach for the ax, Hellfire, but the arrow in his shoulder prevents him from doing so. He winces in pain as he tries again.

  Kel'ana grabs her bow but her injured arm prevents her from being able to use it. Everyone else prepares their weapons and shields, as the three remaining orcnea archers fire three more arrows at Sven's back. Evelena steps in the way and intercepts the arrows with her shield. After the arrows are harmlessly deflected, Evelena lifts her shield and releases a small stone missile with her right hand. The magical attack strikes one of the three orcneas, knocking it unconscious.

  With only two orcneas remaining, Gelana takes aim with her spear. She hurls the spear at one of the orcneas and injures it as Ja'noa catches her returning star steel daggers and throws them again finishing the orcnea off.

  Sven turns to see the last orcnea. He fights through the pain and draws Hellfire, but before he can use it, a dark bolt is thrown by Yentroc. The orcnea is hit and falls to his knees. Rehma charges in with both swords drawn but before she can reach the wounded orcnea a bright beam of light strikes it. The bright attack sears the orcnea like a thousand suns. The orcnea lets out a scream as the light burns him. Rehma stops suddenly, and looks to see where the attack came from.

  Sven also turns to see who had cast such a spell, only to see Lyra standing there. Sven asks her, “Did you cast that?”

  “Yes,” Lyra responds, as the others look at her with amazement. “I told you I taught myself the light school spells.”

  “You were not joking,” Sven says. As he takes a breath, a sharp pain shoots through him and the giant of a man winces again.