Eberon's Sword

by Rick Brown

  I froze as I heard a yelp from somewhere ahead of me. Come ‘on Lenux, I thought to myself. That was still a ways off. Forcing another step, I continued to walk down the hall.

  I stopped at a doorway to a darkened room. Looking inside, I could see light through the opposite door. Squatting down, I waited. Staring at the shadows for any sign of something lurking.

  Can’t wait here forever. With sword at ready, I hurried across the darkened room and to the doorway beyond.

  The door opened up to a magnificent ballroom. It’s stained glass windows long since broken away. Shattered tables and chairs scattered across the floor. Its destruction reminded me of the aftermath of the ball in Vaelin. Shaking the thought from my head, I found the blood trail again as it wound its way through the enormous room.

  The light in the room changed from shadow to light and back again as I walked between the windows. The werewolf’s wound still leaving a substantial blood trail. It wouldn’t be able to last long with this much blood loss.

  I followed the trail towards the far end of the ballroom, the chamber becoming more shadowed as I went. In the encroaching darkness, the trail became harder to see. Getting down on my knee, I leaned over in an attempt to find more blood.

  A light shuffle of claws on wood was all the warning I had. Springing forward, I slid away from the spot I was in. A spot now filled with frustrated werewolf. I twisted around on my back to see the beast creeping towards me, a low heart-stopping growl emanating from its teeth-filled visage.

  Keeping my sword forward, I scooted away from the creature. I could see Farloc’s arrow still jutting from its side. It would have been a fatal shot on any other animal.

  I was able to get to my feet as the werewolf started to circle. Taking a few steps back, I was now in range of an overturned table as the creature made its second attack. As it rushed at me, I leapt behind the table. The werewolf, unable to make the sudden adjustment on the slick wooden floor, slid past my hiding spot. With a quick slash of my sword, I was able to score its hind leg.

  Once again, the werewolf let out a yelp of frustration and pain. I quickly ran around the table, taking refuge between its jutting legs. I listened quietly for a moment, only hearing the pounding of my heart.

  I was suddenly thrown forward as the table flipped up. I turned over to find myself now under the table. The werewolf’s tail hanging over the side as it sat on top. With a quick slash, I cut off the beast’s tail. Blood sprayed as the werewolf launched itself away from the table.

  I sprinted for the nearest passage, slamming an aged door behind me. I ran down the hall as far as I could before ducking into a room. I was just in time as I heard the hall door bang open. I found myself in an old bedroom. Most of the furniture was still intact, but there was no safe place to hide.

  It was a moment later that the werewolf’s head appeared through the doorway. It carefully sniffed in the room. Slowly, it crept forward, ever nearing the bed. Sticking its nose under the frame, it sniffed deeply to search for my scent.

  Stepping out from behind the chifforobe, I flung open the shutters, allowing the morning light to stream in. The beast howled as the light fell across its body, the werewolf’s fur burning away. The monster quickly leapt away from the sunlight.

  Rushing forward, I slashed at the beast’s side, cutting down to its ribs. With a roar it swatted at me with its massive paw, the claws cutting slices across my face.

  The blow knocked me across the room. Sliding away, I was able to push myself through the door. Closing it behind me.

  I knew it would not hold the werewolf long. The beast was just too strong to be contained by a wooden door. Reaching up, I could feel the blood pouring down my ruined face. Trying to blink, I couldn’t see out of my right eye. Leaving a blood trail of my own, I ran down the hall and away from the werewolf. I had just turned the corner when I heard the creature crack open the door. I wasn’t safe yet.

  I ran down the hall, my hand pressed against my face to try to staunch the bleeding. As I hurried, I almost ran past an old spear hanging on the wall. Pulling it down, it still felt sturdy in my hands. After three hundred years, it would once again see action.

  The werewolf slinked down the hall, easily following the trail of blood I had left behind. I had intentionally walked back the same way I came, hopefully fooling the beast into thinking I had continued on. I hid behind a pillar, listening to the clicking of the werewolf’s nails as it followed my trail.

