by Des Pensable
The lizard responded to his presence by swinging its huge tail around, hitting him in the rear and knocking his two back legs out from under him, causing him to collapse on his stomach. It then spun round flinging the Crin on its back off and charged at him with a huge mouth full of dagger-like teeth. Aquitain regained his footing just in time and charged off towards a tree, quickly wheeling around it to face the huge beast. It crashed, and as its huge body mass smashed the tree over the collision stunned it a little, allowing Aquitain to attack its left flank.
His claws scraped down its rock hard side, leaving little but scratch marks. ‘Damn,’ he thought. ‘It has magical protection as well. No wonder it’s hardly damaged.’ Moments later it gave a tremendous roar of pain. The Orc had struck it a mighty blow across one of its back legs with Goth’s great sword, leaving an open rent out of which blood streamed. It swung around seeking its new attacker, totally ignoring Aquitain. While the Orc was brave, he also knew when to run, and he took off running a dozen paces away before spinning to face it again.
It painfully lumbered towards him slowed noticeably, allowing Aquitain free access to its back. He literally climbed up its body and bit into the back of its neck. While his jaws couldn’t penetrate its flesh, he did manage to get a good grip; and as it tried to dislodge him and he slipped over the right side, he hung on and with his great body weight dragged it over with him. There was a huge thump that rocked the ground as the lizard came crashing down on its side.
The Orc and the Crin didn’t waste any time they all came charging in to attack its underside. The Orc managed a sweeping blow opening a chasm in its stomach, while two Crin fighters attacked the open wound to widen it. It bellowed in pain and used its hind legs to fend off the Crin, flinging them several paces away, and tried to right itself; but Aquitain hung on to its neck, holding it down. The Orc came in purposely to hamstring the beast and managed the open the back of its already damaged leg. The creature realised that it was beaten this time. Without being able to stand and move it would only be a short matter of time before they would overcome it.
Something really strange happened at this point. The huge lizard turned into a cloud of mist and evaporated. One moment it was there, the next it was gone. Everyone standing around was lost for words. It had killed over a dozen Crin and little people, and injured another dozen, and when Aquitain had dragged it down and they were on the verge of a mighty victory, they were robbed. No one felt like cheering until Aquitain stood up and listened, but could hear no fighting anywhere.
‘By the Powers, it’s quiet. I think we’ve won this round at least,’ he said aloud, and it suddenly dawned on the others that he was right. There was an eerie quiet all around the temple but no fighting. Rori started the Barra singing a victory song and almost immediately everyone felt like they were heroes. Smiles broke out everywhere and cheers rang out from the Town Guards nearby.
Aquitain now had to face the problem of all field commanders for the first time. He had lost a lot of his troops, yet they had not freed any Barra children. What if the Yith killed the children out of spite? What would he have really accomplished? It weighed heavily on him. He didn’t really like this job at all, but someone had to do it.
Miranda flew down and shape changed to her newman form, covered with sweat. She donned her spider silk robe, and stood on his right side with her arm draped over his shoulder. The Orc stood on the left of the bear with Goth’s sword resting over his shoulder, drinking in the glory. The bear had chosen him to help heal his arm, and had also chosen him as a fighting companion. He had earned his position beside T’Kwala, and he wasn’t going to back off for anyone.
‘I found blue wizard about five hundred paces to the west; he was hit by a charge from the fear wand whilst invisible, and ran blindly in terror for most of the fight,’ Miranda told him through their mindlink.
‘He is a bit disoriented and making his way back here. I don’t know where red wizard, is but Gastan is okay. He fought for ages with the flying Yith wizard, but in the end the Yith teleported away with neither of them having harmed each other. From what I can see, we’ve been badly mauled while they have only lost one wizard.’
‘Well done and thank you Orc,’ said Aquitain suddenly. ‘Keep that sword safe until I need it again. Return to your other companions and help defend that side of the temple.’
‘Me thanks you Lord T’Kwala,’ said the Orc.
