Deliverance

by Brittany Comeaux

  As they walked through the old tunnel, they could hear the battle ensuing overhead. With every booming explosion from the mages’ attacks, dirt and debris from the tunnel ceiling fell onto all of their heads.

  “This is entirely beneath us! We will be filthy before the night is over,” bickered Bogdan.

  “Sneaking around like thieves usually is a dirty business,” replied Blaze, as he brushed a chunk of dirt off of his shoulder armor.

  “I am sorry for this, my King.” replied Saitar, “By my estimation, we are most likely right under the alchemy shop. We are about halfway to the Elder’s Hall.”

  “This city must be larger than Cartigo!” exclaimed Bogdan.

  “It has to be big. All of the mages in the world come here to learn and gather supplies,” said Saitar.

  “All this land is definitely covetable. The city is well built, and with all of the magic artifacts and items, a mage like you could rule this city completely unopposed,” said Blaze.

  “Not to everyone, of course,” replied Bogdan, obviously hinting at his own power and authority.

  “Just don’t forget, Majesty,” said Saitar, “I am getting you into the city, so you had better keep up your end of the deal.”

  Blaze’s body grew stiff for a brief moment. It was not a wise thing for anyone to talk to his father that way. Even he knew to watch his words carefully. The king always demanded authority over everyone, and if someone talked to him with such disrespect, they had better pray they still had their tongue before it was over.

  To Blaze’s surprise and relief, Bogdan laughed and responded, “You have my word, Elder, you will rule this city. I’ve no use for it.”

  “Very well then.” replied the elder, “Let us press forward. I believe we are now passing under the fountain in the classroom area. We only have a little ways to go until we reach the Elder’s Hall and be able to enter from below. This tunnel leads straight to the meeting hall, and the entrance to the chamber is in that room. I can listen for anyone in the room before opening the door to assure that no one will see us enter.”

  “This is going to be far too easy.” replied Bogdan, “Those morons might as well have just handed the Eye to me.”

  “Which is why it will be too easy to rule these simpletons,” Saitar said with grim smile.

  The king laughed, but Blaze still couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that this plan was not going to go as expected and he did not know if that would be good or bad.

  Crystal waited in the dark until she suddenly heard voices. She sat on a ceiling beam above the platform where the Eye of Gaull was placed on a pedestal. A dim light hanging in a glass orb shined under the beam, barely casting its light on the blood red gem. The gem was about the size of a human skull and was round with dozens of facets all around it. Behind the gem was the stone pillar where the Eye was to be placed. The pillar had strange black runes marked around the depression that spiraled outward around the rest of the pillar.

  When Crystal heard several voices, she realized Bogdan had planned a sneak attack after all. She then whispered urgently to her friends, who were also hiding in different places around the room, to get ready to defend the Eye. She clutched the hilt of her sword and took a deep breath. Her heart began pounding in her ears when she saw the entrance to the chamber glow. However, Bogdan was not the first person she saw . . . or heard.

  “Here it is, my King,” said Saitar.

  Crystal’s face burned. She should have known an elder was behind this! How else could Bogdan have known about the Eye in the first place? It made sense how defensive Saitar became whenever Crystal claimed that the plans he presented were fake; she should have known that his reaction meant he was hiding something.

  Bogdan himself then stepped into the room with who she could only assume was the infamous Prince Blaze Dracnov. Crystal had never seen the prince in person but had heard plenty of stories about all the times he destroyed villages and murdered hundreds of people throughout Cierith. Crystal’s pounding heartbeat made in nearly impossible for her to hear Bogdan’s words of praise to the traitor elder. Her hand that brandished the hilt of her sword trembled with rage and she had to pray to Caris to control it.

  Bogdan stepped forward and gazed at the Eye lustfully. “Amazing . . . all that power, and it is only feet away from me!”

  Crystal, without revealing her hiding place, then said in a strong, booming voice, “You will step no further, Your Majesty.”

  The three men stopped in their tracks and Bogdan looked right and left for the source of her voice. “Who’s there? How DARE you speak to me in such a way!”

