by Hans Bezdek
“Looks like Feldarkr is two days or so north of here, with Ostad being maybe three days northwest,” said Dhot, looking over the map.
“Which one do you guys want to head to first?” I asked. “We have a fifty fifty chance either way.”
“Let’s do Feldarkr,” recommended Cassandra. “It’s closer, and we can quickly continue on the way up to Ostad if it turns out to be a waste of time.”
“Efficient,” nodded Dhot. “I like it.”
I looked around for anything that might help us as we continued at our quick pace. If there was some sort of caravan moving north, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for us to join them. We’d be able to blend in, and maybe we’d even be able to make some money acting as guards.
After a few minutes of talking with merchants, we quickly found out there were no caravans heading up to Brumark. The territory was currently disputing with the Republic over some minor political matters, and the Republic had a ban on products going up to the north because of it. Leave it the social elite in Ravendale to make things as difficult as possible.
However, it looked like we weren’t completely out of luck.
“Horses!” I said, gesturing up ahead. Perfect. We’d be able to get out of town before anyone could see where we were headed.
“That’ll cut our time significantly,” smiled Cassandra. “Good idea!”
“I don’t know how to ride!” complained Dhot, keeping pace with me as Cassandra ran up ahead.
“No better time to learn than the present!”
Cassandra reached the horses first, hopping up on top of a black and white spotted one with ease. By the time I helped Dhot get onto a light red one, the owner of the horses had his attention on us.
“W-What are you doing?” asked the handler.
“We need these,” I said, getting on a black horse and pulling hard on the reins. It moved without much resistance.
“P-Please!” begged the man, clasping his hands together. “These are my only livelihood! I’ll starve without them!”
Cassandra hesitated on her horse, looking at me with sympathy in her eyes.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked. “You used to steal from your queen!”
“Because it was more than she needed!” she said. “I never stole from people in need!”
I rolled my eyes. Stupid elf. Didn’t she realize that if we used these horses to safely get away, we would ultimately be helping this man out far more than any quat could? He would be doing a service for the Winged One and his friends.
Okay, that sounded pretentious.
“Fine, whatever,” I said, gesturing at Dhot. The last thing I needed was to develop an ego that could rival The Guild’s. “Throw him some gold and quat for the horses.”
“How much are these three?” asked Dhot, struggling to keep his horse under control.
“One thousand,” said the man. “Each.”
“Three thousand for these?!” I balked.
“Just pay him, Dhot!” said Cassandra. “We don’t have time to try and bargain! For all we know, half the town is after us by now!”
“Half the town?” I asked, as the goblin dug around in his bag. “We may have the guards, The Guild, Gray Adders, and Tumblers after us, but that hardly constitutes half the town.”
“Anders mentioned you had a bounty on your head,” she explained. “Everyone in that tavern was listening.”
“Ah… that’s right,” I nodded. “Any day now, Dhot!”
Dhot finally found what he was looking for, producing a handful of gold and quat. That seemed like it was much more than the three thousand price tag, but I guess the goblin didn’t mind. Who knew how much treasure he shoveled into his bag when we found the Time Shield?
“Here,” he said, handing it down to the man. “Keep the change for your troubles. Maha!”
The man stared down at the money with wide eyes. “T-Thank you so much!”
“Can we go now?” I glared at Cassandra.
“Please don’t let anyone know you saw our group,” said the elf politely to the horses’ previous owner.
“No problem,” smiled the man, already walking away and counting his money.
The three of us hurried off to the north.
Or rather, two of us did.
Looking over my shoulder, Dhot had his horse going at a slow trot. The goblin was frantically gesturing, but clearly had no idea what he was doing. Sharing a concerned look with Cassandra, the two of us went back.
“Maybe this won’t be faster after all,” I muttered, watching as Cassandra tried to teach the confused goblin as we went.
Chapter 3
We traveled for many miles through the late afternoon and into the evening. We couldn’t go as fast as I would’ve preferred thanks to Dhot, but it was still better than walking. The grasslands became more desolate as we went, with fewer and fewer trees. A brisk breeze would come and go, until it no longer left us.
The stars of the night sky shone down on us when we decided to stop and setup camp. The hills had become rockier and more mountain like, and we were able to find a small enclave that would protect us from behind. Tying up the three horses, we took turns keeping watch as the other two slept.
It wasn’t a great night’s sleep for me.
I tried finding a space that was flat, but it seemed that every hour or so I would wake up with a sharp rock in my back. I was also not used to the sounds of the horses, which would wake me with a startle every so often. Their scent did me no favors either, especially when I realized we didn’t tie them up far enough away to relieve themselves without bothering us.
When the sun rose, so did we. Dhot figured we’d be able to make it to Feldarkr within a few hours thanks to our rides. The plan would be to check the town for any details we could find on Grimkell’s Mace, and then stay there during the night. Even if The Guild marched without sleeping, they still wouldn’t arrive in town until the next morning, and that was assuming they weren’t first heading for Ostad.
