Elf Lords: 02 - Last of the Elf Lords (20 page)

“Not unless you can move us magically, like Katryn did when she brought some us here.” Trevor added.

“That is exactly what I intend to do.” Seebaul answered.

Landis squeezed Katryn’s hand in his, “How can Katryn take us anywhere? She will die outside of this forest.”

“One thing at a time,” Seebaul interrupted, “our safety is not what is important here. What Trian wants is what I have hidden in the depths of this cave.” The Elf Lord pointed to the cliff wall behind him. As everyone watched, part of the hillside vanished, revealing a cave a little taller than a man’s height and about twice a man’s width.

Megan gasped at the sudden appearance of the opening, “How…”

“Magic, of course.” Seebaul interrupted her. “This cave has been concealed to all but me for longer than I can remember. Even when the Delowe’ lived here in force, they did not know of its existence. The Needle is believed to be a sacred place for the elves, and none would dare set foot here without permission. Other than Katryn, you are the first to see it.

“Inside this cave is where I have hidden the four Dragon Gates and the red and black pearls. This is what Trian is seeking. If he succeeds in finding this location, and taking the pearls from my staff and the Sword of Alexon, then Trian will be able to reopen the portals to the Dragon Realm. I cannot permit that to happen.”

“We can take the pearls with us.” Weslocke suggested, “The gates are useless without all four of the pearls to unlock them.”

“That would only slow him down,” Seebaul disagreed, “Trian will never stop hunting the Pearls. You have seen what he has already done here in the Eastland. He will wage war everywhere until he succeeds. We must stop him here. And I must find a new location to hide the Dragon Gates.”

“How can you move the gates?” Jaylen asked.

“I don’t see how you even got them into that cave.” Trevor added.

Seebaul grinned, “It is not like I picked them up and carried them. I moved them with magic. My gate has been hidden here for centuries. Over the centuries I have tracked down the others and brought them here. Only the one that had been buried beneath Sedau had eluded me. Thanks to our adventure there nearly two decades ago, I was able to retrieve it, as well as three of the four missing pearls.” He pointed to the sword at Landis’ side, “I left the white one with Weslocke.”

“You knew that I had the sword?” The dwarf asked.

Seebaul grinned, “Of course I did. It is easy to locate the pearls, if you have one,” he held his green staff out before him, “and you know how to search for it. I planned on eventually getting around to taking it, but things got a little busy here. Besides, I knew that it was in good hands.”

Motioning to the forest, he added, “I was confident that the magic of the Tilsaw would prevent the discovery of the pearls and the gates forever. I am afraid that I was mistaken.”

“What do you intend to do?” Jaylen asked.

“Move them again.”

Landis clenched his forehead as he considered the faults in the Elf Lord’s plan. “Even if we can move them, what is to stop Trian—or anyone else—from tracking them down someplace else?”

“I will hide them better this time.” Seebaul stated. “I believe that I have come up with a way to conceal this cave between dimensions, hiding it inside of the magic of the Tilsaw, and moving that magic elsewhere, so that their location is double protected.”

Natis—who had been sitting among them in silence, while rubbing his heavily bandaged hands together—spoke for the first time, “Intriguing, but impossible. You are talking about putting magic inside of something physical, and then putting that inside of itself.”

“In a sense, yes.” Seebaul agreed.

Weslocke struck his forehead with the palm of his hand in frustration. “I do not even know what to be confused by.”

Seebaul continued, “All I intend to do is to remove this cave from its location, and take it—along with a portion of the natural magic of the Tilsaw Forest—and plant it somewhere else, where it can be better protected.”

Landis cocked his head to one side as he looked at the cave entrance, “How can you take a hole out of a hole?”

Seebaul giggled, “I can do no such thing.”

“But…”

“But nothing, Landis. I would be moving the cave, but replacing it with the matter from where it would be going. Basically, what I am talking about is as simple as digging a hole in one place and putting the dirt from that hole into another hole, just on a much grander level of space and distance. At the same time, we will be moving the contents of this cave to the new cave, which just happens to be exactly the same one.

“And we will be taking a part of the magic of the Tilsaw with us. No harm will come to this forest. It will be the same as it is now. Anyone traveling into the forest will be affected just as they are now. But we will plant a portion of that same magic in the new land where we put this cave.”

Weslocke shook his head. “Trevor, knock me out and wake me when this conversation is finished.”

The Sword-master laughed at the dwarf’s remark.

Natis frowned, “Do you realize what you are attempting? You risk tearing the very fabric of this world with such magic.”

“The risk is not that serious,” Seebaul refuted the mage, “I will admit that something on this scale has never been accomplished, but my abilities have been honed over thousands of years. I have thought this through carefully, and I am confident that it will work.”

“Why not just project the pearls and the gates into a realm that no one can reach?” Landis asked.

“I would have done that long ago if it were possible. The magic that created them is tied to this world. I have tried zapping them out of existence many times, only to have them pop back up somewhere else in this world. Hiding them between dimensions in this realm is the best that can be done.”

“Where do you intend to move them to?” Jaylen asked.

“Sedau.”

“Sedau?” The Westlanders all echoed the name at one time.

Weslocke groaned, “We had to fight hard enough to keep one group of evil bastards from opening one Dragon Gate that was in Sedau, now you plan on putting all four in that wretched place.”

