Read Online A Wizard's Tears by Craig Gilbert - Free Book Online Page B

backwards in alarm. He had never seen a creature like it! Green skinned, with long, green hair tumbling down to shoulder level, its face seemed human enough, but with long pointy teeth. Its hands were clawed, and it raised these talons before him, as if to protect itself. It wore a brown tunic of some kind, and brown leggings. Its feet had no boots, and Keldoran shivered at the sight of the hooked talon toes.
    Corg leapt to his feet, aware instantly of the creature, even though his eyes had been closed. “Norfel!” he hissed angrily at the humanoid, gesturing to Keldoran to back away. “Forest dweller, you are not welcome on this road. Away, back to the trees that spawned you!”
    Keldoran was shocked by Corg’s sudden anger and venom – it was unlike the juggler’s previous day’s good humour.
    The Norfel froze, eyeing Corg in equal distaste. “Bu’kep,” it spat. “My day has been cursed indeed!”
Corg’s small red horn upon his forehead seemed to flush a deeper crimson at this insult. He opened his mouth to retort, but a shout from the mage’s tent stopped him. All eyes turned to see the mage walk towards them, with a clearly concerned look on his normally stoic features.
“Corg, be at ease. I know the enmity between the Bu’kep and Norfel races, but this does not help our cause. Plus, this one looks in need of assistance.”
“A mage of Malana!” breathed the Norfel in clear excitement and relief. “So I was right! The carriage I spied from the woods was a mage’s carriage. Thank Untaba I have found one of you so quickly!”
“You seek a high mage from the white towers of Malana?” The mage’s eyebrows raised in surprise.
“Yes!” exclaimed the Norfel. “I need your help.”
Yvanna and Relb both appeared outside the tent now, staring at the newcomer in shock and awe. Neither of them had seen a Norfel before, although they had often heard tales of green skinned humanoids living in the forests around their village. Childhood myths, it seemed, were becoming full reality on this trip. Relb could not stop his mouth from gaping wide open.
Corg snarled, his eyes narrowing in suspicion at the Norfel, but said nothing. Keldoran could see his burning rage through his eyes, which shone with an inner malice for the stranger. Keldoran stumbled back involuntarily from the Bu’kep.
“Corg, pack the tents,” ordered the mage, obviously seeing the juggler’s discomfort. “I will handle this.” He motioned for Keldoran and the others to assist the Bu’kep. The mage waited until they had moved back to the tents before speaking with the Norfel.
The Norfel, Nagoth, informed him of his mission. The tale of the sorcerer flowed from his mouth in haste, how he had come to their forest, violating the known pact between the Norfel and the high mages, and worse, he told of the cruel murder of several of his own kind by the hands of the sorcerer. The Norfel clearly worried for his village, and his clan living there, and prayed that the sorcerer had not done any further damage. He also spoke of the Slardinian that they had captured.
“So you see my concerns,” finished Nagoth excitedly. “Will you help me talk to the high mages about this?”
“Did this sorcerer dress in our familiar robes?” said the mage, indicating his grey attire.
“No, although it was difficult to tell as his robes were in tatters. They were black, I think, and he had long hair of the same colour – not white, like yours.”
“A black robe?” the mage’s face grew as dark as the colour he had just mentioned. “The mages of Malana do not wear black. This wizard is not one of our brethren. Yet the magick you described him using – a form of transformation, altering the structure of his hand to pass through flesh, then turning it solid to cause damage and death, is something unheard of.”
The Norfel shuddered at the reminder of his friends’ grisly deaths. “Then you’re saying you couldn’t do the same spell?”
The mage nodded.