Lusam: The Dragon Mage Wars Book Five Read online

  “Well, you need to drink it. You have a meeting with Shum soon.”

  “Shum? The wolf?” Lusam asked, a little confused.

  Vultog grinned and shook his head. “No. Shum the Oracle.”

  “Why would someone name their wolf after your tribe’s Oracle?”

  “Shum… the wolf that is, was born the runt of his litter, five seasons ago. He’s not very smart as you’ve already seen, and too small for anyone to ride. He’s pretty much useless really, but we keep him around for the children to play with. For the most part, he spends his time wandering around the village getting himself into trouble or simply annoying people.”

  Lusam gave him a questioning look. “That doesn’t really answer my… wait. The wolf is yours, isn’t he?”

  A wide grin spread across Vultog’s face.

  Lusam chuckled. “I guess you don’t like the Oracle very much.”

  “I can assure you, my friend, the feeling is mutual.”

  “May I ask why?”

  “The Oracle’s sister is my father’s second wife, and he believes that his nephew, Orgoth, would make a better leader than me after my father is gone. My half-brother and I have never seen eye to eye, and often fought even as children. I’m sad to say that the news of my recent failure will please him greatly, as it means he is now next in line to take over the tribe from my father.”

  “I guess he was fortunate enough to complete his Right of Ascension quest,” Lusam said, staring into the mug.

  Vultog shook his head. “No, Orgoth has not yet chosen to undertake the quest, nor do I believe he ever will.”

  “Chosen? You mean you had a choice not to do it but you still took on the challenge anyway?”

  Vultog nodded. “Yes. I believe the leader of our tribe should be worthy of the position, not simply inherit it because of his bloodline. As do many of our people.” He paused, then snorted loudly. “Orgoth is without honour, but after this day I will be judged to have even less than him.”

  Lusam could see the pain in his face and wished that he could do something to help him, but he wasn’t sure there was anything else he could do.

  “You said the Oracle has requested a meeting with me?” Lusam said, trying to distract Vultog from his thoughts.

  Vultog’s grin returned. “Actually, during the celebrations, you requested a meeting with him. Or at least I told him you had. I knew that you wished to see the images inside The Cave of Enlightenment, so I made your request known to him in front of my father and about twenty others. I told him that now you were a full member of our tribe, you wished to learn the history of our people so that you could better understand us.”

  “And what did he say to that?”

  “What could he say? You had just given us all a priceless gift, and my father had made you a full member of our tribe. He would not have dared deny your request… not with so many witnesses present,” Vultog replied, grinning widely.

  Lusam laughed, and his head began thumping again. “I bet you enjoyed watching him squirm,” he said, grimacing through the pain.

  “Yes, I did, but not half as much as I’m going enjoy watching you drink that,” Vultog said, chuckling and nodding towards the mug of Kinori.

  ***

  Lusam stepped out of the shady doorway and into the perpetual heat of the village street outside. For the second time in as many weeks, he found himself swearing to never consume alcohol ever again. The Kinori that Vultog had brought him to drink had quite possibly been the worst thing to ever pass his lips. He could still feel the disgusting liquid swilling around inside his stomach almost an hour later, and every second or third footstep he took, he belched up a fresh reminder of its vile taste. But at least his discomfort seemed to be amusing Vultog, as they slowly made their way towards the edge of the village.

  “How far do we have to walk to this cave?” Lusam asked, between belches.

  Vultog grinned at him. “Don’t worry, my friend, we’re not walking,” he said, nodding towards the village gate.

  Lusam stopped dead in his tracks when he saw what was waiting for them there. “You have to be kidding me!” he said, gawping at the two giant riding-wolves. “Isn’t that…”

  “Shum, yes.”

  “But I thought you said he was too small to ride?”

  “For an orc, yes. But he should be more than big enough for you to ride. The only problem is, he has never been ridden properly before, so I’m not quite sure how well he’ll take to it.”

  “What!” Lusam exclaimed, looking at him as if he’d gone mad.

