Fractured Families (The Pearl of Wisdom Saga Book 2)

by Jason Paul Rice

  Dioneer let out a cry of pain. Riceros turned to see the three-headed dog had jumped up and bit the giant’s thigh. The ugly dog had a white body, stained in blood with two black heads on either side of a brown one. The razor sharp teeth and totally black eyes got Riceros’ attention. He loosed an arrow and hit the dog’s hind quarter. The enormous dog released his bite and fell to the ground. Dioneer kicked the dog about twenty feet back. A slow rumble built in the angered animal and it took a run at Dioneer. Riceros rushed between Dioneer’s legs and saw the dog leap at his friend.

  In a move of desperation, he hastily grabbed three arrows. In a flash, he unleashed all three before the first had even landed. A disturbing, hissing sound from all three heads bounced around the Maze. The falling dog landed with a heavy thump with one arrow penetrating each head. The awful sound continued for several moments until Dioneer raised his enormous foot and ended the moaning by crushing three skulls into the soil. Riceros looked at the blood coming from Dioneer’s thigh.

  The dog’s teeth had sunk fairly deep into his flesh and the brown pants of the giant were soaked in red liquid already. Riceros knew they would probably have to go back outside the Maze to tend to the wound. Once they left, however, the contest would be a failure. Riceros thought about what he could use on the island to stop the bleeding. An idea hit Riceros. He took fifty ears of corn and laid them on the ground in a shallow pile. He had Dioneer stomp them into the ground with his good leg. The big man mashed the corn into a thick pulp. Riceros extracted what he needed from the ground and sat Dioneer down. He used the silky strands mixed with the starchy pulp to cover the bites and tied together some husks to wrap around Dioneer’s thigh and stop the bleeding.

  Riceros lost semblance of time without being able to see the sun. He knew it was still up, but he didn’t know how much longer the light would shine. Dioneer moved slowly with a limp and Riceros had to keep the pace to a near crawl. Before they made it halfway to their destination, darkness fell like a foolish jester. The fifty or so skeletons and rotting bodies he had seen acted as a precursor to a sleepless night. Dioneer hadn’t spoken a word since the dog bite and he started to nod off. This created panic in Riceros. He had been scared before, but never anything like this prolonged experience.

  Every sound of nature made the boy jump and reach for his longbow. Riceros thought he even heard the moon howl a few times. Before the boy knew it, he fell asleep. He was shocked awake by the sounds of an epic struggle.

  Two giants wrestled on the ground of the Maze in the near dark. Riceros jumped up and drew his longbow. The two men crashed into both sides of the sturdy walls. Riceros thought they might be the first to break through the wall. They rolled around the ground, jockeying for position. The sun must have risen as light suddenly broke through the stalks. Riceros followed the brawling giants and the loud baritone sounds of pain. He could see blood on both men.

  The other giant had two eyes and short orange hair. Brown eyes and a big nose completed his square head. He only wore a pair of cut-off pants, exposing scars over his pale body. Riceros tried to aim an arrow at the enemy, but the two jerked around so much, he couldn’t get a clear shot. The giant took Dioneer to the ground again, but this time he got his hands around the Cyclops’ neck. Dioneer gagged and gasped for air.

  Riceros quickly loosed two arrows, hitting the giant in the right buttocks. The Maze guard let out a reverberating cry of pain and turned around. He left Dioneer to quickly close in and lunge at Riceros. The giant’s extended hand barely slapped the boy with two fingers but the force still threw the kid six feet back and knocked out his two front teeth. Dioneer made it back to his feet and grabbed the giant from behind. The two went back to grappling again. Riceros managed to get back to his feet. He turned and ran. The pain throbbed in his mouth and his body wanted to quit. He tried to retrace the path that took the fight here. Darkness had reigned when the fight started, so a discombobulated Riceros had difficulty remembering. He also didn’t want to get too far from Dioneer with the Brohan bull lurking. Riceros turned a few corners, looked down a long straightaway and smiled.

