The Ogre Apprentice (14 page)

“I’m sorry, Professor,” Fist replied. “But the head was trying to bite you.”

“Of course it was,” Locksher replied. “It’s been trying all morning. But it can’t reach me. It’s just a head. It has no neck to turn on and frankly even if it did bite me it is quite decayed. I doubt it could do much damage.”

“Why is the head alive?” Fist asked.

“It isn’t!” Locksher said. “The dwarf this head belonged to is very much dead.”

Fist’s jaw hung open.

“Come here, Fist, and look at it again,” Darlan said, motioning him closer. The wizardess was wearing an expensive scarlet robe and had her hair pulled back away from her face, held in the back with a gold pin. When he hesitated, she said, “You can figure it out for yourself. Think of it as an intellectual exercise.” She glanced at Locksher and Vannya. “You two don’t help him. This is a learning experience.”

The two magic users looked at each other dubiously.

“Okay,” Fist said, leaning back over the workbench. He knew what an intellectual exercise was. He needed to think about what this meant, not what it looked like.

The head was in terrible shape. This dwarf once had a full head of hair and a beard, but large clumps of hair had fallen out, exposing desiccated skin. One large section of flesh was missing from the side of its face and, now that Fist looked closer, he could see that it had been torn free, maybe by a weapon. In this patch, some of the skull was completely exposed showing bone that had been stained brown much like its teeth. The gaping hole Locksher had made still teemed with the squirming worms.

The head moved again, causing Fist to flinch. One eye rotated slowly and the jaw opened and closed, but those motions were more mechanical than lifelike.

“It does look dead,” Fist admitted. “But how is it moving?”

“That answer lies in another question,” Locksher said, one of his eyebrows rising in excitement.

“Oh, it’s an interesting one,” Vannya agreed.

“Hey!” Darlan pointed at Locksher and Vannya. “You two, keep your mouths shut. I want him to figure it out.”

Their shoulders slumped.

“What am I figuring out?” Fist asked.

“You are looking at a puzzle,” Darlan replied. “This is one piece. Think of the circumstances surrounding this head. Where did it come from?”

“I don’t know,” he said, scratching his chin.

Squirrel tugged on his ear.
The ogres
!

“I know that, Squirrel,” Fist said. But maybe that was the answer she was looking for. “I guess Crag and the others brought it from the mountain where they say the evil is.”

“And how long did it take them to bring the head to us?” she asked.

“A month,” the ogre replied and Darlan gave him a quick nod as if his response had answered everything. He thought about it for a moment and said. “Should I be wondering why the worms are still alive? Because it’s real cold up in the mountains?”

Darlan looked to Locksher. “You know, that is a good question.”

The wizard shrugged. “I did wonder about the cold, but it seems that the little things generate a lot of heat. The inside of the box is a good five degrees hotter than the rest of the room and the dwarf’s head has a temperature that would indicate a fever in a living person.”

“That wasn’t the question then?” Fist was disappointed.

“Not the one we were looking for,” Darlan replied. “It has to do with the state of the remains.”

Fist frowned. “You mean why does the head still have so much meat on it?” She smiled and he knew he had gotten closer. “I guess I thought that was just because he was a dwarf.”

“Well, that’s true,” Locksher said. “Dwarves don’t decompose as fast as other races. The magic in their blood lingers after death. But that wouldn’t keep them from being . . .” He trailed off at Darlan’s glare.

“Oh!” Fist said in understanding. “The worms should have eaten it by now.”

“Actually, they aren’t worms. They are fly larvae,” Locksher corrected.

“Maggots,” Vannya added cheerfully.

“Otherwise, Fist, you are correct,” Locksher said, keeping watch on Darlan’s expression as he spoke. “There are several interesting factors here. After a month in such an enclosed space, the flesh should be eaten away, the larvae pupated into flies, and the flies should be dead.”

“Some flies flew out when I first opened the lid,” Fist remarked.

“That’s right,” Darlan said, snapping her fingers. “I had forgotten about that.”

