The Arcane Staff Trilogy Box Set

by Hans Bezdek

  Sloane wasn’t sure Anthony and her shared the same definition of ‘fun’.

  “Best hurry,” added the shade. “Time is ticking.”

  Sloane gritted her teeth and turned to leave.

  “Come on, Delvin. Let’s get out of here.”

  “One second,” he grunted off to the side.

  Sloane glanced over, realizing he had been quiet ever since Anthony mentioned the second trial. The gnome had drawn a strange circle on the ground before him and was hunched over with his fingers tight together. Beads of sweat were pouring down his face like he had just run a marathon.

  “What’s he doing?” asked Anthony.

  “I’m not sure,” said Sloane slowly.

  “Ru’Zak!” shouted Delvin, causing both Anthony and Sloane to take a step back in surprise.

  The air above the circle sparked several times, then was suddenly filled with a creature towering nearly thirty feet into the air. Blue scales covered the creature, except for a few sections that formed deep, red scars. Two wings spread out behind the dragon, one of them severely wounded.

  “I… I did it,” mumbled Delvin, panting heavily but looking satisfied.

  “Ru’Zak… he’s still alive?” asked Anthony, eyes wide. “And you summoned him here?!”

  “No,” said Sloane, shaking her head. “He was finally killed nearly a hundred years ago.”

  “So the little one is a necromancer, then?” asked Anthony. “Impressive…”

  “Illusionist, actually,” said Delvin, trying to stand up straight as the fake Ru’Zak flew over to the shade.

  “Less impressive,” sighed Anthony.

  “I get that a lot,” nodded Delvin. “Still, it’s worked out in this situation. I present to you a dragon head… it’s just attached to the rest of the dragon.”

  “This isn’t exactly what I had in mind for this trial,” said the shade as he looked the dragon up and down.

  “You said you would accept any dragon head!” pointed out Delvin. “You had your chance to limit it to one from an actual dragon and not an illusionary one!”

  Sloane couldn’t help but smile. The gnome was making a fair argument, especially since there was no other way they would accomplish this trial within the time limit.

  Anthony was quiet as he looked the illusion over.

  “You’ve got me!” exclaimed Anthony before bursting into laughter. He held his side as he howled, occasionally clapping.

  Delvin and Sloane shared a look.

  “So… we pass?” asked Sloane.

  “Yes, most definitely!” laughed Anthony. “You’ve passed with flying colors!”

  “Yay!” cheered Delvin, hopping up and down.

  “Good thinking with that illusion,” smiled Sloane. If it weren’t for the gnome, they’d have been killed without a doubt. “You should’ve told me that was your plan.”

  “I’ve never done that one before,” admitted the gnome. “I wasn’t so sure it’d work.”

  “Is it okay if you get rid of him now?” asked Anthony. “I’ve never been a big fan of Ru’Zak, truth be told.”

  “Sure,” nodded Delvin, clapping his hands. The giant blue dragon disappeared with a puff.

  “Now for the final one,” said Sloane, turning back towards the shade. She took a deep breath, unsure of how to be prepared. This was going to be the toughest trial yet.

  “One to go!” nodded Delvin.

  “Yes… one trial left…” said Anthony, looking around anxiously.

  Sloane and Delvin stared at the shade.

  A minute passed. Then another.

  “Do you know what the third trial is?” asked Sloane.

  “O-Of course!” stuttered Anthony, looking away.

  “I don’t think he knows,” whispered Delvin. “No one’s passed the second one before, right?”

  “W-What are you two whispering about?” asked the shade.

  “Nothing,” they both replied.

  Anthony eyed them suspiciously, then snapped his fingers. “Ah, I remember now! The final trial is a riddle!”

  Sloane crossed her arms. She wasn’t the best at riddles. “How many guesses do we get?”

  “Just the one,” said Anthony, holding up one finger.

  “That’s okay,” said Delvin. “What’s the riddle?”

  The shade held his arms up dramatically. “What has no cost but is worth everything, has no weight but lasts a lifetime, can’t be owned by one but two or more can share?”

