Terra Magicae: Chapter 7

Read Part 6 HERE

We’re back! Yes, I took another week off, but with good reason. Last Thursday I was meeting the most interesting person in the world, and the mere presence of someone more creative than me caused me to re-evaluate my entire life, if only for a few hours. And then after that I was out of town. But here we are again! Ready to continue the journey into the ancient past where magic has somehow crept into our world!

The Characters (so far)

• Aržak – A Parthian (modern day Iran) Scholar enslaved by the Romans
• Sigeberht – A warrior of the Anglii (modern day Denmark)
• Meleke – A merchant from (modern day Guinea/Mali) beyond the deserts south of Mauretania
• Chobo – A strange little creature with even stranger hair.
• Zarl – The “chief” of a tribe from another world.
• Running Dog – Elder of the Hattacii, possibly gifted in the magical arts.

Chapter 7

Sigeberht found Chobo lounging in the shade of one of the shelters, hiding himself from the sun.

“Chobo. Any idea what a Ko-plen is?”

Chobo sat up and pointed to himself. “Chobo is goblin. Other goblins big. Chobo born here. Chobo tiny.”

“Go-blen?” Sigeberht wondered. “I guess that’s close enough, and you match the description. Have you seen any other pig skins than the ones we traveled here with? There are three missing. They would have darker skin than mine, like Meleke, but maybe a bit lighter.”

Chobo got excited. “Dog men you speak? Yes. Yes. Seen many. Some by the river today. You see them too.”

“Right.” Sigeberht huffed. “I mean before today. Maybe with some goblins?”

Chobo nodded. “Goblins capture magic dog men. Zarl eats them.”

“Eats them?” Meleke mocked, as she and Aržak walked up from behind. “I think Chobo’s Latin still needs some work.”

“Probably.” Sigeberht muttered. “Well, Chobo did know about the Hattacii, or the dog men as he calls them, before we came here. It stands to reason these goblins have interacted with them. Possibly with hostility.”

“Maybe they earned that hostility?” Aržak cautioned. “Chobo has done nothing but help us. So far the Hattacii have just spied on us.”

“Spied?” Sigeberht questioned.

“Remember when I said I could feel something in the woods?” Meleke remarked. “That something bristled with the same energy we have. It had to be them. Where I come from three don’t approach one hundred unless they have two hundred laying in wait. I’m not suggesting they’re openly hostile, but they likely have dozens they could send looking for their missing people. They either want to test us, or use us as bait for something.”

“Which do you think?” Aržak asked.

“Test.” Meleke said.

“Bait.” Sigeberht said, almost simultaneously.

“Well, maybe it’s a bit of both?” Aržak jested. “If these goblins are like Chobo, they aren’t too thrilled about sunlight. So that’s when we should search for them. It gives us the advantage.”

During the weeks at their camp, they had already done a fair amount of scouting and had leaned heavily on Sigeberht’s uncanny sense of direction. They lacked parchment or hides onto which they could record their findings, but had cleared an area of land that they used as an organic map. They ruled out heading north along the river, as that’s the direction from which the Hattacii had come. They took a hint that if the Hattacii were indeed testing, or baiting them, they were heading east, and maybe they suspected that’s where the goblins were holding their people.

Gathering what few supplies they had, including some of the stolen Roman weapons, they made their way east, along with Chobo, through the forest. Only Sigeberht was experienced with tracking in dense forest, but the nature in this strange place was like nothing he knew in all the lands of Germania. As best as he could tell, there were no signs of any intelligent life having been through there, but he suspected that the Hattacii, much like his own people, knew better than to leave an obvious trail. If Running Dog, and his men, were ahead of them, they might never know it.

They traveled long after dusk before finally giving up for the night and settling into a makeshift camp. As hot as it was, and with nothing to cook, they decided against a fire. They chose to sleep in short shifts, one at a time, while the others kept watch.

It was around midnight when Aržak, fast asleep, felt an arm gently grab his wrist. “Stay still.” He heard Sigeberht whisper. He looked over to see Sigeberht was laying down near him, his eyes wide open. He slowly glanced over and saw Meleke leaning up against a tree, using her spear to prop her up, as if asleep, but he could see her eyes glistening in the moonlight.

