“None taken. I never had the chance to speak with any mortals beyond those who summon me. My prey tends to attack me and die,” the Spurge admits, taking a step toward the adventurers. “This has been an interesting and enlightening event, but I believe it is time that I killed you.”
“Come on! I’m getting bored!” Luke defiantly yells, causing the demon to stop and stare at him in bewilderment.
“What is wrong with him? Why is he not afraid?” the Spurge asks, turning to Aedyn.
“He has had a rough life lately,” the priest answers.
The Spurge puffs a cloud of toxic fumes and laughs. “You mortals always think things are worse than they are.”
Nyx raises a finger for every point she makes as she speaks. “I nearly killed him when we first met and came close to getting him knocked off a griffin while we were in the air. He got us involved in an arena battle where it was me and him against five bar thugs. He’s been either seasick or sweating ginger for the majority of this trip. The chaos elf queen beat him into the ground after a chase over trap-covered rooftops. A troll mauled him a few hours before an enchanted goblin swarm attacked the city we were in. He almost drowned during a Rikebak attack. Tyler is responsible for Luke coming close to roasting alive in a shipwreck. I think he also came close to drowning after he escaped the shipwreck. Then, he fought a Hellfire Elf and took another hip to shoulder slash from a Chaoswind blade. Oh, and Nimby overloaded his system on healing potions.”
“You forgot that he left his girlfriend behind at the start of all this,” Nimby adds. Luke growls at the halfling without taking his eyes off the demon
“I understand the pain of leaving a loved one behind for a mission. It hurts every time I have to leave my dear wife alone with our seventy spawn,” the Spurge says. The demon lifts its weapons to start an attack. “Still, I have a job to do.”
“Hold on! I have an idea that will benefit all of us, sir,” Aedyn interrupts, proudly smiling about his sudden idea. “You can see that we have already defeated many dangerous obstacles without losing anyone. I should point out that Luke always takes a severe beating to accomplish this. We can simply repeat this pattern as a ploy.”
The demon lets its weapons hang at its sides and beckons the priest to continue. “You, great Spurge, will fight Luke and beat him into the ground. His skill is at a level where he will get a few believable hits in. I will then cast a banishment spell on you, which will send you back to your wife and spawn. Your story can be that you fought a warrior and a priest pulled off a spell before you could finish any of us off. We can even have the halfling get involved by having him throw a few daggers into you. Is this acceptable?”
“The being who summoned me is not strong enough to hold me under control and I want to go home,” the demon reveals with a hint of sadness in its guttural voice. It thinks carefully for a few minutes until it comes to a decision. “I accept your plan, priest.”
“Good. I will start the spell and you two start fighting about . . . now!” Aedyn shouts before he starts praying.
“Wait. What’s going-” Luke begins.
A stone wing knocks him into the air before the demon leaps above him and stomps Luke into the ground. Nimby hurls a few daggers up the demon’s spine while the monster makes a savage slash at Luke’s head. The half-elf is quick enough to duck the attack and stabs the demon in the ankle. Once his sword is free from the demon, Luke rolls away and scrambles to his feet. He barely has the strength to block the next set of attacks without his arms snapping under the power of the Spurge’s assault. After a few seconds, Luke creates an opening and makes a deep stab into the demon’s chest. A spout of red fire erupts from the wound as the Spurge cuts Luke up the leg and kicks him across the street.
“Are you sure this is fake?” Nyx asks Nimby, cringing every time Luke is struck by the demon.
They watch as Luke flips back onto his feet and charges at the demon. He ducks under a slash, leaps onto another swinging sword, and ends with a ricochet off a third attack. Luke drives his sabers into the eyes of the Spurge causing another eruption of fire that sends the forest tracker sailing through the air. He crashes through a shuttered window, which is followed by the sound of a woman screaming and a child crying.
“Something tells me that the Spurge is holding back and Luke is trying with all of his strength,” Nimby answers, nervously fiddling with his sheathed dagger. “To be fair, Luke might still be weak from fighting the Hellfire Elf. The more I watch this, the more I believe Luke will eventually be strong enough to single-handedly kill a Spurge. That is if he can survive this fight. You realize that all of this wouldn’t be a problem if you could still cast spells, Nyx.”
