The Resting Place

Tom’s mind was spinning as he rode Skreel towards the Forest of Mordula. He was filled with conflicting emotions resulting from the sudden rush of events that had changed his world. Part of him was excited by the prospect of new adventures outside of the confines of the Forbidden Mountains. At the same time, he was sad to be so quickly leaving the friendship of the dwarves and the Forbidden Mountains in which he had grown up. Willet said that Andhun’s return to the world of men required that they too would soon have to go there.

Tom sensed that there must be grave danger before them as Willet had told them to put on the elvish armor from Dinwald’s Deep. To wear this armor or even to touch it had been forbidden by Willet for the past ten years. He had instructed them that it was only to be used in times of great need. Despite his extensive training in military skills and tactics, Tom felt humbled and inadequate to be wearing such honorable apparel. Although he was nervous at the prospect of danger, there was an intangible presence that seemed to reassure him.

“Bear to the left!” Etain shouted to Willet as they rode the lead eagle. “Look! There is a disturbance in the forest ahead! That is where my resting place is! I fear that we may be too late!”

They soon arrived at the source of the commotion. In a clearing below, was a group of about thirty werewolves and several vampires. They had surrounded a single tree in a small clearing in the forest. Tom rubbed his eyes and blinked because he thought that the evening shadows must be playing tricks on him.

“The tree is fighting them?” Tom asked Skreel.

Skreel replied, “It must be some magic at work! Hold on! We are going in!”

As if by some unseen signal, all of the eagles dived in unison into the midst of the werewolves.

In the chaos that ensued, Tom found himself hovering near the base of the strange tree. As Tom and Skreel fought the surrounding werewolves, Tom’s senses and fighting skills seemed to be enhanced as though he were being helped by some unseen presence. A sudden burst of light from Tom’s stone temporarily blinded some of the nearby werewolves. In the glow of the seeing stone, Tom discovered a large demon near the tree. He was reaching towards Etain’s lifeless form as if to take possession of her body. Tom felt a strange surge of energy and he sensed that he had to keep the demon from touching her so he said, “Do not touch her foul fiend!”

The demon turned towards him and laughed cruelly as he said, “You are no match for me young fool! I shall possess my prize and then torment you!”

A voice within Tom replied, “I am no mere youth! Behold! I am Sir Egric of the Aigneis!”

The spirit of a mighty elf lord emerged from within Tom and attacked the demon.

Skreel shouted to Tom, “Hold on! I’m going to get Etain!”
Skreel swooped to the base of the tree and grabbed Etain’s body. Tom placed her body inside his chest armor. They began to escape when Tom noticed a vampire flying after them.

“Vampire in pursuit!” Tom told Skreel who gave a loud screech and began to accelerate.

Despite the speed of their flight and several evasive maneuvers, the vampire closed the distance between them. Tom could see that this vampire had body armor and appeared to be of noble rank. He remembered that Willet had told him vampires could only be killed by piercing their heart or by cutting off their head.

He signaled Skreel, “Barrel roll when he gets close!” 
Skreel gave a scream of acknowledgement.

When the vampire was about to overtake them, Tom shouted, “Now!”

Skreel looped back over the on-rushing vampire and rolled as the vampire passed beneath them.

Tom released his grip on Skreel and drew his sword. He landed on the shoulders of the vampire and plunged the blade through the neck and into his heart. Tom and the deceased vampire dropped like two stones until Skreel dove and caught Tom.

Skreel looked down at the battle below and said, “The werewolves have been slain or have fled!”

Tom said, “Let’s find Willet and Etain!”

“No need,” replied Skreel. “I see her spirit approaching.”
Tom held Etain’s lifeless body in his hands for a few seconds until it suddenly came alive as if from a deep sleep. 
Etain said, “We must make haste to return to the clearing!”

An Unexpected Parting

“Well done Master Tom! Vampire slayer! You have become a formidable foe!” said Willet with a grin. “Well fought one and all!” continued Willet as he slapped Wini on the back and then gave Min a slight bow. “You have learned much and, though there is always more to learn, I am proud as a father who has seen his children well grown.”

Willet motioned for Tom and the others to come to him.
 “Gather around! We don’t have much time!”

