Dark Quest (4 page)

Jenneva held Shanor while Egam stepped through the Door and disappeared. Within moments he reappeared with Lord Habas. “Shanor, this is Lord Habas. He is an old friend of Jenneva’s and mine and he means you no harm. Shanor, you must learn that loved ones can be counted on at all times. I really appreciate what you were doing for me and I know it took a lot of courage, but it is better for everyone if we are honest and forthcoming with one another. I told Jenneva of my plan to use the Door because I trust her and wanted her to know exactly what I was doing. You have to have the same kind of love and trust in us.”

“I’m sorry, Master Egam. I was afraid something would happen to you and you wouldn’t come back.”

“I know, Shanor, and I appreciate your love and devotion to me and Jenneva, but I would rather take that risk myself than to live with the thought that my actions caused the loss of you. You see, if you didn’t come back it would have been my fault for bringing the Door here. Jenneva understands that there are risks associated with experimentation. She wasn’t happy with the thought of me not coming back either, but she understands that I must perform this experiment and, therefore, she was willing to accept the consequences. Your thoughts were well intended, but your methods need improvement. You must promise me that you will not do any more experimenting without approval.”

“I promise, Master Egam. I’m sorry, Jenneva.”

Jenneva held the girl tightly. “It’s all right, Shanor, but you must listen to Master Egam. He is wise beyond his years and always knows what is best.”

Egam brought Lord Habas up to date on events and the three mages discussed the ramifications of the portal discovery. Lord Habas asked how the Doors work and why they work.

“I don’t know,” replied Egam. “It is like much in this field. We know how to do something, but we have little understanding of why it works. I’ve run across several mentions of Doors to faraway places and have been experimenting with them since before Jenneva first came to me. This is the first time that I even felt I was close to accomplishing anything.”

“It seems to me,” offered Jenneva, “that the Doors are largely symbolic. The ability to teleport has now been proven to work. If we can isolate what causes the spell to work on the Doors, we will be able to teleport anywhere. It is apparent that you, Egam, as a spell caster created a portal between two places. This portal is useable by anyone, as Shanor demonstrated. She did not even have to know where the portal would take her. She knew that the first Door would take her to your cave, but there was no way for her to know where the second Door would take her. Yet she appeared right where you wanted the portal to go. I would like to study the spell you used to create the portals. Perhaps we can find more writings by the same author and deduce what makes the spell work.”

“We might also want to investigate the possibility of using a key to unlock closed Doors,” added Lord Habas. “I feel rather exposed, having a Door into my laboratory open when I’m not there. If someone were to gain entrance to Egam’s cave right now, he could be inside the Palace walls without anyone knowing. If I closed the Door behind me to prevent that, I would not be able to return myself.”

Shanor fell asleep on the couch while the three magicians discussed the possibilities until the wee hours of the morning.

The next day they decided to check out Habas’ library for references to teleportation. Shanor was given instructions not to use the Doors and was told that they may be gone for several days. The three masters then walked through the Door and disappeared.

The magicians spent several days going through Lord Habas’ library, but could not find any further references to teleportation. “I think we need to take a break,” Egam sighed.

“I think we need to get access to some of the religious libraries,” said Jenneva.

“That’s not likely,” countered Lord Habas. “They guard their libraries well and they don’t cater to magicians coming to read their volumes.”

“Perhaps,” ventured Jenneva, “but it wouldn’t hurt to ask. I think I need to get out for a while. Can you tell me how to find the Red Sword barracks?”

Lord Habas smiled. He wondered when she would get around to asking. “Allow me to guide you, Jenneva. It could be embarrassing should someone ask how you entered the Palace.”

Jenneva saw Alex instructing some soldiers in the proper technique for climbing a rope.
Concentrate, Alex. Never doubt your abilities. Or your friends.
Alex slipped and fell off the rope. Amidst the laughter, Alex picked himself up and sauntered over to Jenneva. He embraced her and Jenneva kissed him lightly on his cheek. “Oscar is getting married,” she whispered. Alex looked over his shoulder and told Mitar to take over the training.

“Where have you come from?” asked Alex. “And what do you mean Oscar is getting married? To whom?”

“You have an awful lot of questions, Lieutenant. Can you get off for a few days? We can go together to the wedding if you’re available.”

