The Orphan Wars (Book One) (9 page)

"This backpack is worthless!" yelled Nemeth. 
"It just shrunk the Mana Potion and put it in some sort of swirling vortex!  Even if I got it out of there, it's so small now that I'd be lucky to restore even a single mana point by drinking what's left!"

"Reach into the vortex
and carefully touch the Mana Potion," replied Jaida.  "It should return to its original size."

Nemeth reached into the Infini
te Backpack and exercised caution when he touched the miniaturized version of the Mana Potion.  The Mana Potion was released from the vortex.  It returned to its normal size and placed itself directly into Nemeth's hand.

"I'm sorry," said Nemeth.  "I've changed my opinion about this backpack.  This
might be one of the coolest things I've ever seen!  I can see why Madame Magica was charging 5,000 gold coins for it.  But my store-wide sale is still on.  Everything is free, so I'm going to take anything I want!"

Nemeth walked around each table
in the shop and one by one took each potion and carefully placed it into his new backpack.  Nemeth was now in possession of everything from Mana Potions to Stone Curse Potions.  Nemeth noticed a large treasure chest in the back left corner of the shop.  He opened the treasure chest and revealed a plethora of gold coins, silver coins and diamonds.  Nemeth placed the small fortune in his backpack with great excitement.  Nemeth peered inside the Infinite Backpack to see that each item he had placed inside was swirling around in the colorful vortex and was automatically sorted properly for easy access.

"I think I've got everything I need from here," said Nemeth.  "Let's head outside and see
if Madame Magica is still hanging around.  I think I might have scared her so much that she probably flew away though."

Nemeth then proceeded to make his
way outside the potion shop.  Nemeth looked into the sky.  He could see Madame Magica flying awkwardly in circles on her broom.  It appeared that her left leg was still covered in a thick layer of ice from the Frost Potion.  Under the layer of ice, the same leg was still suffering damage from the Acid Potion.

"Hey Jaida," said Nemeth.  "I need you to give me Madame Magica's overall threat score and
overall threat level."

"Let me see master," replied Nemeth.  "It appears that Madame Magica's overall threat score is 7,250 out of a possible 1,000,000 points.  Her overall threat level to you is low."

Madame Magica shrieked loudly and suddenly made a suicide dive out of the sky aimed at Nemeth.  Nemeth quickly removed a Stone Curse Potion from his backpack and threw it as hard as he possibly could at Madame Magica.  The vial smashed in her face and she crashed into the ground below jamming her broomstick deep into the soil.  Within seconds she turned completely into stone.  The broom remained unharmed and was not changed into stone.  Nemeth sheathed his sword and then removed the broom from the soil.

"
I sure hope that you can hear me even though you're encased in all of that stone," said Nemeth.  "I have a final marketing strategy for the potion shop that I think you'll love.  Now if you'll excuse me, I'll just go ahead and put it into effect right away."

Nemeth ran back into the potion shop.  He walked over to the boiling cauldron.  He took his lantern out and poured a small amount of lantern oil on the floor.
  He put his lantern away again.  While holding the broom horizontally he pushed hard on the top of the boiling cauldron.  The boiling cauldron tipped over pouring a mysterious foul smelling, multi-colored liquid all over the floor.  The mysterious boiling liquid from the cauldron combined with the lantern oil causing a fire to ignite.  Nemeth laughed maniacally and ran out of the shop.  He ran over to Madame Magica who was still turned to stone.  He looked at the potion shop which was quickly being consumed by flames.

"Are you ready to continue ahead master?" asked Jaida.
  "You've caused quite a lot of destruction here."

"No, not yet," replied Nemeth.  "I'll let you know
when I'm ready.  I'm just waiting until the Stone Curse Potion wears off on her."

Nemeth twirled the Escoba Retama X broom all around him in a similar way he trained to learn to fight with a staff.  He continued to watch Madame Magica's Potion Shop burn.
  In the corner of his eye, he noticed that the stone that was encasing Madame Magica was rapidly vanishing.  Moments later, Madame Magica was free once again.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY POTION SHOP!!!???" screamed Madame Magica.

