Sapphire of the Fairies soh-1

by Richard S. Tuttle

  Tedi was chosen to ask Garth if thegroup could stop in Lavinda for an overnight stay. Garth smiledgrimly and explained that Lavinda had a reputation for notaccepting strangers and that their path lay in another direction.While Tedi spread the word of Garth’s answer, Garth made thedecision to ride later than usual and camp on the other side of thepass, effectively eliminating the need for any further questionsabout Lavinda.

  That evening during the talk sessionwhen Garth lit his pipe, there were a lot of questions aboutLavinda, the unnamed village where Tork grew up, and the cave ofAlex’s first battle with the Yaki, which was somewherenearby.

  Garth looked at the eager faces aroundthe campfire and pointed with his pipe at the Boulder Mountains.“That is what should occupy your thoughts,” Garth proclaimed.“Mount Kalas, the highest mountain of the Boulders, is where theDark One is imprisoned. We are at the center of Sarac’s domain andon a trip that will lead to his death, or ours. If this were apleasure trip, we could all get excited about seeing sights wherelegends were born, but the longer we stay in the vicinity ofSarac’s castle, the longer we dare death to visit us. Let’s get ourpractice going early. I plan to move out of here before firstlight.”

  The Rangers split into groups and begantheir practice sessions with Garth supplying instruction as needed.Tanya chose to battle Fredrik with the staff and Tedi challengedArik with knives. Niki and Kalina worked on health magic. Thepractice was especially long and tiring and the Rangers worked up asweat. Fredrik and Tedi were soon stripped to the waist, but Arikkept fighting with his shirt on. Garth wondered if Arik’s rash wasstill bothering him. Since the first night out of Tagaret when therash was noticed, Arik had not removed his shirt except to changeit, which he managed to do when no one was around.

  “Break,” Garth called to Arikand Tedi. “Arik, why don’t you shed your shirt? You are going tocreate a muddy pool on the practice area.”

  “I’m all right, Garth,” Arikreplied sheepishly.

  “Has that rash gone away yet?”Garth probed.

  “It’s still there, but Ihardly notice it anymore,” Arik answered. “We’re going to switch tothrowing knives soon anyway and I’ll just catch achill.”

  The boys went back to fighting andGarth noticed that Kalina and Niki had split up. He strode over toKalina and spoke to her in a low voice. “Have you checked Arik’srash lately?”

  “He won’t let me near it,”Kalina replied. “I think all of the fuss involved with trying toclear it up embarrasses him. It’s not serious, Garth. It is just areaction to something. Perhaps the Palace Shadow has vermin afterall.”

  “More likely the RoyalPalace,” chuckled Garth. “I know there are vermin residing there.The Children are progressing better than I could have hoped for.Their skills rival many soldiers whom I have served with. At thisrate, they will soon be able to rightfully call themselves Rangers.How are Niki and Fredrik doing with their magic skills? Are yougetting enough time with Fredrik or should I curtail his staffpractice?”

  “Fredrik is doing fine withthe time we spend together,” Kalina commented. “He is a fastlearner and he picked up more than he knows from spying on theBlack Devils. Many spells he has already seen performed, but didn’tunderstand how they worked. Once I explain it to him, he isfine.”

  Kalina lowered herself to a sittingposition and Garth slid down beside her. “Niki is another story,”Kalina continued. “She is very stubborn and refuses to accept mydirection. Her ability is not as strong as Fredrik’s and sheinsists it is much greater. Sometimes I think that reality doesn’texist in her mind. Even in the area of health where she has somespecial gift that I have never seen before, she will not take myword for anything. I have to get the book out and show her beforeshe will accept what I am teaching.”

  “How about the cloak or herparents?” Garth inquired. “Have you gotten anything further out ofher?”

  “Not a thing,” Kalina sighed.“Every time I bring it up, she develops a bad mood and stalks off.That is what happened to our session today. I was probing about hermother and whether or not her mother had magical ability. She gotmoody and claimed she had a headache. Then she just got up andwalked away. It is so damn frustrating working withher.”

  “You should try showing herhow to fight with a knife as I have,” Garth laughed. “I think shemight stab herself in the arm trying to get her knife out of thesheath.”

