by Des Pensable
The Mentarin spirits then moved into two of the hounds, which promptly attacked Aquitain. She managed to slash one with her spirit sword but the other dived for her throat and took her down into the fountain. Even though she had had armour to the top of the throat the dog was large and had a very good grip. She felt herself go weak as the dog tore into her throat blocking off the air and ripping her throat veins and arteries.
Moments later Yllandril came leaping through the air landing on the hound’s head and it exploded in a shower of brain and bone fragments.
She pried the dog’s jaws off her neck as blood spurted out. Another dog was possessed which attacked the stone spider, this time. That was a bad choice, it freed Aquitain to attack and she did so, slashing the spirit sword through the dog, which immediately jumped away whining and yelping. Yllandril leaped onto Aquitain’s neck clamped her legs around it and pressing her body over the neck wound. There was a surge of healing magic and the blood stopped squirting as the wounds knitted together.
‘Well, it seems that you still need me around.’ said Yllandril using mindspeak.
Aquitain coughed and rubbed her throat.
‘Thanks Yllandril, you may be right.’ then jumped out of the fountain and raced back towards the Trixies. The two guards that had thrown down their weapons stood among the pixies in shock but unharmed. The two guards who decided to fight were dead and full of arrows.
‘Are you okay Your Majesty.’ asked Bellen.
‘Yes thank you Bellen.’ said Aquitain with a hoarse voice
‘Thank you all for your help! It’s good to see that you are all on the alert. I’ll finish bathing now, you can continue the clean-up.’ and she walked back to the fountain and placed Yllandril on one of the statues and continued washing off the blood.
‘This damn Trixie soap is no good. It just won’t get the blood out of my hair properly. What will Miranda think if I give her body back like this? Greasy bloody hair stinking of rat guts.’
‘I don’t think she’ll mind too much, Aquitain.’ replied Yllandril.
‘Any body is better than none and it’s not as if you’re not trying to look after it.’
‘I suppose that you’re right. I’m getting tired. It’s already been a long night. Tell me the bad news.’
‘My husband, Llalorax has made a deal with the Mentarin. If they leave the Llanlleans alone, he’ll not let any Llanlleans help you or the Elendari.’
‘And did they agree?’ said Aquitain still washing her hair.
‘Yes of course.’ replied Yllandril.
‘And where do you stand.’ asked Aquitain.
‘I swore to help you and I’ll stand with you until I die.’ replied Yllandril.
‘Thank you.’ said Aquitain. ‘You are a true friend but I think you should reconsider. I think that I upset a mighty Power a couple of hours ago so I’m possibly living on borrowed time. I’m probably only alive because I’m moving fast enough to stay ahead. I’ve been in three battles tonight and I’m expected to help Darkmantle shortly in another. I want to clean up my pack so they look a bit better. It would be good if you can heal the worst of their injuries, then we’ll be off.’
‘You can’t go to another fight, both you and the dogs are too fatigued.’ said Yllandril.
‘But I must. I started this chaos and it will only be over when either the Mentarin or I am dead.’
‘That’s ridiculous. You’re not alone in this. Even if you die now, it will continue. You started something that has been long overdue. The Elendari, the Llanlleans and the Trixies have been brainwashed, possessed and used for hundreds of years. We’ve been slaves with no future. You only brought it to our attention. We won’t accept anything less than total freedom from Mentarin control and interference from now on.’
‘I thought you said the Llanlleans don’t want to cause any problems with the Mentarin?’
‘No! I said Llalorax doesn’t want to cause any trouble. He doesn’t speak for all Llanlleans. There are a lot of others that want to see change. They will help regardless of what Llalorax wants. There are many who believe in you. The world believes in you. The world didn’t make you Warden for nothing. I believe that it believes that we can win.’
‘So you don’t want me to help Darkmantle?’ asked Aquitain.
‘No! We should help him but keep a positive attitude you have many friends.’ said Yllandril.
