The Cursed Lands

by Timothy L. Cerepaka

  The two guards made their way past the first cart toward Sarzen’s. Based on the expressions on their faces visible through the visors of their helmets, Sarzen could tell that they did not have good news.

  “Are you Sarzen Alnem, the Warrior Priest in charge of the expedition to find the Dragon Gods?” said one of the guards, who had a scar on his left cheek.

  “Yes, I am,” said Sarzen, nodding. “Why do you ask? Do you have news to share with me?”

  “Yes,” said the guard. He gestured at the gates with his sword. “There have been reports of increased Draymens activity out in the plains. Also, roving bands of Draymens have been spotted close to the mountain’s foot, a few of which have even come close to the gates, though they always stay just out of our reach.”

  “We expected that, guard,” said Sarzen. “Don’t worry; we’ll be fine.”

  “That is not all that we need to tell you about, however,” said the guard. “In addition to the roving bands of Draymens, there have also been reports of Draymens using human slaves to lure travelers into a trap.”

  “What do you mean?” said Sarzen.

  “Beware of any humans you see in the plains who claim to be survivors of a Draymens attack,” said the guard. “Many of them are really just human slaves working for their Draymens masters to capture and kill any unaware travelers.”

  “So we shouldn’t stop for anyone we see on the way there, then,” said Sarzen.

  “Exactly,” said the guard. “We’ve received many reports about that tactic. It appears to be a new tactic that the Draymens are using to kill unaware travelers.”

  “All right,” said Sarzen. “I understand. Is that all?”

  “That is all,” said the guard. “We will now open the gates for you and your caravan. But again, we must stress that you remember not to aid any human ‘survivors’ you come across. Tell them to go to the gates to the mountains if they need help and just keep going.”

  “Right,” said Sarzen. “Thanks for the warning. We’ll keep it in mind on our way out.”

  The two guards nodded and went back over to the gates. A few minutes later, the gates opened wide, allowing the sunlight to spill in from the plains. The light was almost too bright after traveling in the darkness of the mountains for the last several hours, so Sarzen had to hold his hands above his eyes to protect his vision as the caravan passed through the wide-open gates. Once they were on the other side, the gates shut closed behind them.

  Lowering his hands, Sarzen looked around as the caravan made its way down the rough road that led from the gates to the plains below. He did not see any Draymens anywhere, but he remembered how Draymens raiding bands were said to be able to come seemingly out of nowhere without warning. He kept his hand on the handle of his blade and glanced at Helnia, who was no longer playing with her necklace anymore, though she didn’t look exactly relaxed.

  “Here we are,” said Sarzen as the cart bumped along. “Back in the plains for the first time in ten years.”

  “Yeah,” said Helnia. She brushed back some of her dark hair. “It looks just like how it did all the way back then. Except … what is that?”

  Sarzen looked in the direction in which she was pointing and saw a large cloud of smoke on the horizon. And it was getting bigger even as he looked at it.

  ***

  Chapter Ten

  Unfortunately, they were not able to determine the cause of the smoke from a distance. As a result, they had to keep going forward, because the smoke appeared to be coming from somewhere along the path up ahead, even though nearly everyone believed that the smoke was likely from a fire started by the Draymens. But because they’d already mapped out a path from the plains to the Cursed Lands, they just followed the road that way, though Sarzen gave orders to everyone to keep their weapons out or magic ready, just in case this turned out to be an ambush.

  But, even though the smoke cloud looked large from a distance, it was hours before they actually reached the source of the cloud. Thanks to the flatness of the plains, the source of the smoke became increasingly obvious the closer they drew to it: It was a burning wooden cart, very much like the ones they drove, though it had been smashed and burned so badly that it was barely recognizable as a cart.

  That was just from what they saw from a distance. As they drew closer to the cart, Sarzen spotted burned boxes, blankets, and even what appeared to be corpses, all strewn around the site of the destroyed cart. There were no Draymens in sight, but Sarzen and everyone else were on the defensive, ready to fight the moment a Draymens showed itself.

