This is where the Viren River ran towards the northern ice and Nabuto must have willed them to fight for there were deep caves, clean water and minerals to help the Deep Elves thrive and survive. But there was something else too as within the last tunnel back toward the ancient mud pool of creation; the Deep Elves found twelve gleaming stones etched with three letters on each. These stones gave powers to every elf within their presence and they swiftly built a palace to house them where the stones alone could be touched by the light of Nabuto and therefore grow even more powerful. When the Black God Diabolash noticed the power, he strove to come and steal the stones and though they pushed back the demon and orcs and goblins that followed him, the great monster was able to get through to the stones. But here, a lone figure by the name of Uthall took the stones in a circle around him and spoke the letters in sequence… his body was split between each stone and his blood sent spitting out onto the god, burning its powers away and forcing it back into the Giroff Mountains. Uthall’s son then took the role of king and learnt the truer magic of the stones and their ability to protect against gods when the speaker of the spell was willing to sacrifice themselves….
Since then, every time Virenheim was in danger the stones were used to fight them back but over the years the demons became more cunning. They sent agents to steal the stones and there were traitors that were jealous of Uthall’s bloodline taking power – always the stones have given us power to fight and yet we have been reduced to just two. But for King Otzell, who is the greatest of that bloodline, two stones are enough.
“That is the story of the stones… we believe they were the last part of the moon that was not pulled from the form of Organthra and gifted to us to help bring about the fall of the blood born gods.” Damara stated with a soft smile and the kids nodded their heads in delight although Karayan looked slightly confused over it all. Lady Simtohk then stepped out from behind the curtain and back to her high seat where she towered over the collection. Damara looked towards her with a fearful expression, worried that she might not have told the story correctly and the old lady simply gave a grunt.
“You did well until the final part where your enthusiasm was lagging. Perhaps you need to re-read the old scrolls again and remind yourself about the stones and the king.” The old woman grimaced slightly but she could see the children had questions as they lifted their hands to ask and even Karayan copied them. The old woman shook her head gently and grimaced before she stated what she thought was going to be the obvious question. “If you’re all going to ask what happened to ten of the stones then there have been serious situations involving stealing by foreigners, demon attacks where stones were acquired, possessed residents taking stones and two incidents where two members of the mage council claimed to have learnt terrible secrets and disposed of them. Not to mention the incident where the last female Watcher ever to be selected took a stone and leapt into the Viren River with it. Her action was assumed to be caused by her sorrow over the loss of her child in a demon attack and therefore women are not permitted within the Watchers for fear of our passions overtaking our senses.”
Damara listened to the statement with an obvious look of sorrow upon her face as she heard the words again about the final stone’s disappearance. She could not believe she’d accepted that statement so easily as a child despite the fact that it was a blatant aggressive statement against her own gender. Damara knew very well that men used their aggression much more vividly then any woman used their sorrow. As she thought over it all and the old lady began to continue her original lesson on the place of women within society, Damara just felt all the more depressed. How could she be thought of as so little at times when her gender was the only one to produce and teach the children? Her thoughts must have been similar to the Karayan’s for he listened with an obvious scowl upon his face.
Upon the surface Anouk and her group were on patrol around the perimeter of the Pitch Forest, their eyes all scanning the trees and dark scrub in search of trouble. The mud and grass were wet enough from the rains to have kept foot prints and on a dry day, as it was, the squad had managed to catalogue and identify seventeen different sets of tracks all around the forest edge. With concern that something had been close to the Emergency Tunnels near this end of the First Dam, Anouk had chosen to move out of the usual patrol route and head down towards the hidden crystal boundary on the edge of the forest where the trees faded and Benaga Land sat. Although none of her companions would dare to say that she was doing it for selfish reasons, they all felt a little disconcerted that their leader had felt compelled to do it this time.
