The Emerald Staff (20 page)

Standing guard in neat formation across the
entrance to Zutherindal were ten grisly looking redcaps. They left
nothing more than a few inches between them, nowhere near enough
room for one invisible person to squeeze through, let alone
two.

Faedra’s heart sank. Whoever was guarding the
entrance to the realm of dragons, was determined that no one would
get through that shouldn’t, but why? She dropped her forehead to
Etyran’s chest in defeat and exhaled a sigh that left her
deflated.

“Now what do we do?” she whispered into his
chest. It was more of a rhetorical question. She wasn’t really
expecting an answer. The odds seemed so stacked against them. Even
if she used her power, she couldn’t take them all out before they
realized what was going on and she didn’t like their chances
against ten trained killers. If she was being honest with herself,
she didn’t even know if she possessed enough energy to kill them
all. She’d only killed six in one go before and that was with the
help of a lightning bolt.

“I have an idea,” Etyran said as he backed up
the dimly lit cave corridor until they rounded a corner and were
out of view of the redcaps.

Faedra waited, her expression heavy with
expectation as she watched her companion mull the thought over in
his head. After a moment, he closed his eyes and sighed. “No, it’s
not going to work, it’s too dangerous.”

“Tell me,” Faedra insisted.

“There’s no point. It won’t work and I won’t
put you in that kind of danger,” Etyran replied in a somber
tone.

“I think you should let me be the judge of
that, don’t you?”

“No, I don’t. I promised Faen I’d keep you
safe. I’m not going to stick you in front of that mob with a 50/50
chance that my plan might work.”

“Ahh, so it involves me going out where they
could see me?”

“Faedra,” Etyran warned. “No, I’m not going
to ask you to do it.”

Faedra was quaking in her boots at the
thought of being exposed to all those killing machines standing
guard around the corner, but her desire to save her father was
overwhelming her fear for herself. She dug out the time-pebble from
her jeans pocket, looked at it and swallowed hard. The time-pebble
was half covered in red now, which meant they only had a few days
left to find her dad before Vivianna did goodness knows what to
him. She shuddered at the thought. They had to get to the
Gatekeeper; it was the only option available.

She held the pebble for Etyran to see.
“Please, tell me your plan. I don’t have much time left. This is
the only chance I have to find him and get him home safely.
Please.”

Etyran looked at her for a long moment, his
expression unreadable. Faedra’s heart pounded. Partly out of fear
for what his plan entailed, and partly out of fear that he may turn
them around and go back to the safety of the forest where her hopes
of finding her father would be dashed.

After what seemed like an eternity, Etyran’s
shoulders slumped in defeat.

“Faen is going to kill me if I allow you to
do this,” he whispered.

“Well, if it all goes to plan, he’ll never
know, will he? And if it goes wrong, the redcaps will probably do
the job for him.” She was trying to sound lighthearted about it but
it didn’t come out that way. “So, what’s the plan?”

***

A few minutes later Faedra wandered around
the corner and headed straight for the redcaps. Her stomach was
knotted so tightly she wondered if it would ever work again, but
she plastered a confident smile on her face and strode with purpose
towards them.

They all shifted their gaze to her when she
came into view, making the move look as if it were synchronized.
She swallowed hard and kept the smile plastered on her face.

“Hello, boys,” she said, hoping the cockiness
would mask her fear. “I seem to have gotten myself lost. I don’t
suppose you could show me the way out, could you?”

For a moment there was stunned silence, and
the only thing Faedra could hear was the pounding of her blood in
her ears. Then in the next second, five of the redcaps broke rank
and started to charge after her, their axe-like weapons pointed
straight at her.

She turned on her heel and prayed that the
difference in height and the fact they were wearing heavy metal
boots, meant she’d have no trouble out-running them. That was the
plan anyway.

