Angst Box Set 1

by David Pedersen

  Tyrell didn’t want misinformation to spread, but the queen’s presence might mean danger for the physician and her staff. “That wasn’t just any animal. It was magical, and it was trained.”

  18

  Another day passed. The road they traveled was devoid of traffic, not what one would expect of Unsel’s busiest highway. Old wagon ruts hadn’t been filled in and were starting to grow over with weeds. It had obviously been some time since the road had seen regular attention, and Angst spent much of the day trying to understand what could possibly halt all forms of commerce. It left him uneasy.

  Angst, Tarness, and Dallow rode sore, but smelled better, after finding a shallow creek for a quick rinse off. Ivan still trailed twenty or so yards behind, but at least Hector would ride with them now.

  “I’ve been wondering, what were you and Ivan arguing about the first morning?” Angst asked Hector.

  Hector didn’t appear to enjoy the memory, and he sneered while casting a dark look over his shoulder at Ivan. “I really don’t understand how that man became a knight. First he reminded me of his higher rank and then ordered me to help him attack you. Supposedly so he could be in charge. Ivan believed the two of us could take you.”

  “Well, thanks for telling him no. I appreciate you sticking up for me.” Angst grinned smugly.

  “No? I told him yes.” Hector chuckled. “I wanted to see you give him a beating. I figured it would shut him up for the rest of the trip.”

  “That sounds like a good idea,” Dallow said. “But what caused the argument?”

  “I couldn’t help but laugh at his suggestion. He became offended. Then he proceeded to offend me,” Hector said, fuming at the memory, his blue gray eyes narrowing dangerously. “Had you three shown up a few minutes later, the beating would’ve happened before you got there.”

  “Angst,” Tarness interrupted. “Is something wrong with Chryslaenor?” He pointed at the giant sword.

  A bright blue aura surrounded the great blade. They stopped their horses immediately and dismounted. Angst pulled Chryslaenor from his back and stared at it for a moment, concentrating. “I don’t understand. We aren’t being attacked.” He listened closely, but Chryslaenor’s song still chimed quietly in the back of his head, unchanged. “Hector, do you sense anything unusual?”

  Hector cocked his head to one side and focused on their surroundings. “I don’t hear anything sneaking up on us, nor do I smell anything unusual.” He shrugged. “I’d say we’re safe.”

  Ivan caught up to the group. “Stopping for another respite, are we?” he quipped. Ivan looked agitated and was rubbing the back of his neck then stopped when he noticed the sword. “Why is that thing glowing?”

  “Now you know why we stopped. Let’s spread out and look around,” Angst commanded the others.

  “This is yet another waste of time,” Ivan growled, his dark eyes peering at each of them with disgust. “Why don’t we try something unique and hurry. We could still reach Oakhaven before sunset.” He was still mounted while the others had already spread out and started walking into the woods.

  “Ivan, get off your horse and look around or I’ll drag you off the horse. Your choice.” Angst was holding Chryslaenor in one hand, and was prepared to grab hold of Ivan with the other.

  Ivan rolled his eyes, but dismounted nonchalantly. He began walking north, slowly.

  “Angst, come over here,” Dallow called from the northeast.

  Tarness had gone south and turned around to catch up at Dallow’s behest. Angst and Tarness lumbered through shrubs and tall weeds until they found their friend standing next to a road marker. The marker was an obelisk made of rich black marble. It had a foot-thick base and stood as tall as Dallow. Four decorative grooves were carved into each side. Ornately chiseled into the front of the pillar were the words, Gressmore Towers. The style of lettering was so dated it was almost illegible. Despite its obvious age, the marker appeared clean and new.

  “What is Gressmore Towers?” asked Tarness.

  Confusion and frustration wrinkled Dallow’s face. “I don’t know. I’ve been standing here trying to remember if I have ever read anything about it, but I have no mental reference of its existence.”

  Ivan had made his way over. He looked at the sign and seemed confused to the point of annoyance. “Gressmore? I’ve never heard of it. And what are you all looking at, this isn’t even a sign! It’s a blank marker pointing up.”

