"Because the Mage demands it?" asked Tanya.
"No," Alex shook his head. "The Mage did not choose us and then enchant us to keep things from disintegrating into evil. I believe he chose us because of the feelings that were inside us. Without the Mage, we would still feel compelled to act, but we would not have the wherewithal to be effective. Your mother and I have faced this crisis before."
"Between the two of you?" asked Tanya.
"Yes," nodded Alex. "Both of us have been in a position where the other had to follow that compulsion, and we each tried to stop the other. After that we made a pact. We now understand that each of us has the right to act when we feel it is necessary. We don't have to like it, but we have promised not to try to stop it. You and I need to make that same pact, and we need to make it now."
"Alright," Tanya agreed hesitantly. "I see the truth in your words, and I will try to honor the pact, but only if I don't have to like it."
"I would have it no other way," smiled Alex as he embraced his daughter.
Chapter 23
Assassins
Magra stood in the large entry foyer of the Royal Palace, although a passerby would not be able to see him because of the illusion. He gazed around the dimly lit room and could see no one at all. The only sounds that he could hear were the low crackles of the torches on the far wall. When he was satisfied that there were no Alceans around, he spoke.
"We will break up into three teams now," he instructed his teammates. "My team will take on the king. Team two will take the queen, and team three will eliminate the Royal Sorcerer. As the doors to their sleeping chambers will probably be guarded, you must wait for the distraction created by the king's death. Do not attack before that or we will all fail. Is this understood?"
"If you are able to get into the king's quarters," asked an invisible voice, "why not tell us how you do it, and we can do the same?"
"I can no more walk through a closed door than you can," Magra replied. "That is why my attack will not be magical in nature. I have brought some friends from Lanoir that will perform the death ritual for me. Trust me. The king's death will be noisy enough to stir the entire palace. When the guards leave their posts, strike down the Knights of Alcea and get out of the palace as I explained. If you are forced to split up for whatever reason, make sure that you each have a companion mage holding the illusion over you at all times. If any of us are seen, we will be killed on sight."
"So that is why there are four of us for each target?" asked one of the assassins. "We are really two pairs of assassins for each target?"
"Precisely," scowled Magra. "If you had been at the meeting as requested, you would understand your role better." Magra glared at the man, but his glare soon softened. This was not the time to berate the man. Besides his talents were exactly what was needed for the task. "It is better to double the teams and take no chances of failure. If one pair is detected, they must be sacrificed, and the other pair is to complete the kill. Any questions before we split up?"
There were no further questions and the twelve mages split up. While all of them were invisible to the eye, the light sound of their footsteps echoed off the walls of the foyer.
Magra and his three accomplices climbed the steps and headed towards the king's sleeping quarters. When they reached the intersection of the corridor leading to the door to King Arik's quarters, Magra halted the group. He gazed down the corridor at the two Red Swords standing outside the door. The soldiers appeared alert even though the hour was late into the night. Their eyes constantly scanned the corridor looking for any signs of danger.
"This will be tricky," Magra said softly. "I will need a few minutes at the door without the guards' attentions on me. Two of you stay here and watch the guards while the two of us go forward. If it appears that they have heard our footsteps or if they give any indication of sensing our presence, I want you to drop the illusion surrounding yourselves. Let the guards see you and then pull back out of sight and reinstate the illusion. That should buy me the time that I need."
Magra did not wait for a reply. With his illusionist at his side, the team leader started walking slowly towards the guards. The mages had practiced walking softly so that their footsteps would not give them away, but he had not planned on the guards being quite so alert. With a grudging acknowledgement of their good training, Magra pushed the soldiers from his mind and concentrated on each step. Carefully and slowly he inched along the corridor, placing each foot down with painstakingly slow movements. Alongside him, the illusionist worked constantly to alter the illusion to erase any sight of the two mages.
