by Thuan Nguyen
“You disappoint me, Cronax,” came Raleva’s voice, “I win this round. Train harder next time. I feel cheated coming all this way to defeat you so easily.”
“The only cheat is you, Raleva!” shouted Cronax, picking himself up and running to grab his axe, “I demand a rematch, and this time don’t wait until someone distracts me.”
“Till we meet again,” came the voice, and then it was gone.
Cronax rubbed his chest. There would be a terrible bruise there tomorrow, no doubt, but the biggest bruise at the moment was his ego.
“I’m sorry,” said Henry.
Cronax came over. “Oh, it’s you, Henry. Not to worry, it was my own fault for letting my guard down. Such a rookie mistake. But I must say I am disappointed. I had all these new moves I wanted to test out on that prick.” Then his voice got serious. “But is it really true? Anton DiManlen has returned?”
“That is what I have been told,” said Henry.
“Incredible,” said Cronax, “Perhaps tonight I will get a chance to test out my moves after all. Let us go.”
He whistled, shrill and loudly in the night.
A big white shape came flying out of the Cronax’s cave. It stopped in front of the two men.
Henry shook his head. No matter how many times he saw it, it was still unbelievably cool.
Yes, Cronax rode a giant white wolf.
“Come, Blazer,” said Cronax, mounting up, “Let us go find us some Iron Snake.”
Chapter 5
Maruska smiled.
She had not felt this good for a long, long time. Having told Bastion that she was leaving, vocalising a desire that had been bubbling up inside her, scared and exhilarated her. But the ratio was not fifty-fifty. It was more along the lines of ten percent scared, ninety percent exhilarated. To know how she felt, one example would be if you had been reading a book slowly, and let’s imagine it is a very thick book. You don’t have much time to read it, but you stick with it and gradually work your way through it. And then finally, after years, you finally finish reading the last page. It is finished and now you have that amazing moment when you can relax, and get to choose what to read next. Or you don’t even have to read anything if you don’t want to. Well it was a little bit like that feeling. Only more complex, and it had feelings of abandonment by the love of your life intertwined with it. However you want to look at it, Maruska was feeling alive for the first time in decades.
She had packed her essential belongings into a yellow cloth rucksack. Everything she needed in her new life was in there, and it wasn’t much.
She looked on her table and there were three things on it. And now sadness seeped back into her. The three things were one, a big, well-worn spellbook. Two, a small purple velvet pouch, that was tied up with some golden string. And three, a letter that she had just finished writing. Maruska picked up the letter and read it again, just to make sure it said all that she wanted it to say.
Dearest Fog,
I want to start by saying that you are my favourite person in the world. Please know that I will never forget you, and my memories of the time we have spent together are most precious to me. As you are well aware, I have been sad for a very long time. And I realise that my pain and suffering is self inflicted. I have totally stuffed up my life. I want to have a fresh start. I don’t want any reminders of the past of my terrible mistakes. There is much that I regret. And so I have decided that I will leave tonight and go somewhere very far away. We may never meet again. This saddens me greatly. I wish you could come with me, I truly do. You are the one person on this planet that I wish could stay around me forever. But I know that it would be selfish for me to ask you to come with me. You have your own life and I don’t want you to waste your life following me around. I don’t even know what I will do with my own life. I might even go up to some mountains and life out the rest of my life alone. Who knows. And you might even want to come with me. But I will not allow it. You have your own life to lead. I will leave you my spellbook. I will not be needing it. It has only brought me suffering and with it, I have brought suffering upon others. Do what you want with the spellbook, it is yours now. If you do continue to learn magic, I hope that you do so with more wisdom than I did.
I think that is all I wish to say. I intend to see you one last time, but please forgive me for what I will do. Please believe me when I say I do it believing it is in your best interest.
Love,
Maruska
Maruska folded the letter in half and put it in her pocket. She took her rucksack and the big spellbook. And finally, she grabbed the velvet pouch, and held it gently in her hand. Then she left her room, and made her way through the dark corridors. Eventually, she came upon a wooden door. She knocked firmly three times.