  “Actually, it’s pointing that way.” Angst walked around the sign. Like some optical illusion, the words always faced him, even while the marker leaned in a northeast direction.

  Hector dropped out of a nearby tree, making Ivan startle. “I don’t know what that marker is about, Angst. I’ve traveled this highway a hundred times, and I’ve never seen any sign like it. I’ve never even heard of Gressmore Towers. Even stranger, fifty yards ahead is a path that looks freshly cut. You can guess which direction it goes.”

  “That seems a little convenient,” Tarness observed warily.

  “Maybe because that’s where we need to go,” Angst suggested.

  Ivan grabbed Hector’s shoulder and pointed at Angst. “I told you your boy there is crazy.” Ivan’s eyes went wild and he grasped at the air as his feet started sinking into the ground.

  Angst’s hands were glowing, and he peered angrily at Ivan.

  “Stop!” He held out both hands. “Look, I’m just saying with all the attacks we’ve heard about, it’s obvious that this could be a trap.” Ivan stopped sinking. “Let’s not make it easy for whoever, or whatever, is out there to kill us, okay?”

  Angst continued staring at Ivan. His gut told him to take the path, that they should go to Gressmore, but Ivan’s logic was sound. “You’re right. We’ll keep moving.” He reluctantly made his way back to the road, waving for his friends to follow.

  It was late in the afternoon when Angst suddenly stopped his horse in the middle of the road.

  “What is that?” Hector asked, also stopping. He cocked his head to listen.

  “You hear it too?” Angst asked, squinting in concentration.

  The high-pitched squeal was faint, as though the wind had carried it a long distance.

  They waited in silence, listening until Hector finally spoke. “I hear it, but I don’t know what it is. I know I don’t like it.”

  The woods around them became quiet once again, and they decided to continue.

  The squeal became a scream, and it sounded closer. Dallow looked at everyone, his eyes huge and his face pale. “It couldn’t be,” he exclaimed, his voice thick with worry. Without saying another word, he turned his horse south and rode straight into the woods.

  Angst immediately wheeled his horse to follow Dallow. “Let’s go,” he called.

  Hector and Tarness hesitated for only a moment then followed Angst and Dallow. Angst glanced back to see that Ivan remained on the road. He wore his helm as though ready to fight, but didn’t move.

  Branches and twigs grabbed at their faces as they tore through the woods. Within moments, they found the source of the screams.

  It had hands. Undeniably, whatever it was, it had hands. Only three fingers, wide and grotesque with short, cracked nails that looked to be an inch thick, but there was no doubt that they were hands. The rest of the body wasn’t as easy to categorize. The creature was four times the height of a man, with the haunches of a bear, maybe, though without hair. It looked uncomfortable in its standing position, as it had no front legs to balance the rear. Its chest and arms appeared human, though its skin was covered with red and white blotches. The nose and mouth protruded from its face like a snub-nosed dog’s. Above those sat one large black eye. This monster was not of Ehrde.

  Dallow and Angst had stopped just fifty feet away at the edge of the small clearing. Dallow seemed uncertain what to do next, as though he wanted to attack immediately but was trying to figure out what the creature was.

  Tarness caught up with them. “What is that thing?” he ask
ed in a horrified voice, sounding as though he were swallowing bile. He drew his sword and shield.

  Hector pulled his horse to a stop next to Tarness. “Looks like practice to me.” He hopped up to stand on his horse, whipped out a long dagger that had been hidden in his armor, and held it in his mouth. He then leaped to a nearby tree, easily scaling the trunk.

  Tarness looked over at Angst, who shrugged. “Let’s wait for Hector to get into position. Dismount, and we’ll move in slowly.” He paused to analyze the situation, leaning his head forward for a better view. “Uh, what is it holding?”

  They dismounted and inched closer. The creature stood in the middle of a glade, staring at its hands. It was holding what appeared to be a thin, wobbly stick in one, and part of a horse in the other. The horse had evidently been lunch. When they were twenty feet away, they could see that the stick was moving. The stick screamed, startling the creature. It began to growl, apparently unhappy that its toy was making noise. The monster looked ready to throw it, or bite its head off, or something else nightmarish that none of them really wanted to see.

