A Demon's Quest the Beginning of the End the Trilogy Box Set

by Charles Carfagno Jr.

  Tonles smiled then walked over and tied his trusty ax to the horse. He felt a sense of loss putting his friend away, because Ripper had been his weapon of choice for several years. He could always rely on it in the heat of battle.

  “If you need to buy anything, do it now. We need to leave soon.” Konafar announced to the others.

  By the time dusk settled in, the rain dissipated and the end of the forest was in sight. Konafar halted them for the evening and gave everyone a specific task. Some gathered wood, while others took part in setting up the camp and cooking the food.

  After Tonles finished eating, he sat on a log and studied the strange markings on the flanges, drawing Cord’s attention as he passed by.

  “Do you know what those runes mean?” Cord asked him and then sat next to him.

  Tonles shook his head.

  “May I have a look?”

  Tonles handed him the weapon and Cord struggled against its weight and almost dropped the mace. “This is heavier than I expected.”

  “It is?” Tonles was puzzled because it felt very light to him. “Wait here, I’ll be right back.”

  Tonles got up, retrieved Ripper, and then offered his great ax to Cord upon his return.

  “Is my ax heavier?”

  Cord took the weapon and said that it wasn’t.

  Tonles took a weapon in each hand and held them forth. “This is very strange to me, because they feel like they weigh the same.”

  “I’d like to study the runes some more, can I have the mace back?”

  Tonles handed it to him.

  Cord laid it onto his lap and began studying each of the flange’s heads one at a time. “Interesting.” He said on more than one occasion. “If you start over here,” he pointed to one of the flanges, “and follow them in order, they spell out what this weapon does for the wielder.”

  “Oh!” Tonles exclaimed.

  Cord took out a piece of parchment and began writing down his interpretation of what the symbols meant. When he was finished, he smiled and gave it to Tonles. “Read this.”

  “So what you’re saying is that if the wielder is strong enough, then the weapon will deliver devastating damage.” He paused and continued scanning the next paragraph. “Am I reading this correctly?”

  Cord smiled at him. “You are.”

  “You mean to tell me that this blunt weapon can rip and break apart almost any solid object?”

  “And don’t forget about the owner becoming stronger.” Cord added. “How much did you pay for it?”

  “A thousand gold pieces.”

  “Given its value, I’d say you got a good deal.”

  Tonles’ smile broadened.

  “You should go try it out.” Cord handed him back the weapon.

  Tonles walked around until he found suitable redwood for his test and hoisted the weapon high into the air, took aim, and swung Justice with intent. When the mace struck the tree, the flanges sunk so deep into the wood, it became buried all the way up to the shaft. He removed the weapon with ease, struck the surface two more times and had the same results. Satisfied, he tried his weapon on a nearby boulder. The weapon tore away chunks of the stone with each swing, until the boulder cracked down the middle.

  His test got the attention, and curiosity, of just about everyone in camp. Hue, walked over to him. “Can I try it?” He asked.

  Tonles smiled and handed the skinny man the weapon, and to his delight, he immediately dropped it. The others laughed as he struggled to hoist the weapon. Hue eventually gave up when it fell from his grasp for the third time. Tonles laughed out loud with others. Another guard tried and just like the last man, had the similar difficulties. Konafar, who was amused by everyone’s failed attempts, came over and lifted the weapon with ease, and felt the same tingling sensation Tonles did, running up and down his arms and felt stronger.

  “Did anyone else feel a tingling sensation after touching the weapon?” He asked.

  Everyone, except for Tonles, shook their heads no.

  “This is some find, my friend. I feel stronger.” Konafar announced and unsheathed Carnage. He held the sword in one hand and the mace in the other and hit the tree with alternating strikes between the weapons.

  The onlookers stared in awe, because no man alive should be able to wield two, two-handed, weapons in each hand with such power. When he was finished, he gave Justice back to Tonles. The tingling sensation ceased a few seconds later, and his strength returned to normal.