She disappeared around the first corner and
threw a glance over her shoulder; relieved to see they were having
trouble keeping up. She could hear the clanging of their boots but
she was increasing the gap between them with every stride. Her
heart was pounding with such ferocity she hoped it wouldn’t explode
inside her chest. As she increased the gap further, she began to
feel elation at the thought this plan may actually work.

She sprinted around another corner and Etyran
came into view. He was holding his coat open with arms
outstretched, waiting for her. She sprinted towards him and used
him to stop herself as she slammed against his body. He stood so
solid he hardly moved when she rammed into him.

He wrapped his arms around her in a tight
cocoon and backed them against the wall. Faedra felt the now
familiar ripple telling her they were invisible again. She did
everything in her power to calm her breathing and steady herself.
She couldn’t let her power seep out now, but the adrenaline surging
through her veins was almost beyond her control. Almost.

She and Etyran held their breath as the sound
of clanging metal got closer and closer. She didn’t dare look to
see the redcaps charge past them without hesitating, which meant
they didn’t see them standing in the shadows.

When the coast was clear and they could hear
the sound of metal boots fade into the distance, Etyran pushed them
away from the wall.

Faedra gulped in a deep breath and smiled in
triumph. “It worked! I can’t believe I did that but it worked! We
got rid of half of them!”

Etyran smiled down at her. “Let’s go get the
rest of them, shall we?”

Faedra nodded. “This plan might not be as
easy to carry out, but I’ll give it my best shot.”

“That’s the spirit.”

Etyran walked them back to where the
remaining redcaps were standing guard. They had not moved from
their posts even after Faedra’s surprise appearance.

Faedra’s heart started to pound as they got
closer to the creatures, she wrinkled her nose as the stench that
rolled off them hit her nostrils. Being this close to them was not
doing anything for her resolve.

She was standing with her back to Etyran this
time. It was much more awkward to balance that way and it meant
that she couldn’t be as close to him as when she was ‘hugging’ him,
but they needed her to be this way to carry out the next part of
their plan. They both prayed that he could still wrap the light
around them successfully. It must be working because the redcaps
gave no indication that they could see them.

Etyran positioned them close enough in front
of two of the creatures that all Faedra had to do was reach out
both of her hands. Etyran held her tightly around the waist so that
she couldn’t lean too far forward. Faedra carefully pushed her
hands through the overcoat that was wrapped around her. Biting back
the feeling of disgust, she laid a palm on each of the redcap’s
chest and sent a sharp pulse of energy into each creature.
Withdrawing her hands so they were out of sight, Etyran moved
backwards out of the way.

The two redcaps dropped like stones to the
floor rousing the attention of the other three. They moved from
their neat line to see what had happened to the two on the floor.
One of the remaining redcaps scanned the area, a look of suspicion
in his beady black eyes. It sent chills down Faedra’s spine when
his gaze seemed to linger on them for a fraction of a second longer
than he looked anywhere else.

Etyran backed them up a bit more until they
were beyond the wielding range of the axe weapons. The plan was to
create enough of a diversion that they could then sneak passed the
remaining redcaps without any further intervention.

They almost made it, too, but one of the
redcaps decided there was nothing more he could do for the other
guards and repositioned himself just as Faedra and Etyran were
making their way past his post.

They froze on the spot just inches away from
the redcap in question. The redcap looked around as if sensing
something was there, then it tilted its head back and sniffed the
air with loud snorts through its nose.

It called to the other two that were still
attending the guards on the floor. They turned their heads and
looked straight at Faedra and Etyran, although, Faedra was pretty
certain they were still invisible or they surely would have been
skewered by now.

The other redcaps moved towards where they
were standing, and, probably without knowing it, they had boxed the
two against the wall.

The redcaps looked at each other, nodded and
took a step forward.

Etyran moved his mouth so it was almost
pressed against Faedra’s ear. “You take two and I’ll take the
third,” he whispered so low Faedra could hardly hear him.

She acknowledged him with one nod of her
head.

