Bladvaneer Read online

  Vosko tossed the cigarette on the ground, and stamped it out. He stared at the man right in front of him, until the man backed away. He then took in all the men surrounding him.

  “He got rid of that damn hero who’s been hunting us forever. And none of us got killed in the process. I think we all came out the better in this.”

  “But …” the man started, but was cut off by a scream coming from inside the tavern, intermingled with laughter.

  Vosko and the men exchanged nervous glances. He coughed.

  “We were cooped up in there quite a while, waiting for Helt to show up. It seems like a good time to go for a walk.”

  “I agree,” said a man, the same one who had challenged him a moment earlier.

  Nods all around indicated that the rest of the group felt the same. They walked away, quickly but nonchalantly, hoping to get away from the screams that were coming more and more frequently from inside the bar. Even as the distance caused the sounds to fade into the distance, they silently wondered if they’d ever be able to get them out of their heads.

  3

  The king sat in his chambers, his crown on the table beside him, and surrounded by books. The frustration was evident on his face. There was a knock on the door.

  “Come,” the king said.

  A man entered, carrying several books of his own, and looking very concerned. He placed them on the table.

  “Your Majesty …” he began.

  “Yes, of course. Enough of that. I can tell just by looking at your face how bad it is, but go ahead and tell me.”

  “Oh no, it’s not that bad. It really isn’t. You don’t look well, if you don’t mind me saying. Perhaps it would be best if I went down to the kitchens and had the chef prepare you something. What would you like?”

  “I would like you to tell me whatever you’ve learned, and whatever you’re obviously trying to hide from me. I can eat after that. Hopefully I can sleep after that, too.”

  “You still can’t get in a full night, can you?”

  The king sighed. “No. Every night it’s the same dream. The same … damn … dream! And once I have it, it’s impossible to fall back to sleep. I’ve barely been able to concentrate since they started. I just want to know what it means. I’m quite sure it’s not something I ate, since I’ve barely been eating since they started.”

  “I wish I could tell you it was just a case of indigestion. I really do.”

  “What is it, then?”

  “I think you know.”

  The king put his forehead in his hands. “I was afraid you were going to say that, Dolan. Tell me everything. Please don’t make me ask again. I’m not saying this as your king, but as your friend.”

  “Very well. As you know …. Are you sure I can’t interest you in something to eat? I’m famished, myself.”

  The king stared at him. Dolan cleared his throat.

  “Sorry. I’ll just come out and say it. It seems the legends are true. I’ve checked with the royal astrologers, and they’ve confirmed that the stars are about to enter that extremely rare alignment which could allow Krot to be resurrected. The good news is that there is only a very short window of opportunity in which this can be done.”

  “Yes, and therefore there’s only a very short window of time in which we can attempt to stop it.”

  “Well, yes, there is that too.”

  The king stood, walked across the room, and looked out the window. His kingdom loomed before him. Every monarch who had preceded him feared that this time would come. It was just his luck that it would happen on his watch.

  “Very well, send for Gareth Helt, and let us pray to the gods that he is prepared for this challenge.”

  Dolan took a sudden interest in the dirt under his fingernails.

  “What’s wrong?” the king demanded. “Surely you know where he is. Part of the arrangement is that he make it well-known where he is at all times, so that we could find him on a moment’s notice. Please don’t tell me we’ve lost track of him.”

  “Oh no, Your Majesty,” Dolan said, suddenly formal again. “Finding him won’t be a problem. In fact, we know exactly where he is.”

  The king looked relieved. “Good. Good. Then there shouldn’t be any problem at all. Unless you have some reason to believe he isn’t well enough prepared for the task at hand.”

  “Well, that is the problem. Unfortunately, we have very good reason to believe he wasn’t properly prepared.”

  “And why is that?”

  “He’s dead.”

  The king slumped back into his chair, all color drained from his face.

  “Dead?”

  “Unfortunately, yes, Your Majesty.”

  “How could this have happened?”

  “Well, we’re not completely sure. It would seem he was led into a trap in one of the smaller towns.”

  “He walked into traps all the time. He did it on purpose. He loved the challenge!”

  “I don’t think he particularly loved this one. His remains were dropped at a tavern in Blistok Town. He had been there earlier in the day, and was told of a problem in a neighboring town. Of course he went to save the day. It didn’t quite work out for him.”

  “And who was it who told him of this problem?”

  “A boy from the town. We believe he’s innocent in all this. He was known to be quite the follower of Gareth’s exploits, as a matter of fact. It’s most likely he was allowed to escape his town, knowing that he’d make his way right to his hero and ask for his help. He wouldn’t have been hard to find. After all, he did an excellent job of making his location well-known at all times.”

  The king winced. He’d always wondered if that part of their arrangement would one day come back to haunt them. It certainly looked like it had.

  “Still,” the king said, “Gareth was quite a warrior. For him to have fallen ...”

  “Yes, it seems too much of a coincidence, considering the current circumstances. And his involvement in this whole thing wasn’t exactly a secret. Someone must have brought in some major muscle to take him out of the picture just when he was going to be needed the most.”

