The two undead charged him once more. He slid on the slick surface as he took a step, but regained his footing and dropped into a lower, wider stance.
They closed the distance as Orngoth gripped the base of his weapon with both hands and swung hard. The timing of his spectacular swing connected with one ghoul solidly, crushing its ribs and liquefying them straight away. Then there was a loud crash that immediately followed the first. His swing had continued its momentum, crushing the second creature’s skull, hitting it with so much force, that it partially removed the head from the body.
Nothing else moved as Orngoth stood victorious over the immobile creatures, blood-stained and angry. He roared in victory before remaining still for a time, allowing the bloodlust to fade.
Eventually, exhaustion set in. He fell to one knee before squeezing out of the tiny opening once more and slumping to his rear on the hard stone. Breathing more slowly now, he contemplated what to do next, until sleep claimed him.
Chapter 15
The first three days of their journey were uneventful with little to no conversation or interaction. The next was mostly lighthearted chat, with none of them offering anything on a personal level. Elec had tried to engage the women on multiple occasions, but each offering was met with looks of indifference or derision. Garius expected this and so, he let things continue, hoping that they would break through the wall of silence in short order.
He waited and meditated during their journey, stopping once or twice a day to adjust the direction of the construct that was guiding their caravan.
The caravan itself was more spacious inside then it appeared from the outside. It was furnished with many a comfortable chair and a table at which to eat. The walls were lined almost floor to ceiling with shelves for storage and food. There were windows to the outside on the left and right and one at the back center, in-between the two alcoves that made up their sleeping quarters. The men had cots above and below on one side and the women had the same on the other, with a sliding curtain to pull closed for some minor privacy if they chose.
They traveled south along the River Divide for several hours until they came upon Nature’s Pass. This was a natural bridge carved by the forest elves, who made their home in the Amrel Forest, shaped from the trunks of many fallen trees. They did not see a forest elf anywhere, but Garius was sure that they were watching from the canopy of trees above.
That morning, Elec began a conversation regarding a decade-long exile where he’d learned a good deal about himself and who he was. Suddenly, Rose spoke aloud to no one in particular, as she sipped a goblet of wine and chewed a portion of salted meat. Perhaps it was the wine, or perhaps something else, but Garius listened attentively.
“My childhood was a joke,” Rose admitted, looking to the ceiling as she spoke. “I did not like my life early on and am somewhat ashamed of what I have done in the past… I was led down a path that I often regret.”
“Surely it could not have been that bad?” Elec asked after a brief bout of silence. He was looking directly at her now. Garius recognized a distinct vulnerability in her steel eyes that he hadn’t noted to this point.
“I remember being an orphan as my earliest memory,” she began, swallowing hard. “That was before… I was found and given a home…and set to task with a purpose,” she explained in a cryptic tone, obviously struggling to speak openly to them. She drained her goblet and poured another before continuing. “I learned on my own how to steal from the merchants, taking only what I needed to survive at first. I learned many more things as I grew up, including how to please a man …among other things. Then I met someone, and everything in my life changed. He taught me how to make a name for myself. During that course of my life, I…I sent many a man to meet his god.”
“Perhaps you had no choice,” Elec offered. “Who is he that you refer to?”
“I am not at liberty to say,” she replied, standing and turning her back to them. Her face reddened and she clearly felt uncomfortable at having shared her feelings with them at all.
“Then tell me of those daggers, if nothing else!” Elec begged, trying to change the subject. Rose faced him and forced a slight hint of a smile. “They are very ancient and very powerful.” She held the twin daggers aloft and seemed mesmerized herself by them as she spoke. “These two daggers respond to my thoughts and then compel my hands to where I think them to be. I can attack at the speed of thought. It—they—are truly remarkable.”
Garius spun and regarded this information, quietly filing it away for further speculation at a later date. He returned to gazing out the window port and watched the landscape as it passed by, still listening to the conversation.
