The Sorcerer's Scourge (30 page)

“Trielle, be nice. This woman obviously meant something to him and he grieves.”

“He just better behave or he’s gonna go from grieving to bleeding,” the sprite warned with a glare and thrust of her spear before zipping up into the trees.

Miles followed Trielle with his eyes then looked back at Bron as he lifted and cradled Elli in his arms. Elli was a slight woman to begin with, but seeing her lying across the half-ogre’s arms made her appear small and fragile despite her warrior spirit. Miles was barely able to choke back the sob that lodged in his throat but could not stop the tears.

“Is she alive?”

“Just barely.”

“Can you save her?” Miles asked hopefully.

Bron shook his head. “I do not know. I think a Chosen priest would find the prospect daunting.”

“You said you were a devout of Ellanee. Isn’t that a cleric or healer of some kind?”

“I am a druid. My power lies in nature, not in the power of the gods. Such divine healing as you speak of is not mine to wield. However, I do have skills in healing and herb lore and will do what I can.”

“Thank you. My name is Miles, by the way. Thank you for killing those men.”

Bron paused before speaking, understanding the boy’s attitude. “One should never be thankful of death, unless to end suffering, and never for causing it. Such death is unnatural and is the purview of Sharrellan. Those men chose their course of action, and in protecting this forest and its inhabitants I did what I had to do.”

Bron took Miles and Elli south along the bluff for about three miles before it met level ground again. It was another two-mile walk east before they reached Bron’s cave. Grumph was nowhere to be seen, but Trielle was already inside helping herself to more honey when Bron entered and laid Elli onto the table.

“Hey, I eat there!” Trielle cried out in indignation.

“She is badly hurt, so stop being rude.”

“Oh I’m sorry. It must be a human or ogre thing, because my people find it rude to bleed all over the table from which someone serves food.”

Miles looked from the sprite to the half-ogre who was busy examining and covering Elli’s wounds. “She doesn’t like humans much, does she?”

“Trielle does not care much for anyone who is not a wood sprite, and even only a few of those can tolerate her for more than a few minutes. It is why she spends so much time with me.”

“For which you continually fail to show proper gratitude!” Trielle shouted from her perch in the cupboard. “And for your information, I have hundreds, thousands, of friends! I only come here out of pity. I feel so sorry for you having to wake up so ugly and smelly every morning I feel almost duty bound to bring some beauty into your life,” Trielle responded haughtily.

Miles watched Trielle repeated dip a stick into the flask of honey then lick off the sticky treat. The sprite caught him looking and stuck her tongue out at him. He turned to Bron who was grinding some sort of dried herbs with a mortar and pestle.

“So she is always like this?”

Bron glanced up at Trielle. “More or less. Stabbing a human with her spear has put her in a good mood.”

“How do you put up with it? She is worse than my little sister.”

“It is her nature,” Bron replied simply. “I am also very patient.”

“I think you mean lucky!” Trielle amended.

Miles looked at Elli’s battered and fragile body lying upon the table. “Is she going to live?”

Bron sighed. “I think you should prepare yourself to accept the worst.”

The tears returned unbidden to Miles’s eyes and he wiped them away with his sleeve.

“You care for her,” Bron stated. “Who is she?”

Miles actually managed a small laugh. “Until yesterday, she was a kitchen woman at The Academy.”

“And today?”

“A person willing to put herself between me and a lot of people that apparently want me dead,” Miles answered, his voice quavering. “My father once told me that despite being surrounded by so many people, it was a challenge to find a single friend amongst them.”

“Who is your father?” Bron asked.

Miles took a deep breath and wondered if he should tell the truth. True, this creature came to his rescue, but he hardly knew him or his political allegiances. What if he supported those that wanted him dead and simply did not realize that his father was the King? He decided to trust him, just as he had trusted Elli.

“Jarvin Ollander, King of Valeria.”

“I see.”

“Does that make us friends or enemies?” Miles asked steadily despite his anxiety.

“I am not sure it makes us either one. Politics do not travel into this part of the forest.” Bron sensed more than heard something calling him from outside. “Excuse me, I must go a moment.”

Bron left Miles with Elli and followed the soundless summons towards the small spring that trickled near his cave and fed a pool in a grove of willow trees. He felt the presence of Ellanee before he saw her. Pushing the hanging branches of a willow aside, he stepped into the grove and saw her standing near the pool of water. She stood by the water’s edge dressed in a simple sea-green gown and glowed with an ethereal light.

“You have done wonders with your grove, Bron,” the nature goddess said in a voice that sounded like a song.

“It is my greatest joy, Lady. To what do I owe the honor of this visit?”

Ellanee smiled warmly at the huge half-ogre. Even the devotees of the four gods usually tripped all over themselves when blessed with the physical manifestation of their god. Nevertheless, Bron was of such stalwart nature, not even facing his god could cause him to become flummoxed.

