by Logan Jacobs
As Aerin turned to face another of the halflings, I realized I didn’t know where Burrowes had gone. For a second I wondered if he tried to make a run for it, even after all of his taunts, but then I caught sight of his bright orange hair as he kicked with tremendous enthusiasm at Maruk’s shields.
The orc was kept quite busy trying to deflect the halfling’s assault, but I was relieved to see Lena had managed to get away from the fighting and the rest of the halflings were busy enough with us that they didn’t bother her.
The next few minutes were somewhat surreal as the halflings attacked us, furious and eager but largely ineffective. I was reminded suddenly of the pair of Chihuahuas my aunt had owned who would attack any strangers that came to the door but were too small to be anything more than a minor nuisance.
Even so, we didn’t have time to pick off all these halflings one by one, we needed to get this over with and get back to Ellis with the charm. The good thing was, there was no one else here to see or care if I used my magic, so I figured I could wrap this fight up quickly.
I stabbed another charging halfling with my dagger and raised my hand as I called an illusion down over the crowd. The ache started again at the base of my skull as I willed our enemies to see… well, they weren’t very easily intimidated, were they? I swallowed and changed tactics quickly, and instead of trying to conjure an illusion to scare the halflings, I decided to make them think they’d already won the fight.
I visualized Maruk, Aerin, Lavinia and me backed up into the corner where Lena stood and held out my hand toward the halflings.
The effect was immediate. At once, they all stopped and began to cheer, and several struck what I supposed were meant to be intimidating poses.
Lavinia retrieved her arrows from the bodies of the dead halflings and began to shoot again. Distracted as they were by my illusion, she couldn’t have had an easier time picking them off.
It gave us a moment to catch our breath and regroup, but I couldn’t hold the illusion long, and there were still about a dozen halflings left for the rest of us to deal with by the time I had to let it drop.
The remaining halflings blinked and looked around in confusion as they realized Maruk, Lavinia, Aerin, and I were still very much armed and spread out, not huddled and defeated against the wall as I’d made them see us moments before.
Burrowes was the first to catch on that they were still under attack, and he charged forward with a roar at Maruk, flanked by several other halflings.
The size difference between the orc and the halflings made for a somewhat awkward fight as Maruk resorted to smacking his shields down over the halflings’ heads whenever they got within his range. The result was such that it looked like he was playing the world’s most intense game of Whack-a-Mole, especially since several of the halflings had the endurance and tenacity to get back up even after Maruk hit them.
The warriors proved less impervious to Lavinia’s arrows, Aerin’s axe, and my dagger, however, and it wasn’t long before the entire floor of the cavern was covered with blood and halfling body parts.
“They were worse than the goblins,” Maruk panted as Aerin returned her axe to her belt and went to retrieve Ellis’ charm.
Lavinia snorted. “Halflings versus goblins, now I’d pay to see that fight.”
“It’s too bad we weren’t able to reason with them,” Lena remarked as she slid back down from the rock and picked her way over the fallen halfling warriors to join us.
“We tried,” I told her. “They wanted the fight.”
“We got the charm, anyway.” Aerin held up the blood soaked medallion as she returned to us. “And we can look around here for loot.”
All of the halfling’s weapons were crudely made, so we didn’t bother with any of them. We found what appeared to have been a communal pantry and took what food we could carry, though the selection was exclusively roots and mushrooms.
Aerin was disappointed to find the grand prize was not, in fact, money or something else of value, but instead a gaudy sash on which “winner” was spelled out in glitter, though the second ‘n’ had been left out.
“I can’t believe this is all they have,” Aerin pouted as she dropped the sash over the ropes of the boxing ring.”
“Ellis said they don’t have much use for money out here,” I told her. “At least we got the charm, and the food will be good.”
“Yes, I do believe these roots are considered a delicacy in the north,” Maruk put in. “They’re supposed to be excellent with sharp cheddar.”
