Morris handed out orders and then the commander of the Shlan unit hurried off to deliver the message to his fellow warriors.
***
A muscular Shlan warrior hurried over the ledge of the mountain searching for his prey. A long dagger was his weapon of choice and he moved with complete silence. He had followed his nose to this area of the mountain path, but did not find anyone here. There was a large open area near the path that was perfect for a camping ground. In fact, there were the burnt remains of a fire from the night before.
“Sssvolk Nsh!” he cursed in his native tongue before investigating the area for evidence of the escapees. Even with feet, the Shlan walk with a slither; a fluid motion that hardly made any noise. He ran his fingers through the ash on the ground and smelled it. It didn’t take long to figure out they had not cooked any food in this fire and that it was a small flame. Then he went around sniffing each stone. “Two people,” he said. “A male… and a female. Rakki posssibly and… ahhh, not a human.”
Something caught his ear, so he whipped around to find an arrow tip only a hairs breath away from his nose.
Treb held his bow steady as he pulled the arrow back ready to strike his target down. “Make one wrong move, Shlan, and you will not even feel the pain before you die,” he said with a smile.
Kiin emerged from behind a rock and sauntered over to the Shlan. She took the large dagger from his trembling hand and pointed it at him. “Are you alone?”
He narrowed his eyes at her with a deadly glare. “I won’t tell you anything.”
Treb knew they wouldn’t get any sort of information out of him. “Fine. I don’t care if you have more with you. I'm going to let you go.”
“Treb!” Kiin said.
Treb held up his hand with a stern gesture. He had something to say His stare was fixed the Shlan, who wore a startled expression. “Listen, I';m tired of killing your people. The war between our peoples ended generations ago, we don’t need to hate each other anymore.”
“Thiss isss not Ssssshlan againssst Rakki. Royal Guard commanding usss now.”
Treb let out a sigh of frustration. “Morris is working for a corrupt King and his corrupt Wizard. They are misleading all of Gallenor. We are going to stop them. I don’t want to kill you, and I don’t want to kill any more of your companions. Go back and tell them that. But also make it clear I will do what is necessary to save Gallenor. If that means killing you tomorrow, then I will resort to that. But, know this, I do not wish to and will mourn what I am forced to do. Now leave!”
The Shlan took a few steps back, hesitantly turned and ran out.
Kiin turned on Treb, even pointing the dagger at him. “What are you thinking?”
Treb took his arrow and replaced it with the few left in his quiver. “I was thinking that I'm tired of killing people.”
Kiin shook her head in disbelief. “They're going to try and kill us. They've already tried to kill Crystal and Markus, and for all we know, they have succeeded. Letting him go will only give him another chance.”
Treb walked around to the boulders they had hidden behind and picked up his bag. He spoke over his shoulder. “After the last man I had to kill, I began to think about what it would be like if that were me. Crystal would lose another father because of this. I did not know him and I do not know who waits for him to come home. But now they will have to wait to be told of his death.”
Kiin glared at him and slid the dagger into the belt of her outfit. “Well, I hope your morality doesn’t get us both killed.”
Treb got up and gave her a wink. “At least you have a weapon again.”
Kiin took up her bow and empty quiver. “Sure. I like the dagger and all, but I'm not a blade fighter, I'm an archer.”
Treb headed for the path motioning her forward. “Well, an archer without arrows is not that dangerous. It was either find you a sword or you use your claws. I trust the dagger better than claws, especially against imps.”
Kiin shouldered her backpack and followed him out to the path. “Let’s just hope we find that Citadel and the kids soon. I would feel much better having them with us.”
“Me too, Kiin… me too.” Treb trekked onward around the mountain path.