 “I come to ask for your help.”

“Request infers the possibility of rejection. You need only inform me and it shall be done, Lady.”

Ellanee broke into a musical laughter and stepped closer to her devout. “Bron, my dear follower, I do so adore you. Dark tidings are quickly falling across the land. Events are already unfolding and many have a part to play, even the gods. My dearest Solarian has already positioned his pieces and now it is my time to do the same.”

“I have felt the death that gathers far to the north.”

“Indeed, but that is not the darkness of which I speak. What occurs there must be dealt with swiftly, and it is where you must go. However, such is not the true darkness, but only the fire for those who must be tempered to face what is coming,” Ellanee told Bron cryptically. “You must find those that seek to battle that evil, and you must succeed so that others have the chance to face the coming darkness.”

“What is this darkness of which you speak if not the abomination of necromancy?”

“Something far more catastrophic and nearly two thousand years in the coming. More I cannot say. You must take the boy to North Haven and then find the adventurers who will face the lich lord. They will require your strength, for only life may defeat death. I shall teach you a way to travel that will allow you to quickly get where you must go.”

The goddess motioned for Bron to kneel then touched him lightly on the head. Bron saw and felt a special connection with the earth and stone that he did not have before. What his goddess showed him was truly remarkable.

“Thank you, Lady. The woman that protects the boy, can you save her?” Bron asked.

The goddess’s face turned sorrowful. “I am sorry, but I cannot. She has fulfilled her destiny, and her spirit has moved on into the grateful arms of my paramour. Even as we speak, she is taking her place beside my beloved Solarian.”

“The boy will be sad for her loss.”

“The Prince shall see far more death and loss in his lifetime. He must be strong just as his father must learn to be strong if he is to lead his people and have any hope for victory. Take Miles to the Duchess in North Haven as swiftly as you can. The fate of the world rests on the success of your mission.”

“If I succeed, the world will be saved?”

Ellanee replied apocalyptically, “If you succeed, the world has a small chance. If you fail, then it has none.”

With that final warning, Ellanee burst into a thousand motes of light and raced outward in all directions. Bron stood in the grove for a moment after the lights disappeared to ponder the weight of her words.

“Whoa!” Trielle exclaimed from willow branch just over his shoulder. “Was that Ellanee?”

“It was,” Bron answered without looking.

“If she had wings, she would be almost as pretty as me!”

Bron laughed uncharacteristically and walked back to his cave. Miles looked to have not moved since he left. Only the fresh tears carving through the grime on his face showed any difference.

“I think she died,” Miles whispered.

“Yes, she did. She died for something she felt worth sacrificing herself for, Miles. Do not ever forget that, and do not ever prove her belief to be a mistake,” Bron told the Prince.

Miles nodded his understanding. “What do we do now?”

“We shall make her a pyre so that you may bid her farewell, and then we travel to North Haven,” Bron answered.

Bron did not take Elli to the spot where he and Trielle usually burned the undead corpses. Instead, he and Miles constructed a pyre near the grove where he had spoken with his goddess. The pyre itself was a bit more elaborate as well. It consisted of stacked logs and limbs several feet high. Miles picked wildflowers and placed them atop Elli’s body after they placed her on the low scaffold of timbers.

Bron spoke a prayer, Miles thanked her for saving him, and then bid her farewell before touching a brand to the pyre and setting it aflame. Miles felt as though he shed enough tears to extinguish the blaze if he stood any closer to the flames. Bron finally guided Miles away from the pyre as the flames died down and left nothing but ash behind.

“Try and get some sleep,” Bron told the Prince. “We will leave in the morning as the sun breaks the horizon.”

Bron left Miles to sleep in his bed while he walked down to his grove and sat amongst the willows. Ellanee said he needed to help defeat the lich lord, but that it was only a test for a greater threat to come. What could be worse than the greatest aberration to nature than a creature able to summon a legion of undead to wreak havoc on the living? What could be so terrible that even the gods feared for the future? Bron could not shake the feeling that Ellanee and the other gods feared not just for the fate of the kingdom, but their own as well.

Trielle’s buzzing interrupted his thoughts as she lit upon his broad shoulder. “Hey, B.S.”

“B.S.?”

“Big Stinky,” Trielle explained.

“Ah. I thought perhaps you were referring to my name, Bron Sandofen.”

“Hardly. I didn’t even know your last name. Are you really leaving?”

Bron tilted his head. “Ellanee needs me to do something.”

“I heard. It sounds dangerous.”

“It does,” Bron agreed. “But it is important.”

“Come back. Ok?” the sprite said softly next to his ear.

Bron could not help but smile. “Are you going to miss me?”

“Pfft. Hardly! I’m throwing a honey party in your cave when you leave so you’ll need to bring some back with you.”

“Well, I will miss you.”

Trielle rolled her eyes. “Well duh!” Then she leaned against his neck and repeated softly. “Just come back.”