Brinks In Time:The Legend of Valendri's Relic

by Tom Rogal

  It was slow going, walking for hours alone in silence. He considered calling out to see if anyone responded, but decided against it. He had no way of knowing how close or far anyone else was. He was close. Oh, so close. He could feel its power. He didn’t need Gerran’s strong telekinetic abilities to know it.

  He let the power guide him, only really needing the light to make sure he didn’t fall into another trap like before. He knew there was something funny about the room, and if they would have listened to him, they might still be together as a group. But alas, as a result there he was, alone in person and in thought.

  He began to rub his arms through his robe. Was it getting cold suddenly or was it just him? He really didn’t even know how long he had been wandering. It was so easy to forget one’s self down there, especially by yourself. Yeah, it was definitely getting cold.

  Despite that, he moved on. He might not be able to find Neeza and company, but at least he could find the Relic. Then he could claim that he had found one of the greatest undiscovered treasures on Gyyerlith. The ultimate treasure, as every mage knew, was the Tear of Kazcum-hi, but he began to believe that one as myth. At least this artifact was associated to a place that still existed. Mount Hrithgorn was visible every day of the year. The Tear was fabled to be on the mage’s homeland, a continent that supposedly sunk thousands of years ago.

  As he walked, he swore he could hear shuffling. The echoes made it difficult to tell the distance between himself and the sound. Then again, his mind could have been playing tricks on him. This place was known well for that. That was for humans and elves, though. Mages were far too in tune with the life particles to be influenced by this dark magic.

  As he turned the corner, he came across two paths lit by torch fire. At last he could negate the troublesome light spell. Now, time to figure out the right path. As a sailor, he tended to have great know-how about directions. But as many have told him, navigating on land is much different than the sea. He failed to see the difference. Both were deserts, one was wet and the other dry. As long as one could read the stars, moons, and suns, it didn’t matter.

  He decided to go down the right path, or rather the ‘feeling’ led him down that path. He had a hard time describing it. He felt in control with what he was doing, yet not in control as well. It had given him a strong sense of confidence, but also frightened him. One thing he knew was that he was not going to let it do to him what it did to the other sailors.

  When he finally returned to his senses, he stopped. The shuffling was much closer. He didn’t think it was his imagination. It was the second time he heard it. He had to double check his own steps to be sure it wasn’t him, which it wasn’t. He scratched his beard as he moved forward.

  He stopped once again when he heard a different strange noise. It almost sounded like someone was choking or coughing something up. It was a sickening sound, to say the least. It almost made him want to vomit and he hadn’t eaten anything since they were at the base of Mount Hrithgorn.

  A shadow appeared on the wall, causing Mimerck to freeze. It looked humanoid, but he doubted that it was. The head seemed to constantly be hanging limp on a stiff neck. Its movements were hectic and violent. He was afraid of the shadow, yet he couldn’t look away. Even when it brought its head back and spewed something out of its mouth, he couldn’t do anything but stare. He had to move. He didn’t want to wait around long enough to see what this thing was.

  He found a passage to his left. He wasn’t sure if it was leading him away from the being, but anything was better that watching that shadow. He believed that strange feeling was leading him again. It hadn’t led him into eminent danger yet, so he just let it slide. Besides, the power of the Relic was getting closer with every step.

  He would find himself looking back, as if he expected the creature to be following him. He didn’t know what even gave him the idea that it may have seen or heard him. He began to travel quickly from room to room, trying not to trip over the numerous bones on the ground.

  As he turned the corner, he froze. There was the creature! It didn’t move and didn’t seem to notice him yet. Was it possible that he had gone in a circle? The creature spewed more of the strange liquid onto what looked like an Ettui soldier. A loud hissing sound was heard as it connected with their dead rival. A part of him felt pity, but the other half was just glad it wasn’t him.

  The strange abomination suddenly turned around and just stared at Mimerck. No, it couldn’t stare. It had no eyes like the rest of the god forsaken species on this rock. It was listening, however. Ever so carefully it was listening. Mimerck didn’t make a sound, even holding his breath. The creature didn't fall for it as it continued to face in his direction, softly hissing occasionally. The mage captain hoped being still would be enough for it to go away. Yet, it still knew he was there.

