Quarterstars Awakening

by David L. McDaniel

  “Oh, that’s nice, yummy,” Voll said as he spat on the ground. “Besides, you owe me more than a ride. The ride will only repay me for you eating my favorite horse.”

  “Then what do you expect in return for your gracious deed to my daughter.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe I will call on you later when I have figured that out.”

  The dragon lifted her head and snorted hard. I will not be in debt to a human!”

  “Then roast me now, because I am angry enough right now to not care!”

  “Why do you continue to tempt me, little man?”

  “Because, I am mad!” he yelled. “And you owe me more than I can demand right now!”

  “You have me in a place where I am not comfortable. I do, by honor, need to repay your abnormally kind deeds, yet I am not willing to be in long term debt with you.”

  “Fine then!” Voll said as he walked to Aegyn, looked into her eyes and apologized, then climbed on her back and reached underneath one of her scales and pulled out a black and bloody rag and threw it on the ground. As it splattered on the ground Aegyn wailed. Voll reached underneath another scale as the blood from the first scale began to flow from underneath.

  “I will fry you, little man!” the mother dragon bellowed.

  “Do it then. Do it now because I do not enjoy doing this to her.”

  “Stop! Stop it! I will do what you want, just stop and put everything back!” The mother bellowed.

  Voll jumped off of Aegyn’s back, grabbed the rag, and shook it off, rung it out and replaced it underneath the scale, then did the same with the other.

  “What do you ask?” the dragon asked as she lowered her head in submission.

  “I will ask a favor of you later, because, as I said, I do not know what I want yet.”

  “Then ask anything you wish at any time.”

  “How?”

  “You know my daughter’s name. A dragon’s name is sacred. As long as you know a dragon’s name you have control over that dragon for life.”

  “For life?”

  “Yes, for life, but not for you.”

  Voll flinched in confusion.

  “I will grant you the two favors you requested. The first, to take you wherever your horse would have taken you on this day, and the second I will grant later. That is all. If you request any more in the name of Aegyn, since she was foolish enough to grant you her name, I will kill her, then in my grief, I will seek you out and make sure that you and as many humans as possible die a long, slow and gruesome death. I will roast the skin off of your body, but not so much that it will kill you instantly, but rather that you die a long and agonizing death.” The dragon bent her head close to Voll’s face, and smiled. “And I will watch every agonizing minute.”

  “You wouldn’t do that.”

  The dragon took to the air and landed behind Voll. The ground shook as she landed.

  “I hate you human! Give me one reason to kill you and other humans, or elves, and I will do it.”

  “Fine, then we have an agreement. You will take me to the place where my horse would’ve taken me as repayment for eating my horse, then all I have to do is speak Aegyn’s name and she or you will come?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good then. Take me to the elves that injured Aegyn.”

  The dragon snorted in disgust, and flew away, leaving Voll alone with Aegyn.

  Chapter 13

  The Goblin Ridge Mountains blocked the setting sun as Naemyn and the elves approached. It had been raining hard for the last few hours and the last moments of the sun shone on the leaves of the trees as the water dripped off the ends. They had been travelling at a blistering pace for eight days since they left their kingdom. Their perilous trip took them through the human territories unscathed, and they had escaped the clutches of a dragon, but were now approaching a new and equally dangerous part of their journey as they approached the goblin territory.

  Naemyn had pushed his group harder and harder as they neared their destination. He had to, time was running out, and he was getting impatient to find the Shard and report its whereabouts back to King Jaerick. He also somehow hoped to find Traelyn and the Quarterstar Talisman. He found himself in relatively unfamiliar territory, as he had only been here one time in his life, and that was to bury King Keiyann Krowe 178 years ago.

  Even though he was unfamiliar with this area, he still found the general area of the catacombs with ease and was relieved to find that they had also travelled through the goblin territories unscathed as well. He had led the last leg of this expedition on horseback, and halted his small force when he came to a rocky cliff face that was surrounded by tall pine trees.

  His scouts led them past a maze of massive evergreen tree trunks that covered the area so tightly that the whole caravan had to find their way around at painstakingly slow pace. The trees created a canopy, and only bare earth lay beneath their feet. Naemyn halted his group and dismounted his horse. As soon as his feet landed on the soft ground, his memory served him well and clued him in that this was indeed the right place.

  Facing the cliff, he paused and tried to remember where the exact entrance to the catacombs was located. It was hidden by magic to protect the entrance from intruders. A small stream dribbled over a rocky ledge high above them. Deep green vegetation grew in between the rocks soaking up the water as it splashed around it. The stream continued at the base of the rock face and continued down a gradual hillside slope.

  Naemyn smiled, raised his hand, and recited a minor incantation. The water stopped moving and turned into a crack within the rocky ledge, which then split open into a large crevice. The crevice then became a path wide enough to hold two chariots side by side. A few of the elven warriors, who had never been there, gasped at the sight.

  “Dismount,” Naemyn commanded his warriors.

