The Unwilling Ambassador (Book 3) (20 page)

CHAPTER 22

Ned, Pat, Fred, and Hywel hurried through the deserted halls to the courtyard. The battlements above them were empty. The guards had heard the commotion and rushed inside to see if they could help. The companions crossed the courtyard and drawbridge, and went out into the city. They found Fluffy where Fred had left him, and the three humans climbed aboard his back. The dog-beast bounded away from the castle.

Once hidden in the maze of streets, Hywel flitted in front of Ned. "I'm guessing the interview with Piako went as well as with Cadwaladr," he spoke up.

"Sadly, yes," Ned replied.

"And we're still going to destroy the stone?"

"Undoubtedly."

"You realize if Piako catches us after we destroy the stone he'll have us executed," Hywel pointed out.

"Possibly."

"You're very calm about that possibility."

"I merely have my priorities in a different order," Ned argued. "In order to be executed we need to first destroy the stone, so we'll do that first and worry about the execution later."

"What about the others?" Fred spoke up. "We don't know if they made it out."

Ned chuckled. "Were they the cause of that mayhem?" he mused.

"Along with Shilo and Thino, two friends of Canto's," Pat chimed in.

"Really? That would explain the excited crows," Ned replied. "But I'm sure they made it out."

"How can you be so sure?" Pat challenged him.

Ned stopped and pointed ahead of them. Hywel and the humans looked where he pointed and saw their friends waiting for them at the head of the road leading to the stone. Ruth's face brightened and she rushed forward to wrap her strong arms around Pat. She then pulled them apart and gladly handed Pat her precious birthday gift, the beautiful sword. Percy walked up to Fred and patted him on the shoulder while Canto shook hands with Ned. Shilo handed Fred's coat back to him, and he was glad to have the weight back on his shoulders.

Ned walked up to Thino and Shilo, and shook both their hands. "I understand we owe you pair for some help," he told them.

Shilo frowned. "Aye, and that means a great deal of crow food for ma pets. They've been worn ragged saving that dwarf's sorry ass." She jerked her head toward Canto, who scowled.

"Ah didn't ask for yer help," he countered.

"But ya got it, and Ah'm owed," she argued.

"We'll discuss the terms of payment later," Ned spoke above their voices. "We have unfinished business in the city."

"Ned's right, we still have a stone to destroy," Percy reminded them.

Pat glanced around the group and frowned. "Where's Sins?" Her question was answered when the assassin strolled down the road from the direction of the stone.

Percy raised an eyebrow. "What were you doing up there?" he asked him.

"The way is clear," Sins replied.

Ned chuckled. "I suppose that means we need to see his handiwork."

Ned led the large group up the street to the square. Like all the other crossroads in the city, calling it a square was adding one extra corner. Their street was one of three that connected with the wide area where resided blacksmith shops, a pub, and several residents. All were dark and empty by orders of the king except for a pile of unconscious dwarves slumped in their guarding positions. Sins' handiwork.

In the center of the square lay their final foe, the stone. For most of them this was their first view of the stone, and Pat for her part expected a large, smelling, blood-red ruby to compliment the crude nature of the dwarves. When her eyes fell on the stone she tilted her head to one side while the edges of her lips twitched upward. "Purple?" she snickered. "The dwarf stone, the one that represents their region, is purple?" She was right. The large rock that towered over the remains of a statue was a deep purple.

All three of their dwarven companions cringed. "Don't remind us," Shilo pleaded.

"A very beautiful, deceptive color for something that holds a great and deadly power," Percy philosophized. He turned to Ned. "Am I right?"

Ned's lips pursed together and he strode up to within five yards of the stone. "What are ya thinking?" Canto asked him.

"I'm wondering why this stone hasn't come alive," Ned replied. He reached up and hovered his hand over the smooth surface. "I can feel the power just beneath the surface. It's waiting for something."

"Let's not wait until that something comes," Percy advised.

"You're quite right." Ned pulled out the strange square triangle and held it aloft. Everyone held their breath as he raised the tip of his staff to ring the four corners.

"Stop!" a voice called out. The group turned to see Danto, King Piako, and four dozen guards standing behind them. A dozen of the guards were archers with their bows at the ready. Piako lowered his arm and strode to the front of his group. "Another move, castor and ya will drop where ya stand," he warned them.

"Ya don't know what yer talking about," Canto snapped at the king.

"He knows a traitor when he sees one," Danto countered. Canto took a threatening step toward Danto, but the ax-wielding guards scurried ahead of their monarch and fended him back.

The others in Canto's group stepped back closer to the stone. Fred tightly gripped his staff and glanced around them. They had the other two roads to take, but one false move and the archers would skewer them all. He wouldn't let that happen, but he didn't quite know how he was going to do that. Then he recalled the protective bubble he's tossed down over the Stars chasing him through the marsh.

Thinking about the magical shield forced his staff to glow with power, and before Fred knew what he was doing a light of energy spread out like a wave from his staff. It formed a circle around his friends and the stone, and then burst from the ground upward to create a dome over them.

Danto took the action as a step, and turned to his archers. "Fire!" he yelled. The archers released their arrows, and the pointed sticks harmlessly collided with bubble and fell to the ground at the base of the barrier.

The arrows hit the ground and the earth shook beneath their feet. Both parties looked confusedly at the small, light arrows, all except Ned. He whirled around and his eyes widened when he beheld the stone erupt in a glow of light. Ned raised the square triangle, but he was a half second after the stone released a wall of energy. It burst through Fred's shield and propelled the friends forward into Piako's men. The two groups were swept up together, along with the unconscious guards of the stone, and they were pushed down the street out of sight and hearing of the stone.

