Vol. 1 - Another Typical Day (The Wizards of Eredwynn) Page 2

  I wandered back over to my campfire and tossed more wood on it. There’s nothing like a fire in the great outdoors to keep spirits up and the boogieman away. I got out my knife and went to work. Whittling had never been a hobby of mine but I thought that I could shape this the way I wanted it to be. I cut off the long, dangly end of the branch to get the length I wanted. About 10 inches seemed wandlike to me and then I shaved the bark to create a nice smooth stick. The handle end, just below the knot, was about 4 inches long and gripped comfortably.

  Now was the time, I decided. I stood and made sure that I could remember my healing spell. I was excited that this might work and scared to death that it wouldn't. I thought that blown out fingertips may have just capped my list of dislikes over being cold. I walked back to the edge of the clearing closer to a large oak and took a deep breath. My chest tingled as though it knew that I was about to attempt using magic again. I pointed my new wand at the trunk of the oak tree and muttered ‘magicae telum’. The golden bolt of light flew straight and true to the spot on the old oak that I was aiming for. There was no real damage except for some minor scorching exactly where it hit. I froze there for a second and waited to see if pain was also to be my reward, but everything seemed to be intact. My theory of the wand had paid off. I wonder if game makers came here for their ideas, I joked to myself.

  I felt very happy and excited about this newfound magic ability; I had to try something else. I glanced around I saw a dead tree that looked as though it had been hit by lightning forever ago. I crossed the clearing so I could get a better look at it and to make sure it was dead. I am not a big fan of killing for the sake of killing, even if it is trees. Yes, very dead and a bit rotten too. It was perfect for my next test. I relaxed as best I could in the excitement; I allowed the now familiar tingle to build in my chest. I pointed my wand and said ‘fulmen!’ My lightning bolt came from nowhere, out of the clear blue sky. It struck the top of the tree, traveled down the trunk, and then exploded! I was a good 30 yards away and it was a good thing, because, even at that distance, shards and splinters of wood pelted me. I made a quick mental note; lightning is a very powerful force and is not to be toyed with!

  Chapter Four

  As the sun began its rapid descent to the west, my thoughts turned once more to food. I felt much more confident about the prospects now that I had a means to obtain it.

  I very carefully checked my location against landmarks such as exploded old trees and the like, then made my way out of the clearing into the woods. Moving slowly and as quietly as I could in the hopes of seeing some small varmints before they saw me I held my wand at the ready. In much less time than I would have thought possible I had fired three perfectly aimed magic arrows and scored two rabbits and a red squirrel that were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The squirrel caused a bit of a problem because, even though he may have been willing to be killed, he was not willing to be eaten! I had to use telekinesis, now that I knew the word, to pull him out of the branches and down to earth.

  I found my clearing with no trouble and built up the fire a bit. There was now no lack of busted up wood lying around to keep the fire going strong, so I got down to the oh-so-enjoyable business of cleaning my supper. I spitted the meat and wandered the edge of the clearing once again looking for water. I realized that I must soon find some way to carry water with me. This, looking at tree roots and hoping for the best, didn’t seem to be the best planning idea. I located water and drank what I needed. Walking back to the camp, I thought I heard a noise, but when you are all alone in the woods, your ears will play tricks on you, which was something I had learned very well over the last couple of days. I strolled over to the fire to collect the crispy critters that were spitted there. They were nicely overdone, just as a wild rodent should be if you plan to eat it in the spring. I would hate to catch some kind of bug out here, because I had no idea if my heal spell would fix it. I assumed it would, but most people knew about that word ‘assume’! I leaned up against my lean-to and started munching on my dinner. Just as my stomach was getting full, I heard a sound that I KNEW I was not imagining.

  The loud snorting, grunting sound and snapping branches traveled the length of my clearing from the direction of the lightning tree. It was about 70 yards away and sounded just like what I’d imagined a wild boar or a peccary would sound like. Ever since my childhood days, I had been afraid of wild pigs. Old Yeller made sure of that! The only thing that could take down the ‘super dog’ was a bunch of upset pigs! I hadn’t even thought of that story in years and now it jumped from my memory with a cold sweat effect.

