by Pedro Urvi
Dead wolf. No problem, came Camu’s message as he too appeared beside the dead wolf.
If only that were true, but no. The wolf wasn’t the problem. What’s causing the trouble is whatever killed this wolf. We have to find out what it was.
No blood.
Its back’s been broken.
Lots of strength.
Exactly. Something or someone with a lot of strength.
Magic? Camu enquired, sounding worried.
I’m not ruling that out. You’d better be wary in case you have to cancel the magic with your power.
I wary. I cancel.
Good. Now come with me to the riverside. I want to show you a print.
At this point Trotter arrived. Ona and Camu looked at the print, but the pony backed away in fear.
Camu stared at it intensely. Big print. Deep.
Ona moaned, sounding distinctly uneasy. She did not like that print at all.
I think I know why we haven’t found the trail … follow me. He went upriver, but this time instead of searching the riverbank, he looked in the river itself. Suddenly he found a second print which the current had not yet erased.
There.
Camu was looking north. Come down river.
Looks like it. Let’s follow the river as far as the mountains.
As they went on they found a couple more prints in the middle of the river which were still partially visible, though only just. At the foot of the mountains, Lasgol stopped to assess the situation.
It came down this way and went into the river to get across the forest and then come out into the fields below. Very intelligent. The water will wipe out those prints in less than a couple of days, and there’ll be no trace left of its presence here. What I’m not clear about is what kind of human or animal this is. Do you two have any idea? Have you ever seen prints like these?
Ona chirped and shook her head and tail. No, she did not recognize them.
Not know, Camu transmitted.
Trotter was keeping his distance. He did not even want to come close.
All right. We’ll have to find out by ourselves. Trotter, you wait for us here. We’re going to climb the mountain.
Trotter snorted, then moved his head up and down. From one of the saddlebags Lasgol took three traps he always carried ready, just in case, and fastened them to his belt. He was unable to sling them over his shoulder, since he was already carrying two bows and his quiver.
Follow me, we’re going up, he told Camu and Ona. The rock wall was steep, and just as he had expected, it was not going to be an easy climb. Slowly and carefully, he found secure gaps for his hands and feet and began the ascent, with Camu following him. The little fiend had no trouble, since his palms, which could cling to any surface, allowed him to climb a vertical wall. Ona too managed the climb well, thanks to her feline ability to keep her balance. Lasgol took the climb slowly and calmly, taking no risks, until he reached the top of the rocky wall. What they found next was disheartening. A new rocky wall reared up a hundred paces from them, higher than the one they had just climbed.
Lasgol tracked the area, with his two comrades beside him watching everything he did. He wondered whether they learnt from him, just as he did from them. He hoped so, because his two partners in adventure very often showed him things he did not know himself. He found a new print, which reassured him that they were on the right track. They went on exploring, but found nothing else of significance.
It walks on two legs, Lasgol commented as he bent over the trail.
Man? Camu suggested.
Mmmm … with those feet it’s certainly not human … but it certainly seems humanoid – and very big.
Humanoid?
That means it looks like a human, like a man, but it isn’t.
Weird man?
Lasgol smiled. Yeah, that’s one way of looking at it.
Ona chirped and looked towards the northwest, sniffing the air.
What is it, Ona?
The panther stiffened and growled.
Have you picked up anything?
Yes, she picks up, Camu confirmed. I see nothing.
She must’ve sniffed something.
Yes, sniff.
Ona. Track, Lasgol commanded her.
The panther went through the forest and began to climb the hill which gave access to a third mountain range. Lasgol and Camu followed her. The ascent was even harder this time. They had difficulties with the final stretch, but at last they reached the summit. Ona growled in warning. She was sniffing the air, and her gaze was fixed in the distance as if she could see something. Lasgol called upon his Hawk’s Sight skill and began to track the area. He did not see anybody, but Ona went on growling in warning.
Camu, can you see anything?
Cave, north-east.
