Sapphire of Souls Read online

Braxton thought of his horse Prism and smiled. What he'd give to be riding that frisky stallion right now instead of tromping on foot behind the graceful elves.

  He started to talk to Nixy about the amazing things he'd read while she slept, but each time he got close to her, a different expression crossed her face. It made him wary, so he kept to himself and thought about what the journal had revealed.

  The last passage in particular hung in his mind, and he tried to figure out what Taerak had meant as the morning wore on.

  Though many wondrous things you will do and see, the cost of them will be high. Having been in your boots long ago, I find that part of me envies you very much, while another part of me mourns, for when you feel the full nature of the jewel, there will be so much pain. All that you love in your life you will have to lose as you transcend time. The future, however challenging and exciting, will become a lonely one.

  Braxton wasn't sure what Taerak meant, but he figured he would find out sooner or later. After pondering it a while, he decided to think about the other things he'd read. There were exercises in meditation and examples of how powerful he would soon become. Some of it scared him. It was implied that he, someday, might be able to cause fear to ripple through thousands of people with only a thought.

  He couldn't fathom it.

  He had barely been able to transform the goblet into a rose. He decided not to dwell on any of it and began trying to find the gem in the void while walking across the grassy plains of Nepram.

  Early on, the dwarves looked to be in bad shape. But as the day progressed, they sweated out the indulgence of the night before. They wore soft leather armor and carried their oversized weapons on their shoulders at their ready. By afternoon, they both looked to be alert and a little over-serious in their cautiousness.

  As promised, Nixy had gotten them to bathe, and then at Darblin's request, she helped the dwarves re-dye their hair and beards. Only this time, Darblin's was a dark, forest green. Big H had opted for a reddish-brown and explained it was for camouflage in the thick undergrowth of the forest. He assured them all they could become as good as invisible. Braxton thought they were joking, but now watching them tirelessly taking two steps to everyone else's one while moving through the lightly-browned, waist-high grass, it was clear that if either of them stopped and stood still, they might blend in. Darblin's head looked like the top of a bush poking out of the grass, and if Big H were to stoop down a little, he might look like a stump or even a dried-up shrub.

  For most of the day, the Wilderkind Forest wasn't visible to them, but by evening, they could see the dark line of trees that marked its edge. They followed the wagon trail as it ran a parallel course with the tree line for some time. Their path slowly drew near to the foreboding looking blackness that lay in the places where the canopy kept the sun from shining. It was almost full dark when they came to the point where the road actually entered the woods. It was there that Vinston-Fret called the halt and picked out a place for them to camp. They decided to make a fire, a big one, to keep the curious creatures from getting too close. Braxton thought it would have been an understatement to say they were all feeling a little uneasy. The big moon lit the world with its yellow glow, and the forest beside them took on a life of its own. The sound of the insects and creatures within were like nothing they'd ever heard before. A distant wail that sounded like a crying baby, and long screeching calls that caused things up in the trees and in the bushes to jump with a start, came sporadically. Deeper grunting huffs that came from low to the ground, and not so far away, were more frequent.

  Vinston-Fret and Suclair took the first watch. They were to be followed by Nixy and Darblin, then Braxton and Cryelos, and finally Sorrell and Big H. Vinston-Fret explained the dwarves shouldn't be on the same watch because they might start drinking, and that Braxton and Nixy shouldn't be on the same watch because they might get caught up in other things. Everybody had a laugh about it, save for Braxton and Nixy. Nixy because she was too embarrassed, Braxton because he was trying to turn a leaf into anything he could turn it into. He was never able to reform the plant into anything other than a mushy bit of green muck, but he didn’t give up.

  Braxton wasn't due up until third watch, but he didn't sleep at all. His state of meditation was so deep and all-consuming that his mind and body were getting more rest than they needed. Amazingly, by sunrise, he'd managed to turn not one, but three pebbles into leaf shaped stones. One of which he kept, the other two he gave to the girls for no other reason than it seemed like a nice thing to do.

