The Warden and the Shadow Queen: The Warden Saga Book 3

by Paul Summerhayes

  “I hope you know what you are doing,” said Jobes. “There are...evil things in that castle—”

  “Mister Jobes, if you please!”

  The wagon had disappeared from sight as Finn and Karok marched up the road. Finn had a bad feeling in his stomach and wondered if he had made a mistake. He was scared to think what they would face inside the high stone walls.

  The crew finished their preparations and the Sea Harvest moved away from the jetty and out into the open sea. Shielding his eyes, Jobes looked back at the two small figures moving up the hill toward the eerie castle. He too made the sign of his god and silently wished Finn well.

  Chapter 7

  The pair walked in silence along the edge of the dirt trail leading toward the castle. Finn would have liked to have travelled under cover, but the vegetation was sparse. His eyes searched the battlements, the low shrubs, and the odd tree for signs of movement, but there were none. Karok, with a glint in his eye, held his battle axe in two hands, his armour jingling with every step. Finn gave his companion a sideways glance, the dwarf almost looked happy to be heading into trouble. The young eldon didn’t share the dwarf’s bravado.

  At the gates, they hesitated. Finn didn’t want to go any further, but the sword’s hilt started to warm under his hand—which could only mean trouble. He slowly drew the black sword from its plain sheath and was almost overwhelmed with its thirst for blood. It could sense the living, like its true owner, Mordan—a being of every eldon’s nightmares. But as powerful as Mordan was, the alp feared the Wizards of Solaris and was even cautious of the master, Lord Tollis.

  When Finn glanced at Karok, he was surprised that the dwarf was staring at him with an odd look on his face. What’s he looking at? thought Finn. He indicated they should enter the gates and the dwarf gave a short nod.

  Through the gates was an open tiled courtyard which led to the central stronghold building, which was tall and sturdy looking. Beyond this were several small buildings; a barracks, a building for storage and a small stable. The horse and wagon, now empty, stood in front of the small weathered stable. There was no sign of the old man anywhere, and there was no way he could have unloaded the heavy boxes by himself so fast. In fact, there was no one on the battlements or inside the castle that he could see. Sweat ran down his spine and he shivered. Something isn’t right.

  “Well, I can’t believe it. Is that her pet eldon?” said a voice that Finn recognised instantly. It was Wolfgang, the master second-in-charge and spy. He wasn’t there a moment ago, but the man lounged beside the stronghold’s front doors. He was casually eating an apple and took another bite.

  Impulsively, Finn moved forward, but the dwarf’s strong hand stopped him. He looked at Karok in disbelief. Why stop me now? Here was the opportunity to kill one of his enemies, something he had being waiting for, for some time. The dwarf remained motionless and Finn looked to where the dwarf stared.

  Out from the barracks shambled a horde of men wearing torn clothes and odd pieces of armour. They carried a variety of weapons. Their stop-start movement marked them as undead, they were Tollis’s zombies. He quickly realised that the master’s dream of an undead army had started...meaning the master was draining Anna’s blood! Finn’s grip tightened on his sword hilt and the sword’s desire for carnage almost knocked him over. It was like the sword’s bloodlust was being amplified by Finn’s hatred.

  “You get that one,” said Karok. “Those walking corpses are mine!” He ran at the zombies, swinging his axe as he entered into their front rank.

  Dropping his apple, Wolfgang drew his sword as Finn sprinted across the courtyard and leapt up the stairs. Wolfgang looked pleased at the opportunity to fight and before Finn reached the top, he was raining down blows at the eldon’s head. By luck, Finn managed to parry each attack and gained the top of the stairs.

  “I’ve been waiting for this day,” said Wolfgang confidently. Finn thrust his sword toward his opponent’s stomach, but the man danced out of the way. “That’s it, boy, attack.”

  Finn swung rapidly at Wolfgang’s head and then switched targets to his legs. The older swordsman blocked each attack, filling the air with the sound of ringing steel. This was not going to be an easy fight for Finn. Wolfgang was an accomplished swordsman and killer, and probably the reason he was the master’s trusted bodyguard.

