The Howl of Avooblis Read online

  When they reached the first flat ledge, a warning trumpet sounded from the castle. They quickly looked down but couldn’t tell if Egon was okay or not. From the ledge, they headed south until they passed the boundaries of Broodavia. Then they descended the mountain slope, where they could jump from boulder to boulder with more ease.

  They fled into the night, knowing that the Broodavian guards would be giving chase. Dugan was wheezing and coughing more and more as they went, but they were forced to continue as they heard shouts coming after them. With Earl and Dagdron’s combined help, Dugan was able to keep going at a good speed, and, from the sound of it, they thought they were putting more distance between them and the guards.

  Too scared to stop and camp, Dagdron, Earl, and Dugan continued their escape for hours until they saw that the mountainous terrain leveled out in the distance on their left-hand side. As they passed the mountain’s final slop, they were startled as heavy footfalls pounded against the ground. From the base of the mountain, a group of warriors bolted from behind the last boulders that had fallen where the landscape flattened out completely. The clank of swords being drawn sounded through the darkness, followed by a mighty war cry that pierced the night.

  Having no other choice, Dagdron, Earl, and Dugan turned to face their attackers.

  Chapter 4: The Rim of Thorns

  Earl drew his sword and Dagdron whipped out his dagger, but Dugan only held his dagger weakly as the warriors charged. When they were only ten feet away, the warriors showed no signs of stopping, and only then did Dagdron, Earl, and Dugan realize that they weren’t going to be captured, they were going to be mowed over.

  “Stop!” a girl’s brusque voice suddenly shouted.

  There was a combined skid as the warriors stopped their thudding feet.

  “Earl?” the same voice yelled.

  “Lita!” Earl exclaimed without having to wait for the group to get any closer. He rushed forward and gave a mighty hug to Lita Valk, a lady warrior with long blonde hair in their year at the Adventurers’ Academy. She had assisted Dagdron and Earl in their quests over the past two years and, even though Earl denied it, Dagdron knew they liked each other as more than friends. After breaking her embrace with Earl, Lita gave Dagdron a surprise hug as well and shook Dugan’s hand.

  “What in the land are you doing here?” Earl asked.

  “Our third year at the academy starts in a month and a half,” Lita said as if it was obvious. “I’m on my last round of summer training. These warriors came with me from Thornrim to see if we could rough up a few Broodavians.” Lita motioned with a fist behind her to the group of male warriors, just slightly less muscular than she was.

  Roughing up was a nice way of putting it, Dagdron thought, wondering what the stampede would have done to them if Lita hadn’t recognized Earl in the dark.

  Before Earl and Lita could exchange any more pleasantries, Dugan suddenly tipped sideways before full-out fainting. Dagdron, seeing that his dad’s chest was still moving, stood immobile, but Earl and Lita dashed over, kneeling at Dugan’s side.

  “He’s still breathing,” Earl said. “But he’s really been through quite an ordeal. The Broodavians are after us, and Dagdron’s dad needs to rest.”

  “No problem,” Lita said, scooping Dugan up and hoisting him over her shoulder. “Thornrim is only a couple of days away. You guys will be safe there.”

  Lita, having made the decision for them, bounded off to the south, her band of warriors following in the dust of her heavy footfalls.

  “We are so lucky we ran into Lita,” Earl said as he and Dagdron started after the Thornrimians. “And now I don’t have to wait the rest of the summer to tell her about Egon.”

  Dagdron didn’t reply, thinking that Lita had been the one that ran into them, almost literally.

  * * *

  They arrived in Thornrim two days later. Lita carried Dugan until he aroused, and then she laid him on the ground and nursed his wounds with the supplies she had in her pack. Dugan was able to walk the rest of the way himself, though he still tired easily.

  Dagdron had heard Earl and Lita mention Thornrim but hadn’t paid much attention. He was surprised to see that Lita’s home city didn’t have much city to it. A spiked wooden fence encircled a wide area, forming the village boundaries. Clay houses with rounded roofs were scattered throughout the interior of the circle. The huts varied in size, but each was the same ochre color.

