They were standing
in the middle of the street. The
air was cold and Market could feel the grit of the dirt road under his
feet. His thoughts weren’t on the
ground though. His attention was
focused on the demon in front of him, not more than five yards away. The beast was at least fifteen feet
tall and had to be close to two thousand pounds. It had been a while since he had seen anything like
this. Its massive head hung heavy
with its long horns. It wore an
enormous steal helmet that was bolted around its neck. His legs were short,
thick, and powerful. His tough
skin was reinforced by a glimmering breastplate and it held two very large
swords. Looking into its face, Kel
could see that its eyes were fixed on Market.
Again
time stood at a standstill. A
fraction of time before the expected impact came a powerful pull. Initially it felt as if there was a
rope tied around his waist, the other end tied to a charging horse, and the rope
had just run out of slack. Immediately
thereafter he spun in place. The force opened his eyes to see a blur of the
battle field as he spun. He landed
on his feet, facing the spot he had just left. There stood Kel.
Facing down the demon with his back hunched over, one foot in front of
the other, his arms extended to the sides, teeth bared, hair on end, ready to
take the demon’s charge directly to his face. But, at what seemed to be a point of no return, the demon’s
horns stopped. Kel was untouched. Market immediately knew the spell that
protected Kel, for he himself had the same spell protecting him. None the less,
Kel was there and the demon had swords.
Unfortunately, Market knew that the spell wouldn’t help against swords.
The
chaos of the battle continued.
There were battle hardened orcs and some zombies coming from behind and
in what seemed like a fraction of a second, the two of them were nearly
surrounded. Market was facing Kel,
but had four adversaries on two sides. Kel was facing down the demon. Again, a moment before one of them attempted an attack, Kel
looked over his shoulder. He could
see the orc start to swing his sword toward Market’s head. Turning his body, leaving his back to
the demon, Kel lifted his foot.
Market could see the bottom of Kel’s foot as it made contact with his
chest. He placed it there delicately,
but as soon as it made contact, Market was immediately shoved backwards. Kel’s foot landed on the ground as he
stepped into the spot that Market had just occupied. The orc’s blade continued on its path, initially intended
for Market. Market could see that
at the moment Kel’s foot touched his chest, his eyes shifted to the blade’s
path. Within the same movement Kel
leaned back and twisted his body to avoid the blow.
Market
had just been moved and pushed though the entire battle. He was completely untouched. He could feel the weight of the sword
in his hand and it felt light. He
felt secure and his attention focused on the demon, who again was attacking
Kel.
He
knew that he had to banish the beast.
But at that moment his attention was ripped from the demon. With a blinding light to his left
appeared one of his angels. It was
too bright. Its presence was
unnatural. Market had not summoned
it. It was not supposed to be
here. Market knew something was
wrong.
“Heal”
was the word that Market heard. It
was Kel’s voice, but Kel was there facing the demon, not talking.
“Heal”
Again this time with a poke on the chest.
Markets head spun as he heard a loud crack and his view of the
battlefield zoomed out. It was if
he was flying away from his body and the battle. The figures in the battle became smaller and smaller. The earthen ground became leather. The bodies below became small wooden
pieces. Market then saw where they
were, sitting on the earthen floor of the barn.
Earlier
that night, Market had awoken to the sounds of Kel shuffling around. Kel was sitting in the storage area
with the feed and hay. The dead
body of Z laid there next to him.
Market saw Kel hunched over a circular mat of leather. He was studying it with much
intensity. Without wanting to
disturb him, Market picked up Thokul, moved out of bed, and got a little
closer. The mat had little wooden pieces
on it. As he continued to move
closer the details drawn on the map became more and more defined. Creeping closer, he looked over Kel’s
shoulder. He noticed that the small
wooden figurines had fine definition. At first, while they were strewn about,
their shape was simple. With the touch of Kel’s large curved fingernail, they
skipped forward. His hand was moving all about. Thick and curved, his nails
were black in the bed and yellow at the tip. Closer to a claw than a finger
nail. It continued pushing pieces around. The pieces rolled unnaturally. They
moved like weighted dice. They landed in what seemed to be predetermined spots.
Meanwhile their form had changed. With a little nudge, their form went into
flux. It was hard to notice, but Market was concentrating intensely. They were
in flux while moving and as they slowed down their form solidified. Looking at
the end result Market recognized these people. The drawing on the map also seemed to be familiar. The surrounding soon began to rise from
the map. There were crates and
wood floors. There was water. The place smelled like rotting fish and
garbage.
It
was the docks, the docks of Admundfort.
He had been at that exact spot not more than two weeks ago. From the exact vantage point that he
had been in before, Market watched the encounter, again.
The
same people were down at the end of the docks. Market knew they were there but no matter how hard he looked
he couldn’t see the ones that were in hiding. He remembered how the exchange went down, but he struggled
to see where Kel fit in. Towards
the end of the exchange, when the one man was taken aboard the barge, Market
awaited the surprise attack.
Instead a huge black
blur swept over the docks and at the same time what seemed like a whip cracked
inches from Market’s face. Instantly the battle was gone, ripped back into
reality, Market realized he was sitting right at the edge of the battle map.
The black blur that had startled him was Kel’s hand sweeping across the map.
Kel had scooped up most of the pieces. Market was unaware of how he had gotten
so close to the map. Realizing that his presence must have interrupted the
battle, Market stayed motionless for a second. His ears could hear the heavy
breath of his companion. His eyes and head still down looking at the map, they
slowly raised to see the hulking mass of Kel’s body. He was sitting less than
five feet away. Markets eyes continued up to Kel’s face. Kel’s tiny black eyes sunk deep under
his huge brow. They were glaring directly into Market. Remembering how Kel’s mace crushed the
spine of the man which currently lay next to him, Market’s heart found a little
solace when his hand naturally found Thokul. Exhaling hard on every breath,
Kel’s gaze was intense. After what seemed an eternity, Market saw out of his
peripheral vision Kel’s hand swing forward. Market’s grip tightened on Thokul.
Kel’s hand swung low from his waist, slinging wooden pieces onto the map.
Slowly a smile crept onto Kel’s face. Shocked and a little confused, Market
broke the stare and looked down to the map.
The setting was of
Hommlet. The pieces moved by Kel’s
fingernail. He was moving them to
where they had been at the beginning of the fight which they had been in
earlier that day. Market could see
each piece move to their respective spots. He then saw himself.
He was moving.
“Ha ha ha” rumbled Kel. Market disoriented,
broke his concentration from the map. He hadn’t noticed that his hand was
extended. His fingers were touching his little wooden piece.
“Maruka likes you.”
Leaning forward the Bugbear moved the orcs into place. The battle continued the
way Market remembered down to the finest detail.
