Rampage, page 10
part #1 of Land of the Elementals Series
He then brought his elbow down viciously, throwing his body forward as he did so. He struck the gremlin square across the face and caved his head in, spraying blood and brain matter all over the parched ground. The gremlin stopped moving, his body going limp, with only the small twitches of his nervous system not yet realizing he was dead.
Arbor got up then, his body trembling with adrenaline and fear. He had no time to break down though and ran over to the still prone Grak. He got down on his knees next to her, feeling a huge sense of relief that she was still breathing, though he could see it wasn’t all good. The black stain on her thigh had spread, and she was now holding both hands over the wound.
“I think he may have nicked an artery,” she managed to say in answer to his questioning look. “It won’t stop bleeding and I’m afraid to move my hands.”
She was clearly in a great deal of pain, and Arbor knew he had to act quickly to staunch the bleeding. He stood, grabbing his cloak from the saddle of one of the horses and tore a strip of cloth from the bottom. He took a waterskin, soaking the rag as he bent down next to her.
“Move your hands away, and I’ll wrap it for you. I don’t have anything to clean the wound, so we’ll just have to hope that it doesn’t get infected.”
Grak nodded. She was clearly afraid and a bit embarrassed. The wound was pretty high up on her thigh, after all. But after taking a few deep breaths, she let go of her leg. Blood instantly began pumping from the wound, but Arbor worked quickly and wrapped the strip of cloth tightly around her leg. She was lucky that they weren’t a regular pair of pants. Otherwise, he’d have had to cut them away, which would have taken precious seconds.
The only thing holding her makeshift pants in place were two knots near the bottom. Thus, he was easily able to work the bandage around under the cloth, tying it off tightly. Blood soaked the makeshift bandage when he sat back, but no blood leaked from under it.
Grak smiled at him in thanks, clear relief showing now that the bleeding had been stopped. Then a look of concern crossed her face.
“Arbor, you’re bleeding!”
Arbor looked at himself then, only now noticing that his side was indeed soaked in blood.
“Must’ve cut deeper than I thought,” he said, remembering the gremlin that had almost killed him before. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve had worse.”
Grak glared at him and got shakily to her feet.
“Don’t give me that macho bullcrap! Take off your shirt. I won’t have you bleeding to death on me,” she ordered, in a tone that would brook no argument.
Arbor did so, grumbling under his breath that he didn’t need any help and that it was no big deal.
Grak just ignored him and set about poking and prodding the wound. Once she was satisfied that it wasn’t life-threatening, she washed it off with some water and wrapped it with some more strips torn from Arbor’s cloak. After a few more minutes, she stepped back to admire her work and nodded in satisfaction.
Though she did take the time to admire his well-muscled chest, her eyes were inexplicably drawn upward to the pendant sitting around his neck.
“What is that?” Grak asked, pointing to the pendant.
Arbor looked down at his chest, where the pendant, Karria’s necklace, and his wallet hung.
“You’ll have to be more specific. Which one do you want to know about?”
He knew what she was referring to but didn’t want to talk about the painful memories associated with the pendant.
Grak just rolled her eyes though and reached out to pull the pendant from his neck. Then she gave him a questioning look.
“My father gave it to me on the night I was supposed to be married,” he said in a sober tone. “It’s the only thing I have left of him.”
Grak examined the pendant with wide eyes for a few moments before handing it back.
“Do you know what kind of metal it is? It’s clearly not painted, and I’ve never seen metal that color before.”
Arbor shook his head, taking the pendant back and sliding it over his head. He stood in silence, his thoughts grim as he relived the horrific night. Had it really been three months since that had happened? To him, it still felt like yesterday.
He was snapped from his thoughts as Grak held his shirt out to him, soaking wet. She’d rinsed the blood out as best she could with just plain water.
“Thank you,” he said, taking the shirt from her, glad that he could occupy his mind with something else.
There was still a hole in the side, but he could always change later.
“We better get moving,” he finally said, looking back to the horizon. “We’ve bought ourselves some time with this. Best not to waste it.”
Grak nodded in agreement and headed over to her horse.
“Um, Arbor.”
He turned his head as he heard her call out.
“What is it?” he asked. He started walking over, wondering if her bandage might have come loose.
She looked slightly embarrassed, and her usual light red complexion was a bit darker as she flushed.
“I can’t mount up by myself,” she said quietly. “My leg won’t support my weight.”
Arbor just nodded and, grabbing her by the waist, he hoisted her up onto her horse. Her body was soft and feminine, and he felt a pang as it reminded him of what he’d lost.
“Thank you,” she said quietly.
Her cheeks were burning with embarrassment now, but Arbor had the good grace not to say anything about it.
“No need to thank me. After all, it was my idea to stay and fight. It’s my fault you were injured, so this was the least I could do.”
He then headed back to his horse and mounted up, and the two of them took off again. They rode on for another hour before Grak signaled him to come over.
“We’re closer than I thought,” she said in answer to his unasked question. “Another few hours of hard riding and we should be able to reach the Peaks.”