They were fortunate. The buildings around them were leveled by the energy blast. Walls collapsed against each other and roofs caved in. A cloud of dust sprang up from the crashing timber, mud, and stone, and covered the tumbling groups in a thin sheet of dirt. Fred knocked into elbows, rocks, sticks, and feet, and wondered if this terrible ride would ever finish when he collided with a firm, angled wall. Someone crashed into his gut, then another and another. Soon he was beneath a doggy pile of squirming limbs and coughing voices.

When the dust settled Fred found himself pinned between a rock wall and a lot of hard bodies. Half the dwarves were on top of him along with Ruth and Pat. The girls lay with their heads on either side of his face, and he sheepishly grinned. "Um, hi," he croaked. The weight of so many bodies was nearly crushing.

Pat rolled her eyes and tried to squirm out from beneath the pile. She yelped when her leg nicked a sharp ax, and cast death glares at the dwarves. "Do you mind getting off us?" she growled. They only groaned.

Through the dirty mist a short figure appeared. It was Canto with Percy and Ned close behind. Sins walked behind Percy, and somehow his dark clothes were untouched by the layers of dust floating around them. Fluffy limped up to his boy and whimpered.

Canto and Percy worked at pulling the semi-conscious dwarves off while Ned lit the top of his staff to illuminate the dusty night. He looked about them with a grim, filthy face, and Hywel flew out of his cloak. "Where are Shilo and Thino?" he asked them.

"We're here!" a female voice shouted. Shilo and Thino stumbled out of the mist with Fluffy at their side. Both were covered in cuts and scratches from their ride down the street, and in their arms were Shilo's crows. The birds' feathers were torn and stuck out at odd angles, and severally of them cawed in a weak voice.

Ned looked around with his lips pursed together in a grim expression. "It seems the stone is awake, and is protecting itself."

"Ya don't say?" Canto quipped.

"But where is the army of creatures, the ones that represent the darkness of the region?" Percy spoke up.

Ned shook his head. "I do not know, but I do know returning to the stone's resting place will not be easy. Not when it's capable of such powerful bursts of energy. It will do everything it can to protect itself from us."

"What in the holy fire of Phaeton have ya done!" a voice roared. King Piako and Danto, along with the remaining guards, stumbled out from the dust with their weapons at the ready.

Ned stepped in front of their group and glared at the small man. "We've done nothing. The stone has come alive as I warned you it would," he told the king.

"Don't play us for fools," Danto argued. "The stone remained a stone until you came to it."

"This arguing isn't going to be helping anyone," Canto spoke up.

"He's right," Percy agreed. "The stone will send out an army to destroy the city and everyone in it."

Piako sneered at the group. "The only destruction in the city was caused by yerselves, and you'll pay-" His tirade was interrupted when the earth trembled again and the night sky was lit by a beam of dark-purple light. It shot out from the direction of the stone and rose a hundred feet into the air before it arched down to the west.

"Why is it heading toward the swamps?" Pat asked them. "It's always stood straight and released its demons from there."

"Ah bet we're going to find out quick, and not going to like it," Canto spoke up.

"I already don't like it," Fred quipped. Fluffy nuzzled Fred and whimpered. "You don't like it either?" he guessed.

Hywel flew over the tops of the collapsed houses. "The light is in the marshes," he told them.

Ned glanced between Ruth and Hywel. "See what's happening," he commanded them.

Ruth nodded and rubbed her jewel. The dwarves were shocked when her disguise fell to reveal her gargoyle form. Ruth climbed the tallest pile of rubble and flew into the air. Hywel and she disappeared into the distance, leaving their comrades with the vengeful king. Piako turned to the remaining companions and signaled for his men to surround them. When his gesture order wasn't followed, he turned and found their attentions were on the pulsing light above them. Their armor rattled and they grouped together in a tight, shivering ball. Piako balled his hands into fists, and his body and beard shook. "Get over there!" he ordered them. They shifted uneasily on their feet, but didn't take a step forward.

A heavy hand fell on Piako's shoulder, and he looked over his shoulder to see Danto standing behind him. "My King, we must worry about our people. This light will frighten more than just these men."

Piako pulled his shoulder from Danto's grasp and glared at his captain. "These instigators will be more trouble if these men don't get to doing their duty!" he argued. The earth shook and Danto steadied his king. Piako glared at his foes. "Yer doing this! Stop it before ya destroy the whole city!"

Pat glared at the king. "We would never help Canavar destroy Dirth!" she protested.

Ned watched the skies and noted a shadow coming their way. It was Ruth, and she landed on a tall pile of rubble close to her friends. Her eyes were wide and her clawed hands trembled atop the rubble on which she knelt. "The swamps! Something is coming out of them!" she told them.

"Where are they headed?" Ned asked her.

Fluffy lifted his nose and sniffed the air. His nostrils flared and he let out a great, mournful cry that echoed through the city. Dogs and other cantankus picked up the noise and joined in the howling. Piako slapped his hands over his ears and glared at the beast. "What's the matter with this cantankus?" he demanded to know.

"He smells something coming," Ned mused.

"But what's coming this way?" Percy spoke up.

Ruth shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself. "An army of dead dwarves."

A horrible hush fell over the groups. Canto was the first to speak. "My god. The stone has raised the Bloody Army," he whispered.

CHAPTER 23

"Bloody army?" Fred repeated.

Canto gravely nodded. "Aye. The ones who died in the marshes during our civil war."

The king stumbled forward with his mouth agape. "W-what?" he sputtered. "That's impossible!"

"Nothing is impossible for these ancient stones," Ned argued. He looked at the skies and frowned. "Where's Hywel?" he asked Ruth.

"Gone to warn the Stars. The dead dwarves rose close to their city and he worried for them," she told him.