The Tomb of the Dark Paladin (31 page)

With a word from the princess, the men turned in unison and faced the gate. Then, still in unison, they touched their spears to one of the trunks in the opening and one of them spoke. The gate shimmered with amber light and the boughs and branches yielded to the warriors. The princess and her cousin led the way through the wall of oaks and into the city where a contingent of Jaguar warriors stood ready to escort their royal leaders. They were a fierce and intimidating sight resplendent in their animal pelts and brandishing wicked spears. Carym felt that the legends about the mystery of this city, and of the Jaguar Knights didn't do them justice.

This was a city comprised of massive trees. Tribal elders used an ancient form of magic to encourage the boughs of the great trees to grow together to fashion the homes and buildings of these wild folk. Carym stared in awe as he saw the highways in the sky that led from tree to tree far above. In the distance, one great tree stood taller and broader than the rest, like a mountain surrounded by smaller hills.

The princess guided the group along the ground to the city center; Carym's awe of the beautiful city only grew as they walked. When they reached the mammoth tree at the city center, a large bough lowered itself to the ground for the group.

"Please, accompany me to the court of my father the king. He is a great and wise man and knows much of the ancient tomb that we seek," she paused a moment and gave Carym a genuine smile. "And he would like to personally thank you for rescuing me."

"We would be most honored, your highness," said Carym, with nods of agreement and looks of awe from the companions. All except Gennevera, who seemed to grit her teeth before looking away from Carym. Carym determined not to be bothered by Gennevera's cold shoulder. He could hardly keep himself from gawking out at the landscape as the bough took them higher and higher. The view of the forest and the pristine lands surrounding the capital city was breathtaking. He was overcome by the beauty of the world before him and could not speak, it was truly a marvel of Zuhr's creation. Great lakes shimmered in the sunlight, hills rolled to the south while mountains loomed very close to the north and west. Rivers and forests blanketed in early springtime snow gave the land a sense of purity. It could only have been the power of Zuhr that created this magnificent perfection. Serenity slipped away from him and his heart skipped a beat when he saw something, a stain upon the perfection of the landscape. A long black line crept along the ground like a great black snake, stark against the snowy white surface. At first he thought that it was just a road his eyes tricked him into believing was moving.

"Princess!" he called. Everyone peered intently to the east where Carym was pointing. "Out there, in the distance!"

"What is it, Carym?" asked the knight, peering out into the distance. "I see the road--" but the knight paused in mid-sentence. They were all quiet as the great bough ceased motion and all watched the dark line with intense interest.

"Soldiers," Ederick finally said, nodding to himself. "They follow the ground contours and seem almost to blend with the road, very wise. Their weapons do not shine in the sunlight, that makes it hard to tell from a great distance what they are and harder to tell how many. But their movement gives them away."

"I guess there's two hundred of them, so I do," said the bard. Carym wasn't sure how he could see well enough to count but he didn't argue. 

"Soldiers of Ilian Nah," said the princess with a note of anger. The air was significantly colder now that they were so high up in the air. It seemed to Carym that when he inhaled, it froze his heart. "They seek the tomb. They have yet to trespass, but if they do, they will find it unpleasant to stay."

"Aren't they the forces of that Prophet-General? The one loyal to Umber?" asked the knight. "How can you be sure?"

"I can't be sure until the watchers report. But I have little doubt."

Carym feared deeply that he this might just be the trigger point of a much, much, larger war to come. The innocent people of the Jaguar Tribes were being drawn into the conflict by his actions; it was a burdensome feeling. 

The group reached the top of the tree palace and quickly exited from their bough onto a wide walkway that spiraled farther upward and around the trunk of the tree. The walkway ended at the door to a great hall, the court of the King of the Jaguar Nation.

The companions were ushered into the grand hall, word began to spread of the enemy patrol. A large fire burned at one end of the great hall in a fireplace crafted out of tree limbs treated with a special flame-resistant resin. Such a resin would be highly coveted among the armies of Llars, offering protection to the soldiers from the fires of an enemy.

