by Jake Adler
“You would do that? You believe in me that much?” Drengi’s eyes glistened with emotion.
“After you have crafted this fine piece? How can I refuse?” Gizurr beamed closing in on Drengi and ending the deal with a huge bear hug.
* * * *
It had recently rained at the docks of Dukar and the air smelled of fresh rain water intermingled with the occasional hint of beer emanating from the Dog and Goose Inn near the quayside.
“Are we stopping for a drink or something to eat Mister Bedwyr?” enquired a famished Ethan.
“It’s Master Bedwyr, not Mister,” smiled Master Bedwyr, “and yes we are, but not there,” he nodded towards the Dog and Goose. “That’s too public. I have a contact in Dukar where we will stay prior to picking up our horses and supplies for our journey.”
Master Bedwyr then struck up a rapid pace, not waiting to look behind him. Cara and Ethan had no choice but to quickly follow and they swiftly blended into the throng of market shoppers. As they walked, Ethan noticed that one of the stalls housed items of great curiosity, including an item that looked strangely familiar. He wasn’t sure where he had seen it before, but he knew that it was from his world and not from Nemedia. Not having time to examine the item for fear of losing Master Bedwyr, he pressed forward.
Another thought struck him and he realised that this offered him the opportunity to speak to Cara, who had seemed unusually quiet that morning.
“I opened the desk drawer back at the College of Mages and a pen spoke to me asking me if I wanted to write in blue or black ink,” Ethan blinked and stared at Cara’s face, “Is it alive? Was it once a person?” asked Ethan.
“Yes,” responded Cara thoughtfully, “the pen originates from your world, as do all items that we want to imbue with a spirit. If the item talks out loud it is likely to possess a mere a faint imprint of a past spirit. Some mages choose to place all their soul into an object others just place a faint memory.” Cara glanced at him, “If an object gets lost or remains unused, which is highly unlikely as they are prized objects, then spirits within them can decide to return to The Creator.”
“The Creator? You mean God?” quizzed Ethan.
“Of course,” she smiled then turned her gaze in an attempt locate Master Bedwyr in the milling crowd. “Let’s keep on our toes Ethan, else we will lose track of Master Bedwyr!” It was the first time that day that Cara had genuinely smiled at him and he felt as light as air. He realised that she was very pretty and wondered if she had someone special. It made no difference he realised sadly, as if she would be interested in him anyway. He walked upon his toes in an attempt to spy the transitory and fast moving figure of Master Bedwyr and pressed forward.
After what seemed like hours of trekking, both Cara and Ethan came to an abrupt halt in response to the now stationary figure of Master Bedwyr. “This way!” he shouted over the busy crowd of people while not even glancing behind him to check if they were still following him. With a sharp turn to his left he rapidly disappeared into a side alleyway. “Dum-diddly de-dum,” he sang in a cheery voice, “not far now!” He added almost skipping now in anticipation of their pending arrival.
After several minutes he stopped abruptly outside a dark wooden door with a huge black knocker shaped like a taloned claw. “Say nothing either of you, just follow my lead,” he warned, turning round to face them for the first time, “we are with friends, but secrecy as to the reasons for our journey need to be maintained, both for their safety as well as ours.” Master Bedwyr’s face held a serious expression for a moment which was rapidly replaced by a warm smile and quick wink of reassurance aimed at Ethan.
Turning back towards the wooden door once more, he knocked slowly three times. After a short wait, the door opened with a groan from hinges that were in desperate need of oiling, “Damn and blast! The door squeaks like my wife!” growled an irate looking middle aged man with a bald head and heavily tattooed arms.
The man’s face instantly changed to a friendlier expression upon spying Master Bedwyr, “You dog! You’re early!” he roared with pleasure, quickly grabbing hold of his hand and shaking it energetically.
“Yes, a day early I think, but needs must!” Master Bedwyr grinned in response.
“Come in, come in, you and your travelling companions,” the man added as he spied the stationary figures of Ethan and Cara a few steps behind.
