Into the Wastelands: Book Four of the Restoration Series (35 page)

“True,” Mikela said, “but no one seems to know where the shield is hidden.”

His exultation waned a little at that, but he only nodded.

After several moments of silence Flare began telling them everything that had befallen him since the last time they had seen him. This took nearly a quarter of an hour, especially with the questions they posed to him. After that, it was their turn. Heather relayed their story with many interruptions of the others.

After nearly half an hour since the water began flowing out, it still had quite a ways to go. They were still gathered around the shoreline and for the first time in what seemed like forever, Flare felt at peace. His former friends were still his friends and that was a tremendous relief. Standing on the shore, he looked out over the water and sighed.

Suddenly, the feeling of someone using sorcery blazed up behind them.

Without even thinking, Flare took control of his spirit and formed a shield around him. He turned, noticing as he did so that something had just slammed into his sorcerer’s shield.

Two men stood just inside the tunnel. Both men carried swords and they were both using sorcery.

One of the men grabbed a goblin sword off of the ground using his spirit and hurled it at Flare.

Flare grabbed the sword with his own spirit and threw it back at the men. The one on the right dove to the ground. The other man wasn’t so lucky. The sword struck him in the chest, towards the right side of his body. The blade sliced him open and he screamed as blood began pouring forth.

The uninjured man was struggling to his feet, but Flare grabbed a boulder the size of a man’s fist and hit him in the head. He crumpled back to the ground.

Flare knew who these men were but not how they had come to be here. They had to be
priests;
members of the Church, part of the same order as Thomas.  He turned, opening his mouth to explain about these men, but the words died unspoken. The something that had slammed into his shield had been a sword and it had been deflected. When the sword had rebounded, it had hit Heather. She lay on the ground with the sword protruding from her stomach.

Chapter
28

Cold washed over Flare at the sight of the sword sticking out of Heather’s stomach. It felt like it had to be his fault, it always felt like that. It was a feeling that he had felt all too often, but it was something that he would never get used to. The others were rushing to her aid, but Flare beat them there.

Heather’s eyes were wide and she was opening and closing her mouth like she was trying to talk but no sound came out. A small trickle of blood leaked from the corner of her mouth.

“Heather!” Enton bellowed as he dropped down beside her. “Oh Gods!”

Blood was everywhere and they had all seen injuries like this before. It was fatal; it was only a matter of time.

Flare knew what had to be done and it had to be done quickly. “Listen up!” he shouted and the others all looked at him. “I think I can save her, but you have to trust me.” He didn’t wait for an answer but using his spirit he began carrying her towards the tunnel. “Atock! My bag is up in the portal room,” he said pointing up the slope, “hurry and get it.”

They quickly reached the tunnel and Flare gently set the floating woman down on the stone floor. She groaned but didn’t try to move anymore than that.
He removed the sword and placed a piece of cloth over the wound to slow the blood loss.

Turning he used his spirit to move the stabbed priest into the tunnel and he set him down close to Heather.

“Forget about the man,” Enton said, starting to look angry, “worry about Heather. He can die for all I care.”

Flare didn’t even bother to answer, as at that moment Atock ran up with his pack. He removed the chalk from the pack and drew a blue circle around Heather. He drew a second circle, this one red, around the injured priest. The second circle overlapped the first circle. Finally he drew a smaller circle, this one in green, and it overlapped both the first and second circles. Tossing the three pieces of chalk to the side, he rummaged in his pack until he found a white piece of chalk. Then he began to frantically copy runes all around the inside and outside of the circles. This was similar to what he did when he summoned demons, but still slightly different. For one thing, there were three circles used in this bit of wizardry, whereas summoning demons only needed two. Also, the runes that he scrawled were different.

When he reached the end, he tossed the chalk aside and looked up. “Listen carefully. Once I start, if anyone interferes, they will die. Stay outside the circles. Understand?” Most nodded their heads but he doubted whether they really understood. “Dagan, I want
you
to use sorcery to keep everyone out of these circles. Understood?” The old man just nodded
silently
.

