I screamed from the pain as he sunk his teeth into my left arm. I thrust the metal spike in his direction but hit nothing but air. Another beast slammed his club on my leg which caused me more pain. Still cringing from the pain of my left forearm, I made another go with my crude weapon. This time it hit flesh. I could hear a loud yelping sound as my new weapon stabbed into the chogul. Finally it unlocked its teeth from my arm, but even that created a fresh burst of pain. That chogul leaned back with the pointed metal piece sticking out of it. The first chogul jumped right back on to me and raised his claws.
I could only move my right arm over my face as it clawed at me. It franticly clawed away at me, and all I could do was keep it from hitting my face. I tried moving it away but I was helpless with only one good arm. My right arm almost felt as bad as my left arm. I was so freaking screwed! I tried rolling but another chogul decided to join in and readied his club for a clean shot to my head.
A flash of light came out of nowhere and exploded against the armed chogul. It jumped back and caused his friend to turn away from me. He stood up just to get hit by another flash of light. I could hear the air cracking as it impacted him. His body flew overhead right past me and landed a few feet away. I laid there breathing heavily as Falstrid came into view.
“Are you alright?” he asked. He stood there with his staff held tightly.
I practically had tears in my eyes, “Oh thank goodness!”
He smiled, then saw that I was bleeding, “Oh my, stay right there.” He kneeled down and lifted up my right arm, “They got you pretty good, don’t worry I can heal this quickly…” He started to chant and a light blue light formed from his hands which quickly faded as soon as his hands touched my wound. He stared at my arm, “Odd…” He chanted again and once again the light blue glow faded. Falstrid took a moment, “For some reason my magic isn’t working on you.”
“What?” I said disappointed. I was so hoping he could heal me.
He moved over to my left arm, “Let me try again.” he chanted once more and once again his spell failed. He scratched the back of his head, “There is no reason for that not to work.” He stood up, “Wait right here, I have some bandages.”
I closed my eyes and held my left arm tightly below the wound. I couldn’t even feel my left hand.
Falstrid came back and quickly wrapped both of my arms firmly. “It is quite odd that I am unable to heal you with my magic. Wait!” He finished up his first aid, “Didn’t Xum’gol try to use magic on you?”
I was feeling too lightheaded to answer right away but he immediately answered for me.
“Yes, he did cast something on you and it appeared to fail as well.” He rubbed his chin, “It seems that you have an amazing resistance to magic!”
Falstrid helped me up. My forearms stung like crazy, but at least with the bandages I wouldn’t bleed to death. I took a few steps and looked at the dead choguls. I managed to kill one. The sharp piece of metal stood out from its neck. The others laid there with big burn marks on their chests. Smoke was still coming out of them. There was a little smell of burning fur. Compared to the earlier walk over the pile of rotting corpses, this smelled nice.
Falstrid and I went back to our camp. “We shouldn’t have any more trouble tonight. Choguls may scavenge at night but if they see their own dead at a place, they tend to avoid it,” he lectured. He let out a big yawn, rolled to his side and slept. I almost did the same but cringed when a sharp pain from my arms surged though my body. I decided I would sleep on my back.
I woke up hoping it was all a dream but the pain in my arms told me otherwise. Falstrid was awake and eating some dried fruit.
He gave me a warm smile, “Morning! How are your arms?” He walked over and checked them.
My left arm was in constant pain and I couldn’t move my hand much at all. My right arm was in pain, too, but at least I could use it somewhat. Falstrid handed me some dried fruit which looked like a kind of peach. It ended up being tarter than I expected.
We rode on the rutted dirt road. I leaned my back against a crate and tried to get comfortable. The road was much too bumpy and the pain in my arms made the trip unpleasant. I was feeling a little lightheaded from blood loss and a bad night’s sleep.
