by Mike Ezekiel
Smiling even more Durin said to Elden, “Well Elden, Master Kerwyn wanted to see some amazing things; shall we spar and show him how well we’re doing with our training the elves have given us?”
Elden nodded his head again, making the plume bob. He smiled and reached for his silver Elvin spear. Taking a piece of leather from his belt pouch, he wrapped the head of the spear so that he wouldn’t accidentally hurt Durin with that wickedly sharp point. Durin, being smart, said to Elden, “Oh, no need to do that ye over grown turnip; ye has to hit me first!”
The four foot four tall dwarf and the fifteen-foot plus cyclops squared off and started to spar. Elden was faster and more flexible with his spear and was incredible to see. Kerwyn thought that he was watching the cyclops dance, as Elden was moving as if in a trance.
Durin, being one-third the Cyclops’s height, was small enough to be a hard target for the cyclops to hit. But Durin, being a dwarf, was made for frontal assaults and was not flexible and quick. He made up for it by the quick use of his massive silver hammer. He would parry and twist Elden’s spear one way or the other preventing Elden from getting a hit on him.
They battled on for more then twenty minutes and a crowd was gathering to see who would win. At first everyone though that the cyclops had an easy victory as he had the size, strength and reach with his spear over the much smaller dwarf with the huge hammer that looked too big. But Durin was amazing in his own right and he wasn’t only holding the cyclops back but was starting to press the attack.
Kerwyn couldn’t understand how Durin could wield that hammer the way that he was doing. Durin made it look like he was swinging a hammer that was much smaller and Kerwyn wondered if that was part of the magic with Durin’s hammer. He knew the dwarf was very strong as with their entire race, but that hammer looked to be well over three hundred pounds of solid silver. As the sparing raged on the crowd started to call out for the one they wanted to win and soon bets were taken. Durin was the present underdog of the betting and Kerwyn couldn’t understand how the crowd didn’t see that Durin was actually going to win this fight. He could see Durin start to twist the spear a little further outside Elden’s strike zone and then went in for the final blow. Durin almost threw his hammer straight into Elden’s chest, knocking him back and, tripping over his feet, the cyclops went down. Elden held up his hand in defeat and Durin went over to grasp his friend’s hand and congratulated him on a fight that showed skill and honour.
The crowd erupted with cheers and the side that had bet on the cyclops paid up to the winners and then they all dispersed with little less in their pockets then they had before.
“That was amazing to see you sparring like that, you’re both fantastic warriors and I am proud that you are on my side. I would really hate to be the opposing group that met up with the two of you. Thank you for showing me what you have learnt from the Elvin warriors. Durin, may I see your hammer for just a moment,” asked Kerwyn.
Durin passed Kerwyn his hammer by the handle so Kerwyn could take it and Kerwyn found out really quickly as it dropped to the ground that it was far too heavy for him. But even though it was still too heavy for him to wield, the fact that he could almost pick it up showed Kerwyn that his assessment of the magic making it lighter for the wielder was correct. He left the hammer where it was and Durin came over and picked it up as thought it was as light as a feather. He smiled at Kerwyn and told him that one day he would be strong enough to wield his hammer if the need arose. Smiling back, Kerwyn said to Durin that he hoped that day never came, as he was a wizard not a warrior.
Over the next couple of days things seemed quite the same, the Cyclopes and dwarf took turns at sparring with different partners and Baldred kept practicing with his acrobatics while firing at the targets.
Kerwyn and Master Sernett started back into Kerwyn’s studies and resumed his apprenticeship while they had time to relax and Kerwyn got a chance to let Hernes go exploring out the tree. Hernes came back one night and woke Kerwyn up and said to follow him that, he had something very important to show him. Kerwyn got up and followed Hernes through the old Tree of Life. The imp stopped at a door that was locked and said a few magical words. Kerwyn heard a click and the door opened. Inside there were all sorts of treasures and items of interest and the one item that Hernes wanted to show Kerwyn was a fancy knife. Kerwyn examined the knife and found written on the handle in spidery text were the words Ghost Hunter. Feeling that the item was infused Dark Magic, Kerwyn almost set the knife back down but the evil inside Kerwyn wouldn’t let him. Sliding the knife into a pocket, Kerwyn looked around at some of the other items. Not finding anything else that was magical, Kerwyn grabbed some gold and silver and put them into his pocket, as he knew that he would need them in the coming weeks. Just then in his belt pouch he could hear a chiming and reaching in, he could see Erlina’s face in the broach.