Lasgol looked in that direction, and made out the cave behind a group of trees.
I think we’ve found where our quarry has its lair.
Yes, lair.
Right then, we’re going to get close to it carefully and in silence. I don’t want it to know we’re coming. The wind’s in our faces, so it won’t be able to scent us. Let’s take our chance now, before it changes. Not a sound.
Not a sound. Camu agreed, and Ona stopped growling.
They went very carefully down the wide gorge. A river ran to the west, and Lasgol glimpsed three forests that filled all they could see of the hollow they were in. They went through the first stealthily and in silence, and as they approached the mouth of the cave Lasgol began to feel nervous. He had no idea what he was about to face, and this gave him an unpleasant feeling in his stomach. He remembered his good friend Gerd, who suffered panic attacks whenever he was faced with something unknown and dangerous, and how the big guy fought to stop his fear until he succeeded. He had to do the same thing. He breathed deeply through his nose and let the air out slowly several times, and felt better.
I’m going to place the traps at the entrance. You keep watch, he communicated to his two friends.
I climb tree. Keep watch, Camu replied.
Lasgol went up to the entrance warily, crouching, without making the slightest sound. He checked the direction of the wind again to make sure that it was not blowing from behind him, so that his scent would penetrate inside the cave and he would be discovered. Luckily the gentle breeze was still blowing in his face. Very carefully, he put the first trap in place, then secured it and held it with both hands while he summoned his Gift. He searched for the pool of energy in his chest and called upon his Trap Hiding skill. A green flash ran through his arms as far as the trap, and a moment later it vanished from sight.
Quickly he set the other two traps and hid them, using his skill to make them invisible to non-magical eyes. He was always surprised at the effectiveness of this skill, one of the first he had developed while he was still a small boy. At the time he was always in the forests on his father’s estate, trapping rabbits and small birds. He remembered, as if it had been the day before, when he had succeeded. He had made a great effort to hide his traps so that his prey would not find them out, but they always did, especially the birds. This frustrated him greatly, so that he spent countless hours trying to get better at it. One afternoon, trying to hide his last trap, he concentrated on setting it with extreme care and covering it with leaves. Even so, a small part of it was still visible. He touched it with his hand to push it down and hide it, his frustration growing, when suddenly a green flash flowed down his arms and through the trap. To his immense surprise, it vanished before his eyes. Thus, was his skill born, a very valuable one in situations like this.
Now he checked that the three traps were not visible, ready for when the quarry came out of the cave. He prepared to go back to the forest when Camu’s message hit his mind like a bolt of lightning.
Careful! Monster! Mountain!
Lasgol looked at the entrance to the cave. There was no monster there.
Up! came Camu’s mental message of warning and danger.
&
nbsp; Lasgol looked up, and then he saw it. An enormous creature was coming down the rocky wall above the cave.
It was a Mountain Ogre!
Chapter 5
Lasgol was frozen to the spot. The enormous creature was coming down the wall, clinging to it with its thick, strong fingers. It placed its huge, shapeless feet on the rock ledges with an agility which seemed unthinkable in a monster of that size. Huge though it was, it was not as big as a Mountain Troll, but on the other hand it looked more monstrous, less human and more deformed: like a mixture of man and monster, with a bloated body. Lasgol had never seen an Ogre before, although he knew of their existence from the tomes on wildlife he had had to study. Unlikely though it might sound, this creature was known to live in certain areas of Tremia.
As the Ogre descended to its cave, it turned its head and saw him. It gave a deafening roar. Instantly Lasgol came out of his state of astonishment and armed his bow in a swift movement. Ogres, according to what he had read, were solitary cave-dwelling beasts which lived in areas far from human habitation. They were deeply territorial and killed any predator which came into their territory, including humans, for whom they had a particular aversion. This was thought to be because of the hundreds of years that men had chased and killed them, driving them back to remote and deserted places. It showed that they were intelligent, and recognized their natural enemies.
