by C. J. Strong
“Does anyone else want to carry the sword today?” Gallagher asked as he reluctantly picked it up.
“You’re the one who brought it dumbass,” Moldur responded.
“I could maybe give it a try…” Omna said as she reached for the sword.
“Not a chance! This thing is far too heavy for—“
Just then, Omna took the sword Gallagher was dragging across the ground and put it over her shoulder casually. Both Valden and Moldur looked on in surprise as Gallagher tried to save face. “Yeah, it’s not that heavy at first but trust me it gets tiring after a while.”
“Oh I’m sure it does,” Omna said as she lifted up her bags and walked away.
Valden chuckled a bit before following and eventually everyone was back on their journey. Moldur lead the pack as he knew the way best and Gallagher brought up the rear, admiring all the scenery that they passed. Not an hour or two later they came to the base of the peak, and quickly noticed a horrid smell coming from all over.
“Ugh! What is that smell?” Gallagher complained.
“It smells… rotten,” Moldur said as Babah and Piggles put their snots to the ground, sniffing profusely.
“At least they like it,” Omna said.
“Come on, let’s investigate,” Gallagher said before racing ahead of the pack. “Last one there is a rotten egg.”
“But I like rotten eggs…” Moldur said as the others left him behind.
As the gang made their way up the mountain, they quickly realized that rotten eggs was not too far off from what it actually was. Near the peak, they entered an outpost that was filled with the dead. Countless Tilturians’ lay burnt to a crisp, with weapons still in hand.
“What the hell happened here?” Gallagher said as the rest looked on in fear.
“A massacre…” Omna said as Valden began to cry. It didn’t seem like any of the young adventurers were prepared for what they saw. Death and decay had ravaged the area, and Gallagher’s enthusiasm faded into terror.
Moldur finally caught up to the rest of them, huffing and puffing and putting his hands on his knees before eventually looking up. His face turned from exhaustion to panic and concern, “Wha… Dad! Daddy?!”
The adventurers, having now seen the excitement of what war brings, spread out in search of survivors. One by one they rolled over the bodies, which were so burnt you could hardly tell men from women.
“Their faces tell a tale of horror,” Gallagher said.
They slowly made their way through the outpost and came to the main settlement which had mostly been burnt to the ground.
“What could have possibly done this?” Valden asked.
“Niffs…” Moldur said as Piggles took off past him.
The pig with snout to ground, ran faster than anyone had seen it run before, eventually stopping at a house that had been burned half way down. The others followed and heard movement from inside as they approached. Moldur pushed through the group and opened the door of the house. An overweight man was barely visible underneath the debris and ash, who was reaching out his burnt hand towards the adventurers.
Moldur dug through the scrap, and lifted a beam that had pinned the man as his pig crawled through towards him. “Dad! You’re alive,” Moldur said.
“My… boy. You shouldn’t have come,” the man said as he let his hand down.
“Don’t worry, you’re going to be alright. Me and my friends are here to help.”
“It is far too late… to help.”
Gallagher and the others made their way through the unstable house and helped Moldur to unbury his father.
“Who did this?” Gallagher asked as he attempted to lift the man.
“Please, leave me be. Take Moldur and get out of here while you still can,” Moldur’s dad said as he held himself to the floor.
“No! Dad, tell me what happened here.”
“It was… Zormites. A group of them came from over towards,” he said before coughing and holding his side, revealing a hole that had been burned through his chest. “They came from Ulteria.”
“Ulteria? Why would Zormites come from there?” Omna asked.
“Because… their leader. He has been corrupted,” Moldur’s dad said as Moldur placed his hands on the hole.
“You’re going to be alright,” Moldur said, gently pressing down on his wounds.
“No, this is the death I deserve. I hid as soon as they came… But they heard me nervously eating inside, and they brought the building down on me. Moldur, promise me you will…” he said before fading in and out of consciousness. “Promise me that you will tell our people that I died a hero’s death.”
Moldur wiped the tears from his eyes after he felt his father’s chest beat no more. Piggles curled up and laid next to the man as Moldur stood up to walk away.
“I’m really sorry Moldur,” Gallagher said as Moldur left the building.
“We should probably get out before it really does collapse,” Omna said.
Valden walked over to the corpse and brushed his fingers across the man’s face, closing his eyelids slowly. “He was a good man.”
“No he wasn’t! He was a coward,” Moldur said as he collapsed to his knees just outside the doorway. Piggles struggled to crawl up but eventually made his way out of the house and over towards his master. Moldur pushed him away as the pig tried to snort on his face in comfort.
Omna, Gallagher, and Valden all exited the house slowly. Valden called Babah over who was still poking around the settlement searching for food.
“Well I guess that’s it then,” Gallagher said as he put his head down. He felt terrible about Moldur’s father and the others at Stonewall Point, but there was nothing he could do about it. After all, he’s just a kid who was in search of a little adventure. He didn’t expect to find himself in a depressing situation where everyone had been slaughtered.
“We should head back to the village and explain what happened,” Omna said as she switched which shoulder Valdar’s sword rested against. Searching for Moldur’s father was the gang’s main intention for going after all and now that the mystery had been solved, it seemed like Stonewall Point was far too dangerous of a place to stay.