  The king stood and paced around the room, stopping once again to look out the window before turning back to his friend.

  “So now what? Start over with a new Gareth?” he asked.

  Dolan shook his head. “It takes too much time to build up his reputation. Unfortunately, time is something we have very little of at this point.”

  The king nodded. “You’re right, sadly. Besides, it would be dangerous to send in someone new so soon. We would run too much risk of him running into someone familiar with the former hero. So, should I understand this to mean we have no options?”

  Dolan seemed to be engaged in a mental debate with himself. Finally, one side seemed to win over the other.

  “Well, I’ve thought about this long and hard, and I believe I may have found someone up to the task.”

  The king stared at Dolan, waiting for him to continue. It became obvious that this wasn’t going to happen without some prodding.

  “Well? Tell me, man. Are you really going to make your king beg? Because, believe me, that’s not going to happen,” he said with a slight smirk.

  “Very well, although I’m not sure you’re going to like it. Let’s look at it this way. It would be very easy for you to send a representative into practically any tavern, throw a bag of gold on a table, and have adventurers tripping over each other trying to be the person you’re looking for.”

  “Sounds good to me. What are we waiting for?”

  “Well, the problem is that most adventurers like to brag. A lot. Our past Gareths were very carefully selected from a small pool of candidates who could be trusted to keep a secret. Unfortunately, we simply don’t have the luxury to spend a lot of time weeding out people who could potentially talk too much. The odds are that by the time we were finished, our well-guarded secret would be known by anyone within earshot of the hero.”

&nbs
p; “I hate to say it like this, but so what? Since this mission would supposedly be fulfilling Gareth’s destiny, what difference does it make if people find out the truth. It’s not like we’d ever need to use him again.”

  “That may very well be the case. But remember that if it does get out, it may very well damage the people’s trust in the royal family forever. Nothing would ever be the same.”

  “Okay, that’s a valid point. I’m assuming you have someone in mind who could get the job done and who we could trust and who could save the world without destroying the royal family in the process, so just tell me who it is.”

  “Very well, after a lot of thought, the person I think is most suited to the task is Klavin.”

  “Klavin?”

  “Klavin.”

  The king stared at Dolan. “I can’t say I’m familiar with a Klavin. Has he done a lot of princess rescuing and dragon slaying?”

  “Er, no. He’s our librarian.”

  “Our librarian?” the king asked, stunned. He stormed across the room and got right in front of Dolan. “Our librarian?” he repeated.

  “Our librarian.”

  “I’ve known you for many years. You’re almost certainly the person I trust most in all the world. I can’t remember a single time you’ve steered me wrong. But I think the stress of this situation may have gotten to you.”

  “Please sit down, and let me explain,” Dolan said, leading the king back to his chair and sitting next to him. “Klavin is very knowledgeable in the myths and legends of our land. Therefore, we’d have to spend less time educating him on the task at hand.”

  “Everyone knows the stories about Krot. Children are threatened with an appearance by him whenever they do something wrong.”

  “Yes, everyone knows the stories. But we both know there are facts behind those stories. So does Klavin. He obviously doesn’t know … everything … about the current situation, but by using him we’d be able to skip several steps of preparation, and save a lot of time. I think we both understand how precious time is at this point.”

  “Of course I do. But what good will his knowledge do him if he isn’t up for the tasks this will require. I’m quite sure that just throwing a book at this problem isn’t going to make it go away.”

  “Don’t judge him by his profession. Most people here don’t know that he’s also a master swordsman.”

  “He is?” the king asked, still a bit incredulous.

  “Yes, and as you know, skill with a blade will be indispensable in this. He was trained by his father.”

  “Who’s his father?”

  “A man named Volmer.”

  The king stroked his chin. “Yes, I think I’ve heard of him,” he lied. “Well, why don’t we just send him instead?”

  “Because he’s dead.”

  “How good a swordsman could he have been if he’s dead!?” the king demanded, his face turning red.

  Dolan stared at the king. “He fell down the stairs.”

  The king seemed to calm down a bit. “Oh,” he said. Then, feeling that he should say something else, added, “Sorry to hear that.”

  Dolan waited to see if the king was done, then continued. “So, is he our hero or not?”

  “It would appear we have little choice. Just remember, I’m doing this on your recommendation. If he fails, you’ll have to answer for it.”

  “If he fails, it won’t really matter, will it?”

  4

  Klavin nervously walked the halls to the king’s chambers. He had never been summoned by the king before, which admittedly wasn’t surprising. Very few people ever were, and he was surprised the king even knew of his existence. He couldn’t help but assume it wasn’t good, since he couldn’t imagine why a member of royalty would suddenly want to chat. But he also couldn’t figure out what he could have possibly done wrong. He got to the door and let several minutes pass before finally finding the courage to knock.

  “Come,” the king’s voice called from inside the room.

  Klavin considered running. He wondered if he could get far enough away that the king wouldn’t be able to find him. He realized he probably couldn’t, so slowly pushed the door open. Inside the king and Dolan sat around a table, which was covered with books and scrolls.

