Chapter 6
For three days, it had been the same, the room with its machines making beeping, buzzing, whirring sounds along with his steady breathing. His breathing steady and sure is what kept her at his side. He is doing better breathing on his own, his wounds are healing admirably but he had not yet opened his eyes, it is what she is waiting for hoping for with all heart. All she can see when she closes her eyes, are his eyes looking into hers. She tried to go home and sleep but came back only after a quick shower racing back here to see if his eyes were open yet. She did not want to miss the event determined to be here when it happened. She knew deep inside he would eventually open his eyes he had to or her heart would break.
“Maiko you can’t keep this up. Maiko please we have a job to do. That thing is still running loose somewhere and we don’t even know if it has killed again or what it looks like,” Garrett said softly and not for the first time. He has never seen her act like this. This from a woman that in the past has thrown men away like her old underwear when she is done with them does not make any sense. Not wanting to admit it, he knew what has come over her, for the first time in her life; she has unexpectedly fallen in love.
“I am not leaving him,” she repeated with resolve.
“Ok I will get you a hamburger for lunch the way you like it but promise me you will eat it?” Maiko merely shook her head yes, as he walked out the hospital room door.
“Wake up Hreidmar please wake up,“ she whispered the thousandth time.
“He will awaken my dear he has to for after all he is the Dwarf King.” The mysterious and highly unexpected voice suddenly startling Maiko she leaped to her feet ready to defend herself. What she saw made her pause for standing before her, is a wizened old man that looked as if he came right out of a fantasy story. There he is in his robes holding a staff, long white hair and beard with startlingly green eyes filled with knowledge and kindness too. He looks exactly like a wizard from one of my old storybooks. Why do they always look like that she wondered?
“How did you get in here without me hearing you?”
“Why I simply walked right in. You were in such deep thought you did not hear me open the door.” Maiko thought it plausible but on second thought not really.
“Ok so you are here what is it that you want and why are you here,” Maiko demanded.
“I want to save young Hreidmar why else. You know I was there when his ancestor named his forebear Hreidmar, the funny thing about it the ale was flowing and his ancestor was besotted with drink, what a grand night it turned out to be, mind you, the next day was not so good. When your world was so much like mine I used to come here to see the many friends that I had made that are now long dead," he said wistfully his mind wandering for a moment. "I digress I am here for a reason we must cure young Hreidmar for he has many things yet to do.” Maiko stood silently with her mouth hanging open not able to speak. “Close your mouth child it is not becoming for such a comely young woman like you.”
“Forgive me but I do not understand any of this.”
“You are not expected to understand child, at least not yet but you will. First, we need to get rid of the darkness that your modern science will never find or Hreidmar will die." Walking to his bedside, Bilgrammus gently placed his hand on Hreidmar’s chest. In moments, his hand began to glow a pure white and as the seconds passed, began to brighten. Hreidmar’s eyelids began to flutter lightly at first. Seeing this, Maiko squeezed her way next to his bed quickly taking his hand. Gradually, his color returned to normal and she felt warmth returning to his hand where before she had felt coldness. His eyes languidly opened looking directly at her a small smile tipping the corners of his mouth. All the while, the wizard continued to keep his hand on his chest the pure white light growing brighter as the seconds passed. Finally, removing his hand, he staggered back into a chair, and sat.
“Hi,” Hreidmar said softly with a bigger smile this time.
“Hi yourself dwarf king,” Maiko laughed giddy with joy at seeing him smile. “You know you truly are the dwarf king, no joke.” He laughed quietly at that.
“Who is our new friend that brought me back?”
“I am not too sure, and the only thing that matters to me is he saved you from certain death.”