For almost three days now they had followed this path, ever vigilant of finding the location that Markus described. On two occasions, the Shlan had attacked them and once they almost killed Kiin, ambushing them along a mountain path with a stream of arrow from overhead. Treb was forced to kill two Shlan all by himself. Yesterday they came upon an Imp nest and it forced both Treb and Kiin to unload most of their arrows on the dark creatures in order to survive. Kiin gave Treb her last arrow to go along with his remaining ones, bringing his final count to three. “Can’t miss now,” Treb had said.
Even though she’d never admit, Treb knew Kiin respected his skills of being a much better shot than her. “I was a trained personal security guard for Kellus. My hand to hand combat skills are remarkably better than yours,” She said with a smirk. “I just prefer the arrows better.”
“Yes dear,” Treb joked.
Treb and Kiin traveled through the night and into the morning. Nowhere could they find a good enough place to camp and rest. The area was either too open or flat, easily making them vulnerable for inspecting eyes. Fortunately, it had been a quiet walk through the mountains since that last encounter where they took the dagger from the Shlan warrior.
“Are we lost?” Treb asked Kiin while he made his way up the path toward a gap in the peaks.
Kiin pulled out her map and looked at it intensely. “I think we're on track.”
“What makes you say that?”
She looked around to get a clear idea of where on the map they were, matching the mountains and rivers. “When I watched Markus point out where the Citadel was, I made a mental note of it and I think we're getting close.”
“I'm not so sure.” Treb stopped just as they were about to crest the path and head back down the mountain.
Kiin folded the map up, “What makes you say that?”
“We've been traveling for days and found nothing. Now, it has been almost twelve hours since we saw any signs of the Shlan or Morris. If they're heading toward the Citadel too, then one of us is lost.”
“Markus said that no one knows where the Citadel is. That without Tolen’s book and instructions, we would not be here. So, between us and them, I would say we know more of where we're going. If anything, it's the Shlan and Morris who are lost and I say good riddance.”
Treb laughed and shook his head. “You have a knack for always looking on the bright side when I'm being the pessimist.”
Kiin walked past him toward the top of the gap. “One of us has to stay hopeful.”
Treb let out a defeated sigh. “I just don’t want to be wandering aimlessly around these mountains for weeks while our kids are scared and lost.”
“Well, all I can say is…” Kiin stopped in the middle of her sentence and her eyes widened. She was looking out to the other side of the gap. Even her tail had stopped moving.
Treb hurried alongside his wife and looked down upon what had her so engrossed. There before them was an ancient city. All of the buildings were destroyed and the roads had cracked and broken eons ago. The city lay on a plain that was in between two large sections of the Barren Mountains. There seemed to be even less life here, if that were possible.
“What happened?” Kiin asked.
Treb shook his head. “I don't know. It looks like something crushed the whole city at once. This reminds me of the Port of Sapphires after that tidal wave ten years ago.”
“But, the ocean is a long way away.”
“I have no answers. Whatever did this did it a long time ago.” Treb started down the path. “I'm betting this path will lead us to the Citadel.”
Kiin hurried after him and grabbed his tail to stop him. “Wait, it could be dangerous. What makes you think this has anything to do with th
e Citadel?”
Treb turned around, purposefully pulling his tail out of her hands. “Would you stop? From what we have learned so far, the only civilization ever to settle this far north were the ancient wizards; the same ones that created the Citadel. My guess is this is their city, or at least it was their city before... whatever... destroyed it.”
Kiin caught up with him and they both walked down the steep path together, weapons drawn. “I hope you’re right. This place gives me the creeps.”
Treb and Kiin followed the natural path in the mountains that twisted and turned as it descended. When it leveled out, it turned from natural to unnatural. “Look Treb,” Kiin asked, kneeling down to investigate the path. “Square stones were set in place to create a road.”
“Good, now I know we are on a direct path. Let’s continue,” Treb said.
Once they got all the way down to the plain itself and were heading for the old city, the lifelessness of this area became apparent. There was nothing; no scraggily plants, or dead bugs. It was bleak and even more barren than the mountains around them. Occasionally the wind would twist up some of the dry dirt and create small dust devils across the desolate ground.
