Erik And The Dragon ( Book 4)

by Sam Ferguson

  Erik didn’t know if cheating made the other fish taste bad, but he did know that Tatev’s fish tasted heavenly. The outside skin was crispy and crunchy, yet the meat inside was soft and flaky. A hint of smoke flavor had mixed with the rub to produce one of the most mouth-watering meals he had ever tried. He scarfed the food down, hardly stopping to take a drink in between bites.

  “There is more if you want,” Marlin said.

  Erik nodded and started to get up but stopped abruptly when a great, piercing shriek tore through the air above. He flinched, looking up to see the source of the sound when out of nowhere swooped down a massive eagle. Its talons ripped through the fourth fish over the fire and its mighty wings stirred the smoke and flames as it took off for the sky again, ripping the stick clean out of the ground and taking it along with the fish.

  “Now, that wasn’t fair,” Marlin commented with his mouth half full of food.

  Tatev turned and shrugged. “I thought you said there was no cheating in fishing?”

  Everyone laughed.

  *****

  That night, as Erik looked up to the stars from his bedroll, a cold breeze rushed up over the cliff and wrapped itself around the camp. The blue fires hissed and crackled against it as they were bent low to the ground. Erik felt a shiver course down his skin and he pulled his blanket around him tighter.

  Crrrack!

  Erik nearly jumped out of his skin as he flipped around to peer out into the darkness in the direction of the cliff. He didn’t see anything, but he could hear it.

  Thawump!

  His heart almost stopped. His breath caught in his throat.

  “Don’t let it get to you,” Tatev whispered from nearby. “They don’t ever leave the valley.”

  “What is it?” Erik asked. “Is it the souls of those who fought here before?”

  Tatev frowned. “I don’t know,” he said. “All I know is I won’t be caught in that valley before sunup or after sundown. Not for all the gold in the world.”

  A mighty roar rose up from the valley floor, like a great beast. It sent goose bumps down Erik’s arms. The wind grew fiercer then, howling and wailing like an army of the forgotten dead. Erik looked around and saw everyone else was sleeping soundly. Lepkin and Dimwater were lying side by side, Marlin was a few yards beyond them. Jaleal was sitting with his back propped against an oak tree. Even Tatev drifted off into sleep after a few minutes.

  Erik did not sleep. Even seeing his friends so peaceful and calm did nothing to allay his fears. He couldn’t help but feel as though whatever was down there was about to come up over the cliff and devour them all. The few times he managed to close his eyes, his ears would seem to pick up more sounds. There was nothing he could do to calm his mind.

  He gripped his sword, hoping it would give him courage to sleep. It didn’t.

  Finally, after hours of waiting for the threat to come after him, he had had enough. He rose from his bedroll and went to the edge of the cliff. He felt the same feeling as he had before, something was watching him. He could feel the cold, steely eyes upon him as easily as if he had felt a raindrop in late autumn fall upon his face.

  He wasn’t sure why, but he let his fear turn to anger. His hot rage slipped down his arm and lit his sword with the searing, white flames. Then he opened his mouth and shouted at the valley. A great ball of white light erupted from within him and illuminated the area below.

  Misty figures flashed and streaked out of sight, fleeing from the light and howling in anger and fear. He couldn’t make out most of them. They scattered so quickly that all he could see was their movement.

  Then his eyes landed upon one image. A large humanoid stood at the edge of the tear shaped pool, staring up at Erik and smiling. It raised a misty hand and curled its sharp, taloned finger in a come hither motion. Then it snarled and Erik’s light vanished.

  Wailing and yowling erupted from the valley floor and a great wind rose up, wrapping around Erik and pulling him toward the edge of the cliff. His heart fluttered and a lump caught in his throat, stopping his breath. A cold, gripping fear coiled itself around his spine, sending shivers through his limbs as the magical wind drew him closer to the edge.

  A strong, determined hand clamped down on his left shoulder and ripped him back from the edge. “We should wait for the light,” Lepkin said sternly. “Those beings down there can’t abide the sun.”

