The Three Charms

by Brian Spielbauer

  As he put his hand on the hilt, he felt a surge of energy and confidence he had not previously known. He jumped to his feet, the glow from the red diamond cut through the dark shadow cast off from the Tolltier that stood over his two friends. The Tolltier also saw the glow and knew full well the axe and the mighty jewel embedded in it.

  The winged beast forgot for the moment its easy prey and focused on the troll and Tegan’s axe. It turned and charged toward the axe, paying little heed to the one wielding it. Kylee was game, however, and the axe flashed brilliantly in the dark night with the sun beginning to rise in the far-off sky.

  The troll danced with the ferocious weapon, delivering blow after blow to the Tolltier, this time knocking the Tolltier back. Trying with all its strength and skill, the Tolltier could not land a punch or scratch to the troll, who would defend his friends to the bitter end. This end, however, would be anything but bitter, at least not for the troll.

  Taylor dazedly watched as Kylee slaughtered the over matched Tolltier, unable to stand and help his friend. Much to Taylor’s amazement, the beast he stuck with his sword rose to his feet behind Kylee. The Tolltier pulled forth Taylor’s sword from its own chest and threw it to the ground in disgust.

  “Watch out!” Taylor gasped, spitting blood from his deep injuries that pooled in his mouth.

  Kylee was well aware of the other Tolltier due to the magic of the axe and began to fight both at once. The uninjured Tolltier picked up a branch and began swinging it wildly at Kylee, who dodged every swing from both direction. He then ducked and rolled close to Taylor’s assailant, leaping out of his crouch high into the air. The light from the Tegan’s diamond leading the way. The blade crashing through skull of the Tolltier, cleaving it in two as the mutilated Tolltier fell dead to the ground.

  The victory did not slow Kylee as he continued his twirl over top the falling Tolltier, retrieving his axe from its head, as it slammed dead into the ground. His roll avoided a massive blow from the other Tolltier, which crashed down onto the dead body of the other Tolltier, embedding his branch in the chest of the dead enemy. The live one tried to pull it loose but could not. The young troll, with death on his evil breath, came for him.

  Kylee quickly scampered up the branch and dove into the flying Tolltier, even as the beast jolted into the air in a desperate attempt to flee. As they both rose to the tree tops, the Tolltier dug its claws into Kylee’s legs. Kylee did not relent his attack, his focus square on the Tolltier. He leaned back and whirled the axe once more. The sun was rising in the east as the moon set in the west, with Kylee riding the Tolltier as they rose over the tree tops. Kylee delivered a grotesque cut that severed the Tolltier’s head from the body and both fell back into the trees.

  Taylor still lay on the ground next to Skyler, losing sight of Kylee and the Tolltier. He heard the scream of the Tolltier cut short high above him, and then shortly after, the sound of the bodies crashing through the branches. First the Tolltier’s headless body crashed to the ground not far from Taylor, a short time later it was followed by Kylee. The last to fall was the head of the Tolltier, mangled by the wicked cut.

  Kylee landed on top of the Tolltier’s body with a thud that knocked the wind from him. The head of the Tolltier rolled up to Taylor, who kicked the disgusting mass into the fire.

  Kylee was breathing heavy, trying to regain the air to his lungs, “This axe,” he started, needing a few more breaths to continue, “can do quite a bit more than cut wood!” He then laid back down. The thoughts of what he just did overloaded his mind.

  Taylor reached for Skyler, who was barely alive. “He is badly hurt. We need to get him to the city and quick.”

  Kylee looked around, not sure how to get both of them back. He quickly wrapped up the axe, placing it back in the pack. He then looked at Taylor, “Can you walk? I will have to carry Skyler.”

  “I think so, help me up,” Taylor answered.

  Kylee helped Taylor as he struggled to his feet. Kylee was tired too, but rest for him was a long way off as he was by far the healthiest of the three. His friends needed help and fast. He pulled Skyler across his back and held on to him with his one arm. Taylor also grabbed that arm and leaned on it heavily as the three limped off through the forest. Kylee would not allow the worry of getting to Tunder Bin on time slow him down. He pushed hard, one step after another, carrying the weight of three through the trees.