‘Okay, I’ll try.’ said Aquitain feeling much less alone. It was good to have friends around. ‘Now can you heal my dogs!’
‘Okay, I’ll try, but will they let me?’
‘They will one way or the other. She then called for them to wash in the fountain and they all jumped in and splashed about like puppies. She walked amongst them washing the gore off. Yllandril sat on her shoulder and climbed down her arm to heal the dog’s wounds while Aquitain cleaned them.
A quarter of an hour later Aquitain led them off to the Palace teleport circle for the trip back to Darkmantle’s estate. She asked Yllandril to stay and heal the Trixies and she reluctantly agreed but like a big sister she cautioned her, to look after herself. When they arrived, Darkmantle and a dozen of his men were waiting with grim faces.
‘How did it go?’ asked Aquitain.
‘No good I’m afraid.’ replied Darkmantle.
‘We were too late. My friend and all his people were dead when we arrived. Most of them were caught and slaughtered in their sleep. They didn’t have a chance. Pondglow will pay for this.’
‘Are you sure it was Pondglow?’ asked Aquitain.
‘There were some of his dead still there.’ replied Darkmantle.
‘I noticed that the two Lords who attacked us earlier took their dead home so that their families could bury them properly?’
‘Usually they would.’ said Darkmantle ‘but these are strange times.’
‘We are dealing with a cunning enemy who would like nothing better than to divide all the Lords. It will make it much easier to defeat them if they fight among themselves. Perhaps the bodies were planted there for you to find. It seems extraordinary that you left within ten minutes of the call for help, yet you were too late.’
‘Perhaps you are right.’ replied Darkmantle thinking about it.
‘Perhaps I should wait for more evidence before I judge Pondglow responsible.’
‘How did you fare with the Trixies?’
‘Your hounds and I had a good fight with a horde of very big rats half the size of the hounds themselves. They fought proudly and bravely. Unfortunately I lost five. The Trixies faired much worse, they lost half their number.’
‘What have you done to my hounds? They seem much too well behaved.’ said Darkmantle looking a bit worried.
‘I think they must be tired. I’ll take them back to their pen if you like.’ said Aquitain.
‘No. We’re all moving to my mountain stronghold. It’s too exposed here. We’ll take them along to help guard the place. You’re very welcome to come of course.’
Aquitain thought for a few moments. She still hadn’t been able to ask Darkmantle any questions. Maybe she’d get a chance if she went along.
‘Okay. I will come for a short stay but my prime concern is to find Miranda’s spirit.’
‘You forget, Lady Warden, it’s now one of my prime concerns as well.’
‘Good we agree then. Lead on. I’ll bring my pack ... err ... your hounds along with me.’ said Aquitain.
‘By the Powers! You don’t actually like my hounds do you!’ queried Darkmantle.
‘Perhaps a little, when you fight together as equals you can’t help feeling closer to them.’ replied Aquitain patting a couple on their heads while they wagged their tails and licked his hand.
Darkmantle was shocked, if he ever tried to do that they’d tear his arm off.
Chapter 11 Darkmantle’s Stronghold
Darkmantle’s stronghold was an old anti-magic rock mine that had been in use for centuries and was now nearly depleted of the valuable material
. There was however sufficient of the stuff still within the walls of the mine to give it an excellent shielding from scrying and other magic location detection powers. It certainly explained why nobody could detect his dealings with the Yith priest Ishteth.
Under his direction over the last couple of years, Newman slaves had turned the network of caves and tunnels into a reasonably hospitable outpost although it was still cold and damp. Some of the caves were turned into dormitories where he had a few dozen troops stationed. These were now filled to capacity with nearly two hundred people, over half being Newman. There were reasonable cooking and bathing facilities and a good quantity of stores. These had been supplemented by as much food that they could carry from the estate.
