As Lenny ladled some of the meat and rice into his bowl, he said, “You know, Edge, I’m kinda gettin’ used to the idear of this new bond we got.”
“Really?” Edge asked.
“Yeah,” Lenny said and picked up his own bowl. He took a bite and talked between chews. “I like that it lets me keep track of you without yer thoughts messin’ ’round in my gall-durn mind.”
“That is convenient,” Edge agreed with a smile.
“Also it gives me a good excuse. You know, I love my life with my family and workin’ the forge. Even dealin’ with the Academy fer the Wobble dwarves ain’t so bad most days.” He hesitated and took another bite. “But there’s times when I get restless and I just got to get out and stretch by gad-flamin’ legs.”
“I know,” said Edge. “Everybody knows. It’s just part of who you are. Even the other dwarves respect it.”
Lenny blinked as if surprised by that remark. “Yeah, well Bettie gives me an ear full of hell every time I start thinkin’ about getting’ away fer a while.”
“And yet she let you come with me here,” Edge pointed out.
“That’s just cause it’s you and it’s Jhonate,” Lenny said. “But that’s what makes this bond thing so good. I can head out with you more often without getting my con-sarned head bit off. But now any time I gotta head out, I can just say it’s that bond again and you need me. She’s bonded to Tollivar. She knows what it’s like.”
Edge chuckled. She was bonded to Tollivar, but Tollivar was the most laid-back bonding wizard Edge had met. Bettie and Willum both lived far away from him and he rarely asked them all to get together. He didn’t point that out to Lenny though.
“Well, good,” he said, patting the dwarf’s shoulder. “I’m always happy to have you around and now you’ll always know how to find me.”
I’m not so certain, said Artemus’ chill voice in Edge’s mind. The nature of your connection to the dwarf is puzzling. I don’t believe it is a true permanent bond, though the way your magic keeps inspecting it, maybe it wants to be.
Maybe it will grow stronger, Edge said. At first, Lenny could sense me but I couldn’t sense him back. Now I’m getting a sense of what direction he’s in. That tells me it’s strengthening. I don’t know why this happened when I healed him, but I think it’s a good thing.
It may be, said Artemus. Unfortunately, such things are not up to you. The Creator chooses the bonded. If you were meant to bond with Lenui Firegobbler, it would have happened already. I’m not trying to discourage you. I just want to make sure that you’re not too surprised if you wake up one morning to realize that his bond has faded.
Yeah. Thanks, Edge said irritably. He liked the idea of Lenny joining the bonded family.
When Edge went to sleep that night, his dreams were troubled. He dreamt that he spent days and days following Jhonate’s tracks, but he never got any closer. When Edge woke up to Artemus’ excited voice in his mind it felt as if he had been chasing after her for ages.
I remembered something else about Alsarobeth! the wizard said. And it is crucial information.
Edge rolled over in his bedroll, still groggy as the dreams slowly faded from his thoughts. It was early. The stars were just beginning to fade. He let out a soft groan. Good. What is it?
Because of Alsarobeth’s importance to our world, it was given two separate sets of guardians to protect it, Artemus said.
Head Wizard Valtrek told us that much, Edge replied with a sigh. He tried to blink the sleep from his eyes. He was still so tired. His limbs felt leaden. Do you remember what they were like?
The guardians closest to the site are hungry relentless monsters and they assault you mentally as they attack, the wizard said. Even though Sarine and I did not pass the perimeter of their domain, we could hear them in our minds. It was quite an unpleasant day.
They sounded like the guardians Hilt had run into at the top of the mountain where he had met Beth. But that had been far away in Dremaldria. Is there anything else you can remember about them? Were you able to catch a glimpse of them?
The wizard thought. Uh . . . I’m not completely certain. I vaguely remember seeing shapes in cave entrances all around the stone stairs. Their mental calls tormented us mercilessly, but they quieted when John came down.
Okay. Edge forced himself to sit up. What can you tell me about the other guardians between us and the site? Valtrek described them as merciless guardians that ‘bite, sting, and kill with unending thirst.’
