Shifting Planes- The Complete Box Set

by Jeff Sabean

  “Why have you brought these men to me, sister?” the queen asked in a haughty tone.

  “They rescued me from a dirty nasty orc,” Gabrielle began, then stopped as her sister’s eyes narrowed in anger.

  “How were you apprehended by an orc,” Linnie asked, her eyes never leaving the two humans before her.

  “As I traveled south, I stopped overnight in the city of Terminus. The former ruler of the city, a Chondri thug named Jim, discovered my identity and sent his guards to capture me. He kept me imprisoned for a short time and then sold me to an orc king named Sgel the Nasty, who kept me in a cage naked, barely feeding me and keeping me on display for his minions. These two humans, along with a group of adventurers from Terminus, killed Sgel the Nasty and rescued me from my cage. The cleric who travels with them healed me and returned me home,” Gabrielle let the words flow from her mouth so rapidly that Heishi had a difficult time keeping up with them, even though he already knew the story.

  Linnie sat perfectly still, hardly breathing as she listened to her sister’s story, her eyes locked on the humans.

  “You said 'former ruler’ of Terminus: what became of this Chondri?” Linnie asked, never blinking.

  “These two and their companions removed him from his leadership position by way of a swift beheading,” Gabrielle replied, unable to hide the smile creeping across her face.

  “For that you have my gratitude, humans,” the queen began, still unblinking. “However, my question still has not been answered, sister,” she continued, finally breaking her gaze to turn to Gabrielle. “Why have you brought these men to me?”

  “They were coming to see you already when I met them,” began Gabrielle, more slowly this time. “They have information for you of some urgency, but first I must ask a favor.”

  “What favor do you need from me?” the queen replied guardedly.

  “Two of their companions, a half-orc and a gigantic dwarf, remained in Terminus when we departed. The third traveled with us, however he was, ahh, reluctant to come with me to see you,” Gabrielle stated, muttering a bit toward the end as she attempted to word her story properly.

  “And why would a rescuer of my baby sister be, ‘ahh, reluctant,’ to meet me?” Linnie asked, sitting straighter on her throne as she mimicked her sister’s voice.

  “He is a shadow elf, sister,” Gabrielle began, then stopped abruptly as she saw the color leap into the queen’s cheeks. “I thought the same as you when I opened my eyes and saw him,” she began again, spitting out the words as quickly as she was able. “But he is a cleric, adept at healing, and if not for him I would not have lived through the journey home. I know what we are taught of shadow elves by our people, and by all accounts they are true, but this one is different! He is kind and has turned his back on his own people for the same reasons why we war with them!”

  As she finished speaking, she stared her sister in the eye, the look on her face begging the queen to understand.

  “Bring him to me in the morning,” Linnie replied after a few tense moments. “If he is different as you say he is, then I will welcome the rescuer of my sister. If he is not, I will not have a shadow elf loose in the castle after the sun is down.”

  With that, she waved her hand at the trio, dismissing them from her presence to retrieve the wayward shadow elf.

  Chapter 5 – Scouting Harmonui

  Today...

  “I repeat my question, Fion,” Ja’ade stated, her voice dripping with disdain as she pronounced the shadow elf’s name, “What are you doing here?”

  “The answer is simple, lady,” he replied, his smile disarming her indignation at his presence. “My brother was travelling with the other-worlders to Harmonui, and I believe them to all be prisoners of the queen of the city. I am here to provide what information I may and to ask you to rescue him along with your companions.”

  “Any why will you not be joining us in this rescue mission, if you care so much for your brother?” Ja’ade replied with thinly veiled sarcasm.

  Fion spread his arms out wide, allowing Ja’ade to take in his entire form, the shadows wrapping themselves around his body and attempting to hide him from the sunlight.

  “As you can see, lady, I would not exactly blend into the local populace,” he replied, still smiling.