After an hour of walking, they finally got to the edge of the fallen city. They could see where walls once stood protecting – much like Stillwater – but were now only mere piles of rubble; shifted and blown over in the same direction.
Kiin took Treb by the arm. “Honey, this place is frightening,” she warned. “I don’t want to go in.”
Treb gently laughed at her. “You’re a fearsome warrior. Don’t let this place scare you.”
Kiin snarled at him, reached over and snatched a small chuck of fur off of his chest, which made him jump back and rub the spot she had just plucked. “Fine, but if we run into any ghosts in there, I'm going to... well, I am not going to be happy. I know perfectly well there were no such things as ghosts.”
Treb stopped rubbing his chest and came to her side. He took her hand and held her close. “Fine, I'll protect you. Just stay with me.” Without further protest, Kiin followed him closely.
They entered the city through the south gate, at least what was left of it. All around them was terrific destruction with columns tipping over and leaking dust with every gust of light wind. Stack of stones occasionally rolled from the ceiling and cobwebs blanketed dark tunnels. Buildings were blown over like a pile of autumn leaves and old statues and fountains were crushed under the weight of giant walls crumbled atop them.
“I think I know what happened here.” Treb stepped away from his wife and knelt down to feel some of the ancient lava solidly holding the debris in place. “A massive eruption must have destroyed this place.” He observed where some of the lava rivers had formed large mounds underneath. They were odd shaped and he couldn’t understand why.
Kiin stepped over a pile of rocks and walked up on a fallen wall. “I didn’t think there were any active volcanoes left in Gallenor.”
“A long time ago there were volcanoes up in these mountains, but they went dormant centuries before now. This must have happened a long, long time ago.” Treb grimaced as he realized the mounds were people who were killed and then encrusted by the lava.
“Honey, look at this.” Kiin climbed up further on the broken wall so she could look out at something.
Treb carefully stepped over the mounds to join her. “What is it?”
She pointed off into the distance. “I think I found the culprit behind this cities destruction. Look.”
Treb noted an active volcano still belching out smoke in the distance. “Wow, I never thought I would see an active volcano. It’s too far away to cause us any harm.”
“Not that we need anything else to do that.” Kiin was cocking her head. “What did Markus say about the location of the Dragon Citadel?”
“He said something about it being between two mountains, underneath the dragon’s breath,” Treb recalled. “Why?”
“What if the volcano is the dragon’s breath?”
“Okay, so, then where would the Citadel be? Under the volcano?”
“No, look at the road below.” She pointed to another road leading away from the city. It came out of the west side and then turned and went up, back into the mountains. “What if the Citadel was connected to the city by this road?”
Treb shrugged. “It certainly makes sense. But, how could we know?”
“I don’t know. It has to connect to something.” Kiin was increasingly frustrated at Treb, and he couldn’t tell why.
Treb put his arm around her shoulders and held her tight. “Kiin, are you alright?”
“This place... I can’t help but wonder if Crystal hasn’t become lost in a place like this and doesn't have anyone to comfort her. What if she is all alone and so scared right now... ” Kiin sniffed hard and rested her head on him. “I... I just... miss her. Oh, Treb, what if she is truly gone, what if Morris has already captured them, what if we failed as parents?” She started to cry.
Treb realized it was the first time she had truly opened up since they lost Crystal and Markus. Holding her tightly against him, he spoke. “We can’t lose hope… we just can’t.”
“Oh, my poor little girl, she has been through so much in her short life. Why did this have to happen to her? Why?”
Treb, of all people, knew when to let someone cry it out. She was so strong and so sturdy all the time that eventually she was going to break. As a husband, it was his job to keep her close.
After a few moments of her crying, Kiin gathered herself and wiped away the tears. “I don’t know what came over me. I guess it was being in this ruined city, it is so bleak, so sad.”
