“No, staying here to guard you at the least.”
“Okay. Thanks.” He pulled out the vial from earlier.
“What are you doing?”
“More fog. We need to get back across this bridge in a minute.”
“I think we do it now, to be honest. We can do that out of sight at least and the others can catch up.”
Matt nodded and glanced back to see Ryan gesturing to Eric where they were going and seeing Eric give a thumbs up. He and the knight went back into the shade of trees and Matt cast the spell from there, trying to speed up the fog’s spread by gesturing more often and not sure if that helped any. He made sure it flowed in the other direction that they hadn’t been yet—the one Dravo said led to a rear entrance in the castle. The royals who had long ago wanted to use the portal went that way, as did important guests. But any commoners had to go toward the city just like he and the others had just done. Presumably, no one would think to look back here at all.
They waited in silence, correctly assuming the rest of the group would join them once the fog was thick enough, and they did. Now the only ones left were the Ellorians, Prince Dravo, and the other two wizards. At the least, the rescue had been a success, the hostages through the portal and being taken care of in Thiat. But now they had to avert disaster. If they failed, getting King Sondin restored as the quest demanded would take longer.
“What now?” Eric whispered to the dark elf.
“The plan has not changed. We move to where my man waits for me. He may be delayed, however.”
Matt frowned at the truth of it. While Dravo had been exiled long ago and many of his men dispersed so they could not operate together in any way, there were still those loyal to him. Some worked in the castle in various positions, and one such dark elf had helped him and his sister leave. They had climbed down a temporary rope ladder near the rear corner tower. Now he and the others would wait for that person to lower it again. He just wouldn’t be expecting so many people to climb up. They headed that direction and, to even Dravo’s surprise, the ladder was already lowered. He appeared to consider that a moment before ascending alone, pausing near the top to look over the wall. Several minutes passed as they listened to the sounds of activity inside, but virtually all of it was at the castle’s front. Lights had appeared in far more windows.
The elf motioned for them to follow and disappeared over the top. Eric went first, then Anna, the other wizards, Matt, and finally Ryan. When Matt reached the top, he found a cart loaded with arrows, bolts, crossbows, and long bows had been left in the way so that he had to get on the wall and move over a few feet before dropping to the walkway. That’s when he saw the cart had a broken wheel, preventing it from being moved. He gazed around and saw that the wall was about fifteen feet wide, the walkway they crouched on a few feet below the top. No one could see them unless from above, where his eyes darted to towers, but the fog had risen over the wall to obscure everything.
Dravo turned to them as Ryan finished arriving last. “The broken cart is a ruse, I’m certain. My man put it here so the rope ladder could be here all the time.”
“How do you know this?” Eric asked.
“I don’t, but it’s too coincidental. He is smart. We must go down this tower, now, and head for the king’s quarters. He is likely awake, as are far more guards, so we should expect a fight.”
“Right. Lead the way.”
They made it into the tower and descended the spiral stairs to the ground floor, where they could have stepped out into interior grounds. The fog was nearly absent there, having not seeped over and down the fortifications. Matt hoped they would stay within the castle walls, as they were not solid but hallways full of storage items like barrels and crates, but the prince led them onto the grounds. The castle itself stood not too far away, and they made it to its side wall, creaking open a door to get inside, where it was dark.
“Where do you think the king is now?” Eric asked whispered. “Throne room?”
“No. That’s only used for formal moments, on the first floor. He is probably not in bed on the third, given that everyone knows who is in the prison and what the bell means. He will be on the second level, where business is done.”
“So up this flight of steps?”
“Yes. There will be two chambers we must get through to reach the main one where he is likely to be. Expect a fight, and we must be quick to prevent them from sealing the other doors, the king inside. Soliander?”
Matt pursed his lips. “I’ll be right behind you. See if you can create an opening for me to cast through to the next room.”
The prince remarked, “Even if we make into that room, there is a way out the other side.”
