The Unwilling Ambassador (Book 3)

by Heidi Willard

  They were fortunate. The buildings around them were leveled by the energy blast. Walls collapsed against each other and roofs caved in. A cloud of dust sprang up from the crashing timber, mud, and stone, and covered the tumbling groups in a thin sheet of dirt. Fred knocked into elbows, rocks, sticks, and feet, and wondered if this terrible ride would ever finish when he collided with a firm, angled wall. Someone crashed into his gut, then another and another. Soon he was beneath a doggy pile of squirming limbs and coughing voices.

  When the dust settled Fred found himself pinned between a rock wall and a lot of hard bodies. Half the dwarves were on top of him along with Ruth and Pat. The girls lay with their heads on either side of his face, and he sheepishly grinned. "Um, hi," he croaked. The weight of so many bodies was nearly crushing.

  Pat rolled her eyes and tried to squirm out from beneath the pile. She yelped when her leg nicked a sharp ax, and cast death glares at the dwarves. "Do you mind getting off us?" she growled. They only groaned.

  Through the dirty mist a short figure appeared. It was Canto with Percy and Ned close behind. Sins walked behind Percy, and somehow his dark clothes were untouched by the layers of dust floating around them. Fluffy limped up to his boy and whimpered.

  Canto and Percy worked at pulling the semi-conscious dwarves off while Ned lit the top of his staff to illuminate the dusty night. He looked about them with a grim, filthy face, and Hywel flew out of his cloak. "Where are Shilo and Thino?" he asked them.

  "We're here!" a female voice shouted. Shilo and Thino stumbled out of the mist with Fluffy at their side. Both were covered in cuts and scratches from their ride down the street, and in their arms were Shilo's crows. The birds' feathers were torn and stuck out at odd angles, and severally of them cawed in a weak voice.

  Ned looked around with his lips pursed together in a grim expression. "It seems the stone is awake, and is protecting itself."

  "Ya don't say?" Canto quipped.

  "But where is the army of creatures, the ones that represent the darkness of the region?" Percy spoke up.

  Ned shook his head. "I do not know, but I do know returning to the stone's resting place will not be easy. Not when it's capable of such powerful bursts of energy. It will do everything it can to protect itself from us."

  "What in the holy fire of Phaeton have ya done!" a voice roared. King Piako and Danto, along with the remaining guards, stumbled out from the dust with their weapons at the ready.

  Ned stepped in front of their group and glared at the small man. "We've done nothing. The stone has come alive as I warned you it would," he told the king.

  "Don't play us for fools," Danto argued. "The stone remained a stone until you came to it."

  "This arguing isn't going to be helping anyone," Canto spoke up.

  "He's right," Percy agreed. "The stone will send out an army to destroy the city and everyone in it."

  Piako sneered at the group. "The only destruction in the city was caused by yerselves, and you'll pay-" His tirade was interrupted when the earth trembled again and the night sky was lit by a beam of dark-purple light. It shot out from the direction of the stone and rose a hundred feet into the air before it arched down to the west.

  "Why is it heading toward the swamps?" Pat asked them. "It's always stood straight and released its demons from there."

  "Ah bet we're going to find out quick, and not going to like it," Canto spoke up.

  "I already don't like it," Fred quipped. Fluffy nuzzled Fred and whimpered. "You don't like it either?" he guessed.

  Hywel flew over the tops of the collapsed houses. "The light is in the marshes," he told them.

  Ned glanced between Ruth and Hywel. "See what's happening," he commanded them.

  Ruth nodded and rubbed her jewel. The dwarves were shocked when her disguise fell to reveal her gargoyle form. Ruth climbed the tallest pile of rubble and flew into the air. Hywel and she disappeared into the distance, leaving their comrades with the vengeful king. Piako turned to the remaining companions and signaled for his men to surround them. When his gesture order wasn't followed, he turned and found their attentions were on the pulsing light above them. Their armor rattled and they grouped together in a tight, shivering ball. Piako balled his hands into fists, and his body and beard shook. "Get over there!" he ordered them. They shifted uneasily on their feet, but didn't take a step forward.

