The Beginnings Omnibus: Beginnings 1, 2, 3 & Legend of Ashenclaw novella (Realm of Ashenclaw Beginnings Saga) (56 page)

Garius felt like he was losing them.

They were not functioning as the unit he’d intended and he feared that the quest would end with one or more deaths if he couldn’t pull them together—and soon!

He removed his heavy helm and latched it onto his belt as he thoughtfully tugged at a tie at the bottom of his lengthy shock of beard, which kept the braid knotted. He pondered his predicament and searched for a solution.

Saeunn, the barbarian woman, was all but lost to them, he believed. It seemed she was walling herself off from the group. He felt that she was a bastion of fiery rage set to explode at any moment, and understandably so. He had not anticipated running into Bonemasher Orcs along the way. Seeing the orcs and goblins that were responsible for the devastation of Chansuk—and her father!—was putting her tumultuous emotions in charge of her actions. This was a valid concern, knowing that if she continued down this path unchecked, she would eventually get herself, or someone else killed.

He sensed that Rose was still slightly melancholy and possibly losing focus, after having been almost killed by a few well-placed arrows. It was a natural reaction when faced with death, but it was certainly something he sensed she’d overcome. He was not sure that she would transcend the sense of failure she’d admitted feeling, He hoped she would regain that feisty, high-spirited attitude that had set her apart from most other applicants during their interview in Oakhaven. She had displayed a passion and a sense of adventure that had given her purpose and a distinct fire in her eyes.

And he also considered the brief kiss that the two of them shared might also be a concern. It certainly was for him, he admitted, which was a startling revelation to himself. But, he would always push that aside and focus on his task at hand, as always, knowing he had to realign the group’s purpose.

And then there was the high elf, Elec, whom Garius felt had a good head on his shoulders. But he wondered if the elf’s concoctions, which he so frequently imbibed, were more of an addiction than an enhancement.

Is he overcompensating for a possible loss of self-worth? Are the observations of the elf’s father correct?

He shook that doubt away and realized he would have to watch Elec a bit more closely in order to discern the truth there. He stood deep in thought, waiting for a solution to come to mind.

“Are you all right?” Elec asked Saeunn as she emerged from the shadows to join the group with a calmer visage and demeanor. Her mail chain shirt was covered in blood spatter, but her wound was cleaned and no longer bleeding. Her great blade was strapped across her muscular back and still aglow from Garius’s enchantment, which coincidentally seemed to flicker in time with her breathing.

Her fierce tattoos seemed to almost dance in the magical light of the combined sources. There was a long moment of silence as the group looked at her, awaiting a response or an explanation.

Finally, she answered Elec’s question.

“I have a personal conflict against these orcs of the Bonemasher clan!” Saeunn barked angrily, throwing her hands up in frustration. “I do not want to fail you in our duty and will do my best to help finish it. But I cannot stave off my hatred for these—” she halted as her face twisted with hate, “beasts!” she finally managed before speaking in a dangerously even tone. “I will seek to slaughter as many of them as I can.”

She nodded toward one of the deceased orcs lying lifeless upon the cavern floor. She moved toward it and reared her leg back to kick its remains when a gauntleted hand reached out to halt her.

“You must learn to control your emotions,” Garius stated flatly to her as if it were common sense. She glared at him in response.

He turned to see Rose staring at him. Her grey eyes softened for a heartbeat under his gaze, before turning to the appearance he had known during their interview. She approached him and leaned in as he released Saeunn’s arm.

“You do realize that
barbarians
let their emotions motivate them, right?” Rose whispered in his ear, facing away from Saeunn. “It is what makes them what they are. And this one doubly so!”

Garius was about to reprimand her impolite boldness, but the words never passed his lips. No, he would need that.

“I understand your fears,” Saeunn stated, clearly hearing the exchange.

 Rose shrugged, grasped a strand of her long, red hair and began to twirl it absently as she walked away from the two of them.

