The Arcane Staff Trilogy Box Set

by Hans Bezdek

  “We’re getting separated from the rest,” pointed out Sloane, letting loose an arrow at an undead that got a little too close to Ivsaar.

  “They’re not used to fighting such creatures,” said Kriket, removing an undead’s skull from the rest of its body.

  Sloane wasn’t thrilled but figured there was a good chance their group would have to separate from the rest of the pack. She didn’t like how often the Resistance needed a morale boost to get the job done. Maybe they should offer to triple their pay?

  A mass of undead flew overhead, crashing into a few more spawning from the earth and taking them out before they got a chance to join the fight.

  “W-What was that?!” exclaimed Delvin.

  Sloane looked for the source of the bizarre attack. It didn’t take her very long to find him.

  A large orc ran forward from the rest of the Linsuk Resistance, grabbing undead by their necks and chucking them left and right. The abominable creatures were too slow to bring an attack against him before they were being tossed like garbage at their kin.

  “For Linsuk!” roared the orc, picking up another undead and using him like a bat against two more. There was something familiar about him, but Sloane couldn’t place it.

  “Isn’t that Munreck?” asked Delvin.

  “Who’s Munreck?” Sloane asked. The name was escaping her.

  “Die, ya boney freaks!” cried a dwarf by the orc’s side, twisting a giant mace around as he spun around. Nearly a dozen undead crumbled under his whirling attack.

  Delvin quickly dug around in his pocket, producing the red Linsuk Resistance coin. “That must be Donovic, too! They’re the one that gave us these, remember?”

  Sloane nodded as she recalled the ragtag group that first invited them into the Linsuk Resistance. When they had agreed to join up, all they had in mind was using the organization to get the Fourth Staff and then escape from it all. How things had changed.

  “I wonder how they got here,” she marveled.

  “Donovic was Throgrom’s brother,” explained Ivsaar. “We came across him a few days after the battle and informed him of his brother’s heroic death. He decided to accompany us in Throgrom’s place. Munreck and Winston joined with him. No idea where Winston is, probably still further back.”

  Seeing the crazy orc and dwarf make quick work of the undead blocking their way forward, the rest of the Linsuk Resistance let loose a new battle cry and rushed to rejoin the fray. Sloane looked up at the figure of Lord Kutarm again. She couldn’t make out his face from this distance, but his frustrated arm spasms let her know all she needed to.

  Her group pushed through the last few lines of soldiers. She expected them to put up the biggest fight, but it was the exact opposite. They must’ve realized that for the Resistance to make it to them, their enemies must’ve taken out a countless number of their colleagues. The majority of them backed off, only bringing up their weapons in defense as they ran away.

  They finally made it to the gates to the city. The Resistance fighters around them cheered, realizing that victory was nearly in their grasp. Sloane wasn’t so sure about that but didn’t want to put a damper on the celebrations. They still had whoever was left in the city to deal with, and there was a good chance that Lord Kutarm would not be easy to defeat. After all, Zeke had managed to annihilate hundreds of demons all on his own with his Arcane Staff. Who was to say Kutarm wasn’t even stronger?

  They had one other problem before that. The gates were locked.

  “How are we going to get in?” asked Ivsaar, examining the walls.

  Many of the dwarves were pounding away with their axes, but the doors took the attacks without budging. There was some cosmetic damage, but little else.

  “We might need to wait for the mages to get up here,” said Sloane. “They could work together to blow the gates up.”

  “What about your magical arrows?” asked Kriket. “Can you set the doors on fire?”

  “I could, but then that’s another thing for us to have to worry about,” sighed Sloane. Delvin slide off his horse as she spoke. “I’d hate to have our fighters make it this far just to get seriously burned by something that we did. If we send back word to any mages we have, like Winston, maybe we could convince them to hurry up to us.”

  “That’s taking away precious time,” hissed Kriket. “Zeke could need our help right n-”

  The gate exploded inward, bringing part of the wall on either side of it with it. Dust filled the opening, but as Sloane looked down she saw a few blue and black colored bodies unconscious or dead underneath the gate. Delvin stood in front of the new opening and grinned up at her, his magic mace in his hands.

