Runes and Relics

by Kay L. Ling

  “They may not believe us,” said Tina Ann, but she didn’t sound afraid.

  Ben looked more worried.

  “I’ll protect you,” Elias assured them. “But I think they’ll believe you. Why would you invent such a tale?”

  “Why not? Breghlin are liars,” Kaff muttered, and Jules gave him a withering look.

  Considering Ben and Tina Ann’s budding romance, Jules was surprised Ben had no objection to Tina Ann going with him. Maybe male breghlin weren’t protective toward females.

  “Good luck,” Elias said softly.

  Without weapons, they must feel terribly vulnerable.

  After giving the breghlin a head start, the team followed, making sure to stay out of sight.

  Ben and Tina Ann reached the edge of the camp and paused a moment as if gathering their courage. Then they stepped into the clearing.

  The rest of the team moved closer and crouched among the trees to watch.

  Parcune was nowhere in sight, and Jules didn’t see the maraku.

  A huge cooking pot hung from a crane over a wood fire. A group of breghlin sat in a semi-circle around the fire. Some hunched over wooden bowls, scooping up food with their fingers. Others held large metal tankards. Discarded bowls littered the ground.

  Just beyond the cooking fire stood the breghlin’s longhouse, a shabbily built structure open on both ends, with a roof held up by posts. Partial side walls helped block the wind. It wasn’t much of a shelter. From this angle, Jules could see inside. Several females and children sat around a heap of corrustone, eating.

  Ben and Tina Ann didn’t go far into the breghlin camp. Ben shouted, “You stole our food and animals. Give them back.”

  Several of the males around the cooking fire shouted in surprise and leapt to their feet. Some reached to their waists and drew knives from sheaths. Breghlin with swords and spears came running from behind the longhouse.

  Jules clutched Elias’s arm, but Elias shook his head. “Don’t worry. At this distance, I can raise a protective shield around them in an instant.”

  A number of armed breghlin started toward Ben and Tina Ann. The leader had a long, black beard and wore a massive sword at his hip and a fist-sized medallion on a chain around his neck.

  “I be NE3 of the Graggath clan,” said the leader. “Who be you givin’ us orders?”

  Ben stood a little taller and answered defiantly, “Sheamathan call me B. The ones who defeat her, they call me Ben.”

  The group came closer, but they looked wary now.

  “We hear rumors about her. We didn’t believe them,” NE3 said. “Sheamathan defeated?”

  “It be true. Gem masters turn her into a beetle,” Ben said. “An’ they be with me an’ the rest of our scoutin’ party. Give back what you stole, includin’ the gnome.”

  NE3 scowled at Ben and Tina Ann. “All I see is you and a female. No gem masters.”

  “They send me ahead so we can talk breghlin to breghlin.”

  “What do gem masters want with you?”

  “Give us the gnome an’ we explain.”

  NE3 laughed. “Not so fast. Why you care ‘bout this gnome?”

  “He be part of our scoutin’ party. Two humans, two breghlin, two gnomes.”

  “And two maraku,” NE3 added with a malicious grin. “Useful beasts, maraku.”

  Tina Ann said, “How stupid can you be, stealin’ from gem masters.”

  NE3 drew his sword.

  “You be sorry,” Ben said in a menacing tone.

  Sunlight glinted off the blade. “You talk big for havin’ no weapon.”

  Elias chuckled softly and whispered to Jules, “No weapon? Watch this.”

  Suddenly Elias wasn’t there. A moment later, NE3’s arm jerked and the sword fell to the ground. Then it rose and began to drift, point downward, across the field. It paused in front of a stunned Ben, presenting itself to him hilt first.

  Tina Ann ordered in a stage whisper, “Take it, fool!”

  Ben reached out, grasped the hilt, and stepped toward NE3 who was visibly shaking. The rest of the breghlin looked ready to run.

  “Now then,” said Ben. “How ‘bout you bring me that gnome.”

  Chapter 11

  Guards brought Parcune out from behind the longhouse. His wrists were secured behind his back, probably with chains, since he clanked when he walked.

  “He appears unharmed,” Elias whispered to Jules as the guards delivered Parcune to their leader. “They probably staked him to the ground so he couldn’t escape inside a tree.

