by A. Giannetti
“Let this misadventure be a warning to you,” said Tullius severely before Balbus could reply. “Torquatus may or may not think you dead. Only time will tell, but you should not do anything else that might attract his attention.” Turning to Balbus, he said dourly, “It is time for you to stop encouraging the boy to engage in these ridiculous journeys. You are only putting him in danger. Sooner or later, his luck and ours, too, will run out.”
“We will see,” said Balbus. His reaction to Elerian’s story was entirely different from Tullius’s. While concerned about the dangers Elerian had encountered, he was proud of the manner in which his adopted grandson had triumphed over them. “He has reached a man’s estate,” thought Balbus to himself, “and should continue his search for his past. If the Goblins are moving through Ancharia, it will only be a matter of time before they come to Hesperia. Hiding will do Elerian no good in the long run,” he thought to himself.
Tullius frowned in frustration, as if he sensed Balbus’s unspoken opposition to his own advice to Elerian. “Stubborn old fool,” he thought to himself. “I believe he means to encourage Elerian to continue these dangerous journeys.” He was tempted to say more, but let the matter drop. From their many years of friendship, Tullius knew that Balbus was stubborn as a mule when he made up his mind about something.
Elerian sensed the unspoken tension between the two men, but it did not worry him. Balbus and Tullius often argued, but Elerian knew that their disagreements did not affect the warm bond between the two men. With his story ended, Elerian wearily went off to bed. Balbus and Tullius soon followed him, for, after much argument, Balbus finally convinced Tullius to spend the night on account of the rain and the lateness of the hour.
In the days that followed his trip into Ancharia, Elerian stayed close enough to home to make even Tullius happy. No strangers appeared, searching for him, and as one peaceful day followed another, Elerian and Balbus became convinced that Tullius’s fears about Torquatus were groundless and that Elerian had successfully escaped the notice of the Goblin king for a second time.
Elerian tanned the skin of the anguis and made it into a shirt that he wore under his tunic. The small, hard scales were strong as steel, and the shirt was as good as any chain mail ever forged. At night, if there was no light shining on them, the scales of the hide were dead black in color, but during the day, they were a dark blue green and glinted like gems in the light of the sun. As for the globe that had almost killed him, Elerian found that he could not put it out of his mind.
“If I can see into the past, I can discover all my history without the bother of all this endless searching,” he often thought to himself. With this goal in mind, Elerian began to formulate spells based on the knowledge that he had gained when he extended his shade into the globe that had almost killed him. When he was satisfied that his spells were complete, he sequestered himself in Balbus’s workroom in the barn, bringing with him a piece of quartz taken from a rocky outcrop of the hill on which he and Balbus lived. Sitting on the stone floor, he suspended the quartz in the air, causing it to spin slowly at the height of his chest. Using his transformation spell, he changed the substance of the dull stone into purest crystal. Then, with the stone made pliable by a shape-changing spell, Elerian used his clever fingers to form the malleable, spinning crystal into a perfect orb about four inches in diameter. The last thing he did was empower the spinning orb with the spells he had so carefully constructed.
Fearing that the wicked face of Torquatus might suddenly appear in its depths, Elerian hesitated for a long time before plucking the gleaming orb out of the air. At his touch, it took on a familiar, silvery glow. Torn between excitement and apprehension, he waited for the orb to clear, but after this promising start, nothing more happened. The silvery glow remained without clearing for as long as Elerian held the orb.
In the days that followed, he made other trials with the orb. He was relieved that Torquatus never appeared in the portal, but he was less than satisfied with the results of efforts. Many times the orb remained stubbornly opaque. More rarely, it cleared, but it showed Elerian only things that were nearby and in the present, Balbus sitting by the fire and once, Tullius working in his garden. He had no control over what he saw, and his efforts to see into the past were a complete failure. He came to regard the orb as little more than an unreliable toy. “There is some flaw in it,” he thought regretfully to himself as he sent it off to the mysterious place where he stored his spell book, after which he gave it little thought.