  “Oh, I can fix that,” Zatus interrupted, his eyes swirling with all the colors of the rainbow. He reached out his hand toward Fion, and the colors momentarily wrapped the elf’s body in light, transforming from his head to his toes into the likeness of a high elf in white armor and robes.

  “I heard your group contained an illusionist, but I did not believe it until now,” Fion replied, inspecting his milky white skin. “Outstanding, Master Gnome, truly remarkable. As I was saying, WE will be rescuing my brother and your misplaced companions together.”

  All eyes turned to Dracorex, who still maintained his illusion of a shadow elf.

  “Not I,” he replied, his chuckle coming out as a growl. “These surface elves have their own dragons, and illusions cannot deceive our kind. I will not be risking myself to rescue lesser beings. IF you make it back to me alive, I will be here, perfectly content to wait, and then you owe me a war.”

  The eyes of the group turned to Mialin, whose golden eyes remained fixed on the shadow dragon. Without turning her head, she acknowledged their stares with a nod.

  “Yes, I will join you. It is a worthy quest, and merits the risk,” she stated, never turning her gaze or blinking.

  “Well, then, shall we proceed?” Aki asked, attempting to break the tension.

  “Yes, let’s all go die together, it’s more fun that way,” Zatus replied, shaking his head and transforming his own image into that of a high elf as he walked toward the road.

  ◆◆◆

  The trip to the city was smooth and uneventful: it seemed the elves maintained the roads into their city well, and the beasts prevalent along the roads to the south were not present. The group walked in relative silence, none of the original party fully trusting Fion.

  As the gates of the city came into view, Ja’ade slowed slightly and turned her head to look at the disguised shadow elf.

  “What is your plan now, Fion,” she asked, sneering a bit as she said his name.

  “Good lady, you will need to fake friendship with me if you wish to successfully execute this rescue,” Fion replied dryly, looking her in the eye.

  “Please, let’s refrain from using the word 'execute’ until we at least rescue our people,” Aki intoned, wincing a bit at the word.

  “Fair enough, other-worlder,” Fion replied, grinning a bit. “To answer your question, Lady Ja’ade, my plan is to discover where prisoners of the queen are taken, infiltrate the dungeon, rescue my brother and as many of your friends as we can, and exit without being, well, executed.”

  “That one thinks he’s funnier than he is,” muttered Zatus, continuing to trudge forward to the gate.

  “Should we split up?” Ja’ade asked hopefully, clearly not relishing the idea of spending more time with Fion than she had to.

  “Never split the party,” Aki muttered, drawing looks from everyone but Zatus. “Sorry, it’s a good rule in strategy games that we play: you never split the party. We are stronger together, and if one of us runs into trouble, the rest will spend more time rescuing that one than accomplishing the task at hand.”

  “This is a good rule, then,” Fion agreed, “Never split the party.”

  It was late in the afternoon and the conversation lightened the closer they came to the gate, each member of the group taking on the role of weary travelers who wished nothing more than to take a hot bath and sleep in a warm bed. Navigating the gates of the city in daylight hours proved to be a simple task, and the companions strolled through the marketplace feigning interest in the wares of the vendors.

  The group wandered apart a bit as they perused the goods, maintaining line-of-sight with each other while looking as harmless as possible. It was clear to the c
ompanions that races other than surface elves were being politely confined to this main street of the city, where goods from all over the surface of Kartos could be sold. If Fion had not warned them ahead of time, nothing would look amiss, but the subtle undertones were present when they searched for them.

  Fion walked with Zatus, the two taking on the persona of snobby high elves, looking down on the inferior races around them. They stopped to speak with a guard, appearing to lazily pass the time.

  “Good guard, I heard rumors there was recently a shadow elf caught in the city,” Fion said, feigning horror at the thought.

  The guard glanced both ways and leaned closer to Fion before answering.

  “Yes, there was, but it is nothing to worry you fine gentlemen about. He was caught outside the city and never entered here, so the harmony was maintained at all times,” the guard replied, a smug expression on his face.

