Record of Lodoss War

Chapter 2

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Chapter 2

Slayn softly chanted his spell. Far-seeing spells magnified the user’s vision several times beyond what would normally be possible for a human. The only problem was that such magics were tricky, requiring many adjustments to see the right place. Slayn looked up in the air, repeatedly opening and closing his eyes as he adjusted his vision to see down the road.

“It’s awful!” blurted out Slayn when at last he could clearly make out the desired location.

The scene Slayn looked upon was something out of h.e.l.l. The ground was stained black, and in that blackness lay many, many burnt corpses. A white smoke rose from the charred remains, and the unpleasant odor of burning flesh filled the air.

Slayn turned his gaze, looking towards the carriage. On the carriage stood a woman in a purple dress. It seemed she was giving orders to the nearby men, hurriedly turning in one direction and the other, and rapidly gesturing with her hands.

That woman may have cast the spell, thought Slayn. She wore an old kingdom artifact, a circlet, across her brow, and bore a number of roughly-made rings on her fingers — surely not for decoration. Of course, the staff in her right hand was not a sage’s staff, but it was made of fine oak, and there were ancient runes carved into its surface, though Slayn could not tell which.

“Well, how it is?” asked Parn.

Thinking that if he looked away, it would be difficult to find the spot again, Slayn kept his eyes on the woman as he answered.

“It was magic. Looks like all of the knights of Valis have been defeated. I can see four of the carriage’s guards, and one woman. She has a pretty face, but she is definitely a mage. But what terrible power, to destroy the knights of Valis with a single fire spell.”

Parn could not believe Slayn’s words. “There’s no way,” said Parn in a strangled voice.

“But it’s the truth,” was Slayn’s cold reply.

Once he had surveyed the situation around the carriage, Slayn focused his attention on the woman giving orders. She looked a little younger than Slayn. Of course, any mage, and especially a sorceress, might disguise her appearance, but her movements betrayed a youthful energy. Even with an illusion, disguising ones’ movements was difficult, so it was just possible she might be as young as she appeared. In any case, she was a mage of great and terrible power. But Slayn had never heard of such a powerful witch. Yet… he had seen her before, and recently.

Slayn stared at the sorceress, probing his memory.

“I’ve got it!” yelled Slayn when at last he remembered. “The woman I’m looking at right now is the one from the portrait in the old house in Alan. Between her purple clothing and that circlet, there’s no mistaking it. Her name was Karla, if I recall correctly. Ghim, you remember, right? You were fascinated by that painting.”

“…no idea. I don’t recall such a picture. And I can’t very well confirm it, because I can’t see what you see. Let’s just get moving. She’s our enemy, right? We should capture her before she can get away.” Ghim moved a bit ahead and unslung his battle axe from his back.

“That’s right! They’re working for Marmo, and snuck into Valis for some reason. If the holy knights were chasing them, that surely means they were up to no good.” Blurting this out, Parn broke into a run.

“What’s the idea, just rushing in carelessly like that? Do you plan to fight them? Drop it! We’re no match for them. Don’t forget that they wiped out five holy knights.”

“But…” Parn turned his head, preparing a retort. But seeing Slayn’s unusually stern expression, he was unable to continue.

“If you want to throw your lives away I won’t stop you. But dying needlessly is not courage. What’s important now is surviving and pursuing our goals. I advise you to hold out for now and wait for your chance.”

“And if we can’t find that chance, we’ll just watch them run away?” The reply came not from Parn, but from Ghim. He slowly approached Slayn, and his quiet but powerful words made the mage tremble.

“Of course not. I’m just saying that now is not the time. But why are you, of all people, so worked up about this? I find that strange, though not if it was coming from Parn.” Slayn wavered at this counterargument coming from such an unexpected source.

“I… I have my reasons,” said Ghim in a subdued voice, then he turned and ran down the road. Parn gave Slayn an apologetic glance and ran after him, Deedlit and Eto following in his wake.

“Seems you’re unpopular, mage. But you’re right. Let’s follow them slowly, from a distance,” whispered Woodchuck, who had quietly approached from behind, shadow-like. His voice sounded to Slayn like the murmurs of his own inner demons.

