CHAPTER 5

Viperous the Harpy

Octobre 31, 5599

Reilyk the Red was standing beside King Gridarg Zogstomp when he felt a wave of powerful magic wash over him. He staggered under the weight of it, and he realized that it was the same kind of magic he had sensed from the box with that single scroll in it. He frowned, remembering that he had burned the scroll with the amber ribbon in a fit of anger, wishing he had not been so rash. He also could tell that the wave of magic had emanated from a long distance away.

Reilyk the Red excused himself from the king’s presence and hurried back to his room.

He went to his window, flung the shutters open, and cast a locator spell. A few moments later, he had his answer. That strange and powerful explosion of magic had come from somewhere in the Sherran Hills, far to the east.

That’s strange, he thought. The only beings in the Sherran Hills are the welcorgs, and they don’t really have any magic within them. Well, at least, not like the bloclabs.

Reilyk the Red leaned out of his window and whistled. There was a flutter from a nearby tree. A harpy flew into the room and landed on a large perch located just inside the window. The harpy, who had the head and upper torso of a human female, and the wings, tail, legs, and claws of a large black bird, hissed at the mage. The harpy was covered with dirt and mud and smelled worse than Stench, Shorn’s green goblin companion.

The harpy, Viperous, lifted a leg, passed some gas, and grinned at the black mage. “Whadda ya want?” she spat.

“I have a job for you,” Reilyk the Red said, plugging his nostrils with two fingers.

“I was sleeping,” Viperous replied, yawning, showing Reilyk her rotted teeth. “I need my beauty sleep,” she said, batting her eyelashes and pretending to be coy. Then she laughed nastily.

“I’ll make it worth your while,” he said, releasing his nose and reaching for a red-jeweled necklace on his desk. “I promise to give you this ruby necklace once you’ve completed a task for me,” he said, swinging it back and forth.

Viperous’ greedy eyes traced the swaying ruby and a line of drool rolled out of her mouth and down her chin. “Oh, yes,” she said, hopping from foot to foot on the perch. “I want it. I want it! I WANT IT!”

“I figured that you would,” Reilyk the Red said, smiling. He understood that harpies would do anything to get their grubby claws on a pretty jewel.

“What do I have to do?” Viperous asked, reaching for the jewel with one of her crud-encrusted feet.

“It’s quite simple really,” replied Reilyk the Red, pulling the necklace back out of the harpy’s reach. “I need you to fly to the Sherran Hills and find something for me.”

“The Sherran Hills!” Viperous shrieked. “It will take me weeks to fly there!”

“I have a spell that will enable you to fly tirelessly straight through. You won’t even have to stop to eat or sleep.”

“What fun would that be?”

“You won’t have time for fun,” Reilyk the Red said, frowning. “The faster you get there and report back to me, the faster you’ll earn this bauble.”

“Whatever,” Viperous replied, passing another foul cloud of gas while grinning.

Reilyk the Red choked on the repugnant stench and took two steps back. The smell was atrocious. He waved a hand in front of his face, wrinkling his nose.

Viperous smiled. She loved causing others misery. Her gaze returned to the ruby necklace. She had never seen anything as wonderous as this. A battle waged in her mind and finally greed won out.

“Fine,” she sighed. “I’ll do it.”

Reilyk the Red smiled. He knew that the harpy could not pass up the opportunity to own such a pretty little treasure as this necklace. He stepped forward and placed the necklace over her head, and it fell between her shrunken, spindly, dirty breasts.

Viperous raised her thick eyebrows, jumped off the perch, and tried to fly out the window. She screamed and fell to the floor paralyzed. “What have you done?” she huffed, breathing heavily.

“Nothing. That is, I have done nothing. The jewel you wear around your neck is enchanted,” Reilyk the Red replied with a grin. “You made a promise to me, which activated the magic in the ruby. Until you fulfill your promise, you won’t be able to deviate from what I need of you. Once I’m satisfied with the information you’ve gathered for me, the necklace will be yours and you’ll be free to do whatever you like.”

“Hey, that’s not fair,” she said, standing up on her two feet and flying back up to the perch to peer menacingly at the mage.

“What’s not fair is that you just tried to steal the necklace without doing what you promised to do.”

“Well, it’s in my nature to rip people off,” Viperous said, preening her right wing.

“If you try to steal from me again, the same thing will happen,” Reilyk the Red stated, looking into her beady little eyes. “I just hope, for your sake, that you don’t try it again while you’re flying high over Chelt. If you fall from a great distance . . . well, I doubt you will survive the impact with the hard ground,” he said as he clapped his two hands together, startling the harpy. “Oh, I forgot to mention this . . . you cannot take the necklace off until the job has been completed.” He smiled at her with a certain sense of satisfaction.

“What?!” Viperous screeched, trying to pull the necklace over her head with one dirty claw. It refused to go past her ears. She hopped to the floor and grabbed it with both claws, rolling onto her back. She grunted and groaned as she tried to force the enchanted necklace over her head.

Reilyk the Red realized that the view he had of her rear section was not something he ever wanted to see, and turned away, gagging.

She let go of the necklace after a few more tries and screamed in frustration.

The blorc mage laughed at her failed attempts.

Viperous stood up and jumped back onto the perch again.  “How will I report back to you what I find?” she asked with a defeated tone to her voice.

“Just say my name three times. That activates the ruby. It’s not only a precious gem, it’s also a magical communication device. I’ll be able to hear everything you say, and you’ll be able to hear me.”

“I’ll believe it when I hear it,” Viperous said, disgusted with the entire situation. “Are we done now?”

“No,” Reilyk the Red said, drawing his wand out of the sleeve of his robe.

Viperous’ eyes widened.

Reilyk whispered something, and Viperous was suddenly surrounded by a red glow. As the glow faded, the harpy let out a shriek of pure glee. She had never felt so invigorated. She was brimming over with energy. Viperous felt like she could fly forever, which was probably true if what Reilyk the Red had said earlier was to be believed. She leaped off her perch and flew around the room faster than she had ever flown before. As she headed out the window, she screamed, “See ya, soulless one!”

He winced, as he hated that nickname. Only Viperous called him that.

He tapped his ruby ring once with his wand to sever the connection with the harpy.

Reilyk the Red sat at his table and started writing down what he remembered from the scroll he had burned five years before. He was able to recall a fair bit of it, but not nearly enough. He slammed the writing quill down and shouted, “Damn!”

Why was I so stupid? Why did I throw that scroll into the fire? he thought. I must obtain that strange and powerful magic at any cost. The next time it’s used, I’ll be ready for it.