  Sloane groaned and ran her hand over her face. “What could that possibly mean?”

  “Our answer is ‘friendship,” said Delvin confidently.

  “W-What are you doing?!” asked Sloane in a panic.

  “He telegraphed that would be the answer before the test ever began,” shrugged the gnome.

  “What if you’re wrong?! We should’ve talked about-”

  The green lights appeared around them again. Sloane closed her eyes, expecting to explode. When that didn’t happen after a few seconds, she opened them again and looked around. The green lights were now circling closer and closer together above them. They suddenly came together, and a blinding flash occurred.

  When it faded, an emerald key floated down towards them.

  “You did it!” squealed Anthony, flying in circles around them. “You actually did it!”

  Neither Sloane or Delvin could speak as the key floated between them. They could hardly believe this was happening.

  “Come on, come on,” encouraged the shade. “Don’t you want to see your new citadel? I can show the two of you around!”

  Sloane grabbed the key and smiled at Delvin, tears welling up in her eyes. She had done it. She had reached the Lost Citadel, and now it was hers and Delvin’s.

  She jogged up to the door, placing the key inside and turning it.

  The doors slowly pushed forward, revealing a giant anteroom. There were gold inlays all around, along with portraits of the previous tenants. There looked to be other things of note further back, but something in the middle of the room caught their attention. They both instantly knew what it was… but the odds seemed impossible.

  “Is… is that what I think it is?” asked Delvin, his mouth suddenly dry.

  “I’m sorry?” asked Anthony, looking around. “Is ‘what’ what you think it is?”

  “T-The staff…” said Sloane, pointing ahead with a shaking finger.

  In the middle of the room, surrounded by a small patch of grass, stood a staff. Small twigs branched off of it, and the top of it had a strange symbol in the middle.

  “Oh, right right right,” nodded Anthony, smacking his head. “I completely forgot about that. Since it was the most impressive thing in here, I moved it up to the front. It’s pretty amazing, if you ask me.”

  “Definitely,” mumbled Sloane, her eyes wide.

  “It’s an Arcane Staff,” said Anthony, looking back and forth between the two stunned faces. “Have you heard of those?”

  Chapter 18

  Don’s body slid down as the demon pulled its claw out, turning to examine its new prey.

  Zeke continued to hold Bethany back as she cried hysterically, trying desperately to break free and run to her husband. If he let her go she’d lose her head in an instant. While it was tempting since she was the reason this and everything to follow happened, he wasn’t going to be the one to hand out such a punishment.

  Zeke was going to have to let Kriket take this demon on by himself.

  The lizardman hissed up at the demon, prompting it to roar back at him. Zeke realized he had never seen Kriket fight before. The lizard held two blades shaped almost like half moons, but with jagged cuts along the outside. The elf had never seen a thing like it, but imagined they’d get the job done. Kriket held both out to his side and in front of him, his body crouched low to the ground.

  “You got this?” asked Zeke, embarrassed by how hard he had to struggle to keep Bethany from breaking free.

  Kriket grunted. Zeke took tha
t as a yes.

  The demon charged at the lizardman, roaring and swing out at him with its left claw. Kriket ducked underneath, then with surprising speed jump up to the demon’s neck and slashed out with both blades. Zeke couldn’t believe how fast the mildly overweight lizardman could move, let alone jump!

  Unfortunately, the demon was fast as well. It moved its neck back as the blades connected. Kriket drew blood, but hadn’t gotten as deep a cut as he wanted. As the lizardman fell, the demon struck out at him with both claws. The right one connected with him, and the demon followed through in an attempt to send Kriket flying.

  “Kriket!” shouted Zeke, concerned for his friend.

  The demon roared in pain and took a step back, frantically flicking its hand. As the demon turned, Zeke saw he had nothing to worry about. The lizardman had chomped down on the demon’s hand as it hit him, and wasn’t letting go.

  Zeke guessed that demon hand wasn’t particularly appetizing, but made a mental note to ask Kriket how it tasted later.