‘Me blade is yours!’ And he hurried off back to join Gaston and Thorin with a big, wide ugly grin. He couldn’t remember a time when he had more fun, and to be given the sword to mind by T’Kwala himself was the greatest honour imaginable. He now had a new direction in life, to fight for the chaos bear, and the gods would pity anyone that got in the way of the Orc with T’Kwala’s sword.
The red wizard appeared looking rather pale, and saluted.
‘I’m sorry Captain Bear. I was caught in a blast of that damned fear wand. I have a new pet hate. Those damn wands should be banned. I’ve never been so scared in all my life.’
‘Be thankful it wasn’t the fireball wand or you wouldn’t be standing here. Be more observant, invisibility won’t protect you from area effects. Try to out-think the opponent and you might just live to an old age,’ advised Aquitain, repeating what he had heard his grandfather saying to another young wizard who had survived his first magic fight.
‘Thank you for the advice, Captain, and please accept my congratulations on your defeat of the Thunder lizard, Sir. I only wish I was here to see it,’ said the young wizard.
‘It was a team effort. All here were involved, and all here deserve the credit. We beat it, not I,’ said Aquitain. ‘And it’s not over yet. They may still attack us some more, so return to your station and remain alert.
‘Yes sir,’ said the young wizard, who saluted and left.
‘You’re starting to sound like a military commander,’ said Miranda.
‘I’m only mimicking my grandfather,’ he told her. ‘Now he is a real commander. When he gives a command no one dares contradict him. Then again I suppose he is very powerful magically as well. No one wants to spend time as a frog.’
‘You’re joking. Aren’t you?’ she said. ‘My mother told me stories about wizards turning people to frogs but I didn’t believe her.’
‘No I’m quite serious,’ said Aquitain. ‘Granddad had a fountain and fish pool out on one side of the mansion and if a servant was caught stealing or doing something bad he would turn them into a fish or a frog and put them into the pool for a few days. If they didn’t get eaten by the local birds he returned them to their newman form and they were model servants from then onwards.’
‘I don’t believe you,’ she said with a chuckle, but still had a worried look on her face. She didn’t quite know whether he was joking or not. If he was still a Logicon she would have believed him, but now he was a bear she wasn’t so sure.
‘I wonder where Zephira is?’ she said offhandedly.
Aquitain quickly looked to where the Crin had dragged her stunned body and saw she was missing. He called to Xentos asking about her, but got the reply he didn’t want to hear. As soon as she had regained her senses she had teleported away.
‘Damn,’ he said to Miranda, ‘I disabled Zephira and the Crin had her captured, but she managed to escape while everyone was watching the fight with the Thunder Lizard. Somehow this all doesn’t seem to make sense. What are the Yith really after? They’ve only been playing with us. If that flying Yith wizard had been using the fireball wand they could have wiped out more than half our forces and the wizard they lost was more by bad luck than design. Why did they reveal their presence at all? Why not just teleport away. That way we wouldn’t have known that any Yith were involved at all.
‘I’m beginning to think that this whole show was set up as a part of Alin Amber’s prophesy. They’re trying to make it happen, and this is just another part of the plan. You heard what Quab said about what he and Featherdown heard in the inn. All those
chaotic events could easily have been caused by half a dozen Yith druids intent on causing mischief. All our troops here will spread the word when they get back about what happened here, and it will grow in the telling to become a major battle where hundreds were killed on both sides.
‘All the people, the newmans in the towns, the little people and the Crin will want to know why these things are happening, and the story of the prophecy is a perfect explanation. When enough people believe it then the prophecy will have come true. We’ve been masterfully manipulated. While I hate to admit it, Granddad would have known that I could defeat the temple’s defences. That’s why he brought Goth here. That Thunder Lizard could have even been someone I know.’
‘But what if you were killed?’ asked Miranda.
‘Then I suppose that someone would have brought me back to life again,’ he replied looking pointedly at Miranda.
‘You don’t think that I’m a part of the plot do you?’ asked Miranda looking worried.
