Spiderhunter (Ages of Argainen Book 1)

by Robe

  “Not this time!” Balanch roared, and he threw out his left hand, releasing a spray of tar. The swift forester evaded the attack by ducking to the side, and then he lunged for another strike. “Enough!” Balanch shouted and slashed his blade against Veese’s with all his might. A blast of smog exploded from the end of his blade as he swiped, sending Veese tumbling. Balanch was fast and managed to grab Veese by the back of his cloak. He raised the hero from the ground and slammed him face-first into a nearby cart. Veese slid to the ground, too beaten to continue fighting.

  Balanch cackled and strode back toward the center of the street, his enemies sprawled before him. “It is clear who the champion is this day!” he jeered. “If I wanted to kill you, it would be all too easy, but my master has commanded me to keep you alive. He wants to remove your heads himself, and abosorb your energy so that he may enact his will freely upon this world which is his!”

  “Your master will forsake you,” Thraun shouted from his entanglement. “He will have no need for you once you bring us to him, and he will destroy you soon after!”

  “You think it wise to insult my master when you are in such a vulnerable state?” Balanch asked, walking slowly toward Thraun.

  “He will not succeed,” Thraun continued. “If we do not destroy him, then others will. It happened once, it will happen again.”

  “My master has dominated each being who has faced him and grows more powerful every moment he spends free of his captivity,” Balanch spat. “Even now, he sails to Lon Gairdas to hunt down the remaining Touched, and once I join him with you in hand, he will reward me beyond your wildest imagination!”

  “Thank you, Balanch,” Dalk spoke suddenly from behind as he lay his hand on the villain’s back. “You have been very helpful.” Balanch tried to turn, but his legs had locked up. He raised his arms to swing, but they, too, were paralyzed, and as the ice crept up over his shoulders, covering his body up to his neck, he realized why.

  “No!” Balanch cried, and he screamed out in fury as his face was sealed over by a sheet of solid ice. Dalk stepped back and looked at the result of his action. The villain had been completely encased in ice, frozen by the surrounding substance.

  “You did it!” Joan cried as she cut herself free from her tar bindings. She ran to Auric as Dalk walked around Balanch, ensuring that he was secure in his ice prison. He bent down and sliced the muck away from Thraun before helping the shield raiser to his feet.

  “Will he break free?” Thraun asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Dalk replied as he looked at Balanch’s face, frozen in the same scream it had been in as he cried out in defeat.

  “Will he live?” Thraun inquired further.

  Dalk frowned. “I’m not sure. It is my lowest concern as of now.”

  Auric gasped as Joan sliced the muck away from his face. “Are you alright?” she asked, gingerly brushing the hair out of his eyes.

  He rolled to his side, panting hard for air. “I will be,” he sputtered. “See to the others.”

  Joan nodded and rushed to Ziem, freeing him of the tar still clinging to him. “How is your arm?”

  “Fine,” Ziem muttered. “It’s fine.”

  She doubted that his arm was fine but moved to Veese anyway.

  “Do not bother with me,” Veese said. “My wounds will heal naturally.”

  “Look at me,” she commanded, and he raised his head to meet her gaze. His nose was bleeding, covering the old, already-hardened blood on his face. In addition, his mouth was bleeding, and his cheek was red and swollen, foretelling at least a nasty black eye.

  One look at him and she removed her cloak, shredded it, and wetted it with her power. Gently, she dabbed the blood from his face before having him hold the rag in place over his nose. His lip had been split, and she tore another piece of cloth away to stifle the bleeding. Realizing quickly that the blood flow was not going to stop abruptly, she shifted behind him and pulled his head down into her lap. He resisted at first but eventually gave in to her persistence.

  “Relax,” she said, looking around for the healer. Though she hadn’t expected to see Healer Whencetos roaming the sides of the battlefield, she was still disheartened when he was not to be found. “Your body needs time to make it right.”

  “What about Kandon?” Veese asked.

