by R A Oakes
However, the warlord was completely unprepared for the level of hysteria in Crystal’s voice. He was truly shocked. In all the years Lord Daegal had known the dark sword, she’d never been less than totally confident. Devious, untrustworthy, spoiled, ruthless and hate filled, yes. But lacking in confidence? Never.
Lord Daegal actually held his breath waiting for Crystal to impart her news. And now it was Tark’s turn to stare in amazement at his master. Lord Daegal had never been hesitant about anything. Reckless, yes, but uncertain? Never.
For Lord Daegal, life was about to take a major deviation from comfortable familiarity, a dramatic, irreversible change of direction.
“Lord Daegal, it’s Crystal!” the dark sword shouted stating the obvious. No one else had ever contacted the warlord via the medallion.
“Yes, Crystal?” Lord Daegal said in a calm voice as he forced himself to regain his composure.
“The great room here is in shambles! There are black crystal shards everywhere! The whole place is falling apart! I’m lying in a heap of black crystal rubble!” the dark sword screamed.
Lord Daegal was convinced that his once reliable, if treacherous, ally was babbling incoherently. The warlord thought, Maybe Glenitant found out we’re plotting against her and is punishing the sword somehow. This could be a disaster!
“What was I thinking when I sent Chen over there?” Lord Daegal said under his breath to the captain of his personal guard.
Once again, Tark was dumbfounded and thought, Is that fear I’m hearing in my master’s voice?
“What’s Glenitant doing?” the warlord asked the dark sword.
“Nothing, she’s dead!” Crystal shrieked.
Feeling confused, Lord Daegal thought, That’s great news, isn’t it? Why would Glenitant’s demise bother Crystal?
“What about Chen?” Lord Daegal asked.
“That hellion’s the person who killed Glenitant!”
“Well, that’s fantastic, right? That’s what we hoped for,” Lord Daegal said, the confusion in his voice readily apparent to Tark.
“It would be if the traitor hadn’t changed sides leaving me to rot while tied up!” Crystal yelled at the top of her lungs.
"What are you talking about? What other side? Crystal, please take your time and tell me what happened. Try to be objective and stick to the facts,” Lord Daegal said hoping to calm the dark sword by listening carefully and allowing her to vent.
“Facts, you want facts? Okay, Chen kicked Glenitant out of an open window here in the great room, and the old witch fell to her death on the courtyard below. That’s fact number one,” Crystal said.
“Okay, but that’s good. What else?”
“Your men are dead!” Crystal said as she began laughing hysterically.
“Dead? How many are dead?” Lord Daegal asked genuinely shocked.
Gloating over the opportunity to convey bad news to Lord Daegal, Crystal broke into a fit of psychotic laughter and said, “All the men you sent over with Pensgraft, Chen and her warrior women. Every last one of them!”
“How’s that possible? Glenitant couldn’t have killed them all, not all of them, unless it was a clever trap. My sister never kept an army, not even a personal guard. She always believed you were all the protection she’d ever need.”
“Well, she was wrong.”
“Glenitant couldn’t have managed this without your help. How did they die?” Lord Daegal demanded.
“It wasn’t me, and it wasn’t Glenitant, it was Chen.”
“Why?”
“Chen’s taken over Crystal Castle and wants it for herself,” Crystal said as she finally started getting control of her emotions and calming down.
Now it was Lord Daegal’s turn to be sarcastic, and he said, “What a surprise! Come on, Crystal, get a grip on yourself. I know what Chen wants, which is why I’m raising an army over here. You and I’ve talked about it, don’t you remember? I said I’d raise an army of several thousand warriors to insure victory even with Chen being your new master.
“And since Chen has no experience wielding a magic sword, I mentioned that maybe I could back her down with a sufficient show of force,” Lord Daegal said, a hint of suspicion creeping into his voice. Wondering if Crystal was up to something, he gave her a stern warning. “If you betray me, you’ll never see this Crystal Medallion again. I’ll destroy it.”
