Kiin was not far behind. “Honey, that was brilliant.”
“You sound surprised.”
Kiin laughed. “Well, just a little.” She slowed down in her running as her eyes caught something in the distance.
Treb slowed down. “What is it?”
“Take a look up there.” She pointed toward the cliffs in the distance. There was a large hawk sitting on the edge seemingly looking down at them.
Treb frowned. “What is that bird doing out here? I haven’t seen any falcons or birds of any kind since we got into these mountains.”
Kiin took a breath. “My only guess is it is a tracking hawk and Morris is still looking for us.”
Treb stopped and went for his bow. “If you think he is tracking us then… where is it?” He was just about to notch one of his remaining two arrows when he noticed the hawk was gone.
Kiin shook her head. “I don’t know, but let’s just keep moving. We have to find the kids.”
Chapter 10: Encounter at the Citadel
They made their way back up the mountain following the twisting road. It took them up into the cliffs, heading toward more peaks. The fresh air revived Treb somewhat, rousing strength from a place of comfort. The volcano was much further away than he had realized and this path would not lead them directly there, but the scenery made for an enjoyable trip. Besides, anywhere was better than the previous location as they put some distance between them and the imps.
Kiin was trucking along at a good pace and Treb made haste to catch up, nearly slamming into her as she suddenly backed up. “Honey! What are you doing?”
She turned around with a victorious smile. “I found it!”
“Found what?” Treb cocked his head as he looked for something to make sense of.
She switched places with him and took him by the head, aiming his gaze along the skyline. “Look, do you see it?”
He shook his head. “What am I looking at?”
“Look, can you see it? Markus said the Citadel was at the base of two peaks. Above the peaks was the dragon’s breath. Look at how those peaks form a dragon’s mouth and see the smoke rising from the volcano.” She pointed straight ahead with her arm draped over his shoulder.
Treb looked at the two sharp peaks that had a rather unnaturally jagged edge to them. Shifting his sight just slightly, he could see how the peaks and the smoke formed what appeared to be a dragon breathing smoke. “Do you think it's there?”
Kiin nodded. “It has to be. Where else are we going to find something that so perfectly fits the description?”
Treb looked back at his wife. “Let’s go find the kids.”
With that, they both ran up the paths toward what they hoped was the Citadel. It wasn’t as close as it appeared from where they were seeing the formation, but they would not stop running until they got there. Treb was overwhelmed with the swelling feeling in his heart of the prospect that Crystal and Markus would be waiting there for them.
***
Markus and Crystal continued walking through the solid rock, hoping every next step would lead to blue sky and fresh air. The magic of the staff was keeping them safe while going through the stone, but it felt like they were never going to see the sun again.
“Markus, are we close?” Crystal asked, her voice sounding strangely muffled.
Markus, holding tightly to her, answered, “We have to be. Just keep going.”
“Wait, I hear something.” Crystal slowed and narrowed her eyes.
Markus looked back. “What is it?”
“I think I hear my father, and... someone else. It's hard to hear inside this mountain.”
***
Treb and Kiin ran down the path and turned a corner to with Treb taking point. He’d discovered something highly unusual. The peaks converged on a flat plane of rock that did not seem natural. There was a wall carved into the rock face of the twin peaks. “This has to be the Citadel,” Treb said.
The formation was perfect; just right as a matter of fact. Only there was no great castle or any other structure around to be seen. “It must be hidden or covered by magic,” added Kiin.
Treb was the first to the rock wall. He put his hands on it and searched for a handle to open a door. Kiin reached him and looked around for others. “Do you see them?”
Treb hit the wall with his fist. “No.” He then turned and yelled, “CRYSTAL! WHERE ARE YOU!” His deep voice echoed throughout the mountains with no response. “CRYSTAL! PLEASE!”
Kiin closed her eyes. “I… I don’t know what to do. Where are they?”
Just then Morris rode up to them with a dozen Shlan surrounding them on all sides. “That is a good question,” he said mockingly.
