The Orb of Truth (The Horn King Series)

by Wyckoff, Brae

  The heroes fanned out, with their weapons ready to strike. This was going to be a battle like no other. Bridazak took several steps backward to get some distance, notching an arrow on his magical bow, the Seeker.

  “Time is a wastin’!” Dulgin yelled, charging with his axe.

  The monster stood its ground as it brought its scorched fangs down upon the Dwarf. Dulgin was quickly captured within its jaws. He was protected from the heat damage but not the physical penetration of the teeth—they clamped down and sank into his armor. He yelled in pain, but used the agony to bolster his dwarven resolve. Half of his body hung outside, and he swung his free arm, holding his axe, at the beast’s jaw, burying it into its black flesh. There was an earsplitting, guttural yelp as it released the Dwarf. He plummeted to the ground. Armor pieces fell off of him with a clanking sound as he hit the rock below. He winced, but got back up with the help of his axe, and glared back at the creature.

  “Bad dog! Now I have to put you down!” Dulgin said.

  The beast roared once again to intimidate them. A volley of arrows sailed in, but they instantly melted upon impact, with no effect. Xan began to circle to the left to try and find an opening, while Abawken went the opposite way to flank it. Dulgin stood in front brazenly, not willing to budge from his location. The three of them moved in closer and the canine hunched its back, ready for the encounter, baring his teeth and growling. Xan was the first to come in, but he was quickly thrown aside when its tail whipped in and slammed him. He sailed several feet away. The fire once again did no damage, but the impact cracked one of his ribs.

  Dulgin swung his mighty axe at its lowered head, but it lifted just in time and he missed. Abawken, on the other side, tumbled in and found himself underneath the creature. He sliced the hind leg, and his blade administered extra damage when he yelled out a command word to release the magic within; his sword instantly shot out a blast of water at the same time he struck the beast. Steam erupted everywhere from the combination of heat and water colliding. The human tumbled and flipped from under it, and once clear, he looked back to survey the damage. A scream of intense torment bellowed from it and its back leg barely held on. He knew the creature would be susceptible to water. It lunged at Abawken, who dodged the bite but not the immediate retaliatory head swing to knock him back. He sailed through the air but landed smoothly on his feet, thanks to his Sword of the Elements once again. The beast growled in disdain and hobbled toward the human on its three good legs.

  More arrows flew in from Bridazak’s skilled aim, but they were no match for the beast. Frustrated, he set his backpack down to try and find something creative he could do to contribute to the battle. He paused when he noticed three shafts glowing within his quiver of magical arrows. Slowly, he deliberately pulled one out—it began to pulse within his grasp. The ancient, Ordakian writing engraved on the shaft read ‘Magical Beast’.

  Another yelp came from the dog monster when, in pursuit of Abawken, Dulgin chopped at its front leg. “Did you forget about me?” he chastised. The Dwarf was immediately slapped by its tail, and again he was tossed back to the ground. He grunted in pain, but stood up nonetheless. His axe remained wedged in the creature’s leg. Abawken moved in to engage it, but was grappled by the fiery tail. It wrapped around his sword arm, lifting him high in the air. He jerked his legs, trying to break free of the grasp, but the strength of this canine was beyond imagination. He was lowered right in front of its jaw, its gaping mouth opened for the kill, but it flinched away, looking to its right when Xan plunged his long sword into its side. Lava flowed out from the wound. The Elf retracted his blade, but the magic of the shield around him could not help his weapon any further, and it melted. He dropped the hilt, a clank of metal sounding as he began to back away. Another blood curdling roar erupted from the creature.

  Dulgin and Xan were now both without their weapons, and Abawken was still grasped by the tail, suspended in air, defenseless. The magical beast snarled, and refocused his attention back to the human in his grip. It brought Abawken closer to its face so it could get a good look before devouring him. The human fighter peered around for something he could do, but without his hand free to use his weapon he was in trouble.

  Bridazak pulled back the bowstring with ease, closing one eye while the other locked on his target. The arrow was released. The light of the magic intensified as it sailed through the air, igniting in a brilliant flash as it impacted into the chest of the fire beast. The smoke dissipated and Bridazak saw the creature dead, its chest wide open. Xan and Dulgin were launched back from the explosion, but they quickly stood up and stared in disbelief at what lay before them. They looked around to find where Abawken had gone. He was nowhere to be seen.

