If Karesh had accomplished his part of the task, Galdrac had already done as asked in helping the dwarfs, and now he had his dragon, then surely they had completed all the tasks set them by the Seer Meldra. Now, he knew he needed to delay Abalyon a little while, at least until he had a chance to rescue his mother. Once they were back together, they could then start planning how to defeat the fallen God and his army of darkness.
Chapter 26.
Akeev awoke to the sound of somebody moving about, and at first felt a little panicked. However, once his mind had woken properly, he realised it was just the two strange beings that had walked into the camp at night. Happy to tag along with wherever it was they were going, Akeev started packing his few items together. Not sure whether the jacket given to him was meant as a borrow he took it off and offered back to the orc.
Nodding his head in thanks, Akeev then put it back on again as the orc seemed not to want it. Such strange creatures, he thought, yet was the orc really that much different from himself? Aside from the evident language problem, and the fact they were hideously ugly they were not as different as he had thought they might have been. The orc certainly seemed kind enough and had made it clear he did not want to fight, something he was actually quite glad of.
“Come on Akeev, we should head back this way,” Karesh said standing and just shuffling his pack, so it sat comfortably on his back. After putting his hand into his pocket and taking out the strange device he had been thinking whether it would now work. The one thing he had been focusing on was finding a troll, and as one stood right beside him could the device find something else, or moreover, someone else.
Karesh cleared his mind of any thoughts of trolls, and instead tried to picture Finley. Happy he had done that he looked down into his palm and smiled as the needle flickered a few times before pointing somewhere northeast of his position. However, that indicated back to the dwarf lands, and the shortest route through there would be risking the tunnel again. Having navigated once and getting through unscathed, he did not want to tempt fate a second time.
Unsure of which way to go, he looked over to the troll who seemed interested in the device himself. “You’re not having this,” Karesh said pulling his hand slightly away from the troll in case he thought he was holding it for him to take. The troll made some kind of grunting noise before saying something, although Karesh had no idea what. “I don’t suppose you know how to get to the dwarf lands without risking that tunnel again do you?” Karesh said looking down at Sessi, not even sure he understood the question.
The wolf looked up at him as if deep in thought, before heading running off to the east. “Come on Akeev! Keep up,” Karesh shouted as he started chasing after Sessi. Unfortunately for Karesh trolls were evidently faster runners than orcs. Moreover, it was quickly clear they had better-staying power too, and after just a few minutes he was already out of breath.
“Wait up Sessi,” he shouted feeling the backpack rubbing into his large muscular shoulders. Fortunately, the wolf stopped, meaning the troll did likewise allowing him to catch up at walking pace. “So you want us to go to the elven lands?” Karesh said breathing hard aiming the question to the wolf.
Karesh thought that was probably not the worst idea in the world. If he could locate an outpost, then they perhaps could borrow some horses or get a lift on a waggon back to Neylarin. If he could get that far, he dared to think what the people would make of him bringing a troll back with him. He chuckled a little as he tried to envisage the looks on their faces, and thinking his mother would have been proud of what he had achieved.
However, if he could make it back to Neylarin he could then use the Waygate to travel to Durn Raldun and wait there for his mother, Galdrac and Finley to return, or perhaps they might even be waiting for him. Surely if they had achieved all their own tasks, then they would need to head back there first. Happy with his plan of action Karesh focused his mind on an elf. Not any particular elf, anyone and watched as the needle on the strange little device turned slightly pointing eastwards.
Not sure how far from the elven border outposts he actually was, he was not certain how long he would be out in these barren wastelands. With an extra mouth to feed and keep hydrated, his diminishing supplies would have to be rationed even further. Yet a thought struck him. The troll had apparently managed to survive in the wilderness with almost no water at all, aside from that which he carried in a strange horn with a silver screw top. He doubted that thing would have held enough water to last much more than a day, so did that mean Akeev had been finding water from somewhere else?
As they walked, Karesh decided to ask this very question, although unsure as to which, if any of the words Akeev would understand. As it happened the word for water was actually pretty much the same, if pronounced slightly different. Unfortunately, it seemed Akeev thought he meant he wanted a drink of water, and although there was not much left in the troll’s container, it was offered nonetheless. “No thank you anyway Akeev. I still have some. No, where do you find the water?” he asked saying each word slowly as if that might help him understand.
Karesh looked at the troll, and he thought he detected the same level of frustration as he was feeling. He thought this is probably why the races of the world adopted a common language and tried to imagine what life would be like if they all spoke different languages as they apparently once had. Karesh guessed that another reason for Akeev’s lack of vocabulary might have been down to living away from the rest of the world for so long. Perhaps if trolls only lived on a few small islands, they would not know what a wolf was, or a crossbow, or any number of things he would have probably just taken for granted.
