The Orb of Wrath (The Merchant's Destiny Book 1)

by Nic Weissman

  “You said you were seeking three things,” said Thost.

  “True. The third, and most important thing, is knowledge. If we survive an adventure like this, we will probably know a lot more things. How many people know in detail the strengths and weaknesses of a vampire? How many people have visited one of their lairs? Some people can earn a living simply by sharing their knowledge and without running any risks. This is perhaps what attracts me the most to this mission. It is completely different from anything we have done so far and, therefore, the best learning opportunity,” reasoned Mithir.

  The young wizard had told the truth, but had followed the current marked by his brother and avoided certain details not incumbent to this new group. Now it was Thost's turn.

  “What I desire the most is to have a name. Yes, that's right. This is something only reserved for the nobles, and I'm not one of them. But there have been cases of very rich men that eventually gained influence and received the right to have a name on direct orders of the King. That would be my life's ambition. For this I must amass a fortune, and I don't see how I could accomplish such a thing without a successful life of adventure, finding many treasures,” explained Thost sincerely, but without giving more details of his history.

  While they chatted, they finished their breakfast. The horses were a little anxious, probably because of the cold. It wasn't very comfortable to be outdoors with those temperatures.

  “In short, I think our motives are slightly different but, in general, not incompatible. We all want the gold, but we want to do different things with it. And of course, we all want to return alive,” resumed the knight.

  “Obviously, we have to discuss further details, like who will carry the box once we find it,” said Erion.

  “It's true. What do you think if we tend to those details just before leaving? I think it can be a contentious issue at this time,” Thost argued.

  “Okay but, as you say, we must resolve all these things before opening the portal,” Erion said.

  “There is one last point I would like to make clear at this time,” Thost said, making a very serious pause.

  An immediate silence descended on the group.

  “Although we discuss and agree to all the decisions as much as possible in our group, there are many times when criteria must rule for the group to stay aligned and keep working together. On those occasions, I make the decisions, and Samar and my son Ithelas agree,” Thost explained.

  “I see, and you want this to also apply to us,” said Erion suspiciously.

  “No. Not now, at least. But a group can't survive long without leadership. For now I just want you to know how things work in our group. Regarding this mission, if we all agree on all the details before our departure, it should be enough,” reasoned Thost.

  Erion nodded. And he stood up in order to start collecting things.

  “One moment, we haven't agreed on how and where we'll prepare. Here's what I suggest. Let's head to Ekunon once we have collected our things. It's a big city and we should find everything we need there. And it's just a little further than Deepcliff.”

  “Then why not go to the capital?” Mithir asked.

  “I have an old mansion in the outskirts of Ekunon. We could spend the night there, but we'll have to travel all day. Tomorrow we could go to the city to equip and then practice together and make plans before our departure. You are welcome in my house,” Thost explained.

  Erion and Mithir nodded. The group gathered their gear and loaded the horses. They extinguished the fire and then departed from this strange place. Shortly after going into the forest, they stopped perceiving the stench of the dead spiders, which they had practically gotten used to.

  *******

  The five members of the newly formed group had good, tough and strong horses. They all were used to traveling long distances and were very accustomed to their masters. Horses were the fundamental mode of transport in Bor and in much of the world of Oris.

  The group rode tirelessly throughout the day. From their talk at breakfast, shortly after dawn until late afternoon, the trip passed without relevant events. They stopped a couple of times when they passed near a stream so the horses could drink and take a short break. They also took advantage of these stops to eat something, and talk.

  It was obvious that much was needed for a true bond of trust between them to be established, but you could say that, for the moment, they were getting along reasonably well. The most friendly and open of them all was Ithelas. The young man seemed to consider that the other human beings were, by default, good people that he could trust. Some might think that this was due to his youth, and not having many opportunities to find twisted or malicious people, but the reality is that it was more a matter of his own character.

  Samar was perhaps the quietest of the whole group. As an elf, she had a slightly different perspective on things. Worldly matters were secondary to her. She possessed the calmness and the temper that gave wisdom and experience to those of her race. It was predictable that she would take longer than the others to fully trust the new members. But on the other hand, she seemed to have started well with them. Erion made some compliments to Samar's skills as an archer and asked her to teach him some tricks to better maneuver his crossbow. She did not flinch at the compliments, but responded positively to his request for help.

  Mithir was obviously very limited in his communication with the others. He spoke mainly with his brother and, occasionally, with the rest of the group through Erion. Despite his language barriers, Mithir was beginning to establish a stronger link with Ithelas. The two of them had a lively interest in magic, but came to it by completely different paths. Both of them felt attracted by knowledge and loved antique books, although usually on different topics. With Erion's help, Mithir began teaching some basic gestures of sign language and, almost inadvertently, the communication began between them. Later in the day Ithelas, who had an excellent memory, had learned more than forty words.