Nemeth swept Madame Magica's legs out from under her with the Escoba Retama X broom knocking her onto the grass.  Madame Magica held the back of her neck with one hand and her left leg with the other.

"STAY DOWN!" yelled Nemeth.  "I've finished my marketing plan changes for your potion shop.  I've decided that I didn't like the design of the shop
so I figured it would be best if it just burned to the ground.  Also, brooms weren't meant to fly on.  They were meant to sweep things, like when I swept your legs out from under you.  Or if I decide to let you live, you could also use that broom to sweep up the rubble from your torched potion shop.  Just what the hell were you thinking earlier?  You started flying around and then you charged towards me.  You nearly crashed and killed yourself.  Even worse, you could have crashed into me and killed me."

"What do you want from me?" asked Madame Magica in a depressed tone.  "You've already done enough damage."

"I want you to stay down there and listen to me!" commanded Nemeth.  "It wasn't that long ago that a group of my friends and I came into your potion shop.  We just needed a break from the academy.  We were so nice to you but you didn't return the favor.  Since you managed to turn two of my friends into stone, we had to go and report to some of the professors that they were missing.  Our friends came back a short time later but we all got in trouble for leaving the academy.  Do you know what our punishment was?"

"I don't know what your punishment was," answered Madame Magica.  "But I'm sure you're going to tell me."

"Oh, how disappointing," said Nemeth.  "You never heard about our punishment.  You're right about one thing and that is the part about me telling you what the punishment is.  Oh, but I'm just a little boy though.  There's a little game that us kids like to play and it is called show and tell.  I think it will make you remember my story.  Tell me witch, are you ready to play show and tell?"

"Yes," replied Madame Magica.  "I'm ready to play."

"Excellent!" exclaimed Nemeth.  "Our punishment was that my friends and I were sent into the Detention Center at Lord Dragomir's Academy.  The Detention Center is pretty much a prison for students and it is where the worst punishments are carried out.  We were each assigned two large, muscular men wearing masks as our guards.  Each of us was tied to a large stone block chiseled into the shape of a heptagon.  We were each given the option of choosing either the number 1 or the number 2.  After we said the number we wanted, one of the guards would spin the stone heptagon until we were dizzy and disoriented.  Then the other guard took a large sledgehammer out.  If you chose the number 1, your right shin would be broken by the sledgehammer.  If you chose the number 2, your left shin would be broken by the sledgehammer.  I chose number 1.  My left shin was crushed so hard that I almost passed out from the pain.  In fact, I wish I had passed out from the pain.  I stayed awake crying until we were let out the next day.  We were given minimal healing.  None of us were able to walk normally for over a month.  We were told to never speak the truth about what happened in the Detention Center otherwise we'd receive further punishment.  Well, that concludes the telling part of the game.  Now it's time for some showing!"

Nemeth began to attack Madame Magica's already injured left leg with the hard end of the broom.  Madame Magica began screaming again.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry," said Nemeth.  "I don't have a sledgehammer with me but I don't want to fail the showing part of this game.  You're just going to have to use your imagination.  Just pretend that this broom is a sledgehammer.  I can only hope hitting that wound on your leg caused by the Acid Potion with this broom gives you a similar experience to what I had to endure."

Nemeth screamed and continued to bash the hard end of the broom into Madame Magica's left leg.
  After striking her about 30 times with the broom, the broom broke in half.  Nemeth gathered up the broken pieces of the broom and threw them into the burning rubble of Madame Magica's Potion Shop.

"And that's how us kiddies play show and tell," s
aid Nemeth.  "I hope you've had fun playing.  You'll have some trouble walking.  You can't fly either.  Oh and if you were using that potion shop as your house as well, then I guess you're homeless now."

"You've ruined me!" cried Madame Magica.