  It moved ever so slowly into the torchlight, issuing his first clear look at it. Its skin was smooth and and plain like it was sun-dried. Its head was seemingly just hanging at its neck. Lips . . . it had no lips. He didn’t even see any teeth. How did it chew?

  He was so enthralled in the physical appearance of the creature that he barely noticed it whip its head back and begin making that disgusting sound. As it brought its head forward, it spewed out a strange liquid toward Mimerck. It was sheer luck that he raised his arm so his robe sleeve covered his face.

  The liquid began to eat away at his sleeve rapidly. He could feel the heat as it soaked ever closer to his skin. He quickly began to tear the sleeve off, not an easy task. The robes were meant to outlast fire and most other destructive forces. Whatever it used, it was more potent than a mage’s spell.

  He finally ripped the sleeve off just as the acid neared his skin, throwing it on the floor. The sleeve was nearly nothing by that time. He looked at the creature, one he would call a Spitter. It seemed agitated that his prey wasn’t on the ground. The Spitter threw its head back. Mimerck could hear the bones of it's back cracking followed immediately by the gross gurgling. Damn, it was preparing to spit more of that acidic liquid at him.

  Mimerck said, “Don’t you know it’s rude to spit at others? Viriman Xerpharon!”

  He fired a pulsing ball of light at the Spitter. It hit the target dead on, not that it was difficult to hit a slow moving object from his distance. His smile turned to a frown when he saw that not only did the monster seem to absorb it, but he also seemed to grow in size! What sort of devilry was this?

  The Spitter didn’t move toward him, but just seemed to blow up larger. It had to have tripled in girth since he hit it with the spell. It was then that he realized his use of the term ‘blow up’. That’s what it was doing. And if its saliva acted like acid, what did the rest of it do? He didn’t want to find out. He hid behind a rock just as the creature exploded. He could hear sizzling everywhere near him as the acid of the creature was attempting to destroy everything it came in contact with.

  When he thought it was safe, he stood up from his hiding place. The torches that had been hit by the Spitter’s blood barely held a flame after being melted from the wall. The Ettui was now just a melted piece of armor and flesh. He wouldn’t have been able to identify it, if he had just come across it. Stone seemed to be the only material impervious to the blood. He found a decent sheet of rock that was about the length of his arm. Using a leather strap he had in his bag, he tied it to the rock and around his exposed arm. Now equipped with a shield, he felt more confident.

  In the midst of the fallen torches and those still standing in their holders, he saw another figure coming his way, moving with a limp. Then another . . . and then another. It had to be more Spitters. Just his luck; these creatures travelled in packs. He quickly turned around and left through a different passage. His shield gave him confidence, that didn’t mean it made him stupid.

  He again began walking rapidly in the dark. He could hear the shuffling of the Spitters, but the echoes left him unable to judge where they were coming from. It was maddening. He decided to let t
he feeling guide him again. Maybe if he thought of the one thing he wanted most, it would drive him toward it. He silenced his fears and let the power of the Relic guide him.

  Many, many rooms later the shuffling finally stopped. He must have lost them at last! His mind was really starting to play some nasty tricks on him. When he found Neeza again, he had to convince him to leave the mountain. Mount Hrithgorn was always a place of death, even when it was controlled by the elves. They had been fortunate to make it as far as they had without a fatality. The longer they stayed, the greater the chance the mountain would add them to its body count.

  As he returned to his senses, he appeared to be in a gigantic lobby with two tall doors. One of them was slightly cracked open with a bright light seeping through it. He was yelling in his mind to keep going. Whatever was inside that room was not worth the trouble. The lure was too strong, though. He had to take just a peek.

  The door opened easily as he pushed it open a few feet. He shielded his eyes as the bright light engulfed him. As his eyes began to adjust, they opened wide with awe and wonder.

  “By the gods!”