“Goody,” Aerin replied, and she scuffed her boot against the dirt. As she did, there was a heavy thunk, and the elf’s eyes widened. Immediately, she crouched down and began to sweep away the layer of dirt with her hands until she’d uncovered the top of a small wooden chest.
I knelt to help her lift it up out of the ground, and aside from a small, tarnished brass latch, there were no closures or locks to be seen.
Aerin flipped it open eagerly, and she let out an excited shriek as she saw what was inside.
“I knew they’d have something better down here than that stupid sash,” she said as she dipped her hands into the chest and let the mounds of silver coins trickle through her fingers.
“Sheesh, you find money like you’ve got a dowsing rod for a spine,” Lavinia said. “It’s insane.”
“It’s how you’re going to get that archery range you want so badly,” Aerin replied. After she’d emptied the contents of the chest into her pack, we left the chamber and the dead halflings, and then we made our way back out through the cramped tunnel into the canyon.
Chapter 9
“Alright, we got the charm, let’s just get it back to Ellis so we can get out of here,” Lavinia said as she slung her bow across her back again.
The afternoon sky was deep blue overhead, and the canyon walls seemed to trap the day’s heat in around us.
“Was anyone hurt back there?” Aerin asked as she tucked Ellis’ charm safely into her pack and turned to look at the rest of us.
I quickly assessed myself for injuries, but aside from a few glancing punches to my legs, the halflings hadn’t been able to do much. I doubted I’d even bruise.
“I’m fine,” I answered.
“No problems here,” Lavinia said.
“That nasty little one with the orange hair scuffed my boot,” Maruk reported sadly.
“I meant ’is anyone actually wounded,’ Maruk,” Aerin said with a shake of her head.
“I dare say my spirit is wounded,” the orc retorted.
“Well I’m afraid there isn’t much I can do about that,” the redheaded elf replied with a little grin. “I’m sure we can get some oil back at camp to clean up that scuff if you think you can survive until then.”
Maruk drew himself up and sniffed. “I know you think you’re being cute mocking me, but yes, I’ll manage.”
I turned to Lena, who was the only one of us who didn’t have some kind of armor or weapons and who had yet to answer, but she was absorbed in examining a mushroom she must have taken from the halfling’s cavern. She didn’t seem to be any worse for the wear.
“Are you alright, Lena?” I asked, just to be sure.
The alchemist looked up as though I’d startled her and blinked her large violet eyes. “Am I…? Oh, yes, sorry. I’m fine,” she said and smiled. “Look at this mushroom I found, I’ve never seen anything like it. Have you?”
She held out the mushroom to me, and it certainly wasn’t like anything I was familiar with. In fact, it was barely recognizable as a mushroom. The fleshy pale cap was wide and drooped over the stalk and Lena’s thin fingers as though it was melting, and even out here in the daylight, the fungus seemed to give off a subtle pinkish glow.
“I haven’t, but it certainly is strange looking,” I answered, unsure of how my input could help.
“I bet this would be perfect for the glowing mustache wax I’ve been trying to develop!” Lena’s eyes were wide and excited when she met t
he questioning looks from the rest of our group.
“Mustache wax?” Maruk asked with obvious interest.
“You know,” she explained, “so that gentlemen could eat their dinners without needing to burn candles. It’ll really cut down on the number of fire hazards in the city. It would also save a lot of candles.”
I glanced to Aerin with my eyebrows raised and nodded subtly to Lena.
Aerin got the hint.
“Or, you could make them into sticks, like candles,” she suggested. “Since they’d glow already, you wouldn’t have to burn them.”
“Oh,” Lena said thoughtfully. “I hadn’t considered that. Thank you, Aerin.”
“Don’t mention it,” Aerin replied with a small smile. “Just don’t forget to give me a cut of the profits.”
“Let’s get back to Ellis,” I said.