  Without hesitation, Wolfgang retaliated. His sword moved quickly, striking like a serpent and forcing Finn back. Finn gave ground until he felt the edge of the stairs with his foot and stopped. Any further back and he’d fall down the stairs, and Wolfgang would be on him before he hit the bottom and it would be all over.

  The black blade became a blur before Finn’s eyes as he fought back, or was the sword in control and using him? For a moment, Finn couldn’t tell who wielded whom.

  On the stair’s edge both swords locked together, each combatant staring into their opponent’s face. Wolfgang’s hot breath blew into Finn’s face as he strained under the effort of pushing the eldon off the stairs. Suddenly the man’s eyes went wide, he saw something...something unexpected in Finn and it scared him.

  They pushed apart and Wolfgang stepped back. Springing forward, Finn whipped his sword high, trying to decapitate his foe. But Wolfgang pulled his head back just in time and the blow only sliced the man’s cheek. Momentarily, blue runes flared along the black blade’s length as it hungrily drank Wolfgang’s blood. Both the blood and runes vanished quickly.

  Breathing heavily, Wolfgang reassessed his opponent. The eldon was little more than a skinny youth, but was somehow his equal as a swordsman. It seemed impossible! He glanced at the eldon’s black sword...

  Now it was Finn’s turn to attack. The eldon slashed blow after blow at the man, attacking high then low in an attempt to end this fight quickly. In moments, Wolfgang was bleeding from several cuts and there was now fear in his heart. The man knew he couldn’t defeat Finn fairly.

  Finn felt that his victory was close. His attacks forced Wolfgang up against the stronghold wall. There was nowhere left for the man to go. His arrogance was now replaced with fear and he raised a hand in defence. Showing no mercy, Finn arced the black blade through the air for the killing blow. But the blow failed to hit Wolfgang’s head, instead it bounced off a pale blue wall of light. White sparks flew into the air and the smell of ozone filled Finn’s senses.

  The blue wall of light stood between Finn and Wolfgang, within a blink of an eye it folded in and encapsulated the eldon. His arms were securely locked to his side, forcing him to drop the black sword. He struggle against the restrains, but it was useless. He was powerless to move rolled up in the blue light. Within several heartbeats it had squeezed him so tight that it made it hard to breathe.

  Magic!

  Out of the corner of his eye, Finn could see the shape of a man standing in the stronghold’s open doorway. The light started to crush him, and a cry of pain escaped his lips. He clamped his eyes tight and felt like he was slowly rising into the air. His eyes flicked open as he rotated to face the newcomer, a tall, withered old man wearing a long orange robe. The man’s face was a mask of concentration as he stared intently at Finn. Through the pain, Finn realised that this could only be a mage, one of the Wizards of Solaris.

  The sound of combat drew Finn’s attention to the courtyard below. Karok swung his axe in a large arc, chopping into a zombie’s chest and cleaving it in two. There was a dozen bodies scattered about the dwarf and he was covered in black gore. He moved smoothly, unhindered by his heavy armour, and swung his weapon high before driving it through the top of a zombie’s head and burying it deep into the undead creature’s chest.

  “Enough,” said the old mage, pointing at the dwarf. Instantly, Karok went stiff and dropped his axe. Slowly he rose in the air and hovered two yards off the ground. The mage drew back his arm as though he intended to throw an invisible rock. At the same time he released his arm, Karok flew through the air and impacted with the castle wall with a sickening crunch. The dwa
rf dropped to the ground and lay motionless in a pile of bleeding flesh and steel plates.

  “No!” shouted Finn, fearing for his friend’s life.

  Someone moved to the mage’s side. “This is a surprise. I was sure you would give up long ago.”

  Pain intensified and Finn’s sight blurred as the blue light crushed his body. Just before the agony caused him to blacked out, he realised the speaker was Lord Tollis, the master.

