The Warrior (The Hidden Realm)

by A. Giannetti

  Resuming his native form, Elerian cleaned the fish with his knife. Returning to the camp, he cast another protective illusion before cooking the trout over a small fire. The smell of the roasting fish soon woke Ascilius, and the Dwarf crawled out from under his warm cloak to join Elerian for breakfast.

  Ascilius was tempted to complain about the danger of another fire but remained silent, for he noticed immediately that Elerian was not his usual cheerful self this morning. He seemed preoccupied, and they ate their breakfast in silence.

  After their meal, the two companions packed their few things into their new packs and walked down to the river. Staying under the great trees that lined the bank, they followed the Gavius south. The rushing, boisterous river gradually widened and shallowed, flowing in thin, silvery sheets over great expanses of flat black rock, with deeper, green tinted channels flowing through fissures in the bedrock.

  When Ascilius found the ford he was searching for, they took off their shoes and entered the river. By wading through the shallower places and jumping the deeper channels, they had made it halfway across when, suddenly, both Elerian and Ascilius froze in their tracks, drawing in their breath sharply. An enormous brown bear had suddenly appeared on the opposite shore of the river. It favored them with a questioning look as it tested the air with its long nose. Then, as if coming to a decision, it entered the river and began to wade purposefully in their direction.

  THE BEAR

  The bear approaching Elerian and Ascilius seemed to grow larger with each step. With its head held up, it could easily have stood eye to eye with Elerian, who took his bow in hand and knocked an arrow, drawing it back to the gray fletching in one smooth motion while Ascilius nervously hefted his stone ax. Both weapons seemed almost useless against the approaching monster.

  “It may be the bear that you robbed,” said Ascilius apprehensively to Elerian. “We will have to fight him if he attacks. If we run, he will have us before we can reach the shore.”

  “He will catch whoever is slower,” Elerian could not help pointing out, as the bear waded steadily toward them. Even with their lives in danger, he could not resist an opportunity to annoy Ascilius.

  Without taking his eyes off the approaching bear, Ascilius muttered something about lighthearted fools, and Elerian smiled, He knew he could outrun the approaching monster, but the thought of abandoning Ascilius never entered his mind.

  “In the space of a heartbeat, I can put an arrow in each of his eyes, but will it stop him,” Elerian wondered to himself. He readied himself to cast a killing spell if his arrows should fail, a risky business at this distance, for there was no way to guide a spell once it left his hand.

  The bear continued its deliberate approach, looming larger and more fearsome with each step. Just as Elerian felt that he must release his arrow if they were to have any chance of against the formidable beast approaching them, the bear abruptly stopped, wrinkling its wet black snout and snuffling the air loudly as it carefully examined the two companions with its small brown eyes. A faint red light seemed to burn in their depths, ready to blossom into a full blown fire if the creature decided to attack. Elerian knew he must shoot soon, but he found himself strangely reluctant to send his arrow on its way.

  “Shoot him,” Ascilius urged Elerian in a hoarse whisper. “He is already too close now!” Beads of sweat had broken out on the Dwarf’s brow, and his knuckles were white from the force of his two handed grip on the handle of his ax.

  Suddenly, the bear stopped its steady advance. Ignoring Elerian and Ascilius, it sat down and casually scratched behind its right ear like a large dog, the swift river water forming a v shaped ripple as it flowed around its shaggy hindquarters. With that important business taken care of, the bear turned once more toward the two companions. To their amazement, it opened its mouth and began to speak in a deep, rumbling voice.

  “Put your weapons away,” it said. “They are useless against me, and in any case, I mean you no harm. I am returning to a kill I made yesterday on the far side of the river. I approached you only to make certain that you were not Goblins. My nose never lies, but my eyesight is none too good.”

  Elerian and Ascilius exchanged nervous, sidelong looks. If the bear guessed that their new clothes and the dried meat they carried in their packs were from its kill, then it might not feel so kindly toward them.

