“Normally you would be correct. We would have killed the beast long ago, but he lives in the mountains where we can’t go. You see, we are the toughest fighters around. We will track and trample our enemies at will. But in this case the beast climbs the mountain before we can get to him. Though we can trample any beast around, we can’t trample him when he is up in the rocky cliffs. Hooves don’t mix with rock cliff faces. We need someone who can climb and kill that beast. That someone is you.”
“I appreciate your confidence in me, but what do I get out of this? If he is as tough as you say he is, I might not make it back alive, and if I’m to die up there, I might as well just start killing here. At least I know what I’m fighting. Up there is a monster that I’m not sure how to kill. I don’t know what skills it has. It is a big unknown.”
“This Ettin is tough. It has two heads so it will be twice as tough to kill. You can kill one half of the creature and the other half could still kill you. It is stronger than even myself. It carries a club in each hand and each hand is controlled by a different head. Its skin is tougher than any hide you can think of. It has two hearts. If one heart quits beating, the other keeps it going. Double tough, literally. After it makes a kill, it carries its kill up the cliff on its back. It is very strong.”
“What we will do for you is simple. We will allow you access to our land. You will be able to cross our land without hindrance. If you come to our camp, we will always provide you with food and protection. You will be known as the friend of the centaurs. We don’t give out that title often. It has been over a hundred years since we gave that title to anyone.”
“I can understand why you would need some assistance with this problem. I don’t have need of your food or your protection. However, you never know when it might come in handy to be friends with the centaurs. I’m thinking you’re probably a very formidable foe. But I must consult with my friend first.”
“You consult with a wolf? You become more interesting the more I know about you.”
Well Shadow, what do you think? Should we do this or disappear?
If I can get up the mountain then I can help you when we go. If I can’t get there then we disappear.
Roland looked over at the centaur. “Is there a way for the wolf to get up to where the Ettin lives?”
“I believe there is a way for him to get up there. Mountain wolves seem to climb better than most wolves.”
At least they know I’m superior to the lowland wolves.
Roland gave a small smile at Shadows comment. “We will follow you, or would you like to stay at our camp for tonight?”
“Let us stay here for tonight. It is a long way to our camp.”
The centaurs sent out guards and everyone else stayed in the small camp they had picked out. Roland and Shadow were just hoping they didn’t get stepped on. There were just too many centaurs around them.
The next morning, they headed out to the centaur’s camp. They even let Roland ride on the leader’s back. Roland was sure that wasn’t something that centaurs would do normally. He did recall reading that in his mother’s books. The leader’s name was Manfred. He was bigger in height, as well as in muscle, and possessed substantial endurance. They ran all day without taking a break. Their ranging area was bigger than Roland had thought it would be.
They were traveling through the foothills of the mountains, full of steep hills, ridges, and valleys. They were getting closer to the desert now. Only in the upper ridges and higher hills were there any trees, and even then they were sparse. The land here contained mostly brown grass. There were small amounts of sage brush with occasional purple lupine.
It was late afternoon when the group peaked the top of a hill and Roland could see the valley below was filled with centaurs. There was a small lake up against the foothills of the mountain range. A few trees surrounded most of the lake and a small area free of trees contained a sandy beach. The valley was covered almost entirely in tall lush grass.
As they crested the ridge, the centaurs in the valley noticed the group’s presence. Several younger looking centaurs ran toward the ridge and started following along with the group Roland was with. Shadow had kept up all day without a problem and now his presence disturbed many of the younger centaur. When they realized he was there, they jumped back and kept their distance from him. They just stared at Roland like they had never seen a human before.
When they arrived at the camp, Manfred had Roland jump off. “If you would stay here near the campfire, I would appreciate it. Some of my people don’t like the idea that I have sought help outside of the centaurs. So, for your safety and my people’s safety, please stay here.” He went with the rest of the centaur men to the trees where they gathered to discuss the events of the previous day.
Roland and Shadow sat down next to each other next to the camp fire. There were smaller camp fires around the area where it appeared several small family groups gathered. Food was being prepared and cooked. This interested Roland because he thought he remembered that centaurs had the same basic diet, as humans but wasn’t sure.
They had been sitting for quite some time and the sun was starting to set when a female centaur came by and provided Roland with a plate of food that included bread, meat, and some vegetables. It looked like human food. She also provided Shadow with some meat. Well, it appeared that they knew what type of food to give humans and wolves. Just because he got human food, didn’t mean the centaurs ate it.
It was dark when a large group of male centaurs came over to Roland and Shadow. Manfred was walking alongside what looked like an older Manfred. Manfred walked up to Roland and spoke. “Roland, this is my father and leader of all the centaurs, Wenham.” He looked at his father and continued his introduction. “Father, this is Roland and his friend the mountain wolf.”
Wenham looked much older than any other centaur Roland had seen. He had white hair and a white beard. He possessed the same bay color as his son, but his had a lot of white hairs in the hide. His skin was darkly tanned and was wrinkled. He looked Roland up and down, along with Shadow, before he spoke. “I understand you are willing to go after the Ettin. I don’t like the idea of some outsider going after our enemy. Our enemy is a coward. He attacks the smaller of our tribe and then slinks back to where we are unable to hunt him down. I have one demand of you. If you survive, you will never speak to anyone about this incident, or we will retract the status of friendship to the centaurs. Do you agree?”