“Don’t worry about me. I won’t help Chen at all,” Crystal assured him frightened at the prospect of losing the medallion forever. If it was destroyed, Crystal’s hope of creating a dark trinity would die along with the medallion.
“Listen to me very carefully, if you help her, you’re going to regret it.”
“I won’t,” the dark sword said genuinely terrified.
“Okay, that’s good. So tell me, what does Chen gain by killing my men?”
“She wants to keep you from finding out a few things.”
“Such as?”
“Such as my being taken captive and being tied up with some sort of golden ropes that sap almost all of my strength. I’ve been tied up for days,” Crystal said almost crying in frustration.
“Taken captive by whom?”
“By Eldwyn, the wizard!”
“Who’s with him?”
“Who do you think? Baelfire, Zorya and Lyssa’s granddaughter, Aerylln! And that little tramp even looks like her grandmother!”
“What’s Baelfire up to?”
“The transformation into the Trinity, what else?” Crystal asked, her voice mocking him.
“What about the Trinity? Have Baelfire, Zorya and Aerylln joined together creating the Trinity of Light?” Lord Daegal asked genuinely alarmed.
“No, not yet, but Baelfire caught me tormenting Aerylln and went berserk trashing the entire great room. Both Baelfire and Zorya have experienced the Creative Light, and Zorya was outside flying around like a meteor.”
“What about Aerylln?”
“That teenage girl’s going to grow up real quick if you don’t put a stop to all this. And I mean now.”
“There’s no Trinity yet, so Baelfire and Zorya’s powers will still be limited,” Lord Daegal said thinking out loud.
“I’m telling you, if you don’t want things getting a whole lot worse, you’d better get over here right away.”
“And no one’s tried using you as a defensive weapon?” Lord Daegal asked starting to feel more hopeful.
“No, Chen’s turned into a goody-goody,” Crystal said in disgust.
“I don’t believe that for a second.”
“Her friend, Corson, showed up and convinced Chen not to even touch me. Anyway, I’m indisposed at the moment. I’m tied up with magic rope of some type.”
“That can change,” Lord Daegal said trying to encourage her. “If the Trinity hasn’t formed yet, then keeping you imprisoned is taking a lot of effort on someone’s part, either Baelfire’s or Eldwyn’s. What we have to do is give them something really big to worry about, something that might serve as a major distraction and a heavy drain on their energy. I believe we can wear them down.”
“If you can take Baelfire, Zorya and Eldwyn out of commission, there won’t be much more to deal with,” Crystal said. “The whole castle’s being defended by maybe 50 warriors.”
“I’m coming over,” Lord Daegal assured the dark sword. “I was waiting till more of my warriors returned from other regions where they’re currently stationed. But I think I can take Crystal Castle with a thousand warriors that I have within a day’s ride of The Rock. I should be able to move soon.”
“Until then, I’m all alone,” Crystal sighed, feeling depressed.
“Maybe not totally alone,” Lord Daegal said.
“What do you mean?”
“Is there a young man hanging around Aerylln?”
“Yes, his name’s Marcheto.”
“Wait till I tell his father,” Lord Daegal said having waved Tark out of earshot, the captain now being over by a window.
&
nbsp; “What are you talking about?”
“Marcheto’s the son of the captain of my personal guard. He’s a spy. He’s ours.”
“I don’t believe it.”
“Well, he is, I personally arranged for him to meet Aerylln,” Lord Daegal said.
“But those two are head-over-heels in love.”
“How sweet, just let that young warrior know I want to speak with him.”
“I’m telling you, Aerylln has him all wrapped up at this point. She’s done everything but put a bow on him.”
“It doesn’t matter, I have something that will bring him back down to reality very quickly,” Lord Daegal said.
“What?”
“His father, and I’ll kill him if Marcheto doesn’t listen to me. And those two are very close.”
