Elves, Trolls, Mages: Three Adventures From Athranor And The Interlands

Elves, Trolls, Mages: Three Adventures From Athranor And The Interlands

by Alfred Bekker

About this volume:

This book contains the following  novels:

Troll raid

Companions of magic

Lirandil - the tracker of the elves

––––––––

A dark chasm gaped in the middle of Aladar's royal castle. This magical maw had suddenly ripped open after the cobblestones had looked for a moment as if they were floating. Smaller bolts of lightning hissed at its edges - signs of the forces of magic that had begun to work here. Then a figure leapt out of the bottomless darkness of the maw. A creature with huge feet and hands, a coarse face with a bulbous nose and stubble that grew almost to below the eyes. The skin color was stone gray and when the creature paused for a moment, it looked as if it had been carved from granite. A wide belt held together a leather vest. A strongly curved sword was girded across its back.

One of the guards on duty on the ramparts and towers now became aware of the figure.

Look there! A troll!

Copyright

A CassiopeiaPress book: CASSIOPEIAPRESS, UKSAK E-Books, Alfred Bekker, Alfred Bekker presents, Casssiopeia-XXX-press, Alfredbooks, Uksak Special Edition, Cassiopeiapress Extra Edition, Cassiopeiapress/AlfredBooks and BEKKERpublishing are imprints of

Alfred Bekker (https://www.lovelybooks.de/autor/Alfred-Bekker/)

© Roman by Author / COVER WERNER ÖCKL

© of this issue 2022 by AlfredBekker/CassiopeiaPress, Lengerich/Westphalia

The invented persons have nothing to do with actual living persons. Similarities in names are coincidental and not intended.

All rights reserved.

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Athranor and the Elven Interland: Two Adventures

Athranor and the Elven Interland: Two Adventures

by Alfred Bekker

A CassiopeiaPress Book

© by Author

© of the Digital Edition 2015 by AlfredBekker/CassiopeiaPress, Lengerich/Westfalen

www.AlfredBekker.de

www.postmaster@alfredbekker.de

The size of this book is equivalent to 258 paperback pages.

This book contains the following two novels:

Troll raid

Companions of magic

The Wild Orcs: Raid of the Trolls

by Alfred Bekker

Overview: Athranor & Elven Interland

Book titles (chronologically) set in Alfred Bekker's Athranor and the Land Between the Elves, regardless of their respective availability as e-book, book, audiobook, or as complete or partial editions.

The Wild Orcs (set in the time of the Elven King Péandir in Athranor)

Attack of the orcs

The curse of the dwarf gold

The dragon attack

Storming the Elven Kingdom

Troll raid

The Halflings of Athranor (set 360 years later in Athranor)

The son of the halflings

The heritage of the halflings

The Liberator of the Halflings

Elves - The Trilogy

(begins with the arrival of the elves in the intermediate land; corresponds to "Elves - The Series", Episode 1-43)

The realm of the elves

The kings of the elves

The war of the elves

Elven Children 1-7 (begins after the great war against Xaror)

The jewel of the elves

The sword of the elves

The magic of the elves

The flame spears of the elves

In the centaur forest of the elves

The spirits of the elves

The ice demons of the elves

Dwarf Children (set in the time of the Elf King Daron)

The magic of the dwarves

The magic axe of the dwarves

The dragon island of the dwarves

The crystal of the dwarves

Companions of magic

(set in the time of the Elven king Daron)

Lirandil - The tracker of the elves

(set in the time of the Elven king Daron)

Loosely related titles to the saga of Athranor and the intermediate land:

The Ship of the Orcs (as John Devlin, set in the lands south of Athranor).

Mistscape - The Book of Whuon (as John Devlin - the saga of Whuon the Mercenary, known from the volumes about The Halflings of Athranor)

Gorian Saga (Set many ages after the Athranor and Interland books on the continent of East Earth Round, to which Caladir arrives in his airship).