  I set the remainder of my food onto a piece of bark lying on the ground beside me and pulled my wand out of my back pocket. Two large creatures burst out of the woods and into view at the far end of the clearing. Driven into the open, I suspected, by the smell of my gourmet cooking. The sudden appearance caused me to react, gamer style, with a yelp of ‘integumentum!’ The feeling of an odd electric tautness on my skin was instant, followed a half second later by the formation of a transparent bubble-like shield enveloping me. Now, when trying to keep a low profile, yelping words might not be the best idea. The sound caused the creatures to halt in mid-step and turn towards me. They were much happier to see me than I was to see them judging by the grunts and toothy grins on their pig like faces. The ratty weapons that they began to un-sling from their backs gave the distinct impression that they didn't track me down for a chat. Their hunched six-foot frames appeared much larger when their hands held, what looked like a huge double-headed battle-axe for the one on the left, and a heavy spiked ball mace for the one on the right. Saliva began dripping from their jowls and then began to move the length of the clearing in my direction. Glittering black eyes looked at me with a clearly evil intent over the oddly pig-like snouts.

  I didn't wait for introductions. I pointed my wand at the creature on the left. The giant meat cleaver he carried scared me much more than the mace of his partner. I felt tingle in my chest build in anticipation and I spoke very clearly ‘fulmen telum!’ At this point, I want no mistakes that could be cause by muttering, mumblings or whisperings! I could feel the heat from the white-hot bolt of pure energy that flew from my wand on its way to meet the face of slobbering creature. Upon impact, the yowl of pain rang through the forest but the effect was not the same as popping rodents. He stumbled a bit and then a squealing yell was immediately followed by a charge! Terrified I repeated the actions of casting the bolt of energy at him once again. This one had a much better effect, causing him to lurch face first into the dirt about 20 yards away, twitch for a moment and then lie still.

  The mace-pig man, who had been startled and confused by my first attack, gathered his wits when his partner went down and charged me. With his head down and moving like a freight train, he was closing the gap between us quickly. I knelt down to offer a smaller target if he did happen to get to me, leveled my wand and sent two energy bolts in rapid succession. The effect was exactly as I had hoped. The first one staggered the ugly giant Orc and the second dropped him like a stone.

  The after effects of fight or flight surged through my body dropping me to my knees. I knelt there, tried to breathe deeply and not vomit. Gagging was ok but I didn't want to give up my dinner, even for a couple Orcs! Near the end of the confrontation, I had figured out what I was dealing with. Who says that gaming can't be good life experience?

  I barely even heard the whistle before the impact flipped me over into a backward summersault! Where I had been kneeling, about three feet in front of where I was now, was the shaft of a spear that could have doubled as a telephone pole! You may argue that it couldn't have been anywhere near that big, but you had not just been hit with the damn thing! I jumped to my feet and dodged behind my lean-to looking for the catapult that must have fired that thing, when I saw him. About 60 yards away, walking slowly and purposefully towards me with a bit of a smirk, was a monster. As he walked, he freed a huge two-handed sword from a sheath slung
across his back. For a human it would have been a two-handed sword, he gripped it easily in only one. Teeth protruded from his lower jaw and curled back towards his face framing his well-defined boar’s snout. He was about 9 feet tall and must have weighed close to 500 pounds. The noise that drifted across the clearing from him might have been humor, but I had never heard a pig laugh. He seemed in no hurry so I knew that I had better be! I pointed quickly and spoke clearly incendium sphera; I launched a basketball-sized orb of fire directly at his chest. The effect was beautiful but hardly deadly. The fireball exploded and caught the cloth and hide clothing that he was wearing on fire. Most living and all dead creatures I had heard of reacted adversely to being on fire and he was no different. He stopped and dropped his sword to begin ripping off the flaming garb. I called in my air strike. Aiming carefully and speaking very clearly I cast the lightning spell. The jagged bolt struck the flailing creature directly on the top of his head and caused him to glow like a candle. I cringed and ducked behind the lean-to remembering the wood fragments that had showered me the last time I had used this spell. Luckily, the energy passed through the Orc captain and dissipated into the earth. Steam rose from the corpse as I looked across my nice, friendly camp clearing turned war zone.