THE RAIDERS
Although Torquatus was no longer in Elerian’s thoughts, Elerian was still very much on the mind the Goblin King, not by name, but as a faceless Hesperian seen twice through a portal, even though Hesperians were not noted for possessing strong mage powers. This presented somewhat of a mystery for Torquatus, a mystery the Goblin King was determined to solve. He thought it likely that the Hesperian, if he had survived the explosion of the second portal, might now be concealed somewhere in Lascar, the northernmost province of Hesperia, a wild, forested land where it would be easy for a mage of power to hide himself. A search for him there would only entail minor changes to his plans, for he had already begun to make preparations for conquering the Hesperians. Men and Dwarf slaves, under the guard of companies of Mordi, were, even now, reopening the road to Esdras. When they reached the city, they would begin to repair the outer walls and the bridge over the Ancharus, turning the city into a Goblin fortress with access to all the lands west of the river. Once Esdras was fortified, small groups of Ancharians, recruited by his emissaries with promises of gold and of immortality, would begin crossing the Ancharus to capture and enslave any Hesperian they came across, for many slaves would be needed for the coming war.
“When the slave raids begin,” thought Torquatus to himself, “I will direct my Mordi to pay special attention to any young, male Hesperian they came across, bringing any who possess mage powers or seem unusual in any way directly into my presence. Once the Hesperian I seek is brought before me, he will gladly tell me how he is able to use a portal when I begin to slowly cut away his skin and then the flesh beneath so that only his bones remain when I am done with him,” he thought to himself with a red glint in his dark eyes.
Completely unaware of the plans Torquatus had made for his capture, Elerian saw spring, summer, and fall pass peacefully and without incident after his return from Ancharia. Then, in March of the new year, tall, dark Ancharians suddenly began to appear in the inns and on the roads, ostensibly to trade, but it was soon noted by everyone that, wherever they went, a few men and sometimes women and children vanished soon after. There was never any proof that the Ancharians were responsible for the disappearances, but they came to be viewed with suspicion by the Hesperians. The mysterious abductions became the main topic of conversation in every inn and home, including that of Balbus and Elerian.
One early April evening, several weeks after the first Hesperians had disappeared, Elerian and Balbus were returning from the Black Boar, having spent the afternoon in Sidonia selling chestnuts and some of the wine Balbus and Elerian had made in the fall from the grapes Balbus grew. Balbus was riding on their one horse, and Elerian was walking beside him. Their breath rose about them in clouds of white steam, for spring was late and winter still held its grip on the land. Without leaves, the branches overhead were still bare and skeletal looking, and even the grass bordering the road had only just begun to turn green again.
“We should not have left the inn so late,” said Balbus worriedly to Elerian. “There are more men missing all the time.” He suddenly lowered his voice and leaned down toward Elerian. “Do you think the Goblins are involved? Perhaps they are searching for you.”
“There is no proof yet that the Goblins or even the Ancharians are involved in the disappearances,” replied Elerian, seeking to calm Balbus’s uneasiness. “Besides, women and children have also vanished. If the Goblins were searching for me, only young men would be taken. Something must be done
soon, however, to discover who the kidnappers are. I wonder that the border guard has not been turned out to search the forest.”
“There has been no trouble for so long that our soldiers have grown soft,” said Balbus disgustedly. “It will take more than a few missing people to turn them out of their comfortable barracks.” They both fell silent and were within a half mile of their home when loud shouts drew their attention to a man running in their direction from across the fields on their right. With his keen eyes, Elerian recognized Paetus, a friendly fellow who lived nearby with a wife and two children, a boy a few years younger than Elerian and a girl of twelve. Elerian and Balbus waited in the road until Paetus reached them. He was so distraught that he could barely speak.
“The raiders have taken my daughter!” he said despairingly to Elerian and Balbus. “When my wife, my son, and I returned from the fields, the door was open and Glycia was gone. We have searched everywhere without finding her. What am I to do?” he asked despairingly. “It is already dark, and a proper search cannot be made without a dog. By the time we obtain one, the kidnappers will be far away. I fear I will never see my daughter again,” he said miserably.
