Many Hidden Rooms (Cerah of Quadar Book 2)

by S. J. Varengo

  “I’m beginning to believe she is capable of just about anything,” Slurr said, smiling weakly. “I cannot wait to be with her again.”

  As the two men approached the green dragon, Valosa let out a trumpet of joy at seeing Slurr alive. “Yes, Val,” said Yarren, “we’ve found him! Now come, let’s leave this horrid place behind.” Yarren instructed Valosa to lay as flat on the ground as he could, so that the depleted general could climb upon his back.

  At that moment, the air was torn by a mighty roar. Slurr and Yarren snapped their heads around to see that the snow beast had returned with yet another body. Upon seeing the two of them and the dragon, it tossed the corpse aside and made for them at top speed.

  “Not what I was hoping for,” said the weary Slurr, pulling out his sword with one hand while unsheathing Kuldeen with the other.

  “Nor I,” said Yarren, raising his staff as the monster approached. As the beast approached Yarren, he managed to send a bolt of magic blue flame in its direction. Although they’d been taken by surprise and he was off balance, the talented wizard managed to hit the creature’s right arm with the blast. It screamed in pain and took a swipe at him. Yarren was able to sidestep the beast’s claws, and he rolled away before the monster could swing at him again.

  Rather than going after the wizard, the snow beast turned its attention to Slurr, who stood shakily, holding his weapons at the ready. As the monster drew near, Slurr slashed with his sword. Even in his dreadful condition, Slurr’s warrior skills did not desert him completely. His blade cut deeply into the beast’s badly burned arm. Again, the monster howled in agony. Reflexively swinging its good arm, the great white creature backhanded Slurr, sending him toppling to the ground. As it prepared to pounce upon the fallen lad, it caught a green flash out of the corner of its eye. The snow beast turned its head just in time to see a snarling Valosa lunge between it and Slurr. Before the monster could react, Valosa shot his mouth forward and, in a single motion, bit the giant creature’s head completely off its neck. The snow beast’s legs crumpled, and it fell heavily…right on top of Slurr.

  “Not again!” he cried from beneath the bleeding carcass. Yarren laughed in spite of himself at the irony of it all. Valosa spit the monster’s head from his mouth, then easily pulled its body off the struggling general.

  “You just can’t seem to stay out from under things, General Slurr!” Yarren said, still laughing.

  “Ha, ha. You’re a very funny fellow, Yarren. An absolute comic! Now, how about helping me onto your mighty dragon’s back. I’ve had more than enough of this forsaken continent.”

  As Yarren assisted his friend onto his match-mate’s broad back, he grunted in agreement. “I am not glad that Surok eluded us,” he said. “But it does not break my heart that when we do finally confront him, we will do so some place warmer than the Frozen South.”

  After making sure that Slurr was securely mounted on the green dragon’s back, Yarren climbed on as well. He sat behind the general, the better to steady him.

  “Up, Val,” he said. “Take us away.” The green dragon spread his wings and, with great effort, lifted off the endless sheet of ice. “It is not easy for him to fly in the frigid air,” he explained to Slurr, “but he will carry us away nonetheless. He is as eager to be done with this icy hell as we are.”

  “Do you suppose the army is still at Niliph?” Slurr asked. The small continent was the closest, geographically, to their landing site on the Frozen South, and that is where Cerah had decided the ships would unload before going back to get the warriors and wizards who had remained behind.

  “I do not know for sure,” said Yarren. “They have been gone for quite some time, and it’s possible that the Chosen One has moved them elsewhere, after Surok and his marauding scum. But that is where we’re heading nonetheless.”

  As they flew, Yarren told Slurr the terrible news that Surok had also gone to Niliph, arriving before the Army of Quadar and leaving naught alive, save the scavenger birds that feasted on the flesh of the slaughtered humans.

  “Even if they have left, it should be a safe place for you to rest and regain your strength. Surok has gone on to bask in the blood of Free People elsewhere. Renton said they had not determined in which direction his forces headed. Indeed, we do not even know for sure how he is transporting them. But the Admiral said that Cerah is convinced they will be able to locate him and overtake his mob.” As he spoke, Yarren reached into a leather pouch which hung around Valosa’s neck. From it he pulled a piece of bread, which he handed to the starving Slurr.

