Riss Cobalt, sorceress supreme, and her husband, the swordsman Fiore, help a town recover a stolen idol in this short adventure based on Kismet and Tell but taking place after the sequel novel, which is currently a work in progress.
“Idol Threat:
An Adventure In Sorcery”
By Jeanne Owens
I was thoroughly enjoying the manner in which Fiore and I were celebrating the start of the final day of our long overdue honeymoon when someone knocked on the door.
“GO AWAY!” Fiore called in irritation before continuing with our amorous activities.
The knock came again, a little more urgently.
With a groan of annoyance, Fiore rolled off me and got up from the bed. A moment later I got up, and asked my husband, “Why does this always happen?”
We dressed quickly in the early morning light. I threw on my pants, shirt, tunic, and cloak, then slipped on my boots and gold circlet. I didn’t bother to braid my knee-length, cobalt blue hair, but Fiore took an extra moment to pull his long, fire-red hair back into a ponytail with his black ribbon.
I quickly crossed the room to answer the door. Fiore followed behind me.
In the doorway stood a young, dark-haired man, about fifteen or sixteen years old. The look on his face showed fear and necessity vying for control.
“I…I’m sorry to disturb you, Miss Marissa Cobalt, Master Fiore Ferio,” the young man stammered as he gave us a short bow, “but the innkeeper told me you were here, and I desperately need your help. I will pay you whatever you want.”
Although I felt like wringing his neck for interrupting us, I’ve never turned down someone who needed my help – especially if they’re willing to pay for it.
“All right,” I told him. “Let’s go downstairs. We’ll discuss this over breakfast.”
“Thank you, ma’am. I really appreciate this.”
“Sure, sure,” I said impatiently. “Let’s go. I’m starving.”
We sat at a table in the corner of the dining room. The young man sat across from us and twiddled his fingers, still feeling somewhat nervous at being in my presence, undoubtedly because of my “bad girl” reputation. Most people try to avoid me, afraid of what I might do if I got angry with them. But they also know that, for a price, I will do whatever a mercenary sorceress of my caliber can to help them.
While we waited for breakfast to arrive, I talked with our prospective client.
“So, what can we do for you, Master…” I asked him.
He stopped fidgeting and stared at the tabletop. “Ashton. My name is Ashton Barlik.”
“Well, Master Ashton, why do you want to hire us?”
“I need you to find something for me.”
“Ok. What’s missing?”
“A group of bandits attacked my town a few days ago and stole most of our things, including our most precious possession. They killed my father, our town leader. Now I’m the town leader, and it’s my duty to find the item. But I have no experience tracking or fighting bandits.” He looked me in the eyes, and I saw in them the desperation that I heard in his voice as he continued. “That’s why, when I heard you were here, I came to see you, Miss Marissa.”
“So, what’s the item?”
“A golden idol of the god of Goodness, Dumarh. We must have it back. It is the one thing that has held us together for generations. Without it, all will be disorder again. I don’t know how the idol did it, but it brought peace to our town.”
It must have some sort of magic, I thought. “Well, Master Ashton, I…”
“Uh, would you excuse us?” Fiore said, interrupting me before I could accept the job. I glared at him. “Riss, can I talk to you for a minute?”
Frowning, I gave him a curt nod. He got up and I followed him to another table, where we sat down across from each other.
“What’s so important that you had to interrupt me while I was making a deal?” I asked him in annoyance.
“Are you sure we should take this job? It could take a while, and we’re supposed to go home tomorrow. Etienne and Arianna will be expecting us. Not to mention the kids…”
I waved a hand dismissively. “Oh, don’t worry. This job won’t take long. A couple of days at the most. And Etienne and Arianna won’t mind keeping the twins a little while longer. You know how fond they are of Elyssia and Elisha. And the kids won’t mind. They always have such fun with their ‘uncle’ and ‘aunt’.”
Fiore nodded slightly. “Yeah, you’re right. I just hope Etienne and Arianna will understand.”
“Knowing me, I’m sure they will.”
Fiore smiled wryly. “Yeah. They know there’s no stopping you when you want to do something that involves getting money, blasting bad guys, or both. Especially both.”
I giggled and leaned over to give him a quick kiss. “Right. And this job just happens to fit the ‘both’ category. Aaaaaaand, we certainly need some money. So let’s tell Ashton we’ll take the job.”
