Chapter Ten
The next morning, we went with the paladins to attack the castle. They went to the front, while we went to the far back gates. The second we heard screaming and sounds of battle, we sneaked into the castle. “This looks completely different from the village.” Bakar said
“We don’t know where anything is now.” He continued.
“Well, we will just have to look around” I said and sighed.
We wandered around the castle, looking for the mayor. As we turned a corner, we bumped into a circle 1 demon. I waved my hand and vines shot forward and filled its mouth. Then they turned into rose thorns and it died. “Dude, we could have mesmerized it into giving us information!” Bakar muttered, slightly disgusted.
“Good idea. I won't kill the next one.” I answered him.
We stumbled upon several ones that knew nothing, which I silenced. After about an hour of searching, we found one that knew where the mayor was. After it spilled the beans, Cynthia stabbed it through the heart with a solid ice crystal. We headed over to the mayors room.
We entered, and he was sitting in his chair, waiting for us. He was no longer a short portly man, but a tall demon, with black fur and a dog’s head, complete with muzzle. His arms ended in long claws and his eyes glow red. “It appears that the paladins showed you the truth. What an annoying bunch! Well, now it seems that your usefulness has worn out. Prepare to die!” It said in a grating voice, and lunged at us.
He was like a flash, one moment we saw him, the next we didn’t. “He’s fast” I thought
I shot some vines toward him, but he just shot fire from his nose and burned them. “Lightning Rod!” I called
But, just like the rest of my spells, he just shrugged it off. I looked over to see how Bakar and Cynthia were doing. Cynthia was out cold, and Bakar was healing her. I looked around to find the source of their injury, and saw 10 minions stream into the room. “Well…crud” I thought to myself.
I looked around the room, looking for something to give me an advantage. I glanced up, and saw a glowing mass of…something. It looked a bit like crystal. The large monster saw me notice it and growled. It launched at me, and it was even harder to defend myself now. I knew that to beat him, I had to take out that crystal.
I summoned a dummy in front of me and jumped back. The monsters claws ripped through my lifelike dummy. “Gre he he”
“Nobody can stand in our master’s way. Not even the chosen one.” It said.
At that time, I jumped out from behind my dummy, and launched a flaming lance into it. The monsters paled. Slowly, the crystal shattered. And I watched as it all came crashing down; right on the monsters head. The castle started shaking. “Let’s get out of here” I told Bakar.
Together, we grabbed Cynthia and hightailed it out as fast as we could. We sprinted out of the castle as it fell down around us. Huge chunks of gray stone tumbled down, and the once mighty castle slowly became a large pile of rubble. We jogged over to the paladin’s camp. Myron saw us coming. “You guys did it! And your only loss was one partner. I am sorry about that.” He said.
“A partner?” I asked.
I looked at bakar. He laughed. “No, Cynthia is not dead. She just got poisoned. She is just sleeping it off.” He said.
Myron raised his eyebrows. “You beat such a strong monster with no losses? You must be extremely powerful!” he said.
I just smiled, and said nothing. “Hey Lance, shouldn’t we be getting back to Earth soon? We have been here for a little while. I would like to sleep in a nice, warm bed tonight if possible.” Bakar said.
“Good idea”. I nodded. I turned to Myron. “Do you have anything that can teleport us between worlds?” I asked him.
“Of course I do! Warpers are everywhere!” Myron said. He tossed me a metal box with a small red button on it. “Touch that and think of where you want to be” he said.
"But, remember, no time will pass on earth while you are gone. You might as well stay here and rest for a little." He said, with a little hope in his voice.
Bakar shrugged. "Why not?" He said
Myron led us to a towering city made of what appeared to be marble. As we got closer, I could see that the gates had two guardhouses, and it seemed to be studded with holes. Myron noticed my confused look at the holes. "The holes are for archers, in case we are under siege." He said, answering my silent question.
I nodded, and we continued into the city. The streets were bustling with merchants, and a fair share of guards. He led us to a inn, where he just waved to the innkeeper, and the innkeeper tossed him a key.
