The Broken Sword - Chapter 6

Chapter 6

They had been at sea four days, sailing into the setting sun towards the chain of islands that made up the Chachopeyan Empire and beyond them another week to the mainland of Belurian. Already two ships had veered close until they could make out the sails identifying the ship and then veered away. Three others had been spotted as well, but they were either merchant ships or another caravel of the Elven Navy. Gregory and Nathanial, neither a stranger to traveling the ocean, were still impressed with the ease and grace that Bobo employed while helping out the crew on the ship. He seemed to not only know what and when to do things, but also every member of the crew. They treated him as one of their own.

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It was two days into the voyage that Gregory had commented on it to Bobo, drawing a good natured laugh from him. He told them that he had served on the Dolphinchaser for six months during his two year stint in the Elven Navy, and that without exception the Dolphinchaser was his favorite ship. It was the finest crew and the fastest ship, without argue, he maintained. In no position to debate, both men had accepted him at face value.

Bobo also explained how he lost his hand while fighting pirates on board the Dolphinchaser, and how he had recovered from it and had a hook fashioned on a sling that fit over his arm to help him maintain his usefulness. He had other tools too, but those the two would see in time.

They put in briefly at a small port town in the Chachopeyan Isles to resupply the ship, and were off before nightfall sailing again. It took nearly a total of two weeks before the ship sailed into the passage marked with buoys through the waters rife with volcanic reefs and managed to dock at Port Easton, the most south-eastern port town on Belurian.

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From Port Easton they traveled by horseback to the west, heading down ancient roads created before any could remember. Any save a few select elves, that is. They passed three other towns, all smaller waypoints along the way, until a large swamp began to loom off to the left. The road skirted the northern edge of the swamp, and was traveled frequently enough that there were seldom any problems encountered. Fate smiled kindly upon the three adventurers this time as well, for they were nearly past it before Bobo pulled up sharply as they drew even with a strange rock formation clearly seen many miles to the south in the small mountain range that lay within the middle of the swamp.

"We go there," Bobo said, pointing through the swamp towards the mountains. "Thoragloorin lays within those mountains."

"Oh good, a swamp," Gregory said sarcastically. "Maybe I can make myself some gator skin boots by the time we come out... if I'm not eaten alive."

Bobo grinned at him and hopped off his horse, reaching into on of his saddlebags and pulling out a strange contraption neither Nathan or Gregory had yet seen. He slipped it on his arm and secured the buckles to it, then turned to face them. It was clearly a modified firepowder pistol, though with two barrels.

"It will do you little good to worry about alligators," Bobo said, still grinning. "There are far worse things that lay between us."

Gregory's mouth opened but no words came out. Bobo had turned and headed off towards the swamp, counting on them to catch up. "What did he mean, worse things?" Gregory asked Nathanial as the monk hopped off his own horse and adjusted his robes before hurrying after the half-elven prince.

"Come and find out, why don't you?" Nathanial said over his shoulder, taking care to follow Bobo's tracks as closely as he could.

They walked through increasingly damp ground until it became muddy and sucked at their feet. Nathanial lost his sandals to the muck in no time, finally giving up and wrapping them in a piece of cloth after washing them off in one of the many puddles of stagnant water that surrounded them and slipping them into a large pouch that hung from the rope he tied around his waist.

Soon the ground gave way to the swamp entirely, with only occasional mounds of earth rising above the water. Bobo kept them on a course where firmer ground lay only a few inches beneath the surface of the water. How he knew where to go baffled the other two men, they could only assume that it was either a property of his unique heritage or he had been counseled by Kelnozz.

Occasionally a nearby splash or a flutter of wings as a bird took to the sky startled them. Bobo glanced back at them one time, a very intent look on his face, and motioned them all to silence. Very stealthily he crept through the water and up to a nearby small hill that rose out of the water. He crouched behind some bushes and motioned for the other two to join him. Not as naturally talented at stealth as the Prince was, they nevertheless drew no attention to themselves when they crouched beside him. The inched up and looked over the edge the hill and around the gnarled roots of a half dead Cyprus tree, nearly gasping aloud at when they realized what it was Bobo was looking at.

Concealed by bushes and the murky water, a giant scaled thing was laying in wait for its dinner. Several small fish gasped for air on the dry surface of the tiny isle the creature used for its trap. Some were already dead and others nearly there, their fate assured regardless of whether they returned to water or not. In the trees above several large birds hopped about, watching less then patiently and waiting for a sign that they could dive in on the feast below.

The true predator was over twenty feet long easily, but how long it was they could not tell for it's snakelike body trailed into the water and lay beneath the surface. It had several sets of legs, spaced evenly down it's length, allowing it to pull it's massive weight without dragging along the ground. It's head was large as well, large enough to bite a full grown man in half with a single chomp, though they had yet to see it open it's mouth to verify that it did indeed have millions of razor sharp teeth as they suspected.