  “Maybe I am just expecting toomuch too soon with her,” mused Kalina. “Your push to get throughthe path to avoid Lavinda did not fool the Children, Garth. Theyknow there was time to detour through Tagaret and one night inLavinda would not have been far off the track.”

  “You know I have a hard timedealing with some things, Kalina. So they know it now, too. Does itreally matter? We have a task before us and the sooner we get toit, the sooner we will get to our goal.”

  Kalina laid her hand gently on Garth’sarm. “No, I suppose it doesn’t really matter. You cannot hide thetruth about the end of Alex and Jenneva forever, though. Some daywe will have to atone for our sins.”

  “Perhaps, but that day is nottoday,” denied Garth. “I am not ready to live with mine yet. I amgoing to halt the practice for tonight. I think we should get aneven earlier start tomorrow. We are very exposed this close toSarac and I want to put some miles between him and us. Is the Swordof Heavens still providing direction?”

  “It is actually gettingstronger,” Kalina acknowledged. “It is swinging more West thanNorth now. I suspect we will be going over the West Mountains andinto what was Cordonia.”

  Garth nodded as he rose to break up thepractice sessions.

  The early morning start allowed thegroup to be within sight of the West Mountains before stopping thenext night. Early practice consisted of tracking, camouflage, andstealth. During the after dinner talk session, Garth got tired ofhearing about Alexander Tork again.

  “Why do you not ask questionsabout Oscar Dalek?” Garth inquired of Tanya. “Your uncle must havebeen full of stories about him, being a travelingmerchant.”

  “Oh, he was,” conceded Tanya.“Most of Oscar Dalek’s life is fairly open and well known, though.You can not be the Prince of Targa without having books writtenabout you.”

  “I’ve never read anythingabout him,” Tedi interrupted.

  “Nor I,” Arik added. “Was he afriend of Alex’s?”

  Garth groaned and shut his eyes. “Yes,they were very good friends,” Garth sighed. “Oscar’s fame did nothave anything to do with his friendship with Alex, though. He couldhave been a great warrior as well, but he never trained his skillsin those areas. Instead, he used his head to amass a great fortunewhile benefiting Targa. In fact, his contribution to Targa faroutweighed Tork’s. Without Prince Oscar, there would have been noTarga ships on the Targa Sea, no canal connecting the Targa Seawith the Sordoan Sea, and probably no victory in the war with thegoblins. His ships and wagons allowed the Targa Army to movequickly to entrap the goblins.”

  “That hardly sounds asexciting as the life of Alex and Jenneva,” Arik said.

  “No?” chuckled Garth. “WhenOscar was young he lost his father to bandits and his mother was sopoor that they could not put food on the table. He rose from thatmiserable disadvantage to become the richest man in the world andthe Prince of the mightiest nation in the world. Killing goblins iseasy work compared to that. A thousand men could grow up to leadarmies and kill their foes, but I do not think anyone will everduplicate Oscar Dalek’s tremendous feats. And what is even moreexciting about him is that one of you is his son.”

  “But he was not a warrior,”protested Arik. “We are training to be warriors, notmerchants.”

  Garth sighed again. He dared not tellthem of some of Oscar’s contributions to Targa because they werestill too secret. He could not tell them that while Alex wascreating the Rangers, Oscar was creating the Spiders, because theSpiders still existed and still gathered sensitiveinformation.

  “Oscar Dalek was no merchant,”Garth insisted. “He started out as a merchant, but
that is akin tocalling Alex an infantry trainee. Besides, you are alreadywarriors. Imagine being an Oscar Dalek and a greatwarrior.”

  The boys perked up at that and startedeyeing each other, looking for the signs of greatness that a kingwould exhibit.

  “Oscar Dalek had visionsinside his head that no other person had ever possessed,” Garthcontinued. “When he saw opportunities, the glee in his eyes was notonly for himself, but for Targa. Imagine being able to have thatvision to shape your country and the skills of a warrior to demandthe respect of your enemies.”

  The boys were clearly excited at theprospect of being a warrior and a king. Garth smiled to himself atsuccessfully changing the topic of conversation for severaldays.

