It wasn’t long before the guards returned with Manny, Glenn, and Glynn. They were bound in chains and being dragged across the floor, fighting every step of the way. The once calm and collected Manny looked enraged, his hair and clothes disheveled from his scuffle with the Guard.
When his eyes caught David and the others, standing free before the council beside Darryn, his eyes narrowed, and he spit on the floor towards them. The Guards holding him whacked him across the back of his head, “Try that again and I’ll break your teeth in.” said the one on his left with a severe look.
Manny immediately stopped resisting, knowing the threat from the Guard was not to be taken lightly.
The guards brought the three to rest just shy of the wooden counter, each hanging their head low in shame. They knew their time had finally come and their reign of fear and corruption was toppling down around them.
One of the guards walked up to the King and handed him a large stack of leather-bound pages that looked like a journal of some kind. He spent a few moments looking through them and the longer he spent reading, the more his face distorted in disgust.
“What do ye have to say for yerselves?” asked the King, finally looking down at the banker.
“Your Majesty, I swear – I had no idea these two were conspiring behind your back!” pleaded Manny.
Both Glenn and Glynn quickly turned to their boss with glaring looks that could kill.
“They were acting on their own accord, I assure you!” said Manny.
“Is that so?” asked King Tybrin skeptically. “Then tell me, Manny, why me men found these in yer quarters?” he said, holding up the ledgers.
They were the bank ledgers, and it had meticulously documented years of corrupt bargains and bribes with some of the highest-ranking members of society. Each transaction had a note to the side, describing the blackmail Manny was holding against the members, and the payment that he had made for their services throughout the years.
Manny, seeing what was in the King’s hands, quickly turned pale. He knew he was caught and there was no amount of smooth talking that would get him out of this one.
“That’s what I thought,” said the King with a scowl, “Guards, take them away. And please, make sure that our friend Manny is placed in a cell along with his two conspirers. I’m sure they would love to reward him for his loyalty.”
Hearing this, both Glenn and Glynn smiled from ear to ear. They would have their revenge in the end.
“No! Your Majesty, please! You can’t do this!” begged Manny, knowing his punishment would be far worse at the hands of his two cronies than simply spending his sentence in isolation.
“Oh, but I can, and I have!” replied the King, signaling for his men to take them away.
The guards quickly began escorting the men out of the building. Manny was kicking and screaming the whole way to the carts. They heard his screams slowly fading, even as they disappeared into the tunnels towards the prison.
“Well, that was quite the spectacle!” said Tyrius, laughing.
“And to think, just the other day he seemed untouchable!” said Erin, smiling at the irony. “Serves him right!”
The King stepped down from his throne and around the council before standing humbly in front of David and the others.
“It would seem I owe ye an apology.” he said, holding his crown in his hand.
“I have dishonored me guests with me rash judgements, and therefore, have dishonored meself. How can I make it up to ye?” he asked eagerly.
“Great King Tybrin, you humble us with your apology, but it is neither warranted nor needed. You were doing what you felt was right for your kingdom and your people and were acting on the information you were provided. Please, do not fret. No harm has come from it, thanks to our dear friend Darryn.” said Tyrius, gesturing towards the Dwarf, who had finally caught his breath and was settled back down once again.
His cheeks blushed bright red.
“A debt I will pay him personally!” replied the King looking over at the plump Dwarf. “How would you like to take over the bank in Manny’s absence, Darryn?” he asked, to which Darryn nearly fell over in surprise.
The bank was one of the most profitable and highest esteemed organizations in the entire kingdom. To be the owner would be one of the greatest honors, and of course, he graciously accepted.
“Thank you, yer majesty. I am honored to serve yer people and will do so with honor and integrity.” replied Darryn, bowing so low his nose touched the floor.
“Indeed, ye will” replied the King, smiling.
Once Darryn graciously accepted the offer, bounding off to his cousins’ shop to tell him the good news, King Tybrin turned to the others.
He promised to give them whatever supplies they needed in order to continue their journey North to the Birthplace of the World. As a token of his appreciation and their newfound friendship, he gave them each a parting gift and promised that he would send his armies to the surface to help fight back the demon army and play their part in the coming battles.
They each received a custom-made set of chainmail – as light as a feather, but as strong as stone – that they could wear beneath their outer garments, along with new traveling clothes that were better equipped for the cold they would be enduring on their journey to the North.
They stayed for one last big feast that night, and the next morning said their goodbyes to King Tybrin Hammerclaw, their friend Darryn, and his cousin Gerryn, before taking in their last sights of Emerald Keep.
When they were packed and ready to go, they hopped in the cart and headed down the rails at breakneck speeds, out of the massive caverns and into the winding tunnels towards the upper passages leading to Draco’s Pass.
It wasn’t long before they reached the end of the track and exited the cart, each of them excited to see the light of day once again, but sad to say goodbye to Darryn and the beautiful city of Emerald Keep. They vowed that they would return once again to visit if they ever found a way to defeat the Defiant One and lived to tell the tale.
