I was awake and on my feet in seconds, feeling more alive than I had in a long time. Glancing down I patted my chest to make sure I wasn’t dead. I heard someone chuckle and glanced across the dimly lit cavern to see Sage laughing. So, she wasn’t trustworthy after all. I would have to be more careful of her.
“Well? You’re alive aren’t you? That proves that you do have magic! Did you have any previous ailments?” Sage asked coyly. “Well they’re gone as well.”
I felt the back of my head and found that the large bump that had been residing there ever since the ale glass had been shattered over my head was gone. I pulled my shirt up and the sore from Earl’s sword was now only a pale scar.
“See, the death berries do work. You’re feeling really good, right?” Sage demanded. “Any ailments you had are now gone, right? Your magic should be awake and at its full capacity now-”
I turned away from her, both disgusted and relieved that she had been right. Victor was sitting up watching me with an amused expression. His bed roll was neatly wrapped up and he was sitting on a rock lazily. Timmy was beside him yawning.
“Morning, Zavier! We’ve all been awake for at least an hour now.” Timmy spoke cheerily but I narrowed my eyes and refused to look at him as he taunted me. I bent down to do my bed roll and stopped. So I had magic, did I? Then maybe I would be able to do my own bed roll.
I concentrated on it hard, imaging it rolling up and tying itself. Sweat began to roll down my face, I didn’t have the slightest idea how to do this. I was shocked as the roll twitched and my hand warmed. I could feel the jewel between my clenched fingers. Warmth. Breath. Heat. It surrounded me and I hissed with pleasure. The next second I was thrown backward against the cavern wall as the roll erupted with flame and a powerful magical blast.
I groaned with displeasure as I picked myself up and brushed off the dust. All three of the others were looking at me strangely.
“So what? It blew up,” I growled as I kicked the pile of ashes, oh well, that took care of that.
“Wait!”Victor pointed a finger at the ashes and they quickly reformed into a nicely tied roll. I kicked it across the room, startling the already frightened unicorns. Victor ignored me in my anger and crossed the low cavern to retrieve the bed roll which he cinched down onto Brownies back.
I followed them out into the still morning air and sighed. There would be no flying again today. Even though Victor’s magic was restored the Unicorns would not be able to handle it, and I could see the cold fear plastered on Timmy’s small face.
I crawled up behind Victor, and Xyle snorted again with distaste of the extra weight.
“Alright, it will probably take us most of the day to get out of the pass. We need to take it slow since the unicorns are worn out from yesterday. We’ll walk,” Victor instructed.
I could see Timmy heave a sigh at Victor’s reassuring words.
Shika was limping slightly as we set off but she soon worked out the kink when we got moving and the other unicorns seemed fine. The fresh air was bitterly cold with the onset of winter and was especially noticeable as we’d neglected to buy warmer clothes in Azure.
I shivered as the cold air whipped around us causing my teeth to chatter. “I-I think that we should spend the rest of our silver on warmer clothing when we reach Greed,” I muttered bitterly.
Sage scowled. “Why wait till Greed? We’ll probably be frozen by then. Most of the small towns will probably have a seamstress or someone with unicorn hide clothing available for sale.”
I refused to answer and remained silent. Victor seemed to find that rude, so started up a conversation with Sage and I listened intently, hoping to catch something, anything, to suggest the traitorous person she really was.
“So, where are you from?” Victor asked, causing Sage to glance at him suspiciously. She must have decided that he looked relatively trustworthy because she spoke.
“I was born in a small house in the off skirts of Norwood. It was a nice place to live but our family was forced to move away around my tenth birthday when I fell victim to a horrible, not to mention incurable, disease. It was a skin disease and it caused this weird painful skin that covers my body. Anyways, we left the Norwood community and left all civilization behind as we traveled through dense forests, east towards the small road leading to Diaz, shunning people at any cost.” Sage paused, biting her lip as she scrutinized Victor.