They could feel secure here but it was also a trap. No one could teleport in or out of the place so if the place were ever under siege by a large enough army there would be no escape. On the positive side the entrance was easy to guard and defend and it would take a lot of effort to get in. The anti-magic rock would also give some protection from possession by the Mentarin, although they were unsure whether a person already possessed would be able to enter or not.
The area outside the stronghold entrance was desolate. It was high up on a mountainside composed of rough red-brown volcanic rock that supported virtually no plant life. There was a strong warm breeze blowing which seemed rather strange, as Aquitain had always associated mountains with cool breezes. At present, all the flat horizontal areas were covered in a fine layer of light grey volcanic ash, which Aquitain thought at first, was dirty snow. In places the ash had been eroded by wind action or washed away leaving the ground strangely streaky in the dim moonlight.
Aquitain in her Miranda form stood at the entrance to the stronghold with Darkmantle and Prendergrass at her side. Each had a serious look of foreboding on their faces. Looking around the grim landscape for the first time she really missed the bright sunlight of Mudrun. Aquitain closed her eyes and imagined the beautiful beach where she had fought the giant squid and Miranda had come to her aid. That’s where she wanted to live, not in this dark, inhospitable place. ‘Why were people here anyway?’ she wondered.
‘Lord Darkmantle why have you never moved your people to Mudrun?’ she asked.
‘I don’t know.’ replied Darkmantle. ‘I personally like Mudrun, but somehow this is home. I think we’ve been here so long that we’ve grown used to the darkness and solitude. There’s also the problem with the Druid Council. They were never keen on us being there.’
‘Do you think that the Mentarin may have something to do with you staying? Maybe they didn’t want you to move for some reason.’
‘It’s a possibility I suppose.’ replied Darkmantle thoughtfully.
‘We’ve all got work to do. Perhaps you could work with Prendergrass on some magic defences while you’re with us Lord Warden.’ suggested Darkmantle as he left.
‘I’ve heard that you were a magic item maker at one time Lord Warden.’ said Prendergrass. ‘We need many hundreds of warding bracelets if we are to successfully fight the Mentarin. I can make about two a day. Do you know any way which would allow us to make them faster?’
‘Yes, I do.’ replied Aquitain.
‘Back in Panmagica there was a cheap and nasty way of making low quality magic items called cloning. We used the process on an occasion where a Lord wanted several hundred water breathing amulets in a hurry to allow his troops to attack a fleet of invading ships from underwater. The process produced an amulet that lasted only a couple of days before dying, but that was enough. The attack was successful and most of the fleet was destroyed.’
‘Amazing.’ said Prendergrass ‘but we would need bracelets that would last longer than two days.’
‘The protection ward in these bracelets is very simple. I’m sure if we cloned it, the resulting bracelets would last a few weeks. We could then repeat the process when they lose their warding ability. The only problem I guess is that you would continually have to check them to ensure they were active. Perhaps we could also make a checker so that the people themselves could check their amulets every day.’ replied Aquitain.
Prendergrass was quite excited at the prospect of making dozens of warding bracelets in one session. He said he would get their smiths making simple copper bracelets right away and suggested that Aquitain might like to go to the peak of the mountain and observe the volcano in the distance to the west. Like clockwork, each fourth evening before dark, it erupted giving off a spectacular show, which was well worth seeing.
Aquitain at first chuckled at the thought of being a tourist and watching one of the local attractions but then thought ‘Why not? I might never be here again.’
She informed the guards of her decision to look at the volcano and started off alone up the rough path to the top about an hour away. The path was really tricky to follow in the semi darkness that was the Moonmist daytime. At times it disappeared and at other times it rose almost vertically.
She changed to her Llanllean form as it was more adapted to the dark with good night vision and hearing. The rock was sharp and the volcanic ash cut into her feet requiring her to toughen her skin for added protection. After about a quarter of an hour she stopped and sniffed the air. She could smell magic and the air had the characteristic taste like there had been a recent discharge of strong magic. She continued on a little perplexed. Perhaps there was a recent magic storm upwind.