  “I’m up here.”

  The human slowly floated down from above, his sword in hand. The explosion had sent him hurtling up, but the magical power within his weapon saved his life, as a summoned current of wind gently brought him to the ground. Now gathered once again, they surveyed the land. Dulgin retrieved his axe which Abawken had spotted while floating down.

  “Master Bridazak, you used one of those special arrows you found, right?” asked Abawken.

  “I noticed it glowing. My other arrows had no effect.”

  “It was a great shot. You saved my life. I am once again in your debt,” he bowed.

  Dulgin quickly changed the conversation, “Why isn’t the curse broken yet?”

  “Perhaps it takes a few moments,” Xan proposed.

  They waited another minute, but nothing changed.

  “Something is wrong, Elfy. We must have missed something.”

  “We tried, Dulgin.”

  “Dwarfshit!” Dulgin stormed off toward the fallen enemy. The rest of the group followed.

  The short, stubby fighter yelled out in anger from behind his red beard, “RELEASE MY KIN!”

  There was a rumble under their feet.

  “Did you feel that?” Bridazak asked, looking around. No one replied. Then it came again.

  Thirty feet away, the group spotted a small, dark, hovering cloud, that seemed to be growing. Dulgin slowly made his way back to join the others, never taking his eyes off of the spectacle. For a moment they were hopeful that this phenomenon had something to do with breaking the curse, but as the dark mist began to expand more than twenty feet in all directions, flashes of lightning within it, they weren’t so sure.

  “This is strange,” Bridazak stated.

  “I’m not thinkin this is good,” Dulgin responded. They could hear the faint crackle of the bolts beyond.

  “The sound of that thunder seems too distant, and faded. This could be a portal,” Abawken added.

  “I’m not going through anymore portals!”

  The lightning flashes intensified and the ground continued to rumble. Then, something appeared. A creature beyond anything they had ever seen or heard of stepped out of the mysterious cloud—a twenty-foot-tall human-oid with bronze colored armor plating. Its head was the shape of a dragon with spiraling tendrils of black skin at the back of the scalp and neck. It had brilliant red eyes, a protruding jaw with razor sharp uniformed teeth, and smoke billowing out of its nostrils. Each claw on its hands was the length of a long sword. Muscles bulged in all areas of its body and the armor plating moved like it was its natural skin. It growled with rage at the adventurers.

  “Holy mother of all dwarven mothers!”

  “Spread out! I will summon help through my sword.”

  “This is the protector!” Xan shouted.

  “Then that other thing was its pet!” Bridazak realized.

  “Great, this is going to be fun.” Dulgin slightly limped into position, hoisting his father’s axe into his battle stance, ready for action.

  “We have twenty minutes remaining on my spell,” Xan warned.

  Bridazak started to back up to gain some distance. The others resumed their positions, Dulgin remaining firmly planted as the swordsmen spread out to flank once again.

 
“I’m givin ya one more chance to release my kin,” Dulgin declared.

  The behemoth suddenly produced, out of thin air, a huge, two-handed sword of fire. Flames dripped off of the blade like oil as the keeper of the Burning Forest towered over the Dwarf.

  “Time to make you bleed, big boy!” Dulgin charged the monster with reckless abandon. The flaming steel came down to meet the small intruder, but the Dwarf side-stepped the assault at the last instant to avoid the deadly strike. Large chips of rock flew out from the impact of the sword and littered the ground. Dulgin countered, striking the monstrous forearm. His axe clanked off its armor, doing no damage. The short fighter continued his run between its legs. The beast watched the Dwarf’s movement, and then lifted its sword and turned around.

  Dulgin was close to Xan when he finally reached the other side. “I suggest not getting hit. He moves slow, but that damn armor or skin of his is hefty.”

  “Thanks. I will keep that in mind,” replied Xan. The Elf knew he would not be engaging this beast in melee, especially without his sword, but he had some other ideas of how to contribute to the battle.

