She smiled, “I have faith in you… at least we can talk every day.”
I tapped on my pouch where I kept the contact stone, “It is right here. I look forward to hearing your voice again.” I glanced over and saw that my friends were getting impatient.
Talestria looked at them, “You guys best keep him safe, or…” She lifted a finger and produced a small pulsating orb of electricity right above it. Only Teltar was unfazed by that.
I put my hand on Talestria’s shoulder, “That isn’t necessary.”
She sighed, “Just take care of yourself out there.” I held her head gently and gave her a long kiss. Afterwards she just stood there smiling. I grabbed my helmet and popped it on. Talestria waved as we marched out of the court yard.
I felt a little sad about leaving but I still had to go. We left the stone walls of the manor and saw bones littered in the fields outside the walls. Teltar took a few steps and prodded the bones with a stick, “Chogul…”
Bolam laughed, “She mentioned doing experiments on choguls. I can only guess this is as far as her golems would dump the remains.”
Jerak scratched his head, “No wonder so many people are afraid of her.”
I laughed, “At least it keeps the riff raff out.”
We hiked out of the swamplands toward dryer lands. Bolam held a map as we went and led the way. “So what is the plan?” Jerak asked.
Bolam stared at the map, “We travel for a couple of days northeast and rest in Halatross. Then we depart for Golashe and travel to the Spirit Temple in the northern desert.”
Teltar let out a yawn, “Spirit Temple?”
Bolam nodded, “Yes, that is where the greaves are kept.”
Teltar shook his head, “That is going to be a problem.”
“What do you mean?” Bolam asked.
Teltar sighed, “We might have to fight some hostile lizard men. Things in the temple are meant to stay there.”
Bolam nodded, “I had heard many evil things are sealed away there.” I hoped we wouldn’t have to face any hostile lizard men. I opened my pouch and took out the contact stone. I wondered if it was too soon to call her.
We hiked all day mostly heading east. There wasn’t much in the way of ideal places to camp so we decide to not bother with a fire and hoped no one would spot us. I talked to Talestria through the contact stone as if it were a phone. I was happy to hear her voice and gave her an update on our journey. Jerak was eavesdropping. I later learned that he was amazed at the fact that I could talk with her at such a distance. I distanced myself from the others to keep my conversation private.
After talking to my girlfriend about her need to get more supplies, we both decided we’d had a long day and were really tired. We dragged out the conversation a bit longer, reluctant to end our conversation. We finally said goodnight and I put the stone in my pouch. I was my turn to keep watch. I was tempted to talk with her while I stood guard, but I thought it would just keep the guys up and might draw attention from any kind of being traveling at night.
I woke up to the sound of Jerak’s taunting. He was waving his mace at two fleeing creatures. “What happened?” I asked. Jerak tilted his head toward two dead choguls, “Four of them tried to cause some trouble, but they were no match for me.” I let out a big yawn, put my boots on and helped him dump the bodies further from the campsite. Dead choguls smelled pretty nasty in the morning, though I thought living choguls smelled pretty nasty anyway. As Jerak and I dumped the last corpse, something else approached. Jerak whispered, “Careful, it’s a brush hunter.”
The creature looked like a large lizard with a very long, snake-like tail. It stood up on two legs. The lizard was rather short but stocky. It stared at us and pointed the tip of its tail at us. Slowly it walked toward one of the dead choguls. Jerak carefully backed away and whispered, “The stinger on its tail can put you to sleep.” I was afraid until I heard that. Jerak nudged me and finally remembered my freakish immunities. I still preferred not get stung by it even if it would have no effect on me. The brush hunter quickly grabbed one leg of each dead chogul and quickly dragged them backwards away from us. Jerak shrugged, “We shouldn’t worry about it.That is more than enough food for that guy.”
I let out a big yawn, “Well if you say so.” I was too tired to even worry about it.
I missed sleeping in a real bed. My back ached when I woke up and I could still feel every tiny rock that I slept on as I stood up. “How much farther until we reach Halatross?” I muttered.