Treb pulled out his bow and notched an arrow with the speed of a master. Kiin produced her dagger and pointed it at the Shlan. She changed one to another as they got closer.
Treb growled out, “Morris! What are you doing here? How did you find us?”
Morris chuckled. “My soldiers here have many methods for tracking the likes of you.” He snapped his fingers and a Shlan came up with a hawk on his arm; the very same one Treb and Kiin had seen earlier. The Shlan raised his arm and snapped his tongue off the roof of his mouth. The hawk took to the sky. “Home you go. Job well done,” Morris said.
Treb, who had not moved his arrow an inch, snarled and growled. “Well, congratulations, you found us. What do you want?”
“Damned infuriating dogs. I'm here to find the wand and that child.” Morris said this as though they should know his orders as clearly as he did.
Kiin snarled at a Shlan who hissed at her, showing teeth. “Well, they aren’t here. You came all this way for nothing.”
Morris dismounted his horse and nonchalantly pulled out his sword. “I don’t believe you.”
Treb leveled his arrow at Morris’ head. “I don’t care what you believe. In five seconds I'm going to send you to your grave if you don’t turn around and leave.”
Morris raised an eyebrow and slightly shook his head, wearing a smile. “Oh, so the generous, kind doggy that let one of my soldiers go is going to turn into a murderer now?”
Treb bore his teeth and grunted. “Unlike you, Morris, I have a heart. But, my mercy ends when the safety of my daughter is on the line.”
Morris sauntered his way. “So, your little puppy is nearby. And here I had expected you not to lie to me. Where is she?”
Treb stopped snarling and smiled. “Times up.” He released the arrow at Morris.
Morris twisted with a duck as the arrow whizzed by, barely missing him. In the same motion, he leapt at Treb before he could load another arrow and sliced the bow in half with his sword; the blade stopping only inches away from skewering Treb. A wicked smiled split his jaw. “I'm going to take great pleasure in destroying you, dog.”
As he raised his sword to strike Treb, Markus and Crystal came through the solid rock wall, making Morris hesitate just long enough for Crystal to respond.
She yelled, “HRINDA!” and shoved Morris through the air and slamming him against the opposing rock wall.
Markus joined in crying, “ELDR STORR!” and jolted a nearby Shlan with a massive fireball from the end of his wand. He leaned to control it much like he had done with the firebird before, only this was no illusion. All the Shlan scrambled to get away from the hot flames and once the enemies were at bay, Markus ended his spell and joined his friends, wand at the ready. “Good to see you,” he said, eyeing Treb.
Treb, readying his fists to fight gave a quick nod. “Sure.”
Kiin and Crystal gathered in the half circle and took defensive stances. The quartet was once again together.
Morris dabbed some blood from his chin and gnashed his teeth in disgust. He pointed at the foursome yelling, “GET THEM!”
The Shlan hissed something unintelligible to his small band and they responded at once, positioning around the group, all staring at Morris.
Morris glared at the leader. “What is this?”
“We no longer wissssh to follow you,” the leader answered.
Morris was furious and pointed his sword at the serpentine commander. “I will have your head for this! You would side with an enemy of the state? Your homes, your lands, your people will all pay the price for your insolence!”
“We are not ssssiding with them,” the leader said. “We do not know who to follow. But, we will no longer ssssseek to kill children. King issss mad if he commandss thisss.”
“How dare you?” Morris asked, about as inflamed as the volcano in the distance. “It does not matter if it is a baby! The King has given us an order WE WILL FOLLOW IT!! The Dragonwand must be found!”
The Shlan leader shook his head. “You threaten my people, my life, even my children. What makesss you any lessss threat than thessse? Who isss to sssay what they do isss evil? They have not asssked to kill children. They are running from you. Maybe they are in the right, maybe you threaten them too. We do not know, but we will not go blindly with you anymore. Today, Morrissssss you die for your crimes againssst Sssssshaln.”
