Michael Mathias - The Wizard and the Warlord

“You’re starting to sound like Vaegon,” Hyden said.

Before Corva could respond, King Aldar finally found his voice.

“Your journey to the Leif Repline won’t be… so… so…” The giant sneezed hard, causing Dostin to erupt into a peal of giggling.

Corva put a hand on the monk’s shoulder and calmed him. Over the interruption, the king finally blurted out what he had been trying to say.

“It will take days, not months,” King Aldar said, fighting off another sneeze. “I… I… could put you a few days’ journey from the Leif Repline in a heartbeat.” He finally let loose his sneeze and seemed to lose focus for a few moments. When he gathered himself, he looked at Oarly appreciatively. “The best it is, dwarf.” The king’s eyes closed and his head lolled to the side.

“Teleporting?” Phen asked.

King Aldar nodded as he slid slowly into his chair. “You’ve got the Gwag to contend with, though. It guards the fountain jealously. It… it… is…” The king was out of it then, his huge face a study in bliss.

“Well that’s good news,” Hyden said.

“Good?” Lieutenant Welch asked. “A thing called the Gwag is guarding the fountain pool and that’s good news?”

“Aye.” Hyden grinned at Phen.

“Aye, it is,” Oarly mumbled into his dream.

“It’s good because we can find out what this Gwag is about, and get Marble Boy, Princess Telgra, and Talon back to normal in just a day or two.” He grinned.

“I can hardly wait,” Welch added sarcastically.

“So what is a Gwag?” Hyden asked Phen the next morning.

Phen was sitting at a huge desk, looking like a whitewashed child on the giant-sized furniture. The desktop was cluttered with books, most opened, but some in crude stacks. Unable to sleep in his petrified state, Phen had spent the night searching for information about the Gwag, the Leif Repline, and anything else he could think of.

“Here, read this.” Phen pointed to an open text. “It’s the only mention of the fountain pool’s guardian, but it’s not mentioned as a Gwag. They describe it as a long, fur-coated, four-legged serpent.”

“How could it be a serpent if it has fur and legs?” Hyden asked.

“Just read the passage,” Phen smarted. “It’s a description given by an exploration party from before Pratchert’s day. One of the men in that party went with Pratchert and his father to hunt that ice bear pelt that’s in your tower’s trophy room.”

“It’s Dahg Mahn’s tower, not mine,” Hyden said, taking the book. He sank down onto a divan and began to read. After a moment he sat up and looked at Phen. “It says that the fountain poisoned one of their men.” He glanced at the book and found the line he was after. “‘Shriveled him to a husk in a matter of moments, after just one sip,’” he quoted.

“Aye.” Phen faced Hyden and made a strange face, as if he were contemplating deeply. “I’ve read a lot here, but I'm hoping King Aldar will allow me into the giants’ library, if they have one. I think there are probably traps and other deterrents, as well as this Gwag protecting the fountain. Something that powerful couldn’t be left accessible to just anyone who wanted to exploit it. Some of the accounts I’ve read speak of the fountain’s waters as if they were the elixir of eternity or something.” He sighed. “As eager as I am to be returned to normal, I think we should study as much as we can before we go.”

“Aye,” Hyden agreed. “I’ll see if Cade or His Majesty will take you to the Hall of Chronicles. Berda once told me that they keep all the stories and legends of the giant folk there.”

Phen nodded with a pleased smile on his bland face. After a moment he said, “Did you notice last night that Oarly didn’t snore?”

“Where is he?”

“He’s still sleeping,” Phen said incredulously. “I wonder what they were drinking last night? It smelled awful.”

“You noticed it, too, then?”

“Aye,” Phen said. “Deep earth granite juice? What was that stuff?”

“I don’t know.” Hyden made a grinning cringe. “But whatever it is, it’s so potent that a thimbleful put King Aldar down.”

“It’s called Malagma Cobbless,” Oarly said in a rough, wheezy voice from the doorway to his bedchamber. “Concentrated to a syrup and then quantified.” Only the top of his now wildly tangled hair could be seen over the back of the divan as he shuffled into the room. He had to dive up to the seat on his belly and wallow around on the soft cushions to get upright. He grunted and growled at the humbling, almost embarrassing effort he had to make just to get situated.

“The giants like to dilute the stuff into their wine,” he finally continued. “That canteen should treat a half dozen kegs properly.”

“What were you drinking?” Phen asked.

“Oh, that.” Oarly rubbed his sunken eyes. “Liquified lotus blossom. It’s a gargantuan specialty.” He yawned. “I think I drank too much of it.”

“The stuff you gave King Aldar is supposed to be diluted in six kegs?” Hyden asked.

Oarly nodded.

“No wonder just one sip put him down.”

Oarly’s eyes snapped open and he looked up with all the alertness he could muster. “He sipped it right from the flask?”

“Just a little nip,” Hyden said. He couldn’t help but be alarmed.

“By Doon, someone should check on him. In its concentrated state that stuff will eat a hole in a steel plate.”

“I’ll go,” said Hyden. Before he could get up, an insistent banging came from the door.

Phen quickly went and opened it.

It was Corva and he looked worried. “Dostin’s not waking up. I'm worried.”

“He’ll be fine,” Oarly said. “He only had one goblet of liquefied lotus last night. He should come around sometime later today.”

After Hyden hurried out to check on King Aldar, Phen sat back at the desk and turned toward Oarly. “If one cup of that stuff will put Dostin down for a day and night, why doesn’t it do that to you?”

“I’ve got a drinker’s constitution,” Oarly said proudly. “Besides, I’m a dwarf.”

Corva took a seat where Hyden had been sitting and looked at Phen. “Have you found anything useful in all of that?” He indicated the books piled on the desk.

“Not enough,” he answered.

An awkward silence took over for a moment. Oarly slipped off the divan and returned to his room.

“You’re really lucky, Phen,” said Corva. “It’s rare for one of the Arbor’s Blood to take a liking to an elven man, much less a human.”

“You’re speaking of Telgra?” Phen asked.

Corva nodded.

“I like her, too,” Phen said. “Very much.”

“She will live four hundred years, if no harm comes to her, Phen,” Corva said softly. “How many more years will you live?”

Phen looked away, but there was heat in his voice when he responded. “In my current state, I could live forever, Corva, but a life not feeling the warmth of a touch or the taste of a meal seems like no life at all.”

Corva hadn’t considered that Phen’s condition might affect his lifespan. The elf, now that he thought about it, couldn’t remember Phen needing food or drink, or even to sleep since they had been traveling together. The gravity of the boy’s situation, and the weight of the choices he would soon have to make, became clearer to him. Phen would have to decide if he wanted to spend hundreds of years enjoying Telgra’s company without feeling her touch, or tasting her kiss, or being able to couple with her. The alternative was what? Maybe forty or fifty years of enjoying the full sensations of love and life. Corva didn’t envy Phen, and was finding that he had a deep respect for him.