by Brad Clark
“What is this tribute?” Conner asked.
Hemli hesitated and looked from Conner to Glaerion, and then to Nikki. His eyes dropped to the group.
“I think we were to be the tribute,” Glaerion said.
Hemli slowly nodded his head, unwilling to look up at them. “Yes. We must give regular offerings of sacrifices to the creature. For each outsider that we find, it is one less of our kind that must be sacrificed.”
Conner’s calm demeanor changed to anger in an instant. “What? You sacrificed Ryshak to the creature?”
Hemli looked up and glared at Conner. There was no fear in his eyes, and his voice was firm. “Tell me you would not do the same? Given the choice of sacrificing one that you love, or a poor stranger who happens to wander into your home, what would you choose?. Do not judge us before you have walked in our shoes.”
To Hemli, Glaerion asked, “Tell me about this creature.”
“It told us he has lived since the beginning of time. The chamber that he was imprisoned in was solidly built to contain it. It was only through our superior knowledge of rocks that were even able to break into it.”
“What does it look like?”
“It is ten feet tall and wields an elaborate spear with one hand and an enormous battle-ax the size of a man with his other. His head looks like that of a bull with razor-sharp horns and bright red eyes. It runs as fast as a deer and can rip the head off a man with one bite.”
Glaerion rubbed his chin. “I have never heard of such a creature, and I have lived for almost five thousand years.”
Hemli shrugged his shoulders. “The world is a big place.”
“Big and mysterious,” Glaerion replied thoughtfully.
“And you cannot all band together and fight it?” Nikki asked.
“The one time we tried, he killed everyone that marched on his lair. There were almost a hundred good Dwarven males that were slaughtered that day. Then, he came out of his valley and attacked our homes. He left all the males but killed half the females and every child under the age of ten. A hundred against one, and we could not even hurt it. We have no choice but to follow its whims and make our yearly sacrifices.”
“And you thought the four of us could be your sacrifices for this year?” Conner said angrily.
“Like I said, I know you would do the same.”
“You don’t know that. You don’t know us.”
“Desperation breeds desperation,” Hemli said. “Given the choice, I would give you as a sacrifice rather than my wife. Tell me you would do otherwise and I would call you a liar.”
Glaerion quickly cut Conner off from arguing any further. “We are not here to argue anymore. What is done is done, and we have more important things to worry about. Time is not on our side.” To Hemli, he asked, “You said that this creature carries a spear?”
Conner’s eyes suddenly got big as realization hit him. “Of course, it has to be!”
“What does it look like?” Nikki asked.
“The spear?” Hemli asked, rubbing his chin. “It is an oak shaft as thick as my wrist. The tip is not a normal metal. It a jet black obsidian rock with four sharp edges. I have had the unfortunate experience of seeing its use. It is extremely sharp.”
“Could it really be?” Nikki asked.
“Could it be what?” Hemli asked.
“We did not travel into your valley by chance,” Conner said. “We are searching for an ancient weapon called the Spear of Salvation. We need it to defeat the Deceiver.”
Hemli lifted an eyebrow.
“Your secluded valley has kept you insulated from the war that has come to our world,” Glaerion said. “The Deceiver has come with an army of goblins and other creatures from his realm. Elvenkind and Humans are joining together to fight this war, but the Deceiver cannot be killed by conventional means.”
“And you think that the spear that the creature wields is your Spear of Salvation?” Hemli asked.
“Hurai legend has brought us to your valley,” Nikki said. “It can only be.”
Conner and Glaerion shared a look.
“Can you take us to your creature?” Conner asked.
“The last time we tried to kill this creature, half our numbers were slaughtered,” Helmi replied.
“If we don’t stop the Deceiver, it won’t matter, because he will conquer the entire world. He will march into your valley and slaughter you. So you can either stand up and fight now or sit down and wait for your fate.”
With a heavy sigh, Hemli asked, “The creature has survived since the beginning of time. What makes you think that you can kill it now?”
“We are warriors,” Nikki replied with a stern and sharp tone. “Bred to kill. We will kill this creature.”
Glaerion smirked. “The Hurai princess speaks for herself when it comes to being bred to kill. But, we are all warriors who have the experience to kill this creature of yours.”
“If you fail, you will probably condemn the rest of our people to their deaths. The last time we tried, he killed half our number. Who’s to say that this time he won’t kill everyone.”
“If we don’t get the spear, it won’t matter anyway,” Conner said. “The war will eventually come here, and your people will be killed or enslaved by the Deceiver. Your choice. We’re going. You can help us, or you can hinder us. But we are going.”
Hemli took a moment to look at the three in front of him before he gave a sharp nod and said, “I will have your weapons returned to you. And I shall lead you there myself.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Hemli led them in silence as no one seemed to want to add conversation to their trek. The gloom of the forest seemed to press upon them as they walked, spreading feelings of doom and despair. With each step, thoughts of failure entered their minds. The war was too big. The Deceiver was too strong. Their army was too small. No amount of effort could save them. They might as well just give up.