We continued our moderate pace, scanning the terrain for danger or people. The rocky trails became snow covered as we traveled, but the roads were mostly well maintained. They didn’t seem particularly busy, aside from occasional clusters of dwarves passing by. They would give us a wave, but otherwise continue on their way. We didn’t see anything that looked to cause us any harm, but some footprints in the snow didn’t look very friendly. We had no idea when it last snowed, or how fresh the tracks were.
A couple of hours passed before Dhot complained about wanting to stop.
“This position is killing me,” he groaned atop his horse.
“Then change it,” recommended Cassandra.
“I can’t! I just ignored the discomfort yesterday since we were trying to put as much distance between us and Brensrun as possible, but it’s catching up to me now. Goblin’s weren’t meant for riding horses!”
Cassandra sighed and looked over at me. We were ahead of schedule, and there was no point in the goblin being uncomfortable for the rest of the ride. He’d be grouchy when we showed up in Feldarkr, and I doubted the dwarves would appreciate that very much.
“That’s fine, we can stop,” I said, slowing my horse.
“Maha! Thanks!”
“Just for a couple of minutes, though,” I clarified.
The goblin was happy enough with that, quickly stopping his horse and hopping off. He held onto the reins and stretched his legs.
“I’ll never understand why people love these creatures so,” he groaned, squatting down.
“One reason is how much distance we just traveled,” I said, sliding off my horse. No reason to not stretch out since we were stopped.
“They are also very beautiful animals,” added Cassandra, stepping down as well.
“If you two say so,” shrugged the goblin, pulling out his map and examining it.
“How far out are we?” I asked.
“If I had to guess, maybe an hour. No idea if the roads will be a
ny worse or better the farther north we go.”
I nodded as he put the map back. Another hour of riding wouldn’t be too bad. We’d have to find a stable when we arrived, which added a new expense for us. The horses would need food on top of that, which would be more quat. A minor annoyance, but something we’d need to eventually talk about. Dhot wouldn’t be able to keep bank rolling us forever. Especially not if he kept overpaying like he did with the man who sold us these horses.
“Have we thought about how we’re going to find the Mace?” asked Cassandra.
“The usual,” I shrugged. “Look for sketchy looking people, see if they know anything. Maybe a few innkeepers. Go from there.”
“Why don’t we just ask their council or king about it?” asked Dhot.
“I don’t follow,” I said.
“Maybe the town will know of the Mace and just be keeping it safe. What if we just went and talked to their leader and asked them directly for it?”
“That’s not how it works,” I scoffed, shaking my head. “It’s never that easy.”
“Oh, so you’ve tried that before,” nodded the goblin.
“Actually… we haven’t,” said Cassandra, looking over at me.
“Yeah we did,” I said. “Remember Nicole in Vorova?”
“She wasn’t a political leader, though,” she said. “If we explain what’s going on with the black and reds to the leader of the dwarves, then maybe they’ll see that this could help all of Yaerna. Nicole didn’t care about our story, and just thought we were thieves.”
“I don’t think Dhot blowing up the Lance of Power really helped her view of us,” I mumbled.
“Maha!”
“No, but maybe we can try just asking their king this time,” she shrugged. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
“He could throw us in jail,” I said, holding up a finger for each horrible thing. “He could banish us from the town. He could put a bounty on our heads. He could be working with the Dar’Ka and tell them what we’re up to. He could-”
“We get it,” interrupted Dhot. “Let’s take a vote on it, hmm? All in favor of asking the leader of Feldarkr, raise your hand.”
The goblin and elf raised their hands.
“Those against.”
I raised mine, shaking my head. Why did these votes never go my way?
“So we’ll give it a try then,” beamed Dhot.
I looked over the goblin’s head, imagining all the horrible things that could come of this. Some movement further behind him caught my eye. The figure was still very far away, but it looked like a lone person was riding in our direction on horseback. The rider appeared to be dressed all in white, and was on a white horse. What was someone doing on this road all by themselves?
“That’s odd,” I mumbled.
“What is?” asked Cassandra, Dhot turning towards me as well.
“There’s-”
A blur of black motion shot by Cassandra, narrowly missing her and colliding with the ground in the middle of us.
A loud explosion of magical energy went off, throwing us all back. The startled horses took off, each running as fast as they could in another direction.
“Dhot, was that you?” asked Cassandra, getting to her feet.
“No,” coughed the goblin, standing up and trying to get the snow off of his coat. “I didn’t do that.”
I took out the Time Shield and a dagger as I stood up, looking in the direction from where the black ball came from. Before I could see the person or creature doing it, another black ball shot off, this one aimed at Dhot’s back.
“Watch out!” I shouted, jumping forward and holding out the Shield.
The ball exploded as it made contact, pushing me back slightly but leaving us otherwise unharmed.
“That’s no normal shield there, is it?” called out a deep voice.
I lowered the Shield to take a look, and saw the person that had been firing the blasts at us. A dwarf wearing a gray and silver robe watched us, hands up and holding black balls of magical energy. The dwarf’s face was contorted into a wicked smile underneath his red beard as he watched us.