While the Shlan leader and Morris were preoccupied, Crystal and Markus took the opportunity to stage an escape plan. “Any ideas?” Markus asked.
“I think I do.” Crystal nodded and reached into Markus’ bag. She took the Codex out and was flipped through it.
“What are you doing?” Markus whispered.
She turned to page eighty. “I'm trying to give us another option here. Can you read it?”
Markus’ eyes bounced over the arguing Shlan and Morris, before landing back on Crystal and the Codex. He quickly grabbed part of the book and used his wand to read the page. “Dyru’rdr” He wasn’t sure if that was the spell or not, this old language was hard to read and even harder to pronounce.
For a moment nothing happened, and then he noticed the dust on the wall shook loose and a small indention appeared. It was shaped just like a hand. With little time to think, he put his hand in it. There was a warm sensation and then the wall began to shake.
Suddenly a deep voice bellowed, “KVEDJA NID'R” shaking the cave.
“What does that mean?” Crystal asked.
“I think it means which welcome kinsmen in the ancient tongue,” Markus replied.
A door appeared, as a small section of the rock slid down revealing an ancient stone stairwell inside the mountain. This grabbed everyone’s attention.
Morris turned and gazed at Markus. “STOP THEM!!” he yelled.
But apparently, the Shlan were still at odds with him and formed a line in front of the foursome. Markus couldn’t help but smile at the change of events. The Shlan locked eyes with Treb and nodded with a hint of honor. “Go, find ssssafety.”
“Thank you, friends,” Treb said with a bow of his own and took Kiin by the hand as he followed and the kids into the door as it started to close. All four jumped in just as the door lifted and sealed shut.
***
Morris shook his head as he watched his mission crumble before his eyes. “You worthless excuses for snakes. Your betrayal will be your undoing.”
The Shlan commander gave Morris a sneer. “We sssshall ssssee. No one need know what happened here, other than the unfortunate death of the captain of the Royal Guard. Fall from mountain a terrible way to die, ssssuch a mournful accident.” He looked up and hissed at the others under his command to finish off Morris.
***
Crystal, Kiin, Markus and Treb huddled in a dark area of the hidden entrance. There was a stairwell behind them and the rock wall had reformed as though a door had never existed. Everyone was taking a moment to catch their collective breaths and get their wits about them.
“Ijos,” Markus said in the darkness and his wand ignited like a candle. Looking around to each person he asked, “Is everyone okay?”
Kiin brushed herself off and nodded. “I think so.”
Crystal smiled at Markus. “I am now.”
Treb could feel his face tightening along the corners of his lips as he fought to hold back a smile. He grabbed Crystal in his arms and squeezed her into his chest “Oh, my little girl, I thought I would never see you again.”
Crystal patted him on the back. “Daddy, I’m okay. You don’t have to squeeze me to death.”
Treb was tearing up. “When you fell off that mountain I thought I had lost you.”
Kiin got to her feet and came over to her blubbering husband. “Honey, let the poor girl breathe.”
Treb slowly released his grip, though his hands were still holding her shoulders. “What happened? How did you find us?”
“Markus saved my life several times. In fact, when I offered to stay behind with the Gnomes so he could finish his mission, but he insisted on saving me,” Crystal said as she gave Treb the most adorable doll’s eyes she could. “Daddy, he loves me. And I love him.”
Treb craned his head at Markus. “Oh, he does, does he?”
“Yes,” Crystal answered. “And, he not only saved my life when we fell, but he protected me and kept me safe the entire time.”
Treb let go of her and turned to Markus; that sneer back in his eyes. “You love my little girl?”
Markus cleared his throat, the attention of everyone squarely on him now. “Uh…well…yes. She is, uh, a special girl. I… uh, would do anything for her… sir.”
Without warning, Treb yoked Markus in the same way he’d done Crystal, smothering him in loving bear-hug. “Thank you! How can I ever repay you for bringing her back to me? I misjudged you so many times and it was I that was the fool.”
