by Asher, Yarid
Azar smiled “So both of you are orphans, huh.”
Usere looked down at the ground for a moment but then back up at Azar “Sadly, yes. What is your back story?”
“It is a long one. I will tell you some other day.”
By the time they were done talking, Leosher was ready with his men and called them off of the cliff they all were sitting on. This cliff looked over the lake. They followed his orders and went to him where he started leading them towards the caves. As they were getting close, it was getting dark and they could hear the roaring and hissing of Amoveus. It was terrifying and mortifying. It was like a lion roaring with a hundred snakes hissing at him.
As they got closer to the cave, the sounds became louder and louder and reached a point where it was nerve wrecking and unbearable but just as they stepped foot in the cave, everything stopped. There was a pin drop silence. Amoveus had stopped breathing and they could hear the water dropping from the ceiling of the moist, wet, tube-like caves. It was a perfectly carved hole that led into many other perfectly carved holes. There were at least 6 holes in there. Leosher sent two men in two holes. Now there were six men left, a dwarf, Leosher, Virgil, Azar, Usere and Urey. He sent Virgil and the dwarf in a cave and the rest of them went alone.
After all walked in the beautiful, dark and wet caves, all lost contact. No one knew how the others were doing but then suddenly, there were screams around the whole channel of caves. Nobody knew which hole they were coming from but they were and they were morbid and agonizing screams. All of them ran forward as fast as they could to reach the end but Leosher’s hole was a little longer than the others. When Leosher was half way through, he saw green light at the end of the hole and it was coursing towards him. They were a pair of eyes coming towards him.
He stopped and thought for a moment but then the light faded away and there emerged a beautiful girl with long, luscious dark hair. She was wearing a white silken rob and had shining green eyes. Leosher knew that it was Amoveus but just to be sure, he looked at her body and just as he was looking, he noticed that the feet were crooked and twisted, so he shut his eyes and grabbed a tight hold of his spear.
She walked to him and tried to make him open his eyes. She wrapped her arms around him as if she was in love with him and kissed him on the lips to lure him into opening his eyes but Leosher remained confident. He thought about Meagon and the good times he had had with her to stay loyal to her and stay alive. They stayed like this for some moments, but then Leosher quickly put his spear in Amoveus’s side and pierced its torso. It did nothing but made it scream and angry, for Amoveus could only be killed in his serpent form.
She scratched Leosher’s cheek with her long nails and quickly backed away from him. Leosher, annoyed and bruised, punched Amoveus in its face. He did that quite a lot of times but since she was very beautiful, he could only do it so many times until he started to regret it.
Just as Leosher stopped, Amoveus bit him on the neck. Its venom coursed through his veins immediately and began affecting him but Leosher was still strong enough to think and fight greatly. When Amoveus was biting Leosher in his neck, Leosher availed the chance and stabbed it in its eyes with his fingers and made it blind.
Green blood began spurring out of its eyes and Amoveus ran away towards the end of the hole. Leosher, being proud of himself that he had just made his enemy blind, ran after the girl but he could not catch up to her, for the venom was making him dizzy and was affecting his movement and blurring his vision. He trembled and tripped and fell but he kept going towards the light because he knew his brother and his friends would be waiting for him. He chased Amoveus to the end and all the holes merged into one great hall. It was magnificently big and everything was so smooth. It was like a fairy or a master dwarf had built it but no, Amoveus did. There was a foul stench of dead bodies and venom and there was big pile of old rotten bones of numerous creatures in the corner, next to the crater in which the great serpent slept in. The air was thick and humid like the smoke from mount Dabbacan, the biggest volcanic mountain on Thraenus and the birthplace of the sword of chaos, and the ground had puddles of green, muggy water in them.