“You are right in that my emotions rule me,” Saeunn called after Rose, before directing her explanation to the remaining two. Elec listened intently. “The bloodlust often consumes me. It is the way of my people and it is a common and
expected
thing among the barbarian tribes… To fight with vigor, allowing emotion to drive us. But, in the case of seeing these…
butchers!...
I can only respond one way.”

“This bloodlust that overwhelms you is a benefit to you in battle, no?” Elec enquired, understanding what she was getting at. “It is a boost in your physical stamina, speed and strength?” He compared it to the imbibing of his elixirs.

“Aye,” she responded. “And a curse, too. I lose control of all reason when it happens.” Elec regarded those words with all seriousness, seeing the reflection of the barbarian in him with regards to his elixirs. He
noted
the perceptions of the barbarian as relevant and meant to revisit that wisdom sometime in the near future. That was when Garius’s face lit up with hope.

Garius decided to use that knowledge to his advantage, changing his mind about his entire perspective. He realized that in order for them to succeed, he could not allow them to break down and decided to use the tools that he was given.

“So be it,” Garius stated mysteriously.

Rose spun to regard him suddenly, her expression conveying surprise at the suggestion that he would allow the barbarian to fight recklessly. “If we encounter more of the Bonemasher clan—and I am just about certain of that—then do what comes naturally…what you
must
do…what you are
compelled
to do,” Garius accentuated the words, drawing their attention firmly. “We will need the combination of your anger, skill and power to defeat numerous foes. It seems that we may need all of your power, anger and strength if we are to survive… and if these caves are crawling with enemies as I suspect they might be…..”

“Aye,” Elec agreed, understanding the meaning behind his words.

“Then be ready to unleash your fury when called upon,” Garius leveled at the barbarian woman. Her angry green eyes stared back with a look of determination evident, accepting his challenge without words.

Then he turned to face Elec and Rose.

“We will
all
need to perform at peak strength and must use whatever assets we have if we hope to survive this place
and
find the acolytes that are hidden within these caverns,” Garius paused for a moment to allow his lesson to sink in.

“If Elec and Rose take the lead again, they can scout ahead far enough to warn us of any approaching dangers,” Garius went on, confirming their strategy. “The acolytes I have to believe are in the passageways below somewhere. We simply need to find them and be gone from here as soon as possible.”

Elec and Rose nodded to one another and strode off into the shadows ahead without so much as a word. Saeunn gave them a head start, nodded respectfully toward the Inquisitor and started off too. Garius refitted his weighty helmet and followed several paces behind, satisfied with his speech and its effect.

 “Meeting…was…good?”
asked the heavily enshrouded Prishnack, always appearing as if he were existing in several different planes at once. He rarely spoke, which caused Megnus and Phaera to share looks of surprise. His voice sounded hoarse and echoed off the walls of the narrow passageway in which the group navigated. And it was Zabalas—not Megnus—who led them toward the slagfell’s fabled city of Shadowmere. The slagfell were well known in the Subterrane as a presence and Shadowmere was the most prominent of all the slagfell societies.

“It did, Prishnack,” Zabalas decided. “If the Aspect Nahemia is as wise as Phaera says, then we will have our forces stretching not only across the surface of Wothlondia, but beneath it as well.”

Prishnack floated in the air, his red eyes flickering and his body dematerializing in front of them until it turned into a cloud-like vapor. They were marching toward a meeting with King Dolgrath Bloodstone in order for Zabalas himself to personally confirm his allegiance. Megnus was insistent on informing the king of their progress and it was pertinent for the slagfell forces to know how and when to proceed with their plans.

“Are we nearing Shadowmere?” Phaera asked Megnus. He ignored her, removed his helm, wiped the sweat from his bald head, replaced the helmet, and continued deeper into the caverns, still following Zabalas. If he knew where they were, he did not admit it. The group had been walking for a day or more, having long since departed from Ulthon.

The djinni floated beside them, maintaining his pace to keep up with the others. Zabalas simply walked, never complaining and rarely speaking.