The Arcane Staff Trilogy Box Set

by Hans Bezdek

  “W-Wait,” he heard Delvin whimper.

  “Go with her!” he shouted, knowing the gnome was trying to figure out who to follow. While he’d have liked the companionship, Delvin would’ve just reminded him of Sloane. He didn’t need that while he was off fighting Kutarm. “You’re life debt is with her, not me!”

  He heard the gnome say something, but he wasn’t paying attention anymore. He needed to find Kriket before the lizardman left.

  He was all in with the Linsuk Resistance now. The Lost Citadel could stay lost for all he cared.

  Chapter 11

  Zeke was on his way to the third southern gate now. He couldn’t find Kriket at the first two he checked, although it was possible he overlooked him if the lizardman was trying to keep a low profile. Zeke was still fuming from his split with the others and he hadn’t thought to check more carefully. If Kriket had been waiting there for him and Zeke missed his opportunity, it would’ve been Sloane’s fault.

  The elf shook his head, trying to free himself from thoughts of her. He couldn’t believe they would travel this far together, just to split up. Sure, it wasn’t right for him to have kept the whole Elf Thief thing going for so long, but it wasn’t like he had lied about everything else!

  Zeke arrived at the third gate and glanced around. There were a couple wagons waiting outside of the gate, with one passing into the city. The one coming in was surrounded by men and women wearing the black and blue of Kutarm. They looked tired, a few of them injured.

  “Looks like you all could use a good night’s sleep,” commented one of the city guards, who Zeke could’ve sworn wasn’t more than a teenager. The elf wouldn’t have been surprised to hear this was the kid’s first day on the job.

  Several of the newcomers glared at the guard.

  “You can make snide comments when you actually make something of yourself,” said one of the women.

  The guard’s face dropped in horror. “I-I was just messing around. I-I didn’t m-mean anything by it-”

  “We’re tired because we’ve been doing Kutarm’s work down in Burston,” grunted one of the men. “We’ve got to be the ones to do it since punks like you couldn’t last a half day on a battlefield.”

  The guard sputtered off apologies, but the wagon and the people kept moving into the town.

  One of the men behind the wagon was walking slower than the others and seemed pretty out of it. Zeke figured he could get some information out of the guy without looking too suspicious.

  “How goes the battle against the dastardly people of Burston?” asked Zeke, spitting some when he said the name.

  “It’s at a standstill,” grunted the man, not bothering to look at the elf. “No progress is being made.”

  “Sorry to hear that,” lied Zeke. “Surely Kutarm-er, Lord Kutarm, is sending more men down to help, isn’t he?”

  “Not what I heard,” sighed the man. “Word around camp is that big boss has shifted his attention elsewhere.”

  Zeke fought back a smile. Perfect. It sounded like things were going his way. He knew helping the people in Burston was the right idea. After this, he’d continue his way north, then find Sloane and Delvin. They’d probably still be looking for the Lost Citadel.

  “Any idea where he’s focusing next?” asked Zeke, deciding this would be his last question. No reason to push his luck.

  “Dunno,” shrugged the man, continuing by Zeke. “Something about one of the Arcane Staves, or somethin.”

  Zeke winced. Maybe this wasn’t as perfect as the elf thought. Did he know that Zeke had the Fourth Staff, or was he interested in one of the other ones?

  That was something to worry about another time. He still had to find Kriket before the lizardman had moved on. Hurrying back to the gate, he saw that one of the wagons outside of the city had left, leaving just one behind.

  “Ugh,” groaned Zeke, running a hand over his face. Had he missed his ride thanks to questioning that man?

  A man approached him from his side. He had gray hair, his face showing the signs of human aging. The human was dressed in simple garb, as well as a traveling cloak.

  “Ah, there you are, Esmond!” exclaimed the man, smiling and wrapping an arm around Zeke.

  “Uh,” said Zeke, trying to shrug the man off. “I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else.”

  “Oh, Esmond! Always the jokester!” laughed the man, pushing Zeke towards the wagon. “You never change, do you?”