After walking a short way down the tunnel, the small opening at the end began to grow larger and larger while the light increased in intensity as they neared the exit. Finally, after roughly a week in the enclosed caverns of the inner mountain, the close quarters of the tunnel gave way to the wide-open air of the mountain pass as they returned to the surface world.
The cool breeze whipped through Erin’s hair as she took in her first deep breath of the fresh mountain air. The coolness burnt her lungs, but she savored it. She could feel the small little kisses of snowflakes as they landed on her face, sending bumps down her arms and legs, and racing down her back. They had finally made it to Draco’s Pass.
She looked and saw David and the others were standing near the edge of the ridge looking West towards Eldergate. When she reached the edge, she stopped by David and grabbed his hand.
The Great Plains were covered in a large dark mass of soldiers and demons, each marching slowly across the plains in their direction. Another large mass was breaking away far off in the distance, heading the opposite direction towards Ravenfell.
It was worse than they had imagined.
With so much time wasted from getting lost in the mountain tunnels, along with their rendezvous with the Dwarves, they had lost nearly a week of travel that they knew would cost the lives of thousands. The armies would be on Ravenfell any day now, if they hadn’t made it there already, and they were still a great distance away from their destination where they hoped David would be able to restore his connection to the orb and the source of the nearly limitless power it possessed.
Without it, all would be lost. Unless David regained his powers, they had no real chance of winning against the Defiant One and his incredible power of destruction.
Time was running out.
Chapter XVIII
Jakob Zander and his crew of misfits searched for hours into the night after the trail went cold. He couldn’t understand how a
ll of a sudden they had just vanished in thin air. His trackers were some of the best in the Southern Kingdom, and he was outraged that they had lost the tracks of the boy and his companions after the brief skirmish at their campsite.
It was as if they had just disappeared, and that thought left him extremely on edge. Maybe they possessed some dark magic he wasn’t aware of? he thought.
He knew what was on the line if he were to return to Brineport and confront Bloodvayne empty-handed. Failure was not an option.
He gathered up his resolve and urged his companions onward. They would search the foothills for as long as it took to find the trail once again, even if it took weeks, months, or even years. His only hope of keeping his good standing with the Guild, no… his life, was to succeed, and that thought alone fueled his endless drive to find the boy and bring him back to Brineport.
After several fruitless days of searching, the party reached the road that spanned between Draco’s Pass to the West, and the Land of the Immortals to the East. He knew that if the boy was trying to get back to the Great Plains, he would have to take Draco’s Pass, and there was no evidence of any foot traffic headed that way from what his trackers could see.
If he were traveling East on the road it would take him to the Forest of the Immortals – a forbidden forest that was protected by the Woodland Elves. They were unforgiving to any mortal who dared enter their domain uninvited, and no mortal had ever been invited, so he knew that couldn’t be their destination.
Without any indication showing that the area had seen any travelers recently, he decided that they must have somehow traveled ahead of the boy and his companions, and so they decided to set up camp and wait.
Fortunately, they only had to camp out in the small cave near the base of the mountain pass for one more day before he finally got word from his scouts that the boy and his friends had been spotted once again.
They were coming down from Draco’s Pass, of all places, and heading in their direction.
“Sir, I don’t know how they managed to get all the way up there, but they should be passing our location just before nightfall.” said one of his men who had been scouting the area.
“They must have found a way through the mountains. I don’t remember seeing any caves along the way, do you?” asked one of the other men.
“Silence, you insolent fools! What does it matter how they got there? What matters now is that they did, and now they are headed our way! We will sit and wait for their arrival, and once they get close enough, we’ll take them by surprise!” said Jakob, his hands clasping together like a cat catching a mouse.
This thought seemed to really excite his men. They had been out in the wild for days without any real excitement. Some of the men had even resorted to senselessly killing the local game for fun to satisfy their twisted need for killing. They had been trained to kill since they were young, learning to steal and kill, for the alternative was to be robbed and killed themselves. It was a hard life growing up in Brineport, but if you were good enough at what you did, you were rewarded for it through selection into the Guild.
It was something all the young boys and girls dreamed of. They took their selection with pride and arrogance, seeing it as their proof of superiority over the lesser qualified citizens. Because of this system of rewarding the strong and, often more violent, children over their weaker counterparts, each new generation of members became increasingly more violent and uncontrollable than the last, knowing it would earn their favor in the ranks faster than their predecessors.
Over the years, Brineport became a cesspool of thugs and hooligans at the expense of the more civilized families, and in turn, became a more dangerous place to live. Living in those kinds of conditions led people to one of two things: leaving for the hope of a better, safer life elsewhere to raise their families, or giving in to the constant demands of the Guild and putting up with a life of crushing poverty and hopelessness. Most chose to stay, as to attempt to leave put their families at risk of being captured and killed in a bloody public execution – something the citizens had come to enjoy immensely.