“Why have you attacked us?” asked Cassandra, drawing out the Shattered Sword. The blade glowed a light blue. I was happy to see it, but knew the glow could disappear at any moment.
“Yer not welcomed in me land,” growled the dwarf.
“In your land?” I called out. “We’re just passing through.”
“Passing through? That what ye call standin around, eh?”
“What do we do?” whispered Cassandra.
“Keep your Sword at the ready,” I whispered back. “He’s using dark magic, which means he’s powerful. If we let our guards down, he’ll be able to kill us.”
“Good enough for me,” mumbled Dhot, reaching in his bag and pulling an object out.
“We just mean to pass through to Feldarkr,” I called out again.
“Don’t see what that’s got to do with me,” said the dwarf. “Unless ye bring a strange magic with ye.”
“Strange magic?” asked Cassandra. “What do you mean?”
“Enough talkin, eh?” called out the dwarf. “Go back the way ye came, or ye leave me no choice.”
Everything was silent for a moment as no one moved.
“Ye got none to blame but yerselves,” shrugged the dwarf, bringing both arms back. Pumping his arms back out, he let loose several more shots of the black energy.
I held the Time Shield up, blocking the shots as Dhot and I moved forward up on the dwarf. The only way we were getting out of this now was by killing him, it looked like.
Glancing over, I saw that Cassandra was doing the same. Keeping her Sword up, she would swipe out at the dark energy whenever it got near to her, detonating the explosions before they could reach her.
Seeing that he was getting nowhere with this tactic, the dwarf aimed instead at our feet. I quickly lowered the Shield, but Cassandra wasn’t as fast. I heard her cry out, flying backwards. I risked a glance as Dhot and I moved up, and saw that the elf flew back a few feet and was on the ground. She was moving at least, so we pressed on.
I could hear the dwarf panting when we were nearly upon him. He was using an extreme amount of magic to pull this off, which was both frightening and impressive. If we didn’t have these weapons of the ancient heroes, we’d surely have been killed.
Without any warning, Dhot suddenly jumped out to my right, chucking his explosive. He held up his other hand which held a detonator in it and smiled.
I braced myself behind the Time Shield.
“What are ye doi-”
“Maha!”
Click.
The goblin dove behind me as a huge ball of fire erupted on the other side of my Shield. It shook badly, but absorbed most of the power from the blast.
Dhot waited a second before peeking out.
“Maha! Got him!”
“Good job,” I said, glancing back and seeing Cassandra struggle to her feet. It looked like she was going to be okay. “You feel alright?”
“I think so,” she nodded slowly. “I… just. Got. Scr..a…t…ch…ed.”
“Cassandra?” I asked, staring at her. She was frozen still.
My arm shook, drawing my attention. I suddenly realized the Time Shield never stopped shaking.
“Not again!” I groaned, watching as Cassandra became animated again. She spoke strangely, then laid back down onto the snow. The explosion of fire went in on itself, and Dhot moved backwards. Time was resetting.
Everything stopped as Dhot was crouched down at the bottom of the hill, with Cassandra holding the Shattered Sword at the ready several feet away. I slowly walked back down to the position I was at, and time started again.
Black explosions went off as Cassandra swung the Shattered Sword in front of her, beginning to move forward.
“Stop!” I shouted out.
Cassandra slowed, swinging her Sword a few more times, and then glanced over at me. To my surprise
, the evil dwarf also stopped attacking.
“The Time Shield activated after Dhot killed the dwarf,” I called out to the elf. “We might have to change up how we attack.”
“Time Shield?” called out the dwarf.
I peered over the Shield and looked at him. The dwarf looked nervous, then suddenly fell over.
“That’s new,” mumbled Cassandra.
The three of us stared at the prone dwarf for a moment, unsure what was happening.
“Did he die… again?” asked Dhot.
“I don’t think so,” I said, beginning to move forward slowly.
The dwarf sat up with a start, looking around. He breathed quickly as he got to his feet, not looking in our direction for a moment. When he did, his eyes widened and he threw his hands up.
“Aaa!” shouted the dwarf, turning and running away.
“What in Yaerna…” mumbled Cassandra walking forward after the dwarf.
“Don’t bother chasing him,” I called out to Cassandra. “There’s no telling if this stupid thing will restart time again.”
The elf didn’t look thrilled at letting the dwarf get away, but sheathed her blade. Dhot put his explosive back in his bag and looked around.
“Where did the horses go?” he asked.
“Oh no!” shouted Cassandra, looking around. “They’re all gone!”
I sighed as I put the Time Shield on my back.
We got attacked by some weird, fainting dwarf and lost our horses. Wonderful.
I looked over to see if the white figure on the horse was any nearer, but suddenly they were gone. I looked around us, trying to see where they could’ve gone. There was no sign of them.
“What are you looking for?” asked Cassandra.
“Um… just the horses,” I said, shaking my head. “Come on. Might as well start the trek to Feldarkr on foot.”