Council of War (59 page)

The fairy set her face with determination and bowed to the queen. She leaped into the air and let the wind carry her away. In moments she was lost to Tanya's sight. While Tanya waited for the fairy to return, the sun set, and the two men moved inside the house. Bantam returned and reported that only the two men were on the farm. Queen Tanya nodded in satisfaction and placed her head on her arm and closed her eyes.

"You are going to sleep out here?" questioned Bantam.

"I am only going to rest for a bit," Tanya replied. "Keep watch for me."

Tanya drifted off into a light sleep as the sky grew dark. A few hours later she awoke and stared at the farmhouse. There were no lights showing through the windows.

"Are the men still inside?" the queen asked.

"They have not come out since you went to sleep," answered Bantam. "The last light went out an hour ago."

"Good," Tanya said as she rose to her knees and then stood. "I need to snoop around in the barn. I want you to warn me before anyone finds me."

"Should I put them to sleep if they leave the house?" asked Bantam.

"No," the queen replied. "I do not want them to become suspicious. They must never suspect that anyone has been snooping. Just warn me."

Queen Tanya moved quietly down the hill and across the narrow trail that connected the farm to the nearby road. The fairy flew alongside the queen, occasionally darting high into the air and settling back alongside the queen's head. As the Knight of Alcea neared the barn, she heard noises inside. She froze.

"It is only the dogs," offered the fairy.

"Dogs?" questioned the queen. "Why didn't you tell me about them?"

"You didn't ask about dogs," frowned the fairy. "You asked about people. Dogs are not people."

Tanya turned and glared at the fairy. "Put the dogs to sleep and report back to me."

Bantam frowned, but she immediately darted into the barn. She returned a few short moments later.

"Is there anything else in there that I should know about?" asked Tanya.

The fairy shook her head silently, and Tanya moved into the barn. The queen glanced around the barn and her eyes were immediately drawn to a stall that had been boarded up. The sides were covered with planks, and a door was attached where the gate should have been. She moved to it and extracted a ring from her pouch. She mumbled a few words over the ring, and it began to glow. She held the ring high over her head and glanced up at the top of the door. Seeing nothing unusual, she lowered the ring and ran her eyes along the molding. At the very bottom of the door she found what she was looking for. There was a small number carved into the door, but the queen frowned in confusion when she saw it. Taking a deep breath, the queen placed her hand on the doorknob and tried to open the door. It was locked. A distant sound caught the queen's attention, and she shoved the ring into a pouch. A moment later Bantam appeared.

"One of the men has stepped outside," the fairy reported, "but I don't think he is coming this way."

"Go and wait by Frea," commanded the queen. "I will be along shortly."

Queen Tanya decided to take no chances. She issued a spell, and her body shimmered in the dark barn and then disappeared. In her place sat an osprey, and the bird immediately launched itself into the air and flew up to the rafters to wait for the man to go back inside the house.

The bird cocked its head as it listened intently for the sounds of the man. In the distance the bird heard a door slam shut, and prepared to launch itself into the air. In the brief second before the osprey leaped from the rafters, a loud click sounded in the barn. The bird gripped its perch tightly. The door the queen had been inspecting suddenly opened. Three figures stepped into the dark barn. Two of them were covered in black cloaks with the hoods pulled forward to conceal their faces. The third figure was a tall black priest. The door was closed and locked with another loud click. The three men moved stealthily to the door of the barn and peered outside. Seeing no one around, the figures slid out of the barn and moved quickly away from the farm.

The osprey gave the visitors a few minutes head start before dropping from the rafters and flying out of the barn. It climbed swiftly into the dark night sky and then gazed downward. The three figures from Zara were walking along the road towards the city of Darcia. The osprey banked sharply and dove for the stand of trees where the unicorn was waiting. In a shimmering of light the bird disappeared and Tanya appeared. She leaped upon Frea and started riding towards the city on a path that would loop far away from the road. In a few minutes she was in her room at the inn. King Arik looked up as she entered and smiled broadly.