Seeing their opportunity for a bit of fun, the men quickly devised a plan and got into their positions. They would wait for just the right moment when the boy and his companions would reach the part of the road that would take them between two large outcrops of jutting rock, creating a sort of natural tunnel. Once they entered, a small group of men would block the entrance behind the company, forcing them to run toward the exit. Just as they were about to get away, the rest of the men would jump out and block their escape, taking them by surprise and blocking them in the tunnel. It was all planned out. Now all they had to do was wait.
By the time the sun had become nearly completely obscured by the peaks of the mountains to the West, the boy and his company were spotted coming around the bend in the road just before the outcrop into the tunnel.
It was time.
The men crouched in position just off the road behind a few fallen boulders, waiting for the time to strike. They could hear the sound of laughter and voices talking and they were getting closer with each passing moment. The men were nearly beside themselves with anticipation.
Finally, the time had come. The last of their small group had entered the tunnel. The men quickly jumped out from behind the boulders and sprinted towards the boy, screaming wildly in an attempt to intimidate them into running frantically towards the other end.
Just as they suspected, the group started running towards the exit in an attempt to escape. As they neared the exit, the rest of the gang jumped into the opening from the rock above, blocking their escape.
Jakob stepped in front of his men towards the boy with the tattoo on his hand, slowly clapping his hands.
“You pulled a fast one on us back in the foothills. You even managed to kill a few of my men. Bravo!” he said, mocking applause.
The boy and his companions stood silently, weapons drawn and in the ready. Jakob thought something looked different about their appearance. Their clothing looked… strange, but he couldn’t figure it out in the near darkness of the coming night.
“What do you want with us?” the boy finally asked bravely. “Who are you?”
“I’m glad you asked!” said Jakob. “My name is Jakob Zander, and these are my men. We’re of the Northern Guild. You ran into a few of us back in Ashmire if you recall?” asked Jakob.
“Yeah, we remember” replied one of the men standing behind the boy. He was lean and muscular and was carrying a battle axe while sporting a determined scowl on his face.
“Well, because of your little stunt in front of the inn, and his failure to bring you into custody, my brother is now dead. I intend to return the favor” said Jakob glaringly. “Get the boy!” he yelled.
He jumped into action, drawing his blade and swinging it violently at the man with the axe, but was pushed backward by a furious counterattack. They quickly began trading blows back and forth, attacking and deflecting each other’s blows with skilled precision.
The man grabbed hold of Jakob’s sword arm and swiftly jammed his fist into Jakob’s stomach, knocking the breath out of his lungs before hurling him through the air and out of the fight.
Jakob quickly recovered but it was too late, the boy and his friends had already fought their way through his men and were frantically running down the path down the mountain side towards the Forest of the Immortals!
“How do they keep getting away!” yelled Jakob frustrated, before picking up his sword and yelling for his men to go after them.
Jakob and his men started running full throttle after the boy and his companions, gaining on them slowly but steadily.
They finally caught up to them just as they broke through the edge of the plains and into the thick, ancient cluster of trees.
“Gotcha!” yelled Jakob as he grabbed a hold of the boy’s cloak, yanking him backward hard enough to knock him off his feet.
He put his sword to the boy’s throat in a threat
ening gesture, and his companions immediately stopped fighting, afraid of what would come if they pressed on.
“Drop your weapons! Now!” yelled Jakob, tired of the games.
They each dropped their weapons and the sound of metal clanging on the ground rang through the cool night air.
“Good! Now, tie them up! We are going to bring them all back to Brineport so they can suffer the wrath of the Wolf Guard. I hear they love eating their captives alive.” said Jakob, as his men finished securing the captives’ hands with rope.
“You’ll pay for this with your life!” spat the old man, after which one of Jakob’s men swiftly struck him in the back of the head, knocking him to the ground.
“You’ll do well to shut up and only speak when you’re spoken to, old man!” said Jakob threateningly.
One of his men caught sight of the girl. She was pretty, with fair skin and dark hair and had a fierce look about her that betrayed her battle-hardiness. She had been responsible for the death of several of his men, and it was time for her to pay.
“Eh boss, what say we have a little fun with this one before we go? After all, we have been away from home for a while. We could all use a little fun!” he said, licking his lips and reaching for the girl.
“Leave me alone!” screamed the girl, wriggling to try to get free from the rope, but it was useless. The rope was too tight, and the knot was tied skillfully and wouldn’t budge.
The man slowly started towards her, eager to reach his prize. His eyes were blazing like a wolf before he reached his prey.
“You touch her, and I’ll kill you!” shouted the boy, anger rising in his chest. He couldn’t bear to see Erin hurt, and he knew these men had the worst of intentions.
“Don’t worry, boy. We’ll be gentle.” said the man, licking his lips as he grabbed Erin and lifted her up to take her further into the woods away from the others. This brought a booming laughter from the group of men – they knew they had no such intentions.
David Bishop and the Mystic of Creation Page 13
