Dream of Brian

By Andrew Bomberry

Brian crossed the street and cut across the baseball field. The sun was at its pinnacle on this hot summer day, its rays passing through his body and emerging as sweat. A couple bugs circled his head in low level annoyance mode, i.e. they circled but did not attempt to land.

Brian raised his hand to simultaneously wipe his slippery forehead and make a lazy, ineffectual swipe at the insects. Normally, his great detest for bugs would cause him to energetically and eagerly try to squish them, but today he had something on the mind. A memory of his dream from last night. Unlike most of his dreams this one had no women, scary clowns, or cars in it. It was a dream focusing on a memory. A memory of a place not too far from the baseball field he was now traversing. A place of which he had never been nor knew about until his dream. In his dream he had to get there, overcoming all sorts of obstacles because it was so, so important that he get there. So go he went.

Early that morning Brian packed a lunch and headed out for a very long walk. He couldn't get the dream out of his mind at home so he reasoned that if he were to do what his dream wanted he could perhaps get on with his weekend plans.

After several hours of walking he was finally at the baseball field and just beyond, in what substituted for a woods in this city was the place.

His eagerness to see the place swelled inside, his heart beat quickened and despite the heat Brian broke into a run. He plunged into the cool shade of the trees and ran on, quicker even. He could see his goal. THERE! just beyond that bush.

Brian slowed to a jog as he approached it, then a brisk walk as he circled it. And then he was there. The place in his dream he had never seen before perfectly matched what he now saw.

It was a little clearing, surrounded by a tight cluster of trees and a bush. The ground was grass bare and in the center of the clearing, just like in his dream, was a small pond. Just like in his dream he slowly approached it. The quiet of the woods only made the thundering of his heart seem that much the louder. He knelt by the stream, just as in his dream. Brian stretched out his left hand to the pond and just like in his dream he touched it. And just like in his dream, the light went dark for Brian White.

He drifted in a sea of darkness. He could not feel his body but he could sense it was there, floating beside him, wherever he was. In this sea of darkness he could hear a voice, calling his name.

"Brian, Brian wake up. We need your help. Please Brian, for me, wake up." The voice was soft, seeming to almost hum in his ear. The sound of the voice brought visions of flowers and the sun and the sense of flying to him. It was quite possibly the most beautiful voice Brian had ever heard.

Brian's body and mind smashed together, information the body sends to the mind once again flooded his brain. The sudden sensation caught him totally by surprised and his body went stiff, as if he were just told his parents died. Slowly, very slowly he began to relax and his body sank back down onto the bed. His body was telling him that he was not wearing any clothes, but that he was also under covers. And his body also told him that there was something perched upon his bare chest.

Brian's eyes flew open at this information, there before him, preparing to sting was the hugest damn bee he ever saw! Brian knocked it from his chest and onto the floor, stunning it. Quickly he rose from the bed, gathering the covers about him self and in particular, his left foot. With great glee, Brian brought his foot down in a mighty stamp and did one of the things he enjoyed most. He splattered the bee.

Eliminating the immediate danger, Brian looked about to see who had been the source of the most beautiful voice. Quickly a number of startling things came to his attention. First off the room he was now in was made of stone, there was an ancient fireplace in the room and still the place was freezing. Also the covers he wore around himself were extremely rough, like a machine had nothing to do with its making.

He sat down on the bed and tried to take this all in. Perhaps he had been kidnapped, or maybe he was dead. But if he was dead then what was a giant bee doing in heaven, or hell, and why could it be killed? Brian examined the bee more closely, or what was left to be examined of it.

Now he wasn't so sure it had been a bee. The wings were fine and delicate, and none of the goo resembled bee goo.

The door at the side of the room opened and a truly mammoth man entered backwards, using his back to open the door as he carried a tray.

