The Three Charms

by Brian Spielbauer

  It never rests, not night, not day.

  He will return,

  To his land and reclaim,

  The three charms of his work,

  And in retribution murder and maim.

  Those who defy Him will fall,

  Should the Creator reclaim,

  His three charms long lost,

  And the current holders slain.

  So hold fast to the Charms of Light,

  Let loose the Doom and Ruin,

  But remember the greatest power of all,

  Lay in the Heart of the First Mountain.

  Should the charms be destroyed,

  And be beautiful no more,

  Their magic will also cease,

  As Lemuria falls back to the ocean floor.

  No one dared to speak as the words hung precariously above them in the air. The script was as dark as night, foretelling a costly end should the stones be destroyed. Cergon in particular felt that pain, his island already meeting its fate.

  “If what we think is correct, Herrog has in his hands the first charm and maybe half of the second. Would it not be safe to assume he has the stone also? The only part he does not hold then, as far as we know, is the jewel in Tegan’s axe.” Dorir laid the facts out, trying to clarify his own thoughts.

  “I would not assume Herrog has the stone of Doom and Ruin. If we are to believe the script, we must accept all of it. To do that, we must believe he would not want the stone for the ruin it causes the possessor. He would prefer to have planted it somewhere with us. Each of us must make certain we don’t hold an item that could be it,” Quelna stated to all. Tegan was ever more eager to have that conversation with the wizard, as now it appeared he was trying to lead everyone in the wrong direction. For what reason, Tegan was eager to discuss.

  “I am not sure the axe, and perhaps Tegan, should be with us. I am further not certain this venture is wise. If Herrog is indeed trying to attain all the charms, this is what he would be hoping to happen. Perhaps Milan is Herrog’s new bait to lure us in, so he can defeat our army. If that happens, he can take the last charms and attain them all. If this is his plan, his power will already be far greater than it was,” Fiji thought aloud, knowing Tegan would not like the idea.

  Tegan looked to Fiji, determination dripping from his face. He repeatedly quelled the anger that deeply desired to grow within, “There are few in this meeting I admire as much as I do you. But know this; you will not persuade me to abort this mission. Even if I am fated to go alone and barehanded, and even should my life be forfeit from the start, I will go and test the strength of Herrog. Nothing short of that will honor the unmentionable sacrifice Milan has endured over the last years.”

  “Even if our ruin is in the balance? Do you have the right to weigh that balance for all Lemuria?” Kyrie challenged Tegan, for the first time not standing directly with his friend. “I know what you did for my kind and the sacrifices you have made for all Lemuria, whether the rest will recognize it or not. But, like Fiji, I am not sure you should go. I will go myself, with any who choose to come, before I would allow your axe within the grasp of Herrog. It should not be.”

  The tension continued to build, layer upon layer, as those in the room began to split into sides. They commenced to argue about what to do and who should go and stay. Cergon began speaking of his island falling and that the same fate could be in store for Lemuria. Arlow challenged Cergon, berating his selfishness and lack of appreciation. Again and again, groups took sides, contending spitefully with one another. Gulac watched, across the room the issue divided and threatened to ruin the mission. All before him squabbled about this and that. Many an arrogant finger waved and poked like swords in the air, seeming to cast spells at the person’s argumentative adversary.

  Gulac had enough and angrily stood. “Did I survive those many years of torture and captivity to endure this?” the old dwarf began, the others quickly becoming quiet as the elder dwarf asserted himself. “Is the Stone of Doom and Ruin among us this very moment? For its work seems evident! Victory for Herrog appears certain should we continue this divisive bickering and fall apart now.” Gulac scanned the room, making sure to have everyone’s attention.

  “I have been asked many times, ‘what do you know Gulac, what do you remember of Herrog’. In truth, very little. But this I know; his evil spirit will rob you of all hope. We are about to test the most evil thing ever to walk this land, or any land for that matter. Our only chance for success in this endeavor will be if we are in it together. Milan’s life depends on it. But make no mistake, so does every one of ours and all each person here holds dear. Tegan,” Gulac stated strongly as he eyed the King, “the axe cannot go with us.”

