by Bill Mays
“If you don’t quit complaining, I’ll feed you to one of those giant frogs we saw back there! Besides, what other leads do we have? We need a real sage to look at that writing, unless you want to suddenly become useful and translate it.”
Their bickering had become second nature to the two wanderers. It helped to pass the time. Ado did quiet down, though. He was never quite sure just what the big human was capable of doing. Tark seemed a little unstable lately. The huge frogs had been the size of human children and their bulging golden eyes watched Ado a little too closely for comfort. He could imagine them mistaking him for an especially large and tasty insect. The tiny mage decided that maybe it was time for another nap. The scenery was not changing and neither was the company. Ado popped open Tark’s backpack and was preparing to settle in when a crude wooden javelin impaled the pack not three inches from where he was about to lay his head. It struck the small tender box, which prevented it from piercing through into Tark’s back. The gremlin shrieked an ear-splitting scream as he quickly mumbled a spell to turn invisible. Tremlins were not fans of danger -- ever. Tark immediately dropped to the ground as two more javelins struck a moss-covered tree before him. A quick scan of the area revealed several sets of yellow reptilian eyes peering out from the tangled brush.
“Lizard men!”
Tark shouted the warning though there really was no reason to. It was force of habit. He had grown accustomed to alerting his allies in battle, whether it was his teammates in the arena or his companions on the road. It was just he and Ado now, and the gremlin was always one step ahead of him when it came to avoiding combat. Tark’s trident was out and spinning before the three creatures could advance through the tangled vines they used as cover. It was just a matter of time before this happened and he knew it. He had been warned several times of the dangerous lizard-man tribes that ruled the Acid Swamps. Everyone warned him away from its borders. His own visions showed him the yellow-eyed reptiles. In the last town, they even spoke of a small settlement, which had tried to exist near the border of the wetlands, only to be decimated to a person. All that turned up when supply merchants went to visit was an empty village. Lizard men were intelligent humanoids with scaled, greenish skin and spine-ridged backs and tails. There were different varieties but the basics remained unchanged. They were one of the numerous menagerie races. They lived in crude, savage tribes and were not friendly towards most other races. Tark had seen a couple of the creatures during his gladiatorial days in Drackmoore. He never had any direct dealings with them, but others always described them as vicious warriors. At this moment, he had to agree.
The first of the savage humanoids lashed out with its tail in a crude attempt at tripping the gladiator. Tark pinned the thick tail to the ground with a quick downward thrust. The reptilian man hissed in pain and recoiled as the trident pulled loose. The other two attackers came at the big man with teeth and claws. Tark twirled the trident, batting aside one set of clawed hands. He then elbowed the second creature in the side of the head as its powerful jaws snapped shut too close to his neck.
“Any time you want to jump in pipsqueak is alright with me,” Tark called out to the air.
“You seem to be handling things just fine,” a shrill voice replied from a distance, followed by a high-pitched giggle. “Those brutes look dangerous. I think I’ll just keep a lookout from up here to make sure nothing else decides to join the fight.” The squeaky voice rang out cheerfully from far above the battle scene.
“You do that,” the big man grumbled under his breath.
He really had not expected anything different from the tremlin. Tark scowled as he jabbed repeatedly into one of the three lizard men, dropping the creature to the leaf covered ground in a heap. Of all the possible companions to get stuck with, why did he have to get the cowardly gremlin? Actually, Tark knew it was for the best. This way he did not have to worry about taking care of anyone but himself. He fought better on his own, less distraction. It was just easier without having constantly to watch others’ backs for them. His thoughts flashed to Dalia. He missed the pristine lady and her ever stoic and rational presence. Her clear grey eyes and silvery hair cascading about her delicate shoulders were a vision he enjoyed picturing often. A scaly tail smacked hard into the back of the big man’s legs jarring his focus to the present situation. The blow knocked him off balance and nearly stole his footing. The lizard men, while not quite as tall or broad as Tark, were larger than an average man and very powerful for their size. The creatures fought with the savagery of animals. He could see why no settlement had lasted in this region. A whole tribe of these creatures would be too much for anyone to handle. A spin of his trident sliced three neat lines across the extended arm of the lizard man who had just smacked him with its tail. The creature hissed and lunged at him. A solid punch from his free hand sent the lizard stumbling away, trying to shake the stars from its vision. The blow hurt Tark’s hand, too. Their scaly skin was as tough as tree-bark. The last of the savages was suddenly upon him. In a flash, the reptilian humanoid leapt onto Tark’s back. Claws and teeth sank in as its tail beat him about the legs. The sharp pain was a quick reminder that no one was watching his back either. He could not afford to let his guard down anymore. Tark dropped to his knee forcefully, letting the action hurl his attacker over his head and to the ground in front of him. The move was painful, smashing his knee into the ground, but it was necessary. He could hear the tearing of flesh as the lizard man’s claws desperately sought to hold tight on his back.
“Damn that hurt!” He cursed as he sprang back to his feet and impaled the flailing reptile.
“Tark, behind you!” Ado squeaked from above.