“Not in it, but in the forest near it.” Seebaul corrected. “And the children can live there in peace.”

Jordan was appalled, “You want to put those kids in the ruins of that cursed city?”

“Sedau is no longer cursed.” Katryn spoke up. “I healed the land.”

Natis stared at the blonde female, “You are responsible for the change that has occurred there?”

“Yes.” Katryn affirmed.

Seebaul took a deep breath, “Let me start from the beginning.”

“We don’t have that long.” Weslocke interrupted.

The Elf Lord grinned, “Not
that
beginning… one from your recent past. Following the night that Katryn and I left some of you in Sedau, we traveled east. Katryn was pregnant, so we could not travel far. So we returned to Sedau and took shelter there until she gave birth. We were there when the miners from Birhirm collapsed the tunnels to block access to Bytoron’s lair. That was unnecessary, for I had already removed the gate.

“Once they had finished, Katryn took it upon herself to heal the land from three centuries of ruin. She wanted the place where she and Landis had last been together to be more than a cursed plot of ground.

“When I returned, I found Sedau to be completely transformed. Katryn had used her healing powers to turn it into a lush valley. Unfortunately, she had spent so much of her energy accomplishing this, that I was afraid that she would soon die. And Seth was not yet two years old. Together, we returned here to the Tilsaw. That was when I discovered that the magic of this forest helped to sustain Katryn. It is my belief that if we transfer the magic of this forest to the forest around Sedau, that we can hide this cave there forever, and Katryn can continue to live a normal life there.”

“How is all of this possible?” Weslocke asked.

“I am an Elf Lord; my magic is quite powerful.” Reaching into another pouch, Seebaul removed a palm-sized, oblong red stone. “This ancient stone is carved from the wing of a fossilized dragon. It is magical in nature. I have combined my magic with it to create what you might call an enchanted lock. If we place it over the cave opening, it will seal the hillside into a barrier existing partly between realms. Once that is accomplished, we can transport the contents, although it will require great magic.”

Landis looked to Natis, “What do you think?”

The mage shook his head, “I have never heard of anything quite so extraordinary. However, in theory it might work.”

“It will work, but there is one problem. This magic is not like the teleportation spells that Katryn used to bring us here. It can only teleport non-living things.”

Jordan objected, “You plan to leave us here to perish when what we are defending is already gone.”

“Not at all,” Seebaul disagreed. “I have a way around that problem. If we all enter into one of the Dragon Gates, then once that gate has been moved, we will be able to exit the gate and be at that same location.”

Jaylen was alarmed at this suggestion. “I thought that we are trying to prevent opening the gates!”

Natis and Landis both voiced their concerns as well. Seebaul motioned for silence, and then said, “We need to release some of the energy from that realm for this to work. Do not worry; Katryn can provide a magical shield to prevent that energy from leaving the cave. And it will only be for a very short amount of time, but it must be done. Otherwise we would not be able to transport everyone.”

“Why can’t you move the Gates your way, and have Katryn teleport the rest of us, like she did here?” Jordan asked.

Katryn’s eyes went wide as she heard the suggestion. Seebaul looked tenderly at the blonde woman, leaning his weight on his staff as he spoke, “There is simply no way that she can teleport all of us, including sixty children, such a distance, and hope to survive, let alone succeed. But if everyone is inside the gate, then we will be in another realm. All Katryn needs to do then is to guide the magic as it moves, taking the gates and the hillside with it. Since we technically will not be here, she will not have to exhaust any energy on us.”

Katryn nodded approvingly, “That would make it much easier on me.”

“It is still a risk.” Jaylen accused.

“True, but a much smaller one,” Seebaul concurred, “we should be in and out of the gate before anything in the Dragon Realm has discovered us. Remember, the Dragon Realm is not expecting one of the gates to open, so I doubt that they will have time to respond before it is closed again.”

“I don’t like it.” Weslocke spat.

Landis was in agreement. “I don’t either, but I do not see any other option.”

Seebaul giggled, “We must hurry. The children must be gathered and brought to the cave.”

Katryn arose. “I will take Seth and Tessa back to Sanctuary, but we will have to lead them back here on foot. It will take some time.”

“You must come back as soon as you deliver Seth and Tessa there. I need to teach you how to make this work.”

Landis looked worried, “You are going to have sixty children traveling two or more hours through the forest at night, with only two guides.”

Seebaul sighed. “I confess that I do not like the idea, but it beats having them wait around to be slaughtered. At least they will be leaving long before the soldiers arrive. Seth and Tessa should get them here in time.”

The Elf Lord approached Natis, “I need you to come with me. I believe that your skills will be needed.”

Natis displayed his bandaged hands, “What use will I be? Without my hands, there is very little magic that I can produce.”

“Magic is in the mind, not the hands.” Seebaul offered.

Natis nodded, “True, but the use of fingers is necessary to manipulate certain spells. There is also the need to use various components.”

Seebaul replied in an ardent tone. “You are not a juggler, you are a wizard. Why you mortals restrict your abilities is beyond my understanding. Unlock your mind and realize your potential. Now, come with me, we have work to do.”

Natis followed after the Elf Lord like a chastised school boy.

Landis turned to Katryn, “What was that about?”

Katryn smiled, “I believe that Natis is about to receive a rapid education in Elf Lord magic.”