  Erik nodded twice, eyes wide and fixed on the cliff’s edge.

  “What did you see?” Lepkin asked.

  Erik shook his head slowly. “I don’t know. Maybe a man, maybe a ghost. I couldn’t tell. But it was real, I swear!”

  Lepkin sighed and pushed Erik farther away from the edge. “You don’t have to worry about convincing me, Erik,” he said. “I know they are real. That’s why we pitched camp up here for the night. Some forces are best left alone, even for the Champion of Truth.”

  “I’m sorry, I just…” Erik’s words trailed off. What had he hoped to accomplish? Why had he gone to the cliff in the first place?

  “Don’t beat yourself up over it,” Lepkin said as if reading Erik’s thoughts. “Come, I will keep watch for the rest of the night.”

  Erik saw Dimwater sitting up in her bedroll, watching them as Lepkin moved to sit at the edge of the camp, planting himself between Erik and the cliff. Dimwater brushed her hair over her left shoulder. She glanced up to Lepkin, who simply nodded at her and she offered a slight smile.

  “Erik, come lay over here in Lepkin’s bedroll,” she said.

  No sooner had he managed to squirm under the blanket and lay his head down than he started snoring loudly.

  “Thanks,” Lepkin said.

  Dimwater smiled with a quick nod. “He should sleep soundly now until the morning,” she said.

  “I didn’t think they would call to him like that,” Lepkin said.

  Dimwater sat silently for a moment. “They have been waiting a long time,” she said after a moment. “I am sure they can sense the power he carries.”

  “We will have to be careful tomorrow,” Lepkin said. “Do you think they will stay hidden from the light?”

  Dimwater shrugged. “I am not sure,” she said.

  “Everything I have read says they cannot abide the light of the sun,” Tatev put in quickly from the side.

  Lepkin turned to regard the curly haired red head. “Have you read anything about being able to pull victims over the cliff?” he countered.

  “Well…no,” Tatev said with a frown.

  “It’s Licenien,” Dimwater said. “I would wager my life on it.”

  “Licenien,” Lepkin repeated. “The battle mage?”

  “No,” Tatev corrected. “Licenien was the Tarthun priest. He led two hundred zealot warriors into Hamath valley. He was considered Nagar’s most loyal ally by many, and some even say that he was one of Nagar’s trusted advisors.” Tatev rubbed a weary hand over his face, wiping a long yawn away and shaking off the night. “He died in battle.”

  “But not before cursing the valley,” Dimwater said.

  Tatev nodded. “He swore that he would get his revenge on all the living foolish enough to tread in his grave.”

  “We will need to keep our wits about us tomorrow then,” Lepkin said.

  “It would be simpler if we could just use magic to get there,” Tatev said with a hopeful look to Dimwater.

  She shook her head. “I have never been to Tualdern, and even if I had, the city has powerful wards against all kinds of magic. I would only be able to put us in the valley anyway.”

  Tatev sighed and shrugged. “I am going to try and get some sleep, if that’s possible after talking about Licenien.” The little man wriggled into his blanket and pulled it tight around him.

  “You should get some sleep as well,” Lepkin said.

  A howl came up from the valley below.

  Dimwater rose to her feet and looked over to the cliff.

  “What are you thinking?” Lepkin asked.

  Dimwat
er answered with a sly smile. “You are not the only one with tricks,” she said coolly. “I want to see what is down there.”

  Lepkin reached out as she walked by and seized her arm. “I can’t let you do that,” he said.

  She smiled at him and bent down to kiss him. The moment her lips touched his, Lepkin’s body went limp and she used her magic to guide his sleeping body down to the ground. She gave him another kiss, this time on the cheek, and then continued toward the cliff. She looked down into the darkness. Something within her breast stirred and she instinctively turned her head slightly to the right. A glimmer shone in the darkness on the valley floor. A smile crept over her face.

  “Come down,” a harsh, gravelly voice whispered from the darkness.

  Dimwater turned away from the cliff and walked several yards away without answering the voice.

  “Do you fear me?” the voice taunted.