There was a quiet rustling from every direction, and then the snap of a branch. With that, Sigeberht leaped to his feet and hurled his spear into the darkness. A howl of terror bellowed from the void, followed by agonized squealing. From every direction giant beastly men emerged, about as large as Sigeberht, but with a head like a bear with a flat snout.

One brought down a mighty club toward Aržak, but he deftly rolled to the side as the club shattered the ground where he lay.

Aržak jumped to his feet and instinctively brought up his hands, muttering the secret language running through his head. Great flames emerged, pouring out toward the bear man, setting him ablaze and lighting the area around them.

The fiery light revealed three of beastly creatures remained. Sigeberht charged one, tackling him to the ground and pummeling him with his bare fists.

Meleke, having risen from her pretend slumber raised her free hand over her head, whispering as she did so. A light, brighter than the noon sun, illuminated the area. All were blinded by it, but the bear men suffered the worst of it, even as Aržak and Sigeberht’s vision adapted, they cowered, covering their eyes. Aržak released another bout of flame upon one as Meleke felled the other with her spear. The final remaining was the one Sigeberht was severely beating on the ground.

“Leave it alive!” Meleke urged.

Sigeberht relented and stood up over the creature, who was finally able to place his arms across his face to shield it from Meleke’s light.

Aržak recited the spell that would allow them to understand one another. “Who are you? What are you?”

“It’s too bright!” the creature bellowed. “Make the light go away.”

Aržak looked around at the rest of the beast’s companions to ensure they were all dead, or dying, and wouldn’t suddenly become a threat again, with the light gone. He then nodded to Meleke, who, with a flick of her wrist, dismissed the light, though with two of the bear men still burning nearby, a warm glow illuminated the area. This, it seemed, was not enough to disturb the creature.

“It’s done.” Aržak began. “Now, who are you? What are you? What do you want?”

“We are Zarl’s tribe.” He gurgled, spitting out blood and a broken tooth. “Zarl seeks pig skins, so we gather them up.”

“For what?” Meleke asked. “Slaves?”

“It’s not for us to know.” The creature responded. “Zarl brought us here out of danger. Here we are safe. We don’t question him.”

“You don’t look too safe.” Sigeberht said as he kicked the creature in the side.

The creature howled in pain, Sigeberht’s kick aggravating an already gruesome injury to its ribs.

“Where do you come from?” Aržak asked.

“From a land beyond this land. Through the great door.” It said wearily. The severity of the creature’s wounds were starting to overcome it.

“We don’t have much time.” Meleke insisted. “Where are the pig skins you gathered?”

The creature stayed silent, though it was clear he was still conscious. In an instant his eyes widened and he attempted to sit up before Sigeberht kicked him back down. Aržak turned to see Chobo had come out of hiding and stood anxiously in the creature’s view.

“Worthless filth!” the creature barked.

Chobo walked up and stood over the helpless beast. He sniffed at him. “Bugbear stench easy to follow. Chobo will find his home for you.”

The creature struggled. “Traitor!” he bellowed just before Sigeberht stomped on his chest, silencing him.

“You can track them?” Meleke asked.

Chobo nodded.

“Do you think they will accept you?” The creature mocked. “Hah! The pig skins are truly weak if they will take a runt like you.”

Sigeberht stepped away, pulled a spear from a dead creature nearby, then came back and plunged it into the beast’s throat. “Chobo says he can track them. I believe him.”

Chobo’s nose steered them true, and they arrived at a large clearing just after dawn. In the center was a mound, made by hand, not by natural forces. A small chimney sat atop the mound, billowing black smoke. Around the clearing was a makeshift wall of earth, suggesting what was inside might be digging under that mound and bringing the dirt out to make a fortification.

“I don’t see any of those bearbugs.” Aržak whispered.

“Bugbear!” Chobo corrected. “Too bright right now. Bugbears would be inside. Underground.” Chobo held up his hand to shield his eyes. “That’s where Chobo should be.”

“Do you think you could scout for us? Would it be dangerous for you?” Meleke asked.

Chobo grinned. “Chobo has a better idea!”

With Chobo in the lead, desperately trying to hold all three of the spears, the four walked toward one of the entrances to the giant mound. As they approached, goblins, like Chobo, but significantly larger, emerged, swords drawn. They were slightly smaller than an average Roman soldier, which is to say about five and a half feet, but still menacing. “What do you want, runt?” They eyed the humans with suspicion.