Eric sighed. “I don’t like it. Can we go around and trap him? I feel like we don’t have enough people to do that, but we have three wizards.”
The prince agreed. “That is my concern as well. However, we have surprise to help us. If you take Soliander around to the other side, and the other wizards come with Korrin and I, this may work, but you risk being discovered.”
Eric and Matt exchanged a look, and the wizard shrugged, remarking, “Even if we start fighting over there, and you start doing so over here, they will realize they are surrounded and that can cause confusion. Let’s try it.”
Dravo measured them with his gaze and then turned to Ryan. “I suggest we purposely make noise to draw them to us.”
“Right.” The knight didn’t look too pleased with the idea.
They agreed to wait a few minutes before ascending, voices being audible above. Eric led the way along the hall that stood against the castle’s rear wall, then stopped. Ahead were several guards at the rear exit, the one that likely led to the path toward the portal, though the door appeared to be blocked by more crates and barrels as if no one ever used the rear door. They wouldn’t make it past the guards and retreated quickly to the others, telling them the issue.
The prince said, “Go up to the third floor here and use the same hallway there. You will not find the same problem.”
Realizing they should have thought of that before, Matt followed Eric up the corner stairs, the same ones the rest would use in a few minutes. They reached the second floor and didn’t bother peeking out to see what or who was outside the stairwell, multiple voices chatting idly about the fun they would have hunting the escaped humans if they weren’t stuck inside guarding the king. Matt and Eric continued up to the third level, where the royal rooms were. Less noise was here, and they easily made their way to the other side of the castle, and then down the stairs just as the fighting broke out. They heard yelling from there.
“What is going on?” someone bellowed closer to them.
“Your Majesty,” said another elf’s voice, “we must get you to safety.”
“Dravo!” someone yelled farther away.
“Dravo?” King Erods barked. “What is… Did he…? Bring that elf to me now!”
Several men screamed in pain, and Matt assumed one of the other wizards had cast something.
“Your Majesty! They will enter the room any moment!”
Eric peered in, turned back, and smiled. Then he pulled out his short sword and stepped into the room with Matt following, a spell on his lips. In front of them, the king stood facing away, straight white hair down his back from a balding black head, a disheveled red robe covering him. A wide oak table sat before him and on the other side of it stood a tall elf who faced them, sunken cheeks below red eyes that widened, his thin lips parting. He also wore a robe as if having hastily dressed and was apparently some sort of counselor. The rest of the room had chairs along the walls but was empty because whatever guards had been here had rushed to the fight.
“We’re already here, Kind Erods,” said Eric, kicking a chair out of the way and raising a sword. The king turned around in outrage that gave way to fear. “Soliander, make sure no one comes behind us.”
“Right.”
“Who are you?” demanded the king.<
br />
“The Ellorian Champions. Two of them, anyway. Don’t try anything or I’ll stick you with this sword.”
The sound of two bodies falling made Matt look across the room, where Ryan and Dravo strode in, followed by Anna and the wizards. He saw Ryan was bleeding from his leg until the knight used his Trinity Ring to heal himself. They could hear yelling beyond them and barred the door against the reinforcements that were on the way. This was the part that the prince had needed them for. Matt knew he and the wizards were the key to keeping a considerable force of dark elves from breaking into this room and killing them all before Dravo’s troops could get up here to protect him.
“How did you get in here?” the king demanded of Dravo.
“Why would I tell you that?” the prince asked as he approached. He shoved the table aside, then tore a long piece of cloth off the counselor’s robe and ripped it in half. He roughly gagged King Erods and tied his hands behind his back, shoving him into a chair. “I don’t have time for pretty speeches. Your hostages are gone. I will be king and I will try you for war crimes.”
The counselor said, “But, Dravo, no one will recognize your sovereignty, just as other lands are refusing to acknowledge we control Aker.”
The prince turned on him. “I have an arrangement with both Aker and Thiat for exactly that, and enough of our people agree that this war should never have happened that they, too, will support me. We will withdraw from Aker.”
