Bayin furrowed a small pit in the soft clay at his feet using the end of his staff. When it was over a foot in diameter, he cast an inaudible spell into the crater. A gleam from his sapphire-tipped staff caused an ephemeral stream of water to flow from the gemstone and pool within the earth. With a sigh and a weary smile, he bent down and cleared the dust and grime from his face. The magicked water was crystalline in clarity, shining with a light blue hue. Its temperature was cool and refreshing as it ran through Bayin’s many wrinkles, granting a much needed reprieve from the day’s rough hiking. The rockfall that had blocked their intended path proved to be a larger issue than expected. The only suitable path that would allow passage of the ox and cart wound several miles west in a meandering course through the Berestra Mountains; a course that would add two more days to their journey as opposed to the direct passage now laden with boulders. The group, save for Renzen, was haggard from the incline of the path, and the lack of trees provided little protection from the searing heat of the sun. Bayin smiled as the ox approached his improvised washing basin and lapped at the water. Returning to his feet, Bayin dusted the dirt from his robes and looked over his charges.
“I commend your constitutions. The Berestra Mountains are not so easily surmounted, and our pace is much quicker than I anticipated. Tule should be in sight by tomorrow evening. We can make camp early, the rest of the path will be downhill.”
The group let out a collective sigh of relief at his words. Bayin opted to have the group travel together during their detour in the mountains, reasoning that it was unlikely for Greith’s bandits to patrol such an unused path, and assuming safety in having both Harnessers nearby in exhaustion took its toll through the mountains. Festus slapped the rump of the ox and remarked.
“Aye, don’t think this poor beast has much more walking in ‘im. Lugging that shite up a mountain wasn’t in the plan. Would’ve nabbed a few goats instead if I knew this were the plan.” The ox lowed deeply, whether in protestation or agreement was unclear.
A piercing cry sounded throughout the peaks, and Ladd was the first to spot the source.
“Look! It looks like an eagle or something, but it’s huge!”
He pointed to the sky at a winged form. It was soaring far above the crests of the mountains, and swayed back and forth on invisible gusts of wind. Bayin stroked his beard and let out a low hum.
“An Avian. We must be near its nest.”
“An Avian?” Ladd replied, puzzled.
“Indeed. Much like the Saurians, or lizardmen, Avians are another of the ancient races that populated this land before humans, dwarves, or even elves.”
Ladd had an incredulous look on his face, something Kelek shared internally, but tried to hide his disbelief.
“You can’t be serious! I’ve never heard of Avians, and lizardmen are just monsters no different from goblins, aren’t they?”
“You’d do well not to disregard goblins so quickly. They, too, have a rich history.” Bayin struck a stone with his staff and it formed a cavity perfectly suited to sit in. Filling his pipe and sitting, he continued. “Our land is inhabited by a great deal of creatures. Just because only a select few possess the necessary intellect to converse with each other in a manner that we recognize, it does not mean we should discount the cultures of others.”
Imp stepped toward the ox, maintaining a vigilant watch on the distant soaring creature. Not removing her gaze, she asked Bayin.
“My… parents would tell me stories when I was younger about evil birds that would snatch up children that played in the mountains. Are these Avians the same?”
Bayin chuckled lightly. “Would not any decent parent kill a rattlesnake hatchling that wandered near their child’s bassinet? The Avians have long been displaced, much like the Saurians. They now reside in mountainous aeries and swamps or caves respectively. Both are deeply territorial of what land they still lay claim to.”
Kelek contemplated the group of lizardmen that aided him in his encounter with the Ether-infused octopus. It was strange to him how human they seemed to act. He had always been told that lizardmen were no different than a regular alligator, but by some malignant twist of fate, they possessed uncanny intellect that allowed them to catch their prey with rudimentary tools and work together in packs. His own experience though, painted them in the view of a defensive tribe. A tribe that seized the opportunity to rid themselves of a great danger. Their actions were not animalistic, they were deliberate, strategic, and planned. He thought back to the last remaining lizardman after the explosion, and was curious what would have happened had Imp not dispatched him.