  He realized his mistake when Suclair took out a journal and somehow managed to balance it and an ink vial while writing vigorously the description of the stone leaf. Braxton was forced to spend the morning answering Suclair's numerous questions, but he finally distracted her by pointing out several different species of plants for her to catalogue. One of these was a bright yellow flower growing from a vine full of blood red, angry-looking thorns. The vine only wrapped itself around the base of certain trees. Another example was a small bush with sky blue leaves. Swarming around the growth were hundreds and hundreds of tiny, lemon-yellow flies.

  In the daylight, the forest wasn't nearly as scary, but still the feeling of being watched by horrible unseen creatures, the ones who'd made those awful noises all night long, was unsettling. Though the sunlight that fought its way down to them made it not seem so creepy, it also cast all sorts of wild shadows. By midday, the foliage was so thick Vinston-Fret had to use his short sword to hack a passage through. Sorrell, Cryelos, and Braxton kept their bows in hand and ready, and by late afternoon, it became clear that they wouldn't make it out of the forest by dark fall.

  It was one thing to make camp beside an ominous, creature-filled forest. Having to sleep within one was another thing altogether, but as Vinston-Fret hacked them a clearing, he reminded them that this was only a small section of the Wilderkind. Compared to the main body of the forest where they were eventually going, this might as well be a common room at an inn.

  After his little speech, they built an extremely large fire and slept closer to it than was probably safe. The sounds of the night were even more terrifying, and they came from just outside the fire’s light, but nothing disturbed them until just before dawn when Darblin scared them all awake by screaming in terror.

  What was odd about his warning was that it wasn't even his watch.

  Chapter Two

  Immediately after Darblin's blood-curdling yell, there was the sound of a violent struggle. One of the elves threw a log on the fire, sending up a swirl of cherry embers, but it didn't help visibility much. Luckily, Suclair was thinking on her terrified feet for she cast her light spell just as Sorrell and Cryelos brought arrows to bear on the now visible tangle of Darblin and Big H struggling with something that no one else could see.

  "What is it?" Nixy yelled at the dwarves. "We can't help you if we don't know what it is."

  "It's a blasted snake!" Darblin screamed. "Get it, Hannival! Get it off me."

  The other dwarf was already wrapped around Darblin, patting and feeling for the culprit. "I think I've found it," he said through clenched teeth.

  "Kill it, smash it!" ordered Darblin.

  Big H brought his fist down with tremendous force and Darblin screamed again, "That's not it," he wailed. "That's me pecker you pickle head!"

  Big H jumped off Darblin and quickly wiped his hand on his pants with an appalled expression on his face. The elves watched the fray while methodically scanning the lighted area for any sign of danger.

  Braxton was in another world. He stared into the woods as if he wasn't aware of any of it, though he was more aware than any of them. His attention wasn't focused on Darblin and his snake, he was keying in on the approaching group of man-ish creatures the others hadn't yet detected. Nixy finally went over to the squirming, wide-eyed prince of the dwarves. She reached down the back of his shirt and pulled out a little snake that wasn't any longer than her forearm and no bigger around than he
r finger. "No doubt, Prince Darblin," she said with a grin as she tossed the little creature out into the blackness. "It must've thought your hair was a bush."

  "That or it thought it found a mate in his britches," Sorrell said with a laugh.

  "That's just wrong," Suclair said distastefully. "Can I put the light out now?"

  "No!" Braxton yelled, startling them all. "I suggest we prepare to fight because something is coming very quickly."

  "What is it?" Cryelos asked. His arrow was already nocked and ready to draw.

  "I'm not sure, but they are our size, and there are five or six of them." Braxton pointed down the trail they'd traveled the day before. "Coming from that way."

  Seeing that Braxton's eyes hadn't opened during the whole exchange, Suclair started to ask him a question. Nixy stopped her and urged her toward the fire where she drew her sword and took up a position to defend her curious, bald-headed friend. "Just keep the light," she commanded.