  “He will live,” Joan said and looked to see Thraun was tending to him. “Hush now, and close your eyes. You’re exhausted.”

  24

  “Did you find him?”

  “No.”

  “Did you hear anything at all? Do you have any idea where he could be?”

  Auric sat and put his palms to his face. He remained idle for a moment before lowering them to see Joan’s desperate face staring at him, begging him to say all was well. Shaking his head, Auric spoke, “I think it’s very likely he crawled away from the battle, maybe passed out behind a cottage.”

  “So he’s lying out in some field bleeding to death?” Joan exclaimed.

  “What is the alternative?” Auric asked her. “That Argain has him?”

  Joan scoffed and shook her head. “If we lose him…”

  “We won’t,” Auric said. “He’s out there. We’ll find him.”

  Joan looked at him distrustfully. Thraun walked into the common room through a doorway beyond which Veese’s bed sat. The sleeves of his cloak were bloody and he looked tired.

  “No good news?” he asked.

  Auric shook his head. “The others will be alright though?”

  “Kandon’s leg needed some stitches, but he’ll be fine. Ziem’s a bit shaken up. He managed to keep his arm out of harm’s way, though. Their wounds will heal, but Veese’s face is never going to look the same,” Thraun said.

  “Thank you, Thraun,” Auric said to him. “I don’t know what we’d do without you.”

  “Well, Ysseri’s maidens did most of the work,” Thraun said. “I just watched and lifted things.”

  The common room doors flew open and Dalk entered, looking behind his shoulder as he did.

  “Dalk!” Joan asked, standing. “Did you find him?”

  Dalk shook his head. “We’ve got company.”

  The room was suddenly invaded by Ysseri, her nephew Morris, and Zanesh, all talking over one another.

  “It is of the utmost importance,” Ysseri cried. “We must let them go.”

  “Impossible. There is no way,” Morris said. “Even if we had the funds, there isn’t a chance the Docking Guild would let us take it.”

  Ysseri looked up at Auric, Joan, Thraun, and Dalk and shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. “Forgive us. We will explain to you what has happened.”

  She walked to a chair and sat, Morris following suit and Zanesh standing menacingly to the side. Ysseri motioned for the others to sit, and they complied, curious to know what the three authorities of Oluld were arguing about.

  Ysseri looked at each face in the room before beginning, “One of the warships stationed at our docks was stolen during the battle.”

  “Once the raiders broke our line and forced their way into the city, a group of them rushed to the harbor and cut loose the ship,” Zanesh explained. “This was clearly their objective. After the ship was away, the raiders lost their will to fight and were easily defeated.”

  “Now, we have theorized,” Ysseri said, “as well as you have probably guessed, that Argain was on this ship.”

  The heroes looked at each other. Auric and Thraun exchanged looks of shock, and Dalk brought his hand slowly to his forehead while Joan exclaimed, “What?”

  “It is bad news. We know,” Ysseri spoke. “Once the ship set sail, there was nothing that could be done.”

  “We can go after him, right?” Thraun asked. “We can sail after him?”

  “Not that easily,” Morris spoke. “The ship they stole was a military weapon. It’s one of the fastest vessels ever created. In order to catch it, you would need one similar to it, and a good bit of luck. The only ship nearby that co
uld even come close to catching it is the prototype of a new design. My Great Aunt Ysseri suggests that we purchase this ship from its owners, the Docking Guild of Oluld. This however, is impossible. The ship can not be bought. It’s the first of its kind.”

  “Then we must go after him with a merchant’s vessel,” Dalk said. “Like the one we arrived on.”

  “You do not understand,” Zanesh spoke. “Your ship traveled from Abelenst in three sun cycles. The one our enemy stole can travel twice that fast. It’s made for hunting down pirate vessels.”

  “Balanch,” Auric spoke. “Balanch said Argain was headed to Lon Gairdas.”

  “Certainly the words of Argain’s minion are not trustworthy,” Ysseri said.