  Vultog chuckled. “I’m sure he’ll do fine, just as long as you show him who’s boss.”

  Lusam laughed nervously. “Show him who’s boss? … That thing could eat me in two gulps.”

  Vultog laughed loudly. “Maybe, but it’s probably better not to be thinking like that when you get near him. The wolves have very keen senses and often pick up on the emotions of their riders. It helps a great deal when we ride into battle or are out hunting. But I wouldn’t recommend worrying about becoming his lunch whilst riding him if I were you. Show him no fear, and you’ll be fine.”

  Lusam snorted. “That might be easier said than done. Are you sure we can’t just walk instead?”

  “We would never get there in time on foot, and we don’t want to give the Oracle any excuses for not allowing you access to the cave,” Vultog replied, walking towards the waiting wolves. Lusam noticed that Shum was already watching him, and suddenly discovered that he had a newfound appreciation of how a prey animal must feel under the gaze of a predator. He took a deep breath and tried to calm his nerves, then walked as confidently as he could towards the two massive wolves.

  Vultog was already busy checking a loose leather strap which rested on the wolf’s back and looped under its chest. Then he reached up and scratched the giant wolf behind its ears as if it was nothing more than a large pet dog. Shum watched Lusam approach and rolled his lips back in a snarl of warning. Lusam immediately raised a magical shield around himself, and his step faltered. Vultog locked eyes with him and slowly shook his head. The message was clear: show no fear.

  Lusam’s heart thundered in his chest, but he forced himself to continue walking confidently towards the wolf.

  “If he tries to bite you, punch him on the nose to let him know you’re the boss,” Vultog said.

  “I actually like my arm where it is, thanks,” Lusam replied, in a slightly higher pitched voice than intended. On occasion, he’d had to deal with the odd stray dog in Helveel during his time as a street kid. Often it had been over scraps of food, and he had learned that simply staring into the dog’s eyes was often enough of a challenge for it to give ground to him. Convincing himself that this giant wolf was nothing more than an overgrown dog wasn’t going to be easy, but he decided to give it a go anyway. He stopped walking towards the wolf and locked eyes with it. At first, it appeared to have the opposite intended effect. Instead of backing down, the wolf turned to face his challenge and its snarling growls intensified. But as he continued to stare into its eyes, he could sense its uncertainty growing. Its snarls and growls lessened, and after a few more seconds its resolve broke and it looked away from his gaze.

  Lusam began walking towards the wolf once more and saw it flinch slightly as if it suddenly feared he might attack. When he came within touching distance of the animal it swung its giant head around towards him and sniffed at him. His heart was in his mouth, but he stood his ground. A moment later he decided to mirror the actions of Vultog, and reached up to scratch behind the giant wolf’s ears: it seemed to like it.

  He heard Vultog chuckling behind him, but he dared not take his eyes off the beast just yet to see why.

  “It appears Shum likes you, my friend. Now check that leather strap for any signs of wear. You wouldn’t want it to snap whilst we’re riding. If it did, you’d likely be catapulted into the nearest tree.”

  Lusam inspected the strap as best he could, then turned towards Vultog. “It l
ooks alright to me.”

  “Good. Now get on him like this,” he said, grabbing his wolf by the scruff of the neck and hopping onto its back in one fluid motion. “Once you’re on him, keep a firm hold of his neck. I’ve seen a few of the children riding him for fun and he seemed to tolerate that well enough, but I’m not sure what he’ll do with you up there. He might try to throw you off, so just be ready.”

  Lusam wasn’t sure what was more disturbing, the fact that they allowed their children to play with such a potentially dangerous beast, or that Vultog was so flippant about it.

  Shum’s shoulders were at the same height as his own, so he knew even without trying that he couldn’t simply vault onto his back like Vultog. Instead, he grabbed the wolf’s scruff in one hand—as if he was at least about to try—then with a slight hop, he swiftly levitated himself into position. If Vultog noticed, he didn’t say so, and thankfully Shum didn’t seem to mind him being up there either.

