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  “Someday I’ll be able to do things like that,” Simko thought, “and when I can I’ll make you pay for every person you’ve hurt like this.” He quickly looked around, wondering if the wizard could read his mind.

  Outside, Klavin had just arrived in the town of Ponin. People told him that if he was looking for people to help him on a quest, The Busted Skull was the place to go. He hesitated at the door, feeling as though he were being watched. He turned to see an eagle on the roof of an adjacent building. It was staring at him. It seemed to be staring through him, actually. He managed to pull away his eyes and headed into the tavern, nearly tripping over a cat who had suddenly appeared in front of him.

  Inside, the place was very crowded. However, instead of the usual festive atmosphere one would expect in a place like this, there was a noticeable tension. Klavin scanned the room, and although there were no empty tables, he noticed someone sitting alone nearby.

  “May I join you?” Klavin asked, smiling.

  Simko was taken aback. It was very rare for someone to want to sit with him. He nodded, and Klavin sat.

  “My name is Klavin,” Klavin said, introducing himself.

  “Simko. What brings you to these parts?”

  “I’m about to head out on a very important quest, and I’m going to need help.” Klavin hesitated. “A lot of it, based on what I’ve been told.”

  Simko smiled. “Are you in the market for a wizard?”

  “Yes, one of those would definitely be helpful. Do you know of any?”

  Although he didn’t sense that Klavin was in any way being sarcastic, Simko was still hurt by the comment.

  “Well, you’re sitting with one,” Simko answered, hoping his disappointment wasn’t obvious.

  “Really? You? I never would have guessed.”

  “And I never would have guessed you were an adventurer.”

  “I’m not. Not really. I’m more of a librarian than anything else, although people seem to think I can do this,” Klavin said. “So, what’s it like being a wizard?”

  “I’m still pretty new at it, to be honest. But I’m getting better all the time, and one day I hope to beat the best,” he said, looking at the wizard across the room, then corrected himself, “I mean, be the best. Maybe you saw my familiar outside. Are you, um, familiar with familiars?”

  Klavin laughed. “Of course I’ve heard of familiars. Was yours the eagle outside?”

  Again Simko stared at the other wizard. “No,” he answered after several seconds. “That one is definitely not mine.”

  Klavin was a bit confused by Simko’s suddenly abrupt tone of voice. Simko, realizing this, forced a laugh.

  “No, I don’t have an eagle. Mine is a cat.”

  “Oh, that black cat outside? I nearly tripped over it. How come he’s out there instead of in here with you?”

  “The owner won’t,” Simko paused, staring at the pile of rubble that once was the owner, “wouldn’t allow it. “And not only that ...”

  “I can’t help but notice you keep looking over in that direction. Who do you keep looking at?”

  Simko nodded in the wizard’s direction. “That’s Tarquin. He’s the most powerful wizard I know of. He’s probably the most powerful wizard anyone knows of.”

  Klavin beamed. “Really? Then I’ll definitely want to talk to him. What about those two men with him?”

  “Two of his warriors. He pays them well.”

  “Are they his bodyguards?”

  Simko laughed. “You’d stand a better chance running into those two in a dark alley than Tarquin. But since I know you’re going to ask, yes, they’re both considered quite tough.”

  “Then I’ll hire them too.”

  “Listen, Klavin, I really have to warn you that Tarquin is serious business. You don’t want to get on his bad side.”

  Klavin stood. “Why would I get on his bad side? I’m just going to invite him to help me. Do you want to come?”

  “No thanks. I’ll just be waiting here in case you’re able to come back.”

  Klavin wondered about Simko’s phrasing, but decided to let it pass. He approached the table. On the way he tripped over a piece of stone. He wondered why there were pieces of it all over the place.

  “Excuse me,” he said, and was ignored. “Excuse me,” he repeated, and was again ignored. “Mr. Tarquin?” he finally asked. This got a reaction.

