Eye of the Wizard: A Fantasy Adventure

by Daniel Arenson

  This time, Jamie kicked her brother. "What does it matter what she looks like?" she demanded. "If she's ugly, you won't save her?"

  Scruff sulked. "I need to recognize her if I'm to rescue her."

  "The girl who's in the roog cave, tied up, will be her," Jamie said. "I think even you'll manage to pinpoint her."

  Yona scratched his beard and launched into a tale, explaining how he was once a wealthy merchant, but fell into trouble with racketeering roogs. The roogs kidnapped his daughter a week ago, and he paid them a high ransom, but they never returned the girl. "There are only three roogs," he assured them, handing them a map leading to their cave. "I'm sure you can kill them easily."

  Throughout the speech, Romy kept shaking her head. This is wrong, she thought. She knew roogs; they traveled in clans of dozens, seeking safety in numbers. Three would never operate alone. This merchant was lying. Romy growled at him, but Jamie kicked her again. She opened her mouth and tried to voice her concerns, but Jamie gave her a glower so withering, that Romy closed her mouth and fumed.

  "But— but—" she tried to say when Scruff shook Yona's hand, accepting the offer. Neev put a finger to her lips, shutting her up.

  "What are you doing, Romy?" Neev hissed into her ear, his hand on her shoulder. "We can't keep scaring poodles for turnips. This is big money. We need this gig."

  Romy let her head drop. "I guess so," she said miserably. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe she was just hung over and sensing evil everywhere. She glanced back at Yona. The bearded merchant smiled at her, but she sensed no warmth in his eyes.

  There were five Bullies, and Yona had given them five golds. Scruff handed them around, a coin each. Romy held hers in her palm, watching it gleam. She put it into her pocket, wondering how much poodles cost, and where she could buy one.

  "Remember, five more golds when you bring back my daughter," Yona said.

  Scruff shook his hand again. "We'll leave at once."

  The Bullies shoved last bites of food into their mouths (Scruff also shoved leftover bacon into his pocket), then headed toward the door. Romy walked with her head lowered, feet shuffling.

  "Oh, before you leave," the merchant said, and they turned back to face him. He seemed red in the face, as if embarrassed, and looked at Cobweb. "Dear spiderling, what is your name?"

  "I'm Cobweb," she said, bowing her head. Her white hair and gossamer dress glowed.

  Yona sketched a bow. "My lady Cobweb, would you stay behind as my bodyguard? The roogs are after me; they want to kill me. But roogs fear spiderlings, and would not dare approach if you guard me. Would you stay with me in this tavern? I'll toss in another gold for your bodyguard services."

  "No deal," Romy said.

  Scruff frowned at her. "Romy, what's gotten into you today?"

  "I don't want Cobweb to stay alone," she replied, crossing her arms. "It's not safe. Cobweb, come with us."

  Cobweb put a hand on Romy's shoulder. "I'ww be aww wight, Womy," she said. Her blue eyes softened, and a smile touched her lips. She's so pretty, Romy thought, suddenly wishing she too had purple skin and pointy ears. No wonder the merchant wants her to stay with him.

  "Are you sure?" she asked, voice weak.

  Cobweb nodded. "I have my b-bow and my d-d-daggew, and we'ww stay in dis tavewn da whowe time. Go and save Yona's d-daughtew, Womy. D-don't wowwy about me. We'we doing a g-good ting. We'we hewping p-peopwe in need." Cobweb breathed deeply; struggling with so many words seemed to taken a lot out of her.

  "And earning money," Jamie added, hand on her sword's pommel.

  Scruff and Jamie left the tavern. Following them, Neev took Romy's arm and led her toward the door. Before she stepped outside, Romy turned and gave Cobweb one last, pleading look. Then Neev dragged her into the street, and they headed off to save Yona's daughter.

  * * * * *

  The Thistle Kids left the tavern, accompanied by their pet demon, leaving the cute spiderling behind. Looking at Cobweb, all alone with him at the table, Dry Bones smiled. Her beauty still amazed him; the golden freckles speckling her small nose, her glowing white hair, her blue eyes, her lavender skin. Such a marvelous creature deserved better than to tag along with the Thistle Kids, living the rough life of a bully.

  "Can I buy you some wine?" he asked.

  "Oh no, I'm fine, I shouwdn't dwink on d-duty." Cobweb kept her hand on her bow, taking her job seriously. Adorable. It was so cute, that Dry Bones wanted to have her, right there and then.