Flare noticed that Mikela was crying and Enton looked like he might be next.
Enton?
He wondered what was going on there, but the thoughts were gone before he had even entertained them.

Flare sat down in the small green circle. Realizing that he was missing a very important ingredient, he used his spirit to float in a small amount of the dirt from the cavern. He placed it in the small are
a
where the two larger circles overlapped. Then he took a deep breath and cleared his mind. This bit of wizardry could be more dangerous than the summoning of demons. His eyes went unfocused and he directed his will into the dirt.

It was a most unusual feeling. Detached as he was from normal perception, he could feel Heather’s beating heart as well as that of the injured priest. Both were slipping away and he knew he had to hurry. He forced himself to relax, although it wasn’t easy, and began the summoning of the priest’s life.

At first, nothing seemed to happen, but gradually he felt a glowing pulsing essence that rose from the priest. Although his eyes were half closed, he could still see the misty
white cloud that seemed to hang
over the priest.
The cloud moved around but always stayed within the priest’s circle.

Swallowing hard, Flare began the second part of the summoning;
of the two, it was
the more difficult part.

Being much more careful than he had with been with the priest, Flare began calling on Heather’s life essence; not the good part but the part that had been damaged. It took a moment or two but a dark and foggy cloud slowly rose above Heather’s body. The cloud was sluggish and he knew he didn’t have much time.

Flare breathed out, completely emptying his lungs, and then he held his breath. Slowly, carefully, he willed the two clouds of life to change places. At first nothing happened, but then slowly the two clouds began to intermix. The dark sluggish cloud flowing from Heather’s circle to the priest’s and vice versa. After several long moments, the mists hung over the opposing figure and he willed them down; to settle slowly.

He continued to hold his breath for several more moments and then gasped; sucking in wonderful mouthfuls of air. Opening his eyes, he looked first at Heather. She was still breathing, but it was impossible to tell anything about her wound due to the deeply stained bandage they covered the wound. Flare rolled over and crawled up next to Heather’s prone form. He took out his knife and cut away the bandage. There was a nasty looking scar running across her stomach, but the skin had closed up.

Grinning, nearly laughing, he moved up and lifted her head. Her eyes flittered open for a moment and then closed again, but her breath
ing was already deeper
, more normal
.

Flare looked up at the group
. They were all watching him; wide-eyed.

“What – What did you do?” Cassandra finally managed to ask.

“Wizardry,” Flare answered quickly.

“I don’t understand,” Dagan said after a moment’s silence. “I thought wizardry was just summoning demons.”

Shaking his head, Flare pushed himself to his feet. He stumbled and nearly fell over. “No, wizardry is the summoning of things through the elements. Demons through fire,” he pointed at the two bodies on the ground, “a person’s life can be summoned through earth.” He turned and knelt down beside the priest. There was no sign of life, no breathing.
In fact the man seemed to be shrinking in on himself. His skin resembled aged and shrinking leather.

“Is Heather going to be alright?” Enton asked.

Once again Flare wondered what was going on between the two of them. He never would have guessed that Heather and Enton might be
involved
. He kept these thoughts to himself and nodded, “Yes, she’ll be fine. In fact we can move her out of this tunnel and back into the other room.”

Atock took a step towards Heather
’s
prone form but Enton quickly pushed past him and scooped her up. He carried her gently back into the ca
vern with the lake. He walked a little way
down the shore and set her down on a sandy soft patch.

The lake was fast disappearing. Already, a whitish blue stone was poking through the water
.

Flare wandered on through the passage and looked out over the cavern where the waterfall had been. The waterfall was still there, but the floor of the cavern was now completely underwater. It would take some time for the water to all drain out through the subterranean passage. He stood there for several long peaceful moments and then turned and rejoined the others.