Gorian - The Legacy of Blades (with the Gargoyle Ar-Don)

Gorian - The Guardians of Magic (with Eldamir/ Caladir founded the Caladran Empire)

Gorian - In the Realm of Winter (with Eldamir, the Blind Slayer of the Elves of Athranor)

DragonEarth Saga (1-3, Trilogy)

(with the elven warrior Branagorn, lost between worlds, from volume 2 onwards)

Dragon curse

Dragon ring

Dragon throne

The Devil of Münster (crime novel with the elven warrior Branagorn as investigator)

The Paper Maker (as Conny Walden - historical novel with Branagorn )

The Medicus of Constantinople (as Conny Walden - historical novel with short appearance of Branagorn)

Leonardo's dragon (historical book for young people - with Branagorn alias Fra Branaguorno)

The Reign of the Ancients (future novel - appearance of Lirandil, Keandir, Gorian, Ar-Don, and others as simulations).

1

A dark chasm gaped in the middle of Aladar's royal castle. This magical maw had suddenly ripped open after the cobblestones had looked for a moment as if they were floating. Smaller bolts of lightning hissed around its edges - signs of the forces of magic that had begun to work here. Then a figure leapt out of the bottomless darkness of the maw. A creature with huge feet and hands, a coarse face with a bulbous nose and stubble that grew almost to below the eyes. The skin color was stone gray and when the creature paused for a moment, it looked as if it had been carved from granite. A wide belt held together a leather vest. A strongly curved sword was girded across its back.

One of the guards on duty on the ramparts and towers now became aware of the figure.

Look there! A troll!

In the very next moment another troll jumped out of the deep, dark maw and was followed by a third and fourth. They were all well armed, stone colored and had very rough faces, hands and feet. But of size they were extremely different. The smallest of them was perhaps as high as a cat, while the largest was twice the size of a tall elven warrior, from the hair reminiscent of a tuft of dark grass to the huge feet.

A bugler on the rampart to the outer castle courtyard now sounded the alarm.

The trolls exchanged a few words in their language consisting of many muffled sounds. By now, almost twenty of them had jumped out of the maw, and more were still coming. Some drew their weapons, swords, stone axes, and in some cases clubs. The troll who had jumped out of the maw first wore a ring with a red ruby. He held it up and muttered something in the troll language. The ruby began to glow. A blood-red ray went up into the sky, turned several times like a restless compass needle, and then directed itself toward the tall building on the left side of the castle courtyard.

There was housed the great royal library of Aladar.

The troll with the ruby ring pointed there, yelled a few words in his language, whereupon nearly a dozen trolls set off. Both very large and very small troll warriors were among them.

Meanwhile, the first guards of the royal bodyguard arrived. While more trolls jumped out of the magical maw, the others were already engaged in a fight. Troll swords and clubs met the blades of the knights of Aladar. The clang of weapons and shouting filled the courtyard of the castle.

Meanwhile, the dozen trolls sent to the library building had already reached their destination. The first of them were already climbing the walls. Their stone-colored hands and feet simply clung to the masonry, like a fly. With space-grasping movements they sped up - and already the first of them had reached the window, behind which the library was located.

2

One hour earlier...

Prince Candric loved books. The young heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Beiderland had always loved to spend his time with them. He liked to rummage through old books and discover secrets. Stories of heroes from ancient times interested him as much as spells or books that dealt with the course of the stars or the behavior of animals. The elf Lirandil had helped him to perfect his knowledge of the elven language and script, so that he was able to read elvish books better and better. They were particularly rare and precious, but among the tens of thousands of books in Aladar's library there were quite a few of them, even if they were not always easy to find among all the thick volumes.

All day Prince Candric had been in the high rooms of the library - with Kara, the daughter of a court official. Kara shared his passion for books and sometimes they stayed in the library until late at night.

Kara was looking at a scroll. There were special cylindrical containers for scrolls here.

Do you know this writing? she asked into the silence - for they had said nothing for some time.

That's what Candric found so pleasant about her. She was as excited about the mysteries of books as he was, but they could be together without talking all the time.

Candric looked up from the thick volume of elven legends and put it back on the shelf. Lirandil had written this book - many years ago, when Candric had been very small. The future king of Beiderland should know not only the stories of men, but also those of the elves, he had said then, and spent a whole year writing down all the elven legends he knew. However, a year was not a very long time for an Elf, considering that their lifespan usually spanned many millennia. Lirandil had always come to the court of Aladar and advised the king and queen. But he had also always been very interested in how the young heir to the throne was developing.

Candric looked at the partially unrolled scroll.

The characters resembled small pictures.

These could be characters from the writing of the long ago vanished ogre empire in Bagoria, Candric surmised.

