Deliverance

by Brittany Comeaux

  “No,” Blaze responded quickly. More uncomfortable silence ensued. Neither Blaze nor Crystal looked at each other. It seemed that the two of the really had nothing in common enough to even make conversation.

  Crystal glanced at Blaze from the corner of her eye every now and then, but all she could see was how quick he drank his ale. She then decided to improvise.

  “So . . . you drink often?” she asked.

  Blaze plopped his drink down on the counter and gave her a look that made her feel two-inches tall. “What the hell kind of question is that?” he asked rudely.

  Crystal’s face turned red with embarrassment. “I was just trying to make conversation,” she responded.

  “Don’t be stupid,” he muttered and continued to drink.

  “I was only being polite and trying to ease the tension. Not to mention, if you are going to be working with us, I thought I would try to get to know you more,” she replied.

  “I don’t need you to buddy up to me.” he said, “As soon as this is all over, I don’t want to hear from or see you or any of your other buddies again.”

  Crystal sighed and said sharply, “Fine.”

  She then finished her water, paid the bartender, and walked away. Just as she was about to reach the door, everyone heard shouting outside. Suddenly, Gavril, almost out of breath, burst into the tavern.

  “Crystal! Come outside, quick!” he shouted. Crystal bolted out of the room, and Blaze soon followed.

  Outside, Blaze’s stomach sunk when he saw Daldussan soldiers marching into the village. The others had already drawn their weapons and were blocking the path out of the village. A lieutenant dressed in heavier armor and a long, red cape stepped forward.

  “I am here on official business for the king. This village is to be placed on lockdown and all of the citizens arrested! You rebels will be placed in special custody!” said the lieutenant. Several villagers cried out in protest, but the lower-ranking soldiers simply held out their swords to silence the crowd.

  “What is the king’s reason for doing this?” asked Crystal.

  “I am not authorized to reveal that information,” replied the lieutenant. He then saw Blaze and added, “The king has also placed a bounty on the head of Prince Blaze.”

  Figures, Blaze thought.

  “First he abandons him, then he wants him dead?! And you still serve that pig?” shouted Crystal.

  “Insulting the king is a crime that is punishable by death! I will NOT hear you speak a moment longer!” yelled the lieutenant, drawing his sword.

  Crystal responded by lifting her hands and emitting an electric aura between them. The lieutenant seemed taken aback, but he obviously expected her power and charged forward anyway. He underestimated the strength of her spell and was knocked off his feet by the blast she sent in his direction. Before she could attack again, however, the other soldiers began to charge forward.

  Gavril and Blaze fought off several soldiers that tried to attack Crystal and incapacitated them one at a time. Each swordsman fought well and didn’t give their enemies much time to attack. Thaddeus froze several soldiers in blocks of ice and electrocuted others while Kerali jumped onto the rooftops and shot arrow after arrow into the necks of his enemies. The elf ran along the top of the buildings as he continued to shoot, and he jumped from building to building with the reflexes of a wild cat.

  The rebels fought well, but it was quickly becoming apparent that they were greatly outnumbered by the soldiers and it even with all of their efforts to fight the troop, the scene was becoming dangerous for the innocent villagers. Even Blaze and Gavril were becoming surrounded by enemies on either side and they stood back to back to avoid being flanked, and Crystal was quick, but with all the enemies she tried to fight off, she was losing energy fast.

  “Surrender, now!” the lieutenant ordered.

  “You will have to kill us!” Crystal yelled back.

  “Believe me, I can do that—” the lieutenant was interrupted by a rock hitting the back of his helmet. After being disoriented and knocked off his feet, the lieutenant looked in the direction the rock was hurled from and saw a little boy glaring at him.

  The entire battle halted as the lieutenant yelled, “Arrest that boy!”

  However, before soldier made a move, dozens of villagers stepped in front of the boy wielding shovels, pitchforks, and any other weapons they could find. The lieutenant suddenly took several steps back, and as the fed-up villagers continued to stare him down, they inched closer.