Falstrid asked about my world. He couldn’t quite believe that we built machines that traveled through the sky and horseless carriages that traveled on the roads. As a mage he couldn’t really understand how such technology could work without magic. I tried to explain electricity but he just laughed and said it sounded a bit crazy.
“So your world only has humans and beasts?” he asked with curiosity.
I nodded, “Yup, just humans and animals.”
Falstrid laughed, “We have all sorts of races here.” He paused and pointed southeast. “Further that way, we have elves which are like humans but they don’t age and they have pointy ears.”
I kind of felt that he was explaining it like you would to a child but I didn’t mind.
He continued and pointed north. “Up north, we have dwarves. That man you met earlier, Wotmire, is their king.”
My eyes widened, “Him, a king?” I wasn’t too surprised that he was a dwarf; he fit the description perfectly.
Falstrid smiled, “Wotmire is really humble for a king. He is a good friend to Clagmir and me.”
Falstrid thought for a moment, “Let me see … we have minotaurs that have horns and hooves and ogres that are like larger humans but more simple minded. Further north, we have lizard men. I’m assuming you know what a lizard looks like.”
I laughed, “Yes I can picture how they look.”
Falstrid laughed, “Sorry for explaining it like I am. You are just so new to this world.”
I laughed, “No worries.”
We arrived at a fork in the dirt road. Our road lead eastward but the fork looked like it went directly south.
I pointed with my right arm slowly. “What is down that way?”
Falstrid sighed, “That road leads straight to Silmuth where the dark elves live.”
I raised a brow, “Dark elves?”
Falstrid nodded. “Long ago the elves had a civil war, and those that dabbled in darker magic fled to the west. They are not too friendly to outsiders but mostly keep to themselves. It’s not the safest place to venture.”
Falstrid and I kept going on the road for several more hours. We stopped when his horse wanted to get a drink from the river that ran along the road. Falstrid filled up a wineskin and offered me some water. I was a bit worried about bacteria in the water, but he didn’t seem to be concerned about it. He’d lived that long without problems from the water, and I was thirsty so I guessed it was okay.
“We should reach Halatross by noon tomorrow,” Falstrid said cheerfully. I was hoping we would’ve arrived that day. I was spoiled from living in a world with cars.
The trip was a bit more pleasant when we got on a dirt road that wasn’t entirely bumpy. It was quiet for a while. I tried to force my left hand to open and close but it was difficult and painful. That stupid thing bit me really hard! My right hand could move fine, but my forearm had a few areas that stung like crazy even if I lightly touched the bandages.
By nightfall we camped and I had my fill of stale bread and dried fruit. Falstrid smiled while finishing a mouthful of food. “Tomorrow, I am going to see Ayjestus… um. I do believe she will be curious about you,” Falstrid explained.
I smiled, “Who is she?”
Falstrid smiled, “She is a Silthrym. I don’t think I explained them yet, did I?”
I shook my head.
Falstrid continued, “They are a mysterious race of great power. She is the only one around these lands. She pretty much rules Halatross.”
I laughed, “If she is so strong, how come she didn’t come here to help you stop that guy?”
Falstrid laughed, “Silthrym may be powerful, but they are physically weak and avoid conflicts as much as they can.” He cleared his throat and continued, “They
have the ability to sense all around them, feeling what others feel.”
I slowly laid back and listened.
Falstrid picked at his beard. “We barely had time to stop Xum’gol, so there wasn’t a chance for her to aid us. She wouldn’t be among the front lines. It’s hard to explain.”
I filled in the rest, “So, she is a pacifist and being in a battle would hurt her, in a way?”
Falstrid chuckled, “I guess it is a draw back of her ability, but it is also her strength. She helps keep Halatross one of the safest places. I also think she keeps the dark elves at bay.”
I raised a brow but waited to hear more.