Roland thought about it. Centaurs were just as prideful as any humans, and maybe a bit more. He could understand that they wouldn’t want anyone to think they couldn’t take care of their own problems. “I will agree to your demand. I understand, in part anyway, why you would want this to remain between us. Will my friendship to your kind always exist as long as I live?”
“If you keep our agreement, it will be so.”
“Even if I live for several hundred years?” Roland dropped his illusion of being a human.
“So, what are you exactly? You aren’t human and you aren’t elf. Are you a hybrid?”
“Yes, my mother is an elf and my father, a human. I will more than likely live for a long time, or at least that is what my mother tells me.”
“If you are successful, we will give you a necklace that will always give you access to our lands. It will be bound to you and only you will be able to use it. When you die, it will crumble to dust. We will always know who the bearer is and we will stand by our agreements.”
“If you point us in the right direction then we will go after the Ettin early tomorrow morning.”
Manfred stepped forward. “The Ettin is up there.” He pointed to a high rock face on the other side of the lake. “You can see the ledge if you look closely. There is a trail that goes around the cliff face. It is inaccessible to us, but your wolf should be able to get up there with you. But remember this Roland. The Ettin is a magical creature. It will be a tough fight.”
“Thanks Manfred. We will keep that in mi
nd. It might take some time, we aren’t going to just rush in. We will keep a watch on him to see if we might find a weakness.”
“I am pleased you are taking this seriously. We want you to be successful too. We have lost too many good centaurs to this beast.” They turned and walked back to their camp.
Roland and Shadow slept, but not too deeply. The atmosphere was tense to say the least.
The next morning, before the sun came up, Roland and Shadow departed in the direction of the mountains, toward the cliff face where the Ettin lived. There was a trail that went up to the area. This must have been a well-traveled trail for quite some time. The trail split when they were getting close to the top. One trail went to the front face of the cliff, to the left. The right-hand trail looked to go to the backside of the cliff.
They made it up to the backside of the cliff by mid-morning. Roland cast an illusion on himself that was the same color as the rocks they were climbing. Shadow didn’t want an illusion. The rocks in this area were the same black color as Shadow anyway. They continued to climb, drawing near to the beast’s lair.
It was early afternoon as they approached close enough to smell the Ettin. Why did beasts like this always smell? The smell of rotting flesh was overpowering. They moved slowly and quietly. The ledge was flat, with a cave dug into the mountainside. They found a spot that was above the ledge, providing a view of the area. They could hide in a group of rocks that had deep shadows. Roland cast Shadow Meld on them and they disappeared from view.
Nothing moved on the ledge. They stayed in their hiding spot for the night. The next day, still nothing. They were going to have to go down and search for the beast. They were wondering what had happened to the Ettin. Roland took his bow and one quiver of arrows. He left his pack in the hiding place.
Roland cast invisibility on Shadow and he crept to the entrance of the cave. All was clear, and Shadow indicated for Roland to follow. Once they were at the mouth of the cave, Roland cast shadow illusion on both of them. The cave was dark enough that the shadow illusion worked well. Shadow Meld was effective as long as they stayed in one place, but it didn’t work while moving.
The cave was dark and they could hear drops falling into water. The drops of water had an uncanny echoing sound. They slowly worked their way through the cave, examining every crack and crevice. What they didn’t want was to walk past the Ettin, only to have it block the only way out of the cave.
They turned a sharp corner and realized that light was coming from further back inside the cave. They continued on, but with even more caution. A fire was lit in the back of the cave, but the smoke wasn’t going out the front of the cave. There must be another exit to the cave. As Roland was thinking about where the smoke might be going, he heard the first sounds coming from what could only be the Ettin.
Roland and Shadow dove behind a large rock that had fallen from the ceiling some time ago. Roland looked around the rock and saw the beast. It was gnawing on a bone, cracking it to suck the marrow from the inside. The fire in front of him was small but it provided enough light to see. The smoke was swirling toward the back of the cave. The air from the front of the cave was blowing in gently from where they had entered.
As they were watching, the Ettin fed the bone marrow from one of its heads to the other. That just seemed weird. How do two heads work anyway? Do both make the decision together, or does one have more say than the other? Roland decided that was just one question someone else in this world would have to answer.
The beast had two clubs sitting next to him. The bone had its complete attention at the moment. If he was going to kill the thing, this would be the time to do it. Roland pulled out the arrow made from the Manticore’s stinger he salvaged after killing that beast. The stinger would penetrate just about anything. He took aim at the chest of the Ettin and fired.
It hit the chest perfectly. The Ettin screamed in pain and lurched forward. The arrow had completely buried itself in the chest. The head on the right side wasn’t looking good and immediately the head on the left was looking around for the culprit. He saw Roland as he was letting lose another arrow. This time the arrow went into the left side of the chest.