"I heard a loud thud in here and thought you might be up." his voice was most definitely not the angelic voice Brian had heard earlier. It was a booming voice, the kind the owner of which could never really pitch low. "Considering how small Maisy is I thought it was you who made the noise." with out looking around he crossed the room and placed a tray of what seemed to be food on the dresser. "Its about time you woke up, some people were beginning to think maybe some spell had been put on you to keep you from waking. By the way my name is Wyndelle and the lady with the angelic voice is my wife Maisy."

Brian considered running for the door but decided against it for a number of reasons. He was next to naked and would not be able to make it far where ever he was, he did not know what was going on, and it did not seem like this Wyndelle (such an odd name) meant any harm. Perhaps he could tell Brian what was going on.

"Excuse me, Wyndelle, what is going on?" (always best to ask what you want to know, he thought).

Wyndelle smiled a friendly smile and was just about to answer when he caught sight of something on the floor.

"What is that?" he boomed, pointing to the bee (?) goo on the floor.

Brian looked down at the mess on the floor and wondered what he was missing. Why should this man be concerned with a dead bee.

"It’s just a bee I squished. " Brian answered.

At those words the big man made a whimpering sound, clasping both hands to his mouth. The expression on his face was one of great horror and anguish. Abruptly he dropped to his knees beside the goo and tried to gather it into his two great hands. Brian was worried, here he was in god knows where with no clothes, no knowledge of time passed, and the only person he had yet come across appeared to be crying over bee goo.

Wyndelle seemed totally absorbed in his goo, so Brian thought it best to move on. He searched the closet and found some suitable clothes. A shirt, hose (better than nothing) and slippers. He put these on and headed out the door to explore.

Wherever he was, they seemed to have a different way of building and decorating things. All walls, floors, and ceilings were made of stone. There were pictures on every wall and the place was huge. Every now and then Brian came across knight statues, like in museums. All evidence seemed to say that he was in a castle, and before too long he was hopelessly lost in it.

Eventually he came across another man wearing identical style clothing. As Brian approached the man studied his face. At first he seemed curious as to who Brian was but then his expression turned into one of absolute bliss.

"You have finally awakened! Praise the gods." He rushed over to Brian, grabbing him by the shoulders and squeezing a little with his hands. "Its good to see you. We feared you would never awaken. Come, come quickly, you must see the king and the arch-mage." Quickly he tugged at Brian's arm and pulled him down the corridor.

The two ran down corridor after corridor for almost an entire minute, finally coming into a huge room. It was heavily decorated with the knight statues and at the far end sat what Brian thought could only be the king spoken of and his queen the woman beside him.

"Your majesty, he has awakened!" Brian's guide bellowed. They continued to approach and when these words were spoken the king rose to greet Brian.

When his majesty rose, the guide to Brian's right opened his eyes wide in surprise. In an aside to Brian he whispered "He never rises for a guest."

Brian did not no what to make of this. Not just the king rising to honor Brian but the whole incident leading from his dream. From what he could gather he must still be dreaming. Perhaps even now his body lay dosing by the pond, or maybe he hadn't even waken up from what he thought to be last night. Whatever the case he decided to play along with his dream till awakening, it wasn't every night a dream felt as real as this.

Playing his role, Brian stepped in front of the guide and addressed the king.

"Yes, it is I, Brian. A spell was put upon me to keep me from awakening, as you suspected, but obviously it is broken. Now, why have you brought me?" If the king didn't know then no one would.

The king smiled, a great smile from ear to ear with neat white teeth sparkling in the light. Odd for a land which seems to be in the dark ages.

"Praise be for Maisy and her sweet, beckoning voice. Our only hope that her fairy magic would be able to beckon you from the wastelands of the mind. Tell me, what did you think of the lady who matched the voice?"

There was that name again. Perhaps now Brian would be able to meet this mysterious fairy (?) woman.

"Wyndelle's wife, you mean?" Brian scoured the room with his eyes, searching. "Where is she by the way?"