“How many flies?” Locksher asked, sudden concern in his eyes.

“Not many,” the ogre replied. “I didn’t count them, though.”

“Hmm. Then they can eventually turn into flies. Make a note of that, Vannya,” the wizard said frowning in thought. The mage nodded and flipped her notebook back a few pages to make some notations. Locksher shook his head. “Well, at any rate, the contents of this chest should be a skull and a lot of dead insects. Knowing that, and what we have seen inside the head, what do you know?”

“That-.” Fist bit his lip. What did he know? The contents of the chest were an impossibility unless . . . An uncomfortable idea came to his mind. “Maybe Crag lied? Do you think the ogres killed this dwarf on the way here?”

“No.” Locksher said. “I don’t believe that to be the case. It would explain the suspended state of decomposition perhaps, but not the malevolent spirit magic or the post-death movement of the tissues.”

“Then the maggots are not eating the head.” Fist supposed, though that didn’t sound right. “But, they are inside it, so . . . They are what’s making the head move?”

“Ha!” said Darlan. “I knew you’d figure it out, Fist.”

“Yes,” Locksher said. “Strangely, the larvae aren’t ingesting the flesh. They are inhabiting it. These maggots are somehow using spirit magic to control the dead tissues of this dwarf and make it move. If his body were intact, no doubt they would make it attack us.”

“Oh,” Fist said. It was a disturbing thought. He peered into the open chest and tried not to gag at the smell. “What about that black sludge?”

The inside of the chest was still covered in the stuff. It undulated and squirmed with the movements of hundreds of worms. Fist was relieved that they weren’t moving in concert now as they had when he first opened the chest. That had been terrifying. They were much less frightening now.

“I’m still not completely sure,” Locksher said, scratching his chin. “I tested it. The black ‘sludge’, as you call it, is simply rotted organic matter. It seems to be what the larvae feed on. As for why it is black, I’ll need to run more tests.”

“It smells like the black stuff in the dark forest,” Fist said, thinking back to that time nearly six months ago when he had gone with Justan and the others into the forest to destroy the mother of the moonrats. He swallowed. “Could it be her? Is Mellinda not dead?”

“Well, it isn’t exactly the same,” Locksher said, looking at Darlan. “That ‘sludge’ didn’t have larvae like this in it.”

“No,” said Fist. “But when we went after her, the black stuff had stinging bugs in it. And what about the magic the worms tried to attack me with? Kyrkon says that Mistress Sarine is fighting it off with bewitching magic.”

“We have noticed the similarities between the way Mellinda worked and these things,” Darlan said.

Locksher sighed. “However, I must once again point out the impossibility. Mellinda was destroyed by Jhonate after you incinerated the dark forest. The elves have not seen any sign that she survived. Also, we are talking about a possible infestation high in the Trafalgan Mountains, weeks travel from there.”

“Maybe she got away somehow and went there instead?” Fist suggested.

“No. I have to agree with Locksher on this,” Darlan said. “I felt the attack of these worms before my grandmother was able to block them. Mellinda’s attacks felt different, she was mocking and intelligent. What I felt from those things was merely a mindless hatred and hunger for control. It’s not her.”

Vannya frowned. “We can’t dismiss the possibility, though. Can we? There are enough similarities that we should take the prospect into account.”

  “With magic, most anything is possible,” Locksher allowed. “But all we can do now is theorize. I shall know better what we are up against once I get to the source.”

“Wait. You’re going, professor?” Fist asked. The wizard nodded. Fist looked at Darlan. “Are you coming, too? Are we all going?” he asked hopefully.

“Unfortunately I cannot,” she replied. “I have too much to do with my council responsibilities. In fact, it’s past time that I took up my post at the academy.” Darlan’s official post on the Mage School Council was as their representative to the Battle Academy. The only reason she hadn’t gone there yet was because so many of the Mage School’s regular council members hadn’t been replaced.

Fist felt a mixture of relief and disappointment. He wouldn’t be staying at the Mage School either way. He’d end up going to the academy with Darlan. “So Professor Locksher is going with them instead of me.”

