by Bill Albert
“It’s about damn time,” Gallif says as she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him tight. She kissed him on the lips, held him as long as she dared, then stepped back. “I saw the armor in the pit. What happened?”
“I tried to pull off being Acrufix, but I just couldn’t keep it up,” he said without shame. “He’s an agent of the Third Minister and there were just too many things I didn’t know. He cast a spell on the armor to punish me and left me in the pit for dead. I had to shadow cast to get out and I decided to just leave the legendary Elven Killer down there.”
“Agreed,” she nodded. “Let it be forgotten.”
“How did you get here?” He asked holding her hands in his. “I lost track after you were imprisoned.”
“I was taken to the executioner’s plan,” she said and put a finger on his lips to quiet him. “I’m okay. I was pulled through a jump cast and ended up here. I thought maybe you had done when I saw the armor below.”
“It wasn’t me,” he admitted. “I haven’t seen Mekon or Rosario for a while,” he said and continued before she could ask. “They been working underground here. Mekon’s been talking to some of the other giants. Just by asking the right questions they found a lot of allies.”
“I’m glad to know that but it still doesn’t answer the question of who saved me. I even suspected it may have been the Third Minister, but he would have had someone waiting are left me someplace I couldn’t get out.”
“This is his area,” Luvin pointed out. “His offices are a few floors up. Take a left at the intersection and it takes you to his private residence, a right lead you to his offices.”
Without another word, they ran up several flights of stairs, took a right turn, then up one floor. The closer they got too heavy door the sea were torches they found on the walls and they soon were forced to walk. They crept the final few feet to the door without making a sound. As quiet as a shadow they leaned against the door to hear what was happening on the other side.
Though the door seal was so tight they couldn’t hear the words they could detect two different voices in the room. One was a stronger, stockier voice that they knew had to belong to a giant, the Third Minister. The other was softer and higher pets belonging to either of the hobgoblin mail or human female. The conversation was calm and leisure and there was a slight shudder in the door as if the air pressure in the room and change briefly. They both took this is a sign of someone either entering or leaving through the main door but were unsure if anyone was left inside.
Gallif pointed at the door frame then the doorknob. Luvin examine the frame and was surprised to find the traditional metal hinges missing. Instead there were strands of incredibly fake spider webs holding one side of the door in place. The strands were sturdy yet flexible and would act as metal hinges. He imagined this would make opening and closing the door absolutely silent. He was impressed by the workmanship and nodded to Gallif that would be okay.
Ever so slowly she turned the knob on the door and in absolutely no hurry, pulled the door open just enough to see through.
They realize immediately that this hidden entrance was inside a cloakroom. Many of the Giants official robes and accessories were here and they both realized why secret door had been placed in the back. With the religious charms that were kept here no one would dare and enter without the Third Minister’s permission. Even those few he didn’t allow here would be well trained and aware of their status to do anything other than what they were ordered.
Being cautious not to touch anything unnecessarily Gallif followed Luvin to the curtains closed to separate the cloakroom from the office. Luvin found the smallest opening and, without touching it, look through. He carefully backed away and Gallif took his place.
From their position, they could see the Third Minister was at his desk and he was alone in the room. He was using a quell and in a quell to write something on a large unrolled parchment. He was running steadily, making sure every word was crafted correctly, and there was no sense of urgency about him.
Gallif’s grip on her swords tightened as she looked at Luvin and silently mouthed the words “hold door” to him. He nodded that he would and got a tight grip of the handle of his cast hammer.
Gallif took a deep breath, stood tall, then pulled the curtain open just enough for them to slip through silently into the office.
The Third Minister sat at his desk and continued to write. He didn’t pause or give any sign he was aware of their presence. Gallif couldn’t help but wonder if he was so engrossed in writing another proclamation condemning her that he didn’t realize the cause and solution to his problems was right there.
They stepped his one and move without a sound. Faster than they would’ve thought possible they were behind him.
Luvin worked hard to control his breath. All he could see was this terrible giant foot hurt Gallif so much sitting in front of him facing away. He slowly reared the cast hammer back over his head knowing one single blow with all his power behind it would kill the giant. He took a deep breath and prepared to strike when Gallif grabbed his arm frantically warning him to back down.
She pushed him in the direction of the main door and use the tip of her stolen sword to knock the ink well over.
The Third Minister fumbled with the ink well and was starting to turn when the reflection of the sword flashing across his face caused him to halt.
Keeping the blade resting on his throat Gallif moved closer so he could see her and Luvin hurried to the door and spiked it shut using the heel of his boot.
“On a lonely stretch of road after a splendid day of festival we saved your life. I was that just part of your plan?”
“Zaslow, the original, was getting restless and wanted to prove he didn’t necessarily need me anymore. A futile attempt to show strength,” he explained honestly
Gallif didn’t try to hide her surprise. She hadn’t realized the two had been working together for that long.
“Since then I brought down Starpoint Mountain, read books in the Dragon Library, been held captive by the Others, assassinated the Giant Lord president, and been scheduled for execution. Is there anything else I’ve forgotten?”
