Erick's Journey - Part Four

The journey to seek out the dwarfs was mostly quiet. There were brief encounters with large wildlife, such as bears or wolves, but the animals who approached were just curious about the visitors passing through their hunting grounds

Ilaria used a scrying shadow to keep track of the dwarfs, allowing the riders to make minor corrections in their course and ensure that they would rendezvous with the hunting party.

But the three days of riding were not as quiet as the nights, when the wildlife of the forest sensed the arrival of Dimitri and shrank back into whatever crevice or hole they could find.

The wyrm did not make himself visible to the riders, but the crushing silence announced his arrival, and the resumption of the natural sounds of the forest marked his departure.

Sleep would not come easily to Erick on any of those nights, but it was not exactly fear that kept his mind bubbling with thoughts each night. He was afraid of the power that Dimitri possessed, but the wyrm’s offer was puzzling. Why would someone so powerful offer his help to a child? What could he hope to gain by entering Erick’s mind?

The questions stayed with him day in and out until the third night, when he came to the decision that whatever Dimitri might gain from him, it was nothing compared to what he was being offered in return.

He slept easily that night, and he felt rested when someone shook his shoulder to rouse him.

Erick opened his eyes, drawing in a sharp breath when he saw Dimitri kneeling over him. The wyrm set his finger on his lips, and then he sat back, folding his legs underneath himself. His ceremonial robe was gone, and in its place, Dimitri had fashioned his body to look like he was wearing a shiny black leather armor.

You’ve lowered your guard early. Dimitri’s thought was a dry whisper at the back of Erick’s mind. I didn’t expect you to trust me so quickly.

If you planned to hurt me, you wouldn’t need to get inside my head, Erick thought as he sat up, drawing his legs against his chest to rest his chin on his knees. I still don’t know what you want.

I understand your confusion, but I don’t have an answer for you, Dimitri sent. I’ve spent so long staring out of my prison, trying to sort out what I would do once I got out. I certainly don’t want to go back.

What did you do? Erick asked. Ilaria said you were confined because you led an invasion into Stout Hart. But that doesn’t sound right to me.

Dimitri raised his head to watch the pair of elves sleeping in the tree above him. Ilaria knows only what Karin or her historians wrote down, and since Karin won that fight decisively, it was her right.

There wasn’t an invasion, Erick guessed.

There was, but my goal was to locate anyone who had knowledge of a cross-dimensional portal spell, Dimitri sent, dropping his head to study Erick’s expression. Recognition filled the elf’s dark face, and Dimitri smiled wider. Yes, I had plans to return to Earth, and I was going to establish a nation of my own by force.

Erick asked, Why would you want to return to Earth? The only sentient creatures living there are the humans, and they don’t get along with anything else. They make the addler look friendly.

His shoulders shaking in a quiet snicker, Dimitri sent, You’re very amusing, but you obviously haven’t paid much attention to Earth. There are races who chose not to leave Earth, and there are races who the elves intentionally left behind. In the past, I had seen vampires thriving on Earth with scrying spells. I felt certain that if they could still survive in the human world, then the wyrm should also be allowed to travel back to reestablish our race.

Why didn’t Karin just let you go? Erick asked.

Because I planned to leave portals open all throughout Lissand, linking Earth to the mystical plane long enough to allow every race to come to their own decisions about staying here or returning home.

Erick frowned, shaking his head as he thought, But then the humans would be able to enter Lissand, and they might have tried to lay claim on it as their own.

Right you are, and now you know the real reason why I was locked away. Dimitri made a soft snort at Erick’s troubled expression. There’s no need to feel pity for me. You know that you would have me confined, and for the exact same reason.

But you don’t want to go to Earth now? Erick asked.

Dimitri’s white, hairless brow wrinkled above his hawkish nose. I’m not sure. A lot has happened on Earth since I last was able to cast a scrying spell, and now I’m having trouble finding many surviving vampires. I’ve spent the last few days and nights studying their world, and human societies have evolved in ways which are both miraculous and terrifying to me.

Erick smiled. Terrifying, he thought. That’s not a word I expect someone like you would ever use.

They now have weapons which can kill millions within seconds. For all my power, such an attack is beyond my limits, and yet, the humans harness this kind of missile attack in silos all over the world.

Dimitri’s smile became genuinely pained. Before I was imprisoned, humans were still living in cottages and castles, playing with fire in oil pots. I’ve been out long enough to find them living in subdivided boxes. They drive wheeled boxes to work in someone else’s box. And then they go home, and use a box to watch a screen programmed to broadcast fictional lies in between semi-fictional weather forecasts and updates about who’s been murdered or run over by a wheeled box recently. They shut off that box, and then they use another box to communicate with humans all over the world, as though such a thing were trivial.

