The Four as One

by R. F. Pace

       During this time, Sara was able to cast a fireball spell at the front of the remaining four.  It didn’t kill any of them, but caused some damage to three of the four.  Taragin cast a spell at the fourth one Sara missed.  It flew backwards about six feet and landed on its back with a loud thud.  Sara drew her bow again.  She and Tammy shot their arrows at the ogres, having a good bit of success.  The arrows weren’t killing them, but they were causing damage and slowing the ogres down.  The battle didn’t last too long as George was able to take a second ogre down. Each of the three wizards eliminated an ogre.

       When the last ogre dropped, everyone took a long, deep sigh of relief.  Exhausted, it took a few minutes before they noticed Jake was not around.  Sara rushed over to where she had last seen him fighting.  She could see his sword stuck in the tree, but no Jake.  Sara’s heart sank and she started screaming, “Where’s Jake?”  The rest of the group began searching for him.

       George located Jake in a brushy section, yelling, “He’s over here!  He’s still alive!  I can’t find anywhere that he’s been hurt.”  Haralin placed his hand on Jake’s cheek to start conducting a check of him, but suddenly snatched his hand back, shrieking, “Ouch!”  At his outburst, everyone looked at him.  Sara was shaking, and asked, “What’s wrong with him?”  Tammy stood next to her with an arm across her shoulder in a supportive manor.

       Haralin looked at Taragin and said, “He is pulsing with a very strange energy.  When I placed my hand on him, I was shocked.  It is like nothing I have ever felt before.”  Taragin started walking around looking at the ogres.  Sara said, “What are you doing?  We can search them later.  Right now we need to help him!”  Taragin said, “Were there not six ogres that attacked us?  I only see five.”

        The other three wizards started walking around looking for the sixth ogre.  After several minutes Sara said, “What is going on?”  Taragin said, “I think Jake has used some very powerful magic and completely eliminated one of the ogres.  If that is the case, he has blacked out and is in a protected state.  There is nothing we will be able to do for him.  He will require a lot of rest.”  “Can we at least move him from the bushes?” Sara asked.  Taragin said, “I do not recommend we touch him at all.  If his body thinks we are attacking him, it will retaliate without thought of the consequences.  If he did eliminate that ogre, we may receive the same fate.  I recommend we just place a cover above him, without it touching him and wait for him to regain his strength.”  When they finished constructing a make-shift shelter to protect Jake.  Sara sat in a small clearing, looking at Jake.  Tammy gave her a wordless hug and joined the others.

       George found Taragin and pulled him to the side away from the others.  “What is the status of that other group to the west?” he asked.  Taragin said, “They continued moving and have bypassed us.  “Well at least there is a bright spot to the day.”  George sighed.

    

  After moving a ways out of range, twelve eyes continued to watch.

  CHAPTER 25

   

       As darkness started to set in, everyone set up camp in the wooded section.  A watch was posted on Jake with instructions to alert Haralin and Taragin when he started to stir.  It was such a helpless feeling for Sara, George and Tammy as they watched over their unmoving friend.  No one got much sleep that night.

       About an hour after sunrise, Jake began to move around.  Taragin had everyone back away from him and wait until he spoke.  It took several minutes before he tried without success to sit up.  “Oh my aching head,” he moaned.  Taragin said, “Someone get him some water.  I think it is safe to approach him now.”  Sara made her way to Jake, asking him, “Are you okay?”  Leaning up on one elbow, Jake replied, “Everything’s okay, except where that elephant sat on my head.”  Sara sat down, and wrapped her arms around him as tears rolled down her cheeks.  Tammy arrived just as he said that and offered him the water skin.  Sara helped him sit up and Jake took a long pull from the skin.

       Taragin approached stating, “Jake, I need you to tell me everything you can remember before you blacked out.”  Jake mumbled, “I’m not really sure what happened.  Everything is still a bit fuzzy.”   Taragin said, “Just rest some more.  We will talk again later.”  George walked over and handed Jake his sword and said, “Here, you may need this.  It took us over three hours to get it out of the tree.”