  A heavy hand fell on Piako's shoulder, and he looked over his shoulder to see Danto standing behind him. "My King, we must worry about our people. This light will frighten more than just these men."

  Piako pulled his shoulder from Danto's grasp and glared at his captain. "These instigators will be more trouble if these men don't get to doing their duty!" he argued. The earth shook and Danto steadied his king. Piako glared at his foes. "Yer doing this! Stop it before ya destroy the whole city!"

  Pat glared at the king. "We would never help Canavar destroy Dirth!" she protested.

  Ned watched the skies and noted a shadow coming their way. It was Ruth, and she landed on a tall pile of rubble close to her friends. Her eyes were wide and her clawed hands trembled atop the rubble on which she knelt. "The swamps! Something is coming out of them!" she told them.

  "Where are they headed?" Ned asked her.

  Fluffy lifted his nose and sniffed the air. His nostrils flared and he let out a great, mournful cry that echoed through the city. Dogs and other cantankus picked up the noise and joined in the howling. Piako slapped his hands over his ears and glared at the beast. "What's the matter with this cantankus?" he demanded to know.

  "He smells something coming," Ned mused.

  "But what's coming this way?" Percy spoke up.

  Ruth shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself. "An army of dead dwarves."

  A horrible hush fell over the groups. Canto was the first to speak. "My god. The stone has raised the Bloody Army," he whispered.

  CHAPTER 23

  "Bloody army?" Fred repeated.

  Canto gravely nodded. "Aye. The ones who died in the marshes during our civil war."

  The king stumbled forward with his mouth agape. "W-what?" he sputtered. "That's impossible!"

  "Nothing is impossible for these ancient stones," Ned argued. He looked at the skies and frowned. "Where's Hywel?" he asked Ruth.

  "Gone to warn the Stars. The dead dwarves rose close to their city and he worried for them," she told him.

  "And we should do the same with the dwarves in the city," Percy spoke up. "Otherwise the citizen casualties will be worse than in Galaron."

  "What can we do to stop these things?" Danto asked them.

  Piako looked at his captain with a horrified expression. "What are ya talking about? Are ya taking their word without seeing for yerself if they're telling the truth?"

  Danto turned and scowled at the king. "If we wait to see for ourselves and they're right then it'll be too late to do anything about it."

  The king whipped his head from one face to the other, guard and foe alike. He saw fear in one, and determination the other. A spark lit up his eyes, and his quivering lips stiffened. He drew himself up to his four and a half feet and pulled his waistband up. "Fine. If that's the way it's to be done then we'll show this stone and its magic what we're made of. Danto, gather the men and have scouts go to the outskirts of the marshes. If these things are coming, Ah want to know how many and where they're headed. Half of the others will pull the citizens out of the city to the east, and the rest will take a fighting position on the western wall of the city."

  Danto straightened and bowed at the waist. "As you wish, my king." He turned to his troops who had taken courage from their king's newfound leadership. "Two of ya will get back to the castle and bring anyone and any weapons ya can find, including ma best suit of armor. The rest, follow me." Danto, Piako, and their men hurried to evacuate their people and establish a line of defense for the city.

  That left behind the grim companions with Thino and Shilo. Percy, with Sins by his side, turned
to Ruth. "How fast was this army traveling?" he asked her.

  "A shamble, but they are so close to the fields they will be here within an hour," she replied.

  "An hour doesn't give us much time to think of a plan of attack against the stone," he mused.

  "At least we still have the treasure," Pat spoke up. Everyone looked to Ned, who sheepishly smiled and shrugged. Pat's eye twitched, and she stalked up to the castor and stuck her face in his. "Where is the treasure?" she growled.

  Ned nodded past her at the rubble. "I may have dropped it in our journey down the street," he admitted.

  "Dropped it?" Pat exclaimed. She waved her hand at the staff in his grasp. "How could you drop the treasure when you didn't drop that?"

  Ned hugged his staff to himself. "I'm rather fond of my staff, and would rather it not be crushed."

  "While the treasure is now a mass of metal buried under tons of rubble?" she growled. She threw up her arms. "No wonder you've taken on Fred as an apprentice. He's here to make you look better." Fred frowned, but didn't interrupt her tirade.