“Hi Erlina, how are you?” Kerwyn asked as if no time had passed.
“Why haven’t you tried to contact me using the broach" Erlina said in a disappointed voice.
“Sorry Erlina. Truly we’ve been so busy that I forgot about the broach and what it did. I have to tell you that Druantia the forest witch is dead and the Tree of Life is dying. Apparently I am the new Guardian of the Tree of Life, well, guardian over its acorn anyway,” Kerwyn said to Erlina.
She drew in a deep breath and said, “Kerwyn, you say Druantia and the Tree of Life are both dead and dying. What are we to do? When the Tree of Life dies, evil will reign the land and all life will wither and die. I have to tell my mother of these events. So, what do you do now?”
“We will be coming back to the Elvin kingdom to resupply and then we have been instructed by Druantia to go and see Fafnir the forest dragon. She said that he might have the answers we seek,” answered Kerwyn.
“Ok, let me know when you are coming so I can let everyone know when to expect you,” said Erlina as the broach’s light faded and she was gone.
Kerwyn was a little disappointed that Erlina left so quickly. He would have liked to talk to her longer. He didn’t realize how much he missed her until now. Remembering the past week of watching Durin and Ardwinna start their relationship triggered thoughts about Erlina now.
He was going to find out if Master Sernett had finished going through Druantia’s books on the Tree of Life. He knew that they needed to know what to do but he also wanted to see Erlina.
Leaving the chamber with enough gold and silver in his belt pack, Kerwyn walked back to his room with his new knife, nestled away in his pocket. Now he thought to himself, “I just need to figure out what dark magic this knife can do.”
Kerwyn had not noticed the shadow that had been following him. It disengaged itself from the wall, turned and headed back the way Kerwyn had just come from.
Closing the door behind him, Kerwyn headed for his bed. The imp climbed in beside Kerwyn and both were soon fast asleep.
In the morning, Kerwyn went and found Pan and told and him about the room with all the gold and silver in it. He asked Pan to divide it up amongst all the staff as they were going to need places to live until the new Tree of Life was reborn. Pan came back after a few hours and told Kerwyn that all the gold and silver he been collected but the room had been a mess when he went in. He said that the place was ransacked as if someone had been searching for something that wasn’t gold or silver. Kerwyn thought that he didn’t disturb the room badly enough to say it was left in a mess, but maybe Pan’s idea of a ransacking was a bit of a disorganized clutter. Not thinking much more about it, Kerwyn let the mess pass. If he would have inquired for a bit more information from Pan, he would have come to realize that the room was literally ransacked and everything had been thrown all over the floor; not at all the way Kerwyn and Hernes had left it the night before.
“Master Kerwyn,” said Pan, “Elgar has handed out all the gold and silver equally to all the staff, but he said that he still has enough gold and silver for your party as well.”
Pan
turned to Elgar and told the smaller, pale satyr to give Master Kerwyn all the extra gold and silver so he could make sure it got to his party. Elgar obeyed and handed all the extra gold and silver over to Kerwyn.
“Thank you, Elgar,” said Kerwyn noticing that Elgar was looking at his belt pack as if trying to see right through it. Kerwyn tapped it and said, “We need to keep the Tree of Life acorn safe so I never leave it alone.”
Elgar blinked almost like he had been in a daze and looked up, straight into Kerwyn’s eyes. Visibly shaken by looking into Kerwyn’s black eye, Elgar backed up and fled back into the dying Tree of Life.
“I though everyone was used to my eyes by now. Sorry Pan, I didn’t mean to scare Elgar away,” said Kerwyn.