"You did this to yourself," replied Nemeth.  "There are just two more things I need from you.  First, I need you to tell me the name you went by when you taught at Lord Dragomir's Academy.  Second, I need you to apologize for what you did to my friends and me."

"Fine, you win!" cried Madame Magica.  "Many y
ears ago I taught at Lord Dragomir's Academy under the name Professor Margaid.  I'm still bitter about being fired from there.  I'm sorry for what I did to you and your friends!"

"I guess I
really do win then," replied Nemeth.  "Have a lovely evening!"

Nemeth felt a rush of adrenaline from his victory.
  He started to walk away from Madame Magica.  He took out his flask and drank several sips of water from it.  A huge smile came across his face.

"I finally got my revenge!" screamed Nemeth.  "
I thought being free felt good but revenge feels so much sweeter.  I swear there is no greater feeling possible than getting revenge!"

"Master, congratulations on your victory over Madame Magica," said Jaida.  "It is my belief that you have more than enough
money and potions to help you up until your encounter with Terazhul.  I wish that you had not destroyed the Escoba Retama X.  You could have used it to fly."

"Jaida, do you know how ridiculous that sounds?" asked Nemeth.  "Brooms are for witches only. 
Just the mere thought of a story about a boy flying around on a broom trying to save the world makes me sick to my stomach.  What we're dealing with here is real life!  This isn't fiction!"

"
Alright then, are you ready to continue master?" asked Jaida.  "You must want to celebrate or rest but we must continue to proceed towards Norfall."

Nemeth nodded in agreement.
  They continued to travel up and down the Marika Hills towards Norfall.  Storm clouds began to form and a heavy rain began to pour down.  This made Nemeth want to run faster to reach the town.  Nemeth continued to traipse through the muddy hills.  Nemeth and Jaida learned much more about one another on their travels.  They continued to battle numerous Blood Wolves on the way.  After beating one of the Blood Wolves to near death, Nemeth came up with an idea.

"Jaida, I have to ask you a question," said Nemeth.  "
Is there any way that I can prevent a Blood Wolf from mostly vanishing after it dies?"

"Yes, there is a way," replied Jaida.  "You need to quickly move the dead body out of the area where it died.  That way, it will
behave like a regular corpse instead of vanishing."

"That's great information to have," said Nemeth.  "Watch this!"

Nemeth sliced the head off of the badly injured Blood Wolf with his sword.  The head rolled forward a few feet.  Nemeth kicked the severed head a few more feet forward.  Nemeth winced as he grabbed the severed head of the Blood Wolf by one of its ears and placed it into the Infinite Backpack.  The remaining parts of the Blood Wolf vanished as normal, leaving behind 8 silver coins.  Nemeth placed the silver coins in his backpack and turned to Jaida.

"Once again Jaida, thanks for that info," said Nemeth.  "Tha
t severed Blood Wolf's head could be very useful."

Nemeth and Jaida continued travelling through the Marika Hills in the heavy rain
until they finally reached Norfall.  They were very fortunate that they did not encounter any more monsters on their way.  Norfall was unaffected by the Forestial Corruption spell, but it was only a short matter of time before they would be.  The rain began to pour down even harder as they reached Norfall.

"Jaida, I need you to hide for a bit," said Nemeth.
  "There are probably guards and I don't want them to be freaked out."

"Ok, I will!" exclaimed Jaida.  "Aren't you forgetting something again?  Sheath your sword!
  Any time someone sees you carrying a sword, you make yourself a target."

"Oh, that's right," replied Nemeth.  "I was just having so much fun killing Blood Wolves on the way here…"

Nemeth sheathed his sword.  Jaida circled around in the air and disappeared into Nemeth's body straight through the insignia of D'hal Natar on his uniform.  Nemeth's body glowed momentarily.  Nemeth walked right up to the main entrance of Norfall.  He noticed two guards wielding swords at the main entrance to Norfall.

