Taylon (4 page)

Together, they ran for the stairs as the
tapestry blaze started to spread.

Elf guards were detaining the wizard. He was
not happy about this.

“He’s with me. There’s a fire and there’s
been an attack on the council,” Gantha stated as he came closer.
The guards immediately obeyed and hurried up the stairs. Ynob gave
him an approving look, before continuing his retreat.

Once outside the Spire, they looked up. Smoke
poured from the side. Other elves had gathered, looking up at the
sight.

“We need to leave!” Ynob shouted, tugging at
Gantha.

“But….”

“Now!”

By the time they rode away, fire licked the
sides of the Spire. The sky had darkened with black smoke. It
looked as if the world had just ended.

Chapter Four

Taylon was anxious, impatient. This whole
ordeal was slowly driving him crazy. On horseback, one could
normally reach the wall in half a day, or less. It took the troops
two days to reach the barricade. But when an army of twenty
thousand men, with war equipment, moved, they moved slow.

Rose haunted his nights. Often he awoke with
her voice ringing his memory. But an incessant cackle shattered his
reality. When sleep overtook him once again, his dreams were
plagued with violence and bloodshed.

He rode his horse alongside the ocean of
soldiers, trying his best to stay away from the queen’s carriage.
Rose had a new one built after the wizard had destroyed the last
one. This new Euphoria modified it before their departure, so her
beloved pets could ride with her, adding a removable roof so she
could oversee her men. Control them, more likely.

At the wall, Taylon supervised the placement
of the explosives.

The men for the job were young, but fast.
Taylon saw the markings of failure all over this plan.

A royal alchemist came forward, followed by a
crate carrying what he called starbursts. “Careful, gentlemen.” The
crate swayed as four soldiers roughly carried it forward.

“How many will we need?” Taylon asked, eyeing
the dangerous crate.

“Seven should easily make a nice small
hole….”

“Use twelve.”

The command came from behind the group, but
there was no doubting the voice. Euphoria came forward, tigers
trailing behind.

“But your majesty…” The alchemist looked
worried.

She approached, and traced a finger down his
cheek, under his chin. There she poked him with a sharp fingernail,
making the man wince.

“Use. Twelve.”

“Yes…yes, your majesty.”

Euphoria pushed him, and he quickly scampered
away to distribute the charges. She then turned her attention to
Taylon.

“Do you not approve?”

He said nothing, turned away, and stared at
the wall.
This is ludicrous.

“All is ready, sir,” a soldier reported.

Point of no return.
Taylon nodded.

With one final look at the wall, he turned
and proceeded to his horse.

“Captain, your glory awaits,” Euphoria
proclaimed loudly. Soldiers everywhere watched him. All eyes were
upon him. They were scared, and as much as he didn’t want to do
this, he held their fate in his hands.

Slowly he mounted his horse. Many captains
would give speeches; suck in the honor and esteem. Taylon would
rather puke out his guts than partake in any of that.

The horse trotted out past the line of men.
Birds called out, another horse snorted, but all else remained at
rest.

Goodbye peace.

Drawing his sword, he raised it above his
head.

“Ready… Light!”

On the last word, he swung the sword down.
Along the wall, twelve figures lit their starburst and ran. The
first charge went off a minute later followed by another and then
two more simultaneously.

The roar was deafening, the explosions were
blinding, and from where Taylon was, the wave of heat radiating
from each blast blistering. His horse cried out, and finally reared
on two legs scared out of its mind. With practiced skill, he stayed
the horse, but barely. He lost count of the blasts, praying the
last of the starbursts had gone off.

Silence fell again. Huge clouds of dust
shadowed the wall. Taylon saw spots before his eyes from the
ignition of the explosions. His skin ached from the heat. Scanning
the field, the captain looked for his triggermen. A few were still
on their feet, and more were picking themselves up after the blast
had thrown them. He counted six.

Kicking his horse into action, he searched
for his remaining triggermen. Two he found badly burned. They were
conscious but in a lot of pain. Taylon summoned a few of his
soldiers to come tend the wounded. He found a third triggerman
unconscious. His head had hit a rock. Fortunately, his helmet had
taken most of the blow.

