Slathbog's Gold

“Can anyone learn to start fires with magic?”

“Not if they don’t have magic in them to begin with,” Thrang replied. “Halfdan doesn’t have any magic at all, so he could think about fire and say the word for years and nothing at all would happen.”

“You have magic,” said Alex. “Does that mean you could become a wizard if you tried?”

“Ha,” Thrang laughed. “I’ve got a bit of dwarf magic in me, but not near enough to be a wizard. Not if I worked at it for the rest of my days would I be able to do magic like a true and trained wizard.”

“If you two have finished playing with that pile of wood, you might light it for the evening and leave it burning,” said Skeld as he walked toward them. “Or did you intend for it to blink off and on all night?”

“Perhaps we should light you instead,” Thrang replied in a serious tone, though he was smiling.

“Can you light other things, besides wood?” Alex asked, interested by the idea.

“Hmm, what?” said Thrang, distracted by Skeld. “Course you can, what do you think? Though it’s harder with some things than others. Dry branches are the easiest.”

Thrang took a step back from the pile of branches, protecting his beard with his hand. “Go on then,” he said.

“Inferno,”said Alex, this time concentrating on a single branch instead of the whole pile.

Again the flames appeared, but this time only on the branch he intended. The fire quickly spread to the other branches, and once more Alex could feel the warmth of the flames. Alex watched the fire grow, pleased with both his new ability and the fact he hadn’t felt as dizzy as when he’d put the fire out.

“That may be handy come morning,” said Bregnest, walking up to the fire. “Smells like rain, but the wind promises snow.”

Bregnest was right about the rain, which started falling softly as they ate their evening meal. By the time they had finished eating, the fire was smoking and flickering out. They sat and watched the embers fade as the rain fell, not ready to go to bed but with little else to do.

“Best put some blankets on the horses,” said Tayo when the last ember of the fire turned black.

Without speaking, they all walked to where the horses were tied. Alex took a heavy blanket from his magic bag and gently placed it over Shahree’s back. Shahree shook her head and looked at Alex in a grateful sort of way, as if to thank him. Alex patted her neck and wondered why he had ever been afraid of horses.

* * *

Waking with a start, Alex saw Skeld’s laughing face above him.

“Time to be up, my friends,” Skeld laughed loudly. “And here’s a little something for you,” he added, throwing a bit of snow into the tent.

“Get out!” Andy shouted, his normal happy expression replaced by a look of pain.

When Alex sat up he understood Andy’s pained expression. His whole body ached, and his legs felt like they might fall off. Slowly he pulled on his pants, but his boots seemed like too much work.

“I’ve never felt so sore,” Alex said, looking at Andy, who was pulling on one of his own boots and trying desperately not to fall over while doing it.

“It’s the riding,” Andy replied. “It will take a few days to get used to it.”

Alex nodded but said nothing. The only part of his body that didn’t hurt was his head, and he thought talking too much might change that. Slowly, he pulled his boots toward him and tried to slip them on.

“Here is a pretty sight,” Skeld laughed, as Alex and Andy emerged from their tent. “It seems they’ve aged a hundred years in just one night.”

“Oh, shut up,” Andy snapped grumpily.

Several inches of wet snow covered the ground, but the clouds had blown away during the night, a pale line of them just visible across the eastern horizon.

“Here,” said Thrang, walking up to Alex and Andy and holding out a canteen. “Take a sip of this, but no more than a sip.”

Alex took the canteen from Thrang, sniffed it, and sipped a little of the liquid. He felt the cool liquid slide down his throat, but didn’t taste anything strange and handed the canteen to Andy. He tried to ask Thrang what was in the canteen, but the words wouldn’t come out of his mouth. As soon as he had swallowed, all his pains had disappeared.

“Ancient dwarf remedy,” Thrang laughed, seeing the look on Alex’s face. “Takes the soreness out of muscle and joint. It’ll take a few days for us all to get used to traveling again.”

Alex looked at Andy, who gri

“Thank you,” said Alex. “That really does the trick.”

Thrang bowed slightly and then laughed. He walked off to the campfire as he sipped from the canteen.

“That’s some remedy,” said Andy, carefully stretching. “I’ll have to get some before my next adventure.”

“Or always travel with a dwarf,” laughed Skeld.

They packed their tents, shaking off the snow, as Thrang prepared breakfast. Thrang made Alex practice starting the fire and putting it out again before he started cooking. He seemed to be pleased that Alex had picked up the bit of magic so quickly, and Alex couldn’t help feeling a little proud of himself as well.

“The more you practice, the better it’ll work,” said Thrang with a wink.

When they were ready to ride, Thrang had Alex put out the fire once more. The quenchcommand worked well in the wet snow and there was little smoke from the fire. Alex felt slightly dizzy again after putting the fire out, but not as much as he had the night before.

With the fire out, they climbed onto their horses and set off along the snow-covered road, riding south as the day grew brighter around them. They continued to travel south for three more days. Each day they stopped at midday to stretch their legs and eat a little, and every time, Alex would practice with the fire before Thrang started cooking the meal. Alex’s control improved rapidly, and after a few days, he was able to put out the fire without any smoke at all. The dizziness had passed completely now that he had used magic several times.

“You’ve picked that up fast,” said Thrang as they ate their midday meal on the fourth day. “Some people practice for weeks and still leave behind a trail of smoke.”

“Do you really think I could become a wizard?” Alex asked, happy with his success.

“If you choose to be,” Thrang answered. “Though not everyone with the gift wants the responsibility.”

“Responsibility?”

“Where there is power, there is an accounting for it,” Thrang replied and fell silent.

Alex thought about Thrang’s answer while he ate. Yes, power had to be accounted for, but he wondered who did the accounting.

The road turned easterly that afternoon, and Bregnest took a map from his bag and examined it closely with Arco

“We’ll camp early tonight,” Bregnest a

They set up camp between the stream and a grove of trees growing close to the road. The wind had picked up again, but the sky was clear and the late afternoon sun was warm. Thrang asked Alex to start their campfire, but didn’t have him put it out as he normally did.

“You’ve got the hang of it,” said Thrang when Alex questioned him. “Now fetch me a large pot of clean water from the stream.”

Alex took the large iron pot Thrang had pointed to and walked to the stream. The full pot was heavy, and he had to pay attention to where he was walking so he wouldn’t spill the water all over himself.

While Alex and the others were setting up camp and taking care of the horses, Arco