Everyone turned to the skink warrior as his eyes widened in alarm. His spiked fins stiffened and his nostrils flared. “I see what you mean, Zylor. I just caught a whiff of it. I’m chilled to the bone and I don’t know why.” He turned to Kazin. “Don’t you feel it?”
Kazin shook his head.
“Maybe someone cast a spell on us,” suggested Sherman.
“Then why aren’t the rest of us affected?” asked Harran.
Kazin did a ‘spell check’ spell and the orb atop his staff glowed purple. “That’s strange,” he muttered.
“What is it?” asked Amelia.
“There is magic in the area, but I’ve never encountered this kind before,” responded the arch mage quietly. “I should know what this magic is, but I don’t recall -.”
A scream suddenly broke the still air. A moment later it was repeated.
“Someone’s in trouble!” exclaimed Sherman. He fingered his sword nervously.
“It came from over there,” added the dwarf, pointing to the right.
“We should go help!” said Sherman through clenched teeth.
Amelia cleared her throat and everyone turned to look at her. She held up her orb. It was glowing with a dark pink. “I think not.”
The scream sounded again and everyone turned to the old mage. Kazin swallowed nervously. “We must ignore it. Let’s move on.”
They hesitated, but there were no more screams. Zylor cursed and spurred his horse forward, muttering under his breath. One by one the others followed until only Amelia was left. The group was just fading from sight when her orb turned a dark red. The further away the others rode, the darker it became. It also began to vibrate - a new feature that had never occurred before. The orb vibrated more and more violently and started to heat up.
“Guys, wait!” cried Amelia. She spurred her horse forward to catch up with the others. “Stop!”
They all turned to the spell caster as she galloped up to them in a panic. “The orb is telling me - us - not to ignore this - whatever it is. Riding away from it makes it worse!” For added effect she held up her orb. It was a brilliant red.
“But we’re not supposed to interfere -,” objected Olag. He was quite happy to be heading away from the danger.
A scream sounded again, still off to the right, but a bit further back where they had first heard it.
“I say we check it out,” said Sherman resolutely.
“I’m with you,” growled Zylor.
“We’ll all go,” said Kazin, “but proceed with caution. There is magic in the air and it could be a ruse of some sort.”
“I’m inclined to agree,” seconded Olag. “Whatever it is, it’s not to be trifled with.”
The orb in Amelia’s hand began to pulse. “I think we’d better hurry,” she urged.
Sherman was already in motion, with Zylor and Harran on either side of him. Kazin urged his horse forward with the others in order to keep up.
It took only a few moments before they reached the edges of the jagged territory where the land rose up in jutted peaks that marked the beginning of ‘no man’s land’. To travel further meant risking death. The gaseous vents and treacherous terrain, along with the stories of no one returning from this territory alive were reason enough to stay away.
“That’s funny,” muttered Harran. “I didn’t realize we had ventured so close to this area.”
“Neither did I,” grumbled Sherman. “The fog must have caused us to travel off course.”
“No doubt,” said Kazin. “I did notice the fog was getting thicker.”
A scream sounded again, this time much closer. One of the horses whinnied and the others became skittish. Amelia cast a spell on the horses which immediately calmed them.
Zylor dismounted. “The horses aren’t going any closer. We’ll have to leave them behind.”
“Someone will have to stay with them,” said Kazin as he and the others followed suit. “We can’t risk them being scared off.”
“I’ll stay,” offered Olag.
“Very well,” said Kazin.
“We can tie the reins to these outcrops so you don’t have to hold them,” suggested Harran. He tied his horse’s reigns around an obsidian stalagmite-shaped rock that protruded from the ground at an odd angle. The others followed his example.
Within moments everyone was ready to proceed. Just then another scream sounded, followed by a short cry.
“I’ll lead the way,” said Harran. No one argued. His instinct with finding his way in the mountains was legendary.
