Blood spurted from the ogre as he staggered back. He lost his grip on the hammer and it fell heavily, yet he remained on his feet. That was a brutal hit to the face, and it showed. Bolam continued chanting quietly and then shot a fireball at one of the choguls, hitting it dead on. It yelped as it was blasted to the ground. It was funny because the choguls were just watching the fight between the human and the ogre. This, however, seemed to shake them into action.
With the ogre occupied and a few choguls left, my confidence returned. I charged at one and knocked him to the ground. The others got past me, but Bolam took care of them himself. One of the choguls growled as it climbed back to its feet. I had no intention of letting it recover and swung my club with both hands. The club shattered as it crashed into the chogul’s head. I’m glad it at least had one final strike left in it.
Meanwhile, Jerak hopped off the wall and made for the ogre. The ogre covered his face, now covered in blood, and made a wild swing at Jerak. Jerak quickly leaned back avoiding its large fist. He countered with a heavy swing toward the ogre’s side. I cringed from the blow. I could have sworn it cracked a rib or two. The ogre fell to its knees with a loud grunt of pain. Without skipping a beat Jerak jumped up and swung down on the back of the ogre’s head with a two-handed blow. The ogre fell flat on its face, and it was clear that was the end of that. Another chogul yelped as it flew and landed next to me. The smell of burnt fur wafted into the air.
I dropped my broken club and laughed in relief, hardly believing my luck. I was about to face certain doom when this random guy came out of nowhere and saved my life. The man, Jerak, put his mace to the side of his belt and waved at us. I waved back and looked back at Bolam.
“Hello there! Good timing, eh?” the man said cheerfully. He casually walked over to us with a big grin on his face. He brushed back his wavy hair, revealing an old blue headband, “Hey good job taking care of the choguls for me!”
Bolam walked over sounding relieved, “Well, thank you for taking care of that ogre for us.”
I nodded, “That was awesome what you did!”
Jerak’s grin became wider, “It was wasn’t it? That ogre stood no chance against a hero like me!”
I raised an eyebrow, “Are you famous?”
Jerak laughed, “Of course! I am the great Jerak! Legendary adventurer and hero!”
I smiled and extended my hand. “Well it is an honor!”
Bolam looked at him, “I’ve never heard of you.”
Jerak shook my hand and then used that same hand to dig into his ear with his pinky. He looked at Bolam, “Really, you’ve never heard of me? You must not be from around here.” He pulled his pinky out and wiped it on the side of his pants.
Bolam shook his head, “No, I’m sure I would’ve heard of you.”
Jerak frowned, “No way! I am well known, ask anyone!”
I was beginning to think that this guy was a legend in his own mind.
Bolam sighed, “So why are you out here anyway?”
Jerak looked at the dead ogre and then back at Bolam. “Um, why are you guys out here?”
Bolam shook his head, “I asked you first.”
Jerak pointed to the dead ogre, “Well there’s a bounty on that ogre. That’s why I followed him over here. Oh, don’t tell me you guys were after the bounty as well!?”
I laughed, “No, we were just traveling this way.”
Jerak leaned back, “Whew! Good! I was afraid I was going to have to share the reward.”
Bolam smiled, “I thought you were just a hero doing good deeds.”
Jerak argued, “Hey! Even heroes have to earn a living!”
Bolam laughed, “That is fine, um, thank you for the help, Jerak.”
Jerak smiled, “No problem!” and walked off toward the ogre. He took a few steps and then turned back and pointed at Bolam, “Wait, you used magic earlier right?”
Bolam looked over at me and then back at him again. “Um, yeah.”
Jerak smiled, “That was so neat! Then you are like some kind of mage, right?”
I tried to keep a straight face. This guy was really thick-headed.
Jerak walked over and went through the ogre’s things. I figured I’d do the same and checked the dead choguls. The spoils weren’t that great. There were a few coins among them, but they also kept dead bugs and other junk in their coin pouches.