"I found it," he announced. "Number fifteen is in the inn down the street, just as we suspected. I asked the innkeeper if I could rent the entire inn next month. He said we could have it all except for one room. I asked him which room and when he told me, I said that I needed them all. After I left, I sent Prince Midge in to check the doors. He found it!"

"Interesting," Queen Tanya replied, "because I also found a Door in a barn. It is number nine."

"Nine?" puzzled King Arik. "I don't understand."

"Nor do I," agreed Tanya, "but that is not all. While I was in the barn, the Door opened. K'san and two mages came through from Zara. They are walking to town at this very moment."

"I wonder what they are up to?" frowned the king.

"I don't know," admitted Tanya, "but I think we should ambush them. K'san has a key for Door number nine. It may also fit the other Doors."

"Won't that let the Zarans know that we know about the Doors?" asked the king.

"I thought about that on the way here," replied Tanya. "If we saw a K'san walking around, we would attack him anyways, wouldn't we?"

"We would," agreed the king, "but we take a big risk doing it this close to a Door. We cannot afford to let the Zarans figure out that we know about their portals."

"Can we afford to have another demonkin running around Alcea?" retorted the queen. "I think not. They have the ability to rouse thousands to their side. We cannot afford such a diversion right now. Let's take them down before they reach the city. You will have to strike K'san first. Do not give him any warning. If you do, he may be able to inform the Zarans before he dies. We still don't know how they communicate."

King Arik slid into the bushes and eased the Sword of Heavens out of its sheath. He crouched low, avoiding the temptation to peek out at the road to see if his prey was on the way. He thought about having Prince Midge take a look and keep him informed, but he was afraid that K'san might sense the fairy moving about. His heart was beating fast, having raced to get into place before the Zarans approached the city, but it slowed down as the wait turned into a long, uncomfortable crouch. He began to wonder if the Zarans might have turned off the road somewhere before the city. Just as he was about to open his breast pocket to let Prince Midge out to check, Arik heard sounds of someone approaching. There was no talking on the road, but the sounds of footsteps became louder with each passing second. King Arik breathed shallowly and waited. The king saw three figures walk by and almost immediately the sounds of footsteps ceased.

"What is that?" a deep voice asked softly.

"Just a rider," replied a lighter voice.

"That is not just a rider," the deep voice argued. "That beast has a horn on its head. It is a unicorn. Both of you move a couple of steps forward and create shields. We will wait here and let it approach us."

"Perhaps you should slip into the bushes, K'san," suggested the lighter voice. "We can handle this."

"No," retorted the deep voice. "Whoever it is must be destroyed. Set up the shields and let him come to us."

"The shields are up," replied the lighter voice. "Whoever it is, he is not in a hurry."

Suddenly the night sky lit up as lightning blasted the shields of the Zarans.

"It's a mage!" shouted the lighter voice, "and he is strong."

"Retaliate," commanded the deep voice.

Almost immediately the air tingled with magic as the black-cloaks responded with magic of their own. King Arik gripped the Sword of Heavens tightly and raced out of the bushes. As Tanya had predicted, K'san stood a couple of paces behind the mages. The king raised his sword and rushed towards the demonkin. K'san must have sensed something behind him. He turned with his arm outstretched before him, but he never got off his spell. King Arik swung the Sword of Heavens, and it sliced deep into K'san's neck. The priest's eyes grew large with fear as the king drew his sword back and plunged it into the priest's chest. K'san's legs buckled, and the black giant fell to his knees, his hands going to the wound on his chest.

"He is incredibly strong, K'san," said one of the black-cloaks, unaware that his master had already been struck down. "We might need your help."

K'san's body tumbled to the ground, and one of the black-cloaks spun around and stared in terror at the sight of the king holding his bloody sword over K'san's body. He opened his mouth to shout a warning, but only a scream emerged as the king pivoted and brought the Sword of Heavens around in an arc at waist level. The black-cloak crumbled in a spray of red mist. A second later a lightning bolt slammed into the last Zaran. The battle was over.

