The Third Sign

by Scott D. Muller

  He tenuously tried the old magic, but wasn’t able to recall how to cast the spells. That was frustrating beyond belief, because he remembered doing the spells just a short while ago.

  Zedd’aki started singing an old song to himself and Ja’tar chimed in. It helped pass the time.

  Adventure’s for the young at heart,

  old wounds I still must tend.

  The years have passed and I’ve grown old

  we all will eventually die in the end.

  So, I’ll raise me cup and toast yer health,

  a warrior’s life we live.

  Give me ale and dice my friend,

  and the night I’ll happily spend.

  For come morn I’ll still be old,

  but at least I won’t be dead. - Anonymous

  “I’m surprised you remember that song,” Ja’tar laughed.

  “Seemed appropriate,” Zedd’aki scoffed.

  They crested the last hill before the final downhill leg back to the Keep when Ja’tar froze, throwing up an arm to hold Zedd’aki back. Something had caught his eye and he crouched, pulling Zedd’aki off to the side of the road, while putting his hand to his mouth indicating to Zedd’aki to be quiet.

  “What is it?” Zedd’aki mouthed silently.

  Ja’tar pointed to a shadow by the road. Zedd’aki looked where he was pointing and his eyes shot open.

  “Wolven?” he asked, barely uttering a whisper.

  Ja’tar scanned the rest of the field spotting two shadow spawn and several more beasts. The spawn were wearing dark brown cloaks and had hid themselves up against the bark of several giant hemlock trees. The wolven were scanning the road, ears perked as they sniffed the air.

  “It looks like they’re waiting for us. See the spawn on the left?”

  The shadow spawn were crouching under the trees on either side of the Keep near the entrance. Although Ja’tar couldn’t tell for sure, he was almost positive that they were being stalked.

  “What’ll we do?” Zedd’aki asked, his voice trembling.

  “We wait,” Ja’tar reasoned angrily. “It irritates me that I know hundreds of spells from the old days of Ror, but am unable to actually cast or use any of them.”

  “I can imagine how you must feel.”

  “If I could use the old magic, I could have us out of here in minutes. Instead, we wait!”

  “For how long?” Zedd’aki asked, concerned that they would be found out if it got light before they managed to get back into the Keep.

  Ja’tar shrugged, “I’m not sure. What I really wonder is how they knew we would be coming back here?”

  “Maybe they didn’t,” Zedd’aki logically deduced. “Maybe they’re just covering all possibilities and are also waiting further up the road someplace. The creature in the gate had to know we were wizards, so it figures ....”

  “I suppose that’s possible,” Ja’tar said, stroking his long beard. “Still, someone or something must be orchestrating the watch. Spawn aren’t the brightest.”

  “Do you think we could make a run for it?”

  “Not from here. I suppose we might if we could get down by the rocks,” Ja’tar said, pointing to a group of big granite boulders about half the distance to the Keep. “But we would still need to remove the wards and open the gate. “

  “That’s a long way to sneak with little cover ...” Zedd’aki murmured.

  Ja’tar narrowed his brow, “How many do you see?”

  “I count two spawn and three wolven. You?”

  “Same,” Ja’tar grunted.

  “Can’t we just blast them with wizard’s fire and run for it?” Zedd’aki queried.

  Ja’tar shook his head and muttered, “Won’t work. The wolven can’t be harmed by the new magic; we found that out for ourselves earlier this evening.”

  Zedd’aki stared in disbelief then spat, “Well, we must be able to do something.”

  “I’m going to get a tad closer. Maybe I can hear what they’re saying.”

  Zedd’aki looked at Ja’tar in a rather surprised manner.

  “What?” Ja’tar asked.

  “I didn’t know you spoke spawn!” he said flatly, raising a brow.

  “Not well, but well enough,” he replied, just before he scurried off along the side of the road before Zedd’aki could question him again. He thought back on Zedd’aki’s question and realized he had answered without really thinking about it. He knew that he understood spawn, but couldn’t for the life of him figure out why he knew it, or where he had learned it.

