The Demon's Blade

by Steven Drake

  It was down to a chase. The two mages pulled up beside Jerris, and urged him forward. The inexperienced rider could barely control the horse at this breakneck pace, and still more speed was needed, for the warrogs were closing. Fortunately, Jerris’ horse, Terra, responded to her two younger compatriots as they quickened their pace. The warrogs ran faster, twice getting close enough to nip at the heels of the horses, but each time, the magic of Darien and Rana scattered them and pushed them back. Shards of ice and streaks of lightning tore through the nearer ranks of the enemy and left the nearest dead or gravely wounded. Though fast, the warrogs could not match the endurance of the galloping horses, and the mass of brown fur, yellow goblin hides, and blood red eyes fell gradually farther and farther behind.

  Still, there was no sign of Avirosa or any of his lieutenants. Darien could not explain their absence, but was in no position to question it. As the chase continued, the horses continued to gain ground on the mass of goblins. Still, staying on the road was not an option. If they were to go south, they first needed to find a way to lose their immediate pursuit. High ridges still flanked either side of them, with no gap in sight. Finally, after perhaps a half hour of hard riding, a wide side street intersected the main road, running southeast and cutting through the high hills. Without hesitation, Darien made for it, and his companions followed. The goblins had dropped far behind them, and it was not at all certain that they had seen the fleeing travelers turn. Nonetheless, they kept the horses moving quickly, slowing only enough to allow the beasts to conserve what remained of their endurance.

  The goblins were lost from sight behind them. Whether they had missed the travelers’ change of course, or whether they had given up the pursuit entirely, none of the three could tell. The rain slowed, while the lightning and thunder decreased in frequency, as the storm moved off east. After a few minutes’ travel, the road narrowed, and was joined by a drainage canal to the left side. Darien finally took a moment to stop.

  Rana looked back up the street where they had passed. “Nothing, They’re not following.”

  Each of the three breathed separately a sigh of relief. Even so, they could not afford to stop here, so they set off again, walking at a steady but no longer hurried pace. Finally, perhaps an hour later, the travelers came to a gorge. The water in the canal tumbled down into murky darkness below. There was an old arched stone bridge across the river a few yards left of the canal opening. Beyond the bridge, there were only a few scattered ruined stone structures. They had finally reached the edge of the ruined city, and not a moment too soon. The rain, too, had relented somewhat.

  Three weary, and thoroughly soaked, travelers crossed the bridge. Once they were safely across, Darien channeled an earth spell and collapsed the bridge behind them.

  Chapter 20: The Faerie Guide

  With the pursuit over, and a deep gorge separating the three travelers from their pursuers, one difficulty was left behind, but another lay ahead. Once the goblins realized their quarry had escaped, they would send out scouts. Lacking the keen night vision of orcs and trolls, goblins would have difficulty searching at night, but the night would not last forever. The difficulty now was finding shelter large enough to conceal all three travelers and their horses, or the chase would resume in the morning. Further, they had to put as much distance between themselves and the ruins as possible, and that meant venturing away from the road that continued on to the southeast past the now destroyed bridge.

  Jerris looked expectantly at the older half-elf, awaiting some sort of instruction. Rana had dismounted, and was running her hands along Squall’s neck. The horses were still exhausted from the run, and needed several hours to properly recover before they were ridden again. The storm had passed, but a gentle rain continued to fall steadily.

  “We have to find somewhere to hide before morning comes,” Darien finally broke the silence, stating what was already obvious to Rana, who nodded in agreement. “We can’t stay here. The roads and paths around the ruins will be the first places searched. We can assume they know these lands better than we do. Our best option is to look for a large cave, or failing that, a deep narrow ravine, somewhere we won’t be easily seen from far off. We go on foot, to keep the horses as fresh as possible if we are found.”

  “We should look for a way south,” Rana added. “Maya said we should go that way, and in any case the ruins are back north, so south will be away.” Now it was Darien’s turn to nod in agreement, and they set off.