“Shut up, Nimby,” Nyx mutters, a look of self-loathing on her face.
“Sorry,” the halfling says.
Luke emerges from the building and makes a limping run at the demon. All four of the demon’s weapons slash through the air, but Luke stops just out of their reach. He hurls one of his sabers into the throat of the Spurge. The monster roars in genuine fury as Luke starts running circles around it and dodges every town-shaking attack that it makes. At the first sign of an opening, Luke dives between two swinging swords and feels the blades graze the top of his shoulders. He grabs his embedded saber and pushes off the Spurge’s chest to run the blade across and out of its throat. A gurgling belch of flame spews from the wound, slamming Luke to the ground.
“I banish you!” cries Aedyn. The demon throws its head back and roars at the sky as a beam of fiery light absorbs it. A steaming circle of ash is all that is left of the powerful demon after the light fades.
“Took you long enough,” Luke gasps.
“Are you feeling better?” the priest asks, ignoring Luke’s comment.
“I feel a lot better and a lot worse,” the forest tracker replies. He tenderly reaches up to touch the bleeding lump on his forehead. “I hope you have enough magic to heal me since that banishment spell seemed pretty powerful. I don’t feel like limping down the road with all of the luggage.” Nyx and Nimby help him to his feet as Aedyn tries to hide an awkward smile.
Aedyn clears his throat and admits, “To be honest, I never learned the prayer for a banishment spell.”
“What?” all of his friends ask.
“To banish a summoned demon is a very difficult task. Only high priests can cast such spells, so it is beyond me at this time,” Aedyn explains, avoiding the gazes of anger, confusion, and amusement from his friends. “My prayers were nothing more than anti-poison and defense spells on Luke. Although, I think the defenses I used were about as strong as a paper shield when faced with a demon of that power.”
“Then, how did we win? Did Luke actually kill it?” Nimby asks.
“I doubt that,” Luke laughs, cringing in pain and whimpering.
“Luke fought well, but it was not enough to kill the demon,” agrees Aedyn, who quickly throws a minor healing spell at Luke to stop his wounds from bleeding. “The demon was stronger than the one who summoned it, so it had the power to banish itself. That type of banishment is more specific than the spell I was pretending to cast. Using its personal banishing ability would send it back to its home in the Chaos Void instead of a random location in the dark magic pits. A demon can use this ability in conjunction with a banishment spell in order to direct its landing. So, I had cast a flashy sunlight spell to trick the demon into using its personal banishment spell to send itself back to the Chaos Void.”
“You would have made an incredible thief, Aedyn,” Nimby declares with pride.
“I guess I should say thanks,” the priest humbly replies.
“So, you used me confusing the demon as a way to get it to defeat itself. You also put me in a fight that I couldn’t win,” says Luke, who is leaning on Nyx for support. “I don’t know if I should hit you or thank you.”
Nyx lightly taps Luke on the head with her knuckles. “What in Gar’s name made you think that you could defeat a Spurge?”
“I beat everything else that the Lich and Trinity threw at me,” he casually answers. His charming smile appears on his face as he adds, “I figured my luck and skill would hold.”
“I’m going to check on Fritz and the horses,” Nyx announces with a tired sigh.
Nyx lets go of Luke and walks away without making any attempt to stop his fall to the ground. He manages to get his hands out in time to soften his collapse and pushes himself onto his back. The others trail behind Nyx and leave Aedyn to heal Luke in the middle of the dusty street.
“You are one lucky maniac, Luke,” Aedyn laughs before setting Luke’s broken rib and pushing healing magic into the warrior.
“Need I remind you that you got me involved in that,” Luke snaps. He bites his lip until the sudden pain in his chest vanishes.
“Do you realize that the Spurge would have destroyed you with ease if I had not stepped in and talked it into a mock fight? This time, I saved your life,” Aedyn politely declares.
