by Bill Albert
“Of course,” Mekon said, angry that he had missed something obvious. “There had to have been someone else. We have to go back.”
They quietly crawled back to where they could see the remains of the caravan and were all mystified by the sight. The remains of the wagons were still burning, their contents charred and scattered. It was the actions of the elves that left them stunned. While some were still howling and clamoring around the area many seemed to be in a stupor. It was as if they had lost interest in what was happening and were quietly looking around. Some were even on their knees almost in a fetal position and gently rocking back and forth.
The survivors of the attack were equally in awe by the sight. None of them had ever seen or heard of this kind of behavior from an elf before. They looked at each other and, without a word, knew what they were asking but there were no answers.
“There,” one of the guards whispered pointing to one side. “Someone, there.”
They looked where the guard was pointing. At first it appeared as a shadow moving amongst the wreckage and they thought it was just another elf made to look larger than the rest. After a second it stopped moving and they realized the shape was different from the rest. It was taller, thinner, and definitely human. It started walking again and worked its way through the fire, smoke and wreckage until they could see it clearly.
“That’s not possible.” Che-Wing said in shock.
“He’s feeding them,” the first guard said wide eyed. “They are treating him like a god.”
The figure walked among the subdued elves tossing something at them as he went. Some he held his hand out and they nuzzled into his palm and licked it clean. Then he put his hand into a pouch and offered it to another subject.
“He made a legend of himself for destroying them.”
“Feeding them, controlling them,” Mekon whispered as his mind raced. “Acrufix the Elven Killer.”
CHAPTER SEVEN: SIGNS OF FLIGHT
Gallif sat on the bunk with her legs crossed calmly waiting for her breakfast. The schedule had been extremely regular and there had rarely been more than a minute or two difference on mealtimes from day to day. She could tell by the sounds through the walls that something was up. There had been no signs of the usual activity. Normally she would have had breakfast by now but today there was nothing but silence. She doubted they were in Spring Field already. They travelled unhindered most days but would have to have been travelling at a much greater speed to be in the capital city of Starpoint.
She suddenly heard muffled voices outside and sat up straight listening for more. She heard voices just outside the carriage and put her ear to the planks to detect more. Whatever it was she could make out two distinct voices speaking loudly.
Who could it be? Someone new to the caravan? Jakobus? Blinks? Of the two she imagined Blinks would be the one to find her. He had a secret weapon on his side that would be able to locate her wherever she was. Her name was Lincilara.
She lost her concentration as she heard the distinct sound of metal on metal as the bolts on the outside of the wagon were removed. There were a few more thumps and grinds as locks were being opened and bars moved out of place. Slowly the door was opened.
Gallif was surprised to find the commander of the escort militia, and several of his officers, sitting on their horses.
“Come with us, Gallif,” he said. “We must move quickly.”
Caught off guard by the sudden change she could only say that she did not kill the guards in Outbound.
“I know,” he said plainly, then added, “I’ll explain later.”
She jumped to her feet and exited the wagon. Once outside she kneeled over and lay her hands on the ground. The natural grass felt good against her skin and she pulled up a handful and ran it though her fingers.
Her relief turned to sheer joy when she heard a familiar grunt behind her and felt a cold, wet nose brush against the back of her neck. She stood and threw her arms around Snow and held him tight.
“Gallif, we must be going. We have to travel quickly and will return for the wagons later,” Che-Wing said.
She looked around and saw that there were only two wagons here. The one she had been held captive in had blankets on one side that gave it the impression of being a load of crates and there was a larger wagon not far behind that looked the same way. Both wagons were dirtied and worn as if they had been used for many years. She realized that it looked quite ordinary and would not get attention from most of the citizens of the Land of Starpoint Mountain as being anything other than a standard convoy.
Snow nudged her shoulder and, feeling better than she had in some time, she easily mounted him and slipped into her own saddle.
“Follow me!” Che-Wing called and Gallif, with three of the hobgoblin guards behind her, took off at a full gallop.
They rode hard and strong for a full hour and Gallif loved the feel of it. Though she was still a prisoner the freedom of riding and her bond with Snow fulfilled her. She was still in her prison garb and had no weapons but knew she was not defenseless.
They finally slowed when they approached a scared battlefield. The remains of four burnt out wagons were in cinders and bodies were scattered among the wreckage. For everyone hobgoblin guard there were three aquilus bodies, but it was still clear that elves had slaughtered the caravan. The hobgoblins had been killed in the combat but there were signs that the bodies had been mutilated afterwards.
The only living thing in the debris field was the shiny moving figure of Acrufix. He was walking through the wreckage and scanning the remains. They dismounted their horses and walked to where Acrufix stood.
“What is Kallif doing here? She was supposed to stay in the wagon,” Acrufix asked in shock.
“We must use all of our resources to find out who is responsible for this slaughter,” Che-Wing ignored him. “We may need you to help us track down the rest of these elves,” he said directly to Gallif.
“The elves weren’t alone in this,” Gallif said flatly and they all turned to look at her. “They were killed by arrows,” she pointed at the burned shafts. “The aquilus never use arrows.”