  A brown cloak bobbed along on top of the incoming waves. It moved with the incoming tide until it washed up into the shallows. A strong hand grabbed the flotsam but it was weighed down or snagged on something unseen beneath the water’s surface. The strength of the hand could not be denied and the water-logged cloak ripped as it came free. Attached to the dripping cloak was a man. Not a man. He was an eldon, whose grey skin was pale under the early moon’s weak light.

  With one hand, the tall, cloaked man dragged his water-logged prize up the sandy beach and dropped the eldon unceremoniously on his back. The eldon looked dead and there were many wounds covering his body. There was a deep cut in his leg and another in his stomach. The cloaked man scanned the body. There were the smallest signs of life still there, but the unconscious eldon had lost a lot of blood. He wasn’t dead yet, but soon would be.

  What could this saviour do? He was a skilled and feared warrior in battle, but he had little need of healing skills as he had been rarely injured in battle.

  “I should just let him die,” said a deep, accented voice. It was a chance meeting after all and he didn’t owe this eldon anything. He had stopped him from drowning. Wasn’t that enough?

  “That boy is always losing things. First my sword...and now his father.” The cloaked alp lifted the eldon onto his shoulder with ease. Water dripped down the alp’s back as he took several long strides, stepping off the beach and onto the rocks that bordered the sand. With the eldon still on his shoulder, the alp leapt from rock to rock with as much effort as a child playing hop-scotch. Without slowing, he cleared a small vertical cliff face in a single bound. It was twice the height of a man.

  Now on flat ground, the alp powered toward the city lights with inhuman speed and vanished amongst the long shadows of the city’s tall walls.

  A cloud drifted across the moon and blanketed the beach in darkness for several long moments. When it passed, the moonlight revealed nothing but a deserted beach.

  Chapter 8

  “Missstresss... Missstressss!”

  Anna’s mind slowly returned to her body and she stirred on the mattress. She was weak and couldn’t muster the energy to lift her head...or even open her eyes. It’s a dream, she told herself. None of this is real.

  Something tapped her on the shoulder, she barely felt it in her hazy state. A rat? Go away. Again, she felt something, this time on her back. She hoped that whatever it was would go away. It was disturbing her sleep and her dreams...

  She walked through a field of fragrant yellow flowers...her dream-self gazed up, feeling the warmth of the sun on her face, and the cloudless sky looked so blue... Was the sky blue? She couldn’t remember, and it didn’t matter. In her dream, it was blue and that looked right. She felt warmth and love. Smiling, she bent down to pick a flower—

  Hey! Something hit her in the head.

  “Missstresss!”

  She opened her eyes and bright light flooded into her sight and she closed them again, drifting back into a dozing sleep.

  “Missstresss!”

  Anna opened her eyes again, disorientated. After a moment, she raised her head and looked around. There was no one in the cell with her, and all was quiet. Am I going crazy?

  “Here,” said a voice from above.

  Her eyes flicked upward to see the small brown face at the high windows, clinging to the bars. What was his name?

  Flea...

  “My Lord Ssshadow said that you must not eat their food. It is poisssoned.” The creature held out something in his dirty, clawed hand. It looked like a...fish? He tossed it to her and it hit her shoulder and fell on to the mattress. It wasn’t much longer than her hand, but it was a fish.

  She picked it up and turned it, looking at it from different angles. It was wet, raw and didn’t have a mark on it.

  “Eat.”

  Anna bit into the belly of the raw fish and its rich flavours filled her mouth. She chewed its moist flesh like it was the best thing she had ever eaten and after several bites, she had consumed it all. Flesh, scales and bones, leaving only its tiny head. She casted it aside. Anna didn’t know how long she had been locked in that cell eating nothing except the bland gruel...the fish tasted good!

  “Good?” asked the goblin.

  “More.”

  “Yesss, I bring more,” he said. “Later.”

  “More, now,” said Anna, feeling frustrated. She was hungry now. Why must I wait for food?

  His posture went rigid and he seemed to be listening to something. It was something that Anna couldn’t hear. “Sssomeone approachesss.” Flea let go of the bars and vanished.

  No! Don’t go.