We got up and returned to Ashton just as our food arrived. The waiter placed our food before us - triple servings each of sausage and eggs for Fiore and me, and a single serving of bacon and toast for Ashton. After we ate, we returned to business.
“Master Ashton,” I said, “after careful consideration, we have decided to help you.”
“You have?” He sighed in relief. “Thank you!”
“But it will cost you.”
He nodded. “Of course. I will pay whatever price you name.”
I smiled. “Fine. We’ll do it for…” I paused and thought for a moment. “Thirty gold pieces.”
I sensed Fiore stiffen beside me in shock. The price I named was a little high, I admit. But I’m always willing to negotiate.
Ashton looked appalled at the price, but he nodded. “That seems a little steep, but I did say I’d pay any price. And I suppose the idol and our town’s peace is worth at least thirty pieces of gold. All right. You have a deal, Miss Marissa.”
His acceptance stunned my husband and me. We stared at him, but quickly snapped out of it. We shook hands with our client and stood up. Ashton reached down to his belt and removed a small leather bag. He took out the thirty gold coins and handed them to me. I put all but five into the magic pocket of my brown cloak. The others I used to pay the innkeeper for our stay and for breakfast.
We left the inn and the city of Apo and followed Ashton to his town, just over a two-day journey southwestward through the forest. We arrived just after noon.
Things had already become pretty bad in the town. We stood at the entrance and watched the scenes before us in growing horror. Brawls started on the street for no apparent reason. Men and women were mugged and stores were robbed. Men dragged young women off the street to side alleys where they unquestionably raped them.
And no one seemed to care.
No one except us.
I looked up at my husband. “Ashton wasn’t kidding when he said ‘disorder’,” I whispered to him. Fiore looked at me and nodded agreement.
There wasn’t anything we could do at the moment to stop the rampaging violence. Well, there was one thing that I COULD do, but I thought launching an amplified Fireball spell into the middle of the town would be a little drastic. We definitely needed to find the idol and restore peace to the town, and fast.
Ashton stood a short distance in front of us, staring in dumbfoundment at the way his town had deteriorated in so few days. I approached him.
“Master Ashton, do you know where the bandits went after they attacked?” I asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.
He jumped at my touch. “Oh, Miss Marissa, I’m sorry. You startled me. Yes, the bandits went westward into the forest when they left. That’s all I know. I was busy trying to restore some semblance of order after the attack. But it doesn’t look like I did too good of a job, does it?”
“Don’t worry. We’ll find the bandits and get your idol back. I promise.”
“Thank you, Miss Marissa. Thank you so much.”
He marched off down the street, heading for the center of town. I wondered what he was going to do, and hoped he didn’t get into any trouble. With the way things were going in the town, trouble seemed to be fairly abundant.
I returned to the magic-wielding swordsman who would own my heart forever. “The bandits headed west, Fiore. Let’s get going. We need to get that idol and return it before things get any worse.”
“They already seem that way, Riss. Look.”
He pointed up the street. I looked, and my heart sank. A mob chased after Ashton, who ran for his life and barely managed to stay ahead of them.
“Ohhh, great. Well, let’s go save him. I don’t want my reputation to get any worse because a client got killed while I was on the job.”
“Is that the only reason?” Fiore sounded like he expected me to have a different reason, and I did.
“Well, no. I could never live with myself if I let a poor boy like him die when I could stop it. You know I’m not THAT bad, Fiore.”
He gave me a cocky smile. “I know, love. I was just making sure you knew it. Well, let’s go help him.”
We chased after the mob.
Ashton ran up the steps of a marble temple. He ducked inside and slammed the heavy doors closed behind him. A few of the men in the mob ran up the steps and started trying to break the doors down. The rest of the mob thrust fists, clubs, swords, and torches into the air and cried out for Ashton’s blood. We stood behind the mob, trying to remain inconspicuous.
“What do we do, Riss?” Fiore whispered to me.
“Good question. I don’t want to kill them, but if they turn on us, we may have no choice. So the thing is to calm them down before we have to fight.”
“And how do we do that?”
“Well…how’s your singing voice? We could sing them a lullaby and put them to sleep.” Fiore gave me an incredulous look. I smiled. “Just kidding, dear. But that gives me an idea.”
He looked at me for a moment, wondering what my idea was. Then he nodded in understanding. “Right. That just might work. You take one side, I’ll take the other.”