  “Please, take a seat,” the king invited.

  Klavin immediately realized there were only two chairs in the room, and both were occupied. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence as he tried to avoid eye contact with the king, for fear of insulting him. Finally the king apparently understood what was wrong, and motioned for Dolan to move. Reluctantly he did, and Klavin took the seat.

  “What can I do for you, Your Majesty,” Klavin asked, wondering if he was perspiring as much as he felt.

  The king cleared his throat. “Well, that is the question of the hour, isn’t it?”

  Klavin looked around nervously. He felt like he was expected to understand what was happening here, which was far from being the case.

  “Your Majesty?” he finally asked. Although he didn’t believe the king had ever beheaded anyone, he feared that the wrong choice of words in this situation could change that fact in a hurry.

  “I’m going to tell you the story of Krot. You’ve probably already heard it, but I might be able to tell you a version which is new to you.”

  “Very well,” Klavin agreed. He indeed was familiar with the story, and couldn’t imagine why the king would summon him to tell it. He certainly wasn’t going to protest, however.

  “Many years ago the vicious Krot was a scourge upon our land. Some considered him to be a demon king. Others thought he was a wizard who had reached such a level of both power and corruption to be considered the equivalent. There were even those who wondered if he was a fallen god. Many served him, either for want of the spoils that he promised, or simply out of the terrifying consequences of being considered his enemy. To Krot, these people were a pleasant yet very expendable distraction. But he saw his Elite Guard as special. It was comprised of four incredibly powerful warriors, each imbued by Krot with one of the mighty forces of nature. Jord was master of earth and rock. Tul was the master of the winds. Fire would obey every command uttered by Fogos. And Uden could control something as small as a raindrop or as massive as the ocean. Together they were unbeatable. Or, at least, nearly unbeatable.

  “Most people were simply too afraid to stand against Krot and his Elite Guard. Who could blame them? Each of the five had power beyond most people’s comprehension. Seeing them as a united force could break even the greatest of spirits. But not everyone was willing to go down without a fight. The greatest warrior in the land, Kriger Morro, decided that he had had enough, and Krot needed to be destroyed once and for all. He joined forces with the wizard, Forux and the thief, Kantrel, and set out to do what no one thought possible: Enter Krot’s lair, defeat him and his henchmen, and bring peace back to the land. They failed. Kriger had put together the most skilled group he could find, and yet they simply couldn’t match the raw power that Krot had.

  “Feeling resigned to the fact that their enemy could not be stopped, they began their journey back home. On the way they rescued an old man who was in the act of being robbed by a group of Krot’s bottom-feeder henchmen. They were cowards who lacked the might of Krot and his Elite Guard but still enjoyed picking on those weaker than they. Unfortunately for them, they were no match for Kriger and his friends. After the brigands had fled, Kriger learned that the man they had saved was none other than Lastere, known to be the finest sword maker in the entire Kingdom of Tasher, and possibly the entire world. The ignorant robbers had been looking to take copper and silver from the man who could have armed them into a deadly army. Kriger, Forux, and Kantrel made sure Lastere was returned to his home safely, but rather than let them leave, Lastere begged them to stay so that he could reward them. Although none of them did this for spoils, they didn’t want to offend their host. They were also in no rush to return home as failures.

  “The
y stayed with him for a week, during which time he worked, only taking short breaks to eat with them or sleep. They became concerned for his health, but he wouldn’t hear their pleas for him to rest. At the end of the week, he bid them farewell, but not before presenting them with Bladvaneer. It was the finest sword Kriger had ever seen. As he touched its hilt, it immediately seemed to become one with him.

  “‘I cannot accept this,’ Kriger insisted. ‘If you sold this for what it is worth, you could build yourself a palace.’

  “’And what good would a palace do me in a land like this? I know you believe you’re not worthy of that sword. That’s exactly why you are. But if you want to prove it to yourself, return to your original journey. Face Krot, and use that weapon to defeat him.’

  “Kriger lowered his head. ‘As we’ve told you, we already tried, and failed. We weren’t a match for him.’

  “The old man smiled at him and said, ‘Try again.’

  “So the trio of adventurers went back on their path and returned to Krot’s lair. This time the battle went much differently. It was still no easy feat, but with the help of Bladvaneer they were able to defeat the Elite Guard, drawing out and capturing their elemental spirits. Standing alone, Krot begged for mercy in an effort to buy time, but his ruse failed. He was too powerful to truly destroy, but his own stronghold became his prison, as his essence was sealed inside, unable to ever escape.

  “What remained of his henchmen fled. Forux and Kantrel set up numerous protections and traps to keep away anyone who might want to venture into the area, and then the threesome began the long journey home. They decided to stop at Lastere’s home, so that he could know that his craftsmanship had indeed turned the tide in their favor, and that he was as much to thank for saving the kingdom as they were, but all they found was an empty cabin. He was never seen again. Kriger, Forux, and Kantrel finally returned home and received the heroes’ welcome they deserved,” the king finished.