The excitement dropped from her voice then and was replaced by worry.
“Though I don’t know if the horses will be able to make it.”
“We’ll make it,” Arbor said confidently. “We’ve come this far and I’m not about to give up now.”
“It’s not you I’m worried about,” Grak said, patting the horse’s side.
Arbor bit his bottom lip as he thought. She was right. At this rate, the horses would drop dead from fatigue before they were even halfway there. He’d been wracking his mind for a full five minutes when an idea suddenly came to him.
Silver had told him that his magic could affect his body and he’d experienced this first-hand during his fight with the gremlins. If he could enhance himself, could he do the same for others as well?
“Grak, I have an idea,” he said tentatively. “I don’t know if it’ll work, but it may just save our lives.”
She shrugged, her red-skinned shoulders rising and falling.
“If you think it’ll help us survive, go right ahead.”
He nodded his thanks at her trust and leaned over to place a hand on her horse’s flank. He then closed his eyes and concentrated inward.
He’d never actively tried to access his magic before, so he imagined trying to feel the same sensation he’d felt while fighting earlier. It took a few minutes of searching, but he soon found what he’d been looking for.
A small blue sphere was sitting at the very center of his body, the Core of his power. If he concentrated hard enough, he could feel the power contained within. Five large streams extended out of his Core, and when he followed them, he could see that they connected to his arms, legs, and head. A few smaller streams broke off the main ones, but there weren’t many. Going back to the Core at his center, he tried pulling on it, but nothing happened.
He tried next to push it outward, towards his hand, but once again, nothing happened. He was about to give up, when another thought struck him.
There seemed to be streams coming off the Core. Maybe his magic would only follow a specific path?
He tested out his theory and was rewarded when the magic responded immediately and began flowing along the streams. He idly wondered what would happen if he tried to force more magic through the streams. Would he be able to use more of his power?
Arbor once again tested his theory and was once again rewarded when the magic began flowing at an accelerated rate. He gasped as the electric feeling filled him, making him feel more alive than he ever had before. He increased the flow once again, trying to flood his body with the power.
He felt amazing, as though he could jump fifty feet in the air or destroy boulders with his bare hands! Why hadn’t he tried doing this previously? They didn’t need to run from the gremlins anymore! He could destroy them all with his bare hands!
“Arbor! Arbor, open your eyes!”
Who was talking to him? He could feel a small hand on his shoulder, shaking him hard. Couldn’t they just leave him alone?
“Open your eyes! Whatever you’re doing, you need to stop!”
The voice finally cut through the haze of power, and Arbor slowly opened his eyes. He was lying on the ground next to his horse and Grak was kneeling down next to him with panic written on all over her face.
“Grak? How did I get on the ground?”
His head was foggy and he shook it, trying to clear the haze from his mind. Grak wordlessly handed him a waterskin then held his head up so he could drink. He winced as he reached out for the waterskin, seeing that his hands and arms were red and blistered.
How the hell had that happened?
His muscles were shrieking in agony as well, and he had a hard time keeping ahold of the skin. He slowly raised it to his lips and took a long sip, then he upended it and quickly drained the contents. He didn’t understand why, but he had a raging thirst that just needed to be sated. He handed back the empty skin and then rose painfully to his feet.
“What happened to you?” Grak asked, a worried expression still on her face. “One moment, you were sitting there with your eyes closed. The next moment, steam began pouring out of you in waves, your skin began to blister, and then you fell off your horse!”
“Is that what happened?” he asked, rubbing the back of his sore head.
Arbor now fully understood Silver’s warning about using magic. He’d used too much before he was ready, and his body had been injured as a result. If he pushed himself too hard, he could end up killing himself.
“I have magic,” Arbor said, unable to meet her gaze. “I know I should have told you earlier, but I’ve been trying to deny it ever since I found out.”
He expected her to be mad with him for not telling her, but she surprised him by stepping forward and wrapping her arms around him.
She was careful not to squeeze too hard, as they were both injured, but he understood the sentiment all the same. It felt nice to have contact with another living being after so long, though he didn’t say so out loud.
“Thank you,” he said quietly, once she stepped back from him.
“You don’t need to keep secrets from me, Arbor. We’re friends, after all,” she said, a bright smile lighting up her face.
He looked over the Flatlands then and could now see the main gremlin force. They were riding hard and only a mile and a half back. His heart sank.
“I was trying to pump the horses full of magic to give us a chance to escape. I guess it didn’t work though,” Arbor said with a sigh as he turned back to Grak.
“Oh, I wouldn’t be too sure of that,” she said, pointing to the horses with a grin.
Arbor turned to look at them and was momentarily struck speechless. Both horses were now at least a foot taller at the shoulder, as well as broader in the chest. They looked energized and pawed at the ground with their hooves as if they wanted nothing more than to run.
“I don’t know how you did that, but you are definitely going to have to tell me!” Grak said, quickly running up to her horse and attempting to mount it.