“Sure,” agreed Alex. “I wouldn’t miss this show for anything. Let me go arrange the time off. Don’t move, I’ll be right back.”

Shouts and screams rang through the night. The raid on the Temple of Aara, Goddess of Air, in Celtid had gone bad from the start. A dozen Black Devils were massed by the rear door of the temple when an acolyte ventured into the courtyard. His shouts caught everyone by surprise. The Black Devils should have broken off the raid at that point, but confusion reigned and the Black Devils attacked. Priests and acolytes poured out of their rooms and into the courtyard. The Black Devils slashed into them with daggers. Mordac had warned them not to use obvious magic during the raids, but threatened Black Devils unleashed fireballs to protect themselves and the temple caught fire.

The Black Devils succeeded in killing thirty devotees, but the fire prevented them from retrieving the books. Two of the Black Devils had been slain and they carried off the bodies when they left the temple grounds.

Dalgar was breathing heavily. He wondered if the other teams were running into these kinds of problems. He told Aurora to change into colorful clothes and investigate what was happening at the temple. Then he ordered his cohorts to bury the bodies.

Aurora returned an hour later. “They have most of the books and statues loaded on carts at the front of the temple. It looks like they may be planning on moving them to some place safe.”

“All right,” Dalgar stated, “it looks like we get a second chance at this. We need to find out which way the wagons are going and intercept them. There will be no prohibition of magic once they’re clear of the town, but I don’t ever want to see this fiasco repeated. Anyone who has the urge to toss a fireball while raiding another temple had better be prepared to eat it! Aurora, get back into the street and let us know which way the wagons go. The rest of you be prepared to move out quickly!”

Aurora reported that the three wagons were headed west. The Black Devils mounted their horses, determined to ambush the caravan.

Alex was disoriented. Moments earlier he had been in the stuffy confines of Lord Habas’ laboratory and now he was in a beautiful study. The pungent aroma of jungle fruit permeated the air. Calls of exotic birds mingled with the murmur of waves lapping at the beach. Alex looked out the window and recognized the distinctive shape of Atar’s Cove. He turned to view the room and saw the amused grin on Jenneva’s face. “You never cease to amaze me, Jenneva. If it wasn’t for the smells and sounds, I’d believe you were presenting another illusion.”

“Actually,” Jenneva lectured, “smells and sounds can be incorporated into an illusion as well as taste and touch. All senses can be deceived, but there is a certain pleasantness in knowing that this is real. The Doors are the genius of Egam. The room you entered between Doors was Egam’s laboratory, deep beneath the Boulders. The Doors must remain a secret for now until Egam can find a way to lock them. We are also working on a way to teleport without the use of the physical Doors, but that may take some time.”

Alex looked around the room and spotted Shanor peering at him from the hall. Jenneva followed his gaze and called to the small girl. “Shanor, come in. I have a very special friend for you to meet. This is Baron Alexander Tork, a Lieutenant in the Red Swords. Alex, this sweet, young girl is Shanor. She lives with me.”

Shanor cautiously entered the room and gazed up at Alex. “This is Alex? The Alex that you are always . . . ”

“Yes,” interrupted Jenneva, “this is the Alex that I mentioned to you once.”

Alex laughed. “Jenneva, do you think you could make me one of those rings that Sarac gave to Oscar?”

Jenneva chuckled and Shanor ran over and hugged Alex. “Can I ride on your shoulders? Jenneva said that you were so strong that you carried her for miles after the war and didn’t even look tired.”

Alex picked Shanor up and placed her on his shoulders. “Certainly, Shanor, a friend of Jenneva’s gets whatever she wants from Lieutenant Tork. How about we take a run down to the beach and you can tell me all about your stay with Jenneva?” Jenneva gave a sigh of defeat and sat on her desk.

Moments later Egam and Lord Habas came through the magic Door talking as casually as if they had just came in from the next room. “Some type of signal is needed in the meantime,” Egam was saying.

“All right,” Lord Habas conceded. “How about three knocks followed by two knocks and then three knocks again?”

“That should be as good as any. Jenneva, when will the
Pegasus
arrive?”