When Magra reached the door to the king's quarters, he stooped between the two guards, his eyes focusing on the crack at the bottom of the door. He unclipped a large pouch from his belt and placed it slowly on the floor. The illusionist worked feverishly to alter the illusion as Magra untied the pouch and spread the mouth of the pouch out and placed it alongside the crack. Inside the illusion the other mage watched as two slithering forms rippled the material of the pouch. Magra moved his hand over the material and urged the snakes towards the crack under the door. With slow movements so as not to arouse the snakes too much, Magra continued gently pushing the snakes under the door.
When all but the ends of the tails were under the door, Magra flicked the end of each snake. The snakes, now inside the king's quarters, hissed and snapped at the door producing two small thuds that were audible as their heads struck the door. Magra smirked, as he knew that the agitated snakes would strike at anything alive in the room. Both guards heard the sounds and looked at the door.
"What was that?" asked one of the Red Swords.
"It sounded like something tapped on the door," answered the other Red Sword. "Should we investigate?"
Magra remained crouched, ready to strike out magically if either guard bumped into him in their haste to open the door and investigate.
"It could have been a vase blown over by the wind coming in the king's window," shrugged one of the guards. "I see no reason for alarm."
The other guard shrugged in agreement and continued his vigilant sentry duty of the corridor. Magra relaxed a bit and smiled at the thought of the two now-aroused snakes in the king's room. The Stone Vipers were the deadliest snakes in Alcea, and they remained aroused for long periods of time. In their current agitated state, they would bite anything that moved or breathed. It was only a matter of time before King Arik writhed in pain from the deadly bites. Magra slowly rose and began the slow walk away from the guards.
* * *
Niki tossed and turned as a terrible nightmare disturbed her sleep. In her dream, thousands of rats that she had summoned to attack the Emperor's Palace in Ongchi suddenly turned on her. Instead of swarming the palace as she had instructed them, the rats instead were swarming over Niki. The young mage screamed and bolted upright in her bed. Her husband, the Royal Sorcerer came instantly awake and saw several rats in bed with him and his wife.
"What is going on?" Fredrik asked with concern.
Niki gasped at the rats and shoved one of them off of her. A tremor of fear coursed through her body as she stared uncomprehendingly at the other rats cuddling up to her.
"Why are they doing this?" shouted Niki. "I have always been kind to them and now they attack me just like in my dream."
"They do not appear to be attacking you," soothed Fredrik. "They are clinging to you like a child to its mother. They are scared."
Fredrik's soothing manner always disarmed Niki, and she pushed the nightmare from her mind. She stared at the quivering rats with sudden interest and began to communicate with them.
"That is not right," Niki frowned as she rose and threw on a robe. "They do not belong here."
"Where are you going?" asked Fredrik.
"To the king," Niki replied excitedly. "He is in trouble."
"Trouble?" frowned Fredrik as he also rose and searched for his robe. "What kind of trouble?"
"Snakes!" shouted Niki as she bolted out
the door.
Fredrik grabbed his robe and put it on. He raced to the door and stepped into the corridor. The two Red Swords stationed outside his door looked questioningly at the Royal Sorcerer.
"What is the problem?" asked one of the soldiers.
Fredrik glanced down the corridor, but Niki was already long gone. He shook his head and sighed heavily, not sure if Niki's premonition was accurate or not.
"Niki believes that there are assassins in the palace," Fredrik declared. "I don't know if it was just a bad dream or not, but we had better play it safe."
"We do know that the Snakes plan on assassinations," commented one of the soldiers, "so we should send out the alarm."
"I don't know," sighed Fredrik. "Niki might have just had a bad dream. I don't think we need to wake the entire palace. Alert the king's advisors and the Red Swords that are on duty. I am going to the king's quarters."
Fredrik turned and ran after Niki while the Red Swords split up to spread the word.
Niki rounded the corner running, and the guards outside the king's quarters stiffened at the intrusion.
