Good day to, dear reader. This is Hastra of the Withling Order. I’ve been asked to make a contribution to PH’s blog this month. At first, I wasn’t sure what would be important for readers to know from a Withling.
But then, it occurred to me to write about what I do. I’m a Withling and that means countering the effects of magic and spiritual creatures conjured by sorcery, something Magdronu uses frequently. While Withlings often perform miracles, dealing with a creature like the Bane is difficult at best without one of us around. It seems the Bane often attacks when a Withling isn’t available. Here are five tips to handling such a creature without a Withling present, something I don’t recommend.
This month, it’s important to know that attacks with regular weapons likely won’t work. This creature is not from our plane of existence, so regular weapons, unless blessed by Eloch won’t work. Here’s a perfect example of why it’s best to back away if possible rather than ruin a good blade:
Athson’s woodsman senses tolled a warning. His hand strayed to the hilt of his long knife. He couldn’t rely on his bow in this clinging gloom.
Athson whirled and crouched at a soft shuffling behind him. A shadow loomed in the fading light and glided through the mist. Athson’s heart thudded. He remembered the reported figure from the night of the murders. His heart lurched into his throat, and he shivered.
The figure flowed toward him, hissed, and charged him.
Athson cringed and slashed awkwardly. The ground tilted and his head spun. Why was he on the ground? He grunted and shook his head.
“Run, Athson, run.” Corgren’s whispered mockery echoed in Athson’s ears.
Darkness flashed through his mind like the tattered wings of his final vision that night at Eagle’s Aerie. Blazing eyes stared at him as flame erupted in his sight.
Athson cried out and his head spun. The shadow faded into the fog. Ragged wings banked away in the vision. Corgren’s whispers drifted into silence.
Athson had just pushed to a crouch on his unsteady feet when another figure distilled out of the murk. It huffed as if having run a long way at speed. In an instant, the second figure plunged over him. A knee slammed into Athson’s side, his breath escaped him in a grunt, and he found himself lying on his back.
As flecks of pain cleared from his eyes, the pleasant face of a young woman peered at him. Wisps of her red-gold hair stuck out of her braid. He froze at the sight of her in pale leather leggings and dueling tunic. The young woman from his vision. She had materialized from his imagination into flesh.
“How did you get here? You’re not real!”
“What? I am so real.” She searched the fog around them. “Are you hurt?” She stood, poised to rush away.
Athson shut his gaping mouth. “Yes.” He groaned and eased to one knee. If she was real, who was she? But he dared not stare. “I, uh—” Athson wanted to tell her how she had saved him on the trail but discarded the inclination. It would be strange.
Her green eyes flashed at his hand, which groped for his long knife. Her next glance sized him up and took in his travel-stained clothing and ragged look. “Did you see someone in a black cloak?”
He still gasped for air. “Yes.” Athson noticed her fluid movements, unaffected by their collision. “Why do you ask?”
“Where did he go? Why were you cowering from that thief?”
“I wasn’t cowering. I had – ah!” Without looking, he retrieved his knife, gasped, and dropped it. “Why’s it so cold?” He bent and touched the blade, which was slicked with ice, and it cracked into several pieces.
The woman leaned close, and they both examined the weapon. “This is devilry.”
“I struck at the creature and found myself on the ground. I thought myself clumsy for missing. Now I think some evil enchantment defended that thing when I touched it.”
A fantasy quest is fraught with peril, none more dangerous than a being you can’t defeat by normal means. It’s best to leave it to those who know best what to do. Without the option of a Withling, a tip such as this could save your life while on your own adventure. Just don’t count on it though a blessing from a higher being might keep you alive. That’s all for this month, but I’ll return next month with another tip from my guide.