  Zeke pulled Lucky out, holding it in front of him but not in a particularly threatening way. He had just parted from his friends on not great terms and then learned that Kutarm could be looking for him. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with this crazy, senile man.

  “Put that away,” whispered the man, glancing over his shoulder. “I’m with Kriket and the Resistance.”

  “Why didn’t you just say that?” asked Zeke, relieved as he put the dagger back.

  “The guards might not be the smartest in the world, but no reason to make their jobs any easier, is there?” he whispered back. “A human greeting an old elf friend isn’t that out of the ordinary, but a lizardman doing it? That’d catch a few eyes.”

  Zeke hadn’t considered that. He wasn’t used to this kind of secrecy, but was glad others knew better. The elf followed the man to the wagon, which had several people around it. A hooded figure sat at the front with the reigns to the two horses in his hands.

  “I believe we’re ready to leave now,” said the old man, looking back one more time at the city gates. “We’re all here, and it doesn’t look like we’re being watched.”

  The horses started forward, dragging the wagon behind as everyone else walked beside it for a few moments. Zeke noticed there was room for everyone on the wagon and wasn’t sure why they weren’t riding it.

  “Are we walking the whole way?” asked Zeke.

  “Nope,” came a familiar voice. The driver put his hood down, revealing a reptilian head. “We’re waiting until we’re far enough away from Newbridge to not be seen. If it looks like we’re not riding, then anyone trying to guess how far we can travel in a day will be wrong.”

  “You guys are really paranoid, huh?” asked Zeke.

  “Gotta be,” shrugged Kriket. “We’re heading down to help out an enemy of Kutarm. If the guards had even a whiff of this, they’d do whatever they could to stop and kill us before we got there.”

  “Good point,” mumbled Zeke, glancing back himself now.

  “Where’s your little halfling friend?” asked Kriket.

  “Gnome. And… he’s not coming with us,” said Zeke, turning back to the road. “We figured it would be too dangerous for him, and it’d be better if he went off with another travel companion of ours. I’ll be meeting up with them later on.”

  “If I’m being honest, I wasn’t very confident in the gnome’s fighting prowess,” wheezed the lizardman. “Anyway, everyone, this is The Elf Thief-”

  “Zeke.”

  “Uh, right,” nodded Kriket. “This is Zeke. Zeke, this is everyone.”

  “So it’s true?” asked the old man. Two other people on Zeke’s side of the wagon were looking at the elf with wide eyes. “You’re really The Elf Thief, and you have an Arcane Staff?”

  “It’s right here,” said Zeke, taking the Fourth Staff off his back as he avoided answering the first part of his question. “Got it back in Nurem, then used it to help the people of Tunil.”

  “Amazing!” gasped the old man as Zeke took the cover off the top.

  “What’re your names?” asked Zeke.

  “Of course, where are my manners!” said the old man. “I’m Roderick. The woman here is Bethany, and that’s her husband, Don.”

  Bethany and Don looked to be middleaged, and were also dressed plainly. Both had swords by their sides, with Don having a shield on his back. Neither of them looked like they had ever swung a sword before.

  “Nice to meet you all,” smiled Zeke, hiding his concerns.

  The group traveled for
a short while longer before everyone stepped onto the wagon. Zeke met the other three Resistance fighters, none of which looked like they had been in a fight in their lives.

  The elf’s name was Londar, and he had lived in Newbridge for over a century. He liked it well enough to consider it home, and was distraught when Kutarm took it over so easily. When he mentioned he was a wizard, Zeke was excited. When he further explained his specialty was transmutation of minerals, Zeke was less so.

  The two others were human twins, and they hardly looked any older than the teenage guard back in Newbridge. They had never been outside of Newbridge before, and they were excited to be missing school. It quickly came out that their father was a tailor, and neither of them had held a weapon before Kriket handed them a pair of blades the night before.