The walls of the chamber were adorned with paintings and furs and there were a number wooden sculptures of the animals held sacred by the Tribesmen: jaguars, ravens, a variety of raptors, even a great serpent. A long table was located near the fire already set with plates loaded with food.

"Come forward outsiders!" called a man seated on a beautiful throne of branches decorated with many ornate shapes and patterns. This man had seen many winters. His platinum hair was pulled tight and braided behind his head. Tattoos of jaguars adorned his face and arms, he wore a jaguar skin cloak. His crown was the head of jaguar ornamented with precious gems and feathers from a number of birds, its widened mouth framed his face. Although the man was old, his large muscles and toned body demonstrated that he was still formidable. One hand rested on an armrest of polished oak while the other held a shiny staff of polished wood decorated with feathers and talons. 

"I am aware of the threat which you have brought upon our lands," said the king somberly. Ederick appeared to be ready to speak but the king silenced him and continued. "I do not fault you; this was not unforeseen. We have known for centuries that the dark-skinned men from faraway lands would come to seek the tomb. In fact, this isn't the first time they have ventured near our kingdom; many of their search patrols have strayed close to our lands. We have fought them before."

"We were foolish to think we made it this far unnoticed. Your highness, I beg your forgiveness for bringing this scourge to your land," Sir Ederick said as he bowed low to the great king.

"Rise, Sir Knight. As I have said, this was not unforeseen, however it is the first time they have actually dared come this close to our city. This is a destiny over which you have no control. It is your destiny to find that which you seek, and it is ours to fight those who would stop you.

"I want to thank you for rescuing my daughter from the clutches of soulless men. When my warriors returned from their search without her I had feared that I lost my shining star." The great king looked at his daughter with pride, his deep, green eyes shining. Then he looked back at the group and the stern regal gaze returned. "I will reward you for your daring rescue. Will the one who is called Carym, come forward?"

Carym walked to the throne and stopped, bowing low.

"I am Carym of Hyrum, Your Highness."

"You are the one who rescued my daughter?"

"We all contributed to that effort, Your Highness," he replied, embarrassed at hearing it said so bluntly.

The king was silent a moment, but nodded at Carym's assertion. Then he rose from his throne and walked down to Carym. He placed his hand on Carym's shoulder and said, "Unfortunately I cannot allow you to enter the lands where the tomb is hidden because you are not a member of our tribe." Carym's stomach twisted in fear. Could they have come so far only to be thwarted by this? Would the king truly stop them? But the king was not finished. "It is a terrible place, haunted by the Dark Paladin and the cursed men who followed him."

Carym grimly recalled the last time he had been forced to deal with the spirit of a cursed lord, and it hadn't turned out well. He had known all along that the tomb was guarded by the spirit of the Dark Paladin, but it never occurred to him to think of it as haunted. It was a dark feeling.

The king signaled to a man who was dressed in the traditional garb of the Jaguar tribes, one whose animal symbol was a serpent. He carried a long wooden staff carved in the likeness of a snake. The king spoke to the man in their native tongue and the princess moved to stand behind her father. Then the king, flanked by the princess and the other man, turned and faced Carym. The princess told Carym to kneel before the king with his face down. Carym did as he was told. The knight stood watching curiously and Gennevera stood by, unsure if some trick may be at hand, glancing suspiciously at Hala.

"This is the Royal Shaman, Carym. He is going to make you an honorary member of our tribe," explained the princess.

The shaman spoke a rhythmic chant in his own language and Carym thought he heard Zuhr's name more than once. Gennevera gasped as the Shaman's staff suddenly turned into a real snake. The serpent fell to the ground and slithered swiftly to the now prostrate Carym as the old man performed a peculiar dance in a circular pattern around Carym. Gennevera moved as if to intervene but a firm grip from a watchful tribesman stopped her. The sight of the shaman was disturbing to her. His flesh was old and taut, seemingly stretched over his skull giving him a grave-like visage. Small skulls and bones adorned his serpent skin clothing and a number of bones and dried out body parts dangled from his staff. His luminous black eyes glittered in the afternoon light, watching his magical snake intently.