Flare exited the tunnel and paused, just inside the cavern. To his left was the other priest; still unconscious.
Flare removed the medallion from his pack. It was the same medallion that Thomas had used to keep him from using sorcery. He placed it around the priest’s neck and then stepped back.
He turned and took two steps towards the main group, who were all gathered around Heather, and stopped.

Agminion and Dagan were both staring at him. “What did you just do?”

Flare smiled, “
The medallion will keep him from using sorcery
. Don’t want him waking up and trying to use sorcery on us.”

Both men looked surprised, “I’ve never heard of such,” Dagan said. “I don’t suppose you can tell me where you learned that?”

Flare shook his head, “Sorry, no.”

“Can you at least tell us who, and what, he is?” Cassandra asked, walking up behind the two sorcerers. Atock and Mikela followed closely on her heels.

“He’s a priest of the
Church
of
Adel
,” Flare said.

Atock snorted, “Not very likely. At least not with him using sorcery and carrying a sword.”

“Actually, it is,” Flare said, smiling good-naturedly at his friend. “The Church has become terrified of Kelcer’s prophecy and they created a special Order just to deal with it.” He paused for just a moment, “I should know. One of them held me captive for some time. It wasn’t very pleasant.”

They walked over and sat down next to Heather. She was still asleep and probably would be for a while. Sitting there on the shore, they slowly began to ask questions. Some of them had a lot of questions, while others only had a few; Enton didn’t ask a single one.

Gradually the water receded. The whitish blue stone that had been poking out of the water, gradually resolved itself into the roof of a small structure. The structure was slowly revealed and it turned
out
to be a small stone building, like a mausoleum. Three of the four sides were plain; solid unadorned stone. The fourth side was plain except for the single door.

Finally the water was low enough that they could walk out to the building. The water was still to their knees but that was a minor annoyance.

Warren
led the way and upon reaching the door, he placed the small red stone into a depression in the middle of the door. For a moment the entire building glowed a brilliant white and then the light faded.

“Enchanted,” Cassandra said rather unnecessarily.

Warren
pushed on the door and it slid inward. He led the small procession in, followed closely by Flare.

The inside of the building was just as plain as the outside, hinting at the speed with which it was constructed.
Directly in the middle of the floor was a raised stone table. Upon the table lay the remains of a man. All that was left was a skeleton and some bits of metal. The amazing part was that it was completely dry.

“Was the enchantment to keep the water out?” Mikela asked.

“Partly,”
Warren
answered, “but anyone who opened the door without the stone would have died a rather painful death.”

Flare’s eyes were only for the far end of the building. Hanging on the far wall, and looking to be in perfect condition, was a suit of midnight black armor.

Chapter
29

They slept that night on what had been the lakeshore, but the lake was nearly entirely gone. A small creek flowed through the center of the cavern now, the only reminder of the lake.

Flare had quickly donned the armor and to his surprise it had fit perfectly.
It seemed to adjust to the wearer’s shape.
It felt more stiff than clothing but not as stiff or heavy as chainmail. He wasn’t sure how much protection it would be in a fight, but Dagan had assured him that there wasn’t any finer armor to be had.

Heather had not yet regained consciousness and the rest of the Guardians soon joined her in slumber. Flare, Belgil, and Holgar each took a turn at standing watch; just in case there were other priests or goblins out there. Most likely it was paranoia as the next cavern was still completely underwater. It would be some time before anyone used that cavern to get to this one.

Belgil and Holgar had seen to binding and gagging the priest. He awoke during the night but due to his circumstances, couldn’t even do so much as wake anyone.

Atock was the first one awake and he started a small fire. The fire wasn’t so much for warmth, even though it was a little chilly in the cavern, but mainly the fire was for breakfast. The supplies from Heather’s group were getting fairly lean, but Flare and the two dwarves had fresh supplies
. He was still passing out food when Heather awoke.

“Heather!” Enton exclaimed, being the first one to notice that she was awake. He set his plate down and hurried to her side. The others quickly followed.

“All you alright?” Dagan asked, looking down at Heather with a concerned smile.