Akeev stopped suddenly and pointed over to their right. “Water!” he said indicating to a set of ruins just about half a mile or so away.
“Water. In the ruins?” Karesh asked checking he was getting the gist of what was being said.
Akeev nodded and started walking that direction. While it meant them going slightly off course, Karesh seemed it only a short diversion so allowed the troll to lead on.
Several crumbled walls, probably someone's home a few hundred years before, were pretty much all that stood in what Karesh assumed to be an old elven village. On his way to meet up with Akeev, he had spotted several such sites but never really bothered investigating them further. Even now he was walking amongst the rubble he could not see anything of worth and was about to say as much to Akeev.
“Water!” the troll suddenly announced pointing down into what appeared to be some kind of old trough. True to his word settled on the bottom were a few inches of what he assumed was rain water. “Water,” he said dipping his hand in and cupping it just to check it looked clear. Akeev however, did not even bother checking. Instead, he just dropped his water container in and let it fill up.
Karesh was not quite so sure, and although it tasted fine, he waited and watched Akeev drink deeply first. If the troll showed any signs of ill-effect from the water than they would surely show in a few minutes. Karesh had always been told the waters of these lands were tainted and poisonous. However, if this was just rainwater then perhaps it might have only fallen a few days ago and been no different from that which fell elsewhere.
Akeev seemed confused as to why he was not drinking, and after a few minutes, Karesh almost felt obliged to do so. In fact, the water in the trough was quite cold and made a refreshing change from that which he carried in his own water containers. Happy it was not going to kill him, he decided to refill where necessary and took a bowl from his pack so Sessi could have a good drink as well.
“Thank you Akeev,” he said holding the last of his full containers up and replacing it back in his pack. The troll pulled a funny looking face, which Karesh assumed was probably a smile, it was so hard to tell. Happy that water was not going to be a problem, and after checking the strange device again he indicated they should move on, returning to their previous course.
However, they had barely made it a few hundred yar
ds from the ruins when Sessi suddenly snarled. Karesh knew that indicated nothing good and looked around to see what it was that could have sparked such a sudden reaction. Emerging from an area further south of the ruins they had just been to were two dark shapes, moving swiftly towards them.
“Oh bloody hell,” he cursed looking for somewhere to run. Other than the ruins there was nowhere else, and that would mean heading in the same direction as the beasts were coming from.
“Balgraf!” he mumbled letting his pack slip off his back and onto the ground, allowing him to draw and hold his two-handed sword. Akeev, he noticed did not go for the half-staff first and drew his much smaller sword, and stood beside him.
“No…use that…that,” Karesh said nodding down to the staff strapped to Akeev. The troll looked at him for a moment, and Karesh felt glad that the message had got through as the sword was replaced and the staff held out instead. If Akeev were an arcanist as he presumed, then his skills would be better suited in dealing with the advancing balgraf than a small sword.
The two beasts bounded nearer, eating up the space between them in no time at all. These were huge hulking monsters, similar to those Karesh had helped fight outside Lochgorm, only now he never had Finley with him to help. Planting his feet firmly in the ground, Karesh lifted his sword up in both hands as he had been taught. “Make the first strike a good one,” he muttered his tutor’s words over and over.
Akeev wasted no time at all and thrust the stick forward as he had done previously. Just as then, another beam of bluish light shot forth although missed its target by some distance.
“Try and hit the balgraf not the sky,” Karesh grumbled realising what a lousy shot that had been. With no time to explain his words, he shouted an orcish battle cry as the first of the balgraf lunged forward. The beast lashed out with its huge powerful arms, but Karesh was smart and sidestepped just a little before bringing his sword down with all his might. The steel blade sliced down into the creature's upper arm, completely severing it from the rest of the body. A fountain of black blood shot up into the air covering Karesh, as he swung the blade around his head to bring it around and down again for a second strike.
Akeev dived to one side, showing a greater agility than Karesh could ever have hoped to achieve. Rolling quite athletically the troll then thrust the half-staff forward again. This time the blue stream of energy that surged from the point of it struck the second beast full in the chest sending it reeling backwards. Sessi, as a natural predator and asked to help the troll, made his move, leaping up and snapping his powerful jaws and sharp teeth around one of the balgraf’s flailing arms, pulling the beast off balance. Taking advantage of this, Akeev scrambled to his feet and sent forth another blast, and another, until the balgraf just wobbled a little and then fell face first to the ground.
Karesh was surprised that the balgraf he had just decapitated still fought on. With only one arm it still leapt about snarling and swinging its remaining claw his direction. After being forced into some quick evasive manoeuvres and the beast weakening due to its injury, the young Orc seized his opportunity and thrust the long blade of his sword right the chest of the beast. The creature let out one last defiant roar before dropping to the ground allowing Karesh to let the sword blade pull free as it fell.
