Chapter 14 - The Trinity Devil

Chapter 14 – The Trinity Devil


“Let me wake my companions,” said Tinder. “I want them to meet you.” The troll shook the major by the shoulder.

The soldier rubbed his temples and stared back at Tinder. “My head,” said the major. “Where are we?”

“In prison,” said Tinder as he yanked the neck of Opal’s blouse.

“Owww!” she said. “I feel like I’ve been kicked by a mule.” She looked around “Is this what a hangover feels like?”

“You’ve imbibed one of the Shapechanger’s sleeping potions,” said Gerard. “Brewing it is one of my chores I’m afraid.”

“Who is this jailer who speaks like a friend?” asked Opal.

“This is Gerard,” said Tinder, “the Nomad who stood by me when I escaped from the bounty hunter. You should recognize him, Major. He was there when Adolphus sold me to you.”

“Yes, now I remember,” said the major. “Forgive me, Gerard, but my head is not very clear right now.” The glare he gave the Nomad took Tinder aback. “Maybe you know something about that.”

“Easy, Major,” said Tinder. He had never seen the soldier angry before.

Opal rubbed her temples. “How can he be a friend and still be our captor?”

Tinder retold the account Gerard gave to him to his two companions.

Major Wright said, “Well, Gerard, you’re not a whole lot brighter than me, I guess. Now I don’t feel so bad. For all the good that does us. What does this Shapechanger want from us?”

“I’m not really sure,” said Gerard. “He doesn’t confide in me. I’ll be back as soon as I am done with my other duties and then I’ll bring you up to date the best I can.” The Nomad turned on his heels and departed.

“What do you make of that?” asked Opal. She fidgeted her hands, twitched her thumbs, and rose to her feet. “I can’t just sit here and do nothing,” she said. “Sit up, Tinder. Turn your head this way.” She pulled his head forward, and fiddled with his scalp. The authoritative tone in Opal’s voice dissuaded him from disobeying her. He felt as powerless as a turkey in a corn maze.

Pulling locks of his hair through her fingers, she fashioned each coil into a wave. Tinder felt the sensation of millipedes rolling somersaults on his scalp with each new set of curls.

“Fighters from Gaul are known for the braids on the top of their heads,” she said. “If you are going to be a troll warrior you need to look like one.”

Tinder grew less reluctant as he imagined a company of troll-warriors being led to battle with him at its helm.

Tinder redirected his interest towards Gerard as the Nomad entered with three cushions under his arms. “These are to make you more comfortable,” said Gerard.

“The most powerful dark wizard in Polhaus is the Medlyn sorcerer Rasturtian,” he began.

“I should have known,” said Tinder, pounding a fist into his palm. “A slaver.”

“He cheated all the other dark magicians by accumulating their powers and investing them into the creation of the Black Bloodstone. Don’t ask me how. It’s wizard business and I don’t pretend to know their ways. But the Bloodstone became the greatest source of magic in Polhaus, and whoever possesses it has the potential to rule the continent.”

Tinder felt Opal twirl the tresses on the top of his head, wrap them around her index finger and pull them into knots.

“Narkus is Rasturtian’s son,” said Gerard.

Tinder felt a jerk on a portion of his hair.

“Owww!”

You can say that again, said the voice Tinder recognized as Koop.

“We are in his son’s prison?” asked Opal.

“Yes,” said Gerard. “And the Shapechanger has the Black Bloodstone.”

Tinder felt Opal dig her nails into the top of his head. “Watch it, Opal! Are you trying to poke holes in my brain? Try to focus on making this troll better looking.”

Opal continued working, but paid him less attention as she concentrated on Gerard’s words.

Father and son, black and white, old and new; Tinder found the variety of magicians being referred to beyond his understanding.

Listen up, you need to know this.

“When Acumen learned the Shapechanger obtained the Bloodstone,” continued Gerard, “he cast a simple, but all-powerful, Containment Spell on Narkus, confining the sorcerer inside the Lost Jungle. Narkus is his prisoner.”

“Can’t the Shapechanger use the stone to break Acumen’s containment spell?” asked the major.

“No. It can’t be broken from within, only from outside . . . .”