Dimitri looked down at the ground, his smile melting away before he shook his head. No, I don’t want to return to Earth. I could not delude myself into believing that they would worship me as a god. They would not welcome me, and neither would the elves, so I find myself with as little sense of purpose in this world as you.

An objection formed on Erick’s thoughts, but it drifted away once he conceded the accuracy of Dimitri’s observation. He thought, Then for now, your purpose is completing this assignment from Finrod.

No, my purpose is training you. You might not believe me, but there is potential for great power in you. With my experience, you can tap into that potential faster. Dimitri glanced up at Ilaria again. Ilaria can teach you the same things, so all I am offering is a method of gaining your experience directly. You will not have to spend years fumbling with simpler spells. You will know them all instinctually, as if they have always been a part of your memory.

Then what happens? Erick asked.

Dimitri shrugged his bony shoulders. I’ll travel north to seek out my kin. They can tell me what is on the list of acceptable feeding races, and I’ll spawn a few wraiths. I’ll go back to my old life, or something close to what I had before I came up with my allegedly brilliant plan.

Erick was convinced, and he didn’t need to ponder other questions, aside from, When do we begin training?

Dimitri grinned. We’ve already begun. While we’ve talked, I’ve been feeding information to your subconscious mind. You’ll go to sleep when I leave, and when you wake up, this conversation will seem much, much longer.

I don’t understand why you want to help me, Erick thought. I’m not really anyone special.

No, probably not, Dimitri sent. But you and I are kindred spirits. We both feel like we don’t belong in this world, but then, where else is there to go? He made a soft, breathy laugh and added, Do you think the daemons might take us in?

Pass, Erick thought. A quiet laugh escaped him at the absurd thought of either he or the wyrm trying to ask for asylum in Heil.

Oh sure, Dimitri sent in reply to Erick’s thought. We would have no problems fitting in over there. I would need a home with an ice spell built in to counter all of that unpleasant fire magic they use, and you would need filtered air to stay alive for more than twenty minutes. But other than that, I hear the general population is really quite charming.

Erick laughed again, louder this time, and then it became a tired groan as he yawned. A heavy weight tugged at his eyelids, and he shifted onto his side, setting his arms out to lower himself back onto his blanket.

His eyes closed before he could form a thought to wish Dimitri a good night, and within minutes, he was dreaming of a very different world, one where humans controlled their environment using science instead of magic.

***

Luther shook Erick’s arm and passed him a loaf of bread as he sat up.

“You look pale,” Luther said.

Erick was about to remark that the daoine sidhe weren’t capable of looking pale when he noticed how his hands were in fact closer to dark grey than jet black. “I...I suppose I didn’t get enough sleep last night.”

He glanced at Darryl, who listened to his thoughts before shrugging and passing him a strip of dried rabbit. “I don’t see anything he’s given you that would be harmful. A prolonged telepathic session would drain someone as young as you, and perhaps Dimitri understands that.”

“I’m missing something important here, aren’t I?” Luther asked.

“I’m sure someone will get around to explaining it to us,” Ilaria said. She knelt beside her horse, rubbing down the animal’s legs in preparation of another long day. “I’ve heard enough to guess that Erick had a visit last night from his new mentor.”

Erick tried to describe his conversation from the night before while he ate breakfast, but he eventually stopped himself and shook his head. “Wait, only half of that happened last night. The rest is in my head now. I have...I have memories of the real invasion, and memories of what happened when Dimitri opened the portals to Earth.”

The others had finished packing up camp while he talked and ate, and he looked around, stunned to realize that he had consumed three rations over the course of two hours. He blinked and looked at Darryl with an expression of confusion. “Why didn’t you stop me and tell me that we needed to leave?”

“Your color is starting to return to normal, and now Luther and Ilaria understand why I’m not going into a fit over Dimitri sneaking in unannounced.” Darryl held out a hand to help Erick stand, then he leaned over to quickly roll up Erick’s blanket. “However, seeing as you’ve just now come out of your trance, now would be a good time to mention that we’re running behind schedule.”

Luther settled himself on his stallion and glanced over his shoulder at Ilaria. “Do we need to make any course corrections?”

Ilaria cast a shadow portal by raising her arm inside her cloak, and she watched the grey toned images of a field  from a bird’s eye view. The dwarfs stood out in the field, outlines of pitch black in a field of mottled grey. Ilaria moved the focus of the spell closer to check on the dwarfs, and then she lifted it to find their quarry next.