  “HA! You are not worth such honorable words! I would sooner hang in the gallows than to show you ANY respect,” she countered.

  “I assure you that can and will be arranged! No man dares to speak to me that way, so you, woman, were dead the moment you did!” he shouted.

  “You are nothing but a murderer, unfit to rule anyone! Your cowardly ways shall now be your downfall!” she continued.

  “I DEMAND YOU SHOW YOURSELF! I will NOT tolerate a bitch who does not know her place!” boomed the king, his face turning red.

  “Try looking up,” replied Crystal.

  Bogdan spotted her and yelled, “Get her!”

  Saitar shot a fire ball at her, but she dropped onto the floor directly in front of the Eye before it hit her. She landed crouched down, her hair dangling over her head. She slowly rose to her feet and revealed her face. Bogdan stood a few feet away from her and stared at her a moment.

  “It’s her, my lord. She’s the rebel leader,” Saitar whispered.

  “Is she now?” said Bogdan with a smug little grin.

  “You are just as pathetic as he is, Saitar.” Crystal shouted angrily, “You brother and sister mages trusted you to help lead them! How could you betray those who depended on you to protect them?”

  “That won’t matter now, sweetheart,” retorted Bogdan. The sweetheart comment made Crystal cringe. Bogdan then continued, “We are here now, and you will be destroyed. You’ve caused me too much trouble. Of course, unless my son wants a bride . . .” Bogdan turned around to face Blaze, waiting for his reaction.

  “I don’t know, Father.” said Blaze, who stepped forward, “She’s quite a beauty, but she’s got too much of a mouth on her for me to want to deal with.”

  “You could always train her mouth to go to better use,” Bogdan suggested with a leering smile.

  Crystal, utterly disgusted, spit on Bogdan’s boots. She then glared at Blaze, who just stared back.

  “You will pay for that you bitch—” Bogdan said, but as he stepped forward, he was interrupted by an arrow that flew across his path from his left side, missing his nose by inches. The arrow struck to the pillar on Bogdan’s right and stayed in place.

  “That was a warning.” said Kerali, stepping out of the dark with his bow drawn with another arrow, “I never miss on accident.”

  Bogdan looked at the elf and laughed. “You’ve brought a friend with you? How fun! Two rebels in one killing spree!”

  “Three!” said Gavril, stepping out from behind the pillar where the arrow shot. His sword was drawn and pointed directly at Bogdan.

  “Four!” shouted Sigurd, from behind another pillar, axe drawn.

  “Five!” shouted Maryn.

  “Six!” shouted Taryn. Both twins were hiding in the back corners of the room on either side of the entrance.

  “So it is now six against three.” replied Crystal, “Did you honestly think we were stupid enough to come unprepared? Or that we would fall for an obviously fake plan? Really, Bogdan, you should know to give us more credit by now!”

  “Regardless of how many of you there are, you are greatly outmatched by our skill!” replied Bogdan.

  “I haven’t spent ten years lazing around and spitting orders at people.” said Crystal, “I have trained hard! Size is nothing in battle. I challenge you, Bogdan, to a one-on-one fight.”

  Bogdan burst into laught
er.

  “You cannot be serious!” he watched her face for a while, and when it did not budge from the stern look she gave him, he continued, “Very well then, little girl, if you want a fight, you’ve got a fight.”

  Crystal lifted her hands and sparks emitted from them. She shot an energy blast at Bogdan with both hands, which he blocked by quickly removing his two-handed sword from his belt and blocking it with the blade. He then counterattacked by charging at her with the enormous blade. She quickly jumped sideways and shot icicles at Bogdan. He blocked most of them with his gauntlet, but one icicle hit him in the face, catching him off guard.

  Crystal then lunged at him with her fist ready to strike. Fire surrounded her fist and she aimed straight for Bogdan’s face. He managed to bring his own hand in time to catch her fist, but the fire burned through his glove and singed his hand. He released his grip and Crystal threw a punch with her other fist, also aflame, but Bogdan was able to block it with his sword.

