by Sam Ferguson
“I saw them too,” the captain said. “You and Jason go and put them down. I’ll take the others along the other side of the city. We have to find whoever is leading them.”
Jonathan nodded.
He and Jason stalked down to the nearest building, and the skulked around the back. Jason led, while Jonathan kept scanning the area for any sign of danger. Their feet fell silently upon the rocky floor of the chamber as they padded along to the two-story building the four trolls had entered. They snuck up to the door and pressed it open.
A single troll was sitting with his back to them and hunched over a table. Jonathan could hear the monster chewing and crunching on something. Jason drew his sword quietly and moved up to the troll with absolute silence. His sword went up, and then it came down in an arc that removed the head from the troll’s neck.
Jonathan moved in then and took the dead troll’s sword.
“Where’s your bow?” Jason asked.
Jonathan shrugged. “Didn’t survive the waterfall.”
“You really are bad with bows aren’t you?” Jason prodded. “I don’t think there has been a bow you haven’t either broken or lost.”
“Shut it,” Jonathan urged. He pointed to the stairs nearby. Jason nodded. They moved up the marble steps slowly, careful not to let their footsteps announce their presence. Fortunately, they found the other three trolls sleeping in beds in an upper room. Jason and Jonathan positioned themselves near two of the trolls and raised their swords over the trolls’ hearts. They watched each other, and then mouthed, “One…two…three!”
On three, they both came down, piercing the heart of the troll they were over.
The two trolls grunted, but not loudly enough to do more than cause the third to snort loudly and roll over in his bed. Jonathan moved to the other troll and took its head from its body, jumping back as the severed head bounced down to the floor near his feet.
“Good, now let’s go and find Ziegler and the others,” Jason said.
Jonathan nodded. They exited the building carefully, not wanting to be spotted by any other trolls. They worked their way through the streets, cautiously examining each one before sprinting across to remain close to buildings for cover.
When they came upon a pair of trolls playing with an old skull, they decided it best to skirt around two building to the left in a wide arc rather than risk an open confrontation that could alert others to their presence. The choice proved wise, for as they crossed the street a couple hundred yards down from where they had nearly run into the two trolls, they spotted a larger group of troll warriors just another twenty yards away.
“There are a lot of them here,” Jason commented.
“Maybe they came here after the war was over,” Jonathan replied.
Jason shrugged.
They continued onward until they reached the tunnel that Ziegler had intended to go to. This one was much darker than the rest of the mountain. A blueish-gray light pulsed from somewhere within the tunnel, stretching and shrinking the shadows along the wall as Jonathan and Jason watched.
“Let’s hurry,” Jonathan said.
The two brothers moved through the tunnel, swords at the ready as it wound down and around to the left. The air turned colder, and the scent became sweeter the deeper they went. A couple of smaller chambers branched off from the main tunnel, but upon inspecting them, Jonathan and Jason didn’t find anything inside other than rubble and the occasional pile of bones.
They continued on for nearly an hour before they heard voices.
“What is that?” Jason asked.
“Sounds like chanting,” Jonathan replied.
They moved through the winding tunnel and then hunkered low as it spilled out onto a stone precipice overlooking a strange structure. It was as if someone had carved a chapel out of the very mountain rather than build with stones or bricks. A great mural of carved stone depicted a large, winged demon over a set of metal gates that appeared to be shut. Massive columns held up the ceiling above. There were pews carved from the stone in the floor, and an altar of stone in the front.
Around the altar were several elves. They were kneeling upon the stone and chanting as they waved their arms up into the air and then bent their faces low to the ground again. Jonathan didn’t know what to make of any of it.
“Look,” Jason said.
Jonathan peered over the edge and looked straight down to where Jason was pointing. He raised a hand to his mouth when he saw the terrible sight at the bottom, some hundred feet down from the precipice they were on. Ryrden was lying broken upon the ground. One of his arms had been cut off and two spears protruded from his chest. All around him bodies were strewn about. There were trolls and elves. Blood stained the floor, and weapon littered the area.