The hobgoblins gasped in shock at what should have been obvious to them. It was impossible to determine what Acrufix thought, but, to their surprise, he tuned to Gallif and nodded.
“What else is there?” Acrufix asked and stepped forward challenging her directly.
She took the challenges and quickly scanned the way the battlefield was laid out. It took her only a few seconds to realize what else was wrong.
“There’s no giant. No giant body. Mekon must have survived.”
“Where is he?” Che-Wing asked as he snapped to attention. “We must find him.”
“I’ll go,” Gallif volunteered sure that her tracking skills would make it easy for her.
“No, Kallif,” Acrufix said and stepped in front of her. “You are still a prisoner of the Giant Lords,” he reminded her. “You are also wearing prison garb and have no weapons.”
She looked straight into the mask hiding his face and declared “I am not defenseless.”
“He is correct,” Che-Wing said as he looked up at her. “You must come back to the other wagons with us.”
“I’ll go after Mekon then join you,” Acrufix said to Che-Wing.
“Let’s at least examine the area for more clues,” Gallif said and the hobgoblin guard captain nodded.
Without another word Acrufix went back to the road were his horse was tied to a tree he quickly freed and mounted the horse then rolled into the bush on the other side.
They all studied the bodies and other charred remains steadily and carefully. Gallif could not help but notice that the hobgoblins kept a respectful distance but remained in all four directions. They trusted her, she knew, just not completely.
“We need to do something with the bodies,” Gallif said after a half hour of searching and finding no elves. There were just the dead bodies of the hobgoblins and elves that were
killed in the combat, but no hints of anything else.
“Will dig a grave for our team,” Che-wing said sadly. “We can let the others rot.”
“No,” she protested sternly. “That is not the way civilized people treat each other.”
“We don’t respect the death of the wolf that eats our chickens either, and it only kills for necessity,” Che-wing said refusing to give in.
An hour later the guards who had been killed in the ambush were buried in a grave and covered with dirt and leaves. Gallif was left alone to collect the dead elves but managed to get them into a stack, stopping only to join the tribute to the fallen, then worked by herself for some time. She found a few still hot cinders in the remains of the wagons and used it to start a funeral pyre.
As they mounted their horses Gallif asked their leader, “Am I a prisoner again?”
“No,” he said matter-of-factly.
Yet she couldn’t help but notice that the hobgoblins stayed on each side of her on the right back.
***
They rode the rest of the day and through most of the night. It was difficult for Gallif at first, to write that hard and fast not knowing where they were going, but she got used to it after the first hour. She realized she had to trust Che-Wing in the same way she had asked Jakobus, Blinks, Lincilara and Luvin to follow her. She felt a sharp pain at the whisper of Luvin’s memory and forced it out of her thoughts she would grieve for him at the appropriate time. For now, she must concentrate.
Che-Wing finally ordered them to stop just off a tattered and grown over dirt road. They dismounted and it turned out that Daterson, one of the five hobgoblin guards, was just as talented at fire building as Jakobus was. Within a half hour there was a sizable campfire and after an hour they were eating chunks of hot, stewed beef.
“So, where do we go next?” Gallif asked finishing her bowl.
“No place of for a while,” Che-Wing said simply. “I must wait here until I get orders.”
“We’re within 10 miles of Bauerent,” she said knowing he would not expect her to have that information. “We could’ve been there by now.”
He looked her straight in the eyes and showed how impressed he was by her skills. “We’ve worked extensively to keep your true location a mystery,” he said.
“We?” She asked.
“We,” he nodded refusing to give her any more information.
She knew better than to ask for anything he was unwilling to give so she tried a different tactic. “Why?”
“Somebody ordered the slaughter of my guards and tried to blame you for it. I must determine who did it and why.”
“Of course, the hobgoblins are known for their loyalty to the Giant Lords,” she said without malice.”
“No,” he said shaking his head. “Our loyalty is to the truth and the law,” he corrected her.
“You knew that I didn’t kill the guards,” she said with surprise.
“Yes,” Che-Wing nodded. “It was staged to appear to of been a very intense fight. My guards wounded you,” he said looking at the scar on her face. “But you managed to fight back and kill all four of them before you succumbed to your wounds.” He watched her brush her hair back and she nodded for him to continue. “They died with their weapons in hand as any one of us would. You, however, had no weapon. Not just in your hand, but anywhere, there was no weapon in the hallway for you to have used against them. That was a clear indication that someone else was involved.”
Doerty and Coolig agreed with their leader and nodded.
“His name is Zaslow,” she said. “I believe he’s working for the Third Minister of the Giant Lords, but I have no solid proof yet. He was inside Starpoint Mountain before the fall. I killed him there, froze his heart, but somehow there is another of him that survived. I’m not sure how, some cast that allows them to duplicate himself. A second one appeared in the swamps and was killed there the third one appeared in Outbound.
Che-Wing put down her plate and is shuttered she looked at one of the other guards, Doerty, and asked, “is that possible?”