  He wished he could be himself. He hated dressing in these coarse clothes of a commoner, and he was using lots of energy, maintaining the spells that cloaked his bones with flesh. The magic tired him, requiring constant effort, like keeping one's stomach sucked in. If he dropped his concentration, the spell would dissipate; the flesh, skin, and muscles would melt away, leaving him a skeleton once more.

  Still, the effort was worth it. He had duped the Thistle Kids and sent them into a trap. The demon had been suspicious, but nobody took her seriously. Dry Bones had nothing against Romy; she had not wronged him, but she traveled with his enemies, so she too would die.

  Dry Bones smiled. When the Thistle Kids reached the cave, they would find no merchant's daughter, of course. What they would find... was death.

  "Is someting f-funny?" Cobweb asked, and Dry Bones realized that he was chuckling. I really have to work on getting rid of this evil chuckle, he thought.

  "Oh, I was thinking about how happy I'll be when my daughter returns, safe and sound," he said.

  Cobweb's eyes softened and she patted his arm. Her hand felt heavenly, so soft and warm. "I'm suwe she'ww be b-back soon," the spiderling said. "My fwiends are gweat at what dey do. Dey'ww save hew. And my b-bow and awwows wiww pwotect you untiw dey come b-back."

  So cute. Dry Bones patted her hand. To touch her—heaven! "Thank you, Cobweb," he said. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

  As she smiled, he peeked a glance down her neckline. Lovely. Dry Bones had not loved a woman in years. Not since Sam Thistle had burned the flesh off his bones. Since then, he had lived a lonely life, his only companion Baumgartner and, once in a while, Issa. But that was all right. Dry Bones realized that all these years, he had just been waiting to meet the right woman. And that woman was Cobweb. Why settle for a mere human when I can have a spiderling, the most beautiful creature on Earth?

  "When your friends come back, I'll take you to a jeweler, and buy you whatever you want," he said. "You deserve it."

  "Oh, dat's aww wight," Cobweb said, caressing her necklace of painted apple seeds. "You d-don't need to buy me anyting. I'm n-n-not doing dis for any wewawd. I j-just want to hewp p-peopwe."

  She is such a cutie. So pure and trusting. Dry Bones just wanted to pinch her cheeks. He had no illusions about Cobweb loving him back, of course. Without his spell—which would wear off soon—he was just a skeleton. Girls didn't find skeletons attractive. But that's what magic is for, he thought. Cobweb would be his prize. He would slip a love potion into her drink, and then she would be his forever.

  Dry Bones sipped his beer, hiding his smile inside his mug. Being a warlock was great.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The Bully Trap

  "We're going in circles," Jamie moaned.

  They were walking through the woods, beech and oak trees rustling around them. Beads of sunlight twinkled as the trees moved, logs and acorns lay upon the forest floor, and a stream gurgled beside them. It was a beautiful forest, but Jamie didn't care. She was in the wrong mood for appreciating beauty. Her knucklehead brother had gotten them lost. It was just like him.

  Standing by a mossy boulder, Scruff checked the map Yona had given him. "His map is confusing. Look at this north, south, east, west. That's just a matter of perspective, ain't it?"

  Jamie sighed. "How is north and south a matter of perspective?"

  "Well, it's relative to where you're standing, see?" Scruff jabbed his finger at the map.

  "You really are an idiot," Jamie said. It was har
d to believe she and Scruff shared the same parents. Surely he was a changeling, an ogre who was swapped with her true brother. She loved Scruff, but sometimes—like now—she just wanted to kick him. She gave into the urge, giving him a good solid kick to his calf.

  "Ow!" Scruff's face flushed and he rubbed his leg. He shook the map at her. "Look, say I tell you you've got a stain on the left side of your shirt, it could be my left, could be your left. Same with north and south; it's confusing."

  Romy piped up. "To us from the underground, everything in the world is just up."

  Jamie ignored her. Why did Romy insist on tagging along anyway? The demon spent her whole time whining. She insisted on walking while holding Neev's hand. Whenever he pulled his hand free, Romy began to pout, until Neev finally held her hand again. Sometimes even that wasn't enough, and Romy began to whine that she wanted a piggyback ride. Jamie had kicked her a couple times too, but nothing could shut her up.

  Jamie grabbed the map from Scruff, nearly tearing it. "Let me see that."