  “Help me, you idiots,” yelled a familiar voice.

  “That’s what I heard before,” Dallow pointed frantically, his eyes wide. “It’s Rose!”

  There was no more time to wait for Hector to get in position. They ran toward the monster as fast as they could. Adrenaline helped Angst ignore his pains as they jumped over fallen logs and crashed through more branches. Knowing his friend was in danger helped him ignore his fear.

  Angst swung Chryslaenor in a wide arc that ended deep in the beast’s right calf. It howled in pain as Angst attempted to remove the sword. The monster bent over and slapped him aside. Angst flew into a large bush. He hadn’t been knocked out, but everything hurt again. He caught his breath in time to roll out of the way as the half-eaten horse hurtled toward him.

  Tarness positioned himself in front of the creature’s swinging arm. He caught it, steadied the giant hand in his strong grip and stabbed the back of it with his sword. The giant jerked his arm away, but Tarness held onto his sword as it lifted him into the air. After a failed attempt to shake the man loose, the monster peered at him with confusion and pain in its one dark eye. Tarness yanked out his sword and hauled himself up the arm.

  As Tarness made his way to the neck, Hector dropped down from a tree, now with a dagger in both hands. He landed on the shoulder opposite Tarness and worked his way to the beast’s head.

  Dallow stood back and watched the right hand that held Rose captive. It rocked back and forth, closer to the ground with each swing. The giant seemed to have forgotten its prisoner, focusing instead on the attackers. Dallow waited, timing the swings, then ran in and struck the monster hard on the wrist with his staff. The well-timed smack forced the creature to drop Rose into his arms. He set her down, and they sprinted back to the horses.

  The monster bellowed in anger, and lurched forward to grab Rose.

  “Down!” Hector yelled.

  Rose dove away in time, but Dallow was struck by the giant hand. He flew ten yards into a tree, landing in a crumpled heap, where he lay, unmoving.

  Angst picked himself back up and yelled “Dallow!” but there was no response. Anger filled his veins, his jaw jutting forward as the magic overcame him. The giant let out a horrible roar as the ground beneath it shook violently. Tendrils of dirt and stone reached up, grabbed the monster’s legs, and drug it into the earth. Angst willed the earth to pull the monster deep enough to trap it without burying Chryslaenor.

  Just then Hector launched his own attack. The giant’s howl of frustration and pain sounded like a tree being snapped in half as Hector stabbed its eye. From his seat on the creature’s shoulder, Tarness hacked at the enormous neck. Angst took advantage of the distraction of their attacks, and ran forward to yank Chryslaenor free. He spun about to face the creature before it could react. Angst held Chryslaenor in front of him with both hands and focused. Tendrils of earth pulled at the monster once again until it was buried to its knees. Angst moved forward, slashing across the monster’s stomach with his sword, and a steaming pile of guts and undigested horse poured over him. The giant grabbed at its entrails with a loud roar before falling back dead.

  Angst gagged as he carved his way through the guts he’d let loose. Tarness tried to help, but lost his footing in the thick pool of blood. They awkwardly helped each other slide away from the mess, taking careful steps as if walking on ice. With the adrenaline gone, Angst grabbed his chest where he had been struck. “Ow,” he said pitifully. He approached Rose and Dallow. “Rose, is he all right? Are you?” His voice was shaky from a sudden wave of exhaustion.

  Rose was facing away from everyone, shivering violently. She must’ve been reeling with shock after being held by the creature they’d just killed. He moved forward, but she lifted her hand to stop him. Her shivering eventually subsided to an occasional tremor, and she took a deep breath before turning to face them. Tears streamed down her cheeks, making Angst fear she was hurt or Dallow dead.

  But Dallow stood, patting along random spots on his body as though shocked everything was still intact.

  “Are you okay?” asked Hector. “That throw looked pretty rough.”

  Dallow’s eyes were wide with surprise as he stared at Rose.

  “Thank you,” she said to Dallow before he could speak. When he didn’t respond, she elaborated. “For catching me.”

  Dallow nodded slowly, seemingly in shock himself, and wiped his sweaty blond bangs from his forehead. “How do you feel?” he asked Rose.