“I’ve seen wolves hunt together in packs and keep some form of social structure. Doesn’t seem particularly noteworthy to me.” Renzen added.
“Perhaps.” Bayin closed his eyes and drew on his pipe. “But in all of my years, I have yet to see wolves erect totems for their religious practices, or organize what any reasonable person would identify as a town.”
“Ha!” Dmitri spat. “Now there’s a lark. A city of gators? You’ve been smoking that pipe too long Amadeus.” Renault jabbed him in the ribs with an armored elbow. “Ah, respectfully of course.”
If Bayin was upset by the comment, he did not show it. “Believe me or don’t, I will make no effort to plead my case. I am simply relaying to you the information of the world as it was and as it is. The lamentable history of the ancient beastmen tribes does not matter to me, no I am concerned with a far older and more powerful people.”
Ladd rolled his eyes at his grandfather’s comment, but kept to himself. The group set up camp in the summit clearing and shared a conjure meal from Bayin. Laying on his bedroll, Kelek spied the distant Avian keeping vigil on them from the air. An idea occurred to him laying there. He grabbed the ruby-tipped staff and rubbed them gemstone with his right hand while thinking of how to formulate the structure for his spell. After a few moments, he called out to Festus.
“Hey, Festus, you’ve got a jeweler’s glass in there with all those tools, right?”
Festus grumpilly rubbed the back of his head, seemingly woken from the beginning of his sleep.
“Aye, the Hell’d you need that for?”
Kelek shook his head. “I was hoping you could… tell me how exactly it works?”
Festus stared at him with a hard expression for a few seconds, but his desire to share his knowledge and expertise won out over his frustration. Pulling out the tool, he explained to Kelek the nature of the warped glass, and how light bent and refracted to form a larger image from a small, or distant one, in the case of a spyglass.
“Ahh, I think I get it… Thank you, Festus.”
Before Festus could inquire about his curiosity, Kelek had returned to his bedroll and began meditating on his staff again. He could feel the Ether well up inside of his arms, ready to unleash his new spell before remembering Bayin’s admonishment about ensuring all spells were spoken, and thought for a moment longer before incanting.
“Sight.”
Starting at his shoulders, the familiar warmth of Ether traveled not up to his eyes as he had expected, but down into his fingers and into the staff. The spear-like ruby shimmered and twin bolts of magical iridescent energy shot into his face. He blinked rapidly and began to panic as the ruby now encompassed his entire vision. Every aspect of the gemstone was apparent to him. He could see microscopic fractures along the surface. Crevices that were completely imperceptible normally now appeared as massive gorges within the stone. He darted his eyes down the length of the staff, changing the hue of his world from a deep crimson red to a rusty mahogany. The wood appeared to be pleated like shingles or scales, and small wood mites could be observed hiding beneath the eaves of the overhanging layers. Kelek delighted at the intensity of clarity the spell afforded him. He drew his gaze upward and attempted to locate the Avian. It took him several minutes to locate his quarry, and he worried for a moment that the creature returned to its nest during the time he talked with Festus. Eventually his eyes spotted it. The creature was imposing in stature, and its silhouette belied its form. Its wings were so massive it was all that could be seen of it from a distance, but it possessed a humanoid torso, and large falcon-like talons sprouted from backward hinged legs. Two powerful arms sprouted from its chest like the boughs of a tree and laid crossed in front of its chest. Its face was chillingly hostile. The calculating eyes of an eagle seemed to stare back at him, resting above a large hooked beak. Kelek traced the fearsome creature’s movements as it glided through the air; the Avian returned his scrutinizing gaze, though he was unsure if it perceived him in the same detail. After a few more moments the effort required to maintain the spell strained Kelek, and he dismissed the spell. Curiosity sated, he retired to the much needed respite of sleep.
