The Orb of Truth (The Horn King Series) (18 page)

“I’m in,” Dulgin quickly interjected.

“I’m with you!” Bridazak announced. He knew the sooner they procured an army, the sooner they would be on their way to rescue Spilf.

Xan looked to Abawken for his answer.

“There is a saying where I come from; ‘A curse waits to be broken.’ I am with you also.”

They each prepared for the upcoming battle with a creature they knew nothing about. Xan readied his magical protection spell, while the rest of the group ate more of the simple dried meats and fruits, and drank plenty of water. Just what was in there none could imagine. The cleric dwarves of long ago came to this place to battle evil, and here they had been for hundreds of years, suspended in fiery torment.

“How is it that you know so much about this place, Elfy?”

Xan wasn’t surprised by the question, “I knew of the battle plan, and about what had happened.”

“How?” Dulgin now seemed to be interrogating him.

There was no response, but Dulgin pushed further, “If there was no one to tell about it, then how did you come up with this information?”

Abawken and Bridazak now came closer to the conversation.

“Well?” Dulgin raised his voice.

“Because I was there,” the Elf finally disclosed.

“You were there—I mean, here?” Bridazak fumbled for words.

“Yes. There was nothing I could do except save myself, but now it is time to restore what was lost.”

Xan moved away, continuing his preparations in silence. Bridazak noted the phrase again, the same as the one in the dream he had back in Gathford,
“It is time.”
It couldn’t be coincidence.

Abawken stepped over to intercept Bridazak, “Have you consulted the Orb about this place?”

“No, but that is a good idea.” He withdrew it from his pocket and held it in his palm. “What can you tell me about the Burning Forest?”

The Orb of Truth rose into the air, and the gold surface of the perfect sphere rotated hypnotically. “Do not be afraid. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse; all the people of the land will be blessed through you.” It then rested on top of his palm, and each of them took a deep breath as they understood the importance of their mission, and the battle ahead of them. Bridazak spotted Xan wiping away tears, his back to them. He could see a subtle change within the bitter Elf, and he knew the Orb had something to do with it. Bridazak began to understand the healing that Xan needed was far beyond any normal healer of Ruauck-El.

Xan’s spell of protection worked incredibly well. They were immersed inside the flaming landscape, without any harm to their bodies or belongings. It was a protective, invisible shield that surrounded each of them. The Elf had also added another incantation, which he called ‘Breath of Fresh Air’. Inside the shield they inhaled fresh air from around them, instead of the thick ash and sulphur. Moving deeper within the ranks of the cursed dwarven army, Dulgin scanned each of the torched kin with a determined focus, in hope of recognition among some of the trapped soldiers. Deep inside each holocaust was the barely distinguishable shape of a person. No details were obvious, but in this proximity, they could clearly identify these trees as individual dwarves, with a few numbers of other races scattered amongst them. “We are ten minutes in,” Xan announced, with no sign of the creature. The sound of the roaring flames intensified the further they went on. There was a rage to these fires; the flames lashed out at each traveler as they passed by. Another ten minutes had gone by when they reached a cleared area of volcanic rock.

“Why is this area clear?” Bridazak yelled the question over the sound of the flames.

“We might be at the center. I remember a large, luminous eruption amongst our army, but I never knew what it was,” Xan answered.

The area expanded a hundred feet in all directions, forming a perfect circle of black rock. They began to walk inside this expanse to investigate, and as they did so, the noise of the fire diminished greatly.

“How much time remains?” Abawken asked.

“I don’t care! I’m not leaving without my kin!”

“Twenty minutes have elapsed,” Xan announced.

Abawken nodded his approval toward Dulgin’s glare, and they proceeded further into the open area. A larger glow on the opposite side stood out to them all. They cautiously approached, but quickly realized that caution was not necessary, as a huge beast of flame launched from the forest beyond and landed in front of them. It bellowed a blast of fire at the group, but the heat harmlessly reflected off each of them. The creature resembled a large dog. It was fifteen feet long, more than twice the height of Dulgin, and stocky, as though he were made of boulder mountain rock itself. It had a mane of fire around its head, and its eyes glowed a brilliant red. Each foot-long tooth dripped molten saliva. The canine’s infernal tail whipped around as the beast lowered its head toward the heroes and growled. Veins of lava showed through its black skin, and the volcanic rock melted with a hiss at each of the creature’s steps.

The heroes fanned out, with their weapons ready to strike. This was going to be a battle like no other. Bridazak took several steps backward to get some distance, notching an arrow on his magical bow, the Seeker.

“Time is a wastin’!” Dulgin yelled, charging with his axe.

The monster stood its ground as it brought its scorched fangs down upon the Dwarf. Dulgin was quickly captured within its jaws. He was protected from the heat damage but not the physical penetration of the teeth—they clamped down and sank into his armor. He yelled in pain, but used the agony to bolster his dwarven resolve. Half of his body hung outside, and he swung his free arm, holding his axe, at the beast’s jaw, burying it into its black flesh. There was an earsplitting, guttural yelp as it released the Dwarf. He plummeted to the ground. Armor pieces fell off of him with a clanking sound as he hit the rock below. He winced, but got back up with the help of his axe, and glared back at the creature.

“Bad dog! Now I have to put you down!” Dulgin said.

The beast roared once again to intimidate them. A volley of arrows sailed in, but they instantly melted upon impact, with no effect. Xan began to circle to the left to try and find an opening, while Abawken went the opposite way to flank it. Dulgin stood in front brazenly, not willing to budge from his location. The three of them moved in closer and the canine hunched its back, ready for the encounter, baring his teeth and growling. Xan was the first to come in, but he was quickly thrown aside when its tail whipped in and slammed him. He sailed several feet away. The fire once again did no damage, but the impact cracked one of his ribs.

