Legends of Windemere: 02 - Prodigy of Rainbow Tower

by Charles E Yallowitz

  “Do we care?” Nyx cries, running to give Luke a tight hug.

  “I think this hurts,” the forest tracker says with a goofy smile on his face.

  Nimby smiles proudly and steps away from Luke. “I almost forgot that I had placed a few bags of healing potions and anti-venom serums around the ship since we left Rodillen. It seemed like a good idea to be prepared in case you were too far away to help us. I hid one of the bags under this floorboard and I remembered it after Nyx ran off.”

  “That explains why my potion stash kept getting smaller even after I spent an entire night making new ones,” Aedyn states, a thoughtful smile on his face. “I have another question, Nimby. How did you give him the potions when he was convulsing?”

  “I put the five anti-venoms directly into his wound to numb the pain and then I force-fed him the healing potions,” the halfling answers, his voice becoming worried and defensive. “I figured it would help in some way. Though he did bite the tops off two of the bottles and cut his mouth up.”

  Aedyn puts his face in his hand, his body wracked with a combination of groans and laughter. “You just supercharged his natural healing system with magic potions. He is not really better. Luke is simply pumped up with enough opposing magics that his body has reached a point of brief stabilization. That is why he looks like he is drunk. His body is running on healing potions and adrenaline alone, which means he will crash and go into a coma if I do not start working on him right away. Please get him to his room, Nyx.”

  “Did I mess up?” Nimby asks. He watches Nyx help Luke down the stairs with Aedyn only a few steps behind them.

  “No,” Aedyn assures the worried thief. “You did a good job, Nimby. It was very risky and unorthodox, but you bought Luke enough time for me to get to him.”

  “Whew. I was worried there for a second,” Nimby mutters, his pulse returning to normal.

  The halfling is about to follow his friends when a strong hand drops on his shoulder. He looks at the webbed hand and lets his eyes trail up to the emotionless, tired face of Captain Higgs. Nimby feels a lump grow in his throat as the captain stares blankly in the direction that the others went. He doesn’t bother to look at the halfling as he starts to talk.

  “I wish to speak with Kellia as soon as possible. Please have the caster join us since the priest and the forest tracker will be indisposed,” the captain requests, his voice stern and dull. “We have much to discuss.”

  12

  Flocks of gulls calmly sit on the surrounding warehouses of Vorgabog. These immense structures make a wide horseshoe around the serene riverside town. The small, wooden houses of the townsfolk have their doors open during the day to let in the cool river breeze. A few simple stores are scattered along the roads and look like nothing more than regular houses with a larger front windows. A single tavern sits near the small dock with a weatherworn sign swinging in the wind. The sound of happy, drunken singing flows from the open door of the tavern. The peaceful atmosphere of Vorgabog is quaint and relaxing to all first time visitors compared to the busier cities along the L’dandrin. Sadly, this peace does little to calm the anger and frustration of the travelers who were recently abandoned on the docks.

  “I can’t believe that captain,” Kellia furiously growls.

  “He had his reasons,” Luke says, shifting the heavy bags that he is balancing on his back and shoulders. He is barely able to keep up with the others while he walks next to Bessaria. The sheep is also covered in luggage as well and it looks at Luke with a whimper in its lip.

  “The man abandoned us when he could have taken us as far as Freedom. That’s only a day down the river,” the heiress argues, her temper rising. “Now, we have to get horses and travel for days along roads where we can be easily ambushed. I swear that I will have him landlocked for this.”

  Nimby sighs and kicks at a pebble. “At least, I got to say good-bye to Myilia.”

  “Gee. I’m so happy for you,” Kellia sarcastically snaps.

  “Leave him alone. We’re all annoyed at this setback,” says Nyx, who is trying to create fire on her fingers. The best she can do is make a thin trail of smoke rise from her thumb. “Personally, I can’t blame Captain Higgs for this. He lost several men on this voyage and a captain’s first priority is the safety of his crew. I just hope they don’t get attacked while we’re gone.”