"Out of my way," Niki shouted as she approached the guards. "There are dangerous snakes inside the king's quarters."
The guards glanced at one another as if unsure about how to proceed. One of the guards moved to block the door, but the other guard spoke quickly.
"Go in with her," the Red Sword whispered to his partner. "She may be crazy, but she is a Knight of Alcea. Who knows what they are capable of knowing."
The other guard nodded and opened the door to the king's quarters just as Niki arrived. They young mage raced into the room and skidded to a halt at the foot of the king's bed. Slithering over the king's legs were two Stone Vipers, and they were obviously agitated. The Red Sword saw the snakes and pulled his sword to attack them.
"Don't," Niki said authoritatively, but softly. "If you agitate them any more, the king is dead. Those are Stone Vipers, the deadliest snakes in the world."
"We can't just leave them on the king," objected the soldier.
"I know that," spat Niki. "Give me a moment here. I am not used to talking to snakes. Be quiet."
The snakes continued up the king's legs as Niki tried to communicate with them. King Arik's began to waken, and the guard moved quickly to the head of the bed.
"Don't move, King Arik," the guard said softly. "There are poisonous snakes on you. Niki is trying to talk to them."
Fredrik ran into the room and halted as his eyes took in the situation.
"Are these the snakes you were talking about?" he asked Niki. "I thought you meant assassins. I just sent the Red Swords to awaken the king's advisors. I should have them call off the alert."
"No," the king said softly. "Stay near me in case I need healing. Someone get Tanya and bring her here."
The Red Sword turned and ran out of the room. The snakes had stopped their movement up the king's legs and had turned towards Niki. They were hissing angrily and raising their heads to strike at her.
"Careful," the king said softly. "They can launch their bodies through the air for a distance of several paces."
Niki ignored the king's advice as she tried to get through to the snakes' primitive minds. Tanya entered the room quietly and stood near the door watching the snakes closely. A few minutes later Prince Oscar also entered.
"The palace is being sealed off," the prince announced. "I ordered the Knights of Alcea to be awoken. Did I misunderstand the meaning of the warning?" he asked as he stared at the two snakes.
"It would appear that we are dealing with the more common usage of the term," stated Fredrik. "I am sorry for misunderstanding Niki's warning."
One of the Stone Vipers suddenly launched itself at Niki's face. She screamed in frozen horror as she watched the poisonous fangs soar towards her. Tanya's hand rose swiftly, a stream of bluish light streaming across the room and impacting the flying snake. The snake smashed into the far wall of the room and was severed in two.
Niki shuddered with fright and sighed heavily before returning her attention to the other snake. For several minutes no one spoke as the young mage tried to calm the remaining Stone Viper.
"Get me a cloth sack," Niki ordered. "I think I am getting through to it."
Prince Oscar found the king's travel pack and emptied its contents on the floor. He slowly approached the side of the bed and held the mouth of the pack open. As the snake slid off of the king's legs, Tanya helped Arik out of the bed and into his robe. Niki continued to soothe the snake until it appeared to sleep. Oscar swiftly grabbed the snake and scooped it into the pack.
"That was too close," Niki said as the exhaustion claimed her. "They have such primitive minds."
"I am glad that is over," sighed Fredrik as he rushed to Niki's side and held her. "We should send out a message for everyone to go back to sleep."
"No," the king replied. "Stone Vipers are only found in Lanoir. They did not get into my bed by accident. There truly are Snakes in the palace, and I want them found. The warning remains as it was given."
Tanya glanced at the king for a moment before moving swiftly to the connecting door to her quarters to dress for battle.
* * *
Wylan and Sheri moved silently through the halls of the palace looking for intruders, but they could find no signs of the enemy. Except for the occasional sighting of patrolling Red Swords, they had not seen anyone. Frustrated at chasing ghosts, Wylan sighed heavily and leaned against the wall near an intersection. Sheri stood near him and gazed into his eyes.