Upon entering the dwelling Ethan was struck by the wonderful warmth offered by the raging fire and realised how cold and wet he had become in his recent journey. The living room was friendly, if a little basic, with objects present on most shelves that hinted that the man had a strong nautical interest or past.
“Get yourselves out of those cold damp things and grab some supper with me and my wife. My angel! We have guests!” he announced, his voice softening to a surprising level considering his earlier outburst.
After only a few moments, the vertically beaded entranceway to the kitchen rattled and a figure deftly appeared. The woman was stunningly beautiful, with skin touched by the summer sun and large dark brown eyes. Upon seeing Master Bedwyr her eyes lit up and she flashed him dazzlingly white smile. “How was your journey? Did you have any trouble from that scallywag Bindan?” she inquired as she moved forward to kiss him warmly on the cheek. “And who is this?” she added staring inquisitively at Ethan.
“May I introduce Ethan Alonso. He hails from a land far to the East, which is why he isn’t very knowledgeable about our ways. Ethan, I would like you to meet my niece Yarilina and her husband Naran.”
“I am very pleased to meet you,” Ethan responded with a slight bow.
Yarilina’s eyes seemed to grow larger and she flashed another dazzlingly white smile. Within minutes, they were wearing dry clothing and tucking into a hearty vegetable stew coupled with chunks of fresh warm bread topped with delicious knobs of butter. Ethan almost forgot his manners he was so famished but quickly held himself in check when he glanced up to see Yarilina’s eyes watching him. “I take it you approve of my stew?” she smiled.
“Absolutely do!” replied Ethan with his cheeks bulging.
“So Bedwyr, you will stay the night of course. I will have the horses ready for you by the morning at the agreed hour.” Naran smiled warmly as he rose from the dining table and headed towards the door.
“Don’t drink too much tonight.” Yarilina warned, “you need to be up at six o’clock and I don’t want to throw another bucket of water over you to wake you up tomorrow,” she chided.
“Your wish is my command. I will return no later than eleven o’clock tonight my sweet.” He crooned as he blew her a soft kiss to fortify his words.
“If you are any later then you are sleeping on the sofa for a week.” Yarilina stated in a quiet but firm voice. The door remained open a moment longer, indicating that Naran had heard.
“He will be back by ten o’clock tonight,” Yarilina stated confidently, “and your horses will be ready by six at the precise hour when you need them.”
“Of that, I have no doubt,” replied Master Bedwyr with his eyes twinkling.
* * * *
The sound of cracking branches was quickly followed by a deep rumbling sound, much louder than before as the body of what seemed to be a massive beast moved in closer, circling the area in an attempt to locate its prey. Out of nowhere, a huge boulder flew out of the trees, snapping many large branches as if they were twigs. The rock had been thrown at least five meters into the air and had travelled over twenty metres through the forest, closely missing the hiding place of Gizurr and Ragni as they lay huddled under a massive tangle of ancient oak tree roots.
“Thor’s blood!” Croaked Gizurr.
“Sshh!” responded Ragni, his face only inches away, his eyes wide with terror as he peered out into the surrounding forest.
The forest fell silent as the beast neared their position. Within seconds, it appeared out from behind a large tree. With a deftness that belied is huge frame it leapt into the centre of a n
earby forest clearing. The beast’s black eyes narrowed as its lizard-like face lifted upwards to sniff the air.
A high pitched whine emanated from its heavily scaled black throat and it moved its head side to side rhythmically in an attempt to catch their scent.
Upon failing to locate them, the creature shook its head in confusion and paused to scratch its snout with one of its front paws. In comparison to its large hind legs, the front paws looked almost spindly, yet they were heavily taloned and looked fully capable of disembowelling most foes with one powerful swipe.
The beast’s head snapped to the left, as if hearing something of interest, and in response immediately bounded back into the forest, the sounds of breaking branches slowly dying out as the beast travelled at incredible speed further West of their position. Within a few moments the sounds of the forest returned and birds began to sing, signalling that all was clear.