  As he hungrily devoured the crust of bread, Slurr turned to his friend. Talking with his mouth full, he said, “I bet you’ll be happy to see Russa.”

  Yarren pictured in his mind the face of the beautiful young wizard to whom he was betrothed. He was indeed desperate to be with her, to hold her, and tell her that everything would be alright. He closed his eyes as they flew and, drawing upon the strength of the spark within him, he magically projected a call to Russa, wherever she might be. “I’m coming,” he told her, unsure if she would be able to sense him from so far away. Then he said to Slurr, “And I’m sure you’re looking forward to reuniting with Cerah.”

  The thought of once again being with his wife, after coming so close to dying on the ice of the Frozen South, caused Slurr’s eyes to suddenly well up with tears. Seeing this, Yarren placed his hand on his friend’s shoulder.

  “I am happy to be bringing you to her,” he said. And then he added, to himself, Especially since I’m bringing you back alive.

  He reached into the leather satchel once more and pulled out Slurr’s hat. Handing it to the smiling general he said, “Put this on. It’s cold outside.”

  Their laughter echoed across the desolate plain.

  Chapter 13

  The Topaz Dragon

  Cerah sat on Tressida’s back as they flew high above the Mayduk Ocean. Flanking her on either side were the two wizards who had seen to her training, Kern and Parnasus.

  “Elder, what do you make of the reports from the riders who have returned from Oz Qanoti? They saw the unnatural clouds off its southern shore, but when they lit upon the outskirts of Kal Berea, there was no sign of Surok having been there.”

  Parnasus thought, not for the first time, about this enigmatic report. When the armada had returned from the Frozen South and had gone to the continent of Niliph, the nearest to the point on the ice plain from whence they’d departed, they had seen the sky boiling far in the distance. When they had arrived in the port city of Roo, they found the people slaughtered. To see the signs of Surok’s approach without finding similar decimation was confusing.

  “Alas, Cerah, I simply do not have a definitive answer for you,” he said at last. “Several scenarios come to mind. First, the riders could have been mistaken, and it was a natural storm they witnessed. Or perhaps it was indicative of the passing of Surok, but for whatever reason, he chose not to bring his army ashore, at least not at Kal Berea.”

  “In any case,” interjected Kern, “it is the only lead we have received thus far. The reports from the other nine continents, as well as from Melsa, indicate no trace.”

  “My father told me that Surok’s troops numbered nearly ninety thousand, by his estimation. Granted, he was in a deplorable condition by the time they departed the Ice Cave, leaving him and the other captives behind to die. But even if he overestimated, I must still believe his force is immense. How could such an army remain unseen?”

  As they flew west toward Oz Qanoti, Cerah peered into the distance. From the height at which dragons preferred to fly, around sixty-five hundred feet above the sea, one could see for many miles, especially on a day as cloudless and clear as this one. Much had changed for Cerah since leaving Kamara almost a year before, but one thing that had not was the joy she felt when traveling on a beautiful day. Her experience had taught her to temper that elation with caution. She had been basking in the pleasure of riding through green hills on the back of a fleet k
rast the day they had been waylaid by Jamari raiders. Nearly waylaid, Cerah thought, correcting herself. The Jamari krastmen had not fared very well, as Cerah had demonstrated for the first time her innate skills at melee combat, dispatching nine of the ten men with her podstaff. Since then, whenever she was tempted to lose herself in the bliss of transit, she kept an eye out for danger.

  “If there is anything untoward,” Tressida said into Cerah’s mind, “I will see it long before you do, my pearl. If you wish to bask in the wonder that is flying with me, I will tell no one!” The mental bond that she and the golden dragon shared was a source of great comfort to both of them, but it still sometimes caught Cerah off guard when Tressida responded to her idle thoughts.

  “I do so love flying on your wonderful back,” she silently said to the dragon. “Even on a quest as harrowing as this, it is one of the two most pleasurable experiences of my life.”