“What happened?” Jason asked. “Where are the others?”
Jonathan pointed further off to a small, square building in the center of the grotesque chapel. The side they could see showed a depiction of a demon wearing a crown and elves bowing to it. “I bet they went in there,” Jonathan said.
“I don’t hear anything,” Jason replied. “Think they’re okay?”
Just then a door swung open on the building. Four tall elves walked out from the doorway. Behind them, Ziegler, Ruben, and Miranda were hauled along in chains. There were a dozen trolls around the prisoners, shouting and pulling on the chains. Ziegler tried to fight and pull against the chains, but a group of four trolls dragged him forward against his best efforts.
“We have to get down there,” Jonathan said.
Jason nodded. “We need a plan,” Jason replied.
Jonathan shook his head. “We don’t have time for that.” He stood up and looked around, then he found a narrow walkway leading from the left side of the precipice down to an area where there was a large rock outcropping they could hide behind for cover. “There, we can wait there until they bring them closer to the altar.”
Jason shook his head. “You don’t think?”
“What else is an altar for?” Jonathan shot back as he ran down the walkway. Jason huffed angrily and was two feet behind Jonathan the whole way down.
They leapt from the walkway to hide behind the outcropping of rock while the other elves and trolls brought the three prisoners in front of the grand metal gates.
“I am so very glad you could join me,” a tall elf said.
“I know that voice,” Jonathan told Jason. The two brothers pressed into the rock and strained to listen as they peered around the edge to see what was happening.
“I would love to have witnesses to my moment of glory.”
“It’s Isylian, yeah?” Jason asked. “He is the councilman that was helping Larkyn.”
Jonathan shook his head. “No, Deltys said there is no Larkyn, remember?”
“But Nebenuk told us about Larkyn too.”
Jonathan nodded and waved at his brother to shut him up.
Just then, the tall elf turned and drew back his hood to reveal his face. Long, shining white hair flowed down around his face and Jonathan’s mouth dropped open. It was not just any council member, it was the one who had led the council while Jonathan was there.”
“I must admit,” the elf said as he paused and turned back to the prisoners. “You have proven my greatest challenge. Not only did you slay the troll king and break the curse of the monsoons, but you survived my assassin in Tirnog. Not to mention you were able to escape with the disciplinary record and escape my agents there as well.”
“Why worry about the record at all?” Ruben shouted in a courageous outburst. “If Larkyn is dead, what difference would it make?”
“Because, you fool, I needed others to believe he was still alive!” the elf roared. “But then you came and took the maps from Eustinian as well. You figured out that elves had been in the Murkle Quags before the war. You poked your noses where they didn’t belong!”
“You started a war in our homeland,” Ziegler shouted.
“War!?” The elf threw h
is hands up and yelled in frustration. “You humans know nothing of war. You are so very consumed with your empty, short lives, that you fail to grasp the power that is available, waiting to be taken!” He made a fist as if grabbing something from the air and then whirled around. “You should have been finished in Inghali, after my servants gave you the false lead about mercenaries, but you not only escaped, you survived my ambush in the forest as well.”
“Don’t forget Deltys,” Ziegler spat. “We killed him too.”
The elf took in a deep breath, walked up to Ziegler, and backhanded him. Ziegler tried to fight back, but the trolls held his chains steady.
“Now you will die,” the elf said. He turned, and the trolls brought the prisoners up close to the altar. They secured their chains to iron loops in the floor, and then the trolls took their seats upon the stone pews.
“We have to do something,” Jason urged.
Jonathan looked back to him and nodded. “We have to wait for the right moment.”
“If you knew anything about our history, you would know that this is about much more than a council seat,” the elf laughed. “It makes for a good story, but a seat upon the council is not nearly worth such sacrifice as I have put in over the last several hundred years. However, now that your souls shall fuel my goals, I shall let you in on a little secret.
“There is a crystal, a crystal with such power that you cannot even imagine. It would allow the holder to walk into the astral plane and subjugate it to his will. Can you imagine? It grants the wielder power over life and death.”