  “Who dares?” Tarquin asked in return. The two warriors stood and slowly reached for their weapons.

  “I didn’t mean to offend you. I was just looking to get some people together for a quest, and from what I’ve heard you’d be a big help.”

  “Oh, really?” Tarquin replied, grinning and waving the warriors back into their seats. “Could I really be of assistance to you? I’m certainly glad you came over here, then. Please, have a seat.”

  “Thank you,” Klavin said, sitting. He noticed the two warriors were trying desperately not to laugh. He wondered what they found so funny.

  “So please, tell me about this quest of yours.”

  Klavin opened his mouth to answer, but hesitated. This was going to be tricky. He wasn’t supposed to reveal what he was doing, but he had to tell these people something.

  “Well, we can go into the details later. Let’s just say that there is a lot at stake, and you’ll be justly rewarded for your work.”

  “Very generous of you, and noble as well. Of course, my services don’t come cheap, and I’m not going to commit myself for only the promise of a reward later on.”

  “Oh, I see. You want payment upfront.”

  “That’s standard, yes.”

  “Um, okay. Well, here’s the thing. I really can’t pay you now, but after we’ve finished our tasks you’ll not only get a share of whatever treasure we might find, but I’ll also be able to pay you whatever you want.”

  Tarquin stared at Klavin. The two warriors weren’t going to be able to stifle their laughter much longer.

  “Let me get this straight. You want me to go on an important mission, the details of which you refuse to divulge, for a great sum of money that you don’t actually have.”

  “It’s really not like that. Okay, it is, sort of. Look, I promise it’ll be worth it to you.”

  “Did you hear that?” Tarquin asked his warriors. “He promises it’ll be worth it. So, where do we sign up?”

  The warriors could no longer contain themselves, and burst out laughing.

  “I don’t see what’s so funny,” Klavin said.

  “You don’t, do you? How sad. What’s funny is that someone who is little more than a worm to me has dared to address me. Has invited me on his adventure as though he were my equal, no, my superior. Most people pay me a large sum of money just for the honor of an audience with me, yet you’re apparently so important that you can just walk over and sit at my table, interrupting my drink.”

  Klavin was nearly speechless. There seemed to be no way to respond other than, “Sorry.”

  “You have no idea how sorry you’re going to be. And by the way, it looks like your adventure is over before it even starts.”

  “Look,” Klavin said, leaning in a conspiratorial pose. “I’m really not supposed to say this, but I’m on an official mission from the king. This mission isn’t just to fill our pockets with gold. The future of the kingdom is at stake.”

  Tarquin took this all in. “Hmmm, well, why didn’t you just say so in the first place? My men and I are always willing to help a cause like that. And we have no doubt that the king will pay us well. He has an excellent reputation for things like that.”

  Klavin was obviously relieved. “So you’ll help me? Thank the gods. For a moment there ...”

  “Just as soon as you present the official paperwork, signed by the king, authorizing you to recruit for this mission. You do have it, right? It’s a standard thing for quests like this. If you don’t, then I’d have no choice but to believe that all this was just some type of game for you.”

  Kla
vin began sweating. “Well, no, I have to admit that I don’t have anything like that. The king wanted it to be kept secret, so he—“

  “And yet you’ve just told three complete strangers of his involvement. Looks like his trust was very, very misplaced.

  Tarquin stared at Klavin for what seemed like hours. Klavin wanted to look away, but found that he couldn’t. It was probably a trick of the light, but it seemed like Tarquin’s eyes were glowing red. Unbeknownst to either of them, a small sprout had just pushed its way through the wooden floor by their feet.

  “Part of me actually feels sympathy for your pathetic insignificance. What it must be like to go through life and be absolutely meaningless. However, I’d like to help you change that. Perhaps I will transform you into a handful of ice cubes, so that as you melt and cool my drink you will be useful for the first time in your soon-to-end life. What do you think about that?” Tarquin asked, grinning and raising his hands. Klavin began to feel cold.