  My heart nearly stopped as I heard it rest a few steps away from my hiding place, the beast sniffing at the air. I tightened my grip on the spear, readying for whatever may happen.

  “Lenux?” I heard Barad’s voice echo through the palace. The werewolf turned back towards the ballroom. He would not get a chance at my friends like he has had at me. Leaping out, I shoved the spear into the beast’s side. It roared as it swung its body around, slamming me into the wall. I could feel my ribs break from the forceful blow. Lunging forward, I stabbed again with the spear, this time digging deep into the werewolf’s back. A satisfying crack said that I had broken its spine.

  I fell to the floor as I stared into the dying beast’s eyes, its angry visage fading as it passed. Between my crushed chest and lack of blood, I no longer had the ability to get up. Lying across from the werewolf, I watch it go through its metamorphosis before my eyes. The black werewolf coat fell away to show the blond hair underneath. Its grotesque skull melting back into that of a man’s, a man I knew, Captain Marcus Hannen.

  Chapter 11

  (Lee)

  “I can’t believe he went in there without us,” Brianna fumed. “If he isn’t dead, I’ll kill him.”

  “Easy lass,” Orlik warned as we made our way into the palace. “Them werewolves have good hearing.”

  Brianna was tracking for us, holding a glowing opal over her head. Barad was at her shoulder in case we found trouble. “There’s a lot of blood here, I can’t imagine that werewolf is feeling too well,” Barad commented.

  Farloc nodded. “Any other beast would have died instantly with that shot. These werewolves are amazing creatures.”

  “Let’s not lose sight of the fact they are magically contrived monsters set loose to kill us,” Ryan reminded.

  “It’s the complex magic involved that makes it all the more impressive,” Farloc continued. “At the heart of it is Gorath’s power, but I believe there must be fae magic involved as well.”

  “Do you mean fairies are assisting Gorath?” Barad asked.

  “Oh, I doubt it was voluntary. Likely it happened centuries ago,” Farloc explained. “Then they can just keep using the werewolves to spread the magic to the next victim.”

  The trail led us to a giant ballroom. Only my concern for my friend dampened my impression of its beauty. We wound our way through the jumble of tables and chairs and Brianna stopped and examined the area.

  “The absolute fool!” She growled. “Lenux fought a werewolf here.”

  “Is he ok?” I asked.

  Brianna continued to circle the area of the fight. “I think he is so far. It looks like they went through that door.”

  Barad leaned into the hallway. “Lenux?” he called out.

  “Gods, boy!” Orlik cursed under his breath. “Do I need to remind you we are in a building with werewolves? We do no need you bringing them all down on us!”

  “My friend is being chased by one of those werewolves, and I’ll risk it if it means saving his life.”

  “Relax, boys,” I stated as I stepped between them. “Lenux is good at what he does. Brianna,” I said as I stepped aside, “can you keep tracking?”

  Brianna held up the opal and continued down the hall. “They went into this bedroom,” she pointed out. “Oh no. There’s a lot of blood here, I think Lenux is injured.”

  We followed her as she hurried down the hall, all of us with weapons at ready. As we rounded the next corner, we spotted two bodies lying in the corridor. We ran down the corridor to them, Farloc and Or
lik running past to secure the other side. In the hall lay Lenux and, shockingly, Captain Hannen. Lenux had horrible scratches down his face, blood covering his body.

  Using my magic, I reached inside him, relieved to find his heart still beating. I could now easily navigate to his ribs, using my magic to put them back into place. Lenux, what did you do? I had to wonder as I continued to scan his body. Thanks to Doctor Yorlin, I now knew how to identify internal bleeding. I took some time, but I stopped the flow. Hopefully, the body would fix what had already leaked out. Removing my hand from his chest, I placed it upon his horrible facial injuries.

  The lacerations were not the smooth kind I had repaired previously, sharpened swords caused those. These scratches from the werewolf’s claws left jagged and torn skin, some of his flesh likely missing.

  I used my magic to press the skin together, patching it the best I could. His eye was gone. Torn away by the beast. I felt tears come to my eyes when I realized my friend would never be the same. I healed his eyelid to cover the hole. It was all I could do.

