Slurr listened to the sleeping sounds that filled the small cottage. He was used to the noises his wife made, and Beru was actually a rather quiet sleeper. Tressida, on the other hand, snored like a buzz saw cutting through a tree. It made him smile, nonetheless. Although he knew he would never share the connection that Cerah had with the queen, he had grown to love her very much, almost as much as he cared for Szalmi, who had been his friend for far longer.
Since they were all slumbering soundly, he decided to step outside and take a walk around the building. The door closed tightly behind him and he tried the knob. Without the pass-phrase it did not budge. The cool air was refreshing, and it sharpened his senses. As he walked silently around the Retreat, he listened intently to the sounds of the forest. There was far more noise than he expected. Insects chirped and buzzed, small creatures scurried through the trees and bushes, there were even a few night birds calling back and forth to one another. Slurr liked this symphony. It made him think of the wild places outside of Kamara where Kern would take him and teach him things that no one else was ever aware that he knew. He taught the boy a good deal about nature during those long walks, but he also taught him about people. “You must live your life for the right and the good,” Kern would tell him. “There are those you will meet who will think little of you, because you will appear slow to them. They will not know that you are keeping your intelligence to yourself, and you can use that to your advantage. Your silence will isolate you from ill will, should you encounter it.” Slurr thought of Kern and Szalmi, flying over endless ocean, unaware of the danger that had come to Melsa. He wished his friend was here to advise him.
But then he shook that off. Kern has taught me well. I know what needs to be done. As long as I keep Cerah safe, everything will be alright. The wizards will flush out the monsters and we will be able to return to our home. Cerah will continue to prepare herself, and we will erase this evil from Quadar, he thought.
Slurr patrolled the area around the cottage until morning came and he was satisfied that there was nothing lurking. He walked to the door and said quietly, “Repose.” The door opened readily when he turned the knob and he entered. The noise from the dragon was louder than ever. He walked to where Beru was sleeping and he shook him gently. “Brother,” he said, “I need you to wake up and take the watch. The daylight has come and I am very tired.”
Beru blinked his eyes several times and sat up. “You have been awake since early yesterday morning,” he said. “Get some sleep. I’m sure Cerah will rest for a while longer. By the Under Plane! Listen to that dragon!”
Slurr laughed. “I know! She’s been doing that all night long. But she’s been working very hard too. She and Cerah have been training the riderless dragons almost non-stop for weeks.”
“I’m going to go outside,” Beru said as he rose and stretched. “Lie down with your wife. You’ve kept us safe all night. Now it’s my turn.”
“Don’t forget your sword. You may take my club as well, if you like,” said Slurr as he settled on the mattress next to Cerah. Before Beru had opened the door to leave, he was sound asleep.
Beru rested the club over his shoulder as he stepped outside. It was heavier than it looked, but he liked the way it felt in his hand. Nothing would get past him!
The forest was even noisier in the daytime. Birds sang their unrestrained songs in the trees all around him. Several times he heard animals moving invisibly nearby. With each rustle he would turn in the direction of the sound, but always the source remained out of view.
After a few hours of walking in circles around the Retreat and listening, Beru began to grow hungry. He thought about the bags of provisions inside the cottage. I’ll patrol a little longer, then I’ll go get something to eat, he thought.
Knowing the door could not be opened without the pass-phrase, he decided to venture a little farther from the building. He’d heard what sounded like a larger animal in the distance and wondered if it might be an elant. He loved those graceful creatures, with their soft eyes and broad antlers. He went about two hundred feet in the direction of the sound. Standing quietly, he listened to see if it would move again and reveal its position to him. He strained his ears but heard nothing. Perhaps it caught my scent, he thought. He turned to head back to the cottage.