“I will search for her while you and Paetus fetch Carbo and rouse some of our neighbors,” said Elerian at once to Balbus. “When you return, put Carbo on my track and follow me.”
“You should not go off alone,” said Balbus worriedly.
“I will be fine,” replied Elerian, impatiently. “All of the missing people have vanished from communities farther east. There is a good chance the girl has simply wandered off for some reason of her own.” Elerian handed the reins of the horse to Paetus before lightly leaping over the ditch that separated the road from the fields on his right. Without a backward glance, he began running toward the yellow glow of the windows in Paetus farmhouse, which he could see in the distance. As he ran, distant memories surfaced in Elerian’s mind of another brother and sister he had helped to rescue from the Goblins many years ago.
“I hope the outcome of my search is as happy for Paetus as it was for Julian and his children so long ago,” thought Elerian to himself. He skirted the farmhouse and began to search, instead, along the hedge that guarded the northern border of Paetus’s fields. The farmer had no gate through the hedge as Balbus did, but Elerian soon found a place where a narrow opening had been cut through the tall hedge. It was full dark now, but Elerian scarcely noticed as he slipped through the opening and entered the forest beyond the hedge. His night wise eyes quickly found signs of booted feet in the deep layer of leaves piled beneath the trees.
“Perhaps she has been taken by raiders after all,” thought Elerian uneasily to himself, but no thoughts of waiting for help entered his mind. Without hesitation, armed only with his knife, he confidently followed a faint trail, made up of scuffed leaves, broken twigs, and occasionally, a partial footprint where the ground was soft, downhill toward the lower forest. Eventually, he found himself on a familiar game trail that bent first to the right and then to the left, describing an arc before reaching the lower forest. “Now is my chance to get in front of them,” thought Elerian to himself. Leaving the trail, he cut straight across the steep hillside in front of him, his soft steps inaudible even to his own ears. At the base of the hill, Elerian found the game trail once more. If he had guessed correctly, he was now ahead of whoever had kidnapped Glycia.
Suddenly, Elerian heard a muffled voice off to his right and farther up the hill. Concealing himself behind a wide oak tree that grew near the trail, Elerian waited until the company of raiders approached. They were walking in single file, and from their easy pace, it was obvious that they were not expecting any pursuit. The two men in the front of the line were tall and dark, easily recognizable as Ancharians. When they came abreast of the tree, Elerian stepped out in front of them. He saw them clearly, but to the raiders, Elerian was just a shadow in the dark.
Elerian had his knife in his right hand, but at the last moment, he stayed his hand, for these were men, not creatures of the dark. Instead, he struck the first man on the forehead with the steel knob on the end of his knife hilt, instead of the blade. The Ancharian dropped like a stone, and Elerian confronted the second man, who had drawn a sword. The bright steel glinted in the starlight, as he stabbed at Elerian’s dark shape, striking him in the left side of his chest and crying out for help at the same time. A look of surprise crossed his face as the point of his blade rasped across the scaled shirt Elerian wore beneath his tunic, tearing the cloth without doing any damage to Elerian.
Elerian seized the Ancharian’s sword hand by the wrist with his left hand. With his right hand still wrapped around his knife hilt, he struck the raider in the face with a closed fist. The Ancharian slumped to the ground, his sword dropping away from his suddenly limp fingers, and Elerian released his wrist. He could now see the pale face of Glycia before him, standing in the center of the trail, staring blindly into the darkness. Her arms were bound behind her back, and a short length of rope was tied around her neck.
Casting aside end of the rope that was bound to Glycia, a third raider stepped out from behind the girl. Carrying a dark bladed, curved sword in his right hand, he stepped confidently toward Elerian. About Elerian’s own height, he moved with a light step, and his face was almost handsome except for his thin lips and pale skin. Red sparks smoldered in his dark eyes, and as he came closer, he smiled, revealing sharp, white teeth. Thrusting through his sleek black hair, Elerian saw the tips of pointed ears.