  “Not hardly,” Dimwater muttered as she picked a spot on the grass and sat down cross-legged. She kept her back to the cliff and whispered the words of a powerful spell. She closed her eyes and felt the energy rush through her body. Her skin tightened with gooseflesh, her neck and spine shivered, and her heart beat quickly in her chest. It felt as though a whirlwind was born inside her chest, stirring up her insides and pulling at them. After a moment, she opened her eyes and pushed up to stand again. The others still slept, just as she had wanted.

  She rubbed her right hand over her left forearm and felt a tingly, warm sensation course over her. Then she turned and saw her body still sitting on the ground. A silvery-blue cord extended faintly from her body and feeding her spirit with the energy it needed to maintain the out of body spell.

  “Now, I will come,” she told the voice. She floated above the ground, quick as a sparrow yet as graceful as a butterfly. She went out over the edge of the cliff and gently descended down to the valley floor. It was still dark, as it had been before, but now she could see scores of silvery spirits and beings watching her. One of them looked particularly unpleased.

  “You are too cowardly to come in the flesh?” he taunted.

  “I think the word you are struggling for, is clever,” she replied evenly. She dropped onto the ground in front of the being and glanced around at the other hungry eyes around her. “Without my body, you have no power to attack me.”

  “Then be gone,” the ghoul said. “You have no place here.”

  Dimwater stepped forward and reached into the being, gripping it where its spine should have been. “Licenien, I know it is you,” she said evenly.

  The ghoul’s eyes flashed red and he opened his humanoid mouth to reveal sharp fang-like protrusions. He bent forward to bite her, but she held him firm and kept him at bay. “Body or no body, I will rend your spirit apart and devour your energy.”

  A multitude of ghouls rushed forward swiping and biting at the cord connecting Dimwater to her body. Silvery twinges of pain ripped through her. She whirled on the ghouls and dispersed them with a flick of her wrist. They shrieked in pain as her magic ripped them asunder.

  Licenien backed away cautiously, the fight gone from his eyes. “How can you command such power?” he asked.

  “As I said,” Dimwater began. “Without my body, you have no power to attack me. Furthermore, I know you, and I know your curse.”

  “You know nothing,” Licenien hissed. “Why have you come to torment me, witch?”

  “I am no witch,” Dimwater replied evenly as she stalked around Licenien.

  “Only a witch could command this kind of magic,” Licenien said.

  “Let’s just say I am not exactly human,” Dimwater said.

  Licenien studied her then and nodded after a moment. “I can see it now,” he hissed. “You are demon-born.”

  Dimwater laughed. “Well, if you can see that, then you should know that in this form I am more powerful than you.”

  “What are you going to do, kill me again?” Licenien laughed. “You have nothing to scare me with?”

  “What if I told you that I could banish your spirit to Hammenfein?” Dimwater asked. She watched the ghoul’s face turn sour and then flashed a sly smile at him. “Or, perhaps we could come to an agreement, what do you think?”

  Licenien floated away and then back, as if caught by a sudden breeze. “What kind of agreement?” he asked. “What do I have that you could possibly want?”

  “Suspend your hunting,” Dimwater said without hesitation. “Cease praying upon mortals in the valley for a time.”

  “Ah, you seek to travel through my valley,” Licenien growled. “No, you know my vengeance must come upon all foolish enough to descend into Hamath valley. It is mine, and so is every soul that ventures into it.”

  “Four days,” Dimwater said. “That’s all I ask.”

  “No,” Licenien said. “I saw the young man atop the cliff. I smelled his blood, I felt the energy in his soul. He, and all the others with him shall die if they come down.”

  Dimwater floated to him and gripped the ghoul again. “Then I send you down to Hammenfein, and all the souls that now follow you will be free to pursue their own peace.” She lifted her left hand and a bright green flame grew above her silvery form. She inched it closer to Licenien. He tried to struggle away from her grasp, but he couldn’t escape her grip. The flame licked his form and he jolted suddenly.

  “Stop!” he cried. “By Icadion’s beard, stop!”

