Once Alastor was certain he could hear the wings of a butterfly if it flew by, he began to speak.
“Soldiers,” his voice boomed, “you gather here before me both as men of alliance and men of defeat. Today, we set out on the next chapter of our conquest: The Crystal Wood. We do not know what awaits on the inside, and that is why we have numbers on our side. We will spare no man in our conquest and we will march with the largest army known to man to take the land of the elves. The time is now. Move out!”
The army erupted in cheers once again as Alastor raised the battle flag even higher than before. He then turned south and galloped onward, hearing the satisfying thundering of thousands of men behind him. They continued on as the sun set to their right.
Alastor would soon be king, but even he knew that a measely kingdom and an elf forest would do little to sate his lustful appetite for power.
Only the world could do that.
Day and night passed in the library in the elf castle, and Milea was still no closer to answering any questions they had. Even when Varg took over in the library to give a fresh eye to the material while Milea kept her eye on Zita, he also found nothing new in the dozens of books Milea had already combed through.
“It's been four days,” Milea huffed as she met Varg by Zita's cell, “and we still have nothing. I'm beginning to think the truth to this whole thing was intentionally hidden. The question is why?”
Milea peeked into Zita's cell and saw her lying in her bed facing away from the cell door. “Is she asleep?” Milea asked.
Varg peeked over his shoulder into the cell and said, “I think so. She hasn't moved in a few hours.”
“Well, we ought to move a little further away just in case,” Milea said, “and speak in Elvish for good measure.”
“I don't know,” Varg said. “I'm still not used to speaking it on purpose, especially not with you. I've always used the human language with you.”
“Just try,” Milea urged. “I know she's very unlikely to escape, but I don't want to take the chance of her getting out of here with sensitive information.”
“All right,” Varg said.
They then moved away from the cell and down the walkway. Once they were satisfied that they were out of earshot, Milea turned around and faced Varg.
“All right, I'm speaking Elvish right now,” she said. “I want you to concentrate and try to speak it back to me.”
Varg nodded, then he concentrated. He thought back to the healers in his room, Shara, and then speaking to Queen Shalia. When he was sure he was ready, he spoke.
“How is this, am I speaking it now?” he asked.
“Yes, good work,” Milea said. “Now then, I don't think the library is going to yield any new information about the key, what the first queen of the Crystal Wood has to do with it, and what the connection between her death and the formation of the barrier is.”
“Or why touching the crystal in the Inner Sanctum destroyed the barrier,” Varg added. “One would assume that if a group of individuals wanted to seal an entire forest and city off from the rest of the world, they would make it a bit harder to get rid of.”
Milea shook her head. “I think,” she said, “for whatever reason, Elora never intended for the barrier to last forever. I think she intended all along for it to be found and for the barrier to vanish.”
“But you didn't have your dagger when the barrier vanished, so that had nothing to do with the key,” Varg pointed out.
Milea thought for a moment, then the answer hit her. “Because I didn't need it. I bet that dagger has her blood in it, which is how it was able to get my father through the barrier.”
“That sounds plausible,” Varg said, “but that still doesn't explain why.”
“No, but at the very least we can make sure that Jin doesn't succeed in his plans, whatever they may be,” Milea said. “We also need to get my dagger back from Alastor before Jin finds out what it is.”
“Agreed,” Varg said.
Just then, a guard approached them from the bottom of the walkway and said, “Lady Milea, Queen Shalia requests your presence at once.”
Surprised, Milea raised an eyebrow and said, “I wonder what she wants. I'd better not keep her waiting.”
“I should probably stay here,” Varg said.
“Actually,” the guard said, “the queen wishes to speak to you as well.”
Varg hesitated, but soon said, “All right, let's go.”
As the sound of footsteps died away, Zita finally dared to crack a smile. Those fools gave away everything...
Once the door to the dungeon shut and she didn't hear anyone else, Zita finally opened her eyes and sat up in her cot. She didn't want to return to Lord Jin once again without having taken care of the Wolf, but this information was far too valuable. She thanked her luck that the elves also gave her the understanding of their language when their princess had interrogated her.
Zita hopped out of her prison cot. She had only one chance to make her plan work, so she was going to have to be precise. She approached the door to her cell and looked down at the prison door. A lone guard stood watch, since she was the only prisoner.
“Guard, come quick!” Zita cried. “Something is wrong!”
The guard lazily looked up at her and said, “Sit down and stop yelling, human.”
Zita put all her weight and held herself up with the bars, “But I'm ill. I think I need a healer. Please, help me!”
Zita fell to the ground and made coughing and retching sounds. She rolled around on the ground and was about to dismiss her efforts as fruitless, but then she heard the guard's hurried footsteps coming up the walkway.
The door opened with a creak after the guard fumbled with the keys for several seconds. He rushed into the room and flipped Zita onto her back.
“Get up, human,” he barked. “I've had enough of your outbursts.”
When Zita didn't move or eve breath, the guard placed two fingers on her neck to check for a pulse, and that was when Zita made her move.