  He kept his profile low and used the shrubs and trees for cover. He stopped short next to a protruding boulder and carefully peered over the top. He was glad that the wind was in his face, streaming up from the valley after rushing down from the high peaks above. The wolven hadn’t picked up their scent.

  Zedd’aki watched his friend work his way down the hill. When Ja’tar had reached the rock, he motioned for Zedd’aki to follow. Zedd’aki wasn’t too sure that he really wanted to, but his only other option was to stay where he was, so he reluctantly began working his way to where Ja’tar was hiding.

  When he reached the rock, he accidentally stepped on a dry stick, which made a loud cracking sound when he put his weight on his right foot. Zedd’aki cringed as the ears of the wolven perked up and they turned in unison to look in his direction. He heard their low guttural growl as they bared their teeth and snarled.

  The two magi froze behind the rock, too afraid to breathe. One of the beasts casually gaited about halfway to their location sniffing at the air and scanning the forest, head hung low and ears back. Ja’tar could hear the beast’s raspy breath and soft growl. Finding nothing of interest, it turned back around and sauntered over to its owner.

  Ja’tar listened for the telltale grunting and guttural clicking language of the spawn. He strained but was just too far away to make anything out, “We have to move closer.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding,” Zedd’aki whispered. “There’s nowhere to hide if we get any closer.”

  “I have a plan,” Ja’tar grinned, picking up a medium sized rock and cast a spell.

  The rock flew up out of his hand and headed toward the side of the Keep. It crashed into the shrubs loudly catching the attention of the spawn and their demon dogs.

  They rushed to investigate and while all of their attention was off to the side of the Keep, Ja’tar jumped up and dashed almost thirty paces to the next big clump of trees. Zedd’aki swore at the fool hearty move but followed anyway.

  “Are you insane?” he whispered, falling in behind the trees.

  “They didn’t see us,” the confident mage replied with a smirk.

  “You’re lucky, that’s all,” Zedd’aki chastised his friend.

  Ja’tar ignored the comment and peered around the stack of boulders trying to see and hear what was going on.

  The spawn had already returned to their watch positions, while two of the beasts still sniffed at the ground around the Keep.

  The sun was beginning to creep over the tops of the peaks and the spawn were getting visibly anxious as they lost the cover of darkness. Ja’tar listened to them chatter.

  “Grolk-glic-nok-dra-glik,” the tallest spawn said to the other, motioning to the north.

  Ja’tar turned to Zedd’aki, “I think they’re getting ready to leave.”

  The second spawn’s head bobbed, “Brra-skat-ng-grolk-a-qlwock!”

  Ja’tar wasn’t sure and he couldn’t read their faces as they were hidden behind billowing hoods, “Something about the sun. Maybe they’re worried about the daylight…”

  “Well, I wish to Darkhalla they’d make up their minds one way or the other,” Zedd’aki spat dry mouthed, as frustration set in. He wanted to get to bed. He was exhausted.

  “Quiet! They’re talking about some Master…Damn!” Ja’tar said frustrated, “Can’t quite make it out,”

  Zedd’aki watched an eagle-sized bat-like creature landed on the arm of one of the spawn
. The spawn appeared to be talking to the creature, which flew off to one of the trees and after landing, faded into the bark.

  “I’ll be damned! Did you see that?” Zedd’aki asked, as his jaw dropped, “I’ll bet that’s how they knew where we were going.”

  Ja’tar had also been watching the creature, “We’ll need to take care of that thing before we make a break for the Keep.”

  Zedd’aki’s eyes narrowed, “Leave that to me.”

  Ja’tar was getting concerned. The sun had already peeked over the top of the mountains and the spawn had still not left. They moved deeper into the trees and waited, staring out across the field, waiting for the mages to arrive.

  Zedd’aki had suffered just about as much of this as he was willing to take. He wasn’t sure which was worse, having to face the spawn and wolven, or having to explain why they were out and about outside of the Keep if the others caught them. Maybe magic couldn’t hurt the beasts, but he sure as halla could use magic in ways that did.

