Alex looked back and saw the camp coming alive with activity and then the forest closed in around him. Kaz ran down the winding forest path with amazing speed, certainly much faster than Alex had ever ridden before. Within fifteen minutes they reached the east-west trail where Alex and his group had been captured and Kaz swerved to head eastward on the trail. Another party of elves was hidden at the intersection of the two trails and arrows chased the fleeing prisoners, but none came close to the group. In another half hour the speeding group exited the woods and Kaz slowed the party down to a walk.
That was, indeed, the fastest ride I have ever had, Kaz. We have much to thank you for.
It was our pleasure, Alex. I thought my life was over when you stopped to help me. Where are you heading?
We seek the main village of Elderal. It is located at the mouth of the Boulder River. Of course, that name will mean nothing to you. There is a great river that flows out of the mountains to the south and east. Where it meets the sea we hope to find the leader of Elderal.
Kaz brought the party to a stop and the riders dismounted. Your people should rest for a few hours until the sun rises. The way south can be dangerous and you will need to be attentive. My people will take you as far as you wish, but you should be warned that the fair elves do not ride and if you travel with us you will be seen as an enemy to them.
Kaz, your people have more than returned my small favor. I cannot suffer you to be shot at because of our destination. Besides, I thought your people don’t like to be ridden.
Kaz snorted and Alex was amazed at how much like a laugh the snort sounded. Actually, it is pleasurable to have a good rider. My people do not like being forced to carry riders, nor do they like the mistreatment they receive from those that treat us like property. Sleep for a while. We will keep watch and we can talk more in the morning.
The unicorns kept watch while the riders slept. Alex awoke with the sun and saw Jenneva off to one side of the camp with a magnificent white unicorn. He strolled over to the couple and Jenneva introduced the unicorn as Yorra.
Good morning, Yorra.
Good morning, Alex. Jenneva and I were just discussing your adventures and plans. I am very excited because I have never been south of the Sithiarimer.
“The Sithiarimer is their name for the Boulder Mountains,” explained Jenneva.
Well, I can see that you have the heart of an explorer, Yorra. I am not sure that I can impose on you and your people to accompany us, though. We accepted the danger of our trip before we left our homes and we will have to suffer whatever the fates have in store for us. Kaz and you do not share our need to go to Elderal.
Perhaps what you say is true, Alex, but Kaz feels that he has a mission similar to yours. For too many years we have been hunted and captured by the elves of Dielderal for use in their war against the elves of Elderal. Those of Elderal have never ridden upon our backs and Kaz thinks that he may be able to make an alliance with them against the dark elves. If the Shamta says that we go with you, we will gladly follow.
What is a Shamta?
Shamta is a leader, son of the Shamora. It is the same as the elves’ Prince who is son of the King.
Do you mean Kaz is the Shamta of your people?
Yes, did you not know? You saved the life of the Shamora’s son. You shall always have a special place with our people.
Then I cannot further risk his life with our journey.
Are not the elf and dwarf with you sons of their people’s King? Kaz would be disappointed to have to make the trip without you.
Alex turned and walked back to the center of the camp. Another Prince for the group, he thought. Life was full of strange occurrences. Still, if the unicorns could gain an alliance with the Elderal, perhaps the fair elves could gain peace with the Dielderal. If Kaz was indeed willing, the trip would progress much quicker. Alex walked over to where Kaz was standing.
Good morning, Kaz.
Good morning, Alex. I trust your short sleep has refreshed you. I see you have been speaking with Yorra. Undoubtedly, you now know of my reasons for joining you on your journey.
Yes, Shamta, I do.
Kaz snorted his musical laughter snort again. I think we can leave it as Kaz, Alex. Our journey together will be very swift, but sooner or later we will have to confront the fair elves and make peace or do battle.
Yes, but traveling with you and your people will not be any worse than entering their lands with a dwarf and a dark elf. Come, let us get the rest of the party together and be on our way.
Alex had a bit of trouble convincing Prince Tergota to remount his unicorn. The dwarf had not objected when they were fleeing the dark elves’ camp, but now he didn’t want to resume the journey on the back of a unicorn. Everyone’s arguments fell on deaf ears until Alex pointed out that Prince Rigal was riding despite his fear of unicorns. Alex felt slightly guilty about furthering the competition between the two Princes, but the dwarf was up on his unicorn in a flash and the party got underway.
As they passed by an area of the mountains where Alex trained his Rangers, he began to notice slight differences in the terrain and decided to point this out to Jenneva. Evidently, the Universes did have differences in geography, even if they were slight.
The group followed the mountains eastward until they came to the pass that was called Tor Pass in their own Universe. They had passed no one on their journey to this point and Alex felt that once they went through the pass, camping would become dangerous. He called a halt to the party and they set up camp for the night. Alex was astounded at the progress they had made in one day. He could never have covered the same amount of territory on horseback as he had with the unicorns.
Alex decided that the unicorns would not stand watch at night as they bore the brunt of the physical exercise during the day. Alex and the two Princes took turns at watch. Egam had been decidedly quiet during the trip and during Alex’s watch, he noticed Egam shaking and rolling about as if having a nightmare. Alex woke Egam up and the old magician’s face was drained of color and he was sweating profusely. Egam refused to talk about it and instead of returning to sleep, he wandered over to the edge of the camp and sat quietly.
