This did not deter Corbin, it was more of a challenge that he was ready to conquer. If he had learned one thing in his short life, it was that there is always a way through the defenses of his prey, you just have to stay patient and keep looking. Once he spied the miners coming from the area at the base of the waterfall, he knew this to be the chink in Dudje’s armor. Surely, it was not a big enough weakness to cause any real harm to the town, but still enough for him to sneak inside.
Miners came out every hour in groups, wheeling heavy barrows filled with a grayish-silver ore, onto waiting barges that moved the load into Dudje through a massive portcullis.
Now that he scouted it, he knew the opportunity must be seized swiftly. As he ran down the hill toward the riverbank, Corbin was careful to keep his footsteps silent, and used the cover of large mushrooms and thorny bushes to hide his descent. He waited, carefully timing it just right, until the miners were not looking in his direction, joking with one another while delivering another load to the barge.
Slick as a snake he fully immersed himself into the icy river water, with only a thin reed sticking out of the surface, giving him something to suck in the air with. Corbin slowly waded through the foamy green liquid, wrist blade extended in case he ran into something hungry, until he bumped the side of the barge.
Hugging the moving boat, he made his way around to the side of the hull, ducking under the water as it came closer to the portcullis to avoid being spotted by the armored guards overhead. He could make out their murky shapes on the rampart above from beneath the water, marching back and forth to keep watch.
Once inside the town, the barge drifted sluggishly down a long gnome-made canal, where boats were docked on either side, fixed to their owners back steps. The diminutive gnomes went about their business along the cobblestone streets that ran parallel to the slow moving river, carrying baskets of vegetables, or walking with their children on the way to meet a relative. It was just regular everyday business for the peaceful folk, very much like his home of Riverbell, except for the electric lights dotting the various houses in town. He wondered what kind of lightning stone they must have to generate so much power. With no time for gawking at the twinkling lights, he set his mind to the task at-hand, staying hidden and looking for some clue as to the whereabouts of Logan. Outside the city, this had seemed hopeful, but now, looking at the tightly packed buildings and obvious lack of any other humans, it seemed unlikely he would be able to get far before being spotted.
The barge motor came to a low rumble as it drifted into dock, prompting him to stay on the move. Corbin popped back under the water, like a fish he knifed his way across the river to a docked boat with no one on it. With barely a splash, he was out of the green river and pulling himself up the side of a nearby cargo vessel. It was large enough that he could hide unseen behind some sealed crates to dry.
Pulling off his breeches, he rang them out as good as possible then switched for a dry pair in his sealed pack. The soft feel of them warmed his body from the cool evening air that was rolling off the river. Corbin dropped his wet tunic to peek around the crates as voices suddenly came from the doorway at the end of the short wooden dock. He cursed himself for being a fool. There was no escape route to slip back into the water without someone catching him. If he went over the hull, the five gnomes unloading ore would have an eyeful and he did not dare attempt to run across the deck, which would completely expose him to the three now making their way down the small dock.
His only option was to become a shadow, shifting deeper into the barricade of crates and as quietly as he could muster slipping back into the soaked tunic. Suddenly the riverboat growled, as one of the gnomes had begun paddling hard to get the motor activated, alerting him that it was time to make a run for it. Just as he was about to jump out onto the dock, praying the sailors would not see their intruder, a woman shouted from the doorway to her husband who was on the boat. He forgot to grab his breakfast for the trip, she exclaimed, running the food down to him. The men teased her a little and she scolded them to be safe and stay sober.
Then the boat was off, ripping into the still water with some vigor. Corbin decided there was nothing to it; he would have to cut his losses and figure out a better time of day to sneak back into the town. Not that he had a choice as they approached the second portcullis and he scrambled to conceal himself snuggly between the shadows of two stacks of crates, thankfully invisible to the guards overhead as they came out the other side of town. The river sure did not cut through too much of the place, he wondered, unlike Riverbell, which more or less ran parallel to the Naga River.
