Bolam shouted some profanity and then yelled, “Jerak, no!”
The hairs on my arms stood on end. “What the heck are you doing Jerak?” I tightened my grip on my hand axe and could hear the sound of battle down the hall. Fear was rushing through my thoughts, but some it was fear for his fate. Against all reason, I charged down the hall to join him.
The room was dimly lit with a lantern and I saw not choguls, not ogres nor anything I’d ever seen before. They were humanoid but had very pale skin, solid red eyes, tiny ears and noses that looked more like just nostrils. They had only wisps of scraggly, white hair on their heads. There were five of them, wearing what once might have been fine, upper class clothing, but was now tattered and falling apart. They were hunched over and two of them were charging at Jerak.
Jerak backhanded one with his buckler and swung his mace at the other. The first one got clipped in the jaw by the buckler and tumbled to the ground, the second jumped back and screeched at Jerak. Another joined the fray and charged at Jerak. He leaned back and struck the strange creature in the side of the head with his mace. I could hear the sound of bone cracking as it dropped instantly. The first one got back up, his mouth bleeding, and squared off with Jerak; short sword at the ready.
I stepped in and swung my hand axe as hard as I could. It went in deeper than I expected. The strange creature turned and hissed, baring its teeth. I jumped back in shock at its sharp, needle-thin teeth. The creature fell to the ground in pain with my hand axe lodged deep in its collar bone. Yet another took notice of me and charged with a freaky screeching sound. It didn’t appear to have a weapon in its hand, but, then again, neither did I!
As the creature charged, a fiery explosion blasted it from the side. It landed hard, twitching. Bolam stood there by the door way, sweat running down his face. A cold hand grabbed my ankle. It was the creature that I fought with my hand axe in its shoulder. It hissed at me and gripped my ankle tightly. It felt like a dead fish holding me. It bared its mouth of needle-like fangs. I simply grit my teeth and stomped my heel into its face. It dug its sharp nails into my ankle. It hurt but only fueled my rage. I furiously stomped on its face again and again. After a few well-aimed stomps, it finally went limp and let go of me.
I reached down to remove my axe from the creature and saw the short sword lying within reach. I grabbed it and turned back to the fight. I saw Jerak drop to his knees, his body limp. Standing over him were two of those freaky creatures. “Jerak!” I yelled. The creatures turned to face me.
A fireball shot out and blasted one of them, leaving just the one coming toward me. This one held another short sword and charged. Jerak’s body flopped to the ground. I charged back as the creature came toward me slashing away with its short sword. My blade moved easily as I parried the blow. Fear and anger were competing for control, but right now my anger was winning by far.
I countered but the creature parried my thrust. He swung wide, making me extend to the side to block him. There was little power behind his thrust, which didn’t make any sense. His other hand grabbed my right forearm. The creature then stood there just holding my arm. What was he trying to do? He smiled at me triumphantly with his freakish looking teeth. I yelled, “Screw you!” and punched him with my right hand. He looked more surprised than hurt by my punch. I shook off his grip and lunged, impaling him. My blade tore deep into his chest. The creature screeched and fell to the ground. I pulled out the sword and carefully aimed for his throat to finish him.
My body started to tremble. I could hardly believe what had just happened. Bolam sprinted over to Jerak. I stood there watching as he knelt down. Jerak wasn’t moving. Bolam flipped him onto his back. His eyes were still open with an expression of shock. My heart sank because he wasn’t blinking.
I dropped my short sword and took deep breaths. Poor Jerak! I hardly knew him and then he was dead. I ran my fingers through my hair and couldn’t help but shed a tear.
Bolam looked at me oddly, “What’s wrong?”
I looked back and asked, “Is he… gone?”
Bolam cocked his head back and then chuckled, “No! He’s just paralyzed from the ghoul’s grip!”
My jaw dropped. I was at a loss for words. Bolam explained that ghouls were a carrion race that preferred rotting meat. They react badly to sunlight, so they tend to go out at night and find dead meat. He went on to explain how they have the ability to paralyze anything they touch.