  He ran down the path and grabbed the object he wanted. He dragged the large cargo back over to the scene of the fight but the two men weren’t there. He could hear the men and tried to follow the sounds of pain. He turned a corner and saw the two men with even more blood on both. Dioneer looked behind the giant to make eye contact with Riceros. He twisted around to the other side and started to retreat. He held the giant off with one arm and reached back. He grabbed the object Riceros had propped up for him. Dioneer held the spear near the sharpened end and drove it into the giant’s throat. The back end of the spear smacked Riceros in the shoulder and drove him into the stalks before he hit his head on the ground. He lay face down in pain and his ringing ears didn’t hear the awful, dying scream of the giant or see the blood spurt over the corn stalks like a fountain.

  Dioneer pushed the dead giant to the side of the path but another problem had arisen. The fight had moved the two around the Maze and Riceros didn’t know where they were or how to get to the key from here. He also didn’t have any way to tell the battered Dioneer about the problem. He started to take care of the big man’s numerous wounds and gashes with the surrounding corn.

  RUSSELL

  “Well, let’s see. There’s the King of the Dead, the Clumsy King, Ali-Stanley the Awful, Ali-Stanley the Unmerciful, the Worst King, the Dirty Fox King, Ali-Stanley the Inept and several others I cannot recall at the moment. Some of these monikers will fade with time, but there weren’t many citizens singing the praises of King Ali-Stanley Wamhoff,” the Imp Wizard informed Russell. He responded, “Ali-Pari made him out to be the noblest king who had ever ruled a kingdom.” “As you are finding out rapidly, matters are rarely the same as what you have been told. Stories can be lessons, but sometimes it is important to understand who is telling the story. That can mean more than the story itself in most cases,” Dragon-Eyes told him.

  The small boat coasted up to the wooden docks. They had finally arrived on the Main Island and the search for the Pearl officially began. An overcast day provided a humid setting as they hit sand and walked inland. Russell wasn’t entirely sure the Imp had a well -crafted plan. The young man realized the dwarf had been searching for the Pearl for hundreds of years without success. The unlikely trio made it to the first small street market where a couple of vendors seemed to know Dragon-Eyes, and said hello. Other rough-looking men stared down the smaller travel companions. Russell looked down to his castle-forged steel sword and didn’t see any other men wearing a weapon bigger than a knife.

  At the end of the markets, two dwarves approached, holding hands. They appeared to be married. The woman was pregnant and the male dwarf had a bigger belly than his wife. The wizard said, “Remfield, Dalta, how are we?”

  Another female dwarf walked up to the couple. “This is our friend, Shireez,” Remfield said as he introduced her. “I am known as Dragon-Eyes, and here we have Lizeria and Russell,” the Imp said, nodding toward his companions. “This is a miracle. Tuxgang lies in bed dying as we speak. I went to see him early this morn. He told me I would see you today. I said I hadn’t seen you in about twenty years. Tuxgang said I would see you and I should take you to him. Follow me, and we can talk along the way,” Remfield stated.

  All three dwarves had the dark brown skin of Pearl Island natives. They all had black hair, brown eyes and wide noses. Russell noticed that the Imp kept looking at Shireez.

  He saw and smelled smoke in the air coming from the village ahead. Tents and huts with fires flanked both sides of the main pathway. They walked up to a small, nondescript straw hut and stopped. Remfield said, “Only you can enter, Dragon-Eyes.”

  “This man joins me wherever I should go,” returned the Imp as he grabbed Russell and invaded the hut, while Lizeria and the three dwarves waited outside.

  The one-room dwelling had only a bed in the corner and two braziers making it unbearably hot. The smell
of death emanated from an old man in the bed. A middle-aged woman prayed at the side of the bed. She jumped up from her knees to greet the pair. “Dragon-Eyes, I fear he hasn’t much time left,” the woman said. The dwarf went over to the bed and Russell stayed several feet behind.