But there were still three missing men. It
wasn’t until the dust cleared that Taylon found them—or what was
left of them.

A tumultuous cheering arose as the dust
clouds settled and the effects of the explosions were evident. Huge
sections of the wall gaped. Weak columns stood between the blast
points, continuing to crumble as time ticked by.

The captain looked back at his men.
Fools.
You do not know what you are in for.
If only he could tell
them, and even now, it was too late. Euphoria had such a grip on
the army, her army. They would do anything for her. Even kill him,
if she commanded it.

***

Night fell and the three found themselves at
Niava’s Niche. Gantha sat there quietly waiting for the other two
to speak, but there hadn’t been one word spoken amongst them since
the quick retreat from Shalaydis. And now, they sat around a table,
empty mugs stacking up before them.

The tavern wasn’t as busy as the night Gantha
stayed there, but he recognized a few patrons. Old Duff, the
minotaurian that almost clobbered Lourak, was at the same table
minding his own business.

Niava noticed Gantha right away. He put up
with her advances because he didn’t have any energy left. He hadn’t
found a way to process everything yet.

Fret’s eyes were wide when they had come in.
The wizard roughly sat the human at a table. A goblin at another
table picked his teeth with one long yellowed nail. Its huge eyes
looked over and stared at Fret. The human quickly averted his
gaze.

Things got better as the ale set in.
Everyone’s nerves calmed, and things just got smoother.
Happier....

After two rounds with no one saying anything,
the wizard finally spoke. “I think…your prophecy is coming
true.”

Gantha stared into his glass. “Ya think? It
seemed like a normal council meeting to me.”

Ynob began to smirk, followed by Gantha and
soon they were both laughing out loud. Fret joined in, but his
laugh came out shakily and unsure.

Niava slithered over to the table. Gantha
expected Fret to freak out seeing a creature that was half woman,
half snake. But, he didn’t even do a double take when he caught
sight of her lower half.

“That is a pretty bodice you have on. It
really brings out your eyes.” Gantha looked at the boy, amazed at
the human’s blunt words.

The echidna blushed, tilted her head, and
batted her eyes at the boy. “And here I thought all humansss were
asss rude as the wizard over here.”

Ynob started to drink and choked on his beer.
“Now, wait just a minute….”

“Husssh. Let me get your food order asss I
can tell you have had nothing to eat in awhile. I don’t mind the
happy drinkersss, but anything elssse I usssually frown upon. And
you don’t want to sssee me frown now, do you?” She bent low and
grabbed Fret’s face, turning it so their noses almost touched. He
shook his head and her snake-like tongue darted out and licked
him.

She straightened up and took their order,
Gantha ordering for Fret. Once she had departed, talk began
again.

“So, what was that back at Pajote, ’cause I
don’t think it was Da’Lynn,” Gantha asked, turning to Ynob.

The wizard took a deep breath and sat back.
“Remember when we first met? I was in a coma and Snow was taking
care of me. I had been fighting, and losing, to a creature very
much like that.”

“Lyra,” Fret whispered as he finished off his
ale. When he set down his cup, the other two were looking at him.
“What?”

“I think it is time we heard your story. And
I am guessing that we need the whole thing, from Faldoa to the
Territories.” Ynob leaned forward.

Gantha watched Fret ponder the request. What
did this human know, and why was he hesitating to tell them his
story?

“It started when the queen showed up at the
town healer’s door. I used to live in a small town called Smead. I
guess I still do. I don’t know. But she showed up needing to be
fixed up with her captain.”

“This would be Euphoria?” Ynob asked.

“Yea, I think that was her name. Daughter of
La’ard. Anyway, I was the bad kid in town. The bully. Yes, I’ll
admit it. But I’ve changed, really have. Their horses were tied up
outside Hazel’s, and I was sure they were going to have some coins
or gold with them….”

“So you robbed them?” Gantha sounded a bit
outraged at this.