“Oh, not your fault, Master Kerwyn. Elgar is a very strange satyr. He has been with us for about the last three years. I have no idea what family he comes from as he usually stays in his room and hardly ever comes out. I think something tragic had happened to him but he has never said anything more than evil was coming and that we needed to prepare. I really didn’t understand what he was talking about but I am wondering if he knew that the Dark Master was coming back to the world. If he did, I should really take the time to find out what happened to him and how he knew that the Dark Master was coming,” finished Pan.
“So Elgar has only been with the Tree of Life staff for the past three years, and you have no idea where he came from? He seemed very emotionally unstable. I should go look for him and let him know that my black eye won’t hurt him,” Kerwyn started to walk away and look for Elgar.
“Master Kerwyn, don’t forget lunch is about two hours away,” called out Pan after him.
Kerwyn went back into the Tree of Life looking for Elgar. He searched the main hall and then started looking in the bedrooms didn’t find him. While Kerwyn was wandering in the upper levels of the tree, he heard a shrill scream from a woman and a horrible crash. Running as fast as he could, Kerwyn reached a bedroom door and upon opening it, he realized that the room had rotted away and had collapsed. Looking way down, he saw a female's body lying in a crumpled heap. It looked like she was in the room when the Tree of Life branch collapsed in this part of the tree. Shaking his head, he knew that it would soon be time to leave. Looking at the shape of the rest of the upper bedrooms, Kerwyn knew that he was going to have to shut down these upper rooms and keep a closer eye on how fast the tree was dying.
“Master Sernett!” Kerwyn called out to his master and found him in one of the main rooms, “The upper levels are collapsing and a woman has just fallen to her death. We need to close off the upper levels and move everyone to the lower rooms. It looks like the Tree of Life has started to die and it is dying from the top down. I would guess that we only have about one week left before this place becomes inhabitable.”
“Pan, where are you?” Kerwyn called.
“Here, Master Kerwyn. We were just looking after Iduna. She was head woman of the maid section. She will be missed. She was the woman that made sure our honoured guests always had clean sheets and fresh water for bathing. She was one of the most organized woman I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.
Her husband died a few years ago and he was a hunter that would bring wild boar and venison home. A wild boar went crazy after her husband put an arrow into it and it killed him with its tusks before it too died from its wounds. They never had any children and their family died of the plague years and years ago when she was still just a young girl. You know, come to think of it, Iduna really took little Elgar under her wing, almost like he was the son she never had. He is going to be crushed when he finds out she has been killed,” finished Pan.
“I searched for him,” said Kerwyn, “but he wasn’t anywhere to be found and then the tree branch collapsed and I stopped searching for him when I heard Iduna scream. We will send out search parties to find him. I’m afraid that the reason he has gone into hiding is because he saw my black eye up close and I guess it spooked him.
“Kerwyn, it is not your fault. Everyone here knew about your eye, just some people hadn’t gotten up close and personal to see it first hand. You can not take responsibility for something you have no control over,” said Pan.
“Master Kerwyn, Pan is right ye know. Ye cannot be held for something that ye didn’t wish upon yerself. Me thinks that he saw something in ye eye that he didn’t want to see and it brought back his memories,” Durin said, coming up behind Kerwyn with Elden.
“Master Kerwyn, Durin and I have been looking at the way the tree branch fell and it looks like there will be more to come in the following days. The tree is dying faster than even Druantia estimated. At the rate it is dying, everyone will be without a home by the end of the week. Also, we have noticed during our sparring that the feel of the clearing is starting to get... well unsettling,” said Elden.
“What do you mean, Elden?” asked Master Sernett.
“What I mean is, well, I’m not sure what I mean,” answered Elden.
“What Elden is meaning, Master Sernett, is that this part of the forest used to have a calming feel to it. But now it feels like a wererat is watching us. In fact, maybe even a whole nest of them. I know we sound crazy, Master, but me an me friend feel the unease in the forest getting closer. Now that ye big tree is dying, evil feels closer then it did. Can ye not feel it?” Asked Durin getting excited.