“Ok. And make sure it lasts long enough for us to get the idol back.”
He nodded and moved off to the right. I took off for the left. As I went, I activated the amplification magic of the emerald on my gold circlet. The gem glowed as its power made mine stronger. I stood off to the side of the mob, closed my eyes, and pictured the runes for the magic spell. I opened my eyes and chanted. Some of the mob heard me and turned towards me. But I finished the spell before they could attack. “Sleep,” I said to activate the spell, and spread my arms wide. Everyone in the mob on my side fell to the ground in a deep sleep. A moment later Fiore’s side of the mob followed suit.
Fiore walked over to me. “Looks like it worked, Riss,” he told me.
“Yes, it does. Ashton should be all right for a while, as long as he stays in the temple. So let’s go get that idol.”
“Right. And the sooner, the better.”
We headed westward into the forest. I kept my eyes glued to the ground, using my sharp eyesight to look for signs of the bandits. I also used my keen hearing to listen for sounds of a bandit camp. An hour or two later, I finally noticed signs of passage. I motioned Fiore closer and pointed them out to him – bent grassblades, foliage out of place, scratches on tree trunks from blades brushing against them, partial footprints, and the like. He nodded to me and we continued on, keeping our movements as quiet as possible. About half an hour later, I heard the sounds I had been expecting - talking, gruff laughing, and occasionally the clang of blades. Bandit gangs were so predictable. The sounds came from our left, so we headed that direction.
We found the camp set up in a small clearing near a stream. We hid behind some trees and watched their hijinks for a bit while we planned our next move. There were about ten or so bandits, spread out among three campfires. They were talking and laughing while eating. A tent stood in the middle of the clearing. That had to be where the bandit chief was hiding the treasure. As I watched, the bandit chief himself came out of the tent, and through the open flap I caught a glimpse of some gold. The chief was a big, burly man with salt-and-pepper hair and beard, a scar along his forehead, and a patch over his right eye. His bare chest was also scarred. He went to the nearest campfire and took a few fish from their spits. Then he returned to the tent.
“Fiore,” I whispered, “the treasure is in the tent.”
“I know. I saw it, too. How do we get to it?”
“I don’t know. How do you feel about trying what we did the first time we hunted bandits together?”
“What? Use me as bait? Send me in to fight them off with my sword while you sneak up from behind and fry them with a Fireball?”
“Yeah, that.”
“I’m not too keen about the idea, but if you want to try it…”
“No, I’ll think of something else. Just give me a minute.”
I looked over the scene again and ran scenarios through my mind. My eyes kept going back to the stream. I came up with an idea, and my mouth curled up into a malevolent grin.
Fiore saw my smile “Uh-oh,” he said. “What do you have planned now, Riss?”
“A little payback,” I said.
I reached my hand into the magic pocket of my cloak and brought out a very special staff that had belonged to a powerful ancestor of mine. The staff gave me incredible magic power.
I closed my eyes and activated the staff, then made some major modifications to the runes for the somewhat simple Mutation spell. I opened my eyes, looked at the stream, and softly chanted and activated the new spell. The staff glowed as it powered up the spell, then the stream began to bubble and churn. The bandits noticed something happening, and the camp became quiet. They got up to see what that something was.
Hundreds of fish suddenly jumped out of the water and made their way toward the bandits. But these were no ordinary fish. They were ten times the size they should have been, their fins had been replaced with frog-like legs, their fanged mouths were open in anticipation, and their eyes were full of bloodlust. The bandits yelled and reached for whatever weapons they could find. The fish attacked the bandits with a vengeance.
The scene was terrible. The bandits attacked, desperately trying to fend off the jumping and biting fish. Bandits went down with fish attached to any open area of flesh they could find. Dead fish lay on the ground with legs or heads cut off, or just dead from suffocation. Every once in a while a bandit would try to escape by running into the forest – right past us – but wouldn’t make it past Fiore and his sword. All in all it was a grizzly, but also satisfying, spectacle. Chalk up another group of bandits to my war against evil.
After a few minutes, the last of the bandits and mutant fish died. But the bandit chief was unaccounted for, I noticed. I motioned to Fiore and we snuck into the tent.