“That should get Marcheto’s attention.”
“Will you get a chance to see him?”
“This great room’s a mess. I don’t know if they’ll be coming back here, but I’ll try to get to see him somehow,” Crystal said. “And I appreciate your help. In fact, there may be something I can do for you in return.”
“Such as?”
“Well, I’m not totally powerless,” Crystal said.
“But you’ve been taken captive.”
“Yes, I’m very weak, but once you get into Crystal Valley, I might be able to help.”
“How?”
“I could enhance the fighting skill of some of your warriors.”
“How many?”
“In my weakened state, I’m not sure. But I could make them into incredibly fearsome warriors, at least temporarily.”
“What do you mean by temporarily?”
“I’m not sure how long I could sustain the change at this point. The golden ropes Eldwyn used to bind me with are continually eating away at my strength. In fact, if you don’t get over here soon, I might not be able to help at all.”
“This all sounds highly unreliable.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Crystal conceded. “But I would be turning your warriors into shock troops that are savage, high impact and extremely intimidating. Their very presence on the battlefield will create terror in the hearts of all those defending Crystal Castle. And regardless of how many I can change into such berserk fighters, or for how long I can sustain the change, the psychological effect on those in Crystal Castle will be devastating.”
“How devastating?”
“Take the Crystal Medallion from around your neck and hold it in the palm of your hand.”
“Why?”
“I’m going to give you an example of what I can do.”
The warlord took off the medallion holding it on an open palm. “Now what?”
The dark sword didn’t answer. Instead, Crystal was concentrating with all her might trying to use the medallion to project her energy into Lord Daegal. But nothing happened.
“I’m waiting.”
“Try forming a fist around the medallion and raise it above your head.”
“Oh, this is working out just great,” the warlord said feeling skeptical.
However, when he did as Crystal requested, the dark sword sensed an explosive surge of energy building up deep within her. Erupting from her scabbard with enormous velocity, an invisible bolt of black lightning shot out of a window and blasted through the sky towards The Rock and the Crystal Medallion.
Hurtling down upon the warlord, the dark light struck with such force that Lord Daegal was knocked to the ground. Immediately, the warlord’s hand turned dark gray, then black.
Lord Daegal watched in horror as the hand holding the medallion began making cracking, popping sounds that echoed off the walls. In disbelief, the warlord watched as his fist turned into highly-polished black crystal.
Then, it began traveling up the length of his forearm.
The warlord leapt to his feet and stumbled into the sunlight streaming through a nearby window. As the sun’s rays reflected off of him, light sparkled and danced along the various planes of black crystalline surfaces causing his entire forearm to take on the appearance of a long, polished gemstone. It looked like the wondrous work of a master jeweler.
Staring at his arm in amazement, Lord Daegal watched as his biceps and shoulder grew and expanded tearing his shirt and revealing massive, black crystalline muscles exuding strength and power.
Looking down at his feet, the warlord was stunned to discover they’d also turned to black crystal. As the process of crystallization continued, it traveled up the length of his legs and thighs until Lord Daegal finally bent over in agony, and his whole chest began shuddering and heaving. Tripping over his huge feet and stumbling once more, he looked with apprehension at his shadow on the floor watching it growing larger, taller, and broader, rapidly expanding into monstrous proportions.
Tilting back his head, Lord Daegal let out a terrifying, ferocious growl! Then, looking around wildly, he saw Tark who immediately turned and ran for the entrance to the great hall.
Sprinting through the opening, the captain of Lord Daegal’s personal guard shouted for his warriors to close the thick, wooden double doors and to be quick about it. Grabbing a double-bladed axe from one of his warriors, Tark thrust its shaft through the door handles and did the same with a second axe.
Now, the captain of the guard squared his shoulders and faced the steel-reinforced doors as an enormous weight fell upon them. When the wood began splintering, Tark saw his men step back as what sounded like an enraged animal was pounding upon the double doors with all its might.