  Thost made an effort to provide the same level of attention to the new group as he did to his normal one; even a little more so. Again and again, almost without meaning to, he set directions, established criteria, defined minor rules and routines that the others would accept in quite a natural way. Thost always asked for the opinion of the others, but then, pretty quickly, he managed to establish a criterion which usually seemed the wisest. Erion and Mithir confirmed quickly what they had already perceived in the forest; the man was a born leader.

  Erion didn't want to get carried away by the apparent ease with which the group was amalgamated; although part of his heart was glad of that situation, which seemed an opportunity, above all. His instincts told him that these were good people that could be trusted, but his mind forced him to take it easy, as it was still too early. His life, and his brother's, could depend in any of the group's members in the coming days. If only one of them had ulterior motives, and wouldn't let them be seen until the critical moment, Mithir and he could find themselves in a very complicated situation.

  Moreover, Erion was accustomed to the solitude. Except for his brother, he barely related with others for long. Their occupations and travels made it difficult to maintain relationships with others, because they never were in the same place for long. Like all orphans, Erion needed the company of others to compensate for the lack of attention from parents he never had. In practice this was not possible since they had left the orphanage six long years ago. He maintained some friendships from that period; but he saw most of these friends only two or three times a year. In the depths of his being, he longed for that group to be successful and for this to become a permanent thing. But first, and more important than that desire, was to ensure the safety of his brother, and his own.

  At lunch they were talking and drawing more detailed plans of what they'd have to do the next day.

  “Tomorrow's going to be a really busy day if we want to complete all these preparations,” Ithelas said.

  “I think we have to s
plit up in order to do several things at once,” concluded Thost, after some thought.

  “One thing is for sure, the day will start very early for all of us and will probably end quite late,” Erion added.

  During the long ride, they sought the County's secondary roads whenever they could. At other times they had to ride off-road. The only way to have traveled the main roads, in a good part of the route, would have been if they had gone to Deepcliff first, and then shifted to the southwest by Ekunon's road. But this would have delayed them a lot because it meant a major detour. So, they all agreed to travel the most direct route, although it was not the busiest and, therefore, not be the safest. However, the trip was uneventful until it began to get dark.

  “We'll be getting there soon,” Ithelas said cheerfully; “perhaps a little more than a league.”

  The sun was setting. They were going through a semi-forest area, and they could see their destination in the distance, some small hills. That's when they saw a winter wolf pack running parallel to them, vigilant. They seemed to have no direct intention of pursuing them, and none of them had attacked. Samar explained that they were probably going through their territory and perhaps the herd had some pups. So they wouldn't leave until they had gone far enough. She also explained that they couldn't trust them not to attack, as this depended on how hungry the pack was at that time. She recommended them to keep going at the same pace and in the same direction and to have their weapons ready, just in case.

  Mithir hadn't seen a winter wolf before; at least a live one. He became fascinated with the animals. The winter wolves that lived near Ekunon were famous throughout the Kingdom. Samar explained that she occasionally hunted them for their fur. The magician admired the gleaming white fur of those animals. They were very fast and apparently resistant.

  The group shared a mixture of fascination and concern, since the herd was quite large and if they attacked, they'd be in serious trouble. But that wouldn't be the day when things went wrong for the group and, after riding at a good pace through this forest for a while, the pack loosened and then stopped the persecution.

  Looking ahead they could see the road that went straight to the Mansion on the Hill, where Thost, Ithelas and Samar lived. They were home.

  CHAPTER 11: BOOKS AND POTIONS

  After spending two days in the woods and on the roads, everyone enjoyed the comfort of sleeping in a good bed. Erion and Mithir slept in a cozy guest room on the ground floor. The others had their own rooms on the top floor. They all appreciated not having to take turns guarding. Having to interrupt their sleep and stay vigilant, and then having to go back to sleep, was something that almost no one could get used to. Although the property was old, Thost's mansion was an excellent house, big enough for a group of five people.

  A cock from the stables, which was next to the house, woke them up at dawn. After a hearty breakfast that the jovial Dreshpho made for them, they divided into groups to accomplish the tasks, as they had agreed the previous day. Mithir and Ithelas left first. They would go to visit Beromort, the wisest man in Ekunon. Erion and Samar departed next. They would visit shops and stores in the city in order to be equipped for the mission. Finally, Thost stayed in the mansion to prepare the training ground where they would practice together that afternoon.

  Thost went to the field which was located down the hill. He used to go there with Ithelas to practice using different weapons: sword, mace, shield, etc. They also had a couple of targets at the end of the field, with which Samar trained often. He took some time to think about what exercises they could do. Thost understood that the best way for a group to survive was to exploit the different abilities of each member, combining them intelligently. A magician, a knight, a cleric, an archer and... Thost was not sure how to classify Erion. He found him to be the most enigmatic character of the whole group. Maybe explorer was the best term, though he wasn't sure.

