Magic, Sorcery and Witchcraft: Book One of Marcus Grimm saga

by Stas Borodin

  Ice and I ran through the underground passage, pushed the barricade aside and peered out of the door. A lonely street light on the corner made the already dark street even darker.

  “Clear,” Ice hissed. “Let’s go!”

  Making our way through the maze of streets, we shied away from the well-lit areas around inns and brothels. The street made another turn and we almost bumped into a bunch of drunken soldiers. They were dressed in long striped robes and white turbans and were armed with bows and scimitars sheathed in animal skins.

  “Nomads!” I said. “Let’s find another way.”

  We retreated cautiously into the shadows and almost immediately ran into five armed brutes hiding in a back alley.

  “Halt!” an imperious voice commanded. Bright lights flashed, illuminating our faces.

  “Sergeant!” I heard a second voice. “I can’t believe our luck! Two recruits at the same time.”

  “Look how dirty they are,” the sergeant tsk-tsked. “Right! They must be coalmen. Coalmen are pretty tough.”

  Ice and I were picked up by the elbows and dragged deeper into the alley.

  “It’s your lucky day, fellas!” the sergeant bellowed. “Today you have a chance to do something really important for your beloved king and country!”

  “You enter the Royal Marines!” echoed a second voice. “The most daring cutthroats in the whole damn world!”

  Without much ado, we were pushed into a large wagon standing nearby. Inside the wagon, we saw a folding table and a young tired-looking man with officer’s stripes.

  “Who are they, Kadur?” The officer gave us a hard look.

  “Coalmen, sir!” the sergeant reported cheerfully. “Look at these muscles, look how strong they are! It’s like they were born to be Royal Marines!”

  “Coalmen? Nah. They look more like chimney sweeps.” The officer yawned. “Weak and lazy folk.”

  “Chimney sweeps?” Kadur leaned toward us. “This is great, sir! Chimney sweeps are not afraid of heights, sir!”

  “We can use that.” The officer tapped his fingers on the desk. “Marines then.”

  “We are tradesmen, sir,” I muttered. “You cannot take us!”

  “We can and we will!” The sergeant grinned. “Or would you rather stand before a tribunal? It’s wartime, my friend. Justice will be swift and painful!”

  A smell of smoke suddenly hit my nose. I coughed and grabbed Ice by the sleeve of his shirt.

  “There was a misunderstanding, sir!” I said. “We will be more than happy to die for the king!”

  “Terrific!” The officer slapped the table. “I like your spirit, boy! Kadur, give them a few coppers and take them to headquarters!”

  “Right, sir!”

  Kadur put his big arms around our shoulders and led us through the city in the direction of the docks. We went along without saying a word, for five more armed bruisers were walking next to us, making escape impossible.

  “You’ll get a good meal and bath first,” the sergeant said. “More than that, there is a nice clean uniform waiting for you, a cosy bunk and a whole tahr to spend! You’ll see, boys, Marines are more than just military, Marines are a big and happy family!”

  “Really?” said Ice.

  I elbowed him in the ribs and my friend snorted indignantly.

  “Yes, boys.” The sergeant beamed. “The Royal Marines are the pride of the Gonkor Navy. Always first on the battlefield, always first to get the plunder!”

  “The plunder?” I pretended to be interested.

  “Of course!” the sergeant exclaimed excitedly. “This is war, boys! On top of your salary you’ll get a fair share of all the spoils! Remember my word, boys. Pretty soon there’ll be Paarian silver jingling in your pockets!”

  “I wonder,” Ice mused, “how it will find its way into our pockets?”

  The sergeant smiled and patted his sword meaningfully.

  We were led through the pickets and pushed into a small crowd of frightened townspeople. Apart from us, there were about a hundred recruits. They stood on the parade ground in front of a long warehouse with no windows. A green flag with the image of a yellow dragon flapped in the wind.

  Next to us I saw an old man who could barely keep his feet. Judging by the smell, he was too drunk to understand what was going on. A little further on, there were several boys in short pants, genuine horror painted on their faces.