  He looked around, searching the grounds for objects he could use as weapons. He saw plenty of boulders, rocks and branches. The way he saw it, anything flung at a high enough speed became a deadly weapon. He wasn’t nearly as concerned about the wolven as he was about the spawn. He surely didn’t want them running back to whoever this Master was and telling them about everything they had seen, or heard.

  He reached down and picked up a straight branch about the diameter of his thumb. He pulled his knife out of his belt and carefully sharpened one end. Satisfied with the result, he whittled through the end making it about three feet long. After checking it critically, holding it by one end and staring down the shaft, he was pretty sure that it would fly straight. Now, all he needed was another four or five.

  “What are you doing,” Ja’tar asked, seeing his friend working on his fourth little spear.

  “Preparing, just in case,” Zedd’aki grunted.

  Finished, he cast a very devious spell on the tips, and coated them with a hardness and sharpness of glass as he jabbed the spears into the dirt. The dirt glowed bright orange for a second before he pulled free the jagged, razor sharp glass points. He grinned wickedly in anticipation. These spawn were dealing with a wizard of the highest order. They were going to die, yes they were.

  “Ja’tar? Can you work your magic from here?” he asked, snickering.

  “What are you planning,” Ja’tar asked, cautiously.

  Zedd’aki held up his five spears, “I have a little present for the beasts.”

  Ja’tar’s eyes shot wide, “Nice work, what are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking that if you could manage to pick up one of those big rocks over there, while I grab another, we could slam them down on the heads of the spawn before they can blink twice.”

  “But what of that bird thing hiding in the tree?” Ja’tar asked, “Won’t it warn them?”

  “One of my little presents should be able to take care of that,” he said, grinning as he patted his bolts.

  “We better make a few more of those,” Ja’tar said, with an evil smile. “Wolven are harder to kill than wolves.”

  Zedd’aki smiled and grabbed another branch; this one was smaller around and prepared a special gift for the flying whatever it was. When he was finished, he looked over the three-pronged spear and tested its balance.

  He looked over at Ja’tar who had three spears of his own ready.

  “When I throw this and it kills that lookout bat-like bird, we’ll only have a couple seconds to pick up the boulders and take out the Spawn.” He said, emphasizing that they needed to act quickly.

  “I’m ready when you are,” Ja’tar replied.

  Zedd’aki quietly chanted over his spears, then he chanted some more over the small multipronged one. He looked up into the tree and scanned until he made out the beast’s eyes. He aimed for about a foot below and leaning back, he tossed the spear high into the sky as he chanted his spell. The spear sped up, feeding off the magical energy. It wove through the branches in the tree and arched toward the flying creature.

  Zedd’aki was deep in his trance, guiding the weapon toward its target. The spear hit hard, made a hollow thunk sound as its points parted flesh, and buried itself in the tree. Zedd’aki saw the blood of the creature ooze out around the spear, but he didn’t have any time to waste. He focused on lifting his rock and bringing it down on the head of the spawn. He saw the spawn look up into the tree just as his boulder hit. His aim was off and the boulder grazed the spawn’s head, gashing it open.

  Ja’tar saw his spawn turn at the sound of his partner’s scream, and he drove his rock home, crushing his skull. He watched with great satisfaction as the spawn collapsed onto the ground.

  Zedd’aki was preparing another rock while the spawn staggered, clutching at its bleeding head.

  By now, the wolven had made their location and were running at full speed, teeth bared.

  Zedd’aki was in the middle of bringing his boulder down when he saw Ja’tar jump up and start running across the field. He saw his friend loose his first wooden bolt at the nearest wolven, catching it in the chest. The spear dropped and dug into the dirt, driving it deeper into the beast’s breast before flipping the dying creature head over heels.

  Zedd’aki’s eyes opened wide when a portal started to form and he watched as his foe stumbled toward the entrance. He stood up full and cast as fast as he could, driving the boulder down into the creatures back as it stumbled just shy of the gate.

  It tried to drag itself to the gate as Zedd’aki lifted the odd-shaped rock and hammered it down again. This time, the spawn didn’t move. Just to be sure, Zedd’aki lifted the boulder a third time and drove it down hard on the beast’s head, cracking its skull wide open and its brains spattered as the gate winked out of existence.

