A FOOL'S ERRAND

by James Tillman
Two figures, swathed head to foot in dull robes, stood silently on a purple dune as they faced a waning eastern sun, its last rays adding its orange luminescence to the darkening sky. Despite his face being almost completely covered, the shortest of the pair continually spat out mouthfuls of dust swept up by the wind gusts blowing across the desert.

The Smiling Viper, infamous swordsman, arcanist and rogue, questioned the wisdom of returning here; certainly he had had his fill of aurin with its oppressive heat, desert wyrms, and sandstorms. !et the unending path to adventure had led him here once again amongst the dust and bones of this dry, ancient land.

Well, it was your idea to follow him here, echoed a familiar, yet intrusive voice inside The Viper"s head. Even despite my warning you to the futility of this quest!

My brother speaks truly, inter#ected another voice, this one feminine. We know that none have ever found the means of controlling a skria it! "nd calling them here to test some spell is sheer folly! #ave you forgotten our encounter with them near the $aurin "lta%

The Viper glared down at the sources of these complaints$his ever faithful, if ever%annoying, sentient saber and main%gauche, the sibling blades of &irqu'r( and Tinris.

)*o, + haven"t forgotten,, The Viper retorted mentally. )-esides, that was months ago and we were

alone. -ut rest assured, my faith in my friend"s abilities and e.pertise is not misplaced. +f anyone can fulfill this "fool"s errand", it is he.,

/t this The Viper left off the telepathic debate to observe his companion. 0empter stood as he had for the past quarter%hour, his arms folded as if in deep reflection. Seemingly unaffected by the wind and dust of the plain, his piercing eyes shone like blue sapphires from his deeply tanned features as he stared towards the hori1on. /t his feet burned a bra1ier, the wind%swept smoke smelling sweetly pungent even in the harsh wind. The Viper strode over to him, pausing a moment to follow his friend"s ga1e before speaking.

)2ow goes it3, he asked. 0empter didn"t acknowledge him at first, instead continuing to watch the reddened skyline. The sun had at last set and dark clouds mingled with the fading daylight. 2e then turned to the elf.

)+t comes 4ealor,, the mage intoned finally. 5ointing towards the east he added6 )7ook.,

8n the hori1on crawled a great sandstorm, a thick column of purple dust and wind that sped steadily towards the pair.

)The summoning has worked,, stated 0empter. )*ow comes the time to test the remainder of the spell. -e ready, my friend.,

The Viper"s hands strayed to the hilts of his weapons as he pointedly ignored their continued tirade on doomed tasks and suicidal missions. 9hile awaiting the arrival of the skira.it, The Viper spared a cursory glance to the surrounding plains. /nd that"s when he noticed something.

)5ardon me, 0empter, but...,

)+ know,, 0empter replied, sighing. )+ see them.,

4rom all directions came more skria.it, with the first already uncomfortably close. The Viper drew &irqu'r( and Tinris from their scabbards, a duet of "+ told you so" ringing in his ears.

)+t seems an error has occurred,, muttered 0empter resignedly. 9ithout further comment he reached into his belt pouch, e.tracting a circular mirrored lens and a small bag. 9ith the first skira.it mere yards away, he quickly emptied the contents of the bag onto the lens. -ending to protect the substance from the winds with his hand, he murmured seemingly to himself then passed an open palm over the lens, now covered with what appeared to be diamond dust. 9ith a deft motion, he tossed both into the air above him and The Viper. The lens rose of its own accord, spinning and glowing brightly as it scattered the glittering powder into the atmosphere, causing it to settle about them. /s the last of the dust fell to the sand the lens vanished, leaving in its wake a shimmering, protective dome.

/nd then the skira.it were upon them, whirling to the attack. /s they collided with the invisible barrier they howled with rage, raining blow after blow upon it. Soon the dome began to waver and flicker like the flame of a guttering candle.