Zita lunged up at the guard before he had time to react and covered his mouth and nose with a cloth. The guard pried her hands away, but by then it was too late. The fumes on her cloth took only a single breath to activate, and the guard stumbled around until he fell to the ground unconscious. Proud of her work, Zita placed the empty phial that once contained a powerful paralytic concoction back into her pocket.
When Zita was positive that he wouldn't be a problem anymore, she retrieved the key and his blade from his belt. She emerged from the cell seconds later and locked the guard inside. She then crept out of the dungeon and into the castle, determined to find a way out and tell Lord Jin everything she learned.
CHAPTER 19
“Oh, good,” Shalia said upon the arrival of Varg and Milea. “Tell me, have you learned anything new?”
“No,” Milea said ruefully, “we haven't. I was just telling Varg that I don't think the library will hold any new answers.”
“Just as I feared,” Queen Shalia said. “I may know of someone who can help you, but I don't think you're going to like it.”
The queen paused, then said, “Well the only people who know more about the barrier than anyone else are the priestesses of the Temple of Laelith, and High Priestess Morvyn is well versed on history involving the Temple and the barrier.”
Milea stared at her. “Do you honestly believe for a moment that Morvyn will tell us anything?”
“Considering you have a vision in the temple, I believe she along with all the priestesses will be more cordial with you than you think,” Shalia said.
“But the barrier is gone because of me,” Milea said.
Shalia stood straight and replied, “You may have unwittingly exposed the Crystal Wood, but we've kept panic in the city down to a minimum, mostly thanks to High Priestess Morvyn.”
Milea shrugged and said, “If you think it will help.”
“I do,” Shalia said. “Now hurry off.”
As
Varg and Milea emerged from the royal quarters, the latter turned to the former and said, “I think you should go back to the dungeon and stay with Zita. I have a bad feeling about leaving her alone with that guard.”
“I know what you mean; if she's with the Shadow Hand, she probably has a few tricks on her sleeve,” Varg said.
“I'll come meet you as soon as I'm done at the Temple,” Milea said. “Good luck.”
Of course, Milea knew she was the one who was going to need it.
Now that she could actually walk the streets, Milea could see the city for the very first time. When she was young, she wasn't allowed to leave the castle since if the elf people knew that her gather was a human, not only would there be widespread panic, but the lives of her and her father would be in jeopardy. Now that she and Varg weren't sneaking around at night, the gentle green light illuminating the white buildings and green landscape was a lovely sight to behold.
Milea finally made her way to the Temple of Laelith at the end of the path and walked up the stairs to the platform that led to the entrance. She cautiously approached the doors, then pushed them open and stepped inside.
There were no services that day so the main area of worship was empty. Milea walked quietly down the aisle in between the two rows of seats. She began to poke around the room searching for anything of interest. She examined a few statues, paintings, and writings on tablets that hung along the wall.
“I would have thought you would have had enough of this place to last a lifetime.”
Milea turned sharply to see High Priestess Morvyn standing in the doorway leading from the private quarters of the Temple. She held a book under her arm and bore the same icy stare and permanent frown that Milea had first seen her with.
Morvyn made her way to the altar, where she lay the book down and flipped through the pages.
“I trust you have a good reason for returning unannounced to the temple?” Morvyn said. “I suppose I should be grateful that you didn't sneak in at night this time.”
Milea frowned, but ignored her remark and replied, “I have questions that the queen assured me you could answer.”
Morvyn found the page she was looking or and left it open on the altar. She finally met Milea's gaze and asked, “Regarding what?”
“The barrier,” Milea answered, “more specifically, how it was put in place.”
Morvyn eyed Milea curiously, then to the latter's surprise, the former chuckled and said, “It's ironic, isn't it? You come here unwelcome, and destroy that which has protected us for so long, and now you come back to question how it was created in the first place?”
Milea did her best to hide her scowl. “I am sorry about the barrier, but now it's important that I find out more about the vision I had. I know you don't believe me, but my friend and I are fighting a man who is after something here in the Crystal Wood, and if he gets it, it may mean the end of not just humankind, but elfkind as well. Surely you, High Priestess of Laelith, must wish to protect all elves from any possible threat?”
Morvyn stared at Milea as though she wanted to argue, but her vows to Laelith evidently won the inner struggle. “This is true, but trust me when I tell you this: if you or any of those other outsiders have any plans to disrupt or otherwise harm our realm, there will be dire consequences.”
“We don't mean any harm,” Milea assured.
“That remains to be seen,” Morvyn said. “Regardless, what is it you wish to know?”
“For starters, how exactly was the barrier formed?” Milea asked.
Morvyn paced behind the altar and said, “Near the end of the Golden era, war was raging between the elves humans. The elf leading our army was a young woman by the name of Elora, and to my understanding, she is the very elf you had a vision about. The humans were driving the elves further south until we had only one sacred forest left. When she went to the summit of the forest to pray to Laelith for guidance, the Mother told her to lead every last elf to that area and join with every priestess and wield her power to create the Tree of Laelith. The Tree was grown in the very spot where Elora received her first vision. From the tree's center grew a crystal, and it was there that the source of power for the barrier grew. The priestesses then performed a ritual to strengthen the barrier, a tradition we follow every hundred years to this day. Now, of course, such a ritual seems pointless.”