Luke raises a suspicious eyebrow at the priest. “I thought we were already even for the goblin swarm save.”
“We were. This is just what friends do,” Aedyn claims nonchalantly. He finishes his spells and makes sure that all of Luke’s injuries are fully healed.
“By the gods, I wish I could hate you,” Luke groans with a happy grin. Aedyn helps him to his feet as the two half-elves gather the luggage and leave the smoking circle behind them. Both of them turn around to watch a strong breeze pick up the demon’s ashes and cast them into the L’dandrin where the current takes them away.
“You think that demon will be angry?” Luke asks.
Aedyn shrugs before admitting, “I hope not. That Spurge was oddly pleasant.”
*****
Nyx’s terrified screams cut through the forest that embraces the road leading from Vorgabog to Freedom. The powerful, brown horse runs wild among the trees while she kicks at its sides and yanks on its reins. A low branch smacks her in the arm as they continue to gallop several yards away from the road. Nothing the caster does is able to stop the horse from taking her wherever it feels like going. Nyx feels her stomach lurch when the horse skids to a stop at a brook and takes a short drink. The horse is off at full speed again before Nyx can figure out how to safely get out of the saddle.
“Somebody help me!” she yells when the horse suddenly turns toward the road. She can see everyone else on the road as her horse runs straight to them.
“I got her,” Luke announces. He snatches the reins as she passes him and forcefully yanks the horse’s head to face him. The beast looks into his eyes and slowly calms down.
“Thanks,” Nyx gasps, staring at her white knuckles.
Luke tosses her the reins and pats the horse on the head. “She should listen to you, but don’t kick her too hard. She was angry that you were being so rough. Have you ever been on a horse before?”
“Once or twice when I was a child,” Nyx sheepishly admits. “I thought it would be more fun to learn griffin riding. Guess that idea is catching up with me.”
“Is everything under control!?” Tyler yells from the cart. Nimby has been keeping the cart at a safe distance behind the others against the loud wishes of Kellia and Tyler. The halfling had to cause some minor damage to the cart’s axles to help explain why they would be going too slow to stay very close to the horses.
“We are okay,” Aedyn replies.
“Keep your voices low for a bit. I don’t want Kellia or Tyler to hear us talking,” Luke whispers through the corner of his mouth. “We need to keep their suspicions down, so pretend to look at the forest for signs of an attack. We’ve been jumped enough times to know how to fake that.”
“We should throw in occasional fake laughter too. So, what are we talking about?” Fritz asks, riding a few steps ahead of everyone. Bessaria is a little nervous around the larger animals and turns to baa defiantly at the three horses.
“Luke is paranoid about Tyler because the guy is a jerk,” Nyx mutters under her breath.
“That isn’t grounds for thinking of him as evil,” Fritz delicately points out.
“I know, but I get a bad feeling from him,” Luke whispers, a shiver running along his spine. “He’s always asking questions about our condition, but he never asks us what we’re dealing with. It’s like he already knows about our enemies.”
Aedyn breaks into exaggerated laughter, causing everyone to jump in surprise, and slaps Luke on the shoulder. “He might want to remain ignorant of everything. Some people do not like to know about the events that they stumble into. Tyler simply wants to get home and leave all of this dangerous business behind him.”
“Can you be sure of that?” Luke asks.
“Nobody can be sure of the reasons behind another’s actions. All we know is that Kellia’s reactions prove that Tyler is family,” Fritz says, running a hand through his greasy hair. “If he is an agent of the Lich then he has had many opportunities to take her. They have been left alone a lot and apparently have met prior to her going to the academy.”
“They haven’t been alone on this trip. Fizzle has been watching them. He’s still watching them,” Nyx contends, pretending to absent-mindedly watch the trees.
“That only means that they have been watched at all times,” Aedyn points out.
“Have you people seen anything suspicious?” Tyler hollers.
Nyx growls softly before she yells back, “Nothing yet!”
“I didn’t ask you! A caster isn’t used for sensing ambushes!” the noble rudely snaps.
“We really should have fed him to the Spurge,” she mutters.