  “And the other is being wrapped in the arms of your Rock,” said Tressida. “I believe with all my heart that you will soon know that rapture once again. You have said yourself that the Greater Spark has revealed to you that Slurr did not perish in those dreadful foothills.”

  “Yes,” said Cerah. “I know that Slurr lives. There is a connection between us, different from the one you and I share, but no less profound. He lives, but it has been over a month since we left him behind. And still Yarren has not returned. Now we have left Niliph, which is surely where they will go when they leave the Frozen South. He will be looking for me, but he will not find me.”

  “No wizard worth his salt will miss the message you left behind. Indeed, no human could miss it either, though it is written in mages’ runes. Yarren will know what to do.”

  Cerah had indeed made sure that the young wizard would know exactly what to do. She had conjured a flaming rune, twenty feet tall, which hung in mid-air above the docks of Roo. The emblem would continue to burn there until Yarren arrived. In the written language of the wizards it said simply, “To Oz Qanoti.”

  “Yes, you’re right. All will be well. I just miss him so much, Tress. And poor Russa! She has fulfilled her duties like a trooper, but she has only my word to go on that her betrothed has not perished on the ice. She said she has not yet mastered the ability to connect to the Greater Spark as have the more experienced wizards. If she did, she too would know with certainty that they were both alive.”

  As they continued westward, Cerah could see that some fluffy cumulus clouds were forming below them. Again, her sense of wonder overtook her. She loved to look down on the cottony formations beneath Tressida’s mighty figure. It was like flying above so many beautiful pillows. Pillows, she thought. The dragons and riders are probably getting tired. We should find a place to set down. Oz Qanoti is still two days distant.

  “I’ll fly below the clouds to better spot an appropriate resting place,” Tressida said in answer to her thoughts. The queen tucked her wings beside her golden body and dipped into a steep dive. Tressida loved to execute extreme maneuvers, especially if there were male dragons flying with her.

  “Show off,” Cerah chided, as she did whenever her match-mate left another behind. This time both Parnasus’s great black dragon, Dardaan, and Kern’s playful red, Szalmi, looked down as Tressida tore through the sky away from them.

  “There she goes again,” Kern called over to his teacher.

  Parnasus chuckled. “The queen does love to challenge the boys, doesn’t she,” he said. Though he and Dardaan had been flying the skies of Quadar for over a millennium, Parnasus was still willing to show the queen that she was not the only one capable of aerial gymnastics. He nudged the ancient black dragon with his knees in such a way that Dard knew what his rider desired. He too drew in his wings and dropped rapidly.

  Kern sighed, then directed Szalmi to dive as well.

  Behind them, nearly a thousand dragons looked on as their leaders cavorted below them. Russa, and other wizards Cerah had appointed as leaders of the various groupings she and Kern had set up, realized that they were likely looking for a place to seek respite, and they passed the word through the ranks that they should descend. None did so with as much exuberance as the Chosen One and her counselors, however.

  Within a short amount of time, Szalmi let out a quick, staccato trumpet. He had spotted an island that appeared ideal for a place to touch down and rest. Tressida saw it too and said to Cerah,

  “That looks acceptable. I think it is inhabited, however.”

  Cerah looked down on the lush patch of green in the endless gray sea. Yes, she could see signs of human habitation. As they got closer, she could make out a village on the eastern shore. Surveying the coast to the north of the hamlet, she could see a long stretch of beach which appeared devoid of people. “Tress, head for the beach. If the people who live here have not yet heard about this conflict, I don’t want to frighten them by dropping several hundred dragons down in the middle of their village. After we land I will approach them.”

  “Do you want to signal the ships first?” the golden dragon asked. Just as when they had voyaged to and from the Frozen South, the flight of dragons soared over the armada carrying the Army of Quadar. Admiral Renton and his Marta sailed on point, with hundreds of ships behind him. Cerah indicated that Tressida should drop down close to the flagship so that she could converse with Renton.

  “Ahoy, Admiral,” she called as the queen hovered alongside the craft that had first conveyed her to the island of Melsa.