Doerty thought about it for a moment and then shrugged. “I suppose it is possible” she said slowly. “Did he often use jump castings?” she asked Gallif.
“Quite often,” she nodded.
The hobgoblins all gasped, and she managed to hold in any reaction to them. She wasn’t used to the hobgoblins appearing to be afraid.
“We believe that whenever you pass through a jump cast you leave your soul behind,” Coolig said. “We will never ever jump cast.”
“If this man has found some way to multiply himself through jump casting, he is a truly soulless creature.” Daterson said and stood.
Doerty also rose and pulled a token from under his uniform. It was shaped like a flower with red focus stones as petals in the yellow source stone in the center.
Gallif jumped in thought of the fairies trapped inside the stones and countless more elsewhere. She wanted to hold it to focus her thoughts and hopes on letting the prisoners know that they were not forgotten. She held the urge back knowing that he would not release it to her.
Che-Wing informed her they needed to go someplace for peace and quiet to concentrate and cast messages through the stones. He ordered the remaining guards to stay vigilant and he quickly disappeared into the dark.
Too excited to sleep Gallif sat near the fire and listened to the wood crackling. She considered her options and wondered who had realized she hadn’t killed the guards and, who could have had enough influence to organize a fake caravan to lead anyone trying to kill her away. The list was pretty short.
What about Jayus? Had he completely lost himself in the legend and, despite all the truths he learned with her, sold himself to the Giant Lords? Despite what she had learned about the elves and the Giants, how dangerous believing those stereotypes were, she had trouble believing there was any signs of the Jayus that had been revealed to them left.
She was pulled from her thoughts when Doerty, hobgoblin who was seated on the other side of the fire, suddenly jumped up and drew her sword. Out of reflex Gallif raised to her feet as well.
“What is it?”
“There.” She said pointing into the forest. “Someone’s coming!” She let out a slow, steady whistle and the other guards were by her side almost instantly.
As they watched they could see a figure coming towards them. He was moving carefully and steadily but was not trying to hide. There were a few flashes as light reflected off his armor and soon Acrufix came into the light. He stopped and his head tilted slightly as he looked towards Gallif.
“You are supposed to be dead,” he said flatly.
“I’m very sorry to disappoint you, Jayus,” she said staring at the blank space inside the helmet. She hoped that confronting him now would bring an end to his mystery.
There was no sign of any reaction from the helmet, but he did draw his long sword from its sheath and say, “they will reward me for killing you.” With that he made a quick step forward and swung at her.
Gallif ducked but the sword was close enough that her hair was tossed sold in its wake. When it was clear she rolled back and out of the way. The three hobgoblins drew their short swords is well and rushed at the armed menace.
Acrufix swung back to cut them down, but they were ahead of his swing. Daterson took a low-cut at his waist and there was a definite side as his short sword struck Acrufix his armor. Coolig thrusted and cut upward catching his arm. Doerty dived forward and rolled to land on his feet. Acrufix was twice the size and swung a weapon that was longer than they were tall, but they were three well trained and coordinated fighters. The odds were in their favor.
Gallif urgently looked for something to use as a weapon, but there were no other sores within sight. She looked at the logs in the campfire and found one that she could use.
Daterson hit Acrufix from behind square in his back. Acrufix swung the low and up again to catch him off guard but Daterson was faster and use his sword to blo
ck the attack. The momentum was against him and Daterson was picked off his feet and tossed into the grass a few feet away. Acrufix arced his sword up and down and with all the strength he had was able to counter Coolig attacking him. The long sword sliced deep into Coolig’s shoulder and he howled in pain as he fell back.
Acrufix stepped forward to finish him but a blow from Doerty made him stumble. He was about to change his attack when he was struck in his right shoulder so hard, he nearly fell to the ground.
Gallif withdrew the burning log and hit him again on the torso before he could turn back. As he did, he hooked Coolig in the stomach and the guard gasped for breath as he fell back. Acrufix kept coming and swung at Gallif’s midsection, then reversed his weapon and came back at her. She was quick enough to stay out of his line of fire and tried to hammer him with the burning log. This time he steps side and was clear.
Daterson came in at to run and snuck under the arch of Acrufix his sword. He struck the man in his thigh, a good solid hit, but was unable to back away fast enough to prevent Acrufix from taking a low swing at him. The blade was sharp and accurate and cut Daterson in half along the waist.
Gallif watched her defender die and yelled, “enough!” She took two bold steps forward surging the burning log in him. He dodged but didn’t back away. Gallif kept swinging to one side and, without realizing it, Acrufix was now between her and the remaining hobgoblins.
Gallif pulled back the log as if she were going to swing up over and down on him and he rose his sword up to deflect the blow. As he did Doerty barreled into him and they all went to the ground in a pile. There was a struggle for weaponry and the guards were able to use their combined bodies to hold his right arm with the sword to the ground. He was about to reach up and grab them with his left hand when Gallif kneeled down and put her knees on his arm to prevent him from moving. She held the burning log above his open helmet but could still not see his face.