by Clark Bolton
Autbek could see Murac had been drinking a bit and so figured the man was not about to divulge things to him, particularly since Murac bore no insignia and was generally unknown to the city guard. “I am he, lieutenant. How may I help you?” The air was chilly but not uncomfortable and it was starting to clear his head of the wine he had indulged in.
“May I speak in confidence with you?” The man glanced politely at Onaleen who was remaining quite.
“Speak freely, they are both confidants of mine.”
“Very well, my lord. It concerns a bit of a problem we in the fifth barracks have been left with ever since the construction of your mage academy was halted. A number of sacks my lord, now at least five total though there is likely more that never got filled … rumors of that anyway.”
He remembered no sacks, though he had not really been part of the construction. “Not meaningful to us I think. Is there something that needs to be removed?”
The man raised his eyebrows a bit and seemed taken aback by Autbek’s lack of knowledge it seemed. “I’ll say my lord, something needs to be found and we are wondering if this time your office can be involved.”
Autbek furrowed his brow at the man’s tone of voice. He was never one to pull rank, though it was never clear to him what rank he had with the city guard, particularly over an officer thereof. “I’m afraid his lordship the Earl has halted any dealings my office has with the site.”
Murac stepped up, “O’t, he means bodies. Sacks with the dead in them and wants our help with it.”
He cringed a little and looked to Onaleen who had a grim look on her face. “Well, we will help you as always, but I’m not sure what we can do.”
“Can you attend us then; we are searching the area now. We have not in the past gotten aid from the Mage-Councilor’s office, when we called for it.”
“I had never realized you had in the past!”
The man sized him up for a moment. “Lord Tenric, he was asked, but he always refused. Could have saved lives methinks, townsfolk anyways.”
Autbek looked to Murac and then thought for a few moments. It appeared he had an obligation, though he wished Berdtom was here to clarify it. “Can this wait until we contact my captain?”
The man gave him a glance of disapproval. “There will be another sack at least by then.” The lieutenant then climbed onto his horse, and appeared about to leave.
Autbek felt compelled to assist as he could. “Murac and I will come with you though I know not what we can do.”
“Perhaps nothing us soldiers can do either … likely the place needs more leveling and fires built. That’s what usually ends a hunt like this.”
They quickly arranged for an escort with the Baroness's men for Onaleen then he and Murac mounted up and headed off into the dark city.
The lieutenant kept a hard pace for a time until Murac started asking questions of him. The man had little information only that something was sneaking around in the night and dragging people away. Pieces of the victims had been found, usually not far from where they disappeared. All had been alone though there was a related sighting of some creature not far from the construction site the night before.
“Large and red was what we got out of the man. As big as an ox and twice as tall.” The lieutenant commented as they came upon the scene.
There before them were about fifteen men, most were city guards but several had dogs with them and looked to be some kind of trackers. None were mounted and all looked very serious as they waited for the lieutenant with swords drawn and spears ready.
“How goes it, sergeant?”
“Dogs got a whiff of something, sir. Down that way I think, we’ve called for more men and are just waiting.
Murac got off his horse and mentioned for Autbek to do the same. “Why wait, seems we got enough now.” He then relieved one of the men of a long spear and began testing it for balance.
No one answered him as walked to the dark entrance of the narrow street that apparently the dogs thought was the direction to go.
“Can you enchant this, O’t?” Murac asked as he peered intently into the dark.
Autbek watched as a shocked look come over the men as he walked over to Murac. He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts then cast the spell. Soon the spear tip glowed and sparkled a bit with arcane energies. Then he motioned to the short sword Murac always had at his belt. With that drawn he enchanted it also.
“Good, now the dogs!” Murac said motioning for them to go first.
Autbek reached out and grabbed Murac’s arm to stop him. “One more … it will let you see better.” He then cast the night-sight spell upon himself and Murac.
Then a brief moment followed when no one moved until Murac took a few steps into the relative darkness. “Well?”
Shamed now the guards nodded their heads and the two men holding the dogs by their leash walked forward. Half the men had torches or lanterns but it seemed to them all the darkness just swallowed most of it. About several hundred paces down the alley the dogs found something.
“It’s a foot!” One tracker announced.
“Gods! Get a bag for it.” The lieutenant commanded.
But as a man with a bag approached the foot the near silence of the night was cut by a horrendous hiss like growl.
“SHSSSPT!”
The sound chilled them to the bone and sent the dogs yelping back toward the rear causing the trackers to struggle to stop them from fleeing. Nearly every man had reflexively crouched at the sound including Autbek, whose heart was racing out of control now. However, Murac simply readied his spear for a cast.
“Hold steady now men, I think I see it there above the doorway. O’t, can you get light down there.
He wanted to leave in the worst way and was about to plead for Murac to back up when the man took several quick steps and cast his spear into the darkness. The man was poetry in motion as he literally left the ground to put all his momentum into the throw.
“NNNNGHCHHH!”