Without hesitation, the gladiator ripped his weapon free of the dying victim. He jabbed the butt of his trident behind him and into the remaining creature’s stomach. The final lizard man had been rushing him from behind, prepared to leap on his back as its comrade had done.
“Fool me once,” Tark growled with a smirk on his lips.
A skilled twirl of his silver weapon pierced through the stumbling reptile’s neck and shoulders. The big man placed a foot on the dying creature and yanked his trident free, spilling more blood onto the moist ground. As the last of the dying humanoids lie twitching on the leaves at Tark’s feet, his tiny companion popped into sight hovering in the air just in front of him.
The tiny man brushed his little clawed hands together as if to show that he was finished dealing with the lizard men. “Now that is done with, can we get moving? This place gives me the creeps!” Ado folded his arms across his chest and shivered a little for effect. “Are you going to need time to bandage, because we’re starting to lose light already?” Ado then scanned the sky with a frown.
The big man could not help but crack a smile as he flexed away the pain of his injuries. How anyone or anything could be so self-absorbed never failed to amaze him. Ado was a piece of work that was for sure. He wondered if all tremlins were that way. Without responding to his ridiculous little companion, Tark set about tending his wounds as best he could. His kneecap and knuckles ached. It was hard to do much proper binding since the majority of his injuries were on his back. Luckily, his pack absorbed some of the attack. He removed the item to attend better to the wounds.
“At least I think we’re on the right track. I’ve seen these creatures in my visions,” the gladiator sighed. He had seen reptilian images flash through his head, so he had to trust it meant something.
“Absolutely lovely, your craziness has been confirmed.” Ado sighed and went about scrutinizing the mangled backpack that was also his bed. Several rips in the leather marked where the claws had struck it and a large hole showed the javelin’s entry. “Well isn’t that just great! I guess it will be a little drafty from now on,” the miniature man mumbled to himself in annoyance. He wiggled his fingers and grumbled the words to a spell. The tears in the pack sealed somewhat. “That will have to do, I suppose,” he frowned.
Ado then remove
d his own small pack. It was the pouch Vergehen the Wise had given him as a reward. It was a special container. Though from the outside it appeared nothing more than a plain pouch a human might carry coin in, on the inside it was entirely different. There was a two-foot extra-dimensional space inside the small bag. The gremlin made good use of the storage. The little man pulled out a shiny red apple and started munching while rifling through the many other items he stored inside in neatly stacked rows. Finally, he crawled back out, for his entire body had disappeared inside the pouch, and this time he carried a finely crafted pair of human-sized leather riding gloves.
“Take these,” Ado called as he tossed each shiny black glove to the seated gladiator. “I suppose they will do us more good on your hands than in my bag. Besides, he would probably want you to have them.”
Ado turned his head away so as to hide any expression he held from Tark’s view. The gladiator seemed puzzled at first, and then recognition set in. He lifted the fine gloves in his hands and looked upon them in silence. A twinge of guilt tore at his heart. Finally, Tark felt the urge to speak.
“I had forgotten about these. I guess I just assumed they had been buried with him.”
“Never let a magical item go to waste. Edle, my old master, taught me that.”
Ado still hid his face from sight. The tiny man was fidgeting with a copper ring emblazoned with the image of an eye. He wore the large ring as a bracelet. Tark was unsure how he should respond. He really did hate these moments. Emotions were not his area of expertise.
“Thank you, Ado. I will put them to good use in Teevo’s honor,” the big man’s voice was a bit strangled as he spoke.
“Whatever!” The gremlin perked up. “As long as you don’t go dropping dead on me and leaving me stranded out here in the middle of nowhere.”
“And just how did the two of you come to be in my ‘middle of nowhere’, hmmm?” The unexpected voice jolted the two wanderers to their feet.
Tark dropped the gloves and drew forth his trident. Meanwhile, Ado squealed with fright and began mumbling another invisibility spell. A slender female figure stepped from the trees, seemingly out of nowhere.
“Don’t be afraid handsome, not of me anyway,” the silky voice giggled.
* * * * * * * * * *
They meandered through the tangled wood for most of the day’s remaining light. Unfortunately, there was still no sign of any shack or any sage. Tark kept a tickled smirk on his lips and Ado griped and rambled on endlessly.
“What a bothersome wench that tree sprite was!” Ado complained as he rode along on Tark’s shoulders. “Who did she think she was anyway?” The gremlin grumbled. “She was basically throwing her skinny little body at you. I never did like the fey folk, none of them. They’re a flighty bunch those sprites, elves and fairies. Can’t trust them I tell you!” Tark did not reply, but only chuckled under his breath. “What’s so funny you big ox?” Ado was getting more and more agitated.
“Oh nothing,” the gladiator smirked, “It’s just that you liked her pretty much up until she turned you away.” Tark laughed out loud. “What was it she said? … Something about ugly little gremlins and a snowball in the flames of hell?” The big man’s whole body shook with laughter despite his injuries.
“Enjoy it while you can you repulsive ogre! She only liked you because she didn’t get close enough to smell you!”
“And, what do you have against the fey? Aren’t gremlins fey creatures, too?” Tark grinned even more. He knew that statement would get a rise out of the little mage.