Willet stood beside the lone tree in the center of the clearing. Scattered about were the bodies of slain werewolves. Tom was relieved to see that all but a few dwarves and one eagle had survived the fight.

Tom noticed that Willet suddenly looked sad and tears welled up in his eyes as he said, “Dearest friends, the time of our parting is at hand.” He turned towards King Raegenheri and said, “May the Creator bless you for your kindness and hospitality. In all of my long years, I have never known a more noble king. It has been an honor and a privilege to know you and I shall ever be in your debt.”

Willet bowed towards the dwarves and then embraced the King. He then turned towards Min and said, “Farewell gentle giant! Your humility and willingness to serve have been an inspiration to us all! Despite our physical differences, you have become a son to me. Where I go you cannot follow. I have left instructions for you in a sealed envelope at Hadiran’s Keep. I shall treasure you in my heart until we meet again!”

Min wept as he hugged Willet and lifted him off of the ground.

Willet continued, “Etain, please return to Princess Linette and inform her of our plans.”

Etain bowed and said, “I shall tell her all you have said and conveyed to me telepathically.” Their eyes locked for a brief moment as they exchanged thoughts. The sound of horns in the distance broke their concentration.

King Raegenheri said, “The sentinels sound warnings that the enemy returns. We shall meet them to give you more time to escape. The King commanded, “Sound the attack!”
Several dwarves blew their horns in reply and the eagles bore them towards the warning sounds.

Willet said, “There is one more thing to do before we depart.” He walked to the tree and said, “Hail, noble spirit!  Remember and speak!”

The tree began to quiver and a low murmuring sound was heard deep within it like someone clearing their throat. A face appeared in the trunk.

“Who are you?” asked Willet.

“My name is Tondbert,” replied the tree. “I was once a dwarf. It has been many years since gnomes cast a spell on me.”

“I know this magic,” replied Willet. “Unfortunately, it has been too long since your transformation to reverse the spell.”

Willet continued, “We are forever grateful for your help in defending Etain.”

“It was my honor and privilege,” replied Tondbert with a bow.

Willet said, “It is a pity that we do not have time to further make your acquaintance. We must make haste to leave but, before we do, I have a gift for you in gratitude for your service.”

Willet paused and concentrated as if recollecting something deep in his memory. His face relaxed and he smiled with satisfaction as he said, “Meamna a goll er ash!  Aillens a coisich!”

Tondbert began to shake starting from his top down to his roots. Tom and the others stepped back in amazement as Tondbert’s roots erupted from the ground and he started to move about on them like they were feet!”

Willet said, “You now have the gift of mobility and speech. If there are others like yourself, you may impart these gifts to them by repeating the words that I have just told you.”

Tondbert smiled and said, “Thank you very much! From now on I shall be called Tondbert Tree Walker. I shall search for others and help them as you have helped me! I am forever in your debt. You have loosed my bonds from the earth! I feel new energy and purpose in life!”

Willet smiled and said, “Farewell Tondbert Tree Walker! You had better leave this place as we now must do with as much speed as possible.”

They quickly mounted their eagles and followed Willet in the opposite direction from that taken by King Raegenheri. As they left that place with great speed, Tom looked back and could see the top of Tondbert’s branches moving quickly through the Forest of Mordula.

“Where are we going?” Tom asked Skreel.

“To the nearest portal,” was the reply.

On the horizon ahead there was a faint, flickering glow that Tom recognized as a portal. In the east, the sky was getting lighter and soon it would be dawn.

As if in response to these thoughts Skreel said, “Hold on! We fly like the wind!”

The last of the human spirits disappeared into the portal as they approached. The glow in the eastern sky told Tom that it was a matter of minutes before the first rays of the sun signaled the closure of the portal. Skreel breathed heavily and Tom sensed that he was straining from the sustained maximum effort to arrive before the sun. The portal was a small pond in the Forest of Mordula. Willet was just ahead and Wini was close behind.

Skreel said, “It’s going to be close! Jump into the portal as soon as we are over it!”

Tom was about to ask why they didn’t just dive in together when Skreel shouted, “Now! Let go!”