The counselor seemed taken aback but accepting of this news. “What of Prince Kammer? He will not agree.”
“His opinion won’t be needed much longer. Enough of this.” He turned to Eric. “The tower bell has spoiled our plan to get my forces up here for protection. We need another plan.”
Eric turned to Matt. “How good of an illusion can you do?”
Matt shrugged. “What do you need?”
The rogue smiled, and they got to work so quickly that it made Matt nervous of a mistake being made. The shouts and heavy footsteps of armored dark elves charging up the stairs didn’t help. Eric threw open the doors to the room and everyone assumed their positions. It had taken some hair from the dead and living elves and themselves, plus the skills of all three wizards, to create the scene the rogue devised. The dark elves charged into the room to find the bodies of several humans scattered about, King Erods standing with a dagger at the throat of a kneeling and captured Price Dravo, who was the only person whose appearance was not an illusion. A half dozen elven guards appeared to be already in the room, having defeated the intruders and captured others.
“You’re a little late!” snapped King Erods. “Next time try not to be asleep when someone is trying to kill me.”
The lead elven guard looked aghast and bowed. “Your Majesty, we did not expect–”
“What?” King Erods interrupted. “To be hanged for incompetence? If you want to be useful, bring me every one of those disgusting ogre and goblin leaders from the prince’s forces. And bring the biggest and meanest looking of the warriors, too. And their weapons still on them, so they suspect nothing. I’m thinking we’ll have a little fun in the courtyard today with these traitors.”
The guard nodded and turned on his heel, instructing his men to remain behind until the king barked at him to take them because he had his band of heroes already. He told them to guard the entrance to the castle, and no was allowed up here until the errand was complete. The humiliated guards left and everyone remained in their positions until they heard the sounds of them running across the courtyard.
From his knees, Prince Dravo looked up at the king and rose. “That was a fine performance.”
“Thank you,” said Ryan, stepping back and pulling the blade away.
“That went better than I expected,” said Eric, looking like a dark elf guard. The real guards were all dead on the floor and disguised as humans. The actual king and counselor were among them, bound and gagged, though no one could tell. They talked it over and put into play Dravo’s plan to deal with Prince Kammer.
Before leaving Thiat, Dravo had revealed that, while magic portals were rare, the people most likely to have there were royalty, of course, regardless of race. An elven Mirror of Sulinae was on the first floor of the castle and was part of a pair. The Ellorians had used one on Honyn when escaping Castle Darlonon. With King Erods not much interested in travel but recognizing the value of appearing in Aker as its new sovereign, he had made his son bring the other Mirror of Sulinae to Aker. Dravo had suspected they existed but been unsure where they might be.
But he learned the truth after he arrived in Avaran by horseback in the vanguard of his rebel band. The sneering Prince Kammer had made no indications of planning to travel from Aker to Kiarven, as Dravo had just done, and yet Kammer had somehow gotten here before Dravo, who then discovered the Mirror of Sulinae. This meant the other one must be in Aker.
Now the group staged a scene, most of them standing out of sight beside the Mirror of Sulinae. Dravo held a knife to the neck of Ryan, who was still pretending to be King Erods. Matt studied the words on the device. Memories from Soliander helped him understand how ones like this, though the design was slightly different. Everyone indicated they were ready, and he turned it on. The gold frame filled with a dark image that revealed very little. Eric, still looking like a dark elf, snatched a nearby torch from a wall and threw it through, the light from it showing a dark room that still told them little of where the other Mirror of Sulinae stood. They were taking a small gamble that it was near the bedroom of Prince Kammer.
“Kammer!” yelled King Erods in a panic. “Kammer! Help me!”
“Yes!” called Dravo, playing along. “Come watch your father die!”
They kept up the banter a few more moments before the alarmed face of a dark elf appeared in the mirror. He stood barefoot and naked from the waist up. The expression turned to one of outrage and fury.
