Читать книгу The Invasion Of The Sombers - Jordi Villalobos - Страница 9

When the company which was enlarged by Garin and a hundred of dwarfs went through the fateful tunnel and the remains of Kasariviel again, they saw how a large group of dwarfs collaborated in collecting the meat of the reptile, which, undoubtedly would be an abundant food for the snowy season.

It took five long days of march to reach the exit from the Badlands, with hardly any incidents. The Peaks Pass extended westwards, without being possible to see its opposite end, as it lengthened almost to the end of the Slanted Mountains, with several hundred kilometers long, connecting all the dwarf cities carved into those mountains.

After an arduous descent that took almost a whole day, they finally set foot in the dangerous soil of the Badlands.

The first region they encountered was a vast plain with sparse vegetation that also did not appear to have too much fauna. They only came across some voracious mosquitoes, some of considerable size that would not stop biting producing some rather annoying urticaria. Garin informed them that in that region there were no living creatures entailing excessive danger, although during the following day they would arrive at a more rugged and forested area inhabited by harpies, which were like médium winged ones, with some knowledge of magic, astute, fast and above all evil, which turned them into dangerous enemies. However, they would not dare to attack such a large and well-armed group.

They also found on the way unmistakable signs of the passage of the sombers, who had managed to escape through the Peaks Pass about five days ago.

Syriel and Lirieth continued in their role of showing how well they got along, even when no one could see them, and it was becoming evident that a relationship was being born between them that began to go beyond the mere friendship agreed upon. Baldrich continued to look at the princess with a certain suspicion, but he did not argue with her again, nor did he say anything about his protégé. They also stopped giving magic classes, because with the mastery that Lirieth achieved before the snake, the princess demonstrated that she would be able to subdue any beast, since few should exist greater than Kasariviel.

The next day, as Garin had already told them, they entered a more rugged area with slight depressions, small mounds and numerous groups of trees which, although they did not manage to form forests, some of them had a considerable extension. And the environment was impregnated with a slight aroma of vegetation.

Garin also warned them that it was inhabited by a snake not very large, but very poisonous which petrified the whole body in a matter of seconds. And as if it had been a premonition, a few minutes later, one of the warring orcs complained of a bite in his hand. Garin ran toward him and, with incredible speed, cut off his hand with an axe just in time. The hand fell to the ground petrified and the deadly poison did not continue through the arm of the mutilated orc.

Lirieth thanked Garin for his quick reaction, squeezing a kiss on his cheek that caused the dwarf's blushing. This gesture and many others dispensed by the princess to dwarves as well as to men, and the own attitude of the orcs, meant that little by little they were not so frowned upon and were accepted as companions, even by the dwarves.

Even generals Smolion and Gungaroth began to be somewhat more friendly with the new allies.

After the incident and a light rest to heal the wounded orc, they continued the march more attentive to the small but deadly snakes and, although on more than one occasion some warriors had to dodge several attacks, the ophidians ended up splitting in two and failed to bite no one else.

After a few hours of marching, they heard some loudly and terrible screams, like someone very big who was suffering a lot from some kind of torture.

They decided to stop and find out what was going on. The screams came from the back of a mound on the right. Lirieth, Syriel, Baldrich, Garin and Bellamir stealthily climbed it. When they reached the highest part they stretched out behind some bushes and watched as some hideous harpies had in captivity a giant of about ten feet high tightly bound with sturdy chains that, nevertheless, seemed to be very young, because by the features of his face it did not look more than fifteen or sixteen years old extrapolating it to a human aspect.

The harpies had sadistic fun flying around him and throwing magical balls of fire or electric rays, which must have been very painful to judge by the cries and convulsions of the young but enormous being.

Other harpies prepared a great cauldron with all sorts of spices, which gave off a rather nauseating aroma and did not bode any good for the unfortunate and bulky prisoner.