The king looked surprised, "I know she's small," he said, "but you still should have seen her when you woke. Her voice does not work unless she is very close to the person. "

Brian got suspicious at this point. "Just how small is she?" he asked.

The king held up a single hand, using his thumb and pointing finger to show the size of what Brian thought to be an abnormally large bee.

Not a good start he thought. Well, what they don't know won't hurt them, or curtail my dream.

Before Brian could begin covering up the incident an incredibly large and powerfully built man burst into the room. As he ran up to where Brian and the king stood, Brian studied him. Besides being mammoth and muscular, he also had grace. He ran with a certain smoothness and ease that revealed his physical agility. Brian thought that in this place he was probably some kind of warrior or knight.

The king resumed his beaming smile. "Ah, your knight protector has arrived. This man is the paramount warrior of the land and has been chosen to protect you on your quest to get the ring."

Before Brian could comment on the protector or ring quest another visitor burst in upon the group. This one was just the opposite of the knight protector. He was old, short, and clumsy. At one point he almost fell down but the knight protector caught his arm.

At the sight of this old man the king's smile faltered, but was maintained. "This is our wise man, Tollnoll. He was the one who performed the spell to bring you here."

Tollnoll was about to speak when suddenly he grabbed his stomach, which had erupted in rumbles. "Lets make this quick. The enemy approaches and the ring is four days there and back." his was a voice that scared little children.

The old man took control of the situation, taking both Brian and his Knight protector's arms and leading them out of the room. It was no wonder the king didn't like this little man.

"I have a scroll listing the challenges that must be met if you are to win the ring from the guardian demon Brian, and a special sword for you knight protector." The grisly old man led them down deep into the castle until they came upon what Brian supposed was his study, a room filled with odd odors and musty papers.

By this time Brian had to piss, but seeing how this was a dream he was not eager to relieve himself. Such an action might have undesirable repercussions in the real world. Despite his deep urge not to the urge to do so was greater.

"Excuse me Tollnoll, where is your bathroom?" he asked.

Tollnoll looked puzzled for a moment and then a look of comprehension crossed his face. "The door at the other end of the room leads outside, there you will see a large outhouse, gift from the king, you can use it. But be quick, I'm not feeling so well and I may need to use it myself."

Brian followed his directions and soon found himself in a large box reeking in the worst way and realized that a leak was not all he had to do.

When he was done he looked about for some toilet paper but all he could see was a brown rag. His mind shrank away from the implications.

If this is a dream, he reasoned, I can will some toilet paper into existence. Focusing his mind, Brian concentrated. He thought of white paper, smooth as silk, not the kind his mother buys. Opening an eye he saw that as yet he was unsuccessful. He doubled his effort and shook with exertion but still he saw no paper. He slumped in the seat, actually a little tired from his efforts, when his foot bumped into something. Peering down at the floor he saw paper. Sweet, yellow, rolled paper.

He picked it up and examined it. It did not look like paper he tried to will into existence, actually it was quite rough and it even had writing on it. Brian reasoned that it must have just been some scroll Tollnoll left in here, probably for the same purpose it was about to be used for.

As Brian suspected, the scroll scraped and chaffed, but it did the job. Quickly he left the foul place and vowed to just use the bushes next time.

When he returned to the room his knight protector was swinging a massive sword around and smiling in true bliss. Tollnoll, on the other hand, was engaged in a frantic search of his premise. Abruptly he gave up, sitting dejectedly on a stool and harrumphing.

"What were you looking for?" Brian asked.

Tollnoll looked up, just noticing him. He grimaced and said "I seem to have misplaced the scroll on which the ancient challenges were placed. Without it you won't know what to expect to face when you entire the ring temple."

"Once you've faced one demon you've faced them all, right Brian?" his knight protector had ceased swinging his sword around long enough to comment.

Tollnoll's expression lost some of its gloom. "I suppose you're right Lummel. Surely you, Brian, have fought this kind of demon before, haven't you?"

"Of course." Brian lied. "Don't worry about finding the scroll."