  “Do you know which one of usis Oscar’s son?” Fredrik asked.

  “I don’t know for certain,”confessed Garth, “but I believe he is among us. Would you reallywant me to tell you if I knew?”

  Affirmative response rang fromeverybody’s lips and Garth was actually surprised. Being a Princewas a heavy burden and Garth would not want to know if he was intheir position. “Very well,” Garth replied. “I will tell you theonly clue that I possess. Remember that what I am about to say isnot proof of a claim to the throne, but Prince Oscar and PrincessCallie were given very special gifts from Jenneva. One of youcarries that gift today. How it was come by, we do not know, butits identity is certain.”

  “Do you mean a magical gift?”Arik asked. “That would have to be Fredrik. Tedi and I have nomagical gift whatsoever.”

  Garth watched the boys’ expressions tosee if there was resentment created by Arik’s statement. Fredrikappeared shocked and both Tedi and Arik seemed pleased forFredrik.

  “I do not mean a gift ofmagic,” Garth finally said. “I mean a physical gift. The necklacethat Tedi wears belonged to either the Prince or the Princess. Wedo not know which.”

  Tedi turned bright red and Arik andFredrik slapped him on the back. Tanya looked curiously at the heirto the Alcea Crown, but Niki actually moved to sit between Fredrikand Tedi and examined the necklace.

  The next few days were a welcome reliefto Garth. The questions about Alexander Tork had ceased and PrinceOscar became the topic of conversation. The most dramatic change inthe Children was in Niki. She would not leave Tedi alone. Insteadof magic lessons with Kalina, Niki started challenging Tedi atknives and the Lanoirian Star. She even tried to battle him with astaff, but that lasted as long as one swing in which Tedi disarmedher and she complained of a broken wrist.

  The Sword of Heavens was vibrating sovigorously now that Kalina could not control it. Tedi took over thejob of using the Sword of Heavens to point towards theirdestination. The terrain of the headwaters of the Black Riverchanged from mountains to rolling hills and eventually flattenedout to forested woods just outside the village of Dani. The grouphad a discussion about entering Dani for provisions and afterKalina pointed out that this area had very few visitors and theywould surely be talked about, they decided to bypass thetown.

  Just west of Dani, the pine forest gaveway to an ancient wood of old oak trees. At this point the Sword ofHeavens was vibrating so wildly that only Garth and Arik had thephysical strength to handle it. Garth gave the job to Arik so hewould not be encumbered if trouble arose. The woods were dark andwhatever light the day brought was quickly fading, so Garthannounced that they would camp for the night and start fresh in themorning.

  The camp was full of excitement aseveryone realized they would probably meet the fairies in themorning. During the talk period after dinner, everyone hadquestions about the fairies and what they were like. Unfortunately,nobody had any answers. No one had ever seen a fairy, not evenGarth and Kalina. Garth cautioned about being overlyexcited.

  “You must remember,” Garthstated clearly, “that the Universe inhabited by the fairies wasalso inhabited by ogres. If we are near to finding the fairies, wemay also be in the vicinity of ogres and they are ferociousfighters. An ogre is typically stupid, but they are large, strong,and will eat people. If we have to fight ogres, the bow is yourbest weapon. Their strength will make sword fighting dangerousbecause their blows, even if they are blocked, can knock your swordfrom your hand. Knives will be useless unless you score a directhit in a vital area like the throat or eyes.”

  Everyone’s attention was riveted onGarth. No one expected to find the land of the fairies to be adangerous place, but the thought of fighting ogres had soberedtheir jubilation.

  “You will have to aim at thesame vital areas with your arrows,” Garth continued, “but you maydo so from a greater distance. As far as I know, the ogres have nomagicians, but do not depend on that. If we get into an attack,defense shields will be the first priority of those with magicalcapabilities. If you can maintain a shield and attack at the sametime, do so. There is no such thing as a surrender in a battle withogres. We either kill them all or they eat us."