  Crystal grinned when the villagers then yelled and charged into the crowd of soldiers. The battle resumed, only this time, the Daldussan soldiers were slowly becoming outnumbered. One by one, the soldiers fell to the crowd of villagers until the tides of fate began to turn.

  “All of you will be put to death for disobeying the king!” yelled the lieutenant, but these were the last words he would ever speak. Blaze appeared out of nowhere and ran his sword straight through the gap in the side of the lieutenant’s armor. He bled out so quickly that he was dead before he hit the ground.

  Once the surviving soldiers saw that their commander and over half of their comrades had fallen, they hastily retreated. Kerali quickly began shooting more arrows into the backs of several escaping soldiers, but even with his quick hands, there were roughly half a dozen men that escaped alive. The elf ruefully jumped to the ground after losing sight of them, and even when Crystal assured him that he did a great job, Kerali still felt like he could have stopped them.

  Once the chaos and confusion, not to mention the loud cheers of the villagers, had settled, the old mayor of the village then timidly stepped forward from the crowd. “How can we ever repay you all for what you have done for our village?” he asked Crystal.

  “We are not worried about being repaid; it is our sworn duty to protect the people of Cierith. However, I strongly advise that all of you leave this village at once,” Crystal responded.

  “Why on earth do we have to leave?” the mayor asked, puzzled.

  “Those soldiers that got away will report what happened here to Bogdan, and I am positive that after he finds out that we were here, he will send even more troops to this location to find us. Considering the fact that several of the villagers helped us, he would no doubt have everyone here killed on the spot, maybe even worse. Therefore, the wisest thing you can do is leave right away. You are all more than welcome to take shelter in our hideout, and those of you who know how to fight can join the rebels. You can find our hideout in the Dwarven Mountains southwest of here. We will have rebels waiting for your arrival and guide you to the secret entrance,” Crystal explained.

  “Very well.” the mayor responded, “I do not want those soldiers coming back and hurting any more innocent people. What is your name, Miss?”

  “I am Crystal.” she responded with a smile, “I am the leader of Deliverance.”

  “Thank you, Crystal. I will have the villagers prepare for the journey,” replied the village leader.

  “Very good,” Crystal responded. She then added before walking away, “And don’t bother to pack your material possessions, only what you absolutely need.”

  The villagers showed their gratitude by giving the rebels supplies they needed for their journey. Neither of them had eaten breakfast, so the baker gave them fresh bread, which they gratefully and hungrily accepted. The farmer also gave the rebels extra horses he bred and by noon that day, the rebels set out for the hideout on horseback.

  CHAPTER 9

  It had only been a week since they returned to the hideout that Crystal received news of yet another shard. Crystal stood in the meeting room with Thaddeus, Gavril, and an unenthusiastic Blaze standing beside her. A group of elves approached her and explained to her that a shopkeeper had found a shard outside of the city of Ordale and sold it to a nobleman for enough money to set him for life.

  “What is the nobleman’s name?” Crystal asked the group leader, a female elf named Breuvial.

  “I believe
his name was Lord Victor Valamar.” replied Breuvial, “He is originally from Daldussa and purchased the land in Ordale after the invasion. His estate is the biggest in town.”

  “You saw where he lived?” Crystal asked.

  “I didn’t have to look for it; his gaudy mansion can easily be seen from the city gate, and not just because we’re elves,” Breuvial responded.

  “He must have quite a fortune to afford a house of that size,” Gavril uttered, knowing well that the city of Ordale rivaled in size to the City of Magi.

  “His entire family has been very renowned and wealthy for hundreds of years in Daldussa,” Breuvial explained.

  “I take it he’s fairly popular?” Crystal muttered.

  “Oh yes, he’s a known philanderer. When we asked a group of girls about him, they giggled and told us how ‘incredibly charming and handsome Victor Valamar is,’” Breuvial said, flipping her blonde hair around and imitating a starry-eyed, amorous girl. Several people in the room chuckled at the elf girl’s display, except for Blaze, of course, who rolled his eyes. No one seemed to notice, though.