Moldur slowly rose to his feet before tilting his head high in the air, enjoying the cloudy blue sky from the mountaintop. “I, Moldur, solemnly swear that I will not die a coward like my father did.”
The gang awkwardly stood around him, before Gallagher couldn’t keep his mouth shut any longer. “You hungry?” he said as he pulled a moldy piece of bacon from his bag. Gallagher wasn’t much for being subtle, but he wasn’t trying to be. Death and other unfortunate events had plagued Gallagher for most of his childhood, and he had become an expert at blocking emotions out.
This caught both Piggles and Babah’s attention, and they were headed towards him within seconds. Unfazed by Gallagher’s inappropriate remarks, Moldur remained with his head in the air. “No, you can have it,” he said as a stern look came over his face.
“Where did you even get that?” Valden asked.
“Working in the kitchen has its benefits sometimes, right Omna?” Gallagher said as he ripped a piece of the bacon off with his teeth.
“Let’s go,” Moldur said before picking up his things and heading down the peak.
Gallagher tossed the rest of the bacon to the animals and laughed as they fought over it. Valden didn’t hesitate much and decided to trail behind Moldur. Omna looked back into the house one more time before she got Gallagher’s attention.
“Do you think he is alright?” she asked him.
“Don’t think so. But time heals all wounds. Now come on, let’s go.”
Once Babah and Piggles had devoured every morsel they could find, they caught up to the gang just before reaching the bottom of Stonewall Point. Omna was still holding the great sword in her hands as Gallagher looked on jealously.
“At least we didn’t have to use that…” he said.
Moldur was the first to get down
to the base of the mountain, and he wasn’t waiting for anyone as he continued on. But it wasn’t before long that trouble had found them, which stopped them all dead in their tracks. Not far from where they had set up camp the morning before, a strange figure met them on the road. Moldur clinched his fists tightly as Valden and Omna shook with fear. Gallagher, always one of the last ones to figure out what’s going on, stood on his tippy toes trying to look past them.
“What’s going on?” he asked before peaking around Omna.
Standing before them was a shell of a man, poorly postured with a brain-dead look on his face. Lifting his head up as if to sniff the air, he plotted forward towards the group.
“What the hell is that?” Gallagher asked as Babah and Piggles hid behind him.
“That, is a Zormite.” Valden said as he stepped back, accidentally bumping into Omna.
“Well that thing doesn’t look so tough,” Gallagher said.
“Were you one of the ones who caused all this destruction?!” Moldur screamed as he charged at the creature.
Moldur came at the Zormite in a fit of rage, landing punch after punch and finally dropping it to the ground before it could even react. He then got on top, sinking his fists through it until they became a bloody mess. After relentlessly beating the creature, he stood back up and let out a calm sigh of relief. Moldur turned back towards the gang and patted his hands off, wiping away some of the blood.
“There, I knew that thing didn’t stand a chance,” he said.
“Umm…” Gallagher said as he pointed back behind him.
The Zormite had crawled back to its feet as if unfazed by the previous attacks and was once again coming towards everyone while sniffing the air for sight. Moldur faced his enemy again, just before it was ready to attack.
“Rule #3 Moldur! Always pay attention,” Gallagher said as he pushed through Valden and Omna to get a better view of the fight.
As Moldur continued to pummel the Zormite once more, Valden lit up with expressions. “Hey, ordinary attacks won’t work on that thing,” he said.
“Oh yeah, then what…will?” Moldur said as he landed a punch to its face.
“My dad just started teaching me about these things. He kept telling me to ‘know thy enemy’,” Valden said. “Only magik can hurt these things.”
“Magik?” Moldur said as the zombie swung its first strike.
The Zormite slashed Moldur across the face with its nails, drawing blood and leaving a mark instantly. Moldur stumbled back before front kicking it back to the ground. He then stood over the creature, putting his foot onto its head and holding it there as the Zormite squirmed to get up. Holding his fresh wound and then looking down, Moldur stomped the Zormites face repeatedly.
“Good thing you weigh so much,” Gallagher said as he watched in amusement.
“It’s no use, none of us can actually defeat it,” Omna said.
“Nonsense, I will have my revenge! Bring Valdar’s sword over here, we will decapitate the damn thing,” Moldur said as he pressed its head deeper into the ground.
“That won’t work…” Valden said as Omna brought the sword to Moldur.
As she cautiously avoided the Zormite on the ground, Omna gave the combatant the sword and he dropped it straight into the throat of the monster.
“There, that ought to do it,” Moldur said as he released his foot from the now motionless creature. He then used all of his might to pull the sword from the ground and was barely able to hand it back to Omna. “That sword is pretty heavy…”
Just then, a puff of black smoke came out from the Zormite as the neck started to reattach itself. Everyone except for Valden appeared to be surprised and Omna scurried back towards the rest of the group.
“Let’s get out of here before it recovers,” Moldur said as he started to run off.
Gallagher nodded his head and like a bullet they were gone, headed in the direction of their village.
