El-Vador's Travels (6 page)

El-Vador
clucked his tongue experimentally. In the stillness it seemed oddly
loud and out of place, as if carried by some unseen force.

He
readied an arrow before continuing down the trail, having a weapon
there and ready to use filled him with reassurance.

Without
abandoning caution entirely, he continued at a slightly quicker pace.
There was something unsettling about how much the surroundings seemed
to have changed without doing so at all. The trees were much like any
other yet somehow they felt different to him.

He
scratched his head, wondering why and how such a feeling had gripped
him.

The
eerie silence ate away at him in a way that nothing else could, his
mind was left naked with nothing but his grief to face. He had buried
himself so deeply into hunting and his hatred of the Orcs that he had
refused to come to terms with the loss of his mother. Now the
suffocating stillness surrounding him brought the memories of her
dead form to the surface. If the Orcs had not attacked when they did
he would have been there for her final words. Now they were lost to
him forever and his oppressors were to blame.

He
needed to see this out, to keep moving forward in the hope that the
quiet would abate and his mind would have something else to preoccupy
itself with.

He
pressed on ahead into this strange forest, passing the growing gloom
of the trees and continuing to wonder why his father had sent him out
here.

To
his right he spotted a large cave, they were not uncommon in his
ventures but much like this part of the forest there was also
something off about this particular formation. It called to him in
ways he couldn't understand in an even stronger voice than the forest
had prior to the start of his wanderings.

The
rays of sunlight that pierced through the rest of the woods fell
short of the darkness of this cave, as if they were loathed to get
too close to it for fear of their brief illumination being
extinguished.

He
slowly made his way toward the entrance, the hair on the nape of his
neck rising in fierce opposition to the counterpoint feeling of dizzy
beckoning. As he drew closer he realised that this cave was not a
natural formation but had been carved out of the surrounding land for
some unknown purpose. Was it a shelter of some kind that guided
travellers in these parts to safety? Why was his father so reticent
to speak of this and what purpose would he have for sending him here?

He
waited for a time, allowing his eyes to adjust to the darkness before
venturing any further. As soon as he set forth into the deeper parts
of the darkness he was greeted with a low humming sound unlike any he
had heard before.

He
did not know if it was a constant single tone from a musical
instrument or the throat of some endless choir. All he knew was the
fear and trepidation that had clashed so vigorously with this strange
enticement had risen by a magnitude.

The
sloping walls of the cave guided him deeper into the darkness, in
turn the goading feeling that demanded further exploration
intensified to meet his previous concerns.

In
this darkness El-Vador would have considered the cave a natural
formation had he not already seen the entrance. Any thoughts that it
wasn't entirely constructed were dispelled when the roof vanished and
he entered a well-lit courtyard.

The
illumination came from a strange marble shrine in the centre of the
cave floor, it almost seemed to pulse with light as El-Vador surveyed
it. The enticement seemed to double in strength as he set his eyes
upon it.

The
shrine seemed both pristine and vague in its form, as if it was
shifting in shape yet retaining an immaculate smoothness in doing so.
The irrational fear that El-Vador had suffered before grew in equal
measure to the coercive drawing of the cave. He distrusted a thing
that could have such great influence over his feelings. Objects that
held men in their sway were few and far between in this world and he
had yet to hear a tale of one which spoke anything but ill.

A
booming laughter bounced off the cave walls, its source unknown.

The
sound sent him springing back. What manner of beast possessed such a
tone and why did it dwell in the depths of this strange cave? As if
to answer his question a large winged creature swept down from the
darkness above and settled upon the shining altar, its eyes wandering
over him in amused curiosity. El-Vador's own eyes went wide with
dread. He had seen many creatures in the land but none such as this,
it radiated danger and struck fear into him in a manner that dwarfed
both the cave and altar.

It
had to be eight feet in height, its leathery wing span at least
double that, and it was neither light nor spindly but seemed to
possess a great muscled bulk. When it opened its mouth as if to
speak, a black substance dripped from its fangs and settled with a
hiss upon the surface of the altar.

Its
terrible eyes remained fixed on El-Vador. It worked a blackened
tongue around its lips as if feeling out its mouth.

El-Vador's
body was paralysed, his brain screamed at him to raise his bow and
take aim at this loathsome beast yet his arms would not comply.

'Why
have you come here, mortal?' A deep rumble sounded in his head.
El-Vador stared at the beast, its mouth had not moved to utter the
words, some form of sorcery had planted them in his head.

Finding
his voice now loosened, El-Vador stared the beast straight in the
eye. 'Die.'

The
laughter came again, this time entirely in his head. He watched
helplessly as his body was drawn closer to the altar, his legs
dragging over the stone floor as if yanked forward by some length of
invisible rope.

'I
will not ask you again, why have you entered my domain and awoken me
from my long slumber?'

Feeling
his throat unlock once more and realising that his stubbornness could
cost him his life, El-Vador chose to answer the beast.

'My
father, Cusband sent me to this place for reasons known only to him.'

The
creature nodded at him, a strange motion on its body. 'I have sensed
his life force waning, has he finally sent a sacrifice to appease his
lord?'

El-Vador
had no idea what the creature was talking about, he was more
concerned by the inference that his father had consorted with demons
such as this.

'I
am no sacrifice.' he said, his voice sounding high and reedy in his
ears. 'Should you think to make me one I will fight you until my last
breath.'

His
defiance seemed to amuse the creature more than anything else, he
felt the constriction around his muscles lessening in response to the
mirth.

'If
you are willing to fight me then do so.' A clawed hand beckoned him
on mockingly.