We pulled back the tent flap and peered inside. The first thing I saw was the idol, sitting on a pillow at the back of the tent. Then I saw the chief lying on a pallet to the right. He was out like a light, a tipped over mug of ale beside him. I smiled wryly and shook my head. He had to have been really out of it, to sleep through the massacre I had created. I motioned Fiore to take the idol. Meanwhile, I took a piece of paper and a magical quill pen from my pocket and scribbled a note, which I then put on the pillow to replace the idol. Then we left.
We returned to the temple and found our client still inside, curled up against the far wall of the sanctuary, trembling, unaware of what had happened outside or how long he had been hiding. I took the idol from Fiore and approached the young man.
“Master Ashton, we got your idol. Here. Look.” I knelt in front of him and held the idol out to him.
He looked at me, then took the idol and craddled it against him. “Oh, thank Dumarh you found it, Miss Marissa. And thank YOU. Thank you so much.”
He stood up and walked to an altar on the left wall. He set the idol in the middle, knelt down, and said a prayer to the god of Goodness and Light. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end and a tingle went down my spine. I sensed very strong magic at work.
I went to the temple’s doors and looked out. The people were walking around, minding their own business, oblivious to everything that had happened. That’s some magic, I thought in awe. It had to have been Dumarh himself who wrought the change. I couldn’t think of a single spell that could do it. I said a silent prayer of thanks to Dumarh and went back inside.
“Well, we did our job as promised, Master Ashton. Everything appears to be as it should, so I guess we’ll take our leave.”
Ashton stood and bowed. “Thank you again, Miss Marissa.”
I smiled warmly. “You’re welcome. Take care, Master Ashton.”
I turned to leave, but a sudden urge claimed me. I turned back to Ashton, stuck my hand inside my magic pocket, and brought forth twenty-five gold pieces, which I then gave to the very surprised young man.
“I almost forgot,” I told him. “Fiore wanted to give you this as a donation to help restore any ruined buildings.”
“WHAT?!” Fiore cried in dumbfoundment.
I turned to my husband and narrowed my blue eyes at him. “Remember?” I said threateningly. “You said that on the way back.” I love Fiore dearly, but if he ruined my ruse, I’d have to hurt him.
It’s a good thing for him he took the hint. “Oh, yeah. Sorry. I forgot.”
I turned back to Ashton with a smile on my face for him. “Well, good-bye now, Master Ashton.”
“Good-bye, Miss Marissa,” he said, a wide-eyed look of shock still on his face. “And thank you again.”
Fiore and I made our way out of the town. As we walked along, Fiore asked, “Riss, whatever possessed you to give Ashton that money? I’ve never seen you do something like that. It’s not in character for you.”
I shrugged. “I’m really not sure,” I said. “Every now and then I get an urge to do something nice for someone. But I don’t want them to know it’s me doing it. You see, I don’t really like to get too close to someone, because I’m afraid of the consequences. Bad things tend to happen to people I like or care for. That’s why I don’t have many friends. I’m afraid to make any.”
He nodded. “Your life does tend to make having relationships a bit complicated.”
“Another reason I did it was that I kind of liked Ashton. I sympathized with him having lost his father.”
Fiore nodded again. “That’s right. Both of your parents were killed by bandits, and the Demon Isgarand killed your foster father.”
I nodded. “Hence my war on evil.” I paused a second. “And you know what?”
“What?”
“Now that I think about it, I think these urges of kindness are your fault.”
“Oh? How so?”
“I didn’t have them until you and I married. The bond between us must be so strong, some of the priestly manners your parents had been teaching you before they were killed have started to infect me. Either that or I’ve just been around you too much. But in any case, I’m grateful for it. I like doing nice things for people without expecting a reward.” I paused, and grinned roguishly. “But I like getting money even better.”
He smiled. We walked in silence for a few minutes. Then…
“Riss,” Fiore said. “How much money did you give Ashton?”
“Twenty-five gold pieces.”
“Twenty-five!” He stopped walking and stared at me in horrified disbelief that slowly turned to anger. “All we had left of what he paid us? How could you?!”
My eyes widened in fear. “Wha-what’s wrong with that? I only did what I thought was right.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at me. “We needed that money, Riss. Now how will we buy supplies? You know we’re almost out of food at home, considering the way you and the kids eat.”
I hung my head in shame. “I…I’m sorry, dear. I guess I just forgot.”
He shook his head. “I swear, you’re so reckless. You never think things through most of the time. I honestly don’t know what you would do without me.”
