El-Vador's Travels (58 page)

He
knew that the voice's reasons for speaking to him were not simply to
mock him, it was clearly goading him into ceasing his efforts. He
pushed harder, and the pain became blinding, not that it mattered.

'It
really is pointless, you're just going to cause yourself more pain,'
the voice reminded him, but the tone had changed and despite his
fuzzy hearing, Anacletus picked up on it and pushed even harder.

'Stop!'
it wailed at him, giving up all pretence of authority or confidence.

'No.'
Anacletus replied, and then everything went white.

He
awoke upon the floor of the inn, gingerly raising himself and
scanning his surroundings.

The
Pixie had gone.

Casting
his mind out, he caught no sign of her within his proximity, then
again he didn't know how long he had been out for.

At
least he knew the only place she could be headed.

Setting
out immediately, Anacletus left civilised lands and made his way into
the barrens.

It
would be all too easy of me to underestimate my foes in this present
form, but too many sobering lessons have been taught to me first hand
of just how vulnerable I remain, even to this day.

T
hey
had arrived at the latest in a series of ruins, and much to the anger
of an increasingly erratic Salvarius there had been no sign of the
artefact he sought.

Mina
could not help her diminishing usefulness to the man, what had once
been a clear certainty in her words had melted away into confusion
and a vague sense of where they were headed. She simply could not
retain the memories her previous form possessed while this
transformation occurred. Her one comfort was that she could feel her
twin drawing inexorably closer with every passing moment, even if
that had slowed within the last day or so.

'The
artefact cannot be far now, master.' she reassured him. 'There will
be time enough to recover it and initiate the bonding.'

'For
your sake I hope you are right.' Salvarius replied, rubbing his
temples as if in irritation. 'I have been harsh on you, Mina. I know
that the task you perform is a difficult one, I'm sorry.'

Mina
hesitated, not knowing how to respond to this simple apology. It
sounded almost nothing like the words she had previously heard from
the master, almost as if spoken with a different voice entirely.

Salvarius
lay back in the wagon and sighed. 'I wonder to myself, Mina. Long
into the hours when most are sleeping, hours like this night before
us.'

'Yes,
master?'

'I
wonder if this is all truly worth it for the vengeance of one Orc. If
I should really uncover such a great source of power and risk
instability from the ether beyond simply to appease my own lust.'

'You
do the world a favour by sating your desires, master.' Mina replied,
slowly crossing the wagon floor to lie next to Salvarius. 'The Elf
you seek undid the balance, you are merely redressing that.'

Her
master drew her in close to him and she slowly began to unstrap his
armour. She lay next to him in silence for a time, staring up at him
with a reverence she couldn't quite understand any more.

'I
feel the weight of expectation upon me, Mina. As if I have been
transformed from a simple soldier into the figurehead for the
Brotherhood.'

'Yes,
master, I understand your burden.' she replied, running her fingers
through his hair. 'But you are a great man, and the Orcs heed your
call, they are willing to follow you even if they do not understand
what it is you represent. Even if sometimes they are unsuccessful in
their goals as your subjects, our greater goals shall be achieved.'

Salvarius
turned halfway around as she started toying with the straps of his
armour. 'The scouts for your twin never returned. Do you think it was
greed that undid them or something else?'

'It
is difficult to say, master. My sight weakens as the transformation
continues. It is growing harder for me to channel the actions from
afar to you.'

Her
master mused over this for a time. 'First your defences were broken,
then our scouts go missing. We are being followed, Mina, dreams or no
dreams.'

'My
dreams may be just that, master.' She didn't believe that for a
second, nor did he, and Salvarius was proving hard to distract this
night.

'Even
without the bonding, you will be powerful with the artefact. Any who
choose to oppose you after the acquisition will surely fail in their
attempts.'