He had little hope of slipping off the boat, which was small enough that he could smell the gnome’s sugary scrum when it was uncorked. He decided to wait until the sailors had enough of the drink to make them sloppy, and there was more distance away from the armored town guards. With nothing else to do, Corbin hunkered in for a short rest.
The drunker the sailors got the more stories they told, one was recounting a tale of his fishing trip from the previous week, which would sound like a boring topic unless you were a gnome who had been pulled under water by not the fish but the bait you used. They were a funny group, Corbin had to admit to himself, but it was time he made his move.
As if someone had heard his thoughts, the motor suddenly switched off, and one of the gnomes began hushing his companions. “Shhh…, come on now quiet, do ye here that?”
Corbin’s heart was thumping in his ears loud enough that he felt like they were vibrating. They must have heard him readying to jump off the boat! One of the gnomes tried to laugh it off, telling his friend he had too much to drink, when he snapped at them. “Listen… there it is again.”
Corbin held his breath wondering how good their little gnome ears could possibly be, did they hear him breathing? He had no wish to hurt these men, and was prepared to make a mad dash for it.
“Ah, I hear it now!” the joking gnome agreed. Corbin could hear it too. With relief he listened intently, knowing it was not him they heard, but someone singing up ahead on the shore.
“Ho there! Where ye off to so early, Grubble?” The sharp-eared gnome called out to someone on the riverbank.
“Never ye mind Pike, ye nosey blabbermouth.” A gruff voice hollered back, with a hint of jest.
“Who’s he with, ‘fraid I’m too drunk to see straight?” Pike asked his friend.
“You’re seeing right enough, that there’s the engineer Bipp, and a… a human.” He replied low enough so Grubble could not hear them. The problem of course is that what a gnome considers low while he is drunk on scrum is actually quite loud to the sober minded.
“Bah, don’t ye worry what we be doin’ with a Falian, on official government business we are. ‘Sides I have to keep little Bipp here safe on the road, lads!” Grubble called back, clearly annoyed at being caught, but trying to play it off as meaningless. The trio had slipped out early in the morning to keep their expedition quiet, but now that Pike saw them, every sailor and merchant down the Green Serpent would be aware before nightfall.
“Best be keepin’ him safe or I’ll have to have that lout Gil fix old Ness here next time she breaks down!” Pike joked, slapping the side of his boat.
“Better off using those oars, bwahahaha.” Grubble laughed at them.
Corbin peaked over the edge of the boat, there close by the edge of the river on the trail stood his brother with the pair of gnomes. Baetylus was mighty indeed, watching out for him like this. He silently thanked the god for his good fortune then stood fully upright. Logan was watching the drunken sailors when he saw Corbin rise, with a finger pointed directly at him. Bipp and Grubble were completely surprised, jumping back away from the water’s edge, which confused the oblivious sailors who could not see Corbin behind the crates from their vantage point.
“Run!” was the only thing Logan could think to yell, pulling his good friend Bipp back up the trail. The trio made a mad dash at full speed,
as Corbin dived headfirst with a loud splash into the river.
The gnomes looked at each other in confusion, with Pike shrugging before firing up the engine and going back to their drink. “That was weird.”
The current had more force to it here, but Corbin made it across well enough. Once he was out of the drink, he hit the ground running. All the years Logan was up to pranks and loafing about, finding anyway he could to get out of chores, Corbin was training at honing his hunting skills and practicing his martial arts. The distance between them was shortening, with great speed.
Baetylus’ form appeared ten yards ahead in the tall grass to the right, pale and ghostly, the god’s voice was much lower now in Corbin’s head. “Cut across here to stop your brother!” the visage commanded in his mind.
Without a second thought, Corbin ran through the thicket, jumping over a downed rotting log back onto the trail where it wound around a corner. He landed directly in front of the fleeing group, a look of triumph on his face, which was quickly wiped off as the gnomes spread to either side of the path each holding a rope taut in their strong stubby hands. The chord hit his shins, flipping Corbin over face first into the dirt, while his brother jumped overhead.