  It was real! By the gods, the legends were true! He stood at the foot of the greatest treasure room in all of Gyyerlith. Golden coins littered the floor hundreds of feet high. Statues of pure gold and silver were piled everywhere. Weapons of the finest skill hung on the walls. Chandeliers of gold dangled from the ceilings, glistening from the torch light.

  He moved deeper into the room. Jewels and jewelry were also cluttered amongst the gold. Oh, there was so much to take home! He was going to be rich! No more going on these worthless trips to make ends meet. Just a bagful of the wonderful treasure would be enough for him to live a comfortable life for hundreds of years!

  He ran deeper into the treasure room. It was beyond his wildest dreams! He ran to a shorter pile and began to rummage through, finding some of the most valuable jewels and statues he could find. The gold coins would be last to fill all the gaps. He began admiring the sapphires and the rubies. The emerald necklace, he discovered he examined with glee. His bag was halfway full when he noticed the pile of gold in the near distance seemed to move.

  Mimerck stared at the pile as a few coins near the top fell to ground. Were his eyes playing tricks on him? Maybe the earth had shifted. They were in a mountain after all. He was told by a few explorers that one was more prone to feeling the movements of the earth when inside caverns. Same story here, only he was in a room full of glorious gold and riches.

  He suddenly heard more coins dropping, this time from behind him. Now he was starting to worry. The room was extremely large and the noise coming from different directions was disturbing. More coins fell, this time in front of him.

  “I know someone’s here! Show yourself!”

  His voice echoed in the room. Instead of an answer, he was greeted only with the sound of more coins falling as it echoed in the room. He stayed silent for a little while longer until he began to laugh. He had to just be paranoid. This place, this damned mountain!

  “It’s okay. You’re in here by yourself, talking to yourself. Totally normal. Just grab the rest of the gold and get out of here.”

  He bent down to grab whatever gold he could get his hands on, not being picky this time. As he did, he suddenly heard a large wave of coins hit the ground behind him, causing him to freeze. That wasn’t the only thing that he heard: A loud grunt followed by a soft roar. To his right, another mountain of gold disappeared as a large beast emerged. No, not a beast. How could he have forgotten the legend? They both had golden scales and red eyes. They were smaller than most he had heard about, but they were at least a hundred times his size. They were the fabled Twin Dragons, Jujikui and Vuldiima.

  The two dragons began to circle Mimerck, who stood paralyzed. He completely forgot that back in the day, every elvish fortress had the assistance of a dragon. Because of Mount Hrithgorn’s importance, the Dragonians allowed them two to protect this facility. He had thought them long gone, having returned to their homeland.

  Jujikui spoke in the common tongue, “Who is it that disturbs our slumber?”

  Vuldiima, the female between the two, continued, “For generations we slept. Why have you come here? You should not be here.”

  Mimerck was going to answer, but Jujikui spoke instead, “I think he comes for our gold, Vuldiima. Why else would he risk battling through the cursed ones? It is the only reason to be here.”

  He again tried to answer, but the dragons didn’t seem very interested in his reasoning.

  “Our gold? He is foolish! We let no one leave with our gold!”

  He knew he had to try and simmer the situation because there was no way he was going to be able to defeat one dragon, let alone two!

  Mimerck said, “Oh, wise and merciful dragons of the Mount. You have me mistaken. I haven’t come for your gold! Why would I want to steal from you! I am here with my friends. We seek out the sacred relic of Hrithgorn. If you could point me in the correct direction, I shall let you back with your gold.”

  The dragons gave off their best attempt at a laugh before Jujikui answered, “You are even more foolish then we thought then. Valendri’s Relic is a power you can’t understand. It corrupted the people of this fortress just as it corrupts you now. It must stay here.”

  Vuldiima yelled, “Foolish mortal! You will not survive here!”

  Mimerck asked, “If everyone here is corrupted, then why aren’t you? The power of the Relic is the strongest I’ve felt?”

  “Who says we haven’t been? The gold protects us from the full power it possesses. For every piece taken from here, our power would weaken, and we too would become a cursed one.”

