A great ball of fire encircled him, shielding him from the warlock’s attack while his body shifted and changed. His bones snapped and elongated. Pain rippled through his body, but so too did power and strength. Great wings developed over his widening back and he let out a mighty roar that shook the ground and caused the warlock to tremble before him.
When the fire dissipated, Erik stood high over the puny warlock. He looked down at him through wise eyes the size of shields. A puff of smoke flew out from his slender snout and he flicked his forked tongue out over his sharp fangs.
“I can taste your fear, warlock,” Erik said.
The warlock sent spell after spell, but Erik leapt this way and that, dodging each with blinding speed. He then sprang into the air and whipped his tail under his body to slam into the warlock. The frail creature was sent sailing through the air to land nearly one hundred yards away in a crumpled heap. Erik then sent a gargantuan sphere of fire to consume the warlock’s body. It had barely reached the creature when the tell-tale black bolt of lightning struck and the warlock was gone.
Erik turned to regard the blue crystal again. It now looked so tiny to him. With his dragon form he could hear the crystal emitting a sweet melody along with the light. At once he understood the magic that had formed it, and he comprehended its purpose. In an instant he transformed back into his normal body. The blue crystal ceased to glow and it fell to the ground. Erik pulled his clothes tighter around him.
Had he not understood that the Tear of Goresym had transformed him and sent him to a plane between the realm of the living and the dead, he might have been confused that his clothes were still intact. Even still, he knew the battles were no less real.
“Now do you see?” Tatev asked as he returned to stand before Erik. “You are the champion. There is nothing that you have done with help that you couldn’t do on your own now.”
“The crystal didn’t let me fight Tu’luh again,” Erik pointed out.
Tatev nodded. “His spirit is highly guarded. The Tear of Goresym was not powerful enough to summon him. Still, this should open your eyes and broaden your understanding.”
Erik nodded. “Let’s go find those glasses of yours. You have helped me find peace, so let me return the favor.”
Tatev smiled. “Let’s get the book first,” he said wryly. “It’s just a short walk to the south.”
Erik returned the smile. “Lead the way.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
For the next several weeks, Erik carried the Infinium in his pack while he and Tatev walked through the land to find the Eyes of Dowr. With the blanket of snow fallen over the ground it was hard to recognize where they had been on their journey into the Eastern Wilds. Eventually they came to the brook where they had been captured and Erik spent several days digging through the snow.
As the days wore on, Erik built a lean-to and dug a fire pit. The search for the glasses was fruitless and frustrating. The days turned to weeks. Two months passed and Erik was out of ground to search. The only place left was the brook itself, but it was far too cold to wade into the water.
Tatev grew quiet again, pacing in circles around the cleared camp and dragging his feet.
Erik ran low on food, and soon had to start foraging around. Erik fashioned several snares and managed to catch a couple of snow hares. One of them was dismembered by a fox before Erik could get to it, but the other was whole and would supply meat. He stopped looking for the glasses long enough to stock up on food. Soon he had several hares. He skinned them and fashioned a tight string from their sinews. Next he cut a long branch and trimmed it into a smooth pole. He bored a hole through the top end and tied the string through it. He then tied a loop on the other end of the string. He took the pole to the brook and used the thick end to smash up the bits of ice that covered the water. He inserted the end with the string and began fishing along the bottom of the brook for the glasses.
“That won’t work,” Tatev said as he appeared next to Erik.
Erik jumped. Tatev hadn’t spoken to him since they arrived at this spot. Any previous attempt to get Tatev’s attention had been fruitless. He wasn’t sure if Tatev’s sudden change in behavior was a good or ill omen. Either way, he wasn’t about to lose the opportunity to enjoy some company. Erik shrugged. “I have looked everywhere else. The glasses have got to be in the water.”
Tatev frowned. “You’ll never find them like that.”
“Well I can’t very well go into the water and spend time swimming around for them.” Erik then stopped and looked at Tatev. An idea came to him and he grinned. “Why don’t you go in the water?”
Tatev looked at Erik with a curious expression and then wrinkled his nose. “I can’t swim.”
“You’re a ghost,” Erik pointed out. “You don’t need to swim. Just go in and look around.” Tatev frowned. Erik grinned wider and motioned to the water. “You can follow the pole and look along the bottom.”
Tatev arched a brow and shook his head. “I don’t like this, not one bit.” The ghost moved toward the water and walked out over the surface. “I don’t see anything,” he said.
“Go down,” Erik pressed. “You can’t possibly see the bottom from there. Go in the water.”
Tatev mumbled something and then drifted down into the water. Erik soon lost sight of his image. The minutes passed. After a while, Erik was sure that Tatev was either pacing along the bottom uselessly or had gone back to wherever he went when he disappeared. Erik continued raking the bottom with his improvised tool. Whenever he felt a snag he would carefully pull the pole up to reveal his prize. After an hour and a half he had collected three sticks, countless patches of algae, and a large bone from some sort of animal.
“Tatev was right. This is stupid.” Erik walked a ways down the bank and began raking a new patch of brook bed. Then he heard a sharp whistle to his left. Erik turned to see Tatev rising above the water some sixty yards away.