Turning to their leader, Tark’s men gave him a questioning look. These were hard, seasoned warriors, but they weren’t exactly encouraged by their captain’s quick exit from the great hall.
“Captain, shouldn’t we do something? What about Lord Daegal?” Rory, his second-in-command, asked.
“No, we’ll stay here. And as for Lord Daegal, that’s a little difficult to explain at the moment.”
Drawing their swords, two warriors placed themselves directly in front of the entrance ready to attack anything strong enough to break through such thick, wooden, steel-reinforced doors. The men were almost eager to confront such an adversary.
“Guys, I’d stand back if I were you,” Tark said. “This is one of the times when it’s okay to run. We can’t attack whatever that is, even if it comes crashing out of there.”
Surprised, his warriors stared at him. But suddenly there was total silence, like an eerie peace and quiet after a terrible, horrific storm.
“What was that, Captain?” one of his men whispered.
“Trouble,” Tark said, deeply relieved the doors had held.
Glancing around and seeing the apprehension and confusion on their faces, Tark realized his men were looking to him for leadership.
“It’s just all in a day’s work, guys. All in a day’s work,” Tark said smiling grimly.
Turning back to the double doors, he realized his master was inside and in some form of danger. However, as he weighed the pros and cons of unbarring them, Tark heard several low, rumbling, threatening growls and decided to wait a while longer. After a few moments, he heard Lord Daegal’s voice filtering through the doors.
“Tark?”
“Yes, Lord?”
“Begin assembling the warriors we have within a day’s ride of the castle. I want to move out as soon as possible.”
“Yes, Lord.”
“And Tark, place our best, most experienced warriors in a separate unit. I have a little surprise waiting for them once we reach Crystal Valley.”
“Anything else, sire?”
“Yes, tell the men to get ready, we’re going to storm Crystal Castle. It’s ours for the taking.”
Chapter 26
Chen’s warrior women at The Rock were seething in anger and frustration as Andrina told them what their leader had been going through at Crystal Castle.
When Andrina, the retired warrior woman Chen had met at the farmhouse, first arrived at Lord Daegal’s
castle, she’d been welcomed with the full status of a visiting dignitary. The warlord had openly embraced her and given her the complete run of the castle.
Not having seen Andrina in years, Lord Daegal was unaware of her change of heart towards him. And he was unaware of her interest in Chen. Had he been, the warlord would have tossed her deep into his dungeon.
However, as it was, she was still in her former master’s good graces. But that would all change before nightfall.
Andrina had wanted to take Chen’s warrior women out of The Rock in stages, having their exit be more clandestine. But the older woman knew plans could change quickly, sometimes in the blink of an eye.
Now was such an instance.
When Kato, one of Lord Daegal’s personal guards, entered Chen’s chambers, swords leapt from their scabbards. Being in a vicious mood, the women almost advanced on him, and the situation could have rapidly gone against Kato except one of the warrior women quickly claimed him as her man. After seeing that, the others settled for eyeing him up and down evaluating his potential usefulness.
Kato wasted no time getting to the point.
“Lord Daegal knows Chen and some of your sister warriors killed 25 of his men at Crystal Castle.”
Without missing a beat, Andrina said, “It’s time to go!”
As she rose, 75 warrior women stood as one and went to gather their battle gear.
“No heavy armor,” Andrina cautioned them.
When they looked at her in surprise, she added, “We’re going to try to walk out of here as if nothing has happened.”
Turning back to Kato, Andrina asked, “Has Lord Daegal ordered our arrest?”
“No, he hasn’t, at least not yet. It was Tark who told us about it. Lord Daegal, himself, was pretty shaken up by something that happened in the great hall a little while ago.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t really know. But Tark came running out of the great hall, had us slam those big doors shut and jammed some axes into the door handles. It sounded like a mule was kicking the doors from the inside, a big mule! And there was this wild, hideous growling!”