It took a while, but finally someone came to the door. It was a teenage girl with black hair. She currently looked how people looked when they were woken in the middle of the night; tired looking eyes and face and messed up hair.
“Master,” said Fog, “What’s up?”
Maruska looked at her apprentice warmly. It wasn’t hard. She loved this little girl. She put down the big spellbook and then untied the little velvet pouch she had been carrying. She sprinkled out the contents onto the palm of her hand. It was a glittering pinkish powder. It smelled nice, like apricots.
“What’s that?” said Fog.
Maruska blew the powder gently from her hand and it went all over Fog in a sparkling dust cloud.
Fog froze. She didn’t move, and she didn’t speak.
“Please forgive me, Fog,” said Maruska, “You will be okay. The spell I’ve cast on you is harmless, except that you won’t be able to move for six or seven hours. I am leaving. I have explained it all in this letter. The spellbook is yours.”
Maruska hugged Fog tenderly. Then moved Fog’s paralysed body into the room and placed the spellbook and her folded letter on Fog’s table.
“Farewell, my student,” said Maruska, “May your life be full of joy and happiness.”
And with that, she left the room and closed the door behind her.
Fog stood motionless. A tear trickled down her cheek.
Chapter 6
Anton sat in his cosy corner table at the tavern. In front of him was an entire roasted boar, with mint sauce. And not only that, next to the delectable dish was a big wooden tankard of fine Firgenduke Butterscotch mead. Despite the current situation, Anton, being a food lover, could not help but feel a little bit happier. Some foods could send him to heaven when he ate them, and Encumbered Adventurer Roast Boar was one of them. It had been over two decades since he had eaten it. He looked down at the knife and fork set neatly on the table in front of him, then gently pushed them aside; those utensils he would not be needing this fine night.
He reached out one of his big hands and grabbed onto one of the boar's haunches, stabilised it with his other palm, and then tore it clean off. Oh, a bit of drool came out the corner of his mouth. He was salivating like a dog in front of a bone! He couldn’t help but smile as he wiped the saliva with the back of his hairy fist.
The aroma of the meat —as soon as he caught a whiff of it— immediately transported him back to his childhood. His father used to read him stories about two warriors from a far away village. They were great friends and great fighters. Their favourite food had been roast boar! They loved it and ate entire boars the way ordinary people would eat an breadroll. In the stories they would often eat four or five roast boars and then sit back with a drowsy grin of contentment. That is where Anton’s love of boar started. Tied in with memories of that story, and memories of his dad.
With his free hand, Anton picked up the wooden tankard and raised it.
“To you, Pa. I love you,” he muttered quietly.
He didn’t recall ever saying it to his father in life, but he hoped that his father had known how he had felt. He put the tankard to his l
ips and drank.
It was good...
And he continued to drink. Gulp after gulp. A lot of it spilled over the edges and dribbled down his beard and neck. He continued to scull it down. This butterscotch mead was amazing. As good as he had remembered!
Finally, when he had drained the last drop, he slammed the tankard back on the table and burped. A long, loud, respectful burp to his father up in the sky.
He sat there for a few moments, thoughts fondly and sadly on yesteryear, until eventually his mind eventually returned to the boar before him. It was time to eat before it got too cold. That would be a tragedy!
He closed his eyes and opened his mouth and was about to take a bite when...
“Pssst!”
Anton stopped mid bite and turned to look at who had spoken. Sitting at the table to his left was a rather scruffy looking man. The stranger had one distinctive feature about him; he was missing a lot of teeth!
“Are you talking to me?” said Anton, hoping that he wasn’t, so that he could get back to the important matter of boar-eating.
“Yes,” said the man, (who was none other than Four-tooth), “I’m sorry but you don’t know me, but I am a friend of Lena and Clarence.”