“Yes, it’s a powerful artifact used in necromancy, we understand,” Ziegler spat out sarcastically.
“NO!” the elf shouted. “It doesn’t raise the dead, but it can make someone immortal! It would grant powers like those of a demigod. That is what we are after. It was lost, and now I have been searching for it these many hundreds of years. I was so very close before you came along. The trolls had almost completed their tasks for me and victory was within my grasp, but then you took it out of my hands and I have had to start anew. Not to worry!” The elf pointed to Ruben. “You undoubtedly saw the crystal in Tomyn, yes? It hovered above an altar not unlike this one. It absorbed life force in an effort to help me locate the Astral Shard. I have nearly located it now.” He paused and closed his eyes as a satisfied smile crossed his lips as he considered it. “Mmm. The key to Astral Plane! Now, all I need is an army willing to go and fetch it for me. That is where you all come into play.”
The elf turned and walked back to the altar. “While I do not have my heart set upon necromancy, it does have its uses. You see, a long time ago, the Sierri’Tai used the powers of necromancy to seal away a very powerful demon.” The elf pointed to the gates at the other end of the hall. “Now, with your sacrifices, I shall unlock that gate. You shall give your lives and your very souls to me so that I may free the demon, and set him loose upon the world. In the confusion that ensues, I will take my faithful servants and collect the Astral Shard. Then, I shall claim Gwyndoltai not only as the king of all elves, but as god of this world. I shall build a kingdom such has never before existed, where the Vishi’Tai will be immortal and have ultimate control over all life on Terramyr, as is our calling.”
“Bah!” Ziegler shouted. “I thought the commander at Battlegrym had a superiority complex, but you, my friend, you are far and away the most insane person I have ever met.”
The elf’s face grew cold and he placed his hands upon the altar. “Isylian,” he said.
One of the elves that had been kneeling in front of the altar rose up and approached. “Yes, my king?”
“Explain to this fool why we seek the Astral Shard.”
“Yes, Master Brykith.” Isylian turned to Ziegler and smiled. “Because, after the great wars, when the gods where chased back across Bifrost and hid themselves, the world has fallen into chaos. The only way we can ensure peace is to forge peace for ourselves.”
“Now tell them why you would put me as high king over all others,” Brykith commanded.
“The Vishi’Tai are the oldest of all races, and the wisest. They will rule fairly, with justice.”
Brykith stepped next to Isylian and draped an arm over his shoulders. “You see? I am destined to rule in this manner. The elves will cleanse the world of its chaos. We will cut out humanity like the disease it is, and then we will purge the world of orcs, goblins, giants, dwarves, and all other manner of filth!” Brykith motioned for Isylian to step back into place, which he did immediately. “Bring the girl, we’ll start with her.” Brykith then took a golden dagger from the top of the altar and waited.
“Now?” Jason asked.
Jonathan shook his head. “Almost.”
He watched as a pair of trolls moved to unhook Miranda’s chains from the floor. They walked her up toward the altar and her eyes flicked up to lock with his. He nodded to her, and she nodded back and the purple amulet began to glow softly.
“Now,” Jonathan said suddenly. He ran around the rock. Miranda head butted one of the trolls and then turned to unleash a blast of fire on the other. Brykith moved to intercept her, but Jason was already out from around the other side of the rock and he hurled his sword out at the leader. The weapon flew end over end, flying directly for Brykith, but at the last moment, Isylian leapt up and pushed the leader out of the way, taking the sword in his own chest and slumping over the altar.
The other three elves around the altar stood to fight, but Jonathan overtook them from behind. He stabbed the first through the upper back, then pulled his sword and chopped down on the second elf’s neck. A spray of blood shot out as the elf twitched and fell. The third turned to defend himself, but Jonathan lunged with a forward thrust that put his sword through the elf’s heart.
Brykith cursed and fired a ball of lightning toward Jonathan. Jonathan dropped to the ground and the ball of magic sailed past to explode one of the columns holding the ceiling. A great tremor rocked the chamber and a thunderous rumble roared through the mountain as a crack appeared in the wall that stretched up to the ceiling.