Lasgol’s shot caught the beast in the back. The arrow went through the furs the beast was wearing over its torso, back and lower parts. A second roar followed, this time one of rage. Lasgol was surprised to see that the monster did not even stop its descent when the arrow hit it. He nocked and released again, and though the arrow hit it squarely in the back, it did not seem to affect it. In a single leap it dropped in front of the entrance to the cave, which was presumably its lair, and turned toward him. It spread bloated, greenish-grey arms and roared, so that Lasgol glimpsed two huge fangs in its lower jaw. Both teeth and chin were enormous and jutting.
He shuddered. The creature’s appearance would have frightened the bravest Norghanian warriors.
Arrow not hurt, Camu warned him.
Ona came out of her hiding-place. She growled and got ready to attack.
Don’t go near it! Move back! Stay in the forest!
Lasgol released again, and this time the arrow hit the Ogre in the torso. It pulled it out with a huge hand and gave a guttural sound that sounded like a guffaw. The Ogre was laughing at him, and Lasgol was puzzled. Although it was thought that these creatures were not very intelligent, they were catalogued as more so than a bear, a wolf or a fox, even if their level of mental development had not been established. Because they attacked and destroyed everything they saw, it was impossible to study them. Their hatred of humans was profound. Lasgol remembered that apart from Trolls, which were even bigger and stronger, Ogres probably had no natural enemy apart from Man. He remembered Egil telling him that in little-explored parts of Tremia there were a number of animal species yet to be discovered, among them the bestial kind, or what humans considered to be monsters.
Lasgol began to retreat, as he did so he released again, even though he was sure the arrow would not pierce the creature’s tough skin. So, it turned out. The Ogre pulled out the arrow and laughed again, and a moment later it was charging at him on its huge, half-human feet. Lasgol called upon his Cat-like Reflexes and Improved Agility skills, as he did whenever he found himself in danger. Both skills activated at once, and two green flashes ran through his body. He retreated at a run toward the forest behind him.
The Ogre ran after him and gave a roar that made his hair stand on end. If it caught up with him it would tear him to shreds, but luckily with his skills active he could escape. Suddenly he felt a tremendous blow in his back and fell forward. He hit the ground hard and rolled over himself several times. What could have happened? He leapt to his feet like lightning thanks to his skills, and felt another hard blow in his chest that hurled him backwards. A stone the size of an apple rolled on the ground beside him.
The Ogre was throwing stones at him!
He was about to get back up, but it was too late. The beast was on top of him. It put one foot on his chest and pressed, preventing him from getting up. The pressure was so great that he thought it would break all the bones in his chest. The Ogre, rising above him like a bestial tower of flesh and bone, laughed. An almost human laugh, deep and guttural. It was going to kill him. But then he saw Ona out of the corner of his eye, and his faithful snow panther leapt on to the Ogre to defend him.
Ona, no!
The panther went for the Ogre’s throat, but it saw her and raised his arm to hit her. She was thrown through the air and fell several paces away. With her reflexes she managed to turn in mid-air and land on her feet, but Lasgol could hear that she was moaning in pain. She was injured. At that moment Camu appeared behind the Ogre and climbed up its back as far as its head in a couple of leaps.
Lasgol was petrified. What did his partner intend to do? It did not take long to find out. Camu bit the beast in the back of its neck with all his strength. Lasgol assumed that this would have no effect on the monster, but he was wrong. The beast roared with rage and reached both hands to the back of its neck to grab its attacker. It could not manage to do this with its left, because Camu was clinging to its back with his adhesive palms. But it succeeded with its right hand and hurled its attacker ten paces away. Camu hit the ground hard, unprepared.
Lasgol feared he had sustained a serious injury, or worse than that.
Camu!
Camu, stretched out on the ground unmoving, made no reply.