  “Tuxgang,” Dragon-Eyes softly said. The wrinkled face came to life and vibrant green eyes shot open. “I can feel it. I can feel the spirits in this room,” Tuxgang uttered in a shallow whisper of a voice. “I have Fuji Dust for you,” the Imp said, tapping his little carrier. “No, no more. My time has come. Too much pain. It’s time to meet my makers,” the old man feebly responded. “But you have spent so many years searching for the Pearl; don’t lose out at the end. I can put a touch of Fuji Dust in your mouth, if you should like?” Dagon-Eyes offered.

  The old man slowly shook his head in refusal. Under several blankets in the searing heat, the old man complained to the woman of being cold. Tuxgang licked his dry lips and spoke, “I have something for you. I wasn’t sure if you were worthy but I can feel the spirits in you, protecting you. I hope those spirits will lift my heavy, rotten soul up to the heavens. It should help my cause to give this to a man with a cleansed soul, favored by the angels.”

  “So it would seem. What is it you have, old friend?” the Imp asked. Tuxgang indicated to the woman to retrieve something. She handed a rolled piece of parchment to the dwarf. “Don’t unroll it now. The time is too close. This will put you in severe danger. You must follow the map at every step or you will not find the ultimate treasure. Some very special friends wanted me to inform you, the Pearl of Wisdom lies within,” Tuxgang stated before sinking back into his soft bed and closing his eyes.

  Russell was angry by the time they left the hut and that increased when he heard Dragon-Eyes lie to the group about what the old man had said. He only told them that the Seventh Island was their next destination. The Imp had stuffed the map into his carrying bag and made no mention of it to his friends. As the group walked back toward the docks, they heard a sudden disturbance from behind.

  Russell saw several sword-wielding men rush into Tuxgang’s hut followed by the shrieking screams of the woman. Russell pushed his crew off the path and into the wooded area. He saw a man pointing at them just as he made it into the woods. More cries of pain sounded as the armed invaders terrorized the village, so Russell hurried everyone along.

  The group made it up a hill and set up camp for the night just before darkness fell. Lighting a fire was no problem for Dragon-Eyes, but there were other issues. Without food and hunting supplies, hunger became a primary thought. Russell foraged around with a makeshift torch, but didn’t find anything to eat. He came back to the site and nearly every traveler was already sleeping. He kept the fire going and talked to Lizeria, calming her fears until he lay down to sleep.

  Russell’s stomach grumbled and he couldn’t get any rest. He heard someone rustling around. Dragon-Eyes moved slowly toward Russell, so the young man closed his eyes. The Imp quietly went back to his bag, then over to the fire and unrolled the parchment. Russell quickly jumped up and the dwarf hid the paper behind his back.

  “She was right, the Pearl does make you crazy,” scolded Russell. “Who was right? Nothing makes me crazy,” replied a red-faced wizard. “Gamelda warned me. You’re lying to me right now. You lied to me earlier and to the group afterward. You lied to your old friend. You used me to convince Tuxgang your soul was worthy of his map that you try to hide from me now. I’m wet behind the ears but I’m not stupid. You don’t hear me stuttering in fear anymore, do you? I can’t believe you lied to a dying man by using my favor with the souls. What if you’ve angered them and they refuse to help us now?” Russell ranted.

  “I told you the Pearl can make men do strange things, outside their normal character. I am still working on my obsession. I lied for you to hold the Pearl, not me. I shouldn’t have used you, that is correct, but you heard the man. The spirits are strong within you. Why not use them to our advantage?” Dragon-Eyes smiled apprehensively. “You said only the purest of souls can hold the Pearl. You called other men fools for thinking they were worthy of holding the Pearl and now you are acting foolish. If we use deceitfulness to obtain the Pearl, the dragons will never come to our aid. Let’s at least take a look at this map,” Russell said.

  Dragon-Eyes brought the map into the light and Russell had no clue what he was looking at. The words were written in a different language and the two men looked at the map for about a half hour. The Imp explained they had a map of the Seventh Island of the Pearl Islands. There was a red route drawn around the island which led to their final destination, the Black Stone of Rockarius. The Black Stone was where Rockarius had found the Pearl of Wisdom five hundred years ago, so this map gave the dwarf extra confidence. The wizard advised the path of travel would be rough and dangerous. Instructions below the map provided allotted times for each portion of the quest. If the trip took too long, the Pearl would simply disappear, the map stated. The Imp told Russell they would have to rush to complete the course in the specified time intervals. The two men agreed to go to the docks early the next morning and get over to the Seventh Island.

