The Hidden Realm: Book 04 - Ennodius (10 page)

“This will not turn me green or make my hair fall out, will it?” he asked, favoring Elerian with a suspicious look.

Elerian gave Ascilius a hurt look. “Would I do such a thing to my oldest and best friend?” he asked in an injured voice.

“If it would amuse you, you would do it in a heartbeat,” said Ascilius severely.

Elerian smiled at the serious expression on Ascilius’s face. “The beer is safe, Ascilius,” he said solemnly. “Drink without fear.”

Reassured, Ascilius immediately took a long swallow, for whatever his other faults were, Elerian never lied. The Dwarf sighed happily when he finally lowered his water bottle.

“An excellent brew,” he complimented Elerian.

“Yes, it is,” said Elerian contentedly as he reached for the spit with his right hand.

As night fell around them, he and Ascilius each ate one of the warm hens along with bread and cheese from their packs. The hot meal comforted them, and Ascilius grew almost cheerful as the level of beer in his water bottle dropped steadily. Without any further prodding, he recited his revolving spell for Elerian, who called his spell book to his hand and eagerly wrote down the new charm.

“It is a shame we have to sit in the dark like this,” observed Elerian regretfully after he had sent his spell book away. “We could have a fire and lights and the protection of a shield spell every night if Torquatus and the dragon did not threaten us.”

“It would be a much better world without them,” agreed Ascilius comfortably as he tipped his water bottle again, “but they will not vanish just because you disapprove of them. If you want Torquatus and the dragon to disappear, you will have to get rid of them yourself. They will certainly not leave the Middle Realm of their own volition.”

“I have not the power to defeat either one,” said Elerian sadly. “It is pointless to even think about such a thing.”

“If you had a ring like that of the Goblin King to aid you, you might succeed in defeating them both,” said a quiet, clear voice.

Elerian started, wondering who had spoken. Ascilius did not appear to have heard anything, for he was still comfortably sipping his beer. Had he imagined those words? He was not sure now. Deciding that he had had enough beer for one night, Elerian rose to his feet and walked to the edge of the willow wood. He was tired, but the warm meal and drink, as well as the pleasant exchanges with Ascilius, had put him in a mellow mood.

“If it were not so dangerous, I would keep a full bottle of wine or beer in Ascilius’s hand constantly,” thought Elerian to himself with a smile. “He would certainly be a much more pleasant traveling companion.”

Idly, Elerian searched the darkening plain before him, wondering if Anthea would appear by his side tonight. Thoughts of the creature they had encountered in the cochlear suddenly sent his gaze to the south. He saw no sign of the monster that had appeared in the depths of the dolmen, but his pleasant mood suddenly vanished when his third eye opened, revealing a thin line of scarlet mage light only a few hundred yards to the south, near the edge of the willow wood. The line continued to grow until it formed a large, shimmering, crimson circle in the air. As Elerian watched in dismay, a number of dark figures leaped in eerie silence out of the circle onto the plain. To one without mage sight, they would have seemed to appear out of thin air.

At the forefront of the group, Elerian's keen eyes made out the forms of three shaggy, black canigrae, their eyes glittering like ice in the dark. Five tall Goblins mounted on sleek atriors followed the hounds. With their long noses to the ground the canigrae vanished into the willow wood to their left. Bounding with a lithe grace over the gray plain, the strong, curved claws on their feet digging deep into the earth with each stride they took, the atriors and their riders quickly followed them, leaving the plains empty once more.

GOBLINS BY NIGHT

“Torquatus has discovered us again or guessed closely where we might be found,” thought Elerian to himself as he turned to his right and ran lightly and silently through the trees toward their camp. Briefly, he considered snatching Ascilius up out of his bed and riding off on Enias, trusting to the stallion’s speed to carry them out of reach of their enemies, but he quickly gave up the idea.

“There is no time to run,” he thought to himself regretfully as he sped through the grove. “I will be lucky if I can even wake Ascilius before they are upon us. If we are to survive this night, then we must stand and fight.”