  The lizardman let his bite go as the demon flicked his hand up, launching Kriket into the air. The lizard spun as he went, stretching out his arms and blades again. He landed with his arm around the demon’s neck. Repositioning himself, the lizardman pointed both blades into the middle of the demon’s throat and pulled back.

  The abomination’s roared turned into a disgusting gurgle as it batted its hands towards Kriket in vain. When he finished with the cut, the lizardman jumped off the demon, kicking it in the back of the head as he left.

  The demon stumbled forward and collapsed as Kriket landed on his feet.

  “That was amazing!” said Zeke, stunned that Kriket had proven to be such a deadly fighter.

  Bethany shrugged the surprised elf off of her and ran for Don.

  “All of the lizardmen in my clan were trained in fighting. I’ll admit it’s been a few years,” wheezed the lizard, patting his stomach, “but I can still handle myself okay.”

  “T-This wasn’t s-supposed to happen,” cried Bethany, cradling Don into her arms. “W-We were s-supposed to be s-safe!”

  Zeke raised his eyebrows at Kriket, his silent way of asking what the lizardman wanted to do.

  “Leave her here,” huffed Kriket. “She’s made this mess, she can find her way out of it. We’ve got more pressing matters to attend to.”

  It was then that all the noise Zeke had subconsciously been blocking out came flooding back in. Screams and the sound of metal against metal were all around them. It sounded like they weren’t the only ones who had a demon jump them.

  “Come on!” shouted Kriket, waving for Zeke to follow as he ran back towards the heart of camp.

  The two of them rushed through the trees, noting that the cries of battle weren’t just coming from ahead of them. They could see fires springing up to their east and west, occasionally spotting the shadows of demons and men running through the night.

  They arrived at the camp and found it in complete disarray. One of the twins lay bleeding and motionless on the floor, the other one fighting through tears against two of Kutarm’s men. Roderick was swinging a large mace at an injured demon, landing a devastating blow against the side of the creature’s face.

  Zeke slowed to join them, but Kriket pulled on the front of his shirt and kept moving.

  “What are you doing?!” demanded Zeke. “We’ve got to help them!”

  “If we can’t get help from Burston, then this’ll all be for not!” cried Kriket. “We’ve got to get you there and rally the troops!”

  “But why? We can fight here first!”

  “No time,” said Kriket, shaking his head. “You saw the fires and heard the cries from the other camps. Bethany must’ve told them everything. If we don’t turn the battle fast and get the Burston survivors to help, then we’ll be wiped out. Lord Kutarm will win the city if we fall out here. You’ve heard how low Burston is on supplies!”

  “But-”

  “Stop arguing!” hissed the lizard. “The city needs you, Zeke!”

  Zeke’s ears perked up at hearing his name being used, and not The Elf Thief. He took one final look around the camp, then continued after Kriket without another complaint.

  The two kept their heads low as they ran, trying not to attract the attention of any of Kutarm’s men or the demons. The continued through the trees without getting confronted, breaking free into a clearing before reaching Burston.

  The clearing was filled with hundreds of Resistance fighters with their back to the city, desperately engaged in battle with more demons than Zeke had ever seen congregated in one place. There must’ve been nearly one for every Resistance fighter, and Zeke was confident most of the Resistance didn’t have the skillset Kriket or Sloane had. This wouldn’t end well unless they got some reinforcements.

  The walled city was surrounded by a deep and wide moat. Zeke should’ve assumed there was some reason Kutarm’s men hadn’t been able to overrun Burston by now. While that moat had protected Burston from the invaders, it would mean the death of many of the Resistance fighters outside.

  “Let’s push through to get you closer to the city,” said Kriket, running ahead with his blades at the ready. Zeke went to pull out Lucky, but thought against it when he saw how close all the Resistance fighters were to one another. Best not to accidentally stab one of his allies.

  He didn’t have to worry about helping Kriket, who quickly dove at the back of a demon. His twin blades spun as he chopped away at the creature, quite literally carving a path for them to get through.