  As they did so, Naemyn ordered his four scouts to secure the perimeter on foot. The elves and their hawks scattered and disappeared into the woods. They were not gone for more than a few seconds when Naemyn heard a rustling in the bushes that was too loud to be caused by the cautious elven scouts.

  Five of them came back to the center of the perimeter, swords in hand, but their bodies were covered in blood. He could not make out whether it was the scouts’ blood or from somewhere else.

  From every direction, creatures came out of the trees. Some had crude, rusty and makeshift swords and shields in their hands while others came out shooting arrows as they ran, but many just charged Naemyn’s men with their swords drawn.

  Naemyn knew instantly that these were ravages, a Goblinoid creature that banded in small territorial tribes of 10 to 15. Their bodies were covered in stubbly hair, tightly woven within their skin, usually in black and tan broken stripes. They looked like disfigured creatures that stood on their hind legs, their teeth incisors extended out of their mouth and often sharpened as a weapon, which was part of their battle compliment.

  They deployed tactics that could only be described as chaotically organized. Initially, they fought on their hind legs as humans until they saw the carnage of battle, but once the battle intensifies, they enter a bloodlust, lose their composure, and drop their weapons to attack on all fours like wolves.

  Two ravages caught up with one of the fleeing scouts and tackled him. One of the ravages pushed the elven scout’s head into the dirt while fighting off his partner at the same time. They fought amongst each other like vultures over dead prey. The scout squirmed and tried to get up, but the ravage still had his head pinned to the ground. As he concentrated on the elf, the other ravage kicked his partner in the ribs. The ravage let out a loud gasp and fell off the scout.

  The scout,
realizing the opportunity, began to scramble away, but the standing ravage jumped onto the scout’s back before he had a chance to stand up, and then bit him in the neck ripping out the whole right side of his neck. Blood sprayed all over the goblin as the scout screamed in pain. The ravage, not liking the sound of the screaming elf, twisted his neck sharply, snapping it, and then took a bite out of the other side of the neck, severing the bone and cartilage, leaving the head connected only by a thin strip of skin on the back of the neck. This caused the ravages to enter bloodlust, drop their weapons, and attack the elves even harder.

  Both ravages and elves locked into close combat, the ravages jumping on their foes from every direction. The elves screamed in terror as their throats were ripped into by the sharp teeth of the ravages, silencing them immediately as blood sprayed upon the ravage, causing it to become even more transfixed in its bloody slaughter.

  Jumping to find their next victim, they scattered after the elves, herding them into a tight circle. Some ravages died before they could reach their foe as the archers hit their mark, while others continued in their attack.

  A small group of elves formed a circle around Naemyn, as he stood motionless in a concentrated trance. The elves outside of this perimeter also knew the importance of protecting Naemyn, and continued to fight hard with their lives. The battle raged in the still forest morning as they fought, but Naemyn heard nothing of his surroundings as he summoned the elements from the forces of nature.

  Just as he was completing his spell, a group of ravages broke through the elven defense and charged through to the circle. Eight ravages battled with six elves, leaving Naemyn now completely unprotected, but it did not matter. Naemyn raised his hands and clapped them together above his head, and as he did so, rocks from the ledge loosened and flew through the air towards their targets. Most of the ravages did not realize what was coming until the boulders struck their bodies or their heads, killing them instantly.

  Within seconds, the battle was over. The elves stopped and looked around at the ravages as they lay in the dirt, dead and unmoving. Some elves sat down. Others went to one knee and surveyed the area; shocked that battle had actually ended so abruptly.

  “Regroup!” one of the ranking elven warrior commanders yelled. The elves all ran to that commander and formed a tight formation in front of him. After a quick count of the living, and the dead, they broke off to collect the dead into one area, prepared them for the trip home, and put them in one of the chariots.

  They regrouped again and this time Naemyn came before them. “This is what we came for. I need three elven warriors to come with me.”

  A few elves stepped forward. Naemyn pointed to Elsron, Paerglae, and Terson who were the first warriors at the scene when he was almost eaten by the dragon. These three elves were crucial in saving his life, and he wanted elves that he knew would do it again if needed

  “I will go in unarmed, but you three may need your weapons in case there are more ravages inside.”

  Naemyn reached into the saddlebags of one of the pack horses and grabbed four torches, kept one, and tossed the other three to the elven volunteers.

  “Let’s go,” he commanded as he stepped on the stone entryway and led the three elves into the crevasse.

  The inner cavern was well lit from the light shining in at the entrance behind them. The walls were a gray polished stone that gave off a soft but unnatural incandescent glow. They had walked as far as they could by natural light, then Naemyn gave the command to light the torches. With this new light, they could see that the cavern was absent of any living creatures. No bugs, spiders, or rats of any kind were evident. The polished stone looked as if someone was maintaining its polish on a regular basis.

  They walked forward and the cavern slowly sloped downward until they came to a set of steep stairs leading further down. As Naemyn continued to lead the way down, the air began to become stale and difficult to breath, causing each step to become a slow and laborious task that took their breath away.