  Suddenly vines burst from the floor and surrounded Tarquin and the two warriors. Klavin could only sit there and watch as they struggled, at least until Simko ran over and grabbed him.

  “Come on! Come on! Don’t just sit there! Those won’t hold them long!” Simko screamed, running for the door and pulling Klavin behind him.

  Once outside, Klavin stopped to catch his breath, but Simko grabbed him and they kept running. They caught up with a wagon that was leaving town, and jumped in back. The black cat that had been following their path along the rooftops jumped into the wagon next to them. Simko’s nose wrinkled, and he sneezed. Then he sneezed again. Despite the danger they were probably still in, Klavin had to laugh.

  “Are you actually allergic to your own familiar?”

  “It’s not funny,” Simko answered, grinning. “And thanks to you, now Tarquin’s got a bullseye on me, too. It was so nice being one of those insignificant worms who he never even noticed.”

  “I don’t know how to thank you. You really saved me back there.”

  “You can thank me by letting me go on your little adventure, whatever it is. I really don’t care what we’re doing, as long as it’s far away from him!”

  Klavin nodded, and the wagon rolled along.

  6

  Klavin and Simko sat around a fire, deep within the Endless Forest. His familiar, as all cats do, rubbed against the one person it knew it was annoying the most, that being Simko.

  “So all we have to do is find a magical sword that has been missing for ages, without any clues, and use it to hunt down and defeat the most evil monster the kingdom has ever known. Sounds simple enough to me,” Simko said.

  “Hey, you wanted to come along, remember?”

  “Yes, yes, I remember. This is the last time I sign up for something without finding out exactly what it’s about.”

  “Besides, I don’t think it’s going to be as bad as you’re making it. Simply following in Kriger’s footsteps would probably be a mistake.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, he attacked Krot after he came to power, and after he had assembled his Elite Guard. The way I see it, we need to do the opposite. Since Krot can apparently only be resurrected by his Elite Guard, all we have to do is find out where they are and make sure they can’t be raised. If we can prevent even just one of them from coming back, then Krot can’t come back either.”

  Simko thought this over. “It seems too easy, but I have to admit it makes sense. Take out one of the Elemental Warriors, and Krot can never come back. We’ll just have to spend the rest of our lives running from the other three.”

  “Stop being so negative,” Klavin scolded, hoping that he was doing a good job covering the hopelessness he himself was feeling.

  “I’ve already admitted your plan makes sense. I’m not going to say I’m looking forward to carrying it out. So … how exactly do we carry it out?”

  “I think we need to track down Gareth Helt. Supposedly he’s the only one who could possibly tell us where that magic sword is hidden, and even doing things my way I have a feeling we’re still going to need it.”

  “So, where is he?”

  “According to the king, Lakron Island.”

  “Lakron Island?” Simko asked, stunned. “You mean he was a Healer?”

  Out of respect to the king, and feeling that it wasn’t a key piece of information he needed to share, Klavin had omitted mentioning Gareth’s past as the king’s personal Healer, which somehow led to his stepping down as the royal hero and leading to the seemingly endless succession of posers. It did surprise him, however, that Simko was so familiar with the place.

  “You know of it?”

  “I know it’s where old Healers go to die, so to speak. Some people think it’s a vacation spot, a place where Healers can be rewarded for their years of good work. It’s not.”

  “I’m surprised you know so much about it.”

  “I hear things. Anyway, how do we get there?”

  “That’s the problem. Supposedly we can’t just take a boat.”

  “No, they definitely won’t let you go that way. And the island is surrounded by triclaw fish, so we can’t swim it. Not if you want to get there with all your pieces still attached.”

  Klavin sat back, dejected. “So is that it, already? We can’t even take the first step of our journey because there’s a body of water between here and where we need to go?”

  “Relax, there’s always a way.”

  “What is it?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “Some help you are.”