  “I took care of it,” he shrugged.

  “I did not expect that…” marveled Ivsaar.

  “Much better call than waiting for mages,” said Kriket.

  “You really like that thing, don’t you?” Sloane asked Delvin.

  “It’s not the worst toy I’ve ever gotten,” smiled the gnome.

  Chapter 18

  Zeke and Xylona rushed for the front gate. Zeke worried they would have to fight the whole way there, but no one in the city was paying them any mind. All of Kutarm’s men were focused on getting into position, paying the fae and elf no mind. The battle outside sounded like it was nearly at the front door now, and Zeke hoped there would be nothing else standing between him and Lord Kutarm.

  “Stop!” shouted a man up ahead.

  Dang it…

  Lord Kutarm’s personal guard, the ones with the shiny nice armor and scary looking pikes, stood blocking the gate. To their left was a set of stairs that led up to the platform that Zeke was sure Kutarm would be on. Zeke was jealous that Kutarm would be well rested for their fight, while the elf just fought fae elders and would now have to fight a bunch of elite guards.

  “What are you doing with that elf?” demanded one of the elite, holding his pike threateningly towards Xylona.

  “Lord Kutarm would like to see the prisoner,” tried the fae half-heartedly.

  “We were told nothing of the sort,” barked the man. “Surrender yourselves now, or face the consequences.”

  “What would those consequences be?” asked Zeke. “A timeout? Forced to apologize? Will we not get dessert for a week?”

  The guards exchanged an annoyed look.

  “You know what?” said the initial guard. “We don’t have time for this. We’re going to just kill you and figure out what’s going on later.”

  Xylona shot a glare at Zeke. “Good going.”

  “What?” shrugged Zeke. “It’s not like they were going to let us go anyway.”

  The elite guards gathered together, their pikes stretched out towards Zeke and Xylona. They slowly moved forward, keeping to a tight group. Xylona summoned two black spears and took a defensive stance while Zeke started to charge his hands with more magic. The glow on his hands had conveniently stayed intact, and it looked like he’d need to use the Arcane Staff’s power one more time before his conflict with Lord Kutarm.

  Then the front gate exploded inward.

  Xylona and Zeke jumped back in surprise. The kept their weapons up in case something was going to rush them through the opening, but were happy with the initial result.

  Nearly all of Kutarm’s top guards were caught under the giant gate, with only a couple narrowly avoiding the same fate.

  “That was some good timing,” mumbled Zeke.

  The two remaining guards looked down at the gate, then back towards the opening.

  “We need to warn Lord Kutarm!” shouted one of them to the other.

  “You’re right,” he nodded. “He’ll need to-”

  One of the problems with their fancy armor was that they were mostly protected in their fronts and sides. The back was pretty weak, which was exposed by Xylona’s spears. The fae chucked both of them at the unsuspecting guards, dropping both of them with ease.

  “Nice shot,” mumbled Zeke, keeping his eyes trained on the front gat
e.

  “Shots,” she corrected him, summoning two more spears to her hands.

  The dust from the collapse finally settled, and people started making their way into Stedforge. Zeke and Xylona relaxed as they saw no one was wearing blue and black. The battle must’ve been going dramatically in the Linsuk Resistance’s favor, as Resistance fighters poured into the city. To Zeke’s surprise and delight, they included Sloane, Delvin, and Kriket.

  “You guys already made it here?” asked Zeke, dumbfounded.

  “We caught a few lucky breaks,” grinned Sloane.

  “I broke down the gate,” beamed Delvin.

  “That too,” nodded Kriket.

  “Wait, what’s going on with your hands?” said Delvin, pointing at them.

  “Wish I knew,” shrugged Zeke. “It just sort of started happening. I can’t really control when it turns on or off, but it looks like-”

  “For Kutarm!” came a united cry behind Zeke.

  The elf turned to see men and women in Kutarm’s colors rushing at them, weapons drawn. This must’ve been the last line of defenders.

  “Great,” sighed Zeke. “Here we go again.”

  “No, we’ll take care of them,” shouted a female elf, running past them and towards the remainder of Kutarm’s forces. “The rest of you take care of Lord Kutarm!”