  Crystal jabbed with each hand, leaving burn marks on Bogdan’s sword. He finally brought another, small knife out of his armor and attempted to strike Crystal from the side. She easily jumped away in time, and then Bogdan charged at her again, this time, bringing his sword down on her from above. Crystal once again dodged and the enormous sword crashed to the floor loudly. The nimble mage bounced onto the pillar behind her and to Bogdan’s amazement, stuck onto the pillar for a split second, and then with a small burst of energy, she bounced off and landed on the other side of him.

  “How the hell did you do that? That’s impossible!” he shouted.

  “Well I just did it, didn’t I?” she answered sarcastically.

  Enraged, Bogdan charged at her again. She flipped backwards again and returned fire with a lightning bolt, striking Bogdan’s armor. It gave him a nasty shock, and while he was disoriented, Crystal struck him in the chest with her fist aflame again, knocking him to the floor.

  As Bogdan lay on the ground, Blaze brought his sword out and attempted to strike Crystal from behind. Gavril ran straight for the path with his sword drawn, but before anyone could say, “look out!” Crystal had drawn her blade, turned to face Blaze, and blocked his enormous sword with hers. Both father and son watched in shock as she held back the prince’s enormous sword with her small one. All the while, not once did her arms tremble under the weight.

  “How . . . the hell . . . did you do that?” the prince stuttered.

  “Brute strength isn’t everything! With the right skill, a doe can defeat a lion!” replied Crystal, who then, with quick movements, released her grip and knocked the prince’s sword sideways. She then turned back to the king just in time to block an attack from him. When Blaze attempted to attack her again, Gavril blocked his path.

  “It is cowardly to attack an opponent from behind!” he said to the prince, “However, she is not your opponent; you may fight me if you wish!”

  Blaze grinned smugly. “Very well.”

  “I will be your opponent as well!” Sigurd said, proudly jumping in beside Gavril.

  “No Sigurd.” replied Gavril, “I appreciate your help, but I would like to fight the prince alone.”

  Just then, they turned their attention to the back of the room, where Kerali was shooting arrows at Saitar, who was knocking them aside with force fields. The rogue elder began shooting energy blasts at the elf, putting him on the defensive. The twin halflings attempted to help by throwing knifes at the elder, but he blocked those as well.

  “Help the others keep the elder busy, Sigurd,” said Gavril.

  The dwarf tapped the bottom of his huge axe on the ground and shouted, “Dirty traitor! Let’s see how you like my axe in your skull!”

  As Sigurd ran off to fight, Blaze laughed and said, “You should have accepted his help, old man; you’re the one who is going to need it.”

  The two exchanged blows between swords as Crystal continued to fight Bogdan. More ice strikes, fire punches, and energy blasts did not fell the wicked king, but Crystal refused to give up. She bounded back and forth across the room, avoiding attacks and blocking others, striking back when she had a chance to.

  Gavril fought gallantly against the prince, but he could not deny that his opponent was strong. Of course, as Crystal had stated, strength is only part of a warrior’s power. She should know it, after all, because he taught her that.

  “I must admit, you are more skilled than you look,” stated Blaze, while their swords forced against each other. They both pushed their swords towards the other, but they were evenly matched.

  “I was about to say the same about you.” Gavril countered, “Daddy taught you well, didn’t he?”

  Just then, there was a flash of light, catching them both off guard. Everyone looked in time to see another flash that knocked Maryn and Taryn against the wall, the first flash having knocked out Sigurd. Saitar then shot a beam at Kerali, which acted as a rope and latched around him. The elf then fell helpless to the ground. Without fail, the rogue elder then shot the same binding spell at Crystal. She dropped to her knees and struggled to break free. Then, just as Gavril ran to help her, Blaze disarmed him, knocked him down with a kick to his abdomen, and pointed his sword to his throat.

  After a brief moment, Bogdan laughed with triumph.

  “Well, my dear,” he told Crystal, “It seems that six against three is no guarantee of a victory. I suppose you are out of luck.”

  “Luck?!” asked Crystal, still struggling, “Luck had nothing to do with it! You don’t know how to fight a fair fight! All you know how to do is cheat your way through everything! How can you live with yourself?”