  Just when they thought they could not take another step, they came to an open landing with three solid walls. The four elves looked at Naemyn in confusion. Naemyn stood motionless for many minutes, studying the three walls. The elves wondered if they were going to have to return and back track, for this dead end obviously had them at an impasse.

  “Naemyn?” Elsron asked.

  Naemyn raised his hand, but continued to stare at the walls in deep concentration. Many minutes passed and the three other elves were beginning to groan in impatience. Naemyn let out a loud groan in frustration as he realized the obvious.

  “Now I remember. This is the illusion chamber to chase away any non-elf, or tomb raider. Put out your torches.”

  “But, how will we see?” Terson asked, shaking his head in confusion.

  “Oh, you’ll see,” Naemyn said smiling.

  They extinguished their torches and immediately felt a small breeze blow through the chamber, followed by a shimmering blue light that ran throughout the small chamber as if a number of ghosts had been just released from their long slumber. Within seconds, the light brightened, and the three walls disappeared revealing that they were on a ledge with three sets of stairs leading down to a vast open cavern. A small stream traveled through the center of the valley, and large stone pillars and buildings were scattered along the streambed, almost looking like a small town. Terson motioned with his head to Elsron and Paerglae to look up, which they did, and witnessed in amazement and wonder the stars of the night sky above them.

  “Impossible,” Elsron muttered. “We are inside a cavern…”

  Naemyn and the elves took a deep breath, for the air had become pure and plenty and the light breeze filled their lungs.

  “The spirits have welcomed us. Only in a place of death can you feel so alive.” Naemyn quoted from the ancient manuscripts as the elves were still looking to the sky. “This is how our ancestors rest in peace, my friend. Would you want it any different?”

  “No,” Paerglae said almost inaudibly, still in amazement.

  They walked down one side of the stairs to the floor of the valley. The blue light illuminated the cavern, giving them enough light to see. When they stepped off the stairs and onto the valley floor, their step was welcomed by soft grass. Their feet sank slightly into the grassy cushion. Naemyn led them past a row of twenty stone tombs that were nestled by the stream. Some had statues erected of those entombed, standing guard for eternity. As the small group passed the tombs, he pointed out which great hero rested in each tomb.

  They walked along the stream for what seemed to be an hour before Naemyn stopped again. He stepped in front of a newly erected tomb. Two statues, one in the likeness of the king, and another of an elven guard on one knee looking at the ground saddened, with his the tip of his sword an inch into the ground, were erected in front of the tomb. The stone was cleaner and newer than the others, and looked to be continuously cleaned. Naemyn stopped in front of this tomb and paused in thought as the stream rustled by.

  “I remember this tomb,” Naemyn said. “This is the tomb of our great King Keiyann Krowe.”

  The elves looked at it in wonder, silence and awe as they stood in the presence of all the great kings and heroes of their past. Naemyn turned and faced his three soldiers.

  “Now we have to find the Quarterstar Shard,” he said as he walked in-between them. He continued up-stream. When he was here for King Keiyann Krowe’s funeral, they did not go any further than the tomb in which they laid him. It was a quick ceremony, and then they left without much fanfare or celebration, due to the sadness of losing such a great king.

  Naemyn led on, he needed to get moving. Keiyann was a great king, and deserved homage, but it was time to press on. Turning to his left, he went around a ser
ies of large boulders. The boulders were stacked atop each other in a way that formed a tight inner cavern. Cautiously, he entered in between the rocks that were clumped together. They walked in between them, turning their bodies sideways and shimmying through them until they widened and formed a maze that led deeper and deeper into the cavern.

  They continued walking through the maze going through many twists, turns, and switchbacks. With each switchback, they went deeper and further into the grand tomb. Oddly enough, Naemyn noticed that the deeper they went the brighter the light became, except that the blue light was fading away and was slowly being replaced with a normal white light.

  Then he heard footsteps: Footsteps that were around the corner and coming towards him at a casual pace. Naemyn took a few steps back, hid behind a rock corner, and waited. Out of the light and around the corner approached an elf. A slender elf dressed in a blinding white robe. He walked at a slow steady pace, and he looked down as he walked. He did not see Naemyn as he stepped out from behind the rock. Stopping, he gasped in surprise.

  The elf fell backwards and turned on his hands and knees scurrying to escape. He went a few feet before he realized that no one was chasing him. Slowly he turned and saw that Naemyn was standing in the same spot where they collided. When he realized he was not in any immediate danger he asked, “Who are you?”

  “I am Naemyn, spiritual advisor to the king of elves.”

  “King Jaerick?” he asked.

  “Yes. And I am here on a mission from him.”

  The elf shook his head and looked confused. “This is unexpected. What is your mission?”

  “To retrieve the Quarterstar Shard,” he said boldly, testing the knowledge of this elf, knowing that he could not remove the Shard from the catacombs. As a child, he learned of the prophecy and how the Shard could not be removed by anyone but a descendant of the human king.