  Zeke followed after, and the two began shouldering their way towards the city.

  “They won’t be able to hear us,” explained Kriket. “You’ll have to take the Arcane Staff out when we’re sure we have the guard’s attention, and then hope that they see it as a sign that we can win this battle.”

  “Got it,” nodded Zeke, scooting around a scared looking gnome.

  “The bridge is lowering!” called out a man closer to the moat.

  Zeke looked up to see the bridge for the main road lowering down. Cheers burst forth all around. It looked like Zeke wasn’t needed to convince the city to help. That was okay with him, although he always enjoyed getting a bit of credit.

  Something caught Zeke’s attention. A lack of fighting.

  Looking towards the front, he saw that no one was fighting. All of the Resistance were faced towards the lowering bridge, while the demons were no longer trying to rip them apart. Instead, the demons had disengaged with the Resistance. The ungodly creatures were now galloping towards the gate on all fours.

  This whole thing had all been a trick. They weren’t here to get rid of the Resistance, but to force Burston to come out and help. When they did that, they’d be able to outrun everyone and enter the city. The demons were only fighting out here in order to get into Burston!

  “Raise the bridge!” cried Zeke, trying desperately to move back towards the city. “Raise the bridge!”

  “What’s wrong?” asked Kriket, following closely behind him.

  “The demons are going to overrun the city!” cried Zeke, pointing back towards the middle.

  Kriket glanced back, finally realizing what Zeke was talking about.

  “Oh no… Burston is doomed…” he mumbled.

  “Not if they raise the bridge back up!”

  “They won’t hear you down here, don’t you understand?” said Kriket, pulling Zeke back. “They just want the city. Once they are inside, they’ll be able to wreak havoc on the citizens before we can possibly hope to get there in time. There’s nothing we can do.”

  Zeke’s shoulders dropped as we watched the horde of demons push through the Resistance fighters closest to the road. Some of them tried to fight with a few of the demons, but most just ran once they realized the demons weren’t interested in them.

  Zeke couldn’t do anything. Lord Kutarm was finally going to get Burston. He was finally going to get what he wanted.

  What Lord Kutarm wanted…r />
  Zeke gritted his teeth. Actually, there was maybe something he could do. He really didn’t want to, but he couldn’t think of anything else.

  “I… I’ve got an idea,” mumbled Zeke, pushing through the Resistance and towards the main road.

  “W-Where are you going?” asked Kriket, trying to chase after him.

  “The demons are trying to get into Burston because that’s what Kutarm wants them to,” explained Zeke.

  “Yeah, I thought we already figured that out?”

  “What we have to do to keep them away is give them something that Kutarm wants even more than the city.”

  “Wait, I’m not following,” said Kriket, shaking his head. “What would he want even more than the city? That’s his thing, taking over places.”

  “He does seem to like to do that, but there’s something he likes even more,” said Zeke, pulling the Fourth Staff off his back.

  “Oh right,” sighed Kriket. “That.”

  Chapter 19

  “This is crazy,” whispered Sloane, taking a few steps closer to the Arcane Staff. She knew that the Lost Citadel held untold treasures, but she never thought that included one of the Arcane Staves.

  “This must be one of the lost Staves,” mumbled Delvin, admiring it from afar. “Makes sense one would be in the Lost Citadel, I suppose.”

  “I wish I had two to give you, but unfortunately we just have the one here,” said Anthony.

  “That’s perfectly fine,” said the gnome. “Sloane should be the one to take it.”

  “I appreciate it, but I don’t think that’d be fair,” said Sloane, shaking her head. “We have a fifty-fifty split, remember?”

  “I don’t think cutting an Arcane Staff in half is a wise idea…” muttered Anthony.

  “It wouldn’t be,” laughed Delvin. “This can be part of your fifty percent, Sloane. The Staff is way too large for me, it’d draw attention to us anywhere we went. Besides, I’m more interested in the knowledge this place holds.”

  Sloane looked the Arcane Staff up and down. “Well… if you’re sure…”