  “Just scared, but really, I’ll be fine.” She smiled.

  Rose and Dallow stared at each other for a long time, while everyone else looked on awkwardly.

  “Ahem,” Angst interrupted, wiping monster bits from his armor.

  Rose tore her gaze away from Dallow and looked at everyone. “Eww. Um, thanks.”

  Ivan conveniently arrived, smirking at the mess of them. He took one look at Rose and scoffed. “Where did the bitch come from?”

  Angst reached out, and Ivan flew from his mount. Angst turned away and walked over to the heap of dead monster. He shook his head in disbelief. “What was it?”

  “It’s not one of ours,” replied Tarness.

  Everyone looked at him in disbelief.

  “My dad and I used to hunt,” he explained, “and I know all about cleaning game.” Tarness pointed at the monster’s crotch. “There’s nothing to reproduce with. This thing didn’t come from Ehrde.”

  Hector and Angst both looked at him with some surprise. “Good catch,” agreed Hector.

  “What is that smell?” asked Tarness.

  A drifting spiral of black smoke rose from the dead body. It hovered unnaturally as the giant slowly deflated.

  “I wouldn’t recommend taking any deep breaths right now,” cautioned Hector.

  They all stepped back. Ivan had returned to his feet, eyeing Angst warily. The pile of creature continued to disintegrate, until there was nothing but a disgusting, smelly ooze staining the forest floor.

  “Let’s head back to the road,” Angst suggested, nodding his head in that direction.

  “So is that what we’re facing out here?” asked Tarness as they walked alongside their horses.

  “I hope not,” replied Hector. “Had there been two of those things, they’d be enjoying us for supper.” He looked over his shoulder to Angst. “You need to get your crap together.”

  “Me? Didn’t I bury it in two feet of earth before gutting it?” Angst asked defensively.

  “After it beat you senseless. You fought as gracefully as you dance. What happened to those fancy sword moves of yours?”

  Angst merely shrugged. Hector was right, though Angst wouldn’t admit it. Sure, they had won, but it had been an ugly win. It didn’t go at all like he would have hoped. There was nothing musical or glorious or artistic in the nature of this battle. Everyone was bruised, covered in guts, or both. He was relieved they were all safe, but
wasn’t overwhelmed with feelings of success or heroics.

  They made their way back to the road. Ivan looked at Rose with a sneer. “How exactly are you getting back home?”

  She stepped toward him, making a tiny, threatening fist.

  “Are you talking again, Ivan?” Angst asked, backing up her threat.

  Hector stood behind Angst and Rose, placing a hand on both their shoulders. “Unfortunately, he’s right, in a way. What are you doing here, Rose?”

  She handed an envelope to Angst, its seal adorned with the princess’s signet.

  Everyone saw the signet and moaned. “She made Rose deliver a love letter all the way out here?” asked Dallow, shaking his head.

  Ivan raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

  Angst wiped his hand off on Dallow before taking it. He opened the note and looked it over. Then he read aloud, “You will need her. Keep her safe.” He didn’t bother to read the ‘I miss you, Love Tori.’ part out loud, knowing it would be misunderstood.

  “Pfft,” was Ivan’s eloquent response as he mounted his horse.

  Hector removed his hand from Angst slowly and wiped it off on his leg. He nodded at the messy armor. “Was that your horse, Rose?”

  Rose stopped glaring at Ivan to look around frantically as realization struck. “It was my horse,” she said to Hector with a sigh. “That monster picked me up hours ago, I don’t know where any of my things are. This travel outfit the princess gave me is all I have left. The rest of my gear is gone.”

  She wore a corset-like top with long sleeves, tight brown leather riding breeches, and high dark leather boots. The outfit was strikingly different from anything she normally wore and accentuated the curves on her tiny frame. Rose coughed purposefully when she noticed everyone staring. She shook her head and rolled her eyes.

  “You’re welcome to ride with me,” Angst offered hastily, having forgotten he was covered in monster.

  “Um, I’ll ride with Dallow,” she replied, and followed the tall, thin man to his mount.

  Angst shrugged, feeling a bit put out.