The wizard stormed away and Hamford tried to help Kenn up, but his brother was simply too weak to move. He ended up carrying him on his back. He was surprisingly light, despite the weight of his enlarged feet.
“Did he say death fever?” Kenn asked.
“Yes,” Hamford sobbed. Tears were rolling down Hamford’s cheeks again as he began mourning for the brother that he knew would soon be dead.
“It will be okay, Hamford,” Kenn said. “Master will heal me, you’ll see. I will have his promise of power.”
Hamford knew better. He had been around Ewzad long enough to understand that the wizard’s promise of power meant power for himself only. Ewzad Vriil did not share power.
They followed Ewzad up the stairwell and into the throne room. Every trace of the battle was gone now. The tapestries had been replaced and the wizard had forced the servants to scrub all traces of blood or ash from the floor. The faint smell of smoke still lingering in the air was the only subtle reminder of what had occurred just a few short weeks ago.
The wizard led them down a series of hallways until they came to his personal quarters. The room used to be blazing hot from the heat emanating from Ewzad’s precious bandham egg, but whatever had kept the egg warm had stopped working while the wizard was gone, yet another thing Ewzad had been furious to learn upon his return.
“Here, Kenn. Please-please sit, won’t you?” The wizard said and gestured towards an empty chair by his bed. Hamford took his brother to the chair and gently laid him into it.
Ewzad extended his arm. His fingers writhed and the bandham egg rolled away from the corner of the room until it came to rest at Kenn’s feet. The egg was about two feet long from end to end. Whatever had laid it was a large beast indeed.
“Ah, but I still mourn for the loss of my sweet-sweet bandham. She was to be the jewel of my collection, you see. Her magic was even more precious than that of dear Talon. Alas, she died while I was delayed in my return. So sad. However, I have thought of a way that the power she carried could still be of use to me even in a reduced capacity. That is nice. Don’t you think?”
Kenn didn’t realize that his master wasn’t expecting a response. “Oh yes, that is nice,” he replied thickly.
“Oh, nice is it?” Ewzad snarled. “Nice indeed? Well, dear Kenn perhaps you don’t want to share in that diminished power. Is that what you are saying?”
“No, Master, no! I want to share. I do! Please let me share.” Kenn pleaded, though he was so weak that he could barely stay upright in the chair.
The anger left the wizard’s eyes and he smiled. “Of course, of course dear Kenn. You shall share. You shall take the remnants of the bandham’s power and run an errand for me, oh yes you shall.”
The wizard stuck out both arms, one aimed at the egg, the other at Kenn. His fingers writhed. Kenn stiffened and gasped. Ewzad made a slight gesture. The bandham egg cracked open. A tiny red-scaled hand fell from the shell and touched Kenn’s leg.
Hamford watched in horror as the side of Kenn’s leg opened up like the jaws of some ravenous beast and clamped down on the tiny hand. With a sucking noise, the corpse of the beast was pulled from the depths of the egg into the hungry hole in Kenn’s leg. Hamford caught a glimpse of tiny black horns and wings before it disappeared. Kenn’s leg bulged weirdly and he screamed as the bulge moved up his leg and into his abdomen.
“Yes, yes. That’s right.” Sweat popped out on Ewzad’s brow and this time there was no mistaking it, the wizard’s arms undulated along with his fingers. “Come, come Kenn. Accept the power! I’m trying to give it to you, aren’t I?”
Kenn’s face was contorted with pain, but he cried out, “Yes, I accept! Give it to me!”
The wizard laughed and there was a popping sound within Kenn’s body. Starting at his navel, his skin turned a bright red. The red spot grew, overtaking his weakened body. The open sores from the disease that ravaged him were replaced by glistening scales. They multiplied. Soon his entire body was covered. His emaciated frame swelled outward and took on muscle. His legs and arms bulged, his feet returned to their normal size.
“Aaaaand . . . there!” Ewzad said. His arms stopped their undulating. He looked Kenn up and down. “Stand Kenn, won’t you?”
Kenn stood and opened his eyes which were now a fiery yellow. He stretched and extended a large set of black wings that had sprouted from his back. “Thank you, Master. I feel it! Oh the power.”
Hamford’s jaw dropped in surprise. That was Kenn’s voice and those were Kenn’s features, but the red skin, the scales, the eyes. What had his brother become?
“You see, Hamford?” Kenn said. “I told you that our Master would deliver on his promise and look!” He raised a hand whose fingers were now tipped in black claws and made a fist. The muscles on his arm bulged and Hamford felt a wave of heat come off of Kenn’s skin.
“Ooh! Yes, Yes.” Ewzad giggled, clapping in excitement. “Kenn you are adorable! Yes you are. Are you ready to do my bidding?”
“Anything, Master.”
“Good, good. You go and fetch my Talon. Bring her back to me. You have her scent still, yes?” Kenn nodded and Ewzad giggled again. He glanced at Hamford’s confused face and added, “You see, Hamford, bandhams are the only creatures known to kill and eat dragons. Dragonhunters, they are called in some lands.”