  Villagers appeared from the huts as soon as the visitors passed through the fence. Distinct from the lady warrior’s garb Lita always wore, the Thornrimians wore primitive-looking clothes made of animal skins and furs. Each person they passed, both men and women, was muscled with a bulky build.

  Lita escorted the visitors to the center of the village, where the tallest house stood near a bonfire pit.

  Dagdron wasn’t sure why he was surprised when Lita’s parents rushed to the bonfire to greet their daughter. Out of all the lady warriors at the Adventurers’ Academy and even more so than the male warriors, Lita was the most massive of the fighters. But her father and mother were even bigger than she was, two of the largest in the village. The simple clothing they wore made their muscular limbs even more obvious than Lita’s were in her fighter garb.

  Without letting her parents properly greet her, Lita hurried to the tall house and gave two hard raps on the door. A man stepped out, dressed like the other villagers, with the addition of a long, pointed thorn on a leather cord around his neck.

  Lita signaled straight at Dugan, and the man motioned for Dugan to approach. Dagdron watched his dad try to decline the offer for a few seconds, but then Lita bounded toward him, picked him up, and carried him to the hut. Dagdron smiled for the first time in the last few days, watching his dad be taken against his will.

  “Don’t worry, Dagdron,” Earl said. “He’s the healer of Thornrim. He’ll patch your dad right up.”

  “I’m not worried,” Dagdron said.

  “Yes, you are,” Earl said, ripping Dagdron’s hood from his head.

  Lita, confident that Dugan was in good hands, returned to embrace her parents before introducing Earl and Dagdron to them and the rest of the villagers that had now gathered to see what the commotion had been.

  “We’ve heard all about you,” Mrs. Valk said.

  “It’s such an honor to meet you,” Mr. Valk added.

  Earl stepped right up to hug Lita’s parents, but Dagdron, remaining where he was, had to be pushed forward by Lita so he could receive his physical greeting as well. Unsure why the Valks were so eager to greet him, he slipped out of the constricting embraces as quickly as he could.

  “Lita has told us all about how you train together at the academy,” Mr. Valk said when the welcomes were over. “Of course we know all about you, Earl. Lita has told us everything about you.” In spite of their large frames, Mr. and Mrs. Valk smiled affectionately toward the young warrior. “She has also told us about you, Dagdron. In particular, how one with nature you are. I hope it isn’t a problem that I say so, but she has told us about your quest tree. Nature is very important to Thornrimians, and we consider it wonderful that you have brought such importance to a tree, having it represent the friendship and future quests that exist between you, Earl, Lita, and Elloriana.”

  “It’s just a tree,” Dagdron said as all the Thornrimians smiled at him. Having Earl, Lita, and Elloriana know about his tree was already too much. He didn’t want a village on the other side of the land talking about it too.

  Lita elbowed him while giving a fake laugh, and the other villagers joined in, taking what Dagdron had said as a joke. Before anything else could be said, Lita led Earl and Dagdron off to tour the village while they waited for the healer to finish with Dugan.

  “Lita,” Earl said. “Thornrim is exactly how I imagined it. I love it.”

  Lita puffed out her chest and grunted with pride. “Wait until I show you the Rim of Thorns later.”

  Dagdron didn’t think there was much to s
ee, but Earl and Lita continued discussing the structure of the village. All the houses looked the same, and the vegetation was sparse, mostly tall yellow grass. The settlement only consisted of the area inside the spiked circle, which Lita explained was to keep the wild animals out.

  “We want them outside the circle where we can hunt them, not the other way around,” she said.

  “Why do you go to the academy?” Dagdron asked. “Everyone here looks strong enough to fulfill quests.”

  “No need to be so rude, Dagdron,” Earl said defensively.

  Dagdron, confused, stared at Earl.

  “Thornrimians need adventurers, too, and Lita’s an inspiration,” Earl said.

