“Avanda?” Bryus spoke softly in order to wake her without alerting everyone else in camp.
Rubbing her eyes, she sat up next to the main campfire. “Bryus?”
“Yes, it’s me.” He helped her up to her feet as he escorted her to his smaller campfire.
“Why didn’t it work?”
“Why do you say that?” he asked as he sat her down on a log, facing the other travelers.
With her eyes finally coming into focus, she could see Brimmelle cuddled up against Grewen, with the Mognin’s large arm over him to protect him. Avanda and Brimmelle had swapped locations.
Thorik yawned and stretched and stirred as he struggled to sleep. He was so close to releasing his grandmother and ending his journey. Each and every minute seemed to drag out. Drifting in and out of his slumber, he was nudged awake by the sound of Avanda cheering.
His eyes popped open and he immediately sat up. Thorik could see the delight in Avanda’s face. Bryus was pleased as well.
Tossing off his blanket, Thorik lifted himself to his feet, wiped his eyes clean, and stumbled over to Bryus’ campfire. “Did you figure it out?”
“Yes!” Avanda was filled with great happiness. “We did it!”
“That’s wonderful.” With a grand sigh of relief, Thorik removed the dagger Varacon from his belt and held it carefully in front of him. “Let’s get this over with.”
Avanda and Bryus looked at each other and laughed. “We didn’t figure out that spell,” Bryus said.
Thorik was shocked. “You mean to tell me you haven’t been working on freeing Gluic? What have you been doing?”
“Are you insane?” Bryus was clearly annoyed. “Asking Vesik for a spell of that magnitude would be improper before we showed him that he could trust us with something less extensive.”
“Showed him? It’s a book.”
“Perhaps, but if not treated properly he may not provide us with any spells.” Using his good hand, Bryus opened the book up to several blank pages. “See, now look what you’ve done! The spells are gone. You’ve offended Vesik and possibly lost our opportunity to save Gluic.”
Thorik glanced at Avanda and then back at Bryus. “Are you serious? The book has emotions?”
Bryus showed him a few more blank pages. “Every time you open your mouth, the more we lose the chance to see his spells.”
“I apologize,” Thorik said half-heartedly. It all seemed a bit ridiculous.
Bryus watched the blank pages stay blank as he shook his head. “You will have to do better than that.”
“What?”
“You’ve offended the most powerful and sought after enchanted item in all the land and you think a casual apology will suffice?”
“What would you have me do?”
“Indeed, what would I have you do…Ah! First of all, you must lower yourself to one knee and bow to him.”
“How would it know if I’m bowing?”
“IT? You continue to call Vesik an ‘it!’ Do you want to save Gluic or not?”
Thorik quickly backed down and lowered himself onto one knee before bowing forward.
Bryus let the Num stay down several moments longer than Thorik would have liked. “Excellent, now place your hand near Vesik without touching him and apologize for your insensitive comments.”
Thorik did as he was told. “I am sorry, Vesik. I was wrong to call you a book. I will treat you with more respect.
Bryus nodded. “Keep going. I think it’s starting to work.”
“I will never again assume that you or any other enchanted items are without feelings. I meant no harm by it. I have been on the receiving end of such insults and should know better.”
Aside from the rustling of the campfire, the camp was quiet. Thorik slowly lifted his head to see Avanda and Bryus holding back their laughter. It had all been a ruse. “Well played.” Thorik got back on his feet and dusted himself off.
The other two released their laughs at Thorik’s expense.
“Now that you have humiliated me. Have you found the spell that we need?”
Bryus had Avanda turn a few pages before he instructed her to stop. “Ah, here it is.”
“A spell to release Gluic?”
“Yes,” Bryus said sarcastically. “The spell is named Releasing Gluic.”
Thorik was not impressed. “Did you find one or not?”
“Understand, Thorik, finding the right spell is difficult. We must combine a spell such as this one which reverses an enchanted object’s spell, with one that safely relocates a soul.”
“So, what does that mean?”
Bryus kept his attention on the notes from the spell. “It means, Num, that we will find the spells we need in here.”
“Excellent, so how long before we can free her?”
Bryus stoked his chin as he continued reading. “How far is it to Ergrauth Valley?”
Thorik thought it was an odd question to ask, but that wouldn’t be the first one from the Alchemist. “I have no idea. The Guardians block the entrance, and they are a week or two travel from here. Why?”
“This spell requires Ergrauthian Spice.”
It meant nothing to Thorik. “Can’t we purchase some in Woodlen?”
“No, you can’t just purchase this spice from your local market. It is special and has natural magical powers. In fact, it’s actually two spices that when mixed together can negate any spell. We will need this to reverse the flow of the dagger.”
“Is this another one of your jokes?”
“I wish it was. We’ll need to travel to the Guardians, if not beyond, to obtain the components for this spell.”
By this point, the sun had started to rise and Brimmelle had begun to wake while cuddled up to Grewen and under the Mognin’s protective arm. “What?” He then began to realize that he was snugging with the giant. “By the powers of the Mountain King himself, what’s going on here?”
Chapter 38
Cultural Differences
Thorik’s Log: August 30th of the 650th year.
Our journey to save Gluic has changed course. Now that we have the spell required to release my grandmother from the dagger, it has become apparent that we are in need of a critical component to perform it. The only location that holds this component is beyond the Guardian Towers, in Ergrauth’s Valley. We will head out this morning, once I have informed everyone of the news. I doubt they will be pleased to hear it.