My memories about them are less clear, but I believe they are part of the nature of the Whitebridge Desert itself, Artemus replied.
Edge stretched and rotated his shoulders. What do you mean by that?
You should ask Deathclaw, Artemus said. He was one of them.
Now Edge was wide awake. What?
Before the wizard could reply they were interrupted by Deathclaw himself. The raptoid ran into the camp, his thoughts alarmed. “The Bash Brothers are gone!”
Everyone stirred at his exclamation and Lenny barked, “What do you mean gone?”
“They left the camp,” Deathclaw said. “I followed their tracks and they ended at a pile of crumbled bricks.” He tossed a chunk of broken brick onto the ground in front of Edge. The surface of it was covered in darkened runes.
Chapter Twenty Four
Sir Edge – The Whitebridge
The party stood around the pile of crumbling bricks in a mix of frustration and concern.
“Dag-blasted, dirt-headed, snaggle-toothed . . .” Lenny sputtered, his lips moving but unable to form more curses. He kicked the pile of bricks smashing some of them to powder. He swung around to face Deathclaw. “How come you didn’t notice them leavin’?”
“I too must sleep sometimes,” the raptoid protested. He folded his arms. “Yet, you are right to question this. I keep my senses aware even as I slumber and the orcs are loud. I do not know why I wasn’t wakened by their leaving.”
Neither was I, remarked Squirrel, who was standing on Fist’s shoulder. His arms were folded in front of him and he shook his tiny head.
“Me neither,” Rufus huffed with a pout, feeling guilty that he too had been asleep during the brother’s departure. He and Deathclaw needed the least amount of sleep in the group and until this night they had done an excellent job keeping watch.
“The fact that all of us were caught unawares makes me think that their departure was cloaked by a spell,” Fist said.
Lenny grunted and gave Deathclaw an apologetic nod. “So whaddya think this means, Edge?”
Edge stood pondering the situation, one hand stroking his chin. His immediate reaction had been a deep feeling of betrayal. He had reached out to the power of Peace and was letting the sword drain away his emotions so that he could think through events clearly.
Before he replied, Deathclaw voiced similar thoughts to his own. “Either they have betrayed us or they were taken against their will.”
I can think of no other reason, Artemus agreed.
“Whatever the Bash Brothers’ reasons for leaving, there is nothing we can do about it at the moment,” Edge decided. There was no reasonable way for them to track the brick portal to its source. “What concerns me the most is that the wizard was able to come here and leave without our detection. If he had wished to attack tonight, his mercenaries could have killed a few of us before we were ready to fight back. We have to be more diligent from here on out.”
“This will not happen again,” Deathclaw swore. “Rufus and I will make sure that one of us is awake and alert at all times.” The rogue horse huffed in agreement.
“It was my fault,” Edge said, placing a hand on his chest. “Rufus would not have been so tired if I hadn’t insisted on using Fist’s magic to speed him up.”
“You couldn’t have known,” Fist said.
Edge shook his head. “You were right to warn me before using the magic. I should not have let my eagerness for speed put us in danger. What we should learn from tonight is that
we need to keep possible attack in mind at all times. Be sure to remind me of this should I lose my wits again.”
Fist put a comforting hand on Edge’s shoulder, but Edge didn’t need the comfort at the moment. The sword was sucking away all his guilt. Only the facts were left in his mind.
“We should go,” he said, looking to the slowly brightening sky. “The Whitebridge isn’t far away from here. I want to use every minute of daylight we can.”
“Well,” Lenny said before kicking the bricks one more time. “Least there’s one good thing outta this. You ain’t gotta pay those dirt-licker’s a single silver!”
“Jhonate will be glad of that,” Deathclaw agreed.
Edge couldn’t deny that was a relief. He hadn’t looked forward to telling her how much he was paying the orcs. Then again, he’d rather pay it than have to face them again in battle. Not only were they extremely dangerous, but he’d come to like them. It would be a shame to have to kill them.