  The trio walked down the road as it continued more or less to the east, looking for a path south that wouldn’t end in a dead end or send them wandering in circles in the darkness. Within a few minutes, they happened upon a small stream, swollen from the rains, which crossed the path and flowed southward. The watercourse would give them something to follow and prevent them from backtracking, so they turned off and walked alongside the rushing stream.

  The travelers made slow progress along the stream, stepping over dormant bushes and clambering down slopes. The clouds blocked the moonlight and hindered visibility. Darien and Rana had little difficulty, using magically enhanced sight to guide their way, but Jerris, though half-elven, struggled mightily, tripping and falling often on the loose rocks. The darkness also confounded the horses, who were already tired, and now being led across difficult terrain in darkness. Several times, the travelers had to coax the horses down difficult slopes, as the stream tumbled down along the craggy terrain. More than once, they were forced to tromp straight through the hip-deep water, risking falling and being swept away by the current.

  The night passed slowly in this fashion, with no suitable shelter to be found. The stream was joined by other streams, and became a river. Rock walls rose, a dozen feet high, on either side of them as they entered a canyon carved by the small river. Finally, just as dawn’s first light crept into the eastern sky, they sighted a dark opening in the rock before them.

  The cave mouth was just large enough for the horses to pass through, and opened into a wide flat cave of dull gray brown stone. The floor was smooth and worn, and the cave sloped downward from the entrance to the rear wall, perhaps twenty feet away. The three travelers tied their horses to a man sized boulder that sat near the rear of the cave. Jerris collapsed on the floor against the back wall of the cave. Rana looked at Darien, a questioning look, to which he nodded, and the woman dropped to the ground. The Executioner moved near the cave mouth to keep watch while his companions rested.

  Jerris slept immediately, while Rana sat quietly for a few minutes before finally summoning the strength to remove her heavy armor and retrieve her bedroll from the supplies. Then she too lay down to sleep. Darien took the opportunity to fill his belly, and passed the time watching the stream as it flowed past the cave entrance.

  A dozen questions ran through his mind. How did those goblins know where I was? How did they know how to time their trap? When did all these goblins get across the Saldean, and perhaps foremost, where were the shades who undoubtedly commanded these creatures? Goblins would not go this far west on their own, nor would they be likely to lay such a careful trap with their own skill, but whatever mind commanded them, it seemed that he was not present. It certainly is a puzzle, but at the moment, a futile one. The weary shade turned to his sleeping companions. There was plenty of time to sleep now. He had already decided to delay further travel until nightfall.

  Late in the afternoon, the young southerner woman stirred from her slumber. After a few moments, she rose and joined the half-elf in his vigil. They sat in silence for several minutes before she finally broke the silence.

  “What now?”

  “We ask your faerie what to do, what else. She said we should go south, and so we have. Now I want to know how she found me, how she knew we were going into a trap, and everything else she knows.”

  “You have to promise you won’t hurt her, or use any of your spells on her.”

  “I would be a fool to do so. I’m running blindly through a wasteland I know al
most nothing about, and have no other source of information.”

  “Fair enough. Should we wake Jerris?”

  Darien nodded. Though it concerned him little at the moment, the question of the prophecy and the hidden city would have to be asked, and the lad would not be happy if he awakened to learn that he had missed the opportunity. He moved over and gently nudged the sleeping half-elf with his booted foot. Jerris grumbled something unintelligible, fighting wakefulness, but after a few moments of gentle encouragement, the boy rolled over and looked up at the older half-elf.

  “Rana is preparing to summon her faerie friend. I thought you’d want to see that,” Jerris’ eyes widened and he scrambled to his feet.

  “Of course I do. We can ask the faerie to translate the prophecy. What are we waiting for?”

  “Prophecy?” Rana asked, puzzled.

