The Sorcerer's Legacy (7 page)

The task was exacting in detail and it took several hours to finish. Azerick stood back and surveyed his work. Once he found it acceptable, he raised his arms and chanted the words to the ritual. The air began to shimmer as the sorcerer waved his arms about, shaping and directing the Source, that mystical flow of power that all wizards and sorcerers tapped into to create their potent magic.

The shimmering began to take form as a large, indistinct mound coalesced into being in the center of the room. The misty shape resolved into a huge pile of treasure. The mound of gold, silver, and copper coins, bejeweled weapons and armor, wooden chests filled with unknown treasures, and all manner of valuables was awe-inspiring. The chamber Azerick had prepared for this very purpose was significantly smaller than the huge cavern where he had found it after defeating the dragon that guarded it. The smaller room made the pile of treasure appear even larger than he remembered.

However, what truly drew his eye now was the small creature that slid boneless down the face of the glittering mound. The goblin sat up, supporting himself with his skinny arms, and shook his head in an attempt to clear his disorientation.

Grick was thankful that goblins were incapable of vomiting or he would definitely be losing his last meal right now. Not that there was much left to throw up. He had been trapped atop the treasure mound for at least two days and was nearly ready to risk a leap over the runes that had encircled it. Better to be burnt into a goblin briquette than starve to death.

Azerick watched the little, brown mustard-colored goblin get shakily to his feet. The goblin looked up at Azerick who stood with his arms crossed and wearing a bemused and quizzical look. Grick looked around and saw that he was no longer in the cavern and that the human must have brought him, along with the treasure pile, to his home. That made Grick realize two important things. The treasure must belong to this human, and the human was a very powerful wizard.

Azerick watched with interest as the goblin looked up at him and swallowed nervously. Grick slowly lifted the platinum circlet that sported an enormous emerald off his hairless head and set it gently onto the pile. With equal care, he doffed a dozen or more heavy gold necklaces and set them aside. The goblin then stood up straight, wrung his hands nervously, and waited for whatever fate had in store for him.

Grick was terrified but he would not cower before this human. He had been the slave of a very unpleasant wizard before who had subjected him to an unending amount of pain and humiliation. If the human wanted to kill him, so be it, but he would not whimper and cower.

“Aren’t you going to plead for your life or something, goblin?” Azerick calmly asked.

 Grick shook his head, which set his long ears wiggling. “No, Master Wizard. You are either going to kill Grick or you are not going to kill Grick, no matter if I beg or not. If you wish Grick dead then Grick will die with dignity.”

Azerick was impressed with the goblin’s reaction. He did not intend to harm the little creature; he was just interested in the goblin’s character. Everything he had read about goblins spoke of them all being cowardly and without honor or dignity. This goblin already intrigued the sorcerer by his demeanor.

“You are a very fortunate goblin; do you know that, Grick?”

The goblin shook his head.

Azerick nudged a lump of gold coins with his foot that that teleportation spell had fused together as the individual coins had tried to occupy the same space at the same time. “That very well could have happened to you.”

Grick looked at the lump of gold, saw that there were several such amalgamations, and swallowed hard once again.

“You seem to have a great deal of luck surrounding you, Grick,” Azerick told the nervous goblin.

“Most of it bad though, Master Wizard,” Grick insisted dejectedly.

“I am not a wizard, Grick, I am a sorcerer,” Azerick clarified.

The goblin just nodded. Grick did not know the difference and could care less. If the human wanted to call himself a turkey-faced owl bear, then so be it. Grick was not going to argue.

“How did you come to be sitting upon my treasure, Grick?”

“Humans chase Grick with mean dogs. Grick climb down hole and fell. Treasure break Grick’s fall—and his eggs,” the goblin added.

Azerick nodded as he began to put together what had happened.

“Where is the rest of your tribe? Were they with you when you stole the farmer’s eggs?”

Uh oh, the human realized that the Grick had stolen eggs from the farmer. He wondered if he would administer justice himself or turn him over to the city watch, if there was one wherever he was. Either way he was as good as dead.

“Grick no like living with other goblins, so I leave them long ago,” he told the human in all honesty.

Azerick nodded his understanding. “Can you kill rats, Grick?”

The goblin looked at Azerick in confusion.

“I have a rat problem. Are you good at killing rats? If so, I would like to offer you a job and a safe place to live,” Azerick clarified.

Grick bobbed his head eagerly. “Grick very good rat catcher, Master Sorcerer.”

“My name is Azerick. Would you like a job taking care of my rat problem, Grick?” the sorcerer asked.

Grick looked at the wizard suspiciously now. No human, much less a powerful wizard, or sorcerer, had ever been kind to him.

“You no use Grick for bad magic spells?”

Azerick smiled down at the little goblin. “No, Grick, I will not use any magic on you. I just need someone to catch rats for me,” Azerick assured him.

“Ok, Grick catch rats as long as you no use magic on him,” he agreed.

Grick realized that he still had a long, ornate dagger hanging from a belt that he wrapped around his narrow waist twice to make it fit, took it off, and began to set it down.

