Graigus
Stombren
Part IV
Almost a year has
passed since the incident, and Graigus had started to make friends with some of the local
boys, even the two whom he had to teach a lesson to. Everything was going well with his
world. And he and Ariel had started to plan future events together. They were down by the
pond, exchanging lovingly looks, and a few kisses, when they were rudely interrupted.
"Graigus! Graigus! Come quickly! It's your Grandfather! One of his
friends yelled as he made his way towards the pond.
Graigus shot up, almost knocking Ariel off of the log on
which they were
sitting upon, and made a dash for his house.
He ran as fast as he
could, tears streaming from his eyes. He ran up the steps and threw open the door to the
little cottage, and there was his father, kneeling beside the bed where Gramps lay dying.
He just stood there, fear of losing his grandfather consuming him. Gramps looked over at
the young man who he helped raise from a baby to this fine young man before him, and he
motioned for him to come closer. Graigus couldn't help himself. He ran to the bed and
threw his arms around the old mages' neck. The old mage then began to cry, then forced
himself to stop. 'Strong mages never cry!' he'd always say.
"Here" Gramps said as he pushed the boy away from him,
reaching into his shirt and pulling forth a necklace with a ring attached. " I was
saving this for you so when you were mature enough I could give this to you. Here, take
it." he said as he broke the chain and handed the ring to Graigus. "I think that
time has come. You are a man now."
Graigus couldn't fight the tears anymore. He quickly took the ring and
once again found safety in the old man's arms. Draebek stood up and walked out of the
cottage. He knew this day would one day come. He was prepared for it. So he thought as a
tear escaped his eye. One can never be prepared.
Two years had passed since Gramps died. Graigus kept reliving the next few hours of his grandfathers life over and over for month's after he was gone. He felt bad, for he did not get to see Gramps off. He heard the voices that night of Gramps and his father, but he thought that he was dreaming. And when he woke up the next morning, Gramps' body was gone. "He left to die alone in the woods" was all that Graigus' father would say. Then would walk away or leave the cottage so he wouldn't have to answer anymore questions.
Graigus' wizardry training had started to slip after Gramps died, spending more time alone training with his sword and the rest of his time with Ariel. She was the only person who could make him forget about the pain of losing his grandfather. His father had started to become less important in his life, and he thought that he felt the same way about him. Gramps was like the glue that held this family together, and now he was gone. There was that pain in his chest again, but this time, it hurt more. Always in life there is pain.
"Well, Graigus,
I had better be off now. I've a lot of work to do so we can start to save money to get our
own little cottage! Won't it be grand, love?" Areil asked as she held him tight.
Something was wrong this night, and both of them could feel it. "Tomorrow then?"
she asked, then kissed him goodnight, then turned to walk away.
"Ariel, ....I,.." He couldn't find the words.
"Yes Graigus, what is it?" she asked.
"I.. I love you." he said as he found the words.
"And I love you, Graigus Stombren!" she replied back, then
blew him a kiss, and made her way home.
Graigus was lost in
his thoughts, at first not even realizing the front door battered down to his home. After
seeing the damage, he pulled out his sword and quickly and quietly made his way up the
stairs.
"Where is the boy?" a deep voice said, in the elven tongue.
"Go to hell you bastard!" replied Draebek in
elven.
"Look, you are going to die in a few seconds, and if you tell me
what I want to know, I will give you the antidote to the poison coursing through your
veins. I have work to do! And even if you don't tell me, I will find the brat and kill
him, and if I fail, others will be sent to do the same, so if you tell me where he is,
that will make things much easier for all of us, so how about it?"
Draebek spit blood into the face of the elf questioning him.
The elf drew his hand back to slap Draebek, then his own head was
separated from his shoulders.
Draebek looked up,
and there was Graigus! "Son! Find the antidote! Quickly!"
Graigus was in shock. There were four dead elven bodies in the cottage,
the table where he and his father used to play cards was in pieces on the floor. And there
was a crossbow bolt sticking out of his fathers chest. He quickly searched the bloody body
of the elf he had slain, looking for anything that may be an antidote......NOTHING!! He
quickly started to search the other bodies.
"Forget it son, it was a lie." Draebek said as more blood
poured from his mouth.
Graigus, not sure about what he should do, did the only thing that he
could do. He held his father tightly to him, trying with all of his might to fight back
the tears.
"Son, sometimes it is ok for a strong warrior to cry." he
said, sobbing. Then both of them started to cry. Then Draebek started to stiffen up.
"Son," he said with his dying breath "I love you."
With that, he died.
"NOOOOO!" cried Graigus loudly. He sat there for a few
minutes, holding his fathers lifeless body. He then got up, and took his fathers sword
from his lifeless hand. And again, he wept.
Graigus exited the small little cottage that he once new as home, all of his earthly possessions packed away in a backpack. He took what he could, and lit the small cottage on fire. The house went up quickly, and the flames reached high into the heavens. There were no more tears, the pain was too great.
"All
right,
don't move, and you'll live to see your long lost grandfather Olamarr." said a
voice from behind, speaking elven. Graigus turned around to face the voice.
There was another elf, dressed like the ones he just lit on fire in the
cottage, a loaded hand crossbow in his hand, fresh poison dripping from the tip of the
bolt. Anger poured through Graigus' every vein.
"So it is my long lost grandfather who is responsible for this?
Why? Because of his honor? His stupid honor! I will kill him like he did my father, but I
will one day do it personally."
"I don't think so, Half-breed. He is powerful, he has elven spies
everywhere! Even if you did escape from me, he will find you, and you can bet on that!
Half-breed!"
There was that word again! He shook with anger, and then heard those
words told to him many years ago- "Only use that spell if you intend to kill, and
make sure you need to kill." This was a time to kill.
Graigus said the words necessary to do the spell, along with the
gesture that accompanied them.
Invisible hands wrapped around the elf's neck, and he
immediately dropped the hand crossbow causing it to mis-fire, and he tried to pry the hands from his
neck, unable to do so. Everything started to spin, then the world went black. But he was
still alive. Graigus cancelled the spell, then reached down and took the crossbow and took
the case strapped to the elf that contained the bolts for the weapon. Inside was a vial of
poison. He took out one of the bolts, and dipped it into the poison, then loaded it. He
then lightly kicked the elf back to consciousness. He aimed and fired the hand crossbow,
right into the elf's stomach after his eyes were open.
"Now, if you tell me where Olamarr is, and I will give you the
antidote for the poison." Graigus said without feeling.
"Go to hell!" the elf replied. And he paid for it with a kick
to the face. And another. And another.
"Once again, where is he?" Graigus repeated.
The elf just laughed in between spitting out blood and lost teeth.
"All right, your choice then!" replied Graigus. He grabbed the
leg of the slowly dying elf and dragged him over to the burning house, then pitched him
into the flames. Screams could be heard for miles away for a minute, maybe two, then they
stopped. Graigus had ran into the woods before the whole town knew what had happened. And
a crowd had started to gather around the burning wreck.
That night, Graigus
wrote Ariel a note, explaining what happened, why he had to flee, and why she couldn't
accompany him. Tears streamed from his eyes, and he was angry at himself for crying. The
next night he left the note at her doorstep, said a little prayer for her, then made his
way into the night after sneaking a peek at her sleeping form.
"I love you" he whispered as he walked away. "Maybe one
day we will be together again. One day............"
The next few days passed slowly. All that had had happened lately had passed through his mind slowly, and over and over again. And there was the reoccurring image of Ariel. His heart hurt every day. And he continued on his way to anywhere.
Written by Gene Vogel