'Perhaps
you are right, Mina.' her master replied, shrugging off the cuirass
with a sigh. 'There are few ruins left to traverse now, and you will
not fail me in locating the artefact when we chance upon the right
one.'
Mina did not miss the ominous tone that crept into his
voice, unspoken reprisal should her powers wane entirely before
locating the mask.

Still,
she had one more trap for them to stumble upon, one final effort into
which she has invested a great deal of her previous energies.

She
only hoped that they'd hold out long enough to ensnare the figure
that followed them in her fevered dreams.
El-Vador checked the
Orc's bonds with a scowl of distaste. He'd secured the creature's
hands behind him as they had marched through the barrens, now that
they had come to a halt for the night he bound its feet to a
makeshift stake he'd driven into the ground. He checked over
everything multiple times to make sure that he would not be stabbed
in the dark. He knew that the Orc would do anything in his power to
escape as they slept, even if there was no possible method of escape.

Aliana
watched him patiently as he went about his work. 'The night draws in,
is the captive secure?'

El-Vador
curled his lip in a snarl. 'Your captive wouldn't be a problem if you
had let me bleed him dry for information.'

'He
would not have spoken had he known you would kill him anyway.' She
turned to face the direction they had been heading, her back to both
the Elf and his burden. 'The Orcs have a rudimentary honour that
prevents them from betrayal when they face certain death.'

'Orcs
are without honour.' El-Vador muttered, kicking the one before him in
frustration.

She
spun, eyes sharpened. 'If this Orc is truly my captive then I would
advise you to treat him better, lest you want the information we
seek. Your powers are weak this night, it would be unwise to anger
me.'

'She
speaks the truth, Elf.' the Orc's breath hissed from between
discoloured rotting teeth. 'The mistress desires her power greatly,
and you are weakened.'

El-Vador
dropped to a knee beside the Orc and pressed the drawn blade to his
throat. 'You will keep your silence or I shall end you.' he hissed,
not keeping the frustration out of his tone.

'Maybe
so, maybe not.' the Orc replied indifferently. 'My life is in the
hands of the mistress who accompanies you.'

El-Vador
looked back at Aliana. She was staring a hole in him, waiting to see
what he would do. He pressed the blade even closer, then with a sigh
let it fall.

Aliana
nodded in recognition of how difficult the task of staying his hand
had been for him.

'We
shall not kill you, Orc. Not if you can prove your use to us, we
require more answers this night. Tell me what you know of your other
mistress.'

The
Orc stared up at her, clearly he had been preparing this answer all
evening. 'The mistress seeks you to perform a bonding of some sort, a
lowly grunt such as myself does not know the specifics. She needs
your power and in some way it is linked to what the master is doing.'

Aliana's
eyes were steely, it was clear that the Orc needed to do much better
than that. 'That is not enough, Orc. If you value your life then you
will provide me with more information.'

'I
heard the master speaking of augmenting himself as soon as the
bonding was complete, I do not know what those words mean though, I
swear to you.'

'Not
good enough. You my dispose of him, El-Vador.' the Pixie replied,
appointing her companion as the willing executioner.

'No,
please, master. If you were to bring her to the mistress you would be
well rewarded.'

The
Elf smiled grimly. 'If I did, Salvarius would kill me. Even if I had
wanted to, what makes you so certain I could?'

Orc
licked his thick lips, clearly running out of answers 'Salvarius
would not kill the one who rendered to him such a mighty prize.'

El-Vador
smiled, and assumed that the Orc's corresponding smile meant that the
captive imagined he was dreaming of gold and jewels.

He
leaned down toward the Orc while the Pixie still had her back turned.
'Very well then, you may travel in bonds but she shall be the true
captive.'

'A
wise choice, very wise. I will arrange everything. I shall be your
agent. I shall ensure that the master does no harm to you.'

El-Vador
stood and returned the blade to its sheath. 'Yes, you will.'

He
walked over to where the Pixie was crouched, making a fire out of
some brush wood in the dirt. 'The Orc believes I plan to capture you
and turn you over to Sarvacts.'