Jerak laughed, “Yeah… that is a bit gross.”
I did manage to get five copper. Most of their weapons were either clubs with some bit of metal tied to them or some crude scrap metal covered in rust. I was surprised to see that the hand axe was actually a hand axe. It looked more like a tool than a weapon and it also had a small bit of rust on it. Still, it was something, and, at the very least, it was a step up from a broken club.
Jerak walked over with a fancy looking pendant and a pouch full of coins.
“Wow!” I said. “Somebody got lucky!”
Jerak smiled, “The pendant was stolen by that ugly thing over there.”
Bolam seemed bored and called, “Come on Blake, we should get going.”
I grabbed my pack and saw Jerak staring at us. He looked a bit disappointed.
“Hey where are you guys going?”
Bolam turned. “We are heading to Nevar Bog.”
Jerak thought for a moment and jogged toward us. “Hey! Let me go with you!” “So where are you two from?” Jerak asked.
Bolam muttered, “Vunash.”
Jerak nodded, “Oh, the big city.” He turned to me and asked, “And you?”
I looked at Bolam who just shrugged and sighed.
Jerak got right up next to me. “So where are you from?”
I shrugged, “I am from Earth.”
Jerak tilted his head, “Earth? Well we’ve all come from some place with dirt. Really, tell me, where are you from?”
Bolam answered, “He is from another world which is called Earth.”
Jerak started to laugh but saw that we were not. His expression turned sober, “Wait, are you serious?”
I ended up explaining it to Jerak. At first he thought we were playing some kind of joke, but then he was quick to trust me. I told him how I was summoned by Xum’gol and met Falstrid and the others and ended up there. He just stared at me with open-mouthed wonder.
“That is so neat! So, are you still a human?”
I glanced at Bolam who didn’t seem to quite know for sure.
I scratched my head, “I really don’t know anymore.”
Jerak scratched his head. “So, wait… if Xum’gol was trying to summon a demon, does that make you a demon?”
I scowled at him and left the question unanswered.
We hiked for several hours and I ended up explaining certain contraptions from Earth.
“Wait… wait, wait! You have actually traveled to your moons?” Jerak spoke in a surprised tone.
I laughed, “No, I haven’t, but others have. And we only have one moon orbiting my world.”
Bolam chuckled and shook his head, “I still can’t figure how your world could do so much without magic.”
Jerak laughed, “Next you will tell me that your world has a machine that can make humans fly!”
Bolam shook his head. “If they already have a machine that can take you to a moon, making someone fly wouldn’t be as hard.”
Jerak picked at his ear with his pinky again. “Oh, I guess that makes sense then.”
Nightfall came just as we reached the bog. Bolam voiced that it might not be so smart to make camp at the bog, especially at night.
“It is much too dark to travel, so we will tackle it in the morning” Bolam explained.
Jerak shrugged, “Too bad none of us has a lantern.”
Bolam tapped his staff and it started to glow. Jerak looked really impressed, “That is neat!”
I laughed, “Then how come we’re not traveling tonight? Not that I really want to venture into a tomb at night.”
Bolam sat down and jammed his s
taff into the ground, “I don’t think we should chance running into anything nasty at night. It is much safer to wait until morning.”
I couldn’t argue with that.
I was stuck doing the second watch but I slept a little easier knowing there was someone else able to fend off choguls and other nasty things. Jerak seemed like a trustworthy fellow. He was a bit dim and acted a little childish, but he seemed like a straight, honest person. Now Bolam, on the other hand, came off as someone full of wit. He did sound a bit nerdy, but I was a bit of a nerd too. I could picture him wearing some T-shirt with a fantasy logo on it and working at a store that sold trading cards and comic books.
Of course Jerak could just be trying to gain our trust before stealing from us. I doubted that, unless he was one heck of an actor. Bolam didn’t seem to be too concerned, either.