Bolam took out the map and shrugged, “I am not a map expert but it should take us two days once we cross a river.”
Teltar casually walked past us, “You mean that one?” Bolam and I looked forward and saw a river a short distance away. I don’t know how we missed that.
We felt almost as miserable as we had after we left the elven lands, not because we were tired and worn out but because we had gotten used to relaxing in Talestria’s home. Jerak casually walked right next to me with his arms behind his head in a relaxed pose, “So how is it?”
I lifted a brow, “How is what?”
Jerak nudged me, “You know… you and her, whipping tongues!” I had never heard that term before but couldn’t help but laugh. Jerak grinned and nodded.
I shrugged, “It is great. Better than I could have imagined.”
Jerak chuckled, “I hope you didn’t cut her tongue with your sharp teeth.”
I chuckled and scratched the back of my head, “She actually thought it was hot.”
Jerak stared back with a confused expression on his face. It took me a moment to explain, “Oh, in my world the word hot also means attractive.” Jerak had a dumb look on his face but nodded in understanding it.
The day dragged, and I spent most of it day dreaming about Talestria. I resisted the temptation to call her until we were done hiking for the day. It helped make the end of the day feel pleasant when I heard her voice. I was assigned to first watch, but I talked quietly and stayed a fair distance from the camp. I could still see my friends and chatted with Talestria until one of us had trouble staying awake. Being close to her is great and all but sometimes being forced to just talk really opens things up. She was actually quite easy to talk to and the more we talked the more I liked about her.
Our conversation ended when I could hear her snoring on the contact stone before it went silent. That was my cue to get someone else to replace me. I tried to do the math in my head to determine how much longer it would take us to reach Halatross. Traveling without trails and roads took longer but if we went at a steady pace, I figured we should make it there by the next night. At least according to Bolam’s map.
I woke up the next morning feeling a little more refreshed since there were no rude awakenings this time. The sky was mostly clear with only a few clouds and no sign of rain anytime soon. The clouds mostly formed toward the dark elf lands. It looked like it could rain in that direction by nightfall but where we were, it looked much sunnier. I looked forward to reaching Halatross but notnot as much as returning Talestria.
“None of my peers would believe me if I told them I where I have been,” Bolam said cheerfully.
Jerak nodded in agreement, “It would be a good story to tell my folks back home.”
Teltar scratched his beard and shrugged. he didn’t appear to be all the interested in the conversation. Bolam sighed, “I wish I could bring at least one of those books back with me…”
I laughed, “She would kill you if you tried to smuggle any.”
Bolam nodded and chuckled, “Oh, I fully understand why she is so protective of those books.”
Jerak dug in his ear, “What is so special about them?” I saw a glimmer in Bolam’s eye. I predicted a big lecture.
Bolam went on and on about how some of the books were made before humans really lived in these lands and how those books contained knowledge of magic and history that was long forgotten outside its pages. Bolam trailed off a bit and started talking about the basic spells
and my mind sort of wandered. I just know that Bolam hadn’t stopped talking for a few hours and no one was even paying attention after the first ten minutes. His lecture stopped when as we saw five figures.
“Halt!” one spoke. There were four figures in fancy green cloaks and another wearing fancy chain mail with a helmet just as fancy. The four in the cloaks stood with bows ready while the leader held a large pike. The leader lifted his hand and pointed at me, “You! We finally found the criminal that stole from the great city of Celvanis!” My eyes went wide; that just confirmed that the elves had found us!
I swallowed hard as the lead elf pointed his pike at me, “You are guilty of theft, and must come with us to be tried!” One of the sentries stared at me and whispered to the leader. The leader stared at me and looked a bit shocked, “How…are you wearing that cursed armor!?” I just stood there, too scared to utter a word. The leader pointed at us and the sentries aimed their bows at my friends.
I stepped in front of one of them, “Look they don’t have anything to do with it!”
“Blake…” Bolam said quietly.