"HALT!" s
houted the guards simultaneously.  "What business do you have running around at night in the rain by yourself young boy?  Do you not know of the dangers outside?  You could easily be killed!"

Nemeth put his head down and put on a fake sad face.  The drama was about to begin.

"I managed to escape from Lord Dragomir's Academy," said Nemeth with a sad tone in his voice. "The amount of abuse the students receive has risen to an all-time high.  I was supposed to be chained to a wall and beaten with a cane for not getting a perfect score on my History of Swords exam.  I just had to make my escape.  I heard that Norfall was the best place to go to so I came here as soon as I could.  Please tell me that you'll let me in your town so I can be safe."

"This news outrages me greatly," said one of the guards.  "I had always heard that Lord
Dragomir's Academy was supposed to be a place where orphans were taken in and cared for.  I heard they were trained to become great soldiers.  I never heard of any cases of abuse before."

"Please, come into town and be safe," said the other guard. 
It is getting very late and the rain seems to be getting worse.  You can stay at the Norfall Inn for the night.  Just explain your story to the innkeeper and tell them that Jebrow and Hedrick will cover your costs for the night.  You'll need a password to get a free stay at the inn.  The password is NOVABURST.  Just don't go telling everyone the password ok?  By the way, I'm Hedrick and this wonderful fellow over here is Jebrow."

Nemeth
raised his head up and feigned a grin.

"Oh thank you guys very much!
" exclaimed Nemeth.  "I'll make my way to the inn right away!  I promise I won't tell anyone the password and I won't cause any trouble!"

Nemeth t
hen proceeded to walk into town.  He made his way under the awning of the nearest building to shield himself from the rain.  Jaida reappeared once again.

"Why didn't you just tell them the truth?" questio
ned Jaida.  "Those who tell lies at such a young age will grow to become corrupt later in life."

"Oh please!" exclaimed
Nemeth.  "Did you really expect the guards to let me into town at nighttime by telling stories about Terazhul?  So far the Forestial Corruption spell hasn't had any effect here.  If I told them that story, they wouldn't have let me in.  Actually, they probably have thrown me in the town jail.  I played with their emotions and now I've got a free room for the night.  Oh and hey, I don't remember saying for you to come out of hiding just yet!"

"Master, you don't plan on going to sleep now do you?" interrupted Jaida.  "At the very least, we still need to ge
t you a sword made out of metal.  A sword that is similar to the ones that the guards were carrying would work."

"I'll be honest with you,
" said Nemeth.  "There's nothing I'd rather do more than go get the free room at the Norfall Inn and pass out into a nice deep sleep forgetting about all of this nonsense.  But I'm still pretty pumped full of adrenaline from what happened earlier with Madame Magica, so I think I can stay up for as long as I need to in order to complete this quest."

"Excellent!" exclaimed Jaida.  "Keep thinking of your friends that are still in danger and you will remain focused on the task at hand."

"I'm definitely hungry and thirsty though," said Nemeth.  "I don't suppose Guardian Spirits need to eat or drink do they?"

"I do not r
equire anything to eat or drink," replied Jaida.  "That is something only mortals require to survive."

Nemeth took out his flask
of water and took another drink.  His stomach growled even louder than before.

"I really wish I had
more eaten at The Great Hall of Athos when I had a chance," said Nemeth.  "Perhaps it is best if we head to the inn now.  I'm sure they will have food and drink for sale.  After that, we've got to find some shops that sell weapons and armor.  The problem is that it's still nighttime and those shops are probably closed for the evening.  I'm going to have to break into the shops and take what I need."

"
You've already stolen from Madame Magica," replied Jaida in a serious tone.  "That was somewhat justified because of what she did to you and your friends.  But the shopkeepers at Norfall haven't done anything cruel to you.  If you continue stealing from others, you might find yourself following the path of the thief instead of the path of the hero."