  Dimwater pulled the fire away. “I know the true power of your curse,” she said. “You subjugate all the souls in the valley to you, and force them to serve you, but none of them can save you from me. More importantly, none of them can save you from Hammenfein. With you gone, they will be loosed from your control, free to seek peace, and you will be forgotten.”

  “Licenien will never be forgotten,” the ghoul hissed.

  “They will tell your story around campfires for a few years, to be sure, but after a while, when Hamath valley is traveled freely once more, no one will remember your name. You will be forgotten, and your soul will be lashed to the pillars of the fourth level of Hammenfein, where you will waste away forever.”

  “You want four days?” Licenien asked.

  “Four days,” Dimwater replied. “After that, you may retake your valley and do as you wish.”

  Licenien looked over his back, farther into the valley and then he grinned slyly. “Alright, you may pass through the valley for four days. After that, I will hunt again.”

  Dimwater released Licenien and stepped out over the water of the tear-shaped pool.

  “Who is the boy?” Licenien called out after her. “He must be quite special for you to risk your life like this.”

  Dimwater stopped and turned, debating whether to tell him. “He is the Champion of Truth,” she said.

  Licenien’s grin melted away and he cast another glance over his shoulder. “Is that so?” he asked.

  Dimwater only nodded and started to ascend through the air.

  “Then you should turn back,” Licenien said after a moment. “Do not cross through this valley.”

  Dimwater stopped and turned around to face him again. “You gave me your word,” she warned. “If you break it, I will banish you.”

  “It is not me,” Licenien said. “There is something far worse than me on the other side of the valley.”

  “What?” Dimwater asked.

  “I don’t know,” Licenien admitted. “It is on the other side, beyond the border of the valley. Whatever it is, I do not think even you can defeat it. So, I say again, turn back.”

  Dimwater was not sure what to make of Licenien’s sudden concern. “Why would you care?” she asked.

  “I didn’t, at first,” he said. “But if he really is the Champion of Truth, then I would not want him to be destroyed. Turn back.”

  “But you fought alongside Tu’luh and Nagar,” Dimwater pressed.

  Licenien took on a grim expression. “I will give you your four days, but I would suggest you turn back.”


  “The elves in Tualdern will provide us with shelter,” Dimwater replied evenly. She decided that Licenien might be trying to trick her somehow, so she dismissed him and ascended up the cliff.

  She floated easily until she was near her body, then she stepped down and slid back into herself. All at once a hot flush washed over her and her muscles went slack. Her heart ceased pounding and started to flutter spasmodically. Her stomach flipped and she leaned over just in time to avoid retching on her own lap. She wiped her mouth and spent a few moments regaining her composure before she dared try to stand.

  When she finally made it to her feet she noticed that Lepkin was standing near her. No, he was holding her. He had one arm around the back of her waist and the other holding onto her right arm, propping her up.

  “What did you do?” Lepkin asked.

  “I’ll be alright, in the morning,” Dimwater replied wearily.

  Lepkin helped her back to her bedroll. “I don’t mind when you use your sleeping spells on Erik, but in the future, I would prefer you not use them on me.” Dimwater nodded and eased into her blanket, asleep before Lepkin could say another word. Lepkin backed away and sighed, glancing over his shoulder at the cliff’s edge.

  Whatever she had done, the howling wind was gone, and somehow the night seemed more peaceful.

  *****

  Erik and the others broke camp as soon as the first rays of sunlight broke through the sky. Jaleal and Tatev fried up more fish for breakfast while the others packed their bedrolls onto the mules. Lepkin was quick to assist Dimwater with anything that she was doing, and very adamant about making sure she had enough to eat for breakfast.

  Erik wasn’t sure what to make of it, but Dimwater was moving a bit slower than normal, and even Marlin was watching her carefully. Something had happened in the night, but he thought better of asking what that something was. He finished with his chores, ate the plate of fish he was given, and then fell in line with the others as they descended the steep, rocky path that switched back and forth down the north eastern side of the cliff.