"We would have gone to bed earlier if we knew that we would be up all night hunting," she said with a smile.
"That would not have gotten us any more sleep," chuckled Wylan. "Do you think the alarm was a false one?"
"I don't know," shrugged Sheri, "but we aren't finding anyone roaming the halls. Let's report to King Arik and see what his orders are."
"In a few minutes," Wylan replied. "I want to just think about this for a moment. There might be something that we are missing."
The two Knights of Alcea remained silent and unmoving for several long minutes. Suddenly the sound of footsteps drifted to Wylan's ears and he became alert. He silently pushed off the wall and gazed both ways along the corridor that they were in. As Sheri watched with confused interest, Wylan stuck his head into the other corridor and looked both ways. He saw no one and pulled his head back. Sheri opened her mouth to ask a question, but Wylan held a finger to his lips to silence her.
Sheri had not heard the footsteps, but she trusted Wylan explicitly. When he gripped his staff with both hands, she slid her short sword out of its sheath. It was then that she also heard the approaching footsteps. She held up two fingers for Wylan to see, and Wylan nodded in agreement. The Knights of Alcea listened intently to the footsteps until they sounded as if they were about to emerge into the intersection. A moment later a man's voice gasped in alarm.
Wylan swung his staff towards the sound of the voice and was rewarded with a loud crack as his staff struck the invisible illusionist. As soon as the mage was hit, the illusion shattered, revealing the other mage. Sheri leaped forward, her short sword sinking deeply into the second mage's chest. Wylan knelt down and examined the two bodies.
"They are both dead," he announced. "We need to get the word out that the attackers are invisible."
"I will go," volunteered Sheri. "You find a place to hide those bodies so that the other invaders do not know that they are vulnerable."
In another section of the palace, Alex and Jenneva walked through the corridors searching for Snakes.
"I cannot understand how they could have escaped," frowned Alexander. "Is it possible that they have found another secret entrance like the sewers in the kitchen?"
"That is possible," Jenneva replied softly, "but it is not the only way to remain invisible. They could be using sophisticated illusions."
"Can you detect such illusions?" asked Alex.
"I have not detected them," rep
lied Jenneva, "but there are ways to attack without seeing your enemy."
"How?" asked Alex.
"Put away your sword and use Lanoirian stars," smiled Jenneva. "We will try a new approach with our searching."
Alex immediately sheathed his long sword and extracted throwing stars from his pouch. Jenneva walked to the next intersection and gazed at the empty hallway. She raised one arm and a long string of fire erupted from her fingertips. She immediately turned around, pushing Alex to one side and repeated the procedure in the opposite direction. There were no screams of agony and, Jenneva shrugged.
"Let's try the next intersection," she said softly. "Try to stand where you will not be in the way when I turn around."
Alex smiled sheepishly at his wife and followed her along the corridor to the next intersection. Again the results were less than satisfying, but the third intersection proved the value of the plan.
When Jenneva cast her spell, two figures were revealed in the firestorm. Their screams split the night but only for as long as it took for Alex's stars to reach their bodies. Both of the Snakes fell dead, their clothes burning brightly.
"That works for me," Alex stated. "Let's keep going."
* * *
King Arik and Queen Tanya roamed the halls of the Royal Palace. Having learned of the illusions used by the Snakes, they had fashioned their own method of searching. Each was armed with a bow to slay their unseen enemies.
As the royal couple stepped into a new intersection, Tanya cast a spell that caused a gust of wind to roar along the new corridor. The gust of wind was sufficient to cause a warping of the illusion, temporarily revealing the two hidden mages. The king and queen let fly their arrows, and the two Snakes tumbled to the floor.
"We need to change tactics," King Arik stated as they approached the bodies and confirmed the kills. "We need to take at least one of them alive. Otherwise we will never know when we are done searching. We have to find out how many were in the attack party."
Knights of Alcea Page 30