  “Outside the city, you say?” Zatus replied, fanning himself from the warmth of the afternoon sun. “How was this, this, beast discovered?”

  “You did not hear this from me, of course,” the guard began, glancing side-to-side again and then once over his shoulder for good measure. “Queen Linnie Anaoilin’s own sister was harboring the fugitive! She brought some rather unmentionable humans into the city with her, and the queen discovered she was also hiding this monster on a ship in the harbor!” As he spoke, he maintained a conspiratorial tone, nodding his head and whispering to the two.

  “Her own sister?” Fion gasped, truly surprised by this turn of events.

  “Yes, good sire,” the guard replied with a wink, “but make no mistake, another week in the dungeon with some special attention from that barbarian Trodgen and she will see the error of her ways.”

  “Trodgen?” asked Fion, looking confused.

  “Yes, sire, Trodgen. The bodyguard of the queen, that gigantic human from the north lands. Have you not seen him? He surely is a beast, and there are rumors he has ogre blood in him! I do not know why the queen suffers his presence...” the guard stopped abruptly, glancing around again, knowing he had said too much.

  “What of this ship? Has the captain been arrested and punished as well?” Fion asked, letting the guard know he was eating up every word of the juicy gossip.

  “Ahh, the ship. It is known as the Slip Away and is owned by one calling himself ‘Tylo the Blue.’ We all know he is a pirate, but he calls himself a ‘gentleman adventurer.’ Queen Linnie allows his kind into port as he brings exotic goods which cannot be otherwise unacquired, but he is not permitted to leave the dock area. When the shadow elf was removed from this pirate vessel, the captain swore innocence as Lady Gabrielle brought him aboard. His ship remains in the harbor for now until Queen Linnie decides what to do with the scoundrel,” the guard replied, winking at the end to show he had an opinion as to what would be done to the pirate.

  “We are in no danger, then, Master Guard?” Zatus asked, helping the guard focus again.

  “Nay, good citizen, the market is as safe as ever. None of this riff-raff will harm you,” the proud guard stated with certainty.

  Bowing their heads in respect to the self-important guard, the two wandered away, maintaining idle chit chat until they were out of earshot of the guard.

  “Well, now we know how they were apprehended,” Fion stated, “so we simply need to discover where they are imprisoned.”

  “Well,” replied the disguised gnome, “if this were YOUR city, where would the dungeon be located?”

  Both heads turned simultaneously to the castle in the center of the city, its walls shining brightly in the late-afternoon sun.

  “Now we know the how and where,” Fion answered, never taking his eyes from the magnificent structure, “so I suppose we simply need a distraction.”

  “It would seem we have another city to set fire to,” Zatus replied, grinning as Fion snapped his head toward him.

  “That will not work,” the elf replied, his eyes scanning the crowd. “Harmonui is a city of elves, not a slum like Terminus. A fire would be extinguished quickly, and the guards would then be alert and searching for the vandals. We need a, ahh, bigger distraction.”

  “What about a shadow elf in the city?” Zatus responded, grinning evilly.

  “You read my mind, Master Gnome,” Fion replied, matching the evil grin.

  Chapter 6 – Arrested!

  Three days ago...

  After a night of fitful sleep aboard the ship, the companions awoke as the sun rose, anxious to introduce Di’eslo to the queen. They ate a rushed meal of jerky, bread, and fresh water, then assembled on the deck of the ship, ready to proceed to the castle.

  “Don’t be soundin’ like a good idea to me, lad,” Tylo the Blue, the captain of the Slip Away, said to Di’eslo as he waited for Gabrielle to lead them into town. “Do ye see them extra guards on the dock? They been showin’ up all night long, they have. I’m not thinkin’ the queen be trustin’ her sister about ye...”