“I found them,” he said with a great grin. “I remembered that the glasses would have been carried by the current, so I started to walk downstream after I searched the area you are looking in and I found them tangled in a patch of algae down here.”
Erik could hardly believe his ears. “Are you sure?”
“Well of course I am sure. They are my glasses after all. Don’t you think I would know the Eyes of Dowr when I see them? Come on, get them out of the water. I can’t pull them out.”
Erik rushed down to where Tatev hovered over the ice and broke through the frozen layer with his pole. He started to slip his pole in but Tatev shook his head.
“You’ll need to go in after them. The algae has grown around them and entangled them pretty securely.”
Erik nodded. He tested the depth with his pole, but failed to touch the bottom. “It’s pretty deep,” Erik said.
“We are too close to stop now,” Tatev said.
Erik went back toward the camp and began cutting branches and logs into a pile. “I’ll need a strong fire as soon as I come out if I am going to survive this.”
No response.
Erik turned back around and saw Tatev kneeling over the spot in the brook where the glasses were. Erik sighed and went back to work gathering wood. He spent the rest of the day creating a fire pit near where he would enter the water and piling the wood tall and wide in the pit. He would wait until the next morning, to maximize the time he would have in the sun to dry out and try to regain his warmth.
When morning came he laid out his two blankets near the bank as well. One he planned to use as a towel, and the other he would wrap around himself after he dressed, assuming he could dress again after diving into the water.
He looked to the brook and already his bones felt cold.
He used his flaming sword to set fire to the great pile of wood. Once the flames took hold he moved to the bank. With the sword still burning brightly he stabbed it into the dirt. Then he extinguished the flames and slipped the looped end of the string around the handle. He undressed and p
laced his clothes on the second blanket. The cold air tightened his skin and caused him to shiver. He kept telling himself that it wasn’t cold.
“It’s warm outside,” he said. “The sun is soooo hot.”
Neither his mind, nor his body bought into the lie.
Feeling the urgency as the heat left his body he grabbed onto the pole and tested the water with his right foot. Cold didn’t even begin to describe it. Still, spring was several weeks away. That was time he didn’t have to wait. He ran into the water, splashing and falling in as he gasped for breath. All of his muscles contracted simultaneously and he nearly turned back, but by the sheer power of his will he continued on.
The air in his lungs felt as though it was going to explode out of him as the water enveloped him and he swam down toward the bottom. With his right hand he held the pole, knowing he would need it to help pull himself up with once he had the glasses.
His legs curled up under him and his torso shuddered and quaked. His shoulders barely responded to his commands. His body started to drift with the current, and then Tatev appeared before him.
“This way,” Tatev said as he pointed toward a patch of green at the bottom of the brook. At first, Erik was surprised he could hear Tatev speak, but then he realized that Tatev also didn’t appear wet either. The ghost occupied an existence that was not bound by the same restrictions placed upon a mortal body. Erik pushed on, encouraged by his friend. He stopped and looked back when he reached the end of the pole. He was still several yards away from the glasses and he could feel his strength leaving him.
“Call upon your power, Erik,” Tatev said.
Erik summoned his power as though he would release the great column of light from his mouth. The warmth it created in his chest wasn’t much when compared to the crushing cold of the water all around him, but it gave him enough courage to move on. He released the pole and fought against the current. He swam to the glasses and ripped the whole patch of algae free. The glasses tumbled out and started to drift away, but Erik managed to catch them. Then he turned back for the bank.
He saw there was little point going for the pole now. The wood had floated up and now was slapping against a patch of ice near the bank as far downstream as the tether would allow.
Erik clutched the glasses in his left hand while he used his right to climb up the sloping bank and emerge from the water. He managed to pull himself half way out of the brook, but then he collapsed and gasped for breath. His body shivered uncontrollably. His fingers curled painfully and he pulled his arms in close to his chest. His teeth made a chattering noise that would rival any woodpecker he had ever known in terms of speed.
The bonfire wasn’t far away, but it did little to help him. He felt as though he had not the power to even crawl to his blanket.
“Put on the glasses, Erik,” Tatev said.
Erik scrunched his brow and tried to tell Tatev how stupid that sounded, but his jaw wouldn’t hold still long enough for him to gain control of it.
“Put them on.”
Erik fumbled with the Eyes of Dowr for a few seconds and then finally managed to get them onto his face. No sooner did he do that than he saw several others standing around him. There were dwarves and soldiers standing around that he did not recognize. Tatev stood in their midst and held out his hands to them.
“There are many who have fought and sacrificed in this effort. They are all pulling for you. They didn’t come this far just to watch you freeze to death.”
Seeing the scores of people around him, Erik felt a mix of embarrassment and courage at the same time. He slowly pulled himself out of the water and crawled to the first blanket. He began to towel himself off and scoot closer to the fire. The warmth pierced his shivering skin and assuaged the cramps in his body.
As he looked around, still wearing the Eyes of Dowr, he saw Master Orres standing on the opposite side of the fire. The large man was smiling at him, but he didn’t say anything. Then, out from the crowd came Al’s apprentice. The young man smiled and nodded to Erik approvingly. Erik felt no blame coming from anyone there, only love and compassion.