  Upon reaching the smoking remains of the cart, Sarzen leaped out of his cart and was soon joined by Rothel, who was no longer smiling or talking. They were also joined by three of Sarzen’s fellow Warrior Priests and, after telling the other people in the carts to stay in the caravan and not do anything, they made their way to the destroyed cart.

  Up close, the cart looked even worse. It was like someone had dropped a gigantic fire ball on it; half of the cart was ashes, while the half that wasn’t looked like it would turn into that stuff if a strong gust of wind blew through. It was hard to tell what kind of supplies that the cart had carried, though based on the scent of meat mixed with the smoke, Sarzen guessed that it had been moving pork or beef before it was destroyed.

  “How long ago do you think this thing was attacked?” said Rothel as the five of them stopped before it. “It looks recent.”

  “Based on the smoke, I’d say it was probably destroyed last night,” said Sarzen, scratching his chin as he looked down on the cart’s remains.

  He glanced at a corpse lying near them. He walked over to the corpse, though he didn’t get too close because the stink of smoke and decay coming from the body. Looking at it from a distance, Sarzen noted that the corpse appeared to be a man, but that was the only detail he could make out, because the fire had burned off any other identifying features.

  “What happened to him?” said Rothel in disgust.

  “Obviously burned to death, probably while trying to escape,” said Sarzen. He shuddered. “I can’t imagine what it must have been like. Reminds me of the time when the Draymens attacked our hometown, though the corpses I saw back then were not nearly as badly burned as this one.”

  “Think there are any Draymens around here?” said Rothel, looking around. “Or do you think they’ve already left?”

  “They’ve probably already left,” said Sarzen. “If they were still here, I think they would have attacked us by now.”

  Rothel shook his head. “I’ve heard all about the brutality of Draymens, but this is the first time I’ve seen it up close. Absolutely horrific.”

  Sarzen was about to say that he agreed when, all of a sudden, he heard movement somewhere. He looked around, trying to identify the source of the sound, but then he heard movement again and looked over to the destroyed remains of the cart. He saw movement—just very slight—in a large pile of ash; the movement was so slight that Sarzen would have simply dismissed it as a product of his imagination if he had not seen it move again.

  “Rothel,” said Sarzen, resting his hand on the hilt of his sword. “We’re not alone.”

  Rothel looked at Sarzen in confusion. “Not alone? What do you—”

  All of a sudden, something exploded out from the pile of burning ash among the remains of the cart and flew toward Sarzen and Rothel. Sarzen and Rothel separated, running in opposite directions as the thing crashed into the ground where they had been standing mere moments before.

  Coming to a stop, Sarzen whirled around to see a strange, round smoking ball lying on the ground. It looked like a boulder, but then it started to move. Short, but stout, limbs extended from its sides; large feet pushed it up into a standing position; and a small, round head rose from its massive bulk.

  Sarzen had never seen anything like this creature before. It looked vaguely like a mole, except without the claws. It was twice as tall as Sarzen and its skin looked as thick and rough as stone. Its dul
l, gray eyes made it look dimwitted, especially when it looked at Sarzen and Rothel, like it was trying to figure out who they were and why they were here. Smoke rose from its form, though the smoke was already thinning.

  “What the heck is that thing?” said Rothel in shock.

  “No idea,” said Sarzen, shaking his head. “But I will distract it while you get the caravan away from here.”

  “And leave you to fight this thing alone?” said Rothel in disbelief. “Sorry, but—”

  The giant creature seemed to have lost all interest in Sarzen and Rothel, because it turned its attention to the caravan and began lumbering toward it. The horses pulling the carts shrieked and whinnied, forcing the drivers to struggle to keep them calm, so Sarzen just ran at the creature and slashed its back with his sword.

  Sarzen’s sword just glanced off the creature’s hide, but the creature stopped and looked at him anyway. An angry scowl crossed its simple features and it raised its massive hand to bring down on Sarzen’s head, but Sarzen ran out of the way in time to avoid its fist, which smashed into the ground and sent dirt flying everywhere.