The snake slithered up to Carym and bit his left hand before he knew even what was happening; Gennevera cried out in anger, prepared to defend him. Carym recoiled in surprise and gripped his hand in fear, rubbing it nervously at the site of the bite. Then the snake returned to the shaman and became a staff once more. The wound on his hand closed leaving a serpent shaped scar on his hand.

"Rise Carym of Hyrum. You are now a member of our tribe, welcome." Carym was stunned; he didn't know what to say. Was he being honored? It seemed so, but the use of the snake made him question all. The king embraced him in a hug filled with genuine affection and warmth, Hala looked on with pride in her eyes.

"You are now entitled to the privileges of the watchers, our knights. I now grant you rank and title in our society. I command you to take your company to the Tomb of the Dark Paladin and protect it from our enemies as best you can. We will do what we can to hinder the enemy."

"Thank you your majesty," he was overcome as members of the tribe, including Hala, embraced him in turn.

A loud screech pierced the air, a shadow passed overhead momentarily blocking out the sun's light. A window in the court of the king shattered sending shards of glass flying into the room and the tip of a segmented tail flicked by.

"What sort of demon was that?" said the knight, drawing his weapon. The creature screeched again and all in the chamber felt the press of time upon them. The Shadowfyr's hunters were closing the distance.

"Wasp dragon!" hissed Bart. "Majesty, let us help you fight them!"

"We have fought these beasts before and have our own ways of dealing with them!" The king gripped his staff and slammed it into the wooden floor. The staff began to glow amber and shrouded the king in its light. In seconds the king was gone, in his place stood something that was part jaguar and part human. Nearly eight feet tall now, the king's feline attributes made him a fearsome sight to behold.

"Princess, take them to the tomb!" shouted the king. Then, reverting to his native language, he shouted orders to his men for the defense of the city. The princess ushered Carym and his companions out of the hall and down to the ground level. The sounds of soldiers running to and fro among the limbs of the great tree were muted by the wasp dragon's infernal buzzing.

The thing had a striking similarity to the wasp dragon he and his companions had battled in the Underllars. It was every bit as big and its scorpion tail curled up and over the head of its mailed rider. It had two great forelegs, each ending in a wicked, dagger-like spike. Its wings thrummed in the air, buzzing like that of an angry wasp, sending a palpable and terrifying vibration through the air.

The wasp dragon's eerie sound spurred Carym on. Once the group reached ground level, they were met by a contingent of mounted warriors with horses waiting for them. The sounds of thunderclaps and splintering wood split the air as the wasp dragon soared over them and smashed a catwalk with its long tail. Then two giant birds ridden by tribesmen soared from the sky and began attacking the wasp dragon and its dark mailed rider. Carym hoped there was only one of those creatures, but somehow he didn't think they would be so lucky.

The group quickly mounted their horses and, led by Jaguar Knights turning into actual jaguars in bursts of amber light, they raced into the forest. Carym was thankful that these horses were used to the presence of these giant predatory cats, they were not spooked in the slightest. The group raced deeper into the forest in single file, weaving through the trees. Carym was second to last in line; a Jaguar Knight followed closely behind, feline eyes glowing with awareness. He wondered what Hala must be thinking now, fleeing as her homeland came under attack from the most evil beings in the universe. Then a gut wrenching fear, like the approach of death itself, caused him to look frantically about. Bewildered, he saw that others were as unsettled as he. Then, the reason for his fears surfaced.

Another wasp dragon!

The beast swooped down from the sky. Shrieking it dove right for the group. Instinctively the group broke ranks and sought cover in the tree line on both sides of the path, forcing the sky borne monster to single out one victim. Carym felt sickened as the beast's carrion odor wafted through the air. Wasp dragons were the worst scavenger-predators on Llars, preferring to feed on things already dead, yet, ironically, willing to fight and kill for the living being commanding them from their backs. This one had a carapace that was translucent white with large vent holes that allowed it to breathe. Its many eyes were milky white and it had a mouth filled with wickedly churning mandibles that dripped acidic saliva.