“That- that’s no good!” Slayn took off running without turning back. He felt like if he turned, he’d be caught by his own shadow.

“I won’t make the same mistake twice!” Pressing his lips together so tightly that they turned white, Slayn gripped his staff. He threw back the hood that limited his vision, exposing his face to the summer sun. The sun, sinking towards the horizon, burned into his eyes, and the heat soaked into his skin. Narrowing his eyes against the light, Slayn ignored the heat and ran hard after Parn and the others, trying to catch up.

What a bunch of happy fools, thought Wood, starting into a slow run some distance behind them.

Whether by good fortune or ill luck, Slayn’s fears were not realized. By the time the group reached the scene, the carriage had vanished.

Ghim pleaded for them to continue the chase, but Parn was unable to ignore the wreckage without doing something. Besides, following the carriage on foot would be quite difficult.

When Slayn argued that their enemies would probably camp once it grew dark, Ghim at last gave in.

Seems they’re set on fighting that group whatever happens, thought Slayn with resignation. He decided then to use magic for destructive purposes. He, too, knew how to cast fire spells.

Parn was speechless as he gazed upon the horrors that remained after the battle. Deedlit cowered behind Parn as though hiding from the sight, only her face visible. The hands that rested on Parn’s epaulet trembled slightly. Frowning, she muttered a prayer in the elven tongue.

The earth had been blackened by fire. On that blackened earth lay seven bodies. Five of them wore the armor of knights of Valis.

Eto had bent down and was checking each of the bodies for signs of life. His normally pleasant face wavered between anger and pity.

All the knights of Valis had been burned by the intense flames and had stopped breathing. It must have been a terrible heat. Their skin had puffed up, and on touch, bits of blackened skin would pull away, revealing the livid flesh underneath. Of course such a sight would plant the seed of anger in Eto’s heart. We must rain the judgment of Pharis on those monsters’ heads! Eto screamed in his heart of hearts.

When he touched the body of the last knight and realized it was still warm, Eto’s anger cooled for a moment. When he looked closer, he could see that the man’s chest still rose and fell. “This man is still alive!”

At Eto’s yell, the other five adventurers ran to him, surrounding him.

“If he’s still breathing, I may be able to do something for him with my power.” As he said this, Eto met Parn’s eyes with worry, sending him a sign.

Parn nodded. “Give them some room. This is Eto’s job.”

Deedlit seemed displeased, but she agreed to pull back when Slayn explained, “Eto uses the magic of Pharis.”

“Let’s bury the bodies of the dead knights. We can’t very well leave them like this.”

Ghim nodded silently at Parn’s words and pulled down his battleaxe. One side bore a blade, but the other was sharp as well, like a pick. He raised the axe in the air, aiming the pick at the ground, and brought it down. He buried the pick in the ground, breaking the earth into smaller chunks. Parn picked up a piece of wood and used it to clear the loose dirt out of the way. In this manner, they dug a small hole and slowly enlarged it.

Slayn sat down on the ground, facing away from the road so as not to look at the aftermath of the battle, and stared blankly at the peaceful fields that stretched out before him. A few questions swirled in his mind. The first concerned the ident.i.ty of the sorceress, the second, Ghim’s behavior. Ghim had definitely stared at the portrait in the old house in Alania. Forgetting something he had stared at so intently seemed quite improbable. And Ghim, who was usually so unconcerned with everything was now acting as though this was his personal mission and putting himself in the vanguard. But what reason had he to follow the servants of Marmo? Slayn had no idea. And when he thought about it, it was also strange that a subterranean dwarf, who delighted only in the works of his own hands, would leave on a journey in the first place. When he first came to my house, he was searching for something. It was either the clue to some riddle, or perhaps a map of all of Lodoss.

Ghim set out on on this journey with some purpose in mind. And now, might it be that he’s scented the trail?

His face frozen in a severe expression, Slayn quietly observed Ghim swinging his axe.