Anton looked the man straight in the eyes. His instincts told him him this man could be trusted.
“I don’t have much time to explain,” said Four-tooth, in a low voice, “But currently, the king’s guards are on their way here, to this very tavern! And they mean to capture you.”
“Let them come,” said Anton, “I need to finish eating this boar. It has been two decades since I’ve had this. I have been waiting two decades to eat it.”
Anton looked at Four-tooth who didn’t seem to appreciate how important this was.
“Two decades!” sand Anton one more time, just to make sure Four-tooth had heard him.
“We need to leave now,” said Four-tooth, “If you are caught here, you will get Lena and Clarence in trouble also! If it can be proven that they are helping you, they could be arrested as well. There is a spy who works in this tavern.”
Anton’s face became grim. He put down the boar haunch without another word.
“If that is the case, let’s go then.”
Four-tooth was a bit shocked. That had been much easier than he had been expecting. He nodded and then got up and then began to walk towards the tavern exit.
Anton got up also and followed, but not before he turned to look at the glorious roast boar sitting on the silver plate, just begging to be eaten.
I will not have the pleasure of eating you, sadly, thought Anton, using telepathy to speak to the roast boar, But know that I would have loved every bite of you. Farewell.
Chapter 7
Sitting out the front of the Encumbered Adventurer Tavern were two men, huddled up in rough, warm blankets. One was Four-tooth and the other, was his new friend, Anton.
“Can I ask,” said Anton, “If its so important for me not to get captured by the King’s men and implicating Lena and Clarence, why am I sitting in plain sight just outside their tavern?”
Four-tooth looked at Anton and said in a sagely voice, “In plain sight is the last place they’ll think to look. Sitting here as bums, we are basically invisible. Trust me, I’ve been observing human nature for years.” For added impact, he tapped the side of his nose with his forefinger.
Just then, came the sound of many horses approaching.
“Brace yourself,” said Four-tooth, “The kettle is about to boil.”
About a dozen or so men on horseback stopped in front of the tavern. Anton noticed that they were wearing maroon and gold uniforms, which meant they were all elite soldiers of the King. Each would be a formidable opponent if swords were crossed.
Then a fancy looking carriage of purple and black rolled up, pulled by two grey horses. The driver of the carriage hopped down and opened the door. An elegant young lady emerged. She had a mane of red hair and wore a long, silky emerald green dress, which sparkled in the moonlight. Anton noticed she carried a longsword at her side.
“That’s Abigail!” whispered Four-tooth, “One of the Three Sisters. We’re in trouble if they’re getting involved.”
The next person to come out was another young lady; this lass had blonde hair and wore a sleek, green robe. She carried a golden staff that had a blue jewel at its head.
‘It’s Arisa!” said Four-tooth, “Another of the Three Sisters!”
“Who are the Three Sisters?” said Anton quietly.
“Three girls who took an oath of sisterhood,” said Four-tooth, “They are among the top fighters in the Realm. Gwendolyn, the eldest sister, was previously the most deadly assassin in the Shadows Guild.”
Out stepped a third young lady with dark brown hair. She wore light green leather armour, and had a long dagger at either hip.
“Let me guess,” said Anton, “That’s Gwendolyn, of the Three Sisters.”
“Aye,” mumbled Four-tooth.
Anton observed these three girls. There was no doubt they were formidable fighters. He could just tell.
And then one last person stepped out of the carriage. This time it was a man Anton recognised. He had a wispy goatee, an eyepatch over his left eye, and a stern looking face.
“Javier!” mumbled Anton and Four-tooth at the same time.
“You know him?” said Four-tooth.
“Yes,” said Anton, “From a long time ago. He didn’t like me very much back then. I hope he’s forgotten me.”
Javier spoke to the soliders present. “Surround the building. No one goes in or out until our business here is done.” He looked at the Three Sisters and said, “Come. We have an Anton DiManlen to catch.”
The four of them entered the tavern.