What makes you think that? asked Kara, brushing a strand of her long hair out of her eyes.

Well, because of all those green men in the signs! They look like ogres, don't you think? And I suppose ogres used to write primarily about ogres, too!

Kara took another closer look at the green-painted men. Broad-shouldered, green-skinned and very strong - that's what the ogres looked like, Kara knew. And she had also heard that there had once been an ogre kingdom in the northwest of Bagoria. Of this empire, only the tomb of the unknown ogre king had survived to the present day.

But were they really ogres - or just people painted green, whose green color had some special meaning?

I don't know, she agreed, maybe the writer just had green ink ...

That could be, of course.

You'd have to decipher the writing, Candric! Otherwise, no one will ever know what it actually says!

Kara rolled up the scroll again and put it back into the cylindrical container from which she had taken it.

I also have a book I'd like to show someone, Candric said. But it's not from this library.

Kara looked at him in surprise.

What are you talking about? she asked.

Candric reached under his doublet and pulled out a book the size of a hand. It was bound in dark leather. Curved elvish characters were woven into it with silver threads. This is a magical book, Candric said. And as if to confirm his words, the silver threads in the front of the book suddenly lit up.

There's never been a book like that here, Candric! Otherwise I would have noticed it for sure in all the years I've been poking around here!

I told you it didn't come from this library, Candric explained.

Then where from?

From Asanil's Tower.

Asanil, the mage, had left some time ago with his sky ship for a long voyage of discovery, from which he would not return so quickly. Together with Lirandil, he had helped Candric when the prince's soul was repeatedly exchanged with that of Rhomroor, a fierce orc. Together they had experienced many adventures, traveling aboard Asanil's sky ship to the City of Mirrors and the Far Elven Realm to uncover the secret of the body swap.

But in the future Asanil would no longer be able to stand by the young heir to the throne, for the mage was gone. The journey was to last a millennium. Asanil also belonged to the long-lived people of the elves, but a millennium was no longer a short period of time, even for an elf.

Did Asanil give you this magic book before he sealed his tower with magic and before he left? asked Kara.

Candric shook his head. I just took it with me, he confessed. That's why I hesitated for so long to tell anyone about it.

You mean an heir to the throne of Beiderland doesn't do that!

I would like to say now that I intend to give it back to him one day when he returns. Only I fear that I will not have the opportunity to do so ...

There won't be any of us left alive, Kara said.

And who knows? Maybe even the kingdom of Beiderland has long since perished.

You mean like the realm of the unknown ogre king that once existed in Bagorien?

Yes, Candric nodded. He opened the book, and Kara glanced at the straight lines in curved elven script. In the dark, the letters glow, Kara. They are written in special elven ink. They are spells, magical formulas ...

So - have you used this magic before?

I tried, Candric countered.

Kara attentively read a few lines. She, too, had learned the language and script of the elves well enough to be able to decipher them. Candric had taught her. Together, they had often spent hours tracing the characters of the elven script from the books. She began to mumble something unconsciously.

Stop it!, Candric urged her. Who knows what will happen if you speak those formulas!

True! she said, but can humans even use Elven magic?

Asanil once told my grandfather that this was not possible. As far as I heard from my parents, he really wanted to learn Elven magic. On the other hand, an orc like Moraxx was able to learn Elven magic!

... and so made sure that you exchanged souls with Rhomroor, Kara recalled.

Candric smiled. Yes, and you must have been the first to realize that an orc was in my body, while my soul was in the body of Rhomroor, and I was fighting with other orcs, rolling in the mud pit, and riding on the backs of horned lizards.

Are you actually still in mental contact with Rhomroor? asked Kara.

Yes, sometimes, he said. But back to that book! What an orc can learn, I can learn!

But elves and orcs are distantly related, Kara pointed out.

Nevertheless! insisted Candric. He pointed to the lines Kara had just begun to mutter. That's a formula for warding off magic, by the way. At least, that's how I understood the accompanying text - the formula is written in the ancient language, after all, and even many elves don't really understand it anymore.

The writing lit up a little. And then images became visible that seemed to shimmer through the paper. Images that showed the castles and cities of the elves. Sometimes elvish faces or creatures so strange that Kara was sure she had never heard of them.

I don't know when these images appear and then why they suddenly disappear, Candric confessed. It must be related to the magic of the formulas somehow.

