Chapter 45

“A New Alliance”

A spear of ice conjured with Caranthir’s right hand pierced one monster, while with his left he conjured a great flare of fire and burned another, whose body fell on top of an empty house.

He knew that he must not use too powerful magic in the city, or he himself would be the cause of its destruction. But after, two hours earlier, the alarm sounded warning of the sighting of a huge group of monsters that had been sighted several kilometers to the east, they had sent the best of their army to confront them only for a second alarm to go off an hour later, announcing that the city had been invaded from the north, and half an hour later a third alarm announced the entrance of another enemy group from the south.

Caranthir and the rest of the soldiers who were still defending the city were just trying to buy a little more time while the last citizens were getting to safety. But despite his large reserves of mana and how tired he was, he was concerned about the survival of the soldiers he had left behind in the battle to the north, the ones he had had to abandon when the city was attacked. And trying to rescue those who lived in the outlying areas was problematic, if not impossible, right now, but at least he could buy them some time while some of them arrived.

It was at that instant that he felt the teleportation platform activate, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

“Shit!” he cursed. Caught between surprise and panic at the idea that someone had been able to break through the vast collection of spells and anti-teleportation barriers that he himself had placed over the castle. He had personally taken it upon himself to deactivate any teleportation mechanism in the entire city and activate a spell that blocked anyone other than himself who tried to use magic to move around the city as soon as he heard about the first invasion. “Impossible!” He whispered at the impossibility of what his magic was warning him of. And he looked back, trying to observe the platform on the second floor, where he did indeed catch a glimpse of the faint glow left by the magic when it was activated. But, although his eyes now also confirmed it, his mind could not catch up. Terror coursed through his veins as cold sweat ran down his back.

And Caranthir sent all care to hell, and spent almost the last of his mana points teleporting himself in the right corner of the platform, in a small corner that allowed him to watch unnoticed while his mana regenerated a little and he could assassinate the newcomer, after interrogating him.

Or at least that was the plan.

But as soon as he got there and pulled out a small bottle of his most potent mana potions and drank it, it wasn’t an enemy army he found there as he had expected, but the Saintess, the one they had been waiting for over an hour ago.

Caranthir frowned.

Not only was it strange that the Saintess had been able to break through his barriers, but it was too much of a coincidence that she had arrived at the exact moment when his people were most vulnerable. And he clenched his fists as a collection of doubts at the strange and very sudden collaboration of the fairies.

A trap, for sure. He thought. One that the king, his younger brother, had been so foolish and desperate to fall into.

Anger boiled in his veins, as did the thought of betrayal, but he forced himself not to let his emotions cloud his judgment. Fairies could be very powerful enemies when they wanted to be, and it was not wise to antagonize them. Not considering the powerful being behind them.

Caranthir would have to find out whether or not this woman was related to the sudden attacks.

And I would have to be very careful in doing so. He decided. One could never be sure enough.

So he tried to flirt with her and gain her trust, though it didn’t seem to be working. But he erased all attempts at being charming as soon as he spotted the cuoekqle, and immediately ordered everyone to stand down. And while he was distractedly killing all the monsters nearby and nearly destroying what was left of the city to give the three remaining groups of stragglers time, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Saintess do something he never expected.

And seeing the home stone in her hands, he immediately re-activated all the anti-transportation barriers on the terrace, only to discover that the ones he had thrown earlier were still there. He frowned, not understanding how she had managed to get through them without destroying them the first time, but he made sure she couldn’t do it a second time.

Now was not the time to worry about that.

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“Oh, no young Saintess! You’re not going anywhere," he assured her, before grabbing her forearm forcefully and teleporting them both to one of the refuges.

****

Town of Lambo, on the outskirts of the forest of Los Lamentos. Kingdom of Balsac

The public library of the small town of Lambo, was a mysterious place full of knowledge that anyone could enter.

Even Arkhas.

Especially after stealing the thick traveling cloak of that unsuspecting old traveler he had found traveling on horseback through the thick, silent forest two hours before.