  Zeke blinked a few times. “Wait a minute. Was that…?”

  Dwarves and men from Burston chased after the elf woman, letting out their own battle cries.

  “It was,” nodded Sloane, heading for the stairs. “Now’s not the time for explanations. It’s the time for action.”

  Zeke grinned. “Let’s do this.”

  Zeke, Delvin, Sloane, Kriket, and Xylona hurried up the stairs and onto the platform. Zeke had expected there to be a few more guards, but there weren’t any. Only a lone figure stood on the platform, his back to them. The man in bone armor stared down at the battle below, shaking his head in anger.

  “Hey!” shouted Zeke as everyone made it to the top.

  “What are you doing!?” hissed Xylona, her eyes bulging out of her head. “Why didn’t you attack him with his back turned?!”

  “Oh…”

  Zeke hadn’t thought of that.

  Lord Kutarm turned around to face them. He looked even more sickly up close. He looked over the group with what looked like boredom.

  “And you would be?” he asked, tapping the First Staff against his hand.

  Zeke puffed his chest out, taking out the Fourth Staff and pointing it at Kutarm. “I am Zeke Northwood, The Elf Thief!”

  Kutarm blinked.

  “Am I supposed to be impressed by this or…?”

  “I’m the one who has an Arcane Staff!” shouted Zeke, waving the Fourth Staff back and forth.

  “Mmm, no,” said Kutarm with a shake of his head. “That’s not an Arcane Staff.”

  “Yes it is!” whined Zeke.

  “There are no magical properties about it,” laughed Kutarm. “The weapon on the human woman’s back, on the other hand… now that is an Arcane Staff.”

  Zeke's eye twitched. His heroic entrance was getting ruined. “Like you could even tell which Staff was magical!”

  Xylona cleared her throat. “I mentioned he’s an accomplished wizard, didn’t I? He can sense magic.”

  “The fae is correct,” nodded Kutarm, turning his attention to her. “Your people have been much more difficult to control than I originally thought they would be. It’s quite frustrating.”

  “We’re too proud to stay controlled by the likes of you!” shouted Xylona, tossing both spears at Lord Kutarm.

  The man watched as the two neared, then mindlessly waved the First Staff in front of the projectiles. Both spears disintegrated immediately.

  “Clearly,” mumbled Kutarm. “What are you all here for, anyway? Have you come to give me the woman’s Arcane Staff and beg for your lives?”

  Sloane took her Arcane Staff off her back and gripped it tightly. “We’ve come to kill you, and we’re going to use this to help put you down.”

  Lord Kutarm watched as Sloane’s Arcane Staff flickered with green energy, vegetation magically springing forth at her feet. He smirked confidently, but Zeke wasn’t paying any of this any attention.

  “Ugh, stop!” moaned Zeke. “You’re taking all the intimidating lines!”

  “Uh, sorry?” she said.

  “I hate to break this to you, Zeke,” said Kriket, “but I don’t think Kutarm is particularly concerned about you.”

  “The chubby lizardman is correct,” nodded Kutarm. “To be honest, I’m not concerned with any of you. If we can get this over with I’d-”

  Zeke dropped the Fourth Staff and held his palm out at Kutarm. The purple magic pulsed then shot out in a ray. Kutarm’s eyes widened as the beam hit him in the midsection. The ray pierced through him, continue out of his back and into the distance.

  Zeke stopped the beam and lowered his hand, shocked at how easy it was to kill Lord Kutarm.

  “You did it!” exclaimed Kriket.

  Lord Kutarm dropped to his knees.

  “H-How did you do that without the Arcane Staff?!” said Sloane, looking back and forth between Kutarm and Zeke.

  “Quit celebrating!” hissed Xylona, rushing at Kutarm. She pulled out her mace and aimed for the tyrant’s head as she got near. She swung and… missed.

  Lord Kutarm ducked underneath the blow, then jumped up, grabbing her throat in the process.

  “W-What?!” exclaimed Sloane.

  “Let her go!” shouted Zeke.