Each shared the same feeling, yet were unwilling to vocalize their thoughts. There was a weakness to feeling hopeless and showing weakness was not something that warriors did. Princess Nikki was trained to suppress her thoughts and feelings. Conner wanted so much to be a true Sak’Hurai that he could never show a weakness that would reveal him as someone less than a Sak’Hurai. Glaerion was too proud as an Elf to let any feelings show to the Humans around him.
Marching on, the silence around them became a heavier and heavier weight. Hands fell to sword handles and eyes darted back and forth. Nerves were raw.
A dry twig snapped, and Conner drew his sword in a flash, turning to face the threat that was not there. Even after he saw a small doe darting through the trees, he stayed in a defensive stance, waiting for an attack that would never come.
Glaerion touched Nikki’s arm, who was about to draw her sword. They both remembered how Conner had acted before they were captured. They could not let that happen again, but killing Conner was not going to be the first option. The Elf drew his dagger and tapped the pommel. If necessary, he would simply knock Conner out.
Hemli turned at the commotion. “You all feel it, do you not?”
Nikki kept her eyes on Conner. Conner kept his eyes on the empty forest. Glaerion watched them both.
“It is the curse,” Hemli continued. “It doesn’t just infest the vegetation, but anything that walks in the forest.”
“I feel nothing,” Glaerion said with confidence. “Only the weak-minded and weak-willed can allow a fable such as your curse to affect them.”
Prince Nikki said,“I feel nothing, either.”
“You lie to yourself, then,” Hemli countered.
“I am no liar!” Glaerion growled. His hand squeezed tightly on the handle of his dagger. He took a step towards Hemli.
Hemli shook his head and turned and continued walking.
“Come back here,” Glaerion called out. “You do not call me a liar and then walk away!”
Conner straightened up and turned back to see the anger in Glaerio
n’s eyes. It was anger that he had not seen since the first time that he had met the Elf.
“Glaerion,” Conner said. “What is wrong with you?”
“With me? Nothing! What is wrong with you! You are jumping at the snapping of twigs!”
“There’s something out there! Did you not see it?”
“Yes! It was a young doe. She was more afraid of you, and that’s why she ran away!” His voice had raised slowly until he was shouting.
“You should calm down. We need to keep moving as we’re running out of time.”
“Human!” Glaerion shouted. “Don’t you tell me to calm down! I will slit your throat where you stand.”
Princess Nikki stepped between them. “Boys! Both of you put away your weapons!”
Conner glanced down at his hands and looked at his grip on his sword. He was squeezing the handles of his sword so tightly, his knuckles turned white. It was not what Master Goshin had taught him. He had been taught that a tight grip was wrong and a loose and comfortable grip was right. Yet, he was gripping his sword as if someone were trying to pull it out of his grasp. A fuzzy cloud seemed to be hanging over his head, so he shook his head to try and clear his vision.
Glaerion pointed his dagger at Nikki and glared at her. “And you, woman! You don’t tell me what to do!”
Nikki could feel that something was not right and refused to get drawn into the argument that Glaerion seemed to want to have. She kept her hands well away from her swords, else the Elf might think she was trying to draw her swords. It took all the discipline that she had ever been taught to not fight back because she knew that fighting was not the right response. Her training as a Sak’Hurai was not only about how to fight but when to fight. She didn’t know why, but her instincts were telling her that something was off with not only Glaerion and Conner but the whole forest. She knew that there were blights and other diseases that could kill forests. Crops in parts of her own kingdom were suffering some sort of disease, so seeing it in the forest did not surprise her. Yet, she could not believe that a curse would affect people the way it did the vegetation. However, she had now seen it twice. First, in Conner, before they were captured, and now in both Conner and Glaerion. They needed to get out of the forest before they were uncontrollable.
“Can we just keep moving?” she said in as calm a voice as she could muster.
“The forest comes to an end,” Hemli said, pointing to a wide opening in the trees ahead of them.
Conner kept staring at Glaerion. The Elf returned the glare.
Nikki stepped in front of Conner and forced him to shift his gaze from Glaerion.
“Put the sword away and let’s keep moving. Hemli said the end of the forest is just a few steps away.”
Reluctantly, he relaxed and sheathed his swords. Nikki put an arm around his shoulders and led him towards an opening in the trees. As soon as he stepped through, the light of the sun temporarily blinded him. He had not realized how truly dark the forest was. With his eyes closed, he put his face up to the sun and let its heat bath over him to relax his nerves and calm his pounding heart. He no longer felt the despair that had almost consumed him. It was actually a joyous feeling that overcame him and put a smile on his face.
From behind him, Glaerion said, “The forest is evil. I could feel it, and it let me do something I hadn’t done in many, many years. I truly lost control of myself and my thoughts.”
“I saw it in your eyes,” Hemli said. “It is a look that is all too familiar to me. You all felt it. It is the curse. I told you it afflicts the forest and all that are in it.”
“I don’t feel it now,” Conner said.
“We are out of the forest. I am sure there will be a time when the curse affects the entire valley, but now, it is just the forest.”
