by Dale Britton
"Only the most powerful of creatures can break one of our wards," Yrabelle said proudly. "Our magic users are very skilled."
"So, what was at the location?" Ian asked. "Did you find anything?"
Lylor's eyes turned hard. "No. We found nothing. Two good elves are gone, taken by the enemy, and we have nothing to show for their sacrifice."
"But there must have been something there," Ollie said. "That's how it works."
Lylor gave him a dark look. "This is not a game, human. These are real people fighting real enemies and risking their lives. Do you know what we found there? At the end of our journey? There was nothing but an empty clearing in the middle of the forest. All we found was a field of grass with a number of white rocks spread about. We examined the area for several hours, but our labor was for naught. We finally were forced to abandon our search."
Ollie looked at Ian, and Ian nodded. The elves had missed something. It was a puzzle, and they hadn't seen it.
"We decided to return home after our fruitless labors," Lylor continued. "But by the time we set out it was late in the morn. I was anxious to return home to report our failure and to devise a new plan, so we pushed the horses as hard as we could. It was nearing nightfall, and we were but thirty miles from home."
Lylor looked away, shaking his head. "It was my own folly. Despite the advice of my lieutenant, I chose to push forward. I believed that my small party would be able to repel any attack from our enemy and break through to our fair settlement. This was very ill-advised."
"Was it demons?" George asked.
"Yes," Lylor said. Then he did a double-take when he looked at George. "What has happened to you, young human? You are not the same person you were when I left."
"Strength potion," Ollie said. "We'll tell you later. Please, finish your story."
"Very well," Lylor continued. "The sun had barely set before the foul creatures set upon us. It was an ambush."
"How many?" Ollie asked.
"Over twenty. They were of several species, and some were as large as a giant anteater. They attacked the horses, who went insane with fear. We tried to fight back, but..."
He fell silent for a moment, reliving the battle in his mind. "The horses were all killed or run off. Two of my best elves were taken. I tried to hold off the demons long enough so that the rest could escape and return home to tell the tale."
"How did you get away?" Johnny asked.
"I fought the creatures to my last strength," Lylor said. "My last memory was beheading a dark imp and then collapsing to the ground with exhaustion. I woke up early this morning in this bed. It wasn't until Imoneas came to speak with me this morning that I learned of my narrow escape. My remaining companions made a counterattack and managed to wrestle my nearly lifeless body from the grasp of the evil creature. By a miracle, one of the horses had survived and had the strength to carry my rescuers and myself out of the reach of the demons. Unfortunately, the poor beast's strength failed after only a few miles of flight."
"Did the horse die?" Sarah asked with horror.
"I know not," Lylor said. "My companions were forced to abandon the animal and carry me with their own strength. With fortune, the horse may make its way back home."
"The elves that were taken," George said, "they're still alive, aren't they?"
"They'll be taken to the mine," Ian said. "They'll be forced to work until it's time to open the portal."
"It is my fault," Lylor said. "I was their leader, and it was my responsibility to see them home safely. I knew the danger of traveling during the night time, and I pressed forward despite my better judgment."
"But you live to fight, father," Yrabelle said. "You will save them."
"I will not be doing anything for several days," Lylor said bitterly. "It will take time to regain my strength. And after our failed excursion, our path now becomes unclear. I do not know what to do to help this people. Perhaps Elallin has the correct idea after all. Maybe we should retreat to stronger lands and allow our people to survive for a longer season."
"Let's not give up quite yet," Ollie said. "We may still find the solution."
Lylor sighed. "I only hope that if we do, it will not be too late."
Chapter Sixty
The group stayed with Lylor until he was too tired to stay awake, and then they left, leaving Amyallyna to watch over her husband.
As they exited the building, a pair of elves were climbing up the walkway to the entrance carrying a stretcher. When they passed close enough to see who the elves were carrying, everybody caught their breath.
It was Vesperr.
"What's wrong with him?" Sarah asked. Vesperr's face had a grey tinge to it, and his breathing was shallow.
"It's the dark malady," Yrabelle said, her voice hushed. "Vesperr has contracted it."
"But he was perfectly fine yesterday," Sarah said. "How could it have happened so fast?"
"It always happens this way," Yrabelle said. "One just wakes up, and his strength is gone. He continues to weaken daily until he loses the will to live."
And no one had ever recovered from it, the friends knew. The very presence of the demon lord could do this. What would happen when he decided to attack for real?
"We have to go there," Ollie said. "To the place Lylor went to. We have to find the clue. Lylor missed it. He doesn't understand how the game works. I know we could figure it out if we were there."
"But look at what happened to Lylor," Johnny said. "And he's an experienced fighter. We'd get killed."
"Well, we made it here, didn't we?" George said. "And we have training now."
"Three days of training," Ian said. "Might as well be nothing."
"I think we'll be alright if we don't travel at night," Ollie said. "And if we can get our hands on some of those wards."
"I think we should try," Jordan said. "Let's take a vote."