Upon reaching Ascilius’s side, Elerian shook the sleeping the Dwarf by the right shoulder, rousing him from a deep slumber.

“There are Goblins in the wood to the south of us,” said Elerian quietly and urgently when Ascilius opened dark eyes still fogged by sleep. “There is no time to run, for they will be on us in at any moment.”

Elerian’s grim warning cleared Ascilius’s mind as quickly as cold water dashed into his face.

“So, they have found us again, have they?” he said dourly as he leaped to his feet. “They will find that they will pay a heavy price if we are to be their prey tonight,” he continued, his deep voice filled with a grim promise.

Clapping his round steel cap on his head, Ascilius took up his shield on his left arm and his ax in his right hand, swinging the weapon in a threatening manner so that its keen edge made an ugly whining sound as it cut through the air.

“Let us face them out in the open,” he said to Elerian before sprinting toward the edge of the wood. Several hundred feet out on the open plain, he stopped.

“At least there is room to swing an ax here,” said Ascilius aloud as he turned to face the trees. Only silence met his statement, for he found that he was alone. “Where has he gone off too!” muttered Ascilius to himself, for he had thought that Elerian was right behind him. His next thought was a measure of the dark mood that had plagued him over the last few days.

“He has ridden off and left me by myself,” thought Ascilius bleakly to himself. “If I had not seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed it.”

Grimly, he faced the willow wood for a moment before suddenly giving a great shout.

“I can at least give him a head start,” he thought to himself as three shaggy, wolf like canigrae, attracted by his war cry, leaped out of the trees barely twenty yards to his left. Their pale, cruel eyes glittered in the starlight when they saw Ascilius standing by himself in the open. Covering the ground in great bounds, they rushed eagerly toward the Dwarf.

“Canigrae or perhaps lupins,” thought Ascilius to himself. Red fires, lit by hatred, suddenly flickered in his dark eyes when five Goblins, mounted on sleek atriors, broke out of the trees behind the canigrae. They were all tall Urucs, swift as striking snakes and almost as powerful as Dwarves. Dressed head to foot in black mail, they carried dark shields on their left arms. Black bladed swords were upraised in their right hands.

Despite the overwhelming odds, Ascilius courageously raised his ax above his right shoulder, preparing to sell his life as dearly as possible. The first of the hounds was barely twenty feet away when Ascilius suddenly heard a deadly hiss. The two lead canigrae immediately tumbled head over heels one after the other with gray-feathered arrows driven deep into the left sides of their necks. Before he could look for the source of the arrows, the remaining hound flung itself through the air at Ascilius, powerful jaws agape. With a single, swift blow of his upraised ax, the Dwarf split its skull, but the dead body of the powerful beast, carried on by momentum of its leap, struck him heavily in the chest, knocking the wind out of him before sending him over onto his back. 

As Ascilius struggled breathlessly to push aside the weighty body of the dead hound which covered him like a shaggy blanket, Enias rushed soundlessly, like a wraith horse, from the trees to Ascilius’s right with Elerian on his back.

“Death to Goblin kind,” shouted Elerian in a clear voice that rang through the night air.

As one, the five Urucs brutally reined in their atriors, eliciting high squeals of anger from their mounts as they wheeled them around to face Elerian. The Goblins dark eyes gleamed with anticipation, for here was the one they chiefly sought. The Dwarf they could deal with later. In a loose pack, they spurred their mounts toward Elerian, two in front and the other three riding abreast, a little behind the others.

Relief flooded through Ascilius when he heard Elerian’s war cry and a bit of shame, too, for doubting his companion. Finally pushing aside the body of the canigrae, he leaped to his feet.

“Come to me you cowards,” he roared when he saw his enemies riding away from him. When the Urucs ignored him, he sprinted after them.

“Leave some for me,” he shouted urgently to Elerian as he ran, for his worst fear now was that his companion would slay all five of the Goblins before he could join the fight.

Elerian had a brief glimpse of Ascilius running toward him behind the Urucs before turning all of his attention on the pack of Goblins bearing down on him.