Her injured leg was still giving her trouble, and she looked back at Arbor with a bemused expression.
“Mind helping me up?”
Arbor ran over and helped her into the saddle once again, noting that she held just a bit tighter to him as he lifted her. He then ran back to his horse and quickly mounted up. It was a little harder than it had been previously, due to the horse’s new height, but he managed it on the second try.
“Let’s get moving,” he said and tapped his horse on the ribs.
The horse shook its mane a few times before it took off, and Arbor had to hold on for dear life as he was nearly thrown from the saddle. He looked back to see Grak clinging to her mount’s neck and laughing wildly, her dark blue hair streaming in the wind.
He could understand the feeling well. They were now moving at least five times as fast as before, which was absolutely crazy. He wasn’t sure how he’d done this, but some of the power he was exuding must have leaked into them while he was busy getting drunk off it.
As they rode, he concentrated on his magic once more. This time he could feel the power much more easily, the small blue Core pulsing lightly in his center. He noticed a small change to the magic streams as he looked on. There were two more of the smaller streams branching off the main ones in both of his arms, and the five main steams also seemed to have widened a bit.
Did this mean he was on his path to Tier 2? Arbor couldn’t help but wonder at this, feeling a slight thrill as the wind whistled past his ears.
Magic was a wonderful thing indeed!
13
They ran on late into the night, the horses eating up the distance with their accumulated power. What would have originally taken them at least another twelve hours, now only took them around three. They had long since left their pursuit behind and were now approaching the base of the mountains.
The winter moon was shining overhead, its cold blue light giving the landscape an otherworldly cast. They had wrapped themselves in their cloaks once they crossed into the rocky mountain terrain, as the temperature had dropped noticeably the moment they’d left the Flatlands behind. Their breath now steamed in front of them as they breathed out.
Grak rode up next to him, her shoulders slumping and a weary grin on her face.
“The entrance to the dwarven city of Heart should be around here. Check the map you have to see if the location is marked.”
Arbor nodded, kicking himself for not thinking of it earlier. Pulling the map from his pack, he could indeed see a marker for the city entrance. He looked around, trying to find a notable landmark to work off.
There! His eyes locked on to a large boulder with two small spikes protruding to either side.
“The entrance is only a mile in that direction,” he said, pointing up the slope of the mountain. “We don’t need to rush now, so best to let the horses walk.”
He didn’t know why yet, but at some point, the horses had started losing their gained mass. Perhaps the power he’d imbued them with had begun to wear off?
Yet another mystery about magic, he thought.
Grak moved up alongside him once more, and they began their ascent up the mountain slope. They rode on in silence for a few moments before Grak spoke up.
“Would you mind if I asked you something?”
Arbor was snapped from his contemplations on magic and looked over the gremlin woman. She uncomfortable and was squirming in her saddle.
“What would you like to know?”
She was silent for a moment as if trying to find the right way to ask.
“Why don’t you ever smile? We’ve been together for the last ten days. I know there wasn’t much reason to smile in that time, but I haven’t seen you smile even once.”
Arbor sat quietly for a few minutes, trying to think of the best way to answer her question as their horse’s hooves crunched through the gravel underfoot.
“It’s not that I don’t want to smile,” he finally answered. “It’s more like I can’t. I’ve told what happened to my family, how they were all killed on my wedding night?”
Grak nodded. She’d heard his story alright, and it had chilled her to the bone.
“Well, ever since that night, I’ve found that I just can’t smile. No matter how much I try or how much I might want to, it just won’t come.”
He paused here once again and fought to get his anger under control.
“There seems to be little joy in this world. The only reason I haven’t given up and died yet is that I need to save my sister, and I have a promise to keep.”
Grak could hear the pain in his voice as he spoke. She could scarcely imagine what he had gone through that night.
“And what promise is that?” she asked quietly.
Here, a steely note entered his voice. It was a voice tinged with rage and hatred.
“I made a promise over the graves of my parents and my slain wife-to-be. A promise before the Almighty himself that I will find the bastard who killed them. And when I do, will destroy him.”
Grak shivered when she heard that. Gone was the calm and measured tone she was used to hearing and gone was the Arbor she had come to know over the last week and a half. The man sitting next to her was someone else entirely.
“What will you do after you’ve gotten your revenge?” she asked in a quiet voice.
Arbor looked at her then, his angry expression replaced by one of sadness.
“Then, I can die in peace, knowing that Florren will be waiting for me.”
With that statement, he kicked his horse into a trot and rode out ahead of her.
Grak felt immense sadness at his last statement. Arbor had saved more than just her life that day in the alley. He’d saved her will to live as well.
Life had hardly been worth living before he’d shown up. She’d lost her parents at an early age, and her only brother had been conscripted into the army. That day when the four soldiers had been beating her to death, she’d accepted her fate and was even happy to do so.
Then Arbor had come along and stood up for her when no one else would. He was a shining light that pulled her from despair, and even though they’d only known each other for a short amount of time, the thought of losing him was almost unimaginable.