"There's really no other option but to take what I want," said Nemeth.  "
We didn't exactly get much money from the Blood Wolves that were killed.  But the good news is that I got a ton of gold, silver and diamonds from Madame Magica's Potion Shop.  I'll just leave some money behind without the shopkeeper being there.  I'm going to need you to vanish again Jaida."

Jaida disappeared back into Nemeth's b
ody causing him to glow temporarily.  Nemeth noticed that the awning he was standing under was attached to a building that its door and all of its windows boarded up.  However, there was also a map in a large frame posted to the left of the door.  Nemeth examined the map carefully.  It appeared that Norfall had much to offer.  There was a fortune teller, a medical center, a blacksmith and even stables.  However, he just needed an inn and a weapon shop.  Luckily it appeared that all he had to do was move straightforward along the path he was already on and he would be able to reach the Norfall Inn.  A short distance after the Norfall Inn was a place called Numandu Weapon Shop.  Nemeth took his focus away from the map and started to walk on a stone road leading to the Norfall Inn.  Looking around, Nemeth noticed that nobody was walking around.  He felt so alone walking around in the rain at night.  He imagined that the townsfolk were all care-free and in a deep sleep.  These thoughts caused Nemeth to feel very jealous.  Jaida emerged from Nemeth's body.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
" asked Jaida.  "WATCH OUT!  STOP!"

Nemeth wa
s walking like a zombie and daydreaming.  He was inches away from walking into a fountain outside of the Norfall Inn.  Jaida's voice had snapped him out of his trance-like state and he stopped short.  As if the rain had not gotten him wet enough, another step or two and he would have tripped and fallen into the fountain.

"I'M OK!
" shouted Nemeth.  "I'm fine.  I'm in a perfect state of mind right now."

Nemeth kneeled down in front of the fountain.  He took his hands and splashed his face with the water from the fountain.  He then got up slowly from his knees back onto his feet.

"Alright, so where is this stupid inn supposed to be at?" questioned Nemeth.

"Master, we are here," said Jaida.  "I sense you are extremely tired.  If I hadn't alerted you, you would have walked
into the fountain."

"Oh,
thanks Jaida…" said Nemeth sounding embarrassed.  "Alright, I'm going inside the inn now.  I need you to vanish again."

Jaida once again d
isappeared within Nemeth's body causing his body to glow for a few seconds.  Nemeth looked at the building in front of him with delight.  He walked carefully up the stone steps and opened the front door.  Nemeth scanned the lobby of the inn.  Straight ahead there was another door.  There were several leather couches surrounding a large glass table on the right.  Candles lined the walls giving off a pleasant amount of light.  A large organ was in the far right corner underneath a staircase going upward.  On the left side, there was a wooden counter which appeared to be the front desk.  Behind the counter there stood a short, rotund man with dark hair wearing a tight-fitting blue overcoat.

"Welcome to the Norfall I
nn!" said the man.  "I'm Tioli and I'm the innkeeper here.  How can I help you today?"

"Pleased to meet you sir," said Nemeth
with a polite tone.  "I need a room for the night.  I soaked from the rain and I am quite exhausted."

"It'll be 250 gold pieces for
a stay in a standard room for the night," replied Tioli.  "I must say you look really young.  My apologies in advance, but you do have money right?"

"Well,
I spoke to two of the guards at the front gate," replied Nemeth.  "Jebrow and Hedrick were their names.  They told me that they were going to cover the cost of my room due to my unfortunate situation."

"Unfortunate situation?" asked Tioli.  "What seems to be the matter?"

Nemeth put on another sad face and hung his head low.

"Well, that's something I'd much rather discuss with you
in the morning sir," said Nemeth quietly.  "I don't think I have the energy to talk about it now.  As for the room, the guards told me that I should just tell you the password which is NOVABURST!"

Nemeth raised his head and made eye contact with Tioli. 
Tioli looked at Nemeth with shock and surprise.

