The Witch's City

by M. Gregg Roe

  Part way up the hill, Gabriel was engaging three axe-wielding gnoll warriors that had apparently been hiding behind the hill. The fourth, unfortunately, was now coming her way. Its fur was predominately light brown, but with a few white spots. The open mouth reminded her of a wolf’s, with sharp teeth and a long tongue.

  Audrey suddenly curved her course sharply to the left until she was running back the way she had come. A glance back showed that the gnoll was still following her, and she slowed slightly since it seemed to be losing ground. She flinched again as another arrow shattered itself against her magical shield.

  As the gnoll drew close, she sped up slightly and changed course again, this time heading up the hill. She could probably handle the gnoll herself, but it would be nice to have Gabriel nearby, just in case.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  After using magic to safeguard Audrey from arrows, Saxloc was struck by an arrow himself. It hit his right side, but thankfully didn’t penetrate the chainmail. Still, it felt like it had cracked ribs and he knew he was bleeding. He glanced around and decided that protecting Siljan was the priority. She was exchanging spells with a gnoll spell-caster, but two gnoll warriors were rapidly closing on her. Saxloc ran up to intercept them, each step causing a bolt of pain from his injured ribs.

  Saxloc ducked under a horizontal axe blow leveled by the first gnoll he reached. He aimed his own attack at the gnoll’s legs. The magically-hardened longsword easily penetrated the creature’s black leather armor and sent it reeling backwards with its left leg nearly severed at the knee. The second gnoll ignored its wounded companion, and he was hard-pressed to fend off its axe blows. He took a solid hit to his left knee before he managed to drive his sword through its chest.

  Three more gnolls were now closing on him, including one that was larger and had better armor—almost certainly the leader. Saxloc was barely mobile now, and he could feel blood streaming down his left leg. He hated to do it, but there was just no choice. He cast Levitation and flew upward and then away from the hills. Siljan would have to fend for herself.

  As he flew, he looked over at the other hill. Audrey was being chased by an axe-wielding gnoll but seemed to be in no danger. If nothing else, she could certainly outrun it. A trail of bloody gnoll corpses marked Gabriel’s progress up the hill, punctuating just how much better a fighter Gabriel was than himself.

  Saxloc stopped his retreat and cast Recovery on himself while still floating in the air. He continued the spell until he had stopped the bleeding and restored some of his stamina. Then he flew back at maximum speed to rejoin the fray.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  Gabriel hacked the right arm off of the last of the three gnoll warriors that had prevented him from reaching his real goal—the archers that were shooting at Audrey. It mourned woefully as he finished it off with a thrust through the heart. A glance showed Audrey being chased up the hill by another of the gnolls, but apparently unhurt.

  He advanced on the three remaining archers, noting that they and their discarded longbows were all coated with frost. That had obviously been Hankin’s work. They had all drawn swords with thin blades and were spreading out to try to surround him. Gabriel ruined their plan by charging forward to engage the rightmost one. He smashed its sword aside with his much heavier one, slammed his shield into its body, and then beheaded it with his return stroke. He turned and saw that the other two had paused, clearly disconcerted. They gathered themselves and attacked him simultaneously. Still, they were no match for him and only managed to nick his shield before they both fell. Gabriel felt exhilarated, as he always did when in actual combat.

  Only Audrey’s shout prevented him from being seriously injured by the remaining gnoll that had decided to attack him from behind after failing to catch her. He caught the blow with the edge of his shield and staggered backward with his left arm feeling numb. The gnoll raised its axe for another blow, but ignoring Audrey proved to be a mistake. The creature howled in agony and dropped its weapon as Audrey brought her quarterstaff rapidly up into its groin from behind it. The gnoll fell to its knees, its eyes bulging and tongue protruding. Audrey spun and kicked the gnoll with the top of her right foot, snapping its head brutally to the side. It fell forward with its head at an unnatural angle, clearly dead. Gabriel found himself impressed by Audrey’s improved combat skills.