He took us up to a room, and passed me the key. "You can stay here for as long as you want. In fact, you can move in, until you get a house here, or return to Earth. You may want some adventure, or pay, while you are here, so feel free to take any job you like. Just, before you leave, please tell me first, so I don't get worried." He said, with a slight smile.
I nodded at him, and he left the room.
"Hey, this room has two beds." Bakar noticed.
"I guess we will share one, and Cynthia will get her own." I said, and promptly collapsed on the bed, and fell asleep.
When I woke up in the morning, I saw that both Bakar and Cynthia were up and ready to go. I got out of bed, and we headed out of the room, to the inns lobby. We ordered a breakfast, which consisted of mostly a stale piece of bread, and some soup.
It used up the last of our coin to buy it. "Hey, Lance, if we intend to stay here, we are going to need some more money." Bakar said.
"We might want to start looking for a job, maybe for one of the merchants?" He continued.
As we spoke on what we could do for some money, a hooded figure swept by our table, and dropped a small note on it. I
Gestured towards it.
Cynthia and Bakar looked over to it, and back to me. "Should we open it?" Cynthia asked.
I shrugged. "Why not?" I said.
I grabbed the piece of paper, and we returned to our room. I sat down, and unfolded the paper.
"I happened to notice you needed money. I need guards, and I will pay. If you accept this offer, meet me at the Flying Crane at 1."
We read over the note again. "That guy looked rather...suspicious. Are you sure we can trust him?" Bakar asked.
I shrugged. "We don't have a choice. We need money, and we need it fast." I said, resigning myself.
At about 11, we went out to find the Flying Crane. We found the building in a rundown part of town. It didn't really look like much, and definitely the place where you would find thieves and cutthroats.
We went in, and sat down at one of the tables. We didn't have to wait long. About half an hour before the man was supposed to arrive, he swept into the inn. He glanced around it, and spotted us. He walked over to our table, and sat down.
"So, as you could tell from my letter, I need guards for my caravan. There are many thieves on the road I take, and most men do not risk the danger. I will pay you a gold piece each and an extra one every time you fend off a danger." He said, quietly.
Bakar’s eyes were round. He leaned over to me. "A gold piece is the amount that castle guards are paid. This man is either extremely rich, or he travels a road of certain death." He said.
"Do you guys think this is worth the risk?" I whispered to them.
Cynthia nodded without hesitation. Bakar thought for a moment, and then nodded slowly as well.
I looked to the man. "We will take it." I said.
The man nodded. "I will see you here tomorrow, at this time. Do not keep me waiting." He said, and left the inn.
The next day, we returned to the inn, to find a long train of wagons, and about twenty people, along with the hooded man, waiting for us. He waved us into one of the wagons. The second we were in, the train started moving along the road.
The hours passed slowly, and we started passing the time by summoning small concentrated balls of magic, and s
kipping them out of the wagon. As we were throwing them, there was a yelp from the trees. Bakar reddened. "Whoops, I didn't mean to hit anything." He said.
That pretty much put a stop to that game for us. A little later, the wagons stopped, and people started getting out of the wagons. We got out of the wagons, and watched as the people set up camp. The hooded man came over to us. "Tonight will probably be when they attack us. Be prepared for them." He said, and walked away.
I looked over to Bakar and Cynthia, and frowned. They shrugged, and we started preparing traps. Just after we finished laying the traps, an unearthly scream pierced the relative quiet. I dropped into a fighting stance, and stared into the night.
There was a loud bang, and a startled yelp. I grinned darkly. It looks like the traps are working. There were a few more bangs, and then all was silent. Suddenly, in front of me, there was a flash of red, and what looked to be a mixture of a dog, and human. It had red eyes, and deep brown fur.
I launched a small fireball, and I sent it back into the black, where it activated a trap, and went silent.
I went through doggy after doggy. These things seemed to have no end. My manna reserves were getting low, and it didn't look like I would last much longer. Finally, I used my last resort trap. I waved my hand, and muttered the activation word. There was absolute silence. Suddenly, all of the animals in the clearing, (horses, dogs and pets, and the dog things) keeled over.