“Is that how you feel all the time?” Nikki asked. “I could not help but feel despair and failure. I could have easily just given up and let the feelings come over me. If I had not spent my entire life training my heart and my mind, I don’t know what I would have done.”
“We have lived with this for many years. It is all we know.”
“I don’t know how you survive.”
“Dwarves are resilient.” A smile crossed his face. “Maybe more resilient than the other races. The forest and the curse are behind us, now. There shall be no reason to return, unless, of course, you kill the creature and the curse is lifted.”
Glaerion walked up to Conner and said, “I am sorry for the words that came out of my mouth. They were not mine.”
Conner gripped Glaerion on the shoulder and gave a sharp nod to accept the apology. “What do you think this curse is? Could it be magic?”
“If it is magic, it is nothing like what I know of. I do not feel the Web of Magic being touched or used. Whatever it is, it is powerful and fills the mind with thoughts that I don’t care for.”
“I really thought you were going to fight Conner,” Nikki said.
“Yes, I felt so much anger I really wanted to kill him. I do not know why. I know I have no such feelings for him or any Human for that matter. It’s like those feelings were put into my head and I could not control them being there.”
“You feel what our people have felt for generations,” Hemli said. “The curse is real, and it is slowly killing us and the land we call home.”
Conner looked up and spread his arms wide, soaking in the comfortable warmth of the sun. “Then why don’t you move your people out of the forest and into the valley. The curse isn’t here.”
“The curse has changed us physically. It made us ill and a shadow of ourselves. We cannot spend too much time out in the sun, else we will actually get sicker. To others, like you, it affects the mind. Rarely do we have visitors from outside, and when they do come into the forest, they act just as you just acted. Their minds go a little crazy, and they do things that they wouldn’t normally do. Maybe we aren’t affected like that because the curse came on us slowly. I have no answer. I only know what I see.”
“You will become ill out in the sun?” Nikki asked.
Hemli pulled the hood of his loose robe over his head and let the long sleeves cover his bare arms and hands. “As long as I am not in the sun, it will take longer to affect me. I will be fine for our travel to the creature’s valley. Regardless, though, if this war is what you say it is and this is our only chance to escape the curse, then I will suffer through anything.”
“Lead on, then,” Glaerion said.
They had come out on the opposite side of the forest from where they had entered. A flat meadow with tall grasses spread out before them. Past the meadow were tree-covered mountain peaks that rose high into the air.
Hemli started walking across the meadow and towards the mountains.
Walking beside Hemli, Conner glanced behind them towards the cursed forest they had just left. Just looking at the trees reminded him of the dread that he had felt.
To Hemli, Conner said,“I still don’t understand why you don’t just move from the trees and out of the curse. Even if the sun makes you ill, can you not find shelter in the mountains? There must be caves that you could live in. Maybe if you can live away from the forest for some time, the sickness will go away.”
Hemli gave a shake of his head. “We have tried many things. None have worked. The curse simply continues to grow and spread. The only solution is to kill the creature. We are too weak to do it ourselves. It seems as if you may be our last and only chance.”
“It would not matter anyway,” Glaerion said from behind them. “It is not the forest that is cursed nor is it the land, but it is the Dwarves themselves. It does not matter where they go, they will spread the curse with them. It is why they stay in the forest, to limit its spread.”
Hemli was the only one who did not look back at the forest. His head dropped, telling all that Glaerion was speaking the truth.
Glaerion added, “It is the only thing that makes sense. The Web of Magic binds the universe together, and if it is corr
upted, those that can touch the web would feel it. I believe that if there were a curse that was in the air or in the ground or in the forest, I would feel it. But if the curse is in you and your people, then I would not feel it. It would afflict you and those things that you touched, rather than the forest afflicting you.”
“Is this true?” Conner asked. He started to touch Hemli to get his attention, but instead, he pulled his hand back.
“Your Elven friend has a keen sense of the world,” Hemli replied.
“Why would you not tell us before?” Conner asked. “Are we infected?”
“Do you mean, will you shrivel up and turn to look like us?” Hemli asked. “No, you will not. But if you leave this land, you will spread the curse just as if we had left the land ourselves.”
“So, anyone who found your valley could not be allowed to leave anyway. You forced them to try and kill this creature. If they were successful, curse lifted. If not, then the at least the curse would not be spread.”
“Something like that,” Hemli said.
“Are you sure that killing the creature will really lift the curse?”
“Yes, we believe that.” Hemli stopped and turned around. “The world has gone on without us as a part of it for centuries. First, there was a plague that nearly wiped out our entire race. Then, living peacefully in seclusion, we unleashed a curse upon ourselves that left us weak and dying. If we are the carriers of the curse, then the best solution would be to simply kill us all, and then there would be no more curse. I would not judge you if you decided to do just that. If this curse left the valley and spread to the rest of the world, then there will be nothing left of it.”
“Soon, there may be nothing left of it anyway. The Deceiver and his armies have come to this world and are intent on killing and enslaving us. War is raging that has already wiped out my kingdom and will destroy the Taran Empire, which has the largest army in all the world. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad thing to allow this curse to get out and let it infect the Deceiver’s army.”