You could ask Lirandil the next time he comes to Aladar, Kara suggested. He's not a trained mage, but he's an elf, so he should definitely know more about elven magic than you do!

I don't think he would be thrilled to learn that I stole from Asanil, Candric replied. But the curiosity was just too strong.

Say - what's that noise out there anyway, Candric?

3

At that moment, the window glass shattered. A troll - only about the size of a cat - jumped through it, rolled on the floor and then immediately stood on its big feet again.

A second followed, breaking a few more pieces of glass from the window opening. He didn't seem to mind that they were sharp and pointed.

The little troll pointed in Candric's direction and shouted a few words in the troll language.

Then a third and a fourth troll came in. One of them was so big that he only fit through the window with difficulty.

Get out of here! shouted Kara.

But it was too late. The trolls were just too fast. The largest of them simply tore a bookshelf aside. Candric and Kara tried to escape towards the door, but already several trolls had pounced on the young prince, grabbed him and threw him to the ground. Kara was simply pushed aside by a troll's paw. She was obviously of no further interest to the trolls.

Candric tried to tear himself away.

Now it would have been good if his soul had been in the strong, resistant body of an orc.

Candric tried to free himself with lunging, powerful movements, as he would have done as an orc, but he was simply no match for the trolls. Their rock-hard paws grabbed him by the arms and legs.

Candric! shouted Kara. She was just getting back on her feet when the smallest of the trolls hurled her several steps toward the door. She barely managed to hold on to the book of magical formulas that Candric had stolen from the mage during one of his last visits to his tower.

In the meantime, the trolls had brought Candric to the window.

Kara could not believe her eyes. Horrified, she saw the trolls simply hurl Candric out the window and then rush after him one by one.

It must be a bad dream," she said.

But as much as she would have liked or pinched her cheek, what she had just seen had actually happened!

4

Kara was immediately back on her feet. She paid no attention to her aching back. She climbed over the overturned bookshelf and was at the window in the next moment. Prepare yourself for the worst," she said.

Falling out of a library window usually broke everyone's neck - unless you were an orc or a troll.

Her heart was beating up to her throat.

But then, looking out into the open, she saw that Candric had not simply fallen to the ground and broken his neck as she had expected.

Rather, he was still hovering in the air and desperately rowing his arms. However, he moved much slower than usual, as if he were surrounded by an invisible resistance. It was almost as if he had fallen into water and now had to pedal to get back to the surface.

He floated toward the dark maw that had formed in the center of the castle courtyard. It was a bottomless, black abyss that seemed to lead to nowhere. A magical force field was located above this maw. Wherever it was effective, the air shimmered slightly, and so Kara could see that it was in the shape of a funnel that reached from the library window to the dark abyss in the center of the castle courtyard.

Around this maw stood heavily armed trolls of various sizes. They had formed a circle and defended themselves against the rushed guards.

Meanwhile, King Hadran and Queen Taleena had rushed out of the palace. They had left behind the steps to the portal of this main royal building of Aladar's castle and were horrified to see their son floating in the magical funnel together with some trolls, about to be sucked into the dark maw.

What am I going to do, Kara thought. All those who witnessed this scene were completely powerless. Neither the guards and knights, nor the king and queen could do anything.

Kara felt her hand clench around Asanil's magic book, almost squeezing it.

But that didn't bother the book, which was made in the manner of the elves and certainly had a preservation spell.

She remembered Candric's words. Hadn't he said that the formula he had shown her served to render magic ineffective?

She had only one thought left.

I absolutely must stop what is happening here and now.

Hastily, she searched for the formula and, despite her far from perfect knowledge of the Elvish script and language, found it again. The formula was written at the beginning of the book. For some reason, Candric had been particularly interested in it, and that was probably why he had made a dog-ear in the page.

And what if the effect now is completely different from what I hope for? she asked herself. But there was no time for these concerns now. After all, she didn't want Candric to disappear into the dark maw toward which he was floating inexorably.

So she simply muttered the words she thought she could decipher. She spoke them in a strong voice, because she had once heard somewhere that magical formulas would then work better - especially if they were used by people who were completely untrained in it. Whether that was true or just a legend, she didn't know. But she wanted to leave no stone unturned to save Candric after all.

But at that moment, she saw him tumble headlong into