A New Beginning: A Fantasy Adventure (The White Chronicles Book 1) Read online

  “Oh, no,” Vexx said with a pained smile.

  After a moment, the priest stepped away, turning and waving them over with a curt gesture. “Come in, I suppose. Follow me. Don’t touch anything.”

  “Not yet, anyway,” Vexx muttered, glancing at Kaylin as she walked past. She isn’t exactly my type, but we’ve been through a good deal together already. A hot elf like her? He grinned at the idea, then smoothed his features, joining the solemn priest as he walked down the corridor.

  “I didn’t realize the church had such a powerful presence in Cloudbury.”

  “The Arch Rector does indeed grace this small town with his visits from time to time. I doubt he would approve of unwashed adventurers within these sacred walls.”

  Vexx bit back a scathing retort and plastered on a bland expression. Beside him, Kaylin frowned and discreetly sniffed at her hair. “Unwashed?” she muttered to herself.

  “We have quite a large library of texts here,” the tall priest said, as he turned left and opened a huge wooden door. “Brother Parneus! These visitors may have something of value.”

  “Oh, yes?”

  Seated beside a map, a gray-haired monk blinked up at them, half-rising from his chair. The room was surrounded by sturdy wooden shelves, no doubt felled in the Lifeless Hills and fashioned in the nearby lumber mills. Their contents, on the other hand, were much more foreign. A grimoire surrounded with metal chains glowed a faint yellow, seeming to float in place, and beside it was a collection of leather-bound scrolls. The other shelves contained an enormous quantity of books, as well as a few curios and relics, a gleaming golden dragon’s claw most prominent among them.

  “I think you’ll be very interested in this, sir,” Vexx said, handing the book over, but the monk just frowned. He stared at Vexx for a long moment, as if attempting to solve a puzzle.

  “You…you’re the White boy, aren’t you?” the monk asked after a moment.

  Vexx flushed. “It’s Vexx White, sir.”

  “Ah, I knew your father. Didn’t much care for him. You…you were sent to the magical academy as a boy, weren’t you?” The monk squinted. “But you were kicked out. I see you had your father’s discipline.”

  “Hey! They just…” Vexx grimaced and gave up trying to explain himself. “Look, let’s get this deal done and we’ll be on our way.”

  “Fine,” the monk said, opening the book. He skimmed through the first few pages. Then, his eyes widened as the hair on his fringe rose into the air. “This…this really is magic!”

  “Told you.”

  He flipped to another page and a look of dismay descended upon his face. “Oh…oh no. Oh no.”

  Vexx frowned. “What?”

  “Gaius, come here,” the monk said to the tall priest, who hurried close and blanched as he looked at the pages. The monk continued skimming before finally slamming it closed and setting it on the table. He took a deep, shuddering breath.

  “What’s going on?” Vexx demanded.

  “It’s been profaned with demonic symbols. There is absolutely no way we could have this in our collection.”

  “I’ll destroy it,” Gaius announced, placing a hand on the book. Vexx rose to his feet, and to his surprise, Kaylin rose along with him, even taking a step forward to block the priest.

  “That’s our book!” she snapped.

  “Damn straight,” Vexx replied, earning glares from the others. But he was past caring now. “You want to destroy it? Well, you’ll have to pay for it.”

  “I am not paying a single copper coin for those heretical ramblings,” Gaius said even as he retracted his hand from the book. “It must be destroyed!”

  “Heresy, is it?” Vexx glanced at the monk, who was shaking slightly from fear. “What does it say?”

  “Nonsense,” the monk stammered. “Ramblings about sacrifice and some Ruby of the Pure hidden in the Western Ruins! No, Gaius is right, it must be destroyed.”

  “Ruins…” Vexx muttered, then snatched up the book. “Fine, you won’t pay? Then I’ll destroy it myself.”

  “See that you do,” Gaius said with a slight look of fear in his eyes. “There is foul magic trapped inside.”

  The sensation of magic kept barely at bay travelled up Vexx’s arm. But it seemed familiar by now, and the discomfort lessened as he dropped it into his leather pack.

  “Don’t worry yourselves. I’ll take care of it.”