  “It’s a long story, which I’m sure Jerris will be happy to tell you, but right now, I’m more concerned with figuring out where to go from here,”

  “Alright,” Rana agreed. “Come with me.” Rana searched around the cave, finally finding a small depression in the cave floor. First she poured a generous quantity of ordinary water from one of the flasks, then she took out an object from some hidden pocket in her shirt. The object appeared to be a small vial, on the end of a golden chain, about the length of a child’s finger. It had a rounded ball at the bottom, less than an inch wide, and filled with water. The neck was narrow, and the vial was capped with a tiny cork. It appeared to be made of glass or possibly some sort of crystal, and had a raised ridge which wrapped around the entirety of the vial, spiraling from the very top of the neck all the way to the bottom of the rounded ball.

  “What is that?” Darien asked.

  “It’s a treasure passed down by my family for countless generations,” Rana answered. “Supposedly, an ancestor of mine saved the life of a faerie, and the faeries were so grateful that they promised to aid our family anytime we were in need. This vial was a token of that promise, and also serves a more practical purpose. The vial possesses a special enchantment that allows a faerie to sleep in the water inside. It allows Maya to accompany me on journeys.”

  “I don’t understand,” Jerris said in confusion, “Why does she need to travel inside that vial?”

  “Faeries are creatures of the water. They are bound to it, and ordinarily can’t leave it,” Rana replied. “Only the great faeries, the strongest and oldest, are able to go far over land, but even they must return to the water often.”

  “So why that vial?” Jerris questioned. “Couldn’t you just put some water in an ordinary flask or something like that?”

  “I asked Maya that very question. Apparently, it isn’t just the water itself that’s important. Maya told me that faeries have to stay connected to the soul of the waters, whatever that means,” Rana explained. “The vial possesses a special enchantment that maintains that connection. I don’t really understand it, myself. Maya says the magic is very old, something from the ancient world.”

  Interesting, Darien thought. Even so, this vial seems familiar. I feel like I’ve heard of it somewhere before, but I can’t recall where. Ah well, maybe it will come to me later. “So this was a gift from the faeries? Do you know where it came from originally?”

  “You can ask her,” Rana poured the water from the vial into the pool of water. The vial emptied slowly, in tiny drips of exceptionally clear and bright liquid. “She may or may not tell you. She only shares what she wants to. Talking to her can be frustrating, but you can see for yourself. Now be very quiet.” Darien waited quietly as Rana spoke. “O, Maya, spirit of the water, hear my call. By the blood of my family and the promise of our forefathers, I summon thee. Awaken, and speak.”

  At first there was nothing, but slowly, over several minutes, the waters began to stir, and a greenish blue light formed in the pool. It grew in intensity and size as it rose slowly to the surface of the water. Then, in a flash, the light dispersed, scattering in all directions, and the form of a young woman appeared in its place. Her face and features appeared that of a grown woman or elf, but she stood no higher than Darien’s knee. Her whole body must have weighed no more than a small dog, as she was spindly, wispy, and ethereal. She possessed wings that were much larger than she, stretching out beyond her arms on either side, down nearly to her feet, and up several inches above her head, shaped like the wings of a butterfly. The broad wings were not feathered like a bird’s, but thin, papery, and translucent like the wings of an insect. A thin layer of dust, which glowed with the same green hue as the earlier ball of light, coated the wings, and bathed the faerie in light. Her hair, white as mountain snow, lay haphazardly about her body and stretched nearly down to her feet. The silvery white locks caught the light from her wings and served to further dispel the darkness about her. Her only clothing was a green garment which began just above her breast and stretched down to just above her knees. It clung so closely to her that it was difficult to tell whether it was, in fact, a garment at all, and not a part of her body.

  Darien stood watching in amazement. He had never seen a faerie before, nor even read about them, and so had no notion of what to expect. He stared for several minutes, until he was interrupted. “So, do you intend to stare at me as though I were a pretty flower until the day passes, or did you plan to speak? You have something to ask me, do you not?” The faerie spoke straightaway to the Executioner, as though she had been expecting to see him.

  “Maya,” Rana said. “This is Darien, the one who spared my life.”