While Tanya rode towards the bodies, Arik searched the body of K'san. He found two pouches tied to the priest's belt. One held a silver key, and the other held three diamonds and a bunch of Cordonian gold coins. The king tied the pouches to his own belt. The queen arrived and slid off of Frea.

"Find the key?"

King Arik nodded. "He was also carrying Cordonian coins and diamonds. He planned on spending a fair amount of gold here. I wonder what he would have spent it on?"

"We'll never know now," shrugged the queen. "What do we do with the bodies?"

"We bury them," answered the king. "Perhaps it will be some time before they are even missed."

* * *

"If we have to lift this huge rock one more time," quipped Shawn, "I am going to make you cook the meals for the next week."

"It will work this time," promised Max. "I guarantee it. It just needed a little adjustment the last time. This time it will work flawlessly."

"Let's give it a try," said Karl Gree.

"Let the elves try it alone," suggested Max. "They are going to be the ones that have to use the mechanism. Prince Saratoma, come on over, and I will show you how to work the mechanism."

The Dielderal prince approached Max and got down on his hands and knees.

"Let the other elves try to budge it first," the Ranger explained to Prince Saratoma. "They should not be able to. Once you flip these two levers, it will be easier to lift, and it will stay up until you lower it."

Max pointed to the two levers and the prince nodded.

"Okay, elves," grinned Max, "give it a try, but don't strain yourselves."

Prince Rigal, Gerant, Lyron, and Morro gathered around the huge rock and tried to lift it.

"It won't budge," complained Morro. "It is as if you tied it to the ground."

"I did," chuckled the Ranger as he tapped the Dielderal prince on the shoulder. "Flip the levers."

Prince Saratoma flipped both levers and moved back to watch. Max ordered the elves to lift the rock again. Once again the four elves put their back into their work, but this time the rock rose smoothly. As it rose, two large vertical wooden posts rose with it. When the rock was raised high enough to reveal the stone steps below it, Max tapped the prince again.

"Flip the levers back to lock the posts," instructed the Ranger.

Prince Saratoma flipped both levers and scrambled back to watch. The other elves let go of the rock and leaped away, but the rock didn't fall.

"The hard part will be lowering it once you are on the steps," declared Max. "There won't be room for four of you to get at it. You will need a couple of strong men to ease it down and lock it."

"We will do fine," Prince Saratoma said confidently. "This mechanism is wonderful. We are indebted to you."

"I like tinkering with things," smiled the Ranger. "Anyone want to take a trip out to the island? I understand that the dwarves locked the other end. I am anxious to see that locking mechanism and compare it to mine."

"It will take a day and a half each way," frowned Karl.

"For humans maybe," grinned Morro. "We elves could do it in a day easy."

"What about returning?" frowned Prince Rigal. "If the rock is locked down, how do we know if anyone is in the area? We might push the rock up to find a squad of soldiers sitting on it."

"The dwarves were pretty clever," Max said with admiration. "There are four peepholes drilled through the rock. About the only place soldiers could hide would be directly on top of the rock. I suspect that is why they left the surface so ragged. No one would want to sit on it."

"Let's go," Prince Saratoma said enthusiastically. "I am anxious to see what our new home looks like."

"I will send Mite on ahead to let them know that we are coming," said Prince Rigal.

"Everyone go on in," suggested Max. "Karl and I will close it up from inside."

"We will close it," stated Prince Saratoma. "We cannot depend on having you around when we need to use it. We might as well experience it now."

Max nodded in agreement and scampered down the steps and into the tunnel. The others soon joined him with Prince Saratoma and Lyron coming last. The two elves braced the rock while Prince Rigal flipped the levers to release it. The weight of the rock pushed down on the two elves, and they strained to lower it slowly. They finally let it drop the last bit and leaned against the wall fatigued. Prince Rigal flipped the levers to lock it and then sat down on the steps to give the two elves time to catch their breath.

* * *

Garth entered the common room of the Spoke and Wheel Inn in Calusa. He glanced quickly around the common room and headed upstairs to his room. He opened the door and stepped into the room to find Kalina, Tedi, and Natia sitting and talking. He closed the door and walked over to join them.