‘No Mandy, I don’t. I don’t think you’re a part of my grandfather’s plan at all, but you’re a part of the Lady’s plan, and at the moment they have the same objective. If at some stage their objectives diverge then we’ll have a problem. Anyway, let’s deal with the current problem first. I think you are needed for some healing.’
Aquitain called for all the group leaders to report on their losses and was quite appalled at what he heard. The Crin had suffered the most with half their fighters dead and another quarter injured. The little people had lost seven warriors and another dozen were injured. While only one guard was dead, another half dozen were wounded. Twenty dead in all, and the enemy had only lost one. Definitely figures that no commander would be happy about, and Aquitain wasn’t. If granddad or his father were involved in this, they would have to do a bloody lot of explaining to justify this debacle.
Chapter 38 The Betrayal
Miranda healed the worst of the injured until she ran out of healing prayers and potions, then rejoined Aquitain who had reformed his forces into a single defensive circle and assembled a small team composed of himself, the Orc, Gastan, the Alloe file of Town Guards, Loma and a single Crin fighter to breach the temple. As he expected, the keys he had made earlier to disable the fountains also opened many doors within the temple.
An hour later after locating and disabling several nasty traps and journeying four levels below ground level without incident, they opened a door to a large square shaped, sparsely decorated and dimly lit chamber. Standing across the other side of the room was a very large Yith dressed in a scarlet robe with a magically glowing belt holding Zephira in front of him. Behind him in a line were six Yith archers and a Yith wizard. To his left and chained together in a circle, were about twenty Barra children.
Aquitain whispered to Miranda and the others, ‘Go in first and talk to them. I’ll join you in a minute.’ He quickly touched Alpha and it grew fine spider-like legs. ‘Carefully creep around behind that big Yith holding Zephira. Get in a position where you can touch him.’
Fortunately, the lighting in the chamber was poor, so Alpha very quickly disappeared as it scuttled off silently and Aquitain in his bear form walked in. The main Yith didn’t wish to talk to the others, only the bear.
‘My name is Ishteth. I’ll get directly to the point. I’ve got your cousin and a wagonload of tasty little Barra children here, and guess what, the children are standing on not one, but two fireball glyphs. There are several ways to make them explode - none of which I’m about to disclose. Should you desire to attack us they will explode, killing all the little children. What a pity.’
‘What do you want for their freedom?’ asked Aquitain, as he looked around the chamber.
‘I will let both the children and your friend here go, for two things in your possession.’
Ishteth smiled a very nasty reptilian smile and said. ‘I will exchange the children for the mask and the girl for your memory crystal which you call Alpha.’
‘What!’ said Miranda. ‘What’s to stop us from killing you?’
‘I’m not talking to you druid, so shut up. The decision is for the bear to make.’
‘What’s a memory crystal?’ whispered Gastan, loud enough for everyone to hear.
‘It’s a part of Aquitain’s mind and life essence embedded in a small crystal, making it sentient,’ said Miranda, and the others in the party all muttered amongst themselves, suddenly realizing the sacrifice that Aquitain was being asked to make.
Aquitain’s mind almost froze at the thought of losing Alpha, but he struggled for control and sent a mindspeak message to it. ‘Where are you, Alpha?’
‘Be very careful Aquitain,’ said Alpha. ‘There is an invisible wall of arcane force across the room between you and them. I found a small gap near the wall to crawl through, but your people won’t be able to get through. I’m currently right in front of Zephira.’ Everyone in Aquitain’s group held their breath as they noticed Alpha slowly climb up the front of Zephira’s leg then stop on her stomach just below Ishteth’s arm.
‘I have neither with me,’ Aquitain hesitantly replied.
‘You have one hour to get them.’ said Ishteth. ‘It’s very simple. No mask and the children die. No memory crystal and your cousin dies.’
‘Why are you doing this?’ asked Aquitain.
‘Your time is running out!’ was the only reply he received, so he ushered his team outside the door into the hallway.