  “I have been thinking the same all night,” Di’eslo replied, looking apologetically at Gabrielle as he said it. “However, the lady has already made her sister aware of my presence, and if I do not trust her now, I am sure it will not end well for me.” He glanced around at the crew on the deck, who were all pretending to be busy while they watched the scene unfold. “Or your crew,” he added softly.

  “Bah, I been coming here fer years,” the Chondri captain stated, bristling at the implication. “I ain’t allowed in town meself, as I scare the goodly folk,” he winked at Di’eslo slyly. “But they ain’t ne’er caused me no grief if I stay aboard.”

  “But you have never harbored a shadow elf before,” Di’eslo replied sadly. “The die has been cast, I’m afraid, and I must see this through now or I will be bringing judgment on you and your crew. I hope to see you again soon, my friend, but if I do not, know that I appreciate all you have done for me.”

  The two clasped hands, then gave a quick hug and slap on the shoulder, releasing each other immediately and nodding their heads to each other in an unspoken bond.

  “Stop acting like I am taking you to your doom,” Gabrielle said, rolling her eyes in annoyance. “My sister is no tyrant, and when she meets you, she will see you as I do: not as an evil shadow elf, but simply as a good man who rescued her sister from certain death. If you two drama queens are ready, we should be off.”

  With a grin, Di’eslo turned to follow his friends down the gang plank and off the ship. He watched the guards warily as they bristled, seeing the cloaked stranger walking toward them, but none made a move toward him.

  “We are here to ensure the safety of you and your...friends...lady,” one of the guards stated as Gabrielle drew near.

  “That is kind of you, but rather unnecessary,” she replied, smiling too sweetly as she understood the undertone. “If you wanted to be the first to get a look at the shadow elf, all you had to do was to ask,” she finished, pushing past the guards and leading her companions into the city.

  “Boo!” Di’eslo whispered as he passed the guard who had spoken to him, grinning as he saw the elf’s hand tense on the handle of his sword.

  “It is probably not wise to antagonize them,” Heishi muttered from his left, “but it sure was amusing.”

  They headed down the street, making their way through the market district. The normally chaotic street made it easier to pick out the guards who moved in concert with the companions, ever keeping a watchful eye on Di’eslo.

  “I feel like a lamb being led to the slaughter, Top,” Tiane whispered, trying not to focus on the guards.

  “I know what you mean. Make sure you keep your eyes open. I don’t think we’ll be treated poorly here, but I am not going to allow our friend to be taken captive either,” Heishi stated, leaving no room for debate.

  “Easier said than done,” the young sniper replied, his eyes continuing to scan the crowd. “I’m counting around twenty that are staying with us, and each of the guards in the market clearly know who we
are as well. If they want to take him, they will.”

  Turning the corner from the market onto a side street, the guards who had been quietly pacing the friends converged on them. No longer were they passively keeping pace: the companions found themselves blocked in on all sides and being herded quickly to the castle’s gate.

  “What is the meaning of this?” Gabrielle demanded as she was rushed along.

  “Apologies, Lady,” the leader of the guards replied, “but the queen requested we keep your, ahh, friend, safe, and Trodgen declared that we should do so in exactly this manner. We will arrive shortly, and you may voice your concerns to the queen at that time.”

  “Who, may I ask, is Trodgen?” Heishi asked, but the guard did not even acknowledge the question.

  “He is the barbarian you saw yesterday beside my sister,” Gabrielle replied, her eyes shooting daggers at the impudent guard who ignored her friend’s question. “He is her bodyguard and the head of her personal security. It would appear these buffoons report to the barbarian and ignore questions posed by my companions.”

  “Is it odd for a barbarian to be the bodyguard of the queen?” Tiane asked, his eyes never leaving the guards surrounding him.

  “Yes, this is the first time in the history of the city that someone who is not of elvish descent has been placed into a position of such authority. To be honest I do not understand what my sister sees in him, but it bodes well for our current situation that she trusts a man so.”

  “Let’s hope so,” Heishi replied as they turned the final corner and found themselves staring at the front gate of the castle.