They returned to the campsite and packed up quickly. They were heading north on the road before the sun peeked over the rocky hills. A few hours later, they topped a rise and caught their first good glimpse of the Alsarobeth’s snow-capped peak on the far horizon. Lying before it was a shimmering while line of sand.
Edge’s mind was awhirl with thoughts and concerns, but he kept his sword’s magic at work to keep any anxiety at bay. Their destination was in sight. He could only hope they would manage to catch up to Jhonate before they reached it.
Artemus, he sent through the bond. What was it you were trying to tell me earlier? You said something about Deathclaw and the desert?
I suppose you had better have everyone listen in, Artemus said. Edge nodded and made sure the wizard’s voice was carried to all of them.
What is it? Deathclaw asked.
As I was telling Edge earlier, I have uncovered more memories about my visit to the Whitebridge Desert over 200 years ago. It is no coincidence that the Whitebridge Desert stands between the rest of the world and Alsarobeth. John told Sarine and I that the desert itself was part of Alsarobeth’s creation, Artemus began. It was designed to keep people away. The creatures that live in the desert are all essentially guardians. They fight and breed and feed on each other, but their main purpose is to stop interlopers.
I have no memory of this being the case, Deathclaw replied.
Have you ever wondered why raptoids are not found outside of this place? Artemus asked.
No, said Deathclaw. He had always just taken the existence of raptoids in the desert as a matter of fact.
The blood magic of dragons allows them to adapt their bodies to any environment, Fist guessed. Raptoids are simply the product of centuries of adaptation to the desert.
This is true in part, said Artemus. But there are more than one type of dragon in the desert.
There are many, Deathclaw agreed. Huge red dragons that breathe fire. Worm-like dragons that burrow beneath the dunes and spring out to eat any living creature that comes too close.
And all of those species are unique to the Whitebridge, Artemus said. The creatures born in the desert become guardians and are unable to leave of their own free will.
Deathclaw hissed. I left. And it was my decision to do so.
I have a theory about that, the wizard replied. When Ewzad Vriil used the power of the Rings of Stardeon on you, he severed your ties to the desert.
Deathclaw pondered the possibility. It was true that he had never felt an inclination to leave the desert before Ewzad had changed him. He had tried to stay with his kind, but the moment that he had been changed, the other raptoids had shamed him. Had they sensed that he was no longer one of them in more ways than just his appearance?
Edge quoted the words on Valtrek’s map. ‘Merciless guardians that ‘bite, sting, and kill with unending thirst.’ That describes the memories of the desert that you have shown me.
Perhaps, Deathclaw admitted. But will this give me any advantage while we are there? Is there anything about being a guardian of this place that remains within me?
I can’t say, Artemus replied. But I thought it would be good for all of you to know this as you enter. The Whitebridge was built to keep you out. Every thing in it is hostile to invaders. You must take care.
We will, said Edge. In his mind this new information had changed their plan very little. It’s Jhonate I’m worried about. She’s entering the desert and the only person she has with her is this thief.
Seer Rahan told her that she needed to be named and carry her holy artifact, said Fist. She followed those requirements.
He also said that she would need to make sacrifices, Edge said. Those words have troubled me from the start of our journey.
“Hey!” said Lenny. The dwarf had turned in his saddle and was staring back at the pensive looks on all their faces. “I can feel that yer talkin’ ’bout somethin’ important. Y’all gonna tell me?”
Later that day, Rufus picked up Jhonate’s trail once again. She and the thief had stopped for the night just off the road and Edge was dismayed to find that they had lost ground. The thunderstorm and the time they had spent in the city had slowed them. Jhonate’s scent was once again more than a day old.
It took every bit of Edge’s self-restraint not to ask Fist to have Rufus charge ahead again. Nevertheless, he asked Deathclaw and Rufus to quicken the pace as much as they dared without losing the trail.