)Thrice curse -eshaba:, 0empter cried emphatically. )The barrier won"t hold:, Turning to The Viper he commanded, )2old them off: The ward is one%sided, so you may attack them even as they are held back. -ut be sure to keep yourself behind it, lest you find yourself trapped outside with our friends., 0empter then began another spell.

The Viper slashed out beyond the weakening dome with his enchanted blades. Several times the driving winds nearly swept his weapons from his grasp, but still he held the creatures at bay. Suddenly The Viper felt a strong bree1e at his back, and he turned to face this new menace.

/ small whirlwind was forming in the center of the protective dome, its eye soon growing wide enough to engulf both The Viper and 0empter. /t first he feared one of the skira.it had breached the spell, but upon seeing 0empter chanting and gesturing he reali1ed that this was the mage"s doing. /s he watched the wi1ard stepped into the whirlwind a sudden crackling sound snapped his attention back to the dome $and saw that it was giving way.

)+nto the cyclone:, shouted 0empter above the roaring winds. );uickly:,

9ithout hesitation, The Viper leapt to comply. 8nce his friend was safely beside him, 0empter made a flourishing gesture and the whirlwind rose towards the top of the dome. /s he did this he reached into the folds of his robes, producing a huge, brilliant%cut ruby. The Viper began to wonder at its purpose when, with a dying, droning sound, the ward finally failed.

The skria.it attacked swiftly, lashing furiously at the two men, though the full brunt of their power seemed dampened by the force of 0empter"s spell. <ven through the blinding ha1e of sand and dust, The Viper could see that he and 0empter were completely encompassed by black, boiling clouds outside the cyclone$the skria.it surrounded them completely. -right points of light continually flashed within the confines of their dark forms, threatening and angry. +t seemed the desert itself had risen up against them, coalescing into a swirling barrier to keep the pair from fleeing.

)9hat now3, The Viper cried. +gnoring him, 0empter raised his arms as if to defy the roiling blackness that enveloped them. Still clutched in his hand, the gem pulsed with a piercing white light.

)7amere, remat, remise:, cried the mage, his face vividly lit by the stone"s radiance. The Viper felt a mighty gust of wind surge through the walls of the cyclone as the attacking skria.it rushed in towards the two. The Viper steeled himself for the coming assault then reali1ed his error$they weren=t attacking, the gem was drawing them in: / dreadful chorus of wails arose all around him as the churning, dark forms of the skria.it funneled into the pulsing gemstone. Their cries mingled with the shrieking of the wind, creating a horrid cacophony of terror and violence.

/nd all at once the clouds were suddenly gone, the night sky wide and open above them. Still clutching the gem, 0empter gestured and the cyclone slowly lowered the two of them to the ground.

The Viper let out a sigh of relief as he ga1ed about at the becalmed desert. 2e looked over at 0empter who was dusting himself off, the ruby now having returned to the confines of his robes.

)9hat will you do with them3, The Viper queried.

0empter gently patted the stone beneath his garments. )There is a way to control them; there must be. /nd + will find it eventually, with the help of these.,

)So our task wasn"t for naught,, grinned The Viper, glancing down at the notably silent &irqu'r( and Tinris. )/nd we can make a path to the second stop of our #ourney.,

)/h yes, of course,, 0empter replied, chuckling. )The 2appy Stein it is.,

/s requested +"m giving you a copy of a story + wrote back in ">? for a maga1ine called 5olyhedron @sorry about the quality%%looks like + need to buy more inkA. +t was a gaming maga1ine @now no longer in circulationA which is the reason for the statistics, none of which are integral to the story, so don"t worry if you don"t understand them. + readily admit to my substandard editing skills at the time + sent this in, but am baffled as to why they published it as is without sending it back to me for revision. /h well. /lso want to point out that the circled portion is something they added afterwards and wasn"t part of the original manuscript that + sent them. /pparently the story lacked enough info @i.e. noneA on how, or why the two characters were friends in the first place and wanted that in there. + probably should have added that to one of the character descriptions, but thought the implied friendship spoke for itself. 9hat do you think3

9ith this is a revised version that + was hoping you could give me your thoughts on and compare to the original publication.

James