“The Bloodstone remains here,” stated Opal.

“And the rest of the world is better off for it,” concluded the major.

“Yes,” said Gerard. “Polios exists in a delicate equilibrium.”

Tinder gave up on understanding the discussion. He was finding the reality of enchantment far different from the dreams he fantasized in the copper mine.

“What did Acumen do about Rasturtian?” asked the major.

“Rasturtian remains in Medlyn and Acumen lives in Shorehorn. Without possession of the Bloodstone neither can challenge the other. Instead, they only tolerate each other.”

“So what does all this have to do with us?” asked Tinder.

“Narkus knows you are Acumen’s heir. As the successor of the wizard who leads the Order of the Crimson Dragon, he believes you might give him the way to override the Containment Spell.”

Opal wound one last coil of hair into place. Grasping what was left of his mane by their core, she yanked his head backwards.

“Are you trying to kill me, Opal?”

Kill you? I’m the one who’s suffering, communicated Koop.

“What are you complaining about, Koop?" thought Tinder. "She’s peeling my head like an onion, not yours."

Because of you, I’m living inside this bucket of bones instead of enjoying my retirement in the AfterLife.

“Come to think of it,” asked Tinder, “why are you here?”

Don’t believe everything you’ve heard about Heaven. Things are rather boring here. I chose being your ally as a way to get out once in a while. And, so far I’ve rather enjoyed it.

“I’m glad you are having such a good time, Koop,” thought Tinder.

#
Gerard could not sustain any joy over his reunion with Tinder. Depressed, he took leave of the three prisoners. He knew he would never escape the Lost Jungle. His tasks as Narkus’s assistant damned him for life. The best outcome he could hope for was to gain redemption for the next world. He had planned his strategy long ago but he had to wait for the right circumstances to spring it.

He prepared his master’s dinner as usual. Having manufactured the sleeping potion ever since he arrived in the Jungle, he knew how much to use without arousing suspicion. With a smirk, he decanted a portion of the elixir into his master’s wine glass.

His master behaved as he hoped.

“I’m tired,” said the Shapechanger. “Prepare my bed and lay out my pajamas.”

“Yes, master,” said Gerard as he followed him into his bedroom and watched him crawl into bed. After waiting an appropriate time, he approached Narkus and tapped twice on the magician’s forehead. There was no response.

The Nomad didn’t know what incantation protected the amulet, but knew it must be formidable. The Shapechanger left it in an unlocked wooden chest in the corner of the bedroom, daring anyone to try stealing it.

Gerard opened the chest. The hinges screeched as scrapbooks of Narkus’s youth fell out. He glanced at the etchings of the Shapechanger as a child. Gerard felt sorry for his mother.

Scalps of creatures Gerard didn’t recognize lay in the chest putrefying. Gerard picked them up with two fingers and set them out of the way. He found the box he sought at the bottom of the crate.

He extricated it, placed the box on the floor, and steeled himself to open the lid. Lifting the top, he gazed into the cavity. A three-headed serpent struck at him. He sprang backwards, and slammed the lid down before the snake could bite.

“A Trinity Devil!” slipped out of Gerard’s mouth. He glanced over his shoulder. “No wonder the old man sleeps so well.”

Nomad knew that the Trinity Devil was the most lethal form of black magic short of the Bloodstone itself. The three extensions of the viper carried their own poison. The first bite would paralyze Gerard, discharging spikes of fire into his nervous system. The puncture from the second would inflict insanity. The third, being a servant of the dark, would deal a spiritual wound. The Trinity Devil would deliver him to the Black Deep to be tortured by demons for eternity.

Gerard questioned whether to continue his quest. “No wonder he is so confident,” he said in a low voice. As dark as this development was, he had nothing to lose.

He needed to confirm the presence of the Bloodstone. Reopening the container; he looked down. The coils of the Trinity Devil wrapped around the shiny, black gemstone below while its heads protected the Bloodstone from above. He found himself drawn by the sight of the rock. Mesmerized, he inched ever closer. Catching himself at the last minute, he sprang back as the serpent struck. Shutting the box, he remembered his master telling of its hypnotic stare.