by Darrin Long
Iri drifted off to sleep still thinking about the relationship between her father and uncle.
Back at the cave in the Glen, Neilan was trying everything he could to stay awake. He did not want Caudee to find out who he was. He went out and sat on the bench, hoping the cool evening air would keep him awake, but it did not and he fell asleep sitting up on the bench. Neilan found himself once again back in Caudee’s camp. He knew he had to be very careful, so he moved as far away from Caudee’s tent as he could. He could see that the number of Dragoine in the cages had dwindled a lot.
“Kaylu said he wouldn’t kill them all,” he said.
But then he saw a gate that led into a large enclosed area. He went up to it and peeked through the slats to see what was inside. What he saw surprised him a lot; the enclosure was full of Dragoine. Only, they had been changed somehow for they all just sat and stared and the light had gone out of their eyes. Iri’s eyes are a beautiful pool of bright green, but these poor creatures had black eyes. Somehow, Caudee was changing Iri’s people into more manageable resources. He wasn’t killing them all, he was changing them for his evil purposes; draining them of their powers. Then he saw another group in the enclosure that looked just like the three men Caudee was sending after the King. Some of them looked just like the other three, but most of them didn’t look like that at all. They were short and wider than men and had large slanted foreheads, but they weren’t covered in warts. Neilan realized that Caudee must be using them as well; changing them into his soldiers to do his will. He stepped back away from the enclosure and hid behind it. As he looked around the valley, he saw two entrances into the valley, or at least it looked like two entrances. He would have to remember where they are so he can tell Iri. Just then Neilan heard Iri’s voice calling his name. He looked around thinking that she was in his dream, but he could not find her anywhere. Then, thinking that Iri had returned to the cave, he closed his eyes and concentrated on the cave and the dream faded.
Just as Neilan opened his eyes, expected to see Iri, he spotted three figures crossing the Glen heading towards the mountain. They had not seen him, but Neilan knew who they were. It was the three creatures from Caudee’s camp. The sun was shining on the other side of the Glen and Neilan could see them clearly. He hid behind the tree and watched them.
“Iri, ye better hurry up, they are on their way,” He said.
He watched them until they had climbed a small rise and disappeared over it then, he went into the cave and grabbed his bow. He knew he couldn’t chance to go after them, but he was going to be ready if they came back.
“Why hasn’t Iri returned?” he said, “I hope she is alright.”
He felt helpless, but he knew that the worst thing he could do was try to go after her.
“No, I must wait here for either Iri or Kaylu to come,” he said.
He hoped that Iri was safe and that Kaylu was looking after her. At least with the sun coming up, he would not keep falling asleep. He waited for an hour to make sure the three creatures were far enough away and he went up on the mountain to hunt for food.
“I need to make sure I have enough food in the cave in case Iri brings Kaylu back with her,” he thought as he walked the mountain. “I love it on the mountain; it can make ye forget all about the troubles in the world, at least for a while.”
After his hunt, Neilan cleaned his kill and started cooking the meat.
“Iri, where are ye?” he said.
By the time he had finished cooking the meat and wrapped it in Nai leaves, it was close to mid-day and he was beginning to worry even more.
“If she is not back within a couple hours, I’m gonna have to go looking for her,” he said. “The only problem, is I don’t know where to look.”
Suddenly Neilan heard wings outside the cave. He slowly opened the door and peeked out just as Iri was transforming. He threw the door open and ran out to greet her.
“I was so worried that something had happened,” he said.
“Something did happen,” she said, “Kaylu shot me down.”
“What? Why?” he asked.
“It was my fault. I should have known better than to fly directly at his mountain. It was a protection spell.”
“Are ye ok?” he asked.
“I’m fine, Kaylu healed me, but I had to wait until the spell wore off before I could even move to come home.”
Iri and Neilan both realized at the same time that she had used the word home and they smiled at each other. Then Neilan took her in his arms and kissed her.
“I am so glad yer alright,” he said, “what about yer da?”
“Kaylu has gone to help him,” she said.
“Good,” Neilan said, “because I saw Caudee’s three creatures heading towards the mountain earlier this morning.”
“Kaylu will keep him safe,” Iri said, “I know he will.”
Neilan took her inside and heated up some of the food for them to eat.
“Will Kaylu be coming soon?” Neilan asked.
“I do not know,” Iri said.
They sat in silence eating the meat that Neilan had cooked and then he remembered his dream.
“I had another dream,” he said.
“I thought you weren’t going to take any chances,” she said.
“I know, but I couldn’t stay awake and it’s a good thing,” he said. “Caudee is not killing yer people Iri, well at least not all of them. He is using their magic to change other people.”
“What do you mean,” Iri asked “What other people?”
“They were short and have brown skin and black lifeless eyes,” he said. “They had large slanted foreheads and they are being kept in an enclosure in Caudee’s camp. I saw them through the door.”
“They are Tunai, Caudee is making an army for himself,” Iri said “I dreamed about it last night also. I think he is going to use them to fight men.”
“But why fight men,” Neilan asked.