“Our plan was to continue on towards Diaz and start a new life but I ended up finding employment at the Diazion Trading Post. I had only grown uglier in my two years there and so when my Master sold his booth to a cruel man I ran away and became a Nomad, wondering our kingdom. It was a great relief for me, a type of freedom I’d never known before. Still, I longed for a place to call home and searched and searched.” Sage looked wistfully ahead, her sad green eyes full of hidden emotions. Victor cleared his throat.
“It must have been hard,” he offered quietly, his voice lacking the needed sympathy. Sage smirked, any signs of sadness gone.
AI finally decided that Greed was my only hope, a town of outcasts. So I set off in this direction from Harrison’s legendary hot springs up by the Dragon Mountains. In my wanderings I learned many types of healing and folk lore. Elderly people who knew much and were shunned by the younger generation trusted me and shared with me many things.
“Anyhow, I was passing through Wayd and decided to see the party when I saw what happened to Zavier-” She glanced back at me and I looked away.
“Well, I thought I might be able to save him so I took him to the forest and worked what little magic I had on him. Unfortunately I didn’t have any Coffin Berries at the time or my work would have been much quicker. I healed him but while out in the forest gathering more herbs and such I was captured by slave traders from Shaz.” She glared at me as if this explained everything and I returned the stare. The pale girl had said Sage was not to be trusted, so I refused to trust her. Most likely she was lying to try to get us to sympathize with her.
“I was surrounded by many other young men and women in a small covered wagon, all gagged and tied. We were forced to walk endlessly through the nights, being told we could sleep in the day during our riding.” She scoffed angrily. “It was a nightmare.”
“So why were you around when Sienna broke free from the mountain and flew to me?” I snapped accusingly, causing Sage to look at me pityingly.
“I managed to escape near Pezar. After that I ran and ran and found myself once again near the hot springs in a town called Egguard. The people there were strange mythic folk but treated me kindly. I liked to roam the smooth mountains, it brought me a certain calmness and I felt happy there in my own world. I was wandering the massive hills one day when the quake happened.
“I was thrown to the ground and dust surrounded me. When it cleared, a massive black mountain dragon was hunched there on a pile of rubble. I could tell she had been summoned but the summoner’s call must have been weak. I realized that she needed help so she allowed me on her back and I used my magic to search for the caller and felt his feeble call through the dragon. It was somewhere in Kingston.
“We were near Kingston when the dying caller gave out another stronger summon and she no longer needed my help so ignored me.” She glared at me. “I almost died.”
I let out a snort of laughter. “I doubt Sienna would have killed you, besides, the point is that you’re alive, right?” It was now my turn to be smug and Sage glowered. But my mind began racing as I realized something, a flaw in her tightly knit story. So shewas[/i/ a deceiving little untruthful rat. I realized that she was trying to hide something.
“Sage. You’re lying,” I stated calmly, stopping her mid speech. Her gaze flashed with fear as she turned to look at me and I smiled.
“You just told us yesterday that [i]Brownie was only with you for a few days. That’s not true is it? When I summoned the Dragon I became a part of her. I saw our guide. It was Brownie, wasn’t it? See, you lied. You said you had purchased her in Azure.”
She shook her head and a confident look returned to her face, any sign of fear vanishing.
“No, Zavier. I told you that she might have been the one you saw in Azure because I’d purchased her from a man going to slaughter. I said nothing more than that. Did it ever occur to you that maybe she had been with me earlier, escaped and someone had captured her and sold her as his own? It seems your mind is sometimes very limited, Zavier.”
My face grew hot with anger at her smooth mocking words and I kicked Xyle causing him to start and move into a trot, leaving Sage on my unicorn behind.
Sage suddenly screamed behind us and I smiled. Why was the traitorous little brat screaming? Victor flipped Xyle around and I froze. A small mountain troll, at least the size of two wild dragons, was lumbering down the side of the pass towards us. Shika was cantering toward us, the brown unicorn following closely. Xyle turned on the spot and together the unicorns fled. The ground shook as the troll yelled while his dinner took off and he jumped down into the pass with a ground-shaking force. His long legs took him after us the instant he landed and I knew we were dead, he was catching up to the tired unicorns quickly. Too quickly.