  “Are you a shape changer or a true beast?” asked Ascilius, hoping to distract it with his question from any scent of beef that might be wafting from their packs to its nostrils.

  “I am neither one,” said the bear, cryptically.

  “Perhaps he was enchanted by a mage,” thought Elerian to himself, recalling the talking badger that he had encountered many years ago in Ancharia.

  “How is it that you can speak then?” asked Ascilius in a puzzled voice.

  “That is a long story,” said the bear with a shrewd look in its brown eyes, “and not one I would tell to just anyone. What are the two of you doing in my forest? I thought you might be another bear at first, but you are clearly a Dwarf,” said the bear to Ascilius.

  Despite the gravity of the situation, Elerian began to shake with silent laughter. Ascilius did, indeed, look like a small, hairy bear from a distance, for he was wearing his wolf skin cloak with the hood pulled over his head against the damp chill of the morning.

  “Unless my nose is mistaken, which it never is I might add, your companion is an Elf,” continued the bear, giving Elerian a puzzled look. “Even in the old times, the two kindred seldom traveled together. The Elves were a mischievous lot as I recall and a trial for any serious Dwarf.”

  “Truer words were never spoken,” said Ascilius, warming up to the bear at once and loosening his grip on his ax. “You have no idea of the abuse I have suffered at his hands,” he said, favoring Elerian with a long-suffering look. “I never know what he is going to do next. Why just a few days ago, he turned me into a forest pig, and I received a most painful wound from a mutare because of it.”

  “Show him your scar Ascilius,” said Elerian with a sudden, bright glint in his eyes, for Ascilius had neglected to tell the bear that the mutare’s spear had lightly sliced across both his haunches while he and Elerian ran from the mutare.

  “That would be too much like boasting,” said Ascilius, assuming a modest look on his face. “Besides I do not wish to bore our new friend. Surely, he has seen more than his share of scars.”

  “I have fought many battles,” said the bear politely. “You still have not told me why you are in my forest,” he added with a slight edge of impatience in his voice.

  “We are but lately escaped from the mines of the Goblins and are returning to my home in Ennodius,” said Ascilius, seeing no harm in telling the bear their destination since it was clearly an enemy of the Goblins.

  “I remember that name,” said the bear, as if searching deep in its memory. “It is a Dwarf city far to the east of us. If you are fleeing from the Goblins, as you claim, then you are welcome to cross my lands, but you must pay for your passage.”

  “And what is the toll?” asked Ascilius, suddenly wary again.

  “Honey,” replied the bear. “If you can provide me with honey, I will let you cross my country and act as your guide in the bargain, for I have had none for a long while.”

  “We have no honey to pay you with,” said Ascilius in a disappointed voice, for he and Elerian now faced the prospect of making a long detour around the bear’s territory.

  “I already know where to find a bees’ nest,” added the bear quickly, “but I cannot reach it, for it is high up in a tree. Perhaps you and your companion will have better luck. If you will follow me, I will take you to it.”

  “I am not much good at climbing trees,” said Ascilius doubtfully.

  “I will climb your tree and do the best I can to get your honey,” said Elerian, lowering his bow. He could not detect any deceit in the bear’s voice, and the request for honey actually pleased him, for it put him in mind of t
he days when he and Balbus had prowled the forest near his grandfather’s home looking for honey. “Lead on and we will follow.”

  The bear got up, water cascading in streams from its shaggy brown fur. Turning around, it began wading through the river back to the opposite bank.

  “I hope we can satisfy him,” whispered Ascilius nervously to Elerian as they followed their enormous guide. “He would make a deadly enemy if he got angry.”

  “At least we are taking him farther from his kill,” said Elerian softly. “Besides,” he said cheerfully, his gray eyes shining with mischief again, “even if he does get angry, I am not worried about it. I know I can run faster than you, so he will eat you first.”

  Ascilius gave Elerian a long-suffering look and then shook his head. “Was any Dwarf ever so put upon?” he asked mournfully.