‘You won’t let our children die will you Spirit Lord?’ begged Loma.
‘No I won’t, Loma. We’ve lost twenty fighters to save your children. We will honour their sacrifice,’ he replied.
‘And what about Alpha?’ asked Miranda through their mindlink.
‘I’m not quite sure why they would want Alpha. It’s useless to them. It’s a part of me. It will never give them any useful information.’
‘When I first flew with Alpha to the Jeti village it talked to me. It said that it knew what your grandfather was planning. It knew what information you would need at the appropriate time. It was worried that I might upset the plan. Perhaps somehow they know this. If you give them Alpha you will lose its knowledge, but if you don’t you will lose Zephira. I’m sorry. I don’t want to make it harder, I just thought you should know.’
‘Thank you, Mandy! That explains a lot. Alpha has not been happy about the two of us being together. It thinks that you are leading me astray. I have heard of other mind wizards remaking their memory crystals after a few years as they become too independent. The crystals forget what they are. I have never considered having Alpha remade until the past few days. It has been disagreeing with my decisions and attempting to withhold information. I cannot accept that. The question is, why would Granddad give instructions to Alpha to help me, then have Alpha taken away?’
‘Perhaps I’ve upset the plan,’ Miranda offered.
‘Perhaps and perhaps not. This high priest Ishteth knows who I am, and that Zephira was my cousin. He must have got that information from Jaztrix, as she most likely came here straight after seeing me being reincarnated as a bear. But why were the Yith here in the first place? It’s unlikely that the mask knew they were here, so why did Jaz come here unless she knew they were also here. That would suggest she was already in league with them.
‘Alin Amber is a Yith and my father was associated with some Yith faction. The question is, whether these Yith are associated with Alin Amber and my father. If so, Jaztrix might have been an agent of my father. It would make sense as she kept a close watch on me, even helped me both directly and indirectly to find information that I was after in Featherdown’s library, and tried to help us when we were attacked by Curbut.’
‘Alpha. Miranda has told me that Granddad told you of some sort of plan to hunt for the Founts of Wisdom prior to coming to Mudrun. Is that true?’
‘Yes,’ Alpha replied, ‘but it was only in very general terms. He gave me no details, only an indication of what might happen.’
&nbs
p; ‘Did he mention anything about Jaztrix, the priest called Ishteth, or this temple?’
‘No. Nothing at all,’ Alpha said. ‘You’re not going to hand me over to the priest are you? He might destroy me. I cannot help you if I am a prisoner or destroyed. Your mission is much more important than Zephira. Without me you will fail, and that will cause the deaths of many hundreds of thousands of lives. Are you prepared to risk those lives for Zephira? Your grandfather can have her resurrected. You mustn’t give me to them.’
‘You can’t just let Zephira die, Tain,’ said Miranda urgently. ‘Resurrection depends on the whim of the gods, and none may let her live again. Alpha’s wrong. No one’s died yet. You haven’t failed yet. These things are all in the future and it can be changed.’
‘Don’t listen to Miranda, Aquitain,’ said Alpha. ‘Only I have the knowledge you need to succeed. She is trying to make you fail. She may be on the side of the enemy. You can’t risk it.’
‘That’s a terrible thing to say. I’m not on the side of your enemy, Tain. I swear in the name of the Lady that I’m your friend and I love you, and will never willingly do anything to harm you.’
‘Stop it both of you! The decisions are mine alone and I will make them. First I must get the mask, at least that part is easy. What I do about Zephira I still have to decide.’
‘Listen to me both of you,’ said Alpha. ‘Aquitain cannot lift the cursed tattoo from you Miranda, because he cannot fulfil the two remaining conditions. He thinks he might be able to but he can’t and he never will. While he might somehow fulfil the third condition, he can never fulfil the second because he is not what he seems. You two can never have the same blood.’
Both of them were shocked at Alpha’s panicky outburst.
‘How do you know this?’ asked Aquitain.
