Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #21 December 2015 | Page 20

The firelight flickered in the hut
Burning the last of the splintered doors.
Two warriors stood tall,
Blades flashing in the firelight’s glow.
Two wargs fell dead at the door
Yet their vicious attack was not slowed.
Again and again, the wargs attacked,
Two heroes fought as one.
As on the floor the wizard slept,
Spent from the work he’d done.
Harder and harder, the beasts pressed forward,
Still the two blades powered.
While deep in the dark at the back of the hut
The bard in craven fear cowered.
No mercy would the wargs provide,
Injured now, the two men wearied.
Death stared them all in the face,
Each their own god they queried.
When all seemed lost, the wizard woke,
From the depths in which he’d slumbered.
From in his cloak, withdrew his staff
And to the doorway lumbered.
In voice so strong, he bade them leave,
Or feel his wrath be vented.
The wargs just laughed to hear such words,
And for the kill presented.
But wargs it was who died that day,
From wizard’s fire intended,
Blue fury from his staff did flow,
And pelts of wargs incended.
For Manfred he did save the day,
And wargs were killed or banished.
For when they saw the wizard’s wrath,
Into the mountains vanished.
A great victory was won that day,
In a mountain hut so cold.
Two men, a coward, and a wizard true
The craven and the bold.

Manfred was pleased and relieved; it still
needed a lot of work, but it wasn’t complete rubbish.
I’m not sure incended is actually a word.
Two days later, a group of travellers left
Tamarlan. There were still four of them, but Ubadah
had replaced Gamying. The Heir-Regent was
remaining at home to help his father prepare for the
likely upcoming attacks. Gamying had again tried to
convince Aglaral to stay and take up service in the
Tamarlan army. Manfred was pleased that he chose
to stay with them. Aglaral had readily agreed that
Kris remain with them when he heard the wizard’s
explanation. Gamying had not been so forgiving.
Ubadah didn’t seem to care much either way. That one
seems to look down on anyone who is not as noble or
powerful as he is.
They left on horseback, heading due east,
skirting the foothills of the Mountains of Death.
Manfred’s plan was to find New Hope Pass and
cross the mountains by that route, meeting up with
the Doom River. They carried small one-man boats
in their luggage and Manfred planned to ride the
spring thaw down the River Doom as far as Two
Rivers. It would then be a short, easy trek to Elannort.
This route also had the benefit, or risk depending
on your point of view, of maybe finding the elusive
New Delve. Manfred had a feeling that there was
important information to be found there, perhaps even
knowledge of what had happened to David son of
Dwahir son of Davit and his followers.
The journey east took three days, but was
uneventful. First the Devil Mountains and then
the Mountains of Death rose on their right, like
impenetrable black walls. The mountain peaks, high in
the distance, were white with snow and Manfred did
not look forward to the chill of the high places again.
There were no paths leading into the mountains and no
sign of any passes by which to cross the dense barrier.
A few times, they noticed dark shapes away in the
distance, seeming to track their progress. The wargs
will follow us, but I doubt they’ll want to risk another
encounter. Close to Tamarlan, the countryside was
pleasant farmland, bathed in warm spring sunshine

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