The Orb of Wrath (The Merchant's Destiny Book 1) (17 page)

Mithir came and released a new spell. Fire sprang from his hands and projected forward like a flame focused where the sword had pierced. This made a much larger surface suddenly appear. It was the back of an animal. They could see what looked like burned hair. Thost saw the panther in the center of the clearing screamed and had much of its back scorched.

Thost had endeavored not to let the prey get off the sword and now everyone could see the hidden animal; at least a part of it. The knight retired the steel blade to strike again, harder this time. Ithelas did the same and hit the monster with his mace. They both got two impacts. The gorilla joined them then, blocking the way of escape that was left, and struck fiercely with both fists raised.

The beast got to lock the gorilla by an arm and watched as it began to bleed and couldn't move it. Father and son took the opportunity to launch a new series of attacks until they finally heard the monster collapse on the ground. Then the whole animal was revealed. It was identical to the panther they had seen at the center of the clearing and they couldn't see now.

“What the hell was that?” Thost asked angrily.

“A tugrim,” Mithir said.

“A what...?” said the knight, not understanding Mithir's strange gesture.

“I've read about these beasts,” Ithelas said. “They have a kind of hiding ability. They're not really invisible, but they project their image to another nearby location, so it's very difficult to know where they really are. I think they're called tugrims.”

“Exactly,” confirmed the young magician.

Ithelas began a short chant, and everyone saw as the horrible aspect of his arm suddenly improved. However, it was obvious that the arm would need extra care. Ithelas' face, which had been flushed with pain from the bite, relaxed, slightly relieved.

They checked up on the body of the strange beast. The skin had a curious texture and was very soft. Mithir gestured and the images that were left disappeared, leaving a unique figure in the scene. He then approached the head of the animal and, with a dagger in hand, carefully removed both eyes and kept them with great care. Ithelas asked him what he was doing, but couldn't understand Mithir's explanations.

At that moment, they heard a kind of owl hooting. Ithelas then imitated the sound reproducing it accurately. Again, they heard the owl that sounded closer and again the cleric replied. After a few iterations, they saw Samar and Erion walking into the clearing.

“Wow! What happened here?” Erion asked.

“It attacked us by surprise and we had some difficulties,” Thost explained.

“Why does the animal have no eyes?” Samar asked.

“Mithir just extracted them. He has tried to explain why, but we haven't understood,” clarified Ithelas

“Some alchemist will pay a good amount for them. It's our first booty in this adventure. The skin also has an important value, but I think we can’t afford to waste time skinning animals; especially one as big as this,” explained Mithir, this time accurately translated by his brother.

Erion and Samar updated the group on what they had been able to find. They all agreed that they should be off immediately, and try again to get closer the depression in which the cave was before dark. Moreover, none of them wanted to stay at that clearing, if there could be other animals like that.

Ithelas cured himself and left his arm placed in a sling; mostly for it to rest, as he explained to the others. He also applied some curative ointment Samar had bought in the city. They began, then, to walk in the direction that the elf indicated. Samar and Erion were leading the way, with Thost in the rear. Ithelas and Mithir were in the middle, with the latter pulling the mule that carried their gear.

They walked for a few hours when they noticed that the terrain slightly shifted and began to descend. It was already dark, and the visibility was now very low.

“We can't continue; not with so little light. We should camp here,” Thost said.

Everyone agreed that it was wise. So, they took part of the gear and set up two tents. They made a fire and organized the guards for the night.

Mithir entered his tent, carrying his backpack. As he did every night before bed, he opened it and took out his most precious possession: his spell book. In it he had recorded all the magical knowledge he had managed to accumulate over the years; and he was just beginning his career as a magician! He opened the book and began to go over the pages quickly while deciding the spells he would study for the next day. Like all magicians, he needed to perform this ritual and this study to be able to use its magical energy.

The next day the group would go through the cave and reach the valley where the castle was located. Mithir didn't know exactly how long it would take, but it was reasonable to assume that the assault would take place the next day. Therefore, he decided to concentrate on attack spells and added some defensive ones, too. He began preparing spells with maximum concentration.

Thost entered the other tent, where Ithelas was performing his daily prayers.

“How's your arm?” asked the knight.

“It still hurts, but it's much better. I just applied another dose of ointment. I hope that tomorrow it'll be practically recovered,” replied the young man.

“Good. We will need everyone in top shape.”

“I know. That's why I haven't spared in the use of our precious and expensive ointments. At least I didn't use any potion,” said the cleric.

“Don't worry about using what you need. Your healing spell repaired most of the damage in any case. Today we have been very lucky. Mithir's images enchantment avoided a catastrophe. We probably would have beaten the beast, for it was only one, but in the process we would have had more severe wounds. Or worse, some of us could have died. We will have to be vigilant in this region of the country,” Thost said.

“Yes, surely there are many dangers out there. Now I must return to my prayers,” Ithelas said as he knelt again.

In the same way that the magician must study his spell book each night to use its magic on the following day, the cleric must perform a series of prayers to be able to use his. In addition, like the magician, he had to choose carefully what spells that he would prepare within the limits of his magical energy, always thinking about which would be most useful during the following day.

Erion said goodnight to Samar and went into Mithir's tent. He decided not to bother him, seeing him so concentrated on his enchantments. He took off his light and flexible leather armor and lay down. It was difficult to sleep with that sticky heat. The climate approximated that of a sultry summer evening on the coast of Bor. Their bodies were accustomed to the rigors of dry and cold autumn in Bor Central and, suddenly finding themselves in that tropical forest, hadn't had a chance to get used to it. It had also been a long day; four really eternal days from his adventures in the mansion of the Commander of Andon. So, gradually, fatigue overcame him and he eventually fell asleep.

