Mad Mage_Claire-Agon Ranger

by Salvador Mercer

  Bran thought for a moment, and then said, “Not my oath.”

  Hork nodded in satisfaction and softened his stance toward Bran. “Good. I have a different request for you.”

  “Different than your master? Is that even possible?” Bran asked, his brows raised.

  “The barbarian gave up his scheduling of the duel when he killed my men,” Hork stated.

  “So?” Bran asked indifferently.

  “So, I have purposely delayed the fight in order to give you a better chance to heal and practice. I also will see to it that your sword is available to you at the start of the duel and that you have some armor under your clothing as well.”

  “We call that cheating where I come from,” Bran said righteously.

  “And we call that survival where I come from,” Hork said defensively.

  Bran looked the man over, and the thought that he might actually have a fair fight against the Northman was appealing to him despite the wizard’s threat. Could his family be in more danger than they already were? He had to know. “What about my family? Can you guarantee their safety?”

  Hork seemed prepared for the question. “There are never guarantees in war, but let me ask you this. Who do you think is in command of the patrols searching for them?”

  “You command the troops, but the wizard commands you.”

  “Does he?” Hork asked.

  Bran didn’t like where this was going. It seemed to be a losing proposition. “What can you offer me that the wizard can’t counter?” It was a bold question and one that would pit the commander against his master if things were as the Kesh man indicated.

  “Life for you and your family,” Hork said.

  “A free life?” Bran asked.

  Hork shrugged. “Perhaps, but I can ensure you and your family are not killed but rather kept in confinement somewhere . . . safe. You are a fool if you think dying for the wizard will ensure the safety of your loved ones. He will kill them as quickly as he can find them.”

  “And you’ve let me know who’s in charge of the finding,” Bran said, almost completing the logical conclusion of the dilemma. “What do you want me to do, then?”

  Hork was blunt and straight to the point. “Kill the barbarian.”

  Chapter 18

  Vengeance

  The beast came into view, and it appeared as a large black snake. It was easily a half stone throw long and as wide as a small man. The group spread out and attacked from both sides while Khan maintained his light and prepared a spell.

  “Try to flank it,” Targon yelled, drawing the large serpent’s attention by swinging his axe right at its face.

  Will let go of Dorsun and circled left. The former Kesh chieftain drew his own blade and stood in front of Khan, protecting the man. Salina and Cedric circled right, while Targon had pushed Marissa back before his attack so she was at the rear.

  “It’s too big,” Cedric said, getting a good view of the creature’s body from the side where he managed to get behind its peripheral vision. “I don’t think my knives will have any effect on that.”

  “He’s right,” Salina said, whacking the creature hard on its side and barely scoring its scaled skin. “It’s like hitting plate mail.”

  Will hit the creature and managed to do a bit better, knocking off a scale and drawing a tiny amount of inky black blood. “By Agon, this beast is tough,” the Ulathan soldier said.

  The snake ignored the attacks and coiled for a strike on the large human in front of it. To its eyes, the man threatening it with an axe appeared much like a dwarf troll. The strike was quicker than the eye could follow, and the creature wrapped its fangs around Targon, crushing with its jaws.

  Targon dropped his axe and used his hands to brace against the creature’s massive jaws. He was straining under the intense pressure, and Targon’s muscles rippled while his veins popped out on his skin as a testament to the Ranger’s strength.

  “It’s killing him. Do something,” Salina yelled at Khan.

  Khan seemed lost in his spell for a moment before pointing his staff at the beast’s head and issuing his most powerful energy spell for the first time, commanding a bolt of lightning. The air crackled, and the explosion was intense, causing the scales to come off the snake’s head, and it dropped Targon hard onto the stone floor. The creature slithered back and forth in its pain, but it wasn’t dead yet.

  “You gotta be kidding me,” Will said, trying to hack the flailing creature as it hit the ceiling and walls, causing rock chips to fly everywhere. The sound it made was a loud, angry hiss, and the stone structure cracked and pounded under its blows. Even its tail deep in the passageway was causing damage to the walls and roof.

