Lagrass shrugged. “None. This was my first.”
“Not even Spark?” the amazed man asked. “Every child is taught Spark, at least.”
Lagrass saw another opportunity, and grabbed it. “I had no family, no one to teach me.”
After thinking for a moment, the alchemist came out from behind his counter. “You seem like a good sort.” He stepped over and locked the shop’s front door. “I’ll teach you Spark, and one other spell that might help you in your adventures. But you must tell no one.” He stared expectantly.
“I’ll never speak of it. And thank you.” Lagrass put his hand over his heart. The alchemist placed a hand on his forehead, and a moment later Lagrass knew how to create fire out of thin air! Even better, he also knew how to cast Mana Bolt, which shot a magical arrow at a target, doing fifteen to twenty points of damage each.
“Just as with the healing spell, the more you practice, the more damage that one will do.” The alchemist smiled at him, turning to unlock the door. “Now, off with you. Go practice. There are plenty of small woodland creatures just outside the wall to use as targets. And while you’re out there, if you should happen to stumble across more ingredients…” He smiled as he renewed the quests that Lagrass had just turned in.
“Thank you, I will!” Lagrass practically bounded out of the shop. “Who’s a badass magic casting squirrel killer? I am!” he chuckled to himself as he walked down the busy street.
He made his way to the nearest gate, noticing that his escort didn’t follow him through, then out into the plains that stretched around the town’s perimeter. It was mostly just tall grass, anything larger than a small shrub being dutifully hacked down by the guards to keep the kill zone free of cover.
That was okay with Lagrass, tall grass was where squirrels and bunnies romped. He stepped off the road and began to head toward the distant tree line, his left hand held up and ready to cast the spell. As he waded through the knee-high grass, he heard multiple rustlings to his left and right, but spotted nothing.
“This won’t work. Too easy for them to hide.” He moved a little faster, jogging to the tree line where the grass didn’t grow as tall. There were clusters of brush here and there among the trees, but the ground was mostly clear. “Much better.” He knew that hunters and snipers used tree stands, where they sat in an elevated position and waited for deer or other prey to stroll by. Not confident in his ability to sneak up on any woodland creatures, Lagrass decided to do the same.
He picked the nearest tree with a branch low enough for him to grab. With a leap, he pulled himself up onto the branch, then climbed two branches higher to a fork in the main trunk. Settling into that fork in reasonable comfort, he watched the ground below and waited.
It wasn’t long before a black squirrel-like creature hopped into view. It stopped and sniffed a few times, its head tilting to one side as it sought out any threatening sounds. Lagrass watched as it dug at the base of a nearby tree, unearthing some moldy nuts and stuffing them into its mouth.
As soon as it was close enough to his own tree, he held out his hand and whispered, “Mana Bolt.” He’d expected some recoil, but he felt nothing other than a slight tingle as a six-inch long blue projectile rushed silently from his hand. It blasted into the squirrel’s side, knocking it over and leaving its body mostly ruined.
A quick check of his log told him that the bolt had done twelve points of damage, killing the unwary critter instantly.
For the next hour, Lagrass remained in the tree, firing at two more squirrels, then a large feral cat that came sniffing around at the squirrel corpses littering the ground. When he fired at the cat, it screamed in pain and leapt straight into the air, then quickly departed the area. Disappointed at the missed kill, but happy enough with is overall results, Lagrass climbed down from the tree. He quickly looted the squirrel corpses, getting just four pieces of squirrel meat total, and no hides. His spell had pretty badly mutilated the little bodies.
His spell was still level one as he walked back toward the town gates, but he figured he’d have more opportunities to use it on his journey to the next village. Once again he planned to avoid the road and hike through the forest.
As he reached the gate, he spotted the same guard who had greeted him when he first entered the city. The man smiled and gave a half-hearted wave. “Lagrass, right? Herb vendor?”
“Heh. Lagrass, yes. But I’m no vendor. I just sold what I happened to gather on my way here.”