Lummel slide his sword into his scabbard. "We must be going Brian. The king was understating the dire situation we're in. Any more questions you have I can answer on the way, so follow me."

Lummel led Brian to the stables outside in the courtyard, leaving him to get the horses ready while Lummel went to armor up.

Brian simply walked up to the first man who looked competent and ordered him to fetch Lummel's mount and another quality steed. At the mention of Lummel's name the man scurried off in a very efficient speed.

The horses arrived before Lummel but not by too much. Lummel's mount was a large gray stallion while Brian's was an almost equally large black gelding.

Brian was in the process of working up a good fear of his horse when Lummel returned.

"They gave you that tired, stringy thing? I'll speak to the head stable man and see that you get a proper mount."

At those words Brian reviewed his mount. The gelding was eighteen hands tall, muscles bulging and twitching under the pulled taught skin. Its eyes rolled up showing white and it had a slight drool thing going on. If this was tired and stringy, Brian did not want to see a "proper mount".

"No, that's alright Lummel. I haven't ridden in a while so this pushover should fit nicely with me."

"Suit yourself." Lummel said, mounting his horse.

Brian managed to climb up in one try and then they were ready to go!

"We'll start out slow and let the mounts stretch their muscles a little before we really run them." Lummel leaned forward in his armor and squeezed his horse with his heels. About two seconds later Lummel and his horse had completely crossed the courtyard and then thundered over the drawbridge.

Brian attempted to reach a balance between his own take off and the one he had just witnessed. Instead of leaning forward, Brian merely inclined his head, and instead of squeezing his horse with his heels, he merely twitched them.

Brian was snapped back with the speed of the horse's launch, his eyes watered and his hands went numb as he clenched the reins with a grip that would squeeze blood from stones. He was repeatedly bounced out of and then back into his saddle with a force that made his eyes water all the more. Before too long he was actually almost caught up with Lummel. Fortunately for Brian, the trip across the courtyard, drawbridge, and field beyond was all in a straight line.

The horses went on and on, until Brian thought he could not endure any more. Just when he was about to pull back on the reins to stop the horse, Lummel reined in.

"That's an interesting style of riding, Brian." Lummel said, dismounting. "I haven't seen such skill sense I visited the land to the east, home of the horse lords. Perhaps you could instruct me in your technique?"

Brian was flabbergasted, to say the least. "You want to ride like me? Why?"

Lummel did not answer immediately, instead taking a moment to organize his thoughts. "I saw how smoothly you rode this horse. He is old and his gait is not what it used to be." Lummel's face showed he was lost in memory. "I turned and watched you at times, how you perfectly matched the rising and falling of his strides, how you got that tired beast to keep up with my steed, and how seemingly tirelessly you rode." Lummel laughed. "I must admit, after your comment of being out of fit riding form and then effortlessly keeping up I tried to press you pass your endurance, jealousy perhaps. But now here I am, sore and weak, while you are ready to ride still further."

Brian decided not to argue with this man. Suddenly an idea popped into Brian's head. "I'll tell you what sir knight. Teach me how to use a sword and I will teach you to ride like me." he had always found sword fighting fascinating.

Lummel smiled from ear to ear. "Done then!" he shouted, crushing Brian's hand in the traditional deal closing hand shake. "Let us begin."

Brian was surprised. He absently rubbed his sore, bruised arse while he tried to think of an excuse to put the training off. Meanwhile Lummel pulled two swords from straps on his saddle, comparing the two.

"I'll use my traditional sword and you can use the one Tollnoll made for me." he called over his shoulder, heading away from the two horses.

"Wait!" Brian called, "Shouldn't we tie the horses up or something." it was the only thing he could think of.

Lummel had reached an ideal spot for swordplay. He turned and answered, "No. They'll be alright, they ground tie."

Brian did not know what that meant but he decided it would be best not to show his ignorance. Having no choice, he walked tenderly to where Lummel was standing.