“Let me see that a moment, Grick,” Azerick directed and held out his hand.

Grick handed the belt and dagger over to the sorcerer. Azerick pulled the blade out and studied it intently. The long blade shone brightly from the reflected lamplight and came to a very fine point like a stiletto. The blade was a solid eight inches long and sharpened on both sides. The hilt was made of ivory covered with scrimshawed scrollwork.

“It is a nice blade, Grick, why don’t you keep it,” Azerick said, sliding the blade back into its tooled leather and silver capped sheath.

Grick took the blade back in wonder and wrapped the long belt back around his waist. No one had ever given the goblin anything. No one had ever even been nice to him and now this strange wizard gives him a knife worth more than a merchant probably makes in a year. Grick was unsure whether he should fear this sorcerer or worship him. He settled for simply following him.

“Come, Grick, you look hungry. Let us get you some food and I will show you where you can stay.”

The goblin’s stomach growled its appreciation as he followed the sorcerer up the stone stairs and into the kitchen where four women were just starting to clean all the bowls from feeding the workers lunch. The women were chattering along as they are want to do but fell silent as Azerick entered the kitchen and saw the goblin trailing behind him.

“Ladies, this is Grick. He will be staying with us for a while. Please be polite and see that he gets plenty to eat,” Azerick ordered.

The women stared at the repulsive little goblin for a moment before the oldest one spoke up. “Well, he can’t be half as wild as that filthy little Wolf child.”

“Has he been on another of his raids?” Azerick asked, amused at Wolf’s refusal to be domesticated.

“Aye, the grubby little sneak thief darted in here, stole a whole roast chicken, and snatched a pie as he jumped out the window!” the head cook complained.

Azerick just laughed at the half-elf’s antics and left Grick in the care of the kitchen women.

“C’mon, Grick, pull yourself up a seat here and we’ll get ya fed,” the head cook told him.

Grick sat on a tall stool at the small table in the middle of the kitchen while the woman filled a large bowl of stew for him and gave him a small loaf of bread. Grick was amazed as he picked up the bread. It was actually soft in his hand, no weevils, and rolled oats covered it instead of mold. The stew was full of chunks of beef that had not spoiled and vegetables that obviously did not just come from a refuse pile.

He was still nervous around the humans and ate warily. He used the spoon the woman gave him as he had seen humans do on occasion. It felt awkward and that made him feel self-conscious. He knew that even the lowest of humans viewed him as little more than an animal and he was determined not to give them further reason for thinking so.

“You see,” the head cook said to one of the other women, “he even eats nicer than Wolf.”

Grick had just finished his second bowl of stew and third roll of bread when the sorcerer returned.

“Ready to go see your room?” Azerick asked the goblin.

Grick nodded his head, slipped off the stool, and followed his new master up the newly built wooden stairs the encircled the inner wall of the tower. They came to the third floor, passed one door and stopped in front of another. The sorcerer opened the door to a small room that contained a bed, a wooden trunk, desk, bookshelf, and a small window looking towards the mountain that abutted the rear of the tower.

“This will be your room for as long as you stay here, Grick. My room is through the other door you saw on this level. My apprentice has a room on the floor above this one. My head cook has a room just off the kitchen. We are the only three that actually live in the keep now. My apprentice is a young girl named Ellyssa. You will see her around from time to time. I only require that you treat everyone with respect and courtesy and I expect them to do the same for you. If you are mistreated by anyone, you are to tell me right away.”

“This is Grick’s room?” the goblin asked as he looked around the small room in awe.

“Yes. I know it is not very large but it is the only other one that is finished, and since you don’t take up much space yourself I thought it would suffice,” Azerick replied with a smile.

Grick had never lived in a room so magnificent. An actual bed—with real blankets and not some burlap bag he found in the trash! The other wizard made him sleep on the floor in the corner of his laboratory—when he was allowed to sleep at all.

“How long does Grick stay here?” he asked nervously, wondering when the dream would end.

Azerick shrugged his shoulders. “Until you decide to leave. If you decide that you do not like it here or find your job unsuitable, your are free to leave whenever you like,” Azerick informed him. “You are not a slave or a prisoner here, Grick. You may come and go as you please, but if you decide to leave, just let me know first.”

“Master Azerick is too kind to Grick. Grick never want to leave beautiful room and gracious master,” the goblin proclaimed with a sense of purpose and acceptance welling up inside him that he had never felt before.

“Good,” Azerick said warmly,” because I have a real rat problem and I am glad to have someone to take care of it for me. Feel free to get yourself settled in. I am sure you are tired after a big lunch, not to mention being teleported.”

Grick nodded and walked further into the room, inspecting the furniture and looking out the shuttered glass window. He had an actual glass window! Grick was living like a noble! The goblin turned around to look at Azerick and express his appreciation once more but the sorcerer had left him alone in the room. Grick faced the window once more, turned the brass handle and swung it open. Breathing in the fresh air, he let out a sigh of utter contentment, crawled onto his bed, and fell blissfully asleep.

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