  I pulled away, weary from the magic I had used. Looking at Lenux, his face now had pink scars on his right side. My healing had left them faint, but I could still see them. His eyelid sagged over his now missing eye.

  I leaned back against the wall, my shirt now drenched in sweat from the exertion. “How is he?” Brianna asked.

  “He’ll live, but I couldn’t save his eye. I can’t heal something that isn’t there.” I had to rub my face as I said it. Wishing I could erase the words. That I could still make it all right.

  “He’ll understand,” Barad stated as he leaned over Lenux. “He was always a pragmatist.”

  “What happened to this one?” Orlik asked as he pointed as Captain Hannen. “Did the werewolf get him too?”

  “Do you see the wound on his side?” Farloc pointed out. “That was from my arrow. He was the werewolf.”

  “Oh Cousin, what did you get into?” Abigail asked sadly. “I never liked him, but he was still family.”

  “So, one of these werewolves must be your uncle,” Ryan stated.

  “Doesn’t look like it pays to be a traitor,” Barad pointed out.

  “Your Highness,” Father Yagen stated as he turned to me. “Will you be able to fight if we can find those other werewolves?”

  “I’m weaker than I was,” I admitted, “but we can’t leave here without dealing with them.”

  “I shall stay here and protect our friend,” Father Pild volunteered.

  “Thank you, Father,” I said. Reaching out to Barad, I let him help me up. “Let’s go hunt some werewolves.”

  I held a shield in front of us as we worked our way through the palace. Bri found tracks for the werewolves in the dust and started trailing them. We made our way to the interior of the palace, an area we had not yet explored. It was also much darker than the outer rooms.

  We explored with caution. It was an injured werewolf that took on Lenux, who was no slouch in a fight. With my magic so low, I worried if I had what it took to best a pack of werewolves.

  Brianna continued to lead us, taking stairs down to the cellars below the palace. Here, all the walls were made of thick stone, making an echoing sound in the hall.

  Finally, she raised her hand as a signal for the rest of us to stop. She carefully crept forward, peering into the darkness of the room ahead of us. After a few moments, she crept back to the group.

  “They’re in there. Three of them,” She whispered when she got close.

  “So, what do we do?” Barad asked. “Charge into a room full of werewolves?”

  “Seal them up,” Ryan recommended.

  “Seal them up?” Father Yagen asked.

  “The ceiling is stone, the floors are stone, and the walls are stone,” Ryan pointed out. “If Lee closes that doorway, they will be trapped.”

  “He’s right,” I agreed. “I don’t want anyone else getting hurt. We proved at the temple that they couldn’t break through rock. If we close them in, they can never escape.”

  “Never?” Orlik asked. “Even with a spoon, a dwarf can escape from a hole eventually.”

  “Ok, maybe ‘never’ is the wrong word. Still, we will be long gone before they did dig their way out of that room. I just don’t have the magical strength to take them all on, not after healing Lenux.”

  “Then that is what we will do,” Father Yagen agreed. “Abi and I will hold the beasts back while you seal the doorway. Abi girl, are you ready?”

  Abi nodded. “Sorry, Uncle,” She mumbled under her breath. I felt bad for her. Even though he was an evil bastard, he was still her family.

  Reaching out with my magic, I started squeezing the stone doorway shut. It only took a moment before the werewolves realized what was happening. Before I had moved the stone a few inches, they came charging at the door.

  Abigail was first to take action. Lightning shooting from her fingers as she knocked the frantic werewolves back. Father Yagen joined her with his fire, keeping the beasts at bay as I slowly pulled the doorway closed. After what seemed an eternity, but likely just a few minutes, the doorway was sealed. I leaned against Barad’s shoulder in exhaustion.

  “Come on, Your Kingliness, let’s get you back to the temple before you collapse,” He said as he put his arm around me, hefting me up.

  We made our way back to Father Pild and Lenux. The latter still unconscious. Orlik and Ryan helped Father Pild as they gently picked up our injured friend. Carefully, we made our way out of the palace and back to the temple. None of us noticed the pair of golden eyes watching us from the shadows.