  Targon rolled and picked his axe up and braced for another attack. His arms were already red and threatening to bruise from the intense pressure that the titan snake had inflicted upon him.

  Khan didn’t wait. This time, he stuck the tip of his staff inside the beast’s gaping maw as it came for him, and blew another lightning bolt at the creature. It passed its small brain and came out the back of its head, lining the rocky walls and ceiling with a coating of sticky black blood. With a thud, the beast’s head fell, and Dorsun barely grabbed his master and pulled him back to safety as the creature died.

  The silence was welcome, though the last echoes of snapping rock came from down the tunnel and faded away. The group was stunned and sweating from their encounter. Cedric spoke first. “This is crazy. We haven’t even moved past the gate and we’ve been attacked by a demon snake the size of a barn.”

  “Don’t forget the trolls before we even reached this place,” Will added, wiping his brow with an old rag that once looked like a handkerchief.

  “At this rate, we’ll never get to Kesh, much less save your mother,” Salina said, looking at Targon intently and then softening her tone. “You look injured.”

  “I’ll be fine.” Targon waved her off, tucking his axe back into his belt and kicking the dead creature for good measure. He turned to Khan and said, “Nice work, but Salina is correct. We need to move and move fast. Can we go?”

  “We can move,” Khan said, looking at Dorsun, who nodded. “Give the word.”

  “Everyone?” Targon asked, looking around.

  There were nods, and Marissa said, “If the city folks can keep up, then we’re good.”

  “We’re going to need your light, Khan,” Targon said. “Do you think there are more of these things in the passageway?”

  Khan shook his head. “The size indicates it would need to feed often enough that there should not be more than one nearby. I cannot speak for further in the tunnels or chambers of this construction, but for this side of the gate, I think the way will be clear now.”

  “If that creature ate a troll, then there must be a way in and out that we are unaware of,” Dorsun said. “The trolls could be flanking us now or even moving to intercept us.”

  “Agreed, then,” Targon said. “Even though we’re tired, let’s put as much distance between us and that gate as possible. Khan, I hate to ask again, but lead on with your light, please. I’ll bring up the rear in case there is a pursuit, and Salina, Cedric, and Marissa, stay in the middle.”

  “Please, Targon, I’ll be fine,” Salina said.

  “Yes, but Marissa may not be, and Cedric’s knives are no match for these larger beasts.” Targon motioned at the large snake.

  Salina looked to her son and then back at the dead creature and then to Targon. She knew he was right on that count, and someone to look after the wild farm girl would be a wise thing. She shuddered at the thought of anyone being separated from the group in such a dark and forbidding place as this. “Fine, I’ll keep Cedric and Marissa in front of me.”

  “Mother,” Cedric complained.

  “Oh, come on, Ceddy,” Marissa said, using the nickname for the first time. “Let’s have some fun on the way, shall we?”

  No one bothered to ask what fun she could be referring to in the heart of a moun
tain, and instead, they lined up double file behind Khan, who led with his staff held in front of him. Dorsun accompanied him to one side, back just a foot or so, along with Will at his side. Marissa and Cedric were together, with Salina keeping her word and following behind them both. Targon kept a bit of distance, following and listening for any sign of pursuit.

  The road was straight as an arrow, and they had no time to marvel at the feat of engineering that had created this passageway road. Occasionally, they would encounter an antechamber of some kind, an alcove that looked tight with lower ceilings, or an occasional collapse of part of the wall, with rubble at the side of the passageway. They went on into the blackness illuminated only by the bright blue of the wizard’s gemstone atop his staff.

  When they were exhausted, they rested in one of the alcoves and kept a guard at either end of the passageway. They slept fitfully and struggled to mark the time without any cues from nature. They ate on the move and continued until they hit a major intersection consisting of a large chamber that had tunnels and passageways going off in all directions. There was a major passageway that mimicked their own, but slightly smaller, and it was the immense statue that awed them at first sight.