  Kaff crawled closer and gave a snort of disgust. “That’s what he should have done this morning—escaped inside a tree. Breghlin wouldn’t have caught me.”

  Jules gave him a blistering look. “He was probably half asleep, and he wasn’t expecting an ambush.”

  “But with all the trees around,” Kaff persisted, “you’d have to be really old and slow to get caught.”

  “They probably surrounded him and waited for a chance to close in. It was six against one. Who could beat those odds?”

  “Anyone who isn’t a slow, overweight gnome without gem powers,” Kaff said with a disdainful sniff.

  Jules wanted to throttle him. “You wouldn’t have panicked and frozen.”

  “Maybe for a second,” Kaff said with a shrug. “Then I’d knock them out with gem powers and escape.” He yanked on Elias’s sleeve. “You have to teach me invisibility. That was amazing! I don’t know who looked more surprised, the clan leader or Ben!” Kaff had forgotten to keep his voice down, and Jules made a hushing motion and went back to watching the breghlin camp.

  Ben still held the leader’s sword. “Take off the chains. Let him go,” Ben ordered, shaking the upraised sword for emphasis.

  The clan leader reluctantly unfastened Parcune’s chains and shoved him toward Ben.

  Looking embarrassed but relieved, Parcune joined Ben and Tina Ann.

  “Listen, Ben called to the entire camp. “Rumors about Sheamathan be true. An’ we all be better off without her.”

  “You got your gnome back. Stay an’ tell us more,” NE3 said, trying to salvage some of his dignity.

  Ben leaned toward Parcune and whispered something, then pointed to the trees where the team was hiding. Parcune headed toward them.

  Jules breathed a sigh of relief when Parcune arrived safely. “Thank goodness you’re all right,” he whispered, and Parcune gave him an apologetic look and nodded, then crouched down with the rest of them to watch the drama play out.

  “There be lots to tell,” Ben was saying to the clan leader. “Surprisin’ things ‘bout our world. But first, give back our maraku and supplies.” Once again he shook the sword as a reminder of who had the upper hand.

  “Agreed. We give everything back. Ask gem masters to speak to us.”

  “That’s our cue to join them,” Elias whispered to Jules, and then he turned and said to Kaff, “Take Parcune back to camp.”

  “I’m not afraid of breghlin. Why can’t I come with you?”

  Elias said, “I don’t want Parcune going alone.”

  “Then let him come with us,” Kaff said resentfully. “The breghlin won’t hurt him if we’re around, and I’ll look after him.”

  Parcune muttered something under his breath.

  “He’s welcome to come, but I imagine he’s tired of breghlin hospitality.”

  “I’ll come,” Parcune said. “We can’t stand here arguing.”

  “Good.” Kaff pushed up his left sleeve, revealing the bracelet Elias had lent him. If he hoped to intimidate the breghlin with gems, he was wasting his time. They didn’t know about gnome gem powers yet.

  The team emerged from their hiding place and went to stand beside Ben and Tina Ann.

  “Good job,” Elias whispered to Ben. “Give the leader back his sword. You don’t need it, and he’ll save face.”

  Ben did as Elias asked. He went up to NE3 and held out the sword.

  NE3 took it, looking surprised. “Come. W
e sit inside. Bring the others.” His curious gaze lingered a moment on Elias and Jules. Then he glowered at Kaff and Parcune. “Gnomes,” he said in disgust and walked away.

  Ben and Tina Ann stood with NE3 just inside the longhouse doorway, watching the clan file in. Breghlin females and children moved to the rear so males and the Amulet Team could sit by the corrustone.

  Bedrolls lay in piles along the walls. Dinnerware, tools, and wooden toys littered the ground. The stench of unwashed breghlin competed with the odor of sewage, and Jules was glad the building wasn’t fully enclosed.

  Jules sat beside Elias, and Parcune managed to beat Kaff to Elias’s other side, so Kaff had to sit by Parcune. Kaff left a big space, as if touching Parcune might contaminate him. Breghlin came in and sat behind them, forming rows in a semicircle facing NE3.