“I really hope that thing doesn’t follow us,” Gallagher said as the gang ran as fast as they could. “…and even if it does, I’m sure Valdar will know how to take care of it.”
Never had Gallagher been more afraid in his life, but also never had he had this much fun before. Sure, they saw some pretty disturbing things on their short adventure which would probably scar him for life, but that’s what made it so interesting. This world had so much more to offer him then Earth ever did. Excitement, adventure, occasional near death experiences, these were the things that Gallagher lived for.
Chapter 16
Andrum regained his strength not long after the battle, and felt like himself again. They were back at camp, and both Yuralia and Uriella were waiting for him to recover.
“Why is everybody staring at me?” he asked as he sat up.
“You actually saved us,” Yuralia said.
“How exactly were you able to fend off so many of those monsters?” Uriella asked.
Andrum wasn’t sure how to answer this question. “Because there is an ancient king’s soul trapped inside my body and it’s making me do really powerful magik that I don’t even understand without me controlling it,” probably wasn’t the best course. He knew Uriella was still weak from the journey, so who knows if she could handle it. And Yuralia, well, she was beautiful and smart and Andrum might be falling in love with her, but their relationship was far too rocky at the moment to tell her the truth. Even in the best of circumstances they might just think he was crazy—or not trust him and they still had a long journey ahead of them.
“I…I don’t know exactly,” Andrum finally said, “Something just came over me and I knew that I had to fight.”
“Well you did good, I’m impressed,” Yuralia said as she came over and hugged him.
Andrum blushed for a moment before embracing her. After a few seconds, she released her grip and Andrum hopped up to his feet. “I suppose we should get going before trouble finds us again.”
“Agreed, let’s get a move on,” Uriella said.
“What happened to Benry?” Yuralia asked.
“Unfortunately the poor little guy ran off during the battle. I’m sorry Yuralia,” Andrum answered with his head down.
“It’s alright I guess. I’m sure he will turn up,” Yuralia said.
All three of them packed up their things and headed through the desert. Before long they had come to the same lake Andrum had nearly drown in before.
“This sure brings back memories,” Yuralia said.
“Yep, sure does. It’s where we had our first kiss,” Andrum said as he held back a hint of laughter.
“Oh children…” Uriella said before Andrum began to take off his clothes. “What in the Ancients are you doing?!”
“I’m going for a little swim, that’s all,” he said as he stripped down to nothing.
This time it was Yuralia who was embarrassed, as she tried to stop her eyes from wondering. “Do… we really have time for this?”
“Of course! I need a shower after rolling around with those filthy coyotes,” Andrum said as he dove into the body of water. Andrum had hoped that some of Xurion’s other experiences had transferred over as well as his battle prowess. It would have been awfully humiliating to have to be rescued by Yuralia yet again if he started to drown. Luckily, whether it was simply magik, or the fact that Xurion like most Nifflarians could swim, Andrum stayed afloat.
Uriella turned and walked away in order to give Andrum some privacy. Meanwhile, Yuralia stood in awe of Andrum’s newly acquired swimming skills.
“Come on in,” Andrum motioned as he swam around in circles.
Yuralia took a moment and paused, looking around before summoning her conjuring book. This time, her eyes turned a brilliant red as she wrote in a few pages. Andrum had no idea why her eyes turned such a color, but once she had finished, all sorts of trees and brush appeared throughout the edges of the lake. An enormous waterfall formed from one side of the lake, which connected a stream that lead for miles and miles into the Forest of S
orrows.
“Impressive, you are one of the most powerful conjurers I’ve ever seen,” Andrum said before floating to the bottom of the waterfall.
Yuralia hid behind a nearby tree and hung her clothes one by one before jumping into the lake.
“Glad you could join me,” Andrum said with a giant smirk on his face.
“Last time we were here I had saved you twice… But now we’re even,” she said as she swam closer to Andrum. “I’ve been wanting to do this ever since you came back from the Pyramid a new man.”
Andrum caught Yuralia in a lovers embrace as they met under the thunderous current of the waterfall and kissed. They kissed again, and again, until she released her legs that were wrapped around him and took him by the hand. “Come on, I designed this waterfall for a reason,” she said as she guided him through the heart of the rapids.
As Andrums vision cleared from traveling under the current, he saw that they were now in the most beautiful of coves. Scented flowers were strategically growing in all sorts of magnificent ways, and the water was just shallow enough to stand. Yuralia walked through the cove and lead Andrum to where the rocks curved into a perfect bed to rest on. The two of them stepped out from the water and gazed upon each other once more as sunlight penetrated through the back of the waterfall, causing their skin to glisten with divinity.
He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close, starting to kiss once more before they eventually made their way gently towards the rocky ground. Andrum kissed her all over as she stroked her fingers through his hair. He made his way down her body slowly, making sure to cherish every moment of his dream come true. Neither was very experienced, but naturally they knew just what to do.
They stayed in that cove for nearly an hour before finally swimming out. By this time Uriella was impatiently waiting for them, sitting on a tree stump near the waterfall. Andrum and Yuralia let go of each other and awkwardly came back to land.