It was at that instant that the Silestran’s blade slid across his throat. Beru’s eyes opened wide in shock. As the blood poured out of the jagged wound, he saw four of the foul creatures step out of their hiding places and stand before him. He tried to scream out a warning to the others, but no sound would come out of his mouth. Then a fifth figure appeared. It was the wizard, Zenk. With his last ounce of strength, he tried to lift the club from his shoulder to smash the skull of the traitor, but it fell from his hands. He dropped to his knees. He struggled to draw the sword from his scabbard, but his hands would not obey. The beasts just stood there, watching him die. The last thing Beru saw before his vision faded was Zenk, laughing.
Inside the cabin, Slurr awoke with a start. The dagger, on the floor a foot from the mattress, was making a howling, screaming noise. “Cerah! Wake up! They’ve come!” he cried, shaking her roughly.
Cerah leapt to her feet, instantly awake.
Tressida, too, stood. “Cerah, is it them? Are they here?”
“They are,” Cerah said aloud. She grabbed her podstaff. Looking around, she said, “Slurr, where is Beru?”
Slurr realized, with a sickening dread welling up within, that Beru must still be outside. “You stay here,” he said, heading for the door.
“Where is Beru?” Cerah asked again, her voice desperate.
“Just wait here. Tressida, you come with me.”
The dragon ran after him as he rushed out the door. At first there was nothing to see, then they appeared. Four Silestra, each wielding long, cruel looking blades. They approached Slurr, two to his left and two to the right. The dagger continued to scream in his hand, and the sound clearly bothered the monsters. Not waiting for them to make the first move, Slurr dove at the closest one. Before the beast could react, he drove the dagger deep into its eye and twisted it, opening a wide hole. It was dead before it hit the ground, but the fiend that had been standing next to the fallen one lunged and swung its blade, catching Slurr’s arm and gashing it deeply. The other two were drawing nearer as well.
Tressida had escaped their notice and, as she saw Slurr reel backwards after being wounded, she began to phase. A moment later, the Silestra noticed her indeed. Her rapid growth in the closely growing trees caused several to literally burst as her body expanded. She let out a horrid trumpet that stopped the creatures in their tracks. Slurr used the distraction to his advantage, slashing at the beast that had cut him. Kuldeen’s sharp blade opened his target’s throat. As the beast stumbled, he struck again, driving the blade deep into its chest. With a gurgling sound, it fell.
Tressida turned upon the other two. As they attempted to back away, she sent a shower of flame upon them. Their dark robes burst into fire and they began to scream. The queen reached the closer of the two with her front claws, digging them deep into its flesh. As it squirmed in a vain attempt to escape, the dragon opened wide her mouth and, in a single bite, she ripped off its head.
The remaining Silestran had fallen on its back, badly burned. It tried to scurry back away from the dragon and the human with the screaming dagger, but before it could move very far it saw something that stopped it cold. For there was Cerah, her podstaff held high above her head. “Where is my brother, you bastard?” she screamed. “What have you done to my brother?”
The black creature looked up at her. Here she was. The one Surok had sent it to destroy. The filthy human whose throat he had slit had been her brother. How wonderful! Its quivering lips peeled back to reveal its fangs in a horrid smile. The fire from the dragon had scorched his throat as it had tried to breathe, and now its voice was more horrible than ever. “He was delicious!” it said, laughing hoarsely.
Cerah let ou
t a scream which deafened even Tressida. As the monster continued to laugh, she pointed the podstaff at its face and said, “APART!” The Silestran’s head exploded.
From behind a tree about a hundred feet from the cottage, Zenk quickly realized that things had gone horribly wrong. He turned and began to run through the forest. He was well out of sight before Cerah’s head snapped in the direction he had fled. She had not heard or seen him, but in her mind his face flashed clear and unmistakable. She turned to Slurr. “Zenk! Zenk led them here!”
“We must catch him!” Slurr cried, beginning to run in the direction Cerah had turned. She stopped him.
“No. He is of no consequence now,” she said. “Help me find Beru.”