  Abawken yelled another command word, “EREZ!” The familiar Rock Elemental creature formed out of the ground beneath the giant, and instantly began to pummel it with its powerful fists of earth. Rock pieces flew off in all directions from the impact as it bellowed out a roar of discomfort. Its attention was now on the immediate threat. The human went in for an attack, striking its left achilles tendon while it was distracted. His sword of the elements penetrated through its thick armor, and a black, acidic ooze poured out of the wound. Its voice boomed in pain, but it still descended on the summoned earth creature.

  The behemoth pinned the Rock Elemental to the ground under its right knee. With one hand free, the Burning Forest protector ripped the head off, killing it instantly. Still on one knee it threw the rock piece at the human. Abawken was clipped in the shoulder and was forced to release his sword. He fell to the ground in agonizing pain. His shoulder was broken. His cry could be heard by everyone.

  Bridazak simultaneously released a second magical arrow. It slammed into the lower right side of its back and erupted into another powerful blast, like before. The giant was pushed to the ground, but it was still alive. It stood and turned toward the Ordakian. A large, gaping wound was very evident to the others when it turned. The black blood now began to flow freely.

  Meanwhile, Xan went quickly to Abawken’s side and cast a spell. He placed his hands on the shattered shoulder, which caused the human extreme pain, but he relaxed and received the healing power. His bones were mended.

  “You are not out of this combat yet, my friend.”

  “Thanks,” Abawken said, getting back to his feet and gathering his weapon.

  Dulgin prepared to charge but was halted by the Elf, “Wait, Dulgin. I have something for you that will help.” The Dwarf hesitated and almost ignored the request, but decided to investigate what the Elf had in mind.

  “This better be good, Elfy.”

  The monster was now focused on Bridazak, but was stopped by yet another Rock Elemental that sprouted below him and began to attack. The Protector lifted its giant foot high into the air, squashing the rock creature below him. Debris went sailing in all directions, and a fine, powdery dust enveloped his foot. The heroes heard a huge sound of grinding rock and the thud of the impact that followed. The beast roared in triumph, and then set its attention back on the Ordakian.

  Bridazak grabbed his last magical beast arrow and notched it. He zeroed in on the head and unleashed the magical bolt. At the same time, the creature breathed a jet of fire from its mouth to intercept the arrow. Magic collided with the intense heat, and an explosion resulted. A huge ball of flame and magic blasted both Bridazak and the monster. The Ordakian was knocked back several feet, and hit his head hard on the volcanic rock. He lost consciousness as blood began to sprawl out from behind his skull. The beast withstood the blast, but not without taking considerable damage itself. Its chest and face bore deep, open gashes.

  Abawken flinched from the intense heat and light of the explosion, and saw that Bridazak had fallen. The pressure to destroy their opponent quickly increased, as there were no signs of Bridazak getting back up. He was only able to summon one additional elemental for the day, as the power of his blade was being diminished; like him, it needed to rest. He wished there was a water source so he could bring that kind of elemental to combat this being. Just then, he saw Dulgin charging with his axe, but instead of running on the ground he was running in the air.

  Dulgin had received the powerful spell from the Elf. He needed to get to that gaping wound in its back to do valid damage with his axe. Xan had given him that opportunity.

  The creature had just taken the blast from Bridazak and was gathering himself when the Dwarf arrived. Before it turned around, Dulgin had swung his mighty axe and embedded it into the raw flesh that was exposed. It flinched intensely, twisting away from the assault, and bellowed in pain. Dulgin held on to his weapon shaft and went for a ride as it shook him violently, while trying to reach its hand around to pull it free. The stocky Dwarf kept jamming it deeper and deeper inside, and wiggling the axe blade back and forth as he was able to brace himself in the air with the magical spell in effect.

  Abawken sprinted over to the Elf, “Are you able to produce a water source?”

  An eyebrow rose up at the question, and then he smiled.

  He suddenly began waving his arms while speaking a strange tongue to create the spell’s effect. A large amount of water poured out of his hands onto the volcanic rock. Steam was rising but before it evaporated the human yelled out another command word, “Mem!” The water formed into an elemental and Abawken brandished his sword in the direction of the giant. It glided over the rock like a wave.