  Zeke was nervous about what would happen when they got to Burston at first, but then remembered that it wasn’t like the citizens of Nurem and Tunil were all ex-soldiers. They’d probably be fine. Besides, once he broke the Arcane Staff out, Kutarm’s forces wouldn’t stand a chance. Then when the uprising was won, he’d go rub it in Sloane’s face. She’d see that he had to be a hero, it wasn’t his fault no one else held the power he had.

  The ride towards Burston was easy going. Thanks to the horse drawn wagon, they’d be able to make it to their destination by the next day. The trip down involved a lot of questions concerning The Elf Thief’s exploits. Zeke rattled off a few of the thefts he knew of, plus a handful of made up ones. It was starting to get hard to keep track of all of them.

  As the sun began to fall, the horses came to a sudden halt.

  “Why are we stopping?” asked Roderick. “Surely we can go a bit further before setting up camp for the night.”

  “It’s these darn horses! These beasts won’t move forward!” hissed Kriket, trying to no avail to get the horses to keep moving. The two weren’t budging.

  A horrible aroma suddenly struck Zeke that he hadn’t noticed before.

  “What’s that smell?” mumbled Zeke. It was familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it. Whatever it was, it was gross.

  “It’s horrible!” exclaimed Bethany, covering her face with her hands. “It smells like death!”

  Smells like death… oh no.

  “I think I know what this is,” sighed Zeke, scanning the horizon for any sign of them. The smell of the creatures must’ve been picked up by the horses, and they knew better than to get any closer.

  “You do?” asked Kriket, also covering his nose. “What is it?”

  Up and to the left of the road was a small clearing. There was some movement there, slow and unorderly.

  “There,” said Zeke, pointing at the motion. “That’s where the source of the smell is coming from. Those are undead.”

  Chapter 12

  Sloane and Delvin managed to buy two horses back in Newbridge. Sloane wasn’t particularly thrilled with the deal - it was 1,000 gold a horse - but she didn’t want to spend anymore time in the city than she had to. They had a serious lead on the Lost Citadel now, and she wanted to go out and find it as soon as possible. That, plus she didn’t want to deal with the liar Zeke anymore.

  Delvin had initially tried to get her to calm down and go back for the elf. She made it clear that he could follow Zeke if he wanted to, but she was done. The elf had lied to her almost from the beginning, and there was no telling what other tales he had been feeding her. The only thing she knew for sure was that he was going out to do whatever it took to spread his name, and it would likely be his downfall. She didn’t want to be involved with that at all.

  The two road north for the Juentes Canyons for the rest of the day. Delvin voiced his concerns a few more times early on, but eventually let them go. Outside of stopping for the occasional break or to check their maps, the two hurried as fast as they could to the north without exhausting the horses. When night finally fell, they pulled up and set up camp on the side of the road. While there were some smaller towns in the general area, they had gone far enough north to avoid any travelers or bandits for the night.

  The next morning they woke with the sun, eating a quick breakfast and continuing on their way.

  “We’ll make it to the Juentes Canyons shortly,” said Sloane after another hour of travel.

  The gnome made a noise to acknowledge he heard her.

  Sloane glanced over at him. He looked horribly uncomfortable on his horse. In her haste to get out of the city, she hadn’t thought to get a smaller animal for Delvin. She forgot that the shorter races didn’t enjoy traveling on horseback, especially not long distances. The gnome hadn’t mentioned it, but she could tell it was bothering him. At least, that was one of the things bothering him.

  “Are you going to be moody today?” she asked.

  “Depends,” he shrugged. “Are you?”

  “I’ve got nothing to be moody about,” she replied, glancing up ahead. The vegetation was becoming sparse, the ground and climate growing drier. Yellow mountains and cliffs were ahead of them, marking the Juentes Canyons. “I know where the Lost Citadel is, and we’re nearly there. What more could I ask for?”

  “Zeke to be here,” mumbled Delvin.

  “Why would I want him with us?” asked Sloane. “He made it perfectly clear that he didn’t want to come with, and that he thought I was nothing more than a money hungry mercenary.”

  “You both said things you didn’t mean,” sighed Delvin. “I didn’t expect such a blow up.”

  Sloane was quiet for a moment as they rode. “How long did you know?”