*******

Erion walked down a hallway adorned with huge paintings on both sides. They were huge expressive paintings of great quality. The frames of the paintings were built on the combination of the richest woods and showed an elaborate hand carving. The hall had a vaulted ceiling that hung at a great height, at least fifteen steps high. The vault, like the hall, was divided into sections delimited by white and stylish finest marble columns. Elegant arches connecting the columns by drawing a spider in each section of the vault. One could observe an affluent and complicated ornamentation in each of the sections in which the vault was divided by the arcs.

The floor was constructed by marble and semiprecious stones and showed essentially three colors: white, green and pink. The joints between the various sections of pavement were marked in silver. They had been recently polished and every step shone with multicolored flashes.

Many people were arranged on both sides of the aisle, in a perfectly symmetrical placement. They were dressed in the most luxurious and rich clothes that Erion had ever seen. The ladies showed spectacular jewelry of all types: rings, necklaces, earrings, bracelets... In many of them there were stones of great size. There was a bit of everything: emeralds, sapphires, diamonds, and rubies. Some of the ladies had more valuables over all the gold that Erion had gotten in his life. Her dresses were made with the most sophisticated fabrics: silk, cashmere, satin and other fabrics that Erion couldn't recognize. Men didn't lag behind the women and showed some clothes just as rich and elaborate. Many of them had scepters or other similar objects in hand, indicating power positions. Most were made of gold and had large gems embedded. The most curious of everything is that they all looked at Erion and greeted him effusively and respectfully as he passed. Some of them even made small bows.

Erion had reached the end of the hall and was now deeper in a circular room. The ceiling was a dome, also circular, that was more than a hundred steps in diameter and fifty steps high. It was even more spectacular than the dome of the hall that he had just crossed. It was smooth and was completely covered by large incredible frescoes showing various scenes of life at fairs, caravans and stores. The expressiveness of the faces of the characters in the paintings, as well as the almost lifelike scenes, was what most impressed Erion.

The room was full of all kinds of dignitaries; there were about a couple of hundred people there. His clothes and accessories were even more amazing that the ones from the people in the hall. Erion didn't even know how to describe it. He never imagined that such a luxury was possible. It was unlike anything he had ever seen, even remotely. Multiple lamps hung from across the ceiling and each had hundreds of lights. They all had ornaments that, at first glance, might seem glass. But Erion's trained eye realized that all those lamps were carved with diamonds. One of those lamps could rival all the treasures of the crown of most kingdoms.

At the back of the room there was a step of low height, just fifteen fingers, but had a large surface and was crescent shaped. Above him was a large armchair in the center that looked more like the throne of an emperor of the Second Age. On either side of that big chair there were eight luxury chairs, of a very similar quality and design, although all of them were a bit smaller than the throne. They were symmetrically arranged following the shape of the crescent. In front of each of those sixteen chairs was a man who, by his bearing and the luxury of his clothes, Erion could define him as a king wearing his best uniform.

Erion walked slowly and ceremoniously through the center of the room while everyone present kept bowing as he got closer. Finally, he reached the half moon and one of the sixteen men, namely the one that was located to the right of the great throne, he indicated with a respectful and proud gesture, to take a seat in his place. Erion then saw that he pointed to the huge throne. Somehow he knew that this was his rightful place.

When he finally stood in front of the chair and was about to sit down, he felt a huge pang in his side. It was as if a bee the size of a fist had nailed its big stinger and had injected all its venom. The pain was unbearable and he felt himself faint.

Erion awoke when he felt gentle taps on his shoulder. He opened his eyes. It was Ithelas that warned him that he would do the last watch. The young man stood up and slowly remembered the dream he just had. Again, as the dream of the swamp, it seemed unlike any other dream he had ever had. It was a hundred times more alive, a hundred times more real. It was as if he had actually been there. Only waking up in his bed did he realize it had been nothing more than a dream. The young man asked himself what it meant, and then his mind went back to his duties.

He didn't mind having to make the final watch. He had slept like a log the rest of the night and felt reasonably rested. The vigils when he was alone with Mithir were much more complicated. Everything was easier in a larger group like this one.

They also had Samar. It was a luxury to have an elf because they didn't need to sleep. They only needed a strange kind of rest, which they called trance, for four hours each night. So, Samar had convinced them for her to guard always during the first half of the night. In this way, the others would only have to do two guards after her. While this may seem a minor issue, it allowed the entire group to be more rested and stronger during the day. That freshness could determine the difference between life and death in battle.

Erion placed his crossbow at his back and climbed nimbly up a thin tree with few leaves in its canopy. The young man found that the visibility was good from there in all directions. It was almost dawn. Erion took a swig from his canteen. He had sweat a bit overnight and felt quite thirsty.

From there he could hear all kinds of strange sounds from the lush forest. Some of them corresponded, undoubtedly, to animals or beasts completely unknown to him. He put his hand under his shirt and pulled out the amulet he had around his neck. It was shaped like a dove.

“The amulet!” Erion said.

He had completely forgotten it, with everything that had happened. Yesterday he could have used it to make the recognition of the area and have avoided Samar's whole exercise. And more importantly, they could have been there when the beast attacked and, perhaps, have avoided Ithelas' injury. Erion felt guilty. Later he would talk to the others.

He concentrated again on the guard. The camp's security now depended on him. They didn't know the dangers they could find in this strange and distant land. Yesterday had been a major wake up call. However, the rest of the watch passed without major incident. The sun came out and not long after, you could already feel its heat; the colleagues began to rise one by one. Ithelas prepared a hot soup for breakfast and, after a while, everyone was sitting by the fire eating and making plans for the day.