Milea edged closer. “I read that Elora's death was around the same time as the barrier's formation. She was young, far too young to just...die. Is there any possible connection?”
“It is unclear Elora why died shortly after the ritual, but a common theory is that it was due to the fact that it took too much of her power to help with the ritual,” Morvyn said. “No one has really questioned it before because it didn't seem important. Why then, is this so important to you?”
“Because in my vision, Elora handed a dagger to a priestess and asked her to hide it. This dagger is significant for two reasons: first, because our enemy has been searching for an Elvish artifact, something known as the 'key to the Crystal Wood-'”
“You've mentioned that,” Morvyn stated.
Milea ignored her interruption and continued, “This 'key' was hidden somewhere among the humans and several decoys were hidden as well, as we and our enemies have discovered. This vision leads me to believe that the dagger is in fact the key, and for whatever reason it allows non-elves to enter the Crystal Wood.”
Morvyn didn't seem to be buying her story, but she still said, “What is the second reason?”
Milea edged closer again. “The dagger was mine, the one I inherited from my father. If that dagger is the key, then it would explain how he was able to cross the barrier into the Crystal Wood even though he was a human.”
To Milea's surprise, Morvyn began to laugh. “That's preposterous. I told you before that there is no key to the Crystal Wood. The very reason the barrier was created was to keep humans out; it makes no sense to create a key to allow them in.”
Milea took in a sharp breath and said, “All I know is that whatever the key is, it will allow Jin to obtain something here in the Crystal Wood.”
“Well now that the barrier is down, he will have no problem getting here now,” Morvyn argued. “And as I said before, the key doesn't exist.”
Milea placed her hands on her hips. “Then how would you explain my vision? If my dagger isn't the key to the Crystal Wood, then what is it?”
“The dagger you saw in yout vision either had nothing to do with the key, or,” Morvyn edged closer, looked Milea in the eyes, and said, “you're lying.”
A spark ignited, and Milea came within inches of Morvyn's face and shouted, “How dare you! You have done nothing but show animosity towards me when everything I have done has been to protect everyone from the Shadow Hand, humans and elves.”
“You have done nothing except destroy our way of life and desecrate our temple,” Morvyn argued. “The queen made a terrible mistake when she allowed you into our land, which was second only to the day she had you.”
Milea took several steps back in shock of what she just said. She never imagined anyone could be so heartless...
Milea marched towards the door, but not before she turned around and said, “I know I'm right, and the fact that my father had the key to the Crystal Wood in his possession means that his presence here was no mistake.” Milea nearly turned around, but first she added, “And neither was mine.”
Milea then threw open the doors and marched defiantly.
As Milea walked down the steps in front of the temple, her body began to tremble. It took a considerable amount of effort for her legs to keep from collapsing as she made it to the bottom of the stairs and onto the road. Left with nothing else to do and a whole mess of unanswered questions, she determined that the only other thing she could do was return to the castle, get Varg, and both of them would leave the Crystal Wood.
Milea continued down the path taking quick, deliberate strides. She tried to calm herself to a steady w
alk and managed to do so just as she saw Varg running in her direction.
By the exasperated look on Varg's face and his hurried sprints, Milea could tell that something was wrong. Milea quickened her pace to meet Varg halfway, and once them met, Varg stooped over to catch his breath.
“Varg, what's wrong?” Milea asked. She then remembered where he was supposed to be and asked, “I thought you were going to watch Zita?”
Varg stood up straight and gasped, “She's gone. Zita is gone!”
Zita sprinted through the forest once she was finally out of the city and she was sure she wouldn't be spotted. Getting out of the castle was easy; there had evidently been so little trouble in the castle over the centuries of isolation that the guards were completely lax and had no alertness whatsoever. The city wasn't much different, and Zita only had to knock out one guard to make her escape into the forest.
It had taken her less than a day to get through the forest the first time, but now that she was running, she made it within a few hours. Even her trained body couldn't handle the stress, however, and she was very near the verge of collapse. But she had to make it to Lord Jin. She couldn't stop now.
Zita didn't have a choice. She collapsed in the grass with the light from the tunnel just within her reach. She gasped for breath and nearly vomited upon exhaling, but she held it in and focused on steadying her breathing so she could recover quicker.
“I must say...”
Zita whipped her head in the direction of the voice and saw Lord Jin waiting by a nearby tree. He had his sword drawn and was examining the blade. “...when I sent you into the Crystal Wood to find out more about the barrier and the Key, I never imagined you would actually find a way to break the seal,” Jin said. He lowered his blade and added, “You have truly exceeded expectations, Zita.”
Zita stood and smiled. “I learned from the best, Lord Jin, but I'm afraid I cannot take credit for this. It was the half-elf, Milea, who unwittingly destroyed the barrier.”
The Crystal Wood (Half-Breed Book 2) Page 21