The guard flashed a fake smile. “Well, now that you’ve left town and returned, your vendor token has expired. And since I assume you’ve been out gathering more weeds, you’ll need another token. That’ll be five silver.” He held out a hand, the smile turning into a smirk.
“Five silver? But it was only three last time.”
“Are you questioning one of the queen’s guards?” The man growled at him, and a couple of other guards approached with hands on weapons. Lagrass, not wanting trouble, was reaching for the five silvers when the guard added, “Now it’ll cost you five gold!”
“What?” Lagrass took a step back. “What are you talking about?”
“We heard what you did the other day, and about the reward you collected.” One of the other guards commented. “It’s time for you to share the wealth a bit. You heard him, five gold. Now.”
“I’m not…” Lagrass trailed off. The last thing he wanted was attention from the guards, but he also could not allow himself to be robbed by every guard he came across. He thought quickly, and compromised. “I’ll give you one gold. And I’ll keep your little scam here to myself.” He flashed his most cocksure smile at the guards.
“Ah, you shouldn’t have said that.” The third guard shook his head.
“Aye, that was a mistake. You should have just paid up.” The first guard took a step closer to Lagrass, leaning in so that their noses nearly touched. “You just threatened a member of the guard.” He growled. Before Lagrass even realized what was happening, the guard’s baton struck him hard in the solar plexus, bending him over and taking his breath away.
“You won’t be needing this.” A guard behind him removed his storage belt. “Not where you’re going.”
Realizing what was about to happen, Lagrass put his hand over his mouth and pretended he was about to puke. The guards backed away as he retched, quickly transferring everything left in his personal storage into the inventory ring. Then, still bent over, he used his teeth to pull the ring from his finger and swallow it. Let them try and steal that! He thought to himself. He coughed a few times then straightened up.
“Where I’m going?” He didn’t try to negotiate with the guards. He knew men like them. Hell, he was like them. They would rob him blind and likely try to kill him. He was wondering if he could outrun them as far as the woods, when the first guard answered.
“Congratulations! You’ve just joined the queen’s army! Trash like you goes straight to the front lines as fodder. Enjoy what little time you’ve got left!”
Lagrass felt a blow to the back of his head, and he went down. All three guards kicked at him, dropping his health bar quickly below half. A final kick to his face, and everything went black.
*****
Max sat in his study with Redmane and Spellslinger, a disappointed look on his face. He stared at the crystal sitting on the desk in front of him.
“We be sorry, Max. No one that we can find has any idea how to remove the lich without destroying the crystal.” the old mage’s shoulder’s slumped in defeat.
“We even asked the Archmagus.” Redmane added. “There be no magic that he knows of that can pull a lich from his crystal.”
Max blinked a few times, looking at his chamberlain. “What did you just say?”
“There be no magic-” Redmane stopped talking when Max began to laugh.
“Are you okay, Max?” Spellslinger leaned forward, concerned.
“I am. I am, indeed.” Max shook his head. “All this time, all this effort to find some
spell… it can’t be that simple.”
“What’re ye talkin about, Max?” Spellslinger sensed the chimera was up to something, and began to grin himself.
“I need a crystal. One the lich would consider acceptable to transfer his soul.”
Spellslinger produced a blocky crystal with jagged edges, about eight inches long. “It ain’t pretty, but it holds a good amount o’ mana.”
“Are you sure you’re willing to part with it?” Max asked. “You won’t get it back.”
“Aye, if it’ll help ye clear the stone, it be worth the price.”
“I don’t understand, Max.” Redmane looked from one of them to the other. “We just tell’d ye that there be no magic strong enough ta force the lich to transfer.”
“Oh, yes there is. It’s an old fashioned kind of magic! I’ll show you.” Max set the new crystal on the desk next to the heart of the mountain. He invited both dwarves to his party, then used chat to speak with them. “Master Redmane, you’re going to need your hammer…”
A minute or so later, Max had removed the needed items from his inventory and set them on the desk as well. With a nod to the dwarves, he said through party chat, “Watch this.”