Their wait was short lived, however. A bird finally grew impatient and fluttered down, grabbing a fish with its talons and trying to beat its wings to fly away quickly. The creature was faster though, and it rocketed forward catching the bird in its mouth and chewing on it only twice before swallowing it. Both men backed down from the small ridge and looked at each other, eyes wide. Another glance and they saw that the creature had returned to its hiding spot, waiting for another bird to descend. A few feathers floated softly to the ground, only now coming to rest.

Bobo motioned them away and led them back through the swamp to the trail, then quietly and slowly along it until at least twenty minutes and half a mile had passed. He pulled up short then and smiled at the two, who were looking back over their shoulder nervously.

"Frightened?" Bobo asked softly.

Gregory nodded, no attempt at false bravado present. Nathanial glanced back again before saying, "I fear no man or woman of this world, though perhaps I should, but what in the nine hells was that thing?"

"Cousin to a dragon I am told, a swamp-wyrm," Bobo explained. "Though that is the first I have seen. Rather impressive, I think."

"Impressive?" Gregory spat out, amazed at his calm behavior. "How would you even hope to kill such a thing?"

"Siege equipment," Nathanial said with a ghost of a grin. Bobo chuckled and nodded.

"Aye, that would be one way. I'm told either magic, a very sharp blade, or aiming for their eyes or mouth, where they are more vulnerable. That is the first I have seen of one, but this swamp is supposedly filled with them."

"So that would be the worse thing you mentioned?" Gregory asked.

"One of them. When we get to the mountains there will be other threats, mountain-wyrms, similar to the swap-wyrm but smaller. Then there are the wyverns..."

Nathanial and Gregory looked at each other and just shook their heads. Silently the three of them continued, though all were more wary now then ever before.

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They managed to emerge from the swamp unharassed. A few times in the distance Gregory or Nathan would have sworn they saw the ruins of an ancient building, but they never approached so were forced to remain uncertain. The swamp ended abruptly, the muddy ground climbing higher rapidly and drying out quickly. It rose into some low foothills and from there into mountains ahead of them. The unseen path Bobo led them down remained fairly level, though occasionally strewn with broken rocks that had fallen from great heights. It became apparent that at one point long ago it had been a major thoroughfare.

Shortly after they entered the mountains the ruins of a great gatehouse rose ahead of them. The walls that stretched to the nearby cliffs on either side had long since fallen into mounds of rubble, as had the gate itself. A lonely tower remained, itself only a few years from unrecognizable rubble. The scene was one of stillness, with the sun passing just beyond the easternmost ridge of the cliff and casting the valley into shadow.

"It seems awfully dead up there," Bobo muttered to himself, pausing and studying the gatehouse.

"Looks like a great place for a monster lair," Gregory commented, studying the tower and the total lack of plant life around it.

Nathanial took a deep breath and sat down on the ground with his legs crossed in front of him; the classic pose of meditation. Bobo glanced back at him and frowned, then looked to Gregory for an explanation.

"He gets like that before a big fight, some religious channeling thing or something," Gregory said, shrugging. "It's best to just go with it, he gets cranky when you question him too much."

Bobo smiled and nodded, letting the seemingly odd idiosyncrasy slide from his list of worries. He reached down to the device on his arm and cranked the hammers back on each barrel. He loosened his cutlass in his scabbard, the same cutlass that Halidor had given him after he used it to "fix" Bobo's arm several years back, and walked towards the tower. Gregory pulled out his wand from a pocket and held it stretched in front of him, ready to use.

"What are you going to do with that, poke somebody's eye out?" Bobo asked after looking back and seeing Gregory wielding the thing wooden stick.

"This is my wand, through it I cast my magic," Gregory replied indignantly.

Bobo snorted. "Some magic, all the wizards I know chant some words, wave their hands, and things happen. Or, in the case of my mother, she can just make a simple gesture... or less, and cause her spells to take shape."

"Everybody's magic works differently," Gregory replied, irritation in his whispered voice. "By channeling mine through my wand I can invoke powerful spells faster."

Bobo rolled his eyes but accepted the wizard's statement. He glanced back and saw Nathanial walking towards them, looking very grim and determined. Then he saw Nathanial's gaze go past them at the same time his sensitive hearing picked up the sound of shifting rock behind him. He spun about and saw the mountain wyrm that made its lair in the tower rushing towards them.

Gregory snapped his wand forward and spat out a couple of syllables that made absolutely no sense to anyone but him. The wand responded though, sending out an arc of flames that crashed into the creature as it tried to rush through them. It screeched and backed away hurriedly, waiting until a few seconds later when the spell ended and the flames burnt out. It roared and tensed to lunge forward again.

