Chapter Fourty Seven – The Cleansing of Darnuth Keep by Kelly D. Tolman

Posted by admin on August 17, 2009

The Cleansing of Darnuth Keep is a fantasy novel describing the adventures of Colter Halfspear as he becomes a man and an initiate of magical powers.

I sent Thorn back to lead the wagons and headed deeper into the forest alone. I followed the trail all that day and into the night, until exhaustion demanded I stop for at least some few moments. I found a sheltered spot with my back to a tree surrounded by high rocks. I dozed for only a moment when the sound of something enormous moving off to my right in the darkness startled me awake. My first thought was that an elk or mountain buffalo grazed nearby looking for bits of early spring grass. Then my horse cried out in terror. I saw an eye catch a moonbeam and drew and fired an arrow on reflex. For once Pascalli’s training paid off and I caused the shaft to burst into flame as soon as it left the bow. The fiery arrow showed me an enormous fanged boar’s head atop a body twice the size of the largest shaggy brown buffalo I had ever seen. The legs ended in enormous bear claws.

The shaft bounced harmlessly off of the thick skull, though the fire singed the fur slightly. I had done little more than attract its attention. My horse bolted. I dropped the bow and stood with spear in hand against a giant far beyond my expectations.

A wizard cannot communicate with the elements without concentration and focus. Pascalli forced that lesson home day after day. Everything else must fall to silence and oblivion except the voices of the elements. Staring at that angry boar’s head with those enraged, hungry eyes melted my will. I felt my grasp on my courage slipping. Never before had I truly known such fear, the kind of fear that causes a man to forget everything else and only want to hide himself from the entire world. I felt I could not breathe, and I tried to take a step backwards. I stumbled on the rocks and fell, though I did not hurt myself beyond a few minor scrapes.

For my own part I had given myself up for lost. My heart would not allow even the thought of survival. Providence, however, gave me a second chance. Suddenly a distant whimpering cry broke the air. “Help! Someone, please! Help!” caught my ear. The beast also heard the cry, though its gaze did not leave me. Such a simple cry filled me with a wild desperation beyond any normal courage I could muster. I might be able to let myself go, but nothing in me could ignore the suffering, however well deserved, of another person.

Though many would call me foolish, even courage drawn from misplaced ideals can work wonders. I came to my senses with indignant rage. On instinct I summoned all of the magic I had practiced and conjured a violent whirlwind between the creature and myself. A little startled, but hardly frightened it let out a low grunt like a bear and lowered its tusked head. I regained my footing and brandished my spear. The enormous animal lunged through the swirling dust and debris and I retreated behind my tree. I pelted it with as many small stones as I could control, infusing each with hot fire. Annoyance turned to rage and the beast again lunged for me. I darted aside again, but realized that this game could only end in disaster for me. I threw my spear so that it lodged high in the trunk of the tree and jumped to reach a lower branch just in time to avoid a wildly swiping claw. Without waiting to see what my adversary would do I climbed high enough to retrieve my spear.

Suddenly the tree shook with the force of an earthquake. Far below me the boar’s head raised and backed away. Quickly it lowered again in preparation for a second run at the tree. The impact nearly knocked me loose even though I braced against the trunk with all my strength. I felt the roots creaking beneath me. A bird’s nest dislodged and bounced off of my shoulder. Twice more the giant boarger, as we later came to call these beasts, charged the tree, but the sturdy pine held. I thought for a moment that I had escaped when it gave up that strategy. My joy quickly turned to desperation when I realized it had clearly dealt with treed quarry before. It circled around, ignoring my constant ineffective onslaught of molten stones until it reached a point of high rocks. Then, with all the agility of a cougar it leapt into the tree, shaking both root and limb. I clung wildly to the upper branches as the tree swayed precariously under the heavy pressure. To my amazement the tree did not snap, though the trunk bent sharply. Fortunately the boarger had not landed quite high enough and did not manage to get a decent foothold. Branches snapped beneath its weight as it slowly slipped back down the trunk. I felt the tree right itself, but I knew it could not withstand a second onslaught of that force.