  “Just go!” Sarzen shouted at Rothel. “We can’t afford to lose the caravan!”

  Rothel looked reluctant about leaving Sarzen alone to deal with the creature, but he nodded and then ran back toward the caravan, already shouting at the drivers to get the horses moving.

  But Sarzen stopped paying attention to Rothel, because the giant—which he assumed was a Draymens, even though he had not seen this particular kind of Draymens before—was now lumbering toward him, its face still etched in a scowl. Sarzen had to run to keep ahead of it, but even though he was smaller and faster, the Draymens was bigger, so each step it took allowed it to cross three times as many steps as Sarzen.

  Just got to keep it away from the caravan long enough for them to get away, Sarzen thought, glancing over his shoulder at the pursuing Draymens. Though it would be nice if I could figure out how to actually kill it, too.

  All of a sudden, Sarzen heard something flying through the air above. He looked over his shoulder in time to see a large chunk of earth flying toward him. There was no time to dodge, so he dropped to the ground just as the earth flew over him and crashed into the ground before him.

  Gasping in surprise, Sarzen felt a tremor in the earth and looked over his shoulder again just in time to see the Draymens stand above him and bring both of its massive fists down on him. Sarzen, however, managed to roll out of the way, dodging the fists as they crashed into the earth.

  Rolling back to his feet, Sarzen held his sword before him defensively as the Draymens pulled its hands off the ground and looked at him. The creature was starting to look impatient, as if it was losing its patience with Sarzen.

  “What, are you just going to stand there and stare at me all day or are you actually going to fight me?” said Sarzen.

  The Draymens grunted and lumbered toward Sarzen. It hurled its fists at him, but Sarzen dodged them both and struck the creature on the knee. But his sword merely scrapped across its rocky surface and he jumped backward to put some distance between himself and the Draymens.

  I need to figure out how to pierce its skin, Sarzen thought, walking backwards as the Draymens turned to face him again. As long as its skin remains rock solid, my sword will never even tickle it.

  That was when Sarzen caught a glimpse of the Draymens’ underside; it looked fleshly and unguarded, oddly enough. Then again, the creature was rather short and stout, which, combined with its violent nature, meant that getting close enough to strike its underside would be a difficult feat to accomplish.

  I’ll have to do it somehow, though, Sarzen thought, redoubling his grip on his sword. If I don’t do it, then this will be a very short quest.

  So Sarzen ran toward the Draymens. The Draymens briefly looked surprised, as if it could not believe that Sarzen was coming toward it, but then its surprise turned to anger again and it raised its fists once more and brought them down on Sarzen once he got within its reach.

  But at the last second, Sarzen slid underneath the Draymens. He slashed at its underside, his sword cutting through its soft flesh, and he emerged on the other side, where he rose to his feet and ran as the Draymens fell to his hands and knees, crying out in pain as its underside bled a strange gray blood that made Sarzen sick just by looking at it.

  Yet the Draymens somehow managed to rise back to its feet anyway, despite the obvious pain it was in, and turned around to face Sarzen. The Draymens took a step toward Sarzen, but it was clearly in too much pain to be as threatening as it was before.

  So Sarzen raised his sword to have another go at it, but the Draymens ran at him again, this time much faster than before, even though it was wounded and shouldn’t have been able to move very quickly. It was upon Sarzen in seconds, but instead of smashing him with its fists, it picked him up in one hand and threw him to the side.

  Sarzen crashed into the earth, knocking the breath out of him and causing him to gasp in pain. He was dazed from the impact and he thought he felt something break in his body, but he couldn’t pinpoint where the pain was coming from or what had broken.

  Shaking his head, Sarzen felt more tremors in the earth and looked up just in time to see the Draymens above him again. It raised its fists once more and this time, Sarzen knew that he wasn’t going to be able to dodge them.