       Haralin handed Jake a small vial containing a potion and said, “Drink this, it will make you feel better.”  Jake downed it and made an awful face.  Fontun handed him a plate of food that Jake gulped down quickly.  Sara remained by his side through all of this.  Jake looked at Haralin and said, “Whatever that stuff was you gave me tasted like crap, but sure made me feel better.”  Haralin and Sara assisted Jake in moving closer to the fire.  As he sat staring at the flames, Sara watched him, worried about his distant demeanor.

       Taragin was patiently waiting for Jake to tell him what had happened.  Finally looking at Taragin, Jake said, “I was battling the ogre and losing ground to him fast.  The ogre knocked my sword from my hand and was about to strike me when I started yelling.  In the next moment the world went all blurry, and here I am.”  Taragin nodded and said, “You used a death shift.  It is very rare that one can use such powerful magic.  Who taught you that?”  Jake said, “No one taught me that.  I have no idea what a death shift is.”  Taragin raised his eyebrows, “Really?  Then it is even rarer for one to have that ability.”  Jake shrugged, and said, “All I knew was I was about to die and was trying to stop him from killing me.”  Taragin smiled, “That you did.  You not only stopped him, you eliminated him from existence.”  Jake stared at him and said, “What do you mean?”  Taragin replied, “We cannot find the body of that ogre.  He disappeared.” George had to add his two cents, “That was the meanest, and ugliest thing I have ever seen walking.  It kind of reminded me of your troll girlfriend from the mountains.”  Sara frowned and threw a rock at George.  “I don’t find that very amusing” Sara said.

       Jake was dumbfounded by what Taragin had to say.  “How long was I out?” he asked. Sara said, “Just over half a day.”  Jake inched closer to Sara and said, “Did you miss me?”  Sara slapped him and moved to get up.  Without thinking about his action, Jake pulled her back down and kissed her.  From across the way, George yelled, “Hey, get a room!”  Pulling away, Jake suddenly realized where he was and what he was doing. He turned blood red and said, “Sorry about that.”  Sara hit him again and said, “Sorry?  Well it’s about time.  You should have done that a long time ago, if you ask me.”  Jake was slightly embarrassed, turned and stared into the fire.  Taragin broke the uncomfortable silence and said, “I suggest we stay for the rest of the day and leave early in the morning.”

       The group just hung around doing nothing in particular for the rest of the day.  Fontun worked his magic with the evening meal.  Jake said, “Please don’t repeat this, but Fontun’s cooking is a lot better than my mom’s.”  After a bit of laughing, the others agreed with Jake’s statement. 

   

  ***

   

       The early morning noises and smells were a peaceful and tranquil time for everyone.  It was a lazy, stay-in-your-bed type of morning and no one was moving very fast.  It took a while to get everyone in gear and heading back down the road.  Once on their way, they moved at a good clip.

       Taragin rode up beside Jake and gave him the “I have bad news” look.  Jake said, “Let me guess, we have multiple bogies inbound.”  Taragin now looked confused and didn’t know how to respond.  George and Tammy could be heard snickering.  Sara said, “Jake!  He has something important to tell you, and you’re making jokes.”  Jake looked from Sara back to Taragin and asked, “How many creatures do we have in the area?”  Taragin said, “Not counting the ones that have been following us from the
beginning, about 70 to 100 very large creatures.  “You’ve got to be kidding me!”  Jake blurted.  The laughing stopped and the only sound was from the horse’s hooves coming to a pause. Taragin started laughing and said, “You should see the looks on your faces!”  Jake said, “Okay, you got me, and I probably deserved that one.”  Taragin said, “We do have about 20 to 25 creatures a little ways up the trail.”