  Audrey glanced around and then walked up to him, complaining, “I can’t believe it just ignored me like that!”

  It looked to Gabriel as if there were no more threats nearby. He tried to look solemn as he stated, “I do not think it will make that mistake again.” Audrey burst out laughing, just as he had hoped.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  Siljan was feeling irritated. Her Entangle spell had slowed several of the gnolls, causing the grass they were running through to grow and grab at their legs. Her Fireball had instantly slain the four undead accompanying the gnoll spell-caster, who was probably a priestess of some gnoll deity. And Saxloc had moved forward to protect her from the others that were approaching. That was all good. But now, everything was going wrong. Her Fireballs were having little effect on the gnoll priestess, just as the retaliatory bolts of lightning were being mostly absorbed by her own magic armor. It was a spell duel, but a dull one. She cast an Argent Lance to change things up and was cheered when the gnoll priestess screamed in pain. But then her opponent simply vanished. Meanwhile, after slaying two of the gnolls, Saxloc flew off dripping blood, leaving her to face three others, because only one was still trapped on the hill.

  Siljan grinned as she stepped up to meet the three gnolls. She employed multi-cast with her favorite spell, emitting fan-shaped blasts of orange flame from both hands. The fans overlapped in front of her, and the unfortunate gnoll standing there was instantly killed. She narrowly dodged an axe swing from the gnoll to her right, but the leader turned away from her. Hankin had flown over and she saw him cast his Dark Claw spell. The leader desperately tried to escape the huge black hand but was soon in its clutches.

  Siljan repeated her spell-casting and the leader fell dead, its fur burning and smoldering. The other gnoll avoided most of her magical attack and then surprised her by using its axe like a spear, driving the top of it into her stomach. Siljan staggered backward and tried to draw her sword, but just then her opponent stopped and howled in pain. The cause was evident as she spotted Saxloc floating in the air off to her right. Hankin flew up from behind and ran the gnoll through with his rapier. Saxloc landed to her right as Hankin yanked his rapier out and the gnoll crumpled to the ground.

  “Thanks,” said Siljan to the two of them. “But the priestess could still be out there. She made herself invisible.”

  “If she’s smart, she’ll be running,” commented Hankin. “But I’ll go scout around.” He rose straight up and then flew toward the right hill. Siljan was amused to see the gnoll that had spent the entire melee trapped by her Entangle spell had finally gotten free and was fleeing.

  Siljan healed her own injuries as Gabriel and Audrey walked over from the other hill. Then she tended to Gabriel while Saxloc and Audrey talked. Hankin returned after finding no trace of the gnoll priestess, and they resumed their journey.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  “I was hoping to see more of Hard Rock City,” Audrey told Saxloc as the five of them started their journey back to Rohoville. The dwarves had let them through the massive stone doors that gave entrance to the underground city but had then made them stay in a nearby room while Petra’s mother was brought to them.

  “I was too,” said Saxloc. “They don’t seem very trusting.”

  “Maybe they have reason to be afraid.” Audrey shrugged. “Well, at least I can say I’ve been there now. Petra’s mother seemed nice.”

  “Yes,” he agreed. “Unfortunately, she never could adjust to life above ground.”

  The news about her daughter’s abduction had shocked the pale and soft-spoken woman. To Audrey’s surprise, Siljan brushed Gabriel aside and took over. She calmed Sofia, obtai
ned the needed blood, and even healed the injury afterward. Before leaving, they promised to send word when they had news of Petra.

  They were once again walking rapidly at Gabriel’s insistence. He was leading, with Hankin and Siljan off to either side and the two of them following. They had already passed the site of their battle with the gnolls, finding it now swarming with heavily-armed dwarves.

  “What happens after we get back?” Audrey asked. “Other than Oljot making the thing to locate Petra.”

  Saxloc shrugged. “We’ll stay at the castle at least one night. Then, if they don’t need us to do something else, we can go home.”

  Audrey wanted to stay until all three girls had been rescued and returned, but she decided not to say anything. Instead, she said a prayer to Lasrina. It couldn’t hurt.