  Elerian made no reply, but he smiled to himself as followed the bear across the river, stepping lightly through the swift flowing water, which was shallow for the most part. Even Ascilius was wet only to his knees when they emerged on the far bank.

  Elerian and Ascilius gave the bear a wide berth when he shook himself vigorously to dry his fur, sending a spray of clear river water in all directions. Up close, the beast appeared truly enormous, and both Elerian and Ascilius were extremely thankful that it had not come down to a battle between the three of them. After putting on their footgear, the two companions each kept a wary eye on their furry guide as they followed him into the forest, traveling in a northeasterly direction.

  The bear finally stopped near the base of an ancient chestnut tree. Some disaster had befallen it in the past, either lightning or decay, for the first branch, which was at least thirty feet off the ground, was now only a huge stub protruding from the trunk of the tree. Weather, insects, and woodpeckers had created a large hollow space inside the stub. Dark clouds of bees were entering and leaving the cavity in a steady stream, the faint hum of their myriad wings reaching faintly to the ground.

  Although he was familiar with his companion’s climbing skill, Ascilius gave Elerian an uncertain look.

  “The nest is a long way off the ground,” he said doubtfully. The bear said nothing, for he was of the same opinion as Ascilius.

  “Perhaps you could reach it,” said Elerian, carefully keeping an innocent expression on his face. “I have heard that Dwarves are great jumpers.”

  Instantly, Ascilius was reminded of the broken branch in the forest which had so startled him. His dark eyes blazed with suspicion, and he ground his teeth in frustration.

  “It was him,” he thought to himself. “I have no way to prove it, but I am certain that he broke the branch and disguised himself as a Troll to frighten me.

  “Dwarves are much better at plotting revenge than they are at jumping,” he said darkly to Elerian.

  Elerian gave him a quizzical look, as if he did not understand, but his gray eyes gleamed with laughter.

  “I suppose I will have to go up then,” he said cheerfully as he shed his shoes and pack.

  A large remnant of the fallen branch lay on the ground near the base of the tree, broken into a number of large pieces by the fall.

  “First I need a container,” thought Elerian to himself, eyeing the fallen wood.

  Raising his right hand, he cast a parting spell, watching with his third eye as a small golden orb of light flew from his fingers. It struck a piece of the broken branch, and a section of wood about two feet long and a foot and a half thick fell to the ground, cleanly cut off as if with a great knife. Elerian cast his ever useful transformation spell, and a second orb flew from his right hand. It struck the segment of wood he had cut off, spreading out to cover it with a golden film of light. A thin filament of light tethered the spell to Elerian’s hand, feeding power into it. The bear huffed loudly and stepped back in alarm when the wood rose suddenly into the air, hovering in front of Elerian’s chest, for like Ascilius, he lacked mage sight and could only see the effects of Elerian’s spells, not the spells themselves.

  The transformation spell Elerian had cast had loosened the bonds that held the wood in its present form, leaving it pliable. His long, clever fingers soon formed the malleable wood into a large bucket with a wooden handle. When he ended his spell, the wood instantly hardened into its normal state.

  “That is one problem solved,” said Elerian, half to himself and half to his audience as he set the bucket on the ground. Opening his pack, he took out the coil of thin cord that he had made the other night, draping it around his neck. Then, after taking off his shoes, he leaped lightly high up onto the trunk of the chestnut. Gripping the deep crevices in the furrowed bark of the ancient tree with his strong fingers and toes, Elerian swiftly began climbing the trunk, not hampered at all by the lack of branches. Below him, Ascilius, who had seen Elerian climb before, still shook his head in wonderment at the ease with which Elerian ascended the tree.