Dulgin swung his mighty axe at its lowered head, but it lifted just in time and he missed. Abawken, on the other side, tumbled in and found himself underneath the creature. He sliced the hind leg, and his blade administered extra damage when he yelled out a command word to release the magic within; his sword instantly shot out a blast of water at the same time he struck the beast. Steam erupted everywhere from the combination of heat and water colliding. The human tumbled and flipped from under it, and once clear, he looked back to survey the damage. A scream of intense torment bellowed from it and its back leg barely held on. He knew the creature would be susceptible to water. It lunged at Abawken, who dodged the bite but not the immediate retaliatory head swing to knock him back. He sailed through the air but landed smoothly on his feet, thanks to his Sword of the Elements once again. The beast growled in disdain and hobbled toward the human on its three good legs.

More arrows flew in from Bridazak’s skilled aim, but they were no match for the beast. Frustrated, he set his backpack down to try and find something creative he could do to contribute to the battle. He paused when he noticed three shafts glowing within his quiver of magical arrows. Slowly, he deliberately pulled one out—it began to pulse within his grasp. The ancient, Ordakian writing engraved on the shaft read ‘Magical Beast’.

Another yelp came from the dog monster when, in pursuit of Abawken, Dulgin chopped at its front leg. “Did you forget about me?” he chastised. The Dwarf was immediately slapped by its tail, and again he was tossed back to the ground. He grunted in pain, but stood up nonetheless. His axe remained wedged in the creature’s leg. Abawken moved in to engage it, but was grappled by the fiery tail. It wrapped around his sword arm, lifting him high in the air. He jerked his legs, trying to break free of the grasp, but the strength of this canine was beyond imagination. He was lowered right in front of its jaw, its gaping mouth opened for the kill, but it flinched away, looking to its right when Xan plunged his long sword into its side. Lava flowed out from the wound. The Elf retracted his blade, but the magic of the shield around him could not help his weapon any further, and it melted. He dropped the hilt, a clank of metal sounding as he began to back away. Another blood curdling roar erupted from the creature.

Dulgin and Xan were now both without their weapons, and Abawken was still grasped by the tail, suspended in air, defenseless. The magical beast snarled, and refocused his attention back to the human in his grip. It brought Abawken closer to its face so it could get a good look before devouring him. The human fighter peered around for something he could do, but without his hand free to use his weapon he was in trouble.

Bridazak pulled back the bowstring with ease, closing one eye while the other locked on his target. The arrow was released. The light of the magic intensified as it sailed through the air, igniting in a brilliant flash as it impacted into the chest of the fire beast. The smoke dissipated and Bridazak saw the creature dead, its chest wide open. Xan and Dulgin were launched back from the explosion, but they quickly stood up and stared in disbelief at what lay before them. They looked around to find where Abawken had gone. He was nowhere to be seen.

“I’m up here.”

The human slowly floated down from above, his sword in hand. The explosion had sent him hurtling up, but the magical power within his weapon saved his life, as a summoned current of wind gently brought him to the ground. Now gathered once again, they surveyed the land. Dulgin retrieved his axe which Abawken had spotted while floating down.

“Master Bridazak, you used one of those special arrows you found, right?” asked Abawken.

“I noticed it glowing. My other arrows had no effect.”

“It was a great shot. You saved my life. I am once again in your debt,” he bowed.

Dulgin quickly changed the conversation, “Why isn’t the curse broken yet?”

“Perhaps it takes a few moments,” Xan proposed.

They waited another minute, but nothing changed.

“Something is wrong, Elfy. We must have missed something.”

“We tried, Dulgin.”

“Dwarfshit!” Dulgin stormed off toward the fallen enemy. The rest of the group followed.

The short, stubby fighter yelled out in anger from behind his red beard, “RELEASE MY KIN!”

There was a rumble under their feet.

“Did you feel that?” Bridazak asked, looking around. No one replied. Then it came again.

Thirty feet away, the group spotted a small, dark, hovering cloud, that seemed to be growing. Dulgin slowly made his way back to join the others, never taking his eyes off of the spectacle. For a moment they were hopeful that this phenomenon had something to do with breaking the curse, but as the dark mist began to expand more than twenty feet in all directions, flashes of lightning within it, they weren’t so sure.

“This is strange,” Bridazak stated.

“I’m not thinkin this is good,” Dulgin responded. They could hear the faint crackle of the bolts beyond.

“The sound of that thunder seems too distant, and faded. This could be a portal,” Abawken added.

“I’m not going through anymore portals!”

The lightning flashes intensified and the ground continued to rumble. Then, something appeared. A creature beyond anything they had ever seen or heard of stepped out of the mysterious cloud—a twenty-foot-tall human-oid with bronze colored armor plating. Its head was the shape of a dragon with spiraling tendrils of black skin at the back of the scalp and neck. It had brilliant red eyes, a protruding jaw with razor sharp uniformed teeth, and smoke billowing out of its nostrils. Each claw on its hands was the length of a long sword. Muscles bulged in all areas of its body and the armor plating moved like it was its natural skin. It growled with rage at the adventurers.

“Holy mother of all dwarven mothers!”

“Spread out! I will summon help through my sword.”

“This
is the protector!” Xan shouted.

“Then that other thing was its pet!” Bridazak realized.

“Great, this is going to be fun.” Dulgin slightly limped into position, hoisting his father’s axe into his battle stance, ready for action.

“We have twenty minutes remaining on my spell,” Xan warned.

Bridazak started to back up to gain some distance. The others resumed their positions, Dulgin remaining firmly planted as the swordsmen spread out to flank once again.

“I’m givin ya one more chance to release my kin,” Dulgin declared.