  Gaius grunted and quickly ushered them out of the room. “See that you do. I will see you out.”

  Kaylin paused for a moment. “Do you have a restroom I can use?”

  “We do not have restrooms, for the truly devout never rest, but we do have a washroom.”

  “Over here?” Kaylin asked, pointing towards a massive white door with a shimmering golden doorknob.

  “No! We keep our most priceless artifacts in there. Holy relics, fashioned by master goldsmiths. Not for the likes of you to see.” The priest jerked his head to the left. “The washroom is over there.”

  20

  Caravan Guards

  “Your church officials are a very cranky bunch,” Kaylin observed once they had left the reliquary.

  “Yeah, I never much cared for them,” Vexx replied. “Too many rules for my tastes.”

  “So, what do you want to do after we destroy the book?” Kaylin asked. “Maybe we could find someone else who needs a dungeon cleared.”

  “You heard what they said,” Vexx replied. “The Western Ruins? I think I know which ones they meant. The old empire used to have a garrison here centuries ago, though it’s been abandoned for ages. I’ve heard there are wights and spirits that haunt it to this day.”

  “If there are wights, maybe you could say you’re family, Vexx!”

  Vexx White kept his face carefully neutral. “Don’t. Just…don’t.” He raised the scroll up high.

  “Get it?” Kaylin grinned guilelessly. “Because—”

  “Let’s get ourselves something to eat,” Vexx snapped. “I’ve got to plan our next adventure.”

  A half hour later found Vexx idly munching on a loaf of bread. Food had given him a clearer picture of the adventure. He unrolled a cheap map and tapped it with the end of his dagger as Kaylin looked on, midway through her meal of noodles in some sort of strange sauce.

  “So, we’re here in Cloudbury. We’ll have to skirt the Lifeless Hills, but there’s a logging road heading northwest, and if we’re lucky, we might be able to earn a few coins as caravan guards on that route. Lots of goblin raids, or so I hear. Now…” Vexx moved his dagger and tapped an image of a ruined castle. “We’ll go off the road and head south. The old Imperial ruins are here. The caravans avoid it, so we’ll have to travel alone at that point. Based on what I’ve gathered in the dead adventurer’s scroll and the magic book, I’m fairly confident the Ruby of the Pure can be found there.”

  Kaylin slurped up her noodles and nodded. “How do you know which way’s northwest?”

  “Magic.”

  “Oooh…”

  They paused as a woman in farmer’s garb passed by, watching as she shuffled through the cramped outdoor eating area. It was packed full for the mid-day meal, a crowd that consisted of loggers and shopkeepers eating simple fare from overworked stalls. A few hunters, often wearing their own pelts, could be found around the periphery and there were about a dozen farmers and ranchers taking a break from the errands that had brought them to Cloudbury.

  No strangers though, and no elves in this crowd—certainly none as attractive as Kaylin.

  Vexx had seen more than a few looks at Kaylin, though she seemed cheerfully unaware of it, and Vexx himself had even been the subject of a few stares as well.

  We stick out here, even though I grew up just outside town. Well, so what? We’re dungeoneers now, and they are just common folk.

  Vexx straightened up before he carefully rolled up the map and placed it in his leather satchel beside the adventurer’s scroll and the magical book—which still seemed to hum with energ
y. “I think it’s about time we got out of here,” Vexx said. “Let’s make for the Western Gate and see if there’s a caravaneer in need of protection.”

  Kaylin leaned back, setting her empty bowl on the table. “But why, Vexx?”

  “Why?” Vexx blinked. “To find this ruby! You think something like that won’t sell? Hells, we might be rich at the end of this adventure! That’s real dungeoneering, it is. Besides, do you have any better ideas?”

  Kaylin thought for a moment. “Nope!”

  It wasn’t long before they met a merchant at the Western Gate looking for protection. He was no caravan leader, with only a single horse-drawn wagon loaded down with pelts, but he was looking for protection and they were looking for work.

  “It’s a rough country up ahead,” he said, eyeing them with thinly-veiled skepticism. “I’ll only be hiring you for a half day’s work—once we pass the Lifeless Hills, I’ll go the rest of the way alone and sell my goods at the port. And to be honest with you, a scrawny kid and an elf girl don’t look too intimidating.”