  Ned smiled. "The instruments created by the old castors are made of tougher stuff. It survived, but I do not know how to get to it."

  "Can't you blast through the debris with your magic?" Percy suggested.

  Ned shook his head. "I would be likely to blow it to the other side of the city. No, what we need is a sensitive touch, and a good light."

  "Light. . ." Fred murmured. Ruth stood close beside Fred and heard him.

  "Do you have an idea?" she asked him.

  Fred looked to Ned. "What about the Stars? Couldn't they search through there?"

  Ned froze and a wide grin slipped onto his face. He stepped up to Fred and patted the boy on the shoulder. "That's the mind I knew lay in that thick skull of yours."

  "Um, thanks. I think. . ." Fred mumbled.

  "But there are no Stars here," Pat pointed out.

  Ned glanced up at the skies and smiled. "Our luck may be turning. Look." Everyone tilted their heads back and glimpsed a string of lights that floated through the sky toward them. The string wound its way down to the group and they saw it was made up of hundred of Stars. They flitted around the companions and lit the whole area with a gentle glow. The teenagers smiled at the beautiful colors of their bodies, but Canto swiped them away and Sins was indifferent. Fluffy tried to eat them.

  Hywel was at the lead, and he flew into the center of the awed companions. "I thought perhaps you might need some help," Hywel spoke up.

  Ned chuckled. "How did you convince so many?"

  "I admit it wasn't easy. Cadwaladr already flew from our city with most of our people, but I guaranteed the king would let my people go once the battle was over. That is, if there's anyone left alive," he told them.

  Canto bristled at the promise. "Let the Helpers go? Ya think we're fools?"

  "No, I think you're desperate fools, and we Stars can help fix that desperation problem," Hywel replied.

  "And none too soon, but how are the swamps and what of the creatures?" Ned interrupted.

  Hywel's color dimmed and he shuddered. The flock of Stars likewise shivered. "The creatures have already ransacked our city and are destroying every living thing in their path. Most of their army are headed this way, and I doubt we have half an hour to spare before they are at the walls."

  "Then we've no time to lose," Ned replied. He gestured to the rubble. "I seem to have lost your treasure. Do you think-"

  "Don't say another word. We'll have it found and floated out in no time," Hywel promised. He turned to his waiting companions. "You heard Ned. The swamps and our lives depend on a hide-and-seek game. Let's win it." A cheer went up from the Stars and they flew into their work, and the rubble. The collapsed walls and broken wood came alive with their glow as they flitted in and out of every crevice, crack, and pile of debris. When they couldn't get under it, they picked it up and tossed it aside.

  "Well, that's one problem solved," Ned commented.

  "But we're forgetting one," Percy spoke up. "Even if they do manage to find the treasure, how will we get close enough to the stone to use the item?"

  "How close do we even have to be?" Pat added.

  "Close enough for the stone to hear the ringing of its music," Ned told them.

  "But far enough away not to die," Canto added.

  "That would be preferable," Ned agreed.

  "But won't the stone throw us back if we get close?" Ruth pointed out.

  "No doubt about that, and we might not be surviving the next toss," Canto replied.

  "Maybe Ned's barrier can protect us," Pat suggested.

  Ned pursed his lips and shook his head. "One castor's barrier was already tried. Another won't work."

  "And that castor barrier woke it up. The next one might destroy the entire city," Percy added. Fred cringed, but Ruth patted him on the shoulder.

  "You didn't mean to," she consoled him.

  "We'll have time for blame after the battle," Ned spoke up.

  "Or we'll all be dead," Canto quipped.

  Ned smiled. "Or that, but I don't plan on dying just yet."

  "Neither do I, but how can we defeat the stone?" Pat mused. She glanced at Ned. "Can its power be weakened by constant use of its energy blast?"

  He shook his head. "No. The stones have power so long as there are inhabitants of the region."

  "But can it keep sending out wave after wave of those blasts? Isn't there a point where it needs to rest?" she persisted.