Falstrid stared out into the sky and collected his thoughts. A moment passed and he explained, “There were once two of them. They both helped end the long elf war. The exiled dark elves retaliated and killed one of them. Ever since then, Ayjestus has stayed at Halatross to act as a presence to prevent another war from breaking out between the elves and the dark elves.” Falstrid sighed, “There is a legend that the royal bloodline of the dark elves got their grey skin from a curse for killing one of the Silthrym. I can’t be too sure.”
My eyelids felt heavy. Maybe I was adjusting to the time difference. I closed my eyes as I spoke. “So the dark elves are really that evil?”
Falstrid chuckled, “I wouldn’t say that. They just don’t like outsiders. They keep to themselves. Now, there is one that everyone fears.”
I opened one eye, “So there is one bad one, eh?”
Falstrid laughed, “Yeah, but she is mostly a story meant to scare the kids. She’s some witch that lives isolated from the other dark elves. She has a moat filled with the bones of all those that have trespassed her domain. It is a silly story.”
I laughed, “A moat filled with bones, huh? Doesn’t sound like a person I want to meet.”
Falstrid and I laughed.
I slept throughout the night. Falstrid tapped me gently with his staff, “Time to get up! We have a lot of road to travel!”
I mumbled and tried to get my brain to wake up with the rest of me. My back felt a bit sore, but I managed to push myself up to my feet. My right arm felt a bit better, not great but I could actually use it without all the pain. My left arm still felt sore as heck, but I could move my fingers better.
Falstrid walked over. “How are you doing?”
He lifted up part of the bandage on my right arm, “I hope there aren’t any infections…” He let out a gasp.
I looked over, “What?”
He started to pull away more bandages, “Your wounds have already scabbed over and healed faster than I could ever have expected.”
I looked at my right forearm. There were several claw marks on my arm that did scab over. Falstrid walked around and peeked at my left forearm. Air went into the wound and I cringed from the pain. “This was a nasty wound, but even it looks better. So strange!” he mumbled to himself. “There was some damage to your muscles. Try moving your hand,” he mumbled some more.
I moved my fingers around slowly, “Anything wrong?”
Falstrid chuckled, “Do people in your world heal this fast?”
I stared at him, “Um… no…” It did seem weird how much better I felt that morning compared to the day before.
He closed up the bandage, “Normally this kind of damage would heal over a much greater period of time…” He stared blankly for a moment and was trying to figure out something. He chuckled, “I really don’t quite understand. You appear to have a strange reaction to this world.”
Falstrid went quiet shortly after, and we both climbed on the wagon and rode off. He mumbled to himself a bit but didn’t seem to want to discuss any more of it. I stared at my bandages. Do I really heal that fast? My right arm felt quite different. It still hurt. My left arm was also still hurting but quite a bit less than day before. The fact that I could move my fingers was a bit strange. Maybe when we reached Halatross and met this weird girl... I wondered what a Silthrym looked like.
Falstrid occasionally reached over and grabbed a book but still kept quiet. I just leaned back and tried to get as much rest as I could. It had been really crazy. First I was transported to that world. Then I met some interesting people. Then got attacked by crazy monkey things called choguls and then found out I could heal faster than normal. There was also the fact that magic didn’t seem to affect me. I was almost afraid to see what Halatross had to offer.
Falstrid’s mumbling woke me up from a very brief nap. I let out a big yawn, “So what are you thinking?”
Falstrid ignored me at first, but he perked up. “Oh, sorry. I was just trying to understand you a bit.”
I laughed, “What? About how magic doesn’t really affect me and that I can heal a little faster?”
Falstrid chuckled, “Don’t you think that is a bit strange?”
I laughed, “I think just being here is a bit strange!”
Falstrid smiled and closed his book, “I really think Ayjestus will want to see you.”
I leaned back again and closed my eyes. My brain was running around too fast to concentrate on a single thought for longer than a moment. I admit, I was feeling a bit excited to see Halatross. I was also a bit nervous about visiting someone of such great importance and power. Someone of a race that I had no clue what they looked like.