  I stood behind the lean-to gazing around and shaking from head to toe. I should have known that this place was too good to be true. The feelings of safety and well being I’d had melted away as I viewed the stinking bodies that had tried to take my life. I had a strange feeling of betrayal. The place that had seemed to provide everything that I needed, including a change of pace, had tried to kill me. I remembered my earlier thought of being both gamer and mortal. Well, it seems that the mortal part of that had reared its ugly head and said hello.

  As my nerves stabilized and thoughts of a further attack melted away, I felt the odd tautness of my shield spell fade. Thinking of events past, I believed that I had now found my new favorite spell. If I hadn’t have had that up, I was sure that the spear from the Orc captain would have spitted me like a rabbit. I walked, very cautiously with wand at the ready, the 20 yards to the closest Orc and put a toe into its ribs. There was no sound or movement from the creature but I still jumped backwards about five feet. I had been raised hearing, ‘there is a fine line between bravery and stupidity’, and I didn't want to be stupid!

  The creature was dressed in a mix of roughly cured leather and cloth items. It wore a bright red shirt with no sleeves or neckband covered by partially rotten leather vest. Knee length pants, if you could call them that were held up by a strap of leather that was tied on the side. I walked around to its right side and saw a small pouch tied the belt. The pouch looked as though it may have been made from the scrotum of a young bull. It was held closed by a thong threaded around the top in an over and under pattern. It must have been man made because I couldn’t give this thing the creative credit. I nudged it with my toe and thought that I heard a metal clink that might have been made by coins. I pulled out my pocketknife and sawed through the half-decomposed belt and freeing the pouch. Working my fingers into the mouth of the pouch, I managed to loosen the thong enough to get to the contents. I poured the coins into my hand and only dropped a few. Examining the coins, I discovered two different types. Both were stamped with very strange marks and no picture of Lincoln was on any of them. Two things were quite clear. The sizes were quite different and the smaller appeared to be copper. The larger was more carefully minted and made of silver. As I replaced them in the pouch, I counted them. There are six of the larger silver and nine of the copper…twelve counting the three I remembered to retrieve from the ground at my feet. I saw nothing else of interest on the body so I move on to the next.

  The first thing I noticed about the second Orc is the scarf it is wearing across its chest. Where in hell could you get a red, orange and blue plaid? It had to be the most awful color combination ever thought of. To make things even worse, as far as I was concerned, was the pink shirt that it was wearing under it. This thing was a fashion emergency if I had ever seen one, but in its current health, I didn't think it would matter much. I gave the creature a quick once-over and saw nothing of interest except for another pouch attached to its belt after the fashion of the first. This pouch was not nearly as cool as the one that I had found earlier. It amounted to a square of cured leather with all the corners touching and wrapped with a thong to keep it closed. I leaned in with my pocketknife and freed the thong from the belt. There was more of the same type of coinage. There were three large silver ones and three of the copper. Taking the first pouch from my pocket, I worked it open and added these coins to it. The square of leather and the thong I shoved down into my pants pocket. Waste not, want not.