“Erik,” Tatev called out as he stepped up next to him. “My time with you grows short. Now that the Eyes of Dowr have been found, I can complete my mission.”
“Your mission?” Erik echoed. “I thought finding the glasses was your mission.”
Tatev shook his head. “My mission is to dispel your doubts. I am, and always have been, helping you to fully understand your potential and your role. As my last lesson, I will leave you with this.” Tatev smiled and stepped back to reveal Lord Lokton standing behind him.
Erik’s mouth fell open and tears filled his eyes.
Lord Lokton stepped forward and stopped only inches before Erik. He knelt down and looked up to Erik’s eyes. “You must know how proud I am of you,” he said. “Remember your duty. You took an oath at your Konn Deta. You live to defend the realm, and our house.”
“Our homes is destroyed,” Erik said tearfully.
“No,” Lord Lokton said. “The building was destroyed, but that can be rebuilt. Our house consists of all the people we serve. House Lokton still stands. We are diminished, but we are not all gone. Keep fighting for us, Erik. Keep pushing through.”
“I am sorry I couldn’t save you,” Erik said. He dropped down to his knees and the glasses almost fell from his face. He caught them and pushed them back up on his nose so he could see his father. “I did everything I could.”
Lord Lokton nodded and smiled. “That is all anyone can ask, of a man, and that is why I am proud of you. Now, rise up, and finish your training. You have an oath to fulfill.”
“You don’t blame me?”
Lord Lokton smiled and shook his head. “One cannot blame the candle for the shadows that dance upon the walls. Be that light, Erik. Chase away the darkness. That is what House Lokton stands for. That is what Master Lepkin fights for. As for me, I am, and always will be proud to call myself your father. Know that we are watching you, and there are far more of us than will ever stand with the likes of Tu’luh the Red.”
“I love you, father,” Erik said in a whisper.
“And I love you, Erik,” Lord Lokton replied.
“Our time is up,” Tatev said. “We must go now.”
“Where? Why?” Erik asked.
Lord Lokton stood up and smiled wide. “Who do you think helps the Immortal Mystic see his visions of the future?” he asked. “The good and just that have passed on try to gather the bits of wisdom they can and help him make sense of the world. Until the rainbow bridge is reestablished and the path back to the Heaven City, Volganor, is open, it is the best we can do.”
“You help the Immortal Mystic?” Erik asked incredulously.
“And others, in times of great need,” Lord Lokton replied.
“Then I will see you back at the palace?”
Lord Lokton smirked. “Perhaps from time to time. I am going now to look in on your mother.”
A great wind picked up and then the many spirits vanished as if nothing more than wisps of smoke. Erik stood there in front of the fire for a long while. He no longer felt the chill of the water. In fact, he no longer felt anything other than warmth and courage. The ghosts that had haunted him were now at peace. No more screams. No more nightmares. His mind and soul were clear. He dressed and began the long trek back to the Immortal Mystic, securing the Eyes of Dowr safely within his pack.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Aparen sat at a small, rectangular table staring at the pile of grapes next to the pair of rolls on his plate. He hadn’t touched them. He just looked at them. He wasn’t hungry, hadn’t been all day, or the day before for that matter. Njar had shown him so much over the last several months and it was only just now beginning to sink in.
All of his fantasies of being some great warlock seemed so laughable now. Nothing he could ever do would change the course of events in the realm half as much as one satyr had done. More than that, he could feel his i
nsignificance as well. Whether he lived twenty, one hundred, or even a thousand years, nothing he did would ultimately matter. He would die sooner or later, and the world would go on without him just the same as if he had never been.
The only thing that seemed to make any sense at all anymore was the idea of balance that Njar was showing him.
He reached for the glass of wine in front of him and took a drink. He hadn’t been hungry, but he had been thirsty, especially for wine. He rose from the table and started to move to the cot he had been given when a knock sounded at the door. Aparen waved his hand and the door opened.
He stiffened when he saw Silvi standing there. He hadn’t seen her for a long time. In fact, not at least for a couple of months, and the last time he had seen her was only in passing.
“May I come in?” Silvi asked.
Aparen looked at her raven black hair and her supple features, then he nodded as he took another drink of his wine.
“I don’t suppose there is an apology I can make that will help things between us,” she started. “But I wondered if we could start over?”
“Start over?” Aparen asked.
Silvi walked into the room, her hips swaying slightly under her form-fitting dress. She closed the door behind her and moved to sit upon the table. “I have been watching you,” she said.
“I know,” Aparen said. “Njar has told me.”
Silvi nodded and smoothed a lock of hair back over her ear. “Are you still interested?”
Aparen pulled his brow together and looked at her. “Are you here to charm me again?” he asked.
Silvi shook her head. “No, I promised I would never try that again.”
“How can I be sure?” Aparen asked.
Silvi shrugged. “I would imagine you would be able to detect a charm spell if I tried,” she pointed out. “You have progressed along extremely quickly, and with the additional power given to you, I don’t see how I could be much of a threat to you anymore.”
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