We wasted no more time and set off, Lavinia in the lead, with Maruk, Aerin, and I behind her. Lena took up the rear, mostly because she kept stopping to pick up rocks or cactus flowers from the trailside. A few times I had to stop to wait for her because she was lagging too far behind. After about the third time I’d realized I could no longer hear Lena’s footsteps behind me, I decided that enough was enough. We may not have been on the tightest of schedules, but we still needed to keep up a decent pace if we wanted to get back to the oasis camp by nightfall. I respected the alchemist’s interest in the local flora, but she could collect whatever ingredients she wanted around the camp, now wasn’t the time for scavenging.
“Hey, Lena, you really need to keep up with--” I started to say as I turned around, about to tell her as much, but I broke off when I realized the honey-haired elf woman wasn’t behind me.
Aerin, Maruk, and Lavinia stopped and turned back as well when I spoke.
“Lena?” I called a little louder, but the only answer was my own voice as it echoed off the steep canyon walls.
Lavinia doubled back and searched the ground for any sign of Lena’s trail. We were still in the rocky section of the canyon, or else the mud would have given us a clear indication of where Lena had gone.
“How could she have just disappeared?” Maruk asked.
“I don’t know,” I replied as I joined Lavinia to search for any signs of a trail. “She was right behind us a few minutes ago.”
“Do we have anything that belonged to her?” Aerin asked. “Maybe Merlin could track her by scent or something.” She sounded doubtful, but she lifted the puca off her shoulder and set him on the ground.
I didn’t have anything of Lena’s, but I figured Merlin was smart enough to understand what we needed, and he’d at least have a better chance of picking up her trail than any of us would out here. I crouched down as the puca walked over to me.
“We need to find Lena,” I explained. “Remember, she gave you that fruit?” I still had a bit of the cactus fruit Lena picked in my pack, and I took it out and showed it to Merlin. He grabbed at it eagerly, but I closed my hand just before he could snatch it and stood again.
“You can have it later, we need you to find Lena’s trail first,” I told him. “Do you understand?"
The puca sneezed, but then he turned on his paw and began to march confidently back down the trail with his nose lowered to the ground.
I exchanged a look with Aerin. “I guess he knows what he’s doing,” I said, and then I began to follow Merlin.
“I could have tracked her, too, you know,” Lavinia said testily as she trailed along after me. “It’s just harder to read on the gravel like this.” She scuffed her boot along the ground.
“You don’t think she was kidnapped or something, do you?” Maruk asked. “What if those halflings followed us?”
“We would’ve heard if she’d been kidnapped,” I replied. “She probably just got distracted looking for alchemy ingredients, I’m sure she’s fine.” Even as I said it, though, I felt a knot of worry twist up in my gut. It was hard not to feel at least partially responsible. Lena had hired us to escort her, after all, and the canyon didn’t offer many places to wander.
Merlin’s tail twitched as he snuffled along the ground and zig-zagged across the rocks. Occasionally, he would stop at a clump of grass that grew along the trail and sniff at it intently before he moved on, which gave me some hope for my theory that Lena had just gone off the trail while she was collecting plants.
Merlin took a few more steps back in the direction of the halflings’ caves before he abruptly turned left, and then he bounded confidently over to a narrow break in the canyon wall where the path forked. There was no river here now, just more gravel, but I knew another stream must have cut through here at some point in time. Perhaps it only flowed when there’d been recent rainfall. Either way, that was where Merlin led us.
The trail here was much rougher than the path we had been on. It sloped sharply upward, and loose gravel made every step up difficult, but Merlin didn’t slow down. I frowned as I pressed my hands against the sun-baked stone on either side and followed the puca. Why would Lena have gone off the trail without telling any of us? I knew how absorbed she could get in her craft, but surely she wasn’t that irresponsible.
I heard Maruk and Aerin struggling to follow me, and the occasional annoyed huff of breath from Lavinia behind them. Every so often Merlin would pause and wait for us to catch up before he bounded ahead again, and eventually, the slope of the path leveled out, and the steep canyon walls gave way to rocky hills. I’d begun to worry when there was still no sign of Lena that any of us could see when I finally saw a scrap of magenta cloth snagged on a juniper branch, and my heart leapt.