  47

  ‡ Tracker ‡

  After making herself presentable, Audrey went down to the dining hall. A long table near one wall was piled with a variety of foods, but there was hardly anyone there. The dining tables were strewn with dirty plates and partially-eaten meals. Audrey suspected that something had happened to interrupt breakfast, and she wondered if Oljot was responsible.

  Audrey filled a plate with food, picked up a water-filled goblet, and looked for a place to sit down. She spotted familiar faces at a table in the corner and walked over.

  “Hello, Saxloc’s girlfriend,” said Valwyn, sporting a silly grin.

  “Hello, Branwyn’s daughter,” replied Audrey. “Hello, Hanna. Actually, I’m thinking of dropping the ‘Audrey’ and just calling myself ‘Saxloc’s girlfriend’. What do you think?”

  Valwyn laughed and Hanna smiled.

  “You two look pretty good considering that you were abducted recently,” said Audrey as she began to eat. They had heard the good news when they returned, but the two girls had already gone to bed, no doubt exhausted.

  Valwyn waved the sweet roll that she had just picked up from her plate, which Audrey noticed contained only sweet rolls. “We’re fine. We escaped all on our own. Well, mostly.” Valwyn frowned. “But Petra got taken away before that. We’re really worried about her.” Hanna earnestly nodded her agreement.

  Audrey was touched by their concern for their friend. “I’m sure that Petra will be rescued. Oljot said that he had a way to locate her and we brought back what he needed for that last night.”

  “Then I think he succeeded because my parents and a bunch of other people rushed out of here earlier,” said Valwyn.

  “Did that include Saxloc?”

  “Yes. And Gabriel and Hankin too. I haven’t seen Siljan.”

  “That’s because I just got up,” said Siljan as she walked up to the table and yawned. She pointed at the two girls. “You two. No more getting kidnapped. It’s inconvenient.” Valwyn and Hanna both laughed in response.

  “It sounds like Oljot succeeded and they’re having a big meeting,” Audrey told her.

  Siljan sighed. “Then I better eat something quick. We will probably be leaving soon.”

  Audrey was puzzled. “What do you mean? They don’t need us to rescue Petra, do they?”

  “Probably not. But Gabriel will volunteer because that’s just the way he is. And he does sort of have a connection to Petra. Saxloc is Gabriel’s best friend, so he will volunteer. That means that you will go. Hankin will volunteer because he wants to impress Celebern.”

  “What about you, Siljan?”

  Siljan shrugged. “I’d hate to miss all the fun. And I’ve got nothing better to do.”

  Saxloc came running into the room. “Audrey! Siljan! We’re going along to rescue Petra. You need to be ready to go and at the docks by noon at the latest.”

  “Told you so,” said Siljan with a self-satisfied grin.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  Branwyn stared out from the ship’s bow. The river was about fifty yards wide, with woods to the south and a grassy plain to the north. Making use of the stiff breeze from out of the west, the ship’s sails powered it upriver at a decent clip. She glanced back at the tracker and saw that it still pointed due east.

  The tracker that Oljot had crafted was a cylindrical glass container about the size of a man’s fist, filled with iridescent white liquid. A thin red line ran vertically at the front of the container, actually part of the liquid contents. It indicated the direction to Petra. The top and bottom were sealed with square pieces of brass and the lower one was clamped to a square wood table by small pieces of wood. The table was fastened to the ship’s deck as well. They were taking no chances.

  Oljot had brought the tracker to the castle that morning. From his appearance, Branwyn was certain that he had been up all night constructing it. A small Novox ship was standing by, and they left as soon as everyone was ready. It had been hard to leave her daughter behind, but Branwyn was determined to find Petra. She was once again accompanied by her husband, Danj, and Hagen. Gabriel had also volunteered along with his friends, and Branwyn was glad.

  Branwyn glanced back again at the tracker, noting that it still pointed east. She noticed Audrey heading toward the bow, walking in the balanced and poised manner that seemed to mark all of Grasapa’s students.