It took them only a few moments. Tressida, who had again phased down so that she could move among the trees without uprooting them, picked up his scent and led the others to where his body lay, torn to pieces. Cerah fell to her knees. Slurr began to weep uncontrollably. Tressida let out a long, woeful wail. For several minutes, they could do nothing but mourn over Beru’s remains. Cerah, remembering the words of Parnasus after she had given life back to the dead kvarna, realized that it was beyond even her power to do the same for her brother. The cold reality was that there was not enough of him left to resurrect.
Finally, Cerah stood to her feet, leaning heavily on the podstaff for support. “Slurr, help me…gather him.”
Slowly, respectfully, they completed the gruesome task. Slurr retrieved a blanket from the cottage and they wrapped Beru’s broken body in its folds.
“We have no reason to hide now,” Cerah said. Her voice was cold, Slurr realized, unlike he had ever heard her sound before. “The assassins are dead. We must return and inform Parnasus. We must tell him of Zenk’s treason. And we must lay my brother to rest.”
They gathered their belongings and left Opatta’s Retreat behind. After they were a fair distance from the cottage, Cerah instructed Tressida to once again phase to full size. When she had, Cerah told the dragon to remove as many trees as she needed to clear a space large enough for her to be able to take off. The golden queen easily broke and uprooted a dozen or so large trees, creating a sizable patch of empty land. Cerah and Slurr climbed upon her back and Tressida unfurled her wings and launched into the air. They flew to the southeast, back to the populated part of the island.
After they had been airborne for several minutes, Tressida spoke softly into Cerah’s mind, “I am so, so sorry, my beloved.”
At nearly the same moment, Slurr, whose arms were wrapped around Cerah’s waist, moved close to her ear and whispered, “Beru will be avenged.”
Cerah replied to neither of them. Though her eyes were full of tears, she cast them straight ahead. I must focus, she thought. I must bury my brother, then I must set my full wrath against Zenk. How could a spark so dark burn within a wizard of Melsa?
Two hours later, they arrived at the Elders’ Village. Wizards and dragons were everywhere, preparing to search for the Silestra. Slurr and Cerah found Parnasus.
“Why have you come back?” he asked. Then he saw the blood-stained blanket in Slurr’s arms and fell silent.
“There were four,” Cerah said. “They were led to us by Zenk. They murdered my brother. Slurr killed two, Tressida one, and I the last. That threat is past. But the search parties will not disband. They will instead seek out the traitor-wizard and bring him to justice. To me.” She placed her hand on Beru’s body. “But first we must have a hero’s funeral for my fallen flesh.”
Without another word she walked away, alone.
Chapter 5
Zayan
Kern and Szalmi had seen enough of ocean water. For the first two days of their journey they had been able to find small islands on which to rest, but for the last two there had been no trace of land, and Szalmi was tired, though he did not falter.
“We must be near, old friend,” Kern said to his match-mate. Szalmi answered with an encouraging chirp. “I know you must be weary. I’m tired, and you’re doing all the work. Just a little longer now.”
They flew another hour, then another. A kernel of doubt crept into Kern’s mind. Had he gotten his bearings wrong? Had he flown Szalmi off course? But then he saw something in the distance. It was a small cloud bank. Odd, Kern thought. A little tuft of cloud in the middle of nowhere.
“Szalmi, fly down to that cloud,” he instructed, and the dragon responded. As they drew closer, they saw that the cloud bank was in fact hovering over land. Green land. “Aha!” Kern shouted. “We’ve found it, old boy! Good work. Very good work!”
They landed on a beach along the northern shore of the island. Ceekas was much larger than Melsa, though it was one of the smallest continents. It was big enough, however, that finding the place he had seen in his vision was not going to be easy, especially since the dense jungle would require Szalmi to phase down. They would search on foot. Kern flopped onto the sand of the beach and Szalmi lay down beside him, rolling onto his back with this four feet pointed up toward the sky. “You are ever a silly, silly boy,” Kern said to him.
Szalmi made a rude sound in reply and the wizard laughed. They rested for about an hour and then Kern stood. It was late afternoon and he wanted to head into the jungle before it got dark.