Considering there was the possibility of seventeen different monsters hanging around in the area, the squad kept their hands to their weapons and their eyes peeled. Nothing felt good on the surface but in the sunlight most demons were unable to attack so they knew at this time they would have an edge over them. Yet as each foot stepped cautiously within the familiar worn track of the safety route for the farmers, their eyes could not see any visible sign of the normal wildlife or even of the sheep and cattle. Although it would be too early for the animals to have been grazing on the fields they were usually audible in the nearest corral and to Anouk’s frustration the world was too quiet.
“This is getting frustrating… I’ve been warning them time and time to keep a patrol going around the city limits and not just to the kingdom’s boarders. There are loads of old wolf tracks around here and the shepherds haven’t been told this. We don’t want a year’s supply of livestock getting slaughtered simply because no one’s been keeping the paddocks clear!” Anouk growled in frustration as she stopped beside a few saplings on the route and crouched downward. She was stroking the edge of the bark, letting her fingers touch old patches of wolf urine from where territory had been marked out and the smell was faint. The rest of her group were a little more on edge and as she squatted down they all formed about her in a tight protective circle, which she appreciated greatly.
“The marks are pungent enough to say the wolves have been out the past two days at least… plus it’s been very quiet at night – the shepherds were commenting on how you usually hear the wolves howling just before lambing season. It’s frustrating because if the wolves aren’t around then something bigger is. What do you reckon Alard?” Ling chirped suddenly as she leapt upward onto the big Aeron’s shoulders, making him wobble slightly in surprise as she wrapped her long legs over his shoulders, wrapped her arms about his head and then looked about with her sharper eyes.
“Lord Benaga… I don’t know about you, but I’ve got a very bad feeling about the rest of the path.” One of the newest recruits to the group, Sarag, was standing beside his big brother Kaloon looking down the track way towards the hillocks that hid the tunnel entrance. Sarag was only just twenty-one and had been put with his brother because it seemed the safest place for him. With fire magic he was a very powerful being but what had compelled Anouk and her companions in training the young man was his ability to sense trouble. The moment he became concerned Anouk straightened up and looked toward the young blue-haired figure with a sigh. When Sarag knew he had her attention he stepped past his brother and backed slowly to her side as the group tightened in around one another and Ling peered out toward the pathway. “There’s a weird sensation in the air… don’t know if you can feel it Hamran… but it’s like there’s a spell further up that’s going to trick us.”
“Yeah… the air is feeling a little fuzzy… I think we’ve got a possible infiltration here boss. What do you want us to do?” Hamran, a wind mage, started swirling his fingers around in the air as he straightened himself up. He sniffed at the air and then looked toward Anouk who was nodding her head in agreement. As they all straightened up Anouk grasped Ling’s ankle and gave her a sharp tug to hop down; she also pinched gently at the ear of Laein… another mercenary, this time a wood elf.
“The pair of you are to get back to the Patrol Tower and warn them to pull everyone back towards the city as we’ve got a possible breech
. The rest of us will move forward with extreme caution and I want you, Ijah to stand at the front and see if you can dispel whatever’s covering up the path. The last thing we need right now is a tunnel invasion when we’ve already got suspicions of a previous one.” Anouk snarled in frustration as she recalled the snippet of information passed on by Tagrisa, a member of the police regarding a missing guardsman. With frustration the two scouts looked to Anouk with sneers, unwilling to leave her alone and go on to do a job that would be less dangerous. But though Ling hopped off Alard’s shoulders and was about to lift a hand to and start complaining, Anouk narrowed her sharp green eyes and with a grunt the pair agreed.
Turning on their heels and rushing off down the path they’d already used, their feet not missing a previous step in the dirt where they could see there had been no change, the pair galloped off and in less then an hour would reach the first post on the opposite side of the First Dam. Once Anouk was assured that the pair of them had moved on she turned toward Ijah and encouraged him to produce one of the pallid clear orbs to go ahead and scout the area out. Ijah, a Deep Elf older then Anouk and incredibly slim but with extremely long silky silver hair, lay down on the path and seemed to go into some form of meditation. His companions watched him with a nod of their heads as the orbs skidded away along the path and the only other female in the group, Contusa, squatted down beside him with her hand clasped to his wrist reading his pulse. Trained as a healer because she was one of seven daughters, Contusa had been adopted into the Healer Corps as a Patrol Healer rather then as one of the Sacred Women. Contusa had shaved herself bald in recognition of the fact she was a fighter, accepting that her position meant she was unattractive and she was eager to show Anouk just how loyal a soldier she could be when compared to the other males.