The past few weeks were mercifully devoid of nightmares. Even after the encounter with the Etherbeast, Kelek’s sleep was unaccompanied by dreams. Unfortunately his streak of sound sleep was to be broken. As his consciousness faded atop the cool mountain peak, Kelek envisioned himself in the familiar glade that housed the three bandits that had accosted him on his journey to the Guild. To his horror, the large man in the middle was wearing the badly scorched visage of a corpse. He stood away from the trio, listening to them make idle chatter about hunting for food, and sharing stories of passersby that they had robbed. Gorral, the animated corpse, had a voice that chilled Kelek to his core. It was a rasping, coarse growl. Small particles of ash blew from his blackened teeth with every word, and pieces of bone chipped off of his jaw when his teeth clacked together.
“I think…” Gorral started, “That our guest will be arriving soon.”
The bow wielding man took on a solemn look. “Aye. It’s been a pleasure knowing you..”
Without his order or consent, Kelek’s feet marched forward. He stopped on the other side of the campfire.
“No, no please! I’m sorry!” Kelek cried out as his arms raised in front of him. Gorral responded to his exclamations.
“You’re a murderer boy… You need to live with that…”
“No! It was self-defense! I wasn’t trying to kill you! I just wanted to get away!”
Kelek closed his eyes as he felt a facsimile of magic worm its way through his arms, prepared to conflagrate the fire in front of him. He wished desperately that Renzen would jump in and save him from his terrors yet again, but his friend was nowhere to be seen. His eyes shot open, and for a moment he hoped that he had jolted awake. Instead, his vision was entirely surrounded by the ghoulish face of Gorral’s charred bones. The black pits that used to house his eyes met with Kelek’s own as flames danced behind the skeletal head. The bone itself began to slowly melt as the jaw wrenched open, far wider than it should naturally. From within the mouth’s unfathomable abyss, a booming voice roared at Kelek.
“YOU SHALL CARRY THE GUILT OF MURDER WITH YOU UNTIL YOUR DYING BREATH. YOU WILL NEVER KNOW PEACE. I SHALL REMIND YOU OF YOUR MISDEEDS UNTIL YOU TAKE YOUR OWN LIFE IN ATONEMENT.”
The words haunted Kelek. He curled into a tight ball, rocking himself along the floor and wailing into the nothingness that surrounded him as his surroundings slowly burned away. His shoulders seemed to jerk involuntarily, and he found himself transported back to his bedroll atop the mountain. Imp was kneeling over him, her face painted with obvious concern.
“Hey, you alright buddy? You were screaming so loud I thought maybe a rattlesnake got into your bedroll.”
Kelek looked around to gather his bearings. His skin was clammy and the inside of his bedroll was damp with a mixture of sweat and, he embarrassingly realized, urine.
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“No- er yes. I’m fine, no snakes, just… some nightmares. It’s fine.”
He spotted Renzen several feet behind Imp. He was sitting cross-legged over his bedroll and eyeing them with a light scowl. Imp flashed him an empathetic smile and patted his shoulders.
“It happens, Hell it’d be weird if it didn’t given this line of work. I got just the thing, give me a sec.”
She scrambled over to her belongings and dug around inside her pack for a few moments. The sound of metal clanging against metal from the various weaponry in and around the pack elicited some disturbed grunts from Festus who was attempting to sleep nearby. Eventually she procured a small vial and held it in the air with an “Aha!” She returned to Kelek and handed it to him.
“Here, this is a sleeping remedy my grandmother came up with. She was an apothecary, and I still have most of her old recipes in notes at home. A swig of this stuff and you could sleep on a bed of nails like it was a cloud.”
Kelek gratefully accepted the ampule and quaffed it, giving Imp a small hug in thanks. Renzen let out a dismissive snort and seemed to shake his head slightly, but returned to his sleeping position. Whatever mixture comprised the potion worked. Kelek returned to sleep within seconds of laying down his head, and morning seemed to appear instantaneously. Their morning passed without event. Bayin provided a breakfast of eggs and potatoes before their makeshift camp was packed into their bags. More than a few times, Kelek had thought he’d spotted the Avian patrolling a distant peak, but further investigation only revealed normal sized birds of prey. His thoughts were drawn back to his nightmare several times, but he resolved to bottle his emotions for the time being. They traveled south down the side of the mountain for several hours before a break in the scenery caused them to pause. Rounding a turn, they could see the vast expanse of the Nasarahn Desert sprawled out in the distance as it painted the western horizon.