“Chobo captured these pig skins.” He said proudly.

“Did you now?” one of the Goblins said. “And how did you manage that?”

Chobo dropped the spears and flexed his arms. “Chobo grew big! Giant! Beat them up. Especially beat up the big one here.” He turned and stomped on Sigeberht’s foot, who responded not with any false protestation but glaring anger. Chobo responded with a worried grin.

The other Goblin circled around to inspect them. “I don’t believe you. This one barely looks hurt.” He poked at Sigeberht with his sword. With blinding speed Sigeberht grabbed the goblin by the neck and snapped the life out of him. Meleke and Aržak took his queue and rushed the other Goblin, pinning him to the ground and covering his mouth so he couldn’t alert anyone inside.

Words came into Meleke’s mind she hadn’t heard before, and she recited them as if on cue. The Goblin ceased struggling and went limp. He wasn’t dead, just unconscious.

Aržak pulled his hand away and winced at Meleke. “That could have been useful against the bugbears, or the Romans, or even that time Maues the Scythian was going to crush me for talking to his wife.”

Meleke shrugged. “This magic is so unpredictable, you know that. The words come when they come. I can’t control them. I can only obey or ignore. Maues’s wife was hideous, by the way. What did you see in her?”

Aržak peeled the sword from the goblin’s hand. “She had a great sense of humor. Don’t be so judgmental.”

Sigeberht ran the two goblins into the tree line and hid them. Aržak and Meleke, now armed with the goblin swords, and Chobo in tow, cautiously walked inside the structure. As they surmised it went down, into a network of tunnels that the goblins had carved out. The natural cycle of daylight outside had most of the creatures inside fast sleep, which made it easy for the group to sneak up on them and eliminate them.

The purpose of the tunnels became clear as they progressed. They had found an abundant vein of iron, which they were mining. The ground above would have given no indication that something so rich would be buried beneath, so they wondered how these creatures could have known it was there.

In the inner most room of the complex they found the source of the smoke. A giant forge, with two bugbears working at it. The noise of the forge was so great that their presence had yet to be detected. Spread about the room were fresh weapons off the forge, similar in style to the swords the goblins wielded. But thrown in with the piles of raw ore they saw Roman weapons and armor, as well as weapons and armor in a design none of them recognized. Against the far corner of the room was a crude cage and inside were several figures, whose forms couldn’t be distinguished in the dim light.

Aržak motioned for everyone to come closer. “We need a plan for dealing with these bugbears.”

Before he could continue, Sigeberht smiled. “Indeed we do, so thankfully I already have one.”

Sigeberht ran into the room like a wild man. Aržak and Meleke ran after him, swords at the ready, but he had things in hand. The bugbears turned around in surprise, dropping their tools. With his tremendous unnatural strength Sigeberht took a bugbear in each hand and hurled them into the coals, then held them there as they wailed in anguish.

Before the flames could reach him, Sigeberht let go and they stumbled out, only a few feet, before falling over, dead.

“That was better than my plan.” Aržak admitted.

Without further delay, they ran to the crude cage where they found four shapes inside. Three looked like they might have been Hattacii, but they were emaciated beyond what simple starvation could explain. They were like mummies, dried and empty. The fourth was a stocky little creature, human in form, but completely hairless and naked.

“This one also looks dead.” Meleke lamented.

“I’m not.” The bald creature replied, in Latin, as it sat upright revealing it was not an “it”, but a “he”, at least by nature.

Artists rendition of what the caged man might have looked like.

Everyone took a step back, startled, readying their weapons.

“Forget all that!” He bellowed. “I’m no threat ta you. I wasn’t even a threat ta these jerks, but they kept me here all the same.”

Aržak noticed his Latin had a strange accent to it, matching nothing he’d heard in all his time in the camps. “Perhaps this isn’t the time or place for interrogation, but are you a Roman? An escaped Roman salve? Or one of the Hattacii?”

“I’m none a those. Call me Kym. Kym Motarfingar. I’m a dwarf. But not dwarves like you people have. A real dwarf, from the other side a the portal.”

“Portal?” Meleke questioned.

“You said it yerself. This is no place for interrogation. Get me something ta cover my nuts and let’s get outta here.”

EDIT (2024-10-02): Circled back to add links to previous chapters to all these older entries.