  “Hey!” Vexx frowned, snapping his fingers, and a ball of fire emerged to float around it. “We can handle ourselves.”

  “That’s right!” Kaylin said with a resolute nod. “We often handle ourselves!”

  The merchant blinked in bewilderment. “Well…just don’t do that on the job. Alright, three coppers each when we make it past the Lifeless Hills. I’m in a hurry. Frank’s my regular guard while in Cloudbury, and he’s used to working with freelancers on these trips.”

  This “Frank” character stepped forward from the other side of the wagon. He was a tall man approaching middle age, with dark, balding hair and a scruffy beard. There was a long scar along his forehead and his huge double-headed axe was slung casually over his shoulder. His outfit was a mix of wolf hide and boiled leather, though the sleeves appeared to have been cut off as it to show off his muscular arms. His lips spread as he attempted either a grimace or a friendly smile—it was hard to be sure.

  “Hey, you two, the name’s Frank. Haven’t seen either of you before. Have you done any caravan guarding work?”

  “What’s a caravan?” Kaylin asked.

  Frank frowned and scratched at his stubble. “So that’s how this is gonna be,” he muttered to himself.

  “We have some dungeoneering experience,” Vexx said. “We’ve killed our share of goblins.”

  Frank grunted. “Well, this is a small operation. Not even a caravan, really, just a single merchant. Unfortunately, the goblins love little groups like this. I’ve seen them let bands of twenty horsemen and logging carts go right on by and swoop down on a couple stragglers just a minute later.” He shrugged. “They’re sneaky bastards, so keep your weapons ready.”

  “I don’t need a weapon,” Vexx said confidently. “I have my magic.”

  “You’re a mage?” Frank raised an eyebrow. “Don’t get too many of your kind as guards, though I suppose a healer is always handy.”

  “Not a healer,” Vexx snapped. “Or…a mage either, technically. I don’t have my diploma, I mean. But who needs it?”

  “Mages, probably,” Frank said with a shrug. “But I ain’t exactly the academy type so it doesn’t mean a damn thing to me. Just kill goblins if they attack, alright? I don’t much care how you do it.”

  “Got it.”

  Frank turned to look at the merchant, who was patting his horse and saying a few calming words. The wagon was pulled by a huge plow horse, and while Vexx doubted it could go much over walking pace, it seemed the perfect choice for eating up the miles between scattered towns.

  “We’re ready, boss!”

  The merchant nodded, taking his seat on the wagon, and spurred his horse onward. The wagon lurched forward, rumbling as it rattled against the cobblestones. Vexx and Kaylin fell into position on the left and right while Frank hurried up to scout a dozen paces ahead of the wagon.

  “Keep your eyes sharp, guards!” the merchant said as they passed the Western Gate, the spearmen stationed beside it nodding their heads in bored recognition. “And your weapons ready!”

  21

  Ambush

  The wagon trundled along, a monotonous rumble that filled the silence as Vexx continually scanned the nearby forest that flanked the southern side of the road. The ground dipped down, littered with scattered boulders and twisted corpses of trees, though it was a steep slope on the northern side. Kaylin will be watching that side. Even though she’s the clumsiest elf I’ve ever met, she’s always been good at spotting things.

  They were midway through the pass that went across a dip in the ridgeline of the Lifeless Hills, and they had yet to see any sign of either goblins or traffic. Aside from that abandoned cart a while back, with the shallow graves beside it. Vexx scanned back and forth, back and forth. Still, we’re making good progress, and it seems like we won’t run into any—

  “Goblins!”

  The shout came from Kaylin on the other side of the wagon, followed an instant later by the thrum of her bow.

  “Vexx! Over here!” she called out.

  At the same moment, there came a string of curses from the wagon, and Vexx turned before quickly hurrying to the other side. He glanced up to see a swarm of charging goblins, just as Kaylin loosed her first arrow. A goblin took the hit full in the chest and tumbled down the slope. The other goblins roared as they charged down, trampling their fallen comrade. Flames appeared beside Vexx’s outstretched hands, and he quickly launched fireball after fireball.