“Wait-they grabbed me a couple times, and nothing happened,” I mentioned.
Jerak started to blink and slowly regained feeling in his face. I felt so happy that he wasn’t dead. He slowly started moving his arms. “That was dirty!”
Bolam chuckled, “Next time, don’t start a fight with a group of ghouls!” He scratched his beard and turned to me. “I guess since their touch could not paralyze you, it truly confirms that you are not from this world. You must have some immunity against them.”
Jerak elbowed me, “You lucky man! They are no match for you!”
I stared down at the dead ghouls. They still freaked me out. At home, I participated frequently in role-playing games. I thought that I had an idea what ghouls were like, but I never dreamed I would reallysee one. Freaky looking things!
“We are very lucky to have survived that!” Bolam lectured Jerak.
Jerak laughed, “Hey, they were no match for us!”
Bolam shook his head. “If Blake and I hadn’t come in to help, you’d be dead!”
Jerak shrugged, “I said they were no match against us!” He saw that one was still moving. He took a few steps, swung his mace in a flourish then bashed its head in. “Freaking undead!”
Bolam raised his hand, “Um, actually they are considered living creatures. They just so happen to be affiliated with the dead…”
I still felt a bit odd about what I had just done. I knew they were not human, but it just felt weird to actually kill them. I felt a bit weird about killing choguls as well, but I didn’t feel bad about it. Sure they were going to kill me and my new friends, but it still left a bitter taste in my mouth.
“Hey Blake, let’s go check if there is anything nice here!” Jerak called.
Bolam took out his books and moved the lantern closer to him. “Be sure to bring anything you find to me to check!”
Jerak was already in another room. The main room with the ghouls was large and there were rows of stone benches. It kind of reminded me of a church. From where we entered, there were two doors on each side wall and one on the opposite end. Jerak took off into one of the two left doorways. He came back out of the other and waved at me to follow him, so I did. The new room had a row of open stone coffins. The bones were scattered all over the place and made me wonder if the ghouls were to blame.
“Oh, this is nice!” Jerak said while picking up a figurine. It was a stone figurine of someone in armor. The other items left around were just old wood and stone carvings and dishware. The room must have been ransacked by grave robbers.
I found some copper plates with etchings on them and figured Bolam would like to see them. Jerak grabbed the carvings and followed me back to the main room to Bolam.
“This is interesting.” Bolam mumbled while scanning through his book. He sat on the ground already studying the artifacts in the room. He looked at Jerak and me, “Found anything?” I handed him the plates and he looked pleased. “Oh, this looks very fascinating!” he said cheerfully. Jerak put down the figurines and the carvings. Bolam started to read the words on the plates.
“This mostly talks about the old elf king that served the exiled elves at the time.” Bolam lectured. Jerak was too busy digging his pinky into his ear and looking at dead ghouls to pay any attention. Bolam looked at me, “Yeah, this plate praises the old king extolling his greatness.”
Jerak tossed a silver bracelet over from one of the dead ghouls. “Hey, Bolam, does this have any magical powers?”
Bolam looked at it and shrugged. “It doesn’t look like it, but I’ll check
after I‘m finished here.”
Jerak elbowed me, “Hey, I’ll go check that room and you go check that one. Whoever finds the best thing wins!” Bolam rolled his eyes. Jerak jogged toward the right room. I guessed I’d check the last room.
The last room was smaller. It contained a large stone statue in heavy armor standing against the back wall. In front of it stood a small stone altar that looked like a stand for something valuable, but it held nothing. Skeletons lay sprawled across the ground. It really was a pity. Some of the remains appeared newer than the ancient dark elf skeletons with their armor and clothing mostly intact. As I moved into the room and saw behind the alter, I flinched at the sight of another ghoul. This one, however, was already dead. Its lifeless body was on its back, its hands clenched around its neck. There were no visible wounds. Next to it was a strange looking helmet.