“I haven’t paid much attention to the way the forest has been feeling Durin,” said Master Sernett, “I have been in Druantia’s study trying to find out what to do with this blasted acorn that she has charged Kerwyn to have reborn. All these past weeks in the books and there has been no mention of what to do with the acorn. I know everything about how to care for the tree once it blooms, but there isn’t anything that tells us how to go about regrowing the Tree of Life.”
“Master Sernett and Master Kerwyn, lunch is being served,” Pan interrupted as Master Sernett was getting excited and beginning to get angry. Pan felt that changing the topic would keep the Master Wizard’s composure.
Master Sernett catching on to what Pan had just done for him, nodded at Pan and said thank you. Pan just winked at Master Sernett and started walking back towards the kitchen to help get the meal served.
“Well everyone, we shouldn’t keep the cooks waiting and I hear that you have made quite a friend, Durin. From what I hear she is one of the best cooks they have here and she is a female dwarf. Looks like you have made a wonderful new friend and your belly shall never growl again,” Master Sernett said while Durin’s face got redder and redder with embarrassment.
“Ah Master Sernett, ye shouldn’t believe everything ye hear in gossip. Ye know these satyrs like to tell stories and only half of what they say can be believed and the other half is to question,” grinning Durin, thought he had got the upper hand on Master Sernett that time. Just then Ardwinna walked out of the kitchen carrying the biggest platter of roasted venison Kerwyn had seen yet.
When she saw Durin she blushed and said, “Since the Tree of Life is dying and we’ll all be homeless before long, I have cooked the best platter of roasted venison to feed to ye all. Durin, maybe after ye eat ye can take me for a walk around the tree?”
“I'd be honoured too, Ardwinna,” answered the dwarf.
Master Sernett started to laugh and said, “Gossip? Rubbish; I know a man in love when I see one, and I know a woman in love when I see one as well.”
Both of the dwarves started blushing as red as their little bodies would allow, and neither of them coud look at the other without starting blushing even harder.
The meal was the best that any of them had ever had. It was almost as if the cooks were trying to outdo one another before everything came crashing down around them. The potato salads, vegetables and the main meat dishes were amazing, but there were sweets unlike anything that had ever been served before with each one being more delicious then that last.
The cooks really had outdone themselves this time. No one wanted to move away from the table as
the food was so fantastic but as each one filled up and they eventually left the table and went back to their rooms to make sure everything was in order just in case the Tree of Life died sooner than later.
Once everyone was done eating, the cooks came and tidied up from supper again Ardwinna noticed Durin watching every move that she made and eventually came up and asked if he'd like to take a walk. Durin got up and, taking her hand in his, walked out of the main hall not even pausing to look back and see what Elden was doing. Elden knowing that Durin would appreciate some alone time with Ardwinna just shrugged his shoulders, got up and went back to the Cyclopes' rooms on the lowest floors.
Kerwyn, who was sitting with his master, looked at the sad expression on Elden’s face as he walked out. Kerwyn remembered the conversation he had about Elden and that he didn’t have any friends where he came from and realized that it must be hard watching your best friend leave you behind for a woman. Kerwyn wondered if that was how he felt with Byamee and Celie. Looking back at his Master, he wondered if that was how he felt about him and Erlina.
Getting up from the table and looking outside, Kerwyn figured that they had eaten all day and he wasn’t too far off the mark. It looked to be about seven o'clock at night. They had started lunch shortly after three because of Iduna’s death. The weird thing about her death was that she had bite marks on her arms almost like something was trying to eat her. But it might just have been the way she fell and the branches and such had punctured her arms.
Getting back to his room, Kerwyn pushed the door open and something heavy caught him across the back of the head knocking him to the floor. The next thing Kerwyn knew was he was tied up saw Elgar digging through his belt pack looking for something. He snatched up the Tree of Life acorn and held it aloft with an evil grin. Elgar’s face distorted into something Kerwyn could not identify. The creature’s features were like butter and they melted around like Elgar’s features like liquid. Kerwyn couldn’t be sure but he thought that this creature that had hit him over the head was a changeling. A creature able to change its appearance like a chameleon changes the colour of its skin. But other than that, Kerwyn didn’t know much else about these creatures.