  “It’s interesting that the mace gave Tonles and me more strength. I wonder why no one else benefitted from it.” Konafar stated.

  Cord joined them. “Maybe the wielder needs to be strong enough to wield it in the first place.” He began. “I’ve been thinking the reason why the merchant probably sold it cheap was because to him; it felt unbalanced and too heavy to swing.”

  A very muscular man, who went by the name of Yon, stepped forward. “May I try?” He was a little smaller than Tonles, but looked every bit as strong.

  Tonles handed him the weapon.

  Yon grasped the mace with both hands and was met with the same sensation of strength as Konafar and Tonles felt. The muscles in his forearms and biceps tightened, and he felt the powerful as he hefted the weapon. “You are right criminal,” he looked at Cord, “you do need to be as strong as I am.”

  Konafar took note to his comment, but kept quiet because he knew how it would end for him if he got angry.

  Yon walked over to another tree and went to work, hitting it several times. When he was finished, the tree collapsed and fell with a thud.

  “You’re making too much noise. Why don’t you give the weapon back to Tonles?” Konafar suddenly said.

  Yon paused and looked over. There was something disturbing in his eyes. “I’ll give you two thousand gold pieces for the weapon.” He offered.

  “I already named it, so the weapon is not for sale.” Tonles stated.

  “Come on, you’d make twice the amount of money. Who cares that you named it?" Yon faced the group with the mace held across his body, as if he was ready for a confrontation.

  “You’d better give my weapon back.” Tonles said, growing angrier by the moment.

  “Or what?” Yon snapped at him.

  “You’re going to lose your life.” Konafar added.

  Yon smirked and grew more confident. “I never had something like this before.”

  Cord sensed what was about to happen and stepped away towards the camp without anyone really noticing.

  “This is your last chance.” Konafar added.

  “Come on Yon, give it back.” Pierce said.

  “Two against one wouldn’t be a fair fight. So how about this, I challenge one of you to take the weapon away from me, and if you do, then it’s yours. If not, I keep it.” Yon said.

  “I’ll handle this.” Tonles said to his friend, and Konafar handed him Ripper.

  “Last chance?” Konafar asked.

  “I’m even going to call it Justice.” Yon said.

  Tonles shook his head and motioned toward him. Everyone backed away to give them enough room.

  The swirling wind embraced both men as they circled each other for a couple of minutes. Yon studied Tonles for an opening and Tonles smirked condescendingly back at him, and then the fight began. Yon led off with a downward strike, which Tonles easily sidestepped and butted him in the face with the ax handle, breaking his nose and sending him reeling with his face covered in blood. Tonles advanced on him and swung Ripper downwardly. Yon blocked the attack, pushed aside his weapon and countered with a side strike. Tonles parried the blow and came around with the ax and would have lopped Yon’s head off if he didn’t jerk it away in time. Tonles’ follow up strike was interrupted, because Yon unexpectedly swung Justice at his knee, which made Tonles bring up his ax to block the attack. Yon was about to strike him in the face, but Tonles slammed his elbow into his jaw knocking him sideways.

  The onlookers thought the fight would end when Tonles br
ought Ripper about, but they were wrong. Yon recovered in time and blocked the ax, thus binding both weapons against each other. Yon seized the opportunity and grabbed Ripper, and as he was about to hit him with the flange part of the mace, Tonles then did something unexpected, let go of his weapon, grabbed Yon by his shoulders and kneed him in the stomach.

  Yon felt the air leave his lungs, but immediately lowered his elbow to stifle another knee attack and shove Tonles back. Tonles moved in, and Yon swung the mace. Tonles ducked under the attack and punched him in the jaw, then kicked him in the stomach, grabbed his arm and flipped him over his shoulder. Despite landing hard onto his back, Yon held firmly onto the mace and hit Tonles in the stomach with the flange, as he was reaching in for him. Tonles stumbled backwards acting like he was more hurt then he was until he smacked into a tree. Yon was on his feet and advanced. When he was close enough, he swung Justice with the intent of concaving his opponent’s head in, but the mighty Tonles ducked out of the way and the mace crashed into the tree and became lodged into the trunk. Tonles punched him in the ribs and face and then ran over to pick up Ripper.

