The Hero’s Right Hand

Fresh breakfast and panicked dwarven screams alerted me of the new day. Vofric incoherently yelled outside the inn. The sun barely rose over the horizon causing his small form to appear as a black silhouette.

“We must go!” he barked.

“What are you saying, little man?” Sariel replied, staring down her nose at the dwarf.

“Vofric, explain yourself,” Aisha said.

He huffed. “No time!”

Without another word he ran off. Aisha didn’t hesitate and we followed. Though the town was unfamiliar, all of us quickly deduced where we were being led. We rushed into Melinda’s home to find her parents meekly looking at her room.

Margaret sat on the couch with great sorrow in her eyes. Wispy strands of hair riddled her puffy face. Thick lines marked where tears had flowed. Even Pavrin’s stoic demeanor was gone. Exhaustion weighed heavy on his shoulders. I did my best to comfort them while my party entered Melinda’s room.

The bandits had been kinder to our carriage than whoever ransacked this place. Glass and cloth scraps littered the floor. Splintered wood riddled the room from a broken desk. Vofric looked heartbroken and knelt on the ground while looking for something. Sariel sniffed the air and searched the bed for clues. Aisha, however, looked for the few things that were undisturbed.

Vofric kneaded some cloth scraps between his fingers and swore they weren’t from Melinda’s wardrobe. He asked Aisha to check for any damaged clothing and she confirmed there was none. As she moved away to shut the door something caught Sariel’s attention. A mirror hung on the frame was marked by a bloody symbol of Caelum’s cult. Such an obvious sign sent a chill down my spine.

A knock at the front door pulled our attention away from the mark. Pavrin silently led a man and woman inside. A goliath named Mason stiffly stared at us. Guiding him was Nila, her stance smaller but fiercer than her compatriot. Battle scars riddled her face and arms. Vofric introduced them as members of the village watch.

“Daphal at the inn told us you’d come screaming bloody murder this morning. Took a bit of tracking until we found out what happened,” Nila said.

“Sent Roc to tell others,” Mason said gruffly. His gaze trained on Aisha, Sariel, and I. “New adventurers. When did they come?”

Vofric furrowed his brow and looked at us before he answered. “Yesterday. I was going to introduce them to you later.”

“Now’s a good a time as any.” Nila said as she brushed past Aisha. Her gaze honed in on the cult symbol. “What is this? Was Melinda involved with dark magic?”

“No!” Vofric protested. “It’s the symbol I mentioned to your group previously. I recall drawing it for you.”

“Yes, it is in records,” Mason replied. “Please step out. We will search room. Alone.”

Vofric nodded and gestured for us to leave. Aisha complied but only as far as the living room. There was no reason we could not stay to comfort the family. Even Vofric wasn’t allowed inside when they shut the door. Something obviously bothered Aisha. The shut door never left her sight as we waited in silence.

The village watch did not stay in the room long. As Nila exited, she snapped her fingers for our attention.

“We think Melinda may have been hurt. We’re having an emergency meeting at the tavern,” she said.

“You all come.” Mason added.

Aisha flicked her wrist. “We’ll be there shortly. Go ahead, Vofric.”

“I’ll wait here and show you the way,” Vofric said soberly while Pavrin guided the watch out of the house. 

Once they were out of earshot Vofric whispered, “Something is amiss.”

Sariel snorted. “The blood in the room does not share Melinda’s scent.”

We all stared at her and she explained, “My senses are sharper than others’. Particularly my nose. Melinda smells of vegetation and dirt. This blood smells like a dank cave.”

“We’ll keep that to ourselves. I don’t care for this village watch but even incompetent eyes can assist in finding Melinda,” Aisha said. “We’ll see what they have to say before we move on.”

I’d never felt so downtrodden while the sun hung above me. The warmth did nothing to remedy my goosebump covered skin. Sariel was as on edge as ever and Aisha more so. Every blind corner and alley entrance was under scrutiny. Suddenly the small village felt like a threat.

By the time we arrived at the tavern, the door was shut. Daphal, the innkeeper, told us to wait for the village watch to let us in. Vofric approached the door to knock but Aisha stopped him. She signaled us to stay quiet and listen carefully. We spread out against the wall but it wasn’t hard to catch the conversation.