Crystal’s eyes widened, meeting Treb’s as the sight of her father hugging Markus would have predictably done. Treb’s tail wagged feverishly in a true sign of elation.
Markus squealed out, “Mister…. Treb… could… you,” with the little air he could manage.
Kiin came over and pulled her husband off. “You can repay him by not breaking any bones.”
Treb let go of Markus and brushed the boy off. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you. I'm just so glad to see the both of you. You don’t know what it was like watching you fall off that cliff and then not knowing where you were or what had happened to you.”
Markus looked at Crystal. “I never knew how much I could feel for someone until I met her.”
Crystal blushed under her fur. “Me, too.”
“Where did you guys come from?” Kiin asked. “I didn’t see any caves around the area.”
Markus pulled out the little staff of King Brek. “Gnome magic. We could walk through the rock of the mountains and the gnome king directed us here. When we got to the edge we heard something happening and so we stopped to listen further. When we heard Morris go after Treb I knew we had to do something and we certainly had the element of surprise on our side.”
“I should say,” Treb added.
Crystal asked, “Why did those Shlan turn on Morris?”
“I don’t know,” Treb said. “But for whatever reason they had, they were certainly angry with him.”
Kiin added, “They said something about him threatening them and hurting them. I suspect his brutal tactics went too far this time and he paid the price. I wouldn't want to be cornered by a whole unit of angry Shlan warriors, they can be savage.”
“I'm surprised they were so kind toward us,” Crystal said. “I would think that any Shlan would enjoy the opportunity to attack a Rakki. They were almost nice to us.”
Kiin took Treb’s hand. “Sometimes honor is more powerful than vengeance. Your father showed me that hatred can be set aside for kindness.”
“What do you mean?” Markus asked.
“He stopped killing them,” Kiin replied. “He gave one a chance to flee with the understanding we don't wish to kill them any more than we have to. I never in my wildest dreams imagined a Shlan could be moved by such an act, but...I guess I was wrong.”
“And I doubt Morris ha
s shown them any sort of kindness or been sad about their losses,” Treb added. “I knew one day he would face the fruit of his ego, I just never thought it would be like this.”
Markus wore a proud smile. “That’s a great relief. The guy was annoying.”
Crystal agreed. “I hope they utterly destroyed him.”
“Crystal, honey, you should not be so bloodthirsty. Anger and revenge are not good things, I don’t care what he did to you,” Treb said, annoyed at the tone in her voice.
Crystal walked past her father to stand with Markus, her attitude unchanging. “I did not take his life and neither did you. That man garnered his punishment by his own actions. Now he's paying the price for his cruelty. If he had not been such a monster, he might not have faced this.”
“Put him behind you,” Markus urged. He gave her a smile. “Don’t let your hatred, anger, and fear continue now that he’s gone. Look ahead.” He pointed his lit wand up the stairs.
Crystal stopped brooding and grinned at him. “There’s that wisdom again.”
Treb frowned. “I just said almost the same thing and she practically bit my head off. Markus says it and it’s golden.”
Kiin pointed up the stairs. “I think it’s about time we find that Dragonwand and finish what we started here.”
As they ascended the stairs, traveling together for the first time in days, Treb all felt energized. Their victory seemed assured and their path now clear, with Morris gone and the goal in sight. For once, everything seemed heading in the right direction.
Chapter 11: The Dragonwand
Markus was first to enter the huge Throne Room of the Citadel. His jaw dropped as he beheld what lay before him. The interior of this place was massive; tall enough to contain most of the buildings that Markus had ever seen in his life. Everything was made of stone and carved with great care and intricacy. Tall columns kissed the ceiling, connected by beautifully sculpted molding. The domed ceiling was inlaid with carvings of wizards and dragons. The floor was equally adorned, painted with a fresco of a great battle. Dragons and wizards hand painted with endless detail capturing the intensity and dedication of these mythical beings.
Legacy of Dragonwand: Book 2 (Legacy of Dragonwand Trilogy) Page 9