This second roar from the creature nearly caused all the men to break and run. Glancing quickly back, and seriously thinking about running too, Autbek could see now that over half were now twenty or thirty paces back behind him and he was a good twenty behind Murac with only the two trackers standing next to him now. The dogs were barking and snarling now, which worked in their favor as it seemed to give the men in the rear a little courage.
“Got the whore’s son! Another spear quick!” Murac yelled as he held his open hand out behind him as he sought to keep his eyes on the target. “O’t, light damn it!”
Autbek heart was like a hammer in his chest as he thought what to do. Then gathering himself he closed his eyes for but a moment then threw forth a spray of light that turned the entire street into day for two hundred paces. The spell would last only a few seconds he knew but it did have a side effect such that any light source such as candles, braziers and the like would continue to emit light for a few minutes.
They all saw it now. It was a nearly naked man-like greenish creature with what looked to be scaly flesh and great fangs. It wore no shoes allowing it to keep purchase on the stone archway upon which it stood with its clawed feet, some distance above the ground.
Murac’s spear was buried in its thigh and as soon as the street was lit it began climbing like a horrid long legged spider. When Murac finally got his second spear the thing was just climbing out of sight onto the roof of the three storied building.
Turning to Autbek, Murac asked, “can you get me up there!”
“What?” He could not believe even Murac would follow such a thing up into the dark.
“Levitate spell, come on! This thing is going to get away.”
“Ok … yeah … um yes!” He calmed himself as best he could then began casting the spell and soon Murac was crawling with his hands effortlessly up the face of the building.
“Get me up there, O’t! There will be more sacks come tomorrow if we don’t move!”
There was some additional light still from the light sources that his spell had affected, nothing like what the spell had accomplished when first cast but enough for the guards and trackers to move around freely. They began gathering below Murac.
“Damn! Is he fearless?” The lieutenant asked as he began positioning men further down and some back where they had come from.
Autbek chose not to answer as he concentrated on Murac to lift him every higher. Near the top now Murac ready his spear and then pulled himself quickly up out of sight. Fearing for the man, Autbek was at a loss what to do, but then reinforcements arrived in the form of mounted men-at-arms.
“There!” Someone called as a spear shot out of the night. It sailed over the street from Murac’s side and then disappeared with the sharp smack of metal on stone on to the opposite rooftop.
Autbek quickly positioned himself on the other side from where the spear went to see if he could see the creature. The street now had some thirty men in it with about eight or nine mounted.
“It’s coming down above the horses!” Murac yelled. He had missed it on his second cast and so now had nothing but his short sword.
A horrific scene then ensued as the creature actual leaped out of the darkness onto the horsemen from above with a scream that drove the horses into a panic. Autbek thought for sure the creature would then run or climb back up due to overwhelming odds, but instead the thing began sinking its teeth and claws into both men and horses.
“O’t! Shoot something … your lightning bolt … anything.” Murac screamed from the rooftop.
The creature moved quickly from one horse to fallen men and then back to the horse. It took a huge bit from the horse's throat that instantly killed the beast. The thing seemed fearless and perhaps with good reason as the men had utterly failed yet to mount an attack.
Autbek prepared his thunderbolt but then found there was no way he could cast it without hitting many of the men. His hesitation cost one man his life as the creature literally tore the man’s arm off and then sank its fangs deep.
PSST, PSST, PSST, PSST.
Four tiny missiles of arcane energy streaked from Autbek’s hand to strike the creature in the chest. To his surprise the thing actually went down with a thud among the bodies. For just a moment only the cries of the dying could be heard but then the thing staggered back to its feet.
Murac had gotten down off the building now and was rushing for the thing. As he past Autbek he yelled again for a lightning bolt.
Instead Autbek cast his missile spell again.
PSST, PSST, PSST, PSST.
This time the creature looked and screamed at Autbek as it staggered. They could all see now that its scaly flesh was already closing about the holes made by the previous missiles.
“ROARRRRRR!”
The creature rushed at Autbek who turned to flee just as Murac met the thing’s charge with a pole-arm he had somehow managed to acquire. At the last instant Murac planted the shaft of his weapon in the cobblestones. The thing was caught dead center and nearly left the ground as Murac twisted and forced the thing to the side as if it was a wild boar.
Autbek stopped running and turned to watch as he fumbled to get the small set of scrolls he had out of his tunic. He did not know what to do as he watched Murac struggle with all his might to keep the thing pinned against the wall where it joined a set of steps. When it became obvious the creature was about to break free Autbek yelled, “Get down Murac!” as he cast from one of the scrolls.
“CRAAAACKKKK!”
The light was blinding and the sound deafening. As if in a dream Autbek watched men running in silence as he tried to blink the searing streak of light from his eyes. He thought to look for the creature but could not see it, and then he noticed Murac hacking at something. After several seconds other men joined Murac and soon he could make out the thuds and crunches as the creature was systematically dismembered.
The spell had felled the creature, with much of it charred, but still pieces of it twitched even after being chopped into small bits. Finally they brought in wood and built a massive fire in the center of the street onto which they cast every piece of the creature they could find.