As the skink warrior watched the others disappear into the mist, he suddenly realized he was going to be alone with only the horses for company. He didn’t want to face the dangers the others were about to face, but being alone was just as bad. Olag hoped they wouldn’t be long. Suddenly a thought struck him and he shuddered. What if they didn’t come back? What if they succumbed to whatever was casting those spells and he was left to fend for himself? He certainly couldn’t go to the humans for help, and his own kind wouldn’t even recognize him. He would be a freak of nature, and would be shunned by everyone. The skink warrior would truly be alone. Olag groaned inwardly and chided himself for going on this quest. It was a bad idea. Only one thing gave him hope. That was the knowledge that the group he now traveled with was the most courageous, savvy, and capable crew he had ever encountered. They had gotten out of some extremely dangerous situations before. This was no different. If anyone could come back from this current undertaking, it was they. Besides, they were his friends. They were also honourable. They would never abandon him. Somehow he had earned their trust, and he wasn’t about to let them down either. They were in this together.
With a sigh of resignation, the skink warrior hunkered down between some smooth outcrops and opened a can of trail rations to distract his troubled mind. At least he still had possession of the invisibility ring should he need it.
Harran crept forward slowly. He pointed ahead of him. “I see the outlines of a cave,” he whispered. “We must be close.”
The others crowded around him and squinted into the fog. Suddenly, the fog lifted slightly, revealing a strange sight. Left of the cave entrance was a dry, lifeless tree. Bound to it was a young woman in a tattered dress. Prodding at her with some sharp sticks were a pair of orcs. They were drooling and gurgling in glee every time they succeeded in eliciting a moan or cry from their captive.
Sherman drew his sword and started forward with Zylor at his side when Kazin cried, “Stop!” They looked questioningly at the mage.
“It’s an illusion!” said Kazin. “It’s not real!”
The woman screamed again and Sherman winced. “Are you sure? It sounds awfully real to me.”
Suddenly Harran began to jump around uncontrollably. “Get them off me! Get them off me!” His legs were covered in red ants.
“Ignore it!” yelled Kazin. “It’s not real! It’s only illusion!”
Then a giant bat swept down on the mage from above. Instinctively, he swatted it aside with his hand and felt it slash his arm. He cursed at his reaction. “It can’t hurt you unless you believe it’s real!”
Meanwhile, Harran was still hopping around and the warrior and minotaur were on their way to deal with the orcs. Amelia was using magic to deal with the giant bats as they became more and more numerous. One bat swooped down on Kazin again, but this time he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Nothing happened. As the bat made contact with him, it vanished. The illusion had no effect if he refused to believe in it. Now he had to convince his friends of that. He walked over to Harran and held him firmly by the shoulders. “They’re not real!” he yelled into the dwarf’s face. By now the dwarf’s legs were entirely covered with large red ants. “Ignore them! They’re not real!” Kazin repeated.
Harran squeezed his eyes shut and repeated. “They’re not real. T
hey’re not real.” As quickly as the ants had appeared they vanished. The dwarf opened his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief.
“That’s how you resist,” said Kazin. “Don’t believe the illusion is real.”
Harran nodded.
Kazin glanced back at Amelia as a giant bat struck her and vanished. She had heard Kazin and was tuning out the illusions. She gave the arch mage a wan smile and nodded. “I’m ok.”
Kazin heard a clash behind him and spun around to see Sherman and Zylor engaging the orcs in combat. Strangely, the orcs had acquired swords and shields. Even more alarmingly, they seemed to increase in size, becoming larger every moment. Within seconds they were bigger than even the minotaur.
“Sherman! Zylor! They’re not real!” cried Kazin, running over to the struggling fighters. Perspiration beaded Sherman’s forehead as he fought in desperation against an ever growing foe.
The warrior fended off blow after blow, having changed from attacking to defending tactics.
“It’s not real, Sherman,” said Kazin loudly. He stepped into the apparition as it swung its sword at him. In an instant the orc vanished, and Kazin was unharmed. Kazin resolutely stepped into Zylor’s opponent and it also vanished.