With
a cry of abhorrence for this unnatural thing, El-Vador aimed an arrow
directly at its maw and let fly. His shaft struck home with the
lethal accuracy of a practised game hunter, yet bounced away as if it
had struck the cave wall instead. The thing laughed and stretched out
to its full towering height, as if in preparation to launch out and
crush the life from this intruder that had presumed to attack it.

Faster
than anything he had witnessed, the creature leapt off the altar and
soared toward him.

El-Vador
dove out of the way at the last second, feeling the claws of the
beast hiss just over his head. Fitting another arrow to his bow, he
loosed again. This one was batted away by the creature's arm as if
the attempt insulted it.

It
sighted the young Elf again and soared through the air once more,
seeking to end this swiftly.

El-Vador
was forced into diving clear of the raking claws a second time,
though he wasn't so fortunate in his evasion. They tore into his
exposed back as he fell away, causing him to cry out in pain.

Angered
at having been struck, he drew back the bowstring to the ear and let
fly once more — and the creature caught the arrow mid-flight
with another savage chuckle. It snapped the shaft and let the
splinters fall to the floor before a deft flicking motion of its hand
bereft El-Vador of his quiver. It hovered over the Elf's bewildered
head and tore itself into pieces before his eyes, the remnants
landing uselessly at his feet.

His
bow was jerked out of his hand and its arms creaked under invisible
force before giving way.

The
string swept forward and wrapped itself over El-Vador's throat. His
hands scrabbled at it desperately as it started to cut off the supply
of air but for all their clawing they couldn't remove it.

He
was drawn forward through the air under the watchful gaze of this
hateful beast.

'Don't
you see?' it asked him. 'You cannot fight me any more than you can
fight the turning of the seasons. I am nature, I am the law and I
hold mastery over all that you are.'

El-Vador
abandoned his attempts to prevent being strangled by his own bow
string and wrapped his fingers around the creature's neck.

Pain
shot down his hands and over his arms as soon as he made contact with
it, the creature offered him a toothy snarl of pleasure, it knew
exactly what was happening to its prey.

The
young Elf hung on though, refusing to let the pain get the better of
him, the claws of the creature snapped over his arms in an attempt to
part them yet still he refused to loose his grip. Dark spots danced
over his eyes as he was starved of air but if he was going to die now
he was determined to take this monster with him.

The
resolve of his former prey seemed to dawn on the creature, which
abandoned its attempts to separate the choke hold and instead pressed
its palms into the boy's chest.

A
concussion of air boomed through the cave as El-Vador was torn free
of the creature and landed heavily on his back, several feet away
from where he had been drawn to before.

Seeing
his death at hand and no way of averting it, he watched and waited
for the beast's next move.

Nothing
happened, the beast landed upon the altar once more and sat watching
him with what El-Vador thought was a gaze of deep consideration.

'You
continued to attack me even after you knew your death was imminent,'
it stated. 'Perhaps there is still some use for you. Why does your
father ail?'

'He
was struck by an Orcish arrow, he suffers greatly under the
occupation of our lands.'

The
creature nodded at him. 'I sense it, you hold much hatred in your
heart for these Orcs. They are abominations brought onto this plain
by forces outside of my control, they need to be purged.'

'They're
beasts!' El-Vador snarled, forgetting momentarily in his anger that
he was talking to a beast of a different kind. 'I would rid this land
of every Orc had I the power to do so.'

The
creature brandished a small phial of red liquid unlike anything
El-Vador had seen before. It hovered over to his open palm and
nestled there. It was as if the texture of the container was made of
solid ice, yet it was transparent like the surface of a lake and
didn't feel overly cold to the touch.

'You
are a fair marksman,' the beast remarked. 'Take back your bow and
your quiver and when the time comes to face your deadliest foe, your
arrowheads must be coated in the contents of this phial.'

El-Vador
watched speechlessly as the pieces of bow and quiver leapt off the
floor of the cave and reassembled themselves mid-air, drifting back
into his arms.

'Go
now, my champion. Rid the land of these beasts and strike them with
all the malice and hatred that still lingers in your heart.'

He
tapped the floor with the end of his bow, then held it out at arm's
length before him. It was fully formed and solid to the touch. The
deep laughter echoed around the cave walls once more.

El-Vador
looked back up at the creature, unsure whether to thank him or accept
his gift, he found himself staring into darkness, the beast had gone.

Turning
to leave the cave lest any other wonders befall him, he discovered
that he was now stood outside the entrance as if he had never
ventured beyond it.

He
took several steps back in disbelief, clutching the phial in his hand
as if it were the only way of proving his sanity.

He
rubbed his eyes and scratched his head, wondering whether he had
somehow imagined the entire episode. But then if that were the case
how had he come across the phial? Whatever his experience had been,
it had not been a dream.

Now
that he was clear of the cave he had no trouble retracing his steps
to the settlement. His return journey took him through the tree line
beside the fort Chief Sarvacts' Orcs and Goblins had set up near
their home. As always, they had sentries posted all around the
palisade, all of them vigilant and some giving him looks of distaste.
There was no way that he could hope to surprise them, attempting to
take the fort with just a phial added to his arsenal seemed foolish
even to him.

He
had nearly reached his home settlement when he stopped in his tracks,
the sentries may well be vigilant during the day, but what of the
night?

'Father?' he called as he walked into their home.

Cusband
looked up at him, he was ladling some broth into a wooden cup.

'So you have returned,' he stated. 'What have you learned from your
time in the woods?'

El-Vador
thought back to his encounter with the creature. His father must have
known he would meet it there. 'I have brought back a liquid that will
aid us in our struggle against the Orcs.' he said.

'A
liquid, you say?' asked Cusband, seemingly unimpressed. 'Were you
told how to use this liquid?'

'Well, not exactly.' answered El-Vador, stumbling slightly.