“A Mordi,” thought Elerian to himself in surprise, just before the Goblin attacked with a flurry of blows. Unlike the Ancharians, his dark eyes were focused, and Elerian knew the Wood Goblin could see him clearly in the darkness. Steel rang on steel as Elerian parried each blow, but then, in a move almost too quick to follow, the Goblin switched his sword to his left hand in a single, deft motion. He lunged at Elerian with the point of his sword, and Elerian raised his own knife just in time. The two blades grated harshly against each other before locking at the cross guards above their hilts. Unexpectedly, the Goblin tried to rake Elerian’s face with the claw like nails on his right hand. Barely in time, Elerian seized the Wood Goblin’s sinewy wrist with his left hand and held it in an iron grip. He was shocked when the Mordi opened his mouth and sank his cruelly pointed teeth into his wrist, tearing the flesh and drawing blood.
With a powerful wrench of his knife hilt, Elerian flipped the Goblin’s sword out of his hand, sending it flying off to the right. Almost in the same motion, Elerian brought the pommel of his knife down and struck the Goblin in the right temple. The Mordi’s jaw went slack, and he staggered back, almost falling to the ground. Before he could recover from the blow, Elerian plunged his knife into his chest and through his heart. He had seen the lust to kill in the Goblin’s dark eyes, and knew that only one of them could survive this contest.
After pulling his knife free of the Goblin’s body, Elerian turned and saw that the two Ancharians had recovered their wits and climbed to their feet. Their appetite for fighting was gone, however. They fled into the forest, leaving Elerian alone with their captive. Elerian remained where he was, deciding against pursuing the men. For the first time, he noticed the pain in his wrist, which now felt as if it was on fire. He touched it with his right hand, sending a healing spell into the wound. After a moment, the pain grew less, and he turned his attention to Glycia.
When he approached her, she drew back in fear, for he was only a vague shadow to her night-blind eyes.
“Have no fear,” he said softly, “it is Elerian, Balbus’s grandson. I have come to bring you home.”
“What of the raiders?” asked Glycia in a trembling voice. She had heard the sounds of fighting but had no idea what had occurred in the darkness around her.
“How many were there?” asked Elerian, keeping a wary eye on the surrounding forest.
“There were three,” said Glycia positively.
“Then they are either dead or fled into the forest,�
� said Elerian reassuringly. “You need not fear them any longer.”
“What of the Goblin?” asked Glycia, her voice wavering from the terror she felt.
“He will no longer trouble us or anyone else,” said Elerian grimly as he sliced through her bonds with his knife. “Can you walk?” he asked
“Well enough, now,” replied Glycia, rubbing her chafed wrists. Holding her right hand in his left to guide her along, Elerian began leading Glycia back to her home. As they walked, he talked to distract her.
“How were you captured,” he asked.
“Easily enough,” said Glycia with an edge of bitterness to her voice. “Two of those dark men came to our door. I opened it just enough to see who they were and then immediately tried to close it again, for there are many dark rumors circulating about the Ancharian traders who are abroad in our land. One of them seized the door before I could close it completely and asked if I was alone. When I said that my parents were home, they laughed. They must have known already that I was alone. Pulling the door open by force, they bound me before leading me into the forest where the Goblin joined us.”
“Did they hurt you?” asked Elerian sympathetically.
“They struck me if I did not walk quietly or quickly enough, but not enough to injure me,” replied Glycia. “I was more afraid of the Goblin than the blows,” she said with a shiver. “My blood ran cold every time he looked at me. His eyes glowed red in the dark, and I could see a hunger in them that made me tremble. He was the one who gave the others their orders. They seemed to fear him almost as much as I did.”
“Did they say where they taking you?” asked Elerian.
“No,” replied Glycia. “Neither did they say why they captured me although, I am sure, I would have come to a bad ending. I cannot thank you enough for saving me Elerian,” said Glycia gratefully. “It is a wonder that you found me in the dark and overcame three of the raiders by yourself.”