  Two breghlin with oily black hair and filthy clothing paused in the doorway. Their gaze fell on the gnomes, and their eyes lit with malice. Seeing the open space, they came over and sat on either side of Kaff, pinning him tightly between them. Kaff looked panicky but there was no way he could escape. The breghlin looked him over, grinning maliciously.

  “Introduce yourself, Kaff,” Jules suggested, trying not to laugh.

  Kaff opened his mouth but nothing came out.

  “I be TF2,” said the breghlin on Kaff’s left, clapping a meaty hand on the lad’s leg. “An’ this be SE3. We don’t see many gnomes.” He looked over his shoulder and said to the breghlin behind him, “Not much meat on this one.”

  Kaff shuddered visibly.

  More breghlin seated themselves on either side and behind the team, and when everyone was finally inside the building, NE3 said to Ben and Tina Ann, “Now, give us news about Sheamathan.”

  “She has no powers. She can’t hurt us anymore,” Ben said. He cast a pleading look at Elias and Jules. “The gem masters can explain better.”

  Elias said quietly to Jules, “I have an idea. Come with me.”

  They went up front to address the group. Elias took off one of his pendants and gave it to Jules, then encompassed Jules’s hand with his own so they were both holding it. “In a moment, you will see the form my friend wore not long ago.”

  The air began to ripple and an image formed in front of Jules—a black wolfhound.

  In the back of the longhouse, women and children screamed. The males looked frightened, and for a moment, Jules thought some of them would bolt.

  The image faded away. “I’m sorry to frighten you,” Elias said, “but I must prove my claims. I am Gem Master Elias, and my companion is Gem Master Jules DeLauretin. Long ago, to protect the Fair Lands from Sheamathan, he made a bargain and became her slave, taking the form of a dog. You have surely heard of Sheamathan’s wolfhound.”

  The breghlin nodded and whispered among themselves. Elias waited till he had their full attention and then resumed his speech. He told them how Lana from the Fair Lands had helped restore Jules to human form. And how the three of them had used Sheamathan’s latest gemstone discovery against her, temporarily stripping her of her powers. The breghlin listened wide-eyed as Elias described that fateful day. Humans, gnomes, and an enchanted bird had all played a part, he said, and in the end, he had turned Sheamathan into a giant beetle.

  If the breghlin felt sorry for their former queen, they didn’t show it. Living so far from Shadowglade, they’d probably seldom seen her, but her reputation for cruelty kept them in line.

  Jules took over the story and told about the day they had burned S’s throne. To everyone’s surprise, that had destroyed her monsters, he told them, and now Ahmonell was safer for gnomes and breghlin alike. Their eyes widened at this, and many began whispering excitedly among themselves. They had surely noticed S’s monsters were gone, Jules thought, and now they knew why.

  He ended his speech by telling the clan that some gnomes had gem powers, and many would eventually be gem masters. The breghlin looked stricken, realizing the balance of power had shifted.

  TF2 and SE3 looked warily at the gnome sitting between them.

  Kaff couldn’t resist the chance to pay the breghlin back for frightening him. He made a show of rubbing the gems in his bracelet. Jules’s mouth dropped open at what happened next. Kaff had the gems Elias had given him during their practice sessions and must have tried Elias’s invisibility feat, but it didn’t quite work—only his head disappeared.

  The sight of his headless body was actually more frightening than if it had worked and he had actually disappeared. Both breghlin let out a terrified howl and bolted, nearly falling into the corrustone in their haste to escape. Behind Kaff and Parcune, rows of breghlin scrambled backward.

  Kaff’s head reappeared.

  Elias waved his hands, trying to recapture the crowd’s attention, but it wasn’t easy to get them to settle down after that. Good thing they really wanted to hear what he had to say. They eventually grew quiet.

  He told them about the Fair Lands Amulet, which they had heard about, and then revealed that Ahmonell had an Amulet. He said S had tried to take over Ahmonell, which had led to a war, and the Amulet had been sealed shut, trapping her and her gnome supporters inside. She turned against her followers, eventually breeding them to be a mutant race of servants—the breghlin.

  Jules had expected the clan to question Elias about their heritage, but they accepted his claims with long faces. He closed by telling them about the Amulet Team’s mission—to find the barrier and a way to break through it.

  NE3 said, “Important mission. We give everything back. And I send scouts with you.”