  The Orc captain had toppled over onto its back, the tiny, dead eyes glazed over and staring sightlessly at the evening sky. Sticking from the top of its belt was the handle of a dagger. I reached across the huge stinking body and pulled on it. A fine leather sheath came out from behind the belt with it. A small leather thong hooked over one side of the hand guard to keep the blade in the sheath. I slipped the dagger, sheath and all into my left rear pocket to examine later. A large bulge was noticeable behind the creature’s charred sash near the bottom of its rib cage. I felt along the sash until I got to the lump and started untangling the object from its cloth wrapping. By the way it was tangled and knotted I could tell the creature didn't want to lose it. It was a small rectangular shape and quite heavy. When it finally came free, it shone in stark contrast to my soot blackened hand. It was a silver box with beautiful, ornate decorations carved into the metal. A small latch in the front held the lid tightly closed. The box looked to be about 4 inches by 4 inches by 6 inches and looked to be made of solid silver! I thumbed the latch and found that it was almost filled with coins. They were mostly silver and copper but glinting beautifully in the evening rays were three gold coins. They had almost the same markings as the smaller coins that I had found but I was sure the value would be much higher, if I could ever find another person from which to buy. Quickly counting the coins I came up with 28 copper coins, 22 silver coins, and the 3 gold coins. I finished going over the beast in a rush. There was nothing in the boots and no pockets that I could find. The minor armor that it was wearing wouldn't do any human any good.

  I walked across the clearing to the lightning shattered tree. I gathered all the wood that I could in a huge pile and made sure that a fire wouldn't spread from the edges when I ignited it. I used telekinesis to float the Orcs across the clearing and onto the pile of wood. The evening was ending and night was just to close to think of moving camp. I didn't want the smell of decomposing flesh to haunt my dreams or bring in wild, flesh-eating animals.

  I pulled my wand from my right rear pocket and quickly muttered incendium then turned to walk away. Watching dead humanoids burn just didn't seem like a hobby I wanted to take up. I heard the branches crackle as the flames took hold and, even with the sun still up, I could see the clearing get a bit lighter. I had made a very nice funeral pyre, if I did say so myself.

  Chapter Five

  I built up the campfire, checked the wood supply and snuggled down under my jacket. It had been a very long day and I was exhausted. As I drifted off into a restless sleep, I wondered how the line at the poultry plant was running without me. I wondered if anyone even knew I was gone.

  My problem with mornings had always been that they come too early in the day. The slight lightening in the sky and bird song woke me more quickly than any alarm clock. I stood and stretched, checked out my surroundings for trouble and began to plan my day. A slight wisp of smoke still rose from my pyre but my campfire had burned itself out. Last nights dinner still sat in the open on the ground where it had been forgotten.

  I started rounding up the odds and ends that were lying about. I was thankful I had grabbed my large jacket. The extra pocket space was coming in handy and it was much warmer than some of my others too. I used the tip of the wand to force a hole into the botto
m of my inside coat pocket. By doing that my wand would slide all the way down into the liner, but still be reachable. I fastened the belt loop of the dagger sheath to my belt on the left side and tied a thong around the bottom of it to fasten it to my leg. I didn’t like it just flapping there and I got more of a gunfighter look with the tie-down. Of course, the rabbits and squirrels that I had met needed to be impressed by my looks!

  I opened the silver box, removed the three gold coins, and dropped them in my right pants pocket. I stuck the box and the coin pouch into my left coat pocket for safekeeping. Having the gold coins where I could feel them made me feel almost rich. Before this, the only gold I had ever owned was found in trace amounts on high-end circuit boards! Having the gold coins right beside my trusty pocketknife also made me feel a bit safer.

  I looked over the site and felt sure that I had gathered everything that I wanted to keep. With a deep breath and concentration, I waved a hand toward the lean-to and my reserve woodpile, cast telekinesis and scattered everything back to the edge of the clearing. I dragged my foot through the ashes of my campfire to be sure it was out and made my way down to the pyre. Live Orcs stink, dead Orcs stink worse and dead, burned Orcs reek! There was very little left for the fire had done its job well, but the odor lingered heavily on the morning air. The fire had gone completely out and I figured by the time scavengers and a rainfall found the clearing there would be no sign of this mess left. I only hoped that there was not a huge Orc army behind these creatures that was going to be unhappy with me for upsetting their advance scout. These Orcs didn't seem any more the military type than any other Orcs I had met but… these were the only Orcs I had met!