The consensus was that the thing was a “troll,” a creature encountered before in the city in years past. Always they had razed the building under which they believed it dwelt as a means of destroying it.
Exhausted, Autbek sat on some steps and watched scores of men work on destroying the troll and doing what they could to help the injured. He found himself wishing he had some healing talents and hoped that Onaleen or one of the other girls at least would have some.
When Murac walked over to check on him Autbek asked, “How many were killed?”
Murac himself was a gory mess but had no serious injuries. “Four are gone, and two more likely to be I think.”
Closing his eyes he felt he had to say, “I was too slow, I should have cast the scroll right away!”
“Hmm, I was too slow also, O’t. And my aim was poor with that second spear.”
“No! You were the bravest of us all, and without you half of us would be dead … including me!”
“Yes, but that’s the way it works, O’t. You can always do better and you will always have the shame of not doing just that.”
He looked up at Murac, who winked at him. “I’ll do better, Murac.” He said, as much to himself as to Murac.
“As shall I, but first I will forgive myself and you for not being better!”
That caused Autbek to think for a few moments. “Ok,” he said with a thin smile that soon disappeared.
An hour or two past as the dead and injured were taken away in oxcarts. Lieutenant Prestat stopped by with his captain to humbly thank them as did many of the men. At first this seemed strange to Autbek as so many had died before he was able to help, but then he realized the soldiers accepted that, and that they really followed Murac’s point of view. It made him feel a part of them in a way.
“You’ll help us again tomorrow, my lord, with the other one?” The sergeant who had been there from the beginning asked. It surprised them as they figured the job was done.
“Another?” Autbek asked in shock.
“Afraid so, my lord. This one here was green mostly … have a witness that says one he saw was red.”
Autbek furrowed his brow and asked Murac, “Do they change colors maybe?” It was wishful thinking on his part he knew.
“Not the first troll I’ve seen, O’t. Never heard one changing colors before.”
“Not your first?”
“Different names, different looks, different cities. Likely two I guess. I have heard of them in packs.”
He did not want to hear this as he raised his eyes to the heavens hoping to see signs of morning. He thought maybe he did as he looked back to the sergeant. “Will be here … and this time we will be ready!”
“Good to hear it, my lord!”
Chapter 23
He and Murac were greeted warmly at the mage tower as most had risen at sun up hoping to find out what had become of them. Onaleen personally took care of Autbek, removing his boots and cloak and wrapping him in a blanket. Then she fed him breakfast.
Autbek found himself too excited and nervous to sleep, particularly after he and Murac recounted their adventure. Everyone seemed to have questions, including some of the dwarves who seemed knowledgeable when it came to trolls.
Xajac had the most to say. “Yep, there will be more! Likely below the cellars of those buildings you all tore down for that academy. Sewers maybe!”
“Sewers?” Haspeth asked with disgust. “You mean those things live down there! Gods, I thought they lived in swamps or caves in the mountains.”
“They live where there are peoples to chew on, lad. Just make sure you mages have fire spells with you tomorrow, cause that’s the only thing that keeps them from re-growing!”
Haspeth seemed to take this to heart as he began to thumb through the scrolls Autbek had been carryi
ng. “Got some I think.” He muttered as he paused to think.
“Looks like our battle-mage will be ready for tomorrow then!” Murac commented as he stood standing in a tub of water wearing only a loin cloth. Resbeka and Pemmesa were washing troll blood off him with the help of a couple of the servants. The girls did not seem to mind the task too much as they admired his impressive physique.
Onaleen used a washcloth to clean Autbek’s face and arms. “How close did the troll come to you, O’t?”
He smiled for a moment as he recalled Murac’s feat of strength in turning the thing. “Thanks to Murac no more than ten paces … though it might have been twenty.”
“Oh, my!” She cooed.
He was finally starting to relax now that his belly was full and his arms and feet had been washed by her. In fact he was starting now to be really aroused as his arm brushed her bosom. “Yeah, never thought I would ever cast that spell again so soon!”
“Really!” She smiled as she washed his upper arm.
He forgot all about the other people for a moment as he leaned forward the short distance it took to kiss her on the cheek. She twitched ever so slightly and then stared into his eyes. He saw lust in hers and she saw it in his as they kissed passionately for a moment. Then paused, and then did it again several times.
“Did I ever tell you girls, that a man always gets a lady after a bloody battle!” Murac said loudly as he smiled while staring at the two. The girls laughed loudly as they dried him, and then laughed again as they noticed Onaleen and Autbek!
The two realized they were being watched now and so stopped kissing, then embarrassed they tried their best to avoid eye contact with each other and anyone else.
Haspeth was ecstatic though. “YEA! Going to bloody kill me some trolls tomorrow!” he boasted as he stood mock casting toward Castor who rolled his eyes, seeming unimpressed.
“Just don’t confuse them with rats … or people!”
Berdtom sat on his horse watching preparations being made for the next troll hunt. It was late afternoon the following day after the first troll had been killed by Autbek. The city guard was at the academy construction site in force. The site had been abandoned since Tenric had left and so looked the same as it had been the last time he had been here with Autbek.