Nathanial was there then, leaping through the air and bringing a fist crashing down on the snout of the wyrm. He kicked off of it and spun in mid air to land solidly on the ground, the wyrm turning to regard him as its new target. The air echoed then as Bobo pulled both triggers on his arm, sending two bullets exploding out of the barrels and at the beast. One veered high, narrowly missing, while the other slammed into the wyrm just behind it's head, tearing a hole in its scales that dripped a dark red blood.

The wyrm turned back to Bobo and Gregory, giving Nathanial a chance to lash out with his foot and kick it in the side of the face. The wyrm was confused by so many attacks coming from so many different directions, and in the end decided to attack the enemy closest to it. It leapt sideways at Nathanial, catching him completely off guard and wrapping as much of its twenty foot long body around him as possible. It contracted and tried to squeeze the life of out him, using its many legs for purchase against the shifting rocks.

Nathanial gasped in pain but fought the only way he knew how, by bringing his fists down in powerful punches on the back of the creature, trying to shatter its spine through its thick scales and hide. His blows had little effect.

Bobocateya ran forward, his cutlass in his hand slashing down at the neck of the wyrm. The thick scales turned the sharp blade aside with little more then a scratch to show for his efforts. He struck repeatedly, trying again and again to use the curved blade against it.

The wyrm took notice of him finally and tripped him with one leg, sending him sprawling backwards. It stretched its head out towards him, fanged maw opening. Gregory snapped his arm forward and chanted another command word. The air in front of the wand shimmered and contracted, stealing Gregory's breath from him for a second, then it flung forward, rocketing into the mouth of the wyrm. With sound of air being loudly knocked from someone's lungs the heavily condensed ball of air returned to normal size and volume. The wyrm's head exploded, absorbing the majority of the explosion, yet enough over-pressure remained to send Bobo rolling away and to pick Nathanial up out of the dying wyrm's clutches and propel him through the air nearly ten feet.

Nathanial picked himself up first, hopping from his back to his feet with a fluid movement. He saw the final twitches of the mountain wyrm and saw Bobo struggling to regain his feet as well. Other then bumps, bruises, and scrapes they appeared uninjured. He hurried back and to his companions and watched as Bobo pulled some things out of a pouch at his side and slid them into the barrels of his pistol. A few moments later he turned to face Nathanial and the monk saw blood ran from the Prince's ear. The pressure from Gregory's spell had ruptured his ear drum.

Nathanial moved closer and called upon the blessings of Alto, resting his hand on a hesitant Bobo's ear. When he pulled his hand away the blood was dried and flaking away. Bobo grinned and brushed it away. "I can hear again, my thanks!" he said, clapping Nathanial on the shoulder with his good hand.

"And you, I offer my apologies if I insulted your wizardry, that was a very neat trick!" Gregory beamed at the praise.

"Let us hurry, something may come to investigate the noise," Nathanial said, glancing around nervously. Bobo nodded, heading forward. Gregory glanced at the dead wyrm and then the tower and scrambled forward excitedly.

"What's he doing?" Bobo asked when the enchanter had passed both of them and disappeared into the tower.

"Probably thinks that thing had some treasure. He grew up with a money hungry merchant as a father and his profession requires a lot of expensive supplies, so he's a little greedy at times," Nathanial spoke softly so his words would not carry.

Bobo looked at him, one eyebrow cocked in surprise.

"Oh, don't worry, he won't deny us our share of anything that is there," Nathan said, misinterpreting Bobo's look. Bobo just shook his head and chuckled.

"As much as I want you both to look upon me as just a companion, perhaps I should remind him of who he is traveling with. If he wants for money I can easily remedy the situation when we return."

Nathanial shrugged. "It's in his nature. As for me, I have only what I need. Anything else is unneeded. Perhaps a sizeable donation to my church if the opportunity presents itself."

Bobo nodded. He had never wanted for material things, so he had less true appreciation for wealth then most people did. He had little appreciation for religion as well, however, so amongst the three of them each man was alone. By the time the two were about to enter the doorway to the tower, which resembled a gaping hole in the side of the building far more then a door anymore, Gregory was emerging from it with a faint scowl on his face.

"Nothing?" Nathan asked.

Gregory shook his head. "At least the beast was smart enough to bury its waste."

Bobo raised his eyebrows, thankful he had not been the one to go digging for it. Still Gregory seemed clean enough. "Let us be off then, scavengers can not be far away."

They camped that night using the side of a large boulder and a mound of rubble from a long ago landslide as shelter. No fire was necessary, they had enough jerked meat to keep them full and the temperature in southern Belurian was tropical throughout most of the year.