“Dragonhunters . . . I like that.” Kenn smiled and heat rolled from his body again.
“Yes-yes! Sweet Talon can’t escape you now, Kenn. Hurt her if you must but do not kill her! I have been calling her ever since my return and I can sense that she hears, but she is rebellious. That is not acceptable. She must be brought back so that I can remind her who her master is, don’t you agree?”
“I go now, Master.” Kenn said and grinned at Hamford as he left. The floor slightly shook at the weight of his steps.
The guard shivered at the sight of his brother’s teeth.
“Now, Hamford. I have work for you too. So much work. Send a letter off to Elise in Dremaldria. Tell her that her Duke plans to pay her a visit soon. We have much to discuss and I have so much to show her!”
It took Hamford a moment to focus in on what the wizard was saying, but he nodded. “Of course, Master.”
“Andre did what?” Ewzad snapped, his eyes wide.
“I didn’t-,” Hamford began, but Ewzad waived him off again, staring at the orb imbedded in his arm.
“No! Unfair! I am still Duke! No-no. You toy with me, don’t you, Mellinda? He would not dare, would he? He knows the results of such a betrayal does he not?”
Ewzad stopped again as if listening and Hamford felt like he was hearing one side of a two way conversation. Whatever had happened to cure the wizard’s looks had not cured him of his eccentricities. If anything they were worse.
“Unacceptable!” Ewzad fumed. “Hamford, you send that letter to Elise. Tell her that I am coming and tell her that I bring gifts!”
Hamford nodded and fled the room. As he left, he could still hear the wizard muttering.
“Oh, dear Andre, my friend. You have made quite a mess of things haven’t you? But all that will pass. It shall. Your power will wane and there will be a new heir. Oh, yes!”
* * *
Talon’s whims had kept the two raptoids from putting too much distance between them and the castle. It took Deathclaw only a few days of hard travel before the spires of the wizard’s castle came into view.
Work on the castle had resumed in their absence and the wizard’s smell hung thick in the air all around. Humans milled about in greater numbers than before and they had been joined by other creatures. Green and yellow skinned ones of various sizes stayed together in large groups in the woods around the castle.
Deathclaw had to move very carefully in order to avoid being seen. He skirted several camps of these new beasts, following some of his familiar trails until he crossed the stream and came to the place he was looking for: the small grassy clearing where he had defeated the red-haired human
.
A group of five large creatures now occupied the clearing. They had started a fire and were eating one of the smaller yellow skinned beasts that Deathclaw had seen earlier. He kept out of sight and waited until dark. The large beasts stayed awake for a while shouting strange words at each other before they finally laid down and slept.
Deathclaw crept around their camp and approached a dead tree on the far side of the clearing. Slowly, in order to make as little noise as possible, he pulled aside some thick pieces of bark and reached his hand into the hollow space he had found there less than a month ago.
He grasped hold of what he had been searching for and pulled out a sheathed sword. It was the weapon that the man with the red hair had wielded against him in battle. He recalled how the wound the sword made had burned him and how long it had taken the wound to heal. This was the help he was looking for.
Deathclaw slung the sword and sheath over his shoulder in the way that he had seen the red haired man wear it. It fit nicely on his back and would not hamper his movements. He gritted his teeth in determination. The muscles in his jaw had healed nicely.
Deathclaw set off to hunt down his sister.
Chapter Ten
The border of the rock giant’s territory wasn’t that far away from the town. Justan had told the rest of them about Lenny’s plight as soon as they arrived back at the camp. Fist and Gwyrtha found the situation endlessly funny, but were eager to help. Qyxal had been the only member of the group hesitant to take the giant on.
“What is so special about this hammer again?” Qyxal asked as they walked.
“Buster’s a magic hammer, you durn elf!” Lenny said. “Every hit with Buster does double the smashin’. That’s a hard magic to come by. My great granddaddy made him and he’s been passed down from Firegobbler to Firegobbler ever since.” The dwarf paused for a moment. “‘Sides, I might wanna pass it down to a little varmint of my own some day.”
“You have plans for ‘little varmints’?” Qyxal laughed.
“He is also the only hammer Lenny will make weapons with,” Justan remarked.
Lenny ignored the elf. “I can work harder stuff with Buster than with a reg’lar hammer and I don’t gots to keep the metal as hot.”
“Alright, fine,” Qyxal said, repressing his mirth. “This I can understand. As long as it’s not about revenge, I am willing to help.”
“Dag-blast it! You don’t have to help if’n you don’t want to! I can do it myself. The only reason I’m lettin’ y’all help is ‘cause the boy’s makin’ me.”
“Lenny, we are all going to do this together,” Justan said.
Fist snorted. “Giants not too hard to fight. They is slow.”
“‘Are’ slow, Fist,” Justan reminded. “You say, Giant’s ‘are’ not too hard to fight. They ‘are’ slow. When there are more than one, you use ‘are’. When there is only one, you use ‘is’.”
“Oh.” Fist nodded. “I forgot. Giants ‘are’ slow . . . A giant ‘is’ slow.”