“I don't like giants at all, but harpies are the worst creatures I've ever seen. If we don't do something, the young giant will be the dinner of these damn winged witches," Garin said, with a tone halfway between indignation and compassion.

“I have counted about ninety," said Syriel. “If we attack them, they will not be able to take us," blessed the prince.

“Surely more will come from the surrounding area," Garin said. “They live in communities, side by side, and help each other when they need it. I estimate that, in the event of battle, they will come in far greater numbers than we do," warned the dwarf.

“With the liberated giant we would have a great help," Bellamir bet.

“Could you free the giant without the harpies seeing you?" asked the prince to the audacious mediam.

“Yes, if you distract them with a little fuss," answered Bellamir with a mischievous smile.

Syriel looked at Baldrich, who assented convincingly, then he looked at Garin, who looked enthusiastically at the idea, and then he looked at Lirieth.

“What does our captain think?" the prince consulted, more with a loving gaze than with the proper composure of military submission.

“Well, all right," said the princess. “Let's free the poor boy. Besides, if we could get a few giants as allies, they would certainly be of inestimable support against the sombers," said Lirieth with some reservations about the plan.

“Go ahead, then," encouraged the prince, "but Bellamir's plan may serve as an emergency. A safer plan must be outlined and executed with the utmost secrecy, preventing the neighboring harpies from coming. We cannot afford casualties in case we have to face the dark ones again," warned Syriel receiving significant assent from his fiancée.

A few minutes later, when the harpies realized that an elf in a magician's tunic was heading toward them, they stood still cautiously, as if in expectation.

Baldrich addressed the harpies with determination and without the slightest hint of fear and, when he was close enough to the one who stood out as the leader of the group, he told them:

“Greetings, winged ladies, I am Baldrich, a mighty elf magician who will inflict no evil on you if you quickly release my friend the giant.”

With a loudly broken voice, the supposed head of the harpies gave a loud laugh.

“Do you think we're stupid? Before you could lift a single finger, you would become part of our tonight's menu. How do you intend to inflict that evil on us, hey?" asked the unpleasant witch, with a marked disdain in a clear tone of threat.

As all the dwarves appeared pointing at the harpies with their crossbows, Baldrich answered with such calm and confidence in himself and his words that he made the shameless harpy pale.

“With a hundred accurate crossbow dwarfs, perhaps? Each one of you is the target of a different dwarf; and you in particular, being the main lady, have been given the honor of signing up ten dwarfs at a time. One false move or shout of warning and you will be the one who ends up cooked in that pestilent pot. And none of these dwarves I have ever seen fail a single arrow. If I were you, I would let my friend go without further ado," exposed the elf forcefully.

After a few seconds of looking around and weighing the situation, with resignation and contained rage, the horrific creature finally gave way.

“Do what it says," said the harpy, her eyes injected with blood and her face deformed with anger.

Two witches freed the giant, who seemed to fall to the ground with a crash when he was released, but, far from it, when he saw himself free, he grabbed his two captors by the neck, one with each hand, and smashed them head against head, knocking them out of combat.

The perverse fairies screamed furiously and began to attack, but more than half of them were hit by the dwarves’ arrows. One of them was the ringleader, who received eight deadly hits, leaving the winged creatures bewildered and unorganized.

Another hundred witches appeared from behind another nearby mound and many more from a little further away. However, when they were greeted by the dwarfs' accurate crossbows and when they saw that they were falling like flies and that, in addition, they were threatened by a group of orcs and humans who were ferociously joining the attack, they decided to flee and give up the battle for lost, apart from the tasty dinner based on giant.

Of the few remaining harpies, the giant took revenge with such fury that, when there were no more, he almost faced his liberators as well. But he calmed down and, kneeling, not out of reverence but to equal heights, he gave some effusive thanks to Baldrich:

“Thank you very much, great magician Baldrich for freeing me from these repellent creatures. I am indebted to you.”

