Shadows over Nothross | Page 6

near clouds."
"And here's probably the most crucial question I have: what creatures are we dealing with here?"
Aleln seemed troubled by the question. Gnedrnygr smiled and said, "Same things we've seen everywhere, Facyr. Goblinoids, if I'm guessing here." He glanced at Aleln, who seemed stung - only a little bit - by the names of creatures Gnedrnygr had uttered. He leaned closer to his friends, and whispered, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, "just know that the elves find goblins, goborcs and especially orcs so detestable they don't speak of these creatures by name, and I don't blame them."
"It is no problem at all to mention them", Aleln said, eyes closed and letting out a quiet, worried sigh. "In any case, several capable groups of warriors, and even lone assassins, have tried to get into the castle and kill the wizard. All of them came back scarred, slashed, and often very dead. There are just too many of these creatures. They're alert, they have spies everywhere too."
"Which leads to the obvious question - what makes you think we will succeed in what others have failed at?" Faira asked.
Aleln thought. "I don't know. All I know is that you're, by reputation, great warriors. And there's one more thing in your reputation - you're also listeners. Most of the people we've sent so far have always been self-reliant, perhaps overly so. Perhaps it's time we send in mercenaries who are able to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors."
"Now, I'd like you to tell me more about this wizard", Gnedrnygr said and listened carefully while thumbing the pages of the book at hand. He was greatly intrigued by all of the things the nobles were talking of, and his fraction of attention to the book was mostly now focused on the pictures.
"He is called Jaxtomsyn", Realn said. The wind howled through the broken window, and a from a good distance came a crack of lightning. Faira and Facyr looked at each other, closed their eyes and sighed, the trick of nature bothering them both. "We know very little of him, aside of the fact that he's an Evoker from Colemian school, like you", Realn told Gnedrnygr. "He seems to be able to somehow... formulate... the creatures he uses against us. There seems to be an endless supply of them no matter how many fall to our lances and swords."
"Hmm, this is curious. In Colemia, we do have some spells to increase the breeding rate of orclings, but they are not particularly well known, or available to magicians at large." He scratched his head. "I have a suspicion, but I can't discuss it - suffice to say, for now, that keeping my suspicions secret doesn't harm the expedition in any way. Just a rather unpleasant part of the history of my old home country." Gnedrnygr grinned. "It's the same sort of thing as with you elves and mentioning the creatures you fight against. But as for the magic itself, it is, indeed, dangerous to handle." He leaned back and looked far too relaxed to talk such complex and difficult matters.
Faira slumped further, leaned back and grinned to herself, again getting her feet on the edge of the table. She had figured out that Gnedrnygr had somehow found oranges from the marketplace. When Gnedrnygr was overly cheerful when discussing dark matters such as these, it was a sure thing that he had been eating a lot of sweet things, and Gnedrnygr, being from the southern lands, just loved oranges.
"Still", Gnedrnygr continued, "even wielder of such powerful magics have fatal weaknesses. It may be that he has somehow found a powerful magic item or forbidden tomes of spells, but is not able to use too difficult magic himself."
Faira leaned back and crossed her arms across her chest. "What exactly do you propose we really should do once we get there?" she asked. "I suppose you have tried everything else already. What seems to be the way that works best?" Faira was already thinking of all sorts of tricks on how to sneak in: Maybe over the wall in the shining pale moonlight... though that approach might not work too well.
"It is entirely possible for a smaller group to get in the castle courtyard, all that needs is some planning and a surprise attack. We are more afraid of staying alive once we get in", Aleln said.
"After all, that's where the creatures are staying, judging from all signals." Realn said. "And, judging from the show of lights the wizard has put forth every time we've sent someone there, he's never been idle himself either when someone invades the fortress... he often has some interesting spells to offer once he finds out what is afoot. I once witnessed that far away. Oh, those fireballs were