A slight smile spread on his face as the idea sunk in. This was good. This way the Thunder People would get the help they needed. He wouldn’t have to feel guilty about staying behind. It was out of his hands.

“No, Fist,” Darlan said. “You can go. I very much doubt that the other ogres would listen to Locksher otherwise. I spoke with the rest of the council last night and they agreed that this is an extraordinary circumstance. They have allowed me to transfer your apprenticeship to Locksher for the duration of this excursion.”

Fist stood there numbly for a moment. He found himself saying, “Then I should call him Master Locksher now?”

“This will be fun,” Locksher said, giving him an encouraging grin. He clapped the ogre on the shoulder. “I’ve never had an apprentice before. I’m quite sure there’s much I can teach you.”

Fist tried to put on a smile, but it felt as if his guts were twisted. He didn’t want to change masters. He didn’t really have a problem with Locksher, but he didn’t know him very well. In some ways Darlan was a mother to him. Even before he had met her, he had known her. Sharing in Justan’s memories had made it feel like she had raised him.

Trolls
, Squirrel reminded him. Fist didn’t understand what he meant right away, but Squirrel pushed a memory into his head.

Oh
! Fist’s posture straightened. “But this might be a bad idea. Justan needs Professor Locksher in Malaroo.”

 “In Malaroo?” Darlan asked. She narrowed her eyes at him and Fist knew she was suspicious about his sudden announcement. “Why is that?”

“I should have brought it up yesterday, but with everything going on, I forgot. I promised Justan last night that I would tell you.” Fist told them about the troll-like creatures that had attacked some of the Roo-Tan men and described what they had looked like. “Justan says that Xedrion commanded his men to burn the bodies, but the one with the human face was resistant to fire.”

As he finished, Darlan had her arms folded and was deep in thought.

Both of Locksher’s eyebrows were raised. “Then it’s possible that these trolls were modified by the Rings of Stardeon.”

“That’s what Justan thinks,” Fist said, glad to see the expression on the wizard’s face. When the wizard raised both his eyebrows, he was really interested. “That’s why he wanted you to come down to Malaroo.”

“How exciting!” the wizard said, rubbing his hands together. “Modified trolls in Malaroo.”

“Do we know for sure that there are more of these creatures? Is this an invasion?” Darlan asked finally.

“I don’t know,” Fist replied. “These were the first ones that Jhonate’s people had seen.”

“Then I don’t see that we have enough information to send our Wizard of Mysteries to Malaroo when he’s needed elsewhere. Strange creatures in the swamp are not our concern,” Darlan said aloofly. “Besides, the Roo-Tan don’t like wizards. It’s doubtful he would be wanted there.”

“But Justan says that Jhonate is getting permission,” Fist said.

“Ooh,” Locksher said. He was hopping from foot to foot, his hands clenched together. “I am actually quite tempted by this, Sherl. I have been trying to get permission to enter Malaroo for years. There are so many interesting types of magic to study there. And then there’s the Rings of Stardeon. If they are in Malaroo, we simply must retrieve them.”

“We don’t know that the rings are involved in this,” Darlan said firmly. “Meanwhile, this ‘evil’ growing in the mountains is a threat right at Dremaldria’s border. It should take priority.”

Locksher grimaced. “But it’s Malaroo, Sherl.”

“I’ll go,” Vannya announced suddenly. Everyone turned their eyes to her in surprise.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Vannya,” Locksher said.

“Professor, you have trained me well over this past year. I can do this. I have studied all the same books you have during that time. I know everything about the rings that you do. I should be the one to go to Malaroo. Sir Edge can relay my findings to Fist so that I can keep you informed.”

Locksher seemed a bit crestfallen at this statement. “Ah, well that is good.” He looked her in the eyes. “Are you sure you want to go, Vannya? It is a long journey.”

“Of course I’m sure,” she said indignantly. “I have traveled long distances before. And since I wasn’t going to be able to travel to the mountains with you anyway . . .” She glanced at Darlan.