  Ned opened his mouth, then shut it and frowned. He pulled at his beard and a smile slipped onto his lips. "You may have something there. There could be a way of forcing it to use its energy and get in close during the intervals." He glanced around the group. "For my plan we'll need the fastest and most agile of us. Sins, Ruth and Fluffy, I'm afraid you will be needed." Sins nodded, Ruth bowed her head, and Fluffy drooled.

  "And the rest of us?" Percy spoke up.

  Canto grinned and tapped his ax in his hand. "We get to have some fun with the army," he guessed.

  Pat cringed. "I hope they don't smell as bad as-" A smell wafted over her nose and she slapped her hand over her face. "What is that smell?" she garbled. Fluffy lifted his head and howled. The group heard yells and looked to the western border of the city. Torches lit the wall and the cries were of dwarves attacking un-dwarves.

  "It seems the battle has started without us," Ned commented.

  "Then we'd better get going," Shilo spoke up.

  Thilo looked at her in horror. "Yer not going anywhere. Keep yer crows safe and stay with Ned," he ordered her. He stuffed the birds in his hand into her arms and took a few steps forward, but she grabbed his arm and stopped him.

  "And where do ya think yer going?" she shot back.

  "To fight for the city," he told her.

  Her face paled. "Ya don't know the first thing about fighting!" she argued.

  "Ah agree," Canto spoke up. "Yer not a fighter, Thino, and neither are ya, Shilo. Ya both best stay back here or leave the city."

  "Ah know enough not to get myself killed," Thino countered.

  "Not without me there to keep ya alive." Shilo tossed her crows into the air and the birds flew unsteadily over her head. "Now no more arguing. Let's get to the battle before all the good enemies are dead."

  CHAPTER 24

  The group was split into two teams. The warriors were to go to the battle raging on the outskirts of the city, and the nimble friends would remain to distract the stone. Pat set her sword at her side and looked to Fred with a hint of a smile on her face. "Careful with your earthquakes. We don't want the whole city falling into the earth," she teased.

  Fred returned her humor with a shaky smile. This was the first battle he'd ever participated in. "I'll try," he replied.

  "Fred, you're to stay here," Ned told him.

  Fred and Pat looked to Ned in surprise. "Me? What can I do here?" Fred asked him.

  "You can help distract the stone while the Stars get their
treasure close enough to ring it," Ned pointed out.

  "But I already woke it up. What if I make things worse?" Fred argued.

  Pat scoffed. "I don't think that's possible."

  "What if I make it angry and it destroys the whole city?" Fred suggested.

  Ned chuckled and rested his hand on the young man's shoulder. "Then that would be to our advantage."

  Fred blinked. "How would destroying the whole city be to our advantage?"

  Pat rolled her eyes. "Not the destroying part, you fool, the angry part. An angry enemy doesn't know what it's doing and will make mistakes."

  "Well said, Pat, and quite right," Ned complimented. "But we don't have time for arguing. Warriors to your battle and we distractions to our distracting."

  "Good luck to all of us," Percy cheered.

  "And may us all come out alive," Thino grumbled. Shilo rolled her eyes, grabbed his arm, and led the warrior group down the road to their battle.

  Pat hugged Ruth and turned to Fred with a frown. "Try not to doom us all," she advised. Her face softened when Fred winced, and she lowered her voice. "And try not to get yourself killed. I don't like crying at funerals."

  A small smile slipped onto Fred's face and he shrugged. "I'll try not to."

  "You'd better." Pat paused and her eyes flickered around the group. Ruth smiled and turned away. Fred was confused until Pat leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. "Now go show everyone what a good castor can do," she whispered in his ear. Then Pat raced after the warrior group, leaving Fred with a clear blush on his cheeks.

  Ruth stepped up to him and mischievously smiled. "I think she may like you," she commented.

  "What? Oh, um, maybe," was his befuddled reply.

  "Enough goodbyes when we'll say hello again," Ned spoke up. "We have a stone to defeat."

  "But we can't do that without the treasure," Ruth reminded him.

  Ned looked over at the furiously flitting Stars. "The Stars will find the treasure, but we need to know the stone's pulse pattern before it can be used."

  "How can we even be sure there is a pattern?" Fred asked him.