  Footsteps, muffled by the cell’s door, got steadily louder. Someone is coming.

  Panicking, she glanced around the cell, confused. What she should do? Lie down, her mind screamed and slowly her lethargic body obeyed. As the cell door opened, she spotted the discarded fish head on the dirt floor and covered it with her leg. With her eyes tightly closed, she held her breath and remained motionless.

  “I need a lot more blood,” said a voice. “Bring her to the laboratory.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Calloused hands grabbed each one of her arms and roughly lifted her up. Her hands remained manacled as she hung limply between them. She thought it wise to pretend to be asleep and didn’t move.

  “What’s that smell?” said one of the men holding her.

  “Something’s died in here,” said the other.

  “You men, stop your prattle and do as I have asked.”

  “Yes, sir,” they said in unison. She was half dragged, half carried from the cell and into a corridor lit by a lamp standing in a niche in the stone wall. At the end of the corridor, they carried her down a steep staircase. Her captors didn’t lift her any higher as they descended and her feet impacted on each step. It didn’t matter. The drugs hadn’t worn off completely and she felt little. She risked a sideways peek. Two soldiers carried her, they wore chain-linked armour and carried swords.

  Behind her, someone spoke. “Jailer, clean this cell. It’s disgusting.”

  Anna was led to a large room lit with several oil lamps and containing two long tables. Many bottles and herbs cluttered their surfaces. A large pot, full of a foul-smelling concoction, simmered near a large open fireplace and the roaring fire made the spacious room warm.

  Lord Tollis, finely dressed, worked at one of the benches. He didn’t look up as they entered, his task absorbed all his attention. There were two others in the room, one wore a long blue robe and the other a red. To Anna’s foggy mind, they appeared to be mages and she shuddered. They too hovered over the tables assisting Tollis, adding things to the large pot when directed.

  “That’s it,” said Tollis. “This is the strongest formula yet.” He looked pleased with himself and suddenly seemed to notice Anna standing in the doorway, still held by the two guards. “Anna, you’re just in time. I need a large amount of your blood to complete this batch of...what should I call it? Super zombie elixir? Too grand?”

  What little strength she had left her legs and she collapsed in the guards’ arms. Tollis pointed to a wall and the guards dragged her over to where he indicated, manacling her ankle to the wall with a silver chain. Hopelessly, she looked over at Tollis and a feeling of imminent doom flooded her heart. She feared this was where she would die, chained and alone...

  “Get comfortable, my dear,” said Tollis. “It’s going to be a long night. My guards have informed me that you have not been eating all of your food. You must keep up your strength a
nd you need your medicine.” He nodded to the blue-robed man and the mage snatched up a yellow glass bottle and moved to Anna’s side.

  “Make her drink it,” ordered Tollis. One of the guards pulled back her head roughly and the blue-robed man forced open her mouth and poured a foul-tasting liquid down her throat. She gagged and spat some of it out, but the mage kept pouring more in. She feared that she might drown and involuntarily swallowed some of it. It burned as it went down her throat. When the mage released her, she bent over and coughed hard, trying to rid herself of the poison.

  “Keep it in,” said Tollis. “Or you’ll be forced to drink more.” He addressed the blue-robed man. “She will be sedated soon and then you can take her blood.” The man nodded.

  The guards moved and stood beside the door, and the blue-robed mage moved back to his work at the table. Anna lay on the hard floor and sobbed quietly. The concoction worked fast. She could feel herself getting numb, starting from her feet and slowly working its way up her body. She was resigned to the fact that her situation was hopeless. Finn was becoming a distant memory, and it seemed that the only friendly face she had seen in a long time was the ugly little goblin. The chance of Flea finding her here now seemed remote.

  Escape looked hopeless, and all she could see for her future was a slow death...

  Chapter 9

  Finn opened his eyes to discover that he lay on a hard, cold floor. It was a cell.

  Locked up again!

  The cell was small, and even in the semi darkness he could see that the door was made from reinforced timber. The room’s only light source came through a small inspection port in the door’s centre, no larger than his fist. There were no windows.