“He is as bloodthirsty as ever,” he thought to himself with a slight smile as he calmly shot an arrow at the lead Goblin on his right, the steel point passing over the rim of the Uruc’s shield before catching him in the throat, under his chin. As the Uruc tumbled from his saddle, Elerian cast aside his bow, drawing his sword from behind his back with his right hand and his long knife from his belt with his left. At his silent command, Enias leaped forward. Raising his left hand, Elerian released a killing spell that he had already prepared, aiming for the remaining Uruc on his left. It was a chancy business casting a spell from horseback, but with his magical third eye, Elerian saw a golden orb fly from the tip of his knife, striking the Goblin squarely in the chest. The Uruc tumbled from his saddle, his heart burst asunder by the deadly charm.

As Enias drove between the two riderless atriors, Elerian heard the thud of powerful bodies impacting together and felt Enias shudder beneath him as the stallion drove his right shoulder heavily into the atrior on his right.

“Sweep him off his feet brave heart,” he silently urged the stallion as, turning to his left, he brought down his upraised sword, the keen edge striking the second atrior behind its long, narrow head, sheering it clean off. Elerian heard a squeal of rage as the atrior Enias had forced off balance fell heavily onto its left side. An instant later, he was face to face with the remaining three Goblins.

Dark swords raised high in their right hands; the two lead Goblins edged their atriors away from each other, opening up a gap between them so that they might attack Elerian at the same time from his left and right sides. The third Uruc maintained his position in the center, following slightly behind the others.

As he closed with the two lead Goblins, Elerian saw their eyes glitter with hatred and heard the eager panting of their atriors. When the Uruc on his left raised his left hand, Elerian reacted without thought, casting a shield spell over himself. As Enias darted into the slight gap between the atriors, Elerian saw a brief flare of red and golden light with his third eye as his shield spell repelled the Goblin’s killing spell.

All thought ceased as Elerian let his eyes and instincts guide him, for now he must engage two enemies at once. Deftly raising his left hand, he caught the slender black blade of the Goblin on his left on the hilt guards of his knife. There was a clear ring of steel on steel as the shock of the Uruc’s heavy blow traveled all the way up into his shoulder. Even as Elerian wondered at the Goblin’s great strength, out of the corner of his right eye, he saw the second Goblin’s sword sweeping edge on toward his neck. Instantly, Elerian brought up his own right hand blocking the stroke with the edge of his sword blade. Engaging both of the Urucs at once, Elerian briefly heard the harsh scrape of steel on steel as Enias carried him past the two Goblins until he was suddenly free of their weapons.

The third atrior now reared up before Enias on its hind legs, lunging at the stallion with head and snaky neck extended. Elerian clamped his legs tightly around Enias’s chest and grasped the stallion’s silky mane with his left hand to retain his seat as the Enias also reared up onto his hind legs. He heard the smack of powerful bodies as Enias and the atrior drove into each other, chest to chest, the ropelike muscles in their powerful hind legs rolling and coiling under their sleek hides as they strained against each other. High, shrill screams of anger filled the night as their slender, sinewy necks twisted and bent, each seeking to seize each other with his strong teeth. When the Uruc riding the atrior suddenly leaned forward and aimed a sword stroke at Enias's head, Elerian thrust his knife forward with his left hand. As the Goblin’s blade rang harmlessly on the cross guard of his knife, Elerian leaned forward, driving his own sword blade point first at the Goblin’s throat. The slender tip of his sword scraped past the rim of the Uruc’s shield, striking the fine links of black chain mail covering Goblin’s throat. The power of Elerian’s thrust burst the steel rings, driving deep into the Goblin’s flesh. A look of astonishment crossed the Uruc’s pale, handsome face. Then, he was gone as Enias overbalanced his mount with a final powerful thrust of his hind legs, sending the atrior toppling backwards, clawed feet flailing the air. As the atrior thrashed about, Ascilius darted in, striking a heavy, two-handed blow with his ax that split the creature’s skull.