  “Good morning, Branwyn,” said Audrey as she bent over and peered at the tracker. “Is that what Oljot made?”

  “Yes, it is. Come around front and look.”

  Audrey walked around to the front of the table and stared at the red stripe. After a moment, she looked up with a puzzled expression.

  Branwyn gestured and said, “According to Oljot, the stripe is pointing the direction to Petra.”

  “Does it tell how far she is?”

  “No. Or if it does, Oljot didn’t mention it. It didn’t come with instructions. But this should be enough to find her. We will continue until we either find her or it begins to point toward one of the shores.”

  “That sounds good. I hope we find her soon. And that she’s okay.”

  “As do I. Milric and I are responsible for her now that she’s living with us. Ermizad is not going to be happy about this no matter what the outcome.”

  Audrey pursed her lips. “I guess she wouldn’t be. I saw Valwyn and Hanna this morning. They seemed fine.”

  “Audrey, you have no idea how relieved we were to find them safe. It could have been so much worse if they hadn’t managed to escape on their own.”

  “Really? What happened? I guess I should have asked Valwyn to tell me about it.”

  Branwyn smirked. “If you had, you’d probably still be there listening to her. And you wouldn’t know what was true and what Valwyn was just making up for her own amusement. Why don’t we go sit down and I’ll tell you the short and accurate version?”

  “Okay. I’d like to hear it.”

  Branwyn gestured to a nearby crewman and he walked over and began to carefully observe the device. Branwyn led Audrey to a small bench behind the wheelhouse and the two of them sat down. She told Audrey about what had happened to Valwyn and Hanna, as well as what they had discovered about Petra.

  “That’s quite a story,” said Audrey. “You must be very proud of Valwyn.”

  “Yes, Milric and I both are. But I’m also feeling guilty about Hanna. If her mother hadn’t given her thief training, then Hanna and Valwyn would both be dead and gone. I don’t even like to think about how close they came to being eaten by those creatures. I’m going to have to do something to repay Tilda after this is over.”

  Audrey nodded her head in agreement. “I hope you find Petra. I’ve been praying to Lasrina.”

  “Aren’t you coming with us?” Branwyn asked.

  “No,” she replied with a sad look. “I’d probably just get in the way. Against metal creatures, I could only use my staff, and I’m not very good with it.”

  “But we need you, Audrey.”

  “For what?”

  “To be our navigator. We’re not likely to find Petra on the river. We will need someone to carry the tracker and guide us once we go ashore.”

&nbs
p; Audrey was amused. “And if I’m the one carrying it, then the rest of you will be free to fight and cast spells?”

  “That’s right. You’re the logical choice, Audrey.”

  Audrey shook her head. “Okay. You’ve convinced me. I was going to just stay on the ship, but I’ll go and be your navigator. And besides, I’m really curious how many bones I can break if I punch something made of metal.”

  Branwyn laughed. “Just come to me for healing afterward, and I’ll count them.”

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  The ship’s galley was so small that they had to eat dinner in shifts. Audrey ended up eating with Saxloc, Siljan, and Danj. Danj kept going on about wanting to build something called a “lighthouse” at the river confluence in Rohoville. He seemed to think this would somehow help prevent future kidnappings. Audrey had no idea of what he was talking about, and she could tell that Saxloc didn’t either. Siljan seemed to be ignoring almost everything her father said.

  Danj kept referring to Petra as “the little red-haired girl who likes my stories”, much to Audrey’s amusement. He also kept talking about the “not good” people that took Petra. Audrey would have been concerned about the fate of Rohoville under King Danj’s rule if she wasn’t already aware that his wife Sabrina was the one who actually ran everything there.

  Audrey asked Siljan about her father after he had finished eating and left. Siljan rolled her eyes. “My father has a rather simple view of the world. Everything is either ‘good’ or ‘not good’. Petra is ‘good’. The ones that abducted her are ‘not good’. Going to rescue her is ‘good’.”