“I do not know where this place is,” Callius said loudly, interrupting them. “But I was drawn here for some reason; a reason that isn't clear to me. The ley energy, Trillfarness itself, wanted me to see this. But why that is so, I cannot say. I leave it to all of you to decide what to do next.”
Chase noticed that Callius' hands were shaking and she was about to speak when Diane reached out and touched the young elf's shoulder.
“Let it go, Callius,” she told him firmly. “We have seen enough and you now know where that place is. Don't waste any more of your strength.”
“Yes, Lady Diane,” he replied with relief.
The spinning globe immediately shattered like glass in a cascade of neon blue sparks. Callius sighed and patted his forehead on his sleeve.
“Take a seat and rest for a few moments,” Diane advised him. “You are getting stronger by the day, but you mustn't overdo it.”
Callius nodded and walked over to sit in front of the fireplace. Diane motioned for the others to do the same and the group moved together to join him. Once they were all seated, the mage laid her staff on the floor next to her chair and looked at each of them, finally focusing on Malfiess.
“The ley energy directed Callius to find that place, whatever it is. There is something there that it wants us to see. It may be something that is vital to the defense of the planet. Possibly. Now, I could just Gate there and look around on my own, but I think that this is something that we should do as a group. Thoughts?”
Malfiess looked at Callius, who was sitting quite still with his eyes closed. The young elf was very pale, but he didn't seem to be exhausted.
“I agree with Ethmira about not being comfortable thinking of Trillfarness as a sentient being,” the councilor told Diane. “But it is alive, of that I have no doubt. And even if this is just the defensive reflex of a living thing, I certainly think that we should investigate it further. Ethmira?”
“I feel the same way,” the ranger said as she glanced at Chase, who nodded her agreement. “We have sat on the sidelines long enough. None of us knows what is happening at home and what inroads evil has made in our absence. But whatever waits for us in that fortress, we need to see it for ourselves.”
Diane nodded as she clasped her hands together on her lap and stared into the burning logs in the fireplace.
“Yes, I believe that too. But I am worried about the corruption advancing across your world at this very moment. I worry that it may have reached so deeply into the heart of Trillfarness that it may have subverted the ley lines themselves. And if that has happened, this may actually be a trap and not a call for help from the planet at all.”
Callius opened his eyes and gaped at her in shock.
“That hadn't occurred to me,” he gasped. “You think that we are being lured to that castle?”
“It's a possibility,” Diane replied. “If I was the enemy and I knew that someone was working to stop me, someone with the power to actually do me harm, I would certainly try to eliminate them. And remember, evil works best in the shadows. It creeps and slinks just out of sight, secretly subverting whatever it can. It does not seek open confrontation unless it has to. I want all of you to understand that before making the decision to come with me.”
“But you are going regardless, aren't you?” Chase asked the mage.
“Oh yes, I'm going,” Diane assured her. “How can I not? This may be exactly what it seems to be, a chance to gain an advantage over our enemies.”
“And if it isn't?” Malfiess asked her.
“Then I will deal with whatever is waiting for me to the best of my ability,” Diane replied with a shrug. “What else?”
“There is no way that I will allow you to face the unknown alone,” the councilor stated. “I may only be able to swing a staff, but for whatever it is worth, I will do so in your service.”
“We're coming along,” Ethmira said firmly.
She stood up at once and Chase did the same.
“Give us a moment to retrieve our weapons,” Ethmira told Diane. “And don't you dare leave without us,” she added with a grin.
“I wouldn't dream of it,” the mage replied, chuckling. “Go ahead. We'll be here.”
Both rangers hurried off toward their quarters and Diane looked over at Callius.
“Do you feel up to this?” she asked him. “I know that you are tired from summoning the scrying globe, so if you don't think...”
“I'm fine,” he interrupted. “Really. And I have no intention of being left behind like a child while the adults go off to war. I will come.”
“Well, hopefully not to war,” Diane said. “I'm just being cautious, that's all. You know my favorite saying by now.”
“Better safe than sorry,” Callius replied with a smile. “I know it very well indeed,”
Diane rolled her eyes at Malfiess, who laughed.
“I may have overused that one,” she told him. “Echoes of my late mother, I'm afraid. So, Malfiess, would you like to fetch your staff?”
“No need,” the councilor said. “It's right there, next to the fireplace.”
“Good.”
She picked up her own staff and rose to her feet.
“Let's go then. Hesitation will only increase our fears. Best to get on with it.”
A few moments later, the group gathered in the center of the hall. Ethmira and Chase were armed with their swords and they held their bows in their hands.
“Hold out your quivers, would you?” Diane asked them.
Ethmira raised an eyebrow at the request, but she unbuckled the quiver on her belt and extended it toward the mage. Chase did the same thing.
Diane rested her staff against her chest and placed a hand on each bundle of arrows. She chanted under her breath and then nodded at the rangers.
“There you go,” she told them. “I don't know what dangers are awaiting us, but I've imbued your missiles with a touch of ley energy, just in case. They will be more effective against evil foes, should we meet any.”