“Quickly, get up they are getting away!” the All-Father’s voice echoed far away. Brushing the dust from his eyes, Corbin hopped back to his feet, hearing a loud splash, followed by another. Coming around the corner, he saw Logan standing atop a large boulder over a steep precipice where the river dropped to the east.
“Logan stop!” he halted in his tracks, worried his brother would do something reckless. “Get down from there it’s dangerous, you have to come back with me, think of Riverbell.” he pleaded holding his arms out.
Logan looked down at him, wondering why his brother had followed him this far? Why couldn’t he just go back and leave him alone? “Go home Corbin, just tell them I’m dead.” He said for the second in time in as many days, thinking his brother must not have understood him the first time due to Bipp’s frying pan greeting.
“You know I can’t do that! You have to come back and make things right, now get down here!” Corbin shouted, angry at his brother’s selfish actions.
Logan just stared lovingly at him and smiled, before, with a shrug, he jumped backward off the ledge into the rushing water. Corbin was simultaneously filled with both dread for his brother’s safety and rage at his callousness. Already in action, he did not need to hear the All-Father’s echoed urging in his head spurring him to pursue. There was just enough time to take in a gulp of air before he leapt down off the small cliff into the rushing green river below.
The current pulled him much harder this time, as the river churned in a steep downward slope, building momentum the further it went. The world became a flurry of waving arms, desperately fighting to keep above the chill water, and his body was yanked under over and over again. Each time, he clawed to get his head back above the surface, gasping for precious oxygen, with only a momentary glimpse of what lay ahead.
Narrowly he missed an outcropping of rocks. Logan was slightly further ahead of him, doing the same, while each of the gnomes fought the rapids on some sort of thin metallic floating devices. Another mouthful of the icy water caught him, this time burning his lungs, as the current pulled harder against his body.
Corbin knew instinctively that if he did not let go and accept the pull of the current he would never win this battle against nature. Letting his body fall limp, he was tugged forcefully down to the riverbed below, throwing his weight forward he zipped past Logan’s struggling form. His lungs felt as if they would implode, sorely needing oxygen and he knew it was time to make a wild scramble back to the surface. As his head shot up out of the water, Logan was within arm’s reach yet he could not grasp him, choking to get the river water out of his lungs and bring air in.
Rapidly approaching, downstream, was a gnomish built barricade of wooden stakes bound together in a crisscross pattern. This was to signal inexperienced sailors to stay away from that area of the Green Serpent, as it led to cursed lands. Grubble was already pulling Bipp out of their lightweight craft by the barricade. Both brothers simultaneously having the same idea, groped wildly to get a handhold on one of the tuberous roots sticking into the river from leafless trees that lined its muddy raised banks. Logan was already out of the rapids and reaching down to yank his little brother from the drink.
Corbin vomited up the water still slushing around in his lungs, as his chested heaved to catch warm air and Logan patted his back forcing more of the stuff out.
Corbin swatted his brother’s arm away in disgust, the look of revulsion etched on his face. To Logan it was as if he wore a mask; one that looked like his younger brother, yet was some twisted version of a hate-filled stranger. He even wondered for the tiniest fraction of seconds if this was not an imposter after all.
“You maniac, you almost got us killed!” Corbin screamed at him, wildly rising from the mud.
Logan could not believe his ears “You got some nerve, I told you to go home, I never told you to chase me down, this isn’t one of your hunts Corbin… I’m not a boar, I’m your family.”
Baetylus voice was a mere whisper in the back of his mind, urging him to reason with Logan, find some way to get him to come back before it was too late. Corbin rubbed his temples, unable to think clearly. “You do not even care about Riverbell; you could care less that right now Elise’s life is in danger!”
“Elise is… why would they hurt little Elise?” Logan was stunned by the proclamation and deeply concerned over her safety.