“Water,” she replied softly; it was actually more of a croak than anything.

Enton took the offered canteen from Flare and held up to her lips. She gulped the water and then lifted her hand to push the canteen away. She swallowed several more times and then pushed herself to a sitting position. Several people gasped and she froze. “What?”

“Maybe you shouldn’t move so much,” Mikela said. “Your injures were quite severe.”

Heather shook her head, “I feel fine. In fact, I feel like I could eat a horse.” She looked over at the small fire, “Is there anymore of that food?”

With Heather joining them, they returned to the fire and continued eating. Heather ate three bowls of the dwarven porridge. She paused only when they described the bit of wizardry Flare had performed to save her life. She sat there; frozen with the spoon halfway to her mouth and her eyes wide. Then she turned to Flare. “Was that safe?”

“Yes, although it was a bit rushed due to the nature of your injuries.”

She shuddered, “Forgive me. I just never thought I would be saved by a wizard.”

They lapsed into silence for a while, although Heather did begin eating again. The silence was finally broken by Belgil.

“So, you have the armor. Now what?”

Raising his eyes, Flare shrugged. While he had been standing watch last night, he had been trying to decide where to go next. He was no closer to a decision now than when he had started. “I’m not sure. Zalustus has the helmet, so that only leaves the shield to be found, but unfortunately I have no idea where to begin looking.”

“What are we going to do with the priest?” Atock asked, glancing over to where the bound priest still lay.

“I would like to send him to Telur,” Flare said after a moment. “Show him to the king. Perhaps he will realize that his siding with the Church is wrong.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Dagan said slowly. “It would show him that the Church has not been
honest,” his face brightened, “a
nd I still have the copy of the Kelcer prophecy that we stole. Between it and the priest, we just might have a chance to convince King Darion.” He paused another moment considering and some of the enthusiasm faded, “Perhaps.”

A groan escaped the bound priest and Holgar rose from his seat. “Better feed him and give him some water.”

A thought occurred to Flare and he spoke quickly, “Wait a moment.” He climbed to his feet and walked over with Holgar to the bound priest. He quickly formed another ward of spirit and placed it on the priest and then he removed the gag.
The ward should intensify his fear.
“What’s your name?”

“Henry,” was the quick and scared answer. “What have you done to me?”

“Henry,” Flare said slowly, “do you know who I am?”

Henry’s fear grew, “Yes. You’re the Destroyer, the Bringer of Death…”

“Good,” Flare said, interrupting the priest. “I’m going to ask you some question
s
and I will know if you tell me the truth. Do you understand?” Henry didn’t reply so Flare continued, “Do you have any idea where the dwarven shield Ocklamoor is located?”

“No,” Henry said quickly.

The answer was a little too quick and Flare didn’t need the ward to tell him the priest was lying. A slow smile crept across his face. “Now Henry, you don’t want me to have one of my demons persuade you to tell me, do you?”

For a moment it seemed that Henry’s eyes might pop right out of their sockets. He shook his head violently.

“Good. Tell me where the shield is located.”

Henry shook his head, “I can’t. I can’t tell you.”

Flare considered how to proceed for a moment and then an inspired thought came to mind. He stood and grabbed the priest and drug him into the tunnel. He dropped him down next to the corpse of the other priest. Since it had been drained of its life, it had continued to deteriorate. The leathery skin was cracked open in several places, the hair was falling out in chunks, and the body mass was shrinking away. Henry immediately recoiled from the gruesome scene.

“You know who that is?” Flare asked.

Henry didn’t answer right
away but looked at the horrib
ly
decayed face and then the clothes. His eyes widened in horror when he recognized the clothes.

“That’s right,” Flare said, leaning over and placing a hand on the man’s shoulder. “That was your friend. I let one of demons have him. They did that to him while he lived and then stole his soul to take back to their plane of existence.” It was utter rubbish of course, but Henry didn’t know that, and the words seemed to be having their desired affect.