Placing his hand on the sickly glowing heart of the mountain, Max spoke aloud. “I know you can hear me, lich. And you know what I want. So here’s my offer. Leave the heart of the mountain, transfer your soul into this new crystal. Do that, or I’ll take the heart of the mountain and drop it into the deepest, most remote magma pool I can find. You think five thousand years trapped in your crystal was a long time? How about eternity? The stone will sink deep into the earth, surrounded by molten magma, never to be found by unwary and foolish adventurers who might set you free. Are you ready to face eternity in your own company, lich?”
Keeping his hand on the crystal, Max heard a voice in his head. “You wouldn’t dare destroy the stone! Pathetic mortal.”
“Wouldn’t I? If you won’t leave it, the stone is no good to me. I can’t complete my quest, and I certainly can’t use it, or sell it. Why would I keep it around and risk you escaping? If I can’t benefit from the stone in any way, then I’ll take what pleasure I can from knowing how much you’ll suffer, you sick bastard.”
“You’re bluffing.” The lich’s voice sounded a little less sure of itself.
“I’m really not. I’m going to give you ten seconds to vacate the heart of the mountain. If you haven’t done so by the time I reach zero, well… Master Redmane what’s the biggest, deepest volcano you can think of?”
“You’ll just destroy the other crystal the moment I occupy it.” The lich hedged.
“I give you my word that if you occupy that other crystal, I will not destroy it.” Max replied. “I’ll even sweeten the pot. There are four soul crystals sitting there, can you sense them? They are the souls of elite grey dwarf guards that previously defended King Agnor. I was planning on resurrecting them to use as my own guards, but if they have any use to you…” he let his voice trail off. After a few breaths, he continued. “Alright, here we go. Enough messing around. Ten… nine… eight… seven…”
“Wait!” The lich’s voice sounded resigned. “Place the crystal so that it touches my stone. The transfer will take a few minutes.”
“Then let’s begin. I’m anxious for this to be over and done with.” Max moved the crystals together, and sat back. When the new crystal began to bleed some of the green glow from the heart of the mountain, he winked at the dwarves. All three watched in silence as the heart’s glow dimmed, and the other crystal grew brighter. After maybe five minutes, the new crystal pulsed once, and Max put his hand on it.
“It is done.” The lich’s voice held an unmistakable sneer.
“I don’t think so, lich. My quest has not completed, and I can still see some of your filthy green glow in the heart stone. If you don’t comply, I have no reason to keep my promise. Can you transfer all of yourself back into the heart stone before I crush the new crystal? Let’s see. Master Redmane can I borrow your hammer?”
“No! I will complete the process. I have your word you will not destroy my new crystal?”
“You have my word.” A green light flashed around him, acknowledging his promise.
“One moment.” The lich growled telepathically. Max watched carefully as the very last bit of green faded from the heart stone, and notifications flashed before his eyes. Waving them away, he lifted the heart of the mountain, and used Examine.
Cleansed Heart of the Mountain
Item Quality: Unique; Legendary
Quest Item
That was good enough for him. He pulled his hand from the lich’s new phylactery, snatched up the four soul stones, and leaned back in his chair. He’d barely settled himself when Redmane’s hammer smashed down on the glowing crystal, cracking it. A second blow widened the fractures, and a third merciless blow shook the entire desk as the crystal shattered.
Taking up his own hammer, Spellslinger assisted Redmane, the two of them smashing the pieces into smaller and smaller bits, until there was nothing but dust. When they were done, Max’s desk was badly damaged, but the crystal dust was a dull grey, no green glow visible anywhere. To be sure, Spellslinger quickly took out a vial and poured some kind of viscous liquid onto the desktop, then cast Spark. “Sorry, Max. We’ll get ye a new desk.” He apologized as the desktop burned brightly, the crystal dust motes popping in the heat of the flames. When he thought it was all done, the mage waved a hand and the flames went out, leaving a burnt and bubbling desktop with a completely unharmed heart stone resting on it.