  “Know what?”

  “That he wasn’t The Elf Thief.”

  “He confided in me right before he got the Fourth Staff,” explained the gnome. “I told him that you deserved to know the truth, and he said he would eventually tell you.”

  “He just needed more of your prodding,” said Sloane, shaking her head. “He wouldn’t have told me in Newbridge if you hadn’t encouraged him to.”

  “So you’re saying I shouldn’t have said anything?”

  “Not at all. I’m glad you did. I just wish I’d have known earlier.”

  “I-I would’ve said something,” said Delvin, his tone turning to worried, “but I-I thought Zeke should’ve been the one-”

  “No, you were right not to bring it up,” smiled Sloane, putting a hand up to calm the gnome down. “It’s not your fault he lied. I’m not upset with you.”

  “Good,” sighed Delvin.

  The two rode on for a few more hours, the terrain becoming more open. Gone were trees, grass, and shrubs. In their place stood large boulders, sand, and cracked earth. While Sloane had never ventured to this area, she could tell they had made it. They had finally made it to the Juentes Canyons.

  The two pulled to a stop, Delvin tending to the horses as Sloane opened up a map she acquired from Tariq. The halfling had marked off sections of the Juentes Canyons that had already been explored, or were known to be inhabited by other groups. The Lost Citadel wouldn’t be in one of these spots, or someone would’ve found it by now.

  “That a map of the territory?” asked Delvin, wiping his hands and approaching her.

  “It is,” she nodded, handing it over. “The red marked areas are where we can be sure the Lost Citadel isn’t.”

  Delvin quickly looked over the map. “There’s… there’s hardly any red marks.”

  “Correct,” she mumbled, looking away.

  “But this place is huge!” shouted Delvin. “It could take forever to search around all of the Juentes Canyons!”

  “But at least we know it’s here,” she reasoned.

  “You trust your contact that much?” asked Delvin, raising an eyebrow. “What was it, by the way?”

  “Someone named Tariq. He-”

  “Tariq… why does that name sound familiar…” mumbled Delvin, tapping a finger on his chin.

  “He’s a criminal overlord in Newbridge, and some of the surrounding area,” shrugged Sloane.

  “Hmm, probably n
ot the one I’m thinking of. The only Tariq I’ve ever heard of was a halfling.”

  “Oh, you’ve heard of him?” asked Sloane, relieved. “Good. Now you see why it wasn’t safe for you and Zeke to come with me. He-”

  “Woah, woah, slow down,” said Delvin. “The Tariq? The halfling Tariq? That’s who gave you this map and information?”

  “Right,” smiled Sloane. The gnome must have been impressed with how she managed to win her way into a meeting with the halfling.

  “Ugh, why didn’t you say that before we left!?” groaned Delvin. He threw the map on the ground, grabbed his head, and stomping around in a circle.

  Maybe impressed wasn’t the right word…

  “Is something the matter?” asked Sloane.

  “Tariq was one of the biggest con artists back in my hometown. Gnomes don’t like halflings, and a big reason for that was Tariq! He was exiled from the area a few decades ago, and that was the last anyone heard of him.”

  “Con artist?” asked Sloane, stooping down and picking up the map.

  “He would pull tricks on people for money all the time,” explained Delvin. “He was really good at it, but eventually got caught. Some of his crimes were getting dark towards the end of his time among the gnomes, to boot.”

  “I guess he continued on that path,” muttered Sloane. She looked over the map again, trying to decide what to do next.

  “There’s a good chance he sold you that fake map,” said Delvin.

  Sloane thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. “I don’t think so. He only gets something from me if I find the Lost Citadel, so there’s no sense in lying to me.”

  “What did he…”

  “What did he want from me?” asked Sloane, glancing up to see Delvin squinting at the sky.

  “D-Do you see that?” asked the gnome, pointing up.

  Sloane looked around at the sky. There wasn’t much to look at, besides a bird off in the distance. It looked to be coming towards them, but it wasn’t like there hadn’t been birds around them earlier.