“You frequent the tavern where I first saw you?” Saeunn asked from behind the two of them. Rose regarded the barbarian woman and nodded. “Yes, I like my wine,” she admitted, holding her goblet high and saluting the air. “Probably a little too much, Melin might say.”
“Melin is the dwarf—the owner of the tavern?” Saeunn asked as Rose took her seat across from Elec again.
“Aye, he is,” Rose confirmed. “He has treated me kindly through the years, no matter what my condition. He has always allowed me to run a tab, which he does not do for many others.”
“I too enjoy wine and ale,” Saeunn said absently as she stared out a window portal on the side of the caravan. “The village winemakers would be the first to greet my father and the rest of the Chansuk combatants when they came back victorious from battle,” Saeunn explained as she stood and eyed the length of her sword within its scabbard. “The Champion allows us to drink our fill when he knows that our lives can end at any moment.”
“Aye,” Elec nodded, staring up at the massive woman. Garius regarded her boast as true, believing her every word.
“So, I too know what it is like to take the life from a man—to watch the life drain from his eyes. I know too, that there is nothing you could have done to change that,” Saeunn admitted to Rose with sincerity evident on her face. Rose sat with her legs crossed comfortably in her chair, and tipped her goblet to Saeunn once again.
“You cannot give in to the guilt or remorse that you feel…for if you do, you will begin to second guess yourself. And to hesitate in battle is to seal your fate,” Saeunn wisely assessed.
“I did not say that I could not do it,” Rose remarked tersely. “I merely said that I had to do it early on in order to survive. And it did not sit well with me. Often I had a choice. It is not—,” She stopped her speech again and turned away from them, facing the caravan wall. “What I meant was that I felt less and less remorse each time…when I took a life, I mean. I grew numb to it.”
Saeunn walked over and slapped the woman hard on the back. “You may not like it, but when forced to…be sure you can go through with it,” Saeunn advised as she walked to the rear of the caravan and flopped down onto her cot.
“What do the tattoos mean?” Elec asked Saeunn, staring at the markings all over her arms and upper torso.
“Most of them are achievements within my tribe or on the field of battle.”
“Yes, I know. I have studied barbarian culture. I meant specifically,” Elec clarified.
“This one here signifies that I survived major injury,” she said pointing out a specific design on her right arm. “This one is to show that I have bested an honorable warrior in our tribe. And this one and each that follows it signify that I have survived against a foe, each mark representing a dozen enemies.”
“That is quite a lot of enemies!” Elec acknowledged, as he lost track of his count as there were so many. As he studied her arms, he noticed an exceptionally vibrant tattoo. “What about that one?” Elec asked, pointing to it at the base of her neck.
“That was given to me by the chieftain of my tribe…my father. It is to honor a family member that has fallen in battle,” she finished, her eyes conveying a hint of sadness that Elec had picked up on, as did Garius.
“Do not speak of it if it brings you discom
fort or pain. I did not mean to pry,” Elec said to her sympathetically.
“It is fine, Elec. It was my brother,” she finally admitted. “He died bravely defending our village. He and…others died bravely fending off a host of undead creatures that attacked our people.” The caravan fell silent for several moments and a tear formed in the barbarian woman’s eye. The silence remained for several moments until Saeunn spoke again.
“You spoke of an exotic pet you have?” Saeunn asked Elec, changing the subject. None of the others pressed the issue.
“Yes, more than a pet. Actually, that is another disappointing tale for my father. I was destined to become a great mage, according to him and my bloodline, but it was not to be,” Elec explained. “Instead, I joined my uncle as a Wind Rider, training the giant eagles that our family and all the high elves ride to this day. I was a failure as a sorcerer, you see, which embarrassed my father greatly. I could go on, but I do not want to bore you.”
“Your uncle sounds quite charming at the least,” Rose chimed in, now sitting on the floor behind them, her legs outstretched as she leaned against a cabinet door.