  “The man has no honor,” Tyler declares in a high-pitched voice. “He abandoned the future ruler of Serab in a dirt farm of a town. I will not stand for this once I return to Freedom. Nobody treats my family this way.” The unburdened noble is busy peeling an apple, which vanishes from his hand before he can eat it. Luke grins as he hears lip smacking and a small belch from among the bags on his back.

  “Please calm down, Tyler,” Aedyn politely requests. “If we get a few horses and a simple cart then we can make it to Freedom in two days without any trouble.”

  He reaches out to pat Tyler on the shoulder, but the noble shifts out of reach and glares at the priest. Tyler takes Kellia by the hand and leads her ahead of the others, so that they can whisper in secret. Nimby flicks a few pebbles at Tyler’s head, which causes the noble to look around in a panic. The halfling pretends to be looking around at the scenery whenever Tyler looks at him. Luke is the only one that the noble sees laughing.

  “You are a ruffian, Callindor,” the noble says, jabbing a finger in Luke’s direction. “I expected more from someone raised in such a famous family. Hitting me with rocks is proof of your immaturity.”

  Luke’s face melts into an angry scowl and his voice curls into a menacing tone. “You nearly got me killed and made no apology about it, so I don’t want to hear about maturity and manners from you.”

  “So, you hit me in the head with rocks?” the noble inquires, trying to retain his nerve.

  “No, I laugh about you getting hit by rocks,” Luke claims with a charming smile. He adjusts the bags to try and ease the pressure on his shoulders. “If you actually used your brain then you would realize that it’s impossible for me to throw anything at you. My arms are too busy keeping all of these bags off the ground.” A bag tumbles off the top of the pile, which he swiftly catches with his foot and flips on his back. “Can we get a horse soon?”

  “I know a person at the edge of town who can give us some horses and a cart,” Fritz promises. He unpacks some of the bags from Bessaria and hands them to Nyx and Nimby. “She is an old flame of mine and we left on really good terms. It will be nice to see her for a bit. I’ll ride Bessaria up ahead and get everything ready.” He awkwardly gets on the sheep and gently kicks the beast in the sides to get her into a sluggish trot.

  “How are you feeling, Nyx?” Nimby asks in a low voice.

  The caster sighs and flexes her fingers. “My magic hasn’t come back and I don’t know what I have to do to fix it. Kellia being in danger didn’t help. Aedyn being in danger didn’t help. My own life being in danger didn't help. I’m thinking of finding a caster in Freedom to see if I can get any suggestions.”

  “You can’t cast any spells?” Tyler asks. He stops with Kellia and waits for the others to catch up.

  “No, I-” starts Nyx, stopping when Luke trips and crashes into her. Pieces of luggage skitter across the street while a startled, invisible form creates a path of dust, leading into an open doorway.

  “Lie to him,” Luke whispers into Nyx’s ear before he gets to his feet and goes about collecting the luggage.

  Kellia glares at the forest tracker and crosses her arms. “You better not have broken anything.”

  “You can just take the damage charges out of his pay,” Tyler suggests, his eyes still locked on Nyx. “Now, what is wrong with the caster?”

  “Nyx is blowing her problem out of proportions because she is still skittish from nearly dying in Hero’s Gate,” Aedyn explains, putting a comforting hand on Nyx’s shoulder. “It is nothing to worry about. Her magic should return before we have to stop for the night. As I told the others, this happens to a lot
of young casters when they are traumatized.”

  “You told her two days ago that her aura was dormant,” Kellia reminds him.

  “Well, that is the form that this problem normally takes,” Aedyn says with a friendly, trusting smile. “It is still a temporary situation that she will fix in the coming hours. Trust me. I am a priest and I know about these kinds of things.”

  Kellia shrugs before handing Luke the last of the luggage. She goes back to walking far ahead of the group with Tyler protectively holding her hand. The others let them get ten yards ahead before they begin talking again.

  “Let Aedyn and me help you with those bags, Luke,” Nyx offers.

  “Thanks,” he grunts. She takes half of the heavy pieces of luggage from Luke and divides the pile between herself and Aedyn.