  “Did you find out where he keeps the shard?” Crystal asked.

  “Valamar is said to keep it in his art collection somewhere in his mansion,” Breuvial answered.

  “What does he think it is, an eccentric statue?” Gavril blurted out in disbelief, “At least he doesn’t know of its power, so that should put us at ease a bit.”

  “Still, we need to go to his mansion as soon as possible and somehow obtain the shard,” responded Crystal.

  “And what are you going to do, waltz right in, ask him for it, and expect him to toss it to you and say, ‘have a nice day?’” Blaze snapped.

  Crystal annoyingly replied, “No, I was hoping to scrape up enough money to offer him more than he paid for it in hopes of buying it. Seeing as he thinks it’s just a piece of art, we may have a shot.”

  “Are you kidding? Let’s just take the damned thing! I’m sure your elf buddies can sneak in,” Blaze remarked. The elves glared at him, but remained silent.

  “We cannot risk stealing it.” Gavril argued, “If Bogdan hears that rebels stole from one of the wealthiest men in the land, he will attack the village and massacre innocent people to get information about where we went.”

  “Exactly. If we buy it, we avoid drawing too much negative attention to ourselves. Valamar will see us as art collectors and think nothing more of our sudden arrival,” explained Crystal.

  “But I am afraid, Miss Crystal, that finding enough money to top his payment won’t be an easy task,” Breuvial ruefully stated.

  “How much did he pay for it?” Crystal asked her.

  “I am not sure of the exact amount, but from what I understand, the shop owner was able to buy a small mansion with roughly three acres of land,” replied Breuvial.

  “We’ll never find the money for that!” exclaimed Gavril.

  “We could always go with my plan,” Blaze muttered.

  “I hate to admit it, Crystal, but Blaze may be right,” Gavril regrettably stated.

  “Even if I erased the shard from his memory, the townspeople remember Valamar buying it! He will still know it is stolen!” Crystal replied.

  “Perhaps you can come up with another way to get the shard,” replied Thaddeus.

  “But how? What could we tell him that would make him just give us the shard?” asked Crystal.

  “Tell him it’s cursed. It isn’t exactly lying,” replied Gavril.

  “You mean scare it off of him? Not exactly your style, General,” Blaze sarcastically remarked.

  “Even so,” replied Gavril, trying not to let Blaze annoy him, “It may be the only way that we get it away from him without causing a scene.”

  Crystal looked at her feet and though for a few minutes. The room remained completely silent before she spoke again.

  “All right. I suppose that it’s the only way.” she said, “I have a feeling that I may have to improvise a little, though.”

  “Well then let’s assemble our team,” responded Gavril.

  “If Kerali goes along, tell him he had better kiss me goodbye first this time,” Breuvial muttered.

  “Don’t worry, Breuvial. I’ll drill it into his head for you,” Crystal laughed.

  “Thanks! Can you believe him? I am his fiancée and he doesn’t have the decency to kiss me goodbye before leaving for a dangerous mission! I’ll have to have a nice long talk with him,” Breuvial replied.

  “Women . . .” Blaze muttered.

  After thanking Breuvial and her team for their good work, Crystal then began to make the plans for the trip with Gavril.

  ****

  By that afternoon, it was decided that all of Crystal’s friends would travel with her northwest to Ordale and even Blaze unwillingly went along. As Gavril had pointed out, Ordale was a large city with a large amount of crimes that happened on occasion and, even though he was confident she could defend herself, he felt better knowing that more people would travel with her. As it turned out, Crystal’s friends agreed.

  “If you do not watch yourself in that town, you will be robbed before you can blink,” said Sigurd.

  “And we cannot risk the shard being pick-pocketed by a lowly thug.” added Kerali, “This way, we can stick in a group to avoid such a thing.”

  “Very well,” Crystal finally agreed. Even though she knew she would be fine, it made her feel much better that she had so many protective friends.