“Now!” came the sharp whisper as he let go of
her, unwrapping her from his coat.

Faedra didn’t have time to think about it,
she just held up her hands and fired balls of energy at two of the
redcaps. It knocked them backwards, but because Faedra was in a bit
of a panic, the energy hadn’t been strong enough to knock them out.
They got up and surged towards her, pure fury distorting their
features.

Faedra mentally cursed herself for not
getting it right the first time and had only a few seconds to calm
herself and concentrate. The redcaps got close enough to almost
touch her when she fired a couple more at them. This time they fell
to the floor like rocks. She turned to see where Etyran was and if
he needed help. He was skillfully dodging the last remaining
redcap’s weapon. It lunged forward using the spear end and almost
skewered her temporary guardian. He managed to dodge out of the way
in a split second.

“Go invisible!” she yelled. Her exclamation
startled both Etyran and his attacker. Etyran gave her a look as if
to say ‘Duh, why didn’t I think of that?’ a split second before he
disappeared from view. The redcap swung his weapon with renewed
vigor in all directions. Thankfully, Faedra did not see that it
made contact with anything.

After a few more swings of the weapon, the
redcap straightened up and decided to turn his attention on her
instead.

It didn’t get very far; Faedra was ready for
it this time. The energy ball hit it square in the chest. It gave
her a bewildered look before its eyes rolled backwards in their
sockets and it fell flat on its back.

“Nice job,” a voice whispered close to her
ear.

She smacked her hands together a couple of
times as if slapping the dust off them. “Thanks.”

Etyran ‘unwrapped’ the light around himself
until he was visible again. It looked like he was peeling the
wrapper off a chocolate bar.

They glanced around at their handy work for a
moment before Etyran took Faedra’s hand in his and led her towards
the large opening.

“Let’s go see the Gatekeeper.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Faedra followed behind Etyran as he led her
through the opening in the cave. She wasn’t quite sure what she
expected the Gatekeeper to look like. She’d seen enough unusual
creatures recently to not be surprised at seeing another. She
hadn’t however seen a dragon in person before so she was keeping an
open mind. Faedra hoped Draconis wouldn’t be so angry to see her
that he’d burn her to a crisp before she could even say
‘hello’.

Once they rounded the corner, they entered an
immense cavern. It was lit with dozens of torches along the walls.
Faedra gaped in awe as she allowed her eyes to scan the ceiling
above them. It was home to the most stunning stalactites she had
ever seen. The glow from the torches lit the cavern in sumptuous
hues of amber and gold.

Faedra didn’t even realize they’d come to a
stop; she was so mesmerized by the beauty of the cave. She also
didn’t hear someone clearing their throat to get her attention
until they did it much louder the second time.

Snatched from her daydream, she came back to
reality with a start, realizing where she was and what she was
there for, and turned her attention to Etyran who was looking down
at her a little perplexed.

“Sorry,” she whispered, a soft flush sweeping
across her cheeks.

“No need,” a gravelly voice replied from a
little way inside the cavern. “It is rather beautiful. I find
myself gazing at it in wonder sometimes, and I’ve been here over
five hundred years.”

Faedra and Etyran’s gazes followed to where
the voice came from but could not see to whom it belonged. The
shadows cast by the torches created a curtain of darkness
concealing anything behind it. Etyran could sense the Gatekeeper
was surveying them before showing itself, but before he could
question its owner, they saw a large shape move within the shadows.
With another few steps, the creature stepped into the light and
showed itself.

Faedra went to take an involuntary step
backwards as the immense dark red dragon came into view. His scales
shimmered in the light cast by the flames from the torches, making
it appear as if its whole body was on fire. Etyran, who was still
holding onto her hand, squeezed it and held her in place. The
dragon would see it as an insult if she backed away from him,
especially, as she was here to ask for his help.

“Lightbender, you bring a human before me?”
the dragon questioned, a mixture of curiosity and disbelief in his
tone.