  He decided they should start with individual exercises. That would allow them to see what the others could do. He thought it best to start with ranged attacks. So he went to a shed near the training ground and took out three bulky targets, one by one. And, with a lot of work and effort, he moved them to bring them closer to the other two, which were already placed in the shooting range. But he placed these three at a slightly shorter distance. Most of the weapons were not as far-reaching as Samar's bow. Then he picked up a weapon rack and set it in the shooting range. There was a bit of everything: spears, a few bows and many crossbows, arrows and even a blowpipe with several darts.

  He returned to the shed and picked up five straw dummies, one by one. The dummies were protected with steel armor, and had small targets drawn at strategic points: the center of the chest, sides and neck. He aligned them in another area of the training ground next to the shooting range.

  "Exercises of close combat, to finish the warm-up", Thost thought.

  He returned again to the shed and, this time, took another rack and placed it near the dummies. After several trips, he collected various weapons like swords, maces, daggers, short swords and axes, and placed them in the rack, sorted by size. This left the second part of the training ground prepared.

  Thost was sweating. He had carried a lot of very heavy objects. Although he still had a strong arm, he didn't have the same endurance as when he was twenty-five. He sat down to take a short break as he thought about the most important exercises, the teamwork exercises. In the Army, he had learned various trainings and had been able to prove their effectiveness when he himself had to start commanding troops. The Army exercises work primarily with three elements: artillery, infantry and cavalry. It was very important to wisely train and combine the archers and the soldiers. The cavalry usually worked in a complementary way. For example, you could open a breach in an enemy formation on a defensive position; or you could use it to pursue, instigate and exterminate an inferior enemy or use it in a getaway. There were other uses but they were generally complementary to the main force. The key to the cavalry was knowing when and how to use it.

  In this case, the situation was different. It was a small group, which limited the tactics they could employ. But on the other hand, there were other different skills that usually don't exist in an army, especially Mithir and Ithelas' magic.

  He decided they could start with a simple combination of archers and soldiers exercise. For this, he picked up two other dummies from inside the shed and placed them in a third area of the field. Then he made a start line a hundred steps from the dummies and additional marks every twenty steps. He thought about what formations they should practice. He returned to the mansion, took a scroll and a pen and began to write down the exercises that he had already thought of. He included a table to record the results.

  In the central area of the training camp, he painted a circle on the floor with lime, of about twenty steps across and then placed four more dummies at different distances. They would practice a defensive team position there. He wrote the various distance attacks that they would practice in turns, as well as the proximity ones, subsequently. In that exercise, they could start practicing the most effective ways of combining physical attacks with offensive and defensive spells. He defined the various scenarios that occurred to him and wrote them down as well.

  When he finished, he reviewed everything that he had prepared, as well as his notes. He felt satisfied. It would take them several hours to complete all the exercises. He just hoped for everyone to be back in the early afternoon or, otherwise, they wouldn't have enough time.

  It was practically lunchtime. Almost without realizing it, he had spent the whole morning preparing the camp. He went to see the horses at the stables. He fed them, stroked them and then returned to the mansion. He could smell the delicious aroma of roast coming from the kitchen.

  *******

  Ithelas and Mithir reached the city relatively fast. The Mansion on the Hill was quite close; half an hour to one hour from the city, depending on the speed at which you galloped. Their mission was very
specific: learn everything they could about vampires and share it with the others in the afternoon. To do this they had decided to go visit Beromort.

  In some cities the world of Oris, there were wise men whose fame reached beyond their own Counties. These scholars pursued first, and above all, the constant acquisition of knowledge. The vast majority specialized in a particular branch. There were many options: Architecture, Art, Botany, Physics, History, Music, Chemistry... According to the classifications that had remained in place since the Third Age, there were thirty major areas in which to organize knowledge.

  These wise men usually lived in quiet neighborhoods of major cities, to facilitate public access. Their main source of income was to charge for their consultations. People of all over, who wanted to find out something very concrete, visited them and made their questions for a predetermined fee. Some scholars also accepted students and taught classes. But others prefer to avoid it, because it was time-consuming and a major distraction to their studies. Some simply did not like teaching. But even those who taught avoided providing advanced studies. The deep knowledge of a subject was what distinguished the elite guild of scholars from the rest of society, and it was what allowed them to finance their lifestyle.

  Exceptionally, one could accept an apprentice with whom to share all or, perhaps, most of their knowledge. But such trainees were carefully screened before being accepted. Normally they sought loyal, young people, and they were tied and bound with the teacher for many years or even up to their death. A wise man normally sought an apprentice in two circumstances. When he realized he was nearing the end of his days, with the desire to transfer everything they learned to another person. Or, on the other hand, if the wise man was so successful that he had more work than one person could cover, he could find one or more assistants, who they hired for long periods and usually resolved only the simplest questions.