  Darblin rolled awkwardly to his feet. He was clearly favoring his crotch where Big H had clobbered him, but he made his way back to his bed roll and produced his huge axe. The look he gave Big H was so intense that the other dwarf immediately fell to a knee and bowed.

  "Forgive me, my prince," Big H said. "I truly thought it was the snake, and you told me to smash it."

  "Get up, pickle head," Darblin said with a forced grin. "You was doin' what you thought best, and I forgive you. Now get yourself ready for battle. The wizard says something is coming for us."

  Moments later, Big H stood by Darblin with his impossibly large war hammer at the ready.

  In his mind's eye, Braxton saw all this. It was easy to forget that Darblin was the prince of the entire dwarven realm, but he didn't dwell on the idea.

  He saw Vinston-Fret and Sorrell ease out of the light and into the trees. They moved down the edge of the trail a few paces, probably hoping to gain some sort of tactical advantage while Cryelos and the dwarves spread out around the clearing. Braxton stood and walked to where the trail entered the clearing with one hand on the hilt of his sword, the other pointing in the direction he sensed the creatures coming from. He still hadn't opened his eyes.

  What Braxton saw was what the white hawk perched in the branches saw. It was almost directly above him. The bird sat silent and still, unobserved by anyone or anything, it's keen vision locked on to the movements of whatever approached. Without drawing any attention to itself, the bird opened its wings, stepped off its branch and swooped through the tunnel-like trail to seek out what it was.

  It turned out it was nothing more than a pack of hungry kobls who’d followed their trail, probably in hopes of an easy meal. The bird flew back to their encampment and Braxton quickly broke his own concentration so he could bring himself back to the moment in his own mind and body.

  "It's a pack of kobls," he whispered out toward where he knew Vinston-Fret and Sorrell were hiding. "There are six of them." He then turned and went to his bed roll. He came up with his bow and pulled several arrows from a bundle. He stuck them tip down into the soft forest floor in front of him. He was positioned five or six paces away, but directly in front of Nixy and Suclair. This left Cryelos to his left, Big H to his right, and Darblin on the opposite side of the fire.

  The kobls were heard long before they were seen. Two of them passed the elves and were surprised by the crossfire they found themselves in. One of them was spared for the elves both fired on the same one. Once the uninjured kobl bolted toward Braxton, neither elf could loose at it. If they missed, a stray arrow might fly into the camp and injure one of the others.

  Braxton realized the kobls had spread out. From not too far away, he heard the terrified horses whinny and pull at their reins.

  The kobl that fled the elves didn't live long for Braxton's first arrow struck it through the heart. It went crashing headlong into Braxton’s feet, and he had to dance around it to keep from being tripped. When he looked down the road, he saw Vinston-Fret aiming an arrow straight at him, Sorrell was beside the other elf, motioning wildly for him to duck, and duck he did. He dropped flat just as the arrow whizzed over him and hit something behind him with an audible thump.

  Braxton rolled out of the line of fire and turned to see Nixy pressing a methodical attack against one of the snarling, dog-headed creatures with her sword. It lunged and clawed at her, clacking its teeth menacingly while trying to dodge her shining blade.

  Cryelos made short work, ending the kobl Vinston-Fret had skewered, while Big H swept his mighty hammer into another one that came leaping out of the darkness. The crunching blow sent the kobl yelping toward Darblin, who let out a garbled battle cry. His axe cleanly severed the thing’s torso from its legs. The cut sent a grizzly spray of dark, stinking blood across Suclair's face, causing her to falter and let go of her light spell.

  The area went black save for the dull orange glow of the fire's embers. Braxton was forced to blink the bright splotches out of his vision. He could hear Nixy grunting and her heavy breathing. He also heard the creature's snarling growl and the whoosh of her sword as it sliced through the darkness.

  A soft, pain-filled scream filled the night and, immediately, Braxton thought the worst. The sound was quickly followed by a high-pitched wail that was anything but human. Then a tired sounding, "Whew," came, and he knew it was Nixy's voice.