Sage had a hand wrapped around Timmy and the other one held onto Shika’s reins as she bolted past Xyle who had always been the slower of the two. My heart raced as I held tightly to the back of the saddle. My hand seared with heat and I glanced down. The jewel was there again. I remembered the same feeling that had happened at Earl’s party.
Without thinking I let go of Victor and I fell away, landing hard on the ground. I rolled a good ways with the force of the fall and a pain shot up my back bone. I quickly ignored it and turned towards the lumbering troll.
I summoned the heat of the power I felt within me and was glad to see that Victor hadn’t noticed my absence. At least my friends would get away, at this point that was all that mattered. The lumbering troll was nearing now and my skin itched from the powerful magic as it welled up inside of me. I knew I had to wait till just the right moment.
A thought came to me and I reached back and grasped Valsephony’s hilt and gasped as the magic clung to the sword. The troll was now only a few lumbering steps away. I wrenched Valsephony free and attempted to direct her towards the troll’s direction. I closed my eyes to release the magic but suddenly the breath was squeezed from my lungs in a gasping scream.
The troll’s massive fingers had wrapped around me, squeezing all the breath from me and the magic possessing me vanished. Valsephony was pressed to my back and I struggled to pull her free.
The troll lifted me into the air, his grip tightening at my struggles. Finally Valsephony was free. I pulled her out of his grasp and pointed her towards the trolls gaping mouth, the feel of the magic returning. He roared at the sight of resistance and spittle covered me with a slimy residue. The magic faltered but I concentrated harder and found it easily.
The troll tipped me upside down so my back faced him and I had a good view of the pass. The three unicorns were racing towards me. No! I had tried to buy them time and they were wasting it! Even if I attacked the troll all of us would eventually die because I knew I wouldn’t be able to kill him in time. I pointed the sword toward the pass and allowed my magic to be set free. It flew through the air and in a second a huge wall of rock began rising from the ground in front of me, protecting the others from the troll.
I cursed myself silently. It seemed as if Sage had been right, I did have a limited mind, why hadn’t I just done that with me on the other side? But I knew why. This magic possessing me I was unsure of and I had no idea what it could do. If I’d known I could put up a barrier earlier, this would have been so much simpler. I was indeed a fool and I knew I would pay for my mistake.
The magical blast sent me flying from the trolls grasp and I flew to the pass floor with a thud. Valsephony flew from my grip and landed somewhere with a clank. The troll charged me again and I managed to throw a small amount of quickly-summoned magic at the ground and a small hill grew, tripping the troll onto his face. As he skidded by me his head hit the rock barrier with a crack that resonated around the pass with a sick clarity.
The troll rose to his feet, rage boiling in his yellow pupilless eyes, as he charged towards me. I scrabbled to my feet but there was nowhere to run to and Valsephony was gone. The troll grabbed me by the back leg as I struggled to escape him. I screamed in pain as my leg was ripped upward jerking my body behind it. The troll groaned as he swung me back and forth, his rotten stubs of teeth visible over his puffy lip. I shot a bout of magic in his face only succeeding in provoking him further. He shook me up and down before sending me soaring through the air to hit the wall I’d created. Pain ripped through my body as I slid to the ground, blood filling my mouth. I choked and spluttered on it as my vision blurred red.
Someone screamed. A high pitched war cry and the troll roared in anger and beat at the air with his fists. People were descending the slope, scimitars flashed in the strange peoples fists as they fell on the troll. He fell easily, as at least a hundred warriors landed atop him and plunged their weapons deep within his thick hide. He let out a gargled scream and the ground shook as his massive weight pounded onto it. I sat up and saw one of the people leap forward and plunge a sword into the trolls neck. Green blood poured from the wound and his body shook as all life left it. A cheer went up around the pass.