  Up and down hills they went, wading through the cold streams that hugged the low-lying areas. Around midday, with Taylor becoming weaker with every labored breath, Kylee decided to stop. He was exhausted, but reluctant to accept he couldn’t get them all back.

  “You need to go on, by yourself,” Taylor uttered, his injuries too great to continue.

  “No, I can carry you!” Kylee challenged, rising with effort to his feet. He would continue until he dropped. Taylor did not doubt his heart.

  “Kylee, you have been brave and proven yourself. But if you do not go now and bring back help, we will die. If you do not get back quickly enough, and we are dead when you return, they will kill you. Do you understand?” Taylor urgently explained, needing Kylee to understand.

  Kylee looked at Skyler’s injuries and thought back to his words about going to Tunder Bin alone. “They will kill me if I show up alone!”

  “No they won’t, not if you take Tegan’s axe!” Taylor said. He handed the pack with the axe back to Kylee.

  Kylee hoped it was true. He propped Skyler against the face of a large rock outcropping and pulled Taylor up beside him. He left them all the water and food they had. He stood tall, readying himself for the run. His legs and back were sore from carrying the others. Even if he was fresh, he didn’t know if he could get there and back in time, and he was far from that. As it was, the outlook was grim. Kylee looked his friend in the eye, “I will return, I promise.”

  Taylor hoped he was right. “Keep that axe ready, you will need it one way or another,” he warned.

  Kylee took the warning to heart, knowing how the trolls would handle a dwarf entering their lands. He hoped the dwarves were a little more tolerant and at least would give him a chance to speak. He left his dwarf friends behind, staying along the stream that Taylor told him would get him to Tunder Bin. He rushed as fast as his legs would carry him, his fear of letting his friends down providing him urgency. Kylee knew Taylor was right about another thing too, for if he was somehow able to convince the dwarves to help him and could lead them back to Taylor and Skyler, if they returned to only find the dead dwarf bodies at the site, they would kill Kylee also.

  Taylor thought that if he rushed Kylee could arrive before night fall. Kylee didn’t think he had that long, as both his friends were gravely hurt. He would not stop, no matter how sore his legs became or how badly his lungs burned. He rushed on through the bushes and brush, many thorns leaving marks on his thick skin. He ignored the pain. He ignored the cuts and rips. Not fully healed himself from the loss of his arm, he only paused to allow a dizzy spell to pass him before he sped up again.

  Though she did not completely understand, Milan knew someone holding Tegan’s axe needed her help. Even in her diminished state, she sent energy through the jewel, which enabled Kylee to keep going.

  The sun was setting to the right of him when he heard the rush of a river ahead, one much larger than the stream he was following. Kylee knew he was closing in on the mountain and began to think of how he could compel the dwarves to believe him. He needed to earn their trust, at least long enough to lead them back to Skyler and Taylor. He began to reach into Skyler’s pack as he rounded a large tree. His held onto the axe that still lay in the bag, grasping the handle tight. Something stopped his legs and a hand grabbed his neck, forcing him to fall hard to the ground.

  He was huffing terribly hard from the run and his head was swimming from a lack of breath and the fall. The weight of a dwarf riding on top of him pinned Kylee to the ground. Then he heard the woman’s voice whisper, “Tell me quick before I run you
through! Where are the others?”

  Kylee blew a pile of leaves from his mouth and sputtered, “There are no others, I promise!”

  “So, they send babies to fight us now?” the voice asked mockingly.

  “No! But if you want to see Skyler and Taylor alive, you need to help me!” Kylee implored the woman, his hopes of saving his friends fading with the days light.

  The urgency in his voice gave her pause. “How do you know them?” she demanded, slow to believe the troll.

  Kylee felt the point on her blade against the base of his neck. If he was going to save himself and his friends, he needed to act fast. “They are my friends. If you allow me, I will prove it!”