The King’s soldiers dismounted and formed a very intimidating looking barrier around the tavern. All of them either ignored or didn’t notice the two homeless who were huddled up against the wall, pretending to be asleep.
Chapter 8
Anton and Four-tooth sat quietly outside the tavern, blankets wrapped around themselves, covering their faces. Standing around them was a line of the King’s elite maroon and gold soldiers. They were all standing there absolutely still. Except for one guy on the far right, who was practicing tricks with a yoyo. He had mastered simple up and down and now was trying ‘Walk the Dog’, but with very little success so far.
Anton had observed this soldier for a few minutes, but soon went back to his own, more pressing thoughts. Such as:
Maruska. I need to see Maruska.
Seeing her a few weeks ago had been incredible. He never expected to see her again in this lifetime. She was still beautiful, and his love for her had resurfaced again so powerfully, like a dormant volcano erupting. And being back in Firgenduke was giving him massive nostalgia. He remembered walking down this street with her, holding her hand. He remembered lying under that tree over there with her, looking up at the sky through the treetops, his head resting on her stomach like a pillow. Yes, it was true she had done something terrible to Ginessa, but Anton didn’t blame her for that. He blamed himself. He let his thoughts drift, flitting between happy memories, sad memories, traumatic memories and the present.
Suddenly, a shiver went down his spine and he felt adrenaline or butterflies explode in his stomach and his entire body felt electrified. There was the rhythmic sound of someone skipping down the street, together with a familiar voice humming a tune. Anton didn’t even need to look to know who it was coming down the street.
“Lady Maruska,” said one of the soldiers (whose name was Ebadeb), “Greetings, Milady. What brings you out on this fine Firgenduke night?”
“It is a fine night isn’t it?” said Maruska. She twirled around and her robes splayed out like a flower in bloom. She giggled, then said, “Is Lena or Clarence inside?”
Ebadeb said nothing for a moment, so stunned was he at seeing her giggle. He had never seen her
giggle or chuckle before. He had see her smirk once, four years ago when a clumsy guard had slipped on a banana peel in the courtyard.
Maruska waved her hand in front of his face playfully.
“Oh, sorry,” said Ebadeb. “I don’t know if Lena or Clarence are inside.”
“That’s okay,” said Maruska, “I’ll just go inside and see if they are in.”
“I’m sorry, milady,” said the soldier, “We are under strict orders from Javier not to let anybody in or out of the tavern.” Then he whispered, “We’re in the process of capturing someone wanted by the King.”
“Who?” whispered Maruska.
“It’s a secret,” whispered the soldier.
Maruska nodded slowly and then said, “Very well then. Please do me a favour and inform Lena or Clarence that I stopped by to say goodbye. And that I’ll be at the docks tonight if they want to see me. And I want you to tell Lena that she is very dear to me. And tell Clarence he’s alright.”
And with that, Maruska walked off down the street. After a few steps, she once again began skipping and humming, as carefree as a child.
Anton, meanwhile was completely stunned that Maruska had just walked past him! He had just been thinking about her, and then she just appeared! Oh, and she looked so beautiful tonight! As beautiful tonight as she had ever been. The sourness and anger he had witnessed when speaking to her last seemed to have lifted from her being. He went to stand up, but Four-tooth instinctively yanked him down and said, “What are you doing?”
“Maruska is who I came to see,” said Anton, “I have speak to her.”
“Are you crazy?” whispered Four-tooth, “Javier and his men are right here! They are looking for you! Let’s wait and try to sneak out to the docks before sunrise.”
Anton shook his head, “I can’t risk missing her. My wife’s life depends on it.”
And with that, he stood up, stretched a bit and with a flick of his arms, shedded the blankets that had thus far concealed him.
There now stood a bear of a man, with a blood-red hooded robe. All the soldiers now saw him now, as if for the first time. It was as if he had just appeared out of thin air. Even the soldier practicing his yoyo stopped and looked.