When she dropped the cloak from in front of her face, she said, “Yes, but not by much. The party is tracking a goblin tribe who wandered into a gryphon sanctuary, so both groups are moving much slower to avoid provoking the natives.”

“Ah, good. We have a chance to catch up to them,” Darryl said. The enthusiasm in his voice was also dripping with sarcasm. “I do hope we arrive in time for a big battle.”

***

The dwarfs were not short compared to the rhyndarhim, and there were many tall dwarfs who stood as high as one hundred and fifteen centimeters. They looked small when they were measured next to the álfr or the addler, and they were short by the standards of the sidhe races as well. But the dwarfs were the undisputed best fighters of all the “neutral races” in Lissand. (“Neutral races” being a dwarf term, and there is no equivalent term in any of the elvish languages.)

Resistant to most poisons, and with skin like dried leather, the thick-bodied dwarfs could stand toe to toe with many much larger races. They could take a lot of punishment in a fight, and then laugh and return the blows with equal strength and vigor.

Upon their arrival in Lissand, the dwarfs appointed themselves as wardens of the forests. Their kingdoms sent hunting parties to track all the creatures which dwarfs deemed “chaotic races.” In some cases, the hunting parties chose to step in and relocate one of the two groups from a territory to prevent friction from building between races.

In particular, the wild races like the goblins and the werekin had to be herded most frequently to stay in their own hunting grounds. They wandered into the grounds of much larger predators, and if the predators felt their land was being encroached upon by competition, it often made them wary. Which meant they would seek to expand their own territories. And that kind of behavior could lead to all out war.

The dwarfs saw the potential for the balance of life on Lissand to break down quickly if some race didn’t act as the sheriffs of the land, and they took it upon themselves to enforce order among the chaotic races. The dwarfs saw it as only natural that the role should fall to them, given how the dwarfs were the most balanced and neutral of all races. (In their esteemed opinions, of course.)

The goblins who the dwarfs were tracking were a woodland variety, and they were far more tolerant of sunlight than their cave dwelling cousins. Though they preferred carrion, the goblins would eat anything. As a tribe’s population grew, their appetites became more refined.

The best meal, at the top of the food chain, was dwarf. Elves were generally safe from being eaten, since the goblins had long ago decided that all elf races tasted bland, and that they had little meat to make the hunt worth the effort. But a dwarf? Yes, a dwarf was usually considered “good eats.”

This opinion was even more true of a dwarf who stank of battle. Any superior race might have gagged over the scent, but goblins considered the aroma close to the carrion they so loved.

The goblins in the pasture were probably trying to track one of the gryphon’s larger prey. Perhaps they had been eyeing the bison at the far south border of the clearing, or perhaps it was the rams, who drank from a stream running through the southeastern corner of the pasture.

But whatever their original target had been, they had caught scent of the dwarfs, and their priorities changed fast.

When the four riders emerged from the woods near the stream, the battle had been going on for only a few minutes. The bodies of goblins lay scattered around the pasture, but the chattering beasts still had superior numbers against the dwarf hunting party.

The dwarfs were being forced into a tighter group to limit their melee options, while the goblins set up ranks of shooters armed with crude sling shots.

Erick watched a volley of rocks pepper the dwarfs, knocking several men to the ground. He clicked his tongue, spurring his horse forward into the fight.

Behind him, Darryl shouted something. Erick ignored the guard’s irritated voice while he charged a line of goblins with slingshots. The goblins dove away from his charging palomino, dissolving one of the firing lines.

Erick came about and rushed another group, and the goblins looked up at him and shrieked in terror. Erick was almost feeling proud of himself when he noticed the shadow looming over him and groaned. The goblins weren’t shrieking at him.

The goblins dropped onto the ground and covered their heads as the shadow spread out and darkened over the ground.

Erick barely had time to turn his head before the gryphon’s talons closed over the back of his cloak and his rucksack. He was lifted up and away from his horse, the collar of his cloak drawing taut around his throat while the straps of his bag squeezed his arms and waist.

He didn’t flail, knowing it would only put more strain on his neck. But the gryphon jostled him back and forth while it pounded its black eagle wings in an effort to gain more altitude.

Erick was close to passing out when he heard the gryphon screech, and suddenly the pressure was gone. His collar loosened, and the bag straps weren’t trying to pinch off his arms at the shoulders.

Erick turned as he fell, which hid the looming ground from him and afforded him a better view of the arrow jutting from the gryphon’s hindquarters. He had just enough time to note the feathers on the arrow shaft were dyed dark blue. It was Darryl’s arrow.

Then Erick hit the ground, and his senses unplugged.

***

When he woke up again, he could hear a high-pitched chattering. A goblin was close by. Erick opened his eyes and uttered a scream at the goblin whose bulbous green face was only inches from his.