  “He thought he had us beaten,” Auric explained. “I believe what he said was true.”

  Dalk and Thraun nodded, and Joan said, “His arrogance is wild enough to drive him to say it.”

  “The problem persists,” Morris cut in. “You need a faster ship, but we don’t have access to one.”

  “Can we steal it?” Kandon asked, and the party looked to see him gripping the doorframe of his room for support.

  “Kandon what are you doing?” Joan whined and came to his side, taking his arm around her shoulder. “You need to rest.”

  “It sounds like we’re going to have a long boat ride to rest,” Kandon said. “Certainly that will suffice.”

  “We cannot steal from the Docking Guild,” Morris said in a tone that would suggest he felt he was the sole person in the room who understood the gravity of the situation.

  “Nephew,” Ysseri spoke. “Go to the leaders of the Guild, asked them, beg them to lend us their ship. Use my name. Use your name. Tell them we’re willing to pay whatever they ask.”

  “They will decline,” Morris said, standing from his seat.

  “Zanesh, go with him. Provide to them an offer they cannot afford to turn down,” Ysseri continued.

  “My pleasure,” Zanesh said and gave a short bow before following Morris out of the common room.

  “There is not time to waste,” Ysseri said, looking out the window to see the sky lightening as the morning sun made its way to the horizon. “We must find you a crew, a group of able-bodied seafarers capable of manning the ship.”

  “I will go,” Auric said and stood.

  “Allow me to join you,” Thraun spoke, and Auric nodded.

  “We’ll be back soon,” Auric said. “Joan, make sure Ziem and Veese can make it to the docks by daybreak.”

  “What about Reon?” Joan asked.

  Auric turned his head and gazed out the common room window before answering. “We must hope that he survived. We will leave by daybreak.”

  Everyone in the room’s face saddened at his words, and Joan’s eyes grew shiny. “Very well,” she said.

  -

  Oluld looked much worse than it had the day the companions arrived; the streets were full of the wounded and dead, and many people clung to their loved ones’ last moments as life left them. A number of short cottages and houses had burned in the battle, and nearby people stood holding one another, looking at what remained of their homes.

  “This is terrible,” Thraun said as he and Auric walked through the village toward the docks where many ships still remained. “I almost feel it would be worth it to stop and help these people.”

  “We have no time,” Auric said despite harboring similar feelings. “What we can give them is no more than others can. We must catch Argain, or Lon Gairdas will share this fate.”

  Thraun nodded. “What of Balanch? Will it be safe to leave him here?”

  “We leave him in the hands of Ysseri. The prison walls of Oluld may be the only walls he ever sees again, if he thaws.” Auric said. “His reign has ended. One day, he may look back on his mistakes and repent.”

  The two men reached the waterside and stalked across the wooden docks to reach a group of seafarers sitting on crates they were meant to ship and looking up at what was left of their vessel. The boat was burned and unseaworthy, its sails charred from a fire lit during the fighting.

  “Sailors!” Auric shouted to get their attention. “I am in dire need of a crew and offer to you a chance to join the sea once again. My task is one of extreme importance assigned by the great elder herself. Can I count on any of you to take up a post aboard my vessel?”

  “What vessel?” one of the sailors asked. “I see no ship here whose owner I don’t know, and I don’t know you.”

  “My vessel is the prototype owned by the Docking Guild of Oluld,” Auric spoke. “It is vital that we set out as soon as can be.”

  “And what is this important mission you speak of?” another sailor called.

  “The leader of the black raiders is sailing to Lon Gairdas,” Auric answered. “My party and I have resolved to hunt him down and end his campaign.”

  “The leader of the black raiders?” the first sailor asked. “That man is a sorcerer, capable of creating a moving army of armor to fight for him.”

  “Indeed,” Auric said, “which is why it is so important that we stop him.”

  The sailors looked at one another skeptically. Some of them were battle worn, with bandages placed securely on their wounds, or a sling holding one arm in place. One man even had a cloth tied around half of his face so that only one eye showed.