  “You really don’t trust Tyler,” Nimby states, keeping an eye on the nobleman.

  “Something about him isn’t right. I would go into more detail about what I think, but we still have a town trap to deal with. That is unless Trinity was lying about having a surprise in every town, but she seemed very proud of her gauntlet,” says Luke, who is happy to feel a lot less burdened. “I say we keep the luggage, Kellia, and Tyler in the cart while we’re on the road. Nimby should drive the cart since he is the best at subtly keeping an ear out for anything peculiar when those two talk. I want to know everything about Tyler before we reach Freedom. The rest of us can discuss our situation from ahead of the cart. I can ask Fritz to cast a distant ear spell on you, so you can hear us, Nimby.”

  “I don’t think he’s that bad a guy,” Nimby admits, turning back to the others. “He’s a foppish noble with a big mouth, which isn’t a rare creature. You’re being too paranoid about this, Luke.”

  Luke blows a lock of hair out of his eyes as he lets Nimby’s words sink in. “Better paranoid than dead considering everything that’s happened so far. We’ve been attacked so many times that I’m actually jealous of Captain Higgs and his crew getting out of this mess. I really wish we could have stayed with the River Scout until Freedom.”

  “Me too,” the halfling whines.

  “I bet it’s for a different reason than Luke,” Nyx teases the thief. She is about to gently elbow Nimby in the ribs, but stops when she sees that she would hit him in the eye instead. “You and that sailor were getting pretty serious there. Did you leave her a gift or a promise before we left?”

  “I left Nightshade with her,” Nimby quickly replies. “Myilia is staying in Freedom, so I can look for her once we arrive. If I find her then I can confirm that nothing happened to the River Scout after we parted.”

  “I am sure that is your primary reason for finding her,” Aedyn mutters.

  “You’re just jealous that I have a girl and all you have is Fritz,” Nimby retorts. He sticks his tongue out at Aedyn, which is answered by the priest casting a spell. Nimby’s tongue becomes a shining beacon that makes his cheeks glow when he closes his mouth.

  “I feel much better now,” Aedyn claims, his uncharacteristic smirk catching everyone by surprise.

  “Don’t waste your magic on Nimby. We should save our energy for whatever threat is in this town,” says Nyx, who has begun scanning the area for danger. “I doubt we are going to get out of here without incident. The last thing we want is to be caught off guard like what happened to us in Hero’s Gate.”

  Luke is about to add something when several people begin to scream and a large thud is heard behind them. All of the adventurers turn around to see a towering demon with bloated muscles standing in the middle of the street. The ground turns black at the demon’s feet and it yawns to reveal seven rows of jagged, barbed teeth. Dirt fills the air with every beat of its stone-like wings, which have veins of lava running along them. Nimby gulps while he watches the four hypnotically twisting arms that are carrying edged, poison-dripping weapons.

  “A Spurge,” Aedyn says in shock.

  “Most powerful type of demon that anyone can summon without getting into specifically named demons,” Nyx whispers, her mouth becoming dry and sour.

  Luke’s eye twitches as he stares at the horrific creature. “No! Hell no! This is not even remotely fair! What the hell!”

  “Who of you will face me? I have been waiting near this town for three weeks and have fasted in preparation for your flesh. I will-” the demon announces. Luke cuts it off by dropping the luggage and throwing his hands up in the air.

  “Have you lost your mind, Luke? Don’t anger it,” Nimby whispers.

  “Don’t anger it? The thing is unstoppable and hasn’t eaten in at least three weeks because it has been waiting for us! I’ve had it!” Luke angrily explodes. He violently kicks one of Kellia’s smaller bags in frustration. “Chaos elves, goblins, orcs, trolls, water demons, Hellfire Elves, and now a Spurge. I have had it with this crap!”

  The Spurge looks slightly confused and looks down at the angry half-elf. “This is not what I was expecting.”

  “Join the club, ugly!” Luke shouts, pointing a finger at the demon.

  “Don’t piss off the demon, little brother,” Nyx hisses. She smiles and waves at the Spurge before taking several large steps away from Luke.