Even as the atrior died under Ascilius’s ax, Elerian heard the pad of clawed feet behind him. Responding to the pressure of his knees, Enias spun around barely in time to meet an onslaught of claws and snapping fangs as two atriors attacked him, one from each side. As Enias struggled to defend himself, Elerian was hard put to counter the quick, powerful strokes of their riders.

“What deadly skill they display,” was his brief thought as he parried a whirlwind of black steel with sword and knife.

A searing pain suddenly shot up Elerian’s left his left thigh as the atrior on his left closed its fangs on his leg. Holding the two Urucs at bay with his sword, Elerian struck a powerful blow between the beast's savage eyes with the heavy, pommel of his knife. Stunned by the heavy blow, the creature released its grip on Elerian’s leg. Shaking its head and hissing like a huge serpent, it stumbled away to Elerian’s left, carrying its rider away from the fight.

Elerian felt a warm trickle of blood run down his leg as the remaining Uruc redoubled his efforts, seeking to take advantage of his enemy’s wound. While his mount raked Enias's sleek neck with its sharp teeth, the Goblin leaned forward, stabbing at Elerian's face with his sword point. Steel rang on steel as Elerian caught the point of the sword with his own, deflecting it to his right with a powerful twist of his right wrist. For a moment, he had a clear view of the Goblin's pale face and burning eyes as their swords grated against each other before locking together at the cross guards. Elerian stabbed upwards with the knife in his left hand, but the Uruc deftly deflected the blade with his dark shield. As they and their mounts strained mightily against each other, seeking some opening that would end the deadly contest, the atrior Elerian had stunned with his knife hilt finally regained its wits and its footing. Urged on by the spurs of its cruel master, it stealthily closed on Enias from behind, its rider leaning forward over its long, sinewy neck, red sparks gleaming in the depths of his dark eyes as he stabbed at Elerian’s back with a small, slim bladed knife.

Before he could complete the thrust, however, his atrior unexpectedly reared up, emitting a high-pitched squeal of pain before falling heavily onto its left side. With inhuman reflexes, its rider leaped clear of the saddle to land lightly on the ground to the right of his mount. As the atrior thrashed wildly about on the ground, the Uruc backed away to avoid its flailing, clawed feet.

Ascilius, who had cut the atrior’s sinewy left hamstring with his ax, gave a ferocious shout as he hewed off the beast’s narrow head with one sweeping stroke of his ax. The dead atrior’s rider immediately attacked Ascilius with his sword, but the Dwarf fended off the Goblin’s dark blade with his shield, holding his bloody ax ready for the one blow which would finish the Uruc.

“Your head will roll on the ground in a moment,” Ascilius taunted him.

As if frightened by the threat, the Goblin suddenly gave way before him. Ascilius eagerly pursued him, unaware that a pair of savage eyes was fixed on his back. The atrior which Enias had first swept off its feet at the beginning of the battle had long since recovered from the blow given it by the gray stallion. After regaining its feet, it had hung about the margins of the battle, waiting for an opportunity to savage someone. Seeing that Ascilius’s back was turned, the cunning creature had crept up behind the Dwarf. Before Ascilius was aware of it, the atrior darted out its long, snakelike neck, seizing the back of his left calf in its long, deadly fangs. With a powerful wrench of its neck, the atrior threw the Dwarf heavily to the ground.

“I will return for you in a moment, my short friend,” said the Uruc mockingly to Ascilius before turning away to attack Elerian again.

Ascilius gave a great roar of anger, but each time he tried to stand up, the atrior, jerked him off his feet, inflicting more damage on the thick muscles of his calf.

Elerian heard Ascilius’s below of rage but was unable to turn away from his opponent. Their swords were still locked together and neither could gain any advantage, for they were evenly matched in strength and fighting skill. Abruptly, the Uruc’s atrior pulled away from Enias, so that it could use its deadly clawed feet against the stallion. After their swords grated apart, Elerian and the Goblin resumed trading swift blows, the steel of their swords ringing and sparking in the dark as they balanced on their lunging, twisting mounts. Suddenly, the Uruc’s atrior reared up. Lashing out with its right front foot, it opened Enias’s left shoulder down to the bone with its hooked claws.