Looking over quickly to his troll friend, he was surprised to see Akeev had already defeated the other balgraf but rushed over to check creature was actually dead nonetheless. “Nice work!” Karesh said wiping the thick black blood off his face, using a little of the water he had just stocked up on. The air around them was pungent and foul as was usually the case when balgraf were about, and the sooner Karesh could move on the better as far as he was concerned.
After checking into the distance that the two they had just encountered were just that many, and probably scouts, the group moved on. Using Sessi’s skills and superior senses to keep a check on the surrounding area for any signs of trouble, by late afternoon Karesh saw a welcome sight, albeit one still some way off into the distance. With the sun sinking lower in the sky, he was confident he could see the rows of dense trees that started the elven lands.
Karesh pointed these out to Akeev, “Elves,” he said
“Elves,” Akeev repeated, seemingly already knowing the word. As they had travelled that day, Karesh had tried to engage in conversation, and while many of the words at least sounded foreign to him, when he listened carefully he could understand some of them. He assumed that over the years, trolls had just learned to pronounce things a little differently, and why wouldn’t they if the race had been cut off from the world for so long.
Now having the option of pushing on through the night or making camp, Karesh decided on the former. Spending another night out in the dangerous wilds was not something he wanted to do, especially as they had already been attacked once that day. Instead, they stopped just for a little while to rest and take on board some much-needed food and drink, before letting Sessi lead them through the darkness. All being well before the sun reappeared they would be within elven lands or even safely within one fo the many outposts that dotted the border area.
Chapter 27.
Finley had not slept particularly well and had spent half the night pacing around, much to the annoyance it seemed of Mazen’s hound Madra. When the sun finally made its appearance, he had already got a kettle of hot water boiling ready for the others to have a nice warming drink. The night had been cold, although made a little less so by the fact he had kept their camp fire going.
Abalyon and what he might now do plagued Finley’s thoughts. The God had his mother, and although hopefully later that day or maybe the next he would try and rescue her, he was aware things now hung in the balance. The forces of darkness were still amassing, and now he had told Abalyon he was now willing to side with him. Quite what they would involve he was unsure, although he got a feeling he would find out soon enough.
Although he hated being called Zerus Maldhor, Finley realised he must be connected somehow to the halfbreed that had walked the planet hundreds of years before him. From what he had learned about events back then, was that Abalyon had somehow magically linked the beasts of the darkness to the will of Zerus Maldhor. Only when the man had killed himself did that link bring an end to the fighting, and he assumed that once the connection had been made, there was no going back. Perhaps telling Abalyon he would join him as opposed to actually committing to him, might have to be as far as he went. Although he needed to make sure his family was safe as soon as possible and was convinced that once Abalyon realised he was being played he would seek to gain retribution.
As if noticing he looked anxious Galdrac asked if he was okay. This in itself was unusual as the old mage usually spent his time criticising or complaining rather than show concern for anybody else. “Troubled dreams?” he asked sipping his mug of hot sweetened tea. Finley nodded as he stared vacantly into the flames of the fire, poking the embers with a stick.
“Did he reveal to you that he held your mother?”
“No, but he is demanding an answer from me. I have had to tell him that I will join him Galdrac,” he added, thinking he might as well tell the old man the truth.
Surprisingly, Galdrac did not rant nor rave, although Mazen appeared somewhat disturbed by the suggestion. “You can not make deals with Abalyon,” the dwarf snapped.
“Oh be quiet. Leave the lad alone, you don’t know what’s been going on,” Galdrac interrupted him jumping to Finley’s defence. Suitably admonished the dwarf held up his hands as a gesture of acceptance, before leaning back to drink his own tea.
Finley explained his dream to Galdrac, and although he was not certain the mage could help him in any way, felt somewhat comforted by the fact he had shared his problem. The Mage just nodded as he spoke and for once remained quiet letting him do so without interruption.
“Making a link with Abalyon is unbreakable lad. The only way out is death,” Galdrac warned him as if affirming what he had already assumed to be t
he matter of fact.
“Then we need to get my mother back, find Karesh and prepare for war. I think Abalyon is almost ready to strike and will do so with or without me,” Finley said expressing his own thoughts. Although still unsure as to why the God needed him in the first place, there was still an element of doubt in his mind that he should side with him, if only to save countless lives.
If as Abalyon had wanted, Finley ruled the world for him, then surely the races or at least some of them would be kept alive for him to do so. If he refused Abalyon’s offer would that mean the God would just unleash all his forces and wipe the planet clean, leaving it as nothing more than a barren wasteland, as he had the area that once was home to the trolls? Surely an existence, albeit a subdued one, was still better than annihilation? So many doubts and questions plaguing his mind, that he wished he could just go back to the days in Whitebridge when it was just him and his father. Although never the life of luxury, they had at least been happy times from his past.
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