Finally, after about forty minutes, she was on the mountaintop and she changed back to the Miranda form. The volcano was several leagues away and dominated the western horizon. It must have been nearly several times the size of the mountain that he was on. She could see rivers of molten lava slowly working their way down its sides adding to its enormous bulk.
She thought about Prendergrass’s comment that it erupted at the same time each fourth day. That was unusual; nature never seemed to be that regular. There must be some mighty, natural mechanism at work and she pondered for a few minutes how it might work.
She was brought out of her reveries by an immense flash of light that lit up the sky from horizon to horizon. A few seconds later she felt the shock wave through the ground then heard the blast through the air. Huge spurts of molten rock sprayed into the air and she felt a blast of raw magic on her face so intense that she thought that he must have been hit by a magic power. She spun around to see if anyone was attacking but there were no more surges of magic.
‘By the Powers, what was that?’ she thought
She looked back at the volcano and saw a tinge of magic purple around the molten magma and was puzzled. Did that blast come from the volcano? If so the amount of magic released must have been massive. She had never heard of such a thing. There was one way to find out. She activated her aura sight so that she could see deep into the magic spectrum. The vision confronting her was awe-inspiring. The whole volcano glowed shades of magic purple.
There must have been a massive magic node inside the volcano. He saw a huge vortex of magic energy streaming above the volcano reaching at least a league into the bright magenta sky. Then she saw a sight that nearly took her breath away. Hundreds of thousands of small coloured lights rose into the sky as a giant cloud towards the vortex where they were caught up into it and swirled around forming a spectacular multi-coloured cone above the volcano. There were also hundreds of larger auras dotted around the sky.
‘Glammer come here.’ she said and the truth radiant appeared beside her.
‘Are they what I think they are?’ she asked.
‘Yes Aquitain, they are moth Radiants. There are probably a million of them. They fly here each eruption day and feed on the magic given off by the volcano. The others are air elementals of various types. They are also thriving on the free magic essence here.’
‘But how can the volcano release so much magic. I’ve never seen or heard of anything that could put out that much magic every few days day. It must work like some type of fountain. Perhaps there’s some giant magic sink on th
e other side of the world when it goes into the ground. Now that would be a sight to see as well.’
‘I’m not aware of it being recycled.’ replied Glammer.
‘Are you saying that it just keeps coming out like that all the time? No wonder this world has so much magic in it. It seems almost unnatural. All our magic theory states that magic in every world slowly runs out in time and they become magic depleted not enhanced.’
‘Maybe it is unnatural.’ said Glammer. ‘We have to go.’
‘Wait! What about Miranda?’ she asked.
‘She’s alive but unless you move quickly we won’t be.’ said Glammer.
Instantly alarmed he looked around and saw no threat then a bolt of black lighting hit nearby.
‘She looked up and saw to her horror a huge swirling vortex of blackness a few hundred paces above her.
‘Black lightning.’ she thought quickly what could it be?
‘By the Powers, it’s an anti-magic storm. Instant oblivion if I’m hit.’ and she sprinted off down the trail as fast as she could go as more black lightning bolts arced down from the purple sky. She looked upwards; the black vortex had nearly reached the mountaintop. Increasing numbers of black lightning bolts began showering the mountain side all around her.
She tried to activate a teleport ring. It failed. She tried another it failed too. My teleport rings have failed she yelled.
‘We’ll have to fly.’ shouted Glammer urgently. ‘The antimagic shouldn’t affect your ability to shape change.
‘I don’t have any flying shapes.’ Aquitain replied.
Glammer touched her shoulder and she changed shape to a mothra; a very large mothra by normal mothra standards.
‘Now flap your wings, fly and follow me’ she yelled.
Aquitain flapped her wings and launched herself off the side of the mountain just as a huge barrage of lightning bolts crashed where she was standing. Glammer flew a few paces in front of her. Aquitain followed as best she could. She was terrified. Glammer shouted for her to mind link. Aquitain formed a link.