Angrily the boarger growled at me, its vicious mouth fuming over gore-stained tusks. I took a breath, whispered a prayer to Tylos, yelled insanely and dropped spear first towards the boarger’s mouth. I poured every bit of energy into the tip of the spear until the shaft burned my hands, but I did not let go. I cannot say if fate, luck, or skill guided my hand, but the spear point entered the beast’s filthy maw and drove the shaft in more than half way. I bounced off of the creature’s head, but it managed to take a vicious swipe with one enormous claw. My buckskin shredded instantly, but the chain links beneath held. The force of the blow sent me sprawling across the rocks. I knelt, covering my head for safety.

The boarger howled and screamed and clawed at the weapon protruding from its face. I drew my sword and cautiously slashed at the thick hide. My weapon glanced away harmlessly. I need not have worried, though, for the spear had done enough damage already. The boarger trampled into the woods, bleeding and ignoring me. I trailed it until it collapsed. Though it still breathed, I tightly gripped my spear and pulled it free, setting the creature into a fit of rage and blood. I did not stay to watch it die, but instead returned to try and track down whoever had called out for help.

With a clear starry sky to guide me and a sufficient dose of excitement to keep me awake I quickly tracked the hoof prints I had been following to a dead horse. From there I followed a set of footprints to a tree whose bark had been seriously damaged. My entire encounter had taken place less than a hundred meters from the end of the chase. I looked up and found Laural, pale and frightened, staring back at me in disbelief. Though my horse had bolted in fright I managed to find it quickly enough and Laural slept behind me as we rode to rejoin the wagons.

I cannot say the remainder of our journey passed without incident, but at least we did not lose any more lives. Laural had been wounded when her horse was killed, though not beyond my skills to mend.

“There are many strange beasts around,” I commented to her as I applied a poultice. “I am sorry that you were injured.”

“But you warned me, didn’t you,” she replied defiantly. Her eyes mocked me, but somehow I didn’t care.

“Yes,” I replied, and to my surprise my voice was soft and kind rather than condescending. “I am not angry that you didn’t listen. I want these people to have a safe life, but we aren’t safe yet. I need the courage of everyone, especially those brave enough to challenge the wild on their own.”
She smiled weakly at the compliment, though a bit of doubt still clouded her eyes. “I should have stayed in Dynwater,” she muttered, though I don’t think she meant for me to hear.

“Is that where Quivain left you?” I asked, though I immediately regretted it.

“Yes,” she spat. “That filthy spawn of Hieron cheated me of my half of the reward.” Her face turned immediately bright red. I guessed that she had said something she hadn’t meant for me to know.

“What reward,” I pressed, though I guessed already the answer.

Her eyes flickered a moment as she contemplated a lie. “We had information for the emperor,” she said quickly.

“Very valuable information if the notorious Quivain Blackhand is willing to risk his life for it. I am amazed they did not hang him.” I said.
“I wish they had,” said Laural angrily. “A full pardon he asks. The regent in Havensod offered ten thousand imperial gold coins and he says, ‘I only wish to have my name.’ What dung.”

“Ten thousand, just for a little information,” I prodded. “I had no idea my name was so valuable.”

Her cheeks burned, both from anger and guilt. To my surprise she began to weep. “I am so sorry, Colter. I didn’t know, I didn’t understand.” I felt something melt inside me though somewhere in the back of my mind I worried this might be some trick. “Can you forgive me,” she sobbed.

“There is nothing to forgive,” I said. “Quivain would have done his worst with or without you. At least you’re not back at the Blue Dragon.” I chuckled, and she smiled a little.

So I learned that Quivain had betrayed me, though Pascalli had long before warned me he might. Any return to the east would be barred, and perhaps my journey through the western realms as well. I understood Zaban’s desire to arrest me better. I realized how strong Dina’s influence over her brother must be.
Copyright 2008 Kelly David Tolman

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