“Please don’t do that to me,” Henry begged, his breath was quick and raspy.

“Just tell me where the shield is,” Flare said.

Henry began to cry
deep
,
gut wrenching sobs. “I can’t. It would be betraying my god.”

“Not necessarily,” Flare said after a moment. “Is Ocklamoor protected well?”

“Yes,” Henry answered between sobs.

“And do you think that I could steal it if I knew where it was?”

This time Henry shook his head and then took a deep breath, “No, would never happen.”

Good,
Flare thought. “Well, if it’s safe from me stealing it then there isn’t any reason for you not to tell me where it’s located.”

Henry slowly quit sobbing. He lay on the ground with his arms bound behind his back and his cheeks covered in tears. He took deep breaths and his eyes took on a distant look. “I – I’m not sure I can do that.”

Flare nodded and sighed deeply. “I understand; a man of principle. I have to respect you for that
,” he knelt down next to the priest, “b
ut I have to give you to the demons,” he said in a low voice.

Henry swallowed hard, “Please – Please don’t do that!”

“Then tell me where the shield is,” Flare said, leaning in close. “You’re not betraying your god if you don’t believe it’s in any danger. Do you believe it’s in danger?”

“No,” Henry answered quickly.

“Then tell me,” Flare said.

“It’s in Elem,” Henry said. He looked amazed at his own words, “In the Abbey of Enlightenment.”

Henry looked like he might cry again but Flare had already
stood up and was headed back to the others.

Flare reached the fire and the others were still gathered around. They had a look about them. He had seen that look before; it was the look of someone who had come to the realization that they were about to die and then miraculously were spared. They looked a little dazed, but it was entirely understandable; a lot had happened in the last day or so.

“Well?” Dagan asked in a good-natured tone as Flare walked up. “Did the priest say anything?”

“Ocklamoor is in Elem, at the Abbey of Enlightenment,” Flare answered.

Dagan, and several others, gaped at him. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”

“Actually, yes I do.”

Cassandra looked perplexed, “Surely, he just lied to you.”

“I don’t think so,” Flare replied. “He’s scared half to death and I think he told me the truth.”

“So, does that mean you’re headed to Elem?” Heather asked. “I thought you were taking the priest to Telur.”

“I was hoping I could ask you to do that for me,” Flare said slowly. He needed to get to Elem, but the king of Telur had to know what the Church was doing. And besides, war was coming.

“Us?” Cassandra asked. “We’re wanted. We wouldn’t get within a hundred miles of the city.”

Flare smiled, he couldn’t help it. “What if I could have you in the palace in Telur tonight?” No one said anything, they just stared. “If I use wizardry to summon through air, then I can open a doorway directly into the palace.”

“But we would be arrested immediately,” Enton said.

“Not necessarily,” Flare answered. “I know of a secret passage, near Dagan’s old rooms. I can open the portal to there and then you can decide how to approach the king.” Silence greeted his words and his spirits sank. He knew what he was asking of them; they might be arrested and thrown into a dungeon. “I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t think it was necessary,” he said slowly, “I think we have to get Darion back on our side. War is coming soon.”

“Which of us do you want to go?” Dagan asked.

Flare considered for a moment, “I want this to look like a powerful delegation. So, I think Agminion, Atock, Warren, Holgar, Dagan, and Cassandra.”

“Delegation?” Cassandra repeated. She had a look like she wasn’t happy with this plan.

Flare nodded, “Each of the people I named are people of authority; most of them with distant kingdoms. I need Belgil to come with me; I may need his help to identify Ocklamoor. The rest of you can decide where you want to go.”

A pained silence fell and each was left to their own thoughts. The silence stretched out for a while this time, but it was finally broken by Dagan. He stood and looked around at the small group. “I would rather not go. I think that King Darion is under a spell or something, but
I believe
war is coming soon. We need Telur if we’re to have a chance of winning and we must win.” He turned to Flare, “I’ll go.”

One by one the rest slowly gave their assent.