The goblin screamed with him, falling back onto its butt while it crab-crawled back toward its kin.

Erick tried to scramble to his feet, but his head reeled. He dropped onto his knee before vertigo pulled him back down onto the ground with a hard thump on his shoulder.

He was much slower in straightening up the second time, and the feeling of dizziness nearly toppled him again. He was surrounded by goblins, but none wore expressions of anger. Instead, their green, globular faces were wrinkled with confusion.

Erick became aware of a throb on the side of his head, and he reached up to pat his scalp gingerly. Grimacing when his fingers came away wet, he dropped his hand to stare at the thick violet liquid.

His gaze drifted up past his finger, past the ring of goblins, where he could see the others were working with the dwarfs to subdue an enraged female gryphon. It stood on back bird legs, flailing its front lion’s paws out to strike at anyone foolish enough to get in range. There was no sneaking up behind or beside the gryphon, who flapped its wings and whipped its lion tail furiously to pummel anyone sneaking too close.

One dwarf tried anyway, and after the gryphon’s tail broke the man’s round nose, the gryphon spun to pounce him, its brown head blurring as it drove a razor sharp beak through the man’s exposed throat.

Erick had no doubt that the dwarf was dead, but his senses were nagging at him that he had his own concerns to worry about. The goblins had fallen silent, their black beady eyes almost swelling out of their sockets.

Reaching up to his shoulder, Erick gripped the handle of his short sword. He raised his foot to take a step, freezing when something behind him scraped the soil.

Turning slowly, Erick’s chest clamped tight around his heart and lungs when the gryphon lowered into a crouch and splayed its wings.

The first gryphon in the pasture was the female. Her head was covered in brown feathers. But the male’s head was crested in white, and his piercing yellow eyes were locked on Erick. The gryphon canted his head as Erick drew the sword, then stepped sideways to Erick’s side.

Behind him, Erick heard a flurry of activity as the goblins moved to avoid the huge predator. He imagined that they were moving behind him for protection, and the idea tugged a smile up at the corners of his mouth.

The fog in his head was clearing, and his limbs felt less heavy. But neither improvement seemed helpful. Even in the best condition, he had a disadvantage against such a large animal

He turned on his heel, and again the gryphon moved sideways, looking for an opportunity to attack. It crouched, trying to panic Erick into running and exposing his back.

Instead, Erick sidestepped the opposite direction and started to edge toward the tree line.

The gryphon stalked after him, remaining hunched low in preparation of a jump.

And still no backup had arrived to help him.

Searching for the other battle would have drawn his eyes away for too long, but Erick could hear the struggle going on. Luther was shouting at someone to take a shot, and a dwarf made a pained bellow.

The sound caused Erick to stiffen, and the gryphon leapt, lowering its head for a ramming attack. Erick rolled to one side, but he was caught off balance when the huge beast unfurled a wing. The broad limb struck Erick’s side as he was coming up from the ground, and he was launched into the air.

His sword flew from his grasp before he hit the ground and tumbled, trying to lessen the impact. When he came up on his feet again, he started running for the tree line.

Thumping footfalls from the loping beast grew louder until the gryphon leapt. The sudden silence caused Erick to veer right, and claws ripped at his cloak and rucksack. The bag became much lighter as his supplies tumbled out across the ground.

He ran faster, veering toward the trees again.

He’d just dashed behind a thick tree when the gryphon screeched in fury and began another charge.

Stopping behind the tree, Erick drew his dagger while he leaned over to scoop up a handful of dirt. Throwing the handful out as the gryphon’s head emerged around the tree, he followed the blinding attack by driving his dagger into the stout neck of the beast.

Blood splashed over his hands, and the gryphon reared up on its back legs, lifting Erick up to throw him against the side of the tree. Bouncing off of the unforgiving bark, he slammed into the ground and grunted as the world went grey in his vision.

But he couldn’t let himself slip under. Shaking his head, Eric rolled onto his hands and knees while he watched the gryphon clawing to remove the weapon buried to the hilt into its neck. It sank down onto all four legs, staggering before it dropped to the ground and shuddered.

Crawling on his hands and knees, Erick slid his dagger free from the gryphon’s neck and stood up.

He turned to check on the progress of the battle, but his attention was drawn instead to a goblin who struck a battle stance. He was carrying Erick’s sword. The black eyes of the goblin bounced between Erick and the bleeding gryphon. Though it tried to snarl and look ferocious, the goblin was afraid.

Erick smiled at the thought before he raised his dagger and yelled a challenge to the goblin, who reacted by screaming, dropping the sword and running.