  Dulgin was finally grabbed, and then tossed away. He couldn’t hold on to the axe and had to let go. Still able to walk on the air, he was not injured by the toss. As he stood back up, the wave of water impacted the legs of the giant. A blast of steam ignited the area, and the group could no longer see it. They felt the ground shake violently beneath them, and heard the creature roar a blood-curdling yell. The steam faded, and lying before them was the slain pet and now-dead monster. From its knees down, it was disintegrated. Black blood gushed out from the stumps and washed over the rock. Its eyes were now dull and lifeless, and black smoke billowed out from its mouth and nose. The fire sword had disappeared and all was quiet.

  The group of heroes were by Bridazak’s side, and with another healing spell from the Elf he was back on his feet, but still groggy from the encounter. They were all exhausted and tired.

  “Look!” Dulgin yelled, pointing across the former battlefield.

  They all marvelled at the spectacle. The flames began to die down and within minutes, the Burning Forest was no longer. A dwarven army now stood before the heroes, and they all smiled in victory and embraced one another. The vacant circle where they stood filled in with the living army. Dwarves surrounded them, and cheering erupted throughout the area. Suddenly, one of the dwarves broke through the ranks. The orange-bearded clan member’s eyes made contact, and tears welled up instantly.

  “Dulgin?”

  “El’Korr!”

  They ran to each other, colliding armor clashing as they fell to their knees and embraced.

  .

  13

  On the Move

  The new army consisted of a thousand dwarves, a hundred humans, and a handful of the Sheldeen Elves. Every one of this military force was an experienced fighter with clerical spell-casting abilities; this was a very formidable group to launch at King Manasseh. They did not don the same armor or shields like regular infantry, but instead, each wore their own unique vestments in colors ranging across the rainbow. Some were armored in plate mail, others wore woven chain. The dwarves came from several clans throughout Ruauck-El, but none so noteworthy as Hammergold. El’Korr, Dulgin’s lost brother, was the leader of
the operation, a highly respected commander, and he wore the grandest of any armor. The brilliant plate mail gleamed so brightly that everyone blinked away from the shine of it. There were no blemishes, dirt, smudges, or any marking, as the magic of the armor prevented it. He wielded a dwarven war hammer which dangled at his side, and a shield with his gold hammer crest emblazoned on the front.

  El’Korr’s second in command was a Dwarf known as Rondee the Wild, due to the wild magic he and the others of his clan, called Smasher, often released—though unpredictably, and not always beneficially, most stayed clear of them. Rondee was the oddest Dwarf the heroes had ever encountered. His speech was erratic with broken common and dwarven intermingled, and his jerky mannerisms would interrupt his movements or speech. He was like a puzzle missing several pieces, but this rare Smasher clan member had earned his rightful position beside Dulgin’s brother. Rondee’s brown hair and beard were both gnarled and knotted. The only weapon he wielded was an extra small golden hammer that was fastened to his pockmarked leather armor. It was so small Bridazak wondered if it wasn’t a weapon at all, but rather, some kind of trophy.

  Rondee’s group, made up of other Smashers, were the wildest and most tempestuous of all dwarves. A handful of these could deal damage equal to a hundred fighting dwarves; with their chaotic nature, their insatiable determination, and the pure instability of the magic they could release. There were twenty of them here, ready to serve and assigned to protect El’Korr at all costs.

  There were a lot of questions going around, as the warriors had been held in stasis for hundreds of years, but they waited patiently for their next move and began to set up camp in newly formed groups, ready to receive instructions. Bridazak and Dulgin sat across from Abawken and Xandahar around a small campfire, ready to council El’Korr, Rondee, and several other commanders, eager to discuss their position. Joining them was Raina, a mysterious Elf mystic in lavender robes, wielding a wooden staff with etchings burned into it from top to bottom. Her face was pale and delicate, with a noticeable scar on her chin, and her whitish-yellow hair was tied back. She had high cheek bones and her ears were pointier than the other elves. Her appearance, at first glance, might communicate frailty, but her emerald eyes and gold pupils told a different story. Many soldiers approached her but none held her gaze, not because of her beauty, but in genuine fear. No other leader stood out more than she.