The Elf King (66 page)

Qenn was so exhausted that
he slumped to the ground immediately. Momentarily forgetting
everything around him, he steadied his dizziness and fought back
the urge to lie down and sleep. The whimpering he heard helped him
regain his consciousness. As his eyes opened fully, he saw a night
beast staring at him a few feet away. It looked scared and
confused. Qenn was not sure what its reaction would be, so he
protectively brought his staff before him. But the wild dog had
seen enough and scampered away quickly, whining painfully as he
went.

Qenn watched it until it
was out of sight. Something had changed it, he thought sadly. Magic
had mutated the beast into something very unpleasant. Dark magic,
he corrected himself. But the
LifeWaters’
power had undone it,
allowing it to be free, to be itself once again. More importantly
though, the magic responded to him.

Staring forward once more,
Qenn’s smile was nothing friendly.

“
L
ook!” Kandish cried, her arm
straight forward, her finger pointing. Far ahead of them, a mile or
so down the trail, a white circle of light flared brightly. It
lasted for a few seconds, and then was gone. “Qenn!”

An hour later, Kandish and
Kamen Ode came across a spot in the trail that drew their attention
at once, slowing their strides to a halt. They stared in wonder at
the circular patch of lush green grass growing in the middle of the
beaten trail. Tired and breathing hard, they used the diversion to
rest shortly.

“
What do you make of it?”
asked Kandish, rubbing one hand through the soft grass.

“
It’s not natural, I can
tell you that.” Kamen looked around. “Everything else is
dead.”

“
I have not seen grass like
this since we left...” Kandish paused. She realized what she was
about to say and thought better of it. Wounds were still
fresh.

Kamen saw the look in her
eyes. “It’s okay. I was thinking the same thing.”

Then it came to her. Her
expression shifted instantly. “Qenn! He must have used the staff!
That’s what the light was!”

Kamen Ode agreed. “Then he
must not be too far ahead. Come on!”

With fresh energy, they
raced north in a blur.

Q
enn walked under the light of the moon towards a dark hill
line made of rock and loose gravel. The
Takers
trail headed straight for it.
That’s where the end was, he knew. Swamps barren of water besieged
him, the trail turned dry and rock strewn beneath his aching feet.
Still he pressed on.

It was well after midnight
when the trail ended. Dying trees stood in fallen groves leading up
to the small hill line, the rock structure jutting skyward.
Sinkholes were clustered in the area around the base, with giant
rocks scattered everywhere, fallen from a landslide. And there Qenn
saw it. A black hole leading under the mountain, a beaten path
disappearing down in the dark. Rocks had almost blocked it from his
view completely. But it was straight ahead, the path wound right to
it.

And as Qenn began to step
forward, the staff awoke brightly.

C
oming down a small rise, Kandish and Kamen Ode saw a flicker
of light in the distance. It looked like a torch, bright and
shining. They said nothing. They knew it to be Qenn at once. The
light moved towards the rocky structure then faded away. It lasted
a few minutes, long enough for them to get a bearing on the
distance between them, then it was over.

“
That’s the end,” cursed
Kamen Ode quietly. “The elf will enter without us.”

“
No,” Kandish gasped. They
sped as hard as they could, running down the hill, still trying to
gain on the time. Qenn was only a half-mile ahead now, just a few
minutes away. But that was still enough time for him to be
destroyed, she thought.

Her stomach began to ache.
Twisting and turning in knots of desperation and anxiety. Qenn was
alone, in the time he needed her the most. She felt helpless. She
felt scared. She felt her magic begin to stir.

“
No,” she groaned to
herself, avoiding Kamen’s questionable look. Her vision began to
spin; she began to feel light headed. She focused hard on keeping
it at bay, on holding it down until it was necessary. For Qenn, she
thought. Save it for Qenn.

And it worked. Slowly she
gained control. Her vision returned, her aches subsided. She felt
relieved; she had not ever had that kind of control before. But it
was for Qenn. Her feelings for him were strong enough that she
would do what was necessary to protect him.

“
Kandish!” Kamen Ode
growled loud, fierce in warning, as two black objects raced into
view from their side. Kamen tackled one to the ground, disappearing
in the blackness of a sink hole.

“
Kamen!”

Then the other thing was
swiping at Kandish. In the dark, it was hard for her to tell
exactly what it was. And the multiple of legs striking at her did
not give her much time to stare. Instantly she dove and rolled,
scrambling to her feet as the screeching sound the creature made
came swiftly over her, followed by the slamming of its legs into
the ground where she laid. Kandish was on her feet at once, staring
straight ahead. But she didn’t see it. She turned her head in every
direction, frantically searching for the creature, but it was
nowhere. She yelled to Kamen then; no answer returned. And then she
saw something flat against the ground right in front of her. It was
long with a circular head and dozens of skinny legs. She froze. It
did not know she saw it yet. It was waiting for her to move, she
thought. Breathing hard, Kandish did the only thing she could do.
Slowly she extended her arms out to her sides, palms facing the
creature. The coiling within acted at once, released like water
over a crumbling dam. She could feel it surging through her, but
she did nothing to prevent it. This time she let it go
unchecked.

