Michael Mathias - The Wizard and the Warlord

Durge was confident, cordial, and somewhat imposing. His smooth confidence was quickly welcomed into the group.

They were camped at the mouth of a deep cave, sitting around a roaring fire. Huffa lay with her big, fluffy head on Hyden’s lap. The other two great wolves, Urp and Oof, were standing vigilant, one at the cavern mouth, the other a few yards into the depth of the cave beyond the camp. The repetitive scraping ring of Jicks sharpening his sword blade could be heard over the crackling of the flames.

According to Durge they had one more day of travel to get to a portal called the Shoovway. It was different from the teleportation symbols. It was a permanent gateway, a time-tunnel, Durge called it. It would take them hundreds of miles to the north. So far north, Durge said, that it wasn’t north anymore; it was south again. He said that when they emerged from the unfathomable passage they would be in the Wedjak, far beyond the borders of King Aldar’s realm.

They’d come far in the two days since they left the last teleportation symbol. On the backs of the great wolves, the miles flew by. Amazingly, the giant kept up with a steady, loping gait. His huge strides ate up the miles like a hungry maw. The wolves were seemingly tireless. Hyden had ridden them before, when he, Vaegon, and Mikahl had to get to Xwarda to thwart Pael.

He’d been reminded of that trek earlier in the day when he and Huffa stopped on a ridge to watch Talon soar on the frigid breeze. Corva and the ever confident young Jicks had looked so much like Vaegon and Mikahl that Hyden shivered in his shagmar coat. He hoped this journey turned out better than the last. Grrrr and Vaegon hadn’t survived that one, and Mikahl had nearly died from the terrible bite of a Choska.

In Hyden’s lap, Huffa stirred. She raised her big head and licked his cheek, as if to ease his heavy thoughts. She was the pack leader now, and only when she took a mate would a male lead them again. Like Hyden, she was slow to forget the losses of the past, and her standards were quite high. She might never find a wolf that could fill Grrr’s fur.

Corva was admiring Vaegon's bow. Hyden had placed it in his hands before leaving Afdeon. “If I live through this, I want it back, my friend,” Hyden said. “But with it in my hands, my instincts are to use it. I have the powers of the goddess and Claret’s teardrop now. I hope to learn to turn to those when I’m in need.”

Corva took the bow, though he clearly didn’t grasp what Hyden was saying. The elf carried it reverently, so much so that Hyden had to chide him into stringing it that first day.

“It’s just a bow, Corva,” Hyden told him. “It’s only special because it was once Vaegon’s. Don’t be afraid to use it. It’s not a trophy, and I think Vaegon would be proud that an elf as persistent as you was carrying it. I have a great respect for how you tracked down your princess and followed your duty.”

Since then, Corva had been beaming.

The next day was blizzard-like. Powerful wind blasted snow and ice at them, but they forged on. The storm made the first part of the day miserable. By the afternoon the wind had lessened, but still the passage was rough. The continuous snowfall made the drifts deeper and the rocky ledges that much more treacherous. Having the smaller party, and the great wolves to ride, helped them tremendously. They were covering five times as much ground as they had been with the full group.

Something terrible greeted them at the cavern leading to the Shoovway. With only a long hour of daylight left to them, they found a band of trolls dwelling in the cave. They couldn’t see into the darkened area well enough to tell how many trolls there were. There was no other shelter about, and the nights were deathly cold. If they turned back, they would freeze to death before they got anywhere. They knew they had to fight for the shelter of the place. The aggressively defensive trolls were more than willing to put up a battle.

It started when a barrage of head-sized rocks came flying out at the companions. Luckily, the slope immediately behind them was gentle. Had it been a steep cliff edge, they would have been forced over it.

Hyden rode Huffa to the edge of the cavern mouth, while Durge and Jicks chose to dodge the rocks and charge in on foot. To Hyden’s great satisfaction, Corva slid gracefully from Oof’s back and covered the others’ entry with a quick flurry of arrows fired from Vaegon’s bow. A howling yelp confirmed that at least one of them had hit a troll.

Hyden wanted to cast a spell but he had to slow Jicks and the giant so that they didn’t get caught up in it. “Make way!” he yelled and pointed.

The two swordsmen darted toward the cavern wall just fast enough for Hyden to cast his spell.

With a shoulder-wide stance and open arms, Hyden swirled his hand around and a ball of flame appeared. The sphere swiftly churned and spun and grew to the size of a summer melon.

“Watch out, Hyden!” Jicks yelled.

Without losing his concentration, Hyden sidestepped a flying rock big enough to smash his bones. He made a mental note to thank Jicks for the warning and then threw his fireball right into the cavern mouth.

The trolls went wide-eyed and were shocked still when the bright fireball came flying at them. There were five of them. One was yanking on the arrow sprouting from its belly. Just before the wizard’s fire exploded into them, Hyden saw another arrow go streaking by. Corva hit his mark. The unsuspecting troll went mad as the arrow struck deeply into its throat.

The fireball flash-blinded most of the companions when it exploded. One of the trolls caught fire, and the one with the arrow in its stomach took severe damage, as well.

Outside the cavern, the great wolves howled and barked at the trolls that had survived. The wolves were smart enough not to charge in. They didn’t like not being able to fight, but they had no problem ripping out the throats of the fallen when they could.

Suddenly, a far larger piece of stone went past and shattered into the cavern wall right beside Durge. The giant roared out in pain and anger as he was showered with sharp fragments of stone. The biggest of the trolls roared right back at him.

The troll that had caught fire was sputtering on the floor. These trolls were huge, bigger than Durge by a few feet, and all sinewy muscle. In the dying light of the fireball, Hyden saw one of them charging at Jicks.

Hyden started to cast another fireball, but decided it would probably kill the young man, too. Instead, he cast his orb light into being. He didn’t let it come to rest in its natural position over his head. Instead, he sent it hovering further into the cavern so that the others could see the trolls. As it went by the lanky creature coming for the young swordsman, Hyden bounced it off the troll’s forehead.

Jicks took advantage of the beast’s blinded confusion and charged through its legs. He jabbed upward, deep into its groin, as he passed. He must have hit an artery, for he was rewarded with a steaming shower of crimson muck. The cavern stank of burned hair and scorched meat. The thrum of Vaegon’s bow came from behind Hyden through the din. The screaming troll Jicks had gelded made it an easy target for the elf.

Durge was bleeding from half a dozen places where chips of stone had pierced through his thick elkhide coat into his skin. His staff was broken into two pieces and the giant looked none too pleased about it. He raged into a pair of the trolls, one of which was about to throw another rock at him. He swung the bladed half of his weapon like it was a battle axe and caught the unarmed troll in the neck. As its head lolled to the side and a thick fountain of blood sprayed across the cavern, Durge planted his furred boot in the other troll’s gut and knocked it over backward. The huge rock it was holding over its head fell and smashed into its shins. Two seconds later, one of the wolves was pulling away with half of that troll’s face in its teeth.