When he moved forward, he saw his men, standing in front of their holes, looking around to see what was going on. Everyone was there except two of his finest men, for they had been killed but Amoveus. Then he looked straight through the dim light and saw a giant, shadowy figure, coiled up with its head high. It was Amoveus, it was the biggest living creature Leosher had ever seen, though it was not the biggest in creation, but it was the biggest he had seen. It was like a living mountain. It had the strength of 20 mammoths and was bigger than a fully grown venom spitting dragon in the myths of Thraenus. Its flesh was thick and saved it from the blows of the enemy; its breath was acid and whoever was in its way was killed brutally; its eyes were its biggest weapon, for even if somebody caught one glance of its eyes, they would die that instance.
Leosher had already made Amoveus blind which made it easy for them to defeat him. His eyes were now nothing more than a big hole with green blood spurring out of them. And now in order to kill him, his scaly skin was to be cut open.
When Amoveus realized that now he was surrounded by the men, he began moving forward and hitting the men with its long tail. They were sent flying away and one died the instant Amoveus’s thorny tail smacked him. Now only 7 men were fighting a creature that had not been defeated, even by the Gelun armies.
Amoveus spit out its venom at Azar but luckily, he created a shield for himself. He put his staff on the ground and a white shield appeared around him. That was the moment Virgil saw as a window and executed his attacks. He threw one of his axes at the beast, piercing its side. Though he was able to do that, he only made Amoveus angry.
Leosher, now at the brink of his consciousness, made his final blow. He put all of his strength in his spear and shot it at the beast with all his godly might. The spear caught on fire and hit Amoveus at a lightning fast speed. The spear hit him on the side of his mouth and got stuck in the side of the cave, leaving Amoveus attached to the side of the cave with his mouth pressed against the wall and left him incapacitated and useless. Amoveus was now unable to move because the spear was still in his cheek and if he tried moving, he would only injure himself more.
With that, Leosher grabbed another spear from the ground and shot it with the same godly might and power. The spear caught on fire and hit Amoveus on the tail, locking him in a place again. Now Amoveus was totally useless because he had no hands and was not going to be able to transform into anything else. He couldn’t move any more.
With the last blow, Leosher fainted and fell hard on the ground. The venom had made its way to his heart and now he was knocked out.
Though Leosher was out, the fight was not over yet. He had trapped Amoveus in place and had made it easy for the rest to kill the beast. Azar, seeing this as an opportunity, made yellow magical rings around the snake and increased the intensity of the lock, and after that, it could not even move an inch.
Virgil quickly ran towards his fallen brother to tend to him, but the elf brothers stayed in battle and intended to kill the beast now. Usere looked at Urey and both smiled and nodded. Urey shot thick, strong arrows at the body of Amoveus, creating steps for his brother to climb up and Usere ran as fast as he could and jumped on the arrows and ran to the top of the snake’s head. He jumped off of the snake’s head and on the way down, shoved his sword up his throat and cleaved him down the middle while falling down.
He had just killed Amoveus, a beast that was said to be unbeatable. He had cleaved it down the middle and had destroyed a major threat with the help of his companions and his king.
He pulled his sword, Virgil’s axes and Leosher’s spears out of the corpse and went over to Azar “Is it over yet?”
“Yes” he replied “We have done it. We have defeated Amoveus, and now our path is clear.”
Urey ran and hugged his brother and then went to Virgil who was holding
Leosher in his arms “What happened to him?” he asked.
“There are bite marks on his neck. I believe Amoveus bit him.”
When Azar heard that, he came running towards them to check. There was a big bite on the right side of Leosher’s neck. Azar put his hand under his armor and on his chest and felt that his heart was not beating at all “We have to leave immediately because the venom has made its way to his heart.”
Virgil took off Leosher’s armor and his cloak to give him some breathing room. Then he put him on his shoulders and hurried towards the camp. The rest followed him outside the cave of Amoveus while carrying Leosher’s cloak, his spears and Virgil’s axes while Virgil hurried to Neiham, for she was a master potion maker and a healer.
“Oh my, what happened in there?” asked Neiham “How did this happen?”
Virgil put his brother on the ground and replied “We were apart. I do not know how this happened but what I do know is that he is bit by Amoveus and there is venom inside him. Please do something.”