He said that last statement with mock condemnation, intending it to be more of a joke than a remonstration. And I knew that. But it still hit me hard, striking a deep, emotional cord within me. I looked up at him with a few tears on my cheek. “I don’t know, either, dear,” I said. “I can’t imagine life without you. When Jenna enchanted you so that you wouldn’t recognize me and would instead perceive her as me, that hurt me deeply. But it wasn’t half as bad as that first time I lost you, when Isgarand stole your soul. It was like you were dead, and I didn’t want to go on without you. But Etienne and Arianna’s support, along with the possibility of getting you back, gave me the strength to go on. Otherwise, I might have either gone on a rampage or killed myself. But if I ever lost you permanently, I don’t know what I would do. I…I…” A deluge of tears fell from my eyes and I dropped to my knees. “Oh, gods, Fiore, please, don’t ever leave me!” I cried. “I love you so much, and I need you so much! I need you to keep me from being reckless! I need you to make me whole! I need you to keep me from being alone! But mostly, I just need you to love me! Please!”
He helped me up and gently wiped my tears away. Then he smiled sweetly at me and hugged me. “I won’t leave you, Riss,” he whispered in my ear. “Ever. When we married, I swore I would always remain at your side and that you would have my eternal love. And you do.” He released me and gazed into my eyes.
I gave him a bone-crushing hug. “Oh, Fiore, I… I don’t how I ever lived without you before!”
He smiled down at me. “Nor do I, Riss. And I don’t know how I ever lived without you, either.”
We shared a long, deep kiss. After it ended, we continued our trek.
A few minutes later, Fiore asked me another question. “Riss, what was that note you left the bandit chief?”
I chuckled as I remembered it, and gave Fiore a mischievous smile. “I left him a little love note. I told him that if he ever attacked Ashton’s town again, I would take it very personally, and track him to the ends of the world. And once he sees the carnage my fish left, I doubt he will ever do it again.”
Fiore chuckled. “I doubt it, too. ‘Cause I know you would definitely go after him with a vengeance if he did.”
“Of course.” I sighed. “But right now, I just want to go home.”
“Me, too.”
I took his hand and cast the Teleportation spell. A white light flashed briefly, and we found ourselves back home in the foyer of the tower that my foster father, the sorcerer Althor, had left me.
“We’re back!” I called out into the dark hallway in front of us. Then I propped my staff against the wall by the door and knelt down to face the hallway.
Footsteps could be heard running down the hall. Then the twins appeared – a boy and a girl with black hair with purple highlights. They were Fiore’s and mine, but except for their hair and their emerald green eyes, you wouldn’t think so, because they had the sharp ears, almond-shaped eyes, and angular features of an elf. And that’s because I had used very powerful magic while I was pregnant, thereby unwittingly affecting the small amount of elfin blood in our veins and making the children full-blooded elves. And though the twins weren’t quite a year old yet, because of their elfin blood they looked and acted like three-year-olds. Elf children age fast, until they reach maturity, when they then age slowly. Or so Arianna told us.
When the twins, Elyssia and Elisha, saw me, they grinned and ran to me. “Mama!” they cried out and threw their arms around me. I held them tight and kissed them.
“Oh, my babies. I missed you. Did you have a good time with Uncle Etienne and Aunt Arianna?”
“They had a really good time, Riss,” said a male voice in front of me.
I looked up to see Etienne Juren, and his wife, Arianna Sunshower. They came into the foyer with looks of relief on their faces. Etienne was a man of about thirty with brown hair and handsome features, and was a powerful sorcerer of grey magic. Arianna was a lovely blonde elf, who was older than her appearance of eighteen years.
“We had a good time, too,” Etienne continued. “But they wore us out. It’s about time you two came back. We expected you yesterday.”
I released my children and stood up. The twins ran over to Fiore with a cry of “Daddy!” He gave them a huge smile, knelt down, and gave them a hug.
“Sorry we’re late,” I said. “We had some last minute business to take care of.”
“I’ll bet you did,” said Etienne. “How much did you get for it?”
“Thirty gold pieces.”
“Thirty?” Arianna asked in amazement. “What did you have to do? Fight a dragon?”
“Let’s go into the dining room. I’ll tell you all about it while we eat. I’m starving!”
They smiled at my usual voracious appetite and followed me down the hallway.
The ancient kings of Whitehawk were all too aware of the temptation of magic. They could feel its threat, a presence in their courts, a serpent slithering at their feet, even entering into their beds.
To de
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