  Tegan’s anger simmered, for he knew the power in his axe. In his heart, he had no doubt it was indeed one of the jewels spoke of in the scripts.

  Gulac continued, “You were a great warrior before it existed and I sense your skills have not diminished. Send it back to Tunder Bin where it can be guarded safely and choose another weapon to wield.” The old dwarf stood stronger than he had appeared since Telon freed him. For a moment, the brothers sat mesmerized as they saw their father’s image standing before them.

  Tegan took his order, answering Gulac resolutely, “It will go back by morning.” He then looked at the rest, “But know this, we are going to attack Herrog in his land. If you want out, now is the time to say so.” Each of the leaders stepped forward to signal they were still in, all knew the sacrifice Tegan again made by giving up the weapon Milan had made for him. They hoped his axe and the power stored within, would not be needed.

  The fragile nature of their alliance lay bare for all to see. They looked to each other, the very ones they were just arguing ruthlessly with. They offered each other half-true apologies as they departed the opening of the Castle Klar. Tegan rued the stone and guessed it was indeed close. He would seek the discussion with Quelna soon, hoping their fellowship would hold together despite their differences.

  In the early morning hours, Tegan summoned Jaric’s second oldest son, Daril, Deron’s brother. “I will send you and four men to take my axe back to Tunder Bin. You will deliver it to my home for safe keeping. Make certain you shut and lock the doors to my room before you leave to come back. Tell no one of your mission, not even Lizzy or Jedrek. Do you understand the importance of this?”

  “Yes, King Tegan. The mightiest weapon we have must not fall in enemy hands. I will not fail you,” Daril professed to his king. He was rising in the ranks of the army and the successful completion of this mission could be enough to attain him the position of General. “I will do as you say Lord and return promptly.”

  Tegan took one more look at his axe, the stone glowing bright red before him. He stared for a moment at it, hoping to send a message to Milan as he had done many times. Never was he aware it reached her. He sensed her through the stone and so assumed she sensed him also. He placed his lips to it as though he was kissing Milan herself and then tucked it in the leather pouch Milan had made for it. “I will see you soon,” he whispered as he wrapped it in its normal cloth. Tegan then placed it in a worn leather pouch. He did not want it grabbing anyone’s attention.

  He reluctantly handed the pouch to Daril and hurriedly walked away before he could change his mind. Tegan desired greatly to keep the axe. Parting with it was one of the hardest things he ever did. He would miss seeing the glow of the jewel every night that told him Milan yet lived. The desire to keep his weapon paled in comparison to his desire to have her back, even if it meant separating himself from his mighty weapon. Nothing would stand between him and Milan.

  Daril woke his four men abruptly from their slumber. As good soldiers of Tunder Bin, they immediately accepted their new orders and departed for Tunder Bin. It should have been an easy trek on paved roads in the safest part of Lemuria.

  The army they just left would never see them again.

  Chapter 14: Too Much Talk

  “Just two days ago I was a t
roll. Well, I’m still a troll, I guess,” Kylee giggled, engaging himself more than the others in his rambling conversation. “But I was with the trolls, fighting the ‘bumbling dwarves of the south’ as we called them.” Kylee quickly noticed he did not amuse his new friends by his sarcastic description of dwarves. He tried to mend his misstep, “My apologies, so sorry! I was speaking only of the older dwarves, not you of course.”

  “You mean our parents, you think of them as bumbling?” Meril asked, irritated by the troll.

  “Well, not your parents,” Kylee stuttered again, trying to find a way out of the conversation. He stammered on, “Please forget my choice of words and listen to my point, which is that I am not against you now, I am with you. A fellow brother no less! Things change, yes? And for the better I say! I get to eat and drink now whenever I want. We travel the woods and have fun. This is the best thing that ever happened to me. Except for the arm, of course.”

  Even Shalkar thought Kylee talked a lot, mainly because he couldn’t get a word in. It was as if Kylee was not allowed to talk his entire life and he was trying to catch up, all at once.