  By the time Yon freed Justice and turned around, Tonles was standing in front of him, poised with Ripper’s deadly spike pointed at his stomach. Yon flinched more out of fear, but Tonles thought he was going to attack and rammed the ax into his midsection tearing open his stomach. Yon grunted and let go of the mace as he sank down to his knees. Tonles pulled the weapon free, and blood oozed from Yon’s mouth. Even though the fight was over, Tonles stayed where he was, watching him in case he had more fight left in him.

  Yon coughed up more blood. “Please let… me…” He coughed, “live.”

  “Would you have shown me the same mercy?” Tonles barked at him.

  “I would…have…”

  The man’s pleas and obvious pain brought a smile to Tonles’ face. “Do you promise never to do this again?”

  “I do...I do.”

  Tonles turned around as if he was going to walk away and then spun around bringing Ripper down onto Yon’s head, splitting his skull apart like a ripe melon. The bystanders cringed and stared in shock at his brutality.

  “Does anyone else want my mace? Or have an issue with what I’ve done?” Tonles said looking at everyone.

  No one responded.

  “I didn’t think so.”

  Konafar picked up the mace and handed it to him. “Come with me.” He said, and they walked away to speak privately.

  “Nicely done.” Konafar said once they were away from the others.

  “Thanks.”

  “I was beginning to get worried until I saw you move against the tree, and then I knew what you were doing.” Konafar added.

  “My uncle taught me that move. He said that if you present an opening to your opponent, then he will always fall for it.”

  “Your uncle was a wise man.”

  “That he was.” Tonles laughed.

  “I’m glad that you didn’t spare his life.”

  “There were a couple of reasons why. He wouldn’t have done so for me, and I’m sure he would have made another attempt for the weapon. Plus I never leave my enemy alive.”

  “I’ve always liked your thought process. By the way, I think the archer can be trusted.”

  Tonles was puzzled. “How so?”

  “During your fight, he retrieved his bow and was ready to strike down your opponent if need be.”

  “Are you sure he wasn’t going to strike me down instead.”

  “You’re still alive aren’t you?”

  “Good point.”

  They laughed together.

  “Let’s get some rest as we have a big day tomorrow.” Konafar gripped his friend’s shoulder, and they went back to camp to join the others.

  When Butcher saw them coming, he got up off his log. “I like your handiwork.” He said to Tonles as they were passing.

  Tonles and Konafar ignored him, and Butcher looked confused and sat back down.

  Shortly before dawn, Burner woke Cord and asked to speak with him secretly. He agreed, and they walked away from camp and hid behind a few trees.

  “Do you think they’ll let us go?” Burner asked.

  “Truthfully,” he paused, “no. Strom wanted us dead so why did he have a sudden change of heart and allow us to go off with his friends?”

  Burner peered around the trees to make sure everyone was still sleeping and then back at Cord. “Do you think they’ll kill us?”

  “If they do, it will be after we’re finished.”

  “That’s what I was just thinking too. So what are you going to do?”

  “I’m not sure yet.”

  Burner grinned. “We could kill them right now and be done with it.”

  “We could, but I’m not going to. These men didn’t do anything to me.”

  “You may not get another chance.” Burner insisted.

  “I’m not killing anyone without cause; if they attack me, then I’ll defend myself.”

  “If I get the feeling that my life is in danger at any point, then I am going to take action.”

  “You do what you have to do, just make sure you don’t kill me by accident.”

  “I think you’re a fool.” Burner spat.

  “Maybe I am, but either way, I don’t kill without cause.” Cord turned away and started walking back.

  “Cause, did you have one when you killed those people?”