Miranda turned and blasted Ziegler’s chains. He yelled angrily, grabbing a length of chain and whirling it overhead like a heavy whip. He came down on one of the elves behind him, crushing bone and sinew with his assault. Then he ran forward and kicked a second elf in the groin, grabbed a fistful of hair, and brought the elf’s head down to meet his knee as he drove it up into the elf’s nose. Ziegler then ripped the scimitar from the elf’s belt, slashed across the dazed warrior’s neck, and pierced the third elf’s chest as well.
Miranda blasted Ruben’s chains then and he jumped up to unleash a furious bolt of lightning at a group of trolls rushing toward them. The silvery-blue energy burned through the trolls’ chests, obliterating their hearts and dropping them like sacks of wet clay.
“NOOO!” Brykith cried as the battle turned against him. He leapt down and ran toward the gate with the carving of the demon above it.
Jonathan gave chase while the others battled the trolls.
The elf turned to him and snarled. “Why won’t you die?” He raised his hands and lightning jumped from one palm to the other in a network of sizzling energy. Then, Brykith shot out at all of the remaining pillars, laughing maniacally as he stepped through a portal and vanished.
Jonathan never reached him before the portal slammed shut and Brykith was gone. The remaining pillars sizzled and groaned as the magical energy ate away at them. Hunks of stone fell away and Jonathan knew this would end exactly the same as the arena in Inghali.
He rushed back toward the others, shouting the warning, but none of them could hear him. Miranda and Ruben were firing spells at trolls while Jason and Ziegler were locked in vicious melee combat. Only the terrible quake that threw everyone to their knees broke the ferocity of the battle. The one single crack in the wall and ceiling instantly became three, and a great chunk of granite fell from the ceiling.
“Retreat!” Ziegler shouted. The group ran f
or the walkway, as did the trolls. Ziegler cut one down that came too close to the group, but otherwise the battle had been suspended while everyone attempted to flee out of the chamber.
A massive hunk of stone crashed into the floor and crushed the pews and corpses there, driving them into the ground and turning everything to dust and rubble. The quaking then resumed, throwing everyone down to the ground once more as they were about half way up the walkway.
Another chunk of rock fell out of the ceiling and smashed into the walkway before them, wiping out a thirty-foot section and making the escape impossible. Jonathan caught up to them then, and stabbed a confused troll through the heart. Miranda, nodded her head and blasted the final two with a fireball that sent them careening over the edge and back down to the chamber floor, where they were soon buried in tons of igneous rock.
“Hold on!” Ruben shouted as he ran to the edge of the walkway. He pointed his left hand down at a long strip of stone and chanted a spell. His ring began to glow and the stone answered to his call, flying up and moving into place where the gap was. To steady it, a flurry of lightning swirled out from Ruben’s hand and bolstered the rock up.
The group started running across, but then a great rumble sounded and a section of the wall behind them broke and collapsed out toward them.
Ruben shot his right hand up and a storm of lightning created a shield, pushing against the rocks and holding them in place just a few feet above them.
“GO!” Ruben grunted. “I can’t hold this much longer.”
“If we go, you’ll die!” Miranda shouted.
Ruben looked to Jonathan and smiled. “Get her out of here, my friend.”
Jonathan dropped his sword and ran toward Miranda. He and Jason lifted her up and carried her across the suspended strip of stone and up out of the chamber. She screamed angrily through eyes full of tears when the sound of the lightning stopped and was replaced with crumbling stone slamming into place.
It was all Jonathan and Jason could do to hold onto her and carry her up the tunnel.
A pair of trolls were running down into the tunnel from above, but Ziegler slew them quickly and pushed them out of the way so the group could continue their escape. The tunnel groaned and shook, but only smaller bits of rock fell inside along with pockets of dust. Miranda screamed and cried, fighting against Jonathan and Jason nearly half the way back up, and then she went silent and limp. Jonathan tried to talk to her, but she didn’t respond to anything he said. She was inconsolable.