As if to make sure that Tom didn’t hesitate, Skreel suddenly rotated. This surprised Tom and caused him to drop like a stone into the portal. Tom braced for the impact but, instead of hitting water, he found himself falling into a glowing tunnel. Willet dove off of his eagle at the same instant and was just ahead of him. Looking backwards Tom felt his stomach tighten and he felt dismayed to see nothing but the empty sky above the surface of the pond.
“Wini! Wini!” shouted Tom but there was no reply.

The first rays of the sun reflected off the pond just as Wini hit the surface with a splash. Within seconds, Penda grabbed him and pulled him out of the water.

“Don’t worry Master Wini. I’ve got you!” said Penda. “We shall try again tonight. Now we must make for Hadrian’s Keep!”

The Black Horse Inn

Amhas and two other trolls sat at a large wooden table near the hearth of The Black Horse Inn. The hour was late and many of the patrons had turned in for the night. They had been drinking heavily for most of the night and were competing at telling tales of their adventures. One of the trolls, named Kork, was telling a story about a giant, one-eyed Cyclops who lived in a cave deep in the earth.

“I’m telling ya it was full of treasure!” swore Kork as he took a deep drink from his tankard.

“Bah! I don’t lieve it!” stammered Amhas. “If he was sleep’n, why didn’t ya steal some of the treasure?”

Kork drained the rest of the ale and slammed his tankard on the table. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, leaned over the table towards Amhas and said, “Cuz of the bones!”

“Wha d’ya mean?” said Amhas as he squinted and tried to focus on Kork’s face.

“The bones! The place was ful o them! Twas all sorts of things that it had eaten!” replied Kork.

Amhas sneered and said, “So ya have no proof! Hard to lieve without proof!” He looked at the other troll and said, “I thought we were tell’n real stories not child’s tales!” They both started to laugh which irritated Kork.

Kork’s face and ears flushed deeper red and he clentched his fists as he said, “I suppose ya never had anything happen t’ya tha was hard to lieve without proof!”

“Well in fact I have something even harder to lieve!” said Amhas with an air of wounded pride.

“Alright then, spit it out!” shouted Kork. “It’s gett’n late and I could use a bed time story!”

Kork slapped the other troll on his back and they both started to laugh.

Amhas felt a sudden rush of blood to his face as he replied, “How bout a traitor troll with a seein stone who kills his own kind to save elves and men!”

Kork and the other troll were shocked by this and there was momentary silence as they tried to visualize this statement. They looked at each other and then burst into laughter.

“Tis true I tell ya! We wuz bout to trap some elves and a boy with a seein stone when this troll ambushes us and leaves me for dead! They fled to a secret place called Hadrian’s Keep!”

Kork snorted, “Never heard of it! There’s no such place! Seein stones are very rare and only elf lords hav’em! Tis convenient that they disappeared to a place that doesn’t xist!”

At the mention of the seeing stones, a short hooded figure emerged from a table in the shadows nearby and said, “Hadrian’s Keep does exist! I have been there!”

The three trolls turned towards the hooded figure and froze at this unexpected apparition.

“Who are you?” asked Amhas.

The cloaked figure removed his hood and said, “I am Miran, Chief among the gnomes and prophet of The Once & Forever Ruler!”

The trolls stared in shock and amazement at this legendary figure.

Turning towards Amhas he said, “I shall go to Hadrian’s Keep and test the truth of your words!”

The room became momentarily dark as a sudden rush of wind caused the fire in the hearth to flicker. The wind coincided with the swift flight of Gorbash up the chimney and into the night sky.

“Molech will be pleased to hear of these seeing stones, the missing lad and the strange troll,” he thought to himself as he flew to the nearest portal.

A second spirit also left the Inn after hearing this news. However, this spirit left in a cautious and secretive manner. Edric hid in the rafters of the Inn as was his custom. This Inn was the place that Prince Ceowulf had assigned to him. For the past ten years, he had faithfully kept this nocturnal vigil without hearing anything of importance.

He could feel his pulse racing as he thought about the significance of this news. “This will set a new course for thousands of his brethren and end ten years of futile searching for the seeing stone destined for Lord Ceowulf.”