  Skyler spun on Kylee, stopping the march, “Kylee, you talk too much. Way too much! We are heading north on a very dangerous journey through the wild. Need I remind you through the very same creatures who choose to not feed their young and then chop his arms off for stealing food? Do you understand, my new friend who we just risked our lives to save from death?” The irritation in his voice unmistakable, with his tone matching his look exactly.

  Kylee read his new brother’s faces, seeing the same disturbed look from each of them. “So, am I talking twice too much? Maybe only a third too much as I should? How much less do I need to talk so as not to draw your ire? Forgive me, for that is the last thing I mean to do. My father said the same thing from time to time, but I wrote that off as his natural irritability. Perhaps there was more, to—”

  Skyler snapped, stifling Kylee’s mouth with his hand. He tried to whisper but remained fairly demanding, “ten times as much! Do you understand? A nod ‘yes’ or ‘no’ will do!”

  Kylee nodded yes, his mouth still thoroughly muffled by Skyler’s irritated hand.

  “Good, then you will have no more words until after we have the evening meal. Do you understand that?” Skyler waited for the nod, which was quick to come. His hand still tightly applied to Kylee’s primed mouth.

  “Understand that you are my brother and it is my love for you as my brother that drives me to let you know when you are doing wrong. Talk less, walk more. Speak at need only. Understand?” Skyler hated to be so direct, knowing he was hurting Kylee’s feelings. “Good then, we understand each other. After our meal, you can talk to me as long as you want, about anything you want, but for now at least, we march in silence.”

  Skyler turned away, releasing his hold. He then marched off as Kylee opened his mouth to respond but thought better of it. He set his mind and marched with his brothers, determined to become one of them, and not one they hated.

  They marched through the day, stopping little. Several times Kylee began to speak, but a look from one of his companions stopped him. He was determined to stay silent, but the endless ramble in his head did not cease.

  Ever north and up through the rolling hills they progressed, nary a track or trail could be found of other trolls. There appeared to be no army readying to attack Tegan and they began to doubt the necessity of their mission.

  As Skyler prepared to stop late in the night, noises not far ahead put them on alert. The dwarves began sneaking through the woods, careful of their footing and hiding places. Skyler saw the light of several fires blazing toward the crest of a hill before them. He urged his men to stop and stay hidden.

  “I am going forward to see what it is, stay here and be ready. I will be back shortly,” Skyler ordered. Kylee tried to gain his attention, but Skyler could not see him in the dark, as he was farthest back. There was no way Kylee was going to break his vow of silence. He tried waving his arms to gain Skyler’s attention but his efforts were in vain, as no one noticed.

  Skyler stealthily crept ahead, sliding deftly from tree to tree. Soon he stood at the top of a ridge that appeared to have a valley past it, though he was not able to see what lay ahead. Not far off, in the middle of the hill top, several huge trolls stood hunched over a fire. They were as large as the ones who were going to kill Kylee, almost standing to Erol’s height. Skyler was nervous, knowing he was up wind of them. He quickly snuck around the ridge to avoid his smell floating across the well-trained noses of the trolls, and used the slope of the hill to hide his arrival. He took a wide berth to avoid detection, but he finally reached the rim of the valley at the far side of the fire. His heart sank to his feet at the sight below. This was not an idle group of trolls around a fire, but the first of hundreds of fires that dotted the hillside and valley. Up to ten warrior trolls decorated each fire. The dwarves found the army of which Tegan spoke.

  Skyler froze at the sight. He knew there would be another army, but the size of this one stole his courage for a moment. Goblins were relatively useless, but trolls could be quite formidable. Usually a dwarf on patrol might see two, or even four or five, together. They relied on just a few to help them hunt, but trusted uneasily. Due to this, they were never found in huge groups. Herrog must have offered a mighty prize to get them all to agree to fight for him. There was easily a thousand before him. He could also see many goblins running around between them, filling their orders. He needed to get back to Tegan, and the quicker he delivered the message the better.