  “That was a long time ago.” Cord took a few steps.

  “You know that you had the perfect opportunity last night when Tonles was fighting.” Burner simply stated.

  The archer paused. “I know.” He replied and walked away.

  After everyone else woke up, Konafar addressed the group.

  “We should arrive at Redden by nightfall. Our mission is simple. We get in, look for someone called the Red Knight, and kill him.”

  “And how do you plan on doing that?” Hue asked.

  “There’s a secret passageway that leads under the city.”

  “Have you used it before?” Pierce asked.

  “We did. The passageway will take us to an old abandoned house. From there we’ll...”

  “You said that you used it before right?” Burner interrupted.

  “We did.”

  “Do they know that you did?”

  “No.” Konafar decided not to tell them that they did and continued. “Anyway, after we enter the town, we’ll create a few distractions and seek him out. Do you have any questions?”

  “What are we up against?” Cord asked.

  “Mostly there will be boar and goatmen, a few giants, and maybe a war beetle or two.”

  Some of the men grumbled.

  “You’re crazy if you think you can kill him.” Burner interjected.

  Butcher was off playing with his cleavers and looked up when he heard the word crazy.

  “Think what you want, but it will be done.” Konafar said.

  “Why do you want to kill him so bad?” Burner asked.

  “He will die for what he did to my friend.”

  “You see, there’s nothing more important to us then friendship.” Tonles added.

  “I’m organizing our group based on your skills, and then we’ll decide the best approach after we enter the city. I need everyone to tell me about yourself and what skills you possess.” Konafar said.

  The men told him and after they were finished, Tonles and Konafar devised a plan and then led them away.

  It was around midday, and shortly after clearing the forest, when a gusting wind, ice, and snow pelted the weary travelers prompting them to seek shelter inside of a cluster of trees. When the storm finally abated, it was nearing nightfall, which the group decided was too late for travel.

  While the others slept, Tonles kept watch. As he stared at the flames of the fire, he decided to take out the figurine of the winged snake. Tracing his hand over the wood gave him an idea. He recited a few words to the object and like magic, the statue grew an
d took the fleshy form of a living snake with wings. He then gave it a few instructions, and his scout flew westward to survey the area. The snake returned a couple of hours later, hovered around his ear, and began hissing. When it was through, Tonles said a few words, and the snake returned to its original form and was placed back into his pouch for safe keeping. After Hue relieved him of his duty, Tonles grabbed a torch, said he needed to do something, and left without further explanation.

  Less than a mile away, Tonles came upon the campsite that his snake figurine told him about and saw a lone person sitting on a log, drinking a cup of streaming liquid near the fire. To his left was his mare, tethered to a tree with a banner of a knight riding out into battle. There was no mistaking that this man seated before him was from the Order of the Blessed Knight.

  Tonles was about to encroach further in when the knight suddenly said. “If you’re a friend, please enter. If not, then you would be better off leaving.” His words caught Tonles off guard.

  “My name is Tonles, may I join you, Knight from the Blessed Order?”

  The knight beckoned him in further after he didn’t sense evil radiating from the stranger. “Well met Tonles. My name is Tracs. I’m assuming that the winged messenger was yours and relayed my whereabouts?”

  Tonles nodded. “How did you know?”

  “I’ve seen such familiars as those before.” Tracs took another goblet out from his bag. “Would you like some hot ale?”

  Tonles nodded.

  While Tracs removed the kettle from the fire, Tonles thought he had the look of an experienced warrior, despite his youthful appearance.

  After he was handed the mug, Tonles gladly accepted his offering and tasted the honeyed nectar. “Delicious.” He said.

  “I’m glad you like it. Tonles you recognized my Order, which one do you belong to?” Tracs asked.

  “I belong to the Order of the Dragon.” He answered and then took another sip.

  “That’s a good Order, filled with mighty warriors. That was my first selection when I entered manhood.”

  “First selection?”