  “You will cower before me and prepare for death, whelp!” the Spurge declares in a booming voice.

  “Why do you assassins keep saying stuff like that?” Luke asks, unfazed by the demon’s intimidating voice. “Just say that you want to fight to the death and attack us. I’m getting sick and tired of all this mouthy preparation!”

  “Your ignorance of my pow-” starts the demon, desperately trying to regain control of the situation.

  “Shut up! I don’t care about your power!” Luke screams, turning his back on the demon and crossing his arms. “You were sent here to kill us and do your masters’ bidding. I get it! That’s what everyone who has tried to kill me has said and there are only so many ways you can say it.”

  “I don’t strike terror in him?” asks the demon, more to itself than any of the mortals in front of it.

  Nimby inches over to Aedyn and whispers, “Why is the demon asking a question instead of eating us, Aedyn?”

  “I think Luke . . . confused it,” Aedyn answers, his own confusion making him talk slowly. “A Spurge is a being of nightmares and Luke just flipped out on it. The demon is probably as lost as we are in all of this. It may be even worse than we realize since the more powerful the demon, the more complex the magical orders. Basically, Luke just went entirely off-script and the demon is not sure what to do. Let me see if I can use its confusion to get us out of this.” He cautiously steps between Luke and the demon. “Excuse me! Great Spurge of the Chaos Void!”

  “A flatterer,” the demon says, obviously relieved at the distraction from the baffling warrior. “What do you have to say?”

  “Is there any way for us to simply part ways?” Aedyn politely inquires, bowing low enough to touch his forehead to the ground. “You are an incredibly powerful demon and we are inexperienced warriors. It would be a waste of your great power to smite us.”

  The Spurge strokes its stony chin, considering the priest’s words. “I am under contract to terrorize then kill all of you and take that girl in the back. Demons must always keep their contracts or there will be punishments when they return.”

  “You’re a Spurge! Strongest demons of the Chaos Void!” Luke exclaims, causing the demon to grin with pride. “What do you have to worry about back there?”

  Aedyn lightly smacks the forest tracker in the head with his staff before turning back to the demon. “I believe my friend has a point. He does not know how to say it with respect and tact, but he has a valid point. A being of your power has nothing to fear if you walk away and let us go.”

  “That is true, but the rules of a contract are specific and absolute,” the demon mentions while glancing around the little town. “Aren’t you supposed to have a ship? I’m supposed to destroy that too.”

  Nimby finally gets the courage to say, “They abando
ned us here.”

  “That does leave a hole in my contract,” the Spurge admits, sighing in frustration. “It states that I must destroy as many of you as possible and sink the ship before I secure the heir. I might have to hunt the ship down after I dispose of you.”

  “That is if you don’t leave now and return home. It would really save you a lot of trouble and energy. Please go home?” Nyx begs, clasping her hands in front of her.

  “I hate it when my prey tries to negotiate. It always makes things complicated,” the demon states with a strong stomp that shakes the entire town. “I should kill at least one of you right now because I’m hungry.”

  “Fair enough. I’ll get Tyler,” Luke declares. Another smack upside his head from Aedyn sends the forest tracker stumbling against Nyx who shoves him away.

  “Not funny,” Aedyn whispers.

  “I thought it was,” Nyx chuckles.

  “If it’s food that you need then I can help. Here you go, sir,” Nimby says. He tosses a large sack of apples to the demon, which catches it in its mouth and hungrily crunches the entire sack. A serpentine tongue runs along its lips and catches all of the apple juice that drips down its chin.

  “Thank you,” the demon says, its tongue slowly retracting into its mouth.

  “So, can we part ways now?” Aedyn asks.

  The Spurge runs a hand through its white hair and eyes the adventurers. “I cannot return home without a battle. I have a reputation to uphold and a wife who can read my thoughts and memories. Furthermore, I waited here for three weeks and feel like I should get more than apples for my trouble. Not that there is anything wrong with apples.”

  “A wife? I did not know demons got married,” the priest admits, his face a friendly smile. “Then again, I also never believed I could actually hold a rational conversation with one of your kind. No offense.”