Questing Sucks (Book 1) (55 page)

Daniel’s mouth was open, but his eyes were at peace. Calen saw it then, the arrow that jutted out from his chest. Lira pulled him closer, squeezing him in her arms. “The mage boy,” she whispered. “Maybe the mage boy can—”

“He can’t,” Calen said. He knelt down beside Daniel, and placed his fingers over his friend’s eyes, closing them. “I don’t…This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

Lira placed a hand over her face to stop her tears, but they fell through her fingers and landed on the grass. “We won, though. How can the Gods take him from me? He loved me, Calen. And I never got the chance to love him back. Please, please bring him back to me. I will give you anything.”

“If I had the power to raise the dead, I’d have done so for my mother.”

“But…not my Daniel. Why? Just tell me why. I d-don't even know what happened, Calen! Why won't someone just tell me why? He was there, Calen. He was there. And then he wasn't.”

Lira was one of the few people that Calen never expected to hear cry, but when she began, it was no different than that of a small child. She drooled. She moaned. And then she buried her face into Daniel’s chest, holding him tight.

Calen didn’t realize the sun had risen. Back at Hahl, the battle would be starting. He looked towards the mountains and a thought came to him. “Sehn,” he whispered.

Lira didn’t look at him when she spoke. “What about him? Why would you say his name to me?”

Calen shook his head. “He isn’t going to be happy about this, Lira. And somehow, I don’t think anyone has ever seen that Elf truly unhappy. Growing up, I’ve seen him rage, and I’ve seen him depressed, even if he wouldn’t admit to it himself. But I’ve never seen him truly devastated by something. When he learns of this…I don’t think it will be something I want to see. Daniel was his friend, Lira, and other than his mother, Sehn’s never lost someone he’s cared for, whether he admits to caring for them or not. I have a feeling that no place on the world will be safe for the man that is said to wear the mask of a hawk. No, not when Sehn comes to learn of this. Even if hell itself rises up, it won’t be able to stop him.”

Lira kissed Daniel once more on the lips and then closed his mouth. “Then let’s hope he finds out soon.” She glanced down at the man who loved her. Calen felt the longing for his friend. With his mouth and eyes closed, he truly seemed at rest.

“Goodbye, my sweetheart,” Lira said. “I’m sorry that I never told you how much I really loved you. But I always will.”

Chapter 50: Use with Caution

 

Sehn kicked the horse yet again. Couldn’t the damned beast move a little faster? His Elven blade, alight with flame and extended in his arm, cast a bright orange glow on the land around him. Hours before, the muddy pathway leading to Therril had been crowded by thousands of people. Now, it was all but abandoned save for the occasional straggling traveler. Sehn swerved to avoid a sharp rock sticking out of the dirt in front of him, and he groaned when he bucked in the saddle.

Everything seemed to hurt these days. His left hand on the reins sent shivers down his spine, while the weight of the blade in his right added rolling waves of pain to his already aching shoulder blades.

He was nauseous, but he couldn’t lean over to vomit. It was almost too much to sit up in the saddle. Sehn’s back felt as if a knife were being plunged into it, and if that wasn’t enough, now there was dizziness, too. Sehn remembered being dizzy once before, back when he was a child and something called a “fever” declared war on him.

Fucking fever,
Sehn thought.
How dare you attack the Great Sehn’s body again! This time, I shall not be so merciful. Once I have conquered Patrick’s kingdom and taken the throne, having a fever will be made illegal.

Even with the crippling pain, disorienting dizziness, and chills running down his spine, Sehn didn’t allow himself to be slowed. Rather than burning him, the glowing blade spurred him onward. He gritted his teeth and swallowed his discomfort, focusing instead on what lay ahead.

That face…Sehn wouldn’t forget it. The man they called “Champion,” with the eyes of a cat. That man, that foolhardy, detestable man, who threatened the Great Sehn’s disciples—he would pay with his life.

So, this “Champion” wanted to find Sehn, did he? Well, lucky for him, Sehn wouldn’t be the one to disappoint. Besides, even if the man didn’t intend to kill Sehn’s disciples, Sehn would still have a problem with him, if for no other reason than his name.

How dare he call himself ‘Champion’?”
Sehn thought, hissing under his breath.
I am the only champion!

“Move faster, horse!” Sehn shouted at the animal. Instead of complying, the horse neighed at him. The fucking animal actually neighed at him! Sehn tried to insult its mother, hoping that would make the stupid creature go faster, but for some reason it didn’t work. Sehn promised himself that after he had singlehandedly won the war by killing every single enemy soldier all by himself, he’d learn to speak the horse’s language so he could better insult it.

A disgusting feeling of warmth entered Sehn’s heart, one that Sehn recognized as hope. Patrick, Daniel, Rillith—even Saerith and Saerina, all of them were alive. Somehow, they’d survived the scouting party. But how? How could they possibly have lived? Rillith had said there were at least fifty men heading their way, all armed to the teeth. So how then, did they manage to survive? There was only one possible explanation.

I must have left behind some of my Godly residue, because I was there only moments before. The power of my presence must have still been in the area, and Saerina must have used it to defend Patrick.

The sun was beginning to rise, and Sehn could just make out Hahl in the distance. After Sehn swooped in on the battle and eliminated the entire enemy force with one swing of his blade, he would charge Patrick the standard hero-tax—two cities and a medium-sized island somewhere off the coast.

Sehn was taken away from his thoughts when he heard the cry of an animal. He looked up and growled when he saw the gryphon hovering above him. It descended until it soared only a few dozen feet above the ground and alongside him.

“Sehn, stop for a second!” Shina yelled.