  "You're holding it wrong," Scruff insisted. "You need to hold it upside down if you're facing south, or it won't be your south."

  "There's only one south!" Jamie shouted. "You got us walking in circles, Scruff."

  "Did not."

  Jamie pointed her sword at an oak. "We passed by that tree three times already."

  Scruff grumbled. "All these trees look the same, how do you know?"

  "Because I carved something on it last time we passed it." She pointed. Words were carved into the wood: Scruff, you're an idiot.

  Scruff growled and clutched his head. "Fine," he said. "You have the map now. Let's see how well you do."

  Holding the map, Jamie began to lead the way. The others followed, Scruff sulking, Neev and Romy holding hands.

  They walked for a long time.

  After a while, Jamie had to admit: the map was confusing. But she would not admit defeat. Her pride would not let her. She continued to lead the others, and whenever anyone piped up, she silenced them with a glower and, if that did not suffice, a good kick.

  They must have walked for an hour or two, and it began to grow dark. Romy moaned, and even Neev, who had been mostly silent, spoke up.

  "The merchant said the cave is only five miles away," the young warlock said. "How did we get lost in only five miles?"

  Jamie sighed. "I did my best, but Scruff got us so lost, even I couldn't get us back on track."

  Romy snickered, but Jamie shut her up with a scowl.

  The sun setting, they made camp between birch trees, the earth strewn with pebbles and cyclamens. Romy lit a fire—the only thing she was good at, if you asked Jamie—and they curled up in their cloaks. Though it was summer, the night was chilly, and Jamie lay with Scruff on one side, Romy on the other. Scruff was a big brute and blocked the wind, while Romy was always warm, like a living furnace. Jamie slept like a log, cuddling her sheathed sword, too weary to even dream.

  When dawn broke, Jamie took a pan and oats from her backpack, and cooked everyone porridge. They kept walking in the morning, dew clinging to the birches, grass, and mushrooms. As she led the way, map in her hand, Jamie thought back to how the skeleton had tripped her. Dry Bones. It had to be him. Why was he after them? Was Dry Bones the warlock who destroyed Burrfield, who murdered their parents? Jamie swallowed, suddenly feeling close to tears. I'm going to kill him. I'm going to avenge your deaths, Mom and Dad. She had spent the past five years studying swordplay, preparing for this moment. For five years, since she was ten, she had thought of nothing but killing that warlock. And now that warlock was hunting her too. Let him come at me again. I crushed his hand last time. Next time, I'll crush his skull. She growled.

  She looked at her brothers. She knew they shared the same sentiment. Scruff was a sweetheart and rarely got angry, and Neev was thoughtful and had taught himself to control his anger. But Jamie knew she could count on them. They wanted Dry Bones dead, too. They hate him just as much. Jamie sighed. She often kicked and insulted her big brothers, but suddenly she loved them so much, she wanted to cry. Strangely, she suddenly even loved Romy... kind of.

  Finally, Jamie managed to make sense of this blasted map, and at noon, they found the cave.

  "At last!" Scruff exclaimed.

  They faced a hill covered with trees, pebbles, and mossy boulders. A cliff rose atop the hill like a jutting tooth, drenched in sunlight, bedecked with vines. In the center of the cliff, the roogs' cave gaped.

  Jamie nodded. "This is the place." She rolled up the map and stuffed it into her backpack. "Now let's go save Yona's daughter."

  They walked up the hill, heading toward the cave, when a stench hit Jamie's nostrils. She looked up, growling, and saw a roog sitting outside the cave.

  Jamie shivered. She had seen roogs only in picture books, and they were even uglier in person. The roog ahead was lanky, his skin milky white, his head bald. Worst of all, he had mouths instead of eyes, their fangs dripping drool. When he looked up at the Bullies, he opened and closed those mouths as if blinking.

  "Finally," the roog said, voice like cracking wood. "You're late, you are." He blinked at Scruff. "Blimey, you're huge."

  Romy scratched her head. "Are you the merchant's daughter?" she asked.

  The roog hissed through all three mouths. "What daughter? You were supposed to get here yesterday, you were. That's what Dry Bones said. We were fifty of us waiting for you, but the others gave up and left."

  "Well, soooo sorry!" Romy said. "The merchant should have given us a better map."