“Yes, he is. If it were not for him—,” Elec paused, smiled and instead spoke more of his experience as a Wind Rider. Elec told them all about Adok and how the Wind Riders came to be such experts at breeding, caring for and training the magnificent creatures.
Garius literally stood and listened to this conversation, as he did most, but this one lasted much longer than the previous ones.
“Let us halt our journey for a meal cooked beneath the flames of a fire,” suggested Elec.
“Aye,” Saeunn said, nodding in agreement. “It would be nice to eat something fresh rather than this stale bread or that salted meat,” she finished, holding up a loaf of bread that she openly did not care for. “Besides, I could stand to stretch my legs and feel the soil beneath my feet.”
She shivered inadvertently, causing Elec to stare at her as she still wore next to nothing. She had refused to use the blankets that Aeldur had gifted her, although she had managed to don the woolen top he’d sent along over her armor remnants, which she claimed provided much warmth. She refused to wear the ensemble as surviving the cold was a common part of the Chansuk barbarians’ rite of passage.
Garius spoke the command to the guardian driver and the caravan slowed to an eventual halt. The construct seemed to go motionless simultaneously with the caravan itself as the gem affixed to the amulet flashed.
Garius exited the caravan, and then shuffled through the many leather satchels housed on the sides of the caravan which contained various frozen meats for cooking. He uttered an incantation and touched the satchel, causing a glow to emit from around it as he peered inside, allowing him to distinguish its contents. He withdrew the venison as Saeunn wished.
Storing fresh meats was one of the few advantages to traveling on a magical vessel. Each of the exterior compartments was enchanted so that food would never spoil within them. It also did not hurt that the climate was extremely cold.
Saeunn, Rose and Elec stepped out of the caravan and into the twilight of the coming eve. It had not snowed for several days, but the sky threatened that it soon would. The temperature was conducive for a snowstorm.
“Looks like The Watcher will bring snowfall upon us soon enough,” Garius sighed, saying what they were all thinking. The ground around them was intermittently covered with thawing snow, yet some areas were completely clear.
“Aye,” Rose said, frowning. “We should cook this quickly and head back into the caravan where it is warmer.”
“We will,” Garius proclaimed. “We could use some kindling to get this fire started.”
“Can’t you use your magic?” Rose asked him with irritation evident in her tone.
“Aye, I could,” he answered. “But—“
”I have several dried twigs, branches and the like within my lab,” Elec stated proudly, wanting to aid the group. He quickly removed a ring, placed it on his finger and spoke a phrase in the ancient elven dialect of his ancestors, commanding the artifact to comply. The air around the ring began to shimmer and eventually a portal opened in front of him. The elf walked inside.
“That is very unnerving,” Saeunn confessed. “I do not understand such magic or its origin.”
“I’ve never seen anything like it before either,” Rose agreed, shaking her head when she spoke, as if reinforcing the barbarian’s words.
A quick exchanging of glances occurred before Elec finally stepped out of the portal and onto the snow-patched ground. He produced quite a few branches, remnants of something he had obviously plucked long ago but had since dried out.
“This shall serve as sparking,” Elec claimed as he tossed the branches to the ground.
He removed his ring and replaced it into his belt pouch. He then surveyed the bandolier of elixirs across his chest, removed one specific vial and dumped oil over the twigs.
“Please step away.” Elec motioned everyone back. “This is a new mixture that I have recently finished. It is untested and a bit unstable.” He revealed a smaller flask, shook it and waited a few seconds. Then he tossed the flask into the fire and a muffled explosion set the branches ablaze.
“Hmmm. Perhaps it wasn’t all that potent after all,” Elec added dejectedly. The flames passed from branch to branch quietly, just as Saeunn was trying to quiet everyone down.
“What was that?” Saeunn asked, craning her head around and looking off into the distance, while Garius dropped the container of meat near the fire that shone brightly now against the darkness.
“What?” Rose asked “I didn’t hear anything.”
“Hush!” Saeunn hissed, straining to hear. The noise became louder. It was the unmistakable howl of a wolf. And not just one wolf, but several wolves.