“I know we talked about that.” Maiko stood next to the bed with a questioning look on her face waiting for him to continue. “I imagined him standing with me at a crossroads, a beautiful place with fields and trees with wood pole fences on both sides of the road and birds, birds everywhere. It seemed as if we talked for a long time but somehow I do not think so. We talked about you, me coming back to see you and all.” He paused again thinking about something or garnering his courage to say something else. Waiting patiently, Maiko held his hand as tight as she could afraid to let go, barely breathing waiting for him to finish. “I was thinking of a little Italian bistro down on tenth and main that has the best chicken parmesan and fresh bread, you like chicken parmesan don’t you," he asked with a serious expression on his face. Maiko quickly nodded her head yes. “Great so what do you say we get out of this place and go get something to eat?” Maiko laughed happily, she could not help herself, but quickly bent forward kissing him gently on the lips when she saw his expression change to disappointment not understanding why she was laughing at him.
“Yes my dwarf king I will gladly go with you. Actually, I think you and I will be spending a lot more time together,” she concluded with a smile.
“What is this I leave for a second to get a hamburger and the king is alive and well and an old wizard sitting is in my chair. Why do you guys always look the way you do?” Garrett laughed jovially. Garrett walked over and handed the hamburger to Maiko who promptly started sharing it with Hreidmar.
“You know lad I ask the same question of myself a hundred times a day well maybe not that many," he paused with a sardonic smile on his face. "The logical answer could be we are merely grumpy old men past our prime that should have long since had dirt thrown on us or, it is a facade to keep people asking the same silly question of us. Well since we are all together now, I have much explain to you. I shun long enlightenments and long discourse that leads to more confusion precisely what will ensue unless I can determine a way to explain things to you in an understandable fashion. How about if I start with my name it is Bilgrammus and I hale mostly from the world of Rhewan that happens to be a lot like this world once was,” Bilgrammus paused looking at their faces to see their reactions to his words.
“Is this about me being the dwarf king? Am I really the dwarf king?” Hreidmar asked between mouthfuls of the hamburger and fries Maiko is shoving down his throat as fast as she can.
“Ah yes my boy that you are. The dwarfs from my realm believe that in a time of need a human the size of a mountain and you are pretty close to that by the way will come to them girded for war carrying the famed war axe Bloodaxe and he will be protected by a stalwart friend,” Bilgrammus revealed.
“Ok let me guess either Maiko or me is his gallant friend. At the least, will we get a famed weapon like his?" Garrett asked skeptically.
“Lad I know you are disbelieving but I think Maiko has seen enough to know that I would not say any untruth to you. Garrett, you and Maiko are going to have a great role to play in this game of power, the exact role is not clear at this very moment. What I do know is that without you Hreidmar will surely fail”
“Maiko did you tell him our names or does he know more about us than we know about each other and what does he mean Hreidmar will fail without us?” Garrett asked in that tone of his the Maiko knew all too well when he is getting flustered.
“Take a deep breath Garrett, from what I saw Bilgrammus do to save Hreidmar’s life I am inclined to believe him until he proves me wrong.”
“You know the old saying Maiko, seeing is believing and you have the benefit of seeing firsthand what our friend here can do.”
“Please Garrett; take a moment to think about it. Before a few d
ays ago would you have believed a supernatural creature would be killing people in our city and changing its appearance to match his victims?”
“All right Maiko I am with you. All of this supernatural stuff going on is hard to get used to.”
“I know Garrett I am with you but we need to listen and make decisions with an open mind that what we hear is the truth and as real as it can be.”
Bilgrammus let them have their discussion until they worked it out among themselves. Hreidmar he was not an issue after their little talk nor was Maiko to a lesser degree but Garrett is another matter. He would need additional convincing and he knew exactly the way to help him understand. “Garrett when you were attacked and badly injured did you know you would not live the night? Your doctors attributed your survival to the armor you were wearing, it helped by leaving something to work with but it was not entirely the armor. The woman she was beautiful was she not?” Garrett had to take a step back and put his hand on the wall for support. “Garrett I saved you, I healed you as I did Hreidmar. That so-called woman is a shade much like the creature you are trying to catch, for that matter it could actually be the same creature for all we know. The woman she was a living breathing human being and that monster killed her. It wanted you dead so you cannot fulfill your destiny to protect Hreidmar and kill creatures like the shade that want to destroy our worlds.”