  “One heck of an army!” Ice said. “And they are going to fill their pockets with Paarian silver!”

  “With Paarian soil, more likely,” I said.

  “We can’t stay here,” Ice whispered. “We have to get away!”

  “And we will,” I reassured him. “Just keep quiet for now.”

  Two guards passed by with Gonkor hounds on leashes.

  “I really don’t like it,” Ice sighed.

  A few minutes later, Sergeant Kadur was back, this time accompanied by a very young officer.

  The officer paced along the wall of the warehouse and stopped in front of the flag.

  “Men, do you know how lucky you are?” he asked without turning around.

  Ice tugged at my sleeve and rolled his eyes. I giggled.

  “I bet you don’t!” The officer turned sharply on his heels.

  Some of the recruits shrank back.

  “You have the honour of standing under the same banner that once flew over the walls of Ritur, Tergas and Andor!” The officer’s voice rose to a falsetto. “This is the banner of victory!”

  “Yesterday you were simple tradesmen, fishermen, and coalmen,” the sergeant’s voice was more manly and impressive, “but today you have become part of a glorious tradition! You’ll march into battle under the banner of the Dragon! For glory and riches! For king and Gonkor!”

  For some reason, the crowd was not moved by the speech. No one wanted to die for king and Gonkor.

  However, the brave sergeant did not bat an eyelid. He smiled broadly and clapped his hands. “Welcome to the Brotherhood!”

  The doors to the warehouse opened and we saw a long row of wooden beds.

  “You will all be well fed, washed clean and given a fresh uniform,” said the sergeant. “Rest well, boys, tomorrow will be a glorious day!”

  The boys in short pants fainted.

  ✽✽✽

  Ice and I were lying trembling on our beds wrapped in damp smelly blankets. After an ice-cold shower and rancid porridge it was impossible to fall asleep.

  An armed guard with a snarling dog on a leash passed by.

  “We’re in deep shit.” Ice summed our situation up. “What’s your plan?”

  I put a finger to my lips. The situation was dire.

  “I’m gonna burn this bastard along with the damn dog right now!” Ice hissed.

  To use fire in such a confined space was a bad idea, but my friend did not care.

  “Let’s wait till the morning,” I pleaded.

  “Fine,” Ice’s teeth chattered. “Damn, I hate cold!”

  In the morning, the door to the warehouse swung open and the sergeant appeared on the threshold, shining like a small sun. “Rise and shine, soldiers!” he bellowed. “Sun is up!”

  Some frightened recruits even fell out of their beds.

  Ice peered out from under the blanket. “Son of a…” he grumbled, “I should strangle him just for this!”

  A few wagons loaded with uniforms, armour and weapons were waiting for us outside. Further away I saw a field kitchen, and a transport ship, with a wide gangway planted on the shore.

  “Our sergeant wasn’t kidding,” I said. “It seems that after breakfast we will all be shipped straight to Paara!”

  “We have to run now!” Ice said. “Imagine how worried Bevid and Eimor must be!”

  “We will wait for the right moment,” I nodded.

  At the door to the warehouse we got steel helmets and leather breastplates. A bearded armourer scrutinized another recruit and chose a weapon for him. I got a short sword in a worn sheath.
Ice got a rusty spear.

  We moved to the side and looked around. The pier appeared to be heavily guarded, dogs and soldiers on every corner. Across a short stretch of water I saw another ship taking troops and cargo. Short Turukans cheered and laughed, pointing their battle hammers in our direction. I would have laughed too if I was one of them.

  “What a shame.” Ice stuck three fingers through the holes left in his cuirass by arrows. “What are you laughing at? Your backside is not much better!”

  I tried to make a serious face. “Let’s look on the bright side, pal. It will be cooler that way!”

  Some of the recruits could barely fit into their armour, others had armour that was several sizes too big. Next to us I saw a fatty with a tiny helmet on top of his head and a boy with a helmet lying on his shoulders.

  “Nice sword!” Ice chuckled when I tried to pull my sword from its sheath. “But you can swing it like a stick!”