  Khan struggled to illuminate more of the massive chamber, which was several stone throws high and wide. Despite his efforts, they could not make out the roof of the dome in any detailed manner. The massive statue standing over the passageway, one stone leg carving on either side, was unmissable. It was a massive man with a beard. In one hand, he held an axe, and in the other, a thick rod. The group moved to the south wall to investigate it.

  “What could build something like this?” Will asked, his voice tinged with admiration.

  The low voice of Dorsun added to their amazement. “These ancients you spoke of were giants.”

  “Yeah, no wonder the trolls are so big. They had to be in order to fight these giants,” Will said, turning and looking around the chamber before resuming his gaze on the carved statue.

  “I don’t think this forgotten race was giants,” Cedric said.

  “Why not?” Will challenged him.

  Cedric took his own eyes off the huge carving and looked at Will. “Because the rooms off the main passageway, as well as the alcoves, were a very tight fit. Even the ceilings were low.”

  “Not the passageway, though,” Will said. “You could drive a few Kesh ox carts through these tunnels.”

  “They are big,” Salina said meekly, her voice low, but she never stopped looking at the statue.

  “Master?” Dorsun turned to Khan.

  “I do not know,” Khan said. “The likeliness of this figure is not what I would expect. The closest race I could identify in it would be some of the shorter Balarians.”

  “Good thing there are none in present company,” Salina said, finally joining the others in their conversation as they started to huddle around the Kesh wizard. Only Targon now kept outside their circle of light as he peered into the darkness and listened intently.

  “It matters not,” Khan said. “We could spend years down here searching for clues about this civilization. The many statues we saw along the passageway dotting the alcoves was a sign that they at least had a high level of culture not seen in ages.”

  “Can we at least look around?” Cedric asked. “This place is interesting.”

  “No,” Salina said firmly. “Targon’s mother needs us. We have wasted enough time as it is, and we still have a long journey ahead of us. We need to cross most of Kesh, do we not?” She looked at Khan when speaking the last part of her sentence.

  “We do,” Khan said. “Furthermore, we cannot use the main road, so we will have to travel cross country, and that will be a hard journey.”

  “Let’s not forget we need to get out of here,” Will said. “I hope your magic is strong enough to open the doors into Kesh.”

  “We shall see,” Khan said simply.

  Targon never spoke and motioned for them to finish crossing the chamber toward their east. They weren’t aware of direction under the mountain, but the road had no apparent curves or turns, so it was assumed that they were traveling in an easterly direction, which also matched the instructions given by Elister.

  They moved into a passageway opposite the one they arrived from and continued their journey for many long hours. They took three brief rest stops, sleeping lightly and taking turns at the watch, before they saw their first signs of egress.

  They came into another large chamber that appeared to have battlements and murder holes for archers or crossbowmen facing the main passageway that opened up into another large chamber. This area was strewn with rubble, and what looked like something that could be the eastern gate peaked out from out of a pile of rocks that were taller than two trolls were high if one stood on the shoulders of another.

  “Now what?” Will asked, despair in his voice.

  “That doesn’t look good,” Salina commented, looking around and walking over to the rubble pile. “It looks like half the mountain caved in around this exit, if it is an exit.”

  “Shall we rest here?” Cedric asked.

  “No,” Targon said. “We don’t want to be trapped again with our backs to a dead end. Search around the area and see if you can find anything.”

  “What is it we’re looking for?” Will asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Targon said, “but I think I remember Elister saying that the way out, which was the way in for the storytellers, if he explained it correctly, was a smaller door.”

  “You remember well,” Khan said. “The druid indicated that the egress was different from the entrance on the Kesh side. We should search for a small door, and it would have to be on the face of that wall.” Khan pointed his staff at the rubble pile opposite their current position.

  “How do you know so much?” Will asked.

  Cedric seemed jealous where Will was suspicious. “Did Elister share information with you and not tell me?”