  “Yes I know who he is,” Maya interrupted. “All faeries know who he is.”

  The half-elf continued to stare, shocked for a moment by the revelation, but quickly regaining his composure. “And who am I, that those whom I have never met should be so familiar with me?” he asked of the faerie.

  The faerie giggled and smiled as a child would. “You are Darien the Executioner of course, the courageous thief, the noble betrayer, the shadow that heralds the light, the master of the Demon Sword. All the faeries know this.”

  “And why didn’t you tell me he had the Demon Sword if you knew?” Rana interjected, frustrated.

  “Why, because you did not ask, of course,” Maya laughed and smiled. “You must ask the right questions if you wish to be given the right answers.”

  “That is not funny. If I’d killed him, do you know what could have happened?”

  “I do, and I did not think you remotely capable of killing him so it didn’t seem important,” Maya said. Rana growled angrily at the faerie’s insinuations.

  “Then why did you lead me to him?” Rana said. “You would have let me die? What would have happened to you? You’d have been stuck in that bottle for an age, and it would have served you right.”

  “I led you to him because you asked me. I was chosen to be your guide by my sisters, so that we could honor our people’s old debt to your family. We do not forget our debts easily.” Maya floated a few inches above the water, yet her wings barely moved. She bobbed steadily up and down while she spoke, occasionally spinning merrily around, oblivious to the situation. “And I did not believe he would kill you anymore than I believed you were able to kill him. We faeries see more than you do. The waters speak to us. They speak to us of the past, of the future, and all that is between. They speak to us of things far away, and things near to our hearts. Through the waters, we feel the subtle vibrations that play upon the threads of fate, which weave the tapestry of life. We see the turns in the stream of history and we feel the ebbs and flows of time. My visions may seem a trick to you, but I perceive them as surely as you see with your eyes.”

  “You manipulated her to get to me,” Darien pointedly interjected. “And to Jerris, did you not?”

  “You make it sound so awful. Do you always see the worst in everything?” Maya said, turning again to the wily shade.

  “Yes, he does,” Jerris interrupted. Darien shot the boy a glare, but he did not react.

  “So h
ow did you know those goblins were waiting for us?” Darien questioned.

  “I did not know exactly what your enemy was planning,” Maya answered. “I only felt the avalanche he brought down to the west. We faeries are connected to the waters of this world, and through the waters, to each other. My sisters in the bubbling springs of the Silver Mountains felt the earth shake and heard the crashing of stones and ice and snow,” Maya explained, still speaking merrily as a child.

  “You might have warned us. That information would have been useful yesterday,” Darien said. “We were just chased through the ruins by a pack of goblins. We might all have been killed. We were fortunate Avirosa wasn’t with them, nor were any other shades.”

  “But of course I did try to warn you,” Maya giggled. “My sisters brought me word of the avalanche, so I warned Rana that I feared a trap. I also told her that you would not believe her unless she revealed her secret and introduced you to me. She said that she feared for my life, and she feared how you might use my power. I tried to explain that everything would work out, but she did not listen, and so here we are, yet it is not so bad after all, is it?”

  “I suppose not,” Darien said. “We are all alive and well, but we have a new problem. We are now lost in the wilderness with nowhere to go.”

  “Well, I counseled Rana that you should go south from the ruins, because that is the way you must go. There is a sanctuary of my people, some distance to the south, though I cannot say how far by your measures.”

  “There’s nothing on any map but hundreds of miles of trackless wilderness. Rocky wastes, empty plains, impassable marshlands. That’s all that I’ve ever heard lies south of Thordas in the Craglands,” Darien said.

  “Well, we faeries do not make maps, we have no need, but it is there, and more that you search for besides. South, that is where your path lies, whether your maps say so or not.” Maya danced merrily upon the waters as she was speaking, motioning in a direction that may or may not have been south. The Executioner shrugged, understanding Rana’s frustration with her guide, but there was no other option but to trust the mysterious faerie.