The battle was over. The hooded man stormed over to us. "You got rid of the darn beasts, along with mine! You just cost me almost three gold coins!" He roared.
"I'm not sure if I should be mad with you for killing my livestock, or happy that you killed the beasts." He said.
I grinned "Luckily, I'll go with the second option. All of these animals are asleep, so I suggest we kill the cute dogs before they kill us" I said.
The hooded merchant grinned, and flipped me three gold coins, which I distributed between my little party. He walked off to his animals.
I sighed. It looked like we would have to clean up this rabble ourselves. I nodded to Cynthia and Bakar, and we started cutting the dogs heads off. As I cut one off, I noticed a bulge in its paw. I cut it with my blade, and a ring, that appeared to have a band of diamond, and a studding of black gems all around its circumference, tumbled out.
I grinned, and called Cynthia and Bakar over. I showed them the ring. "It looks like it will be worth the effort to kill these things." Bakar said with a grin.
When we had looted all of the dogs, we went back to the train of wagons. The merchant grinned at me. "Like what you found? Well, I'll leave your party alone in a wagon, with your spoils. It looks like we got the misfortune or maybe fortune for you, to attract all of these...things. There is a massive bounty on one of their trinkets, the one worn by their king. Have fun" he said, passed me a slip of paper, and left.
I sat down next to Cynthia and Bakar. I showed them the note. The picture was of a wristband, made of the darkest metal I had ever seen, and a snake winding around it that looked it was made with pure fire. It had a snake's skull, instead of a head on it. The caption said it was worth forty million gold coins.
I read over the price, and did a double take. That money would make a king. I glanced to Cynthia and Bakar. They nodded, and emptied their loot on the table. Immediately, I saw it. Involuntarily, my hand snaked out and grabbed it. It carried an immense power. But the power was not power of good. It felt malevolent, like it had a mind of its own.
"This is too powerful to be given away. One of us needs to take it, and keep it safe until we can give it to the headmaster." I said.
Bakar and Cynthia nodded, and exchanged a glance. They both pointed at me. "You want me to take it?" I asked, surprised. They nodded.
"You are best suited for it. And, you are a shadowmage, so it won't work for me." Bakar said.
I glanced at Cynthia, and she nodded. Hesitantly, I slipped the band onto my wrist. I felt a massive power enter me, and the snake on the band seemed to move. I shuddered, but kept it on.
We went through all of the trinkets, sorting through the trinkets, deciding what we would keep, and what we would sell or give away.
Bakar picked out a ring that was made from some type of white metal, that seemed to radiate good feelings. Cynthia took a jade necklace that seemed to enhance fire spells. I saw the ring that I had first found, but decided to leave it in the pile.
When we finished sorting through them, we lay down, and slept for the rest of the way to the city. In fact, the merchant was in and out of the city in a flash, and we only woke up half way back to the white gated Paladin town. We sat on the wagon, and watched the world go by as the train rolled along the path. as the trees around the path thinned out, we soon reached a crossroad. “Hey!, This crossroad is not too far from the city! We are almost there! All we have left, is to take the right hand path, and about ten minutes worth of sitting.” Bakar said, excited.
But, as we watched, the wagon turned onto the left hand path. I frowned. “Bakar, are you sure it is the right hand path?” I asked.
He nodded. “Definitely. They must be making a mistake, we should go tell them.” He said.
Cynthia nodded, and cast a speed spell. We jumped out of the back wagon, and sprinted forwards, to the first one. About three quarters of the way there, Cynthia started puffing hard. “I can't keep this spell up much longer.” She said through clenched teeth.
I nodded, and cast a endurance spell. Immediately, Cynthia perked up and continued the spell. But, I took all of her exhaustion. I couldn't hold this up much longer. Just when it seemed like I would have to drop the spell, we reached the front wagon.
We hopped into it. We bumped into the hooded merchant. “What in the world are you doing?” He cried.
“You are heading away from the Paladin village.” Bakar explained.
The merchant growled. “No, I am headed in the right direction.” He snapped.
Bakar took a map out of his pocket. He unrolled it, and pointed at a location. “We are here.” He said.