“Dravo!” the dark elf yelled. “Traitor!”
Dravo pulled the king backwards, trying to create the impression that the king had activated the Mirror of Sulinae before he could be stopped, and now Dravo was dragging him farther away. The real goal was to create room for the expected arrivals.
“Save me!” yelled King Erods, but the face of Kammer disappeared. They heard him hollering for guards, as half-expected. It didn’t take long before four armored reinforcements arrived and rushed through the Mirror of Sulinae and into the room, swords swinging. Pretending to be one of Dravo’s elves, Eric drew some of them to him, and Dravo let go of King Erods to take on the other two. Matt wondered if Kammer was coming or if they would have to go get him. But then the prince stepped into the room with a wicked sword poised before him, his eyes catching sight of Matt to one side. Even as he turned, Matt spoke a word, and the prince collapsed.
Seeing this, King Erods said, “Stop in the king’s name!”
The remaining four intruders hesitated, allowing Eric to slug one of them to the floor and Dravo to disarm another. The last two lowered their swords. It was over.
Ryan watched the late afternoon sun fall on the upper half of Castle Rivina with mixed feelings. He was glad to be going home, but the last time they were here, Dravo had tried to kill them. The scene had been among the more unsettling they’d experienced, one that added to a feeling that he and the others needed to make a plan for what to do once summoned. That included the moment of arrival and questions to ask about situations and even details about life. The day here was apparently an hour shorter than on Earth, and they counted the weeks differently. Would they one day arrive somewhere more drastically different?
After capturing Prince Kammer, the group had awaited Dravo’s men, a hundred brought into the courtyard in Avaran and soon overtaking the surprised dark elves who had accompanied them. Some fighting had broken out despite Ryan, still pretending to be King Erods, having told the elves to disarm themselves. The order was dubious, and it didn’t really surprise anyone that some had disobeyed, but with help from Matt and the ot
her wizards, the castle had come under the command of Dravo, who waited until dawn to crown himself King of Kiarven from the castle walls as much of the city watched. It hadn’t been up to the Ellorian Champions to help him secure the city or his kingdom, so they had returned to Thiat with the news.
Even the grumpy King Varrun gave them credit for the mission’s success before pointing out that no one from the Kingdom of Thiat had benefitted from any of this so far. The Ellorians still needed to get King Sondin restored to the throne of Aker and out of Thiat. They had ideas on this, but first, they needed rest and slept into early afternoon, when they awoke to learn of various plans made in their absence. To secure peace, King Dravo had agreed to marry a human duchess from Aker. King Sondin was to marry the dark elf Princess Liera, Dravo’s sister, who didn’t look too pleased.
But her reaction paled to that of Princess Miara. By now, she had learned that the wizard Gian, whom she loved, had reached the Quest Ring at Castle Rivina in Aker a week earlier and summoned the Ellorians, only to be killed by Dravo’s forces. Now Dravo’s sister was to be Miara’s aunt by marriage, and Queen of Aker. The fury had been impressive, and no one had to say aloud that if Miara were to remain in Aker with her brother, no peace would last. King Sondin was to marry his sister to someone in Thiat, to strengthen that bond as well, removing the princess from his kingdom. Miara hadn’t exactly calmed with the news.
Prince Kammer was to stand trial in Aker for his war crimes, but Erods was to stay in Kiarven. Ryan wondered how that worked, when someone took over as monarch in a coup and the previous one was still alive, but they didn’t have time to question it and it wasn’t their problem. He just hoped that the elves didn’t rise against King Dravo and do something that required another quest. Once was enough.
None of these marriages had taken place yet when the Ellorians traveled with King Sondin and Princess Liera, plus a few hundred soldiers, to Kiarven via the portal under Thiat. With King Dravo’s blessing, all of them then used the Mirror of Sulinae to reach Aker, completing the quest.
The Light Bringer: An Epic Fantasy Adventure Novel (The Dragon Gate Series Book 2) Page 30