“Killed the Fourth Minister,” Luvin reminded her propping himself against the door.
“Yes, thank you,” she said calmly. “So, you see, the way I figure it I’m already the most hated person in the Land of Starpoint so killing you won’t make much difference to me.”
“It will to them,” the Third Minister said. “It’ll make them hate you even more.”
“You hope,” she said locking her eyes with his. “Your fear is it will make me even more of a hero.”
“I know they will hate you,” the giant responded through clenched teeth. “They are like puppets to me. Writing a proclamation is like pulling their strings.”
“But you need a king to sign it and make it official,” she challenged him.
Slowly a smile spread across his face and he chuckled.
“King Paleth the dolt,” the Third Minister said with a laugh. “Having so much fun acting like a king he was too stupid to realize that he was nothing more than a puppet on a string. I pulled his strings easily as I do the inhabitants of Starpoint. I write, and sign, a proclamation and they dance at my whims,” he laughed, then came suddenly serious. “Except, for you. Something about you that refuse to dance.”
“The truth,” Gallif said. “I saw the truth about what you were doing. I saw the strings.”
“And what has that gotten you so far?” he challenged her.
“The one thing you most desperately want,” she matched his tone. “The Bridge of
Immortality. I know what it means, and I know where it is. I know it’s secrets.”
“And what you want now is another Royal Proclamation. A total pardon from your crimes against the benevolent Giant Lords. Freedom for you and your friends.”
Gallif’s shoulders dropped and the Third Minister felt her disappointment in him as sure as if she’d cut hi
s throat with the sword.
“You really don’t understand,” she said sadly. “You never will. With all the wisdom and power of the Giant Lords you still don’t think you’re doing anything wrong.”
The Third Minister looked at her hard, hating her, wondering if he could move fast enough to strike her down while only taking a laceration he could recover from.
“Were leaving,” Gallif said. “Luvin, let’s go.”
Luvin asked no questions and walk steadily back to the secret passage. Gallif backed away carefully, making it clear if the giant moved, she was still ready to attack him. They vanished into the cloakroom and were outside the door before the Third Minister could move.
“One direction leads down to the torture chamber,” Gallif said once they were in the hallway. “Where does the other way lead?”
“It’s a short hallway, then more secret doors. I think it goes to the catacombs are archives of the Giant Lords. It would be where Mekon and Rosario are hiding.”
“Hurry,” Gallif said and together they started running. Luvin’s direction for accurate and in five minutes and they were into the catacombs beneath Spring Field. They stopped when they heard footsteps on the stone floor moving towards them. For a moment, they both expected that the Third Minister must have come after them, but the steps were lighter than a giant and there were two of them.
They both had their hands tightly on their weapons when two ragged, pale children came running of the darkness. They were frail with long unkempt hair with torn, and dirty clothes. They stopped several feet away and stared at Gallif and Luvin.
“You’re going the wrong way,” the girl said.
“That’s not the right way,” the boy said and pointed to the nearest intersection. “That’s the right way.”
“How long have you children been down here?” Gallif asked.
The children paused as they looked at each other, neither seemed to know the answer, then simply shrugged.
“What are your names?” Luvin asked.
“We don’t have any names,” the girl said. “We just know each other.”
“Are you down here alone?” Gallif asked and slowly took a step towards them.
“We just know each other,” the boy said and sheepishly took a step back.
“You have to hurry. You have to come this way before the monsters get here,” the girl pointed to the intersection and jumped up and down. “That way.”
“What monsters?” Gallif asked. “What are they?”
“You have to hurry!” the girl shouted anxiously and jumped up and down.
“The monsters will be here soon,” the boy urged them to get moving.
Without another word, the children turned and ran back down the passage and turned at the intersection they had been pointing. Gallif and Luvin immediately followed after them. They turned the corner unsure of what they would see and almost ran into each other as they came to a stop.
There was a very short passage in front of them that ended in a stone wall. To their surprise there was a simple chalk drawing of a door on the wall and more children were standing nearby pointing at it. Both Gallif and Luvin tightened their grips on their weapons. They had heard about the poem about the Children of the Gate many times, most people had, it was part first year learning in many schools.
“Here! Here is the way out,” the girl said excitedly.
“Open it,” the boy said pointing to the chalk drawing of the doorknob.
“No,” Gallif said firmly. Unable to stop themselves both her and Luvin took a step forward.
“There is nothing there,” Luvin said to the girl.
“Nothing at all,” she said back.
“The poem,” Gallif asked Luvin. “The Children of the Gate. How does it go?”
Luvin answered as fast as he could remember. Having had a more formal education, and a family growing up, he had heard the poem more often.
“Children filled with love,
children filled with hate,
children filled with nothing,
are the Children of the gate,”
“Hurry! Hurry!” a second girl said. “This is the way you have to go.”
Gallif and Luvin shook their heads in denial and despite their efforts to stop took another step forward.