They tracked until past dark before setting camp. He asked Fist to go around the perimeter of their camp and set up wards that would alert him if any magic was used nearby. In addition, the ogre added additional earth magic wards that would signal him if any creature approached. Then they set the wooden orb out in the open and let it keep animals and insects away. He had done some testing over the last few days and as long as it was left uncovered, the orb’s magic seemed to extend about 100 yards in every direction. That wizard wasn’t going to sneak up on them again, no matter how clever his spells were.
They kept their sleep as brief as they dared and left before dawn again the next day. The scope of the desert grew before them as they traveled. The daytime heat of the Wildlands was already hot enough, but as he watched rippling dunes ahead of him being distorted by waves of heat rising from the sand, he felt a deep sense of foreboding.
Edge kept his mind immersed in the power of his sword as he went over his plans. They had spent a good deal of time over the past weeks going over their strategy for traversing the desert. They had brought extra water skins along for the journey and if needed, Fist could use his magic to pull water up from deep within the earth.
As for the other dangers of the desert, Deathclaw was certain that he could use his senses and experience to divert them past most of them. And now that they had the wooden orb, they were even more secure. Their largest concern would be if some of the desert’s smarter denizens caught their scent.
When they finally arrived at the small stream that bordered the desert, they filled their water bags and prepared themselves for the trials ahead. From where they stood, the white sands of the desert started not far from the stream’s banks. A small stretch of brown grass was all that stood between them and the first dune.
“Huh,” said Lenny as he stopped to splash water on his face. “It ain’t as hot as I thought it’d be out here.”
It will get worse, Artemus warned in Edge’s mind.
“He is right,” said Deathclaw.
Lenny turned to face Edge. “What? Did yer granddaddy say somethin’ else?”
“He says it gets hotter,” Edge said.
The dwarf snorted. “I know that! It’s just that the place looks hotter than the forge. I was expectin’ my skin to be burnin’ already.”
“It can be that hot in parts of the desert. You fear such heat?” Deathclaw asked.
Lenny laughed and slapped his knee. “Son, I’m a dwarf smith! My daddy started me jugglin’ live coals when I was six. I been stokin’ flames that’d melt a bandham’s balls since I was te
n. Some days when I stop for lunch I just fry an egg on my own damn forearm!” He spat. “Me fear heat? It’s y’all’s tender arses I’m worried ’bout.”
Deathclaw let out a rare hissing laugh of his own. This was one occurrence when the dwarf’s humor mirrored his own. “I agree. I too fear they may die! But not from the heat. From monsters.”
His own merriment fading, Lenny walked over to Albert. “Alright, boy. It’s time to gear you up fer this part.”
Lenny reached for the horse’s saddlebags and pulled out four curved pieces of hardened leather. The pieces were heavily runed and glowed blue and gold to Edge’s mage sight. The dwarf crouched next to the horse and laced one of the leather pieces around each of Albert’s ankles.
The dwarf then led Albert to the stream where the horse began drinking thirstily as if aware of the journey ahead. Lenny glanced over at Edge. “His saddle will keep his core temperature from gettin’ too high, but these things’ll keep his feet and ankles from burnin’ on the hot sand.”
“Very smart,” said Fist. He glanced at Rufus. “How about you? Will you be okay on the hot sand?”
“Ooh!” Rufus held his hand out in front of his face and his skin thickened and darkened from dark silver to black. He pounded his fist on his chest. “Tough!” Then he looked at the way Albert was still drinking and rushed over to stand in the stream.
The rogue horse grew to four times his normal size and bent down to gulp in as much water as he could. The stream actually stopped flowing for a few moments before he stopped and turned around to face them with a smile, muddy water dripping from his chin. Satisfied with himself, Rufus shrunk back to his normal size.
“Hey, what the hell happened to the water when you shrank back down?” Lenny asked.
Rufus shrugged.
“Best not to think ’bout it,” Lenny said with a shake of his head and motioned to Edge. “Check this out. I made somethin’ while we was travelin’ today.” Lenny mounted up onto Albert’s back and lifted a length of leather cord that was dangling from the saddle horn.
Sir Edge Page 27