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In the morning a fresh challenge awaited them. Scarcely fifteen minutes out from their campsite a wyvern spotted them as it hunted high above them. Nathan glanced up, noticing a strange shadow as he looked over the edge of the worn and ancient rock bridge they crossed. Hundreds of feet below a large river flowed. The bridge itself was far from natural, but it having survived thousands of years was a testimony to the skill and strength it had been fashioned with.

"Watch out!" Nathan cried, leaping into both of his companions and sending them rolling to the ground. The wyvern's grasping claws clicked shut on empty air, but it still managed to tear a deep gouge into Gregory's calf as it passed.

Nathan and Bobo were back on their feet, Bobo aiming as the wyvern soared back into the air. It was out of range before he could fire on it, however. It circled high in the air and came rocketing back down, diving with a frightful speed. Both men held their ground, prepared to lash out and dodge out of the way, full well understanding and accepting the consequences of a half second's miscalculation in their timing.

Gregory sat up and aimed his wand at the rapidly approaching wyvern. He performed a new rotating and twitching maneuver with the stick and spat out a single arcane word. A stream of shimmering light erupted from the tip of the wand and struck the wyvern squarely in the face, stunning it with the bright lights and multiple images. Confused, the wyvern struggled to make sense of the chaotic visions and plummeted straight towards them.

Gregory cursed as he forced his bleeding leg to support his weight while scrambling out of the way. Nathanial and Bobo, not understanding what was happening stayed in place until they realized the wyvern was out of control. Both flung themselves away but Nathanial was what the wyvern had been aiming for. One of the reptilian bird's wings clipped him as he dove, sending him rolling towards the edge only seconds before the wyvern crashed into the bridge at a high rate of speed, snapping multiple bones and dislodging a large chunk of the side of the bridge into the abyss over the river. Nathanial scrambled to find purchase on the rock and ended up grabbing onto the ledge with his fingertips, grunting in pain as his full weight rested on them. He swung over the river hundreds of feet below and dared not look down.

Bobo was there then, grabbing on to his arm and easily lifting the 190 pound man up and onto the bridge with only his one arm. It was not until Nathanial's feet were back on solid ground and he peered over the edge that he realized what Bobo had done for him and to him.

"How strong are you?" He asked incredulously.

Bobo opened his mouth to respond but stopped as he noticed the red stain spreading from a tear in Nathan's robes at his hip. "You're injured,' he said instead, pointing.

Nathanial glanced down at himself and groaned. He pulled his robes aside and noticed that the wyverns wing had cut quite a gash through his robes and hip. Nothing life threatening if properly bandaged, but potentially crippling. Then again, it was good to be a priest...

A few moments of quiet meditation later and Nathanial stood up, seemingly without injury. He moved over to Gregory and prayed for the power to heal his friend, which Alto deemed worthy, for the wound on his calf closed over and bled no more.

"Where were you when I lost my hand," the prince said, chuckling as both men were on their feet and ready to proceed.

"Learning how to do that," Nathanial responded, looking around suspiciously. "Let us make haste, we are in the open here and Alto does not favor me with spells so much as strength of arms."

"Well then, let us test your strength of foot," Bobo said, jogging at a brisk pace ahead on the trail. Nathaniel chuckled and followed after, leaving a cursing Gregory to try and keep up the pace they set. In moments Gregory was ready to kill them both, if he would have had the strength to catch up.

Nothing else assailed them the rest of the afternoon. They stood at the base of a shimmering blue wall of light, studying it carefully. Gregory, in particular, took quite an interest in it. The road they had been on showed more and more signs of manufacturing the closer they got. At the edge of the curtain of light it was apparent that it had once been made of cobblestones, though now they showed the signs of age.

"What now?" Nathanial asked, watching behind them.

"Now we find out just how much elf there is in me," Bobo muttered.

"What do you mean?"

"You're afraid you won't be able to enter?" Gregory seconded, understanding what Bobo meant.

"Aye, this wall was specifically designed at forbidding elves from crossing through it, other races are only restricted from leaving. If too much of my father's blood runs in me I will be denied entry," Bobo explained.

"Well, if you can't get in this trip is for naught, you're the one who knows the most about what is going on," Nathan said.

Bobo nodded. "Yes, so let us find out, shall we?"

Without waiting for a reply he stepped forward, pushing through the light with a look of intense concentration on his face. He seemed to struggle for a moment, pushing harder and harder until he disappeared into the light.

Nathanial and Gregory looked to each other, wondering at just how successful he had been. "Well, let's hope he wasn't just disintegrated," Gregory said, stepping forward and easily walking through the magical curtain.

Nathanial stared after him for a long moment before finally muttering, "I could have done without that thought." Trusting in Alto's wisdom to guide him, he stepped forward into the light.

Continued in Chapter 7

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