My nose started to itch like crazy. I opened my eyes and saw Jerak poking my nose with a tall blade of grass. He started chuckling at his little practical joke. What a butthead! He tried to keep his laughter quiet enough so it wouldn’t wake Bolam. I glared at him and saw that it was my turn to keep watch.
He plopped to the ground, shed his mace and buckler, which he kept strapped to his left forearm at all times, and went to sleep. I let out a big yawn and sat by the fire. While inspecting my new hand axe, I grabbed a rough looking stone and tried to scrape off the rust.
I spent my entire watch cleaning up that hand axe. It was a bit dull, but there was nothing else to do. It was not a big problem fixing it. After working on it a little, the axe looked to be in better shape than I had thought. The handle had no visible cracks and, even though it was obviously made to be a tool, I knew the axe would prove useful as a weapon.
I felt a little bit free for some reason. I did miss home but, at the same time, that world was so new and exciting to me. I had faced some scary things so far, but I felt like I could overcome anything. Sleepiness started to take over and I woke Bolam for his watch. But before that…
“Ugh! Why am I buried in grass?!” Jerak complained as he woke up. During the night I started to pull as much tall grass as I could and carefully buried Jerak in it.
It sounded like a good bit of revenge and, even at that early hour, was still pretty funny.
Jerak stood up wiped off all the bits of grass stuck all over him. He gave me a dirty look and then laughed, “Good one!”
I laughed back, “Next time don’t mess with a guy who will be watching over you while you sleep.” Bolam shook his head but cracked a smile at the joke.
At first light we hiked down toward the bog. The trees grew dense and barely allowed any light to reach the forest floor. With broad daylight providing only a sliver of light, I could only imagine how bad it would have been at night. The river we had followed ended down there. Many of the long, ancient stone walls and pillars had tumbled or were leaning and covered with moss and fern. It was an added challenge to avoid sinking into the mud. There were a few sunken bits of stone buried deep in the soft soil that made it a little easier to walk. I really wished I had boots.
“So, where is this place?” Jerak asked while swinging a stick around.
Bolam looked around and scratched his beard. “I am not sure; I have never been here before.”
I placed the palm of my hand to my face. “You mean we came all this way without knowing where it was?”
Jerak laughed, “I thought mages were supposed to be smart!”
Bolam turned his head and snapped at Jerak, “Mages are smart! I know the general vicinity of the tomb!”
Jerak hung back and gave me a look. I could tell that he was thinking the same thing as me. Bolam better know what he’s doing.
“What are you doing, Jerak?” I asked.
We’d been walking through the bog for about an hour when Jerak started climbing one of the still standing pillars for a vantage point. Bolam brushed off some growth on one of the large stones and sat down. Jerak got to the top of the pillar and peered ahead. He kept shifting and looking in different directions. Bolam adjusted his glasses and took a break for a moment.
I looked back up at Jerak. “Do you see anything?”
Jerak looked down. “Nope! All I can see are trees and some stone structure, but that’s about it!”
Bolam lifted his head up, “Stone structure? That might be it!”
Jerak peered over in that direction again. “You sure? I thought we were looking for a tomb!”
I just closed my eyes and shook my head.
“It is just a short distance awa…” Jerak said before he lost his balance and fell from the pillar.
A moment later he landed face first into a puddle of mud. A few seconds passed before he slowly got up. His face and some of his armor were covered in mud. I bit my lower lip and tried not to laugh. Bolam turned his head and started to laugh, pointing. Jerak displayed a serious face that only made it funnier so I ended up biting my lower lip harder.
Jerak stood up and started laughing as well, “Good thing I didn’t fall on solid ground.”
“Yup, lucky!” I exhaled and laughed with him,
Bolam just laughed harder. I was Glad to see Jerak was able to laugh at himself at times, too.
After cleaning himself up as best he could; we moved on in the direction Jerak told us. It didn’t take long at all for us to find that small stone structure covered in moss and fern. Bolam pulled away the overgrowth and revealed a stone door.
Jerak scratched his head. “That’s a small tomb… pretty disappointing.”