For about five minutes there was silence before the female suddenly jolted and slapped Ijah firmly across the face. The loud clap caused the group to jump and turn to look at the stunned and pallid figure as he trembled, huffed and puffed as Contusa pulled him up into a sitting position and patted his forehead in reassurance. Ijah would only have reacted in such a fearful manner if the orb had needed to be destroyed and as he scowled the squad guessed that something dangerous was indeed up ahead and Ijah pulled himself up onto his feet with a snarl. Turning towards his commander he hissed at Anouk, always startled by the fact she seemed to sense trouble much more accurately then any of the other commanders he had worked with.
“Once again, you’ve proven your ability to the units and Nabuto, Lord Benaga.” Although his tone was slightly sarcastic Anouk made no note of it as he flicked his thumb to his forehead in a gesture of defeat. It was as good an apology for his earlier ramblings on her decision then she would get and Anouk snorted. She did not care about who was right or wrong, only what he had been witnessing. “There’s a collection of Bulgas running along the tunnel; I’ve blown the orb against the heaviest beast at the back and it’s killed him but there’s a demon guiding these hunchbacked gorillas onward. I think we can take them on as long as the guards at the other end of the passage are stationed there and react to the explosion, it should have echoed down to them by now. In the mean time we can use the boy’s fire power and Alard’s strength to take out the heaviest beasts at the back, so they don’t start digging down.”
“What kind of demon did you see Ijah?” Alard stated with a grunt of frustration. Bulgas were like a mix of gorilla and troll, ugly bald grey creatures that shuffled on their knuckles with stunted hind legs with faces like a pig. Their heads were shovel shaped to dig and the largest of the beasts had long furrowed claws they used to dig and if one Bulgas started to dig they all started to dig. The usual defences and patrols coming this way would normally have spotted the signs and called it in before setting up a stun trap to knock the beasts back into the forest; however, there was a curious sensation amongst the group that the last squad out here had been lazy or had not gone this far before being called in by the Karayan situation.
“A Hive Mind… that means we’ve got an Archdemon out there calling the shots.” It was not the news any of them wanted to hear and Alard gave a growl of anger as he pressed close to their leader, reassuring her that he’d keep his vow. Like all his kind, Alard was loyal to whomever saved their life in battle and with his own injury five years ago nearly killing him, he felt as if a single life time would not be enough to pay Anouk back for her kindness. The other members of the squad pressed close as well, their faces an array of disquiet and disgust as they considered the trouble they were about to encounter and just how important their next step was going to be.
Kaloon lifted his belt up from his hips and twisted it until the varied pouches attached had spun and he’d found the right one. Flicking the leather sac open he stuffed his hand in and pulled out a small vile of liquid before passing it to Anouk for confirmation. The most dangerous thing that could happen now was for their position to falter and more demons to come along the same path, so the vile was the ultimate desensitising chemical they had in their arsenal… Giroff Troll urine... a potent cocktail indeed that made them all wince in disgust. With a nod from Anouk they all shifted the black scarves at their necks upward to smother their mouths before Kaloon started to spill droplets onto the trail. With the territorial markings of such an unpredictable and unfriendly creature that made a habit of dining on Bulgas, they would only have the demon’s hive mind to contend with. In thought to that Kaloon flicked his finger for a static cloudy orb to hover in the air above them, ready to let off an explosion of light the moment they engaged their enemy.
The children had been taken out on a walk down the tunnels to recognise points of interest and history within Virenheim. With the Karayan, Damara, Droy, Martum and Talon in tow there were enough adults present to take the little squabble of children out towards the emergency healer’s tunnel. It was a route all the adults needed to know in dangerous situations above ground as well as for those underground to escape to the regions before the Viren River. For those on patrol in the south-western end of the kingdom, this route was the quickest to the First Aid centre that was patrolled by the Head Healer and her associates; it also offered an emergency service to the foreigners and was the one building in Virenheim with a staircase that entered the walls around the Citadel itself.