Neiham checked his wound and looked at Virgil “You have to go now. Do not let anyone come inside because it is a very critical matter and even the slightest mistake can mean his death. I need to concentrate.”
Virgil did as Neiham had told him and went outside. He stood in front of the tent, guarding it, so his could brother rest and could live.
Neiham rubbed special oils on the wound and suddenly, the venom began flowing out of his body. These oils had to be rubbed in a specific amount and order and if one failed to do so, the body would’ve burnt.
The venom was oozy and green, because it was mixed with his blood now. It was all over the floor and was still pouring out. It was amazing how Amoveus had managed to infect Leosher with so much poison in such a little bite.
Neiham got up and looked for the lava flower potion in her pouch. She took it and gave some drops to the unconscious Leosher to heal the damage done by the venom of Amoveus. Neiham looked around on the Venom and thought to herself “This boy is truly something. No one has ever survived mere drops of the venom, but he has survived puddles. Though he is a god, he still had to die. But thank the gods he is alive.”
She cleaned her hands and after all the venom had been sucked out, she wrapped Leosher’s neck and shoulder with a clean rag. The wound had expanded since its origin and was big now and it spanned from the top of Leosher’s neck to his shoulder. It was disgusting to watch but now no one could see it anymore, for Neiham had covered it.
She went outside the tent and talked to Virgil who was still standing, waiting for good news “Your brother will be fine. He is lucky to have you as his brother.”
Virgil smiled and asked “How long will it take for him to get up?”
“It should take until midnight, for him to get up, and since he is out cold, you are in command of the army. Get some rest and manage them.”
Virgil went to the top of the cliff, where Usere and Urey were sitting and sat next to them.
“How is he now?” asked Urey “He was hurt pretty bad.”
“He is fine but it was his own fault. We all should have stuck together. If we had, we would not have lost two of our finest men.”
Usere joined in too and said in his heavy voice “When are we going to move forward?”
“We will,” said Virgil “As soon as my brother wakes up from his slumber.”
Then he looked at Azar who was sitting cross legged, floating over the water, meditating peacefully. He jumped off of the cliff into the water and swam over to Azar to talk to him “How are you doing that?” Azar did not reply so he asked again “How are you doing that?” He did not answer again. When the third time Virgil asked, Azar finally answered “It is a secret. Not many can do it.”
Virgil hesitated a little but he asked “Will you teach me?”
Azar smiled with his eyes closed “Only if you promise me that you will use your skills for good and good only.”
“Yes, I will.”
Azar finally opened his eyes and put his hand over the water. After a few seconds, the water began to ripple and his staff came out from deep within the blue water. He held it in his and hand then put it on Virgil’s head “By the power invested in me once, by my master, I make you my apprentice, for your heart is pure and open to do good.” Then he looked at Virgil “Now cross your legs and concentrate your energy. Make it lift you up.”
Virgil did as his master told him and crossed his legs in the water. He almost drowned at first because it was very hard for one to stay afloat in the water cross legged but then he slowly rose out of the water and began floating in the air, just like his master was. He closed his eyes and sat quietly but then Azar said to him “Do you know why we are meditating and floating?”
“No master, why?”
“Magic is made purely of energy vested in us by the gods. To release that energy, you need magic. And to do magic, you need to control your inner energy. Via floating, you are learning to control your energy.”
Virgil was surprised “Then why do you use a staff?”
Azar took his pipe out of his pocket and lit it with a snap of his fingers and put it in his mouth and began smoking “The staff is like a door, a passage. It makes a clearer gateway for the energy to come out as magic. It is possible not to use any medium but it is extremely hard. Now be quiet and meditate. Learn to control your energy”
They both floated in the air for a long period of time and not even a single word came out of their mouths. The only thing they did was practice controlling their energy. They were so peaceful that butterflies flew around them and sparrows sat on their shoulders and heads. The only thing moving was the water under them. It rippled slightly.