  The mood had turned rather gloomy asthe Children went to the practice area, but the practice itself wastough. All four of the warrior Rangers practiced their archeryskills, each trying to outdo the others. Arik with his longbow wasclearly the winner, with Tanya second. Each of the Rangerspracticed as if the skills they honed today would be used in battletomorrow. Garth called an early halt to the practice and stated hisintention that everybody get as much sleep as possible. They wouldsearch tomorrow until they located the fairies, even if they had toproceed after the darkness came.

  Garth let everyone sleep until firstlight and then canceled morning exercises. The Rangers hadbreakfast and took to the trail. The oak forest got thicker and thecoming of light did little to improve visibility. The group rodethrough the morning with two stops for Arik to check on thedirection shown by the Sword of Heavens.

  Shortly after their stop for the middaymeal, they started seeing live, healthy apple trees. Tanya startedto gather apples for dinner until Garth told her to keep her handsfree. The light also started to penetrate the forest better as theoak trees thinned. Excitement started to percolate again as therewere several false sightings of fairies. Garth did not share in theexcitement. Instead he started to grow tense with a premonition ofdanger and his eyes started scanning the forest.

  Tedi was in the lead when his horsejust stopped. Garth rode to the front of the procession and askedTedi why he was stopping.

  “I didn’t stop,” Tedi said.“My horse just stopped. Tedi lowered himself from the saddle andchecked on his mount.

  “He’s sleeping!” Tediexclaimed. “I can’t believe it, he is just sleeping.”

  Garth also dismounted to verify Tedi’sstatement. Arik came walking forward from the end of thecolumn.

  “All of the mounts aresleeping except yours and Kalina’s,” Arik stated. “What is goingon? We didn’t push them hard yesterday. They have never acted likethis before.”

  Garth shook his head and startedlooking around at the forest when he heard the shouts behind him.He quickly pivoted and saw Fredrik and Kalina rushing to where Nikihad fallen to the ground. His senses reeling, Garth searched forsome sign of his enemy. He watched as Fredrik collapsed to theground and heard either Tedi or Arik falling behind him with ashout.

  “It’s magical!” Kalina shoutedas she hurriedly tried to erect a shield over the entireparty.

  Tanya dropped to her knees as Garthheard another thump behind him and turned to find both of the Lorgoboys stretched out on the ground. He pulled his sword from itssheath as he turned back to see Kalina collapse. His arms grewheavy under the weight of the sword and it dropped to the ground asthe trees above his head swirled in flashes of green and gray. Hestruggled to grab onto something to hold him upright as hiseyeballs rolled up into his head and his body collapsed beneathhim.

  Chapter 23

  Fairies

  Nothing moved on the forest trail wherethe Rangers lay crumpled in heaps on the ground. Down from the skyfloated a small, blue fairy no taller than a man’s index finger.The fairy’s wings fluttered as she landed on the back of Tedi’shorse and surveyed the sleepin
g party.

  “Why did you attack them,Pixy?” the blue fairy asked. “They would have passed throughwithout ever knowing we were here.”

  A green, and slightly larger, fairyswooped down and soared along the trail over the unmoving forms,finally landing next to the blue fairy with a dazzling flourish ofoutstretched wings.

  “Bah, Nixy,” he grumbled.“Humans are always trouble. It is better that we have stopped thembefore they went any farther.”

  “I think you just enjoy beingmischievous,” Nixy pestered. “What if they are friends or an envoyfrom another land?”

  “The fairies have no humanfriends,” rebutted Pixy. “It will be best for all if we dispose ofthem now. We can levitate them into the acid pits of theogres.”

  “Do you speak for Queen Mitanow?” Nixy persisted. “Besides, we can never levitate them that farby ourselves. We will need a great deal of help, especially withthat big one. You had trouble getting him to lie down.”

  “It would have been easier ifyou had decided to help earlier,” growled Pixy. “That female withthe long, black hair was trying to use some magic to shieldherself. She distracted me. If I hadn’t been distracted, the bigone would have gone down easy enough.”

  “I’m sure,” Nixy drawledsarcastically. “Still, I think we need to get them into the StayBushes as soon as possible. If one of them has the power to breakyour sleep spell, they could be dangerous to us. I will get othersto help with the levitation.”

  “I’ll go,” Pixy offered. “Youkeep a watch for any signs of wakening and don’t let any of themget away.”