"
Ah that's great news!" said Tioli with excitement in his voice.  "The guards must have really taken a liking to you.  They have decided to pay for your room for the night.  I'll set you up with our finest suite right away.  Your room number is 11.  Normally that room would cost you 550 gold pieces per night.  Consider yourself fortunate kid!"

Tioli reached under the desk and picked out
a large brass key.  He placed the key on top of the counter.  Nemeth was only as tall as the counter and couldn't see over.  He jumped up and down a couple of times and scanned the back area to see what he could find.  He noticed that there seemed to be a treasure chest, as well as a trapdoor partially covered by a blue rug.  Finally he managed a jump high enough and grabbed the key.  He looked at the key, which had the number 11 carved into it and placed it into his backpack.

"Thank you very much sir," said Nemeth.  "
Can I ask you one more favor?  I've journeyed very far and I'm very hungry and thirsty.  Is there any way that I can get something to eat and drink this late?"

"Why of course!" exclaimed
Tioli.  "Head through that door and it will take you into our dining area.  It's open all day and night.  Tell the bartender or waitress what you want and they will be more than happy to prepare it for you."

"Oh, I can't wait to eat!" said Nemeth joyously.
  "Thanks Tioli!"

"Enjoy yourself
while you are here," replied Tioli.  "My duty is to accommodate all those who are staying at the Norfolk Inn.  If there's anything else you need, please come back and see me."

Nemeth walked towards the door of the dining area.  He rubbed his hands together with excitement.  He opened the door, walked in and
slowly shut the door behind him.  The dining room area was a sight to behold.  It was very extravagant and something like he had never seen before.  The room was lit by dozens of candles held from the ceiling by crystal chandeliers.  It felt like it was at least 10 steps up from the dining areas back at Lord Dragomir's Academy.  Nemeth scanned the room to see if there was anybody there.  There appeared to be a slim, teenaged girl with long blonde hair asleep at one of the tables in the center of the room.  There was a slim, handsome man with brown hair standing behind the bar cleaning a glass.  Nemeth walked over to a barstool and climbed atop it to sit down.

"Hello there young fellow,
" said the bartender.  "The name's Divato.  I'm the bartender here at the fabulous Norfolk Inn.  What can I get to you drink?"

Nemeth looked at a large menu of drinks that was posted behind Divato.  There were all sorts of drinks.  There was Pear Juice, Grape Juice, Tomato Juice, Pomegranate Juice, Bl
ueberry Juice and a lot more.  They seemed to have every type of fruit or vegetable available in juice form.  Ambrule was also listed, but it had been crossed off with an X.

"Why is Ambrule crossed off of your menu?" asked Nemeth.

"Well, I couldn't serve Ambrule to someone as young as you anyhow," replied Divato.  "That is, unless you are a dwarf or midget.  You aren't a dwarf or midget are you?"

"I'm not a dwarf or
a midget!" replied Nemeth with an angry tone.

"I was just fooling around kid," replied Divato.  "We don't have any Ambrule because our entire s
upply of it was stolen a few days ago.  We won't get another shipment of it in for at least another week.  We still don't have any leads as to who stole it either.  It's really bothering everyone who works here, especially Tioli since he's the owner.  He's been rather paranoid and anxious.  He's tried accusing just about everyone that comes inside the inn of stealing it.  He's even accused his loyal staff here at the inn of stealing it.  I found it to be highly offensive when he accused me of stealing it.  He's going to wind up hurting business if he continues acting the way he does.  Hell, I wouldn't put it past him to even accuse a young kid like you."

"I'm sorry to hear that," replied Nemeth sincerely. 
"He didn't accuse me of anything though.  I've seen kegs of Ambrule before and they're rather large.  I'm sure he didn't think a midget like me could be capable of carrying them out."

"It's good to see you have a sense of humor after all!" laughed Divato.  "Your first drink
is on the house kid."

"I'll have a Pomegranate Juice
then," said Nemeth.  "It looks like all of these drinks will give me the energy I need.  I'll let you mix up that drink and then I'll tell you something I think you'll find very useful."