Garrett is stunned; his analytical world shattered hearing this. He straightened from the wall and looked at each of them in the room. Hreidmar is eating fries with a knowing look on his face as evidence he knows firsthand that what Bilgrammus is saying is true, Maiko is wearing a reflective expression but he could tell she believed it too. Thinking back for a moment to when he nearly died, it came to him in a rush, a body of a woman appearing to be one hundred showed up around the same time. When her identity was determined it placed her age in the mid-twenties baffling the investigative teams as to why she had aged and with no other sign of a trauma to the body they still to this day do not know all the circumstances leading up to her death. It appears now they know the cause of death and the evil loose roaming his city. Why am I so stupid sometimes? I should have remembered that he thought angry with himself. I have no choice I have to believe what Bilgrammus is saying is true the evidence is irrefutable. Maiko voice brought him sharply out of his thoughts.
“Garrett! Did you hear what I said?
“Sorry Maiko I missed it. Try again I am listening.”
“I feel so stupid that I forgot about that case a couple years ago it has the same MO!”
“I know Maiko I had the same epiphany. What I want to know is why it did not simply kill me outright as it did those thugs? Do you think that it gets enjoyment out of watching people suffer before they die?"
“Damn it Garrett I don't care if it likes to watch it victims die it has to be stopped! We don’t know how long that thing has been here or how many people it has killed!”
“I do,” Bilgrammus said simply. That stunned them, even Hreidmar with a fry halfway to his mouth. “It or one like it has been here off and on for hundreds of years. I have tried to catch it and failed. I remember,” he stopped as if he could not continue and when he did real pain showed in his facial expression. “She was beautiful and the only woman I have ever loved. Sure, she would have been dead now for oh, I do not know four hundred years or so I suppose but who is counting anyway. She lived in a small village up in the mountains in a land you call the Ukraine, a cold place to live in a tiny backward village nestled in a small valley between the mountains. In the summertime, the weather is beautiful there. The village lay up against a beautiful lake where we would fish for our supper and lay on green grass watching the clouds float by. I remember the green of the fir trees pointing up at the sky as if to spear the clouds that raced by. I lived with her there, loved her there in a small hut we called home. She was with child when I had to leave for a time to go back to my realm and it chose that time to strike. It had insinuated itself into the village and systematically killed the people of her village, her and her unborn baby. When I came back, I found them all dead and half-frozen in the snow. I could not forbear the pain and I went insane for a while oh I don’t know for maybe fifty or a hundred years or so again who is counting.” No one said a word and Hreidmar could not eat anymore putting the fry back in the bag and throwing it the trash can next to his bed.
“I am sorry Bilgrammus tell us what we need to do,” Maiko said kindheartedly.
“Four artifacts are hidden on this world that each of you will need, Bloodaxe the name implies what it is, Flamewynd a bow with matching arrows, Skullspliter a double edged long sword and finally Starfire a shield. These weapons are very powerful in nature and will give the bearer great power. They will smite your enemies and friends alike if those who wield them do not do so with their hearts true and minds pure of thought without malice. These weapons are unsullied by darkness and it is the bearer of them that keeps them that way and as such if they fall into the hands of the truly evil they could be turned into weapons of darkness,” Bilgrammus concluded with a stern expression on his face looking at each of them.
“How do we find these weapons Bilgrammus?” Hreidmar asked.
“They are in one location making it a little easier, here is a scroll that will give you the directions that you need to find them,” he replied standing and reaching inside his robe he handed Garrett the scroll contained in a hard leather tube with brass caps on each end. Suddenly, a circle of light appeared in the room and without another word he stepped into it disappearing with the light collapsing inward right behind him.