“It is not me you must thank for your liberation, but my princes," said Baldrich, showing with his arm the approaching nobles.

“You must thank us all equally that you are free. My name is Lirieth, daughter of Gulrath, princess heir to the throne of Teberion.”

“And I am Syriel, son of Jorion, prince heir to the throne of Delfia, and you are not indebted to us: it has been a pleasure to free you from these vermin," the prince declared.

“Lirieth and Syriel? The heirs of Teberion and Delfia! What are you doing together? Weren't you at war?” asked the giant in great surprise.

“That war is now a thing of the past. Now, orcs and men are allies and it is likely that we will soon enter into war against the sombers. Lirieth is now my fiancée. By the way, you haven't told us your name yet…" Syriel was interested.

“A thousand apologies, your highnesses. My name is Sergiker, son of Magellan, king of Granlesia, the giants’ land,” the great prince introduced himself.

“Wow, a giant prince! Is your kingdom near here?" was Syriel surprised.

“No, it's quite a long way, about twenty days, before we cross the great desert, but it would take you twice as long or more," replied Sergiker.

“And what are you doing here alone and so far from your kingdom?" asked Syriel.

“I have come to see a friend," replied the giant, blushing.

“You ran away from home, didn't you?” Syriel suggested.

“Y-yes," said Sergiker, somewhat embarrassed.

“How old are you, young prince?" inquired the human.

“Fourteen years old," said the giant proudly, as if he were already a respectable adult.

This time it was Lirieth who asked.

“My father keeps yelling at me, reprimanding me and punishing me, he never lets me do anything I want to do," protested the big boy, as if he were the victim of the greatest injustice in the world.

“Well, perhaps your father would like to prepare you well so that tomorrow you will be a good king," said the princess sweetly.

“But… I don't know if I want to be a king," responded the young lad.

“And giant? Have you ever thought if you want to be a giant?" asked Syriel.

“Giant…? But… I can't help being a giant," replied Sergiker in surprise.

“Well, the son of a king can't help it either, and he has to help and obey his father so that, in the future, he can reign with justice and wisdom. If you renounce that, the greed of others who do want the throne can provoke wars and bloodshed and, in the end, there will be a king who will be neither just nor wise, as surely you would have been," concluded Syriel.

The young giant digested the prince's words and ended up looking embarrassed.

“You're right, I'll go back to my kingdom," answered the giant with a look of gratitude and admiration.

“Well, but first I'd appreciate it if you'd tell us what friend you've come to see," Syriel wanted to know.

“To the White Magician. He lives about two days from here. Well, I suppose four or five days in your steps," said Sergiker without being able to disguise a clearly condescending tone, though lacking in malice.

“Do your parents know this magician?" Lirieth asked with great affection.

“Yes, the White Magician regularly visits our kingdom and tells me many adventures, teaches me tricks and informs me of the future of your kingdoms," said the giant prince in a careless tone.

“Then, if it's all right with you, we'll go to that magician and find the best way to get you back to your parents in the safest way possible," proposed Syriel.

“All right," responded the boy, already with a big smile drawn on his huge face.

And they set out to continue on their way to the abode of the White Magician, already seeing in the background the colossal Dragons’ Mountains.

This mountain had been an ancient volcano that had not erupted in more than three thousand years. It was, without a doubt, the most gigantic mountain known in all of Frienia. It was so colossal in height that, when perhaps it was not even halfway to its summit, the air ceased to be breathable for any being who attempted to surpass that point. Something that no one had ever achieved, not even the dragons that populated the mountain and also needed air to breathe. Only from a considerable distance and on very clear days, with no clouds in the sky, could one glimpse the towering peaks of the massive mountain.

The brawl with the harpies did not cause any casualties to the princes’ company, only a few wounded and none serious, so they resumed the march as soon as possible in case those monsters came back with more reinforcements.

During the day, guided by the giant, they left that region behind to enter a more uneven region with hills and mountains.