  “I know I don’t say much to you at the academy,” Lita said to Dagdron, “but, if you had been listening to Earl, you would know that being a huntress and a lady warrior are not the same thing. Any Thornrimian could hunt down a beast for dinner, but every quest isn’t going to be all about fighting. To be a true adventurer, you need to be able to think strategically in different situations. Believe it or not, that’s why, in spite of your negative attitude, I am filled with gratitude to associate with you. Participating in the quest for the Arches of Avooblis and watching how you deal with circumstances has taught me that there are different solutions than just hacking away with my sword.”

  Earl, inspired, nodded in agreement.

  “That’s why I, even being a female, am well respected in Thornrim,” Lita continued. “I am the first Thornrimian to ever attend the Adventurers’ Academy. We can all fight, but I am the one receiving the knowledge to be an adventurer. If a troll or jagtaur ever nears the village, we have no problem. But, the few times a magical creature or evil enchanter has come this way, my people, even with such great strength, have had no knowledge of how to properly deal with the situation. We had to have an adventurer fulfill a quest for us.”

  “The same rule applies to you,” Dagdron said to Lita. “No talking about being an adventurer during the summer.”

  “You brought up the academy,” Earl said.

  Lita smiled at Earl’s protective reaction.

  “I would like you to know, Dagdron,” Lita said. “Although I have told my parents and village about many of the experiences we have shared, I have kept the arches and information about your parents a secret. I understand your rogue nature in spite of my roughness with you.”

  Dagdron gave a quick nod. Earl and Lita had often tag-teamed him about not wanting to be an adventurer, but he was well aware of the loyalty they had shown him and the help they had given him in searching out information about the Arches of Avooblis. Even though he would never tell them that.

  When Dugan was released from the healer’s hut, his cuts and bruises had green herbs stuck to them and the burn mark on his neck was covered in a brown paste, but he was feeling much better. He, Dagdron, and Earl were sitting on large tree trunks that served as benches around the bonfire pit.

  Dagdron didn’t ask, but Earl, examining the medicines on Dugan’s face up close, inquired about everything the healer had done. To appease Earl’s curiosity, Dugan gave a brief description of the healer’s methods but then never mentioned it again.

  Dagdron’s only concern was finding out how his father had been captured in Broodavia, which he hadn’t been able to ask about because of his dad’s weak condition while they had traveled to Thornrim. But now he asked for specifics.

  “Like I said in the message to Jinxy, I caught word about a new enchanter in Broodavia, and I figured he might be the Backer. I tracked him down, but he must’ve found out I was following him. Before I knew it, he was attacking me. He hit me with blast-bolt and lightning spells and then cast the most powerful stun spell I’ve ever seen. Hit me right in the neck and paralyzed my entire body.”

  “Oh,” Earl said, bringing his face near Dugan’s neck.

  “He left me lying in the courtyard of the castle, where the king’s guards took me. King Fortigroff knew I was your father and ordered me to the dungeon.”

  “How did he know you were my father?” Dagdron asked.

  Dugan shook his head.

  “I’m sure it’s from the trial last year,” Earl said. “King Fortigroff wanted me expelled, and since Dagdron was with me, I bet you’re on his blacklist as well. You two really look alike, so it would be easy to know.”

  Dagdron shrugged and didn’t ask any more questions. Earl was distracted as Lita approached the bonfire pit. She had gone to freshen up in her family’s hut. It was the first time Dagdron and Earl had seen her out of her adventurer attire. She had changed into an animal-skin skirt and blouse.

  “Oh my goodness, Dagdron,” Earl said. “She is so beautiful.”

  “Earl,” Dagdron said reproachfully, looking at his friend.

  “I know what you’re going to say, but admiring her beauty has nothing to do with Bodaburg.”

  Dagdron had often kidded Earl about him and Lita moving to Bodaburg together, but this was the first time he wondered if it was really a possibility.

  “You can watch me enjoy the third year at the academy you’ve been talking about so much, while you’re living in Bodaburg.”

  “I would never endanger my own or Lita’s chances of being an adventurer.” Earl stood up and greeted Lita as she reached the fire.