“Be thankful we’re not traversing that hellscape.” Dmitri chimed. “We took a job in Nasarah once. Never making that mistake again. You wouldn’t believe the kinds of monsters living in that sand. Not to mention the Hellgate.”
“Hellgate?” Kelek inquired. Dmitri made to respond, but the answer instead came from Bayin.
“They are portals to Hell. They were erected before the settling of Panpatriam. I suspect by the Ymir. All dealings between our plane of existence and their’s are done via Hellgates.”
“Why would anyone willingly consort with demons?” Kelek asked incredulously. This time Dmitri usurped Bayin’s reply.
“Because both humans and demons are greedy bastards. They’re more than happy to trade influence, money, weapons, anything you could think of. Sure they may have horns and tails or breathe fire, but at their core we’re practically identical.”
Kelek could see Imp’s eyes squint and her fists clench as she marched forward, doing her best to ignore Dmitri’s remarks.
“If anything they’re more honest. They don’t try to hide their ill intentions. You know you’re getting bent over when you’re dealing with a demon, and they know you know it too. Mutual exploitation. No need to pretend to be friendly or pulling favors. Both parties getting what they want without beating around the bush. I respect that way of doing business.”
Imp stopped her advance and turned heel. She raised a finger toward Dmitri and was about to say something when Renzen let out a harsh shush and motioned for the company to halt.
“We’re not alone…”
Renzen held his hand at a right angle as he scanned the rolling hills that surrounded them. His gaze was drawn to a cluster of bushes about twenty feet from their trail. He kept his arm held in place, signaling to everyone to stay put, as he slowly and soundlessly crouched down to pick up a pebble. Maintaining his crouched position, he levered his arm backward and flung the pebble at such a speed it produced a whistle. As it disappeared within the bush a sickening crack and a yowl of pain sounded. From the bush emerged two small tannish-green creatures wearing ragged clothing and brandishing fusils that appeared far too large for their tiny bodies. They stood approximately three feet tall and had unnaturally corded muscles that framed their small bodies. Their heads were disproportionately “normal” sized, and they had large protruding ears that were adorned with tufts of hair or fur. The one that Renzen had struck with the pebble was bleeding profusely from its forehead where the stone lay embedded, and the other was scrambling to handle its fusil. As the pair emerged, war cries could be heard as a multitude of similar creatures made themselves known from behind the hills and advanced on the party.
“Goblins!” Dmitri exclaimed.
Bayin shot his hands upward and his voice resonated in Kelek’s head. Based on the looks of everyone else, he surmised that Bayin was telepathically speaking to everyone at the same time.
Do not move! They are carrying firearms, if any of them shoots the cargo we are done for. Do as they ask for now, I will work out a plan.
The goblin with the injured companion leveled its fusil at Renzen and appeared ready to fire. Acting on instinct, Kelek opened his mouth and whispered.
“Calm…”
Though the staff was not pointed directly at the goblin, an imperceptible stream of magic snaked from the ruby toward the goblin’s skull. Its eyes fluttered for a moment, then its grip relaxed. Instead it began to triage the wounded goblin near it, who had already dropped its firearm. Kelek let out a sigh of relief and locked eyes with Bayin who gave a slight nod of approval. Renzen stood, arms folded and observed as a circle of a dozen goblins enclosed the group, each carrying some manner of fusil in varying degrees of apparent quality. One of the goblins, a slightly larger creature with pronounced tusks and a brown hue to his skin, stepped forward and began to speak.
“What you humies doing in mountains? We ain’t seen you kind in these parts for months!”
His voice was discordant and high pitched. Kelek was surprised to hear him speak in their normal language, and wondered what level of intelligence the strange creature possessed. Bayin cleared his throat to assert himself as the one to do the talking.