  “You weren’t saying that earlier.”

  “Look .…”

  “No, let’s not fight about this. You have no idea how to get there. I have no idea how to get there. But I do know someone who might be able to help us.”

  “Who?”

  “Tomorrow morning we’ll head into the next town, and look for The Beard.”

  “The Beard? Who’s The Beard? Is he another wizard?”

  “No. At least, probably not. I’m not really sure what he is, to be honest. He just seems to know a little something about pretty much everything. If there’s a way to get to that island, he’ll either know it, or be able to point us to someone who does.”

  “Well, I think he’s going to have quite a challenge then, because I don’t see any way to get over there other than flying, and I’m not letting anyone turn me into a bird.”

  “What about an ice cube?” Simko asked, grinning. Klavin forced a grin back.

  “Let’s get some sleep then. Sounds like it’s going to be another busy day tomorrow, and we already don’t have much time left. Do you want to take the first watch or should I?”

  “Neither. Let the cat do it. He’ll be up all night anyway. He’ll let me know if anything happens.”

  Klavin nodded, and the two drifted off into a restless sleep.

  7

  The next morning, Simko led Klavin into the town of Toron. After a few minutes of walking, they reached The Running Cannonball Pub.

  “If we’re going to find The Beard, he’ll be in there,” Simko said.

  “Okay,” Klavin agreed.

  “Remember, The Beard is in there.”

  “I heard you the first time.”

  “The Beard.”

  “Are we going in soon, or should we find lodgings for the night?”

  Simko stared at Klavin, and then they entered. It was a bit more run-down than the last place they visited, but at least there didn’t seem to be any megalomaniac wizards hanging around inside. Simko motioned toward a table in the corner, where a middle-aged man and a woman in her early twenties sat.

  “What about them?” Klavin asked.

  “That’s The Beard. I’m not sure who the girl is.”

  Klavin looked at Simko, then at The Beard, and then at Simko again.

  “But he doesn’t have a beard.”

  “Shhhhhh!” Simko scolded, and grabbed Klavin, leading him outside.

  “What’s wrong?�
�� Klavin asked, completely confused.

  “We don’t mention that he doesn’t have a beard. No one ever mentions that he doesn’t have a beard. And you don’t even want to know what happens if someone does.”

  Klavin considered this. “Yes I do. What does he do?”

  “Well, no one actually knows, because I’m pretty sure no one has ever had the courage to ask. Look, this guy could help us. Don’t ruin everything by upsetting him.”

  “Fine, I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

  Simko and Klavin went back into the bar and approached The Beard and his female companion, still seated exactly where they had been before.

  “The Beard?” Simko asked, although he already knew the answer.

  The Beard nodded and motioned for the two people in front of him to sit.

  “What can I do for you,” The Beard asked.

  “Well, I’m Simko, and this is Klavin.”

  “I’m sure you know who I am. This is my daughter, Maurya.”

  “You have a daughter?” Klavin asked, obviously surprised.

  “Am I not supposed to?” The Beard asked.

  “That’s not what he meant at all!” Simko interjected. “However, how should I put this? Um, what we’re going to talk about is extremely private, so if you don’t mind, I think we should be alone.”

  The Beard looked around. “I’m pretty sure I’d know if anyone was listening. We’re as alone as we’re going to get in a crowded tavern.”

  “No, er, I was actually suggesting that the three of us should talk privately, and maybe your daughter could just come back in a few minutes.”

  “We talk in front of her, or we don’t talk at all.”

  “That could be a problem, because …,” Simko started.

  “No, it’s all right,” Klavin interrupted.

  “Are you sure?” Simko whispered. “What about all of this being on a need to know basis?”

  “Yes, we need to know, so if the only way for that to happen is for them to know, then we really don’t have a choice. And arguing about it is just going to take up valuable time,” Klavin whispered back.

  “I can hear you, just so you know,” The Beard said.