“Who in the hell drew the mark?” Nila yelled. “That was the stupidest stunt I’ve ever seen!”

“Mark is for ritual. Not calling card,” Mason added.

“And you’re saying adventurers are looking into it?” another voice asked.

“Yes.”

“Vofric says they arrived yesterday. What happened to the days of him sending them to us immediately?” Nila groaned.

Mason grunted. “Made job easier.”

“We’ll deal with the girl, the adventurer’s and then that stupid priest.”

Vofric stumbled back from the wall, the color drained from his face. I caught him when he almost fell. He fought back tears and whispered, “I must go.”

We didn’t try to stop him. Aisha looked uneasy as she pressed her ear harder against the wall. The voices were quieter but still audible.

“Where are the adventurers? You said you invited them here,” someone said.

“They must think we beneath them,” Mason said. “Or looking for ritual site.”

“We should go. If they do come here, it’s better that they have to wait.”

Aisha gestured for us to leave immediately. Never had the soft croaks of wood flooring felt like a worse nuisance. We moved slowly but with determination. Daphal gave us odd looks but we paid it no mind. The moment we stepped out of the inn Aisha commanded, “Hide and watch for the last to leave. It should be the sixth person. We’ll follow them.”

How Aisha deduced the number of people, I’ll never know. Sariel leapt onto a nearby rooftop. In the brief moment I watched our elvish ally, Aisha vanished from sight. My confusion was short lived as an unseen force guided me towards a nearby alley.

“It’s me, idiot,” Aisha’s voice came from the empty space behind me.

I nodded slowly and ducked into the alley. No matter how the light hit it, certain areas remained in shadow. The angle was perfect to watch the inn.

It didn’t take long for the village watch to exit. Mason and two others headed towards the city gate. A few minutes later another person left with Nila in tow. A few more minutes passed but no one left. Only five people had left, I was sure of it. My eyes were trained on the door the entire time. If I’d missed someone Sariel would have moved from her perch. But I didn’t need someone else to confirm that Aisha was right about the sixth member. She’d never been wrong before.

Five more minutes. It was possible the last member used a different exit.

Then ten more passed. I could feel my nerves getting to me but kept my focus.

Moments later, a halfling crept out of the inn. Our target, and by the looks of it, she had a hunch about the eyes watching her.

From atop the building Sariel nodded to me then started running across the rooftops. I waited for the halfling to get further away before stepping out of the shadows. I stuck to the walls and kept my distance. It was obvious we were leaving Wolden. Moments after we stepped out of the gate the halfling dashed into the forest. I couldn’t keep up without giving away my location. Fortunately, Sariel was silent while leaping through the trees.

“With me,” Aisha said as she appeared next to me. “I can keep track of her.”

The halfling remained a few hundred feet away. Sariel stayed in the trees halfway between us and our target. Aisha and I followed silently, making sure not to step on stray branches or traps. 

We trekked through the forest for about ten minutes until we reached a cliff face. A large overhang ran along the upper half perfectly obscuring an opening; the halfling’s destination. She disappeared into the wall. Sariel dropped to the ground and joined us at the edge of the forest clearing.

“The chance of combat increases exponentially once we get inside,” Aisha looked at Sariel. “Will you be okay with only your arrows?”

Sariel silently held out her left hand. Branches slowly grew and twisted into the shape of a bow. A thin vine hung connected to the ends to form the bowstring.

She smirked and said, “I carry my bow with me at all times.”

Aisha examined the bow and nodded. Her eyes twinkled with amazement at the summoning but her face remained stoic.

“Good. In formation.”

From afar, the cave entrance seemed invisible. In truth it was simply a trick of the shadows. We entered easily and stumbled into what resembled the maw of a stony beast. Jagged formations jutted from every direction. The smell of rot and blood hung in the air. Every sound echoed through the single hall. It felt impossible to mask our steps and I was sure we’d be caught. Then I heard the voices.

Murmurs overpowered any other sound. I couldn’t discern the words but any person of the cloth would be familiar with the cadence. They were prayers being sung in a foreign language. Words of divinity invited us to continue further into the cavern. It reminded me of my days in the monastery.