  “I beg of you,” Auric said, not liking the reactions the men were giving him. “You will be paid well for your efforts, and you will have the glory of being part of saving all of the New World.”

  Auric’s attempts at persuading the timid men seemed to be working in reverse. The sailors shifted on their feet nervously and several of them walked away outright.

  “It is safe here, then?” an older seafarer asked. “The leader of those things has gone to Lon Gairdas?”

  “Indeed,” Auric said.

  “Then I will be happy where I am,” the man said and followed the others as they left the docks.

  “Fear not!” Auric shouted, making the men turn back to look. “The man we hunt is not the only one with unnatural powers.” He outstretched his hand toward the land near the dock and a mound of earth rose. It shifted and turned, sculpting itself into a crude sculpture of a man. For as long as his focus would hold, Auric kept the statue standing before letting it tumble back to the ground. “My party has fought and forced this man to flee before. He is wicked and cruel, but he must be stopped. Join us. We ask only that you man our ship, for we lack the knowledge and experience to do so. Do you not want the honor of knowing you stopped a threat immense enough to end our world as we know it? You,” Auric said, pointing to a man he suddenly recognized, and he realized the sailor had been on the same ship that took the heroes to Oluld. “You have sailed with us before. You are good with a blade. Won’t you help us, for the sake of the New World?”

  The man stepped forward. “Aye,” he said. “I have no wife, no children or family. I am Benard. I’ve spent my whole life on the sea, and if I’m going to die, I want to do that on the sea as well. I will join you.”

  A second man stepped forward. “If the pay is good, I will sail.”

  Left and right the sailors were stepping forward to join Auric and Thraun and offer their aid. Auric thanked each one individually and took his name down on paper. He put one man in charge of assembling the necessary provisions for the voyage and gave him the funds to acquire them. With a nod, Auric commanded the men to wait for his return, and he left with Thraun.

  “And what if we cannot get our hands on the ship we promised them?” Thraun asked as the pair walked back toward the Long House.

  “We take a different ship and hope for the best,” Auric replied.

  -

  “I would not have believed it if I did not make the deal myself,” Morris spoke once Auric and Thraun returned to the Long House. Everyone was gathered, even Veese, whose face had been bandaged beyond recognition. Only Dalk was absent, as he’d decided to search Oluld once more for Reon. “They agreed
on the terms that their ship be returned to them unscathed. In addition, they wanted gold, lots of it, and the head of Argain. I promised them his hand.”

  Joan looked around to see the reaction of the others, her own face astonished. “But certainly we cannot give them the hand of Argain. He inhabits the body of an innocent, Dalk’s friend.”

  “An innocent who has caused all of this pain and suffering,” Morris said. He looked at Joan disapprovingly before adding, “If this is too much for you, then cut the hand from Balanch and give it to them. They will know no difference.”

  Auric and Joan both objected together. “That will not be happening,” Auric said. “We are not in the business of butchering people, even our enemies.”

  “Then perhaps you could find another cutthroat, one who has murdered more innocents, locked away and rotting in a prison somewhere. Remove his hand and bring it to them, it matters not,” Morris said.

  Before Auric could object again, Ysseri interjected, “We have the ship, and we have a crew. I think you are ready to begin your journey. The Docking Guild will receive their gold, I will attend to that matter. Veese, are you able to reach the docks?”

  “Yes,” Veese grunted.

  “Thraun,” Auric spoke, “fetch Dalk. We leave as soon as you return.”

  -

  “The Paragon Pelinum!” a Martin man with a white beard declared, pointing to the warship prototype as the heroes arrived at the docks. “I assume you are the group traveling by our ship. Forgive me, I am Rackus Nilvald. I am part of the chamber for the Docking Guild.”

  “Greetings, Rackus, it was good of you to lend us your ship,” Auric said, dropping his bag of supplies on the wooden wharf of the docks. “Your decision may very well have altered the fate of Lon Gairdas and the rest of the New World after it.”