I ran forward and pulled the fabric free to show to the others. It had obviously belonged to Lena, there was no one else out here, and I recognized the subtle pattern on the cloth as the same that was on the shawl the alchemist wore.
“Guys, look,” I said as I brought it over. “She did come this way.”
Merlin snorted as if to say, “Of course she did, I haven’t been leading you the wrong way.”
“What was she doing up here?” Maruk asked nervously. He looked around at the desert hills that rolled away around us and frowned.
"We’ll ask her when we find her,” I replied, then I turned to Merlin. “Do you still have her scent?”
The puca trilled and took off again, his pace faster and more assured now. I kept an eye out as I followed him. Thankfully, Lena’s colorful wardrobe would stand out just about anywhere, but she would definitely be impossible to miss out here.
Here and there, stands of juniper trees crowded together on the hills, and patches of cacti seemed to grow straight out of the rock around them. The sky was cloudless, and the afternoon sun beat down mercilessly, and I found myself more often than not peering into the scant shadows beneath the tree for some sign of our missing companion. I wondered if she would have stopped to wait for us when she realized she was lost, or if she’d try to make her way back.
The scent trail Merlin followed still meandered aimlessly from side to side, and it was easy to see what had caught Lena’s interest when she’d come through this way, more of the prickly pear cacti with their bright red fruits, a patch of tiny yellow flowers, a gnarled old juniper with a hole bored into the graying trunk. Lavinia had come up to walk beside me and to lend her own tracking skills, and she stopped and put her hand thoughtfully against the tree trunk.
“She peeled off some of the bark here,” she announced and ran her finger over a section of the trunk where a long, thin strip of rust-colored wood showed beneath the gray.
“That’s a good sign, isn’t it?” Aerin asked. “I mean, she wouldn’t have stopped to do that if she was in trouble.”
I couldn’t say for sure, but I hoped Aerin was right. At least it still seemed like Lena was alright, given the meandering trail Merlin was leading us on. Even so, I would feel better once we’d actually caught up to her. I was surprised she’d managed to get this far on her own.
Merlin took off again, and the path he took u
s on led us slightly downhill. More and more juniper grew up around us, and I began to notice more places where strips of bark had been peeled away from the trees’ trunks. It seemed as though Lena had only taken a single piece from each tree. Had she been intentionally leaving a trail? If so, was it for us, or for her to find her way back?
And why, why would she go this far without telling us?
Gradually, the stands of trees became thick enough and tall enough that they could be called a forest, and we got some respite from the heat beneath their shade. Still, my shirt was almost soaked through with sweat, and my canteen was lighter than I would have liked. We needed to find Lena and get back to the river.
Suddenly, Merlin stopped on the path and started to chatter anxiously. He bounded up into a tree and then leapt down again just as quickly, ran a circle around our group, and finally stopped and leapt up onto my shoulders with a nervous sort of growl.
I reached up and picked him up with a frown. “What is it, buddy? Did you lose the scent?” I reached to get the scrap of fabric I found out of my pocket, but then Merlin twisted and squirmed out of my grasp.
The puca’s hackles were raised, and his bright green eyes were wide as he paced back and forth, but when I looked back at the others, they appeared just as confused as I was by the puca’s strange behavior.
I knelt and tried to get Merlin to sniff the fabric from Lena’s shawl, but he wasn’t interested, and he continued to pace and jump from tree to tree and make agitated sounds in his throat. He’d gotten us this far, but he wasn’t going to be any help now.
I stood again and cupped my hands over my mouth. “Lena!”
At first, there was no answer except the soft sigh of the breeze in the trees, but then a moment later, I heard Lena’s voice, strained and panicked and surprisingly close.
“Gabriel!”
At once, we all took off through the forest in the direction of the sound. Lena began to call out again, but she was suddenly cut off.
A moment later I burst through the trees and saw the elf woman, alone at the center of a twenty-foot wide mass of tangled, thorny vines that reached all the way up to her neck. Her eyes were wide with panic, and she made a small, choked sound when she saw me, but as I lunged forward, Lavinia caught me by the wrist and pulled me back.