Sehn could tell by the look on his foolish sister’s face that she meant business. Her green eyes were aglow with a passion that reflected Sehn’s own. Lightening danced off her body, making her normally curly black hair stand on end.

“What do you want, Shina?” Sehn asked. “I’ve no time to deal with you. If you haven’t noticed, I’ve got somewhere I need to be.”

Shina sighed. “I know that, but please, will you just stop for a second? I don’t know if Wolly can take much more of this.”

“Wolly?”

It was then that Sehn heard the cries. He looked behind him, and for a moment he thought the chubby Dwarf was flying. Wolly held onto Pancake’s hind legs for dear life, flapping around in the air while he screamed. Tears streaked down his face while the beast pulled him through the sky.

“Old Wolly be
die’in
, I swear it! He be begging ye, Shina. Stop this wicked animal and let Old Wolly come to rest.”

“I told you to hold on, didn’t I? This is what happens when you don’t listen.”

“Oh, Shina, Old Wolly did be
hold’in
on, but he be
have’in
little Dwarf fingers. Damned beast almost killed me. It almost killed Old Wolly!”

Shina gave Pancake a pat on his left side, and the gryphon arched its rear, flipping Wolly over and onto its back before lowering itself to the ground. Dirt splattered as the gryphon landed.

Wolly wiped his forehead. “Oh, Gods be praised, but Old
Wolly’ll
never be
do’in
that there craziness again. Please, Sehn, be a good Elf and give us a chance to be
speak’in
with ye.”

Sehn was in no mood for their antics, but he didn’t want them following him into battle, either. Not that he cared for his sister and Wolly’s lives or anything—Sehn would never care about someone’s life—but maybe if he listened to them they’d go away and stop bugging him.

Sehn let the flames covering his blade extinguish. He sheathed the weapon. “What do you two want?”

Shina was the first to speak. “Do you have to do this, Sehn? Is there anything I can say to make you stop?”

“Of course not! Do you honestly believe the Great Sehn will run from a fight? Hah! I shall use my magic to grow ten times the size of a giant and stomp on everyone.”

“I’m a mage, you know,” Shina said. “Your lies won’t work on me. I know there’s no such spell.”

“Of course you don’t know about it. It’s a magic that only I, the Great—”

Shina leapt off her mount and ran forward, shushing Sehn with the palm of her hand. Then, before Sehn could react, she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her head into his stomach. Sehn tried to speak, but he couldn’t form words. Shina’s breathing increased and she began to shake. Was she…crying?

She didn’t look at him when she spoke. Her voice buzzed through Sehn’s stomach, but he still managed to hear it.

“You’re my brother,” she said. “My one and only brother. Please don’t do this. You’re not gonna come back alive, and then…then I’ll never see you again. Neither will Nero. Please don’t go, Sehn. You never once did anything I asked you to, not once in my entire life. And I know I’m only eleventh-seasoned, but that’s still a long time. I’m not ready to bury my own brother, so please, let’s go back to Cah’lia.”

Sehn prayed—to himself, of course, who else would he pray to?—that she wouldn’t look at him, but as usual, the universe turned against him. She lifted her head, steadying herself with trembling palms against his knees. Shina acted so mature for her age that Sehn had forgotten she was just a child. Her lips puckered and her face turned red, moist with the tears that ran down her eyes and over her short nose. “P-Please,” she whimpered. “I don’t want you to die. I love you.”

Sehn wanted to smite her for showing such a weak thing as “love,” but for some reason he couldn’t. “Listen to me,” he said. “I thought I lost something once, but then I found out I didn’t. And if I don’t go I’ll lose it again.”

She scrunched her face and every last bit of maturity left her. “And what about me! Do I get you back if I lose you? Or will you rot in the ground, like…like what I saw at...?”

“I’ve made my decision, brat. Now deal with it.”

“There’s nothing I can say?”

“Nothing.”

Shina wiped her face and returned to her mount. Hopping up, she adjusted herself in the saddle. “Then listen to what Wolly has to say, because it’s the only chance you’ve got.”

Sehn had trouble believing her words. What could that moronic Dwarf possibly have to say that could matter to Sehn? Nevertheless, he sighed and motioned for Wolly to speak. “What is it?”

Wolly removed his backpack and removed two objects. One was a brass horn, and the other a long round tube with another one of those button-things on the bottom of it. Both had the same logo on the front—a dwarf holding a wrench.

“Ye be
need’in
these two things if ye wish to be
fight’in
the war.”

Sehn looked at the two objects and laughed. “Hah! The Great Sehn doesn’t need some silly Dwarven toy just to slay thousands of men. He needs only himself.”

Wolly shrugged. “But if ye don’t be
take’in
them, then
ye’ll
never be
know’in
what it’s like to use them. And listen ‘ere to Old Wolly, Sehn, they be something really special.”

Sehn’s ears twitched. “Special?”

“Don’t ye want to know what they do? If ye don’t take Old Wolly’s gizmos, then you’ll never be
find’in
out.”

Sehn filled with curiosity. “Fine, I’ll take them. Now tell me, what do they do?”

“First ye got to make Old Wolly a promise, you do.”

Sehn cursed under his breath. He had no choice. He needed to know what they did, and how could he not? They were so mysterious looking. “What do I have to promise?”

“Oh,
noth’in
much. Just promise Old Wolly you’ll no be
use’in
them.”

“Very well.” Sehn sifted through his packs and removed a Sehn Seal. He signed his name and handed it to Wolly. “There you go. Now, tell me. What do these things do?”

Wolly grinned. “Oh, Sehn, ye will be
love’in
this.”