Years of pent up frustration bubbled to the surface of Corbin’s mind, as waves of memory upon memory of Logan’s mistakes hit him. “It never ends with you, does it? Nothing matters in your sick twisted version of reality except what you need. No wonder dad left, how could he possibly want to stay around someone as pathetic as you?!” Corbin screamed, his heart filled with rage and adrenaline pumping uncontrollably through his blood. The pained look on Logan’s face did not even register, as all he saw was nothing but a selfish smile on his disgusting selfish face, a face he wanted to crush.
Baetylus coldly whispered into his rage “Destroy him.”
It was the third jab to Logan’s stomach that told him his own sibling was attacking him! Corbin was fast as a serpent giving no warning as he furiously pressed in a flurry of fists. Throwing a blind backhand that connected with his brother’s jaw gave Logan just enough time to mount a defense, throwing his forearms up to block the next round of blows.
Unlatching his hammer, Bipp moved forward to come to his friend’s aid, but was blocked by Grubble’s thick hairy forearm. The warrior nodded at the skirmish. “Not our place, this be family business.” Bipp understood, but it did not make him feel any better watching the two men fight. “Cheer up, maybe we’ll get lucky and the Falian will kill yer friend, then we can get home early.” Bipp gave the chuckling warrior a disapproving glare at the sentiment.
Logan ducked under another roundhouse, snapping his leg out into his brother’s thigh, knocking him off balance. He moved in for a follow up, quickly redirecting to avoid a crashing blow from the unsheathed voulge.
“Have you lost your mind?!” Logan screamed at the lunacy of his brother pulling the deadly blade-topped polearm.
Corbin did not reply, instead coming in with a flurry of blind rage, his voulge swinging directly for Logan’s midsection, barely missing with each swipe coming dangerously closer. Logan kicked hard into the ground, flinging dirt into his brother’s face. Rubbing the stinging stuff out, he was blind against Logan’s uppercut. Corbin was practiced in the martial arts, as good a fighter as any ever met in New Fal, but when it came to Logan, he was no match for sheer strength. The uppercut lifted him right off his feet, which Logan deftly followed with a jumping sidekick to the chest. By the time Corbin hit the ground, it was a good five feet from where he had been standing. Looking up he saw Logan running in to continue the assault.<
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He waited until the distance was closed, then cartwheeled his legs into a spinning ground kick, throwing Logan off balance, and following up with three more jabs to his pelvis which knocked the air out of him. Logan did not have time to block Corbin’s choking grip on his throat while his left hand continued to pound into his gut, slapping away feeble attempts to block.
“Well that’s too much, we gotta jump in Grubble.” Bipp reasoned.
The older gnome was about to agree, when he stopped Bipp again. “Shhh… do ye hear that?”
Logan was not sure who he was looking at, but it surely could not be the kind, generous, loving brother he had grown up with. This stranger’s face was dripping with hatred, with eyes that were filled with a maniacal gleam. He tried to gurgle out a protest for his brother to stop but the words could not escape through the maniac’s vice-like grip. The world began to fade around the corners, when suddenly Corbin’s expression melted. It was as if a mask fell off revealing his brother once more, a look of horrified recognition in his eyes. Suddenly, Logan was shoved to the side, just as a small arrow zipped past where his head had been.
“To arms... it’s a cobold attack!” Grubble howled out his battle cry, swinging a readied double-headed battle-axe to face the enemy. Bipp was already by Logan’s side, helping him to his feet as Corbin stood protecting the two of them with his voulge swinging in a defensive circle, knocking two more arrows out of the air. Cobolds were screaming like animals as they crashed in around the group. The feral little creatures resembled a twisted version of the gnomes, except with fur covering the backside of their arms and legs, and their faces more like a cross between a dog and snake with slits for eyes and rows of needle sharp fangs. They were slightly smaller than the gnomes and wore furs of animals they had hunted, some with matching bone jewelry.
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