“Ah, thank you,” Ethmira told her gratefully as she and Chase reattached the quivers to their belts. “That will help.”
“We'll see. Now then...”
Diane stepped closer to Callius and held out her hand. He clasped it and she nodded at him.
“I will take us to the location,” she told him. “I know that you are capable of Gating us there, but I want you alert and ready to react when we arrive. You are much more closely attuned to Trillfarness and its ley energies than I am.”
“I understand,” the young elf replied.
His hands trembled a bit, but his voice was steady.
“Good. Concentrate on that place and I will follow your lead.”
Callius nodded and closed his eyes. Diane looked at the others and Malfiess and the rangers all met her gaze steadily.
“We're ready,” the councilor told her.
The mage smiled slightly at him and raised her staff. A sparkling shield of blue light appeared around the group and then Diane glanced at Callius.
“I have the location locked in my mind,” he told her without opening his eyes.
Diane squeezed his hand and took a deep breath.
“I see it. Everyone stand ready. Here we go.”
She struck the floor with the end of her staff and it rang sweetly like a bell. A moment later they were swept away into darkness.
Chase counted slowly in her head and, as she reached fifty, the darkness dissolved and she found herself standing on rough stone. Deep shadows surrounded her and the others and a heavy silence pressed down on them.
Diane held her staff firmly and her shield lit up the area around them. Callius opened his eyes and looked around in wonder, while Malfiess muttered a curse and Ethmira simply remained on alert, searching the area for any dangers.
“I have never seen such a large building before,” the young scryer said softly. “I sense great age and a deep sadness here, as if the ground had been infused with grief in the distant past.”
“I sense nothing, but time hangs over this place like a shroud,” Malfiess said as he looked up at the arched ceiling hundreds of feet over their heads. “I doubt that any elves have set foot on this broken flooring for centuries, perhaps not since Lord Serris retreated here to die alone away from his rebellious subjects.”
“Maybe that is why it feels so strange here,” Diane suggested as she raised her staff and increased the illumination of her shield. “It may have been built by elven hands, but this entire place has a strange, other-worldly aura about it.”
“But are we safe here?” Malfiess wondered.
“I see no reason to believe so,” Ethmira told him as she scanned the distant corners of the immense room. “Until we are certain that there are no immediate threats, I must assume that we are in danger. Stay alert.”
Chase nodded, tight-lipped, and held her bow at the ready.
“Was this a throne room?” Callius asked as he tried to make out details in the uncertain light.
A few weak streams of sunlight penetrated through cracks in the high ceiling, but they could not pierce the gloom to any great effect. And Diane's shield only illuminated the broken stone floor about a dozen feet around them.
“I don't think so,” the mage said as she turned in a slow circle. “More like an entrance hall.”
She stopped and pointed at a row of thick round columns that towered over them, supporting the weight of the ceiling.
“I think that we should follow those columns,” Diane told the others. “They may lead deeper into the citadel, perhaps to the source that attracted Callius' attention.”
She looked at him.
“Can you feel anything? Perhaps a hint of ley energy being used? Anything at all?”
He frowned as he looked around.
“There is...something. A mere whisper of power, like a tiny breeze whistling through a crack. I can't explain it, but it is there. And it is coming from the same direction that you want to explore.”
“Then that is where we must go. Everyone match my pace,” Diane told the elves. “Stay within my shield's protection.”
She began to move forward, with Callius walking beside her. Malfiess and the rangers were careful to remain in the center of the flickering blue shield even as they scanned the area around them. The broken ground threatened to trip them up as they went and everyone concentrated on their footing.
The dust was thick on the ground and the air smelled sharply of mold and stone powder. As the dust was disturbed by the group's feet, colorful tiles were revealed beneath it, thousands of tiny, brightly colored stones set in intricate patterns.
“How beautiful,” Callius remarked as he saw them. “It must have taken craftsmen decades to lay such patterns.”
“And a century at least to construct this place,” Malfiess added as he glanced up at the high ceiling again. “Strange that there aren't more tales about it in our history books. This could be a treasure trove of ancient artifacts and old knowledge for our people.”
“Not so strange if this Lord Serris was as much of a tyrant as you say he was,” Diane told him as she moved forward. “Perhaps your leaders back then wanted to expunge all mention of such a person from your history. Better to forget that a king could turn on his people than to try to explain such treachery, don't you think?”
“Is it? How can you learn from history if you don't record it honestly?” Malfiess replied tersely. “Both the good and the bad? Instead we have a passing mention of the Mad King and that is all. If it was an attempt to hide the truth from future generations, then our ancestors did us a disservice.”
“Can we save the philosophical discussions for another time?” Ethmira interrupted irritably. “We have larger concerns at the moment than worrying about historical inaccuracies.”
Malfiess caught himself and then laughed self-consciously.
“Yes, of course. Sorry about that. I've too much of the scholar in me sometimes.”
“Reach for the warrior inside of you for now,” Ethmira told him with a trace of amusement in her voice. “That's who we need by our side at this moment.”