Lummel tossed the gift sword up and caught it by the blade in his leather gloved fist, passing the hilt to Brian. "This sword has a few magical spells on it. My old one has none."

As Brian took the huge broad blade he marveled at its size. It was so large that, as soon as Lummel let go of the blade, the sword dipped to the ground.

Suddenly Brian felt weak, he dropped to his knees, using the sword for support. His vision blurred and he was on the verge of passing out when suddenly he felt fine. Brian rose back to his feet and was surprised to find that now he could lift the sword with ease, in fact it barely weighed five pounds.

"What kind of magical spells were used for this sword?" Brian thought perhaps a spell had just come into play.

Lummel shrugged, "Nothing special. Just a spell to keep the sword from breaking, another to make the opponent's aim and balance a little off. And the last and most important, a spell to keep your palms from getting sweaty and slippery. All the essentials."

Lummel launched into a spinning sword technique designed to impress and scare the enemy. It seemed that the knight protector was a bit of a show off, something that usually led to a bit harsh a teaching. That was not a quality Brian wanted in a teacher. Brian studied Lummel's movements. Despite Lummel's muscles and the ease he seemed to hold the swords with moments ago, Lummel's sword strokes were a bit slow and heavy. Perhaps there was a spell of lightness on the gift sword that Lummel was not aware of, which meant his sword still had its original weight while the one Brian had weighed next to nothing. Interesting.

"For starters, we'll just engage in a little light sword play, just to test your reflexes." Lummel raised his blade before him, slightly dipping it at Brian. "Now, try to hit me." he ordered.

Brian stepped forward, raising his sword identically to Lummel's. He faked a plain overhead stroke, moving as if his sword actually had some weight. Lummel, suspecting no trickery from this novice, completely committed himself to defending the heavy downward stroke of Brian's sword. Lummel sported a superior smirk as he moved.

Brian switched his angle and sped up his sword stroke. His flew past Lummel's defense and slashed three times across Lummel's chest before Lummel could pull back or stop his own heavy upward blocking maneuver.

Lummel withdrew from their tight circle and looked down at his chest. Before his surprised eyes he saw a letter carved into his leather armor, the letter Z. He stared long and hard, finally looking up from his chest to show eyes of deep anger.

"I thought you wanted lessons, not to give them." Oh, oh, Brian thought. It appears I have insulted him. Brian mentally shrugged, he's just an apparition in a dream, what can he do?

Lummel raised his sword in the beginning position again. A wicked smile spread across his face. "Let’s see you try that again."

Despite Lummel's best efforts, Brian continually outmaneuvered him. Actually, the more they sparred, the weaker and clumsier Lummel got, and consequently the angrier he got. The smile of satisfaction on Brian's face did nothing to alleviate the anger growing in Lummel. Eventually, it was too dark to ride on and they had to make camp where they were.

When morning finally came, Brian woke to the smell of food frying. Wiping the sleep from his eyes, Brian examined the situation. Lummel, sitting on the opposite side of the fire, still seemed to be holding a grudge. The horses were still hanging around. The air was warm, the sun was shining, and he felt great. Brian wondered if Lummel would still want to be taught Brian's riding technique after his humiliating defeat of yesterday.

Brian headed off to some nearby bushes to take care of the morning business and when he returned he found a plate of what was being cooked waiting for him.

"Eat up." Lummel said, briskly "We've got a long day of riding ahead of us."

Brian did as he was told. When he finished they mounted up and headed out. The riding went much as it did before, except several times Brian caught Lummel studying him from the lead, attempting to emulate him. Before long Lummel's riding became wild and jostling. He bounced up and down as hard as Brian and rocked wildly in his saddle. The bobbing to the left and right today was more pronounced then yesterday for Brian due to his laughter, which consequently was emulated by Lummel all the more. As the day went on, Brian's riding deteriorated from laughter and inexperience. By the time they came upon a large camp, the two riders appeared to be having a contest to see who could hurt themselves more.