The wagon hit a rock and I bumped my arm. I bit my lower lip from the pain. I might be able to heal faster than normal creatures, but not fast enough.
Falstrid turned his head. “Here we are!”
I peeked out of the front of the wagon and in the distance saw the city of Halatross.
Chapter 2
Halatross was more booming than I had expected. It was filled with busy people moving around doing their daily business. Most of the buildings were single story but there were a few exceptions. There was a large stone temple towering over the center of the town.
“It’s such a lovely town, don’t you think?” Falstrid said cheerfully.
I stared out from the back of the wagon and nodded. I saw a few dwarves hauling various items from a wagon. There were many humans walking around. There was a very large man that I assumed was an ogre helping someone push a cart around. We kept moving towards the center of the town and finally, I saw my first minotaur.
He was about the same size as the ogre but with large horns and the face of a cow. The minotaur had short brown fur as well as hooves and a tail. He looked like he was laughing with a few other guys. That was so cool!
Falstrid stopped the wagon right outside the temple.
A man in a white robe walked over, “Grand Master Falstrid! Pleasure to see you!”
Falstrid climbed down, “Thank you. I hope Lady Ayjestus is available.”
The robed man bowed his head, “Of course, please come inside. We will take care of your horse and wagon.”
I was about to hop down but saw my first elf. Holy cow, she was hot!
“Blake . . . when you are done…?” Falstrid instructed.
I put my jaw back in my mouth and followed Falstrid.
One of my legs was asleep as we walked towards the temple. The doors stood at least twice my height. They reported loudly as the two guards opened them for us. Inside the temple stood several columns. There was a clean blue carpet that went straight down the room toward the middle and intersected another long stretch of carpet that went across the full width of the room. There were a large number of people walking around and talking inside. Most were wearing white robes or white armor, but there were regular people there as well.
The man in the white robe jogged over to us, “Please follow me.”
He led us up through the main room and through smaller double doors. Behind the doors wound a spiraling staircase. Falstrid sighed to himself and slowly climbed. I followed behind him and put my arm on the rail but felt a bit of pain from my wound as I bumped the rail.
After the third window I felt a bit uneasy. I forgot to mention that I hate heights! I held my breath and j
ust stared down at the stairs the rest of the way.
Several flights later we arrived at our destination. I glanced out the window and regretted it. I quickly turned and followed Falstrid. At the end of the stairs there was displayed a good size room with hanging plants and water features. The water features went along the walls and occasionally dripped water down to the hanging plants. I am not sure how they managed to get water to flow way up here unless people in this world discovered water pressure and plumbing.
On the floor stood several wooden benches and up at the front stood a nicely carved desk. Behind the desk sat a very attractive woman in a white robe. She was busy writing on a scroll but raised her head and smiled at us.
“Oh, Falstrid! Lady Ayjestus is busy at the moment. Please have a seat.”
Falstrid tapped me lightly with his staff as hechuckled a little and sat down. I got the hint and sat down. I notice that the girl had long pointed ears. They stood out about three inches longer than a human’s ears. She had light brown hair and stunning green eyes. It had been a long time since I’d really seen a girl that hot. I felt kind of guilty just looking at her. It is amazing how time flies when you’re in the presence of a really hot girl. I almost forgot about my injuries for a moment.
The door behind her opened and a man in white armor popped out. It was Clagmir. He glanced toward us and did a double take. “Oh, Falstrid, you’re here already!”
Falstrid stood up, “I am not as fast as you but I still keep a good pace.”
Clagmir smiled, “Oh, that young man is still with you.”
Falstrid looked at me, “I found that our friend here came from a place further than we thought.”
Falstrid explained to Clagmir who found the story difficult to believe at first. The elf girl overheard the conversation and looked over at me. I turned away and could tell that I was blushing. I’m not sure if she looked at me for any good reason other than I was some sort of a freak, but I didn’t care.
Dragon Hero Page 3