Arkhas had followed him silently to the edge of a thin river where the old man got off his horse and let him drink water after tying him to the branch of a nearby tree. Then the unsuspecting old man bent down and with his gloved hands pulled out a leather canteen from inside his dark cloak and began to fill it with water and then pulled down his scarf and drank while Arkhas, completely ignoring the presence of the four-footed animal that was beginning to notice his presence, picked up some nearby rocks in silence, and after collecting his loot, Arkhas hid behind a strange bush and threw the first rock intending to hit him in the head, but instead it hit his back.

That cheered him up.

At least this time, he had hit the target. And before the man turned around he threw two more, but only one of them hit the target and smashed into the old man’s face, hitting his nose covered under an old, long, dark blue scarf whose ends had been burned by the fire.

Again, Arkhas was surprised that another stone had hit the target, so encouraged by his sudden stroke of luck, he threw a fourth followed by a fifth. Again he missed it, but the last one did hit him full in the forehead, or at least he guessed it would be his forehead, but it was hard to guess with his face obscured by the thick cloak that covered it.

So Arkhas didn’t give up and continued to throw his stockpile of stones, from time to time, and by accident hit the horse, which began to whinny to attention as it tried to force itself off the branch and away from the stones that bounced on the ground and hit its legs.

And in a moment of courage completely foreign to him, Arkhas picked up a heavier rock and ran with all his might as the old man struggled to pull something out of a leather pouch strapped to his waist, but his shaking hands were not helping him, and while he was distractedly cursing, Arkhas was finally able to hit his head. And he continued to do it again and again and again. Until blood of an odd color washed over the ground. So he turned to the noisy horse and filled with elation at his recent success and at the pair of blue windows that opened before him, he pushed them aside and tried to throw the rock at his new prey, thinking he would catch it and feeling bathed with renewed strength.

But the rock fell halfway.

Annoyed with himself for his lack of strength, even in this new world, he pulled out the knife his cousin had tucked between his boots in case he lost the one he had been given first. And he slashed the horse’s back with it, noting that this time the blood was not of a strange color and odor. And his stomach rumbled with hunger.

It wasn’t easy to beat the animal, but every chance he got, he reached out and slashed it here and there. Until after half an hour, finally Arkhas was the victor of that arduous battle. And two blue windows opened before him.

[You have gained 30 experience points.]

[You have leveled up!]

Arkhas immediately closed them and threw himself on the ground trying to catch his lost breath.

After a while his stomach growled with hunger and his throat felt dry, so he walked over to the river and drank some water, then looked at the horse that would soon become his lunch.

There was no fire with which to cook his meat, but that didn’t stop him from satiating his hunger. And as soon as he had finished he took off his bloody clothes and bathed in the river, then washed them along with the old man’s dirty old scarf. And when the clothes were dry enough to continue his journey, he ate some more food and dressed. Looking carefully through each and every one of the strange treasures that the old traveler hid among his things. Including the pair of gloves the old man wore to cover his ugly stained hands.

Trimming the cloak and learning to keep his face covered after wrapping himself several times, erroneously, with the scarf to keep his nose and mouth hidden had not been easy. But both items allowed him to travel and blend in with humans. He had even discovered an artifact called coins that allowed him to buy food and get a room to sleep in the small town he found an hour later.

Or so he had heard him say to the girl who served him at the adventurer’s guild, which he went to after hearing a guard send another young man there who had come from another town far away to get his papers and had been lining up to get in just ahead of him. Thimoti, like Arkhas, had not long ago come of age. But the young man had lost what little he had to a group of assailants along the way.

After sympathizing with his story and because they were in a similar situation, Arkhas had followed him and they had become friends as they went to the guild and signed up to it as they listened attentively to all the information they were given. So it was that Arkhas learned to make an excuse for his lack of a past and since he wasn’t the only one, the few humans he came in contact with filled in the gaps in the information on their own, seeing his scarf burnt and full of dust. Giving Arkhas more material to respond to when he came across a new opportunity to talk to someone.

And that was how for the first time in a long time Arkhas felt valued and happy. With his heart pounding with excitement at the new opportunity the gods gave him, and after accepting the guild girl’s recommendation to go to the library and get more information that could be of use to him in the future.

Pleased that from now on he would have a better future ahead of him, he opened the door of the small library and entered that precious enclosure full of knowledge that had been denied to him before.

No one would ever see him as a wimpy, pathetic goblin again.

Now, he was an adventurer. And he would return home, as a hero.