“If it’s on schedule, it should be here at dawn tomorrow,” she replied. “I assume that you were discussing a secret knock for the portals. We should make sure that Alex and Shanor know of it, also. Let’s go downstairs and talk while I prepare some dinner.”

Dinner was a simple affair of fried fish with fresh fruit. The old friends sat around a table in the kitchen. Shanor insisted on sitting next to Alex and was constantly grinning as if she possessed some delicate secret that no one else was aware of. Everyone noticed Alex’s gaze following Jenneva every time she moved, his eyes wide and full like a small boy staring at some pieces of gold uncovered by the surf.

After dinner, Egam rose and suggested a walk in the garden to savor the night air. Everyone agreed and started to leave. Egam put his hand on Lord Habas’ shoulder to indicate that he should remain seated. “
Shanor, I need your help here. Stay for a while.
”

Shanor seemed disappointed as Alex and Jenneva left the room, but she knew that Master Egam must have something important for her. “What is it, Master Egam?”

Lord Habas chuckled and rose to clear the table. Egam sat and indicated that Shanor should sit upon his knee. “I guess you must have had quite a talk with Alex this afternoon?”

“Oh, yes,” she bubbled. “I told Alex all about Jenneva and what she was working on.”

“And her stories of Alex, no doubt?”

“Certainly, he seemed especially interested in them. Was that wrong?”

“No,” laughed Egam, “it was not wrong. I believe that Alex has been in love with Jenneva from the very moment they met. Unfortunately, he is inexperienced with women and had no idea that Jenneva felt the same way about him. I think you have solved a great mystery for him and that is why we must allow them some time alone. Why don’t you help us clean up the kitchen?”

Alex followed Jenneva into the garden. He kept turning around expecting the others to arrive and finally Jenneva laughed. “They’re not coming, Alex, Egam has seen to that.”

“What do you . . . ?” stammered Alex. “W . .hy wouldn’t they be coming?”

Jenneva put her arms around Alex’s neck. “Because Egam is a wise and experienced man and knows that you have finally pierced my veil of protection.”

Alex smiled and tenderly kissed Jenneva. After a while they sat on a bench and Alex asked, “Why did you feel that you needed to be protected from me?”

“I haven’t been protecting myself from you, Alex. I guess I was trying to protect myself from the desolation that comes from losing a loved one. I’ve lost my parents twice and Uncle Hasra, as well. I wasn’t sure that I had the strength to lose you, also, Alex. It’s foolish, really. I would feel the same loss whether you know of my love for you, or not.”

“Let us vow never to hide our emotions from one another again, Jenneva. I love you too much to ever waste more time with uncertainty.”

Again they embraced and when they finally entered the house, everyone was asleep.

Shanor saw the ship approaching from her lookout in the tower and everyone assembled on the beach. Jenneva removed the rocks illusion from the bay and the
Pegasus
entered the cove and anchored. Everyone waved goodbye to Shanor and climbed aboard the rowboat. Duke Whitley and Marta were aboard as well as Fram, Jerrick and Larc. Carlene and Reese were not coming, as Carlene was pregnant again. Oscar introduced everyone as Captain Hill got the
Pegasus
underway.

Oscar was clearly puzzled as to how Alex and Lord Habas had gotten to the island, but he knew better than to pry. Alex noted that Oscar was also visibly nervous. “Oscar, I’ve never seen you nervous before. I’ve seen you give advice to the King and face bandits who mean you ill, but I’ve never seen you quake before.”

“That wasn’t serious stuff, Alex. This is a decision that’s not renegotiable. I love Callie dearly, but what if things change? What if she tires of me? If a business partner tires of me, I can just buy him out.”

Alex looked over at Callie and Jenneva chatting by the rail. “Oscar, no one can ever tire of you. You’re too dynamic, always changing, never boring. If your feelings towards Callie are anything like my feelings towards Jenneva, you can stop worrying now. She is a beautiful woman and I trust Jenneva’s instincts towards people. There is no doubt that they get along well.”

Oscar chuckled. “So, you’re finally ready to admit your feelings toward Jenneva. It’s about time, everyone else has known forever. Are you making this a double wedding?”

“Not yet. Jenneva and I have just found each other. I have several more years with the Army and I don’t think Jenneva is ready to be a soldier’s wife.”