Jerak looked at me, “Hey, you don’t take the blame all yourself! We are allies and…”
The head elf shouted, “Silence!” and stared back at me. “So you admit your crimes?”
I nodded, “Yes…”
The leader looked at me, “What is your name?”
I sighed, relieved to be asked a harmless question, “I’m Blake.”
The leader’s face grew serious. He stared at me coldly, “Blake, to not only steal from my people, but to actually wear such armor… you are much too dangerous to live!”
Before we could react, four arrows shot toward us. Less than a second later, I felt a great deal of pain in my legs and arms. Each of the archers were well coordinated and shot the unarmored parts of my body. There was an arrow sticking out of each thigh and one at my left shoulder in the armor. The arrow that hit my right arm just barely scraped me but still hurt like crazy. My body dropped to the ground and I could hear my friends retaliating.
I laid there staring at the cloudy sky, helpless and in pain. After the sounds of battle began I could hear one of the elves speaking, “Sir, what should we do with them?”
The head elf calmly walked into my field of vision, “Bind them! We will bring them alive to face trial.” I felt dizzy from pain and fear. The head elf kicked my helmet off with his boot and held his pike. He stared down at me as he turned the pike toward my neck. “Justice will be served!” he said as he lifted his pike to make his killing blow. Just then it went dark.
I laid in a dark void. Before my mind could understand what happened, a deep booming voice spoke, “It looks like we meet once more.” I knew that voice… the Dragon Spirit? The voice answered as if it could read my mind, “Indeed… you have done well in finding more of the accursed armor that binds me.” The only thing I could feel was its heart beating all around me. “There are two pieces left to be gathered… I still have use for you. I will aid you once more…” Shortly after hearing those words, my body started to burn.
My hand clenched tightly onto the end of the pike. Another inch and it would have pierced my chest. My vision became dark and cloudy as I felt a great pain in my chest. I cried out in pain-it felt like I was being struck with a red hot iron. I could feel heat spewing out of my mouth and for some reason my body stood up.
I could see the head elf staggering back and shouting but all I could hear was my heart beating. My chest ached and my body charged the elf without my control. I moved too fast to even keep up with my own speed. I found my fist sunken into the stomach of the armored elf. He leaned over and coughed up blood. I somehow wrapped my arm around his head and held on to his chin while my left hand held onto his shoulder. I could feel the rage in my chest as my body snapped the neck of the hapless elf.
It wasn’t me controlling my body. It must have been the Dragon Spirit himself! I saw the other elves aim their bows at me. I could hardly believe it when my body dodged the arrows effortlessly. The elves appeared to be just as surprised as I was. I leaned down and charged straight into the elves.
Everything was a blur as I moved swiftly, attacking the elves with such speed and power. Things slowed down just enough to see my knuckles jam into the throat of one elfand move quickly away from it. I swiped at the face of another elf as if I had claws then rammed my fist into his rib cage. I could see the glint of a short swords that the two remaining elves pulled out. I stood there staring back, waiting to see what would happen next.
The Dragon Spirit didn’t waste any time as he made me charge toward them. I barely saw a blade swinging down when I managed to grab the wrist of the elf before he could really use his weapon. The Dragon Spirit snapped the wrist effortlessly. I jumped back to avoid a thrust by the second elf and countered with a palm to his face. That elf dropped right away which left the last elf standing with the broken wrist. The Dragon Spirit ended his suffering with a snap of his neck. As his lifeless body fell, I caught a glimpse of my friends just before I passed out.
My body ached all over as I saw the light of day. I let out a cough then heard Bolam’s voice, “Blake! Oh thank the light you are alive!” My eyes slowly started to adjust to the light.I saw Jerak and Bolam looking over me. I turned my head slowly and saw that I was in a large covered wagon with the guys. “Don’t move, you still have some major wounds,” Bolam instructed. I looked at him-he had his arm in a sling and I could see that I was covered in bandages.
“Where are we?” I asked.
Jerak smiled, highlighting a black eye, “We are on our way to Golashe.”