  The sergeant stopped in front of us. “What is it?” He poked Ice in the chest with his fat finger. “This thing, boy, we call a helmet. It should be sitting on top of your head, not in your damn hands! You have two minutes to put the rest of your gear on! Move it, boy!”

  Ice and I helped each other to tighten the straps on the sides and swapped helmets.

  “Can you swim?” I asked.

  Ice was grim as a thunder cloud. “Only in shallow places,” he said. “Keep that in mind.”

  We were lined up on the bank next to the gangway. The brave sergeant paced back and forth, meticulously examining each recruit. He patted the pot-bellied old man on the shoulder and smiled. “Proud eagles!” he said. “Just look at you all!”

  One of the eagles staggered and nearly collapsed under the weight of the armament, and the others did not look much better.

  The young officer looked less pleased than the sergeant. “Well, this is the moment we must bid farewell,” he said, pursing his lips. “Our king needs your swords and our kingdom needs your valour!”

  The officer took out a handkerchief and dabbed his dry eyes. “I am proud of you,” he said in a trembling voice. “Truth be told, there is nothing more beautiful than the sight of our heroes marching into battle. Sun shining on their armour, women weeping, waving them goodbye…”

  “Shut up!” shouted one of the recruits. “Go suck on your mommy’s tit!”

  The officer flushed and clenched his fists. Ice chuckled and nudged me with his elbow.

  “Ship them out, sergeant,” the officer said, his lips trembling with resentment. “May Mistar protect you all.”

  “Go to Annuvir together with your Mistar!” I heard a different voice. “We’re all as good as dead! You can’t scare us no more!”

  Soldiers with drawn swords began to push the recruits toward the gangplank and soon we felt the sway of the deck beneath our feet.

  The day was beautiful. White clouds slowly drifted in the high azure sky, colourful flags and pennants fluttered like happy butterflies on Gonkor’s black walls.

  “We are sailing home,” I said. “Who knows, maybe it’s for the best.”

  A slick war galley towed our ship into the open sea.

  “I’m worried about our friends,” Ice sighed. “How are they faring without us?”

  “Better than we are,” I reassured him. “Safe and sound, under the care of old Ovayn.”

  “But what about us?” Ice looked lost.

  Suddenly we heard the sound of bells. Hundreds of them. It was like Gonkor was bidding us farewell.

  “Magister Astar begins Mass, may he freeze in Annuvir!” the fat man said.

  “Today?” I was surprised. “But the envoys were not expected until tomorrow.”

  “They came last night,” the fat man grimaced. “Envoys and an army of knights, all pretty and regal. You, boys, worry not about your wives and girlfriends, these fellas will surely keep your beds warm for you.”

  Ice and I stared at the glittering top of Orvad’s Temple, still perfectly visible even from a distance. Bells rang louder and louder, creating an intricate melody, as if the gods themselves were laughing at us.

  Other transport ships were following us to the left and right. Their decks were packed with people. Some of them fell to their knees and raised their hands to the sky. The short Turukans shouted something, swinging their hammers wildly. Long-robed cavalrymen snapped to attention and lowered their heads.

  Only our ship showed no respect.

  “Bring back the old gods!” someone shouted. “Mistar, go to Annuvir!”

  “We won’t let you plunder our city!”

  “Damn barbarians! Get away from Gonkor!”

  “Astar, go to Annuvir!”

  “Take King Barmor and Queen Norelly with you!”

  “Along with the bastards, Bron and Tremor!”

  “Freedom to Gonkor!”

  “Look, how brave they are,” Ice chuckled. “Too late for this, don’t you think?”

  “They have nothing to lose now.” I stood up for the townsfolk. “Yesterday they were worried about their families, but today they have lost everything, even the fear of death.”

  “Serves them right!” Ice was angry. “They shouldn’t have been sitting idly on their asses waiting for it to happen!”

  Suddenly, the earth trembled. With a deafening roar, Orvad’s Temple flew into the air. A yellow pillar of flames soared to the heavens, obscuring the sun itself. A huge mushroom cloud swelled over the city, getting wider and higher.

  I saw the city walls tremble. Slowly, as if in a dream, a big ripple ran along the outer wall, tearing it apart like a piece of rotten cloth.