With differing degrees of enthusiasm, the vote was unanimous. Even Yrabelle wanted to come with the humans, but Ollie tried to dissuade her.
"Your father would kill us himself if we took you into that region. You know how dangerous it is."
"But I want to help," the elf girl said. "It's just as dangerous for you as it is for me. Even more. At least I know this region. I can take care of myself."
"Your place right now is with your family. Think about how your father would react if he found out you were gone."
It took some convincing, and she wasn't happy about it, but Yrabelle finally agreed to stay home while the rest of the group risked their lives.
Tears formed in her eyes. "It is just, I'm so tired of waiting to see if people I care about are ever going to come back."
Chapter Sixty-One
"So, we think we need to try to go to the location ourselves," Ollie said. "Lylor and his elves were unable to find the clue, but we think we can."
"I say let them go," Elallin said. "All that they've done since they've come to our settlement is to stir up trouble. If they want to fly off into the northern wilderness, it is nothing to us."
"It's so nice when somebody cares so much about you," Ian said. "It warms your heart."
Imoneas chuckled. "Although I don't share Elallin's sentiment, I do approve of the idea. I sense destiny at work here. Your party should have been sent at the start." He handed the map back to Ollie. "This belongs to you. I believe the council will agree with me. If there is anything we can do to help you on your mission, just ask."
The other members of the council nodded solemnly–except for Elallin, who couldn't keep a smirk off of his face.
"I could use a new weapon," George said. "My old one is too small for me now."
"Yes," Imoneas said. "I can see that. I will open the armory to your party. You may take what you need."
"Lylor spoke of wards that his party used for protection at night," Ollie said.
"Say no more," Imoneas said. "I will instruct our magic users to prepare the strongest wards possible. Your party will have nothing to fear du
ring the nights when the foul demons are about."
"Unless the demon lord decides to come visit us himself," George said. "The wards would be nothing to him."
"Shut up," Ian said. "We're already nervous enough."
"And we'll provide any supplies you need," added another council member.
"I'm not sure if I should be happy or not," Johnny said as they left the council chamber about a half-hour later.
"Definitely not," Ian said. "There's nothing about this entire thing that makes me happy."
The rest of the day was spent gathering their supplies. At the armory, George chose a broadsword that must have weighed thirty pounds, but he was able to swing it as if it weighed close to nothing. Ollie stuck with his dagger, reasoning that he would be able to use magic to defend the party. Sarah also stuck with her own dagger and Jordan with her mace. Ian kept the magic sword, and Johnny selected a new short sword to go with the silver bow and arrows. At the suggestion of the armorer, they each found a shirt of leather armor and a shield for a little extra protection in a fight.
At the storehouse, they collected the supplies they would need for a three-day journey. They stopped at the stables to check on their horses and to request that they be ready to travel at first light in the morning.
The last stop was to the enclave of the magic users. The elves had received the request from Imoneas and had prepared the requested magic item. It looked like a small brass cube, only a few inches on a side, with strange symbols etched onto each side.
"This ward may be invoked three times," instructed the magician who handed it to Ollie. "After that, all of its magic will be expended, and it will be useless. It will provide protection in a square roughly forty feet on a side. It will hold until somebody breaks the perimeter from the inside, so be careful to stay away from the edges, and keep the horses tethered tightly. There are many cautionary tales of people who have accidentally broken their wards, and who came to evil ends."
Ollie nodded and listened carefully as the magic user gave him instructions on how to invoke the ward.
"This will keep out evil creatures, but it will still be necessary to keep a watch. It will not protect you from neutral creatures."
"Like what?" Sarah asked.
"Like most animals, for example," George said. "A bear isn't evil, so the ward wouldn't affect it. Of course, if there are demons out, a bear is smart enough to stay far away."
"If only we were that smart," Ian said.
Chapter Sixty-Two
The next morning arrived much too quickly, and the six friends started on another dangerous journey. They left without fanfare. Only Amyallyna and Yrabelle came to the gate to see them off. Lylor had wanted them to wait for his strength to return so he would be able to accompany the group, but the friends felt a sense of urgency to be off and none wanted to delay.
Ollie was once again the navigator, and as before his task was made difficult by the sheer wildness of the terrain. Here, the trails were unmarked, and he was forced to use surrounding hills and mountains for landmarks. Fortunately, the trees were thinner now and he could see much farther into the distance.
"You know," he said after a while, "we're not very far from the edge of The Map."
"I feel like the old explorers who were afraid of sailing off the end of the world," George said. "What do you think is at the edge?"
"Well, I doubt it's a huge cliff down into an abyss," Ollie said. "We've seen a lot of details here that we didn't create."
"Like Yrabelle," George said, his eyes looking far away.
"Right." Ollie tried to keep a straight face. "I'm sure the world continues past where we've planned it to."
"I hope that's not where Alakabal is," Ian said. "There could literally be anything up there."
"Well, one step at a time," Ollie said. "Let's just try to get to this first location before dark."