  He heard a twang nearby and saw a crossbow bolt sail out, followed by the merchant cursing and furiously winching to reload. Vexx heard the distant bellow of Frank charging from the front, but spared no time to watch the barbarian, instead setting the slope ablaze with a curtain of fire. Dark figures emerged from behind the curtain of fire, streaming forward with upraised weapons and shrill cries. Vexx felt spent from the magic but sent a final burst of flames to keep them at bay.

  Vexx sank to his knees, glancing up even as he fumbled in his satchel. He swore and cursed his stamina as he watched the goblins charge forward. He raised the half-full potion to his lips before ripping the cork out and spitting it to the side, drinking it thirstily before tossing the empty vial to the ground. Vexx rose on unsteady legs, already feeling the energy returning to him, then dodged aside as a goblin’s axe slashed just where he had been a moment before.

  Vexx slammed the goblin with a fireball, sending the charred and screaming creature flying into the air, then whirled and fired three quick fireballs at the remaining goblins in the area. He heard shouts and the clatter of combat nearby but kept his focus on everything around him. His head throbbed dimly as the final smoldering goblin collapsed to the ground beside the road. A few others were fleeing back up the slope, one collapsing to its knees as Kaylin’s arrow pierced through its shoulder. Further to his right, Vexx looked on as Frank roared in exultation, grinning fiercely as he decapitated a goblin with his gigantic axe.

  Vexx let out a long breath and felt a sense of achievement growing within him, as if that last fight had been some marker of a boost in experience.

  What a rush!

  Frank’s hearty laugh caught his attention, and Vexx looked over to see the barbarian approaching, his bloody axe resting on one shoulder. “Nice shooting, elf!” he called out, nodding at Kaylin as she lowered her bow. “You too, kiddo,” he added to Vexx, raising an eyebrow at a still-burning goblin corpse.

  “It’s Vexx White,” he replied in annoyance. “Soon, they’ll be talking about me just like Dred Wyrm. Mark my words.”

  Frank smirked but said nothing.

  “You, guards!” the merchant called out, standing atop his wagon with his crossbow still in hand. “Any wounds?”

  The three of them confirmed they were unscathed and the merchant nodded, pleased. “Good work! I’ll give you a few minutes to loot the corpses, if you’d like, and then we’ll be on our way. I doubt they’d be foolish enough to attack us again.”

&
nbsp; The guards spread out, picking over the remains, Vexx gingerly patted at the charred corpse of a goblin. He was rewarded with a few stinking coppers. Everything helps, I suppose. Vexx had checked a few of the bodies, and now approached one with an arrow in the heart. Not my kill, but at least it doesn’t smell like a rotten barbeque. He yanked the arrow out to give back to Kaylin.

  My fireballs are pretty effective, Vexx thought as he eyed the corpse, but my bursts of flames are too exhausting to use that often. I don’t need to improve them just yet, but with my newfound experience…what if I tried reanimating the body? He had communed with spirits before; the ghosts that haunted the cemetery attached to the magical academy. This was a step beyond, but…

  But I’ve trained hard enough that it should be possible now.

  He extended his hand, feeling the glow of his new experience fade away, flickering green magic pulsing out of his hand and into the dead goblin. The faded eyes of the goblin glowed a demonic red, the creature’s left arm shifted and its dirty fingers dug into the ground as the creature struggled to rise to its feet.

  Vexx felt a rush of excitement, a dim sense of another creature at his command, an undead minion to—

  “Time to go!” the merchant shouted. “I have a schedule to keep!”

  Vexx released his control, the light dying again in the goblin’s eyes, the creature falling motionless once more. I’ll save that trick for later. Besides, the others might freak out about it.

  “Vexx!”

  “Coming!” he replied, hurrying back to the wagon, smiling all the while.

  22

  To the Ruins

  “You’ve done good work for me,” the merchant said, his plow horse peacefully grazing at a patch of grass just off the road. They had passed the last of the Lifeless Hills some ways back and were in open country now. It was a peaceful land here, or as peaceful as anything got. “Look me up next time I’m in Cloudbury,” he said, tossing three small cloth bags at his guards, weighted down with coins.