The minotaur lowered his axe, his breathing ragged. “I could have taken it,” he growled.
“Kazin, behind you!” yelled Amelia.
Kazin turned just as the creature lunged into him, sending him sprawling. “A harpy!” cried Kazin, struggling to his feet. “Let’s get out of here!”
The creature, with a hag’s head and a bird’s body, circled for another attack.
“Is it real?” asked Sherman.
“That’s what’s been creating all the illusions!” cried Kazin.
“Then let me at it!” yelled Sherman, lunging forward to intercept the gruesome creature.
“No, Sherman!” cried Kazin. “Those creatures are powerful! Even magic won’t affect them!”
Sherman ignored him, slashing and parrying with the enraged beast. Zylor tried to get closer to the combatants but there wasn’t enough room to gain access. The harpy used its wings to fight from the edge of a precipice, and Sherman was dangerously close to losing his footing on the smooth rock surface.
Kazin didn’t know what to do. He suddenly wished Olag was present to use his arrows. It was the only effective way to deal with such an aerial beast. Harran and Amelia watched the epic battle in amazement. The harpy easily avoided every slash of Sherman’s sword, twisting out of the way with the ease of a fly. Her wings swung her in close enough for her to claw at the warrior’s shoulder and in the same wing beat she swerved away from another useless strike by the warrior.
Suddenly Kazin had an idea. His magic wouldn’t work on the harpy, but it would work on Sherman. He chanted his spell and pointed his staff at Sherman’s sword. In the blink of an eye it vanished. Sherman was too busy to notice and swung his apparently empty hands at the harpy. The creature wasn’t sure what to expect and didn’t move in time. Sherman’s invisible sword sliced clean through one of the harpy’s wings and then back through one of its legs.
With a scream not unlike the ones they had heard earlier, the harpy fell to the ground at Sherman’s feet. As it lay there, it changed its form to one of a beautiful woman in torn clothes.
Sherman raised his sword and then hesitated, breathing heavily.
“Finish it!” yelled Kazin. “It’s illusion!”
Sherman closed his eyes and swung downward. The scream that echoed throughout the region sent a chill through the spine of every living being within earshot.
“That’s disgusting,” rasped Sherman, looking at the ghastly corpse before him, with a hag’s head and a bird’s body.
“I’m amazed that we never encountered such a creature before,” murmured Zylor.
“That’s probably because they went extinct after the dragon wars,” said Kazin. He had come up to them to be sure the creature was indeed dead. “Either that, or they left the region like the dragons did, for reasons we can only guess.”
“Good thing too,” muttered Sherman. “They’re nasty creatures.” He turned to Kazin. “How did you know the orcs were an illusion, Kazin? We just got here and you started hollering at us that none of it was real. How did you know that?”
Kazin grinned sheepishly. “Remember when my staff turned purple and I couldn’t figure out what that meant? That’s because I forgot that purple usually signals that illusion magic is being used. I very rarely encounter illusion magic cast by someone else, even though I use it frequently myself. For instance, I use illusion magic to make Zylor appear human. But once I saw the scene with the orcs, I became suspicious. Both the human woman and the orcs were out of place here. That’s when I remembered the significance of the purple colour of the orb on my staff. It had to be illusion magic. I knew that’s what it was, but not what caused it - until the harpy attacked me. Harpies have extremely powerful magic, particularly when it’s related to illusion. That’s why it’s so realistic. Until now, I’ve only ever seen them in books that we studied in the tower when I was an apprentice. But once you see something like that, you don’t ever forget it.”
Voices behind them caused the trio to turn around. Harran and Amelia were standing at the cave entrance peering inside. Amelia’s orb was shining with a bright white light.
“What have you got?” asked Kazin as they walked up to the dwarf and spell caster.
Amelia straightened and looked at Kazin. “As soon as the harpy was slain, my orb stopped glowing red. As I got closer to this cave, it started glowing white.”
“What does that mean?” asked Sherman.