“Caudee hates men,” Iri said, “Years ago Caudee was married and they had a son. One day his son wandered off into the Glen and some men found him. They were going to sell him, but he tried to escape and they ended up killing him. Caudee went crazy, found them and ripped the three men to pieces. He swore that he would wipe men from the land.” Iri swallowed hard then, gave Neilan a serious look, “The black magic has fed upon Caudee’s anger and turned it into a weapon. Once he has all the magicals at his disposal, no one can stand against him” she said. “He will destroy this world.”
Chapter 6
Evil Stretches its Hand
King Lamu was sitting at his desk in the library reading over some documents when he heard a popping noise in the other room. He pulled his sword and stepped over against the wall, waiting for the intruder to enter the library. He readied his sword and his muscles tensed as he heard the footsteps getting closer. Suddenly the footsteps stopped and the room was silent. Lamu peeked around the corner into the next room, but there was no one there. As he turned back around, he was so startled that he almost dropped his sword. There standing across the room was Kaylu, dressed in a long robe with the hood coming so far down that all you could see was his chin.
“Kaylu,” he said, “why don’t you use the door like everyone else?”
“Good morning brother,” Kaylu said, leaning on his staff.
Lamu put his sword away then, returned to his desk and sat down.
“I have not seen you in a few years,” Lamu said. “There must be something important or you wouldn’t be here.”
“I came at the request of your daughter,” Kaylu said, pushing back the hood of his robe.
“Iri,” Lamu said, “is she alright?”
“She is fine,” he said, “but from what she told me, you may not be.”
“What do you mean?” Lamu asked.
“Well, seems that Caudee wants you dead Lamu,” Kaylu said.
“That doesn’t surprise me at all,” Lamu said, “he has always wanted me dead.”
“Yes, but not bad enough to send a Watu into your dwelling,” he said.
“A Watu,” Lamu said.
“Yes,” Kaylu replied, “and you are its only target.”
Lamu stood up and looked around the room nervously. “I won’t ask you where she got that information,” Lamu said.
“You wouldn’t like It,” Kaylu said.
“Why must you always do everything behind my back,” Lamu said. “Do you not know how that looks to our people?”
Lamu turned and looked directly at Kaylu, who showed no emotion at all.
“I have tried the other option brother and, it did not serve me well,” Kaylu said reaching up and wiping tears from his eyes.
“Still blaming me for that are you?” Lamu said, “you decided to make that choice, not me.”
“I decided to save my brother’s life,” Kaylu said, “and my people.”
Lamu sat back down at his desk, “Yes, I’m sure you would like to be ruler over our people wouldn’t you” he said. “You’ve always had your eye on my throne.”
Kaylu raised his eyebrows and frowned.
“You’re throne?” he said, “I have never wanted your throne. If I wanted your throne, I would not have saved your life twice now and soon three times.”
“I know you have always been jealous of me,” Lamu yelled. “Because you are older than me, you believe that you should have been king. Don’t you think for a moment that I have not noticed.”
“Noticed?” Kaylu said, “you are so blind, I’m surprised you can notice anything.”
Lamu stood up with his face flushed red. The anger was vivid on his face and he was glaring at Kaylu.
“How dare-”
Suddenly Kaylu lifted his staff and a bolt of blue light shot out of the end and flew towards Lamu, who dove to the ground behind his desk. There was a small explosion on the wall behind the desk and green pieces of Watu bug splattered all over the desk and floor. Before Lamu could stand up, there was a popping sound and Kaylu was gone. Hearing the explosion, two soldiers ran into the library to see what had happened. Lamu stood up looking at all the pieces of bug all over the place and he angrily knocked everything off his desk onto the floor. Then, he sat down and put his head in his hands. He could hear a disturbance outside in the hallway.
“What is going on out there?” Lamu asked.
“There were three strange looking creatures just inside the front entrance,” a soldier said from the hallway. “The Dream Crier cast a spell on them. We now have them in custody.”
The King walked up to the soldier.
“His name is Kaylu,” he said with anger in his voice and walked out the door.
As he reached the front entrance to the dwelling, he could see three brown-skinned creatures lying on the floor as stiff as a board. He poked one of them with his foot.
“What are they,” he asked.
The soldiers shrugged and shook their heads.
“Well someone must know what they are,” yelled the King. “Find me an Elder who can tell me what they are!”
The soldiers ran out into the village looking for an Elder. Lamu stood beside the door looking out into the village as the soldiers ran from dwelling to dwelling.
“They are Deamhan,” a voice behind him said.
Lamu spun around to see Kaylu standing behind him.
“Damn it Kaylu,” he said, “stop doing that.”
Kaylu smiled at his brother’s discomfort.
“What is a Deamhan?” Lamu asked.
Kaylu knelt down and held his hand out over the two creatures and a glow started to engulf them both as they lie on the floor.
“What are you doing?” Lamu asked, but Kaylu did not answer him.
Then, slowly the creatures’ skin, hair and features began to change. Lamu stood with his mouth wide open.
“Tunai,” he said.
Kaylu looked up at him, “he is using the Tunai against us” Kaylu said.
“But I thought the Tunai were impervious to magical attacks,” Lamu said.
“That is true,” Kaylu replied, “But he is using a very old magic.”