  “No,” Khan said, as usual not perceiving the nuances of the Ulathans and taking their questions quite literally. “I know so much because I listened to the druid when he spoke of such things.”

  “Well, so did I,” Cedric said.

  “Not at all times,” Khan said. When he noticed the frown that Cedric gave him, Khan explained further. “Your master druid would speak long into the night, and at times, you were either asleep or deep in your books, burning your candles.”

  Dorsun nodded and said, “Master speaks the truth.”

  “We’re wasting time,” Salina said. “Spread out and find the door.”

  They all moved out after her, going into and out of small antechambers and alcoves and moving around large boulders and rocks. Targon maintained his watch to the rear, and after several minutes, Marissa called out. “Over here.”

  They scurried after her and had to squeeze between the cliff face of the inside of the wall and a large rock that was taller than Targon. There was a very small room that could not fit all of them, and an obvious door, but with no door handle. Only a small depression that appeared to be a keyhole.

  “Is that it?” Salina asked. Both Will and Dorsun had to remain outside the area, as there wasn’t enough room for them all at the same time. Targon also kept back.

  Khan entered and lit up the area with his staff, and they inspected the depression, which no longer looked like a place for a key. The outline of the door was clearly visible, however. Khan said, “This should be simple enough.”

  He murmured a few words, and then in a flash of intense light, a boom crackled over them, and he was thrown into Salina and Cedric, barely missing Marissa. “What in Agon is going on in there?” Will asked.

  “Master, are you hurt?” Dorsun asked.

  “I am fine,” Khan said, picking himself up and then offering a hand to Salina, and in turn, she offered one to Cedric.

  “That hurt,” Cedric complained. “What happened?”

  “The arcane of the ancients did not like the arcane of Kesh,�
�� Khan said.

  “What?” Will asked.

  Khan sighed. “The magic of the door did not like my magic.”

  “Well, why didn’t you say so in the first place?” Will shot back. “Is the door open?”

  “No, I don’t see . . . wait a minute,” Salina said. “Khan, I think you did it.”

  “Really?” Khan asked, turning to face the door, which looked shut still.

  “Help me pull here.” She motioned to the hardly visible edge of the stone slab that acted as a door. With great effort, Khan, using his one free hand, Salina, and Cedric pulled, and the door swung open while a cool breeze hit them from the outside. After the sweltering mugginess of the subterranean passageway, the cool air was a welcome change.

  “Why don’t I see any light?” Will asked.

  “Because it is night and the twin moons have yet to rise, or they are already set,” Khan said. “Also, there is a cloud cover that is blocking the starlight.”

  “Is he talking about the twin sisters?” Will asked.

  “Yes,” Khan answered for himself.

  The trio moved outside and made room for Marissa, Will, and Dorsun to follow. Targon brought up the rear, and they debated on whether to shut the door completely. They were not enthused at the idea of being stuck in Kesh; at least, the Ulathans weren’t. Khan and Dorsun seemed comfortable enough. In the end, they wedged a sharp rock in the door, leaving it open a crack. Khan explained that he did not want to attempt another magical opening, and no one could blame him.

  They moved out down the mountainside through a ravine and gully until they found a nice place to shelter with an outcropping of rock nearby. Standing on it, they fancied they could see the faint fires of Ulsthor in the far distance. “Remind you of something?” Targon asked Khan as the entire group stood together on the high ledge overlooking the Kesh countryside.

  “If I did not know better, I would say that we have patrolled not far from here. More to the south, however, by my reckoning.” Khan pointed in that direction parallel to the Border Mountains.

  “I’d agree,” Targon said. “I think we were patrolling a good half day’s walk to the south of here, maybe a full day. It’s hard to be sure in the dark.” Turning to the north, he pointed at the spur of the Border Mountains that branched off from the main north-south spine and rose to the east, separating Kesh from the northern wastelands. “Those mountains appear much closer than ever before. Do you know your way from here?”