All of them leveled up, another clear sign of the lich’s final demise.
The two dwarves laughed, congratulating each other. Redmane looked at Max. “Old fashioned magic, indeed!”
“I just appealed to his sense of self preservation. My words had the advantage of being absolutely true. If I couldn’t save the heart, I would absolutely have dropped him into a magma pool.”
“And ye didn’t break yer promise with the gods that ya wouldn’t harm him, cuz ye let us do it!” Spellslinger beamed at Max. “Ye just might be clever enough to become a decent mage, Max.”
“And a decent king.” Redmane added, his face gone serious. “Now ye need to restore the mountain.”
“Just one more thing on the list…” Max sighed. When the two dwarves left the room to go celebrate, Max told them he’d catch up, taking a moment to go through his notifications.
Quest Completed: Hard Hearted Part I (A)!
You have successfully cleansed the Heart of the Mountain of the lich’s soul!
Reward: 1,000,000 exp; 500 gold; Access to quest Hard Hearted Part II!
Skill Level increase! Your Deception skill has increased by +1
Quest Granted: Hard Hearted Part II! Return the Heart of the Mountain
to its chamber in the… heart of the mountain. Protect the stone for 24 hours
as it recharges and renews its bond with the mountain.
Reward: 5,000,000 experience; Legendary item; mountain will recover its former glory.
Max stowed the cleansed heart stone in his inventory, leaned back in his chair, and started to put his feet up on the desk. Noting the still smoking surface, he changed his mind and moved to a chair by the fireplace.
Red appeared, standing atop his knee as he settled into the chair. “Ya did it!” she beamed up at him. “You can restore your mountain, make your kingdom even stronger.”
Max rolled his eyes. “And how long will that take? Mountains take millions of years to form…”
“Aye, but this mountain remembers its former greatness. It’ll take a few years, but not as long as ya think, Max. The mines will begin producing better, and new ones will emerge. The water that filters down through the stone will be cleaner, and sweeter. More beasties will roam the tunnels, getting bigger and more powerful. You’ll see, soon enough.”
She crossed her legs and sat on his knee, changing the subject. “And well done on tricki
ng that lich! I can’t believe the solution was so simple!”
“Yeah, sometimes simple is best.” Max nodded. “We’ve been on quite a ride since we arrived here, haven’t we?” He thought back as Red nodded. “I love this new world, and it’s hard to imagine how we lived without magic back on Earth.”
“Or without me!” Red stuck her tongue out at him, making him chuckle.
“Or without you, my wonderful, snarky, annoying guide. What was with that last notification, anyway? You couldn’t come up with better phrasing?”
Red shrugged, blushing slightly. “I was in a hurry! Should I have said restore the heart of the mountain to its place at the very center of the-”
“HA!” Max interrupted her. “Gotcha! I knew it was you composing all those snarky notifications!”
Red opened her mouth, then shut it, crossing her arms as she got to her feet. “You great big pile of stupid! O’course it was me. Who else would it be?” She scowled at him.
Max chuckled and reached out a finger as if to poke her belly. The warning look she gave him could have turned him as crispy as his desk, so he withdrew the finger. “I’m just saying, some of those were a little unnecessary.” He fake-grumped at her. “But I still love ya, Red.”
She stomped her foot on his knee, still scowling up at him. “Shut it! You’re ugly, probably smelly, and not very smart! What I did in my previous life to deserve bein’ stuck with you, I’ll never know!”
Max just grinned at her. “You love me too, and you know it. Now, how about we round up the others and break open a few bottles of Firebelly’s to celebrate?”
*** End Book Two ***
Acknowledgements
Thanks as always to my family for their love and support. They are my alphas, my sounding board, and the ones who aren’t afraid to tell me when something sucks! And a thank you to a brand new set of beta readers. Recent divisions in our nation, combined with insidious fake news on social media, have caused more than a few rents in long term friendships, and cost me a few friends and betas. I’m grateful for those who were willing to step in.
Battleborne Book 2: Wrack and Ruin Page 43