  Chapter 12

  (Lee)

  “Wh... What happened?” Lenux mumbled as he tried to lift his head.

  “Sshh…” Abigail whispered. “You’ve been injured. Try to rest.” After some more mumbling, Lenux fell back to sleep.

  “I’m not looking forward to when he becomes coherent,” Barad stated.

  “Lee, your healing must have gone well, it’s only been a few hours and he has already tried to wake twice,” Abi said as she tried to cheer me up.

  Once we were back at the temple, I did more healing on his face. After some time, I was able to remove all but one scar. The one that cut through his eyebrow and down his cheek. That one had been a nasty tear and difficult to piece back together. At least the pink scars no longer covered the right side of his face. I tried again to repair the eye, but I just couldn’t create something from nothing.

  “I should have gone with Farloc and Brianna to collect the horses,” I complained. “I feel like I need to do something.”

  “Welcome to being King,” Father Yagen said apologetically. “I fear delegation is a large part of the job.”

  “He can have it,” Barad agreed. “I regret not going too. This just sitting around is driving me crazy.”

  “May I remind you, Brianna said that you couldn’t go because your big feet will just get in the way as they try to catch the already spooked horses,” Abi pointed out.

  “That was an hour ago, how am I supposed to remember that,” Barad whined.

  “I hope Dreamer is ok. Otherwise I’m going back to finish those werewolves,” Abi growled.

  “They seemed intent on us, young lady,” Father Yagen stated. “I think the horses safely escaped.”

  Reaching into the pouch I had tied around my neck, I pulled out the Tear. “You’ve been quiet through all this, my friend. Can you help with Lenux’s eye?” It gave off a soft purple glow that I took for a sad no. “How about the rest of his health? We are losing time in our mission. Can you help fix him?”

  I felt the stone reach out to Lenux, as if examining him. Then, with a jolt energy, power started pumping into Lenux. I could follow the energy, feel it reproducing Lenux’s blood, making up for what had been lost. His injured ribs started repairing faster than I could ever do. A thousand small changes were taking place all over Lenux’s body so fast that I could not even keep track of them all. Suddenly he woke with a ga
sp.

  “Gods,” he shouted as he sprung up from where he lay. “What happened?”

  “Easy there, friend,” I said as I rushed over to him. “Alynon’s Tear just healed you. Sorry it was so abrupt.”

  “What? Wow! no, I feel great. Like I could take on one of those werewolves.”

  “That’s what got you in this mess in the first place,” Barad pointed out.

  “Is there something wrong with my eye?” Lenux asked as he felt his face.

  “I’m sorry, Lenux,” I told him sadly. “The werewolf damaged your eye. Neither the stone nor I was able to fix it. You’ve lost your right eye.”

  “My eye is gone?” He asked in shock. “I’m a sneak, I act as your scout, how can I do that with only one eye?”

  Abigail walked up and gave him a hug. “Don’t talk like that, you are an important part of our group.”

  “I’m not convinced you won’t still be our scout, even with one eye, you are the best there is,” I said as I tried console my friend.

  “I just… I don’t know,” Lenux stated with a frustrated shake of his head. “I just need some time alone.” With that he stormed out of the temple.

  “That went well,” Barad said sarcastically.

  “Let’s give him some time,” Father Yagen suggested with a smile. “It is a difficult time for him.”

  “Question is, how much time can we give him,” I pointed out.

  “Did I see Lenux?” Bri asked when she and Farloc returned.

  “Depends,” Barad replied. “Did he have a storm cloud over his head.”

  “Seeing that he walked the other way when I called him, I’d say so,” Brianna agreed.

  “Then that was him,” Barad answered.

  “Didn’t take the news of his eye well?” Farloc asked.

  “As well as you could expect,” I told him. “He just wanted some time to come to terms.”

  “Hopefully he doesn’t take too long, we’ve been here three days so far. We can’t avoid detection forever,” Brianna pointed out.

  “I’ll give him another hour, then I’ll go talk to him,” I agreed.