Treb looked down from the halfway fallen wall to the road below, analyzing the rock encrusted bodies of the long lost Wizard civilization. “We really should get out of here. This place truly is creepy.”
Kiin backed out of his embrace and wiped the tears off of her fur. Her mouth parted as if to say something, until they were startled by a noise. “Honey, what was that?”
Treb looked down. “Oh no, this wall may not be as sound as I thought.”
The wall made another huge cracking sound as Kiin made a move to escape. “I don't think this is going to end well.”
Treb searched the foundation, not venturing to move his feet just yet. “It might not be the wall. I could be… WOAH!” Suddenly, the wall tilted forward as a large fissure split directly across the middle. It was going to break in half, and they were on the upper portion. Treb held out his hand. “Okay Kiin, take my hand and we'll get down slowly and carefully.”
Kiin reached out for his hand. Just as their fingers touched, the wall made another cracking sound and the split went right under Treb’s feet. Kiin got a good grip on him and yanked him toward her, which was only placing them higher on the wall. “I’ve got an idea,” Kiin said. The wall split in two, with the top half launching to the floor below with a heavy crash. Kiin pulled Treb down with her so that they were on their knees to ride this out. The half of a wall slid down a hill of debris and came to a halt, sending them sprawling across the ground.
Once the dust settled Treb and Kiin broke into a coughing fest and when it was over, looked each other over to ensure they were both safe. Treb smiled at her. “Wow! That was close.”
Kiin got to her knees and brushed the dust and grit out of her fur. “Let’s not get ourselves killed before we can find the kids.”
Treb laughed. “What a place to die, a lost city in a forgotten part of Gallen... ” He stopped and turned his head, listening.
Kiin was beating the dust out of her fur and asked, “What is it?”
He held up a hand to stop her. “I hear something else.”
“More cracking? Do you think that whole building is going to crumble into dust?”
Treb shook his head. “No, and I know exactly what this sound is.”
Kiin saw what he was talking about. Fluttering up abov
e the ground in the distance was an Imp, no doubt searching for the source of the sudden sound. Hopefully, it had not seen them yet. Treb and Kiin crawled along the ground in hopes that the rubble of the building would hide them from its peering eyes. Fortunately for them, after a short while, the Imp retreated back to where it came from.
“Do you think it’s alone?” Kiin whispered.
Treb gave her a worried look. “I have no idea, but I'm not going to investigate. We should get out of here, now.”
“Agreed.”
Kiin and Treb felt like they crawled a mile before they got to their feet and bolted away from the ruined city with every ounce of strength they could muster. They were on the westward road leading up into the mountains toward the volcano and Treb prayed that they didn’t run into any more trouble along the way. Treb stopped and looked back, eyeing the Imp they had recently avoided. It was now joined by dozens of its fellow denizens. “Looking for more unsuspecting victims no doubt,” Treb said. “Imps have an uncanny sense of smell and can sniff out people in a heartbeat.”
“They're probably inspecting everything we touched.”
“The pile of debris along the wall seems to be of particular interest,” Treb said.
“We need to keep moving,” Kiin warned. “If they catch sight of us, they’ll descend in masses.”
“We can’t just keep running. They’re bound to see us. We have to do something,” Treb said. He pulled out his bow and one of the last three arrows in his quiver. “I think I can hit it.”
“Three arrows won't do it, there must be two dozen of those things, and who knows out many hiding underground,” Kiin said, a bit disgusted.
“I'm not targeting an Imp.” Without any further explanation, Treb launched an arrow at the path from which they had come down to the city. It hit the base of a precariously placed boulder and stuck. “Move… move… move. Come on,” Treb whispered. As if hearing his command, the boulder suddenly dislodged and started a very small, but noisy avalanche of rock. As was his intentions, the imps flew toward the noise. “Now, we run.” He put away his bow and ran.
Legacy of Dragonwand: Book 2 (Legacy of Dragonwand Trilogy) Page 8