The beast fell backwards. He was screaming at the top of his lungs. He began to thrash around. Roland came running around the rock, pulling his Elven knife out as he did. The Ettin was huge and if the thing rolled onto him, the weight alone might kill him. When the monster slowed its thrashing, Roland came in and cut off the first head.
He jumped back as it began to thrash some more. Reddish-black blood was pooling all around the body. The fists of the Ettin began pounding the ground around itself. The rock floor was cracking and Roland had to dodge multiple times in order to miss the beast’s fist. Finally, Roland took his Dwarven knife and drove it into the top of the second head.
The body ceased thrashing around. Roland quickly came over and cut the second head off the body. The whole body seemed to relax and quit moving. Roland pulled the knife out of the second head. He breathed a great sigh of relief. Shadow was starting to relax when a scream came from the back of the cave.
They both turned and realized that there were two Ettin. They had killed one but the second was looking at them and was holding both of its clubs. Roland picked up his bow and shot the first arrow at the second beast. The Ettin knocked the arrow out of the air with its club. That wasn’t good. Roland ducked back behind the rocks they had been hiding behind earlier. He needed to think quickly if they were going to get out of this mess.
Shadow leapt out and growled a challenge. The Ettin didn’t waste any time going after Shadow. He swung and barely missed. Shadow had one of the heads’ attention but the other head was looking straight at Roland, who fired a shot. Just as quickly, the Ettin turned and blocked the shot before it penetrated his body. Shadow dodged in to nip at the beast and it quickly turned on him. This wasn’t going well and Roland needed to do something. This time he pulled out two arrows. He shot the first at the head of the Ettin, then shot the second arrow at one of its knees. The Ettin knocked the first arrow down but wasn’t fast enough to block the second.
The Ettin’s knee gave out and it screamed, but did not give up the fight. It pulled the arrow out of his knee and stood back up. It was barely able to move his left leg by now. Shadow came in and ripped at the good leg’s Achilles tendon. The Ettin swung his club around and hit Shadow, who went flying against the wall.
Roland could tell Shadow was alive, but barely. He cast heal just as the Ettin started in his direction. The beast was slow, but the cave was small and when Roland went one direction the Ettin would cut him off. Roland pulled out two more arrows. He kept moving to the right and then quickly back to the left. When the Ettin moved to its left it would grimace in pain. It even closed its eyes for a split second when the pain would hit.
Roland moved to his left, the Ettin’s right, and then moved back the opposite direction. The moment the Ettin blinked, Roland shot his next arrow. It hit the right knee this time. The beast hit the ground and screamed in anguish. Roland couldn’t see Shadow so he cast heal one more time, hoping it was enough.
His attention was now back on the Ettin. It held both clubs out in opposite directions. It was trying to herd Roland into the corner of the room. It would probably have worked, but instead Roland dropped some mana into his Gossamer Ring and jumped. He flew over the head of the Ettin. The Ettin looked up with both heads and all four of its eyes. It had a dumbfounded look on both faces. It was at that moment Roland shot another arrow into the eye of one head.
The right head of the Ettin dropped and hung down along its chest. The Ettin’s left head looked over at the right head and screamed like his best friend had been killed, which might have been true. Roland didn’t have time to worry about that. He cast heal one more time in Shadow’s direction. This time he could tell Shadow was alive and moving. He was still hurt badly, but he wasn’t going to die. Roland turned back to the Ettin.
It stood as best as it
could with arrows in both knees. He was screaming and slamming his clubs to the ground. The right hand didn’t seem to be working very well. It was like the timing was off. The monster was just moving very bizarrely. It caused the thing to walk at an angle, almost like it was a drunk after a night in the pub. Roland had two more arrows left. He shot the first one towards the chest. The club in the Ettin’s left hand deflected the arrow but the second arrow lodged into the armpit of the left arm.
By now, blood was pouring out of the Ettin. He was screaming and thrashing around. As he tried to move forward, the club in the right hand dropped. The Ettin didn’t seem to notice the club had fallen and its right leg was slowly sagging. The Ettin was barely able to move about. Roland circled the beast and found one of the arrows that had been deflected away. It wasn’t in the best condition but it would work.
He worked the beast around until he was facing the fire. It seemed to be very confused. This time Roland would try something much different. He was now going completely by what felt right. He picked up his bow and aimed it very intently at the Ettin, who was prepared for the arrow and ready to knock it away. Roland fired.
The arrow flew toward the Ettin. It moved like it was flying through molasses. The Ettin’s complete attention was on the arrow as it hit his club and disappeared. Then a second arrow hit its chest. The first arrow had been an illusion. It was the first time Roland had tried to cast a moving illusion.
The Ettin collapsed and began its thrashing about. The right side of its body was still and the left foot and hand were swinging about wildly. Roland went behind the beast and sank his Dwarven knife into its head. The fight was over. He cut off both heads to make sure they couldn’t be revived. Who knew what magical creatures could do? He was certain that missing heads would insure permanent death.
He went back and found Shadow, who was sitting up but still in pain. Roland cast heal three more times. He was down to almost no mana. Shadow was doing well after the last heal. That had been a close situation. He must have been at death’s door when he was hit by that club.
Caged: Book 2 Of the King's Hand Series Page 7