In the morning Alex woke Jenneva and took her aside.
“I’m really worried about Egam,” he stated. “He has been much too quiet and last night he must have been having a terrible nightmare. Something is bothering him. See if you can find out what the problem is.”
“I know what you mean,” replied Jenneva. “My attempts at conversation with him are strained. He has been acting strangely ever since we entered this Universe. There is nothing I can do short of a Mind Probe and I will not do that unless Egam is in great danger.”
“But his decisions may be affected,” Alex pleaded. “There are other lives at stake here and he cannot keep his problems to himself.”
“Leave it be, Alex,” declared Jenneva. “You have been acting as the group’s leader and doing fine. You were supposed to take over if anything happened to Egam. Something has happened to Egam and you have taken over. When Egam finds out what is bothering him, he will let us know. I think the problem is that Egam does not know what is bothering him.”
“Okay, Jenneva,” conceded Alex, “but keep an eye on him. I feel trouble coming from Egam and keeping the two Princes apart is enough of a problem.”
Alex woke everyone up and they had a quick breakfast, mounted the unicorns and set out for the pass. Alex and Kaz took the lead at a moderate pace. Tor Pass was also different than the one in Alex’s Universe. It was considerably wider than he remembered. As he was looking at the peaks that lined the pass, he saw a huge shape flying above. He pulled slightly on Kaz’s mane and the party halted. Alex pointed skyward and everyone looked up.
Soaring overhead of the path they were heading for was a huge reptilian form flying in circles.
What is that, Kaz?
That is Gorga, the dragon. The way he is circling would indicate that he is ready to swoop down
for food. Gorga is evil and kills elves and unicorns for his food. He is very old and has taken many of my people.
Are there many of these dragons in your land?
Only Gorga and Wyka. Wyka is a good dragon. She does not eat elves or unicorns, although she sometimes will steal elves’ animals when she is very hungry.
Gorga lazily swept down out of the sky to some spot that was out of sight of the group.
Whatever Gorga is eating must be already dead. When Gorga attacks the living he does not waste time circling, but attacks swiftly.
Alex started the group moving again and when they exited the pass he saw the remnants of a small village. He headed for the village and dismounted. The village had been very small, probably not more than twenty elves, but Alex could tell from the remaining bodies that Gorga did not kill them. He might be feasting on the bodies, but he doubted that the dragon used arrows to kill his prey.
Alex walked around the village and stopped by the bodies of a young elf woman and her infant. Both had arrows in their backs and Alex felt his rage boiling. Prince Rigal came over and placed his hand on Alex’s shoulder and Alex pushed the elf’s hand off and twirled to face the elf Prince.
“I don’t care about your policy of not killing elves,” Alex shouted. “When I catch up with these butchers, they will die! I don’t care if they are your long, lost brothers or not.”
Prince Rigal stepped back a bit. “Alex, I was coming to tell you the same thing. No one can be allowed to commit such atrocities. In fact, I wanted to ask you if we could change our path to follow them. The trail is not hard to spot. It appears that there are many of them, but they are on foot and should be easy to track.”
Alex stared into the elf’s eyes and nodded. “First, we must bury the villagers. Gorga will have to turn elsewhere for his next meal.”
Quickly, the villagers were gathered and buried. The party mounted the unicorns and set out to track the killers. The unicorns set a furious pace and within an hour they had found their prey. They halted on a hillside and looked at the battle in the valley below. About fifty dark elves were attacking another village. This village was larger and had around a hundred people, but it was a farming community and didn’t appear to be defending itself very well.
Alex hastily came up with a plan of attack. Jenneva would veer out to the west and Egam to the east. The magicians would attack the two flanks while the two Princes and Alex would charge through the middle, turn around and charge back through the line. Alex hoped only that the villagers they had come to help wouldn’t kill them.
At Alex’s signal they charged, screaming loudly. The attacking dark elves thought, at first, that some of their companions were coming to help because of the unicorns, but when Alex started swinging his sword and dark elves started dying, confusion took hold of the attackers. Alex killed six elves on his first pass through. The Dielderal elves did not expect Alex to turn and charge again and his second pass was just as successful.
When Alex turned again he could see that they were ready for him this time. He also saw the two magicians hurling fireballs from the sidelines.
“Just before we reach their lines this time, jog to the right and take out the enemy alongside of the one that you were charging. When we get through, we dismount and fight on foot. The unicorns will be able to double our numbers.”
They charged as directed and once again the killers were surprised. By the time they dismounted, there were only a handful of the dark elves left and they were running for their lives. Alex and the two Princes brought out their bows and fired at the retreating elves. Kaz and the other two unicorns charged after the retreating enemy and struck them down.
The villagers ran out and surrounded their unexpected saviors. The villagers were unsure of whether the strangers were there to help them or they had arrived to attack the dark elves so that they might have their own way with the villagers. Prince Rigal greeted the villagers and showed the Medallion of Prince Geltim. The villagers were confused and unsure of what the medallion meant, but they gathered that they had nothing to fear from the strange party.