“Shut up, Tyler! We know what we’re doing!” Luke shouts. He can hear Tyler stand up in the cart moments before a rock harmlessly bounces into the forest to his right.
“Don’t you dare take that tone with me, tracker!” Tyler exclaims, his voice rising in pitch. “Your temper nearly got us killed in Vorgabog!”
“Sit down, Tyler. That’s how Luke is,” Kellia says in an attempt to calm her cousin-in-law down. “It takes some time to get used to him, but he gets the job done. You won’t have to deal with him for much longer.”
“Just remember that you will have to face me if you get any of us killed, tracker,” Tyler proudly threatens the warrior while patting the pommel of his sword. “I’m looking for any reason to fight you. Your wild style is nothing compared to the nimble blade of a gypsy.”
The cart hits a bump and Tyler topples over one of the bags. Nimby looks back to make sure he hasn’t fallen out and waves to him. The cart continues on its way with the irate noble mumbling in the back. Kellia rolls her eyes and climbs into the seat next to Nimby where she doesn’t have to continuously deal with Tyler. They wave at the others before the cart hits another bump and has to slow down again.
“Nimby is doing a good job of keeping that distance,” Fritz whispers.
“We have to yell at the cart in order to communicate with them,” Luke mutters, glancing at the forest around them. “Not that Tyler and I would be doing anything other than yelling. I hate that ex-gypsy more with every word he says.”
Nyx’s horse stumbles as she accidentally jerks on the reins. “Wait a second. If Tyler used to be a gypsy then why isn’t he acting like one?”
“I don’t know. How do gypsies typically act?” Luke asks. Fritz and Aedyn shrug before turning to Nyx for an answer.
“The laws of gypsy society embrace the concepts of freedom, respect, and family,” Nyx explains, watching squirrels in the branches above the road. A dreamy look comes over her face as she takes a deep breath. “You respect the rights of others while maintaining your personal freedom and everyone works for the community instead of themselves. Their sense of community is what factors into why gypsies believe that nobody truly owns anything. They believe that all property is owned by the whole community instead of individual members of the community. They also believe that there is a need for personal space, which is necessary for peaceful coexistence because everyone
needs a place to be alone. This sense of communal property and freedom is why bands of gypsies are never welcomed in most cities. They have no problem taking things without a care and those who are arrested are avenged by the others starting a crime spree. That doesn’t even touch on how they act toward non-gypsy men and women. You see, a gypsy is also free when it comes to dealing with members of the opposite sex. Not as free as a Bor’darukian, but they’re close. Gypsies have a year and a day union between a man and a woman instead of life-long marriage. This union states that they cannot be with anyone else for a year and a day, but it does not prevent gypsies from being shameless flirts, charmers, and teases. In fact, a taken gypsy tends to be more seductive than a single gypsy.”
“How do you know so much about gypsies when you never left Gaia?” Fritz asks curiously.
“I had this friend when I was younger and she was a gypsy girl,” Nyx explains with a few warm tears forming in her eyes. “A clan of gypsies was camped outside of Gaia and making money through entertainment and trading. One day this girl wandered into the city where she met me and we became friends. She was very strange to me and I guess I was strange to her. I would go into the gypsy camp to play with her. We were friends for two and a half years before her clan left.”
“So, what is the difference between Tyler’s actions and those of a gypsy?” Aedyn inquires before glaring at Fritz as if the gnome made a perverted comment.
“I don’t even know where to begin,” the caster admits, scratching her head and thinking about everything Tyler has done and said. “He is rude to all of us, which goes against the gypsy belief that all people should be treated with respect unless they prove otherwise. He started off rude instead of becoming rude in response to our disrespect, which is being caused by his actions. Although, I think Luke is getting what he deserves from a gypsy. Also, Tyler is not married yet and acts like he could care less about women. A gypsy, who has decided to leave the clan for city society, remains a flirt and a womanizer. He should be worse than Fritz when interacting with Kellia or myself. She may be a future family member, but she is still a single woman who can be flirted with.”
Legends of Windemere: 02 - Prodigy of Rainbow Tower Page 31