That thought quickly washed away the further we delved. We entered a perversion of Vofric’s church. Craggy stone benches were built into the ground. Cultists sat upon them with their heads down and eyes shut. Bloody hands reached for the wall as they chanted. Caelum’s crest was carved into it and below lay a large, flat stone slab. Blood caked the rock, giving it the appearance of rust. To our horror, on top lay an unconscious Melinda. 

Above her stood a man in a torn shirt with small cuts across his arms. His eyes shut tightly causing veins to pop out of his head. Guttural prayers bellowed from his throat. In his hands, a dagger aimed at their sacrifice.

Aisha pushed past me and commanded, “Attack!”

I ran in and grabbed the first person I could reach. They stared back at me with bloodshot eyes. Blood dripped from a sigil carved into their torso. The sight of my ignited hand seemed to excite them, until I set them ablaze. Their horrified scream stopped the other cultists’ prayers. 

Arrows zipped through the air and pierced another. Aisha cut through two more. I looked for another target and realized there were only five cultists left including Mason and Nila.

They roared at the sight of their fallen comrades. With maddening fervor they started tearing their skin off. Blood gushed from the wounds as their bones tore through muscle. Cracking echoed through the cave as their bodies twisted and morphed. Large jagged horns ripped through their foreheads, eclipsing Aisha’s. A barbed tail sprouted at the base of the former village watch members’ spines. Haunting yellow eyes leered at my party.

“No fear!” Mason barked. “Not first time!”

“Sacrifice the girl to resurrect the others!” Nila commanded. “They will gain the very same blessing we have received.”

The cultist standing above Melinda held the dagger high. As the blade plummeted towards its target a bright light engulfed the room. I heard stone hit metal followed by a squelch. The light slowly dimmed to reveal the cultist, dead with a small hammer crushing her torso. The dagger laid harmlessly on the floor. There was no plausible way such a devastating attack could come from such a weapon without magic being involved.

“I have failed in saving your past victims. I have driven adventurers into your clutches. But to sit idly by when an opportunity for justice presents itself would be the greatest sin of all,” an ironclad dwarf said as he entered the room. Pristine white armor with gold embellishment commanded reverence as Vofric flourished a warhammer twice his size. 

Aisha was the first to regain her composure. Her swift attacks dispatched the remaining humanoid villagers. Only the devils stood between us and Melinda. Mason readied himself to attack Aisha while Nila moved for the dagger. Even though I doubted my success, I rushed forward hoping to intercept her. Suddenly, the world around me blurred. My body moved faster than ever before. A gruff voice sang a gentle prayer that echoed between only us. Vofric’s blessing was the edge I needed to protect Melinda.

“Sariel, help Aisha!” I commanded.

She grunted. “Understood.”

With a quick breath she summoned two arrows to her quiver and fired them into Mason’s arm. He scoffed and tugged at them. To his surprise, the arrows remained still. Aisha used the moment of hesitation to keep the arrows through the other side of the devil’s arm. The awkward angle sent the barbed end into his torso, locking his arm in place.

“You’re not used to that form,” Aisha said.

“I am powerful!” Mason cried like a child throwing a tantrum. He flailed his free hand and met with a blade between his fingers. Aisha cut along the length of his arm and tore the blade through the devil’s shoulder. A bloody heap fell to the floor as he shrieked.

Nila was too stunned to move. I kicked the knife away and simultaneously punched her chest. Unlike the other cultists, that devil didn’t fear my flames. Even so, my attack hurt her. 

I didn’t get to try again. A glowing sigil appeared on Vofric’s warhammer as he menacingly approached the devil. He swung the massive bludgeon into Nila's spine and shattered it. With a spin he carried her body through the air before slamming it to the ground. The body disintegrated into a blob of organs and viscera.

Mason’s face dropped at the sight. He let out a blood curdling scream as crimson poured from his eyes. Like a feral animal, he clawed at Aisha. Not a single attack hit. The loss of blood was catching up to him and the skill gap between the two was too vast. Aisha dodged and redirected attacks as though dancing with ribbons. She muttered to herself and light flashed from her blade. Mason stumbled back and the opening was enough for the Hero to decapitate the devil.

“Are there others?” Aisha asked.

Vofric scanned the room and shook his head. “Is Melinda hurt?”

I approached the girl and was happy to see her unscathed.

“Not physically.”

“Good. Take her home and await my return,” Vofric said.