“My apologies, sir. We are traveling south, and the usual path was blocked by a rockslide. We mean no harm, and are only passing through.”
Kelek could not sense any magic within the wizard's words. He knew that his own affinity for charms was stronger than Bayin’s, but had hoped the negotiations would be backed by magical influence. The goblin placed one hand on the sheathed pistol at his side and stroked his stubbled chin with the other.
“What you want down there? Nothing but dry ground and mean sheep down there! What's in the cart?”
Kelek could see the panic in Bayin’s face as he prepared to think up a satisfying answer. Before he could begin, one of the goblins behind them sniffed the air loudly and shouted.
“Its boomsand! I smells boomsand!”
The goblin that was interrogating them grew a devilish, toothy grin. He jumped up and clicked his heels together, ecstatic with his find.
“Lucky day humies! You gives us ox-cart and we let you pass!”
Presuming his offer was accepted, he made toward the ox. Renzen shot a hard glare toward Bayin. Sweat dripping down his forehead, Bayin gripped his staff and lifted it into the air slightly before slamming it into the ground and shouting.
“Now!”
The ground unsettled beneath their feet as small rivers of water raced up through the ground and surrounded the cart in a swirling sphere. The ox began crying out and moving erratically in panic as it too was separated from the rest of the world by a swirling torrent of water. The water sliced across the approaching goblin’s foot in the process of forming the defensive sphere, severing three of his toes. The goblin howled in agony, and the surrounding forces quickly responded to the assault. Renzen was quicker, however. He had dashed toward a cluster of three goblins, dispatching one of them with a lethal jab through the skull. His hardened nails pierced through its obscene head with no more effort than an oar through water. With his other hand, he hoisted another goblin by his shirt and slammed its body into the other. With both of them toppled over each other, he lifted his right leg and delivered a powerful axe-kick, smashing through both of their skulls in a single strike. Gore spattered across his chest and he seemed pleased with himself. Several gunshots went off from behind the cart. Kelek watched as three projectiles collided with the watery sphere and were sent skyward. The majority of the shots missed their intended mark, but Imp let out a cry of pain as one found purchase in her left shoulder. She retaliated with a look of intense fury. Using her uninjured arm to draw her handaxe, she sprinted around the side of the cart and cleaved into the arm of the goblin that landed the shot. The goblin squealed like a pig in slaughter as she hacked away at the sorry creature, her own screams of battle-fury mingling with the monster’s.
As Kelek observed the gruesome display put on by his companions, his legs grew weak. Dmitri was brandishing his long-dagger, advancing like a trained duelist in between the strikes of the goblins that opted to club him with their fusils after their initial shots had missed. He caught one of them in the nose, driving the blade into the nostril so deep he had expected to see it emerge from the top of the goblin’s head. Its eyes shook in a grotesque manner before they drained of life. Not dropping his momentum, he withdrew the dagger and sent it flying into the chest of a further goblin that was busy re-arming its fusil. A wheeze of air escaped it as the dirk plunged past its sternum and maroon rivulets of blood ran down its ragged clothes. Dmitri whistled loudly, and the dagger shot back toward his hand, sending a streak of goblin blood spraying across the dirt. Renault was furthest behind the cart, and was busying himself with two goblins that had tossed aside their weapons and were attempting to wrestle his greatsword from him. The small creatures were deceptively strong. One of them managed to leap to his back and force him to topple backwards onto the ground. Renault was able to use his newfound leverage, however, to angle his sword in such a way that the goblin grappling it sliced its hands on the blade, forcing it to recoil in pain. Renault regained his footing on one knee, and was able to heft his sword upward enough to deliver a cleaving blow. The goblin was rent in two from the sheer weight and power of the strike, causing the one behind Renault to let out a scream of terror and begin retreating. It managed to flee nearly thirty feet before a shot rang out from Festus’ firearm. The projectile sped through the air and landed directly between the fleeing goblin’s shoulders, dropping it to the ground.
