3
Parn stormed home and viciously kicked open the door. The floorboards creaked in protest as the metal studs of his sabatons made fresh divots in the wood.
“How’d it go, Parn?” a gentle voice asked from the back of the room.
“How do you think it went?!” Parn shouted at the smiling young man—Etoh the priest. Etoh wore a baggy, sun-bleached cotton robe with a blue sash at his waist. The silver amulet around his neck was the talisman of Pharis.
Etoh had been Parn’s friend from childhood—his only friend, really. Both orphans, their similar circumstances brought them together despite their opposite personalities. Etoh was much more reserved and always thought carefully before he acted. But they shared the same steadfast resolve.
When he was ten, Etoh worked doing odd jobs for a missionary of Pharis. He was so impressed by the doctrine of justice and order that he decided to follow the missionary when he left, and was eventually accepted to study at Pharis Temple in Allan, the capitol. Once he completed his training and became an official priest, he returned to the village.
Etoh put his hand on his talisman and said a quick prayer to Pharis while he listened to Parn explode in anger.
“You can’t blame them. They’re not used to combat.” Alania hadn’t been at war for a hundred years—they were the only kingdom that had avoided major battles during the most recent war.
“But we can’t handle a horde of goblins by ourselves,” Parn replied. He sat heavily at the table and gulped water from the bag at his hip. It was warm and reeked of leather. With a sigh, he tossed the empty bag on the table, but he threw it too hard and it slid off the far edge. Etoh picked it up, folded it carefully, and placed it back on the table—like he’d done a thousand times before.
“We can’t let the goblins roam free, either. We may be fine for now, but they’ll be a threat someday.” Etoh closed his eyes and raised his left hand as if preaching the words of Pharis. He didn’t have his own temple, so any preaching he did was on the roadside or in the assembly hall. But he was an authentic priest nevertheless—he could cast holy spells, and even perform miracles like curing diseases or healing wounds. He was also trained in combat—conflicts between his Order and the kingdom meant that government guards wouldn’t offer them protection, so they had their own Holy Knights for self-defense.
“Can we really do this alone? There are twenty of them—that’s ten apiece.” Master warriors might be able to slay ten goblins at once, even twenty or thirty. But Parn knew his skills weren’t at that level yet.
“There might be a way…” Etoh muttered thoughtfully, and Parn knew better than to interrupt. When he was with Etoh, it wasn’t his job to think—a warrior’s job was to improve his skills and slay his enemies.
At last, Etoh turned to Parn. “I don’t think it’s a very good plan…”
Parn grinned. “You’ve got a plan?” he said. “Sounds good—let’s do it!”
Slayn Starseeker’s house lay north of Zaxon. He’d moved in two years prior and quickly endeared himself to the villagers by teaching reading and writing.
He was also famously eccentric. His small house was cluttered with books, and the shelves of his cupboards were laden with herbs and bottles of dried insects. He gazed at the stars at night, mumbling to himself. All in all, he simply just stood out. Because of that, most people were friendly to Slayn but kept him at a distance. He didn’t get many visitors.
Except for that day—when he had two. Filmer, the village chief, was surprised to see that someone else was already there—and doubly so when he realized that the guest wasn’t human, but a dwarf.
The dwarf awkwardly introduced himself as Ghim while Slayn served him a flagon of ale, and remained still and silent while Filmer reported to Slayn what had occurred at the meeting—that Parn and Etoh had gone after the goblins alone, and couldn’t Slayn do something?
“Goblins?!” Ghim cried suddenly. “How many of the filthy burglars are there? I’ll chop them to bits!” At that, he grabbed the huge, double-edged axe propped against the wall. In his head-to-toe chain mail and sturdy helmet, he was utterly prepared for war.
Filmer nearly jumped out of his skin at the outburst, but Slayn barely batted an eye. “Goblins and dwarves have been enemies since ancient times,” Slayn explained in a solemn tone while Filmer tried to regain his composure.
“They’re thieves,” Ghim growled. “They hoard beautiful jewels, but they don’t even know how to appreciate them. Since the days of old, we’ve chopped off as many goblin heads as there are stars in the sky, but they still infest this place.”
“There are infinite stars,” Slayn gently reminded Ghim. “Luckily, there are only about twenty goblins here. Though that might be too many for Parn and Etoh. Did they really go off by themselves?”
The chief nodded, and Slayn gripped his chin, thinking, This isn’t surprising for Parn, but Etoh usually has a better head on his shoulders.
“Youth is the bane of reason,” Slayn mumbled to himself. “All right,” he continued louder, “We cannot abandon two promising young people to their fate. I’m sure we can figure out a way to deal with twenty of the goblins.”
“I swear upon my beard,” snorted the dwarf as he slung his axe over his back.
“You’ll go?” Filmer asked, visibly relieved. “Thank you both.”
“Don’t mention it. This village is my home, too.” Slayn stood and grabbed a wooden staff that had been left leaning haphazardly against a wall. One end of the staff was strangely crooked and covered in mysterious writing—a Philosopher’s Staff, only permitted to wizards of the Wizard Academy, a guild in Allan. Wizards learned an ancient language to control mana, the origin of everything. Their chanted spells could unleash powerful magic.
When the villagers ignored Parn’s request, Filmer had hoped Slayn would be able to help him. Meeting a goblin-hating dwarf at his house was an unexpected bonus.
“Knowing Parn, he’s probably woefully unprepared. We’ll have to hurry, or it’ll be too late.” Slayn picked up a thick book with the same ancient language stamped on the cover in gold leaf. Translated, the title read Slayn Starseeker’s Book of Spells.