  He turned quickly toward his friend, who was surrounded by two wolven. Zedd’aki let one of his spears fly and it sank deep into the rear flank of one of the beasts. Zedd’aki chanted, driving the spear ever deeper, causing the beast to howl in protest. By now, Ja’tar had his sword out and gripped tightly in his left hand and the last spear in his right, waving off the ravenous beasts.

  The nearest wolven grabbed the spear in its mouth and Ja’tar yanked hard to free it. The glass shard embedded point sliced the beast’s tongue and cheeks and it howled in frustration.

  Zedd’aki lifted another spear and let it fly while he ran. His fingers wove and he chanted loudly as the spear found its mark and buried itself into the chest of the third wolven.

  Both beasts were injured, but neither stopped attacking. Ja’tar held the spear in both hands and waved it menacingly, keeping the wolven back. The beast’s jaws were chomping down on the spear and he knew it was only a matter of time before the weapon failed.

  Zedd’aki leapt high in the air and drove his sword down deep through the neck of the beast as it tried to find Ja’tar’s open neck. He wrenched the sword side to side, snapping the beast’s neck while the other wolven jumped on him from behind

  He fell hard, his hands breaking free of his sword. He rolled to the left quickly and then tried to somersault away. The beast tracked him and was quickly snapping at his head from behind.

  He rolled away and tried to get to his feet, but the wolven was too quick and knocked him down again. Ja’tar managed to roll to his back, and seeing his friend struggling with the beast, motioned for one of the dropped spears to fly. The spear flew quickly and skewered the beast’s chest, just below the other, which was already bleeding freely.

  The beast was knocked back, giving Zedd’aki just enough time to jump to his feet and pick up the last spear. He gripped it tight and using both arms, plunged it through the wolven’s mouth, driving it deep into the beast’s brain. He twisted the spear sideways, forcing the demon’s head to the ground. The beast quivered twice and then slumped, finally dead.

  Zedd’aki rushed to Ja’tar’s side, “Are you alright?”

  Ja’tar wheezed, out of wind. He
grunted, trying to put his feet under his body and fell over, hitting the ground hard. He laid there panting, facing up to the sky.

  Zedd’aki grabbed him by the jacket and helped yank him up. They looked into each other’s eyes, no other thanks were necessary.

  “What do we do with all this carnage?” Zedd’aki asked, gasping for breath between each word.

  “We have to burn it.”

  “Can we do that? Can we burn wolven?” Zedd’aki asked. “I thought new magic won’t work on them ...”

  “I forgot. We should bury them, that’ll at least get them out of sight. Pity we can’t make a fire, they’ll return you know?”

  Zedd’aki stood up and briefly cast a spell causing a gaping hole to open in the ground. Ja’tar used his craft to gather up the two dead spawn and Zedd’aki dragged over the dead wolven.

  “Will the spawn return?”

  Ja’tar shook his head side to side, “Probably not.”

  “At least there’s that. The Master you talked about won’t know for sure what happened here.”

  “He will know that the wolven returned ...”

  Zedd’aki frowned.

  “Before we put the spawn into the ground, I want a better look at them.”

  Ja’tar walked over next to one of the dead beasts. There wasn’t much left to the creature’s head, but when Ja’tar pulled back the hood, he was a startled.

  “What is it?” Zedd’aki asked, dumping the last wolven into the hole.

  Ja’tar had turned a very pale green color, “Not what I expected ...”

  “What do you see,” Zedd’aki asked gravely.

  Ja’tar stood staring down at the creature. The creature looked vaguely familiar and more human than he had thought was right. He opened up the robe and was surprised to find several gold chains and an old medallion.

  “Would you look at that,” he said, placing his hands firmly on his hips.

  Zedd’aki peered over, “Is that a..?”

  “It sure is,” Ja’tar said, kneeling down and removing the artifact. “It’s one of our medallions. I wonder how the spawn got a hold of it.”

  “Is there any way to tell who had this one?” Zedd’aki asked, staring at Ja’tar.