“Good. You got it.” Justan said.
“Now listen here, dag-nab it!” Lenny said. “Y’all are actin’ like this is going to be some easy fight, but it ain’t. This giant ain’t slow! It’s more’n a foot taller than Fist and he’s faster too!”
“Alright, Lenny, we get it,” Justan said.
“Giants are slow,” Fist said again.
“We are taking this seriously,” Justan said. “We just need to have a plan. Tell us everything you know about the giant and we’ll figure out what to do.”
“First of all you gotta know that it ain’t called a rock giant just fer nothin’. The durn thing’s skin is covered with rock. Yer swords ain’t gonna cut the thing and I don’t know what Gwyrtha’ll be able to do.”
“Okay,” Justan said. “That means that our best weapons are going to be Bertha, Fist’s mace, and Ma’am.”
“What was that?” Qyxal asked.
“Oh!” Justan grinned. “I didn’t tell you. That’s the new name of my Jharro Bow. Ma’am.”
The elf laughed. “I like it!”
“I know!” Justan said. “It fits, doesn’t it?”
“What is Ma’am mean?” Fist asked.
“What ‘does’ Ma’am mean,” Justan corrected. “When you are speaking in the past tense-.”
“Dag-blast it!” Lenny snapped. “We gotta stay on target, here! Look, we’re at the edge of its territory right now. See this here?” The dwarf pointed to the tree in front of them. There was a large “x” cut into its bark. All of the trees in the vicinity had a similar mark. “The local’s done the same thing to all the trees along the border.”
“How is the giant’s territory so well defined?” Justan asked. “I mean, there’s no fence or anything. Why are we safe if we stay on this side of the trees? What’s to keep it from just coming out and ransacking the town?”
“Don’t know, son,” Lenny said. “All’s I know is that they say it stays inside its territory.”
“I don’t know,” Qyxal said. “The more I hear, the more there is something familiar about this thing. I just can’t place it . . .”
“Lenny, is this thing completely made of rock?” Justan asked. “I mean, can it be broken?”
“It ain’t all rock, I know that much. When I hit him with Buster, his skin cracked open and he started bleedin’.” He paused for a moment. “It healed up real quick, though.”
“Alright, so at least we know it can be hurt. We’ll just have to play it by ear,” Justan said. “But first, let me talk to it. If I can get it to listen to reason, maybe we can work out a deal to get Buster back.”
Lenny snorted. “Don’t think so, son. I tried when I come back the last time. I brought gold and other weapons to trade and all the dag-burned dirt-farmer wanted to do was fight fer it. At least he let me go after he beat my arse.”
“Nevertheless, let me talk to him before we do anything, okay?” Justan asked. There were grunts of agreement all around. “Let’s go in, then.”
They decided to leave Albert and Stanza tethered at the edge of the forest. The forest area was thick and if they had to leave in a hurry, there were places the large horses wouldn’t be able to navigate through. Besides, Lenny explained to them, the giant liked horse meat.
As they walked through the trees, Justan saw the first signs of the giant’s presence. There were sets of deep footprints set into the damp leaves and every so often there were skeletons lying about. Either the giant looted his victims or someone was taking advantage of its thirst for battle, because every skeleton was stripped clean.
“Bloodthirsty, isn’t he?” Qyxal remarked.
As they continued to walk deeper into the giant’s territory, the footprints became more common and so did the dead enemies. Soon, sounds of battle reached their ears. It started with shouts and curses. Then they heard the giant’s laughter. It was deep and throaty, a not altogether unpleasant sound if it hadn’t been accompanied by screams. Justan motioned for silence and they approached the sounds carefully.
The woods ended abruptly into a wide open space several hundred feet wide. The ground was littered with rocks of all shapes and sizes from pebbles to ten-foot-tall boulders. At one end of the huge clearing was a rocky hill with a wide-mouthed cave piercing its side. A battle was taking place about a hundred feet from where they stood.
The giant looked every bit as formidable as Lenny had described. At least nine-feet-tall and bulging with muscles, its skin looked to be made entirely of granite. Despite its large size, it moved at the speed of a regular man, which was something Justan found hard to wrap his mind around. For clothing it wore only a bedraggled pair of cut-off leather breeches.
From the looks of things there had been five men fighting the giant to start out with. Three of them were now motionless forms on the ground. One man, an archer, stood a ways back from the giant futilely shooting arrows that bounced off its rocky skin. The other remaining combatant had an axe and as they watched, he took a chop at the
giant’s knee. The blade sparked as it bounced off of the rocky skin.
The giant countered with a kick that knocked the weapon out of the man’s grip and most likely broke his arm. He then bent and grabbed the man by the leg. With a laugh, the giant pulled the man up off the ground, dangling him upside down and laughed in his face. Justan watched in astonishment as the giant spun a few times, swinging the man around by his leg. He picked up speed, gathering momentum as he went and with a mighty heave, released. The man screamed as he cart-wheeled through the air, clearing the top of the first tree before crashing into the forest beyond.
Hunt of the Bandham (The Bowl of Souls: Book Three) Page 11