Ona. Protect Camu, Lasgol ordered. The injured panther limped over to where Camu was lying, although she was in no condition to do much either for him or for herself. Lasgol, seeing his two friends injured and helpless, felt such a pang of anxiety that he almost stopped breathing.
The Ogre laughed again and stared at Lasgol with enormous eyes that shone with satisfaction. It was going to tear the three of them apart, and very probably eat them alive. Lasgol swallowed, feeling the situation was desperate. He tried to get out from under the monster’s foot, but the pressure on his chest was too strong. With his right hand he took out his Ranger’s knife and prepared to stick it deep in the side of that foot. He reached out to strike the blow, but the Ogre saw him and with his other foot stepped on both hand and knife. Lasgol cried out in pain. He was totally helpless now. With his torso and one hand crushed against the ground, there was nothing he could do.
The monster turned to Camu and Ona and roared, as if daring them to attack.
Don’t come near! It’s too strong! Lasgol transmitted, to stop them from trying to help him. Ona whimpered uneasily, unable to come to his aid. Camu was unresponsive, and this worried Lasgol greatly. He tried to squirm aside once again, but he could not manage to get out from under the foot that was holding him down. He shouted with what little air he had left in his lungs to try and scare the creature. Some great predators were frightened when they were shouted at. He shouted twice, as loudly as he could, which was not very, because the pressure of the Ogre’s foot on his chest would not allow him to fill his lungs with air. He could barely breathe.
The Ogre laughed when it heard the shouts and stared at him with victory in its eyes. It licked its swollen lips with a huge brown tongue. Lasgol knew with certainty that he would be the monster’s dinner tonight. He was trapped and helpless, but he still had one way out. He had to use his magic to find some way of getting rid of the monster.
He shut his eyes and concentrated, searching for the pool of energy in the center of his chest, wondering which skill he could invoke to affect the creature. He remembered what had happened with the bear in the frozen territories, when they had taken shelter in its cave while fleeing from a blizzard. He might be able to frighten the Ogre, just as he had with the bear. He could not manage to think of anything else, and he was running out of time.
He had to enter the mind of the beast t
o confuse it or scare it, but it was not going to be easy. He called upon his Presence of Aura skill, with the aim of picking up the Ogre’s mind. He was not even sure whether he would be able to, since this creature was more monster than animal and his skills generally only worked on animals, apart from himself. He opened his eyes and saw that the monster was beginning to crouch so that it could grab him with its massive hands. Luckily it was so large that it was hard for it to bend from the waist to the ground. There was no time, but he did not allow himself to be distracted by nerves. He focused and sent more energy to maximize the skill and catch the creature’s mental aura, trying to stay as calm as possible. Everything depended on his being able to catch it, his own lives and those of his friends.
The huge hands were closing in on his head, but even so he kept calm and went on trying to catch the monster’s mind. Its paw was beside his ear when he managed to sense a brownish aura, much larger than a bear’s, located in the Ogre’s head, which was grinning, with its jutting fangs ready to tear him to shreds.
He focused on its mental aura and called upon his Animal Communication skill, then sent a mental message as strongly as he could:
Stop!
The Ogre opened its eyes wide and stopped in its tracks, still as a statue, with its hands on both sides of Lasgol’s head. It looked around, trying to understand whether somebody had shouted at it. Seeing nobody, it straightened up without letting Lasgol escape and looked behind it. Its face showed the puzzlement it felt.
Let me go! Lasgol called mentally, more like one of his commands to Ona than an attempt at animal communication, though a lot stronger.
The monster looked at him, and its eyes were now as wide as saucers. It had just realized that the mental message was coming from its prey. Its face twisted, and it roared at the top of its voice. It was furious. Lasgol could understand very clearly what that roar meant: What are you doing to me? It did not look frightened or puzzled, simply furious.
Go away! he ordered it, intensifying his Animal Communication skill and sending out more of his inner energy. He needed to scare the monster, and if the message was deafening enough in its animal mind, he might succeed.