PELAIR. The Gems of the Golden Serpent.

32. Balin

She raised her head to look at an ass nibbling the grass inside the walls of the palace. A large piece of the wall that was in ruins by the passing years had allowed the animal to penetrate the premises. Looking more closely, she saw a boy of about twelve approaching the donkey and trying to get it out from the garden.

"Stop right there!" bellowed the woman caught by a fit of restrained anger. She hastily needed to download in someone or something, all the hatred that had accumulated inside her at receiving the sad news. She had just found out the fate of Agneer.

Balin stopped pretending to have been stunned for the untimely call, but in fact, he had expected it.

"The witch is approaching," said the dwarf addressing his jackass. "You have to stay calm."

Grisela hurried to stride to where the intruders were, hitting the boy abruptly with a whip she carried in her hand.

The violence, with which the witch attacked him, puzzled the dwarf, who could not prevent the whiplash given to him squarely on his back, knocking him to the ground. Grisela was readying to show no mercy against her victim when she felt a big push on her back, which sent her headlong into the trunk of a tree that was close by. Concho had pushed her with its head. The blow infuriated Grisela even more. She rose from the ground, ready to continue inflicting the punishment on the boy when a whirlwind lifted her into the air. Balin made use of some of his skills to produce a swirl that raised the witch from the ground. Prey to an uncontrollable thirst for revenge, Grisela began to curse and kick fiercely without much effect. Her kicks got lost in the air stream. The whirlwind started to spin faster and faster, making her world swing around rapidly. Gradually, the spin caused dizziness that made her lose consciousness.

Balin gestured with his hands, and the small tornado began to lose strength, finally laying the woman on the floor. The dwarf immediately proceeded to tie her hands and feet tightly with a leather harness, and redoing it further than before, brought another soft swirl that raised Grisela from the ground again. Without much effort, Balin pushed the suspended body of the woman slightly to put it right on the back of Concho. When the tornado lost steam again, the witch laid face down on the donkey's back. This time, Balin tied the woman's body as if it were a bundle to Concho's webbings, and proceeded to leave the garden as soon as possible.

"We're here with our assignment," Balin said to a blind monk who was waiting on the banks of the swamp bordering the outskirts of the city. Although Luria's roads were lonely, because the war had recruited most of the country's inhabitants, it was unwise to go on the country roads with a donkey and its burden. They waited until late at night and took the path that led from Ardel to the Isthmus of Azcara. They trusted not to run into anyone. They should make sure also that the harpy eagles did not spot them.

The small troupe walked for several days, stopping only to eat and rest when exhaustion prevented them go a step further. They downed the woman from the donkey and keeping her eyes bandaged, and her hands tied, fed her with their own hands. They dared not run the risk of releasing her, for they were not sure what kind of spells the priestess might use to escape.

After many days of walk, Balin was finally able to see in the distance, the waters of Lake Azcara, and the beginning of the isthmus of the same name that as a land bridge communicated the western lands of Pelair with the eastern territories.

Upon reaching the shore, another monk waited for them with a small barge of a single sail, in which they would sail across the lake to its southeastern coast. From there, they would follow the course of the Charon River through the Ansien mountain range towards Magensa.

"My lord," wrote the monk on parchment to communicate with Balin. "It doesn't seem wise that the ass sails with us. We are already too many, and the boat could run the risk of capsizing."