Suddenly the air around her
turned cold and the creature at her feet began to rise, poising to
strike its pinching legs into her. But the magic in her was already
flaring. Then without warning, it exploded.

When the light died a
second later, Kandish crawled off the ground to her feet wearily.
The creature was nothing but a smudge against the rocks. She heard
Kamen’s voice somewhere ahead and ran for it. She found him in a
sinkhole, tossing down a dead tree branch nearby, Kamen using it
for a ladder. After he climbed out, and checked her over for
injury, knowing that she used her magic to save them both, they
returned to the trail and raced to find Qenn.

Chapter 37

T
he tunnel was dark, lit only by the glowing of his staff. The
air was thick with something far worse than decay, making it
unbearable. It stung his eyes, aggressively choked his lungs. Qenn
felt another presence right away. It was smothering him. It was in
the dirt walls; it was in the thick air. It was dark and
uninviting. He waited for it to attack him; he waited for the
darkness to take shape and consume him. The power of the staff grew
to meet the challenge, its brightness extending in an orb around
him, touching the walls and floor, sparking with what he thought of
as friction. He whispered to his staff, gently assuring it that the
time was near. But he felt like it knew far better than he. The
staff tightened in his hands, as if it was swelled up to capacity.
It was on the verge of releasing.

-Let me go-

“
Soon.”

-Now-

“
When I say.”

-When
I
say-

“
No!”

Qenn tightened his grip on
the staff, as if to emphasize that he was in control of it. With
the staff held before him, he pressed forward, ignoring his urges
to flee. There he was alone, heading into the belly of the beast,
the evilness birthing the
Takers
. Days ago he would not have
thought it possible, certainly not with the idea being his.
Drifting up the Spira, he had been worried that Kamen and his men
would leave him. He would have begged them to continue with him.
And he never would have dreamt about leaving Kandish, for any
reason. His flight from Meadow left him running away from the
terror. Only to lead him right to it.

The tunnel descended
gradually, winding deeper under the ground. With each step, the air
became more flagrant. It was almost as if its intention was to
choke him, to strangle his lungs and leave him for dead. It was the
poisonous magic in the air, he knew. It was everywhere. He could
feel it in the ground too, shuttering slightly. Small waves, like
ripples across water, came and went in a breathing-like rhythm,
throbbing gently, softly. Still he walked forward.

-Release me!-

It was getting harder to
control the magic within the staff. Its attempts to break free, to
tear loose and do what it had intended on doing, were almost too
frequent for Qenn to keep in check. It was harder to block out the
voice urging him to let go; it was becoming harder for him to
disagree with it.

-
Use me!
-

Qenn began to worry that
the window of opportunity would pass him by when he could listen to
the
LifeWaters
reasoning and live to tell about it.

-
Do it, now!
-

S
weat dripped from Kandish and Kamen Ode like rain drops as
they slowed their approach to the tunnel. Kamen quickly found a
long chunk of dead wood, snapped it in half, handing a piece to
Kandish while finding stones to ignite a fire. Moments later, his
was lit and he was using the flames to light hers. With their
torches burning brightly, they cautiously entered the
tunnel.

“
Be alert,” Kamen
whispered. His face was hard, with shadow and yellow light shifting
across it. He held his torch up high with one hand, the other
holding his sword. “The night will attack us.”

Kandish understood. Her
magic was rolling through her, anxiously waiting. She could feel
it, too. All around her. Somewhere deep ahead, it was
waiting.

Then she heard something. A
soft scraping sound against the rocks. She stopped walking at once,
Kamen stopping beside her, listening too. But the tunnel was only
filled with silence. They waited a few moments, seeing nothing in
front of them, nor behind them. With eyes scanning the tunnel
intensely, they continued forward. A few seconds later, they both
heard it again. They raised their torches higher, shedding light
further. But they saw nothing.

“
Qenn?” Kandish called out
softly, already knowing that it was not the elf
approaching.

Kamen turned, looking
behind him, his senses screaming at him. He could feel it; it was
close. Then he felt something else. Something wet dripped onto his
head. Instantly his head jerked back, staring up.

“
Run, Kandish!”

Kandish turned back to him
quickly, seeing Kamen raise his sword up, following it with her
eyes about the same time she noticed something large and black
detach itself from the ceiling, falling. Kamen screamed for her to
run again, and she did, moving fast, hearing the creature hit the
ground with an audible thud, hearing Kamen grunt with exertion as
he struck it repeatedly, hearing the thing wail terribly as it was
cut by Kamen’s sword. She looked back then, preparing herself to
unleash her magic, but saw the torchlight sway from side to side as
the big man began to follow. He was covered in blood; his face
looked worn and tired.

“
Go!” Kamen screamed at
her. “Find Qenn! Do what you have to do!”

“
Are you okay?” Kandish saw
him slow, and then stop. His breathing was hard and ragged.
“Kamen?”

“
Go. I’ll catch
up.”

“
I can’t leave—”

“
Now!” Kamen straightened
one arm, giving her direction to his order.

Kandish slowly turned away,
walking alone into the dark.

Kamen Ode watched her light
sway and flicker as she moved further out of sight. Once he was
alone, he dropped to the ground.