Everyone was doing much better with their riding. With his increased strength, George had little trouble keeping Frisky under control now. The party made it to their destination without being disturbed by monsters, but the sun was already beginning to set as they arrived at the clearing. They recognized the place from Lylor's description.
"We'll have to look around in the morning," Ollie said. "We can't risk being outside the ward when the sun goes down. We should just assume the demons will always be around after dark."
While the others found a small grove of trees where they could tether the horses and started unpacking the camping supplies, Ollie chose a level spot on the ground to set up the ward. He took a stick and marked off the approximate area that would be inside once he invoked it.
"Once I turn on the ward, everyone needs to stay away from this line," he said. "The only way to break the protection is for one of us or one of the horses to go through it from the inside."
"What if a squirrel goes through?" Johnny asked nervously. "Or a bird or something?"
Ollie shook his head. "Too small. It would take a mass much greater than a squirrel to break the ward. Now, are the horses secure? Is everyone ready? We've only got about fifteen minutes before sundown."
"Just one other thing," George said.
"What?"
"Can I go to the bathroom first?"
Chapter Sixty-Three
After everyone was ready, Ollie invoked the ward. The symbols on two opposite sides of the cube flared with a bright red light, then went dark.
"Did it work?" Johnny asked.
"Look," Ollie said, pointing toward the setting sun. There was a faint shimmering in the air about twenty feet away. "You can see it if you look closely. It worked. That should keep the demons out."
Then the sun disappeared over the horizon, and the shimmering could no longer be seen.
"All right," Ollie said. "Who wants the first watch?"
Before anyone could volunteer, a black shape bounded out of the trees and flew at them. It looked like a large cat, except with bulging muscles, two-inch fangs, and bright red eyes. Johnny scrambled to grab his bow, but Ollie put a hand on his shoulder. "Hold on. Watch."
About twenty feet away, right in the middle of a bound, the cat bounced off of an invisible wall and flew backward in a shower of red sparks. Its screech of pain was like nails on a chalkboard projected directly into their minds. Everyone recoiled from the sound.
The cat approached again, this time much more cautiously. When it reached the border of the ward, it howled in anger, then turned and bounded back into the trees.
Ian stared at the spot where the creature had attacked with his mouth wide open. "That was a demon. A real live demon."
"That was amazing," Sarah said. "How does it work?"
"I don't know exactly," Ollie admitted. "It's really complicated magic. It's a spell that's been stored inside the cube. Once the ward is set up, it draws energy from the environment to keep it running until we break it."
"It can't run out of power?" Johnny asked.
"You would not believe how much energy there is in the world," Ollie said. "We don't need to worry. That thing could last a year if we needed it to."
There were a few more attacks while the group set up their watch schedule. A creature that looked like a huge bat bounced off of the ward and was flung backward into the ground with a loud thud and lay there for several minutes before crawling away. A two-headed gnomish creature tried to pound its way through the barrier, but it gave up when the sparks began to burn it. A group of small ape creatures took turns charging into the wall, but each time they were repelled.
Ian took the first watch while the others lay down in their blankets to try to sleep. It was a very long and frightening night. The howling of the demons was impossible to ignore, as were the occasional attempts made by the creatures to break through the ward. The horses were understandably restless as well, adding to the commotion. No one was able to sleep undisturbed for very long.
But the night did pass, and the demons were thwarted in every attempt to reach the party. When the sun
made its way over the horizon, the creatures dissolved into the earth.
"I wish Lylor would have warned us about that," Ian said when everyone was up. "I can't think of anything more disturbing than what we just went through."
"And we'll have to do it two more times before we get back to Lilenoree," Ollie said.
"Not a pleasant thought," George said.
"Well, you know what they say," Sarah said.
"What?" Jordan asked.
"You can get used to anything," Sarah said.
Ian shrugged himself, shivering. "If I ever get used to those things, then there'll be something seriously wrong with me."
Chapter Sixty-Four
Ollie surveyed the clearing. "There's a clue here somewhere. We need to find it. The demons are gone, but there could be other things around. No one go off anywhere alone."
"What are we looking for?" Johnny asked.
Ian shrugged his shoulders. "You know how the game works. It will be obvious once we see it. Just look around."
The group spread out to search the area. It wasn't an incredibly large clearing, so it didn't take too long to look everywhere. It was mostly covered with grass and wildflowers and the occasional shrub. There were medium-sized white rocks spread about the ground as well, but there was nothing underneath them or written on them. There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary.
Then Johnny noticed something. He pointed at the center of the clearing. "Does it look like those rocks are arranged in a straight line?"
The others looked where he was indicating. Sure enough, the rocks formed a line. A quick search showed another set of rocks on the opposite side of the clearing that was also arranged in a fairly straight line.
Ollie pointed to the far side of the clearing. "George, do you think you could climb that tree over there to get a better look?"
"I don't know," George said. "I'm not very good at climbing trees."