       Everyone was waiting for Taragin to say he was still joking, but he wasn’t.  Taragin said, “We should reach them rather quickly at the rate we were riding.”  “Can we go around them?”  Jake asked.  “We would have to leave the road and go deep into the wild, but we could ride around them,” Taragin answered then added, “I wouldn’t advise doing so, for there are more unknowns in the wild and less protection.”

       Jake thought for a few minutes and looked over to Sara, Tammy and George.  Each of them shrugged their shoulders.  Jake asked, “How is the road ahead of us?”  Taragin considered for a moment before answering, “It remains the same as where we are currently. If memory serves me correctly, there is a junction with a small town just ahead.  This would be in the same area I have located the creatures.”  Jake said, “Then it may be humans and not some evil creature?”

       Taragin said, “This is true, but I would not place a bet on that.”  “Let’s ride a bit closer to see what kind of fortune we will have,” Jake said.  “Give me a yell when we are getting close to them, please.”  Taragin gave him a nod and rode back to his place in line.

       Sara asked, “What do you plan on doing?”  Jake gave a half-hearted grin and shrugged.  After thinking for a few minutes he said, “We need to find out what’s there first.”  Sara smiled and said, “We’ll know soon enough.”

       They rode for about 45 minutes in silence before Taragin spoke, “We draw near.”  Jake stopped and asked, “How close?”  Taragin said, “We should see them shortly.”  Jake said, “Let’s move off the trail and into the grassy area to keep our dust and noise level down.  If I raise my hand, that means to stop.  Taragin, join me and we will ride out in front a little ways to scout the area.”

       Taragin joined Jake at the front and Sara waited for Stirgan to ride up to her side.  Jake and Taragin moved slowly away from the group.  After about five minutes they spotted what they were looking for.  Jake whispered, “Not good.”  “I have to agree with you on that.”  Taragin replied.

  CHAPTER 26

   

       Jake and Taragin could see a horde of creatures.  There were two large hobgoblins and 20 to 30 goblins and kobolds standing near the crossroad.  Taragin said, “I did not think we would have well-structured groups this far from the Dwarven Caverns.  They look to be some type of a raiding party.” Jake said, “I wonder what they’re after?”  Taragin said, “No idea.  Maybe we can keep one alive and ask them.”  Jake asked, “Can you speak their language?”  Taragin raised his eyebrows and said, “No, but you can.”

       Jake was ready to object when he remembered he was able to understand the elves’ language after he had touched Yatuku.  Jake finally said, “I’ll try just about anything once, but before we get down to the interrogation, how are we going to get rid of the rest of them?”

       After scanning the area, Jake noticed a small village in the distance behind the horde.  “What is that village beyond them?” he asked Taragin.  It took Taragin a couple of seconds to spot where Jake was talking about.  He replied, “It is or probably was a small farming and trade post.  By the looks of that group it belongs to them now.”  “I’ll bet there is friends of theirs in that little village too,” Jake replied.  Taragin said, “That would be a great assumption.”

       Jake and Taragin stopped to allow the other riders to catch up. They informed them of what they had seen.  George said, “Going around them maybe the best answer if you asked me.”  Sara added, “I kind of agree, but then we may have to deal with them as we come back this way.”  Tammy said, “Or them sneaking up on us and attacking from behind when we do go around.”

       Jake thought about waiting until dark to attack them.  Jake asked Taragin, “Can they see very well at night?”  Taragin said, “Most of the creatures of this land can see about sixty feet around them in the dark.  Most humans need a light source, whereas these creatures will see heat from our bodies.”  Jake look at Sara and said “There goes the ninja-in-the-dark plan.”  George was smiling while practicing his Kung-Fu moves.  Sara said, “You two are more like the two left footed students than the ninja type.”  Tammy found the humor in it and started laughing.  The four wizards were totally clueless about what they were talking about.  Jake gave a fake frown and a disappointed look toward Sara.  Crossing his arms over his chest, he said, “But I wanted to be a ninja.  You ruin all the fun when you’re being a stick in the mud.”  George started to snicker at Jake and Sara.  Before long the four teens were having a fit of laughter about the conversation.  Taragin and the others were lost.