After hours and hours of meditation, Azar finally stopped meditating and said to Virgil “Do you want to know where the wizards and witches come from?”
“Yes,” replied Virgil “I have always been fascinated by wizards and witches.”
Azar slowly began to float away, towards the shore and Virgil followed him. When they got to the shore, they put their feet on the ground and started walking to the camps. It was night time now and Leosher was going to wake up any hour now.
“Listen carefully,” said Azar, and started telling the story “Wizards, Witches and Sorcerers are an extremely scarce kind.The art of magic was a gift from Asurot and Dadurot. They put energy in the creatures and gave them “THE BOOK OFENCHANTS AND SPELLS.” This book had spells which are intended to be different forms that energy can come out as.
Many took a keen interest in magic at first but all left except a few, because this art took a lifetime to be perfected. It also took a clean spirit and clean heart to perfect which no one had but a few and when they perfected the art of Magic, they became Wizoruns, warrior wizards and witches that reside in the mystical caves of Mount Dabbacan, as outcasts, for they are scared that their hearts might become polluted with the temptations and evil of the world.
After they saw that not many wanted to be wizards and witches anymore, they created several safer copies with much less spells and enchants in it and gave them to people who wanted to learn. They took the original book into their caves and continued practicing.
They also helped Shamaun forge the sword of chaos but he betrayed them and stole their original book to make him stronger. According to the legends, it was last seen in Ratarus, with Shamaun but the guardians took his memory of the book away and now, it is lost.”
Virgil was quite shocked to learn about the complicated story of wizards and witches but he also felt special because now he was to be a part of the story. When they were finished talking, Azar broke a piece from his staff and gave it to Virgil
“Here, this will be your temporary wand. You can use it until you find an actual wand, but be careful, for even this strand contains enough strength to channel a great amount of energy.”
Virgil nodded and just as he received the wand, he saw his brother walking out of the tent. He quickly ran towards him to ask about h
is health.
“Brother, how do you feel now?”
“I am fine Virgil but we have to get to the hidden valley fast. I feel like Geluna knows we are coming.”
Leosher looked around and saw that all of his men were sleeping “Wake them up, we are leaving right now.”
“But brother, it is night time and you know our men are tired.”
Leosher looked at his brother angrily “I am the king. I know what is best for my kingdom. Now do as I say.”
Virgil now knew that the power was getting to his head so he said nothing and followed his king’s orders, for he knew that if he resisted, Leosher might do something drastic. Virgil went around and woke up the soldiers. They were a little upset but they got up and got ready. They were ready to move forward, in about an hour and after the men were ready, Leosher went to a big rock and addressed them
“Trust me, I do not like it either, but we have to move. We will get to the big sea’s shore in a couple of days and then we will get to the hidden valley. Once we get the weapons to destroy the rulers, we will take over Thraenus, and rule together!”
After this address, the morale of the soldiers rose and they started cheering for their king. Leosher called Usere up and said to him “You will be the second general of this army. You and my brother, Virgil will be the generals.”
“Why?” asked Usere, shockingly “I have done nothing to achieve this.”
“You did. You defeated Amoveus and I am proud to call you my friend. Now bring me my cloak and armor and spears. We shall move.”
Usere did as his king told him and brought him the things he asked for, and after Leosher was ready too, Virgil and Usere began leading the army towards the Big Sea by following the stream that ran by.
CHAPTER 6
The journey to the Big Sea was of a day and a half. It was relatively easier to travel because there were less treacherous paths than before. They had no troubles going, for the mountainous terrain was over and the grasslands had begun. They even took some animals such as horses, rhinos, elephants and tigers from the grasslands to aid them on the quest. They walked and rode all the way to the shores but when they arrived there, they were disappointed because there was no hidden valley. Not even Leosher could see it. He swam as far as he could, into the sea but still, there was no sign of the valley. Annoyed by this scam, Leosher went to talk to Azar “What is the meaning of this?” He said, angrily “We have wasted our time, put our lives in danger, for—for this?!”