“You may as well get phased, Szalmi,” he said. The dragon rolled onto his feet and stretched for a minute before lowering his head and shrinking down. When he had finished, he trotted to Kern and butted him in the back with his head. “Alright, you. We don’t have time to play right now! We have a river confluence to find.” He began walking toward the edge of the jungle when Szalmi butted him again, then ran on ahead. “Oh! You’re asking for it, scoundrel!” Kern shouted. He ran after the little dragon, throwing a handful of sand in his direction.
When they reached the trees, Szalmi stopped running and he waited for Kern to catch up. The wizard removed his maroon hat and wiped the sweat that was already beading on his forehead with it. As they began to walk among the vegetation, which thickened very quickly, he tucked the hat inside of his robes. “I fear I’ve dressed a little inappropriately for our surroundings. It was growing cold in Melsa.” Szalmi walked to him and let the saddlebag that he carried around his neck fall at the wizard’s feet. Kern opened it and withdrew a white linen shirt and a pair of short pants. Stripping out of his robes he put the lighter clothing on. “Much better. Thank you for reminding me, Szalmi, that Milenda had planned for the heat even though I had not thought to.”
The jungle of Ceekas was very much a living thing. It took no time at all before he began to encounter some of the exotic wildlife that he had seen in his vision. The first animals he met were a group of hikus monkeys. They howled a challenge as he and Szalmi passed beneath the trees in which they climbed, and a couple threw fruit at them. Szalmi greedily devoured it. Soon after Kern saw a huge green and blue hooksnake hanging from the branch of a banban tree. It hissed as they drew near. Szalmi hissed back, and the snake retreated. The dragon turned to his match-mate, a smug look on his handsome face.
“You told him!” Kern said.
They managed to get in several hours of hiking through the thick trees before the sun began to set and then continued for two hours more as the darkness deepened.
Finally, Kern said, “Alright, Szalmi. We’ve walked enough. That hour of rest on the beach was good, but I need to sleep, and I’m sure you do as well. We will spend the night here. I’ll start a fire to keep the jungle creatures at bay, then dip into Milenda’s bag for some food. You can go ahead and hunt, but do not venture far.” The dragon gave a chirp of understanding and ambled off to find some food of his own. I hope tropical food agrees with him, Kern thought as he gathered some deadwood and commanded the fire to life.
The night air was thick and very warm, so he sat back far enough from the fire that he was not oppressed by its heat, but not so far that he wasn’t within its light. He considered his quest. I am nervous about meeting this Riddue craftsman, he thought. Of course
, that’s assuming I can even find him. This jungle seems endless, unbroken. And I’ve seen no trace of any rivers. But, of course, I will find him. The Sarquahn gave me a clear picture of that place. I don’t suppose he will react warmly to my appearance, but I have my craft to rely upon if need be. I wonder if the Riddue know of Surok. If the man does, it may make my task easier. Convincing him that he will be helping conquer the evil that is rising on Quadar will be simplified if he is already familiar with the wickedness.
As he sat deep in thought, he heard Szalmi making his way back. The dragon came into view, looking full and contented. “Did you find something that met with your approval?” he asked as the dragon settled in next to him. He put his arm across Szalmi’s back. The dragon made a cooing sound and closed his eyes. “Yes, rest, old friend. Hopefully, tomorrow we will find our rivers and our craftsman.”
The wizards, young and old, who had built Beru’s funeral pyre stood around Cerah. She had insisted that Slurr allow her to place her brother’s remains atop the structure by herself. Pyres on Melsa were built thick and they were built tall. She had to climb the side of the pile of logs and sticks, holding the tightly wrapped corpse over her shoulder. When she reached the top she arranged the fresh, clean white linens containing Beru’s shattered body, smoothing and straightening it until she was satisfied. She stood for a moment and looked at him, then climbed back down.
Many Hidden Rooms Page 7