Garius gathered the group and removed The Repentant from his back. Its runes flickered to life as he invoked a blessing. He held it tightly with both hands and waved his three companions into positions around the flames. The fire, for better or worse, being magically lit with potent oil, would burn long and brightly until they decided to snuff it out.
“Form a circle on me and stay near the fire if possible,” Garius ordered.
Rose nodded and removed her vicious-looking daggers—Zaedra and Avorna—from their scabbards, poised for an attack. Garius watched Saeunn remove her greatsword from its scabbard strapped across her back. The barbarian woman displayed the weapon before her with two hands in a menacing battle stance. The hilt of her weapon was unusually long, encompassing almost half the entire weapon’s length, and appearing as a spear-sword of some kind. Garius was not quite sure what it was as he had never seen anything quite like it before.
Then he watched Elec quaff a potion…then another and another. The potions were followed by the appearance of both his magical sword and dagger in his hands. Then he saw that the elf tried to listen, focusing on the source of the howls.
Within seconds they saw the first one.
“Dire wolves,” Garius whispered.
A large, white, fur-covered animal that seemed to be as large as a horse appeared under the moonlight. It came from the south, away from where the wagon was situated.
“Magnificent,” Rose uttered aloud.
“This particular one must be a different breed of worg, having white fur instead of the typical black pelt that I am accustomed to seeing,” Garius mentioned.
It was then that a second, a third and a fourth appeared. They quickly spread out to surround the group. The closer they got, the more obvious it became that they were indeed more courageous than wolves due to their aggressive approach. The fire did not deter them.
“Frost worgs,” Saeunn stated as she must have encountered them before, and confirming Garius’s supposition that they were indeed similar to the dire wolves from his memories.
“And there is one for each of us!” Saeunn added, grinning cruelly and making to run. She broke formation and charged the one nearest her, yelli
ng what could only be praises to The Champion. This resulted in an audible groan from Garius, who understood that these huge worgs would want to divide and conquer them, unlike traditional wolves that hunted in packs.
Rose shrugged and waited, as did Elec, who swallowed yet another potion. The worgs were spread out and seemed to be ready to attack them in the same manner.
“Good luck to you, then,” Rose quipped as she slowly and methodically stepped toward the nearest beast.
Elec looked at Garius and back to the worgs again, his eyes wide and his white pupils dilated so that they seemed to be one shade of white. He appeared to be shaking or quivering a little too much for Garius’s liking. Then he watched as Elec charged toward a worg and shook his head in disbelief. That action seemed uncharacteristic of the timid elf.
“Not as focused a group as I’d hoped,” Garius muttered as he too advanced on the remaining worg.
The nearest frost worg counter-charged Saeunn as soon as she broke away from the group. It bore down on her with its blue eyes glinting in the light of the fire, which had grown in intensity. Its fangs dripped with saliva, obviously hungry to taste the woman’s flesh.
It dove and snapped at Saeunn, snagging a piece of her woolen sleeve and finding a bit of flesh in the process. The bite had an unnatural chill as well as a lingering, numbing effect where it had connected with her flesh. She landed and rolled, removing the torn right sleeve from the woolen shirt as the beast moved in on her again.
The creature snarled as it closed on her and she snarled right back, feeling an animalistic instinct to survive. She swung her sword in a wide arc that caused the beast to leap back and refocus its attack.
The worg came at her again. It leaped straight forward and tried to go right through her position. Saeunn dodged the attack and rolled out of the way, smacking into a tree as she did, not realizing how close they were to the forest’s edge. Rubbing her head and staring at the base of the tree, she had an idea. She remained curled in a heap, unmoving, enticing the beast nearer. The frost worg circled and let loose a low growl, sensing that she was injured as it moved in for the kill.
The Beginnings Omnibus: Beginnings 1, 2, 3 & Legend of Ashenclaw novella (Realm of Ashenclaw Beginnings Saga) Page 33