  “Hold your tongue, woman! I shall now make an example of you and anyone else who dares to raise a blade to me,” replied Bogdan. He brandished his sword over Crystal’s neck when another sudden flash of light nearly blinded everyone. Crystal then realized that the binding spell has gone and she could move again.

  She looked in time to see the Malcolm and Thaddeus enter the room. Thaddeus had disarmed Saitar and was holding his own staff pointed at the rogue elder. The binds on Kerali had disappeared as well, and Malcolm struck Blaze, which made him lose his sword and gave Gavril time to grab his own. Sigurd had come to and groggily stumbled over to the High Elder.

  “About BLOODY time!” the dwarf barked.

  “I am sorry, my friends.” replied Malcolm, “I finally realized that Saitar had betrayed us when Thaddeus had pointed out that Bogdan wouldn’t have known about the Eye unless an elder told him. I figured the king would just threaten us into opening the entrance to the chamber, but then I saw that Saitar was missing, and I realized that he had betrayed us.”

  “Wretched traitor!” shouted Thaddeus, shoving his staff into Saitar chest.

  It was then that Bogdan took advantage of everyone’s confusion and hurriedly grabbed the Eye of Gaull.

  “Stop!” cried Crystal. She rushed toward him with her blade drawn, but he just inched closer to the pillar.

  “Yes. . . .” he muttered lustfully, “I can feel its power. Give me the power to destroy these fools!”

  “Bogdan! Stop! You do not know what you are doing!” shouted Malcolm.

  “I do not need to know anything except power! I want the power to make nations bow before me! The power to make mountains fall in seconds! The power to be a god!” shouted Bogdan, who then laughed maniacally.

  “Bogdan, I warn you! Turn away from the pillar, or else . . .” Malcolm trailed off and then saw Blaze lying on the ground. Malcolm felt he had no choice, so he pointed his staff at the prince, emitted an orb of energy from the end of the staff, and said, “or else he dies!”

  To everyone’s shock, Bogdan did not yell or plead with the high elder; he burst into laughter.

  “I am about to become a god.” replied Bogdan, “Do you really think I need an heir anymore?”

  Blaze sat motionless on the ground. All of the color had drained from his face as he stared at the man who once called him “son.” Gavril looked at Bog
dan angrily.

  “He is your son!” Gavril shouted.

  “He is useless!” replied Bogdan, “I have what I want now. I don’t need that brat slowing me down anymore.”

  “You heartless bastard!” screamed Crystal. Bogdan laughed again.

  “Hearts are for the weak. I have never felt the need to carry such a burden! Now then, I believe I have a world to conquer,” replied Bogdan, who then turned to the pillar.

  “You will not!” yelled Malcolm, who suddenly shot a beam of blue light toward Bogdan. The beam hit the gem and pulled it away from the greedy king. For several minutes, Malcolm fought with Bogdan for the gem. The beam struggled against Bogdan’s grip, trying to retrieve the Eye and give it to Malcolm. No one could believe how well Bogdan resisted.

  “It is MINE! You will not take it!” yelled Bogdan.

  “Then I fear I have no choice!” replied Malcolm. Suddenly, the high elder’s body glowed and he seemed to grow weaker. The light was so intense that everyone had to shield their eyes.

  “Brother! Your spirit is fading! What are you doing?!” screamed Thaddeus.

  “I am sorry, Thaddeus, but I can see no other option. I must use my life energy to get it away from him,” replied Malcolm.

  “NO! I will not let you!” yelled Thaddeus.

  “Stay away! You must let me do this!” Malcolm then turned his attention to the others, “Listen to me, everyone. I am using my own life energy to split the Eye into five pieces! I will spread them throughout the kingdom, and you must find them before the king does!” he then spoke directly to Crystal, “You must learn the ways of a holy mage, Crystal! You have the blood that runs through you! It will be essential to destroy the Eye once it is fused together again! You must find the power of light!”

  With that, Malcolm glowed even brighter, and with an explosion of energy, the Eye of Gaull shot through the ceiling and into the sky. The red beam shot up and then five separate beams split apart in different directions. When Crystal looked again, Malcolm was gone, and only his staff remained on the ground.