  Jules shot Elias a worried glance. Having Ben and Tina Ann along was one thing, but a group of savage breghlin was quite another.

  “We appreciate your offer,” Elias said, “but the barrier zone is dangerous. In the Fair Lands, when an outsider nears the barrier, he feels a force that pushes him away. If he keeps going, he dies. We can’t be sure Ahmonell’s Amulet gives that warning, so it’s very dangerous to go there.”

  NE3 folded his arms over his chest and gave Elias a determined look. “It do push away. We take you there.”

  Jules gaped at NE3.

  “I . . . well, yes,” Elias began, clearly as shocked as Jules. “That would be . . . er, you’ve been there?”

  NE3 reached under the neck of his tunic and pulled out a curving white object on a leather cord. “This,” he said proudly, “be a pythanium fang. I kill many beasts in Fogland. That is why I become clan leader.”

  “Fogland?” Jules asked. “What is Fogland?”

  “The gray place . . . where many of Sheamathan’s monsters live. We go there to test our bravery.”

  Elias said, “The gray place is near the Amulet barrier?”

  “Barrier be in the gray place. But fog be gone now, and so be the monsters. Now we understand why. You burn her throne.”

  It made sense, Jules thought, as he mulled over NE3’s words. S had hidden the border of the Amulet, expecting everyone to avoid a fog-shrouded land full of monsters. But the breghlin had gone there anyway.

  “When the fog went away, you explored there?” Elias asked.

  “Yes. The land be bare and rocky. We come to a strange place that push against us. We do not like it, so we turn back.”

  “That certainly sounds like the barrier,” Elias said.

  “Tomorrow we take you there.”

  This time Elias didn’t object. “Thank you. That would be a great help.”

  NE3 pointed to two of the males. “You. Get their maraku.” To the rest of the group he said, “Get their weapons and food. Take it to their camp.”

  The clan rose, conferring in hushed tones as they left the longhouse.

  Ben said to Jules and Elias, “Me an’ Tina Ann will help carry our supplies.”

  Tina Ann cast a suspicious look at the departing breghlin. “We make sure they don’t keep any of our stuff.”

  Parcune joined the group, and Kaff stood behind him, looking bored.

  “Thanks for rescui
ng me,” Parcune said to Ben and Tina Ann. “You faced down the whole clan. That was really brave.”

  Being saved by breghlin had to sting Parcune’s pride, and his rivalry with Ben made it all the more humiliating.

  “Elias was protecting us,” Ben said, shrugging it off.

  “While you and Tina Ann help round up our property and bring it back, the rest of us will return to camp,” said Elias. “This has certainly been a strange turn of events. Not only do breghlin know where to find the barrier, they’re willing to take us there.”

  “Good thing you got yourself captured, Parcune,” Kaff said.

  Parcune’s shoulders slumped and he looked utterly miserable. Jules’s heart went out to him.

  As the team hiked back to camp, Kaff resumed his habit of walking alongside Elias. Jules followed, but stayed a few paces back, and a dejected-looking Parcune brought up the rear, looking ashamed to be part of the group. Kaff’s nonstop blabbering about breghlin didn’t help.

  “Did you see the two ugly brutes that plopped down on either side of me?” Kaff asked with a snicker. “They tried to scare me, but I got the last laugh.”

  “Your attempt at invisibility took an odd turn,” Elias said blandly. “We’ll have to work on that.”

  Kaff snorted. “I know I didn’t disappear, but something happened. They sure were scared!”

  “You lost your head,” Elias said in the same, flat tone.

  Kaff shrugged. “Yeah, I’m impulsive.”

  “No, I meant that literally.”

  Jules said, “Your head disappeared.”

  “What?”

  “Just your head; nothing else.” Jules smiled in spite of himself. The breghlin’s horrified expressions had been too comical for words.

  Instead of being embarrassed, Kaff laughed. “Really? I probably couldn’t do that again if I tried. Gem powers are amazing, even when something goes wrong.” He looked behind him. “You don’t know what you’re missing, Parcune.”

  Jules’s smile faded. He used to think the lad was merely insensitive, but Kaff was downright spiteful. “Your next mistake may not be so funny.”

  Elias said, “Yes, you might lose your head, and it won’t be figurative.”