I inspected the helmet as I picked it up. It was still shiny and flawless. I didn’t even see a single scratch on it, not even a speck of dirt or grime. The helmet had only two small eye holes which looked like they’d be difficult to see through. There were no vents in the front to make breathing easier, making me wonder how practical it would be. Each side of the helmet had a small, membrane wing, kind of like a dragon’s. For the most part its design was simple and sleek and I thought it looked really cool. I wondered why it hadn’t been stolen.
The helmet looked a bit too flawless. I turned it upside down and looked inside. It even smelled clean and had no sign of wear on the inside. I glanced back at the statue and saw that it was of someone wearing this very helmet. The statue also had a full suit of armor that looked really awesome, but there were no signs of the real armor that went with the helmet I was holding. The helmet was clearly like the one on the statue and I was sure it must be of significant value! Bolam would be so happy to check this out. I put it on my head to see if it fit.
Wow! The helmet felt way different than I expected. The first thing I noticed when I put it on was that my field of vision wasn’t blocked. It was almost like I didn’t have it on. Second, I could easily breathe through it. It must have been one of the magical items that Bolam was hoping to find! I lifted off the helmet and was relieved that it hadn’t stuck. I put it back on and walked back into the main room. Bolam was casting a spell over some of the objects we found. His hand hovered over them and he appeared to be reading as if from a book. He stopped what he was doing and looked up at me. His eyes widened as he gasped.
“Ta da!” I said as I walked up. He pointed at me but couldn’t utter a word. He must have been excited that I found the helmet. He quickly thumbed through several pages and franticly presented his book displaying the same armored figured that was in the other room.
I nodded, “Yes I saw that statue in the . . .”
Bolam slashed his hand in front of my face, dismissing what I was saying. He pointed at the text under the drawing and finally found his voice. “This is the cursed Dragon Armor!”
I stood back, my jaw dropping. Bolam looked at me. “That armor… is cursed… all those that try to use it die almost instantly!”
Jerak came in from the other room, “Hey found some more junk. Blake, that is a neat helmet!”
Bolam stood up his face flushed. “I can’t believe you are actually wearing it!”
Jerak came over to grab the helmet. “Hey let me try it on.”
Bolam shoved Jerak out of the way. “Jerak no, it is part of the cursed Dragon Armor!”
Jerak stared at Bolam, then at me, and back to Bolam, “Wait… that thing is cursed?” They both stared at me like I was some sort of freak.
I shrugged, “I feel fine.”
Jerak laughed, “Maybe it’s just a fake!”
I pulled off the helmet. “No, there is something strange about it.”
Bolam took off his glasses, “I don’t know what to make of this…”
Jerak chimed in, “Isn’t Blake supposed to be immune to stuff?”
I nodded, “Yeah, maybe I’m the only one that can wear it.”
Bolam put his glasses back on and sighed, “I guess so.”
Bolam sat back on the bench with his books out, carefully inspecting every piece that we handed to him. He even checked the helmet, once the shock of me wearing it faded. Jerak and I, on the other hand, were actually quite bored. We checked through the dead ghouls’ clothes, but they didn’t seem to care about coins. I did find myself two short swords, though. The short swords were about as the length of my forearm and slightly curved. The quality of these swords was the best I’d seen. I must admit I felt better with a real weapon now in my hand. The hand axe was going to have to retire as a simple tool.
“Blake, catch!” Jerak shouted as he threw an unlit torch at me. I fumbled a bit but managed to keep hold of it. Jerak held out another one and smiled, “Let’s go spar. I want to see how good you are!”
Bolam muttered, “Please go do that elsewhere, I would like some quiet.”
Jerak grinned and led the way out of the room. I shrugged and followed. We left to get some fresh air and a little light.
The torches were barely longer than my new short swords. I wasn’t enthusiastic at the idea of getting oily gunk from the other end on me.
Jerak grinned and pointed his torch at me. It reminded me of the old days when I used to have friends around and we would spar for fun. I was interested to see how I would fare against a real fighter.
Many rounds and several bruises later, Jerak was the undefeated victor. I did really well sparring with my friends back home, but an experienced fighter trumped me.