  "Wait, wait!" Neev said, stomping up the slope toward the roog, burrs on his robes. "Dry Bones the warlock? He told you and your friends to wait for us?"

  "We've been set up," Jamie said and raised her sword. Beside her, Scruff raised his mace. The sight of this roog disgusted Jamie, and she couldn't wait to kill it.

  "Wait one moment," Romy said to the pale roog, frowning. "Do you mean you are not the merchant's daughter?"

  Scruff took a menacing step toward the roog, Norman raised, its spikes glinting. "This whole thing was a trap."

  The roog sighed. When he spoke again, he no longer spoke from the mouth beneath his nose, but from the mouth that functioned as his left eye. "Well, it should have been, but you got lost and ruined it, you did. It would have been a great surprise... but now only I'm here."

  "Cobweb...," Jamie whispered, a sudden chill gripping her, trickling down her spine. She could see that her friends were thinking the same thing.

  "We have to get back," Scruff said. He grabbed the roog by the scaly neck, his hand trembling, his face red. "Show us the way back, quick, and we'll let you live."

  As they raced through the forest, Jamie tightened her lips, her fist clutching her sword. Her stomach ached with fear. They had not fallen for the trap... but Cobweb was alone, and Dry Bones was after them.

  "Damn," Jamie whispered.

  * * * * *

  Cobweb had never imagined she'd become a bodyguard. Not in a million years. And yet here she was, her bow in her hands and a dagger in her belt, guarding a human from roogs.

  It was true. Roogs did fear (and hate) spiderlings. They sometimes stalked the outskirts of Spidersilk Forest, not daring to approach for fear of spiderling arrows. Cobweb had learned to fire her bow from a young age, and had once even joined the adult spiderlings in patrol of their borders.

  I'm an adult now, too, Cobweb thought, sitting in this seedy human tavern, keeping her eye on the door for invading roogs. I'm sixteen now, a grown spiderling. After their Star Ceremony, Spiderlings were grown ups; even those banished from Spidersilk Forest. At the thought of her home, of those trees and streams where she grew up, tears filled Cobweb's eyes. She missed home so much, she ached. If not for my clumsy tongue....

  Cobweb blinked and wiped her tears away, hoping Yona did not see. But he saw, and he handed her a kerchief. "Are you all right?" he asked gently.

  She took the kerchief and blotted the last of her tears. "I'm fin
e, I'm j-j-just... tinking of youw d-daughtew." She hated lying, but how would Yona understand if she spoke of the world she had lost? No human had seen Spidersilk Forest and would not fathom its beauty, a beauty no place in the human world could match.

  But there was one thing in this strange human world that comforted her: her friends. Especially Scruff, she thought and felt her face tingle. The Bullies were her new clan. Cobweb had not known them for long, but she loved them wholeheartedly—even the demon Romy.

  "You're sad," Yona said. "I'll order you some sweet summer wine. I'll be right back."

  The merchant in the dusty cloak went to the bar, and Cobweb watched his back, making sure no roogs could approach without first meeting her arrows. Yona ordered and received her drink, and as Cobweb watched him intently, she narrowed her eyes. A gasp fled her lips. It seemed to her that Yona had—it couldn't be, could it?—pulled a vial from his pocket, then splashed something into her cup.

  Cobweb's stomach knotted. Yona had moved fast, like an illusionist performing a slight of hand. Human eyes would never have noticed it, but spiderlings had hawk eyes. Whatever Yona had done to her drink, he had tried to mask it. No doubt he was used to fooling humans, but spiderlings were not easily deceived.

  Cobweb missed her friends. Suddenly she felt very alone.

  Yona returned to the table and placed the pewter cup before her. "Sweet summer wine!" he said. "As sweet and rosy as you."

  She nodded with a slight smile. "T-t-ank you, Yona. You'we vewy gwacious." She looked at the pink drink. "I hope you d-don't mind me pwying, b-but... I was watching fow woogs, and... I saw you p-pouw someting into my dwink. D-do you mind if I ask w-what it is? I hope I'm n-not offending you."

  Yona's eyes widened; he seemed shocked that she had noticed. Cobweb wondered if she was just ignorant in humans ways and had insulted him. For an instant, his eyes seemed almost angry... but then he laughed, a deep belly laugh. "Why, you are observant. I hope you don't mind. You see, at these cheap taverns, the bartender often waters down the drinks. I carry around a bottle of spirits to spice things up. I gave your drink an extra kick."