  But then Sarzen heard a shout and a lightning bolt flew overhead and struck the Draymens in the chest. The impact of the lightning bolt sent the Draymens staggering backwards, clutching its blackened chest, while Sarzen looked in the direction that the lightning bolt had come from and saw Helnia running toward him. He didn’t see the caravan, but he assumed that they must have gotten away by now.

  Sitting up, Sarzen rubbed the back of his head as Helnia stopped beside him. She was touching the beads on her necklace, which Sarzen realized must have been the source of the lightning bolt.

  “Sarzen, are you okay?” said Helnia. “Can you still walk?”

  Sarzen nodded and slowly began to rise to his feet, still rubbing his aching head. “Yes. The ground is soft, so the impact wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Where are—”

  “The others are safe,” Helnia interrupted. “I just came to help you because I knew you wouldn’t be able to handle this Draymens on your own.”

  “Hey, I had it covered,” said Sarzen, still rubbing the back of his head. “Just a few more minutes and I would have had it—”

  A roar of anger interrupted Sarzen, causing him to look over at the Draymens. Its chest was blackened and smoking slightly, but aside from that, its thick, stone skin seemed to have protected it from the worst of the lightning bolt. It was now eyeing both Sarzen and Helnia very carefully, as if trying to predict their moves before they made them.

  “Well, now that you’re here, you might as well help me with your magic,” said Sarzen. He raised his sword and pointed at the Draymens’ underside. “The Draymens’ underside is undefended, its only weak point as far as I can tell. I’ve already hit it once, but I think I will need to hit again to take it down for good.”

  “All right,” said Helnia. She tapped one of her beads, which glowed blue. “I’ll cover you while you go in for the kill.”

  “Good idea,” said Sarzen.

  He ran toward the Draymens. The Draymens took a step toward him, but a water ball flew through the air and struck the Draymens in the face, causing it to cover its face with its huge hands in surprise.

  That left an opening for Sarzen to exploit. He shouted at Helnia, who lobbed another water ball over his head, only this time it splashed underneath the Draymens, turning the ground beneath it into slippery mud. The Draymens slipped slightly, but soon regained control of its balance, but Sarzen just dropped to the ground again and slid along the mud underneath the creature. As he slid underneath it, Sarzen slashed and stabbed at the Draymens’ underside, his golden sword going deep into the Draymens body before he yanked it out and pushed himself out fr
om underneath the creature.

  As Sarzen rose back to his feet and ran again, the Draymens fell to its hands and feet, which splashed in the mud underneath it. This time, the Draymens didn’t look like it was going to recover from that anytime soon, because it was now heaving and shuddering, like it was throwing up, and appeared completely incapacitated by Sarzen’s attack.

  Still walking backwards away from the Draymens, Sarzen gave Helnia the thumbs up and shouted, “Good job, sister! I think we did it!”

  Unfortunately, Sarzen spoke too soon, because the Draymens rose to its feet again and turned around to face him, seemingly ignoring the blood now gushing from its underside. But there was a different look in the Draymens’ face now; it was one of pain, but also sadness, like it had just heard some depressing news.

  Sarzen took up a fighting stance, raising his sword before him defensively, but the Draymens didn’t approach him. It just raised one of its large, fat fingers and pointed at him, breathing in and out as it did so.

  “It … isn’t over … yet,” the Draymens said, its thick accent making its words hard to understand. “The One … will rise again …”

  The Draymens’ eyes rolled into the back of its head and it crashed forward onto the earth, where it did not move again.

  ***

  Chapter Eleven

  Helnia sat in the back of the third cart in the caravan, panting and sweating, clutching her chest, which was tight from her fight with the Draymens. She knew that that would have happened; she wasn’t nearly as athletic or strong as Sarzen, so she didn’t handle fighting as well as he. Even though she hadn’t done much except cast a few spells, just the effort of jumping out of the cart and running to help Sarzen had taken a lot out of her. It didn’t help that she’d been stressed out over Sarzen’s well-being and safety during the fight, either.