  “Would you like to visit the Rim of Thorns with us, Mr. Obor?” Lita asked.

  Dugan consented, and Lita led the three foreigners outside the fence. A group of Thornrimians carrying spears accompanied them. They headed west from the village, walking three hundred yards or so until they came to a ridge. Rushing water sounded in the gorge below, but they couldn’t see the river through the tangle of thorny branches and briars that covered the descent. A pathway had been worn down from the ridge but disappeared from view within a few feet as the prickly trees and bushes swallowed it up.

  “This is the Rim of Thorns,” Lita said, motioning for Earl, Dagdron, and Dugan to step up to the edge.

  “Dagdron, down below is the Lushlante River,” Earl said. “Remember? It’s the one that runs all the way from Lordavia, down through Lushmere, and then crosses the entire land to the sea.”

  Dagdron didn’t answer.

  “Come on, Dagdron. I told you all about it last summer because we crossed it on our way to Coastdale.”

  “I forgot,” Dagdron finally said.

  Earl looked bothered, so Lita explained more.

  “The Rim of Thorns is of great importance to my village because it is the pathway to water, which provides life. We see the thorns as a protection to our life source, because animals and enemies are less likely to venture here. Each morning, the youth must run down the gorge to collect water for the day.”

  “Amazing,” Earl said.

  “No wonder you’re in such good shape,” Dugan said politely.

  “I’d move,” Dagdron added.

  Lita ignored Dagdron and nodded with a smile at Earl and Dugan.

  “You and Dagdron are so lucky,” Earl said. “You had the Rim of Thorns to help you become a strong lady warrior, and Dagdron had his…” Earl hesitated, knowing Dagdron hated to have his home revealed to anyone. “Rocks to climb and learn rogue skills. I just had to practice sword fighting alone as I grew up.”

  “But that’s why you’re so astounding,” Lita said. “You gained your skill through perseverance, not just because of where you were born. That’s why I know you’ll be such a great adventurer.”

  “Thanks, Lita,” Earl said, smiling and blushing.

  “Bodaburg,” Dagdron said.

  Lita hardened her expression and Earl looked offended, but the rogue had succeeded in ruining the moment, so they continued their walk along the rim of the gorge.

  “Hey, Dagdron,” Earl said when they were heading back to the village. “Me and Lita are going to run down the gorge tomorrow morning to get water. Do you want to go with us?”

  “No,” Dagdron replied.

  “Come on,” Earl persisted. “I know you�
��re a good runner because Scar was your teacher.”

  “You’re right. I guess I will go.”

  “Really?”

  “No.”

  “You’ll be sorry someday if you don’t do it.”

  Dagdron ignored Earl for the rest of the walk. They made it back to the village fence right as a Thornrimian hunting party was dragging a giant boar through the gate.

  “The village is having a bonfire roast in honor of you,” Lita said, only looking at Earl and Dugan.

  “I’m the one who’s honored,” Earl replied. “It’s such a pleasure to experience the culture of Thornrim.”

  As darkness started to fall, all the villagers gathered in the center of Thornrim, and the bonfire was set ablaze. The boar was spitted on a massive branch and two young men rotated it over the flames until it was nicely cooked, the juices dripping into the flames below. The very moment the pig was done, Lita escorted Earl, Dagdron, and Dugan forward so they could be served first. Dagdron and Dugan reached for their daggers to cut their meat, but Lita stopped them.

  “In Thornrim, you just grab the meat with your hands,” she explained.

  Dagdron and Dugan hesitated, but Earl, always excited to take part in new cultural experiences, pulled a hunk of meat off the boar. Dagdron and Dugan followed suit. As soon as they stepped back, the entire village of Thornrim stampeded forward, elbowing and shoving as they fought to get the chunk of pig they most desired.

  Once everyone had their meal in hand, the Thornrimians chomped on their food as they told stories about different hunting expeditions. Each campfire tale contained a larger creature or more amazing hunt, striving to outdo the previous one.