  The crowd on the ships fell silent. We stood there, stunned, looking at the terrible destruction caused by the explosion.

  A black mushroom hung over the city, growing bigger with every second. It seemed that day had suddenly turned to night.

  Behind the collapsed city walls I saw red flashes of fire. Black smoke flooded the port, and a moment later, the city disappeared from our sight completely.

  “Watch out!” someone shouted.

  And then debris started to fall. It fell from the sky like projectiles, spraying us with cold sea water.

  A fragment of a stone column hit the ship on our left side. The impact was horrific. The cracking of wood was so loud that at first I thought that it had hit us.

  Fragments of boards, parts of human bodies, oars and rigging, all soared into the air. The ship broke in half and sank right before my eyes. The crew and soldiers shouted, floundering in the water, trying to hold on to the pieces of wreckage, but their heavy armour dragged them down, and they disappeared under the waves, one after another.

  Ice nudged me. Following my friend’s example, I hurriedly took off my armour and helmet. Our shipmates quickly did the same.

  Meanwhile, the debris continued to fall from the sky. Huge chunks of stone, like projectiles thrown by a powerful trebuchet, flopped heavily into the water, raising majestic white plumes – higher than the tallest mast. Smaller fragments flew much faster, tearing wood and steel armour as if they were made of paper.

  Several recruits were already lying on the deck with their heads crushed and limbs torn.

  A huge stone hit the galley on our right, smashing its oars to pieces. The ship lost control and lurched, plunging its shining ram right into the belly of a Turukan transport ship. With a deafening crash, the mast broke over our heads and hit the deck like a huge mace. Our shipmates panicked. A moment later, they were jumping overboard, some of them still wearing their oversized armour. A few managed to cling to the flotsam, but most went down in a heartbeat.

  “That was one heck of an explosion!” Ice laughed. His face was a pale mask with bulging eyes and gaping mouth. “My dad used to say there is nothing scarier than an angry woman!”

  Meanwhile, our ship reached the mouth of the harbour, and we were off into the open sea, leaving the ruins of Gonkor far behind.

  Chapter 6

  The captain of the ship restored
order quickly. On his orders, armed sailors rounded up the remaining recruits on the stern, placed a watchman, and began to clean the deck.

  The dead were thrown overboard. Axes and hammers pounded, saws screeched. The piece of the mast was pushed through the broken bulwarks and the hole was sealed with a piece of sailcloth.

  “Look what Orvad did to the heathens!” one of the recruits shouted. “He punished them with thunder and lightning!”

  “Shut your trap, or I will punish you with fist and boot!” the first mate barked, showing us a large spiked cudgel. “Anyone who opens his mouth without permission will answer to me!”

  Our first mate looked like an angry bull and was built like one. The recruits went quiet.

  I looked at the pitiful remnants of our legion. Apart from me and my friend, there were no more than two dozen recruits left.

  The captain of the ship was overseeing the repairs. “Well, boys,” he turned to us, “did you get your wits together?” He looked amused. “If your knees haven’t turned to jelly, go help the crew with the repairs.”

  Ice and I looked at each other and ran down the ladder to help the crew with the heavy spare mast.

  A few hours later, the shore had disappeared, but the evil-looking cloud above the horizon was getting bigger.

  “I pity you men of Gonkor.” The captain patted Ice on the shoulder. “Such a terrible tragedy!”

  “We are from Bit,” I said hurriedly, fearing that Ice might say something.

  “Good for you,” the sailor nodded. “You still have a place to return to.”

  I liked the captain right away. He worked alongside us like a simple sailor and did not shy away from any work. Now he was sitting in the shade cast by the flapping sails, as dirty and tired as the whole crew. “They called this disaster upon themselves,” he said. “They shouldn’t have listened to that damn preacher.”

  Ice squinted, stretching his numb shoulders. “And where are you from?”

  “From Sankt.” The captain winked. “We threw the apostate out when he tried to mess with our heads. The king even ordered him to be whipped before the crowd, but the damn coward managed to slip away.”