  It seemed, though, that Crystal and her friends spent the whole trip to Ordale sitting together talking and laughing together as a group, mostly with Taryn teasing Kerali about the way Breuvial scolded him before he left. Taryn even imitated the way she “nagged” him and then, while embracing the air, he imitated a kiss and a high-pitched girl’s voice, which made everyone else laugh except for Kerali, of course.

  Blaze, however sat alone and away from them, and Crystal couldn’t help but notice his antisocial behavior. The night after they ventured out, the team set up camp in a wooded area and lit a fire. While Crystal visited with her friends, Blaze sat on a rock a little ways off and minded his own business.

  Crystal didn’t understand why, but she wished that Blaze would join them. She could only imagine the loneliness he felt, and for reasons unknown to her, she wanted to be near him so that he may open up and learn to trust her. Then again, maybe she wanted to share her own pain with him, so that they would have kindred souls to reach out to. She decided to approach him and ask him to join them one night, but when she did, he muttered, “No thanks,” and then remained silent until she left him alone.

  By the sunset on the third day of their trip, the ornate city of Ordale came into view. The rebels walked through the front gates without a problem, and as Breuvial had said, they could see the rooftop of Valamar’s estate. “Gaudy” was a gross understatement for this mansion; the outer walls and roof glittered under the setting sun, flashing its brilliance to anyone who walked through the front gate.

  “Why does that guy have to show off his wealth so much?” asked Maryn.

  “Because rich guys have nothing better to do,” replied Taryn.

  “I honestly don’t think you’re very far off from the truth, Taryn,” replied Gavril.

  “Well, let’s head over there, then,” said Crystal.

  “Wait, wouldn’t it look odd for so many of us, especially with an elf, a dwarf, and two halflings to show up and tell this man that the shard he bought is haunted?” Thaddeus brought up.

  “Thaddeus is right.” replied Gavril, “Maybe only a couple of us should go up there.”

  “I will go.” Crystal replied, “So now we need to find someone to come with me.”

  “I will,” Gavril immediately volunteered, as if it were a contest to see who answered first.

  “Actually, I think it would be better if we send Blaze,” replied Thaddeus. Everyone suddenly jerked their heads and stared at the old mage confusingly. He took a defensive step back and added,
“What if something happens in there? Sure, Crystal can hold her own in battle and Gavril could protect her, but from what we hear, Valamar has far too many guards for you two to fight off yourselves. If Blaze goes in, I can stand by the gates so that he is far enough away—”

  “—To where you can see what Blaze is doing, and therefore see if they get into trouble,” Kerali finished for him.

  “And that way, I can alert you all so that we can help them in time,” replied Thaddeus.

  Gavril muttered under his breath and approached Blaze. He then pointed a finger in the prince’s face and said, “I swear to Caris, if you let any harm come to Crystal, I will have your head before your father does.”

  Blaze glared at the former general until Crystal came forward and separated them.

  “It’s all right, Gavril. I will be fine,” she assured.

  “I will wait here at the gate,” Thaddeus reminded them.

  “And I will wait here with you. If you go into your trance, I do not want someone to harm you while you are vulnerable,” Gavril offered.

  “That is quite thoughtful of you, Gavril. Thank you,” replied the kindly old mage.

  After the twins, Kerali, and Sigurd agreed to patrol the area waiting for a signal from Thaddeus, Crystal motioned to Blaze to head forward, and so they both set off downtown.

  The roads were lined with paved stone and elaborate stores with expensive merchandise. Carriages that were led by horses carried wealthy citizens around the city, and a large restaurant was just starting to see the rush of evening customers.

  The sky was getting very dark by the time they had passed the restaurant, and some of the nocturnal lowlifes that littered such cities started coming out. As Crystal and Blaze passed a group of thugs near a tavern, they whistled and yelled obscenities at Crystal. She shot them a dirty look, but it only made them laugh and leer more than before.

  “Pigs!” she muttered.

  “They’re men, so get used to it. Not every man you meet will be a knight in shining armor like your general. More often than not, men will think with their dicks first, and I’m sure even the noble and brave Gavril has been that way at some point,” retorted Blaze.