  He turned away from the ridge, working hard to stay hidden. As he turned to scurry off, a group of trolls coming up from behind him met his gaze. The oncoming trolls blocked his path of escape, trapping him between the approaching trolls in front, the camp of trolls to the left and the army of trolls behind. The marching gang carried torches to light their way and Skyler was quickly running out of time before they would find him. He crammed himself between two trees and stayed as still as his wobbling legs would allow.

  One of the trolls who carried a torch snorted as he came to a stop, “Does ya smellz it?” His head jerked back and forth, his gigantic snout straining for the smell that seemed to dance just out of his reach.

  “I’z smellz nuttin’!” his partner snorted, craning his neck to detect the mysterious aroma.

  His denouncement did not deter the first, “I smellz dwerves!” His voice rattled with excitement, as the trolls were not eating well on this march.

  Sounds of a turkey gobbling, coming from where the trolls just came quickly drew their attention. It drew the troll’s focus as they ran off toward the sound. “Dwerves eh?” the partner scoffed at his friend as they romped through the forest.

  Skyler took his chance and scampered away, finding a ravine in the darkness that already draped across the land. He quickly slid into the deep crevice and ran fast and silent on the dry rock bed. He soon ran into his friends in the darkness, as each of them drew on each other. All were huffing from the tension and the run, “What happened?” Taylor asked, catching his breath.

  “There is not one group but an entire army waiting ahead!” Skyler frantically announced. Then he looked to Kylee, demanding an answer, “Did you know they were there?”

  Kylee opened his mouth again but then thought of his pledge and shut it, not wanting to fall for the trick. They had definitely not eaten yet, so he nodded yes instead.

  “Speak!” Skyler and Taylor insisted.

  “You all are very confusing!” Kylee erupted, breaking his vow of silence. “Don’t speak until after the meal and now speak before—”

  Skyler again covered Kylee’s mouth, “Say more with less! And if our lives are going to be in danger, you can bring that up whenever you want!”

  “Well, too bad you hadn’t added that earlier, I really wanted to tell you about this army. I didn’t think you wanted to march right through them!” The dwarves could not believe Kylee kept this a secret,
but he was only following orders.

  “Friends,” Kylee started, with an official sound, “There is an army of trolls and goblins just ahead.” He stated it as if it was new information, but obviously, it wasn’t.

  “Thank you,” Skyler started. He was trying his best to be nice but struggle mightily to control his rage, “Is there anything more you would like to tell us about the army just ahead?”

  “The army is going to attack the dwarves and to be clear the dwarves led by the King Tegan, when they cross paths.”

  Meril interrupted him, confused, “Is there another dwarf army?”

  “Not that I am aware of. Is there one?” Kylee asked, confused also by the question. The dwarves all shook their heads in disgust.

  “Go on, what else do you have?” Skyler questioned, trying to hide his frustration at lack communication skills.

  “Let’s see,” Kylee began, as if checking items off a list, “Troll and goblin army ahead. They are going to attack the dwarf army. I guess that is all I know.” Kylee was quite pleased with himself, feeling as though he was showing his usefulness to his new friends.

  “We need to get word to Tegan before they are ambushed. Let’s go,” Skyler ordered, climbing to the top of the ravine.

  Shalkar looked to Kylee as they waited for Skyler to reach the top, “Just when did you plan to tell us this?”

  “After the meal, as I was ordered. Maybe you need to learn when to talk too, I can help you with that,” Kylee offered as he turned to follow the others. His words left Shalkar in amazement at the ignorance of his new friend.

  Skyler led them as they urgently backtracked south. They weren’t sure where Tegan’s army was, but the fastest way to safety was to head south for a while and then head for the road. Skyler thought they could be as far as the gargoyle mountain but didn’t want to risk missing them. They traveled most of the night before stopping to rest and to have a snack to tide them over.

  Kylee laid next to Skyler, eyeing him as he covered up. “I am too tired to talk now, let me know when you want to let me speak tomorrow. I want to tell you about my family’s history. As we are brothers now, we should know everything about each other. Don’t you think?”