The melodic chant of Eto’s spell seemed to stretch on forever. Meanwhile, Ghim and Parn dug a grave for each of the fallen knights, with Deedlit’s a.s.sistance. They placed one corpse in each grave, covered them with dirt, and thrust each knight’s sword point-first into the ground, to serve as grave-markers. A short distance away, they did the same for the fighters who had guarded the carriage. As they carried out this grim task, the sun dipped slowly beneath the horizon, and the blue faded from the sky.

“Looks like that mage didn’t care if her spell killed her own men,” said Parn with disgust.

“That’s where you’re wrong. I checked the bodies too, and it would seem these fighters died from sword wounds, so I would guess that she worked her magic after her men had been cut down by the knights of Valis. Plus, the side of their bodies that was facing the ground isn’t burnt.”

“Even if they were already dead, I can’t forgive her using magic on her allies.”

“Above all else, magic is not meant to be used in service of destruction. But what do we do next?” Slayn asked Parn.

“We keep going, of course.” Parn said this as though it was a foregone conclusion. Next to him, Ghim grunted his a.s.sent.

“You’re serious, aren’t you?” asked Slayn in a low voice. “You’ve witnessed the power of our enemies, who can defeat this many knights with a single spell. I hate to ask this, but do you really think we can win?”

“I do not,” moaned Parn, seeming pained. “But we can’t afford to let them do as they please!”

“Even if we beat them, who’s going to give us a reward?” Wood asked Parn in a bored tone. “I don’t like working for free.”

“The reward comes from your own heart!”

From behind them, they heard Eto’s reply. Wood turned to look at Eto. He seemed exhausted, the drain of using his magic showing. But his efforts had not been in vain. Behind him, the knight stood under his own power, though with visible difficulty. Parn’s face shone with joy.

“And there will also be a reward from the King of Valis,” said the knight quietly.

“Will you tell us the reason?” Parn asked the knight.

The knight nodded silently, then began to speak.

“I am a member of Valis’ royal guard, and I was a.s.signed to Princess Fianna’s escort.”

“Princess Fianna! You mean the Crown Princess of Valis?” shouted Parn in surprise. Deedlit kept her mouth closed, but seemed very intrigued.

“The very same. As the only daughter of King Fahn, her highness Princess Fianna is Crown Princess of Valis. After the start of the current conflict, the princess desired to visit the front lines and encourage the troops. Of course, the king, as well as everyone else in the castle, was opposed from the start. But somehow, the princess managed to slip out of the castle.”

“And so you and your companions were sent out as a search party?” asked Deedlit once the knight had stopped for breath.

“Exactly. It would seem that the princess was aided by a merchant. The merchant in question was a shady character, so we followed her. We finally caught up with the merchant’s caravan and tried to get the princess back, but the result was the pitiful sight you see before you. We defeated some of the guards and thought to pull the princess from the carriage, but a woman came out of it instead. The woman chanted some strange words and an inferno exploded around us, knocking us from our horses. It felt like my whole body was burning, and in that moment of defeat I pa.s.sed out.”

“You were serious about the reward, I hope?” asked Wood, peering at the knight’s face.

“Of course. If you’re able to recover the princess safe and sound, I can promise there will be a reward. You will probably be able to name your price.”

“I’ll just have to trust that,” said Wood, and turned to pick up his luggage. Looks like I’ve become a fool as well.

“I’m in your debt,” said the knight, thanking the whole group. Then he looked up, and with pursed lips, stared down the darkened road in the direction the caravan had taken. His eyes blazed with anger, as though he could see the woman who had taken the lives of his companions.

The anger that caught flame in Parn’s heart at that unattainable enemy was the same.

Deedlit watched them, confused. Why did Parn share this anger, which was not his own? Why would he risk his life in such a cause?

Thinking that though she herself would be fine, Parn and the others would have trouble walking in the dark, Deedlit started chanting the words to summon the spirits of light, will-o’-wisp.

“Ô shining spirits who dwell in the light, gather and reveal your form to me!” In response to Deedlit’s spell, a small, bouncing light appeared letting off a dim light as it floated in the air. The light gradually grew brighter.

Next to her, Slayn created a magic light at the end of his staff. Lit by these twin glows, the party finally left the smell of charred meat behind, setting off down the road towards Kanon with apprehension.

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