Men, women and children stood there. Leather hide clothing adorning there tan-skinned bodies. Their dark almond eyes turned to stare at me and I felt the blood flow slowing, so I stood. One from their midst walked toward me, her feet bare and rough. She wore an odd dress of leather and her hair was bound with a wide strip of pale leather. She carried Valsephony in her left hand, it was smeared with troll blood and for a moment I was almost jealous that this girl had used my own sword to bring down the troll when I had been able to do nothing myself. I became ashamed of myself though, realizing that I owed my life to these strange people of the pass.
The young woman stopped directly in front of me. She was exactly my height which unnerved me a bit. Even tied back her thick black hair reached down to her ankles and I was amazed that it would not interfere in battle.
“You fight well.” Her gaze watched me closely as she passed me Valsephony . I took her gratefully and wiped the blood off onto the outside of the soft sheath and stared. A dark black spot stained the tip of my sword. It was dried blood.
The young woman had also seen it. “That is witches blood… You have fought a witch before? You must be strong.” Her voice was high pitched but smooth. It carried the slightest hint of an accent.
“A witch? No, I haven’t.”
Even if I had, I would have washed the black blood off of the blade, unless... the intruder. I must have drawn blood when I had injured him.
The woman looked at me oddly. “Did you do this?” She pointed to the huge wall of stone, obscuring the path through the pass. I nodded and noted that she gaped slightly in awe.
She regained her composure almost immediately and smiled. “My name is Zeta. I will travel with you the rest of the way through the pass to insure your safety.”
I shook my head. The last thing I needed was a girl following after me, claiming she could protect me. Alone she would have been no help at all. The troll had fallen not because one person had slain him, it had been a group effort. One person could do nothing to help me.
“Do not be ashamed. My people are people of this pass. We know more about it and its secrets than anyone alive. Whereas you are just a passerby and it is evident that you need protection.” She smiled again.
“No. I don’t need protection.” I lied, hoping to get her to leave. “Thank you for your help but I’ll be on my way now.”
She put her hands on her tilted hips and let out a cough of slight amusement.
“And just how do you propose to do that?” She jerked a finger at the wall behind me and I cringed. I turned around to face it and sighed. It was at least fifty feet high and the same red clay color of the pass. I was thinking about what I should do when I heard a distant rumble and in a shower of debris a hole at the bottom of the barrier appeared
As the dust cleared Victor and Sage stepped through, coughing and wheezing as dust flew around the pass.
“Zavier! You’re alive!” Victor ran to me and Sage hobbled after him. “Why in the kings name did you go and pull a stunt like that!? You could have killed the troll no sweat. Instead you built a wall? What is wrong with you, man?” Victor was laughing with relief and Sage finally caught up to him. I shook my head, knowing that my magic would not have been enough to kill the troll.
“You are lucky, Zavier. You are stupid... but lucky.” Sage shook her head in disbelief and her flat lifeless hair drifted around her head. Zeta looked repulsed at the sight of her but held her tongue.
“So who’s the dame?” Victor whispered to me and I kicked at him scornfully.
“Victor, this is Zeta. She’s from a tribe of Pass people. Anyhow, she claims she’s coming with us.”
Victor smiled.
“Fine by me.”
I sighed in disgust and turned away.
“Alright guys, lets go. We need to get out of this wretched pass.”
Zeta looked offended.
“What’s so bad about our pass? If you know its secrets it’s fine!” she retorted and I rolled my eyes.
“Key word, Zeta, if you know the pass. We don’t.”
She nodded, accepting my answer and followed us through the archway Victor had created. I could tell she was impressed.
“Alright. Timmy will ride Brownie. Sage, you’ll have to share Shika with our new traveling companion.” Victor said then smiled at Zeta and she stared at him unconvinced.
I went over to Timmy and untied his legs and sat him on Brownies back. She quivered with the feeling of a rider on her back and for a moment she looked as if she would buck him off. She settled down though and I used the ropes tying our luggage on to secure Timmy down tightly.
I turned away from him and noticed that Sage was limping towards Shika. I glanced down at her leg and gasped. A hole near the rim of the skirt was visible. It was surrounded by dark black blood.
Blood that matched that of the blood on my sword.
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