       Taking a moment to think, Jake dismounted from his horse and paced back and forth across the trail.  The other members of the group dismounted as well, letting the horses rest.  Jake finally said, “We can work our way back toward the east, then first thing in the morning, the sun will be behind us.  They will have a harder time seeing us come at them.”  Everyone was deep in thought with this plan

       Stirgan said, “The sun may make us more prominent if it is not high enough in the sky.  On the other hand, if it gets too high, we will stand out just the same.”  Jake said, “We will have to time it just right to do this.  Stirgan is right.  It may cause us more problems than it’s worth.”  Tammy said, “With the sun behind us, it will help conceal our arrows.  This should give us a little bit of an advantage.”  George said, “See I told you guys she’s smarter than she looks.”  Everyone went wide-eyed at the comment and just looked at George.  Tammy’s mouth dropped open and she slapped him a bit harder than she intended too.  When Tammy struck him, they all stared to laugh.  George was now trying to back track with what he had said.  The more he tried, the worst it got for him.  Tammy knew he was trying to make a joke and was playing it up for all it was worth.  She threw her nose in the air and walked away from him towards Sara.

       Jake said, “I can see the two of you on a talk show telling everyone your problems.”  Sara started to laugh, which caused Tammy to laugh.  George was smiling, but realized he messed up big time and would have to pay dearly for it down the road.  The poor wizards were not sure how to react to most of what was said.  They just played along with the reactions of everyone else.

       Taragin changed the subject when he said, “If we are to do this, we will want to eat now then turn back some so that we are staged for the morning.”  Fontun didn’t have to be told twice, he move over to one of the pack horses and began removing food items he required to make the meal.

       Soon they were sitting down eating another delicious meal.  George said, “Magic assisted meals are better than microwave meals if you ask me.”  Jake and Sara were both nodding their agreement with his statement.  It didn’t take long before the food was devoured.  After everything was stowed, they started to backtrack.

       They traveled back south about half a mile. At that point, they turned toward the east, and rode for another half mile before they turned back toward the north.  When they believed they had rode the half mile north, they dismounted and started walking their horses.  Jake told everyone to wait while he and George went west to see if they were in the right location. It was just over half a league when they got sight of the crossroads.  Jake figured they had overshot their location by several hundred yards.

      Jake and George returned to the group, advising of the miscalculation. They moved the group into position to attack the mass of creatures that were now due west of them.  Taragin suggested that when it got dark, everyone should m
ove closer, except one person who would remain behind to tend to the horses.

       As darkness fell upon them, everyone except Fontun moved toward the crossroads.  Taragin stated they were in range to strike and just far enough not to be seen by the horde.  Everyone took turns resting throughout the night.  Just as the night sky was starting to lighten, they started moving slowly west.

       Taragin announced, “For some reason, I am unable to detect anything in the area.”  When the crossroads came into view, they were shocked to find there was not a soul around.  George whispered, “Do you think it’s a trap?”  Jake replied, “I have no idea.”  Both looked over to Taragin.  Taragin was studying the area.  He turned to them and said, “They must have gone to the village for the evening.  I am bothered by my magic not detecting anything.”  Jake said, “When we were training we were informed not to rely on magic because there are areas here that it will not work.  Do you think that may be the case here?”  Taragin said, “It is possible, but I am still concerned.”  “Why?” Jake asked.  “If it is because this is just one of those problem areas then fine, but, there is one other reason I can think of.  After a brief pause, he continued, “If a high level wizard has cast a spell to prevent the use of magic here that would explain why I cannot detect anyone.”  Jake asked, “If that’s the case, can the high-level wizard use magic in the affected area?”  Taragin said, “No.  That is the only bright spot I can see in all of this.”  Sara added, “If that’s the case, then the wizard must think he has the numbers to prevent someone from attacking them.”  Taragin replied, “That would be a good assumption.”