  “Very good,” Vultog said. “Now wrap the leather strap around each foot and lift your knees up towards your chest. The strap will tighten and hold you firmly on the wolf’s back. Whatever you do, don’t straighten your legs whilst we’re riding or you’ll be thrown off by the wolf’s gait. And keep a firm hold of his neck, or you could be thrown off backwards, too.”

  Lusam had thought simply approaching and mounting the wolf would have been the most nerve-racking part of the experience, but after hearing Vultog’s instructions, he was no longer so sure.

  “What about guiding the wolf?”

  “Hopefully you won’t need to. I’m riding his pack leader, so Shum should simply follow my lead.”

  “What do you mean, should?” Lusam asked, nervously.

  Vultog grinned at him. “Hold on tight,” he said, as his own wolf surged forward. Lusam didn’t even have time to reply before Shum began chasing after him. Shum’s long loping gait almost unseated him several times before they even reached the village gate, and he struggled to hold himself down with the leather straps.

  As they crossed the bridge outside the village gate, Vultog shouted over his shoulder. “Keep your head down through the trees. The wolves make allowances for their own heads, but they won’t care if yours is removed by a branch.”

  “This just keeps getting better and better,” Lusam thought to himself, clinging on for dear life as they thundered through the forest at breakneck speed.

  Chapter Thirty

  The journey through the forest only took about fifteen minutes, but they were quite possibly the worst fifteen minutes of Lusam’s life. After travelling only a short distance on the wolf, he discovered that he had a newfound respect for Neala’s fear of levitating. The feeling of not having any control whatsoever was quite disconcerting, to say the least. And if he’d thought that he felt ill before leaving the village, it was nothing compared to the way he felt when they finally arrived outside the cave. He didn’t as much dismount the wolf, as fall off its back onto his face—which seemed to amuse Vultog a great deal.

  It took Lusam almost as long to gather himself again, as it had to reach the cave in the first place. But eventually, he started to feel a little better, especially when Vultog suggested they might want to walk back to the village once they had finished inside the cave. No doubt the suggestion was down to how bad he looked, but Lusam didn’t care, just as long as he didn’t have to ride the wolf again.

  The cave entrance was about a hundred feet above them and much smaller than Lusam had expected. Narrow steps had been carved into the almost vertical rock face, zigzagging their way from the ground to the cave opening above. The steps were narrow even for Lusam to climb, and he couldn’t help wondering how an orc could safely navigate them without risking serious injury, or even death.

  Lusam looked up at the long climb ahead of him and began to sweat just at the thought of it. Even the slightest exertion in the hot and humid climate made him feel uncomfortable. He dreaded to think what condition he would be in when he finally reached the top, especially in his current delicate state. What made it even worse, was that he knew he could easily levitate them both up to the cave entrance, but was unable to do so without revealing his magical ability to the Oracle. Fortunately, Vultog took the lead and began climbing the steps so slowly and carefully, that Lusam had no trouble keeping up with him.

  When they reached the cave entrance, Lusam could hear a low whistling sound coming from somewhere inside. It was a relief when they finally stepped into the cool entrance of the cave, leaving the hot and humid air behind them outside. Lusam could just about stand upright at the entrance, but Vultog was forced to stoop over for the first twenty or thirty feet of the cave. As they rounded the first corner the cave opened up into a much larger cavern. It was lit by dozens of lanterns, each one emitting a soft purple glow and a low occasional whistle.

  “Are those the lanterns you spoke of?” Lusam asked, going over to inspect one of them more closely. He recognised the purple glow of the Sparrena bugs from his brief time within The Serpent’s Mouth, but couldn’t believe how effective their collective light was when concentrated inside a lantern. The gentle air currents which flowed through the cave caused a small device on top of the lanterns to emit an occasional low whistle, which in turn caused the Sparrena bugs to continually glow brightly, just as Vultog had described. But before Vultog could answer him, a familiar voice called out in greeting.