She
straightened up, making no attempt to hide her anger. 'And do you,
Elf?'

El-Vador
chuckled, which irritated her further. 'Of course not.' he replied,
folding his arms over his chest. 'I would not betray a companion to
an Orc for all the jewels in the world.'

'Is
that all you care for then? The extermination of all Orcs?'

'Yes.'

'Yes?'
She raised an eyebrow. 'You have an entire world to explore and
discover and you care only for vengeance to the exclusion of
everything else?'

El-Vador
shrugged.

Aliana
scowled at him in return. 'What did you do as a child?'

'I
cut wood.'

'I
mean with others of your race.'

'My
father was the only company I needed in the woods of my home. He is
dead now.'

She
sighed. 'Have it your way then.'

'Have
what my way?'

Aliana
started to answer sharply, then thought better of it. 'There is more
to life than simply killing, El-Vador. I doubt my words will reach
you before it is too late though.'

The
silence stretched out for a long time as they made camp, El-Vador
constantly shifting his gaze back to the bound form of the Orc that
was their mutual captive now.

The
Elf met her gaze across the live fire and knew he had to say
something to break the quiet he had enforced with his reticence. 'We
shall stop whatever is drawing you to Salvarius.'

She
nodded, stirring the fire. 'I saw what you did to the Orcs in the
mountains, together we can end this.'

El-Vador
nodded, smiling back at her. 'It could be much worse, you could be
paired with the Orc.'

Her
smile faded slightly. 'You are aware that I will do my utmost to
destroy you if you ever betray me, correct?'

El-Vador's
smile broadened. 'Of that I have no doubt, you may even succeed if
you persist enough in the task. When last I looked you were not
Orcish though, so I have little reason to betray you.'

El-Vador
turned from her and looked away to the north. 'Besides, it's good to
have some company again. Everyone I know ends up dying or betraying
me, or both. I'd like that to change.'

The
slight noise of expelled air betrayed the hint of laughter. 'So there
is more to the mysterious El-Vador than simply Orc-slaying after
all.'

The
Elf tapped his nose. 'Don't let the Orc find out.'

Aliana
stared at him, then shook her head. 'You are impossible, Elf.'

'So
my enemies have discovered.' El-Vador smiled happily. 'I hope that
you are never one, Aliana.'

On
those final words and exchanged smiles, they settled down to sleep.

There
are times when the trials seem too great, that the anger I cling to
for strength won't be enough to see me through. I'm so far away from
all that I once knew was my own self, looking back seems like a
lifetime unlike any I suspected living.

E
l-Vador
shuddered as consciousness teased him with its return. The world span
him about endlessly, but resolved itself into a steady, rhythmic
throbbing. The dust that whipped about him told him that he was still
in the barrens, but the aching of his head felt as if he had
overslept. He sat up gently and stared about him before remembering
that the barrens looked identical no matter where they were. Still,
something felt decidedly off about the world around him and he
couldn't place his finger on what.

As
more of his senses returned, with them came an awareness of aches and
pains, and a general stiffness that should have subsided by now. His
conflict with the transparent creature was long passed, he shouldn't
be suffering from it now, what had befallen him? He checked his body
and found himself sporting wounds that he didn't know had existed
before, all freshly sewn up and cared for with diligence.

A
gentle hand pushed his head back down to the earth to rest, yes, he
was getting dizzy from sitting, it would be better to lie there for a
time.

When
he opened his eyes once more, the harsh sun burned them. He began to
tear up, and tried to rise once again, only to have the same hand
push him back down.

'Don't
speak, El-Vador. Don't move. The poison gave you a fever. It's only
just broken.'

He
blinked, irritated by the dust. 'What poison? I don't understand.'

'The
Orc broke free of his bonds in the night, you would not rise to fight
him, would not wake at all. I had to deal with him accordingly.'

'How
long have I been like this?' he whispered, barely having the strength
for anything else.