Suddenly the three creatures on the floor started to convulse and blood began to flow out of their mouths as they breathed their last. Kaylu stood up and wiped his hands on his robe.
“Nasty black magic,” he said with a disgusted tone. “Magic that came from the Black Stone of Elu.”
Lamu shuddered at the thought of the black stone and the crudely made crown it was mounted onto.
“Are you sure it is magic from the stone?” Lamu asked.
“I am sure,” Kaylu said looking more closely at the three bodies lying on the floor.
“What bothers me most is how they were able to get into the city without being seen, let alone into my home,” Lamu said.
The two soldiers returned and walked into the front entrance and Lamu turned to see that they had not found anyone who could identify the creatures. The soldiers instantly realized that the creatures had now changed into Tunai.
“Have someone come and bury them,” Lamu said.
The soldiers went out to get more soldiers to help them with the bodies as Lamu turned around to speak to Kaylu again.
“He is getting stronger, isn’t he?” Lamu said.
“Of course, he is” Kaylu replied.
“What do you mean, of course, he is?” said Lamu mockingly “don’t start that high and mighty attitude. None of us knew what he was up to or what he was capable of doing.”
There was a popping sound and Kaylu disappeared and then reappeared in the doorway behind Lamu.
“I did,” he said giving his brother an angry look.
Then with another popping noise, he was gone. Lamu stood for a moment angrily looking around for something to destroy, but there was nothing in the entrance area so he kicked one of the bodies of the Tunai. Then he took a deep breath and let it out. It was almost like he had completely deflated and the anger on his face turned to sadness and grief. He turned and slowly walked back to the library and started to clean up the mess that was all over the floor.
Kaylu reappeared out in the city next to a small shop.
“Kaylu!” a Dragoine yelled from his booth. “What can I get you?”
Kaylu slid his hood off and walked over to the Dragoine standing behind his glass maker’s booth.
“What I need is for you to make me a special glass globe,” Kaylu said pulling out a piece of paper and placing it on the counter.
“I see,” the glassmaker said looking at the drawing on the paper, “how big do you need the opening?”
“The size of a man’s head,” Kaylu said showing him with his hands.
The glassmaker looked at him strangely, “A man’s head?” he asked.
Kaylu raised his eyebrows, “that’s what I said, but make it a little larger, he has an exceptionally large forehead.”
The glassmaker gave Kaylu a strange look.
“If you can’t do it,” Kaylu said.
“No, I can do it,” the glassmaker said, “jeesh, no need to get testy.”
The glassmaker disappeared back into his booth with the drawing and Kaylu followed him, closing the door down on the booth as he entered. He didn’t want anyone disturbing them while the work was being done.
“I just need to get the fire stoked up,” he said as Kaylu sat down on a bale of straw.
The glassmaker started pumping on a large leather balloon that was full of air and the air was pushed into the forge to stoke the fire.
“Let me see, I have a good piece of glass here somewhere. Ah, here is it” He said, pulling out a clump of glass from a barrel next to the window. “This should only take about ten minutes.”
“Make it six,” Kaylu said laying a piece of gold on the workbench.
The glassmaker placed his hand on the gold coin and nodded then, went right to work. Six minutes later, he handed Kaylu a bulb of glass large enough to fit over a man’s head. Kaylu wrapped the glass vase in his cloa
k and disappeared into thin air. He reappeared just outside the city beside a small hut and tapped on the door with his staff.
“Who is it? Who’s there?” a voice asked from inside.
“An old friend, Kai,” Kaylu said.
“Kaylu,” the voice said as the door opened to reveal a very small, old Dragoine with a bald head. “Come in, come in.”
Kaylu followed him into the hut, but as soon as they stepped inside, the hut seemed strangely large. In fact, from inside the hut was at least four times the size that it was outside.
“So, Kaylu, what can I help you with?” Kai asked.
“I need some Folaithe root and some Siabhran powder,” Kaylu said.
Kai stopped and gave Kaylu a strange look.
“That is a unique order,” he said, “one doesn’t usually ask for those two things at the same time.”
“Well, I have a lot of work to do,” Kaylu said with a smile.
“Right, I have it,” Kai said, turning to a row of cupboards on the wall. “Let’s see, Fol… Folaithe. Here it is.”
He sat a small bag on the counter and opening another cupboard door then, he stood back and looked up and down the shelves. He finally reached up and pulled down a small vile and sat it next to the bag.
“That should do,” he said closing the cupboard door and picking up the items. “There you go.”
Kaylu handed him a couple gold coins and put the items in a pouch that he carried.
“Thank you, Kai,” he said as he stepped back outside.
“Anytime my friend,” Kai said “anytime. Goodbye.”
“Goodbye,” Kaylu said and with a pop, he disappeared.
He reappeared in a field about two miles out of the city then, settled down next to a tree and pulled his cloak around him.
“I would rather sleep out in the open than to sleep in that city,” he said. He had learned to not trust others, especially his own kind. “I should be safe enough out here,” he said. “Tomorrow, I will return to the Glen and begin Neilan’s training.”
But for now, he needed some sleep, so he closed his eyes and drifted off.