  As they lay down to sleep, Dragon-Eyes spoke, “If we can secure the Pearl, armies will rush to fight by our side.” “I thought you said armies would rush to cut our throats for the Pearl?” the puzzled young man asked. “Most armies, yes, but I know of an army that’s been training since before I was born. They are waiting for the Holder of the Pearl to command their immensely skilled army. We only have to get there. I would guess we still have to find the Pearl too, only details, I suppose,” laughed the Imp before he fell asleep and started to snore. Russell finally went to sleep on the hard ground.

  The next day the crew made it down the hill and toward the Sea of Green. A breeze ran through the hungry group as the open trail became flanked with heavy woods on either side. Russell led the way and noticed three men rapidly approaching. The armed men drew their swords and Russell pushed his companions back, behind him. The narrow, uneven dirt path made for a strange fighting ground, Russell thought.

  The tallest man spoke, “Give us the map or we’ll kill everyone.” “We don’t have any map; the old man said we weren’t worthy.” Russell was a bad liar and the man saw right through it. He responded, “Look at you, not one whisker on your face. A little boy doesn’t want to get his little friends killed, does he?”

  Russell drew his steel, “I’m no little boy.”

  The man lunged at Russell and the two men traded crashing attempts, ringing through the surrounding forest. Russell noticed the man leaned forward too much, and blocked his overhand advance. With the man slightly off balance, Russell shifted his wrists for an upswing. He split the man from stomach to chest, killing him before he hit the ground. A strong mist of blood sprayed Russell’s face, staining it red.

  This was the first man Russell had ever killed but he didn’t have time to think about the emotions as another man stepped over his dead friend and attacked. He traded clanging attempts with his second opponent as he noticed the third attacker becoming antsy in the background. Russell saw the third man run into the woods to approach him from the back, and noticed the man relaxed his sword to fight the bushes and low branches. He blocked three more heaving swings from the second fighter and took two quick steps to his left, into the bushes. He spun around and a shoulder height crossing stroke went right through the small branch of a tree before separating the unsuspecting man’s head from his body. A geyser of blood erupted from his neck, and the man’s body fell into a bayberry shrub.

  He turned back to the last remaining opponent and blocked a mighty overhand stroke with a blade. The attacker tried to catch Russell before he could recover but the young man forced the action back onto the beaten path. Russell began losing strength, but he came in with a side-arm stroke, knocking the opponent’s sword away. With hand near hip, he speared the tip of the weapon through the final man’s chest and out his back. Not knowing
how much strength to exert, Russell used such extreme force that the blade went all the way up to the cross-guard. It took Russell longer to remove his sword from the dead man than it did to kill all three men. As he struggled to retrieve his blade from the unsteady body, the death really became personal. His stomach swirled and Russell thought he would throw up or even pass out. His boiling blood started to settle and the rage calmed down. Russell had never been in a life or death fight and didn’t know how to react. He held up a still-shaking hand and looked past it at his awestruck friends.

  “That was simply amazing, Russell,” said Shireez. They all thanked him for his bravery and raved over his skills with a sword. The odd crew made it to a small sea vessel and everyone finally got to eat. Russell had to force the food down because his stomach still felt ill. Dragon-Eyes and Shireez spent most of the trip smiling and giggling at each other. He could tell his friend was smitten with Shireez. This forced Russell into awkward conversation with Remfield and Dalta. The woman kept thinking the baby was coming out. Her stomach looked about to burst and she complained about her back pain while Russell drifted off.

  How are these time limits on the map set? How did the mapmaker know when we would come into possession of the map? This is starting to seem like a fool’s errand or a fairy tale. Russell Seabrook is going to lead an army and dragons? I’ve never even been involved in more than that scrap back on the path and I am going to lead thousands of men? How can this be possible?