Amelia hesitated. “Well, it only ever does that in one place - in my father’s study. It has a tendency to light up whenever I wish to examine one of his magic scrolls. I’ve occasionally had to lend it to my father because he finds the light helpful when he studies spell scrolls.”
“It sounds like you have an artifact that is partial to spell scrolls and spell books,” said Kazin. “It’s not unheard of for artifacts to be drawn to certain things. The various spells and spell components used to endow the artifacts with magic tend to polarize the item toward certain things. Your orb was probably enhanced with magic using a number of different spells from a number of different scrolls and spell books.” He pointed to Sherman’s sword. “Sherman’s sword has a tendency to do severe damage to undead creatures. Somehow spirits are related to its creation, hence the term ‘spirit blade’.”
Amelia gaped at the arch mage with new found respect. He was very knowledgeable when it came to magic. She made a point to learn what she could from this man.
“So Amelia’s orb is saying there’s a spell scroll nearby?” asked Zylor.
“I’ll bet it’s in there,” said Harran, pointing into the cave mouth.
Kazin moved forward and did a few spell checks. One for the presence of other creatures, one for magical warding, one for illusions, and one for magical or mechanical traps. Finding none, he gave the ok to enter the cave. “Just don’t touch anything until I check it to make sure it’s not cursed,” he admonished. Having said that he lit his staff and led the way in. Zylor, not being interested in magical treasures, offered to keep watch outside.
The cave entrance opened up into a dingy cavern where several short tunnels and alcoves were apparent in the gloom. All of the tunnels were short and most were dusty from lack of use. Those ones ended in dead ends or fissures where light wisps of poisonous gas emanated. They hastily vacated these areas and concentrated on the only two tunnels that did seem to be used. These tunnels led to small caverns where the harpy obviously had made her home. The first one they examined was equipped with logs and boulders set in some sort of furniture arrangement. Some of the boulders were used as tables, and others were set in a pattern meant to be a hearth, with smaller rocks piled around in a circular pattern
to prevent cooking fires from spreading. Some left-over meat from some unknown source was still in the homemade fire pit and flies swarmed the contents.
Amelia gagged. “Uggh! That’s disgusting!”
“Not a healthy diet, I’d say,” remarked Sherman.
“I don’t expect the harpy had much choice,” added Kazin. “There’s not likely very much to eat in these parts.”
A metallic crash made them all jump in surprise.
“Where’s Harran?” asked Sherman, looking around anxiously. The light provided by Kazin’s staff and Amelia’s orb cast strange flickering shadows on the wall around them.
Kazin muttered under his breath, remembering suddenly that dwarves could see well in the dark, being adapted to cave life. He led the others from the first room back into the cavern where the tunnels branched off. They saw Harran emerging from the second tunnel they hadn’t examined yet.
The dwarf grinned at them sheepishly. “Sorry. I bumped into some rusty armour in the other room. It must be the harpy’s storage room. There is a bunch of things in there she must have accumulated over the years from some unwary explorers.”
“Let’s take a look,” said Kazin. He held his staff aloft as he led them into the second cavern. The rusty armour Harran had bumped into was in a haphazard pile to the left and was indicative of everything else in the cavern.
“It looks like harpies like to be sloppy,” remarked Harran.
“It’s not like they have a lot of guests,” added Amelia.
“Unless they have you over for supper,” joked Sherman.
Amelia shuddered. “I don’t like creatures who eat people.”
“I’m sure they’d like you,” chided Sherman, “with a little seasoning, of course.”
Amelia glared at Sherman and he laughed. “I’m just kidding.”
“Alright, you two, knock it off,” said Kazin. “Let’s just give this place a quick scan and then we’ll get out of here.” He coughed. “The gases aren’t something we should be breathing for long.” He cast a spell to see if anything was cursed or protected by magic but nothing showed. “It’s all safe,” he declared.
Spirit Blade: Book III of the Dragon Mage Trilogy Page 15