During their walk the children had clustered around the Karayan eagerly and had giggled at his constant chain of questioning for Lady Simtohk, who looked on the edge of exploding when he’d dared to ask about some of the statues passed in the Greeting Corridor. He had been able to recognise Damara’s father with ease however and though she had imitated the act of reverence to him that Anouk had, upon looking at her grandfather’s figure they had all been taken aback. For some reason it appeared all the angrier than usual and even the teacher had covered her face with her hand in respect to whatever might be upsetting the figure of the past. Although the statues were not prone to changing their expressions and indeed could not, the curious vibe had made them all tense as they followed the slender tunnel through seemingly solid rock toward the Emergency Centre.
As they had come close to the kennels the Dreggs within had erupted with anger and rage, which the teacher had waved off, unconcerned despite the abnormality. When Dregglings and children were present the adult Dreggs became vicious towards everything with the need to defend but Martum was curiously frozen to the spot and unwilling to follow his companions onward. With his experiences and Droy’s being strictly to the city squad and the Karayan’s home, stepping this close to the outside was all too forbidding and the reaction of the guarding beasts unsettling. At his staunch refusal to carry on Droy requested they only go as far as the centre on the other side of the kennels and no further. Simtohk scoffed at his suggestion, almost tempted to go to the handsome figure and pinch his ears for daring to speak with authority over a woman’s position. But the reaction had made the children anxious and they were not willing to even pass the kennels, which made the Karayan sneer in frustr
ation.
“I will go on to the centre because beyond it is a fresh supply of air… I might even follow the tunnel up and glimpse the sky for a reminder of what you all respect so greatly. I do not expect any of you to go further and would be quite against it. So stay with Martum and Droy children, Lady Sim… whatever… if your purpose was to instil caution into the minds of these children then recall the warnings you teach about the aggressive manner of the Dreggs. There could be something going on up ahead so don’t put the young at risk.” If she had not been afraid of him, then the old lady might have given him a mouthful for disrespecting her name and suggesting she had intentions of upsetting the children. But instead she bit her lip and tapped her front teeth three times in an insult toward Karayan regarding ‘speaking out of place’, which Damara noted but did not speak about. She did not want to hold such disrespect from her teacher, but she had to agree with Karayan and she had been curious about his need for fresh air and sunlight when he was trapped in their world.
The children all muttered with fear but they pressed to the neat dark grey robes of Droy and Martum for protection as the sounds of shrieks, screams and barks from the reptiles seemed to calm at the approach of the stranger. The children watched eagerly with baited breath in case something might lunge out of its kennel and attack him, but the animals remained calm and the Karayan practically glided down the passage. Damara and Talon quickly skipped after him although Talon had swiftly removed a wooden pole for sitting on from the wall and lifted it up to him like a spear. He also felt unnerved and with his motion of caution the old teacher stepped back towards her students with a grimace of frustration, removed another pole, stuffed it into the appropriate hole on the floor and sat down.
Damara’s body began to tingle and prickle with frustration and excitement at the thought that something could be coming their way. If her sister or her companions had noticed her interest and eagerness to prove herself useful, they might have scolded her for tempting fate, but Damara could not prevent the rush entering her blood. There was something bad up ahead, her body knew it and craved to advance as a curious electricity sparked between the three adults and their casual pace dropped down to something more purposeful. After the forty paces that made up the length of the kennels, they stopped at the wide bulge within the straight tunnel as it angled upward and became pitch black. Here in one of the pockets in the stone wall sat the lonely looking white hut of the Emergency Centre and automatically they watched Head Healer, Lady Molwesa Ahygah-Benaga, stroll out of the great wooden doors with a grimace upon her face. She had a large satchel wrapped about her white and blue robes as she strode towards their position and then froze beside her niece. Her eyes locked onto Karayan and he turned to face her, snarling.
Traitor to the King Page 12