  Renton turned to face her, having been a little startled by the sound of her voice. “It still amazes me that a creature as grand as Queen Tressida can fly so noiselessly. I didn’t hear you approach.” It didn’t help that they had come up to the port side of the ship, which meant they were on Renton’s left, the side on which he was missing an eye. So he hadn’t seen them either.

  “We are setting down the dragons on the island on your starboard side,” she said, pointing. “There are people there, but a beach north of the village looks good for resting the flight.”

  “It will give you a chance to warn them of the danger,” Renton said. “Although I would think if Surok was heading this way he would have already found this place.”

  “Hard to say,” Cerah replied. “It’s a fairly small island. If he was intent on reaching Oz Qanoti, he might have overlooked it.”

  “Well, you’ll know when you arrive. As we saw on Niliph, his passing through is unmistakable and horrible to look upon.”

  Cerah turned again toward the island and saw that the head of the flight had nearly reached the area on which she had instructed them to land. “You’re right, Admiral. It is a sight I hope to never see again. With Ma’uzzi’s guidance, we’ll stop the butcher before he is able to wipe out any more of the Free People.”

  Just as Cerah was preparing to fly off, she saw her brother Martan coming across the deck to where Renton was standing. He waved to her and called, “Cerah, have you heard anything from Slurr?”

  Now that Cerah’s sister Ketah was dead, Martan was the oldest of the Passel children. He was the tallest of all the offspring of Jerund and Jul, and was a sturdy, well-built young man, though still considerably smaller than his adopted brother, Slurr.

  “Nothing yet. I continually project to him,” she said. “But I’m not confident that he has received my thoughts. I have a difficult time getting through his thick cranium, either magically or by simply asking him to not do anything dangerous. I still feel his spark connected to mine however. That is how I know he’s alive. He will come.”

  Martan smiled up at his sister. “Yes, he will. Since you were toddlers he’s never let you get very far out of his sight.”

  Cerah smiled too. “Nothing will keep him away, at least not permanently. And his return will mean the arrival of Yarren as well. He is one of my best young wizards, but more importantly, he is the betrothed of Russa, who I’ve yet to fully convince that they are both well. She fears she has lost him.”

  The young man looked to the islan
d, where the last of the dragons were now landing. “Going to rest the flight, I’m guessing?”

  “Yes. You were not on the trek from Harundy to the Frozen South, so you haven’t seen this before. As we sail, I must periodically rest the dragons while the ships continue. After they’ve regained their stamina, the flight catches up with the armada and we move on together. We had to do it several times on that voyage. The distance to Oz Qanoti is much less, so this will be the only time we have to stop.”

  “Very well, go rest your queen. I shall see you when you return.” With a wave he walked off, rejoining the crowd on the deck. Although the fleet had added several ships and had been able to carry fewer warriors per boat, the craft were still quite crowded.

  As Cerah flew away from the Marta and headed to the sandy beach, she thought about how they had acquired the new ships. They had all been left abandoned in the harbors of Roo and Armethia when Surok had wiped out the people of those two cities. There were twenty boats in all, and the sailors assigned to crew them whispered that they felt uneasy on vessels where so many had died. Cerah had heard from Renton that one man said it felt like sailing on a ghost ship. But commandeering the vessels had been essential. The Army of Quadar was so large that the fleet was massively overloaded, making conditions onboard not only uncomfortable, but unsafe, especially if sailing great distances. Twenty more ships barely touched the problem, but any relief was welcome.

  As Tressida prepared to land on an open patch of beach, Cerah saw Russa jumping up and down and waving her arms wildly over her head.

  “I wonder what that is all about?” Tress said as her claws dug into the sand.

  “Cerah!” the beautiful wizard shouted as she ran toward them, “Yarren has projected to me! I saw his face clearly and received two words: ‘We’re coming!’ Oh, Cerah you were right! They are alive.”

  Sliding down off Tressida’s back, Cerah embraced Russa warmly. “You see, silly? I told you all would be well. Was that the extent of the projection? No indication of how far out they are or when we might expect them?”