Lummel reigned in as they came abreast of the encampment. "I know these people. They're the nomadic dwarfs, originally from the land of Shortelia. They can be quite generous, so we can probably get our lunch from them." Lummel said, dismounting.

Brian followed his lead, sliding gratefully from his horse and leading it after Lummel and his mount.

Lummel slowed until Brian came up beside him. "Be careful what you say, these people are very touchy about their height." he advised.

Brian looked about, studying the dwarfs. As their name suggested, they were in fact very short. They were all dressed in armor, running about completing various tasks. None of them had yet seen the two ride up, so when Lummel shouted his greetings, he caught them completely by surprise.

Immediately, short men surrounded them, pointing long pikes in their faces.

"Halt!" one cried, taking charge. "Who are you and what do you want?" This one lowered his pike and stepped forward from the circle.

Lummel dropped down to his knees and bowed his head, greatly reducing his height. "I am Lummel. Friend of the nomads. We are here only in hopes that you will share some food and drink, for the cooking of the nomads is legendary." Lummel spoke with great humility, all traces of his anger from earlier vanished.

The dwarfs were clearly impressed, though Brian knew not why. The leader turned to Brian and repeated his question. Brian leaned over, placing one hand on his knee and the other on the dwarf s shoulder. "Well, you see, I am the chosen one." he confided, "My champion and I are on a quest to get some magic ring."

The dwarf quivered with rage. Knocking Brian's hand from his shoulder, the dwarf stepped back.

"Take these two to the king." he ordered, "I think they're lying."

Before Lummel could take action, little men came pouring out from every direction, surrounding them and wielding vicious looking weapons.

Lummel rose from his knees, his face beet red. He leaned over to Brian and whispered vehemently, "Don't try to fight them, I may still be able to get us out of this without blood shed."

"Hey!" the dwarf in charge shouted, "No talking! And separate these two. Take the "Chosen One" to see the king, and lock up the other."

As they prodded Lummel with their weapons, leading him to their makeshift prison, he looked back once at Brian with murder in his eyes.

Without further ado, Brian was taken to the largest tent and brought before a huge throne, larger even than that of the king back at the castle. Perched upon this giant throne sat a dwarf who appeared to be the tallest of the litter.

The dwarf king looked startled as his men brought Brian before him. "Who is this man? Why have you brought him?" he addressed his men, ignoring Brian.

The dwarf who took charge earlier, once again stepped forward. "There are two men, your majesty. This one appears to be the leader. He calls himself the chosen one. They came to steal horses and gold, your majesty. We caught them red handed!"

Brian was outraged. "That's such a great big lie! Your majesty, we only came to ask for some, food."

"Silence prisoner!" the king thundered. "Speak only when told to!" The king turned back to his informant. "Have they committed any other crimes?"

"Yes, your majesty!" the dwarf said, encouraged by the kings words. "When these two men were apprehended, this one insulted my height!" he spoke this last lie (?) like it was the sentence of death.

The king rocked back in his throne, sucking a gulp of air through his teeth in surprise. "That is a capitol offense!" he declared.

He thought for a moment, his little head resting in his little hand. "I have decided your punishment. You can even choose which one."

Brian was suspicious. "What are my options?" he asked.

The king waved his hand negligently, "Its simple, you and your friend can choose to be put to death, or your friend, as your champion, can fight an opponent of our choosing for both you and your friend's freedom. Should your friend defeat this opponent, the two of you will be free to go, having proved yourselves worthy of forgiveness."

Brian did not see as how he really had a choice, but then this king must want Lummel to fight someone, but why? He thought. Oh well, it’s my only real option, trap or no trap.

Brian pretended to consider it for a time, then he cleared his throat and said "Very well, my protector will fight the man of your choosing." placing particular emphasis on the word man, thinking he’d found the trick in the bargain.

The king, looking particularly pleased with himself, ordered that Brian be taken to his protector to tell him the "good news".