Bolam rolled his eyes and stared at the door. “This is just the entry way, the rest is underground.”
Jerak sounded a bit insulted, “Well, of course it’s underground! You just didn’t pick up on my joke!”
Bolam ignored that last remark and felt around the door for a release mechanism. A loud click came from the door and Bolam was able to push it open.
“That’s odd…” Bolam spoke quietly to himself.
I leaned closer, “What’s wrong?”
Bolam turned on the light from his staff. “The air inside isn’t as stale as I thought it would be. Either there is another opening elsewhere, or something else came through this way.”
I stared at the bits of moss and plant life on the door. “The door is totally covered with plant life so there must be another opening.”
Jerak took out his mace, “Naw! That kind of moss grows pretty fast. Let’s hope we find something neat inside!”
Bolam shrugged, “Alright, but let’s be careful.” He slowly walked in.
We cautiously followed Bolam down the stairs. There was no railing on the wall so it was a little dangerous to walk down there in such darkness. The walls were damp and held a few cobwebs. The smell wasn’t as bad as I expected. The strongest smell was of wet stone and mildew. I pretty much expected it to smell something like my first day in that world. Jerak and I quietly followed Bolam down toward the bottom of the stairs that led to a doorway.
The doorway held a metal door that was mostly covered in rust.
Bolam held the handle and whispered, “I might need some help pushing this open. It will be rusted shut.”
Jerak and I pressed our hands on the door and shoved. The door opened effortlessly and sent Bolam falling through. Jerak snickered but didn’t say anything. I leaned down and helped Bolam up. He sighed and straightened his glasses and then lifted his staff. The light from his staff revealed most of the room.
The walls were filled with deep narrow shelves. Some still held stone coffins, while others were mostly empty apart from a few bones. Down on the ground laid several broken stone coffins and a bunch of skeletons.
Bolam walked over, “Something must have desecrated this tomb.”
Jerak held up a skull. “Dark elves sure have skinny heads.”
Bolam sighed, “I hope this doesn’t mean grave robbers came through here before us.”
Jerak put the skull down, “Wouldn’t we be considered grave robbers?”
I s
cratched my head and couldn’t really come up with an alternative answer.
Bolam looked a bit disappointed, “Let’s keep moving.”
On the other side of the room there was another metal door. This time Bolam opened it himself. There was a creaking sound but it opened just as effortlessly. Through the doorway was a hallway with shelves where we could see parts of skeletons hanging out.
Bolam stopped and quickly extinguished the light from his staff. He turned toward us and whispered, “There is a light at the other end.”
He was right. Down the hall stood another door outlined by faint light from the other side. I felt a slight chill and could hear my heart beating.
Bolam put a finger over his mouth. “Try to be as quiet as you can… I will see what it is.”
Jerak and I looked at each other and then nodded to Bolam. Bolam nodded back and quietly made his way down the hall. Jerak and I stood at the doorway watching him make his way slowly to the other end of the hall.
I held my small hand axe ready, hoping I wouldn’t need it. Bolam finally reached the door and slowly opened it just enough to see through. Immediately he recoiled, his face a mask of fear. Jerak looked at me expecting an explanation, as if I knew what it was. Bolam slowly crept back to us. His face was ashen and there was a bead of sweat running down the side of his face. This was not good.
When Bolam reached us he was at a loss for words.
“So what is it?” Jerak whispered.
Bolam took a deep breath and tried to answer, “There… are… there are… five of them.”
I stared at Bolam and whispered, “Five what?”
Bolam took off his fake glasses and rubbed his eyes. He put them back on and replied quietly, “We should leave,” and started to go.
I really didn’t want to face whatever could cause that much fear in a mage. I was about to follow but turned back to wave Jerak after us. “Alright, we should head back outside. Jerak?” I whispered but Jerak was gone. He was halfway down the hall heading toward the mysterious room with his mace ready. “Crap!”
Jerak stormed through the door way. “Prepare to perish villains!”
Dragon Hero Page 6