Gizurr let out a loud sigh and shuddered as he slowly scrambled out of the mass of protective roots that snaked around the moss strewn tree in which he and Ragni had been hiding. “Bless Thor’s Great Beard that we were upwind from that creature,” his eyes flashed, “else we would have been done for!”
“That was not of this world,” replied Ragni following behind Gizurr gingerly. “That was a demon if ever I saw one.”
“It looked like it was heading with purpose towards the human settlements,” replied Gizurr his eyes widening and looking back at Ragni.
Standing for the first time in the cold light of the midday winter sun they silently looked at one another.
“What shall we do now?” asked Ragni staring at his old friend in both fear and confusion. “I will battle Orcs any day but demons, I don’t think that anything but an army or a mage could down such things. We wouldn’t survive long if we tried, even with our swords and armour.”
Drawing his two hand blade Gizurr lifted it high above his head to admire it for the first time in many seasons. His mighty blade which he had nicknamed Blaze flashed in response to its movements in the air, sunbeams dancing off its highly polished steel and intricate Dwarven markings that stood for ‘Loyalty, Brotherhood and War’.
“The humans must handle this battle if indeed the beast is heading towards them. It will get there before we can warn them,” replied Gizurr, “what we must do now is warn our brethren to the East.” Gizurr paused and swallowed hard, “Thor protect us, we must get word to Jarl Egill in Takrak and call the tribes to arms to protect us from such creatures that now walk our lands.” He shuddered again, as the chill in his bones slowly began to fade in the midday sun, “we must also travel to Lolivam and warn our brothers the Elves.”
“The humans,” quizzed Ragni, “do we do nothing?”
“What would you have us do?” Gizurr thundered. “We cannot get there before that that thing does. We must concentrate upon protecting our own people.”
“Agreed,” Ragni sighed, “Let’s get going, we have a lot of ground to cover before all hell breaks loose!”
“Indeed my brother,” growled Gizurr. With grim faces they set their paths directly Eastward and began to run.
* * * *
They awoke early and headed towards the stables just past day-break. Ethan was offered a chestnut coloured Mare, which he affectionately named Bella. The mare sniffed his hand and snorted in pleasure as Ethan softly stroked the side of her neck and gently rubbed behind her ears.
“It seems that you have an admirer.” Cara smiled as she softly patted the neck of her black stallion, newly named Jet.
“You shouldn’t name your animals,” admonished Naran, “they’re working animals and often swap owners many times during their lives.”
“Well Bella likes her new name. Don’t you Bella?” Ethan crooned who had always had a soft spot for animals as he gave her a hug to seal the deal. Cara laughed in response and Master Bedwyr smiled as he mounted his dark brown mare which had remained unnamed.
Having received an agreed supply of foods and other goods from Yarilina and Naran for their journey, the companions were ready to depart.
“One final thing,” stated Master Bedwyr, “these roads might be dangerous. With that in mind I’ve given each of you a short sword. Please equip yourselves before we leave.”
“What sort of trouble are you expecting Master Bedwyr?” asked Cara. “I’m an apprentice mage, so why would I need a short sword?”
“The key word is here ‘apprentice’, Cara,” Master Bedwyr replied gently, “if danger arises, you might forget how to defend yourself with words, so a short sword is always a useful backup,” he smiled at her reassuringly.
Having strapped on their short swords, the party headed out of the cobbled streets of Dukar and into the surrounding open fields to the village cross roads. A sign written in English read, ‘Ellington 50 miles North East’ and ‘Beshok 61 miles South East’. There were no signs for any other villages or directions.
“That’s what you call bad signage.’ Master Bedwyr laughed as he sensed Ethan’s thoughts. “As it happens, we will be making out way to Beshok, so it doesn’t matter on this occasion,” he clicked his mouth to encourage his horse to begin their journey.
Ethan and Cara remained silent and turned their horses to follow Master Bedwyr. “Why is everything written in English?” asked a quizzical Ethan after a short time of travel along the beaten track.
“It isn’t,” replied Cara, “you are reading and speaking Nemedian. However, you won’t be able to understand other languages, such as Dwarven and so on. The teleporter spell aids in forming a communication link between the subject and the teleporter. It’s quite clever really.”