  “Ah, you’re here at last. Come… come, we are almost ready to begin The Recounting,” Chief Vergu said, beckoning them deeper inside the cave. He quickly vanished into the darkness, but his voice could still be heard announcing their arrival to others deeper within the cave.

  Lusam turned towards Vultog and gave him a questioning look.

  “The Recounting happens whenever there is a significant event in our tribe’s history. Such as a visit from The Keeper, a great victory in battle, or in this case, a gift of a sacred Soul Stone. The event will be recorded within The Cave of Enlightenment for all future generations to see. It’s how our history has always been passed down through the generations. And now your name and deeds will be added to that history, my friend.”

  “But I thought we were only here to see the images.”

  Vultog shrugged. “As did I, my friend. I knew The Recounting would take place at some point, but I had no idea it would be today.”

  “What exactly does it entail?”

  “Well, I’ve never seen The Recounting performed before. Nor has anyone else in my tribe. The last event to be recorded was five generations ago when Ergoth lost our third Soul Stone during his Right of Ascension quest.”

  “Uneventful times you live in,” Lusam said under his breath, wishing that his own life could be equally so.

  Vultog heard his words nonetheless and chuckled. “Yes, my friend, it was until you arrived,” he said, clapping him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, the ceremony should be quite swift and painless. Normally the recordable event has to be witnessed by at least five other people. Or in the case of Ergoth, he had to recount his failure in front of five witnesses. Your gift of the Soul Stone was made in front of many witnesses, so the validity and details of the event cannot be in doubt. The Lore Keeper will first record the image of your deed onto a stone tablet. Then once you and the other witnesses are happy that the image is an accurate representation, it will then be copied onto the cave wall, where it shall remain for all time.”

  “And what a pity that your name will never now grace our sacred wall, Brother,” a snide voice said from the darkness. Lusam turned to see who had spoken, and even in the shadows, he recognised the orc that he had seen earlier at village gate; the one who had looked happy to hear of Vultog’s failure. Lusam had seen him briefly again during the feast, and even then he had not tried to hide his disdain for either him or Vultog.

  “Only those who face failure can ever truly know success, Orgoth. Who knows, maybe one day you will find the courage to face the Right of Ascension yourself, and possibly even claim y
our own place on our sacred wall—but I doubt it,” Vultog replied neutrally.

  Orgoth didn’t even respond. He simply turned and vanished around a corner, leaving Lusam and Vultog alone once more.

  “So, if you had completed your Right of Ascension quest, you would have had your deeds recorded on the cave wall too?” Lusam asked.

  Vultog chuckled. “No, my friend, I would not.”

  “But isn’t that what your brother just implied?”

  Vultog shook his head. “No. He was simply voicing what I already knew to be true; that he was not only hoping that I would fail, but that I would lose the Soul Stone as well. Then my deeds would have been added to the wall, right next to those of Ergoth. And if it had not been for you, my friend, that would have been my fate.”

  “Oh, I guess that’s why he doesn’t seem to like me very much then,” Lusam replied, with a grin.

  Vultog’s laugh echoed through the cave. “Yes, that is likely so, my friend. But be warned, Orgoth is without honour. He would think nothing of killing you if the opportunity arose. Within our village, you will be safe. He would not dare harm you in front of others after what you have done for our tribe. But I would recommend against travelling alone within the forest, or taking him up on any invitations that he might offer you.”

  “Oh, thanks for the warning… I think,” Lusam replied, suddenly feeling even more nervous than he had before.

  Vultog chuckled again. “Come on. We shouldn’t keep my father waiting any longer.” And with that, he set off deeper into the cave, with Lusam scrambling to keep up with him.

  Eventually, the cave opened up into a large well-lit cavern, and at the far end, a large group of orcs crowded around what looked like a stone table. The massive form of Chief Vergu was easily discernible within the crowd, as he towered at least a foot above every other orc there. The brightly coloured robes of the Oracle were also easily spotted amongst the gathered orcs, but as to who all the others were, Lusam had no idea. He had only expected to see seven or eight orcs there at most, but there appeared to be at least thirty or more inside the cavern.