“Please, Gallif, go back!” Luvin said.
“The poem. There’s something there,” Gallif whispered trying to fight her own step forward.
“This way, this way,” the third boy added.
Together they took another step forward. They were halfway to the gate now and there were more children around them.
“Don’t listen to the children,
don’t listen to their call,
don’t follow all the children,
through the darkened, no, dark ended, hall.”
“Please, please, this way is safe!” the fourth and second girl said simultaneously.
“I need you to do something for me,” Gallif said not being able to look at him.
“Of course,” Luvin agreed as the both took another step forward.
“If I try to open the door,” she said with one hundred percent honesty. “Kill me first.”
“You must do the same for me,” Luvin said and they were now one step away from the door.
“Open it!” the sixth girl said.
“Something else in there about the children. I can’t remember it,” Gallif growled trying to concentrate. The taunts from the children kept taking her thoughts away from her.
“Here is where you must go!” the fourth boy added.
Luvin was desperately trying to recall the poem. It was getting harder and harder to remove the echoes of the children standing between them and the chalk drawn door.
“When the gate is opened,
daimons there will be…”
Luvin cursed as he lost his thoughts again as they stepped forward. They were close to the door now; it was within reach.
“Dammit, I can’t remember,” Luvin cried.
“The children! It’s about the children and their laughter. They laugh when you go…” Gallif desperately forced the words out. Despite all her own strength her hand started to rise for the door and the children stepped out of the way. “That’s it! The children leaving!”
“No,” Luvin said though he knew she was on to something. “Not going…” he recalled but saw Gallif’s hand reach the chalk doorknob. “The children won’t go…” he said knowing, if he could move freely, he would kill Gallif as she’d requested.
“The children won’t go… There! What is it?”
With great ease Gallif turned the doorknob and the door opened. They looked beyond, through the gate, and saw a tunnel leading to hell. There were no screams or howls from daimons as they expected. It was much worse. They heard the laughing of the children.
Luvin tried to force himself to look away but couldn’t. The wind quickly rose to force them through the gate and he caught the ragged clothes of the third girl willowing in the force.
“Not ‘won’t go’” Luvin realized as a spark in his will power shone bright as the sun. “THEY CAN’T GO!” He yelled and, showing great strength, pushed Gallif away from the door and into where the children were waiting.
Finding her own power strengthened by Luvin’s actions Gallif followed his lean and grabbed desperately at the children. Gallif took the first girl by the hands and gripped them knowing her life and soul depended on it. Luvin was next to her, his arms clamped around the waist of the third girl.
The force of the wind multiplied, and they were both pulled off their feet. Just as suddenly the children’s laughing turned to screams and they violently tried to shake themselves loose.
Luvin shuddered and desperately fought the force of the wind matched by the third girl kicking him. He avoided her wicked gaze by looking at Gallif who was starting loose her hold.
“I’m not leaving you!” he shouted to her. “Either way I will always be by your side.”
Gallif looked at him as she realized what he was willing to do. She knew at that second that she would not let go of the first girl.
The children were kicking at them, screaming, and the others joined it to force them to let go.
“No,” Gallif said to the children. “We will survive!”
As quickly as a door closing the children, the force of the gale, and even the door itself was gone. Gallif and Luvin dropped to the floor hard and gasped for breath as they tried to clear their wild thoughts and reorient themselves.
There was a moment of silence, their breathing steadied, and the finally looked at each other. Gallif gently reached out and brushed his cheek with her palm. Luvin kissed it and rested his face on her hand.
The moment was broken when they heard more footsteps coming along the stone corridor. They quickly got to their feet and prepared for more children and stood just inside the closest intersection with their weapons ready.
As the steps got closer, they fell in unison and it was getting harder to tell exactly how many people were coming. They stayed ready until Jakobus and Rosario arrived.
“Rosario!” Gallif said cheerfully as she Luvin stepped into the corner.
Rosario spun with her weapon ready but quickly relaxed when she saw her old friends. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms round Gallif, kissed her on the cheek, then did the same to Luvin.
Jakobus respectfully kissed Gallif and shook Luvin’s hand.
“I thought I saw you,” Gallif said calmly to the dwarf. “When they were taking me up to the stage to be executed.”
“Yes, I had just arrived and happened to be in the hallway that you passed. It was hard to follow you after that. There were plenty of the militia, and others, round you.”
“What happened in the swamps with Novelevon? Can he cure the elves?” She asked urgently.
“No,” he said sadly after a pause. “He can do it, none of the Others can, even the Giant Lords would fail,” he said than added quickly when he saw the sadness in her eyes. “Lincilara can,” he told her and felt the love and affection for the fairy fill her soul. “Only Lincilara and the fairies have the power.”
“The fairies?” Rosario asked stepping closer. She was stunned but knew from the way that Gallif, Jakobus, and Luvin were looking at her that they were telling the truth. She shook her head and took a deep breath before smiling at Gallif. “You never did have any trouble making friends.”