“Understood.”
The councilor gripped his staff more firmly and concentrated on watching his surroundings.
A few minutes of slowly advancing brought the group to the bottom of a set of shallow steps leading up to a towering pair of iron doors.
“Iron?” Malfiess said curiously as they climbed the steps and stood looking up at the heavy, rust-covered doors. “Elves rarely use metal in our construction. Wood and stone are our traditional building materials. Working with iron is a dwarvish talent, not an elvish one.”
“I don't recognize these symbols,” Diane said as she peered at the surface of the doors.
Beneath the thick rust on the metal, strange runes had been deeply chiseled into the iron. Unlike the graceful, flowing script of the elves, this writing was chunky, with sharp corners and many straight edges.
“Dwarvish runes,” Malfiess said, his voice filled with wonder. “Did the Mad King bring dwarves to Trillfarness to work for him? Or did he somehow travel to Earth and have them made there? Goodness, my whole world is being turned upside down right now! Back when Lord Serris reigned, the elves and the dwarves were mortal enemies. And even if they hadn't been, our worlds were far apart from each other and had been since the Divine Wars had pulled both the forces of Light and of Darkness into the Void. There was no magic left on your planet. Diane, how could Serris have even contacted the dwarves?”
“All good questions, Malfiess,” the mage replied. “But I have no answers for you. I just want to get through these doors and see what is on the other side.”
She stepped forward and laid her palm on the aged metal. Her shield rose high up the surface of the doors and a shower of rust flakes floated down like rain from the contact of the shield on the iron.
“Those symbols are wards,” Diane said softly. “Meant to keep the doors sealed. But their power is thin, frayed from the passage of time. I should be able to get through them fairly easily.”
She moved back and the elves kept pace with her. She raised her free hand and began drawing in the air with her forefinger. Streaks of light followed her movements and a complex symbol hung in the air when she was finished.
Diane breathed on the ghostly symbol and it floated forward and passed through the shield. When it struck the heavy iron doors it seemed to hesitate for a moment and then it sunk into the metal and disappeared.
Nothing happened and Malfiess glanced at the mage.
“Did it fail?” he asked her.
“Patience,” she said with a smile. “The doors are ancient, as are their wards. This may take a moment.”
A faint blue glow began to emerge along the edges of the double doors. It increased in strength until it blazed brightly in the gloom. And then, with an ear-splitting screech, the doors began to open inward an inch at a time. Diane nodded to herself and waited until the portals drew back and out of sight before she looked at her companions.
“Let's go. Something is waiting for us inside, so stay alert.”
“We are,” Ethmira assured her.
The mage glanced at Callius, who looked back at her anxiously.
“I am ready, Lady Diane,” he told her.
“I know you are,” she replied gently. “Remember that you have a free hand, Callius. Do what you feel you need to do if we are threatened. Don't wait for anyone's permission.”
He nodded and swallowed noisily.
“Here we go,” Diane said.
She began to walk forward and everyone matched her pace again. As they passed through the arched doorway, the ground shuddered under their feet and a deep rumble, a bass tone, rang through the floor. Beyond the doorway was only darkness and the sounds of the group's footsteps were lost in a vast space that none of them could see. The air was very dry and smelled of metal and dust.
As they walked past the heavy iron doors, they began to swing closed be
hind them. Diane stopped and looked back, watching tight-lipped as they slammed shut with a horrible finality.
“I can sense...something,” Callius whispered fearfully as the echoes died. “Something ancient. It is not aware of us yet, but it is there, waiting like a sleeping spider for prey to enter its web.”
Diane looked at him in surprise.
“I only feel a vague sense of unease,” she said with a quick glance at the others. “Is it a person, Callius?”
“I cannot say. Perhaps not. I am too new to this power. It is warning me of danger, but it isn't specific. I'm sorry.”
“Don't be. You're doing your best.”
The mage sighed and looked around at the darkness pressing down on them.
“We are exposed here. Something may be watching us, but this space feels like it is enormous. There is no way that I can illuminate it enough to expose any threats to us.”
“Just keep your shield up. That is enough light for us,” Ethmira told her.
“It will have to be. Okay, let's keep going. Whatever is in here lies ahead.”
Chapter 23
As the group began to advance again, the air around them started to brighten. It happened slowly and it took a moment for anyone to notice the difference until Chase suddenly gasped aloud. Diane stopped immediately at the sound.
“What is it?” she asked the ranger.
“I think that it's getting brighter in here,” Chase said in wonder as she looked around, wide-eyed. “How is that even possible? I see no windows or torches anywhere.”
Everyone was peering through Diane's shield and each of them realized that details of the room they had entered were now being revealed, as if a great dark curtain was being drawn back from their eyes. And the scene was enough to draw more gasps from Malfiess and Callius.
It was as if they had entered a vast cathedral. A yawning ceiling loomed hundreds of feet over their heads. Two rows of pillars supported its enormous weight, each pillar as wide as a small house. They were carved to look like tree trunks, their surfaces resembling bark with many leaves etched on top of their rough ridges.
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