“Yes, I suppose so, so you were always speaking to me in Nemedian?” Cara smiled at him and nodded in response.
“Thank you for the kiss by the way,” He added, feeling his face redden. “You didn’t need to feel obliged you know. I was only joking at the time, as I thought you weren’t real.”
Cara glanced quickly at him quickly and said nothing. She seemed about to speak then thought better of it and nudged her horse ahead of him so that Ethan could no longer see her face.
* * * *
The slaughter at the Council of Elders was to be the first of many great disasters which would befell the humans. It happened at dawn in the Council gardens where they met most Sundays in the heart of the garden basin. This practice harkened from a long held tradition following an ancient promise made to the Elves by the humans that their rulers would maintain a greater awareness of the environment when making important political and economic decisions.
To their credit, the Council had maintained the tradition and sat most Sundays, weather permitting, within the Council gardens. The human traitor had informed GraJin of this practice and the demon had ordered him to remain absent from the meeting on this particular day.
Councillor Mulan was debating how to engage a more positive response from the Jarl Egill to the worrying signs of creatures being seen from The Frozen North when his words were interrupted by a loud howl.
Sitting bolt upright, his face drained of all colour as he saw the first Blood Tracker appear seemingly out of nowhere.
With a startled yell of defiance, his bodyguard drew forth his sword and jumped in front of the Councillor. The beast paused, seemingly taking a moment to assess the situation as its eyes narrowed to study the two men.
Moving slowly with deliberate steps, the creature began to circle the terrified men. Seven out of the eight Councillors were present that day, each accompanied by their own personal bodyguard.
“Creator protect us!” Councillor Hillian cried, his grey beard quivering in terror.
The creature hissed and paused. Its gaze had shifted momentarily and it seemed to be listening to something. Within moments its black muzzle had twisted to reveal a double set of long white fangs and its dark eyes had returned to watch the men.
A howl was heard off in the distance, chillingly close and familiar. There were at least two of them now. The m
en instinctively knew that they had to leave the gardens to stand a chance of survival.
“Move quickly towards the exit, follow my lead.” Captain Milko barked.
Seeing the men move towards the possibility of safety, the creature lowered its head and lunged.
Captain Milko was killed instantly. The beast pinned him to the ground with the full weight of its massive body, crushing him as if he were child’s toy. Turning quickly, one of its taloned front paws quickly lashed out and disembowelled Councillor Hillion who stood nearby frozen in terror.
The remaining group of men now panicked. All thoughts of strategy and defence were lost as they scrambled frantically towards the exit. Crazed and excited now with the scent of blood, the creature lunged again, killing another man with a deadly bite to his neck that decapitated him in seconds. A second bodyguard made a vain attempt to attack its rear, only to see his weapon bounce off its heavily scaled torso. The demon ignored him entirely and swiftly killed a third Councillor with its powerful jaws.
A second creature now appeared. Squatting atop the walled gardens, its forked tongue flicked through its razor sharp fangs as it excitedly tasted the blood filled air.
The sound of screams had alerted the internal Council guards but they were now powerless to intervene as the body of the first beast had moved to block the door.
For the first time, a cold, hard intelligence could be seen in its black eyes as the first beast studied its prey. Decision seemingly made, it moved towards the main exit and sat down upon is hind quarters blocking all chances of escape. It then narrowed its eyes in satisfaction as it watched the first creature began to move forwards.
“We all attack at once else it will pick us off one by one!” Lieutenant Billick roared to the bodyguards, “target its face and belly!” he yelled as he ran forward.
The creature hissed in surprise and moved backwards a few steps back as the six remaining bodyguards charged as a singular tactical unit, half positioned to either side of its flanks. To its left, two men targeted its eyes while a third went for its belly. A similar tactic ensued to the beast’s right flank where Lieutenant Billick was located. He ran towards it and deftly avoided a savage swipe from one of its front paws. At the very last moment he slid onto the ground with his forward momentum he rammed his blade into a weak spot between the beast’s scales to gain entry into its ribcage.