  Kylee was lucky to have encountered a woman. Any dwarf man would have killed him on sight and asked questions later. The woman was at least listening to him. She answered stoutly, “Doubt not my skill! I will allow you to show me what is in the bag, but if it doesn’t change my mind, I will run you through!” The dwarf lady knew she should have killed the troll, but having waited this long, she could spare a few more seconds.

  Kylee bit on the bag, the dwarf still kneeling on him so he couldn’t move. He grasped the axe and pulled it from within. The dwarf could not believe her sight, as all dwarves knew the prized heirloom of the King. Tegan did not idly pass it around and would not have accidently passed to the troll. The jewel burned bright in the sun, as if compelling her to help the troll.

  She stood before Kylee still holding her sword to check him. “How did you come across that?” she demanded.

  Kylee struggled to regain his footing. When he finally did and looked to the dwarf woman, he had tears strolling down his cheeks as he begged her, “There is no time! Skyler and Taylor are badly hurt. They will die if we do not hurry.” Several more dwarf females and three female centaurs come on them fast, hearing the arguing in the forest. They too had their swords drawn, the centaurs their bows with arrows notched.

  “Stay!” the dwarf commanded to the others. Then to Kylee, “If what you say is true, where will we find them?”

  Kylee fell to his knees, exhausted, “along the river, you need to go fast! They were sitting against a big rock face, I left them shortly after sunrise and ran this far, never leaving this side of the stream.”

  One of the centaurs was Natalia, Cergon’s wife. “We will take you and ride for them.” She said to the dwarf that tackled Kylee. Then to the other dwarves, “Start back to the city with the troll, keep him alive until we return.” Then to Kylee she added, “If what you say is true, we will spare you. If not, you will die.”

  “Take this,” Kylee offered Tegan’s axe to the dwarf soldier, “It will help you find them and help keep you safe.” The female soldier took the axe, surprised at how easily the troll offered it to her. She highly doubted he was lying. Natalia helped her mount and the two took off with the other two centaurs following. The other female dwarf soldiers did as ordered and helped Kylee stand before leading him back to the mountain. Not for himself but for his friends, Kylee prayed the centaurs and dwarf would find Skyler and Taylor alive and bring them back to health.

  Δ

  In time, Natalia and the dwarf soldier found Skyler and Taylor. Both were unconscious and only the swiftness of the centaurs riding back to the city allowed them to arrive in time. The women of the mountain had the needed medicine and training to save them both.

  The dwarf women quartered Kylee by himself but treated him very well. He also received medicine for his amputated arm and the needed rest did him good. The dwarves treated a prisoner better than the trolls treated a contributing member.

  He was there several days when a dwarf woman of late age, one he had never seen, came to visit him. It was Seran, Jaric’s wife, who Tegan left in charge of the city.

  “What is your name,” she asked, somewhat harshly, as was her way.

  “Now it is Kylee, it is the name I gave myself after Skyler and the other dwarves saved me.”

  “I suppose you will be glad to know Skyler and Taylor are doing well?” she asked, testing him.

  Kylee was overjoyed, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” he burst, leaping from the bed. “When can I see them?”

  “Soon. But first I need you to tell me how you came upon that axe?” Seran asked, her voice hinting of the concern she bore.

  “It belongs to someone named Tegan, I think. Perhaps it was Telon, or maybe Kyrie? The names confuse me since I haven’t…” his rambling fashion tested her patience and she snapped at him, “Focus! The axe, how did you get it?”

  Kylee remembered Skyler’s advice, ‘speak less; say more’. He picked his words more carefully, “A dwarf man was bringing it back for the King. The trolls captured him. We fought them and won. The dwarf Daril told us to bring it back at all costs, on orders of the King.”

  Seran’s interest peeked. “And what of Daril, where is he?”

  Kylee looked down, with sadness taking him. “He passed. His injuries were too great for Skyler to heal.” Kylee did not know that Daril was Seran’s son. She leaned hard on the bars covering the door to Kylee’s room. She started to cry at the thought of a son lost. Seran was amazed at what happened next.