Kelek’s knees buckled. He supported himself with his hands, letting the staff drop to his side. His vision blurred as various screams and the sounds of combat rang out in his ears. He closed his eyes, trying to focus his thoughts, but when he did he was met with the terrifying skeletal visage of Gorral, staring at him with accusing eye-less sockets. Kelek opened his eyes and vomited. The surrounding cacophony of violence slowed as the last of the goblins gurgled out its final breath; its lungs punctured by Imp’s halberd.
“Kelek, are you alright? Did one of them shoot you?” Renzen asked as he knelt and placed a hand on his back.
Imp placed the leather-wrapped handle of her shortsword into her mouth and muffled a scream into it as she clawed the metal shrapnel from her shoulder. The resulting torrent of blood made Kelek dry heave.
“Hate to trouble you, but any chance you could patch me up here? Think I might pass out if this keeps up any longer…” Imp’s words were bathed in a cheery facade in an attempt to mask her obvious pain.
Kelek dried his mouth on his purple tunic and crawled toward Imp. He knew that fixing her wound would be a simple task, and it eased his conscience to be able to help in an impactful way. He mumbled a healing incantation and pointed the ruby-tipped staff at her injured shoulder. She hissed sharply as the deep-set crater mended itself, but gave him a grateful smile when it was complete. Bayin released the torrential barrier surrounding the ox and cart with a loud gasp for breath. He stumbled forward and caught himself on his staff before regaining his footing. Dmitri was cleaning his dagger and observing the results of the carnage.
“Everyone in one piece? I saw Imp take that nasty bullet, everyone else good?” He asked.
Renzen stood, stoic and arms folded, seemingly no more perturbed by the experience than a sleeping lion stirred by a passing bird. Imp was testing the rotation of her freshly healed arm. Renault was cleaning the blood from his armor, and Festus was intently examining the fusils the goblins had used. Kelek stayed seated on the ground and cast his gaze around before asking.
“Where is Ladd?”
There was a short silence as the group scanned the immediate area. Renzen closed his eyes and held his hands to his ears. Shortly after he let out an annoyed grunt and started running west. As he crossed a hill, he spotted two goblins dragging Ladd into the periphery of a small forest. He shouted out at them, to which they looked back and squealed in fright, dropping Ladd and redoubling their pace into the woods. Renzen rolled his eyes as he approached the incapacitated young man. His left eye had a large welt, but he appeared to be otherwise unarmed. Slinging the unconscious body over his shoulder, Renzen hurried back to the group. Despite his exertion, Bayin was relieved to see his grandson safe. Kelek took a look at the bruising around his eye and cast a healing spell to remove the blemish. The group spent the better part of an hour remaining at the site, cleaning the area and placing the bodies into shallow graves along the roadside. Imp did her best to soothe the panicked ox. Festus took a particular interest in the goblin’s firearms, giving each one a thorough examination and loudly remarking about their shoddy quality.
“I don’t know where these bastards got these from, but they’d be better off using slingshots! It’s a miracle they didn’t blow up in their face!”
“Seemed plenty effective to me.” Imp jeered.
Festus bit his tongue and mouthed an apology. Ladd came to as they finished burying the last of the goblin remains. Kelek was sitting with his knees hugged tightly against his chest, and Ladd took a seat near him.
“Thanks for fixing up my eye. It all happened so fast, I’m still not sure how exactly they got me. I heard all those shots, and then next thing I know I was on the floor and they were running off with me jibbering something about ‘getting a source for more boomsand.’ I’m sure you probably showed them what a Harnesser can do, huh?”
Kelek looked at him and was unable to do anything but provide a half-hearted grin. Ladd returned his smile and laid back with his hands behind his head.
“You know, I was really anxious about going out on adventures like this. I mean, I always wanted to do it and thought it would be really fun, but I still know how dangerous it is. But knowing that I’m surrounded by strong allies that look out for each other, it really eases that worry.”
Ladd let out a relaxed sigh as the breeze picked up and washed over the pair. Kelek’s nose wrinkled at the metallic scent of blood and he shuddered as visions of the battle flashed in his mind.