“Um…yea? But wait. I grabbed this bag. It
sounded like it was full of coins. I ran. When I opened it though,
it was full of glass. Blue glass fragments. And I was so mad.”

“Blue glass?” Ynob’s face looked a little
paler.

“Yes, but the funny thing is…I accidentally
cut myself and the blood made the piece melt together into a sort
of fragment. It was very weird.”

Gantha watched the wizard, whose face fell.
This sense of horror slowly crept into his stomach. What was it the
wizard knew or suspected?

Plates of food arrived in front of them. Talk
halted as their appetites took over. Gantha watched Fret gingerly
examine his food and slowly pick at it, while the elf tucked into
his meal. Eventually the human devoured it like the councilman and
the wizard.

The combination of the food and the ale began
to make them all sleepy. Gantha wanted to hear more, but closed his
eyes every other word. Fret too was drowsy, and his tale came out
sloppily.

Ynob stood shakily, and went to the bar to
pay the bill. He soon disappeared upstairs without another
word.

“We…should probably go…up as well,” Gantha
mumbled to Fret.

“What…?” His head snapped up. The elf stood
and helped Fret to his feet. As they climbed the steps, Gantha saw
Niava wink at Fret and smile. He winked back and minutes later was
asleep in a bed.

Chapter Five

“Arghh!”

Frustration over the failure yesterday
overwhelmed Da’Lynn. Kerlick, her rebel mastermind, had buckled
under pressure. She lost her chance to gain entrance to the Palace
of Nine—at least easy access. Katrena let the boy slip away, but
was effective in their escape.

A secret passage in the council room,
constructed for the purpose of fire or attack, led them to the
ground floor. No one had seen her party arrive in the city earlier,
so according to all of Shalaydis, Da’Lynn was the only living
council member.

In the early morning hours, they traveled on
the road to Shalaydis. Da’Lynn sent Kerlick back to the rebel camp.
It was not the smartest plan, but the councilwoman had to arrive
without the convicted felon if her plan was to succeed.

Elf guards met them within sight of the city.
“Madam Da’Lynn?”

“What has happened?”

“Oh…bless Gaea herself that you are
saved.”

“Report, guard.”

“Pajote Palace was destroyed. The council
members are all dead, except for you.” During their escort into the
main city, the guards filled them in on all the details.

Their elders made laws for every possible
circumstance, so there would be a method to follow for each
situation. There was not one for an attack on the council and
burning of the palace, but there was a law about succession in the
council. Should the head council member die or step down, the
oldest would be next-in-line. Da’Lynn, being the oldest, would take
that seat.

Also, a law was in place in case the head
chair died without passing the secrets and the power of the office
over. This included the Palace of Nine secrets.

“Should this be the case, the new head could
receive these through the purity ceremony during a full moon.” A
scribe walked alongside as he read from the law book, leading them
toward the House of Ode.

Their escort took them to the House of Ode,
the elfin law protectors. The chief scribe sought out the decrees
pertaining to this situation.

“So in three days’ time?” Da’Lynn could feel
the blood pumping through her, excited that maybe her plan would
succeed.

“Um…no.”

“What?”

“There is a note attached to the law saying
that if the next full moon is less than nine days away, the
ceremony cannot be performed,” Scribe said and looked up
innocently.

Excitement turned to anger. Da’Lynn watched
Katrena approach and place her palm on Da’Lynn’s arm. The
councilwoman could have easily slaughtered everyone in the room,
but it would do her no good. She wanted the power in the palace and
needed these elves for it.

“Oh,” was the only word Da’Lynn could say
without giving away her true feelings on the matter.

“New council members will have to be chosen.
The choosing of these three should occupy your time, Madam Da’Lynn,
til the next moon.”

“Three? Don’t you mean four?”

“No, Councilman Gantha was seen fleeing the
city yesterday. We are trying to reach him with crow carrier.”

Da’Lynn turned from the scribes as her
thoughts whirled with the new information. She wanted to hurt
something in private. Gantha knew the truth and she could not allow
him back before the ceremony. But how could….