  “G-Gah!” coughed Xylona, grabbing Kutarm’s hand with both of hers as he choked her.

  “Did you really think I’d go down from something like that?” barked Kutarm, chucking Xylona aside.

  The fae landed roughly, gasping for air and holding her neck.

  “I must admit, I underestimated you,” said Kutarm, tilting his head to the side as he looked over Zeke. The hole in his chest slowly closed, making a sickening crunching sound as it did so.

  “What kind of powers does this guy have?!” said Kriket.

  “The First Staff gives him power over death,” said Zeke. “Looks like he can use it to keep himself from dying.”

  “How did you manage to attack me with the power of an Arcane Staff without actually using it?” asked Kutarm. “I’ve attempted such feats before, but I’ve never gotten them to work.”

  “Honestly, I’ve got no idea,” said Zeke.

  “Keeping it to the chest,” nodded Kutarm. “I can respect that. In return for you teaching me your secrets, I will let you and your friends live out the rest of your days in the peace of a cell.”

  “Why does nobody believe me?” sighed Zeke, running a hand over his face. “I told you, I don’t know how I do it!”

  Delvin snapped his fingers. “I’ve got it! Zeke must’ve bonded with the Fourth Staff!“

  “Bonded?” asked Kutarm and Zeke.

  “The magic inside the Arcane Staff was attracted by your innate power and chose to separate from the weapon!”

  “Huh,” mumbled Zeke, staring down at his glowing hands. “Weird.”

  “Impossible,” scoffed Kutarm. “If that was possible, the First Staff would’ve done that to me. Besides, there’s nothing extraordinary about this elf. The only magic residing in him is from the Arcane Staff. Well, and the dagger.”

  “The dagger?!” exclaimed Zeke, taking a step back.

  Kutarm narrowed his eyes. “Of course… did you not know it had magical properties?”

  “I knew it!” exclaimed Zeke, jumping up and down. “I knew there was something to Lucky all along! No one believed me!”

  “Why is he freaking out more about the dagger being magical than the magic of the Arcane Staff being inside him…” mumbled Delvin.

  “Par for the course,” shrugged Sloane.

  “Enough of this mindless babble,” spat Kutarm. “Your group has wasted enough of my time.”

  Kutarm raised h
is Arcane Staff and grinned.

  Zeke and the others braced themselves, waiting for the weapon to unleash a deadly attack.

  After a few seconds, Zeke lowered his hands.

  “Oh, does yours not work either?” he asked.

  “Of course it does,” scoffed Kutarm. “I just wasn’t using it to perform any magic that you urchins could see.”

  “Then what did you do?” asked Zeke.

  “Called to them,” he smiled.

  “Them?” asked Delvin.

  A half dozen demons leaped onto the platform behind and around Zeke’s group.

  “Oh…” mumbled Delvin. “That them.”

  Chapter 19

  “This doesn’t really seem fair,” complained Zeke.

  “You were going to attack me five on one,” pointed out Lord Kutarm.

  “Yeah but…” Zeke trailed off. The man got him there.

  “You go and try to defeat Lord Kutarm,” said Sloane quietly. “We’ll take care of the demons.”

  “W-We w-will?” stuttered Delvin.

  “Of course,” said Kriket, taking a few steps closer to a demon near him. “We came up here to help Zeke, didn’t we?”

  “I-I guess we did,” gulped Delvin, gripping his mace like his life depended on it. There was a good chance it did, so Zeke couldn’t blame him.

  “Shouldn’t I help you guys first?” said Zeke.

  “If you can kill Kutarm, maybe the demons will run off,” explained Sloane. “That’ll be the best way to help us.”

  “Okay,” nodded Zeke as he took a deep breath. “I’ll do what I can.”

  “Kill them,” said Kutarm, pointing at Zeke’s group.

  The demons rushed at them. Kriket ran towards two of them, swinging wildly at both. He didn’t come close to landing a hit, but he got their attention. Delvin ran to meet up with a demon that was far off to their left, spinning his mace over his head. Sloane pointed her Arcane Staff at the ground in front of three of the demons running at them head on. Vines sprang out of the platform, wrapping up around the demon’s feet.