Ado’s gray face turned pink with anger, but he refrained from commenting on the absurd question. No gremlin with the sense of a newborn kitten would claim any relation to the fey. Ado sat quietly contemplating what had just transpired. Tark was busy fitting the shiny gloves over his large hands. At first, they thought her a druid, a guardian priestess of the wilderness, but that misconception was quickly dispelled. A wood sprite, a dryad, had spotted them in her wood. The slender woman looked like a forest elf-maiden save for her coloring. She matched the season of the trees. Her hair was long and straight. Its shade was a deep burgundy with highlights of gold and orange. Her smooth skin was the color of light brown bark. Her glinting eyes sparkled of their own accord, dark emerald with a hint of yellow-green like a lily pad in late summer. She wore nothing to cover her slim figure save for her long hair where it happened to fall. The dryad’s voice was sweet and enticing, like a playful young maid with experience to share. The little vixen had called out to the brawny gladiator to join her in her tree. A dryad’s charm was supposedly unequalled. Why then did Tark brush her advances aside with nothing more than a question about some old sage’s whereabouts? He was only human after all, was he not?
“How did you do it?” Ado piped up, quite put off at not being able to figure this one out.
“Do what?”
“You know what I’m asking! The wood wench, how did you resist her charms? Dryads are legendary for that. If they call you, you’re gone forever to a life of blissful pleasures.” The tremlin trailed off while staring wistfully back towards where the maiden had rejected him and then departed.
“She was cute, but I have more important things to worry about right now.”
Tark smiled to himself as he marveled over the magical gloves’ disappearance seemingly into his skin. He was enjoying this. He was tickled immensely by Ado’s discomfort, too. Actually, he had felt the pull of the woman’s call. It was almost hypnotizing. Her voice echoed in his ears and reached into his mind, but then he just shut it off. He was not really sure how he did that, he just did, just as easily as closing an open door.
“She was a bit skinny for my tastes,” the gladiator chuckled teasingly.
“Careful what you say, warrior. A dryad’s ears have a pretty lengthy reach, you know.” The statement jolted the two wanderers for the second time in not so many hours. “And, they don’t usually take insults well.”
There before them stood a stooped woman wearing so many layers of rags it was hard to identify if she was even human. Ado squealed again and darted into the air while Tark reached for his weapon.
“Who are you?” Tark grunted.
“Who am I? Well isn’t that amusing. I thought you were looking for me. I must be mistaken, but I could have sworn Lilelee said you asked about me? There aren’t any other sages I know about in these parts.” The old woman turned away from the gladiator without another word and began shuffling back into the brush from whence she had come, mumbling to herself the whole way.
“Wait, please!” Tark shouted quickly after her as he put his weapon away. “You are the sage?”
The old woman stopped abruptly and turned to stare at the big warrior. She arched her back to rise from her stooped posture. “Don’t look so surprised, young man. Stranger things have come to pass. I know I probably don’t offer up an impressive image, but I have studied in some of the finest libraries, schools, and monasteries, across Pangias.”
“No, I didn’t mean to say … It’s just … how did you find us?”
“Lilelee told me. I already said that. Well, actually Lilelee told Nivit and Nivit told me. From what I hear, you are an impressive warrior. You really got that dryad’s attention, then, after you shook off her charm, well, that made her fall for you all the more.”
“What?” Tark was following the trail of thought albeit slowly. The strange woman spoke as if dealing with an old colleague about familiar topics.
“That one always wants most what she can’t have. She’s a lot like humans in that aspect I guess.”
Tark tossed away the extra information. He did not care about the dryad. “We have been searching for you for weeks. I was beginning to think it was a lost cause.”
“Normally it would be, but anyone who can deal with those bothersome lizard savages is worth my time. They do so get in the way of good research.” The old woman was shaking her head and mumbling again under her breath.
“And you should
have seen how he dealt with them,” a playful voice cooed just behind Tark.
The big man jumped again. His weapon was poised to strike. The dryad stepped from a tree as easily as if it were the swinging door to a tavern.
“Would you please stop doing that?” He exclaimed.
“Anything for you my love,” the slender maiden panted. “His skin ripples with muscle. Look at those arms and that handsome face, so rugged and masculine.” The redheaded woman was nearly draping herself on the big man. She used one hand to stroke his thick hair while losing herself in his dark eyes.
“Another false alarm I see,” a squeaky voice dripping with annoyance chimed in from nearby.
“And who might that be?” The old woman asked, genuinely curious. “Nivit only mentioned one visitor.”
“It’s nothing but an ugly little gremlin,” the dryad volunteered as she continued fawning over Tark. “It wasn’t worth mentioning.”
“My name is Ado, Ado the Magnificent, thank you very much. For your information, I am a tremlin, a tremlin mage!” The little man folded his arms across his puffed out chest. Too bad he was still invisible and no one could see how offended he was.
“Ado, huh? Well isn’t that a fitting name for one of the gremlin family. My name is Herrin,” the old woman offered back. “Why don’t you show yourself? I don’t believe I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting a tremlin before.”
“If you ask my opinion, I think it better he remains invisible. He really isn’t much to see. Let us just look at the pretty one here,” the dryad giggled playfully.