  “But if it protects you, then why have the door open? The Garch . . . the cursed ones could enter then.”

  Vuldiima answered, “Because that is how we feed. Too dangerous it is to leave. When they wander in, we strike and sleep until we must feed again.”

  Mimerck didn’t like the sound of that at all. It had been a trap, and he walked right into it. Neeza had warned him that the lure of the gold would be his undoing, but he had been too proud to listen.

  “You don’t want to eat me. I’m stringy and old. There isn’t much meat on this old mage I can tell you that.”

  Jujikiui’s eyes opened wide, “Maginiias! We have never tasted a mage before. The elves used to speak highly of their ability.”

  “Let us sneak a taste then, shall we?”

  “We shall, Vuldiima. Any last words, Maginiia?”

  Mimerck took his pack off his shoulder filled with gold and said, “Look, if it’s about this on my shoulder, then you can just take it. Actually, I was just seeing how much it weighed.”

  The dragons weren’t buying it, “Submit, meat! Escape is futile!”

  Mimerck replied, “But still, I insist. Catch!”

  He threw the bag of gold in the air as he chanted a weak fireball at the bag. It exploded. Gold and jewels flew in every direction. It did what he had hoped it would do. It took them by surprise, offering him a chance to escape. All he had to do was get back into the dreary hallway. Based off what they said, they wouldn’t follow him outside of this room. It was so far away, nearing two hundred yards. He didn’t even realize he had gotten that deep within the cavern of false hope. Even though the room was filled with riches, in truth, it was filled with nothing.

  The dragons roared, “This is unwise. You cannot defeat us!”

  Exactly. That was why he was running. He purposely aimed for his bag of gold so that his spell wouldn’t hit the dragon. According to elvish tales, the dragons had an aversion to being touched, unless they initiated the act. It was a risk. If he missed the bag it would have hit one of them. That would have made the situation much worse. They may have chased him outside of the room for that insult.

  As he maneuvered past the gold piles, Jujikui was in hot pursuit. Vuldiima was to his left, trying her best to get ahead of the mage and block the door. He had to slow her down
as there was little chance he could outrun them on speed alone. He fired a fireball at the chandeliers in front of the dragon’s path. The two fell just in front of Vuldiima, slowing her progress significantly. He just had to worry about Jujikui.

  Nothing seemed to be getting in his way. Gold piles were just pushed aside and large statues of gold and silver were knocked down after staying in the same position for years. Jujikui even tried throwing statues at Mimerck to slow him down. It wasn’t going to work. He wasn’t going to slow down for anything. Despite that, he wasn’t going to make it if things continued on their present course. He was still a decent distance from the door and the male dragon was drawing ever nearer.

  As he looked up, he saw his answer. A large net, most likely to protect against falling stones, was loosely hanging. As he ran he telekinetically yanked the loose net off, letting it fall toward the ground. Jujikui was so focused on catching Mimerck that he didn’t even see the shadow as it neared the ground.

  Vuldiima tried to warn him, but it was too late. The net fell on Jujikui, entangling him to a full stop. He roared with anger as Mimerck made for the door.

  Jujikui yelled, “Your kind will not survive here! It is only time before Zondiir finds you. Then your taste will be familiar among us all!”

  Mimerck closed the door shut, reactivating the elvish seal. He breathed a sigh of relief as he leaned against the door. It was amazing that he couldn’t even hear the dragon’s roars. He knew they were upset about letting a potential dinner escape. It must have something to do with the seal.

  A gurgling sound caused Mimerck to freeze and open his eyes. Not one gurgling sound, but many. As he fully opened his eyes, he saw at least seven Spitters, all facing his direction. The worst of it was all of them had their heads cocked back, ready to fire their life taking acid at him. Mimerck adjusted his rock-shield as he took a deep breath.

  Telepathically, Mimerck said, “Neeza, don’t know if you can hear me. But if I should fall, good luck to you.”

  The Spitters brought their heads forward, releasing their venomous acid saliva.