I looked to Aisha for guidance and she nodded. Our party once again entered the jagged hall and shortly left the cave. Vofric’s painful scream came from behind us. We could hear him weeping but didn’t dare turn back. The people he’d trusted for so long had betrayed him. I couldn’t imagine the pain he felt. Melinda began to stir and I hoped she wouldn’t remember what happened.

Pavrin and Margaret were elated when we returned. The light in Margaret’s eyes returned upon seeing her daughter. They pushed to know what exactly happened but we refused to elaborate. All that mattered was that it was dealt with and wouldn’t happen again. Though I hadn’t done it for nearly a decade, I prayed for Melinda’s swift recovery.

I stopped when I smelled blood. Vofric returned covered in rubble and more blood than before. Margaret was stunned by the bloody paladin but Pavrin seemed unphased.

“It seems you are once again needed,” he said.

“The appearance of the chosen one should have alerted me,” Vofric said then turned to us. “Meet me at the church in the next hour.”

It was more an order than a request.

The sun hung high in the sky as our weary party made its way to the church. I could finally appreciate the warmth engulfing me. The sunlight lit the church in a way that gave it new life. This was the place Melinda wanted to show us. And having been assisted by Vofric, I understood why his presence gave her security.

Vofric sat on one of the many benches and without looking at us said, “Thank you.”

“We could not turn a blind eye to what was happening. No adventurer would,” Aisha replied. “I take it you were one too.”

Vofric looked up, as though seeing through the ceiling. “I was. My grandmother was a well known adventurer and made sure I followed her footsteps. The world always needed protection and my bloodline is blessed to do so.”

“Who was she?” I asked.

“Yuna Starcaller.”

Even Aisha couldn’t hide her astonishment. If not for the somber air around our conversation, it would feel like Vofric was bragging.  He returned to his youth as he told us of his grandmother.

“Her stories were like fables. Always a lesson to be learned. But, they were real. I was the first to hear them and directly from the source,” he smiled softly as tears welled in his eyes. “Others only know the goddess and thus a preacher of her lessons is a priest. I cannot accept the title of ‘father’ since I was never a preacher to begin with. I just enjoy talking about my grandmother.”

“I’d love to hear the stories,” I said.

Aisha patted my back. Even Sariel couldn’t hide her smirk, though she tried.

“What of the cave?” she asked to change the subject.

“I destroyed it and collapsed the entrance. Each of the members had no remaining family. Covering up their deaths will be simple,” Vofric replied.

“Peculiar coincidence.”

Vofric exhaled slowly, fighting back tears. “They had family in the past. Some went missing while others left. I now realize each was likely sacrificed. Caelum sees no value in family even if they were also cultists.”

The church was quiet. The grotesque images of the cavern flashed in my mind. Based on Vofric’s face, he dealt with a similar feeling.

He kneaded the bridge of his nose and said, “I’ll have Pavrin send word to some old compatriots to get guards set up here. It’s about time our village had professional protection.”

“What about you? Couldn’t you protect them?” I asked.

Vofric shook his head. “I must gather information on Caelum’s return. He has been dormant for centuries. It has to be related-”

“To me,” said Aisha. “A chosen one appears when the realms are in crisis. Caelum last lived during one.”

“Exactly, Vofric confirmed. “I believe the elves of Balur may have information. I will accompany you to their enclave. Based on what we learn, I may stay by your side. If you’ll have me.”

Aisha furrowed her brow and said, “Are you sure Wolden will be safe without you?”

“It was unsafe with my presence. We failed because we were complacent,” Vofric explained. “Now that Pavrin and I are aware of the dangers, he will take up his old role as a guard captain. I believe the village is safe in his hands.”

“You might never return,” I said.

Vofric smiled softly, “If that is a sacrifice that must be made for the safety of the realm, I will happily accept it.”

Aisha rose from her seat and shook Vofric’s hand. “There will be more sacrifices on the journey. They will be easier to face with a strong ally by our side.”

“You should pack,” Sariel said. “It’s obvious there is little information to be gathered in Wolden. We’ll meet at Pavrin’s and make for Sespik in one hour.”

Without another word she left the church. Aisha thanked Vofric again and joined our elvish ally. I shook Vofric’s hand and welcomed him to the party.

“Looks like we’ll have plenty of time for those stories.”