  Kylee touched her hand and she looked up to see tears in his eyes also. “He died bravely, I know that. He would not allow himself to die until he passed the urgent message from the King to another who could see it out. The axe is here, his mission is complete.” Kylee knew the importance of following orders and carrying out missions to their completion.

  Seran appreciated the nice words more than Kylee would ever know, particularly coming from such an unsuspected source. She took out her keys and unlocked his door, “Come, your friends await you.”

  She led him down the hall. Several other dwarf women who did not know a troll was in the mountain were frightened of the sight of Kylee. Seran cautioned them to stay their fright with just a raise of her hands, and she led Kylee on toward Skyler and Taylor.

  Soon she entered the room they were in and asked him to sit. “They have not wakened, but they have stirred some. We were hoping your presence, if you truly were their friend, would help them. I now know you are the best of friends.”

  Kylee smiled at Seran, “Please do me a favor.”

  “Anything,” she answered.

  “Bring me the axe. I know it will aid them.” Kylee did not fully understand how large of a request he made and how hard it was for Seran to grant it.

  “It is the most prized heirloom of our people, I will need to think that over,” she explained.

  “It is a nice one. I used it to kill the winged beasts that hurt them. Without it, we would all be dead.”

  Seran, and not for the first time with Kylee, could not believe what she was hearing. “You used the axe to kill two Tolltier? Flying Tolltier?”

  “Yes, after the boys fell, I needed to do something! I wouldn’t just sit there while my friends were killed,” he explained, so proud of his effort.

  “You killed two flying Tolltier, all by yourself?” Seran thought for sure he was embellishing the story.

  “Well, they both weren’t flying. I killed the first on the ground but the second I attacked as it shot into the air.” As Kylee told his story, he became very animated at the events, showing Seran how it all unfolded. “Then it gouged me with his claws before I chopped his head clean off! After that we tumbled through the trees and crashed to the ground.” Seran was awe struck.

  “You are an amazing boy. I need to hear this story from beginning to end sometime, but not now. I do, however, think I will get you that axe.” Seran hurriedly brought the axe, with a great respect for the troll that saved the two dwarf boys and helped finish her son’s mission.

  Seran left and Kylee held a vigil over his friends, who were greatly injured. It was several days before they stirred enough to wake. Kylee took turns holding the axe over Skyler and then Taylor. He was sure it had healing powers and hoped it was curing his friends.

  It was early
on the third morning as Kylee held the axe over Skyler, that he slowly opened his eyes. He pried open one eye, and then the other. He was quite dazed, listing in and out of consciousness, as Kylee explained the trip back after the attack.

  Kylee then told of Taylor lying next to Skyler, “He made sure you were fine and sent me back.” Skyler sat up and looked to Taylor who lay still in the bed next to him.

  “What happened to him?” Skyler asked, very concerned for his friend. Kylee told him of the Tolltier that clawed Taylor’s side and of his massive injuries.

  “Help me to him,” Skyler asked. Kylee took a chair close and sat Skyler next to Taylor. Skyler held Taylor’s limp hand, seldom laying it down. The next morning, at almost the same time as Skyler had the day before, Taylor began to wake. He opened his eyes to see Skyler sitting there holding his hand with Kylee holding the axe over him.

  Still drowsy, he mumbled, “Should have known better than to trust a troll, but I didn’t think you would hold me down to finish me.” Skyler laughed at the thought and pushed Tegan’s axe away from Taylor.

  “You are going to make it!” Skyler exclaimed, standing over Taylor excitedly.

  “I am sorry,” Taylor said to Skyler. ‘I should not have challenged you so.” Skyler calmed him and sat next to Taylor.

  “It is forgiven. Think no more of it.” Taylor relaxed, knowing the grudge was gone.

  “How can I make it up to you?” Taylor asked.

  “Only heal, and the sooner the better. We need to go to join the battle in the north!”

  Taylor smiled, “I will be ready, just let me know when.”

  “Do you think they would let me use this axe?” Kylee ventured, eyeing it quizzically.