“Hey. you almost had me that last time,” Jerak complimented. He patted me on the shoulder and smiled, “You might not be as good as a hero like me, but you’re still pretty good!”
I took several deep breaths. “Thanks. There isn’t really any need to use swords back home.”
Jerak laughed, “Swords are stupid!”
I chuckled, “You hate swords don’t you?”
Jerak turned, “Ah, rather not talk about it now. Let’s go see if Bolam is done!”
Bolam was finally finished with his task. He wrote a bit in his notebook and closed it with a loud sigh. He almost looked as winded as I was from fighting and sparring. Maybe all that research magic he did took a little out of him.
He looked at us, “I am done. Thanks for waiting.”
We packed up the things we wanted to keep. Bolam took the plates and a few other pieces he wanted for future research. Jerak took the silver bracelet since it wasn’t really an artifact, just a trinket the ghouls must have taken from someone else. I got my two short swords and the dragon helmet.
“I would hate to leave such an incredible item here, but I fear it would be too dangerous for anyone besides yourself to handle,” Bolam explained.
I smiled and put the helmet on, “I’ll look after it.”
We hiked out of the bog and back up to dry land. The sun was already going down. I guessed we had been in there a lot longer than I thought. Our stomachs were growling and the idea of dinner sounded too good to pass up. We made camp nearby next to the river. Bolam helped set up a camp fire while Jerak and I tried to get some fish. Apparently, Jerak’s method involved jamming sticks in the river and banging at the water with rocks.
He was good at doing unexpected things. He caught two good-sized fish that way. The sticks made a trap for the larger fish and the rocks carried enough kinetic energy through the water to kill them. Fish frying over the fire smelled so good! They tasted even better! Things started to feel good for me. I had finished a job, made another friend, and then camped out while eating fried fish. I even had two cool short swords and a legendary helmet. For the first time for as long as I could remember, I felt no pressure.
That night was even pleasant. My watch was boring and I spent the time admiring my new gear. This helmet was supposed to be part of some legendary dragon armor. I really wanted to find the other pieces. It would be really cool to have the full set someday, I thought. I let
out a big yawn and realized it was Bolam’s turn to keep watch.
At sun up I found myself feeling surprisingly refreshed. I was never a morning person, but for the first time since I had been there, I had awakened without any pain. The wound on my left forearm had become just a few tiny scabs and the one on my right arm was just a memory. Bolam was in good spirits too. He sat on a log scribbling in his notebook.
When he saw I was up he waved, “Morning!”
Jerak was up as well and was just walking into camp adjusting his belt.
“Don’t head south of camp… just a friendly warning.” Bolam and I laughed.
We hiked past the old wall, the ogre and chogul remains were still there. The smell was bad. I caught a glimpse of one of the bodies from up close and saw beetles and ants claiming it as their meal. Seeing that was even worse than the smell. I quickly looked forward and tried to get rid of that mental picture.
“Last night during my watch, I did a little more research on your helmet,” Bolam mentioned.
I had the helmet on and replied, “Oh yeah?”
Jerak laughed, “Your voice sounds crazy with that on!”
I looked at Jerak, “Really? It doesn’t sound crazy to me.”
Jerak nodded, “Yeah! Well you have this deep intimidating voice with it on!”
I started to laugh.
Jerak shook his head, laughing and said, joking, “That laugh sounds evil!”
Bolam sighed as he was being ignored.
I walked next to Bolam, “I’m sorry-what were you about to say?”
Bolam took a deep breath and adjusted his glasses, “The helmet itself is indestructible, or at least nothing is known that can destroy it. Um… the helmet absorbs most air elemental magic such as lightning.”
I tapped the helmet, “It also seems to give a surprising amount of comfort.”
Bolam nodded in agreement, “I was going to get to that. There’s also the part where it’s cursed…”
Jerak chimed in, “Oh yeah, what was the curse again?”
I wasn’t too eager to hear that but Bolam was eager to share his research.
Dragon Hero Page 7