  As he neared the nest, Elerian raised his right hand and cast a sleep spell at the cloud of bees entering and leaving the hollow branch above him. With his third eye, he saw a small golden orb of light fly from his right hand, expanding into a golden haze when it reached the bees. Moments later, somnolent insects began to rain down on him like fat, yellow and black raindrops. To protect himself from any bees missed by the sleep spell, Elerian cast a shield spell over himself, watching with his magical sight as a mantle of light flowed from the fingertips of his long right hand, covering him from head to toe. Safe behind this barrier, he climbed up to the stub, pulling himself onto it and straddling it with his legs. Maintaining his precarious hold only with his legs, Elerian lowered the end of his rope to the ground. By standing on his toes and stretching mightily, Ascilius was able to fasten the end of the rope to the bucket Elerian had made. Elerian quickly pulled it up.

  Holding on only with his legs, completely unconcerned by the long drop to the ground, Elerian leaned forward over the end of the branch he sat on, gaining an upside down view of the cavity inside it. There was a yellow and black blanket of sleeping bees covering the floor of the nest. Behind them were vast quantities of honeycomb, attached to the sides of the cavity. Reaching past them with his right hand, Elerian pulled loose waxy sheets of honeycomb, their small hexagonal chambers full of sweet, dark honey. He stuffed them into the bucket he held in his left hand, until it was full to overflowing. Because the nest was so large, even when the bucket was full, there were plenty of combs left for the bees.

  Still leaning upside down over the end of the stub branch, Elerian coolly lowered the bucket. When it was close enough, Ascilius reached up and grasped it eagerly with his upraised hands. Releasing the end of the rope, Elerian lithely straightened up. Springing lightly to his feet, he swiftly climbed down the side of the tree trunk, dropping the last few feet to the ground. Ascilius immediately clapped him enthusiastically on the back with his powerful right hand. Elerian staggered slightly, feeling as if someone had struck him on the back with a heavy staff. It was a potent reminder of the tremendous strength the Dwarf housed in his sturdy body.

  “I would hate to have him get really angry at me,” thought Elerian to himself as he recovered his balance.

  “Well done,” said Ascilius admiringly. “You went up and down that tree like a squirrel.”

  Behind Ascilius, the bear suddenly growled impatiently. Ascilius quickly removed Elerian’s rope from the bucket handle and set the container down in front of the bear. Clearly, their shaggy host was anxious to sample the dripping honeycomb Elerian had retrieved for him and was best humored quickly.

  “Would you like some also?” the bear asked politely and surprisingly.

  Elerian and Ascilius both declined, and the bear eagerly began to lap honey and combs out of the bucket with a long red tongue. Ascilius and Elerian waited patiently until half the contents of the bucket had disappeared. The bear then sat back on his haunches with a satisfied air about him.

  “Would you two care to spend the night in my home?” he asked. “It will be safer than
spending the night in the open forest.”

  Although both Elerian and Ascilius would have preferred to put as much distance as possible between themselves and their hairy host, Ascilius felt that it would have been impolite and perhaps risky, too, if they refused the bear’s hospitality.

  “Certainly, if you have the room for both of us,” he replied, hiding his reluctance as best he could. Noticing then that the piles of bees on the ground were beginning to stir again, he said to Elerian and the bear, “We had best move away from here before these bees wake up and take revenge on us for raiding their hive.”

  The bear picked up the handle of the honey bucket between his teeth and traveling in an easterly direction, led them deeper into the forest, walking steadily through the lush growth of ferns that grew knee high beneath the ancient trees.

  THE ORB

  After traveling about a mile, they arrived at the base of a small, solitary hill that reared up above the forest. Looking up at the hill between the wide spaced trunks of the enormous trees that covered its base, Elerian and Ascilius saw various sized outcrops of stone, gray and moss covered, scattered through the wood in front of them. A clear, noisy stream plunged down the side of the hill, winding between the enormous roots of the trees and cascading over steep, moss covered ledges.

  “The earth has good bones here,” said Ascilius approvingly as he ran a powerful hand over a nearby outcrop. “This is the sort of place a Dwarf would choose to live in.”