Brian was led across the encampment to a fairly small tent. When he and his escorts reached the entrance they pushed him inside and stayed at the entrance.

Brian looked around, searching for Lummel. Lummel was shackled to the ground, sitting on a truly tiny stool.

"Good news Lummel! " Brian thought it best to start things off on a happy note. "We're not going to die!" There was no response from Lummel.

"Unfortunately, you'll have to fight someone before we can be on our way. The deal is you fight one of these short guys, shouldn't be too hard eh, and we get to leave."

Lummel slowly rose from his stool, his head still lowered. Lummel slowly walked towards Brian, until his shackles stopped him. He whispered something, very slowly but too low for Brian to hear.

"What's that?" Brian asked, leaning forward.

Lummel took in a deep breath, leaned over towards Brian's offered ear, and screamed "YOU FOOL!"

Brian jumped back, clutching his ear. "What are you talking about, I saved us ... didn't I?”

Lummel slumped to the ground, laughing a deep, unhappy chuckle. "They tricked you. This was all just a plot to get me to fight Garbel."

Brian was stunned, "Who's Garbel?" he asked.

Lummel finally looked up, into Brian's eyes. "He's only the greatest dwarf fighter in all of Shortelia's history. He is the king's champion, and the leader of this camp has to fight him if he wishes to be the real king. Whatever charges he held against us, he would not have carried them out. He is in no position to get in a fight with my king. His only goal was to get your word that I would fight Garbel. When we were arrested, that made us under his charge, bogus crimes or not. So being under his charge, he can get me to champion for him legitimately. You were tricked. Couldn't you see that they were just begging for an excuse to arrest us? And then you had to go and belittle that dwarf’s height. "

Brian sat down in the cool dirt too. He was shocked, that these dwarfs would scheme such things.

Suddenly dwarves started swarming into the place, taking up positions all around Lummel and Brian. One of them stepped forward with some keys, unchaining Lummel and then hopping back to safety.

The same dwarf that had started all this entered the tent. "Will you honor the word of the one you are sworn to protect?" he asked.

Lummel stood and straightened himself to his full height. “I will fight."

The little dwarf sighed with relief. "Very well, follow me. Garbel is ready and waiting." with that said, the dwarf turned and walked out.

As Brian and Lummel followed, Brian leaned over and whispered in an aside to Lummel "How did you find out about all this anyway?"

Lummel whispered in an aside back that the guards had gloated about their king's scheme.

On the way to the battlefield, they stopped off at Lummel's horse to pick up his weapons and armor.

As Lummel put on his leather armor, Brian retrieved his sword. He accidentally grabbed Lummel's old sword first, but before he could put it back he suddenly felt weak. Brian dropped to his knees, clutching the sword for support as his vision blurred and he almost blacked out. Then, just as suddenly, Brian was fine, and to his surprise, the sword weighed next to nothing.

Quickly Brian ran over to Lummel and showed him the sword. "Its light now, just like the other one!" he cried, joyously.

Lummel took the sword in his hands and marveled at its weight. "That must be your natural magical power, Brian!" Lummel's face was alight with happiness. "Now that's a useful talent. I’ll take this sword into battle, I'm more familiar with it."

Lummel strode purposefully towards the field, sword in hand. Garbel was already waiting for him, as the dwarf had said.

Garbel was the tallest dwarf Brian had yet seen. He appeared to be half human, but with the advantage of the dwarfs stocky, muscular frame added to his height.

Lummel and Garbel bowed to each other and then the fight began. It went much like the fight between Brian and Lummel the day before, except for Lummel the roles were reversed. He easily dodged any attack by Garbel, all the while slicing at the openings Garbel made with his broad, heavy strokes. Lummel began to put on an exhibition, dancing around Garbel. Brian only hoped this set the two of them straight after Lummel's humiliating defeat at Brian's hands and then getting him into this fight.

Suddenly things went wrong on the batt