I blinked, “Wait? What?!”
Bolam nodded, “You have been out of it for at least two days. We were worried that you might die.”
I sighed and looked back into the wagon. There was a dwarf, but it wasn’t Teltar. Jerak looked over, “Oh, this is Grum, I think.” The dwarf corrected him, “I am Dhurm. Grum is my brother.”
Jerak shrugged, “These guys were kind enough to take us to Golashe.”
Dhurm nodded at me and went back to his work. The inside of the wagon held a table for him to craft as he traveled. I was too out of it to make out what he was working on. “Wait… where is Teltar?”
Jerak sighed and lowered his head, “He didn’t make it…”
Bolam smacked Jerak with his good arm, “Don’t be a jerk!”
Jerak laughed, “Oh, sorry! He is over in the front of the wagon with Dhurm.” Dhurm turned his head, “No, Grum is in front.”
Jerak nodded, “That’s what I said!”
Bolam glanced over at the strange dwarf, “We exhausted our travel funds to get this far but… the sooner we get to Golashe, the better.”
Jerak leaned over and whispered, “Don’t worry. I hid your armor in your pack. I had to take some stuff out though.” He lifted his pack which was overstuffed, “Your other stuff is in here now!”
Bolam sighed, “Talestria contacted you a few times since you… well you know…”
I sighed, “I hope you didn’t tell her.”
Bolam shrugged, “It was hard to explain otherwise.”
Jerak shook his head, “You should have given it to me. I could have made something up to tell her.”
Bolam snapped back, “Oh like you could fool someone like her!”
Jerak lifted a brow, “Hey at least I wouldn’t cave in and tell her all of that stuff!” I sighed, “Can I talk with her?” Bolam and Jerak both stopped their bickering and handed me the contact stone.
“Blake? Oh Blake! I was so worried!” Talestria spoke from the contact stone.
I smiled, “I am fine. Just had a little trouble.” Talestria sounded both sad and happy at the same time, “They told me you were wounded and unconscious!” I nodded as if she was standing there, “Yeah, but I am fine now, so don’t worry.”
Talestria sounded like she was clearing her nose, “I feel so much better hearing your voice again! Now I won’t have to kill your friends
for not taking care of you.”
I was a bit surprised by the last statement but she giggled, “Just kidding!” I looked at Jerak and Bolam who appeared to have overheard what she said. None of them felt too sure that she was just kidding. Even I was not sure.
Talestria and I talked until the charge in the contact stone ran out. One would think that two people from totally different worlds would have a hard time understanding each other, but Talestria was really smart. I would talk about devices from Earth and she would come up with ideas to recreate them with magic. She was, however, stumped by space travel and how we could harness electricity without mana stones. Jerak was sound asleep. Bolam was curious at first but ended up nodding off as well. My body was still a wreck but I let Talestria believe I was already on the mend and moving around. No need for her to worry about me.
I had no clue how long I had been in the wagon, but apparently we were close enough to reach Golashe by nightfall. That trip felt really short, but it helped being unconscious for most of it. Having arrows in three out of four limbs sucked. I tried to get up and quickly found that was out of the question. My body has been pushed beyond its limits and I had lost a lot of blood. I used my one good arm to sit up but felt a major head rush. Jerak hopped down from the back of the wagon, “Can you walk?” I sort of zoned out and couldn’t even acknowledge what he said.
I could hear Bolam put his two cents in, “No, I don’t think even he can recover from all that this quickly.” I slowly laid back down and hoped the world would stop spinning.
I was greatly thankful for my friends and the fact that they carried me on a stretcher. Teltar made his appearance and helped them carry me back to the same inn as before. I could hear that there was a good deal of commotion going on but all I could see was the sky above me. “What is going on?” I asked.
Bolam turned his head, “It looks like they are preparing for something.”
Teltar grunted, “I wonder if the elves have done something stupid.”
Jerak shrugged, which nearly caused me to roll off the stretcher. “Jerak! Take it easy!” Bolam snapped.
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