He put his finger on another spot a few inches away from the first. “We should be here.”
He explained. The merchant sighed. “You guys couldn't just make this easy, could you? You to go and complicate it.” He said, and whistled through his teeth.
A bunch of the passengers we had seen earlier on the train burst through the back door of the wagon. But, now they were armed with shabby, but well-made swords and spears. “Surrender all of your belongings to me, and I’ll drop you off here. Don’t, and I’ll leave what I’ll do to you to your imagination.” He said with a dark grin.
“And don't even bother trying to fight. We happen to have some Magic dampening charms, so you won’t have any edge on us. So, you have no choice! Now put your hands in the air, and We won't have to kill you.” He said.
I looked at Bakar and Cynthia. After a brief moment of eye contact, we all burst out laughing. The merchant looked disgruntled. “What’s so funny? You guys think you can beat a trained crew without magic? Hah! We’ll show you!” He roared, and charged at us.
I reached for magic, but found I couldn’t feel it. “Blast it!” I muttered.
From the looks on Bakar and Cynthia’s faces, they were having the same problem. I dropped into a fighting stance, and prepared to fight hand to hand. The bandits spread out around us, and two of them charged at me, while the others went for Bakar and Cynthia.
The first bandit swung a sword at me. I ducked under his swing, and my hand flew up, and the sword flew from his hands. I thought about grabbing it from the floor, but since I had no skill with swords, there wasn't much of a point.
The second bandit came at me with a spear. Now that was something more useful. He grinned at me. He seemed a little too confident for normal. His hands blurred, and his spear went from in his hands, to into me. I staggered, and reached for the spear. Right below my heart, almost certainly fatal. My fingers groped weakly at the wound. I swayed, and then bl
ackness overtook me.
But, the blackness wasn’t normal. As I felt my life fading from my body, I heard a voice from far away.
“Not yet, Child, there is more for you to accomplish. This shall be the only time I do this for you. Now, rest, and know that God is with you.” The voice boomed, and then all was truly dark.
The ground was bouncing beneath me. I groaned, and rolled over. My hand was too heavy for normal. I glanced at it, and saw a black band with a snake. Everything that had happened rushed back to me, and I jumped to my feet.
I was in one of the train wagons. I listened closely, and I heard two voices talking in the wagon in front of me. I ran into it, and saw Bakar and Cynthia. “Lance! How are you standing? How did you do that?” Bakar cried.
“What are you talking about? And where are the bandits?” I asked, bewildered.
“The bandits are dead Lance, you killed them, don’t you remember?” Cynthia inquired.
“I didn’t kill anyone! I remember getting stabbed with a spear, some voice talking to me, and I fell over, The best that could've happened was I somehow managed to survive!” I pointed out.
“You fell over? What are you talking about? I saw you...” Cynthia started.
“Cynthia, there might be a reason he can’t remember what happened. Let him alone, when it is time, he will probably learn it on his own.” Bakar said, cutting her off in mid-sentence.
She opened her mouth, and then closed it. She nodded stiffly. “Hey, “He” Is here you know!” I snapped, annoyed that they were talking about me like I wasn’t even there.
Cynthia raised her hands in a pacifying motion. “Whoa, calm down Lance!” She said, and backed up a little.
“Fine, just don’t do that again” I said.
“Where are we, anyway?” I asked.
“We are on the way back to the Paladin village. Its only another hour or so.” Bakar said.
“These bandits, were actually slave traders. They intended to use us as bodyguards for the beasts, and then take us to sell in the slave markets.” Cynthia said with disgust.
“But, they had a lot of gold, so we’re set for life here.” Bakar said in an more upbeat tone.
“How much gold could some slavers have?
Bakar laughed darkly. “Oh, they weren't any ordinary slavers. The main slaver had a large bounty on his head. His name was Markovitch, and he was worth almost the same amount as that band of yours. He appears to have already targeted almost ten noble children, and quite a few peasants.” Bakar said.
“How do you know?” I asked.
As answer, he held up a bounty paper. I glanced at it. No wonder he wore that hooded cloak, he had scars through his mouth, and he looked like a zombie. I shuddered.