  A nearby crash in the forest was followed by an angry howl, and the fading sounds of creatures retreating into the woods faded away. Suclair managed to cast her light spell again, and she immediately ran to Nixy's side with tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Nix," she cried. "Please say you're all right."

  Braxton was there as soon as he could get his feet untangled from the dead kobl. Nixy was covered in dark sticky blood, but she grinned at them from where she'd slumped to the ground.

  "I'm alright, Suclair,” Nixy soothed her. "I think you saved me when you lost the light and left this thing blind." She pushed part of a hairy arm off her leg, and then looked at Braxton. "Get it off me, please."

  Braxton and Cryelos drug the dead kobl from Nixy's lap, and Suclair helped her up and examined her for wounds.

  There was only one, and luckily it was only a scrape where a broken branch had ripped across her shoulder. Suclair used her water skin to wash the wound, and then the putrid smelling blood off both of them.

  "Is anybody else wounded?" Vinston-Fret called out. The first tendrils of dawn's pink light began to illuminate the forest outside of the range of Suclair's spell. When no one answered, the elf produced a small leather envelope and threw it to Suclair.

  "Put this on her wound," he said. "It will keep the vermin's blood from infecting her."

  "It's only a scratch," Nixy protested. "It came from the tree, not that foul thing."

  "The kobls nasty blood got in it," Suclair said as she dipped a finger in the leather container and rubbed a grayish-green cream on the wound.

  As she applied the salve, Suclair whispered, "Thank you for saying that losing my light saved you. I think it was the other way around."

  Nixy wondered why Suclair was always like that. The girl should be proud of herself, not so worried about offending others or making a mistake. She'd scorched that sea monster pretty good and saved them all back on the ship. Even if she'd accidentally let her light go out because her face had been covered in disgusting blood, it was alright.

  Nixy decided to talk to her about it sometime when they were alone away from the men. She didn't like her friend always acting self-conscious and timid, especially when she was what Nixy considered a powerful user of magic. It just didn't make sense.

  Nixy figured it had something to do with the fact that her father was rumored to be the most powerful wizard in the entire kingdom.

  It almost made Nixy mad, for Suclair would never know what it was like to not have a father. If she did, it would probably change her attitude a little bit.

  Already regretting having such a thought, Nixy touched Suclair's shoulder softly. "You can put
your light out now. The sun is coming up."

  It turned out that one of the horses had been killed, and there was more than a little complaining when the load the animal had been carrying had to be split among them. Throughout the morning, the complaints continued as the added weight wore them down, but around midday, they came out of the forest and were overcome with relief.

  By the time the sun started to set, the lights of New Scarlee were visible in the distance. This brought on a renewed vigor in hopes of another soft bed and a warm meal, if only for a night. Those thoughts of comfort faded when they saw the lights they were seeing were burning buildings.

  The people on the outskirts of New Scarlee looked ragged and horrible, and they quickly explained to the newcomers their village had been attacked by a band of wood trolls, not once, but twice, in the last few days. The last attack having come just the night before.

  Not even the strong, salty ocean breeze could carry away the smell of charred flesh and burning wood. More than half of the people in the small fishing town had been killed or wounded. Some of them eaten, some of them just ripped apart and discarded. The survivors were attending the wounded and mourning the dead while attempting to clean up what they could.

  The smell was what took the contents of Braxton's stomach and turned them up and out onto the grass. That and the sight of a young girl's limp, armless body being heaved into the fire by a man who was having to fight off a frantic, teary-eyed woman who pled shamelessly for her deceased daughter to please wake up. Nixy couldn't help herself and ran to the woman, clearly trying to comfort her. This started somewhat of a commotion as many of the survivors stopped what they were doing and started paying more attention to the strangers who had arrived.

  A young man finally mustered up enough courage to approach them. "What is your business here, elf?"

  "We are just passing through," Vinston-Fret answered as respectfully as he could.