The villager leader asked the strangers to his house while the village men gathered the bodies of the slain. Alex demanded that Prince Rigal get assurances that the unicorns would be treated with respect before he agreed to the meeting. The village leader looked curiously at the unicorns and after some discussion agreed to hold the meeting outside so that the unicorns could attend.
Prince Rigal explained the purpose of their journey and their capture by the dark elves and the discovery of the destroyed village. The village leader did not know what to make of their discussion regarding other Universes and he had little knowledge of who Prince Geltim was. He was deeply saddened about the destroyed village. He explained that the fair elves avoided the unicorns because they were thought to be in league with the dark elves. He was quite surprised to learn that was not the case.
The villager leader was very thankful for their rescue, but he was clearly uncomfortable in the presence of a dwarf, a dark elf, unicorns, humans, and most of all, magicians. The other villagers were quite curious about this strange assortment of beings that they had never seen before, but they were also afraid enough to maintain a very healthy distance from the group.
“Why are the elves fighting each other,” Alex asked.
“It has been this way for many years,” answered the village leader. “Long ago, the elves were attacked by dwarves and the King sent his son, the Prince, to drive them off. The Prince was never heard of again, so the King ordered each village to train a group of men as village protectors. Prince Gordana was put in charge of all of these village units. Several years later, the dwarves came again and Prince Gordana gathered all of the village protectors and chased them over the mountains and battled fiercely with them, killing many evil dwarves.”
Prince Tergota clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. It bothered him deeply to sit and listen to this portrayal of dwarves being evil.
The village leader continued. “They stayed north of the Sithiarimer for many years trying to track down and kill all of the dwarves. The King ordered Prince Gordana to return home, but the Prince refused to leave as long as a dwarf existed. King Elisar threatened his son with banishment if he did not return. Eventually, King Elisar died and his son, Prince Alderon, assumed the throne. Prince Gordana still refused to return, but claimed the throne for himself. Soon, the two Princes clashed over the leadership and Elderal was split into two nations, Elderal and Dielderal. The fighting has continued to this very day.”
“The first son of King Elisar, and brother to Prince Gordana and Prince Alderon, was Prince Geltim,” declared Prince Rigal. “This is his medallion. The dwarves did not kill Prince Geltim or his followers. The elves moved somehow to a different Universe and set up a new nation. I am his descendant and bearer of the Medallion.”
The village leader was shocked as Prince Rigal’s statement struck him. He leaned forward and examined the medallion with shaking hands.
“And I am the descendant of the dwarves that Prince Geltim chased,” declared Prince Tergota. “I am from King Arak, son of King Frakis of Lanto, whose journey through your lands was meant for peace, not conquest. We, too, ended up in this new Universe thinking that Lanto had been destroyed by the elves.”
The village leader looked at one of the young warrior elves that had been sitting off to one side of the meeting and the elf rose and left the meeting. The village leader ordered refreshments for everyone and extended an offer to the group to spend the night in his village. The meeting continued late into the evening and Alex began to get a clearer picture of how the events that Jenneva mentioned had unfolded in Elderal.
Egam had another fitful night, tossing and turning and calling out names. At one point during the night Jenneva woke Egam and tried to find out what was bothering him. He was shivering and sweating and didn’t seem to realize where he was.
“Egam,” asked Jenneva, “what is bothering
you? Are you sick?”
“I do not quite understand what is happening, Jenneva,” he answered. “I see visions of things that I have never seen in my lifetime. Creatures calling out to me in hate and fury. I sense a great danger coming, Jenneva, but I cannot identify it.”
“Is it this Alutar?” queried Jenneva.
“Yes,” replied Egam. “He knows my name and has some score to settle, yet I know him not. He is the embodiment of evil, a destroyer of all life. And he wants me. He pursues me and I know that I must find and destroy him before he finds me. Yet I know that I cannot destroy him.”
“Go back to sleep, Egam,” soothed Jenneva. “He will not harm you here. Tomorrow we will ask questions about this Alutar and who he might be.”
In the morning the village leader welcomed the visitors to a large breakfast and Egam was missing. Alex went to look for him and returned shortly.
“Egam has left us to travel on his own,” Alex stated.
“What do you mean?” asked Jenneva.
“Kaz says that Egam and his unicorn left during the night,” answered Alex. “Just before dawn, his unicorn returned with the message that we should not follow Egam. Egam said that our paths lie along different roads and we should continue with our mission.”
“Perhaps the dwarf should have accompanied him,” stated the village leader. “It would make claiming your throne much easier if you didn’t bring a dwarf into Elderal.”
Prince Rigal jumped to his feet, dark fury in his eyes, and with clenched jaw berated the village leader. “Do you mean Prince Tergota when you say ‘the dwarf’? The dwarf that risked his life to save your elf village from other elves? It grieves me to see brother killing brother, but it bothers me even more when we turn against our friends because we fear what someone may think of them. I fear that we may have overextended our welcome here and it is time to leave.”
Ancient Prophecy Page 6
